~New and Improved~

About 3 1/2 years ago my husband and I inherited my DEAR, SWEET, ADORABLE mother-in-law's dining room furniture. Now keep in mind that this furniture is more than 60 years old(according to Bill). We had a perfectly good dining room set. Since this set had SUCH sentimental value we BEGGED for it....not sure we had too actually beg for it but it made us want it even more.

Now we have it and it is showing it's age. I wasn't sure what to do with it. My friend Kasey, Lola B's, agreed to "antique" it for us. Did it ever turn out BEAUTIFUL!!

After it was all done I went out to look for new hardware. After seeing the prices I decided to use the original hardware. I think it looks PERFECT!

Sure wish my dear in laws were still here with us. I really think my mother-in law would have loved it. (They would have also adored the cute little boy in the photo.)
I'm so happy that we were able to come up with a solution to keep this furniture. Every one of the Deitch kids seems to have a story about this furniture or it has been in some of their amazing memories.
Maybe someday one of my kids will inherit this set from us.

~THE CHEESE TRAY~

THE PERFECT CHEESE TRAY

This is a picture of the cheese tray from Thanksgiving that I put together. Ingredients that you must have:
1) At least three types of cheese. I ALWAYS have an Aged Gouda.....everyones favorite.
2) Grapes...I always use a red seedless. However, I have been know to also use green grapes.
3) Fresh Baguette
Other options are to take a brandy glass and fill it with nuts and thinly slice up a pear.
Serve with the perfect wine and you have yourself the perfect appetizer.

I will be posting more recipes as the holidays get closer. I have some of the most delicious recipes with AWESOME presentation.

**Just so you know....Internet Explorer was not allowing me to post whenever I wanted. I had to switch to Firefox.**

~Errors~

I just want everyone to know that I am having a problem with my blog. I am working on it with Google. I will post as soon as I can!
Thanks so much for your patience. Check back soon!

~HAPPY THANKSGIVING~

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Just want each and every one of you to know that I am so THANKFUL to have you in my life. You make my life so rich & full. I feel very blessed every day!!!

~JASON~

If any of you remember I had my 3?th birthday back in August. The kids got me tickets to see Jason Mraz. Haley also proceeded to buy her and JT(Haley's boyfriend) tickets. That way she could bless us with time to spend with them. She is thoughtful that way. Of course let me inform you that she put the tickets on our credit card.

I recieved the tickets back in August....put them in the cabinet and forgot about them....until Haley informed me that JT had decided last minute to go to Mexico with his family. I knew Haley would find someone to go to the concert with us. Haley and her friends LOVE live music. Getting rid of the ticket was the easy part......finding a sitter put me into full panic mode. Made a few phone calls and no one was available to do it. I was in a real pickle here people. I called my very sweet neighbor, Pam Wyma, and kindly asked if she would be available to babysit Bradley until Asher got home from work. If any of you were wondering....that's why Asher couldn't go to the concert....he is gettting all grown up and has a job. Pam said they could watch Bradley. I have two things that I felt when Pam said "yes." The first thing...relief. WOO-HOO. I'm going to the concert......I'm going to the concert. The second thing was how happy I was that I have someone like Pam in my life. She is such a lovely woman. If any of you are blessed to know her, you are a lucky person.

Anyway.....off to the concert we go. It was AWESOME!!! Jason (yes we are on a first name basis) played at the Aragon Ballroom. What an amazing venue to watch a concert.....not a bad seat in the house. We were on the main floor and had to stand. When you are dancing you don't really need a seat.

Needless to say, Haley knew a bunch of people there and she ditched us to be with her friends. Can you believe that?? The audacity of teenagers.

After the concert Bill and I went to a bar to have a drink.....needless to say, we didn't know we went into a gay bar. Had tons of fun...will tell everyone about that in the next post. Sorry all...it is two days before Thanksgiving and I just don't have time for that FUNNNNNY story.
I promise....the next post. Hopefully I will have some pics of the concert by then.

If you want to see some of the concert click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAICy5kk4CM

HAPPY TUESDAY!!!

~MY NEW PROJECTS~

This is my new pastime. I'm in high gear WINTER mode. I've had my hand at stamping and scrap booking. Very fun stuff!! Love 'em or hate 'em.....I MADE them!!!

I LOVE this card. I can do this one for every season. Wouldn't it AWESOME to get one of these SUPER cute cards in the mail???

I guess that leads me to my next question .....have I missed the card generation?? Does anyone send cards anymore?? That's it...I'm sending more cards!! Maybe you could give it some thought and make someone else's day. Just think how your hearts beats a little faster every time you get the mail and you see something with a REAL stamp on it~

This is my first attempt at a holiday banner. Not the best picture but hey this is suppose to be a casual, laid back blog for casual and laid people. I think next time I need to make the letters bigger. Hey, we LIVE and we LEARN. Thank goodness I'm just talking about the HOLIDAY banner~

This is a close up picture. Again, think I need to do it again. However, it was fun making it. It doesn't take long at all to make.
At this stage in my life nothing can take too long. I have lots of things on my plate right now.
I was talking to my sweet friend, SHELBY, today and I mentioned that I just don't feel like I have enough time in the day to spend some time with GOD praying. Then I realized how WEIRD that sounds. I sound so full of myself. I declare that this holiday season that I am actually going to attempt to slow down. CRAZY thought right??? I am going to try realllly HARD to focus on other~

~That Kind Of Day~

HAPPY MONDAY

Today I told Bradley that Mommy has lots to do. I told him how I played with him allll weekend. That I didn't get any of my "work" done and that today was the day to do it! That it is Monday and I have to get the house cleaned up for the week. That this kind of stuff drives me crazy. That I have to get the house ready for winter because we will be spending lots of time in the house. That I have to get the kitchen really cleaned up to cook dinner.

He just looked at me with a puzzled look and just said "OK". I think I told him way too much. Not sure if I actually thought he would understand or if it's to relieve my guilty conscience. Thank goodness my dear, sweet Asher came home after school. Guilt is gone......out the window. Bradley would much rather play with Asher over me any day. Uh-oh...Asher is leaving again...UGH!!!
This is what my kitchen table looks like. What a mess....I'm getting to it....I'm getting to it....I HOPE! As you can see my laptop is there waiting for me to blog. I've been trying to get to it all day. FINALLY I'm here...yeah!!

This is just another thing that I have been doing all day. Bradley feels that he needs to change his clothes at least 2 times a day. You would think I had an army here with all the laundry I have to do. However, I really enjoy doing laundry(at least everything but the whites....you know...all the socks...definitely not my favorite).

This would be the kitchen sink. My sink very rarely looks like this....honestly! It is now empty and I feel so much better. I'm telling you...it's the little things that I love so much! I know sometimes your looks like this too. I hope it does...I'm just going to keep telling myself that to make me feel better.

DINNER!!! Just don't have time to put a full dinner together. My big boys love chili. Asher will probably have a big bowl for dinner and then one to enjoy in front of Monday Night Football later . Bradley will probably have gourmet mac & cheese. You know, the kind that comes out of that box. Thank goodness tomorrow is a brand new day. I can enjoy all my hard work tomorrow!!

Just a thought for the day...why when we write or type "I'm" we have to capitalize the "I"????