go on without me

Sometimes this is the way I feel at bootcamp...

Last visit in the old apartment

My sister decided to bring her kids downtown to visit the apartment and party room for the last time. For Nathan, this was quite exhausting...He fell asleep on the floor in front of the TV.
My sister spotted him first, and we both knew we wanted a picture. His knees were bent and arms splayed out to the sides. Very funny!
Danell had to step in front of the TV to get a really good shot, which did not make Mark and Leah particularly happy. They watched cartoons on PBS, until Danell said they had seen enough.
They turned their attention to the treadmill; apparantly when you are 3 and 4 years old, exercising is tremendously fun.
Leah really enjoyed it more than Mark.
It captured Nathan's attention for a little bit too.
When Mark concentrates, he sticks his tongue out. It's pretty cute. There were so many questions he had for me about the buildings, about the move, and about our balcony.
When he was on the treadmill by himself, Mark reeeeally had to concentrate.
Mark remembered that he had tripped and fell off the back of the treadmill in the past, so he took it very seriously. I don't think Mark ever forgets anything. He is quite smart.
We went to the party room to eat lunch. Artimus and Gollum forgot to play, because they were too busy begging for food.
Danell, Mark and me sat at one table and Mark and Leah sat at the one next to us.
We had bacon, turkey, ranch sandwiches with colby cheese. The Doritos, fruit, and pretzel snacks were brought by Danell. It was a great lunch!
Then back to the apartment where the kids REALLY wanted to watch television.
In fact, they couldn't wait to leave the party room to get back to the apartment. Leah sat on the coffee table about half the time, because she knew Artimus and Gollum wouldn't jump up there.
Artimus sat next to Mark on the couch for a little while, and Nathan watched from the treadmill.

What a fun visit; Danell, thanks for making the effort to get everyone downtown and kudos on your great parking job!

I love Tom

We were at PF Changs on this evening, and Tom let me take a couple of pictures, and I think they turned out so well. We sat down on the patio first then our neighbors happened to be seated at the table next to us. The wife got stung by a bee, and Tom spent some time trying to kill it for her. Her husband didn't do anything! I was so proud of my man.Thanks for making me so proud. (And the bonus was that they left to be seated inside and we had a private patio. hee hee)

my angels

Well, angels when they are asleep anyway...

Riscky's (subtitle: Cows & Horses)

Tom and I met my sister, Danell and brother in law, Josh and their three kiddos at Riscky's in the stockyards. We wanted to watch the cattle drive.

The stockyards also has horse barns/horse stables to visit. Along with horses, we saw goats, chickens, a goose, and a rabbit.

Riscky's is on Exchange St. right off Main. You can see Leah walking her "balloon animal" in the picture below... When she walks her dog, she says "Walk, walk, walk, walk, walk..." so funny!
We passed several interesting sights....at least through the eyes of small children. I've had just about enough of Fort Worth being born and reared here. But...I can be open-minded and enjoy the "Cowtown" scenery when hanging out with my cute little niece and nephews. The balloon animal is actually a dog on a leash. Leah had a small pink poodle on a purple leash; Mark had a black dog he named "Gollum" on a red leash.
Everyone thought the stagecoach was very cool. It was $10 for a "scenic tour." There was absolutely no way I would be coerced into an oven and bounced around on the bricked street as a way to enjoy my afternoon. (I'm really NOT a debbie downer, I swear.)
The horses were super tall and looked very strong. My sister LOVES horses. I do too, but I'm not quite as crazy about them as Danell is. They smell great, but they have ginormous poop and are an extremely costly pet. Besides, if you don't have time to spend with them every day, they are just like dogs, and they need lots of attention and want to be part of the family.
This is a picture of the cattle drive taken over the heads of lots of other people. It was Labor Day; the holiday always draws a big crowd.
Nathan wanted to sit (or stand) between Tom and I throughout most of the lunch. He was really sweet and loved the french fries.
A "real" Cowboy came by on his horse. Leah and Mark wanted to pet the horse, so Josh picked up Leah. I took pictures as Mark and Leah were near the horse.
Mark wasn't afraid at all. Leah had a little trepidation, but she recovered nicely.
She smiled for the camera after she realized I was shooting the pictures.
Here's the entire McCurdy family watching the cattle drive:
Danell told us she is about to get Nathan's hair cut for the first time.
She doesn't really want to cut the curls off, but she has decided that it's about time.
Tom and I had fun at lunch, and Mark, Leah, and Nathan behaved so well.
Josh--thanks for spending part of your holiday off from work with us!
Danell--thanks for packing everyone up and bringing them to the stockyards.
We loved watching this guy train a young horse to walk with a bit and bridle. I'm sure he was training the horse to have a saddle on its back too.

Tom--thanks for the balloon animals. Everyone enjoyed them--including me! Yes, Tom had to get ME a dog on a leash too. Here it is resting behind our very tame dove.

Kooking with Karen

Chicken Enchiladas

Rotisseri chicken - I use honey jalapeno when I can find it. If not use the backyard grill one. Shred the chicken.

1 pound white american cheese from deli - to melt

can of rotel

cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 cup diced onions

Melt the above in saucepan

Heat corn tortillas in wet dishtowel in microwave for one minute.

Spread 1/2 cup cheese mixture on bottom of casserole dish so enchiladas don't stick

Put shredded chicken sprinkled with chedder cheese in tortilla and roll. Place enchiladas fold side down. Pour cheese mixture over entire casserole. Use extra cheese for dip! Cover casserole with foil and bake for 25 minutes at 350.