Wordless Wednesday: Together Again

Merry Christmas

Life has been different around here with the girls in Iowa.  The house has been so quiet...and clean!  Calum has been enjoying his alone time with us and Lamar has been enjoying the fancy culinary delights that I have been cooking (tonight was Prime Rib and Lobster).

Christmas morning was just not the same without the girls, but we still had fun.  After opening some gifts, Lamar, Calum and I headed to IHOP...yes, we went out for breakfast because we were to lazy to make it ourselves!

 When Calum woke up this morning he was not the happiest of campers...I envision him in 20 years not functioning until he has at least 2 cups of coffee into him.  Right now his vice is Cheerio's and milk.

 He has really not shown any interest in the tree this year.  After one stern "NO" he has left it alone.  He did notice the bike this morning and was a little confused on why it was there.

 As soon as we told him he could ride it...he was off!  The first few tries were a bit iffy, but by the evening he was jetting around the house like a pro.

 He was not quite sure of what to do with unwrapping presents.  He just did not get "into it"  but he was happy to see there was another new car in this package.

 I worked really hard building this multi level parking structure for Calum.  He really likes it.  There is a DIY tutorial coming soon on how I did it!

 I also built him this car launching track...I still have some details to add, but right now he is thrilled with the "rough draft."  Many cars have started their race on this today.  He also tried to launch himself down it with the new bike...not the best forethought on the parent end for this combination of gifts!

He has also launched himself down the ramp several times...good thing I sanded it well!

Wordless Wednesday: Playing With Daddy

Outside Fun

Wordless Wednesday: Calum Was Here

I Moved!

After some technical difficulty, more on my end than on Blogger's end, I have finally moved my blog to the new address.  I can finally start blogging again.  I have so much to share, and now that I can do it in a safe location you will start to see a whole lot of me and the family again!!

Plant Cell

Shianne needed to make a 3-D model of a plant cell for her biology class.  Not being happy with the normal Styrofoam or play-doh models, she talked me into helping her make a cake.  It seemed like an easy idea.  I have decorated many cakes over the years.  I got the bright idea to use fondant for the first time.  I now know that fondant is not my friend.  After much frustration, we finally have a finished cake.  Now we just have to get it to school in one piece!

Trick or Treat

We held our annual Pumpkin Carving party last week.  As always, it was a huge success and the kids had all kinds of fun.  The kids had a "mummy contest" and wrapped each other in TP.  Lamar even got in on the action by letting the little ones wrap him up.

Shianne went to the Fall Dance with her best friend Kathryn.  The girls always have so much fun together.  Shi was mortified that I was a parent chaperone AND I was bringing my camera to take pictures for the school yearbook.  She made sure to stay away from my lens at all costs, but I did get one good one!

Nora Beth was so excited for Halloween to get here.  She wanted to dress like Rapunzel.  I made her dress and she could not wait to wear it.  Calum went as an octopus.  He was not sure why he was in such funny clothes, but it was sure fun to run around and have his extra legs flap.

Calum thought the actual Trick or Treating was lots of fun.  He loves to knock on doors and was so excited to see all the pretty wrappers.  He had no idea what he was getting, but from Nora Beth's reactions he knew it was good stuff and he was not going to let go of his basket!  It was quite a bit of work for him to walk around our neighborhood and by the end of our street he was showing signs of exhaustion.  He headed home with Lamar and I continued on with a very energetic Rapunzel.

Nora Beth was very eager to go through her loot and picked out the 7 pieces she got to keep and happily put the rest in the offering bowl for the Halloween Goblin to take away and leave a gift in exchange.  Calum went to bed with no complaints and immediately fell asleep.

I'm Moving

I'm moving!!   Did that get your attention??  There are lots of great things happening with the Lindsay family and I want to start sharing with all of you again...but in order to do so, I have to move this blog to a new address.  The new domain name has been purchased and the site is being built...within the next week you will have access to our lives again.  I will not publish the new address here, but rather e-mail you the new link.  If you want to continue reading, e-mail me your e-mail address or comment with it below and I will send you the new link.

For Mikey...

I have been quiet on this blog for quite some time.  There have been many reasons for this.  Many of you who know me in real life know the real reasons.  You know what has been going on.  You have been here for the laughs and tears.  You don't need this blog to find out what I am up to.  I have thought of writing posts many times over the past few months, but they just never made it.  Today I am motivated. 

The food blogging world is a tight knit community.  There are many blogs that I follow.  It is as if I invite these bloggers into my kitchen each day.  I get so much inspiration from reading about their food.  I become invested in what they write.  When something happens it ripples through the blogging community quickly.  Jennie from In Jennie's Kitchen suddenly lost her husband last week.  A sudden heart attack.  One minute everything is fine, the next, everything is changed.  In order to show support for Jennie, I made her Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie that was a favorite of her husband.

The point of all this is to draw attention to the ones we love.  Friday was an extremely busy day for me, yet I still found time to make this pie for my family.  Lamar really enjoyed it.  He liked the fact that I took the time to show some extra love.  I served it with a big hug and "I Love You."  The pie was extremely rich, so we only ate a small amount of it.  On Saturday we headed to the Cabin where I shared the rest of the pie with friends, thus spreading the love. 

You never know what happens tomorrow.  All you can do is love the people who are important to you today...and make them a pie.

Dear Tooth Fairy

 

Nora Beth lost her second tooth!  She wrote a letter to the Tooth Fairy

Der the Tohs Feri

Thes is Nora Beth

I ned to teal you that I loct a tohs.  Pes raiet bak the krat wae

TRANSLATION:

Dear The Tooth Fairy

This is Nora Beth

I need to tell you that I lost a tooth.  Please write back the correct way.

The Tooth Fairy wrote back the correct way and even left her $2!

Wordless Wednesday: Rare Moments of Sibling Bliss

Bacon Jam

I came across this recipe and was instantly intrigued.  Bacon Jam.  I was not sure if I was salivating or repulsed.  I thought about it for two weeks and knew that I just had to give it a try.  How can you go wrong with bacon kissed with some maple syrup, bourbon and mixed with caramelized onions?

I picked up some really great thick sliced apple wood smoked bacon.  Good quality bacon is key to this.  The prep work was really easy and before I knew it my house smelled fantastic of bacon and sweet onions.  After an hour of simmering I was ready to run it through the food processor and give this concoction a try.

It was love at first bite!  It was fantastic on our sliders for dinner.  For breakfast we slathered it on waffles and topped with just a bit of maple syrup.  Culinary utopia.  I have so many ideas for this stuff.  Sandwiches, breakfast rolls, stuffed meat.  I can go on and on.  This will become a new staple for football season.  It was so good that Lamar even shared a link to the recipe on his Facebook page.

Now, I did think of taking pictures of this stuff, but they did not come out nearly as well as the pictures on the blog where I found the recipe.  Just go look at those pictures and I will bet you will be on your way out to search for some great bacon and make yourself up a batch of this stuff.

Princess Ballerina Day

Today was the day that Nora Beth had been waiting weeks for.  The annual fundraiser for the Miss Marion Polk Scholarship Pageant.  This year the girls got to make tutu's, take a dance class and finish with a tea party.  A perfect afternoon for Nora Beth.  Her friend Isabel joined us.

Wordless Wednesday: Tea Party

Fun in the Snow

This past weekend Lamar and I took the girls to Hoodoo to have some fun playing in the snow.  We left Calum with a friend since he was not ready to play with the big kids in the snow.  All the way there Nora Beth was very concerned that it would be to scary for her.  I agreed to go on the first run down the hill with her on a tandem tube.  That is all it took to create a little daredevil.  She immediately went to find a pink tube all for herself and we had a hard time keeping up with her.  She got up and down the hill so fast that we had to make a constant effort to keep our eyes on her...she was not going to wait for us.

The kids woke up today to find a dusting of snow outside.  This was Calum's first experience ever seeing snow.  He was not sure what was happening outside but he knew he wanted out there to inspect.

After breakfast the kids all got bundled up and headed outside.  Calum was so excited to play in the snow.  He did not care that his hands were cold.  He just ran all our yard and into the neighbors.  Pure delight!

 

 

Shianne had a friend come over since there was a two hour delay in school.  The girls had fun chasing Calum around and being silly.

 

 

Nora Beth had so much fun making snow angels all over the driveway.  With each one she made she would proclaim how beautiful they were.

After about one hour of playing outside everyone was cold and wanted to head inside for some hot chocolate with marshmallows.  It was a wonderful morning.  Not long after Shianne headed to school, the snow all melted away and just left an icy mess.

Joy of Love: Day 21 His Hands

Lamar's hands are busy during the day typing in the computer and filling prescriptions.  Here is a rare moment of him relaxing with his hands around a beer.

Joy of Love: Day 20 When He Is Home

When Lamar is home the kids get excited to play.  Calum will follow him into the bedroom with hopes that a wrestling match will soon happen.  Lamar will lay on the bed and let Calum crawl all over him.  So many giggles can be heard from both of them.

Joy of Love: Day 19 When He Is Gone

When Lamar is gone Zara thinks it is time to be bad.  She likes to get up on our bed and claim it as her own.  I admit, this is my fault.  When I was pregnant with Calum I had to take lots of naps.  It was a lot of work growing that big baby.  I would let Zara get on the bed with me to nap.  She now thinks this is acceptable behavior whenever Lamar is not home.  She does not dare get on the bed when he is home.

Joy of LOVE: Day 18 Going Out

As I mentioned earlier, we have been enjoying the ability to go out with our friends lately.  We have enjoyed seeing some local bands and going to restaurants that don't cater to little kids.

Wordless Wednesday: Calum 18 Months