Did you know?

Did you know that this:


Could do this:


It's true. One day I noticed that a large grasshopper was on my porch screen and he was eating it! I looked it up and sure enough, I am not the only one who has grasshoppers eating their screens.

If you ever see little holes on your screens you can simply spray the screen with bug spray and it will help keep the bugs from eating through.

As for me, I guess I will just have to get a new screen for my door.

Fear and Trepidation = Double D's First Hair Cut

While most people don't think of fear and trepidation when it comes to taking their little ones for a first hair cut, that is exactly the way I felt when I took Double D to get his first hair cut recently.

You see, when Sissyboo was 15 months old, we decided that her hair needed shaped up and she need some bangs. We found this great little Kids Beauty Salon right down the street that specialized in kids only haircuts. One Saturday morning My Sweetie and I took her into the Salon to get her very first hair cut. I am not sure what happened from the time we walked into the salon to the time the beautician starting cutting her hair, but lets just say, ALL HECK broke loose! Sissyboo wouldn't sit still and was screaming her head off. Needless to say, it was VERY difficult to even get near her with a pair of scissors. The beautician turned on Elmo and gave her a sucker, but that wasn't enough. She continued to cry and scream. I ended up holding her through the entire ordeal while she watched Elmo, sucked on her sucker and cry her eyes out.


So, when it was time for Double D's haircut...all I could think about was the last time we went for a haircut. But, this time, I had to go by myself and take along Sissyboo as well.

But, I was worried for nothing. Double D sat in the little car chair and watched Elmo the entire time. In fact, he was so happy he was squealing with delight! What a trooper he was that day.


You can even see Sissyboo having a great time in the pink car chair in the background.


NOTE TO SELF:
1 Peter 5:7 NLT
Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

(Even the little worries about small things like getting your child's hair cut.)

What I Can Not Live Without...

I can not live without my Goo Gone! It has saved my clothes and walls from many crayon mishaps!

A while ago, a piece of crayon made its way into the wash machine (which happened to only be My Sweeties work clothes)and I took Goo Gone to all the spots and it came clean! It was VERY thankful that day, that something like that could take away a large amount of crayon.

Now, everytime Sissyboo gets ahold of a crayon, the walls are her first target. I just spray a little Goo Gone on the walls, and after a minute or two, wipe off! It works every time.


Sometimes, you have to be thankful for the little things, like Goo Gone....because it's not just for removing labels (wink).

Meal Plan Monday

Good Monday Morning! Here is our meal plan for this week.

Monday: Bourbon Chicken with rice

Tuesday: Going out to Cullpeppers for Wing Night (I have a major craving for Hot Wings! What can I say, I'm pregnant...I have weird cravings!!!)

Wednesday: Meatloaf and Alton Brown's Broccoli Casserole

Thursday: Reuben Sandwiches made by my hubby (YEAH)

Friday: *Chicken Casserole (from Emily @wearesoparents.blogspot.com) with Mash Potatoes and Cranberry Sauce

Saturday: Going to dine on The Hill with the family

Sunday: *Butternut Squash Soup and French Bread

*New Recipes for the week

Have a wonderful and gLORIous week!

Quiet Boxes

Years ago, when I was working at a church, I started making these quiet boxes for children in my church to use during the church service. We had an antiquated nursery that no one used and I wanted the children to have something to keep them occupied and quiet during long services. When I made them up for the church, I would often include a children's bulletin, crayons, stickers, Kleenex's, a small book and a quiet snack. The children would pick up their quiet boxes on one end of the back pew and return the used quiet boxes on the other end of the pew after services. This way I could refill the used ones for next week.

Now that I have a toddler who isn't fond of the nursery at our church, I started making up Quiet Boxes for her for Sunday morning services.

In Sissyboo's quiet box, I have included a book, a tablet of paper, stickers, crayons, a quiet snack (raisins), and a wet one. Not only is this an idea for church but I have often found it is great to have along when we take her out to dinner. It keeps her occupied, and what is better than a toddler who is occupied!

My Garden, Can You Dig It?

I just pulled the last of my tomatoes from my garden. I have to say, for my first real garden it was a hit with the family. We had all types of different veggies, but the tomatoes where the real stars.

Here is just a sample of the different types we had. One evening I sat down and did a taste test on all the different types, I had to laugh because to me they all tasted similar, they tasted just like...tomatoes!



We also had raspberries, however every time I would go out to get some, Sissyboo would eat them before we got back to the house! In fact, each time we go outside, she would run to the back yard and stop and pick the cherry tomatoes, pop those in her mouth on her way to the raspberry bush!

I hope to add more to our garden next year and add more raspberry bushes as well.

Thanks for stopping by!

Welcome Fall

I have been looking forward to Fall all Summer long. We have had an extremely hot and humid summer here in St. Louis and I have been eagerly awaiting some cooler temperatures. Over the years, Fall has become my favorite season for many reasons, but the main reason is, I love decorating for Fall.

So come on in and take a look around at what I have been up to lately.

Here is the front door all decked out. I love the big E pumpkin. I actually painted that on to one of those craft pumpkins last year, but it is still one of my favorite fall decorations.

These are the shelves in my entry way. I love changing the decorations to match the season.



Here is the kitchen in all its Fall glory. I love having cabinets that don't go all the way to the ceiling so I can decorate the top.





Thank you for stopping by, and Happy Fall!

Ick...Ick...I'm Sick

I am not going to be blogging for a bit until I get to feeling better! I have been suffering with pretty bad headaches lately and this morning I woke up so dizzy I could hardly stand.

I hope you all have a great week friends!

Chili Quest....

If you grew up or have lived in Ohio, you know what Cincinnati Chili is all about. With a Goldstar Chili and Skyline Chili in every town, chili is a big deal there. Since I grew up in Ohio, chili has always been a staple in my life whether it is from a Cincinnati Chili Restaurant or homemade.

I remember introducing My Sweetie to his first Skyline Coney Dog, I can still see that look of delight of his face. He had fallen in love with the same chili that I had grown up with. Now every time we go back and visit my family, we have to make two stops, first is at a Skyline to get a coney and the second is at Kroger's to get several boxes of frozen Skyline Chili. Even as we speak, I have three frozen bowls of Skyline in the freezer from my latest trip.

However, now that I live in St. Louis, I have yet to find a chili restaurant or even a good regular chili recipe. So, if anyone out there has a good chili recipe, please point me in that direction! I am on a serious chili queast.

There is nothing as heart warming as a good bowl of chili on a crisp fall day while watching football with your loved ones.

Grandmother's Overnight Salad

My darling Grandmother has been making a version of this salad for many years. While she makes her recipe with a dash of this and a smidgen of that, this recipe is as close to hers as I have ever tasted.

I usually half this recipe for my little family.

1 head lettuce, chopped fine
1 onion, chopped fine
16 oz. frozen peas
1 head cauliflower, chopped fine
1 lb bacon, fried crisp and crumbled
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups mayonnaise
1/3 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese

1 Layer in preceding order.
2 Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight.
3 Toss before serving.

Meal Plan Monday, even though it's really Tuesday!

I hope everyone had a great long Labor Day weekend. We had a nice relaxing weekend that involved celebrating Double D's first birthday with a beach themed party, taking the kids to the park and My Sweeties final fantasy football draft.

I have been suffering with pretty bad sinus headaches everyday for the past week, leaving me with little motivation to do anything but take care of the family.

Here is my menu for this week:

Tuesday: Steamed Maine Lobsters with The Neely's Coleslaw

Wednesday: Pork Chops on the grill with Alton Brown's Broccoli Casserole

Thursday: Roast Chicken and Stewed Tomatoes

Friday: Linguine with leftover chicken

Saturday: Roast Pork Tenderloin with mashed potatoes

Sunday: Creamed Chipped Beef S.O.S. with peas

I hope you all have a wonderful short week!

Blessings from my cottage to yours.

Going around in my head:

These verses have been going around and around in my head for the last few days. I decided to look up different versions and I just love how The Message puts it into todays language:

Matthew 6:26-34:
26 "Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.
27-29"Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.

30-33"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

34"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.

I love the phrase "Don't get worked up". How many times during the day do we get worked up about the little things?

Isn't it wonderful that God will help us with whatever hard things come our way, if all we do is trust in Him? To me, that is just amazing!

Today is a Pajama Day!

One of my favorite things is a dark rainy day, especially when we don't have any plans or places to go. So today I have instituted a Pajama Day, a day dedicated to being comfy and cozy in our pajamas.

This morning I put on fresh footy pajamas on the kiddos and we plan on spending the entire day being totally comfy. I only wish I had a pair of cutie footy pajama like the kids. My Sweetie and I call our pajamas "Comfys". So I will make sure I have his laying out for him when he comes home. I love it at night when we can all be nice and relaxed and not dressed up(after all, what is being at home if you're not comfy).

I am looking forward to seeing what family pajamas The Children's Place comes out with this year. Last year, I bought the kids matching pajamas and this year, I plan to get a pair for the entire family.

I hope you can find time in your day to be comfy and cozy!

Happy First Birthday Double D

I can not believe that a year has already past us by and Double D is a year old!

What a joy he is to me and my family.


I remember my very first thoughts the first time I laid eyes on My Double D. The first, was how much I was in love with this little boy. My second thought was, goodness he looks just like his Grandpa Larry!

My Sweetie and I always laugh because we never thought we would have a blond hair, blue eyed child that looks nothing like us. We always assumed he would look just like his sister. It is funny to see how different they are.

Double D has been such a blessing to us. He has such a sweet nature about him and has a lot of personality. He is totally in love with his big 13 month older sister Sissyboo. He follows her around and imitates everything she does.

We are all so in love with our little man!