Here She Comes...Miss America

A week or so ago the Miss America pageant was on television.  As I do most years, I sat down to watch it.  Bobby was in the other room watching something else and Grayson was playing or watching a video.

The pageant had been on for awhile.  Then, all of a sudden Grayson was interested in watching it with me.

Can you guess what part of the pageant he was this...

happy to watch and interested in?

You guessed it.  The swimsuit competition.  It is beyond me why he wanted to watch.  And, don't say he's male.  He's only 3.

Something funny that Grayson did observe during this portion of the competition was:  As the ladies were walking across the stage, Grayson said, "They're too small."  I said, "What's too small?"  He said, "Their swimsuits."  Then he added, "They're for babies."

Even a 3 year old knows that ladies in a "scholarship" pageant shouldn't be parading around in teeny bikinis.

Another funny/slightly embarrassing thing that Grayson informed me of during the swimsuit competition was...

"She's got boobs just like you, Mom."

We Got Snow...Lots Of It

Last weekend we were blessed with several inches of snow. 

Rarely do we get much more than a dusting of snow.  Most of the time we get sleet or freezing rain (Are these the same?  I don't know the difference.).  But this time we got 5 or 6 inches of powdery loveliness.

Saturday morning Bobby, Grayson, and I went outside to play in the snow.

Our plan was to build a snowman.  Grayson has never built one (or "helped" to build one).

Bobby and Grayson tried and tried to form balls.  The problem was the snow was so powdery that it was not possible for us to make a traditional snowman.  Instead we made a snowblob.

Pretty weak, huh?!  I was disappointed in us.  I forgot to bring Frosty's parts with us when we came outside.  We had nothing (but sticks) to make eyes with.  Nothing (but a stick) with which to make a nose.  Nothing for his mouth.  No scarf.  No hat.  No buttons down the front.  Hopefully, I'll be more on top of my snowman-making game next time.

Regardless of the sad-looking snowblob, we had a good time. 

Especially Grayson.

Lots of snowballs were thrown.

Grayson was even able to get a good one right on Bobby's head.

But then Bobby had to Grayson back.

After the snowball fight, we took a little walk up the road.  Here's Ridgewood looking up the street towards the hill.

And, here's looking down the street.

The great thing about this snow was the streets were clear (at least in my neck of the woods) after only one day.  So, we got the good parts of snow without much of the bad.

Although there are still almost 2 months (officially) of winter left, I don't expect us to get much more snow from here on out.  That is fine with me...but one more time of 5+ inches wouldn't be too bad.  I wouldn't hate it. 

Dude Looks Like A Lady

Saturday night Bobby, Grayson, and I went out to eat with Darren, Rachel, Ada, and Isaac at Red Lobster in Fort Smith.  Once the kids were finished eating, they wanted to go see the lobster tank at the front of the restaurant.

While they looked at the lobsters, Isaac decided he wanted to wear Ada's headband.

He loved it!  And, I'm thinking this photo could be used for a little embarrassment for him someday when he's 16 and has a girlfriend.  It could even show up in his senior annual.

One thing is for sure, though.  Headband or not, Isaac is a cutie!

Puppy Love

Rat A Tat Tat

Since receiving a set of drums for Christmas, Grayson has played them many, many times.

He loves them!

He even makes up songs to sing while he drums.

I think he's got some talent!  LOL!  Don't you?

New Key Chain

I carried around my Halloween key chain for way, way longer than I should have.  I don't think I took it off my keys until sometime in December.  I finally got around to finishing a new one, and here it is...

I got a YourStory Laminating and Binding Machine (so excited!!) with some of my Christmas money so I laminated the key chain.  Since the paper and pictures are protected (and it's not season specific), this one should last me for a long while.

Recent Cooking Woes

Not that I have ever been one to cook meals every evening or anything, but over the course of the last year or so I have rarely cooked our supper.  It just became easier to eat out or bring food in.  More expensive, yes.  But easier. (Except for the fact that our town has very few options)

I have recently decided (and not as a New Year's resolution, those never come to pass) that I need to get back into the habit of cooking at least a few nights a week.  So, last week I chose 3 meals for us: chili, roast with vegetables, and chicken & rice.

The evening I made chili it was extremely cold outside and I thought it sounded so good.  I put together all of my ingredients and it was simmering on the stove.  The problem was I apparently had the burner set too high and I wasn't stirring it or paying attention to it.  The next thing I know I start smelling something odd.  I checked the chili and I had burned it.  Yay, for me!  I was able to salvage it to a certain degree.  We didn't eat it that evening, but I did have chili a few times for lunch.

A couple evenings later I decided was going to be the roast night.  I put roast, potatoes, carrots, and mushrooms in my crockpot.  They cooked for several hours and then I got them out to put on a plate to set on the table.  After putting our food on the table, I realized that the corn muffins I was going to make to go with our meal had not been made.  So as our food is getting cold on the table I pre-heated the oven and mixed up the batter.  20 minutes(or more) later we sat down to dinner.  And to top it all off, after eating a few bites of the meal, I thought, "This roast and vegetables could have used another hour or two in the crockpot."  I mean, we ate the meal.  It was decent.   But, it could have been better.  I'm sooo out of practice!

Then, a few days later I tell Bobby that we are going to have chicken and rice for dinner.  That afternoon I started getting out my ingredients, one of which is cream of mushroom soup.  As I am taking the can out of the pantry, I thought to myself, "This can is very light."  So, I take a closer look at the can and the "easy open" seal has been broken.  Not only did the "soup" smell like dirt, but it had also been opened for so long most of the contents had evaporated.  Maybe that's why there was an odd smell in the pantry that I could never figure out what was.  Who knows how long the can had been in there?  So, that meal was off the table until the next night when we were able to get a fresh can of cream of mushroom soup. 

Even though I want to start back to cooking meals at night, I'm starting to re-think it.  Obviously, I need a refresher course...and fresh pantry ingredients!

Do We Have Any Whipped Cream?

One afternoon recently Grayson came up to me and whispered in my ear, "Do we have any whipped cream?"  I said, "Do you mean Cool Whip?"  He said, "Yes, yes!"

So, I got us a couple of spoons, got out the Cool Whip, and we starting dipping.

Grayson loved it (of course)!

Real whipped cream would have been better, but in a pinch...

Cool Whip is great!

Say Cheese!

Thanks to Aunt Rachel and Uncle Darren who gave Grayson a digital camera for Christmas, Grayson has become an obsessive photographer just like his mother.

He has taken literally hundreds of pictures since Christmas.

Some of his pictures are all black or all white or of the carpet, but he loves snapping pictures.

He goes around the house saying, "Say cheese".  And everytime he tells me, I do it because I would like the same courtesy given to me.  He also loves to view the pictures he's taken.  He's so proud of himself when there is actually someone or something in the photo that he intended to be there. 

Is there room in the family for another crazy photographer?

You'd Think He Would Know Better By Now

I take a lot of pictures.  I'm always trying to get "the one" good shot and in the process I take 10 or 15 others of the same thing.  I realize it can be annoying to those being photographed, but you'd think Bobby would be used to it by now.  And, you'd think he would know better by now.

Apparently, he doesn't.

One night recently I was taking pictures of Grayson dancing or singing or something and Bobby got annoyed with me snapping so many pictures.  So, what did I do?  I took one of him.

You'd think he would know better by now.

How Hard Can It Be?

Grayson needed a nightstand for his room, so I purchased one online that looks like a locker.  When I told Bobby that there would probably be some assembly required, he wasn't exactly thrilled.  I said, "How hard can it be?  I mean, it probably comes mostly put together.  I'm sure it will be something simple like screwing on the wheels."

Well, it wasn't exactly just "screwing on the wheels".  It came completely unassembled,

but Bobby was up to the challenge.

Grayson "helped".

And, before too long, it was finished.

Then, it was off to Grayson's bedroom...

Homemade Christmas

In 2009 I made several Christmas gifts.  I hope the recipients enjoyed receiving them as much as I did putting them together.  I was definitely more excited about giving the gifts than I have been in years past when we bought all of them.  I mean, how many shirts or sweaters does a dad need?

One of the gifts I made was a book for my niece, Kali, called "The abcs of Kali".

I cut out all of the letters and shapes with the Cricut,

put them together in a book,

laminated it,

bound it together with book rings,

and added ribbon to the rings.

I hope Kali enjoys playing with it for a long time to come.

Another gift that I put together was an 8x8 album for my parents.

The album consisted of pictures (mostly of Grayson or them with Grayson) from the whole year.

I made the pages online at Wal-Mart's photo center.  There is about 2 or 3 pages per season with several pictures on each page.

I think it was their favorite gift.

For Bobby's parents this year my SIL Rachel and I went together to make this framed photo of their grandchildren (minus one).

We bought a 12x12 scrapbook frame, matted the picture onto a piece of textured scrapbook paper, and added the ribbon.  The word "Joy" was cut out of vinyl using the Cricut and adhered to the front of the glass for added dimension.  Love it!

Though I loved making gifts for Christmas 2009, the jury is still out on whether I'll make more for 2010.  I'm going to have to have more ideas.

Wordless Wednesday

Am I Glad That Christmas Is Over?

We had a great Christmas this year.  Lots of food, presents, and family time.  I can't say I'm disappointed that Christmas is over as it relates to the food and presents part.  Grayson received so many gifts that I don't know where we are going to put them all.  And foodwise, I don't think I can handle much more.  Hello, diet in 2010!

Here are a few(or 15) pictures of our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day activities.

Christmas time is exhausting in a lot of ways, so a part of me is glad that Christmas is over.  One thing that I will miss, though, is all the family time we got to have.  Bobby was off work several days and we were able to spend time together and spend time with our parents, siblings & their spouses, and nieces & nephew.  We definitely enjoyed being with the ones we love the most.

I Heart Tom Bagby

A few weeks ago we took Grayson to Tom Bagby Photography in Russellville to get his 3 year old pictures made.  Yes, he's been three for awhile (since July), but for some reason it took us this long to get them taken.

Anyway, here are a few of them.

I love all of the pictures that were taken and I wish I could have bought every one.