Hello Cupcake~

I made this for a friend who loves to play pool. Yesterday was his 75th birthday. Happy Birthday Dick, I hope you enjoyed the cupcakes!

Wordless Wednesday: A Toy Story Birthday

Five Question Friday

1. What were your school colors?
Red and Black! We were the Keya Paha Indians.  :)

2. What's the best compliment you ever received?
I love it when my kids are complimented on their behavior. It makes all that hard work of training them worth it.

3. Do you buy cheap or expensive toilet paper?
Always Northern....but I buy it on sale.

4. Have you ever had a surprise party thrown for you? Or have you had one for someone else?
My daughter threw me a surprise birthday coffee a few years ago. She came home from college and I don't think it was that easy for her to plan. The sad thing is that I ended up having a bad case of bronchitis so couldn't really enjoy it. But it was sweet of her to do it.


5. What is one material possession that you "can't live without"?
Probably my cellphone, it's the one thing that I use constantly keeping in touch with my kids and other family as well as friends. I have a smartphone so it's my calendar, email, internet, weather watcher, etc. So thankful for it!

To read more people's answers you can go here.

Precious is...

listening to your little boys singing, "in Christ the Cross I am free". Oh how I love these little guys!

Happy Birthday Alex!

Just a baby, I think he was 7 weeks here.

1 yr old
This picture is painful for me to see because he had just finished the high dosage steroids and his skin was tight because he was so swollen and puffy.

He's 2 here with cousin Rachel at the zoo.

Look at those eyes, don't just you just want to pick him up and hug him.
3 yrs old

4 and fisty....okay he's just plain ole ornery!

Almost 5! He's gotten to be such a big boy!

No More Depakote

When we took Alex to Children's last month we found out that he had no seizure activity in his brain. Oh how we had prayed for that day. Since then we've been slowly weaning him off of his Depakote. He only has two days left to take it. We have been noticing some interesting side effects...such as:

1. He's now playing with his brother, not just sitting by him playing.
2. He seems to able to pay attention better.
3. He's talking more, actually communicating with entire sentences.
4. He will sit down and do a puzzle.
5. He will sit and color a page.

Yes, he still has a long ways to go to catch up with his peers, but this huge difference in behavior and character in three weeks has us completely gobsmacked!!

Thank you LORD, and thank you Children's Hospital for helping us get down this long road!

Jeeves and Wooster

When hubby and I lived in England we developed a taste for English television, especially their humor. As the years have gone by their shows have become so explicit I would hesitate to watch most of them. Enter NetFlix. If you have Netflix you can order older television shows and an added bonus is you get to watch them commercial free!
Our daughter told us about Jeeves and Wooster which she had found at her local library. We are watching the first season and enjoying it immensely. This show was adapted from the Jeeves series of books written by P.G. Wodehouse. The main characters are Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie. These two actors were also in the Black Adder series and Laurie of course is a household name in America now thanks to the show House.
What I like about these shows are that they are funny and yet clean. You could watch them with your children and not worry about what was said. Another thing I appreciate about them is that they are not predictable. There is always a  bit of a twist to the plot that keeps one entertained. Check them out.

They have AA but do they have CCA?

Know what I mean? Coca Cola-holics Anonymous?

This worldwide symbol...everyone knows that it means ice cold refreshment! Ahhh, I can taste it now.

But wait, doesn't this little guy look a bit like a demon, luring us to give into temptation?

This sexy chick drinks it, look at her!

But I drink it and I look more like this polar bear.  I have to admit I have a bit of a Coke problem.(and not coke as in cocaine) I realized it's bad when I wake up and all I really want is an icy coke. I had been doing pretty good for a few months. I was limiting myself to one coke a week. But then we went on vacation and I started drinking more. Now I find myself craving it...it's all I want. I drink water or coffee and it's flavorless...it's not Coke.
I read one time that most modern food is designed to make you want more. And honestly I'm not blaming manufacturers for this because we all know that our bodies will crave salts and sugars...the more they get they more they want. I want Coke, I drink Coke, I get fatter and yet I want more Coke. There's something seriously wrong with this picture.
So as of today I am imposing a Coca Cola fast. They say it takes 21 days to break a habit and this has gotten to be my habit, socially acceptable, but bad for me nonetheless. That means no Coke for me until August 8th. Of course if I'm smart I'll just be like the recovering alcoholic and give it up for good.
I have a feeling I could use a bit of prayer in this area. An addiction is still an addiction, right?

I am Kris, and I am a Coke-aholic....

Meet Me On Monday

Meet Me On Monday

1. What is your favorite sandwich?

Roast beef with provolone, lettuce, tomato, green peppers, black olives and red wine vinegar.

2. What is stashed under your bed/mattress?
Not $100 bills although I wish it was. Right now I think I have a couple of wooden swords and a keyboard.

3. What is your favorite flower?

I don't know if lilacs are my favorite but they are definitely at the top of the list.

4. What is your favorite magazine?

5. How often do you weigh yourself?
 Once a week

Unceasing Prayer

It seems like the older I get the more I have to pray about. Of course there are the obvious things like praying for my kids, and my husband and my extended family. But here is a look at  part of my prayer list these days, leaving out the names of course.

1. Two young men who are serving in harms way overseas. They are both married to friends of my youngest daughter. And several other young people from our church and community are in the battle zones as well.
2. A friend's son was seriously injured in a car accident last night.
3. A young man who is my daughter's age is fighting a wicked form of cancer. He's 26 and the father of three boys.
4. My cousins' husband is fighting cancer.
5. We have friends whose little girl has the same kind of seizures that Alex had only hers are out of control and she is struggling so, as well as the rest of her family.
6. Our church is seeking a youth pastor, since I have two boys who will be in the teens in a few years from now I pray they find someone who is a good leader and will help in their spiritual training and not detract from it.
7. I have several friends going on missions trips this month.
8. We are praying for and searching for new leaders for our Mother of Preschoolers group.

These are just a few of the things that I am praying for daily. As the mother of two young and active boys it's hard to find a time of dedicated quiet so I have learned to take the verse about praying without ceasing literally. I pray as I'm driving my van, as I'm folding clothes, as I'm in the shower or lying in bed before I fall asleep. I pray as I'm working in my yard or cleaning my house. I utter words of prayer whenever I think of it.
I may not be able to pray for our hours as Hudson Taylor did, but I think that God will honor my prayers that I send up as I can. If anyone can understand how busy and hard my days are it's God and I believe that He understands I'm doing what I can. And I thank God everyday that I am able to converse with Him at any time.

Five Question Friday

1. Do you collect anything?
kids...oh, not what you meant? Hmm, I seem to collect books more than anything. And little miniature items for my printer's box.


2. Name 3 celebrities that you find good looking.
Cary Grant- yes I know he's dead
Matthew McConaughy
Pierce Brosnan


3. Do you have any scars? If so, what's the story behind it (them?)?
Scars on my knee and my thigh from a nasty bicycle wreck in grade school
Scars on my knee from a wipe out in basketball practice
Scars on my hands from burns when I worked in a restaurant
Scars on my tummy from my hysterectomy (TMI?)

4. What is a food that you like to eat, but others might think it's gross or weird?
nearly raw hamburger- don't tell my mom.


5. Have you ever seen a tornado in real life?
Yes, a few. And I've been in one, in our van...don't care to repeat the experience any time either.
http://www.fivecrookedhalos.blogspot.com/

Blogging Again

It has come to my attention that one of my all time favorite bloggers, Carmon Friedrich at Buried Treasure Books has starting blogging again. I have missed Carmon, she has a deep soul and is very good at making me rethink my priorities. If you have a few minutes go read her blog. Her recent entries are about large families. Carmon and her husband have 10 children. Really compared to the Duggers that's relatively small.  heh, heh....

My Sister

This is my baby sister, way back in 1986? 1985? Isn't she gorgeous? I love her freckles...I don't think she's so crazy about them. I wish I had pictures of her when she was younger, she always had long ponytails. Mom used to always make me have short hair, but not her...weird huh?

Anyway, my sister is five years younger than I am, and of course we haven't always gotten along. It's possible that there was some sibling rivalry. You know, she was the baby, she was spoiled. LOL  As we've gotten older we've developed a close friendship. She is the first person I call when I need to talk or want to share something exciting.

She has a tough job. She is not only a wife and a mother, she is a pastor's wife. And with that job comes some pretty great responsibilities including keeping your mouth shut when you really don't want to. She's getting pretty good at it. Maybe I need to take some lessons from her?

I just wanted to take this moment to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHAWNA! I love you and I'm proud of you!

Your big sis

"Excuse ME?"

I try to be easy going about things, and most of the time I manage to be. But there are things about life that can get me down...my hair is one of them. I started getting gray hair really early...12 to be exact. By the time I was a senior in high school the boys would sit behind me and pull out all the grays. I colored my hair most of my twenties and into my thirties, but it got to be a full time occupation. You see gray hair is very strong and doesn't hold color as well as darker hair. I have used permanent haircolor only to have it wash away within a week. I could go to a salon once a month and have it done, but I'm not sure it's worth the cost of a week's groceries just to fit in with my peers. So I have decided to accept my gray hair...and to be honest it's more silver and is quite attractive...or would be if I was 65 and not 47. And most days I can go through life forgetting that my hair is "old", until someone mentions it. And that's where my day goes completely sideways.
Yesterday I took my little boys to the grocery store. I was checking out and the checker said, "oh wait! I forgot to give you your senior discount!" I just stared at her. I was stunned...yes my hair is gray but do I really look like a senior citizen???  I know I should have told her I wasn't a senior and not to give me the discount. But at that moment I was just really hurt. I could have started crying right there, and I almost did. I know it's rather vain, but doggone it, that was insulting!
So here I sit with wounded pride wondering the eternal question: "to dye or not to dye." (sigh)

My daughter gave me this plaque for my birthday. Bless her for trying to cheer me up.

New pantry organizers!!

FYI: my shelves are not crooked, I'm just not a great photographer. Anyway, this is the before. I kept losing cans, thinking I didn't have those tiny cans of tomato sauce and buying more...you know the routine right. Well Crystal Paine over at Money Saving Mom advertised a special on pantry organizers, so I hopped over to Shelf Reliance and ordered 2 of them. What a difference!

I wanted to say that there is rooms for 4 different types of cans in each organizer, so I took my Cambells soup cans and divided them in two. One catergory for soups that we just eat plain such as tomato or chicken noodle. Then another category for the soups I use in cooking such as cream of.... and fiesta nacho which I use in my chicken enchilada soup. I also mixed the cans of fruit in the same category and another for different kinds of beans. In a perfect world there would be a space for each individual one, but let's face it most of us don't have that kind of pantry space. (smile)
I'm very happy with my purchase. They were simple to assemble and appear to very durable.

While I was organizing I also found some sturdy shoeboxes and used them for things such as bags of beans, one for boxes of pudding and jello, and one for those little packets of oatmeal and cocoa. I still have some work to do in there. I've decided it's time to weed through my cookbooks and get rid of the ones that I don't use. I mean really, how many cookbooks does one need?

I love auctions!

I've been looking for a coffee table for quite awhile. I only had two requirements: it had to be sturdy enough to survive around the boys and it couldn't be ugly. So, I've been looking for a couple of years! haha....

On Monday I went to an auction and bought a couple of pieces of furniture. This was the first. It looks almost new, just minor scuffs on it. The side leaves are in great shape too, but one of the hinges was bent. I asked DH to just take them off and store them for now because I don't know how they'd last around the boys. The table is made to look just fine without them. I paid $15 for it so I was pretty happy!

I also found a kitchen table with 4 matching chairs. Nothing fancy, but our old set was starting to fall apart after 19 years,  so I was thankful to find a newer set. The table came with 3 leaves so if needed we could pull it into the living room and stretch it out. I have to admit I've really been wanting a round table and this one is oval, but sometimes necessity requires us to give up our wants to meet our needs. And if I ever find a round table I'm sure my daughter would love to have this one, maybe?

Bit of a sore throat today

Hoping some lemon tea will do the trick. I am not a big fan of summer allergies...okay, I'm not a fan of any kind of allergy.

What a lovely weekend!

Here are the boys and our youngest granddaughter enjoying ice cream cones. It's a great way to end a hot summer day.
A tip: keep ice cream and cones on hand to make a special treat. It's pretty inexpensive and they never tire of it.

Happy Independence Day!

We will be celebrating here at home with our daughter and her family. Our little town is famous for their fireworks show and rumor is this may be the last. So we'll enjoy it! And I'm sure some food and fun will be enjoyed too. Please as you celebrate don't forget our troops who are serving overseas. Our continued freedoms are owed to them. Keep them in your prayers!

Doug's Blog: Watch the Video: How to be a Valiant Swordsman

When our oldest son was younger he was fascinated with The Lord of the Rings books. He read them several    MANY times. He spent quite a bit of time in the garage making swords too. We still have a couple of them that get dug out from time to time. Today I saw this video and it reminded me of Ian and his friends. (smile)

Doug's Blog: Watch the Video: How to be a Valiant Swordsman

Fourth of July links

Noble Pig has some great ideas for ice cream cones.

Noble Pig again, aren't they cute?

Baking Bites has a cute idea for strawberries.

Or maybe you'd like to wear a little of your patriotism, check here.

I thought this flag wreath was great, and so easy!

I made some of her halloween cookie bark last fall. I love the looks of this one! This stuff is so incredibly easy!!

I enjoyed looking through these ideas, hopefully they inspire you to something creative.

Garden pic- July 1st

Although the rest of my garden has suffered in the cold wet spring we had, the potatoes are growing like they think they're in Ireland or something. Guess I should have planted all potatoes.

Alex, by the hollyhocks. Go back and see the June pictures to see how they've grown.

I love how my hollyhocks look, almost like paper flowers!

The rest of the garden has really struggled. Things are slowly coming along, but I'm worried we won't get much out of it this year. It's a good thing I planned plenty of tomatoes last year.

And the winner is................

ALEX!!!

We got the report from Children's and there was no sign of seizure activity!! So we are going to slowly wean him off one of the meds and see how he does! This is so exciting and yet frightening. The dr in Minnesota told us that if Alex should ever start seizures again they may be uncontrollable. So we are taking it slowly and praying as we do.

Pizza Revisited

Someone asked if I would post my pizza recipe. I would be glad to, it's very easy and pretty tasty.

Pizza Dough


2½-Teaspoons Yeast

1-Cup Warm Water

1-Teaspoon Sugar

1-Teaspoon Salt

2-Teaspoons Olive Oil

2½-Cups Flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in remaining dough ingredients. Beat vigorously. Let

rise for at least 1 hour (or until doubled in size). Prebake @ 425 degrees for 5 minutes.

Put sauce & toppings on. Bake another 10-15 minutes.
 
Pizza Sauce
 
1 Small Can Tomato Sauce


1 Small Can Tomato Paste

Dab Of Water To Thin

2 chopped garlic cloves

1 tsp Basil

1 tsp Oregano

Let stand for 2 hours for best flavor.
 
My notes:
the sauce makes enough for two pizzas, I usually freeze half
I always use olive oil in the crust, it makes a huge difference in the taste.
I always use a pizza stone. The crust is just so much better.
 
The favorite pizza at our house is sausage and cheese.