Nightmare on Kels Street w/ a Happy Ending

Baking/cooking disasters- and oh how appropriate for the holiday.......

As I have asked Dewayne, who burns Tea? With 3 ingredients, who messes up Rice Crispy treats? How in the world did I put boils on those carmel apples? WHAT???
He just laughs as if I was kidding! No I wasn't distracted this time or anything. Josh is making a near perfect skeleton out of candy ( ok so he put the radius for the pelvis) and I am making haunted disasters in the kitchen! Oh why oh why do I continue to live in my past? The days of sunny skies and perfect muffin top clouds, sugared steps and skittled slides........ Anyway! Here are my latest mess-ups. Your advice is more than welcomed! The Finale' Hats off to the "Pumpkin Dreamtini" recipe that turned out waay too cool! And yes, I altered the kids a slight bit from the original recipe.. Oh also I used Orange jello for the sugared rim since I had no idea where to get orange sugar. Awesome Dreamtini's in ghoulish halloween glasses.
Joshys little skeleton- after he started from scratch-=)
Very sticky Rice crispy treats that are crunchy and won't stick together.

Boils and Trouble on this infectious carmel apple.

A Girls Best Friend!

I call this a girls best friend- because this stuff has become mine!
Any of you know the strain of allergies, its horrible! Ever since my immune system was compromised(I love that term)when I got Lymes and then the year or so of antibiotics- I haven't been able to get thru the allergy scene. Sure, I have the past prescriptions of Zyrtec, Allegra and Claritin- Clarinex- whatever.. Nothing works- and it takes me to the ground- no matter what I use, I am totally out of commission- crazy! I can even take OTC stuff that never affected me in a neg. way and now I can't take it. Sooooooo, I say all this to give you some heads up on some really great things that are inexpensive and OTC!

1. Before anything I do the Routine nasal rinse every morning and evening. Ocean Spray is like $3 something at Walmart and the off brand is $1 something- I think this is soo important to use before you use anything.

##1. The very Bestest of all things I have just starting using is Chloraseptic Allergen Block Awesome! Its a positive charged cream/polymer maybe of some sort(or at least it smells that way-elmers)- you use a tiniest of drop and rub it on the outside of your nose. IT WORKS! I spent my days sneezing uncontrollably- and now no more..

#2. I bought this because of my itchy and hurting nose- I was previously a vicks aholic and since those days I have an irratated nose and wanted something inside to give it relief! This is the stuff- Zycam Allergy swabs. I try not to use it with the allergen block- I mostly use this for that icy cool sensation and it makes my nose feel a lot better. It may really help with the rhino allergies- I don't know because of the Allergen block.

#3. Vita-alert. Also at Walmart. A girl told me about these energy boosting vitamins. I rolled my eyes because I have distributed just about every energy and vitamin line out there(Melaluca-Herbal-life-you get the pic)and So much of this stuff works but is expensive and if you have a trashy system- nothing will get absorbed and really work anyway... Enough said.. Anyway, for whatever reason- these really do work! I think its the bee pollen or something -following the instruction and your good to go!

#4. Last but not least is the Mucinex double- Last year when I had an upper resp. infect. The Dr. put me on like 800mg. of Guafinisin(mucinex) They told me to go to the drug isle and get the off brand (400mg.)- for a fraction of the cost. I was at Target and got the stuff for $2 something when the same amount of mucinex was $14- needless to say, it worked very well- just like they said it would.

I just thought I would put this out there since that time of year is upon us.

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Pumpkin Dreamtini
A taste of what you'll find!



Pumpkin Dreamtini

2 cups orange sherbet

1/4 c. vodka (add a little more if you like it stonger)

1/4 c. whipping cream or half and half

1/4 c. ice

Put all of the ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth. Rim a martini glass with orange sugar and add a pumpkin peep for the garnish.

I can't wait to try out these recipes!

I am going to take time to stop and smell the roses....

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Sure! We have all heard the wonderful statement that cuts thru most with a knife "Take time to Stop and smell the roses!" This used to be my banner. Then life plows into you without notice and puts you on a leave of absence! Well as you know in my post before, I have been doing the "missing" dance- I miss this and that and so on..... So I decided I was going to take time to STOP and Smell the Roses. So I just marched right over into my neighbors yard- cut some of their beautiful roses, came in grabbed a wine glass, filled it up with wine and forgot what I was doing- no just kidding...filled it with water and roses. Yes, I feel much better. Simplest of things that I take for granted and whalah- do it and what a difference it makes! Okay, let me back track...

Both homes on each side of me are vaccant rental property!!!! I grow concrete and sticker burrs now- remember?!


Mops was awesome today- got great idea's to encourage me thru the hard months(winter) when I feel trapped in my home usually- so Today, I am just going thru and seeking out real-time shots to blog about- before things change again!!!! Art work, it fills the hall-way! The Priorities- perhaps we should focus more on supplying milk for our children and not coffee??!!! No Milk but boy do I have creamer!!!! The Hugo size at that!

Important things not to "Forget"

In Drama Land, a week of missing friends, missing what used to be home, missing the natural beauty, missing stability(in the natural)blah blah blah... Even missing flowers, all my plants- which I know are being well taken care of... Still..........the first week of cold- that in its self is hard on me. So I decided to make a list of things not to forget and move forward..

1. I will not forget the awesome friends I had the priviledge of hanging out with in the Carolina's. I am so thankful that they were ever introduced into my life. I have had a tough week going thru this missing everyone "again". Its hard to believe I allowed myself to get re-established in relationships all to move again..I just simply wasn't prepared. Amazing how life turns into a blip.

2. I will not forget to unpack shoes & clothes. Next time, I will unpack and locate boxes that say Shoes and Winter clothes before it turns cold! This is not fun to do when its in the 30's outside and you have that one pair of flip-flops that you have worn all summer long since all your belongings have been in storage. Cold frost-biten crunchy feet are NOT cool. Today I have located my shoes and winter clothes- ....

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3. I will not forget my gardens and flowers I left behind. Sounds silly, but you ought to try having that as one of your passions and not having a single tree or bush or plant at any point on your property in the ground. the only thing that grows is concret & cocker-burs- goat-heads- heck whatever they are called here. However I have bought some plants in containers-but they are all gone just about due to the weather.

4. I will not forget the hospitality of strangers. I will not forget that you do not have to go thru life being discourteous, things go so much smoother when you pay it forward- do it first- let someone into line, wave them across when they are tring to get into traffic- help others out at the store- open doors, watch others children- keep them safe from running out in the street while a mom is getting the baby out- pay someone who looks down a compliment- walk around being a blessing for pete sakes! You know, things that make a difference- I will surely miss this- I miss all nationalities and people of all kinds being in a community and no one referring to the person based on their skin color- like the asian guy or the indian woman- for somehow you never hear oh sally that white woman that lives 2 houses down.... crazy- I miss it. My humungous pet peave of all time is addressing or referring to anyone by their ethnicity or skin tone & yelling at people while driving. Everyone has a name- use it. I love this pic at the International airport with the skyline of Charlotte in the background.

5. I miss my home. Sure, I have a nice one here, but once again here we go trying to set up camp again. I personally am not good in this area and its not something I enjoy doing. when you are good at something you don't mind doing it over and over again. I miss my old house, I didn't even like it at first- I just loved the back yard- really- just the back yard. We had to get rid of a ton of things due to not having the room for it with all windows and no wall space- alot had to go-even though it was a fairly large house- the layout was strange. I felt like I just got totally comfortable and absolutely adored my house and the way we fixed it up. Now its all over again only opposite. Tons of wall space and nothing to put on them. Literally re-establishing all over.I loved our walking trail community- literally creeks and trails everywhere. I loved our backyard!

I miss life as it was simple- you move, your things go up in the next house- so many times paint alone would cost a fortune just to match your decor- not to mention the homes theme in how its built. Now, if we choose to decorate our house it will take quite awhile to fill all those nooks and wall space and I am sure a small fortune- I actually prefer to invest in some plants & flowers!

So I will miss you yellow house and all my hummingbirds and butterflies!

About as Fall as its going to get.......

I took some pictures of the only reflections I get to see on on daily basis of "Fall". Since trees changing colors or loosing leaves is not likely- little did I know how much I would really miss "Seasons". I am trying to be grateful and not get discouraged about our move back to TX. Anyway, we went to the only Pumkin simulated patch around this area and took some pictures. You can see by the pictures- we didn't stay long- all the boys wanted to do is throw pumpkins at each other. Luckily we were there with the Mops groups and I didn't feel so bad about my kids behavior=)))).

Abilene- the WOW factor

( I am not sure if you can see the building in the farthest distance- we are in the middle of people waiting in the line, yes, a ton more stand behind us! the kids look of "your kidding us right"..

I am still trying to get over the "WOW" factor of this town. Its spread out all over the place- its got to have at least 100,000 people in it and yet its still takes on that small-town feel and mentality. We went to the Boo-Zoo the other night- we have done this for years- but the first time here in Abilene and boy was it a shocker.....

There is no way to explain how people come out of the wood-works(literally) for things in this town. Not long ago a friend and I stood outside the expo center at 10 oclock at night to get in to a childrens consignment sale that they have twice a year- crazy! Hundreds of people.. Well this zoo-thing was no different- only thousands! It was a lot of fun, but strange, you stand in line to go thru the entire zoo and its "stations" with candy- so basically its a couple hours of candy line! here are some pictures- I am not quite sure if it gives justice to what it was really like.

Now I just love this Pirate! Don't get me started on all the "hoochie-mamma" pirate outfits out there!
I apologize if that offends you and you were one of those parents that fell for the bait & purchased hoochie wear for your daughter- we were aiming for the Keira Knightly costume but none of them came without the hooker attire.
Boys are sooo easy!
We had a beautiful backdrop at least and Kori had her friend there to help the time go by quicker.

FrEaKy Friday

Sure its Normal.... A typical day for me........I am sooooo tired of it though.!..!.!

In the Scheme of things its not that big of deal- just maddening. Its been a week without hotwater, it happened to be the coldest week so far this year. Yea, sure I thought it was all fun and games to hear shrills of too cold to take a shower in the mornings when Dewayne took his showers, sure I thought its a real excuse NOT to wash clothes and dishes since I have zero hotwater, sure we have made it thru the week- slightly miserable- but gosh, Matthew has been on another tear! Very much tired of this.... Oh , you know how you know if its bad or not? When you go to the Oil changing place and at least 3 men sitting in the waiting room holler out to your child by HIS NAME and tell him to get back inside so he doesn't fall into the garage pits while your desparately Paying as quickly as possible so you can get out of there! Yes, One very nice man- said " Matthew you get in here right now".. and he did. So sure its not enough to have the village(thank god) help raise your child- but then after a very long day of errands in stores( another story- Walmart refused to change my oil in the truck), a very clean, oil changed, tires rotated and balanced vehicle- the kind that drives brand new- you know the kind I am talking about...

This is 5 minutes in the drive once it got home - I thought it to be a good idea to let Matthew play outside while the guy fininshed working on the HW Heater so he would stay out of his way- and whata you know.....

The ol' haunted chalk trick- you know the kind that your husband says NO TO! No Chalk, No marker(after his car got colored on by markers) No crayons etc..

At least its glow in the dark chalk right??? And he did go bumper to bumper....

One Chilly Day at the Farm!

This is a surprise they stink and get me dirty shot..I might add- he quickly got over it..

Today was a very chilly MOPS day at the Farm. Very Awesome over 200 animals and a ton of very loving stinky things to pet and love on. The kids had a blast! Not to mention it was 50 below out! Okay, not 50 below more like above- but it sure was COLD! I did such a huge wordy post last time I am doing mostly pics this time. All these cute animals and Matthew mostly wanted to hold the cat and pet the dogs- go figure!!!!!!!! I have been in the process of trying to talk Dewayne into a Mini donkey or pigmy goats and so far he is not budging- this is my eighth year attempt at the goat part- only recently have I thrown in my request for the mini guard donkey. His birthday IS coming up in Dec..... You just never know!!!!!!!!

One step forward.........

TURNS OUT MATTHEW DOESN"T LIKE FROSTING!


Today started out to be a clammy day. The weather is dreary and muggy- everyone all around is acting stranger than usual. Its just one of those days.. Of course, it turns into an indepth day for me(whew what a shocker=) I have been feeling rather heavy in the field of "how I use to be".... Anyone go thru that? If I were still athletic, if I were still this and that and so on... I have really been hitting that hard lately, realizing that had I still been the person I was my entire life until Kori was born- how awesome of a mother I would be. How much I would be doing with my kids and my husband and oh how things would be so different.
You know I really believed up until today, that you can search thru anything and find the source and "fix it". I feel for at least 7 years I have been searching for the "What happened", so many times I was for sure I found the reason, the source and then attacked it with a plan of action to change back to "who I was".
How completely unbiblical I have been in trying to keep the old me... I still argue that for 32 years it was good- All good.
Today I have done "bargaining"! Ok, then just let me have this trait back.. No, this one, ok so then this one.............. I finally stopped with my true passions- surely that is Not to much to ask to have back??? Is it? I once loved cooking and making ANYTHING in the kitchen- I loved holidays, I often think just so I could cook and prepare a spread and decorate and coordinate food etc.. Now. the thought of cooking nearly makes me sick- and baking..... oh the things I once baked- anyway- you get the picture... I realized today I have an awesome Kitchen and I am very thankful for it and I am going to use it. It is by far the bestest=) kitchen ever and it makes me very grateful. So today we made cupcakes. Why is this a blog moment? Because I Do Not let my kids in the kitchen!

My friend Yvonne(if your reading this your getting a laugh I know) last year had a christmas cookie baking thingy at her house for kids. Sure we went- I thought this meant cookie decorating not making... anyway- she couldn't understand why I was flipping out at her letting the kids mix and add the ingredients etc.. what a mess- Thank goodness for her German heritage and the alcohol she had on hand for the moms- hahaha. I was so glad that it was at her place and NOT mine!
I realized that I have never done these things with my kids and today what the heck! So they all got to mix the batter and add the ingredients- sounds like such a simple thing for them to do- huh..... I managed to take some pictures before they got in trouble- mostly Matthew throwing his iced cupcakes across the room. I also got one picture of Josh not too thrilled about getting beamed with a cupcake- those are the good times=/ hummmm......

Happy birthday to one of the sweetest kids I know.

Of course, I had to include this wonder fall shot of the kids taken behind our house in Charlotte. Speaking of missing things- I will certainly be missing all the beautiful trees turning amazing colors- I also noticed (NC) highs were in the 60's........... Thats fall........ Fall has always been an indication of pumpkins like the big one pictured in the shot below. Today, Its hot outside- no trees to change color, the smell of skunks linger nearly every morning and I have not a clue when I will see the new teenager. I guess change means total change.

I love the new song I put on my blogs "Only one life to love"- true- what a abrupt reminder of not to take for granted anytime you have with anyone or anything and it all makes a difference good or bad- either way it will follow you til the end of your time- so make the right choice and have good memories, sow into good things, because
You only get just one time around, you only get one shot at thisOne chance to find out the one thing that you don’t wanna missOne day when it’s all said and done I hope you see that it was enoughThis one ride, one try, one life to love

A Tough Road to hoe.........

Yes, Eston thought this combat picture was just up his sisters alley & once she saw he also had her butterfly wings on she cried- he consoled her by stating " if you want me to be a hero- I have to be able to fly"!

I nearly forgot how to spell hoe....... and I still hope I spelled it correctly=)

This week is a Tough week- not declaring it- but it is what it is..... I can remember 13 years ago when my first sweetie pie was born. I am still in shock that those 13 years has flown by. I guess its been really difficult considering- I don't have him here reminding me every moment that he has a birthday coming up and that he will be an "official" teenager! He has tried to convince us that a pre-teenager was the same and just like being a teen- so the schools said- we didn't buy it! So it looks like a teenager he will be this week- wow. I still can't believe his photo album(the one I will eventually make-haha) will stop at 12. No more birthday parties, no more stunt shots. I have taken some heat in this area and only by the grace of God did I not fire back upon those loose comments. There was just no way for me to prepare to end Mothering of my oldest at 12 yrs. of age- I was clueless- some strange reason I thought and felt my wheaties as "Mommy" and just knew if it ever came down to it(like why would it?)- he would "pick me". Well he didn't & now its up to me to move on and get over it. I think the part that still gets me is why do you get to pick? Why is it okay that a 12 year old decides what is in his best interest? Can he possibly know what is good for him? Well, I have decided that the Lord is not surprised and is more than capable of handling things with out my assistance. I also got reminded of all the things I did when I was 12- I made that critical mistake of telling Eston about things I did as a kid- yeh, so now he reminds me! But you know, times are far different- just in those few years(haha) I worked and made my own money starting at the age eleven, I also drove(you can do that in the country) the many things prepared me for college as well as to live on my own at 16.

Does video games prepare you for life? Anyway. enough for today- I leave this with a fav pic of the booger-bear.

The Mentalist

What about those new shows out there? How about the season premiers that we have oh so waited so long for? Amazing the world of television it is. Dang a few years ago I could of banked off of being the Mentalist! I absolutely love that show- so I have added a new thang! I was going to name this post the world of Freak- since by golly I have so much happen that "Freaks" me out! So much so that is a household term " your freakin kidding me!" Kids and all. Although, they actually beat me to the punch on this last one- the smurf bum.....

I truly wished I had taken the shot while sitting down- this just doesn't do it justice! Its completely covered in blue perfectly- his entire bottom is blue. No he said he did it- no help. Yeh right. Did you know blue bum spots look like butterflies on light colored carpet?
Balloon Fest- well, had I not dropped the camera I would have had a hilarious shot, we were with in touching range of one of the balloons and they fired it up- we jumped and thought we had been singed-Looked over to find Matthew layed out on the ground in pure terror/shock. He didn't leave my side the rest of the night.
Some have handle bars.......

As if they had to duck- this was all before Eston pushed Matthew out of the way of a moving vehicle and daddy grabbing them both to keep from everyone getting run over. Did I mention how courteous people are here?
Its been a real wild week. Total realness setting in that the kids are indeed growing up- Estons birthday on Thursday will confirm we have a Teenager!!!! Can you guys believe that??? Well, he mise well be an adult all the grown up decisions he gets to make now- I asked him if he was happy- he once again gave me the run down of all he has now and all he gets to do and then asked me" now mom what do you think?" Of course, all I hope for is that he stays safe and that he can actually make it as an adult!!!! Did you know the average age that children left the house 5-10 years ago was between the age of 18-21. Do you know what the average age is presently speaking? I almost passed out- its 27!!!!!!!! We always said we want our children to stay at home until the last possible moment- even if that means with their family/ kids- gosh this could be a reality! So perhaps it would be ideal to accumulate property and homes for them to live in along side of us=)
I end this post with this picture......... He was laying flat but moved while I went to get the camera. Don't judge- I live by so many that do that already- don't need anymore help in that area! I have had a problem keeping up with Matthew lately... Yes, shocker. He escaped and I don't hear the door open( the layout of the house doesn't help either=) We will be putting door alarms and latches on this weekend. Anyway, this is him with-out permission going outside. You know we no longer have the luxury of a backyard- for shame we raised our kids to only play with in the confines of our backyard! Now they go WILD in the front! No we are not very well appreciated in the hood. Just goes with the territory I suppose. One again I will have failed to win mother of the year- perhaps I shall got back to working my 70-80hrs. per week so that I may accomplish something. =) other than children who play in traffic=) okay so no traffic just the street.