A week later...!

Holy smokes, y'all... I can NOT believe that I have gone this long without posting! I still don't have much time to put up everything that is swirling around in my head, but I did have these pictures from this weekend that I thought were cute. Those of you in a dire need of an Ella Grace fix, here you are! It was cowgirl time the other night and she got out her hat, boots, rocking horse and rope for a little 'ranch work'.

This is the official cowgirl pose with jeans tucked in just like her daddy.

Kansas, y'all

Seen outside my car window

Could it be that Kansas is coming to its senses about the glory that is sweet tea?! Or is this a result of Ft. Riley being next door (with all those southern soldiers)? Who cares why? Sweet tea has come to the central plains and I was so excited, until I tried it. Not quite my speed but an A for effort!

On the same morning that I saw the sweet tea sign, I logged into my Hotmail account to find this ad:

mmm... southern style chicken biscuits!

I'm thinking that the teeny tiny writing at the bottom, something about 'participation may vary' is gonna get me. I doubt that I will ever see this surface in Kansas, the state known for its beef, but it was fun to dream away to a sweet southern lullaby of sweet tea and chicken biscuits!

Pickled

Mmmm... I love Claussen pickles! I go through stages where I will buy them frequently and then not so often. Here I am, back in a Claussen 'swing' and don't you just know that it fits perfectly with the whole pregnancy territory?!

I bought a jar of pickles this past Sunday and have enjoyed a ham and cheese sandwich with them for the past 3 days! Cutting up the pickles and putting them in the sandwich reminds me of going to the cottage house in Florida with Granny and Grandaddy. They always had cold Claussens and taught me to pile them on a sandwich like a champ. Each time I have a sandwich not only do I relish in the yumminess of it, but I am also taken back to days by the bay with G&G. That's worth a trip to the grocery store by itself!

Lambies

Friday I ran into one of the students who lives out at the sheep barn and I sweetly asked if Ella could come out to see all the cute lambs they have. Of course! he says and oh, by the way, they happen to have a few bottle lambs (two mamas had triplets and that is just too much for one girl to feed). Yippee! I knew that she would be so excited to get to feed the lambs. Grandma and Grandpa, who used to raise sheep themselves, took Ella out to the barn and David got these cute photos.

Sugar Sunny Tower

Mom sent me an email about how to find your stripper name and I thought it was pretty funny! Let me know what you come up with (guys too!).

1. Use the third letter of your first name to determine your new first name:

a = Fantasia

b = Chesty

c = Starr

d = Diamond

e =Montana

f = Angel

g = Sugar

h = Mimi

i = Lola

j =Kitty

k = Roxie

l = Dallas

m = Princess

n = Heidi

o = Bambi

p = Bunny

q = Brandy

r = Sugar

s = Candy

t = Raquelle

u = Sapphire

v = Cinnamon

w = Blaze

x = Trixie

y = Isis

z = Jade

2. Use the second letter of your middle name (or last name if you don't
have a middle name) to determine the first half of your new last name:

a = Leather

b = Dream

c = Sunny

d = Deep

e = Heaven

f = Tight

g = Shimmer

h = Velvet

i = Lusty

j = Harley

k = Passion

l = Dazzle

m = Dixon

n = Spank

o = Glitter

p = Razor

q = Meadow

r = Glitz

s = Sparkle

t = Sweet

u = Silver

v = Tickle

w = Cherry

x = Hard

y = Night

z = Amber

3. Use the third letter of your last name to determine the second half of your new last name:

a = hooter

b = horn

c = tower

d = fire

e = thighs

f = hips

g = side

h = jugs

i = shock

j = cocker

k = brook

l = tush

m = sizzle

n = ridge

o = kiss

p = bomb

q = cream

r = thong

s = heat

t = whip

u = cheeks

v = rock

w = hiney

x = button

y = lick

z = juice

Ol' blue eyes

Brandy was sooo nice and got this shirt for one of her favorite blue eyed girls. I think it is so cute! Of course everyone loves a blue eyed girl! (Green eyed girls aren't too bad, either!)

November Babies Rock!

I got some good news this morning...! My good friend Andria from AndriasRandomThoughts announced her pregnancy! Yippee! She is due only 11 days before me so we are practically pregnancy twins! In her post she put up pictures from a recent ultrasound. While her doctor likes to do a lot of those, mine only does one! Go check out her post and the wee baby pics. That's what my little strawberry looks like too!

Unfortunately, I had to mark down a first on the ol' pregnancy front yesterday. I had my very first pregnancy induced bowl hugging incident. Ugh. At least it wasn't as painful as an alcohol induced incident, though!

Easter Bunny

We had such a good time yesterday! Ella really comprehended the concept of the Easter Bunny and was so excited to see what he might bring her. We dyed some eggs and left those for Mister Cottontail (I had heard that if you leave him some eggs, he will hide them...). When she got up she was so excited about her new flip flops, Lincoln Logs and candy.* Then she got to hunt the eggs that the Easter Bunny hid! Big times!

E with her candy filled eggs and new shoes.

Miss Priss

David's mom and dad (Grandma and Grandpa) are in town for a visit so we went over to Aunt Jamie and Uncle Jeff's house for lunch. After lots of great food and visiting, Grandma and Grandpa came back to Manhattan with us last night. So, Ella is at home with Grandma today getting spoiled rotten!

*I'm such a hard ass when it comes to giving E candy, but I made a slight exception for Easter. It wasn't gobs and gobs, but it was enough! And then she didn't even like the Peeps! She said that the EB had put too much salt on them (which was actually the sugar on the outside). Looks like Peeps for me!

Big Brother

I had this link sent to me and thought it was pretty cool. You can type in any cell phone number and it will use GPS to map where the phone (and person) is located. I did it and found David way out in the pasture!

http://www.sat-gps-locate.com

Let me know what you think!

WTF?!

IIII'm dreamiiiing of a whiiiiite Easter!

It is sho' nuff snowing here. How crazy!

Berry Green

Baby McClure is the size of a strawberry this week!

I read that my next food/baby comparison will be a cocktail shrimp, which I don't really like... Seafood has never been one of my favorites and the smell of it normally makes me turn in the other direction. That's on a normal day. These days are not normal. Each day is a very heightened sensory experience and as much as a whiff of shrimp is apt to make me sick.

The first time around I didn't really get sick or 'green' at all. Wasn't I a lucky girl?! Apparently my luck has run a bit shy this time because I have waves of greenness and some of the strangest things are all of the sudden disgusting to me. Wheat bread, for example. Ick. And I have lost all desire to drink my beloved sweet tea!

There have been some rumblings that maybe this is a little boy strawberry since the pregnancy is different from the first. Hmmm.... Whatever it is, it will not be a cocktail shrimp! An apricot, perhaps...

(Oh! I just realized that I have not officially named the due date! November 14th, kids, write it down!)

I (heart) Dot Dresses

This weekend brought some time off in Topeka with Angie Jo doing a little shopping (mainly watching AJ shop!). Mom sent me on a mission to find Ella an Easter present from her and boy did I find a cute dress!

Posing and a pretty skirt twirl

Sunday was so nice outside that Ella and Lil did a little bonding, just hanging out.

David agreed to play on our department's softball team (the Animals of Science, ha ha!) and he had his first practice Sunday afternoon. Ella and I went to watch and then we all headed over to the slides for a little fun in the sun.

E heads down the big slide and then 'catches' David as he makes his way down.

Rebel E tries to go up the slide the wrong way.

Merry go round fun.

No April Fool

If I were a horse my name would be Bert.

(Don't know who Bert is or why I am writing riddles? Click the link and see what you find!)

Seeds, a tiller and big plans

As the picture to the right declares, plans for the garden are taking shape. I realize that I hammered you throughout last spring and summer with minute details about our little plot of ground. And I'm going to do it again.

Hot damn!, you say, I love Kansas garden information! (Or was that Oh damn!, you say, I do not love Kansas, or gardens, or information!)

The plans are formulating as such:

• Less corn than last time due to the corn smut issue
• More squash than last time since our one plant died so early in life
• Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes!
• Cucumbers
• Peas of the black eye type variety
• Peppers! bell and hotsie totsie
• Onions
• Probably not going through the pain of those damn watermelons or pumpkins (Oh wait! maybe one of the Giant Pumpkin seeds that Marisa sent last fall. Don't tell David.)
• Possibly some herbs of some fashion

Do you have any suggestions of wonderful veggies that we should grow? Anything that you just want to see us tangle with? That could make the weekly garden images a little more interesting, for sure...

Looks like we have our plate full with all of the planning and execution that is on the horizon. Hopefully after all of our sweat and hard work we will end up with a very full plate again!

Fashionista Ella

What we have here is a bona fide Snazzy Pants Cowgirl, except that she doesn't have on any pants due to lots of mud puddle hopping. Nothing but high style for this girl as she chooses to pair bright red socks with the ensemble. The sassy yet casual cowpoke pose completes the look.

Who needs Paris or Milan when you have this at home?!

Zzzzzz....

It's Friday afternoon, overcast outside, just after lunch and nap time is calling. I'm ready to take a page out of Miss Maggie's book and get cozy with the back of my eyelids (sans thigh bone, of course).

Somebody wake me when it's 5.

D.O.F.N.R.

Tomorrow will be the much saught after, ever rare Day Off For No Reason. No vacation to plan and pack for, no doctors appointment to shuttle to, no person that expects to see me. Just a plain old day off. Hot damn!

The DOFNR comes around so rarely that I am going to take Ella to preschool. At the regular time. And I'm not going to feel one bit guilty about it (ok, maybe just a little, itty, bitty bit).

I have really come to relish time at home alone. It happens so infrequently and in small doses. Sometimes a girl just needs to be on her own turf, on her own time, and answering only to herself.

(Am I flashing my BAD MOTHER/WIFE cards by admitting all of this?!)

I have big plans for tomorrow. They MIGHT include:

*cleaning the bathrooms

*vacuuming the house

*organizing bills/receipts

*labeling old photos

*running an errand or two

That's a big ol' might. What my plans will MOST DEFINITELY include:

*lolling about on the couch

*watching a movie (see above)

*taking a nap

*general laziness on all accounts

I think that sums it up pretty well. Enjoy your Wednesday! I know I will enjoy mine!

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!