Snow Heavenly!

Some pictures from the last days record breaking snow event in Texas!



This picture was from this morning.
I am not sure I have ever seen it this white anywhere before.
and a rare picture...



ahhhh...

Sew Pink

It's not often that I get my sewing machine out anymore and that is because I am so busy designing websites all the time. Another reason I can't post on here much either, but a few weeks ago I was browsing through a really cool craft tutorial website (which I cannot find the link to again and I am sad) and found some things that I really had to try.
The website features really great tutorials from around the net. It led me to the vlijtig blog and this tutorial. I had to make a few changes to adjust for my sewing abilities and well becuase I didn't want to sew more than I had to:) I am a lazy seamstress.
Here are the beautiful baskets I made out of some fabric I have been saving for sweatpea for several years now. I love how they turned out and so does she.

The teenager thinks he is funny

Well the truth is ... he is funny. But not when I need him to be. He is always trying to deflect when I am yelling at him. The other day he even answered the phone a proceeded to tell the caller that I couldn't hear the phone ringing because I was yelling at him to loudly. Thank goodness the caller knew him well enough to appreciate his sense of humor. He might have a career in stand-up comedy if he survives to adulthood. I just really really want to pinch his little head off when I am trying to be serious and a little spit rolls off my tongue into his eye and he pretends like it is acid making him melt. Last week at counseling (yes I have him in counseling) we left and the goal I am supposed to reach for is not falling into his humor trap... I am not mentally prepared for this, he's too good and I am weak! There is no winning this war with him. I just want to curl up into a ball and laugh so hard I cry...


wahhhh....

Recognize Someone

WOW, it's been over a month since I blogged. Truth be told I have been really busy and I am so exhausted every night I actually hit the sack around 8 pm... every night.
Time to myself is non-existent right now, but I am ok with that.
So I had to take my truck by Service King again today so they could finish up a couple repairs that they didn't get last month while the truck was in the shop (for 3 LONG weeks). While I was there our service rep came and talked to me. He has been so nice this whole time and while I am not completely satisfied with our experience at Service King it is through no fault of his. He has been kind and patient and knowledgeable and has worked hard to get things done in a timely manner. With a truck as old as ours is though getting parts isn't always easy. They recycle parts at this shop, which is why I like to take our truck to them for body work but our truck isn't only old it is also a weird year where they made parts differently than any other year. Why Dodge would do this, I have no clue but they did and so it is.
Needless to say he saved our truck from being totaled based on the fact that our original quote was on used parts. In the end they had to purchase some new parts to get the truck completed and back into it's full time job as a child hauler.
Where am I going with this... based on my experience with Jeremy at Service King, I have decided to write a letter to the company acknowledging his hard work. I have also decided to write a letter to Starbucks acknowledging my appreciation of all the folks at my corner Starbucks, especially Melissa and Sharon. The I plan on writing one letter a week in appreciation of someones hard work at various places I go to around town. I have realized that today.. in 2010 we so often forget to thank people by writing to their company and telling them they are doing a good job. Of course I always smile and say thank you as I am sure many of you do too, but I want to challenge myself and you guys to do the same thing. Is there someone at one of your regular daily stops that you would like to say an extra special "thank you" to? Write their boss a letter. I know for a fact it will mean the world to them!

Hummus

I know that when I host a playgroup over here at my house Hummus seems to always be a must... or wine, but we are talking playgroup so it must be hummus.
I was trying to find a hummus recipe that didn't call for tahini or peanut butter becuase not everyone can have PB.
So here is one I found that I think will do the trick.

* 3 garlic cloves, minced (more or less if you like)
* 1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt
* 1 tablespoon lemon juice
* 1 teaspoon olive oil
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon paprika
* 1/8 teaspoon pepper
* 1/8 teaspoon cumin
* 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
* 1 (19 ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
* 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped

Directions

Combine everything in blender or food processor and process until smooth. Chill about 30 minutes in the fridge.

Beautiful

There are so many beautiful things in the world and some of the most beautiful things are nature made. If they aren't nature made they are representations of natural and made with love and a ton of imagination.
I have decided to share with my children my desire to have a nature table in the house and I wanted to start it off by purchasing them this beautiful handmade item by Rosemary4Remembrance. I can't wait for the kids to come home from school this afternoon so we can start. I am not so sure how much beautiful stuff we are going to find today though... we can't keep the snow that fell this morning (by the way the first snowfall of the year! VERY early no doubt).
I hope to find some dry items or some stuff we can dry nicely and put into baskets we have collected.
Do you have a nature table at home? If not wouldn't you love to start one to celebrate the beauty God makes for us?
Share with me.. I wanna see what you come up with!

As for the snow, we rarely get snow here but the seas were good to us this summer and there were very few hurricanes which means there is a lot of water in the air above us and so I knew we would have some snow this year, I just didn't think it would come this soon. It's supposed to snow tomorrow as well and we have a freeze warning! Maybe the kids will get a snow day?!

Terrible News and Something fun...

So lets go with the terrible news first. This weekend our beloved 1998 Dodge Ram 1500 was broken into. This is the first vehicle Scott and I bought brand new. We paid it off early and have loved on this truck since day one. I took it through the car wash last n=month and broke off the antenna and although it cost $150 to replace I love the truck so much I paid the price and replaced it.
Anyhow, the jerk who broke into had no clue what he was doing because he demolished our truck and got NOTHING out of it. He got away with nothing. As you can see from the pictures he tore up the door and the window on the passenger door as well.
Once inside he proceeded to tear off the dash panel in the process cracking our dash board completely. Because of this we have been very very concerned that they might actually total the wehicle. The good news... They called today and didn't total it, they are going to repair it! YAY! Bad news, it's still a $500 deducible for us. See it does pay to have full coverage on even your older vehicles!


The something fun. I found this recipe for Growing Donuts... I think I will do this with the kids. Enjoy!