Learning...

These little fingers are every where; into everything! She has been exploring all day finding all sorts of new fun things. Currently she is poking the bottom of my feet... I think she's discovered a game called "tickle mommy": fun for her, not for me. =)

We are both discovering things...

Anna is learning all about new things in this house and...

I've learned that the early bird really does catch the worm.

Morning people really must get so much done in a day! By 7:30 (before Casey had even left for work) I had showered, had a quiet time (in the quiet), fed Anna, made Casey and I breakfast, changed all the sheets, started a load of clothes, and unloaded & reloaded the dishwasher! It was great.. then by 9:30 I had vacuumed the entired house, cleaned Anna's room (which is more of a job than you would think), another load of laundry, and put Anna (and me too..shhhh) down for an hour nap! Okay.. so I totally couldn't be a morning person if I wasn't allowed take a little cat nap... but I'll allow it if it means being productive.

Y'all have a happy halloween weekend! We'll be back with pictures of Puppy Anna soon!

The crack of dawn....

Today actually started at the crack of dawn.. YAY... except my ideal "crack of dawn" morning was going to be ME waking up and making some hot chocolate, having my quiet time (in the quiet), making my pumpkin loaves, cleaning the kitchen and showering all before Anna woke up. Instead, Anna woke up at the crack of dawn (if six o'clock is considered to be the crack of dawn) with me so WE fixed her a bottle, had a quiet time (NOT in the quiet), had breakfast, and made the pumpkin loaves.





Yes.. the yummy pumpkin loaves are making my house smell delightful!!



Click HERE for the recipe.. it's not mine. I found it online. It isn't quite as scumptious as Starbucks' pumpkin loaf but it's pretty tasty if I do say so myself. The recipe makes three loaves so it makes for a good "gift-recipe".

So eventhough my morning wasn't quite MY morning.. we had a good time. After Anna ate a little breakfast she played in her walker while I made the bread. She only ran me over a couple times and pulled my pants down four times!!



She definitely knows who I am and how to get my attention! Multiple times I would feel the tugging on my shorts and hear her sweet little voice whinning, "Mommy".. which is more like "Nawnee-nawnee" over and over until I would look at her and say, "Yes, that's me.I'm mommy." Then she would just smile and go back to checking out the kitchen.



After the pumpkin loaves were in the oven I started to clean up the kitchen. AND... THIS is when I praised the good Lord for my many, many blessings! After loading the dishwasher in a split second Anna rolls her walker over to the dishwasher and I see/hear her grab for a paring knife. She didn't get it (thankfully) but then I noticed only one was there. I looked in her other hand... and THERE she had the other one. I very calmly took the knife from her little fingers and checked her all over.... (At this age Anna thinks everything is hers and a sudden move from me usually indicates a "game" to her- so yes, I did this very calmly!) Then I praised God that she hadn't cut herself. Even though she only had the knife a split second. it was a very scary moment for me!

I of'course didn't want to put that part of the morning in my post (because no one wants to tell a bad story on themselves) but anytime we can praise the Lord and give Him the glory we should!!
I do praise the Lord all the time for this precious little bit and today I truly am so thankful she's safe and healthy too!



The rest of our day has been pretty good. I should have known it was looking up when I walked into a store and THIS was posted on the door:



I'm sorry but that is the funniest sign ever. I had to take a picture of it (naturally, naturally).. haha. What in the world could have happened that they felt the NEED to post that sign? I mean, it's got to make you wonder... I couldn't help but tug my pants up some..haha!

Next I saw this:



I just loved this picture because daisies are my all-time favorite flowers and this beautiful butterfly was just hanging out there. I decided that maybe I DO need to start bringing my camera with me on everyday store runs!

I hope you all have a delightful rest of your day! I'll be back soon!

Oh.. and if you thought "Keep on reading on" sounded strange yesterday.. it did. BUT ...when I was a senior in highschool our youth minister was giving a blessing and you know how sometimes when you are praying out loud if you lose your train of thought for just a second you get all nervous and your words sometimes get jumbled up? Well, this happens to me ALL the time and it happened to him that night! In his prayer he said "...and Lord, I just thank you for what you've given us and I pray that you just help us to keep on...(short pause)..keepin' on". Haha.. You know the class clown that I was couldn't let him get away with praying that we keep on keepin' on... so here nine years later I still can't start to say "keep on...(anything)" without thinking about that.

So, y'all have a good day and "keep on reading on"! =)

Pumpkin Loaf and Turkey Eater...

Anna and I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things. I mainly wanted to get the ingredients to make "Pumpkin Loaf"...



The recipe I snagged off the internet is suppose to be similar to Starbucks' pumpkin loaf... I'll let you know and post it soon. I fully intend on being up at the "crack of dawn" tomorrow with a hot mug of joe (hot chocolate really) and the sweet, wonderful aroma of pumpkin loaf filling my kitchen... BUT, I've "fully intended" on being up at the crack of dawn for the past two mornings and it has yet to take place!! My "morning mom" routine is going to take Divine intervention I think... but, I'll(we'll) get there (someday)! HOPEFULLY.. tomorrow!!



Okay.. don't get me wrong. I love my camera and I'm a total picture nut.. but NO, I don't take my camera with me on an everyday run to the grocery store. The above photo was taken by my cell phone. I took it because you people consume my thought life. haha.
I know I've mentioned that Anna loves turkey but I'm not sure I've described her love for turkey as accurately as I should. The child LOVES turkey. There is just no other way to say it other than she loves it and will eat little bites of turkey as long as you let her. I say this all because today when we strolled up to the deli section of the grocery store the lady behind the counter said... "Are we out of turkey already?".. YES.. she practically knows us by name and definitely know what we've come for because every few days I'm in there buying more turkey! I had to take a picture with my cell phone because all I could think was.. My "blogstalkers" will love this!

Oh.. and I know she is dressed like a boy.. but that is because TODAY.. right this very moment EVERY other thing she owns is in the dryer! Oh well, she's still cute..haha!

When I was emailing the picture to myself I found this one:



Here.. Casey was trying to put Anna in her car seat and she refused to sit down. Not only did she refuse to sit down, she grabbed on to the mirror and wouldn't let go. It was hysterical but you may of had to of been there. She's a nut! Casey didn't know what to do and I of course took a picture of it.

Y'all have a good afternoon and I'll let you know how my "early bird" cooking session goes tomorrow!!

Thanks for reading.. oh.. and if you are a "blogstalker" that is not a bad thing. It is wonderful and encouraging to me that someone would read my blog!!
Keep on reading on... and I'll be back!

A night at the fair...

We have a wonderful fair that comes to town every October!



Casey and I love to go to the fair... I go for the food. If you don't remember my corndog story from last year click HERE. I still love a good corndog.



But this year I discovered another love.. ummmm... THIS:



The Onion Mum!

It could be the best tasting fair food EVER!
It's a REALLY good thing the fair only comes once a year!

This was Anna's first fair. I think she loved it.



I had to stay and paint faces with some girls from church so Casey took Anna home and put her to bed. Apparently he had a time with it. I think she was very tired from a long night out of her element. Casey is hilarious...

Anna was wearing these when she woke up this morning:



her CHRISTMAS pajamas! Haha!! At least she was wearing pajamas I guess..haha..



Y'all have a good afternoon! Anna had to have the first half of her flu shot this morning so we are having a laid back/lathargic afternoon here!

I've Decided...

That I want to be more like her:



She could be the happiest girl in the world in this picture and it was taken approximately 1 minute after she woke up!

I promise I had JUST walked by her bedroom and she was OUT like a light. Five seconds later I hear "baby babble" from the monitor. I grabbed my camera and went to her room...



The child wakes up happy and in a good mood. I want that.. I mean I wake up happy... But, I want to wake up "refreshed"!

I've decided that I'm going to try to be a MORNING MOM! I want to be one of those moms that wakes up before everyone else in the house, puts on the coffee (or something.. hot chocolate maybe), has her quiet time, starts a load of laundry, and takes a shower all before anyone else even wakes up!! I want to wake up refreshed and feeling good AT THE CRACK OF DAWN!! I just feel like morning people must get SO much accomplished in a day. How fun this will be!!!

I'll be back with a weekend recap soon!

Roam'r & Birthdays!

Meet Roam'r!



She roams. (Hints the name.) And, when she roams... she does things like this:



YEP!



She is into everything!

As for the Birthday part of this post..........

Tomorrow is Casey's birthday so last night I cooked his "birthday supper". A vegetable plate. Joey and Casey talk about this for a solid year. It's their favorite meal ever... except-

When Joey walked in last night, my answered to his "Hey Darlin' How's it going?" was- "I swear satan is trying to get me to kill somebody! First the fried okra now these!" He took note of all the smoke filling the kitchen as I chunked a whole pot of peas in the sink and decided he better let himself into the den. "I think I better go see that baby," he said. Smart idea.
I (not so politley) told satan to go back where he came from and went on to prepare the table with a semi-vegtable plate supper. The black eyed peas were charcoaled (thankfully the top was on so the smell never seaped out...uggh- how terrible would THAT have been?)

I'm an imperfect person...haha!

But seriously, how do you burn blackeyed peas??? And I'm typically a good cook. (In my humble opinion.) Oh well, before Joey escaped into the den we were laughing about it! AND.. if I know Casey and Joey like I think I do, the "burnt black eyed peas" supper will never be forgotten. Anna's children will know the story I'm sure!

After we finished what did make it to the table for supper and the "C" shaped birthday cake ("C" for Casey.. Joey didn't understand. He thought I ruined yet another part of the meal.) Casey got to open his presents.
We're going to be at the football game for his birthday so we celebrated early.

Anna was once again into everything!

Ooooh, open THIS card from Zannie and DaddyBen:



I'll take this part:



AND do what I do best... EAT:



Casey had a great birthday. Anna and I gave him clothes. (Boring I know- oh well! He liked and needed them.)

Y'all have a great weekend. I'm sure I'll be back with more "Roam'r" pictures soon!!

Sweetest Little Napster!

With her feet propped up of course!



Have a Sweet day today!!

Yesterday...

"all my troubles seemed so far away"... Okay... just a little Beatles for you. I just couldn't title my blog post "yesterday" without thinking of that song. But really, yesterday WAS a good day.. no troubles... But, thankfully unlike the song.. today is a good "trouble-free" day too!!

Here's a glimpse of what "yesterday" held in store:

A LOT of this... Anna is at the age where she wants to be where you are; doing what you are doing! Here, it was checking emails.



A (short) game of peek-a-boo with Huntley. He didn't quite catch on!



Walking outside. ("self-timer")



Watching Huntley retrieve and the birds that fly over:




Playing Inside-(Always at the back door with Huntley..always!):





Playing Outside:








And we always top the day off with a book or two:



Hope you all have a "trouble-free" day today too.

Pumpkin Carving Day!

Today we carved pumpkins. It was even colder today... a good opportunity for Anna to wear her monogrammed sweatshirt and knit toboggan (both of which were "new born" gifts) I think she's a cutie:









And so is our "puppy" pumpkin! It goes along with our Halloween theme since Anna is going to dress up like a puppy.





I had fun carving this... I just saw a "blue's clues" pumpkin on the internet and drew out a little template and copied it to the pumpkin. I left off his "spots" so that it looked more like Huntley..ha!



This was one of Anna's tiny pumpkins. I carved the big one too but don't have any pictures of it yet. I wasn't as excited about it. =)

Have a good weekend!