this thing on???

wow - anyone reading this thing anymore?

guess it's mostly for my own amusement anyway :P

my kids are done baseball - it's sort of bittersweet... T'ball was more or less a disorganized bunch of kids having fun {many times playing in the dirt!} :)
Rookie had MANY moments of excitement! and today they wrapped 'er up as the Champs! :D
woooo hoooo!!! I am hoping to get D into a fall/winter training clinic - we both think he has GREAT potential but is in serious need of some help.

So my hubster is on holidays and the day he goes back is also the first day of school. I have all the salsa made for this year - both batches turned out spicy. I made corn salsa and the other I started out with pepper salsa but then added onion and carrots and it's HOT TOMALE! :D

I still have quite a few tomato's left so today I'll spend canning them up.

a recipe without a picture

it's not *my* recipe -however *I* made it and it was AWESOME! :D

here it is if you feel so daring! ;)

First you'll need to make some dressing:

-bread cubed and dried out (if possible)
-powdered sage
-salt & pepper
-melted butter
-boiling water
-chopped onion

Combine all of these the amounts will vary. This is my never fail {family secret recipe} -I think it's awesome b/c it's simple! ;) Anyway -- so I use about 1/2 a loaf of bread - or you can buy a bag of dried out bread (I think it's for croutons or something) anyway... then the sage for 1/2 a loaf maybe like a tablespoon or so you'll see if it needs more. Salt & pepper like a 1/2 teaspoon or so... and if you like onion you can use an entire small one, or just a half if you don't like it {or if you need to hide it! but it NEEDS onion!} 1/4 cup of melted butter and then just add the boiling water while you're stirring until it all seems to mix well together. You don't want it mushy. For this much I add about 3/4 cup but only a tablespoon or so at a time.

For the recipe you'll need boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used 2), 4 slices of bacon, 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese.

the rest is simple layering...

Dressing, chicken, dressing, bacon, cheese, dressing, chicken! Cover with foil and bake at 350*F for an hour. Serve with gravy. My kids aren't the pickiest eaters but they are 3 & 7... and they ate their entire suppers without one complaint! :)

I spent time this evening getting Ally bathed and ready for bed. You'd think I was torturing her... she HATES bedtime and it's draining on me. I handed the job over to Steve, but he was spending time with Dawson... I had bought a model Shelby Cobra for Steve YEARS ago!! like probably 10 - and Dawson found it and they are working on it together. It's a GREAT thing to see!
- The kids have also been doing a great job at keeping their room clean and they even tidied our only living space - the basement den. I'm very pleased with their efforts :)

I seriously need to bust a move with my camera :( poor thing. Steve figured out why it wasn't focusing talk about a sigh of relief! ;)

I've been working on a sock - yes another dang sock and YES! I know you can buy them cheaper and already made :P

Hoping to go have a look at cupboards tomorrow - did I mention Steve is off after tomorrow for TEN days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we're hoping to do something fun and then get to work on our new KITCHEN!!!!!!!! I'm excited! :D ;)

speaking of neglect

I did neglect to mention that STEVE found both of the battery chargers!!! :D he's the best! ;)

I am miffed to say that I think something is wrong with my one lense : I'll have to look into it - looking through the "peep hole/viewfinder" I can't seem to focus, however if I take the pic and look at it on the LCD screen the pic is fine - any suggestions? I'm thinking maybe it needs to be cleaned?

I had a VERY BAD monday - I don't really even want to dwell on it, I'm just glad that I will sleep ALL NIGHT and into the morning as late as I want and trust me *I NEED SLEEP!* I might go and check out a quilt shop tomorrow and do groceries sans enfants! ;)

neglected to mention

Daws has been playing in a ball tourney this weekend. Started with a win on Friday night, then a win Saturday early morning, Saturday late morning they started their next game with a lead of 6-0 and then the lightening called the game to be postponed - eventually to be put off to today we won again and then played a 4th game against one of our most disliked teams and BEAT THEM! :D we were STOKED! So we made it to the semi finals and had the rain downpour postpone us again for over an hour and a half. Needless to say we were exhausted -the kids, the parents everyone! We lost -- so now we're home. I'm BEAT! didn't get to sleep til 3am then Ally had me awake at 6am -do the math : that is NOT a lot of sleep!

I'm hoping to go to bed SOON! and yes I know it's only 5:15pm.

GREAT BIG SEA! :D

Went to see Great Big Sea tonight - one of the best concerts EVER! :D

only second best to seeing Fortune's hand and that was b/c Steve and I saw them in a smaller venue and I was with my hunny :)

But it was a VERY fun chicks night! :D

I'd LOVE to go again!!

stuff...

I give up - :( the battery charger is definitely sitting someplace "safe" from ever being found...

I was invited to go to a concert tomorrow night, Great Big Sea - I am STOKED! :D I *LOVE* celtic music... it's one of those things that's just in my blood ;)

I'm tired today - extremely glad it's Friday... Need to go scope out a new top to wear tomorrow night ;) Daws has another baseball tournement this weekend. Starts tonight - hope the weather holds out.

I really feel like an at home do nothing {or whatever strikes me} kinda day...

I'm nearly positive.

that the computer monitor makes me want to vomit! :(

The longer I've been sitting here reading blogs the more nauseous I feel...ugh.... Got dh to help me look for the battery charger- no luck! :(

off to catch some zzzzzzz's

I might have scored Ally a pair of hard AND soft dance shoes!!! :D ~fingers crossed!

a little off course

not sure how or why - just lifes curve balls I guess!

I have slight order in my otherwise chaotic house - I've not been at the computer much at all. Still can't find my battery charger ~ therefore not been taking pics.

Our car is in for repair -generally dh does ALL the work on our car, however when he was looking up the part online - he came across that the part is under warrenty with Ford. So guess what?! THEY are fixing it! woo hoo!! I think I'm mostly happy about it, b/c it's one less thing he has to spend time doing.

I'm tried today - I didn't sleep great last night. I even went to bed and was asleep before 10pm.
Got up at 7:20am and dh was cooking a Saturday morning breakfast!!! {it's Thursday!} We feasted - sausage, homefries, eggs & toast - I feel greasy just *thinking* about it. LOL

I've been working on knitting a sock since Christmas - {pretty much self taught -aka trial and error -- LOTS of errors!} I asked my mom to help at the "turning of the heel" so she took the project did the work and handed it back to me - not exacly *MY* idea of learning how. {grin}
There were just WAY too many errors so I ended up pulling it ALL OUT! I found some new instructions online have started another sock ;)

I'm off to the dentist not sure what else I'll get up to today -- looks like rain.

still alive!

in case you were worried that they put me into a wall ;)

We've just been SO busy I'm spinning!! Since I wrote last:

• worked on taping and mudding {including sanding and more mudding!}
• went away for a weekend to my inlaws to take care of their farm while they were away
• took the kiddo's to Marineland
• prepped for and taught 'card skool'
• had to revive the pool from greenville
• went to my mom's for a mini-retreat {we watched a chick flick and totally vegged out}
• went shopping in Buffalo - and ate at the Olive Garden!! :D

Today Steve took off so we could make some headway on the reno's again - we're waiting to hear from the window guy. We took down the livingroom side of the wall that meets the *current* dining room that we're planning to turn into the *NEW* kitchen. I don't mind all the reno's I think it's fun - but of course I also can't wait to see it all finished! ;)

Sorry no pics ~ :( I {GASP!} have misplaced my charger!! and my battery is dead.

Hope you're having a great week! :D

picture time :)

Ok... let's see, so what we're working on is insulating our living room. {the exterior walls}

first is the north wall before we got started.
and this is the other exterior wall {the east wall}

the other part of the room... same east wall.

I can't express HOW happy I am to have THIS light fixture up...

We bought it the summer we moved in 2 years ago.

My uncle the "wrecking crew"

the stuffing we took out... it was OLD!

a note from the builder

Sleeping on the job ;)

the ugly paper is GONE! woohooo!!!!

Another new light fixture -

I'm not sure this one is staying but it's better than

the other thing that was there!

The wall all stuffed and vapour barrier up.

Getting there!! New drywall up, and some mudding started

Another view....

One more view - This window is being replaced too! :D

So it's getting there!! :D And the hubster and I are talking about what we're going to do next- we're thinking kitchen / dining but he needs to come to his senses first! - he wants our kitchen/dining/living areas to all be smashed together and I DISAGREE and I am NOT backing down! ;)

a bit of catching up...

ok - I have big hopes to get some pics up on here today but as I was just about to upload I relized I need to get them off my camera and onto the computer! {I'll do that in a bit}

today's highlight: Dog kept me up ALL NIGHT! I was NOT a happypants this morning. I wonder if she knew she was going for needles today? I ususally have a bit of empathy for her, however NOT today! I almost want to tell them give her extras! :P {j/k} wonder what on earth kept her up all night - it was EXTREMELY annoying! I'm exhausted today. I just tidied more than 1/2 of the kids room. I keep threatening them with throwing their stuff in the trash if they don't keep it tidy. They're in for an awakening. I just have to wait til they aren't here to scream at me as bags and bags go OUT the door! I'll do it in stages and I betchya they don't even notice.
Sad.

k... my coffee cup is empty. So I'll go grab my camera while I'm refueling! ;)

it's Official!

the home renovations have *FINALLY* begun!! our livingroom exterior walls are all torn back to the studs - we're putting in new "stuffing" aka insulation. And then new drywall and then I can PAINT! :D I'm really excited!! We'll be redoing the floor ~after all the gyprock scratched it up we'll have to probably rent a sander and do it that way. I think everyone inhaled a chest full of dust! it was nearly impossible not to. The wrecking crew including Steve & I, my dad, Steve's parents and my uncle Homer it was done in 6 hours. Seems amazing! Steve's dad also got my outside porch light up *you have NO ideaR how happy that made me!!!!! I'll have to take a pic for sure I can't express how much I HATED the ancient one that the lightbulb hung out of -our house SCREAMED red necks live here.

Steve wants to do some more wiring before we start stuffing the walls and completing the process ...hope he knows what he's doing! ;)

Anyway... I've been taking pics - and I will share but I'm D.O.N.E! no idea how my eyes are still open... Night!!