So, a fair amount has happened since I last posted, though I'll only mention the highlights.
Several Fridays ago Wesley & I went to the doctor and found out that we are having another boy! :) We are very excited about this news. We would have been very excited about a girl, as well, but I am hoping that with Knox's hand-me-downs, this child will not be a source of immediate expenses. Hooray for that! And, we were kinda hoping that Knox would have a little buddy to pal around with, so this is another plus for having a boy. Our pictures are so cute! We got one of him sucking his thumb. I'll try to post it later. Sooo cute!
A friend of mine had a bridal shower, in which I gave her THIS from the Etsy shop StudioElan.
Next, my friend Nicole and I had a garage sale. Woo-hoo.... Not as exciting as the first news. But, I cleared out some junk and I made a little cash for the youth trip to Gatlinburg that Wesley & I helped chapperone last week, which leads me to our next highlight.
Wesley & I chapperoned the youth trip to Gatlinburg last week. (Real subtle intro, I know.) It was a pretty good trip. No major infractions or anything like that, pretty smooth as far as behavioral issues, so I think it was a good trip! I am worn out from it and I missed Knox a whole bunch. I have a feeling he missed us, too, judging by the voicemails he & Mom would leave us. But it's tricky to tell b/c the first thing he said when he saw Wesley & me was, "Shoot. Dang it." Which led to an immediate thumping, and crying, and nap-time. Lovely. But after nap-time, he was a joy, so I don't mind bearing the initial rebellious "cussing" (haha, in his little 1 1/2 year old way) at us if he can eventually learn from his "punishment" and be sweet & obedient.

Did you know...?

That for a mere few million dollars you can buy your own private island virtually anywhere in the world? And, there are some (obviously) for much more (ie 45million or so) and some in the multiple thousands. I mean, I figured that they were expensive, but I didn't know that you could get them in the thousands, either, though. http://www.privateislandsonline.com/

Monday: Dinner with friends; started a movie, but the stupid tv messed up (again), so we opted to go to bed early, instead. I had grand plans of deep cleaning the entire house that got shifted instead to going to the grocery store and pricing most of the garage sale junk, er...stuff.
Tuesday: Hopes for French dip sandwiches for dinner with baked sweet potatoes and a spinach salad. Hopes for deep cleaning the house today, again. I have a good start, though b/c I got up early. I have already swept, started laundry, disinfected the counters, done the dishes (last night), picked up the trash, cleaned out some of the fridge, and gotten Knox ready and off. I still need to pick up some buckets for my plants so I can plant them into something larger. Oh, did I tell you what happened to Fred? Its sad. More later. And I need to go by Dirt Cheap again b/c Wesley liked the deoderant I found for a buck.
Wednesday: Dinner with friends? Usually, but not always. I should thaw chicken as a backup.
Thursday: Slow Cooker Chicken if we don't do it Wednesday, but if so, I'll use the leftover chicken to make the Chicken Enchilada Casserole.
Friday: MY SONAGRAM!!!! Yay!!!! I have no clue what's for dinner. Leftovers? Home made pizza? That's always a good backup b/c it doesn't take that long and I always have the ingredients hanging around.

Mammy's Cupboard Vegetable Soup

(The best Vegetable Soup you'll ever eat.)

2.5 lbs. stew meat
64 oz. V8
64 oz. picante V8
2 packs frozen gumbo vegetables (or soup veggies work well, too)
4 peeled and cubed baking potatoes
Tony's seasoning (1 T. or to taste)

Put meat in a pot and just cover with water on high for 30 minutes. Next, add both V8 juices. Once hot, add gumbo vegetables and cook another 30 minutes. Add seasoning and baking potatoes and simmer up to 30 minutes (or until tender). At this point it is ready to eat!!! :o)***Note: If you are going to cook it in a crockpot, do all of it in the crock pot, but at this point, you want to put it on low for a few hours. I did mine about 5 hours, but could be more or less depending on the heat the crockpot puts out.***

This is so good with any cornbread, but Jalepeno Cornbread with a little Cheddar cheese mixed in is AMAZING.

Today I watered my plants, as usual, and I am excited about how much they are growing. Not just barely hanging on, but actually growing and producing fruit! Fred has 3 more little tomatoes growing and Madam Bleu has several ripe blueberries everyday! I picked 2 more tomatoes the other day. They are so cute and tiny! The 6 squash plants have blooms all over them, so I am hoping they will successfully turn into squash plants, although I have heard you can eat the squash blossoms themselves. Actually, Sookie on Gilmore Girls has recipe for stuffing and frying the squash blossoms, and the thought of that sounds AMAZING.

Earlier this morning I believe my sugar was low. I began shaking a little (not like tremors or anything, but just a bit shaky) and feeling weak, so I opted for a pack of peanut butter crackers and a sprite. It has helped a good bit. My sister does the same thing occasionally, and her husband (a nurse) laughs at her when she says its because her sugar is low. My husband (not a nurse) does the same to me when I have these moments. What do you think it is? A few crackers or something moderately sugary usually fixes it relatively quickly. I'm not saying I think I'm diabetic or anything; just that I haven't eaten something substantial in a while.

Last night I made Mammy's Cupboard's recipe of Vegetable Soup (except I did mine in the crockpot) and made corn bread to go with it. It was sooooo good. I haven't had vegetable soup in a long time, so I was really looking forward to it. Wesley always likes a good bowl or 2 of it. I'll post the recipe. I just did Jiffy Cornbread. We had brownies for dessert. Yum.