Slightly Early Christmas...

First off, can I just say that I am completely EXCITED about Christmas this year... I simply CAN'T wait! And well... you can see from the scrapbook page that it is true... Not so much because I couldn't actually control myself... yes, it is hard to do, but I really can manage... The reality is that we simply will not be able to fit Iain's big gift into the car with us for the trip. So, we put it together tonight, and surprised him when we got home from church. Iain absolutely LOVED it... he immediately climbed aboard and started scooting it across the room, ringing the bell along the way. So of course I HAD to scrap the moment... not to mention, Daddy, happily piecing the trike together while Iain napped today.

Most of the scrapbook elements are from my friend at church who I just found out has an online digi store!!! I LOVE her stuff... and if you would like to check it out...go to www.paperbagstudios.com ...You will find some really awesome stuff there!

Christmas 1980

I absolutely love this picture from Christmas years ago. I can remember every little bit of going into the parking lot at K-mart to find the little red house where we would find Santa. Waiting outside, getting really antsy to see Santa, and seeing other kids coming out of the house smiling and eating their candy canes. After what seemed like a lifetime of waiting (in reality probably only 1 or 2 families in front of us...if that) we finally got to go inside to see Santa, where it was MUCH, MUCH warmer than outside, and the best part was getting to eat that candy cane thinking about how many presents Santa would bring me come Christmas.

Another Yummy Recipe... Gonna have to make this SOON!

I found this recipe From Cooking Light and it looks completely amazing! I tried something along
these lines a few years ago at a gourmet restaraunt back in Eureka Springs and absolutely loved it, and this is the closest I can find to the dish. The only difference I see is that there were also
golden raisins and cranberries with the dish from the restaraunt, and the apples were diced more "chutney" style with the raisins and cranberries, rather than being sliced.

I also think this would be amazing with a pork loin instead of the chops...Enjoy!

Pork Chops with Cinnamon Apples

Warm flavors like sage and cinnamon play up the contrast between the juicy chops and caramelized apples. Tart Granny Smiths and slightly sweeter Braeburn apples both work well for this dish.

Yield

4 servings (serving size: 1 pork chop and 3/4 cup apple mixture)

Ingredients

1 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 (4-ounce) boneless center-cut loin pork chops (about 1/2 inch thick)
1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil
Cooking spray
1 teaspoon butter
4 cups (1/2-inch) slices peeled Granny Smith apples (about 4 medium)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Dash of salt

Preparation

Combine first 3 ingredients, and sprinkle over the pork. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium heat. Add pork; cook 3 minutes on each side or until done. Remove the pork from pan. Cover and keep warm.
Melt butter in pan over medium heat. Add apples and remaining ingredients, and cook 5 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Serve the apples with pork.
Nutritional Information
Calories:
251 (30% from fat)
Fat:
8.3g (sat 3.1g,mono 3.3g,poly 0.9g)
Protein:
24.1g
Carbohydrate:
20.2g
Fiber:
2.3g
Cholesterol:
67mg
Iron:
0.9mg
Sodium:
388mg
Calcium:
38mg

Uh! (But No) Oh!

Well, for one reason or another when little man figured out that when you drop something you need to say uh-oh... he didn't exactly get the whole phrase... he would simply say "Uh!"... there was no "Oh"... he said it that way for quite a few weeks...but now he finally found the "Oh"... and it is quite his favorite thing to say without a doubt.

Halloween Scrap!

Well, after about a couple of months of no time to scrap, and about a month without PSE, even though I was inspired to scrap, I FINALLY made a new page!!! WOO HOO!!!

Yeah, I lost my old PSE 5 when our computer almost crashed last month. And go figure, the CD happened to be one that Iain managed to destroy. GAH!

So, I got my Christmas present a little early, the new PSE 7! I am so excited to have my program back, and there are some pretty cool new features that I am going to have to figure out...Can't wait to really dig into this program.

For what it is worth... here is my L/O for Halloween. I should have made the pic a bit bigger, but oh well... I am finished with it either way!

Hello Socialism.

I went to the dentist this morning to have some cavities filled. Go figure that as soon as he sticks the drill in my mouth, he starts talking politics. I personally didn't mind especially considering we are very alike in our thinking regarding the direction our political system is taking. My only problem was that I so badly wanted to say something, but dared not move with a drill bit only millimeters from my tongue!

Either way, what he said, really struck a chord, and should really get people thinking about where we are headed. Dr. P. said that he had been reading about Argentina and the direction their government is taking regarding it's expanding role in the private sector. It seems that the Argentine government has decided to nationalize their country's pension system... they have now made the decision that they are going to seize all private retirement accounts, and redistribute them so as to make a government retirement fund that will provide a "fair" payout to ALL Argentinians as they retire!

Well, why should this worry me?

Read the following quote from the article regarding this whole debacle:

"That the state could seize retirement savings no doubt seems outrageous to Americans. But it is a predictable development in a country where government intervention in the financial system is the norm. With Washington now expanding its role as guarantor in American banking, that's something to think about."

What have we been doing of late... bailing out our banks in the private sector, subsidizing the likes of AIG, effectively making the company government owned... our government sticking their hand in the private pot. This my friend is the beginnings of a socialist government... and our friend, Pres-elect Obama only has greater plans in store for us with his "Share the Wealth" plans. I truly understand the ideas behind wanting to take care of our fellow man, but at some point in time we have to take responsibility for ourselves, finding ways to put back for our own future... why do we have this idea in our collective consciousness that our government should take care of us? Do we not have to be fiscally responsible anymore... The last time I checked, the Bible tells us that we should be good stewards of our money, and to do our best to take care of and create more out of what has been given to us. Why should we be excused, when we spend every last penny we have, and yet feel that we have the right to ask our government to take care of us when we haven't. The simple truth is, we do not have that right!

I have already been hearing students at school saying that their parents have stopped paying their bills because "President Obama is going to take care of us now"'. What on earth are they thinking?

If you think that this extreme example of what is happening in Argentina can't happen here, think again, because the seeds are already being sown, and unfortunately I think that the caretaker is on his way in to see this to some sort of fruition.

Dishwasher Lasagna?

Ok... so when I saw this I had to laugh (and cringe) a bit... but the whole thought of cooking food in my dishwasher piqued my curiosity for sure. I mean, isn't this where we deposit our stuck-on food covered plates that usually will end up sitting there at least overnight, if not for a couple of days waiting for a full load to save water. Yeah, food sitting on those plates getting all rancid, and eeewwwy, yucky, before they FINALLY get cleaned and sanitized... and what do you find in the bottom of the dishwasher? All of the larger bits that were just too big to go down through the filter.

So, to start this interesting process, (which I am sure would be handy for hosting that dinner party where you really want to impress and make everyone ooh- and ahh over your dishwasher cooking prowess!... I guess it could also come in handy when that darned oven goes out too, but it is much more fun for previously mentioned dinner party!) I would most definitely do everything I can to clean that filter / tray in the bottom of the dishwasher out REALLY good before going ahead with the unthinkable.

According to the recipe on the site, it really is no different than any other lasagna recipe other than replacing fresh onions with onion flakes to make sure and reduce any extra water that might accumulate in your pasta dish, so use your favorite lasagna recipe and follow the directions below for an amazing dinner via DISHWASHER!!

*** I just think I will bypass on the whole clean while you cook thing though! LOL!***

clipped from www.partselect.com Securely wrap lasagna in the aluminum foil by taking the two longest sides of the foil and bringing them to meet in the middle, above the lasagna. Begin carefully folding the two edges together creating a 'paper bag' effect until the two sides are folded down just above the lasagna. Flatten the foil down so it is flat above the lasagna and begin to fold the sides in like a present, first folding the corners inside and then folding the remainder in towards the lasagna. Once the lasagna is wrapped, place it flat in the dishwasher on the bottom rack. Tip: You can also add dirty dishes and detergent to the dishwasher but only if you are confident the lasagna is tightly wrapped, otherwise you'll end up with a very soapy lasagna. Set dishwasher on normal cycle and select 'heated dry' and 'sanitize' for extra heat. This cycle should take about two hours. Once the cycle is completed, let the lasagna stand for a few minutes before serving.

Can You Tell I am Hungry?

Hee Hee...yeah, I am so stinking hungry right now, and what do you find me doing, surfing recipes... Now my stomach is really growling... and unfortuntaly I left lunch at home...

When will I stop torturing myself?

Another recipe that sounds just amazing!

Pumpkin Pecan Chocolate Chunk Cookies

2 1/4 cup self-rising flour
3 tsp pumpkin pie spice
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup chopped pecans
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chunks

Whisk together flour and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, cream butter.
Add both sugars and beat until light and fluffy.
Add vanilla.
Add eggs one at a time and beat until combined.
Add flour/spice mixture to sugar mixture in three additions. Alternate with pumpkin in two additions, ending with flour mixture.
Stir in chopped pecans and chocolate chunks.
Drop on cookie tray lined with parchment paper.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Makes about four dozen cookies.
Let cool.

Maple Brown Butter Frosting

3 cups sifted confectioners sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
2 tsp maple flavoring
Sift sugar and set aside.
Melt butter over medium heat until golden brown. Watch closely so it does not burn.
Add butter to sugar, scraping all the butter into the bowl.
Add milk and maple flavoring. Stir until smooth.
Spread on top of cookies with an knife or offset spatula.

Yummy Twist To The Ordinary Roasted Pumpkin Seed.

I found this really yummy recipe for Spiced Pumpkin Seeds... So good, thought ya'll might want to try it! Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

1 cup raw pumpkin seeds, rinsed and dried
(you may choose to only partially rinse them, since they tend to have a bit more flavor with some of the pumpkin still on them)
6 tablespoons white sugar, divided (4 Tbs. is sufficient if you don't like your seeds overly sweet)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Spread pumpkin seeds in a single layer on a baking sheet. Toast for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until dry and toasted. Larger seeds may take longer.
In a large bowl, stir together 2 tablespoons of white sugar, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pumpkin seeds and sprinkle the remaining sugar over them. Stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar melts, about 45 seconds. Pour seeds into the bowl with the spiced sugar and stir until coated. Allow to cool before serving. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Homecoming at Creek.

So now that football is in full swing... 5 weeks and counting... and Homecoming week is here, I can honestly say that I am simply Exhausted. Most of the exhaustion stems not so much from football itself, but rather from Iain, and the fact that when I get home from practice he is ready to play. Would I trade the playtime for rest... absolutely not, but it still doesn't make it any easier to get up in the morning and get going.

Yeah, so homecoming week is here, and my oh my what an interesting week it has been... luckily the first three days of dressing up is over and there are only 2 more to go.... we have seen bananas, referees, Reno 911 officers, superheroes, Sara Palin lookalikes, Barbie Dolls (in their boxes!) Elvis, hippies, Richard Simmons, '80's jazzercizers and breakdancers, and those are the VERY tame ones. Tomorrow is spirit day and I am sure we will be seeing TONS of orange and black, but Friday... OH FRIDAY....the day of all homecoming spirit days. Yes... it is the dreaded, but HILARIOUS (and perfect for blackmail later on) Senior Cross-dress day. Oh to see the guys decked out in mini-skirts, pantyhose, tube-tops and caked on make-up. Sometimes I wonder if this is the image they have in their mind of how girls really are, (which is a very sad statement in and of itself) or if this is hopefully the OVERDONE spoof of todays in-your face fashion statements. Either way, it is fun to watch, and especially fun when some of the guys can actually pass for girls in the hall... I passed one young man last year who I REALLY thought was a girl. THAT my friend, is a very successful senior cross-dress attempt! However, I think my favorite is to see my senior football players... all 6'5" 250 lbs of them squeezed into hose and skirts, wigs and make-up. Very, very entertaining!

So here is a video I found on YouTube that some of my former weightlifters posted of this fully entertaining day at our school. (Imagine trying to teach with these kids in your class... HA!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2c94aT2rTk

Anyhoo...Here's to the game tomorrow night, and hopes of a winning streak continued!

How to Clean Prop Clothing From a Slasher Flick!

While we were doing the laundry this weekend, we managed to get one of those "Oh-No!" moments... you know the one... that moment when you open the dryer door to find that all of your nice dress clothes look like they have been the props in a bad slasher flick!

Well, that was our find this weekend. Evidently one of Iain's red crayons from the restaraunt this weekend ended up in the dryer... RED Crayon was absolutely EVERYWHERE... I was so upset, because all of my good clothes for work were completely ruined.

I looked everywhere online for a remedy that would work... WD-40 to break up the wax of the crayon so it would wash out... Well... it faded it a tiny bit, but all it really managed to do was make my laundry REALLY stinky... and now we have to buy another can of the stuff for when we really need it.

So after I looked around for a while I managed to find this little gem, I had to go out and buy a few things... ended up spending about $15 for everything, but $15 is a small price to pay when it would cost me at least$200 to replace the clothes.

Here you have the super-magic, amazing and wonderful dried in crayon removing miracle!

2 full caps of concentrated laundry detergent (Tide works great!)
1 cup of borax
1 cup of Oxi-Clean
1 cup of white vinegar

Pour all of the above in gredients into the washer tub already filled with the HOTTEST water you can fill it with and let the clothes soak for an hour before you start the wash cycle. Then wash heavy soil cycle.

I couldn't believe my eyes when nearly everything came out like brand new... I will tell you though that it doesn't seem to work very well on synthetic fibers like polyester... I am still working on that shirt...(it was a freebie from work anyway, so nothing lost!) but anything that was cotton or even cotton blend came out like brand-new!

Another Page... I know... it's been a while.

Bronchitis STINKS!

Well, it has been over 2 weeks since I first got my cold...you know, your typical cough and hack, runny nose type cold. The first week went by and it got pretty rough with the cough, enough that for 3 nights straight I couldn't really sleep, so I went to the doctor to get some good presription cough medicine... we decided at the time to bypass the antibiotics. Well, about 4 days later I went back to the doctor to have a mole removed and she noticed the cough was still there, I told her that it was getting a lot better since I had seen her before, so again we decided on no antibiotics. DUMB DUMB decision on my part... 2 days after I went, the cough came back but this time worse.

Friday night came around and as I was trying to go to sleep I found out that I was having a really hard time breathing... It just felt like an elephant was sitting on my lungs! So after taking more cough syrup I finally was able to sleep, but I knew I had to go to the doctor in the morning.

So Saturday rolls around and I go to Urgent Care, after listening to my lungs, the doctor decided I needed a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia! He told me he was sure I had a mild case of it going on by listening to my lung sounds... So chest x-ray now done, he comes over and lets me know that he didn't see how my lungs could be so clear considering how they sounded... so to put the story short... by passing the first (2)time(s) around on the antibiotics, I got myself into a mess that required a chest x-ray, a PAINFUL, BURNING shot of antibiotics in the butt, a nebulizer treatment at Urgent Care before I left, and prescriptions for Albuterol, a major strong antibiotic and more cough syrup with codiene in it... .and permission to use ibuprofen for pain....Maybe, I will have learned my lesson for next time... (fingers crossed...)

Giraffe loving little dare-devil...

Ok... so the title to this entry may be a little odd... but to briefly explain we went to the zoo today and when we came home Iain decided to perform a few daredevil antics. (so there you have it short and sweet.)

The last time we went to the zoo, when we went to the Giraffe exhibit, we went only to find out that the Giraffes had gone in for the day, so we left that time a bit disappointed. But this time we went early to make sure we got to see them! We actually were the first to see them, because we overheard them on the radio saying they were letting the giraffes out, so we booked it over to the lookout! We were definitely not disappointed... All I can say, is God had such a great sense of humor when He made the Giraffe!...How can you not LOVE these gentle creatures. They came right up to us, ready to get some morning loves from the visitors. Iain and I fed the giraffes crackers and sweet potatoes. Iain absolutely loved it... he kept saying "Hi!" over and over in his sweet little voice to the giraffes whenever they would come close. It was absolutely the cutest thing! So here are a couple of pics from the zoo...

When we got home, he was absolutely wound up, and decided that it was time to start jumping off of the couch and into the beanbag on the floor...absolutely no fear. After he had done it a few times he then decided that he wanted to do a somersault off of the couch. That one got me a bit startled, but he just giggled and got right back up on the couch... go figure...That's my boy!

Epicurious

Well, it goes without saying, that toddlers have very curious eating habits... Some days you can't get them to eat a thing, the next day they will eat everything you put in front of them. And most of the time they will come up with new, albeit curious combinations of the food on their plates.

When I saw him put together this combination of macaroni and cheese, fishsticks and chocolate pudding, I immediately had this idea of a food magazine cover pop into my head. So here is my take on a "foodie" publication from the toddler point of view!

Customer SERVICE????

Okay, so I have been having this little issue lately. Well, actually not just lately, since November of last year really...You know those nice little companies, that when you have your baby, are all ready to sell you every possible trinket imaginable to commemorate your little guy's birth?... Well, we fell prey, and decided to buy the Louisville slugger baseball bat that every boy should have with his name and birth information.

Yeah, we ordered it in November and recieved the bat just before Christmas... and well, someone at the company evidently decided that we had simply misspelled Iain's name. They decided to engrave LAIN in the bat instead. So we went through the process of letting them know that they had made a mistake and they were very apologetic and ready to replace it with a corrected version. We were told to expect the new bat at the beginning of January, so we patiently waited for the new and correct bat to come.

January came, and went... no bat... so we called, and the company said it must have been a mistake in communication with production, so a new arrival date was given to us.... Well, February came and went... in the process we called at least 10 times to find out what was goin on, and FINALLY in March we got the new bat... GUESS WHAT?? It was misspelled once again! Exactly the same way. So, what do I do... I call the company... as our conversation went along, I realized very quickly that they were NOT going to take the blame, instead they proceeded to tell me that since it is engraved in a script font, I am simply mistaking the "I" on the bat for an "L". So basically they called me an illiterate idiot, who cannot tell an I from an L.
At this point I was just pissed off.

So I continue to make calls, 6 more to be exact before someone actually talked to me without "disconnecting" me while I was being transferred to their customer service dept. When I finally got to someone to actually talk to I decided it was time to play their game, so on came the Alligator tears, and the "weepy momma" simply wanting her son's bat in time for mother's day. I made the woman feel so bad about the situation that she said she would "immediatly talk to her supervisor" to fix the situation, and that she was so upset for me. (hee hee!)

So to get to the point, the THIRD bat made it's way to us, and guess what... MISSPELLED AGAIN!!! What on Earth?? I called again today... and held on the line listening to the same hynoptizing muzak track OVER and OVER for 54 minutes before someone finally said they would refund our money with proper proof of repeated mistakes on their part, so the picture you see is the response they will recieve. GRRRRR... Customer service....Yeah right!

Iain's after bath playtime... quite fun!

So here is a little video of Iain playing Peek-a-boo with his towel after his bath last night. He gets absolutely wound up after his bath, but as you can see is loads of fun!

Pictures from the beach

Here are some pics of Iain from the other day at the beach
I absolutely LOVE this first one... Probably one of my
favorites that I have taken. I also threw in one of Lynx
from the other night as well, I just liked the pic.

Got my new camera!!!

So, I got my birthday present! And I can say that I am LOVING my new XTi! The first 2 are from the first night I had the camera, just snapshots more than anything, but I have to say that I like the shots from the park today. You can tell, I have been doing a little bit of reading up on aperature and the like. Feel free to dole out the CC, that is what will make my shots better. All are SOOTC.

bits of me

Have you ever seen one?

Go figure the one night this week that my camera died, I saw what had to be one of the most rare things ever. Believe it or not... I saw a rainbow at night! I really didn't think it was possible that that was what I was seeing, so yesterday I asked my students if they had ever seen one, and sure enough 3 of my students saw it too!

I was so mad that my camera was dead... This was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen... We had a full moon and there happened to be rain just offshore and no clouds over us directly so we had the rare conditions met for a moonbow! Absolutely amazing!

Softball! Woo Hoo!

Well, our softball team is actually doing pretty well this year. We weren't expected to do much since our heralded,nationally ranked pitcher graduated last year. Yeah, they pretty much just left us out of the picture entirely. Well, I have to say after watching a few games this past week, that our girls are faring pretty darn good, and knocked off "the team to beat".

Anyhoo... I finally remembered to bring my camera to some games, and was so excited to get some really awesome pics... and I have to say that the last one is definitely my favorite!

Scrappin' Fever

Well, as you can see I have been bitten by the scrappin' bug of late. This is quite an accomplishment for me. You see, I have not scrapped much in about oh, 4 years. In those 4 years, I have made a total of about 2 pages. No joke. Well, after watching Manders post 60+ layouts this year alone, I guess I got a little motivated to get scrappin. These are the layouts I have made since February. At this rate, I might actually make a whole scrapbook's worth this year.... WOO HOO!

So Manders... thanks for lighting the fire under my butt to get scrappin'!

BIG BOY!

Well, since I haven't posted in a while, I thought I would finally upload some pics since it has been so long. They aren't in any particular order and arent touched up or anything, but here they are... ENJOY!

Iain is Walking!!!!