Scattered Thoughts...........

Well.......... they aren't quite as ugly any more. I know that they hate it when I lift the lid on the propane tank. SQUAWK, SQUAWK, SQUAWK!!!! You would think that I'm plucking their feathers the way they carry on. The poor momma sits by anxiously, ready to pounce on my head. I'm really not brave enough to take photos of them more than once a week. Have you ever seen the movie, "The Birds"? Enough said!!!!

I just pray that they get a little cuter. I'm no bird expert, so maybe you guys can help me. The momma bird is black as coal. She is medium sized (larger than a sparrow, smaller than a crow) She has a long beak...... kinda like her babies!!!! I'm curious, so if you know, comment below.

The lovely, lovely wisteria is blooming. Ahhh, did I say it was lovely? Well, it is. Imagine 1,000+ blooms.

The only downfall is the bumblebees is attracts.

This vine is twisted around my porch railing. Directly behind my porch swing. It makes me feel like I'm in a "Secret Garden".

My saliva is also in full bloom.

This just occurred to me as I was typing about my saliva......

Do you guys get tired of my flower fetish? I'm sorry, I just cannot get enough flowers in my garden. When something emerges from the ground and blooms, it makes me happy. It's almost like God says, "Good morning Mandy, here's something pretty. I made it just for you." Am I crazy, probably?

Speaking of pretty.........

I am heading back to Florida!!!! Yee-haw!!! (I'm jumping in the air and kicking my heels)

This time I'm taking my hubby and the young'ens'.

We will be there 8 days and I plan on enjoying every last one of them!! We rented a house right on the beach. We have done that many, many times. We wake up in the morning. Get into our suits. Walk out the backdoor and voila............ the beach!!! White sand and crystal clear blue water. Ahhhh. I cannot wait to show you the pictures.

When we get back, Ryan will have one day at home before he heads to Washington, DC with his classmates. I have NEVER been away from him this long! I'm a little worried!!!

I will be asking for prayers for him and me while he is gone.

I am trying my very best to finish this book before we leave Friday. It's a VERY LARGE book! It's #4 in the Peter and the Starcatchers series. Anything about Peter Pan is a good read. I predict that they will make them into movies. The first book tells about how Peter gets his "flying ability" and how Hook and him became rivals. It also explains how Tinkerbell was changed from a bird to a fairy. Betcha didn't know that!!! They are great books but I doubt many adults (besides me) would like them.

I'm going to try to read a "big girl" book on vacation. I bought this one. I wanted something set on a beach. Something that flowed easy. Something light. You never know, I may get hooked and leave the young adult section of the bookstore. Karen Kingsbury is a Christian author. I like that she leaves all the smuck out. It usually has a Christian undertone. My mother-in-law reads her books all the time.

I'm going to leave you today with a funny.

Since the beginning of school, Gracie has brought home a "home/school journal" every Thursday. She writes in it while she is in school. Then she brings it home for me to write back to her. I love how much her writing skills have developed over the year.

Anyway, we wrote our final letters to each other last Thursday. She brought it home for us to keep (treasure always). I was flipping through it this morning and found these letters to each other. I thought you might enjoy.

note: In this letter I am answering her questions from her letter. Make sense?

I said.....

Dear Gracie,

Hi sweetie pie. It's really hard for me to believe that it is the middle of February. Hopefully Spring comes soon. I'm so tired of snow and cold weather. I like when everything starts turning green and the birds start singing.

I'm glad that you are going to read a bunch tonight. When I was your age I didn't care for reading. As an adult, I LOVE reading. I wish there were more time in my day to read.

While you are at school I clean, cook, run errands, & help at church. On Fridays I go to a Bible Study class.

Have a great day. I will miss you.

Love,

Mom

This was her reply:

Dear Momy,

Hi and don't say sweetie pie in my journal any more ok. I can't wait for my birthday in September. We got a new student named Coalton Vannam. If Jordon moves back we will have 25 kids.

Sincerely,

Gracie

This made me smile and I hope it did you too.

I'm going to hop off the computer though and get busy. Lots of things to do today.

Congo Bars

The only thing worse than being host of my monthly sorority (a.k.a. hen pecking) meeting, is being the co-hostess.

That's probably not true friends. Hosting is much worse. But since I am co-hostess tonight, it feels worse to me.

Co-hostess prepare food/drinks. We serve and clean. Basically waitress for the entire evening.

So, I was searching recipes via blog hopping. Trying to find something that would travel well, wouldn't require spoons and forks, and tasted yummy.

I stumbled across these beauties!!!!!!!! Good ole' Bakerella. I just love her!!!!!!

So, I made them.

Did you notice the name? Congo Bars!!! It was fate. My destiny to make these.

Right, Congo? My one brown eye, one blue eye cheetah kitty. Congo prefers salmon, so he will take my word for it that these are DA BOMB!!!

Here is the recipe, although you could pop over to Bakerella's site and find it also.

♥CONGO BARS♥

2 3/4 cup all purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup butter, softened

1 pound light brown sugar (Oh my and thank you)

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

11.5 ounce package milk chocolate chips

1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

By Mixer:

Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Set aside

Combine butter and sugar using a mixer until blended.

Add eggs, one at a time to sugar mixture, mixing on low in between each addition.

Add vanilla and mix

Add flour and mix until combined

Stir in chips and then pecans.

By Hand:

Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Set aside

Stir brown sugar into softened (not melted) butter in another large bowl until butter disappears. You can use the back of your spoon to help incorporate the two together. Add eggs on at a time to butter mixture and stir well after each egg.

Add vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts. Mix well.

Add dry flour mixture and stir until well combined.

Coat a 13 X 9" pan with non-stick spray and spread batter evenly into dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until top is golden brown. Make sure you don't over bake.

Enjoy! Enjoy! Enjoy!

Mandy's notes:

I used peanut butter chips instead of pecans and I also added 1/2 of a bag of milk chocolate chips.

My baking time was 24 minutes, not 30. I'm sure it depends on the oven. Watch them close, these are too yummy to burn.

P.S. I found Mr. Rabbit in the garden today. His ears were missing.

Let me rephrase that. His ears weren't missing. They just weren't attached.

I have 3 suspects in custody. However, it is most likely a tall red-head, or a tall (nearly 12 year old) blondie. I will give a full report after I interrogate.

Mother's Day Video

A friend of mine from church made a great Mother's Day video. I thought you might like to watch. She put lots of work into this. Way to go Carrie!!!!!!!!

Gripe, gripe, and more gripe!!!

PEOPLE........... I AM FWEEZING!!!! I say FWEEZING because my teeth are chattering and I cannot say freezing!!! I've got on socks, UGGS, sweat-pants, a t-shirt, a hoodie, and I'm chugging coffee by the gallon.

Here is the forcast today.........

Today: partly cloudy. Highs in the upper 60s. Northwest winds 10 to 15 mph shifting to the northeast 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon. Tonight: mostly cloudy. Chance of showers, thunderstorms in the evening, then showers and thunderstorms after midnight. Lows in the mid 50s. East winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80 percent. Wednesday: considerable cloudiness in the morning then becoming partly cloudy. A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 70s. Southeast winds 10 to 15 mph. Wednesday Night: showers and thunderstorms likely. Lows in the lower 50s. Southwest winds 10 to 15 mph shifting to the northwest after midnight. Gusts up to 25 mph. Chance of precipitation 70 percent. Thursday: cloudy with a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the lower 60s. Northwest winds 10 to 15 mph with gusts to around 25 mph. Thursday Night: mostly cloudy in the evening then becoming partly cloudy. Lows in the upper 40s. Friday: partly cloudy. Highs in the upper 60s. Friday Night: mostly cloudy. Lows around 50. Saturday: cloudy with a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs around 70. Saturday Night And Sunday: mostly cloudy. Lows in the lower 50s. Highs in the lower 70s. Sunday Night: partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 50s. Monday: partly sunny. Highs in the lower 70s.

and now they are throwing THIS my way......

Flood Warning:

Issued at: 4:09 AM CDT 5/11/10, expires at: 4:08 AM CDT 5/12/10

The NWS in pleasant hill mo has issued a
Flood warning for the grand river near sumner. From this morning to Sunday afternoon. At 3:45 am Tuesday the stage was 20.1 feet. Flood stage is 26.0 feet. Moderate flooding is forecast. Forecast, rise above flood stage by this morning and continue to rise to near 35.0 feet by early Wednesday afternoon. The river will fall below flood stage by Saturday afternoon. At 28.0 feet, rural roads are under water. At 26.0 feet, rural land adjacent to the river is flooded. At 23.0 feet, bottomland 1 to 2 miles south of the gage begins to flood.

If you ask me, (and I know you are) I believe someone is playing a big-ole trick on us. Teasing us with 80 degree temperatures and sunshine. Then throwing rain and cold back in the forecast. Bah humbug, I say..............

Well moving on!!!!!

I'm happy to say that Mother's Day was somewhat mild and sunny.

Gracie had some outside fun with Cookie. She thought some fresh grass would make the little fuzzball happy.

Then Ian and Rick helped me get the tomatoes, onions, peppers and strawberries in the ground.

Before you send me comments about Ian's jeans............. I know!!!!! They are been well loved and I don't let him out of the yard in them. I even debated about whether to include them in my blog. After much thought, I decided.......... life at the Smith's isn't always pretty. So, jeans on the blog it is. He will argue that they are his favorite.

Lastly, I thought I would leave you with a nest of ugliness. Two momma birds made nests in our yard.

All I'm saying is........ Good thing human babies aren't born looking like this. I will photograph them in a couple weeks. Hopefully they grow out of this phase.

I need a jury

I'm not sure who to blame for the below photos. Let me explain.......................

While watering my flowers this morning (and letting Gus go pee), a little ruckus broke out. Congo peeked his head out of my bedroom window, the dogs saw him, and it was "ON".

I could blame Congo because he didn't back down. He knew the window wasn't open far enough for my big-headed dogs to fit through. He also was meowing and carrying on. Almost taunting them............ daring them to get him.

I could blame Gus because he is a big bully. He is constantly torturing Congo!!!!! He'll show his teeth, bark, and chase the poor kitty till he goes somewhere Gus can't reach. Which is pretty much anything above couch level. Gus knows that Congo has only one fear in life and that is GUS!!!! Gus uses this to his advantage every chance he can.

I could blame T-bone but I don't think I will. You see, T is really only good at two things......

1. slobbering

2. sleeping

Anything else requires way too much energy. The only trouble T ever gets into ALWAYS involves Gus.

T-bone is Wally Cleaver

and Gus is Eddie Haskel.

Or I could blame myself for saying. "Get em' Gus!", "Who is at my window Gus?", "Protect me Gus!"

I sorta like watching him getting worked up. It makes me belly laugh!!!! His hair stands up on his back. He growls like Chewbacka. Then he looks at me and I imagine he is saying to me, "Look at me mom, I'm tough...... right?"

Then Congo wised up and left. I feel like I owe him an apology......... nah!

I'm slamming the gavel on the desk and voting.................... me............ the instigator.

My Monarch Butterfly

Ohhh friends..........

I'm having trouble getting my MOJO this morning. My brain just doesn't want to work yet. I think that a double dose of "natural" vitamin D (aka- SUN) might do the trick. There is something about sunshine that puts an extra spring in my step.

I am chomping at the bit to get my new garden planted. I've bought seeds and plants galore. I'm thinking of canned tomatoes, salsa, beans and potatoes. Oh have mercy on me. My taste buds are throbbing right now. The ground is still a bit wet though. I have been tilling it three times a day to get it dried out. I get excited every time I turn the dirt and I see BLACK!!! Usually the dirt at our house is RED!!!!!

Sooooo, until I have fresh garden produce to show you, you get to see flowers. Here is the latest eye candy blooming in the flower beds.

These clematis' are HUGE. Notice my hand in the background. That will give you an idea of their size. By the way, I DID NOT notice the spider while taking this photo! Oh my! Spiders are NOT my friends!!!!

Now onto the real reason for this post.

Gracie had a Spring play on Tuesday night. It was bug themed and she was a monarch butterfly. There were bugs of all types. Fireflies, bumblebees, ladybugs, ants, TICKS, and there was even a maggot. (ewwww) I thought that it was the best school play that I have ever seen. They all did so well.

I wanted to capture a few pictures of Gracie in good light.

Isn't she a beautiful butterfly?

She had a speaking part. I think that she did a spectacular job!!!!!

The next morning she woke up and looked like this....................

Yup, pink eye. Looks like her and I are going to have some one-on-one time this week.

She wasn't too excited about helping me cook in the church kitchen yesterday morning.

However, she didn't complain about the oreos or..............

the fruit kabobs.

And lastly......

I thought you might enjoy this simple cupcake idea. I made these yesterday at church and they are easy peasy. You cut mini marshmallows at a diagonal to make petals. I takes five petals to make a flower. Then you cut a marshmallow in half for the center. Aren't they Spring-ee? If you wanted to get extra fancy, you could brush the tip of the petals in egg wash and sprinkle colored sugar on them. We didn't have the time for that yesterday, but the Type A in me wanted to.

Ft. Lauderdale, FL (part II)

Our trip started at XO nails. Pedi's to start the vacation. O YEAH!!!!! We COULDN'T have gone to FL with ugly nails. NO WAY!!!!!!

I sorta "check-out" when I'm getting a pedi. I turn on the massaging chair and I enter Space-Cadet world.

Then we went to Chase Hotel for our first night of slumber. As you can see, we got plenty of rest................. NOT!!!!

I brought these silly masks for each of the girls. We were trying to set the timer on the camera, then I would hop into bed. Well the silly thing kept snapping the picture before I could get under the covers.

Below is a few of the out-takes.................

What in the world am I doing to Jane?

A little wink from Dana

Wednesday morning we were FINALLY on our plane. After months and months of waiting, we are airborne!!!!! (This was Pam's first flight, she was praying for us all. BREATHING AND PRAYING!!!!!) After the inital shock, all went very well.

Here are more photos of the natural beach. Beautiful...... beautiful...... beautiful. (the ladies, I mean)

We had a little trouble controlling Dana. Every time we turned around she was grabbing another Corona. This would explain some of her dance moves at the "Blue Martini". All I can say is......... YOU GO GIRL!!!!!

(the part about the Corona may or may not have been slightly exaggerated..........)