♥ THE imPERFECT HOUSEWIFE ♥

Hodgepodge - just for fun

2012-02-01T15:39:00.000-06:00

This is my first time joining in on the Wednesday hodgepodge but I thought it looked like fun so why not? Clicking on the link above will take you to the original post and you can join in if you'd like.

1. It's that most wonderful time of the year...tax season! Do you complete your own returns or farm that job out to the professionals?

We do our own taxes, and by "we" I mean not me. Scott does the taxes because he's a numbers man and did taxes on the side up until a couple years ago. I'm not sure he'd say it was "fun" but I don't think he minds it. I like to help by making plans for our refund $$ - if we get some.

2. Which do you think has changed you more-love or pain?

Hmm, that's a good question. I would have to say pain. Loving comes pretty easily for me but dealing with pain is tough stuff (as it is for everybody, I know). That's not always a bad thing though. My faith was strengthened (and continues to do so) during the trying times, I've gained a lot of empathy for people by going through things myself, I'm less judgmental of others, and I've gotten tougher in areas where I needed to. The flip side is that because of love, the pain has changed me. So there's a pretty thin line there.

3. Tangerine Tango has been named color of the year for 2012. Your thoughts? Would I find this color anywhere in your house? How about in your closet? If not, will you be adding this color to your life in someway in 2012? If you're not sure what tangerine tango looks like click here.

Well, I'll be, I didn't even know there was a color of the year. My thoughts...Why is there a "color of the year"? You won't believe this, but I actually DO have that color in my house...

My daughter's bedroom is about as orange as they come, so I'd have to say that's Tangerine Tango. She's 22 now and it's been this color since she was a teenager so I know a room-painting project is on our horizon but since she's hardly ever home these days, it's pretty low on the list. We let her pick the color and I had visions of how many cute things we could do with it but not much came of that. Not long after we painted, my mom gave me a magazine article that talked about how people who liked orange were happy people, so I felt better about the whole thing, and she is a happy girl, but wowza, I'm much more boring than that. Oh, and the other orange (I mean Tangerine Tango) thing I have...

...my purse for the Fall.

4. Are you a collector? What do you collect and does it get admired, used, and/or dusted regularly?

This is a yes/no answer because I don't consider myself a collector. However, I've become an accidental cookbook collector over the years and I used to collect Precious Moments. Remember when those were popular? Wait, are they still popular? I don't know, but I don't collect them anymore. They're all together in my curio cabinet. I like any kind of cookbook and try and get one from anyplace special where we go, and if it's new or different (or very old) then all the better. Yes, they get used all the time. Now that I think about it, I also collect very old books - on any topic. I might have to do a post about those sometime. They do get dusted regularly, but not used too often. I'd like to start a $20 bill collection, so if anyone would like to send me one (or more) I'd love to add them to my collection ~ US currency only, please. :D

5. February is National Heart Month...besides a green salad what is one heart healthy dish you like to prepare?

I have to admit, I don't know which foods specifically are heart healthy. If salmon is, then I'd have to say that. Scott does a great sauce for salmon with wasabi and soy sauce and brown sugar - SO good. That might take away it's healthiness though, I don't know. I eat a lot of oatmeal with walnuts and blueberries, so maybe that counts!

6. When was the last time you had car trouble?

I think the last time I had car trouble was over the summer. It was going to cost more to fix our minivan than it was worth so we ended up getting a new car (I was ready to be out of the minivan stage of my life). I'm not a car person and am happy if I can get from point A to point B, so "shopping" for a car didn't interest me. I think I used the term "torture" somewhere along the line. I told Scott I'd go find something while he was at work and we'd pick it up after he got off. I got a "no" there, so then I told him to just go pick something out and I'll follow him up later and we can pick it up. Again with the "no". Apparently he doesn't realize the amount of trust I have in him regarding boring things like cars. It all worked out and so far, so good with the new one.

7. Have you been more demanding on yourself lately or less? Is that a good trend?

I've been less demanding on myself lately and that is NOT a good trend for me. I'm playing Words With Friends way too much and not getting other things around the house finished. Starting now (or maybe later) I'm going to be a bit more demanding of myself so that I do some unfinished projects around here and get some more blog posts posted.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

It's been a very mild winter here in the Midwest and I'm actually missing some good old snow. I don't mean "slide all over the road ice/sleet" kind of stuff, but the pretty snowfalls that just make you sigh and enjoy the beauty of it.

Free at last!

2012-01-25T17:25:00.000-06:00

While I know I've been out of the blogging world for ~~a day~~, ~~a week~~, several months, I also know that I've missed it like crazy. If Blogger comes up with a "brain blog", you're all invited because I've got at least a dozen posts ready to go in my head ~ and I've got pictures on my little disc thing to go along with them, so you'd be set. All you'd have to do is figure out which pictures go with which of my brain blogs. Sort of like Su-do-ku, but not really.

I have stupendous news to share - my daughter (20), who was very sick this fall with some bizarre germ thing, has (as of Monday of this week) been released and given a clean bill of health from both her Infectious Disease doctor (yeah, I know, ick), AND her ENT (Ear, Nose & Throat) doctor! That poor girl was put through the wringer and she's now good as new and raring to go.

Pre-hospitalization with her two nurses, Frosty and Annabelle...

It started on a Sunday in October with a severe headache (her, not me, although I may have had a headache that day, who knows, I probably did). Our only thought was a migraine because she's had them before. By Monday, nothing was helping it and she would just hold her head and cry. Needless to say, we were sent to the ER. By now she was running a slight fever to go along with the pain, so there was a bit of urgency on everyone's part because they were, at this point, suspecting meningitis.

EEK - Nobody could go in or out of her room without a mask. A bit disconcerting considering Scott and I were sitting there maskless. I was mature though, and didn't ask for a gown and mask, even though I wanted to.

They did a CT scan of her head, a lumbar puncture, multiple blood tests and they were stumped. Since they got the pain and fever down, they sent her home. The condensed version: we were up all night, the horrible pain came back, and she was sick as a dog.

The next day, we headed back to the ER and by now she was dehydrated and a bit disoriented. OK, let me tell you, when they say to drink plenty of liquids when you're sick - DO IT. Mama mia, was that scary. Her eyes were also getting slightly puffy which we all agreed was a bit odd. After another long day, they finally admitted her and did a CT scan of her sinuses. I have to tell you at this point, she didn't have a cold or sinus infection - maybe just a runny nose, no big symptoms of anything sinus-ish.

Every doctor that came in to see her kept saying, "She is one sick girl," but they just couldn't pin-point it. She had a couple IVs going and by now I could've used a caffeinated IV but no one offered. Rude. Once they got her hydrated again, she was a bit more lucid but still had no appetite and her eyes that were a little puffy, were now MORE puffy and looked like they were starting to bruise. She was put on an all-liquid diet, which didn't matter since she wasn't hungry anyway.

Mmmm...come and get it!

This was my liquid diet... first floor, by the cafeteria...

The next day, Wednesday, glorious Wednesday, an ENT (Ear, Nose, & Throat specialist) came in her room at 1:15, introduced himself (I think his name was Dr. Save-the-Day), and by 2:00 was doing surgery on Sara - she still had a 102.7 fever. He read the sinus CT scan and she had a big infection, something called Ocular (or Orbital) Cellulitis, found more often in younger kids. You can Google it, but don't if you don't have to - it's pretty gross. It's serious and the infection had to come out, fever or no fever. We were THRILLED at this point - somebody finally knew what was going on and could help!! Oh happy day! I'm pretty sure Scott and I high-fived.

Later, when we were talking to the ENT, he said surgery went well but they were going to send an Infectious Disease Doctor to see Sara because (as our luck would have it) she now had such-and-such (??) which is blood poisoning (layman's terms) from the infection. And also, he wanted an opthamologist to take a look at her to make sure there were no lasting effects on her eyes because the infection had settled behind them. WHAT!? When they said she was sick, they weren't just whistlin' Dixie!

Turns out they had to send her bloodwork off to the Mayo Clinic to identify the germ that caused this to get bad so quickly. It was unreal how fast she started feeling better after surgery and when she got on the big-gun antibiotics. It was like night and day.

This cracked me up - when she felt better enough to eat, they sent in a "waiter"...

After 5 days in that hospital, it was time to go home. However, she needed to be on IV antibiotics for another 3-1/2 weeks. Boo. But yay that she got to go home!

Getting ready to get the PICC line in (and hospital IVs out)...

Fast forward 3-1/2 weeks later - getting the PICC line OUT! Home health nurses came twice a week to clean her arm and check out her vitals, etc.

She got the IV meds twice a day and we were all taught how to hook her up to the little machine (she even did it herself a couple times). In between times, she'd just wrap the IV site, put a cut-off sock over it and work and go to school and live her regular life. We're so happy to have her back to normal - even when she's sassy. ;) She had one final surgery last month to fix something in her sinuses but she's all fine and dandy now.

I knew she was feeling better when I'd get my camera out and she'd look at whoever it was and say, "I'm sorry my mom is so weird." It's so nice to have her back and FREE AT LAST!

The new neighbors are here...

2011-09-06T19:49:00.003-05:00

Early one morning a few weeks ago, I let my dogs out back like every other day. Then out of the blue, I heard a weird screech or moan or I-don't-know-what. To me, it sounded like maybe there was an animal caught in a trap or something. Wait, let me back up...I live in the suburbs, in a regular old neighborhood, with ~~semi~~ normal people around me. We all know what a neighborhood is...house after house...all basically the same. I lonnnng for the country and small-town living, but that hasn't happened yet so I'm blooming where I'm planted for now. That, however, is for another post and I've gotten completely off track. I just wanted to point out that I didn't expect a coyote or fox or something in Pa's woodshed. Where was I? Oh yeah, so the weird noise. I called my daughter out and she heard it also. I pinpointed which yard it was coming from so I set out to find the source of this disquietude . We have a hill in our backyard and then a wooden privacy fence so I had to lift up a patio chair and drag it up there with me so I could see over the fence. And hence, our new neighbors...

Hmmm, chickens...in a backyard...in a neighborhood... I know what you're thinking - what's the big deal?? When I put on Facebook that my neighbor had chickens, I was met with a lot of yeah? So? I know people with chickens. But seriously, there are NO chickens where I live - except at the grocery store. There may as well have been an ostrich back there - I wouldn't have been more surprised.

For a country girl at heart, I have to tell you, I was pretty excited! Of course first I called to see if we're really allowed chickens within our limits. I wasn't going to report the person - I know we're all on a more "natural" kick, and wanting to go learn self-sufficiency (well, some of us do), but I was curious because of course I was going to want some, too. The first lady laughed and said she'd never been asked that and connected me to the Health Dept. They told me yes, after a lot of paperwork and board approval, etc. Sounds good to me!

They don't stink - and I know this because my dogs are disinterested, besides peeing on the fence to let them know just who was boss in the 'hood, and if there's a rooster, he's quiet. When the windows are open, I hear clucking and such and I pretend I'm out in my country home, overlooking my sunflower field, listening to the sounds of nature - and my husband sneezing and snorting because he's allergic to everything nature-y. I'm able to tune that part out pretty well.

Also, thanks to www.backyardchickens.com I was able to find the exact coop I will use to house my feathered friends if when we decide to go forward with my our idea...

It just happens to be called My Mid-Life Crisis Coop - how's that for a silly coincidence? Now I need to go make friends with that neighbor so I can score some fresh eggs without actually leaving my backyard. Have a good week!

That's a winner!

2011-08-26T09:09:00.000-05:00

So excited to be joining Alicia at More Than Words once again for the Friday Photo Flashback. The flashback is a way to go back to our pre-digital camera days and re-live some special memories.

I think I can remember my brother Jeff winning this bike, but maybe I just heard about it so much that I think it's my own memory. Hmmm... Anyway, there was a Big Boy restaurant near us (that's no longer there, sad to say) and apparently they were giving away two bicycles. I love this picture because you can tell he's excited but not wanting to show it too much. He's the fifth child and the third boy, so this may have been his first NEW bike. My guess for the year would be around 1967 or so. He looks about 7 here, doesn't he?

If you'd like to join in the flashbacks, visit Alicia's blog, sign up your link and scan away!

Here Comes the Sun(flowers)...

2011-08-23T20:03:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the last days of summer. Wowza, it has been in the 90s-100s forever it seems (in St. Louis anyway) and we're just now getting a little break from it. It'll be nice when there's something other than the weather to talk about. I'm so ready for fall sweatshirts, changing colors, and candles all over my house. Oh, and pumpkin spice latte from Quik Trip - holla!

I feel like I have so much to tell you about - I blog in my head about 3 or 4 times a day. It'd be nice if one or two of those made it to my computer, wouldn't it?

Anyway, a couple weekends ago, my husband and I took a short drive to a conservation area about 20 minutes from our house just to see this field of sunflowers. Those flowers are one of my favorites because they're just so bright and tough and hello, they come with a built-in snack. What more could you ask for?

When we went there though, the ground was so parched and the flowers were just drooping like crazy. I told them I totally understand because I'm not a summer person and that's how I pretty much feel June-August. I think that made them feel a little better. If I ever get my mini farm in the country, we're going to have a field of sunflowers. They just make me so happy - even when they're droopy.

This is how Scott will look when he's overlooking our own acres of sunflowers, only he won't be wearing that shirt.

I call this one "The Rebel".

Hello, tough guy... way to bloom where you're planted!

We also saw a few other fun sights while we were there...

I can't believe this place is so close to us and I never knew it was there. I love finding hidden treasures close to home, don't you? One of my old bosses lives in the same area we do, and he is a wealth of information. He bike rides everywhere and is always showing beautiful and fun places that I can't wait to get to! And my husband...he's always up for a good road trip and doesn't even make fun of me for taking pictures of strange things anymore. Now I'm ready for the fall - and some RAIN!

Combining the past and the present

2011-07-27T08:16:00.000-05:00

While I realize my last post was about a website that I had newly discovered, I figured that's going to be my theme this week. I know, I don't have "theme weeks" but there's a first/last time for everything and I think this will be my first/last time for "theme week". Let's just go with it for fun. I've never submitted anything to this site but I enjoy seeing what other people think of to send in. It's called Dear Photograph. Have you heard of it? I actually wrote this post on Sunday and then Walgreens had it in their Photo ad yesterday, which is too funny.

Here's how the site describes it on their page - "Take a picture of a picture from the past in the present". People take an old photo, go now to the same place where it was taken, and hold it up and take a picture of it. It's combining the old with the new. Then, the people who send in their pictures put a little note with it that starts, "Dear Photograph, ..." Some are funny, some are sad, some are sweet, etc., but they're all pretty special.

I decided to try some of my own "Dear Photographs" and it's not as easy as it seems - or maybe it is easy and I just have a depth perception problem...or a picture-taking problem. If it's sunny, I can't see my camera screen very well so lining up things like sidewalks and windows is kind of difficult but I gave it my best shot...(get it, camera...shot?) OK nevermind.

Dear Photograph, Picnics never get old.

Dear Photograph, Tell these three that when they blink, those school days will be over.

Dear Photograph, Thanks for reminding me that summer isn't so bad. ☼

Dear Photograph, When you're little, the size of the pool doesn't matter, just enjoy the water. And keep in touch with your cousins.

Dear Photograph, What I wouldn't give to have my driveway be an artist's dream again. ♥

I'm always on the lookout for fun new websites, so please share if you have some that you think I should go to and take a gander, and I'll share if I find anything neat or new.

This might spark your "Pinterest"

2011-07-24T18:21:00.000-05:00

Hello, friends (anyone still out there!?). I know it's been awhile since I posted but that's OK, I blog when I can and enjoy it (even if I'm talking to myself) so pop on by anytime - there may or may not be something new!

First, let me say I'm not advertising for this website - I totally enjoy it and wanted to share it because I think most of you will, too. I want to tell you about a site that was introduced to me by several blog and Facebook friends lately, called Pinterest. Have you heard of it? I'd be on Facebook and see something that said, "So and so just posted a pin to Pinterest!" and it always seemed to be something cute or neat or tasty but I was clueless. I finally just asked someone what it was and I am SO glad I did - you all will love this! You don't have to have Facebook to do this and they allow no nudity or hateful content, so hopefully you'll just have some good clean fun.

You know how when you find something on a blog, website, or elsewhere on the internet and you either print it out or bookmark it or put it in your favorites? Well, Pinterest takes the place of that. It's got all your "favorite things" in one place. The first thing you have to do when you go to their website is request an invitation. Not sure what's up with that, except to make it seem either more exclusive or like ooooh, you're special if you get THE invite. It doesn't matter to me why they do it, it's the organizing I was after and the overall CUTENESS! So I entered my e-mail, waited a few days, and poof, there was my "Welcome to Pinterest" e-mail!

You can put a little "Pin it" icon thing on your task bar so no matter what website or blog or whatever you're on, if you like what you see and want to remember it, then you "Pin it" and it gets added to your Pinterest page. If you want to, you can show when you pin something new on your Facebook page also, if you have one, but you certainly don't have to. You can put your pins in "categories" also. For instance, a few of the categories I have are, For the Home, Cute Crafts and Projects, Just Adorable, Cute Food Projects, Looks Yummy (regular recipes), Books Worth Reading, and maybe a couple others. You can create your own or delete categories as well. I took a picture of my page (which is in its infancy stage, I have to admit), just so you can get a peek of what I'm talking about...

The BEST part, in addition to having all your special things in one place (and not having to go through oodles of bookmarks or favorites) is you can see who else is on Pinterest and re-pin items that you like from their pages to yours and see literally hundreds of adorable ideas. It links to the permalink of the blog or website so proper credit is always given where credit is due - you're not stealing anything from anyone's blog or website. I LOVE to be inspired and it's everyone's favorite things all in one place - I get so many wonderful ideas that ~~I'll probably never try~~ I can't wait to try! :D

Recently someone said if a person who's already using Pinterest sends you an invite, it gets accepted quicker than if you request an invite through the Pinterest home page, so if any of you want to try it out and want me to send you an invitation, send me an e-mail and let me know (Sbams5(at)gmail.com). Check out the website if you think you might like it. Like I said, I'm still new to it and I'm sure they can explain it much better than I can. Have a wonderful week!

Tamale Fiesta!

2011-06-19T13:41:00.000-05:00

Today is the last day of my vacation from work and let me tell you, I'd give it a solid 5 out of 10 stars. We did manage to make it to Lake of the Ozarks for a few days (about 3 hours from here) but that's about it. I hurt my knee and was either in pain, on medication that made me sick (but only sometimes, which makes me think it was probably in my head), or trying to find a comfortable way to sit. I know, BOO HOO - I'm almost tired of hearing myself complain. Our lake trip can wait for another post. Anyway, mid-week we did manage to have all three kids home (and their girl/boy friends) and we had a Mexican fiesta - FINALLY some fun!

My husband makes homemade tamales usually once or twice a year and since he was off work, he got the ol' cornhusks ready and went to town rustling up some of the best tamales this side of Whereversville. One of the girlfriends and one of the boyfriends didn't totally care for them, but at least they tried them and were very sweet about it. The one said he never had tamales and thought it was a vegetable or something - HILARIOUS! Come join us for our fiesta ~

Homemade guacamole - ole!

COME AND GET IT!

(Pictured: The backs/sides of Brandon (Sara's boyfriend), Sara, Meredith, Allison (Adam's girlfriend) and Picture #2 is part of Nick's arm (Meredith's boyfriend), Adam's back and the same people as Picture #1)

For dessert, we had s'mores and let me tell ya - this is as close to camping as I get. I bought this little s'mores maker at Christmastime and we sure have gotten our $14 worth out of it - it makes kitchen camping a breeze! (pictured L-R: Scott, Allison (Adam's girlfriend), Meredith, Nick (Meredith's boyfriend) and Sara's arm)

(Pictured: Allison's arm, Meredith's torso, Nick)

Here's Allison - this was pretty much her supper since tamales weren't her fav.

We finally finished our evening with a game of Apples to Apples which if you've ever played, is pretty hilarious. I totally won. OK, maybe I didn't actually win, but I came in third or fourth which is just as good, right? OK, that's not true either, I set a time limit and we finally just quit - but we did have fun!

Having kids this age isn't always a barrel of monkeys (especially when it's around 2 a.m. and they're not home yet) so it's nice to kick back sometimes, readjust the priorities (theirs, not mine) and remember to fit a family night in here and there. ♥

The Little Blog that Could...

2011-06-16T19:13:00.000-05:00

This is just a little note to myself about blogging, or rather my blog in particular. I get upset when there's no time to blog, no time to edit pictures, no time to visit and comment, and I have to remember this is all for FUN. The girl that designed my blog is out of town and I want to change things around - new background, new fonts, etc. However, I feel like I want her here as a safety net in case all is lost. I have a few days off though, and am going to play around and maybe come up with something new and maybe not. We'll see. I hope everyone is having a nice summer! ☼

Birthday-palooza!

2011-04-28T17:02:00.001-05:00

Today is my husband Scott's 50th birthday and so I thought since I rarely blog about him, I'd dedicate this post to my very favorite husband ever! He is my only one so I guess it's easy to be my favorite. Every time it's someone's birthday, I usually either write on the bathroom mirror with window paint (if we have any) or make a little picture on the computer so that's the first thing the birthday person sees in the morning. This year, my daughter took over for me and made this one...

He makes my coffee every morning because he gets up before I do and when he's got extra time, there's an egg sandwich sitting close by. On weekends - watch out! Iron Chef Russo takes over the kitchen. I always remind my kids how lucky they are that they have a dad who has been involved in their lives since day one and who is such a great example of what a husband and father should be. There was never a "mom" job or a "dad" job - we became parents at exactly the same time so what one of us didn't know, we'd figure out together. If I missed a field trip at school, he went, and we both took turns doing playground duty at lunch recess (on his day off). So without further adieu, here are just a few words that describe the birthday boy...

A dad (who never missed Dad's Night at pre-school)

Cub Scout leader...

Baseball coach...

Good friend...

Best buddy...

Blues hockey fan...

Proud and loyal employee...

Daredevil...

Housework helper...(while he talks on the phone like a girl) LOL!!

Doofus and heart-attack-giver...

Son and brother...

Happy Birthday, Scott,

and here's to 50 more!

There's No Place Like Home...

2011-04-25T21:18:00.000-05:00

"The wind began to switch, the house, to pitch - and suddenly the hinges started to unhitch..." (from The Wizard of Oz)

If you keep up with the news or weather at all, you may have seen that the Midwest has been hit with rain, storms, and even tornadoes this past week. It's been rather unsettling and the tornado sirens are going off several times a week. It's been raining off and on literally every day for at least 7 or 8 days. I'm in St. Louis, or rather a suburb of St. Louis.

When you live where there are tornadoes, you tend to put off running straight to the basement at the first sign of a siren because they are pretty frequent, but this past weekend, it was just "different". Don't get me wrong, IF the sirens are going off, taking cover is the proper thing to do! We just usually wait for more information before we head downstairs. Friday night the sirens were going off, the air had a very still feeling about it, and we grabbed our flashlights, candles, books, and of course the Doritos in case we had to stay there awhile, and went straight to the basement.

The good news is we were safe and our power stayed on. However, tornadoes touched down a mere 10-15 minutes from our house and today I drove around to view the damage. Amazingly no one was killed in the storm, but seeing the destruction up close and personal is not only unbelievable but terribly heartbreaking. In a strange way, it was also inspirational watching people working together to help in the rebuilding process. One place hit terribly hard (in addition to the St. Louis airport) and where the tornado touched down was the city of Ferguson - a quaint city filled with century old homes and full of history. I wanted to share some of the pictures I took today and maybe you can add these families to your prayers, especially those who maybe don't have insurance and who are unable to live in their houses at the moment...

Since we live near the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, flooding is the next thing that comes after lots of rain and storms hit the area so I feel like no one's out of the woods yet. Please keep them in your prayers and I hope the beautiful spring sunshine returns in no time with all its colorful enthusiasm!

Visiting & Sharing...

2011-04-22T12:39:00.000-05:00

I've been busy as a bee lately making all of our Easter food from scratch and decorating and sewing all of our own clothes, so I haven't been around much lately. I know, even I can't keep a straight face as I type it - it's so not true! I bet I had you going (and pretty impressed) there for a minute though. I have, however, done a guest post on my friend Monica's blog, The Mennobrarian, highlighting a few fun things that she's inspired me to try. We both work at public libraries so it's fun to ~~commiserate~~ share our experiences working with the ~~kooky~~ ~~nutty~~ interesting public. Monica's been getting ready for springtime and fighting off the sinus infection that just won't quit so relax, take a little visit to her blog and wish her well. ♥

Have a wonderful Easter!

Easters past

2011-04-15T10:02:00.000-05:00

Whenever I get the chance, I love to join Alicia at More Than Words for her Friday Photo Flashback. It gets me in gear to get the old photos out and it's fun seeing what others post. They're pictures from our pre-digital camera days.

There's a theme going with all these Easter pictures - and believe it or not, we actually do have eyes it turns out. I do remember always having to face the sun when we stood outside but WOW! These just crack me up - especially the first one. I was the sixth one so I hadn't gotten here yet and learned the squinting technique perfected by the other five.

Now I finally get to join the squinting fun...

I remember my mom telling me the story about the babysitter cutting my hair while my mom was at work one day but I can't remember why. That could explain why I never had short hair after that. I hope you're enjoying the spring and that you've got nice weather where you are. Now break out those cameras and turn away from the light! ☼

Sweet Spring

2011-04-07T14:45:00.000-05:00

In St. Louis during March and April we can literally have snow on the ground one day and be up in the 60s the next. I always think it's so funny reading what people who live near me post on Facebook when it comes to the weather..."WOW, it's crazy snowing out there, I can't believe it's March!" or "WOW, it's 72 and my windows are open, I can't believe it's March!" It was 91 degrees here last Sunday, and the next day, my a/c repairman couldn't come over because it was too chilly out. I think it needs to at least be warm enough the a/c will kick on or something, who knows.

Anyway, it's late enough now that most of the dogwoods are finished blooming but little by little other things are making their debut and you can just feel the "spring" in everyone's step.

Our old neighbors started this garden years ago and every year in the springtime, it just pops right up little by little. This is only the beginning. When the weather is nicer, they keep their turtle in there.

Our little Bradford pear tree is trying to keep up with all the flowering trees...

Our backyard neighbor's Redbud tree greets us every day...

My tulips are budding...

Finches are everywhere and I'm forever refilling the feeder...

Three at once on this one!

Robins are ALL over the place and teasing my dogs all day long...

And these are my favorite shots...when I drove through a wooded park, I saw random little spots of flowers that looked so bright next to the mostly bare trees...

It's still early in the month so I'm excited to see everything come into full bloom. This year, my son's birthday will fall on Easter and that hasn't happened before for him, and the following week is the big royal wedding! If you're still having cold, icky weather, I hope spring will peek its head out soon ~ you know it's worth the wait! Have a wonderful week.

A Little Fool

2011-04-01T08:41:00.000-05:00

I can't believe the last time I posted was March 6th! I have so many good blog posts in my head (well, at least a couple) just waiting to be hatched, it makes me wonder what I've been doing all this time. Anyhow, in honor on April Fool's Day and Friday Photo Flashback, I'm sharing just a few "foolish" pictures. Apparently standing there and just smiling was a little too difficult for me.

(A little sidenote - the building in the background is the St. Louis Art Museum built for the 1904 World's Fair)

For more pre-digital flashback fun, visit Alicia at More Than Words and have a GREAT weekend! Hope you don't get fooled today. :P

Food Can Be Funny...

2011-03-06T13:23:00.000-06:00

Well, I just had to share a few little things that have crossed my path and gave me a chuckle or two...

I know, right!? Come and get it, y'all! Since I'm not a major traveler, I don't know what's local and what's not, but I think that "pork steaks" are pretty Midwestern, aren't they? Not sure. They're made from pork butt, which isn't a butt at all, but rather a shoulder (area-ish). Any BBQ you go to in these parts will have pork steaks on the menu. The curly tails - hilarious!

Uh, "Easy Open"? Yeah, I don't think so, Chef.

Of course I don't believe in "luck" (although if you've seen my daughter's driving record of things that have happened to her car, you just might, but I digress) but isn't half the FUN of getting Chinese, reading your fortune cookie? I don't think you should have a website on your fortune in case you didn't like it. Being the investigative blogger that I am, I went to the website and in order for them to get "the fortune that's right for you", you need to enter your name, e-mail address, and birthdate. Yeah, I can see my fortune alright - "Lots of spam mail on my horizon!"

And let's be honest, we have to take the good with the bad. Meredith made mini apple pies for the first time and didn't think that food was quite so funny, but it sure made me laugh...

I think the word she used was quite similar to the highlight of picture #1. I gently told her that she needs to choose her words more carefully, especially when communicating with her own mother. Her response...

I know you are, but what am I!? Good one, huh? And so mature. At least I know how to make apple pie...sort of.

Nothing like a good book

2011-02-25T08:20:00.000-06:00

"Children are made readers

on the laps of their parents."

~ Emilie Buchwald

This is a picture from 1993 and Meredith was pretending to read Sara a story, which always cracked me up. For more Friday Photo Flashback fun, visit Alicia at More Than Words and HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

A Penny Saved...

2011-02-20T16:59:00.080-06:00

February 14th ♥ ~ a day when we all think of love and flowers and candy and hearts and...BELLY BOMBERS?? I don't know if you've heard of White Castle or not, but it's a fast food hamburger place here in the Midwest (and maybe some stores to the East - ?) known for their little hamburgers (called "belly bombers"), cheap prices, and late-night greasy food fixes. People usually either love them or hate them. The burgers are small, and loaded with tiny onions and pickles. I don't like onions so I get mine plain, but I DO like them, and it's easy to eat three or four at a time - no problem.

Here's what I think is hilarious (and TOTALLY adorable)...every Valentine's Day, they close their doors to the public and become reservation only. The drive-thru is still open though. This year my daughter Meredith (21), and her boyfriend Nick, made reservations through the White Castle offices and had a 6:30 seating at our local White Castle.

I always thought it sounded like fun but never remembered in time to do it. They went up there and I asked if I could go take pictures of them eating and if you can believe it, they said nope. So then I asked my other daughter Sara (19) if she'd go with me and I'd take pictures through the windows. She said, "Um, no, that's creepy and stalkerish," so I went by myself. I got up there and drove around the parking lot a couple times and realized that yeah, it did feel a bit creepy and stalkerish, so I was content just taking pictures* of the outside. *You can click to enlarge.

They set the tables with candles, flowers, and menus; the counter people become waiters and waitresses; and they have a photographer that goes around asking if you'd like your picture taken.

If you're curious, they got the "Sweetheart Special" and then Nick ordered Meredith a jalapeno cheeseburger because she hadn't had one before. Total meal with tip...$16.

Apparently this event is very popular because it was on TV that only several of the city stores and a couple across the river in Illinois (we're in St. Louis) weren't booked solid. The drive-thru business was boppin' also and even though the picture is blurry (because of my dumb camera) I got the cutest shot from the back of this older couple holding hands and walking in.

They had a lot of fun and since V-Day is pretty low key around here, maybe Scott and I will get crazy and go there next year (and I can sneak a picture when they're not looking!).

♥ HAPPY BELATED VALENTINE'S DAY! ♥

A Constant State of Denial

2011-02-07T20:36:00.000-06:00

I understand that when we get older, maybe our knees aren't what they used to be, or our reading glasses need to be a little more handy, but that happens to everyone, right? I like it in my MIND where things are happy and fair and everyone gets along. My young adult children ~~in my mind~~ are home and in bed by 10 p.m., my scale ~~in my mind~~ is a constant 125 lbs., and nobody ~~in my mind~~ brings more than 12 items in the Express Line at the grocery store.

I can stay here for an indefinite amount of time, in my little happy land, until all of a sudden the mailman gets here and delivers...THIS:

A.A.R.P.???

Now, if I'm 46, doesn't that mean that I'm maybe AARP Jr.? My husband's older than I am and he's never gotten one. I went to their website and guess what - I'm not old enough to join. Kooks. I'm sure it's wonderful and I can't wait until I can save a buck or two but all things in due time. The funniest part about this is my friend was over and I showed it to her and she got one, too, and she's 43. Maybe I'll check with my kids and see if they've gotten one. I think the AARP is out to make a B-U-C-K! ha ha

Have a wonderful week!

Snack time

2011-02-02T13:27:00.002-06:00

I think if you're like me and a fan of any cooking sites or food blogs, we're getting a lot of appetizer recipes this week, which I LOVE!! Superbowl Sunday always brings out the foodies and for me, that's the best part of the game. I remember we were invited to a Superbowl party once and I don't like sports that much, but who cares!? There was going to be dip and fun people and we were on our way. I figured the women would chat and eat and hang out and the men would watch the game. Wrong. Everyone watched the game which was a yawner for me. I want to like sports, I really do! Ever since then we either will "pop by" to say hello or stay home and Scott watches the game and I do something very important...probably. But we always make snacks - I think it's in the Declaration of Independence ~ John Adams said there should always be snacks on Superbowl Sunday no matter what. I will NOT let down our Founding Fathers!

A couple people asked for some recipes after the Christmas post so I'm going to share a couple favorites. Have you ever noticed the first time you eat a new appetizer and you like it, you start bringing it to everything and introducing everyone to it? Then all of a sudden it's in Taste of Home or some-such and it's like, "Get outta town, we've had that forever!"? Granted, I don't invent any of them (I was born without a creativity gene), so I'm just sharing what others have shared with me. Thank you, others!!

Chocolate Chip dip (the only picture I have is from the last post)
1 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese
3/4 c. softened butter
1 t. vanilla
3/4 c. sugar
2 T. brown sugar
3/4 c. chocolate chips (I use the minis)
With a mixer, blend cream cheese, butter and vanilla. Slowly add both sugars. Stir in chocolate chips. Refrigerate for 1 hour or longer. Serve w/graham cracker sticks, animal crackers, or pretzels (which is what we usually use for the sweet-salty combo - oh, and because we usually have them on hand). YUMM!!

Raspberry spread (such a weird combo but so good!)

1 c. raspberry preserves (save for last)
1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
1 c. cheddar cheese
1 c. mayo (not Miracle Whip)
2 green onions, chopped (I know the picture shows three, but that's too much I think)
1/2-3/4 c. chopped pecans

Mix above ingredients (except preserves). Line a platter w/plastic wrap and pour dip onto platter, staying on the inner part of the platter.

Cover and refrigerate (it says overnight but I did it for about an hour and it was fine). To serve, slide it off the platter (it's on plastic wrap, remember?). Put the platter upside down and invert the dip onto it. Do this however you want to - that's the biggest pain about the recipe. Spread the preserves on top and serve with club crackers or really any kind. ENJOY!

I'm always up for new snack and appetizer recipes so if you have any you want to share, I'm game and I know people would love to see them!! I just found a recipe for Crab Rangoon Dip so I think I need to try that and share it next time.

ENJOY THE GAME!

Shakin' Up the Holidays

2011-01-23T18:11:00.000-06:00

BLURRY PHOTOS ALERT!

(Sorry, I've only had my camera for about a year and haven't read the directions yet)

I just love this picture of the tree and wreath but it's not my tree. We had a get-together with our friends and this was the first thing we saw as we walked into their house. SOOO pretty! The house wasn't spilling over with decorations, but just enough to give it the festive, holiday spirit.

You know how sometimes you want to try something new and it's WONDERFUL and other times, well, not so much?? That was us this Christmas. I love the look of Christmas trees and ornaments are my FAVORITE, but decorating the tree just isn't up my alley. I don't enjoy it, I think it's kind of a pain, and basically I thought we could just do without one this year. Scott's usually the one who puts it up and takes it down, and he's fine with it. He agreed with me though and said sure, we'd forgo that tradition this year. No biggie, right?

I never had a fireplace in my house growing up so that's my fun thing - I love to decorate it and we still put up our other things around the house to give it that "Christmasy" feeling. About a week later, however, after seeing tree after tree everywhere else, I really started missing it. Plus, isn't it so fun at night to turn the lights off and just have the tree on? Plus, all those sweet memories when we get out the homemade ornaments or ones that have special meaning - priceless. Then, CRACK ME UP, Sara came home from work with this...(she's 19, by the way)

She said she didn't like not having a Christmas tree and she'd just make one herself. You go, girl!! So we all decided that yep, we like having a tree, and even though this one was really easy to take down, we don't mind Scott going through the trouble of putting one up. LOL! Trying Something New #1 - DISLIKE.

Here's something else we did this year that my mom decided to try. The grandkids that are in town range in age from 13-23 and she sent a card to each one (this was to my son, Adam): (click to enlarge)

Out of the seven grandchildren in town, six work in the food industry in one form or another. Three work for Schnucks (the company my husband works for), and three work in restaurants. She wanted them to each bring something. I thought this was such a fun idea!! So here's what they came up with (and no parents helped out, but a couple girlfriends/boyfriends did) - sorry for the blurriness:

Raspberry/cream cheese dip - BEST dip evah!!!

Garlic/butter mashed potatoes (OH MY WORD!)

Chocolate chip dip (sweets by a sweetie)

Brownies (made by the 13 year old) - PERFECT!

Banana nut bread - brought by someone nutty; Cookies (underneath the brownies) - YUM; and two kinds of cupcakes (made by a girlfriend, but tasted for quality assurance, no doubt, by my nephew). The ones in back had peanut butter icing and I'm proud to say I did NOT eat all six of them - go me!

The iron chefs:

Trying Something New #2 - LIKE!

Not all changes were a success but at least we explored new waters. Any time I told someone we didn't put up a tree, they looked at me like I grew an arm out of my head. Seriously? Come on, it wasn't THAT big of a deal. It's not like I went to church and sang "Jingle Bells, Batman Smells". Sometimes you just gotta shake it up!

Prize time!

2011-01-10T14:15:00.000-06:00

I knew I wasn't alone - whew, that's a relief. It was so fun reading all the ways people either ARE or WANT to get organized. Apparently we are a BUNCH of list-makers and we all want to get and stay organized. Isn't it a great feeling when everything is in its place? Don't you love opening your clean, organized purse with no debit slips hanging out and an up-to-date check book? Hey, it happens from time to time. I always feel like I'm the only one who can't get my act together, but nope, life gets in the way all over the place for every one of us occasionally. I always think the first thing that should go is my blog but then I read so many encouraging, nutty, crazy remarks and nope, I can't part with it just yet.

Without further ado, I want to tell you the winner of the giveaway, but also share some tips people have given me lately to at least get your LISTS going...

Comment 25 was by Mimi from He & Me + Three. Mimi is also part of the Five Moms and a Blog blog so you can check her out both places. I think organizing is a MUST for her - three very active BEAUTIFUL children keep her on her toes. CONGRATS, Mimi!

Now a few sites you might want to check out to help you get started with your list organizing extravaganza:

www.tadalist.com

www.evernote.com (you can watch their quick tutorial at the bottom of the page)

www.carbonfin.com (if you have an iPhone, iPad, or iPod)

Feel free to share any other websites or ideas that help you to get a grip, so to speak. And speaking of being disorganized, after I posted this giveaway, I remembered another one I wanted to do that had nothing to do with this so I might have to remind myself to do another one sometime soon (and by soon, I mean in this lifetime). ha ha I know, lame.

An Organized Giveaway!

2011-01-05T16:01:00.001-06:00

Happy New Year, 2011!

If you blog a little or a lot, no doubt you've read comments galore about making resolutions for the new year. UGH. Of course "resolution" sounds so hard-core, so call it what you will. I love being organized and I whoop it up any time there's an actual reason or date to do something, i.e. make a change somehow. Be it New Year's, Lent, Advent, a Monday, whatever, I grab it and go. Even if it's not lasting, I'm no worse off for doing something a bit different. That's why they invented the word "try". Oooh, that was good, I have to remember that.

In a perfect world, this giveaway would've been done towards the end of December but seeing as I am not the "Perfect" but rather the "imPerfect" Housewife, the timing is completely off and therefore, just about right for this blog. That's alright, I forgive me. OK, enough chatter. For those of you who like your ducks in a row, I'm having an organized giveaway to help just a teeny bit in giving your life a semblance of structure and order.

Here's what you'll get (all by Gooseberry Patch):

1. A Garden Planner
2. A Ho-Ho Holiday Planner (start now, trust me)
3. A Holiday Online Organizer
4. A Favorite Recipes Organizer
5. A Weekly Meal Planner
and finally for those of us you that grab & go on occasion,
6. A Take-Out Menu Organizer
(This giveaway is not sponsored by Gooseberry Patch in any way, I just like their stuff and thought it would be fun).

Here's how to enter - you will have up to two chances (and please make sure I have a way to contact you if you win):

1. Leave a comment telling me one way that you like to be organized (and if you're a total slob, you're still very lovable so just tell us what could use a bit more organization in your life).

2. Post the giveaway on your blog sidebar, or Facebook, or The New York Times, or The Yellow Pages, or something that lets your friends know about it. Then leave a comment telling me you did so. (#2 is purely optional) Yellow Pages? Yeah, I'm old.

I hate to leave anyone out, but this is for the continental U.S. only.

The giveaway will go through Sunday, January 9th, and the winner will be announced Monday morning, January 10th. I'll use random.org.

If you've chosen to make any positive changes, whether they were on January 1st or February 23rd, there's never a bad time. Good luck if you're entering the giveaway and I'm glad you stopped by!

Christmas past

2010-12-24T09:04:00.000-06:00

I think this picture is from 1994 ~ when I trimmed it to fit in a small frame, I cut off the last number of the 199_. I remember Adam was so excited to have a St. Louis Blues jacket like Scott's. Meredith (in the middle) looks a bit hypnotized but I'm sure she was going on no sleep and a boatload of sugar, which is pretty much how I function every day so no biggie.

Pop on over to Alicia's blog, More Than Words, for more Friday Photo Flashbacks and I hope everyone has a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

A Sweet Surprise

2010-12-21T17:00:00.004-06:00

For someone like me, who dislikes shopping, Amazon.com is my best friend around the holidays. It's like shopping in my living room, they deliver it for free, and if I want them to wrap it then they'll do that too. I'm not completely hopeless, however, and do wrap my own gifts...usually. And no, this isn't a plug for Amazon - I'm just saying that because boxes are being delivered here pretty much lately. Yesterday, however, one box looked a little different and I recognized the return address - a friend of mine whom I knew was about to make my day a bit merrier.

Let me start by saying that I love to make gifts, but this year (very similar to the last ~~ten~~ couple years or so) time has gotten away from me and I've joined the all-store-bought-gifts crowd. That's OK, we all understand one another and we're semi-fine with it. Well, this was the MOST creative gift and not only was it home-made but she made up the entire story herself!!

A Christmas story with candy*,

by Beth's friend, who shall remain nameless but you can view her blog by clicking here

*I put the name of the candy she used in (red, like this)

I wanted to spend a healthy (100 Grand) for your Christmas gift. But when I checked it had all slipped through my (Butterfinger) and there was now (Zero) available. So I called on my friends whom I consider to be real (Smarties) to help brainstorm for a nice gift.

(Clark) opened the meeting by suggesting we send you a ticket to a (Symphony) on (5th Avenue) or a trip to (Mars) and the (Milky Way). The entire room erupted in (Snickers) at that suggestion. (Mike and Ike) got up and said they were torn (Twix) (Hot Tamales), (Cookie Dough bites), and (Juicy Fruit). No one seemed enthused about that idea either so the...

(3 Musketeers) suggested I send a (Whatchamacallit) or a (Thingamajig). (Mr. Goodbar) got up and called everyone a bunch of (Nerds) that the perfect gift would be a fluffy little (Kit Kat) or a book filled with (Cow Tales). Tired from all the fuss I decided to simply wish you lots of (Almond Joy)..

Everything was neatly taped to a large white towel (which I hope she doesn't want back because I love white towels). I'm still impressed that even over a long distance, she could sense my NEED for chocolate and it arrived on a day that I couldn't have used it more! Of course I cried for my lack of planning this year, my feelings of being overwhelmed by several things lately, and ~~my kids were getting on my nerves~~ I wasn't particularly full of the holiday spirit at the moment. I rarely get like that around the holidays, believe it or not, because I don't let all the hype get to me. Yesterday I was human though and it did.

It did reinforce to me how meaningful gifts are that come from the heart, are well thought out, and take a bit of time and effort. Hopefully my friend will plan a bit more for me next year because that trip to Mars or the Milky Way sounds pretty appealing at the moment! My sugar-induced coma will work just fine for now, however ~ I'm glad she understands me.

OK, now for those Christmas cards that are sitting on my table...

My favorite doll...

2010-12-17T10:07:00.000-06:00

It's been WEEKS since I've done a blog post and I just noticed that I've got 200 followers now, which I think calls for a post-Christmas giveaway! If it falls below 200 before then, well then we're STILL going to have a giveaway because that's how we roll around here. (I guess by "we" I just mean my imaginary staff and I.) Since we've all got halls to deck and shopping to ~~start~~ do, I'll wait until the Monday after Christmas.

When I try and catch up with blogging, for some reason Friday is the day I do it. For one thing, I not-so-long-ago discovered that pictures from my childhood DO exist. For another, I work in the afternoons on Fridays so I'm home in the morning to do it. After the holidays (I will continue to use that excuse until I can't anymore), my hope is to go back to regular blogging, but then again I said last year after the holidays I'd lose 20 lbs. and that hasn't happened yet, so we'll all just chug along and hope for the best.

So without further ado, here is the Christmas that I got my beloved Susie doll. I still have her and her stroller, although the stroller is falling apart a bit. I pulled out most of Susie's eyelashes for whatever reason (we won't ask Freud) but she still closes her eyes when she's put in her crib. I remember taking her for walks on the sidewalk and people thinking it was a real baby because I'd have her tucked in so just her head peeped out. I did a post about Susie last year but since this is December, I thought a picture of when I got her for Christmas would be fun.

Please try not to ruin your retina by staring at the couch behind me. Yowza.

I would say hop on over to Alicia's blog, More Than Words, for more Friday Photo Flashback, but I think she took a time out this week from flashbacks and there's a picture of the best looking burger I've ever seen. Hop on over there anyway because she's fun and her blog is adorable.

Birthday flashback

2010-11-12T08:22:00.001-06:00

"We turn not older with years,

but newer every day."

~ Emily Dickinson

My first birthday.

Comments are off ~ have a wonderful weekend!

Be sure and visit Alicia at More Than Words for more fun Friday Photo Flashbacks ~

Little getaway...

2010-11-08T20:32:00.001-06:00

Grab a cup o' coffee because you're going on a mini vacation with us! This past beautiful weekend, my husband Scott and I took a little 2-day jaunt to the Lake of the Ozarks for my birthday. Since I was turning 40 for the sixth time, we decided a getaway was in order. My brother has a house down there so it's free to stay, peaceful, and it lets me pretend I live in the country for a bit. This is the view from the back deck of the house - the sunrise over the lake. I'm a total morning person so I was up in plenty of time.

What's a getaway without a bit of wildlife? This little guy decided to give me the perfect photo op but didn't realize he was in the SHADE. Duh, little bluebird. Ever since I saw that Shirley Temple movie, that's been my favorite bird ~ and we never get them where I live because there aren't enough trees.

And of course Bambi and I crossed paths while I was driving up to the closest place to make Scott's cell phone work. No, I'm not taking a picture and driving a car, why do you ask??

Scott was in total vacation "whatever you want to do is fine with me" mode (and I did mention a time or 1000 that it was my birthday weekend) so we went off the beaten path on our way to the lake to the cutest little town called Versailles (which they pronounce Ver-sails).

I thought it was an Amish/Mennonite town, but nope, just Mennonites. They have the old horse & buggy Mennonites and also some that drive cars. I asked the checker (a Mennonite girl) at the little store if they all like each other and she laughed and said yes, but no they don't go to church together - if you drive a car then you go to one church and if you have a horse & buggy you go to a different one. The area is SO pretty and one house is cuter than the next ~ come along...

(Click to enlarge the pictures if you need to)

This makes me so nervous - the road sharing. They don't seem to mind and everybody, and I mean everybody waved to us as we passed. Of course I told Scott it's because they all thought I was cute. He agreed - it was my birthday weekend, remember?

First stop was Weaver's which sells bulk spices and pots and pans, etc. If you've been in a car for a couple hours drinking Diet Pepsi and you happen to ask Mrs. Weaver (the original) where the restroom is, I hope you're able to hold yourself about 20 minutes longer while she elaborates on the grand re-model of their current facilities and then continues on to tell you everything you never knew you wanted to know about cast iron skillets, home-made peanut butter, and what the store used to look like years ago. You will eventually be directed around back to the outhouse that's a temporary fixture. Don't be fooled - this place is HUGE.

Chocolate, honey-roasted peanut butter and cappucino peanut butter - pure genius!! Of course Mrs. Weaver is sure one of the traveling salesmen stole the idea because you can find the chocolate peanut butter other places now. Uh yeah, it's called Reese's. LOL We also stocked up on sesame sticks, wasabi soy nuts, coconut caramels, and brown suger - you know, the things we'll need if we get stranded.

We traveled just a bit further down the road to a little bakery that's about the size of a playhouse but was again, cute as a bug's ear. We bought some fresh oatmeal bread and molasses cookies. It's just down the gravel road from Weaver's but they put their sign pointing the way right IN the Weaver's flower bed - just ask! Or better yet, you won't even need to. And they are none too happy about it, I'll tell you that.

These were some children playing out back by the barn. It seems even Mennonite children play the same games as the rest of the world - whack the little brother with the stick!

Now it's onto the Dutch Pantry Store, which sells overstock, dented, and damaged-type items (I live with a grocery man, remember?). So what, it's cheap and they sell butter the way God intended - in BULK! They also have a cute deli but I thought a picture of the tired sweating Mennonite lady would be a bit much to ask for - I do have a bit of couth for Pete's sake.

This is just a cute restaurant in the area, but we had just eaten some sandwiches and we had our dogs with us so going in to eat wasn't an option.

On our way home on Saturday, we went back through Versailles and there was an auction going on. I don't care that I didn't need a tractor or a rake or whatever it was they had - I had a camera and it was loaded. (BTW, I never asked anyone to pose and I only took pics from far away). Scott was losing a bit of the "It's all about Beth" mentality and said he'd just stay in the car with the dogs. FINE (stomp, pout)!!! So I just got a few pics of the buggy parking lot, some men/boys pulling in, and a great shot of the women folk by the Johnny-on-the-spot. I'm pretty sure I could hear a collective yawn coming from their direction but if they're like me they're thinking, 'Hey it's a day I don't have to clean house and I can get a hot dog instead of cooking.'

Look behind this buggy coming in at all the bikes - they're everywhere!

Maybe if you have any specific questions about Mennonites, our friend Monica, The Mennobrarian, can help us out. Thanks for coming along on our little getaway!

Birthday girl!

2010-10-29T08:41:00.000-05:00

Although this has flashback photos, it's also a post wishing my daughter a very HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY!! Her b-day was the 19th so I'm just a little late, but we had to get a new scanner and then I couldn't work it, blah, blah, blah.

I should've done this post last week, but I was SUPER BUSYYYYY. OK, yeah, no I wasn't but I should've made the time for a birthday post. Meredith (my daughter) is on the right and she's with her friend Kelly. For ONCE, I was finally going to get a shot of Meredith and her boy...friend, but believe it or not she was stressed out in this picture and Kelly is a ham so she jumped on board.

Time for the flashback...

This is my favorite birthday picture of Mere - when she turned 3. I bought a glass bowl that year that we could mix and bake the cake in, flip it over, put a doll head in and poof, instant doll cake! The best part was letting her help decorate.

She's in college right now but we always wondered what she would do with her life...

Hmmm, not a big fan of baptism. This was the priest who married us and baptized all three kids but Meredith was very unimpressed.

Would she be a race car driver...

A nun...(I'm not holding my breath)

A baker...(she makes frozen pizza rolls like a GENIUS!)

A homeless person...(still possible)

Not sure what she'll be or do, but she is a hoot and a great big sister (and younger sister - no pic of Adam here), so now if she can just help the youngest one figure something out we'll have it made. I'm at least glad I've got some pictures of her, she acts like I'm getting out a machine gun every time I get the camera out and goes nuts. Spare me.

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY, MEREDITH! We ♥ you! For more Friday Photo Flashback fun, visit Alicia at More Than Words and have a great weekend ~

Pretty view

2010-10-15T09:05:00.000-05:00

One day I hope to live in the country surrounded by wildlife, big open spaces, beautiful trees, and air that doesn't smell like a Big Mac. Have I mentioned we live very close to a McDonald's AND a Chinese restaurant? If the General Tso's chicken was any good, I may not mind so much, but it is what it is. In the meantime, God put this BEAUTIFUL tree directly across the street from me and I wanted to share it with you because I like it that much. In Anne of Green Gables, she expresses my thoughts exactly..."I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn't it?..." Around here, yes it would.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

The 8-lb. maniac

2010-10-12T15:09:00.001-05:00

More tails (ha, get it?) of Frosty the fruitcake. I feel like every time we walk in on him, he's like, "What...I have no idea what you're talking about." He can leap like a deer and he thinks like a dodo bird.

I was walking into my bedroom and look - an alien on my dresser...

I could understand if I kept Pop-Tarts or corn curls up there - I think we'd all jump on a dresser for those, but this dresser was free and clear.

The leaper jumped and pulled half of a sandwich from the kitchen table...

Just this very morning (bill paying day at the Russo's), I left a chair pulled out of the dining room table - whoops...

Yes, Annabelle, we totally understand...

But boy, oh boy, does he LOVE his dad!

For more animal fun or to share your animal stories, join Angela at West Virginia Treasures every Tuesday for her Tuesdays' Show & Tail!

Granny has a poker face

2010-10-08T07:48:00.000-05:00

I've SO missed doing Friday Photo Flashback!

Don't grandmas sit in rocking chairs and knit and tell stories about walking to school - uphill both ways? And tell us how good we have it? And then bake us something and let us lick the beaters? Yeah, sometimes.

I don't know how many pictures you have of your grandma playing poker, but there you go. Those days were before I ever got here. Baby needs a new pair of shoes! This had to have been the mid-sixties and that's my Uncle Bill to her left and my brother Jeff to her right. Look at the beer bottles (none for grandma) - isn't that something you do after the kids are in bed? Nope. I love how no one's looking at my brother - 'Outta my way kid, I gotta pair of deuces.' I'm sure there was a peach cobbler in the oven while she was playing, right? Right!?

For more pre-digital photo fun, visit Alicia at More Than Words and have a good weekend.

Comments are turned off for the weekend ~ have a great one!!

Back to basics...

2010-10-04T17:57:00.000-05:00

It has been so long since I've done a blog post I forgot how! Well, OK, that's not true but it has been awhile. I think I have A.D.D. - either that or I have procrastinationitis, or appendicitis. Whenever you hear someone say, "I'm so busy!" don't you just want to roll your eyes and tell them to shut their pie hole? Mmmmm pie! See what I mean? Let's focus here. UGHHHH. Last time I checked, we all have the same 24 hours, so basically we're all just making different choices in how to spend them, right?

I keep putting off the things I enjoy the most because those are the things I want to spend the most time on. I put off blogging because I want the perfect post; I put off e-mailing friends because I want to have it be the perfect e-mail; I put off reading the classics because I know they'll always be there; and I put off going away for the weekend with my husband because it's just not the right time. NO MORE...maybe...probably. This is how I spend ~~a lot~~ some of my time...

Yep, playing Farmville. I mean, seriously, if I don't play Farmville how will I get extra pig slop??? See where I'm coming from? I thought so. I am making a few ~~minor~~ major changes around here and I wanted you to be the first to know:

Number 1 - I'm NOT perfect (hence the name of the blog) and I'm not ~~hopefully~~ waiting five weeks between blog posts. I don't like long posts anyhow. If I go to a blog and it's VERY long and goes on and on infinitum, I skim it and move on. We're all so "busy", remember? (eye roll) Short, sweet, boom, done.

Number 2 - I will take control of my e-mails ~~probably~~. You know as well as I do some of these people become our very close friends and I enjoy doing that. I received an e-mail from a friend just last week and it was the sweetest thing - just a basic "here's what's been going on in a nutshell - hope you're well" type of thing and my first thought was, 'Why can't I do that??' My e-mail looks like this...

'Why, Beth, you must be head of the CIA or an important inventor or the president of something very important!!' you're thinking. No, Bath & Body Works and Lands' End just really really like me and want me to stay up-to-date. Good bye, dumb ads ~~that I signed up for~~, you're part of my changes. Ta ta!

Number 3 - I'm going to do my back exercises. That has nothing to do with blogging or e-mail but I figured I'd just throw that out there.

Number 4 - I've already started this...I'm going back to reading some of the classics. I just finished "To Kill a Mockingbird" which I read in high school but didn't remember, and am now reading "Anne of Green Gables". That girl's a hoot!

Finally, Number 4 - I'm going to enjoy this beautiful fall season! I'm not a big decorator but I like the fall colors so much and I'm a candle fanatic so I put those things together any time the weather begins to change. Hopefully I'll spend more time in Blogland and visiting my favs. I still don't really know how to do that - I know there's a "reader" with Google, right? I usually just type in the name of the blog and go there - there's GOT to be a better way!!

I hope you're having nice weather wherever you are and getting things on your "to do" list finished.

The Ordinary Days...

2010-08-31T15:00:00.000-05:00

If you're a mom, you know that every stage of motherhood has its trials and tribulations. Some days are great and some...not so much. When we had our third child, we already had a 3 year old and a little one who had just turned 2, so things were overwhelming at times. I'll never forget the nurse in the hospital telling me that it will be so fun when they were all a bit older and everybody would run and jump in bed with us. She was right. To this day, my husband and I still talk about those fun mornings when he'd just whistle and we'd hear the stomping of little feet running our way.

A blog/computer friend, Saloma, shared this video which she had seen on another blog and I asked if I could share it as well. The author is reading from her book about how truly wonderful just the "ordinary" days are and those are the ones that will come to mean the most.

My youngest went away to school last week and after a week of tears and phone calls, she's decided to come back home. She was met with a lot of resistance, as were we, about what's the best thing to do ~ and everyone shared their opinions with us, whether we asked or not. :) "Don't let her", "Do let her", "Don't make her stay", "Make her stay", "Here's what I would do..." In the end it was her decision, right or wrong. She'll be fine and so will we.

My favorite line from this video is when she said, "All flowers bloom in their own time," and I couldn't agree more. When all is said and done, this week is not the one thing that will stand out in our minds when we think of Sara ~ it's all of the ordinary days we spent with not only her but our other two children, and with each other as well. All those regular good ol' things are "the stuff that dreams are made of."
The Gift Of An Ordinary Day from Katrina Kenison on Vimeo.

Guest post

2010-08-28T10:36:00.002-05:00

I'm doing a guest post today at A Joyful Chaos. I was happy to have been asked since it's one of my favorites. Once you read some of her past posts, you'll be hooked. Enjoy ~ ♥

Dorothy, you're not in Kansas anymore...

2010-08-27T10:44:00.000-05:00

Last weekend was the big drop-off weekend for my daughter's first away-from-home experience. Well, she's been away from home before, but only for a day or two at a time. Lesson number one is learning the difference between "wants" and "needs". When I went away to school, I called home (collect) crying every day. There was no e-mail, cell phone, text messaging, skype (which she doesn't have...yet) and we had to learn to make do.

I've always told my kids they can ASK for anything, right? Not a problem. Getting everything you ask for IS the problem. I couldn't help but share this journey with you as we watch this little puff of a chick peck her way out of the shell and into the big open world...

And here it starts. I KNEW as soon as her roommate came in with these adorable rain boots, a request wouldn't be far behind. I love how she's specific - she needs "cute" rain boots! Thank goodness she told me, I wouldn't want to pick up any with pictures of machine guns on them or anything ~ :D

Keep it comin' girl...

The next day her little mind is still awhirl with things she "needs". Have you ever really NEEDED a chip clip?

Ever since she worked at the pizza place, she's neurotic about people using coasters. Maybe there's some antique wood in their room she's trying to protect or something, you never know.

I don't even know what this is - I had to ask my other kids...

I thought I'd send her a friendly little text myself...

She answers...Shouldn't college kids not use the word "gunna"?

Oh wait - one more thing! But look, she's starting to learn already some things can w-a-i-t.

Hmmm, good question...

My other daughter (Meredith) forwarded me a text she got from Sara which is a RIOT! I guess since my husband works for a grocery chain that's what she's used to.

And sometimes I get a text from a friend at just the right time, who secretly knows I need some friend therapy and Mexican food, and she swoops in to save the day!

My answer, of course, was "All of the above!".

Three days to go...

2010-08-17T15:11:00.000-05:00

The countdown has begun and in just three short days, my youngest will be going away to college. I think her major (for now) is "Exercise Science" or something like that - her eventual goal is being a Physical Therapist. She's gone through extensive physical therapy herself and I think she can empathize and has a desire to help those who are going through it as well. I fully expect that to change a dozen times, and that's completely fine. Her bedroom has gone from this...

To this... (I just have to add here, she paid my other daughter a whopping $40 to clean her room. She got a bargain, let me tell you - my older daughter is a deep cleaning/wall washing diva and you could eat off her floor by the time she was finished with it.)

We've stocked up on everything from cute bedding to Tylenol and Q-tips...

Isn't this the cutest? She got this from her aunt and uncle - it's a shower caddy for taking her shampoo, etc. with her when she goes in the bathroom.

We all have dreams for our children - faith, strength, happiness, confidence, and the list goes on. I, being a realistic mother, have my own dreams for my child...

If she comes home having learned how to use both of these things, I think she'll be ready for the REAL world!

Grade school loud mouth...(and a sweet little book)

2010-08-13T07:54:00.002-05:00

Since we're all getting ready for back-to-school time, I thought a good flashback would be from grade school. This is my kindergarten picture and it's such a hoot because look at the curls on the side of my head. These were the pre-curling iron days and so I remember curlers being in my hair - but only in the front! It's stick straight in the back. And that was my favorite dress back then - tiny hearts and daisies. From JCPenney, I'm sure. What wasn't?!

Then for a splash of fun, I scanned one page from my third grade report card. You'll probably have to click on it to enlarge it and read it. The reports cards went through various forms - from a fold-out card to five or six pages of reports, then finally just the half sheet of paper in high school. This is the page for "other areas".

I think I could've scanned any page from any year because they all basically said the same thing - she talks too much, she talks too loudly, etc. - but the grades were always good, so that counts for something right? I love how she put "I'm trying to impress on her that a young lady should speak in softer tones." (I think she and my husband would agree on that one). And come on, seriously - a grade for art?

Finally, and this isn't a flashback, but with so many starting school this week, I wanted to share my favorite back-to-school book. I didn't discover it until after my son started school so I bought it for each of my girls when they went into kindergarten. It's called "The Kissing Hand". Basically the long and short of it is that the little raccoon is afraid of starting school so his mom kisses his hand and then whenever he's at school and misses home, he can put his hand to his cheek and feel the warmth and coziness of mom and home. Then he gives her hand a kiss also for when she misses him. It's ADORABLE.

I hope everyone has a great school year and if you'd like to join in more pre-digital photo fun, pop on over to Alicia's at More Than Words and join in!

The wild side...

2010-08-10T13:46:00.001-05:00

I have a secret confession to make - I absolutely ADORE animal prints! If I thought my family could stomach it (which they wouldn't - trust me), I'd have a room decorated in a whole jungle theme - complete with vines and Tarzan pounding his chest in the background. Yeah, OK, maybe not THAT. It's sort of just a guilty pleasure though, and I'm a pretty boring decorator and I'm using the term "decorator" extremely loosely.

In getting Sara, my daughter, ready for her new dorm room (she leaves in a week and a half- sniff, sniff), she wanted a zebra print bedspread. UH YEAH BABY! Thank you, apple, you have not fallen far from this tree. Lo and behold, we found a complete set - bedspread, sheets, pillow sham (which I had to explain to her what that was and then listen to her go on and on about why on EARTH is there such a thing and it makes no sense and she would just use it as a pillow case!), and dust ruffle (which of course won't get used, because who uses a dust ruffle in a dorm?).

It's reversible with half zebra print and half pink leopard/cheetah print. I don't know, maybe it's giraffe. Anyway, it's a color that is not on any jungle animal that God ever created I can tell you that much. After we got home, we remembered a little someone around here has an outfit (bought by my other daughter in a fit of college spending frenzy) that matches our new purchase. Her dress is half zebra, half hot pink with the word "Fierce" on the back. Helloooo, photo op! Let the countdown to college begin...

Now if we can just keep Tarzan away from the both of them, we'll be set! For more animal fun, visit Angela at West Virginia Treasures for more Tuesday's Show & Tail.

Feelin' hot hot hot...

2010-08-03T16:16:00.000-05:00

When it's like this outside...

(Heat index of 109 - YUCK)

We do a lot of this...

So we think you need some of this...

Cold macaroni salad:

1 small box of macaroni noodles (boiled and cooled). Cook the noodles in the a.m. so that they're ready to whip into shape that afternoon.

1/2 cup of French dressing

1/4 cup chopped green peppers (I left those out this time)

1/8 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup pickle relish

4 diced hard-boiled eggs

1/2 cup (or more) cubed cheddar cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise (not Miracle Whip)

Cream above ingredients and add 1-1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce and then salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy and stay cool!

Two things for YOU

2010-07-29T13:30:00.008-05:00

I want to share a couple things with you that I've recently discovered ~ one is a giveaway and one is a great recipe that was gone in a flash! Well, the recipe wasn't gone in a flash, but the food we made from it was. YUM

First, the giveaway...

My friend Monica, The Mennobrarian, is hosting a giveaway for a $40 gift certificate that can be used at any of CSN's 250+ online stores. FUN! Look at these sweet little samples she chose to show us:

I am very happy I didn't jump through the screen to try and grab that flower and butterfly plate! Close call, that was. Pop on over to visit Monica if you'd like to enter ~ she's adorable. You'll love her blog and pictures and recipes as well.

Speaking of recipes...

If you're watching your weight, or diet, or whatever, just zone out for a minute because this recipe is not gonna make you skinny. Just put on your stretchy clothes for the night - you'll be fine. I ran into one of the hot lunch ladies from our church/school at the grocery store and got the recipe for this FABULOUS chicken dish they serve the kiddos. They call it Sweet & Sour Chicken, but it's similar to some wing sauce at the grocery store that's called Spicy Glazed. Take your pick. All I know is that all five of us ~~devoured~~ ate it and liked it! Pause. Let that sink in (those of you with a family of picky eaters).

Here's what you'll need:

Some chicken chunks (they use popcorn chicken at school). I bought these weird round chicken token-looking things that you could probably use in a slot machine. Hey, they were on sale - don't judge me, I overspent that day. With a little forethought I probably would've bought some breaded chicken tenders and cut them up. You can of course make them, but this is for a quick meal when you didn't thaw anything out that day.

1 cup of hot sauce (they use Frank's and so do I)

2 sticks of butter

1/2 a bag of brown suger (which is about 1 lb.)

Heat it all up (except the chicken) on the stove or in the microwave, stirring occasionally. Cook the chicken and then serve over rice*. At school they coat the chicken in the sauce first and serve it over rice. I let everybody put their own sauce on so I didn't have to listen to "there's too much" or "there's not enough". It was long day, what can I say?

*If you've never made rice in the microwave, it's beyond easy. I use 1-1/2 cups of rice (not Minute Rice) and 3 cups of water; put it in the microwave uncovered and cook it for 20 minutes. Poof - done. If your family is smaller, use 1 cup of rice and 2 cups of water and cook it for 15 minutes. I use the microwave for about 3 different things and rice is one of them.

ENJOY!!

Blogger, meet Blogger*

2010-07-27T19:51:00.000-05:00

*I posted this a day or so ago and only half of it posted so I'm going to try this again - fingers crossed!

Remember when you first started blogging and you felt like an outsider looking in on everyone else's life? Little by little, a handful of blogs became your very favorites and all of a sudden you felt like you knew these people. I like to visit a lot of blogs but I always find myself going back again and again to those I feel I know best. I've made friends (and I'm sure you have too, or will soon if you're just starting out) that even though we've never met face-to-face, I feel like we've known each other forever. It's so fun to find things in common whether it's jobs, age, children, gripes, chocolate, animals, you name it! And when you're having a bad day, don't you just love to read your comments and know that you're not alone? Awwwe...

Almost a year ago, I posted a recipe for lemonade cookies and I had a picture of the ingredients. I used the store brand instead of name brand for some of the things. My husband works for a regional grocery chain here in the Midwest called Schnucks so I use a lot of Schnucks ingredients, no biggie. Well, it was such a surprise when I received the following comment that day:

"Oh my word...had to leave you a comment about your brand of lemonade mix and baking soda!! My husband would be so PROUD to see this on a blog. He works for them! Glad to see you shop there. Yeah you!!!"

After I saw her comment, I quick sent her a message asking who her husband was and then we'd find out if our husbands knew each other. They had met a few times and did know one another, but Darcie and her family don't live in St. Louis and John (Darcie's husband) works in one of the out-of-state stores! That just made the world all that much smaller - how fun is that!?

I'd been reading Darcie's blog for a while, Life's Unfolding Story, and knew what was going on with her children, their sweet adoption story of their daughter from China, and the regular daily happenings of things in their lives. We knew each other from Blogland but that's about it.

Soooo....every year Schnucks has their awards dinner downtown (in St. Louis) and I got an e-mail from Darcie asking if we'd be there because they were coming in town for it, and SURE ENOUGH we would. We'd finally get to meet! This would be the first time for me to meet a blogging friend face-to-face. The good news was we'd meet, but the bad news was that we couldn't sit together and we had very little time to spend chit-chatting.

Being the nice, giving person that I am, I quick put on 50 lbs. to make sure that Darcie would look good in any pictures we might take. Then I also made sure one piece of my hair was completely out of place on my forehead. Could I get any nicer?? As you can see, Darcie just looks cute and happy and tall. She obviously didn't eat any extra Oreos for ME! She's as sweet as the day is long though, and I'm glad we finally met face-to-face. I would've been nicer if we'd had more time to spend together and talk.

I hope to meet more and more of my blog friends in the months and years to come because it is a GREAT group out there! Have you ever met any blog friends? Go visit Darcie and tell her hello ~ ♥

Re-do on its way...

2010-07-26T14:05:00.000-05:00

I'm going to work on my post that I just posted today. When I went to look at it, it left a huge chunk out of the story of meeting my blogging friend, Darcie. This post has been in my head since February and the day I decide to post it, it won't let me. Wahhhh. I have to leave for work in a bit but hopefully I'll get it back up tomorrow.

I'm cracking up that the comments were as sweet as ever and nobody said, "Wow, that's neat but your story really didn't make sense." That's why I love blogging ~ I ♥ my blog friends!! OK, back in a bit...

Photo bomb?

2010-07-23T08:44:00.002-05:00

We all know what a photo bomb is, right - when you take picture of something and something else inadvertently (or purposely) gets in the picture? This must be from around 1967 or 68 and I'm not sure if the goose is the photo bomb or I am - or neither. I'm the blurry one, so who knows? Maybe mom just wasn't used to close-ups. Nice scarf, huh? :D

For more pre-digital photo fun, pop on over to Alicia's for her Friday Photo Flashback - and have a good weekend!

We'll be back after these messages...

2010-07-21T20:29:00.000-05:00

While I have temporary computer access (my husband's laptop), I wanted to tell you I'll be back after: A) My regular computer UN-crashes; B) We RE-get-rid-of the RAT that seems to have made itself at home in our backyard...again; C) I'm less stressed out; D) All of the above.

This is a multiple choice quiz but there are no wrong answers - yay! I'll let you know how it all turns out, my sweet blog friends, and I'll see you soon ~

Breakfast with Ginger

2010-07-20T07:32:00.000-05:00

This isn't my pup, but I got this video in an e-mail from my friend Annette, and I cracked up! I thought it would be fun for a Tuesday's Show & Tail, so enjoy and I'll see you tomorrow where I will BEG for a blog tutorial (yep, I'm blog-challenged and I need some H-E-L-P) ~

Be sure and visit Angela and West Virginia Treasures for more animal fun.

Watch out Macy's!

2010-07-16T07:29:00.000-05:00

The grade school my siblings went to had a parade every year for the families or something (everyone's memory is vague for some reason - selective amnesia I'd say by the looks of our "floats") and every family would decorate their car. I do know that by the time my older brother and I came along and were at a different school, they DID have a parade every year before the school picnic.

Now I understand when you have six kids, things can get a bit hectic but wouldn't you think at least ONE person would just really want to step up and say, "Hey, let's go all out this year!!"?? Who knows, maybe we were going for the "understated elegance" look. Or the "we don't want to be obnoxious and ostentatious" look. And that, my friends, is what we've achieved. I think if you're going to do something right, you need to give a good hearty 20% to it! I think I honestly laughed out loud when I saw these pictures - good thing Macy's wasn't recruiting for their Thanksgiving Day Parade! Can you imagine how expensive it would be to have flown our whole family up there??

This was before I came along - look at the X kids! OK, simmer down.

OK, now I've joined the crowd and I'm turned around thinking,

"Is it like that on purpose or on accident?"

Whew, getting better - we're spelling out words. It was my brother that was in second grade at the time.

And finally, we've graduated to the Kleenex flowers - ta dah!! Again, we didn't go hog wild, but I remember those and I still remember helping to make them. I'm glad my dress wasn't any shorter - I think this is where the, "I see Mars, I see stars..." phrase would come in handy.

For more pre-digital photo flashback fun visit Alicia at More Than Words ~

Baptism day!

2010-07-09T00:01:00.009-05:00

My godfather just passed away a couple months ago and my godmother, his wife, just came in the library yesterday where I work. She and my mom are still very good friends. I thought a good Friday Photo Flashback would be a couple pictures that I have of him (my godfather), that also just happen to be my baptism.

On a side note, they'd send me a birthday card every year with $5 in it and to this day I still open cards and hope money falls out - from anybody. :D

This was, I believe, January of 1965 and you can tell how long ago it was because I don't even remember the days of women wearing veils on their heads in church, but they did forever. Every so often, even now, there will be one or two older women who still will wear a small veil.

Mr. and Mrs. Belobradic

I was baptized at St. Sabina and our family moved when I was a year old to a different neighborhood, which meant a different parish. However, I now live back near St. Sabina and it has been our church since our children started school there in 1993. The baptismal dress is over 100 years old and has been in the family since my grandfather and his siblings were babies, which I love. All three of my children have worn it as well. Maybe that will be another flashback.

For more pre-digital photo fun, visit Alicia at More Than Words and have a good weekend!

The Happy Family

2010-07-06T08:20:00.000-05:00

Talk about a blog post falling right into my lap! When I get the chance, I like to participate in the Tuesdays Show & Tail, hosted by Angela at West Virginia Treasures. It's a chance to show off pictures of pets or animals of any kind. Even if you don't like animals, that's a post right there.

A good friend from church has two dogs. That's a half-truth because yes she does, but she's a softy so there could be any number of flora or fauna at their house at any given time and there usually is. She also has five of her own children so there's always something going on. Well, if you haven't furrowed your brow in a head tilt yet today, I'm here to help.

We won't have a biology lesson because I don't think I could explain it even if I wanted to. However, when you have dogs that haven't been "fixed" yet, sometimes you get a little surprise - and sometimes you're a bit more surprised than others. One dog is a dachshund and one dog is a bigger black something-or-other.

Awwwe, here is the little puppy. There was only ONE pup in the litter and it looks just like a little bitty dachshund. There's nothing strange about that.

Hmmm, here's the mama - the big black dog. Now if SHE'S the mom, and she only had one pup that looks like a dachshund, we don't need Jerry Springer to figure out who the dad is...

That's right, the dachshund is the DAD. Yep. Let's not think about what was involved - it's personal. He needs one of those dog T-shirts that says, "Stud" in rhinestones or something though - he deserves it.

For more fun animal stories, visit Angela at her blog and visit the others who've joined in.

Oh RATS!

2010-06-24T07:25:00.002-05:00

I need a vacation. Right now. Away from my house. Away from my neighborhood. And preferably away from this PLANET. If I say the word 'DISGUSTING' one more time my family will wash my mouth out with soap and I wouldn't blame them. In the backyard my husband is in the process of ripping out some old railroad tie walls and replacing them with huge 80-lb. landscaping bricks. There's dirt everywhere, some stacks of old wood, and bricks from one end of the yard to the other. No problem there, and we're happy to finally be doing it. I say "WE" because someone has to be the photographer.

As I previously posted, a favorite hobby of mine is feeding the birds. I hand-pick several different kinds of food to attract the different birds I want. Plus they have a sweet little bird bath and I give them drinks with little umbrellas in them and massages every day at 4. My backyard is the Club Med of birdland. The birds where YOU live talk about their vacations to Club Russo and my backyard oasis.

"But Beth," you're asking, "That doesn't sound so disgusting - why the distress?" Well, feeding birds doesn't just attract birds as I DISGUSTINGLY found out the other day. I was having a pleasant conversation with my mom on the phone, and looking out at the backyard. I saw something walking under the steps. Was it a big squirrel without fluff on his tail??? UHHHH, not quite. In other words...A...RATTTTTT. "No, Beth, surely it was a mouse," you say. I'm TELLING you this thing was the size of a small country or a pony and the MOST disgusting thing that has EVER been in my yard, not counting some weird neighbors, but that's another story. We live near a creek and that combined with the backyard buffet makes it the perfect RAT hang-out apparently. This thing was not only chowing down on some bird food that had spilled out from one of the feeders, but he was drinking some rainwater that had collected in a tray that fell off the BBQ pit.

I did what any decent woman would do and hyperventilate and panic and start calling my husband on every phone number where he could possibly be and yell at my kids to call their friends and find out what to do. OK, I know that now, why would their friends have even the slightest idea what to do in this situation?? And now their families know we have a rat. Good thinkin' there, Beth. That's when the word "DISGUSTING" started flying around like nobody's business. I finally reached my brother who was very supportive and started laughing and said to let the dogs out. Uh yeah, thanks Dopey.

Finally I called the police (the local number, not 911 - I did maintain a sliver of composure) and told them to please connect me with whomever has a job in the city getting rid of gross, DISGUSTING vermin. No problemo. She sent the city health department out. I somehow expected everyone to have the same reaction as I did, but he acted like it was no big deal. He said with the creek there and the bird food, it's not uncommon. YEAH, IN MY WORLD IT IS!

He walked in with a little animal crate thing and a glove - a...glove. I'm like, "Are you kidding me? What are you going to do?" He said he was going to try to catch it and asked if I had a BB gun, while he, too, had a little chuckle. Yeah, good one. He put some poison in the hole in the deck where it was hiding (surprise, he couldn't catch it!) and then propped the crate up while he went to get a trap.

The professional set-up is amazing isn't it?? I told him it was hard to take him seriously as a professional with an "I ♥ Hooters" sticker on his clipboard - where someone humorously put "Jenny's" above the "Hooter's", as in "I ♥ Jenny's Hooters"! Yes, it's true. I feel like I'm trapped in an episode of Green Acres and they sent Cousin Eb to try and catch my varmint.

He went and got the trap and we had to set it up just so, with heavy bricks around it, otherwise our dogs would get into it. In the morning...no rat. By the afternoon, the dog was going crazy at the window and what do we see but Mr. Rat quietly eating his dinner where?? In front of his trap of course! I spend a lot of time just shaking my head, I really do. I know he doesn't look very big in this picture, but I'd say he's about the size of a house phone.

So tonight we'll make another go of it and hopefully we'll have him caught in the morning. Then what? Who knows. What if it has babies? Who knows. Here's what I know - CLUB RUSSO IS NOW CLOSED! Sadly, my bird feeding hobby is a thing of the past, and so is ever setting foot in the backyard again.

Sunbathing poolside

2010-06-18T10:05:00.002-05:00

Uh mom, I'm old enough now that you can't fool me anymore. This isn't really a pool is it?? I think my friend was on to her. This was probably around 1966 or so. I'm pretty sure this is the same girl that was in my bikini picture, too. And that bouncy horse in the basement - not from a real farm, was it? She really pulled the wool over my eyes!

For more pre-digital flashback fun, visit Alicia at More Than Words and have a great weekend!

Birds on the block

2010-06-15T00:01:00.004-05:00

It's been so long since I've blogged regularly, I've missed several of Angela's Tuesdays Show & Tails lately. One little hobby I developed several years ago is bird feeding/watching. I don't walk around wearing khaki shorts and binoculars around my neck, but it's fun when I see something out of the ordinary or maybe something that's not overly common. That really doesn't happen too often but I thought I'd share some of the birds that are around my house all the time.

You know the expression that someone "eats like a bird"? I think that's supposed to mean they don't eat a lot. Well, if you've ever fed birds, you know they eat like elephants and you can quickly go broke keeping their little stomachs happy. Plus finding just the right blend to keep out the grackles and squirrels that will empty a feeder in 2 seconds flat is a trick in and of itself. However, it's still fun and gives us countless hours of free entertainment.

I feel like making the dogs a bowl of popcorn so they can kick back and watch the show out back:

I'm such a novice, even though I have a lot of bird books. Many of them look the same to me, so after scouring the pages, I'm giving you my best guess as to what it is you're seeing. I think these are mockingbirds.

This next one is some kind of blackbird or cowbird or something like that. It's all black with a brown head.

This is a house finch. I know it's not a purple finch because the man at Wild Birds Unltd. spent a long time telling me the difference. Don't ask me to repeat it because that store is filled with soft music and trickling water so I think he hypnotized me while I was there, or I dozed off while he was talking:

This is one of my favorites because 9 times out of 10 you'll find the mom and dad cardinal either together or close to one another. They're sharing the feeder with a little finch.

I think this is some kind of woodpecker - he was a little thing but had a long beak:

This is just a regular robin taking a bath (I took it through the screen door so it's a bit fuzzy):

In the front yard, I have a small sock finch feeder and we do get the yellow or gold finches pretty often and they're my favorite because they're so bright:

I wish I could say I like the mourning doves but they're just not a favorite, and yep they do sound like they're in mourning. They're ground feeders and they're big and I think the dog thinks they're squirrels so basically they are kind of a pain in the neck for me, but it's nice to have a variety I guess:

Finally, here is the Bozo of the backyard. The acrobats any squirrel will do to get at the feeder will just crack you up.

We also get some blue jays and little juncos in the wintertime, but the blue jays, even though they're beautiful, are kind of mean and will scare the little birds away. I tend to put their food in the back part of the yard. So that's it - nothing overly exciting, but it's fun to share part of my regular day with my blog friends.

If you have any animal stories (even if you don't own any) and want to share, pop on over to Angela's at West Virginia Treasures for her Tuesday's Show & Tail.

Celebrate good times...

2010-06-10T19:38:00.000-05:00

No more teachers, no more books...well, for now! My youngest, Sara, has officially graduated from high school and I am now a mother to three college students navigating the murky, but often exciting, waters of young adulthood. We've been through a very busy last few weeks ~ graduation on May 21st, foot surgery for her on May 28th, the party on June 6th, and wisdom teeth out on June 8th. Thank you, Percocet*, for getting her (and therefore, ME) through this - I owe you one. *Before anyone gets anti-drug on me, she was strictly monitored, and didn't take nearly as much as I would have. In fact, since she still had pain meds from surgery, I never got the prescription from the oral surgeon filled. Whew, that's off my conscience. I am getting sidetracked, however, and wanted to share some pics of our last few weeks.

This is the church where graduation took place, The New Cathedral, in downtown St. Louis. This is where most of the Catholic high schools in the area have their graduations because it's huge. We actually do have an Old Cathedral in St. Louis, too.

Here is the happy graduate - I love how she is just enjoying the moment!

Now it's time to par-tay! We had it at a local pizza place called Pirrone's and it was fun just spending some time relaxing with family and friends. She's wearing a boot here from her surgery, but of course pictures of that were off limits.

Since we weren't allowed to hang anything on the walls, the decorations were very simple - school pictures from each year, some special things from her school days, and of course no party is complete without chocolate!

A little advice if you order personalized M&Ms - the words don't show up real well on the red ones.

I cropped a picture from graduation, and with a little help from some clip-art on the back, I made little candy bar wrappers and wrapped them around some Hershey's Miniatures. SO easy.

Now it's time to get settled into the summertime routine and then get her packed up and ready for college. The other two went away for awhile and came home and attend school in town now. We're curious to see if she'll stay away or want to come home. She does have a dad who's really good with math homework, so we'll see! Way to go, Sarapoo!

Don't Adjust Your Screen

2010-06-04T08:30:00.000-05:00

This may bring out the uber-dork in me, but I've always loved matching outfits. I'm sure God didn't give me twins for a reason, but if he had, I'd have taken that and flown with it! When my kids were little, nary a holiday went by that they weren't dressed alike. OK, I didn't put a dress on my son (you're welcome, Adam) but his outfit always tied in with whatever matching thing the girls had on.

I remember my mom making doll clothes and Barbie dresses so I thought maybe that's where it came from, I wasn't sure. I knew I wanted to see matching something, so when Easter rolled around each year, the sewing machine came out and I went to town. This was 1991 and my first attempt at matching dresses for Meredith and me. I realize now they look like someone's bedspread but at the time all I saw were beautiful flowers. Poor Meredith, we used to call her "Mere Mere with no hair hair", but thankfully she's not bald anymore.

As the kids got a bit older, and my girth warranted too much fabric, I went to making matching dresses for the girls and their dolls.

Even my sister-in-law, who had all boys but loved to sew, joined in the fun and made the girls matching pajamas with matching pajamas for their Barbies, too.

I knew my mom was a sewer back in the day but I was child #6 and she was working full time by then so homemade clothes weren't too much of an option. I'm sure I wouldn't have appreciated it at the time anyway. Well, not too long ago when I was having all her slides made into photos, lookie there - my sister and I had matching outfits. I'm the one in front with the totally natural smile. I'm not sure if she made them or if they were store-bought but I bet I thought I was hot potatoes matching a big sister.

THEN....I saw it...peeking at me amongst the myriad of photos with bad hair-dos and tinseled Christmas trees...homemade matching outfits!! Before I was born of course, but priceless nonetheless. My sister on the right has a look of happy/sad/confused but who knows, maybe her ponytail was too tight.

Now that everyone is older, I think I've gotten MOST of the matching out of my system, don't you think so, pups??

If you want to enjoy other flashbacks, visit sweet Alicia and More Than Words for another fun week of Friday Photo Flashback.

Does this "count"?

2010-05-27T14:12:00.000-05:00

Like most of you, I blog totally for fun and I leave the serious business behind the keyboard. That being said, I've really enjoyed Facebook over the past couple of months since I joined it, and just have to laugh when I see people try and be tough behind their "groups" and "likes" and "followings", some of which are political. Although I feel very blessed and fortunate to have been born in our country, I'm not a political person on the outside and feel that there's a time and place for all that, but my blog isn't it.

I tend to see the humor in most things (unfortunate as that can be sometimes) and when I saw all this 2010 Census "stuff" in a big bowl where I work, I knew that had "BLOG" written all over it!! Honestly, I came home with more souvenirs than I did when I went to Disney World in 1995.

I could go on and on about the approximate $40-140 million spent on census "trinkets" - yes, it's true, Google it - but I couldn't help but shake my head at the utter ridiculousness of it all! I mean, sure let's get the word out - make a few T-shirts, maybe some stickers (like the ones they use when you give blood that say, "Be nice to me, I gave blood today") but the things I picked up were but a sampling of the absurd advertising loot. Just where were the supposed 2010 Census dog booties when I wanted some??

Here's a little peek at what I grabbed and the way the 2010 Census is spreading the word (enlarge if you need a better view)...

Need a magnetic photo frame for the fridge? Got it!

OK, we had to really figure this one out - it's called the "Perfect Grabber" and it's got Velcro on each end. You roll it, Velcro it, and I guess carry a pan or a suitcase, or an I-don't-know-what.

Something we all can use, a bookmark...

Ummm, a luggage tag? Yep...

Post-its (very usable, I must say)...

A key chain (bilingual, too): Esta en Nuestras Manos...Ole! (OK, I added the Ole part)

And a couple more things that just make you say, "HUH?" - hand gel and crayons.

Hand gel?? Crayons?? Yes sireee. Gotta count the dirty people, too.

And last but not least, a 2010 Census pen in Spanish. Muchas gracias, el Censo, I could use a new gel pen.

This was the part that had me scratching my head a bit - some of these things, when you turned them over, were made in China. Come on, people! Can you say government faux paus??

So far I've heard of people being counted twice, receiving two forms in the mail, and many who are picking up forms at the library because they never received them at all. I don't know anyone at the Census Bureau so I don't know their side of all this, and really who cares, if they explained it all it wouldn't be funny. I can say when the numbers finally do come out, I probably won't put a lot of stock in what they say. You can "count" on it! I know, I couldn't resist.

How time flies!

2010-05-21T09:04:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Alicia at More Than Words for hosting this Friday Photo Flashback, where we get to browse all of our pre-digital photos and remember the good ol' days.

Today (May 21, 2010) is my daughter Sara's high school graduation! There may be a few tears here and there but overall we're excited and happy to start the next stage in life - and so is she! This flashback is from Sara's first day of pre-school at VanDerBeck Learning Center (which sadly closed a few years ago), and she was 3 years old (which would make this around 1995). She only went 2 half-days a week but she loved it because her brother and sister were already in school so she thought she was hot stuff. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail - I know it looks like she has a boy haircut but really she doesn't. :D

CONGRATULATIONS, SARA, you've come a long way baby!

What not to wear

2010-05-05T19:09:00.002-05:00

I know we've all heard the expression, "The clothes make the man", but on this day my husband brought that to a whole new level. I know after a long day at the office, it's nice to come home and put on some comfy clothes but honestly, did I marry my grandpa???

I had to sneak that picture while he was out barbecuing but I'm pretty sure when he came inside, he could tell by my expression that I was either in shock or looked like I'd seen a dog with two heads. Let's see: First of all there's the pair of shorts that are probably as old as one of my kids and I'm pretty sure can walk by themselves. No biggie, they're comfortable and he's in his own backyard - have at it. But second, he kept his work shirt on and TUCKED IT IN! You may have thought you misread that but nope, you didn't. Finally, dark socks with shorts?? This man is not 95. Dark socks belong under long pants...with shoes. Remember those cartoons where they see something surprising and their heads go back and forth really quickly? Yeah, that's what I did. All that's missing from that outfit is a pair of suspenders and a toothpick.

But really, was I going to insult a man who not only barbecued the food, but came inside and finished making the rest of the supper? I don't think so. You have to believe me, when he leaves for work in the morning, he is one sharp dressed man! And this might be a bit hard to believe but I BET there are some days he may think I look less than par. Thank goodness he doesn't have a blog and DOES have a sense of humor!! ♥

Prom-tastic! A picture journey...

2010-05-02T13:48:00.002-05:00

Sara's senior prom...

(click any picture to enlarge)

The invitations - I don't know who made all these, but they were SO cute!

Her date for the evening, who is a friend from her work. She went last weekend to another boy's prom and this boy, Chris, was going to another prom the night after this one, at another school. Cha ching!

I love these kind of pictures where everyone is figuring out the whole situation - how to stand, where to stand, etc.

Yep, that's a storm approaching, complete with tornado warnings, thunder, and lightning.

I just had to post this because I think it's hilarious! The boys were obviously doing some dance (I'm clueless) and I know they'll look back 20 years from now at those colored tuxes and wonder what they were thinking (even though they are tres chic right now). And I love that girl's hair in the front!

Times have changed a bit though, that's for sure from "back in the day":

1. We did our own hair in the bathroom in front of a mirror. Or our friends came over and helped. Today, it involves a trip to the hair place, the nail place, and the tanning place (don't EVEN get me started on that one!!). She paid for it though. Her friend is going to school at a hair place so she did her hair there, which was nice.

2. I love this one - they're VERY strict about any use whatsoever of alcohol or anything like that. They had to do Breathalyzers on the way in, the way out, and random checks throughout the evening. They had cards on a table and throughout the dance if you picked up a card with an "X", you had to do the Breathalyzer. Good job, faculty!

I think a cleavage check would've been nice, but nobody asked me. :)

3. Guess how WE got to prom - we drove. The guys usually borrowed mom & dad's nice car, or they cleaned theirs up to look nice. Today, it's limos and bus's and Hummers and trolleys. I can't believe a helicopter didn't show up and a skywriter! Cheapskates.

After hemming and hawing about whether to go or not, I think she ended up having a very good (and safe) time. Countdown to graduation...2-1/2 weeks!

Prom flashback

2010-04-30T07:46:00.000-05:00

I may be blogging a bit less frequently than I used to, but I still can't seem to pull myself away from this fun Friday meme hosted by adorable Alicia at More Than Words - the Friday Photo Flashback. Each week it gives me a little bit more incentive to get my pictures in order.

Seeing as tonight is my youngest daughter's senior prom, I thought she just might want to see how totally cool her parents' prom pictures were. The first one is my husband's prom, which I'm guessing was 1979, the year he graduated. I don't know the girl, but she looks cute and I think I remember him saying they were just friends, not girlfriend-boyfriend. Don't you just love his glasses?? Crack me up! You can tell they're the kind that turned into sunglasses when you went outside. I'm waiting for Starsky and Hutch to pull up. Something tells me he's wearing a gold chain around his neck and she's wearing a mood ring.

My prom was in 1983, and the funny thing is I still see my old boyfriend pretty frequently because our kids go to high school together. He's still cute and I got fat - ahhh, welcome to life. My mouth looks weird in that picture but oh well.

This next picture is the only one I have from being on prom court. This was my escort, Mark Amrhein, and we've been friends since first grade. Your escort had to be a boy that was on the court as well and we just paired off. I can't believe I don't have any other pictures than that. I don't even remember who else was on it except for my best friend, Sheila, and the winner, Caryn Baatz. We were very excited for her because her older two sisters had been prom queens as well.

Yep, I'd say my daughter has a lot to live up to if she wants to look THIS cool 25+ years from now. Good luck with that, Sara! HA HA

Little Big Man

2010-04-24T09:04:00.001-05:00

I remember when my children were little, especially the toddler years, some of the days seemed so long and yet, now that they're older, I realize how true those words are: "They grow up SO fast!". I blinked my eyes this morning and my oldest, my son, was 22 years old! What!?? I'm pretty sure just yesterday he was carrying around his teddy and collecting Goosebumps books and pogs. Time really does fly and I just want to wish my son, Adam, a very HAPPY 22nd BIRTHDAY!!

When I talk to customers at work about my kids and I tell them they're 18, 20, and 22, I expect them to say, "What!? YOU have a child that old??", but they never do. Could it possibly be that I'm not as young-looking and hip and cool as I think I am?? Nahhhh. The eyesight in this world is going bad. Hellooo, it's only the kids that get older ~ I'm still the same age I've been for the past five years.

Have a great day, Adam ~ ♥

Play that funky music

2010-04-19T14:32:00.000-05:00

I don't know what the people in your neighborhood do on weekday afternoons, but I can give you a little peek of what they do around here. Well, on one afternoon anyway.

Last Thursday, I picked up my nephew from school, took him home, turned in my subdivision, and looked to the right - it was a band...on a front porch...with lawn chairs in the yard! A man had his chair in his hand walking back across the street and I rolled my window down and was like, "Oh, do tell!" He said, "Aw, they've been playing for a couple hours now and they're gooooood! They're playing religious music and stuff". And stuff? Well, OK. I asked if I could take a picture and they were more than happy to strike a pose. I didn't stick around too long after that because well, some of us had supper to make and laundry to do, but I just might pull up a lawn chair next time and listen to some "stuff".

Honestly, I need to get out more. I wonder what the rest of the neighborhood is up to!

Rockin' the bikini

2010-04-16T09:42:00.000-05:00

That's right, it's all in the attitude!

I'm the cool on one the left and this was probably around 1968 or so. That poor girl on the right looks like she's about had enough.

Join Alicia at More Than Words for her wonderful Friday Photo Flashback! It's loads of pre-digital fun and lots of great memories.