Bug's Happenings

2010-07-12T07:38:00.000-07:00

~ went out to dinner with Trucker, Grampy, Miss Joy, Tess and Wylie to where the Princess works.

~ bought a new cookbook that is all bacon recipes!

~ picked out a few recipes (from above mentioned book) to make for Mom and Marv when they come visit us in August!

~ listened to Trucker's new muffler that is really loud, over and over and over.

~ made a new recipe that had a baking powder biscuit crust filled with sausage, salsa and cheese. Trucker ate six pieces of it, so it must be worth making again!

~ shared sleeping quarters with Toad because the King was out of town.

~ stood on the porch with Trucker and watched a storm go over.

~ read Hebrews 10 and pondered Christ's sacrifice He made for me, how much He loves me and why He did that for me.

~ worked on Trucker's quilt.

Check out Keys to the Cottage to see how some others spent their weekend.

Growing Up

2010-07-11T13:13:00.001-07:00

Trucker with his truck!
Picture courtesy of my Mom

My Trucker is growing up super fast. Physically, he grew up super fast, he was 6' by the time he entered middle school. Now he is 6'2" and will be starting his sophomore year soon. When does this growing stop? God is certainly turning him into a big, handsome man!

Big and handsome is nice, but God has so much more in store for him. As I mentioned before he is working a full time job this summer. The first day put a whoopin' on him, after that he has taken to it like butter takes to bread! A young guy he works with sold him some Flomaster mufflers Friday. I don't know anything about mufflers, I just remember reading that name brand on the muffler as Trucker was showing them to me. I guess that is one of the best, hottest mufflers to have if you like loud stuff on your truck. I personally don't like loud pipes, but I'm also not a fifteen year old gear-head!

Yesterday Trucker spent many hours working on getting his new muffler put on his truck. His Dad was gone for the weekend so he was on his own, for the most part. I know he put a few calls into Grandpa Marv to ask questions. Good thing Grandpa Marv is patient and a gear-head himself! The new, LOUD muffler was finally on and ready for a test drive around 7:30 last night. It was a moment a Mom will not forget. Once we got out on a straight stretch, and he could get some speed going, that stinkin' muffler was LOUD. I looked over at Trucker to ask him if it was the way he wanted it. I did not need to ask for he had a smile on his face that went from ear to ear! That made me smile to myself. He was proud. He had loud pipes and the fact that he did it himself I think made him proud, too.

This morning I was the proud one. During church we split up into small groups with the people sitting around us to pray for Vacation Bible School which starts tonight. Trucker was in a group a few pews behind me with several other youth students. A couple minutes into praying, I could hear his voice. Normally he is a quiet guy, so the fact that he would open up in front of his peers and pray for the youngsters coming to Vacation Bible School did this Mama's heart good! I could not hear his prayer, I just knew it was his voice. He didn't pray for long, maybe thirty seconds, I don't know. I don't need to know though because God knows and that is what counts!

I love you and am proud of you Walk. You are turning into quite the young man. Now I will go work on your quilt some more so you can have it before you are thirty!!

Lots of Learning Going On

2010-06-30T05:54:00.001-07:00

Two weeks ago Trucker spent the week with his Grandma and Grandpa in southern Minnesota. He was learning a ton from Grandpa Marv about doing body work on his truck. He had to learn a lot as fast as he could because he only had one week down there.

When that week was up, he had to get back home because he started his first honest-to-goodness, tax paying job last Monday. He is working at a potato farm; doing physical work with his hands, getting dirty and spending his days outside. All fun stuff to him. However, he learned how many breaks a day you get the hard way. I packed him two sandwiches and two snacks Monday morning. When morning break rolled around, no one told him that it was only break time, he assumed it was lunch. So he ate all of his food - then had to go several more hours through lunch and afternoon break with no food! I don't think he has ever gone that long without eating since the day he was born, other than when he is sleeping. We both learned a lesson that day. I learned he will be putting in some long days and needs more food. He now gets three sandwiches and three or four snacks in his lunch. He learned that you get a few breaks a day and that you should spread your food out over all of them!

I do have to wonder about the guys he works with though. Trucker told me over the weekend that he was embarrassed eating baby carrots as one of his snacks last week. I personally don't know what is embarrassing about eating baby carrots so I asked him why. He informed me that the rest of the guys don't eat healthy snacks, they eat lots of cookies and cake. I only give Trucker one junk food snack a day, the rest of the snacks are fruit, yogurt or veggies. Do you suppose the adult men working there really eat that poorly? Or do you think Trucker is trying to weasel more cookies and pieces of cake and pie out of me?!!

How Funky Is Your Chicken?

2010-06-29T06:27:00.000-07:00

The quilt shop in my mother-in-law's hometown is giving you the background material and asking you to make a chicken block out of it and return your block to them. When they have enough chicken blocks to make a quilt, they have a volunteer put the quilt together. The quilt will then be sold or raffled, I don't know which they are doing, and the money will go to the domestic abuse shelter. You may also donate finished quilts to the shelter. They try to supply all of the ladies and children with a homemade quilt when they leave the shelter. You may go here to view free patterns of other chickens and critters!

I normally don't enjoy doing applique projects. When the quilt shop owner asked me if I would do one, I was hesitant to take her chicken wire material. The Princess opens her big yap and says, "Take it, Mom, I'll do it". I accepted the material, thinking, "Whew, I got out of that one!" By the time we finished shopping and got back out to the van, the Princess informed me she didn't know if she would have time to do the block because she had graduation gifts to finish and two summer jobs. Great! Now I have to make the stupid chicken. It actually was fun, simple and not too putzy, though. I did not mind it all once I got started!

The top picture has the eye sitting on, but not sewn on yet. I don't know if I like the eye or not. Do you think I should make a different color eye, embroider one on or not have an eye on there at all? The King says the chicken has to have an eye, it would be rude to give someone a blind chicken. I see his point, but I also thought it looks a little too busy with all the stitching in that small area. Any ideas, input or opinions?

This Weekend, I...

2010-06-28T15:00:00.000-07:00

~ went out to dinner with the King and Trucker to where the Princess works.

~ went to a church council meeting.

~ enjoyed a dinner of fresh fried fish and an avocado pasta salad which the King and Princess prepared.

~ loved it when some of the youth kids showed up with a block of cheese, knowing that we would have lots of pasta in the house so they could make homemade macaroni and cheese.

~ made an applique chicken block for a quilt, more on that later this week.

~ went to Grampy and Miss Joy's for a root beer float, then brought the rest of the root beer home with us so Grampy wouldn't be tempted!

~ gave the dog a bath (he needed it bad!).

Go to Keys to the Cottage to see what other people did over their weekend.

This Weekend I...

2010-06-22T16:05:00.000-07:00

~ Drove the wrong way on a one-way aisle in a parking ramp.

~ Went to a quilt show with my Mom and mother-in-law.

~ Ooohed and aaaahhhhhed over several quilts.

~ Went to a beautiful rose garden in St. Cloud, Minnesota. If you are ever passing through St. Cloud, stop and visit the rose garden. There is no charge, and there are thousands of flowers and fountains to look at. It will be well worth your stop!

~ Ate lunch at Red Lobster!

~ Kneeled right on a dog turd while playing with my Mom's dog.

~ While driving to southern Minnesota with my mother-in-law, she pointed out the farm house her Aunt and Uncle lived in when she was a young girl.

~ Also drove by the farm house her Dad was born in, in 1900!

~ Got to ride home with Trucker in his new-to-him 1992 Ford truck! Thanks to a lot of hard work on his part and some help from Grandma and Grandpa, he owns his own truck before he even has his driver's license!

I stole this "This Weekend I" from Becky at Keys to the Cottage. You can get to her blog from my side bar. You are supposed to be able to use her cute picture too, but I don't know how to do that. And it is to hot to sit upstairs at the computer much longer to figure it out!

SUMMER

2010-06-09T09:15:00.001-07:00

Summer has officially started in our house. Yesterday was the last day of school. That means our Princess is now a Senior and Trucker is a Sophomore! Monday night we had end-of-the-school-year projects decorating our couch. The Princess made some beautiful pieces of pottery. Trucker made a clock quite some time ago in woods class and for his second project he made a bunch of plaques to hang deer racks on. Those turned out really nice. I think some are for our own home, some for Grampy and one or two are for the hunting shack.

Now that the kids are older, they aren't around as much during the summer as they were when they were in elementary school. For today, though, they are both at home. I love it! As I am typing, the Princess is downstairs making cherry muffins for lunch and Trucker is outside splitting wood.

Later this afternoon a friend of theirs is coming out and they want to do some mudding on the four wheeler. The Princess said she might even partake in the mudding adventures today. Stay tuned for those pictures!

As for me right now - I am taking a break from my job that I am able to do from our own home. I love that! I made myself a cup of hot tea with some honey, am blogging and thanking God that I can work from our home, that summer has started and that I can be home with the kids. Life is good!

Oh yeah, and for the stupid side of me now. Princess made a quilt for a graduation gift for a friend of hers from church. She finished it up just in time for the grad party and I FORGOT TO TAKE A PICTURE! Rats! I will have to talk to Sami and ask her if she can bring the quilt back out some day!!

Toe Trauma

2010-05-26T08:40:00.000-07:00

The Princess in her Barbie Jeep!

Last Friday after the softball double header, I was freezing. The temp was in the fifties, it was windy and it was drizzling, the whole time. When the games were over I decided to stop at the gas station on my way home and get a hot Chai tea to warm me up. It seemed like a splendid idea. I guess I was over over anxious though because when I got there and opened the big, heavy metal and glass door, I somehow forgot to pull my foot back out of the way. You know what happened then! I opened the door part way over my foot. I just stood there for a second (probably a few) and couldn't move. It hurt bad. I did manage to get my tea and get back into the van. Before I got home, I knew my big toe was bleeding because it was squishy feeling in my sock. By the time I got home, the blood had soaked through my shoe and sock. Gross! I didn't want to take my shoe off, it hurt too bad. Obviously I knew I had to - but still. For whatever reason my family found the whole thing rather humorous and cracked a few jokes at my expense. I heard a few comments about calling the "toe" truck. Aren't they the funny ones? When I took off my shoe and sock my toe was bleeding from the base of my toe nail and from under the top of it. Gross! And it hurt - bad. The whole toe nail on my big toe was dark purple. Gross! The King suggested I put some ice on it right away to keep the swelling down. The ice certainly helped the pain and it must have helped the swelling and the coloring, too, because the next morning the nail was no longer purple. It still doesn't look normal, but it looks much better than it did!

Are you wondering why I am sharing this with you? Are you excited to know about my toe trauma? I guess the moral of the story is to be sure you always get your feet out of the way when opening a door. And if you forget to do that, put ice on your toe!

A friend of mine showed me how to scan pictures and convert them into a different image, so I figured you would rather look at a pic of our Princess as a young one rather than my ugly toe!

How Frustrating!

2010-05-20T11:01:00.000-07:00

Our Princess and Jenna
Just tilt your head because I'm having trouble rotating the picture!!

Yesterday I went through many pictures from when the Princess and Trucker were wee ones. I picked out a few pics of the Princess and scanned them because I wanted to put them on facebook and on here. No go. I scanned them okay and they are stored in my computer as an adobe pdf. but neither facebook nor blog recognizes that kind of file. Any idea on how I should change them so I can publish them?

For the time being you can look at a pic of her at a Brewer game last summer with Jenna. While tailgaiting at Miller Park they noticed their neighbor tailgaters were having shrimp. Being the shy people that they are, my Uncle, our Princess and Jenna went over to check out the shrimp boil and how they were doing it. I was told the shrimp was awesome.

The shrimp was boiled with onions, lemon halves and crab boil mix. Today is the Princess's birthday, and she wants to try the shrimp boil. The King got the big pot out, we purchased the shrimp, still need to get the lemons - but we are ready to try this Saturday night! Grampy and Miss Joy and some of the Princess's friends are coming out and we will have our shrimp boil.

I'll let you know how it turns out!

Good Advice

2010-05-19T08:31:00.000-07:00

The Princess and Helen, these two have been friends since kindergarten. These kinds of friendships are to be treasured. They have both already told each other that they will be standing up in each other's weddings! Tomorrow they are going out to dinner to celebrate the Princess's seventeenth birthday!

We have another picture just like this, but both of them have their eyes open! I loaded the wrong one!

I am just amazed when I settle down to spend some time with God and I read exactly what I needed to hear at that particular time. This happened again last night. The Princess and I were discussing different things, things that we don't quite agree on! Tomorrow she will be seventeen. I am still the Mom, she is still the child, but our relationship is definately changing. Not in a bad way at all, I would say we are changing from the mother/daughter relationship into a friendship. We were having one of those times when I am quite sure I know what is best for her, but it is not at all a situation where I have to tell her "I am the Mom and this is what you will do". Sometimes (most times) it is hard for me to keep my mouth shut and not tell my children what or how they should be handling their lives. I also realize as they are quickly becoming adults, I need to fix how I handle this! Are you still following all of this? I know many of you have already gone through these days!

I wanted to say all of that to show you how God used a devotion to help me last night.

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they simply are! Think of the sea, the air, the sun, the stars and the moon - all these are, and what a ministration they exert. So often we mar God's designed influence through us by our self-conscious effort to be consistent and useful. Jesus says that there is only one way to develop spiritually, and that is by concentration on God. "Do not bother about being of use to others; believe on Me" - pay attention to the Source, and out of you will flow rivers of living water. We cannot get at the springs of our natural life by common sense, and Jesus is teaching that growth in spiritual life does not depend on our watching it, but on concentration on our Father in heaven. Our heavenly Father knows the circumstances we are in, and if we keep concentrated on Him we will grow spiritually as the lilies.

The people who influence us most are not those who buttonhole us and talk to us, but those who live their lives like the stars in heaven and the lilies in the field, perfectly, simply and unaffectedly. Those are the lives that mold us.

If you want to be of use to God, get rightly related to Jesus Christ and He will make you of use unconsciously every minute you live.

~ Oswald Chambers in My Utmost For His Highest

Ever since the day our Princess was born, my prayer has been that I would be a godly example to my children. Oswald Chambers words really nailed what I was thinking about.

Pecan Pie Mini Muffins

2010-05-17T08:29:00.000-07:00

These are not healthy muffins like some are, but these are certainly yummy! The Princess got this recipe from her Grandma Carol. Last time we were at Carol's she had baked a batch of these and we put a pretty good dent in her bag of muffins. When Mom and Marv were here we baked some. Evidently not enough though, because Marv said we could make a couple hundred more of them!

Pecan Pie Mini Muffins

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1 cup pecans, chopped

2/3 cup butter, melted

2 eggs, beaten

In a bowl, combine the brown sugar, flour and pecans; set aside. Combine the butter and beaten eggs. Stir into the brown sugar mixture. Fill greased and floured miniature muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 350* for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Immediately remove muffins from pan to cool.

Oh, Shoot!

2010-05-11T06:56:00.000-07:00

More prom pics!

Prom court

Our Princess and Andrew, the gentleman she walked with on court.

Our Princess

Last month I picked out a Mother's Day present for the King's Mom. I called both of his sisters to let them know that I had something for her. They were both willing to help pay for her gift and it is from all of us. I cannot send the gift to her because it would be too awkward to mail. Not a big deal, I will let her know in a card that her gift will be there whenever we visit again. Two weeks ago the King and I found the perfect card for her. I thought it was too soon to mail it then so I set it on our desk to wait a week or so. I should have known better!

Mother's Day morning the King calls his Mommy to wish her a Happy Mother's Day. Half way through their conversation I remember that her card is still sitting on our desk! Shoot! Way to go, Candy! Now she doesn't have a card nor does she know that she has a gift here that is from all of us. Thanks to me, she probably thinks all of her kids are losers and didn't think about her!!

Thankfully she is late with her cards sometimes, too, so she will totally understand! And I will be getting that card in today's mail.

Monday Morning

2010-05-10T08:12:00.000-07:00

Tess, Cassie, Autumn and Winter. They stayed awake most of the night, and they still look beautiful!
Pic courtesy of Mom

Tess, Winter, Sami, our Princess, Justin, Cassie, Wyler and Autumn, wearing their prom attire to church!

Pic courtesy of Lon and Dennise

After a tremendous weekend, now it is back to work. My weekend started on Thursday afternoon with the arrival of Mom and Marv. I love, love, love it when they come up. We bummed around on Friday while the rest of the family was enjoying school and work. Part of our errands included doing some grocery shopping for a few students coming to our home after prom and picking out some flowers for Mom's yard. Neither of which is exciting for Marv, but he was a good sport about the whole day. I think his favorite part of the day was the trip to the land fill!

Satruday we woke up to four or five inces of snow. It was all melted by late afternoon, thankfully. Mom and I spend most of Saturday preparing food for our prom attendees. We had some snacks out for them as soon as they got to the house. We also made two pans of sticky buns, two breakfast casseroles and a huge fruit salad for everyone to eat Sunday morning before church. I never could have got through all of the food preparation without your help, Mom. Thanks!

Sunday all of the youth group prom kids put their formals back on and went to church all decked out! They were a mighty fine looking bunch! It even went smoothly having thirteen people all needing to eat and get into two bathrooms to get ready for church, as long as a few people didn't mind brushing their teeth in the kitchen!

The rest of Sunday was a very relaxing day which included a nap, a short walk and a ride with Mom and Trucker.

For whatever reason, I can't move the pictures around to be with the paragraph that explains what they are doing, but I think you can figure it out!

Prom Morning

2010-05-08T12:21:00.001-07:00

We woke up to this today!

pic courtesy of Mom

We'll have better prom pictures next week!

pic courtesy of Mom

Happy Mother's Day to all of you! Tomorrow I will spend the day with my children and my Mom!

May 2010

2010-05-03T07:11:00.000-07:00

What an exciting month this will be! Trucker gets his learning permit (we called it our temps back in the day), whatever you call it - but he will have his temporary drivers license today. Hopefully. If I can find his social security card. So far we are not doing well on the search!

This month our Princess will be going to her first prom! She is pumped. After prom a few students will be coming back to our house for the rest of the night. I believe the plan is to eat some (probably lots) of food, watch movies and stay up all night long. Sunday morning they are all planning on wearing their formal attire to church. I look forward to that every year; seeing the students wear their prom gear to church. It's not too often we get to see them all dudded up!

This month our Princess turns seventeen! Seventeen! That means it is our last year to be responsible for her. After that we can no longer make decisions for her. We can certainly encourage her and give advice when asked (maybe even when not asked!), but she will be a legal adult in one year.

These are all good things! All of the above mentioned items will give us plenty to pray for and be thankful for. I am thankful that Trucker can finally get his learners permit. This is the beginning of his dream. Ever since he could verbalize his thoughts, he has told us he wants to be a truck driver. You go, Walk! Chase them dreams, work for them and achieve them. I will be praying for safety in all driving adventures he has coming his way. Driving as a new driver, driving as an adult in a few years and driving the big rig someday!

I am thankful that our Princess is excited about prom and that she wants to bring friends back to our home after the dance. I am thankful that other parents trust us enough that they will let their babies come to our home after prom. We all know there are some activities after prom that are not what we want our children participating in. I will be praying that all students will be smart on prom night and for the safety of all of them.

I am thankful that our Princess is growing into a lovely young lady. I'm thankful that God has given us the gift of that beautiful young lady. I will be praying that during her last year as a minor, we can continue to teach her to be a God fearing, law abiding citizen.

She did give me a laugh this morning, too. When I got into my office and tore April off of the calendar, I saw a few little notes she left me for the month of May. May 6th has a note, "2 weeks til Bessie's b-day: think about present". May 13th says, "1 week til Bessie's b-day, buy present". May 20th says, "Bessie's b-day!". I think I am going to make a visit to her bedroom today and start marking her calendar for Mother's Day!

Cookies?

2010-04-28T14:25:00.000-07:00

That was a new one! One day last week I tried to blog, but I could not get into my account due to a message about cookies. I guess it was time to give my computer a cleaning. I dug out the manual, read and reread all the pages, and finally got the computer in tip-top shape again. That probably does not sound like much, but I am not a computer literate person, so it was quite an undertaking for me. I even dreaded starting the project. Once I got going, it was not too bad, though. Have you ever read your manual? There are several things you should do on a weekly basis and other things you should do on a monthly basis. Hopefully I will be better about keeping our computer clean, now!

I had several things I wanted to blog about, too. I remember a couple of the ideas, so stay tuned. I'm sure you won't want to miss out on my shoe store visit, softball news and prom! Oh yeah, I will share a yummy recipe with you, too, for mini pecan pie muffins. Ohhhh mannnn, they are way too yummy!

Father/Daughter Bonding Time

2010-04-13T08:09:00.000-07:00

picture courtesy of google

One night last week the Princess was sitting at her desk, in her bedroom, listening to the Brewer game. The King went in her room and plunked down on her bed to listen to the game, also.

I was in our bedroom, reading. After a few innings, I heard the Princess softly saying, "Dad, Dad, wake up, I want to go to bed"! How cute is that? He goes in to listen to the game with her and falls asleep in her bed. It was one of those sweet moments that I cherish.

When he came into our bedroom, I asked him if he fell asleep. He told me that he had and he thought it was rather rude of her to wake him up!

The Princess's first softball game of the season is scheduled for this afternoon. It hasn't rained in months, and now we are supposed to get some today! We do need the rain, so I am not complaining, but I was pretty pumped to go watch her play.

Twenty-Five Years!

2010-04-08T11:07:00.000-07:00

pic courtesy of Google

On tv the other night Dairy Queen was advertising the 25th birthday of the blizzard! Twenty-five years! I had to stop and think if it was actually twenty-five years since my first blizzard. Sure enough, it was. I was in high school at the time.

My Dad and I used to love going to DQ for a blizzard. Back then they wanted you to know how thick they actually were, so they always handed them to you upside down. Does anyone else remember that? Even now, once every year or two we still sneak off to Dairy Queen for a treat. Fun, fun memories. I just can't believe that it is twenty-five years worth of memories!

Now I take the Princess and Trucker to Dairy Queen every spring the first time it hits 70*. I wonder if when they are out of school and all grown up they will still want to go to Dairy Queen with me for a blizzard. I don't think it would be quite the same going by myself. Who am I kidding? Of course it is more fun to go with someone, but I have been known to sneak a treat by myself every now and then, too!

1948??

2010-04-07T11:02:00.000-07:00

Pic courtesy of Google

A couple of weeks ago we were at Dan and Carol's, the King's parents, house. They are doing a huge spring cleaning, decluttering, remodeling project. Carol had a chest full of magazines and craft patterns that she wanted to go through. We started hauling piles and piles of patterns and magazines from her chest to the table and going through them one by one. We worked on this for three hours, then it was time for us to leave. She had to finish up on her own, and we were not half way done!

All of the magazines I saw were craft magazines, covering a wide range of decades! Several of them were from the eighties. I remember looking at those with her when the King and I were dating! I never dreamt she still had them. Many of the magazines were from the seventies. Her girls graduated from high school in the late seventies and the King was in high school during the late seventies. That meant she had a lot more time on her hands than she had had for several years. She still has many afghans in her house that she crocheted during this time. All of her kids have afghans she crocheted then.

We found a few magazines from the early sixties, when her children were quite young. As we looked through those patterns, she showed me toys and Christmas ornaments she had made for her kids. Her writing was even on some of the patterns, marking her place!

One pile I pulled out of the back of the chest had several magazines from the forties! Are you kidding me, Carol? 1948? You were only seven years old then! What are you doing with these oldies?!! They had been her Mom's. We started looking through some of those old, smelly, musty patterns! We saw her Mom's writing on some of them, marking where she had left off. Many of the patterns during this time frame were for crocheting or knitting doilies, tableclothes, lace on the edge of a ladies handkerchief. Carol and I were both able to pick out doilies that her Mom had made for us! Did she still use these magazines in the eighties and nineties, or did she have the pattern memorized by then? Neither of us know. I can still see her sitting in her chair, crocheting, but I never looked for a pattern. As soon as someone showed up at her home, she would put whatever she was working on off to the side.

A few days ago I was talking to Carol on the phone. I asked her if she finished going through the chest of magazines yet. Yes, she had. I asked her if she found any more of the old ones. She found one from 1936! She believes that pattern book was her Grandma's! There was writing in there, too, but she does not know if it is her Grandma's writing or not. That particular book had patterns of crocheted edgings on ladies dress collars. Carol remembers a few of her Grandma's dresses having a fancy edging on them. I am assuming those were her "good" dresses. I wouldn't think she would have taken the time to doll up her everyday dresses like that. But maybe she did, who am I to say?

At first I was laughing at Carol because she had stacks and stacks of craft magazines stashed in her trunk. However, as we got going through them, it brought back many memories for both of us. It was neat to look through some of those ancient patterns, too. There were a few patterns for crocheting the edges on pillow cases. I remember seeing some of those when I was a child. I don't know if they were at one of my Great-Grandma's houses, a Grandma's house, our own house or somebody else's house. Too bad we don't pay more attention to some of that stuff when we are little tykes.

Easter Dinner

2010-04-06T13:15:00.000-07:00

What did you have for Easter dinner? How did it turn out? Were you feeding a large crew or just a few of you? We did not have any company this year for Easter, so I was only cooking for the four of us. Good thing, too!

When we went shopping, tuna steaks were on sale, so we grabbed a few of those to cook for our dinner. The Princess wanted a pasta/spinach salad to go with the tuna. Sounds like a yummy dinner to me. I made the pasta salad as soon as we got home from church. You make a dressing to go over pasta, baby spinach leaves, cherry tomatoes and onions; so it tastes better if it can set for a while before serving. When I was done making the oil and vinegar dressing, all of a sudden I realized I used two kinds of oil; olive oil and canola oil and forgot about the vinegar. Rats! Now I had to make more dressing, but use all vinegar this time and leave out the oil, hoping it would still taste okay. I put the salad in the fridge and knew it was ready for supper.

Usually we grill tuna steaks, but Easter didn't bring us very nice grilling weather. Not a big deal. I had seen another recipe for tuna steaks that marinated for a few hours and then you baked them in the oven. I got the marinade together and got that in the fridge. Now I can go sneak in a nap until it is time to cook the steaks.

When it was almost time to take the steaks out of the oven, I go get the salad out of the fridge. Yikes! What happened? There are a few pieces of onion and a little shredded parmesan cheese left in the bottom of the bowl! The King, Princess and Trucker didn't realize that was for supper so they helped themselves to it! Now it is 5:00, the tuna is done and they ate the salad around 4:00, so I know they aren't that hungry. We had tuna steaks (and some Easter candy) for our Easter dinner. How is that for a holiday meal? Good thing we didn't have company coming! I would have been scrambling!

After all that, the tuna didn't turn out very good, either! I crossed out that recipe so I know not to make it again. For dessert the King made us malts, though! Those are always yummy.

Anyone want to come to our house next Easter? I'll try to do better!

No...

2010-03-31T07:54:00.000-07:00

...I have not died, or been on vacation or fallen off the face of the earth. I have been busy (or lazy), probably some of both. As I mentioned earier I am starting a new part time job. I think I am getting a handle on that now. I will show pictures of my office at a later time. Right now the fire danger here is extremely high, so we have all the cardboard boxes that the printer, computer and monitor came in stacked up in the office until we can burn them.

I also sub in our school district. Due to budget cuts, they very seldom call subs in any more. Wouldn't you know, since I was offered and accepted this part part job, I have been called in to sub at least one day every week for the last month! Where were those calls earlier?

Things will remain busy here for a couple of months. Two weeks ago the Princess started softball practice, she has her first game next week. The King helps coach our high school baseball team, those practices also started two weeks ago and their first game is tomorrow. The Princess made it through the districts level of forensics, so we will be making a trip to Madison for her to compete at the state level next month. That certainly made the Princess happy, but I think she was happier when she found out that she is on prom court, too! For our last bit of exciting news, report cards will be coming out next month and it looks like Trucker is going to bring home four A's! That will be his best report card ever!

I think that has pretty well caught you up on Bug's Happenings! Now I need to get a few hours of work in and then go bake some cookies. Those baseball players need some cookies for a little boost to help them through their game tomorrow!

Precious

2010-03-08T10:22:00.000-08:00

pic courtesy of allposters.com

Just after we started singing the first song in church yesterday, I happened to look over to my left and saw a young Mom holding her two or three year old girl. One look at the little girl and you knew she didn’t feel well. Her little cheeks were flushed, her eyes had a glassy look to them and her tiny nose was all red. If that wasn’t enough to let anyone know she was sick the fact that Mom was holding a Kleenex in her other hand was a sure give-away. I felt sorry for the Mom and the little girl, we have all been there.

A few songs later I looked at them again and the little girl was sound asleep. What a relief for the Mom. How comfortable, safe and secure that young child must have felt in her Mama’s arms; listening to her Mom singing praises to Jesus in her ears.

I wonder if that little girl will remember being held in church as a wee one by her parents when she grows older. I wonder if my own children remember that. I will have to ask them tonight. Do they remember sitting on my lap playing with my fingers and rings because they were bored, but at least they were quiet and sitting still. I wonder if they remember a few times when they weren’t sitting still or being quiet and we had to go remedy the situation?!! A quick trip to the washroom always made a child sit very quiet and still in church for the next several months!

Seeing that Mom hold her little girl made me think of a verse in Proverbs. Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.

~ Proverbs 22:6 nlt I hope and pray that my own children, along with other young children that are raised to love Jesus, will not leave that path. I want my children to get plugged into a church and follow Christ when they are adults. I pray that they will raise their children in a church where the Gospel is preached. I hope to one day see my own children hold their babies during church services just as their Dad and I held them.

I know I missed the point of a few messages as I was holding one of my babies. I was too busy looking and thinking about the gift God had given me rather than on what the pastor was saying!

God's Timing

2010-03-06T08:03:00.000-08:00

The Princess doing some painting for the new office!

I love God’s timing. Well, sometimes I love it. When I am waiting for things, then I have to remind myself that I love it! When a situation is over and I understand His timing – then I love it! For over a year I have been filling out job applications, sending in resumes and doing interviews. Some of the jobs I was interested in and some I wasn’t interested in; but we needed to do something. At least I thought we needed to do something for some additional income. On the other hand, I wasn’t always sure about what I wanted. I have loved being home with the kids while they are growing up. Trucker still does not have his license, so I didn’t want him stuck home, alone, all day, every day, during the summer. He is old enough and I trust him completely, but did not want that for him.

I prayed many times for the right job, the timing of it and that I could be a light for Christ in whatever job I ended up with. Between talking with friends and e-mailing with them (you know who you are!!); I was able to get a part time job that I can do from our home! Is that perfect or what? God does know what He is doing! Obviously I am thanking God now for the job, but still praying that I can be a light for Him. Maybe the fact that he provided me with a job that I can do from our house means I need to be more of a light to my own immediate family.

I did not have a place to work at in our home that was quiet and I would be left alone. That meant changing some rooms around. What a job that is! If we didn’t have so much junk it would be much easier and quicker. We do have a small room in our house that we think was a nursery many years ago and we have kept our weight bench, extra weights, hunting stuff, rod hockey games (yes, more than one rod hockey game) and all kinds of other “things” in there over the years. That room is now my office. Well, not yet, but by the end of the weekend I am hoping it will be.

The whole family has chipped in to help with the room project. We all hauled junk out. The hunters of the family hauled out their treasures and put them in a closet. Why we always put the hunting stuff all over I never knew, but now it is organized. The weights now share space in the sewing room/Trucker’s homework center.

Princess picked out paint and a border for the office. She painted on Wednesday; I pulled off the baseboards and ripped up the old flooring. We assume the room was a nursery at one time because the linoleum was very old and had lambs and little yellow birds all over it. The King took yesterday off of work and laid new flooring down for me. I stained new trim. Today or tomorrow the King and Trucker are going to build me a make-do desk for the time being. Then I can set up the new computer and printer! It is actually starting to feel like I have a real job and a real place to do it in!

I am thankful to friends who helped me get this job. And so very thankful to God who knew my desire to earn some extra income and yet still wanted to be home all the time, too.

I will post a picture of the office when we have it completed.

Free Day

2010-02-25T07:18:00.000-08:00

Normally I work in our church office on Thursday mornings. This morning was no different; I got there around 7:20 am, fired up the computer and went into the kitchen to get a pitcher of water to take care of the plants. When I was finished with the plants, I went back into my office to check the e-mails, but my computer was not on. Hmmm…I thought for sure I had turned it on. I must have meant to, but never did…so I turned it on. I then grabbed some of my dishes from the church kitchen and took them out to my vehicle. Went back into the office, and my computer wasn’t on. This time I know for a fact that I had turned it on. I tried to turn it on again, no go. Check the cords; everything is the way it should be. Try to turn it on again, nothing. I told the Pastor I broke the computer, it won’t work at all or even turn on. He came and looked it over and he couldn’t get it to do anything, either. Pastor thinks that computer is eight or nine years old and that it has reached the end of its life span. While he and the elders figure out what to do about another computer, I get the day off! Now it is a free day, for me to do whatever I want! So many choices, too. I can crochet on my next afghan, work on Trucker’s quilt, make a table runner for my sister-in-law’s birthday, bake some goodies so our cookie tin isn’t bare, read my book, prepare Sunday’s Sunday School lesson or do some cleaning. I don’t think anyone should do cleaning on a free day though. A free day should be a fun day, don’t ya agree?!!

Pattern is called Remnants and can be found in Afghans For All Seasons Book 3.

I finished this afghan last week. My yarn cupboard was over flowing, so I needed to use some of the yarn up. The Princess thinks it is an ugly afghan! I will be sure to remind her of that when she is snuggled up in it on the couch. I have to admit, it’s not the prettiest one I ever made, but I remember where most of the scraps came from that I used up. The pink is from the Princess’s afghan. The dark green and gray are from an afghan I made for my Grandma several years ago, I think my Aunt and Uncle have that afghan now. The blue is leftover from a 25th wedding anniversary afghan I made for some friends. Mom bought the orange for me at a garage sale along with a garbage bag full of yarn. The mint green was used for the King’s brother’s wedding gift. Even if it is an ugly afghan, every time I look at it it will remind me of all the other people that kind of are a part of this blanket!

Random Thoughts

2010-02-24T12:17:00.000-08:00

Random Thought #1: The King’s parents are doing a thorough cleaning of their spare bedroom. She saved this bowl for me. It had been her Mom’s. It is a small (you can tell how small by looking at the coffee maker in the background), crock bowl. I have no idea what Grandma Hahn used this bowl for, maybe beating a few eggs? That is probably what I will use it for. Another neat thing to have and use that we know belonged to and was used by someone in our family many years ago. Carol forgot she even had it, she doesn’t know how long she had it for, so who knows how old the bowl is!

Random Thought #2: The King and I have been watching the Olympics quite a bit the last several days. There is talk that one of our local boys might have a chance at competing in the 2014 winter Olympics as a snowboarder. That had me thinking ahead to 2014. When we are watching those Olympics, we may be empty nesters! Our little tykes will be nineteen and twenty then! Enough on that random thought.

Random Thought #3: The other night I was getting ready for bed and was planning on spending some time in the Word. I didn’t quite know if I was hungry or not. Does that happen to anyone else? I guess if I was truly hungry, there would be no wondering about it, I would know! I probably just wanted to go eat something yummy that my hips don’t need at all. I told myself forget it, just get your jammies on and get in bed and start reading. I opened my devotional book and I needed to read 1Kings 19:5 which says …”Get up and eat!” God does have a sense of humor!

Cookbooks, Cookbooks and More Cookbooks

2010-02-18T16:23:00.000-08:00

I love cookbooks. I have a ton of them, and still always look at them when I am in a book store. You never know when I might see one that I just have to have. Cookbooks are my favorite souvenirs when on a vacation. I like to get the ones that are full of local recipes. I have some from Texas, Louisiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Canada; I have probably left a few places out, too.

It is a good thing I like cookbooks because they are getting a workout this week and into next week. Tomorrow night is craft night at church and we all bring a snack to share. I found a recipe for oatmeal butterscotch cookies; I will take some to church and the rest will be left at home for my cookie monsters. I signed up to bring homemade baked goods to church for some fellowship time after the service on Sunday. That means I will be spending some time Saturday baking. Lots of baking, probably three or four cakes, batches of cookies or quick breads; depending on what I find that looks like something new and fun to bake. I volunteered to make the main course for a community dinner at our local food pantry on Tuesday. I think I am going to make shredded beef sandwiches that I found in my 2001 Taste of Home cookbook. I have way more cookbooks than a person needs, but at least I can say that I am using them this week! I almost forgot, Sunday night Senior High Bible Study is at our house. That means doing some cooking or baking for five or ten students. I haven’t even thought about what to make for them yet.

All of this going on, plus I start a new part time job on Monday! Who says winter is dragging on? It is flying by! Or maybe I am just flying through it!

Happy Late Valentine's Day

2010-02-16T16:27:00.000-08:00

The Princess, a friend of hers and I went to Mom and Marv’s for a long weekend. We did some prom dress shopping and hit up Mall of America twice in two days! We were able to find a prom dress for our Princess, but still need to find one for Helen. So hard to believe it is their Junior Prom. It seems like it was only a few years ago I was sitting on the floor with them on their first day of kindergarten! They were cute little girls then, now seeing them trying on formal dresses reminded me again what beautiful young ladies they have grown into.

When we got home yesterday, these flowers were waiting for me on the table from my Valentine! What I guy I got! What a Dad he is, too, he also had a vase of roses waiting for our Princess. I love it that he does stuff like that for our daughter. I pray that these random acts of kindness along with the love that he shows her will teach her what she wants in a husband some day. I’m not saying in any way that her husband needs to get her flowers on a regular basis (although that never hurts!), but a man that does not treat her the way God wants a man to treat his wife will be unacceptable in her eyes. I pray that she will not settle for anything less. I feel that the way a Mom treats her son and the way a Dad treats his daughter has alot to do with the kind of spouse they will look for. If your Dad never shows you much love and you don't see that he cares for you, you assume this is how all men are. You may not expect more than that. However, if you are raised with lots of love and care from your Dad (or Mom, if you are a male) you will expect that. You will think that is how the opposite sex is supposed to treat you. You will be able to spot a loser a mile away!

I already, and have for years, pray for our children’s spouses. I pray that they will marry godly people and raise their children to know and love Jesus.

Great Group of Kids

2010-02-10T16:04:00.000-08:00

Sunday after church Trucker asked me if one of his friends could come to the house for a few hours before the Super Bowl. I did not have a problem with that. That led to the Princess asking if one of her friends could come out, also. Yep, not a problem. The next thing I know we have five extra youth kids coming out to the house. I love it when they come out.

This time was a real treat. We had several vehicles coming out to our house. Just as the King and I were leaving; he noticed there was something wrong with the garage door on the parsonage, so he went to help the Pastor try to fix it.

All of the kids ended up getting to the house ten or fifteen minutes ahead of us. When we got home, the girls were in the kitchen. The Princess was doing dishes, Tess and Sami were chopping onions, tomatoes, basil, cilantro and jalapeños. They made us guacamole and bruschetta! It was some yummy stuff!

After we filled our guts we played a game of Apples to Apples. They are always welcome at our home, but especially if they want to cook for me and let me win the games!

No pictures to show you, blogger is being pokey again!

Toaster Trouble

2010-02-08T18:23:00.000-08:00

I moved out on my own twenty-one years ago. In those twenty-one years, I have gone through three toasters. Is that normal? Or am I hard on toasters? Maybe the first toaster I had I worked pretty hard. The King worked on the road at that time, so I was home alone. I ate lots of toast, yogurt, mac and cheese, baked potatoes, rice and cereal. I don't know if that was the healthiest diet in the world, but I was a lot skinnier back then! I do not remember how long the first toaster lasted, but I know it made it several years because I did not need another until both kids were born. Then I went for the extra wide four slot toaster. That toaster made it four or five years, then I needed to buy another toaster, which is the one I have now. The current toaster works if you put the bread in the last two slots, the first two don't work. If you want your toast extra crunchy and toasted looking, you need to re-toast your bread a few times. I guess it is time for another toaster. I will go for another extra wide (for bagels) four slot one. I asked about my harshness on toasters because Grandma and Grandpa have the same toaster oven now that they had when I was a little tot. I tried to google a picture of one that looked just like hers, but I could not find one. There were over twenty pages of toaster ovens, and I didn't feel like looking at every page, but I did look through several pages. I think her oven is way too old! Maybe they didn't have cameras around back then to take a picture of her toaster.

We bought our house in 1989. The previous owners had the owners manual to the stove along with some other paper work. They bought the stove in 1976, and it was still working! We used it until 2007! The stove was still working at that time, but the oven didn't cook very evenly any more. If you were cooking pies, cookies, bars or cakes, you had to turn the pan half way through of they would burn on one side and be doughy on the other side. I was hoping that the door was leaking hot air and we could put new stripping around it, but the guy at the appliance store laughed at me when I told him how old the stove was. He informed me they don't even make that kind of rubber stripping around the oven doors any more. Even though that old oven was an ugly color, I think they called it golden harvest, it made a lot of meals for me! I would've been happy to keep it around another twenty years, but it was getting to be a pain to use.

My Mom is still using the stove that came with their house when they bought it. Her sister-in-law figures her stove is from the 1930's. That stove is neat to look at, but it is different to cook with. I wonder why they don't make appliances (large or small) to last forever any more?

I'm Back

2010-02-06T16:43:00.000-08:00

Zig, Toad and I over Christmas. The snow was almost level with Toad's back!
Pic courtesy of Mom

I was not planning on taking a blogging vacation, but that is just what I did! It has been busy around here. It all started two weeks ago. Our Ziggy dog got really sick, I don’t know if dogs can get the flu or some kind of virus, but those were his issues. I cleaned up more puke in those four or five days than I have with both of our children. I did get really good at knowing when he was going to be sick and getting him outside before I had a mess to clean up. Even in the middle of the night, I knew the symptoms. Zig went two days with no food or water, I know going without food won’t hurt him, but I was getting nervous about the whole dehydration thing. I think he went four days without any food, and then he started to eat again, slowly but surely. Now he is all back to normal!

Just as he was getting better, Toad got sick! Thankfully he was only sick for two days, and nothing as severe as what Zig had been.

The day after Toad was better, Dopey, the cat, got sick. Are kidding me? What is going on here? He was only sick for two days though, too. We have never had a sickness go through all three of our animals before. I didn’t even know it could happen. That was just like when our kids were real young. The week Zig was sick; I didn’t get a full night’s sleep. I was getting up with him two to six times a night to get him outside. Aren’t you glad I filled you in on all of that now? Did you really miss my blogging?!

Last week we had a little mishap with our van. I won’t mention any names or what happened, but I will say we get a new bumper next week. Another lady gets a new door and a paint job on one side of her car. Oh yeah, our insurance will be going up, too. Nobody was hurt, though, and that is the important thing.

I used to do a lot of subbing in our local school district. Towards the end of the last school year, the school board decided not to have subs any more unless absolutely necessary. I missed seeing the students and employees on a regular basis. I did enjoy having much more time at home. Last week and this week one of the ladies that work in the IMC (library) was quite sick. I worked for her most of the two weeks. Working those days will certainly help our budget, but I forgot what it is like to work all day, every day, then come home and do laundry and make supper. I don’t know how some of you ladies and gentlemen out there work a full time job, then come home and do household chores, make meals, run children around, and still find time for the Lord, your spouse and yourself!

What are you all doing for the Super Bowl tomorrow? Do you even care about the Super Bowl? Princess and Trucker are going to our youth pastor’s house for a Super Bowl party. The King and I will have the game on, but it won’t be as exciting as it would’ve been had the Vikings got in! Yes, Chuck, I will be cheering for the Colts! Now I need to go talk to the King and see what kind of chow we want for the game tomorrow! Don’t know if we want some yummy snacks or a scrumptious dinner!

Random Info

2010-01-22T06:19:00.000-08:00

pic courtesy of Mom

I saw these questions on another lady's blog. I thought I would would give my own answers and share them with you! Feel free to share your answers with us!

The phone rings. Who will it be?

Grampy

When shopping at the grocery store, do you return your cart?

Yes

In a social setting, are you more of a talker or a listener?

I think it changes. Sometimes a talker, sometimes a listener. It must depend on the people I am with or my mood.

Do you take compliments well?

I think so.

Do you play Sudoku?

Enough times to know I don’t really care to play it!

If abandoned alone in the wilderness, would you survive?

A few days, then my King better come rescue me and we will live happily ever after!

Did you ever go to camp as a kid?

Nope

What was your favorite game as a kid?

Uncle Wiggily. I would set my dolls and stuffed animals up around the board, and we would all take turns. Of course, I always made sure I beat them!

Use three words to describe yourself

family, fun, food

Do any songs make you cry?

Are you continuing your education?

I have taken a few classes at our vocational school over the years, but nothing on a regular basis.

Have you ever taken pictures in a photo booth?

I think I did once years ago.

How often do you read books?

All the time. Probably more often than I should, like when I should be cooking supper or cleaning something!

Do you think more about the past, present or future?

present

What is your favorite children’s book?

I always wanted to read Curious George books to my kids, the Princess always wanted me to read The Velveteen Rabbit and Trucker always wanted me to read truck books. When I was little I always liked the Princess and the Pea. There was another book I really liked as a little kid, too, I think it was called Peter Wolf or something like that. Maybe Mom remembers what it was called.

What color are your eyes?

Hazel

Where is your dream house located?

Northern Wisconsin in the center of many acres.

If your house was on fire, what would be the first thing you grabbed?

my hound doggers

When was the last time you were at Olive Garden?

The Friday after Thanksgiving with Carol and the Princess. We have done that for several years, I love it.

Where was the farthest place you traveled today?

I have not left the house yet, but Trucker and I are going shopping to Fleet Farm and Dunham Sports, which is an hour and a half from our home.

Do you like mustard?

Take it or leave it.

Do you look like your mom or dad?

I have been told I look like my Dad a few times, been told I look like my Mom only once or twice, but I am always told that I look like my Mom’s sister! Hard to believe there are two of us that good looking in the world!!!

How long does it take you in the shower?

Fifteen minutes, maybe, I don’t know, I never timed myself!

Can you do the splits?

No, close, but not close enough to be called the splits.

What movie do you want to see right now?

I’m not a big movie person.

What did you do for New Year’s?

Spent the evening visiting with Mom and Marv.

Do you own a camera phone?

Yes, very seldom use it, but I do have one!

How many hours of sleep do you get a night?

Around seven.

What do you buy at the movies?

Nothing.

Do you wear your seat belt?

Always.

How many meals do you eat a day?

Two or three

Do you like funny or serious people better?

I enjoy both.

Ever been to L.A.?

Nope, no desire to go either.

Did you eat a cookie today?

Do you hate chocolate?

I don’t hate it, but I don’t crave it like many people do. I’m more of a butterscotch person.

Are you a gullible person?

Not really.

Are you easy to get along with?

I think so. Maybe a few of you should answer this question about me!

Cranberries, Cranberries, Cranberries!

2010-01-20T17:24:00.000-08:00

pic courtesy of Mom

Before I started the Christmas baking I was looking through cookbooks for different cookie recipes I wanted to make. Some of them I marked, some of them I didn't. If there are several recipes in one book I want to try, I just set the book to the side. While going through this process, I saw several recipes I wanted to try that called for cranberries. I made sure I bought six pounds of cranberries; that will be enough for baking with, enough for Trucker to eat plain and enough for a few cranberry dishes over the holidays.

Once it was time to start the baking, I could only find one recipe that called for cranberries. All the rest called for craisins. Shoot! Half way through December I bought three pounds of craisins. As soon as the craisins were in the house, I couldn't find the recipes that listed craisins in the ingredients. Plus, things got busier then and I didn’t have as much time to look for them either. Sounds like a good excuse, don’t ya think?!

Now we are in the middle of January and I still have one or two pounds of cranberries and a pound of craisins! Good thing we like both of them. Good thing Valentine’s Day is coming up, I can make some pretty treats with red in them. Maybe we will try some cranberry pancakes, craisins in our oatmeal, oatmeal craisin cookies and a few meals made with cranberries and craisins.

Next year I better mark my recipes better.

Sympathizing With Others

2010-01-19T15:34:00.000-08:00

picture courtesy of Mom

Saturday we spent the day with the King’s family, celebrating Christmas. Once a year we all get together and it is always a blast. This year we had a new baby to hold so that added to the fun!

When we all meet at the King’s Mom’s house, one of the “must do” activities is sliding. Their driveway is on a hill, with a curve towards the bottom. That curve is in the perfect spot, you pick up some pretty good speed by the time you get there. Then you have to hope you can make the corner, if you don’t, you will be hitting the snow bank! I speak from experience! Several times I made the corner, a few times I didn’t! I have the cut chin and bruises to remind myself of the times I didn’t make the corner!

While we were sledding, I got to thinking of other people. One time the Princess and I went down the hill together, I don’t know what happened, but we wiped out. I flew out of the sled and hit the packed down snow and icy driveway. That made me think of Brett Favre (quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings)! He and I are within a few months of each other in age. How does he keep hitting that cold, hard ground that doesn’t give much and then get back up and do it again? I felt the hardness of the unforgiving ground, and I didn’t have any 300 pound players pummeling me at the same time!

The other people I thought about were the people of Haiti. While I was on top of the hill, waiting my turn, I could hear people laughing and screaming on their way down the hill, I could hear people at the bottom of the hill laughing at the ones on their way down. The ones of us at the top of the hill were laughing at the King’s sister, because we all recognized her scream on her way down. As I was standing there with my husband, children, nieces, nephews, great-nephews, brother-in-law, sister-in-law and father-in-law, I thought about how blessed we all were. We could all see and hear each other. We all knew the rest of the family was safe and enjoying themselves. I can’t imagine what the people of Haiti are going through. What is it like to be standing on one side of town and not know how your children, spouse, parents or extended family are doing on the other side of town, not even knowing if they are alive or dead. You might not even be able to walk to the other side of town because of injuries you sustained. Or, maybe you are fine, but because of all the rubble in the streets, you cannot get through. That would be a horrible thing to experience. Thinking of those people made my sledding with the whole family more fun and special than it usually is.

Skippin' Out!

2010-01-14T15:59:00.000-08:00

Shirley and the Princess.

Did you ever skip out of school? Or play hookey? Or blow off a day of school? Or whatever it was called when you were in school? I did once in a while, usually with Grampy’s consent, though. There was that one time I skipped out without telling him, he found out, I got in trouble. I let the Princess and Trucker blow off two days a year, if they are maintaining an A or B average. If your not getting all A’s or B’s, then you can’t afford to skip out a day. I figure when they are adults, out there in the real world, they will hopefully have a job that will provide them with some personal days or vacation days, so I let them practice using them now!!

All of that to say I am skipping out right now. I should be in Bible study. I love Bible study, but tonight the house is very quiet with no one around but me, two dogs and a cat. And I was enjoying a good book. I don’t even feel guilty about skipping out, well, not guilty enough to go.

Trucker always uses his two “free days” for hunting. His days are already used up for this school year. This year he used them both in November for deer hunting. Some years he uses them for deer hunting and other years he has used them for turkey hunting. I personally think skipping out of school to go sledding with a bunch of friends, shopping or spending the day with the King made better use of a day then hunting, but we all are entitled to our own opinions. Some how I can’t picture Trucker skipping out of school to go shopping for a whole day!

The Princess always uses ½ day to go to Green Bay for Districts. That is a Christian youth conference that lasts the whole weekend, from Friday evening until Sunday noon. The adults that go along as chaperones usually go home feeling quite whooped after Districts. Those teenagers have a lot more energy than we do and can go on a lot less sleep, along with a real varied diet. Diets consisting of soda, smoothies, skittles, chips, cookies, crackers, maybe an orange or some pizza thrown in to make it sound good when you talk to Mom and Dad!

Last weekend was Districts ’10. Our youth pastor, his wife, and two other adults from our church loaded up two vans and took down several students for the weekend. I love these people. I love the fact that they are willing to give up their own weekend to spend it with our daughter and several other teens. I love the fact that they are reinforcing the morals and values that we try to teach our children at home. Rob, Shirley, Dan and Dennise; thank you so much for giving up your weekend to serve God and help thousands of young people learn about living for Christ, also. Thank you for the example that you always set for them. May God bless you!

Quilting Boo Boo

2010-01-12T18:20:00.000-08:00

pic courtesy of Mom

Last night I was working on Trucker’s quilt. I was sewing strips together when I realized that I didn’t have the same number of strips of each material. How did I manage that? I re-read the pattern. Yikes! I am only supposed to sew six strips together and I already have twelve or fifteen done. Shoot! I will be spending some time ripping seams out this week.

Tomorrow I have a dentist appointment. I have not had a cavity since I was a little tyke, I hope that is still the case. After my appointment I am going to take my resume into a few places around town. We’ll see if anything comes of that.

For the fun part of tomorrow, I get to make the King’s birthday supper. His birthday is today, but he was ice fishing with a friend and Trucker. Since they didn’t bring any fish home, we are having beef roast with mashed potatoes and gravy. Oh yeah, peas too. Gross!

Must Be Gettin' Old!

2010-01-09T15:37:00.000-08:00

Thursday we had a new baby join our extended family, Aliza Ashley. As of last night Momma and Aliza were both doing well. We get to meet her next Saturday. It’s been a long time since I have held a new born.

Okay, this is pretty sad, don’t even know if I should admit it! I knew what I was going to blog about, signed on and then went and made myself a cup of tea. While I was making my tea, I figured I would update you on our new niece.

Now that I am in front of the computer and blogged about Aliza, I don’t remember what the main thing was I was going to blog about. How sad is that?!! And I’m not even forty yet!

Since I don’t know what I was going to blog about – I’m going to take my tea, go watch some football and work on my afghan. I am using up some scraps that are in the closet. We’ll see how long it takes to finish this one!

I had another snow picture to show you, but blogger is being pokey. You'll have to wait until next week.

Never Lonely, Never Want Sympathy?

2010-01-08T10:40:00.000-08:00

pic courtesy of Mom
She took this picture while we were going for a ride over Christmas break, one of our favorite ways to spend time together.

This year for my quiet time with the Lord, I am using the devotional book My Utmost for His Highest. This is one of the all time classics, but I have never read it. The language is tougher for me to understand. I don’t know what my problem is, but if you don’t talk just like I do, I have a terrible time understanding you. Same thing with reading, so I have to concentrate and think about what Oswald Chambers is saying.

One sentence I did not have to think about to grasp its meaning yesterday was, “When once we get intimate with Jesus we are never lonely, we never need sympathy, we can pour out all the time without being pathetic”. Wow. That is something for me to think about for a while. I do have to say I am very happy with where God has me at in life. It’s not often that I get lonely or want sympathy…but once in a while. Last month when I was laying on the bathroom floor in the middle of the night with the stomach flu, a little sympathy might’ve been nice! Instead everyone else was sleeping and didn’t even know I could use a pillow and blanket. That is what I was thinking at the time. Now when I look back at it, I know I prefer to be left alone when I am sick. That, however, is not the kind of sympathy I think Mr. Chambers was speaking of.

I think he was speaking of a deep down hurt, that won’t go away and you can’t get away from it. I don’t know if I am to that point in my relationship with Christ. As of right now, I can say that I am, but I have not experienced any deep pains for several years. Don’t get me wrong, I am not praying to find out about this either!

We all know that pains and troubles do come our way, though. I just hope that I am able to have an intimate relationship with Christ all of my days so that no matter comes my way, I will be able to cope. In all big temptations, big and small, or whatever may happen in the future, I have to remember 1Corinthians 10:13.

The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. nlt

This verse is referring to falling into sin that you struggle with. I believe it can also speak to a person who is going through some major physical or emotional struggles. He will not allow you to go through more of those kinds of trials than you can handle, either. However, they may be very tough and they will require that you trust in Him lots. A side note…it took me forever to find this verse. I knew what verse I was looking for, but for some reason I thought it was in James! Doesn’t it sound like something James would say? Or is it just me?!!

2010 Starting Off With a Bang!

2010-01-07T15:52:00.000-08:00

By the time I finished blogging yesterday, Toad had made himself comfy! Maybe he thinks the afghan is his and he just lets the Princess use it!

2010 is going to be a busy year. Our niece went in today to give birth to her first child. Mama and baby have to go through a c-section. I just tried calling the baby’s great-Grandma and great-Aunt to see how things went, but did not get an answer.

I already know of four weddings we will be attending this year; none of them in our area. Three of the weddings we will be able to stay with family, the other one will require a visit to a motel!

2010 will also be the beginning of the Princess’s last year of high school. I’m sure her senior year will bring a roller coaster ride of emotions!

Only God knows what else 2010 will bring. The few things I already know about is enough to let me know I will be busy making some quilts or afghans! I better get busy!

By the way, do we say two thousand ten or do we say twenty ten?

The Two, Three or Four Year Afghan

2010-01-06T09:46:00.000-08:00

The Princess's afghan.

The pattern came from Herschners Blue-Ribbon Afghans.

I saw this afghan and pattern in a book several years ago. I knew right away that I wanted to make this for our Princess. It is a big, heavy afghan; the kind I knew she would like to snuggle up in.

I was in WalMart one day and saw bright pink yarn. I thought she would like the color, but did not know for sure. A few months later she and I were in a Good Will store, and there was the yarn – much cheaper than it was in WalMart. I showed the Princess the yarn and she said she liked the color. That was two or three years ago! Maybe four, I don’t know!

We got the yarn home and I started on the afghan. I like to crochet during the evenings while watching tv. This afghan was too thick and heavy to have sitting on your lap during the summer months, so I didn’t even try to crochet then. It was strictly a winter project. During the last couple of years, I learned how to make quilts. Quilt making then took some time away from her afghan. Along the way I quit working on her blanket to crochet a baby blanket or a wedding gift. The Princess was beginning to think she was never going to have her afghan. I was beginning to think the same thing!

This fall I was sick of the half finished afghan sitting in a basket in the living room. I told myself it was going to get done this year. I always leave the crochet hook in the project I am working on. That way I can pick it up at any time and start working on it. One Sunday during football games, I picked the blanket up to crochet on it some. The hook is gone. Where could it be? I had just used it a week or two before. I looked every where for it, but I only have three spots that I put crochet hooks. As I said, if I am working on a project – I keep the hook with the project, I also have a pottery dish on the end table that I put a hook in once in a while if I know I will need it soon. Other wise, all crochet hooks are on the top shelf of a hallway closet.

I asked both kids if they had seen the hook. Nope, they have not seen it. I asked the King one day after work if he has seen it. I even told them what color it was. As soon as I told the King that it was a bronze color and had been in the basket with the afghan, he got a dorky smirk on his face. I knew right then he knew where it was. He told me that might be the one he used to rig up suckers for fall musky fishing! What?? He didn’t think I would need it or even realize it was gone?!!

At least I knew where the missing hook was at now. He said it was probably in his tackle box. That’s okay, you can leave it there! I’m thinking it was probably all scratched up and nicked, and then it will catch the yarn and snag it. Instead he was using it to snag a musky!

Now I need a new size K hook. The King said I had to have another hook the same size. He informed me I had a thousand hooks on that shelf! He didn’t think it was any big deal when he took the hook because I would have another one just like it on that shelf. I didn’t think I had another size K hook. I think I have one of each size, but no reason to have duplicates. He went looking in the closet; and sure enough I did have another K hook, but it was a plastic one. I used it, but don’t really like plastic hooks. I prefer the metal ones. I worked with this hook for a few days, and then it was missing. What the heck? Now what happened to this one? I knew the King would not take this one because it was plastic and because he already had one. Again, I ask the family if they have seen this hook. Again, no one has. I am going to buy another K hook. Or so I planned. I checked our Pamida, quilt shop, WalMart and the WalMart where my mother-in-love lives. All musky fishermen must’ve needed size K hooks, because I couldn’t find one any where.

In casual conversation, Mom mentioned to me that she was going to WalMart to finish up her Christmas shopping. I told her about my whole crochet hook story and asked her if she would look for one for me. By now the Princess is convinced she will never have her afghan. I am ready to throw the whole thing in the garbage and call it done. While vacuuming one day, I find the plastic hook, full of dog tooth marks. Toad struck again!

Well, for the happy ending to this saga…Mom found me a metal size K crochet hook and gave it to me for Christmas. I was then able to finish the Princess’s afghan. As with every thing I make for people, I prayed a ton for our little girl who is no longer a little girl (even if she was when I started the thing!). I hope that every time she uses her three-year afghan she will remember how much I love her.

Next time I use a size K hook, I will have all kinds of memories! Thanks, Mom, for saving the day and saving the Princess’s afghan!

A close up picture of the afghan and the size K hook! The top picture is the color of the yarn, I don't know why this picture made it look more red.

Full Circle

2010-01-04T10:23:00.000-08:00

The King and Toad; relaxed and reading Louis L'amour over Christmas vacation. And he tells me he never lets the dog on the furniture!

Trucker with a can of duct tape spray. Everybody needs a can of that! That's my Mom sitting next to him, wishing she had a can of duct tape spray!

I called a friend today who celebrated her 81st birthday yesterday. Yesterday I blogged about time going faster as you get older and how slow it seems to go sometimes when you are young. As most other things, this must go in a full circle. Glady said that time isn’t moving to fast for her the last few days. She lost her husband last month. She just spent her first Christmas without him; she was alone on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Her husband was quite ill the last ten years of his life, so she did not have much time for any thing other than caring for him. Now that he is gone, she says she has lots she should be doing, but not the energy. I told her that is understandable; for one thing because she is 81 years old and for another thing she is missing her husband. I cannot imagine moving on in life after losing your best friend of fifty some years. Time would stand still.

I asked her how Christmas went for her, and she had the sweetest story. A young man, 24 years old, used to live a few houses away from her. In the past, they would make cookies together once in a while. Now this same young man is not her neighbor any more. He has purchased a home out in the country, but has not forgot about her. He called her Christmas day to see what she was doing. When he found out she was sitting home alone, he went to the store, bought a tube of cookie dough, some popcorn and rented a movie. He then spent the whole afternoon with her; they made cookies, popped popcorn and watched a movie. As soon as we were done talking I prayed that my Princess and Trucker will be that thoughtful when they are young adults. I also prayed that I would bless other people in that same way. I have never met this young man, but he and his parents should get a big pat on the back for a job well done!

While talking to her about Christmas; it reminded me of a Christmas several years ago. When the Princess and Trucker were pre-schoolers, my Dad called his Grandma on Christmas to see how she was spending the day. She was sitting in her apartment alone, waiting for her daughter to come and pick her up. Her daughter was going to take Grandma to their house for Christmas dinner. Dad told her that our kids were up at the crack of dawn to open presents, play a new game they had got on Christmas Eve and read a few new books. He also told her that I was on my second round of dishes and we hadn’t even had dinner yet. She told him to tell me to enjoy doing all of those dishes, cleaning up the wrapping paper, reading the new books and doing a ton of cooking because the day would come when I would be sitting in a chair by myself thinking of past Christmases and wondering where the time went. Now my great-Grandma celebrates Christmas with Jesus, her husband and a daughter that died as a young girl, but I remember her words of wisdom every year.

Thinking about Glady and Grandma made me remember to take care of each day as it comes. Don’t worry about tomorrow. Enjoy each day as it comes. "That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life – whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?" Matthew7:25-27 nlt

2010?!

2010-01-02T16:52:00.000-08:00

The Princess said this was her favorite gift this year.

Trucker can't wait to use his new hammer drill!

Wow…I have not posted in a long time! I have lots of catching up to do on here. Christmas was great. We spent an evening with Grampy and Miss Joy, and then Mom and Marv were here to visit for a week. We ate way too many cookies and poppy seed bread, but that is okay. We didn’t make church on Christmas Eve, due to the weather, but still let Jesus know I was thinking of Him.

I can’t believe 2010 is here now. It seems like two or three years ago everyone was all nerved up about Y2K.

When I was in high school, I was whining one day because summer was almost over and it was time to go back to school. My Uncle Rick agreed with me that the summer went by fast, but he also told me that the older you get the faster the time goes. It didn’t really make much sense to me at the time, there are twenty-four hours in a day, always have been and always will be. That fact still remains the same. But, Rick was right in the fact that the time seems to go by faster.

Why do you suppose time seems to go faster to us as we age? The only thing I could come up with is that when you are young, you are always waiting for something. When you are younger and always anxiously awaiting the next big event, time seems to drag. You can’t wait for Christmas, your next birthday, summer vacation or school to start back up again so you can see your friends. You can’t wait to turn ten (double digits, baby!), you can’t wait for your sixteenth birthday, your first dance, homecoming, prom, eighteenth birthday, your driver’s license or graduation. Once you have been an adult for a while and living in the big world with your own responsibilities, I don’t think you look to the future with as much anticipation as often. Obviously, we have a few things, we can’t wait to get married, buy a house, have children, watch children grow up and have grandchildren. We look forward to those activities over a few decades, though. The first twenty years of our lives are spent looking forward to more events in a shorter period of time. Does any of this make sense to anyone else, or just me?!!

Blessed With Family and Friends

2009-12-21T18:04:00.001-08:00

The Christmas season is certainly here. Dan arrived Saturday. We have been able to spend some time with him, worship with him and go sledding with him. He is leaving tomorrow to join his family in Illinois for Christmas.

Another one of the youth group students who is now in college, Aaron, got back in town Friday. We got to spend most of Saturday with him. He and Trucker spent the majority of the day playing video games. He joined us for some sledding fun Sunday afternoon, too.

Sunday, a day I will always be thankful for. Not only did we get to see several of the youth students again, but the Princess was baptized. It was a beautiful service. We sang some Christmas songs, then the Princess and two other young ladies were baptized, and more Christmas carols to follow. Seeing all three girls get baptized was special; one was a good friend of the Princess’s (we have known her since she was a baby) and the other young lady just married one of the youth students who is now all grown up. He used to spend a lot of time at our house, so even though we don’t know his wife real well yet, it has been nice to see her grow in Christ. I am looking forward to getting to know her better!

The Christmas cookies are all in containers or on plates to give to friends and family. We will be delivering those tomorrow after work. Wednesday we will be celebrating Christmas with Grampy and Miss Joy. The Princess is making us homemade raviolis (sp?) for that dinner! It is always enjoyable to spend time with them.

Wednesday Mom and Marv will get here. Thursday Mom and I will make a batch of cutout cookies. Well, actually, I will make them, she will frost and decorate them! I don’t like that part. Thursday night we will enjoy a candle light service together at church. Friday we will spend the day together, making memories.

I have certainly been blessed with a wonderful family. I love these days. Thank you God.

I have some sledding pictures to show - but blogger is taking way too long. I will save them for another day.

Ornament Stories

2009-12-16T10:08:00.000-08:00

I accidently put this picture in here twice, and now blogger won't let me get rid of it! Notice the front of a truck to the right of the penguin? We have lots of truck ornaments and heavy equipment ornaments on our tree. Trucker has had an interest in big trucks ever since he was a wee one.

The tree picture didn't turn out very nice, but it is a pretty tree in person.

We got the tree up Sunday afternoon. Once the tree is up, then it is easy to feel festive and want to get ready for Christmas. I love taking the lid off of the box of ornaments every year; so many memories come flooding up out of the box. There are memories from my growing up years, memories of people who are no longer with us, memories from when Trucker and the Princess were little tykes.

The King’s Aunt used to make us a homemade ornament every year. Here is one of them. Isn’t he the cutest little guy?

These two ornaments always go towards the top of the tree and off to the side. My great-Grandpa gave me the purple one when I was a little girl. I used to spend the night at his house every now and then. Shortly after my great-Grandma died, Grandpa told me I could have something that had been hers; I should pick some thing out. I didn’t know what to take. I was around eight or nine at the time, so her dishes, jewelry or knick-knacks all seemed old fashioned to me. He offered me her hair brush, that totally grossed me out! He had a tiny fake Christmas tree decorated at the back of the living room sitting on something, I think it was a dehumidifier, but don’t remember for sure. Any way, this purple glass ornament hung on there and I thought it was the prettiest thing. I didn’t know for sure if I should ask him for that or not, but finally I did. He said yes, and now it goes on our tree every year.

The gold one hanging next to it is a hand painted ornament that the King’s Mom gave me one of my first Christmases that I was living on my own.

Notice the grader to the left of the snow person.

The Princess made this snowman for our tree last year. Actually she made us a whole snow family; Mama, Dad, son, daughter, snowdog and snowcat! Toad got jealous of the snowdog last year and ate him. The snowboy was the next target. He is missing an eye and his bow tie sits crooked. Maybe some year we will fix him up, and maybe we won’t. The rest of the family is still doing well; hopefully Toad is over taking his aggression out on innocent, helpless snow people!

The Weather Outside is Frightful

2009-12-15T08:33:00.000-08:00

The temp. is 0* outside right now, with the wind chill at -17*. That is chilly, but not as cold as tomorrow morning is going to be. Depending on which forecast you check out, we are going to be any where from -11* to -18* tonight! Burrr! These kinds of days I pray for my King lots, as he is outside working all day long.

Speaking of the King, here is my King when he was still a Prince. His Mom gave me this picture several years ago. That year I put it out with the Christmas decorations, but he didn’t want it displayed. I put the picture in between two books on the book shelf so it would not get bent, and that is where it has stayed the last ten years. This year the Princess and I pulled it out and used it as part of our decorations again. So far he has not said any thing about it. When Carol gave me the picture, I could not believe how much Trucker looks like his Dad. In height, Trucker has passed his Dad up, but many other ways he still looks like his Dad. They also share a lot of the same mannerisms (or lack of manners sometimes!).

On another note, I received a phone call last night from a young man who used to be quite involved in our youth group and church. Mike left the area after graduation, went onto college to be a youth pastor. Now he is finished with college and is working as a youth pastor. The best news he shared with me last night is that he is engaged! It was fun watching so many of those students grow up during their middle school and high school years. I miss many of them now, but really enjoy it when they stop in for a visit or phone us. I consider it a blessing when they still want to keep us informed of what they are up to and want us to come to their weddings or let us know when they are having babies. Even if it does make me feel a bit old!

Time To Get Going!

2009-12-14T10:05:00.000-08:00

What? Christmas is less than two weeks away? I still have stuff I want to get done before then. Last week got me behind schedule on what I wanted to bake and when. The Princess was sick last Monday night and Tuesday, then, being the loving daughter that she is – she shared it with me. I got sick Thursday. Yuck, no fun. Then the King was sick on Saturday. Saturday we had to go to a memorial service in Wausau.

While none of us enjoy funerals or memorial services, this one was pleasant. Three pastors conducted the service. All of them knew Gene very well and had many stories to share about his life. Several people got up and shared memories that they shared with Gene. You could not leave there thinking about the huge impact he had on other people’s lives. We heard hunting stories, fishing stories, skiing stories and stories about his faith and courage. Knowing that he is spending his eternity with Christ made for fewer tears at his service. We shared a ride there with Chuck. Thanks for the laughs and great conversation, Chuck. Trucker commented on what fun stories you tell!

Now I am hoping that everyone is back to being healthy. I have lots I want to get done this week. Lots of baking, wrapping presents, pick up a few stocking stuffers yet and spruce up the house! The maraschino cherries are in the fridge, draining, waiting for me to make chocolate covered cherries. Those will be done on Friday. I have chopped pecans waiting on the counter to be made into pecan tassies. I have several other cookie recipes marked I want to bake, too. We will see how it goes.

The house is decorated, though. The tree is up. The presents are bought or made. As I am thinking of all the things I want to get done yet, I can’t help but think about Mary. Was she scurrying around trying to get ready for the birth of her son? Was she relaxed and taking things day by day? How would she feel and what would she be thinking if she could see all of us now getting ready for the birthday of her son? Would she be happy that we celebrate? Or would she be sad that so much goes into Christmas, but in some homes so little thought goes into the son that she bore and watched die for us? I do enjoy the Christmas season, I pray I never lose focus of why we have a Christmas to celebrate.

Snow Day!

2009-12-09T08:55:00.000-08:00

View outside our front door today!

View outside our bedroom window this morning.

We got a snow day today! Woohoo! I love these days. The King is missing out on the fun, someone has to work, but the rest of us are home for the day. Trucker has already shoveled once; we’ll see how many more times it will be needed. Now he is getting the plow truck fired up and going to clean the driveway for us. His plan for the afternoon is to get the snowmobile running and go play with that for awhile. He is also making as many trips in and out of the house as possible because there are several cookies on the counter! Although, each time he goes by, there are fewer cookies on the counter.

The Princess made a batch of cookies this morning. Currently she is decorating the house. Thankfully she feels back to herself and is able to do these things. Yesterday she didn’t have an interest in baking or decorating. I just peeked at the buffet, she has our mini village set up on there. She is so good at that stuff, makes me kind of jealous!

My part in all of this? I am doing some baking also. I am looking for my Christmas cookie cookbook that I put some where last year to make room on my cookbook shelf. Only problem is that now I don’t know where I put it. I’m sure I put it some where logical! Hopefully I’ll find it before Christmas is over. I thought I put it with the decorations, but so far no go. Other wise, I am treasuring these moments. I know the next few years will fly by on me and the Princess and Trucker will have their own homes to take care of instead of ours. Or they will be too busy. Then what will I do? But, enough of those thoughts, for now I am going to enjoy the rest of today.

Party Puker! (Kind of Like a Party Pooper, But A Little Different)

2009-12-08T12:13:00.000-08:00

A little sickness won't keep the Toad Dog away!

Yesterday I posted about it feeling like Christmas. Then the Party Puker hit. The Princess was at church last night helping some ladies do some Christmas baking, then they do a cookie exchange. She said she felt fine while she was at church, but by the time she got home she did not feel well. Sure enough, at 1:00 am, she was sick. Our poor Princess spent part of the early morning hours on the bathroom floor, and then moved to the couch. She has not moved from the couch yet. She also has a mild fever, but enough of one that she will miss school tomorrow, too. I am praying for her to get over this little bug quick and praying that the rest of us don’t get it.

The storm we are supposed to get has started. It is snowing lightly out now. According to the weathermen it is going to get worse, but not as bad as they initially anticipated. The new storm warning is only calling for 4” – 8” of snow for us, but more in the central and southern part of the state. We are still supposed to get some nasty wind and blizzard like conditions early this evening and into the night.

I went into town early today and got some juice and grapes for the Princess. While I was in town I picked up some more baking supplies that were on sale! The more supplies that go on sale, the more I can bake! Now I am going to go start some coconut refrigerator cookies.

Get your errands done before this storm hits your area. It sounds like it is going to hit all of the country. So if it hasn’t already come to your area, it is on it’s way!

Christmas is Coming!

2009-12-07T17:08:00.000-08:00

It definitely feels like the Christmas season now. Mom found a recipe for white fudge for me that I tried yesterday. The King said it wasn’t quite the same as Grandma Hahn’s, but it must have tasted good because the whole pan is gone today!

Our Noah Weather Radio went off twice today to warn us of a winter storm that will be here tomorrow. The weathermen are predicting 8”-14” of snow for us. That will certainly make it seem Christmasy. It even has the kids hoping for a snow day already!

To add to the Christmas season, I baked some bread today which will be given away for presents. I just took Christmas Angel cookies out of the oven, which will also be given away.

And to top off today’s fun – I just heard from a friend of ours that he will be visiting us from the 19th – 22nd. We can’t wait to see you Dan the Man! He will leave on the 22nd , we will celebrate Christmas with Grampy and Miss Joy on the 23rd and Mom and Marv will be here on the 24th! I am getting in the Christmas spirit now!

Grandma Hahn's White Fudge

2009-12-02T08:11:00.000-08:00

Letter Grandma sent me with the white fudge recipe.

Close up of the recipe part of the letter. You can tell by the stains that we have had this on the counter several times trying it out!

The King told me twelve or fifteen years ago that the only Christmas sweet treat that he really liked was Grandma Hahn’s white fudge. I asked Grandma Hahn for the recipe. I have made it several times, it has never turned out! She wrote me a letter and told me it is the same as chocolate fudge, only leave out the chocolate. You give the recipe a try and see if you can do better.

2 cups sugar
½ c milk
¼ c syrup
1/3 c cocoa (leave out for white fudge)
butter – size of walnut
1 tsp vanilla

Put all in kettle. When boiling cook 5 minutes. I don’t know if the next step says stir while cooking or while cooling. Add nuts if desired.

The first time I tried to make it, the fudge turned out real runny. When I told Grandma what happened she laughed at me and said I had too much butter. If I remember right, the King said it tasted the way it should, it just did not set up.

The following year it was really gummy. By that time Grandma Hahn had died, so I could not ask her what I did wrong. I think we ate a few spoonfuls of it, but threw the majority of it out.

The year after that it turned out hard as a rock! Grampy spent a whole Sunday afternoon getting that stuff out of my pan. Luckily I poured it in a glass baking dish because he would run water in the pan, put it in the microwave for a minute, and then scrape off whatever would scrape off. He spent the whole afternoon repeating that process! That gets brought to my attention every Christmas!

If I remember right, I took a year or two off and didn’t even try making it. A few years ago, I got brave and gave it another whirl. That time it turned out the best out of all of my attempts. It was not as white as the King remembers his Grandma’s being and it was kind of grainy. We could eat it though!

I think it was two years ago that the Princess tried to make it. I will have to ask her how that one went. I think it was some what close, but still not fudge consistency. I have not decided if I will try it this year or not.

I have made him other white fudge recipes, but he does not care for them. He says they are too sweet. The ones I tried had marshmallows, marshmallow crème or white chocolate in them.

If you know of a white fudge recipe that resembles Grandma Hahn’s, let me know about it! I will give it a try.

She has two sentences in her letter that are sad. It makes you realize that we won't always have all of our loved ones around. She writes, "I always made the recipe I gave you for Dan and Dad. Now nobody." Dan was her son-in-law. He is on a restricted diet and cannot eat sugar any more. "Dad" was her husband, he passed away a week or two before the King and I were married.

2009-12-01T16:37:00.000-08:00

picture courtesy of Mom

What kind of Christmas traditions do you follow? Or do you follow any traditions? Do you serve a traditional meal? What is a traditional Christmas meal? When I was growing up, I think we always had turkey or ham on Christmas. I don’t remember if there were other dishes that were served every Christmas. There were certain cookies I remember always having. Some of my favorites were Grandma Lorry’s rum balls and her fudge. Grandma Lorry is no longer with us so now I have to make the rum balls and fudge. Some years I do and other years I don’t. I guess they are no longer a tradition any more. Another favorite is Grandma Sue’s cut out, frosted, sugar cookies. Sometimes I see her over the Christmas season, some years I don’t get to see her until March or April. Whenever I do finally see her she will pull some sugar cookies out of the freezer for me. Carol always used to make homemade chocolate covered cherries, I absolutely love those. Due to restricted diets, she no longer makes those. I usually do, but there have been a few years that I never got around to making them. They are putzy to make and a huge temptation to keep them in the house. The King is not a huge sweet eater, but he always liked his Grandma Hahn’s white fudge. I will blog about that one day this week, there is quite a story about this white fudge!

Now onto the meal. We do not eat a traditional Christmas meal here. Our tradition is to put everyone’s choice into a hat, draw one out, and that is what we will eat for Christmas dinner. We have had all kinds of things for dinner; lasagna, pork loin, ham, rouladen (don’t know if I spelled that right!), Swedish meatballs and fish. I don’t know yet what we will be having for dinner this year, but I know we will be spending Christmas Day with Mom and Marv. Mom wants pork loin, Marv wants ham and I want lasagna. The King, Princess and Trucker have not decided what they want yet. Our dessert will be decided using the same method. Marv wants banana cream pie; I don’t know any other dessert choices yet. We have time.

I love Christmas. I enjoy going to church Christmas Eve. I enjoy spending the day with my family and all of the eating, the game playing and the laughing. I think I like the preparation of Christmas the best though. When we celebrate Christmas with Grampy and Miss Joy, the Princess is making homemade raviolis (spelling?) for dinner. I am already looking forward to watching her make the dinner. I will be just as excited to hear everyone's Christmas dinner wish as I will be to open the biggest present under the tree!

Baby Shower Bloopers

2009-11-30T18:09:00.000-08:00

Mom took this picture two years ago. Today we got an inch or two of snow and it made me think of this picture.

The Princess, Carol and I spent the day together Saturday, and what a day we had. It was a blast. We had to go to a baby shower about seventy miles away, for the King’s niece. Fifteen minutes into the ride, Carol asks me if I have the directions to Megan’s house. No, I thought she grabbed them. Nope, she doesn’t have them either. Oh well, we will call my sister-in-law if we can’t find the house.

We found the house without any problem. Good thing, too, because my sister-in-law and her daughter forgot their directions, too! Carol and I heard there was a nice quilt shop in this little town so we had allowed ourselves plenty of time to look around. Before we headed to the quilt shop we saw a quaint little book store. We both love book stores, so we had to go check that out. While waiting in the check out lane for Carol to pay for her purchases, I realized I had my vest on inside out. I had been wandering around half a day with my vest on inside out! I fix my vest and we headed for the quilt shop.

Yes, I found a few things I had to have. Well, okay, I didn’t have to have them; I just wanted them really bad! They will make a nice gift for someone. Carol saw a quilt in there she wanted to make. The quilt required twenty different fabrics, so that took us a while to get those picked out and for the clerk to cut all of that. While we were in the shop, Kelly and Jenni came in to look around with us. Now it is ten minutes until the baby shower starts so Kelly, Jenni and our Princess head over to the shower. They will tell everyone else that Carol and I will be a few minutes late.

We get to the shower twenty minutes late. Kelly made a basket for Megan, Jenni bought all kinds of necessary baby supplies and I made the quilt. The quilt and supplies are going into the basket with a card saying that it is from all of us. When I walk into the house, Kelly tells me where the basket is at for me to put the quilt in to. I look at the Princess, didn’t she grab the quilt? She says no, she wrapped it and left it lying on the table for me to grab! What? We walk into the shower twenty minutes late, and then we don’t even have a gift? That was good for many more laughs!

Needless to say, I will be shipping out a package to Megan this week!

Things to be Thankful For

2009-11-25T06:28:00.000-08:00

A few things I am thinking of to be thankful for during the first half of this week.

Sunday School Blooper ~ I was with the 3rd – 5th graders Sunday. We are reading in Joshua 7 about Achan and his sin. The children and I are taking turns reading and one of the girls had a little trouble. Well, she didn’t know she was having trouble; she didn’t realize what she had said. “Go consecrate the people. Tell them, ‘Consecrate yourselves in perspiration for tomorrow’!” Perspiration? Too funny! I did not correct her, I was afraid I would bust out laughing and embarrass her, besides the rest of the students did not catch it. The verse should read “Go consecrate the people. Tell them, ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow; for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: That which is devoted is among you, O Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove it. Joshua 7:13 niv

I mentioned last week that one of our soldiers was returning from Afghanistan. Obviously I am thankful he returned home safely. It was great to see him walk into our church Sunday morning. When this young man was growing up, he spent a lot of time at our home. We had a lot of fun together and many good laughs both in our home and in a boat. I saw him walk into the church and talk to a few people, and then he came over to me and gave me the biggest hug you can imagine. I had to catch my breath for a minute to keep from crying before I could say, “Welcome home.”

Sunday night we had Senior High Bible Study at our house. I am thankful that our church has a youth pastor that pours his love into our teens. Thankful that we could host Bible Study at our house. After study we spent a couple of hours playing Apples to Apples and Yahtzee. Being able to play games with those students was a blast.

Last night two other Moms and their teenage daughters came to our house for supper. Just as we finished eating, two more of their daughters drove in. They just got back in town from college. All eight of us then went to see The Blind Side. The movie is worth seeing. Seeing it with my own Princess plus all the rest of the ladies made it a perfect night.

It is amazing how many things we can find to be thankful for if we stop and look for them. I am also thankful for the obvious; my family, my home and the King’s job. I have been focusing on things out of the ordinary to be thankful for this week.

I will be spending time with family the rest of this week, so will not be blogging any more; although I have not been too good about blogging this week anyway. I will try to improve on that next week!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Yoga

2009-11-21T06:32:00.000-08:00

The Princess with some friends.

I started doing yoga three weeks ago. Some of the poses they do don’t work for me; maybe because I am a little too chubby, or maybe because I am not as flexible as I used to be or maybe because those people are freaks with their level of flexibility. Maybe after a few more weeks I will be able to master all of the poses.

I have already noticed some of the benefits, though. When you first wake up and start moving around, you know how you kind of wobble and stagger on those first couple of steps? That does not happen to me any more. The other benefit I noticed was better balance. No more hopping around on one leg while putting on my pants or socks! I guess I should just say I noticed an improvement in my balance.

Today I am rejoicing with some friends. Their husband/son/brother has been serving in Afghanistan for one year. They will get to see their husband/son/brother this afternoon. What a flood of emotions they will all experience today. I think there could be a flood in the room today when all of those soldiers coming home get to see their families. There will be a lot of tears of joy.

2009-11-20T18:09:00.000-08:00

It is finally done. Well, kind of. I had trouble on the corners, so I am going to ask the King’s Mom to help me fix those. I will see Carol over Thanksgiving, only two days before the baby shower that I need this quilt for. Hopefully she can work her magic and the corners will be much better.

Since it is not perfect, they will know it was homemade! As with any gift I make for anyone, I prayed for the recipient. I prayed that this little baby will grow up knowing Jesus. I prayed for the baby’s health. Many prayers went up for the parents, Joe and Megan. I asked God to give them wisdom in raising this little life, to give them patience, to set a Godly example for their baby and for lots of love in their home.

A few days ago I posted about the backing for this quilt. I went with the Princess’s advice and used pastel material for the backing. I don’t know if you can tell from the picture, but the back is peach with little white polka dots. Imagine that, she picked out something with polka dots!

Now that I am done with this quilt, it is time to get started on Trucker’s again. I think I only have 240 strips left to cut. Ughhhhh! Maybe I will wait for Mom and Marv to come visit and talk her into cutting strips!!

Watching the Morning News

2009-11-16T08:52:00.000-08:00

Toad

This is what I found in the living room this morning when I turned on the light. The way he has the remote right next to him cracked me up! It also reminded me of a few others who live in this house!

I watch the Today show once or twice a year. I usually turn on a local channel to catch the local news in the morning, and then go to HLN to watch the national news. After I know if there is any thing major going on in the world, I usually turn the tv off. I had to do a few things after watching the local news this morning and when I came back into the living room there was a story on the Today show that got my attention.

They were interviewing the parents of a US Marine who died in Iraq. The soldier kept in touch with his parents while he was in Iraq, but they did not know he was keeping a video diary. After four months over there, he was killed. Some of his Marine buddies brought his video diary home to his parents. When they put the dvd in, they thought they were going to see pictures. He had been filming what he was doing on a regular basis. They got to watch him play with the local children, know where he was at and hear his voice. The Mom said she has not been able to watch the whole thing yet. That would be tough to do. Watching the short snippet this morning was tough, and he was not my son. I think anyone who watched that this morning had to be feeling some emotion when it was over. It made me stop and pray right then and there. I prayed for this particular family, I prayed for the men and women who are currently fighting and I prayed for the families who have lost someone due to the war.

The next news story I watched was much more uplifting. LT, a football player for the San Diego Chargers, had quite a surprise yesterday. When he opened his locker at the stadium before yesterday's game, there was a small box in there from his wife. He said he figured it was going to be a necklace. When he opened the box, he found the results of his wife’s positive pregnancy test! They had been trying to conceive for four years. He must have been excited; he played the best game of his career.

How was that for the news this morning? It went from one end of the spectrum to the other. One story was sad; watching a family deal with the death of a loved one. The other story so fun and upbeat; watching a family learn that they are going to be bringing a loved one into the world.

Next Opportunity?

2009-11-14T18:44:00.000-08:00

Our Princess!

Last night I read another verse that I have read several times before, but never thought about it. Luke chapter 4 starts out with Jesus being tempted by the devil three times. Jesus never fell into the temptations. He did not commit one sin His entire life! Luke 4:13 is the verse that got my attention last night. When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left Him until the next opportunity came. Luke 4:13 nlt Jesus lived as a man, so I know he faced the same temptations that we all face today, but I guess I never thought about it much until I read “until the next opportunity came”.

The devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 1Peter 5:8 nlt The devil worked the same in Jesus’ day as he does now. He is waiting for his next opportunity. We need to beware of this. Quite often we can avoid giving him a chance. We all have different areas where we know we are tempted; we need to stay away from those situations.

Sometimes we end up in a sinful way before we even realize what we have gotten into. That is how the devil likes to work. He is a cagey character. He is waiting for his next opportunity. The fact that he waits tells me he is patient. That also tells me we need to be on our toes at all times.

I don’t want to give him an opportunity, but some how he finds his way into my life and takes them, though. Good thing we have a Savior, Jesus, who will not allow us to be tempted more than we can handle! Even when we do fall into the temptation, He still loves us and pursues us. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life…Psalm 23:6a nlt

Beautiful Day

2009-11-13T18:35:00.000-08:00

When you are in northern Wisconsin, in the middle of November at 7:30 pm and it is 48* out, it is a beautiful day.

To add to the day, I finished the face of a baby quilt for our niece. She is expecting her first baby in January, but her baby shower is the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The doctor told the mom-to-be and the dad-to-be that they are having a little girl. I hope that does not change because I went with more pink in the quilt than a little boy would be happy with! I have not decided what I want on the back yet. I have some blue flannel material with maroon mittens and white snow flakes on it that I thought about using. It did not match the front, but I liked the winter theme for a January baby. I liked it because it was a little different from all of the pastels on the front. I liked it because it was already bought and paid for, waiting for me to use it! The Princess said it looked stupid. She thinks I should go get a solid pastel for the back. Any thoughts or opinions? My favorite material in there is the blue with little rubber duckies and bubbles!

To top the day off, the Princess and I went out for a fish fry. I had baked fish with a baked potato. Yum! Yum!

Now I am off to do some baking for church on Sunday. Then it will be time to go and spend the rest of the evening reading. I just looked at the clock. I guess it won’t be the rest of the evening because it is almost nine now! I will still get a little reading in though!

Veterans Day

2009-11-11T08:43:00.000-08:00

Picture courtesy of Google images.

I know several Veterans that need to be remembered and thanked today for their service to our country: my Grandpa, a few uncles, a nephew and some friends. I also have a cousin who made the ultimate sacrifice several years ago in Lebanon. Thank you to all of you.

Last night I got a phone call letting us know that a friend of ours who has been serving in Afghanistan is now back on American soil. We have prayed for his protection spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically since the day he left last year. What good news to hear he will be home in a few days. I cannot imagine the relief his wife, parents, siblings and other relatives must be feeling.

Do you do any thing for Veterans Day? Other than enjoy the day off work if you are employed some where that you get today off? My Uncle, who served during Vietnam, once made the comment to me about how odd it was that I had Veterans Day off because I worked in a bank at that time and he had to work. His point was well made with me. I have not worked at the bank for over sixteen years and I still remember him telling me that! Back to you and Veterans Day – do you take the time out to thank a Vet in some way? It is rather embarrassing to admit, but I don’t do much. I do make sure to find a way to thank at least one Vet every year though. You don’t have to do or say much, just making the effort to say, “Thank you” is good. If you want to take it a step further you could send a card, buy them a candy bar or bake something for them. I do practice what I preach – I made a pan of brownies for the King to take to work for the Veterans he works with! It’s not much, but it does show our appreciation.

It's Getting Close!

2009-11-10T15:07:00.000-08:00

This was our front yard a few years ago Christmas Day.
Pic courtesy of Mom

I am starting to get ready for my favorite part of preparing for Christmas…baking! The last two trips to the grocery store I have been buying extra flour, sugar, brown sugar, powdered sugar, chocolate squares, butter, cream cheese and all kinds of other ingredients. The week after Thanksgiving I will start baking. First I will make cookies that can be placed in the freezer for a few weeks without affecting the taste. The closer to Christmas we get, I will start making cookies that are best eaten right away. I have some cookies that I bake almost every year: frosted sugar cookies, chocolate covered cherries, coconut dreams and mini pecan pies. Every year I also enjoy looking for new recipes I have never made before.

I do some shopping for gifts every year, but not a ton of it. The King does a lot of the wrapping of the gifts, he likes doing that. That works well because I would rather not wrap. The expense of sending Christmas cards got to be too much, so we do not do that any more. The Princess and Trucker decorate the tree. They do some decorating around the house. I guess we all share in the Christmas fun.

The baking has always been my favorite part of Christmas, getting ready for Christmas I should say. When the kids were real young I still did a lot of baking, plus send out cards and decorate the house and tree. Then I read in a book one day that preparing for Christmas should be fun. We should do what we enjoy and make sure we are not neglecting Christ over the season. If we are running ourselves ragged trying to get ready for Christmas and don’t spend any time with Jesus, we miss out on one of God’s greatest gifts to us. I don’t remember what book I read that it in, but the author’s advice was to put Christ first (like we always should) and then choose one or two other Christmas related activities we really enjoy and focus on them.

I thought that was some good advice. It also came at the perfect time for me. The kids were getting big enough to help with some of the other stuff and I had even more time to focus on the baking!

Leave me a comment on your favorite part of preparing for Christmas. Christmas Eve service at church and spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with my family are very important to me, but I am talking about the stuff leading up to the big day!

Great Oak Tree

2009-11-05T18:44:00.000-08:00

I don't know if there is an oak tree in this picture or not, but I figured there must be at least one in there!
Pic courtesy of Mom

Tonight was Bible study night. We studied Isaiah 61:1 – 3, the last part of verse 3 stood out to me. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for His own glory. nlt

What do you think of when you think of a great oak? I think of strong, mighty, and hard to take down. Then to think that God makes us like great oaks for His glory is another great thought. He created us that way. Whether we think of ourselves as strong and mighty does not matter; we are created for His glory.

One of the ladies in Bible study commented that she once heard the saying, “An oak tree is an acorn that stood his ground.” I liked that saying.

Sometimes it is hard to stand your ground. Sometimes it is even harder to know when you need to stand your ground. Through Him we can be strong and mighty. The times when we feel weak, He is still there for us and He is strong and mighty. During those times we can rely on His strength and might.

Grandma's Cup

2009-11-04T10:00:00.000-08:00

This cup and saucer belonged to my Great-Grandma. She came to the United States when she was fifteen years old from Czechoslovakia. I think it was around 1920, give or take a couple of years, when she went through Ellis Island. She did this voyage on her own, at fifteen years of age. Can you imagine sailing across the Atlantic, going through Ellis Island and then taking a train to Chicago by yourself when you are fifteen? Can you imagine sending your daughter off by herself, figuring you will probably never see her again, when she is fifteen?

She came over to marry her husband, who came to the States a few years ahead of her. As far as I know, she never did see her parents again. I know at least one of her brothers came over a few years after she did, maybe more than one came over.

I remember visiting my Grandma as a young girl, then did not see her again until I was nineteen. That was the last time I saw her. We wrote a few letters from that time until the time she died, when I was twenty-four, but not as many as I should have.

When I was around seven or eight my Mom, Aunt, cousin and I went to visit her. I remember sitting on her kitchen floor with her and my cousin eating fig newtons! If I am calculating right, she would have been in her seventies at that time. Mom told me that two cookies was sufficient, Grandma waved her off and told me to eat as many as I wanted. What sweet words to a young girl!

I would ask her questions about her life before she came to the States, about her trip over here and what her first few years in the Chicago area were like. Now I wished I would have asked more questions or remembered more answers. She hated going through Ellis Island. She said those people were mean and she could not understand much of what they were saying. They made you strip down to nothing and looked you over from head to toe to make sure you were healthy and were not bringing in any diseases. How embarrassing for a fifteen year old girl. She took classes at her church once she was settled here to learn to speak English. Her husband did not think that was needed, but she did not want to live here and not know the language.

I never knew her husband; he died when my Mom was a young girl. But from what I understand she was a model wife and mother. She doted on her family, cooking them the best of meals and keeping their home immaculate. I certainly could learn a few things from her in the domestic area.

I wish this cup could talk. How did she acquire it? Did it come over the Atlantic with her? Did she buy it for herself once she was here? Was it a gift? Did she use it? Or was it for looks? I remember a cabinet with a glass front (I think in her dining room) with some fancy cups and decorated eggs. I don’t know what the deal was with the eggs. Were they real or porcelain?

My Great-Aunt, Grandma’s daughter-in-law, gave me the cup and saucer. It sits on my night stand, back in the corner. That is probably the safest place in our home to keep it from getting broke. Obviously the cup can’t answer my questions, but I love having it. It helps me remember Grandma and remember how much easier life is for me than it was for her.

He Who Laughs Last...

2009-11-03T15:55:00.000-08:00

The Princess, Toad and Dopey snuggling in the chair.

...laughs the most.

One day last week I blogged about the King falling down as he was walking out of our house. I laughed about that a few times during the day.

Last Thursday Trucker and I were leaving town for a long weekend. I was carrying our travel bags out to the van when…I fell! I guess that is what I get for laughing at the King. I did not do a face plant like he did, I was much more graceful. (If falling down can be graceful in any way, shape or form.) As I was stepping onto the outside porch, I stepped on the edge of a boot wiper and twisted my foot. I ended landing right on my butt in the door way.

At first I did not know if I wanted to tell the King that I fell the day after I was laughing so hard at him or not. The whole situation was too funny to keep to myself, so I called him before I left town and told him he was not the only klutz in the family.

Dinner Dates With God

2009-11-02T15:40:00.000-08:00

I know Halloween is over, but I never showed you a picture of the King's pumpkin puking up his guts. He thought this was quite funny. It is that weird sense of humor again!

I was able to spend the weekend with Mom and Marv again. While I was lying in bed Friday morning, in their spare bedroom, waiting for someone to get up, my mind was wandering. I was thinking about being glad I was at their house and anticipating what we were going to do once we were all up and moving. That led me to thinking about spending time with Mom, which led me to thinking about spending time with my kids, which led me to thinking about spending time with my Heavenly Father.

Mom knew we were coming down and she had some of our favorite food in the fridge and pantry, just waiting for us to devour it. If she knew we were going to be down there every Friday, she would probably have our favorite food there every Friday. It would not be a job to her, she would look forward to it. Maybe she would have our favorite desserts ready, or have the table set nice with her best dishes and a vanilla scented candle burning. I don’t know who would enjoy this time together more, her or I.

If every now and then I was not able to make a Friday night dinner date with her, she would be bummed out, but she would cope. If I started ignoring her every Friday night to go do other things, she would be hurt. I am an adult though, so she probably would not say much to me. The first few Friday nights I did not show up, she would have supper on the table hoping that I would join her. After several nights of me not showing up, she would not stop loving me. She would continue to love me and hope that I would decide to show up on the coming Friday.

I wonder if this is how it is for God. He wants to meet with us on a regular basis, whether it is in church, during a time of prayer or while you are spending time in the Word. I think God looks forward to meeting with us; He wants us to be there. He already did all the work for us when He died on the cross. He just wants us to show up and spend time with Him. He is excited that we want to spend time with Him. Once in a while if we do not make church, Bible study, or some other meeting place with Him, I think He is hurt, but He copes with it. If we start blowing him off all the time and never show up, I think He is hurt. He wants to visit with us. He wants to know how we are doing, how He can help us and hear what we are thankful for.

Hopefully I will remember these thoughts the next time I am tempted to choose something else over God.

Funny Stuff?

2009-10-28T08:09:00.000-07:00

The Princess and a few other friends filled another friend’s car up with balloons one day during Homecoming Week! I think a teacher must have been in on the fun, too, because I think they did it the last few minutes of the school day. I like that, harmless fun. I like the fact that a teacher would allow it. I think adults (teachers, parents, neighbors, co-workers) squash the fun sometimes. Yes, pranks should be in good taste, harmless, and the person being pranked needs to know it was done in love. In this case, A. accepted the prank and had a good laugh when she walked into the parking lot to leave and saw her car.

My husband loves to do little things to mess with people, in a fun and loving way of course! He is also one of those with a sick sense of humor. If you fall down, don’t look at him because once he knows you are okay, he will be laughing at you. I have been the cause of his laughter several times when I did some dumb, klutzy thing.

This morning was my turn. He was walking out the door to go to work, I was right behind him to shut the doors because his hands were full. As he took his first step outside – all of a sudden he was face down on the ground. (I am laughing now as I type, picturing him laying there!) He rolled over right away and gave me this look like I pushed him. I asked him if he was okay, he was fine. He got up, straightened his glasses, picked up his lunch box, thermos and to go cup, and walked to his truck. Once I knew he was okay and up and walking, I had to shut the door quick because I found the whole thing hilarious! What is the matter with me? I never used to laugh at some thing like that. Maybe it is true the more time you spend with someone the more like them you will become.

And if that is true, that is a good reminder to me to spend more time in my Bible. I could start by doing my Bible study lesson that I should have done yesterday!

~~~

One other funny little thing. The pumpkins I posted about Monday were devoured by deer Monday night! Good thing I took the pictures when I did because there is nothing left to photograph now!

Pumpkin Carving Night

2009-10-26T16:35:00.000-07:00

H., the King and the Princess

Tonight was pumpkin carving night at our house! H. took her pumpkin home with her. The King’s pumpkin and the Princess’s pumpkin are sitting outside, waiting to be lit.

Don’t be harsh or impatient with an older man. Talk to him as you would your own father, and to the younger men as your brothers. Reverently honor an older woman as you would your mother, and the younger women as sisters.

~1Timothy 5:1-2 The Message

While growing up, respecting my elders was pounded into my head. I don’t think there was a quicker way to get bapped up along side the head than talking back to an adult. As a young child I knew to respect adults. That was Mom and Dad’s rule. At the time I did not know that was God’s rule.

I enjoy spending time with elderly people. Once in a while I can be in a hurry in a grocery store, post office or bank and ignore an old man or lady. I certainly am not rude to them, but I don’t always take the time to help them. Maybe they don’t need help, but a smile and a kind word might make their day. Walking right by them certainly is not the way I would treat my Mom or Dad if I saw them in the store, post office or bank. This was a good reminder to me to take the time to show Christ's love to others.

Elementary Talk

2009-10-24T11:47:00.000-07:00

My Christmas cactus think they are Halloween cactus!

Trucker has been home sick from school for two days. Trucker has a fever that comes and goes. When he got off the bus Wednesday he told me he was tired and he went right to the couch and laid down. He didn’t even take off his coat, hat or boots. He did not want a snack to tide him over until supper was finished. He always eats after school and he never lies on the couch. He has a fever that comes and goes and his nose is running continuously. Several schools in our area have been closed for one to four days due to illness. I don’t know if our school is getting close to that point yet or not, but I know there have been several students out. The Princess developed a sore throat last night, but has no fever.

I subbed in the elementary/middle school library yesterday. One little girl was not her usual smiling, happy self. The other teacher noticed and told her to go the office and let them know she did not feel well. The office called back, that poor little girl had a temp of 103*.

While in the library yesterday an elementary class came in to check out books. As I was checking out books to one little boy I noticed he had the same last name as a little girl I had just finished helping. I asked him if they were cousins or siblings. He informed me that they were twins and that he was her big brother because he was eleven minutes older!

Dreary Day

2009-10-21T09:49:00.000-07:00

This little light of mine
I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine
Let it shine
Let it shine

This song keeps going through my mind today. Good thing, too, because it is dreary outside. It is raining, which we need, but it is about as light out now as it was at 7:00 this morning. I did not get the job I interviewed for two weeks ago. There are two job openings in the help wanted section of our little newspaper. Neither of them are jobs I am qualified for. I just finished talking to an elderly friend on the phone who is watching her husband suffer. She feels he is at the end of his life. Yet she still wonders, how much more can he endure, how much more will she have to watch him suffer. She is handling it like a trooper, though. During thirty minutes of conversation she cried about thirty seconds. I would be a blubbering mess. She says she has cried so much she does not have many tears left. Maybe that is true. I heard that from one other lady one time when her husband died. She was in her seventies at the time of this death and life had not been kind to her. She had seen the death of two children when they were not yet adults.

Talking to my friend today and thinking of the other lady helps put things in perspective. What should we do on days like these? Let our light shine. I lit a candle on our table, but that is not the kind of light I am talking about.

Days like this make me think about Christ’s love for us all the more. He knows why my friend is suffering. He is in control. He knows why I have not found a job yet. He is in control. He knows we need the rain, so it is raining today! He is in control.

Days like this also make me stop and think about all the things I have to be thankful for. There are so many reasons to be thankful, but a couple come to mind immediately. The Princess is done with soccer now. That means she is home right after school instead of some where between 6:30pm and midnight. The last few nights all four of us sat down to the table (at the same time) to pray and have supper together.

Another thing to be thankful for is safety while driving. Saturday night was Homecoming for our high school. After the dance two different students from the Princess’s class were involved in accidents. Thankfully no one was hurt.

On dreary days we need to pull ourselves up by the boot straps. Think about all the things we have to be thankful for. Thank God for those things. Think about all the people who have things so much worse than we do. Pray for those people and those situations. Then take time to listen to what He has to say to you about your own situations!

More Quilt Talk

2009-10-20T09:41:00.000-07:00

Here is the quilt I mentioned last week that I sewed for the the King. I’m tellin’ ya, if ya need a homemade gift in a hurry, buy a panel and two yards of material, the face of your quilt will be done in a day. I had one yard of the orange material and one yard of the stone material, and that was plenty. The inner and outer borders are three inches and the middle border is five inches. That made a nice lap size quilt.

Sorry I have not blogged in a few days again. We were gone over the weekend and yesterday I forgot! Over the weekend we were at the King’s parent’s house. We spend a lot of time there in the fall. They live near the hunting shack and the King and Trucker generally have to be (want to be!) at the shack a couple of weekends before deer season to get wood made and make sure the deer hunting stands are safe. We are usually over there one or two other weekends every fall to help them butcher the meat. They raise pigs and a cow or two every year for us. Is that tremendous or what?

This past weekend we were there because the guys had a work weekend at the shack. Carol, the Princess and I met Kelly (my sister-in-law) in another town and we spent the afternoon shopping and eating lunch together. I love those times together.

One of the shopping stops was a quilt store, of course! I purchased some material to make a quilt for our niece who is expecting her first baby in January. Our niece’s baby shower is next month, so I need to get cuttin’!

Pudgeless Pumpkin Potatoes

2009-10-14T16:09:00.000-07:00

Fall Colors

pic courtesy of Mom

I know, pumpkin and potatoes sound weird together, but they are yummy! I found this recipe several years ago in my Blue Ribbon Recipes cookbook. Now I make them once or twice every fall.

Pudgeless Pumpkin Potatoes
(12 servings)

10 medium size potatoes, peeled, boiled, and mashed (I never peel the potatoes, the skins are good for you)
1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese
½ cup fat-free sour cream (I always use regular sour cream)
¼ cup (1/2 stick) light margarine (I use butter)
1 to 2 teaspoons garlic powder (I crush a couple of fresh cloves)
1 teaspoon salt
pinch of paprika
pinch of dill weed

Preheat the oven to 350*. In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, pumpkin, cream cheese, sour cream, margarine, garlic powder, and salt. Place in a 9x9-inch baking dish, sprinkle with the paprika and dill weed, and bake for 30 minutes. This recipe contains approximately 6 grams of fat per serving. (I don’t know how much fat it contains when I make it, just eat less!)
~ Peggy McFeeters, Morton, Illinois
Pumpkin Festival, Morton, Illinois

I made this at Mom’s house one night. She made patties the next morning out of the leftovers and fried them. They might even be better that way than the first time you eat them! If you try them, let me know what you think.

I made these potatoes tonight for supper with pork chops. We don't have any leftovers to fry for breakfast, though.

Quilting News

2009-10-13T18:00:00.000-07:00

Mom made me a fall table runner. Isn’t it gorgeous? I do not know if I am going to hang it up or lay it on the table. For now it is on the buffet because the runner I had on there needed to be cleaned.

Last night I started to tie the King’s quilt. I did not put batting in the quilt; I used a micro-fleece blanket with flannel backing. I thought this would make it extra warm and snuggly, and since he works outside all winter warm is a good thing. I did not know that the blanket I used for batting would come out through the flannel on most of the spots that I am trying to tie. I only tied twelve or fifteen spots but that was enough to make the back of the quilt look polka dotted. I am going to try to quilt it on my machine, but the quilt might be too thick for that. My other options are to wait until I get back to Carol’s and use her machine or quilt it by hand.

Most of our snow melted today. I went for a walk around noon and it was like walking on a spring day. You could hear the snow melting and dripping off of the trees. The melting snow was so loud; I thought it was raining when I first stepped outside.

Winter is Here!

2009-10-12T16:26:00.000-07:00

We had our first snow flakes of the season Friday night. That melted during the day Saturday. This morning it started snowing again. We could get up to another inch of snow tonight, but tomorrow it is supposed to be 40*. That will melt the snow again. Whew! We don’t want winter to start quite this early.

How was your weekend? I had an enjoyable weekend with the King’s parents. Saturday Carol and I went to get fifty pounds of cranberries; she was making juice out of them when I left Sunday morning.

Where do you think we went next? To the quilt shop, of course! I needed material for the back of a quilt I made for the King. When Mom was here the previous weekend she bought a panel and the material to go around it a few times for the King’s quilt. I have never made a quilt out of a panel before. It goes FAST! I had the quilt all sewn together in eight or nine hours. All I have to do now is tie it. I will work on that tonight during the football game. I’ll show you a picture of that when I have it completed.

No Time

2009-10-08T18:45:00.002-07:00

pic courtesy of Mom

I have lots to do yet today and it is already 9:00 pm. That means not much time to be blogging. The weekend is going to be a busy one, too. Chances are I will not blog the rest of this week. I will catch you up with every thing on Monday! Have a good weekend.

Nice Story

2009-10-07T17:49:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the spacing in yesterday’s post. Sometimes (most of the time) blogger messes with my spacing.

I am cutting the material for Trucker’s quilt. I cut all the fat quarters into blocks and strips several weeks ago. Now I am cutting all the sashing (the strips that will go in between the squares). I have to cut 340 sashing strips! I have never made a quilt that required that much cutting before. I will be glad when I can finally start sewing on this beast! Now that I am re-reading this, I have no idea why I just shared that with you. I guess it was on my mind when I started typing.

I heard a heart warming story today that I will share with you. Last night the Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers. Today a sports media guy was interviewing one of the Tiger players. I did not catch his name. The player was telling about a young boy he visited in the hospital one day this summer. The little boy’s name was Noah and he was in the hospital with cancer.

When the player was getting ready to leave the hospital Noah asked him if he would hit a home run for him in that night’s game. The player said he was trying to avoid having Noah ask him that because obviously you cannot promise a home run. He handled it very well, I thought. He told Noah that he would try his hardest, and if he did hit a homer, he would be thinking about him.

The player’s first time up to bat that night – he hit a homer after having two strikes called against him. I got to see the replay of the homer and what happened afterwards at this point in the interview. After the Tiger player trotted the bases, touched home plate, he showed his fore arm. On his fore arm he had written NOAH in big bold letters. The rest of his team mates knew the whole Noah story so they were all high fiving and hugging the home run hitter. Next they showed the Tiger player at the end of the dugout by himself; crying. He said he could not handle the emotion of it all. He did not understand why he was so gifted and able to get paid to play a game when a little boy had to lay in the hospital and await his death.

Next the sports media guy asked the Tiger player if he was disappointed in losing last night’s game. I hate those questions, of course he was disappointed. The player handled it quite well. He responded that yes, he was disappointed. He played to win. He then went on to say that he has to remember that it is just a game. Many people have many bigger issues to deal with in life than losing a game.

What a guy! Listening to him talk was tear jerking, but so very true. I know many professional athletes feel this same way, I just wish we could hear more of those stories.

I was going to show you a picture of our fall colors up here, but blogger is way too slow. Maybe tomorrow.

Baked Cranberry Pudding

2009-10-06T08:21:00.000-07:00

Rain clouds moving in.
Pic courtesy of Mom

I tried a new recipe yesterday. I thought it was really good and worth sharing.

Baked Cranberry Pudding

2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3 tablespoons melted shortening (I used butter)

2/3 cup milk

1 egg

2 cups cranberries

Hot Butter Sauce

Sift the flour, sugar and baking powder into a mixer bowl. Add the shortening, milk and egg. Beat for 2 minutes. Stir in the cranberries. Pour into a buttered 9-inch square baking dish.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Cut into 3-inch squares. Serve with Hot Buttered Sauce.

Yield: 9 squares

Hot Butter Sauce

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup light cream or milk (I used milk)

Melt the butter in a double boiler over hot water. Add the sugar and light cream. (I didn't use a double boiler. I used a sauce pan and kept the heat low).

Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Yield: 2 cups

~Friend of the Shipwreck Society

Treasured Recipes From The Shipwreck Coast

I bought this cookbook several years ago while on a family vacation to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. There are quite a few recipes I use from this book on a regular basis.

Family History

2009-10-05T06:56:00.000-07:00

Old reels and cases that stored our family history!
Pic courtesy of Mom.

Mom had old family movies from the late 1940's going into the 1950's on reels. I remember watching these with her projector on a screen when I was a little tyke, but I think that was the last time anyone was able to watch these movies. The films were getting brittle and would crack whenever you tried to watch them. For the last thirty years they have been stored in her basement.

We did not want to lose the family history, but did not know what to do with them until fifteen years ago. Once they could be made into VHS tapes, we never got around to it for one reason or another. Now VHS tapes and VCRs are also a part of the past. We had to get them burned onto a DVD.

In August we finally dug the reels out of Mom and Marv's basement and took them into our local photography store. The photographer then sent them to somewhere and they were able to burn her old movies onto DVDs for us.

Mom and I picked up our DVD's Saturday and sat down to watch them Saturday night. I am so glad we finally took our family history in and had it modernized! It was neat to see videos of my Mom and Aunt when they were little girls. It was neat to see videos of my Grandpa who passed away before I was born. My Grandpa would have been in his late twenties and thirties when these movies were filmed. My cousin who is now in his thirties looks alot like our Grandpa did! I was blessed to know several of my great-Grandparents when they were in their seventies and eighties. I got to see what they looked like as much more active people in their fifties.

There were faces that Mom recogized from her childhood, but did not remember their names. Could not remember if they were family or friends. I'm sure if Grandma was still with us she could fill in some of the missing names for us. We have other members of the family who may be able to help with some of the faces.

We have several VHS tapes from when our kids were little. At this time we are still able to watch them on a VCR. By the time our kids are grown and have families of their own, VCRs will be obsolete. I better make sure to take care of those tapes and get them made into DVDs or whatever technology will bring to us next.

Lots of Little Things

2009-09-30T19:15:00.000-07:00

What should I blog about today? Nothing major going on, just a lot of little things.

The King and I are almost over our colds. Now Trucker has the cold.

I had a job interview yesterday. We will see if any thing comes of that.

Last night I got called to sub in school today. That was good news because I had been told they were not going to use subs very often this year.

We had to bring the plants in last night - we were under a freeze warning. They were right. There was a hard freeze last night, it was 28* when I was driving to school this morning. Tonight is supposed to be colder.

Tomorrow I will be working in the church office and then doing some shopping for a friend.

Tomorrow Mom and Marv are coming for the weekend!

Eighteen Years!

2009-09-28T04:34:00.001-07:00

Today it is in the forties out, windy and raining.
Today the King and I both have colds.
Today is our eighteenth wedding anniversary.

Mom gave me her old scanner. I have not got around to introducing it to our computer yet. I was going to do that over the weekend or today and show you a couple of pictures from our wedding. Maybe after a nap and a shower I will feel like doing that. Then again, maybe not!

Eighteen years ago it was in the sixties, slight breeze and a beautiful blue sky.
Eighteen years ago the King and I were excited!
Eighteen years ago I married my dream man!

How are we going to celebrate? We are going to go to parent teacher conferences and hear about what wonderful children were born into our wonderful marriage!!

Saturday!

2009-09-26T07:51:00.001-07:00

huge fungi Trucker and I found growing on a tree - it must be twenty inches long
pic courtesy of Mom

What a Saturday I have planned for today. I have to do a little cleaning, nothing too much though. Then the fun begins! Take the dogs for a walk, get a hamburger/cabbage casserole in the crock pot, sew on Trucker's quilt and go musky fishing with my husband this afternoon or evening.

I hope your Saturday is as fun and relaxing as mine will be.

Cheese Burger or Cookie?

2009-09-24T18:30:00.005-07:00

A few weeks ago Mom and I made the snacks for church. I saw these cookies in The Best of Country Cooking cookbook. Each cookie uses two nilla wafers, red frosting, yellow frosting and a mini York peppermint patty. They were kind of putzy to make, but went fast with two of us working on them. As soon as we had them put together, I put the whole pan in the freezer to help them set up before the patty could slide around on the frosting.

Next time you want a fun, sweet snack for a picnic or for children, make these. The kids loved them.

Monday Mornings With Harvey

2009-09-23T11:18:00.000-07:00

The Princess and Bernie Brewer
pic courtesy of J

This morning I did the lesson for tomorrow night's Bible study. It started out with a question. "When have you experienced joy in meeting a need for someone?" What comes to mind for you? Hopefully we all have at least one time that we can think of, probably more than one.

This question made me think of Harvey. He was an elderly gentleman that lived here in town, with his daughter. To give his daughter a break, I would pick Harvey up every Monday morning and take him for a ride. Our Monday morning routine was a break for his daughter, but I recieved the greater blessing.

Princess, Trucker and I would get to Harvey's around 8:00 am. He would be sitting on the couch waiting for us or sitting on the couch still getting his shoes on. Both of his shirt pockets were full; one with dog biscuits for Butthead and the other with candy for Princess and Trucker. To start out our ride we would always go to the local cafe, as it was time for Harvey's morning coffee. He would always order a donut and glass of root beer for each of the kids. Certainly not what I would order for them at 8:15 am, but they never seemed to mind. I have to say, it never hurt them any, either. Upon leaving the restaurant, Harvey would tell me where he wanted to go.

Sometimes he wanted to go check out a lake he fished as a child or a young man. Sometimes he would just tell me a direction, south, and we would head south until he told me another turn. The stories he told me about the history of our area were tremendous. The stories he would tell me of his own life, growing up and adulthood, were even better. As he was talking, he would interrupt his own story to tell me about a house or spot we were coming up to. Maybe a house he had lived in for a few years while growing up, the house he would pick his wife up from when they were dating, the spot where the house had been where he was born. Quite often he wanted to go down to the marina on the river and talk about his Dad bringing logs down the river way back in the day.

Some rides lasted a couple of hours. Some rides went into the afternoon. We would stop and eat lunch in whatever town we ended up in. The kids even took a few of their afternoon naps while we were driving around. One time Harvey wanted to go way up into the Upper Penninsula of Michigan to see the homestead of his parents or grandparents, I can't remember which any more. When we were driving home that day, even Harvey fell asleep!

Back to the original question. "When have you experienced joy in meeting a need or someone?" The Monday morning rides started out as a break for his daughter. My joy far surpassed hers, I believe. I treasure those memories of some of our rides and talks. Harvey always had a twinkle in his blue eyes when we showed up, so I know he enjoyed those times. His daughter told me that he would talk about our ride all week long until the next Monday rolled around. My kids faintly remember those rides. At the time - they loved it. What three and four year old would not want to ride around with an old man that gave you a piece of candy every time Mom wasn't looking and ordered you a donut and root beer for breakfast? Butthead could not talk, but I'm sure she loved getting a dog biscuit every half hour, too!

Back to Work

2009-09-22T18:29:00.000-07:00

The Princess at the Brewer game - with the sausages!
Pic courtesy of J.

When I was pregnant with the Princess we knew that we wanted me to be a stay at home Mom. This is how I wanted life to be ever since I was a little girl. The King was fine with this. Our plan was for me to go back to work when our children started school. When both of the kids were in school, I started subbing in the school. My first year of subbing I was able to do a long term sub (two years) in the library. This worked out pretty well for us. I continued subbing hoping to get a regular job with the school district.

Last year was my eighth year of subbing. Public schools are having budget issues just like many businesses and individuals are at this time. To help meet their budget, the school will not be using many subs any more. They will still have teacher subs, but not subs in the offices or for paraprofessionals (teacher's aides). I understand why they have to do this, but it does not help our situation.

I also work part time in our church office. It started out as 12-15 hours/week, due to the budget that has now been cut to 5-6 hours/week. This is understandable, too.

I have been praying about a job. What does God want us doing now? Does He want me to go back to work full time? Does He still want me to hold out and hope for a job at the school? Does He want me to continue working part time at the church and maybe get a few days over the school year of subbing?

The idea of working full time, year round does not thrill me at this time. I don't mind the idea of working outside of the home, but wonder what Trucker would do all day, every day next summer home by himself. He will be fifteen years old, so I know he is more than capable of taking care of himself. He will not have a drivers license yet though, so that will make it harder for him to get a summer job. He is an excellent young man, but I have read about some young people getting themselves into trouble when they have the house to themselves on a regular basis.

All of these ideas running through my mind. Lots of prayers being prayed while I am going about doing whatever I am doing. What would you have me do, Lord? During the summer a few unexpected doctor bills came in. Between doctor bills coming in, my hours being cut at church and school and a couple of other things; I think God is telling me to look for a job. Give yourselves to the service of the Lord, and decide to obey him...Jeremiah 4:4

I have started looking for a job. Now I am praying that God will give me wisdom as to what job He would have me working. I don't know if a part time job will come along and I can work that and continue working at church. Maybe a full time job will come along that will work for us. Maybe something at the school will open up. A few ladies I know have jobs where they are able to work from their homes. I have turned my resume and application in to five or six places around town and have been interviewed by one place. It seems to me working at the school or being able to work from home would be the best situation for us at this time. I also know that His ways are not my ways and that He has plans to prosper us. (I cannot think of those verses right now! That is bad!) I will keep looking for a job and see what He brings my way. Another journey to trust Him with!

I will keep you posted as to what happens. How was this for some rambling? Whew! I just tired myself out reading my own post. I will be surprised if any of you read this to the end.

Ladies Bible Study

2009-09-21T11:10:00.005-07:00

pic courtesy of Mom

We have ladies Bible study at our church on Thursday evenings. I was a part of this study for a couple of years, then dropped out because Thursday nights did not work for me. Now that the Princess has her license, I am not needed as chauffeur on Thursday nights. So, I decided to get back into Thursday night Bible study.

We are just starting a new study on Psalm 23. Last Thursday night we did not discuss Psalm 23 much, but caught up with each other as the rest of the ladies had taken the summer off. I did not realize how much I missed spending time with those special ladies. Not only will we be studying together, but we have much to be praying about for one another, also.

One of the ladies has her mother-in-law (who is suffering from dementia) living with her, we will be praying for patience, peace and understanding for her. One of the other ladies has a daughter getting married in less than two weeks, we all know she can use some prayer now! That is a very exciting time, but it can also be stressful. Another lady's Mom has been diagnosed with cancer and given a year to live. Other needs were mentioned, and I'm sure some needs were kept quiet.

So many needs, so thankful we have a Father who wants to hear from us about our wants, needs and desires.

Lookin' Ahead to 2010!

2009-09-18T10:33:00.001-07:00

pic courtesy of Mom

I know it is only September 2009, but I was already thinking about next year. 2010 will be a fun year for our family with several new additions! Not to our immediate family, but the extended family. We have a niece expecting her first baby in January. We have a niece getting married some time next summer, I don't know if they have set an exact date yet or not. We have a cousin getting married in August, they do not have an exact date yet. We have another cousin getting married August 28th.

I love being part of such a large family. Lots of times I don't even know where some of my cousins are or what is going on in their lives, so having weddings on both sides of our family will be a nice time to catch up with everyone.

Our other biggie for next year is the fact that our Princess will start her senior year! Wowsers - next year will fly by.

Tumbledown Shack or Nagging Spouse?

2009-09-17T18:44:00.001-07:00

Better to live alone in a tumbledown shack than share a mansion with a nagging spouse. Proverbs 25:24 The Message

Home?

2009-09-16T14:35:00.000-07:00

pic courtesy of Mom

While driving around the country side last week with Mom and Marv we drove by this house. Do you ever wonder about places like this? Was it a happy home at one time? Have the walls of this house heard the pitter patter of little feet? Have there been Christmas dinners spent with family here? Obviously at one time someone wanted this home and wanted to be in this area. What happened?

Could they not make a living and had to leave for another area for a different job? Were they farmers and needed to find more fertile ground? Maybe a family was here for quite some time, but as the children grew up they left the area. Ma and Pa were left holding down the fort. When they passed away or were no longer able to care for themselves - there wasn't anyone who wanted the home any more. Maybe they do still want the old homestead, but they live far away and are not able to maintain the home any more.

What will happen to this house? Does someone still own the property or does it belong to the state by now? We found another house in the same condition, but it had many out buildings; barn, tool shed, garage and another building we did not know for sure what it had been. It may have been the original house before a bigger one was built. I'll show you pics of that place another day.

I like to look at places like this. I wonder about places like this. Will our home ever be like that? We have a very happy home. One hundred years from now could someone drive by our house and wonder what happened to it? They may not know that we had little tykes chasing cats and dogs around. That we had a little boy driving Tonka trunks all over the house and yard. That we had a little girl who loved to sit on the counter while I cooked and watched my every move. They won't know that we ate well, had plenty of clothes to wear and lots of love to share. They won't know all four of us would bring our blankets into the living room and have sleep overs on the living room floor by the Christmas tree or watching Bugs Bunny cartoons all night. Yes, one weekend in June one of the cable channels used to have June Bugs and they would air Bugs Bunny re-runs all night long! Our tradition for that Friday night would be to have plenty of snacks and blankets in the living room and spend the night in there!

On the other hand, one hundred years from now I won't care about this house. As much as I love our home and the fun we have in it, one hundred years from now I will be in a different home, enjoying the company of many more people!

"Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father's home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going." ~Jesus Christ

I will always wonder about abandoned homes, but I need to focus more on my future home!

Charleston

2009-09-15T11:22:00.000-07:00

John Jakes is one of my all time favorite authors. When I was just a youngster I remember Mom and Dad reading a series of books by him. They kept telling me at the time that I was to young to read those books. When I was a teenager, I noticed the whole series on one of Mom's book shelves. I borrowed them from her and have been hooked ever since!

This book, Charleston, did not let me down. It is a historical fiction writing. This novel followed the generations of one family from pre-Revolutionary War until just after the Civil War. You got an understanding of how families could be ripped apart because of differing opinions about major events that happen in our lives, in our country or concerning political issues. Things we hope our families never have to go through.

Sad as it is, many families are estranged today for one reason or another. Sometimes it can be generations later, nobody even remembers or knows what the original feud was about. Time, prayer and forgiveness can work wonders in these kind of situations. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control will help avoid family feuds to begin with! No doubt we will still have obstacles to overcome as a family, but relying on God will help us through them.

Who Would Think I Couldn't Figure Out the TV?

2009-09-14T09:09:00.002-07:00

Sunrise at the farm
pic courtesy of my Mom

Yesterday was the first regular season game for the Vikings. I am a Vikings fan and wanted to watch the game. Our satellite dish at home is not receiving the local channels (which is where the game I wanted to see was aired), so I went directly to Grampy and Miss Joy's from church. I knew they would not be home, but also knew I could still watch the game at their house.

What I did not know was the challenge it would be to get the dish and television turned on and get the channel that I wanted! I could get the tv on, but all it showed was a snowy screen. I knew I had the dish on because I could see the little green light on the box was lit up. Why can't I change the channel or get anything besides this snowy screen?

After five minutes of messing with a bunch of buttons and trying a gazillion different things, I started to think of my other options. They live about a mile away from a bar, they would have my game on. Do I really want to sit in a bar and watch a football game? Not really, but sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do. I started thinking about friends of ours that are football fans and would have the game on. Is it rude to call them, explain your predicament and invite yourself over? Even if it is, I have been known to be rude before!

Before I tried either of these things, I called the Princess on her cell. She was going out to lunch and shopping with a friend. She was able to talk me through the right buttons to push (between two remotes and the tv and the box for the dish) and all of a sudden - there was my game! Woohoo! What a gal! She saved the day for me.

All of this made me hungry. I checked out their cupboards to find something to eat and found a box of macaroni and cheese. I have not had boxed macaroni and cheese for years. I never eat anything boxed. For whatever reason yesterday, Kraft tasted pretty good. Not as good as homemade, but it beat going hungry!

Today the satellite dish guy is supposed to be here to fix our dish. Hopefully next week I won't have all this mental and emotional strain! Ha!Ha!

Smart

2009-09-12T09:29:00.002-07:00

Lake Superior
pic courtesy of my Mom

Here is one of the Princess's favorite poems. This poem is written by Shel Silverstein and is in his Where the Sidewalk Ends book.

SMART

My dad gave me one dollar bill

'Cause I'm his smartest son,

And I swapped it for two shiny quarters

'Cause two is more than one!

And then I took the quarters

And traded them to Lou

For three dimes-I guess he don't know

That three is more than two!

Just then, along came old blind Bates

And just 'cause he can't see

He gave me four nickels for my three dimes,

And four is more than three!

And I took the nickels to Hiram Coombs

Down at the seed-feed store,

And the fool gave me five pennies for them,

And five is more than four!

And then I went and showed my dad,

And he got red in the cheeks

And closed his eyes and shook his head-

Too proud of me to speak!

~ Shel Silverstein
Where the Sidewalk Ends

The Princess was laying in her bed reading this book one night when she came to this poem. She found it so fun that she came into our room at 10:30 to read it to us!

Ontonagon, Michigan

2009-09-11T11:23:00.000-07:00

Mom and Marv left this morning to go back home. As much as I would like to have them here for the rest of the weekend, they had plans for tomorrow. Oh well!

We had a great time while they were here. We took a ride to Ontonagon, Michigan, one day. It was a beautiful day filled with good weather, beautiful scenery and some of my favorite company. I'm sure I will be showing you lots of pics in the next few days or weeks.

We pulled off into one little park and saw this.

Then drove up closer and read this.

I wonder how long it took them during the Civil War days to get from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to Green Bay, Wisconsin. That had to be a tough and miserable trip at times. How blessed we were to jump in my van, drive up there, spend the day and drive home the same day. I know it was not like that in the 1860's!

In Ontonagon we ordered pasties to go from one of the local diners. Those pasties were huge! In the middle, they were so thick you could barely get your mouth over it. I knew we were in a small local diner when the very busy waitress ran over to the cash register, opened the cash drawer and told the local patron how much her lunch was. The customer put her twenty dollar bill in the drawer, took out her change, shut the drawer and left. I love visiting places like that.

Plans? What Plans!

2009-09-09T05:02:00.000-07:00

Little Bohemia
pic courtesy of Mom

Should we have planned better? Or not? Sometimes the best plans fall apart. Yesterday we knew we wanted to go for a ride, just did not know to where. After we left the house, I remembered I have been wanting to go to Manitowish Waters for twenty years, but never get around to getting there. There is a lodge there, Little Bohemia, where the federal agents thought they had John Dillinger surrounded years ago. They were wrong, Dillinger got out.

Any way, as we were driving yesterday and I remembered that I have always wanted to check this place out, I turned the van around and we headed that way. We were going to arrive around lunch time. Perfect, learn some gangster history and let Mom and Marv buy me lunch! I was wrong on both counts. As we pulled into the driveway, we see a big banner that says they only serve dinner on Tuesdays. Is dinner lunch or supper? In this case it is supper. Every other day of the week they serve lunch and you can come in and look around. Oh well. We stayed outside and looked around.

It was still a great day. We found another place to eat, Michaels, and Mom and Marv still bought lunch! Our waitress was a lady I know from when I worked at the bank twenty years ago, she has children the same age as mine and we have attended a few Bible studies together. A couple of years ago her husband passed away, leaving her to finish raising their children alone. I have not seen her since then, but she has been on my mind many times over the last two years. Whenever she came to my mind, I would always say a prayer for her, knowing that life was not real easy for her.

Even though the day did not go quite as planned; I still got a free lunch, Mom and Marv bought, and I was able to see an old friend. God is good!

I think we have another adventure planned (?) for ourselves today. More on that tomorrow.

New Look

2009-09-08T05:28:00.000-07:00

Mom and Marv are here for a few days! The new header picture and today's post picture are some of the pictures that Mom took over the weekend at the farm.

They just got here yesterday afternoon and we already got a quilt layed out! We don't waste any time.

Now I have blueberry pancakes keeping warm in the oven for them. As soon as they are done eating we can get onto today's activities. I don't know what those activities are yet, but I do know we will have fun!

The Sabbath

2009-09-07T11:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's sermon was about the Sabbath. Pastor talked about the purpose of the Sabbath and what we do with the Sabbath. Do you take a break from your normal routine or do you keep flying from one project to the next? Do you let the clock run your life?

How many clocks do you have in your home? We have many, probably too many. I can see two from right where I am sitting now; one on the bottom of the computer screen and one on my wrist. We also have two radio alarm clocks in our bedroom, two clocks in the kitchen (on the microwave and on the stove/oven), each of the kids have a radio alarm clock in their room, not to mention our cell phones and the clock in the vehicles.

We have to follow a schedule for some things in our lives; you need to get to work or school on time, you need to get to appointments and meetings on time. Do you schedule yourself some fun time? A Sabbath? Time for rest and relaxation?

I do usually get some "my time" in every day. I might be reading, crocheting, baking, quilting, walking the dogs or spending time with family and friends. I need and enjoy this time. God knew we would need this time, that is why he told us to rest and observe the Sabbath.

Great Start to the Weekend

2009-09-05T10:08:00.000-07:00

This is a big onion that Grampy bought for the Princess! She decorated him before we put him in our spaghetti. Pic courtesy of the Princess

You gotta love these kinds of Saturdays. I started out the day by beating the King at a game of cribbage. Next, Grampy came out with a big box of donuts. Not only did the donuts add to the day, we like to visit with Grampy, too!

Now I have a pan of blueberry bars in the oven. We have some New York strips on the counter, thawing. I think we will be grilling those for supper. I have done a couple of loads of laundry and the day is only half over.

Now I get to go find some more treats to bake for church next Sunday. I hope the rest of you are enjoying your weekend, too.

Walking or Talking?

2009-09-04T18:05:00.003-07:00

material I'm using in a quilt for Trucker
pic courtesy of the Princess

The dogs and I started out for our walk last night. We got about one block from the house and one of our neighbors was outside, doing nothing, just enjoying the night. I have talked to him in passing before, but never held a conversation with him. Last night for whatever reason we started talking, and kept talking, forty-five minutes later we were still talking! I know, hard to believe that out of me!!

It was so neat to talk to him. He is going to be eighty in a couple of months. Not only do I like to talk, but I also like to talk to elderly people. I don't know if he will want to talk to me again, though. We started talking about different pets we have had over the years. He had a lot more to talk about there than I did, seeing as how he has had a lot more years to have a lot more pets. How can you talk about pets without talking about losing them? While he was talking about a dog he grew up with, and about when it died, he got all choked up and teary-eyed. What do you do when you are talking with an eighty year old stranger and he starts to cry? You cry with him!

We both got that under control and then he started talking about his wife having a stroke last year. He got choked up and teary-eyed. What do you do when you are talking with an eighty year old stranger and he starts to cry? You cry with him, again!

When we were done talking and I started to walk away, he said, "It was really nice talking to you." And it was nice talking to him. I do like to go for walks with the dogs, but I would give up a walk any day to have a conversation like that.

It was dark out by the time we were done talking so I just walked back home. When we got into the house, Toad hit his dog bed like I had taken him on a four mile hike. I guess walking a block, laying on the neighbor's yard for forty-five minutes and walking a block back home must be tiring.

Don't Want To Be A Rusty Gate!

2009-09-03T15:58:00.000-07:00

What does a rusty old gate make you think of? I think of annoying, good for nothing, useless, irritating, hurts my ears - unless of course someone fixes it.

If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. 1Corinthians 13:1 The Message

If I don't love others, or show my love, I am annoying, good for nothing, useless, irritating, and hurt people's ears. What a wake up call! The Bible teaches us a lot about how to love, but 1Corinthians 13 makes it simple. Simple to understand, not always simple to do. I particularly like how The Message words 13:3-7.

If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.

Love cares more for others than for self.

Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.

Love doesn't strut,

Doesn't have a swelled head,

Doesn't force itself on others,

Isn't always "me first,"

Doesn't fly off the handle,

Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,

Doesn't revel when others grovel,

Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,

Puts up with anything,

Trusts God always,

Always looks for the best,

Never looks back,

But keeps going to the end.

I want to be a squeaky clean gate, so I better start showing the love!

Two Things and One Puppy

2009-09-02T17:02:00.000-07:00

KoKo (3 months old) playing burrito or taco!

We got to puppy sit last weekend. Wow, do they have a lot of energy! You forget what puppies are like when you don't have one for a long time. It has been almost eight years since we had a puppy in our house, and Ziggy was a really mellow puppy. Twenty years ago we had a yellow lab/golden retriever mix puppy, and she was a wild thing. The King had fun playing games with KoKo, the little one we just watched. He calls it the burrito game or taco game or something like that. The King folds a blanket in half length wise and lays it on the ground. He next lays the dog on one end of the blanket and rolls them up in it. It is kind of humorous to watch, but I don't know if the dogs enjoy it as much!

Mom e-mailed this to me with her info in it. I was supposed to e-mail it back with my info. I figured I would blog it instead and share it with the rest of you! I am sure you will all be interested! Feel free to copy it and put in your blog with your own information.

Two Names you go by:

1 Candy

2 Bug

Two things you are wearing right now
1 sweat pants

2 slippers

Two of your favorite things to do:
1 spend time with family

2 read

Two things you want very badly at the moment:
1 secretary job at the school

Two favorite pets you have had/have:
1 Butthead (the lab/retriever mix dog we had) (I didn't name her, the was the King's doing)

2 Ziggy (retriever we have now)

Two things you did last night:
1 shot my bow with the King and Trucker (never missed the target) (never hit the bulls eye either)

2 read our local newspaper

Two things you have eaten today:
1 Colby cheese

2 cucumber

Two people you last talked to
1 the King

2 Trucker

Two places you have been in the past year:
1 Michigan

2 Minnesota

Two favorite beverages:
1 water

2 hot chocolate or chai tea latte

Here is Trucker's list of two things

Two Names you go by:

1 Walker

2 Big Buck Killer

Two things you are wearing right now
1 Peterbilt belt buckle

2 Rockwood tee shirt

Two of your favorite things to do:
1 hunt

2 fish

Two things you want very badly at the moment:
1 .454 Casull Revolver

2 .22 Revolver

Two favorite pets you have had/have:
1 Toad (our basset hound)

2 Toad

Two things you did last night:
1 covered school books with paper bag

2 shot my bow

Two things you have eaten today:
1 venison loin

2 fried egg sandwich

Two people you last talked to
1 Mom

2 Dad

Two places you have been in the past year:
1 Wisconsin

2 Minnesota

Two favorite beverages:
1 Root Beer

2 Mountain Dew

More Mystery Flowers!

2009-09-01T11:13:00.005-07:00

More mystery flowers popping up along the north side of the house. What is it? Mom, Cheri and Connie - you ladies are the flower gurus. Many people did not like the weather this summer. They thought it was too chilly. I personally loved the weather this year. I do not enjoy hot weather, I prefer temps in the 60's and 70's during the day with night time temps in the 40's. Evidently the flowers on the north side of our house feel the same way I do! Some of the flowers and plants that grow there I have seen other years, two of them are brand new to me this year. I wasn't digging around over there to try to get some to grow. They decided they liked our home and yard and wanted to come visit again! The family we bought the house from loved flowers and loved playing in the dirt. Any thing that grows around this place is left from her. For that I am thankful. Some years we have some flowers potted in plants sitting around the yard. Some years we don't.

The King just pulled into the driveway. Way to early for him to be home. I hope he is not sick! I better go check.

These is my Words

2009-08-31T05:43:00.000-07:00

If you like to read about the day to day life of people living in a different era, check this book out. These is my Words is based on the author's great-grandmother's life. The time period is 1881-1901 and takes place in the Arizona Territories. Sarah Agnes Prine did not actually leave a diary, but Nancy E. Turner, the author, wrote the book as if it was a diary.

Sarah is in her teens when the story starts and is in her mid or upper thirties at the end of the book. These years cover her marriage, the birth of her children, the deaths of loved ones and challenges that must be faced.

Whenever I read books of this sort, I am reminded of how easy life is for me today. If I want to cook something, I turn on the oven or stove, no getting a fire going. If I am chilly I put on more clothes or turn up the furnace. I did not have to make the clothes first. The fact that I can read a book and blog (or write) about it is a privilege that many people did not have one hundred years ago. A free education was not available in all places. If I want to go some where I jump in the van or the King's truck or the Princess's car and go. I don't have to walk every where or hitch up the horses. If someone in my family is sick we can get to a doctor quickly. I don't have to try to figure out what is wrong with them and then heal them on my own. I don't have to try to get to a doctor and hope he can get back to our home and hope that the sick one is still alive after waiting a few hours or a few days.

As I am typing I realize how much I take for granted. I try to remember to thank God for my many blessings on a regular basis, but I know I forget to be thankful for so many things.

New Bedtime Routine?

2009-08-29T16:35:00.000-07:00

Almost every night before bed I follow the same routine. Let the dogs out, brush my teeth, wash my face, let the dogs in, lock the doors, spend some time in the Word, read whatever book I'm in the process of reading, lights out. This is the way it has been for years and it works for me.

After I heard about Judy's (a friend of the King's Mom) routine, I realized I need to rethink my get ready for bed process. Judy is a night owl, or an early morning owl, it depends on how you look at it. Which ever way, she stays up until 2:00 am or 3:00 am, this is due to her work schedule for years. Her husband worked on the road for years and was only home on weekends, and not even every weekend. Now they are both retired. Judy is trying to get to sleep at a more reasonable hour and get used to having her husband around all the time.

She said the solution to sleeping earlier involves watching the 10:00 news, grabbing her book and a Dove ice cream bar and going to bed! She eats the ice cream, does some reading and is able to fall asleep by midnight.

As soon as I get to the store and buy some Dove ice cream bars I'll let you know how it works!

Forgiveness

2009-08-26T16:35:00.000-07:00

Lots of polka dot material that the Princess is making a quilt out of!
Photo courtesy of the Princess

Last night I had one of those really scary dreams that you are glad to wake up from. I will spare you all the details because it is to bizarre to try to explain, but I was getting myself into some deep trouble. I didn't know how to get out of the situation that I had got myself into.

I was so relieved to wake up and realize that it was just a dream. It was like a huge weight was lifted off of me.

As I was laying there, thankful that it was only a dream, it made me think of Christ dying on the cross to forgive me of my sins. What a relief that is! That is a huge weight that He lifted off for me. Not only did He take my sins upon Himself, but He promises to not remember them! "And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins." Jeremiah 31:34b nlt Thank you Lord! While I did not enjoy the dream, it was a good reminder of what a feeling forgiveness is.

Psalm 32

Oh, what joy for those

whose disobedience is forgiven,

whose sin is put out of sight!

Yes, what joy for those

whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt,

whose lives are lived in complete honesty!

When I refused to confess my sin,

my body wasted away,

and I groaned all day long.

Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.

My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.

Finally, I confessed all my sins to you

and stopped trying to hide my guilt.

I said to myself, "I will confess my rebellion to the Lord."

And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.

Therefore, let all the godly pray to you while there is still time,

that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment.

For you are my hiding place;

you protect me from trouble.

You surround me with songs of victory.

The Lord says, "I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.

I will advise you and watch over you.

Do not be like a senseless horse or mule

that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control."

Many sorrows come to the wicked,

but unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord.

So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey him!

Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure! nlt