And Even More Catching Up

I've had some pictures from the 4th, but didn't have my photo editing program installed on my laptop yet, and the red eyes were horrible in the pictures! Now I have it installed, so I was able to make my kids look normal again and now I will share the pics.

My parents, my brother and my aunt came and we grilled hamburgers with all the trimmings. We had a great time and ate plenty.

Us girls went over to see my parents' new house. Then we left my Mom their to get some unpacking done while I took my Aunt back to our house so she could try to get home before dark. Then my Dad and brother headed over to the house as well. So everyone was gone before dark.

My Mom had brought a HUGE box of fireworks, but we never even got to them. We were so tired, we crashed before it was really dark enough to do them. Are we getting old or what?

And I don't know how I managed to NOT take any pictures while everyone was here. Shame on me! But I did snap a few pics of the kids so I'd at least have something to scrapbook from the 4th! So here they are:

My little firecracker:


I couldn't decide which of these two I liked more, so I included both of them:



Miss Liberty:


I was tempted to add the pics of CJ to show what I go through when trying to get pictures of him, but I decided to spare him and anyone reading this! At least I got a couple with him being nice and smiling!

Randomness

**Warning - as the title says, this post is very random. A brain dump, if you will. And it could even get boring. You have been warned! LOL!**


My daughter is apparently influenced by the things she watches on TV. She LOVES the movie Alvin and the Chipmunks. And it totally cracks me up the things she picks up.

Last night CJ was sitting in the floor. Ruthi got up, stood in front of him and stuck her booty out. When I told her not to do that, she replied with, "I'm just trying to toot! Like Alvin does!" I'm not completely sure it is Alvin who raises his tail and toots, but if is one of the chipmunks, and Ruthi finds it hilarious. Obviously.

And that may be one of the funniest things she's done because of something she's watched, but it's certainly not the first. And not the last, I'm afraid.

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My parents' move is almost official! They've brought a few things up already but the rest is happening this week. I spoke to my Mom a little while ago and they were headed to the new house. The movers will be bringing the rest of their things Friday or Saturday. I can hardly believe they are now only going to be 20 minutes from me. I'm still very excited about that!

My Mom got her transfer MUCH quicker than she expected and starts tomorrow at her new location. And tomorrow night she will be staying by herself in "that big house" and is a little anxious about it. But I know she will be fine. My Dad will be going back to the old house to get more packing done, I think. After my Mom gets off work tomorrow, she's coming here for dinner. I'm looking forward to more dinners together with my parents!

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Did I mention that my new neighbor is a scrapbooker? I may have, but I don't remember. Can I tell you how exciting that is? I've never had someone who lives that close to me that shared my passion. It's a wonderful thing!

Saturday, she came over and we did a little scrapbooking. She was working on a page and realized she needed another sheet of the paper she was using, and out of the TONS of paper I had, I didn't have any of the same. So that was an excuse to make another trip to Michaels.

So, Sunday afternoon that's exactly what we did. We were having fun shopping, but I was telling her how Hobby Lobby has a much bigger selection of paper. She said we should go, but seeing how it is a little further away, I told her it was best to go when they were having a good sale.

So I called my wonderful hubby and asked him to go online and find out if there were any good sales this week. And it just so happened that there was a great 50% off sale on scrapbooking stuff going on.

He was at home with the kids, so I asked him if he was in a hurry for me to get home. He said no, so it was a perfect time to go. And then he told me he was making a deposit into my account. I asked him what for, and he said, "Because I love you." My husband is fantastic. He knows it would be difficult for me to go into a store that was having a great scrapbook sale with little to spend. He knows me well, and he loves me so much, and he really wants to make me happy. So when he can give me some extra fun money, he enjoys doing it. He's one incredible husband. So yeah, I had a little fun.

But not on Sunday. Because as soon as we turned in, It hit me that it was Sunday, and Hobby Lobby is closed on Sunday! Aaarrggg! (And if I had indulged my hubby when he was reading the ad - where I thought he was just being silly - I'm sure he would have gotten to the hours and reminded me they were closed. Oh well.

We just went back on Monday! And we had fun! (Thanks Honey!!!}

Next week, my neighbor's mom and sister are coming for a visit. And they are bringing their stamps and scrapbook stuff! I'm looking forward to a very fun week! I've already asked Chip if he minds the fact that there's going to be a lot of stuff sitting out all week.

And because he's so wonderful, he doesn't mind at all!

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I'm sure I could sit here and keep going, but this post is long enough already. So I'll stop here.

Good night!

Eventually....

That's when I'll get caught up. I really will eventually. We went to visit Chip's Grandmother back on the 1st of this month. She had been in the hospital with pneumonia, and while she was there, she fell and broke her tail bone. So they moved her to a rehabilitation center. That's where we went to visit her.

Grandmother is 90 years young and has an amazing memory. But sometimes she isn't so clear on things, and for a minute she might not know who you are.

When we got to her room, Chip walked in first and when he said hello to her, she asked, "Who are you?" When he said, "Chip", she replied with, "My Chip?" It was so sweet. And she was so thrilled to see him as well as the rest of us.

Shortly after we arrived, there was a knock at the door. We got a double bonus visit, as it was Aunt Sue and Aunt Edna!

Sue had come to do Grandmother's hair. So we all went down to the little shop there in the center, and hung out while Grandmother got all prettied up.

Ruthi was a little restless, so Edna entertained her by rolling her around in Grandmother's wheelchair.

I took quite a few pictures. I don't have my photo editing program installed on my laptop yet, so ignore the red eyes and such. I put these in a slide show, but then I have a few special photos that will follow.

If you look very closely to that last picture, you might notice Ruthi looks just a little different. That's because....

Ruthi got her first haircut!

We had talked about having her hair trimmed to give her some bangs. Her hair was always falling into her eyes if she didn't have a bow in, and it was "aggabating" her. I had intended to ask my hair dresser to cut it the next time I go in.

But as we were sitting there waiting for Grandmother's hair to dry, Chip said, "Hey, maybe Sue could cut Ruthi's hair!" I looked as Sue and asked if she minded, and she was happy to do it.

Ruthi sat very still and did great until I made an "awww" noise (or something like that) and she turned to look at me. Oops! But it was fine.

Our little girl all of a sudden looked so much bigger!
Here are some pictures of her getting the cut, and the "after" photo.

(OK, for some reason, Blogger is not letting me upload the pictures, so I'm putting them in another slide show.)

And yes, I definitely saved her hair. (Thanks to Sue who handed to me - otherwise I might have forgotten - I was so caught up in Ruthi's new look!) Thank you Sue!!!!

A Little Catching Up

Last weekend, we went to visit my Granddad. My Aunt Connie and her two grandsons brought him to his house here in Georgia for a few days. Since that's much closer than where they live in Kentucky, we try to get up and see them when they come here.

Unfortunately, we had not been able to make it the last couple of times, so we had not seen them since the beginning of December! So we were really looking forward to the visit.

Austin is four, so he and Ruthi had an absolute blast together. They laughed and giggled and ran around like best friends. I wish my kids got to see their cousins more often, but everyone is so spread out, it makes it very difficult. The way Ruthi and Austin played together, you'd never know they hadn't seen each other in almost seven months! I was so glad they took right to each other.

We had a very nice visit. It was so good to see my Granddaddy again. And I could hardly believe that Ruthi went right in and gave him a great big ol' hug. It was so sweet.

After a while, we headed to a somewhat local lake and had a grand time in the water. The kids, my aunt and I did, anyway. My Granddad, parents and Chip sat out and watched.

When the beach closed we got out and my Mom informed me we were all going out to eat. I laughed, knowing Chip would never have agreed to that knowing I didn't have anything with me to make me presentable again after swimming!

Apparently I was wrong. And from what I gathered, it was even his idea! I protested for a while, saying there was no way I was going to eat with wet hair and no makeup. But I soon gave in and decided not to worry so much about my appearance. After all, we were away from home where no one but my family knew me right?

Actually it took a lot of convincing from everyone else that I looked just fine. And even though I didn't really agree, I went anyway. And it didn't kill me! LOL.
Thankfully, my sunglasses acted as a headband to keep my hair out of my eyes!

It may sound silly, but for those who know me well, know this was a big step for me. I'm not terribly vain or anything, but I like my hair to be brushed and at least a little bit of foundation on to be seen in public. But I went, and I survived, and it didn't hurt me. And maybe it was good for me.

Anyway, as usual there were tons of pictures taken. So I've narrowed them down and put them in yet another nifty slide show.

Enjoy!

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far...

According to my parents, I had this silly odd cute thing I did when I was very small. Seems I had some sort of obsession with my feet.

As in...I wanted people to kiss them.

Apparently, I would be in a cart at the store and when a stranger would peer in to look at how cute I was, I'd stick my foot in the air and say, "Kiss my foot!"

Thankfully, I outgrew that game.

My daughter has a similar game she likes to play.

However, she prefers smelling over kissing.

So she regularly sticks her feet in our face and says, "Smell my feet!"

Endearing, huh?

I'm very pleased to say though, that so far, she has only offered the aroma of her feet to family members. And I hope it stays that way.

I don't think I'd find a rock large enough to crawl under if she insisted that a complete stranger "smell her feet!"

I'm hoping that she too will outgrow this little obsession. At least before she starts dating!

As they say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. And though she may LOOK just like her Daddy, she is so much a little me!

And frankly, that scares me just a bit!

Not Keepin Up So Well

What made me think I could post every day this month when I haven't posted much at all lately?

I did have good intentions of posting yesterday. I even thought about it a few times. But I was running around all day and cleaning last night.

I'm still going to try to post as many days this month as I can. I need to get back into the swing of it! Maybe if I post more often, then my posts won't be quite so long.

Yeah...Right.

You all know me better than that.

Since my parents are in the middle of moving, our 4th plans changed. We were going to go to their house to celebrate. Now we are going to celebrate here. So I've been a little busy.

But I'm so excited that it is official. They closed on the house and are moving their first load today! I keep pinching myself to make sure I'm not dreaming.

And I'm not.

My parents really are going to live only 20 minutes from me. I'm a very happy camper.

I haven't had a chance to get pictures up yet, but I will work on that tomorrow.

Now I've got to run finish a few things.

Happy 4th of July!!!

Works For Me: The Five-Ingredients-Or-Less Edition

Shannon over at Rocks in My Dryer hosts Works-for-me-Wednesday every week. I've never participated before because I don't usually have great ideas to share. However, today she's asking for recipes that use five ingredients or less. And since I have a few good ones, I thought I'd share some. So here we go:

This first one is something my neighbor makes and my son loves. I finally got to taste it and it was so good, I came home and made some right away. This would be great to serve at a party as an appetizer, but we like it for lunch.

Chicken Dip
2 boneless chicken breasts
1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/2 bottle Ranch dressing
1/2 bottle Franks hot sauce (you could probably use any kind, but this one has a bit of a vinegar-y flavor that works really well for this)
Grated Cheddar cheese

Boil chicken breasts until done. (About 10-15 min.) When cool enough to handle, chop or shred the chicken.
In a bowl, combine chicken, cream cheese, dressing, hot sauce and about a handful of cheese.
Spread into 9x13 baking dish. Add a layer of cheese on top.
Place in 350 degree oven until heated through and cheese is bubbly - about 20 minutes.

Serve with tortilla chips. YUM!

This was spicy, but not too hot. If you like less heat, just use less hot sauce, and you could increase the amount dressing.




This next one I made for dinner tonight. It was very good and my kids loved it. I changed it slightly - I'll post the original ingredients, and my changes next to them. This came from the Kraft Food & Family magazine.

Cheddar Macaroni Beef Casserole
Prep: 20 min.
Total: 30 min.

1 pkg (7.25 oz) Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Dinner (I used a generic mac & cheese)
1 lb. lean ground beef (I used ground turkey)
1 can (14.5 oz) Italian-style stewed tomatoes, undrained (I used a can of Rotel)
1/2 tsp. dried oregano leaves or dried basil leaves (I used the oregano, but I also added some garlic powder)
1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare Mac & Cheese as directed on package, omitting butter. Meanwhile, brown meat in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat; drain. Add tomatoes and oregano; mix well. Bring to boil.

Add meat mixture to Mac & Cheese; spoon into 2-qt. casserole dish. Sprinkle with cheese.

Bake 10 min. or until cheese is melted and casserole is heated through.

Makes 4 servings, 1 3/4 cups each.

We actually poured some Ranch dressing over the top before eating. The Rotel makes it a little spicy, and the dressing cuts the heat. The original version is a little more Italian-y, and the was I did it was a bit more Mexican-y which we love!




And for a quick and super easy dessert - I cannot believe how easy and how delicious this is!

Peanut Butter Fudge
1 cup butter, plus more for greasing pan
1 cup peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 pound powdered sugar

Microwave butter and peanut butter for 2 minutes on high. Stir an dmocrowave on high for 2 more mintues. Add vanilla and powdered sugar to peanute butter mixture and stil to combine wiht a wooden spoon. Pour into a buttered 8 by 8-inch pan lined with waxed paper. Place a second piece of waxed paper on the surface of the fudge and refrigerate until cool. Cut into 1-inch pieces and store in an airtight contained for up to a week

I got this recipe from The Food Network, and it is from Alton Brown. Every time I've made it, everyone gobbles it up!

If you'd like to see more five-ingredient-or-less recipes, be sure to visit Rocks in My Dryer. There are TONS - as in almost 400 people posted recipes before me!!!

Still Kickin'

That's right - I'm still alive and kickin'! I've been quite busy and haven't had much blogging time. I'm even behind on blog reading again!

I have so much to catch up on, I'm not even sure where to start. I have lots of pictures to share, and I'm going to have more before the weekend is over.

I'm not going to share any tonight, or this post will end up being painfully long. I will get them into a slide show and share them on my next post.

We went to visit my Granddad on Saturday and then Chip's Grandmother yesterday, so I have lots of good pictures coming!

Monday was my birthday and it was a fabulous day. My neighbor had been "stealing" Ruthi away to work on a gift for me, and Ruthi got to help bake me a birthday cake. I haven't taken a picture of the gift yet, but I'll get that done and put up soon too.

And by this weekend, I will probably be blogging from my new laptop!!! It is actually my hubby's laptop, but it's about to become mine. He needed a smaller one since he carries his everywhere, so I am absolutely thrilled to be getting his "old" one. I was excited when he showed me the other one that was coming but actually thought to myself that I'd have to figure it all out. When I discovered I would be getting his current one, I was actually more excited!

He's been going through the tedious process of moving all the stuff from one to the other. And I've been going through files and trying to delete a bunch of stuff I don't need anymore to make it a little easier for him to move all the stuff from this computer to my new one. Once the move is complete, this computer will become CJ's, and he's just a little bit happy about that!

I know I've been scarce in posting lately, and I thought I'd do something to get me going again. So I joined the NaBloPoMo for July. However, I already goofed up and missed yesterday! So I won't get my 31 days, but I'm still going to try to go for it and post every day for the rest of this month.

There is actually a monthly theme, and for July it is food. So I'm going to try and post quite a few of my favorite recipes this month. But I'll be posting regular stuff too. We'll see how it goes!

That's all for now - I'll work on getting these pictures ready to post. Be back tomorrow!