A Dinner Conversation

Monday night, Kevin was out of town so I was flying solo preparing the dinner for the girls and me. Josie was hungy (in her words) and here is how our conversation went:

Josie: I want special snack
Me: We can't eat your special snack now because we are about to eat dinner. Your special snack is for the afternoon after nap.
Josie: I just hungy
Me: You can have chicken pot pie, ravioli, or wait for the pasta I'm making. What does Josie want?
Josie: Ummmm, tater tots

Playhouse Disney Live! on Tour

Playhouse Disney was in College Station on Friday and if you've read any of this blog, you know we are BIG fans of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Handy Manny, and lately Kevin and I have taken a liking to Shaun the Sheep (which is a whole separate post in itself). Anyway, Josie and I caught the 4:00 show on Friday and it was AWESOME! I will never forget the smile that crept onto Josie's face when Mickey Mouse appeared on stage right there in front of her. I think before that point, she was really unsure of what or where her crazy mother had taken her. But after Mickey showed up, she was glued to the stage.

At intermission, we got popcorn and a Dr. Pepper, both HUGE treats in Josie's world. After we sat down to enjoy the rest of the show, we were sharing the popcorn and you know what she said to me...."Don't eat it all Momma." Boy does she know me. The show ended with a big finale of all the characters on the stage. Oh and I almost forgot about Toodles - Josie thought that he was especially cool (as did most of the other kids). The production had a spotlight that looked like Toodles so when they called him, Toodles literally was flying all over the arena onto the seats, the floor, and on top of the kids. I'm so glad we went!

Playhouse Disney Live! on Tour

Little Einsteins were first on the stage. Josie loved to 'pat, pat, pat' to help make the rocket go.


Next came Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and their friend (I can't remember her name)

Next came the Handy Manny gang. I took a picture of Mr. Lopart just because he had the combover in the Live! on Tour production just like he does in the show.

And of course, Handy Manny and his tools were there.

The Mickey Mouse Gang

The grand finale with all the characters sharing their music at Mickey's Music Party

A picture of us at intermission before I was admonished for eating popcorn.

Our final picture before we left. After the show, we went up to the stage and I wanted to take Josie's picture in front of the big inflatable glove on stage, but Josie wanted her picture on the stage steps so that is what we did. I think it turned out really good her way.

The Father of the Green Revolution

I was saddened Sunday morning to read that Norman Borlaug died Saturday, September 12, 2009. I had the pleasure to hear him speak several times during my days as an Agronomy student. And although I did not realize it the first time I saw him, I now know what an amazing man he was and how many people live because he lived. I read his article/obituary last night and another tribute article this morning. Educated through the 8th grade in a one-room school house in Iowa, this man went on to save what some estimate to be more than 1 billion lives. As a crop breeder, he developed varieties that were disease resistant and shorter to prevent lodging. He helped feed the world - a true humanitarian. I provided links below to the 2 articles I read if you are interested. And here a few snippets that I took from them. May he rest in peace.

His successes in the 1960s came just as books like The Population Bomb were warning readers that mass starvation was inevitable. "Three or four decades ago, when we were trying to move technology into India, Pakistan and China, they said nothing could be done to save these people, that the population had to die off," he said in 2004. Borlaug often said wheat was only a vehicle for his real interest, which was to improve people's lives."We must recognize the fact that adequate food is only the first requisite for life," he said in his Nobel acceptance speech. "For a decent and humane life we must also provide an opportunity for good education, remunerative employment, comfortable housing, good clothing and effective and compassionate medical care."

In 1960, the world produced 692 million tons of grain for 2.2 billion people. By 1992, largely as a result of Borlaug's pioneering techniques, it was producing 1.9 billion tons for 5.6 billion people -- using only 1 percent more land.

He remained active well into his 90s, campaigning for the use of biotechnology to fight hunger and working on a project to fight poverty and starvation in Africa by teaching new drought-resistant farming methods.

Nobel winner Borlaug dies at home in Dallas

Borlaug remembered for his inspiration, dedication

Weekend Wrap-up

We went to Brownwood for Labor Day weekend and had a great time with the grandparents, Uncle Mike, Aunt Kristie, Hayden and Jenna. The guys took all the kids (except Evelyn) fishing on Saturday at Uncle Norman's place. Unfortunately, they did not have much luck with the fish and fortunately, supper was not depending on their catch. Rubert, instead, made us his famous brats. Because we don't have Labor Day off, we had to cut the weekend short and come home on Sunday, but it was a great weekend and long overdue.

Evelyn and Aunt Kristie

Rubert and Kevin cooking the brats (yum!)

Grammy, Kevin and Evelyn

Josie actually got up the nerve to drive the tractor. Grandpapa had to push the pedal for her, but she at least was not scared of it.

Magic Words and other Josieisms

You have to be a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse fan to appreciate this post, but the other day, I was getting Josie in the car and she asked for her cheerios. I told her she had to say the magic words to which she replied, "Meeshka, Mooshka." Some background for you nonmickey watchers (you poor folks with empty lives). At the beginning of every episode, Mickey Mouse comes on and says, "to make the clubhouse appear, we have to say the magic words," to which everyone then replies, "Meeshka Mooshka, Mickey Mouse."

This got me to thinking about all of the other cute little phrases and words that Josie uses so I thought I'd try to write some of them down and share them with y'all.
Her happy = this used to mean her Paci, although she now calls it a Paci
Iss too working = usually means something is not working for her
Alligator = an elevator
Puppets = Evelyn's snack, Puffs
Biper = Diaper (obviously)
I get M&Ms if I go potty = a phrase we hear at least 10 times a day