Remember when..

I said we were going to get family pictures taken?

Recipe for retakes. One busy little boy. One open field. One stressed out mommy. One "just relax!" daddy. One melancholy baby. One camera that wasn't on the right setting.

Mix all of the above ingredients together and WAHLAH.

A big THANKS to our friend, Traci, who was kind enough, patient enough, and generous enough to come along and take our pictures.

We'll get retakes as soon as every one's feeling better. We've been passing on the sneezing, sniffling, coughing, aching, don't want to get out of bed GAMBOO around here!

Happy Birthday Big D!

We couldn't imagine life without you!

Baby, baby!

My sister Shelby had a cute little bambino....at the beginning of this month. Yeah, yeah, a little late, I know! See, in my brain, I was thinking that I had no pictures because my laptop is fried. But Shelby emailed them to me, and I CAN get my email from another computer! I was thinking the same thing about all the blogs that I look at because I have them on my laptop's RSS feeder. Again, DUH, I have real links to them all on my link page. It would be nice if my brain would function normal sometimes!

Alexis Mae. She looks cute! I am sure that when I see her in person, she really will be! And isn't her brother, Clark, just so sweet with her!

Feelin' Lucky

I guess you all should feel lucky that my laptop is fried. I have a pretty gruesome picture on it that I was planning on posting.

We have a cute little bird's nest perched atop our drain pipe on the second story of our house. We have heard little babies chirping. Then, the other day, we looked up and saw (little readers, please close your eyes and ears) an adult bird hanging a couple inches off the nest. After a couple double takes, eye squints, and neighbors agreeing, we indeed confirmed that the bird had got caught in some landscape fencing that had been part of his nest. We were worried that the babies would die, but saw another bird, hopefully the mother, in the nest last night. We need to call animal control and have them come take care of the dead bird so as not to disturb the intact nest.

Another set of pictures that I could have post are ones I chose not to take, for fear of my life and disgust. Over the weekend, we went into Lexington for a birthday party and chose afterward, to get lunch and head to Triangle Park just across the street from Rupp Arena. After we ate, I sat down on a bench to feed Ellie, and Paul and Dallin went toward the fountain. Along come two men. The type that make your wonder whether they are homeless, or just really unkempt (I'm not being rude, I am just being honest). They sit down on the bench next to me and the one closest to me pulls out a rather large pocket knife and starts sharpening its 5 inch blade. Meanwhile, I am trying to clean up sweet potatoes and running through my head how I can leave, QUICK, without appearing rude. Mr. Sharpen-my-knife-in-public has since finished sharpening the deadly blade and returned it safely into his bag when what should he do next? Out comes an even bigger pocket knife with an even bigger blade! That one must be dull as well because he starts sharpening its 7 inch long shaft! Yep, time to leave! QUICK!

We packed up and went inside to get a root beer float. Dallin wasn't sharing, so Ellie and I decided to head to the chocolate store. We never made it, because Ellie saw fit to throw up all over herself and the floor (and, phew, only my arms). Yep, time to leave!

So we went home. Sorry, NO pictures. Feel lucky!

Hey y'all!

Merger in process

I have a "crafty" blog. I started it about a year and a half ago. All four of my crafty blog readers know that I am very inconsistent in posting on it. In the beginning, posts were plentiful. Then I got pregnant and didn't even want to look at a computer or a craft without wanting to throw up. I eventually got over this (except for knitting, darn it, some day). I had all hopes and intentions of regaining my audience, then I changed its blog address. Mostly because I second guess myself, a lot. Posting came back here and there. However, with a new baby taking up two of my two hands (why didn't we come with four?) AND a two year old who has called it quits with nap time AND wants to help Mommy with EVERYTHING (he's a pro at rolling yarn into a....ahem....ball, creative mediums have been neglected. My sewing machine has been collecting dust for 6 months now, poor thing (it hasn't stopped me from buying fabric--don't tell Paul). Now, I am in no way talented, I am not trained in anything, and I can barely read a pattern.....but I do like to dabble. I spend more time undoing a mistake than I do actually contributing to the finished product.

What's the point of this really long explanation? It's time for my two worlds to meet. So, to my four dedicated readers, you can stop staring at my "Soap box" post day in and day out. Just check here.

What did you do today?

When Paul gets home from work today, he will ask me: How did therapy go? And to Dallin he will ask: What did you do today?



I think he had fun???

Oh so goodness!

I figured that since it's been awhile since I've put up any pictures of food, that now was as good of a time as any. And why not this picture of perfectly caramelized onions sprinkled with mozzarella cheese paired with perfectly cut, juicy steak all atop freshly baked french bread, resting ever so sweetly on a well seasoned, loved baking sheet, still warm from the sizzling broiler? Now that's a run on sentence I wouldn't mind reading, or tasting!!

Booty-full

My friend, Amy, knitted these beauties while she and her girls were here to visit. Mmmm, mmmm, they are yummy!

littlepretties

{click here, click here, click here}

My friend Sara is uber talented when it comes to anything artsy-fartsy. She has contributed to Ellie wardrobe immensely!

For example:

here & here

&

HERE

{Yep! Sara made this one, too!}

Sara is celebrating her 1 year anniversary of her littlepretties shop on etsy.

AND... She's having a giveaway on her super sassy blog. Go check it out!

Get down with the groove!

I love it when Elmo dances!

Little Red Hen

As we sit here on this Mother's Day, our thoughts are with those we love that are far, far away and some that are quite near as well. Our Little Red Hen's, if you will. Our mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunts, cousins, girlfriends, teachers. Those woman who have taught us how to work hard, be kind, love others, serve others, pick the wheat, grind the wheat, make the bread (and butter and jam).

WE LOVE YOU!!!

Happy National Grilled Cheese Month

Yes, it's true. April is National Grilled Cheese Month!!!

I found this tantalizing picture here. Now, before you go here, I must warn you: YOU WILL DROOL! If you want some free cheese, read here.

I think we'll have some grilled cheese for dinner.

What the......?

What are "dogs"?

These little signs are all over the lawn of our County Courthouse.

Thems some good spatulas

My mom gave me some of these heat resistant spatulas from Sam's Club(?). They are amazingly heat resistant when you bake them in the oven at 400 degrees for an hour and a half. **Update: Okay, I'll dish.

I had a huge stack of dishes that I never got around to doing. Therapy was coming over, so I stuffed the stack in my oven. I made sure to take everything out that night before I preheated my oven (I ruined my blender once this way). I failed to notice that my spatula was still in there.