Christmas Art

As the little kids brought home new creations from pre-school, Bill put them on the Christmas tree branches. Here's what they brought home:



















Pretty cute, huh? I thought it would be fun to share them before I put them in the school tote.

Losing My Mind.

So I busted outta here and went scrapbooking last night with my BFF Lori. I got to the end of our street and the 18 or so inches of snow on top of the van slid down onto the windshield. Yay. So I pulled into the convenience store lot to clear it off the entire front of my car. Luckily the county had plowed the road I take to get to the scrappin' store which......BONUS! I even stopped and got a latte!

We had fun scrapbooking, had some Wendy's for dinner. Then the snow started back up which made me nervous because our 'hood hasn't been plowed since at (8-10 inches ago) last Saturday. Once 2 inches piled onto our cars I called it and said I was leavin'. Sure as heck I got stuck in the 'hood. I sat there (it was almost 11:00 pm) trying to remember all the things Dad told me to do if I got stuck. I'll be darned if I didn't get myself out after about 3 minutes of throwing it into reverse and then down into 3rd.....YAY!!! I was able to floor it down the 2 side streets and plow my way into the driveway by the grace of God.

Morale of the story: I've like, got stuff I wanna get out and DO. Like go to the mall, try a super cute newish restaurant I drive by everyday going home from work, etc. I'm so over all this snow, I could just scream. I'm also sick of doing laundry every day cuz I'm afraid we're going to lose power. Enough already!!!!

What Did I Get For Christmas?

I shouldn't have gotten anything because of my new camera. However, Santa brought me a new Wii and Wii Fit. Ever since the Wii came out last year, I've kinda wanted one. We've owned about every gaming system known to man and I'm not fond of them, but the Wii is cool because you're MOVING while you play. It's really fun! I'd like to pick up another controller/numchuk so we can play 2 players at a time.

Here's Hammie playing golf:

Christmas At Yay & Po's

To end our fantabulous Christmas Day, we went to my parent's house for gifts and a very yummy, homemade pizza dinner. My Mom makes awesome pizza! In fact, there's some leftover up in my fridge and I think it may be calling my name.........

We all enjoyed our somewhat frenzied, but fun time together. There will be a day all too soon when the kids will be grown-up and our get-togethers will be much quieter. It's always fun to see the kids get so excited over their presents. We all took home some very nice things.

Christmas Morning At The Circus

We are incredibly blessed to be able to have such a plentiful Christmas. It's sad to read about all the families who are struggling in this bad economy. We did our part from Thanksgiving through the last week to give money and donate food to many good causes right here in our community.

That said; we had a great morning opening gifts, eating a nice breakfast, (if I don't say so myself), and spending time together. Here are some pictures from our festivities. These were taken before the struggle to actually get the gifts out of their booby-trapped packaging. I mean, seriously. It practically takes a chain saw and a magic spell to get toys out of their boxes these days!

Grandma and Grandpa Galloway Christmas

Here are some photos taken last night at Grandma and Grandpa Galloway's Christmas Eve par-tay. We bounced through the snowy streets to get there and enjoyed good food, fun gifts for the kids, and even better company. That is......after Ree had decided we weren't going to leave her to go run errands like last weekend. I think that between the snow and vacation days, she's become very attached.

I contributed cold veggie pizza, which I think is a nice change from a regular veggie platter. Then I made lots of treats to share. My most favorite thing to do. *Ü*

Snow!

Oh my gosh, we've had SNOW! Way too much if you ask me. We've gotten even more since I snapped these and it sounds like there's another big storm coming just in time for Christmas Eve. Yikes!























I think Ree has the right idea on how to deal with the snow craziness.

The Stocking Is Done!

My many months of labor are over. I delivered (no pun intended) L's stocking about a week ago. I'm really pleased with the way it turned out. Here are some pictures that show how the kits work. Plus a tidbit about the macro feature on my camera.

Here is a portion of the instruction sheet.


















Here is an example of how the felt sheets look. You cut each piece out (this kit had over 120), embroider or sequin then attach them either to the stocking front or another piece based on the instructions. The first image was taken in regular mode and the second, using my macro feature. What a difference!



















































Here are some pictures of the finished product.

Mom's Extended Family Christmas

Here are some pictures taken when we gathered at my Mom's for a family get together a week ago. We were supposed to head to my aunt's in Pullman, but didn't due to weather concerns. (yes, these were taken with my new camera)

The adults play a game where each person brings 1 nice gift and 1 gag gift. We put them all in a pile on the floor and each person picks 2. Then we go around the room and see what everyone ends up with. As you will see, my Mom ended up with a lovely book about bras. I on the other hand received 2 nice gifts!

Quick No-Bake Treat Recipe

Hello! I'm not going to include a picture of these because, well, they don't look as good as they taste. They are a favorite around our house made only at Christmas time. The best part? They freeze REALLY well.

2 cups potato sticks
2 cups dry roasted peanuts
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 cups butterscotch chips

Cover 2 cookie sheets with parchment or wax paper. Microwave chocolate and butterscotch chips in a large bowl until melted, stirring every 30 seconds (with a spatula). Stir in the peanuts, then fold in the potato sticks. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto the lined cookie sheets and cool in the fridge until set. Voila!

P.S. I started using my new camera this weekend and am in love. My goal this week is to post my old news + pics, load my new camera's software, then post my newest pics. Just you wait! (I pretend that you're really THAT interested. Please play along.)

Addie Lou

I haven't talked about our dog much in this blog, but she's definitely an integral part of our family. I'm thinking about her today because I kept her up last night. For whatever reason our house was very restless. Hammie got up a couple times to open his door/turn on his light and I always get up to re-close it because I'm afraid my alarm is going to wake him. Then Ree woke me another time yelling at her Daddy in her sleep. Not sure what he did in her dream, but she was certainly annoyed.

Addie always gets up when I do and walks with me to keep me company. Mostly because she's extremely nosey but I have to think part of it is because she just plain loves me. Last night (this morning) she retired to her crate after my 3rd trip out of the room and gave up. She'd had it. Then she gave me a couple very sweet, unexpected kisses on the hand when I was getting ready for work. I think she was sayin' sorry.

She can be a real pain sometimes, but she's my constant companion and I can't imagine life without her.

Things Overheard

My kids are pretty funny. We laugh a lot at our house. Here are some recent examples:

Hammie: Ree, I said sit down. We're gonna read a book.
Ree: [sitting down apprehensively, not really wanting to]
Hammie: Ree, criss-cross applesauce!

G: Hammie, you can't be in here right now, this show isn't appropriate for you to watch. (it was Family Man, which isn't appropriate for anyone, in my opinion)

Ree has been working on her "where's" in school so I've been trying to quiz her on her them at home. Where things/people are can be difficult concepts, you see.

Me: Where's Hammie?
Ree: He's downstairs.
Me: Where's Addie?
Ree: She's down there. (pointing to the dog on the floor)
Me: Where's Papa?
Ree: At his house.
Me: Where's the fish? (I thought this would really stump her)
Ree: They're over there swimmin' in the water. Cute!

Last but not least, this isn't an overheard convo, but cute none the less. I was setting out my nativity sets on Sunday and the following occurred:

Hammie: Who's that over there? (pointing to the angel in the corner of the creche')
Me: It's an angel watching over baby Jesus.
Hammie: Nuh, uh. No it's not.
Me: Yes it is. Who is it then?
Hammie: It's the tooth fairy! (said in an "I can't believe you didn't know that" tone)

Where've I Been?

I can't blame not posting on no computer. Ours is back home safe and sound. I've been spending every free minute working on finishing my nephew's Christmas stocking. Plus trying to work in 30 minutes of exercise.

I just bought a new camera that I'm dying to use. It's going to be GREAT and my blog pix will be much nicer.

In short......very soon I will be updating this blog with a barrage of old news, so patience will be a virtue. I mean, if you really want to learn about our weird little world. Ü

Feeling Way Better

I'm feeling so much better! Went to the doctor Tuesday and got some great antibiotics for my strep throat and sinus infection issues. I've never had strep before and hope to never again. I'm on the mend! Good news since I'm having a double birthday party for G and my sister-in-law Arlene next Sunday. I'll be back to my version of normal by then.

Our pc is still in the shop. It will be a week on Saturday, so as you can imagine people are getting REALLY grumpy around our place. No Ipod updating, game playing on Noggin, etc. There could be a mutiny any day.........Hammie asked for his contraband plastic sword last night. It's been "doing time" in the top of his closet for several months. Things are looking grim in that department.

In The "Shop"

It's all about perspective, this thing we call life. I was sick again this weekend. This time I had a cold. I had planned to go out with Bill Saturday night for a nice dinner and perhaps some Christmas shopping. Instead, he took the kids to Grandma and Grandpa's to play and I watched really trashy shows on Bravo and ate, well, tried to eat something from a fast food place that shall remain anonymous. I think I got through a few bites before I gave up. The peace and quiet was totally worth the crummy t.v. and food. I love my little kids, but they were bored and beginning to drive me completely insane. Thanks to my inlaws for the peace!

To make matters worse, our computer is in the shop. Which is a big part of the reason why Ree and Hammie were bored. Rainy weather, no pc, and a sick Mom = no fun.

Sunday we picked up the house, decorated for Thanksgiving (you know you're a dork when you realize you have a porcelain-ish pilgrim figurine that's dressed up like a turkey), then Billiam left quickly to "run some errands." Sneaky, sneaky. I can't complain too much since he bought the little kids' new shoes and picked up groceries at Walmart. I have to be in just the right frame of mind for such an endeavor and definitely wasn't yesterday. So, I just stayed home with my kleenex box.

I'm posting during lunch here at work, but will put up some pictures of stuff once our pc is back home. I'll probably have to bribe Ree with cookies to get a turn, though. Ü

Ack.

I've been getting a flu shot for the last 3 or so years. I usually get a sore arm for a couple days and that's it. Not this year! Yesterday I was beyond tired. I NEVER lay around on the couch and I'll be darned (and embarrassed) to say that yesterday I did a lot of that. By last night, after a nap, I was feeling better. This morning I thought I was good, but after my shower and make-up routine, back came the feeling of ackiness.

The real bummer is I'm missing lunch out and a play with my Mom and sister! I've really been looking forward to it, but the thought of leaving my coccoon isn't sounding so great.

Moral of this totally boring story is........this year's vaccine packed a real punch for me. But I'm still gonna make my kids get it. I think it's important.

Halloween @ The Galloway House

Here is a picture story of Halloween goings on around our house.

Sometimes.......

Last night I was trying to get Bill to engage in a dinner time conversation instead of reading the paper. He kept getting distracted until I asked him to look at me so that I knew I had his attention. This is how it went:

Me: Billy, look at me when I'm talking to you (a bit motherly sounding, but necessary in the moment). I need to know if you want to go to Ree's party tomorrow and I'll go to Hammie's. This isn't a big decision, I just need to know.

Bill: I can't

Me: You can't what?

Bill: Yeah

Me: Yeah, to what, you can look at me or you'll go to Ree's party?

Bill: Okay

Me: Look at ME!

Bill: I can't because when I look at you, it's like looking at the sun.

Me: What?

Bill: It's like I see this horrible glare and it hurts my eyes. I can't. (shielding his eyes dramatically)

Me: (Laughing hysterically, not able to catch my breath. Composing…)Do you want to go to Ree's party?

Billy: Yes, that'll be fine.

OMGOSH!!!

Orange Chicken

It's finally crock pot season again! I love putting dinner in the crock pot in the morning and then not worrying about what I'm going to make when I get home. It's the best. Here is a recipe I started making a couple years ago. It's easy and economical.

















Orange Chicken

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 small onion, diced (about 1/2 cup worth)
1/2 cup Catalina dressing (I use light or fat free)
2/3 of an 18 ounce jar orange marmalade
black pepper to taste

Spray the crockpot with Pam. Place the chicken breasts in the bottom of the crock pot and top with the onions and a light sprinkle of black pepper. Stir the dressing and marmalade together in a small bowl. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours. I serve it over rice.

The sauce is very thin and I've toyed with the idea of taking the chicken out and adding some cornstarch to 1/2 cup of the liquid, then stirring the cornstarch mix into the rest of the liquid for a thicker sauce. Let me know if you try that.

Hammie's Field Trip

Today Bill went with Hammie's class to a punkin patch we haven't visited before. Looks like they had fun! Hammie told me he picked the biggest pumpkin Ü and went on a "totally awesome" hayride.