We have a new trick!

Since LAS has been letting go and standing by herself for a little bit, we thought we would try her new toy. I wasn't sure if she could do it or not but she did pretty good for her first time. She was pretty proud of herself. Take a look.

Fair in the Panhandle

Last night we took Lu to the fair. She literally stared at the lights and the people for two hours. We were all pretty amazed by what we saw. I never knew some of the things that you can find at your local fair. Cheap entertainment (this is for you anonymous from my last post, you are invited to help make some more toys with me next time, whoever you are). I learned a few things... you can deep fry anything, if you work a fair ride you must smoke a cigarette as you take the child's ticket, and freak shows still exist- and I am talking about fair goers. It was really a lot of fun. It was men's night, so Phillip got in for free. We walked and looked at everything, ate dinner, and I even saw "The tinniest woman." I thought that it was going to be some fake mechanical thing. I paid $1 and walked up the steps, looked over, and there she was. She was a real tiny woman. She could have easily fit in LAS' umbrella stroller. She said, "Hello. How are you tonight?" I froze because I still was expecting a fake something. My first reaction: I threw her a dollar and said, "I am fine, thank you." Phillip said as soon as I looked over the wall my face went white. I couldn't get over it. It made me sad. I always thought those things were fake, so of course I wanted to go to all of them. I by passed the living lady without a head and the giant rat. I was debating about the snake girl until I talked to two little boys who saw her and they said it was pretty fake looking. Do you agree that this would make the best reality show!! I would totally watch a show where they followed people that worked for a traveling fair and their lives doing so. Amazing! Who should we call. I want them to follow the tiny lady from Haiti. She seemed so nice.

She is real people. They even had her in a little room where everything was miniature. It was very sad to me.

We tried the deep fried oreos. I felt pretty disgusting, but they were delicious. I think Lu wants some.

Got to have a corn dog!

They had a model train exhibit and she loved watching the trains!

And... you can get your teeth whitened at the fair. Who knew?!?

They also had a petting zoo. These were baby potbelly pigs. Adorable.

Quick and Easy

Here some quick and easy things I have done recently for LAS. Yesterday I mad some applesauce. It was really pretty easy and actually tastes good. Phillip's sister, Bess, made me think of that movie with Diane Keaton "Baby Boomer". Do you remember that movie, I loved it.

Here is how you make the applesauce (even if you don't have kids):

1. I used 5 apples

2. Peel the apples, core, and slice them


(You have to get the apple slicer! It is so easy and saves time.)

3. I put them in a vegetable steamer until they are soft

4. Then I just put the softened apples into a food processor until desired consistency

5. You are done. Very simple and very good.

* You can add cinnamon for flavor

She even helps with the dishes. She gets a gold star on her chore chart!

I also made her a little shaky toy. They have them where I take her for Mother's Day Out. It is a cheap toy that they love! I used an empty Clinique container and put some pasta in it. I also hot glued the top on so it won't come off. It works best with a small bottle and especially small Gatorade bottles. They can hold those really easily. You can put about anything that makes noise in there rice, pasta, bells, etc.

Livin' it up in the Big Easy

This weekend Phillip and I went to New Orleans to celebrate Amy Love's 30th birthday. We had a blast. I have never been so it was very exciting. I saw a lot of things I never really wanted to. We met up with a friend of mine from high school and his new wife. They gave us a quick tour and we had a great lunch. We then went down to Bourbon Street to meet the crew. It was awesome. Everyone had a great time and were pretty tired on Sunday. Let's just say we can't quite do it like we used to. We tried pretty hard though. LAS stayed at home with Phillip's parents, Momma M and Grandaddy. I think they had a great time. Phillip and I missed her, but it was nice to be just the two of us. We almost forgot what that was like. I really want to go back to NOLA and walk around a little more. I might have to avoid Bourbon Street next time.

Our hotel. It was just two blocks from Bourbon Street.

Bourbon Street before dark.

Hand grenades are dangerous!

Birthday girl!

Brunch at Brennan's and amazing bananas foster!

Now Lu has a new ride! A big girl seat. Thanks Momma M and Grandaddy.

Slow Down!

This is my message to LAS... slow down. She is only 7 1/2 months and this week she has pulled herself up and let go. She is standing by herself for 10-15 seconds. I have done nothing to encourage this, she is just fearless! Needless to say I am exhausted. Now it is a whole new tired and I really can't get anything done with a little one attached to my leg. Today we went to Gymboree play gym to get some of that energy out. They have several open gyms and if you attend classes you can go to these for free. It is great! There was no one else there today so we played by ourselves. I am so excited that we have started going. It is a great place for her to crawl and play.

She climbed all the way to the top!

She is standing here but you can't really tell. So, I tried to get another shot. I wanted you to believe me.

Weekend on the Plains

This past weekend we went to the loveliest little village, Auburn! We stayed with my brother and sister-in-law and had a house full. Thanks for the hospitality. We got there late Friday and then got up and tailgated around lunch on Saturday. Phillip's parents came and met us too. It was pretty cold so Lu didn't make it too long at the tailgate. My brother's friends are so sweet to include us. We did see Bryan and Mallory and our friends Jeff and Lisa. It was so much fun. I thought about not going into the game, but I sucked it up and was glad I did. Even though we lost it was a blast. I can't wait to do it again.
This is all we saw of the outfit because it was too cold. It was probably best.
Aunt Molly and Uncle Bo
Congletons and Skippers - Watch out! Trouble, nothing like it used to be! :) (from Mal's blog)

Bundled LAS and Christian. Lu was asleep.

Tiger Walk! Love this!

Christian grabbed Phillip and me and wanted to take a picture. So cute! (from Mal's blog)

Coach Chizik. I like him (stolen from Mal's blog)

Projects, Play, and Puppies

So much is going on so I did things a little different today. These are just a few moments from the past few days.

New favorite toy... door stop. We love the sound it makes.

And we are loving the dog toys. Yuck!
Eating her Baby Mum Mum. Great to help teach them how to feed themselves. It's like a giant rice cake, but softer. You can only get them at Wal-Mart and they are not really messy like Bitter Biscuits. She had three today!

And because we don't want to miss anything and we want to play all day, we fall asleep while Mommy is trying to feed. I couldn't believe it. Between bites she started drifting off. Isn't this hilarious!

Puppies are looking good. They got groomed yesterday. Brooke was not too thrilled about the bows. Barkley is in the background trying to sneak Brooke's food. Typical!

Project: Top and bottoms (don't look too closely, the next ones will be better) War Eagle! I wanted to make something for the game for Lu. Phillip's parent's have graciously let me use his Great Aunt's machine. It is awesome and I can't wait to play with everything!

Wed. we went to Gymboree music. I know some you were wondering what this is. It is associated with the Gymboree store and they have a play and music class. It is great for all ages. The play starts very young and the music starts at 6 months. I recommend it and they let you try your first class for free. LAS loved the music. I can't wait to take her back!

Aunt Bess and Uncle Jason gave her this cute shirt when we saw them "I'm scary...when I cry" It was an appropriate day for this shirt. She is also channeling Eddie Munster with that hair!