Fun With Our Phones Monday Link-Up -- LA Style

I'm cheating on this week's link-up. Sorry Savanah and Erin, BUT I am cheating and recapping my LA trip, so I'm including "real" camera pics as well. I don't think you'll mind; you are both so very sweet!

Last Monday at this time I was well on our way (ok, maybe just a tiny bit into the journey) to Hometown, LA.  The car was packed the night before, and I had wonderful visions in my head of waking up at 5; loading the car with our ice chest full of toddler goodies like organic whole milk (with DHA of course), cheese (have to have cheese), yogurt, and grapes; gently carrying the sleeping child to the car where he'd remain asleep for a few hours into the trip; driving into the early morning hour and making serious headway, thus less having to entertain the backseat boy.

Well, car did get packed and ice chest loaded, but the kiddo--he wasn't so much into continuing his slumber. I left the radio off and tried to politely ignore him so he'd fall back asleep. But leaving current Hometown, TX is on interstate with lots of lights around and lots of big trucks to draw attention. With my fingers crossed while holding the wheel (ok, yea figuratively), all I could do was chuckle as we passed 18-wheeler after 18-wheeler and The Sheriff took out his paci long enough to say "buh! buh." Translation--big! big!
Love that kid.

So he didn't stay asleep, but he was super mellow and agreeable (not that he's ever really not), and I'd consider the same schedule on future trips. In fact, I did the same to come home, but leaving LA was much darker, and I think he dozed off for a while after we left.

The trip itself was a tasty little mixture of fun with family and yucky little virus. Yep, apparently as we drove home a nasty little virus was rearing its ugly head to wreak havoc on our little ball of awesome. (Side note -- he's not really a ball anymore, but more an avalanche of awesome. Another post.) More to come on this little virus later this week, but we stuck it out and lived and learned, and most importantly loved.

This is how we roll at Grandpa and Grammie's house. Literally.

The Sheriff loved rides on the gator, porch trucks, and playing near resting giant dogs!

 He loves dogs...well puppies perhaps. DDD (pictured below) is not so much a pup at least in size. Sweet girl loves kids and wants to protect them and shower them with face kisses. It's not W's style. He needs to be the big guy. Maybe that means he'll make a great big brother one day! I digress. When the dogs (yes, Darcy is just 1 of 4 there!) were resting near his high chair or by his play area, he'd crack up out of the blue at them. I'd love to be inside his head and understand why that's so funny.

When you get to see your grandmother that you haven't seen in forever, totally sober antics ensue:

We headed over to Mamie's house and did some playing with this little guy. What a great "big" cousin with an amazing dad. He shared so sweetly, played so gently, and taught W so kindly. He's such a reflection of my brother. 

The next picture is terribly taken but captures such a sweet moment. Sleep deprived myself and hoping to get W to nap, I had to throw in the towel for a bit before taking The Sheriff to the doctor. Mamie saved the day in pure grandmother style. He was out like a light! 

We didn't take too many pictures this trip, but I learned a lot about myself and how I can be there for our child. Those are the moments that matter.

Roadtrip a la Workaholic Momma

Babies? In a car? Going farther than Target? Are you nuts?


Nah! While on my own little road trip of my own to South LA, I am so thankful to have J over at The Workaholic Momma posting here today. Be sure to stop by and check out her adorable Addie who just turned one in style with a colorful ducky birthday party. You know we like ducks around these parts, so we can't help but like our friends over there! We all learn "the hard way" how to maneuver through this journey called life as first time parents. You live; you learn; you read blogs to find out how it's done!

I wanted to start by thanking the wonderful Cajun Cowgirl for sharing her blog with me today and letting me share the tale of two trips and hopefully some helpful tips on traveling with a wee one!!!  I just LOVE reading her blog and getting all sorts of food and craftiness inspiration plus who doesn't love seeing all of the updates about the Sheriff..he's just too cute for words!!!

  Some lessons you have to learn yourself... That's the moral what I'm about to say here...but here's the story - As a new momma...I think I can say that until baby #2 is here right?!?!....anyhow, as a new momma I didn't really do a very good job of planning for the worst case scenario on a 7 hour road trip.  It was the day after Hurricane Irene had swept over our neck of the woods and due to the non-event it was for our house after some pretty dire predictions I suppose I was feeling like I really had luck on my side.  We had planned to spend the week in South Carolina and I was a in a major rush to head out of town as we were already a day behind.  I packed everything my pea-size brain could think of at that very moment and relied heavily on the fact that my babe "loves car rides and her car seat - we'll be fine."  And we were...for about 2 hours...and then the wheels fell of the wagon.  Screaming fits - 5 minute naps - restlessness - yelling - REPEAT.  Trying our best to make good time we opted for the drive through at dinner and a few very quick stops along the way for diaper changes.  The Elmo song blared through our speakers...every toy in the diaper bag and within reach(hello, can i please have a pair of go-go gadget arms) was given in hopes that something would work.  Nada...nothing...zilch - this girl was done.  We had about 30 minutes of success with allowing her to rip up some random paper I had in my purse (she loves to shred so as a last resort we tried that) but the trip down was miserable...for e.v.e.r.y.o.n.e!

 Fast forward 5 days and the hubs and I were dreading the return trip.  Like the little geeks we are...we studied what we did on the way down - how we would do things different and put together a little game plan.  In short...IT WORKED!!!  Here's what we did - instead of leaving at noon - right after her nap - we left at 2pm - right BEFORE her nap.  We tried really hard to wear her out as much as possible - we chased, played, sang, and danced - anything to wear her out so she would nap well.  The first hour and 45 minutes was great - she slept and we drove.  When she awoke - I fed her and gave her a few toys to play with.  She was good for about the next hour or so and then started to get a little restless - the paper - I gave her some more...we had another 30 minutes of happiness.  Things started to get dicey at this point - which was fine and well within the plan - we had made it to 6pm and we were ready to STOP for dinner.  No drive through...we got out of the car...went into the restaurant and ate dinner.  It gave Addie a great break to stretch her legs...play with us....expend some energy and after about an hour we got back on the road.  By this time it was 7pm - which is only anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour from her bed time.  And like clock work...about 45 minutes into the next leg of trip she was out for the night.  We got home around 10pm...moved her from the car seat to the crib and called it a night....with a slight grin that with some careful planning we had figured it out...or maybe we just got lucky:)

 I'm certainly no expert...but this worked for us...and had we listened to friends and family to begin with our trip down would have looked much like our trip back and probably been alot better for all parties involved.

What Will You Fight For?

It's Saturday night. I'm watching a little football with my other half. A Notre Dame commercial for head injury research aired during halftime, and it's got me thinking about The Sheriff. Chatting with some friends last week, we shook our heads about middle schoolers breaking bones and high schoolers becoming paralyzed while playing this gridiron game. So.Very.Scary

I love football. Jacob loves football. W loves running around with footballs and jumping on pillows and as of late, handing the ball back and forth when we say, "Down....Set.....Hut!"
It's part of our culture down south.  It's in our South LA blood. And now in TX, it's in every breath we take!

I can't imagine the pride in my heart watching W throw a game-winning TD pass or maybe a game-sealing Pick 6. Heck, kiddo can be the holder for all that matters.
But my momma's heart carries so much fear about this game, its intensity, its momentum, its power. When viewed through a mother's eyes, it's seems like a dangerous battlefield, one I don't want my little one near.

It's his life. But that little life is my responsibility.

We aren't signing him up for pee wee ball any time soon. I'm obviously quite ahead of myself. In my future, I see myself looking for balance. We can't keep our children in a box. Although, if they'd stay there sometimes, maybe... I kid.

If he shows any interest, I will be his biggest cheerleader. (Until that one terrible day when a cuter one steals his heart away from his Momma! Let's not go there just yet. )
Maybe we'll play flag football for a while before contact. We will surely be certain he's learning the proper techniques. (That's why I keep Cowboy around. At least one of us will know what's going on!) We'll make sure he doesn't grow crazy long locks a la Clay Matthews, Brooks Reed, Troy Polamalu that could get in the way and cause injury. Not even kidding there. His curls might be working for him right now as a toddler, but as a grown man? I'm thinking not so much.
There are so many positive aspects to the game that I would love for W to experience, but it will be our job to keep him as safe as possible.

It's just a scary place out there. Too much is out of our control. It freaks me out, but I know that if I hand it over (whatever it may be) to God, He will fight the fight for us.  And He's got to be a football fan on some level right?

Fun with Our Phones

I don't have lots of exciting pics on my phone, but I did manage to look back and see a theme. What might that be, you ask? The kiddo. Doing his thing. With balls and pillows. I'm telling you; he doesn't need much else!

And this one I couldn't resist. (I was at a stop sign. With nobody else around!) But he must have stayed like this for 3 minutes. Kid can hide like nobody's business! 

Be sure to stop by Savanah and Erin's linkup, and if you're really feeling wild, join in the fun!

Finding the Joy Friday -- Fall Temps

Oh hi Fall temperatures! Thank you for poking your little head around the corner this week. Please do stay a while; it'll be fun. I promise. We'll wear jeans and play outside all afternoon and work on that bucket list (well, if you'd help the leaves turn beautiful colors and eventually fall off the trees) and make hearty meals and drink pumpkin lattes without sweating and thinking we should have gotten it on ice.

This week was such a busy, but fun one, and I am loving the time I have with The Sheriff. He's in such a great place and is quite the little sponge.

I'm FINDING THE JOY:

* In new friends, especially thoughtful, inspiring, fun ones that you first met through blogging. We had such a great time hanging out at the pumpkin patch with the Z family today, and I am so appreciative of the thoughts, prayers, and time spent hanging out. Oh, and the pumpkin bread!
We've got big crafting plans coming up. It will happen.

* In old friends, especially ones that reach out and give us a call to come over and hang out in the backyard with great bites and even better company.  W and I had a blast catching up with teacher friends.

* In pumpkin patch antics. Yep, we grabbed a couple of posed shots, but these moments are the ones in which I feel so blessed.

* In my husband who loves what he loves with a passion. And tells me the meal that I felt didn't turn out so well was delicious. And reminds me that "that's how boys play." And patiently reminds me who I am. And works hard. And plays hard. And loves with all his heart. (You embarrassed yet J?)

Update: Fall temps are gone! Sweated like a mad woman at today's pumpkin adventure! 

Never Say Never

I know. One should not claim to NEVER do or say certain things right? But this little non-rule breaker is doing it anyway. Boom. There's me rebelling.


Never will I:

-read all of the books on my list (or maybe on my nightstand for that matter!)

-use the words "totes," "presh," or "cray-cray" in a conversation, blog post, tweet. Just not my style.

-climb Mt. Everest -- let's face it. This would have happened already if it meant anything to me.

-get a tattoo. I know; they are all the rage SAHMommas! But, I think I'd have one already if this here body was meant for it. At this point my practical self just can't get over what happens to our bodies when we get "old."

-attempt to make hot and sour soup in a crock pot again. Or spinach lasagna for that matter. It's already been deleted from my Pinterest board. (And you know that's serious!)

-be a serious couponer. I'm a one store, one stop kind of girl. (That being said. I just bought a new coupon holder at the dollar store since I seemed to have left mine in a grocery store a few months ago.)


You all are more than free to call me on it if sometime in the future I hit an item off this list. But I think -

It's NEVER going to happen!

Common Sense

Funny how sometimes as parents we (well at least I) forget the simple things.

Take modeling for example.

No, this SAHM does not mean dressing up in fancy clothing and strutting my stuff around the house (although that could be fun). I mean "doing" in front of The Sheriff so he wants to do the same activity. As a teacher, this should be an unforgettable principle, but alas, "mom brain" strikes again, and I found myself wondering why W did not want to get in his sandbox.

He's such a fearless kid, so I thought this must just be his "thing." Little did I realize that he had never seen anyone get in that box, so why would he want to. So today I stood in it and showed him how it's done. I didn't even have to sit before he was trying to climb in himself.

And then the fun began.

He loved sifting it through his fingers and it falling on his legs.

Here, Momma, you try

No, thank YOU Momma!

Maybe I'm the only one who forgets something that is seems to be common sense, but I'm thankful for this little reminder!

Engaging the Wee Bit

Or as my husband likes to say -- We've got to get the guys over at Pinterest over here for this.

Yep, thanks to Pinterest, Momma found new ways to spend nap time preparing ways to learn with The Sheriff (and give him something to do while I take care of necessities like cooking and showering.)  So far this is what we've come up with.

First, head to your local Target's dollar section to pick up some of these Halloween colored fuzzy craft balls. (Ok, get them anywhere, but I was at Target and they were a dollar. Couldn't resist.)

Then grab an old container, cut holes in the top, and work on some fine motor skills, colors, textures, and sizes.  My inspiration:

Source: moneysavingmom.com via Cat on Pinterest

And this is how it works:

This second one hasn't totally caught on yet in terms of simply sitting at the table and playing with. I understand this; there are balls around to be thrown and chased, but hidden in W's cabinet for him to find while I cook has proven to be a bit effective.

This one was inspired here:

Source: familyfun.go.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Meet your cast of characters.

Sugar, corn starch, food coloring, and water. Not pictured: ziploc bags, duct tape. 

Then you get to mixing:

Over medium heat, combine the cornstarch, sugar, and water in a saucepan, stirring continuously. It took about 5-7 minutes. 

Once the mixture begins to thicken, remove the pan from the heat and stir for another minute or so until it thickens to a pudding like consistency. Let it cool for 30 minutes.

Spoon into different bowls to add food coloring

Then you can combine colors in bags for mixing/playing.

Then duct tape the edges. I'm guessing you don't want this stuff all over your house. 

And here we are "squishing" it together. I think he's a little young to get into how "cool" it is to mix red and blue and make purple. 

Like I said, he doesn't like just sitting at the table and playing with it for a while but will pull it out of the cabinet and play a bit while I am busy. The hubs thinks this is the weirdest bag o'stuff ever. Whatever works. It will be fun when he's old enough to mix it and make it with me I think as well. 

We've also been doing lots of finger painting. Post coming soon with other tried out toddler crafties. 

Fun With Our Phones Monday -- Husband Style

It's Monday and time to link up with Erin and Savanah for some phone fun. Ok, technically it's Saturday, I just ate a yummy bowl of ice cream, and we're lounging on the couch watching Oregon v. Arizona State. I figured if I am going to get this Monday post in, I better get it done early.

The deal? Grab your phone, upload your pics, blog it out, and link up!

I managed to steal a few pics from Cowboy's phone to change things up a bit, and I think they capture the first half of October.


Some more pumpkin patch intensity:

Profile pic alert?

And we do lots of outside. Cowboy managed to capture The Sheriff in a proud moment. I'm not sure what brought on the clapping.

We usually wait outside for DaDa to come home and one of the first things W insists on is showing off our artwork.

W's Mamie Jewels came for a visit, and we went to the farmer's market Saturday morning which had a cute little pumpkin patch set up for pictures. W wasn't so much about the pictures, but loves his baby pumpkin that came home with him. Baby pumpkin is currently "hiding" as The Sheriff sees it as less of a pumpkin and more of a ball.

These two had so much fun together!

And we do lots of peek-a-boo right here:

This kid can hide for an oddly long amount of time!

And now's Cowboy's old phone is MY new phone! (His is the new iPhone4S of course.)  This is quite the upgrade for me and I can't wait to get some better phone pics.

A Lunch Date in the Making

15 months in the making. (Ok, maybe less than that. This newbie Momma wasn't taking her own little newbie anywhere for a while!)

"Hey, we are going to meet you for lunch one day this week."

"Hey, maybe we'll come meet you for lunch on Tuesday."

"Hey, this week we are for sure going to meet you for lunch."

Those are frequent words heard around these parts as I have ambitious weekly plans. Sometimes we simply don't have a day to spare and other days we've been so busy that it's just nice to stay home.

But yesterday, we changed that and had so much fun meeting up with our fav Dad around these parts, and of course, I brought the camera for this blog post in the making. Things could have been disastrous with W's increasing independence in restaurants; things could have gone amazing.
Take a look and see.

Seriously Thursday -- Rant Style

It's been a while since I linked up with Becky, but I couldn't resist this one.

**I heard this song on the radio. What is that? The country version of my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard? Terrible. SERIOUSLY!

**And while I'm insulting, let's talk about one of the last episodes of RHWNY that I watched. It just might have been the one to make me "unsubscribe" to recording it weekly on the DVR. In this episode, Ramona's daughter read her mom the paper written for her sophomore, yes, sophomore English class. It SERIOUSLY made my English teacher head explode. It got to me so much that I wrote down every word in order to blog my disapproval.

She tells her mom that the assignment was to write about a person who had influenced them. Fair enough. This is a common prompt.

Her title -- My Role Model
(Can you SERIOUSLY be any less creative?)

And the hook -- Everyone has a role model that a person looks up to. If I had to choose, it would be my mother.
(SERIOUSLY. My red pen can't move fast enough!)

Ramona responds, "You are blowing me away emotionally with this. I'm speechless. I don't even begin to know how to say what I'm feeling."
(Are you kidding me? SERIOUSLY? I was speechless but for other obvious reasons. Her.Paper.Sucked! SERIOUSLY!)

The Conclusion -- I love you, Mommy.
(WHAT?!?!)

**And now I must SERIOUSLY accept the fact that W could one day write this way. Nah, who am I kidding? He's got great genes.  ;)

**And tonight after finishing this post, it's back to Pinterest Project De-Clutter. I've been pinning like a mad woman and need to SERIOUSLY sort things out to make it more functional.

What's got your going SERIOUSLY this week?

Woke Up This Morning. Smiled at the Rising Sun.

Ok, three little birds were not outside my window singing "every little thing is going to be all right," and in fact, it's not one of those days where I need to hear it.

But, it is one of those mornings that begins a great day. (Well, if the day turns our crummy, at least the morning will have been fantastic.)

Woke up early, set the coffee pot, spent some quiet time in a St. Gerard novena, and then decided it's a muffin kind of day. Nothing spells Fall like baking pumpkin goodies (well, there are those wonderful temperatures), and I decided today that on this random Wednesday, there would be muffins!

And yes, I wish I could tell you that I subbed the eggs/oil and used applesauce and made other wonderfully healthy changes and they tasted amazing, but I can tell you that I made them as directed and they tasted amazing! My body needs the extra calories to prepare for the upcoming "winter" right? ;)

Why hello Pumpkin Chocolate Chip (and sometimes Toffee) Muffins! You can find the original recipe here, and I didn't change much. I simply left out the cloves which is currently not in my spice rack.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip (and sometimes Toffee) Muffins
Ingredients:

3 c pumpkin
1 1/2 c vegetable oil
4 c sugar
6 eggs

4 3/4 c flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp nutmeg
(and for next time... 1 1/2 tsp cloves)

* 1/2 package chocolate chips
* 1/2 package toffee chips

*I took the suggestion to separate the batter and add toffee to some and chocolate chips to some. The toffee muffins are my favorite as the chocolate was a bit overwhelming. I actually made some plain for W and enjoyed those the best.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking
Mix pumpkin, oil, sugar, and eggs.
Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
Mix in with pumpkin mixture.
Stir in chips.

Bake at 350 for 18-23 minutes (depending on how much batter you put in muffins)

Enjoy!

Now if I only had some festive Fall baking liners!  This recipe makes plenty to share and freeze so get ready for it!

I've got another pumpkin treat coming soon, but I'm going with it as a Halloween tradition, so it won't be revealed until the 31st, and then the door's wide open until Christmas!  I may have blogged about it last year if you can't wait and want to try to find it.

And an added bonus--The Sheriff approved! He didn't crush it and down an entire muffin, but getting this kid to eat "sweets" and bread-y textures is huge!

Fall Bucket List in Sugar Land

Thanks to Katie, we've all got big wonderful plans to make the most of this Fall! (I can't wait for her Winter, Spring, and Summer lists! Hint...hint...) I might have to try to make one myself since living in the South means a climate that makes some of the Northern activities a bit difficult. Or maybe this list that's floating around will carry us all the way to the New Year when it's cool enough for everything as summer is still in full force around these parts. It's really such a great idea, so hats off to you Katie for getting us all started.

So a few weeks into September as I was longing for Fall to roll around (am still longing in case I haven't made it clear in every post how stinking hot it is!), I put out our list:

And a few weekends ago, we hit our local pumpkin patch at Dewberry Farms (and by local I mean drive 1.5 hours near construction-ridden I-10 to get there).  But we had a blast! We actually met up with some of the moms in our playgroup which was fun, but it's definitely hard to do things together when the toddlers are really the ones in charge!

W found real ducks that didn't swim away as he said hello:

There was a great playground/park area for the little ones and my itsy bitsy spider couldn't get enough:

So back to that bucket list. I believe we can check off 3 items even if we didn't "technically" do it in true Fall style. Instead of a hay ride to the pumpkin patch we rode in a wagon pulled by a good old John Deere which W loved (as long as we were moving of course).  There wasn't any hay involved but I say it counts. There may be other hay rides in our near future, but just in case, I'm checking it off!

And we passed by the corn maze. After a long hot morning with a sleepy baby, rolling the stroller (that we left at the beginning of the trail ride) through it just wasn't going to happen. That's where weather is they key. With temps in the 90s, you can only do so much outside!


But, low and behold--- The Pumpkin Patch!

The Sheriff loves pumpkins. In his eyes, they are giant balls, but as he comes to discover, quite heavy.

I love this pic! It doesn't so much capture any pumpkins, but his sweet, all-boy face melts my heart.

Loving it!

Down, set, hike???

Here, Momma, let's get this one! I think he was so excited that he finally found one he could pick up, but look at the intensity on his face! 

One great "Fall" day with these two boys? I'll take it

Thanks again Katie for the great reminder to make great memories with our loved ones!