Happy Bday Honey!

I just wanted to post a quick note for my husband, Eugene! Today is his 51st birthday! For the Next 9 months we will be the same age, until my next bday. He has the exact amounts of minutes and seconds older I am, but I remind I am better looking! :)

Anyways, I just wanted him to know that I can't think of anyone else I would have loved spending the past 32 years with! We really are growing old (that's the yukky part) together. This week has been a trial, with our pump going down and then it not working right when we got it back and having more stuff done. But he has kept his cool and I am so glad I have an expert for a husband, who can fix anything!

Tonight we had everyone here, and it was great! We had a cookout and cheesecake too! I love when we get our family together.

That's all. Now that the house is on an even keel again I should be able to post more! I owe you canning tips, don't I! Check me out on Wednesday!

Chris

Doggone it!

Last night at about 10 pm my husband went to jump into the shower; but, no water! We ran to check our well and sure enough the pump wasn't working! I ran around turning off all the sprinklers and such. we let it cool all night, then turned the breaker back on this morning. Still isn't working right! Bummer! We filled all our water storage tanks and the tub. Then we started calling for help. Not looking too promising. Our pump is 27 years old, so chances are it will need to be replaced. A new pump? $500 and 4 or 5 day wait. We're trying to get a local to match the price we can find on the internet, but I don't know! Have you ever tried living without water? We gathered up all the disposable dishes from the trailer, put a tank in every bathroom, so you can flush, and have bottled water to drink. Chelsea went over to her friends to shower. This is the life, eh?

Chris

Wheew!

Okay, so I have had a busy couple of days, not a lot of crafting going on, let me tell you! I had my first pack meeting yesterday, and had to get all the awards, the food for the cookout and get down to the church with everything and set up! Thank heavens for my wonderful husband, who let me drag him along! Here it was 96 degrees and he built me a fire! Then he ran to a friends house to pick up the awards I forgot to pick up! He is a jewel, I tell you what! I knew there was a reason I married all those years ago! Anyways, the cookout went well, and it was really fun, only we didn't have very many there! I am going to have to work on that! It was nice to get to know the families a little better! I still feel like the old filly on the block, but that's okay; I'll just be grandma to everyone! Grandma Cubmaster! What a hoot!

Tomorrow the family is getting together to celebrate Bailey's 5th Birthday, which is actually on Tuesday! Bailey is our total towhead! Here is a picture of Bailey (on the left) with her younger cousin, Maddie. Besides them I have 2 other granddaughter's Sydney and Sarah. then I have 2 grandsons, Conner (Bailey's brother) and Jesson (Maddie's brother). It is so cool to have more girls than boys! I was an only girl (3 brothers) in my family, my husband only 1 brother, and we ended up with 2 boys and 2 girls! So to now have more girls than boys is awesome!

Back to Bailey! She broke her collarbone a few weeks ago, falling of our trampoline! She is doing good and we all are hoping for an awesome, uneventful day tomorrow! Lots of cool gifts too!

chris

Check this out!

I was just blogging along and came across this cute blog, called My Organized Chaos. It is so cute and she has soooooo much on there. Anyways, here is a link http://www.myorganizedchaos.net/2009/08/sticky-words-vinyl-with-giveaway.html to a contest she is running, giving away some totally cute vinyl sayings! She has a link to the company she is getting it from and they have the cutest sayings! So go, enter!

Chris

Using What You Have

Let me start by saying, I am a pack rat! I admit it! We have a small room that I use to put my craft stuff in. Let me tell you, it is crammed full! I have an aisle from the door down the center of the room to the craft table, where I have my computer set up right now. The walls on both sides are lined with heavy duty shelves. On those shelves are printers (yes 2), a scanner, a whole shelf of my paper collection, a whole shelf of accumulated designer scrapbook kits, a couple shelves full of fabric, and the rest filled with Sizzix dies, rubber stamps, ink pads, brads and eyelets, buttons, do dads, adhesive, 2 Xyron machines, a laminator and a Cricut and 20 cartridges! Oh and the shelf over the window holds paints, more flowers, more brads, and more buttons! And did I mention my ribbon collection? Or the closet crammed full of yarn?

You get the idea! So about 2 months ago, I decided enough was enough! I cancelled all my subscriptions, as cute as they are, and forced myself to stay away from the craft store. I have been knitting squares from my baby yarn, so I can make patchwork afghans. They are going to be adorable. And if I don't sell them, they will go to the Humanitarian center. And I have started scrapping again. The shear amount of stuff I have overwhelmed enough for awhile, that I couldn't force myself to scrap! Since I began my "Use what you have" campaign, I have felt the old creative juices begin to flow. Here is an example of that ---->

Now the significant thing about these pages are that I used 5 things, paper, flowers, buttons, brads and glitter. That's it. I had this adorable Daisy D paper, but it was really busy, so I cut some of the flowers from it and used them as the basis this page was designed around. Then I made butterlfies from the same paper. Cut them out with my old red Sizzix. Cut 2, stacked them, stapled, then put ribbon down the middle for the body and covered in glitter. Added a button for the head. That's it and they turned out so stinkin cute!

I added color coordinated buttons and flowers and my favorite Thicker stickers, then did the most important thing, told the story of how these pictures all tied together.

So watch as I learn to make do with what I have. This could be interesting! I promise I will buy now scrapbooking supples (with the exception of Kukoyo adhesive, which has been discontinued) until October! Have fun with me and see how well you can do too! Let's see how inventive we get with all we have! And always remember that the reason we scrap is to give our family picture book memories!

Cbris

New Adventures

Okay, so anyone who knows me, knows I knit and crochet all the time. It is how I relax during tax season and how I stay awake when I watch TV! So I have been stashing hot pads, wash cloths, baby blankets and whatnot, away, thinking that someday I will start selling them! My family can't stand anymore afghans or sweaters and my hands have to be busy. So I have been toying with opening up an online store, or at least showing them here! Tell me what you think, okay? and if you live in Idaho Falls area, keep an eye out, because I decided to take a corner of my office and turn it into the Cosy Corner, where I will display my items! Check back in the next week to see what I come up with!

Chris

Senior Moment

Tomorrow is the first day of school. So what you say. And usually I would agree with you. But tomorrow is the first day of my youngest daughter's senior year! I am not sure I am ready for this! Because I am not ready to admit I am that old! Not ready to admit I have been raising children for 31 years. Not ready to have an empty nest.

You are probably going to get tired of me boobing about it this year! Chelsea's senior year is going to be a full, fun year! She is a studentbody officer (Publicity Chairman), Senior Editor of the Yearbook Staff, plays in the school's drumline, and managed to squeeze one semester of orchestra (violin) in there too! All this and she is a 3.9something student! Can you tell I'm proud?

And in the midst of all of that, she is a FOX addict! Now I'm sure any of you who have teenagers, know what FOX is! Only the coolest line of clothing spawned by motorbikers, that ever existed! And right now, includes about 75% of Chelsea's wardrobe!


When Chelsea had her birthday last month, let's just say it was a FOX fest! She got FOX shirts, hoodies and even a purse (which I didn't know they made)! And to top it off, I even made her a FOX cake (not an easy feast since it was 90 degrees that day and buttercream frosting melts)!

Today I ventured into Chelsea's picture files and came up with the first 2 pictures! She seems to spend alot of time in the bathroom with her camera, but I have to admit I love some of the results! These pictures were chosen to complete a scrapbook page honoring her 17th birthday. I'll post back when I have it done!

Now in answer to the title "Senior moment", I'm sure you thought I was referring to her senior year. Actually, I'm referring to my getting older. I am having a senior moment today "facing" another last on my list, the last time I send a kid off to public school! I seem to have alot of these Senior moments with Chelsea, but I guess that's what happens when you wait 11 years to have your last child. Believe me I am trying to enjoy them all, every chance I get!

Chris

Happy BDay Greg

Today is Greg, my brother's birthday! I was going to say baby brother, but since he is 47, he is not exactly a baby! He lives in California, and works in the State Penal System, which means he is one of those lucky people that they are furloughing! I wish him peace and hope all is going well! I looked and looked for a picture, to show you, but I don't have any that are as an adult, and I don't think you want to see the 14 year old stuck in my son's high chair! (imagination will do!)

So happy bday Greg, and here's to many, many more! I need somebody to grow old with me!

Love your sister!

Better Hurry!

One of my favorite websites, www.foodstoragemadeeasy.net, has a challenge going on. If you have been trying to get more prepared, for emergencies and such, this challenge is for you! Click on the link in this blog post, or on the button down the right side of my page. Once you are signed up, then sometime in September they will begin this. With no warning (like in real life) you will get an email telling you what creature comforts you get to use for the day! Maybe you'll get electricity, maybe you won't. Maybe you get to go to the store, maybe you don't. You won't know. And each day, for seven days, they will challenge you with something new. The point is to see how well you would do in a real situation and to help you to improve your emergency plans. They want to know your sucesses and even failures; because after all we learn from the failures, right?

So I hope you will join me in September and let's get our Preparedness mojo on!

Chris

Getting around to everything

Okay, so I think I have my scrapping mojo on. I haven't scrapped much in the past year, I think I burned out on it. I was busy trying to create the most wonderful pages ever, and forgetting that the main reason I scrap is to create memories for my family. Not only that I was overwhelmed by the mess in my craft room. It is 8x10 and no matter how well I clean it, it is still stuffed to the gills! So this spring I took stock of the $1000's of supplies I had and said, make do. Don't buy just to buy. I cancelled my monthly kits, which was hard to do, because I tell you Scarlet Lime's kits are a sensual experience! ETM's are great too, but when I counted I had 42 kits that had never been opened! So guess what? Over the weekend I opened a couple of Scarlet Lime kits, mixed and matched and made these great pages! I discovered I loved SEI paper and anything Bo Bunny! But I didn't try to overdo it, just simple pages that tell the story!
This was a picture I took of my cats. Now they are all outdoor cats and in the winter they like to line up on the back of a bench we have on our front deck. I don't know if they are trying to absorb heat from the window, or if they just want to try and get some pity from you. but this one morning, Cruiser was sitting on top of Shy and I couldn't resist! I grabbed my phone and snapped this picture, then texted it to my husband. We dubbed them the Stackin Cats after this!

This is some SEI paper from one of Christy Tomlinson's kits! I love how she can pick loud, vibrate pages for her kits, then give us oodles of cute, not mainstream, stuff to go with them. Here I used a couple of expoxy stickers from Colorblok and this wonderful flower that looks like it was made for the paper. It took a dismal winter picture, which was how I was feeling in January and made it so cute!

So if you get a chance find a cute set of kits that fit your personality, but do me a favor, use them! Don't hoard like I have!

By the way, if you get a chance, www.diecutdiva.com is doing a Acetate in August blog hop! http://die-cut-diva.blogspot.com/2009/08/acetate-in-august.html I tell you, the stuff on each blog is so stinkin cute! I have been afraid to use acetate, but I think I might try after seeing some of their stuff. Check it out, and why you're there, enter their contest. I think it goes until Friday

Okay, here is a tip today to use your garden produce. My beans are coming on and our favorite way to have our first pot of green beans is this: We pick enough beans to feel a large pot, add about 1/2 lb bacon, sliced in bite sized chunks, and dice up a tomato or two from your garden. Cover with water and put on the stove and simmer until beans are done. I've never timed it, but probably about a 1/2 hour. Be sure and add equal parts salt and sugar to flavor it. I tell you, you will crave beans all year long after you have them this way!

Enjoy the day and create some memories!

Chris

Shocking!

Okay, so a week ago Sunday, the bishop called me in. Always makes me nervous when he does that. My mind ran through all the jobs opening up in our ward, but something told me not to settle on any one yet. Good thing. We made small talk for a minute, then he asked, " so how do you feel about scouting?" then proceeded to tell me they felt I was perfect to be the cubmaster! I just sat there for a minute, then started to laugh! I don't know if the bishop knew how to take that! But you see, my youngest son is 28 years old. Cub scouting was not my favorite thing to do when my boys were that age, but I suffered through and made sure they completed everything. When Kendall turned 11, I celebrated because I would never have to be involved in cub scouting again (especially the pinewood derby). When Chelsea was born later that year, I secretly thanked God that I had a girl and would not have to do cub scouting again! I told the bishop this, then told him I was willing to try, but don't be surprised if they come to him and ask "Get rid of this woman, please!"

I have a suspicion Heavenly Father is really laughing right now!

Preserving on Wednesday too

Okay, so August is always a busy time at our house since we have lots of August birthdays, school registration and school starting, family reunions; you get the picture. Add to that this year that Gene went to SLC for union meetings Monday and won't get back until tonight, Chelsea goes to Martin's Cove and won't get back until Saturday night, and I have a roaring summer cold, and I haven't been able to or wanted to post. So here is a catchup:

Jeremy turned 30 on Sunday and he and his family shared it with us. I made enchiladas, which are his favorite and they got a gigantic chocolate cake! Here Maddie and Jesson help him blow out all 30 candles! I can't believe he's 30! He isn't even my oldest! Do you know what that makes me? Don't answer!

Next, are the last minute preparations for Martin's Cove for Chelsea. For those of you that don't know what Martin's Cove is, it is a historic site belonging to the LDS church. Thousands of people go through there each year and hear about the pioneers and get to pull handcarts. Some groups sign up to go on a 3 day trek. That is what Chelsea is doing with our Stake. They have to dress in pioneer clothing and they can only take up to 17 lbs of supplies. No phones, no ipods, no electronic anything! Pretty tough for teenagers! :) Anyways, she made her two long skirts herself, but got stuck on the bonnet, which is required. So I finished it for her tuesday morning. She is packed and ready to go tonight! I will miss her!

Now, for preserving Tuesday, which is a day late due to the afore-mentioned cold. Do any of you have one of these, a recipe tin? I was wondering if they are totally obsolete, or if we all still have one? This is mine. I bought it when I was 16 and worked at a Hallmark store. I started collecting recipes right away! When I got married, my grandma, mom and aunts all gave me cards with their favorite recipes. Later, other young mom's in our ward and I exchanged recipes we got from our families, or magazines in the doctor's office, or through some recipe club in the mail. No internet to go search on a moment's notice. Mine is stuffed pretty full. Truth is I have put most of these recipes in ward cookbooks over the years and really don't need the cards anymore. But they are like an old blanket, they bring me comfort. Some of them are in my mom's handwriting. She passed away 4 years ago. So they are like a little piece of her. Some are from my grandma, and my mother-in-law, and they are gone too. So they are nostalgic to me. So I hang onto my card file.

So in honor of Preserving Tuesday, a day late, here is a recipe from the card file. It is for Oatmeal Cake, and I originally got the recipe from Colleen Scott. I just dug it out on Monday to make one for a funeral. I was reminded how good it is. And when I went down to the funeral to help, it was one of the first gone! Enjoy!

Oatmeal Cake

1 1/4 C boiling water

1 C quick oats

1 stick butter

Mix well and let set and cool a little.

1 C sugar

1 C brown sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 C flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

Mix well, combine with first mixture; blend well. Put in 9X13 pan, bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Put topping on it immediately, so it will melt over cake. Let cool, serve.

Topping

2 tsp butter

1/4 C canned milk

1/2 C brown sugar

1/2 C coconut

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 C chopped nuts

Mix together. Follow instructions above.

I hope you enjoy this yummy, moist cake as much as we do!

Chris