Rice and Beans and Other Fine Things

Saturday Evening Post

I sometimes forget that this is my personal blog and I am not under any obligation to talk about anything that is important, intelligent, relevant, insightful, interesting, or clever.  So here is a recap of my week:

-Still working up the courage to call about my Kitchen Aid.  Still hormonal.  It's just better I wait.

-I went shopping with my daughter, grandson, and my daughter's best friend on Thursday.  I bought some really comfortable shoes that I wore to a wedding today.  Comfort triumphed over fashion for this round.

-It was my daughter's twentieth birthday yesterday.  I baked her a cake and we roasted hot dogs.  Ball Park Angus Beef franks are so worth the money.

 -I am in my flannel pajama bottoms at 7:38 PM on Saturday night, watching The Godfather sagas and blog surfing.   I love my laptop.

-My husband just said to me "hello, my love, my life" when he walked in the door.  Somebody hand me a tissue.

-Then he told me that Alabama "pulled it off" and I am wondering what, exactly, is that supposed to mean to me?

-Now we're watching Braveheart.  And I've got some chips to eat and some blogs to read.

Kitchen Aid Woes and Some Linky Goodness

I am still having problems with my Kitchen Aid and I am trying to muster up some courage to call them and explain the whole situation.  Maybe later on today.  I know it will probably be one of those exasperating phone calls that will keep me on the phone for over an hour and then I'll end up angry and I'll cry, especially because this is so NOT a good time of the month for me to have confrontation.

Or maybe I should say that it is so NOT a good time of the month for them to have confrontation with me? 

Before I go, I want to link you up with a really great recipe I tried over the weekend.  I wasn't expecting it to be as good as it was.  Really.  It was delicious.  The recipe is Tortilla Soup from The Mansion (I know that doesn't make your heart jump, but it has GREAT flavor, I promise) and you can find it here.

These are my notes:

-I used a whole large onion instead of 1 cup and I pureed in a food processor.  I can't tell you how much flavor this added.  That's why this recipe caught my eye in the first place-that pureed onion.

-For the tomato puree, I processed two 14-ounce cans of diced tomatoes in my food processor.

-I added two grilled boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced and coarsely chopped.

-I didn't add cayenne because I'm a wimp.

-I added 8 cups of water with 8 chicken bouillon cubes instead of the chicken stock.

-Take the time to fry up some crispy tortilla strips!!  It completes the soup to me.

-I topped with avocado, fresh squeezed lime juice, shredded cheese, and sour cream.  And more cilantro because I'm a lover, not a hater.

I didn't take a picture of the soup, but here, please enjoy this random sampling of pictures!

This is a picture of Brayden and me back in September.

 
This is a picture of a really cute snake print blouse that I bought at Steinmart this weekend on clearance.

 These are some brownies that I made myself sick on this weekend.

And here is our cat, Bella, and a large field rat that she just killed.

I Heart Melissa & Doug Toys. So Does Brayden.

 
It has been a long time since I have had the need for toys in my life, but suddenly (well, not suddenly suddenly, more like nine months suddenly) out popped Brayden from my daughter's belly (well, not exactly from her belly, but I'll just leave it at that) and now our lives are full of diapers and baby wipes and Boudreaux's butt cream and toys. 

 

And speaking of toys, I miss the era of simple baby toys because a lot of them now are just kind of complicated with all of the bells and the whistles and the lights and the sounds and the blinky things, and not that any of that is bad, but just where in the holy heavens did the little wooden blocks go? 

 

I am pleased to report that I have found a line of toys that I'm very impressed with and I just have to give a shout-out and a trumpet blow and whoop 'n' holler and a cock-a-doodle-doo to Melissa & Doug Toys.

 

And when my good friends from Out of the Toy Box gave me a couple of toys to review a few weeks ago for my sweet little grandson, I was totally like YES, because I was going to do that anyway with the toys he already had and, as I've already said before,  it's all about babies and cuteness from here on out at Rice and Beans and what is cuter that baby toys?  (The answer is my Brayden playing with them.) 

So with the toys that they gave him and the ones that he had already received as gifts, he has quite a collection.  Nevermind that he is only a wee little baby and doesn't really play with anything yet except his fist.   The important thing is that he has them for future use. 

 
These monkey and crab teething rings they gave me to review are bright and cheery and soft.  To be honest, I though the little ridges on the plastic rings were going to be a little too hard for his gums, but they weren't.   He dug right in with all the ferocity of a wolf pup.

See?  He's kickin' his legs up which in baby body language means "Dude, this hard plastic thing feels like totally awestupenterrifabtastic on my gums."

Don't look at me like that.  It's a real word.

 The best part about them is that they are MACHINE WASHABLE.  That means you can wash the cockanoonies right off of them!   (FYI...Cockanoonies=Germs and other microbes which may or may not include slobber.)

 
So is this cute sports ball set.  Completely machine washable. 

 
His daddy just threw him a 20-yard pass across the living room and even though it knocked him down, he was able to keep it from touching the floor.  We're so proud of our three month-old.

But I think my favorite toys are the wooden toys.   Melissa & Doug have wonderful wooden toys.  This little wiggle worm twists and bends.  Good for hand-eye coordination.

 
This froggy rattle is the prettiest shade of green ever.  I want a chair in that same color.  And a new blouse.  Oh, and some Le Creuset cookware. 

I think I got one of the last froggies, though.  But they still have the bright red monkey which is redonkulously adorable, too.

 
And these blocks.  I bought these blocks for him before he was born and let me tell you, I am SO pleased with them.  I just think every baby should have a set of wooden blocks.  They're so nostalgic.  And simple.  He'll be playing with these for a long time.  His brothers and sisters will, too, because my daughter informed me the other day that she wants four children. (!)

I told her she needed to run that by her husband first.

And since Melissa & Doug have six children themselves, they are very serious about safety.  This makes me feel especially good.

You can go to this link and get a code for 15% off of orders from Out of the Toy Box, but you'll have to hurry because the offer ends October 31.  They have tons and tons of toys for all ages and needs and not just Melissa & Doug toys, but lots of other uber cool stuff.

Wise Wisdom From Lorie

Last weekend, my husband and I made a canoe trip on Buckatunna Creek to fish for bass.  This is one of my favorite things to do  in the whole wide world, but if the fish aren't biting, it makes for a long day and a sore hiney-butt from sitting in a canoe.  About an hour into an eight hour float, we knew that the fish weren't going to be jumping out of the water.  We had the option of turning around and paddling back upstream.  

 
Something made us press on, though, and so we floated.  It was nice.  We discussed what we could be doing if we weren't floating, but we came to the conclusion that those things would still be there when we got home.  

We talked about how we needed to slow our lives down and make more time for each other.

 
I spread a sheet out on a sandbar and we took a nap.  We watched the clouds.   And my camera lens was very dirty, I found out. 

 
I took a picture of us that turned out not to be us, but only me.

 
Then I took another of me, even though I meant it to be us.

 
Then I finally got the shot, even though we are scruffy, dirty, sunburned people with five o'clock shadows (he on his face, I on my legs).

I watched an ant crawl on the sheet for the longest time.  Believe me, I tried to take a picture of that, too, but it didn't turn out.

 
I caught the big fish of the day. 

I also saw a huge tree fall in front of us and now I can add that to my top ten list of things to be afraid of on Buckatunna Creek.  Having a tree fall on our canoe and smashing us to smithereens will come right after alligator attack but before being caught in a lightning storm while in a metal canoe.  Or maybe it should come after having a snake fall into my lap while we float under a tree branch?  That's always caused me anxiety.  I'll have to really ponder this some time.

 
No more than ten minutes after we pulled the canoe out of the water, the sky burst open and there was a torrential downpour.  We got trapped under the Highway 84 bridge because we had left our other vehicle in another location, thinking that we were not going to float quite as far as we did.  I fell in the mud which always makes for a good laugh. 

 
It was red clay mud.  The worst kind. 

But even though we didn't catch many fish and we got trapped under a bridge and I now have another new fear to add to my list, we still pretty much had a great day.  Being trapped under a bridge in a thunderstorm wasn't so bad now that I think about it and my husband told me not to worry about a tree falling on us when we are in the creek, because "the chances of that happening are just so slim, Lorie.  Why would you even think about that?"  That's what he said. 

And we might not have these memories if we had paddled back upstream.

So I said all that to say this.  Nothing is wrong with working or surfing the internet or watching football or blogging or hunting or reading magazines or watching cheesy Lifetime movies, but the most important things in life are relationships.  They must be nurtured.  And sometimes you should put all that other stuff on the backburner and spend some quality time with the one you love.

So make sure you do some nurturing soon, okay?  It's really, really important.

Lolli's Here. In Yo Face!

Last week I got my first real opportunity to babysit my grandson for a couple of hours while my daughter and son-in-law went to do something--I'm not exactly sure what-- with a deer stand.

My darling daughter called me that morning and told me that she would be texting me within the next thirty minutes and when I received the text could I please come straight there.  

Sure.   Lolli will come straight there.  (And by the way, I have chosen Lolli as my grandmotherly-type name.  My husband is Pop.)

The text came before I expected, but I was very obedient and hopped into my SUV and traveled the six miles down the road to my daughter's house.

Let me tell you, it was hard for her to contain her excitement about getting out of the house without the little one for a couple of hours with her hubby, even if it was to do something--I'm not exactly sure what--with a deer stand.  She is the best little mama ever, but sometimes mommies need a little breather space.   That's what Lollies are for. 

 

When I got there, he was asleep in his swing and as much as I wanted to hold him, I knew that it was better that he stay asleep as long as possible while his mommy was gone.  He's a breast boy and he takes the ninny about forty to fifty times a day.  If he wakes up and decides he wants a snack, I can't deliver.  And then he'll get mad and cry. 

It is SO  darn cute when he does that!

But it wouldn't be cute for long if there was no ninny.  No working ninny, that is.

So I waited and waited...

...and waited.  And although I love watching him sleep, it's just not the same as cuddling with him and feeling his soft baby skin and his squishy little thighs. 

 And laying him on my chest.  And making faces at him and trying to make him smile.  And patting his little hiney-butt.   

But  eventually he began to stir from his sweet baby slumber.

And when he finally focused on me, I think scared him.

Probably because I was directly in front of him with no make-up on, my hair in a frizzy ponytail on the very top of my head (which could have possibly looked like an actual head on top of my head since I have SO much hair), a holey t-shirt, and a camera  in his face.

Yep, that would probably startle anyone waking  up from a peaceful nap.  Just ask my husband.  He's been startled on more than one occasion.

I really hope what was running through his little mind was "Yay! Lolli's here." 

Even if he wasn't thinking that then, it is now my mission in life to make him think that in the future. 

 
 

Linky Goodness

I'll be back tomorrow with a cookie recipe, but I want to link up to two great giveaways hosted by blogging friends.

First up, the beautiful and extremely talented Camilla V. Saulsbury has written a new cookie cookbook and Anna at Cookie Madness is hosting a giveaway for three copies.  Oh, how I want this.  One for me and one for my daughter.  And then a few more for Christmas gifts.  You can enter by leaving Anna a comment on her blog.

Secondly, need toys for Christmas?  Umm, I sure do with my cutie-patootie around now.  Erin at Prudence Pennywise is hosting a giveaway on her blog for a $50.00 gift certificate to Out of the Toy Box. 

This is redonkulously cute and I SO have my eye on it for my niece's upcoming birthday.

I've never had a giveaway on my blog.  I guess I'm a total loser.  I might have to change that soon.

Muchas Gracias!

I want to thank everyone who voted for my recipe in the Jose Ole recipe contest.  I was notified today that I am one of the fifteen first place winners and I received a $100.00 gift certificate to www.cooking.com.  Yay!!!!  

I couldn't have done it without your help.  Thank you.   I'm not sure who won the grand prize, but I'm sure they will be posting it on their website soon.

Now, I must shop... 

Reunited

Yesterday evening, my hubby and I made the trip to Mobile to pick up my Kitchen Aid.  My mother-in-law had loaned me hers so I haven't exactly been without one, but I am glad to have mine back because it is quite a bit bigger.  I was happy to find out that the cost to fix it turned out to be much less than the original estimate.  I am, however, a little troubled at what the cause of the problem was.

Mr.  Mixer-Fixer told me that the little board inside (I'm not sure if this is the motherboard he is talking about) was dirty and covered with a white powdery residue, so he took it apart and cleaned it and it worked like new.

Now, let me put on my thinkin' cap for a minute. 

Hmmmm... 

The white powdery residue sounds suspiciously like flour. 

Hmmm... 

I use flour a  lot when I mix.

Hmmmm... 

My biggest concern is how I am going to keep this from happening again or am I going to be destined to make only flourless cakes for the rest of my life?  He did say that my particular problem was very unusual.   I haven't tried it out yet to see if it will work properly, but  I will soon very soon, like possibly today. 

In other news, during our little trip to Mobile yesterday we headed across the bay to Eastern Shore and just guess where we ended up:

Apparently, there are some camo clothes that are taking the hunting world by storm and Richard just had to check them out.  They're called ScentLok  and one pair of pants is $120.00.  He didn't get any, but I saw that the wheels were turning in his head.

We were on a strict time schedule because he had school the next day, or believe you me, I would have spent some quality time at Stein Mart.  We did end up eating at Islamorada and  I really like the restaurant in the Eastern Shore store  better than the one in Jackson, where we usually go.  Richard really, really enjoyed his meal. You should have seen his face light up when they brought him his Bass Pro burger with sauteed onions, mushrooms and cheese.  (For the life of me, I cannot figure out how to get the accent mark over the first E in sauteed.  Or maybe it's the second E?  One of them.) 

 

 He said it was the best burger he had ever eaten and it must have been because the conversation on the way home always went back to " Man, that was a great burger."  I did take a bite and  I don't know about the best ever, but it was very good. 

My House Guest

I made a resolution to myself that I would post more frequently and here I am, six days from my last post, but truly, I have been busy.  I have had a very special house guest.  A house guest that hides little race cars in my entertainment cabinet.  A house guest that has the cutest dinosaur pajamas I have ever seen, and when I find some like them, my little grandson Brayden is SO going to have some, too.  A house guest that calls my name every morning, but pronounces it "Lo-wie" instead of Lorie, cause everybody knows it's hard to pronounce R's when your two years-old.

This was my house guest:

 
  

His name is Jaron and he likes bananas. 

Family is the BEST.

The Great Frost Bridge Flood Of Spring '09. A Little Late.

I had this post prepared back in the spring, but life got in the way and I put it on the back burner.  There is a reason I'm still posting it, though.  Someday, someone who knows all about Frost Bridge is going to Google it and this post is going to come up and then they're going to call to their wife  and say "Honey, remember that camp meeting we went to in '98?  Well your not going to believe these pictures..."

And I am making that search result possible.

 

It's that time of the decade again in Wayne County, Mississippi.  Yep, Buckatunna Creek has risen beyond it's banks and flooded the Frost Bridge area.  This is the most exciting thing to happen in these parts since...

since....

...since it happened ten or so years ago. 

And I have the full story with pictures.  Right here.  Right below.

When we arrived at Frost Bridge around 4:00 PM, the water level was here. 

This is the view from Frost Bridge looking down the Mathersville-Frost Bridge  Road.  This is not the creek.  This is a road covered in creek.

 

This is what should be worn to any good flood.  Rubber boots.  Preferably with a camouflage pattern.   

What we like to do when there is a flood is to get in our canoe and put my son-in-law and daughter in a john boat with their dog and paddle to the Frost Bridge camp ground.  Talk about fun!  Woo-hoo!

 

This is the outdoor tabernacle at the camp.

 

We paddled up and down the aisles.  It was a lot like being on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland, except not.  There were no pirates or fireflies or talking skulls.

 

Tadpole foraging is a sport everyone enjoys when it floods.

As you can see from the building in the background, everything is built on stilts at the campground.

 

That is, almost everything.  This building is going to be in bad shape when the waters recede.

 

When we got back to the bridge about two hours later, the water had risen even more...

 

...and a crowd of people had gathered. 

 

The sheriff's department, the Wayne County Emergency Management Homeland Security Director, and the Supervisor of Beat 2 all came.  Some other bystanders were there, too.  And a couple of dogs.

There were a few people that live at the campground, however, that didn't want to leave their home.  The sheriff's's department wouldn't hear of it, though, so they launched a rescue mission to bring those people to dry land. It's their duty, you know, to go in and save people from flood waters.  It also gives them an excuse to use that super official sheriff's's rescue boat.  I wonder if they'll turn the siren on?

 

"Watch the current, Men!  Stay towards the middle!"  Since we had already paddled down there once, we knew that those trees to the left side can be kind of tang-ly.

"Towards the middle, I say!"

Oops. 

 

My husband helped out in the rescue and landed on page 6A of the Wayne County News.

 

He also gave free canoe rides the rest of the evening, because that's just the kind of person he is. 

Everybody likes to see a flooded tabernacle.

Do You Like My Banner?

No?  I don't really like it either.  But I'll be changing often because I have Adobe Photoshop Elements now.

Yep, I'll be practicing my banner making.  That's a very important skill to have, you know.

And I have decided to hereby proclaim the deer as my mascot for this blog.

But I also like owls.  But I really like deer.  So deer it is. 

With an owl here and there.

And it doesn't matter that this blog is called Rice and Beans so don't be all "what has a doggone deer got to do with anything...rah rah rah..."

I think deer are really beautiful creatures.  And they taste good, too. 

And, they will look pretty in banners.

Banners that I will one day make.  Not the one I have now.  I'm just getting started.

I'm really coming along in Photoshop, though.  Over the course of about 12 hours, I turned this googly eyed, slightly freaked out deer:

Into this really cool, eyeless deer:

I call this action the "De-Eye-Da-Doe" action.

What you do is you erase the eyes with the eraser tool.

And it only took me 12 hours to learn this. 

I've always been a quick study.

You can look for more of these amazing Photoshop actions in the upcoming years on Rice and Beans.

I'll be changing to Wordpress at some point in the near future, too. 

When I can figure out how to move it all over. 

Because I'm too cheap to pay anyone to do it for me. 

It's Just Like Wal-Mart. Eventually, We End Up There.

Last Friday night, my husband and I took my daughter, son-in-law, and grandson with us to drop off my sick mixer at a restaurant supply store in Mobile, which is the nearest authorized fixer of Kitchen Aid products.

There was a lot of smiling and cooing going on in the backseat on the drive up there.  Since his car seat faces away from the front seat, I had my daughter hold up a mirror so I wouldn't miss anything. 

Whenever we go to the big city, we eventually end up at Bass Pro Shop.  It's inevitable.  There and Marble Slab.

So this trip was a huge milestone in Brayden's life.  His first trip to BPS.

"Brayden, don't you know that your gonna love this place one day?  There are copious amounts of camouflage around every corner."

He looks less than enthused.

The men go about their merry way.  The women are left to entertain the baby.

At this point, though, it's hard to get him interested in anything but his mama.  Thank God that BPS has a big, cozy seating area in the front of the store where the women can wait on the men.

For The Dollar Store Perusers Of Wayne County...

 I don't think this turned out half bad for my very first flower arrangement.  If it is half bad or even whole bad, don't tell me.  I'm under the impression that it looks really nice.  It makes me feel warm and cozy and autumnish.  Except that it's still blistering hot outside, which is depressing. 

If you live in the Waynesboro area, you can get the dried flowers at Fred's for $9.99 and the vase at Family Dollar for $6.00.  Actually, I'm not sure it's Family Dollar, but it's the dollar store that is in Azalea mart. 

Now that I think about it, I'm not sure it's called Azalea Mart.  It's the dollar store that is in the shopping center on the far end of town.  That is, the opposite end of town from Wal-Mart, the one that I call the ugly end of town.

Not that there is a pretty end of town.  Waynesboro is badly in need of a makeover. 

I'm badly in need of a makeover, too, which reminds me that I need to call my hairdresser today. 

Anywho, I already had the pheasant feathers and a few of the filler flowers, but mostly, I just stuck what came in the bundle into a piece of the foamy stuff that fake flowers are usually stuck in.  And that's it.  I had an arrangement for about  $16.00, which is very reasonable, I think. 

  

Would You Help Me Out? Pretty Please, With Salsa Verde On It?

Hi All!

I am semi-finalist in a recipe contest sponsored by Jose Ole (food products, not the man.  Who is Jose Ole by the way?), and a portion of the score that they use to determine the fifteen finalists is determined by an online vote.   If any or all of you would take a look at my recipe, and, if you decide it is worthy of a vote, I'd appreciate your support!  (Links in a minute.)  And yes, there should be little accent marks over the E's in Jose Ole, but I don't know how to put them there.  Anyway...

The final fifteen will receive a one hundred dollar gift certificate to Cooking.com (Yay!) and the grand prize winner will receive.....GULP......a $20,000 gift card to the home improvement store of their choice!!!!!!  (Applause!)

It's hard to imagine winning such a big prize.  So I'm not going to imagine it.  No, I will not even think about what I could do with a $20,000 gift card.  I will not think about the lumber that I could buy to help build our dream house in the woods.  I will not think about a brand new stainless steel French door refrigerator with two freezer drawers on the bottom.  I absolutely WILL NOT picture any granite countertops in my mind.

No, I will not.  My mind is blank.  No, wait.  I am thinking about lint.

But if you wouldn't mind, here is the link to my recipe:

Cast Iron Taquito Frittata

If for some reason the link doesn't work, you can hop on over to www.joseole.com and look for my recipe in the quick and easy meals category.  I'm Lorie R. from Buckatunna, MS.

There is only a one time vote per email address.  It just takes a second and all you have to do is click on the voting link, then type in your email address.  It's as easy as frittata!

There's only one more week left to vote!!

The Play By Play.

Please Note:  For all you fellow foodies, aside from a picture of a 5-piece chicken strip box with extra house sauce, this post contains no recipes or food.  Yes, another boring post about my beloved family.

Another note:  This post contains a birthing story that may make some uncomfortable.  I apologize in advance, but I'm gonna tell it anyway, so brace yourself .  I'll try not to get too graphic.

How quickly a month flies by when you have a baby around.  Our little Brayden has grown into a 10 and 1/2 pound  little butterball in the last five weeks.

He's a very serious guy most of the time.  He has a way of scrunching up his eyebrows and looking at you like you're three-fourths crazy.  Let me tell you, that look is adorable and it melts me every time.  I love it when he looks at me like I'm crazy!

Let me give you the play by play of how it all went down on that hot July day...

Amber called me about 6:30 AM and let me know that she had been having time-able contractions since about 4:30 AM.  I went with her and Isaac to see her midwife, Cynthia, and sure enough, she was in labor and she sent her to be admitted around 11:00 AM. 

At the emergency waiting room, the proper texts were sent out to family and friends alerting them to the approaching blessed event.  I couldn't believe how relaxed they both seemed.

She looks all comfy and cozy in her hospital bed, doesn't she?  Boy, does that change in a little while.

The nurses told her she needed to stay in bed, but Midwife Cynthia let the nurses know that it was okay for her to walk up and down the halls.  Midwives are good like that.  They come in and break all the official hospital protocol like sneaking cherry popsicles to their patients, even when the nurses said absolutely no food or drink during labor.  And believe you me, Amber is not used to no food or drink.  You should have seen the meal she put away the night before.

This would be a good time to give a big shout out to the hospital staff at Wayne General.  Amber could have gone anywhere to birth her little baby, but she chose to have him in Waynesboro and she received excellent care from a fantastic nursing staff.  And her midwife, Cynthia?  We love our Cynthia.  She made Amber and Isaac feel completely at ease and confident and safe.  Both she and Dr. Sherman gave Amber excellent care during her whole pregnancy.

So where was I?  Oh yes,  things are about to change...

As things progressed, there were no more leisurely walks down the hall to joke around with family and friends, no more smiley camera posing, no more savoring cherry popsicles.

She became Demander Woman. 

"Give me your hand, Isaac, so I can squeeze the holy crap out of it!"

"Ice now.  No, put the ice in my mouth with the spoon."

"Shhhhh."

You see, Amber and I had had a conversation way back when about whether or not she should use drugs for pain during the birth.  She asked my opinion, so I told her that I thought natural was best.  That's just the way I feel about it and we discussed the  reasons why.  But I let her know the choice was hers and I would support her whatever she chose.  So she started telling people that she wasn't going to use any pain medication during her birth.  I took this with a grain of salt.

As the day progressed, things started getting more painful for her, like it does with all women.  That is, with all women who don't have epidurals.

But Isaac held her hand and reminded her to breathe, and let her know that she could do this, as a good husband should. 

And you know what?  She did do it.  Made it through the whole thing without even an aspirin.  We were all pretty flabbergasted.  To tell you the truth, I wasn't sure she had it in her, but she proved me wrong. 

I have new respect for my baby girl.

And by 7:00 PM, she was chomping a 5-piece chicken strip box from Mississippi Fried with extra house sauce.   Her appetite was nearly insatiable, as you can imagine.

 

Sniffle.

Double sniffle.

 

At some point after it all went down, Amber said to me, "Well, Mom, I did it just like you said.  I had him natural."

And I said to her, "You thought I was serious about that?!"

No, just kidding.  I didn't say that.

So now, she's a nursin' him ALL the time.  And me...

...well, my language has changed quite a bit.

I repeat myself A LOT now.  ("Are you gonna smile at me?  Yes, you are, yes you are.")

And my English has taken a turn for the worst. ("Him's hungry, mama.  Him wants to feed. Yes, him does.)

And my voice is a little more high pitched and squeakier at times.

But I'm lovin' being a grandmother and I just know that Brayden and I are going to have lots of fun.  We already are.

He's Here!

Brayden Leroy Odom, 6 pounds, 12 ounces, born on July 17.  This is just the mini-introduction post.  There will be much more later.

My Daughter's Wedding

Since this is my personal blog, I simply MUST post pictures of my daughter's wedding.  I know this will probably bore most of my non-family readers, but I'm gonna do it anyway.

Here is my husband and our pastor.  We had planned an outside wedding (we can do that in Mississippi all year long), but the forecast of the wedding day was......100% chance of rain.  We had to move under the gazebo instead of the garden setting we originally wanted.  No worries, though.  Anyone who knows me knows I have a great ability to take everything in stride and roll with the punches.  Just ask my hubby.  He can attest to the fact that I handle stress well. 

"Isn't that right, Babe?"

"Babe?  Don't I handle stress well?  Tell everyone how well I handle stress."

Uhhhhh...he said yes.

And thank goodness my darling daughter takes after me.  Her husband is very fortunate. 

Here is my side of the family.  We are doing a cute crouching position for the photographer.  She told us all to crouch down to the bride and that is what we did.  Our family follows directions well.

 

Here are two VERY special people with my daughter:  Cousin Shelly and Aunt Brenda.  I love them very much. 

 

Here's a good picture of my mom and stepfather (a.k.a. Pocky).  I love them, too.  My dad who lives in Las Vegas couldn't be there.  But he was in our hearts.

 

The wedding party in cute crouching position.

 

Isn't this a handsome bunch?

 

The groom's side of the family.

This is Isaac's nephew.  Isn't he a cutie with that red hair and those chubby cheeks?

 

Here's another cutie.  Not that bald guy, Silly, the little girl!  This is my niece and my brother-in-law.  I don't have any pictures of my sister, though.  Oh wait.  She was taking all the pictures, that's why she wasn't in them.  Thanks, Sis!  I owe you one.  Actually I owe you a lot more than one...

 

Amber with her maid of honor.

Here they are in the garden between rain showers.  You can't tell from the picture, but her dress is cream with chocolate brown trim and lots of beading.  His tux is chocolate brown.  It really was a gorgeous color combo.

 

Here's some of the detail of the dress. 

 

Here's the back of the dress.

 

"Oh dear Jesus, please help me not to trip and one more thing.....could you make the rain stop?  Thank you.  Amen."

 

One of my favorite pictures.  Sniffle.

 

Some of the food at the reception.

Look at these girls, would you?  I love these girls.  They look like darling angels, don't they?  But when it's time to catch the bouquet....

 

...their eyes grow wild and they start foaming at the mouth.  There definitely is a cut-throat competitive side to them.

 

The blond takes center position shoving everyone else to the back and the tall brunette looks toward heaven and begs God for help.  There are shorter ones in the back, but they know they don't have a chance.

 

Here it comes...

 

....Good Lord! They look like a pack of wild hyenas tearing apart a stray lion cub....

 

...and the bouquet goes to the tall brunette in the three inch heels.  I think she had a clear advantage.

 

Isaac's dad made sure that Amber had enough bird seed in her hair to last her until they got to Orange Beach.

 

Then they left and the last I saw of her was her hand sticking out of her sunroof...

 

...until they came back a few minutes later.  She forgot to say good-bye to me.  Or maybe they left something.  But anyway, she came up to me and told me how much she loved me.

 

Things started getting a little emotional, so I knew I had to be strong.

 

Moms and daughters can just plain get emotional sometimes.  I wouldn't trade these pictures for the world even if I do have a double chin.

Anyway, the rain held off long enough for them to get married.   Then it flooded.  Then I went home that night and I had my own flood.  But I'm better now.

I'm On My Way Back...

...and I'd like to introduce the newest member of my family:

This is my son-in-law.  And I think that is the first time I've said that out loud.  It feels a little peculiar, but yet has a nice ring to it.  Son-in-law.

My name is Lorie.

I have not cooked in two months.

The dust is three inches thick in my living room.

But I have a son-in-law.  Yes, I think I like that.

Welcome to the family, Isaac!

I'll be posting wedding pictures soon.  Why?  Because I am a mother-in-law now.  Oooh, that one didn't roll out as smoothly as son-in-law did.

I may even cook something if I can remember how.

I'm Still Here. Sort Of.

I am so sorry I haven't posted.  Life's circumstances have kept me away from the computer and almost every other activity since before Thanksgiving. I need to give all of my attention to my family right now.

I wanted to let all twelve of you readers know to look for me in mid-January.  I am going to have to take a hiatus until then.  Thank you all for your emails, thoughts, and prayers.  I can't tell you how much it means to me.  I'm sad to not post Christmas goodies, but it will be better for me if I take posting off of my very full plate for a short time. 

I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.  You blogging and contesting friends hold a very special place in my heart. 

 

Blessings to all,

Lorie

Presenting...My Cake Wreck

"It's my daughter's birthday!  I want to make it really special for her.  But what can I do?  I know!  I'll make a GIANT cookie-frosting-sandwich-thingie JUST like they have at the mall!!!!!  And I'll decorate it reeeeeeal pretty, even though I have absolutely NO talent in the cake decorating department!!!!!"

"Here I go, I'm baking two giant cookies..."

"Okay.  Great.  Now I'm gobbing frosting between them.  But not just any frosting....frosting made from SHORTENING...oooooooh..."

"Perfect.  Let me just write a little message with the icing.  Steady, stea-dy!  Gosh, decorating really IS fun and easy!"

"I'll just eat this leftover frosting..."

"Hmmmm....I better check my blood sugar.  I feel dizzy..."

"Okay, done!  Here it is!"

"Wait a minute, WAIT A MINUTE!  I forgot to cross the T!  And all the frosting's gone!  DARN IT!  And everything else is PERFECT and FLAWLESS, JUST like the professionals at the Wal-Mart Bakery!  Darn T!"

She loved it anyway because she loves me.

Check out this funny site:  Cake Wrecks.