Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Are their any county fairs happening this time of year?

'Cause I got a winner on my hands.

It's the most giant chrysanthemum I've ever seen.... Three or four times the size of any of the others planted at the same time.

And I don't know what to do about it.

I've Googled "dividing mums" and learned that you can. I sure hope I don't kill the poor thing. But clearly, this one's a hardy plant. It's received little-to-no attention from me all year...

Also receiving little-to-no attention from me all year would be the entire flower bed. This was growing behind the mum.

It's a crepe myrtle.

A tree.

I'm now transplanting it where a tree should go.

Hope it makes it.

Miles likes to pick the "yewwow flowers" and give them to me. I put one in my hair and he insisted on doing the same.

Funny kid.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Some of you will remember a post (click on it to see) back in January in which I showed you an eye color predictor gadget.

It basically told me Ella had no chance of having blue eyes. I was cool with that. I really didn't care what color they were as long as there were two of them, etc...

Also, a few years ago, a doctor friend of ours told me my kids wouldn't have blue eyes. "Good luck with that" is what I believe she said when I told her I hoped I'd have a blue-eyed, brown-haired girl.

(giggle, giggle)

Saturday, September 26, 2009

The view from where I sit can be so peaceful and quiet...

Babies sleeping provides relief in the form of a few "me" minutes.

But then, sometimes....

...the relief is purely comic.

Friday, September 25, 2009

I hope somewhere out there...

...somebody makes a pink train.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Ushering in fall at "the yellow house"...

:: mums

Thank God these were here when we moved in this spring! There are several very healthy plants that bring beautiful fall color to an otherwise neglected flower bed.

:: outdoor collections for pockets

Next on his list are "fiyer-fies" and "A-cowrns".

:: fire pit gathering

:: s'mores

:: more s'mores

"Pleeeease lemme have a s'more... I promise I won't tell C.J."

Monday, September 21, 2009

I love it when this happens...

Asleep at the same time in the middle of the afternoon.

I'm almost so overwhelmed by it when it happens - because it doesn't happen that often - that I'm frozen in the land of what I could possibly do with myself.

Sleep? Blog? Workout? Knit? Sew? Scrapbook? Clean? Pull Weeds? Watch TV? Read? Bake? Start dinner? Power wash the siding? (just kidding about that one, but it did occur to me just now...)

So much to do and so little time!

But, with all there is to do, sometimes I just find myself watching them sleep.

And that seems to me, like the perfect thing to do.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

1 year ago.

This afternoon.

Things that are the same:

• We never all look at the camera smiling.
  
• Miles ran away the whole time.
• I'm wearing the same shoes. But only I would know that.
  
• And now that I go back and look, I'm also wearing the same earrings.
  

Things that are different:

• I was just barely pregnant then (didn't even know yet!).
  
• Ella is here!
  
• Britton lost 30 pounds.
  
• I gained.....several. (baby weight people! baby weight!)
• My friend Suzy from www.bohemianperspectives.com took the batch last year. She's Awe-some!
• My sleep deprived sista took these photos. She was a willing victim. She did a good job. And I'm soooo glad she showed up on my doorstep because otherwise we would have attempted the family photo shoot with a tripod. (read: big, fat, huge, disaster. but I was determined!)
  

Saturday, September 19, 2009

I took Miles to Pauls Valley for his cousin, Ben's, birthday party.

Coolest. Party. Ever.

The invitations were movie tickets. When we got there, they had a projector set up in the back pasture. We watched The Sandlot on their barn. It was way cool.

All the details were perfect.

The food was scrumptious.

Lots of our favorite people were there.

And of course, The Sandlot is a grrrrrreaaat movie. It has some of the funniest lines...

• "You're killin' me Smalls."
• "He's an L-7 weeeeeeniiiiieeee!......ya - ya! Oscar Meyer even!"
• "It's about time Benny, my clothes are going outta style!"
• "You know, if my dog was as ugly as you, I'd shave his butt and teach him to walk backwards."

We didn't make it through the whole movie. Miles' head started to bob just after Wendy Peffercorn saved Squints from certain death in the deep end.

"...Been plannin' it for years..."

And you know it was a good party when you fall asleep like this...

....less than 2 miles away.

Friday, September 18, 2009

I wish I could snap my fingers and know how to bake good bread.

The other day I refused to go to the grocery store in the rain, so I looked up a recipe for homemade hamburger buns.

I really have no clue what I'm looking for when it says to knead bread until it's smooth and elastic.

Hello bread dough.... Are you smooth and elastic enough?

What do you think, Miles? Lets beat it a little more for good measure.

Now it says to divide it into balls. We should get about 12.

9? OK.

You want to eat it now? Sorry son. We have to cover them with a towel for 30 minutes. Wanna cover them?

They're supposed to rise....

...That's what I was afraid of. They look exactly the same as when we put them under there...

10-12 minutes in the oven or until golden brown....

They look like crap...

But they taste good.

Still looks like crap. The oven fries, however, I could teach a class on...

Guess I'll be spending a little time curled up with this if I'm gonna get good at bread..