Fun Photo Friday

Guess where we went today?!

No, don't be ridiculous. We do not say those kinds of words. Hmmmm, and we don't drink those beverages either.

We went somewhere where they put Devils on the buildings. That's so you'll know what kind of establishment you are looking at without even needing to see the sign.

I wanted to go in here, but Dan wouldn't let me. Just kidding. The smell of vomit and urine was making me gag. But I was so astonished by this sign, I had to stop so I could share. It really is the Devil's Playground here.

Yep, there were some very interesting.... and disturbing things to see here.

Some gorgeous architecture and buildings were hidden among the nasty front trappings.

And hey! I learned that this is a landmark for New Orleans today! I know, I'm a heathen for not knowing this building.

So the answer is, we went to the French Quarter today. We took a stroll down the cacophony filled, cesspool scented Bourbon Street. We ate at a seafood restaurant called The Gumbo Pot. We perused the bead filled shops and I debated the merits of purchasing a voodoo doll. We checked out the offers of questionable delights. I have to say, I am not seeing the attraction of the place.

Family Rocks!

We finally took advantage of living closer to family!! We met up with my brother at the Temple this weekend. The kids were so excited to see their cousins, and I confess to being pleased to see them as well.

Here's my crew. They had a marvelous time playing on the grounds that morning.

So many things to climb on and play on. Here they are waiting for Andy's family to arrive. Every time a van would turn in they would jump up and down. Very cute.

Marian was very excited about this. This is the icky squirrel skeleton stuck on the back fence. Kera said the children got a lot of mileage out of it during their games. Marian and Katie's cheetah antics used it most effectively.

These 2 were the only ones who held still long enough to get a usable shot. They had a good time hanging out and playing. I love that the cousins get along so well!

We went to lunch and then spent some time at a park before we drove back home. This was a pretty good park. All 10 children had fun and none complained of being bored while we were there! Yay!

Delaney is a cutie-patootie!

Rylee and Charlotte had a good time. I LOVE the way Rylee carefully enunciates "Shaw-yette". And there was no biting or pushing. Yay!

Marian dug a most impressive hole. Katie found a "buried treasure" in the sand and the big kids spent a lot of time trying to find more buried treasures. Alas, there were none to be unearthed.

Well, unless you count Joshua.....!

Okay this could have gotten it's own post, but I didn't do that. So, here's the set up. Dan and Rylee both had birthdays a few days apart. I know Dan detests sharing a birthday, but I celebrated them together anyway. We just had too much going on for me to do 2 separate celebrations.

Rylee was happy with her Jello Poke Cake. I make it for Dan every year and it is so tasty!

Yep, Callie agrees.

Joshua was trying to be funny. He gave me a lovely smile and as soon as I pushed the button, this is what he did. Silly Pickle!

This is what Delaney calls her "creepy smile". I'm not sure where that came from, but it is a hoot!

And Marian jumped into this shot just to be a pickle.

Happy Birthday Dan!

Happy Birthday Rylee! This is her new favorite toy. Its a cell phone. She talks on it a lot.

Sometimes I amaze myself

I was going to post pictures yesterday, but you see that didn't happen. They are still on the camera. What is my excuse? Well, today I:

-Walked to the base library to turn in reeeally overdue books.
-Took Joshua his stupid school ID that he forgot.
-Dropped off stuff at the thrift Store.
-Drove an extra 5 miles to put $2.93 a gal gas in the van.
-Went to the county library and discovered it was story time and our friends were there!
-Visited the chiropractor.
-Went to KMart for pull-ups and bread. Did not find cream or cool whip.
-Made a picnic lunch for Delaney to eat in the living room.
-Baked a cake.
-Cooked and divided 3 pounds of ground beef.
-Turned in paperwork to register the girls at the day care center.
-Checked 3 different convenience stores for cream or cool whip. None at any.
-Drove further out to find another grocery store and finally got my cream. (I need it for Jello Poke Cake!)
-Made tacos
-Oversaw the wrapping of birthday gifts
-Deboned 2 chickens.
-Helped Callie with her homework.
-Helped marian with her homework.
-Tucked in Callie, Delaney, Rylee and Marian.
-And now I managed to blog!

Life.... In pictures.

This is Joshua's pigsty of a room. I walked in there and saw this. It was so sweet, I had to grab the camera. Seeing Josh and Marian reading together made my day!

Rylee likes Watermelon. A Lot!

Joshua wanted a Creeper cake to celebrate his birthday. This was the best I could manage.

He was pleased with it and it was quite yummy!

This is what Delaney and Rylee do when we're at the gym. I know. Most kids sit there and watch the videos, or play with the toys. But my girls..... my girls take out the mats and use things in ways they were not intended.

This is me yesterday after 45 minutes on the elliptical machine at the gym. I'm a gross, sweaty mess when I exercise. Yes, I am!

And you should have seen me today after a walk and run with the stroller in muggy Louisiana heat. Whew, saturation about covers it.

I made bread. No, not for the first time. But this WAS the first time I have used the "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day" method. Not too bad! I'd have liked a bigger loaf, but I'll figure that out as I get better at it. I totally recommend you check it out of you like fresh bread with dinner. It really is that easy!

Yes, I was sitting on the porch watching my girls. They even asked if they could get wet and you can see that I said "yes!". Check out Delaney dumping the container of water down her front.

Rylee cracked me up! Look at her face. Such a funny girl!

Plenty of water to make mud and mud pies. Marian is a hoot. This boy is one of the neighborhood kids and he is not always nice. Callie often comes home crying because he (or his sister) was being mean. Marian gets along well with him. She told me she was going to train him to be nice! It was adorable. Marian is awesome.

Yep, same day. The girls came in and put on dry clothes. Then after dinner, they went right back out to the water.... and the mud!

They had a very good time in the mud. And there is still a pile of wet dirty clothes that need to be washed!

Feeling Blue

I keep trying to be positive. I keep planning to find enough great things about New Orleans to make a top 10 list. Unfortunately, I keep getting stuck in the negative. I chafe at the restrictions of the housing and I am annoyed by the attitude here.

Yesterday evening, the 3 middle children were outside. Half the neighborhood kids were outside, as well as several parents. I was working on dinner when Delaney came in saying there was a man at the door. Dan went to see and it was an MP, telling us that Delaney was too young to be out by herself.

Now, I'm sure some of you think I am too lax as a parent. I let them explore and adventure out on their own. I let them climb things, and I do not hover. I know everyone has their own parenting style, and I'm okay with that. I am aware of my children's abilities, and I am quite confident in Delaney's maturity. I know that she will not go far. I know that she will stay in sight of the house, and I know she's not going to go on the grass or near the canal. I am annoyed that I will no longer be able to let her out to play. I can't always go out. I have a million and one things to do in the house that require my presence inside. Dinner, laundry, cleaning..... not outside jobs. Unfortunately, if I cannot sit on the porch and watch her now, she will not be able to go out to play. I am sad too. She will be stuck inside because no matter how many times they say to drop what you are doing and spend time with your children, I still have to feed my family and keep the house in order. So she will have less outside time.

What is worse is knowing that someone called the MPs on us. I may not know that for absolutely certain, but the fact that there were a bunch of kids and parents outside and they zeroed in on mine? That's a little suspicious. And it hurts my feelings. I have a neighbor who doesn't like me and who thinks I can't take care of my child. My independent, creative, amazing child.

101 things to do with Pumpkin

I am out of pumpkin. This means nothing to most people, but I NEED pumpkin! I must have it. Okay, fine, not necessarily pumpkin itself, but it is the easiest. Sweet potato, and squash also work great, but they require a lot more effort. Pumpkin is nice because all I have to do is open the can. Today I had to roast 6 yams and 2 acorn squash, peel them and puree them. I still need to measure, seal and freeze them. When I need them, I'll have to defrost it first. Yeah, I'd much rather crack open the can of pumpkin!

You may be wondering why I need pumpkin (or its more work intensive friends). Well, I put it in lots and lots of things. And sure, I may have exaggerated. I am not going to list 101 things I use pumpkin for. I may not actually use it in 101 things, but I DO use it regularly, several times a week. Here are 5 things I need the stuff for:

1. I love-love-love pumpkin muffins. So yummy!

2. Chocolate chip muffins. No, it is not an official ingredient. I add 1/2 cup or so to boost nutrition, and it makes them nice and moist.

3. Sweet Potato Scones. This is one of the kids' absolute favorites. It is quite healthy. I know it says sweet potato, but pumpkin works the same. It is a tasty recipe.

4. Bread. I am a cheater. I like to use my bread maker to make the dough. I noticed that adding a 1/4- 1/2 cup of pumpkin makes a nice moist loaf. I make the dough in the bread machine, then remove it and make it into two 1 lb loaves that I let rise and cook in the oven. I prefer that to machine baked bread.

5. Pancakes. The kids like pancakes. Sometimes I am good and make whole wheat ones, but sometimes I am lazy or short on time (or whole wheat). Then I grab the box of Bisquick. We all know that there is very little nutritional value in bisquick pancakes. So i add some pumpkin for a nutritional boost. No, it doesn't effect the flavor, but it does make them less crumbly.

I seem to have a theme here. All my breakfast foods need pumpkin. I am cross that the stores seem to think it is a seasonal item. I have been looking for it for a month and have not seen any at the commissary or Walmart. So I had to do it myself and puree sweet potato and squash. Which I still need to finish and freeze.

Time to Ex-tercise

I decided it was time for 15 pounds and I to part ways. I discovered that the gym has an area I can exercise and keep an eye on the kids, so I started actually going to the gym. Yeah, I know. I have my own elliptical machine (and it is actually better than the 2 I can use at the gym). Unfortunately, someone told the movers to put it in the garage, and all the false promises in the world are not going to get that monster up into my room. So, I go to the gym.

This morning Rylee and Delaney woke up at 5:30. Delaney can entertain herself and be quiet, but Rylee.... not so much. I thought today was going to be truly horrid, because I was going to go to the gym and then I had to go out. Since Rylee spent most of time crying, whining and needing to be held, I was not enthusiastic. Well, I was even less enthusiastic than usual. I had visions of Rylee making it impossible to get in any kind of workout. I usually try to stay 45 minutes and mix it up between the bike and elliptical. I made the wise decision to go for a walk instead. Since I had plenty of time to get everyone ready, we headed out with the kids to school, and kept on going.

Turns out a walk was the best idea ever!! Rylee loves the stroller and was very content to hang out there for an hour and she napped the last 30 minutes. I discovered I really can find a real place to run here and even kicked it up for 5 whole minutes and pounded pavement. Yep, one more reason I hate the gym. The treadmill makes me want to poke my eyes out and I can hardly stand to run on it for 30 seconds. However, out in the open air, running on the street, I ran a good deal further than I thought I could (seeing as how I haven't really run in over 2 years now.) So, I am feeling quite pleased with myself, and much more confident that I may get back into a running routine.

And with that, I shall leave you with my top 5 reasons for hating the gym:

1. So Boring! Well, mostly. Sometimes someone else has children even more poorly behaved than my own. Sometimes mine fight or cry and break up the monotony, but usually it just means I have to leave before I planned.

2. I don't want people to see me when I work out. I feel like an idiot and I look like a sweaty, red faced, gasping, heat-stroke victim. While I do not consider myself to be vain, I'm still not thrilled at being in public when I look that bad.

3. I never know who will be there. There are only 5 pieces of exercise equipment in the Mom Room, and depending on who is there depends on what you can do. That's why I usually do time on the bike. The ellipticals and treadmill are the hot commodities. And some moms have nicer kids than others. Thus, the quality of workout depends on who and how many other moms and kids are present. That's too much hassle in the morning!

4. I sweat. No glowing here, just monstrous amounts of sweat. None of the other moms seem to sweat- ever. Not even when they have been hogging the elliptical machine on hard-core for 45 minutes. I hate them.

5. I don't have the appropriate gear. I missed the dress code memo. I exercise because I have to. I don't plan or intend to look cute. I am perfectly happy to pull yesterday's T-shirt out of the laundry to wear because I'm only going to drench it with sweat anyway. Why mess up perfectly good, clean clothes when it's not necessary? However, I always feel inadequate when I show up in my plain old sweat shorts and T- shirt and the other moms look great in their tight tank tops and spandex.

Birthday fun!

I now know how to throw the perfect birthday party! The kids got to go to one yesterday. We were all invited to the birthday party of our neighbor's daughter. They put out a little pool and a huge inflatable water slide. The kids were out there ALL afternoon! Loved it!

Callie enjoyed the pool when she got tired of sliding

But mostly she went down the slide. All afternoon long! And yes, next time, the swim shirt will be non-negotiable. She got toasted.

Delaney dutifully wore she swim shirt and only got sunburn on her face. She had a marvelous time going up and down the slide. She only stopped for cake, and only briefly.

Why yes, those are my children sitting on the slide. And yes, Marian did leap from one to the other till I made her stop. I don't know why MY children have to think outside the box and climb on everything!

Oh yeah, she had a very good time.

And let me document the fun of the slide in 5 easy photos:

Joshua also had a birthday. He will have a friends party next week, so we just had a family cake and ice cream and gifts.

Waiting with the goodies. It was tasty cake!

Marian could not wait for this gift to be opened. She had picked it out and you can see that Joshua is thrilled with it. Too bad they have to wear uniforms to school- bleh.

Did I mention yummy cake? Callie said it was better than the one at the water slide party. I didn't tell her it was from a mix!

And here is my little trouble maker, Rylee. Sure, she LOOKS innocent!

Sunday Best

While in Africa, my mom bought matching dresses for the girls. It is rare to find 4 dresses in the range of sizes we have, so I was really excited about these dresses. Unfortunately, I have opinionated children. Very Opinionated! Fortunately, I was able to talk all 4 of them into wearing these dresses today! Hooray for matching cuteness!

The back porch was too messy for a picture. Delaney refuses to step onto the grass because of the fire ants, so this was the best place to get them all together.

So the lighting isn't as good and you can't see the absolute cuteness of the dresses. I don't care, I have documented that I got them on all 4 girls at the same time at least once!

And they are a good looking bunch!