Indefinite Hiatus

Have decided to take a leave from blogging. I enjoy reading other blogs and will continue to do so, but right now time is so limited and I want to spend the time with family. I really thought I would get back into it once we returned from China, but never have. Time is just too short....Blessings!!!

Jet Lag

Oh, the jet lag is just killing us!!! We returned from China on March 5th with our precious 3 year old daughter!! She has had strep throat, I've got a sinus infection, and my husband has a cold, and one of our sons has a stuffy nose. At least the kidney stone thingy is doing much better. We haven't been doing much other than laying around the house. Some wonderful friends came in and painted our kitchen, left food for us, and did some housecleaning while we were gone. It was so nice to come into a clean home when we returned. But have not managed to stay on top of it because we're just utterly exhausted!! We know this will pass and hopefully soon! We did manage to go to church today and my husband commented that it just wiped him out!! I think we could have all spread out and went to sleep in the pews!! Am hoping to be able to start blogging again on a regular basis--some days it is just too difficult to get to. Blessings,

Out of Commission

Have been out of commission due to two cystoscopies this week--not fun!!! The first one was done on Monday. When dye was put in, it made the stone migrate back upwards--just like passing a kidney stone all over again--Aaarghh!! Our local hospital didn't have quite long enough equipment to get it out, so I had to go to a larger hospital in the city and have the same procedure done the following night---again not fun! They were able to extract the stone and, at that time, put in a stent. The stent was taken out yesterday, with spasms as a side effect. Little did I know that these spasms are as bad as passing the kidney stone itself. They typically last between 45 minutes to an hour and are quite painful (I call it the "take me to the emergency room" type pain) and put me flat on my back. But these spasms should start to decrease here in the next 24 hours. Taking lots of OTC pain medication and have been in bed most of the week. We are discussing the possibility of postponing our trip--are scheduled to leave Tuesday, and will see how the next few days go. We really want to bring our daughter home! Blessings.

And Away He Goes....

This past weekend, I took our son to Walmart--he had some gift cards for his birthday and he wanted a new sled. They were out of the round, plastic style sleds, so he decided to purchase this inner tube style sled which has really come in quite handy this week with the latest snowstorm. I must say he loves it! We have a gentle slope in our yard, but am hearing reports that the tube goes really fast on the slope, and there's already been one sledding accident involving a neighbor boy and a bloody nose--I'm sure you can imagine!! The boys were also outside trying to build forts--using tote boxes, cardboard remnants, and ice cream bucket molds. If nothing else, I give them an "A" for creativity.

Blessings,

I've Been Negligent....

in posting. Things around our household have just been nutty. We are going to be traveling internationally next month and I've been putting my energy into that, as well as dealing with a kidney stone. While at the doctor's yesterday, she thinks I have passed it because of a clean urine sample. If anyone knows a lot about kidney stones, please let me know. I still have a little bit of pain in my back, so I keep wondering. I will say that I've had a total of about 3 diet sodas since January 12th--I do believe I have weaned myself off of regular soda, but not without headaches. It didn't help that I went to Wal-mart this morning and spent way too much money. Does anything get less expensive? I'm rambling.

I've also have had some problems in posting pictures to Blogger lately. Will try and stop by and visit those blogs I normally do. I miss them!! Have a blessed day!!

Calendars for Kids

This was a calendar that I printed off from over at daniellesplace.com for the Sunday School children. I was looking for a project that would be good for K-2 grade and found these. I printed them off on stock paper, put two hole punches at the tops of the calendar, and then used elastic type string for the binding. Then the kids were able to decorate them with some stickers I brought, and it was a really easy project for them to do. Each month has a Bible verse and the children can color the picture that's at the top. Have a blessed day!!

Am still hoping and praying that this kidney stone passes. Had another CT scan today and it's still there-UGH!! Need to do lots more drinking of water tomorrow.

Four-Cheese Baked Ziti

If this looks rich, that's because it is, but it is oh so good!!! It sets up the same as lasagne and easily microwaves the next day!! This recipe was taken from the latest issue of Country Woman magazine.

Four-Cheese Baked Ziti

1 16-ounce package ziti or small tube pasta
2 cartons (10 ounce each) refrigerated Alfredo sauce
1 8-ounce cup sour cream
2 eggs, beaten
1 15-ounce carton Ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 cup grated Romano cheese (I used a four-cheese blend that included Romano)
1/4 minced fresh parsley
1-3/4 cups shredded part-skim Mozzarella cheese

Cook the ziti according to the directions on the package. Drain and return to pan. Stir in both cartons of the Alfredo sauce and sour cream. Spoon half of this mixture into a lightly greased baking dish.

Combine the eggs, Ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, the Romano cheese and parsley (I did not put any parsley in mine). Spread this mixture over the pasta. Put remaining pasta mixture on top and then sprinkle with remaining Parmesan and Mozzarella cheeses.

Cover and bake this at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Uncover and let bake for an additional 5-10 minutes. (I actually broiled it for the last few minutes to get the cheese a little brown around the edges.) Enjoy!!

Water, Water, and More Water

Right now, I feel sooooooo waterlogged. This weekend, while hubby and I were in a class out of town, I started to develop abdominal pain, chills, and back pain. It went on pretty much all day, only letting up a little bit around lunch time. When the class ended, and we were headed home, I had him take me to the Emergency Room at our local hospital. After having tests runs, including a CT scan, it was determined I was passing a kidney stone!!! Yikes!! Not fun. They are very painful. The pain has subsided and I'm continuing to drink lots of water, but at this point all I'm doing is running to the bathroom. Am ready to give it a rest!! Have a blessed day!

Winter Scenes

During the last ice storm, the trees were just magnificent. Of course, later on we were really starting to worry as lying in bed at night, you could here the trees start to snap and pop and we were wondering if one of them would come through our roof. We were quite greatful we did not have the wind with the storm, otherwise there would have been no power. So many people hate the snow and ice, and it is difficult to drive in without a doubt. But the beauty of it all still takes my breath away. Blessings.

A New Year - Time to Sew

It's been a nice long break from blogging. I had been hinting to my dear husband that I would really love a sewing maching for Christmas. Guess what? I received this lovely sewing machine. I am definitely a beginning sewer and would really love to learn how to quilt eventually. It started a few years ago when our children started Scouts and needed patches sewn on their uniforms and I would hand do them, and it was just plain hard. Also, my husband usually needs his pants hemmed and so I would take them to a seamstress. Now that I've learned to do a double-fold hem with a little practice, I will be hemming his pants. Also, our children wanted pillows made during the holiday season, so I let them pick out a fleece fabric at the store and made them each their own pillow. I get a little teary eyed when I check on them at night and see them laying their heads on the pillows I've made--they seem to enjoy them so much. The pillows are nothing special--just square or rectangle pieces of fabric, but they really seem to like them. Our youngest has already mentioned he wants me to make him a blanket. We will see how that goes.

We have some big changes in store for our family this year--I will fill you in later. Have a blessed day!!

Time to Wind Down...

and get away from blogging for a while. Our children begin their Christmas break early this afternoon and will not return to school until early January. Their grandmother will be here for a few days beginning Saturday and I'm planning on doing a little cleaning for the next few days and getting the house in order--although I don't plan on working too hard at it today after yesterday--I'd been painting our living room wall and all the cleanup that came with it. The tea in the photo above is a really good tea to relax and wind down with. I've had some good teas before, but I do believe this is one of my favorites--Vanilla Caramel Truffle from Lipton. Also, love the design of the teabag--it's a triangle shape made of a fine mesh-like material. It comes very close to tasting like a candy bar--YUM!! To you and yours, have a blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Busily Cleaning

...and the Clorox Ready Mop is ready for action. This is one of my favorite cleaning products and has been since it came out. I think the reason I like it so much is because it is not waxy. We have laminate flooring throughout the main level of our home, except for the bathroom floors and the icky kitchen carpeting we have. I try not to overdue it on the cleaning products, and usually prefer hot soapy water for the bathroom floors. I have found this product to work just great for the laminate flooring. I could be more diligent about mopping, but if I were I would be mopping all the time with the boys shoe prints and all. I do need to do a thorough mopping, hopefully tomorrow, before Christmas break. If you haven't found the right product for your laminate floors, give this a try. I'm sure you will like it. Have a blessed day!!

Appetizers Anyone?

This is an appetizer my dear husband made this weekend. He had it at food day at work and tried to replicate it. It tastes great!! I'm not sure I even have a name for it, so let's make something up.

Bacon-Wrapped Smokies (okay that works)

1 package bacon, thin cut
1 package beef smokies
brown sugar

You will need to cut the bacon in half. It's easier if it's still in the package and then take a knife and slice the bacon right down the middle. Wrap a piece of the bacon around each smokie and seal with a toothpick. Sprinkle generously with brown sugar. Bake at 375 degrees on a rack you can set on top of your baking sheet until bacon is crisp, but not overdone. That way the grease will drip on the bottom of the baking sheet. You'll need to keep checking these.

We polished these off in no time at all. When you get to be older, you also realize that grease has an effect on you. So, maybe eat these in moderation if you can. Enjoy!!

Okay, I've got to start posting something other than recipes. It's just that we've been doing so much cooking lately and I'm always on the lookout for new recipes, that I just assume others are also. Have a blessed day!

Spiced Beef Stew

Another wonderful recipe from Allrecipes.com.

Spiced Beef Stew

(I made some variations to this and this is what I used)
1/4 cup butter
2 pounds cubed beef stew meat
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 (14 ounce) can beef broth
1 can or bottle of beer
1 onion, sliced into thin rings
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon dried thyme
4 red potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 can green beans
1/2 package baby carrots
1 can or jar chopped tomatoes

I used a dutch oven to melt the butter. Then coat the stew meat with flour and cook until browned through. After browning, remove the beef from the dutch oven and set aside.

Take the 1/4 cup flour and put in the dutch oven along with beef broth (add the broth slowly and whisk flour so it is not lumpy), the beer (grabbed a bottle of one of my husband's ales), onion, garlic, brown sugar, and thyme. Heat to boil. After this comes to a boil, add remaining vegetables. Cover and simmer until done (1-1/2 to 2-1/2 hours). As this was cooking, I watched to see if it needed to be thicker. If needed, mix some of the broth with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and add to stew to thicken. Enjoy!!

This is a really wonderful recipe on a cold day like today!!

Delicious Pumpkin Bread

This recipe was pulled from Allrecipes.com. I love that website!!

Delicious Pumpkin Bread

3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Stir the above ingredients into a large bowl. Take a mixing spoon to blend.

Add the following to the above.

2 cups solid pack pumpkin puree
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2/3 cup water
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Beat until well combined. Pour batter into greased 7 x 3 pans and put into preheated 350 degree oven and bake for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean. Enjoy!!

Holiday Plates and Other Stuff

My, aren't holiday plates so pretty? Normally, I'm not one for collecting items. Every year at my husband's Christmas party they have these really pretty Christmas items for the spouses--this year was a plate on a small black stand. It really is very pretty with a snowflake in the middle, the writing around the snowflake has the names of goodies, and around the rim is decorated with holly berries and leaves. We bought a new hutch for our kitchen this weekend, and it looks so pretty sitting on it. Now if only I could get the the rest of the kitchen done--we found out this weekend that the wonderful (icky) carpet in our kitchen is glued to the floor which is laying on another piece of flooring. EEEWWWW!! It's going to be a job to get it done, and not a lot of spare time these days!! So now as you enter our kitchen, there is a piece of torn carpet with the floor showing through--looks lovely!! Have a blessed day!!

Cream Cheese Cookies

This is a very easy recipe from over at Making Home. It's cream cheese cookies and it only takes 4 items. I was in the mood to do some light baking this afternoon, so this recipe came in handy.

Cream Cheese Cookies

1 box cake mix (any kind)
2 eggs
1 8-ounce block cream cheese
1 stick butter

This recipe on her site called for 1 egg, but I was having problems getting all the ingredients to blend so I added another egg. Also, I used a german chocolate cake mix. It will help if your butter and cream cheese are at room temperature. Mix all ingredients together and drop by tablespoon onto baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for about 13 minutes. I like them just a little underdone. These cookies have the consistency of a cake-type cookie. Enjoy!!

Christmas Cactus

I picked up one of these beautiful Christmas cactus' at the grocery store this past weekend!! Isn't it beautiful? I've never bought one of these before, so I thought I would give it a try. The flowers are starting to bloom. We did some Christmas decorating this weekend. Also picked up a salmon-colored poinsetta. I love plants, but am not very good with houseplants. I've tried before but typically my indoor plants always end up going in the garbage. May you have a blessed day!!

A Good One Was Lost Today

No pictures today--they simply aren't needed. Life is simply too short. One of my 8-year-old son's classmates--her mother was killed in an automobile accident yesterday due to the ice on the roads. It came as quite a shock!! She was much too young! It's my understanding she lost control of her vehicle on the roads and her vehicle rolled. With a husband and three children--the younger two are not yet school aged. It is such a tragedy! This is not supposed to happen--we question why did God let this happen. It just doesn't make any sense......watch over your little ones.....

Sometimes You Need

...a little treat! And today, for me, this was it!! I spied this at our local Wal-mart and thought, for $.75, I would give it a try. I like Dr. Pepper and I love chocolate--how could one possibly go wrong!! It has a really good taste, just like drinking a chocolate covered cherry (try to imagine). I'm not much of a diet soda drinker--just give me a regular Coca-Cola and I'm in heaven. I remember right after having given birth via C-section with our first born and asking our doctor if I could please have a Coca-Cola. He told me "no!" because it would make me sick--it was so disappointing. Oh, how I wanted one! But two days later my dear husband came into the hospital room and pulled out a Coca-Cola out of his winter coat pocket--aaahhh heaven--along with having a newborn son!! My that was a little over 10 years ago! I still love Coca-Cola, but love to try new products out on the market! This was one of them! Have a blessed day!!