Chats

I'm linking up with Patrice at Everyday Ruralty.


1. When you were a child, what age did you think was "OLD"?
 30--- I also planned to not have any children after I turned 30, ha ha that didn't work out since I had 2 in my 30's and 1 in my 40's, along with my other 2.

2. How often do you have dessert?
Usually on Sundays when we go to my in-laws. Depending on what we have at home once or twice a week. How often do I eat chocolate candy? That is another question but not as often as I use too.

3. What's your favorite kind of exercise?
I enjoy walking but I also like working out with Denise Austin.

4.Do you watch movies on TV, movies from a rental or the library, or movies online?
Most of the time it's movies from the library, we also have some of my favorite Jane Austen dvr'd and a collection of other favorite movies we own.

5. Tell me something from your grandmother's or grandfather's house? I'm thinking something you saw all the time like a picture, clock, statue, teapot or something that was always there.
 I can't imagine my grandmas house without her trusty treadle sewing machine, and the big round kitchen table that seated 8-10 people. My grandparents also had a clocked that chimed-- I remember laying in bed and counting the chimes.

Memorial Day

Last year we were in Washington DC for Memorial Day. The Marching Band was marching in the Memorial  Day Parade. We spent the year before working concerts and KC Sporting games to pay for our family to tag along. It was a fun trip. We weren't able to visit Arlington Cemetery but were close enough to get this picture.
It's raining in Kansas City right now, hopefully you have sunny weather!

Cute

Just sharing my cuteness for today.

 This picture shouts HAPPY to me. I love the colors.

This is a picture I pinned to my Cute board-- I had to hunt down the link since the one I pinned was showing 404.......



I love the saying so sweet---- when my girls were younger I couldn't wear necklaces without someone pulling on it, and arms are much nicer.

  This just linked to the picture no credit to who made it.




These sweet kitties remind me of some that we had -- a stray cat had her kittens and we ended up with 5--3 looked like the black and whites, with one like the kitty with the spot on the chin and another more white with less black. Luckily we found homes for 3 of them.

This picture is from The Itty Bitty Kitty Committee Blog.


I was looking through my boards on Pinterest the other day and have all these cute pins posted in where else my Cute board. I decided I should post the pictures---- what was the use of saving all this cuteness if I did nothing with it. I also have been planning this post about Pinterest for months. I love Pinterest and wrote a blog post before of my love and things that drive me crazy about it.  I will admit that there are some pins I don't make sure link up and others I'm anal about. The ones I like because of the pictures I usually don't---- obviously I found out today when I went to copy pictures that two didn't link to the pin and one only linked to a picture--- no mention or link to who made it. I usually always check projects, tutorials or anything I want to make, because there is nothing like sitting down to make something and you have to wade through 40 pages of a blog to find what you were looking for if they don't have a search button.

I have another Pinterest post coming up....soon............................................  :-)  

Chats

I'm linking up with Patrice at Everyday Ruralty.

Questions

1. Are you a heavy sleeper, light sleeper or somewhere in between?
It depends on the night and time. Sometimes I can hear everything and other times I sleep through everything.
2. Are you currently reading anything interesting?
I'm in between books, I started two but neither has kept me reading.
3. Do you like to enter contests?
 Yes ---It depends on what I have to do, some internet contests I skip if there are too many requirements.
4. Are you good about taking time to do things you enjoy? 
Yes, I find time to read, sew or relax. Some days I might not get as much time as I want but I do try to make time when I can. Some days I take a lot of time. :-)
5. What is your favorite food to cook on a grill or enjoy at a BBQ?
Steak and burgers. I also love all the side dishes from beans, salads, veggies and of course the desserts

Pinned It, Made It! Monday

Last week was our last Girl Scout meeting for the school year, the Brownies/Daisy's  were working on there snack badge and the Jr's and Cadette's were also working on a food badge. So we turned it into a party.  My pictures are on my phone so no pictures to share.

They made Fast Easy Punch -- I couldn't pin the original recipe I used so I found a similar picture and recipe.


I pinned this but it doesn't link so I just copied the image.

Fast and Easy Punch
We used ------
1 Qt  Kemp's Strawberry Sherbet
1 2 Liter of Sierra Mist
1 2 Liter of Ginger Ale

The girls had fun making it and there was none leftover. Our plans were to make guacamole, but I waited to the last minute to shop for avocados and they were either to hard or very gross. So we switched to layered bean dip.

Layered Bean Dip

1 16 oz can refried beans
1 16 oz sour cream
Picante sauce
shredded cheese
diced tomatoes
sliced green onions

After spreading the first three items the girls sprinkled the cheese and then chopped the tomatoes and green onions.

and for a sweet snack we made -----


Picture from Women Living Well Ministries 

I've made this a few times before Pinterest so here is the same recipe pinned.

Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball

8 oz. Cream cheese
1/2 c. butter softened
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 c. confectioners sugar
1 pkg. mini chocolate chips, divided

Beat the first 3 ingredients together. Then add the sugar and 3/4 of the chocolate chips. Form the mixture into a ball and chill.

Once chilled, roll the ball in the remaining chocolate chips. Serve with Wheat Thins or Graham Cracker Sticks. Delicious!

**********************************

We used regular graham crackers and girls had fun breaking them on the lines. 

I'm linking up with Tammy at Country Girl at Home. 

Doll Challenge

Wendy at Ravenwood Whimzies Primitives had a doll challenge and since I was caught up on swaps, I signed up. This is my patriotic doll. Check out her blog and see all the other dolls, it's amazing all the different takes off a doll body.

Chats

I'm linking up with Patrice at Everyday Ruralty.



1. Do you have any fun plans for the summer?
Just the usual stuff: go to the lake a few times, enjoy fireworks with friends, hang out at the library, drag my children all over, visit with friends and work on pinned projects.

2. Are you currently dieting or following a specific food plan?
I try to avoid gluten but still eat a small amount.

3. How often do you wear blue jeans (or any other color denim)?
Everyday

4. Who is your favorite singer?
I don't have a favorite right now- I do like Phillip Phillips--my favorite as a young teen was Leif Garrett, then Bob Seger---but nobody I would say was my favorite of all time.

5.Have you cooked anything interesting lately?
Nothing interesting but my 12 year old cooked meal worms for a Girl Scout meeting.

Pinned It, Made It! Monday

I love to make all different  flavors of slaw, I usually prefer vinegar based instead of mayo. Years ago I had a recipe for Firecracker Slaw and if I dig through my recipes I might be able to find it, but who has time for that?  I was looking for a fast recipe to make for Mother's Day using what I had at home. I did not use jalapenos in the slaw, because I wanted my in-laws to eat it, but next time I make it I'm adding the jalapenos and hot sauce. This had a nice kick just from the juice, my mother in-law said it would be good with hamburgers.    

Firecracker Coleslaw-my version

I used: 1 bag of slaw mix, 1/2 cup broccoli cut  small, half of a red pepper,  handful of cilantro leaves chopped( I forgot to put onions in but will either add green onions or onion next time)

for the dressing: 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar, 2 T olive oil, 2 T jalapeno juice from a jar of jalapenos  1 t. celery seed, 1 clove garlic minced, coarse black pepper(to taste), 1-2 T organic sugar

This is the recipe I found and started my dressing with, I left out the mustard, hot sauce and salt. Here is one recipe  that is pinnable and pretty close to the first.  Other slaw recipes I make I add sunflower seeds and almonds. I use to make the ramen noodles slaw but now make it without adding the noodles.  I first stopped using the seasoning packets since they are full of stuff I didn't want to put in my body and would still use the noodles but found I like it  without the noodles best. I'll post my recipe for that one soon. 

 I'm linking up with Tammy at Country Girl at Home, check out all the other Pinned It, Made It! Monday

Mother's Day Past

 I didn't take any pictures this year on Mother's Day but found this picture from 93 or 94. It was probably Easter but hey it works. I miss my mom.

Last soccer game of the season

and now we're moving on to T-Ball!

Band Concerts

 

This week was filled with band concerts, the last one for the high school, Melissa is playing the flute on the second row, last person you can see.  Ha -- Last year was her first year in band and when I went to the 1st concert I saw all these open seats on the side, I was like yay! great seats till I realized that I could only see backs. So this year I did better at the winter concert but don't know what I was thinking picking out my seats this time. I could see Melissa but not much of the rest of the band. Ok--- next year I'll get it right!

 Jaime playing the clarinet at the 6th Grade Academy. This was the first year they combined all the 6th graders together. She wanted to stay at the grade school but one happy thing was they all had Ipads. Onward to middle school for her.

RIP Callie

This is our sweet Callie girl. She was 12 years old.  We noticed that her mouth seemed a little swollen and we took her to the vet a couple months ago. They said she had a tumor/cancer in the jaw.

  We probably held onto her a little longer then we should have, we called a mobile vet and he came out today and we had her put to sleep. She couldn't clean herself and eating had became too hard. She was a sweet cat and will be missed.

Chats

I'm linking up with Patrice at Everyday Ruralty.

Questions
1.How many loads of laundry do you do a week (about)?
It varies but I'll go with 6-8.

2.Where do your household pets sleep?
Some inside and others outside.

3. What is your favorite thing to listen to while you drive?
Ha ha the radio--- I like a variety of music but Indie music like The Lumineers, Avett Brothers and many other bands are my favorite at this time.
 
4.Do you have to do a big clean-up when you have company or are you always ready for guests?
Hahahahaha usually a big cleanup

5. What's your favorite breakfast food?
I've been eating peanut butter with coconut oil and a drop of honey for the last few years. We eat my favorite breakfast items at supper time, bacon, fried eggs and potatoes

Pinned It, Made It! Monday

My mom and Grandma always made pot roast and I hated it as a kid. I would eat the carrots and potatoes. Then I found out how wonderful horseradish made the roast taste (masked it flavor :-). I usually make bbq beef when I have a roast but a pot roast with potatoes and carrots was requested. I mixed two recipes together-- The first inspiration was this recipe, I liked the idea of adding rosemary but the main recipe I used is here-- I added onions to my slow cooker first,  I waited for the last two hours like the second recipe said to add the potatoes, they were still a little mushy so next time I'll either cut the potatoes larger or add at an hour instead of two. My child who thought she didn't like cooked carrots --was actually asking for more.

I'm linking up with Tammy at Country Girl at Home.

Party at Grandma and Grandpa's

Amy's aunt made the cupcakes for her birthday, she couldn't make up her mind but finally settled on princess cupcakes. Amy and Grandma have birthdays one day apart. A fun day for celebrating! Her birthday party with friends will be coming up soon once soccer games are over.

Happy 7th Birthday to Amy

2007 LLL conference Chicago

                                      

It's hard to believe that it has been seven years since you came into our lives.

Swim Meet & Snow

I can't say it any better---- this is so true!!

When I walked to the bus stop it was sleeting then it turned into snow.  Amy didn't wear a coat to school but felt she needed the works on the way to the swim meet.

At the swim meet

My poor tulips!

This has been one crazy spring, a few days ago it was hot and now the heat is back on! I'll take the cold over the heat of last summer. I just wished it would make up it's mind!!

Band A Rama 2013

 

Every year all the bands from the grade schools, 6th grade academy, middle school and high school join together for a concert. Jaime plays the clarinet and Melissa the flute, the bands did a great job. It's hard getting a picture with everyone smiling.