Gettin' Ready and a Clean Car

This morning I was trying to usher the kids out to the car so we could take Emma to school. Ben was the last one, holding us up terribly. He came out with a pair of socks and so I tried to hurry him by telling him I'd help him in the car. Well, this is as far as he made it before he sat down to put them on himself. He has become quite the independent boy.


My sister works at a feed lot doing their office work. Needless to say, her car gets very dirty and stays that way because a lot of the time it feels like "why clean it, it'll just be dirty again starting tomorrow." My mom brought her car in to be serviced and so Jason decided to surprise her by washing it. Doesn't it look great! We love you Shelly!

Sugar Cookie Madness & Mystery Cookie Monster

I have been on a sugar cookie spree. I have made about three batches in the last three to four weeks. I have found something that Paul absolutely loves. He passes up popcorn on movie nights, chocolate chip cookies, and anything with peanut butter in it. But not sugar cookies. He is usually up before me and "neaking" (sneaking), as he calls it, onto the counters or into the cupboards to get at the cookies where I've tried to stash them. He will grab one and then run and hide to eat away the evidence. Although the empty spot on the tray is a tell tale sign that the cookie monster as been at it again.

Look who I found hiding behind the couch eating a cookie just about 10 minutes ago.

Baskets

I love baskets! I was at Michael's and happened upon a 50% off sale and a cute variety to choose from. Who could pass that up? These are in Emma's room.

Turn it off!

We're not too fond of the ice cream man. We went to feed the ducks and geese at Columbia Park and this guy was parked blocking all of the parking spots just talking on his cell phone. What! Sell ice cream or move on! OK, I know I sound a little harsh, but the music gets to a person after a while.

Leftovers

Some leftovers I can't stomach. They sit in the fridge forever until I finally get the energy to clean out the fridge and then they go in the garbage.

Not the case with these fabulous leftovers from Othello's very own Checo's Restaurant in the part of town so fondly referred to as Lil' Mex. This may seem like just a glob of something indistinguishable and rice, but it is actually my favorite dish - Pollo a la Crema (chicken in a sour cream sauce with carrots, onions, peppers, and mushrooms). My mouth waters just writing about it.

Checo's is one of those places that if you ask the locals where to eat they recommend it. It's definitely worth the date night and the leftovers for the next day. My sister ordered their Posole and it was heavenly as well.

Late! Late! Late!

I woke up a little late this morning. Emma needed to be at school by 8:15. We totally made it! She took a shower last night and was able to get dressed in record time. I made her toast with cheese and a banana to eat on the way. She brushed her teeth first to get rid of the night time gunk. ( she was a little concerned about eating afterward, but I assured her it would be OK for one day.) We sprayed her hair down, popped a head band on, and we were out the door. Ben and Claire had coats, but no shoes and Paul had shoes but no coat. She walked across the lawn to school just as the last bell was ringing. Phew!

Ants in Your Pants

Poor Benjamin! We looked outside to see the little guy taking his pants off. I went out thinking that he'd tried to go to the bathroom in nature. That was not the case. He informed me that there were "an" in his pants. And sure enough, there were. The poor guy had sat in an ant pile outside. You'll have to click on the photo to see them better, but they were crawling in his underpants and pants. He had tons of little red bites on his back from the little pesky creatures.

Spin Cycle Bear

Benjamin was very concerned that one of our Care Bears was taking a spin in the washing machine. I think he would have reached in and pulled it out if I wasn't there to hold him back.

Friendly Vultures & Cinnamon Ben

Jason came home for lunch today and invited Officer Gilbert with Othello Police Department to come and enjoy the meal as well. As you can tell from the look on Jason's face, he's had enough of little fingers digging into his salsa and salad. The kids had already eaten, but they just couldn't stay away as Dad broke out the good stuff - chips and salsa. These are our friendly vultures.

Cinnamon Ben

Benjamin strikes again. I had to mix up some more cinnamon and sugar, so the cinnamon was down from it's safe, high cupboard. Benjamin was all over that. My kitchen smelled nice for a while though.

Patches of Purple

These little patches of purple bring me joy. I know they're just weeds, but I love to see them blooming as I drive around town and the surrounding area.