“I didn’t do it I promise! 

I don’t write on furniture anymore.”

– Megan

 

Leaving the author of the mischief a mystery yet to be unraveled…

You’d THINK I’d be past this stage. 

I mean, unlike some moms, I no longer have any two-year-olds in the house…

 

~*~*~*~*~

Residual evidence from earlier days:

This one was obviously Jacob.
I used to have these little vignettes everywhere, on walls, paper, in books…
I think this is all I have left of that phase of his life,
and of course now I think it’s rather cute.

Also, I’m so very thankful it is on Paul’s 2×4 and plywood desk and not on my Ethan Allen bureau in the living room.

 

So after regretfully taking our leave
of the beautiful bebe,
we went home for a little while,
relaxed,
changed clothes,
and then went back over to the church.
The parking was ridiculous – by the time we got there around 1pm,
the entire parking lot and football field were both full,
and we had to snake around through the lot,
out the back,
and into the baseball field!

Unbelievable.
I had *no idea* it was such a huge event!

Got inside,
and since Paul was not there yet with his crew,
we wandered around and took some pics.

Hustle and bustle near the entrance.

The raffle booth – there must have been a couple dozen of these gift baskets being raffled!

One of our wonderful Loreto Sisters.

Jacob stopped to watch the spinning wheel.

Big Tiger Slide!

Kettle corn!

Bouncy play area…

People, people, people!

Warnings!

Bouncy raceway… this looked fun…

Pausing to decide where to go next…

Inside Smith Hall, there was air conditioning.
Good choice.

There were two big screen TVs set up, one on each side of the gym,
showing football games.

I. Want. This.

Hanging out at the stage end of the hall.

Pretty girls.

At last Paul arrived with his crew.

Jacob and his nerf gun were getting in people’s faces by this time…

Mello!  Carmello is a cutie pie.

We had been there long enough,
so we decided to head home.
We had to go through the food pavillion,
which smelled
InCREDible.

Walking along, swinging Layla!

Oh look,
somebody actually made it way up high!

The cherry on top of our
Sunday sundae:
SWINGS!

They had a 10 minute swing here before we finally went home.
It was fun to visit,
very colorful and festive,
but I’m glad we didn’t stay longer.
A little because it was getting hot, but also,
we didn’t do any of the rides because the wrist bands were $10 in advance, $12 the day of,
and that’s just ridiculous when you have as many kids there as we did.

~*~*~*~*~

The rest of the afternoon back at our house was relaxing,
watching some CASTLE,
and after Lisa and Layla went home,
Jeff came over,
and we watched the finale of LOST with the kids.

I do believe that will be my forever-favorite show.

Great ending to a great day.

 

Well, here it is late Monday night,
but I need to reflect a little on what a beautiful Sunday we had.

Bright and early,
I snapped this pic of my luverly daughters
at 7:30 before we jumped in the van:

Then it was off to pick up
Lisa and Layla,
who were such troopers to get up early,
and were standing outside by the curb when I pulled up shortly before 8am.
The children did just fine on their own during choir rehearsal,
walking around and exploring a little;
and unlike last week,
found seats much closer to the front,
within my line of sight from the choir.

I never did see Paul until after church,
as he had come in at about 10 minutes to 9,
and that’s about the time when you have to start hunting for seats.
And he brought 8 with him, so I guess they were at the back.

After church we headed over to BK
for a wee bit of lunch with our big crew.
From there,
I took my six and aimed the van for home,
but made a stop at the Barnella home
so we could all
coo over this chubbalicious babykins,
Anaise:

 

My daughters and God-daughters:
Lisa, Laurent, Anaise, Shannon, Megan, Layla, & Geneva

Lisa, Anaise, Shannon, Layla, & Godmother Nettie.

Lisa, Anaise & Shannon.

It was so good to see my girls again,
after Lisa’s month out of town.

~*~*~*~*~

To be continued…

As I believe I mentioned,
tonight was the Heidmann Family’s turn to bring snacks to RCIA.
Being the sort of gal I am,
I couldn’t not have fun with it.
I decided to go with my famous Buffalo Beans,
Nettie Bread,
and because it is so perfect for the season,
Caramel Apples.

The Buffalo Beans
Soak, then cook until tender
2 cups each:
Kidney Beans
Red Beans
Navy Beans
Black Beans
Black Eyed Peas

Brown:
5 lbs. ground beef
2 lbs. breakfast sausage
garlic powder
smoked paprika (a lot)
pepper (to taste)
minced dried onion
Chipotle seasoning (as you like)

Stir in to cooked beans.

Add:
2 Cups Ketchup
2 cups Medium Salsa
1 16oz. bottle BBQ Sauce
2 bottles Buffalo Chipotle Sauce

Add
4 cans of Butter Beans
after all other ingredients are combined.

Place in slow cooker on low for 2-10 hours.
Or whatever.
The longer it cooks, the stronger the flavors.

~*~*~*~*~

Tonight’s affair was a great excuse to limber up the old grinder,
which as been on summer hiatus ever since
the weather turned abominable.

I decided to celebrate the return of bread season
by making this batch of bread
“Super-Nettie-Bread”
with about double the nuts and seeds I usually use.

Also decided to toast up the raw pumpkin seeds in a little oil and salt, for extra flavor.

So tasty and toasty, I wanted to eat them right up!

While I was working on the bread,
the girls got to work on the labor of love:

unwrapping the carmels!

The apple prep station…

Yummy apples….

Meanwhile…

Oh my.
I have missed the smell of fresh bread.

At last, the caramels are all ready to get saucy.

Drizzling in the water…

Someone was having fun with apples…

Ready to start the dipping,
as soon as that caramel sauce is done!

Oh………..my goodness.
Have you ever made caramel apples before?
Because, you see….
we hadn’t.

(Note to self:  Do NOT try new things when you are on a deadline!!)

I just thought one follows the directions on the package.
And I also thought,
apparently mistakenly…..
that if you are multiplying the recipe by 10,
you can just do it the same way.

Ummmm…

Not so much.

Ok, What do you do with 10 packages worth of burned caramel?

I ended up microwaving it (it took about 10 minutes)
and then pouring it into some small glass jars.
I don’t know if it will be any use as a caramel topping on something else,
But it’s in my fridge now.
Waiting for some kind of inspiration to hit!

Meanwhile, was now down to 2 hours till departure time,
no caramel for the apples,
50 apples to do something with,
and not wanting to start another baking project.

A quick internet search
produced a fabulously simple recipe for a fruit dip –
I quadrupled it,
changed a couple of things,
and voila:

Place in food processor and spin till smooth:
4 bricks of Cream Cheese
2 Jars of Marshmallow Creme

Stir in:
6 Heath Bars, chopped.

Sprinkle 2 more chopped Heath Bars on top for garnish.

Then we quartered a big old bowl of apples,
and that was that.
And likely a much better alternative,
considering how sticky caramel apples can be.

Just before leaving,
Laurent is slicing loaf number three.

And, not knowing whether it would be needed,
but wanting to be
“always prepared”

I quick-as-a-wink
ironed up a table cloth to bring along.

Turned out by the time we got there,
someone had already arrived and set up the table with a lovely
cloth and some additional fruit and
nacho cheese dip with chips,
a splendid addition to the spread!

Anyway.
It was a most wonderful evening,
and in spite of my flubbed caramel, the girls and I
really had a blast putting our “little snack” together.

For those who are interested in the bread recipe,
I refer you to the left hand side bar,
where you can find a link to the recipe.

Let me know if you are in town and would like a demonstration class.

 

Outside my window…….
It’s a breezy, brisk, & energizing 76 degrees!

I am thinking…….
about the ups and downs of the weekend, and God’s grace. 

I am thankful for………
Paul’s safe arrival home from the ranch, that I did not need to drive up and back after all, for the great joy of singing in the choir, and for how well my children managed without supervision duirng the pre-service rehearsal and the service itself.

From the schoolroom…….
The school room has expanded today, in celebration of the beauteous weather. 

Laurent is reading Plutarch on the front yard swing,

Megan and Geneva are both working on science on the trampoline,

and Jacob is diligently writing at the dining room table.

From the kitchen…….
My snack menu for RCIA tonight is well on it’s way to completion. 

The Buffalo Beans are in the slow cooker.  Next up, multi grain bread, and last but not least, the caramel apples. 
 
I am wearing……
Navy and Turquoise.

I am creating…….
My creative juices are dry at the moment. 

I am going…….
to let Paul do the karate run today so the girls and I can finish off our prep for tonight.  The girls are supremely delighted to be let off of math today.  (Fear not, they will have to make it up tomorrow.)

I am listening to……..
String Quartet No. 14 in A-Flat Op 105
Antonin Dvorak
Kocian String Quartet
on KBAQ

One of my favorite things…….

Playing at the ranch.

A few plans for the rest of the week…….
All the usual, with the addition of choir practice on Wednesdays, and the delayed-but-not-canceled there-and-back-again trip to Show Low to pick up CEL.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you……

Wind in the grass, at the ranch.

So, my day started at 6:30 a.m. with a phone call from my hubby.

But — let me back up a little.
You all remember the Suburban, right?
and the total brake failure on the way to the ranch?
and riding into town in the back of Ron’s pickup?
and getting rescued by Jon?

Good.
I didn’t want to have to rehash that whole story.

Anyway,
the truck has been sitting up there waiting to be driven back home,
and finally, Friday, Paul was able to wrangle some helpers to come along for the weekend,
have some fun, shoot some guns, eat some hot-dogs,
and then help him drive back.
They drove up in CEL,
Paul, Gordo and Tweetie.
Only last night,
they got into Show Low, and
GUESS WHAT.

CEL broke down.  At 11pm in a small town on a Friday night.
Transmission failure.

That much I knew last night,
and that they were at the Days Inn.

This morning,
at 6:30, my darlin’ called to say,
“Sweetie… can you come rescue me?”

He had tried to call someone from the ranch to come pick them up,
but nobody was around.
So, that left me!
And what does anyone want more on a Saturday than 10 hours of driving, right?

Lol!

So anyway, I rousted the kids, found a couple that wanted to come along for the ride,
and we jumped in the van and took off.

We made it about a half of one block before a strange noise
caused me to pull over.  Megan jumped out the back door and exclaimed,
“We have a flat tire!“

!!!!????!!!!

So I pulled a U and slowly drove back to the house.

Pulled into the driveway and called Paul,
who was remarkably calm.
He had been on the phone some more in the interim,
and had been able to arrange for a ride
from Ron, who was in Gallup, NM, but could be back to Show Low by around 4pm.

Thanks be to God, that was good news.
So all that remained for me was to get the tire fixed.

 

An air compressor is a handy little thing to have around.

Got the tire pumped up enough to drive over to the Good Year shop.

There were a couple of jobs ahead of me,
even at 7:30 a.m.,
so she said it would be around an hour.
We decided to walk down the plaza to the Burger King and wait there.

 

Good thing the girls had books packed in their bags for the long drive that wasn’t!

After an hour, we walked back again.
Only the van had not moved from where I parked it.
Apparently things were taking longer than they anticipated.
She said, Only a few minutes and we’ll get to it.

It was a nice day.

So we waited outside.

Across the street from the Rollero.

For about another half hour.

Then I went inside to find out what was up.
And THEN she says they need to replace the tire because it was damaged when I drove on it.
Fine.
THEN she says they don’t have the size tire we need, so she will have to go GET one.
And it will be about 1/2 an hour.
Fine.

We go across the parking lot to Good Will.
The girls buy cute skirts and blouses.
I buy 4 shirts for The Boy.
Time (and not much money) well spent.

Back to Good Year.

Still not done.

Back to Burger King.
Their A/C does not seem to be working.
Grrr.

Finally, Paul calls to say Goodyear called HIM and the van is done.

We get home at 10:30.

The up side for me was, I walked for at least an hour and a half.

~*~*~*~*~

Fast Forward to about 2pm.
I am finishing up some shopping, and getting ready to speed home
for a late lunch with the kids and Jeff,
when Paul calls again.

“Can you come rescue me?”

Apparently, he had managed to get an earlier ride to the ranch,
but had discovered when putting in what he thought was the last missing bolt on the Suburban,
that it was NOT the last missing bolt.

So now he is stranded at the ranch.

At least they have hot dogs.
And cots.
And can go shooting.

I will be making that long day’s drive tomorrow after church.

 

The never ending saga of the stranded Suburban continues…
one dares not wonder
what the next chapter will hold.

 

Today, in order that we might participate in the MoezArt Theater Company work day,
we had the opportunity to drive to an area of town we rarely frequent.
It is North and East of us.
I had only an intersection for which I was aiming,
and left the house with no map or contact phone numbers…
you may already see where this is going…

There is a reason why we rarely frequent that particular area of town.
This is the reason:
God put a mountain where man wanted to put his town.
Consequently, it doesn’t matter from which direction you try to get there,
you are bound to end up,
as we did,
winding in circles, up and down the hilly neighborhoods
on narrow roads
lined with palo verdes
whose slender twigged branches
arch to meet above your van
as you roll hesitantly along,
squinting to the left and the right,
up one dead-end after another,
wondering in vain
where in the labyrinthine world you are.

Leaving the house at 8:40 a.m.
we finally,
FINALLY!!!!!!
found the college around 10:10 a.m.
Then spent 10 minutes driving around trying to figure out
where we should be,
when the only indication I remembered from the email was
“The Basement.”
I must note at this juncture that, while frustrating,
this morning sojourn
was really a somewhat enjoyable adventure,
and would have been moreso had we not been planning to arrive by 9:30!
After checking with the administration office,
we eventually discovered that we belonged in the Residence Hall basement.
Then we had to park.
Quite a ways from the building.
Once we were there,
we were immediately put to work carrying brightly painted set pieces
made of plywood and 2x4s up the back stairs to load and be transported elsewhere.

That was a good little workout,
though once up the stairs, Jacob saw the great expanse of a grassy soccer field down the hill behind the hall,
and I allowed him to wander down there.

After helping to load a couple of pieces into the truck, I turned back to look,
and he had vanished.
Panic, of course.
Laurent went searching along one edge of the field,
and I went the other way,
and we called and called…
nothing.

The vise-grip on my heart was tightening by the moment,
and I headed back to the truck where the men were working and
had just stated “I seem to have lost my son –”
when up the back stairs he tromped,
without a care in the world,
entirely focused on the rare delight of climbing steps.

I was thankful again. 
As I always am when I finally find him.
He’s an easy one to lose.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve lost him inside the house!

The basement in which the props and costumes for MoezArt are stored
is pretty great.
I could have taken 100 pics of the rooms full of brocade and velvet,
satin and lace,
gingham and suede…
the shelf filled with ancient telephones,
the old-fashioned typewriter,
and the HATS!
Helmets and military hats and fruit basket hats,
buckets of bonnets, snappy fedoras,
and Seussical Hats, but I really had to restrain myself
because I was ostensibly there to HELP.

When I thought nobody would mind,
I did manage to capture a few though:

 

Geneva by a rack of Snoopy clothes…

 

A long hallway lined with boxes of props…

 

After his disappearing act,
Jacob happily sat in this chair the rest of the time we were there,
reading Marlfox.

 

Giant teapot.  I wonder when this was used…

 

Painting some set pieces…

 

 

 

And that was all I got.

We did have a bit of downtime toward the end, and after standing around
not really having anything to do for about 15 minutes,
we decided to take off and grab some lunch before heading home.

It was a long hot drive back to the west side,
made hotter still by a glitch in the signals at the Grand Avenue RR crossing.

The lineup of cars behind us
after sitting through three signal cycles.

We were all very glad to reach the domicile,
and now I have about an hour before
I venture forth again for Jake’s karate class.

~*~*~*~*~

 

 

Outside my window…….
Dark at 4:11 am… 74 degrees says my google desktop weather thingummy.

I am thinking…….
that insomnia is a drag, but hey — why not blog while I’m up anyway?!

I am thankful for………
SUCH a big one yesterday.  Not having had an opportunity to much serious singing since… well, the last time I remember participating in a formal choir was doing The Messiah in Fargo under the baton of Joel Revzen (I think I was 26)…  I have been reluctant, since coming to the cathedral and experiencing the blessing of sitting in the pew, listening to a really first-rate choir performing the likes of Vivaldi, Palestrina, and Gregorian chant, to step forward and inquire about openings.  However, when there was an announcement in the bulletin inviting volunteers, I plucked up my courage (with the family cheering me on) and made contact.  Yesterday, I went over to the cathedral, chatted with the choirmaster for a bit, sang for him in that magnificent space, and was welcomed into the choir.  I am truly thankful beyond words!! 

From around the house……..
all the little people are in their beds with visions of schoolbooks dancing in their heads. 

I am going…….
for walks every day now, mostly with the kids in the mornings, or the whole family in the evening.  LOVE the cooler weather!

I am hoping…….
to get through today without a nap, since I will be driving driving driving!

I am hearing…….
fans.

Around the house……
nada.

One of my favorite things…….
I can’t think of a favorite thing at the moment… isn’t that sad?  Probably just my brain tiredness….  I have many favorite things of course.  Oh, here’s one!

A few plans for the rest of the week…….
besides school… theater, karate, RE class, youth group, shopping, theater work day, Sunday prep, mountains of laundry, and food prep for Monday night, as our family is scheduled to bring snacks to RCIA for about 50 people.

Here is a video I am sharing with you……

 

This was my favorite piece our choir sang in high school… that we will be singing it my very first Sunday with the choir is yet another blessing.

 

This evening,
instead of just sitting on our buttushkies
like we usually do on Fridays,
vegetating in front of DVDs,
we sang the Nicene Creed three times
(needed the practice)
and then went for a family walk.
With the dogs.

Megan wishes me to tell you
that she is not flashing a gang sign,
just calling to her sibs to come back when they started going the wrong direction down the block.

(The notion of Megan flashing a gang sign is cracking me up…)

Off we go!

Milling at the corner,
waiting for MOM
(aka The Slowpoke)
to catch up.

Mom attempts to get a picture that isn’t just
everybody’s backsides…

Kids with dogs at park.

Paul got handed a dog when the kids went running toward the swings…

Swings.

Love the swings!

Swing, swing, swing!

Playground equipment — all this is brand new,
and we’re enjoying the great improvements in our neighborhood park.

Dog on a rope.

Still swinging.

Playground.

Basketball courts (pretty busy at 8pm)

My favorite tree (a little too dark to appreciate it’s magnitude).

Jumping on the playground stuff.

One final swing shot!

Giddyap!

Back home again,
standing at the gate,
waiting for Mom
(aka The Slow Poke)
and Dad
(aka Keeper of the Key)
and scratching mosquito bites.

 

Today was a banner day for The Boy.
He was allowed up on the roof with dad!

And a few minutes after I went inside to load the previous pictures onto the computer,
Geneva came inside to pass along the message to me
that Jacob would like my camera please.

????
~~~~!!!!~~~~

Then,
because I am a mother,
and because as such,
I can rarely resist
the pleadings of my baby,
I said yes.

And you know what?
The kid has a pretty good eye.
These are the pics he took
from up on the roof:

Across the neighborhood:

 

Down into the front yard alcove:

 

A little dish of treated pigeon-be-gone:

 

The driveway:

 

The cage:

 

The front yard foliage:

 

Back yard shed and citrus trees:

 

Trampoline, shed,
dilapidated gazebo that needs ripping down,
and neighbor’s yard behind us:

 

Fun!