Growing Up

Colton keeps growing faster each day.  His words are getting plainer each day, so when he still says the letter "w" in place of the letter "r" and says the letter "s" in place of the letters "th" I just relish in the words that come out of his little mouth.  I try to enjoy this time by soaking it all in because I know before long, he'll be able to pronounce all his letters correctly.  I just love the toddler voice and wish I could keep him little always, but I know that can't be.  We all have to grow up one day.

Most days when I'm home with him, we head outside at some point because he loves being outside.  He was playing in his pool and I was sitting on the porch swing watching him.  I was in deep thought about some things and not paying full attention to him when I noticed he was talking to himself.  It reminded me of when I was little and how I used to have imaginary friends.  It's funny how kids turn out so much like us parents.  I kept watching him and then out of the blue, he turns to me and says, "You want to play wis me?"  I said, "Honey, ma ma is too big to get in the pool and play with you."  He then proceeds to say, "Well you used to be little like me, wight?"  I said, "Yes, I used to be little like you, but now I'm big."  He says, "Well if you think you little, you will be little again.  Won't you play wis me, please?"  After him telling me that, I knew he just didn't want my attention, he also wanted some interaction.  I then decided yes, I could be little again and have some fun with my son.  So I splashed water on him, we screamed and yelled with laughter and then we played catch with a ball he had in the pool.  We both had a good time.  Sometimes, it's so nice to forget your an old boring adult and just get down on your child's level to play and enjoy them while they are still little and still want you to play with them!  Today was definitely a good day with my little man!

Pineapple Upside-Down Cupcakes Taste Test

We all congregated at mom's house today for Memorial Day since everyone was off work.  She decided to have us all over for taco salad and refried beans.  If you haven't noticed from my other postings, that is one of our favorite meals to have when we all get together!  I offered to make the dessert this time.  This was my perfect opportunity to make the pineapple upside-down cupcakes for us all to try out.  It turned out to be a taste test since I had more than willing participants.  I needed to know whether this was a keeper recipe or not and what better place to try it out than on family.  It turns out, the decision was unanimous, it is DEFINITELY a keeper!  It was a hit!  Everyone loved them.  So if anyone wants to try them out now that we were the guinea pigs, it is SAFE to do so.  It is sure to be a hit wherever you take them.  I did do one thing different on the recipe though, I wasn't able to put two pieces of the cut up pineapple into each cupcake bin, there was only room for one piece, but they still turned out yummy.

Old Time Sayings

Have you ever had something happen to you and before you know it, you are quoting an old saying that came from your grandparents?  When I was little I was very hyper, I mean extremely over-hyper.  My grandma always used to tell me I had "ants in my pants".  Well this morning me, mom and Colton were at Hardee's having breakfast and Colton can never sit still.  He's just all over the place.  He's just like me when I was little.........very hyper-active.  Before I knew the exact words my grandma used to tell me came flying out of my mouth.  I told him, "Sit down.  Good grief boy, you must have ants in your pants."  I just cackled to myself thinking, oh my Lord, I'm turning into my grandmother!

I just started thinking of all the old time sayings I heard as a kid growing up.  Ones like:
fit as a fiddle
smart as a whip
sharper than a tack
better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick
tighter than the bark on a tree
poor as a church mouse
when pigs fly
tougher than shoe leather
that's the kettle calling the pot black
chip off the old block
knee high to a grasshopper
madder than an old wet hen
not worth a hill of beans
wound up tighter than a drum
naked as a jaybird
dead as a door nail
quiet as a mouse
fit as a fiddle
loose as a goose
stubborn as a mule
so tight you squeak when you walk
sly as a fox
shootin' the bull
hard nut to crack
strong as an ox
blind as a bat
meaner than a junk yard dog
crazy as a loon

My grandma Puddin's favorite to say was "pretty is as pretty does" and my Grandpa's favorite was "I need something to wet my whistle" and he used to tell me all the time that I looked "as poor as a snake".  Now for my all time favorite and one I use myself quite often is..........................................drum roll please........................................"don't have a pot to pee in or a window to throw it out of".

Those are some of the ones I remember being quoted at some point of time in my life.  How many can you remember?

Pineapple Upside-Down Cupcakes

I found this next recipe from Betty Crocker's website here.  I can't wait to try these out because my husband absolutely loves pineapple upside-down cake and this recipe sounds so easy by making them into cupcakes!  Once I make them, I'll let you know the verdict of whether or not this is a recipe keeper.  If these also sound easy and tasty to you, please make them and let me know what you think.  Leave me a comment so we can compare.  Good luck!

Pineapple Upside-Down Cupcakes
from www.bettycrocker.com

1 can (20 oz) sliced pineapple, drained, juice reserved
1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® yellow cake mix
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1/3 cup butter, melted
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
12 maraschino cherries, cut in half

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 24 regular-size muffin cups with cooking spray.
2. Cut each pineapple slice into 4 pieces; set aside. In large bowl, beat cake mix, oil, eggs and reserved pineapple juice with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.
3. In small bowl, stir together melted butter and brown sugar. Spoon 1 1/2 teaspoons butter mixture into each muffin cup. Top each with 2 pineapple pieces. Place cherry half, cut side up, in center of pineapple pieces. Spoon 1/4 cup batter into each cup.
4. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes. Run knife around edge of cupcakes to loosen; invert onto cookie sheet. Serve warm.

Boys in Boots

Today, Noah came over to the house.  When you get Colton and Noah together, there is fun involved.  These two play off of each other, you never know what they'll do next.  Take for instance today.........they decided they wanted to play outside and ride the Gator, run around chasing each other and playing in the pool.  In order to go outside though, they both wanted to wear rain boots.  Yes in 90 degree weather and on top of that it was extra muggy and hot.  What silly boys.  Here they are in their t-shirts, shorts and yes.............rain boots.  Love their poses!

 These two are just hilarious!

Chocolate Chipless Cookies

A lady in our church makes some of the best cookies............she calls them the chocolate chipless cookies.  That's right, they don't have chocolate chips in them and they are so tasty!  I don't have her recipe but I took my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and just left out the chocolate chips and they turned out great.  I found that the key to making these yummy cookies to make them taste like hers is to beat them in the mixer for a very long time.  It makes them smooth, creamy and fluffy, oh my goodness, melt in your mouth hot out of the oven delicious!!!!  I hope you enjoy them!
 
Chocolate Chipless Cookies

1 cup butter flavored shortening
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
  
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheets. In a large bowl, mix together the butter flavored shortening, brown sugar and white sugar until very light and fluffy(this is the key to having smooth, creamy cookies, so mix together for a long time, at least 5-7 minutes).  Next, add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition, then stir in the vanilla.  Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in another bowl.  Gradually stir the flour mixture into the creamed mixture.  Make sure you mix this together completely too.  Now drop spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets.  Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until light brown.  Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.  Hope you enjoy!

My Little Spiderman

This afternoon Colton wanted to play outside in his Spiderman boots.  He's now on this kick of Spiderman this and Spiderman that, holy toledo!  I took a few pictures in his styling boots, he matches so well.  I pleaded with him to play in some different shoes, but he wouldn't hear of it!

This boy is so hard headed just like his dad...................and me!  He decided he'd jump from his Climb and Slide Castle.

After he jumped several times.  He decided to tell me a story about Spiderman and his adventures of fighting the bad guys.......................he had such expression when he told me this story.

 This boy has imagination, just like me when I was little.  Watch out world!

Mom's Casserole

This next recipe is one my mom makes.  It's a really good tasting casserole that is quick and simple; everyone needs to know how to make it.  This is one of those great recipes to prepare when you don't have a lot of extra time to waste on running to the grocery store to get the ingredients you need.  Most of the ingredients are something you already have on hand, so it doesn't take a lot of time to concoct.  Basically, you just have to throw the ingredients together on this one, bake it and enjoy.  I hope you find this one to be a keeper.  Enjoy.

Mom's Casserole

1 lb ground beef
1 onion
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 can of pinto beans
1 can of corn
1 small can of tomato sauce
tortilla chips
shredded mozzarella, cheddar, colby or mexican blend cheese

Cook ground beef and onion in skillet.  Drain if any excess grease.  Add the taco seasoning, pinto beans and tomato sauce to the ground beef mixture and stir.  Next add 3 large hand fulls of tortilla chips and mix gently in the skillet, then place all the ingredients into your baking dish.  Top with as much cheese as you want.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.  Double the recipe if you are serving more than 4 people.

Other options for the dish:
1) If you like it really spicy and chunky, you could replace the can of tomato sauce with a can of rotel.
2) You can also replace the tortilla chips with fritos, either one works.

Saturday at Silver Dollar City

The first thing Colton wanted to do when we arrived at Silver Dollar City was ride Tom Huck's River Blast.  He wanted to ride a water ride.  If anyone knows anything about this ride, count yourself lucky.............you were one step ahead of me.  All I knew about this ride before getting on it was that you could shoot water guns on it.  Little did I know that you would get COMPLETELY soaked.  Not only do you shoot the water guns, people that are not riding are on the outside shooting water guns directly at you.  So I rode it with my little man and we were both totally drenched after getting off this one, but Colton was ready to ride it again.  I said, "NO WAY!"

I needed to get some sun, so I could dry off.  Goodness!  Next we went to watch the Saloon show called Choctaw Charlie's Frontier Follies.  It was good, Colton loved it.  He clapped his hands along with the music and after the show, he asked to go see those dancing girls again.  HILARIOUS!

Next, we went to ride the Flooded Mine that Colton loved so much last time.  I call it the Shooting Miner's Ride, because that's what you do is shoot arcade looking guns on the entire ride.  Colton loves this one.

We then decided to have some lunch.  This time we tried the Sausage Skillet Medley.  It is kielbasa(Polish sausage) with red potatoes, corn, green and red peppers and onions.  It was yummy, but it was too much for both of us to finish.  We should've just got one to share.  We didn't find that out though until it was too late.

Colton decided he was still hungry and wanted some Dippin Dots strawberry ice cream.  He really enjoyed that.......so much that he didn't hardly want to share!

After that, we headed to the kiddie rides.  He rode the Elephant March with Nana, the Grand Exposition Coaster with me, the Royal Tea Party with me(yes, I know.......he actually got me on that with him this time), the Mighty Galleon with me.  Next, we headed off to the little kiddie rides where he could ride by himself until his little heart was content.  He loved riding the Happy Frogs the best.  He rode those over and over.

Finally it was time to leave.  We headed out and decided to stop and listen to the Sons of the Silver Dollar show.  It was really good, we all enjoyed it while we sat down and drank our slushies, then we left to come home...........we were all ready for that.

Mother's Day With Mom

Monday night, Gabe, Ashley, Noah and mom came over for all of us to celebrate our Mother's Day with mom.  We let mom choose what she wanted to eat, so I made the dinner and Ashley brought the dessert.  She made a wonderful strawberry jello cake with whipped topping and strawberries on top.  YUM!  We all had a good time just sitting back eating and visiting.

Through dinner, the boys were racing to see who could make a happy plate the fastest(in case you don't know, that means who could finish their meal first).  They are so funny.  Colton calls it chasing instead of racing.  So he kept telling Noah, "I'm chasing you No-No."  When one of them would eat a bite faster than the other, they would yell out, "I won, I won!" with such excitement.  When Noah lost a couple of times to Colton, it was so cute, he yelled out, "I lost!  I lost!"  He took it so good though, he didn't care that he had lost, he didn't get mad or upset at all, he was just excited to yell anything when he finished his bite.  However, the next time Noah did win, he still yelled out, " I lost!  I lost!" with such enthusiasm.  It was so funny and we all cracked up!  We all said, "No Noah, you won this time bubby!  You won!"

After dinner, we took the boys to the park to burn off some energy.  They played hard together.  They slid down the slide.

Then they played on the merry go round.....

Then Colton hung on the monkey bars..........he thought he was big stuff.........

Then it was time to say goodbye...............

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all you mothers out there!

I invited a few ladies from church over for lunch to celebrate Mother's Day at my house.  I thought it would be nice to prepare them lunch since they either didn't have any children of their own or they didn't have any other plans.  It was nothing fancy, just taco salad, refried beans and a butterscotch chocolate pie that my mom had made.  It was yummy and everyone enjoyed themselves.  To me that is all that truly mattered.  It doesn't have to be anything fancy to let people know you love them.  There is nothing better than getting together with people you love and respect to let them know how you feel about them.

I want to take this time to let my mom know how much she means to me.  She is my BEST friend.  I honestly don't know what I would do without her.  She's always there when I need her.  She's a shoulder to cry on, she's a listening ear, she's someone that lets me know everything will be all right.  Whether we are laughing or crying, she's right by my side.  I just want her to know how truly blessed I am to have her in my life.  I couldn't have picked a better mom.  I LOVE YOU MOM!

My philosophy is don't leave anything unsaid.  My grandpa used to say, "If you are going to give me roses, bring them to me while I'm alive, don't wait till I'm dead and gone."  I love that saying, it made an impression on me.

There's No Place Like Home

Colton and I headed over to take Papa to his dialysis treatment today.  We arrived and took Papa inside.

We spent a little bit of time with him at the Dialysis Center, but Colton was a little more antsy this time, so we left to go to the park to burn off some of that extra energy.  He had lots of fun running around, jumping, yelling and playing.  I just chased after him mostly.........
 

This boy is a hyper little man, so he played and played and played.  He's like the Energizer bunny.  He keeps going and going and going.  He slid down the slide, he climbed the poles and jumped off the stand, he ran across the swinging bridge, he chased some little girls, he swung on the big swing and then decided he wanted to swing in the baby swing because I would push him higher on that one.

I was getting tired, so I decided it was time to go grab some lunch.  After we ate our chicken nuggets, we headed back to spend some more time with Papa.  I thought Colton could help entertain Papa on the last part of his dialysis treatment since he was wired today.  Papa likes to watch Colton be all boy.  He thinks he is something else, so that is good therapy for Papa.  Unfortunately, right before we arrived, he zonked completely out.  Can you believe that?  He was hard core asleep.  He had just worn himself completely out, because he played so hard.  I was worn out too just from watching him playing and chasing after him at the Park.  I carried him inside the Treatment Center and visited some more with Papa by myself until he dad was finished with his treatment.  We then headed home.  Let me tell you, when you are utterly, really, extremely tired..................there is no place like home!  HOME SWEET HOME!  I was so glad to arrive back at home.

The Train

Our minister is a big time joker.  He loves to tease and he loves to tell jokes.  Anything to make people smile or laugh is what he enjoys.  Well he has told Colton and Noah this little old saying a few times and both the boys will repeat it if you say it one line at a time.  They say the words so cute too since they don't pronounce their words perfectly yet, we all love for them to repeat it.  Well tonight Colton was playing in the living room floor with his trains while mom and I were visiting and all of a sudden we hear this loud little voice say:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I tell you the facts,
I lost my bwitches on the wailwoad twacks,
Along came a twain, choo, choo, choo,
Tow my bwitches wight square in two."

We started cracking up.  Bro. Beck would get a kick out of that!  I know me and mom did.

I'm sure everyone knows what the saying is really, but just in case you didn't understand how Colton said it, it goes like this:

Ladies and Gentlemen, I'll tell you the facts,
I lost my britches on the railroad tracks,
Along came a train, choo, choo, choo,
Tore my britches right square in two.

Our Morning At The Park

This morning we headed off to the park.  I told Colton last night we would go to the park sometime today and all he talked about this morning was the park and kept asking when we were going.  He has no patience just like his mother apparently.

When we first arrived, there were three other little kids playing and I tried to get him to go join in, but he was too shy.  When he gets embarrassed, sometimes he gets a little mischievous.  He decided he would then pick up some of the rocks and hold them in his hands.  All of a sudden he threw them straight into the grass.  That didn't sit well with me, so I scolded him and then made him pick them all up and put them back where they belong as you can see below.

Next he wanted to slide.  The other little kids came over to join him, so he finally began to warm up to them.

Then he decided he would venture off to the little merry go round to run and push it.  One of the little girls quickly came over and wanted him to push her on it..............it was so cute.

After he was tired of pushing her, he ran over and wanted to swing on the baby swing.  For some reason, he likes to swing in that baby one and go way high.  Nana ended up pushing him on it.  He kept yelling, "Go faster, push me harder!"

When it was time to go he wasn't very happy.  He started to pout and cry. 

Nana finally had to pick him up and carry him towards the car.

That's when I started teasing him because he was acting like a little baby.  I told him I was going to take more pictures of him crying if he didn't stop, so he hid his face from me.  We then started playing hide and seek around Nana's head.  He began giggling.  I luckily snapped this picture of him laughing.  That's my boy!