What a Bunch of Sweethearts!

Last night Brianna called me and asked if I had noticed that our family is arranged in a heart in the picture? I just checked it out . . . and . . . we are! What can I say?

Count My Many Blessings . . . and Counting . . . Counting . . . .

Count your many blessings,

Name them . . . George, John, Abe and Al.

Count your many blessings,

They won't last too long . . . . .

Please forgive me for if I seem a little irreverent, I don't mean to be. This week has really brought back some memories of the first few years of our marriage. Procrastination has sent the chickens home to roost in a big way, and I am grateful that we can take care of some needs, grateful that I can take the brunt of the decision making this week before Jon gets home so he doesn't have to deal with it, and have faith that a promise will be kept.

So I will back track a "little" . . HA! You know me better than that, huh?

In 1979 we moved to Thatcher with a 4 1/2 month old baby and stars in our eyes. We were so glad to get out of the "big" city. We missed friends and family (mostly family) in the valley but felt like it was a good move. We took what Jon's salary was going to be, figured how we would we would live on it, packed up and moved, full of faith that we could make a go of it. Of course when you figure that closely and have older cars . . . you know the rest of that one!

Fortunately, we moved there with no debt, we had been married only 16 months, I was so in love that I would do anything to make it happen, had lots good cash cutting ideas, and we had parents that would find little ways to help our food budget. I had $20/week for food, clothes, medicine, paper goods (I still wrapped sandwiches in wax paper, and Jon brought it home so that we could reuse it the next day, along with his brown bag). He started to get some side work fixing avionics on planes, etc. and was so excited to get a "little ahead" . . and then something went wrong on the car. He was so discouraged. I reminded him that at least the money came through just in time to do the repair! He agreed that we were blessed.

When I got paid for sewing, Jon told me to use it for something just for me, that I really wanted, just for me. He got a little upset when I spent it at the grocery store. The two of us would eat a 6-quart pot full of beans each week, I made all of our breads, was happy when I had the sugar to make syrup (used corn starch to thicken it so I could use much less sugar . . I still prefer that!) When I found weevils in our flour, I sifted them out. When I caught Mariah playing in my tub of flour with an old fly swatter, I just gulped and prayed that any germs would die in the baking . . . don't worry, I didn't feed that to anyone else! I learned to make TVP into all kinds of things in place of ground beef. So when I got hold of some extra money, I went grocery shopping. It was wonderful to have more than just 3-4 tomatoes and head of lettuce stretched for a two

week period.

So here we are 30 years later, kind of in the same boat. I have shelled out so much money on three vehicles this week that Jon's pay check will be gone by the time he gets home. The good side is that I am still madly in love, have stars in my bleary eyes and want to help Jon in the best way that I can by stretching every dollar Jon works so hard to bring home . . . stretch it til it squeals! I have had to learn so many hard lessons that have taught me what is really important. Our family is healthy, they have remained faithful to the Lord so that they are w

orthy of His blessings, want to serve the Lord and their fellow man. They live close by and make an effort to stay in touch to keep our family ties strong and are working hard to build future

s to care for their own families. We still have a roof over our heads, such as it is. We have vehicles to fix, still do . . . there are two dead ones in the back yard ( giggle) Our "pet cemetery" is becoming a "car cemetery" . . but not for long . . . ?

The best thing, Nanny's magic band-aids (cute with silly pictures) and magic cream (neosporin) can fix just about anything ( Garrett just fixed a "boo boo"). I am blessed and life is good and fortunately, my best blessings are not named after great American presidents, they are named, Jon, Mariah, Stephen, Rob, Brianna, Sarah, Gabriel, Arianna, Garrett, Tatianna, and Lincoln.

Now to have a little session on those secondary "friends" on that paper and figure out who gets to go where . . . . well maybe after "Gawwett hewps me wash and cwean my ban . . . it weawy needs it, Nanny!

She-e-e-e-e-e . . . .!

I am eating some excellent lettuce wraps. They are full of flavor, a little crunch, all wrapped in the delicious crisp lettuce leaves . . .S what is my problem? It's 4:20 AM Not much sleep in the first place, Garrett has become a major kicker! We couldn't get to the little camping bed so up he climbed on to Papa's side. A BIG pillow between us didn't even help and what do you say to a cute little bundle like that when they want to snuggle . . . I wanted to say, "Back off!" but I didn't.

At 3:30 am I got big brown eyes in my face with a, "Nanny! I needs to go potty!" So up we got, he did go pee pee, ran back to my nightstand all excited because there were pennies and then it went down hill from there. After nearly an hour of a very methodical thrashing, I got,

G--"Nanny, I smell breakfast, macawoni!"

N--"No, you smell last night's dinner."

G--" Oh" Such a sad little sound. But I want some macawoni!"

N--"You have to eat last night's dinner"

G-- (a whole bunch of entusiastic stuff that I couldn't quite follow)

So finally we got up, I warmed his dinner (which I tasted, the goofy is nuts, it's delicious! We should all have to suffer like this, harumph!) I have eaten a couple of lettuce wraps, the water is warming up to make macawoni and I am just a little grumpy!

Good (?) news . . . Garrett just informed me that he is going to stay here forever . . . how do I get such good luck?!?!? At least the sky is showing a little lighter out there . . . . z-z-z-z-z

Is It Catching?

I think I might have to stop hanging out with the Maskeys . . . . Sarah just called and the Bravada won't start . . . . and just as I thought I might have a couple of nickels to jangle in my pocket . . . DRAT! Gotta remember that promise that we would have what we needed.

I Loved My Week End!

Friday, I decided to clean my oven, even I can only take so much smoke. Now don't be too shocked, I am showing my oven. Just like on the BBQ and stove top, I seem to find a way to boil over, spill and produce my "home cooked" smoke where ever I cook. Mariah gave me teflon oven liner a couple of years ago and does it ever save me time. It took five minutes to remove that and get the shiny oven using just that little green scrubby pad and dish soap. No fumes from spraying or when I turned the oven the next time. The liner also took about five minutes to clean. I love it! I forgot to mention, I have a self-cleaning oven . . . hate the heat, hate the smoke and scared of that high of a temperature inside my home. I had an oven missing insulation once and that one would have started a fire if I had run it in the cleaning mode!

Then I scrubbed the counters and cabinet fronts to renew my 80's almond laminate, cuts, chips, slices and all. Those generic Mr.Clean erasers work really well on 35 year old formica. It felt good to clear them and get this done, finally!

That night was a wonderful open house for one of the cutest couple. Jorgen and Amy should have a wonderful future! It was fun to see all of Linda and Nick's kids again and just enjoy the great company. A very pleasant evening, with Jon around, besides.

Brianna and my little dollies came over for the day. Brianna had a bridal shower so the girls and I had some good Gra' Nanny/ Princess time. We had so much fun! After the long drive over the girls needed a little rest . . . . for some reason, they love the crib, now that they are too big for it (giggle). Then it was time for Tatie to go potty (and story time with Papa) while Arianna helped me water the garden.

Next Papa accompanied us to Costco for a couple of things and let me see . . what else . . oh yeah! . . . . try the samples. It's easier with the girls since there is no problem with the soy thing.

When we got back home, Arianna decided to treat me to her special, super duper soup! She didn't say that it was a secret recipe, so I'll share. One stalk of celery (flat parsley, sliced carefully (with adult supervision), several pinches of millet, add a little salt, freshly ground pepper from the pepper mill. Stir carefully and add three dashes sprinkles, the secret ingredient. Sip often and share all over the counter, floor that needs to be swept and table, leaving stains behind. If it seems to be lacking, Lawry's will do the trick. So much for my scrubbed counters! The few stains are well worth watching her and trying her soup!

When Mariah and the boys came over it got pretty wild, but really was fun! I made creamy mac and cheese . . they must pretty special to talk me into that one . . I love red mac and cheese!

Saturday evening, I decided to make chile rellenos with some pablano chiles that came from, you guessed it, BB. I usually roast them under the broiler in the oven,. not in this heat, thank you! So Jon let me try his little blow torch. Interesting, kind of fun, but way too slow! I finished that one up over the burner, like in college. So I did the other ones in the toaster oven, on the patio. The rellenos were yummy, and if you have never tried them the pablano chiles made good ones. Recipe on my other blog in a day or two . . . got other things to do today!

I went to the home ward on Sunday. It was really nice to see friends I don't seem to see often enough these days. I sat with Mariah, Stephen and the boys. Not quite like being in a barrel of monkeys this time and the smorgasbord was limited, but soy free cheese bunny crackers sure make an old gal thirsty! They were both very generous this week.

The choir sang a beautiful piece with Kathy Merrill joining the piano accompaniment with her violin. I was really enjoying it when I heard Gabriel whisper, "that is so pretty!" When she had another section as a solo, he looked up at me with the biggest brown eyes and sweetest expression on his face and told me "Nanny, that is so-o-o sweet!" His little face was absolutely radiant . . . I just never know what to expect from that little man! He would like a violin for his next birthday.

After dinner on Sunday evening, I asked Mariah to look at this

cook book and tell me what she thought about it. She was pretty excited about it because it is written for those with limited cooking experience. In fact, she advised me to give one of these to each couple down at the institute ward when they got married.

Then she found a section that was called, "Survival". Now we are talking about a girl

who, says that all meat originates in the back of those meat cases in the grocery store. Pretty funny seeing that she lived in the country til she was almost 13. She started laughing, kind of weird, and this is the look on her face as she was retching , turning red, and sputtering! I guess she would starve before she would give in to frogs, toads, rats, skunk, lizards, grubs, grasshoppers and hairless caterpillars! the more she read, the more she was gagging . . . pretty funny . . . . since it never went beyond the gagging stage.

The rest of this book is EXCELLENT! If you can get copy, don't shy off by the last few pages . . . and who knows, you may find it useful!

Tis the Season . . . . to Listen to That Still Small Voice.

I am cheating . . . . I posted this on my other blog. More people check this one on a regular basis so . . . I am putting it here too. I hope you will all think about this if you aren't already!

****I am not MIA, just been busy and had more things to do than I had energy. I did want to share what I have been up to and some thoughts and that I have been having. Hopefully I will be able to express myself clearly and it will also do you some good.

**** This indicates a new section of this post. If I try to split it up, I will never get it all done.

This is just SMALL sampling of some my projects . . . sorry, but my family's needs come first over the blog, etc . . . .

****My husband and I have been taking extra steps to create a better preparedness plan. We felt like I might be getting carried away with food storage and maybe we should focus more on actual savings. The only thing is that I have been "driven" to get the cases of food from BB (Bountiful Baskets) to can and have on hand. At the same time, I have had strong feelings that I should also keep an eye on sales and can meat. Not an easy or fun thing to do by yourself. I also have had strong feelings to get our storage more organized and accessible for rotation . We did this for years when finances demanded it, but now . . I have to dig into my memory bank to remember how I used to utilize and use food storage in our every day diet. So with Jon's support, in many ways, we have been very busy following that still small voice that never goes away if we try to ignore it. It has given me so much peace of mind!

****Last night, Mariah and I were talking about the way things seem to be developing, economically and morally. She has made some interesting observations in how the different generations are reacting to it all. That led to how we had each been receiving promptings of the spirit in our lives. We don't always understand why and may even be a little worried by the directions that we are receiving, but know that through faith and sincere desire to obey, we will be blessed.

It is comforting to hear that your children are sensitive to that guidance and willing to follow it. It may not be an easy thing to do, but I know she and Stephen will do all that they can to be good parents and do what is best for the welfare and raising up of their sweet boys.

****I have been talking a lot about the Bountiful Baskets (BB). It is a produce buying co-op or group that saves a lot of money! Every other week, we have the opportunity to donate $15 plus $1.50 handling fee and pick up a lot of produce.

If you don't happen to live in the Phoenix, Tucson or Salt Lake City area, get on the internet and do some searching. I would be surprised if there are not more co-ops out there. I did something similar to this for years in N. AZ and it really enabled us to stretch our money and take better care of our children.

1. The "conventional basket" is a surprise package and we are never sure what it will have in it. It has introduced some new fruit and vegetables to my family that we had never tried but now look forward to eating in the future. The $16.50 donation, covers this.

2. They usually have some "specialty packages" that are a group of foods commonly used in ethic cooking, such as:

• Italian- Italian squash, eggplant, fresh basil, rosemary, flat-leafed parsley, and oregano, mushrooms, and onion.
• Mexican-Garlic (1 head), Yellow Onions, Dried Chipotle Chili (grind and use in salsa or enchilada sauce), Pablano/Pasilla Chilies (used to make Chili Relleno), Dried Anaheim/California Chilies (used to make enchilada sauce), Green Onions, Limes, Jalapenos, Cilantro, Corn Tortillas.
• Asian- Garlic, sugar snap peas, fresh ginger, bok choy, etc.

These normally cost $7.50. I have gotten the Italian and Mexican, missed the Asian and was so disappointed! They have a lot of produce, the herbs and other flavorings are very fresh and last a long time. The first time that I got the Italian pack, I priced the rosemary, oregano and basil and figured that it would have cost $15 just for those three items! When there is too much for me use up, I share them or wash, dry and freeze in an airtight bag.

3. I have also gotten the Cases of fruit and had a wonderful time canning up a storm, in fact that is "where I have been" and why I have been slacking on this blog. Following is what I have gotten by the case:

• Peaches - $0.64 / lb.
• Bing Cherries - $0.75 / lb.
• Apricots - $0.65 / lb.
• Mt Rainier Cherries - $1.05 / lb.
• Nectarines - $0.64 / lb.
• Black Berries - $1.00 / 4.5 oz. pack
• Granny Smith Apples - forgot, but it was a gonga deal or I wouldn't have bought them!

These prices have been lower than an that I have found in any of the grocery store ads.

4. Bread is also offered each delivery. There is always at least one type that is whole grain with just the five basic ingredients. Wheat, salt , sugar or honey, water or milk, yeast. No preservatives. These loaves are nearly $4 / loaf at Costco. Through BB we are able to get them in a lot of five, for $10. If you don't want to get that many, talk to to other family members, friends or others at the pick up and you can share. I have been doing that from the first order. There are also some wonderful round breads that are out of this world. They usually run $1.50 / loaf and come in 3 loaf packages.

**** I guess what I have been getting at is:

• I have been so tight financially that I was thrilled when I could add a $ .19 box of salt to my food storage. I was determined to add something for "hard times" and it took me quite a while to find something I could pay for!
• Look and ask around. Think out of the box. There is always a way to prepare. If you "can't find the finances", sit down and analyze your life style, budgeting and mind set, you will find a way to prepare for the hard times.
• Make this a family project. The more everyone is involved, the more support you will be for each other, the more minds that will be thinking about it and coming up with ideas.
• Each of our families is different. We have different tastes, needs and will deal with differerent challenges. Making these decisions and plans should be done prayerfully. We have a loving Heavenly Father who wants to bless us. He will guide you as you plan for taking care of your family.

Oh Drat!

I love to watch HGTV. There you have it . . . . I have an addiction. What better to watch when you are getting up and down, going in and out, dozing off when you think you're watching the news, stalking blogs, or just getting your swollen foot up for a few minutes before it gets too BIG.

One of my favorites has become Cash in the Attic. It is fun to snoop through the dark corners of other people houses and confirm, once again, that we have lots of funny old stuff that isn't worth a cent.

Today I came in from outside, in the middle of the show. They were already at the auction and up came a collection of old keys. The auctioneer sold them as a collection and the price was going to be per key, for the whole collection. Would you believe they went for $40 . . . . per key?!?!? That gave them $280!!

Now that would just be cool to me except, that when we cleared out my mom's and dad's house, I brought home "the cookie jar" . I vaguely remember it having a lid that was slightly domed with a little knob in the middle. Other than that, it was just always somewhere handy to throw . . . you got it, old keys! (never cookies) Most were from old cars, old houses, some from Grandpa Joe's house, some from the auction that my parents used to frequent. Mom liked the "pretty ones". She had some cute ideas of ways to use them, so have I . . . ah hem . . . and you know the rest of that story! At least I did "cull out most of them".

Some were just ordinary ones like these . . . . and others were pretty . . . .like these . . .

Shall I find where I stashed the pretty ones and break tradition? Maybe I will just keep an eye open for them and be ready to make a shadow box when I see them next, what the heqq, what would it hurt?

Fun Memory: When my oldest nephew was probably about Garrett's age, he LOVED keys. He would grab any set he could get his hands on and start trying them. You never knew where they would end up at. So Grandma or Grandpa made up a set for him out of the old keys. He had already rejected the plastic kind, he wanted "real ones"! He liked having his own set, until he had tried them in every door and key hole and found they fit nothing. A very indignant little boy returned the keys because he still wanted "real keys", that would open or lock something!

I Should Be Mending . . . or Something . . . Right??

He did it!!! Just as Mariah was about to light the candles, the breeze came up . . . . it never fails for these poor boys. With a whole row of grown ups , several hands and they were all lit. After the fastest singing of Happy Birthday song, he got the job done . . . with a little help!

Garrett just chillin' . . or maybe warming up?!?! . . . . . Our little Princess, being pretty patient with Gra' Nanny taking pictures, she just wanted to get into the water already!! Tati was having a "no, I'm not going to look at the camera" day.

Give them water and they will come!! . . . . . Melanie was the good sport who watched the pool . . . . Yentz Peterswen (Peterson) is a great mom's helper . . good kid, he's a keeper!

Waiting for pizza and discussing world affairs . . . . . Wincoln finally got out of that stinking swing and roll around . . . . . . . baby push ups!! He's starting to kick his little legs too . . no peace for the rest of us coming up!!

. . . . And now I am tired and going to bed. If I don't get out to work in the yard by 5:00 am, I just don't get the work done! It's going slow, but I am happy with baby steps . . they do add up after all.

Climb Every MounTaiN

FACT:

When I ask a child what they want for a burfday cake, you are really asking for trouble! Hope this is what Gabriel had in his mind.

I found that the Candy Frosting that goes on Texas Sheet Cake is pretty versatile. The idea I had for the water in the lake, not pond, didn't work . . I haven't given up. Both boys seem to want water on their cakes quite often, so I will have to come up with a plan, just to keep me happy!

Now . . . . time to party!

Caring is an Action word

If you still love Care Bears, you probably won't like this post. this weekend a very nice person told me that they had been talking about a situation that has been a concern of mine for awhile. This is a wonderful person who is often the one that pitches in and get things done. When they told me that" it had been talked about" and they" were concerned" , blah, blah, I got to thinking. How easy it is to do this.

At this point my hand is up, "Guilty!" Not that I mean to be, but you know how quickly time goes by, blah, blah . . and we all know the rest of that story.

What has this got to do with Care Bears? When my kids were little, my mom would tape shows off her cable for the kids to watch. We lived in an area that had cable, but not up our road (dirt). I thought they were great until one of my nieces mentioned how violent the Smurfs were. That got me to watching more of the kiddie shows just to see what she was talking about. When I saw all those adorable, cuddly, colorful little bears standing in a circle because someone needed help. They just stood there, holding paws saying, "We care, we care . . . " OK , and so what . . . .? They never lifted one of those paws to DO ANYTHING! That was what went through my mind when I was talking to this person. So do what you talked about, already! (In case you are wondering, yes, I made those CB movies disappear after explaining to the kids about empty words are not good, that is not what we believe in and that is not what Jesus did, He helped others and taught us to do the same.)

So my new resolution, DO SOMETHING! If I don't see something, I will go and look. Don't I sound wonderful and idealistic? HA! I just have to pull myself up by the boot straps occasionally and remind me, "Git off your buns girl!" You need this for growth, to remember there is a big old world out there full others who aren't as blessed as you are.

The timer is going off, sure hope this cake didn't turn into another big cookie, I have the base now for the mountain! I thought of something really funny for the lake water . . hope it works =-D

Mt Everest . . . is Falling Down

UPDATE BELOW

Gabriel has had a hard time making up his mind what kind of party and cake he wanted this year. There have many choices but with the party only three days away, we have settled with a balloon party with a Mt Everest cake with a lake at the bottom. It can't be a pool or pond because you can't dive from the top unless it's a lake.

So here goes nothin'! Garrett 's cake was really cute, but boy was it DRY! Wish me luck, I am going to fall back on carrot cake for the base and Texas sheet cake for the layers (mountain). Surely I won't find a way to make those dry . . . ;-}

UPDATE --- some of just have a certain flare for . . . .I just don't know shat to call it . . . I have managed to make a carrot cake flop. Now when I was making it this morning, I thought surely I rad that wrong, 3 t. baking soda? ti must have said, baking powder . . . Nope and I have notes so that must be the one that I usually use. It got HUGE, ran over the sides, burned on the heating element, and yes, where there's smoke, there's Mom!!! I will have to find the right cook book and the right recipe, or try again tonight using baking powder . . . I mean, come on . . . carrot cake NEVER flops . . . . unless an expert gets hold of it! Sure glad that I got an early start!

No, this will not have a picture, I do have my pride after all . . . you just get to see the BBQ'ed chicken. by the way, it gave Jon a pretty good laugh, which of course means that he has to clean up that mess. He said that it pretty much was just powder. Am I good or what?

I am having such a hard time focusing today. It is little Sage's birthday. His family is having a

celebration by going to his graveside and letting 246 balloons go. That is how many days he lived. He was so healthy and happy and then he was gone from this earth. I understand they will be going over to his home and finishing the celebration. My heart and prayers really go out to them, repeatedly, every day, but especially today.

Every time I see or hold our little Lincoln, I think of them and my heart breaks all over again. They are living through every parent's and grandparent's night mare. I hope today will help the family continue on their path of healing. HERE is a blog that tells Sage's story. It is well worth the time to read, learn and have your testimony strengthened in our Heavenly Father's loving plan for all of us.

Don't Judge a Book, Fruit or People By Their Covers . . . . You Might Miss Out!

I'm sure that I seem to obsessed with food lately, and perhaps I am, but I have been blessed with the ability and opportunity to plan and prepare for my family in many ways these days. I had been purchasing different food stuffs that could be stored, long term, for hard times, even when the economy seemed to be tanking. I decided that it was time to focus on getting our finances in order, and though that feeling has not diminished, I have also felt like I needed to find a balance with that and the food preparation. So, I continue to fill all the empty jars that have been stored, empty, in the attic for many years.

Last time I had these urges, I was grateful for my upbringing to listen to that small voice whispering in my ear and heart. We ended up using the storage to stretch our income when my husband was transferred by his employer!

Right now, he is working week to week not sure what the next one will bring. But that is not what I wanted to share, after all that dialogue! (I just nicked my left hand in two places and need to let the "New Skin" dry with a good coat to protect them while finishing up the chicken I am canning.)

The Point of All This Verbosity:

The other night I was sorting the Mt. Rainier cherries from the Bountiful Baskets . I was removing the ones that weren't perfect and bottling the ones that had no blemishes on them. I had eaten "only" a couple of bags of cherries by that time, so of course I was munching away at the same time. I found that some of the ones that weren't so pretty were the sweetest. They would often burst with sweet, juicy flavor in my mouth.

Next, I pulled out the plums that had lots of funny leathery places on their skins. When I peeled those very unpretty parts from the fruit, there was sweet, juicy fruit in the loveliest deepshade of "plum" . . . go figure. It really was a pretty color, though.

I got to wondering what caused some of these blemishes on fruit. the cherries had been bumped, pushed, and squeezed, from what I could tell. A few had been left too long, without the cold storage condition that would have slowed down the deterioration. Using my limited experience in growing produce, I would guess that the plums might have been damaged with wind causing them to rub on the tree bark or branches or maybe some of the skin cells died in very hot conditions. In spite of these "hard " experiences, they have remained valuable. They could still "contribute" to others. They could still nourish and sweeten the life of the recipient.

How often do we look around us and think, "Eww!" I know I sure have. I remember how hard my first room mate & I laughed at the first impressions ofeach other. I thought she was a terrific snob and so many guys were friends with me, casual,that she was sure that I wasn't a "nice" girl. As we got to know each other that summer, working at a resort in Wyoming, we discovered a great friend in each other! We still stay in touch occasionally and catch up on each other's families and lives. What if we had not opened our minds? How much our lives would have been missing . . .

The same with when I met my good husband. I was not impressed, in fact, he looked so pleased when he found out that my brother was a policeman. that it scared me. What if I had followed my first impulse and avoided him at the firesides? Talk about a loss, he wouldn't be who he is now and neither would I. As I was processing the fruit, I had lots of time to ponder many memories. I have a new appreciation for the opportunities I have enjoyed in my life to meet many and varied people. To learn many lessons from working, serving, and playing beside them, in many circumstances. I am thankful for the richness of my life, for the richness of my children's lives by having these same kind of experiences.

If you don't know me personally, I can be a little rough around the edges. I get fed up and can be pretty "honest" in my opinions. I try to not be too blunt or rude, but sometimes I guess it does come out like that. To those who have been patient and accepting, I thank you. You have been a blessing in my life. I appreciate you. To those who weren't, oh well, life will go on and gee, you've missed out . . . did I mention that I am very humble? Sorry, I am also very naughty sometimes . . . .

Have a good evening and thanks for letting me ramble on while the chicken is pressuring for 90 minutes. My foot is swollen from being on it too much today, I am exhausted from only sleeping for about three hours last night and Jon is about to fall asleep sitting in front of the news. It is time to call it quits, right after I turn off the burner!!

"AFTER THOUGHTS" or perhaps I should say, "AFTERMATH":

I had two chicken thighs that just would not fit into the pressure canner. So I thought, I'll just BBQ them with the bones and scraps that I trimmed off of the breasts . . . . then the scramble started to get the canner up to the correct pressure, clean the kitchen, answer one phone call after another, and just too many other things. All of a sudden I remembered and ran out to this . . . .

Once again, our old family sayings are confirmed:

• If it aint smoking, it aint done . . . or
• Where there's smoke, there's home cooking . . . or
• Where there is smoke, there is mom !

Guest Post By Gabriel

Last night I came over to Nanny and Papa's for my sleep-over. Nanny picked me up and bringed me to her house. At night time we watched a movie and had pizza for dinner. My favorite food . . can I have a snack? . . . Nanny took off the sausage and pepperoni cause it had soy in it.

She put on bacon instead . . . can I put this on Daisy's collar (clip on the end of the rope and other end in his belt loop) . . . to be her lease (leash) . . . can I watch a movie Nanny? . . . why are they breaking his wall?!?! (make-over on HGTV) . . . then we watched a movie and readed a book and then went to sleep (NOT!) (hook rope on toy to be dragged all over the place)

Daisy sniffing out my cinnamon toast in middle of night . . . . Oops, caught! Guess I'll play like I'm asleep . . .

This morning we bwushed our teef and worked super hard cleaning the back yard. I had cantawope and toast and eggs. We made slushies (froze cantaloupe chunks for lunch time smoothies). We had cimamimim toast for breakfast.

Last night we swept on the couch bed. It's good. I swept good . . . and sweeping in the morning. (at least he got to sleep in) We made half of a summer kitchen in the back yard with some pipes. Nanny do you have another one of these? (key clip like on the sock box to keep kids out of it . . . HA!)

This morning I 'm going to the party store with my mom. We're gonna to get party stuff for my burfday. It's July twentyfurd . . I took out my invitations . . did you get one? . . . . No . . . . that's cause my dad thought you 're not invited.

I want fruit weader (leather) . . we need to eat fresh fruit, what kind to you want . . a pineapple slushie . . no fresh pineapple . . . how about cantaloupe or nectarine . . cantawope slushie!!! (big grin and huge eyes). Nanny, what can we do . . . can we tie this up? . . . no . . .why not . . . cause she (dog) wouldn't like it . . what can we do? . . . . can we water? (Now there is a big surprise, how did he come up with that idea?) Yes, We can. Find your shoes . . . Gabriel, Gabriel where are you? . . oops, I hear a front door opening, YIKES !

I seem to have a weakness for little houses, etc. I see one at a yard sale, I always hope there iis someone withme to pull in the reins! No cokmplaints from the monkey gallery!

A 30-Minute Morning

As usual, I have way too many projects going on. Garrett spent the night, so first thing this morning, I had him potty and then set the timer for 30 minutes.

First, we want the way cool seat, not the plain white one that has little boy shield on it . . and , "yes we are sure".

A little entertainment if you please . . . ah yes, and then we could use a little cleaner, "just in case" . . . tuck the shower curtain back into the tub, if you don't mind . . . leave the bath mat for a little cushioning for the story reader would be nice . . . . it can be washed and doesn't blow in the fan breeze . . .

Next, it was time to make room in the big freezer for a big cookie sheet to sit. Process the pineapples, cover the cookie sheet with plastic wrap, beep, beep, beep, run Garrett to the potty & reset timer for thirty minutes, wash hands, Potty Song, cover cookie sheet with pineapple slices, put them into the freezer to set up, set the other timer for 30 min.

Next, it is time to start the Killer Coleslaw. Clear the counter again, find the cabbage, onions, drain the chicken bones that were cooked up in the little crock pot, beep, beep, beep, which timer was that anyway?!?!? Oh, time to put Garrett on the potty again . . . sing the Potty Song . . . beep, beep, beep, pineapple will have to wait, toast the almonds, . . . pull up the pants . . . awt the timer, beep, beep, beep, huh? Wash the hands . . . Potty Song, when did I set that again? Chop, chop, chop . . . . pineapple, cabbage, chicken scraps from the bones that crock potted over night . . . . pound up the ramen noodles, beep, beep, beep, OK, try to go poop in the potty . . . . wash the hands . . . set timer, mix, measure, pour, now what does it need? . . . beep, beep, beep, Potty Song . . . . don't I need to go to the store or something?

Time to taste test the coleslaw and

bag up the frozen pineapple . . .

nectarine chunks are next for

future smoothies, and to save

the fruit that is ripening too fast!