Ahhhh... Life at its finest!

The four of us were watching tv tonight, flipping back & forth between Food Network & TLC.

(By the way, this meant we weren't seeing any commercials, so I still don't know how Dale learned Chevy's new slogan)

So anyway, a show about doughnuts came on Food Network, and it wasn't long before Dale voiced my own exact thought:

"I want a doughnut!"

And you know, sometimes all it takes is someone else saying what you were already thinking to propel you into action.

Within moments, Dale and I were in the kitchen. We popped open our last can of refrigerator biscuits, heated a small pan of shortening, and found an empty pill bottle to make holes. While I fried the biscuits doughnuts, Dale stirred the powdered sugar glaze, and then I dipped them. Dale sprinkled a few with leftover birthday cake sprinkles (those things just keep showing back up!.. note to self... buy a smaller container next time!)
We even sang while we worked! Remember this song - ?
Life without Jesus, is like a doughnut, like a doughnut, like a doughnut.
Life without Jesus, is like a doughnut:
There's a hole in the middle of your heart!

And Dale, who sometimes acts weird about singing (but that's just Dale for you), even Dale had fun with that song while making doughnuts!

It wasn't long at all before we were sitting down to warm glazed doughnuts with tall glasses of milk.

I have no idea how the doughnuts on tv turned out, and I don't feel like I missed a thing! Because, really, what is better than a late-night, sweet, fried treat, made in your own kitchen, with your own little buddy? Not much, my friends, not much!

P.S. - They may not be much to look at, but I ate the pretty ones first. ;)

Because he's just so darn quotable

We aren't huge tv watchers around here, but apparently Dale has been getting more than I knew.
Last night,

during a commercial,

with the volume all the way down,

Dale says to no one in particular

(in his best 4-year-old "announcer" voice) -

"the all new Chevy Malibu: the car you can't ignore."

From dairy to deity, we are thankful for all

We finally finished Dale's Thanksgiving Turkey yesterday. Yeah, I know. We're a little behind. And we're still working on finishing his Thanksgiving Book. I think we have a pretty good excuse with those hospital visits and all. Of course, I have been known to procrastinate a time or two.
Ahem.
I'm in good company, though: my friend Kim just wrote about procrastination herself. Maybe all you non-procrastinators can head over and leave a tip. ;) I'll be right behind you, to see if there is help for me. Not that I have a problem or anything. Yeah. Right.

But anyway, thankfulness is a year-round thing, right? :)

So the turkey is supposed to get one feather a day, but we were pretty behind, so he got, - ummm - several tail feathers yesterday. Now that he is done, I wanted to share with you some of the 21 things Dale decided he was thankful for.

- Quite a few family members, including everyone in this house and a handful of grandparents

- An assortment of toys & possesions: His trains, sandbox, and tricycle, among others

- And then - my favorite part of the thankfulness turkey - the other stuff:

The Dollar Store
Pecan Pie
Wal Mart
Insects

(You can tell we are into high-class shopping around here.)

And finally, when a prompt to name another person came up, Dale asked me who he hadn't named yet. Since he was in need of a suggestion anyway, I decided to lead things in a bit of a spiritual direction and said, "What about Jesus?"

(This would be a good point to insert that we all have colds, "an' I wah dalking ike dis" because my head was so stopped up.)

So what I was trying to say was "What about Jesus?", but apparently didn't come across very clearly, because Dale, in all seriousness, asked, "Who is Cheeses?"

Oops. I'm doe-ing to doe bwow my dose dow.

Hauling Alan - all over the place!

I don't know about you, but this NEVER happens at our house: A child falling asleep on his own? Especially somewhere besides his bed? No way. No matter how tired, that just doesn't happen. I think Dale did it once in his whole baby-hood. And even though Alan doesn't nap well and could usually always use some sleep, he doesn't fall asleep easily either. But last Sunday afternoon, he woke up way too early from a nap, and then really surprised us when he fell asleep on the floor not too much later! He slept there for over an hour & a half! We had just gotten home from the hospital the night before, so we figured he was still recovering from all of that.

Later in the week, we got out and enjoyed the warm weather, knowing cold was coming. For several days Dale had been pulling his wagon with one hand while steering his tricycle with the other. He talked and talked about hauling his 'trailer'. With Daddy home for the break, he was able to help Dale out and make a 'hitch'. Hands-free hauling! Both boys enjoyed the benefits of that:

Last week Dale was also in a phase of calling people "dude". The same afternoon these pictures were taken we were all outside together. Dale wanted me to scoot over so he could sit next to me. He started to call me 'dude' but his thought process must have told him 'dude' was for males, because he corrected himself this way:
"Scoot over, woman!"

Ummm... no.
I was really glad his Daddy was home - he did all the correcting while I just turned my head and choked back the laughter!

Sadly, all the fun & games didn't last too long. After marveling at the fact that JC Penney was going to be open at 4am the day after Thanksgiving and who in the world would be getting up that early, anyway... turns out we could have been some of the first ones there. Alan woke up at 2:30am with a high fever that kept climbing. So... deja-vu! Emergency room visit (although we went to a local one this time & had a much better experience), Friday night hospital stay, and home by bedtime Saturday. Ugh. So our Thanksgiving break was book-ended by hospital stays. But, our usual mantra still holds true: "It could be so much worse." And that is definitely something to be thankful for. :)

And now I'm off to catch up on laundry and put some supper in the crock pot. See you later, woman!

Thanksgiving Forecast

This Thanksgiving Eve has been a busy day. I've done a good bit of cooking in preparation for tomorrow, and I'm making more food tomorrow than I have any other year.

I'm roasting my first turkey! It is sitting in a brine right now, hopefully to be all moist and tender... but isn't that everyone's goal for their Thanksgiving turkey?

I assembled my first Thanksgiving dressing. I've made dressing before, but never for Tgiving day!

In addition to the cooking, the weather also added to the feel of it being Thanksgiving. After several days of highs in the 70s, a cold front blew in just after lunch. Greg and the boys and I went out on the porch to see it in. Sure enough, within a few minutes, the wind picked up, great big raindrops plopped down here and there, and the air turned crisp as the temperature dropped about 15 degrees!

So after today, and with cooking and weather being two of my interests, I want to share what my mom sent me (she saw it on the internet):

Thanksgiving Forecast:
Turkeys will thaw in the morning, then warm in the oven to an afternoon high near 190F. The kitchen will turn hot and humid, and if you bother the cook, be ready for a severe squall or cold shoulder.
During the late afternoon and evening, the cold front of a knife will slice through the turkey, causing an accumulation of one to two inches on plates. Mashed potatoes will drift across one side while cranberry sauce creates slippery spots on the other. Please pass the gravy. A weight watch and indigestion warning have been issued for the entire area, with increased stuffiness around the beltway.
During the evening, the turkey will diminish and taper off to leftovers, dropping to a low of 34 degrees F in the refrigerator. Looking ahead to Friday and Saturday, high pressure to eat sandwiches will be established.
Flurries of leftovers can be expected both days with a 50 percent chance of scattered soup late in the day. We expect a warming trend where soup develops.
By early next week, eating pressure will be low as the only wish left will be the bone.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
"Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Ephesians 5:20

Microwavable Gold

Oh my goodness - I've struck holiday snack food gold!

Usually sometime around this time of year I like to start trying to keep at least one holiday goody on hand to munch on. This usually starts in earnest in early December as I open up our Christmas stuff and find all my 'tins'. (In my case these are actually plastic, but the idea is the same, right?)

This annual Filling of the Tins also coincides with my sister's return home from the fall semester. She usually arrives home ready to commence with all things holidayish - mainly putting up the tree and filling the tins. So... knowing she is across town creating holiday goodness to munch on, and knowing this has been my own intention for a good week or two, I cannot be out-domesticated by my unmarried college-student sister and I finally get serious about the Filling of the Tins at our house.

I've come up with some favorites over the past few years, and some that will never be made again. One of our new favorites just made its debut last year. I'll be sure and share these as they each make their appearances this year.

One simple classic I have never mastered has been party mix. Yes, I know. It is supposed to be easy: square cereal, pretzels, nuts, butter, worcestershire.... but mine is never right. But ohhhh, buddy. I've got it now. My own party mix! So easy, so good, and you make it in the microwave!!!

Inspired by upcoming Thanksgiving preparations and curious about the simplicity of this recipe, I decided to go ahead and give it a try. And believe me: it will definitely have a tin of its very own come December!

So, first the recipe, and then I'll tell you how I changed it. Because I can never just follow a recipe. (It is no mystery why my successes are sprinkled with odd failures, is it?)

Taco Tidbits
(ummm.... not a fan of the name... maybe why I've never made it? Even though it is from a 2001 magazine?)

Anyway...

Taco Tidbits
Taco Party Mix
6 tablespoons butter or margarine
2-3 tablespoons taco seasoning
8 cups corn chex
1/4 c grated parmesan cheese

Place butter in 11x7 microwave-safe dish. Microwave on high 1 minute or until butter is melted.
Add taco seasoning. Stir in the cereal until evenly coated. Microwave on high 1 minute. Stir.
Heat 1 - 1 1/2 minutes longer; stir.
Sprinkle with Parmesan, microwave for 1 minute. Stir; Heat 1 minute longer. Cool.

Ok. So here's what I did. First of all, I halved it since I still wasn't sure it would be any good. (O me of little faith.)
I also added in a cupful of goldfish crackers. Definitely a good addition.
I really wasn't sure about parmesan cheese mixed with taco seasoning, and was going to leave it out, but at the last minute sprinkled some in. Maybe less than even the halved recipe called for? (I didn't measure) But it does go well with it.

Yum-o! as Rachael Ray would say! This is really SO good. I think it would be fine if you wanted to go all out with the pretzels and nuts and everything, but I like the simplicity of it. This is my new party mix! :)

Just a little weekend get-away

What has happened to my poor little blog!?!? I have so many thoughts and stories that cross through my mind that I would love to blog about, but suddenly it seems I can't find a spare moment to sit down and write. (A spare moment where I still have the brain capacity to actually put two coherent thoughts together, that is!) :)

I do have somewhat of an excuse for the past couple of days though. Maybe I should present a doctor's note for missed blogging days? ;)

After a couple of days with a stomach bug, it was decided that Alan needed to spend a night in the hospital for observation. (if you are interested in all the medical details you can go here and click 'read journal').

So... when you go to the hospital for a visit like that, and it is after hours, and a weekend, the first place you go is the ER. Oh, and isn't that a treat. The ER is basically full of kids with things that I would take mine to a pediatrician for. But apparently these people don't have a pediatrician. It all has something to do with no insurance and free healthcare, but I don't know how all that works.

Anyway, we check into the ER. At least they are expecting us because our doctors have called and told them we are coming. I overhear someone say we are "level 2". Whoo-hoo. Aren't we special? All I know level 2 means is that we don't have to wait as long as all those people packed in around us.

Oh no. We only have to wait an HOUR. Surrounded by every type of cough I can imagine, with a couple of people holding those kidney-shaped pink puke buckets, just for good measure. Oh how I wish I could have held my breath for an hour.

At least they had a movie on - Shrek 2. Good distraction. Except for OH - it was in SPANISH. I'm not even going to go there.

But I couldn't concentrate too much on our Spanish movie or all the germs swirling around me, because I was too busy coming down with whatever Alan had had that got us there in the first place. Oh yes. The nausea was fabulous. I am one of those types that has a hint of nausea and I go horizontal, not to move for a couple of days. Yeah, well, try that in an ER full of coughing, spewing germ-carriers.

After our hour in the upper dungeon was up, we got called back to the depths. But the depths are much more pleasant. (relatively speaking, of course). We had our own room there. But I couldn't help thinking of all that coughing out in the dungeon and wondering about all of the people that had sat in this very same private room all day before we got it. *shudder* But hey - we did have the option of English tv. But since Shrek was in the last 10 minutes we decided to finish it instead. You know, to increase our Spanish skills and all.

All was going pretty well until Alan had to get poked. Four times. That was not pleasant.

Not to mention the fact that I was supposed to be carrying on intelligent, medical-parental conversations with every level of medical professional there is. Every person that came through the door wanted the whole story, beginning with "was it a normal pregnancy?" all the way to "and what brings you here today?" Even though they have this information on paper right in front of them. And I had to answer all these questions and relay all these details, when all my brain was telling me was "DON'T MOVE OR YOU MIGHT THROW UP". Yeah, I'm sure they all thought I was soooo 'together'.

In fact, after a couple of hours of this I finally 'fessed up to one of the doctors that "I feel like poo." Oh yes. I am so mecially savvy. I use technical terms for describing how I feel. You know, like 'poo'.

Oh well. The job got done. And I am very happy to report that I did NOT throw up. Oh I came very close. And I did have some er, other problems. But thankfully, everything kept moving in its natural direction.

After first entering the ER upper dungeon at precisely 6pm, we were finally led to Alan's bed for the night at 12:30. By 1:30am we were finally all 3 settled in to our beds. And blissfully, we were not woken up at 6am for a blood-draw or 6:30 for rounds or 7 for shift-change. Nope! Alan was awake for a little while around 5, but after he fell back to sleep next to me, we slept until 8. 8 am! That is amazing for being in a hospital!

Not a lot to tell from the whole day (it was long). And this post is already long enough. But I want to leave you with a picture. They told us we would be getting released around 5pm. Knowing full-well how things really work, we started bugging our nurse at 4:45. And, by 10 after 6, I was signing release papers. But during that long, restless hour we had to entertain ourselves (and more importantly, Alan) somehow. Enter: bucket rides! :)




















Alan loved it! He is just getting good at baby-signing more, and this gave him good practice. Whenever the bucket stopped, he was ready for more. And ready to climb out.... so keep it moving please! :)

So there you have it. My doctor's excuse for not blogging these past few days. :) Please watch your step: as I read back through I see there is sarcasm dripping everywhere. :)
Oh - and I am feeling much better! I never 'sort of' get any sickness - I either get it or I don't. But this one kind of brushed me, and I know it is thanks to God's goodness and all of the prayers for us as we headed off into this weekend hospital venture. Thanks to all of you who were part of those praying, and thank You Lord that we are home again! :)