The Crocheting Cook

As requested ...

2009-01-11T21:00:00.002-05:00

A family picture.

Thanks to Pani for taking this for us. :)

Pizza for supper!

2009-01-07T19:06:00.004-05:00

This is one of the kids' favorite meals ... but I tend to avoid it because I could never get it to come out right. Plus, Mike is a pizza pro, so while I know I can cook many other foods quite well, pizza ... I just am not confident. A regular oven just can't do the same thing as a pizza oven. Mine always comes out underdone, or thick, or just plain not right. So, I experiment on the kids - tonight was a good opportunity; Mike's at a business dinner and we could play. (Side note: Mike would be great about "playing" with pizza and experimenting ... in fact, in all fairness, he'd probably have fun (and make it MORE fun!). I am just too fussy about what I offer him. I'm working on that ...)

So ... I figured out a good "method" that works. I will eventually try making my own dough (it will cost a LOT less than the store pizza dough balls) as well as my own sauce, but until I figured out the timing and temperature, I decided to make things easy, and we used pizza dough from Shaw's, hunt's garlic & cheese sauce, and home shredded mozarella (the bagged stuff never melts right, IMO). Well ... some of us used that. Some of us skipped the sauce (Bren & me) and loaded up on pepperoni, olive oil and seasonings (garlic & basil). Yeah, I know, healthy, right?

Here are the results ... they turned out great, I think. We put these in my 8x8 square pan, and 2 8 inch cake pans. I sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, sprinkled with flour, and then used 1/3 pound of room temperature dough in each. Baked in a pre-heated 500F oven for 5-7 minutes. We removed from the pans and cooled on a cooling rack for about 4 minutes before diving in.

The kids were just a hair frustrated - they really enjoyed using the airbake cookie sheets last time because they could make crazy shapes. While that was fun - I agree about that - they just don't cook the pizza well, they came out really doughy. They all agreed that these tasted much better and they *supposed* it was okay if they made them this way again. (Insert sighing and rolling of eyes.)

Betsy's:

Justin's (left) and Andrew's (right)

Mine (left) and Brendan's (right)

It was fun. I'm sure they'll be bugging me even more often to make this now. :)

Dental fun ...

2009-01-07T13:11:00.004-05:00

I really ... quite strongly ... dislike trips to the dentist. I do not even like going for a simple cleaning. Well ... a week ago Monday, I had a tooth pulled. One that could have been saved with a root canal, but has no lower tooth to rest on (it isn't a chewing surface) so they gave me the option of getting it pulled. I went for that (after a couple of years hedging and debating and tooth pain) and am glad I did - it did require a return trip yesterday to file down a bit of exposed bone (yuck) but on the upside ... the tooth pain is gone, the pressure from the tooth growing into the lower gums (which I hadn't paid attention to) on my lower jaw is gone ... it's a relief.

Now if only I could learn to not be so stubborn - our Christmas Eve was yesterday (our church is on the old calendar and today is actually Christmas) and I went - to a lovely family dinner (a number of the families at our church have taken us under their wings) and then the Compline. It was all lovely ... beautiful ... but I didn't enjoy or appreciate it as I should have, I know I worried a few people ... I probably should have stayed home, taken my pain meds, and rested. Pride stinks, it really got in the way of my making good decisions last night. I would have liked to have gone to the Nativity Liturgy this morning, but I think God put roadblocks in my path and eliminated the choice for me ... the weather was bad (it had rained and frozen overnight). I don't know if you can see that each individual branch of this Japanese maple is encased in ice.

It was - is - quite beautiful. The kids had an hour delay, too. I ended up deciding - because I am wiped out and sore, although not too bad - to not try and go. I would have been half an hour late, and if the headache I have now is any indicator, today wouldn't have been much better than yesterday, so - I stayed home. I look forward to next year and being able to fully participate in what our church offers for celebrating Christ's birth!

Christ is born! :)

Happy Birthday!!!

2009-01-04T19:22:00.005-05:00

My Brendan is 12!! This is the last year I can say I don't have teenagers yet. LOL!

I did take an official "birthday" picture today ... but I like this one better.

This was taken on New Year's Day - we got just enough snow, powdery, too (not the norm here - it's usually wet and heavy) - perfect for sledding.

Today - I'm pretty sure he had a great day. Started off a little rocky (I made him get up "early" and shower before church since he had a headache last night and went to bed early - at 12 he is still not a big fan of showering, especially when Mom makes him get up early to do it!), but we sang "Many Years" to him after church (which he thought was cool). Then we hit Red Robin in Foxboro for lunch - neat since the kids and I got to see Gillette Stadium for the first time - granted from the outside, but still ... neat. We wandered around the big outdoorsy store there and Brendan got a multi-tool (mainly for camping and Scouts, but he does find regular use for it). After we got home, I made tacos for supper - his favorite - unfortunately, we had to skip the hard corn shells (his preference) thanks to the braces but I think he still enjoyed pigging out. :) Once supper has settled a bit, we'll pull out the lemon crunch pie instead of normal boring cake (his words a few years ago ... lol).

Happy Birthday Bren! We love you!

Happy Birthday to my dad!!!

2008-11-19T10:29:00.003-05:00

My dad with grandkids, taken a year ago ... one of my favorite pictures

Favorite meals: tacos

2008-11-18T15:40:00.002-05:00

One of our family favorites is tacos. We tend to be brand loyal when it comes to taco seasonings ... or we used to be. For a year or so it was one brand, then they stopped carrying it plus we moved so I was back to looking ... found another 'favorite' (that never quite measured up). Then one night, I found myself without any taco seasoning mix ... a pan full of browned hamburger ... yellow rice cooking on the back burner (our favorite taco side) ... and went browsing for recipes. I found a bunch, adapted a couple to suit our tastes, and this is the result ... a blend we actually like better than any of the mixes! Woohoo!

This amount is equivalent to one packet of taco seasoning mix. I usually stir this and 3/4 cup hot water into the browned hamburger and simmer gently until the liquid is gone (about 15 minutes).

Taco Seasoning Mix

1 tbsp chili powder
1/4-1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp ground red pepper (or less - I make it mild for the kids)
1/4 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1/2-1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper (I eyeball this)

We like lettuce, taco sauce (that one is just me), cheese, sour cream, and sauteed onions on our tacos - we keep it pretty simple. And yes that's correct - no tomatoes. What do you like on yours?

Tuesday Ten: My favorite Adagio teas

2008-11-18T08:41:00.003-05:00

I used to have two or three favorites. Now, I have countless favorites there, plus you have the added excitement of the signature blends which I think is really cool ... anyway, I don't work for them, I just love their products, and think they have some of the best customer service crews out there, not to mention some of the niftiest marketing strategies I've ever seen (and they don't stop ... they work to keep their customers coming back). I even really like the name. :)

I'm just a huge fan.

So, without further ado, my top ten Adagio favorites, in no particular order. (One or two might not be an actual tea - they might be tea related products.)

1. Valentine's

2. Irish Breakfast

3. Earl Grey Bravo

4. Peppermint

5. Lemon grass

6. Birthday This is one of the signature blends ... and I find it funny that I like it so much now ... I really did not think I was going to the first time I opened the tin, I found the scent off putting. But brewed ... it's yummy.

7. Candy Cane

8. Chestnut

9. Glass mug & infuser

10. IngeuiTEA

This list could probably easily go to 20, but I'm doing a Tuesday ten, so that won't work. LOL!

Simple Woman's Daybook 11/07/08

2008-11-17T17:36:00.007-05:00

FOR TODAY November 17, 2008...

Outside my window... Well ... I'm in the basement ... all I can see out the window is darkness. (We had some lovely sunshine earlier.)

I am thinking... that I need to get supper going. Okay, I realize this is not terribly inspiring, but ... there you have it.

I am thankful for... Brendan's fantastic report card. I am soooo proud of him.

From the learning rooms... We are working on some things for church.

From the kitchen... Cookies (courtesy of Pillsbury), and tonight is sloppy joes. (Mom caught a virus from the - as of yet - two sick kids and is taking it easy tonight.)

I am wearing... Jeans, aqua blue 3/4 length sleeve t-shirt, socks, sneaks, and my favorite earrings. :)

I am creating... granny square slippers for dd, made from some pretty aqua & lavendar yarn that was my mother's.

I am going... to go to bed as soon as the kids are in bed.

I am reading... At the Corner of East and Now

I am hoping... that the kids are all healthy tomorrow (and the remainder of the week)

I am hearing... Ghostbusters. No thanks ...

Around the house... there's laundry waiting to be folded (that's the most pressing)

One of my favorite things... when the kids co-exist peacefully

A few plans for the rest of the week: All the normal stuff, plus Andrew's birthday part at Monster Mini Golf on Saturday.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

That's what was found when the shingles were pulled off our roof this summer. It's been on my mind again with all the rain we got this past weekend - I'm so thankful we have a secure roof over our heads again!

Please visit The Simple Woman's Daybook!

Shameless proud mom brag

2008-11-17T16:11:00.004-05:00

Brendan came home with his report card today ... straight A's from his first ever middle school report card! His average is 94.875 ... I am so incredibly proud of him ... just a month ago two of those grades were below 90 ... he pulled one up 5 points and the other, 3. He had a really rough first month (starting middle school was a struggle, and he got braces) but is doing well now.

A little late, but Happy Birthday ...

2008-11-17T16:00:00.003-05:00

ANDREW! He's 8!

Here's a picture ...

Time flies ...

2008-11-05T10:13:00.004-05:00

I'm never sure how to start these "I've been gone for awhile" posts. I mean, in all honesty, have I had "time" to blog? Sure. Have I made time to do so? No. Why? Laziness perhaps? Who knows. It doesn't really matter. Do I even know what prompted me to post today? Yes and no. I've been perusing lots of frugal living blogs lately - so maybe that's part of it. Another bit is my trying to overcome my tendency to procrastinate and put things off (this is definitely one thing that tends to be put off).

Anyway ...

Seriously. Time does fly. I have a first grader, second grader, fifth grader, and sixth grader ... it seems that the sixth grader was just starting kindergarten yesterday and my "baby" was - well, still a 3 week old baby. And I can only imagine that as I get older, time will seem to go all the faster. I sometimes wish I could slow things down - although others, not so much. (We recently went through a bit of a scare - I had some thyroid nodules that had to be biopsied and went through one of the scariest months of my life waiting for the results - praise God, they were all benign, so now we just deal with managing my Hashimoto's.)

I wanted to share a favorite "mix" of ours - teriyaki sauce. We could never find one we really 'loved,' plus it was expensive, so I went browsing for one I could make from scratch. This one has become a family favorite - I usually broil filleted boneless, skinless chicken breast with this mix, then serve over rice with some duck sauce and a colored veggie (my favorite is broccoli, or if my crew would eat it, an oriental mix).

This is plenty for both marinating and cooking 3 pounds of filleted chicken breast. I marinate the chicken in it for 10-15 minutes then pour about half (discard the remainder) over the chicken while it broils, turning once. I pour whatever sauce is in the pan into a bowl to serve with our meal.

Teriyaki Sauce

1/3 cup soy sauce (low sodium is fine)
2 tbsp rice, white or cider vinegar (preference in that order)
1 tbsp white sugar
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 clove minced garlic (I use the minced jarred, about a tsp)

Combine (I like to make it a little ahead and let it sit so the sugar can dissolve better). I'm sure you could make a big batch and keep it in the fridge but I've never bothered, I just make it on an as needed basis (it's so easy and quick to make anyway).

Can be used on anything you would use teriyaki sauce for.

Now if only I could convince Justin he doesn't need to eat it (and every other protein) with ketchup. Oh, to be six again ...

Halfway through the summer!

2008-07-30T09:27:00.003-04:00

I'm not even going to look at the previous post to see how long it's been since I last blogged. I know it's been a while. I seem to blog in fits and spurts. It's too bad it isn't Tuesday, I could to a Tuesday ten about what we've been up to. Okay, i looked, was it really January?? There's even more than I realized.

Why not, I'll do a 'ten' anyway. What we've been up to the last couple months.

1. Took a trip to visit my family in Syracuse. That was a wonderful trip:

Howe Caverns on the way there, which is the first place I remember going with the four children where they were all engaged and interested - I mean a place that isn't obviously geared towards children, like the zoo or - oiy - something like Six Flags.

Then two lovely days with family (even though Andrew got sick - and of course this started a trickle effect where all four kids ended up sick) - a Fourth of July concert by the SSO. I got to celebrate my birthday with "my" extended family (think mine as opposed to dh's), which is always extra special for me - birthdays are never quite as birthday-ey as they are when I can spend some of it with my dad.

The trip home saw us at the National Baseball Hall of Fame. I found it significantely more interesting than I expected (I am not a sports person, although I definitely have my team loyalties) ... unfortunately we also spent so long there that we had to find a hotel rather than finishing the drive home. Neither Mike nor I were all that enamored with the hotel, but the kids found it to be quite the adventure, as this is only the second time they've ever stayed in one.

2. Been sick. Annoying viruses - we had Fifths (including Mike and I - it is not fun for adults) and at least one other virus that caused a fever and a wicked sore throat. This spring was awful for being sick, I think we had someone sick almost non-stop for 3 or 4 months.

3. Band camp. That would be Brendan. Ms. M permitted him to give percussion a go, and he loves it - I hear tappety tappety non-stop. Oh, maybe that's the roofers. More about that later. Band camp was cool.

4. Heritage Days at our church. (Think along the lines of VBS.) It was only three days, but they were a fantastic experience for the kids. Bren was at band camp the first two, but joined the rest of the kids on Saturday.

Which leads us to 5. We found a church. God is good.

6. Brendan needs braces. (Seems like a lot of these are Brendan related. It is indeed a 'growing' summer for him, though ... next summer will likely see 'Brendan & Betsy' stuff.) That whole process officially starts the middle of next month. He's very annoyed - he does NOT want braces in middle school. He's coming around to being resigned, but the day we found out I heard, "Mommy, I'm not going to be able to eat ANYTHING for two years!" on the way home in the car. Yeah. Tweens ...

7. Betsy turned 10!!! That boggles the mind a bit. We had two birthday parties, one for family and one with her friends. She's actually had an eventful summer, too, although hers has been more along the lines of "Oh boy let's call the pediatrician type" excitement. One trip for a shard of glass in her foot (I wish corelle didn't shatter quite so well), and another when she whacked her head open on the corner of the bathroom sink. Dr. T told her she doesn't want to see her other than her well visits for the next year, lol, she's used up all her visits.

8. All 6 of us have bikes now. This may not seem like a huge deal, but me - well, lets just say I hadn't been on a bike since I was 11. It's been a blast taking them out as a family. I'm still working on being comfortable (it's true you never forget, but that doesn't mean it's easy) on mine, but it's been good to get out and be active as a group.

9. Speaking of bikes, Justin no longer has training wheels. He turns 6 next month. He got a new bike, too (early birthday) and Mike forgot to have them put the training wheels on ... got it home and Justin was willing to give it a try. He's now riding around, using hand brakes and everything, like a champ. He's also had a little 'medical' excitement - he sheered a 3x3.5 section of skin off the back of his leg jumping through a homemade obstacle course (NO, this is not permitted - he waited until I was busy to do this).

10. We're getting a new roof, even as I type this. I actually need to go out and take some more pictures (I've been going out every hour or two) as things progress. It's been ... interesting. Definitely a roller coaster. I"ll devote a whole post to it when the job is done.

11. Okay, I had to add another one. All the kids advanced to the next grade ... I now have a first, second, and fifth grader, as well as a sixth grade who is a (gasp) middle schooler. YIKES.

Baseball also took over April & May. All four kids were in Little League.

There's more but I think those are the big things. I have to be done for now anyway ...

Treats

2008-01-10T08:57:00.000-05:00

Over the holidays, I did manage to find a new recipe to add to my recipe box - Jam Filled Butter Cookies. These are a huge hit at our house - just as written (I almost never make a recipe exactly as written, even when baking), and they never last more than 24 hours. I know this is a classic but it can be a challenge finding "your" favorite recipe, even so. :)

Jam Filled Butter Cookies

3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
2 egg yolks
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup fruit preserves, any flavor

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and egg yolks. Mix in flour a little bit at a time until a soft dough forms. Roll dough into 1 inch balls. If dough is too soft, refrigerate for 15 to 20 minutes. Place balls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Use your finger or an instrument of similar size to make a well in the center of each cookie. Fill the hole with 1/2 teaspoon of preserves.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown on the bottom. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.

From left to right, we have boysenberry, mango, and strawberry jam - all seedless. We all seem to be anti-seed here lol.

Ponderings

2008-01-09T21:47:00.001-05:00

Somedays .... do you ever look back, at the pieces of who you were then, and wish a few pieces of then had managed to stick around for now?

No, I haven't lost my mind. Mike is out of town on business, and I find myself, as usual, up, 100% awake, and musing (although at the moment I am thankful to find myself here at 10 PM instead of 2 AM ... this has been known to happen). This musing started when Brendan, while practicing (have I mentioned he started band this fall? flute?) started doing all sorts of doodlings and overtones, and then I heard, "Moooooommmy I am tiiiiiirrrreeeeed of "Oh, Susanna! Do I haaaaave to keep practicing?"

I can't say I blame him. I've been hearing it for the last few weeks. I can totally see how he would be tired of it. Oy.

So, being the good mom I endeavor to be, while attempting at the same time to be good and not get him too too far ahead (Brendan seems to have some of the same musical gifts his parents - families - are blessed with, and Mrs. P has him demonstrate and all sorts of fun things to help prevent him getting bored), I went to dig through my piles of music, looking for beginner "stuff" in the key of E flat. They (collective they, as in all the 5th grade bandees) haven't done 3/4 time, or dotted notes yet, or anything in any other key, so it limits the options. However, I stumble on an appropriate version of "America" and bring that upstairs. He knows the tune, so I figured it was a decent way to introduce both factors, as he has sounded out many things on his own at this point. (You should hear him doodle his way through some vocal warm-ups Mike taught the kids. It's eye opening - it would make a fantastic instrumental warm-up!) Should be the end of the story, since now he's happy he has something familiar, something more interesting to do, and something cool he can show Mrs. P next Tuesday at his lesson, right?

Not so much; it got me thinking. I wonder if I can get some suggestions from a former teacher? So I go and dig up my college professor, which got me browsing the school website, and I ran across a video of an ensemble I used to be part of. That also sent me to the website for the youth orchestra I was in in high school, since said professor now conducts that youth orchestra (and has for several years). That, in turn, sent me looking through the parent orchestra, which unearthed a picture of the flute teacher I had in high school, who I loved dearly (and wish, very much, that I had kept in better contact with).

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip. That was a piece of my heart just ripping open again. Apparently the scar never quite healed.

The vast majority of the time, it isn't so bad; in fact, I don't even think about it much. But when I find myself confronted with reminders of who I was, what I was able to do, the joy involved, it is painful. There's a kind of grief there - when I left college, I dropped it all, not realizing I was ripping out a piece of who I am, much less how big that piece was. Maybe I'm overdramatizing it, I don't know. I don't know that I could ever get back what I had - my priorities are different than they were, although I'm not sure I was every as motivated as I should have been, even then. But I do miss playing and being a part of the classical music world. Maybe someday a door will open again there.

All that said ... I realize how incredibly blessed I am. I am a pretty contented creature overall. I just wish I hadn't pushed that part of me quite so far into the background.

Has it really been a month?

2008-01-08T09:17:00.001-05:00

Wow ... things have been pretty hairy around here. I think I'll do a Tuesday Ten that has 10 things that have happened in that month!

1. Kids' school chorus concert. This is Brendan's second year doing this, Betsy's first. Here they are, still excited, afterwards.

2. eBay. Lots and lots of eBay selling.

3. Crocheting. Alas, I didn't get Andrew's blanket done, but it's still in the works. My arms couldn't handle the marathon crocheting needed to get it done in time, so I'm not sure when he'll get it now - I don't know that I want to wait for next Christmas to give it to him. We'll see. I'm actually debating putting this one away for Justin and making an entirely different one for Andrew - same pattern - only with his favorite colors instead of the blacks/greys/whites. Justin has been fascinated with it - watching me work on it - Andrew has been ambivalent (yes, I've worked on it when he's around). Hmmm.

4. We travelled to visit my family for Christmas. Well - the weekend before Christmas. It's always handy when Christmas falls on Tuesday or Friday - Mike gets a long weekend and doesn't have to take time off work for travel.

5. MIL visited. That's always wonderful - we all hate to see her go back home.

6. Being sick. Unfortunately it seemed to hit Mike worst, but we all had some element of being sick over the holidays. I'm afraid to say we're finally better for fear the phone will ring and it will be school nurse ... "Mrs. A, can you come pick up ______?" S/he is sick ..." LOL

7. We got a Wii. That is such a cool system ...

8. Brendan turned 11 (on the fourth). Happy Birthday to my oldest baby! It's always an extra special day because I can remember my mom. She would have been 60. I miss her, but am still thankful that she is well now.

9. We bought an artificial Christmas tree. Despite me discovering that they are really not so good for the environment after all (thanks to my friends for helping me uncover that little tidbit). They are so much easier to care for, put up, and even take down - and the bonus of not having all those little needles to clean up for months afterwards. Next year I will definitely need to get a candle or something - I very much miss the scent.

10. All the regular nuts and bolts that make up daily life. I'm sure I don't need to make a list of those. :)

Tuesday Ten: Things I look forward to over the Christmas Season

2007-12-11T13:17:00.000-05:00

1. Remembering what it means. Celebrating Jesus' birth is something that can happen any time, should be remembered more, but it is wonderful to have it even more at the forefront of our lives during December.

2. Putting up the Christmas tree. A real one, of course; I'm afraid that is one thing that I haven't yet given up in the conservation effort.

3. Time with family.

4. Christmas morning in our home. This is a new one since we bought our house a few years ago, and it is becoming a family tradion.

5. The baked goods. Spritz cookies and eggnog ... mmmmm.

6. Finding things I know people will be excited to receive.

7. Making gifts. I still have several people I want to give things I've made to but I procrastinate too much. I will get to them, I promise.

8. The kids' school Christmas concerts. This is a relatively new occurance in our lives but I cannot wait for this year's! It's so exciting to have them involved in that stuff.

9. Opening my Christmas stocking. One of my favorite parts of Christmas day itself - my mom used to hang the stockings weeks in advance and stick a things in the bottom to tease me, so Christmas morning I was always excited to find out what those things were. I haven't done that for my kids (I don't think they are big enough to not give in to temptation and peek!) but hope to down the road.

10. Being done with the wrapping. I never truly understood how time consuming this was until I had kids ... every year I end up with an aching back. I really need to switch over to gift bags for more of our gifts!!!

Tuesday Ten: Ten of my favorite foods

2007-12-04T09:13:00.000-05:00

Today is a zoo so I picked something that doesn't require very much pondering time.

1. Amaretto fudge

2. Pineapple

3. "Doctored" Kraft spirals and cheese (I make it "my" way)

4. Clear soups - cheddar and broccoli doesn't fall into that category but that's another big favorite

5. Homemade tacos & yellow rice

6. Grilled hamburgers - either with blue cheese dressing or cheese, pickles, ketchup and mustard

7. NY style pizza with pepperoni or vegetarian

8. Teriyaki chicken

9. Chicken patty grinders

10. Oatmeal or oat bran cereal with brown sugar, dates, and milk

Granted that is only the tip of the iceburg ... but these are the things that if stranded on an island I could very cheerfully eat for a fairly long duration. How sad that I just looked and my list is awfully fruit and veggie free. LOL!

Faith's Beef Stew

2007-12-03T12:54:00.000-05:00

I have a couple of beef stew recipes that I've thrown together that have become hits in our family. This is the one that ended up in the crockpot yesterday. You can also simply simmer it on the stove until the veggies are tender, but I prefer the ease of the crockpot, especially on a busy night.

Faith's Beef Stew

2 pounds stew beef*
2 medium white or yellow onions, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped fairly small (it's okay to use some leaves in this)
3 tsp jarred minced garlic (or 3 cloves, minced fine)
2 tbsp olive or canola oil
6-8 medium baking potatoes, peeled and cut up into bite sized pieces
6 medium carrots, peeled and sliced on the diagonal into 1/4" rounds
1/4-1/2 cup blackberry red wine (use whatever red you like - if you don't care to use wine, deglaze with some beef broth)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
4-6 cups beef broth (add enough to just cover the veggies and meat)
8 oz. tomato sauce (you can use tomato puree or an 8 oz can of diced tomatoes - whatever liquid type tomato you have on hand and like)
scant tsp molasses or unpacked brown sugar
3 tbsp melted margarine or butter
1/3 cup all purpose flour

Peel and cut up the potatoes and carrots. Place in crockpot. Sear beef on all sides; place in crockpot. In same pan, saute onion and celery in olive oil until translucent (if they start to brown, it's no big deal). Toss in garlic for about 30 seconds (or just until you can smell it). Put sauteed veggies in crockpot. Deglaze the pan with the wine, then pour that into the crockpot. Put broth, tomato sauce, molasses, salt and pepper in pot. Stir. Cover and let cook on low for about 6-8 hours, until 15-20 minutes before serving. Combine melted butter and flour in a separate bowl; stir in a few spoonfuls of the stew liquid, then (gently) stir the flour mixture into the pot. Turn the crockpot to high, leave the cover off, and in 15-20 minutes you'll have a lightly thickened beef stew.

Serve in shallow bowls with fresh buttered Italian bread.

*I never, ever by stew beef - it is usually unevenly cut and riddled with fat. I buy cheap steaks or roasts which I trim and cube myself. It's an extra step but (IMO) well worth it.

Self Discipline

2007-12-03T12:16:00.000-05:00

Self discipline is something I struggle with. A lot. You can see it in the condition of my house, the piles of "stuff" floating around, unfinished projects, the way I handle finances, in all honesty, the list is long enough it makes me cringe. I believe that it - or the lack of it - is one of the biggest problems in my marriage. So, I'm on a mission to develop some for myself. I found myself reading The Book of Virtues for Young People - granted, I'm not particularly "young people" anymore, but I find that - sometimes - books on a younger level sometimes get the point across better than adult books. I bought this book for my kids but ended up reading it myself.

"Self-discipline is the virtue we use to manage ourselves and the different parts of our our lives. It involves controlling our tempers ... controlling our wishes ... controlling our appetites ... and even controlling our egos. ... Self-discipline also requires recognizing your limites, not wanting too much too soon, and not reaching so far beyond your abilities that you're asking for trouble.

"In short, self-discipline means saying yes to the right things and no to the wrong things. It means taking charge of yourself. (italics mine)

"... The bottom line is that learning self-discipline is very much a do-it-yourself project. [Other people] can help, but in the end, it takes lots of practice, and no one can do that for you. It takes time and it takes patience. Use the virtue of perseverance to learn self-discipline. You'll find yourself a happier, healthier, better person." pp. 7 and 8

"Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control." Proverbs 25:28

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." 2 Timothy 1:7

Holiday insanity strikes again

2007-11-30T09:35:00.000-05:00

I decided - yesterday - that I want to make something for Andrew for Christmas. I have made blankets for the other three kids, but not Andrew - granted, Justin's blanket is kid sized, but it's still a something. So, I took myself off on a wild pattern hunt, found one I liked, and took off. Unfortunately, the pattern itself has flaws - some major ones, starting with the wrong amounts of yarn, an inaccurate starting chain, and a first row that has three stitches that don't belong. So, I frogged almost 45 minutes of my time, pieced together a schematic, and will start fresh today.

Cross your fingers I can do this in - umm - 16 days, as I can't work on it on weekends. A twin bed sized blanket. Oh, I have indeed lost my mind.

Here's a teaser - some of you may be able to figure out what the pattern is - note Frodo in the picture. He's a clue. :) I did change one thing - I added a light grey and the variegated white, grey and black yarn. The original calls for black, the heather-y grey, and white.

I am going to have to conquer my hatred of weaving in ends for this project. It's so cute though I couldn't resist. I dragged Betsy with me to get yarn yesterday and I think she's a little jealous that I'm making it for him instead of her.

Tuesday Ten: Things that get me up at night

2007-11-28T02:17:00.001-05:00

As I find myself sitting at the computer at 2 AM on Wednesday morning, this seemed appropriate.

1. A sick child (this is what has me up tonight - Justin has croup)

2. A trip to the bathroom

3. A cramp in my leg or back (usually caused by a feline laying on that part)

4. Need for a drink

5. "Moooooooooooooommmmmmmmmyyyyyyyy!"

6. A loud noise

7. "Meee-oooooow" (Frodo asking to come in after galavanting outside all night - he loves to wake me up around 5 or 5:30, but will sometimes ask to come in earlier)

8. Overactive brain - this usually doesn't wake me up, but it will keep me up, and potentially get me out of bed.

9. Coughing. I'm prone to it, particularly once we hit autumn or winter, and will get out of bed rather than wake up Mike.

10. It bears repeating - a trip to the bathroom. Having children has destroyed my capacity to go more than 6 hours without said trip. Very annoying. This is the number one reason I find myself awake during the night - every night.

Bonsoir!

Tuesday Ten: Things I'm Thankful For

2007-11-20T06:52:00.000-05:00

It's probably a little bit cliche given Thanksgiving is in two days, but that's okay. It's always a good thing to look over your life and count your blessings. And - the good news - ten things is really just a drop in the bucket.

1. My faith. Life would be nothing without it.

2. My family. From dh to the kids, my dad, my mil, extended family, "adopted" family - they all make up pieces of who I am, and I am thankful to have had them all play a vital role in my life.

3. My home. I'm so thankful for this home that my dh has worked his heart out to get and keep for us.

4. Four beds made every morning, without a word from me. This represents more than a made bed - it represents four children who are learning to be responsible for themselves. Likewise, the empty dishwasher means that one of them - without prompting from me - decided to empty it because they know having it empty and waiting is a bit help for me (with 6 people there is always something waiting to go in it!)

5. Mike's job. It represents a lot of things for me. It is stability, it is hard work, it is a gift, it is the financial backbone (and really, the entire skeletal system, lol) of our family, since we are a one income household. As an added bonus, the company itself is family oriented and a positive, healthy work environment. It's a good fit, not just for Mike, but for our family.

6. Food, and enough of it. I sometimes complain that I would like this ingredient or that ingredient (I've mentioned I love to cook?!) but when it comes down to it, we don't go hungry, we have plenty of food, and there are lots of opportunities for me to cook. I can't say that I have ever been in a situation where I have not had enough to eat - God has always provided for us, even when things were at their worst - and I can only be thankful for that.

7. Good friends. I am sometimes baffled, and overwhelmed, by the sheer volume of friends that I have amassed along the way. For a girl who had only a couple of friends and was often very lonely in high school and my brief venture into college, I can't help but be continually aware of it. They span a wide age range and geographical distance, different ways of thinking and contrasting life situations, both in my daily life and online. And they're people with whom I know I can trust anything, they are true, genuine, real friends. What a gift that is.

8. Books. I don't remember a time when I couldn't (didn't) read. I would rather have my books than all my yarn, my pots and pans, a tv. A well read book is a friend, and a good book can sometimes put a world that seems off kilter back into its proper perspective. At least for me.

9. My cats. All that adoration and disdain wrapped up in such a gorgeous, cuddlable little package. There is nothing like having a friendly cat (or three) on your lap, or waking up on a cold morning with a warm, purring weight curled up on the small of your back.

10. Changing seasons. I can't imagine living somewhere I couldn't enjoy the stark beauty of snow, the pale green budding beauty of spring, the vivid colors and scents of autumn, even the shimmering heat of summer (although I am thankful that summer is only a few short months here). They are all beautiful.

Locks of Love

2007-11-19T08:49:00.000-05:00

I've been wanting to do it for several years now and finally managed it ... this time I stuck to my guns and didn't get a wretched haircut when I'd almost reached the 10 inch goal that sent me back to square one, lol. I went in yesterday to get a simple trim and ended up deciding - while I was there - to just go for it. The salon we went to isn't a participating salon, but they knew about it, were very nice, and followed the rules to cut the ponytail for me. All that's left now is to mail off the tail.

Check out Locks of Love to find out more about what they do.

I normally can't stand having short hair - I despise it, I don't like having "bits" of hair around my face - but being able to do something like this makes it worthwhile for me. Other than being a little shell shocked at the initial "chop" and getting too much shampoo in the shower this morning, much to my surprise, I've actually not been bothered by it and am enjoying the lightness. I am so glad to have finally fulfilled this goal! It's taken 4 years (5?) to get it done.

And now - I get the fun of doing it all over again. :)

Tuesday Ten: Movies we enjoy as a family

2007-11-16T09:39:00.000-05:00

Yes, I know it's Friday. I started it on Tuesday, my computer crashed, and I never got back to it. Can I also say that I am SO THANKFUL that it is Friday??

1. Star Wars (any of them - this is more Mike and the kids than me, but they all really enjoy those)

2. Night at the Museum

3. Shrek (any of them)

4. Toy Story 2

5. Nanny McPhee

6. The Wizard of Oz

7. The Grinch That Stole Christmas (either the old class or the Jim Carrey version)

8. Polar Express - we watch this every year the day after Thanksgiving. Kind of a way of welcoming in the Christmas seasons.

9. The Incredibles

10. The Spongebob Squarepants movie - okay, okay, I know that's sad, but we love Spongebob here. LOL!

Happy 7th Birthday Andrew!!!

2007-11-11T10:21:00.000-05:00

I can't believe my boy is seven!

Newborn ...

One ...

Two ...

Three ...

Four ...

Five ...

Six ...

SEVEN!!!

Happy Birthday Andrew!!! I love you!

Kid pictures

2007-11-03T14:18:00.000-04:00

Since it's been so long, I figured I'd better get caught up on some pictures of the kids. They can grow quite a bit in a short time. I'll also try and do a little bit of an update for each, too.

Just for fun, here's a series of pictures of all four taken just about every two months.

From the last day of school in June (taken right after Andrew's kindergarten "graduation"):

Here's a picture from the first day of school (September):

And Halloween (we have three ninjas and a fairy princess):

Brendan ...

Let's see. He's in fifth grade now. It has been a bit of a challenge for him; they emphasize taking ownership (being responsible) for a lot more things than in years past. He prefers to let things just happen and hope they end up the way he wants them to, so he's been having to learn some tough lessons. He started band, and much to my surprise, he chose flute! This of course presents a whole new battle (practicing!) but time will tell whether he decides he wants to play enough to hold up his end of it. Extracurriculars - he played baseball in the spring, continued through All Stars over the summer, and then played fall baseball. He is in his final year of cub scouts and looking forward to crossing over to BSA in February.

Betsy ...

Betsy is still our household "sunshine." She is in fourth grade this year and continues to blossom. This is the first year (and teacher) to mention her gift with writing - I've seen it since she started writing stories before she knew all her letters, but this teacher is the first to comment on it. She started chorus this year and is really, really enjoying that. She is still in Girl Scouts - she's a junior this year - and has been having a blast. She also tried her first sport this fall - soccer. We were very impressed (and surprised) that she has a knack for it, she really gets in there and goes after the ball.

Andrew & Justin (super heroes, of course, note the "capes")

Andrew is in first grade now. That has been quite an adjustment from half days, but he's doing well. We've seen a sudden jump in his attention to details (his handwriting has improved dramatically). He continues to read on an advanced level for his age (he knows the Dolch words (sight words) through third grade) and appears to really enjoy reading. He gave soccer a shot this fall and while he enjoyed it, I don't think it's his "thing." He seems to enjoy throwing the ball in more than he does running around and kicking it. He started cub scouts this fall as a Tiger Scout. One funny side note there - the assistant scoutmaster for the BS Troop Brendan will be joining is also Andrew's den leader. It's a small world!

Justin started kindergarten. He loves writing and drawing pictures now (we refused to do so before we turned 5!). He is a bundle of energy and keeps us on our toes - he is constantly popping out with something funny (the first day of school he told me school was lots of fun, it was a party). He's still a monkey - he maybe small, but he's wiry and strong and pretty fearless. Justin also gave soccer a trial run this fall and he, like Betsy, really seemed to do well. Of course we did have a couple of "games" (U5 division doesn't play games - they have sessions) where he did cartwheels down the field instead of running.

That's it for today - it's incredibly rainy and windy here (apparently we're getting some weather from Noel) and I should fine something to do with the kids. Maybe play a game. We're trying to keep the tv and game platforms to a minimum recently - it's amazing how once we're used to having them on less, the kids seem more inclined towards finding their own amusements. That's been one definite plus to this summer's flea invasion (a whole other story - maybe nightmare - for a different day) - we were forced out of the basement and took a hiatus from the various idiot boxes - that has been a blessing. The tv and other things are on - for all four kids - a max of about 3 hours on the weekends, and 2 during the week (if that). It tells you something (or it does me, anyway) that today, on a rainy, yucky day where they can't go out to play, Andrew and Justin are being superheroes with balloons, Betsy is playing with legos, and Brendan is upstairs practicing (under protest! but practicing) - he will probably work on a puzzle with me when he's done. A few months ago, they would have buried themselves on the porch with the tv on. This is much better!

Tuesday Ten: Things About Halloween

2007-10-30T12:34:00.000-04:00

With Halloween tomorrow, this seemed appropriate. I have to confess right off the bat that I am not a huge fan of Halloween, I have serious issues with the premise, but I have learned to enjoy certain aspects of it, mainly because the kids enjoy them and certain activities, in and of themselves, are harmless. So take my responses from that perspective.

1. A good memory My mother made many of my Halloween costumes. All of them maybe? I was Laura Ingalls a couple of years (complete with a historically appropriate brown gingham dress, braids, a bonnet, dark boot like shoes, and a small Black Susan that we picked up at one of the LIW homesites while travelling as a family) and another year I was a pumpkin made from an old - orange - beach cover-up of my mothers. I don't remember the other costumes but those stick out.

2. My head is still spinning Save me from the kids' parties. This year ... we went to four. And were invited to more than that, but that was all I could stand. One was a birthday/Halloween party for one of the little boys' best friends, another was Brendan's scout party, another was Betsy's scout party, and the last was Andrew's scout party, so it was all or none. Somehow Mike managed to avoid going to all four. I'm still not entirely sure how he managed that one.

3. The good ... Reese's Peanut Butter Cups ... the bad ... more Reese's Peanut Butter Cups ... the ugly ... yet more ... Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Especially the special ones that are shaped like pumpkins. (The tree - at Christmas - and the egg - at Easter - also get me.)

4. My feet! The trick-or-treating. I never went as a child but we take the kids as part of a group (lots of kids from school) and all have a lot of fun. Do you have any idea how much candy 4 kids can manage to bring home after just an hour of trick-or-treating? You know those boxes that hold something like 10 reams of paper? Yep. No joke.

5. Purrrrr I'm stretching things here, but I'll say black cats, especially our Frodo. Yeah, yeah, he has a bunch of white on him. I love cats!

6. Something I don't like All the occult costumes, references, etc. I understand our society has become desensitized to witches, goblins, vampires, "death," and the like, but I have not, and I don't think it's "cute" when a 3 year old wants to dress up as the grim reaper. I'm not attempting to make any inflammatory comments ... but I'm not going to apologize for my beliefs, either.

7. What I do enjoy All the fun, obviously original costumes. Last night, at the last of the kids' parties (again, thank goodness those are all done!) there was one kid dressed up as an ice cream cone, complete with a cherry on top. On Sunday, one kid made his own "Mario" costume, and we saw a "Thing 1" and Thing 2" (Dr. Suess). How cool is that?? And who can forget all the little kids dressed up as pumpkins or head to toe as animals? Now that stuff ... is fun.

8. Eat up! We all know I love to cook ... and let's face it, there are a ton of really cool Halloween recipe out there. Kitty litter cake, eyeball punch, deviled eyes (deviled eggs with a sliced olive on top as the "eye") ... the list is endless. And fun.

9. & 10. Pumpkins! The carving of them, and the roasting of the seeds. Especially when the pumpkins rot because the kids don't want to throw out their artwork and Mom says, "Okay, but just one more day." (My poor mom.) Roasted pumpkin seeds ... some fantastic memories there, from the Gifted Program I went to one year ... we carved pumpkins, cleaned the seeds, and then the teacher roasted the seeds. I have yet to make any on my own that taste as good as that memory.

This one speaks for itself

2007-10-29T12:45:00.001-04:00

I hope. :)

Little Blessings

2007-10-27T16:31:00.000-04:00

I love fall. The cooler weather (I wilt over the hotter summer months), hot cider, being able to drink hot tea again, the smells ... I also love the beauty that comes when the leaves change color. When the leaves still on the trees grow sparse - I love the stark beauty of the tree itself peeking through those last, vividly colored leaves. It has been overcast and drizzly the last few days, and it makes the colors even more vibrant - if that's possible - than they are on a sunny day. I keep saying I'm going to take pictures but I never seem to capture what exactly it is that's catching my eye in the first place.

Today was the last day of soccer. Fall baseball ended last Saturday, too, so we are sport-less for a few months - scheduled sports, at any rate. The weather was icky, wet, windy - Justin flat out refused to go on the field to play - no big surprise there, he can't stand wet grass, often won't even walk through it going to school. Betsy, on the other hand, played her heart out, ran after the ball, despite the mud, and did better on offense than I've seen her do all season. Andrew did his typical stay-back-and-watch with the occasional kick-the-ball thing. They all lit up when given their trophies (instructional league) and got all excited over their pictures, so all in all - despite a wretched day for watching for the parents - we all had a good time. I'm sure the hot dogs, chips and drinks the kids got helped with the good cheer just a bit.

We had a big "first" this evening (I'm not sure who else in the house saw it as a big deal, but I do) - Brendan ran an errand for me. I went to the grocery store earlier, but thanks to a headache, forgot to pick up the carrots I need for supper tonight. I rarely have cash on hand (deliberately), and tend to be a bit overprotective (I can see my husband rolling his eyes at that one), so I have never sent him to pick up something for me, ever. Well, tonight I had cash, and as we've been looking for ways to help him build our trust levels (turning into a "tween" is proving very hard for him), I thought we'd give it a trial run. He's been going to a friend's house very near the store, so it really wasn't a crazy stretch, but I tell you, I was very happy to hear the squeak of the screen door when he got home. It does seem strange to have a child old enough to do that kind of thing.

Justin funny for the day ... he ran outside shortly after we got home ... literally just opened the door and ran outside. He went all the way around to the back shed, came back around to the front of the house, flew in the door, stopped short, and said, "MOMMY!!! The STORM is COMING!!!" I have no idea whatsoever where he got that from. It is indeed windy and overcast and foggy and maybe even a little bit rainy, but a storm? LOL!

Last thing from me tonight: GO SOX!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bits and Pieces

2007-10-23T07:29:00.003-04:00

It should tell you something about my frame of mind that I did my Tuesday Ten a day early. For some reason ... I had myself convinced that yesterday was Tuesday. We have so many things going on that I apparently can't even keep of what day it is properly! Ah well ... at least most of the insanity is good. This is the last week of soccer, and baseball just ended last weekend, so hopefully this means things will settle down for a few months. Until baseball starts up again in the spring, at any rate.

I'm going to see if I can dig up my (pitifully few) projects. I have a half-knitted dishcloth (trying to remember what I learned many months ago), a not-quite-finished knitted scarf, and a baby blanket. Actually, a second baby blanket, but I need to finish that one. I also started a crocheted scrap ripple - all in sc - but that is going to be a long time in the making - that one is for me, which means it's anyone's guess how long it will take to complete.

Let's see, what other things do we have going on? B started band this fall. He chose flute (which I think is cool!). E, A & J all started soccer (B played fall baseball instead) and E and J both seem to have a knack for it. A is afraid of the ball and watched more than he played - but he did have fun. Hmmm ... what else ... B is in Webelos 2 and working towards his Arrow of Light and Boy Scouts. E is a first year Junior and loving that. A started Tiger Scouts and he and I have been having fun with that. Ummm ... hmmm. Not much else on the kid front.

I have been doing a lot of cooking and recipe trying. Since I don't have a fiber project to share, here's a recipe I tried on Sunday. Mike swears it's one of the best things I've ever made (high praise indeed), and I confess I even think it's good - and this isn't a kind of soup I usually like - I don't like the texture. This one, though, I can eat AND enjoy. The thing I especially like about this is while it does have a "long" list - I normally have everything in the house, so I could make it almost any time. Simple is usually best. :)

Parmesan Corn Chowder

Link takes you to the original recipe, what I have posted here is what I did.

2 1/2 cups cold water
2 cups diced peeled potatoes
1/2 cup thinly sliced carrots (I used one large carrot, sliced in half lengthwise, then cut it thin)
1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp butter or margarine
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried parsley
2 cups 1% milk
1 (14.75 ounce) can sweet corn, drained
3/4 cup parmesan & romano cheese blend (in the cannister)

In a large saucepan, combine the first six ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until vegetables are tender (do not drain). Stir in drained corn, thyme and parsley and let stand while you do the next step.

In a small saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour, salt and pepper until smooth; cook, stirring (it will bubble), over a medium low heat until it turns a light caramel color. Gradually stir in milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir into the vegetable mixture. Stir in cheese. Cook until heated through (I heated until it just started to bubble and turned it off).

Double if making for a larger group. We would definitely need to for our family - I made it as a test run, as written, but will double it for a meal for all six of us.

It was better after it cooled a bit so you could taste the flavors. The thing I liked about it was while there were chunks of potato, and it didn't get that weird gritty texture that potato soups and chowders tend to get (which is what makes me not like them). It's very smooth.

Tuesday Ten

2007-10-22T19:57:00.000-04:00

So no, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. No excuses this time. LOL

Ten things I'd like to get rid of ...

1. The old, tacky, smooshed up Christmas decorations - mainly pine type garlands - that we "inherited" from my mother-in-law (sorry Mom, love you! we do like and use a lot of them!)

2. The cans of kidney beans that I can't bring myself to eat but since they haven't yet expired, my frugal nature won't permit me to get rid of (these might be donated to Scouting for Food in a couple weeks, though, lol)

3. The remaining Mexicana yarn in my possession. (That one is just plain sad.)

4. My "old" pots and pans. We requested Circulon cookware when we got married. Received a bunch ... ended up hating it. I now have Calphalon stuff (thanks to dh, for my 30th) and I STILL can't get myself to let go a year later. (Anyone want a very well used bunch of pans? Pay shipping and they're yours!)

5. Our towels. They're old, ratty and look as if they've been used by 6 people with sharp implements instead of hands. Maybe Santa will bring us some in the appropriate colors for Christmas this year.

6. VCR tapes. We don't have a working VCR, but we have several hundred VCR tapes. Can I let go of them? Nooooo ... I keep waiting for a way to preserve what's on them, as opposed to purchasing the DVD.

7. 15 pounds. (Don't we all??)

8. My old college notebooks. You read that right, NOTEbooks, not TEXTbooks. I still have them. I keep thinking I'll need the notes for something.

9. Our old purple couch. It isn't as heinously bright as purple indicates, but we've had it for years and it looks like we've had it for years, and has faded to, of all things, a cross between brown, purple and black. Yuck.

10. Last but not least ... our leaky roof. Hopefully that one will be resolved in the near future with as little pain as possible!

Sleepless

2007-05-17T01:45:00.000-04:00

Okay, so it's an established fact that I sleep poorly when dh is out of town. (He's in Las Vegas and spent the afternoon on Lake Mead jet skiing - the green eyed monster in me is coming out a bit.) I even did the right thing - turned everything off, laid there with my eyes closed, and nada, no sleep. It's now 1:30 AM and I am wide awake - tired, but not sleepy. It is aggravating. So here I sit attempting to make myself sleepy so I can actually get some sleep. Not working as of yet, even though I have skimmed some message boards and sent a couple of emails. I hope they're lucid, lol, I'm usually out by 10 or 11.

I really want to get back into crocheting. It seems as if I go in fits and spurts. I've recently finished a baby blanket and started a second but that has been sitting on the table in my bedroom for two weeks now (and the baby shower it was supposed to be going to on Saturday probably will not be seeing it). I wish I knew why I don't seem inspired to work on anything.

Well - I'm sitting here staring at the screen. I can't say I feel any sleepier, but I should try seeing if I can sleep again. Good night!

Tuesday Ten

2007-05-15T14:31:00.000-04:00

Hmm. Blogging? What is that? I have no time, no inclination, no nothing, but I'll try. Again. So in an attempt to do this, here's a Tuesday 10.

Tuesday Ten-Ten things ALWAYS in my grocery cart.....

1. whole wheat bread

2. milk (either regular or soy)

3. juice boxes

4. lettuce

5. cereal

6. chips

7. baby carrots

8. bottled water (for games)

9. veggies (either frozen or canned)

10. canned tomatoes

Betsy's Blanket

2006-12-21T12:27:00.000-05:00

Is finally done! Similar concept to Brendan's, I used colors that will go with her room but they are mainly "extra" yarns, in pinks and purples with a couple of random pastels tossed in. I may add tassels or fringe later but this is how she'll be getting it.

I'm so glad those are done!!

Christmas program!

2006-12-20T10:37:00.000-05:00

I am a week late, but I can't forget to post about the kids' first school Christmas program last week! It was wonderful; Brendan was in the fourth grade chorus (kids are selected for this based on grades and behavior) and Betsy was in "Cool Yule" (kids in grades 1-5 - there ended up being 70-80 kids).

My camera was acting up so the stuff I got of Brendan's performance is not what I would have liked. Be that as it may, here's what I have. Bren is on top, second from the right.

And a short video clip (unfortunately very short :( ) Mike and I were both pretty impressed with diction, pitch and how well the kids behaved. (We weren't so impressed with the 5th grade chorus, but I digress.)

The whole Cool Yule group (really, it was quite impressive - lol)

And the part with Betsy's group - each "character" (Betsy was a Loretta Poinsettia, there were also Billy Holly, an elf character, a surfer character, I forget all the names) had a song and a dance. I thought it was neat that she was one of the few (two maybe) that sung w/out the whole group. She's the one with the circle of poinsettias on her sweatshirt, fourth from the right. LOL you will probably hear some giggling parents - seriously, the whole program was one of the cutest, funniest things I've ever seen.

And this is what happens when you get 80 excited kids who can't hear the music (and neither can the directors)! HAHAHAHAHA Complete with sqealing microphones. This was the "finale."

Our "stars" after the show, since I couldn't seem to get great pictures of them on stage

And of course, since I took one of the big kids, the little ones had to get their pictures taken too, so here's the whole lot of them in front of our tree before Frodo destroyed it (another story for another day, perhaps). They are getting SO BIG - Brendan is now up to my nose and has worn larger shoes then mine for at least 6 months. And he won't be ten for another 2 weeks.

Woooooohooooooo!

2006-12-07T09:10:00.000-05:00

I finally finished a project I have been avoiding for months - I started a blanket for Brendan last fall, got about a quarter of the way through it, and stopped because it was so time consuming. It is - basically - a twin sized blanket; it's 81" long and 45-46" wide. All rows of hdc lengthwise, with a different color each row, then a thick fringe (which I pulled the ends into - there were 61 or 62 fringes on each end), for which I nabbed mostly navy yarn but also grabbed an extra strand of corresponding colors to the nearest two stripes. All told there are probably about 45 hours in this project, give or take.

The really cool thing about this project - okay, it's all acrylics (necessary, IMO, since this is for an almost 10 year old boy for whom tidiness and "special care" items are not a priority) - but the neat thing is that there are yarns from friends (of mine), and there quite a few from my mother's stash. In particular, there are some yarns my mom used to knit the only two things she had the opportunity to make for any of my children (a sweater and a round blanket) he received as a baby that I was able to incorporate. When I look at it, I don't just see that it's a project of love from me, I also see his Mormor, who he doesn't remember.

I'm very pleased with how it came out.

Now I just have to get Betsy's done, which shouldn't be too bad - I have less than half of hers left (a multicolored ripple in "girl" colors).

Time flies

2006-12-05T08:53:00.000-05:00

When you're busy. LOL! I can't remember the last time I posted in here. I even managed, much to my shame, to miss my 6 year old's birthday. He turned 6 on November 11! So, belated as it is, Happy 6th Birthday Andrew!!!

This is the first year he was "really" aware of it - he was SO excited. I can't believe he's six!!

Happy 4th Birthday Justin!!!

2006-08-16T14:45:00.000-04:00

My baby is FOUR!!! Doesn't seem possible.

Happy Birthday sweetie!!!

From this ...

To this (making a face at me - little ham)!

And this just cracks me up ... he loves the gamecube but doesn't get much time, so as part of his birthday gets to do whatever he wants (within reason, lol) I let him play for a bit longer than usual. He had a blast!

Cats, bars, and OOPS (in other words, an update)

2006-08-16T14:28:00.000-04:00

It has been a very eventful summer! The kids go back to school in 3 weeks (September 6th) - Brendan will be in 4th grade, Betsy in 3rd, and Andrew in kindergarten. All three have been taking swimming lessons; they started in level one the end of June, but Brendan just passed ARC level three and Betsy passed level two. Andrew will be repeating level one next summer but he is finally putting his whole head underwater and not being afraid all the time - huge progress for him. There's hope for him. :) Justin - starts school next fall, and will start swimming lessons next summer, so he has another year of tagging along.

In house news - we purchased furniture for our sunporch and have been enjoying actually being able to use it (other than as a makeshift workshop for Mike and storage). We also (I say we; it was Mike) took out the bar this past weekend - it was a black hole for everything that didn't have a home, and we need the storage space, so out it came. We will be puting in a half wall with a pocket door (at least, that's the current plan) and shelving.

Here's the original:

And as it is now:

Also, we have a new furbaby. We rescued a mama cat and her kittens and while two of them went to our friends, we fell in love with one, and he stayed.

Here's our newest addition, Frodo

Me - there's no big news, although I will say this: if ever you get a cut, and it gets infected, and you see a red line following a tendon up whatever limb the cut is on, go to the ER. I cut myself making supper last Wednesday, dicovered it was infected on Sunday night, then didn't go to the ER on Monday (at the recommendation of the on call doctor - Monday was a holiday in RI), and got yelled at by a doctor on Tuesday (when I went to see a doctor finally). Apparently that's an indication of blood poisoning, and I'm very blessed that it was actually healing on its own (after I lanced it myself - apparently another no-no)! Anyway, should anything like this ever happen again, I'll go right away.

Betsy is EIGHT!

2006-07-18T08:56:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday to my princess!!!

For her birthday, she got a new room ... special thanks to everyone who was part of this wonderful gift! She loves her new furniture and has definitely been spending more time hanging out in her room. Brendan doesn't appreciate it - that of course means she's spending less time with him - but I see it as a rite of passage that would have come sooner or later. :)

If you have the time, please take a moment and wish my girl a Happy Birthday!

Here's a desperate attempt

2006-07-12T19:33:00.000-04:00

to get myself back into blogging. I haven't done one of these before, but after hitting Deneen and Elizabeth's blogs, this one struck my fancy. And thus I'm initiated into memes.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said 'I love you' and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 10 provinces
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow (Okay I'm not sure I actually milked it ... but I tried.)
56. Alphabetized your cds
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an "expert"
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Had a one-night stand
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror.
96. Raised children.
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Created and named your own constellation of stars
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an illness that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school (can't WAIT to do this one myself)
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146: Dyed your hair
147: Been a DJ
148: Shaved your head
149: Caused a car accident
150: Saved someone's life

Happy Birthday to me!!!

2006-07-02T09:56:00.000-04:00

I'm 30 today! I thought 30 meant you were a well grounded adult but seems I'm still working on growing up.

I have so many reasons to count my blessings today!

It's all about Andrew!!!

2006-04-27T11:46:00.000-04:00

Pictures from Andrew's first ever t-ball game last night!! Brendan missed the first few innings of his game just so he could be there! It was adorable - I think seeing those kids running around is one of the cutest things I've ever seen! I got one short video but don't know how to post it - if I figure it out I'll have share!

All decked out (why don't they make the stuff smaller??)

First at bat

All four - I think this is one of my favorite pictures ever!

Just the kids

2006-04-27T11:44:00.000-04:00

Just to get you current, here's a recent picture of each of the kids!

Brendan

Betsy (check out the hair, Gramma!)

Andrew

Justin

Playing catch up

2006-04-27T11:37:00.000-04:00

Here are some pictures ...

These gorgeous flowers (some of my favorites - I love irises) were sent to be by the THBC moms as an RAOK and thank you for the "hug"ghans I've done. They really, really didn't have to do that, but the gesture meant so much to me and I love them for it. And as you see, Cinder approves, too!

From our trip to the Boston Children's Museum in February with "Uncle" Todd and "Auntie" Jen

On the rock wall ...

Andrew did great on his own but Justin needed a little help

Betsy surprised us - she did really well on the rock walls, she's very determined and didn't give up - Brendan jumped on and off half a dozen times.

Justin in a tunnel (no clue who the girls are)

In the "Blue Man Group" room - they had mock ups of some of their instruments - this room was on of Betsy's favorites - notice the length on her hair

In the wind room (ignore the lady in the pink, focus on the cute kids)

Justin in the bubble room

Happy Valentine's Day!

2006-02-14T14:05:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine shared these with me - and I think they're appropriate for today! I don't know where they originated from, so I can't give you a source, but I hope they give you a smile, a chuckle, and maybe even a tear or two.

Enjoy!

---------------------------------------------------

Slow down for three minutes to read this. It is so worth it.
Touching words from the mouth of babes.

What does Love mean?
A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, "What does love mean?"

The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined See what you think:

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"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore.

So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love."

Rebecca- age 8

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"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth."

Billy - age 4

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"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other."

Karl - age 5

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"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs."

Chrissy - age 6

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"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired"

Terri - age 4

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"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK."

Danny - age 7

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"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss"

Emily - age 8

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"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."

Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)

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"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,"

Nikka - age 6
(we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)

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"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday."

Noelle - age 7

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"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well."

Tommy - age 6

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"During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore."

Cindy - age 8

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"My mommy loves me more than anybody You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night."

Clare - age 6

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"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken."

Elaine-age 5

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"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford."

Chris - age 7

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"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day."

Mary Ann - age 4

---------------------------------------------------

"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones."

Lauren - age 4

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"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you." (what an image)

Karen - age 7

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"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross."

Mark - age 6

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"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."

Jessica - age 8

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And the final one -- Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge.

The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child.

The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife.

Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.

When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said,

"Nothing, I just helped him cry"

Still no camera

2006-02-09T10:27:00.000-05:00

Mike has a new one, so I can use his if necessary, but I am still lacking mine. We need to ship it to CT and I am afraid to mail it. It may actually be easier to drive it there, lol. Anyway, I figure that despite not having the ability to share pictures I can still bog. I prefer having the security of pictures, but what can it hurt to bare my soul a little? LOL

I'm doing "The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here for?", by Rick Warren, with a group of very good friends. We're only on Day 4 and I am already reeling a little bit. I've been feeling the need to put myself back in gear - almost a decade of rebellion against my beliefs needs to end, and I have been working to that purpose especially the last 6 months - but man oh man I wasn't expecting it to touch so deep. It will be interesting to see where the next weeks take us.

Current crochet projects - let's see - I am making another "hug"ghan; I need to block and mount a threadghan and frame it; I'm testing a doily for Kathy - you can see some of the incredible work she does here - she's currently working up a year of doilies, and I'm trying out May. It is slow going but I am making progress - I'm using plain white instead of the emerald with blending filament - I'm a sucker for white doilies; my ultimate goal is to buy one of those see through frames and hang it in that (will have to see if that will work though - depends on how "tight" it's held in the frame).

In other news - oh man, I'm becoming a yarn snob. And a thread snob. Jackie sent me some Monaco threads to try and I am HOOKED on them - there is nothing in the US like it - soft, no splitting, a dream to work with - I just ordered a bunch from her and I know I will be ordering more in the future! Yarns - I find myself dropping by KnitPicks almost daily and drooling. It's kind of funny, actually, because I have worked with little but acrylics and kitchen cotton - I am itching to try the good stuff. Maybe in the next month or two I will get to try their wares - I want to try dyeing, too, and in the grocery store I catch myself eyeing the koolaid and food coloring! LOL, I even have some tucked away already - I just need the wool now.

Teas - I still love adagio, and highly recommend their teas, but if you are looking for the perfect decaf teas, check out Simpson & Vail - their flavored decaf teas are wonderful. Thank you to Lori for the recommendation (and my latest addiction)!

It's been a long time!

2006-01-31T11:23:00.000-05:00

I don't know why, but I just can't get into chatty blogging. I like being able to post about something specific - like a project - and with my camera dead (yes, my NEW camera) blogging seems to lack something. Mike's camera was in the shop and now that he has a new one (they couldn't fix his old one) I feel more inspired.

Two "hug"ghans completed - finished while my dad was visiting a couple of weeks ago, and the picture is courtesy his camera - thanks Daddy (yes I call him Daddy, despite being almost 30)!

I've started a recipe site - I'll have to link to it here sooner or later - but I'm finally trying to get all my recipes into one place. People are always asking me for recipes and this way I can send them right to it. :)

Here's one of our favorite recipes - I hadn't made it in months but Saturday I had a craving for it - so good! Definitely comfort food, and not TOO too hideously unhealthy - the worst of it is the butter in the topping!

Sour Cream Chicken

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts, cooked (see directions for easy cooking below)
salt & pepper
garlic & onion powder (to taste)
sage
1 can cream of chicken soup (98% fat free)
1 cup light sour cream (don't use fat free)
1 cup stuffing mix (crushed ritz crackers, crushed saltines, crushed croutons, etc also work)
1/4 cup margarine or butter, melted (can use up to 50% less)

Cut cooked chicken into bite sized pieces. Place evenly into a single layer in a casserole dish sprayed with pam (1.5 quart or 7" x 10.5" work well). Sprinkle with salt & pepper and seasonings. Combine cream of chicken soup and sour cream, spread over chicken. Toss topping with melted butter and sprinkle over the casserole. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Our favorite way to eat it is to serve with potatoes (in any form) or over whole wheat noodles and green beans or broccoli. Doubles very well.

To cook chicken: place chicken in large pot, cover to one inch above meat with COLD water. Place on burner, bring to a boil, and simmer until tender. It takes about 1/2 an hour from the time you turn on the burner to the chicken being cooked.

I will often cook 8 breasts and freeze half. The broth, if you skim off the foam, can be saved (even frozen) if you like and used to cook rice or for making mashed potatoes - I will sometimes toss in a quartered onion (whole - the skin gives a lovely color to the "broth"), a celery stalk and a quartered carrot (anything you'd put in a stock pot) while the chicken cooks. You can use whole breasts for a better broth if you like, they will just take a bit longer to cook.

My boys

2005-12-22T12:16:00.000-05:00

No pics of Betsy today ... sorry. I'll have to get one later. :)

Here's my baby all dressed up in one of my sweaters. LOL!

My oldest and my youngest - gee, it's a shame they don't like each other!

Here's my Andrew!

Fisherman Bangle Bag

2005-12-20T23:30:00.000-05:00

This is an experiment - totally from scratch, inspired originally by Donna's Bangle Purse only it wasn't quite what I was looking for. Anyway, I started sketching some stuff, researched the popcorn stitch (which I had never done before - not sure why, it's super easy?!?), adjusted the cable she used, and came up with this bag. I'm not sure quite what I think and I'm even less sure what the aunt it was designed for is going to think.

Be kind - it still needs lining.

The front:

The back:

And next to my cat (who is actually pretty petite - only about 9 pounds maybe) for a size reference - it's about 14" wide.

The bangles (bamboo) are 7" wide; the yarn is just plain old caron pounder in off white; I'm going to see if I can find a matching off white corduroy to line it with the cords facing towards the outside so the smooth side of the fabric is on the inside of the purse. If I can't find a decent off white, I should be able to find a dark brown or olive green, which I think would also work.

Tension Tamers

2005-12-14T14:03:00.000-05:00

Not what you think! LOL I'm talking about the crocheting kind of tension - even stitches. ;) I have been working on some thread projects and I find that when I start out I have somewhat of an uneven tension, so I started making some little things to help me get on track.

Here are a couple - you can definitely see a difference; the lavendar one was done first and is all over the place, with the red one you can tell I'm getting more comfortable working with thread.

The red is my favorite!

Another Christmas present done!

2005-12-08T18:05:00.000-05:00

Oh, that feels so good!! This is the Five-Sided Pineapple Doily from Better Homes and Gardens "Forever Favorite Crochet" - I used size 10 thread and a size 5 hook - not even close to what they suggested, lol. Finished size is about 12" in diameter. I still need to block it and that's it - I'm debating framing it. Hmmm ...

Finally!

2005-12-08T15:00:00.000-05:00

These are going in the mail tomorrow to my various ornament swap partners at Crochetville, finally! Took me long enough!

Everything there is off the top of my head - it took me five stockings before finally I found a finished product I liked - so the two on the left are my favorites. :) I like the hats, too, those were a lot of fun. I love ornaments that aren't of a traditional Christmas orientation!

Elegant Lace Stole

2005-12-05T14:56:00.000-05:00

Another amazing pattern by Dot!! Thank you for your wonderful patterns, Dot - I love them! They're easy to read, easy to make, and always lovely.

Elegant Lace Stole

I used red heart in cherry red - it's for my grandmother - her favorite color is red and she's always cold - this is very wash and wearable yarn, so I thought it would work for something to throw over her shoulders. We won't be able to be there on Christmas, and are going to be possibly celebrating with my family in February, but I wanted her to have something to open ON Christmas since I know that's important to her.

I think another time I would want to use a more "drapable" yarn (like simply soft) but I wanted to use up stuff in my stash ... so red heart it was! :)

A hat for Justin

2005-11-22T14:01:00.000-05:00

I was looking at the weather forecast for Syracuse yesterday and guess what I saw? Cold, snow and wind! So, I pulled out our box of hats and mittens to see what we needed. We're okay for mittens and gloves but only had hats for Brendan & Betsy. So, I'm scrambling to make one for the two younger boys so they stay nice and toasty.

This is completely from scratch, no pattern. It has small flaps on the sides and ties, since we all know that three year olds WILL remove hats when they can!

Doesn't he look thrilled? LOL I had to bribe him with scrambled eggs to get him to put it on with his coat and hat together.

I'm quite pleased with it - it fits him well and goes quite nicely with his coat!

We have been so busy!!

2005-11-11T10:42:00.000-05:00

It's been 2 months since I've updated! Things are crazy - we have Brendan in cub scouts and basketball, and Betsy is in brownies, gymnastics and an arts & crafts thing. We attempted putting Andrew & Justin in a tumble tots class but that has been an out and out flop. Which is actually not a bad thing - that means that Saturdays are free days now.

Here are some projects I've finished - I have quite a few in the works, long ones (4 afghans going right now - eek) - these are all small ones, I just don't have a ton of time for crocheting.

This will be a Christmas present for the newest baby in the family:

These are scarves I made for a scarf swap at Crochetville:

My squares for Blue Squares Too:

A poncho I made for one of dd's friends - I love it, I think it came out really cute!

And a little fishy made out of ribbon - came up with this in a moment where I wanted a quick project but didn't feel like using yarn. LOL

A couple recipes - since it's been a LOOOOONG time since I've posted one!

Italian Beef Roast

3-4 pound roast - frozen (I buy the cheapest I can find, and trim off the fat before freezing)
1 large can (28 oz) diced tomatoes with Italian herbs
1 packet spaghetti seasoning

Place roast in crockpot. Lightly drain tomatoes, then pour over the roast. Sprinkle with spaghetti seasoning. Cover and cook all day on low.

I've added in frozen green beans (YUM - I just stick them in the bottom of the pot under the roast) and carrots (not quite as good) so that all I have to do is toss on some whole wheat noodles or some low fat crescent rolls in the oven and we have a full meal. Leftovers - the flavors get stronger as it sits; it's good shredded, heated in the sauce, and served over baked potatoes - the potato mellows the flavors, very yummy.

The leftovers freeze pretty well, too.

Shortcut Roasted Potatoes

2.5 pounds potatoes, washed and pricked with a fork
1-2 tbsp canola oil
french fry seasoning (can be purchased at big lots) or Mrs. Dash (for no sodium)

Bake potatoes in your microwave according to manufacturer's instructions. When cool enough to handle, cut into pieces. Dump into a 9 x 13 pan. Drizzle with oil, toss to coat. Sprinkle liberally with FF seasoning, then bake in a 500F oven for 15-20 minutes.

Happy Birthday Andrew!!!!

2005-11-11T09:41:00.000-05:00

One of my babies is 5 years old today - happy birthday sweetie!!

Found it!

2005-09-22T13:01:00.000-04:00

I agreed to test a pattern for Jessi ages ago - back before we moved! - packed the top, and then lost track of it after moving. I found it this morning, so here it is:

Sherbet Tank Top (Scroll down to the bottom)

I changed two things - I switched to a larger hook the last few rows so it would "flair" a little to fit me better, and did a row of sc around the straps.

Poofs, puffs, and bags

2005-09-12T17:02:00.000-04:00

Very punchy today ... please forgive me. I just had one of those weekends were you just fudge around, do the few things that HAVE to be done, and hit Monday thinking "what on earth did I do?" Oops.

I did make two of Natalie's Econo-Shopper. Both in sugar 'n cream, both the small size - it took me a little to figure out how to form the bag - frogged the handle once, oiy - but I love the end result. My apologies for the poor picture, my flash isn't working - need to get my NEW camera fixed - grrr.

f

Filled with yarn - well, half filled with yarn; there are 11 balls of sugar 'n cream in it, it could have held twice as much easily. Amazing how much they can hold!

Today marked my first venture into making stitch markers - thanks to the findings Deneen sent, and some beads that I had (purchased a while ago for some forgotten project), I made these. Obviously a few kinks to work out, but I like them. :)

I also tried the Rose Bath Pouf at Crochet Me! - sorry no link, I can't get the page to come up, I'll try and add it later. And yes, I know that roses aren't blue.

And after reading on Drew's (The Crochet Dude) blog about Stuff on My Cat, I had to test the theory on my long suffering kitty.

She didn't move, not even an ear or whisker twitch. Interesting ...

Oh - a side note to my Secret Pal, and anyone else who may like to leave me anonymous comments - I've switched my settings to registered users only, and added word recognition; I've had a lot of problems with spam the last few weeks, every post has had at least one anonymous post. I can still be contacted through my email. Sorry for the inconvenience.

I like it ...

2005-09-08T16:27:00.000-04:00

To anyone not clutter or craft-ly inclined, this probably looks like a nightmare. To me, though, it looks nice and cozy. This is my grandmother's washstand, and on it I have a devotional book, some projects, and my latest FO - one of Dot's Doohickeys! I wasn't 100% sure what I was going to think when I finished, but it was so practical (and I am constantly digging for a hook, needle, pen, or scissors in the mess that is my desk) I wanted to give it a shot.

Anyway - I LOVE IT! It holds my hooks nicely (the ones I use regularly - the others are stored away, I promise), even my P hook fits into the side; my needles go in nicely (and I'm thinking that if I made one out of wool, that would be useful for cleaning needles and pins?) and - this is probably my favorite part - my lovely new stitch markers from Deneen fasten on and make it look extra pretty, as well as putting them right within reach!

I apologize for not having a close up - for some reason I'm having a hard time getting a good picture of just that. This shows how nicely it fits in though! LOL

Forgot a couple of things ...

2005-09-07T13:05:00.000-04:00

I received a wonderful RAOK package from a C'Ville Fairy - full of stitch markers! I had never made them before, never had any, either, so she sent me some she had made AND the fixings to make some of my own! Here's a picture - the beads are hidden away (all but three, to show a few) because they are proving far too tempting to Justin:

And here's the other scarf made with Target yarns - same configuration, 1 of the furry stuff (lavendar) and 2 of the ladder type yarn (aqua and a variegated with pink, peach, aqua and lavendar) and then a strand of pale pink WW yarn.

The skeins are different sizes I think - this time, I ran out of the fur about 2/3 of the way through, and then decided I was done when one of the ladder yarns ran out. Thankfully I'd gotten extra of the furry stuff. This one is just about 6' long. I think I like the one with the fall colors better of the two!

Whoa!

2005-09-07T09:46:00.000-04:00

Lots of stuff today, including pictures, so you've been warned! :)

Last week involved us going to my dad's and helping to go through stuff at my grandmother's house. She's been moved into assisted living, so it needs to be sold - hence a big job for all involved. She built that house over 50 years ago - I didn't get through everything, but did get through most of what was really "necessary". I came home with an antique washstand, a garbage bag full of yarn (left one to donate) and another garbage bag almost 2/3 full of THREAD. Not yarn, thread.

We took a couple of pictures with her at the house - I don't think they'll be bringing her back, but we were trying to give her a chance to say good-bye to the house and to help her understand that this is a permanent change, she can't go back.

Top left: my dad, Justin, me, and Colin (my only first cousin)
Bottom: Brendan, Grandma, Betsy & Andrew

And this one is me with her in front of her house.

Ever want to amuse your kids but out of ideas? Buy a karaoke machine! I hate microphones, you couldn't pay me to sing into one of them, but the kids all loved it, especially Justin. He wasn't really singing the words, but he was trying to match pitches - very cute!

Today is the first day of school!

Here are my two school kids, very impatient with me because they want to get to their classes:

Here's Betsy in line - see the pretty lady in the black top? That's Mrs. D. Notice anything special about her? She's pregnant - with TRIPLETS!! And - just in case anyone is wondering - Betsy does indeed have a little bit of a black eye. She and Justin collided last week and that's her battle scar, lol!

And Brendan in line near Mrs. P (she's new to third grade this year):

And here's my sad Andrew, who really, really wants to go but missed the kindergarden cut off by just a month.

Just to keep things on topic - here's a crochet project. This is made of yarns from the Target "Dollar Spot" - I'm not impressed with it, it's very thin. I used four strands for this - two different "funky fringe" yarns (gold and a gold/orange/brown), a "fuzzy fur" (orange) and a strand of dark brown WW acrylic (HA I found a use for some of those 70s yarns!). I started with just the target yarns but ended up frogging and adding the strand of acrylic to give it some substance (it also makes the golds pop, which I like). I'm calling it my Halloween scarf, but I think it's good for fall. I think I would probably like it better if I hadn't added in the orange fur ...

If you use a Q hook (I used an S, so Q would be right for most people), and do rows of 6 sc, and use up a full skein of the fuzzy fur (there will be some of the other two left) you'll end up with a scarf about 5 and a half feet long. I haven't woven the ends in - I'm procrastinating, lol!

Here's a close up so you can see the individual strands ...

Where have I been??

2005-09-06T17:51:00.000-04:00

I really, truly haven't disappeared off the face of the earth - just been out of town, and now busy getting the kids ready to start school tomorrow! I'll post some first day pictures tomorrow, along with a bunch of other stuff, including an RAOK package and some pictures of the kids and I with my grandmother, and HOPEFULLY I'll get all my squares for the square swap done so I can post a picture of those too! I only have two left so that shouldn't be a problem, lol! :)

Doilies, kids and cats

2005-08-24T11:35:00.000-04:00

Okay, one doily, three kids (Andrew was sulking and I couldn't get a picture of his face, lol) and one of the cats.

Cinder has been very affectionate since her last venture from home - she says good night to all the kids at bedtime (follows me around, hops on their beds, and makes a general nuisance of herself) but today is the first time she was actually laying on them. I missed getting the camera out when she was on Andrew, but her she is with Brendan - she stayed there for a good 45 minutes, and I think he would have stayed there all day with her if she had! He isn't feeling too well; I think maybe she might have been taking care of him.

You can see here just how happy she was with him!

Justin was watching, but we (I) kept him off the bed - he wanted to climb on Brendan! He was VERY jealous of the cat, I think; he thinks of Bren as his own personal property!

And lastly, the "Gift Doily", which pattern I pulled from an old doily pamphlet. It still has a lot of imperfections in it but I'm slowly improving - those picots almost killed me though, I need to find out where exactly in the chain you are supposed to slip stitch through; I'm not sure if I was doing it right or not. It ended up 10 3/4" - the book said it should be 9"!! Oops, lol!

My allergies are bad today - I have terrible vertigo, despite taking my typical medicine regimen; it's making it hard to do the things I wanted to. I'm just going to have to take things slowly and try and stay hydrated - that's another thing these allergies do, they take away my appetite and any appeal that drinking water has.

Happy Anniversary ...

2005-08-24T07:30:00.000-04:00

to Mike and I! It's 9 years today since we were married! We look so young in our wedding pictures!

Mike had to go to work early this morning, so I pulled out my crocheting (no point in going back to sleep, and didn't want to clean and wake up the kids early - ha, excuses, excuses, lol). I looked up after a little bit and there were our felines, curled up on the bed next to me. This is very unusual - not for them to be on our bed, but TOGETHER anywhere! I had to snap a picture!

And MOM! Thank you so much for our anniversary gifts - she sent us a gorgeous kitchen scale (badly needed one) and a kitchen aid food processor!!! I am so excited, I can't wait to try them out!

Classy Lassy and Artsy

2005-08-22T16:23:00.000-04:00

... The names of the scarves I made yesterday and today. I need a better name for the "artsy" one but what are you going to do? I named it that because it is kind of "artsy" in nature - lots of different textures in it; there are thick and thin yarns, fuzzy and not fuzzy, wool and blends. I think it came out neat.

Classy Lassy is about 4 1/2 " wide and 5' long; Artsy is 5 1/2" wide and just over 6' long.

Both scarves:

Classy Lassy:

Artsy:

Close up of Artsy:

It has been so humid here - not hot, but the humidity makes it miserable. We spent most of the weekend trying to stay cool and not stick to everything - I left a receipt on the counter and with the humidity, when I pulled it off, it left behind a layer of paper, almost as if I'd glued it on. Blech.

The kids go back to school on September 7th. Betsy has Mrs. D, who was Brendan's teacher last year - we are all very excited about that! She's a wonderful lady! Brendan has a new (to third grade) teacher who I know Mrs. D was trying to get for him, so we're hopeful that third grade will be another good year. Andrew is working on some of his letters (at home) and writes a very neat A now. Justin is acting interested so I need to decide whether to include him in the lessons or come up with some just for him. He's eating much, much better these days, but we're definitely seeing some of the terrible three's (which, IMO are worse than the two's) - he's still our sweet Justin a lot of the time, but when he's bad - oh, he is BAD.

Sending all you who are reading my blog a cheery "thank you!"

Dishcloths!

2005-08-17T10:00:00.000-04:00

I finished my dishcloths for the Dishcloth Swap at Crochetville. I need to tag them still, but they are crocheted with ends woven in and to all intents and purposes done!!

The colors are a bit off; the bottom left three are peaches, creams and a light green, and the bottom two on the right are pink, cream and blue; the top colors aren't as bright and garish as they appear and the part that looks black is actually a forest green. I have no idea why the are SO off since I took them in daylight.

My friend Elizabeth sent me a surprise to thank me for making the bunting doll for her little girl - E you really didn't have to do that, it was a pleasure to make. She sent me the Flavored Gift IngenuiTEA Set from Adagio (you all know I LOVE their stuff!) and I am in love with that silly thing! The kids think it's great - we made herbal iced tea this morning and they got quite a kick out of it. Funny story - FedEx messed up, so Adagio reshipped and I got the original order this morning so now I have two - what to do with that second set, hmmmmmm ...

Happy 3rd Birthday Justin!!!

2005-08-16T09:46:00.000-04:00

My baby is three as of 12:10 AM this morning! I am so thankful he is a part of our lives. Here he is, half asleep, but still excited and giggling after being sung "Happy Birthday" to. And, of course, in his favorite spot - mom & dad's bed! LOL

Afternoon in Newport

2005-08-15T15:11:00.000-04:00

This weekend was hot and humid. To help cope with it, we ended up going down to Newport Saturday afternoon and climbing on the rocks. It was a lot of fun - still hot and sticky but much more bearable than it was at home! You can climb around the rocks - there aren't any "formal" paths or boundaries, other than the fence around the old fort.

Just to give you an idea - this picture shows just how humid it was, even on the shore. This is NOT a "bad" camera shot, that's the fog and humidity.

Bunting Doll

2005-08-09T17:01:00.000-04:00

A good friend of mine was looking for an appropriately sized "baby" for her daughter, so here's one. Pattern can be found here - be aware that there are some errors in the pattern but they are pretty easy to pick out.

I used some leftover yarn from her baby blanket for the head (directly underneath) - that's caron simply soft off white, but I have no idea on the make, name, brand, whatever on the other yarns I used. They're inherited from my mom's yarn stash.

All in a weekend (and other bits)

2005-08-08T19:26:00.000-04:00

The kids put on a "play" for me with some of my old finger puppets - they found them in one of the boxes of stuff from when I was a kid.

See the little white tip of Daisy's tail on the left? She dozed there the whole time! LOL

Camping was a bust - all the campgrounds on the south shore were full - but we did get to a beach in Point Judith.

We made friends with a monarch butterfly (we have around 50 pictures, different poses, of this same butterfly!)

Pictures of the kids at the beach - it was chilly, and the "sand" beaches in the area were closed, so we ended up at this one and threw rocks into the ocean. The kids got a HUGE kick out of finding the biggest rocks they could and getting their dad to throw them in!

And ... last but not least ... my weary traveller, glad to be home ...

Yes - she got out again. This time, for a week. I'm not sure WHY she does this, she gets back home and meows and mushes and cuddles and rubs around everyone and is SO glad to be home I can't fathom why she gets these urges to go. I really dislike this trend and hope that we can break her of it.

Unexpected visitor

2005-08-08T19:14:00.000-04:00

Look what we found on our sunporch (courtesy of kids who forget, sometimes, to close the doors - I'm just glad we found it before the cats did!):

I felt so bad for it - it made a few attempts to get out (ie. fly through the glass) and then I picked it up to help it (yes, I know you should handle wild things as little as possible) - then it just clutched my finger for awhile and wouldn't fly away. I couldn't believe how soft the feathers on its head were!

Miserable Day

2005-08-08T17:32:00.000-04:00

Down in the dumps. Things have just not gone well this weekend and today was the worst. It has been 8 years today since my mother died, too, so I'm feeling sad on that end.

I'm hoping tomorrow is better. I can't wait for this day to be over. I was going to post some pictures from the beach the other night but I find I just can't right now; I'll have to do that another day.

Just a little something

2005-08-04T13:29:00.000-04:00

I haven't made a post in few days so here's a little something:

That's the comfortghan, edged in white but not completed (edging again and joining - using the flat braid joining method (sort of, lol) - with purple). I'm about halfway done with the second edging/joining. Oh, and for those who are curious, I did all but four of the squares - the lavendar one, the yellow/red/blue one, the blue variegated one, and the blue one right above the purple square with the red flower. Can't wait to get it done and SENT!

Trip to the dentist today. Brendan and Betsy both had fillings - Brendan's was bad but he has bounced back just fine - Betsy on the other hand had no pain whatsoever but now is a little crankpot because she doesn't like being numb. She's such a girl, lol. I go back in a couple of weeks with the younger boys - Andrew is adament that he does not want to go, and Justin getting x-rays and a check up - umm. That ought to be interesting. He could surprise me though and be a perfect angel, we'll see.

Lounge Shawl

2005-07-29T15:56:00.000-04:00

Made this today with some swap yarn that Kelly sent me - this is RH super saver, starbrights. I used to skeins, double strands and a Q hook (more like N or P for most of you), crocheted the top as long as I wanted it, then sc in the FLO, decreasing by one on each end every row. Worked up super fast. I'm not sure I'd wear it out - I think my dh would kill me - but it will be perfect and cozy for lounging around this fall. Hence the name, "Lounge Shawl."

I found it interesting that at the beginning of it, I was getting a different color in each strand, but by about halfway through the skeins, they suddenly matched up and stayed that way, so it looked almost like I was using one skein instead of two. If that makes any sense, lol.

Lots to report today!

2005-07-28T14:01:00.000-04:00

Check out my budding scientist - Brendan found a small butterfly (I'm pretty sure it's a moth) and has given it a home in a water bottle.

I realized I never posted pictures of these finished - these are matching ponchos, with a couple of hair things (small scrunchies), which were commissioned by a friend. It's basically the lionbrand poncho, although I had to adapt it quite a bit to fit a 2T and a 4T. I also added a scalloped edging to it to make them a little more "girly."

I received a yarn swap package today! Thanks Kelly - it's all wonderful! :) Lots of cotton (woohoo!!!!) and some pretty post its and a candle that smells WONDERFUL.

And, I made a snowflake last night. I got the pattern off the lionbrand site - it's intended for yarn, but I like it in thread. :)

Cotillion Doily

2005-07-27T18:30:00.000-04:00

I just discovered what a wonderful thing blocking is. I was terribly worried that my doily would never lay flat but lo and behold run the iron over it and presto! it's flat. The pattern is here

This is being sent to my grandmother. It was her who originally started me crocheting, and it is because of her influence that I love thread crochet so much, so I want her to get my first "real" thread project (the bookmark doesn't count, lol). I gave her one of my first yarn projects as well, this red blanket - pic shows her snuggling up under it when we celebrated Christmas with my family. The cat is my dad's cat, Roo, who died shortly after Christmas.

Speaking of cats ... here's Daisy, nicely decorated with a toilet paper collar (thank Betsy for that one!):

And here's Cinder, in, as usual, a typically "cat" spot. I can't fathom how laying on a couple of (uneven) stacks of books would be comfortable; then again - I'm not a cat.

I tried thread crochet!!

2005-07-26T11:23:00.000-04:00

I absolutely LOVE it! I've always loved the way it looks and been envious of anyone who could do it ... well, after trying it, I want to do more. My first project is the Lacy Bookmark and I think it turned out well - I couldn't find the iron, so it isn't blocked, but I was too excited to wait, lol!

Cinder is, once again, taking over crochet projects. I'm making blankets for the kids for Christmas; I started Brendan's and it's all in blues and greens - just all hdc, then a new color each row. I'm just going to leave the ends as fringe - I think.

And - just to prove to those who might be skeptical - Justin IS eating new things! I've been making the WW tomato sauce (with some changes, of course, when do I ever leave recipes alone??) and he inhaled it the other night. Here's proof:

Look, mommy! YUM!

Conquering the square ...

2005-07-22T12:31:00.000-04:00

and other tales.

I decided to try the Fisherman's Ring 6" square pattern and really struggled on the second round. I eventually figured it out but it took a couple of froggings - and it's still not right on this square, although I had it straight by round 5. I'm calling this a practice square because it's too big (7") for the square swap.

I put the hats in a box and still Justin finds them ...

He's been into a lot of mischief lately. Yesterday was bad, he climbed on some of the still unpacked boxes next to the downstairs bookshelves and proceeded to dump about 2-3 shelves worth (probably around 3-400 books). And that was just one of his endeavors.

We finally tried out the hot tub - oh, it's nice. I still can't see paying for one but it sure is nice to have inherited one with the house we bought. Wonderful invention! :)

A tooth and a summer hat

2005-07-18T17:35:00.000-04:00

Lots of excitement today! I'll start with the worst first ... Andrew flooded the upstairs toilet. By some miracle, it is NOT flooding through the floor, but it did make quite a mess (thankfully it seems to be all water??) in the bathroom.

Other news ... Justin kept stealing my charity hats, so I finally decided to make him his own. I think it turned out really cute but then I'm not exactly unbiased!

And ... Betsy lost one of her top teeth! It has been loose for months and somehow in the course of playing it got yanked out (nice, eh?) - we've been joking about wouldn't it be neat if it came out on her birthday? Well, that's what happened! She is VERY excited.

Happy 7th Birthday Betsy!

2005-07-18T10:06:00.000-04:00

It is my dd's birthday and since it is now after her birth time she is OFFICIALLY seven years old. Where did the time go ...

We're lazing around the house, and doing LOTS of cooking (her reqest) - tuna sandwiches for lunch (cut into fun shapes, of course) and lasagna (out of my Betty Crocker kids' cookbook). I'm still trying to figure out how to sneak a cake - I have an idea for making jello cake into cupcakes, I'll report back on how that goes.

Two more ditty bags (I finally took a picture of the other two I made); I LOVE this little pattern!

And the hats that are done - four are the "proper" UBW hats, one is made with an M hook and might, if we get lucky, fit an infant (LOL), and the other is just a single strand dc hat. 6 towards my goal of 50.

This is a single recipe - I usually make a triple recipe so I can play around with the flavors and add some "good" stuff (whole wheat flour and either wheat germ or ground flax seeds). My WW friendly variations are in parantheses.

Sunrise Pancakes

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar (or splenda)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten (1/2 cup egg beaters)
1/2 cup plain yogurt (I used the fit and fiber apple flavored yogurt sweetened with splenda, as well as half a cup sugar free lemon in my triple recipe)
1/2 cup water
2-1/2 to 3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted, divided (I used canola oil, and only about 1 or 1 1/2 tbsp per recipe)

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. Combine eggs, yogurt, and water in medium bowl. Whisk in butter. Pour liquid ingredients, all at once, into dry ingredients. Stir until moistened.

Heat electric skillet to 325-350F. Pour about 1/8 cup batter onto hot griddle for each pancake; spread batter out to make 2-3-inch circles. Cook until tops of pancakes are bubbly and appear dry; turn and cook until browned (about 2 minutes for the first side and 1 for the second).

Sunday Tidbits.

2005-07-17T12:32:00.000-04:00

We've had a pretty laid back weekend. Here are a few snippets:

We went to Target last night and found some things for Betsy's room and the younger boys' room, too - I'll have to take pictures once we get the stuff in.

I've resolved to make a bunch of UBW Hats (I have to use a P hook to get it to come out the right size - I HATE crocheting tight!) and I'm looking for a place to donate them. (I want to find someplace local, so please don't ask me to ship them somewhere.) I want to get them done by Thanksgiving or the beginning of December; now I'm trying to decide what a reasonable number would be - 50 is a reasonable (and very doable) number, but I don't know if it's enough of a challenge. Maybe I start there and see how quickly I get the first 50 done?? I'll post a pic of what's done later.

Justin is using the potty again - we got really lazy with it when we moved because it was so much easier to just put a pull up on him (all my fault, I take full responsibility for it); he is now asking to go when he needs to. It's very exciting to think of never buying diapers again! He's also eating a wider variety of foods, too; he's eating some pastas, rolls (when we're out) and meatballs. And will often try a bite of something "new". It's progress, anyway - anything is better than pb&j and frozen celeste pizzas at every meal!

Dot's Little Ditty Bag

2005-07-15T19:14:00.000-04:00

Or, in our case, party favor bag! :) Betsy is having a slumber party for her 7th birthday (she's 7 on the 18th, party is - well, now) - I wish I had gotten a picture of them making fruit salad.

Pattern is here.

Open, filled with fun girly goodies:

Closed and ready to go:

I only photographed the ones that were actually given out, I made a few more. It fits nicely a small bottle of nail polish (they're going to paint their toenails!!), some pretty lip gloss, a head band, and a hair clip - oh, and a blow pop. Gotta have some junk in there, lol. Anyway - I thought it would be nice to give them a keepable "bag" for once - and it's a great size for kids that age.

Only two girls came, but we've been giggling about the fact that we just get more cake and ice cream that way, lol. They're having fun, and my computer is in the perfect spot for me to keep an eye out without breathing down their necks.

It's a fabulous pattern and the possibilities for it are endless. I highly recommend it! Thanks Dot!

Why biker shorts are black ...

2005-07-14T13:05:00.000-04:00

A bit of off color humor, so if you are offended easily (or don't wish to see something - umm - a touch inappropriate) skip this post!

Black:

Red:

Baby Bag

2005-07-13T17:19:00.000-04:00

This was today's experiment. I'm feeling a bit under the weather and this was something I could do off my feet. I've never made a bag before, never even looked at patterns for them, so this was me completely flying by the seat of my pants. It could be better, but then it could also be worse, lol. It's intended to hold one or two of Betsy's "babies." Needs a few kinks worked out, but all in all, I'm pretty pleased with it.

Spices, biting and yarn

2005-07-13T12:21:00.000-04:00

I got my first spice order today from Spice Express. I like everything I got and am impressed with their pricing - shipping is cheap (and pretty quick) too.

Here's what I received from left to right: garlic granulates, salad supreme, sesame seeds, taco seasoning, ground celery (a fabulous addition to chicken if you've never tried it), mixed sprinkles, and poppy seeds.

A couple kitty pictures ...
Daisy, all poofed up and freaked out by something (she's a short hair, so that tail is amazing!)

Cinder, happy at home - on her favorite blanket - which I hate, it was left here by the previous owners but Cinder likes it, so I haven't had the heart to part with it! Orange, mustard yellow, dark brown, and black are just not my favorite colors, I'm not even going into what a hideous color combination that I (personally) think it is.

And some of my thrift shop yarn finds (this picture is the result of a C'ville conversation) - these are going into scrap blankets, which will go to the kids for Christmas, in the colors they like. The brown - not so sure about that one. I might just make a neutral-ish one later using the browns and some off whites.

A sweet one from this morning - Justin often wakes up early, comes in our room and goes back to sleep after cuddling up. Bedtime has gotten better - I made the discovery that he DOES NOT like having his door closed, and the threat of that will get him laying in his bed and going to sleep. He still likes my shirts, and the combination of the two has cut down the bedtime struggle from a minimum of an hour to half an hour last night. Now if I can just get him to stop biting Andrew. :(

Sweet Dreams

2005-07-07T22:12:00.000-04:00

This post is ALL thanks to Elizabeth! We've had a horrible time getting Justin to go to sleep. Okay, not exactly ... he'll go to sleep just fine if he can lay somewhere with me (the couch or mom's bed) but alone in his toddler bed?? Forget it. Bedtime has been a nightmare for months now, especially since we moved. He goes to sleep just when it's time for me to go to bed (and guess what, look at the time on this post - voila, my bedtime!). And at almost 3 this should not still be such an issue. Right?!

Anyway, I was chatting with E on AIM. Extremely frustrated. I'm ready to ship him to Abu Dhabi (remember Garfield?). "What about a gate?" Nope, don't have any. Yes, we'd already done a bedtime routine. Yes, we've tried giving him one of my shirts in the past. Try again.

So I changed my shirt (just changed into my pajamas, it IS bedtime after all), took him back into his bedroom (for the 5 zillionth time tonight), and held out my shirt. "Would you like Mommy's shirt?" Rubbed it against his cheek. Almost instantly, the eyelids droop, he turns his face into it, hugs it, then rolls on his side.

I haven't heard another peep out of him. I don't know if it will work again tomorrow night, but for tonight's sanity - thanks E! (((hugs)))

Cinder's home!

2005-07-07T16:46:00.000-04:00

She came home this morning - a little the worse for wear (and still trying to get back out, into the rain??), and Daisy is NOT happy she's home (we have much growling and hissing whenever we see Cinder!) but I sure am!!

Another WIP - still not telling what the last one is! - this one is a blanket for my godson, Ryan - or will be at any rate, when it's done. It's 25% done in this picture.

Here's another recipe - tried this one grilled on my birthday and I LOVE it. It's even good cold. This is a dump chicken recipe - you put 4-8 chicken pieces in with it in a freezer ziploc and freeze; thaw overnight in the fridge and then cook however you like. I marinate fileted boneless, skinless chicken breasts in it and then Mike grills it for me.

Honey Glazed Chicken

1/4 cup melted butter
1/8 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup honey

Kitty is still missing

2005-07-06T11:28:00.000-04:00

I'm calling the shelter today, and will stop by and talk to our old neighbors. I wish Cinder would come home. Any prayers or positive thoughts for her safe return home would be appreciated.

Here's a picture of my pretty girl:

And a square just for a "secret project" - does this fit the bill? I'm trying to figure out how best to interpret "fugly" lol! It has texture to it, at any rate!

I have been a lazy recipe poster, so here are a couple to make up for it. Nothing I'm making today (I have some cubed beef and a bottled marinade in the crockpot and a loaf of bread in the breakmaker for the first time) but here are a couple of yummy recipes we've had recently.

This one sounds odd but it is quite good. The sweet and salty compliment each other quite well - and if you dislike the acidity typically in pineapple, this gives you the sweet and the flavor but the acidity is virtually non-existant. A half recipe fits nicely in an 8x8 square pan, and a whole recipe fits in a 9x13 pan. I originally got this recipe from dh's cousin, so I can't claim it as mine, but I highly recommend it. It's great for potlucks, especially served with something like ham.

PINEAPPLE CASSEROLE

Ingredients:
2 large cans chunk pineapple (I like crushed) with juice
1 c. sugar
5 Tbsp. flour
1 1/2 c. grated cheddar cheese (don't use pre-packaged, it won't melt)
1 1/2 c. Ritz crackers
1 stick butter, melted

Directions:
Place 2 large cans chunk pineapple with juice in dish. Mix sugar and flour; sprinkle over pineapple. Top with grated cheese. Mix Ritz crackers and butter. Spread on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

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And another new one - this one tastes exactly like homemade, from scratch, macaroni and cheese - just with potatoes. Simple, quick and very, very good. Thanks to Bonnie for this one!

Cheesy Hash Browns

2 pkgs frozen has brown squares (I used a large package of regular hash brown cubes, thawed)
1/2 cup butter (I use 1/4 cup)
1/2 cup chopped onion (1-2 tsp onion powder instead)
1 can cream of chicken soup (98% fat free works)
3/4 pt. sour cream (light is fine)
10 oz grated cheddar cheese (I used Cracker barrel 2% extra sharp cheddar)
breadcrumbs

Mix all ingredients together. Top with breadcrumbs. Bake at 350 for one hour.

Happy Independence Day!!!

2005-07-04T13:12:00.000-04:00

Want to see one of my kitties? Here's Daisy:

My other kitty, Cinder, snuck out yesterday morning and still isn't back. I'm really hoping she isn't over at the old house - we'll drive by later to check. My hope, though, is that she'll be a little smarter than that, and come back here. I don't think there's much question that she can find her way back; the question is will she.

The other reason that picture is so neat ... it's the first one taken with my new birthday present!

That's right, Mike got me a new camera for my birthday (which, btw, he's taken more pictures with than I have, lol) - he asked whether I would rather have a new camera or a new sound system for my computer (I have ZERO sound on this machine) - well, it was a no brainer for me. I can't take pictures outside with the old one, and the colors were badly inaccurate, so a camera it is! I wasn't expecting one this nice, though, and am having a lot of fun playing with it. I love it!!

Here's a WIP - anyone care to guess what it might be?

Still working on getting the lighting right - the colors themselves are accurate, they're just brighter than they show up in the picture (all simply soft brights).

A picture of the kids outside yesterday (Mike playing with the camera - lol)

And here's all of them saying Happy Fourth of July! and wearing their Old Navy shirts. Justin doesn't have one because they messed up the order (so we have an extra size 8 - not sure how size 3 translated an 8).

BTW - if you can see something unusual on Andrew's lip - that's leftover excitement from my birthday. For some unknown reason he was trying to climb on the kitchen counter (didn't make it), fell, and split open his lower lip - on both the inside and the outside. It was horribly swollen - much better today, but he's still eating with caution. My poor accident prone child!

Have a wonderful Fourth of July! We're unpacking and doing more "new house" stuff and then hopefully grilling and watching some more fireworks tonight!

Happy Birthday to me!

2005-07-02T16:25:00.000-04:00

It's my birthday! No pictures today, just had to send myself some birthday salutions!

Baby plants!!

2005-07-01T10:21:00.000-04:00

I am SO proud of these - it is the first time I have ever tried growing something on my own (ie. not in school (those all died anyway) or in my dad's garden growing up) and I am pleased as punch that they're growing.

This first is the pansies that I'm trying to grow - we're up to four leaves on one (two now?) and three on the third. I planted them about 6 weeks ago now.

And this is either basil or oregano - I can't remember which is the one that sprouts so quickly, but I planted these on Monday, so 5 days. Look for the little green specks - lol!

Adagio Teas!

2005-06-29T18:32:00.000-04:00

I was recently introduced to something fabulous - Adagio Teas! They have delicious loose teas - you could buy them for the aroma alone, they are THAT good! If you love tea, like me, look to your right for a button that says "free gift for tea lovers" - adagio will send you a $5 gift certificate to try their products! If you'd like to check out their products first, click on the orange adagio button instead.

I am not being paid for my endorsement - I'm just a regular, everyday consumer who wants to make sure others are aware of a wonderful product that I happen to personally enjoy and think others should know about!

Lettuce??

2005-06-28T10:51:00.000-04:00

What is it??

It's ...

Let's see ...

A ruffled lettuce scarf!!

It's my own version of the spiral scarf. Pattern can be found here

Dishcloth made for Brendan's teacher ...

Towel made for Betsy's teacher ...

"Stuff" from tea swap - thank you so much Deneen!!! You truly spoiled me!

Two very nice dishcloths and a tea mug with infuser and lid

All the tea!!!!

(Not in order) there's some adadio valentine's tea, lemon berry breeze (gevalia herbal), green tea (brought back from China), some twinings tastes of summer, earl grey and lady early grey, honey ginseng mint (gevalia herbal), and a chamomile!! I am SET for a loooong time! Now I just have to get her tea ready to send (I'm going to send it with your yarn, Deneen, so it may be a couple more weeks - worth the wait, I promise!)!

This is something I am VERY proud of:

That's my daughter!! She's been asking to learn how to crochet, so finally this morning we gave it a shot! She was soooo frustrated in the beginning, but stuck with it, and here's the end result!

Looky what I made, Mom!

And just cause I love 'em, here's pics of the other kids, too ...

Brendan is getting so big ... I think I have FINALLY found the key to getting him to read ... he likes history!! He's reading a biography of Martha Washington now and is really enjoying it.

Andrew goofing off

Justin - ignore the "allergy nose" please - it was too good a grin to keep to myself!

Around the yard

2005-06-28T10:26:00.000-04:00

Some pictures of the plants around our yard. We keep find new treasures, almost every day. Don't stop until you get to the last pictures - they're worth the wait!

Anyone know the names for these?? Any plant pic that doesn't have a name above it - if you know what it is, please leave me a comment telling me what it is! Thanks! (And thanks, E, for all your help!)

Queen Anne's Lace

(Succulent?)

Japanese Maple

My "garden" (just transplanted from pots) -
Red pepper plant

Betsy's sunflower and my yellow pepper plant

Chives

Grape Vine

Roses from one of the bushes (there are four, two are not blooming, but this one is absolutely spectacular!)

Tiger lilies - they're everywhere!

Lots to catch up on!

2005-06-21T13:29:00.000-04:00

We are moved into our new house! Lots to unpack still, but we are here, and glad to be completely out of the old place.

Brendan and his team won the minor league division for the Riverside Little League last night! They all have a lot to be proud of - they all played well. I'm very thankful that this year has been a good experience for him - he's made several new friends (the assistant coach lives around the corner, and two teammates live close by) and has learned a lot (thanks, Coaches Hall & Poole!).

I receive my package for the Crochetville Kitchen and Bathroom Swap from Lanette - she sent me some beautiful things! Dh and I hadn't planned on using yellow in our kitchen but after seeing the things she made I think that it will become an accent color in there! Really brightens things up. And goes surprisingly well with the red accent walls we painted.

All of it together:

The placemats - 2 big ones for mom & dad, and 4 smaller kid sized ones:

And the other things - (going from the left around clockwise) a pretty towel with a topper, a potholder, a special microwave potholder (her creation), a plastic bag holder, and a discloth.

She truly spoiled me - I love my things, Lanette! We will enjoy and use them!

I was inspired to make a towel with a topper on my own - I couldn't find a pattern I really liked, so I grabbed Lanette's and one my grandmother gave me years ago, and made up my own. This is my first ever design, and simple as it is - I'm very proud of it. I'll post a pattern tomorrow - still need to write it up! Don't ask me what kind of yarn I used - all I can tell you is that it's a fuzzy-ish ww acrylic that was from my mom's stash and no longer has a label!!

Dragonfly Towel

Hmmm - I guess it isn't exactly my first ever with no pattern, but this next item is basically just two circles, crocheted in a spiral (start with the same number of stitches and keep track of increases and new rows) as you go so you have the same number of stitches at the end, then lay wrong sides together and single crochet through the outside stitches. Makes a wonderful hot pad! I'm proud of it because I have a really hard time (or used to) getting circles to lay flat and not ruffle, and getting two that were the same size to lay flat together - well, yay for me! It's an accomplishment for me. I'm working on a rectangular-ish one now to go under larger items (like a 13 x 9 pan) - I always have to use two hot pads with those, so I'm trying to come up with one that's big enough on it's own.

This one is the same yarn (sugar and spice shades of green) on both sides.

Two more pictures and I promise I'm done for today ...

Here's our new loveseat (sleeper sofa is the same, just longer) - color isn't great (silly camera) - on it, you should see a cone of a bright olive green yarn - I purchased it from Rodney's Specialty Yarns months ago in expectation of buying this furniture:

Funny story - we could never get ourselves to bite the bullet and buy any of it (this particular line). Then we talked ourselves into a sectional in completely different colors but again couldn't talk ourselves into buying it. Well - Saturday we went in to look yet again. Still couldn't decide - then went into the clearance basement. And ... ta da ... we found the discontinued line in the colors we'd originally fell in love with!! They had two of everything, and they were stock items, not floor, so we got to pick! We spent less than half the sectional would have been AND less than just the sleeper alone would have cost had we ordered it when it was a floor item. It looks fabulous in our basement, even though the picture is not very exciting! And the yarn - I was planning to make into a throw for Father's Day for Mike, but there just hasn't been time. So, he got a cone of chenille yarn with an explanation - lol!

And the last picture ... if your kids are ever bored, give them a few boxes! Andrew and Justin were being little pests this morning (I love them, but everyone has off days, lol), so I dragged out a couple of the more beat up boxes (we have plenty right now) and this is the result!

Have a great day! :)

We are homeowners!

2005-05-21T11:07:00.000-04:00

We closed yesterday afternoon and are now homeowners! We also had the joy of seeing Brendan cross over last night - he is now a Bear. The picture I'm enclosing of that experience is after they've crossed over (bridge is to the left) and the former wolves (new bears) are handing the wolf badges and neckerchieves to the new wolves as they cross over. Passing the torch, so to speak.

And one pic of Justin being Justin ...

And finally house related pictures:

One more square

2005-05-19T13:50:00.000-04:00

This one is adapted from the Irish Rose Square pattern. I used red and purple (pic makes it look like blue??), dropped the last three rows in the pattern, and did my own thing (it's not as straightforward as it looks, lol).

Feeling much better today. Just drop dead tired; don't know where that's coming from, and it's getting very frustrating. My mouth and jaw feel tons better today, so why am I so exhausted??

Three more squares ...

2005-05-18T15:28:00.000-04:00

And a picture with the 12 that are done.

Panda Pineapple Square

Cygnus Square

Circle of Friends

And an updated picture showing the 12 squares that are done.

I had some major dental work yesterday - it was absolutely miserable. Dental work is never fun, but this was bad. I went in at noon and didn't leave until 1:45. Had to get two teeth pulled and the sites wouldn't numb right - my mouth and part of my throat were numb but the area ammediately around the teeth in question wouldn't numb completely. I lost track after 16 different injections - separate needles, not just injections. He initially tried the normal way; when that didn't work, he did it again. When that didn't take, he said he'd have to refer me to their oral surgeon - I burst into tears (I was a wreck to begin with) - it would have been another two and a half weeks before the oral surgeon was in when I could go. So, he went in with a separate injection around each root. It took on one side, so he pulled that one (came out in multiple pieces) but not the other side so he went in and did at least 4 more injections - I lost count after he did all the roots again, but there were more. Anyway, finally took, so he pulled that one - but it didn't want to come out. Ended up dislocating my jaw and having him essentially laying acrossing my forehead to get it out. I was numb for a good three hours after, and that was with the one that was supposed to wear off quickly (had bupivocaine to avoid the epinephrine).

I'm still pretty sore today, but it's mainly my jaw that hurts - I had a post op appt this afternoon and he said it's healing well and I can go back to eating normally - hahaha. Okay, that one may take a few days. My jaw is not going to tolerate heavy chewing - I had a slice of buttered bread a few minutes ago, and even that hurt. Oh, well, it's better than smoothies and broth!!

Must publicly thank my husband - he's been a rock through the tooth stuff. Despite the fact that we need to pack, he's urged me to rest and make sure I'm functioning at 100%, and has been taking time off to get me to appointments and helping with the kids. Wonderful man I married!

We close in two days!! I can't wait - I'm excited and scared. It will be good to get all of it behind us, move, and be in the new house. Woohoo!

Good grief!

2005-05-16T19:48:00.000-04:00

I just read my last post and the number of typos and other errors is a little unnerving. I still had a pretty bad headache at that point - thankfully my head is much better yesterday. I go tomorrow to get two teeth pulled - I am not looking forward to it. I guess it was my fear of the dentist (and lack of funds) that kept me from going for so long - I wish I hadn't waited. Nothing I can do about it now though - except to take care of myself a little better.