what?

I love the Taste of Home cooking magazine!!!!!!! In the most recent issue I was stunned to learn this:

58% the number of evening snackers who prefer popcorn, followed by ice cream, crackers, and cookies.

Now that's my husband's kind of bedtime snack!

-t-i-r-e-d-

oh so tired. . .

BUT instead of snuggling with precious baby girl and taking a nap too!!!!! I made a pot of tea

in this very special Mary Engelbreit teapot-cup combo. My Grandma passed away the day before last Thanksgiving. My mom had already bought her Christmas present--the teapot--and asked if I would like it. So I made tea and thought of Grammer. . .and cleaned like Grammer would! She was an immaculate housekeeper. . . so here I sit in a nice clean house with cookies cooling in the kitchen--yea!!!!!!! my little helper is most excited about that part of cleaning;-)

Notice the crockpot next to the teapot. . .dinner is on the way--"easy roast beef", but I used a rump roast--eh, it's almost the same thing, right? You pour bbque sauce in the bottom of the crockpot, put in the roast, then cover with the remaining sauce--Fix-It-And-Forget-It!

a Mountain Climber

a mountain of laundry, of course!



plus regular laundry. . .

plus clean laundry which is folded and waiting to be put away. . .


and a willing helper. . .

How does this happen? I am a stay at home mom! Oh yes! I was gone on Mon & Tue with dr. appts and errands for hubby and chaufferring for daughter. Tuesday night someone who had too many late nights and too much to drink wet the bed AND Crosby the cat threw up on my bed!

Ah well, sure am thankful for my little maids called washer and dryer--can't imagine having to hand wash that pile! How did our Grandmothers and Great-grandmothers do it?

this week I was . . .

BOLD

My hair was driving me crazy so. . .I walked into the beauty shop--Lollipop--and asked them to cut my hair. . .here's the front view. . .


and the back. . .

It's not exactly what I wanted but it's new and different--yea!!!!!

a Seamstress

hemmed a skirt for my daughter, sewed another skirt, and pre-washed material for another skirt. It was wonderful to be at the sewing machine again!!!!!

Julia Child

Potato Cheese Soup was on the menu. Fix-It and Forget-It is one of my favorite crockpot recipe books for ideas but I usually end up changing the recipe a little. My husband rolls his eyes and can't believe I won't follow a recipe--this is one of the reasons he doubts my ability as a cook--that and the fact that I don't stay in the kitchen and pay absolute attention to the dinner whick is cooking on the stove--but, I ask you, what mom does? So in his eyes I will never be a gourmet--which is fine by me--I'm more of a meat and potatoes girl anyway. So maybe I'm not a Julia Child--maybe more like Rachel Ray? I do love Julia Child's attitude toward cooking anyway--if the butter burns, heat more; if the chicken goes flying, laugh and clean it off; but whatever you are doing in the kitchen, be bold and enjoy it!

While I was peeling and chopping, our baby girl was in her swing to take a nap.

Oh yes, sound asleep! and here's the finished soup. . .

a beginning

Why in the world am I starting another blog when I can't seem to keep up with the ones I already have? A few reasons. . .one is personal, family type and the other is for books and things and this one is because, well, mainly because I'm feeling a little lost and I'm looking for some grounding. I don't know where I fit into this world any more. I'm not working so I don't have that outlet or co-workers, we have a church we belong to but it's really small and for some reason or other don't really have "close" friends there, my main world is my family and while I love them dearly and truly love being around them and spending time with them, something just seems to be missing--my life consists of mainly talking to a six year old all day, visiting with my husband and teenaged daughter a little in the evenings, and taking care of a 4 month old who loves to eat. During the time we sit while the little one eats I look around the house and think about everything that needs to be done and everything that I would like to do and feel like I need some type of "mission" in life. You know, like Amelia Earhart or Julia Child! We've watched those movies recently and each of those ladies kind of grew into her dreams--of course, one ended in death but she always said that she would prefer a "watery death" over the ocean while doing what she loved! So that's made me think what do I want to DO in my life? This thought always takes me back to high school and one of our chapel sessions with our pastor, Pastor Charles Wood. I loved hearing our pastor preach--especially when he was our chapel speaker--we never knew what to expect. One chapel time he asked a question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" He then had some kids from one of the elementary classes come in and say what they wanted to be--policeman, nurse, teacher, fireman, etc. When all the little kids left, pastor proceeded to tell us that all of the kids had said what they wanted to DO not what they wanted to BE. To BE had more of the idea of character and attitudes not occupation. So now I'm thinking what do I want to DO, what do I want to BE? And there's so many things I want to do and be that it all seems overwhelming! There are things I know I should be--a good wife, a patient mom, a perseverant homeschooler, a tidy housekeeper--but there's so much more that I WANT to be and do. I feel like the creative side of me gets lost in all of the duty things that need to be done. I feel like my house will never be clean again after "taking it easy" for the pregnancy of the little one--I'm still trying to catch up 4 months later; we're always off track with school things because frequently we're needed to do other things for my husband & daughter--good thing Eddy is so far ahead--we'd have to be busy for years for him to get behind; and life with a little one on a two hour eating schedule is a challenge--she is sitting beside me semi-patiently waiting to eat again! Somewhere we are going to have to find a balance because there are other things that need doing--sewing for a cute little girl, alterations for a teen girl, quilts for beds, gardening, and oh so much more!

Well, it is way past time to be done with this post but at least it's started and out there and I'm on my way. Since there is no time for proof-reading, today I will not be an English teacher!