Finding Balance...

Fall Decor

As I was taking down Thanksgiving decor this week, I remembered I hadn't posted the Halloween stuff.  It's fun to look back at how you decorated in years past, so I'll post this for myself for next year.

I'm organizing the 'fall decor' as I put it away this time.  I usually have anything fall related just thrown in about six to eight bins.

This time, I'm sorting it into three categories - GENERAL FALL DECOR (stuff I can put out in September and leave up until Thanksgiving) HALLOWEEN ONLY (stuff I would add to the GENERAL FALL DECOR to emphasis the Halloween holiday) and THANKSGIVING ONLY (stuff I would replace the HALLOWEEN ONLY with for the Thanksgiving holiday). Whew....I hope you get my thinking process because I'm not sure I do.

But, I shouldn't have to search through all the bins now to find what I'm after. That's the goal, I guess.

Also, making two separate bins for costume stuff and outside decor (lights, etc.)....it was all jumbled in with everything, too.

And here's the Thanksgiving:
 

My poor house looks so bare right now....I'd better get going on the Christmas stuff.

I've saved a couple decorating ideas from magazines and want to try them out.  I'll share when I get done decorating.....like on....Christmas Eve....night!? What in the world did I just say???

I'll be done this weekend. Yes, I will!
  
 

Mushrooms

I had about five new recipes I wanted to try for Thanksgiving day.  But, I only ended up with one completed (surprise!)....and it was easy and yummy and something new and I would definitely make it again.

Stuffed Mushrooms:
Bought some very PERTY mushrooms.....knew I had to stuff them with something. So, I grabbed this:

I had a hat on - sorry for the shadow....

Yummmm, doesn't that look dee-lish!?  I added a few baby shrimp to the tops:

Then I drizzled them with some melted butter mixed with garlic powder.  Threw on a bit of mozzarella cheese, too.

Made myself one right then and there...had to try it before everyone else.
I put them in the fridge for a day - then pulled them out on Thanksgiving - baked 'em at 400 for 8 minutes.  

Perty dang good.....something different from the sausage/cream cheese ones (which are my fav).
  
 
 
  

Cook Books

I've always had a secret desire to be a really good cook.  Cooking DOES NOT come easy for me.  If I get a good recipe and perfect it, it's easier, but cooking is not something I enjoy or do very often. 

I think because of this secret fantasy...I'm drawn to cookbooks.  I'll often times buy a cookbook simply because of it's cover. I especially love hard bound - colorful cookbooks.

Here are a few I've bought lately: 
I LOVE to sit them out and pretend I cook the gourmet recipes that are in them.

Truth is....the recipes in all of them are very straight forward and most have photos (which is a pre-requisite for me).
I just like to look at them....they are fun, pretty AND do-able...if I want to try a recipe....
THIS one is my newest...and my favorite-est.....I wanna be her friend....and I want my cookbook signed. I tried really hard to get to SLC to have her sign it, but just couldn't make it work.

Oh well, I will continue to love her and her recipes.

Lasagna Soup recipe to come later.....gotta finish a few things first, then I'll type it up.  
 
 

Recap

Hey guys,

Hope everyone had a great week last week. We were busy, ate too much, enjoyed some down time and being with cousins and family.

I worked on some more teacher appreciation gifts for Thanksgiving.

I filled them with this recipe: 
I thought they turned out pretty cute. I would've loved to figure out a way to include some checked ribbon, but ran out of time.

Steven was busy hauling hay and wheat with our semis last week. He isn't AS busy this time of year, but still works 10 hours a day.  We are thankful to have lots of opportunity to keep busy and bring in money to make up for lower prices on our hay and wheat. 

He is looking at buying another semi truck because he has lots of work trucking and not enough trucks.  We'll see.

He's ALWAYS thinking/concocting/planning more options, etc.  I love and don't love that about him.....mostly just SOOOO thankful that he isn't afraid of hard work, long hours and trying something new.

We had a nice Thanksgiving.  So glad my mom invited us to dinner at her house. Although she did ask if Steven would bake the turkey. He really does have that down pretty good.

A few years ago, when we started cooking our own turkeys for Thanksgiving, Steven called his two grandma's and one grandpa (who are all GOOD cooks). 

He asked them all their 'methods' to cooking turkeys and he took all their 'ways' and made up his own that seems to really do a good job. 

It's usually super moist and yummy!  

Cooking actually comes really easy for Steven - it's so frustrating to me - he can just throw things together and they always turn out yummy! It's in his blood.

The kids had their cousins in town and they had a really good time playing.  I'm always amazed at the genuine love Saydee has for her twin cousins, Kylee and Kayla.  They are so cute with each other.

We took some family photos with everyone.  I used the self-timer and tripod on my camera - two things I NEVER use and they turned out alright. 

We didn't have too great of backdrop or lighting, but good enough.  I'll wait till my mom sends her Christmas card to share them.

We tried to get some photos of my grandma with her great-grandkids (some of the kids AND grandma wouldn't cooperate unless bribed or threatened).....hee hee.

We had a great few days off - hard to get up this morning - but nice to get back to a schedule/routine.....We have something every night this week (including Friday and Saturday) - Yikes!

I like my nights to be free to just be home and tucked in....oh well - tis the season, right?!
 
  
 
 
 
 
 

Happy Thanksgiving!

I know I am behind on posting what I'm thankful for on this blog (I've been keeping up on Facebook). I'll go back on Monday and list them because I've taken some great photos to go along with each of them.....until then:
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!!!

Today I am MOST thankful for 5 main things (see photo). These five things are listed and seen right as you walk into our house. They are our priorities and our favorites. Today and everyday, they are what I am MOST thankful for.

Cats!

Ok, so I know some of you will think I'm a dork/goof ball/dim whit/weirdo...for posting this, but....today I'm thankful for cats in general....especially the five we have right now.

   
I cannot remember a time in my life that I didn't have a cat - seriously.  My mom grew up liking cats and we always had them as kids.

 
Plus, you may remember, Steven and I didn't have kids for 10 years and we ( I, let's be honest here) had 2 cats that were our my babies, LaMar (named after Steven's middle name) and Jazzmin.

So, you see, cats and I go waaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy back.

The fluff balls we have right now are great! This one:

Ta-loose (Whoosie) is seriously co-dependant on me. She loves me and needs to know where I am if she's in the house. I love it!

Marie/Mario (Whee-Whee):

We thought she/he was a girl, but when we fixed her/him...she was a boy...got it?  Anyway, this cat is seriously SOOOO snuggly and he and Hank are 'friends'. They sleep by each other and all that stuff we've already covered. This cat seriously has the best temperament.

Smokey (Grumpy Mother) is the mom of the other 4 we currently have. She is tired and grumpy towards the other cats. Never towards humans, just Hank and her children. Do you blame her? She had 14 kids in one year - no wonder she's tired and a bit on the cranky side....

The last two are Burleous (Aristocats movie) and Starlight. They are 2 of the 5 kittens from Smokey's last batch (the other 3 from that batch are living the good life at my mom's house).

These two have the life! They play when it's sunny, they sleep most of the other time on the heat pad in the garage.  They are so cute.  Saydee keeps changing the name of the white one (she's reading an 18 book series on cat warriors - LOVES it!) and depending on the character she is reading about, that's the current name - I still call it (white kitten) Starlight (original name).

I have a goal to get a picture of all 5 of them for our Christmas card - THAT ought to be easy....better start trying now, I guess.

Anyway, I love that they all love me.  I'm sure it's because I feed them and water them and brush them when they have cockle-burrs (sp?) in their fur and I clean up the leftover mouse guts/heads in the garage and on the porches.  I like to feel their fur around my legs and I LOVE THE PURRING!

So, you can call me the cat lady if you want - I've been called worse, so there!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Laundry

Today I am thankful for laundry (I love to watch the stack go down-I'm on load #3 already this morning). I love good smelling laundry detergent (GAIN) and drawers with nicely folded, clean laundry in them. It's a bummer when your family asks you for pair of clean underwear in the morning...because there isn't any washed.

In other news, Steven had 2 of his wisdom teeth pulled last Friday.  He's still got quite a bit of pain sometimes, so he's heading in this morning to have them check it out.

He's a really hard 'patient' for me.  Unlike other men I've heard about, Steven is NOT a baby - he's the opposite!  He tries to act like he's so dang tough - 'I don't need no pain medication.  Just yank the suckers out and I'll head back down the road'.  Yea, right.

I threatened him that morning that if he didn't let them deaden it before they pulled them out, I would not pick him up and drive him home - I'd leave his sorry butt there! (I had dropped him off at the dentist's office, then ran home to get Logan after the bus dropped him off - then back to pick up Mr. Toothless).

Overall, he did pretty well - no swelling and I kept him 'ahead of his pain' that first couple of days by setting the alarm for the pills faithfully every 4-5 hours. The kids were both so attentive and cute to take care of him.

I made him a fun shake with a recipe I'd been wanting to try.  So yummy. Here's the recipe:

My mom came down to check on him and give Saydee a piano lesson.  We had fun trying these shakes and I also made another new recipe - Lasagna Soup.  It was REALLY good - very flavorful! I'll share that recipe as soon as I get it typed up.
 
 
 

Internet

Today I am thankful for the Internet. I really enjoy keeping in touch with family and friends through Facebook, Blogging and email. I know I wouldn't stay in touch with some of these people (i.e. 2nd cousins in Canada) if it weren't for the 'net'. Plus, I've ALWAYS found what I'm looking for with GOOGLE - love it!

For instance - here's a cute link my friend, Bev sent me today - so fun for the kids for next week.

http://www.ricekrispies.com/recipes/pretzel-tailed-turkey-treats.aspx?olm=print#/recipes/pretzel-tailed-turkey-treats

and here's another version I found ON THE NET!

http://www.alphamom.com/holiday/2008/11/rice_crispy_turkeys_youll_gobb_1.php

I so love that I can GOOGLE about anything and find ideas or instructions for what I'm needing at that very moment.

Great TOOL we have at our fingertips.

Cricut Stuff CHEAP!

Any of you out there who use/own/wish to own a Cricut - now's the time to stock up, baby!

My friend, Christa has a smokin' deal for you!
Truly LOW, LOW prices on anything Cricut - from the machines to the cartridges to replacement blades and mats.

She sent an email out yesterday and I'm pasting part of it below.  Her phone and email are listed. Feel free to contact her if you have questions or want a specific cartridge.  I promise you won't find them cheaper! Seriously!  Don't wait, because she doesn't know how long these prices will be available.

(Just in case you aren't familiar with Cricut - here's their official website - check it out  www.cricut.com. But please keep in mind that the retail prices you see are not even close to what you're gonna pay from her. GREAT Christmas ideas/gifts...)

This one is Mini Monograms.  I was hunting for it recently.

It retails for $69.99 - Roberts sells it for $44.99 - Christa can get it for me for $33.00! H E L L O!!!

Here's her email:

____________________________________________________

Hey everyone - I'm sending this out to let you all know that I found some crazy deals on Cricut cartridges.  The prices are even lower than wholesale prices at Provocraft.  ALL cartridges are under $43.00, most of which are around $30.  Even the Disney/Cars/Princess cartridges are at $38 and $35.

I am very excited to order some of the Christmas cartridges--most are around $20.  Even the new ones are on sale.  I am getting the new Designer Calender for $36.00 and I have big goals for making calenders as gifts...we'll see if that really happens.

I am also getting some new mats and blades, all  the accessories are on sale, too.  So if there is something you are interested in let me know ASAP and I will get you an exact price.

Contact me with any questions, thanks,
Christa
cstuff@cableone.net
208-785-3466
208-680-2225

Logan

Today I am choosing to be thankful for Logan.

Good Gravy - looking at that little picture can ALMOST make me want another baby....he was THE MOST LOVABLE little boy - still is. 

Good HELL! Just look at his cheeks!!! I kissed those suckers constantly - still do - and I loved to suck on his ears.....yup, still do!  He really was a good baby - so loved his mama and her boo-boos - yup, still does......we've covered that before, thought, haven't we?

Anyway - I get to help in his kindergarten class once a week.  It's always SO GOOD for me to see him in there. 

He is so well behaved and obedient and attentive and alert and...and...and....all the things he ISN'T at home.

He's been at a very hard stage for a few months now.  Simply NOT MOTIVATED to do ANYTHING! 

I can't bribe him, guilt him, threaten him - nothing seems to work to make him do simple jobs, quit teasing/tormenting Saydee or do as Steven or I ask.  He just doesn't seem to care. 
When we met up with his teacher this fall (same one Saydee had) the teacher told Saydee that she was excited to have her little brother in her class.

Saydee just flat out said "Well, I'm not excited for you!" The teacher - shocked - asked why....Saydee said, "Because he's CRAZY! That's why!"  The teacher got a huge kick out of it and totally expected another kid than she's gotten in class.

He has a really hard time in church and doesn't want to go.  In fact, he got 'kicked out' of Primary (children's class) last Sunday - we had to talk to him and take him back 2 times.

He told me last Sunday that he only had 'one time' (one day) that he doesn't have to go somewhere for a really long time. 
Translation: Saturday's are the only day he gets to stay home - which is his VERY favorite place to be. Laying around, playing trains and just being home - sneaking treats and leaving wrappers all over for me to find later....what a life!

We have found a small incentive that he responds to lately - a train computer game (thanks BEV and Payton). Most days he will come home and ask what jobs he has to do so he can play his game - Y I P P E E! And I might add that he does his jobs SWELL when he chooses to!

But, other times - the train game DOES NOT motivate or threaten....he just simply WON'T do what we ask or want him to.

So, it's times like this morning that I LOVE to see the cute, soft, obedient side of Logan in a group setting - just to know it still exists.....

Because I do so love the cute, little SHIT!