I'm back!

I've been slacking on my blog & have decided it's time to get back in the loop.

Today it was just an easy going lazy daisy day here at the Graham home. We declared it pajama day, watched movies & ate leftover stew for lunch & supper. Yum!

I did a bunch of recipe research & wrote out several new recipes to try that look super yummy & best of all EASY.

I'm on the hunt for canning jars & have got a couple of leads from some friends who said they had some to give me. That will be a blessing if I can actually get my hands on them.

My plans is to use them for "Gifts from a Jar", homemade Christmas gifts for family & friends this year.

This is very exciting but I need to get on the ball because Christmas will be here before we know it.

Now for some real excitement! Thanks to our friends, D'dee & Landon, we now have a Lego table (aka train table) for the girls room. They love it & it has been a wonderful addtion to their room.




That's all for now folks.

Garden Fun

Just a few of the good times we had today during garden time & after.


They loved the wheel barrow...most kids do right?? LOL


She said she was going to get some sun....I think this is the redneck tanning bed??


I don't know why but the girls insisted that I wash my hands before making them something for supper. LOL


This is what happens when you leave a 6 year old outside with the sprinkler on...I didn't get a picture of the finished product...it was priceless.

Row to hoe~Part 2

After moving the box we lined the ground with some special lining that will hopefully keep grass & weeds from growing up in there.


Here they are spreading the dirt....we had 35 bags of 1 cubit feet & 5 bags of 2 cubic feet. Lots of spreading going on here.


And more spreading....look how full it's getting...


The fun begins! I've already got the tomatoes in now I'm working on the pepper plants. I put in yellow & red bell peppers, jalapenos, banana peppers, and hot cherry peppers & cayenne peppers. For the tomatoes I did 3 plants of Big Boys which yield 16oz fruits & 3 Patio grape tomatoes. Yummy!


Here it is all finished! I have Texas sweet yellow onions & red onions, Japanese eggplant, straightneck yellow squash, zucchini squash, cauliflower, cucumbers, strawberries & watermelon.

It's gonna be a great summer!

A Row to Hoe~Part 1

We came home from church, changed clothes, had a light lunch & got to work!

Lets see the fun...


Here is daddy & Chloe cutting the lumber for the raised garden box.



Safety first! She was so excited that her swim goggles matched her new gloves.



Jimbo cut the sod from the 8x4 area to transfer to the backyard.


Making sure the measurements are good for the area Jimbo has cleared for the box.


Lauren playing gymnast on the box before we move it to its permanent home on the side of the house.

Garden Time!!

We made our list and checked it twice then headed on over to Lowes for some lumber for a raised bed for our first garden & lots of great plants. We had even made a stop for a cutie pie picture with our little Bugga.


She had the best time at Lowes. There's just no other kid as great as Chloe when we need to do some shopping. She is just fun all the time.



Here we are loaded up and heading home. Tomorrow after church I'll post more pictures after we've got our raised bed built, filled with dirt, and planted. Here's what we're planting this year:

Better Boy 16oz tomatoes, Patio grape tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, Red onions, Texas Sweet yellow onions, Straight Neck yellow squash, Zucchini squash, Red & Yellow Bell Peppers, Banana peppers, Jalapeno peppers, cucumbers, Japanese Eggplant, Cauliflower, watermelon (red & yellow), pumpkin, cantaloupe, strawberries.

Herbs in pots:
Cilantro, oregano, sweet basil, thyme, rosemary & parsley.

Wheels on the bus....

Public transportation....doesn't sound like much fun does it? I mean you imagine, cranky bus drivers, stinky, dirty buses, no air conditioning, gum on your shoes, yucky people. The list goes on and on, right?

Well, meet CART~Cleveland Area Rapid Transit! Our public transportation in Norman, Ok. We made a little visit there on Friday with our NAHE (Norman Area Home Educators) group & was guided around by our great friend, Chris.


Here Chris is telling us about all the cool facts about CART, for instance; our public transportation is owned and operated by The University of Oklahoma. All OU students ride for free! How cool is that? It's only 50 cents for adults, 25 cents for kids six years old & up, free for kids under six.


Pulic transportation is already considered a "Green" thing to do but did you know that CART vehicles are fueled by either compressed natural gas or biodiesel. How cool is that?



Here's a great group of cutie's waiting at one of the many covered bus stops in our fine city.


Chloe was very happy to be able to drop her quarter in while Mr. Al, our wonderful driver looked on.


We're ready to see the town Mr.Al!


We even stopped & picked up some REAL OU students in the heart of the campus & took them out to the National Weather Center for their next class.

It was a great adventure, we got to tour the CART offices, see the bus barn, the place where the bus drivers pick up their keys & important info before starting a shift, took a nice ride with our guide Chris & learned just how cool riding the bus can be in Norman.

We learned about 'froggy' Friday! Which means everyone should 'hop' on board the trolley for the 2nd Friday Circuit of Art! Experience live music on board the route and get off the trolley for even more art throughout Norman! 6 - 10 p.m. beginning near Republic Bank & Trust and Copelin's Office Center. There are lots of free craft make & takes for the kids & some yummy snacks to be had as well.

Also, for the next couple of Saturdays in April Ride CART for free tickets to the OU softball games at L. Dale Mitchell Park. Ride the Apartment Loop beginning at noon for the tickets. Take the whole family!

We will be attending the OU vs. TX game next Saturday! Who wants to join us?

Sew Fun!

Lauren's sparked interest in sewing has truly warmed my heart and it has encouraged me to turn to the love of it myself.


This morning I taught her about the needle, threader, measuring of thread, how to sew a button & the importance of tying knots in your thread. I remember my Nanaw teaching me these things when I was about her age. I would sit in her floor and make clothes for my Barbie. She had this big jar of buttons that I was free to use and always had a nice scrap pile for me to select from.

This morning I cut off some denim jeans for shorts & she had her seamstress "hat" on & immediately asked me if she could make a jacket for her Webkinz. Too cute!

Here's a little of her adventure:


She's concentrating really hard here so she doesn't stick herself with the needle. She has on her thimble though! Go girl!!


Here's the finish products. She made a jacket for Webkinz & a pillow for them too. Good job Sissy!


Now wait a minute....I thought that jacket was for a Webkinz....Sweet Sophie is such a good sport. We love her so much.

Suprise Party!!

Here's our beautiful Aunt Dorothy. She is 80 years young! We had a huge surpise party for her at Cimarron Steak House in OKC with tons of family & close friends. It was so much fun but it always is when Keiths family gathers together. I love them all so much!

The whole gang!


This was the "young cousins" table. As you can see, all girls!


Uncle Randy, Aunt Ann, Mom & Dad Graham (side note: Randy is dad's brother)


My yummy steak dinner~no I was NOT able to eat all of this...are you serious?!? LOL


Aunt Dorothy with her two great sons; Lynn & Larry


With her grandkids~Bailey, Angela & Steffani


With her GREAT grandkids~Colton, Cade, Chloe, Josh & Andrew


Best lookin' couple there! Saved the best for last~

Seriously??

My truck was broken into AGAIN and this time they took my brand new stereo I had for less than a month. I was so shocked & MAD! Why do people do that? This was the second break in on my truck in the last year of living in my brand new neighborhood.


Thanks to USAA though, I have a new replacement that is even better than my original system & this one came with a removable face plate so if they steal this one it will be useless without it. Yay!!!

Oh my....

It's been WEEKS since I've written anything. Uggg...


So here's what has been going on with us. I'll just post some pictures & blog about them to catch you all up.


This was one of the most happiest days in my life~ I inherited this beautiful sewing machine from my precious Nanaw, my mother's mother. I have so many cherished memories of & from this treasure. I learned how to sew on it, wore many many outfits that were lovingly made on it & I must confess, everytime I walk by it, I touch it and can just FEEL the love & connection I had with my beautiful Nanaw. Now this amazing machine will be the center of our home during our homeschooling & well, just living life. I will post pictures soon of our first outfits that will be made for summer time; DRESSES!!


This is the 100th Singer Anniversary Sewing Machine made in 1955. It was (and still is known as) the best straight stitch machine Singer ever made. It has been beautifully restored by Keith's cousin, David Bullock. I cried when he brought it back to me, I had so much pride, my heart was full & just overflowing with awe at the fact that it pretty much looks like it did the day my Nanaw brought it home. I know she was beaming with pride when she did.

Thank you David for caring so much about my machine & putting all the love & effort you did in restoring it for me.


My pride & joy!

The Featherweight 221 (222 has a free arm that makes sewing cuffs & pant legs much easier) came in a standard black model made in the U.S. Those made before World War II (and apparently a few after the war) had an attractive "Egyptian Scrollwork" pattern on the faceplate, while most of those made after the war had a simple, striated pattern of vertical stripes. They were further decorated with gold decals and the Singer name, but nowhere do they say "Featherweight" on them.

As you can see, mine has the "Egyptian Scrollwork" on it & was made after WWII.

Marathon Cooking

Yesterday was a busy day for me~
I didn't get the chance to do my usual Sunday cooking so my week was totally off. I decided I better get on it so my cooking stress would be null and this weekend the kids would have something good to eat without having to be on the Ramen Diet while I'm gone to Summit weekend.
Here are some pictures of my crazy kitchen:

This is my crockpot chicken fajitas. They are so very yummy! All I need to do is make some fresh guacamole, warm some tortillas & supper will be served.


This is my Mexi-Chicken (my bestfriend Kelli calls it Katie Chicken when she makes it. LOL). I make this pretty much weekly as a staple for lunches & quick snacks. It freezes beautifully too.

Here's how you can make it too:

3 boneless/skinless chicken breast
1 c. chicken broth
3 Tbs. taco seasoning mix
1 sm. can diced green chiles

Put all in crockpot for about 6 hours on low. When it's fork tender, shred in the pot so it will soak up all the juices. Then use it for chicken tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas, nachos, or just right on a piece of bread or a bun. It's just too yummy!

So, while I had both crockpots working on the countertop, I had my oven on too.
I put a nice 8lb brisket in there. Oh my...the house smelled heavenly last night when we walked in from church.
We had some of that for supper tonight with couscous & green beans. With your meat already cooked, you can have supper on the table in less than 15 minutes. It's wonderful!



Now for today (Thursday):

It was a great day. We've been discussing & learning about the Solar System this week. Lauren is loving it, Chloe too but Lauren especially.
While they did their workbooks I did some housekeeping. I was shocked at how much junk I vacuumed up today. It looked like I hadn't ran the vacuum in months! Where did all this stuff come from? Holy smokes...I also vacuumed the blinds today. Wow...I'm thinking I should do that more often after what all I saw. It was scary.

We then got on our bikes, headed over to Ms. Trish's house for a NAHE field trip committee meeting. We love going to Trish's house. She has great kids the same ages & a nice big yard & home for the kids to play in. She also shows us the best hospitality, we love visiting over there.

Next on the P.O.W; OKC Zoo in the morning then home to drop off these munchkins so this homeschool mom can get back to The City for Winter Summit weekend. (Yes I know it's really not winter right now but thanks to all the snow & ice we had in Feb. our Retreat Weekend was postponed.)

I'll be back in a few days. Have a great weekend!

These Boots Were Made for Splashing!

Saturday, March 20th is the first offical day of spring for 2010.

Yesterday after the rain was done the girls & their friends wanted to go outside for puddle jumping & mud stomping so they were hunting down the proper shoes, well boots in this case.

Lauren's lovely rainbow boots she's had since moving here have a small leak in them somewhere & Chloe's plain black rubbers were too small, I couldn't even force them on her feet.

So after they played in their regular shoes, came in muddy, wet, and just plain filthy, we did a "spare the moment" trip out in town for new boots.

We totally missed the great rubber boot sale at Academy Sports. That would have saved us about $20 (or more) if they had not clearenced them out before the "rain season". Headed over to Target for a look there next and this is what we found:



The only pair they had in Chloe's size were the cute Hello Kitty boots but she would have NOTHING to do with those. She wanted Frog boots. I thought the Hello Kitty boots were cute & loved that they had those easy grip handles, that wouldn't even sway her.

So we headed over to old faithful...Walmart. She picked a nice pair of plain pink & purple boots. I was relieved she passed up the Camo & the blue/red pair. She said she loves pink & purple, just not Hello Kitty. LOL

Now, all us gals have our rainboots for the Oklahoma rain season. I have a strong feeling we'll be using them a lot this year. Here's a look at what we got!

Monday...Monday....

Monday Monday, so good to me,
Monday Monday, it was all I hoped it would be....
NOT!!!

I love Monday. All my friends know that. I wear sweats, no make-up & most of the time a ballcap in place of hairdo! Monday is my favorite day of the homeschool week. On Monday we have PE class from 9:45-11:00 a.m., we have lunch out about twice a month afterward then meet some friends at the library from 1:00-3:00 p.m. That's our easy school day. It's a great way to start the week!

Then Monday comes with a warning from the weatherman that a stormline coming up from Texas would bring dangerous thunderstorms with lots of lightning & heavy rain. So I prepare & change plans! I drop the girls off at class, head over to a favorite place to find scrappy friends, at A Whole Lotta Scrap, get my new paper supplies for a couple of special projects I have planned, then back for the girls. We go straight to the library in order to beat the 1:00 p.m. timeline the weatherman has given us for the storm arrival. Wouldn't ya know it?!? It comes in a little earlier however, not as bad as he said it would be...at least not here in Norman!! Ugggg...

Keith said the storm was bad in the City. I don't know if that makes me happy or not, but it does restore a bit of my faith in the KFOR weatherman. LOL

I'm reading a great book today about bringing order & beauty to your home. I could use a little of that...how about you?







My plan for supper time is homemade potato soup.

Cookies & Chloe

Lauren went home with our friends, The Lords (Jeanette & Katie), after church today. After church, we had a meeting with our photographer that will be shooting our vow renewal, when that was over Chloe requested to make cookies with me. I didn't feel like making anything elaborate so I got out my favorite shortcut recipe for cookie making that my friend Melissa Larson gave to me when we lived in California. It's the easiest yummy cookies you'll ever make!

Recipe:

1 box confetti cake mix
1/3 c. oil
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350*. Mix above ingredients. Place small round scoopfuls onto stone & bake for 10-13 minutes (ovens vary so be sure and check them at 10 min).

Time to Make the Donuts....

Keith & I went out to run a few early morning errands. While we were out thought we'd get Saturday morning donuts since we hadn't done that in a while. We sent a text message to Jimbo letting him know our intentions.

He said, "Hurry!! They're waiting out in the driveway for you now."

This is what we saw when we pulled up. Keith & I got a good laugh & thought we'd share it with y'all.