Mackenzie On The Red Carpet

Keeping in line with a post by Stacey on her blog that kids say the cutest things.... is Mackenzie.

Mackenzie has top billing as she is a 3-year-old diva…. in every good sense of the word. She is definitely the star in her world. She talked to me for 12 hours straight with hardly taking a breath, on our way to Lompoc. Yes that's right…. 12 hours of non-stop talking. ... Cute as she is I have to admit my brain turned to mush and drizzled out my toes. However, one of the cutest things she told me was, she was bringing all of her faces to Canyon’s house with her. She actually said it like that. So here they are.... she was quite happy to model them for me...

Her mad face

Her happy face

Her sad face

And her attitude face (she actually calls it that)


And this is the face she uses when she is the teacher and she is sending you to the “baby room” She is just halarious.... and very serious about all the roles she takes on.

She is also all about pink…. anything Dora…. playing hide & seek…. singing songs that she makes up…. She hates her hair put in piggy tales…. and she is deathly terrified of bugs.... even an ant sends her shrieking out of its way. I just want to scoop her up in my arms and hug her into everything that is good in the world. We miss all the endearing sides to her....

Stay tuned next for Spotlight on Canyon....

For All You Fellow Vegetarians & Vege Lovers

It’s officially summer when I make kabobs for dinner. They just sit there looking so wholesome and nourishing. I just love the color of the summer veges. I can almost forget my unhealthy ways…. I hate to exercise, I have an unsatiable sweet tooth and love of breads, and needless to say I weigh 30 more pounds than I want to. But for a brief moment while I eat my kabobs I am the picture of optimum health. I will drizzle sweet and sour sauce on them just before throwing them in the oven. We will also have herb seasoned potatoes and a strawberry pie (that grandma is making) Yum.

For all you vegetarians who are out there….we have found a meat substitute that we love….. it is the Quorn brand (I can only get it at the health food store.) They make it in cutlets, burgers, nuggets and cubed. I use it in all my recipes I used to put chicken in.

Play Dough

So we’ve been deposited back on our desert island…. where something note worthy to post might happen in another 6 months or so. So I can either keep posting cute pictures and thoughts about the grandkids or post pictures of the flowers in the garden, my latest quilt (you’ll get those anyway) or nothing. So there you have it…. grandkids it is.

The kids loved playing with the homemade play dough. Mackenzie’s specialty was birthday cakes… Canyon liked to create bird nests…. Auggie made some fine looking eggs for the nest...and then they made the space ships with the straws that came down and smashed it all. That is how almost all of the activities ended….. in pieces and one or all of the kids fleeing in tears. Good times.

Play Dough Recipe
1 cup flour
½ cup Morton salt
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 cup water
1 Tbsp. oil
food coloring

Mix the ingredients together in a pan. Add food coloring (they loved that part) and cook until the mixture pulls away from the sides and forms into a ball. Keeps for a long time in a plastic bag in the fridge.

Cousin Camp

Mackenzie and Tyler left this morning to go back to Colorado. It’s hard to believe the time has gone by so fast. All of the grandkids had a fun time at “Cousin Camp” at Canyon’s house in California. Only seeing the grandkids once or twice a year is a little like being plucked from a deserted island where the only sound is the waves lapping on the shore and being thrown into Los Angeles rush hour traffic.

However, the week was full of fun…. finger and pudding painting….. sticker pictures…… bike riding….. a trip to the mission to feed the horses…. picnics in the park….. water races…. bubble baths…. and the best of all, chasing Uncle Marshall around the house and play fighting. I even got a little snuggle time.

It was interesting to watch the dynamics. August floated in and out of all the activities, always making his little presence known. He loved Uncle Tyler, who took him along on the bike ride, making him a lasting friend for the trip…. Poor Canyon fell prey to Mackenzies tears….. every time he didn’t want to do her bidding she folded her arms, started to cry and said, “Canyon, that makes me so sad.” Alright he would say, I’ll play house with you (or sub in whatever else she wanted)

We missed not seeing Ryan, Alissa and Lindsay who had to work. You’ll be happy to know that Kenzie missed you, Lindsay….. when they played house, she would make all the babies cry because they missed their moms. A big thanks to Tyler for making the effort to drive such a long way to make sure the kids all got to be together again. We can’t wait to do it all again next year.

More of Mackenzie

I thought I would keep everybody updated on the cute faces of Mackenzie since somebody I don't need to mention never updates their blog. She has the sweetest and most expressive little face.... and she has also mastered "the look" She makes up little songs and practically sings all day long. She loves Aunt Annie and always chooses her to put her to bed at night. She is very excited to go to California tomorrow to see her cousins!

My New Best Friend

Mackenzie arrived with smiles, giggles and hugs all around. She inspected every nook and cranny of the house.... found the dress up box (she didn't take off her pink tutu for two days) .... her new "babies"..... and a 99 cent spray bottle that has entertained her for hours. She is very much a girl who is the creator of her own destiny and has all sorts of rules on how to play with her. You can do the play dough as long as you don't touch it.... you can be the hider for hide and seek as long as you hide where she tells you to.... and you have to think she's outrageously funny if she pours water on your head. I'm not oppossed to being bossed around by my favorite three year old girl.... so we are getting along just swell. (hey, notice the piggy tails)

This morning we had a play date at Jumpin' Jacks with Melissa, Reanna, and two of her cousins. It was a fun time watching her laugh and run around having fun with her new best friends. But when all is said and done, there is nothing quite as delightful as a sleeping child....