Why Cats and Quilts Don't Mix

Did you make this wonderful blanket for meeeeee???

Louisiana Lovin'

Today is Fat Tuesday and although I will not be participating in it or Lent, it has me thinking of Louisiana and my Grandpa O.

Circa when I had curly hair

After Grandma O. passed away, Grandpa O. (yes, *always* with the O after) would spend his winters in Louisiana with his brothers and their families.  He'd return to us with all sorts of goodies including fireworks from Boomland, a box full of Zatarain's (which wasn't available in the north at the time), and cases of Jack Miller's barbecue sauce and seasoning.

Grandpa was a barbecuer.  For years, he and Grandma O. would make their own sauce, until they found Jack Miller's. 

Grandma & Grandpa O.'s BBQ sauce recipe

It's a family thing.  My other grandparents would call Kermit Miller himself and order cases of Jack Miller's, and my sister, too (now, of course, you can order online here! Jack Miller's).  At one family barbecue, Nick kind of said that Jack Miller's sauce wasn't exactly his favorite and I think my aunt just about passed out right there.  Ha.  He has since grown to love it.  Right, Nick? 

It was my grandpa that got me into spices and seasonings--you should see my spice cupboard!  I supposed that's another picture and blog post.  In school, I might have been known as a spice girl---that girl who puts all sorts of stuff on her food.  Remember the Spice Girls?  Yeah, I was very confused when they came out and wondered why one of them wasn't named Mrs. Dash.  :-P

 That's the smallest jar of Tabasco Sauce I've ever seen!  1/8 oz.

So, we will enjoy some Zatarain's Dirty Rice and I will think of Grandpa O.  Good luck to me trying to get Evander to eat something with the word "dirty" in its name.

Old calendar brought back from Cajun Country.

And for your listening and viewing pleasure...

I'm [Not] Going to Pump You Up

So, some things that are definitely NOT pumped up are grocery items at the store.  Have you noticed?  You get less product for the same or greater price?  I guess I've heard that this was happening, but I really haven't noticed until recently.

One product that has be completely annoyed is Yoplait Kids Yogurt:

All of my children absolutely love yogurt.  These are tiny little 4 oz. yogurts (perfect size for them), with natural food coloring and "less sugar."  This yogurt is thicker, so they can eat it more easily without it dripping off their spoon.  Previously,  it had DHA in it, although I am not seeing this on the new package.  We used to get six yogurts in one package for $2.62 at Wal Mart.  NOW for $2.12, you only get four yogurts which will barely make it through the door of my house before they get completely devoured.   They were 44¢ a piece and now are 53¢ a piece--Wal Mart prices--these would be more than $3 at our other stores.  I haven't bought the yogurt since they downsized, mostly because I'm mad about it and it would disappear so quickly in my house.

Another example....Wal Mart marketside brand iceberg lettuce:

Now, I *know* I'm paying for mostly water here anyways, but still.  Iceberg is a good salad filler.  This is a tiny 6 oz. bag for $1.  One dollar?  Boo-yeah!  You think you've scored.  But really...I've gotten a big 24 oz. bag for $3, sometimes $2.50.  I've lost at least 2 oz. for every dollar I pay. 

I understand that everyone's costs and overheads are going up, price of gas is going up...but does it really have to?  I hear food prices are going to keep increasing this year.  It's a little unsettling.

Here's a list from Consumer Reports of items that shrank: Downsized Products

Have you noticed these?  Any other products that you've noticed?

Arnold's still in town in Columbus.  I just thought that was funny that we were at Pump It Up yesterday and you know...Arnold...I'm going to pump you up...yeah.

I'm Going to Pump You Up

We went to a birthday party today at Pump It Up in Avon and it was loads of fun!  The kids played on all sorts of inflatables and enjoyed running around.  Honestly, I think the adults' vocabulary consisted only of, "Wait!!!!  It's not your turn!  The end of the line is here!  Only four can go in there at a time!"  These things are exhausting for a mom of three kids, but everyone enjoyed themselves.  It was awesome to see my friends and former co-workers from Cuyahoga Community College, Ginny and Maureen.   Thanks to Ginny and Scott for a great party.

For a time, the Pump It Up workers were not allowing Emory on the "big" obstacle course and slide because he is an inch shy of 42".  This was completely frustrating to him and difficult to deal with.  In fact, he sneaked on a couple of times before the worker finally relented.  He was so happy, and of course, did just fine on it.  Evander enjoyed the slides as well and Marin got to bounce in the basketball bounce house with me.

Ginny made a sweet cake of The Count---her son's favorite.  It was beautiful and yummy and unfotunately for Emory, it had all sorts of red dye in it.  I let him have it anways.  I might pay for it tomorrow, but I feel bad in situations like this where every other kid is eating cake.  We shall see. 

 Should I walk or should I crawl?

So happy to be on the BIG inflatable!

This is fun!

The Arnold Sports Festival is in town in Columbus---is anyone going?  :-D

The Hope of Spring

Yesterday morning, I was out sans children running around (well, the car was running) and was specifically looking for Red-winged Blackbirds.  Isn't it great that my mom will come over and watch the kids while I take a birdwatching joy ride?  Silly-- I had errands to run, tasks to complete, items to cross off a list! 

Anyhoo, I was looking for that one special bird that gives me hope that SPRING IS COMING!!!  Last year, I spotted the first one on March 1.  This year...nada.  Although, I *thought* I heard one when I was out front with Evander while he was riding his bike.  March 2....nada.  Saw two turkeys instead.  But today...March 3...I saw a Red-winged Blackbird.

Uncle Will will be happy to know that Evander called this bird a Steelers bird after I told him it had orange and yellow on its wings.  Yellow and black and he automatically thinks Steelers.  I'm pretty sure his like of the Steelers only comes out of rebellion, though.  ;-)

And since we're talking about blackbirds...check out my cousin's husband, Tony Pulizzi, playing guitar for American Idol!!!  You can hear Tony all season long in the Ray Chew Live band on American Idol.



Some scripture that offers me hope:

Jeremiah 31:3 says
The LORD appeared to him from afar saying "I have loved you with an everlasting love; therfore I have drawn you with everlasting kindness."

In John 16:33 Jesus said
...in the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.

In Revelation 21:1-4 John said
 ¹ Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ² I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Do YOU like green eggs and ham???

Today, Dr. Seuss would have been 107 years old.  I'm not sure why there is so much buzz around his birthday specifically, but Evander celebrated it at school today, so I thought we'd continue the fun.  I do know that Dr. Seuss' books have entertained and inspired generations of children to read and rhyme and my children love them! 

The boys also love watching "The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That" on PBS.  Evander remembers the facts from the show...Emory sings the songs (and Marin, too!  She sings the theme song.).  :-)  This morning Evander said, "Thing 1 and Thing 2 are Cat in the Hat's helpers?...just like we're YOUR helpers?"  I thought that was sweet.  So, we love "the Bwinch!" ("Grinch" as Emory says) and want to read "the one with the Zizzer-zazzer-zuzz" (Evander speaking). 

Some things I did not know:

• Dr. Suess' first children's book, And To Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, was declined 27 times before being published.  Talk about rejection!  And perseverance, really.
• Green Eggs & Ham came out of a bet between Seuss and his publisher.  The publisher bet he couldn't write a book using 50 or fewer words.  We know who won.
•  Dr. Seuss' affinity for rhyming came from his mother, who used chants to memorize pie recipes as a child in her father's bakery.  I might try rhyming tomorrow as a flit around the house. 

Here's our green eggs and ham we made for dinner.  Can I just say I love my stoneware muffin pan!  I love muffins!  I love muffin-shaped and sized foods!  Are you feeling the love?

Here's the recipe: Green Eggs & Ham

                                           And the back-up plan...a Cat in the Hat pizza!

It's a cat hat! :-)

Ring, ring! Ring, ring!

      Ring, ring!  Ring, ring!  Progresso.  Hey, can you tell my mom to relax and enjoy the poo?

Marin thinks everything is a phone.  It's quite adorable, as you can see.  The best part is when she says, "Bah!  See-oo-uh!  Ah-uh-oo!"  That's "Bye!  See you later!  I love you!"  in Marin talk. 

I couldn't help but think of the Progresso Soup commercials and can phones when she did this yesterday.  When Nick and I were in college, he and our friend Jessica put two cups on a string and then connected his second floor dorm room to her third floor dorm room 500 feet across the street.  Lo and behold, the cup phone worked!  The string stayed tight by being closed in their windows and stayed up all semester long.  It was great.  Everytime we drove down Tressel Street we'd go under the string.  I suppose if you didn't know it was there, you wouldn't notice it.

So, I think we'll make some cup phones today!

Here's the commercial that makes me laugh:



And here's the science behind a can or cup phone:

http://science.howstuffworks.com/question410.htm

Blog Blah Blah

I hate blogs.  I love blogs.  Oh dear, what's a girl to do? 

Why I'm a lover:

• Blogs are a great resource!  There's so much information out there by the people and for the people.
• With that being said, I would say 75% of my crafting inspiration comes from blogs.
• Blogging is a great way to keep updated on your friends and family in far away places, and to keep them updated.  I know a couple in Arizona who will love this!

Why I'm a hater:

• I sometimes think blogs are another modern tool that promotes self-absorption.  Bleh!  (Come on, you know you've thought at times, "I need to post [something] as my Facebook status!" or "Take my picture so I can post it on Facebook!")
• Do I really need to know all of the details of someone's life, and do you really need to know the details of mine?
• I don't have time to read all of the blogs out there!  I probably don't have time to write this one, either. 

So why start a blog? 

A few friends of mine have started blogs in the past couple months...another is thinking about starting one, so why not jump on board?  I like to read these blogs.  I like to know what my friends are thinking and feeling.  For a moment, it's like we are back together again.  You know...back when we had few responsibilities and no bills to pay!  I'm hoping that I will get some enjoyment out of this, something more creative, than Facebook.  And I've also thought it's time for me to be a little more reflective of my life.

Where does the title come from?

I've been thinking a lot lately about seasons of life and how time just goes by too quickly.  The memories that we make are mere moments.  This makes me a little sad, but thankful as well.

I've never thought of myself as a deep thinker or any good at speaking publicly--"Lord, send someone else!" said Moses, and I'm not even sure I'll have much worthwhile to say.  You might get bored, actually, reading this.  I've also never been good at high maintenance things--watering plants, wiping the kitchen counter, feeding the cat.  Just kidding on that last one....sort of.  :-P  I'm probably just opening myself up for criticism....hopefully you readers (anybody?  anybody?) will be nice.

I think this blog will likely be about my children, cooking, crafts, and church things (I say church things because they all start with "c!").  Those are entertaining and inspirational things, right?  We shall see where this goes! 

                                                            And........the self-portrait.