We have had lots of struggles and challenges in our lives, but we've had even more blessings!

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Two - change that to three things to tell you about -

   My 'plan' for this morning, was to tell you about a couple of recent rather comical 'Ms. Vertigo' related instances. But ya know how my 'plans' usually take turns... Yup. I got online and found out something about a friend, that I thought I would share with you too. I know ya won't mind.

   So, first incident -
    Shortly after dusk one evening last week, I was up laying cross wise across our bed. I just needed to rest my head and eyes, and was enjoying the wonderful slightly cool breezes while doing so. At the time, it wasn't raining. But you could tell another front was approaching, rather quickly even.
    At one point, as I was looking out the window, a bat suddenly swooped around the side of one tree, twisting and swooping between the branches of another tree, headed towards the house. The outside of the tree isn't even six feet from the side of the house. He got within maybe two inches of the outside of my window screen, then quickly turned and swooped off down the side of our house.GOODNESS!
    I don't mind bats. In-fact, I rather like them. As long as they are NOT inside my house, mind you. Why do I rather like bats? The way they fly is just so cool. Besides the fact of course, that I HATE mosquitoes.
   So seeing a bat that up close and personal didn't 'freak me out' or anything, after all he WAS outside. But oh the number he did on my already aching eyes. MERCY!
   Bat - 1 'Ms. Vertigo' - Yikes!  ;-p

   On to the second incident -
    Benson took Boo on a l-o-n-g *perambulation **along the river yesterday afternoon.
  (*perambulation - around here you can no longer use the word which has the letters w-a-l-k in it. Well, you can, as long as you don't mind Boo going instantaneously hipper with excitement on you. And as long as you DO plan to take him on one - immediately even!)
  ( **along the river - most people refer to the area as a p-a-r-k. But that too is a word which gets Boo ever so excited.)
  (and for the record - it has gotten to the point that if you use the word s-t-r-o-l-l, he cocks his head sideways, his ears start twitching back and forth, as though he's checking his antennas to make sure they really are tuned in right, he puts on a very happy expression, and oh is that tail a-wagging! We're pretty sure he's got that word figured out too. ;-p)
  When they got back, and after Boo had drank and drank and drank from his water bowl (it was a muggy type of hot here yesterday), he went in and started trying to scratch the top of his head against the couch. And then he sat down and scratched his back, but couldn't seem to hit all the spots he wanted, so he got up and started running his back against the edge of a couch. I took pity on the poor guy and gave him a good scratching. All over his back. And then on the top of his head. Usually, he will only tolerate that for a moment or two. That time, man oh man was I hitting the right spots. Silly dog.
    Once he let me stop, I got up and started out of the room. I decided to bend over and pick a couple things up off the floor, that belonged in the trash. Boo came forward to sniff what I was doing.  A-typical, not a problem. I had just started to straighten back up, when Boo, who was then not even a full two inches from my nose, decided to shake out all of the hair I had misplaced while scratching him. OH MY GOODNESS!!! That kind of motion, that close to me, while I was bent like that. YIKES!!! I ended up backing up and sitting back down. For awhile.
    Boo - itch taken care of, all hair in place, had adequate disbursement of energy = oh so happy dog. 'Ms. Vertigo' - "could somebody slow the room down please?!!". ;-p

  And now for the 'turn' (;-p) -
    My friend Karen Bek. announced via Face-book, that she has opened her own Etsy shop. Karen is a VERY talented seamstress! And her husband Rick is quite the carpenter. So I am sure that between the two of them, all types of beautifully crafted items might appear in that shop over time.
   But for now, Karen has listed a quilt she made. Machine stitched together, hand quilted. And it's beautiful!  Here's a link so you can go see it (and perhaps order it) for yourself --> Karen's Etsy Shop. (http://www.etsy.com/listing/75088212/cheerful-blue-yellow-hand-quilted-twin?utm_source=OpenGraph&utm_medium=PageTools&utm_campaign=Share)

  That's all for now folks -
   Wait, for those of you who get these postings via email - go to our site and look at the new 'Seasonal Smiles' now on our site ;->
   O-kay, I 'think' that's all .... o;-p

Saturday, May 28, 2011

check this out ;->

For those of you who haven't yet seen this, this is a You Tube (R) Video about Grand Rapids, Michigan  :->





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPjjZCO67WI

Thursday, May 26, 2011

a party invitation of sorts ... o;-p

We would like to extend an invitation to all spiders
and any other creeping or crawling critters,
whom are currently residing a-n-y-where in our home;
to the wondrous swirling party
still being held in the 'comode' of our bathroom.

Yes, this invitation is open to ALL spiders
whom are currently living in our home.
The little black jumpy ones,
the ones with the opulent color,
who almost match the color of our walls,
the long legged type and the short legged type.

It is also open to any and all other types of critters
who are not a part of the spider family.

And yes, flying insects, you too are welcome to come.
In-fact, we'd like to encourage you to do so!

We admit that this party has already been going on for awhile.
LOTS of your friends and family members
have already been escorted to it,
by one of our family members.
But we continue to find more and more of you
(on an all to frequent basis)
who have not yet joined the party,
and we thought perhaps the reason was
due to not having heard about it yet.
Therefore, we thought we'd use this method of notifying you.

We're sure that you will now hear,
seeings how we have found some of you
on the cord running into the side of the computer,
and even one on the keyboard.

As previously mentioned,
this invitation is for a wondrous swirling party.
We know that all of you like adventurous activities,
because we have observed you swinging
from one spot to another via your webs,
or buzzing our heads (if your the flying sort),
or dashing across the counter or desk top.
Thus we knew that you would want the party we host for you,
to not be the dull, boring, sitting around doing nothing, type.
We promise, it isn't!

For those of you whom aren't totally sure
which thing in our bathroom is the 'commode',
we  are only to happy to clarify things for you.

It is NOT the basket with all of the smelly clothing in it.

It is NOT the oblong thing with the blue curtain
hanging on one side of it.

NOR is it the bowl like thing,
which sits on a tall stand.

It is the thing sitting rather in a corner,
next to the window.

Just in case your still not sure,
we are including a picture of a 'commode'.
We know that some are 'visual learners',
and we REALLY do not want any of you still hanging around,
due to not being sure
exactly where the party is,
and thus miss being able to join it yourself. ;->



Yes, you are welcome to 'drop in' any 'ole time.
The sooner the better!
As we said, a LOT of your friends have already.

And no, please do not wait for one of us to personally escort you.
We will not be offended if you go on your own.
In-fact, it would lighten things up for us considerably!

Happy partying! 


['commode' picture found on line at: http://www.soil.ncsu.edu/lockers/Cox_F/images/Italy%20and%20Greece%202003/Perugia_Square_Commode.JPG]

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

The Muppets, Year of the Staycation, and a Sale at Salvation Army

    I woke up this morning knowing that I NEEDED to post something today. It's not that I don't have anything to post about ... I just haven't in a couple of days (will you forgive me?). I couldn't decide which subject to pick,  thought I would figure it out while I worked on a different project on line.
   That had been my 'plan'. You all know how 'plans' go for me. Sometimes they stay on tract. But way more often, they take these sudden turns ....
    Yup, that's what happened while I was trying to decide which subject to post about today. But this time, it was THREE sudden turns. 
    First, I got a phone call from a business. Second thing was, I stumbled upon a blog posting that I thought lots of you might benefit from seeing. And thirdly, I got a phone call from Byron. All righty then. I am not even going to bother trying to choose. Here then is the three different subjects I'm posting about today. (you do understand why, don't you?)

   First, the phone call.
   I got a phone call, personally inviting me to the special sales going on at the Salvation Army Stores this upcoming Memorial Day Weekend. I jotted down what I could, but they didn't have a 'push such and such button to rehear this message' option. :-[. 
    Friday - they are running special sales on purses, shoes, other accessories, and perhaps more?.
    Saturday -  All yellow tagged items are 50% off.
    Monday - ALL clothing is $5.00 for 5 items.

    Second came the stumbled upon blog posting, that I thought lots of you might benefit from seeing.  The posting was titled 'Plan a Staycation' in YOUR town'. The posting was highlighting the 'Staycation' movement currently going on. The idea behind it, is to save money by not traveling, and yet have a wonderful fun-filled vacation with your family. They word it as, "Hundreds of ways to enjoy your city on a budget".
    I found the posting on the blog, 'Life As Mom'. The posting had the United States broken down into regions ('New England', 'Mid Atlantic', 'Mid West', etc.), with various cities in that region listed underneath the title, and links to ideas for those cities linked in. (did I say that right?).
     Go HERE (http://lifeasmom.com/2011/05/plan-a-staycation-in-your-town.html) to view the posting for yourself. Happy 'Staycation' ;->

   Third thing, was the phone call from Byron. "Next time you go on line.." "I am on line" "Okay, go to ..."  That didn't work. "Okay try ..."  "found it :->"  "Watch the movie trailer mom, your gonna love it!"  While I was watching it, Benson came in, questioning what he had just heard. ;-p. I re-plaid it. "That's Awesome!".
    The title of the video clues you in to how good it's gonna be - "Watch the Real-Fake First Teaser for The Muppets" .
   
Byron - "Make SURE you tell dad about it!" "Oh yeah!"
    But I knew lots of you might enjoy it too. So HERE('s) the link (http://www.movieline.com/2011/05/watch-the-real-fake-first-teaser-for-the-muppets.php).
    Just remember to keep watching it all of the way through. That's all I'm gonna say on the matter. o;-p
   
    Should more things come up, I'll start tomorrow's posting.  o;->

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Lego's (R) and the Newsboys (R) together = AWESOMENESS!

    In the process of doing some research on yet another project I am working on, I stopped by the blog, 'Tee and Thee' this morning. Am I ever glad that I did!! Back on March 25th, Beth (the blog owner) had posted a You-Tube (R) link to the singing group Newsboys music video, which had been made using Lego's (R). The song she featured was 'Born Again'.
    As many of you know, we are HUGE Lego (R) fans!!! To the point that even though our sons were all in their twenties, they complained about no longer getting Lego's (R) for Christmas. This past December they were thrilled when the evidence proved we had heard them AND done something about it!
   And as for the Newsboys, ever since that camping trip when we took Mike Sw. Jr. with us, and the boys played, and re-played, and re-played that one tape of theirs, Newsboy's song 'Shine' has been my 'life verse'.  
    So, how could I not click to watch the video?!?  ( o;-> )
    Even though due to still being 'Ms. Vertigo' I had to close my eyes at points, the huge smile never left my face!
    Once that song ended, You-Tube (R) had another video available, featuring a Christian group and their music in a video made using Lego's (R). And then another, and another ....  I spent 17 minutes wearing a huge smile watching them. ;->  AWESOMENESS  I tell ya!!!

           Newsboy's - 'Born Again'
     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDVI8X15Ru4

       Casting Crowns - 'If We Are The Body'
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpboWWrIv6A

     Casting Crowns - 'Christian Life'
  (it starts out very similar to the, 'If We Are The Body' one, but hold on... ;->)
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW-4JSo93Bs


     while there were others, and this one isn't quite as good or involved as some, I couldn't pass up sharing -
      Newsboy's - 'They don't Serve Breakfast In Hell'
         (I hear some of you already singing it ;-> )
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFTE0xbVPH8
( o/~ "When the toast is burning, all the milk has churned, and Captain Crunch is waving farewell..." o/~ )



    Never would have thought that my soul could be encouraged and my spirits brightened, while sitting in front of my computer monitor, watching Lego's (R) perform.  o;-p  AWESOMENESS!

    God DOES work in mysterious ways! To the point that I was even reminded about some actions of mine, and convicted about them, during one of the songs.  Like a different song states, o/~ "Our God IS an awesome God!" o/~

Thursday, May 19, 2011

My 'thrifty' quilt

   Okay so-o, yesterday I told you about the quilt blogging link-up event, that I stumbled upon at Amy's Creative Side. I had also shared that, "Originally, I thought I would go back and link up the quilt that I had made for Analyse, but the guide lines very clearly state new postings only :-[  Oh well"

    After doing said posting, I went back to the hosting site to start visiting some of the linked up postings, to get better looks at the quilts. At the time that I did so, there were seventy three (73) rows, with seven (7) link-ups per row, of quilts which had joined the party. That my friends, is a lot of beautifulness!!!
    I, of course, wanted to see all of them, so I came up with a hopefully workable strategy of how to do just exactly that. I would view the links in one row every day, working my way down the list. That would mean that for the next seventy three (73) days, I would be seeing a lot of inspiring beauty. Do ya get why I'm thrilled with my 'plan'? ;->
   Then I realized that the event will be open through the twentieth of the month, which means even more people will be linking up their quilts. Bonus!!! o:-)

    I found, as I visited the first row of link-ups, that the little pictures don't do the featured quilts adequate justice. Don't take me wrong, I'm glad Amy chose to use that form of a link-up, but once you see the quilts in larger size pictures, WOW!
    As I visited each site, I left comments. It was so easy to find things to compliment them on! I also shared how I wouldn't be linking my quilt up, seeings how only new postings were allowed. This morning when I signed on, my in box contained replies back from a couple of them, encouraging me to again do a posting about my quilt, so that I could include it. Anne, of Film and Thread stated, "  I think your use of thrifted materials would be really appreciated in this economy, so I hope you will do it!"
    Brian too had encouraged me to do another posting featuring the quilt and include it. So here it is -

     This then is just a glimpse (or the short story version) of the quilt I made last spring for our adorable grand daughter (and yes, I AM bias about her!!! o;->)
    If you would like to see the long story version, go --> HERE <-- . (I hope you DO go see the long version!)

     Instead of going to a fabric store and picking out material, I went to mission type stores and picked out clothing made from fabrics I wanted to use. The 'long story version' has pictures of both the clothing hanging on a line, as well as quilt square by square pictures of how I paired up the materials once it was cut from the clothing. There were ten (10) different combos, which I made two of each one, for the final quilt.
    The backing for the quilt was a nice soft cotton crib sized sheet, which I had also picked up at a mission store.
    The filler/liner was made from a mattress pad off of the bunk beds which we no longer had. It actually made the quilt feel more along the lines of a comforter than a quilt. Nice and warm!
     I had wanted the squares separated so they showed prettier. I found a solid soft pink colored flat sheet in my linen closet, from back when we had thought Jeannie might be moving in with us. It too had come from some mission store. I measured and cut that into strips to run both parallel and vertical between the squares. Nice! Thanks Lord!
    In the end, the finished quilt qualified as a "Green quilt", seeings how everything except the thread and yarn used on it, were recycled materials. o:->

     Here is a picture of the finished quilt:

     And this picture displays our grand daughter in her Easter dress in front of the quilt. She was one (1) years old at the time. Early in June she will be turning two (2). (So-o looking forward to seeing her then!)

    As I shared yesterday, " I am also currently pondering which of the 12 quit patterns that I have ear marked in the quilting books I had picked up at mission type stores, I am going to make for our soon to arrive grand son. Decisions, decisions .....  ;-p"  After venturing forth and bravely making the quilt for Analyse (pronounced Aun-a-lease), my "I CAN do this" level rose.

    This then concludes the 'short story version' about the quilt I made for Analyse. I would like to again encourage you to go view the long story version. ;->

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I 'plan' on linking this particular posting up to:
'Blogger's Quilt Festival 2011', hosted by Amy, at 'Amy's Creative Side' (http://amyscreativeside.com/)

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

info. about a blog quilting party -

    While following a link-up I found on Sumo's Sweet Stuff's 'Market Yourself Monday('s)', I learned about a Blogging Quilt Festival currently going on. Those of you who know me, know how fascinated I always am with quilts. Some are such beautiful works of art. Some are  just oh so cuddable looking. And all of them represent hours of love filled labor. So I of course had to go check it out. Originally, I thought I would go back and link up the quilt that I had made for Analyse, but the guide lines very clearly state new postings only :-[  Oh well.
     I am also currently pondering which of the 12 quit patterns that I have ear marked in the quilting books I had picked up at mission type stores, I am going to make for our soon to arrive grand son. Decisions, decisions .....  ;-p

    In the mean time, I knew that many of you too would enjoy looking at all of the linked up quilts, so I am going to be a nice friend and share the 'how to get there' info. with you. Aren't I grand?  o;-p
  
Blogger's Quilt Festival 2011
being hosted by, Amy's Creative Side
May 13 - 20
(for any of you whom might want to link up your own posting)
Find all of the link-ups --> HERE <--

    I would be interested to lean which are your favorites.                       

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

it's our Anniversary :->

On this day,
of this month,
in the year 1980,
we joined our life's together
and became husband and wife. 
(picture taken by 'Bill plus Jean Photography')

It is now 31 years later.
We've gone through a lot of the "for better for worse".
And the "in sickness and in health".
I still promise "to love and to cherish 'till death do us part."
And I hope that last part is m-a-n-y years off!!!


Brian, Thank-you for still being, my husband, my lover, and my friend.
I LOVE you!!!
Cheryl



Last year I posted links to lots of the stories of our life together. Go HERE to see/read it.

Monday, May 16, 2011

For Analyse's upcoming 2nd Birthday

   Analyse's 2nd birthday is coming up in June :-)

       Here's a picture of her from her first Birthday Party.
   And here is a picture of her from last month.
                       (click on picture to see it larger / clearer)
   Cyndi's sister Emma is using fondant and baking the main cake, but they asked me to make some cupcakes too. As you know, Analyse L-O-V-E-S Elmo (R). But she is also very familiar with all of the Sesame Street Characters (R). So that is going to be the theme of this years party for her.
    Byron suggested that I make some Cookie Monster(R) cupcakes. I went google(TM) searching for Cookie Monster Cupcakes - I found some good ideas HERE  and  HERE.
   They had also previously requested that I make a banner. Humm mmm, should I try to sew one, or what? Again I did a Google search for ideas. I found several which inspired me.
    Banner ideas - HERE (craft style)- HERE - HERE - HERE (actually a card, but still triggered some ideas) - HERE - HERE  (another craft type one)
   This afternoon I am headed out for a l-o-n-g over due 'therapy time' with Robin P.. And I am also going to have my chauffeur (Amy ;-) )  take me shopping for materials one day this week. Think we'll try checking out the fabric store, the party supply store, the used book store, and probably Hobby Lobby(R) or Michael's(TM) for supplies.
    Right now I'm not sure if I want to make a craft banner, or a sewed one ... we'll see ...
    Also not sure if I can handle hitting all of those places in two days, or if it turns into  multiple days of hunting excursions.
     While doing my Google searching, I also found some whole party decoration ideas - HERE (a 'TON of details' party we can pick and choose from) - HERE (a site which is all about all types of themed parties!) - HERE (lots more ideas to pick and choose from) - HERE (I love the different colored table cloths!)

    Rest assured that I WILL be doing postings later on about what I did end up making, as well as about her party there and all. We are still deliberating also doing a party for her here.

   Vertigo or not - I am gonna be doing some fun crafting!!!

    For Analyse's birthday. And later this week, we are sitting down with Brent and Kayla and going over all of the details so far towards their wedding in Oct.. And figuring out more details. And I'm going to start working on the flowers for the wedding (silk).  And...

    The fun parts of being a Mom and a Grandma!! :->

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Remembering Rascal

    Last Monday marked the one year anniversary of when our beloved cat Rascal left this earth. Sometimes we will hear something and question what Rascal is up to, only to sadly realize it couldn't be him.
    In honor of Rascal's memory, I decided to go back through our previous blog and make a 'directory' of sorts of all of the postings about Rascal.

    For the record, there were probably more postings about him. Byron had set up our Xanga account as a easy way for us to communicate with all of the 'part-time kids' we had at the time. We could let them know about events we planned, things that went on in one another's lives, as well as things from our life's.
   But I didn't get the difference between the huge wide web and email. At least not as far as space on them went. So at one point in time, I went through and deleted a whole lot of the postings from the beginning of the blog, thinking that I was freeing up space .... You learn as you go. I've been thinking about trying to google search for them and see if I can find them still floating around in cyber space. If you have any tips on doing so, PLEASE let me know them!

   August 21st, 2005 - I don't have night vision!

   August 25th, 2005 - I had interrupted his nap

   February 8th, 2008 - Time shared basis

   February 11th, 2008 - (the last paragraph) our moving blanket

   December 4th, 2009 - the " ~  Early Wed. evening Dec. 2nd" part

   January 21st, 2010
An example of inter-species animals communicating with one another.

   May 12th, 2010 - Rascal - Oct. 1994 - May 10th, 2010

   November 30th, 2010 - "I'm Thankful For - Our Pets"

    Will we see Rascal again?

   May 23rd, 2009 - Animals in heaven

Thursday, May 5, 2011

A chuckling tribute to my mom

    The following email came via my dad. I decided to use it as a posting seeings how Sunday is Mother's Day. My mom was an English major. But much to her shurgrin, I was not.
    Oh, I love words mind you. I love the scenes one can visualize via putting certain words together. The tales they can be used to tell.  The warmth they can be used to spread. The beautiful music some people's voices make when reading them. Etc.. I think that the English language can be a very beautiful wonderful thing.
   But it can also be an ever so frustrating one. For every rule applied to it, there is umpteen dozen exceptions. And how in the heck the 'phonics' system is suppose to work, is beyond me. Way to many words are not spelled any wheres close to how they sound like they should be. And punctuation. Yet again so many conflicting rules.
   I could go on, but I'll spare you. (Who just applauded?!! ;-p)
   In honor of my mom and Sunday being Mother's day, here is today's chuckle courtesy of my dad - 

 
You think English is easy???

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used to produce produce.
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse refuse more.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
8) A bass was painted on the head of the
bass  drum.
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row ...
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Let's face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France . Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat. We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. 

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?  

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables what does a humanitarian eat? Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.. 

English was invented by people not computers and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why when the stars are out they are visible but when the lights are out they are invisible. 

PS. - Why doesn't 'Buick' rhyme with 'quick' ?
P.PS. Why is a bra singular and panties plural?

Then there's this- a two letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is UP
It's easy to understand UP , meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP ? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP ? Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report ?

We call
UP our friends. And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver; we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car. At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UPexcuses. To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special.

And this
UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP . We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night. 


We seem to be pretty mixed
UP about UP ! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP ,you may wind UP with a hundred or more. When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP .. When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP...

When it rains,it wets the earth and often messes things  UP. When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry  UP .One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP , for now my time is UP , so........it is time to shut UP !  

Oh... one more thing:

What is the first thing you do in the morning and the last thing you do at night? 
U-P



{sorry the sizes of the fonts are this are so mixed up on here.  I tried getting them all alike.... aw well.}

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

complimentary phone call ;-)

    When Byron called the other day, he had sounded really groggy and out of it. In what I thought was the background, I could hear Analyse making sounds. Then Byron's voice informed me I was on speaker phone. I took the cue and started talking to Analyse. "Hi Analyse, How's grandma's sweetheart? What ya doing?" That kind of stuff.
    Suddenly while I was talking to her, Boo started going ballistic at somebody he could see out our front window. "Boo!!!" "Hush! I'm trying to talk to Analyse."  That seemed to get his attention, because he instantly came over and with his head cocked sideways, gave me a ever so quizzical look. I tried holding the phone up to his ear while loudly telling Analyse to talk to Boo. Boo was not in favor of the phone next to his head, but the sudden motion of his ears and the change in his expression told me he had heard her voice. His then pawing at my leg, was full indication that I was suppose to pull her through that phone! :-)
    I went back to talking to Analyse for a bit, asking her if she was having fun with her dolly, etc., and for a short bit, she answered me. Then I heard her happy chatter fading away and knew she had headed into another room, to tell her mommy all about everything. ;-) Cyndi was being told about "gaa--ma" and "Boo" and other things I couldn't quite make out. ;->
    Suddenly Byron's still groggy voice is saying, "thanks mom, I'll talk to you later."
    ??!??
    "Wait, Byron, what did you originally call me about?"
    "To see if you could cheer Analyse up. She's been kind of whiny and cranky lately, and I thought maybe you could cheer her up. You did. THANKS! Now maybe I can get some sleep and she won't drive Cyndi crazy. Thanks again Mom!!! Love you. Bye."  click.

    Well all-righty then. :-D   So glad I could be of service!!! ;->  What a thrilling phone call, from this grandma's perspective! :-]

Monday, May 2, 2011

NOT just for Easter 04

   [  In light of the fact that this upcoming Sunday is Mother's Day, we have changed our 'Seasonal Smile Pictures' accordingly  ;->   ]

    Today's posting is #04 in the series 'Not Just For Easter'. At least for now, this is the last segment of this series. Yes, 'for now', I'll 'splain it later. o:-)
    'Not just for Easter 01' featured the 'pink bunnies' cookies.
    The ducky cookies, which were made from a totally different recipe than the one the bunnie cookies were made from, were featured in 'Not just for Easter 02'.
    'Not just for Easter 03' featured the 'Rice Krispie(TM) eggs', which this year I had taken up an additional notch. ;-)
     That then leaves the chocolate covered ducky cookies, as the only thing left on the platter yet to be featured.
    Here then is the info. about 'Not just for Easter 04' - the chocolate covered ducky cookies.
As with the other cookies, these cookies can be made for ever so many other occasions / events!  Change your cookie cutter and wa-la! You'll have a whole new type of cookie ;-) I had shared a couple of ideas for other occasions in the '01' posting.

    The idea for making the chocolate covered ducky cookies was not a priorly planned one. They just sort of happened. As I previously shared with you, I had baked up the ducky cookies ahead of time, got behind on things, and had our 'kids' frost them for me Easter Sunday. They frosted a lot of them, but not all of them. Not a problem.  The day after Easter, Brent and Brandon had to work; Byron, Cyndi and Analyse headed back out of town, and I dropped down into low gear, with every intention of getting back at things the following day. But that night a storm moved in. A very low pressure, lots of thunder, shake my vertigo all up type of storm. :-[ That Tuesday turned out to be a 'barely get out of bed due to a migraine', type of day. :-/.
    Then Wednesday I did an 'outing' with Wendy S.. Thanks again Wendy! It was GREAT to spend time with you!!!
    That evening I wandered into the kitchen with every intent of clearing away the balance of my Easter goodies. There sat the double boiler pans from melting the chocolate for the Rice Krispie (TM) eggs. And not far away sat the bread bag with the not yet frosted ducky cookies. "I wonder...."
     I couldn't leave it hanging like that. My curiosity had been tweaked and I knew I would not be content till I experimented and found out. 
     The pan of melted chocolate had been covered tightly with plastic wrap. I removed it and heated it back up. Then using one of my wonderul little metal frosting spatulas, I liberally spread some of the melted chocolate chips onto the cookies. I did ten of them. After all, I wasn't sure how these were going to taste.
    Later that evening, I fixed myself a glass of milk and tried one.  Oh  My  Goodness!  They were absolutely amazingly yummy!  They no longer at all tasted like a sugar cookie!  The combined flavors of the cookie and the chocolate had magically transformed them into a scrumptious shortbread delight!   The taste brought to mind my Aunt Susie's Toffee Bars, only moister  (no offense intended Aunt Susie!!  you know I love those bars of yours ;->). As well as one of the types of cookies the certain girls sell every spring, in the little green box's (;-p).
    The following day I ate two. One in early afternoon and one in late evening (thus allowing ample time for all calories from the previous one to have evaporated o;-b).
    The following day I repeated that process.
    And the day after, I knew that I had to finish converting the yet un-frosted ducky cookies into shortbread delights. I had plenty of the frosted ones on hand to fulfill my 'plans', so wasting the leftover yellow frosting wasn't a huge deal. Wasteful? yes. But now I had yet another goody to add to my goody bags. Bonus!  And sometimes a good 'bonus' trumps 'wasteful' ;-p
    For the record, I had decorated these bags y-e-a-r-s ago (using a rubber stamp and then colored fine tip markers), with the idea to use them for... . They then got tucked away inside a plastic bag. And there they have sat. Waiting.. and waiting .... they have now been used! ;-D
    This is the point in a posting, where I give you step by step instructions on how to make the goodies. That then is always followed by the recipe. The thing is, I've already given you both recently. So I am just going to refer you back to them.
    Go HERE to get the recipe for the cookies themselves.
    And then go HERE to read/see how I melted the chocolate.
    Combine the two, let the frosting set up for a good half hour at least, and then enjoy! ;->

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 
  I 'plan' on linking this particular posting up to: 
~ "Recipe Swap Sunday('s)" are hosted by Cassity, at 'Remodelacholic' (http://www.remodelaholic.com)
~ "Homemaker Mondays ... Yours, Mine & Ours", are hosted by Jen, at '11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven' (http://rtheyallyours.blogspot.com/).
~ "Market Yourself Monday", are hosted by Sumo, at 'Sumo's Sweet Stuff' (http://sumossweetstuff.blogspot.com/)
~ "Tuesday's Tasty Tidbits", hosted by Susan, at 'Permanent Posies - Creative Chaos' (http://permanentposies.com/) 
~ "Tempt My Tummy Tuesday('s)", are hosted by Lisa, at 'Blessed with Grace' (http://blessedwithgrace.blogspot.com).
~ "Whatever Goes Wednesday('s), hosted by Michelle, at 'Someday Crafts' (http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/)
~ "Recipe Swap Thursday('s)", hosted by Alison, at 'Prairie Story' (http://prairiestory.blogspot.com/) 
~ "Full Plate Thursday('s)", hosted by Miz Helen, at 'Miz Helen's Country Cottage' (http://mizhelenscountrycottage.blogspot.com/)
~ "Sweet Tooth Friday('s)", hosted by Alli, at 'Alli 'n Son' (Parenting and Life with a side of Chocolate) (http://alli-n-son.com/)
~ "Foodie Friday('s)" (#2), are hosted by Bianca, at 'Little Brick Ranch' (http://www.littlebrickranch.com/)
~ "Sweets For A Saturday", hosted by Lisa, at 'Sweet As Sugar Cookies' (http://sweet-as-sugar-cookies.blogspot.com)