Seriously?

Rob told me something this morning that had me rolling on the floor laughing.

Apparently a fifth grade boy at the school where Rob works got really mad at his teacher yesterday.

So he went into the boys' bathroom and wrote in huge letters across the wall...

#!*% you, Ms. Jones
~~Connor

Yep. He signed his name to his nasty graffiti. Because school kids sign their names to everything they write in school.

I wonder if he's a future "America's Dumbest Criminals" enrollee. :-)

Chicken Enchiladas...

In my last Sunday Meanderings post, I mentioned that my daughter Krissy tried a new recipe and brought some to Rob and me for our Sunday dinner.

These enchiladas were so good I knew I'd have to share the recipe. I thought they had cream cheese in them. I was wrong. But trust me. These are so good, you'll never miss the cream cheese. LOL


CHICKEN ENCHILADAS

3 cups shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
2 cups sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 4-oz. can chopped green chilies
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
10 8-inch flour tortillas, warmed

In a large bowl, combine 2 cups Cheddar cheese, Monterey Jack cheese, chicken, sour cream, soup, chilies, onion, pepper and salt. Spoon about 1/2 cup down the center of each tortilla, roll up. Place seam side down in a greased 13 X 9-inch baking dish.

Cover with foil and bake at 350* for 20 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle remaining Cheddar cheese over all. Bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Here's the only change I made: I poured a large can of green chili enchilada sauce over the enchiladas before I covered them with foil and put them in the oven to bake. I baked them for 30 minutes, until the enchilada sauce was bubbling. Then I uncovered them and sprinkled the Cheddar cheese over them.

You don't have to make that change of course, but I thought they'd be a little dry without the sauce on them.

And of course the easiest way to come up with chopped cooked chicken is to boil some boneless skinless chicken breasts. But you could also buy a roasted deli chicken and remove the meat from it if you really want to make it easy on yourself.

Absolutely delicious. I know for sure these are going to be a regular meal at Chelseaville from now on. Rob loves them!

And neither of us missed the cream cheese. :-)

Sunday Meanderings...

Thank you, Microsoft Clipart


FOOD FOR THOUGHT - A DEVOTIONAL

SHARING THE JOY

Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Look to the Lord and His strength;
seek His face always.

~~ 1 Chronicles 16:10-11 ~~

God intends that His joy should become our joy. He intends that we, His children, should share His love, His joy, and His peace. Yet sometimes, amid the inevitable hustle and bustle of life here on earth, we don't feel much like sharing. So we forfeit, albeit temporarily, God's joy as we wrestle with the challenges of everyday life.

If your heart is heavy, open the door of your soul to your Heavenly Father. When you do, He will renew your spirit. And if you already have the joy of Christ in your heart, share it freely. When you discover ways to make your joy become their joy, you will have discovered a wonderful way to say, "I love you" to your family, to your friends, and most especially, to your God.

A joyful heart is like a sunshine
of God's love, the hope of eternal happiness,
a burning flame of God. And if we pray,
we will become that sunshine of God's love,
in our own home, the place where we live,
and in the world at large. ~~ Mother Teresa
A Woman of Prayer - 365 Daily Devotions, Freeman-Smith LLC, Publisher


THE WEEK IN REVIEW

I love Fridays. Friday has become my favorite day of the week. It's the only day of the week that I have both my grandchildren here with me. Avery is in a loving daycare home during the week. Cameron started going to Nancy when he was barely two and Avery started six months ago, at about a year and a half.

I balked of course. I didn't want my grandchildren in daycare when I'm right here, three doors down, and available. But my daughter Krissy knew they needed to learn to interact with other children, to be ready for preschool. And she was right. Half the little children in Cameron's preschool class still cry every morning when mommy drops them off. He hugs them and comforts them, every morning. On the very first day of school, Cameron just marched right in and decided he loves school and my word, everyone in that whole school knows him and loves him. School is one of his favorite things in the whole world. He looks so stinkin' cute when he leaves with his Cars backpack every morning. :-)

So my daughter was right and I was wrong and I can assure you, you won't hear that coming out of my mouth very often!

But Fridays, they're all mine. I see Cam every morning. Papa takes him to school and picks him up three hours later and takes him to Nancy. But Friday is often the only day of the week I even see my little Avery.

So we've established quite a Friday routine. Both kids get excited about coming to my house for that day. Friday is "Happy Meal Day." When Rob picks Cameron up at noon, they go to McDonald's and bring home happy meals for lunch. It's the one day a week they're allowed to have fast food and it's a treat.

Avery has me and Papa all to herself Friday morning while Cam's at school, and just about the time he gets home and we all have lunch, she's ready for her nap. She still takes a two hour nap every day - Cameron sure as heck doesn't!

But...Avery's naptime is Cameron's computer time and oh my word, he starts bugging me before she's even finished her lunch, to put her down for her nap. lol He knows he and I can't sit at this computer when she's awake and loose in the house somewhere. She's such a busy little thing, I'd never ever let her out of my sight for two seconds.

I found a wonderful web site for kids Cameron's age. He's four. It's called Starfall and it teaches kids his age phonics and beginning reading. I discovered the site in an article in Woman's Day Magazine last fall. The site was created by the people who founded BlueMountain.com, the on line greeting card company. Wonderful web site and fun, fun.

So we play that for half an hour and then he gets down to some serious farming and fishing. He LOVES to feed and sell fish in FishVille and he loves, loves, loves cranking up the red tractor in FarmVille and harvesting crops. He also loves to change my avatar's hair to bright blue, but that's another story. I just let him have at it. I always make sure I have both games set up so there are fish to feed and sell and crops to harvest. It's such a hoot to sit here with him in my lap and watch him have fun on the computer. For such a little guy, his computer skills are simply amazing.

Meantime, little Avery gave us a scare this past week. She's been battling what we thought, at first, was a diaper rash. It turns out it's some kind of topical bacterial infection. It took two trips to the doctor before he finally figured out what was going on. So she's been on new prescriptions, a steroid cream and an oral antibiotic.

Friday morning I was changing her diaper and realized that she was covered, head to toe, all over her little body, with red spots. I truly panicked, called Krissy at work, and said, "Avery has measles!" I swear, in spite of her vaccinations, I knew for sure she had measles. So Kris left work, rushed here, picked her up and took her to the doctor immediately. They got her in right away.

Not measles. Something called Id syndrome, which apparently can happen when such a tiny little person's body is overwhelmed with steroids and antibiotics. I'd never even heard of that. Good grief, it scared me! She's getting better every day. She's got super sensitive skin and we really have to stay on top of keeping her dry and clean.

So my Fridays can be a little crazy, but you know, I love them. A lot.


SOME GREAT READING

I love low country authors. Mary Alice Monroe is one of my new favorites. I love her books almost as much as I love my library card, which is one of my most treasured possessions. This past week, I read two of her books. Both of them were, on the surface, about subjects I wouldn't have thought I'd be interested in. Shrimping and the men who do that job, and of all things, women who fly fish.

Obviously, the books cover much deeper subjects. I thought I'd share them with you and I can assure you, both books are wonderful. I highly recommend them.

From Mary Alice Monroe's web site:


On an otherwise ordinary day, in a small shrimping village off the coast of South Carolina, a boat goes missing. The entire town rallies as all are mobilized to find the lost vessel. Throughout the course of one day, flashbacks of Bud Morrison, the captain on board, and Carolina, his wife, reveal the happier days of a once-thriving shrimping industry juxtaposed with the memories of their long term marriage.




Mia Landan is recovering from breast cancer in a mountain cabin near Asheville, NC, when she discovers the journal of a sensational fly fisher of the 1920s, Kate Watkins. The inspiring words of a woman she never knew finally lure Mia from her shell to connect once more with the world around her. As she learns to fish, she uncovers secrets that span generations--secrets that have the power to change not only her life, but the lives of those in her new community.




A SPECIAL TREAT

I didn't have to cook tonight. Krissy surprised me last night by showing up with our Sunday dinner. For a girl who avoided the kitchen and everything to do with the kitchen, especially washing dishes (we didn't have a dishwasher), like the plague when she was a teen, she amazes me. She's constantly trying new recipes. Last night she made chicken enchiladas. OK, I know. Chicken enchiladas. Yawn. But hers have cream cheese in them! The recipe made a lot more than she and Andy and the kids could eat and the one thing I will say is still weird about my daughter and all things cooking related is that she absolutely under no circumstances does leftovers.

I LIVE on leftovers. But she cannot abide reheated food. So she just showed up out of the blue with a whole dish of the enchiladas they couldn't eat. And let me tell you, they are WONDERFUL. I called her a little while ago and said, "I need that recipe! Blog! You know?"

The moment she brings me a copy of the recipe, I'll be sharing it with you. Wonderful. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. Truly delicious.


A LAST THOUGHT (or two)

Mandy calls me every Sunday. How I miss her. How I wish my other daughter lived here and not just far enough away that we only see each other maybe four times a year. I'll never get used to it. Never.

But speaking of food, she told me that her husband, Aaron, is reading a book about eating healthy and of course I can't remember the name of it right now and I'm not going to stop typing and call her, but...it's all about the way we eat in this country. I do remember that she said the author says half the food Americans eat isn't even really food. It's so "processed" that it's more like an edible science experiment. lol

So she and Aaron went on a "whole foods" grocery shopping trip today. They do their weekly grocery shopping together because they're both really into cooking.

OK. That's a lie. HE'S really into cooking! She's really into HIM cooking. lol

Anyway, their goal was to not buy a single thing that wasn't just pure food. Nothing processed.

She told me that it took them hours. She also told me that "rice" is only one of the FIVE ingredients listed on a bag of white rice. They bought brown rice. The only ingredient listed on a bag of brown rice is "brown rice." Interesting conversation. But she said they love the whole "whole foods" thing and will not buy anything processed, ever again. Hmmmmm.

It's still cold, gray and gloomy here. I tell you, I am highly sick of this winter. This had better be a fluke, this awful winter, or I tell you, Florida or Arizona is sounding better and better every day.

Another lie. I'd never in a million years move that far away from my kids and their kids. But I tell you, I want it to be spring!

Some of my blogging friends have had some pretty amazing and unusual winter weather this past week. All of y'all posting your snow cream recipes and photos just warms my heart. :-)

And that's good. Because the only part of me that's been remotely warm for the past two months is maybe my heart.

Sure as heck hasn't been my feet!

Happy new week everyone.

My friend Kelli....

I met Kelli four years ago, through our blogs. We connected right away and became friends.

In one of our first email exchanges, she mentioned to me that she only had one kidney and it wasn't doing a very good job. She thought she might have to slow down and even give up her job.

My, my, it's been a long four years for Kelli. She has no kidney function at all now...she began dialysis in May of 2006. Her health has declined dramatically and she needs a kidney.

You can read about Kelli's journey here.

I am so moved by Kelli's situation, I could go on and on forever. I think it would be better to let her talk.


Thank you for offering to be a part of the call for living kidney donors, and to help with our fundraising efforts. It is a true blessing for this family, and we love you all.

Here is the basic info on being a living kidney donor and the process:

1) I will be listed with OHSU in Portland, OR. If someone is interested, they should contact us at jkbach@comcast.net and we will get them the contact info they need.

2) Because of some complications, I will most likely not be able to use a cadaver donor, although I have been listed with another hospital on the UNOS list for 3 years.

3) I will need a donor with the A or O blood type. If you don't know your blood type, they will have you get tested.

4) All medical costs are billed directly back to OHSU where my insurance covers 100% of all incurred costs. This allows the donor candidate to have all testing up to the end done at their local hospital or Dr. office at no charge to them.

5) Pre-screening involves an over the phone health questionnaire, then a simple blood test where my blood and theirs are combined and cross-matched. If that is ok, then they will have a series of tests done locally to them and billed directly to my insurance.

6) All this will lead up to a scheduled date for everyone to meet in Portland for transplant. The process, from the time a suitable candidate is found, is about 3 months to the actual surgery.

7) Fundraising is currently under way for all costs not covered by insurance (all non-medical). This includes things like travel and lodging for the donor, my housing and support for the month or more I am required to stay in Portland after surgery, etc.

Thank you again everyone, and please let me know if I can give you more information.

Kelli

If you think you'd like to be tested to see if you're a match for Kelli, please contact her at jkbach@comcast.net.

If you'd like to make a donation to help Kelli and her husband John meet all the non-medical expenses their family is going to incur during this process, you can do that by going to her fundraiser site:

http://www.giveforward.org/kidney4kelli/


I know I speak for Kelli, her husband John and their two teenaged children when I say, anything you can do to help, whether it be being tested to become her living donor, a financial contribution or just your most fervent prayers would be appreciated.

This I know for sure. If I needed a kidney to live and she had a spare that was worth a hoot, she'd give it to me.

Cream of wheat....

It's absolutely unbelievable how hard and fast it's snowing here in Grand Junction today.

Arrrgggghhhhhhhhhhh!

Spring! Wherefore art thou?!

There's only one way I'm gonna get warm...I'm going to take a big steaming bowl of cream of wheat and sit in a steaming hot bath and eat it.

Really. I am.

Sunday Meanderings

Thank you, Microsoft Clipart


FOOD FOR THOUGHT - A DEVOTIONAL

BEYOND PESSIMISM

But we are hoping for something we do not have yet,
and we are waiting for it patiently.

~~ Romans 8:25 ~~

When you decided to allow Christ to rule over your heart, you entitled yourself to share in His promise of spiritual abundance and eternal joy. Have you claimed that entitlement? Are you an upbeat believer? Are you a person whose hopes and dreams are alive and well? Hopefully so. But sometimes, when pessimism and doubt invade your thoughts, you won't feel like celebrating. Why? Because thoughts are extremely powerful things.

If you've allowed pessimism to creep into your mind and heart, you should spend more time thinking about your blessings and less time fretting about your hardships. Then, you should take time to thank the Giver of all things good for gifts that are, in truth, far too numerous to count.

A Prayer: Dear Lord, let my thoughts and prayers honor You. When I become fearful or discouraged, let me trust You. And when I encounter the evils of this world, let me turn to You for strength and wisdom. Amen.

A Woman of Prayer - 365 Daily Devotions, Freeman-Smith LLC, Publisher


THE WEEK IN REVIEW

It's been a long time since a daily devotion spoke to me as profoundly as the one I'm sharing with you today. It practically jumped off the pages.

I've decided this unintentional break I've been on should have a name. I think "blogger block" fits very well. However. When I woke up this morning, I honestly wanted to do a post and trust me when I say, it's been a while. I can't explain it any better than to say, for weeks and weeks I've felt like I had absolutely nothing to say.

This cold, endless, gray winter hasn't helped one bit. I swear, we've got snow in our yard that fell at Thanksgiving. Rob and I have lived in Grand Junction (as far west in Colorado as you can go without crossing over into Utah) since October 2004. The weekend our moving van showed up we got an unbelievable snow storm and those poor movers had to deal with three feet of snow. But that was truly a freak occurrence and winters have been as mild since then as we expected when we relocated from the eastern side of Colorado where the winters are truly horrendous.

This winter has been relentlessly cold and I'm beyond weary of it. And gray skies. I'm beyond weary of those too. I'm ready for summer and 98 degree days!

So what's new and exciting in Chelseaville? Nothing. Nada. Not one darn thing. I haven't even tried a new recipe this winter. LOL

Y'all know I take care of my two sweet grandbabies during the week. Cameron is here for about an hour every morning, before Papa takes him to preschool. After school, he joins his little sister Avery at their daycare mom's house. But they're both still spending Fridays with me. I'm very reluctant to give up those Fridays and believe it or not, Fridays are almost the only time I even see Avery.

Fridays like this past one are the reason vitamins for seniors were invented. Cameron and Avery were here from 7 in the morning until 11 that night. Krissy and Andy had a post-holiday party to go to.

A Nana couldn't ask for better grandkids than mine. But they're four and almost-two and I'm not. Let's just say I'm as close to 60 as you can get without actually being there and man alive, as good as they are, by the time they left Friday evening, I was in a stupor of exhaustion.

It helps that I adore them and it helps that my daughter makes sure I know, all the time, how much she appreciates me. :-)

You know I'm not going to do a post that doesn't include a couple of photos. LOL

Here's what Avery looks like every Friday morning when she shows up at Nana's house. She goes absolutely no where without both the sock monkeys I made her. She's not cute or anything, is she? (Good heavens - don't look at my filthy dirty houseslippers!)

Those two monkeys are by her side all day long. Of course it makes me feel wonderful that she's so attached to the monkeys I made for her, but I have to wonder if her future husband is going to mind sleeping with them too. (hahaha - you can't see the bottom of her socks!)


When Cameron realized I was taking monkey pictures, he had to get in on the action. That's the $5 monkey Papa gave him for his first Christmas. Boy, that monkey has seen better days, but like Avery, Cameron goes no where without it. It took some doing to convince him he couldn't take it to school with him and still, if I'm not looking, he tries to tuck Monkey into his backpack. LOL He's not cute either, is he? Look at those huge brown eyes. But I digress....

His cheeks are bright red because....

....Avery chased him all over heck with this. She loves my little cordless vacuum.

Why in the world do we spend perfectly good money on toys when they'd rather play with something like this!


Last Friday, just when I was pretty sure I was going to drop dead if they didn't slow down, they did. It was so remarkable, I had to take a photo. Truly, this is rare - they never sit still! (Yes - that's a sippy cup dripping on my carpet - ask me if I care.)

Thank you, Finding Nemo. It was worth playing you six times last Friday, just for this quiet moment. LOL

A NEW WEEK...AND A NEW BEGINNING

I feel myself coming out of the fog. I actually feel enthusiastic about blogging again and for sure, I feel the need to reconnect with all of you. I've been very touched by all your kind emails, telling me you don't want to bother me, you know I've been a little out of it, but am I OK?

I'm better than OK. I'm very good. Heck! I'm in the mood to start trying some new recipes! I'm not going to get really wild and crazy and go on a cleaning frenzy or anything (not gonna happen) but my daughter Mandy gave me Ree's cookbook for Christmas (The Pioneer Woman Cooks) and I'm pretty sure I've got at least 20 of her recipes sticky tabbed because I HAVE to try them.

A LAST THOUGHT

Erma to the rescue:

Giving birth is little more than a set of
muscular contractions granting passage of a child.
Then the mother is born. (and the Nana :-)

Spend at least one Mother's Day with your respective
mothers before you decide on marriage.
If a man gives his mother a gift certificate
for a flu shot, dump him.

And one of my favorites....

When mothers talk about the depression
of the empty nest, they're not mourning
the passing of all those wet towels on the floor,
or the music that numbs your teeth, or even
the bottle of capless shampoo dribbling down
the shower drain. They're upset because
they've gone from supervisor of a child's life
to a spectator. It's like being
the vice president of the United States.


Yesterday I shaved my legs. And I finally filed my fingernails down (a chore I hate).

I'm obviously back!

Happy new week, sweet friends. Stay warm!

Holiday memories....

It's been so bitterly cold here in western Colorado for the last five weeks that I feel like I'm living in an igloo. I'm not kidding. It's not that we're not running our heat. It's that in spite of running the heat, I can't remember the last time I felt warm. I shudder to even think about our next utility bill, it's been that cold. The thing is, this is western Colorado...desert country...so we just don't expect weather like this. Snow out here is rare and rarely sticks around. I've got snow in my yard that fell six weeks ago and it's not melted because it hasn't gotten warm enough for it to melt.

Rob and I moved here five years ago, from the eastern side of Colorado, not only to be nearer our girls and their husbands and children, but also because we were just sick of blizzards and seriously horrible winter weather. Apparently, we brought some of it with us. lol

All that to say...

...we had a wonderful Christmas and New Years with our kids and their families.

I'll be honest and admit that it takes me a little longer these days to recover from the holidays. But I'm proud to say I had Christmas up, enjoyed, and down before New Years Day.

Doesn't it just feel so good to have it all packed away again and your house restored to normal? If you know me, you know I don't like clutter. And as much as I love Christmas, by the time I get all the decorations set out, and start going nuts in my kitchen, and look at stacks of gifts that need to be wrapped, it all starts closing in on me.

So now my house is back to what is, for me, normal. Decluttered. Minimal.

I know, I know. But it's the way I am.

I only have two children (Krissy and Mandy) so the fact that one of them (Mandy) lives on the other side of Colorado makes me feel like half my little family is missing most of the time. The very best thing about Christmas is that she and her husband Aaron are HERE. And my family feels complete.

Here are some scenes from our holidays:


We are a game playing family. I swear, Rob and I played cards with each other before the girls were born and as soon as they could sit at the table without wobbling over, we progressed to Candy Land Bingo. And we never looked back. This year, the new game was canasta. What fun!


This melts my heart. I gave Avery her first official baby doll last Christmas. You should see it. She got her hands on her mommy's ink pen. Truly, it's sad, but Krissy promises me she'll save it because it's the official first baby doll.

Look at her. Santa brought her a new baby doll, one without all the tattoos she put on the one I gave her last year. lol


What moves me about this is first, Krissy told me that when Avery discovered the bounty Santa had left, she immediately grabbed that new baby doll and hasn't put it down since. The second thing is this. She's not even two years old yet, but obviously the mothering instinct is there. She loves, loves, loves this doll and like Cameron's monkey, she goes no where without it.

Avery will be two on March 3rd. She's amazing and I think she's beautiful. Such a sweet baby she is, even if she thinks she's a mother. :-)


The classic Christmas morning photo. I ask you. How many grown men does it take to help a four year old play with his new race track? Honestly. You'd have died laughing at these men.


I baked. !!! A lot!!! I thoroughly enjoyed lots of quiet days that I could just bring out my favorite Christmas recipes and have fun. Here's one of the trays I did. Some of it is stuff I bought but most of it is stuff I made.

I try to make each person's favorite. For Mandy, it's divinity. I have to make divinity and that means I have to wait for the right weather. Never, ever try to make divinity on a humid day. For Krissy, it's cookies. This year I made thumbprint cookies. I'd never made them before, if you can believe that.

For Rob and Andy and Aaron, it's whatever. They love it all! lol

But here's what surprised me. Back when the girls were little, and I'm talking way back (1980's), a friend of mine gave me a recipe for a very simple but pretty Christmas cookie. (She and I were wives of volunteer firemen, members of the Embers - the wives of volunteer firemen). Her name was Bonnie.


Have you ever seen these? Probably you have and I'm just out of sync. But these are Christmas Holly Wreaths and the thing that surprised me is that I hadn't made them in maybe fifteen years and when my girls saw them, they were delighted.

These flew off the tray.

So because I'm so with it these days, here's a Christmas recipe for you. All you have to do is remember this eleven and a half months from now.

Seriously, you can change the color up and make these for almost any occasion. I promise you, kids (even grown kids) love them.

Christmas Holly Wreaths

1 stick of margarine
10 to 12 oz. package marshmallows
6 cups cornflakes
green food coloring
red hots (candies)

In a very large bowl, measure corn flakes. Over low heat, melt butter; add marshmallows. Stir til melted. Stir in food coloring. Pour over the corn flakes and very quickly but gently mix until the corn flakes are covered. Drop onto wax paper. Using buttered hands, shape into wreaths and decorate with red hots.

Allow to cool and store in air tight container.


So obviously, you can use any color food coloring you want and shape them into any shape you want. I see red food coloring and heart shaped cookies.


Happy New Year to all of you. I know that my complaining about the cold weather speaks for a lot of us. My word, I'm sick of it and I imagine you are too.

xoxo

O, Holy Night....

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby,
keeping watch over their flocks at night.

An angel of the Lord appeared to them,
and the glory of the Lord shone around them,
and they were terrified.

But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid.
I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.

This will be a sign to you:
You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel,
praising God and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

~~ Luke 2:8-14 ~~

Candy canes and cookies....

Don't even ask me where the last two weeks went. I'm still looking for them!

It's been crazy busy around here. I haven't figured that out yet either. I honestly don't know why. I suspect that I've been crazy busy because Krissy has been crazy busy. Funny how that works. When her life gets nuts, mine always seems to, too.

And in spite of how busy we've been, I'm still not quite ready for Christmas. I actually have to go shopping today - good heavens, it'll be insane. You may recall we got blasted with a huge winter storm two weeks ago. It's been so cold here that THAT snow hadn't melted off the streets yet and we got blasted again yesterday. Of course Krissy and I were out in it - she's off all week but wanted to take Christmas goodies to her coworkers, so we went to her office and then we went shopping.

So far, every shopping trip I've made has been with her, so guess who Rob and I are shopping for today? lol

Cameron and Avery have been down here with me quite a bit lately. It's ridiculous for Kris and Andy to try to shop or go to a movie they can't wait to see (Avatar) or anything else, with two kids in tow, when they can come three doors down to Nana's house. But when they're here with me, I can assure you I don't get anything else done.

I finally figured out the secret to all of us enjoying it when the grandkids are here is to simply not TRY to get anything else done. We've watched Gremlins, Elf and Frosty so many times, the music from those movies goes through my head all night long when I'm trying to sleep. I've only had to glue one leg back onto a Willow Tree lamb from my nativity. The only ornaments on my tree that have bitten the dust are the candy canes I always put all over the tree because.....

...guess who accidentally discovered
that those ornaments are edible. And delicious!

Is she not absolutely adorable? Avery is a joy. She's always happy. She's the easiest little child in the world to take care of. Even now, with a rotten cold which she so generously decided to share with me, she's delightful.

Cameron is fascinated with the snow that's apparently never going to go away. It's crunchy on top and looks solid but of course it's not, so he got a big kick out of stomping around and breaking through the surface.

Look how big he's getting. And look at his crazy hair. That's the remnants of the mohawk our family hairdresser, Kree, always gels in for him when he gets his haircut. He's too funny.

It's surprising the things that they entertain themselves with. This was a laundry basket race. Seriously, they played with these for hours.

It's nice for me when Rob's home - as you can see, he's one of their favorite things to play with (I'm talking about all three kids) and that's a big help.

My daughter Krissy decided she wanted to make cutout sugar cookies this year.

So we did.

Monday we made sugar cookies for half the population of Grand Junction.

Clearly, Krissy enjoyed it.

Cookies.

More cookies.

And still more cookies.



I'm not kidding you - this was a marathon. We started at noon and we finished at 11 o'clock Monday night. I thought I would drop dead, I was so tired of making double batches of cookie dough and baking 12 at a time (we made 12 dozen - good grief!) and frosting and sprinkling. I think she plans to give a plate of these cookies to everyone but the milkman and that's truly only because she doesn't have a milkman.

I stopped making cutout cookies ages ago because I didn't think they were worth it. They never tasted good, you always risked breaking a tooth if you actually tried to eat them, and you couldn't stack them because they stuck together.

And then one of Krissy's coworkers, her boss Kelly actually, brought her grandmother's recipe for sugar cookies in. I'm tickled to death. They're delicious. They're edible. The dough is actually nice to work with and the frosting hardens just enough that you won't have to find a dentist if you eat one, but they don't stick together either.

SUGAR COOKIES

3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter (trust me - do NOT use margarine)
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla and milk. In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt and baking powder. Mix all together, roll out, cut and bake at 325 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1/2 stick butter (again, don't substitute margarine)
8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 box (16 ounces) powdered sugar

Cream butter, add cream cheese and vanilla. Mix well then add powdered sugar. (Add more powdered sugar if you want the frosting to dry faster.)

You're welcome. :-)

So this is how our Christmas is going to go. Rob and I are finishing our shopping today and then I don't plan to go outside my front door again for at least a week and I'm not kidding. The streets around here are miserable because Grand Junction never gets this kind of weather and they just don't know how to clear it up. It's stinkin' cold so the snow isn't going anywhere for a while.

I think I'll be babysitting today so Krissy can go to her office Christmas party. That means I need to get out, get done and then get home before about 3.

Mandy and Aaron are not driving out from Greeley until Saturday, so we're celebrating Christmas on Sunday. I'm making a ham dinner. I always do. :-)

So I think Rob and I will go to a movie on Christmas Day. He really wants to see Holmes. And with this timing, I actually have a couple of extra days to get everything done, so it's quite possible that my kitchen floor may get mopped.

So although it feels like it's been a zoo around here for the past two weeks, the truth is everything is going pretty smoothly. I'm nonstop busy but not stressed. Sharing this rotten cold with Avery has slowed me down a bit, but as is almost always the case, it could be a lot worse, right?

Merry Christmas, sweet friends. I hope yours is wonderful.

You should Febreze your dog too.....

I have a husband who gets home about two hours after I'm sound asleep. He sits in his recliner in the living room and either watches Fox News or reads a book. And he always finds something to snack on.

And I have two grandbabies who love popcorn. They beg me to make it and I do and they don't finish it, and I'm so wiped out when they go home, I just leave it sitting around the living room somewhere.

And some time during the middle of the night, the popcorn they didn't finish just magically disappears. :-)


My new popcorn bowl.

The Febreze people love me
because I love Febreze.

And if you don't Febreze your dog, well, you should.

Because then you could have a cool popcorn bowl like the one they sent me this week.

:-)

Oh..the weather outside is frightful

So the phone rang at 5:15 this morning. And my first thought was, "Oh no! Cameron!" (Bad news about Cameron and his diabetes always, always comes in the wee hours.)

Imagine my surprise when the caller was the school secretary, calling to let Rob know the district had declared a snow day.

So I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter. (Sorry - 'tis the season :-) I ran straight down the hallway into the kitchen, to the back patio door and saw this.

It took me all of ten seconds to decide I wouldn't be sitting on my patio with my first cup of coffee today. :-)


Chelsea is always one step behind me when I get up in the morning, waiting to be escorted outside to do her business. She took one look at this and looked at me as if to say, "You're kidding, right?"


So Rob went out there to shovel a path for her precious little self. If you look closely, you'll see that she's right behind him, saying, "Hurry, Daddy, hurry!" LOL


This is what I saw when I opened my front door. He's out there shoveling that right now. And it's still snowing, off and on, today.

Of course we get snow here in western Colorado, but this much snow is rare enough that we get kind of excited about it.

So today turned out to be an unexpected surprise. It's toasty warm inside, I'm working on Christmas things and when he's not shoveling snow, Rob's watching TV - Fox News of course, which is talking all about this storm which is on its way east and is considered to be a "massive" storm. We still have lots of the beef stew I made Sunday and that's pretty perfect for a day like today.

Oh! And guess what? These are available again. I did it - I finished the Santa star Christmas ornaments. You can get the details on ordering a set by going here. They're $20 plus $4.50 shipping for a set of three ornaments.



>

I hope you're staying nice and warm today. When this stuff arrives where you live, just say to yourself, "Hey! This storm was just at Barb's house!"

Nice of me to share, don't you think? :-)

Sunday Meanderings

FOOD FOR THOUGHT - A DEVOTIONAL

Whom Do You Trust?

The one who understands a matter finds success,
and the one who trusts in the Lord will be happy.

~~ Proverbs 16:20 ~~

Where will you place your trust today? Will you trust in the ways of the world, or will you trust in the Word and the will of your Creator?

If you aspire to do great things for God's kingdom, you will trust Him completely.

Trusting God means trusting Him in every aspect of your life. You must trust Him with your relationships. You must trust Him with your finances. You must follow His commandments and pray for His guidance. Then, you can wait patiently for God's revelations and for His blessings.

When you trust your Heavenly Father without reservation, you can rest assured: in His own fashion and in His own time, God will bless you in ways that you never could have imagined. So trust Him, and then prepare yourself for the abundance and joy that will most certainly be yours through Him.

Sometimes the very essence of faith
is trusting God in the midst of things He knows
good and well we cannot comprehend. ~~ Beth Moore

A Woman of Prayer - 365 Daily Devotions, Freeman-Smith LLC, Publisher


THANKSGIVING WEEK IN REVIEW

What a nice week it was. Mandy and Aaron arrived Wednesday afternoon and were here until Saturday. Rob and Krissy both had extra days off during the week (too much vacation on the books and they had to use it). We didn't have our Thanksgiving dinner until Friday (Krissy and Andy celebrate with his big family on the day itself) so I had an extra day to get all the cooking done.

We had the same feast we always have - a huge turkey and all our favorite appetizers and side dishes and desserts. Aaron's mom Jan joined us so we were seven adults and two little ones which is just about maximum capacity for our house. LOL

As chief cook and bottle washer, I've made an executive decision and my whole family is OK with it. I bought a 23-pound Honeysuckle White turkey this year and it was delicious. But. We made a small dent in the white meat and everything else went straight into the trash. Not a single person in my family eats the dark meat and certainly none of us eats the skeleton. And Rob and I are going to be eating turkey for the rest of this week, there was so much left over. So next year I'm buying a turkey breast. Period.

The turkey was so stinkin' big, if I'd put it on the table there would have been no room for anything else. So I carved it at the kitchen counter and served a plate of sliced turkey. I ask you. What's the point? So next year - a very nice turkey breast.

Honestly, I'm already relaxing about next year, just knowing there won't be a huge turkey taking up my whole oven when I need to be heating six side dishes.

These are the leftovers Rob and I are working our way through this week. Krissy and Andy don't do leftovers. I know. But they don't, so they didn't take anything home with them. And Mandy and Aaron live on the other side of Colorado, so they couldn't take anything home. Thankfully, Rob and I both love Thanksgiving leftovers.

Cameron and Avery were easy to entertain Friday because Uncle Aaron brought his Wii and lots of age appropriate games. Cameron played all day long. Avery is still too little to actually play, but she thinks sifting through all the amazing gidgets and gadgets that come with a Wii is a lot of fun. It amazes me to watch Cameron play these games - he's four years old and I swear, he's so good with all the controllers, I'd never attempt to play with him, much less beat him at any of the games.

I have no idea if I can swing it, but if I can possibly can, I so, so want to give Cameron a Wii for Christmas. It's so expensive, but his reaction to opening that gift would make it worth a month of baloney sandwiches for dinner.

The adults play quieter games. Like what has always been our family favorite, progressive rummy. As you can see, they take progressive rummy very seriously.

But. For six years, Krissy has been telling me about a game Andy's whole family always plays, for hours and hours, when they get together for holidays. I'd never even heard of it but I do remember that about four years ago, this game was on Krissy's Christmas wish list and we bought it for her. So she brought it with her Friday.

This game is so much fun, and so loud and rowdy, I'm pretty sure it's now officially the game we'll be playing when we're all together during the holidays. If you've never played Pit, you should try it. It's been around since 1904 (who knew that?!!), it couldn't possibly be easier to learn to play and I guarantee you, even the quietest members of your family will shock you at how loud they can yell and how excited the can be if they win. Fun, fun, fun game!

Krissy and I celebrated all our hard work putting Thanksgiving together by giving ourselves Saturday afternoon off. We went to see this movie. You either read the Twilight series or not. You either really got into the whole mythical world of vampires or not.

We did. Mandy did too and we'd hoped she could go with us, but they needed to go home on Saturday morning.

We loved this movie. Loved, loved it. And the popcorn and the previews weren't bad either. LOL (Nothing and I mean NOTHING is going to stop me from seeing Nicholas Sparks' Dear John. I read the book. I have all his books by the way. And I can't wait to see the movie. It's next on my list. :-)

Kris participates in three different ornament exchanges at Christmas (her bunko group, her bowling league and her office). So after the movie we went to Hobby Lobby. Honestly, is Hobby Lobby just not the most fun place this time of year? A month before Christmas and everything is already 50% off. I actually bought a new centerpiece for my dining room table. It involves pine cones and berries and spruce branches and a wonderful big spruce scented candle. And I added to my clip-on bird ornament collection too.

So all in all, simply a great week and a fantastic Saturday afternoon. Just what the shrink ordered. :-)


A NEW WEEK

This week I'll be busy rearranging the house and decorating for Christmas. I'm excited about bringing out my Willow Tree Nativity and displaying it again. I used to keep it on display all the time, but it's just way too tempting to little toddlers and you can only super glue the figures back together so many times before you get smart. :-)

And it will be a huge victory for me if I can announce that Santa stars are available again. I should have been working on them all year long - they take forever to make when you make them in the quantities I make them in. But as you know by now, it wasn't one of my better years. So I'm working away and hope to have them available by the end of this week or the beginning of next week.

I normally never buy myself anything this time of year, but I had to have this book. I'm a huge fan of Stephen King, but his last few books weren't all that wonderful in my opinion. This book, however, is amazing. He's back in his original form like he was when he wrote The Stand, a million years ago. This book is big - 1072 pages long. And it's only by using all my willpower that I can put it down to work on Santa stars.


SOME LAST THOUGHTS TO SHARE

Last year our family had a little reality meeting and decided that because all our budgets were tight, instead of shopping for each other, we'd only buy gifts for Cameron and Avery.

It sucked. It really did.

Our thoughts were in the right place, but we went too far. So this year we came up with the idea of drawing names among the adults. The rules were simple. You couldn't draw your own name and you couldn't draw your spouse's name. Everyone had to give Krissy a wish list and she typed it all up on one neat sheet for us.

I was tickled pink to see how much fun everyone had drawing the names out of Andy's ballcap. The other rule is none of us can reveal whose name we got. So we'll each be shopping for Cameron and Avery of course, and one adult in the family. That way, everyone will have something under the tree.

I did not put Under the Dome on my wish list. I knew I wasn't going to wait another month to get that book! LOL

You know, no matter how organized you are, no matter how much you do ahead, the holidays are simply exhausting, aren't they? For me, I think it's all the cooking. I loved every single thing about Thanksgiving this year, but the truth is, I didn't start to feel recovered until I woke up this morning.

Rob and I celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary Sunday. I'm using the word "celebrated" very loosely here. We took one look at all those leftovers, the ones we've been eating all weekend long, and we went to Burger King. I'm not kidding. It was wonderful.

When you've been married for 31 years, you don't squish yourself into panty hose and your husband doesn't put on a tie and you don't go out for an elegant and expensive dinner.

You go to Burger King. Especially if you got married as close to Thanksgiving as we did. LOL

Obviously, Thanksgiving wiped Chelsea out too. She was doing quite well with all the confusion until we all started playing Pit. The shouting and non-stop laughing and shouts of victory just got on her last little Shih Tzu nerve.

Last night I saw her snuggled up next to Rob, and I couldn't believe the way she was sleeping with her new Christmas baby cuddled in her little arms.

I give you, the world's sweetest little dog.

And I wish you a happy new week. xo

It's official...it's the holiday season in Chelseaville!

Like most of you, I probably cook more between the beginning of Thanksgiving week and the end of New Year's Day than I do the entire rest of the year.

Just think - if all those leftovers were safe to eat for ten months, why we'd not have to cook from January second until the third week of November. LOL

For me, it all begins with Chex Party Mix.

I started yesterday afternoon and finished about 2 o'clock this afternoon - eight batches. I'm pretty sure I have enough to get us through the holidays, but I'm not dead sure. I'm not kidding. This stuff goes in the blink of an eye around my house, during the holidays.

It takes an hour to make one batch. Eight batches equals eight hours of cooking time. I've made it in the microwave and it was perfect, but you need a large microwave and I don't have one any more. Because we don't use our microwave for much more than heating a quick lunch of leftovers, or in Rob's case, a cup of stale coffee (ugh), and because I'm only willing to sacrifice a limited amount of counter space for a microwave (we don't have an over the range microwave), ours is perfect for us but it's too small to put a 9 x 11-inch glass baking dish in.

So I did it the old fashioned way. I used my oven.

If I didn't put up a Christmas tree, if I didn't put my Willow Tree Nativity on display in the living room, or if Rob and I didn't cover our house and yard in outdoor illumination, my kids would be upset.

If I didn't make Chex Party Mix, they'd call the little men who arrive with straight jackets to pick you up and cart you away.

I've been making the original Chex Party Mix since it first came out - good grief, maybe 25 years ago? Maybe longer than that? It makes me smile when I buy Chex cereal now and see the "original" recipe on their package because it's not even close. I'm thinking when they say "original" they mean as compared to all the knock off recipes for party mix. The recipe on their box this holiday season is so different from the one I use, I'm beyond thankful that I wrote that recipe on a card and put it in my little oak recipe box, when I first started making it.

Meantime, I started a tradition with my little family, years ago, that I love.

I make tons of this stuff because I also buy cute Christmas containers and give them to my kids when we're all together for Thanksgiving, full of the mix, and with the understanding that they can bring the container back any time they want for a refill.

Is that not sweet?

(I love it when they show up and say, "Please. May I have some more?" - it makes me feel necessary. LOL)

Not to worry - here's the very first recipe that was ever published for Chex Party Mix:

1 stick of margarine (they say Parkay - I say generic)
1 1/4 teaspoons seasoned salt (I use Lawry's)
4 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 2/3 cups corn Chex
2 2/3 cups rice Chex
2 2/3 cups wheat Chex
1 cup salted peanuts
1 cup thin pretzel sticks

(trust me when I tell you, generic cereals work)

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

I place the margarine, seasoned salt and Worcestershire in a two-cup glass measuring cup and microwave it in 30-second spurts until it's melted and very hot, so that the salt melts.

I put all the cereal and peanuts and pretzel sticks into a large bowl, pour the melted margarine mixture evenly over it all and stir it very, very gently with a big wooden spoon. Don't get carried away with the stirring or you'll break the cereal pieces up and it'll be a crumbly mess.

I put the mixture into my big open roasting pan. It's the same pan I roast our turkey in. :-)

Bake for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes. In other words, once you put it in the oven, you can't go away because you need to open the oven and stir it, every 15 minutes. Again, stir it very gently so you don't break the cereal pieces into crumbly pieces.

Spread on absorbent paper and allow to cool.

I always have rolls of brown mailing paper on hand. I simply use masking tape to tape a doubled over piece of brown paper to my kitchen counter.

When I first started making this, I used brown paper bags from the grocery store. Remember those? White plastic bags don't work. LOL

Let it cool, and store it in an air tight container at room temperature.


We'll be having our Thanksgiving dinner on Friday. My daughter Krissy married a man (Andy) who has a big family, much bigger than us Reids, and of course the whole family goes to Andy's parents' house for Thanksgiving.

I learned a long time ago (six years ago, actually - Krissy and Andy just celebrated their six year anniversary) that the date on the calendar doesn't matter one whit. What matters is being together.

My other daughter, Mandy, and her husband Aaron are making the drive through the Rockies (always dicey this time of year) to be here and I'm beyond thankful that they're still newlywed enough that they will come "home" for the holidays, although they've now established their own sweet home on the other side of the mountains.

It's so funny how things come together. My husband Rob and my daughter Krissy both had too many vacation days left on the books and were asked to take two days between now and the end of the year, so they both took Wednesday off. And Mandy and Aaron are arriving early Wednesday afternoon.

So guess what. I'm in heaven.

My whole little family is going to be gathered in my home for Thanksgiving.

And guess what? I just happen to have plenty of Chex Party Mix to get us through all the Monopoly and Pincochle games we can possibly play.

Sigh. I am content.

Happy Thanksgiving, my friends.

The Pits...:-)

Awwww. Come on. You know you love the title of this post because I'm updating you on the progress my little avocado tree is making. You know. The one I grew from a pit. LOL

So here she is, six months or so after I stuck an avocado pit with toothpicks and put it into a glass of water.

I've nicked the top out of this little thing about three times now, determined that she's going to grow at least one more branch, but boy, this is one stubborn avocado tree! Still, I think you can see that I am in fact growing a little tree.

I love avocado trees grown from an avocado I bought to make guacamole and instead of tossing the pit, I thought, "Hmmmm. Maybe I'll grow a little tree."

"Little" being the operative word here - this tree isn't going to ever, ever produce avocados.

But it's fun.

One thing that's really neat is that when it needs water, your little tree just completely droops. But I swear, fifteen minutes after you water it, it perks right back up.

If you want to try this, these two posts will show you how to grow a funny looking but cute little avocado tree:

Getting started.

The first pruning to force multiple branches (which obviously doesn't always work LOL).

Sunday Meanderings

FOOD FOR THOUGHT - A DEVOTIONAL


Kindness in Action

Yes indeed, it is good when you truly obey our Lord's
royal command found in the the Scriptures:
"Love your neighbor as yourself."

~~ James 2:8 ~~

As believers in Christ, we are commanded to treat others as we wish to be treated. This commandment is, indeed, the Golden Rule for Christians of every generation.

Kindness is a choice. Sometimes, when we feel happy or prosperous, we find it easy to be kind. Other times, when we are discouraged or tired, we can scarcely summon the energy to utter a single kind word. But, God's commandment is clear: we must observe the Golden Rule "in everything." God intends that we make the conscious choice to treat others with kindness and respect, no matter our circumstances, no matter our emotions. Kindness, therefore, is a choice that we, as Christians must make many times each day.

When we weave the thread of kindness into the very fabric of our lives, we give a priceless gift to others, and we give glory to the One who gave His life for us. As believers, we must do no less.

A Woman of Prayer, 365 Daily Devotions, Freeman-Smith LLC, Publishers


THE WEEK IN REVIEW

I'm a little late, but I'm here. That's a good thing, right? :-)

I can't tell you how much the comments on my last post have meant to me. And the personal emails behind the scenes? There is simply no way I could answer each of you individually, but know this. Your email, your advice, your assurance that you were praying for me..it turned the tables for me.

I truly feel better. Maybe it's because I'm so transparent that I share something like depression right here on the interweb with gosh only knows who. I have no idea how many people (or who they are) read my blog and that may be a good thing because if I did know, I might stiffen up and be afraid to be real.

My sister suggested that I seemed to be out of sync and asked if I was OK. She wondered if maybe I was depressed. She figured it out before I did.

I talked to both my parents this week.

My father is 84 years old. He just canned 60 quarts of tomatoes and he was making chicken gumbo when I called him. Good grief. He's amazing. He's so healthy it makes me think that if genes play a part, I may live to a hundred years old.

My father never smoked cigarettes. Ever.

My mom used to smoke. After 20 years she quit. When I talked to her a couple of days ago, she told me that when she quit, she went through a depression that lasted for almost a year.

Hello?

There is nothing physically wrong with me. I mean, my wrist hurts a lot but that's because I'm 59 and it's probably arthritis. Physically speaking, I'd be a lot happier if I could still get into my size 12 jeans, but I can live with size 14. :-)

Mom sent me an early Christmas package this year. I was so surprised to get a big box covered in Christmas stickers (I love it that my mom doesn't think I'm too old to love Christmas stickers). The box was full of books that she'd chosen for me and Rob and for Cameron and Avery. It was like she read my mind because I'd just told Rob, this is the year I have to start reading The Night Before Christmas to our grandbabies and there it was - a beautiful pop-up version that Cameron is already asking me to read to him before school each morning.

And also in that package was a big bottle of vitamins, heavy on the B complex vitamins. When I called her to thank her, she told me, you need to take those B complex vitamins. They help a lot when you quit smoking.

So mystery solved. I think I know why I've just not been myself for the last ten months. And I think the knowing, combined with all your encouragement, turned things around for me.

Why, I do believe I may actually start taking photos of Cameron and Avery and Chelsea again. And I've already bought everything Cameron and Avery and I will need to make Christmas cookies this year. I have all the different colored sprinkles and some Christmas cookie cutters sitting on the kitchen counter and Cameron's eyes just light up every time he sees them.

I see the light at the end of this tunnel and I thank each and every one of you. You are amazing.


THE NEW WEEK

My poor daughter Krissy has been sick. She was so miserable all weekend long, I convinced her to call in sick at work today and just give herself the day off. Rob and I took care of getting Cameron to school and Avery to daycare and by the end of the day, Krissy was down here to borrow a loaf pan and she looked about a hundred percent better. I ask you, how often do you get a day completely off when you have a four year old and a 21 month old? That in itself is as good as any medicine I can think of.

Cameron's pediatrician called Kris at work last Friday to let her know they had the H1N1 vaccine in and Cameron should come in right away to get his. Kris said fine, we'll bring him in sometime next week and the doctor said, "No, I was thinking NOW."

Apparently Cameron is extremely high risk because he's only four years old and has full blown type 1 diabetes. It's always scary when a small child gets sick with something like flu, but in Cameron's case, anything that affects his food and liquid intake is especially scary.

So he got his vaccine Friday afternoon and I'm happy to report he had no adverse reaction at all. Andy tells me the shot itself (it's a pretty hefty shot) didn't even phase him.

ALL THAT TO SAY...

I'm better and I'm going to be fine. I cannot tell you how much your encouraging comments and emails helped me.

Thank you.

And happy new week!