LJS - Part 2

We were just about finished when a man approached our table.

Now, I had noticed this guy previously - because of the future kinship we would have if we all ended up contracting hep b and had to get together to rehash the details, I had taken note of everyone in the restaurant.

He was an older gentleman, wearing overalls, eating by himself.

So, he walks up to our table and says, "I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed watching the two of you interact during your meal.  I could tell how much fun you were having and just wanted you to know that I enjoyed watching the two of you while I was eating my dinner".  He turned to Reese and said, "you are very well behaved"

All I could say was, "thank you".  How often do we get confirmation that we're doing something right? And that our lives look as fun to others as they seem to us?  He didn't have to stop, he didn't have to say anything, but he did.  And that alone, made my day. 

But, overall guy wasn't done.  He said, "I'd like to buy your dinner" and laid $20 on the table.  I declined his offer saying his complement had already been gracious enough, but he said, "please, just please let me do this for you.  I enjoyed my dinner so much more than I would have had you not been here tonight.  So, please take this and have a good night".  I was speechless as he walked out the door.

Then my crazy mind took over - wonder what he did to this money...did he smear something gross or toxic on it?  Should I even touch it?  Is there a tiny transmitter imbedded somewhere that will allow this guy to find us once we get home? 

Then I came to my senses.

This was just a man.  A man TRYING to do something nice.  A man who DID do something nice.

What a crappy society we live in that our first thoughts go to the bad instead of the good (or maybe that's just me...well, me and T 'cause the first thing he asked when I told him the story was whether or not I made sure overall guy wasn't waiting for us in the parking lot when we left).

Why couldn't I accept this gesture of kindness without first questioning his motives?  Thinking he was up to no good.  So, grateful or not, I think he did more than pay for our dinner - he reminded me that there are still some good people out there.  People I don't know who are living their lives and trying to make our world a little better place to be.

Thanks overall guy...I won't forget you - and I'm definitely grateful!

**the money was put into my 3-Day-for-the-Cure fund - overall guy was my first donor!!**

Grateful...or not?

As always, Reese and I decided to eat out when T was out of town....

I picked her up from daycare and we commenced our discussion of where we would eat that night.  We always pass Long Jo.hn Silv.er's on our way home, so I asked Reese if she'd like to go there.  We had never been there together - in fact, I cannot remember the last time I'd been in a LJS.

She asked what they had and was sold when I mentioned the fish.  She asked if Baby could go with us, but Baby was at home.  Reese asked if we could run home to get her.  This was followed by Baby's voice resounding in the car, "I'm hungwy".  Don't know how we could hear her from so many miles away, but we did.

My initial thought was, "what a pain - I don't want to drive all the way home to take some fake baby out to eat with us".  Then I reconsidered.  Would it really hurt to drive the few extra miles (5 miles each way)?  We weren't on a schedule...T was out of town.  So I relented and we headed home to get Baby.

It probably took us 15 minutes to get Baby and return to Long Jo.hn Silv.er's.  As we pulled up, I noticed they weren't very busy.  Then my mind started to wander...maybe they've had lots of bad health inspections and everyone but us knows it...maybe something bad happened here (is this a bad part of town?) - you know, the normal crazy stuff.  But we all went in and ordered.  We sat down and I scanned the other patrons wondering if we'd meet up later to discuss our dining experience as we tried to figure out how we contracted hepatitis b.  I have no idea why my mind was having these thoughts other than trying to reconcile why it had been so long since I'd darkened the doors of a LJS.  Did I forget that their food really sucked and that's why no one was here?  Anyway, Reese, Baby and I enjoyed great conversation while we ate our dinner (which was just as you'd expect - fried and delicious!).

We were just about finished when a man approached our table.

This post is getting rather long, so I'm going to make it a 2 parter...stay tuned for what happened next :)

Taste of Summer

Every year, on the last Saturday of June, our local Blue Bell has a Taste of Summer celebration.

They have inflatables, tatoos, visor making, cow milking, tours of the factory and all the ice cream you can eat from 9-3.  It was free for Reese to get in and only 5 bucks for me.  The Blue Bell plant is super close to our house, so we were able to get there fairly early...too early for ice cream to be honest, but it only comes around once a year, so what the heck, right?

We started off making a pirate hat and then moved on to a face tatoo.

Scared, aren't you?  And yes, my pirate wears lipstick!



From there, we moved on to our first ice cream of the day.  Reese had cotton candy and I had Triple Chocolate something. 

After watching some singing performances, we went on the tour.  No pics because they wouldn't allow them (someone might try to nab some of their ice cream making secrets).  They were in production, so we got to see ice cream put into cartons and cartons whisked off to the freezers.  Some of the workers would look up and wave to the kids.  Not only that, inside the building, they had "flush" toilets (porta pottys outside), so we took total advantage while on the tour!

Shortly thereafter, we went for ice cream #2.  Reese had cotton candy and I had chocolate something.

She decided she wanted to jump on some inflatables, so we stopped for an ice cream (just so we'd have something to do while waiting in line, you know - Reese had a banana fudge bar and I had an ice cream sandwich) and then she jumped.



All that jumping will make a girl hungry, so we got in line for ice cream.  Reese had cotton candy (are you noticing a pattern here?) and I had Chocolate Caramel something.

We headed back to watch more performances - this time it was an ice cream eating contest - Reese was entranced!

"I could do that if they were eating cotton candy ice cream instead of ice cream sandwiches"

She wasn't quite ready to go, so we went to make a princess tiara, milk the cow (fake) and jump on some more inflatables.



Fact I learned while on "the tour" - Blue Bell doesn't own their own herd of cows, so they buy all the milk for their ice cream.  I woulda thought they had cows - hmmm.

By now, we'd been there about 3 1/2 hours, so we decided to head home.  But not before 1 more stop for ice cream.  Reese had cotton candy and I had chocolate something.

Neither one of us got sick from the excessive amount of ice cream we consumed, but we did skip lunch!!

Mother/Daughter Trip - Part 2

I totally forgot to finish the story of my and Reese's Mother/Daughter trip to the big town of Bartlesville, OK.

Sunday morning brought bagels again in the room before we went swimming for the second time.  Again, 5 minutes for me to get totally wet because of the cold water.  We did the same routine as Saturday then headed to the room to get ready to go shopping. 

Reese tried on 6 outfits in Dillards before settling on 2 she wanted.  I asked the sales lady to hold them for us because we hadn't been to any other stores and I thought Reese may find something she like better elsewhere.  I was right to have waited because she found 5 outfits in the next store she really wanted (2 outfits at Dillards vs. 5 outfits at Goody's for the same price - score!)



After leaving the 2nd store, Reese said she was just too tired to walk and wanted me to carry her - sorry, not happening!  Not that I don't want to carry my child - she's just getting too big, so our shopping trip was over. 

We ran around town after lunch taking pictures with the painted buffalo, at the train (where Reese's baby fell out the window - tragedy!), and the various water features.  Back to the hotel for napping, then dinner out.  We called it a  night and headed back to the hotel to relax.



Monday morning we didn't want bagels, so I said we could go to McDonalds.  Reese veteod the idea as soon as she learned that meant she had to get dressed.  We finally trekked down to the pool for day 3 of swimming.  I decided I wasn't going to wimp out and take 5 minutes to get wet (why prolong the agony?), so I just took the plunge and jumped right in.  Reese put her feet on the first step and said, "wow, this water is cold - let's go to the hot tub".  I don't know if she was messing with me our not, but I cracked up because I couldn't believe I'd gotten cold for nothing!

We had a great time and are looking forward to many more annual trips.  Wonder where we'll venture next year?



Mother/Daughter Trip

I get off work at noon on Friday's, so we were able to get an early start on our 2nd annual Mother/ Daughter trip.  I'm sure this will be extremely handy if we ever venture further than 40 miles from our hometown!


I bought Reese the soundtrack to her current favorite movie - Lemonade Mouth.  It's a Disney movie about a bunch of teenage misfits who form a band.  I kept the CD a surprise until we got in the car to begin our trip.

She (and baby) were excited!

We sang every song more than once and made it to town just in time to check-in and take a nap.  These water towers come into view just as you enter town.  I've always thought they were funny - word on the street is that the towers were originally the victims of grafitti, but someone in town thought it was creative and had them painted that way.

"Hot, Warm and Cold"

We went to dinner at a local greasy spoon called Murphy's.  Been there before, so I knew to order the hot hambuger with gravy over all.

Hambuger patty atop Texas toast  - loaded up with homemade fries and drowning in brown gravy.
Reese got a salad.....hrmfff!

Next we headed to the kiddie park.  On our way there, we saw a bunch of bouncy houses set up downtown.  Looked fun, but nothing like the kiddie park, so I told Reese we'd go there Saturday night.  She rode everything at the kiddie park including the roller coaster - twice.  She's becoming quite the adventurer.



I tried getting a picture on the roller coaster but she told me to put the camera down and "just ride Momma"

Saturday morning we got up and headed to the pool.  It took me a full 5 minutes to get totally wet 'cause, I'm telling you, that water was cold!  We swam for a while then ended up in the hot tub where I had much more fun.    Side note:  Pics of me in a swimsuit will not be seen :)


We then drove to Woolaroc.  It's a western art and artifact museum that's probably a little over Reese's head, but fun nonetheless.  It's name comes from the surrounding WOOds, LAkes and ROCks - catchy dontcha think?  This was the day we had a picnic planned, so we we barely got to see the shrunken heads (yes, they're real) before Reese started asking about the picnic.  We got our fixin's and spread out on the lawn near the playground.  It was a little chilly, so we were the only ones brave enough for a picnic, but I swear I saw many envious glances from other (kids) in the park. 

                            

This museum was created by Frank Phill.ips the founder of Phill.ips Petroleum and is on the grounds of his ranch house, which is where we headed next.  He was a big game hunter, so the Lodge (and museum) are filled with many trophies from his hunts.  This elephant head is hanging in the museum:

See the baby deer head underneath - this sucker's huge!
Reese said, "I hope it doesn't fall off the wall"
Me too, baby girl, me too

When I asked Reese what her favorite part of the museum was, she said, "the picnic" - so much for me getting an early start on piquing her interest in history.

This is the view from the front porch of the Lodge
well, you don't always get to see Reese and I,
that's on special occasions only

  We got back to the hotel, took our nap, then headed out to dinner.  Another local restaurant called "Frank and Lola's" - known for their green chili burger.  I was living on the edge, so I decided to give it a try.  I knew I'd never find anything better than a hot hamburger, but I was wrong.   So wrong that I wanted to go back to Frank/Lola's on Sunday for another but they were closed...boo hoo!  A hamburger bun, served open faced with patty on top then smothered in pork green chili sauce.  I forgot to take a picture before, you'll just have to take my word on it's deliciousness...I did actually take an after shot, but you really don't want to see it.

After dinner, we headed back downtown for the bouncies only to discover it was a one night deal - never have I seen tears spring so quickly to my little one's eyes!  They dried when I said we'd go back to the kiddie park, but reappeared when, it too, was closed.  We ended the night at a local ice cream shoppe, but I continued to hear about not getting to do the bouncies or the kiddie park until she fell asleep that night.

This post is getting extremely lengthy, so day 3 and the trip home will have to wait!

Wordless Wednesday

Scenes from our 2nd Annual Mother/Daughter trip - Bartlesville, OK







Think we had fun?  I'll tell you all about it tomorrow!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Holidays have become so much fun with a little one in the house.  February is a particulary great month because we have Valentine's Day, my birthday and Reese's Birthday.

We also go spend the weekend in a cabin in Arkansas the weekend closest to Valentine's which adds more fun to the holiday.  We were scheduled to be gone this past weekend but got snowed out!  So, we rented a hotel room here in town and spent the evening swimming in the pool and eating out.  Not quite the same experience as the cabin, but fun nonetheless.  If the truth were to be told, Reese probably enjoyed the hotel more than the cabin

(the cabin doesn't have a pool!).

We spent yesterday afternoon making Valentine's and then hung them on the windows in our kitchen.  I believe I've just started a new tradition because Reese had a fantastic time.  She asked me yesterday morning if it was time to do our wrap yet and I had no idea what she was talking about.  She said, "you told me we were going to do bubble wrap" - still nothing.  I finally realized that I said crafts and she heard wrap and the only thing she could think of was popping the bubble wrap.  I thought it was really cute. 

Here's a picture of one of the three windows we decorated.  Reese thought I was the bomb for coming up with this great idea - and really, who am I to disagree?  :)

Then we woke to flowers and candy from T - life just doesn't get any better than this!



Wordless Wednesday

On our way to see the Nutcracker!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas



I started a new tradition last year with Reese (well, actually I stole it from my sister, but pretend I was genius enough to think of it myself).  We go to the Dollar store and she picks out gifts for each family member: 

Daddy, Grammy, Uncle, Aunt and cousins.

It was really exciting this year because she had a list in her head of what she was wanted to buy for each person before we got to the store.  For J, I'm getting a headband, for T I'm getting markers, etc.  I thought it was cool that she was actually thinking of things that were useful and relevant to their lives.  In reality, every kid her age may do that and she may not actually be ahead of the curve, but in my mind, I considered her miles ahead of anyone else...like all us Mom's do I'm sure.

Anyway, she picked out her gifts and even convinced me that we had to have the princess paper to wrap them in lest our Christmas be incomplete.  The 5,673 other papers we already have just wouldn't do...so princess paper made the cut.

We took the gifts home and got ready for all the fun

I let her do it all...including the cutting!

Never have packages been taped so securely :)

She needed a little help with spelling, but got all names on their respective packages

No gift wrapping experience would be complete without the obligatory "silly face" picture



So what fun traditions do you have that I can steal, I mean totally think up on my own?

Christmas Cookies



Last weekend, Grammy had all the grandkids over to make Christmas cookies.  It's something she does every year, but this was Reese's first time to participate.

When we were on our way there, Reese told me that I could just drop her off and leave because she'd be fine without me.  *stab* straight to the heart...my little girl doesn't want me around already!  After thinking about it a few minutes, I decided that leaving would be ideal.  I'd have a couple hours to run errands and she could have fun without Mommy.

We walked in Grammy's and Reese immediately asked when I was leaving.  Grammy thwarted  her efforts though because she wanted me to help with the baking and organizing of cookies,  icing and kids.  She made a bunch of cookies ahead of time and then an additional batch of dough so the kids could cut some out too.  

She rolled, they cut, I baked. 

They had a great time even though Grammy was exhausted by the time we were done.  Reese said next time we go to Grammy's, I can't stay for sure!  Where oh where did my Mommy girl go?

Christmas Traditions

I bought this book the first year Reese was born.  I love starting family traditions and I thought this would be a good one.  So, I've faithfully taken it out from the depths of my closet, dusted it off and read it to her each Christmas season. 

The book is super cute and explains that the elf is in your house to watch the kids daily actions.  Each night he flies off to the North Pole to report whether they've been naughty or nice then (because of magic) is able to make it back to your house before they wake up the next morning.  He "hides" in a new place every day and the kids have to look for him when they get out of bed.  

It also encourages the kids to name their elf the first time they read the book.  Since we started reading it before Reese was 1, she didn't name him in 2007.  In 2008, she named our elf  "A boy" and last year she named him "Elf boy".  I've got nothing if not a creative genius daughter when it comes to namin' elves. 

If you're looking for a cute Christmas tradition, this one's great.  We've even used "Elf Boy" to stop a tantrum or two.

All I ask is that you refrain from stealing either of our elf names if you choose to get one of these books for yourselves!!!

Fall Camping

Gathering Wood

We go camping every Spring and every Fall.  We used to go to one particular place (Cedar Lake), but have changed our routine to include Robbers Cave (Jesse James supposedly hid out here back

in the day).  Since this was our Fall trip, we went to Cedar Lake.   It's a really small lake (90 acres) without a lot of traffic, so we didn't anticipate any problems getting our favorite spot.  T went before us because he took the whole day off and I didn't get off until 11:30.  Reese and I hit the road about 1:00.  The plan was for us to find T once we arrived, but we drove around and around and he was no where to be found.   

To be fair, there are 2 different camping areas on the lake and we were looking on the wrong side.  We finally found him in a spot we'd never camped before.  We arrived in time for Reese to help set up the tent and get all the food ready for dinner.  She really enjoys sweeping out the tent which is one chore I'm happy to relinquish. 

Silly String!

We spent a few days relaxing and enjoying the great weather before we had to head home.  Reese really loved the playgound, so we went every morning.  We also took her sidewalk chalk, so we had plenty of time for drawing and hopscotch.  It was another successful trip...can't wait till Spring!

Family Cavin

Every fall, we try to go to a cabin with all of T's family.  The original thought was to celebrate our niece's birthday, but it's now turned into a bithday/family getaway.  We try to find a cabin centrally located, but we ended up with a 3+ hour drive this time. 

Reese kept telling everyone that we were going to the family cavin - guess that's the way she heard it when we said cabin.  She also says we're going in Mommy's SUB.  If she's still saying cavin when she's 6, I'll make sure she knows what the real word is - for now, I'm just going to enjoy the cuteness of some of her mis-pronunciations.

Just to be clear, no one in our family owns a cabin, we just called it that since the whole family was going to be there.  But, getting everyone together is a feat in itself - the birthday girl didn't even arrive until late Saturday night.  She's involved in drumline and couldn't come until her Saturday performances were completed. 

We ended up having an awesome time with the little ones fishing for the first time (T pretended he didn't have anything on the line and got Reese over to reel in the fish).

Can you even SEE the fish?

We had salmon that night for dinner and Reese was led to believe we were eating the fish she caught at the pond - there's no way her couple of teeny fish could have fed that many people unless we were experiencing a miracle (loaves and fishes anyone?)

 The weekend went by way too quickly but everyone had a great time - I'm happy that Thanksgiving is right around the corner so we can spend more time with everyone!

We're off to see the Wizard!

Reese picked out her Halloween costume in September, yes, September.  I was asked why I'd be crazy enough to buy a costume so early when she was sure to change her mind.  But, I know my daughter and I know she was NOT changing her mind, so I was comfortable with the September purchase.

There's no place like Home!

Knowing what she wanted to be also gave me ample time to peruse every Halloween store in town for the perfect complimenting costume for me.  Let me just say that hers was the easy one.  She wanted to be Dorothy from Candace (cracks me up so much I never corrected her) and I was to be the Wicked Witch.  I never realized just how sexy witches are believed to be.  For every semi-wicked witch I found, I saw 15 "sexier" versions.  Now, don't get me wrong - being a cheap witch, a mystical witch, a demon witch or a sorceress witch has it's venue, just not as Dorothy's sidekick.  I had no idea it would be so hard just to find a "plain" witch costume.

I finally had to order it online.  But, I had plenty of time since we started in September.  We dressed up and went to HallowZOOeen and had an awesome time.  We even had someone ask to take their picture with us!  We handed candy out Halloween night and Dorothy thanked each trick-or-treater for stopping by.  We closed shop about 9:00 which was late enough for all of us.  Halloween was a smashing success and I'd venture to say I was with the most awesome "Dorothy from Candace" who ever existed.

The Cooky Book - Part 2

Last weekend, we went for cookie #2 from Betty Crocker's 1964 Cooky Book.  Reese picked out her next favorite - Coconut Chocolate Candies.

I have a recipe that's similar to this that my brother got when he was in high school.  I know, who's BROTHER gets recipes?  That's a whole other story for a whole other day - today is about the cookie.  I was looking forward to making these because I thought they'd turn out like the ones I remember making sooooo looong agoooo.

My very enthusiastic helper was all about the picture taking..."hey Momma, I've got a great idea.  Why don't I do this, and you take a picture of me"

This recipe has mashed potatoes in it! It's really very simple - no actual baking!  Just add all the ingredients, mix together and shape into balls. 

Dip in chocolate and you're ready to give 'em a try.



Very easy for my little one to help because there was no oven required.  She thoroughly enjoyed helping to make the cookies, but they earned a sad face in the taste category.  I'm not sure she has ever tried coconut before, but now she knows she's not a fan.

As for me, they didn't taste quite like I remembered from high school.  Now, I've really got to find that old recipe to see how they differ.  Two down, 448 to go!



The Cooky Book

Who spells cookie with a "y" - Betty Crocker, that's who!

My Mom had this Cooky Book when I was growing up.  It's circa 1964, which is NOT when I was born, but close enough.  I cannot say how many hours I spent looking through that book dreaming of making every cookie pictured.  Sadly, I cannot remember making even one.  But that book reminds me of good times I had when I was little.  I loved that book so much that when my daughter was born, I ordered my own copy in hopes that one day she would love it as much as me.  Well, that day has arrived!

We've been looking through that Cooky Book for several weeks now...picking out our favorites (there are color illustrations on almost every page!).  We decided this weekend that we would make our first recipe - which I'm hoping will turn into a tradition for us.  There are 450 recipes, 52 weekends a year - that would give us 9 years of cookie making fun.  Reese had picked out her favorite cookie weeks ago, so we got started.

  

Half 'n Half cookie - the first of many we'll be making

Cinderella mixing up the dough - work harder girl!

We halfed the dough and then mixed chocolate in one half and left the other plain (hence the half 'n half) and then chilled the dough just like we were instructed.  We took the dough out of the refrigerator and baked our first batch.  Here's what we got...

Doesn't look quite like the picture, huh?  The recipe also said to bake them for 8-10 minutes which made the bottoms REALLY brown.  Let's not talk about how I could have used them as skipping stones once they cooled - they were hard as rocks!

Ok, so I couldn't figure out how to bake them into circles, so I got creative and ended up with these:

Cute cookies being held by cute girl.  She ate all 3, but I don't know how.  One bite was enough for me!  Overall, our first try was a huge success.  She was thrilled that we were sort of making the cookies she chose, and I got to start the tradition I wish I'd had growing up...even though I still feel funny spelling cookie with a "y".