Ooops, We Went Thrifting Again!

Ignore the model who, omigosh, needs to lose weight! Loved that apron though! Friday's seemed to have become thrifting days. I don't think my son believes "we'll just pop in for a minute!" anymore!


This one is Nancy Jo's fault! She sent me the cutest little "egg shaped" cookie cutter, and I just couldn't let it be lonely!

This is a cobbler style apron, it may get turned into something else.

An unfinished piece, but very pretty fabric with a bit of lace.

I truly don't know what this was supposed to be; maybe someone's WIP. It has a ruffle on the top and bottome and it's pleated. I just couldn't resist the fabric.

A nice long table runner to embroider.

Some vintage papers for card making or perhaps scrapbooking.

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday once again! Kind of a quick week for me, and usually they drag on right before vacation. I do work next Monday and Tuesday, they the rest of next week and the following week off. I do have plans for my house those weeks, hopefully it will not be as cold, nasty and snowy as they are predicting!

I went to my daughter's highschool schedule planning this morning. Four more years of grade school and that's it! I can't believe how time flies. I am SO proud of her. She wants to do it all, and she really had the energy to do it! She is heavy on the math, science and tech courses which is wonderful. She has so much more confidence in herself than I ever did at that age.

Baseball practice for my son starts tonight! Yippee! A sure sign of spring. DD decided suddenly that instead of softball that she has played since 3rd grade she'd like to try tennis. I thought it sounded interesting. So next Monday she starts tennis practice.

Tomorrow, I am having a quick(?) 4H meeting so some girls that weren't here last week can catch up. I will try to remember the camera! I think one of DD's friends is spending the night and then we are visiting a new church Sunday morning. My niece's 17th birthday party is also this weekend. But all in all I should have plenty of time to get the house in order before vacation, so once I'm off I can do what I really want, like paint. I don't really want to paint, I REALLY want to sew. But something in me says paint. It's been some sort of tradition the last 2 Easter breaks.

I almost forgot, the tea towel is a gift for my girlfriends 35th birthday Monday! The same day she gets to find out (hopefully) if her first baby is a boy or a girl!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend. Thank you all for visiting, and make sure to take a moment to say hello!
~Blessings

Apartment for Rent!

Feeling Poetic

A Plea

GOD grant me these: the strength to do
Some needed service here;
The wisdom to be brave and true;
The gift of vision clear,
That in each task that comes to me
Some purpose I may plainly see.

God teach me to believe that I
Am stationed at a post,
Although the humblest 'neath the sky,
Where I am needed most.
And that, at last, if I do well
My humble services will tell.

God grant me faith to stand on guard,
Uncheered, unspoke, alone,
And see behind such duty hard
My service to the throne.
Whate'er my task, this be my creed:
I am on earth to fill a need.

Edgar Guest

While looking for poetry to add to a scrapbook I am making for a friend's birthday, I came across this poem and thought it just beautiful. Very much my prayer in life!

Whew!! It's Monday!

What a three day weekend I had! Friday I had all intentions of spending the day doing a dry run of our 4H project. Well, I got to my work area and started sorting. Soon, every piece of fabric I had was out of it's drawer, or bag, or corner, and spread out all over my family room. Then before I knew it, shelves were being carried from the FRONT porch to the BACK room. Notions were sorted out, the sewing box was emptied...it was CRAZY! I didn't think of it soon enough or I really would have shared pictures of the DISASTER I created. All I can share is the finished product, which I am happy with. I love shelves, something homey about them I guess.

My picture of grandma many years ago has a fitting spot in my sewing space now! And she's right next to my card basket, always filled with happy thoughts from my farmgirl friends!

I found that I have acquired quite a bit of lace lately. I love using it on aprons and hand towels. LOVE the handmade sort the best!

LOL, I just noticed my cuppa in the picture!! I treated myself yesterday to a green tea chai!! YUMMY!!
Anyhoo, Friday just as DH came in from work, I sat down at my work table to start making 4 1/2 square templates for each of the girls. And ladies, here is testimony to the sweet lovin' man I got: He went back to work and made them for me!!! Perfectly accurate, sturdy, reusable templates that took him a whole 5 minutes to make!!! What a man!!!

Saturday we had 11 girls and my G-man, plus 4 moms. Sadly I do not have pictures!! I could kick myself, but I find myself so busy I actually forget all about the camera. I taught the girls to use there template to trace two rows of 4 connecting squares on freezer paper. Then the iron the freezer paper onto their folded over fabric, and cut on the lines. Voila! I was afraid they would be bored with tracing, ironing, cutting....repeat, but they worked away at it for over an hour!!! I just get more excited each time I work with this group; they ENJOY this!! Saturday I am giving another class to some girls that missed our meeting the last time, so I promise to take pictures. I loved seeing all the different fabrics these girls chose. So absolutely gorgeous!!

Sunday after church, I sewed!!! Exciting because it's the first time in 2 or 3 weekends I have felt good enough to sew. I did some work on my sampler quilt. I worked on a Flying Geese block. Now, before you look at the pictures, which by the way, I am not to proud to share, remember a couple of things. First of all, I have only been quilting for two years, and secondly, each block I do on this quilt is new to me, first time, just figuring out the directions for the book. And lastly, I am pretending all these colors work together! I have mentioned before that this quilt is being made to use all my swap fabrics together, so I am biting the bullet and using all the fabric together no matter what!! That being said, here is my lousy Flying Geese square, that I will probably undo and start over!!! :)


Whew! Now you know!!
And now, to end the weekend tales, I show you that DH forgave me and fixed my peg shelf!! This also show a real nice picture of the apron Candismom made and sent me in the Bunny Hop Swap.



~Blessings

Angels Among Us

What a sweet surprise to receive a package from Marybeth Saturday! I have made such wonderful friends through MaryJane's Farmgirl Forum and blogging. A year ago I would have told you it was impossible to make friends on-line. Now, I know we can. I have found women who all have some of these things in common; organics, creativity, nature, farmlife, and we share our ups and downs. Funny thing is, I have made friends with all sorts of women, homemakers, shopkeepers, nurses, teachers and lawyers. They don't care that I am a housewife/lunchlady! We found common ground first, and our occupations didn't matter. That does't happen much here in town.
Thank you all for your friendship. For anyone who wonders, it is real. I have friends on the MaryJane's forum (check it out in my links) that check on me if I'm not around for a few days, email me regularly, snail mail me,pray with me, and like Marybeth, send sweet packages just because.
If you can't tell from the picture from my wonky camera, MB sent me tea that has a flower that blooms, a seed growing kit for forget-me-nots and a sweet pair of socks!
Have a blessed day!

Yea, It's Friday!

And I have the day off!! I am not usually one to wish my week away, but I was truly ready for a day off where I was both healthy and free to do what I need/want.
Today will be filled with a little housework and a lot of planning for our 4H meeting tomorrow.

Speaking of 4H, our shopping trip was something else!!! It was myself, my 12 year old son, my 14 year old daughter and her friend/fellow club member. My son is making himself a quilt. It's not that he is overly thrilled with sewing, but he will do it to be a part of "mom's club", and I have promised him we would cook at some point. He is a future chef!!
So, I found out my son has the shopping skills of most men; get in, spot what you need and get the heck out of there. Within 15 minutes he had 3 different camouflage prints and his black and brown blenders. Perfect.

"Ma, let's go."
"Not yet G, the girls have to finish up."
The girls filled their cart with their six fabrics.
"Ok, they're done!"
"Oops, no, way a minute, C is putting hers all back! Let me go help."

Seems that after DD's friend painstakingly picked out her fabric, she found another one she HAD to have, but didn't go with the rest, so she had to start over. I can relate, I see quilter written all over this gal!!! (She'll learn when she's older and has her own finances to play with, sometimes you just gotta buy them all!)

Forty-five minutes later C had herself all set, though she was still oohhhing and ahhhing all the pretties. She lives with her dad and was making plans to bring him back so she could do more shopping!!! I noticed my daughter was still struggling. She had come into the store with a color scheme in her mind. She loves the baby blue and brown that is getting popular, and she has found alot to scrapbook with, so she wanted to do those colors for her quilt. We were both a little surprised that those colors combos weren't in this store at all! She did have 2 or 3 turquoise and brown prints in her cart, but now she was stuck. She still needed 3 more fabrics. Steam was blowing out of my son's ears at this point, and he was using his cart to take out his frustrations, which was adding to mine. I can't blame the kid, really, but why oh why do they lose ten years off their maturity when they don't get what they want?
We finally did fix DD's dilemma, stood through the poor cutting lady cutting seven fabrics times three kids. DS occupied himself at this point by going and getting other items we needed. Silly kid, he thought we were really going to be done after that!
All told, we were two hours in the store! I really enjoyed seeing the kids excited over their fabric choices. I tried to stay neutral during their decision making; it's a big patchwork I really don't think they need things to "match" the way other projects down the road may need to. Besides, I like seeing their taste and creativity shine through.
DS is still excited about his project too, I just may need to take him separately when any other fabric shopping needs to be done. He really got into the danger zone and started beating on his sister when I left for two seconds to get someone to cut our batting. She's still bigger than him, not a good move!!
I have a wonderful children's book that I am going to teach them out of, I just need to go through step by step for myself today and aquaint myself with their processes. It should be lots of fun.

I stopped at a new store yesterday the next town over, called Primitive Country gifts. This my DS is used to and can handle!! He knows these little shops usually have snacks!! And he can always charm and chat with the shopkeepers. We made this unexpected stop (the car just goes there, right Nancy Jo?)after dropping DD off at a friends house. The shop is just lovely inside, it used to be a local grocer that got quite run down in it's last years. There was much to see and a great variety! I picked up a few little goodies!First was this tin moose candle topper! I was surprised to find a number of moose goodies in this prim store!

Next were these sweet chicks to add to the spring decor. They are going to go on my peg shelf.
"Hon, will you put my shelf up the right way?"
"You mean the shelf you put up totally wrong and now it's barely on the wall?"
"Yes, sweetie, that's the one!"
It's not fixed yet, I think that's my pennance for putting holes in the wall knowing I do not have the skill to do it right the first time!!

Here is the best I have for spring so far! I know the moose don't go, but I just can't tuck them away. Like I told the girls, your taste just might not fit what the magazines say is cool (or anyone else for that matter)!

Found some goatsmilk soap also. I love love love homemade soap.

Well, I've gone on and on this morning! Time to get to my chores! Have a blessed weekend!

Happy Spring

Yes, the sun is shining, the birds are chirping and the snow is melting away! Hurray for spring!! This by no means signifies that we will have no more cold or snow. We could have quite a bit more, but then again, by this time of the year we could have smooth sailing!! Being the optimist that I am, I will believe that latter; but no worries if we suffer a touch of the former.

I've been getting some things back to normal around here! You know, the REAL cooking and cleaning after you have been sick for a while. DH helped tremendously, so it's my turn to show my love back.

Also preparing for this Saturday's 4H meeting. We are starting our quilts!!! I am teaching them a very simple patchwork, turn and tie quilt. You would not believe all the positive feedback I have received after our last meeting. These kids are really into sewing! And buying fabric!! Shoot, I am raising up another generation of fabric junkies!!! LOL! They got to choose 6 different fabrics plus the backing for our next project and from all accounts it's been a blast! I am taking my two and a friend after school to get our supplies! Can't wait!


This DS's pillow project from our last meeting.


I couldn't find DD's pillow, but this is the fabric all the girls used for theirs.

This is the fabric our little friend down the street will use for her quilt. Isn't is cute?

Well, it's off to work!!
~Blessings

How Fast They Grow

Hello all! I've missed you! Just have not been 100% healthy the last couple weeks. Kinda like "Oh, I'm feeling better!....Oh, not so much..." All my blogging has been hit or miss, but I truly miss my blogging friends!!

Today I want to share with you a little handprint my son made years ago. I found it in a box stuck in my closet. We moved here two years ago, and that box was just filled with odds and ends so it ended up in my closet. I SWEAR everything else is unpacked!!! About two weeks ago we had a snow day. I wasn't feeling very well then,but I did a little rummaging around and found that box. I found some neat nick nacks, some junk, some books and this sweet little handprint.

Oh, how could it have been stuck away in this box?

It's made of wood so my guess is is that each handprint was the same and the child got to add their own decorations. Greg penciled in fingernails and his name on the back, carefully written to copy his teacher's writing on the front.
I don't even know what year it was from, no date, no teacher's name.

But, my, how it tugged on my heart as I looked at this little project. My boy is almost 13. How time does fly. Every momma says it and it's so true, time does fly. My "babies" are talking about driver's licenses and graduating! How can it be?

Looking back it amazes me how far we have come. My two children and I did not have the best start. I did not give them the best start. But God and His grace stepped in. We are now (and have been for seven years) a God-fearing, healthy, strong family. I am so proud of my children and all they have and will acheive.

But I get so choked up when I look at old pictures, and little handprints!
Where does the time go?

Just a Little Saturday Fun

You Have A Type B Personality

You're as laid back as they come... Your baseline mood is calm and level headed Creativity and philosophy tend to be your forte Like a natural sedative, you have a soothing effect on people Friends and family often turn to you first with their problems You have the personality to be a spiritual or psychological guru

Do You Have a Type A Personality?

Did a pretty good job figuring me out!

Bunny Hop Swap

Our dear Frannie "Cabin Creek Kentucky", started a Bunny Hop Swap at MaryJanes. It was so much fun to collect, make and send goodies to my partner, Candismom. It was also fun to open up the goodies she sent me.
Two swaps with two great ladies in one week!! I am blessed!

Cookie Cutter Swap

I participated in RenRen's (Alpicks Treasures) Cookie Cutter Swap on MaryJane's Forum. I was paired up with my buddy, Nancy Jo. She was on the ball and mailed out my package earlier this week! I just love all the goodies she sent me!!



Nancy Jo included beautiful Easter papers, a picture frame, some of here beautiful embroidery of a teapot, two bags of Earl Grey tea (notice there is only ONE in the picture!) and the lovely, round, cookie cutter. Here is what her card said:
Bonnie,
Now this REALLY is an Easter cookie cutter from the 1940's. You have to lay on your side and squint your eyes just right and you can make out a round Easter Egg. The chickens then were different then they are now.
Hugs,
Nancy Jo

Isn't she so cute? I love Nancy Jo's sense of humor, or was it her infinate knowledge of chickens from the 1940's?

I am yet to finish Nancy Jo's package, I may need to quit taking pictures and get working!! I hope it's worth the wait!

Tomorrow I shall show you what I received from my Bunny Hop Swap partner.
~Blessings

Catchin' Up!

Where to start!!! Whew! I missed not having pictures to post! I am using my DD's camera, so if the quality is fuzzy, I'm not sure if it's the camera or the inexperienced operator!! I'll start here with my thrifty finds (although, I guarantee you, I wasn't being too thrifty!!)


I love peg shelves, and this little number in black called my name! No, it's not attached to the wall all that sturdily yet; just the hurry up and get it on the wall version by me!!

Next came the eggs! No, no chickens yet...but I have seen so many lovely pictures of decorating with faux eggs I just had to try. The basket was already here, how 'bout that?!




Here we have the quilt... the first "oldie" I have purchased. Please, please, please don't tell me you think it's the ugliest thing you ever did see! I know she's not a beauty, but A) she was VERY affordable, and,
B) I'm always a sucker for the ugly duckling!
I honestly don't think she looks too bad there on broken chair with mom's old lunch tin!

Are you still with me? Oh, you are a trooper!! This is a waste can, painted black with a Currier & Ives print and some black lace attached. I know I could have made this myself, but probably not for the price.




Little glass hen, that will go on the peg shelf, once DH puts it up the RIGHT way!!



BOOKS!! I could not resist! Especially Louisa May Alcott's Little Women published in 1911 with darling illustrations, and a sweet cookbook entitled Tried Receipts. The cookbook states it was "compiled by the ladies of the board of managers of the Baptist home, Cambridge, MA". Unfortunately, I can't find a date. The recipes have no list of ingredients to start with, you are just told how to make each item with the measurements included in the directions. To make money to print the books there are a few pages in the back of advertisements, such as: Sanitary Dust Removing Company, and Visit the New Turkish Bath 20 and 22 Carver Street Boston. I just think it's neat!


Lastly, I couldn't resist this quilt top! I really like the colors, and the quality of work even on so simple of a pattern is exquisite. I think I'll finish it and use it for an end table topper.

These items, and a few odds and ends of lace and material scraps were my great finds at the local shop. Happy Thrifting!

Puttin' On An Apron

I am new to the world of aprons, sort of. I have worn one every school day for the last six years, but trust me, it's nothing to write about. They are a light canvas material of either red, navy blue or black. Bor-ing! Last fall I picked up a copy of MaryJane Butter's Idea Book... and discovered the world of vintage and lovely aprons. I connected immediately. I am a wife and mother and a proud housewife. I do work part time at the local school, but I am a HOUSEWIFE!!! (gasp!!) The apron connects us to the women who have paved the way before us. It really was a tool, a necessity, and especially in the 20th century, if it added a little color and fun to your day all the better.

The first apron I hung in my kitchen was a half apron with embroidery that my grandmother started and then passed to me. I finished the design and then hung it on a peg shelf. Then I purchased the cute lime green bib apron with butterfly pockets from a seller on E-Bay. I like to think that a sweet little farmwife made it in front of her fire years ago. (I'm a romantic optimist, what can I say?) Next, I received a beautiful half apron from my farmgirl friend Susyhomemaker. I was so excited to open my mail and receive that gift. Those and a hostess apron my mother found in her drawer all adorn my kitchen walls.

I haven't worn any of them except for trying on the gift from Suzyhomemaker. I might be afraid that my family would think I have finally taken that final plunge into the deep end. This morning though was different. Spring is in the air, I think it is actually above 60 degrees out right now. After a very cold two months and a couple of bouts with a sinus infection, I am ready to do some serious cleaning and rearranging. So after I took the kids to school this morning, I came home and grabbed an apron off the peg. INSTANTLY the homemaker vibes kicked in! There was just something about putting on the apron that said let's get at!! I just did the sweeping and a switch of the laundry, but I tell you, it was FUN in an apron!! Maybe it felt official, or pretty or who knows what, but I encourage you to try it. Put on an apron for those tedious little chores and see if it doesn't brighten your day!
~Blessings

Howdy!

Just a quick hello to y'all!! :) I just spent an hour trying to trouble shoot the problem w/ the camera on-line to no avail. It must be the USB cord. I am going to hook it up to someone else's computer to see it will misbehave for them. Thanks for hanging in there with me!! But boy do I want to show you my goodies from last Friday!! Not that they are all that spectacular, but I don't splurge like that too often and it was just plain fun!! The weather is warming (although cold and snow is called for this weekend!) and I am in that spring cleaning/rearranging mood!!

I must get on to work, but I wanted to share a Psalm that really grabbed my heart this morning. I hope it blesses you too!

The Heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows and proclaims His handiwork.

Day after day pours forth speech, and night after night shows forth knowledge.

There is no speech nor spoken word from the stars; their voice is not heard.

Yet their voice in evidence goes out through the earth, their sayings to the end of the world. Psalm 19 1-4a

What A Weekend!

Wow! I think I just packed a weeks worth of work into 2 1/2 days!! Whew!! Friday I did some really fun shopping as I mentioned before. I still
can't show you pictures, and that is REALLY urking me! I will work on that this week. I bought my first old quilt. I won't call it an antique, as I have now clue of the age. Thursday night I read an article in one of my quilt magazine about a woman who collects vintage quilts. I loved how she displayed them; and I like the thought of women before me putting their time and love into their quilts. So when I was in the shop Friday, I found a quilt half price. It wasn't my favorite in the shop, but it was affordable to me, and it is pretty. It is a variation of the log cabin pattern, when I get the picture up, I will have the name of the pattern.

Friday night I did the cleaning bit; Saturday AM I had to go get groceries, come home and cut a few more pillow covers out and set up for our meeting. It was SO fun. We had 12 girls and my G-Man. Four moms came to help, and they brought their sewing machines. Everyone seemed to have alot of fun, and all their projects came out great. I am really encouraged with this 4H thing! What is even cooler is that my daughter just wants to sew, sew, sew now! Our next project will be a patchwork quilt. I gave them the supply list and they are excited to go pick out their fabric, they get to choose six different patterns. This project I am going to take slow, let them go at their own pace and learn terms and techniques as they go. I am so happy girls of this generation (and my G-Man!) want to learn to sew.

After the 4H meeting we tidied up and had my MIL and her man over for dinner to celebrate their March birthdays. It was a very simple meal of steak, baked potatoes and green salad. The rest of the family came over after dinner for a small party. My SIL brought an angel food cake with whipped cream/pineapple frosting. It was a really nice evening, but I was so tired by this point!! I really do feel about 95% right now, I just seem to tire out easily.

It feels like spring here today. Still chilly, but the sun was out all day and the snow was melting. Turning the clocks ahead is A-OK with me!! I love it being lighter later. NOW, I am getting gardening urge. It's too early though, so I settled with making a tea towel and starting a pot holder from a pattern I bought from Clotilde. It was nice to sew again today.

So all that and a lovely church service was my weekend. I hope all yours were lovely too!
~Blessings!

Hello Friends!

I AM feeling better, just wiped out tired! I took a prescription of thrifting today! Does a body good! I had so much fun and found such treasures, but I can't get my pictures from the camera to the computer all of the sudden. The computer tells me my USB cable is malfuntioning. Do I need a new one? Do they wear out? Part of the blogging fun is showing pictures so I need to figure out the problem!!
So after some intense thrifting, I came home to do some intense cleaning. Tomorrow I have a 4H meeting, in-laws to dinner and more in-laws for a birthday party! The house was a little worse for wear after a week of feeling bad, so out came the mop and broom and vacuum, along with the hammer and nails! (Gotta find a spot for my new peg shelf!!)
Now I am working on rearranging my family room so I can fit 10 girls and a few extra sewing machines! I have never taught sewing before, I really hope this works!!
I'll keep taking lots of pictures so when everything is fixed I'll bombard you with them all!
Thank you so much for all the well wishes! Really am feeling much better. AND it's supposed to be 50 degrees by Wednesday! Yes, at this point I think that is warm!!

~Blessings!

Some days...

Playing around with colors and templates last night, I somehow ended up with all my links and what not at the bottom of the page. I don't know how, I have figured out that if I redo it all it will be back at the right place. That's just not going to happen today. I have ANOTHER sinus infection; which is exactly the reason why I should not have been doing anything technical on here last night to begin with! I know better! So it you get to another blog from here, like the picture a day blogs, they are at the VERY bottom of the posts.

I did go to the Doctor yesterday for some antibiotics. I really protest antibiotics, but I just don't have the patience this week to nurse myself without them. Saturday is a way busy day, and I really need my wits about me. Our first "working" 4H meeting is at 1:00. We will be doing the pillow covers. Oh, Ellen, I forgot to post what we are doing! I will dear, don't worry. I already kinda screwed that up. I was cute and sent the girls reminder notes about our next meeting, but for some reason asked them to bring a 10 inch pillow form instead of a 14 inch. Duh! I'll make calls today to see how many has already purchased them. Thankfully, I made a mistake we can fix just by cutting our fabric smaller. Must learn to pay more attention to what I am up to!

After said 4H meeting, we are hosting a double birthday party for my MIL and her manfriend. I don't know what to call him, they've been together for over 10 years, they're not married, love them both, "boyfriend" just doesn't fit someone who is turning 70! Anywho, DH and I had talked about having them for dinner once a month. It's now March, we are two months behind. So I speak up and say, before the family comes over at 7:00, we should have Mom and G over for dinner. So, now it's dinner and a party!

Mercifully, we have a snow day today. Yes, all you spring bunnies, we are still in a deep freeze up here! Yesterday, when I headed to work, it was snowing so hard as soon as I brushed one side off my car, the other side was loaded up again. My drive is only a mile and a half through the village, and I had NO CLUE where I was!! You just couldn't see! All said that didn't last long and I don't think we got that much snow. The problem came when the winds kicked up. It's been a steady 30+ mph wind, and that means TOTAL white outs. When you are out on these country roads surrounded by open fields, or even the expressways surrounded by open fields for that matter, the wind just blows the snow everywhere and you see nothing! Not the car ahead of you the road signs or even the road. Our whole county is in a state of emergency today just to keep the traffic off the roads.I don't think the wind is quite as bad today, but I'm not out there. They just want to get everything cleaned up from yesterday.

I took some pictures of my backyard. Doesn't quite tell the whole story, but give you an idea.

P.S.

I know some of my blogging buddies are Lucille Ball fans, so I wanted to share this blog with you! Jean is fun to visit anyhow, but she has a real interesting "series" going on right now that I wanted to share!

http://msgreenthumbjean.blogspot.com/

~Blessings!

Mutiny

It's Friday and it sure felt like a long week! Guess we always say that, and the weekends are too short. The weather here has been better. It snowed every day this week, but it wasn't bitter cold. Last night it started raining, and I'm pretty sure I heard thunder. It's windy and rainy today, but we're all safe. Parts of the country suffered from tornadoes last night. Keep those people in your prayers.

This weekend I really need to focus on getting things done. DD has TWO basketball games tomorrow, but I think I am going to have to skip it. I rarely miss any of my children's activities for ANY reason, but every once in a while I have to take the time for me. DH will be there; if he had to work I would have gone. So, I plan on getting up early and getting the groceries out of the way early. Then I have a hair appointment. I considered skipping it, but then I'll do something stupid to my bangs, and I promised myself I won't go there anymore!! I have about 13 pillow covers to cut out for my 4H group NEXT Saturday. I am going to have them make these pillow covers as a quick, gratifying project. I never mentioned before that the cover slips on and off of a pillow form. We are going to make the 14 inch style and I decided to use some of my stash and have everything cut for the children so that they can just practice, use, or discover their sewing skills! I also need to put together a supply list for our first major project, a patchwork quilt. Oh...all these leadership skills that I have never used before!!

Ok, now, you've all been wondering about the title of this post: Mutiny. Well, I'll tell ya; MY FAMILY IS REBELLING!
Flagrant, outright, REBELLING.
I guess I have just pushed them too far.
Whole wheat bread - no biggie
Whole wheat pasta - tolerable if they know it, wonderful if they don't
Brown rice - not a peep out of them.
So, I guess I was getting pretty cocky. I thought I had them all in my camp of healthy eating. DS is eating salad (with romaine lettuce and other unknown greens) like a champ. But I thought wrong.
I went too far.
Here's where I slipped up. A week, maybe two ago now, ConAgra foods announced the Peter Pan Peanut butter recall. I had to literally pry the jar out of DH's fingers AFTER he had a day of tummy trouble possibly from eating peanut butter toast.
After reading comments on peanut butter, my eyes were opened to the amount of trans fat and additives in the stuff. I don't know how I missed that one, I am a pretty good label reader. I think the problem was that I never DREAMED to even DARE switch peanut butter brands. I can buy and switch any brand or non-brand on any product we use; but DON'T MESS WITH THE PETER PAN PEANUT BUTTER! I think that was in our wedding vows.
Conveniently enough, there was no PP PB on the shelf last week, so I picked up a jar of all natural pb.
Ingredients: Peanuts
Salt
"Boy, I bet they'll like it better!!" I thought to myself. They love peanuts, and they don't protest salt, so won't I be opening their eyes here!!
I brought said jar home. "Look honey," as I open the jar and spilled the oil all over my hands and kitchen floor, " I think you'll like this better. Mmmmmm," as I stick a spoonful in my mouth, "it's like eating a mouthful of peanuts!"
DH tried a spoonful, gave me a quizzical look and put the jar away.
DS tried two days later. Never thought I'd get a complaint outta him.
"Mom, don't buy this stuff anymore."
"Really, G, you don't like it, even w/ jelly?"
"No, it's bad, mom."
This is not a good start.
Then the real test. DH's favorite after dinner snack, bread and peanut butter.
It didn't pass. Not even close.

I hear whispers..."buy REAL peanut butter"
They are wondering, will I give in?
They are counting their spare change, ready to snap up a jar of PP PB as soon as it comes back. I know they are planning their move to get THEIR PB back in the house.




I guess you win some and you lose some!
~Blessings

Fessin' Up

I have to tell you all...I have music ADD. I love all sorts of music, but can't seem to listen to all of one cd all at once. I've gotten so bad that I can't even listen to one genre of music consecutively. The IPod has aided my problem, my daughter and I even bought an adapter so we can listen to our Ipods over the car radio.
She asked if she could use it in the house.
"naw, we'll waste the batteries."
Two days later I had it in the house.
"MOTHER!!!!"
"I couldn't help it! I love hearing Bing Crosby one minute and Audio Adrenaline the next!"

So where did this all start? Had to be my parents. They weren't by any means "radical" music listeners, but they each liked a good variety of music. I never objected to their musical tastes either. My dad restored old cars and every summer we would go to dozens of car shows. There were always sock hops. (this was in the 80's, so it wasn't my norm) But I loved them; my mom would try (to no avail) to teach me to dance. I had my father's two left feet! Even today I love the music I learned at those dances. My mom liked the 50's bebop, and she just LOVED Elvis. Dad liked the Beach Boys; you haven't heard nothin' till you've heard him belt out "Fun, Fun, Fun" To this day when I get the winter blahs I turn on the Beach Boys, Jan and Dean and Dick Del and the Deltones for some beach music.
I like sappy 70's music because it just reminds me of riding around in the car with my parents. I could go on and on...classical, jazz, christian...but now it' time to really come clean.
About the time I was 14, The Monkees got back together. My girlfriend down the road and I were mesmerized. I don't know what it was, but we were hooked. Every day at 5:00 we had to watch the double episode on our local UHF channel. Then MTV and VH-1 picked up on the craze and we could see them all the time. I was shallow, I loved Davy; Mary was a little more artsy and loved Mike, whom she affectionately called "Wool Hat". We joined fan clubs, had pen pals, and bought all the teen magazines that featured the Monkees. Most of their young pictures were featured by the way, and mom kept warning me that "They are OUR age, dear!!" That didn't stop us, we even went to 3 concerts!
We weren't cool in school anyway, so this only served to prove people right that we were just weird!! I mean really, I liked Nascar, I was WAY out there!!
I eventually put the Monkees away. Moved on to the more sophisticated Beatles, went through the 80's junk, then did a stint with Sesame Street and Barney. But the Monkees are back on my play list. I just like them. Mary was right, Mike did sing the best songs!(But Davy was Cute!)



I just wanted to add a little disclaimer here: I said I went through 80's junk. I did not mean to imply all music produced in the 1980's was junk, I meant that what I listened to in the late 80's as a teenager I now consider junk!!