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We made it.  The girls and I made it back to Nashville safe and sound.  So did dear old dad.  He arrived at the airport an hour after I did.  It was a long day.  I'll just lay out a couple of events from my day.

Scene 1
Dad (Poppy) made Aubrie "cowboy oatmeal" this morning for breakfast and hung out with her while I got ready and finished packing up our bags.  She also went outside and helped him feed Duke one last time before we left.  Mom gave her a dog biscuit and told her it was for Petey from her dog Lady and they stuck it in the diaper bag.  Mom snuck extra snacks and sandwiches in my bag and I didn't find them until the last hour of our trip.

Scene 2
The male flight attendant on my first flight got on me about how I was holding Emilie and we weren't even backed away from the gate yet.  He said I couldn't let her stand at all.  I was curious as to if he had any children.  My Emilie is a mover.  Not a bump on a log.  She's all over the place and any time the plane isn't doing something that requires me to hold her (like taxing, taking off, landing), I'm going to let her stand on my lap or on the seat and be as wild as she wants.

Scene 3
We land in Austin and I have 25 minutes to get to my next gate and I'm sitting in the back of the plane.  I talk Aubrie into running in the airport and it really sparked something inside of her because she just couldn't stop.  Poor thing.  She had some energy that needed to be released.  Luckily I got to the gate and they were only boarding the A group and there was a kiddie section right next to the gate with two kids her age.  So she started running circles around a kiddie table and the other two kids started following her and they were squealing and running.  Aubrie had a sweat worked up by the time I grabbed her and drug her down the tarmac to load the plane. 

Scene 4
We get on the plane in Austin and it is almost full and as I get halfway down the aisle, I realize that there will be no two seats together.  So I humor everyone and walk all the way to the back of the plane anyways where the flight attendant just looks at me.  I say, "excuse me, I need two seats together."  She looks at me and sighs and rolls her eyes and asks "did you family board?" 

My I-wish-I-can-talk-crazy-to-people-and-I've-about-had-enough-answer would have been "Nah, I thought I would be polite and let everyone board the plane before me so I can get on last and make people re-arrange their seats so I can have one with my children.  I tell you what.  How about I just go plop my two year old between two business men and have them watch her during the flight and we won't have to worry about me getting two seats.  Should I leave them with her diapers just in case???"

But instead I just answered yes and she sighed and got on the intercom and spoke softly and asked for somebody to volunteer to move so a mother and her two children can sit together.  Nobody heard her.  Then she said it a little louder and people turned to look at me, but nobody moved.  What happened?  Everyone spoke to Aubrie and flirted with Emilie as we walked down the aisle, but all of the sudden their kindness disappeared.  So then she got on the intercom one more time and said that if someone moved that their drinks were on her the entire flight.  So a man got up a moved.  Gee, thanks. 

Then SHE gets on me to turn my phone off and stands over me.  For some reason I couldn't do it fast enough so she walked back to the intercom and made a LOUD announcement that we all need to turn our phones off.  Then on her way back to the rear of the plane she stops to tell me my bags weren't far enough in front of me under the seat. 

Where were the sweet flight crews that I had on my way to TX? 

Scene 5
We made it back to Nashville and Adam meets us at the baggage claim just in time to change a dirty diaper and load the shuttle to go get our car.  Whew.

Scene 6
The dog biscuit.  I got it out to give to Aubrie so she could give it to Petey and she thought it was for her and started to climb in her booster seat to eat it.  I obviously didn't let her and she had a major melt down.  (No nap today)  So I gave her some cookies and she gave up the dog biscuit for Petey.

I do want to send a special shout out to the man who DID move and give us his seats, even though he did it for the free drinks.

Another special shout out goes to the man at the Burger King counter who gave me two kids meal toys for my girls to play with even though I didn't order a kids meal.  Bless you.

Shout out goes to the woman who left the bathroom before me and chased Aubrie down who peeled out of there and was headed over to the cupcake billboard screaming "OH CUPCAKES!!!" as I was still putting on my backpack and pushing Emilie in a stroller.  Bless you.

My final shout out goes to the flight attendant in the tarmac who was waiting to get on the plane in Nashville who said I was a wonderful mom and that my girls were beautiful.  Why couldn't YOU be my flight attendant?  Bless you, too.

Now we are all safe at home and have a busy couple of days ahead of us.  We came home to find a giant SOLD sign on our house!  YIPEE!  And we are moving out on the 23rd.  Lots to do.  Keep us in your thoughts.

One more side note.  I saw A LOT of soldiers coming home and meeting their loved ones and I saw a lot of soldiers leaving their loved ones during this trip and I am SO THANKFUL for their sacrifice and their familiy's sacrifices for our freedom and our beautiful country.  Thank you, thank you for all you do!!

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Winding down

The fun is winding down here at Gram and Poppy's.  Robbie, Kasey, and Lindsey all left today after lunch.  We did some roping before they left.  I've been working on Duke as a heel horse and it has been rough, but today he was a totally different horse.  He was fun to ride and would get his ears back and get behind those calves.  He's showing some promise!  Dad has fun watching Robbie and I rope together.

Me and Duke

Someone's getting a tan from all this playing outside!  Emilie naps when we rope.

I love this picture of Robbie and the girls.

After my first double catch

 Tomorrow is our last day and I have another long day of travel ahead of me.  Wish us luck!
Love to all!

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Rodeo Sunday

Today the family did some rodeo events.  That's right, Adam Mark was on a horse and was getting his hands dirty.  We had a blast.  But first, let's start off with our gracious hosts.  Mr. Roy and Mrs. Shellie Walker!!

Adam and Robbie warmed up the horses.  Aubrie rode with Uncle Robbie for a little bit and then Lindsey came outside and she rode with her dad.  That made her happy.  She's a daddy's girl.

Adam and I loading calves into the chute. 



The peanut gallery.  Cutest peanut gallery that I have ever seen. 




Aubrie's boots came from Target last fall.  She's worn them out on her visit here.  Today she insisted on wearing my baseball cap.  She's also begging to do chores.  Tonight she went and knocked on the bathroom door to tell Poppy that Duke was hungry and it was time to feed the horses. 

 The rodeo events today were ribbon roping and barrel racing.  For ribbon roping, normally a partner goes and heads the steer and the partner runs out and grabs the ribbon from the tail of the calf and runs back to the chute.  We did it by couples.  Adam and I went first and what do you know, we won!  We got lucky because the ribbon fell off the calf's tail as soon as Adam got to the calf.  Robbie and Kasey came in last.  Their calf was a little fiesty. 

The rules for barrel racing were that you could only walk your horse.  So we all rode Duke and took turns "running barrels".  Robbie came in first, followed by dad.  Then Adam wanted to see some one do it "for real" so I got on Grumpy and he TOOK OFF!  We found out today that he knows how to barrel race.  He rounded those corners and ran FAST!  We had a lot of fun.  I'm sorry I don't have pictures of people doing the events.  We took videos of it all instead.

Mom made brisket and a pot of beans for lunch paired with corn salad.  It was delicious!  She also made breakfast pizza this morning.  I'm going to share the recipe with you all.  It also occurred to me that I was supposed to post my mother-in-law's recipe and I have yet to do it.  I promise I will get to it. 

Breakfast Pizza

from mom's A Taste of the Country cookbook and this recipe came from Wilma Richey in Lead Hill, Arkansas.  Thanks Wilma.

1 lb pork sausage, crumbled
1 8 oz package of refrigerated crescent rolls
1 cup frozen loose-pack hash brown potatoes, thawed
1 cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
5 eggs (mom does 6)
1/4 cup milk
4 oz green chili
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese.

You can use a pizza pan, but mom used a cookie sheet that was one inch tall.  Grease the sheet.  In skillet, cook sausage until browned.  Drain;  set aside.  Separate dough into eight triangles.  Arrange on pan.  Press over bottom and up sides to form crust, sealing perforations completely.  Spoon sausage over crust.  Sprinkle with potatoes.  Top with cheddar cheese;  set aside.  Beat together eggs, milk, salt, and pepper in mixing bowl;  pour over filling.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese over all.  Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes.  Yields 6-8 servings. 

Adam left today to go back to Akron, OH for work.  We were sad to see him leave, but he will be home on Wednesday at the same time that the girls and I are getting in.  We sure are having a lot of fun.  I hate that it will be coming to an end soon.  I hope everyone else enjoyed their weekend!
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More TX Fun

Let's just say it was a good day because Gram made homemade ice cream.  Oh BOY!!

Robbie, Kasey, and Lindsey all made it here safely after breakfast.  The girls enjoyed looking at each other.  Not too much playing.  Lindsey didn't really appreciate being touched and all Emilie wanted to do was grab Lindsey or try and stick her fingers in Lindsey's mouth.

We blew up the pool and girls got to go swimming.  Lindsey didn't last long.  She just woke up from a nap and didn't want to get splashed too much.  Emilie sort of fell on top of her and it really upset her.  Rightfully so!

Today at the lunch table, Aubrie wanted fruit and wouldn't eat her sandwich.  We've been negotiating to get her to eat, but lately that isn't working too.  So we started chanting her name, and she was smiling and got excited and felt the pressure.  So she grabbed up that sandwich, squeeled, and jammed it into her mouth and hid her face into Gram's shoulder.  It was so funny.  I would like to upload more pictures, but it isn't working that quickly tonight.  Plus I have a canasta game going and I'm losing.  :(
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Daddy's here!

Dad arrived today!  I took Emilie in the airport while Aubrie stayed in the car with Gram and drove around.  When Emilie saw her dad, she about jumped out of my arms and said loudly, "hi da!"  She was so happy to see him.  She rested her head on his shoulder and kept sticking her fingers in his mouth.  That seems to be her thing.

We had a good day today.  The girls took their naps in the car because we have an hour and a half to the airport.  While in El Paso, we ate at Pro's Ranch Market.  It is a supermarket that has regular groceries but you know how grocery stores have delis, bakeries, and ready-made food?  This has that, but it's HUGE.  It has all the Mexican pastries, a juice and salsa bar, a tortilla machine and fresh tamales, cooked meats, sides, everything.  I had 3 tacos with rice and beans, Adam had a steak burrito, and mom had a shrimp cocktail which was more like ceviche.  The girls ate chicken taquitos.  Aubrie got a kick out of the pinatas hanging from the ceilings and the lively music they had playing.  We had a good time. 

Dad and I roped this afternoon.  Duke is still in training and he didn't do too hot today, but he'll get better.  He is such a good, gentle horse.  He just doesn't know how to chase a cow.  And that is fine.  He'll get it.  Dad wants to train him slowly.  Aubrie rode him all by herself (which means on the saddle by herself and I was leading the horse) for 3 laps in the arena to warm him up.  She also would not go into the house until she fed Duke his grain.  Adam got to witness her tasting the sweet feed.  He enjoyed watching her playing in the dirt.

It is fun to be back in the arena with dad.  We spent many days and hours in the arena as a family.  We are looking forward to Robbie, Kasey, and Lindsey joining us tomorrow. 

Love to all!



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Let's Catch up

The Internet is getting better so I was able to upload some pictures.  I weeded out my favorites.  Today we had a fun day.  Poppy made a swing for Aubrie and hung it in the tree.  This morning he and I roped a couple of calves.  He has two horses, Grumpy and Duke.  Duke is the one in all the pictures.  He's a kids' horse.  I rode Duke and tried to rope heels but Duke isn't used to roping and I'm a little rusty so it wasn't a pretty picture.  Hopefully we'll get better as the week goes by.  Mom has been filling our tummies with lots of goodies.  Today I'm going to leave you with a taco salad recipe.  But first, let's catch up!



Emilie riding Duke




Aubrie riding Duke



Aubrie likes to climb up on Poppy's recliner and watch tv or do a puzzle.  Poppy snoozed a little.

Mom's dog, Lady, likes to kiss the girls.  Here she is getting Emilie with her big pink tongue.



Here the girls are riding Grumpy and Duke, the inside versions



Poppy's swing for Aubrie



It's day two and Aubrie already knows how to do chores.  She gets to give Duke his grain. 



Baby sister hanging out in the stroller watching Aubrie feed Duke.

An award for doing chores?  Sure, you can eat some of the grain.  Adam is going to FLIP OUT when he gets here and sees all the things his daughter is doing.

Mom also made me some chili rellanos tonight and it is my absolute favorite.  I never make them, mostly because nobody in my house requests them and I have a good chili rellano casserole that makes a good substitute, but I also don't make them because it is a lengthy process and you need to make them for a crowd.  I'll post that recipe later.  For tonight, I will leave you with some delicious/easy taco salad.

Taco Salad
mom got this recipe from Sharon Keifer, wife of Carl Keifer who was a high school football coach at Mountain View High School in Arizona.

1 head of lettuce, chopped
1 carton of cherry tomatoes
1/4 sliced onion (red or green)
1 cup of shredded longhorn cheese
1 cup of leftover seasoned taco meat (hamburger)
1/2 bag of crushed Doritos
optional:  1 can of drained kidney beans
16 oz bottle of Italian dressing

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and dress with dressing.  Serve cold.  After mom makes tacos, she'll use the leftover taco meat for this salad.  You can easily adjust this for two people or one person for your lunch.  It is delicious!!!

We are looking forward to dad joining us tomorrow!
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We made it!!

They didn't kick us off the plane.  But it was an adventure!  Let's see...where do I start?

We got to the airport ok and I got the girls on the plane with lunch in their bellies.  Our first flight was a full one.  We had to go to the second row from the back to find two seats together.  A man sat next to me and his wife and daughter were in the row across from him.  It wasn't until we were about 30 minutes into the trip that Emilie was ready for a nap and Aubrie was settled and into a Sesame Street episode.  So I nursed Emilie and she fell asleep. 

And then I smelt it.  I immediately looked over at Aubrie who was leaning forward onto the tray in front of her.  "Do you have to potty?" I asked.
Yes!

Great.  I asked the man to let us out and luckily his wife asked to hold Emilie.  So I passed her off, which of course woke her up, and headed to the potty with diaper bag in hand.  I was trying to figure out how to latch the door and squeeze in and by the time I turned around, Aubrie was dipping her hand inside the toilet and getting that blue stuff all over her hands.  (I STARTED SCREAMING ON THE INSIDE!)

Have you tried putting a diaper on a kid in one of those bathrooms?  It was a nightmare.  Finally, we got back to our seats and Emilie was wild.  She no longer wanted a nap.  She just wanted to grab my IPhone that Aubrie was watching. 

But we made it!  Aubrie ran to Gram and gave her a big hug and told her all about the airplane. 

We have done so much since we have been here.  Mom and Dad didn't have Internet for the past 2 1/2 days and now that it is back up, it is pretty slow, so I'm not able to upload pictures.  Hopefully I will tomorrow.  So far, we helped Poppy feed the cows and horses.  We swam in the turtle pool.  We found golf balls and toys out in the dirt and played with those.  (Two little boys used to live here so the toys are army guys, race cars, and robots)  We rode Duke with Poppy.  Aubrie took one lap while sitting on the saddle by herself.  We've jumped rope, learned that bob wire doesn't feel good, and napped hard!  And it's only day 1!!  We finished off the day by dancing in Poppy's shop to Selena singing Bitty Bitty Bom Bom and we had Aubrie yelling Ay Ay Ay!!!!

We are looking forward to Daddy meeting up with us this weekend as well as seeing Robbie and Kasey and my sweet little Lindsay. 

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"I'm goin' to Texas"

David Crockett was an elected representative from Tennessee in the United States Congress in 1835 and during an argument defending individual liberty, he got angry and stood up and yelled:

"Ya'll can go to hell, I'm goin' to Texas!"



I think I will! 

Every summer I go to Texas to visit my parents.  They have recently moved this past year to further west, near El Paso, and I have yet to see their new place.  I'm very excited.  They bought a fixer-upper and it sounds like they have done some pretty nice fixer-upping!  The girls and I will fly out and Adam will meet us on the weekend.  I'm looking forward to a relaxing week with good ol' Gram and Poppy and their dog, Lady. 

If I make it through the direct flight.  Thank Goodness for Elmo.  Elmo, crackers, pacifiers, and sticker books.  Don't fail me now Elmo!  With all that said, I'm cutting it short with nothing really exciting to talk about and lots of packing ahead of me.  Don't worry, the camera is going with me and my mom is an excellent cook so I will have lots of recipes to share.  

Love to all! 

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Swing is up!

Putting the swing away was one of the many things we had to do to stage our house.  I guess it made the backyard look too cluttered.  Who knows.  We didn't realize how much it was missed until we put it back up.  Actually, Emilie hardly swung before and didn't care if she was in the swing.  But now, she looks out the window longingly as she eats her dinner and sometimes she'll reach her arms out and fuss when she sees it.  She LOVES the swing.  And that is not a good thing because big sister LOVES the swing as well.  We need two swings.  Luckily, Aubrie is good about sharing and will let Emilie have a turn.  But be careful when you take Emilie out!  She will fuss at you!



Action shot!  I love her face!




Sweet Emilie



Big sister pushing baby sister in the swing.  Such a good sharer!

Friday night Aubrie pinched her fingers in the booster seat buckle.  She's big into buckling herself in now.  So she was messing with it and pinched it good and made it bleed.  Nothing a Hello Kitty band aid couldn't fix.

It was funny because the rest of the night, she couldn't use her finger.  She would hold something and stick the thumb out and constantly reminded us that she had an owie!  Thank goodness it healed miraculously over night.

Adam's parents came down for the weekend and brought with them Michigan new haven peaches and some more sweet corn.  Words cannot describe how sweet and juicy these peaches are.  They really are almost too good for a pie.  You need to just eat them whole and buy these awful peaches in our grocery store and add lots of sugar for the pie.  Since we had willing sitters here, Adam and I went to Higg's birthday party without our wild children and then we went on a dinner date.  We both felt like zombies as we ate our food and we looked forward to going home and getting in bed.  I snuck a nap in for the past 3 days.  How naughty! 

By the way, Higgs is 1!!  Our little guy is getting so big!  I got to steal some time with him last night at his party and play with him.  He's such a good eater.  He was eating his hamburger and even fed me a couple of pieces.  He loves to stick out his index finger and touch you and hear you say "zzzz"!  like an electric shock.  It cracks him up and never gets old!  Happy birthday big fella!!

Higgs at 5 months with the girls

I woke up this morning and thought I would make some waffles so we could eat them with sliced peaches on top.  When I got out the Bisquick mix, it said it expired in 2008.  Hmmm.  Guess we haven't made waffles in a LONG time.  So I looked up a waffle recipe online and it turned out pretty well.  Aubrie was adamant about helping me cook so she got on her stool to "help".  I got so frustrated because she stuck everything in the batter.  The whisk, a spoon, a measuring cup, a teaspoon, her finger...

Finally I removed everything from the batter and got the waffles made.  After church I put Emilie down and came downstairs to one of my favorite things.  I LOVE when Aubrie sits between her dad's arms and plays.  She's done this since she was little.  She will go get a puzzle, or book and bring it over and put her butt in his face and back up and sit down right by his chest.  He's such a good dad! 

I even got some post nap cuddles on the couch with my girls.  The day ended with some outdoor play.  We had some corn on the cob, chicken and apple sausages, french loaf, and of courses, peaches.  It was a wonderful Sunday summer day.  I hope everyone had a good day as well!
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Thank you for the play, mommy

You know how you are constantly telling your child to say please and thank you, hoping that one day it will stick?  Today there was proof that it stuck.  The girls and I went to a park today and I let Aubrie run wild.  I gave her the five minute warning that we will be leaving and that helps with the melt down when it is time to go.  Finally, I said "ok, time to go!" and which I got the respond "OHHHHH NOOOO!" and she covered her face with both hands.  But then she followed me and we started walking out to the car.  On the way she asked for her juice and I handed it to her and said, "what do you say?" and she said "thank you mommy."

And then it happened.  She grabbed my leg and stopped me from walking and hugged it.  She looked up at me and said "thank you for the play, mommy" and squeezed it really hard. 

(heart melting)

Ahh.  It stuck.  It stuck and she just won herself a trip to the park for a whole week!  ;)

We had a pretty good day today.  I got some laundry done, went and looked at carpet, and we found out that the house we made a bid on signed and accepted our contract and we will have an inspection on Monday.  It is so exciting and my head is just spinning!  Hopefully God will continue to align all these events and guide us through this. 

The girls had fun playing today.  Emilie is at a point that i need to just put some pants on her to protect her knees and let her crawl around outside.  She's just DYING to go play with big sister. 

This morning big sister pushed Emilie (who gargled her water and spat it down her shirt) around in her car...

 And then it ended the way I thought it would....

 without crying.  So what do we do now?  Climb the stairs!

I'm thinking about what to do with big sister.  When kids turn 3, a whole window of opportunities open for activities.  She can start doing stuff like dance, music, soccer, swimming.  All kinds of things.  And right now I think she needs SOMETHING to release her energy.  Any suggestions or ideas?  Look at this kid...

 She was spinning in circles and she was dizzy...

 Then she wanted a picture taken with Petey...

But wouldn't sit still long enough and thought it was funny.  She also likes to hurry and come see the picture on the back of the camera to see what she looks like. 

She keeps me busy!  School starts for her in 18 days!!  Look out Nashville, I'll be on the loose!

Love to all!

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Pray for Jese

One of Adam's Belmont teammates/brother/friend, is leaving for Afghanistan tomorrow.  Jese Snyder is one of those individuals who is meant to be in the military and serve our country.  He is so good at what he does and he has been so successful.  He is putting his life in danger with the many other soldiers out there and we are so thankful for their sacrifice and their family's sacrifice.  Please pray for Jese and his wife Cassandra as they begin this new chapter in their journey.  We love you Jese!


Steve (during his "I close my eyes for pictures" stage, Jese, and Adam

 Today the girls and I picked dad up and took him to lunch.  It was a nice treat for all.  Aubrie felt cheated though and kept whining to go play with her friends at the Y.  I had to be home most of the day because we had a contractor and exterminator come by for the buyers.  I looked through my stack of Better Homes and Gardens and cut out pictures of room colors, designs, and recipes that I wanted to keep.  I'm excited about painting and decorating a new house.  I'm VERY excited to be putting our family pictures back on the wall and getting all of the girls' toys out! 

Today was one of those days where I was ready for school to start.  Aubrie spent a lot of time in timeout and as I sit here and type, I hear her yodeling on the baby monitor.  She's been laying awake until 9 or so and waking up around 6:30.  I really need her to get a full nights sleep and then maybe she'll be easier to work with! 

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