Gracias, Mahalo, Merci

Or -  if you're like my grandmother, you could say thank you by giving me this...............

That would be 50 lbs of Oat Groats. 

My Grandmother is 88 and stayed with my family last week.  Every time she stays here she buys me a thank you gift.  Last time it was a new toaster oven as mine was literally falling apart, this time it was a gigantic bag of grains.

Got out my handy dandy oat roller, rolled some oats and made granola STAT.

I took 2 pictures of my mom, sister,my Grandmother & I while she was here.  They were horrible of us all so I deleted them thinking I would take more later.  I never did and now I regret deleting the bad pics.  But I do have pictures of my lovely granola.  Granola never looks bad.

And this dishcloth.  When I eyed it at the thrift store I almost cried.  It was fate.  I was meant to have this cloth.  Kitchen Tea Towels are my favorite thing ever.  If they are vintage and have a cool picture or saying, I want it.  Just to look at, and cover rising rolls, and put a bowl of granola on, and love.

I also love my Grandmother very, very much.  Next time she's in town a picture will be taken of us, and no matter how bad I look, I promise I won't delete it.

More than you ever wanted to know

Dog or Cat/ Favorite animal?

*Please.......my heart belongs to one.  We're pretty much soul mates.

Favorite Color

*Green.  And sometimes blue, and yellow.  Never black.  I think I own 2 black items in my whole closet, I like anything bright (more on that later).

What is your passion?

* Making sure these 3 feel like no one has ever been loved as much as they are.

 Getting or giving gifts?

*Although my husband spoils me like crazy (and I give him things like coupons that I never make good on), I do love to make treats and give them to my kids, the neighbors, teachers and family.  How adorable are these St. Patricks day treats I made today?

Coffee or Tea?

*Neither, Pero.  Made with some brown sugar and milk, I am completely smitten.

Favorite Pattern?

*Anything with a 70's vibe, colorful and whimsical.  I guess I've rubbed off on the girls too.

How do you stay energized?

*By only wearing makeup when I am forced and not washing my hair. This frees me up to do more important things like organize Lila's Polly Pockets.

Favorite room in your house?

*The kitchen of course.  It comes in really handy to be there when I am hungry.  Which is always.

Favorite Pastime?

*Opening my oven, there always seems to be something delicious coming out of that thing.  

Favorite Food?

*Salad.  With a strong cheese, tons of veggies, nuts, sweet potatoes & beans or tofu with a vinaigrette.  I know it seems bizarre to have only 2 crackers with hummus.  There were about 10 more but I ate them in the course of the 2 minutes it took me to take this picture.

Who do you admire?

*Glenn!!!!  This is what he wore golfing with all of his friends.  The only way he could pull it off though is because he's a great golfer.  He's the best sport ever, & I mean that literally.  Even if he tries a sport for the first time he'll most likely be better than the person teaching him.  

Facebook or Twitter?

*Facebook was fun for about 4 months so I could catch up with old friends from High School, but once I did I dropped out.   I don't tweet.  I don't understand what Twitter is.

Favorite quote

 “No amount of success can compensate for failure in the home.”  David O. McKay  

I also really like

"There's no such thing as quality time.  Just time."  unknown source  
 

Roommate Wanted

With weather like we've been having a barbecue was necessary.  Of course I'll start with dessert as that was my favorite part.  My sister Jeannette made the best cupcakes I've ever eaten in my life.

They were coconut cupcakes made with a  coconut milk reduction, fresh coconut and a coconut vanilla frosting with toasted coconut on top.  It's my one regret in life that I didn't make them first.  I begrudgingly give her all the credit.

Some of the kiddos.

Our good friend Jason came with 3 of his girls.  His baby girl was home sick with his wife.  He is the funniest guy I know.  We all just sit around him and say "Go", then he talks and we laugh and clap and throw money his way and don't let him leave.  He is pure entertainment.

Glenn still in his church clothes manning his new BBQ.  Our big ol' gas one finally died and my mom said since we do so much grilling for everyone she would buy us a new one.  We went old school to save money and got one that needs charcoal.  It's actually really nice and gives a delicious smoky taste to everything.

The spread.  I am not sure some of the kids appreciated the 100% whole wheat hot dog buns, but they ate em. 

Glenn's plate, cause of course you can't choose between a burger and a brat.

A quinoa salad I just added anything that looked good to.  This is what I ate.  I am actually not eating a whole lot of meat this days,  I much prefer salads.  I did have to have some onion rings though, yum.

Cause one picture wasn't enough.

The kids gave Kylee  a crazy hairdo and then went and sang to some of our neighbors.  Adorable.  You should be so lucky to live on my block.

Why go through the front door when you can go over the fence?

My parents and Grandma and other friends (& me obviously) were here tonight as well but I guess I was too busy laughing at Jason to take proper pictures of everyone.

I am gonna go ask Glenn if Jason could move in.

The only problem is we'd always fight over him.

$23 Well Spent

I went shopping with my mom, sister and Grandmother ( in town visiting from Utah) and came home from the Goodwill totally happy with some new stuff. 

*Thrift skirt, thermal at least a dozen years old that I've used for working out for years but now it's back in my everyday rotation.  Anyone else do that?  Didn't think so.   White tank, because I wear them with most outfits as you will see, sandals bought last year at Marshalls, & Walmart digital watch cause I am cool like that.

 *Thrift skirt, same white tank, thrift sweater/shrug from the girls dept., no big deal, just stretched the arms out a little and forced my way into it, same sandals.

You can't be too picky when you thrift.  But actually it was exactly what I was looking for as I love the look of a tank but I don't wear sleeveless because of religious/modesty reasons so this little sweater worked out perfect.

 *Thrift skirt, thrift shirt (bought a few months ago), same tank, Dansko shoes.   The skirt is cuter than the picture and has a nice comfortable wide cotton waistband.  Perfect for our hot summers here and will go with any T shirt.

 *Thrift dress, same tank, Target shoes bought about 6 years ago on clearance for $3, they are my favorite pair of sandals.  I love this dress!  It needs to be sewn in a few places and a button put on at the waistband (I just rigged/taped it for the pic) but I love the length and color and silky feel of it.

The dress is supposed to come together and button but since I don't have a 20 inch waist I can only button it so far.  I actually like the look of it better, showing the tank underneath and all.  I am not a seamstress but I can put in a few stitches myself.  I am really excited about this dress.

 *Thrift dress, thrift shoes (bought in Utah a few years back for a few bucks), Target belt. 

This dress is a gorgeous green color and has rouching at the shoulders and a great neckline.  I am not sure if this belt is the right match but I'll work on it.  This dress has shoulder pads so I need to take them out.  It might need a few tweaks but nothing serious.

And that my friends is how it's done.  3 skirts, 2 new church dresses and 1 little shrug for just over 20 bucks.

Talent

Emry participated in her schools talent /variety show last week. 

She sang '1,000 miles' by Vanessa Carlton.   It doesn't matter how much or little talent your child has, when you see them singing their heart out on stage you can't help but have the proudest, giddiest grin plastered on your face during the entire performance.

 There were so many great performances.  The girl in the red is bound for Broadway I am sure, the cute girl with bangs and the belted summer dress has the sweetest voice and mad talent on the piano & Emry, of course because she's my daughter, is pretty much capable of anything.

 There's the grin I was talking about.  Ridiculously proud.  

Lila loved it all.  Ethan on the other hand, you can tell by his face............................

that this was bound to happen.

Messy

I've realized my life is always going to be a mess.  Not a bad mess, the good kind of messy.  Like a haphazard bun I throw my hair into that's disheveled and still looks good.  Like toys scattered throughout my home because Lila insists the Polly's need homes in every room of our real house. 

Like Ethan's room Friday night.  As I walked by Emry was tying sheets and strings and zip lines for the Lego Men and although my first instinct was to tell them to stop, I quickly hushed that voice and let myself enjoy the creativity of it all.

Like a kitchen that's used.  Everyday.  Not only for cooking but homework and crafts, experiments and climbing.  If you take off the table cloth of my kitchen table you will see permanent marker, glitter glue, cuts and chips in the wood.  It's the patina of life.  Our life.  I can look at that table top and remember such good times.  The times when their knuckles were chubby and their coordination so off  that the marker easily made it's way right off their paper into a memory.

I remember having all the Boy Scouts over doing a craft at my nice big dining table.  The other leader wanted to put down newspaper or have the boys use books under their work.  I told her no.   I don't mind the life I see in my home.  Whether it be from me, my kids, animals or friends.  I want to know we  lived and used everything.

We got around to painting my 'new' (given to us) outdoor table this weekend.  These pictures are deceiving as I did most of the work, but the kids were wonderful helpers.  I didn't give them any instruction, just let them put their mark on our table & chairs.  They sanded nicks right into chairs and left drip marks.  But it looks all the better for it.

We'll soon start eating meals out here.  Brutus will be begging for food and we will share with him. Hummingbirds will whiz by and neighbors dog's will bark.

I will notice a spot that didn't get painted...........and I will be happy.


 *** I am guest posting tomorrow (Tuesday March 6)  at   Henning Love .  Check it out, it's a love letter to Temecula.

Goodbye Goldilocks

Today is Crazy Hair Day at the children's school.

     DONE!!!

 
Ethan & Lila with their cousin Nathan.

The Masterminds behind these creations.  Glenn & Emry

Have a great weekend!  Make it a crazy one!!!