Broccoli Salad and Chocolate Chip Cookies

We had a fairly busy week last week. On Friday, among several other things, I tried hard to fit in time to make this big broccoli salad and some chocolate chip cookies. Chris was camping with the scouts that night. So I load up my salad, my cookies, and Caleb and head out. I drop Caleb off at our friends house (thanks again for watching him by the way!) As I'm double checking the address on the card, the date "September 21st" catches my eye. Yep! The potluck dinner was a week ago. Uh, oops. Nice. So I turned around and went back to pick up Caleb (who didn't really want to leave because he was having too much fun!) Cookies and salad, anyone?!?!

So that just about sums up my week. I can't tell you how many things I forgot to do. Like bring my keys with me before I shut my locked front door. You know, stuff like that. Minor details.

The worst part about it, is that I think it's contagious. Those I talk to and have been hanging around the last few days seem to have caught a slight case of it too. Beware!

And no...I'm not pregnant. I come by my forgetfulness naturally.

A Little Vain...

...ok, a lot vain.


But we tend to agree with Caleb.

Another Reason To Love Texas

Football. Or any sport. Texas takes it's sports seriously.

We love to watch sports--especially college and high school! Such passion and emotion!!!! I love it! There is nothing like a close game--it makes your heart beat fast, makes you hold your breath...the anticipation kills me! And those are the games I don't even really care who wins! Just imagine the ones where the teams we love are playing....

Anyway, back to why we love Texas. You should see the high school stadiums here! They look more like college stadiums! I wasn't able to get a really good picture, but it's huge!!


So, the game we saw this weekend did not disappoint! We watched one of the young men from church play and it was AWESOME! The game was back and forth and came down to the wire--but his team pulled out the win with only a few seconds left in the game!

Add Singing to Caleb's List of Talents

So everything can be a microphone. Caleb has taught us that. He LOVES to sing and use a microphone.

Here is Caleb showing us his talents with Elmo Karaoke


And here Caleb is using the real karaoke machine

Rachel Rocks!

Ok, I had to add this to our blog too. Rachel (or Jed) made this and put it on their blog. I was trying to tell someone how funny it is, but the description just didn't do it justice. I don't remember the last time I laughed so hard.

Thanks to Rachel and Jed!



This is what happens when the Bassetts and Dials get together... :)

A Special Family

A tribute to those of you who have come to visit us in Texas:
(I apologize to those of you who have come to visit, but who we don't have quality pictures of!)


Doesn't that make you want to come visit us? :)

We Are Off Our Rockers!!

As in literally. Someone decided to make off with our rockers from our porch. We were thinking that the age group that would normally be swiping things from people's porches, probably wouldn't want a nice rocking chair or two. Then we got a laugh at picturing an old grandma and grandpa "running" away with our chairs in the middle of the night.

It bugs me because the weather is finally cooling off and it's almost time to just sit on your porch and enjoy the weather. If they had taken them at the beginning of the summer, I wouldn't be as upset. I would have thought..."oh well...it's too hot to sit outside anyway!" But no...they wait until it cools off just a bit. I guess they wanted to wait until it cooled off too.

We were thinking about putting up a sign and a collection jar where our rocking chairs used to be on our porch. The sign would read something like this: "Someone felt they needed our rocking chairs more than we did. This person is obviously experiencing economic hardship to have to steal from the neighbors, so we have taken up a fund to help with food and other necessities. Please inquire within."

So, if you want to donate to our collection jar, or if you see grandma and grandpa running around town in our rocking chairs, just let me know. :)

All My Hard Work...Wasted!!

Ok. I admit it. I am terrified of all things creepy, crawly, slithery, hoppy. Here in Texas, there are plenty of them. You name it...I hate it. So, for months, I have been methodically trying to give Caleb a healthy fear and disliking of them too. Some people have told me that they try not to freak out when there are bugs around because they don't want to make their kids afraid of them too. Me? I want my kid to share in my belief that they are straight up nasty. :) Selfish?! Heck yeah! I mean, come on! I don't want him to ever bring them near me or into my house. I don't want to find them in his pockets, his laundry, his room, or in my bed.

In just a few short minutes...Chris managed to undue ALL my hard labor!! The other day Caleb was helping Chris mow the lawn. Chris spotted a little frog. Could he just go about his business? No. Could he help me reinforce that they are nasty by saying...Ooooh. Gross. Nasty. Don't touch. Oh no. Chris had to pick it up and let Caleb touch it and hold it and tell him how cool it is. I then hear Caleb's squeal of delight. Great. Then Chris precedes to do it again with a rollie pollie. Even better. And who knows what other nasty insects and reptiles Chris felt the need to share with him.

Here is the evidence.

Thanks, Chris. All my hard, hard, work. Wasted. I guess it was inevitable. :)

Cincinnati!

Back in June we found some $60 airline tickets to Cincinnati! So we figured, why not?!?! We just got back from Cincinnati and it was a total blast!! Since my family moved from Cincinnati a few years ago, we don't make it back very often. We hadn't been there for 6 years! So it was great to be back!

We met up with my sister Kaylyn, my brother Kip and his wife Bridget, and my brother Kody and his wife Brandy and three cute kids, who all flew in for some fun! And thanks to you guys for making our trip so fun!!

Here is a glimpse of our trip:

Sadly, a dear friend of my family, Carol Thompson, passed away shortly before our trip. Although we did not arrive in time to make the funeral, it was nice to be able to visit with her family and see her grave site. Thank you to the Thompson family for the mementos and for the time you spent with us!

On a lighter note, we got to eat at a few of our favorite Cincinnati places. I was in serious withdrawal!! Here are a few of our favorite places that we were able to hit:

Skyline Chili (it's a kind of chili that is hard to describe...it isn't really like anything else. But you eat it over spaghetti noodles with lots of cheese and it is simply yummy!)



Larosas Pizza (Certifiably the best pizza on the planet...:)

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White Castle (ok, not my favorite. In fact, I don't like it at all. It tastes like nasty meatloaf on a bun. But Chris wanted to try it to see what all the fuss was about. I don't think it was his favorite either).



Busken Bakery (good cookies) & Dunkin Donuts (not necessarily better than Krispy Kreme...just different)



UDF (chocolate malts...YUMMMMMMY!)




We didn't get to see everyone that we wanted to , but it was so fun to visit friends and neighbors who we haven't seen in sooooooooo long!! Thanks for taking the time to visit with us! We even got to tour our old house and see what the new owners have done with it. We also took Caleb to play at the park by our old house where I used to play.



As a side note...dad, do you know why they didn't put this helicopter down on the ground so kids can play in it? :) It looks like it is about ready to take off, huh? :)



We were able to go to a Bengals Game. And they actually won! :) Caleb had a blast! He entertained everyone around us. He was cheering and clapping and yelling and dancing and just having a good old time! And of course he needed to give the rock to all those around us. Unfortunately, we didn't begin filming until most of the people had left. But here is a sample.... :)








Cincinnati has the coolest fireworks for Labor Day weekend! They have them on the river and shoot them off the bridges and from barges below. I've been wanting to take Chris to them since we got married, and we finally made it! They are definitely the best fireworks I've ever seen!



We hit my favorite amusement park, Kings Island. It has the best roller coasters!! They have some that you stand up on, some where the track is above you, an indoor one that goes from zero to sixty in 4 seconds, and lots that just have tons of twists and loops and cork screws. They have a new one this year that is my new favorite. You are actually laying down through the ride and alternate from facing the ground to facing the sky. It's awesome!!! (These pictures are from the Eiffel Tower at King's Island--they're not in jail...even it if appears that way. Notice Kip D does not know how to smile without being sarcastic).



Shopping! Cincinnati has a lot of great places to shop. They have this awesome place that is like the outlet for where stuff goes from the old navy and gap outlet stores. You can get some awesome deals!! Gap/Old Navy shirts for kids for 99 cents, etc. etc. Here is Caleb sporting his new Bengals jersey that Aunt Brandy bought him.



And of course there was some down time for some r&r, including sleeping, swimming and games!