Busy...Busy...Busy!!

Ok...so I did it again.  I set myself up for chaos all the time and I have done it again.  I am in the process of making Breanna a Dorothy costume for their Halloween party at school and of course this would be the week Jay'von decides to get his first ever ear infection. Fun times but he is a sweetheart and seems to be feeling better today.  I also haven't got the cookie recipe decided on and sent to the Post. Then in the midst of all this a friend called needing help with a shower in TWO WEEKS and I volunteered to make the chicken salad and the cake for that. Am I crazy or what.  No not crazy, just my Father's daughter.  He taught me well when it comes to helping people. 

What I am posting about is not all that but the guilt I felt this morning because I didn't have time to run a stethoscope to Breanna for school today.  They were supposed to dress up like something they may want to be when they grow up.  She decided on something in the Medical Field helping people get well.  Danielle went to Goodwill and found her some scrubs and I thought the perfect prop would be a stethoscope but just could not find the time to get it to her.  I actually have a couple of them and she could have used one but it just didn't happen and I feel bad.  Now, tell me I am crazy and I will agree with you...LOL. The reason I couldn't is because I am finishing the outfit for her to wear tomorrow.  Yeah!....I am crazy.  But I also know I love my grandkids and want them to be happy.  But do you know what....she probably didn't even know the difference.  She probably went on to school this morning as happy as a lark because she had her little outfit and was fine.  I think it might be some of the ADD perfectionism coming out in me. Not really a bad thing, I guess, but definitely something I need to deal with.

Hope you all have a great weekend.  I'll post pictures of Breanna in the Dorothy dress next week. 
 

Fall Baking...

I love fall baking.  I am so glad the pumpkin is back on the shelves. (Mine and the grocery store,  but I really stocked up just in case...lol) I have already made pumpkin cake, pumpkin cookies and apple dumplings.  I am in the process of trying to decide what cookie to enter in the Dominion Post cookie contest.  I do this every year and all but one year I have been a finalist, which means I have to take cookies in to be tasted.  I've never won but it is a goal that I take very seriously.  I have now gone through all my tried and true recipes and am looking for something new.  Tonight I am baking Pumpkin Oatmeal cookies with white chocolate chips and cranberries.  They taste really good but I'm not sure the appearance is good enough for the contest.  I'll have to get some other opinions before I call it the "one".  I am really going to have to work on it since it must be turned in by the first of November, but I work well under pressure...lol.  Actually I usually do this, don't think I have ever sent one in early. 

After this last pan comes out I am going to decorate the butter cookies I baked for Kristen and Todd's wedding tomorrow.  I haven't done these in a long time.  Courtney usually does them for me but she has a paper to write tonight and clinicals tomorrow.  So I guess they will have to get what they get from me. 

It has been a wonderful week, weather wise and getting back into the routine of having Charlie home every night.  I'm looking forward to a great weekend.  Hope you all have one, too. 

Don't forget to leave me a message!  Thanks!

A Fun Afternoon!!

Did you ever feel like you had created your own evil.  Well, that is where I am at this afternoon.  I am a rocker.  I rock my babies.  I could have raised hundreds of dollars in my own little rock-a-thon because I love to rock babies.  The only difference here is my babies slept in their beds from day one and Jay'von didn't because of his severe reflux.  He had to be held on your shoulder to sleep.  Soooooo.....do you see where I'm going with this.  Jay'v just turned 3 and although he sleeps in his own little bed once he is asleep he still get rocked to sleep.  I still love rocking him, he is such a little cuddle bug.  But it is time for him to go to sleep on his own in his bed.  Hence the fun afternoon that I created for myself.

Yesterday I put him to bed and he just went right to sleep.  Today was another story. (I decided to start with the naps and then the night time will follow) He didn't get up or cry he just kept asking for another good night kiss or a drink or finally just asked outright to cuddle in the chair. After 2 hours of this I really needed to get some things done so I rocked him and he went right to sleep.  He said tonight he will go to "peep" in his bed.  I kind of feel like I failed this test and tomorrow may be harder because of it but I also know what I needed to accomplish today and it wasn't happening....lol. I really don't remember going through this with my kids so I am a little clueless how to proceed but I guess I will just keep on being patient with him and eventually it will work. 

On a positive note....lovin' the sunshine!!....lovin' having my husband come home by 6:00 every night....lovin' the baking I'm getting to do this week....lovin' having more of a routine again instead of what we have had for the last months.  Life is good and getting better.... :)

Fall!!

I can't believe it has been so long since I posted last. So much for keeping up with things...lol. It has been a busy fall so far but so enjoyable. The weather is absolutely fabulous. I love spring and fall weather. So mild and comfortable. I know most people love the heat but I don't. I can't imagine wanting to go to the beach and fry. Give me a nice cool fall day anytime.

Well, since I posted last we have had a few birthdays in our little family. On September 25 C.J. turned 8 years old. He has grown up so much this year. Still a little ball of energy most of the time but can sit down and have a very mature conversation with you. He loves school and is doing very well (so is his sister, by the way). I always give the birthday person the chance to choose the menu for their birthday dinner. C.J.'s was being celebrated on a Sunday so I asked him to tell me what he wanted most for dinner. He chose hot dogs and pizza with cheesecake for dessert. Since he was having a party with his friends on Saturday evening with pizza Danielle told him he should maybe choose something else. He chose Chicken Parmesan and garlic bread but still wanted cheesecake for dessert. We added a salad and had our "easy" Sunday dinner. Here are a few pictures of C.J.'s celebration.



C.J. with some friends opening gifts.


 
C.J.'s Sunday Birthday dinner.

We're so glad you had such a great birthday, C.J. We love you and hope you continue to have a fun filled year!

On September 29 Jay'von had his 3rd Birthday. Because of a schedule conflict and Courtney having clinicals  we celebrated his birthday on October 3. Since that was after his birthday we had a challenging time of not letting him know it was his birthday because he was so excited about his "birtday humin". I took him to Fairmont after Court was done with class in the evening for her to spend some time with him. She at one point couldn't resist and said "Happy Birthday, Jay'v" and he immediately yelled "Yay, Where's my toys? Where's my cake?" We had to squelch that real quick. He knew what was coming and thought he was missing it. I don't think we will do that again. Kids birthdays MUST be celebrated either before or on the day!


Here are some pictures of Jay'von's birthday party at Courtney's house.

This shows how fascinated he was with this cake.

Before anyone could sing "Happy Birthday", Jay'von sang to himself!!

Jay'von knew what he wanted, a "wick" of that frosting!

He was so excited about his birthday "humin" for weeks and would go look out the window and say "nope, birtday not here yet". We weren't sure what he was looking for but he seemed to think he would see it out the window. Uncle George went over on the day of his party and put balloons in the driveway before Jay'v was awake. When Courtney woke him up and told him to look out the window he said matter of factly "Yep, my birthday's here!" He is such a cutie with a BIG imagination!!

My birthday is the day after Jay'von's. Chuck and Danielle took me to Cracker Barrel since Charlie was working in Pittsburgh afternoon shift. They didn't think I should stay home alone and eat my Weight Watchers meal....lol. Court met us and we had a good time but I missed having Charlie and Care and George there. Maybe next year... :)

We had our annual hayride at Donnie and Carla Scharf's house on October 2. It was a success as always. The weather was beautiful this year. We all remember last year when the drizzle was almost snow and the wind cut like a knife. I'll post some pictures from that also.

This is the 4 girl cousins....(might be 5 in this pic, don't know yet). Jody (Miller) Mayle, Carolyn (Sherron) Cheriyan, Courtney Sherron, and Sarah Mayle.  Maybe at Christmas we will get a girl cousins pic with Jeannie and Kari.

One of three wagons they ran that night....The John Deere driven by Tom Johnson.

There they go....in recent years there are as many people staying to keep the home fires (and hot chocolate) going as there are ride the wagons. 


Charlie has had a week or so off since he finished up a job in Pittsburgh and chose not to go to another night shift job so far from home. He has gotten a lot of things done around here that were neglected while he worked out of town. He started today on a job in Morgantown. I won't know how to act with him working close to home during the day. He has done the night shift 2 hours away for so long.

That pretty much brings us up to date. There's still a lot going on. Kristen Poston's wedding is this Saturday and I am up to my ears in cookies and cake balls this week. But of course you all know I love to bake (only can't eat them) so I am having a great time. We have revival coming up the fist part of November then Thanksgiving and before you know it Christmas....LOL. I love this time of year just not looking forward to what comes afterwards. January, February, and March....Yuck. Except we can look forward to our new little bundle of joy in March! Maybe that will keep us going and make those long, cold, dreary months go fast.

We also enjoyed spending time with Gib and Ellie when they came to visit a couple of weeks ago. It is always such a joy to have them here. Ellie gave me a book I am reading right now. "The Kneeling Christian" by an Anonymous Author. It is a wonderful book. Maybe I will write a bit more about it after I am done. I already know it is powerful and every christian should read it.

Hope you all enjoyed our little review of the last month. Talk to me. Click on the comment button and leave me a message. I know it's not facebook but I miss hearing from you all. Have a wonderful week and hopefully it will be not so long before I post again.