A 'Fall' Thought, A Bargain and a Blessing of a Blog

I know I told all of you that I love fall but did I also mention I love trees with changing leaves on them? Well, Peeps, (that's you all, I needed a name to call all of you and this seemed to fit) I do just love colorful trees. I was at Bug's school this morning (tell you why in a sec) and saw the most beautiful tree with every color on it... reds, yellows, oranges and greens. I stopped and picked some of those beauties right off the ground. I'm sure I looked like the crazy lady with the stroller to all of the high schoolers watching me but hey, I no longer care what high schoolers think of me (as of, gulp, 1991!) As we were driving I was thinking about my leaves and my love of them and this came to me (of course, we know the Lord gave it me). These leaves are so beautiful and yet they are technically dying. Their transformation is happening because they are dying. So beautiful even in death. To me, more beautiful in death. Just like Jesus dying on the cross for the sins of mankind, He was beautiful, His gift was beautiful in death. Of course He was beautiful in life (then and now) as are green leaves in spring and summer but His beauty really was apparent when He accomplished His purpose in His death. My leaves seem more beautiful to me in their death. Just yet one more reason for me to love fall!

Ok, back to why Buglette and I were at Bug's school, my kiddo was awarded Student of the Month!!!!! Yea Bug!!!! Way to Go!!!! We are so proud of you! I got to go and surprise her by showing up to chapel when she was awarded her certificate and her coupon for a free kid's meal at Black Angus Steakhouse (woo hoo! dinner solved!).

Oh, my Peeps, good gravy, I have so much to tell you today and if I don't I will surely burst! Sometimes God just gives us one blessing right after the other and yesterday and today have been my days I guess. I found (through a teacher at Bug's school) a great second-hand store for kid's clothes in my area! The minute she told me about it we were in the car!!!! It's called New 4 You and the owner buys kids clothes as well as other items for kids/babies from other moms or yourself, pays you for them and then turns around and sells them. I was so excited I could feel my feet barely touch the floor! I love love love my girls to look cute but I LOVE a bargain even better!!! I spent $30. on three (yep, three) Gymboree outfits for Buglette; full, complete outfits with socks too!) They don't even look worn! One is for a Christmas gift! I also have plenty of clothes every month or so that I have to pack up and take to a thrift store to give away cause darnit if kids don't grow soo fast so now I can make a little money back on what I've put into their clothes. I even have a high chair in the garage to sell to her! They also have clothes for Bug's size which is awesome because I can do a one-stop-shop!!! Woo hoo!!!

My last blessing (so far) is that I stumbled onto this website/blog that has just blessed me beyond measure!!! It's called Sugar Pie Farmhouse.com/blog and is just too sweet for words. Sugar Mama (no joke, that's what she calls herself, but she looks like one classy lady) has made homemaking into an art!! She makes me feel proud to do what I do (that's hard to do) and is so loving and sweet in the process. She is from the Ozarks in Branson, Missouri and I've been there a few times and loved it, so I can relate to what she's talkin' about. She advises everyone to "put on an apron, light a great smelling candle, put on some music and go to work making your house a home"! She does wear aprons! I think I may adopt this! (hey, some of them can be slimming) Her sight and blog are just the bees' knees! Check her out so we can all drool together, Peeps!

Oh, and PS, Christy, thanks for your sweet thoughts, you made my day brighter!

Past Due Pictures and Halloween Fun

Just as promised, here are the pictures of my mantle after I re-did it... I forgot to take a photo of the before. Does anyone else do that? Anyway, before the mirror was a deep red with gold on it, I had a flower arraingement on the mantle with some photos and two candlestick lamps on each side. Now, it's so much more dramatic and eye popping! I love it!

Also, I redecorated our downstairs bathroom to something more my taste. I've posted some of those pics also! Oh, also I just today did some new things to my laundry room. Laundry room you ask? Why do you care? Well.... I hate laundry so to make doing it a little more palateable I must have a cute laundry room! It works, try it! So there are some pictures of my laundry room too!

Halloween was great. We went to Bug's BFF's for a family party. All the kids trick-or-treated and then came back and we ate dinner (chili and all the fixin's) and then the kids played a lot of cute, fun games. We really had a great time. Bug was Princess Leia (Star Wars) and Buglette was a leaf fairy. They both looked so cute! Bug has been fascinated by all the Star Wars movies since her daddy and I grew up on them. She at first wanted to be the Statue of Liberty but we had a hard time finding what we needed for that costume and when we found the Leia one she changed her mind. Buglette just loves to hear us say how pretty she looks so we knew she'd pick something 'girlie'. We were in Target and sure enough she saw it and pointed to it right away. Leaf fairy it is!

Hope your Halloween was great too! Now it feels like we've begun the holiday season! Hey, don't shoot the messenger!

Just Sick and Carsick...but not Seasick!

Hey readers! I have been so sick lately ("still?" you ask, yes, STILL) and I have been away from my computer till today. I finally went to the doctor (aren't us moms hypocrits? I would've been rushing my girls to the MD had they been sick for 2 full weeks but, nooo, I kept thinking I was getting better and it would be over soon...) After seeing said MD and getting a boatload of medication for Asthmatic Bronchitis I am home today nursing myself like a good girl. I got up and made breakfast for Bug and then realized we had no bread for her lunch so I asked her to buy lunch. Me to Bug, "honey, buy lunch today, it's spaghetti, how bad can they mess up spaghetti?" (she hates the cafeteria food) Bug to me, "aw, Mom, do I have to? I will throw up." Me to her, "please, we are out of bread, I guess you could take something else..." Her to me, "no, it's ok, Mom, I know you're feeling icky, I'll buy". What a kid! Understanding as can be!

But, when we hear her say, "I'm gonna throw up"... we all run for cover cause she will be sick very soon! I have a funny story about Bug and her tummy troubles!

We had taken a cruise with our family (when I say family I mean the whole bloomin' lot of them!) to New England in the fall (I know, I know, yes, I was dying a thousand deaths to be there at that time of year ;) Good gravy, I was pleased as punch!) So, we had made it through the entire cruise in 18 feet swells mind you, without myself or Hubby or Bug being sea sick thanks to Mama being paranoid about it and keeping non-drowsy meds in our systems. I'm tellin' you, I used everything from ginger candy to Bonine to accupressure bracelets on our wrists and I was successful!

After the cruise we stayed about 6 days with my in-laws in their 1800's farmhouse (yes, they even have a barn and a stream on their property... ooh, ahh) in Pennsylvania and took day trips to NYC and Washington DC. Now, on our day trip to DC we had a good 3 hour drive to get there. We were all stuffed into 2 large SUVs following my father-in-law. Once into the city, we needed to head over to the National Mall. Driving became stop and go, turn here, turn there, quick stop, quick go. You get the idea. We made it to the mall area just in time to hear Bug say, "I don't feel good, I feel sick"... then, yep she throws up all over me, herself and my dad in front of us. Poor baby! I just sort of sat there in shock, covered, not knowing what to do first, knowing we are in the middle of DC with vomit all over! But, of course once she's sick she feels great!!! As for me and her Daddy and my Daddy, not so much! We stop our caravan and quick pull into a driveway right by the Washington monument (with a sign that says, Warning, No Parking, Violators Will Be Prosecuted) to clean up. Naturally, a DC cop pulls in behind us to, I'm sure, arrest us for planning some terrorist activity. These are the times I am glad Hubby is in law-enforcement and travels with his badge! He explains who he is and what happened and the nice DC cop lets us have the time we need to clean up and even asks if Bug needs anything and if she's ok. Whew.

Now, God, in His great plan knew this would happen all along and gave me the foresight to grab jammies for Bug for the long ride home that night so she slipped into those. Also, Hubby and I had just spent about a week or so the year prior in DC for an award ceremony he was asked to attend. We stayed all of 3 miles from the national mall in Crystal City and of course, me being me found a Target close by and did some shopping. Sooo... we knew right where the closest Target was and where we could get clothes for Bug to wear that day, Febreeze for the car and baby wipes for mine and my dad's clothes which weren't bad at all! I ran in, grabbed it all, ran out and we were back sightseeing with the family in, literally, fifteen minutes!!!! Problem solved, God is GOOD!!!!

Moral of the story, when they say, "Uh, I don't feel well," duck...

Sooo Sick...But Grateful

Hey everyone! Sorry I've been away for a while, I've been soo soo sick! I got a cold/flu? last Friday and it just knocked me on my rear! All I've been able to do is barely care for my kiddos (Hubby is on his own right now) and do NOOO housework! Ugh!!!! My house looked like a level four tornado went through followed by an earthquake that was an eight on the richter scale. That is, until my wonderful mom came on her day off to help and clean! God bless you, Mom! I still have stuff I need to do to catch up but at least things are under control!

So, I have no great recipes to share (cooking consisted of mac 'n cheese and chicken nuggets), no great pictures of what I did to redecorate my house (yeah, you don't want to see pics of my house right now) and no great fall adventures we took the girls to this week (we were lucky to get to school) but life will get back to normal soon. Church today is a step in the right direction and then on to a normal week... Club Mom at church, bible study, Bug's school spelling bee, Missionettes for Bug at church, and cooking and cleaning... finally! Our regular lives can sometimes feel so mundane, so boring even but when you can't perform your normal duties and you see how your family suffers for it, it makes you grateful for even boring. Don't take it for granted, remember there are people in hospital beds who would love to be doing their boring routines, there are people right now who would love to be complaining about a cold/flu as the reason why they don't feel well instead of the chemo coursing through their veins, wives who would love to be once again picking up her husband's socks and putting the toilet seat down but can't because he's been in heaven for a few months now. Remember all of this as you do yet another load of laundry, wash another dish, change another diaper, drive another carpool. We can all be grateful for the little blessings in our lives. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need a cough drop and to blow my nose...

Black Creates Drama!!!

Oh, how I love all these great blogs I've discovered! I spent the late afternoon/early evening spraypainting candlesticks matte black and setting medium sized pumpkins on top of them. Then I spray painted a large metal vase I had in a bathroom the same black. Next I took some dry tree limbs from around our yard and sprayed those black too. Then I sprayed the frame of a mirror I acquired from buying our house the same black. What then??? Well, it all went up onto the mantle in our family room and talk about drama! I will take a picture and post it soon. I will need to change the pumpkins as the seasons change but other than that I think I can leave it. My friend Jessica and I made a banner that says Harvest that is hanging on my mantle too. It was easy and fun and turned out sooo sweet!

If you have a chance, get to some of those blogs I've listed... they've got my juices flowing!!!

Silent War

A funny thing is happening in our home right now. Hubby and I are having a silent war over the bathroom window. I get up in the mornings and the first thing I do is open my blinds... I want to see the world and let the natural light in! I even open a small bathroom window's blind in our downstair's 3rd bathroom. It's small and the room is small but I love that natural light. It faces our next door neighbor's house and our side yard. Hubby is afraid our neighbors can see into our bathroom (ok, not the room I'd like them to be able to see in, I agree with that) so I put a plant on the window sill and only open the blinds a bit for light. Every time I go in there I find the plant on the counter by the sink and the blinds closed shut! So... what do I do? That's right, I place the plant up again and open the blinds, a bit. Some time can go by and back in I go to, you know it, find the blinds closed up and plant on the counter. This continues all day! Even when he's been at work he comes home and does it!

So, not one of us has said a thing about it but we just keep undoing each other's work! I really don't think our neighbors can see in there with the plant in the way but you know Hubby, always extra cautious! Girls, I need to strategize my next move, any ideas? I can hear my mother going, "oh, you shouldn't do that to each other, communicate" but I have a feeling one of Hubby's three sisters may have an idea or his brother? In any case let me know!

PS... if there's anyone out there who thinks this is a cruel thing to do to each other well, you don't know Hubby and I, this is our sense of humor and how we relate to each other! Don't criticize, just give me ideas!!!!

Chicken Rice Soup with Pumpkin Bread

Quick post... Chicken and Rice soup and Pumpkin Bread:

Take one Fall day, overcast and cool out, high of maybe 63;

Sunday, so Hubby and kids are home; burn some Fall scented candles and

make SOUP!

Chicken Rice Soup:

1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms (I used creminis)

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 tsp. vegetable oil

1 32 ounce carton of chicken broth, more to taste if needed

2 12.5 oz cans of chopped chicken, no need to drain

1/2 cup chopped carrots

1 cup chopped green beans (I used frozen)

1 package long grain wild rice mix with seasoning packet (I used Uncle Ben's)

1 tbls. poultry seasoning

1 tbls. garlic salt

Saute onion and mushrooms in oil till tender. Mix in other ingredients. Bring to a boil. Simmer on low heat covered for 20 minutes.

Enjoy with pumpkin bread, either homemade or cheat for goodness sakes and make it from a box, I use Pillsbury Quick bread and it's our favorite!

Did I mention I love Fall?