Getting Ready!!!

We are getting ready for the celebration!! We are cleaning up the joint!!! Putting on our favorite beads....Throwing on a coat of Strike-A-Pose Rose!!!......
And getting ready to celebrate!!!!!! I know I told you I would not show a "certain" project until the celebration started, but I can't resist. Here is a little peek....Still lots to do...organizing the games and goodies just for you all (or y'all, depending on where you are from)!!! So put on your fancy party dress, grab those pearls and lipstick and I'll see you Sunday when the party begins!!!!

A Mixed Bag

Yesterday was a mixed bag! Lots of great wonderful stuff, and some not so wonderful stuff. That is life though. Sweetheart was home all day. That was a blessing. He worked SO hard all day long. He mowed the yard and tended to many things that needed tending outside. He turned my small garden and painted the little fence that goes around it. He killed dandelions and clover, and tended to his little rose bushes. Let's talk about those rose bushes. Sweetheart loves roses and had several beauties in our last home. When we moved here he planted 3 bushes. They bloomed beautifully that first year, but since....nothing. Not even a bud. They grow like crazy, but they are not getting pollinated for some reason. What can he do? Any rose pros out there?While Sweetheart was working outside, I was in our home, doing laundry and schooling. Zach had a day of melt downs....one of the not so wonderful things, and Charlotte decided to scam me on her schoolwork, turning in papers that were done last week. Do they think we are that dumb? Well maybe since it worked for her the day before! The mail came and a large box was brought to the door. Inside was an unbelievable blessing!!!The entire Saxon Math grade 2 curriculum! I was expecting the binder, but both workbooks and all the hard cards were there, completely unused! I was touched to tears. This is such a wonderful blessing because and money meant to go on this expensive curriculum can now go to other books. Pluuuus, my wonderful neighbor Cindy was here and said "Do you have Saxon 3?" No, I don't, because Charlotte started at 4th grade. "Well, I have 3rd grade and my daughter can't use it. You can have it." Wow!!! Math for Zach is covered forever. He has 2nd and 3rd and when he gets to 4th I can use the books Charlotte has. Only the tests will need to be ordered ($12). God is faithful and knows our needs!!! Anyway, thank you so much Donetta for blessing us with this "glorious" gift. That is what Zach said as he looked through the workbooks. "It is glorious, Mom!" Hadias asked me to post some pics of my garden. Before yesterday, it was just a hard patch of dirt. After Sweetheart turned the soil and painted the fence, Kyle and I put in some plants.3 big boy tomato plants, and 1 ...ooooh, I can't remember. It is a large tomato with low acidity and starts with an "s". How is that for gardening know how??!!4 pepper plants and 4 broccoli. We are experimenting with the broccoli at Charlotte's request.That little pepper plant will be so happy that no cucumbers are nearby to choke him out like last year! They all got a really good drink after their photo op! Today we will plant the seeds. TJ will help! Hadias is posting on her garden today too. I am excited to read it. She is about the sweetest lady ever!!! I really enjoy reading her posts.Another blessing yesterday, was a visit from my mom. She stopped in to bring Sweetheart his birthday gift. She brought me one too! This little book with the instructions to sit down later, by myself and read it. I did just that. It is a very touching book of promises from a mother to a daughter. She promises to "listen" to me anytime I need it. She told me she will keep her opinions to herself.....doesn't sound like any mom I have ever known!!! It was a very sweet book and brought tears to my eyes. It said "If you could see yourself through my eyes, the view is amazing."

There was another gift in the bag too. Let me tell you something about my mom. She has had the most beautiful fingernails for years and years. Always well manicured and usually hot pink! She goes to a nail salon and has them done regularly. And then there is me....I love to have my nails done too. My favorite is a french manicure with squared off nails. However.....I am a quilter. There are many quilters who have long nails and still quilt beautifully. I can not. They get in the way and I find myself peeling them off. All this to say, my mom bought me a gorgeous glass emery nail file.Look at my non-nails! The flower is hand painted with a rhinestone in the center. It comes in a nice case. Beautiful. It did a great job on the rough edges of my stubs!! My mom really blessed me yesterday. My kids too, because Grandma took them for ice cream and a donut!!!

While sitting out on the deck reading the little book, I kept getting whiffs of this most heavenly scent. What was it??? It was beautiful. I realized it was my Lily of the Valley!Hard to see in the picture, but there are hundreds of little white bell shaped flowers, and the scent is like nothing else!

Well that was my day! This pic of Sweetheart about sums it up. Poor guy worked so hard and is suffering horrible sunburn on his legs! I am truly blessed to have this man in my life! I guess, all in all, there were many more blessings than not! Just hard to see that through all the melt downs! Thank you for letting me see it more clearly here.
Announcement: Sarah Dee is having a book giveaway! Leave a comment telling her I sent you, and you could win (or help my chances!).

Also, Peggy at The Simple Woman Cannery, is having a giveaway. She is drawing for a Blue Ball, (or is it Ball Blue?) book and canning tools. I have never canned anything before, but want so badly to try it. This is when I really miss my Grandmas!

Another part of my evening was feeling the grief of a dear blogging friend. Please lift Ashley and her family up in prayer as they grieve the loss of their little Jeremiah. He was due close to the same time as my granddaughter. Ashley made him a little blanket, as she has for all her children, and has a beautiful picture of her sweet baby's hand holding her finger. The empathy is overwhelming even as I write this. Maybe you could pop over and leave her a comment to let her know you are thinking of her. This is a very difficult time, though her grace shines through like a beacon!

A New Look

My blog is getting ready for the big celebration, and went out and got a whole new look!!! This look is so ME! I LOVE it!! It is not a gift I have...computer know how, but a dear lady helped me along...well, she actually took my ideas and made them better. Thanks Tammy!!! You accomplished exactly what I was looking for!

I sat down to make my grocery list and have gotten a bit discouraged.

Prices are sure going up. How do we keep to our budgets without compromising our menus? It is tough. I will be glad to get my garden in and reap some of the veggies. I was looking at some tips on how to make your food dollars stretch.

That loaf of bread should last a while!!! I found some great tips from wartimes. Gosh, ladies, we are in the same spot our grandmother's were in back in the 40's! It is wartime here in 2008! Back then our government tried to help.She looks completely pleased to make her own dried bread crumbs. Not sure I could be so happy about it. Attitude. It is all about attitude. So things will have to be pared down a little. You know that cherry pie I made? 3 bags of cherries at $3.98 a bag...that was a $12 PLUS pie. You can't see me, but I am smiling just like the lady in the ad. My jaw is a tad tighter, but I AM smiling!! Count it all joy!!!!What happened to the A&P mentality of helping housewives, and working mom's to supply healthy nutritious foods at affordable prices? The shopping carts back then were much smaller. They did not need to buy as much because they canned their own fruits and vegetables. They made their own sauces from their canned goods. No Prego in that shopping cart! It is wartime girls!! That means change. We haven't felt it as hard as we will, but we are fully equipped to make it through!!Wouldn't it be awesome if they brought back Green Stamps???!!!I remember my mom laying out the empty books and the stacks of stamps on the dining room table. We would use a wet sponge to wet the backs and fill those books up!! Then we would take the stacks of filled books to the S&H Green Stamp store and redeem them for something wonderful...something we had picked out and would have been saving for all along. When I was about 10 years old, my mother let me save my own S&H Green Stamps. I redeemed them for a guitar with a vinyl case. I had forgotten about that......
So I am off to finish that grocery list with a renewed attitude! As TJ would say,

"Can we do it? YES we can!!!!!"

Happy Birthday Sweetheart

No, that is not TJ, but isn't it amazing, the resemblance? That is a picture of Sweetheart at around age 2. Today he turns one year older.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart.

Since he is working all day today (12 hours) we celebrated yesterday. Bud and Rachel came over for a late lunch/early dinner. Sweetheart spent ALL day cleaning out my van. I mean DEEP cleaning. He took out all the seats and shampooed the carpets. They look brand new. I am gonna share a little secret with you...shhhh, you can't tell anyone I told you. When you trade in a car that has horrible stains on the carpeting that you know will not come out with a good shampooing, the detailer makes it like NEW. How?? Spray paint. Yep. Spray paint. I was very sceptical but Sweetheart assured me it works...he runs a car dealership...and you know what?? I can not tell where he painted. It works great.Of course, I wouldn't try this on HUGE stains (though I think detailers do this), but on the few stubborn ones in my van, it covered wonderfully.Since it was Memorial Day and we were celebrating Sweetheart's birthday, I decided to make him a pie. What is more American than pie?? Apple would have been great, but cherry is his all time favorite. I found the perfect recipe, and started making the crust. I am without a Kitchen Aide, so I used muscle....it worked just fine.Then I followed the recipe for the cherry filling. It all came together perfectly.I baked it for the exact right amount of time...It was beautiful. Now let me tell you that crust is the BEST I have ever had!! BY FAR! and the filling tasted wonderful too, BUUUUT (you knew there would be a but), it was pretty running. It never firmed all the way up. I must have done something wrong along the way. The taste was no different and since it was just family, I did not suffer any shame. I will definitely use that pie crust recipe and practice on different fillings. That same post has a peach pie recipe that looks great. How's that sound Niki? I promise I will practice first. I am so excited...I get to meet Niki in about 6 weeks!!! Anyway, back to the cherry soup pie (really it was not that bad) I will backtrack and figure out what I did or didn't do that made it wrong. I am wondering if I misunderstood the tapioca instructions....does the tapioca go on the bottom of the pie crust only, or do you put some in the actual filling? Hmmmm. I WILL perfect the fruit pie!!TJ spent a huge chunk of his day banging the same nail in the same hole over and over again. I love this picture of the 3 boys. TJ still pounding that same nail, saying "I'm building a wall!", and Bud helping Zach find something. Just before my grown kids got here yesterday, Zach asked if they could run in the sprinkler with the kids next door. I told him no because TJ was on his way. Zach ran out the door yelling "We can't right now cause our Grandson is coming!" He refers to TJ as his grandson all the time!Charlotte got the building bug too. She fashioned the letters TJ out of wood using scrap wood and a hammer and nails. Kyle spent alot of his day playing basketball with friends down the street and working on re organizing his DVD's or CD's...I'm not sure which ones. Sweetheart and Bud worked on the hydraulic piece that keeps the hatch on the back of their van from falling shut. They were able to fix it which will help immensely when Rachel is loading and unloading groceries. Forever, it has taken 2 people. One to hold the hatch open (it is heavy!) and one to load/unload. She usually uses the side door. What a pain. Well it is fixed!! I think Sweetheart would do just about anything for that girl....she keeps him in grape soda. I never buy it for him, but she brings it to him. She brought him FOUR 2 liter bottles yesterday! Yep...he will take care of his supplier! I hope you had a peace-filled, family-filled, memory-filled Memorial Day!

Saturday

It has been a quiet Saturday. I have been busy at my machine. She has only beeped at me once so far! I am working on these....Aren't they cute? You will not see this project again until June 1st. Make sure you check back in during the first week of June. A celebration is in store!!!I stole the above pic from Sue. She has made 120-130...somewhere in there...pincushions. I would say she is the Queen of pincushions!! I know Linda has closed her pincushion swap because she had so many swappers sign up. If you wanted in and did not make the deadline, there is another swap in the making. Teresa at Stitchin Friends is organizing a pincushion swap and if you follow the link, you can sign up. I don't do pincushion swaps. Not because I do not like them...I love pincushions. I just can't make them!! I do not keep a blogroll on my side bar, but I DO have a list of blogs I visit regularly. I am afraid the list has become SO long that I do not always leave comments. I do keep up though. I have added some new blogs to my list lately. A few I would like to share.

Ruthann at Warm Pie, Happy Home is one of my new "I can't wait til she posts" blogs. Maybe it is because she only posts every week to 10 days, or maybe it is because the content in her posts is SO GOOD!!! Anyway, I love it!!! I found her through Copperswife...can't go wrong there!

Cat at the Vintage Housewife, is another of my new favs. With all the "hoopla" going on in my house, it is such a treat to read a blog that is FUN!! This girl is FUN!!!! It is like stepping back into the 50's reading her posts...she is a "cool Cat" and loves her "kittens and Daddy-O"!!

I also want to welcome Sarah Dee from Sarah Dee's Place. She is new...like, her first post was today, new. Pop over and give her a welcome!

I better get back to my machine. Here is a pic I will leave you with. Last night Zach told me he was going to tuck himself into bed. He was "a bird and was climbing in his nest." I went to check shortly after and found he had indeed made a nest...on the floor. I left him there since he had worked so hard on it!!! My little guy is growing up. That was the first time I did not tuck him in. I did give him a smooch while he slept though!!!