Fall Trip

This past Saturday Luke and I went with Mom and Dad to the northern part of the state to check out the fall color. It wasn't as spectacular as last year but pretty none the less. We stopped by Petit Jean and then headed north. We ate a picnic lunch at Rotary Ann. I think Luke must have eaten a dozen eggs on Saturday between the deviled eggs and his breakfast sandwiches!!! We finally ended up at Maplewood Cemetery in Harrison. The trees were so pretty. I did feel a little weird taking pics in a cemetery, but oh well. I think they turned out pretty good. We stopped at TCBY for some yogurt and even had time for a scrapbook store. Our last stop was Gilbert, where Sadie experienced the Buffalo River for the first time. That was pretty fun!

My ENT Appointment

I met with Dr. McGhee today to see what is up with my left ear. Well, it's what I expected... I have a hole the size of a penhead in my left eardrum. I go back in 6 weeks to see if it has healed up...and we'll decide what to do from there. The good news is he doesn't want to do a Tympanoplasty if he can help it!!! I had this done on my right ear about 10 years ago and have a rare thing where your jugular bulb rests in your middle ear...and normally you have a bone that protects that...well of course, I don't! So we don't want to deal with that again if we can help it. We'll just pray it heals and I can get some of my hearing back!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Bye Bye Fall....and HELLO CHRISTMAS!!!!

My stylish work outfit!

Mr. Attic Man

All our Christmas stuff!


Ok, so you think I'm nuts...but Luke helped me get the Christmas down yesterday. He decided that I was SO stylish in my "work" outfit that he wanted to take a pic...so I let him. Go ahead, laugh, but I was ready to work! It took me most of last night to get the mantle and my Gingerbread men all out. I'm still not completely done with it, but I'll post pics when it's finished. For now, enjoy looking at all of our junk!!!

Branson here we come!

Luke and I had the best time this weekend in Branson...my most favorite place in the whole world! We left early on Saturday morning and dropped Madison Murphy off at Dr. Mike's. (Uncle Nick stayed with everyone else, but she's a little special so she goes to Dr. Mike's). We stopped at the Gilbert Cafe in Gilbert, AR. I, of course, had to pet the dogs outside which was great! I had the Catfish Po Boy and Luke ate the Smoked Turkey Sandwhich. We even shared a bread pudding for dessert. It's to die for!

Then it was onto Branson. We went to the Tanger Mall, the Red Roof Mall, and then checked into our hotel. We decided to rest for a bit and then head on down to Branson Landings. They have a great Mexican Restraunt there we were wanting to eat at again. We waited for over and hour and a half to sit down, but it was well worth it. I didn't think I could take all the noise with my ear still acting up so we ate outside on the patio. We were able to watch the water show while we ate which was cool.

Sunday morning we finished up our shopping and going back to the Landings. We got a great deal at Belk and bought Luke 3 pairs of jeans for 35 bucks! We also went shopping at Lids...a hat store. Luke has such a big head (not his ego at all...yeah right haha!!!) that he has a hard time finding a hat. He has a hat right now that was Alabama, but he really wanted an Arkansas one. He found the one he wanted but it was 25 bucks! So because it had a sticker on it to "Buy 2 for 20 bucks) we looked and looked and LOOKED for another hat. Well, I don't really wear hats, but I did try on a Georgia Dawgs one for Jaime Deen. Which was kinda funny considering I was wearing my Paula shirt. Of course, the Dawgs didn't have the sticker deal so we found another one. Only it's not the Dawgs, but I'll just say it is because it has a dog on it! Oh to save a few dollars for Luke!

We stopped in the Bass Pro too! Well you can enjoy the pics. We had a blast. On the ear note, I go to the ENT on Monday, October 29th to see what he has to say. We'll see!!!

A Happy Cookie Accident

I was in the mood to make some cookies to take with us this weekend. So what did I grab?? Well the Paula Deen Baking Magazine of course. I spotted these Butterscotch Cookies that sounded good and I did have all the ingredients...so I went to work. While mixing up the batter I thought it was kind of thick, but it still tasted ok. Well it was thick for a reason...it called for 1 CUP of butter and I only put 1 stick. (that's only a 1/2 c.) So I baked them anyway and they are more cake-like but still good. Mom reminded me of how many calories I just saved and how Dad would probably eat these too! Thought I would share the recipe:

Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies
1 c. butter, softened (I only used 1/2c)
1 1/2 c. firmly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 t. vanilla
2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
2 c. quick cooking oats
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
1 pkg. butterscotch chips
1 c. chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350. Cream together butter and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add flour, oats, soda, salt, and beat together til mixed. Then stir in butterscotch chips and pecans (might have to use your fingers if you don't add the whole stick of butter).

** They are cake-like cookies, so if you like a soft one make it with one stick. If you like a crunchy one, I'm sure 2 sticks would do that for ya!

Enjoy!

The Dr. Visit

I had a visit with Dr. Cathcart to see how my ear was doing yesterday. The good news is my ear drum is fine but the canal was still really swollen. She put me on some ear drops to do 4 times a day and it's not hurting anymore but I can't hear a thing!!! Oh well....maybe soon I'll be able to hear!

On a positive note, Luke and I leave in the morning for Branson. We'll stay overnight and come home on Sunday. I was hoping to do this last weekend, but we didn't needless to say. I can't wait to go, so today it's housework...other than staying on the couch 4 times to let the drops do their magic!

I'll have pics of Branson soon!
Have a great weekend blog world!

My Week So Far

Well this week has been a lot of fun...NOT!!! Ellen wrote me the sweetest comment on another post saying that I was probably busy doing some fall things or baking....I wish. It started Friday night around 11 with a 101 fever. I have an ear infection and sinus infection. The sinus part has gone away thanks to the ZPack, the ear part...not so lucky. I'm on Prednisone now and am calling at 8 am. to see the Dr. again. My ear is killing me!!! I haven't had one this bad in a long time and I'm always careful with my ears because of the tubes that I've had and even a Tympanoplasty.

Not that I didn't think about baking anything and I have been doing a little housework so I don't feel like a complete bum. The Prednisone makes me not sleep so I stay up thinking of EVERYTHING...it's great! HAHA!!! Well I'll keep ya'll posted on my ear....hopefully after today I won't hear my heartbeat in it anymore!

Thanks for the concern Ellen. And no, I don't mind at all keeping Carson. His hair cracks me up and he really is a sweet little boy. He's just having a hard time adjusting is all!

On a positive note I have been watching Paula Deen (duh why wouldn't I...) and she made some Symphony Brownies that look to die for. Make a regular brownie mix according to the package. Put 1/2 of it in a 9x13 lined with foil. Put 3 of the BIG Symphony Bars on top of the batter and pour the rest of the batter on top of it. I'm going to try them!!!! What's a few extra calories when you've eaten soup for days!!!

Bye Blog!