RRRRRRRRR

At the end of a long day...

When my feet hurt

When I'm hungry

When the dishes are piled high

When the laundry is staring at me

When the toys are all consuming

When the poop has been cleaned up

When the pee has been cleaned up

When all I can think of are the sheets

I get to see this face:

And I realize just how blessed I am.

Trip to Siloam

Wow! We have had a busy last few days. Yesterday, the kids and I went to Siloam. We picked up PaPaw and went for a visit to Mr. Gene and Ms. Pat's home. They own a "junk" store and have lots of stuff at their home. We went to look at some things that we might can use at our church. After the torrential rain, the day turned out lovely and Eli enjoyed exploring their yard. When we got back to PaPaw and Grannie's we took a walk. I think it took an hour to walk a quarter mile! Eli was observing everything. He was running and took a tumble (although he never missed a beat). He played doctor and cleaned his scraped knees with hydrogen peroxide and put his bandaids on. He is getting so big and independant! Aunt GaGa and Uncle Micah came over and brought dinner: chicken spaghetti. Eli ate two plates full! He is CRAZY about Aunt GaGa. CRAZY. She had to read him atleast 10 books. She tried to get Eli to take the books to Uncle Micah - but Eli took her hand and put it on the book! So funny!
This morning, the kids, PaPaw and I went to watch the new Really Woolly movie. It's called "The Tree of Life." Great movie! It was showing for free at the Siloam Spring's theater. There were a ton of people! Eli did great - he and his PaPaw shared popcorn and Root Beer. What more could you ask for? We also stopped by Ms. Pat's store and then had Mexican food for lunch. Poor Eli quickly passed out on the way home. In fact, he's still napping!
Well, that's a recap of the last few days. Have a good rest of the week!

Monday

I don't have much to say...but, it seems if I don't write a new post then my blog list doesn't update. And, yes, I often check up on those blogs!
We had a busy weekend! Busy...I was bone tired last night. And, that's not a good sign when small children are involved. But...we had a good weekend.
It's so great to hear about everyone's Spring Break plans. Secretly, I wish I was going on some fun trip (with no expense ofcourse!) with or with out the family. Just to go somewhere new and fun and to be adventurous! And, definitely to find a good ice cream place. You can always find good ice cream on vacation!
This morning my friend Sarah had her wisdom teeth taken out. So, I watched her 3 kids. Yes, with my 2 kids, that's 5!!! They were great though. We watched Milo and Otis, the Emperor's New Groove, and 2 Veggie Tales videos. I know, it was TV overload. But, it was too windy to play outside and I don't have any big kid toys. So...TV and cheeze-its were our activities of choice!
Tonight I'm going to attempt to make homemade pesto. I've wanted to do this forever. I'm using the recipe from when Oprah had the Food Network chefs cook with families a few weeks back. More to come on this.
Abi's crying...must feed her!

Stats

The kids had a great check up yesterday. Abigail is 11 lbs 7 oz (75th percentile) and 23.23 inches (90th percentile)! The doctor said she couldn't be growing any better! Eli is 24 lbs and 34 inches. Still tall and skinny!

We're glad it's the weekend! I really want to plan...then plant my garden. But, I can't get Chris and I together long enough to get it planned. Figures. I'll probably still be talking about planning the garden well thru the summer.

Have a great weekend!

Awesome Weather!

WOO HOO! We have had record warm weather for the past two days! Praise the Lord! (And praise Him that I found time to paint my toe nails last week in time for sandal weather!) Eli has been doing some serious outside playing! On Tuesday, we went to the park with Sarah and Faith. Eli loves to swing. I need to take him more - he's not too certain about the rest of the playground stuff. Anyhow, it was great. Sarah brought fresh blueberry muffins and I brought juice boxes and Cheetos. The kids thought it was delicious!
We've also been doing creative outdoor play in our backyard. I say creative because, well, it includes a big tupperware bowl filled with water and a little Dawn (for bubbles!), a Darren McFadden cup, a pink plastic cup, a small tupperware bowl, frog and octupus bath toys...well, and that's it. But, Eli gets a kick out of it all!
He is spending the night with his grandparents tonight. So...Abi and I have been spoiling ourselves! I can actually nap with only one child at the house! And, oh...it was a lovely long nap! Then we spent the afternoon playing, smiling, and giggling at each other. Is there a better way to spend the time?
Tomorrow the kids go to the doctor for checkups.
Also, how sad about Natasha Richardson dying. I am so sad for her husband and two boys. Wow. I can't imagine that happening so fast...and when her skiing accident seemed so minor!
Ok, Chris is home and I want to spend a few minutes with him...and watch 24!

Early St. Patrick's Day

I thought today was St. Patrick's Day. It's only mid march and I still can't read my day calendar correctly! Oh well! I'm glad I sent Chris to work wearing green anyways! But, he was home shortly after - he's got a rough spring cold. It seems to be going around. Anyhow, I do enjoy him home with us...even under the weather!

In celebration of St. Patrick's Day I made Shepherd's Pie. I've never tried it, but I know that Chris likes it...and he's home to have dinner with us...so I was determined. I have this fantabulous cookbook that my aunt gave me when I got married. It's called the Fannie Farmer Cookbook. If I'm not mistaken, it's suppose to be one of the first real cookbooks ever put together in the United States. I love it because there is so much I can make from scratch! Plus, it does give a bit of history behind some of our favorite foods. And, there's all the techniques and lots of variations to many recipes. Ok, that's my endorsement of the Fannie Farmer cookbook. I can honestly say that I use it more than any other!

Back to the Shepherd's Pie...mercy. It was a lot of work! It calls for lamb or beef...obviously, we're using beef. The recipe said it works great with leftover meat. Well, we didn't have leftovers, so I had to start from the beginning. I chopped my sirloin pretty well and cooked it with onions, garlic, and rosemary (a new spice for me to use with meat). Anyhow, to make it fine, I ran it through the food processor. I was VERY nervous about this. But, it worked great! And, I used instant mashed potatoes! Go me! It's in the oven now and I sure hope it's good. There was quiet a bit of elbow grease put into it!

We're also having Blackberry Cobbler (not homemade) for dessert. Don't tell Chris! It's his favorite!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day...tomorrow! I'm sure we'll just enjoy leftovers!

A rainy day project (plus a potty training photo)