Happy Birthday

to Hubby!

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

I love you!
Here's to many, many more!

A Gift Wrap Idea

I saw this recently in a Woman's Day magazine and thought what a cute and neat idea it was. I tore it right out of the magazine and have been rereading it since.

I definitely plan to try it out.

You can click on the picture to enlarge it and print it out.

The original blog they found it on is called Bugs and Fishes. She has a lot of ideas for the crafty and creative -- like this cool butterfly mobile and cute little butterfly brooches that I could see any girl going ga ga over. She has other giftwrap ideas too like this snowflake one.

The Woman's Day website has a video that shows how to make the pompoms. These are great for clothes, shoes, hair accessories and pretty much anything else you want to pom up.

Sorry for all the links. I just think these are too too adorable. Have fun.

I'll Show Her

My friend was teasing me about posting every single day.

So this is just to show that I don't have to post every day.

So there.




Oh. Oops.




Dadgum it!

What We Did on Halloween

A few years ago, we decided not to do the trick or treating thing anymore. Instead, we found a better alternative.

The State Fair! (By the way, I just love that picture! I took it from the skyride and I think it's so pretty the way the colors reflect off the pond.)

We are all day state fair-ers. We have arrived on occasion when they open the gates and not left until they close them that night. On Saturday, we got there when it opened (noon) and managed to get to the gates just as they were opening them up. We didn't leave until 9 or 9:30 that night.

One thing that's nice about early arrival is that our parking spot is close enough to go back to the car if we need to. We did actually need to for once (for a snack that wouldn't cause a house mortgage -- we were waiting to eat fair food for dinner) and discovered that at about 4:00 in the afternoon, you can move the car up even closer. We were actually on the first row of parking, without being in the handicapped section, when we trudged out exhausted at the end of the night.


This is actually one of my favorite rides. It pretty much takes you way way way up...
and then drops you down really fast. I love it! Didn't get to do it on Halloween though.

Everyone else in the family is skittish and the line of normal people (you know, ones who like it too) was way long once I could go on. I could've gotten on it early in the day but the Dude said he would ride it with me. He was being more adventurous this year. He finally admitted he didn't want to though. The little coward!

Okay. He's not a coward. At least he wanted to try. Nobody else would.

Which, by the way, I totally don't get. Hubby told him he'd give him $5.00 if he rode the Ring of Fire with him. If you don't know what the Ring of Fire is, it's a big ring (didn't see that one coming, did you) standing on end. The cars just go in a big circle and at the top the riders are upside down. Then the ownership hires the most sadistic monster of a person they can possibly find to laugh maniacally as he/she/it makes the thing stop upside down and jerk backward and forward.

And this is more scary than going up and down? Guess what, I didn't get a picture but Hubby's out 5 bucks. Yeah, that totally makes sense.

I also didn't get a picture of Pharoh's Fury. This is the big boat that rocks back and forth in an arc. Near the end it rocks high enough that you are at a sort of 90 degree angle to the ground. And that's it. Also a favorite of mine. Like a big swing at the park.

The Chick rode this with me a couple years ago and was fine until the motion lifted her off her seat for about two seconds. She was still held securely by the bar. But that was it! She declared me the cruelest of monsters and will not ride it with me again.

She does not however, apparently, have a problem dangling in the air well above the sky ride like a Christmas ornament on chains that measure only slightly larger than a toothpick.

Uh. Yuh huh?

Why's she taking a picture of this?

Well, the Dude rode the boat with me this year. Once.

That about sums it up.

His face was squinched up so tight the whole time I seriously thought he was about to throw up before we were done.

It didn't seem to bother him to get on the Zipper though. This is another torture device powered by a maniacally laughing employee from the insane asylum. They basically lock you in a small box and twirl you around like a pinwheel.

Yeah. That sounds like a laugh a minute to me.

This is after the ride (which, by the way, required a little sit down by my pasty faced Hubby). Once his own twirling had stopped he managed to snag a picture of the Chick and I doing a little twirling of our own -- but NOT upside down.

Of course, no matter how old we get, we'll have to visit the fun houses. I think those were my favorites as a young'un.

I caught the Chick exiting via slide. Good timing, huh.

Um. I was a little fast on the draw for the Dude.

I think walking through the spinning wheel was always one of my favorite parts. It's so "Grease"-like.

Still with the pictures. Somebody get that thing away from her!

We started a tradition a few years ago of purchasing an elephant ear or funnel cake as we leave to enjoy in the car before pulling out into the mayhem of exit traffic. So we didn't forget this year. We got one with hot fudge drizzled over the powdered sugar.

Now that's the kind of Halloween treat I like.

Monday's Menu

A good friend asked me if I had a good recipe for Broccoli Cheese Soup and if I might share it. Broccoli Cheese Soup is one of my favorites. It's only competition is Loaded Baked Potato Soup. If a restaurant has one of these two, we're good to go. I'm a happy camper.

When looking at my list there on the side, I realized that she was right. I never have shared this recipe. I originally found it here. And you would think, since I like the stuff so much, it would have been one of the first few I shared. So I wholeheartedly apologize to anyone who has been missing out because of my negligence. Here goes.

It starts with a whole lot of this...

In fact, if you want it to taste more like restaurant versions, you might want to half the cheese even. It is very, VERY cheesy.

A few more ingredients and probably less than a half an hour later, you could have the good stuff already in the pot.

Another tip I found in the comments of the original recipe was to use onion flakes rather than chopped onions. The flavor is apparently the same but the soup end result is much less chunky and a lot more smooth.

Well, except for the chunks of broccoli. It also occurs to me that you could make the soup and then run it through a processor to make it one smooth puree. But I haven't tried that personally.

Hope you enjoy!


Broccoli Cheese Soup

2 cups water
1 teaspoon powdered chicken bouillon
1 lb chopped broccoli (either frozen or fresh)
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1/4 cup butter or margarine
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 lb. processed American cheese, cubed (this could be like a Velveeta type loaf or you could also use the sandwich slices if you wish)

In a large saucepan, bring water and bouillon to a boil. Add broccoli. Reduce heat and simmer covered for 3-4 minutes or to desired tenderness. Drain, reserving 3/4 cup liquid. Using empty saucepan (or another one if you like to do dishes), saute onion in butter/margarine until tender. Whisk in flour until blended. Add milk and cheese. Cook over medium heat until cheese is melted and smooth, stirring frequently to prevent burning. Stir in broccoli and reserved liquid. Serve warm.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone!

Enjoy your evening with family, friends, and neighbors. And be safe!

In the Bag

The Chick has been doing a lot of traveling with the youth group (as our pocketbook will attest) lately. A couple of the more recent ones have been weekender trips. But she pretty much always takes the same small suitcase. That works fine but I was recently at Hancock's and found this pattern.

McCall's 3693

By the way, if you live near a Hancock's, I would highly recommend getting on their mailing list. They routinely (almost monthly and sometimes several times in a month) put a certain brand of pattern on sale for $1 for several days. I got this one during a 5 for $5 sale on McCall's patterns. And I didn't have to buy 5 either. The marked price on the envelope is $13.95. Not too bad a deal.

I thought I might try making her a weekender duffle bag. Using some fabric I already had, this is what I came up with.

When I initially cut out the pieces, I thought there was no way it would be as big as I wanted. Well, it's slightly bigger. It worked out to just about a perfect size for a weekend away.

It's not exactly a way to tell the size, but that white spot over there is Nipper's tushie.

I still have to line it. This fabric is like a denim or canvas so I didn't put any fleece facing on it as suggested. That may be why I had to stuff it with the Sunday paper to show it to you. But I like it quite a bit. I love this color green ...

And the handy little pocket on the side.

The Chick probably won't be quite as fond of the fabric but this was my try out for the pattern. Now I should make one that she'll like, I suppose.

I'll just make the sacrifice and use this one myself.

Ah, a mother's love.