CA Girl

It is true what they say, that the older we get the faster time seems to fly by us. Christmas came and went so fast that I barely had a chance to even see it. My baby is now 4 years old. I have been married 16 years now. It feels like "forever!' haha. So what has happened? I made a new friend. And because of her, I have been inspired to keep up my blog. Hmmmm is this a good thing? Kristin made honor roll twice Emily was student of the month Ryan had some spills and thrills There was a family reunion School started back up with no time to recover from vacation Halloween had lots of fun and new adventures Thanksgiving was huge! December has been crazy. We are in the final stages of escrow now. We should be closing within the next two weeks. It's a grand way to end a decade and start a new one. I am not sure about making resolutions I can't keep, but I am sure I would like to improve upon myself so that next year I can truly say, "Wow! Look ho...

If you dared attempt the butterfingers, then the peanut butter cups will be a breeze. While they are also time consuming, there is no cooking involved--except for heating the melting chocolate of course. Here is what you will need: Peanut Butter Margarine Powdered Sugar Graham Crackers Melting Chocolate mini muffin cups mini muffin pans 2 Cups peanut butter 1 cup margarine (softened) 1 pound ( 3 & 3/4 cups) powdered sugar 1 package (11 sheets or 1 & 1/2 cups) graham crackers crushed fine Mix together Roll into logs then cut into small pieces. I don't have a measurement here. I just kind of eyeball it. Place a small amount of melted chocolate into the bottom of the muffin cup. Place the peanut butter center inside and cover with melted chocolate. Like the butterfingers, I put them in the fridge for a few minutes to help with cooling. This recipe makes over 100 cups. For some reason this year, my peanut butter center mix was a bit dry and crumbly. I simply added butter...

As promised I am going to be sharing some candy making with you this week. Normally these candies are made before Christmas, but this year that was just not an option. We got a call on Saturday morning that the appraiser was going to call us and make an appointment for Sunday. As it turns out, he is leaving town this week so it had to be done the next day. No rest for the weary. All of us scrambled all day long to clean and make the house presentable. We ended the day with some much deserved pizza. Sunday came and he quietly did his job. I have no idea if it went well or not. This appraisal is for the VA. They need to see if the house is worth what we are paying for it. It is. But they get the final say. Then after he left, I got the urge to start on the butterfingers. The butterfingers take at least two hours to make. It's time consuming yes, but I promise they are so worth it. Here is what you will need Sugar White Karo Peanut Butter Melting Chocolate Water Candy ...

I have never been so unprepared for Christmas as I was this year. Okay, so we are buying a house. Like that should make a difference. The week of Christmas involved a lot running around, signing papers, making copies, writing checks, scrambling and juggling the money and bills. So who had time for anything Christmas??? I spent the 23rd and the 24th wrapping and finishing up last minute shopping. I felt harried at times. But the thing is, Christmas comes just the same. Remember how the Grinch tried to steal Christmas? And it somehow or other it came just the same. I didn't get a picture on Christmas morning, but I did take one on Christmas Eve before Santa's visit. The kids had specific instructions not to wake us before 6:30 and not to wake their brother. I did say that if he was awake that would be ok. Well, according them he was up at 5:18. They did their best to keep it to 630. Next year we may have to push it back. Most of Christmas is on video. And I am far...

It just isn't Christmas until I see my favorite commercial! Last year, I never saw it. It was just sad. This year I see it almost every night. I can't help but love it. But Christmas comes with or without my favorite commercial because Christmas isn't about Hershey Kisses ringing out We Wish You a Merry Christmas. It's about something that could never be duplicated and something that can only be best told by a blanket toting kid named Linus. From our house to yours, have yourselves a Merry Christmas!

After another day of dealing with the house, signing papers, and spending the better part of the day in my car I came to the conclusion that some of the Christmas traditions would have to be suspended until next week. These traditions are homemade candies. Every year since I got married, I have made homemade peanut butter cups and homemade butterfigners. They are very tasty and very time consuming! I will be sharing the process with you next week. One thing I do, is keep my promises. Something I learned from my mother. She never promised me anything that she didn't intend to keep. If she knew she couldn't keep a promise, she would say, "I won't promise you..." I do this now. My kids know that my promises are just that. A promise. I promised we would gift wrap. I specified that I wanted to just sit and rest a while. It had been a trying day. Well, I fell asleep. For just about 30 minutes. But hey, 30 minutes of shuteye can do a mind a world of good. ...

Yesterday I went to make our down payment on our house. We are now officially in Escrow. If only it were as simple as that sentence. Getting there is half the battle. Finding the place was an adventure in and of itself! I knew right where it was. I should know better by now. I haven't learned. GPS was invented for two kinds of people: geeks and hopeless people with no sense of direction. Guess which one I am. After some wrong turns and ending in a different part of town, I did manage to find my way with my pal GPS. No, mine does not have a name. I arrived at the Escrow office and I marched in there ready to write my check. It was at that exact moment that I realized I had no clue what I was doing. I didn't even know what to say. "Ummm hi. I'm buying a house. And I am supposed to write a check for the down payment...so that we can open escrow." Yeah...that sounds right. It went more like this.... "I am opening escrow today." "Are y...

Before I begin, I want to say thank you all so much for your well wishes. I am doing better. Still coughing, but then that always lingers. Have you ever planned out something to the letter only to have life explode in your face and thus mocking your sad attempt to follow through on your plans? Or is it just me? Last week I had the 10 days before Christmas mapped out. On Wednesday my plan was to go to my Mom's to do some wrapping and watch a Christmas special. I did that. Thursday was likely going to be more wrapping at home and some cleaning. Friday would be grocery shopping and wrapping. Saturday would be a joint effort to clean and do laundry. Sunday would be church and rest. Monday would be mailing the Christmas newsletters and lead into the week of Christmas with candy making, cookie baking and everything Christmas!!! As most of you know, Thursday I was very sick. I seriously do not remember the last time I felt that sick. I couldn't have pushed through even if ...

I just wanted let you all know that I am taking a (short) leave of absence. I was feeling under the weather last Friday, and Saturday I was a lump. By Monday I felt almost normal again. Tuesday even better! By Wednesday night the whole left side of my face felt completely packed. Today(Thursday) I am at death's door. Or maybe it's at mine! All I know is, I haven't felt this crappy in a long time. I spent the day at my mom's and mostly slept. Thanks Mom. Now Rich is home and he is running the show. I shall return...as soon as I stop feeling like this.

Yesterday was one of my crazy non-stop days. It began with the normal stuff of getting the girls off to school. Normal is always good. I thrive on routine and normal. Well at least what I consider to be normal. But yesterday was no time to be normal. It was time to shop...again. I had to start this adventure returning things. Yeah, already. I started at Kohl's. Who doesn't love Kohl's? Well after yesterday, I love them a little less. Case and point: The item returned was paid for in cash. I had the receipt. Sounds all good so far. I bought the item on Black Friday. On Black Friday, Kohl's offered $10 in Kohl's cash for every $50 spent. Sweet. My niece and I spent a combined total of $167 giving us $30 in Kohl's cash. When the cashier finished the return, she informed me I would receive $13.05 in Kohl's cash. "Excuse me? Come again?" She repeated that I would in fact be getting $13.05 in Kohl's cash because the Kohl's c...

Before I get started, I have to whine a little. Every time I go on FB, Twitter(yes I finally caved) and here on Blogger I have to sign in! I check the "remember me" or "keep me logged in" boxes. They don't. They used to. Why have the option if it's not going to do it? I'm just sayin'! Okay...that's it. Ten days. Ten very long days of hyper children. Ten very long days of "Is it Christmas today?" Ten very long days of "Can we open them now?" Ten days. Ten very short days to complete the list that every year I swear up and down I will have done sooner next year. And yet, here I am same as last year, and the year before that and the year before that panicking that I won't make it! So what is on the agenda in the next ten days? Well there are 4 days of school left--yep just 4. Four days equals 3 nights of homework with restless children who would rather run around like the energizer bunny. I have to finish shoppi...

Every Christmas since we had our first child, we go and see Santa and then take the kids shopping. Okay...so we didn't take the first one until she was at least a year old. And she didn't cry. Not one tear. She looked extremely worried, but she didn't cry. Her sister never cried either. Just went because her sister did. She is still like that. Well if she can do it, then I guess I can too. As long as the choices are good I'm okay with that. Then along came a boy. This boy is a boy through and through. We have already suffered a chipped tooth, a broken nose, and a dive into a duck pond. Oh yeah, and there the was lesson about rocks and gravity. He will cause me a heart attack before I am 50, I am sure of it. Aside from his seemingly fearless attitude, he is quite afraid of strangers. This is good in most cases. I mean don't we tell our kids not to talk to strangers. Then on Halloween we dress them up and send them out begging for candy from people th...

I remember when the training wheels came off. I was so excited for her, and yet I was a little sad since that meant she was growing. I remember when she met all of her favorite Princesses. It was definitely the highlight of her summer. I got live vicariously through her eyes. I remember when she got baptized how blubbered like a baby marveled at how much she looked like an angel. And how pleased I was with her decision to be baptized. I remember thinking how grown up she looked when she attended a concert at The Kennedy Center for a field trip. But I was not ready for this. Her first winter formal. She had an "amazing" time. I know it's just going to continue on and on. I will savor each moment with all three of my children. It may be cliche, but it really does go by fast.

Every week Mama Kat gives 5 writing prompts to choose from. I enjoy her challenges very much. They always give me pause to think. And this week is truly exceptional. Please see The Liz Logelin Foundation and Anissa Mayhew's Hope 4 Peyton. Mama Kat and other sites(all listed on Mama's Losin It) are also holding auctions to benefit the sites listed above. Writing prompt #4 asks to describe a time when a stranger helped you. When I was a senior in high school, I didn't have a car like a lot of kids did. And if you didn't have a car you either road with friends who did, got carpooled, took the bus, or rode your bike. I was the latter. School was just a little over 2 miles from home. I had traveled about 1/2 a mile and was getting ready to cross a busier intersection. It was a 4 way stop, which is sometimes easy enough, but that doesn't apply here. As most of us know, you must stand up on the pedals to gain momentum. Since I needed to cross quickly, I did ...

What scares you? Is it the slasher movies? Ghost stories? Stories of women bearing Satan's spawn? Are you afraid to swim in the ocean? What movie has scarred you for life? I pose this question because a couple of nights ago, I saw a movie that totally disturbed me the first time I saw it. It is called Dreamscape starring Dennis Quaid. In one of the dream sequences, Dennis Quaid's character is helping a young boy get away from the monster in his dream. Well the monster is a pretty scary thing, or at least at the time I thought it was. It was a snakeman. In my mind, I remembered it looking sooo real! Plus they were going down miles of rickety old wooden stairs. Now who hasn't has THAT dream!? And yet when I watched it, I was half laughing at myself and literally laughing at how completely fake the effects were. And the whole concept of the movie now seems preposterous. Another movie that scarred me for life, was a movie called "The Hand." Okay I was t...

*****We interrupt your regularly scheduled blog for an important announcement***** Dear Jerk-Behind-Me, You can honk your horn until the cows come home. You can lean on it to your hearts content. I really don't give a flip! But no matter how long or how many times you honk that horn, I can not go to the other side of the street if there are cars there that are not moving! Okay, so you can't see over the top of my big old van. I get that. But I am not some dumb redneck picking their nose either. And I am not on the phone. And I am not drifting off to never land. Don't you think I would go if I could. My kid is getting wet too! Sheesh. I hope when you are in a similar situation that the person behind you is far more understanding than you were. But then, you are in a little runt car so anyone could easily see over the top or simply tip you over. Yours Truly The "Moron" in the Van ****We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog, without further in...

When I was 17, I had my wisdom teeth removed...surgically. I had the worst recovery imaginable. I had the dry sockets...in all four areas. A spot on my chin remained numb for six months. I couldn't chew food for about a month. My mom made me shakes. Aren't mom's great!? As a result of my liquid diet, I lost 25 pounds. I was looking good. Hey when you are seventeen you are allowed to be a little self-centered. I also got the grand notion to dye my hair. Why? Who knows. I thought it would be fun I guess. I chose to dye it red. Why red? Why not. It was fun. It turned out very nice and looked natural, surprisingly. I also received a lot of male attention. Again, at 17 one tends to eat that up. I tried many times over the years to duplicate the red result and never have been successful. I have also gone blond(er) which is the normal color I choose. The last time I colored my hair we lived in VA. I don't even think Ryan was born yet. I went blond(er) a...

What does it mean to have too many brains? Does it mean you have some to spare? Does it mean you are really smart? Sadly, no. This is when you have about a zillion--it's a word--things going on in your one brain and then it splits into little mini brains that are all buzzing at the same time. It's a little annoying when it happens at 1 in the morning because there is nothing to distract them. No fights to referee, no need to get someone juice, or a snack. There is no TV, music or computers. So those thoughts are demanding your attention. Luckily for me, mine are speaking now so I can get them out. Now the choice is yours to stay with me or move on to the next blog. The other day my mom and I went Christmas shopping. On the way home, I observed a woman driver to my left with an infant car seat in the front seat. Ummm...isn't that like totally illegal? I also noticed two small children in the back. The windows were too dark to be able to tell if they were in sa...

Dear Santa, I think I have been mostly good. I yelled a lot less this year. I refrained from name calling...okay...I didn't "refrain" but even you must admit that I did a lot better this year. I finally cleaned my side of the room clean. I know I still have a problem sharing, but it is mine right? I think you know what I want, but just in case I will include my list now. A maid...I think I could use one A chef....this way we would eat healthier A chauffeur...this way nobody would be late or miss anything A personal trainer...this way I will stay motivated A personal shopper...this way I will have more time with my kids Okay...so maybe I am asking too much. I will be more realistic. digital camera or auto focus lens for the one I have A nice sweater or light jacket that can be casual or dressy...ask Mrs. Claus she will understand. A vacuum. I know it sounds totally lame, but mine sucks. Welll actually it doesn't and that is the problem. New cookie sheets...and ...

When I was growing up we got a lot of Charlie Brown trees. You know the type, the scrawny little trees that lose their needles if you breathe on them. The kind of tree you can see through. I never knew a Christmas tree was supposed to be lush and thick with lovely branches. Well maybe I did, but we just always got the Charlie Brown trees. There is something to be said of the Charlie Brown tree. It just needs a little love. As an adult, we got a few Charlie Brown trees, but then I decided I wanted one of those thick and lovely trees. I am particularly fond of the Noble Fir. I love the smell of a fresh cut tree. Take in a deep breath and ahhhh it smells so good. But, here's the problem I have: the needles! What huge mess they leave behind. Even when you put that gynormous bag under it. Plus, over the years I discovered I am quite allergic to them. So after much debate some talking and nagging gentle pushing we got a fake tree. It's beautiful and no mess, no has...

This Thanksgiving was huge at our house. It started out to be big and then grew and expanded to HUGE! I knew we would have my parents, my brother and sister, my nephew and niece. Adding to a total of 11. Then, I decided to invite the missionaries. I love to feed them anyway, but to feed them on a holiday is extra special for me. It was so cute because they both kept thanking me so much for having them over. And I am the one who was thankful to have them in my home and the spirit they invite. Next we invited my aunt and uncle. Then, it turns out a cousin of mine just finished boot camp and is going to school (for the Navy) so we added her to the list. Well it turns out that these youngin's are not allowed to travel alone. So they must travel not in pairs, but at the very least a group of three. Sure why not! The more the merrier! We had a grand total of 18 guests. I was shaking in my boots at the very prospect of feeding 18 people and having enough for everyone. Not t...