As Happy as I Choose to Be

Jell-O

Bailee has fallen in love with Jell-O.  At Thanksgiving, Mom made blue jell-o for Katie and Bailee and they scarfed it up (yes - uth! blue jell-o!).  So much so that she made it again at Christmas.  One night over Christmas, we're having dinner at Mom's and Bailee jumps up from the table to grab paper and pencil and demands, "Nana, we have to write down the recipe for the jell-o."  Mom and I both tried to explain to her 1) how simple it was and 2) that it's written on each box of jell-o.  That just wasn't satisfactory for Bailee who still insisted we write it down.  That's when I knew I had to start cooking something, anything more at home.  She also raided Nana's pantry to bring home 4 boxes of jell-o until we could get to the grocery store.  (Now it turns Mom had 23 boxes of jell-o in her pantry so it's not like we left her without...I've now figured out she is addicted to jell-o in addition to her Avon addiction.)

We have made jell-o several times at our house since Christmas.  In fact, we even got fancy and did layered jell-o of red and orange one night. 

Last Saturday morning, I tell Bailee to get dressed and she comes back into my room with orange sweat pants and a red t-shirt on.  I asked her about why she picked that particular outfit and she explained "So I'll match the jell-o."  It's a good thing that other parents understand when kids dress themselves, because Bailee proceeded to put on pink-striped socks and fuscia glittery shoes.  You can imagine this outfit was only improved by her neon-green and black helmet when we went skateboarding later that day.

Thanksgiving

Last night Bailee asked me some questions related to Thanksgiving for a project they are doing at school today. 

Questions:

• Favorite Thanksgiving food growing up - mashed potatoes and black olives (not together...just liked both of them). Now it's the dressing...yummy (with lots of sage)
• Favorite Thanksgiving memory - when Bailee was about 4, we went around the table asking what we were most thankful for and Bailee (with no prompting) said "my mom"
• Favorite memory of Thanksgiving as a child - going to Nanny's house in Veribest, TX, eating off TV trays (there so many people there), watching the Cowboys play football, playing football in the front yard with my cousins and walking down to the river with Dad holding hands

I wrote a blog post for our work blog the other day because I've gotten annoyed over how all the stores and radio stations skip over Thanksgiving and go straight from Halloween to Christmas. I like Thanksgiving...better than Christmas really.  So, here's the link to that blog.

http://experiente4blog.com/2009/11/23/footprints-left-behind-our-conferences/#more-1376

Headed to Monahans this afternoon, running errands now. Ready to see the Colorado relatives at Mom's. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  Here are a few Thanksgiving photos from over the years (many years).

Butterflies Emerge!

It's been a busy few weeks...so haven't posted in a while.  What's been happening...

1. Bailee taught herself how to blow bubbles.
2. I took a fast business trip to Washington, DC - final pre-planning trip for August conference.
3. We decided to go to San Diego and Disneyland on vacation after the August conference.  (Not much time to save $$$$)
4. Bailee's been liking YMCA camp ok and tomorrow is her last day.  Then on to Camp Heatwave (Austin ISD camp at Bailee's elementary school) next week and "away camp" at Rocky River Ranch in Wimberley the following week.  Better summer experience than last year at Country Home all summer where she just didn't love it.   
5. I've been managing a blog for the August conference and between soliciting posts for that and just planning the conference...no time for this blog.
6. I read 3 books (2 on the quick trip).  One of them was Julie and Julia.  I can't wait for this movie to open with Meryl Streep as Julia Child and Amy Adams as the woman who decided to cook all 524 recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in a year.  I think the most ironic thing about reading this woman's attempts (successes and disasters) to cook all those recipes was that it was such a good book I read it everywhere...including at McDonald's.  Bit ironic.
7. A few weeks ago we bought one of the butterfly mesh "cages" where you send off and they mail you the caterpillars.  Bailee asked every day "did the butterflies come yet?"  So they came about a week ago, we followed the directions which initially meant just setting the cup with the caterpillars upright and not in direct sun.   The caterpillars eventually climbed up (after eating lots of the caterpillar food in the bottom of the cup first, I presume) and hung from the paper lid inside the cup's plastic lid and turned into chrysallis (sp?).  Two days ago I realized..."we should check on them more regularly" and Wowie! Wow! Wow!  One of them had already come out (oops..we were late pinning the paper lid with the chrysallis' hanging to the top of the butterfly cage but the one that was already out didn't escape into the house).  It all worked out and we now have 5 butterflies!  This morning we actually got to watch as the last 2 came out of their chrysallis.  Pretty amazing to see them pull free and their wings unfold!  Miracle of nature...one of many.

Yoohoo (one of our cats) really likes watching the butterflies too!  Freaks Bailee out that the cat is going to attack...but so far the cat is just fascinated and stares at all the fluttering.  Bailee took her school scissors into the yard tonight and cut a couple of flowers which we dipped in the sugar water I made.  The butterflies seem to love this...3 are on the flower right now. 

Not sure when we'll let them go...Bailee wants to keep one.  I keep trying to explain it's too limiting for the butterflies.

I do want to buy more caterpillars.  It would be a cool science experiment for Bailee to do and journal about what she observes each day.  I want her to do an entry in the school science fair next year.  She actually asked to enter...so we just have to figure out what experiment to do.

Meat Fest on Memorial Day!

Well, if it was a protein, I think we put it on the grill at the Woodards!  Chicken, pork chops, sausage, hot dogs, etc.  And yes, there were potatoes and corn on the cob and chips and dip and wonderfully - a refreshing Root Beer Float following our brief softball game (5 adults too out of shape to run in the heat and 3 7-year olds who could barely hit the ball).  It was just a relaxing day in the country.  Well, in the country even though the suburbs are trying to encroach on their area but still, we saw about 15 deer that day including a sweet little fawn right in their backyard.