Kicking Cancer in the #%@

I'm stealing this from facebook.  Hope you don't mind, Jenn.  If you do, too bad :).

Alright! Gloves on. Take THAT lymphoma! Round 2....starts today. Ready to roll!!

Please pray for her!

Look What I've Become

I was never going to be one of those moms.  You know the ones.  They drive their kids to school in their pajamas.  You see them walking down the halls in slippers with their hair all a mess.  Not me, no, never.  Dan's out of town...need I say more.  Normally I have 5 alarms clocks in my house.  If one of the kids doesn't wake me up by 6:45, then the cat will jump on the bed and purr loudly near my ear.  If that doesn't work, in the last two months, I've learned to rely on the crying and barking of an excited little puppy who needs to go outside.  This morning, I woke up at seven S-E-V-E-N and my house was silent.  Zac joined me as I was sitting up.  I peaked in Caden's room to find him and Jaelyn building with legos.  Even Gracie was waiting quietly and patiently to be let out and fed.  It was a great start to my morning, but it gave us a late start. 

The morning was okay mainly because Dan and I have gone Super Nanny on the kids. I'll have to post later about Jaelyn, her behavior and what's up or maybe I won't. We only had a handful of X's on the chart this morning.  Anyway, I got the kids and puppy taken care of and ready to go out the door on time.  That left a few minutes to get dressed. Unfortunately, that's when I discovered the cat throw up. I chose cleaning it up over getting dressing and thus I made the quick drive to school in my pajamas and a big sweat shirt.  I'm so ashamed :p.  Tomorrow, I'm getting dressed before I do anything else...mainly because I have to go in to the school and I am NOT doing that in my pajamas!

  

We Warned Her

Do you know how loud a barking dog is in a car?  Have you seen Disney's Bolt?  Gracie decided to bark on the way home and it was like Bolt's super bionic bark.  Ahhh...so loud.  Dan doesn't like loud noise.  He couldn't take it.  We found a Petsmart in Hattiesburg and he bought Gracie Mae a present. 

Ha! She was warned.

Ok, I promise...that's the last Christmas picture.  I'm all caught up. 

A Day with the Beatles

We spent our last day in Pensacola with our friends.  I know I've said it before, but I love that my kids are friends with the kids of my childhood friend.  I love that our husbands get along so well.  As a matter of fact, this summer, Dan is going with Rich and some other guys to Colorado to hike some huge peak while Jennifer and the kids stay with me and our kids in Missouri.  It's going to be so much fun.

We decided to take the kids to the bluffs off Scenic Highway.  My kids have never been there.  There's a neat boardwalk to walk on and then of course there's the beach and the train tracks.  The kids were a little worried, but we kept an eye out for trains.  I think the water is Pensacola Bay or maybe Escambia Bay.

I don't know if you can zoom in on the sign, but there's a message for dog owners and then a message for dogs "Grrr, bark woof.  Good dog."  Funny.

Gracie loved running and digging in the sand.  It was a new experience for her.  (BTW, she was on a leash, I photoshopped it out to make a better picture).

I have a picture of me and Jennifer at almost this exact point nearly cough cough twenty cough cough years ago.  I should dig it out to compare...or maybe I shouldn't.

The kids had a spend the night at my parents so they could sleep in longer before we hit the road the next morning.  Dan and I went out to dinner with Jen and Rich.  We met at Five Sisters Blues Cafe.  The food was excellent, but the bluesy Santa playing the keyboard and singing was a little loud.

Our date nights usually include a little evening geocaching and this was no exception.  We went in hunt of Pelvis, Pensacola's Elvis Pelican.  He was in the lobby of a bank with a geocache in the parking lot across the street.  Isn't he hilarious?  Forty-one pelicans have been commissioned.  I had only known about the military pelicans on the corner of Main and Palafox downtown.  There are more spread out all over Pensacola.  It would be fun to spend a day finding them.

Dan's geocaching prize is a little creepy.

So there you have it.  That was a our fast, fun filled week home in Pensacola.  We had a wonderful Christmas.  Thanks to everyone who made time to see us!

Christmas with Dan's Family

We alternate whose house we stay at each Christmas.  This year it was Dan's family's turn, but they aren't a pet family.  I had to get permission to bring Gracie Mae.  My mom always watches Zac for us, but she wasn't puppy sitting for a week.  Joan and Larry said we could bring her and Gracie Mae quickly made friends.  Practically everytime I turned around, she was in Larry's lap.  He was smitten, but seriously, who wouldn't be.

We had slumber parties several nights in a row with Caleb.  The kids always have a great time playing with him.

Gracie had fun opening presents too.

Christmas With My Family

We drove to Pensacola on the 23rd.  It was a L-O-N-G day.  We left here at 5:30 and made it to Pensacola around 8:30 that night.  The kids and dog did great.  Poor Zac did great too, in the trunk all by himself :). 

Gracie loved being in a fenced backyard.  She doesn't get many opportunities to be off her leash.  She raced around and around the yard in great big circles.  Freedom!

The kids were supposed to be watching the dog in the yard.  When I checked on them and asked where she was, they said "we don't know."  I found her digging in the corner of a flower bed.  She was covered in mud and had Loropetalum leaves stuck all over her.  She was in puppy dog heaven!  I'm sure Gracie would say the bath was worth the fun. 

I can't go to my parents house without destroying something.  This trip, it was the cherry tree.  I cannot tell a lie.  "I" cut it down!  It died several years ago after a hurricane, but my sentimental mom couldn't bare to cut it down because all her Grandkids loved to climb it.  My dad has been cutting it slowly down in sections.  She was finally ready to get rid of it and what started off as my sawing off two low limbs that were right at my nephews eye level turned into my first experience with a reciprocating saw.  Fun times!

My parents new kitchen...I feel like it's partly mine too since I helped demolish the old one and design the new one.  Isn't it pretty?

Missouri's "Educational" Field Trip

The field trips in Maryland where only educational.  Sure, they had an element of fun (like the planetarium or the Baltimore Science Center), but they also were educational.  Since we live in the middle of nowhere, educational is hard to come by.  Caden's class did have a field trip to see a play in the fall in Rolla, but the girls hadn't had a field trip.  Well, for Christmas, the 3rd through 6th grades went to the bowling alley.  We have a small school - only 2 class per grade level - but that still means close to 180 students in one bowling alley.  Thankfully, we have a BIG bowling alley.  The kids had so much fun.  It was a nice way to break up the last week of school.

Chicken Enchiladas

I made Chicken Enchiladas from Southern Living's December issue last night.  They were yummy and so easy.  I left out the green chiles, because I thought it would be too spicy, but the dish was very mild.  I will definitely make them again.

 

• 3 cups chopped, cooked chicken
• 2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 (4.5 oz) can chopped green chiles, drained
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 8 8" soft taco-sized flour tortillas
• vegetable cooking spray
• 1 (8 oz) bottle green taco sauce
• 1 (8 oz) container sour cream
• Toppings: chopped tomatoes, avocado, sliced green onions, fresh cilantro

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Stir together first 5 ingredients in a large bowl.  Spoon about 1/2 cup chicken mixture down center of each tortilla; roll tortillas up.
2. Place rolled tortillas, seam sides down, in a lightly greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish.  Lightly coat tops of tortillas with cooking spray
3. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.
4. Stir together taco sauce and 8 oz container sour cream.  Spoon over hot enchiladas, and sprinkle with desired toppings
 

Ha Ha Tonka

We have had the prettiest weather lately so we decided to take advantage of it while we can.  I'm not convinced we'll get to use those new snow sleds I bought the kids.  I'd read and heard Missouri weather was similar to Maryland, but I'm not buying it.  Anyway, my doctor, of all people, told me about Ha Ha Tonka State Park.  It was a quick 45 minute drive from our house.  A very rich man built a castle retreat on the Lake of the Ozarks in the early 1900's.  In the 40's it was turned into a hotel and shortly afterward burned down in a fire.  The only thing standing are the stone walls.  We had a fun day hiking around the castle, through sink holes and over natural bridges.  The view was beautiful.  We definitely need to go back when everything is green.  (Hey, Beatles, this might be something for when you come as long as we have lots of tic spray).

My kids cooperate very well for pictures...the dog, not so much!  Please ignore the view she's giving you :p.

Parts of the trail were normal dirt, rock, root paths, parts were paved and parts were boardwalks through the park.

This is the old water tower for the castle.  The servants lived underneath it.  How would you like to sleep under a tower filled with water???  Not me.

The natural bridge, had two trolls living under it!

Dan was tired of being dragged by Gracie Mae and Caden was just plain tired, so they turned around to get the car, while the girls and I hiked over the bridge and explored a tiny island.  Girls Rule!

We hiked between three and four miles.  This is how Gracie stayed the rest of the night.  We wore our little doodle out.

Happy Birthday Caden

Caden turned 7 today. Can you believe it? I can't. It seems like just yesterday we were calling the states to tell everyone we were going to Landstuhl to be induced. Caden has turned into a smart, funny, outgoing little man.  We seem to have moved past some of his separation anxiety and he is acing first grade.  In a class of 26 rambunctious, crazy first graders (I feel sorry for his teacher), he is one of the few with a "gold bar" for being such a good kid.  He brought all M's for Mastery home on his 2nd quarter report card.  I love you, Little Man.  I am so proud of you and the big kid you've become!

For anyone who heard about Dan's shoe fiasco...here they are.  I wrapped them up for Caden's birthday and he loves them.

Life

It seems to be passing very quickly.  I'm not busy blogging, but I am busy with STUFF.  We came home on the 30th and I don't think we've stopped.  It took us a day to unload the car and get everything put away.  Even though I washed all of our clothes before we came home, I still managed to find 4 loads to do right away (boy am I thankful for my ginormous capacity washer and dryer).  I spent another day undecorating Christmas stuff.  Today, the kids went back to school.  It's been nice to have a quiet morning to get things done around our house.  Tomorrow, Jaely and I are heading to Springfield for a doctor's appointment.  I work at school on Thursday and then Friday I am allocating as "blog catch up day" while I wait for repairmen to come fix the four work orders I called in on our house today (I love not owning when things go wrong). So stay tuned...