Fall Festival

We had a great time at the Fall Festival. There were games, tons of chili and hotdogs, pony rides, a big hayride, face painting, a cupcake walk, and of course, Flutterby made balloons and I did tattoos. We were a little chilly and the wind was blowing stuff around, but we didn't lose our wigs or anything, so it was a great day!

Here we are in the photo-op area. Someone with blue hair didn't really want to be taking pictures. Can you tell?

Coco made a huge haul of candy and prizes. I honestly thing she had the biggest bag of all!

Rainy Thursday

I apologize for no early am picture post today - we slept a little late and it is pouring down rain and the little people didn't want to get wet.....anyway, I had to drive them to the corner and wait in the car for the bus. Now I have to get ready to go to WORK ( I know, it is Thursday) to deal with the backlog of CHARTS that keep piling up on my desk. I fI was rich, I would just hire someone to walk around behind me and write all this stuff down as we do it so I wouldn't have to constantly re-hash it.
On a happier note, I do have to go to the bank, post office, Barnes and Nobel, and the grocery store and then come home and clean up a little before picking the chirrens up to head back to DANCE class. I'm not thinking that a nap is figuring in there anywhere. SA, I am getting a couple of those Sookie books. Get ready , cause I read fast.
Even more happy thoughts- tonight is a NEW CSI and Sara is on it, but I think it is gonna be a downer episode. ER will be sad too because Abby is leaving. I may have to just call in depressed tomorrow.

Here's one more picture. I have to take up that collar a little so that it doesn't sag. Actually, the whole top needs to be taken up a little because it is baggy . I may just take a big dart in the back and shorten the elastic in the neck.

Birthday Party

Today we went to a birthday party at the assisted living facility near our church. My Sunday school class sponsored it and since we are trying to start the clowning ministry, I figured I'd go in clown drag. Well, when I committed to doing it, I forgot my kids would be out of school. So, Coco the Clown went with me , as did Obiwan Kenobi. (Obiwan decined having his picture taken - must be a jedi thing)

This handsome fella just turned 81. I think he was more interested in the ladies across the table than he was the clowns on his back! That's Sugah Pie in the straw hat. She is just as cute as the bug on her hat!

Miss Mary sure wanted her picture made, but she couldn't take her eyes off of Coco long enough to look at the camera. The baby clown sang "Happy Birthday" four different times and also gave them a dose of Old McDonald and the Alphabet Song, then ended her concert with a very sweet rendition of Jesus Loves Me. The residents LOVED it, and I was really really proud that she did it.

We really enjoyed ourselves, and we hope to be able to go back again sometime soon!

Missions accomplished.

Today I had big plans to get a lot of stuff done on these two days off, and I think I put a BIG dent in it today.

Here's what we did:
1. Cleaned kids rooms
2. Cleaned bird poop off wall and window ( don't say it)
3. Moved pie safe
4. swept and mopped family room and moved furniture around ( again)
5. cleaned up junk on back porch and swept.
6. Moved outdoor table and chairs onto porch
7. Pulled all the grass and weeds up out of the patio ( Coco did most of this)
8. 5 loads of laundry - stripped the beds ( yeah!)
9. went to target for an Obiwan Kenobi outfit.
10. Made spaghetti - from scratch y'all.

Now tomorrow I have to go to a birthday party, but I am gonna try to finish the laundry and get the bathrooms done. I think we can get it all done!

I have lost my laptop

My children have become computer whizzes, so I have pretty much lost my laptop whenever they are awake and not otherwise engaged. Porkchop can read anything he wants to, so he spends time looking at sites about dinosaurs and dragons, as well as gaming on NickJr.

Coconut spends her time playing on the Dora site on NickJr. It is surprising how much she can already read and do on her own. See what I mean about Bob?

Equal time for Poopie

Since Bob gets a lot of exposure here, Poopie thought she deserved a post all her own. Here she is at 3 weeks of age. She was alternately constipated and squirting diarrhea the whole time she was a baby, hence her embarrassingly descriptive name. Thank goodness she outgrew all that!

Here we are at about 5 weeks. She looks a little disturbed. Maybe it is the grip I have her in. It is hard to hold something squirming in one hand and shoot a picture with the other.

Here she is relaxing in bed after breakfast. I think she was about 7 weeks here.

This was this very morning. Her favorite place to observe the morning routine is from the bathroom windowsill. Please don't notice the dirty window, or the pool chemicals sitting on the outside. I promise, I'll get them in today.

RIP Shorty

Our sweet little munchkin cat Shorty died this morning. It was something that I expected anytime, but she had been doing pretty well up until late last night. She had an abdominal mass and she lived with it for almost a year, so I guess she did pretty well to have made it comfortably that long. She was about 3-4 when I got her 10 years ago, making her about 13-14.
Her best buddy Elmo went a few months ago, so I guess she is with him now.


Here is a picture of my girl and her cat, "Bob". She calls him "Robert" when she gets mad at him for pestering her. No matter where she is in the house, Bob is somewhere near.

Pupdate

Cholula gets a little one-on-one time.

She's really listening to the story of the "Three Bears".

The babies started eating solids yesterday and are doing pretty well with it. They are eating a home-made baby dog gruel. Yummy. It is ground cooked chicken with rice and vegetables. Pretty bland stuff, but they love it.

Spinach Casserole

My girl child is strange. I have never seen a 5 year old ask for white beans at a restaurant, or spinach for breakfast, but this one does. She loves tomato sammiches and cherry tomatoes

out-of -hand. Here's a spinach casserole I made her last week when she asked for it. I didn't have what I thought went in real creamed spinach, so I just put this together and it turned out pretty good. In fact, I ate the last of it for dinner tonight.

Spinach Casserole ala Coconut

2- 16 oz bags frozen spinach

1 cup sour cream

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tsp minced garlic

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 tablespoon butter or oil

2 eggs

1/2 block very soft cream cheese ( you could leave this out, but I had a half a chunk left, so I put it in)

salt

pepper

nutmeg

1/2 cup grated real parmesan ( you could use any cheese you like or just leave it off altogether, just don't use that powdered crap in the green can)

1. Thaw the spinach in microwave, then empty into a large bowl. Pick up in handfuls and squeeze out as much moisture as you can. You will be surprised at how much water comes out and how small that much spinach turn out to be! Pour the water out and put the "squozed" spinach back in the big bowl

2. Saute the onion in the butter until tender. Add the garlic for just a minute, then dump the onion, garlic and buttery goodness into the spinach.

3. Mix the soup, sour cream and cream cheese in a bowl - you may have to really work it to get the cream cheese mixed in. Taste it and add salt and pepper and nutmeg to taste. I put in about 1/2 tsp salt and at least that much pepper. 1/4 tsp nutmeg is plenty.

4. Dump the soupy mixture into the bowl with the spinach and onion and mix well. If it is too dry, stir in a bit more sour cream.

5. Taste it and adjust salt and pepper. ( You will not die from the raw egg.)

6. Plop it into a greased baking dish and bake at 350 for about 30-40 minutes or until heated through. After 20 minutes or so, sprinkle the cheese on top and let it continue to bake until it gets melty and slightly browned.

I know you know that if there is a spice in a recipe you don't like, just change it to something else or leave it out. As long as it isn't a cake or other "baking" thing....it won't hurt anything.

There is nothing sweeter....

...than a pile of sleeping little puppies. The little girls are growing fast. It is so hard to believe that they will be 4 weeks old next week. Dixie is venturing away from them a bit now and has been less fearsome when the other dogs go near them. That's "Tulip" in the front ( black and white), and "Cholula" in the back. The black one that is on her side is Angie and the one with her back to the camera is Blair's puppy. I'm not sure what she is going to call her.

With beauty, comes pain.....

The ladies couldn't take it anymore. There were some really strange errant eyebrows sticking out on Doc's face and they had to be removed! Sarah volunteered to take one for the team and go in for the kill. I vote that the next former hair-stylish who applies for a job be hired on the spot. We NEED that skill around here. I need my roots done.

Wii TV

I sent Daddy and the boy child to Best Buy today to get a publishing program that I have been wanting and they came back with sheepish grins on their faces saying how much fun they had playing Guitar Hero in the store. Ok, so we already have that in the closet for Christmas, so no problem.

Then Dad made the play ...." you know, we are really going to need a bigger TV for them to play the wii on. " I said, "ok." Within an hour, he was gone with the girl back to Best Buy to take advantage of "The Economy is in the Crapper" sale.

So, now I am in NASCAR hell. Tomorrow it will be pro-football hell. Not only is the picture and color enhanced, the SOUNDS are bigger too. I am thinking about calling the sleep number store and buying him a bed to put in here because I am not sure he will ever leave this room.

Chicken with Rice "Dressing"

( First of all, this picture may be copyrighted, so if you don't hear from me for a while, you will know that the blog cops came after me and locked me away. )

Doc asked me as he whirled out the door the other day, " Quick, what can I make with some chicken?" I quickly told him about the Chicken and rice stuff we had at my sister's once that I have been making freestyle ever since. It was my intention to write it down for him and email it, but I didn't. I think what he made turned out ok, but here's how I make what I make.

Chicken with "Rice Dressing"

4 large skin-on bone in chicken breasts ( or you could use a whole fryer)
1 large bell pepper
1 large onion
2 tbspoons butter ( or oil)
4-5 cups cooked rice ( brown or white is fine, I use brown success boil-in-bag)
1 cup cooked wild rice ( you can omit this if you like - I often do)
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
sage
poultry seasoning
salt
pepper

1. Boil the chicken in enough salted water to cover until done through. Take it out of the broth to allow cooling. Strain off the broth into jars and store in fridge to make soup or something else.
2. Cook rice according to package directions, set aside in a big bowl .
3. Saute the onion and bell pepper in the butter until softened. Don't you love the smell of that? Sometimes if my house smells doggy, I just saute some peppers and onions - or fry some bacon.
4. When the chicken has cooled, pull it off the bones, discarding bones and skin. Lay it in a big baking dish, covering the bottom. Might be a good idea to spray the dish with some cooking spray.
5. Mix the onions, peppers, soups, sour cream with the rice. Season to taste with salt and pepper, poultry seasoning and sage. The sage is what makes it taste like "dressing". I find that I use a lot of black pepper in this one. If it seems too dry, lob in some more sour cream, or find a can of cream of mushroom soup and pop that in too.
6. Spread the rice mixture over the chicken evenly, then pop it all in the oven at 350 for about 30 minutes until all heated through and a little browned on top.

I guess you could add something like some french green beans or broccoli to this if you wanted. I usually just make those as a side dish. You could put cheese on it too if that would help the kids eat it.

Best news about this is that it didn't raise my blood sugar much at all. It was about 86 before dinner and 96 one hour after we ate, so I guess I will keep making this one. The brown rice is really way better than white when it comes to glucose control, but you still do have to watch the portions!!!!

I remember having one of these.

I was "googling" Raggedy Ann dolls to look at the faces and found this picture and it was just so cute I had to show it to all of you. "Why," you ask, "was I looking at dolls?" Coco the baby clown is going to go with me to the assisted living facility next week for their monthly birthday party and she wants to wear her "ragdoll" costume and I wanted to do her makeup to look like Raggedy Ann. It is really a navy blue dress with white polkadots and red accents, a pair of red leggings and some red converse shoes. I hope to be able to put some navy/white ruffles on the leggings and then find some red/white socks for her. Good thing I am off Monday!!!!

Thursday's TV Lineup

Well, nothing interesting happened today except house chores and some pretty boring cooking. I made pumpkin pies ( sugar kind), chicken/peppers/brown rice casserole ( recipe someday soon) and Low-Fat Creamed Spinach. Everyone has eaten and the dishes are done and it is only 6:50. I had to get it all done early tonight because Thursday is "Mom's TV night." I have been a Thursday night couch potato ever since the year that Chicago Hope and ER started.

Anyway, tonight I'll be watching:


I'm not really all that stoked about Survivor anymore - it was great the first 4-5 times, now not so much, but we still watch it.

Watching CSI these days is like watching your favorite dog waste away with some dread disease. We know that Warrick is going to die and that Grissom is leaving and Lawrence Fishburne is coming on as a wacko who replaces him. ( sorry if you didn't know that stuff- didn't mean to spoil it for you) . I say now that I am not going to watch after Gil is gone, but I know I will because there are supposed to be some contract-fulfilling guest appearances. Like all good series, when they change it too much, it dies- I figure it will have one more season.

Then, we have another dying dog, ER. Last week they killed Greg off in a freakish way, I'm not sure what happens this week, but I know that soon Abbey will be giving her notice. Luca is already gone and the let Ray get his legs cut off last season, ending the Neela-Ray arc. Maybe she will get involved with Dubanko or something interesting.

I need to get a life, huh?

Ok Katy

Are ya happy now?????????
Let me know if there is anything else I can do to make your life more better.

The Tooth Fairy Visited Again!

The loose tooth finally gave it up. Don't look too closely - there's chocolate syrup all over the subject's face.

Ya just gotta love that snaggle-toof grin.

I'm just swooning.......

Oh my! He is so precious, darling, handsome, sweet, smoochy, lovey, ......need I go on?

More terminally cute pictures

This is "Tulip".......

The precious "Cholula", aka "Lulu". This one is my girl's favorite. Mine too.

"Angie" is the one my boy named. He actually has named them all several times.

Can you see the flounder?

A`Song about Flounder
( sung to the tune of that hee haw song)

Where oh where are you flounder?

Why are you not right here on my plate?

I've searched in my freezer and thought that I saw you,

But it was tilapia , so that was my fate.

Ok, so that was a song I composed to lament that I am once again eating tilapia for dinner while dreaming of a flounder that was SUPPOSED to be brought to me. Someone who shall remain nameless ( lauren) said she would bring me some that her husband caught in GULF SHORES, but so far, no go. I will probably have time to go down there and catch them myself before she goes and gets them for me. I could eat a BIG one tonight because I am really really really craving it. I am pitiful. Feel sorry for me.

( you think that is sad enough that she will bring me the dang fish?)

Oh the cuteness is killing me!

How can anyone not say "Awwwwwww....." These are the cutest things on the planet, besides my human kids, of course. They will be 3 weeks old on Wednesday and they are just starting to whine and squeek a little . They are so fat that they look like little rottweilers. They even smell good, if you can believe that. I'll post more pictures later. I just love puppies.

New and Improved, Low-Carb Pumpkin Pie

Last night I was playing around in the kitchen and made some adjustments to the pumpkin pie. It makes 3 ( or 4) pies now and has a very few more carbs, but I think the improvement in flavor is worth the carb additions.

Low-Carb Pumpkin Pie

2 - 15 oz cans pumpkin
2 - cans evaporated milk
4 eggs
1 3/4 cups splenda
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar or molasses
2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice ( or to taste - more is better to me)
1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
3 deep dish pie crusts or 4 regular ones. ( I used Kroger brand)

In mixing bowl, beat the eggs, splenda, salt and brown sugar. Add pumpkin and continue mixing. Add the vanilla and milk - mix well.

Pour into unbaked pie shells and bake at 425 for about 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 abd finish baking. This took about 30 minutes in my oven. When they are done, the top will have a dull finish and will be "set".

I had to bake two at a time because my oven is dinky and has a tendency to not bake evenly.
I filled two pies and baked them, the waited to pour the last one until later.

Make you some soon...and don't forget the whipped cream!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cute Clown

While dinner was cooking, we decided to practice a little with some makeup. We are going to a big birthday party at an assisted living facility, and the baby clown wanted to see how she was going to look........ It has been 2 hours now and she is still clowning!!!!!

Beans, Beans, Good for your Heart......

......The more you eat 'em, the more you......well, you know the rest. These are the best beans ever. I mean ever. They are made by cajuns in Louisiana and are perfect for making some quick red beans and rice, which we had tonight. I know, you are thinking that RBR is not a very healthy dish for a family such as ours, but I made it lighter and counted up the carbs and it is OK for me and the rest of us too!

The only place you can get Blue Runner beans in town right now is Dollar General . Rumor has it that they will be at Fred's in a couple of weeks. I have heard that on Drake and Zeke practically every day for the last month. Ok, here's how it went down. First, saute a little onion and bell pepper in some oil. Add about a tablespoon chopped garlic and stir. When it is going good, add in a pound of sliced turkey smoked sausage. Cook a few minutes until the sausage starts to brown, then add 3 cans of beans and 1/2 can of water. Mix it up, but be gentle. Those beans are already cooked and they mash really easy. Taste it and add salt, black pepper, and any other seasoning you like. I added salt, black pepper, Clearly Crazy Hot Sauce, Bacon Salt, and a little Cholula.

Let it simmer for a few minutes, then just turn the heat off. I let it sit on the stove for a half hour or so to allow the flavors to meld, then warm it back up and serve over rice.

Tonight I used some "steam in bag " brown rice. As close as I can tell, 1/4 cup brown rice with 1/2 cup beans and turkey had about 30 g carbs. That is not a big serving at all, but it was enough. Did I want more? Yes. But I can have some another day. It was really yummy!!!!

Easy Rider!

Today we lost our training wheels for good! This gal is flying on that little bicycle now!

Where there's smoke........

.......there are people standing around drooling. At least in this case, there were three people sitting at the table with forks in their hands.

My plan was to have a nice dinner tonight with steaks on the grill cooking while the well behaved children played in the yard with the dogs who never bark. Ok, well.....the grill was out of gas, the kids were not so well-behaved and the dogs had to be locked in their crates because they were acting idiotic about the neighbor kids on the trampoline.

I had to do the steaks on the grill pan, and I must say, they turned out quite well. Some day, if I ever get my new stove with the built in really big grillet in the middle, I might be able to do them to rival the grill. Just look at that pitiful little electril coil stove.

Here's the one I want.....maybe if all y'all send me 1.00 a week for 10 years I might be able to get it. Actually, it is only 1300.00. Maybe we can go get it with the change in the butter churn. I digress......back to the steak.

It turned out really good, so do it that way sometime. Just be sure and disable your smoke detectors while you are cooking it because it WILL smoke. Also, be sure to grease your grill pan really well with something so it won't be all sticky. And for pete's sake -

DON'T OVERCOOK IT!

Peanut butter chefs

My children made their own breakfast this morning....peanut butter sandwiches. I offered bacon and eggs since it was my day off and I was driving them to school anyway, but nope- PB was the only thing they wanted. Coco takes hers with a little honey, Porkchop likes just the PB on wheat bread. No white. Only brown. Good boy.

This is just sad.....

You would think that someone who deals with dogs every day in a professional manner would find a way to keep their very own personal dog well groomed and at least looking attractive, if not outright beautiful. Granted, poor old Clairesse doesn't provide the best canvas for artistic grooming, but this is just pitiful. I am deeply ashamed. She is going to get done Saturday.

Chore Day

When is it NOT chore day? Today I have got to get some things done around here. I already have done dishes and put the dog blankets in the washer and cleaned the kitty litter and shut the doors to the kids rooms. They can handle their own messes tonight while I watch the debate.
Yesterday, our office manager tested the H20 steam mop on the floor at work to see if it would clean the grout like it claims. No go. It did help some, but not nearly like you would think for what it costs. Another infomercial illusion shattered. Guess I won't get one of those, although it did sound like a good idea.
My overall plan for today is to try and get the FRONT of the house done. I have to move my computer table out of the dining room and set up the sewing machine because I have to make some ruffles for a clown costume and if I don't start it sometime I will NEVER get it done.
I rummaged in some old clothes last night and found some print material I can use. I also gotta make a "Little Miss Muffett" style hat for Coco's second clown costume. That ought to be prety easy, actually. It is really just an oversized beret with a pompom on top and ruffle around the edge. Hers might actually have two ruffles though. Guess we'll see!
Ok, so now I'm off to do the floors. Wish me luck! ( Oh, by the way, I have no idea who that guy is, but he looked funny, so I put him on here. )

There is justice!

I was just standing out on the porch admiring my fall tomato crop and wondering why they have "all of a sudden" decided to start really putting on fruit when all summer they have struggled to the point of death. I had sprayed and watered and carried on over them til I was sick of it, and finally just gave them up to do as they would. Well, now I know why they are doing so much better.
Just take a look at this sad tomato worm. Those white things on him are WASP eggs! The wasp lays eggs on the tomato worm and when they hatch, the wasp larvae eat the worm! There are two on them in that picture and those are the only two I found. They live a few days with the eggs on them, but they don't move. They just stay in one place. I just took these pictures this am, but those two worms have been right there just like that for two days now. And the tomatoes are popping out all over. I have not given them water and it hasn't rained in over two weeks, so I know it isn't "good care" that has helped them. OF course, it not being 100 degrees has helped. All I know, is that I'll have to watch the weather and before the first frost, pull all the green ones and we'll have a big fried green tomato dinner! ( good thing I can make WOW sauce!)