CHRISTEPHI

In the middle of February a 60-degree day is a rare blessing.  It's a promise of spring-yet-to-come, but everyone knows it won't last long and it's best to take advantage of it while you still can!  We had one such day recently and decided to take a short trip to  Weston Bend State Park . Miss M stops to point out the "here-o-glyph" on the map. As far as vegetation goes, it's still the dead of winter.  Nothing has come to life yet, partially due to the awful drought we're experiencing, and partially because it's still early in the year.  As Miss M put it, "Everything is brown and gray and dull."  I've noticed, though, that when the trees are bare and the underbrush has died back for the winter, you really get a chance to appreciate the different shapes of the trees. Bare trees line the Missouri River. This tree looks like a giant slingshot! Our first stop was the scenic overlook that provides a sweeping view of the M...

Last year we went to Applefest in Weston, MO where I waited a half hour to purchase a pint off fresh, hot apple butter.  Oh, how disappointed I was when I got home and tasted it.  The nutmeg was overpowering!  I'm not a big fan of nutmeg.  I prefer cinnamon with my apples.  I vowed that I would make my own next time.  Well, Applefest is just around the corner and I won't have to buy any nutmeg-laden apple butter, because...I made my own!  (Though mine has very little nutmeg!) Half the fun was picking the apples ourselves at our favorite local orchard .  Apple picking is a yearly family tradition. Only the Galas were open for picking that day.  They were kind of ugly since most had split open, but they made great applesauce and apple butter, so who cares what they looked like before? I used a recipe my friend found online (with only half the nutmeg called for) that used up the apple peels from making appl...

At the county fair, Hubby moved like a special ops guy (he'd like that description) through the displays and straight to Madam Pig .  Before I knew it, he was back at my side. "Second," he said. Yes, it seems our dear friend Humpty Dumpty  trumped the piggies and ran off with First Place.  Doesn't he look pleased with himself!?  (You don't suppose it'll all go to his head, do you?) And my Indoor Hopscotch got Fourth Place in the Toys category. I entered some of the clothes I made over the past year ( here , here  and here ) and received ribbons on two of them. I was delighted to see that there was a lot more competition in the Clothes category this year! Last year I won first, second, and third but there were only a few other entries and most of them were aprons. But the best fun of all was getting the Committee's Choice Ribbon for Madam Pig and her piglets!  It turns out they did charm the judges after all! Tomorrow...

This weekend we visited the Patee House Museum in St. Joseph, Missouri .  I remember going there once as a kid, but I didn't remember it being so expansive!  We will definitely be going there again when the kids are a bit older.  Little Guy fell asleep partway through, so we only got pictures of the first half or so of our visit. Here's a quick photo dump. We didn't visit Jesse Jame's house a block away because the kids were tired and we were all hungry, but they say you can see the bullet hole in the wall from when Jesse James was killed.  We had a great time together and look forward to going back when the kids can apreciate the history of it better.

My sister and her fiance came to visit this weekend (hence, the sad neglect of my blog!).  We had a wonderful time catching up and visiting Crown Center in Kansas City.  My future brother-in-law loves trains like dogs love squirrels (have you seen Up ?).  So we stood in the long, wrap-around line at Fritz's Railroad Restaurant  to have our meal delivered by train. (The shakes and onion rings are worth mentioning!) Afterward, we took a stroll through the Fairy Tale Village. Then I snuck in Chip's Chocolate Factory while the others went on to the Crayola Store. All in all, a wonderful day!

I've never been to the zoo in the snow before.  Today was forecasted to be all the way up to 40 degrees.  (It's just plain wrong to think that 40 is warm, but there you have it.)  To take advantage of the balmy weather, we took a trip to the Kansas City Zoo . We started off riding the hand-carved wooden carousel.  Miss M's face was absolutely glowing! Next Miss M got swallowed up by a giant green snake!  She saw this picture and said, "I look a bit worried." Then we visited the Tropics where we saw the two-month old baby Blue Monkey.  It was so cute to see his mom holding him and carrying him around, just like a person!  I've seen baby monkeys before, but they just held on to their mom's back and weren't carried like that.  (I stole this picture from the zoo website 'cause none of mine turned out). We trekked through the snow, slush, and mud to the tigers....meeting a gagged Buddha on the way. Then it was time for ...

The past two nights we journeyed back in time to Bethlehem.  I played Mary the mother of Jesus,  Hubby dressed as Joseph, and Miss M was a mostly-well-behaved angel.  Our new little man was, of course, the star as he played Baby Jesus.  It was a big hit with the children visitors to have a real baby Jesus! One little boy brought the flute he made inside the "market" back out and asked if he could play a song for Jesus.  Who could resist such a request?! My little angel procured her own fan club over the course of the two evenings. She did all the activities at least three times and received special treatment from all the "shop keepers."  It was good for her ego since she saw her brother getting so much attention.   She has no modesty whatsoever (which I'm not concerned about at this age) and when people told her she was beautiful angel, she simply replied, "Yeah, I am!"   It was a once in a lifetime opportunity...the...

Miss M and I went on a short walk into the nearby park and took a few pictures.  We thought we'd share! According to my wildflower book, this sunny yellow fellow is Oxeye. The thistles are going to seed, see the fluffy thistledown? There were busy honey bees everywhere! Which is good because the local bee population has been suffering the past few years (or so I've been told). It took a while to identify these berries.  At first my dad thought they were hackberries, but I wasn't so sure since the arrangement on the branches didn't seem quite right.  So I kept looking and I'm pretty sure they're coralberries.  Whatever they are, aren't they pretty?! The leaves are just starting to change on the trees around here...this must have been one of the first to fall. Isn't it stunning?  I'm afraid my photography doesn't quite do it justice.  I do believe fall is my favorite season!  What's yours?

Today's the first day of our no-spend week. I did what I could this weekend to plan and prepare, so we'll see how it all goes! But first...  We went to a parade Saturday!  Miss M has been begging to see a parade (and, in fact, "seeing" them in the most unlikely places), so when I heard there was to be a parade at the Parkville Days celebration, we decided we just had to go. There were two marching bands, clowns, a carnival, pony rides, and one very happy toddler!  You couldn't have asked for a more gorgeous day. We got hungry, but opted to buy a small snack rather than spend an arm and a leg for carnival food that most likely would have been less than satisfactory portion-wise.  That saw us through the rest of our errands and we ate at home. I made my meal menu that night. I doubt anyone plans meals quite like I do, but who knows, maybe my way could be helpful to someone else at some point.  Instead of planning specifically what I'll cook on ...