It's Scrap a lappin time!

I have found a new hobby. Scrapbooking & crafting with the Cricut machine. It is so amazing. I got one for my birthday this fall. Chelsee has made great use of the Cricut making Christmas gifts, and scrapbooking. She has made some beautiful designs and has a flair of putting just the right papers and designs together. I'm still a novice and it take me a lot longer to figure out what I am doing. But I am getting there. Daughters Amber & Kristin are enjoying this hobby also, and each have a Cricut machine of their own. When we get together for a scrapbooking day, the paper is flying! Great memories made together.

Christmas in the 70's

One year for Christmas I received this black leather fringed/beaded coat. It was amazing. It was made by a woman in Winnebago. I still remember going to her very small home and getting measured for it...and it still was too big for me! I loved wearing that fringe coat, and how it felt when I moved..the fringes and beads moving with me. I wish I still had it, but I gave it go a cousin of mine and her dog had an accident on it. My hair is longer than it appears in this picture...I also had "hot rollers" and did a curl job on my hair that really curled it a lot. Of course I am wearing denim fringed bell bottom jean..the most comfortable in the world!

Kaiya

Baby Kaiya showing off her sitting up tricks!

Hugs, and grins, and giggles is what this little sweetheart creates!

I think we are all hooked by her sweet face and smile!

Oh Christmas Tree!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree.

And the winner is....I finally found a tree I like. It is a pre-lit (all white lights) slim tree. I think sometimes I will add a string of colored lights too, because I also like the multi colored lights. It fits perfectly in the corner, not much room for gifts, but that's ok. So far Fat Cat Riley has not attempted to climb it. Even if he tried while I was at work I would know if he climbed it. If he tried, it would probably would be laying on it's side. It's not quite as sturdy as the old tree. I do love the angel on top of the tree. I've had this angel for quite a number of years, and never had her on top of the tree. I have a variety of ornaments on the tree..all different (they each hold a memory) and that's what we like.

Kaiya blocks

I just saw these blocks on Moda Bake Shop. They are adorable. I wonder if Kaiya would like them for a Christmas present! I could use some really fun fabrics and pictures using my computer printable fusible fabric. I could use pictures of Kaiya and all her family...and pets...what do you think?

Thanksgiving Feast

A Time for Thankfulness!

Yes, I am thankful, that my Kristin is making a Thanksgiving Turkey for her first time. I remember the first time I made a turkey...I was just a little nervous about it. She seems so confident about it,,with a few questions. I'm so proud of her for taking on the Turkey Challenge! Lol...actually, I never have thought turkey was that difficult to make. Basically, the hardest part for me is to remember to get the turkey out of the freezer and thawing in the refrigerator for the right number of days. Once you figure out how long it needs to cook by looking at the chart for weight and oven temperature that is usually right on the turkey wrapper, the hard part is over. Just let it sit in the over and cook! Oh and the wonderful aroma that fills the house. I can just imagine the turkey sitting in her oven..with 2 hungry, drooling faces peering into the oven waiting for a taste test. No I don't mean Kyle and Kristin, but Dante and Cooper their 2 dogs! lol. Good luck Kristin, I know it will be wonderful.

New Christmas Tree

I am on the search for a new Christmas tree.

Since I got a different love seat and sofa, I no longer have room for the 7 1/2 foot, very full Christmas tree that I had. I really hated to part with it, but Kristin said she would take it. I didn't mind parting with it knowing it was going to someone who would enjoy it as much as I did.

Now the search begins. I want a "slim" tree.

I am undecided about if I want a tree that is pre-lit, already has the Christmas lights on it. I like the idea of convenience of having the lights already on the tree, but I am not sure how reliable the lights are. I want a tree that has a nice slim shape, but not straight up and down, I would like a little more fullness at the bottom, not completely straight. So if you have any tips or ideas about where I can find a tree that looks similar to the one pictured in this post, please leave a comment. I would also like the tree to be 7 1/2 feet tall. We have very tall ceilings, and I like a tall tree.

http://http://freshchristmastrees.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/slim-christmas-tree3.jpg

TODAY

In my previous post I wrote about the "unsettled fall feeling". I went to the 5p.m. LifeTeen Mass this afternoon...it was just what I needed. They sang

one of my favorites...here are the lyrics. To hear the music you can view and listen on YouTube. Just type in Word of God Speak...it will be there, as HE is here. Just what I need to hear today.

Word of God Speak

I'm finding myself at a loss for words

And the funny thing is it's okay

The last thing I need is to be heard

But to hear what You would Say

(chorus) Word of God speak

Would You pour down like rain

Washing my eyes to see Your majesty

To be still and know

That You're in this place

Please let me stay and rest

In Your holiness

Word of God Speak

I'm finding myself in the midst of You

Beyond the music beyond the noise

All that I need is to be with You

And in the quiet hear Your voice

Chorus

FALL

In my world, Fall has always been a unsettling time. I remember growing up feeling a "wanderlust". Wanted to go follow the highway and just keep driving. See where the road takes me, and back again. I have always had the feeling in the fall for some reason. Get in my car, roll down the window to feel that freshness that is in the air, and drive, music blasting. I want to go for fast, long walks and take in every bit of "fresh" in the air. What and why do I feel that? I haven't told many about it, just a few, so now on my blog, the secret is out!

Birthday Cake

Here is a picture of the birthday cake Chelsee made for me.

She did a basket weave around the side of the cake, and a "quilting meander" around the top. It was very pretty and tasty!

My Godfather Ben

I remember this visit so clearly. My Mom, Grandmother, brother Tony and his friend Ricky went to San Diego California for a nice long visit. We mainly stayed at my Uncle Ben & his wife Dee's house. Here Uncle Ben and I are sitting in their living room. Uncle Ben was so excited that we had come out there for a visit. He was still training the troops at that time (Navy of course). It was so cool to see him in his Naval attire, I always have liked a man in uniform! Anyway, the thing I remember most about this visit is how excited Ben was to show us his turf. We went to many different places around San Diego, Knotts Berry Farm, Sea World, San Diego Zoo, San Diego Padre's ballgame, Tijuana Mexico and he even took us up to Disneyland. One place we didn't get to was the San Diego Deer park, which Uncle Ben referred to as Bambi's deer park. He took us to the ocean swimming, which still is one of my favorite things to do. My love of the ocean started on this trip. Thank you Uncle Ben.

Well Hell

Uncle Ben

In our lives there seem to be people that leave their imprint on some of the simplest everyday things that we do. It's been quite a few years now that my Uncle Ben is gone. But every once in a while, when something goofy happens, I still hear his voice in my head saying "Well, Hell!" He had the right delivery for this phrase...and for some reason (even though I don't like swearing) I liked hearing him say that. Go figure. Above is a picture of Uncle Ben disembarking from his naval ship for the last time, and being saluted off. He ALWAYS had a story to tell, and was ready to help ANYONE who needed help. He did not judge people for their circumstances, and I know he loved all his nieces and nephews dearly, and we all loved him back. I always felt a special bond with him, he was my Godfather and always made me feel special. I love looking at pictures of him and hearing stories about him. We all have a favorite Uncle Ben story. My next few blogs will be some of those stories.

I just need to share and remember him. Maybe feeling a little nostalgic because we moved the loveseat that was Uncle Ben's to the family room in the basement , so it is no longer in the living room, and he would have said..."Well, Hell, you should have done that a long time ago!" Haha good one Uncle Ben.

YEAH!

I finally found the type of Sofa I had been looking for, plus ended up getting a rocking/recliner love seat to match! The sofa also has recliners on both ends, and a drop down table in the center. And even got a discount for the whole deal. Thanks to Kristin for helping me find this. She has such a knack for what goes together. My color scheme is going to be browns and blues. I still need to get some throw pillows that will help tie in the blue chair with the new brown furniture. Oh yeah, and I noticed a bonus, our cat Riley is color coordinated to match the room!

CASTLES

I have always had a "thing" about castles. I would love to go to a real castle and stay there for a week! I imagine the reality of castle life would not be as good as the "romantic image" I have of the real thing. Of course, my Knight in Shining Armor would need to be there also. So I guess I will never get to see a real castle, because my Knight lives on a farm, and does not like to travel other than "armchair" touring with Rick Steves on PBS! Which by the way is a lot cheaper and safer ! haha

Granddaughter, Daughter, Daughter, Daughter

A night of memories!

We spent a night from 5 -11p.m.

scrapbooking together at Archivers in Omaha

What a night.

My girls have so much creativity,

Looking at the pages they scrapbooked, we traveled back to many wonderful memories

Swimming Beach at Virginia Beach , VA

Airport in Omaha and Atlanta

MS" size=5>Las Vegas

Car trip to Washington DC

Baby pics

Sister photo's

Starting high school photo's

size=5>All scrapbooked in one night. wonderful

And Amber let us all use her new toy!

Which is going on one of my most wanted lists

5>the  Cricut...what a wonderful helpful machine for making letters and designs.  Makes scrapbooking a lot of fun.

Sweet Baby Face

Ok..so I admit it

I can't get enough of this Baby Face

So wonderful to see the reminder of Kaiya's mom Amber

in Kaiya's own sweet baby face.

Her smile just brings sheer joy to see

And now she coos, and the start of laughter!

Oh , the joy of it all.

And yes, she enjoys "church singing" as we found out last Sunday at Mass...with every song, she started to coo!

A special place in many Hearts

My friend Mary was special to many people.

She touched the lives of more people than we could ever imagine

She shared of herself, even when she was battling that monster..cancer.

and that is why she has touched the hearts of many...

and that is also why she is remembered in many special ways.

At a fund raiser for the CC, GA schools the honor of naming the alley between the schools and our church was "auctioned off" . The purchasers chose to name the alley

Mary Brunsing Way

What a wonderful way to honor her memory at the school where she taught,

and where her children went to school as they were growing up.

Thanks for sharing yourself with all of us Mary.

Above is a picture of Mary's daughter Mollie by Mary's street sign,

carrying on with all the inner strength her mother taught her through her example.

with a smile on her face, even while facing new challenges in her life.

Best of luck Mollie, you ARE your Mother's daughter..

strong and wonderful!

Up Up and Away

This is a picture I took this spring during the flooding. This was taken right off HWY 64 (West Maple St) by Waterloo on my way home from Omaha. I saw a couple of hot air balloons over the flood water and just had to pull over on a side road and take a few pictures. The funny thing is, my daughter Kristin and her husband just went to a Hot Air Balloon Festival near there this weekend ...and she has a picture of the same hot air balloon...how cool is that!

Tuesday

After 4 inches of rain on Monday and another 40 hundreths on Tues we had some serious flooding at our pasture. Because of all the debree that was carried in the rushing water, our electric fencer was not working. So husband and I headed on foot around the perimeter of the 65 acre pasture. Let's just say that walking in knee boots through some really muddy, and flooded grass areas in the heat of the day was not very easy. Between the mosquitos and the water it was quite an adventure. We did accomplish our mission, and removed all the debree off the the electric fence wire. It took us all morning. Our reward...a fencer that works and getting to see 2 large Great Horned Owls fly out of the barn on the farm place when we arrived. They were awesome.

Sewing Room

This looks like a cheery, organized area to sew/quilt in. Goals for myself....ORGANIZE MY SEWING! I have so much to do to organize my sewing supplies.

Wish List

Now this would be one sweet ride to work! I think I will put it on my wish list....hhmmmm it might take a while!

Sunrise, Sunset

This is a photograph of a sunrise that the wife of one of my cousins took. It is so beautiful! She said I could use it, but I do have to make her a refrigerator magnet with it. Great swap. I still have not come up with a saying or verse to go with it yet. So I need to put my thinking cap on. Whenever I see a beautiful picture like this, it makes me think of a line from a TV show from when my girls were little. My daughter Kristin loved the show ALF. Alf was an alien life form, living with a family in the good ole' USA. Anyway, he signed up for a checking account through the mail. And he ordered check blanks. When his checks came he said this in a disgruntled sounding voice...."I ordered Sunrise, they sent me Sunset". For some reason that line stuck with me all these years. The line makes me chuckle, but also makes me be more appreciative for what I do have, and not wishing those moments away for something else.

Ahhh!

Alexa and Kaiya are spending some sister time bonding. Alexa was the lucky one to receive Kaiya's first coo. Kaiya looked right at Alexa and smiled and coo'd too Alexa. You can tell by the expression on Alexa's face that she thought it was pretty special!

Baby Love

Oh pure sweetness

my eyes and heart can barely behold

tis Joy pure and simple

my sweet pea to love and hold

I can barely stand it, to be so far away

It's 1 1/2 hour drive, I can still make it for a day

But I miss those moments, of just a quick

runover to see, to hold and to sniff the sweetness of my newest granddaughter!

Now I know what a wonderful blessing it was to have Alexa here when she was a newborn. I cherish that time so much. I used to call her My Sweet Alexa.....and she still is.

Kaiya & Alexa you are blessings that I cherish.

Precious

Here are my two precious granddaughters.

Alexa age 14

and her brand new little sis

Kaiya.

They are both so precious, and obviously are going to be best of friends.

Happy Birthday

Today is my daughter Kristin's Birthday.

She was born on Mother's Day and she was 3 weeks overdue.

So she was a wonderful Mother's Day present.

How fast the time has flown by from

my little girl to a wonderful, grown up woman.

Love you Kristin!

The Lucky Winner

Yea! I won.

This is a donation that my friend Lisa put together for our local Catholic grade school fundraiser . She made the table runner, and another friend made the hot pads. Also included is a jar of Mary B's famous Overnight Coffee Cake, a lime green towel, some flavored coffee. Everything was put together in a cute lime green bowl! Looks great on my table. I will add the recipe for the Overnight Coffee Cake in another post. It is a favorite around here.

Baby Shower

So, Kristin, Chelsee & I have done a little baby shopping for Amber & Ryan's baby. HeHe! We kinda overdid it a little! But we sure had fun. This doesn't even include some of the other things we got.. I made the light blue/with ducks blanket, and found a matching sleeper and some other ducky things..So cute! Time is going to fast now. I need to work on another "baby gift" quilt. June 9 is the due date, so I better get busy.

Reminder

This is a photograph of a coneflower that Alexa (my granddaughter) took at my Mom's in 2008.

She specializes in photo's using the macro feature of the camera. She seems to draw out the inner beauty of many images. Thanks Alexa

Family

Family

In my life

I thank my Lord

for the family

He gave to me

They are my Blessings

And they are each so special

I want them to know that

they are

My Most

Beloved

Family

This picture was taken at our farm by our daughter Kristin. She used her Canon Rebel with a timer and tripod. We took quite a few casual family pictures that day. It was a lot of fun, this is one of the favorites , but there are a few others, that I will share at a later date.

I love Parrots!

This painting is one of my favorites. Our daughter Kristin did it while she was in college. I do not know what medium/or paint type she used, but the painting is very striking and I love the size of it. She is an Art Teacher now. This painting is wanted by others in the family...but Mom is KEEPING IT for now! I love it
This photograph was taken by our granddaughter Alexa. It is an 8X10 in size. I think she captured the parrots perfectly. I was so thrilled to get this for Christmas a couple years ago from Alexa.

I decided I wanted to pair my parrots up together in a display. They are in my kitchen so I can view them everyday. The pottery was also made by Kristin (except for the pitcher with the flowers in). Pottery is also a favorite of mine. I say, don't keep it packed up somewhere, display it to enjoy!

Chelsee turns 20

My youngest daughter Chelsee turned 20 this week!

What a milestone for all of us. We have no more children that are teenagers any more. WOW! We do have a wonderful teenager granddaughter though.

Here Chelsee is with the "running shoe" cake she designed and decorated herself.

The glow by the heel of the shoe is from the 20 candles!

Feet of Flames!

Chelsee did the Trek up the Tower in Omaha a few weeks ago. She did pretty good, considering she has never done anything like that before. In the women's division she placed 95th out of 601 entries. That is running up over 840 steps in the tallest building between Chicago and Denver I believe. She did it in just a little over 9 minutes. WOW...might take me 9 days! haha

A Woman with a New Purse

If you want to give yourself a lift,

Just buy yourself a new purse.

There is something so fulfilling about finding the right new purse

Believe it or not--I found this one at a Dollar General store for only $12

What a find!

I keep a little organizer inside it to keep all my things "organized"

It is just the right size also.

And the zebra print is just so much fun!

This is definitely a winter blahs cheer up!

My Geisha's

Growing up I developed a liking for Oriental things.

I have a beautiful oriental musical jewelry box that I purchased from a vendor on Olivera' Street in L.A. when I was 13. It is one of my favorites.

These dolls came from my Uncle Ben, who was my Godfather.

Uncle Ben was in the Navy, and seemed very exotic to me growing up.

He would come home with his wife Dee every few years.

What a wonderful story teller he was.

He purchased these dolls while overseas as a gift for his wife Dee.

I purchased them at his estate auction years ago, and I am so glad I have them. My favorite is the top doll, she seems to have such grace. I always thought the other doll was rather stern!

A wonderful sentimental addition to my small collection!

My New Double Burner Cook Top

During the recent power outage due to the many days of snow, freezing fog and ice on everything, we had to start cooking creatively. I had 2 large coffee cans, and 2 large peach cans, and a couple large candles, 2 small lids and a metal rack. That is what I did my cooking on for the duration of the storm. Believe it or not, this didn't work too bad. I cooked soup, stew, meatballs, mashed potatoes. Heated water for hot water for coffee, made apple cider. I think it worked pretty good. On Sat, because the temperature outside and inside was getting so much colder , we finally started up the emergency kerosene heater. Then I moved my cooking to the top of that and made a wonderful Turkey stew.

The coldest our home got was 48 degrees inside, we dressed warm, and snuggled in with blankets, warm footie socks which I got for Christmas (thanks Kristin). At one point I had on 4 pair of socks, long johns, flannel pj's (again, thanks Kristin), a t-shirt, long sleeve shirt, and a sweatshirt--nice and cozy! I absolutely have to read each night, so I bent a "snake light" flashlight around my neck and and pointed the light at my book, and enjoyed reading til midnight! I loved it!

Again, thanks to Kristin & Kyle for having a lot of candles at their wedding, we used their candles all around our home to light our way. It looked so pretty, but I don't know how pioneer women got anything done in the evening with that low lighting.
We were without power for about 4 1/2 days, with short intervals 2 evenings with power for a short time. We were able to warm up the house and water all out cattle in that little bit of time. We were up til almost midnight filling water tanks for the cattle, but it was worth it, because the power went out again in a couple hours. I had prepared for the possible power outage by filliing up 5 gallon buckets with water to use for the "plumbing", so we were not without that either. When we lose electricity, we lose everything, heat, water..everything!

Fun Gift

I knew my Stitchin Gals were creative, but this is really a cool gift idea.

Jane got each of us an aluminum drinking bottle, and made coozies for them.

I love the black and white print she chose, it coordinates with the bottle so well.

The neat thing is that she did not have a pattern, she did this on her own.

Great job Jane! I will enjoy using this during my "workouts"

Creative Gift

Yum-Cinnamon Rolls

During the blizzard Chelsee & I kept saying we were going to make cinnamon rolls, well today we finally got around to it, and they are so delicious. The recipe and mixing was easy because we let the bread machine do the mixing and first raising of the dough. The kitchen smelled wonderful while they were baking.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

4 oz Cream Cheese 1/4 cup softened butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar 1 1/2 tsp milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix together well, and spread over warm rolls.

Cinnamon Rolls for 2 pound loaf bread machine

1 1/3 cup warmed milk

2 1/2 tablespoons butter or margarine (softened)

2 eggs

2 2/3 tablespoons sugar

2/3 teaspoon salt

4 cups flour

2 1/2 teaspoons yeast

Place ingredients in your machine in the order recommended by your instruction manual. (I put dry ingredients in first). Use the DOUGH cycle. After the dough cycle is complete, take dough from machine to roll out on very lightly floured surface.

Filling:

1/4 - 1/2 cup brown sugar

4 teaspoons cinnamon

2 1/2 Tablespoons melted butter

Optional: raisins

Combine the sugar and cinnamon. Roll the dough into a rectangle shape. Brush butter evenly over the dough and then sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon on top. OPTION: I add raisins before I roll the dough up. Roll dough jelly roll style and cut into slices about 1 1/4 inch wide. Place in a greased 9 X 13 inch pan. Allow to rise about 30 to 40 minutes. (I have a warming burner on my stove top. I place a metal cookie rack over the warming burner, and place my pan of rolls on top of that to rise.) Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Big Snow Drifts

We went for a drive on HWY 51---Tall, long snow drifts awaited us.

It has been blocked since Wed night, Thursday morning with the blizzard.

On Saturday afternoon, they finally broke through with a V-plow, which I watched get stuck 3 or 4 times, just in the one drift. There are many, many more along this HWY.

This picture is my view straight outside of our 4 wheel drive pick up...very deep snow drift.

Dejavu' Blizzard Again!

This picture is looking out my front window east. The snow is actually blowing worse than the picture shows. Both Hwys by us, and our gravel road are closed from snow drifts. Over Christmas it took 4 days for the roads to be opened, I hope it doesn't take that long this time.

Riley is amazed at the snow drift in front of our house going across our place.

So am I!

Snow tunnels

Alexa and I in one of the smaller snow dens
Chelsee, Ryan & Alexa were busy in one of the big snow drifts creating 2 snow dens with a tunnel connecting the 2 dens. It was amazing. Ryan's was large inside, and could probably stand up in his. It was amazing how warm it was inside of the dens without the wind on us.