Yummy Blueberry Muffins

One of Jason's very favorite meals (which I think I have mentioned before) is mac-n-cheese (the REAL kind...you know, out of a box!) and blueberry muffins. Such a strange combination, but oh-so-yummy! I just used a regular box of blueberry muffin mix (I can't remember the brand, but it had the can of little bitty real blueberries in it that you have to drain and rinse)...then I googled a crumbly topping to go on top. The topping made the muffins absolutely divine. Here's the recipe...

Blueberry Muffin Crumbly Topping

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup flour

1/4 cup (half a stick) unsalted butter, softened

Mix together the sugar and the flour. Add the softened butter one pat at a time, working it into a crumbly mixture. Spoon over muffin mix in muffin tin, then bake muffins as directed on the box.

A Sweet Surprise

O.k., ya'll know I heart me some mail. I love e-mail, but I think there is just a huge degree of fabulousness when something arrives in my mailbox (my pretty mailbox that has been beat to smitherines by cars passing by too closely). And I am really good at keeping up with things that I order...I know just when to expect them. So, I was totally, totally surprised when I opened the mailbox today expecting junk mail, maybe a catalog or two, and bills of course...and there was a package inside. I wasn't expecting anything, so that just added to the excitement. The return address was from Jason's twin cousin, Lisa, who lives in Chicago. Look what was inside...

Oh, did I do a happy dance! What a sweet gesture! Lisa had remembered a conversation she and I had about coffee that last time she came to visit (I love to talk about coffee...especially Dunkin' Donuts coffee). She saw a coffee sale and thought of me! How sweet!

Speaking of Lisa being Jason's twin cousin..she really is...I have never seen a boy and girl cousin look so much alike. And oh my does my Macy ever look like Lisa when she was a little girl! I have known Jason practically all of my life, and I remember seeing Lisa when she would come to town to visit. I know Macy looked like her from the very beginning...and acts just like her too! It is so funny! It makes a special connection between them that is so sweet. The last time Lisa was here, she begged us to let her take Macy back home with her for a few days.

My unexpected package that brought such joy has got my wheels turning...who can I surprise??

A Wonderful Fall Day That Ended With a Fox Screaming

Today was such a wonderful day. The weather was beautiful...a perfect start to Fall...my very favorite time of year!! Lucy wanted her doll to have breakfast with us, so we had a little breakfast tea party.

Today was bathroom day on the cleaning agenda, so I got the bathrooms clean, then we headed to the grocery store (I did just go yesterday, but we needed to go back). Lucy insisted that she wear this butterfly headband...

And I think I have found the perfect shoes for the type of weather we are having (you know, not flip-flop weather, but not boot weather either). Toms. Love them. At first, I wasn't so crazy about them. Then my sister gave both girls a pair last Christmas. They were a little big on them, so they really didn't get to wear them much, but now they fit perfectly! And they are really growing on me. I am thinking I want a pair myself!
Jason called home this afternoon and told Macy to make sure all of her homework was finished because he was bringing home a surprise. Little did the girls know, but he was bringing home his 4-wheeler. Not a big deal to most, I know, but to my girls, this is a huge deal! They love, love, love to ride on the 4-wheeler (or "4-liter" as Lucy calls it) with their Daddy. While they were riding, I got busy with the starts of my outside fall decorating. Yay!!

I snapped some pictures outside this evening that I am absolutely.in.love.with. Messy hair, natural lighting...perfect for some picture taking!

They even found a feather on their ride (which has now been made into a pen by Macy).

I love these...

Just can't get enough, so here are a few more...

So about the fox screaming? Well, I will tell you about the fox screaming. If you've read my blog for any period of time, you know I am a night owl. Now I do enjoy my sleep, but I love to stay up late. I can even pull an all-nighter here and there (not as often as I used to, but it is possible). And I am also training to do a 5K in a couple of weeks. I know you who run all the time think "training" for a 5K might be silly, but this is coming from a girl who hates, and I do mean HATES to exercise in any shape, sort, or form. I can't stand it. Dislike it with a passion. So it is a really big deal for me to have this 5K under my belt. Now that the weather has turned so pretty, I am actually loving it. Yes, I said LOVING it. Never thought it would be possible. So being a night owl, I like to run at night. In my driveway. We have a decently long driveway, so it works well. I jog after the girls go to bed (I am not much on early morning jogging, although I wish I were). So I am out jogging tonight enjoying the absolute beauty of the starry sky and really enjoying my run. It was one of those nights where I jogged and jogged and thought and thought, and the first time I checked my watch, like an entire half hour had gone by. Love that. I am about to slow it down and walk a little before heading in, and I heard a woman screaming. I mean, a bloodcurdling, something is attacking this woman kind of scream. And just so happens, I am at the very end of my driveway...out by the road...our neighbor's yard's width away from this screaming, which was followed by some rustling sort of noise in the woods. Oh my, I am getting goosebumps just typing this...and oh double my, my dogs just started barking. Geez. Anyways...when I tell you I ran faster than I have ever run in my life, I am talking I think I made it from the end of my driveway to my door in about a nanosecond. Literally. My heart was beating so fast I thought it was going to jump out of my chest. Then my legs started cramping. Lovely. I was doing circles in my living room to cool my body off. I think Jason thought I was crazy. He said surely it must have been an animal. I sat down and googled "what kind of animal screams like a woman" and got the answer...a red fox. Have mercy. Then, I googled "fox screams." Click here to hear it for yourself...this is EXACTLY what I was hearing. I will never, I repeat NEVER run outside at night by myself again. Jason is real excited about that...cause guess who gets to sit outside with me??!!

I'm off to bed. Hoping I can sleep without that horrible screaming sound echoing in my head!

Some of the Goofy Stuff We Do...

I tell people all of the time that we are seriously like the longest episode ever of "Saturday Night Live." Not the way the show is now, but the way it used to be...you know, back in the day when it was actually funny...not stupidly gross and politics-obsessed like it is now. Things are just always really funny around our house. Like for instance, while Lucy and I were grocery shopping yesterday, she picks up a cucumber and insists that she needs it for her eyes...so they won't be puffy. Pardon? Since when did she learn that cucumbers help puffiness?

So we came home with a cucumber (the "giantest" one she could find), cut it up, and the little princess laid around with slices over her eyes. She said they made her feel much better. Better than what, I don't know, but anyways...

Tonight, while I was cleaning up in the kitchen, I heard Macy and Lucy laughing uncontrollably. I went in the den to see what was going on. And this is what I found...
I started laughing uncontrollably, too. Jason had invented a contraption to tone the noise out...2 little plastic glasses from the girls' play kitchen and elastic bands from a potholder-making kit. Too funny. We all had to try it on...
That sucker was so tight, I thought my face was going to pop off. And yes, it caused our faces to be a little distorted.

Live from New York, it's Saturday Night Live!

Cue lots of crazy, loud music and funny actors and actresses...yep...sounds like us!

Weekend

Lucy and I ran some errands on Friday...you know neither of us are the greatest of errand runners...especially when it is 95 degrees outside! Lucy was looking all cute and even toted a little purse around with her all day...it was too cute =)

Since we have changed schools, I don't get down Hwy 45 very much anymore...so I don't get my Sonic diet coke with 2 shots of vanilla much anymore either =( I usually do try to get one once a week, though, you know, for my sanity's sake and all. And I've upped my size to a Route 44...they put some major big squirts of vanilla in there. I usually just get them with ice, because I feel so bad asking for a ginormous drink and no ice (which I am sure they don't care, but still)...I'm living large, aren't I? This past Friday, Macy was worn slap out, and we were all just ready to chill out. Jason ran to town to pick up some Sonic for supper, and got me my fix.

And bonus for me...they accidentally fixed 2 of them, so they just gave him the 2nd one for free. And the first one was free because I had a code # for a freebie on my last receipt (and they didn't even ask for the code #, so I technically still could use it for another free one, but my guilty conscience probably won't allow that). So I was doubly excited! I've had vanilla diet coke for days...part of the 2nd one is still in the fridge!
I was so excited to get my "keep calm" print in the mail. I found one on etsy that I thought was just perfect for me, since I do bake a little =)

Bless Macy's heart...she really is so tired by Friday. And this week, she was extra tired since she started off sick with strep. She fell sound asleep at about 8:30. But sister girl did not. She was raring to go. Lucy decided to build a tent. And decided she was going to sleep in it. And insisted that I sleep in it with her.

How could I tell her no...she even had a campfire =) And she was so excited about it. I used to be able to sleep on a rock...but my body just isn't the way it used to be. We did sleep in her tent until about 3:30 a.m., then it was to the bed we went. My body was aching so bad, but it was worth it to see my girl's big smile!

We have a program at our church called AWANA. I think I have mentioned it before on my blog, but it is a program designed to help children from ages 2 to 5th grade learn Bible verses. It is an awesome program. I takes a lot of work and a lot of helpers. Jason is helping with Macy's age group (Truth and Training), and I am helping with Lucy's age group (Cubbies). We have lots of fun...tonight was Crazy Hair Night, so we had fun with it!

Remember Pippi Longstocking??

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend as well. We got some rain this morning, and the weather has turned so nice. It was a little warm today, but the high for this next week is like 76. Sounds like Fall to me!!! Yay!!!

The UPS Man, Lucy's Lunch, and Sick Chick

So I can be somewhat of a goober. Is this news to anyone? Probably not. Ya'll know I puffy heart my UPS man...I think I just puffy heart everything about a package arriving at the house...isn't it just so much fun? I have always been one that loves the mail. Neighbors that I grew up around have said that they always knew when the mailman had arrived because they would hear me clickety-clacking down our driveway in my plastic high heel shoes...I have loved the mail since I was that little. So anyway...back to my UPS man...I have been eagerly anticipating the arrival of a ultra-fabulous package...I was sent a tracking number over the weekend and knew it would be arriving today. I thought I would whip up some UPS truck cookies for Mr. Tony...you know, cause I am a goober like that.

I guess I have rubbed off on Lucy, because when I told her Mr. Tony was coming (no need to even tell her the UPS man...she knows exactly who "Mr. Tony" is), she whipped out a picture to give him and parked her little self in her pink chair right at the front door...just waiting on his arrival. Bless the poor guy...we attacked him as soon as we saw the big brown truck drive up in our driveway. Maybe I should snap a picture of him...that would make a blog post, now wouldn't it? And I would probably totally goob him out and have him begging for a vacation day whenever he sees a package on his truck addressed to me =)

Some days I wonder if Lucy would rather be in school than at home with me. She could have gone to Pre-K this year (4 year old kindergarten)...Jason and I talked a little about it, but I chose to keep her at home with me, and we will just start regular Kindergarten next year. I really, really love her being at home with me (I love both my children being at home with me, but I know, eventually they do have to go to school), and she has plenty of exposure to other children through our church and her little friends. Bottom line, I am a mushy Mama, and the idea of Lucy going to school makes.my.heart.hurt. I had a terrible time when Macy started Kindergarten, and I am already dreading the day Lucy goes (I've been dreading since the day she was born, actually). I did, however, momentarily question our decision to keep Lucy at home right after the school year had begun...the day she decided her plain green pants needed stripes, and she preceded to stripe them herself with magic marker. Oh the horrors. I quickly unquestioned myself when she said "I sorry, Mommy...I just can't help myself sometimes." So sweet.

Well, since she is not at school, sometimes she likes to pretend she is at school. So all day, we "play" school. She even has me fix her lunch and put it in her new lunchbox she got for her birthday. It is quite a simple little thing, but it makes her so very happy =)

Macy did end up with strep throat, too...she got sick Sunday night, so we made another trip to the doctor on Monday. I was quite certain it would be strep since Lucy had just had it. Macy got to spend 2 days at home this week. Doesn't she look sick? Ha!
Tonight she says she is 100% A+ better and ready to go back to school tomorrow. That's my girl =)

Our Week

The personal care facility where my Nana lives is always so wonderful to get families involved. They had a family night earlier this week...it was a hamburger / hotdog supper.

Lucy woke up on Wednesday not feeling good at all. Bless her heart...she is my child that seems to get sick all of the time! She played with some of her new crafty birthday presents, like the "Fuzzoodles" she got. These things are super cute!

After 2 pajama days, I thought she was finally feeling better...that is until I got a look down her throat...her tonsils were HUGE! I took her to the clinic Friday morning...poor baby had strep throat! She was seeming to feel so much better, so I was a little shocked.

Macy is so good to entertain Lucy. They decided to make sock puppets one day out of some of Jason's old hole-y socks.

Then they put on a puppet show for us. It was hysterical!

Jason and his twin...

And Lucy in her new pajamas that Bippy gave her for her birthday...they are so cute!

Very vintage-y...which I just love =)

Hope ya'll have had a great weekend! Have a happy week!!