Happy Birthday, Mandy!

My sister turned 29 yesterday. Lucky for her, she was able to spend the afternoon with the boys and I. :) I always make her a cake, and she usually picks red velvet. This year, I had something different in mind. She said she didn't care if it was red velvet or not as long as it was german chocolate instead. I assured her there was german chocolate in there...I just didn't tell her exactly what I was up to.

So, here she is with her birthday cake...or her barfday cake! It's a kitty litter cake (click here for recipe) My nephew Kaine took one look at it and said, "Aunt Carol, I think I just lost my appetite!" Lol Believe it or not, it was actually good...I just couldn't get past the tootsie rolls myself.

Christmas in America

Naughty or Nice?

We're not sure which list the boys will be on this year. While taking a shower yesterday, I discovered someone had dumped the shampoo out and filled the bottle with water. I quickly went for the kids' shampoo, but again, water... I hollered for Courtney and thankfully he was able to find another bottle for me. Not like I could just run out and buy some on Thanksgiving day, ya know. I asked the boys about it, but no one knew who would do such a thing. Of course, why would I think my little angels would do something like that? I just did break them of the habit of squishing the bar of soap everytime they showered. Now this?

And as I was finishing getting ready, I couldn't find my mascara, but was afraid to know what Courtney's children might've done with it! :)

Thanksgiving

We had our first Thanksgiving at Bob and Helen's new house. It was nice, and the first time in several years I haven't hosted it at my house. As we were getting ready to eat, we had a funny conversation that went something like this:

Bob: (burning his hand) Ouch! We need some new potholders!

Helen: They worked just fine at the other house.

Me: Well, that's because at the other house you just ate out all the time! :)

How to fix a turkey

How To Fix a Turkey, by Isaac, age 5


"Go to the farm and get a big turkey. Cut it up. Put it in the oven at 145' for 4 minutes. Put salt and pepper on it. Eat it with fish and A-1. Have chocolate pudding for dessert. Have Coke to drink."

Chicken Noodle Soup

This is a true story, and some of you may have heard it before. For those who have not, I figured it was worth sharing. :) Several years ago, my wonderful husband wanted to learn to make homemade chicken noodle soup. I got the ingredients and put them in the panty. One evening, he decided to give it a try. I was laying on the couch not feeling too well while he was slaving away in the kitchen. Before long, the house really started to stink. Figuring it was just me not feeling well, I tried to keep my opinions to myself.

Dinner was ready and I decided to be a good sport and try to eat a little of his wonderful stinky soup. He dished it up, and we went to the table to eat. Andrew was about 2 or 3 and not a picky eater at all, but after one bite he was done! I tried it, and decided the same thing. Meanwhile, Courtney kept eating bowl after bowl of this stinky soup. I finally mentioned how much it stunk and it smelled like catfood. The recipie called for canned chicken, which I'd never bought before, so I assumed it was just that. I decided then and there to never buy it again, either!

Being the proud chef that he is, Courtney took his leftover soup to work the next day. It got the same reaction there, but nonetheless, he kept eating and loving it. The guys all thought it stunk and wouldn't think of trying it.

A couple of days went by and I got into the pantry for something and I saw it -

The canned chicken was still in the pantry!!! I used to keep one can of catfood in there in case we ran out...and it was gone. That's right, folks, my husband had used 9 Lives chicken flavored catfood in his beloved soup. GAG! The worst part was, he didn't flinch when I told him this. He just said, "Well, whatever it was, it was sure good." Of course, the guys at work found out and for a long time they'd start meowing when he came around.

Needless to say, Campbell's makes a very suitable chicken noodle soup should anyone in my house crave it. And I don't think I've bought the canned chicken since. :)

Thankful Thursday

It's been awhile since I've done one of these. These are some things that I'm thankful for today:

*The snowflakes falling outside

*That my boys are getting haircuts tonight...been hard to find an available time that Andrew's also been able to maneuver in the chair lately

*For my husband...he may come in smelling like the hog building, but I keep telling myself it's the smell of money. :)

*That Isaac got his glasses tightened last night and they didn't break!!

*For my Turtle girls - love ya all and enjoyed out time last night...and the honorary members, too. Can't wait till you find my fried bologna scented candle...if Yankee makes it, look for a fancier name such as "essence of Kentucky Roundsteak" :)

*That I didn't have anywhere I had to be today...great day to stay inside!

Anyone else wanna share?

Teenage Affluenza

Not much to blog about

There's never a dull moment around here, yet it seems like there's not really been anything blog-worthy lately.

I do have to say though, that Isaac keeps us on our toes around here. He hasn't even been home from school for an hour yet and he's given me plenty of material. First off, he asked for a piece of gum. Keep in mind that the kid despises anything hot or even minty. He tells me the gum is the sour kind and pops it in his mouth, but it didn't take him long to spit it out. It turned out to be some sort of cinnamon tingle. :) Then Courtney comes in from work and Isaac is hugging all over him and so happy to see him - and then realizes he forgot to wash his hands after he'd spent some time in the bathroom...

While working on his homework paper, he had to draw 3 pics that started with the letter H. He drew a black rectangular box and kept insisting it was a hamster. We weren't seeing a hamster. Courtney asked where the head was and he kept giving us his confused look and saying, "You mean the lid?"I finally figured out he meant a clothes hamper. :)

He wears his heart on his sleeve and can be so sensitive. (he may someday realize how much like his mother he can be!) But he's also such a happy-go-lucky boy. He can sometimes be so clueless, and other times he's got us laughing until we cry. The joy he adds to our lives is amazing! And to think, we named him Isaac without knowing his name means "he laughs".

HalloThankMas

That's right...HalloThankMas. You know, the months of October, November, and December every year where stores and the media cram Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas all together? Thanksgiving is barely mentioned, apparently because other than buying groceries, it's not viewed as an important money-making holiday like the other two are.

I about gagged walking into Walmart the day after Halloween to hear Christmas music playing and being greeted by a huge Christmas tree. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Christmas and the reason we celebrate it. However, I need to go in order and can't handle Christmas before I've had my fill of turkey.

As I've gotten older, Thanksgiving has become my favorite holiday. It's so simple and pure. Even though Courtney always has to work that day and our gathering is small, it's just nice. It's nice to have a day dedicated to being thankful rather than on commercialism. Yeah, I have to cook, but it's really ok.

And as soon as the turkey is put away and the dishes are done, then it's ok to start talking about when the tree goes up!

Don't Ya Wish Your Husband Was a Freak Like Mine??

Let me start off by saying I love the man dearly. However, anyone who knows Courtney knows his eating habits are...shall we say STRANGE?! And that's putting it lightly, folks. My Tuesday morning Bible study girls are now used to him coming home for lunch and having a PB&J with hot sauce. We've been meeting for three years now, so over time he's convinced them this is "normal" and he's otherwise an ok guy. :)

Yesterday he tells me one of the guys at work called him a freak. Trying to sound concerned, while secretly knowing he probably deserved it, I asked why. He goes on to tell me he was eating Pop Tarts Splits while on break at work. These are the ones that are half strawberry/half chocolate...as if that's not odd enough. He then proceeds to pour mango habanero sauce over them. The poor guy sitting in the office with him couldn't believe his eyes. And Courtney looks at him and says, "What, I wanted to try this sauce?" Oh, so naturally you'd just eat it over Pop Tarts...

He sometimes snacks on cottage cheese with flaming hot Cheetos stirred in, will eat peas straight out of the can, pours some kind of hot sauce, salsa, or marinade on nearly everything he eats, and just has some generally strange habits when it comes to food. He even puts Ken's Steakhouse Buffalo Sauce over chocolate cake or brownies. I'm glad that I don't get offended when he dr's everything I make. And thankfully, no restaurant around here sells fried brain sandwiches...I could hardly stomach the few times I was with him when he ordered those in his hometown! There are probably hundreds more, but I can't think of them right now. So how about you, do you eat anything weird? Can you top Courtney?

Adventures at Lark Ranch

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Saturday was such a nice day and we didn't have anywhere we HAD to be. Andrew had felt pretty good all week long, and we thought a day trip would be fun. We went to Logootee, IN for the day. We had lunch at Stolls, then visited Blessings Bookstore, then headed on to Lark Ranch. The boys were pretty excited about the corn maze, although with Isaac picking our turns we failed miserably. Oh well, we had a lot of fun in there! Andrew said he was visiting his great, great, great uncle, Corn Maze. lol

In the petting zoo area, the ducks for some reason liked Isaac's feet and kept nipping at them. The hayride was fun and they were giving pumpkins away since it was the last weekend. The boys loved the big tube (pipe?) slide and would've stayed there for hours I think. They also liked playing on the big round hay bales and sliding down. I think their favorite part of the day was probably the go-carts, though. We let them choose one "extra" thing to do and this is what they picked. We'd never seen pedal go-carts before. Andrew was fine, and Isaac was fun to watch. He got stuck a couple times on the turns. You get to go around four times. Andrew parked his like a pro when he was done...Isaac was another story! He finally got going real, real fast when his turn was up. He veered off the track to park, only didn't pull his brake. He drove right over the parking curb and into the big rock pile. We laughed until we cried...he was fine and so was the go-cart. After all that, he wanted to go again, but I redirected him to the fossil dig and the slide again. :)