Happy Birthday!

My hubby turned 41 last week. He prefers a quiet day without any celebration. He's been struggling with getting more "mature". It brings back memories from the movie City Slickers where Billy Crystal's character talking about aging and how each stage has it's own milestones. I think Chris is up to the "minor procedure" stage. Shh! Don't tell him that! The funny thing is I still think of him as being 30. I did buy him an electric blanket for his birthday! Ha, ha, ha. Are we old or what? It's because I'm an energy miser and turn the heat down to 61 at night and he doesn't like it cold and tosses all night. Yeah, that's it...



It's hard to believe we've celebrated 18 birthdays together! Wait a minute! That means I'm getting older too! Aw, man! Glad I can go through it with you!

Happy Birthday honey!

Hello, sunshine!

So, we're on day 10 of rain. Being a native Cali girl I've struggled with not having at least a couple of days of sun in between storms. Last night I caved and started microwaving smores and drinking Diet Coke, sulking about feeling like I was coming down with something. Today, however, I started out on the treadmill with some Daughtry and a better outlook. Mood is all about choice, and I'm not getting sick I tell ya! I'm choosing to treat my children like they are an important part of the house and will try my best to not raise my voice at them. I'm choosing to make dinner every night this week, instead of getting bored or frustrated with the complaining about why can't we have pizza or hamburgers instead. I'm remembering to pay attention to the little things around me(including the laundry pile that I'm ignoring cause "I don't wanna") I'm also choosing to distract myself from the sunless environment by starting some new projects. Heck! I can always use a few more projects in my stack!


Meet my new quilt project. I decided I wanted another flannel quilt for the couch. We fight over the other one so I'm making more! Here are my colors. The large salmon color is the sashing and border strips in between the bricks. We'll see how it goes!

Here is my other project that isn't quite as fun. I'm ripping off the wook paneling in the dining room. I'd rather have glued up, primed, textured walls over the wood paneling! I can't take the darkness! Who knows how long it will take me to get it finished, but I've got a lot of work to do to retexture where the glue is and get it painted. I've only got the one wall ripped down and 3 more to go. Chris gave me a look that told me I was on my own, as he was completely happy ignoring the wood paneling for a few years. I better start screwing something up so he'll come rescue me! Ha, ha.

get off!

You know how you can hear the bickering escalating from the other room? The voices start getting louder, there is a squeal as one hits the other, then the GET OFF yell is screamed from Amanda. Just about the time I start to decide that I'm going to set a rule that they can't be on the same couch together(Mostly because Evan can't leave his big sister alone...ever)I walk around the corner and see them all cuddled up and giggling while watching tv. Naw, I guess I'll let them bicker a little longer.

pumpkin pancakes

Good morning! It's a BLUSTERY Tuesday morning here. I'm shocked we haven't lost power. The wind is blowing so hard it's a bit unnerving! It's been raining for a couple of days now and we have a small river in our back yard. This weekend I made my favorite pumpkin pancakes. My dog is on a pumpkin diet, so I always have a can of pumpkin in the fridge. This comes in handy when I want to make muffins and such. MY pumpkin diet isn't as healthy as hers! I finally found a pumpkin pancake recipe that was worth writing down, so here it is!

Well, after I show you a picture of my new orchid. We'll see how long it takes for me to kill this one!
And here is a picture of Chris and Amanda eating said pancakes. This is our 1970's dining den. More about the wood paneling later. These are the only pancakes Chris has made positive comments on. He's not a pancake fan.

And of course not just regular maple syrup on these babies, although it still tastes great if that's what you use. Today I had some cream cheese frosting that I spread on while they were still warm so it melted all over them. Yummmmm...nausea.....worth ittttt....Do you like my new Fiesta Ware plates??? In tangerine! I'm going to get more colors as I go. I've wanted Fiesta Ware for YEARS!!! There was a buy one get one sale at Macy's after Christmas so I retired my wedding gift every day dishes and took the plunge. I'm addicted! I love all the colors!

Here it goes:

2 cups flour 1/2 tsp salt

4 tbsp brown sugar 1 1/2 cups milk

2 tbsp baking powder 1 cup pumpkin puree

1 tsp baking soda 2 eggs

1 tsp ground allspice 2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp ground cinnamon 2 tbsp vinegar

2 tsp ginger

In a separate bowl, mix together milk, pumpkin, egg, oil, and vinegar. Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. Stir into the pumpkin mixture just enough to combine.

Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium heat. Pour or scoop batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown both sides and serve. Duhhh, doesn't everyone know how to cook pancakes? This last paragraph is pretty obvious. Enjoy!

They would be really good with whipped cream or an orange ginger glaze or ??? Let me know if you come up with anything else!

playing catch up

I'm doing a bit of catch up as of late. I had good intentions of working towards some Christmas crafts to have, and to give as gifts. I'm thinking I'll be ahead of the game for next year.

Here is my first 9 patch pillow. It's my first 9 patch of anything, really. Makes me want to make a blanket and do the little ties to quilt it together. Hummm. Maybe once I get my other projects finished. No more fabrics in my stacks!
Here is a countdown calendar Karen (MIL) gave me a while ago from her stash. It turned out pretty cute! I think I'm going to re-do the binding though. I used some bias to do it to make it faster and I dislike how it turned out. In the back of my head I knew that would happen, but I was being impatient.

This weekend I'm going to work on a food project. I want to make Empanadas. I'd like something that I can make up from leftover meats and veggies that can be thrown in the freezer for later consumption. If they turn out I'll be posting a picture! If you never hear of them again then don't ask! Have a good weekend!

Christmas morning 2009

Christmas morning had a different feel this year. It's the first year without a Santa. Although Sophie still thinks Santa is a cool guy. I have to put her stocking up Christmas Eve otherwise she sticks her nose in her stocking and pulls out all of the toys containing squeakies.


Amanda got her first taste of long nails. She loved the press on nails she got in the stocking. She didn't, however, realize how annoying long nails are when you aren't used to them. That was a quick $5 down the drain. She did last one day though. When we went over to Grandma Dolley's house late in the day Aunt Lorna thought they were her real nails, which Amanda thought was funny.

Here is the big gift for the kids. They've wanted Guitar Hero since they got the XBox last year. I, however, don't see the fasination in it. I'd much rather play Super Mario Brothers or Lego Indiana Jones. Evan busily put together his new Lego sets that day as well. He has a surprising level of focus when he has to put them together. Uncle Jimmy was over around lunchtime Christmas day and helped Evan put the Crystal Sweeper together. It has around 40 pages of directions to it. Evan knows Uncle Jimmy is the Lego Master. He even told his friend about Uncle Jimmy being the Lego Master.

True to form. I forgot to take my camera to the rest of the festivities at my mom's house so this is the end. Last year I didn't take it to Chris's parent's house. I need to velcro it to my arm! We had a busy year and I'm kind of glad it's over. I have high expectations for 2010! Happy New Year!

Christmas 2009

Here are a few Christmas photos. We went to Chris's parent's house for Christmas Eve this year. Amanda always loves to play Snorta when we go over. It's a fun game that gets you making all sorts of strange farm noises.


I've not heard Amanda laugh as much as she does when Snorta is being played. She thinks it's so funny! She likes to play Grandma Thomas because she always wins. It's a bit of a tongue twister for your brain.
Here are the men doing men stuff.
We usually decorate cookies for Santa every Christmas Eve so we took them over to do with Grandma. Karen said she wasn't doing well with hers and upon closer inspection I realized instead of decorating gel I had purchased gel food coloring. Oops! They were sitting right next to each other on the shelf at the store! Good thing we had frosting and sprinkles to use as well.


This was the first year that the kids knew Santa didn't exist. That was sad, but kind of a relief for me. It does take some of the magic out of Christmas. It does however, ensure mom and dad get more sleep Christmas Eve and mom doesn't have to remember where she hid everything. Heck! I had everything wrapped and under the tree days before! THAT was awesome. I think I'd give it all up though to keep them young and believing in the big guy. Just one of many changes they are going through as they grow up. Now if I can just keep up!

Dreary day, dreary me.

I think I'm suffering from lack of sunshine. We've had some foggy days as of late. Foggy enough to keep me inside pouting. The area of town I live in seems to have a pocket where the fog settles. I drive to town and the sun might be peaking through. When I get home it's foggy again. At least today there is rain. After about a week of it I think we're all getting a little tired of the gloom. I'm still not able to download pictures to the computer, so this will be a ramble with no photos. I guess that's ok since I'm thinking a lot about me, my life, my faith, my responsibilities, and the stressers these things bring into my life.

Do you ever feel like you're on the outside looking in? Sometimes I feel like I'm looking down on my life and how I handle things. Sometimes I wonder if I was being graded, what grade I would get? Scary thing, really. I guess my only saving grace is people don't know what is in my head and how I feel, so I'm sure much of my anxiety is my own, and goes unnoticed.

I know I should be able to lean on my faith during these times, but since this area is a struggle for me, I tend to rely on myself instead of him. I try to remind myself to focus on him and lift more up to him, but I feel like I'm on my own with this since I fight a losing battle in my house. Chris doesn't believe, and since there is no "I" in "team", I attempt to bring a team together with no team in place. Make sense? I see others who build their families and have the excitement and fulfillment of a Christian home, but I don't have that. I pretty much have to force the kids to go to church, as they'd rather stay home with Dad. Let your kids know that they need to pick a partner with the same faith. At 21 years old, I thought him being on the fence wasn't a big deal. It turned out to be a big deal. That old hindsight thing...

Don't get me wrong. I love my husband and respect his decisions, as he does mine. I think the major difference is, I let things go to Him, (after mulling it over and figuring out I can't do anything about it), and Chris tends to lift his stresses to me. What? Yup, I realized that when someone doesn't have a savior to lift things up to the stress tends to break them down over time. It's sad, really. I always thought I was put in Chris's life to help him find Christ. There is a story behind this, but not something I want to get into right now. What I can't figure out is how to balance life with Christ, and a life with Chris and my family. It would be easier to just forget the whole thing, but I try to remember that my walk is my own. The difficulty is knowing that I need to show my kids how to "walk" as well. Whew! Enough about that.

Let's see. What else is bugging me? My body image. Hey, it's the beginning of the year. You had to expect this one. I've decided the 30's are a time to come to terms with things and recognize that genetics are in play. I have crows feet coming on no matter how much crap I put on my skin. It's what my skin is. My best friend Marcy and I always joke that if we combine the two of us we'd have a pretty good woman. My legs, her flat stomach, my arms, her hair, and now I'm adding her skin. She's got no wrinkles under her eyes. We're still looking for boobs though, so if someone is interested in jumping in, let us know! I am coming to terms with the fact that I will never be slim. That's a tough one for me as I was slim for about 2 years. I killed myself working out 2 1/2 hours a day, but I found I wasn't there for my kids, and didn't put a lot of things in the correct priority. Now I'm NOT thin, and although things are in better order, I feel like I look flabby and gross. I'm also seeing that life throws a lot of double-edged swords. Balance is a hard thing! I am the type that healthy bits exercise don't do crap for me. Yes, I am healthier, but smaller? No. My body is a due or die type. SO, I have come to terms with genetics, and age, and am not just trying to be happy with what I've been given while getting in exercise when I can, even though I feel like I'd rather be selfish with my time. The older I get, the more I realize that I take too much time worrying about keeping my anxiety at bay. I get nervous about everything! Driving to the mall--where am I going to park? Towing my 5th wheel---will I be able to get into the gas station with it? How come I can't be more patient with my kids? I'm teaching them how to treat their kids! Why can't I just sit and play with them more? Am I doing the right things? Feeding them the right foods? Giving them enough love? I'm not a huggy, positive, lovy person. I tend to be sarcastic, impatient, and quick to react. Now you see why I wonder about what grade I'd be given! Maybe that's why I like animals so much. I don't worry about what grade they give me. I think I always feel this way after the holidays. The whole visit with family thing stresses me out. I enjoy seeing everyone. I like visiting. I think the problem is after I tend to look at my life more and pick myself apart.

One other thing that is bothering me is thinking about losing people that are so important in my life. My best friend's sister was just diagnosed with breast cancer. This scared the crap out of me since their mom also had breast cancer. It made me realize how much I rely on her friendship and how lost I'd be if she wasn't in my life. I don't really have that many friends. I have acquaintances, co-workers, family, but I'm kind of a loner. Always have been. I guess it made me realize how many areas of our lives we put in one basket. Being married to one person, trying to put everything I am into my kids, having one good friend, kind of makes me feel vulnerable if something was to happen to any of them. At the same time that is what makes me feel safe. I'm not a social butterfly. I'd like to be and to have lots of friends that I get together with, go out to dinner with, do parties with, but I've figured out it just isn't me. I've given up on that even though I envy those that do those things. I think my personality is such that I spend all my time worrying about what they think about me, and not about the fact that they might just enjoy ME. Sad, right? Silly. Okay, enough rainy attitude.

Did I ever mention I love driving in the rain? I love the swish of the windshield wipers, pushing the rain off the glass and the tires splashing through the puddles...feels like a little world of my own. I also love waking up to the smell of coffee. I LOVE-LOVE-LOVE orchids, but the orchids don't care for my treatment of them. I can keep Africa Violets with no problem. If I had my way I'd live in a house with an atrium you had to walk through to get to the front door. It would be filled with plants. I could spend hours in the greenhouse at Eisley's. I've always wanted to have a coffee shop-bookstore-nursery that people could hang out in. Wouldn't that be cool?

What the...

I'm gathering pictures and organizing them so I can be better about blogging. What do I find when I downloaded images from my camera last week? These. And I'm not talking one or two, I'm talking 12 or 13, and at the very end are my two little images. WHY do we need so many of these? Will my husband ever use these images? He probably already forgot he took them. I think I need a separate folder for his pictures...

These are from the inside of our 1978 wall radio, which is complete with it's gold scroll and Hi-fi speakers. The funny thing is I love this radio. All the speakers in the bedrooms still work. Unfortunately, the power switch went out on it over the holidays, so I couldn't rock out the house while I was cleaning. Thankfully, Chris went and bought a button that he attached to the front. It is bright red, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer red. It fits right in with the tackiness of the stereo. I'm not sure how long this baby is going to last, but I bet it will be going longer than anything new we have. I'd post a picture of it with it's new shiny button, but the computer won't allow me to download any pictures at the moment. Apparently, the parental control that Chris put on the computer thinks I'm 10. Hello! Can you make my account not be like the kid's accounts? Yesterday I couldn't even look at my fellow blogger's pages. I could, however, get on Facebook. Oh yeah, that's much safer for the kids to access...what?

Oh! Here it is. I made this bag for Amanda's piano teacher. Even though Amanda stopped lessons in October after 3 1/2 years, I already had all the stuff picked out so we still wanted to give it to her. I miss Mrs. Preston. She is one neat lady. I plan to make another bag for me with some horse fabric I found. For not I'm trying to get some Christmas sewing done. I keep reminding myself that I'm just going to be ahead of the game for next year, and not just WAY behind from last year.

Chocolate houses

I saw an idea for a new take on the gingerbread houses during the holidays and decided to give it a try. It was a YUMMY success! We used the large chocolate bars and cut them with a serrated knife. It must be serrated and you must saw it, or they break. We melted the scraps and put the melted chocolate into sandwich bags to pipe the edges together. We used drinking glasses to hold the sides together while the chocolate set up. It was easy enough that we plan to do it again next year!

Wal Mart had a little section in the candy area where they had little tubs of candy pieces to use for decorating houses.

Surprisingly, Evan really took to this idea. In the past his patience wasn't really there for decorating houses. This time he got into the design, placement, and finishing touches better than his sister. Maybe we'll have to do Easter houses with white chocolate! Oohhh! That would be fun!

Amanda is my little chocolate freak. I think she ate more than she placed. The fun next year will be to find more unique things to decorate our houses with. Maybe we'll make a little village of chocolate!