The Circus!

We surprised the boys this past Saturday with a trip to the circus! 

This was Logan's first trip out since the surgery.  He was pretty pumped to be out of the house and all over the cotton candy. 

Luke would have been happy with the cotton candy alone!

The look says it all!  He could not believe some of the things he was seeing!

I kind of felt sorry for the tigers.  They did not want to participate or cooperate.  They kept slapping at the trainer.  I just don't think it is worth the money to be in locked in a cage trying to get wild animals to role over.  I cringed the whole time!

I don't really care how modernized or young they are these days.  Thanks to Stephen King, clowns are still creepy.

These women made my back hurt.

Lyndon and I could totally do this!

Lyndon was really impressed with the motorcycles they drove around in this cage!

The elephants were the boys' favorite part!

The circus has a new addition they showed off for a split second.  This is their two-year-old baby and its mommy.  She was too cute!

Luke loved the "jummpy things"!  Logan kept trying to tell him they are called trampolines, but Luke got really upset and insisted they were not trampolines.  I am not really sure what Luke considers a trampoline, but apparently, these do not qualify!

Meal Planning!

Here are the meals for the week of Jan. 29-Feb. 4:

29) Walnut and Rosemary oven-fried chicken with asparagus
30) Sausage and egg burritos
31) Grilled salmon, mashed potatoes and green beans
1) Tee Pon Pork
2) Chicken with sun-dried tomatoes and pasta with fresh, raw veggies
3) Chili
4) leftovers/out to eat!

Very yummy stuff this week!  Happy meal planning!

Tonsils (warning for the squeamish)!

Logan was a rock start this morning as he went in to have his tonsils removed!  I was a bit concerned only because he does NOT handle needles well.  But, they gave him some meds and some happy gas, and waited until he was out for the needles.  We went in at 6:00am, and we were out by 9:00am! It could not have gone better.  Now, the struggle will be keeping him calm and still for the next 14 days. 

Last night, we deviated from the menu and let Logan decide what he wanted for dinner knowing solids were out of the question for about a week.  We told him he could pick a restaurant or have something cooked.  This is what he chose.  Peanut butter sandwiches with jelly, chicken nuggets and apples with peanut butter.  I am really not sure he is mine...

Pre-surgery

The anesthesiologist gave him some kind of yummy elixir.  He was feeling groovy.  I asked if I could have what he was having.  They told me I was not the first parent to ask for the good stuff, but then they told me no.

Perhaps a little drunk at this point!

Post-surgery...no longer feeling so fabulous, but he did excellent!

The cause of all his problems!  The doctor said they were the size of a grown man's.  One was already showing signs of another infection.  We obviously picked a good time to have them removed! 

Meal Planning!

Here are meals for the next week! 
Jan 22-28!

22)  Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and salad
23) Chicken Tortilla soup
24) Bruschetta and Greek salad
25) BBQ chicken with rice and  asparagus
26) Sloppy Joes
27) Spicy beef and bell pepper stir-fry
28) leftovers/out to eat!

I have fabulous recipes for the sloppy joes (yes, better than the canned stuff), meatloaf, bruschetta and tortilla soup!  Both sloppy joes and tortilla soup can be done ahead in the crock pot and the meatloaf can be prepared ahead of time and stored in the fridge until ready to bake.  Also, the bruschetta is a quick and very yummy dinner which also happens to be vegetarian (Lyndon loves it by the way)! The spicy beef recipe is new, and the BBQ chicken is not really a recipe, rather just some baked chicken with bbq sauce baked into it and some rice on the side.  Not very fancy, but the kids love it! Happy meal planning!

Friday night was anything goes night!  The boys and I decided to try a healthy pizza using a whole wheat pizza crust.  We would not recommend it...I will have to experiment with this a bit more!

In other news, something has to be done about the craft closet!

It is a dishelved, disorganized mess, so we are going to redo.  I have a few ideas going, and we will report back when we get it all done!!!

What to read!

I just finished this lovely book that my mom gave me for Christmas!

The Bush family and I go way back, well, they don't actually know me, but as native Texans, we share something special.  They are both from Midland, and I was born in Amarillo, so I can totally relate to her description of the weather in that part of Texas. Also, I actually remember waving at George when he was governor of Texas.  I was a freshman at Baylor, and that was the year that they held their first dance on campus. So, media from all over the country and the governor all showed up to watch a bunch of Baptist try and dance.  It also happens that Bush Sr. opened his library on A&M campus after I transferred from Baylor! They seemed to follow me everywhere, so we have a special bond! At any rate, I really liked to hear about her experience as the First Lady.  It was refreshing to read about what she was seeing as everything unfolded not only in the 8 years Bush was in office but also the time that Bush Sr. was in office.  She has certainly spent a great deal of time in the White House and in the political arena.  I can't imagine what that must be like on a daily basis.  I thought the book was well written and honest. I especially liked to hear her account of what George was dealing with as some of the country's and world's most tragic events occurred during his time in office.  He endured a lot of criticism and still does for the way he handled some of those events, but I truly believe that he did what had to be done especially with 9/11.  It could not have been easy to be the one responsible for sending troops overseas knowing that so many would not return. While there were a lot of things I loved reading about in the book, this is one of my favorite quotes, "And I wondered if Barack Obama, who spent far more time attacking George than he did his opponent, John McCain, would want to amend his words once he discovered the reality of the White House and was himself confronted by the challenges and crises that hit a president every day, all day."  Anyway, I highly recommend it.  My mom also gave us George's autobiography, but I have something else on the agenda for the time being...

...a friend let me borrow this book after my account of Bubba's behavior lately!  Thanks to Stephanie for helping me out!

Another friend lent me this next one.  It will be nice to take a break from politics and hard-headed kids for a piece of fiction!  Thanks Sharon!

I will report back in a year when I am able to get them both read and give my recommendations!

Here is a pic of the boys trying to find their next read! 

Happy reading!