Opening up a bit

My point of view is beginning to open up a bit.

Can you believe I walked INTO a cornfield at dusk?  

And I lived to tell about it.

Better than Disneyland!

I think Mother Nature reads my blog.  Really!  I just blogged about how hot it's been and then BAM! it cools off.  Maybe I should blog about Chevy Tahoe more things I want.  I'm just saying....

It finally cooled off and it actually feels like Fall.  Harvest is in full swing and the kids have been watching the guys going up and down the road and have been dying to ride in the combine.  

Our neighbors are the best!  Even though they are super busy they picked up the kids and let them ride for awhile.

You would have thought it was Disneyland!  They had SO much fun and talked of nothing else.  

Thanks guys!!  

Priceless Card

I made this butterfly card for my Aunt ME's birthday yesterday cause it was her birthday and she likes butterfly's.  She also likes Russell Crowe but Stampin' Up! doesn't have a Russell Crowe stamp.  They really should up their game a bit now that I think about it.  Anyway....I'm not going to tell her age but let's just say she is older than me and she is spending the next couple of days doing things that just made me exhausted to hear about them.    

I love the colors of this card!  This is what I like about workshop.  My SU consultant, Rae Ann, makes me put colors together I would have never thought about.  We also used VersaMark ink which I have never used before.  Once you stamp it on the card stock it takes on the color of whatever color card stock you used.  Amazing!!  Why have I never seen this before.  This really is going to simplify my world.

Supplies:  Whisper White, Peach Parfait, Baja Breeze and Riding Hood Red card stock, Priceless stamp set, On Your Birthday stamp set, Peach Parfait, Baja Breeze and Riding Hood Red Classic Ink, Whisper White 1/4 grosgrain ribbon, Eyelet Border Punch, 

Does Mother Nature Know??

The calendar says today is the first day of fall?  Really??  I'm sure the calendar is right.  The signs are everywhere.  The kids are in school.  The days are getting shorter and harvest is in full swing.  Trucks are moving up and down the roads filled with corn and combine lights can be seen for miles in the dark.  

The stores are filled with fall decorations of pumpkin and gourds while store end-caps are filled with extra holiday baking ingredients.  Our pumpkins, for the most part, ripened a month too early and then proceeded to rot.

But I gotta tell ya...it's HOT!  It's been in the high 80's or 90's all week and my garden will.not.stop.   

I'm thankful for our abundant garden but really...this.has.to.stop.  

Suicidal Chickens

Apparently our chickens have a death wish.

Our chickens have NEVER crossed the road (insert joke here)  but with harvest in full swing and all the trucks dropping corn on the road my girls are feeling a bit adventurous.  

I know...doesn't look like there is much traffic to worry about but the traffic we do have right now is big and moving fast.  I pray they don't become a 18 wheeler grill ornament.  But on the bright side....we might have chicken for supper!

Taking After His Daddy

This kid never ceases to amaze me!  Everyday he builds and puts things together that I would have never thought of.  He is always making 'traps to catch animals or bad guys'.  The other day I watched as he built himself a fishing pole out of a paint roller stick (the same one he used to help paint my bedroom wall) and a rope.  

Then he climbed up on the dog house and started to fish.

He doesn't know I'm watching and at one point he drops the pole and rope.  He climbs down and picks up the pole and rope.  I'm thinking in my mind, "How is he going to climb up on the dog house with the stick and rope?"

He picks up the stick and throws it over the dog house and then walks around and climbs up on the house.  

I am watching this thinking, "Holy Cow!  I would have never thought of that!! "

What a smart kid!

Thank God he doesn't take after me!

One Smart Kid!

This kid cracks me up!!  The poor little guy spent most of the weekend sick and on Monday morning he was seriously on his deathbed but Tuesday morning we woke up his normal crazy self.  

He wanted oranges in the worst way and since I had to go to town to deliver eggs anyway we went to get some oranges for him.  

So, he grabs a straw and sticks it into the orange to get himself some orange juice.  Makes sense right?  Then he grabs 2 glass olive jars and some tape.  He comes into the kitchen and wants me to put them together for him.

I said, "Why do you want these taped together?"  He told me so he can see better.

Of course!!  I see now.  Don't you?

Verie's Oatmeal Cookies

A lady at the gym made these cookies and brought them in after one of my work outs.  They are SUPER filling and I love 'em!  I don't know who Verie is but she makes some great cookies!

Oatmeal Cookies

-1/4 C oil

-1 egg

-1 tsp. vanilla

-1/3 C plain no fat yogurt (I've made them with vanilla yogurt too and they were fine.)

-3/4 C whole wheat flour

-1/4 C brown sugar

-1/2 tsp baking soda

-1/4 tsp salt

-1 tsp. cinnamon

-1 C raisins (optional)

-1/2 C nuts (optional)

-1 1/2 C rolled oats (old fashioned)

-1/2 C chocolate chips or carob (optional)  (sometimes I use white chips)

Directions:  Mix all wet ingredients together.  Beat thoroughly.  Mix flour, salt, baking soda and spices together.  Add to first mixture, mixing well.  Blend in oats, raisins and whatever else you choose.  Drop by spoonfuls on cookie sheets.  Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.  Makes approximately 2 1/2 dozen cookies (if you don't eat any of the dough).  

Nutritional Information:  With the nuts & chocolate chips each cookie has approximately 87 calories, 4 grams of fat, and 4 nutripoints, 41% of the total calories come from fat, which is higher than recommended but still lower than most pre-packaged cookies.  The nuts are the high fat item.  

Enjoy!

Pottery Makes Life Better!

For years I've been going to auctions and I always notice how they are selling some woman's special china, dish ware, towels or sheets that have NEVER been used.  She was always saving it for that special occasion that never came.  After I bought a a lady's wedding china set that served 12 for only $25 I decided that I would stop saving the 'good' stuff.  

 I don't really have any 'good' china or a china cabinet full of silver but I do have a lot of pretty pottery pieces.  

I got this piece from Clement Clayworks a couple of years ago and I love it!  I really do use it all the time just to put normal everyday things in it...like Mac and Cheese.  It makes the ordinary seem a little more special.  The best part about this bowl is it's dishwasher, oven and microwave safe!!  You heard me right...DISHWASHER safe!  

In case you missed it I am a chips and salsa freak and nothing makes chips and salsa more special than a new bowl.  This past Saturday I was at a craft fair and picked up this new hand made chips and salsa bowl from the same artist.   

I had to come home and put it to use right away!!

This new handmade bowl makes me so happy!  So, your mission for the day is to get your 'good' china out of the cabinet and put it on the table for supper.  It will make you smile I guarantee it!

End of Summer?

They say with the coming of Labor Day it's the end of summer.  I guess this means I need to take down the Americana decorations and pull out the fall ones.

It has finally cooled off a bit and my flowers are finally starting to look healthy and less....dead.  

The chickens are out moving around the yard again and not huddled under the porch trying to escape the heat.

My flowers may be all perky and beautiful but the garden, I think, is finally starting to die.  Thank God!  I really am tired of canning.

My friend Rachel says this is Mother Nature's way of getting the Midwesterner to look forward to winter.  You are so sick of canning, preserving, and the heat that you actually look forward to the wind, snow and bitter cold.  I think I agree.

Harvest

"When tillage begins, other arts follow. 

The farmers, therefore, are the founders of human civilization."

 --Daniel Webster

"Trade increases the wealth and glory of a country; but its real strength and stamina are to be looked for among the cultivators of the land."  --William Pitt

“Burn down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic; but destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country.”

- William Jennings Bryan

School...FINALLY!

FINALLY it was the first day of school for Bubby!!  His school started later than Sissy's and he has been waiting ever so impatiently. 

His new thing this week is wanting to be a Hobo.  He has tied up a rag with all his most important toys and then hung it from is shotgun.  He wanted to go to school like this but I vetoed him.   

I got a couple of fake smile pics as we were headed out the door.  He was very impatient for us to go already!  

Then we saw a school and the photo shoot was over.

He has a great day, which I knew he would.  He loves hanging with all his buddies and his teachers are the best!

Apples

"Go out on a limb--that's where the fruit is."  --Jimmy Carter

I was very lucky to have a neighbor let me come and pick apples from his trees...for FREE!    No I'm not going to tell you where he lives.  This is MY apple source and I'm not telling.

When I got there I discovered a Pear tree!  So, I was able to get a bushel of apples and pears.

The trees were LOADED and Bubby enjoyed helping me cause the apples were right at his level.  The picking was the easy part now comes the hard part....canning them.

Will you have mail?

I finally sat down yesterday and boxed up a number of different packages I have for people.

 In this pile you will find 2 belated birthday gifts, one late baby gift, a pair of shorts to return, a book I borrowed off a friend 2 years ago that I just found and my mom's special pillow she forgot at my house this week.

(Just doing my part to pay my retired Aunt's Postal Service pension.)

Will you get mail this weekend??

Actually laughed out loud

You just wouldn't believe how many times I got this email sent to me today.  

The crazy thing is I don't know how on earth someone got this picture of me sitting at my computer.  ;)

First Letter to Santa

It's gotten to the point around here that when one of the kids ask for a new toy I will say, "Well, you better tell Santa".  Today while at Target Bubby dearly wanted another gun with foam bullets.  I told him he should ask Santa for it.

Later after we were home he brings me a toy catalog we got in the mail yesterday.  It has spy glasses AND a fire engine that shoots real water in it.  He got VERY excited and said he NEEDED them.   I told him he should begin writing a letter to Santa so he doesn't forget any of these toys.  He asked if Santa would come down the chimney and I told him Santa would more likely come in the back door and we would leave it open for him.

Later I found this note to Santa taped to the OUTSIDE of the door.  It explains in great detail what he would like for Christmas.

Rainy Monday Fishing

The Boys went fishing on Monday and caught our dinner.  Bubby couldn't have been more excited!

They caught 4 nice sized fish at the neighbors pond.  We are so lucky to have such great neighbors who allow us to come fishing any time we want.

He helped his Daddy clean and fillet them for supper.  He felt like such a big boy.  I'm so happy Bubby has a Daddy who will take him fishing every chance he gets.  He is teaching him so much!

Thanks Neighbors!!