Amber Waves of Grain

For my faithful blog readers, I thought you all deserved to get some TOP SECRET stuff today. That's right, I'm letting you see my kid's Halloween costumes a day early!! Keegan is obsessed with the Wizard of Oz. He loves to sing and dance along with all the songs and even knows a lot of the dialogue too. So, he's our little Tinman. the costume looks a little silly, I'll admit, but I love how happy it makes him. He actually goes into character when he puts it on and walks and talks like the Tinman. Here he is: Here he is dancing like the Tinman: If he only had a heart: For Kennedy, I got her a flower costume only because it was only $1.50 at the thrift store. Otherwise, we probably wouldn't dress her up. You know I'm a tightie. Here she is: And, here they are together at the 'spooky' cemetery. Have a fun Halloween!!!

Hidden in a little building downtown is a magical place called the Peewinkle's Puppet Studio ( link ). I'd been wanting to take Keegan there because of his love for puppets. The studio is a quaint 50-seat theater that does puppet shows using the old marionette style puppets. Here's the building. I have never noticed it before. You can see Lucas Oil Stadium in the background (if you know where the downtown Arby's is, this is just south of their parking lot): I love the red door and cute sign: When you go inside, there is a lobby type area where you buy your tickets (although I do recommend having advance tickets as they were nearly full). They have a lot of puppets on display in the lobby to view and then they give your child a bag of popcorn to eat (juice boxes also available for sale): These puppets were for sale: Then you enter into the studio through a black curtain: The studio is small and has probably 10-12 benches. We sat in the back row (there's Nathan ...

Nathan and I had a spontaneous golf date this afternoon. We've only played a couple of times since having kids (babies put an end to our golf for awhile). Needless to say, we're a bit rusty. Although, I did play once a few weeks ago for the first time in forever... so I had at least warmed up once this season. It was so fun to be on a 'date' and to golf. The high was 71 today and the fall leaves on the trees made the course just beautiful. Plus, we had no kids with us which was a rare, wonderful chance. I really had a good time! We're still wiped out from being sick, so we got a cart. Wasn't it sweet of Nathan to rent us a convertible for our date?: What's with my left foot not lined up in my follow-through? That's why I should have worn my cleats: Nathan had some good shots: Look how pretty the leaves are: And, he took me to the best drive-thru: The bet was that if I won, I would get a nice back scratch/rub tonight. If Nathan won, I had to...

I officially survived the swine flu (H1N1) last week. It really brought new meaning to the phrase " I've died and gone to hog heaven ". It wasn't horrible, but it certainly was the sickest I've felt in a really long time. Nathan ended up getting sick too with some type of flu, and Keegan as well. I am ' squealing ' with delight that Kennedy never got sick, praise God! These were the best things about having the swine flu: 1. Nathan helped extra with the kids. Really, he took complete care of them over the weekend and came home early one day from work to help when I couldn't. Sort of like a vacation. 2. You get to wear sweat pants all week. 3. When you're sick you don't bother wearing makeup, so your skin is in great condition at the end of the week. 4. I lost 3-4 pounds in one week without exercise or fad diets. 5. I felt protected from robbers. If someone tried to break in, I could simply tell them that I had swine flu and threate...

Each day at preschool, Keegan usually brings home 2-3 art projects. Some of them are large and sometimes the paint is even still wet since he lathered it on so thick (always fun to try to get a wet painting home in the car with 2 small kids). We've had the scissors-in-training experiments, the finger paints, and yes, the macaroni glued to paper. All these art projects have outgrown our fridge at least by 10 times. I've decided that the best option is to start taking photos of each art project and just keep the digital image. That way I can sneak the actual project into the trash once Keegan forgets about it a week or two after it comes home. I did save the first week's worth in his keepsake box so I don't feel like such a horrible mom. Anyway, I thought I'd share a few of his projects from the last week or so! A pumpkin: I think this was supposed to be an owl.... maybe.....: A raccoon hat. He used the scissors himself around the outer edge: It's supposed to be...

Well, it's official. They are pretty certain (without me taking the official test) that I have H1N1. That's right, the swine flu. Some of you may find this ironic knowing my love and devotion to bacon. It started very suddenly on Saturday. Nathan & I were on a road trip with the kids about an hour away. I instantly felt very sick and rushed to the car where I just sort of collapsed in the seat. Nathan drove us home but not without stopping to get him a hot fudge sundae. :) The media has really freaked the public out about the swine flu. But, I haven't oinked, grown a snout, or yelled SUEY a single time. So far, it's just the typical flu symptoms. My biggest concern has been trying to minimize Kennedy's exposure to me. I'm really thankful that I came down with it on a weekend and Nathan was home to take care of the kids. He even came home early from work today to help out. Talk about 'in sickness and in health'. What a good husband. ...

I really have nothing fabulous to write about this week but I didn't want to leave my faithful blog readers hanging! :) So, I think I should simply share a favorite recipe! Let's hear it for beef stroganoff !! 1 lb sirloin steak, cut into bite size pieces (I've used a variety of meats for this.. whatever is 'reduced for quick sale' is usually what lands in my cart. The original recipe actually called for fondue beef but it's pricey and hard to find) 2/3 cup water 1 4oz can of mushrooms, including the liquid (I omit the mushrooms... texture issues!) 1 envelope onion soup mix 1 cup sour cream 2 TBSP flour Cooked Egg noodles (5 cups dry) 2 TBSP butter or margarine Melt the butter in a pan. Add the beef and brown it. Add the water & mushrooms. Stir in the soup mix and bring to a boil. Blend the sour cream with the flour in a bowl and then add it to the mixture in the pan. Cook and stir until it all thickens. Stir it in with the egg noodles. It's...

My friend, Jennifer, is brave. Very brave. She had 16 people in her super-cute new house yesterday, all carving pumpkins... and with small children running around her house like crazy. What I love about Jennifer is that she is so relaxed and just rolls with it! The hostess with the mostess! Here are some reasons why Jennifer is my best friend: 1. She teaches me to be messy (it's OK to have pumpkin goop all over the house) 2. She made appetizer thingys wrapped in bacon. You know how I feel about bacon. 3. She carved Keegan's pumpkin with him so that I didn't have to 4. She spiked my pink lemonade 5. She was willing to have a house full of kids (her house is super cute and filled with antique treasures) 6. She thought to make coloring sheets for the kids We ate, we ate more, we ate more, we carved pumpkins, then ate some more. One thing I enjoyed was watching kids 'sneak' by all of her candy dishes and take handfuls as they went by. There was too much...

Apparently the new trend in cooking and baking is CAKE BALLS . I'm a member of a cooking forum on the internet where you share recipes and ask cooking questions ( you never know when you'll need assistance with your Hamburger Helper !). They've been talking about cake balls for the last few years and I have finally decided to give in and make them. First, the recipe: CAKE BALLS -1 Box any flavor cake mix -1 can frosting, any flavor that will go with your cake (get creative!) -Something to dip them in-- white candy coating (like almond bark) or dipping chocolate (I use melted chocolate chips and add a small spoonful of Crisco-- it does the same thing but it's cheaper). Bake the cake in a 9x13 pan. Cool completely . Crumble the cake (in a bowl) using 2 forks until it's in fine little crumbs. Add the icing, little by little, and continue to mix it together until the icing 'disappears' into the cake. Using your hands, form the mixture into walnut-size ...