Dark Oak Woman

2009-03-27T10:32:00.000-07:00

I have a new blog name and a new blog url! Sorry to make this such a pain but would you all please bookmark or change in your favorites to the new address. Purty Pleeeze? Thanks!! I'll set to work fixing things up here soon enough. Bear with me! My Dark Oak Woman blog will remain up but all my new posts will be here. I'll have a permanent link to the old place though.

uneven edges...

2009-03-25T09:45:00.000-07:00

My Dark Oak Woman name just wasn't suiting me any longer. I love having an "Indian name" but it didn't describe me completely. I have a history with uneven edges so this new name is more fitting. One of my legs is longer than the other. When I was a kid this didn't bother me but as I get older it causes me pain now and then. So, I'm physically uneven and more aware of it. It would be impossible to find someone who isn't uneven.

Alas, I am also creatively uneven.

When I made my very first pieced quilt I didn't understand the quarter-inch seam concept AT ALL. It was a disaster. But, I managed to get all of it lined up on top. You shoulda seen the bottom. Several years later I made a bowtie quilt and didn't like the size of my blocks so I cut them down. This time I wasn't so lucky with the outcome. It does add to the "charm" of the quilt though, don't you think?

Then there was my first afghan...

I dove right in without understanding how to end a row, make a chain and begin the next row. Luckily I thought of a way to fix it by crocheting an edge around all 4 sides and today my mistakes are hardly visible(this is a "before" picture).

Now, thankfully, I have figured out the quarter-inch seam and how to end/begin a crocheted row.

Have you ever noticed how hard it is to trim your own bangs???....

Simply Sunday...

2009-03-22T19:32:00.000-07:00

Jasper enjoyed the view.

Sarah talked on her phone to grandma and friend Callie.

Anyone want to buy a 1991 Suburban?

I love it when the oak tree is this color.

This is one tall tree!

Jasper tried to make friends with Jeff, the red eared slider Sarah caught at the park today.(click to enlarge any of the pictures)

It Isn't White!!!

2009-03-19T14:31:00.000-07:00

It seems as though almost every car we've had in the past 20 years has been white, especially the last 3 or 4. Finally, we have branched out and added a nice neutral! Introducing my new ride!!

Ocean Sapphire...

2009-03-14T16:43:00.000-07:00

Sarah's friend got a Siamese Fighting Fish(betta) a few weeks ago and she's been bugging us to get one too. I resisted because of the cats, but finally gave in today. He's GORGEOUS!! (click to see larger images)

I wish his irredescence showed up better in the photos. He's a dark blue with slightly lighter fins.

Here he is backlit, showing off his greenishness. You can see a few of my needle-felted balls behind his bowl too, an nice foil for his coloring.

This is the truest picture of his color.

We already had the bowl and red marbles, a perfect habitat for such a beauty. However, we will be looking for a bigger container. They do better in 1-2 gallon tanks, this one is probably a half gallon. Why yes, that is a C3PO standing in the corner!

In other news...

I'm taking time this weekend to go through a newish(acquired last year) old cookbook, Rodale's Naturally Great Foods Cookbook by Nancy Albright(published in 1977). Is it ever full of good stuff! Not just recipes but instructions on everything from making yogurt, sprouting sprouts, and even grinding flour from pumpkins! Wowza!!! There are soooo many recipes in it that I'm dying to try out, like Alfalfa Sprout Gazpacho, Avocado Banana Dressing, Grainburgers, Millet Meatloaf, Broccoli Timbales, Yogurt Cheese, Sourdough Rye Bread, and the list goes on and on and on!!! I'm also reading another goodie called Cooking Vegetables the Italian Way by Judith Barrett. Lotsa good stuff there too.

We are supposed to be taking the last bits of wallpaper down from the dining room tomorrow. The paint we've decided on is called Caramel Cream, a rich, bright orange. All the playing I've done at Valspar's online room painting thingie points to this color. I think it will be perfect.

I'm sure it looks garish on your monitor, kinda looks washed out on mine too. Trust me, its really a rich, goldish orange with depth and a nice warmth. In fact, if you'll scroll back up to the third picture of Ocean(his true color pic) and look directly above his tail you can see a felted ball of red, yellow, and orange. The orange in that picture is very close to the wall color. I can't wait to get it painted!!

Guess that's all the goings on for this weekend. Hopefully I'll be able to blog more next week. Having a working teen who is also very social is demanding more of my time than I ever thought possible!!

New Shoes...

2009-03-08T15:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was shoe buying day for some of the Soniers. Amy was outgrowing her Converse and wanted Chuck Taylors and Sarah found some brown and white checkerboard Vans that are just adorable! I wanted something with a little more support for my older model feet and tried some Eccos on just to see. Oh my GOOOOSH!! I never even took them back off!! They got their first workout today at the park and my feet feel wonderful!!! No sore spots, no aches at all! I am impressed big time.

HERE are the shoes I got. They aren't quite as bright blue as the picture, more of a greyish blue actually, but still very stylish.

I wanna be a rink rat...

2009-03-05T07:22:00.000-08:00

Deliberate spontaneity or spontaneously deliberate....

2009-03-03T20:20:00.000-08:00

I've decided I want to be more flexible and regain some of my muscle tone(this would be the deliberate part). I tried skating today for the first time in 9 years, it was NOT pretty(this would be one of the 3 spontaneous parts). Anyway, I've found 5 Element Qi Gong is an easy way to get back into exercising. Several years ago I did yoga all the time and LOVED it but one day it was too cold(I did my routine outside) and it was like hitting a steel wall. I have never done a yoga routine since then. This is fun and doesn't take long to learn or do(spontaneous thing #2). I follow along 3-4 times a day.

I've also started walking at a local park again(spontaneous thing #3). This is Julianna Park for the locals. My plan is to get fit enough to be able to skate. I took 2 semesters of roller skating in college and loved it. Hopefully it won't take too long to get back in the swing of things but I've GOT to have better muscles in my legs!

Along the walking trail is a small neighborhood park(Ward Park). We lived a few blocks from this park before Ryan was born and I'd walk there when I was pregnant. It used to have old, dangerous equipment but yesterday we were pleasently surprised to see this being installed! Now, if they'd only add more tables and a bathroom we'd be set! Luckily its just a 1/4 mile or so to another park(at the upper end of the trail) with facilities. This looks like one to add to our rotation.

2009-03-01T17:41:00.000-08:00

The Thinker

You are analytical and logical - and on a quest to learn everything you can.
Smart and complex, you always love a new intellectual challenge.

Your biggest pet peeve is people who slow you down with trivial chit chat.
A quiet maverick, you tend to ignore rules and authority whenever you feel like it.

In love, you are an easy person to fall for. But you're not an easy person to stay in love with. Although you are quite flexible, you often come off as aloof or argumentative.

At work, you are both a logical and creative thinker. You are great at solving problems. You would make an excellent mathematician, programmer, or professor.

How you see yourself: Creative, fair, and tough-minded

When other people don't get you, they see you as: arrogant, cold, and robotic

You Are An INTP

What's Your Personality Type?

In other news...

Sarah and I want to go camping again when we visit my parents this summer. Here's the place.

In Which I Ruminate...

2009-02-28T10:59:00.000-08:00

As some of you know, we are dealing with Mark's mom's moderate to severe Alzheimer's Disease. She refuses to see a doctor, won't take so much as an aspirin, and considers herself to be healthy "pioneer stock". Mark's dad is doing the best he can and has taken over the cooking and such, but she's really way too much for him to have to look after. They are in their early 80s and he has health issues of his own. She's bad enough that she's preventing him from seeking the care he needs as well. Anyway, without going into all the gory details, it is time for her to be cared for in a facility and we are starting Monday with getting her evaluated and placed.

Soooo, in Mark's communications with his sister about all this, he was presented with the story of how he came to be a part of their family.

Mark's mom has always told conflicting stories about the adoption of their children. He was never really sure where he or his sister came from or the reason his parents couldn't have children of their own. His sister told him yesterday that his birth mother is a relative of a woman his parents knew socially here in our hometown. She claims to have seen this woman once and says there is a very strong resemblance. My mom, Mark and I have, on rare occasion, seen a young man(maybe 8-12 years younger than Mark) who could be his twin. Same hair color, facial structure, body frame, eye color. Mark knows the friends of his parents, he even saw the husband in Walmart last week. He has never, to his knowledge, seen the woman who might be his birth mother. We don't know the situation that caused her to give him up for adoption. Maybe she was a young adult, unmarried and pregnant for the first time, or maybe she was older, divorced and unable to take the responsibility for another child. It wouldn't be hard to find out these things without actually contacting this family, but it would be nice to hear the true story from someone who knows. It is SO unfair that the adults(when he was born) are the keepers of the knowledge. Even now, as an adult, he is, possibly forever, in the dark about his blood lineage while "everybody else" knows his history.

Does Mark want to know her story? We've talked about it and I think he does but not right now. He has an enormous volume of work with his new business and the goings on with his parents so it might be a while before he's able to focus on this part of his life. I hope he chooses to approach the family about finding his birth mother. There are medical issues he's dealing with that are adult onset, things we might need to know for the sake of our children.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we deal with his mom and dad. Its going to be stressful for everyone involved rest assured.

A weekend day around the casa...

2009-02-27T11:55:00.000-08:00

First we enjoyed the comings and goings at the bird feeder.

Then we enjoyed the company of our youngest three kitties.

(Tallulah, 7 months)

(Gypsy, 16 months)

(Jasper, 16 months)

Later, the girls helped out with the garage clean-up. Ryan helped too but I didn't get a picture of him.

Finally, I looked through our glass door at the afternoon sun. Can't wait to get it sanded, painted and installed!

Abundance Is....

2009-02-20T12:52:00.000-08:00

(First I'd like to thank everyone who commented on my deliberate living post. What you all wrote was inspirational and has given me more to think about. I'm absolutely at peace with dancing to my own music, using my microwave, and sleeping in dyed sheets.*G*)

Now,

Abundance is...

Having enough to give away and never miss it.

We filled the whole Suburban today with stuff for charity and gave a nice dresser to a needy family. We aren't finished, not by a long shot, but we were cleaning first, sorting out second. There are more weekends coming up.

Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again. Give portions to seven, yes to eight, for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land. Ecclesiastes 11:1-2.

Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair.~G.K. Chesterton

Abundance is...

Perfect weather, rain or shine.

The past two weekends were spent raking, moving, hauling, lifting, digging, bagging, and so forth. We got our entire front and back yards done! This Saturday we awoke to chilly, windy drizzle and it was just perfect because we had nothing to do outside(no yardwork). Ryan had to be at his job just before noon so we all got ready and dropped him off. We headed to Lowe's for some shelf holders and Jake's for guinea pig and dog bedding. The girls were hungry and decided on Taco Bell. Just as we were waiting for the light to change for us to turn onto that road, Mark had the brilliant idea that we needed something a bit more substantial so we headed for our favorite Tex-Mex dive. It was exactly what we needed on a gray day, very comforting and relaxing.

Today we had no plans to work in the garage but it happened. The weather, once again, was just perfect. Not too cold, not windy, sunny and mild. We didn't get hot on the west side of the house nor did we get cold fingers(except the girls when they washed some box lids). Now after hours of hard work, our garage is clean and organized with (almost)everything in its place.

Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather. ~John Ruskin

There's nothing like biting off more than you can chew, and then chewing anyway. ~Mark Burnett

Abundance is...

Experiencing one of the Earth's most powerful and awesome events and not being hurt or scared.

We had an earthquake early this morning! Actually, what we think is that it was an aftershock from one that happened north of Oklahoma City at 3:43am(Did You Feel It?"). Mark and I were awakened at 4:45 by a series of vibrations like idling in a diesel truck but there was no noise(our bedroom doors did shake a bit). The dogs had actually got me alert a few seconds before so I felt them before Mark. The shakes woke him up. It was unnerving but we really didn't think "earthquake" until we'd got up and around later in the day.

Which would you rather have, a bursting planet or an earthquake here and there? ~John Joseph Lynch

It is not light that we need, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. ~Frederick Douglass

Deliberate Living....

2009-02-19T06:33:00.000-08:00

A new friend of mine said something that gave me pause. She said she needed to start living more deliberately. Hmmmm. As with all philosophies, some followers are rather militant, taking it to the very far extreme. Many, however, like my friends Cheryl, Kel, and Anet (and others of course) are just wading in and doing what their hearts tell them. Baby steps for me. I'm not sure I am ready to commit to any certain "thing" yet. It might be that I do as these women are doing and deliberately change the foods I serve to my family but it quite likely won't be exactly what they are doing. Maybe I'll work at reducing my plastics like Kel has done.

There are things we have that we cannot give up, like our swimming pool. Sure chlorine isn't the healthiest thing to be swimming in but does the exercise we're getting count against that at all? We can't afford to switch over to a salt water filter but I can research alternatives and possibly switch to a less toxic treatment or determine when the best times for swimming would be. There are other things out there that seem to be hype(or at the very least, overly dramatized) as well. I won't be giving up my microwave, sticking my feet in a detox machine, or exchanging our current bedding for organic, unbleached, undyed sheets. I have no room for a garden, nor do I have the inclination to dig in the dirt so that's out for me too. What I do know is that the phrase I heard at park day, "live more deliberately" struck a cord in me and I want to investigate further. How about you?

Here are more websites about living deliberately...

DeliberateLife.com

Deliberate Living: Slowing Down & Simplifying

Living Deliberately(a discussion group)

Living-Deliberately.com

abundance...

2009-02-16T08:42:00.000-08:00

For Christmas, my mom gave me a book of affirmations called The Art of Abundance, a Simple Guide to Discovering Life's Treasures, by Candy Paull. I've just now had time to start reading it and found three wonderful quotes right away that spoke to me. They have a common theme not just about abundance, but about where it is truly found...

One of the hardest lessons we have to learn in this life, and one that many persons never learn, is to see the divine, the celestial, the pure, in the common, the near at hand- to see that heaven lies above us here in this world. ~ John Burroughs

One of the most important -and neglected- elements in the beginnings of the interior life is the ability to respond to reality, to see the value and the beauty in ordinary things, to come alive to the splendor that is all around us in the creatures of God. ~ Thomas Merton

In those vernal seasons of the year when the air is calm and pleasant, it were an injury and sullenness against nature not to go out and see her riches, and partake in her rejoicing with heaven and earth. ~ Milton

Abundance, for me, means enjoying the goings-on in our very front yard. That this Spring-like weather is tricking my daffodils into blooming is only part of it! I've got 17 flowers in my little "daffy patch". I also love the beautiful moss carpet that's shooting up new growth like velvet underfoot. If it wasn't 45 degrees at the moment I'd be out there closer to it. My dad bought a bird feeder for the girls and I after we returned from North Carolina. The birds have finally figured out how to eat from it and we've been enjoying them for about a month now. Sunday morning as I took Puppy-girl out for her potty break, there were 4 robins swooping and darting from the back yard oak to the front yard pines and all manner of other birds hopping and twittering in the sun. This morning there was a squirrel on the porch, teasing the cats as it stuffed its face full of sunflower seeds.

Abundance also means cooking the spaghetti squash that was languishing on the counter and anticipating the eating of said squash as if it were the finest meal in the world. For the record, I sprinkled it with ground sage, a tiny pinch of dried thyme, salt, and liberal amounts of garlic, oh, and a spoonful of smart balance margarine! It was a comfort food much like mac and cheese without the guilt! We won't be doing a "real" grocery shop until Thursday which means I'll have to make do with what we've got in the cupboard til then. A "pantry challenge". Mark just arrived with guinea pig food and hay, potatoes, and bread. We've got rice, pasta, beans, spices, chicken breasts, tortillas, dairy products, sausage, peppers, onions, fresh and frozen veggies, canned tomatoes(and beans, etc, etc.), and more, so technically we could probably eat for another 10 days or so. Having such a bounty is not just abundance but also peace and provision.

I hope you all find similar things to appreciate within the ordinary(and it is SO not, once you take time to observe) this day and this week!! Children seem to enjoy abundance naturally so I take a lot of cues from this chicka. She found the first anole of the season yesterday!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

2009-02-14T07:19:00.000-08:00

Well, just when I thought the bad stuff was over, it wasn't. But, it is now. The perpetrator of the lies, rumors, and innuendo has been found out and whatever she says will no longer be believed. Of course this has come to an end that wasn't what I had envisioned, so if you are a praying person, say one for all involved. I woke up this morning and my first thought was nothing to do with this, that hasn't happened in weeks! I've got such a peace finally, its overwhelming and soooo freeing!!

So, on that HAPPY note, I will post some "lovely" songs for a "lovely" day. We don't celebrate Valentine's Day really. Mark and I are not sentimental beings unless there is a deep personal meaning behind something. V-day doesn't have that for us, although we did get "officially" engaged on February 12th(he bought me a ring the previous November and I made him take it back because it was too big-what was I THINKIN'!!!). However, we love love and don't mind celebrating that at all!!!

Ryan had his first "official" date last night, we drove them to dinner and a movie. He's had casual "friends who are girls" and even "girls of interest" but not a true "girlfriend" before. This is the first one he's let us meet. She's really cute and has a sweet, outgoing personality(and she's smart!!). She's coming over this afternoon with a friend and we're going to grill steaks and shrimp. Now I'd better extract my booty from this chair and go help with the yard work!!

And, OMG!!!

Recovering...

2009-02-08T17:13:00.000-08:00

Or actually "Recovered"... from a lot of really bad junk going around... physical, emotional, and spiritual. Let me just say it has been a BAD, very BAD, ugly, nasty winter and a HUMONGOUS TIME WASTER!!!! However, it is over for my part and I'm better for it all around.

Now for some new music I've come across and just LOVE! This first woman, Stephanie deBruijn is AMAZING!!

The Greencards are wonderful too... this video reminds me of my youth and my kids at the same time.

And the SteelDrivers... with one of my favorite songs ever.

Two more of my favorites.

A Meme Made by Meeee!!

2009-01-30T06:35:00.000-08:00

You can follow along if you dare! Informally tagging all my regular readers who like to do these sorts of things.

Eight Things

Eight things... in my fridge

1. raw milk
2. ketchup
3. Albert's hot sauce
4. eggs
5. lunch meat
6. yeast
7. 4 things of mustard
8. raw cream

Eight things... in my closet

1. box of socks
2. bed sheets
3. lots of shoes
4. hanging clothes
5. hanging jewelry organizer, completely empty!
6. two red table cloths, destined to become living room curtains someday
7. three large boxes of JUNK
8. bumper pads from Ryan's nursery set, made by my mom

Eight things... in my purse

1. three pens
2. flashlight
3. toothbrush
4. one dollar bill
5. mint gum
6. earrings
7. scissors
8. religious tracts from the girls' church

Eight things... in my(bedroom, kitchen, or car, choose one)

1. five quilts
2. three afghans
3. dozens of books/magazines
4. cd player
5. yarn
6. suitcases
7. picture boxes
8. artwork

Just Messin'

2009-01-27T14:37:00.000-08:00

First, a fun personality test. Dead-on accurate as usual.

View Full MyPersonality.org Profile

0 50 100	%
Openness	84%
Conscientiousness	16%
Extraversion	5.5%
Agreeableness	64%
Neuroticism	21%

(click to read but don't go by their graph, the numbers aren't right on that one for some reason. they are right here on this one.)

And now collages of pictures scanned on my trip to mom and dad's, click to enlarge and see the lovely details!

These are my dad's parents. His mom is the one in the light colored overalls and on the right in front of the car downtown(bottom pic).

My great-grandfather(the young man) and his parents and siblings(bottom pic) with great-grandpa being the little boy front and center. I'm not sure who the babies are in the first pic.

I'm feeling a bit better today. Enough to make a trip to Hobby Lobby for yarn and crochet hooks! Now we just need to get Mark well and I think we'll be out of the woods. We're expecting nasty ice stormy stuff tonight, bluck.

The flu...

2009-01-26T08:00:00.000-08:00

We has it.

Ryan was sick over the weekend of the 17th, I came down with it Tuesday, Sarah on Wednesday, Amy on Thursday, and finally Mark on Saturday. Everyone except Ryan still feels bad. Bluck.

Maybe I'll feel like a real post by mid-week, I've got tons of pictures to upload, transfer and edit. I've missed it! However, I am having fun on Facebook. If yall haven't tried it, do so!!!

We are trying to get back on track today by cleaning guinea pig cages and litterboxes, vacuuming the floors and doing laundry. So far the vacuum is clogged and we've been unable to locate the wad of stuff so the floor won't be happening for now. You wouldn't believe how ready I am to not have carpet in the living area! I'm looking at tile online as I type this but my tastes apparently run to the expensive side. What I want would cost about $4500. Maybe we'll just paint the concrete and get some area rugs...

Inaugural Celebration Chicken With Rice....

2009-01-20T16:47:00.000-08:00

A melting pot of spicy flavors...

2 large bone/skinless chicken breasts, in 1-inch cubes
2 bone/skinless chicken thighs, in 1-inch cubes
1 large onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
couple glugs of olive oil
1/2-1 teaspoon of each of the following spices, adjust to your taste:
cumin, cayenne(about 1/4tsp of this one), dry mustard, curry, ginger, celery seed, garlic powder, onion powder and salt.
2-3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 14 oz cans no-salt-added diced tomatoes with juice
1 14 oz can pineapple chunks in juice, with juice
1 bunch cilantro, washed and chopped fine

Cook chicken and veggies in oil for 15 minutes. Add spices and cook 5 more minutes. Add soy sauce, tomatoes, and pineapple and simmer for 20 minutes, covered, stirring occasionally. Throw in cilantro and simmer another 10 minutes or so. Serve over hot, buttered rice or grain of your choice.

OBAMAMAMA, this was goooood!!!!

I really should post...

2009-01-18T17:57:00.000-08:00

But it feels so good to be lazy!!! I haven't been lazy all the time though, mostly I've been busy! We got in late Monday night, mom and dad left Wednesday morning and we hit the ground running, picking up where we left off but with more laundry. The kids had church Wednesday night, I had a doctor's appt Thursday, kids had to be carted to various and sundry places Friday and Saturday... In between the driving we got some things done. I spent my birthday money, we got a paper shredder for Mark's business, bbq for my birthday, kids went to church and spent the night with friends, etc, etc. Anyway, I am TIRED now and Ryan has apparently contracted the flu, yuck, so we may all be sick next week. He was fine Saturday afternoon when we took him to a friends' house but came down with high fever and chills late that night and has been that way all day today. He tried to watch football but ended up going to bed early.

My camera decided to die while we were on vacation but my brother just happened to be giving me his old one(again). My computer won't upload from it so I have to use the girls' which means no pics for a few days. I'll try to get to that in the next day or so.*G*

It is 8:15 and I'm headed to bed. Whew.

Musical Trip

2009-01-14T09:30:00.000-08:00

My dad and I are the singers in the family. Not that we're good, just that we can't help but do it. I sing all day, every day and I'm pretty sure my dad does too. Here's a tiny bit of what we sang along to on our trip from North Carolina to Texas.

I'm HOME!!!

2009-01-13T15:14:00.001-08:00

We drove straight through yesterday, leaving a very cold Micaville around 7am and arriving in Longview around 10:30ish(honestly I didn't look at a clock). There was fresh snow on the far end of Yancey county but not too slick on the roads. It was beautiful on the mountains but I don't have a picture, the cameras were packed.

The trip went by really fast, dad and I took turns driving. We saw dozens and dozens of deer all through Mississippi, probably over 100. The girls and I had fun watching for them, until we hit one. Dang things leapt in front of us, the first one made it across to the median, the second one crashed into the rear wheel well. I have no idea if it could have survived its wounds, we found a dent and where it wiped off the road dirt along the back of the SUV. After that it was a nervous trip, there were deer EVERYWHERE!! Thankfully the Louisiana deer weren't as plentiful.

Mark took me to lunch today for my birthday. Then mom and I went and enlarged patterns from several books and magazines for our thrifted wool projects.

We're having homemade chili for dinner with cornbread. Mark's coming home early because we didn't sleep well last night. He's VERY busy with his new company, getting everything in compliance takes a long time!

Anyway, I've got pictures on 3 different cameras so it's gonna be a few days. I'm sure it will take a week to get back to normal!!!

(the girl in the hat is my mom's mom's mom, Ollie Skaggs)

Killing Time...

2009-01-09T20:16:00.000-08:00

Here's what my mom and I have been up to today, ignoring housework and laundry, scanning old pictures!! Click to see them better!

(the top middle is us with my great-grandfather who lived 99 years)

(I'm in the budweiser shirt, by the way. AND, my dad still wears that maroon and white tobaggan!)

Conversations with Sarah...

2009-01-09T06:08:00.000-08:00

Last night I went on the back porch to observe the weather. Sarah wanted to come too so I had her bundle up. We turned off the porch light so we could see the stars and moon better. I pointed out how we could see snow in the boxwood patch so we were ooohing and ahhing over that. Then...

She told me about how she and Amy had been up there yesterday and seen all sorts of tracks. Some looked just like dog tracks, they were Puppy-girl sized, some were Daisy sized and one was people sized. But it didn't really look like a people foot but more like a cross between a people foot and a dog foot. It was shaped like a sweet potato or cashew and had toes and claws. Hmmmm, my neck hairs stood on end. Like these?

Or the ones found Here.

I casually quizzed her on shape and size and we went inside. Amy described the same thing and I handed them each a pen and paper to draw what they saw, in separate rooms. They came up with the same exact thing, a bear track! Later Ryan verified by looking online at all kinds of tracks. He said it was definitely not canine, the toes didn't go around the pad but were across the top in a line. I let the girls look and they picked out several bear tracks that fit the bill.

They are banned from the hill/boxwood patch for now, unless they have a grown-up with them(preferably not me). Good thing their uncle is coming home today, he can go along.

My mom said that she and my dad saw a bear track up there once, on the trail Sarah and I went on a few days ago(wish I could get pics on here). I plan to investigate later. Where the kids saw the track is all grass, no way a track would show up after the snow melted, but the trail has muddy ruts so there might be one there.

The Family...

2009-01-07T19:27:00.000-08:00

Well, MY family anyway...

Check out that poodle perm! I think this was a few weeks before my 14th birthday.

forever flying, a dear friend is gone...

2009-01-07T05:33:00.000-08:00

Vyarl Wayne Martin

HURST, Texas — Vyarl Wayne Martin, 46, a veteran of the Army, Navy, and active member of the U.S. Coast Guard Reserves, passed away tragically Sunday, Jan. 4, 2009.

Funeral: 11 a.m. Friday at First United Methodist Church of Hurst with Dr. Michael McKee officiating. Graveside service: 9 a.m. Friday at Dallas Fort Worth National Cemetery in Dallas. Visitation: 6-8 p.m. Thursday at Forest Ridge Funeral Home in Hurst.

Vyarl was born April 20, 1962, in Decatur, Texas. He grew up on a farm in Duke, Okla., where he graduated from Duke High School. He attended Western Oklahoma State College and graduated from Oklahoma University with a bachelor of science degree in aviation technology. On May 28, 1994, he married the love of his life, Kim Olivadoti in Batavia, N.Y. Lieutenant Commander Martin served honorably in the United States Army, United States Navy, and more recently the United States Coast Guard for more than 15 years. He was activated after the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, and served in both Memphis, Tenn., and Galveston, Texas, for more than two years, defending the security of our nation during Operation Noble Eagle. In September 2005, he was a key member of the Operations Section during mass-shelter operations in Houston, Texas, following the devastation of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina. His humanitarian efforts were instrumental in providing food, clothing, medical attention, housing, and other basic human needs to more than 44,000 displaced citizens. For his many accomplishments and service to his fellow countrymen, Lieutenant Commander Martin was awarded the Coast Guard Achievement Medal and the Army Achievement Medal. Vyarl also was employed by Petroleum Helicopter, Inc. of Morgan City, La. For more than three years. He flew for PHI carrying oil rig workers to offshore platforms. Before working for PHI, he was a flight instructor at Meacham Airport in Fort Worth. Vyarl dearly loved to fly and was a pilot for jets, single/muti engine planes, and helicopters. He was a member of the VMAX Club and the Gold Wing Club. He will be dearly missed by all of his family, friends, and co-workers. Vyarl was preceded in death by his parents, Pastor Adrian Martin and Treva Davis Martin. Survivors: Loving wife, Kim Martin; brothers, Joel Martin and wife Deanna and Kip Martin and wife Lana; uncle, Stanley Davis and wife Barbara; niece, Hannah; nephews, John, Luke, and Mark; and numerous cousins.

Deer and music....

2009-01-04T11:57:00.000-08:00

The more I listen, the more I like them. First Aid Kit.

Now for the deer!! I wish I had been able to slip out the door to take these pictures. There was a mama, a daddy, and two babies. I only managed to get one shot of the mama, running across the yard to join the others. They were in the front yard late last night, I could see their eyes glowing blue when I stepped out before bed. This morning they were in front of the picture window for about an hour but I only found the camera at the last minute.

(mama deer sprinting across the yard)

(babies nibbling)

(babies watching mama who'd snuck around the back and come up the neighbor's driveway)

(watching and listening)

(itching)

thrifted afghan pictures...

2009-01-03T13:42:00.000-08:00

I just LOVE this afghan!! My mom's mom had one and I have always wondered where it went. I'm sure some cousin has it but mom thinks it may have been donated. No telling, that was well over 20 years ago. Anyway, I've never seen one in a thrift store til now and this is a beauty! There are several squares in need of shoring up with some matching yarn but that can wait til we get back home, it won't unravel before then. Sorry for the poor quality of the pictures, it was late at night and I've got no editing software on this computer.

(Nan kicking Bert's butt on bags of our salvaged wool)

I snatched the girls' camera....

2009-01-02T13:38:00.001-08:00

Wish I had a way to upload from mine, it makes better pictures. These will have to do for now. Hope to have some of the kitties soon. Click to enlarge, they are worth it.

(from driveway looking right)

(house for sale across from driveway)

(shed included)

(storm clouds over the mountain-driveway looking left)

(this was absolutely gorgeous)

(house- on right side of drive looking up- next pic is from same place turned to the left)

(mean ol' Buckaroo, lives up to his name by trying to bite the hand that pets him and kicking too!)

(he is pretty handsome though)

Is this cute or what?

2009-01-01T06:29:00.000-08:00

My parents adopted two babies several months ago. This is Bert and he weighs about 5 pounds. They look like china cat figurines, very beautiful and delicate. Nan is a bit shy but I've got some pics on my camera. I'm trying to figure out how to get them onto the girls' computer, which is where I'm posting from now. Hopefully I can get it all worked out soon.

Mom and I have been going nuts at the thrift stores with the wool blazers and sweaters. So far we've deconstructed at least 15 or 20 and there are maybe 15 more to work on. We'll end up halving the goods when we're done. I have LOTS of ideas in the works, LOTS! I'm also working on my third batwing shawl. Its about halfway finished.

It was 14 degrees here this morning!! We're expecting snow on Friday but it will be followed by rain and won't stick. When we were here 2 years ago there was the pretty kind of snow that stayed for 3 days. The kids were in heaven. I wish it would do the same this time.

Anyway, that's the goings on here. I don't know what we'll do today for our New Year's celebration. I'd like to cook something, maybe a chocolate pie or something.

New Year's Resolutions?

2008-12-31T13:51:00.001-08:00

I don't typically make resolutions but this year will be different. Here are areas that I will be working on for the next year:

1. Simplifying my home. When we get back home I will help Mark sort through our garage full of furniture and the attic junk as well. At least 90% of it needs donated or plain old tossed out. My closet is a catch-all for everyone's "stuff" as well so that will be February's task. March through the end of the year yet to be determined.

2. Simplifying my schedule. I need to come up with a better system for grocery shopping and meals. Having church, park day and other commitments is not something I'm all that used to and I struggle with remembering to cook those days.

3. Getting my physical self back together. Mark wants to go hiking with me when we come back to North Carolina in August. I'd really love to be fitter, WAY fitter and stronger, by then. Its a goal to work toward so maybe that will help my motivation this time around.

4. Learn some things that I need to know. Like machine quilting, how to sew garments, how to knit socks... you name it, this is the FUN stuff I'm resolving to at least attempt in 2009.

Like I said, I hardly ever make resolutions so this will be something I can refer back to every week or so to keep me on track maybe. That would be nice.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!

We're Here!!

2008-12-29T19:35:00.000-08:00

We arrived yesterday afternoon(Sunday) at my parents home in North Carolina. Whew, what a drive! Today we went to a thrift shop for wool blazers and sweaters and I scored a gorgeous granny square afghan(pics tomorrow). I'm hoping for more treasure hunting in the coming days. We plan on meeting up with my sister-in-law at some point and a friend of my mom's with two daughters near Sarah's age. So we'll have plenty of things going on. My brother got us online with the girls' computer which helps. I can take pictures with their camera and share from here.

I'm working on another batwing shawl and I'm hoping to have a machine quilting lesson as well(I brought my fall turning twenty again quilt).

Family...

2008-12-26T21:18:00.000-08:00

(Ryan, Amy and Sarah, Mark's parents, and Mark)

(the traditional Nativity is probably older than Mark)

(baby Jesus is quite untraditionally swaddled in a Walmart bag, yes he is)

(Mark's mom, bless her heart, decorates every surface in her home with clippings from magazines, decorative paper towels, empty fruitcups and plastic bags. She suffers from Alzheimer's, which is sad but we do get a chuckle out of her God-given talent)

(the kids with Liz and Sarah, our long-lost relatives from far away. I've not seen them since shortly before Ryan was born, almost 16 years ago).

In other news...

We are leaving for North Carolina in the morning! I think we'll made it as far as Gadsden, Alabama before we stop for the night. The car is packed to the gills. Amy left a detailed 2-page list of rules and instructions for Mark on how to care for the piggers. Too cute. I'll have to email him more later about the cats and dogs(all animals are the kids' responsibility so he really doesn't know what to do for them).

I'll have internet access in NC but not a way to upload my pictures so I'll probably use the girls' camera sometimes if I can. We have lots of fun stuff planned that will *need* documenting!! Can't wait to share!

Just some Christmas-y stuff...

2008-12-23T15:11:00.000-08:00

We did this a few weekends ago:

(Ryan on the roof)

(girls on the roof)

(Mark on the roof- I don't do rooftops)

(front yard holly berries)

We are going here again in a few days:

In other news...

Ryan's winter church camp was cancelled which allows us to leave earlier than we'd planned. Actually, it also allows ME to go along! My parents will bring us back before my doctor appointment in mid-January. I am looking forward to going, its been a while since we've been there. My blogging will be sporadic at best and probably pictureless so you might want to come back after we return for a big update.

Mark is working fast and furious on several different projects at work so us being gone will help him out. He feels guilty when he brings work home.

The kids are chomping at the bit waiting for Christmas. Driving me crazy but in a good way. Ryan has had his fill of "the mall" thank goodness. We might go light-seeing tonight but I'd rather take a nap.

2008-12-19T07:04:00.000-08:00

more animals

Maybe later I'll have some pictures of my own furbabies in their holiday finery!

My mom called me last night to say they were in Tallulah, Louisiana. Only she actually said Mississippi. Soooo, they arrived around 10 o'clock!! I was supposed to go get their Christmas presents today so mom will have to ride with me I guess. I'm very glad they are here and not driving in any nasty weather. Whew!

Christmas Party...

2008-12-18T15:17:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting here wondering why we haven't done one before!! We had a special time visiting and the kids enjoyed getting to play with things they don't have access to on a regular basis. My friend Brandee suggested we rent out the R.O.C. here in Longview for our party and it didn't disappoint. I'm pretty sure this will be a regular event!

Everyone brought wonderful food and we drank hot cocoa, fresh Guatamalan coffee, and sherbet punch. Mark joined us for a while to shoot baskets with the kids before he got called to a delivery. I sent him with a bag of party mix but he missed these...

(basic recipe at Homesick Texan-do a search for chocolate pie. mine is altered with an extra egg yolk, 2 more tbsp flour, dark instead of regular cocoa, and about 1/4 teaspoon mint powder in filo cups)

(this room has foosball, ping pong, and pool tables)

(they shot hoops and played dodge ball in the gym)

(the cafe area had more than enough room for our group)

(they provide the tables, chairs, trash cans, and access to their full kitchen)

(you can tell we had great food!)

(the tree has gorgeous sequined Chrismons on it, wish I'd got a picture by itself)

Now I'm tired! My parents will be here sometime tomorrow so who knows what my blogging will look like until after Christmas. Hopefully I'll get some in. I'm headed to Gilmer tomorrow for soaps and bath salts(shhhh) from my friend Tricia at Herbal Grace. She goes to a few flea markets with her wares so I've got an excuse to shop a bit.

Not the best shots but they'll do for now...

2008-12-17T13:21:00.000-08:00

Because I'm BIZZY BIZZY BIZZZZZY!!! I have to make party mix, chocolate pie filling(more on that tomorrow), sew jingle bells on a shirt, mop, clean my room, etc., etc. Oh and haul kids to two different churches for their Wednesday night things...

But I snapped these pics this afternoon and wanted to get past the Shimmer post so here...

(Christmas mice that I got from a neighbor about 12 years ago)

(the top of our hutch, it looks much better in person, not so stark)

(the tree during daylight)

(the deer love the other pretties)

(I collected these Cherished Teddies ornaments years ago but it fizzled- I still love them though!)

Gotta run! Those jingle bells can't wait!

a bittersweet day...

2008-12-16T07:56:00.000-08:00

(Shimmer Angel)

Amidst the excitement and festivities that are Christmas at our house, we've got sadness. Our dear Shimmer has passed away from a sudden illness. Last Saturday she was fine, I held her and felt nothing. Tuesday the girls felt a small, almond sized lump on her side. By this past weekend it was larger than a chicken egg, probably cancer. She was a spunky little pigger with a cantankerous and bossy "Miss Piggy" personality. We'll miss her.

(Merry Shimmer)

(painted hutch with handmade decorations)

(I think Amy did this one last year)

(red metal cart in the dining room. notice the paint swatches)

(top of the china cabinet with vintage ornaments and decorations)

In Other News...

A-1 Medical Equipment and Supplies is officially servicing patients!!! Mark is thrilled to finally be going. I hope they aren't too busy over the holidays though!

My parents will be here Friday!!!!! I'm trying to plan some meals and snacks for us. Last night my party mix plans fell through because the store had NO cereal, not one box! I'm headed that way in a little while to try again. I also forgot raspberry extract for our hot cocoa(a little gourmet secret) and hopefully they'll have peppermint too(they were out of that too).

Ryan has a Christmas party with his youth group tomorrow night, then our homeschool party, then another homeschool party on Friday with a different group and then hopefully nothing! Sarah's AWANA class is having a jingle party tomorrow so I've got to sew a bunch of jingle bells to a shirt for her. Should be cute!

Guess that's all. The dogs need fed and let back in. Its freezing here... no really it is. We try to wash and dry clothes to help keep the dogs warm since our dryer vents to the garage. It does work but with temps not out of the mid-30s all day it will be a struggle.

I'm spending the morning with apple cider, lightly spiked with buttershots and caramel syrup. Tastes like a caramel apple in a cup!

Merry Pigmas!!!

2008-12-14T11:36:00.000-08:00

(Panda Claus)

(Rainbow the Reindeer)

(Meadow Claus)

(Meadow, Stella and Sundae)

In other news...

We have the computers back for now! Mine is still not perfect but the AVG and other symantec managed to get rid of all the baddies. Myspace is known, from what we hear, for virus and other lovely problems so the kids are banned until further notice.

Computer Woes....

2008-12-14T08:08:00.000-08:00

My computer has a black screen and won't do anything. The girls just had a scan that showed 11 trojan horses. Sooooo, I may not be around much next week. Mark is trying to get to a restore point on mine but so far it won't take. Sigh. Everyone is banned from MySpace from here on out, that's where the scan shows the problems are coming from. GRRRRRR.

Sharing Ornaments....

2008-12-12T20:43:00.000-08:00

Every ornament featured here, except the glass ones of course, was made by my mother over the last 35 years or so. She did the wooden painted ones when I was a little girl and the crosstitch ones not so long ago. I've got several more painted things, a Rabbit and Piglet, Little Red Riding Hood, Eyore, a mouse, etc. but I don't think I'll have time to take pictures of all of them!

We have a Christmas party for our homeschool group next week and then my parents will be here so I've got to get things done around the house, plus do some shopping!!!

Enjoy!

and another quiz that fits...

Which Positive Quality Are You? Your Result: Faith You are Faith. Faith is the belief in better things, in spite of the cynicism and doubt that swirls around us. Faith gives us strength; it inpsires us to move forward and follow our hearts. "Faith tells us what the senses do not."
Peace
Courage
Charity
Friendship
Love
Which Positive Quality Are You? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Today's Adventure...

2008-12-10T10:24:00.000-08:00

I know I've posted about this before but, our family enjoys drinking Raw Milk. It tastes sooooo much better than store bought and is very healthy for you(read some of the links on that website)! The first time Amy tried it she said it tasted "alive". Today Sarah and I set off about 9am for our hour-long trek with threat of sleet and snow, thankfully we had neither. Here's what we saw...

(we didn't think they'd stick around, some were a bit antsy but some came right on up)

(this babe licked our hands with her rough tongue)

(she really liked getting her nose petted)

(isn't she a doll?)

Nothing but cuteness...

2008-12-08T10:07:00.000-08:00

We're getting there....

2008-12-07T14:18:00.000-08:00

Who knew it would take hours and hours to get the lights on a 12 foot tall tree? I was worn out after that activity so we are taking our time putting the ornaments on. Besides, I've got the kids' cold now. Sigh.

Doesn't it look better already?(sorry for dark photos, in my editing program they look just fine but blogger makes them much darker-at least on my monitor they are**edited** they are fine once the post is published so maybe its just the blogger uploader/previewer making them look dark)

Mark and I went to a wonderful Christmas party last night. There was enough food(and I mean good, real food) to feed 4 times the crowd we had(about 50). There was karaoke, a chinese present exchange(the one I brought got stolen twice-that was the limit), and a fire(on a table, not in the fireplace)! A groovy time was had by all. We came home and watched two rented movies, the new Indian Jones(very fun and fast moving) and The Happening(ohso lame).

Ryan had church this morning but we decided against Joe Muggs today. Mark and I went to his office to get a ladder for the tree doings. Then he took Ryan and friends to the mall for the afternoon, making it back in time for the Cowboys game of course.

We have misplaced our ornament hangers so I'm stealing them from my glass things that won't go on the tree due to certain kitties named Gyspy, Jasper and Tallulah. They are fascinated and have all been to the top of it already. We're hoping once the ornaments are on they'll get bored with it.

I am Channeling the Great Griswold...

2008-12-06T11:31:00.000-08:00

(Clark Griswold)

Ye of little faith will behold a wondrous sight.

(the faithless)

Come check late Sunday afternoon to see the transformation!!

(it said 11 feet on the tag, our ceiling is 12 feet, someone got it wrong)

****edited: oops, I think our ceiling is only 11 feet, my bad.****

(we have it anchored to the wall in two places and the ceiling beam as well)

Christmas Foods....

2008-12-05T09:16:00.000-08:00

***updated***I moved the pictures to the bottom of this post lest people think we eat Guinea Pigs for Christmas dinner(thanks Aaron!).

Quite possibly my favorite thing about celebrating Christmas, besides the trees and lights, and fun, is the food!

We don't do a lot of parties and such but now and then we'll attend something that requires a dish or snack. My favorite side dishes to take along are Broccoli Rice(or Quinoa) Casserole and Special Dilled Potatoes. I'm actually taking the potatoes to a party tomorrow night!

My new favorite snack is my special recipe Deviled Party Mix. I use a large roaster pan for it because I like having it last all week long. My recipe goes something like this(all amounts are extremely approximate, sometimes I have to adjust as its cooking)...

(Pillsbury image)

Deviled Party Mix

Corn, rice, and wheat Chex cereals(about 3/4 or more of each box)
Quaker Oat(meal?) Squares cereal(I usually use all but a bowl or two of this)
pretzel twists(most of the bag)
salted mixed nuts(larger can)

3/4 cup margarine
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup(or 1/8th) spicy horseradish mustard
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper(or more)
1/2 tablespoon seasoned salt(remember, this is a large amount of cereals to cover)
1 teaspoon each, garlic and onion powder

Mix the oil, margarine, vinegar and honey together and melt in 225 oven for about 13 minutes. Mix in spices and mustard, adding more oil if it doesn't seem like enough to coat all the cereals.

Add oatmeal squares first, then the rest. Stir well to coat, usually several minutes. Bake at 225 for 15 minutes. Stir well again and continue stirring every 15 minutes for about an hour. Because there is so much it sometimes takes longer to get it all dried out so play it by taste and texture.

Tomorrow we're going to get our tree at Danville Farms. I'm hoping to get it up and ready for lights before we go to the party. Sunday will probably be the big decorating day for us though.

(last year's mantel)

(Shimmer and Stella being Christmas angels)

Christmas Art....

2008-12-03T21:04:00.000-08:00

(these were all done about 3 years ago using the paint program that came with windows)

(I used this one as a banner on my blog)

(I really don't know who drew which pictures)

(this is probably my favorite)

(guinea pigs of course)

(ok, so Spongebob isn't Christmas but he sure is cute!)

Oldies but Goodies...

2008-12-02T13:39:00.000-08:00

It wouldn't be Christmas without...

Advent

2008-12-01T15:29:00.000-08:00

Growing up Southern Baptist, our family didn't do anything for Advent. I'm embarassed to admit that I didn't even know what it was until my mid-twenties. We still don't formally celebrate Advent as a family really. However, I love online Advent calendars! I love the anticipation of Christmas and calendars help me focus. Here are a few of my faves for this year.

Explore Faith Advent Calendar

Online World Interactive Advent Calendar

Holidays on the Net Advent Calendar

and my very favorite of all...

Episcopal Diocese of Washington Advent Calendar

The Cuteness Continues...

2008-11-29T18:39:00.000-08:00

(to the point of amost being unbearable)

(he had just finished bathing her head)

(she woke up and had to reposition)

(ah, that's much better)

(is it sweet enough for you?)

My Inner Hippie Says...

2008-11-27T07:58:00.000-08:00

It just wouldn't be Thanksgiving without Alice's Restaurant(embedding disabled so click to watch and listen).

We are headed to Mark's parents for dinner and a football watching. They'll do the turkey and dressing, some side dishes and desserts and hopefully her homemade 5-hour yeast rolls, I'm bringing sweet potato casserole and broccoli rice casserole and possibly a chocolate pie if I have time.

I am thankful for much this year. There have been many changes in each of our lives. The kids have grown, parents are aging, friendships have deepened, livelihoods have been altered by a fateful hand, and God has moved in very bold ways.

It is literally true, as the thankless say, that they have nothing to be thankful for. He who sits by the fire, thankless for the fire, is just as if he had no fire. Nothing is possessed save in appreciation, of which thankfulness is the indispensable ingredient. But a thankful heart hath a continual feast. ~W.J. Cameron

If I have enjoyed the hospitality of the Host of this universe, Who daily spreads a table in my sight, surely I cannot do less than acknowledge my dependence. ~G.A. Johnston Ross

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ah! on Thanksgiving day....
When the care-wearied man seeks his mother once more,
And the worn matron smiles where the girl smiled before.
What moistens the lips and what brightens the eye?
What calls back the past, like the rich pumpkin pie?
~John Greenleaf Whittier

Thanksgiving is the holiday of peace, the celebration of work and the simple life... a true folk-festival that speaks the poetry of the turn of the seasons, the beauty of seedtime and harvest, the ripe product of the year - and the deep, deep connection of all these things with God. ~Ray Stannard Baker (David Grayson)

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Some Cuteness Going On....

2008-11-24T16:39:00.000-08:00

(Gypsy, Tallulah and Jasper taking a nap on Sarah's bed this weekend)

These are all my friend's dogs, Sally and Honey and the cat, Sister. I'm kicking myself for not photographing the 5-week-old cuteness that belongs to the neighbors. Its one of 5 little Golden Retriever/Black Lab/? mixes. The one we got to hold looked just like a Golden. There are 4 others that are fuzzy and black. Oh my stars it was soooo sweet. If anyone local is interested, I'm sure I could score you one for Christmas!!

(Sarah's new best friend)

(Honey is the big one)

Dreaming...

2008-11-22T20:55:00.000-08:00

A few nights ago I had a dream about having to paint elephants for a circus. We(I guess Mark and I and a few others) were treading water in a huge, deep, indoor pool. The elephants would swim by us to be scrubbed, then go up steps to dry off before we got out to paint them. It was very tedious work, lots of details in the patterns. There were at least 40 of them and probably an equal amount of dolphins which also had to be painted. Another part of the dream was us sitting in a parking lot waiting for someone to join us so we could get "underway" going somewhere. We were in a van with all the doors open and kind of milling around inside. I think we were also pulling a horse trailer with lots of stuff in it(not animals). Anyway...

From what I've gathered from searching, elephants represent our whole self and our power, "the elephant is also a symbol of power, strength, and intellect". Dolphins represent "conscious awareness of one's link with all life; contact with the one life within all things". I'm exploring this and others. There is more in the painting too, about my need to express myself. Interesting.

Last night I dreamed of shopping in a series of thrift shops, much like a flea market but in little open air cubicles. I came across several items that were like ones I'd owned as a child and as I examined them I found my name and address on some of them. More digging came up with this, "suggests that there are still things to be learned and gained from past experiences or what is seemingly worthless. The thrift shop may also symbolize ideas or skills that you may have forgotten". Even more interesting.

Wonder what tonight's will be? I'm looking forward to it!

Watch this video!! I'm slightly obsessed with this song now, its soooo rhythmic.

And this one too, whoa these girls are AWESOME!

A Major Award!!

2008-11-20T18:58:00.001-08:00

Autumn left me an award, isn't it COOL?

Here are the rules that you agree to when you accept this award:

"When you receive the prize, you must write a post showing it, together with the name of who has given it to you, and link them back. Choose a minimum of 7 blogs that you find brilliant in their content or design. Show their names and links and leave them a comment informing that they were prized with 'Honest Weblog'. List [if you can and/or dare] at least ten honest things about yourself. Then, pass it on!"

1. oi************(Tallulah is helping me this morning) Speaking of morning, I rarely eat a traditional American breakfast. Give me spaghetti, leftover roast, even a sandwich over eggs and toast or cereal. However, I do love a bagel with cream cheese.

2. I'm not a sentimental/romantic person at all. Don't buy me flowers or give me cards. Instead, do something realistic like bring dark chocolate or a bag of cat food or something.

3. My introverted nature makes it hard for me to socialize. I am just exhausted after a day filled with talking to others but I do enjoy a good conversation now and then.

4. I love thrift shops but don't get to shop nearly as much as I'd like. Some of my favorite things have come from Salvation Army or Goodwill. You never know what goodies may be lurking in them! Heck, I even dreamed about thrifting last night. Yes really!!!

5. Yall may have noticed that I love animals too! My heart is soft and I tend to take on more than we really need but they are all well cared for and loved.

6. Dieting is not my favorite thing. Neither is exercising. I try to do at least one of them every day though. Right now its the exercising.

7. For some reason I have a mental block about growing my hair longer than my shoulders. Its only been that long once in my lifetime. I also have a mental block about cleaning my bedroom and bathroom but that's another thing.

8. I want desperately to learn how to machine quilt but I'm terrified I'll mess it up. Using the sewing machine is hard for me, don't know why.

9. My unfinished objects pile is bigger than I want it to be. I don't even want to know how may projects are lurking around waiting for completion.

10. Someday I'd like to raise sheep for fiber. Or at least I think I do, it sounds like a romantic thing to do(see #2). It might end up being more trouble than its worth.

Now for my nominees!

1. Clickmom. I have just started following her weightloss endeavors and have found she's a very interesting person!

2. Kel over at A Slice of the Pie. Because she needs to get past that post about blood in the kitchen. Bleck!!

3. Damn Yankee. Since Betts just tagged me for a random facts thing and listed 7 of her own, she only has to do 3 more.

4. Purple Squirrel because her blog is so peaceful and soothing every time. I want to know her secrets!

5. Spruce Hill. Her (very new to me) blog is full of beauty and honesty and a delish recipe for corn chowder that I'll be trying soon.

6. Cedar Chest Quilts is someone who lives near me and also homeschools but we've never met. She's also on a quilter's email group with me. I enjoy her blog but would love to know more about her.

7. Keetha's Stuff'n Such because I haven't picked on her in a loooong time and she needs something to do.

book tagged!

2008-11-19T07:30:00.000-08:00

Jeanne got me!!

The rules are:(just so you'll know, I don't typically follow rules so if you want to play, have at it!)

1. Link to the person who tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share seven random and/or weird book facts about yourself.
3. Tag seven random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
4. Let each person know that they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

My seven random book facts:

1. I LOVE to read!!!

2. I don't have time to read! I used to but having 3 kids and all the activities that go with them kind of puts a damper on sitting still long enough to read. Crocheting has taken the place of reading when I have a minute to relax, it is much more soothing to me.

3. That being said, I finished the LOTR trilogy(again) this summer, plus The Hobbit.

4. I don't have favorite authors. I have favorite stories. Steven King's The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is one, the Little House series is another as is The Red Tent by Anita Diamant(I suspect I'd love all of her stuff though).

5. Cooking, how-tos, historical stuff, poems, alternative medical treatments(moxibustion, herbal lore, etc.), Greek myths, and many other topics are things I love to read about.

6. I do 75% of my reading online in the form of blogs and online publications.

7. My children get their reading qualities from their dad. He(they) mostly reads for information. It isn't that they don't read for pleasure but more that the pleasure is finding out about their intended subject. These days I mostly read this way too(see #2) but when I was a child-teen I read mostly stories for pleasure.

The goings on...

2008-11-16T14:29:00.000-08:00

Amy turned 13 on Saturday so there are two teens in the house now! She had two friends spend the night, two others were unable to make it. They had a pizza pajama party and stayed up well past 1am. We took them all to the mall then next morning to run around. Amy ended up with a pair of teal jeans and two shirts, Ryan and Sarah, who have half-birthdays now, got a shirt apiece. It ended up being a great celebration, everyone had a great time!!

Mark's dad celebrated his 81st birthday on Wednesday so this morning I cooked a big pot of red beans and rice** and baked a chocolate raspberry pie* for his birthday. Mark and I took his parents to see his new office. It happens to be right across the street from their old neighborhood. Now, when I say old, I mean OLD! They moved from there when Mark was a baby. We had a nice visit with them, as nice as you can with someone who has dementia(his mom).

Now I believe I am due a nap!

Next week will be hectic but hopefully I'll be more posty!

* recipe here with modifications of an extra egg yolk and 2 extra tbsps flour, a tiny bit more sugar, dash of cinnamon and a 1/2 tsp raspberry extract. Oh, and I used Special Dark cocoa powder.

** Red Beans and Rice

1.5 pounds dried red beans
3 medium sized ham hocks
3 ribs celery
2 onions
1 green pepper
3 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
1 Tbsp cumin
1 Tbsp dried thyme
1 tsp ground savory
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne(or so)
1 pound smoked kielbasa or sausage of your choice, sliced.
6 cups cooked white rice.

Soak beans overnight. Drain and keep in colander. Cook chopped veggies(except garlic) in oil for 5-6 minutes. Add ham hocks, garlic, bay leaves and seasonings, cook for another 5-6 minutes or until veggies are tender. Add beans and about 10 cups of water, or to cover. Simmer, partially covered, over med-low heat for 2-3 hours. Remove ham hocks and add sliced sausage. Simmer over medium heat for another 1-2 hours, uncovered, stirring often to prevent burning. Fish out bay leaves, let stand 10-15 minutes to thicken and cool a bit. Serve over rice with tabasco and salt at the table.

Mark's New Office...

2008-11-12T12:31:00.000-08:00

For those who don't know, Mark has opened his own medical equipment company, A-1 Medical Equipment and Supplies. He has over 20 years of retail management experience including Wal-Mart, JCPenney and Office Depot, and 7 years of medical equipment experience plus a BBA in Marketing. He is SOOOO excited about this venture and looking forward to serving the East Texas area again! I'm very excited too, this kind of stuff is what he lives for. It is rare that people love their careers as much as Mark loves his. He was made for this and I am so happy for him to get this opportunity.

Some of you have seen these before but here they are for everyone! This is a former doctor's office. We've spent long hours tearing out carpet for the storage areas, painting walls and floors, building shelves for oxygen tanks, a cleaning table, racks for equipment, and so forth. The office was filled with old furniture, equipment, and medical supplies so that all had to be moved and sorted as well. I don't have pictures of the storage, cleaning, or staging areas yet.

(pass thru to the nurse station from the patient waiting area, before)

(desk area, before)

(front door, partition, and dry erase board-not up yet. the extreme right of this picture continues on the first picture where the door hinges are- same wall)

(new desk and curtains, the front door is just to the right of the texas flag picture next to the curtain)

(pass thru no longer. we printed some pics of the kids off the blog and they're on the shelves now)

Esmeralda and Matilda

2008-11-10T13:32:00.000-08:00

Here they are getting ready for the holidays!!! I'll be making Matilda Mouse some holiday finery soon.

Cheesy Gooey Goodness...

2008-11-09T16:59:00.000-08:00

(Cheesy Gooey Tex-Mex Casserole, by Molly Sonier)

(Holy cow this was good)

(And it was meatless!)

First I doubled this chili gravy recipe from Homesick Texan(doubled the liquid and seasoning, not the flour and oil). I tweaked it a bit with about 1/2 teaspoon chipolte powder and about a teaspoon red wine vinegar.

Then I layered(in a 9x13 stoneware casserole) the sauce with corn tortillas, about 10 in all, 2 blocks of Cabot's 75% reduced fat cheddar cheese, grated, 1 can fat free refried beans(just glopped by the tablespoon), about 2 cups fresh spinach, 1 cup cilantro leaves(very loosely packed). My layers went like this:

Sauce
Tortillas
Beans
Cheese
Cilantro
Tortillas
Sauce
Beans
Spinach
Cheese
Tortillas
Sauce(I didn't quite use all of it)
Beans
Cilantro
Cheese

Baked it, covered, at 350 for about 40 minutes. Slurped it up with some greek yogurt on top. Died happy(no not really, but I could have). There is just a teeny bit left for tomorrow. I may send it with Mark if he does the dishes tonight.

In other news...

We were looking SO forward to camping this weekend. Based on the events, it seems God may have been telling us "no" but we didn't listen til he stopped us in our tracks.

Mark had a bad feeling about going all week and I couldn't really get into it either. Once we got the stuff together we were excited to be getting away. We decided against taking the canoe because the Suburban was weighted down too much as it was. Due to his busy week Mark didn't get around to making reservations at the state park we wanted to visit. We got about a mile underway and Mark decided he'd better call to see if there were tent site vacancies. There were not. He pulled off the road and called 6 or 7 other state parks. Only one had sites available. We turned around to head to that park and the Suburban just died. Quit working at all. We coasted to an oil top road that lead back home and came to a stop in the woods. Car would NOT start. Mark jogged back home and drove back with jumper cables. It wasn't the battery. Would allllllmost turn over but not quite. So, we loaded all the camping equipment in his work van and drove back home. We decided to call a wrecker service to haul it home for us. Currently it is sitting in the yard near the driveway. We are unsure what we'll do with it. The repairs for this and many other "ailments" will probably run close to $1100 and there are other things wrong with it as well.

Today we went to visit friends and I was handed some leftovers from a garage sale.*G* I got a cast iron skillet, a neat-o purse, and a vintage barbie with a beeeautiful purple crocheted doily dress, and some okra and peppers!! Barbie has a photo shoot sceduled for tomorrow. Then we looked at used trucks and SUVs(we have to have something to pull the boat and haul 3-5 kids, dogs, equipment and so forth). Finally we headed to Trade Days to see what we could find to drag home! I managed to leave with an adorable(and I mean ADORABLE) crocheted mouse with a dark blue dress. She is just too sweet!! Her photo shoot is scheduled around the same time as purple barbie, so I'll have pics sometime tomorrow. The kids and I got sno-cones and we all split a large funnel cake. I don't think I've had one of those in 25 years! I also ran into a very old friend(30 years!) who works for the police department now. We caught each other up on who and what. Then I checked in with my friend who is selling my scarves, she said 3 had sold!! Woot!! I don't know which ones though. She knits the most incredible striped stocking caps to sell. They are about 5 to 6 feet long and are so cute(I need a picture of them). I wish I was a knitter but there ain't no way...

We're expecting rain tomorrow with slightly cooler temps following. It has been a wonderful fall so far with very little rain and short-sleeve weather almost every day.

Gaaaaah!!

2008-11-08T20:14:00.000-08:00

47 days til Christmas!!!!!

I have MUCH to do!!!!

Like wrist warmers, leg warmers, walking wallets, cell phone cases, hats...

Ackkkkk!!

I won't make any more scarves for a while, we've got plenty!

(Amy modeling scarves, um several years ago)

I LOVE this hat.

(Sarah's Gwen Stefani hat, she's outgrown)

The walking wallets I'm doing are quite a bit smaller than this tween purse, with a strap to wear across the body from one shoulder to the opposite hip. They hold identification and a cell phone, and are PERFECT for walkers.

(Sidney's purse)

I'm currently working on another Patricia shawl like this one but in red(Icelandic Jewels by Yarn Bee). This one is done in Yarn Bee's Highland Thistle and is a bit too stretchy and bouncy for everyday use. It is absolutely cuddly though and I love flopping on the couch in it when its a chilly morning. The red one will be more sturdy but not quite as long.

(bat wing shawl)

I haven't made a hat in a looooong time. Ryan has requested some beanies but he wants the "name brand" kind. I wonder if he'd wear one I made?

(Aaron's hat, unknown ultra bulky yarn)

And I want to make this into a Christmasy wall hanging or table topper. I'm trying to decide if I want to make a zillion more hexagons in red for the background, or just applique it down to a solid piece of fabric. Hexagons would probably look better, darn it.

(vintage fabric paper-pieced hexagons)

I shan't lack for busywork that's for sure.

Making adjustments...

2008-11-07T08:22:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I danced with a bully. I let her sway me to do something I didn't think was right. My action didn't really hurt anyone but it was unfair to some other people. I was distracted, getting ready to head out the door with three kids, sorting through some items for a flea market sale this weekend, needing to go by the bank and other errands before landing at the park, planning a camping trip, and dealing with a lot of other people's emotions and feelings that were supposedly hurt so it was kind of a "heat of the moment" moment. I was hoping that by doing what was asked, I'd not be bothered again. In the back of my mind was the thought that a snowball might be in the making but thankfully it wasn't. Her foot did not get caught in my door, there is no entrance gained. And, it won't happen again.

YEEEEESSSSS!

2008-11-04T20:55:00.001-08:00

I am SO happy with tonight's election results. I'm thrilled and proud and full of renewed patriotism!! That's about as political as I'm going to get, including responding to comments. This video says it all.
****updated to add a link to the Democratic Platform****

The Walk...

2008-11-04T14:21:00.000-08:00

It started beautifully....
(please click each picture to enjoy the full-size version)

Got even better...

With many neat discoveries...

Then, luck turned and we had to head home...

Well this confirms it...

2008-11-01T18:16:00.000-07:00

I sure am Strange!

You Are an Alien

You're so strange, people occasionally wonder if you're from another world.
You don't try to be different, but you see most things from a very unique, very offbeat perspective.

Brilliant to the point of genius, you definitely have some advanced intelligence going on.

No matter what circles you travel in, you always feel like a stranger. And it's a feeling you've learned to like.

Your greatest power: Your superhuman brain

Your greatest weakness: Your lack of empathy - you just don't get humans

You play well with: Zombies

What Kind of Monster Are You?

The Rearranger

2008-11-01T07:39:00.000-07:00

I am not sleeping well with the bed under the window at all(we switched the dresser and bed spots a week or so ago). Our neighbor has a shop in his backyard with spotlights on it and they shine right into our bedroom! It is worse right at the curtains so its like I have a big green glowstick above my head as I sleep. Soooo, since the girls are not here and Mark and Ryan are working, I'm going to put on my rearranger cape and get after it! Of course I have to pick up a ton of stuff first.

The girls will have to clean out both piggie cages when they get here. All of a sudden, in the last 3-4 days, we've had a fly explosion! I'm thinking some animal must've died in the pool area or across the street or something. They tend to hang around the cages and the litterboxes so we've kept them poop-scooped every day since we noticed the problem.

I've got laundry going and have swept the kitchen and utility room. I hate sweeping almost as much as I hate ironing. Bleh. Now I need to figure out dinner and I'll have gotten a lot accomplished before noon!! YEAH ME!!! I'll grocery shop later today, we're out of most of my favorite things so I have to go. Mark's check was bigger than we expected, over a car payment bigger than usual, so I can really stock us up for the winter(including new curtains for the living room and maybe our bedroom!!!).

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!

2008-10-31T08:11:00.000-07:00

May Jack-o-lanterns burning bright
Of soft and golden hue
Pierce through the future’s veil and show
What fate now holds for you.

Backward, turn backward,
O Time, in your flight
make me a child again
just for to-night!
~Elizabeth Akers Allen

Hobgoblins know the proper way to dance:
Arms akimbo, loopy legs askew,
Leaping into darkness with delight,
Lusting for the ecstasy of fright,
Open to the charm of horrors new....
~Nicholas Gordon

On Hallowe'en the thing you must do
Is pretend that nothing can frighten you
And if somethin' scares you and you want to run
Just let on like it's Hallowe'en fun.

A gypsy fire is on the hearth,
Sign of the carnival of mirth;
Through the dun fields and from the glade
Flash merry folk in masquerade,
For this is Hallowe'en!

Shadows of a thousand years rise again unseen,
Voices whisper in the trees, "Tonight is Halloween!"
~Dexter Kozen

On Halloween, witches come true;
Wild ghosts escape from dreams.
Each monster dances in the park....
~Nicholas Gordon

Hark! Hark to the wind! 'Tis the night, they say,
When all souls come back from the far away-
The dead, forgotten this many a day!
~Virna Sheard

What a DAY!!

2008-10-30T16:04:00.000-07:00

Actually it all started yesterday when Sarah and I left bright and early to get the milk for our co-op. It was an uneventful trip up but on the way back a strange animal ran right in front of us, I thought I'd hit it actually. It was fuzzy, chocolate brown, and ran like the dickens. If I didn't know better, I'd swear it was a guinea pig! Anyway, we were almost home when a huge buck ran up the embankment along side the highway and caused me to very nearly stand the car on its front end. Luckily he decided not to dash into my path but turn and run up the shoulder towards us. Just as he got within about 15 feet of the car he bounded back to the woods. Absolutely amazing, would have loved a picture or two.

(Sarah and friend ready for a big night)

I picked up an extra kid when I took the milk to the drop-off house. She went with Sarah to their church's "trunk or treat". Mark joined up with us later and then we went across town to pick up his car from work. Sarah's friend spent the night and went with us to homeschool park day...

(Jackson park play area)

(pecan leaves)

(trees mid-park)

(Virginia creeper)

(park trail to the right)

(Ike damage to the left of the trail)

(Ike damage by the creek banks, I did not happen to include the picture of a homeless camp that I happened to be standing in when this pic was snapped)

(sparks of sunshine)

(hello there, I see you)

(he doesn't live here but someone probably does)

(Sarah and friend spinning)

After park, we ran by and grabbed a bite of fast food, then to Goodwill for socks and on to Kids Station for a birthday party. It was a looooong day, but oh, so enjoyable.

(girls in the ball pit)

(birthday boy)

blog fishing again....

2008-10-27T12:12:00.000-07:00

Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op. Quite possibly the only blog you'll ever need.

2008-10-27T07:03:00.000-07:00

I'm participating in...

over at Smiling Sally's.

(our tree should look like this again in a few weeks, I hope!)

(my mom gave these antique pretties to me last year for Christmas)

(Mark made this painted box for a Christmas present years ago. I'm not sure if this was for his mom or my mom)

(Amy drew this last year using paint)

In other news...

Around bedtime last night a blustery cold front blew in with a vengence! I've only heard the wind howling like that during a hurricane! Because of our recent room rearranging, our bed is now under the window and the tree is just feet away from us. Needless to say, it took a long time for me to get to sleep. We ended up losing several good-sized limbs and branches. One hit the house and rolled off, its about 15 feet long and as big around as my thigh! Surprisingly, none of the branches that were broken during Ike ended up on the ground. I think they are too tangled up to come loose, for now.

We've been so slammed around here that our staples are low. This almost never happens but our weekend was so hectic that we ran out of cat litter, potatoes, ice, and lunch meat! So, I have GOT to run to the grocery store. I'd much rather stay home and work on my crocheted bags though. They are coming along nicely and I hope to have several ready for Patricia to sell soon. Pictures are coming soon.

One thing we'll definitely do today is make Homesick Texan's Wacky Cake! I've heard of this cake before but I'm not sure I've ever tasted one. I hope its good! We'll doctor ours up with cayenne powder and maybe cinnamon so I'm sure it will be scarfed down.

My mom sent some Christmas ornament kits to the girls so if we have time and if they're in the mood, we may work on those a bit. One is needle-felted ornaments and one is styrafoam balls with sequins to stick on with pins.

Comfort food for everyone...

2008-10-25T13:36:00.000-07:00

Several days ago I got hungry for my favorite festive comfort food, Broccoli Rice Casserole. Between trips running hither and yon(we have been sofreakingbusyyouhavenoidea), I managed to get the ingredients for it and had planned to make it Wednesday night. Ok, Thursday night. How 'bout Friday then? Finally! So, about that time, I discovered the absence of rice in my pantry. Grrrr. But, all was not lost...

Quinoa to the rescue! This stuff is wonderfood! Please, if you've never tried it, do so! It is awesome!!!

Broccoli Quinoa Casserole(makes a 9x13 pan)

cooking spray
1 bag frozen chopped broccoli
1 can reduced fat cream of chicken soup
1 can reduced fat cream of mushroom soup
4 ribs celery, sliced
1 onion, sliced
8 oz reduced fat velveeta or cheese whiz

1-1.5 cups dry quinoa, rinsed well
about 3 cups water

Bring water and quinoa to boil, reduce heat and simmer til water is absorbed.

Cook onion and celery in non-stick skillet with cooking spray until transluscent. Add broccoli, soups and cheese product. Stir til well blended. Add quinoa and mix well. Pour into a buttered 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. Serve warm.

If anyone has knowledge of some good-for-you substitutes for the soups and cheese product, please let me know! This tasted a bit chemical-ish and I'm pretty sure its because I used the "diet" stuff. It was still comforting and gone by late this afternoon.

(what it looks like in our living room at 6:15pm)

(the west side of the driveway around the same time of day)

Speaking of the view from the driveway(and comfort foods)...

(berries are just starting to get that blue blush to them)

(we have several large bushes around the driveway)

These lovely plants are Ligustrums, don't know what variety, and are loaded with berries! In a week or so they'll all be a dark blue-purple, just like the Cedar Waxwings like them. Unfortunately, I've found out that they also cause asthma! Guess who has horrible, horrible asthma? Mark!! He is totally fine when he leaves the house in the mornings but within an hour of coming home at night he has trouble breathing. I thought I might take him to the ER several nights ago he was that bad. He's always blamed the pets for his attacks but I'm betting its the ligustrums! Much as I love the Cedar Waxwings, these plants will have to go.

Mark and I had stuff to do this morning that lasted about 3 hours longer than we'd planned. Then we found out Ryan's ride to his church's Fall Picnic had forgotten him. So, we had to run him and a friend waaaay out to Ore City. On our way back we stopped by to pick up this wonderful door from a homeschooling friend. Isn't it just gorgeous? I can't wait to get it finished and installed! Hopefully by Christmas.

(we'll have to sand this off, fix the trim, and repaint it but that's no biggie)

(the gold "leading" probably wouldn't have been my first choice but I do love the glass and it was FREE!)

Tomorrow I plan to spend most of the afternoon making cell phone carriers to sell. My friend with Herbal Grace wants me to let her sell them at some flea markets. Who knows, with the holidays coming up they just might sell! Its worth a try at least. The girls will go home with a friend after church so I'll have a nice window before having to pick them up. I'd better get my lazy butt out of this chair and hunt down my yarn then. Bye!

TGIF...

2008-10-24T10:41:00.000-07:00

I'm following along with Jeanne at Backyard Neighbor again and posting my favorite photo(Friday's Favorite Photo is what she called it, I think).

(Sarah with Tom several Autumns ago)

In other news...

A friend of mine offered up a front door for free so we drove waaaay across town to look at it and will pick it up tomorrow. Its a brick red with about a 2/3 total length leaded glass insert. Just gorgeous! There are a few cosmetic things to fix(some glue runs and a loose molding) and we'll have to frame our door with a 1x2 or something because its 1.25 inches narrower than our current door. I can't wait to work on it and get it installed though, I've been pricing these kinds of doors for a while now and just couldn't see getting one, ever.

This friend has 4 chickens and a rooster so she handed us half a dozen blue, green, and brown eggs to take home. I think I shall scramble them in the morning. Yum!

We swung by and took Ryan's friend home and are just now back to the house. I'm about to start on my broccoli, zucchini, rice, and cheese casserole. Guess I need to get the rice going, I keep forgetting that part!!!

It has been a beautiful day today, very sunshiney with no wind and not too much heat. I'm hoping tomorrow we can spend time outdoors.

Nothing to do....

2008-10-23T20:25:00.000-07:00

Jeanne over at Backyard Neighbor(in my side bar, I'm too tired to make a link) thought I was needing some blog fodder so she tagged me with this one! The rules are: You go to your fourth file and then the fourth photo and post it. Seeing as I don't have file folders for my pictures aside from photos and kids drawings, I'll take one from each.

(kids from February of 2004)

(I'm not sure who did this one but it was probably from 2004-05)

I'm tagging whoever wants to play along! Just leave me a comment so I can come see your picture(s)!

301

2008-10-21T15:08:00.000-07:00

Yes, this is my 301st blog post and I have absolutely nothing to say. Is that terrible or what? No exciting stuff has gone on since the Yamboree. The house needs cleaned and dinner is still undecided(at 5:15pm, I've no clue, didn't plan).

Kids are zombies watching television and the cats are all fine.

I'm listening to music, waiting for Mark to come home. He's enjoying his new job very much! I'm happy that he's happy and busy.

Laundry needs done but we're out of detergent. Still no dinner plans(5:43, yes it is taking forever to get this written, cat distractions and such). I'm guessing dinner might be pick-up since we must get out for the detergent anyway.

So yep, this is the 301st post and I still have nothing to say. But, I'll leave you with a blast from the past, Halloween-style...

The Weekend....

2008-10-19T10:58:00.000-07:00

When comrades seek sweet country haunts,
By twos and twos together,
And count like misers, hour by hour,
October's bright blue weather.
- Helen Hunt Jackson, October's Bright Blue Weather

Friday morning I took the girls grocery shopping with me while Mark and Ryan stayed home. It was a beautiful mid-morning and promised to be a lovely afternoon as well. I had the bright idea that we should spend time outdoors so I called Mark from the store to see if he'd be interested. We decided to wait til Saturday and head north to the Yamboree, a local festival celebrating that wonderful cash crop of the 1930's, the Sweet Potato, which is really not a yam. The Yamboree is one of the oldest folk festivals in Texas just behind the Tyler Rose Festival and the Jacksonville Tomato Festival.

We watched the Queen's Parade, ate some fair food, rode a huge ferris wheel, gawked at the crowds, visited the exhibit halls, the ag barns and all the other things most people do at festivals. Ryan found several of his friends in the ag barns with their livestock so he was busy socializing while the girls, Mark and I petted pigs, goats, calves, and bunnies. I think Sarah would have brought a baby cow home if she could have, or a goat! Then we hit the vendor area but didn't end up finding anything we couldn't live without. One of the exibits we especially enjoyed was the junior art and photography division. There are some very talented young artists in east Texas! Amy and Sarah are wanting to enter the drawing category and maybe photography too for next year.

As you may have noticed, there are no pictures. I decided to take a break from the camera this trip. Its a big, clunky thing and I did not feel like wagging it around all day. You'll have to imagine the dappled sunlight on the courthouse lawn, the chilly breeze, the greasy food smells, laughter, screams from the scary rides, and the sound of fiddles playing. You are off the hook as far as imagining the lovely livestock smells.

On our way to the car, we stopped at the monthly flea market across from the exhibit areas. Patricia, my homeschooling friend had a booth there promoting her business, Herbal Grace. She sells mineral make-up, organic teas, soaps, and much more. I left with a new eye shadow color(nutmeg) and some fantabulous organic seasoned salt. Her soaps are to die for too, LOVE them, and we use several of her other formulas.

We also nabbed a huge bucket of sweet potatoes for $4. Wooo hooo! Could have got a bushel for $13 but I didn't think we'd eat that many. How wrong I was...

Several days ago I came across a blog post featuring sweet potato fries and Hungry Girl had mentioned butternut fries not too long ago as well. I googled to get a good idea of what to do and went for it!

I preheated the oven to 425, sliced up our two largest "yams" into french fry sized pieces, layered them on two baking sheets(it is best if they don't touch and have space between each fry). I sprayed them with butter flavor cooking spray and sprinkled them with the new seasoned salt mixed with cayenne, onion, and garlic powders, and paprika. They went into the oven on the middle and lowest racks for 15 minutes. I stirred well and switched their places on the racks, baking for another 15 minutes. We scarfed them down with ketchup and there were no more. They are woooooonderful!!!! With a texture like a steak fry, creamy and soft on the inside, but not starchy(gritty) like regular fat fries, along side frizzled spiral ham and a spinach salad, these made a wonderful meal.

Today I'm working on our bedroom. We decided to try the bed under our window but I don't know if it'll work with the kitties wanting to be in the sill at night. I've swept and thrown away a whole bagful of garbage. Mark turned off the Cowboys game, too painful to watch. He's washing his car now and Sarah's got Dirty Jobs on.

Later we'll have more ham in some form, maybe a quiche or something. I'm not sure yet. Meanwhile, back to the room for me!

The Kids....

2008-10-17T17:08:00.000-07:00

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns."
- George Eliot

my baby thinks she's a pig...

2008-10-17T11:10:00.000-07:00

(Panda, Rainbow, Sundae, Shimmer, Stella, and Meadow)

(She had no clue she could jump over this fence)

(They have no fear of her at all)

In Other News...

Mark had something to do this afternoon so the kids and I are lazing around. We might head up to the Yamboree after he comes home. I'd like to take a load of stuff to Goodwill but we may wait til in the morning to do that.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!! It is just beautiful here, blue skies and low-70s! I LOVE this kind of weather, it makes getting out and doing so much easier.

2008-10-14T13:51:00.000-07:00

Mark got the new job!!!! He starts Monday, I think. This is a job doing pretty much the same thing he was doing at JD Medical only with a national company. One of the best things is that there are people to do the billing, people to do the customer service, repair equipment, market, deliver stuff and more. He will be riding with the marketers about 1/3-1/2 of the time and "managing" the other part. There is NO being on call and he will be better compensated!

In other news...

My bloggy friend Jeanne at Backyard Neighbor has answered another blogger's challenge to help boost our country's economy. I am so inspired that I have a special trip planned just for this. Here is the origination of this wondrous movement!

One of my cousins is welcoming her second grandchild, Lyndee Allison(**edited for spelling**) today, born this morning somewhere in Oklahoma. Lyndee's big brother Lex shares my January birthday.

(Meadow, Rainbow, Stella, Sundae and Panda looking for a handout)

I don't feel like cooking tonight but I have no clue what we'll eat otherwise. Maybe sandwiches or nachos. I made the decision to renew my WeightWatchers Online account. That will start Monday.

We're going shopping this weekend for kids' clothing. Woohoo. Grandma has sent them some birthday/half-birthday money and that's what they want! And earrings I'm sure.

Felt Balls and Halloween...

2008-10-12T16:53:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I found the perfect place to display my felt balls! This is an old Pepsi carrier that my parents had when I was a bitty girl. I remember it from waaaay back. The fuzzy thing on top is a crocheted bowl out of alpaca boucle and fun fur. Its about big enough for a racquetball to fit in and I use it for jewelry or change.

Now for today's happenings....

(last year's fall mantle)

(garland made from fabric leaves we found at Michael's)

(two packages made three garlands)

(I did this while painting with the girls, craft paint on construction paper with clear glitter)

(this year's fall/halloween mantle- the pumpkin/jack o'lantern is reversible)

(the girls couldn't resist this adorable owl)

(and, thanks to my bloggy friend Susan at Blackberry Creek for posting a picture of her little jack, my Jack now has a beautiful chapeau)

Breaking Fast....

2008-10-11T06:27:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed a bowlful of steel cut oats with bananas, golden raisins, and brown sugar this morning. I have been eating steel cut oats for several years now but never thought to put a banana in them. If added during the last few minutes of cooking it will dissolve completely. Very yummy!

It was a good thing we had such a breakfast because we'll need strength to get through this...

But this is REALLY what its all about!

As Promised, New Hair!

2008-10-10T09:36:00.000-07:00

This is 40 hours after washing it, a windy park day, and a loooong walk with the dog this morning. It can look better, trust me! I didn't straighten or blow-dry it, this is just what it does. I'll put better pics up tomorrow probably.

Gypsy with Tallulah on the coffee table last weekend.

In other news....

We are going to finish working on the garage this afternoon, I think. I would love to park some of the unused furniture on the side of the road and see how fast it gets hauled off. I'm also rearranging our bedroom to make it less easy to pile up laundry baskets full of clean stuff. And cooking spaghetti(we had nachos last night instead), an apple dessert of some kind... Lots of busy work going on here today.

OU/Texas is on tomorrow. I'm a Sooner and Mark's a Longhorn. He has the kids brainwashed as well. Sigh.

It is SO nice to be wanted...

2008-10-09T06:21:00.000-07:00

I can finally post about our mysterious "good news" that I mentioned a few days ago. Mark didn't want it out quite yet. I'm still not going into real specific details yet. Anyway...

The job is something similar to what he did before but for a national company with slightly different responsibilities. It would be better than where he is and a good job for him but probably not a perfect match. He is waiting for word from them after two interviews and he's done the drug/tb tests.

In other news...

I got my hair cut yesterday afternoon! It is stacked in the back and long around my face with bangs. I LOVE it and promise to post pics as soon as the batteries are charged.

Today is homeschool park day and Sarah wants to take Buddy. Should be fun. It was 48 degrees when I got up this morning so we'll be a bit chilly.

We're having some kind of sausage and kale dinner tonight. I'll have to find the recipe I posted a few weeks ago.

Seven Things(a meme)...

2008-10-08T09:36:00.000-07:00

Borrowed from Backyard Neighbor. You may certainly play along if you'd like!

Seven Things I Plan To Do Before I Die

1. Have lots of fun.
2. Take vacations.
3. See my children grow up and be happy.
4. Own lots more pets(not all at the same time though) including livestock pets.
5. Make many, many more quilts.
6. Learn to machine quilt.
7. Crochet my dream afghan.

Seven Things I Can Do

1. Cook a great dinner.
2. Drive a 5-speed.
3. Put fabrics and/or colors together(good color sense).
4. Organize my homeschool group's park days.
5. Pick good movies.
6. Grocery shop to save money and provide healthy stuff for my family.
7. Decorate our home.

Seven Things I Cannot Do

1. Speak a foreign lauguage.
2. Water ski.
3. Knit well.
4. Tolerate certain personality types.
5. Fake a friendship.
6. Watch reality television.
7. Kill a snake(bad ones included).

Seven Things that Attract Me to My Mister

1. His integrity and honesty.
2. The way he is tenacious.
3. His selflessness.
4. His sense of humor.
5. The enthusiasm he has for life no matter what gets tossed our way.
6. His mad ironing skillz.
7. The way he approaches our marriage as a partnership.

Seven Things I Say Most Often

1. Ryyyyyan, will you (do the dishes, feed the dogs, do the litterboxes)?.
2. No.
3. Have a sandwich.
4. Yes, you can.
5. I'll have to talk to dad first.
6. We just bought those(case of cokes, bag of chips) yesterday and they're gone?
7. Has anyone seen my scissors? Sarah??

Seven Celebrity Admiration's(I'm changing this to be artists/celebrities whose work I enjoy)

1. John Candy
2. Garrison Keillor
3. Dawn French
4. Alison Krauss
5.
6. I have to stop at 4 because I don't really admire people for their celebrity status. I enjoy who I enjoy, like who I like, and that's that.
7.

Seven Favorite Foods

1. Homemade bread
2. My chicken fajitas
3. Schlotsky's original sandwich
4. Biscuits and gravy
5. My homemade special spaghetti sauce
6. Apple pie(any homemade)
7. A good loaded green salad

Seven Things I Enjoy(added to take the place of the celebrity part which I failed)

1. Planning my next project.
2. Talking to my kids.
3. Having "alone time" to walk or crochet, or nap or whatever.
4. Riding in the car with my hubby.
5. Cooking meals for my family.
6. Antiques and junk stores.
7. My animals.

bountiful blessings...

2008-10-07T10:22:00.000-07:00

I swear my cats all went to school with this one or something!

more animals

In other news...

The girls are watching a little boy for a friend of mine. They're gonna watch a Star Wars movie to help keep him entertained.

I made a poke cake with lemon cake mix and pineapple jello, can't wait til its cooled off enough to eat!

This is where the blessings come in... Some very cool stuff is going on around here. I can't say more until some things have been decided on(and not just the paint color). Suffice to say, we are excited as all get-out!!

In fact, we are so geeked that we had to have some fun music to dance around the house to...

and this one just because I LOVE the video!

Cats, Crafts, Clutter, and More...

2008-10-06T08:53:00.000-07:00

First, it is really hard to get anything done with this kind of cuteness going on. We are now wondering if Tallulah will end up being a normal Manx cat after all. Her diet of special easily digested kitten food with pumpkin seems to have done the trick as far as her "poops" are concerned. She has not had a problem in two weeks! And, AND!, she can move her tail now!!! We first thought that her nerves had not developed that far down along her spine because she seemed to have no feeling in her stump of a tail and was unable to move it. Yesterday she was raising it in response to being petting down the length of her back. Those of you with cats know the movement that I mean. We are hopeful that she's free of the genetic problems known as Manx Syndrome but it will probably be early next year before we know for sure.

Now. We are finally ready to get down to the business of painting the kitchen soffits and dining room walls. YEEEHAW!! So, in case you haven't followed my blog through my bedroom painting experience, I take forfreakinever to choose a paint color. And then I sometimes get it way wrong. This time though, this time I am not making a hasty decision. I want it to pop and sing but I don't want it to be garish. Which ones do yall like?

My favorite from this shot is the yellow between the rusty red and teal, on the left. It is also the same color that's in the third and forth photo. What is too funny is that each of my kids, at different times and all on their own, suggested that we do the walls in splotches of color just like these. It would look FANTASTIC if you want my opinion, but I don't think certain people would be terribly supportive.

My favorite from this next picture is the harvest gold that is next to the robin's egg blue and again to the extreme right. Unfortunately it looks terrible next to the countertops.

All three of these are great but my favorite is still the mustard yellow. We are probably going to do the kitchen soffits in the rust(a more burnt orange than this one).

I am continuing the decluttering from yesterday. We lazed a bit and I didn't get this finished last night. Actually we didn't cook our fajitas til 8pm and then Mark got a call to deliver something to a nursing home so he had to eat and run. And I just plain old DID NOT FEEL LIKE IT. There. So, it waits for me today. I'll empty all the baskets, boxes and suitcases and bag up what I don't want. Looking on top of the entertainment center, I just noticed almost a dozen more baskets to sort through. Yeah.

I did finish my wet felted balls but I'm not satisfied with these results at all. It didn't work very well the way I did it, they are way too lumpy and holey and lopsided. The first one, from a few weeks ago, was a ball that has been completely needle felted first and I got a perfectly round ball after wet felting. This time I basically draped the felting around and around and rolled it in my hands to form a loose ball. Then I needle felted enough to hold it together. I filled a bucket with hot water and dipped each ball into it, squirted it with dish soap and rolled the ball in my hands like playdoh. I'll stick with the original way I did it.

Ending this post on a high note... IT IS RAINING!!!! WOOOOOOOHOOOOO!!!

more decluttering going on....

2008-10-05T06:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we tackled the garage. Again. But, this time we didn't just restack what was there. We tossed stuff. Three huge bags of trash were filled and many bags were filled for charity and the suburban is stuffed! Including a tall kitchen bag full of yarn that I'll never use.

Found items included a plastic shoebox full of sunflower seeds(birdseed style) inside another box, hidden from our view. This was on a shelf right outside the door and would explain why we startle rats when we go out there. It is tossed so maybe the rats will go away.

I also found two of my good pairs of sunglasses, missing fabric and quilt patterns, and ***dddrruuumrollll please*** the remote to the dvd player!!!! It had been missing for at least a year now, maybe more.

We have several pieces of furniture that need to go as well but they won't fit in the suburban so we'll probably just drag them out to the curb and hope someone claims them. Mark hates to do this because it looks junky and he's always afraid that nobody will get them and we'll have to drag them back inside. I tend to look on the positive side, that someone will snap them up within hours(which is usually what happens). Anyway, that's for another weekend.

In other news....

I made a heavenly chocolate pie for dessert last night. My grandmother used to make them but I didn't really care for the taste. My version used dark chocolate cocoa powder and followed this recipe, sans meringue, over at Homesick Texan's blog. Ooooh it was rich!!! There is just a small slice left too so I'll be forced to make another one today probably.

A friend of mine called later and asked me to meet her at Books-a-Million for Bluegrass night. Some local musicians meet up there once a month for a mini-concert. They were ok. Not great but certainly not bad either. I didn't go til 9:30 and they wrapped up shortly before 11. It was nice but a late night.

Today we'll be getting the girls' friend from a nearby town for the afternoon. They are out of school tomorrow for a teacher work day or something so she might spend the night. Soon I'm headed out to walk at my favorite walking trail before meeting Mark and the kids at the bookstore for coffee and magazines.

Later this afternoon I plan to get my craft corner thinned out. There are boxes and old suitcases full of junk that I just don't need to keep. Things like fabric from the mid-80s we've saved for quilt backing and such as that.

Yesterday I started some adorable needle-felted balls. I left the felting loose so I can wet felt them the rest of the way. The first attempts at this were very successful and didn't take but a few minutes. I'll share pics tomorrow.

Wild and Wooly Texans!

2008-10-03T18:05:00.000-07:00

In my last post I mentioned our field trip to a living history event in a nearby town. There were supposed to be 10 or more demonstration set-ups but many of them backed out at the last minute for reasons unknown(to us). The owners of the establishment felt so bad that they refunded everyone's money and let us go in for free! It was something we all agreed we'd have gladly paid for anyway. We had a FREAKIN' BLAST!!! It was all made even better with the addition of beautiful cool fall air(low 80s are considered such in east Texas), wonderful fellowship, curly fries, nachos, turkey legs, and a totally CrAzY kAraOKe train ride with insane people who shall remain nameless!!

(Traveling Texas Style, 1830s-1840s)

(Trader on Horseback)

(Civil War Saddle, the real deal, not a reproduction!!)

(Female brave who happened to have been homeschooled!)

Both of these riders are on Colonial Spanish Horses from Karma Farms near Jefferson.

I think because of my love of all things artistic, these guys were my favorite.

(Blacksmith beginning the ladle making process. The feather in his hat is forged, wish I'd asked if I could photograph it.)

(Blacksmith forming the bowl of a ladle. He was a bit farther along in the process than the other man.)

(Blacksmith wares for sale. I wanted that door knocker in a bad way but was too chicken to ask how much it cost.)

(Trapper/storyteller with a beaver pelt.)

(Learning how to use Char Cloth to start a fire.)

(Don't look Anet! The trapper was cooking his lunch, which happens to be a squirrel.)

(The char cloth guy also made lead bullets because he was the "law", Texas style. The small pail is filled with melted lead.)

(Kids hanging around the teepee.)

(Sarah and Grant tried hard but I'm not sure anyone in our entire group got the tomahawk to stick.)

(Yall watch it, Kim's got a tomahawk!)

(I wanted to take this drum home with me but couldn't quite afford the $400 price tag. That's me with the dark hair and Kim in the brown shirt. I look a bit short because I was kneeling.)

(Kids getting ready for our train ride.)

(Big Cypress Bayou. Yes we did see two alligators along the way!)

(They typically lurk in waters such as these.)

(Or these. The green and brown "ground" is actually water.)

(The tracks carried us through some "spooky" places as they gear up for their Terror on the Bayou haunted train rides. I'd LOVE to do that!)

(I didn't see this man when I took the picture but he ended up ON the train a few seconds after this shot so I guess he wasn't a bad guy.)

(We ended our day with a trek through the corn maze and haunted cemetery.)

(Corn maze)

(The cemetery)

And that concludes the field trip portion of this blog. If you are ever in
Jefferson, Texas, in early October this makes for a lovely day.

Homeschooling Life....

2008-10-02T16:35:00.000-07:00

Today was park day for us. Then skating. I'm pretty sure I couldn't take more than one skate day per month, its mega-loud in that place. I always come out shaky and today my right ear was stopped up from the music. Park day was nice, as usual, with conversation and the great outdoors. Today was especially nice with cooler temperatures and lots of sunshine. The kids had a blast at both activities but Amy still didn't skate much.

Tomorrow we're headed to a nearby town for THIS delightful field trip with over 100 other homeschooling families. I can't wait!! We are taking our cooler and picnic basket, the weather will be perfect.

When we finally got home late this afternoon, we were greeted by a very tiny, but playful, Tallulah.(those are peanut m&ms and Sarah's size 13 sock feet, the bowl is 4 inches in diameter)

I made pork chops, mashed potatoes, gravy, and corn for dinner. My gall bladder is not real happy with me. Ugh. Hopefully it will be a passing thing and not a full blown attack. I should know better!

A post in which I ramble on about our weekend...

2008-09-28T16:28:00.000-07:00

We hosted the first Teen Thing(a tailgate party) for the homeschool group we're in. There were 4 girls and 4 boys, including 2 sets of siblings. The kids had a blast but the movie ended up being too slow for them to stay with so the boys went out front to play football in the road with Mark. Of course the girls had to follow and turned into complete giggleboxes running in and out of the house. It was good times for sure! Next month's Teen Thing to be a trip to the Yamboree, a local festival, where they can run around riding rides and acting cool. I've never been even though I have lived just down the road from this town most of my life. Can't wait to see what I've been missing! There is even a STREET DANCE!! Woot!

Saturday morning Mark and I got up and moved old fencing and deck boards over to his parents land. His dad will use some of the decking to make a bridge over a creek bed. All that heavy lifting tired me out so to I had to find neat things to photograph while Mark huffed the remaining 90% of the pile to the back of the Suburban.

Ryan and his (homeschooled) buddies pulled some stupid teenage tricks Saturday morning that resulted in a squad car bringing them home from down the street where they'd egged a house. It darn near landed one of them in jail(not Ryan) because of an illegal knife. This has resulted in his loss of communication with the offender probably permanently. We've had issues with this particular boy off and on for a few years so this isn't a rash decision.

Then, just hours later, we learned that the brother of one of Ryan's other(public schooled) friends had been in possession of illegal drugs while Ryan was there. So, he's basically lost ALL of his friends in one fell swoop. It was well past time to nip that one in the bud for a number of reasons. We had actually already decided last week to keep Ryan away from that household due to ongoing(and worsening) "domestic problems" with the mom and her babydaddy. Lovely huh? Now we've had to ban him from his church youth group because these kids are a part of it. I'd like to talk to the youth pastor sometime about this. For now its better to cut it off cold turkey than to have to plan some intricate dance for every single interaction. Sigh.

We took Ryan's spend-the-night friends home later in the afternoon, then Sarah and I took Amy to stay with a new friend.

This morning we(minus Amy) went to my favorite walking trail for some exercise, then to BAM for coffee and free magazines. I found many cool decorating and cooking mags and will be going back later in the week for more ideas! Amy came home after church with her friend. We ate turkey and swiss cheese on foccacia sandwiches for lunch, very yummy. Mark took Ryan and Sarah to the mall for shoelaces(for his dress shoes or something). I messed around with glitter while Amy took a bath.

(I'm not finished my Autumn decorating by any means. None of these folks are relations)

(If you look closely at the ghost you can see that he's made from a Club cracker box. The only white paint I had was a metallic and it didn't cover well. Luckily it doesn't show unless hit with the right light)

We had a great dinner, Sausage, Kale and White Bean Pasta, and everyone is now resting their tummies. This is another of my "what's in the pantry" dinners.

1 pound lean turkey breakfast sausage(or Italian if you want)
2 cans no-salt-added diced tomatoes with juice
1 (8oz) can no-salt-added tomato sauce
1 bunch kale, coursely chopped, large stems removed
garlic and onions to taste(powder or actual veggies)
dash of cayenne pepper(this makes it, in my opinion)
1 teaspoon savory spice
1 can great northern beans, drained and rinsed
1 box rotini pasta
handfuls of cheddar cheese, grated

Brown sausage well. Add tomato stuff, spices, and kale. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring now and then. Add beans to sausage and kale, continue simmering for another 15-20 minutes or so. Start pasta cooking. When the pasta is almost done, drain it well and add to sausage mixture. Stir well, cover and cook about 10 more minutes til pasta is tender. Serve in bowls with cheese. Yum!

Is this not the cutest?

2008-09-27T18:28:00.000-07:00

Jasper was sleeping on Amy's bed this afternoon so Sarah put Tallulah next to him. He started grooming her! Isn't it sweet!

*~*~*~I got the other pics from the girls' computer! Here's Jasper with Tallulah on him and Gypsy beside and one of Gypsy with Tallulah from last night.

Music we're listening to this evening...

2008-09-25T17:40:00.000-07:00

A Hubby Meme...

2008-09-24T09:24:00.000-07:00

(Mark with a new baby Buttercup)

Blatantly stolen from Jeanne's(Backyard Neighbor) blog. In light of the fact that I've known my hubby for over 19 years now and because I don't mention him often in my blogging, I thought I'd do this for him.

1. He's sitting in front of the TV; what is on the screen?
Probably any kind of football or a drama of some kind(Sarah Connor Chronicles and Fringe are current faves) or America's Funniest Videos.

2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad?
Ranch baby, he loves it(as do the girls). And we eat this at HOME, not "out to eat" because he loves my cooking best(smart man).

3. What's one food he doesn't like?
He's not a big fan of yellow squash, no matter what I do to it.

4. You go out to the bar. What does he order?
A dark beer.

5. Where did he go to high school?
Longview High School

6. What size shoe does he wear?
size 9

7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be?
He used to collect sports junk.

8. What is his favorite type of sandwich?
Italian sub or hot turkey and swiss with honey mustard and olives.

9. What would this person eat every day if he could?
Cheese.

10. What is his favorite cereal?
Honey Nut Cheerios are what he most often eats but I don't think he loves them. He'd rather eat Count Chocula or something like that.

11. What would he never wear?
A dress.

12. What is his favorite sports team?
Dallas Cowboys and Texas Longhorns

13. Who will he vote for?
I'm not sure he knows yet.

14. Who is his best friend?
Yours truly.

15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do?
Leave messes, he is a neat freak.

16. How many states has he lived in?
Two, Texas and Oklahoma(for 7 months)

17. What is his heritage?
He is adopted and we have no idea. We want to find out someday though.

18. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind of cake?
Cheesecake!

19. Did he play sports in high school?
Nope. Now he plays city league softball and runs.

20. What could he spend hours doing?
Fishing, listening to his favorite music, watching sports, detailing his car...

18 Years Ago...

2008-09-22T10:10:00.000-07:00

I married this man! And I love him more than ever. I'm not a sappy person so this is as far as it goes.

When he gets home from work we plan to eat chicken fajitas(cooked on the grill), drink some hard apple cider, and watch The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Its our idea of the perfect evening!

Smitten with Kitten...

2008-09-21T14:50:00.000-07:00

Isn't she cute??

She even has a tiny stuffed animal to sleep with, a teeny beanie leopard. This is her favorite place to sleep. An upside down pet bed with super soft covers on top of the girl guinea pig cage, so she can keep an eye on them.

We are 99% sure that she has Manx Syndrome. Last night she had two accidents while on the bed(there is another super soft cover down so she's not on our sheets) so it looks like she can't feel when she needs to go every time(sometimes she does know and will use the litter box). We're going to start with canned pumpkin for fiber and a low residue food that's easier to digest. It may or may not help, it will depend on how much sensation the extra fiber can give her.

Meanwhile, we're loving on her as much as possible and enjoying her adorableness.

Tallulah!

2008-09-20T08:28:00.000-07:00

Guess who is in LOVE!!

(Tally and Mark)

Actually, we all are! Amy was asking about who might "adopt" her and Mark said someone already had. He has claimed her as HIS cat!

She slept between my shoulder blades ALL night the first night. Last night she slept in the crook of my arm and under my chin, ALL night long. She plays herself to exhaustion and then just crashes! This morning she played in the curtains with Gypsy and Jasper. They don't really know what she is but they'll chase her and she'll jump on their tails, it is SO cute! She still looks like a chupacabra but her personality more than makes up for it, she is a MESS! The guinea pigs fascinate her, they're just her size, but slightly fatter(ok, a whole lot fatter). Even Rosie plays with her. Ruby and Muffin are the hold-outs but they're more indifferent than anything.

We still don't know if she suffers from Manx Syndrome or not. She is so very young that her symptoms might be related to not having a mom to clean her hiney. After lunch yesterday she has had no problems with leaky booty. She did poop on the bed twice though. It might be that she can't feel the urge sometimes but we've seen her go in the litterbox several times. I'm hoping its just her body adjusting to different foods, different place, the vaccinations and worm meds she got, etc. but only time will tell. You can read about the breed, including the syndrome, HERE.

In other news...

We are working in the garage today since we got hurricaned last weekend. Our plan is to get rid of 75% of the furniture and junk out there(and put out rat poison). Hopefully I'll find some materials to make a headboard from.
****update to say we are NOT working in the garage today. Mark's neck and upper back are hurting him today, probably from all the driving to hither and yon that he's been doing. So, now I don't know what we'll do other than go get my medicine from Walmart pharmacy. Wow we are so exciting!!

I've got two roasts in the crockpot for dinner tonight. I'll fix mashed potatoes, field peas and a big cucumber salad to go with. Can't wait!

A Chupacabra of my very own!!

2008-09-18T19:52:00.000-07:00

We are "fostering" her until a forever home can be found.

Her name is Tallulah, meaning "leaping water". She is a Manx cat, around 5-6 weeks old. Her hair is the weirdest color I've ever seen on a cat. Part of what makes it look so strange is that there are dark grey guard hairs over blondish under hairs. It makes her look bald but she isn't at all. Her belly is distended because she had worms but the rescuer had her treated for all worms so that should be gone by the end of the weekend, I hope. We are watching for Manx Syndrome and I hope, hope, hope, she doesn't have this and is just having worm or kitten issues.

Anyway, that's that. Ryan managed to find the loose snake tonight, thank God! I didn't post about his escape but did write some of my commenters about it. We will be releasing it at the park tomorrow or Saturday.

Snakes alive!

2008-09-16T16:53:00.001-07:00

(bitty baby rat snake -link)

We won't be keeping this beauty for long, they grow to nearly 7 feet long and have nasty tempers. I've already been bitten. Besides, I don't let the kids keep wild animals for more than a week or so. They live better in the wild. We let the frog go today and the baby mouse went Sunday afternoon.

A new, um, pet!

2008-09-15T14:27:00.001-07:00

His name is Joe and he lives in our living room. Ryan found him on a downed limb at Mark's parents place yesterday. We looked up care for him and have everything he needs except crickets. It might be sow bugs if Ryan can't find any soon. This is his habitat.

Surviving Ike...

2008-09-14T18:02:00.000-07:00

Be sure and click each image to enlarge it, I uploaded them smaller than usual.

(fire on powerline behind our house, 3pm-ish)

(two hours later)

First, please say a prayer or three for the folks in southeast Texas and south Louisiana. Those who stayed by choice(or not) and those who evacuated will need our prayers and good thoughts directed toward them for a good long while, as well as the people who are providing them aid. I can only imagine what hell they are all enduring. All of my relatives in the Houston area and Galveston are alive(and uninjured as far as I know). None of them left but they are now stuck there with no power, and I'm pretty sure, no way out.

Ike hit us with 45mph winds for much of Saturday. Late in the afternoon they started picking up even more. No national channels were showing it but they actually increased to around 70mph according to the National Weather Service. It was pretty rough here til well after dark.

We were so, so fortunate. Our power was only off for 6 hours so it wasn't the "real deal", but I consider this to be a great learning experience since I've never been through anything like this in my life(that I can remember). We know what we needed and didn't have(paper plates and cups, C batteries for the radio) and what we had but didn't need(get-away bags with clothing and shoes). Our biggest issue was that many of our things for cooking(camping gear in other words) were still in the attic.

In east Texas we are usually dodging tornadoes which are sudden disasters. However, in the event a tornado destroys power lines, we'd be in the same shape even if it didn't come near our house. Definitely eye-opening!

(backyard during the first part of the storm, it did get worse)

(limbs from our tree, not really limbs though, more like twigs)

(girls helping with the clean-up)

There are dozens of trees down in our neighborhood and a house one street over lost half its shingles. Mark had to deliver some beds to a temporary shelter(for over 500 of our town's own residents!) this evening(Sunday) and there are powerlines down behind their building. He and the other driver decided to park outside when they brought the trucks back, in front of the store, instead of trying to navigate around them in the dark.

Damage around Longview was extensive, obviously not like what it south of us but I bet there is at least one tree down in every neighborhood. You can go to the Longview News-Journal's photo gallery for pictures from after the storm or their Seeya page(look for ChrisG's pics). At one point there were 170,000 people in our area without power. I have friends less than 3 miles from me who will be without it for 3 more days.

(Mark helping clear limbs at his parents house)

(gorgeous velvety mushroom)

(tree that fell across the back of Mark's parents home)

(same tree, diffent shot)

(more natural beauty)

(fallen tree branch)

Mark's uncle and his wife are staying with Mark's parents until it is safe to go home. They heard today that they have as much as 3 feet of water in their home. We are having all of them over for dinner tomorrow and to watch football.

(more limbs, different pile)

(monkey grass off the front porch)

(Amy in front of limb pile)

(the dangerous thing, dead copperhead)

(another of the beautiful things)

(tree across the path to the back pasture, held up by a tree on the other side)

In Solidarity(breastfeeding mentioned)...

2008-09-12T19:25:00.001-07:00

Please read this unbelievable story(and the follow-up). I don't understand why folks still have such problems with this!

I nursed my last "baby" til 3 months before her 5th birthday. Yeah, she's just fine. In fact, she's my most precocious child by far. She potty trained herself(need help? no thank you, do it myself) at around 20 months. She didn't, wouldn't take a bottle or sippy cup, it had to be me. I nursed her in cars, I nursed her in stores, at barbecues, at other social occasions, at church, in front of friends, and in front of strangers. Basically whenever she asked. No one ever said anything to me, thank God, but there were times when I felt vulnerable and uncomfortable. Still, I rarely covered up(who the heck carries a blanket around with their third child??).