"My Mess"

As most of you know, I strongly dislike cleaning.  I am generally NOT a neat person.  I am determined not to impose this flaw of mine onto Chuckles.  So I have been making him clean up a toy/activity before he moves onto another.  Sometimes I wont make him clean up immediately if I think he will come back to that toy/activity in a short while, but mostly, I make him clean up.  (Do as I say, not as I do mentality!) One benefit of this, is it helps ME clean up after myself immediately, because I should lead by example.  You are about to see how far I have yet to go!  (I still don't clean my bedroom until I have to! Nobody sees it but me, right?)

Today, I let him keep his cars and his mega block racetrack out for most of the day.  He had moved his cars to the couch to play with and had decided he wanted to play something else.  Without my asking, he started to clean up his cars because he was going to do something else.  Yes, he explained it to me! :)  So, I asked, "oh, are we going to clean up the racetrack too?" On this day. at 2:55p EST, Chuckles responded, "Don't clean up my mess Julie, I clean my mess." 

I stood there, with my third cup of coffee (yes, I have cut back) smiling.  HOW COOL WAS THAT!!??!!! Pretty awesome! :)

Have a great rest of the week!  Love y'all!

Jules

My Camera: The Return

I got my camera back! :)  Actually, I did not.  I got a replacement.  However, it is the same model!  The benefits?  Well, first of all, it was a maufacturer replacement, so I did not have to pay for the extended coverage again! :)  The next benefit is that I now have two batteries, two battery chargers, two USB connectors and all that jazz! 

I got a call the night before I was to head for the wedding this past weekend that they were going to replace my camera, and I could come in and pick it up at any time... Unfortunately we were leaving the house at 11am to catch our flight out of BWI to get to Sarasota for Roxi's wedding (which was absolutely gorgeous by the way).  So Chuckles and I headed to Best Buy (I know, I know, I got lucky) to get my replacement.  We were in the door at 9a.m. sharp when the doors opened.  Unfortunately the members of the Geek Squad scheduled that morning did NOT come in. :(  It worked out though, it may have taken a bit longer, however, I still got my new camera in time, and the guy helping me learned how to do a new task in that department.  So it all worked out! 

I am now happy to report that my camera functioned beautifully this weekend and I am so pleased to have gotten it before the trip! :)

God Bless,

Jules

Thanksgiving Trip

I headed back to Iowa for Thanksgiving the Saturday prior to the Sunday following. It was great to see everyone I got to see :), and sad to miss those I didn't catch up with! :( Next time guys!!

I started realizing how much I missed Dad when I was at Dulles airport, calling him to tell him I made it through security. No, I did not have to be patted down or go through a body scan.  It was great to see Dad again.  I think this was the longest we have gone without seeing each other... I think prior to this it was around a month and a half...

I actually made turkey and it came out great: THANKS ALICIA!

I got to see a lot of people from church Sunday morning.  I had a surprise waiting for me at church when I walked in!  HEY MORGAN!  THANKS FOR COMING!  :)  I was also able to interrupt Sunday School to visit some of my kiddos from MnMs, THANK YOU Sunday School teachers!  I miss my kids, and MnMs!! Unfortunately I went home over a holiday and they were not having MnMs that week! :( Awww pooh! 

Went to Alicia's Sunday night, we stayed up talking... of course!
Took a nap Monday morning after the Community Breakfast in New Providence: great to see y'all.
After nap, started in on dinner, Alicia's sister was due in from Kentucky? (Correct me if I am wrong and I will get it fixed)  We also invited over Mindy and Dustin and Kaden and of course the new addition, Jordyn!  SOOOO CUTE!  Definitely her big brother's sister!  :)

Tuesday morning it was off to Ames:
I had breakfast with Kari at Perkins.  :)  I wasn't late at all.... uhhhhhh....
After breakfast it was off to Starbucks for coffee with Brady, nice to catch up, it had been a while.
Then off to surprise Buffy at work!! She was definitely surprised! :)  We ate lunch at Maude's.  Pretty good, I had never been there before.

Then I drove to the Driver's License Station in West Ames to get my new driver's license... since I had lost my other one in Cancun this summer... I told y'all about that right?  It took nearly an HOUR!! Well, 45 minutes of waiting 5 minutes with the gal at the counter, and 5 minutes for my pic to be taken and wait for the printout!! RIDICULOUS I TELL YOU!! They should have a fast lane for people who don't need the whole shebang... But I guess it is my fault for trying to get it somewhere there is actually some semblance of population... Love you Ames...

Then it was off to Des Moines for the rest of the day to see Curt.  My ginger.  What a blast, we hung out while he folded his laundry, then we went to Target, which was near a Sprint store that we considered shopping... but we didn't.  Then we stopped back by the apartment while we took the last load of laundry  out of the dryer and folded it... then we stopped at Barnes and Noble and the Von Maur clearance shoe room (there wasn't anything good this time... in my size at least.  I saw plenty of good stuff)  then we ate at Hu Hot and contemplated seeing the new Harry Potter :) which we did not.  Instead we went back to his apartment, watched some Say Yes to the Dress with Megan (his roomie) and later did our traditional, eat lots of food whilst watching some Doctor Who and Torchwood.  After which we went to sleep.

The next morning I went to the grocery store then met with Kyle... at Village Inn this time... We talked, God is doing great things through him, then I was late for heading back to Audubon.  whoops, SORRY DADDY!  I stopped at the house then saw Mel for a short while... too short... I miss that gal!  Miss you MELZ!!!  Later that day I got to visit with Janice and Pastor Dwayne!  It was great to see them! :)

Thursday morning, I slept in, of course.  We had turkey and corn and hand mashed potatoes and pecan pie and egg nog.  It was delicious.  I didn't realize we didn't have a pie pan until that day, so on Friday I made pumpkin pie with hand whipped cream, it was also delisch.  There were plenty of leftovers.  I love mixing corn and mashed potatoes and just heating that up and eating it.  YUMMM!! 

Dad and I spent time together til I had to leave, very early Sunday morning!  I woke up at 3:30!  Oh boy, I am not any good at that! LOL.

Needless to say it was a great trip.  I miss everyone from back home!  If I did not get to see you this time I really hope I get to see you next trip back!  I miss and love you guys!

My Camera

I had to take my camera in for repair the other day! It was a sad moment.  The shutter doesn't fully open and the zoom doesn't work properly.  It either zooms all the way in, OR all the way out... Not effective for actually trying to accomplish a decent photo.  I finagled it a bit to get the pictures of the cookies.  :(  I was really hoping to get through the next few weeks without having to send it in, but it is just too messed up! :(  Sad day. 

Please return to me in working order camera.  I  know you are just a point and shoot, but I miss you!  Especially since I just started to put pics on my blog, which makes blogging more fun...That is all I have to say for now! 


God Bless!

McJules

A Dozen Dozen...

So, my Young Adult group is feeding the homeless at church tonight...

          So last night, I baked cookies....

          A lot of cookies...

My favorite stage to eat is the tray second from the right.  Still warm and gooey, and just about ready to come off the tray!! YUMMY!!  Although the far right is great in ice cream! ;)

          I find this stage whets my appetite the best though...

When they are melting in the oven, all gooey and delicious smelling! :)

I want coffee... whoa, sorry, my mind went off on a tangent there for a second... Although, coffee and cookies does not sound like a bad idea?  Perhaps I should run off to the kitchen and brew some... I digress... So, back to the cookies...

Now, when I say I made a lot of cookies, I wasn't kidding.  I made a dozen dozen cookies!  That is 144 cookies in approximately two hours. I maintain that I am a Rock star for accomplishing this feat, no matter how crazy Alicia says I am! Love ya chica! :)

          This is what 12 dozen cookies looks like...

A giant bundle of goodness... At shortly after midnight, I could definitely say,
          "my work here is done."

And then I went to bed...



Love y'all,

Jules

...so about that coffee...

Snipets

~Sunday I got home from Iowa.

~Yesterday was the first day back with Chuckles :)

~Christmas is everywhere :) ( I am good with this now that it is AFTER Thanksgiving)

~Started some great recipes

~Chuckles took his pants off, twice, it was funny!

~Chuckles got into my fave summer makeup... That was also funny... but my camera is broken so no pix :( Needless to say he was bright and shimmery... all over his face! :)

~Spent an HOUR at the grocery store: poor Chuckles!

~Found more recipes to try: liking the ones I can freeze and pull out later when I don't feel like cooking. Planning ahead is always a good thing!

~Had Tex-Mex night on a Monday, it was delicious! (Chuckles got Mac'n'Cheese)

~I worked on my my blog post from Thanksgiving!  Man, do I write like I talk?  If so, how do you guys follow along???

~Monday flew by... looking back... Chuckles slept a lot.

Love ya guys!

"Turtle" Park

Dear Friends,

First of all... SORRY!!! I know I have not written in FOREVER and a day... So, again, sorry!! Also, again sorry for the randomness that is my brain, and the lack of organization...

Oh Turtle Park! So much fun!!! We can easily spend three hours at the park... and I still have to make Chuckles to leave. To have a better understanding of my favorite park, here is a rough outlay...

I generally park in front of the soccer fields. This is usually where we start our play... Chuckles loves to play soccer (kick the ball around the field) and watch people practice or play soccer... So we could actually sit contentedly for a good 20 minutes at least just watching some guys play soccer... another 10 to play soccer himself... then we move on to the pond.

To the right of the soccer field is a pond. In this pond there are turtles, fish, frogs, lily pads...etc... At least during the summer all these critters are present!! Chuckles is obsessed with water critters... Turtles especially (he really loves sea otters a little more but that is not relevant to my story... I digress) Because of this fascination with turtles, we (and by we, I mean I) have dubbed the Mason District Park-"Turtle Park." Rolls of the tongue a lot better and sounds way more fun to little kids!! So, naturally, we spend a bit of time feeding the turtles (they like goldfishes best and there are NO signs posted to NOT feed them... I walked all the way around to make sure!), and listening to the bull frogs and watching the dragonflies and bees and once there was a blue heron in there... SO PRETTY! Unfortunately I only had the camera on my phone! :( Sadly none of the pics came out. :(

Okay, so just up from the pond, across the sidewalk and down a small hill is the playground. He climbs and slides and jumps (not off the high stuff) and has a blast there! Then, further up from the playground and a little to the right is the tennis courts.

I park at the tennis courts when I only want to be at the park for an hour or less... I just keep Chucklesfrom going down the path that returns us to the playground or the soccer fields... We throw tennis balls up and down the courts and chase them. He just got a kiddy tennis racket so now he attempts to hit the ball... when I bring the racket... But that is still pretty new. If there is someone playing tennis, we sit and watch for a while. This is a good time for a snack... usually. Then we either take the long path through the woods or the short path directly to the amphitheater.

This amphitheater is pretty cool. It is just to the left of the tennis courts only a few hundred meters... We come in at the top of the seating... There are probably 7 rows of wooden benches. These benches are pretty tall. They are probably about bar height to Chuckles… We play with acorns, and rocks and bits of mulch. He really likes acorns though. We have even found some walnuts and pine cones on the ground. My favorite time however is when we actually get to the actual theater! There are 3 doorways on both the left and right and two in the center. The center is actually a floating wall with one doorway behind it; you can go out either way… It is so much fun to play hide and seek. Or to just go into a different door than Chuckles went into and scare him when he comes looking for you! We throw a tennis ball around here too!! It is so quiet there and we always have the theater to ourselves. Chuckles also uses his imagination to play at the amphitheater which is probably the other reason I like it so much. Got to keep that little mind going!! 

Now, when we head out, I usually take the route down to the soccer field. (The other option is to take a path back to the playground) I prefer this route because it is so much prettier, there are trees everywhere and even a small stream that Chuckles likes to stop and watch. Also, I only have to hit the soccer field on the way back to the car, and by this time we have usually been at the park for 2-3 hours… and I am probably hungry… I mean Chuckles is probably hungry…LOL… ;) If we go back via the playground, we stop and play at the playground again, then the pond and the soccer field. I usually try to skip the second round of soccer field if we go this way.

Well, that my dear friends is “Turtle” Park. My favorite place to go with Chuckles on a nice day… I am going to have to come up with something new now the weather is changing…  But with Chuckles, I know we will have a good time!! 

God Bless,

Jules