4 Sweet Sisters

Last night after dinner we did a little decorating. I've really pared down my fall decorations. I like it so much better with just little hints of it. Like I said yesterday, it's 91 degrees again today. The house feels so much cooler for some reason. I can't believe having a couple of decorations could change my attitude so much. This doesn't mean I'll be decorating for Christmas in July, but it is something to think about. Last night I even watched a couple of British shows with a blanket on. I'm pretty sure Superman thinks of lost it (how often do I say that?)! So here are a couple pictures of what has brightened our day. Superman and Angela( Dancing with my Father ) don't look! You'll be aghast at my photography skills. I got a lot of these pumpkins in different hues at the Dollar Store last year. What a deal. I will change them out for a cute collection of Pilgrims and Indians (also $ store finds from a couple of years ago) when November rolls aroun

Well it's going to be a blistering 91 degrees this afternoon and I'm not feeling "fallish". Yesterday I promised the chickadees we would decorate, make a fall dessert, and have cider. Yes, I even -preplanned by buying cider. (Didn't have time to make my own-hehehe.) We've been on a downhill slide all morning. Since I'm the co-captain in charge, I need to save this sinking ship. (don't ask) First we'll make Pumpkin Spice Cookies. Then head out to garden at 4-H. Home for baked chicken, veggies, salad and biscuits. Then our yummy cookies ( you know they'll be good) and cider. Clean up the kitchen, let the chickens out and do a bit of decorating! These are pumpkin cookie. Sorry for the blurriness (one of the girls took a quick pic for me-not that it matters). They were good ,but not at all like a cookie. The tasted like muffun tops and we were wanting cookies. We use 2 apples, 2 cups of cider, and lots of ice to make our cider slushes. The chickade

I really enjoy blogging but often I ponder the reasons I do it. Today is one of those times. I haven't shared much of our families history because much of it is painful and we are all still dealing and healing with different issues. One issue has been a visual disability that my oldest two chickadee's and I share. For some reason words and numbers do not bounce correctly from our optic nerves to our brains. I'll leave out all the technical jargon today but in severe cases (which one of my beauties has ) it makes life very difficult. Especially when your a very articulate and intelligent young woman. She reads and understands a myriad of things, loves history, science and writing. But can't memorize digits, words, etc. We've been through every phonics program , math memorization program and medical visual therapy. To be left with huge gaps. Some have filled in, while others have not. Leaving the chickadees frustrated. Enough said. Difficult especially when your

Ahhhh dinner. I can't wait! I've had some really good work outs this week. I think I'm finely finding my groove and getting a routine down. A true athlete (he he). I even lost a couple more pounds. So I need to guard against unwanted head talk. "Go ahead, it's okay you lost weight." or "A little more won't hurt". Yeah, right. As I was saying yesterday we received a bunch of peppers in our kitchen basket. (I wish I could grow organic peppers this size...) Urban Girl has been requesting stuffed peppers. Eeck, yuck! Superman and the chickadees we grossed out. So I asked a couple of question and came to find out that no one liked the tomato sauce that goes on top. Superman being the only one who has actually eaten them. I think I may have had them at my Auntie's house when I was a child. I vaguely remember the tomato sauce. Anyway, I really wanted to give these a try. Now maybe I should have used a recipe (I thought as I was popping them into the

Today is a quickie. We had produce co-op and I got so many yummy looking green and red peppers. Just last week I was craving roasted red peppers and garlic. So today was the day! Directions for Roasted Red Peppers (works with all peppers): Wash peppers Place on a cookie Set oven to broil (I broil on high) Place peppers under broiler Let peppers char on every side (rotating as needed) including the tops and bottoms Place hot peppers in paper bag and let cool 20 to 40 minutes Peel black skins off and slice pepper as wanted Directions for Roasted Garlic: I use a glass pie plate Peel outer skins off garlic Slice just the tops off Drizzle or pour olive oil over garlic Sprinkle with a bit of salt Bake at 385 ( just a random temp) for about 45 minutes Take out and cool while peeling the peppers. So easy and doesn't take much time. I then mash the yummy garlic and a pinch of salt to tatse. I then layer roasted peppers and roasted garlic. I was doing a bit of tasting at this point! The garl

Just a update and a way for me to see my progress. Started water aerobics the end of June. (2 times a week) July continued water aerobics, but added in another day (3 times). Gained 6 pounds but feeling great! I can feel the muscle. Mid July added in swimming laps 40 to 50 laps in 1 1/2 hours (1 to 2 times per week and water aerobics 1to2 times per week- total of 4 days) August buy swim pass. Goal: laps 4 times a week. ( 2 weeks of water aerobics, twice a week). I feel that I really need to step it up. Feeling really good. NO weight loss. Losing some inches. By mid August shaving off time down to an hour for 50 laps (1000 yards). Swimming only laps 5 days a week. Gained 2 more pounds (freaking out!) Feeling really good . Seeing muscle definition. Feeling a new strength in my body. Mid August start eating only when I'm hungry and stopping when satisfied. A few bumps in the road, but doing well. No more dieting. Praying and asking for direction. Start really upping the pace of my lap

It's been a long time since I've done a Works For Me Wednesday post. It's not that I don't have anything to offer up. It's that I can't remember when it comes time to post it. So without further ado let me show you! Thank you to my very brave husband, Superman. We don't call him a superhero for nothing. He also believes in this concept a lot! Ye old Nette . Has anyone ever used a nette pot? I tried and hated it. It felt like I was diving into the deep end of the pool and depositing most of the water in my sinuses. It would hurt like the dickens ( what exactly is a dickens?). Superman informed that I had the wrong technique. So I tried again with no success. So a year has gone by and I've been sneezing like crazy for a couple of months. Rarely do I ever sneeze. I decided to give the pot another go. Superman was right! My technique was all wrong. Here is Superman's Technique: use sea salt warm water shower (easiest place w/no clean up) tip your hea