Catch-Up

This week has been swamped preparing for a very successful yard sale to the point I haven't had a chance to even think about writing; however, I have been able to pick-up the trusty old camera and take a few snap shots of what the kiddos and I have been up to this week.

We thoroughly enjoyed viewing a rainbow following a LONG hail storm. Fittingly enough this was only a couple days before St. Patrick's Day.

Mimi and Bobo came down during St. Patrick's Day weekend to celebrate hubby's birthday a little early. I got to enjoy a small portion of his gift too.

After a busy weekend with Mimi and Bobo, both the kiddos collapsed watching Max and Ruby after church. (Notice the pile of folded clothes...Mommy must of crashed too because they haven't quite made it to their spots.)

Our handsome Prince Charming started eating solid foods (pureed of course) this past week. There is no turning back for this little guy. Mommy is still trying to adjust to the amount he can put down!

Elijah took a little breather this week to practice his super hero skills during nap time. (It's really supposed to be his swaddle but he has learned how to turn it into his superhero cape.)

Our Princess always reminds us to take a moment to rest and relax. So we did and enjoyed a nice evening around the fire pit and, yes, we even enjoyed a marshmallow or two!

This was a big moment for Mommy and Elijah this week. After exiting the room for a moment, I came back to find that Elijah had grabbed his monkey lovie and was having the best time cuddling him and, of course, trying to "eat" his hand due to the nature of teething. Just melted my heart!

What a way to finish out our week than to mark Elijah's 4 month birthday! It's amazing that I was able to get the two pictures that I did. He is such a scooter and climber already. His favorite place to be is outside and loves looking at his future play set outside. I believe that once he is mobile we are in trouble!

In this picture, he was in the propped sitting position; however, he decided to flip himself over and then push down to "rest" on the arm of the chair. Such a monkey!

 Even though this week was jam packed with preparations and other activities, we still managed to find our many blessings one cup at a time!

~Carri

Plain Fun

Like most of the southeastern portion of the United States, we are experiencing abnormally warm temperatures for this time of year. As I write right now, my iPod is showing 81 degrees! WOW!
We are fully taking advantage of the warm weather.

Before this picture was taken, we also washed Mommy's car. Thank you Mr. Pollen for the need of a major car bath!

Following our fun in the sun, we downed a couple of Popsicles, I did some laundry, rocked a teething almost 4 month old (Where has the time gone?) to sleep, and came out to find this precious scene.

Gosh I love pictures of my kids sleeping! So peaceful and timeless.
To top off the afternoon, I gave my mail lady a huge hug today because this came...

I might just have to cook my mail lady something out of it as a way to say thank you!
Blessings by the cup full!
~Little C

November Babies

A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of keeping the evening bed baby nursery at church. So I took the opportunity to snap a picture of the November trio. All I have to say is Elijah is one lucky boy!

Building Anticipation

I am so excited this week for so many reasons! To start off the week, I received a message from our wonderful photographer that my little prince charming 3 month proofs had been released! He is growing so fast. Just last night as I walked down the street to a friend's house with his sister, he let out some of the biggest belly laughs. Made me all giddy inside..

I am also excited to be returning to the racing world of running later this week. What a better way to return than by giving back through our church's Missions 5K. So if you are in the northern Alabama region we would love to have you join us while giving to the furthering of His kingdom.

Another reason I am anticipating the events of this week is the release of this book. In honor of the release of The Pioneer Woman's book, I have planned my entire menu this week using her first cookbook. I thought I would let you in on some of the goodness my family will be enjoying this week.I am going to photograph each night's meal since I am such a visual learner. Unfortunately, one part of last night's meal got devoured too quickly for me to photograph since my family had been outside ALL day yesterday. I felt like I was feeding a bunch of hungry cowboys and cowgirls. :) (Note: We will be eating at a special event at church Sunday so note the "cheat" night of no cooking.)
Saturday: Cinnamon Rolls
               (These got a 5 star rating from the hubby last night!)
                  Breakfast Potatoes
                  Fatty's Grandma's Cheez Eggs
Sunday: Dinner at Church
Monday: Taco Salad with No Bean Chili
Tuesday: Marlboro Man's Sandwich
                Fruit Salad
                Freezer Tater Tots (This one was on her show on Saturday!)
Wednesday: Baked Mac & Cheese (No Easy Mac involved here.)
                      Carrots & Homemade Ranch
Thursday: Sherried Tomato Soup (Probably omitting the sherry)
                   Skillet Cornbread (Gosh! I LOVE my cast iron skillets!)
Friday: Cowboy Calzones
              Fresh Greens Salad

As promised, below is a picture of last night's meal.

 As mentioned above I was unable to get the WHOLE meal because the Cheez Eggs were gone!

Did I mention that I get to meet and greet Ree Drummond in 3 1/2 weeks!
Happy Cooking! (And lots of exercise this week!) 
                 



                 

Southern Winter

As many of you know the weather in the south has been quite crazy this winter. One week we are in the mid-60's then out of the blue the bottom drops out and we are all freezing (in what us southerners consider cold) in the 30-40's.

Last week was no exception of craziness and apparently the weather has my daughter extremely confused as to what to wear to go play outside.

Notice the stocking cap, mittens, short sleeve shirt and flip flops to top it all off!

Brown Bear, Brown Bear

Everyday I make it a point to sit down with both children to read a couple of short but classic children's books with them.

The other day Samantha Grace picked out Brown Bear, Brown Bear one of our all time favorites along with another Eric Carle book called 10 Rubber Ducks. (I think she likes the later because it has a sqeaky rubber ducky at the end.)
While we were reading, I notice that Elijah was extremely animated. I begin to think it was just a fluke thing, but as I read further into the book his face just continued to light up. So Samantha Grace grabbed my iPod and snapped this photo.

PRICELESS!

Brown Bear, Brown Bear what do you see? I see Elijah smiling at me!

The Wavin' Wheat Sure Smells Sweet

Can you hear the tune to the theme song "Oklahoma" in your head yet? I have mentioned before that I never thought that I would miss the Midwest EVER but since stumbling upon The Pioneer Woman, I finding myself searching all kinds of things in the Midwest. Go figure! (I know my mom is shaking her head right now in complete udder disbelief in what she is reading. She might even re-read it a second time for clarification.)

Well, this week has been no exception. I had a bakery order come in this week for some desserts to feed about 80 guests. So to get into the spirit of spring and to make me feel a little happier since suffering with a sinus infection and bronchitis (did I mention that both our children are sick too with ear infections and sinus infections?), I decided upon making some beautiful sugar cookies decorated in bright spring fashion.

I knew I needed to make some royal icing to adorn on these precious gems, but I wanted to see how the "experts" were decorating these days. So I hopped on over to The Pioneer Woman's site and stumbled upon a posting of...you guessed it cookie decorating, which eventually led me to this awesome baking supply company called Sweet Baking Supply. I was shocked by their product line and their prices. It was my kind of store. Then upon further searching I found out that the actual store front is located in my state of origin...Kansas.

As I placed my first order today, I had a flash back memory of my Ama and I standing in her kitchen decorated still in the 70s wallpaper (gosh I miss her) making one of her amazing cakes! Then looking out upon the sweet waving wheat fields of Kansas. I feel like that every day that passes I become more and more such a sentimental sappy mommy. Oh, well, Samantha Grace and Elijah are just going to have to deal.


Any ways...I encourage all my baking and non-baking friends to head on over to Sweet Baking Supply. They even have some awesome freebies! You never know, you just might find that inner baker inside of you!

P.S. I wish I had some awesome photos to share with you of the flowers, but I neglected to photograph them in time. But they must have been divine because there were only 3 brownies left!

Pink Chair

Joshua and I bought this wonderful chair for Samantha Grace for her 2nd Christmas. She was just a little over 1 1/2 and you would have thought we hung the moon. This chair has been through it all. It's been crawled upon, climbed on, turned into a slide, a step stool and, yes, even thrown up on. But I will tell you that it is one of the hardiest and kid friendly chairs on the market.
Any ways, enough of my sales pitch...
Today, I was trying to rest as I seemed have caught what the kids have been fighting the last few weeks due to elevated pollen levels. SG was supposed to be playing in her room quietly. Well, after a small mishap in her room and a few shed tears, I walked in a few minutes later to find this...

Does this picture look familiar to some of my readers? For only a couple of years ago, this picture was taken...

My how she has grown!