Caleb is 13...

On Friday the 13th, my oldest son, Caleb, turned 13. Some say it is unlucky...13 that is. And then Friday the 13th at that. But Caleb and I decided that it is actually like two negatives making a positive - turning 13 and Friday the 13th. And, of course, since I was born on Friday the 13th I always insist that it was LUCKY for me!

Tonight was Caleb's party. He had several friends from church over for pizza and video games. They played Mario Smash Bros, Mario Cart and others on the WII. Then they also played Guitar Hero upstairs on the Playstation. They are spread throughout the house (but not here in MY space - my craft room) and it is pretty quiet. Just conversations and games going on. Everyone seems to be having a good time. Everyone who is left here is staying the night. Some of the kids just live so far away so it makes sense to let them spend the night. "D" didn't but she is a girl and "A" didn't but he is only 7 and his birthday is tomorrow. So the other boys are here for the night. Not sure how long I should let them stay up. Right now it is only 9:30 pm, seems so late for me but I know they won't be ready for bed for quite a while. I am hoping to wrap things up at least by midnight or shortly after. Gives me plenty of time to update my blog and getting some stamping in. James is playing video games with the kids and I hope to get downstairs and take some pictures.

We have been so bad in the last year about taking pictures. We have been so unhappy here that we even let it show in our picture taking. That is a shame. My boys have grown so much in the past year that I am disappointed that I don't have the pictures to show their progress. So tonight I want to get quite a few. Then we will also have pictures of the boys' friends when we are in Italy - so they can look back and remember Indiana fondly.

We will make sure to take a lot of pictures when we go to New Mexico too. It is very important to me that we have pictures of the boys growing up and with their family. We have so many people to see while we are there but not much time. It is hard sometimes. Everyone wants to see us but no one really understands that we do have other family to visit.

I have been meaning to write all week and have just let other things get in the way. I really do want to do a better job and update my blog at least 3-4 times a week. Hopefully, I will get better at it as time goes on. I do appreciate those of you who stick with my ramblings.

Tomorrow, I will post some memories of the boys -actually some notes I took on things they said. Oh so cute and endearing. I found the notes when I was cleaning out my stamp room. Trying to make my room neat for company and the coming move. Anyway, I will post them tomorrow so you can enjoy the memories too!

That is all for now. Have a blessed weekend.

Monday, Monday

Today was a nice mellow day! I was able to get my exercise done and a shower taken all before lunch. The boys and I were also able to get our school day started before lunch. That means it was a great day. With all the hours I had been working I didn't feel that I had been doing a good job of explaining things to them. Today I was able to remedy that. We covered friendly letters, business letters, source cards, note cards and more. Overall a productive day.

I was even able to make a card and complete another challenge posted by PaperTreyInk. That is one of my favorite places to go these days. Checking out the new hints and build up to the New Release day on the 15th of each month. And this month marks there 2nd year in business so we have even more build up. Very exciting. New stamp sets, new samples and ideas, all you could ever want or need when crafting. They have so many great ideas. Of course, the contests this month to win cardstock, ribbons, buttons, and stamp sets are fun to enter.

James went back to the dentist today. They said he did not have a hole into his sinus cavity. Apparently it is a hole in his gums? There is a hole that I guess, is like a little tunnel. The air comes in one side and out the other side and that is causing the air to go across the wound and making him uncomfortable. Today they repacked the area with gauze and he will go back on Thursday to have the other sutures removed. He still is not feeling good about it though. Yesterday, at church, he couldn't even sing during worship services. The vibration and air was quite painful for him. I sure hope he starts feeling better soon. There almost seems to be a sadness to his countenance. I know it is because he doesn't feel good.

I only have to work one day this week and that is tomorrow. The rest of the week will be spent getting the house cleaned for Caleb's birthday party on Friday, getting the place cards for the Sweetheart Banquet stamped with the couples names (this banquet is for those married 30 years or more) and making the Oreo Truffles for the banquet. Of course, I also have a cake to make and Valentine's cards for my guys. A very busy week all in all. Hope I can get it all done!

Have a blessed week.

A~~~

PTI Ribbon Challenge

I am entering another card for a different PTI (Papertrey Ink) challenge. It is a challenge to win all of the PTI 2008 ribbons plus 2 of the 2009 colors. Yippee! I used all PTI products except for the embellishments.

Colors used: Sweet Blush, Berry Sorbet and Spring Moss.

I hope you like it~! I like how it turned out.

~BONUS~ I did find little mini pans today for Caleb's cake. Three small ones. I can probably make 6 mini layered cakes out of one cake mix. We shall see! I think he will love it. I also finally found a jumbo muffin pan. I have been searching for one of those for a while. I found both items at Hobby Lobby! So excited about that. Now I need to get cake mixes, frosting and sprinkles. At Caleb's Pizza and Video Games birthday bash I want to also have a Sundae Bar set up. In the jumbo muffin pan I plan on putting sprinkles, M&Ms, nerds and other little candies for sprinkling onto the boys' ice cream. I think they will enjoy doing that.

Finally, we have had warmer weather. It was actually around 50 degrees today! YIPPEE, the snow and ice were melting and while it was kind of ugly, muddy and wet ~ it wasn't bitterly cold, snowy and icy. I will take that! I was so getting tired of the bitter cold that prohibited me from ever feeling warm.

Time to go! Watching movies with the guys.

Saturday's Thoughts...

Thought I should update you all on James' "issues". He went back to the dentist yesterday and they packed the hole into his sinus cavity with gauze soaked in something (that something had a really funky smell). Then they gave him yet another prescription - this one was a steriod. Poor guy. He is taking an antibiotic, a steriod, pain meds when he needs them, and his cholesterol meds, plus, I think there is one more but I can't remember what it is right now. Then this afternoon after my shower he said that the packing came out and he can feel the air moving between his mouth and sinus cavity again. Apparently, not only is this an odd sensation, it is uncomfortable and will probably lead to a dry socket. He does go back on Monday for them to repack it. (This appointment was already set before the previous packing came out.)

Now, hopefully, we will be going out shopping. Caleb will be turning 13 on Friday and I want to pick up some things he wanted for his birthday. Not sure what else we will do. Only a couple of things that I need to look for. And then James not feeling well will probably lead to us not being out long at all.

I wish I could find some mini-cake pans. I want to make him his own individual cake just the way he likes it. Maybe I will find some today while we are out.

On Thursday we were able to visit friends of ours that we met in Germany. Two different families. Wow it was great! Wonderful to chat with people who KNOW where we are coming from, KNOW what we are dealing with (reverse culture shock), KNOW how we are feeling. You know people who have BEEN there, DONE that and BOUGHT the Polish Pottery to prove it. You ladies know who you are... Even those of you whom I did not get to see on Thursday. And for those of you who don't know what polish pottery is I will post a link to my purchases that we made in Poland. Here . Mind you this is only a portion of it. If you go back through the pages on our website you will see several photos of pottery. This pottery is beautiful and great to bake in. Cleans up so easily too.

Anyway, I know I probably have more to say but I need to go so that we can get the birthday shopping done.

Have a blessed day!

A***

PTI - RAINBOW COLOR CHALLENGE

The cards I made tonight are for Papertrey Ink's Rainbow Color Challenge. This was a fun one to participate in. And my first one.

The first card I will share is the one I made for my son's 13th birthday. On Friday the 13th he will be 13. I used the new Around & About set for this card.



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My next card is my first attempt at using Guide Lines - can I say I LOVE this set! It was so fun to use. Very cool too - a clean, modern twist I think



And finally an attempt at a Valentine's card using Heart Prints...





I will post more later regarding James and his issues!

Poor James -

He just figured out today that when having his upper wisdom tooth removed they caused a hole to form in his sinus cavity. This is causing him a great deal of pain (and making him a "wee" bit grumpy). He has to go back to the dentist on Friday to see if they can fix it. May have to suture it but if that doesn't work he will have to go to an oral surgeon and possibly have a skin graft. Man, when it rains it pours. They also prescribed a pretty strong antibiotic for him so that he doesn't get an infection from the incision into the sinus cavity. He couldn't go today (Wed) to fix it or tomorrow (Thurs) because we will be at Ft. Knox applying for our visas to Italy. Hopefully, they will be able to repair it on Friday though. He is still feeling pretty miserable because of this pain in his mouth.

Tomorrow we are expecting to see friends of ours that we met while in Garmisch Germany and then another friend that we met while in Wiesbaden, Germany. Both have a deep faith and are great to be around. Should at least be a fun time of visiting. Especially good when you need to counteract the bureaucracy of the military and the government when it comes to filling out the same paperwork in a hundred different ways.

I am getting excited about this move. I know it will be stressful and full of changes. But it will also be filled with wonderful opportunities. I can't wait to meet new people and share my love for Christ.

Would love to "chat" more but I am tired and need to get to bed. Have a wonderfully blessed rest of the week and I hope to see you here tomorrow. Don't forget to leave comments...ask questions or tell me what you would like to know. I will try to answer.

A***

Due to Overwhelming Demand....

I am posting my soup recipe here... I mentioned my soup on facebook and here and everyone is asking for the recipe. So here it is...

Potato Chowder with Green Chiles



1 large red bell pepper
4 large poblano chile peppers
5 cups chicken broth
1 large potato, peeled and cubed
1 large onion, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 cups half-and-half
1 cup milk
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese
6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
1 bunch green onions, chopped

Broil bell pepper and chile peppers on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet 5 inches from heat about 5 minutes on each side or until peppers look blistered.
Place peppers in a heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag; seal and let stand 10 minutes to loosen skins. Peel peppers; remove and discard seeds. Coarsely chop peppers.
Bring chopped roasted peppers, chicken broth, and next 5 ingredients to a boil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until potato is tender.
Melt butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat; whisk in flour and next 3 ingredients until smooth. Cook, whisking constantly, 1 minute. Gradually whisk in half-and-half.
Stir white sauce and milk into chicken broth mixture; cook over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes or until thickened and bubbly. Sprinkle each serving evenly with cheese, bacon, and green onions.

I want to reiterate that I sauteed the green onions in the bacon grease before sprinkling over the soup. I love the flavor this imparts! Definite hit and I will be making this again and again and again. I thought that this was my friend Andrea's recipe but she says NO. Sorry I do not know who to give the credit for this. I guess I will claim it is mine now ;-) Shhh - don't tell anyone.

I also want to add that I am so thankful for my life and safety. Right after I left I69 today there was a 25 car accident in which 2 people died, one is in critical condition, 11 were taken to hospitals and the interstate was closed for 7+ hours. This accident happened seconds after I passed the area. My heart was in my throat as I read about it on the news. (I had heard about it through customers coming in to have prescriptions filled but didn't know where the accident was) Here is a link to the accident report with video http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/news/local/region_1/Major_accident_closes_69

Sending praises to my father that even with so many vehicles involved there weren't more injuries and fatalities. For those of you who read my blog but don't live in Indiana. Today we were expecting 1-2 inches of snow and just flurries for the day. However around 8 am it started snowing and by 10 am we had over 3 inches. The wind was also blowing so hard that on my drive to work visibility was down to almost nothing and many people were still driving too fast without their lights now. Very dangerous (this would be the main reason that I usually pray all the way to work - besides it being a nice, quiet, convienient time).

Anyway, thanks again for reading and Enjoy the Soup! You will not regret trying it, I promise!!!!

A***