A Time to Change

Although not a prolific poster, no doubt you have noticed that I have not posted at all recently.  It began to bother me knowing that complete strangers could look at us and see what we have been up to.  Like we usually are up to nefarious escapades all the time!!!

At any rate, I am now taking the blog private.  All of you, my dear friends, are not strangers though.  I have set a date of January 10th to change over to private settings.  SO, if you would like to peek into our beyond exciting family life (ha!), you need to send me an email or post a comment that you would like to be included in my exclusive club (hee hee!) before that date.

Abundant blessings to you and yours for the 2011 year!

Basketball and Bell Ringin' Times

Nutcracker Ballet and Christmas Cookies

Grandma treated Chicka, Zabi and a neighbor friend to tickets to the local Nutcracker ballet performance.  Not only did the girls REALLY enjoy the ballet,

 

 but Zabi was the lucky recipient of Clara's tiara!  When her name was called, she had a grin on her face the size of Mars and couldn't get up the stairs to the stage fast enough!  So much for my shy little girl!

Don't you just LOVE the dresses that the girls are wearing? You guessed it, Grandma made them!  I am so lucky to have a talented, generous woman that I can proudly call Mom.  Thanks, Mom, I love you!

 Miss Joanie came up for a quick visit, so of course we had to make cookies!  Ahem, Joanie - the chocolate chips are supposed to go ON the COOKIES, NOT in the mouth!

and what is that on her shirt??????  someone thought it might be excess oral liquids, but alas, it really was just an extra splash of water from just having done the dishes!

yup - pictures do the process justice - she had that much fun!

uh - Joanie - you have a contender for chocolate chips!

proud cookie makers!

Road Trip

MissE and I embarked on her higher education orientation week.  What a whirlwind those things are - I had NO idea!  We started out at 5 AM after being up till after midnight the night before with a dog emergency.  Neither of us were terribly chipper, but we WERE ready for an adventure!

Along the way, we came across a variety of funny bone signs.

Flies????  Do they come with the food?  The beer?  As a side?

Nice to know where we can come with that special itch!  Or is this the place to come when we need an itch?  Hmmmm.

While at the actual orientation, we were so busy that we didn't get any photos.  Our heads are swimming with all the things still to take care of, to pack, to do - all in a mere two weeks!

On the way home, we stopped at a flour mill museum.  They boasted having a bat resident, which coincidentally shares the same name as our exchange student due to arrive next week!  Once MissE got past the thought of "what happens if this little creature decides to wake up and fly into my face", she managed to get close enough for a photo op!  It was really cute the way his little ears perked up and moved around when we spoke.

The requisite goofball tourist shot.

Something Yummy and Something Difficult

Let's start with yummy, although not NEARLY as important.  I recently needed to contribute a dessert to a potluck and, as luck would have it, had nothing on hand to whip something up.  When you live as far away from the store as we do, the last thing you want to do is jump in the car and run to the store.  SO, I started rummaging through my pantry to create something.  What I came up with has become the much asked for, EASY and fast dessert!  I'll share it with you!

shhh - don't tell - I rummage the shelves of the freight damaged CHEAPO stores and stock my pantry!  I think this Angel Food mix cost me all of $0.49!  All you add is water to it and whip it up nicely.  I use home canned pears, but I imagine you could use any fruit that you have on hand.

In a baking pan, melt 1/2 cube of butter and a couple of good squirts of corn syrup.  Sprinkle on about 1/2 to 3/4 cup brown sugar and mix it all up sugary sweet.

Next, chop up as much fruit as you can stand and add that to the gooey stuff on the bottom of the pan, and top it all off with the fluffy cake batter.

Throw the mess into a pre-heated to 350 degree oven and let it bake for around 30-35 minutes.  The top should be golden brown with a few splits in the top.

Remove from the oven and slide a knife or spatula around the edges to loosen the baked scrumptiousness from the sides of the pan and invert onto a waiting cookie sheet or proper sized plate.

Cut and serve for all to enjoy!  The texture is somewhere between a pound cake and sponge cake - terrifically yummy!

Of course, you have to have a little help to clean up all those messy dishes, right?

Now for the difficult part of the post.  IBoy left today and won't be back for just over a month :-(  I'm sure that you can imagine, or have experience, in letting your youngest son go off on an adult adventure, but I will appreciate all of your prayers for his safety and my composure until he returns home to his ever-lovin' momma.  He was accepted into a YouthCorps program that will be working (hard labor) in the backcountry.  He said:  "heck, Mom, I would be doing the same thing with my friends around home anyway - I may as well do it with this group and get paid for doing it!"  Gotta love the logic!

IBoy laden with all his gear that he will need for the next month.

And now I will close with a photo of my two eldest blessings still at home.

Lovin' Summer

Ah, the warm days filled with outdoor activities. Yup - gotta love 'em - God has made some beautiful things that He has given us!

The side garden flowers are bloomin' ever so purty.

MissE and I have been working on a project. I'll tease you a little and show you how two of the three projects began and I'll see if you can guess what the final product is going to be!

We were sitting on the concrete pad painting to our hearts content, when MissE leapt about a hundred feet into the air, screeching that an ant had traveled to parts unmentionable. She raced off into the pole barn to give the little insect a hasty good-bye while I readied the camera.

HA! Caught her!

And of course, how could we get any work done at all without the two best helper/getter-in-the wayers on earth????

I've been able to fill in with a bit greenery in the courtyard and make it a little more inviting. Here is a peek for you from the front of the house andthen what you would see as if you were gently swinging on the porch swing, with an icy mint julep in your hand. Probably with a plate of fancy bon-bons next to you, too. You know - with all that leisure time that we all have each day.

Thought you might want to see a typical dinner table after Chicka gets done. Uh huh.

And you can't see the floor, or the chair, or the clothes! Guess where the dogs sit during dinner? Also, you don't see the face, into which some of that food actually manages to end up in the proper orifice. Yes, she loves her food!

Speaking of ugly - how do you like my toe? While we were swimming at the river I smacked that durn thing into a rock so hard that I heard a snap - just like when I broke my foot. It hurt SO bad. My makeshift splint didn't work so well, and it turns out that I just gave it a mighty bruise. Ahem - no comments needed about my "special" baby toe. Ahem.

I have no idea what kind of a beetle this is, all I know is that it is BIG!

Oh, yes. The project.

Any ideas of what crazy concoction we have come up with now? Never you mind about the height of a fashion statement I am making here. These are my workin' clothes, ladies! Course they also double for everyday clothes around the farm. I've even been known to run to the store in them thar' rags. Course it is a one hitch town - only store for miles around - you can git yur gazoline, movies, fried chickin' and them weekly newspaper things there. We even have an old town system of chargin' yur purchases at the store and gettin' billed once a month for 'em. Did I hear a cry of redneck???? Ha!

Woo Hoo

Please take a moment to visit my good cyber friend's blog for a moment. Not only is her family excited to begin the process to bring a sweet 11 year old son into their home (their 3rd adoption from China!!!), but they are also having an AWESOME drawing for a brand new iPad!!!!!! Hurry on over to her site and check it out for yourself! You can also get to her site by clicking on the Joy Unspeakable button on my right sidebar.

While you are there, don't forget to enter the drawing per her directions. You will be helping an orphan join his forever family, AND possibly becoming a new owner of an iPad - no way you can loose!

My New Home

That's My KING!

WACAP Picnic in PDX

WACAP had their picnic in Portland, Oregon this week, and we were able to attend! We had a fun time visiting, playing and eating with friends that we have "spoken" with via internet, but never actually met - FUN!

Grandpa accompanied us on the long drive - thanks Grandpa!

The group photo of those that we could find at the moment!

She was so proud of her blue tongue.

Happy Birthday

What wonderful weather this year for my birthday!!!

I received a lovely gift of two propane fired lamp lights for my courtyard! This photo didn't work too well at night, but the flash ruined it!

I refused to pay any money this year on gardening stuffs, so I scrounged and recycled some old items to make a little water garden. I think that I will have to pay for some goldfish, though!

Zabi thought it was hilarious that we were singing to me - not her! Sorry that I didn't dress up for you guys, too. Sorry to say that we celebrated after I had worked outside ALL day. Might I remind you that it was over 90 degrees, too!?! No putting on my face, either :-(

Sorry - all the greenery was just planted, so it isn't very full yet!

IBoy's new toy - a welder! Oh, the plans I have for this new skill!