these girls

Luckily for us, Audrey's best friend Callie's daddy has to come to Dallas every so often for business. He packed Callie in the car with him for this trip, so Audrey and Callie were together for two nights (and two days!)! We had so much fun; Callie is a lively little girl who always makes us laugh. Thanks to her mama for letting her come up. We hope it's the first of many trips.

Aren't they so cute.
(Enlarge the photo to see their little custom BF necklaces.)

We met some friends at this awesome place where everyone became completely worn out. The big girls were even kind enough to let Parker AND Miles tag along all through those climby things you can see behind them.

After swimming that night, I took the girls out for ice cream in their PJs. It must be so fun to be a little girl. The rest of the time was spent either acting as puppies or playing with puppies. You pick. These girls are animal lovers to their very cores.

We're off to Sundance for a week. Hooray!

cooking

I decided to actually cook meals this week. Since moving in to this house, I've been relying on frozen things quite often. (My kids love those Bertolli pasta dinners.) I stepped it up, got a new pan (eco-friendly non-stick!), donned one of my cute aprons (thanks, Natalie), and got my butt in the kitchen. While I cooked, Miles fell in love with tomatoes, and I can't blame him. Below are some of the dinners we've had lately, and some links in case you want to try. My kids have cleaned their plates (this is huge) with every meal but the Chicken Cacciatore (oops, too many red pepper flakes).

Chicken & Dumplings

Beef Tacos, soft & crunchy shells, we have fans of both. I just use the envelope of taco seasoning.

Chicken Cacciatore (in the crock pot) with Stuffed Zucchini

Lighter Ranch Chicken Salad (or fingers)

Mama's Beef Roast

Creamy Mushroom Pasta (chicken optional)

Balsamic Tomato Basil Pasta with Fresh Mozzarella

Tonight, we're trying a new recipe. I'll let you know how it goes. UPDATE: that last recipe wasn't so great. It was a less processed version of that Campbell's cheesy chicken casserole. Won't make it again.

Open Invitation

I know that Hurricane Dolly isn't headed directly your way, but I just want all my friends in Houston to know that if one of those bad boys ever does come your way again, and if you don't already have someplace to go, you are all cordially invited to evacuate to my house. We can fit lots of folks in here, we'd love to have a hurricane party! I know that when we evacuated in 2005, we were so grateful to have a destination due north.

Or you can also just come visit.

Audrey with the camera

and us, not lookin' so hot by 7 pm. We were waiting for Neal to finish mowing our extensive lawn so we could read the Friend and play UNO for FHE. Told you it was an exciting day.

The boredom had taken its toll on poor Parker.

Miles has tootsie roll drool all over his Wiggles shirt and my eyes are ready to close.
This is real life, folks.

Blah Monday

We're still in our pajamas and have no real reason to change that today, so for lack of better blog material, I'll send you over to this article, which is interesting if you're a language dork like me.

Grateful Sunday

This week, I'm grateful for:

• my kids, who make life so worth living and smiling about.
  
• my husband, who is honest, tender, and level-headed. I'm the impulsive one in the family. If it weren't for his ability to talk some sense into me, I'd have made lots of mistakes in the ten years we've been married! He's my rock. :)
  
• my beliefs. I feel so grateful for the perspective that my faith gives me, both in good times and in bad. I'm also grateful that times are not often very bad at all.
• our new congregation. We're very slowly meeting people, but the Sunday classes are proving to be outstanding. I'm learning so much.
  
• another trip to see family this week! Let's not discuss the 4 flights with no spouse part.
  

rides

We had lots more fun at the ranch, but I'll quit with the photos today, promise!

Daddy Jeff tried to get this horse to cooperate so that the kids could ride him, but, alas, he'd been in the pasture too long and wasn't very friendly about the saddle. Eventually, he settled down enough that Uncle John could lead the kids up and down the road a bit. No trail rides for Audrey this time, but she loves any time on a horse, and Parker learned a thing or two, too.

Next up were the tractor rides. They really got to steer this thing, and a few of the kids raised the digger thing (what is that really called?).

If you were to say that Miles is obsessed with his baby cousin, Tucker, you would be grossly underestimating this big baby's love for this little baby. The tractor was pretty distracting, though. You can see that Miles really got into it. :)

In the town in Oklahoma where Neal's dad and Gail spend about half their time, there's a great little "kiddie park," a childrens' amusement park which is only open after 7pm and only in the summertime. Every ride is about a quarter, and it was exceptionally fun and entertaining for so little money.

As you can see, these rides were perfect for people this size.

Emmaline and Parker on the little boats.

Crazy kids, crazy fun!

Oh, and yes, we did find the one-eyed cat. Apparently it lost a fight. :(

ranch scavenger hunt

Audrey out in front of the ranch house, which Neal's dad and Gail have majorly fixed up. It's so charming.

The first morning at the ranch, we decided to have a little country-style scavenger hunt. We put together a list and set out to find our objects. Here, Savannah shows us the list.

Some of the lovely things to find:
1. an old washer
2. 3 different kinds of scat (poop) {Incidentally, we found horse, dog & cow.}
3. old leather
4. 3 different bugs
5. 3 different colors of horse
6. 2 cats (one with only one eye)
7. 2 pretty leaves
8. "and a tractor"

I found 2 matching redheads.

The ranch is the best kind of place for kids. It's safe, remote, and they can make up their own kind of fun. These guys all did a great job of that.

fishing hole

Just a short walk (or Kubota ride) from Neal's dad's ranch house is a little pond, quite filled with fish, as we found out. There are several other ponds elsewhere on the ranch, but since we weren't quite big enough to drive the little vehicle, we settled for the walk-to pond. Audrey and Parker both tried their luck and weren't disappointed (I wasn't so lucky. Or patient.); we fried up their fish and had a yummy dinner!

Setting out to find the pond.

We had to stop to pet the horses on the way.

Pretty, huh?

Small snag (fishing hook in Audrey's hair). Savannah helped her out.

Big fish!

Examining the poor things (Audrey felt bad).

This is where things get icky. Luckily, Daddy Jeff knows how to clean fish, and didn't ask for help. :) I love the look on Parker's face.

Miles just wanted to be held. He was really worried about stepping in the cow "poops."

Grateful Sunday

Parker and our new pet leopard tortoise, "Leo," or as Parker likes to call him, "Toots."

This week, I'm grateful for:

• all the fun we've been having traveling together this month. We've seen every member of Neal's family, and next up is a trip to Sundance to see all of mine. We're so lucky to be able to travel.
• Parker. He's such a great kid and makes this face that immediately has me tearing up with laughter. I almost lost it when he kept making it when we were out for ice cream the other night (right). I don't know why, but I think it's about the funniest thing I've ever seen. Just thinking about it makes me smile.
• big Sunday breakfasts and a pre-church nap for Miles. Two of the (few) perks of having church at 2:30.
• Neal's new job, he starts Tuesday!
  

prairie girl

Audrey left her heart at the ranch.

We're back from beautiful Kansas. Tonight, Audrey asked if we could one day move there. She was living her dream life this week, and said she'd gladly work on Daddy Jeff's ranch.
I said I'd have to talk to him about it.

I have loads of fun pictures to edit. I'll post more soon.
This is obviously now a vacation recap blog. Not that I'm complaining. Are you?

Real quick.

We're just home for a day before we head off to Kansas for our next adventure. We'll be spending the rest of the week at Neal's dad's ranch: fishing, enjoying the peaceful prairie, and playing with cousins for a few more days.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from our holiday weekend in Louisiana, Neal's home state. It's such a charming place, made even better by our stay at the historic plantation home, Loyd Hall.

A beautiful place for a reunion, this Greek Revival plantation home was built around 1820. My little family stayed in a little suite made from the old kitchen building, behind the main house.

Audrey and Emmaline, on one of the nightly frog hunts.

Me and Meredith, one of my gorgeous nieces.

Parker and Oliver, Charlotte and Tyler's little charmer.

We were treated to a delicious Southern breakfast every morning. You can stay at Loyd Hall, too, if you're ever in this part of the world. Click on the link above to see more about it.

Parker loved the crawfish and crabs. He'll eat just about anything.

Audrey and some other curly cousins, Savannah and Meredith.

Neal and his cousin, Matthew. I promised Matthew a cameo on the blog. Hi Matthew!

It's so peaceful in the country. Here, some of the girls are going out to visit the ponies in the pasture.

Miles wasn't so sure he wanted to eat any of these critters Uncle John was cooking. But it was fun to watch.

Neal and Miles, up on the second floor porch.

And the pool. My kids were hardly ever dry for three days straight.

Believe it or not, there are even more pictures! If you're interested, you can see the rest of them here. I posted pretty details from the plantation on my other blog, here.

We got Daddy.

Neal is back to stay. No more bachelorhood for him, way less work for me!

Excuse us while we go enjoy ourselves in Louisiana. Be back next week!

feel like chatting?

Audrey would love to talk to you. She loooooves Google Chat. And exclamation points.It seems she has even perfected the smiley emoticon. Neal and I thought this chat she had with Julianne was so cute.

Jooj: hi les! congrats on the move! your house is looking lovely

me (really Audrey): hi , joojie! mommy is taking a nap before we go to our new pool the second time ! its audrey

Jooj: hey audrey!

so the pool is cool?

me: yeah! its really fun! when do you get to come to our house?

Jooj: hmm....maybe in august? or september?

i don't know

but you'll be in utah in july, right?

me: yeah will you come to disney land with us?

Jooj: what?! you guys are going to disneyland!

how fun!

i would love to - we'll have to see! :)

me: in october

Jooj: oh hm...i don't know, but i hope so. that would be so fun

i love disneyland

do you miss it?

me: yes

Jooj: so do you like your new house?

me: yeah! its fun! i was waiting for you to ask that! we have a playroom upstairs!

Jooj: that's cool that you have an upstairs

do you have a big backyard too?

me: yeah!

guess what?!

Jooj: what?

me: the pool has a lazy river inside and outside and in the one inside has a whirlpool and theres an enterance that when i went into it, i smacked onto the enterance because the current is so strong!

are you still there?

Jooj: yup!

me: oh

Jooj: oh i LOVE lazy river pools

me: me too

Jooj: they have them in this hotel in hawaii we went to when we were little

they're so fun

me: i know!

Jooj: but did it hurt? did you bleed or anything from being smacked into the wall?

me: no

but it hurt

and if you hold onto the side, you go up side ways

Jooj: ooo

that sounds fun

me: i know! will you be with us when we go to utah?

Jooj: yup!

i'm in england still, at school

me: yay

Jooj: but i'll be done then and will fly to utah to meet up with everyone

i'm really excited

it'll be so fun to see baby sadie!

me: me too

Jooj: have you seen pictures of her on matthew's blog?

me: yes

i will be right back, i have to go potty

Jooj: k

me: back

Jooj: so when do you start school?

august? september?

me: in august i think

Jooj: that should be fun

wait, 2nd or 3rd grade?

me: i cant wait to be in 2nd grade

Jooj: oh cool! i loved second grade. i did a play when i did 2nd grade

me: cool

Jooj: it was really fun

me: what was it about?

Jooj: "the elves and the shoemaker"

this shoemaker was really poor, but elves would come late at night and make his shoes for him

i played his wife

me: i have read that book

what were you doing before you started talking to me?

Jooj: i was walking in a meadow with some cows

and i fell into some mud!

hahahhaa

my whole leg was covered in it

me: oh. funny! :)

Jooj: i was running away from the cows

me: why

Jooj: they were all moving towards us, my friends and me where we were eating lunch - and we didn't want to be in their way

and i didn't realize it was so muddy, so i fell

haha

me: oh

Jooj: ok, i'm going to eat dinner

i love you audrey!

tell mommy hi for me

me: bye luv yoou

Jooj: love love you!

me: bye i will hang up on it

Love that little girl. Thanks for chatting with her, Julianne!