A Potato What?

This Sunday we will be going to a pot-luck with our new home group. I told the leader to let me know what I could bring. She asked that I bring a potato dish.

Besides a potato salad, what are my choices??? I don't do much with potatoes let alone know of a dish that I could bring to group function! (although 'potato chips' have crossed my mind) Can you suggest an easy group-friendly recipe for me??? Help!!!

My God Is So Great!

As this month comes to a close, I'd like to recap on some of the things that have brought me joy and thankfulness this year. The Lord has been very good to us this year and it is only fitting that I share these blessing with all of you.

I am thankful for warm weather when I am used to being chilly-cold!

I am thankful for being less than a days drive from family.

I am thankful for portable dvd players (especially during those road trips!)

I am thankful my mother was able to come visit for my birthday!

I am thankful for my parents driving me and the kids to our new place and helping us unpack.

I am thankful for good health.

I am thankful for great friends near and far.

I am thankful for the Lord's protection and safekeeping while traveling.

I am thankful for new recipes! (and so is my family!!!)

I am thankful for Kindergarten and preschool.

I am thankful for Ryan's new job and the opprotunity it gives him.

I am thankful for the Lord's rich provision in our life.

I am thankful that I am able to stay home with my children.

I am thankful for the new renters in our Michigan house.

I am thankful for Costco! (and that it is now just down the street!)

I am thankful for the dishwasher in our house!

I am thankful for little hugs and voices that say "I love you".

I am thankful for my man that loves me.

I am thankful for 10 years of marriage to that wonderful man!

I am thankful for the anniversary trip to Tahoe that we had together.

And I am thankful to the Lord who has given me all these things and many more!

Caleb sings a song in his preschool that goes like this............"My God is so GREAT! So strong and so mighty! There's nothing my God can not do!" It is my favorite new song. I just love heraring him sing it, especially when he shouts the word 'great'. Maybe it is because it strikes a chord within me. Or maybe because it is just the simple truth of the message within it.

Dear Lord, thank you for all these things you have done in my life. Thank you for being a part of my life and loving me so deeply. Most of all I continue to thank you for sending your Son so that I may share in relationship with you. May I never forget your sacrifice for me. And may I always be conscience of your presence in my life. In Jesus name, amen.

Really Really Good Pie Crust

I mentioned in yesterday's post that I had made an apple pie. Well, someone has asked me for the pie crust recipe that I use, and because I am short on ideas on what to post today, I will pass along this superb recipe.

First, I must say that this pie crust recipe is really good. Truly, it is! This recipe has been in my family since, well, as long as I can remember, and surely longer than that! I have heard many people compliment my mother on the pies she makes and are always asking for the recipe. And in my days of living I have experienced a few bad crusts, so I can, and do, appreciate this recipe. (how many times have I written the word 'recipe' in this post?....too many!)

So, without further ado......here is it is! Enjoy!


Pastry Crust

3 cups flour
1 1/4 cups shortening (I used butter)
3/4 tsp salt
1 egg
5 Tbsp water
1 tsp vinegar

Cut dry ingredients with a fork. Beat the egg, water adn vinegar together, then add to dry ingredients.

Bake at 350 until golden brown*.

(makes 2 8" pies)

*I baked my apple pie at 425 last night, so feel free to change the temp according to your pie. I also covered the edges of the crust with foil to keep it from burning.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On another, very tired, note.....I just wanted to say a great big thank you those who prayed for my family over the past day or so. As of this very early hour I can tell you that we are all well and are now safely at my parents house. Long day. Long drive. Me tired. Ni-night.

My Favorite Kitchen Things

Last night I used one of my favorite things. My fancy schmancy new Kitchenaid mixer. Ryan got it for me before he left Whirlpool. (for those of you who don't know, Kitchenaid is a division of Whirlpool, so Ryan used his employee discount to get this baby for me!) I used it to make the pie crust dough for an apple pie. Last year I had to use my ol' hand mixer to do the dirty work of pie crust making. This year it was so much more easy to just dump the ingredients in and flip a little switch and let it do it's thing! Whoo-hoo! I love my Kitchenaid mixer! I think the pie will taste even better too, don't you?! Ryan bought it shortly before we left (yes, taking one last advantage of the blessed employee discount!) I didn't even have time to get it out of the box before we moved. Not that I had a place to put it, our kitchen was severely lacking counter space. But now I have plenty of counter space so it is out where I can set my gaze upon it and dream of making delectable delights! Not to mention that it is chrome and had a purdy stainless bowl. Not hard on the eyes, nope, not hard on the eyes.

One of my other favorite kitchen items is this mini chopper, also made by Kitchenaid. My mother has a similar mini chopper and I used it once when visiting and knew I had to have one. Ryan got this one for me for Christmas last year. Of course he could have saved my mother and I some work in the kitchen had he given it to me a hour earlier when we were getting the stuffing ready for the turkey! Anyway, it has become a 'must have' for me. I use it to chop up onions, nuts, and other vegetables, but mostly I use it to shred cheese. I hate shredding cheese! I have one of those rotating hand dealies and the cheese always gets stuck between the rotating blade and the holder 'thingy'. And to wash the thing is a bother as well. But, the mini chopper takes all the ugliness of shredding cheese away for me. And the job is done in no time at all! It's not difficult to clean either. Do I sound like an infomercial? I could so make some cashola and sell these babies!

I'm not one who loves to spend much time in the kitchen so when I come across something that makes my job easier and faster then I'm all for it! So, there you have it, my two most treasured items in my kitchen (along with the dishwasher, but that's not really mine, it comes with the rental). Now if I could only get one of those replicator things from Star Trek that automatically produces completed entres.......

It's A Bleh Day

I had such plans for today. Mae has the week off school so I thought we'd go to the zoo and use that membership we have. Nope. Caleb had other ideas on how to spend the day. Being sick. Sick on the rug. Sick in the bathroom. At the store (clean up on isle 4!*). And in his bed. Yeah. What fun.

At first I was thinking/hoping it was a one-time thing. Now I'm hoping it is a four-time thing. That and hopefully no one else will get it! Tomorrow night we will leave for Modesto for Thanksgiving. Long road trips are not fun and even more so with a sicko along for the ride.

Dear Lord, please heal Caleb quickly from this sickness and protect the rest of us from getting it too. Thank you! In Jesus name, Amen.


*No, he didn't really spew in the store. Does spitting up in the floor drain in the deli department count?

Freaky Friday

Here's my sweet baby, Isabel. Isn't she cute? I know I'm partial, but I can't help it! I am now at the stage with her that I need to start phasing out of the jars of baby food and into finger foods so she can feed herself. I've done this twice before, but can I think of foods to give her that would constitute a full meal? No! A couple times a week I will cut up a hot dog for her lunch and she eats that well, but hot dogs aren't really the most healthy (if at all).

So, today I thought she might be ready for a pbj sandwhich cut into small pieces. She's almost a year and half and is doing well with bits of food so it shouldn't have been a problem. Wrongo! I did not take into consideration the whole peanut allergy thing. Mae and Caleb never had problems with peanuts so it never entered my mind that it would be an issue with Isabel.

I made Isabel the sandwhich, cut it into nice pieces for her to eat and then put it on her tray. She didn't seem to care for it and maybe had a bite or two then proceeded to push it around her high chair. I tried to give her some green beans too, but at that point she was making it clear that she was no longer interested in food. Within 20 minutes of the introduction of the sandwhich her eyes were red and puffy and she also had some small rashing on her cheeks. Isabel had been crying and also acting tired so I decided that most of the redness was due to that. There was a small part of me that thought that she was having an allergic reaction to the peanuts but her breathing remained normal and she did eat some raisins so I did not get overly concerned.

Ryan came home for lunch and discovered Isabel about this time. He has food allergies and became quite concerned. I called the doctors office and since the doctors were out to lunch I was advised to take Isabel to the urgent care center. So I loaded all the kids in the truck and sped off to the urgent care all the while telling myself that I should have known to not introduce peanuts so soon.

By the time we got to the urgent care Isabel was showing even less signs of a reaction. The doctor even suggested that her eyes may be showing early signs of pink eye. But they gave her a dose of benedryl for the possible reaction as well as a perscsription for the possible pink eye. So, basically, no big deal. In and out in about a half hour. Not bad for an urgent care visit.

Maybe Isabel's reaction was due more to getting the peanut butter on her hands then on her face? When is it ok to introduce peanuts anyway? And is peanut butter one word or two? I'll have to talk to the peditrician at Isabel's next check up (about when it's ok to give it, not spell it).

A part of me feels bad, like I should have known better. Then the other part tells me that these things happen and it is not a reflection of my mothering. My own mother told me this too, and I am to obey my parents so that is what I will do. I will not berate myself or allow negative thoughts to take hold. *sigh* I will however chalk this up to another freaky episode in this thing we call life.

One Fine Day

I have been longing for some fall weather. The tempertures have been in the high 70's and low 80's for what seems like forever. I love the fall. I love the crispness in the air, the turning of the leaves and most of all I love wearing sweaters! However, where we live now does not give way to the typical fall weather. In fact, I noticed on weather.com the other day that tomorrow is supposed to be 80 degrees. That is so not fall weather! I feel jipped out of fall. But I must adapt to this new place. I know that there are many out there that would envy my position and long to live here. I am grateful, don't get me wrong. It has already snowed in Michigan and I do not miss that! It would seem that my winter coat has been retired along with my snow boots, but I would like to wear my chunky light blue sweater a little more often. I think I need to expand my daily wardrobe so I don't wear out my 'summer' clothes. I never expected to have to wear my t-shirts everyday for six plus months! Again, I'm not complaining....who would complain about having to go shopping?!

Today it is 60 degrees with some misting of rain. I get to wear my lovely sweater today! Horray! It's about time. The sky is overcast with those misty clouds and I can open all my blinds. No need to turn on the air conditioner to cool off the back room where the afternoon sun tends to heat up. Yes, it is a very nice day today. But I wonder if it is just a fluke, if will temperture will really be 80 tomorrow? Will I wear a chunky sweater one day then capris and short sleeves the next? Whatever happens tomorrow I will enjoy today and my cozy, warm sweater!

New Blog and Questions

Ryan has started his new blog! I am so proud.....he chose one of my suggestions. Welcome G Money to the blogging world! As I mentioned in my previous post, Ryan's blog is strickly about investments (no pics of his lovely wife and cute kids....bummer man!). He will talk about his newest finds and research he has done. One of the reasons he started it was because he wanted to make money with his investment writings and he can do that by allowing Adsense to post ads to his blog. If anyone clicks on the ad on his blog then he will make money. I don't know if he'll ever make much but I know that he enjoys discussing stocks, investments and the like, so I wish him all the best and hope it works well for him!

On another note.....for those of you who already have a blog with Blogspot, have you switched over to the new version? Everytime I log into my blog I get the sign up information on revising my blog with Google. I watched as Ryan set up his blog yesterday and some things have changed, like adding things to the sidebar links. I just wonder if it is easier to use? One thing I would like to see changed is be able to have Word type features while writing and editing a post in the 'Compose' section (like 'cut' and 'paste', I just found out that those features are available in the 'Edit Html' part). Does anyone know about other changes?

Feedback Wanted!

Dear Blogging friends,

My husband is thinking about starting a blog. If he does, which he has pretty much decided that he will, it will be about his interest in stocks. Most of his interest in stocks are in regards to metals, minerals and energy. So, here's my question for you.........what should he name his blog? He's not quite sure himself. Wouldn't it be cool if the name of his blog came from a suggestion from one of you???

Answer: Yes. It would!

So come on, get your creative juices flowin' and help us out! I will post the name of his blog when he gets it up and running, which may be sometime in the next week or so.

Here are my ideas:

Stock Talk
Stock It Up
G Money

New Style Needed

You know when it's time to change your hair style when........your husband and hair stylist say that you have a mullet.

What??! No I don't!

Well, my hair doesn't look it's best right before a hair cut. And I didn't try very hard today when I was getting ready for the day. I knew I was going to get my hair cut today so why should I spend lots of time making it just right when the lady is just going to wash it again? *sigh* Fine. Now I have to find a new hair style that doesn't make me look like I'm a throw back to the eighties.

Any suggestions?

New Card Tricks!

Ok, here they are! These are pictures of the cards my mother and I worked on this past weekend while at a stamping workshop. It was a Christmas theme (can you tell?). The main technique was using embossing paste over a dry emboss stencil. I have never done this before and was quite excited to try it! After the paste was dry, we embellished each card with gold leafing and paint sticks (which is pretty much like a glue stick, but paint instead of glue. We rubbed the paint stick onto wax paper then picked up the paint with small brushes then applied it to the card...very easy!). I know these pictures do not do a great job of showing the colors and gold leafing, but the cards did turn out pretty neat! The yellow card was done with black embossing paste then touched up with only the paint sticks. With the green card I used gold embossing paste then embellished with the paint sticks then added gold leafing to the pot.

The red card was done with gold paste but then gold leafing covered it completely. I like how it shows the verigated gold leafing (did I spell that right? verigated?). The purple card was also done with the gold paste, but I put some of the gold leafing on the flowers and blossoms as well as the ground. I also used the paint sticks on the stems, but you can't tell since I didn't use a whole lot (it was my first try with the paint sticks and I didn't quite know how to use them).

Overall it was a fun experience to learn some new techniques. Now comes the painful part......having to buy new supplies so I can continue to use my new 'card tricks'!

I Hab a Frog In My Froat

I really don't have much to say today but I feel the need to post something, it has been almost a week since my last one (sorry!). Today I am not well. I hab a cold. My throat started hurting yesterday and even two pain relievers did not make it go away. I took some Nyquil last night so that I could get some sleep. Man that stuff is nasty! I got one swallow down but almost heaved the second. I must say, I have a great gag reflex (my dentist knows all about that too!). I slept ok but more sound sleep would have been better. Maybe I need a nap today. I'll have to go to the store and get some night time gel capsules 'cause there is NO WAY I am chuggin' any more Nyquil tonight! This is why I can not be on any of those reality shows that require you to eat nasty things, I would so not win. So that means Fear Factor and Survior are out (I don't want to lounge around in a swimsuit all day with strangers on a derserted beach while starving anyway. Although it does seem to be a good wieght loss program--not that I need one). Maybe tomorrow I'll feel up to posting some pictures of the cards that my mom and I made at our stamp workshop over the weekend? *sigh* I gotta get ready to go out in public if I am to go to the store and get that cold medicine. Life doesn't stop for a busy mom.

November 2nd

Yeah, today is my birthay! It's a day that always make me feel special and this year is no exception. Tonight my mommy is flying in for the weekend to visit me! I'm so excited!!! I'm not sure what exactly we will do (with the exception of one planned thing) but it will be great to have her here for a few days. The thing we've got planned is we are going to a stamp workshop on Saturday to learn a new technique. The technique involves a dry emboss stencil, glue paste, and gold foil. It will be fun, I can't wait! I'll see if I can take some pics and post them next week. The theme will be for Christmas cards........so who wants a super cool Christmas card this year???

Want to know what song is going through my mind right now?? I changed a few of the words, but it goes like this......It's my birthday and I'll blog if I want to, blog if I want to.......

October's Movie Log

These are the movies we watched this past month using our Blockbuster online account. Have you seen any of them???

1. Paradise Now (foreign film about 2 Palastinian suicide bombers, interesting, thought provoking)
2. Strictly Ballroom (wierd Austrailian flick, was ok)
3. Everything is Illuminated (good. first part was very funny then halfway through it got serious. we enjoied it, would recommend)
4. Prefontaine (documentry-type movie about true events surrounding the Olympic runner, Prefontaine. Pretty good, would recomend)
5. Take the Lead (Antonio Banderas and dancing!....yeah, it was good!)
6. Elektra (typical comic book movie, entertaining, was ok)
7. The Right Stuff (we've seen it long ago when it was first out, good to see again!)
8. Daredevil (another comic book flick, was entertaining)
9. Akeelah and the Bee (interesting, good. it's like one of those movies that makes you think it is based on real events)
10. Strange Brew (weired Canadian movie made in the 80's....strange eh? yeah, it was)
11. United 93 (we thought this was well done)
    

It seems that we watched more movies last month (14 I think), but this month we let the kids get some movies too (aren't we nice?). We are always looking to add to our movie queue online, so feel free to suggest anything that you think is good. Who knows, you just might see it listed on next November's Movie Log!