November 24, 25, 26 & 27

1}  I'm thankful that I'm not tied to my blog.  That I can take a few days off for the weekend and that's okay!

2}  I'm thankful for flowers...more specifically flowers growing in my flower beds and various pots around my porch.

these hydrangeas are from a tiny plant in my front flower bed.
they bloomed a pale pink and then this fall turned this dark red.

3}  I'm thankful for the bartering system that is alive and well with my talented friends and I.  I can crochet up a few things and trade with my friend that is a photographer for our Christmas picture...love that!

4}  I'm thankful that my Christmas pictures are done and my cards are printed and just waiting to be addressed.

5}  I'm thankful for books.  I love reading.

6}  I'm thankful for seasons.  I enjoy every season and I am usually ready for the next one when it's time...I pretty much think God knew what he was doing when he created the whole season thing!  He's good like that!

7}  I'm thankful for ziploc divided containers to pack my kids lunches in.  It's like their own personal lunchable without the crap junk food!

8}  I'm thankful for music.  My husband is a musical genius and my kids are blessed enough to have some of his genes and the gift of piano lessons.

9}  I'm thankful that all the Thanksgiving desserts are GONE so I can stop eating them.

10}  I'm thankful for a friend to run with on cold fall mornings.

11}  I'm thankful for the 'extra' week of November to get ready for girl child's birthday!

12}  I'm thankful for meal planning and menu's that help keep me organized!

oh, hello there

well, hello...

guess I took a summer break!...

lets see....

boychild had a birthday...he chose 'Viva Pinata' as the theme...

yep...random...maybe, someday in the future I may blog about how to throw a Pinata themed birthday...maybe not...

we went to Sunriver, Oregon....BTW this is Oregon...blue skies and trees....

weird things happen sometimes...didn't plan this at all...

we were driving to Sunriver, OR on boy child's actual birthday... 

we were getting hungry for dinner and were passing through Klamath Falls, OR 

(where Beau was born...36+ years ago)...

we asked Wilson what he wanted for dinner...

he said pizza.... 

so, we pull off at the last Klamath Falls exit and follow the signs to Abby's Pizza...

then Beau begins to reminisce 

(he grew up in FAR, FAR northern California, Tulelake...and the "big city" was Klamath Falls......)

guess what/where Beau had for his 7th birthday...

yep, pizza @ Abby's Pizza in Klamath Falls, OR...

I don't think we could have planned that if we wanted to!

while in Sunriver we caught some toads...we were actually officially on 'Toad Patrol'...yep...
might also blog about that...I have some catching up to do...

Sunriver was great...we were with the in-laws...whom I love so very much...
seriously...I married into a great family...
and then my brother-in-law went and married good too...so it's all good....
I don't have any really great pictures from the whole time we were in Sunriver, but take my word for it...we had a great time...
my sister-in-law organized the "Chambers Family Olympics 2012"...
so much fun...games from Minute-2-Win-It...
loved it!

boy child did baseball (t-ball with Jr. Giants...amazing) for the first time this summer...loved it...all of us!...one magical thing about Jr. Giants t-ball...the games are 2 innings/1 hour...that is so.very.magical when you are thinking about baseball in Redding in July!

we took a quick trip to the 'Bay Area' (aka San Francisco & Oakland) with friends to visit the Oakland Zoo and the Exploratorium...fun times...BTW...Oakland WalMart after dark...not AS scary as I would have thought...not that I wasn't a little, teeny-bit scared...but not as bad as I was expecting....

both girl & boy child participated in the YMCA's swim team this summer...which meant I had the opportunity to work-out three mornings every week...or sit by the pool and read...I'll let you decide what I did!

we had a great summer, with lots of fun memories!

and then...before I could blink...the summer was over...and back to school...

boy child off to 2nd grade...

and...gulp...girl child off to middle school...aka jr. high...she is ONLY is 6th grade...I grew up in small-town-Oregon where we had Elementary (k-3), Intermediate (4-6), Jr High (7 & 8), & High School (all the others)...so even though she's technically in middle school...and ONLY in 6th grade...since she's with all these really big kids...and has 6 classes a day...it feels like Jr. High to me...

Okay...now that summer is over and things are back to normal...
I will start to blog again...I have to, I have blogs that have been trying to write themselves in my head and I must get them out of there!

are pigs flying?

I'm not sure...but it seems like they might be
or I might have gone crazy...

whatever happened...
the girl child was blissfully happy...
her love language is quality time
and when that quality time is spent doing something she has dreamed of...
well...she's then on cloud nine!

so we listened...
listened and shuddered a bit...
when she said she wanted to go to the mall for her birthday...

really...the mall...you're turning 11...
not 16 or even 13...
but 11...

after talking with a friend
(also a mother of one of girl child's best friends)
about how crazy someone would be to let a group of 11 year old girls celebrate a birthday at the mall...
she suggested maybe not having the party there...
and not letting them roam the mall...
but giving them a scavenger hunt to do at the mall...
thanks Kathy...brilliant idea!

so I asked all the parents of the girls she wanted to invite if they would be comfortable with me taking their girls to the mall...
assuring them that they would be 100% chaperoned by me the entire time
they were all fine with it...
so them I decided to take the plunge and do it...
...and NO...I haven't taken up drinking...

we also continued to let girl child believe that she was too young to have a party at the mall...
so she thought that the party was just going to be girls hanging out and do sleepover type stuff...
I had also asked all the parents to not let their daughters know the plan so it would be a surprise...

after all the girls arrived and the presents had been opened...
I had one more present...

it was the mall scavenger hunt list in a card...

I had made a list
I googled "mall scavenger hunt"
got a lot a different lists...
compiled some of what I liked
printed it off and met a friend at the mall
we went over the list to see what would work...
what wouldn't work
and what I could add to the list
I was able to add lots of Christmas themed stuff to the list because of her birthday being in December...
this would also be a fun activity to do with kids that you're trying to entertain over the long Christmas break...

some stuff they just had to find and check off the list
A video surveillance camera
5 business cards
A store catalog
A discarded receipt
A coupon
An unhappy baby or toddler
A pay phone (make sure your mall has one!)

other things they needed to DO (and I wrote some in code that they had to figure out)
Walk around the playground 3 times (no running)
Say Merry Christmas to 10 different groups of people
Keep your hands soft, get a some free lotion for your hands
Take a 3D peek (Old Navy had a 3D thing set up and handing out 3D glasses)
Get a small piece of wrapping paper for free
Eat for free at the Farm...

some things they needed pictures of them doing
A team member posing with a mannequin – both posing the same
Your team all wearing sunglasses
Your team saluting people as they exit Old Navy
A picture of the entire team in front of 5 different Christmas trees
Entire team modeling a feather boas or scarves
Entire team in hats
1 team member modeling a pair of 5 inch heels
1 team member kissing a mannequin on the cheek
Every team member needs a picture with an animal, and the animal must start with one of their initials.

some trivia questions or things they needed to count or keep track of
How many stalls are in the food court ladies restroom?
What does it cost to add bacon to your 6” sub at Subway?
How many couches are there in front of Macy’s?
How much does it cost to ‘live in a fairy-tale’?
How many candy vending machines are there?
How many restaurants are in the food court?
How much does it cost to wrap present 5 presents?
How many Christmas trees have a star on top?

and then the things that would cost them money...(their favorite part!)
Using ONLY $1.25 purchase a dozen of something from the food court (1 dozen for the entire team...not a dozen for each team member); sit and eat your purchase.
All team members need to make a wish in the fountain-you can’t toss more than $0.50worth of coins, total for the entire team
All team members must purchase a different scented hand sanitizer none of them costing more than $1.50
I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore...take a trip in a Hurricane
Cheese...squeeze in for a photo booth shoot.
Buy 1 package for your entire team a set of 5 lip gloss or chap sticks with animals on them, spend no more than $9

Buy a card of earrings with at least 6 sets of earrings costing no more than $10

if they found something for less they could put that $ towards something else on their list...

the lip gloss they got for $7 so they were able to spend extra on the earrings and the hand sanitizer they found on sale ($1) so I let them buy the little carrier things for the sanitizers for $0.50...making them $1.50 total...

They all got to keep their hand sanitizers and carrier things...

and then the lip gloss and earrings we came home and drew numbers, #1 chose her favorite lip gloss...then #2...and so on...then #5 had first choice on the earrings...they ended up with a card of earrings with 9 sets...and 5 girls...so the birthday girl (she got 3 gift cards for jewelry for the birthday) only took one pair

the girls had a blast...

we only had 5 girls...

that was the girl child's choice, but it turned out great because then I could drive them all 

and also having a small group I just had them all stay together, no teams also meant the birthday girl got to be with all her friends and didn't have to choose...no drama!

and then bonus...the 'picture'part of the hunt has all the girls for great thank you cards latter!

the only thing I would change is NO photo booth...

it was WAY to small, 

it cost $5...

for shots of chins and foreheads...

and this is the only thing that caused any girl 'issues'...

a few came out of the booth crying...sheesh...it's just a photo booth...

and then we came home for some birthday cake...

the cake is a bag with presents falling out...

fun times...Happy Birthday Girl!

What a Joy!

our sweet precious baby girl is 11 years old today...
I'm thinking that might officially be a 'tween'...
eek....
and she doesn't know it but we are surprising her with 
yikes...
a.party.at.the.mall...
yes I know...I might be crazy...
but it will be 100% chaperoned by ME 
(yeah, I know, not cool mom!  I know)
and there is only be 5 tween girls
and they will have a 'plan'...
it's going to be a scavenger hunt at the mall...
so no free roaming tweens on my watch!

here is my prayer for our baby girl today....
adapted from Psalm 139

O Lord, you have searched her and known her.You know when she sits down and when she wakes up; you discern her thoughts from far away.  You search out her path and her lying down, and You know all her ways. Even before a word is on her tongue, O Lord, you know it completely. You protect her, You are  behind and before her, and your hand is upon her.  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it.  Where can she go from your spirit? Or where can she flee from your presence?  If she ascends to heaven, you are there; if she makes her bed, you are there.  If she takes the winds of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead her, and your right hand shall hold her fast.  If she says, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night,"  even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you. It was You who formed her inward parts; you knit her together in my  womb.  I praise you, for she is fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.  Her frame was not hidden from you, when she was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes beheld her unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for her, when none of them as yet existed.... Search her, O God, and know her heart; test her and know her thoughts.  See if there is any wicked way in her, and lead her in the way everlasting.

Yes, the LORD has done amazing things for us! What joy!' 
Psalm 126:3...Madison's Miracle Verse...
What a Joy is right...you are a sweet treasure from God and he has wonderful plans for your life!

I know how to party-Tag

Yesterday was my birthday...
I turned 33...
I spent the day trying to sell my wares at the Green Baby Expo...
sold $18 worth of stuff...but the booth space was $60
(that was $180 split 3 ways...and total the three of us didn't break $100)
...so I lost $42...(we lost over a $100 as a group...good times..I think next time ladies we should 'spend' that money on a spa day or at least lunch at a nice restaurant!)
then out to dinner with the family where the girl child ends up sick and almost vomiting in Outback...
happy birthday to me!


I actually did have a good day, hanging out with two good friends at Green Baby...
(trying to crank text and learning that I am too old to remember any crank phone calls)


...dinner was nice and sweet with the family (up until the girl got sick)...
and then by the time we got home the boy child was also sick, so off to bed early for both kids...
both in bed and sound asleep by 7 pm...
so a nice relaxing evening with my Beau 
(have I mentioned how much he LOVES when I call him "my Beau")
yeah, he just gagged a little...
we read a little and then the two of us watched a little MSW (murder she wrote) 
and I fell asleep (with drool) before the end...
and YES folks that is how I party!


a friend, Krystal over at These are but the Fringes, tagged me in a blog tag with a few questions...here are my answers...a little get to know me for my belated birthday
  
1) What is your favorite book and why? I'm talking the book you can read cover to cover more than once a year! 
not sure I have a book I can read more than once a year...I love to read and a few classics that I have read multiple times are "To Kill a Mockingbird" (read it in jr. high and have loved it ever since, I think I've read it maybe 6 times) "Puddin' Head Wilson" (read it in my book club, picked because the name was great and LOVED it, have only read it twice, but I really enjoy it)
  
2) How did you meet your spouse? 
at college (Simpson College), both stayed on campus over the summer (him for classes, me to work)...we had both 'noticed' each other before that, but hadn't really talked or hung out or anything.
  
3) What is your favorite family vacation from when you were a kid? 
can't say...remember a LOT of camping, and a trip to Disneyland and a trip to Ohio...remember them but can't say they were "favorite vacations"...
  
4) What is your favorite comfort food?
love winter with all the cozy comfort foods, I think either Chicken Pot Pie or mashed potatoes and gravy!

5) If money were no object, where would you pack up and fly off to today?
Disneyland or Disney World... and then a long relaxing road trip of the east coast.

6) What's one word you would use to describe yourself?
casual

7) 3 People who are dead now you'd want to go out to coffee with? NOT including Jesus, because after all, He's NOT dead and you can actually have coffee with Him someday :)
Joan of Arc-just would like to talk to her...for someone so young to die for their beliefs...amazing
Mary (mother of Jesus)-also for someone so young to make such a decision about her life
my grandpa's (okay that's 2 people), but I never met either one of them and I'd love to sit and talk to either one...both seem like some amazing, gentle, funny, men...


going to tag a few friends with these questions
1.  If you're a everyday coffee drinker do you set the auto brew the night before or make it every morning?  If you'r not a coffee drinker...well, I got nothing for you...
2.  If you could have an orchard with only one type of fruit tree what would it be?
3.  Choose 2 people, living or dead, that you'd love to invite to  Thanksgiving dinner...two people you've never met...and do you think the 2 would get along...(not Jesus...yes, he is alive, but I'm hoping you've all met him!)
4.  Where do you see yourself in 5 years...and Are you where you wanted to be now 5 years ago?
5.  what is your "throw down" meal...the meal that you usually have the ingredients on hand to make and you can make it fast without the recipe...
6. choose one 
Day at the Spa with your best friend...Day in a cozy cabin with your husband...Day at an amusement park with your family...
7.  do you have a life verse or saying?


to all of my 49 readers...feel free to answer any of the above questions (the ones that I answered or asked) and reply in the comments...these are the ladies/blogs that I'm tagging with these questions
Lee @ Creative 2Xmom
Becky @ Rookie to Rockstar
Kristen @ Kristen Parr
Laura @ Lil' Daisies 
Krystal @ These are but the Fringes 
     (Krystal I know you've already been tagged, just wanted you to see my answers...)
Mrs. Smith...aka Jody @ TheSmithHotel 
     ...which isn't a hotel...it's not on a map...but it IS a destination!
Kelsy @ We Weren't Crazy

Where's the Cake...I Thought I Saw a Cake

oh, wait...it's camouflaged!

at the beginning of this week a friend on facebook posted a plea for a camouflaged birthday cake for her son...

I've never actually made one before, but knew I could make it with fondant...and since I was also making Wilson's rainbow cupcakes for preschool I knew I could also make the inside of the cake camo looking...so I told her I was interested and she took me up on the offer...

so I made the same recipe that I did for the rainbow cupcakes

and then split the batter into 4 different batches...it doesn't have to be even batches, and you can do any color you want, this would be fun to make blue camo for a baby boy shower, or for an ocean birthday

or do blues and greens for an "earth day" party...

or a pink and brown camo for a little girl

... or even a baby shower...

and you could color it brown or use chocolate mix with the yellow cake dyed pink...

or a strawberry cake mixed with a chocolate cake...

ohhh, I'm going to have to make that....

oops, tangent...

so I had three different shades of green and a brown (forgot to take pictures along the way)

then just globed them into the cake pans in different amounts and in different places...don't over think it, just do it.

then bake according to the size of pan you are using

let cool, and then cut the cakes to make them level

I then frosted and layered them with a chocolate butter cream frosting (didn't get a picture of that)..

set aside the cake and start working on the fondant...

I buy the Wilton brand that's pre-made...you can get it at Michaels or WalMart...

now if you've never used fondant before you should try...

it's like play-dough that you can eat...and cover cakes with...and make lots of fun stuff....

the camo cake is a pretty easy one to start with because you really can't mess up the look of camo...

divide up the fondant and start coloring the different batches the colors you want for the camouflage

 then I use the Wilton food colors, you can use less and get a really rich color...

I mix the color into the fondant inside a bag otherwise your hands will be COVERED in color...

then lay out your colors and start rolling

the directions on the box of fondant tell you to use powdered sugar rather than flour, the sugar just makes it all sticky, I was told by a friend a long time ago to use corn starch and it works great!

add some more and just have fun

then I wanted to add some camo words

I really wanted to put "Happy Birthday" but it was too big and would have all globed together...

so the birthday boy, Drew was turning 10, so I just camouflaged the #10 and his name into the top

then very carefully, with the help of my husband, lifted the fondant and layed it on the cake

smoothed it down, trimmed off the excess and then made some little camo balls to put around the base

I was going to make some bullets...

but they turned out looking not so much like bullets 

....and a little more like something I didn't want to put on the top of a 10 year old boy's birthday cake...

so I suggested to the mom to maybe add some army men to the top of the cake...

I hope they enjoyed it...maybe I can get mom to send me some pictures of the kids eating it the cake and I will add those....