deLUSCIOUSness

Well, it's THAT time of year again...........APPLE TIME......well, almost............Would you believe I went out looking for apples the other day and none of the apple sheds had apples yet!!! UGH. You could get ALL the pears you wanted but NO apples. I don't very often 'crave' apples but OF COURSE I was that day. Well, Joe went by a friends orchard yesterday and brought me home a Walmart bag of apples....still no goldens YET---the goldens won't be ready until next week. Goldens are my FAVORITE! ESPECIALLY fresh off the tree Goldens. Mmmm. I know my mom's favorite for pies are Granny Smith but not me. I'm a Golden's girl ALL THE WAY! Here are the apples he brought me home:
Aren't they beautiful??
Their color, their perfect shape. Mmmmmm. One of the reasons I wanted apples in the first place, well, aside from making some applesauce for the kids....(they LOVE my homemade applesauce) was because I saw the best idea on Michelle Wooderson's blog not too long ago. She made up what she calls 'Caramel Apple Mudslides'. OH MY GOSH--they looked deLUSCIOUS!! You KNOW I just HAD to give it a try!! :) I picked up caramel and chocolate chips the other day at the store. We USUALLY have pecans (Joe's mom sends them to us from their trees shelled and all--NICE!) and/or walnuts coming out of our ears so I didn't bother to pick up any nuts and wouldn't you know....we have neither! UGH! Oh well. Our Caramel Apple Mudslides were nutless this time.......(not EVEN going there!! {grin})
This is what ours looked like (Samuel helped me out):Alright, alright....so they're a little 'messy' this time but it was our trial run so it's all good. :)I'm SO NOT putting them on foil next time...just a word to the wise.....use wax paper or just put 'em on a plate like Michelle did. We only made up 5 and 3 are gone already....Salvador, Nikki and I ALL like 'em! teeheehee.
My chocolate wasn't being as cooperative as I'd have liked BUT it's all a part of the process I guess....I'm picking up nuts today at the store and I'm going to make MORE!!
Practice makes PERFECT right?!
And what a CUTE little gift for a teacher or a special someone, don't cha think??? ....on a pretty autumn-ish plate wrapped in cellophane???

Powder Puff

Nikki played in the Powder Puff Game this past Wednesday. I had to work but was able to go in a little late so I could watch her (and the other Freshman girls). Yes, of course they lost both games BUT they had SO MUCH FUN!!! And that's the MOST important part right?! :)

Here's a pic of our 'beauty':

She'd be the one throwing the ball. I'll be the FIRST one to tell you, the only thing I know about football is, you're trying to get a funky looking ball across the field through a funky looking 'Y' to make a touchdown. I told you........I don't know anything about it!!! But, now with Salvador and other friends of Nikki's playing my guess is we'll be attending more football games and MAYBE just maybe I'll learn a little more about the game of football?!?! We'll see.......... Regardless, it WAS fun being there, watching and I am looking forward to the NEXT home game. I just hope Salvador will be playing AND that I'm NOT working that night!!!

Here's my OTHER little cutie! :)

We saw my friend Sonia's brother, Tito, at the game and asked him to come sit with us. He's SUCH a nice guy--there should be more like him, and his brother. Anyways, he made a paper hat for Samuel--which is kind of funny because Samuel was JUST asking how to make these earlier in the week! So here's Samuel showing me how to turn it into a boat. :) And if you look to the left of Samuel's head there's Salvador walking through. I just thought that was SO funny. I had NO idea until I just now looked at the pictures that he was even in the photo!

The Seniors won again this year (---well, last year they were Juniors).

Is it me????

I was 'blurfing' this morning....I woke up at 2:00AM and couldn't get back to sleep so I decided to come up to my 'studio' and go through some stuff---and oh dear.....there is STILL more STUFF to be gone through!! Ugh!! -Not to mention the HALF cleared out other room!!! (groan)......
Anyways, I found myself 'blurfing' during one of my 'breaks' and came across this site at Re:Becca. I thought I'd give it a whirl....see what it said about ME, just for fun.
For those of you who know me, I'm curious to know, whaddayathink??Click on the link at the end to see what YOUR name means.
Enjoy your Sunday!! I'm HOPING to be able to stay awake until and through church now that I've been up all morning!!
Until next time...................

What Stacey Means

You are the total package - suave, sexy, smart, and strong. You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know. You don't always resist your urges to crush the weak. Just remember, they don't have as much going for them as you do. You are a seeker. You often find yourself restless - and you have a lot of questions about life. You tend to travel often, to fairly random locations. You're most comfortable when you're far away from home. You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble. You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily. You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind. A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. You are very adaptable. You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together. You are a free spirit, and you resent anyone who tries to fence you in. You are unpredictable, adventurous, and always a little surprising. You may miss out by not settling down, but you're too busy having fun to care.

What's" Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

CHECK OUT

the other Queens blog at Times Captured-- and don't forget to leave a comment.....
She's got a give away going on!!

OKay, so I had a D3 moment!!

What's a D3 moment?? Well, if you watch Carlos Mencia you should know....."Deedeedeeee"
I made up a card for Amanda for her birthday but I didn't realize until we GOT there, and of course the envelope was sealed, that I'd FORGOTTEN to take a picture of it!!! What a DING-A-LING right?!?! Luckily for me I'll get a chance to get a picture of it sometime today but geesh....what a dummy!!! lol
Oh well.......
When I get the pic I'll post it and share but until then this is what I've got:
Nikki had a Volleyball game Saturday afternoon (late). OF COURSE we went! With my work schedule I have to make ALL I can when I can, so there are NO excuses when it's a home game and I'm not working.....EVEN if I'd just worked the last 2 nights and had been up all day. Yeah, I had a few grumpy moments throughout the day Saturday BUT I made it to her game!!
There's Nikki, #3. They did GREAT!!! They WON BOTH of their games (well, we won ALL of our games from C-Squad up to Varsity!!! WOOHOO!!) Good job girls!

This is my friend Shelly's step-daughter, Jessica. Jessica has a pretty mean serve lemme just tell ya!! She scored 10 points IN A ROW in their first game and 11 points IN A ROW 2nd game. She can just get it RIGHT OVER the net into that dead space. After 11 serves she's pretty tired though!!! You rock Jess!!! ;)
So that was Saturday afternoon........
Lets not even talk about morning/afternoon. :)
Parts of it were just fine--I went to a jewlery party and picked up a Christmas gift--well, ordered a Christmas gift. THAT made me happy because I just LOVE getting Christmas stuff OUT OF THE WAY as long as I can BEFORE Christmas. That leaves the holiday season open for me to ENJOY!! There was a time, when my kids were little, that I would have ALL my Christmas shopping done BY the end of September. NO KIDDING!! Those were the days....I can remember just how good it felt. However, with our lives, schedules and ages of our kids now, it seems a lot more difficult.
Let me share with you something that we've done at Christmas though, since Samuel was 2 I think. A friend of mine, Susy Riddle, when we lived in San Diego shared the idea with me of only getting the kids 3 gifts at Christmas. She said, 'If 3 gifts were good enough for Jesus, 3 gifts are good enough for my kids.' Hmmmm, what an idea huh?? So, for about the past 6 years that's what we've done. The kids get 3 gifts from Joe and I, plus their stocking. It works out great!! It would seem like my Christmas shopping should be quick and easy BUT surprisingly for ME anyways, the older they get the harder it is. It's getting a little easier with Nikki because I can give her a $$ card for clothes---not so fun to open up I know, but FUN for HER to go shopping with!! Only thing is also, the older they get the MORE expensive their toys become......laptops, iPods, gameboy advance etc, etc...... Who knows WHAT they'll be wanting this year?!
Moving right along...............
So, Amanda had her 10th Birthday Celebration yesterday.
Here's the birthday girl!!!! :)
-of course this was right before they attacked the pinata :), and after they'd been playing ALL afternoon!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMANDA!!!
Isn't she just beautiful?!?!
LOOK at those dimples!!!

Sonia made some KILLER horchata.
Here's Joe drinking MINE!!
EVEN JOE liked it!!! You KNOW it had to be good if Joe likes it. He's SO stinkin' picky when it comes to Mexican food. Guess that's what happens when you grow up with the REAL DEAL!!

This is Sonia's husband and their nephew. You should have just seen the two of them. I took quite a few shots--look at them!! How could I not??? Just looking at each other like that!!
SO sweet!!! This is a picture that needs to be blown up and framed.......

Ahhhhhhh.....
....and my 'beans'. The REAL Nikki has been back for a few days and I'm just LOVING it!!!! She's been SUCH a nice girl and such a help. I just LOVE it when it's like this!! I hope she stays for a while this time!!! :)

Here's Amanda with her 1st pinata, she had 2!!
You KNOW the kids were diggin' on that!!!
They had SO MUCH fun and I think we had as much fun watching them!!


LOOK at that
determination in Anthony's face!
:)

And then there's Sammo!!! He WANTED to be blindfolded!! I was surprised!!!
Tito did a good job maneuvering the pinata--it was RIGHT in front of Sammo and he didn't know and then at other times Sammo would be swinging and swinging and couldn't find it. Lots of laughs, LOTS of FUN!!
OF COURSE, it would have been right about this time that my battery decided to die. I didn't think about charging it (another D3 moment!!) and it HAD been a while. Luckily I had another memory card on me to fit Sonia's sister Anna's camera so she got more pics and pics of the cake! I think I'm going to just have to buy another battery and keep it in the car. I'm SO bad about being sure they're always charged sometimes.

CBC Challenge #4: Think INSIDE the box

Courtney at Created by Courtney started doing challenges about a month ago. I'm SO happy to finally be able to participate in Challenge #4: Think INSIDE the box. The challenge is to make a box or alter a box.
If you're interested in more details about her challenges just click on the link to her blog above!!
Here is my box:
This is an oragami box and it really was easy shmeasy!! I'm not FOR SURE where I saw this tutorial but I PROMISE to look for it and add it to this post as soon as I can find it. My original plan was to make up some cards for Salvador's mom for her birthday (late as he never thought to inform me it was her birthday. But, better late than never....right?). Anyways, the first card I made up, not pictured as I've already given it away to another somebody special, was too big. Hmmm, yeah, well, it would seem I didn't think to MEASURE to be sure it would fit--ding dong!! SO, I measured......I THOUGHT I measured and cut accordingly but evidently I was off somewhere because guess what??? This card didn't fit either..... so it's just for looks now!!! :) AND it's back to the drawing board for the cards.

This is just a picture of the box closed. The paper is just some older paper I had from a paper stack and some SU cardstock (chocolate and pink).
Ribbon is CTMH white organdy and Designer Blush Polka Dot.
And yes, I used one of my large square nestabilities for my card base.
There you have it!!

God Bless America

This is the (new) flag that flies on the shed in our yard. Joe just replaced the entire light fixture the other day. Perfect timing. We haven't had a flag flying for a little while since the light was out of commission but the light is back and so is our flag-just in time for Sept 11.
When I walked the kids out to wait for the bus this morning I called them over and we all stood around this flag. I reminded them why today was a special day and encouraged them to take some time out today to pray for the families of all the people who died this day 7 years ago and for all our service members and their families as well.
I encourage you to do the same. :)
Our hearts, thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims of 9-11.
God Bless America!!
Amen.

Nikki's poster...

SO NOT finished-

obviously....you can see, IN THE PICTURES, that she's still working on it but it's late, I'm tired and ready to go to bed and I'll probably forget about taking a picture in the morning.

So here it is:

See...

She's STILL working on it.

And guess what??

Tomorrow is picture day (at the High School) AND she has her first Volleyball game.

She's going to HAVE to go to bed pretty quick here and just finish the rest tomorrow at school. She still needs to come up with a graphic but I think she's going to draw something herself. She really is a good artist. She gets it from Joe...he really surprises me sometimes with the things he can draw.

....and a closer up view.

LOOK Lainey!!!

I DID IT! I DID IT!!

Nothing CUTE but I got it to work, by MYSELF, and THAT is an accomplishment in itself!!! :)

Okay--now I'm REALLY going to bed!! Nighty night!

What a NIGHT!!!

Oh my gosh!!

My 'vision' for tonight was WAY different than how it's turned out to be but it's all good.....

I'm spending time with Nikki so that is a good thing. I'm actually helping her with a poster that is due guess when??? Mmmm, TOMORROW!!! UGH!!!!!!

Instead of dwell on the negatives I am going to focus on the positives: Nikki and I are spending time together, talking, and not fighting AND I'm using my craftROBO!!! **I WILL be posting a picture of her poster once she's done. I might actually have to post an 'almost completed' version since SHE'S the one who's going to have to glue EACH and EVERY letter down. They get time to work on it in class tomorrow too so she'll be fine.....I hope.

It's going to be very plain and simple, at the teacher's request, so don't be expecting anything fancy. :) Nikki's not too thrilled with the idea either but that's what the teacher wants so........that's what she'll get. :)

Nikki chose all the papers. It IS her project.

On to the card.......

OH! Did I forget to mention I had a card to share???

Oooops!

I have a card to share!!!! :)

I picked up this stamp set from Joann Fabric, in the $1 bin, I think last month. It was the last one in the bin. It must have just been meant to be!!! :) I've been WANTING to use it and just haven't had the occasion OR made the time!!

One of our friends gave us a BUNCH of homegrown jalapenos, among some other fruits and veggies, so I thought this little chihuahua would be perfect for the Thank You card. Inside, of course, it's stamped 'Muchas Gracias'.

This is a close up of the little chihuahua dog......

YES!! That IS stickles you see...It just needed a little 'something' and stickles just seems to work!! I colored the 'lil pooch in with colored pencils and blended with OMS.

I was thinking of using this little guy, and maybe the cactus too, for the recipe card, I'm PLANNING on making, for that salsa I mentioned in my earlier post from today.

Alright. That's all for now. I have a poster to help finish up!! :)

Enjoy the rest of your week.

It's back to work tomorrow night for me so I'll be gone for a few.

Until next time.......

Hasta luego!

Just for you.....

I literally whipped this up yesterday. I was looking for a 'thinking of you' card and only had about a half hour before I had to start getting ready to leave the house. I ALWAYS think I'm going to just make up some cards to have on hand for occasions other than birthday or 'thank you' and never do. Well, that's on THE LIST now!! And I'm going to JUST DO IT!!! (Maybe TODAY, if I get low censused!!!) :)

Anyways, I didn't end up giving this to the person it was intended for so I will either add some bling to it or just make a new card.....as I'm writing this post, looking at it I'm thinking it's a little too plain for my likings right now. There are a few simple things I'm thinking I can do that might just help it be a little more appealing........

Thought I'd share a few pics of my crazy family too.......just because they make me smile----

Okay, so maybe this picture of Joe just makes me LAUGH --out loud!!

THIS is SO Joe!!! LOLOL

I KNOW how truly and completely BLESSED I am to have such an AWESOME man as my other half!!! God is SOOO good!! There is NO other man out there who would make a better second half to me than him!! He SO enjoys just having FUN. He just MAKES me laugh. I mean COME ON!! HOW could you look at this picture and NOT laugh?!?!

It reminds me of those dog pictures. You know the ones I mean right?? Where the dog faces are all out of proportion?! He does stuff like this all the time. Now I'm going to have to find some more pictures of his crazy antics!! Never a dull moment around here..........

Nikki tends to leave her camera hanging around like she happened to do this day. There it was, lonely on the counter, so Joe decided to pick it up and leave a little 'laugh' for Nikki!! :) Or perhaps a little reminder that he's ALWAYS watching???? :)

And then there's Nikki...

....our 'Beauty'.....it IS one, of her many, nicknames around here. I think I've mentioned before how when Samuel was like 2 years old he couldn't enunciate beauty so what came out was 'booty'---the irony............

Anyways, she IS our beauty and she LOVES taking pictures....of herself. Is it a teenage girl thing or is it just her?? We just can't figure out WHY she's always making funny faces?! lol The majority of her pictures have her making some strange face like this one. Who knows. I don't care. She's still, and ALWAYS will be, our beauty!!

Well, I hear Joe downstairs making up some Pico de Gallo so I guess I SHOULD get down there and do something with the REST of those tomatoes and jalapenos before they go bad. I'm thinking jalapeno poppers!! I got this AWESOME recipe from my friend Katrina (hey Kat!!!) a few years back. It's an ALL TIME favorite around here. I feel a trip to the grocery coming on to pick up some HOT sausage and cream cheese..........

Maybe, if I get low censused, I'll even take the time to make up a cute little recipe card with the recipe for those jalapeno poppers.

I DID IT!!

I did it, I did it!!!
I worked last night......
JUST got home a little while ago....
I took my morning pills, one of them being a Tylenol PM so I can STAY asleep during the day, and was HOPING I would be able to keep my eyes open just long enough to finish a card for one of my co-workers tonight and I DID IT!
I JUST finished the card, took a few pics, I'm going to POST a pic and GO TO BED 'cuz my eye's is tired! :)
Moving right along.........
This is the card I made for our co-worker who will soon be leaving us:

Paper is Cosmo Cricket: Gretel: Autumn and misc scraps

Inks are CTMH: Barn Red and Bamboo

Ribbon: Both CTMH

Stamps: Quotes by heidi grace designs

Misc: buttons (stash)


**I just made one, itsy, bitshy change.......I restamped the image on Barn Red cardstock (CTMH) in black ink and just cut out 'real friends' and paper pieced it over**
Okay.......
Now it's time to go to bed. The house is quiet.....both kids spent the night at a friend's....so I'd better 'get' while the gettin' is good!!
Here's to Sweet Dreams!
Until next time,
'night...

BOYS

Joe just showed this to me this morning:











Nothing spectacular, I know. Just a bee's nest.
But look at how big it is!!
Joe was just telling me how all summer he's been cutting the grass and whatever all else he does outside and NEVER noticed it, which, I MUST admit is pretty unusual for Joe. He makes it his job to be AWARE of most everything! Comes with the territory I guess..........
Anyways, he and Samuel were watching the water from the sprinkler last night when he finally noticed it.
The BIG hole at the bottom is where the bee's come and go from.
Then WHAT? in the heck are all those OTHER holes???
ahem...
yeah,
well.......
that would be where these 2 come in:




Mutt
(aka Joe).....
















......and Jeff
(aka Samuel)


Teeheehee






Obviously they weren't shooting at the bee's nest with the slingshot in THESE pictures.....
But they WERE using the bee's nest as the target for target practice with the BB Gun. THAT would account for ALL the OTHER holes!!
I'd suggested that he kill the bee's and bring the nest to Samuel's class. I'd noticed, at Open House, how she had quite a few large bee nest's hanging in the class and thought we could add to the collection. I guess there are too many holes!
BOYS!

"OH MY GOSH! MOM! Come and take a LOOK at THIS!!"

I actually took these pictures the other day, Monday I think, and just haven't taken the time to post them yet......

We were just going about our evening the other day when Samuel yells out, "OH MY GOSH! MOM! Come and take a LOOK at THIS!!" So we walk over, thinking it'll be an Eagle or something and what do we see???

This:

It's a vulture.

Not the prettiest bird in the world, no doubt, but kinda cool to look at with his wings all spread out like that!!

(you can click on the picture for a closer view...if you're so inclined-but be warned...I think they must be, like I said above, THE UGLIEST looking birds!!)

I just panned out in this photo.

He stayed like this for quite some time. I kept wondering, why, is he just settin' like that?? Then I wondered, hmm...I wonder if it's a sign for the other vultures?? "It's over here! It's over here!"

Who knows?! Maybe that's how they cool off???

Why are they even there? You might be wondering. Well, it would seem someone hit a dear, again, and after being hit it ran off into the neighbors yard, AGAIN! Those neighbors are from the coast. I don't think they've been back since the LAST deer was hit and ran into their yard to die....Anyways, their yard has a lot of trees and I'm SURE the vultures could SMELL the decomposition they just couldn't FIND it at this point.

Not too long after this fellow showed up....

They just remind me of one of those Disney movies--talking to each other....

I can just hear him:

V2 (Vulture 2): Where is it? Where is it??

V1--head cocked-looks like he's listening....

V2: I'm talking to you!! Where is it? (salivating)

V1: Disgusted. Looking away,

sorry his invitation

brought THIS 'help'!!

SO, last night we were doing whatever we were doing when Samuel comes running to tell us there are now FOUR of them. All sitting in the very same tree.

Interesting.....................

............the things we see, living where we live............

I had a date this morning.......

Yup! That's right......
with my secret sister. The OTHER Queen......you can find her blog here. Check it out. She has some AWESOME pictures!! AND she's a FABULOUS scrapbooker!!!!
Anyways, she ever so patiently guided me through using my craftROBO, that I have had for YEARS now!! I tried using the blasted thing once, shortly after I got it, couldn't get the darned thing to work and it's been collecting dust ever since. Miraculously, I found ALL the needed parts last night, installed it onto THIS laptop, which by the way doesn't recognize the driver because I was STUPID, STUPID, STUPID and went Vista instead of sticking with XP.
I haven't been overly thrilled with Vista...can you tell??? Anyways, hopefully I'll be able to take care of that issue sometime this week but in the mean time I've just used my old laptop.
The point is...........
with Lainey's help I've actually figured out how to make this contraption WORK!!!
Thank You Lainey---a million times over!!!
It's a ton of FUN! And OH! so addicting. I finally decided I HAD to put it all away so I could get something done today. But FIRST I cut out a whole bunch of words for Nikki for her school notebooks!! She's happy...which in turn makes ME happy!!! :)
Yippee, Yippee, Yippee!!
It's a GOOD day.
Thank You Lainey!!!!!
I love you sistah friend!!!!
BIG SMILES!!!
---now, back to the cleaning.......ughhhhhhhhhhhh