Scott and I went shopping for pumpkins last night at WalMart (yes WalMart!) I came to the realization that gone were the days of the long treks out to the pumpkin patch/haunted maze/scary woods. Everyone is so busy getting ready for their respective projects that organizing an outing any further than the next freeway off-ramp seems highly unlikely. With Megan gone taking care of her big sister, Christie, there isn’t anyone to press the matter. I asked the boys on the way out the door if they would like a pumpkin to carve and they both said “sure” so we got to choose their pumpkins for them. Pumpkin carving has always been a fun tradition. I talked to a friend the other day…an “empty nester”. She said that they didn’t decorate for any of the holidays anymore except Christmas. That made me a little sad, but it also made me determined to decorate as long as I can access the decorations. My decorations are like old friends – even the new ones! I like to unwrap them and sit them around the house, like I would an old friend that might come for a visit. They only stay for a short while, but they will always be welcome! While at WalMart, I also picked up some canned pumpkin. I don’t make pies, but I love it in other recipes. One of
Definition: The pathological fear or loathing of SPIDERS! But who could be afraid of this cute little guy! Follow these directions for a quick and easy addition to a Halloween spider's web, hat, centerpiece or cauldron ingredient. 1. Cut out two circles for patterns: one 3.5" and a 5". Pin to felt; cut out. I actually used a black fleece for the body, and a dark grey wool felt for the head. It stuffs well when it has a little give. When I do hand gathering or stitching, I prefer to use DMC Perle Coton. I LOVE DMC Perle Coton! (It's another one of those things I gather!) It is twisted and offers a lot of color in a single strand. 2. Do a big running stitch around the edge of the circles. Sorry…the picture is a little blurry. 3. Gather up the edges and start stuffing fiberfill into the the middle of the gathered circle. 4. After the head and body are well stuffed, tie off stitching. Don't pull it all the way together – leave a little of the fiberfill showing. These open spots will cover up each other. 5. When stitching the mouth and eyes, start from the back side and end up on the backside. This makes for no loose ends. Once you add the first eye, anchor it on the back, pulling it tight so as to push the eye in a
I have admitted to being a collector of certain things: cool things like ribbon, buttons, cardstock, ink pads, stamp pads, paper flowers, paints, patterned paper, embellishments…mostly scrapbook stuff. I also have a fair collection of fabric, beads, vintage linens and felt. I like to have everything I need when the need to create arises. I generally can complete any project in the middle of the night without needing to go to the store. I generally stock up on things when they are on sale. Like when Cool Scrapbook Stuff in Poway had their “Someone’s turning 40” sale and I got the 2oz. bottles of Glimmer Mist for $4.00, I just had to stock up. Those who know me well know that I am fond of a good deal…the cheaper, the better. But free is best! This past summer, the family watched all the episodes of “Jericho” in marathon style. The good thing about waiting to watch a whole season of episodes this way is that there are no commercials. The bad thing is that you can find yourself watching with few or no breaks! This makes the intensity of the show greater. Like a good book is hard to put down, a good show is hard to turn off. Slightly off the subject: one of the things we learned on this show was that at times of disaster (which was of the
This week I was reading in the Book of Mormon and this particular passage really stood out to me. In 2 Nephi 2:17-18 it reads: 17 And I, Lehi, according to the things which I have read, must needs suppose that an angel of God, according to that which is written, had fallen from heaven; wherefore, he became a devil, having sought that which was evil before God. 18 And because he had fallen from heaven, and had become miserable forever, he sought also the misery of all mankind… It dawned on me – that old adage…Misery loves company! Isn't that the truth! When you meet up with someone and ask them how they are doing and they start down the laundry list of how bad life is, their rotten situation and how they would probably be better off killing themselves. I always struggle with this one. My immediate internal response is "How can I help rescue this person?" Sometimes rescue is needed, but I think that more than them crying out for help is that they want someone else to save them. That kind of rescue is generally short-lived and they find themselves back in a similar situation. Successful change comes when they figure out how to rely on Heavenly Father for the help rather than leaning on the arm of man. That is the expert help we should all learn
I love old things. Some go by the definition of antique, some vintage and others classic. I like antique furniture, vintage linens and especially old people. These are they that have endured the hazards of tangible existence and survived to be admired and loved by a new generation. They have a history. Then there’s classic cars. It’s not something that I have been able to collect, but I do so admire them. My way of taking them home comes in the form of photos. While the cars may not be wearing their original factory color, the restored models are bright and shiny and, well…classic and cool! It’s kind of like a whole body make-over! While attending a classic car show in Del Mar, I found myself particularly interested in the front of the cars. They looked like faces – headlights were the eyes, the hood ornament the nose and the grill the smile. And smiling was what it looked like to me! Can you see it? If I looked this good at their age, I’d smile too! Here’s to becoming a beautiful vintage person. I am not, however, getting a grill!
It really is challenging to learn new tasks the older you get. My first thought is to get my son, Jacob, to rescue me. Because he is so adept at computer/website/publishing things, I automatically think of him when I get stuck at any technical project. At one point he set it up so that he could get on-line with me remotely so that he didn’t have to struggle to understand my non-technical attempts to explain my problems. That has shortened the diagnostic time drastically. But there are times when it isn’t a good time to call him for assistance…like 3 o’clock in the morning when I can’t go back to sleep! Just after shutting down my computer last night, a thought came to me of how to get an image header on this blog. As you can see, I was successful! Jake will be so proud! Not to say it was easy. Nothing wrong with the typepad program, just the ineptitude of the user! But one thing I have learned. When you figure it out for yourself, it gives you confidence to try and solve more problems by yourself. That is how the learning process goes. I remember when Jacob got the first computer in the house. All I wanted to use it for was making invitations and fliers. It was easier for Jacob to do it for me than to
We had a busy day yesterday. We actually CLEANED the house. Scott and I operated tag team style, and with all the kids out of the house, it was much easier to clean. Having made our weekly trip to Costco on Friday night, all the groceries got put away before the morning cleaning. We traditionally go on Saturday…that’s when they have most of the samples out – you get to try all those things that look so yummy before you just purchase them. But have you ever noticed how long it takes to shop there, get gas, get home and then put everything away? To make it even better, Friday is so much quieter than Saturday. No problem fighting to get a parking spot or the crowds of crazed shoppers. Shopping there on Saturday just seems to take half the day. Anyway, without that to add to our weekend to-do list, we did some major cleaning and after we were done, we went to visit some friends and I came home with some delicious cookies…Monique, they were incredible! All Saturday morning I was humming that Primary song, “Saturday is a special day, it’s the day we get ready for Sunday. We clean the house and we shop at the stores, so we won’t have to work until Monday.” I was remembering my children when they were little and a
Years ago I saw one of those painted wood plaques that read: An Immaculate House is a Sign of a Dull Woman. Never before has a woman ever so totally embraced a new mantra. I was determined to make it my life goal…to never be a dull woman. If you have been to my home, you know that it is just tidy enough…most of the time. I have relinquished control of cleaning up after every one else. I have other things to do. The result is sometimes embarrassing. Periodically, I get the urge to clean. Sometimes out of necessity, other times because I feel like it. Today was one of those days. I needed to take a grocery inventory. I opened up my "big" cupboard to empty partially opened cases of staples onto the shelves. But I couldn't just do it…things had definitely gotten out of hand. Nothing was really in order and I needed to rotate things…do a little purging. There were little baggies of leftover graham crackers from camp-outs, empty boxes (I don't know how to teach the "men" to get rid of the exterior packaging when they take out the last packet of something!), small things that had gotten pushed to the back that needed to be brought forward…you know, messy cupboards. So today, I tackled the big food cupboard…not to be confused with the outside storage. There is
Gone to Disneyland yesterday…just girlfriends. What a difference no kids makes! A fun, leisure day that we kept at just our pace. No fighting over who got to choose what ride we went on next, no picnic lunch…we only lost temporary sight of each other on a rare occasion and it was never that frantic, fearful “I’ve lost my child at Disneyland” moment. I only took a purse and my little Sony Cyber-shot 12.1 megapixel camera. I window-shopped to my heart’s content. I love the transformation of all things being magical, to all things nightmarish. Hooray…Jack is back! The Jack hats… The Jack shirts…none of which are my size! All the Jack merchandise! Of course, there’s more about the trip. I’ll get to that a different day! Lunchtime Lunchtime usually consists of a packed lunch or a burger or bowl of chili. We decided to do something different this time. One of my most memorable moments was the Monte Cristo sandwich at the restaurant across from the Blue Bayou…the name escapes me right now. We were going to do the BB, but then we read the menu across the way and decided to try the Monte Cristo there. All I can say is that no one person should ever try and eat the whole thing by themselves! Next time we are going to just buy one sandwich and share it
Last Wednesday, my #5 child passed his behind the wheel driving test on his first try! As you can see, he’s happy. Funny thing about taking a picture of your 17-year-old successfully passing the driver’s exam…you do it really quickly. The young lady before didn’t pass (she and her parents are standing right there, I’m sure being sad) and there is a long line of cars going around the corner waiting for us to get out the way. Besides, Mike needed to get to play practice. I am so grateful for my little Sony that the kids gave me for my birthday that tucks nicely into my purse and always travels with me for just such occasions. I am having a hard time coming the the realization that Michael finally has his driver’s license. The traumas of the teaching the first four are a distant memory…this last one? Not quite so gone! Not to mention that just last week I was responsible for doing the driving – well, at least I had to be the one to go along. Not that there wasn’t help from the other adults in the house, but just getting them to early morning seminary, waiting and then getting them to school took HOURS! Okay, just a couple of hours, but when you get up at 5am and can’t start working on YOUR projects until 7:30 or 8:00am, it does eat up a big part of your
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