Playing Around in Grandma's Halloween Costumes

I keep these Halloween costumes at my house just for the grandkids to play in when they come over.
Are they cute?

Waking Up is hard to do by The Laryngospasms

This is too cute. These very talented singers are all American certified
registered nurse anesthetists in Minnesota and they can really sing.
They are so good and very funny. I love the guy in the middle.....and the cutie on the right.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOrjcLJ2IE0&feature=related

Adventures with Grandma and Grandpa

Greg won a free night at the Residence Inn in Richmond so instead of a romantic get-a-way 2 miles from our house, we chose to take our Richmond grandkids (Denotn's) on an adventure...... a pizza, swimming and movie party at the hotel overnight with the folks. You can tell by our age, what our priorities are now. You can't believe how much stuff we brought for 1 night. They all had their own suitcases and we had 3-4 between us with computers towels, camera's, pop, and so forth. It took a luggage cart to get it all in. But the kids had a blast riding the cart up and down the elevator. We made our first mistake when we got in the elevator to go to the pool and Rocky ( the 2 year old) pushed the emergency bell button before Greg could grab him. The other kids got to push buttons so he wanted to also. We couldn't get it to stop or work so we had to walk down 3 flights of stairs to go to the front desk to tell them and ask forgiveness. They were really nice about it.

Before the pool, we had pizza and pop in our room. The kids thought that was great. The got a candy treat for dessert from their dad ( who had been out of town all week and brought it to them as a surprise).

The loved the pool.....especially the hot tub. It was much warmer than the heated ppol. But they loved grandpa throwing them up in the air and doing cannon balls from the side. Rocky especially loved the hot tub...jumping in and out to us. Scared me to death that he was going to hit his chin or something.....he has no fear.

After swimming we got in our pj's and watched a movie and a half on grandpa's computer...... 102 Dalmations and Half of Transformers. We popped popcorn and had sprite all night. They stayed up way too late and their parents are going to love us today. Grandpa told them 2 fun stories and they were asleep the minute we turned off the light. Rocky even stayed in his pack and play all night..Grandpa and I stayed up and watched a movie in the other room so we are very tired today.

We woke up early and of course watched cartoons while we got ready. Then we went down the the exciting hotel breakfast. The kids had eggs, sausage, potatoes, biscuits, donuts, fruit loops( 3 bowls each) and orange juice. I couldn't believe how much they could eat. They couldn't believe the sky was the limit. That is the fun of going somewhere with your grandparents. The hotel waitress was so nice and helpful. She thought thy were so cute ( and we were such nice grandparents) she kept bringing us things.

We loaded up and the kids got to ride the cart down to go home. They had to be hone to go to the primary activity today.
Rocky said " I not going home..nope.... I go to grandma and grandpa's house" I convinced him he could go to the primary activity too.

We did all this before 9 am and took them home by 9:30am. We had a great time and they seemed to also. Fischer asked when we are going to get to do it again. I said when we get another free hotel. It was a memory we hope they will remember.
A great adventure with Grandma and Grandpa.

SWINE FLU

If you end up looking like this.....don't go to work.

March on Washington DC

Yesterday, my friend Crista and I went to DC by train with some other friends for the biggest tea party yet. There were almost 2 million people there from all 50 states represented. People flew in from Alaska and Hawaii. It was awesome..so many good people who are concerned about the direction our country in going. You can go here to read about it :http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1213056/Up-million-march-US-Capitol-protest-Obamas-spending-tea-party-demonstration.html

We must not relent.....we need to keep working to make a difference. I was glad I could be a part of history.

Another Blonde Joke for your Library

A teenaged blonde girl, wanting to earn some extra money for the Summer, she decided to hire herself out as a 'handy-woman' and started canvassing a nearby well-to-do neighborhood. She went to the front door of the first house, and asked the owner if he had any odd jobs for her to do.

“Well, I guess I could use somebody to paint my porch,” he said. “How much will you charge me?

Delighted, the girl quickly responded, “How about $50?”

The man agreed and told her that the paint brushes and everything she would need was in the garage.

The man's wife, hearing the Conversation said to her husband, “Does she realize that our porch goes ALL the way around the house?”

He responded, “'That's a bit cynical, isn't it?”

The wife replied, “You're right. I guess I'm starting to believe all those dumb blonde jokes.

Later that day, the blonde came to the door to collect her money.

“You're finished already?” the startled husband asked.

“Yes,” the blonde replied, “and I even had paint left over, so I gave it two coats.”

Impressed, the man reached into his pocket for the $50.00 and handed it to her along with a ten dollar tip.

“And by the way,” the blonde added, “it's not a Porch, it's a Lexus.”

Cowgirll Cookies

I saw this cute cookie jar idea on someone else's blog. Such a cute idea.
I love her idea of changing the color of the M & M's and you totally change what or who the cookie is for.
I especially love the information she gave us about the smooth mason jar.

Start with a 1 quart smooth Ball jar. She found these at Hobby Lobby craft store.

Layer the ingredients in like this:

First: flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt
Second: oats
Third: m&ms
Fourth: chocolate chips
Fifth: brown sugar
Sixth: white sugar
Seventh: chopped pecans

Pack each level down really tightly. I mean it. Pack it in. Or else it won't all fit. Also, I added the chopped pecans last, because if the ingredients were too much or not enough, then I could add more or less pecans to adjust. I'd rather sacrifice nuts than chocolate, you know. The ingredients should be flush to the top of the lid when you seal it up.

See. There's some of the pecans peeking out from under the fabric.

To decorate the top of the jars, get a spool of suede cord and some fabric. I really wanted to find some pink western bandana fabric, but this will do.
Anyway, cut the fabric into 6 inch squares and the suede into 25 inch pieces. Place the fabric on top and tie ribbons around the lid to hold it in place.


For the labels, you'll need some card stock, a paper punch and double-sided tape.

Note: you can change the color of m&ms and give them as Halloween gifts, or Christmas gifts, too. Check out the seasonal m&ms in the candy aisle. They are usually available in special holiday colors or themes. The pink ones were in the Breast Cancer awareness bag. Also another great gift idea.

Cowgirl Cookies

1 1/3 cup all purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup & leveled
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup cooking oats
3/4 cup m&ms
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 - 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Stir all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

Add

1 slightly beaten egg
1/2 cup butter (melted slightly in the microwave)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Use the back of a large spoon to work it all together. You may even need to use your hands to get everything incorporated.

Then roll the cookie dough into 1 1/2 inch balls, place on a parchment covered baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven. I got about 26-28 cookies out of these.

For more details and pictures go here: http://bakerella.blogspot.com/2009/08/mix-things-up.html

Great Bacon Commercial

My Black, White and Yellow Table

I just did a new table with my new "R" plates. I usually do a back-to school table for September but decided to try something new for fun. I love black and white anything...so this was kind of fun. I am not sure I am finished yet..I may tweek it a bit.