Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Kindergarten Field Trip

Well, like I told you yesterday, I went with Andrea today to the Berry Farm for Madison's field trip and I took tons of pictures. I also bought a 3 pound bag of blueberries so Madison and I can make blueberry jam this weekend. She's already thinking about next year's fair entries.

Enjoy the pics...


Hayride to Mulch Mountain, the Corn Maze and U Pick pumpkin patch.


Petting zoo consisted of 2 little horses and a donkey.

Mulch Mountain

Madison's class (1 of 18 Kindergarten classes at Mountain Home Schools) on top of Mulch Mountain.

Madison and Allie hunting for the perfect pumpkin to take home.

Madison, Allie and Stormy showing off their loot.

General Store (I'm going back this weekend to get some pumpkin butter, apple butter and some of their fresh squeezed apple cider. YUM! I love fall!

Aren't these gourds beautiful!

This girl never has enough pumpkins!

Madison and Momma

Can you say, "Wipe out!"?

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Holy cow! I just realized that it's been quite a while since I've posted anything new. Yesterday was my birthday...the big 39. Wasn't I just in high school??? They say "time flies when you're having fun", so I must be having a BLAST!

Lee's and my 8th wedding anniversary was last week. We went out this past weekend and had dinner and saw "An American Carol". We spent the weekend before that at his 35th high school reunion. He had a great time and I had fun watching him with all these people that look so much older than he does.

We got a phone call on Sunday from a potential birth mother. She lives in upstate New York and was wanting us to adopt her baby due in a few weeks. Unfortunately, I started getting the standard "red flags" of a possible scam, so I quickly got us out of that. I'm hoping that she's truly sincere in her desire to find a family for her son, but I've been burnt too many times where this is concerned to allow myself to become too emotionally involved too soon in the process. The emotional scars from what happened before are still too fresh for me and it's been almost 18 months. *SIGH* I cannot dwell...it still hurts and makes me angry all over again.

My mom came Sunday and will be headed home today. We always love when she comes for a visit and are always sad to see her go. Madison's kindergarten class is going to the Berry Farm tomorrow and she asked me this morning if I would go with her. I know that Andrea is going so I think I'll ride over with her and take pictures. Madison loves to see herself on my blog. I'll be back tomorrow with pictures.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Photos

Here is a picture of Madison waiting to get into the exhibit building to pick up her ribbon.


Here she is with her red ribbon peach jam. She is so proud (and so is Grammy!)


Oh my gosh! Is she too cute or what?


Also, here is a new picture of the lastest addition to my Etsy shop.



This little organizer is so cute and SO easy to make. I love it and I've already made one for myself in fall colors.





Thursday, September 11, 2008

County Fair

Yesterday was our county fair parade and Madison asked me to ride with her on her dance studios float, so of course I HAD to. LOL My tail bone is so sore today. DH gave me a massage last night and that helped tremendously, along with 3 ibuprofin. After the parade, I took Maddie to meet Andrea at the fair. She (Mads) was soooo looking forward to riding the Sizzler. I told her not to throw up!

Madison also had her first fair entry this year. She asked me last year when I won some ribbons at the fair, if she could enter this year and I told her sure. So she kept reminding me over the past year that she wanted to make something to put in the fair. She decided that she wanted to make peach jam, so when the peaches started getting ripe, I took her to the farmer's market and let her pick out her peaches. She did everything herself, with minimal help from me. The only thing I really didn't let her do was pour the jam into the jars and seal them. So how did she do??? She won a second place (red) ribbon!!!!!!!!!! I am so proud of her and she wants to make tomato sauce next year to enter. I think I've created a monster. LOL

Here is the recipe we used for her jam:

Spiced Wine Peach Jam

1/2 c. golden raisins
1/3 c. dry red wine or juice (pineapple or orange juice can be substituted)
4 c. finely chopped peaches (5 or 6 medium peaches)
3 T. lemon juice
1 box dry fruit pectin
5 c. granulated sugar
1 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. ground allspice

Bring raisins and wine to a boil in small saucepan, remove from heat, drain and discard liquid.

Combine raisins, peaches, lemon juice and pectin in a very large stainless steel or enamal saucepan. Bring to boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Add sugar and return to full boil and boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in cinnamon and allspice.

Ladle into hot jars and **process for 10 minutes in hot water bath.

Makes about 6 cups.

**NOTE: I did NOT process in the water bath. I never do when I can. My mom never did and I learned from her. I have found that when the food item is boiling hot and you put it in HOT jars with heated lids, as the food cools, it seals itself. I always check the next day and if any jars haven't sealed, I promptly put those in the frig and use them first. PLEASE, do not follow my example if you are not comfortable doing so. Do as I say and not as I do!

This recipe came from The Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving 2nd edition by Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard.

I love this book!

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Moving in...

Well, our home dynamic is changing. Lee's daughter, Andrea, and her daughter Madison are moving in! Andrea is so flooded with debt that she can't afford her apartment and be able to make payments on her other bills. She is also getting ready to start nursing school in January, so we told her to move in with us until she can get out of school and back on her feet. Madison is so excited! She has been telling us and her mom that she wanted them to move in with us since she was 2!

Andrea & I have been working on getting our basement fixed up for her. We started painting yesterday and today we're going to finish with that and since one of her brother's friends came and got his pool table out, she's going to have plenty of room for a living space. Luckily, the basement was already finished when we bought the house and we already have a living area (tv, furniture, etc), a bedroom and a full bath, so all we need to do is just paint and do some sprucing up. The only downside to this, that I can see so far, is that ONCE AGAIN, my sewing studio will have to wait. I was waiting for the pool table to go, so I could set up my new Koala cabinet, but now, it will be pushed to the side...again. *SIGH* Oh well, we will enjoy having them here and I know that a huge load has been lifted off Andrea's shoulders. That's what family is for, right?

Monday, August 25, 2008

Etsy

Oh how time flys when you're having fun!!!

I am now on Etsy. I am starting out slow, but will be building up my inventory as the days go by. I decided that it's time that I started finding a way to support my fabric/quilting habits, so that DH can have more money for his own spending habits. After all, he is the one working outside the home, so I think he deserves more of the "leftover money" for himself.

Madison started Kindergarten last week, and she also moved up to the intermediate class in dance. She's now taking jazz, as well as ballet and tap. She also got her hair cut since I had her pictures made. It now hits the tops of her shoulders and is so adorable!

I can't believe how "cool" it's been here for the month of August. In the 80's, with relatively low humidity. SO NOT like a typical August here in Arkansas. I shudder to think what winter may bring us.

Well, so much for this. I've got to make sure I have all the ingredients to make Pasta Puttanesca for supper tonight. Madison requested it, so she could take some leftovers to school for her lunch tomorrow. TTFN!

Thursday, August 7, 2008

I am sooooo tired!

I know it's been a few days, but now that things have settled down (kinda) I can take this opportunity to catch up. Kimberleigh went home yesterday. DH took her to meet her dad (my oldest step-son). I didn't get to go along unfortunately, because Madison has strep throat. I have been taking care of her and I had to take her to the ER Monday night (thank goodness her mom was working) because her fever just wouldn't go down. So now she is on antibiotics, but still running fevers, just for not as long. Between the fevers, cold compresses, and the seemingly constant "Grammy I need ________." (fill in the blank with anything from a Popsicle to a hug), I am wore out.

Ok, enough about that for now. I know some of you reading know nothing about my family dynamic, so let me fill you in somewhat, so that you're not totally lost. I have 3 grown step-kids, Justin (29), Andrea (26) and Tom (23). Justin is Kimberleigh's dad. He and his wife, Kristin, live in a small town south of Little Rock where he teaches math and coaches the tennis team for the high school. Kristin works in Hot Springs at a plant nursery. Kimberleigh lives with her mom in the NW part of the state and visits Justin every other weekend and split holidays.

Andrea lives less than 15 miles from us, and works at the local hospital's ER. During the day, she works as a unit secretary, but has now completed her CNA training and works nights as a CNA. She is hoping to start nursing school in January. Madison is her daughter, and I have been Madison's "babysitter" since she was 6 weeks old. She is here on the days when Andrea works and on Andrea's days off, Madison is with her.

Tom works in Missouri for the railroad. He has changed jobs several times since getting out of the Army. He served 2 tours of duty in Iraq and I think he has been "trying to find himself" since getting home. He doesn't have any kids, and no one he has dated, so far, has lasted. But he is young and I tell him not to be in any hurry.

Ok, I've got to stop for now. Madison needs another dose of medicine. I promise that I'm going to get some photos of my projects on here this week!!!

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Pics of the girls









My mom and I took the girls to have pictures made today. They picked out their own outfits yesterday at JCPenney. Are they cute or what???





Thursday, July 31, 2008

Family visiting

My mom came today to spend a few days with us. She lives about an hour from us and she'll be here until early next week. Mom, Madison (our youngest granddaughter) and I are going to drive to Little Rock tomorrow morning to pick up our oldest granddaughter, Kimberleigh. She's coming to stay with us for a few days as well and she and Madison are barely able to contain themselves! Those two are more like sisters than cousins. While we're down in the central part of the state, I promised Madison that I'd take her shopping for school clothes. She is so excited to start Kindergarten this year and she just got her room/teacher assignment this week. She'll also be taking jazz dance class this year in addition to ballet and tap. This child is only 5 years old and she has more on her schedule than I do! LOL

I'm hoping that I can get some pictures of my WIP's up sometime this coming week. I'll also have to post some pics of the girls doing their things, whatever that may be.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

My First Post

Ok, so I am now doing something that I thought I'd never do...joining the world of blogging. Am I crazy? Well, I guess that would depend on who you ask, but that's never stopped me before.


Well, where do I start? I'm sure it won't matter too much, considering that no one other than my wonderful mom and perhaps my equally wonderful mother-in-law will be reading this. When I read other people's blogs their lives seem so interesting. I'll just say right off the bat that my life isn't interesting. I am a stay-at-home wife, step-mom and Grammy. I have the best husband in the world, 3 grown step-kids that I love and get along with and ("my" girls) 2 granddaughters that mean the world to me. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how interesting this will be in the long run. If nothing else, then my mom and MIL can see what I've been up to in quilting class.