Sunset

Noah suggested that we walk up to the overlook on 192nd and watch the sunset. We thought that was a great idea so we headed out around 6:30. Apparently we should have left sooner, we were almost having to race the sunset to the overlook. It was going down faster than we were climbing. Sadly, my camera batteries went dead shortly after making it to the top too and all my backups weren't charged up so I only got a few shots...

My three boys.
Look at how tall Noah is getting!

Almost to the top...

This is where the sunset was by the time we reached the top of the overlook.
Going...

Going...

Gone...

Plane Ride ala Grosse Pointe Blank

There is a scene in the movie, Grosse Pointe Blank, where Martin Blank (John Cusack) is giving Debi Newberry (Minnie Driver) an airplane ride. I gave one (or a dozen or so) to Oliver the other day and tried to get some pictures. That was really hard to do, I was trying to make sure he didn't fall or loose his balance, focus the camera, take the picture and not get hurt (me not him). A lot of rides, a lot of laughing and a lot of blurry pictures later and this is the best shot I got...

I Tired Mama

Every once in a while Oliver, who stopped taking naps a while ago, will come to me and say, "I tired Mama." I learned a long time ago that if I let him lead where and how the conversation goes after that comment that I can get a few minutes of quiet time for me. I'll respond with something like, "really? You are tired? What do you want mama to do for you?" "I lay down in fire truck in playroom please," is his response. So I gladly, crossing my fingers, get out brother's fire truck sleeping bag, a little pillow and get him all set up. He'll start a video (usually Go Diego Go!), spread his blankets on the pillow, giggle and crawl inside. With a little luck, when I check back in about 10-15 minutes this is what I find...

Sweet dreams little man.

This One

I did with Stephanie in mind, this is a picture of one of her layers. I always get them confused so I can't say for sure who this is. I made it using or going through another tutorial from Designer Digitals.

8 is Great!

I can't tell you how excited I was when Stephanie told me that Tori wanted to play volleyball! This is her first year and I hope she decides to stick with it. I haven't hid my enthusiasm for the game and begged her to try and get number 8 - and she did!!! They say that they couldn't remember what number I had said I was when I played and just happened to end up with 8 anyway. Some may say it was luck I say it's a sign that she should be playing and I should be the psycho fan in the stands cheering her on. If you need me Monday or Wednesday afternoons, I'll be at Tori's games...
(pardon the construction signs, the gym is being remodeled this year)

Two Weeks Old Now

They are starting to get their feathers and Steph has a good picture of a couple of them posturing to see who the top rooster will be...

Oh Charlotte...

Another One

Apparently, what I need to slow down and learn something that I've been wanting to learn for a while now is a family fighting the flu bug. Yeah, we've all fought it and with a little luck should be ready to go come Monday morning. So our sitting around the house, relaxing and getting better today included another tutorial. I can't believe how much I've learned over the course of these two layouts/tutorials. So much fun...

I'm Learning

One of my goals lately has been to really learn how to use my Christmas present, Photoshop Elements, to do some digital scrap book pages. I downloaded a tutorial from Designer Digitals tonight and made this...

It was a lot of fun and can't wait to do more. If you've been wanting to try something new with your scrap books, I highly recommend going digital.

Broilers at One Week

To see the broilers at one week of age check out Stephanie's blog...

What I Made for Dinner

I roasted one of our chickens...

Tore off all of the super moist yummy meat, sampling much more than I needed to...

Made some homemade corn tortillas, even easier than the flour tortillas....

See, even Oliver could do it. Really, he mixed up the corn flour, water and salt. Helped me form then into balls and then pressed them out for me. I would peel them off the plastic and throw them onto the hot griddle but he pressed all but a couple out.

All warm and yummy...

I used THIS RECIPE, with a couple of modifications to make up this...

Which was rolled into the homemade tortillas, drowned in cheese and enchilada sauce and baked until it looked like this...

A little bit of shredded lettuce and a dollop of sour cream...YUMMY!!!
My modifications were that I used chicken instead of beef and I didn't have any green onions on hand so I left those out. I usually make my own enchilada sauce but happened to have the canned stuff in the cupboard so I used that. Now go try these for yourself!!

The Harvest Moon

Joel captured this picture of the Harvest Moon...

Human Glow Stick

Oliver and I went to the store the other day to get him some new pajamas. He is very opinionated in pj fashion so I let him pick out his three favorite. The first picture is him showing off his new jammies. When we went to bed last night and turned out all the lights I started laughing because that particular set glows in the dark - a lot! He looked like a human glow stick. Every single animal is outlined in glow in the dark stuff. I've taken many trips to the bathroom this morning so he could close the door, turn off the lights and show me his pajamas. I knew that even with a tripod I wouldn't get a good picture because the little man can't stand still so I just opened up the aperture as far as possible and slowed the shutter speed way down. The blurry, overly dark, second picture was the best that I could do. It's hard to see but he really wanted to share!

Jeff Foxworthy Would Be Proud

You might be a redneck if...you use a trampoline frame, chicken wire, deer netting, a tarp, some rope and a garden claw to build a chicken brooder/pen. I went to Stephanie's on Wednesday and helped her make this...

I helped her make that so it could hold these. 52 baby chicks, our first batch of chickens went really well but we only did 16, this time we are doing enough so that we don't have to do it again for quite a while. They hatched Wednesday morning and Steph got a call from the post office early this morning that they had arrived. If you go to her blog you can see a few different pictures and a video of what 52 chicks sound like (great for the kids!).

The kiddie pool will hold them close and huddled under the heat lamp for the first couple of days.

A mass of fluff! See that one already stretching and testing his wings?

Here is Sunshine, standing guard at the opening to the pen...good girl Sunny!

Oliver Likes to Help

Noah has always like to help me in the kitchen he still jumps at the chance to bake things with me. However, Oliver helps me in the kitchen ALL THE TIME! He must help me, there is no option. It must be what little brothers at this age do - check out Cousin Brandon who is a month older than Oliver helping out his mommy here. Anyway, I made flour and corn tortillas tonight and he was right there with me. I gave him his own area, his own rolling pin, a little pile of flour and he went for it. I rolled out and cooked 15 flour and 8 corn tortillas before he was done working on his...

I like this shot because of his little hand prints in the dough.

"More flour mama!"
That poor tortilla was choked with flour by the time he was done.

And no one is going to tell him how to best use a rolling pin...

A Friend In Need

A request came though our church email prayer and information chain...if you can help please leave me a comment and I will get in touch with you. Here is the post that came through. Thanks!

As you know we have Joshua, Kaden and Caleb and the Graham family in our prayers as they face medical issues. Now they are looking for a used recliner chair that needs a new home. Joshua is not sleeping well at night and many times only sleeps when held in an upright position. It doesn't have to be pretty, just clean and functional.

Week Survived, Mystery Solved

WEEK SURVIVED: The first week of school is done and Noah is settling in well. When you hold him down and use torture-like techniques he'll tell you what he did at school. Fun things like drums in music, rainbow tiles for math, points earned for behaving well, tokens to spend at Ms. Robinson's store, etc. Library days are on Thursday, music on Wednesday, PE on Monday and Wednesday and pretty soon he'll be out to his EXCEL classes on Tuesdays. His only complaint is that he doesn't get as much time as he would like to, "fully research the topics he wants to learn about." I reminded him that he will be doing some of that in his EXCEL classes and that he and I are constantly researching the things he is interested in. Anyway, school went well those first few days and we are all settling back into the routine quickly.

MYSTERY SOLVED: I mentioned in a previous post that I thought that Oliver might be having some night mares but I wasn't sure. Last night, I heard Ollie start his little panic cry that he does when he is scared shortly followed by him coming down the hallway. He was crying and telling me that he was scared. I scooped him up and took him back to his room where brother was fast asleep. Turns out....

...this one was scaring...

...this one!

Yup, Noah happened to be snoring last night and Oliver thought something was making weird growling noises! Noah would let out a little raspy snore and Oliver would cling to me and cry. After a little talk I put Ollie right next to Noah and had him listen really close. Once he figured out it was brother he calmed right down. He was still a little unsure but he did go back to bed and eventually asleep. So if your kids share a bedroom and one of them seems to get scared sometimes and you can't figure out why...check for a snoring sibling.

And He's Off!

September 3, 2008 and Noah starts second grade today. Noah woke up at 6:57 a.m. today, Joel got him set up with some cartoons and milk so I slept for another half an hour. When I got up I made his lunch, got out his clothes and fed him breakfast...

Do you see what time it is?
You'll have to ignore the crayon on the clock please.
The bus comes at 8:25 a.m.

Noah was ready to go by 8a.m.
He was a bit excited but like I said, no bus until 8:25.
So he stood here watching cartoons or...

Here watching cartoons or asking me if we could go out yet.
The bus stop is literally just across the street.

He couldn't take it anymore!
We were out by 8:15a.m.
Waiting for bus #113 and...

Listening to little brother tell us that,
"I'm going on bus too!"

Finally, almost on time bus #113!

And there they go, Cole, Noah and Bradley...
I'm on sidewalk trying to take this picture and hold back Oliver

We waved to brother and the bus, that Oliver did not get to board, and turned to go home. In the saddest voice he could muster Ollie says, "I sad that brother gone. I go too? Nope, I don't go too." Then something in that brain of his clicked and he asked in a much happier tone, "I watch Mickey Mouse now?" Last year, and he remembered the routine, the only thing that I could lure him back to the house with was The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cartoon. So guess what we did? That's right we watched Peep and The Big Wide World. Apparently, Mickey is old school now.

And Then There's This Kid

The youngest of the family...he started this morning off by screaming at me, "I NEED BUS LIKE BROTHER MOM MOM!" He is determined to not be left behind this year. I'm not sure what got him going this morning about the bus but he was relentless for quite a while. Lately, he has also been waking up an hour to two hours before he normally does and waking up once a night, which he normally does not do. He's been fighting a cold, I think he and Noah are passing it back and forth, and I also suspect he may be having some scary dreams. Needless to say, he's been a bit grumpy lately and no matter what I do or say a nap is out of the question. It all caught up to him this afternoon and this is how I found him...

In his "tunnel" fast asleep, see his cute little foot sticking out?

In case you missed the foot in the above picture.

So peaceful, MUST enjoy it while I can.

Poor Noah

Today is the last day of his summer vacation and the dear child is in utter shock! He spent the first hour that he was awake telling me about all of the places we did NOT go and the things we did NOT do. I reminded the boy that we have done a lot this summer but it did not seem to help his panic. I then had the gall to ask him what he wanted for his first lunch of the school year and if he would rather wear shorts or pants tomorrow - the look I got made me laugh. Dare I mention that he will be going to bed early tonight and getting up at least an hour before he has been for the last three months? Anyway you look at it, Noah starts 2nd grade tomorrow and I'll be there, at the bus stop, with my camera and a sad little brother.