Catching Up....List Style

I've been reminded again lately that I've been lagging behind in the blogging department. I know. It seems that I want to blog, but by the time I settle in for the night, my brain is too tired to write anything comprehensible. And such is the case tonight, but I'm going to try to fill you in on what I've been up to by way of a list.

1. Friday I accomplished a great task. I actually paid off my van. I was ecstatic. I knew I was in close range when at the beginning of the year I numbered the pages left in the payment book, but God blessed us with a tax return in excess of the amount I still owed as pay off. It is a great feeling I tell ya. So great, that I felt the urge to detail it out, had Pete put on 4 brand new tires, do a brake job, replace a headlight...and today I had the transmission serviced. So!! I'm good for what...at least another 5 years or so, right?

2. Saturday, the Girl Scouts took a field trip to the Arkansas Historic Museum for a tour and a little hands on. I must say it was worth the $6 for the 4 hours they got. Of course, you must know, my Little Ann went in costume courtesy of my mother. I warned her everyone else would be wearing their girl scout tee shirts, but she didn't care. She looks for opportunities to be different. I guess that's a good thing...or is it? Here are a few shots from the day:

They made beautiful music.

Made sweet little corn husks dolls.

The toured homes, stuffed pillows, played with wool and even watched this lady spin.

Little Ann loved it so much, I am feeling a possible Natchez, Mississippi girl trip over Spring Break.

3. Sunday Little Ann had a relapse. She missed 2 days of school last week with tummy troubles. Keep her in your prayers for she has been having some issues and I'm not quite sure what the problem is. I have an appointment made in April with a specialist. Could be allergies, could be other. May be nothing. Just don't know.

4. Today, I made a trip into the big city with a friend. We had put clothes in a bi-yearly consignment sale, and needed to go pick up our checks. I sold everything I took except 2 pair of shoes and a tank! YEA. Now I can go buy more!

5. And last but not least, we finished the night off with baseball. Overall our team is doing excellent. We had 2 more shut downs tonight. The team we played never scored a single run. It's been a great season so far, but Big Dan has been somewhat down. He's been working so hard. Staying late for extra batting practice, and giving it his all, but it seems that during the games, he is just not hitting right now. He wants to take this to the next level SO BAD, and I just hate when he's down on himself. Mom's job is to help him keep his head up though, so I just keep encouraging him and telling him how proud of him I am. (Because I am ...no matter what he does.)

There you have my list. Happy "almost" Tuesday.

Is it Friday Yet?

So, I stayed up way too late last night waiting on a combination of things....Little Ann to empty the dishwasher so I could load it, the nice clothes to finish drying so I could get them out immediately, and Big Dan at a concert that lasted much too long for a school night. Anyway...I said all that to say...I was a little tired and cranky for my art students today and it didn't take long before my head was throbbing making it all together worse.

I can already tell this is going to be one of those weeks. I think Christmas is in the air at the High School..well, the thought of Christmas break anyway. Getting anybody to do anything but clown was next to impossible. I took my camera to try to help Big Dan get a few (required for English) Senior scrapbook pictures. See what I have to put up with?

Yes, these are Seniors, and yes, Big Dan is eating a sandwich....in Art class. What's mom gonna do..give him d-hall?

And I wish I could say they were just goofin' for pictures, but unfortunately this is really how they act on a daily basis. Maybe it's just because I'm "Big Dan's mom" and I'm just cool like that. Whatever it is...it stresses me. We'll hope my principal doesn't read my blog.

Tonight was our Girl Scout meeting and Christmas party. Look what the girls did...

Isn't this just adorable? I guess making a gingerbread house is one thing I don't think I have ever done before.

Like I said, I can feel another crazy week coming on. I am MAKING myself stay home tomorrow and get this house in order. I would absolutely DIE right now if I had company. I just want to be able to enjoy my Christmas decor without having to look at all this other clutter. You can't even get through for all the Christmas presents, boxes, wrapping paper, and paraphernalia lying around...despite the fact that Little Ann keeps reminding me that she doesn't have a gift wrapped under the tree yet..and everyone else at school does (sniff, sniff). I think she's trying to make me feel guilty. It's working. We've got church, more shopping, dress rehearsals, and more parties coming up the remainder of the week.

With December being the time everyone is preparing lots of finger food dishes (and because my pregnant friend, Chickadee is craving this), I thought I'd share the recipe on the blog. This is another one of my mom's recipes. Have I mentioned what a great cook she is?

Parmesan Chicken Wings

In a medium bowl, mix together:

1/2 c Parmesan Cheese

1 T Parsley flakes

1 t Paprika

1/2 T Oregano

1/2 t salt

1/2 t pepper

Moisten your wings and cover with dry mixture. You can shake them in a bag (like shake n bake) or just dip individually. Place on a foil lined baking pan and bake approx. 45 minutes.

These are soooo good and perfect sized for parties. I usually double my recipe for tastier wings or a bigger serving.

And last but not least, April gave me this sweet award and I just wanted to send her a big ol' Thank You!!! This is really special because this award is supposed to be bestowed upon bloggers who aim to find and be friends and it means a lot that she would pass it on to me. April's blog is always uplifting and meaningful and she is just the sweetest thing, so go visit her if you get a chance.

A Little Boring Conversation

My apologies early on for this extra ordinary b-o-r-i-n-g post. Not much has been going on today and I refuse to whine anymore...at least for today. (I only have an hour left so maybe that's do-able)

Got this email a few days ago. Love it.

Tonight was our regular Girl Scouts meeting. The girls are working on designing an ornament made out of natural resources for a contest. The entries are displayed at the county courthouse and the girls are invited to a Christmas tea, I guess you could say to view the entries. This year they designed their own tree out of pine cones. The star is from pine straw and of course the snow is cotton and the lights and ornaments are hand made. It turned out cute. Hope we win!


And I blogged about putting my own tree up as well. Little Ann and I did this on Saturday. I always enjoy just sitting in the living room with the overhead and lamp lights off just taking in the beauty of the sparkling tree. When Little Ann was a baby her first Christmas, we spent countless hours at night rocking by the light of the tree. My mother bought me a few new ornaments when she was out shopping the other day. Yea! She loves me. She really loves me.

Tomorrow I am getting my laptop back. I am so excited. Now I can revert back to my old lazy lifestyle of blogging and facebooking in the comfort of my own bed. Wow. What is this world coming to? lol.

I am also having lunch with a very old friend of mine whom I have not seen in approximately 18 or so years. We have had some contact over the years, but we have not actually laid eyes on one another since college. She was my very first (and only) college roommate. I'm hoping after lunch we may have a little time to do some Christmas shopping. Tommorow is the kid's last day of school for the week and Little Ann will be spending a little quality time with my parents.

And that pretty much sums it up. (And I didn't whine at all!)

An Eventful Weekend

Hello all, It's me....a little sore....and a lot tired, but I'm back. We had a great weekend, but I must admit, tent life is definitely for the birds. Next time, and I stress if there is a next time, I will have an air mattress under my behind when I sleep.

Just a little heads up for you.....This may be long. I'm going to include several pictures with this post. There are just so many good ones, I just couldn't decide.

Friday, the girls all met up at the school to head to the park site where we would set up camp. Their first attempt at a "girl scout duty" was to get the tents set up.

Next up was to get the fire going. Yes, my little pyromaniac, Little Ann was one of the fire cheifs on first shift. Her daddy had taught her lots of neat tricks for starting a fire. One of the methods (and the one she chose to use) was touching a battery to a piece of steel wool. She blew on it a little to help it spread. I was impressed that it actually worked.

Here are the 2 fire chiefs on fire patrol while everyone else scurried around the site, completing set up, unpacking and preparing for dinnertime.

After set up, the girls roasted a few hot dogs over the fire, and our picky eaters fixed up some Campbells soups on the burners.

Every year, this particular state park, hosts what they call a "Ghost Roast" usually on or the weekend before Halloween, depending on the day it falls on. All of the tenants set up their campers usually for the whole month and decorate their spots. There is a contest for the best one. The kids love this and absolutely flock to it every year. Our girls were fortunate enough to catch a sneak peek of the sites as nightfall came and the park lit up with orange lights and sounds of ghouls.

Here is one of the camp sites I photographed as I walked past.

Of course, no camp out is complete until everyone sits around a campfire roasting marshmallows, making s'mores and singing campfire songs in their pj's......

Saturday, we rose up from our slumber fairly early to meet the day...well, actually some of us were already awake, because some of us never really got to sleep, because some of us had to sleep in a tent, and some of us didn't have an air mattress to sleep on. And I can thank my frugile hubby for that one. At breakfast, it was every man for himself. They each cooked their own pancakes, and others pitched in to fry up some bacon and eggs.

The weather was absolutely perfect for our midday hike. I swear, Little Ann had everything in her backpack but the kitchen sink.

And just as we were about to head out for our 3 mile adventure, I noticed the sun glistening through our own camp site Halloween decoration!

I can't say that I am a hiking kind of gal, but this one was quite enjoyable. Like I said before, the weather was gorgeous, the trail was nice and spacious, and I just enjoyed spending this day with Little Ann. She had the greatest time.

At the end of the hike, the girls had a little down time at the play area in the park. We left shortly after this so we would have time to stop my mom and dad's house to check on the newest member of our family.

Meet Amelia. She was born Thursday evening.

Thursday, Little Ann and I had actually just stopped by my mom and dad's for a brief visit and so meemaw could sew a few Girl Scout patches onto a blanket...unknowingly mother Abigail was in labor......lol. I can't say I have ever seen a calf born before now. Isn't she adorable?

Today has been such a good day too. My brother and his wife have reconciled after 10 long months of separation and an almost finalized nasty divorce. It was a shock to all of us and will take a long road of healing for everyone, but we are making a start. She and the boys came to church with my brother today and it was such a blessed feeling seeing them in the row in front of me again. Right were they should be. The boys like to sit with me and color and I just eat it up.

Tonight, a group went to our local Sunday night Mexican hangout and they went along for that too. I love sweet fellowship with my church family. If you haven't already, tell your pastor how much you appreciate him....this is Pastor Appreciation Month.

I guess I will go to bed now. I am substituing at the High School tomorrow!!

Have a great week!

Check List

1. Tent
2. Sleeping Bags and pillows
3. Heater/Extension Cords
4. Warm PJ's, hoodies, coats, and warm fuzzy socks
5. Clothes and backpack for hike
6. Flashlights
7. Personal hygiene items and towels
8. Camp blankie and lawn chairs for fire time
9. Fishing pole and worms
10. One very excited Girl Scout and one apprehensive, never slept in a tent before, hates to be cold...MOM!!!

Going on a little weekend getaway with Little Ann. Be back soon!!