Holiday Crunchtime

Pardon me while I freak out.

Ahhhhhhhhhh ahhhhhhhhhh ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Ok. I'm better now.
Where did the year go ? Wasn't it just June ? Didn't school JUST start ?
Now there are 62 days until Christmas.

The Christmas season is my favorite time of year. I love the family togetherness of my sister's Annual Christmas Party. I love watching the looks of surprise as the kids open their presents. I just love the meaning and the spirit of the season.

But I hate the shopping.
I try to do it early, because I'm soooo not a mall-shopping type of person. I do the majority of the shopping online, so much so that it seems like the UPS guy is at my house more than I am.

I've made mental notes of the things the kids want for Christmas. I cut back on the over-indulgent aspect of it about two years ago. Now the kids get their presents based on this:
Something you want.
Something you need.
Something to wear.
Something to read.

That little list has helped simplify my life so much and it helps me to be able to enjoy the holiday so much more.
The kids were used to getting mountains of stuff so it has been quite an adjustment fot them, too.

Apple Picking 2007

Last Saturday we were invited to go the Apple Orchard with my friend Marcella and her children. The kids spent the afternoon climbing a large dirt hill. (I have a picture of this....I think, but the camera needs batteries)

It was nice catching up with Marcella. She got married back in September to her boyfriend of two years.

After apple picking and dirt-hill climbing we took the entire gang to CiCi's Pizza. A great (cheap) place to eat for large families.

Grocery Day

Today was our weekly grocery shopping day, so I spent the day shopping with Pinky and Daisy.

First off let me say.... I love my daughters. I really, really do. But I hate shopping with them.

For my daughters the grocery store is like... Disneyworld.

It is a huge place full of interesting sights and sounds and people. To them it is almost as fun as Chuck E. Cheese. They could easily spend HOURS just poking the meat in the Meat Department.

I spent the entire trip saying:
"Please quit poking the meat."

"If you touch that again I'm going to make you buy it."

" Could you come back over here...please."

" We do not swing our sisters around in the store."

"You only have $9...no you cannot buy a $20 toy."

"If you keep playing in the store you are going to get hurt."

Five seconds after I said that last thing, I heard a BLAM from behind me. I look back briefly, Pinky is sprawled in the middle of the aisle.

I simply turned around and kept walking.

I'm a sympathetic parent...really I am. But after you've been told to STOP IT... well Mommy just isn't in the mood to kiss your boo boo.

So Pinky finished the shopping trip holding her hand in the air like a flag. (She had just the smallest scratch on it.)

Daisy had a piece of wisdom for Pinky after the incident. She told her

"Well, Mommy did tell you to stop."

Sometimes in order to learn something you have to learn it the hard way.

Mommy Goes Bananas for.... Elisabeth Withers

The first time I heard this woman sing was on Emeril Live and I was immediately was captivated by her voice. Elisabeth has been captivating audiences in the Broadway production of The Color Purple.
Her song Simple Things from the album It Could Happen to Anyone just blows me away every time I hear it.

So if you have a moment drop by her MySpace page and take a listen...

http://www.myspace.com/elisabethwithers

and her official site http://www.elisabethwithers.net/

Pumpkin Spice Bread

It is October...right ??
Then WHY is it so stinking hot ??

I feel like I'm living in the Bahamas instead of Ohio !

But I didn't let the heat stop me from making Pumpkin Spice Bread.


It really did taste like Pumpkin Pie without the crust. Granny requested pecans and golden raisins in one loaf and while I'm not a fan of raisins in my Pumpkin Bread...it wasn't too bad.


Pumpkin Spice Bread
Submitted by: Delora LucasRated: 5 out of 5 by 26 members
Prep Time: 10 MinutesCook Time: 1 Hour
Ready In: 1 Hour 10 Minutes Yields: 32 servings

INGREDIENTS:
3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 (16 ounce) can solid pack
pumpkin
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 cup water
DIRECTIONS:
1.
In a large bowl, combine sugar, oil and eggs. Add pumpkin and mix well. Combine dry ingredients; add to the pumpkin mixture alternately with water. Pour into two greased 9-in. x 5-in. x 3-in. loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 60-65 minutes or until bread tests done. Cool in pans 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack; cool completely.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2007 Allrecipes.com

Oh Where, Oh Where Did those little socks go ??

Mommies you KNOW what I'm talking about !
At the beginning of every school year I buy each of my children two bags of socks. School has been in session for two months and guess what ?!?

NOBODY HAS ANY SOCKS !

Where did they go ?

I asked the small children to please look around their room and see if they could find any socks. Five seconds later they came to me and said "No, Mommy we can't find any socks."

So that means mommy must brave the disaster area that is their room and hunt down renegade socks. My search yielded 4 socks, a pair of clean underwear, and two nickles

There are no socks in the laundry hamper. There are no socks under the beds. There are no socks here or there. I can't find those darn things anywhere.

Is someone sneaking into the house in the middle of the night and stealing the socks ?!?

D0 the kids sell the socks ? And if they do what is the going rate for socks these days ?

I suggested to my sister that parents should just buy socks in bulk. Just get a giant industrial sized Box O' Sox. She laughed. Apparently she is not yet aware of the great sock mystery.

That's okay, her grandchildren will soon have her educated about the issue.

Meanwhile, I guess I'll be buying more socks.

Another Month Comes to a Close

The Autumn colors don't look like this and probably won't this year because of our exceptionally hot, dry summer. September has been a quiet month, with a few exceptions.

Daisy and Pinky's pet cat Oreo died last week. Leaving a quietness in our house. There's no cat jumping down the stairs or chasing her favorite ball around the living room. There's no cat to lean against your leg when she wants something. There's no cat purring in your ear to wake you up in the morning.

In other news we had Parent-Teacher Conferences last week for the big kids. It went pretty well. Pickles is still having trouble in math, but his teacher says he has the time to work with him. Hopefully he has the patience.

I had my first performance review at work... it went really well. I have to admit I do love my job. I couldn't ask for a better place to work.

Today is Granny's birthday. She is 69 years young today. I'm fixing her favorite dinner and she relaxing like she always does. Happy Birthday to my favorite old coot !!