Our fireplace

We bought a fireplace for our home the other day. We absolutely love it! We have plans for it but for now it sits looking plain until we finish yet another project.

Class Project

A while ago Logan had to do a class project on Native American Indians.

He really enjoyed doing this project. This is what he made.

Here is the grass. This stuff really stunk!

Logan making the huts.

These were what he used for the water/pond.

What was used for each hut. One hut was made out of bark, so we used leaves. The other hut was made out of tall grass with branches as support, we used straw.

As you can see the "bark" didn't hold up too good, but I think it turned out nice.

All and all....I really think he did a good job! 

I don't know what his grade is for it yet.

Happy Thanksgiving

I know it is already past Thanksgiving. But late is better than never. I worked on Thanksgiving. I took my hubby and son with me to spend Thanksgiving with my clients. Then we had to see his family and my family. It was a long day for me and I couldn't wait to get home, sit down and put my feet up! Hope everyone had a wonderful, filling Thanksgiving!!!

Our 11 years old son is as tall as me!

Watching the Macy's Day Parade.

Work for me.

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Norman Love Pumpkin Pie

Norman Love Apple Pie

Norman Love Pecan Torte

Watergate Salad

This dessert always reminds me of my Grandma. It seemed like it was always in the fridge when we were there. So I make it often and we really enjoy it. Nori doesn't like it though. My in-laws really like it too!! (smile). Well here is how I make mine.

Watergate Salad

2 cups mini marshmallows, 1 box instant pistachio pudding,

1 can crushed pineapple, 20 oz

Mix really well.

Stir in 1 container of whipped topping, thawed.

Again, mix really well.

Put in fridge until cold and set. Yum!!!

Just so you know, this recipe usually calls for only 1 cup mini marshmallows and walnuts. I really like the marshmallows so that is why I add more. And I don't want walnuts in this. If I would add a nut I would add pistachios, not walnuts. Anywho, Enjoy however you make yours.

Using soy milk

We switched from cow milk to soy milk and we have been using soy milk for a while now - the light soy milk, it only has 60 calories per 8 ounces. So the thought of my recipes came to mind when cooking. I just use the soy milk. So far everything still comes out tasting good! So I thought I would share my pancake recipe I came up with.

Soy milk Pancakes

2 eggs

1 1/4 cup soy milk

3 tbsp oil

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

Beat first 2 ingredients together until foamy. Stir in oil. In a bowl mix all the dry ingredients together with a fork. Add to the wet mixture. 

Heat pan and drop 1/4 cup of batter on pan.

Cook, 

flip, repeat. Serve with 100% maple syrup. Enjoy!

Busy, busy, busy

I have been busy since I got my second job. I have been working for them when they call me; which is called PRN. So far they have been having me come in two days a week. Plus I work two days a week with my first job. I know it may not sound busy to most that work a full week or more but for someone who hasn't worked a "real" job in about 10 years.....it is busy! (ha). On top of that Nori and I are planning her wonderful 18th birthday! And I have taken a private job for 6 days - the week of Thanksgiving! So next week will definitely be busy! So it might be a while before I post. Oh and the new job is going really good! I really like it! Everyone is so nice and laid back. I've been trained and working on the first shift (7am-3pm). Will also train on second shift (3pm-11pm) and third shift (11pm-7am). I am excited to try the third shift. I think I might like it. If I do I will tell the boss lady to give me that shift for a permanent one. We'll see. Until next time. Enjoy life.

A Good Evening

A few days ago we went to dinner with my parents. It was a very nice evening out with them! While there Logan took a couple pictures. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't have any (hahaha). One of these days I will remember to take pictures!

Oatmeal Honey Scones

This recipe came from my Irish cookbook.

It wanted me to cut the dough into triangles but I couldn't.

The dough was too wet and sticky.

So I just used my scooper and flattened them with my finger.

They didn't taste like scones.

They were more like oatmeal raisin cookies.

Go figure.

But they were good anyway! O:kay, here is the recipe.

Oatmeal Honey Scones

3/4 cup butter

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup honey

1 egg

2 tbsp milk

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

3 cups quick oats, uncooked

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 cup raisins

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease baking sheets. Combine first six ingredients in a bowl. Beat at medium speed with mixer until blended. Combine next five ingredients. Mix into creamed mixture at low speed until blended. Stir in raisins. Pat dough into 8x5 inch rectangle, 3/4 inch thick. Cut into 2 inch triangles. Place 2 inches apart on baking sheets using pancake turner. Bake on at a time for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Do not over bake. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet. Remove to a cooling rack to cool completely. Makes about 1 1/2 dozen scones.

Enjoy!

Just some things

Our puppy dawg......Lunchbox

The Ol' man.......Gus

And Logan's wonderful grades!!!

Kitchen Makeover

Our kitchen makeover has been coming along slow, which is okay for us. It gives us time to save, shop and think about all the different things we can do and what we want to do. Last time we posted work we did to the kitchen was when we took down that very large, in the way, overhead cabinet. Since then we have painted the walls....

The curtains I found that matched the kitchen!

We painted the cabinets......

We put our things back up.

I found a shelf to put above the stove. Also found a wall spice rack at a thrift store.

Then it took us awhile before we finally decided on the counters. We couldn't take the large white counters anymore, plus we didn't like how they looked with the new painted walls and cabinets. Here are the large white countertops.

So we thought about painting them....nope - didn't want to mess with painting. Thought about tiling....nope - didn't want to mess with the surface of tiling. Finally we decided to use the peel and stick tile. It worked perfect! We love how it turned out. We got two boxes of tile and a sealer.

We put on 3 coats of the sealer. Shiny! But it didn't stay that shiny.

Here it is all done.

Sink finally back in.....YEA!!

It took about 3 days before we could use our kitchen again. That was a bitch but we really do like the outcome. The sealer had to sit 4 hours between each coat (we did 3 coats), then it had to sit for a full 24 hours before total use. It was worth the wait! Here are some side-by-sides.

Much better! We really like our countertops now! I also turned my curtains into half curtains by just folding them in half (ha). Anywho, there it is.