Life without Jesus…

Ever heard of that kid song?

It's a favorite of mine.

Do you know why "Life without Jesus is like a doughnut?"

Life without Jesus is like a doughnut, 'cuz without him there's a hole in the middle of your heart.

Cora told me about these and I thought what fun it would be to make them with the kids. Not fun like this, or this, but really fun.

You simply take the cheap, cheap bisquits and cut out the center. I used a little white tip that I use to frost things and simply pushed and twisted until the center came out. You could use a cap from a two liter bottle too.

Fry them in some oil for a few seconds, and I mean it, just a few....that's all it takes and remove them.

Then toss them around in some cinnamon and sugar and voila, you've got a yummy treat. I even fried the little centers and made doughnut holes.

Mmmmm....between the five of us, we gobbled them up quick. And most of them were being gobbled right before dinner. I'm still not sure why I cooked them right before dinner, 'cuz that is so unlike me, but I did....and they were oh so good.

What kind of yummy recipes have you tried lately? Do share.

Flashback Friday

In lieu of the holiday that lies right around the corner...I thought this was fitting

circa 2005

This was as close to a costume I was going to get. A couple'a ears and a bow tie with whiskers. I'm not one for dressing up....

Keifer, on the other hand...doesn't have that problem. I look at this picture of him and feel rather afraid. Afraid and attracted to him all at the same time.

Now that's scary. What you can't see here, or maybe you can, are the piercings he has on his lip and eyebrow. He pulled off the punk look quite well.

Karly? Is she not the cutest lil' thang you ever saw? And my little pumpkin? Oh, how I miss that age. Dylan's rockin' the ninja pose too.

Not sure why this picture looks so funny? Blurry and a bit distorted...why O' why?

Charlie

There was a time that I would often come home to this....

My slippers all over the house. Charlie has always had some sorta fettish with stuffed things. Be it stuffed animals, purses, or slippers.

I got so tired of finding them throughout my house, or better yet, floating in his water dish, that I put them in this here Old Navy bag and hid them in the corner of my closet. In the very dark corner of my closet. Wrapped up very tightly. Since it was summertime and I didn't need said slippers, I thought I would put them up....because if I found one more lying around, I wasn't sure what I was going to do with the little gremlin.

I'm pretty sure you know where I'm going with this....

No, you're eyes are not deceiving you. The cat actually drug the bag (for the fifth time) out to the t.v. room, where we all sat and watched a movie, and began digging inside with his nose to release the last slipper. The other five were strewn about my closet and room.

I finally got my camera so that I could capture said behavior.

Here's a little live footage.

Keifer should be ashamed. Although you may not be able to hear it very well. He said at one point in the video that Charlie "was going to kill himself by eating the plastic, which was fine with him". FINE WITH HIM? That is SO not nice.

And, I totally believe him. It would be fine with him if Charles just keeled over and died.

Oh the shame.

Pandora's Box?

Shannon recently shared something with me. Something that is super swell, nifty, sensationally incredibilistic.

A little thing called Pandora Radio.

Ever heard of it?

If not, you must check it out. It's a free online radio. The super, nifty thing about it? It plays ONLY the kind of music you like. You simply type in an artist that you like and it will then play (on it's own) all kinds of music that is similar to that artist.

Give it a whirl. http://www.pandora.com/

Super.

Duper.

Cool.

A few more....

I got a few more pics from our photo shoot.


Since I have to save them for holiday cards and such, I can't share them all, but here are a few...
Dawson was loving his tongue here. We just couldn't get rid of it.

Jenn really wanted to capture the boys playing as boys do, but they couldn't help but pose.

A momma and her piggy tailed girl....

This is kind of a fun one...one where she captured us goofing off. Probably laughing at how darned cold it was. I think Keifer might even be saying "It is way too cold to be doing this" Aren't those colors georgeous? My, my.

This is one of my favorites I think, it's just so her.

Thank you again Jenn, yer awesome!

A little sneak peek

A friend of mine recently took our family pictures in a be-you-tee-ful park. Although it was freezing that day, and we had to drop our jackets in between shots, I'm hoping we will get some good pictures.

After seeing this....I'm sure we will. Look at the purdy colors!

She's teased me with this ONE. Only one ;o(

Hopefully I'll get the rest soon. Real soon. I can't wait to see 'em.

Try clicking on the photo to enlarge it.

Babies Galore

It's been so long since we made our little jaunt to Oregon that these precious little babies are probably toddlers by now.

With my company and the birthday madness, these posts got left on the back burner. The way back there burner.

Several weeks ago, we journeyed west to the oh so wet and depressing state of Oregon. Sorry guys, I'm just keepin' it real.

While we were there, I got the most pleasant experience of hugging, kissing and smelling all of their new babies.

You know those questionnaires that ask you things like "your favorite smell"? Newborn babies, (with Johnson's baby lotion on, of course) would be my answer. It's got to be the best smell ever.

And, no, I do NOT want anymore children. Thank you.

This picture (above) is one that I took as little Rory laid on my lap. She was the youngest of the three and super precious.

Sister Heather and little Paige are so happy to have Rory apart of their family. Three girls for the Stiles' family. THREE GIRLS...wow.

This little guy was in my arms most of the time I was there. And I was SO thankful that Sister Shannon let me smother him. I just love smothering little babes. This is Carson James.

While I held her baby, she held Sister Ashely's baby girl, Joselyn.

Carson and Rory are only six days apart, but the difference in their weight is probably like 10 pounds. He's a moose. A healthy, stocky, precious lil' moose.

Joselyn has the cutest little personality. You know how sometimes you try and talk to babies and they look at you like you're Chewbacca? Not this girl.....She was a smiley one who absolutely loved it when you talked to her.

I got my baby fill for at least a little while.

But, I may need to make another trip soon. I'll need another fix here purdy quick.

Thank you ladies for allowing me to hold your little ones. And for allowing my nose (eeeewww) to be so close to them ;o)

Flashback Friday

It's been awhile since I've flashed back.

We're goin' back to the dark ages today folks....

Here we have some of the Keeling girls. From top left Kathy and Sharon and on the bottom from left, Candy and Karen.

If I didn't know better, I would NEVER think these girls were sisters. Girls who came from the same two parents. I think they all look SO different. As adults I think they resemble a great deal...but as wee ones, not so much.

Silly 3D

While our visitors visited, we visited the movie theatre one day. We had the very pleasant experience of watching the movie Up in 3D. It was a super cute movie. Pixar is 'da bomb.

I wanted a shot of the group with the groovy 3D glasses on. Upon seeing how Dawson posed in this photo, I thought everyone should look as hip...

Cute, eh?

What you see happening here with Dawson happened very often throughout our visit. The little guy's head is just too small and the glasses continually fell off, which is WHY he had them on upside down to begin with. They seemed to stay on a little better that way.

I'm pretty sure his complaining of a stiff neck the next day had something to do with it. Ever seen a little boy trying to keep glasses that are too big on their face?

Keifer? I'm just not sure what is up with him. He likes to be different, that much I know.

Nevertheless, it was a great movie. If you haven't seen it, you must. In 3D, if at all possible.

Dirty Mouth

I don't remember my other children having dirty faces and mouths ALL the time.

This guy is always dirty. Always. Hulk anyone?

You can always tell what he has eaten. He can't pull any fast ones on us when it comes to food.

We will ALWAYS know if he's gotten into the treats. The evidence is right there, out in the open. For all to see.

Will his being four help this situation?

Birthday Bowling

Dawson doesn't forget promises. When he was sick sometime back, Keith told him that when he got better, he would take him bowling. He has kindly reminded his father of that promise, made long ago, and it finally came to pass.

For his birthday, ALL he wanted was to eat cake and go bowling.

This was how he watched his ball proceed down the lane. And it took quite a while to make it's way.

These have got to be thee cutest shoes ever. I've always been fond of bowling shoes, but I've never seen them in such a small size. I had to refraim myself from taking them home. Not really.

It seems Karly was the best bowler. This guy tried and tried to keep up with her.

Mom, showing off her skills.

Standing so proudly with her six pound ball.

Ahem, moving right along.

Megan Jean, as beautiful as ever.

Here are a few of the scores, as you can see, I am NOT the best bowler. I think next time, I might try setting it on the ground and giving it a gentle push. It worked for Dawson and Karly. They BOTH beat me by the fifth round. I SO need the bumpers. Gutter balls are the pits.

Keifer, showing us his form. What form.

Cute Ma. Real cute.

One of my favorite parts of the bowling experience. Donning these beauties.

**I'd just like to add one thing...

When I left the house, my knickers, capri's, pedal pushers....or whatever else they are called looked fine with FLIP FLOPS. But, bowling shoes? Not so much.