Hump Day.....

Moving Mountains Today!

I have planted plants, cleaned Kris's house, did 2 loads of laundry, put up the other piece of peg  board up in Kenzie's room, walked the 2 little ones to the bus stop, made Spanish rice, for me, tended to the chickens, cleaned the pen, Patched a pair of Kenzie's jeans and sewed up a seam in one of Amanda's dresses and my pants...surely there is more I am leaving out....But now I am going to take a hot bath and get dressed for my day...You see I have packed most of my clothes but I wore yoga pants and a  tee shirt for PJ's so I have worn them all morning while I have been working...

The sun is shining and it is a great day!

Hope everyone is having a nice a  day as I am.....

My Lucky Day!

For 2 weeks now I have not had my "Magic Pills." My pain was getting worse and worse. For the last 4 days my feet felt like they were broken. Yes, broken. Since I have had a broken foot I know broken. I only had 1 pill left here and I knew I was going to have to have it right before I left or I would not be able to even walk to the plane....

 

Then yesterday when I was getting stuff ready to pack and send I found 20 pills...Yes 20....enough for 20 weeks!

Believe me I took one that minute and by 10 last night my pain in my joints were so much better!

Today the pain is almost gone! So I have a lot of plans today.

 

I walked around and snapped a few pictures and although it is not sunny yet it is supposed to be later today...Not just today but for the next week it is to be sunny every day...

 

I am posting several pictures...this is the day it will take and hour for Clayton's computer to load..

 

 Mike had a game 2 weeks ago. This is one of the shots Kris took. He plays right field.

These little white flowers are by Kris's front door. They smell so good. If you pick one and put it in the house it makes the whole house smell good!

 All of the rose bushes are leafing out...This is my least favorite. It is a yellow one and only has a few blooms each year.

 This is the Starlit Magnolia Kris planted. It does not smell good like a regular Magnolia tree. Kris has a regular Magnolia Tree planted in the yard down close to the fence row. I am not sure you can see it in this shot... BTW I wonder how the Magnolia tree in ole man (thinking...) ...That is so awful I can not think of his name..(the one armed man that used to work for Carroll  Electric)...Up the road from Meeks.  Pat rented a house from him when I was in second grade...Wait let me squeeze my left hand to make my brain work...Yes!....Orrell...Ole man Orrell's yard... May 4th on the drive home from the air port I am checking his yard....If the Magnolia tree is in Bloom, I am stealing one  of those blooms off that big tree...Get ready Greg you are going to have to Boost me over the fence. I do remember there is a fence around his yard...

 Picture of the limb on the apple tree..A Washington Apple (someday)

 Kris and I planted about 150  bulbs a few weeks ago.....Some are coming up.

Picking up more glass...I will never get it all. Darrel decided to just cover it with flagstone...Good idea!

 burn pile

Ivy grows wild all ofver the yard...I dug up some and put in pots...

Still Searching...

The death toll is now at 30 for the OSO land slide. There are still known bodies that have not been found.  It is easy to see why bodies are still missing when you look at this mess. I wonder if they will have to give up searching and just start clean up. The road up there is still closed. Some residents are having to walk a mile to get back and forth to their homes. They have to carry in food and water, They are talking about trying to make a new road around the slide. Who knows what will happen. This is about 10 miles from Kris's house.

This weekend Kenzie and Amanda and I went to the Mall and then out to eat. Amanda said it was 'the best day ever!' But Amanda has a lot of days when she says that. It is good to have that many Great Days EVER!

While we were out we went to Amanda's favorite store, Clair's. She was going to buy more earrings but then she saw some makeup that was in a case and the case looked like a purple camera..."and it called her name",  so she said! So this morning she came out to my room for a minute, before going to school,  and I told her how beautiful she looked and she told me that was because she had on makeup.... I thought uh oh...but I did not get a good look at her face. Oh well, she has a mama and I was not in charge today.

Kenzie went back to school today. She is still taking Motrin once a day for her throat and she is still getting tired in the afternoons. Hopefully she will make it through the day just fine.

i picked up 2 totes this weekend to send my stuff back to Arkansas in them. I need to get at least 1 sent pretty soon.

Kris got the tape, Sheetrock putty, and paint for me to finish my bathroom here. I hope to get it all taken care of before I leave.

I spoke to Greg this weekend. He said he will pick me up in Springfield Mo. on the 4th...I am ready to be home.

Bunnies Jumping in a hole....And recipe for Winnie Jo...

We made truffles today... Amanda loved it!

To make truffles...

Bake 1 cake...I used a yellow cake mix...
After cake has cooled crumble it into a large bowl..
Add about 1/3 of white canned frosting...Use chocolate if you made a chocolate cake..
Add MINI white chocolate chips...or MINI chocolate chips if you are making a chocolate cake...
Take your hands and SMUSH (ya like that word) the cake and frosting and mini chips all together until they will hold together in a ball.

Make small balls from the cake mixture..I made these about the size of a quarter... smaller than a golf ball...

Continue making balls and placing them on a cookie sheet..1 cake mix made about 36 balls...Place balls on cookie sheet and set in freezer...

The tail and feet are made from Fondant...To make fondant you mix white Karo Syrup with equal parts of Crisco...Beat, Beat, Beat well then add Power sugar till it is like play dough...
The recipe is...

1 C white Karo syrup
1 C. Crisco
2  pounds power sugar...

Mix mix mix...
This makes a lot of fondant so I always just make about 1/4 of that amount...

Or you can buy it ready made almost at any grocery store.

Bunny feet...
Take about  1/3 cup white fondant and add some red jell  food coloring (it comes in the tubes) If you use reg. food coloring you probably will have to use more power sugar.. to get it stiff again...It just takes a drop to color it pink.. Mis it with your hands...Kneeding it...Then I pinched off just a dab, rolled it into a ball and flattened it into a bunny  foot, Shaping it with my fingers....You will need just less than 80... I took a paper plate and sprayed it with pam. Then after I made a foot I placed it on the paper plate...I tried to make 2 feet look alike. I used a knife to make the toes.....Then after I had a plate of pink feet I put them in the freezer...

Bunny tails..
Pinch off a small ball of white  fondant   (about the size of a small marshmallow) Roll it into a ball and then I rolled the tails in cake decorating small white balls..They come in the little plastic jars  like sprinkles....but these were just white balls. After making one I placed them on a paper plate...You do not need to spray this plate  with pam...After I made about 36 I put the plate in the freezer..

I had white almond bark, melted in a small bowl... Take some of the cake balls from the freezer...I worked with about 12 at a time cause they do better when you keep it all cold. I used a plastic fork to dip the cake balls into the white chocolate. Place each dipped ball  on wax paper on cookie sheet  (or tray sprayed with pam). I immediately added a tail and the feet to the truffle ,while the white chocolate was  still soft.

After I assembled a few I would put them in the freezer and take out more cake balls...till they were all dipped and  assembled. The chocolate sets up in minutes in the freezer and then they do not melt at room temp.
Mine are on paper plates in zip lock bags kept on the counter.


I know this sounds like a lot of work but It really was not. The kids did most of it while I watched.
The grass is coconut and green food coloring...
Place in those small baking cups some green coconut (Grass) and add a bunny ball.

Mama's Quilt

Here is the quilt after I patched it. It would have looked a lot better if I could see better. I think mama was about my age when I asked her to piece me 2 quilts by hand. I remember she said she did not know if she could do it. She also did not see so well plus  she had arthritis. I remember thinking when she told me she was not sure if she could make it and I thought, how lame ....little did I know. My poor Mama.

Here it is before...
torn...
If my kids asked me today to make them a quilt pieced by hand I would say' Suck eggs, and die!'  I had no idea how much I was asking of her.

But  the quilts sure are pretty. Kris has the brown one and Missy has the blue one.