Wednesday Wisdom

A good conscience is a continual Christmas.

-- Benjamin Franklin

The Meep Face Christmas

You know how you get when your feeling sad  and your face gets all sad, but you don't want to let on.  Your mouth gets in a funny frown position, your eyes bulge out trying to keep the tears in...
We call this the meep face.
Mostly when you watch a sad movie like Beaches, or Dan in real life, or Martian Child... or any Mandy Moore movie.

Well this was a Meep face Christmas.
We didn't have any kids around till late Christmas day when Craig the oldest showed up.
I had a miserable cold.  still do.sniff sniff cough cough
Lauren and Will had to put their dog down, the day before Christmas.  Will had had Ryker for 11 years.  He was a wolf.  This was a very sad day.
and Will was sick with some infection that he couldn't even hold Carson
and Carson was sick (I got to hear all about that by phone)
and well it was just a meep Christmas. Lots of feeling sad and you know, sadder
But now it's over and we are onto a new year full of possibilities!.. and LOTS of changes.

(now in a happier note) I wanted to show you pictures of what Will and Lauren go through every Sunday, for three hours.... (look at it like a slide show... rapid, fast..  for three hours.)  wiggle wiggle, squirm, squirm, arch the back and LET ME DOWN..

hahah this little guy is giving them a run for their money!!!
he's so cute ... I miss them all
meep meep meep

Food Fun Friday- Pretzely Goodness

ok, I just couldn't think of a name for this bite-size tasty morsel!

 I think I have found my favorite EASY-SNEEZY treat

So it's the day before Christmas (or New Years or ANY DAY OF THE YEAR  for that matter) and you have to make a 'treat'.  I saw a picture of these and here's what I've come up with.  

This is the greatest, easy recipe you could ever hope for.

3 ingredients:

pecans

Rollo's

pretzels- the small twisted kind

line a cookie sheet with foil, place pretzels on the sheet, unwrap a Rollo and place it on each pretzel

Put it in 350 degree oven for 2-3 minutes (not 7 like I did, badbadbad)

Take the cookie sheet out and place one pecan ontop of the Rollo and press

 AND-THAT-IS-IT

bit size little wonders.

and I just can't stop tasting these guys!!!

Share the season

What a fun video... I was just smiling all the way through...
especially at the signs that look like they have been nibbled on!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyviyF-N23A



I wish you all good health, I appreciate everyone who reads my blog. More than you would ever know.  I have found the blogging community to be one of the (THE) most supportive family of friends ev-va.  I love my bloggy friends and look forward to keeping up with your creations, families and just life in general.  Yes I love reading about your lives and loves!

Wednesday Wisdom

I have my own particular sorrows, loves, delights; and you have yours. But sorrow, gladness, yearning, hope, love, belong to all of us, in all times and in all places. Music is the only means whereby we feel these emotions in their universality. ~H.A. Overstreet

Funny Funny Mother

 

(not my mother)

Growing up one of our family traditions was to read or perform a story on Christmas eve.  We all knew that at the end mother would read the scripture story of the birth of the Christ child.One year we (don't know who we'll blame, probably me since I am the oldest) came upon this funny poem.  My dad laughed so hard!  Mother didn't seem to mind the poem so much as she didn't really SEE the similarities between her and the Mother in the poem.  She didn't but we did!

Now years later (and I do mean YEARS, like 40) as I read this poem and I have to say:

Funny Funny Mother



See Mother.See Mother laugh.
Mother is happy.
Mother is happy about Christmas.
Mother has many plans.
Mother has many plans for Christmas.
Mother is organized.
Mother smiles all the time.
Funny, funny Mother!



See Mother.
See Mother smile.
Mother is happy.
The shopping is all done.
See the children watch TV.
Watch children, watch.
See the children change their minds.
See them ask Santa for different toys.
Look!  Look!
Mother is not smiling.
Funny, funny Mother!



See Mother.
See Mother sew.
Mother will make dresses.
Mother will make robes.
Mother will make shirts.
See Mother put the zipper in wrong.
See Mother sew the dress on the wrong side.
See Mother cut the skirt too short.
See Mother
put the materials away until January.
Look!  Look!
See Mother take a tranquilizer.
Funny, funny Mother!



See Mother.
See Mother buy raisins and nuts.
See Mother buy candied pineapple
and powdered sugar.
See Mother buy flour, dates, pecans,
brown sugar, bananas and spices.
Look!  Look!
Mother is mixing everything together.
See the children press out cookies.
See the flour on their elbows.
See the cookies burn.
See the cake fall.
See the children pull taffy.
See Mother pull her hair.
See Mother clean the kitchen
with the garden hose.
Funny, funny Mother!



See Mother.
See Mother wrap presents.
See Mother look for the end
on the Scotch tape roll.
See Mother bite her fingernails.
See Mother go.
See Mother go to the store
ten times in one hour.
Go Mother, go.
See Mother go faster.
Run, Mother, run!



See Mother trim the tree.
See Mother have a party.
See Mother make popcorn.
See Mother wash the walls.
See Mother scrub the rug.
See Mother tear up organized plan.
See Mother forget gift for Uncle Harold.
See Mother get hives.
Go, Mother, go!
See the faraway look in Mother's eyes.
Mother has become disorganized.
Mother has become disoriented.
Funny, funny Mother!



It is finally Christmas morning.
See the happy family.
See Father smile.
Father is happy.
Smile, Father, smile.
Father loves fruitcake.
Father loves Christmas pudding.
Father loves all his new neckties.
Look!  Look!
See the happy children.
See the children's new toys.
Santa was very good to the children.
The children will remember this Christmas.



See Mother.
Mother is slumped in a chair.
Mother is crying uncontrollably.
Mother does not look well.
Mother has ugly dark circles
under her bloodshot eyes.
Everyone helps Mother to her bed.
See Mother sleep quietly
under heavy sedation.
See Mother smile.
Funny, funny Mother!
~ Sandra Gilbert ~

week one of the organization schedule

First of all, yes,  I know it is Christmas week.

We don't have anyone coming over for Christmas.

All the packages have been shipped.

All (most) the baking has been completed.

There is a lot of organization to be done.  Two houses twice the time and twice the trouble

This week says garage on the calendar.

hahahah , this week.  Organize the garage in a week?

I am laughing all the way to the garage and back.

Truth be told our garage is not as bad (almost) as this

and...truth be told, Mr. Produce would LOVE for our garage to look like this:

I fear it will not.

Ever.

Even in a new house with a three car garage.  

Sorry honey, I like my garage sales too much.

Now I know what they mean by 'garage sales'... 

I buy more stuff to put in our garage!

thinking of someone special

I ran across a beautiful blog today (Thanks Momza!((she's on my sidebar))... yes, thanks for the tears and bloodshot eyes that I have to hide while I go to church)

In life when things get hard, or bad things happen, I like to ignore them.

Denial is not just a river in Egypt.

I read this beautiful 'prose' about a mother that has gone..... I couldn't help think of my dear niece Jessica and my sister Louisa that has been gone for 12 years.  

Louisa was my best friend.. but more than that a beautiful patient creative mother to 3 fun loving children.  They were 7,9, 11  when she died.  I was extremely sick that year too, (wonder how my mother survived that year). It was hard on all of us.  So I just like to tuck it in the back of my mind and forget about it... but beautiful posts like this bring it all forward. 

Memories are always with us, and that is a bitter sweet pill to swallow.  I'm sorry for those who have lost loved ones, especially this time of year when so many memories surround us in family traditions.

So go here  to April's Affirmations and read this lovely post...

and bring tissues, 

and make sure you don't have to go anywhere for a couple of hours!--

Food Fun Friday-Crockpot Lasagna

Lauren told me about this and I had all the ingredients AND I love crockpot meals.  The house smells so good when I walk in from work... She found it here at mama manafesto

1 diced onion
couple of cloves minced garlic
oregano, basil 
2 large cans crushed tomatoes
1 lb ground something (we like turkey)
3-4 cups shredded mozzarella
2 15oz cottage cheese
1 box lasagna noodles (I always get whole wheat)

Brown 1 lb of something with onions, garlic, oregano, basil and throw in some salt and pepper, of course. Toss in the crushed tomatoes. You layer everything in the crock pot: broken up dry noodles, meat mixture, cottage cheese, mozzarella. Just divide up everything you have by three and get to layering. 3-5 hours on low.   Turn it off and let it sit a good 15 minutes, as sometimes it may not have thickened up. 

Now here is the way I made it:

1-2 jars of cheapo marinara whatever you have sauce (1 for less sauce, 2 for more, depending on your preference)

1 box lasagna noodles
1-2 lbs ground beef/turkey/whatever (again, do you like meaty or not so meaty? up to you)
1 large container of cottage cheese
mozzarella cheese

Brown your meat.


Layer your ingredients in your crock pot. Start with sauce on the bottom, then noodles, then cottage cheese, meat, and then sauce. If you really like cheese, you can add mozzarella here too. Repeat. You can do fat layers or skinny layers, whatever you like, it all goes in, so try to divide your ingredients evenly. I usually do about 5 layers. When you get to the top, make sure you put extra sauce on top (or it gets too dry) and top off with lots of mozzarella cheese.


Cook on low for 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours.

all in all a crowd pleaser, and leftovers for lunch tomorrow, yea!

Bloggville-One Pretty Thing

When it is the Christmas season.. what better blog to have than an ULTRA informative craft/DYI blog

*One Pretty Thing*

SO many catagories...

AND MORE
usually there are 12=16 entries each day! 
and a super duper search system...
everything under the sun...
It's fun to just close your eyes and click.  
and now don't be thinkin' that they are all "crafts"  I checked out a history post about Charities that are extremely worthwhile, and of course recipies, and printables and 
well if you check into the history you are going to be there a while!  
If you are looking for something particular, the catagories and archives are especially useful!

One Pretty Thing

DIY craft tutorial for a handmade life

thanks Lauren for finding this cool blog out in bloggville.
Lauren's my daughter
she's a doctor
she's a terriffic new mom
she's a remarkable daughter
...what am I getting for Christmas... no pressure though!

Wednesday Wisdom

Footprints on the sands of time are not made by sitting down.

Author unknown

My long dark days in Iceland

Many of you don't know that I lived in Iceland for 3  l-o-n-g years.  We were stationed there, and once they get you on island, they don't let you leave.  I flew all the way to Iceland with an 18month and a 3yr old.  They were entertaining to say the least

They were fun, mostly indoor days of little kid stuff!  

The holidays are always special for kids, and the fact that we were in a different country made it all the better!

In Iceland you have...  The Yule Lads

They are 13 TROLLS that come down from the mountains to cause mischief in the towns!

They all have really funny expressions and names:

Pot scraper

 Window Peeper

 Meat Hook

and sausage swiper, and spoon licker, and candle beggar (who steals the children's candles) just to name a few.

Now a days they are dressed like Santa in red and white suits, and they GIVE things to children.  I remember being down town and a tall skinny Santa gave the girls candles.  But the stories are funnier when they are causing mischief!  and peeping in your window... and licking your spoons and scraping your pots!!!

We also used to put our shoes in the window for the trolls (as these Yule Lads are really trolls).  they would leave little candy if you were good or rocks or potatoes if you were bad.  One time Lauren got a potato in her shoe, but switched it out with Kieri's candy before she got up and exclaimed...."Kieri was bad so she got a potato"- she was a mischievous troll herself!

It really was a dark world up there... If you didn't get outside at 12noon for lunch, you wouldn't see the sun at all.  Of course it was a complete turn around in the summer.  Yes I much preferred the summer!

Is it Monday already?

Just can't get into the season... of course I've done shopping, and wrapping and making all sorts of lists.... but just can't shake what I can only say is that S.A.D. thing, the darkness thing.

of course it might also be that most ALL our kids are far away and we won't be having any... ANY of them here this season (for the first time ever).
there, I said it, that is probably the biggest reason.
So let me also say that we did get a few lights up out side:

but  I have to say that the highlight was the FLAT TIRE late Saturday night,  totally raining like crazy........  and have I mentioned that in this little town nothing is open on Sunday..... think 1951
here is what was in my tire.......

No WONDER I'm feeling s.a.d.
and frankly, I'm just going with it... well that is after i go to work.... and take my mother to the doctor... and ship the packages I boxed up this weekend...and make dinner... yep then I am totally going to just ... umm.... go to bed because it will be bedtime.  See isn't that great, my day&night are already planned out for me!

Food Fun Friday-Caramel Corn Puffs

yes it does seem irrrsponsible to list a diet web site one day and this sugary goodness the next...
but, hey... that's how I roll

These were surprisingly simple and a different look for your cookie tray.

Caramel Corn Puffs
1 (8oz) bag of puffed butter pops (found in the chip isle)
dump them in a large roasting pan.

in a sauce pan over med-high heat
1/2C butter
1/2 C light corn syrup
1 C brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
Mix in a saucepan for two minutes on med=high until bubbly around the edges.  Remove from heat and add baking soda.  It will foam as you stir.  Pour over the puffs and stir until all are coated.

Place in a 250degree oven and bake 40-45 minutes stirring every 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and dump onto wax paper.  Break into clumps before puffs cool.

I forgot to break into clumps BEFORE it was cooled down and some of them stuck to the wax paper... so Mr. Produce had (HAD) to eat those!!!

They look great on a plate with other goodies and a change from all chocolate.

I found this at Mindy's recipe Box here    which, by the way, a WONDERFUL recipe blog! yum yum

Bloggville-diet facts

ok, not the most beautiful or Christmasy but this is a great site that can help with the whole "healthy eating" thing.
There are tons and tons of articles (of course) about everything under the sun related to healthy eating, (the four letter word: D I E T )
and lists of fast food and restruants with calorie counters.
There are message boards (if you are into talking about diet stuff).
You can look up brands of food and find more information out about them.
You can read article after article.. as there are many "pages" listed that you can go and read more about what interests you
go here
Kelly runs the site and says:
Gathering data from food labels and nutrition guides has been a pet project of mine since 1995, when my father was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. He was frustrated with trying to locate foods that fit into his newly prescribed diet... and not knowing the nutritional content of his favorite restaurant foods.



OK not THE most interesting bloggville I've ever posted, but there is a need for this information when you are trying to eat healthy, and at this time of year it is REALLY hard to stay on a track!!!
and now that we have a wedding coming up next year, I have GOT to stay on track!!!

Wednesday Wisdom

The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It's as simple as that. A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today.

Nolan Bushnell

living in Christmas dreamland

There is nothing Christmasy about my house.
what with all the painting and boxes and such...
but if I had my way...
I would have a house like this:

southern living

This is what you would see as you entered the house

southern living

(i'd have to do a little tweaking to my obsession.. but I can do it, just not this year)
and our tree...
well this is a beautiful tree skirt... and I need to retire our old one and make a new one (next year)

 Here is our living room:

mmm yep, complete with a star on top.
I am living in Christmas dreamland.

hey wake up and get back to painting!