Blast from the past

I was picking up the living room yesterday, and this picture was just laying in the middle of the floor. Zane loves to empty the bookshelf, and it must have been in there. I was four years old, and that's one of my Granddaddy and Grandmama's dog Sam's Saint Bernard puppies. Check out those rockin' red shoes! I love red shoes to this day!!! August 1974~

Randomness

We had a good dinner tonight. I bought Drew's All Natural Thai Sesame Lime dressing at Publix. I put 4 of the fabulous, amazing Costco chicken breasts in the Crock Pot, and poured half of the dressing in, and cooked them on low for 5 hours. I made brown rice, and put chicken on top and poured some cooked dressing on top, and it was SO GOOD! I made this to go with the chicken, and even the kids ate it.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Baked-Asparagus-with-Balsamic-Butter-Sauce/Detail.aspx

I love it when we find something new to eat!!!

I found this picture from the beach that I love...

Jude is growing up. He started going to the bathroom standing up, "Just like Daddy." He'll kill me in 13 years for sharing that tidbit of information, but I don't care. It's the cutest thing. He even remembers to put the seat down. I hope his future wife appreciates that. You should have heard Allen explaining WHY you have to put the seat back down. Precious.





Jude started praying out loud too. He never would, and we didn't push it. Well, Jamie told me at church that her whole class said a prayer out loud on Sunday (GO JAMIE!!!!) and so Jude asked to pray at dinner last night. I could barely contain my excitement. And he thanked God " for Publix and for chairs." I laughed and got teary at the same time. He asked to pray again at bedtime. Oh my heart just sings when my kids talk to God. There's nothing better!!!





Oh, and I love this too! I thought it would be a good stress reliever on "those" days:











And the bad news is that we loaded up to go to the new park that is FINALLY finished, and we all stood in the garage and looked out at the rain. But, that's GOOD NEWS too. It was RAINING!! Praise the Lord. So we went to the library instead, and they have a super cool new toy in the kid's section, so I sat and read for a little while as the kids played. And they also have new"Charlie and Lola" dvd's, 4 volumes to be exact, and we LOVE them. So Laney got one, and is watching it. I'm driving her crazy, walking around saying, "LoLAaaaa..." in my fake British accent. She actually has her fingers in her ears!!! See, it doesn't take much to make us happy!



And I can't bathe anyone, because it's lightening and thundering! Stinky babies going to bed without a bath. Thought it was an old wives tale???

"It's not absolutely safe although it is unlikely that you will be hit by lightning. Each year on average one person dies in the US whilst having a shower during a lightning storm, two people die using telephones.The cause is often inadequate or faulty safety protection which enables the current from the lightning strike to travel through metal plumbing.To be on the safe side it's wise to wait until the storm has passed before taking a shower, using a phone, swimming outdoors etc. " That's good enough for me!!! Any reason not to bathe people...:)

This is for Jackie!!!

I finally found a way to upload video to Jackie! Woo hoo! Oh and it works better if you pause the Loudfusion player first! :)

I'm Scrapping!!!

Holy cow, it feels so good to be scrap booking again. I made a fun little diddy for a friend this weekend, and that got my creative juices flowing again. I NEED to be creative, for my own well being. And, while we're at home, trying not to go anywhere and spend money, I need something to look forward to doing here!

I've revamped how I feel about scrap booking. I want it to be for ME, and not try to keep up with the current trends. Oddly enough, this can be a weird hobby. You can get caught up with the "latest and greatest" and spend yourself into a frenzy. I never got too caught up with that whole thing (I'm much too cheap) but I would compare my layouts with those online, or in magazines, and I would get stressed trying to have these great, creative masterpieces.... Yuck. My simple gift to my (not simple and VERY wonderful) friend was so fun, and easy. So I carried that into my projects that I did after that, and there was such a difference! Yea!!!

I'm so far behind, yes, that baby is Jude, that I'm not sure I'll ever catch up. But that's okay. It's now just a fun hobby for me, and it keeps me occupied and out of the thrift store (!) and that's a great thing!!!

And you know what? Laney will get out her baby scrap book, and pour over it. She asks me to read the journaling to her, and tell her stories about the pictures, and that makes it all worth it. I humor myself and see my sons' wives looking at them, and then their children. And after that? Well, they can dump them in the garbage if they want to. They will have served their purpose. No, I want them in the nursing home, with me, on second thought. I'd love nothing more than to spend my last days, remembering how great my life was and thanking God for all His blessings.

So here are my treasures. I'll post more, if that won't bore you. That will keep me motivated to "produce and publish" (*snicker*) and it's fun to share what you work hard on.

Pardon the dark, weird pictures. I'll have to work on that!

Holy guacamole

We had a ladies gathering at church on Sunday, and I made a 7 layer Mexican dip. I wanted to make home made guacamole to go with it, but I ran out of time.

So I had all the stuff to make it, and we were going to have quesadillas for dinner, so i thought I'd gave it a whirl.

OH MY GOODNESS! It was better than at the Mexican place. SO GOOD. I was trying to think of all the things I could eat guacamole on today. I think we are going to have quesadillas again tonight!!!

Here is the recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Guacamole/Detail.aspx

And, my favorite quote from my message board is, "This thread is meaningless without pictures..." so that's why you get lots of pictures here. I love to take, and look at pictures. That could be the reason that you're looking at my dinner!!!

All for a chicken leg

I was going down the stairs with a huge load of laundry in my arms, and narrowly missed stepping on Laney's plastic chicken leg that was on the stairs. I could see, in my mind's eye, my slipping on that plastic chicken leg, from the KFC play set, and rolling and tumbling down the stairs, laundry flying all over the place. I saw myself striking my head on the table at the bottom of the stairs, and since I'm scared to teach my kids to use 9-1-1, for fear of friendly phone calls to the very cool firemen, I bled to death there amid the scattered laundry.

Can you see Allen at my funeral, telling people I died because I slipped on a plastic chicken leg??? How horrible would that be? He'd HAVE to lie, telling people I died pulling orphans out of a burning orphanage, or something like that. Or some other humanitarian effort... just not the chicken leg.

Ohhh I love these!

Feel free to copy and post on your blog. This was different than plenty I've done.





1. What kind of soap is in your bathtub right now? Dr. Bronner's Lavender bar soap


2. Do you have any watermelon in your refrigerator? Usually, but not right now.


3. Is there anything moldy in your refrigerator? No.


4. Are there any dirty dishes in your sink? Yes


5. What would you change about your living room? Smaller television


6. Are the dishes in your dishwasher clean or dirty? Clean


7. Do you have a can of mushrooms in your pantry? No


8. White or wheat bread? 100% wheat.


9. What is on top of your refrigerator? All kids of stuff that needs to stay out of little hands.


10. What color is your sofa? Dark green mulit color print.


11. What color or design is on your shower curtain? Tan with gray roses.


12. How many plants are in your home? 1-the rest are outside dying. Need to bring those in.


13. How many candles are in your home? Only a couple. Jackie made me some for my birthday, and then 2 other hand made ones, I think.


14. Is your bed made right now? No, I'm in it.


15. If you have a coffee pot, what color is it? Black


16. Electric or standard can opener? Standard


17. Theme in your living room? Kinda comfy, with a few tiny Europen touches.


18. Colors in the bedroom? They change seasonally, but now, white and rose, sage and cream. Very Summery.


19. Colors of your bathroom? One is all white, the other is gray and tan.


20. Comet or Soft Scrub? Baking soda.


21. Is your closet organized? It wants to be and tries to be.


22. What color is the flashlight that you use the most? I can't use any because the kids love them too much and the batteries are always dead from them forgetting to turn them off.


23. What kinds of things are in your junk drawer? Screws, clothespins, tape measure, sissors, etc.


24. Do you drink out of glass or plastic most of the time at home? Never plastic, only glass.


25. Do you have iced tea made in a pitcher right now? Yep. Well, it's green tea. Does that count?


26. If you have a garage, is it cluttered? Yes, for the moment.


27. Curtains or blinds? Curtains. I hate blinds.


28. How many pillows do you sleep with? One for now. And two boys. When it's back to just me, I'll probably use more.


29. Do you sleep with any lights on at night? No.


30. How many ceiling fans are in your home? 5.


31. How often do you vacuum? With Zane, needs to be every day. Mostly Monday, Wednesday and Friday.


32. Standard toothbrush or electric? Standard.


33. What color is your toothbrush? Blue and white.


34. Do you have a welcome mat on your front porch? Yes, but it says, "Life long, laugh hard..." and something else. I love it, though.


35. What is in your oven right now? My baking sheet


36. Is your microwave clean or dirty? Don't use one.


37. Is there anything under your bed? Yes, all of our packed up keepsake stuff.


38. Chore you hate doing the most? Cleaning the bathrooms.


39. What retro items are in your home? Some keepsakes, corded telephones, and our 10 year old television.


40. Do you have a separate room that you use as an office? Kinda. Our breakfast nook is our "office."


41. If you have a yard, who mows it? The amazing and talented Mr. Bryan Reed. Or his sweet little helper guys.


42. Is there anything on your kitchen floor right now? Yes. Crumbs, shoes, toys and who knows what else.


43. How many mirrors are in your home? 8. Wow that's a lot. I like them as decoration, and for reflection of light. I don't go around looking at myself all day. In fact, quite the opposite!!!


44. Do you have any hidden emergency money around your home? Bwahahahahah.


45. What color are your walls? Soft yellow, dark rose, light rust and khaki.


46. Which rooms in your house have wallpaper? None. I took care of that when we moved in.


47. Do you have a peephole in your front door? No. Windows on the side of the door.


48. Do you keep any kind of protection weapons in your home? Frying pan, fireplace poker, and my Dad's favorite, a baseball bat.


49. What does your home smell like right now? I can't smell, because I have a cold, but probably dinner and soap from bath time.


50. Fave candle scent? Gardenia, lavender, and what ever is soft and clean.


51. What kind of pickles (if any) are in your refrigerator right now? Dill.



52. IT'S COMING!


53. What color is your Bible? One is burgundy, and the others are multicolored.


54. Do you have plenty of cabinet space in your kitchen? Yes.


55. Do you own a stereo? No.


56. How many tvs do you have? 3-Living room, kitchen, and bedroom. There's one in Laney's room that doesn't work, and one shoved in our closet that we don't use.



57. How many house phones? Three



58. Do you have a housekeeper? This is she.



59. Do you like solid colors in furniture or prints? Um, both, I guess.



60. Is there a smoke detector in your home? Yes - a couple of them.



61. In case of fire, what are the items you would grab if you only could make one quick trip? Sentimental jewelry, scrapbooks, picture cds and video cds.



62. Do you know how to work your electrical box? Yes.



63. What temperature in your home is most comfortable to you? I like it COLD, but don't do that it the summer. It's 77 or 78 in the summer, but cooooold in the winter!