Broken

Broken refrigerator, Broken garage door, Broken dish network receiver, Broken truck, Broken gate (actually 2 broken gates), on the verge of being broken hot water heater, a rattling something in my car window that is most likely broken, and the list is growing..........

Truck repaired - check.
Refrigerator repaired - check.
Garage Door repaired - check.
Dish Receiver on it's way, hopefully check.  In the meantime, we are w/o television for 4 days.  Yes, probably a good thing, but you try it with 2 kids and let me know how that goes :)
Still have to make some phone calls on the gates...
Rattling car window will have to wait (although it's making it hard for me to hear Sam Bradley while driving :)

When did they quit making things that last?

Broken hearted little girl.  Missing her grandmother.  This will take longer to repair.  We are all feeling broken over this, especially with Thanksgiving/Christmas.

Broken portable DVD player.  Suffered a little boy's cowboy boot to the screen.  Road trip to Mississippi in the near future.  May result in broken parents' nerves.

Thankful for what is not broken right now.

Photos of our Fall

Thinking he's a big boy, driving a BIG tractor

Spidey, the Bearcat Cheerleader, and our sweet Doggie

Typical!

This one is blurry I know, but I love seeing her running with wild abandon!

Fall Ball season ended for us on Saturday - I'm proud of them both!

My Little Country Bumpkins

My sister made the pictures.....I made the kids - with a little help from their daddy (oh - and I made the boy's shorts too:).

Thanks to my sister for taking these photos of my little munchkins while we were in Indiana (I know, the pictures just keep coming and coming!  Oh - don't you worry.....there are still more to come :).  She's got a great little photography business going up there (Bellies to Babies)- check her out if you are in the Northern Indiana area.

Rhubarb Cake Supreme - Total Yummy, Sweet, Goodness!

My parents have a pretty good sized garden in the back, and have always had several Rhubarb plants that have thrived there year after year.  The starts came from my Aunt Ruth I believe - probably in the 70's is my best guess (maybe 60's?  Mom?  Amanda? do you know?)  

So, each summer I like to eat a little bit since I can't find it here in Texas.  And...if I ever did find it - I doubt I'd want to pay the price for it.  My guess is it would be expense, and not taste nearly as good as it does fresh from the garden. 

So, without further ado, I'd like to share the recipe we used this summer:

Rhubarb Cake Supreme

Here's what you need:

6 cups rhubarb cut into 1" pieces

1 3 oz. box strawberry Jello

1 cup sugar

1 package yellow cake mix

3/4 cp. butter, melted

1 1/2 cup water

Start by cutting the leaves off the top of the rhubarb (unless you bought it from the store - then the leaves are probably already removed).  Discard the leaves.  Wash the stalks and cut them into 1 inch pieces.

Place the rhubarb in a 9x13 inch pan.  (Good job for little helpers!)

Mix the dry Jello with the 1 cup of sugar.  

Sprinkle the Jello and Sugar over the Rhubarb.  (Nothing complicated here folks!)

Sprinkle the cake mix over the Jello/Sugar mixure (Again, easy-peasy!)

Now, drizzle the melted butter over the cake mix. (Staying with me?)

Pour the 1 1/2 cups water over that and pop it into a 350 degree oven.  Bake for 35-40 minutes.

This is the cute little oven we used at my parent's house.  It's not an antique - but sure is cute, huh?

And, Voila!  Here you go - Rhubarb Cake Supreme - extra delicious with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream on top.  Hope you likey!

My Indiana Home

As many of you know, I have just returned from my trip to Indiana.  Each year I like to take the kids up to visit their grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, friends, and friends who are just as good as family!

This is a picture of the house I grew up in.  The picture hangs in my parents' dining room now - but it was taken in the late 1800's.  We believe that these are most likely the people who built the house.  It was built around 1890.

Here is a current picture - nothing too drastic has changed.  The front porch was expanded around 1940. Then my parents enclosed it in the late 60's.  They also added an additional room towards the back in the 1990's.  They have been in this house for over 43 years.  The land around the house used to be an orchard, and you can find a few fruit trees still scattered near by.  My favorites are the Montmorency Cheeries - they used to provided buckets and buckets of cherries, which I picked, pitted, and ate like crazy as a kid.  Now, the trees have seen better days, and the few cherries they produce are eaten up by the birds.  

It's a great old house - I've wished lots of times that the walls could talk.  I would have loved to have seen the interior as it was in the 1800's.  Now that I live in my much, much newer suburban home in a large sprawling metroplitan area in central Texas with every convenience close at hand - it takes a little getting used to, going home each summer.  The air conditioner, when needed (which isn't very often in Northern Indiana), doesn't begin to cool the upstairs.  The best produce is right outside the back door in my parent's garden- not down the freeway at Central Market.  If the kids want to run barefoot in the grass, they don't have to watch out for fire ants, snakes or scorpions!  Want to smell the country?  Just walk out to the barn and give "Bubba" the horse an apple to crunch and scratch his ears.  But it's best to wear your boots around the horse apples on the ground though.   

These are just a few more pictures I took around the house.  I'm sure I'll share more later - feels great to be back in Texas.....but there are some things I miss about my home in Indiana.

"Bubba"

"Yep - beans fresh from the garden - and they are delicious!"

Do You Ever Do This?

The day starts out with my son climbing on top of my head, begging for breakfast.  Will I please, please make pancakes????  (the most common request of the morning)...so I drag myself out of bed.  It is the last day of school for my girl, so to celebrate the morning - I make pancakes.  Not ordinary pancakes - but blue berry pancakes with Smiley Faces!
So - they gobble down the pancakes - but leave the blue berries.
As I'm trying to gulp down some hot coffee, I get a kleenex to wipe the boy's nose, as I'm wiping his nose, I notice other used tissues on the sofa - so I pick them up and head to the trash can.  Then I realize I need to write a note to my daughter's teacher - go to get the paper to write the note and my son needs allergy medicine (hence all of the sneezing and used kleenex), take another gulp of coffee, notice dirty clothes on the floor and head to the laundry room, in the laundry room see a toy that needs put away, take the toy to the playroom and notice a screwdriver under a Barbie Jeep and make a mental note to get that later.  Head back to the kitchen to check on the progress my daughter is making in getting ready for school, take another gulp of coffee - woops, it's not hot anymore, so into the microwave it goes.  Ok - 30 seconds to do something while that is heating up - feed the gold fish - oops, forgot about that note for my daughter, but my son wants batteries in his little camera (I'm thinking good - do that and he'll be occupied for 5 minutes today) - I go to look for batteries and realize I need a screwdriver to open the camera.  I start looking all over the house for the screwdriver, because I just know he had it yesterday trying to "fix" a toy......hmmm.....where is that darn thing?  Now what did I do with my coffee???  Well, maybe I'll find it with the screwdriver.  Oh man.....Got to get that note for my daughter.  Check.  Hey - 10 minutes until we have to load up to head to school - last day, remember?
Probably better put something on my body besides these clothes I've been sleeping in.  (the thought does cross my mind "Can I get away with just leaving these clothes on?  They sort of look like "lounge wear"....then it hits me that I might be anonymously discussed on Facebook if I show up in a purple cami and bright green pajama pants to my daughter's school - whew!  that was a close one!)
Head to the closet to throw some clothes on.  I manage to get kids in the car.  Ask my daughter if she's got her note,  I've got my coffee up perched precariously on the dashboard, and off we go.
Drop off goes smoothly.....we're home....my son and I.  Aww....I think I can relax a bit.   Then I remember that I forgot to give the dog his medicine and supplements.  Do that and realize he needs water.  In the meantime, hubby mentions a getaway this summer....so my thoughts are drifting to cool summer nights in Colorado, perhaps??  Oh - son still needs batteries in that camera.  Ok - check.  Off he goes for his 5 minutes of fun.
My stomach is growling.  Pancakes?  Really?  OK. 
There's my Hot coffee.  Blueberry Pancakes (with extra blueberries) and..... a swim suit catalog.  Nice?  Huh?
Phone rings, oh I've got a head ache, "Mommy, will you play Candy Land with me?", start to make the bed, Oh - hubby asked me to do some laundry today, head back to the laundry room, remember I need to call another friend about a playdate today, "Mommy, will you play Chutes and Ladders with me?", .......make a mental note to check on cheerleading camp for the girl this summer.....wondering about sewing today, perhaps?......might fit some crocheting in - that's more portable.

Awwww - what a wonderful life!  I need to re-heat my coffee now and play Chutes and Ladders.  Holy cow... I need to shave my legs.

Mouse Introductions

My kids in the land of the mouse, for the first time!
Just look at the grins on these faces!

Can't go to Disney without indulging in the Chocolate Covered Mickey ice cream!

"Mommy, can I please have this???? Please???? Please????? Look into my eyes....you are getting drowsy......I said Please!" How could I resist? (this cool toy lasted about 15 minutes before the bubbles were all used up, purchased more bubbles, used those up in about 10 minutes, now we're home and the dangedy dang thing won't work at all!)

Aw - now that's a sweet boy!

Mommy and Daddy had to get in on the action too!

Guess where we've been??? I know, it's so much fun looking at someone else's vacation pictures, Ha! If you lived closer, I'd have you over for punch and cookies and we could look at them on the big TV screen ;)

It was a fun trip - kids had fun (most important factor!), spent some fun time with a dear uncle and much loved grandmother, a few minor hiccups, some change of plans, some really nasty real-life stuff that reared up, but the kiddies had fun - and for that I am grateful!

It's been 18 years since I've been to Disney World. The last time I stepped foot there I was employed by the Mouse. It was such a fun experience, with loads of memories, as you can imagine. So, this trip was sort of like a home coming for me. I worked in the Magic Kingdom, in a little store called the Mad Hatter. It's been transformed a bit and is now called Fantasy Faire - doesn't look much like I remember. I've realized that it's a totally different experience seeing Disney as a parent, compared to a carefree 20-something. I had a few "Ahhh" moments, but it was mostly the "Ahhh" experiences for my kids this time around that I enjoyed most.

This is the Guide Book we used while in the park - I'd highly suggest it if you are looking!