Weekend Photo Frenzy

I just couldn't get over how slack I had been in the pictures of Ella Grace department so I made sure to keep my camera handy this weekend!

Friday evening we went down to the horse unit to finish up some chores and let Ella ride Scooter (for the 3rd time that week!).

Ella's earning her keep, scooping poop.

Waiting for Scooter to get brushed off.

Ready for action.

Ella has moved up to using the reins now.

Scooter gets a scoop of grain for his work.

After Ella's ride we headed over to see the new baby that came earlier in the week. The mama and baby are in a pen by themselves and this is what I got when we walked up.

Getting officially checked out by mom.

Cute little filly whose ears must have been squished while inside!

Then it was over to the pen with the mares who are close to foaling. All of these girls look rather large being in the family way... but check out Bert and her girth! That foal must have room for all kinds of aquatics in there!

I have been so kind as to outline Bert's body line and bump.

Off for chores and Maggie is King of the Hill.

Keeping her eye on all of the mares.

We added to the fun by going to the St. Patrick's Day parade Saturday with Angie and Miss Mallory.

We also joined the Wallace's Sunday at one of the rec centers in town so the boys could practice at the driving range and batting cages. I had the camera ready but David put the kabosh on that. Turns out I should have had it so David could take a picture of me in the batting cage swinging like a girl, I'm told, because I won't believe it without evidence!

'tude

The past few mornings Ella has been hard to rouse from bed. She is a huge pill if I go in and wake her up but she's generally OK if she wakes up on her own. This causes me to resort to sly tactics to get her to come around.

The past two mornings I have turned on the hall light to cast some light in her room (without being so mean as turning on the light in her room!). She has proven to be not so much a fan of the whole light trick.

Which brings me to this morning.

When I went into the living room this morning I turned on the living room light and then the TV. Shortly after I hear footsteps in her room and see her march out into the hall. Her hair is a mess and her expression is worse. She shoots me daggers and goes over to the light switch in the hall (which is off, mind you). Ella flips in on, recoils in the light, flips it off and marches back to bed.

I'm thinking 'Whoa! What an attitude!' and then 'Ha ha, smarty pants! That light wasn't on!'. Then I say 'I know you're awake, Ella Grace. Get up.'

I'm such a loving mother. And where in the hell did she get that 'tude? I didn't expect that crap until she was a teenager!

Princess Dance

Good grief, y'all, how could I have gone so long without posting a pic of my little E? She loves this gown that Grandmama gave her for Christmas and she tells us stories about the princesses that are on it. Ella also likes to dance around the living room in it and sing made up songs!

Wild hair from lots of dancing

Lucky 7

Count me in

12 million and one, please

Calci-Yum

YUM. I have just discovered the wealth of nutrients and yummyness that is chocolate milk! (I don't normally drink milk, for whatever reason...) But this is fresh from the cows right down the road and mixed up in the dairy bar in the building next door.

Oh-so-delish!

Soap Box

I have the weirdest subject to bring up to readers of my dear blog. I thought of it, quickly dismissed it and then went back to it with genuine interest.

What kind of soap do you use?

(I know it seems silly, but I really got to wondering about it.) Do you have two soaps in the shower, one for the girl and one for the guy, like me? Or have you settled on one that isn't too girly/masculine?

For the past however many years I have insisted on having my own Caress/Oil of Olay soap so that I would have sufficiently girly smelling skin. Not that Dial smells-like-a-doctors-office junk that David likes. But just recently I decided that this was silly (not to mention making two soap crud messes in the shower) and went on a hunt for a happy medium soap. After much deliberation in the Wal-Mart soap aisle and sniffing multiple boxes, I have come to Lever 2000. Pretty good fit, I think.

Tell me what you think.

**I already know that I'm nuts for creating a whole post on this, so you can spare me that comment!**

Update: After taking an informal office survey, I have determined that most marrieds use two different soaps. See, I'm not so weird after all! It has sparked quite the conversation in our little office, though!

Kitchen Magic

Since I'm not one to be shy about trumpeting my culinary pursuits, I present to you Homemade White Bread.



YUM.

This is the first time that I have ever tried white bread (and only the second time with homemade bread) and it was fabulous! I chalk it all up to a wonderfully easy recipe that I found on allrecipes.com. Not only did it come out looking beautiful, it smelled and tasted great. I used it Sunday morning and made some French Toast and then some delish garlic cheese toast that afternoon.

It's not quite the white bread sandwich loaf that you get from the grocery store but it is minus all of the preservatives and has a wonderful 'from the bakery' feel.

If you feel so inclined:

Crusty White Bread

Prep Time: 25 Minutes
Cook Time: 25 Minutes
Ready In: 2 Hours 30 Minutes
Yields: 24 servings

INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 tablespoon white sugar
2 cups water
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons margarine,
softened
6 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon salt

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a small mixing bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in the warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the yeast mixture with the milk, the butter or margarine, 4 cups of the flour and the salt; stir until well combined. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and supple, about 8 minutes.

3. Lightly oil a large mixing bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and put in a warm place to rise until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

5. Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces and form into loaves. Place the loaves into two lightly greased 9x5 inch loaf pans. Cover the loaves with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes.

6. Mist loaves with water and bake at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) oven for 20 to 30 minutes or until the loaves are golden brown and the bottom of a loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

I halved mine and didn't really have to adjust any of the times. If you take this link you can read what some of the reviewers of this recipe had to say. One even said that she used all purpose flour and it turned out great.

Desert No More

I know that I have been walking through the lonely, hot and dry desert of bloggerdom lately, and I'm sorry. I'm prepared to pepper you with many reasons for my lack of posting but I won't. What I will do is offer up this picture of me as penance. Surely you can get a good laugh out of it and forget all about my recent neglect?!

Here's me, the height of class and style: strap dangling, beer hugging after tossing an empty in the bucket. This is lake livin' in the South. Fo' sho'!

TIME

This was in one of my recent TIME magazines and I thought it was pretty darn clever. Blogger won't allow me to post it any bigger than this but if you click on the image it will open big for you.

I wish...

Seen at preschool on big 4 leaf clovers made out of construction paper:

Other kids' clovers (and wishes)

I wish... I had a car.
I wish... I had a snake.

Ella's

I wish... Santa would bring me some presents.

What in the world?! Was my child jilted at Christmas? Or is she just plain greedy?!

Catch Up

Recovering from Friday's activities is proving harder than the actual event! Things are really busy at work so I only have time to quickly post these two pictures that I have had hanging around.

I think pictures like this should be put on Mommy applications! "Are you willing to play barrettes and let a three year old do your hair?"

Proof of Ella Grace's OCD. These are the ants that go with her Ants in the Pants game. She lined them all up and by color too! (OCD, or is that autismn?!)

Bull Sale Madness

Today is the crazy day for me so all you get is this pic of crazy E.

E likes the bubbly, but her mom and dad may go for some frothy, cold and refreshing once today is over!

Say it ain't snow

This is what the little weather warning indicator looked like last night on TV. I know it's not the best picture but check out the SIX different colors on the map! I have never seen one quite so colorful... we had a storm warning, storm watch, tornado warning, tornado watch, flooding advisory and blowing snow advisory. Geez louise! (Fortunately, we were in the blowing snow advisory.)




Which lead to this, this morning. Can't see much, can you?!



Some heavy, wet snow piled high on the bare tree limbs.

This might all be well and good except for the fact that tomorrow is one of the biggest days for our department (and me!) where we have over 1,000 visitors for Cattlemen's Day and a Bull Sale. Boo snow!

Downhill Slide

A big huge Happy Birthday goes out to my sister Marisa! She turns 30 today (gasp!) and is officially on the downhill slide. I couldn't be happier to post a special Happy Birthday message to her today since she was so kind to me on my birthday and posted quite possibly the worst baby picture of me. Ever. What's the saying about payback being hell?!

Awww... what a sweet litle girl!

Who was given beer as a toddler. (PBR, at that!) This explains so much!

Who grew to love the beach and water.

Who could never keep her eyes open in pictures.

Who could make some pretty funny faces.


Who loves Ella almost as much as me.


Who was the most beautiful bride.

Happy Birthday Sissy!

2/27

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to Grandaddy!

Happy Birthday to you!

YEA!!

Big 8-9! (You don't look a day over 70!)

Rodeo Cowgirl

This weekend was the KSU Rodeo and that means a great big time for Miss Ella Grace. We went Friday and Saturday night and she had a blast. I got her all cowgirled up for the big Saturday night show - I LOVE this vest on her!

Each time I go to a rodeo I am reminded of why I really, really like it.

OK, here comes my soapbox:

Whether it's at the college level or in the pros, each contestant competes individually. They pay to enter each event and the only paycheck they get is one that they earn based on their performance. (Pros get sponsorship money, however.) Even though the competition is individual, there is a real sense of comraderie. At the Friday night show one contestant's rope got caught under his horse's leg and caused it to get real nervous and freak out. Four other competitors who were on the floor saw this and came running out to help the roper and his horse.

I also like the fact that each contestant has to provide their own horse, tack, rigging, etc. and has to get themselves (and said horse, tack or rigging) to the rodeo themselves. To me that creates a certain amount of responsibility that members of other teams may lack.

Also, one other thing that I really like is that at the beginning of every rodeo I have ever been to the announcer says a prayer. Public prayer?! You bet.

I'll step down from the box now... I think I've been here long enough!

Here and There

Gosh, y'all, I am so sorry for my lack of posting lately... It seems as if there isn't much going on (or at least interesting enough to post about)!

A few random tidbits:

Grandaddy had been back in the hospital to undergo two more surgeries but is back home now and is doing better than he has been in the past month and a half. Yippeee!

This weekend David broke out the chess board and challenged me to a game. Ugh. I haven't played since I was pregnant (and I thought the mental stimulation would somehow make Ella smarter... I might have been onto something there)! Oh, and that was the same time that I actually learned how to play so needless to say I was a bit rusty. I have publicly declared my need to prove my intelligence to David and chess DOES NOT do it! The queen is the most powerful piece on the board, as she should be, and that makes me happy.

Andria was the only blogger friend who answered my Icebox Showdown and she did it with gusto! I did receive a submission from anonymus:


Anyone got an idea whose super clean, super new fridge this may be?! Thank you to these two for not letting my showdown fall flat on its face. The rest of you should be ashamed of yourselves! :)

Fat Tuesday

Happy Mardi Gras, everybody!

I have been to New Orleans once and just loved it. I hope to make it there for Mardi Gras at least once before I die. Beignets, red beans and rice, jazz music and parler-ing some Francais: oui, oui!

Laissez les bon temps rouler! (Let the good times roll!)

Update

I was hoping for a seventh inning homer and boy did we get one! We got one more proposal fulfilled - hot damn! How very cool that we got three of the four fully fulfilled and the last one is almost half! Way to go, team!

I know that we have some very generous readers and that is a wonderful feeling for me. I hope that all of you who donated also have the wonderful feeling of knowing that you help enrich the education of some deserving kids!

Since I donated to the TIME magazine one, I got this email from the teacher in that classroom when it got fulfilled (and Grandaddy did too since I donated in his honor):

Thank you so much for your willingness to help my students. I've told them that we will be getting Time Magazine for Kids and we will be able to use them in both reading and social studies class. They are all very excited. My students and I are very fortunate to be able to count on wonderful people like you to help make learning more fun. Thanks again.
Sincerely, Myra Creech

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Let's Hear it for Jo!

Today is the birthday of one of the best friends a girl could ask for, Angie Jo!

Yea Angie, turning the big 3-0! Yikes!

To show my true love for some Angie Jo, I attempted my very first ever angel food cake last night. Angel food cake happens to be Angie's fave so I spent a little (lot) time a whippin' some egg whites. We'll have to see what the good word is when I make delivery today!

Angie is the proud mama of Miss Mallory

Not Candy and Flowers

I saw this article on msn.com and felt it was worth sharing. It's certainly not your typical candy and flowers...!

Zoos Cashing in on Valentine's With Sex Tours

Ice Box Showdown

Last night I stood looking at my fridge, wondering if anyone else's is as messy as mine? I've got the requisite photos, array of magnets, kiddie art, kiddie games and dentist appointment reminders. Holy smokes, it's full!

What could be better than seeing the front of my messy fridge? Seeing the inside, like on MTV's Cribs! Here it is in full glory. You'd never believe that I have enough groceries to get us to this weekend, would you?!

Now that I have shown you my fridge, I want to see yours! No rearraging, no cleaning. Go grab your camera and shoot. I won't do an official tag but I'm not above it! If you are not a blogger, email your pic to me. Maybe we can have a little game of Guess Who's Fridge?

Lovely Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope that you all receive a heartfelt 'I love you' today and maybe even a smooch or two!

We haven't hit our goal with the Blogger Challenge but I'm still holding out hope for a seventh inning homer! With two proposals fulfilled we have brought joy and education to two classrooms. Woo hoo! If you are interested in making a last minute donation, please click here.

I wanted to snap a picture of Ella blowing everyone a Valentine's kiss. And this is what I got!

I laughed and laughed and then laughed some more when I saw this!

Goofy Girl

Potato Soup

I have always like potato soup, just as long as it was prepared by someone else. Mine never seemed to turn out quite right. That is until I tried this recipe from Allrecipes.com. This is by far the best potato soup that I have had, much less made!

This recipe is very flexible in that you can add veggies or leave out the ham and it will still be great. I highly recommend topping it with some shredded cheese, chopped green onion and possibly some crumbled bacon. Yum! It also feezes beautifully.

Give this a try next time you feeling like some warm, creamy soup (especially on a cold winter night!).

Delicious Ham and Potato Soup

Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Cook Time: 25 Minutes
Ready In: 45 Minutes
Yields: 8 servings

INGREDIENTS:
3 1/2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
1/3 cup diced celery
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
3/4 cup diced cooked ham
3 1/4 cups water
2 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon ground white or black pepper, or to taste
5 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk

DIRECTIONS:
1. Combine the potatoes, celery, onion, ham and water in a stockpot. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the chicken bouillon, salt and pepper.

2. In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour with a fork, and cook, stirring constantly until thick, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in milk as not to allow lumps to form until all of the milk has been added. Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thick, 4 to 5 minutes.

3. Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot, and cook soup until heated through. Serve immediately.

Arcade Mania

Friday night I did something that I haven't done in YEARS (close to 20)!

We went out with Angie and Scott and to kill time before supper we hit the arcade in the mall. You would think that a group of four 'grown ups' would feel awkward in a place full of 10 year olds. You would think. We got our hot hands on some tokens and beelined it straight for the Skee Ball machine. Hot damn, Skee Ball! I haven't played it since Showbiz Pizza in Athens. The little lane that you roll the balls on seemed much shorter than I remember... hmmm...

By the time our table at the restaurant was ready, we had won 175 tickets. Just enough to trade for some cheap-o toys and plastic bracelet!

Feel the Love

Have you seen the thermometer at the right? We have one proposal that is fully funded (how exciting!) and are really feeling the love. But we need a wee bit more love!

The deadline for the challenge is coming up fast and we really want to succeed! If you have not, please consider making a tax deductible donation to some very deserving school kids. Every little bit helps! You can make a donation in honor of someone if you like, which is what I did because I happen to have the strongest grandaddy on the face of the planet!

(Because I'm shameless, I'm going to plug the TIME magazine proposal because it's the one I chose!)

Just ease your mouse right over here. It's good stuff.

E is getting sassy, looking for a few more donors!

Book Fair

Today in my little mailbox at preschool I was given a flyer for Scholastic books. I don't know if they are having a book fair but it was the exact thing that we used to get in elementary school when we had a book fair.

I went home at lunch and perused it for good deals or just great books in general. I had the best time looking through it with much the same excitement that I did in elementary school. I loved book fair day! (Except for the time that a book called 'Megan the Klutz' was popular and everyone called me that, but I digress...)

Way back when, Mom would give us a dollar limit of how much we could spend and I struggled with deciding which book to get. But here's the thing: I'm a big girl now and I can buy whatever I damn well please! Yea for the book fair and new books! Just as long as none of them are called 'Ella the Klutz'.

I'm It

I have been tagged.

It's a sneaky game in the blogger world where your *friends* or fellow bloggers call you out to post about a certain subject. Now I'm it, thanks to Andria, and I've got to spill 5 things about myself that y'all might not know or just quirks in general. Yippee!

1) I have to set the alarm clock to go off at a time that ends with a three or seven. Definitely no zeros or fives. Two, four, six, eight and nine are iffy because I think they are too close to zeros or fives.

2) I don't let the microwave get down to zero and go off if I'm in the room. I think it has something to do with hearing the beep because if I'm not in the room, it's OK.

3) I am quite possibly the world's worst 'history' person. I don't know what happened to who, when and where. I can't seem to keep it all straight. It could have something to do with cheating my way through Mr. Page's US History class... hmmm. I always end up asking David about historical events because he's like a history textbook, which leads me to #4.

4) I have a serious need to prove my intelligence to David. Not that he thinks I am unintelligent but because he is soooo smart. Poor Angie and Scott had to witness this as we played Fact or Crap one night. It was NOT pretty!

5) I absolutely can not leave drawers or cabinets open. Can not. If I notice that someone else has left them open, I'll go close them. It just seems so messy and wrong to me!

(Here I go, going past 5. Who knew I had more than 5 quirks?!)

6) When I take a shower I do everything in the exact same order. Shampoo, wash, rinse shampoo, conditioner, shave, rinse conditioner. I've thought about changing the order, just to say that I don't always do it the same, but I won't. Any other way is inefficient to me.

7) In most situations where numbers are involved I find myself doing unnecessary calculations. For example, if we were to go out to a restaurant where there was a 45 minute wait with six people ahead of us, I would calculate how many minutes should be between each person getting seated. Many times the numbers aren't quite that easy to crunch but I try to do it anyway.

8) I'll eat food that's cold. Not just luke warm, but straight out of the fridge. And not just pizza either. Mashed potatoes, casseroles, mac and cheese. Yum!

I swear that I am not as crazy as I sound! Right?! In an effort to make myself feel better, I am going to spread the goodness and officially tag Marisa, Laura and Karen. Here it is, girls. Hop to it.

Ella displays her own little OCD quirk and puts all of her horses in a line.

Lookie Lookie Lookie!

YEA!! Ella wrote her name for the first time! I am SO excited!

(Don't forget to Share the Love on Valentine's Day and donate! Don't know what I'm talking about but wish you did? Click here.)

Mermaid

Ella got some bath water color tablets for her birthday and the flavor for last night was blue. I thought it made a nice contrast with the white tub.

Share the Love on Valentine's Day!

What are you giving/getting for Valentine's Day? "Ugh", you say, "I don't even want to think about it". Yes, I know. Women really only want a heart felt "I love you" and to be relieved of supper duty (assuming that there is no hope for jewelry - we always want jewelry!). Men really only want one thing and it doesn't cost anything... ahem.

Don't let the traditional Valentine's Day fare trap you. Flowers, while beautiful, have a definite, very brief life span. Chocolate, yum... chocolate, only adds minutes to your workout. You might be best to give/get an aloe plant and a box of oatmeal. Handy, yes. Romantic, no.

That's why four of the most intelligent, good looking bloggers I know and I have partnered to promote a super duper special Valentine's Day project. Instead of buying gifts that are a mere motion, how about involving some emotion?

We (Niki, Andria, Ashley, Jeff and I) have chosen four proposals from DonorsChoose.org and we are asking you to help fund them. DonorsChoose is a website specifically set up for teachers across the country to request help for classroom projects, books, supplies, etc. What a wonderful way to put your money to good use!

We have a blogger challenge set up to see if we can get these proposals funded before Valentine's Day. Take a look.

Writing with 'Bare' Books

Capture Learning with a Digital Camera

TIME Magazine for Kids

Dramatic Reading Needs Props

If you are interested in contributing to one of these (and I hope that you are!) please do so via the challege website. That way we will know what funding we are bringing in rather than someone else.

Blog Challenge

As a little incentive: If you decide to contribute to these very worthy causes, let me know. There just might be a construction paper Valentine's Day card colored by a 3 year old in it for you! And maybe even a homemade delish cookie!

If you are a fab blogger and are not included in the challege but want to be, feel free to link to me or post your own plea!

Surely you can't deny this plea?!