No Place Like Home

Tonight we hosted HomeTeam at our house! I love spending time with friends and of course food and fellowship! We are doing a marriage series and it is always interesting to see other people perspective on "marital bliss"!

Husband did an illustration with a coffee mug that he broke the handle off of. When he presented his handiwork it appeared broken or flawed. But when he explained it was intended to now be a hand warmer when filled with hot liquid it made perfect sense why the handle was broke off. In marriage we are to fill in the gaps where our partner falls short. And since some of us are less perfect than others, some partners are very busy! (I am referring to you honey being very busy filling in my gaps:0>)

This is a picture of the children in D.C. with The Scarecrow and Dorthy's Red Shoes! If I only Had A Brain... referring to pre-children days!!

$8,000 Mistake

Back in January we decided to take a cruise with several couples from our Church. It was the Christian Music Boat Cruise and I highly recommend it. The night before we were to fly out I was buzzing around the house trying to pack, clean house, wash clothes and complete fifty thousand other things before leaving my sitter at the house with our three beautiful children.
Two years ago when we built our house I had BIG FUN picking out everything for the kitchen! I skimped in some areas, but not my kitchen! One of my all time favorite appliances is the stand alone Ice Maker!!! We never have to buy another bag of ice again! And I made sure we got the cute petite cubes, because I love to crunch ice!
Well, back to running around at 10PM packing and folding for our big cruise…
I noticed that the ice maker seemed a bit slushy, so I pulled out the machine and could not see anything and pushed it back under the counter. WELL, little did I know that we had a copper water line running to the machine that tugged when I pulled it out, then kinked when I pushed it back into place. It appeared to start draining, but not fast enough. By then Husband was in on the act and He pulled it out to see
back there… When he did we “Un-kinked” the copper wire and water started going everywhere. We just starred at each other like a Deer-in-the-headlights. “Oh, My Gosh, what do we do? How do we make it stop? Do something?”
Need I go on? You get the picture!
Now we sell cars, not plumbing! We do very little handiwork and even less manual labor. We did not have a clue what to do. I ran to the back bedroom to get as many towels as I could carry (which was plenty mind you; I had been doing laundry for three days straight). We start sopping up water shouting at each other “I don’t know, Oh my Gosh…”
Finally husband says there has to be a turn off at the street. Now we live on six acres, in the city limits, but very few neighbors. Husband’s first reaction was to call the 70 year old man who installed all the plumbing and I actually looked up the number and called his house. Fortunately the old man was wise enough not to answer the phone or could not hear it one. Next act was to call MIL house and ask what to do. She sent her husband over with a shop-vac at 10:30 at night.
When we bought this property there was a house that was about 75 years old that we razed. (How do you like that new spelling bee word I just used! ). Once Husband got down to the street he realized he was going to need some tools to turn the old crank and lever. Meanwhile I am standing in the kitchen with my finger over the snapped piece of copper pipe “trying” to stop the water from ruining the eight inch walnut hardwood planks I so carefully picked out just two years ago. Need I say anymore than I was unsuccessful?
At this point we ran out of towels and the water was starting to drip down an air vent? Since I am fairly creative…I took off my PJ bottoms and built up a dam! I was so proud standing there in my undies saving my air ducts from water damage!

Once MIL husband came over and was able to help get water turned off at the street we were “good.” Despite the fact that I had used every clean towel in the house, there was not any running water in the house and we were due to be on a plane in less that 12 hours with a 23 year old sitter left to keep our children and fix our mess while we were on a cruise - WE WERE "GOOD"!
Husband crawled under the entire length of the house to get under the kitchen, to get to the shut off valve. He had to turn the water back on at the street (ordeal) to then realize it was still running to the ice make. He then turn the water back off at the street (ordeal)…now to get to the part where I want to save you $8,000.00 if this ever happens to you!
Every appliance in your kitchen that has water running to it, has a turn off valve UNDER THE KITCHEN SINK. I do not care if your house was built in 1912 or 2005, you have a separate valve for your refrigerator, hot water dispenser, dishwasher, ice maker…you name it, it has a cut off valve. Look under there today, check it out, get familiar with them, it may save you $8,000. Really it only cost us the $1,000 deductible, but it took over a month to replace my kitchen floors and carpet in surrounding rooms.

Anyways, the water poured out onto my kitchen floor for about thirty minutes. We had also managed to call another friend 2 miles away to come and share in our happiness. Everyone that came to the house assumed we had gone under the sink first.
Wow, what an expensive plumbing lesson! And I am sharing it free with you!

Delicious Grape Salad

I have been walking in the mornings after I drop the children off at school with Apple Dumplin' and Saggy Boobs. They call me Chunky Butt and that's okay since I am very competitive and goal-oriented. This clearly defines my target areas!
Having said that, I thought I would share this sinfully delicious recipe with you! My other MIL made this the other Sunday when we went over there for lunch!!!!

GRAPE SALAD
4 lbs green and red seedless grapes spread into a 9x13 dish. You can cut them, but she served them whole.
Dressing:
8 oz. cream cheese softened
8 oz. sour cream
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Topping:
1 c. sugar in the raw (you can use brown sugar or brownulated sugar)
1 c. chopped nuts; pecans or walnuts are best.
Mix all of the dressing ingredients until smooth and spread over grapes. You can have as many layers as you want. Sprinkle topping ingredients over all. Very easy and very, very good.


{photo from flickr}

WFMW - Cinnamon Roll Sunday

Works For Me Wednesdays

Traditions are very important to our children. I do not feel like we have enough of them, but this one has been in place for over a year now and I think it will stick!
Husband does not cook in the kitchen unless he has to! He is limited to the number of breakfast items he is able to make, but Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls every Sunday morning is a huge treat for our family.
Our church offers HomeTeams and we do not have Sunday School. Therefore we do not have to be at church until 11am! That makes for a great LAZY Sunday morning! I love to fix a Chai Tea and have an extra long devotional time! This is when Husband decided to start fixing the rolls himself (I was not baking fast enough)! It then became tradition for him and the children to eat them, since there are 8 in a can, the four of them each get 2! Leaving my chunky-butt out! THANK YOU!
Nothing earth shattering, just something simple for a daddy and his babies to enjoy each week!
Anyways It Works For Me!!!!
For more Works for Me Wednesday, be sure to stop by Rocks in My Dryer

Third Place Winner

I was so proud of my son! Out of 17 spellers he was third! He made it to the 7th round! When he went to bed last night I could see the relief on his face that it was over! He is so smart!

Th Rest Of The Story

We managed to have a wonderful trip! The children really loved the different means of transportation. We do not have a bus system or a subway, so that was big time for these country kids! We walked everywhere! By the end of the trip one of the girls said she missed our car! The girls managed to swing on every lamp post in D.C.


On Sunday morning, Husband had the meeting to attend so I took the children to the ladies breakfast at the Four Seasons Hotel! This is always a favorite of mine when I travel with him. We have been in this group for about 7 years and this was the first time we had ever taken the children. I won't say it was the last, but it will be a while before they attend again! I did not realize how set in my ways I am when we travel! I did not have any of that "me" time.

At the breakfast I asked if anyone would like to go with us to Arlington for a tour. Several ladies decided to go! I was glad for the company since we had not been on the subway yet. They coached me through the ticket purchasing process (and it was a process). I did it wrong the first time, but the kind man helped us get through the gate! Well, for what ever reason the children went nuts on me!
Nobody listened, they could not stay with the group nor could they follow directions. They were miserable and so was I. EMBARRASSED is more like it. Needless to say, the next day we took out to the Bureau of Engraving and Natural History Museum with out the ladies! I have to see them again in January in Mexico!!!
We also went to the Spy Museum and had a tour of the Capital! The trip was great!

S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G B-E-E T-O-N-I-G-H-T

My only son won the Spelling Bee at his elementary school and he will be in the county wide bee tonight! We are so proud of him! He is just like his daddy!! I promise to share results tomorrow!

Going To D.C.

I failed to mention several key issues in getting to D.C.
Husband gives a devotional the first of every month at work to all departments. Since he fell sick over Labor Day weekend he missed the first. So on Wednesday morning he decided to speak to everyone in two large groups and share with them what he had experienced. So we arranged for him to speak at 2pm and 2:30. He was able to explain how if he had his prayer request answered he would have passed the stone and if I had my prayers answered we would have gone to Atlanta and had the stone blasted on Thursday not the following Tuesday. Either way we would have missed the bladder cancer and 6-12 months from now he would of had symptoms and probably stage 2 or 3 cancer, not pre-cancerous cells.

Needless to say the afternoon was very stressful and painful for Husband since he still had the stint in from the surgery. He had a hard time walking and wanted to wear sweat pants. Now everyone who knows Husband knows he is always well dressed (and buys it all himself!!)!! So he does not even OWN a pair of loose fitting jogging pants. No problem I'll take out and buy you a pair, between washing loads of clothes, packing for five people and leaving the house clean - because we have it on the market and I just knew they would show it while we were gone for six days. So I leave all my chores to dash to our great and grand mall (PITIFUL). I get half way there and reach for my purse.!@>#>%$>@#%>@#>@! Yes, you guessed it!!! I left my purse at the house>!>@#@@$*@&$@

Now I know we do not live in a large town, but for me to drive all the way back out to the house and turn around to come all the way back to the mall was quite a hike. So I went towards the tennis courts where MIL works to see if I could borrow some $$$. She was not there, she left early. Fortunately, my dear friend from my favorite boutique was there with her mother and YES, I ASKED HER MOTHER IF SHE COULD HELP ME! Now, this is desperate folks. Yes, She is a good friend of mine also, but for her to give me her debit card, that is friendship people!!

So now off I go to the Mall looking for loose fitting sweatpants in SEPTEMBER! It is still 80-90 degrees here! What were we thinking? Belks, Goody's, JCPennys, Hibbets - nothing! So I took the debit card back and then told Husband he was clearly out of luck. Fortunately MIL calls me back and I explain what I need and she runs through her husband's closet and saves the day with a pair.

Now did I mention I was playing beat the clock before the sun goes down so I could cut the grass. I'll remind you that we live on six acers and it had rained the entire time we were in the hospital for six days. Not many people volunteer to cut six acers, but they do meals and childcare (thank you to my precious friends and family)!!!! So, I had to at least get the grass around the house cut, because what if they did show the house while we were gone?... (Just to let you know I could have baled hay it was so tall when I cut it after D.C.).

Meanwhile, Husband and children were eating the dinner my dear friend (Saggy Boobs)brought over and getting ready for bed. At this point I am exhausted, but wait there is more! I have not even pulled out our suitcases to start packing all those clean clothes. I stayed up into the wee-hours of the morning packing, checking my list and cleaning the house.

Fortunately we did not have another $8,000 mishap like the last time we went on vacation! But that is another story for another time...

They had so much fun at The Museum of Natural History. We saw the Hope Diamond, dinosaurs and their favorite was the rocks and gems! They loved this amethysts!

Why I Believe

This is one of the best illustrations of faith I have read in a long time. Sweet Shannon has written an absolutely beautiful post. I hope you enjoy!

"Getting" To Washington D.C.

I use the term vacation very loosely! I worked very hard the months before, planning our events so the children would not get tired, so we would have plenty of time at the gift shops, walking time... you name it, I planned for it. But I never dreamed my husband would have spent six days prior to the trip laid up in a hospital bed or that he would have had surgery two nights before we were going to leave!
Husband had a kidney stone removed on Tuesday night, and while they were in there they found bladder cancer and cut it out. He came home Tuesday night and laid around all day Wednesday. BUT Thursday morning I had him up, showered and on our way to the airport before he even had time to complain. Now I know that sounds really harsh (and okay, it was rough), but we had just spent a week of our life in pain and agony and I knew if I could just get him to D.C. he would be better on Friday. So I did what any good wife would do, I called Delta and arranged for wheel chair assistance at the airport!
We toted four large suitcases and everyone had a carry-on. Every child pulled their own suitcase and we followed the man pushing their Daddy! Yes, it was a sight and no I did not think to even take a picture. Once we got him on the plane he was "fine."

When we arrived in D.C. he did not even get out of the tunnel before another gentleman with a wheelchair was waiting for him and pushed him right to baggage claim and then to a taxi! In all honesty it was perfect! The taxi dropped us off at the hotel, I checked us in and we went straight to the room and he laid in the bed the rest of the night...he needed his rest for Friday...

Come back tomorrow for more details...

Southern Favorite - Poppyseed Chicken

It always blows my mind when people have never heard of this recipe. This is a staple at our house. I use low fat soup and sour cream, but then I add the butter...go figure?!?!?! I have never been to a church pot luck or sick in bed and not seen this great casserole. I hope you'll try it if you never have! Let me know what you think.

Ingredients
3 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 (10 3/4-oz.) can cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 (16-oz.) container sour cream
3 teaspoons poppy seeds
31 round buttery crackers, crushed
1/4 cup butter, melted


Preparation
1. Combine first 4 ingredients. Spoon mixture into lightly greased 11- x 7-inch baking dish.
2. Stir together cracker crumbs and melted butter; sprinkle evenly over casserole.

3. Bake at 350° for 35 to 40 minutes or until hot and bubbly.


{photo from flickr}

Easy Chicken Salad

Ingredients
1/2 cup light or regular mayonnaise
2 teaspoons Lawry's Season Salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 pounds skinned and boned chicken breasts, cooked and chopped
3 cups red or white seedless grapes, halved

Preparation
Stir together 1/2 cup mayonnaise, chopped chicken and grapes in a large bowl. Tossing gently to coat. Cover and chill at least 1 hour.



{photo from flickr}

Baked Potato Soup

This is PERFECT for Fall!!!

To bake potatoes in the microwave, prick each several times with a fork. Microwave 1 inch apart on paper towels at HIGH 14 minutes or until done, turning and rearranging after 5 minutes. Let cool.


Ingredients
5 large baking potatoes, baked
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 medium onion, chopped
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 quart half-and-half
3 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 tsp basil
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese
8 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled

Preparation
Peel potatoes, and coarsely mash with a fork.
Melt butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat; add onion, and sauté until tender. Add flour, stirring until smooth. Stir in potatoes, half-and-half, and next 3 ingredients; cook over low heat until thoroughly heated. Do not Boil.
Top each serving with cheese and bacon.

Yield
Makes 12 cups



{photo from flickr}

Our Date Was Great!

I have married the most romantic man! When I got into the car he had a small package wrapped up in that great pink paper from my favorite little boutique!!! He had bought me a new pair of earrings!
We left around 1pm for our antique trip! We walked around the little town going in every store, he was such a trooper. We did not buy anything, but it was a lot of fun looking! We left there and went further South to a larger town with malls and tons of resturants, but of course my favorites were Target, Barnes and Nobles and TJMaxx! We ate at Carrabbas and then traveled back to get the children. It was really a simple evening, but very sweet!

Table For Two

Wow! It has been a long time since Husband and I have gone on a date! After all of the events that took place two weeks ago, our precious HomeTeam from church has offered to take the children for the night! The kids are so excited about the evening and so are their parents!!!

Last night I asked husband if he had any plans for our hot date and I was so surprised by his answer. Now I know I shouldn't be because he is THE most romantic man, but for some reason I was surprised! He said we were going to go to a small town about 20 minutes from here to go antiquing and then find a little resturant to have a quiet dinner. He said he wanted to "do some different so we would be able to talk while we spent time with each other." Now at the time I did not question it, I just thought it was sweet. Then this morning he repeated it with a hint of sarcasms and I realize he was choosing that for my benefit, but I do not care. He was thinking of me and now I promise not to make it too painful for him!

I'll let you know what we find!!!


{photo from flickr}

Girls Day Off

I went to Atlanta with two of my "Bestest-Friends" Ever yesterday! Our third friend was at home with sick children or it would have been "Us-Four-No-More."

We have been friends for years, doing bible studies, breakfast club, mandatory board meeting ...everything. Well yesterday we took our friendship to new levels! We went to Atlanta to have "their" hair done at Van Micheals and to lunch at The Cheesecake Factory! Now this was living like the way Husband thinks I do everyday. I am a SAHM to a fifth grader and twin third graders with lots of free time from 8am - 2pm. But seldom do I spend the entire day for ME ME ME ME ME!!!!!!

I did not get my hair cut because I was scared. I am starting to go gray and know they will pressure me into color. I am just not there yet and I am CHEAP, okay frugal.


Of course as we leave the posh salon I am a tad bit envious of their new-do's and decide I will make an appointment next time, because we will be doing that little number again! They even had neck massages and diet cokes! That alone was worth the $25 haircut!

It was so refreshing sitting outside with the girls, eating a salad that I know used an entire head of lettuce it was so big! We even went into an organic grocery store - Whole Foods! Wow that place was huge. Publix barely has half an isle for organic in our little town.

Anyways, I took my handy dandy notebook along on the trip and have plenty of material for the next few weeks after hanging out with those girls! I am now going to schedule our appointments for next month! We'll have to look good for the holidays!

WFMW - Grill Press

This may not be a new product to you, but it is to me - Grill Press. I had a Pampered Chef Party several weeks back the the lady used one to cook the chicken in record time. The weight of the press cooks the meat faster. I tried my new press with a pound of hamburger meat and it worked beautifully! Three hungry children standing under my feet and my meat was cookin' so fast!!!!!!! It was great!

I found mine at William Sonoma for $18. Pampered Chef had one for about $35, but it was to big for all of my frying pans and I was not going to buy her $100 pan for my $35 Press.


Anyways It Works For Me!!!!
For more Works for Me Wednesday, be sure to stop by Rocks in My Dryer

Daylight Savings Time has Changed!

The dates of Daylight Saving changed in 2007.

These changes were not officially enacted
until after most calendars were already printed.
Be sure to change all of your 2007 calendars to the new date,
Sunday, November 4th, 2AM.

Get an extra hour of sleep.
Set your clocks BACK 1 hour on
Saturday night, November 3rd.

It's also the time to change your smoke alarm batteries!

Lucky Stone

Last Thursday Husband woke up and started his quiet time at 6 am. He had a bad stomach ache and within 5 minutes was on the ground in the bathroom crying in pain. I rushed him to the ER and our journey began at 6:30am. He stayed in pain and in the ER until 3:30 Thursday. They did a cat-scan and saw a kidney stone estimated at 5mm. Our ONLY urologist was out of town and would not be back until Tuesday (Labor Day weekend). They tried to get us in with another Urologistout-of-town and then with several others, but neither one would take us for whatever reason. At that point we tried to get admitted into the hospital and we even had a hard time getting that done.

Finally they got us into a room and started a dauladid pain med that seemed to numb the pain some. We stayed in that room on that meds Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and then most of the day Tuesday, until Dr. Smith returned and we got an available operating room.
I will have to wait for another time to tell you about where all our children were during this time. Remind me to tell you about the dog biting Maddie’s face and the fender-bender the girls were in…Another chapter for the book I am writing Drama Mama.

Anyways, back to my cot in room 511… Husband had fluids and pain meds and waited 5 days for the little booger to travel down from the kidney to the bladder. The Dr. had to use a catherter and a small “bucket” to capture the stone and bring it out. BUT, while he was in there the Dr. saw a tumor in Husband's bladder – Cancer. It was Phase 1 and very tiny and he was able to remove it all! God Is GOOD- ALL The Time!

Now if I had won our fight back in ER and put him back in my car to go to Atlanta or Birmingham, they would have blasted the stone because of its location. If God had answered Husband's prayers he would have passed that joker and we would not know about the Cancer for 6-12 months from now when there would be blood in his urine.

NOW raise your hands up to the Lord and thank Him for unanswered prayers right now! Our God is an AWESOME God! These were 6 MISERABLE days in the hospital for everyone! But oh how beautiful they are to me now!
When we are in the storm it is so easy to turn flesh and not look up. I thank God for not turning His back on my family when I did not turn to Him to provide WHAT I WANTED! Thanks you Jesus!

You know my needs and you ALWAYS provide! Thank you Jesus for not providing what this Type A- Drama Mama wanted!!!!!!!!!!!!
I type this note as I am waiting for the dryer to stop so I can finish packing. We did not take a family trip this summer and we are still planning to take the children to Washington DC this weekend. We thank you for your prayers and hope to talk to you next week!

Hannah Montana / Miley Cyrus

Hannah Montana is coming to Atlanta!!
My girls are so excited! Now I have to buy a blond wig and purchase $100 tickets...
The concert is the Wednesday before Thanksgiving! I know they will have a blast, but boy I do not want to buy those tickets. I'll keep you posted on...

UPDATE: 9/17/09
Tickets for the show were sold out by noon! I think they understand! The good news is their friend DID NOT get tickets either, so they weren't left out! Now I think we will be buying a blond wig and going as Hannah for Halloween!

Favorite Chicken Sandwich

My Families favorite Sandwich recipe is not an original to our clan! But this is an all time favorite and will be for years to come!
My first blog I ever read was The PioneerWoman. She is so funny, loves to take photos and loves to cook! I am posting her actual site so you can see her photos and cooking techniques.
Let me know if you enjoy the sandwich! Scroll down once you get to the site!!!!!

DeCluttering My Life

DeCluttering My Life is no small task!! I ran across this post and had to share it with you!

Everyday I try to focus on one room and in that room I focus on one project! I am so ADD I could have 10 projects going if I don't keep myself under control! You know I am a "list" kind of girl and always have one going, so I have started adding my daily chore to that list. Seems to work so far! I'll let you know in another month!