hello monday!

not much going on here. another day like i like~dark, gray, rainy. except that i have to get out in it today :( on my way to the chiropractor and to pick up a few groceries. not feeling too great--sore throat, lingering headache...i'm hoping it's just the change in weather. i do not want to be sick!
i'm on a real reading kick right now. that stack of books is some of the ones i've bought recently that are just begging to be read. we have a great half-price book store that has a great clearance section. i got most of those for $1 (and they're the big, soft-cover ones that i love!)
here is what i am reading right at this moment (well, obviously not right at this moment, but you know what i mean!) i am trying to be more diligent about reading the bible daily, even just 1 page every day. i just love the new book on acts~can't wait until we study that one! and that is the first anna quindlen book i've read. it's kind of slow so far, but i'm staying with it!
we've had the perfect weather to snuggle under a blanket and read.
just a few random things from around my house.

a few weeks ago, i got the most beautiful pitcher from crate and barrel. i don't shop there very often, but every once in a while, i'll go there and wander around forever looking at all the beautiful things and decide on a few. well this particular day, i decided on a glass pitcher. it wasn't terribly expensive but i liked it and seeing as how we drink so much tea, i thought how much i would enjoy pouring my tea from this particular pitcher. i placed the bag with my beloved pitcher, carefully wrapped, in my car and so began my much-anticipated-enjoying-many-years-pouring-tea-from-my-beautiful-pitcher journey.
or not.
a few days later my pitcher sat on my counter, looking so pretty filled with tea. as i was cooking, i took my big bottle of olive oil out of the basket, poured it in the pan, started to put it back, when it barely hit the pitcher. i looked down and the entire top of the glass had broken off in one ginormous piece! tea slowly went everywhere. i was so sad and mad! the only things i ever break are ones in which i've spent more than i normally would.
so the other day when mom was here, we found ourselves in ross~where we both bought a cute little pitcher with a red top...for $3.99.
i will probably have it for years. if you have not been to bath and body works lately, get yourself over there before these candles aren't on sale anymore! all of their small candles are $5! what a deal! since i'm still on a pumpkin kick, i got sweet cinnamon pumpkin--it smells just like fall!
and here is my little ikea plant that sits peacefully in the window at my sink. apparently, when we're out of town, cosmo lounges there and eats the tops off all the leaves.
aside from the obvious fact that the leaves are half the length they were, i won't go into how we know he does that.
let's just say that story would involve the words "tons of paper towels", "disinfecting spray" and "glad i was wearing shoes." :)

fun with mom

mom came up on tuesday to stay a couple of days with us while chris was in delaware and les was working on repairs to his house in grapevine. we got the invitations to danielle's shower done and decided on everything for the shower. i can't wait~it's going to be so cute!
unfortunately, i did not get one picture of anything related to the shower. i know, shame on me.

after my stamp class on wednesday, we went to pei wei for lunch. this is what i get every time i go there--the spicy korean. yum!
mom got lemon pepper chicken, i think. i didn't have a bite, but it looked good too.

julie, natalie and mindy are also in the class. we usually go to lunch afterwards. stamping makes you hungry, you know?
me and mom
here are the cute projects we did. this was a neat technique using a brayer and an embossing folder. very easy. well, i say that...but i managed to mess it up. this was my second attempt!
this was adorable. it's the size of a card...
but it opens up
and is a cute accordian-style mini album. wouldn't this be cute filled with fall pictures?
here we are with our masterpieces =)
then it was time for mckinlee's gymnastics. that's her on the trampoline doing a back handspring by herself!
then it was on to dinner at macaroni grill. mom and i split the chicken marsala. delish! look at those big pieces of artichoke...makes my mouth water even now! i wish i had gotten a picture of our fabulous desserts--but i forgot.
isn't this the cutest picture of mom and les?
mckinlee hated this one. probably because her teeth show. she's all about closed-mouth pictures. i told her i would crop her out (and i will...right after this posts!)
she was playing around with the camera and took this shot of her sprite. pretty cool!
another cute one of mom and les.
we had fun~it just went by too fast!
have a fun weekend ;)

circuit assembly

we had a busy and wonderful weekend! the assembly was so good (of course they all are.) the theme was 'safeguard your spirituality.' we learned what true spirituality is, why it's precious, why we should protect it, dangers to our spirituality, how to focus on spiritual pursuits and how we can stay spiritually healthy in this sick world. there were some thought-provoking, self-examination questions that really got me thinking. we didn't want to leave... but back to our daily life today.
here we are on the first day. doesn't mck's hair look pretty? she did that completely by herself. she slept on foam rollers that she did a certain way and when she came down the stairs, she looked like an old 1940's movie star!
chris had the baptism talk and did really good. he's been so sick and coughing so much we didn't know if he'd even be able to talk. right before the talk, he had a coughing fit--his face turned red, tears coming out of his eyes, etc. (that's when i started praying that he would just be able to make it through his talk!) he walked on stage and i was just so nervous for him. do you know that not once in 30 minutes did he so much as clear his throat!? after it was over, he said that it was only jehovah's holy spirit that got him through that! the rest of the day he coughed so much, at one point i thought he was really choking to death on a piece of candy i'd given him! but that 30 minutes of his talk was amazing!
here he is with trevor. trevor had his first part on the school (the bible reading) and he did a fabulous job--we were all so proud of him!
the weather was wonderful, for a change! we walked all around the ponds and just enjoyed the beautiful day.
here's mckinlee with one of her favorite babies~jori. they recently moved to another congregation and mckinlee misses them so much.
here's mck with alexa and jori's twin, jola. aren't they the cutest things ever?
here we are on day 2.
quinlyn loves "kinlee" (as she calls her.) she would not let anyone else take her, not even her own sister or brother. she kept saying, "say no trevor!" whenever he'd try to take her.
here she is with her little friend, bianca. darling!
here i am with michele.
and here's some more of us girls.
we got to eat sunday evening with our new circuit overseer and his wife, br. and sis. brooks and another family from our congregation. we had such a fun time and got to hear so many neat stories. it's so nice to get to know them on a more personal level. this may be the last time we see the brook's, so that was sad. they absolutely crack me up! if you click on the picture, you can see sis. brook's "bib" in her hand. apparently she always wears it, so she doesn't mess up her clothes. before she put it on she said, "i'm sorry, tim. i've got to put my bib on!" he muttered something like, "oh lord!" so. funny.

so that was our weekend. always kind of a let-down to get on with normal activities, but i've got a lot to do today. mom is coming tomorrow~so that will be fun! we've got to get to work on danielle's shower!!!

(and i've got to go buy cat food. we ran out and poor cosmo is not very happy. i found some salmon we hadn't finished in the fridge, so he got that treat, but obviously he can't live on that. well, i guess he could. but it would get kind of expensive!)

it's friday!

i have a busy friday ahead of me. we have our circuit assembly this weekend and i have a million little things to do before it. it's so hard to know what the weather will be like, i have gone back and forth on what to wear. now it's supposed to be really cold in the mornings but get warmer in the afternoon. so we'll see what i decide.
we found mckinlee 4 dresses the other day! i was beside myself with joy over the fact that she actually liked 4 dresses and then that they fit her and were on sale--that was an added bonus! so today after school we must go find shoes and hose to go with them.
i took this picture of her before she left for school this morning. doesn't she look grown up? she told me she just loves her a&f sweatshirt because "it doesn't look like a little kid." (she can now wear extra small from places like a&f and hollister--so she is very excited! we have this wonderful resale shop here that only carries popular, current clothes like this. she was really excited to be able to find something there.) she is also sporting her new self-manager badge. it means she has demonstrated responsibility, good conduct and can regulate herself regarding free time, etc. apparently, it's a very big deal in 5th grade! (now if i could just get her to self-manage at home...maybe i need to create a special "home" badge. hee hee.)
better start my day. i will post pictures of our weekend on monday.
(as is usually the case whenever we have an assembly, i am scheduled to have terrible cramps :( won't that be fun? if my pictures show me clutching my stomach and a look of pain on my face...you'll know why.)

self-control...and a latte!

yesterday we randomly picked "self-control" as the aspect of the fruitage of the spirit to work on this week. this will come in handy for me as i already pray daily for self-control (mostly to help me deal with clothing issues with mckinlee. hee hee!)
for family worship night we researched self-control and here's some good points we learned:

~self-control is restraining one's actions, speech or thoughts

~in the last days, a lack of self-control would be a mark of those not practicing true christianity

~in the scriptures self-control is mentioned with faith, knowledge, endurance, godly devotion, love. we are not born with any of these desirable qualities--they must be cultivated. to manifest them requires effort. self-control is no different. it will take effort to cultivate it--but it can be done.

~to cultivate self-control we need divine help and it is available. god's word is like a perfect mirror--it shows us where we need to make personal changes and it provides counsel on how to do so.

mckinlee asked me last night how long we were going to work on all of these. i told her until we perfect them--or forever! :)

now...on to my latte. i found this recipe on a blog and it sounded good, so i thought i'd try it.

pumpkin spice latte

2 heaping T canned pumpkin (i used 1.5)
2 cups milk (i used 1.5)
combine over medium heat, stirring constantly.
once combined add the following:
2 T vanilla (i used 1.5)
2 T sugar (i used agave nectar)
1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (i used a little more)
heat until it steams, stirring constantly or milk will scald.
pour into cup, add 1/2 cup coffee or more, whipped cream and cinnamon.
(this makes enough for 2-3 cups or one HUGE cup)

doesn't this look yummy? it was pretty good. i'm not a huge pumpkin person, so it wasn't my absolute favorite, but it was comforting on a gray morning. and i enjoyed it with my ham and cheese omelet.
off to sweep and mop the floors. fun, huh?

what?! (stealing danielle's title)

ok~i know people have different tastes and i am certainly not saying everyone has to have the same opinion, but have you happened to have heard what heidi klum or rather, samuel, as she goes by now, and seal have named their new daughter??????? (my only hope is that they'll call her lola.)

really?? no offense to anyone whose name that is or who named their child that. but really? first, sarah jessica parker with marion and tabitha and now this?

these poor 21st century children have "grandma" names!

(rant over. and i hope i haven't offended anyone...)

the rest of our day...

so after i went to the parent-teacher conference (where mr. shelby said he was already getting sad thinking about june when mckinlee would not be in his class anymore) we went to freddy's for lunch. it's mckinlee's favorite place and after such a good report from her teacher, i thought she deserved it.
we had this. these are absolutely my favorite french fries! this was my first burger, fries and pepsi since our cleanse. it sure was tasty~~but i didn't feel so good later :(
of course after our lunch we had to get some custard. vanilla with heath bar for mckinlee and plain chocolate for me. yum-yum!

then we went home and did this...
we had made the dough the night before and put it in the fridge to chill. you know how i hate the feel of flour, so mck gladly volunteered to do all the dirty work. this sugar cookie recipe came with the good tip of putting balls of dough in wax paper (all i had was foil), rolling it out and stacking them in the fridge. then you just get out one section at a time, pull one piece of foil off, flour it, turn it over, flour it again and cut out the cookies. very easy and much less messy!
we made plain ones, crystal ones and sprinkle ones.
then came the fun part...frosting them!
here's the little baker.

and here's the finished product. mck kept saying she was having so much fun. a good way to spend a day off.

(and if you're wondering, yes, they taste as good as they look.)

soup

one thing about fall that i love is trying different soup recipes. chris and i just love soup~~so comforting. especially on a drizzly, cold day.

i made this soup early yesterday in my crockpot and it cooked all afternoon. when we walked in our house after the meeting, it smelled so good! (mckinlee would tell you a different story...she grabbed her nose the second we opened the door and walked around with her nose covered, terrified she would have to eat some. which she did, by the way.)
if you like potato soup, you will love this.

smashed potato soup

3.5 lbs. potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch cubes
1/2 c. chopped yellow or red bell pepper
1.5 tsp. bottled roasted garlic (i just used fresh garlic)
1/2 tsp. black pepper
4.5 c. chicken broth
1/2 c. whipping cream, half and half or light cream (i used the whipping cream)
1 c. shredded cheddar
1/2 c. thinly sliced green onions
sour cream, crumbled bacon, shredded cheese (for toppings)

Combine potatoes, bell pepper, garlic and black pepper. Put in crockpot. Pour broth over all.
Cover; cook on low 8-10 hours or high 4-5 hours (i cooked it on high)
Mash potatoes slightly with potato masher (if you like bigger chunks, don't mash as much). Stir in whipping cream, 1 cup shredded cheese and green onions. (somewhere in here, i would add salt, although the recipe doesn't call for it)
Ladle into soup bowls. Top with desired toppings.

this was so good~~we ate the entire crockpot full of it! i put some in a container to save until today and noticed later it was gone. chris had polished it off!
mckinlee is out of school today, but we have parent-teacher conferences. so i better run to that.
i will post later about what mck and i are doing this afternoon...

my favorite kind of day

i woke up to my favorite kind of day...cold, dark and drizzly. if i don't have to leave my house, days like this are so comforting to me. i just went around the house turning on lamps and lighting candles. and "la vie en rose" just came on the channel i'm listening to. i could almost pretend i'm in paris.
i ran out of my satsuma oil for my little burner above so i'm just using some pumpkin oil i had--but it doesn't smell the house up as well as the satsuma. have to remember to get some...
my leaf tealights look so pretty in the dark kitchen and you can kind of see the old/new cafe du monde coffee can i've had in the pantry forever. i decided to get it out, seeing as it has the fall colors i'm using right now, and put some of my utensils in it. i alternate between wanting them out so i can reach them easily and wanting them out of sight in a drawer!
here's a little project i did for mckinlee yesterday. i found this lamp shade at walmart for under $7 (i wish it hadn't been pleated, but that was all they had for what i needed.)
a long while back i got this jumble of pom-pom things at goodwill. it matched all of mck's stuff so well, i thought i could untangle it all on one of my "patience-practicing" days! mck and i soon found out there was no way it could be untangled. so i put it away until i could decide what to do with it. well i finally did something with it.
isn't this cute? i still want to paint the base either lavender or lime green, but i thought it turned out pretty cute.
we re-arranged mck's room a little since i'm trying to clean out the "junk" room. so we brought in the night stand and desk that goes with her other furniture and it looks so pretty. i will try to take a picture when she cleans it up this weekend.
i need to get the picture re-matted for her room. it is a picture of dumbo and timothy that my dad drew and painted for me many, many years ago. we used it in mck's room when she was a baby (hence the navy and red matting). we found it in the closet and i can't wait to put it on the wall in her room.
here is what my scrapbook room looks like these days. every few years i get the urge to totally re-do my creating space. since mck wants some space for her a desk, we have been moving and cleaning out stuff right and left. i'm trying not to hurry through it and just stick stuff somewhere--i'm really trying to organize it as i go.
here's a new organizational tip i've been contemplating for years. this is just a little glimpse. can you guess how i'm going to organize everything that's not paper or stamps? when everything's finished i'll show you the results.
have a super weekend and stay dry!