A Fish Tale

My best friend sent me this picture this week. She said it's a redfish caught off the Texas coast while the kids were all getting sick in the boat!

Let's compare to Grandpa's fish...

hehehe.... Seriously, Grandpa got some bass to stock the tanks. There's supposedly 100 fish in that bag!

Doesn't Bob Barker (the dog) look happy running in the back ground? The fish were very active in the bag. Below you can see one had just jumped and his head was just going back into the water.

David was very interested in the fish release. He even held a couple of the fish in his hand and asked for more, but the rest of the fish were going to another tank.

Anybody else notice that David & Grandpa squat the same way?

Wordless Wednesday: I love my children's eyes!

For more Wordless Wednesday posts, visit

Wordless Wednesday HQ

and

5 Minutes for Mom

.

P.S. - I want to play photo tag, but I don't know of any going on right now, so I'm going to host my own! Theme: TOGETHER! Get your pictures ready to play on Friday!

Pumpkin Muffins

Remember the jar mix I made at my last MOPS meeting? Well, I mixed it up tonight since David had been asking for pumpkin bread. I used my Wilton Silicone Pumpkin Pan and truly had Pumpkin Muffins! Click on the image for a larger view...


Heather from Not a DIY Life asked for the recipe, so here ya go!


Pumpkin Jar Mix
Layer into quart jar in the following order:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 3/4 cup raisins

Decorate lid of jar with a square of fabric and ribbon, jute, or something like that. Tie on recipe card for the muffins (see below). This dry mix can be stored in your pantry for up to 6 months and makes a great gift.


Pumpkin Mini Muffins
(This is what should appear on the recipe card you tie on the jar.)

• 1 jar Pumpkin Mini Muffin Mix
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400*F. In large bowl, place Pumpkin Muffin Mix. Cut in shortening until crumbly. Add egg, pumpkin, and milk. Stir until well blended. Fill greased or paper lined mini muffin pans 2/3 full. Bake 15-20 minutes or until done.

The batter looks more like cookie dough than muffin mix and the muffins are pretty dense, but the tasted pretty yummy! Now I just need to figure out what to do with a can of pumpkin, less 1/2 cup. Any suggestions???

Tiny Talk Tuesday: A Big Week

There's been a lot of tiny talk this week! It makes me so proud to see David's vocabulary improve. He has come so far in the last year! Visit Mary at Not Before 7 to see more Tiny Talk!

Wednesday night we were late coming in from Cubbies. Dad was just inside the door flicking the light on & off, but David couldn't see him.
David: The light needs new batteries!

Coming home from dinner out with Dad's cousin, the sky was dark but a long wispy cloud was reflecting light from the Metroplex & appeared gray.
David: I see an amazing gray light.
Mom: An amazing gray light?
David: Yeah, a wonderful, amazing gray light!

Sunday afternoon we were hiking around our spot when we came across some critter poop on the path. David stopped for a closer look.
Mom: Some little animal pooped there; don't touch it.
David: It's lion poop!

As we pulled out from that trip, the sun was behind some looming storm clouds. Beautiful rays of sunlight were streaming out from the clouds, but you couldn't see the sun.
David: Mom, the sun is stuck in those clouds!

While watching my favorite show, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, one of the kids got a drum set in his room. David quickly scanned the room & found a box to drum on. Enter Dad, who joined the drum fest on the box...

lots of drumming on a cardboard box noise

David: You're a good drummer, Dad!

And he is!

Later, I was talking to Dad in the bathroom...
David: Why are you being so complicated, Mom?
I have no idea where he heard that one!

Elizabeth has also picked up on some signs and has signed "milk" a few times before nursing! Here she is with our CPR Teddy, which I practiced on today. When was the last time you practiced your Infant & Child CPR skills?

PTO Carnival

MawMaw took David to his first PTO Carnival on Saturday. I tagged along as the photographer! There weren't as many things for a preschooler to do as we'd hoped, but David still enjoyed a few things before we had to leave.

He enjoyed the city fountain and wanted to get in to go swimming.


He seemed to be fascinated by the Indian corn.

He had a ball jumping in the bounce castle... until he crashed into another kid. Remember that he got his chipped tooth in a bounce house? I think he hurt his mouth again, but it's hard to pinpoint what the problem is. On Sunday he was still having some pain somewhere in his mouth.

He laughed so hard going down the big slide! It was hilarious! The photo was on his first slide down. The video below was on his second slide down.

His third try on the slide, he got stepped on while climbing up. His fourth try was fun again until he crashed into the air wall at the bottom, where I think it hurt his mouth again. After that, he enjoyed the rest of the afternoon at MawMaw's house!

Saturday evening, we had dinner with Dad's cousin & her family, and went to Lowe's afterwards. David has been asking for Elizabeth to sit beside him whenever the cart has two seat belts! Aren't they cute?!?!? Lowe's had the big blow up Christmas yard decorations out & David wouldn't look at me when Santa was flying an airplane to his left!

Elizabeth's 9-month Portraits

We had Elizabeth's 9-month pictures taken today. She was a bit stone-faced, but the photographer was able to get a few grins out of her.

I asked if she could take one with David kissing the top of Elizabeth's head, but Elizabeth looked so blank in that one that the photographer took this one instead.

I ordered my usual package of the first pose above, so if I usually send you pictures, that's the one you'll get. If you're family & want to see the entire session, email me for the link.

Playing Outside

Does this look like an October day to you???

Vote for Elizabeth!

For Elizabeth's 9-month birthday, she has decided to give up sleep! This photo was taken at 4:55 am. Doesn't she look happy? I thought maybe if she played a little bit she'd get sleepy. It hasn't happened yet...

So what's a mom to do? Might as well do a little blogging... and beg for your votes at this week's contest at Mom 4 Life!!!! The winner this week will be selected by viewer's votes, and I was late getting my entry in, so please, please, please go vote for Elizabeth!!!

Our entry is # "SS" and you can only vote once on each alphabet set of entries. (You'll see what I mean if you go vote!) Here is her contest entry photo:

Isn't that cute?!?!?! GO VOTE!!!

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Casio has gone pink!

The special-edition pink EX-Z75 will be available beginning October 2007 and can
be purchased at Sears, La Curacao, Fred Meyer, BJ’s, Nexcom, AAFES, Staples, and
Future Shop. The bundle package will have an MSRP of $179.99, and will proudly
sponsor the National Breast Cancer Foundation. For more information, please
visit http://www.casiousa.com/.

NOW... click over to 5 Minutes for Mom for your chance to win one! (After you've VOTE for Elizabeth, of course!)

Wordless Wednesday

For more Wordless Wednesday posts, visit
Wordless Wednesday HQ and
5 Minutes for Mom

Please vote for Elizabeth at

Mom 4 Life!

She's entry # "SS"!

Tiny Talk Tuesday

Last night as we were winding down for the evening, David said something about seeing stars. So I took him outside to see if it was clear enough to see the stars. Sure enough, God had opened a window right above the yard so that we could see the stars...

Mom: Look up; do you see the stars?

David: Yeah, I see stars! I get a telescope and I get stars?

Mom: What?!!?

David: I get a telescope and I get stars? (and he's making the hand movements like he's holding a hand held telescope)

He never ceases to blow me away! And to follow up from last week's post, he did memorize his long Bible verse and got another patch for his Cubbies vest!

See what other little ones are saying over at Not Before 7!