Silly Girl

Its not the first time you've heard me say that Lucy keeps us all laughing all the time.  Here is why.  This is just one example of the things our silly girl does all the time that keep us in stitches. Last night we went to an annual firm gathering that included families through Ash's work.  It was held at the Baron's game.  As we were walking out the door, we asked Landon if he had his glove.  So he ran back inside to grab it and Lucy followed...




She had to get her "glub" aka glove too!!  :) 

Summer List, The Drive In, & Herbed Baked Chicken

We are hard at work around here enjoying our last days of summer.  School starts in just 2 weeks and there is still plenty on our summer list to check off.  So our days have been planned to be able to check something off.  What list??  Way back at the beginning of summer, Landon and I made a list of all the things we wanted to do this summer.  Some were already planned and in the works but the majority of the things listed were easy excursions that we could all do during the week.



Since Landon helped make this list, we don't check anything off unless he was a partcipant.  Our list is tacked up on our message board in the kitchen and is a constent reminder that there are plenty of things to do.  And so far, the list has been a hit both with the kids and me.  I have been more conscious about our days and more diligent in our activities.  And I haven't heard to many "I'm bored" complaints.  Anyhow, we still have some more checking off to do.  And the weekend is always a perfect opportunity to tackle some of the bigger things.  This weekend was no exception.  Late Sunday afternoon,  I got the hair brain idea to go to the drive in...in Harpersville...40 minutes away.  (All of that should have been a great big blinking red light warning me to rethink the idea)  But I was set on it.  Plus, we saw a rainbow on our drive...how could the night be anything but perfect!?  :)



Anyhow, we left the house after dinner and baths, with popcorn and a cooler in tow, along with a big quilt and pillows, and our "big" bag full of diapers, wipes, bottles, formula, popped popcorn, sippy cups, and bug spray...I had it all planned!!    Right before the drive in theatre there is a Dollar General on the left so we made a quick pit stop for drinks and movie candy, and drove another mile or two to the Harpersville Drive-In Theatre.  We hadn't told the kids anything so far, so they got very excited when we pulled in.



Well the website said that the movie would start at 7:30...40 minutes later it finally did.  In the meantime, we got all situated...





again...



and again and again...










...and got hot and sweaty, and sleepy and fussy.  I have no pictures after all of this, because that is when I realized that I should have thought about this idea a little more.  :)  Honestly, the first 30 or 40 minutes were fine, but then the baby started getting fussy because she was tired...it was afterall way past her bedtime.  And then about 20 minutes after that Lucy lost interest in the movie.  She started climbing all in the van and kept turning the channel so it would go from the movie to rap (I guess that was the next channel up :))  and we had the volume turned up, so everyone got a nice little dose of club music in the middle of 'Cars'.   And then Lynlee would start crying, but it was so dark, I couldn't see anything or anywhere around me, so I just tried to rock her on the car.  Ashley figitted in the dark trying to find a bottle and we ended up breaking something, and you can't turn the interior lights on without interfering with the car behind us trying to watch the movie.    And goodness gracious, leaving didn't seem like an option because you would have to turn your headlights on to wind around all the cones that are supposed to make a road through the gravel lot....AGHHHHH!!

 Landon, however, was oblivous to all of this and was happily watching the movie that he had already seen before.  :)  He had a great time and we did indeed get to check the drive in off of our list...whew! 



In all honesty, this is a great thing to do with your kids.  I would definitely not recommend bringing any kids under 2 though, but if you do bring the pack in play!  :)  And it was cheap.  Our Dollar General drinks and boxed movie theatre style candy was $5.45 and the drive in is $5/adult, $2/kids and free for those under 3.  I would recommend going when the temps cool off a bit too.  It would be super fun date night for adults!

And just to be random, I have a really good Herb Baked Chicken recipe that I made the other day.  My friend gave this recipe to me a while back and I had forgotten about it!  Its easy to make and is a hit with the kids! 

So first, you need 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into quarters....



Next take 4TB olive oil and 3/4 cups teriayaki sauce...



1/4 tsp dried oregano, 1/4 tsp rosemary, 1 tsp ginger, and 1/4 tsp cinnamon...



1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper



and mix in a large ziploc bag...add chicken to the bag and shake.  Let marinate 1 hour if you can.  (I often forget this part and usually only have 10 min to spare for marinating.)  Pour contents of bag in a casserole dish and bake 350 for 35 -45 min.

Not sure why I thought to take a picture of raw chicken and not the finished dish, so I had to borrow this one from google images, because thats exactly how my chicken looked and my presentation too, of course! :)




Have a good day friends!

Jumbo....

...it means hello!  This is our new favorite song we learned this week.  :)  We have been going to "Kingdom of the Son" for the past 4 days.  Our church had their Vacation Bible School and that is where we could all be found every morning this week. 

Landon will be going into 3rd grade in a few weeks and this year would be his last for vacation bible school.  I often hesitate teaching my own kids (I feel like I pick on them) but he insisted he wanted me to teach his class so I did...him and eighteen other eight year olds.










Every morning we would wake up and rush through breakfast and getting dressed, making up daiper bags, snacks, and lunches and hurry over to the church, and 3 out of the 4 days we were on time or even early...hoorah!  :)  Once the girls were in the nursery, Landon and I would make our way to the opening morning worship.  It is really something to start your day with 350+ children singing and praising the Lord and every single morning I would tear up just listening to it all!  :) 



And from there the day just got more and more fun with recreation...







followed by music...











   

and don't forget snack time!



We also of course had our daily bible lesson with our safari tour guides...





and did plenty of crafts!  But the crafts were quite the ordeal and so I was never able to get any pics during our time there.  :)

And we would run into our little friends throughout the mornings...









I had such a good time this week and am always humbled by the expereince.  It puts things into persepective about what is really important.  Well,  we're off to check things off of our summer list...will have to blog about that soon!  Have a great weekend!

The Things She Says

Lucy is 2, (which is one of my favorite ages) and keeps me on my toes and laughing all the time.  She is very much into make believe, baby dolls, "pincess" and is a complete girly girl.  She has always been hilarious but here lately the things that come out of her mouth, keep us all in stitches, even Landon gets a kick out of it.  I don't want to forget it and need to document it somewhere and figured the blog would be the perfect place.




A few weeks ago, Lucy was aggrevating Landon in the car, so I got onto her, so she started aggrevating me!  :)  Anyhow, Landon and I retaliated, by repeating everything she was saying.  After about a minute she stopped and said "stop guys, you makin me crazy!"  Landon and I both started dying laughing. 

Earlier this week, we were getting dressed for the day and I was explaning to her that we were going to a puppet show at the library.  We conversated for a bit about it and I finally asked her if she knew what a puppet show was, she responded, "wuff wuff" 

We have recently been working on our sirs and m'ams.  So whenever she says "what?" I'll respond with m'aam and she'll respond back with "what m'aam"   :)

While filling up the car with gas, the kids all started fussing, and I yelled through the window for them to sit down and calm down.  Everyone did but Lucy and she just started saying "mama" over and over and over again until I got back in the car, about 2 minutes later.  When I got it, I turned around and spanked hre leg.  She looked at me like I had lost it and said "what is up with that "  Landon asked if she said what he thought she said and we both busted out laughing. 

Like I said earlier, Lucy is all into princesses right now.  So, we have been slowly adding princess movies to our collection.  Well, it never fails that at the end of every movie, when the princess finally gets her prince and they share a kiss, Lucy tilts her head, claps her hand together, smiles the biggest smile and exclaims "she loves her daddy!"

A few other random things she says that I dont want to forget...she calls sunglasses, reading glasses or any glasses for that matter "hoppies".  She has done that for a while and it still sticks.  So, if you hear her tell you "I like your hoppies" now you'll know what it means. 

She calls Grammy "Benny" and when we ask her "do you want to go see Grammy" she'll reply "what m'amm?"  she doesn't know a grammy!  :)

She calls rubber bands  "piggys" and she knows every morning how she wants her hair.  If she wants it in a pony tail, she'll point to her head and say "I want it up top", if she wants piggy tails, she'll ask for "two piggies" and if she wants it in a mary-jane, she'll tell me "just a bittle bit" aka little bit!  :)

I have 3 sisters and Lucy has a hard time keeping all their names straight.  We probably see my sister Tiffany aka "tit-ton-ee" the most so she seems to have that name down  The other day we were heading to get my nephew, Durham, to go to McWane.  So, he ran out to the car and as we were pulling away, Lucy got all upset and said "I want to see Durham's, tittany", she couldn't remeber Holley's name but knew she was my sister.  :)

My mom recently got Lucy a key chain and attached a random key to it. Lucy loves it and always has it in her little hand or her purse. All of a sudden she came and found me with her key in her hand, her purse on her shoulder and her baby on her hip and told me, "I gotta go, I'll be right back" and she strut out the front door and went and sat in her car for about half an hour. Ash and I took the battery out, so it just sits there, but she was perfectly content just sitting there and pretending.



I love love love this age and am so thankful I get to stay home and witness all the things she says and does!  But now, I gotta run, we are headed to vacation bible school this morning and I do not want to be late.  Have a great Monday!

Festivities & Fireworks {and a recipe}

4th of July has come and gone but my blog and brain always run behind!  :)  Since the holiday fell on a Monday this year we used the long weekend and made a quick getaway up to Tennessee and had a fun filled weekend with family, than included lots of swimming...











a birthday party...








a family reunion, that I have no pictures of...


an annual 4th of July family cook out at Billy Bob's...









and of course fireworks!!!







And when we got home, we met up with friends and caught some more fireworks!

















By then end of the weekend we were all worn out.  But as usual, it was worth it!  And just for kicks, here is a new recipe I found and made and loved.  It was so easy and delicious.



Golden Parmesan Potatoes
4-6 Yukon golden potatoes
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/3 cup butter

First of all, make sure you get these kind of potatoes and make sure you wash them! :)



Preheat your over to 325.  Cut up butter and lay in 9x13 pan and stick in your oven while its preheating to melt the butter.  Take your potatoes and cut them into quarters and mix rest of ingredients in a ziploc bag.  Shake until well coated.  Pour into dish and toss with butter.  Cook for 1 hour.

For a really easy easy meal to go along with this, cook a peppercorn porkloin  (you can get one from Publix I know) while you cook your potatoes for the first 30 minutes.    The loin usually just needs to cook about 30 min, so when its done take it out and let the meat rest, and while your at it, stir the potatoes and add a pan of Sister Shubert rolls to the oven while you cook your potatoes for the next 30 minutes.  Once the potatoes and rolls are done, open and assemble a salad kit (I used a Publix blue salad).  And that's it.  Call your family to the table!  :)




Gotta run, I hear the girls stirring, and in the mean time, I'll try to figure out how to take better pictures of food!  ha!  :)