Fridays are my favorite days!

Today is my favorite day of the week. Fridays always end up being an errand and cleaning day for me. Casey comes home on Fridays from his travels, and there is no reason for him to have to live with the messes that Alex and I made during the week. Well, we try to not submit him to them. It is also a super cooking day, I have a pot roast in the crock pot right now, and just know it will be amazingly soft and hot and brown later tonight.

Today I met my mom for coffee and breakfast muffins in the cafe at B&N. *sigh* I just love morning coffee and book snooping. I hinted, she hinted, we hinted for the men in our lives, we bugged the help desk lady, we snooped magizines, bougth calendars and then parted ways. Next stop was Costco which is truly one of the best places on earth. Especially at Christmas time. I am always amazed at how much I get for so little, but then again the bill is rarely less then $100. Of course I have to hit up the regular grocery for those things I don't need in 5 pound containers. I found the most perfect tube of Reese's topped with a Santa for Alex's advent house.

He sits right at the top of the chimney when placed inside all the way. How perfect is that?

Music Update

If you need something to work out to or vaccuum to or wiggle to you must listen to Muscles. I especially like Ice Cream. Dooce was right.

I just wanna dance with my shirt off... because it would be fitting and fun and flirty and fabulous.

And Ugly Cassanova is a sweet surprise.

God I love me some music.

In the spirit and parental rush

With one day to spare I made up Alex's Advent calendar for this Christmas season. I was tempted by all the lovely Martha kits at Michael's and since I an not going into the nighmare of homemade Christmas cards, it was an advent Calendar that ended up in my basket. I must say it was fun to put together if not maddeningly frustrating dealing with glue that wouldn't dry. I ended up using three different types of adhesive on this house, but it is done!

It is stuffed with candies, chocolate coins, mini ornaments for his personal tree, Webkniz charms, Christmas M&M's and in the biggest door the Reindeer Webkinz.

Growing up I had one of those Chocolate door Advent boxes one year, and it was wonderful to anticipate the holiday each day with a melt of chocolate on the tongue. So I try to do something advent wise for Alex's each year. We have had the old school box of chocolates, sticker trees, ornament trees, grab bag trees, and cookie advents, but this years was fun to personalize. I wish the boxes had been big enough for Hot Wheels. I must make something up like this for next year.

So now it is down to the rush of Christmas, 26 days away. The Countdown seems endless with so much to do.

• Write out Christmas cards
• Mail cards, I forgot to one year and found them in the coffee table baskets, written, addresses and stamped, in FEBRUARY!
• Buy presents to be shipped.
• SHIP presents by December 10th.
• Donate presents and wrap them with Pack for the Children's House.
• Finish decorating inside.
• Put up Lights outside.
• Buy TREE!!!
• Decorate tree.
• Buy family presents.
• Wrap presents.
• Knit, felt, dry, and hang Christmas stockings. 2 Down, 1 in Process, 2 Waiting.
• Plan Christmas Brunch.
• Shop for groceries.
• Buy fire wood in bulk.
• Drive around and see all the light displays.
• See the Alamo tree and Riverwalk light displays.
• Buy Suitable Polar Express Day PJ's for bugman.
• See Santa!
• Bake Holiday treats for neighbors and friends.
• Get Anniversary cards for my parents.
• Be happy for them while in London for 14 days right before Christmas! Oh Joy!
• Remember to include Alex's school picture in gifts and cards.
• Celebrate the season with Den, including card making for Hospital patients, and singing carols in the lobby.
• Enjoy the first cup of Egg Nog.
• Enjoy the sneak of presents for Alex and Casey.
• Wrap all presents.
• Sit by twinkle light on the couch snuggling with my man.

Oh I love this time of year!!

What was I doing a year ago? http://ciaobellanicole.blogspot.com/2006/11/like-little-porcuipines.html

Instincts

We have lived here for three and a half years and in that entire time I have never seen a Squirrel in our yard. Not that there are not squirrels everywhere else in South Texas, but not in our yard. Do we have the possibility for squirrelage?

Oh Yes, the green belt provides numerous opportunities for fluffy furry tailed visitors to play.

We have had Possum visitors, coral snake visitors, many other dog visitors, and even Mister Peter Rabbit came to visit, but never a squirrel that I have seen at least. Our last visitor was a four foot long snake that left his skin curled up and draped nicely over the wheelbarrow in the shed. Needless to say I didn't get the shovel that day.

I think the reason why we haven't had squirrel visitors is that news of the fate of our visitors has traveled the Green Belt Vine. The Possum met an untimely end with a Weim, Shep, and Lab. The Coral snake was greeted with a snarlingly Shep, then a 20 pounds weight while we rounded up the axe. The nice dogs get to stay and play for a while, but the nasty dogs meet the pack and my BB gun. And sometime the visitors just get away.

But today in 36 degree weather, we had a squirrel visitor who was promptly chased up a tree by the pack. And then the pack promptly sat under the refuge tree for two hours straight. While the squirrel chitted and chattered the pack took turns waiting to greet him. Seven hours later I went out to investigate our new friend and found him no longer chittering and chattering, but flopped in a fork of branches like a wet furry noodle. He looked at me, flapped his flurry tail and didn't move. Luckily for him I had errands to run and a kiddo to pick up. So we gave our guest a break by locking up the pack on the deck, giving him an opportunity to take flight over the fence. Or more aptly said, a dive down the trunk of the tree, a series of bouncing leaps across the lawn and a weave through the fence boards. All under the eye of five dogs who would like nothing more then a chance to play, their way, with instincts in high gear.

What was I doing a year ago? http://ciaobellanicole.blogspot.com/2006/11/focus.html

Fiber Fun...

I have been looking for a nativity, one to replace the sweet baby Jesus that Alex made out of a paper bag three years ago. Paper bag Jesus met unfortunate end last year, by the route of water and scissors. So sad. So I have been half heartedly looking over the year, more so now that the Christmas displays are up everywhere. Nothing ever quite made me say, I want that. It was all either too cutesy or to weird looking or so expensive, and some just looked so incredibly religious and pious that I felt it would be a bit out of place in our mellow religious home. So I kept looking and waiting and one day in my new favorite yarn store I saw a display for a Felted Nativity class. Oh oh oh!! I ended up taking the class and loved every second of it. I loved creating my own Mary and Joseph and my own sweet baby Jesus. Today I finished up my trio with Joseph and I am so happy with how they turned out.

To make my fiber rich day even better my exchange of yarn came in! Woo Hoo I finally have the remaining skeins needed to finish up the Christmas stockings I am making us this year. Now I need time to sit and knit. I could jam one out in 5 days, so I am goaling to get them done in about 15 days. Just in time to felt them, dry them and hang them in time for Christmas.
Today was a busy busy day, lots of errands and appointments and things to do. I rolled out of bed quick, dressed in my pre-laid out clothes, woke the Alex which in turn woke the Sammy (who slept with the boy all night, YAY!), filled up my travel mug of coffee, ushered Alex to school after getting all the ice off our car and started my errands. Archie got groomed and is now unhappily wearing his new tee shirt, it says Lord of Treats on the back. Damn I love my Princess Frou Frou. I can only get away with calling him a Princess because he is a chicken shit, he is super pretty and his tail is like a pony tail. It is so hard to not dress him in pink, he would look so cute. God help us if I ever get a Frou Frou girlie dog. I will become that lady, I promise.

Stuffin' the Stuff

The view from a standard thinking spot in my kitchen.

Pantry Foodie:

Saturday Dinner:
Leftover Stuffing and Turkey mixed together with a can of Cream of Chicken and leftover gravy, baked at 400 for 30 minutes. Oh so good and freeing up fridge space.

Late night Snack: Cheese Toasties all around and popcorn with Galatica! Go Nerds!

Sunday:
Breakfast:
Alex and I: CEREAL!!! Hooray!!!
Casey: Stuffing and Egg skillet, YUM

Lunch: Skipped due to early dinner

Dinner: Belated Thanksgiving at a Friends house, I even brought the leftover Thanksgiving rolls as our contribution, hooray for more out of our house!
************************************************
I have been spending the night prepping for the new upcoming week. After a challenge from LeeAnn I have laid out my clothes for tomorrow as well as Alex's. I am finishing up all the loose ends I have for the many errands I am running tomorrow and tackling a mountain of laundry due to Alex's normal clothes comsumption and a huge gifty of clothes that Austin outgrew really fast. We have clothes coming out our ears. Alex even let me cut his hair, which is always a crap shoot with me, but I think this cut came out okay, not to short and pretty even. Hooray!

Sammy is finally slowing down, which means a night of sleep I hope. He sure has worn Archie out. Twain doesn't know what to make of him, but Twain has a thing for small animals, he generally ignores them with a look of fear on his face. Penny though, she has been surprising, she really likes Sammy and follows him around when she can.

Well I am off finish up my night, I 'd like to say that I am being proactive, but I am really just trying to stay not so far behind.

Anyone else realize that Christmas is 30 days away. Anyone also realize that shipping timeframe is a wee bit wonky this year since Christmas is on a Tuesday. Our ship date goal is December 10th. I refuse to get stuck with last minute overnight shipping charges again!!

Pisser

Look who is staying with us for a couple days. Damn Sammy is a hard dog to get to sleep. It was like having an infant in the house last night. And he is a pisser. Yuck. Good thing he is cute.

Ready for January 1st

I have a love affair with planners. I have used Day Planners, Franklin Coveys, Outlook, Palms, spiral bound notebooks, and student planners. But two years ago I found my ultimate planner. A planner that lets me track all our individual schedules with room for the house schedule and meal plans. It still has a to-do list and plenty of room for notes. And above all other things it isn't as big as a text book. The Busy Body Book is the adult version of my favorite student planner. They have revamped it over the year,made it come chic and savvy, not so hokey, but the basic structure is there, which is what I want. Plus their customer service is the best!

Each year I refurbish the cover, using the ultimate in papers, Basic Grey. For some reason 2008's cover seems better then the current one. Or maybe I have just been staring at that bird for a whole year and I am ready for some new visual goods.

A love like no other.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches, a daily staple.

Go for the Art or the Food?

Hmm do I go with the Monet or Popsicle?

Since my needles are bare while I wait for my yarn to come in, I have to have something besides a mega gifty to work on. Variety is the spice of life you know. So I have decided to make a pair of fingerless mitts and I am stuck with the colorways I have narrowed it down to. Do I choose something that will match with my new quilted pea coat, or do I go for the bright that will bring smiles? I am leaning towards the Monet and just might use the Popsicle for a pair of socks.

Time to go cast on with a set of needles just about as wide as toothpicks!

Viva le Knitting!

To busy to take Pictures

Thanksgiving this year was plentiful.

Plenty of Food.

Plenty of Family.

Plenty of Friends.

Plenty of Laughs.

Plenty of Cold Weather.

Plenty of Ghost Hunters.

Plenty of Dishes Washed.

Plenty of Good Times.

We have so many leftovers, even with all that we sent home with guests. Our fridge seems to have multiplied with Tupperware containers. It is packed more then it was in the days leading up to Thanksgiving.

Unfortunately my parents left early because my mom wasn't feeling well, even today she is under the weather. But I sent my Dad home with a belly full from dinner and a quarter of my Apple Pie. Which he ate every bit of. *grin*

Our day was full of favorite memories, memories that seemed to make up our own Hallmark commerical. My Dad sneaking a piece of crust from the pie 10 minutes after walking in the door. Alex and Olivia running around the house yelling, "Where are you?". My mom snuggling with Olivia on the couch for her nap. Casey telling my dad all about Shiner Black. The boys playing a couple rounds of Halo. Sharon laughing over the reindeer ornaments and making door hangers with the kids. Laying in bed after everything was put away, getting warm from the chill and laughing our butts off over Alex's , "That would be a bad job" comment. And today, waking up to cereal and a bowl of mashed potatoes.

I am Thankful for my husband and son, my family, my friends, my house that is warm and comfortable, for my five dogs who entertain and exasperate like no other, for the food in my larder and the for shower I am now going to go take.

Love my life, and love my loves.

The Smart know when to Go out

I forgot about our Pantry Foodie challenge for the week tonight. Well, I didn't quite forget, more as I decided that I didn't want to cook any more today since I have cooked four Thanksgiving dishes and prepped the other four. Also the thought of another sink full of dirty dishes didn't sound all that appealing. So we went to Chili's and enjoyed the cold front and 30 miles per hour winds that brought it down in the relative comfort of a toasty bar and fried food.

Now that we are home, we have all the windows open to air out the house one more time before temperatures hit the 50's for the rest of the year. This cold air makes me want apple cider and spice cookies. Wait! I have APPLE CIDER all the way from Maine, and if I try really hard I bet a Nutty bar could be sort of like a Spice cookie. Well maybe not... but the apple cider at least works!

Things I have learned so far this Thanksgiving

First Pantry Raid:

Breakfast: CEREALS, and one box was thrown away, HORRAY!!
Lunch: Soups and sandwiches and chips.

Thanksgiving Menu is in the process, today is my major prep day and I must say things are moving along swimmingly.

Things I have learned:

• Cleaning as you go is a must.


• Run the dishwasher continuously and you will always be happy. I am averaging about 4 loads each day this week, so far.


• Purging the fridge before Thanksgiving shopping is a must.


• Be prepared to go back to the store 1 more time.


• Print all recipes early so they are ready when you are.


• If two things can go in the oven at 350 then prep BOTH at once.


• Deviled eggs are mighty tempting in the fridge, don't tell husband that they are done.


• Seeing random squash seeds and mashed potato smears on my jeans at the end of the day is a good sign.


• Nothing is better then striping down to my new favorite argyle socks and Pj's at night with a fridge of prepped food and a bag of knitting. Anyone notice how great a pair of legs can look in knee hi socks. Nice.


• Knitting is a must at night.


• Set your Thanksgiving table the night before, it will save you a headache the next morning.


• BRINE your TURKEY with William Sonoma brine.


• Brining bags can split if faced with a sharp icecube. Have bag #2 and strong husband ready.


• Do laundry while things are roasting and baking and boiling. You will feel slightly ahead of the game.


• Enlist menfolk to clean somewhere in the house and smile with glee over the pile of trash at the curb.


• iPod and elipitcal time are a must after cooking all day, energy burner and aggression tactics.


• Remember to give THANKS.

Time to check on the roasting squash and make lunch.

Pantry Foodie

Tuesday:

Breakfast:
Alex; Cereal and fruit and Vitamins
Casey & I: English muffin with egg beaters, cheese and Canadian bacon.

Lunch:
Alex: the favorited PB&J
Nicole: Cheese toasty and Buffalo Wing Chips
Casey: Leftover 2nd batch enchiladas

Dinner:
Spinach Salad
Pork Chops, O'Gratin Potatoes and Mixed Veggies
Dessert: Must Finish the Pumpkin Bread!
EDIT: Dinner was actually tortalinni, meatballs, sauce and cheesy bread. Maybe Pork Chops tonight!

So I have been reorganizing my pantry this afternoon and let me tell you, I must eat and eat to clear up shelf space for dishes. My mom gave us a set of dishes of hers that I have been eyeing for about 20 years, and with our winter dishes ready to go out, I need space to store our everyday year round dishes. Plus my le Cruset and stoneware cake pan need a home. So shelf space must be made.

My plan of attack is to makeup as many of the mixes, like sauce/spice/baking mixes as I can these next couple weeks. As well as eat the varied cereals we have, do we really need five different boxes? So I have challenged us all to eat cereals for the next week and a half to clear up that space for the dishes currently on the floor. I think I am going to try and score some narrow storage boxes, like Ikea has had in the past to store all the random stuff that we want to keep up on the top shelf. Maybe that will be better visually. Basket shopping galore!

In Gratitude

This week I have challenged myself to fed my family, each meal from my pantry and freezer as much as possible. I figure with the extra food expenses with Thanksgiving and us all being home for the week for all three meals, it was time to attack the pantry surplus with creativity and thought.



Friday night Meal:

Requirements: Must be HOT, WET, BROWN, and LOTS OF IT, these requirements are Casey's meal after flight needs.

Meatballs in Veggie Garden sauce on broiled Cheesy Bread.

Rating: 8+

Leftovers: Meatballs.



Saturday:

Breakfast:

Various Cereals and fruit

Lunch: ??

Dinner: Cheese Enchiladas (Casey cooks!), Refried Beans

Desert: Pumpkin Bread with Icing

Rating: 9+ Enchiladas

Leftovers: Enchiladas and Pumpkin Bread



Sunday:

Breakfast: Various Cereals and Clementines

Lunch: Sandwiches, Peanut Butter Jelly and Meatball.

Snack: Enchiladas Leftovers

Dinner: Chicken drumsticks, macaroni and Cheese, green beans.

Dessert: Pumpkin Bread

Rating: 8+

Leftovers: Chicken Drumsticks

Monday:
Breakfast: Egg and ham scramble with waffles
Lunch: Grilled Cheese, tomato soup, and pear slices
Snacks: Chicken Drumsticks
Dinner: Fend for Yourselves
Alex; two PB&J's
Nicole: Spinach Salad
Casey: Made more Enchildas

Lush

This pile makes me happy. It is soft and squishy and colorful and inspiring and did I mention soft?

Yes, Soft. Especially the green on the right, it is Alpaca, and let me tell you those Llama like creatures are soft!

And then there is the white, faint blue and pink fuzzy on the left, that is angora rabbit. And let me tell you, it is a different kind of soft. Where the Alpaca was squishy and cool, the angora is dense and warm. It is called Peter Rabbit, and that makes me smile.

And then there is the cotton candy rainbow thick and thin in the back, it is kettle dyed and soft in the wool way.

I love my pile of yarn, my squishy lush pile of happy.

The So Called Source of Ickies

It started yesterday evening, so I thought. I had watery eyes, stuffy nose, sneezing, my teeth hurt (major sinus pressure), and I was carrying around a slight earache. And I chose to blame it on Betty.

Sweet Sweet Itchy-Or-Scratchy-I-Can't-Leave-It-Alone Betty. See Betty has always had a bit of a skin problem, it looks like cradle cap and mostly effects her back. Well if she gets started worrying it, she can't stop. So for months now, she has had various owies in various stages of healing, all of them covered with long, dirty, itchy, cradle cappy fur. Her vet wanted her skin it heal more before she got groomed, and before I treated her with flea drops. But, her skin was always in some bad stage of owie.

So I took matters into my own hands and bought a dog grooming clipper yesterday. I figured it couldn't look that bad, and at least I knew I would be gentle on the owie spots. So Alex and I spent an hour grooming Betty on the deck, bagged about 5 pounds of fur, freaked out the other four dogs, and made Betty the scape goat for my sickies.

She looks like a big pink and black rat because I took it all off, as short as I could get it on the owie parts. She didn't like me shaving her feet, so those could use some more work, but I got the important parts. And I didn't shave off her nipples!! I was worried about that, Alex too. Except he didn't call them nipples, he called them Naughty bits ( a tip off to Daddy). Overall, she is happier, we are happier to not have a stinky dog, and her medicine can finally get to the source to make it better. Now I am happy to let her sleep on my newly finished Granny Afghan, which she claimed from the start anyways.

I must be honest and say that I think I am just sick, with a cold from Providence RI.

Kleenex Woes

Right now I wish that I would sneeze so hard that all the snot in my nose would come out, because... well... it would be OUT!

Pictures with the reason for the snotty nose to come tomorrow, or as soon as the sneezing and puffy eye-ing stop.

ETA: 8:33pm I feel like there are little gnomes in my sinuses and they are thumping the nerves of my teeth through the sinus walls. Oh teeth, Oh Sinuses, Oh No this might be a cold. And I thought I could blame it on the dog.

A moment I will never forget... TMI Ahead

Sunday we were out with friends before we needed to head to a Scout event. Because the kiddos were hungry we went to our favorite Chinese place. I ended up on my side of the booth with two kids, Alex being farthest away from me.

Sharon has a rule that if your mom has something on her plate that you haven't had before, then you must try it. Up until that meal this has worked out well because Alex wants to do what Austin does, and all most every food he tries he likes. Well Sunday the food was broccoli with cheese sauce, which was perfectly fine for everyone else at the table to eat. Until...

Alex, well I think he decided from first glance that he didn't want to eat it. But he muscled the piece into his mouth and started chewing and then started gagging. I have a very distinct image of me pointing at him and saying, "Oh NO! Don't you dare do that!", which I immediately followed up with, "Did you just throw up in your mouth???" Head nodding followed along with the actual barfing into the plate. Which I was frantically covering up with paper napkins so to not cause a barf reflex fest at our table. What followed was me taking BarfMan outside for a conversation and a very stern set of instructions for him to wash up in the bathroom, and me being very tense.

My seven year old son barfed up cheesy broccoli into his plate of Chinese food because he didn't want it. Crap...

I need a massage. And glass of wine. And maybe a plane ticket to Vegas.

9:19am Music Listed

So yeah, music is a big part of my day, it is the theme song to loads of memories and it is one of the things that can keep me moving on a project. With that said here is my delish music playlist so far...

• Hollaback Girl - Gwen
• Young Folks - Peter Bjorn
• WestCost - Coconut Records
• Piano Song - Meiko
• Girl - Beck
• Two Step Gaint Stadium - DMB
• Gravity Rides Everything - Modest Mouse

Seriously folks there is some great stuff out there... hey it's a nice mix of folksies and rockin and indy and classic Dave...

Luv my tunes.

The Annual Crack out Holiday ReCap

Halloween here abouts is a huge affair, at least for this family. This year our best friends came over to trick or Treat and have dinner before hand. So we stuffed the kiddos with Maple Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, and Green Beans before we headed out the door for the annual begging of crack pilgrimage. We left PinHead the Priest at the house to scare the Jesus out of little kids and this Witch and her Gypsy friend walked the block with a boy who's sword was heavy and a boy who's mask was slipping.

But it was fun and the candy haul was worth it. We ended up piling into the car and went up and did some haunted houses people set up in their yard, which ended up with one boy crying on the way home, "I don't like Clowns anymore!!" and my boy saying Dude it's like the circus! Exactly!

All in all it was a fun night that Casey and I ended with Couch time to watch the Ghost Hunter Live at Waverly Hospital. If I ever set foot in Tennessee I will most definitely be going there for a scary tour.

I was up with the predawn sky, Casey was out walking and I had some mad dishes to get too. And then the Horror of Horrors, I had to get Bugman ready for picture retakes. Who the hell schedules Picture Retakes the day after Halloween? But I ensured the quality of the retake by being that hovering mother behind the camera. Yay for Moms!

Now I am setting to rights my office which has become a mess ground for papers and Crazy amounts of yarn. Oh luscious yarn...