A Midweek Trip to Grandma Kris's and Papa Elton's

Wade had to work at 10pm last Wed night and to keep the house quiet so he could get some rest we took a mid week trip to Grandma and Papa's house for great Monical's Pizza and some fun.

Papa Elton took his new tough truck to pick up Aunt GiGi and Kaden and their fun riding toys. (Look careful. When the battery was out Parker was the official pusher)

The adults. (Elly likes the camera as much as her mother.)

Kaden can't wait to climb the tree like big cousin Parker.

However....Parker likes being able to hide in a tree.

Barkley made the trip too. After chasing Scooby around and not knowing which kid to follow next. He needed a drink.

One of my favorite moments. Parker reading to Grandma Kris.

Watermelons...Watermelons

Today we went to the patch and found lots and lots of watermelons ripe and ready to be picked. We loaded up the truck to the brim. After some discussion Wade and I decided to let the kids have an Entrepreneurial lesson. He told them he would sell them the watermelons for $$ and then anything they made after that would be theirs to keep. So we headed off to town. They got the concept first thing. They knew just how much they needed before they earned a profit. They each made money and thought that was great!!!!

A rare look at The Watermelon King's secret patch.

1-$3 or 2 -$5

While earning money is good, they also learned the lesson of giving. They headed to the high school to donate their left over melons to the football team. Wade said that watermelons make you strong. So the Eagles should be tough next week and our opponents should look out.

First Day

School started this week and while Parker is now in First and Elly in Second it was still a difficult day to see them go off on their own and know I will only get to here about their day in five minutes even though they are gone for hours. We have quite the morning ritual. First a little TV and milk to get woke up, then breakfast (Parker's first he likes to have 2...1 at home and 1 at school.) then teeth brushed and this year I was able to take them to school on their first day. We then had open house that evening. It was a full day.

Waking up and taking it easy

Pop Tarts and Rice Krispies

Breakfast of Champions

Kelly will be so proud to see them brushing their teeth

Shoes make the outfit

Showing off the back packs

Joe's for the first day back to school lunch Yum!

Mrs. Robards

Mrs. Holsapple

City Wide

Last weekend Elly and I went to the City Wide garage sale. It flooded memories of when my Grandma Cunningham and I used to garage sale every Sat. morning. We would then pick up and Elderly lady named Helen and take her to get groceries at the Old Red and White building. And if I was good we always went to Hardees for a coke. If my grandma was still living she would be proud of the bargains we found.








Elly found a Barbie Airplane for 25 cents. Her Barbies went to Kentucky for the horse races first.





We also found Parker a box of dinosaurs. It was a full Jurassic Parks in the driveway.





I of course found bargains too. A sugar and creamer to match my dishes, shelves for Elly's closet and two stools that match my kitchen table. It was a very fun morning. While we did not go to Hardees for a coke, we did make it to the Church Fiesta a good time was had by all.

The Time Has Arrived

The Watermelon King

It popped that is a good sign.

Yes, it is a little late due to all the rain and flooding, but the watermelons are ready. Wade picked the first watermelon this week. It is a bumper crop year. In the clearing he said there were a few, but there was more in the cover. I counted over 60 so I do not know how many will be in the more. I am guessing over 200 this year. We planted 100 hills in about an acre area.


The Eaton's have many traditions, but Wade the Watermelon King is one of my favorites and I don't even really care for watermelon. HA We have lots of watermelon pictures so I am sure more are yet to follow. Two years ago we had enough for the Newton Eagles football team to stock their coolers. I hope we can do that again. And yes... Ray we remember how to look both ways to cross the highway and you can look for one to show up on your doorstep. :-)

Tomatoe Bacon Squares

This time of year there is usually an abundance of tomatoes and peppers. I only like tomatoes if they are cooked so the traditional tomato and bacon sandwich is out for me; however over 10 years ago when I was determined to have everything Pampered Chef made Heather Street (I can't remember her married name) gave me this recipe.

You can use hungry jack flaky biscuits and use the mini muffin pan as the picture shows or if you just want a delicious lunch, use Pillsbury crescent rolls or a Pillsbury pizza crust and make into a pizza and use the mixture for the topping.

recipe:

8-10 slices of bacon
1/3 cup chopped green pepper
1/3 cup chopped onion
2 large tomatoes or 3 regular tomato peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon of dried basil
2 TBS mayonnaise
1 garlic clove or 1 tsp of already prepared garlic
3 oz or 3/4 cup Swiss cheese shredded

1 pkg biscuits, pizza crust or Pillsbury crescents

Mix together all ingredients and spread onto crust or dip into tins.
bake for 15 min for mini muffins and 20 min for pizza

Sleep Over

Parker and Elly had their first sleep over that was not family. Ali and Dale Bierman came for the night. They are great kids. I would claim them as well as their little brother Wes any day.

Produce

My vacation is about over and the kids start back to school this week. What have I been doing? Putting up produce. While it was not Florida. I do enjoy canning and I have enjoyed just being at home with the kids. The Eaton's put up over 130 bags of sweet corn and I have done 70 jars of a variety of salsa, juice and tomatoes. All done until Apples are ready.

Thanks Mom for coming up and visiting with me during my first day of tomatoes. Sure did make time go faster.
Tim said the shucks would not hurt the cows. Elly and Parker have a great time looking for the bull when they go to the pasture.
Our corn process is interesting. Thanks to Wade's brilliant idea we use the turkey cooker outside to boil the corn.(This keeps heat and humidity outside) Then we chill in coolers and tubs with ice and cut in the house with corn boards from Rural King. Lots better than the traditional knife and cutting board method. It takes 8-10 ears of corn for each bag we put up.

Food Tip: When putting up corn, lay newspapers on the floor and cover the cabinet. You can just roll up the sticky mess for easy clean up.


We also had home made fries with Granddad Bill's garden potatoes...YUM!

Thank you Katie

Being a working Mom has its advantages and disadvantages, but having someone you trust watching your children sure does help. Katie Dhom has watched Elly and Parker for two summer's now. She said she will be back at least part of next summer too :-)

Parker's favorite thing about Katie is she takes him swimming. Elly could not narrow it down to one (she is a girl you know) She liked that Katie took her miniature golfing, but mainly she just liked Katie coming everyday to play.

Thanks for a great summer Katie!

A Matter of Life and Death

I told the kids when they took their training wheels off I would get a bike. Well it has been since Spring and since I am on vacation this week, and I finally knew which bike I wanted we went to Wal Mart yesterday and bought a bike. When out at the van Elly says...Mom you forgot your helmet. So back into Wal Mart to get a very cute matching helmet. I get home and get it fitted and look like a dork. Wade said I looked better in that than the alternative casket. HA HA very funny I said. Well.... we take off for our first ride to the Bierman's. Before we get to the busy road (Like any are busy out this way) I told the kids to stop. Well as I ride behind I see Parker try to stop with his feet and then press only the front brake and yes... Straight over the handle bars into a double flip entwined with the bike. He hit head first on top of his head. My heart was pounding and I was sure we were headed for the hospital. Road rash on the legs and I would not let him look anywhere else, it took a few minutes for both our hearts to stop pounding and it is a site I will never forget. When we got home, it is a good thing he can not see his own back there would have been more tears. It is covered down one side with road rash. We got band aid up and Wade is going to remove his front brake, which actually broke in the fall and leave only the back break. In honor of this close call I thought I would include some statistics.

When toddlers and just learning to ride with training wheels our pediatrician said how important helmets are. I was amazed at how Parker's worked. I thought this cheap $10-$15 dollar piece of plastic is going to help? It does!!

*There are 85 million bicycle riders in the US.

*About 540,000 bicyclists visit emergency rooms with injuries every year. Of those, about 67,000 have head injuries, and 27,000 have injuries serious enough to be hospitalized.

*1 in 8 of the cyclists with reported injuries has a brain injury

*Bicycle crashes and injuries are under-reported, since the majority are not serious enough for emergency room visits. 44,000 cyclists were reported injured in traffic crashes in 2006.

*A very high percentage of cyclists' brain injuries can be prevented by a helmet, estimated at anywhere from 45 to 88 per cent

*Direct costs of cyclists' injuries due to not using helmets are estimated at $81 million each year.
Indirect costs of cyclists' injuries due to not using helmets are estimated at $2.3 billion each year.

*Helmets are cheap. The typical discount store price has risen from under $10 to about $20, but there are still models available for under $10 at major national retailers including Target and Wal-Mart.

statistics found at: http://www.helmets.org/stats.htm

WEAR A HELMET IT IS A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH.

The Beach

No it is not Florida, but it is Embarrass River. Sometimes I forget what is right in front of me or should I say what is right behind us. I am lucky enough to have the river right in my backyard. Because of all the rain, we did have to go up river to find a sandbar. I should tell you: Objects may appear closer than they actually are. Wade told me it would take 30-45 min. When down at the steps to the River I could see the sandbar and asked him why he said it would take so long. Current- it is the best exercise machine available to man.

However; we made it. Elly and Parker made sand castles or should I say a Fort and a Princess Palace with natural moat with some cool sand castle toys I had put back for the right occasion.

While we did not have sea shells, we had lots of muscle shells.

Wade's Quote for the day: "You want to go to the Beach... follow Me"

Who Said...

Who Said Work had to be All Work and No Play? This was Wachovia's formerly AG Edwards annual lake party. We had a lot of fun. Elly and Parker could not wait to go tubing on Lake Sara. Doug Schultz and his beautiful wife Michelle were excellent hosts. Thank you to his parents for letting us use their dock area. After the boating excursions we had Witt's Pizza. Excellent Chicken Cesar. (I highly recommend) The Schmidt family made their famous homemade ice cream and chocolate sauce atop a delicious brownie base. The Price family brought an excellent fruit tray with creamy sweet dip. Lisa brought her highly requested Mexican dip that was gone in seconds and I brought cheese dip to complement the Mexican dip.

After dinner the kids enjoyed fishing.

Catch of the day!

The professional who helped remove the fish.

Mexican

Anyone who knows me...knows I love El Rancherito. I eat there often. However; until the Newton's sister Restaurant Puerto Vallarta is open, I continue to cook Mexican at home. Monday we had Tacos. Food Tip: When making one meal try to make it into two. Tacos at our house on Monday translates into Enchiladas on Thursday. I make tacos like anyone else with the package seasonings and browned hamburger. We also have sides of sour cream, homemade salsa, refried beans and Spanish rice. After dinner I then make the enchiladas from the left overs: Recipe below.
Knorr's Spanish rice made by Lipton is the closest thing I have found to El Rancherito's rice. And very easy too.

Enchaladias:

Mix leftover taco meat with 1 small can of tomato sauce
(add onions and green peppers optional)

Spread refried beans on soft shells

Put meat mixture in center and roll up
Continue and layer into a 8x8 dish

Top soft shell rolls with leftover rice.

Cover in leftover salsa. This keeps everything moist.

Top with Fiesta or Colby Monteray Jack Cheese.

Cover with foil and it is ready for dinner the next day or two.

When ready to cook. Uncover and cook for 30-40 min on 375 degrees.

Garnish with more salsa, sour cream and lettuce.

Call Me Fern

Well we fired up the fire pit again and invited Brad and Cindy Davidson over for Chicken. The menu consisted of 4-H barbecued chicken, baked beans, bobs vegetables, mushroom and onions and cole slaw with apple pie and ice cream for dessert; however, Wade reminded me last night after they left...Didn't you make a salad? Of course I did, but I left it in the fridge. Sorry Brad and Cindy. It was semi homemade. I used bagged cole slaw with homade dressing extra green peppers and celery.

I say call me Fern because growing up I heard that a lot. That was my mom's grandma, my great grandma and she was evidently one of the best cooks especially pies, but she always left every cabinet door in the kitchen open... something I am guilty of when cooking and she always forgot to put something on the table...seems I do that too. Well I don't think any of us went hungry.

4-H barbecue chicken: 1/2 cup white vinegar, 1 TBS oil, 1 TBS water, 1 TBS Salt and a dash of pepper

Apple pie was made from apples I picked at my neighbors Jay and Kathy Green. I make the pie filling every other year when their apples do well. Thanks Jay and Kathy still enjoying them.

Tip: make 3- 4 pies at a time. They freeze well and are great to pop in the oven when having company.