Chicken Nugget French Fried Cake Anyone?

It's not often that my sweet boy will actually sit in one place long enough to play toys with Mommy, but yesterday was an exception! Gracyn was busying herself with the letter magnets so Cade asked if I'd like to play "little people" with him. Sound good to me, I replied. He promptly informed me that he was going to drive the BIG dump truck to collect trash and my man could drive the "widdle" dump truck and be HIS helper. So my man hopped up in his little dump truck and got to work. After a hard days work of collecting pretend trash from pretend people's curbs, Cade asked my man...

"Would you like to come over to my house for supper?

My Mom's makin' chicken nugget french fried cake for supper!"

Of course my man politely accepted, who could pass on THAT treat, and ate delicious fried cake for supper. It must have tasted good because check out the smile on his face!

Where does he get this stuff?

Next week on Menu Monday,

I'll be featuring my recipe for Fish stick macaroni and cheese pie. HA!
Only delicious fried southern cuisine served here!

Wordless Wednesday

Railways, Water and a Wedding

Off we flew last Thursday evening to visit my family in Dallas!!! The drive up was a breeze and on Friday morning we set out to do something Cade has been looking forward to for quite some time now. Nani and Papa have been talking about taking him on a TRAIN for months! Friday was gloriously beautiful, so we decided to take the plunge and ride the rail into downtown! He was so excited all morning waiting to set foot on his favorite mode of "prewtend" transportation...trains! My little boy spends hours setting up tracks, conducting trains, and rearranging freight cars on any given day! He has loved trains since he first discovered Thomas around age 2 1/2. He even informed me before we left that he needed to change his shoes because his sneakers were dirty and "Sir Topham Hatt doesn't like dirty shoes, mommy!" So with a clean pair of shoes we headed off on our adventure!

Just our luck! We miss the next available train and have an hour to kill. Luckily, an old stand-by was just a short walk away! Papa treated milk shakes and sundaes all around!!! With full bellies we head back out and board our train. Cade was so brave! He wanted to ride on the top deck of the passenger car with Papa and marched right up there and found himself a seat. He loved the view and talked about everything we passed by in detail. He was fascinated with the sights, sounds, and smells of this new and exciting choo choo train. A short trip later, we climbed off to walk off some energy in downtown. Our little crew headed to the old courthouse first, where we found a neat synchronized water fountain to play at. Gracyn practiced her walking and Cade practiced his running!Peek-a-boo...we see YOU All 5 of us, including Gracyn enjoyed every minute of that afternoon. The excitement we witnessed in his eyes that day was remarkably contagious! We felt like we were riding a train for the first time again, through Cade. His sheer joy reminded us all to find happiness in the little moments in life and to truly marvel at the world that surrounds us. I pray that in the months and years ahead, I will continue to stop and look at the world through HIS eyes. Thanks for the lesson little man
A BIG congratulations to my cousin Cody and his new bride Ashley! They got hitched in Sherman Texas at her family's ranch on Saturday afternoon. It was a gorgeous outside wedding on a hillside overlooking a pond. Nature provided the perfect backdrop for their fall themed nuptials. I wish them love and happiness always. Here are just a few pictures from the big event!

Aunt Manda and Uncle Cody taking in the view with Cade

The Happy Couple...aren't they so cute?!??!!

Gracie enjoyed all the yummy tableware :)

Wordless Wednesday

Look at all the Pumpkins

Cade's first class field trip is in the record books! Last Friday, we caravaned over to visit a local pumpkin patch with Cade and all of his preschool buddies! Even Gracyn came along for the ride! Needless to say, there were too many neat pumpkins to check out for ANYONE to look too long at the camera, but we managed to get a couple of good shots in!

The one we took home

2 Adults + 5 Kids = Lucky 7

Recently our friends the Locklins let their fun lovin' kiddos come spend the night at our casa. It was the first time Cade has EVER had "kid" friends spend the night, so to say he was excited is the understatement of the year!!! We honestly had such an awesome time with them! They are truly a neat mix of kids. We spent the night gorging ourselves on pizza, guzzling lemonade, dunkin' cookies, playing golf, hitting baseballs, sharing toys, bowling on the Wii and watching BEE movie! When the sun rose the next morning, everyone was eager to help out in the kitchen making their own individual servings of monkey bread for breakfast! Locklin Crew you're welcome anytime here at Casita de Alaniz...the more the merrier!

Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here

Learning the ropes

Now it's Ray's turn

It's ON little brother!!Mr. Captive Audience
Our own future Cirque du Soleil performer practicing his balancing act

Boxing Action... the SuSpEnSe...is killing me

BEE movie timeGracie...right in the mix of thingsBeD HeAdS