Get it together!

"Keeping life simple"---it seems to by my motto these past few months. With moving and becoming increasingly busy with the kids I crave simplicity around me. Take my husband's birthday get together with the family that lives close by for example. I purchased doughnuts and made some breads and muffins. It was in the morning and there wasn't much clean up beyond garbage after. This event really hit home with me about how time is passing by at a rate I can't keep up with. He turned 40. Holy cow! He was 23 when we met! That means I'm...that much closer to being 40 too! I didn't deal with 30 well so I can only imagine what 40 will be like. Throw in a minor female issue that I am keeping an eye on and it makes for feelings of a weepy, inadequate mom. With my keeping it real attitude as of late, looking at other blogs gives me even more to think about. Have you ever been checking out your regular blog list and noticed how cute they are? How creative and though provoking they are? How fun they are decorated and how many people log in and leave comments? Their houses are always cute and they do such creative things with their kids. Sheesh! My blog is full of run on sentences and pictures that I probably should have edited out laundry and mess before posting. I don't give much thought provoking or eloquent statements. I think, for the most part, I whine or question life and it's idiosyncrasies. I don't always deal with stress well, and I struggle with my self image. For the most part I think I'm pretty normal. I guess the main thing I tend to overthink is whether or not I'm doing enough, whether I'm making the best of things, and for what things I should have done better for my family. Am I truly grateful for what I have? If I was I'd not worry about these small bumps in my life. Am I trying to give my family everything I have and always trying to make their life better or am I constantly telling myself I'm tired, I'm frustrated, I need my space, I,m tired of being underappreciated? I should be thankful I am so blessed and want to make their life better because I love them. I guess it's time to make a list or something. How else will I organize my head? Secretly, I hope the blog people I visit think the same things, hope the same things, and deep down inside, whine now and then too! I guess I've always been right out there with everything my entire life. I don't hide much. I should do an AA admittance: "Hello, my name is Patty Thomas." "Hello Patty Thomas." "I whine, hate laundry, lose track of my faith on occasion, get tired of cooking, feel like a maid, dislike stress, and am tired of struggling with being overweight." The statement I will be working towards will be this one, "Hello. I love myself, pray every day, lift my stress to the Lord, love my family, serve them willingly, and try to give love to all around me." Whew! I have a lot of work to do! I better start praying first!

Latte Friday!!!

Hello all.

It's Latte Friday! Yeah! Although I think I'm cheating. Does it count if you run into your pastor next to Starbucks on Wednesday and he offeres to buy you your latte? How could I say no? I love my pastor. I've felt so lucky to find such a nice pastor and church close to home. He is encouraging with my "walk" but not pushy...except when he wanted me to give my testimony in front of the entire congregation and I talked to him ONE day before he wanted me to do it. Yikes! In hindsight I'm glad I did it. I had quite a few people come up to me after and talk about it. I think it's important for people to hear real stories about real people and their trials and tribulations about their faith and what opened their eyes. It also made me feel like part of the church, a member. Anyway, back to lattes. I usually only allow myself one a week if I've worked out at least 4 times. This week I missed 2 days. It wasn't my fault. I'm blaming it on the rain and a slick chicken coop. Let's just say I looked more like a piggie all slicked up with mud and I tweaked myself. Anyhoo, I think I'm justifying my second latte since the first one came from someone else and I'm injured. Does that sound good enough? Plus I have to find something to do while I wait for the gravel truck to come deliver 6 yards of road base. I'm already getting nervous about it. I hate doing man stuff, but have gotten used to it over the years. Chris gets out of all of that stuff. I take the cars in, I deal with the utility and propane guys, I deal with the cable guys(you remember that though) and now I deal with the gravel guys. Sometimes it's intimidating!!! I am dealing with that stress by medicating myself with a LATTE. There. I think I'm done justifying. Sound good?

Shame, shame. Everyone knows your name!

Last week was a busy one. Actually, January has been a busy one. I've been working extra hours at school. This is a welcomed use of time as every little bit counts after the Christmas season. When I get home from school, piano lessons, girl scouts, boy scouts, etc., the last thing I want to do it household chores. These following pictures will explain.

Peanut butter pie. Yum! I made this to take down to Marcy and Sean's house for dinner on Saturday. I actually made 2. The first one was too salty. Why would it be too salty since the recipe doesn't call for salt? I grabbed the Adam's peanut butter that was unsalted. What? Who buys peanut butter that is unsalted? I added salt, mixed and poured, put in the freezer, and licked the beater. Ugh! Darnit!
This is the worst part! I had unwrapped and layered peanut butter cups on the bottom. There is no way that baby is going in the trash. We flipped it over and, with surgical precision, sliced the bottom off to remove and place these on the second pie, made with salted peanut butter and all! Marcy made her famous pepper jack stuffed burgers for dinner. Let's just say I was at the gym this morning. I might have worked off the bun...we celebrated Chris's up and coming 40th birthday and they found Chris's favorite beer that was, until recently, discontinued. It's a Double Black Stout beer made with espresso coffee. I think it is gross. We also shampoo'ed in their driveway and moved in a rug that we couldn't use anymore since we have no more hardwood floors at our new house and they have a baby that is ready to walk with lots of tile floors in her path. Boy do we know how to party!

Here is another little happy project(Bob Ross??? Anyone???) I've been doing. One of the blogs I visit had a little pattern for a coffee cozy. These go up quickly and use up scraps of my favorite Amy Bates material that I just can't bare to get rid of. I still have to sew the orange button on but you get the idea.

I have 5 made up, even though I only get one coffee at a time. I guess I'll have to give some away. Reused material scraps, don't have to use the paper sleeves on the coffee cups, can give some away, win-win-win!

We finally brought over our disassembled swing set from my parent's house. I got some more practice backing my dad's trailer down our long skinny driveway. Always fun.

We've been having unseasonably warm weather here. I'm talking the high 60's and low 70's STILL. I thought it would have only been like that for a couple of days. We're going on 2 weeks. Since I just got done watching An Inconvenient Truth, this really freaks me out. We need rain!!! It makes me anxious! Then I go outside, take a deep breath, and just LOVE being outside! It really is nice out. The plants are getting confused too.

I let my girls, and guy, out for the first time this past week. I typically don't let them out since I have a neigborhood hawk that likes to show up on occasion, but I hadn't seen him in a while. The girls just couldn't get enough scratching and eating in. They were sucking up worms and bugs like spaghetti noodles! Guess what? Within 5 minutes I saw the hawk swoop in and take up watch from the trees. So, guess who got to babysit them? There was no way they were going back in until dark, which was about an hour away. Now the neighbors probably really think I'm nuts. The big girls are probably pretty safe, but the babies and momma #1 are prime pickings!

You could hear their excitement as they clucked away. It was almost as bad as a bunch of tired moms getting out for an evening at Starbucks all giddy on caffeine.




Here is my new kitchen chicken that I got for Christmas. He keeps guard of the back yard and.........wait for it...wait for it...

This! Here it is folks. My mess. I stood back so as to not give you any virtual smell from my dirty dishes. Here is my shame. I also have shame in the form of laundry piles, shoes all over, and dust covering my shelves. I'm giving myself up, inspired by another blogger pal I check in on from time to time. She posted a photo of her mess and I thought it might force me to clean if I do the same. I just have so much OTHER stuff I would rather be doing. For example, I spent 4 hours with Amanda at a birthday party in Roseville at John's Incredible Pizza yesterday...wait, that's not something I wanted to do. See? I spend so much time running around that I get selfish and hole up doing something I want to do once I'm finally home instead of putting away laundry and cleaning up the kitchen. I think I've been pouting these past couple of weeks. It's been so nice outside and I've been in denial.

So sorry kitchen! I'll do better! Same to you laundry! I just wonder at some point if my grown children will say, "Remember when mom wouldn't clean the house and we went to school in wrinkly clothes so we could build our turkey coop that weekend in anticipation of the babies we killed and ate for Thanksgiving and then she sewed all evening and instead of feeding us a nutritious meal she fed us corn dogs and pizza bagels from the freezer for dinner because she didn't want to cook because she was almost done with her coffee cozies? And remember when she let us play XBox instead of making us go outside because she wanted to help Daddy get the swingset put where it was going to go?" Good times, good times. Ok, I think I'm ready to go clean something. Shame works wonders!

Welsh Tea Cakes

One of the traditions that I was introduced to from Chris's family was making Welsh Cakes. The recipe is from Karen's Grandmother. These are a big family favorite and only the privileged get some to take home! You really can't appreciate that until you've made them, and you really can't make them until you've been shown how to make them. They are a tricky little griddle cake. I've learned over the years that you can't be bashful with the flour or they stick to the mat, and you can't add too much flour or they get dry and tough. See what I mean??? They have currants in them. When you roll them out you roll it to about the thickness of the currant. Then you cut and hope you added enough flour to the mat. Usually my first batch always sticks. It seems to be a right of passage to a successful Welsh Cake session. I use my Great Grandfather's whisky glass to cut them. It's the perfect size.


There is a system to placing, flipping, and cooling them.

I made 4 batches this year. It takes a couple of hours for each batch. Sadly, there never seems to be enough!!! Chris usually eats a batch before I even have them in containers and baggies. Evan loves them too. I like them warm from the griddle with a cup of tea. Amanda can do without them. She isn't a raisin person. I don't know where she got that from...no comments from you Mom Dolley!!! There is still time for her to grow to like them.

Why is there a hole in my Christmas tree? It seems to be missing the lower left side of it's branches.

You know, I'd post the recipe, but since you really have to be shown how to make them, I'll just leave an open invitation for a Welsh Cake lesson to any that want to sign up!!!

I think this is officially my last Christmas post for the season. On to Spring!!! It has been in the high 60's and low 70's this week. Very strange and not normal!!!

Bad Santa

Santa was bad this year. Santa didn't listen to me when I said Xbox 360 was expensive and the kids didn't need one. Santa didn't think about the rules and guidelines that I have to set up so they don't sit and play video games all day.

So the kids got some fun stuff that wasn't a $400 gaming system. Evan got a guitar that Daddy can help him learn to play.

Amanda got a cool lazer tag set to run around outside and shoot at each other. They also got some of their favorite stuffed Webkins and lots of Legos. Mom also finally got them Moon Shoes. Those have been on their list for 2 years.

And what do we have here???? We have Chris on Christmas Day in his robe, playing the new Xbox that magically showed up under the tree. Santa is in big trouble! The kids are excited. The good news is I get to use the Xbox as a dangling carrot to get all sorts of chores done and am always ready to take the controllers away when they start arguing.

Bad Santa. Bad.

Happy Friday!

Ok, so I started out the morning in "mood de crappie" and was going to post in that particular frame of mind. Then I got busy and never finished my post. Boy, am I glad I waited! It gave me time to reflect, remove all of the "me" thoughts, and focus on trying to make everyone's day better than it was when they woke up. You know what??? It turned my mood around! Not because anything spectacular happened...or because I found that money tree growing out back...or life's stresses about work and family vanished...or my house magically cleaned itself while I was away...it was just because I realized throwing myself a pity party was more work than just being happy. So, I'm being thankful for my health, my family, the nice sunshine outside, for making kids smile at school today because I was being a goofball(it was "Latte Friday" after all and I was buzzed on espresso), for busting my butt every day before sun up this week at the gym so I could have "Latte Friday", for my critters, for the new big critter at my mamma's house that I want to play with this weekend if I can find the time(so excited about that...hint: it's got a mane and tail), and for you all! Have a fantastic weekend!!!

Christmas Eve

The countdown is complete! You can feel, and thanks to wound up kids, hear the energy in the air.







Not a creature was stirring this rainy night. These guys were the only ones behaving. They've grown tired of chewing up and climbing in the Christmas tree. They must know Santa will be here soon.

The kids did some final touches to their lists after opening their "shirt box" containing jammies from under the tree. They got the cookies frosted and the milk poured for their important visitor. They even remembered to set out the reindeer food before heading to bed.

I think next year I'm wrapping all of the cool stuff in shirt boxes and the jammies and such in huge, shiney boxes with tons of ribbon.

The kids finally wound down and went to sleep so Santa could leave their treats. Santa was a bad boy this year. I got very annoyed at Santa. More to come on that in later posts.

Christmas Traditions

I've decided to take the rest of this week to catch up on Christmas posts. It takes a month to prepare for Christmas at our house, so I'm going to give it a week to wrap up thoughts and pictures. A tradition my Grammie Crabtree started one year while visiting from Maine was making braided Christmas wreath bread. It is a yummy yeast bread she found a recipe for that combines cardamon, candied cherries, almond extract, and almonds. My favorite holiday flavor is almond. Probably because my favorite holiday cookie is a spritz cookie with almond extract in it. Yum! Anyhoo...this year I asked Amanda if she wanted to help make it. She just turned 9, and really wants to learn her way around the kitchen. I've always been a bit stand offish when it comes to helping in the kitchen. Don't get me wrong, I do let my kids help. I just have a hard time with the mess they make when they do help. They start playing with the flour, spilling the egg everywhere, losing their focus, you get the idea. So, this year I plan to be more patient, more inviting, and let them help me more.

I just realized I posted these pictures in the wrong order but don't feel like redoing it. So, here is the roll right before cutting and twisting it. Amanda learned how to seal the bread and loved the twisting part. It really looks neat.

The filling is so yummy! I could eat it plain. Amanda listened very intently to directions and did a great job spreading it almost up to the edge.

She got tired of rolling and decided she'd rather work on the filling. Although I love my rolling pin, it weighs about 15 pounds and is rather heavy for a kid. Chris got it for me a couple of years ago. Solid maple and just the right size to whack anyone that gets out of line. Some like a frying pan, I'll take my rolling pin!

I completely forgot to take a picture of the bread when it was nice a brown, sitting there waiting for it's glaze. I really enjoyed Amanda helping me with it. It reminded me of spending time with my mom in the kitchen during the holidays. This type of event really made the holidays what they should be...spending time with the ones we love. Mommy's little girl is growing up!

Too cute!

The babies are all out and about. Mama keeps a close eye on them. So far the other chickens aren't picking on the babies, just mom. They also love to eat all of the chick starter out of the feeder. Grrrr.


Mama has been teaching them where to get water and how to scratch. She makes clucking noises and the babies all come running to see what she's doing. It's really cute. That is one nice thing about having the mom around verses just getting chicks from the hatchery. The mom teaches them everything!

The kids love to catch them and let them fall to sleep in their warm hands. It is so cute. Although the chicks are getting big enough now that it's quite a challenge to catch them. They are starting to get little tail puffs now and their wing feathers.

I love this part of "farm life". Going outside when it's 29 degrees to fill up the water and clean out the boxes isn't so fun. I think my hands are still frozen! At least the mud was frozen too.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! When I look back at this past year I really have to pause for the events to really sink in. It has been a year filled with triumphs and many trials. While we've had lots of stresses, it's also been filled with many relaxed and joyful occasions as well. It made my husband and I closer and our children more appreciative of their family and surroundings. It's brought me closer to my faith and given me a clearer vision of what the important things in my life are. It also reminded me of what things I've lost my grips on and what I need to refocus on in the NEW YEAR! I won't say it's a resolution thing, but more of an awareness of my goals.

The kids and I made a special New Year's Eve party for Daddy. We planned, shopped, and made Dad a special dinner at "Chez Toma's" restaurant.


We printed up a menu with our dinner and salad choices.

Our sign board had the specials. We had coconut shrimp appetizers, our special favorite house champagne, and a featured ice crem to go with dessert, which was gourmet chocolates that we picked up at a local shop in Down Town Auburn. The kids made meatballs to go with our spaghetti and mixed green salads.

Amanda was the hostess and seated Daddy, took his beverage selection for the evening, and told him he'd let him know when the rest of his party arrived.

Evan took his order and delivered his shrimp appetizer. He also said he would prepare his salad now.

The kids and I finally made it to the restaurant after all of the food was on the table. Then I had to go to the "bathroom". While I was gone the waitstaff cleaned up the table and prepared the dishes of special ice cream and chocolate truffles. When I came back from the "bathroom" we had a nice time of coloring on the paper tablecloth like they do at Macaroni Grill while eating our yummy dessert. The kids had so much fun giving dad a special evening at home. They were so polite and took it so seriously. Amanda even practiced her lines and wrote them down.

Then we watched my FAVORITE movie of all time after dinner with a nice fire in the fireplace. There is nothing like watching The Man From Snowy River after a nice meal with the most important people in my life. It was the first time I'd let Amanda watch it. She now says horses are her favorite animal. It still chokes me up when I watch that movie. I've seen it so many times! It is my sappy reminder that I would have loved to try to fit in on a ranch 150 years ago. Heck! Give me a ranch right now with horses and unlimited income to take care of it and I'd be happy. Is that too much to ask? It really makes me realize how much I miss my horse I had growing up. That was another time and place. Then I fell asleep in the chair, awaking just prior to the ball drop and the kiss from my husband welcoming in the new year. Hello 2009. Hello to another year and wishing for much health and happiness together.