Fudge

Erica asked for fudge recipes, so here you go. As an added bonus I make a pan of peanut butter fudge and took pictures. First the recipes. These are all from my mom. And I think the peanut butter one originated from my dad's mother. She makes the best PB fudge ever!



Fanny Farmer Fudge
4 1/2 cups sugar
1 large can evaporated milk



Bring to full boil for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add 1/2 lb (2 sticks) margarine, 18 oz. white bark & 1 Tbs vanilla.



Beat until smooth. Add 1 cup walnuts or pecans. Makes 9x13 pan (or for thinner pieces, pour into 10x15" jelly roll pan).



Easy Fantasy Fudge
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) margarine
6 cups sugar
1 1/3 cups evaporated milk
2 pkg (12 oz each) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 jar (13 oz) (or 2 small jars) Marshmallow Creme
2 cups chopped nuts (optional)
2 tsp. vanilla



Lightly grease 2 13x9 pans or jelly roll pan. Mix margarine, sugar & milk in heavy 4-5 quart pan; bring to full rolling boil on medium heat stirring constantly. Continue to boil for 5 minutes on medium heat or until candy thermometer reaches 234 F. (It actually takes 6-7 minutes to reach 234, so I always use thermometer.) Remove from heat; gradually stir in chocolate chips until melted, add remaining ingredients; mix well & pour into prepared pans. Cool at room temperature; cut into squares - makes about 6 lbs. fudge.



For easier cutting & cleaning, line pans with lightly greased foil, flip out & remove foil before cutting.



Peanut Butter Fudge
2 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup corn syrup
3/4 cup milk



Mix these ingredients and cook over medium heat - stir occasionally until mixture forms soft ball (234 F).



Add: 1 Tbs butter, 1 cup peanut butter & 1 tsp vanilla



Beat to hasten thickening (ready to pour when edges of fudge start to harden on the pan). Pour into buttered 9x9 pan (or line pan w/foil & butter foil).

A picture tutorial to Peanut Butter Fudge (using above recipe):Mix sugar, milk, and corn syrup in pan. Have a candy thermometer ready. (I use a Pampered Chef silicone spatula that can withstand the high heat. Otherwise I would recommend a wooden spoon.)

I get out all the remaining ingredients ready to pour.

Now the mixture is hot enough to add remaining ingredients and beat until it begins to harden.

The fudge will start to harden on the side of the pan like this when it's ready to pour. (My grandmother's tip is to put the pan in a bit of cool water in the sink while you are beating it. This is what I did, and it makes it cool a lot faster.)

Here is the first pan I poured. Mmm.

Here is the second pan. It was getting a little too hard already at this point. But it still turned out tasty.

Here are all the yummy leftovers in the pan that MUST BE EATEN! Yum! Get a spoon and go to town.

Here is the fudge all cut up and ready to be frozen for the holidays. This does freeze very well.

And the rest that got a little more crumbly will have to be eaten now. Darn! (I did take some to share with the other adults where I tutor.)

Try some. Enjoy!

Brows and Cover Up

I have been thinking about my beauty regimine (or rather lack of one) lately. Then Kelli and Erica decided to talk about eyebrows and make-up. So I thought I'd turn to my dear readers for some advice. I am totally clueless when it comes to these things.


It's funny really that I am from a family of girls, but none of us were ever too overly concerned about our appearance (except our mother). Our mother did not pass this on to us, and it didn't matter too much to her that we weren't into all the make-up and stuff she is. I think out of all 3 of the girls, I probably wear the most make-up and am most concerned about my appearance. And it was the same way with most of my friend in high school and college.


So here are some questions for you, my dear readers. What can I do to these brows? I have never plucked, tweezed, or waxed them. Nothing, ever! I think it might be time. Here's the problem, I have no idea what I'm doing. Plus I don't really have the money to pay someone to do it for me. Any suggestions? I don't want to mess up and look horrible.



Also, I never wear much make-up. In the picture I have on eyeshadow (3 shades) and mascara. That's usually all I wear. Sometimes I'll throw on a little pressed powder or lipstick. I own a liquid foundation, eyeliner, and blush but I rarely use them. I always feel like I need a better foundation, but it seems to heavy when I do where it. And I worry that it looks horrible. Eyeliner, I am never happy with the way it looks when I do it. I don't know how to properly apply it. And I tend to have a shaky hand at putting it on. So, any suggestions about foundation (how to wear, whether or not I should wear, what kind do you like)? Any helpful hints about eyeliner? And any other make-up advice for me?


Thanks in advance. And also, I'll be posting some fudge recipes later. Keep an eye out! Complete with photographic evidence too.

Trick-or-Treat

Dear Mommy Daisy readers,

I went Trick-or-treating for the first time last night. At first I didn't know what all these people were putting in my orange pumpkin bucket. Then I saw that it was yummy candy, and I tried to figure out how to get it out to eat. Mommy & Daddy let me walk around for a while, and I learned that if I went up to the people and held up my bucket they would put candy in it. Wow! That made me smile. We walked around the whole mall (I sat in my stroller when I slowed down). There were lots of other kids in neat costumes. And my bucket got more and more candy. Then we went out and got back in the car. Mommy took my bucket away. :( But she did let me munch on a little candy on the way back home, so I wouldn't be too mad. When we got home Mommy let me look through my pumpkin. I got to eat some cheese puffs "chee puhh". Then when Mommy turned around, I just dumped the whole bucket. Wow, I got some neat things. Mommy let me eat a few little things, then we picked up and put the rest away. It was a fun night. Mommy said she'll show you some of my pictures. I would come trick-or-treat at your houses, but it's probably a bit far to drive just for that. So, we hope that you enjoy the pictures. I love you all. Hugs & kisses.

Love,
Zachariah

New blogger feature

Has anyone else noticed the new Blogger feature in people's comments section? I noticed it today while I was doing my comment cruising. There is an option when you're making a comment that you can have all other comments for that post e-mailed to you. So far I think I like it. It saves me from going back again and again to a blog that gets lots of comments. I read all the comments before mine, post my comment, then I catch the rest in my e-mail. I can quickly delete them if I'm not interested or don't have the time to read them. It also gives me something to read on a slow blog day (not that I've been bored this week or anything). Has anyone else tried this new feature? What do you think of it? You have to remember to click the option for it each time or it won't work. Give it a try if you like keeping up with comments on other peoples' blogs.

Replacements

OK, who took my baby and replaced him with this...this....BOY?

6 Things

KatieBug tagged me for a meme. I'm supposed to list 6 habits/facts about myself. Let's see if I can come up with something new.

1. My least favorite housecleaning chore is dusting. I try to do it at least once a week, but sometimes it ends up being 2 weeks before I get to it again. Last week after I dusted Matt asked if I'd gotten the one end table. I told him of course, when I dust I dust everything. He doesn't usually care if things are dusty, but it was starting to bug him on that one table. (The light is shining right on top, so it's really obvious. We don't use that table much either.)

2. I have 4 houseplants. They're lucky to get watered twice a month. 3 of them are from funerals, the other from when Zachariah was born. I remember to water them when my peace lily droops. It perks right back up within an hour of watering it.

3. I love watching old family sitcoms like "Full House", "Family Matters", "Step By Step", "Fresh Prince", "Home Improvement", etc. We loved these shows as kids and I wish there were still awesome shows like that on now. Gotta love reruns.

4. I always need to run errands when it's raining. I don't know if I get tired of being cooped up in the house, or if I just put it off long enough that I have no choice but to go out when it's raining. Either way it's no fun getting a kid in and out of the car repeatedly and dragging groceries in the house while it's raining. (I did that today.)

5. We don't watch many movies. My dad buys lots of them, so we just borrow from him once in a while. I always end up having them forever and not returning them, because I forget to watch them. I have 6 I just got from him recently, so hopefully we'll get them watched and returned soon.

6. I do at least one load of laundry a day. It helps me stay on top of things. Laundry is one house chore that I really don't mind at all.

OK, I'll tag Jana, Andria, Sara, Emily, Kellie, and Shelly.

Pumpkin Cookies

OK, who can resist that yummy goodness? I have made these cookies 3 times this month alone. I always crave them in the fall. Well, at least since I was pregnant anyway.

*****
Pumpkin Cookies
1 cup sugar
1 cup pumpkin
½ cup shortening
1 Tbs. grated orange peel (optional)
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup nuts (opt) &/or ½ cup milk chocolate chips or ½ cup raisins (I always use Milk Chocolate chips & sometimes nuts)

Mix in order & bake at 375 8-10 minutes. Glaze.

Glaze
¼ cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1-2 Tbs. milk

Melt butter till brown. Add other ingredients. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

*****

Now that is my mom's recipe. Here's what I do differently. #1 I always double the recipe. Then it uses the whole can of pumpkin instead of half (a small can). #2 And I like it better with 1/2 cup of extra flour. My mom's tend to stay rounder, but mine flatten out a bit so they're more like cookies. #3 Forget the nuts and raisins, go with my mom's suggestion and always use milk chocolate chips. Yum! #4 Also don't bother with the orange zest, unless you already have some on hand. #5 These are still good without the glaze, but the glaze makes them lots better. #6 Also my mom always puts the sprinkles on top, and they are lots better with those too.

So run right out to the store. Go now, why are you waiting? Get the ingredients and make them. RIGHT. NOW! GO!

For your enjoyment, a few more pictures of these yummy delights.

Stay tuned for my mom's amazing caramel apple dip.

NaBloPoMo

So, I caved to the pressure of fellow bloggers doing NaBloPoMo. I am also committing to it. For those of you who don't know (go check out the site), it's bloggers who are going to post every day in the month of November. I haven't decided if I'll do something special for this or not. I am considering it. Any ideas? A funny picture of Zachariah/me every day? Hmm, I'm hoping I'll think of something before then. Or maybe I'll just do my usual boring thing. I will have to see where it leads. If you aren't signed up for this too, please add me to your friends on the site. I have the link to the right on my page. Good luck to everyone else who is doing thing.

I know what you did last weekend

Wow, I've been such a bad blogger. I took a week off after our mini-vacation. I just didn't have the motivation to write. I have however been reading your posts. And I have plenty of things to tell you about. Zachariah has been doing some amazing things lately, and I know I need to post them here to document them. I've also been working on that 200 childhood memories thing. But not writing them down as I'm thinking of them, so it's taking longer. I did look at more of my photo albums that my mom has and it sparked a few things. It's still very much a work in progress.



Anyway, you've been patiently waiting to hear about all the fun we had last weekend/this week. So, I will deliver. And I will include photos.



Saturday we went to Yellow Springs, OH to hike. First we stopped for dinner outside of Dayton. As we were finishing up our meal this man walked up to us. I'd noticed that he'd been smiling at Zachariah since he sat down. He seemed really nice. We soon found out that he is very friendly and lonely. His wife passed away almost 6 years ago. And he had stories to tell. Matt and I, being so polite, were concerned that we may never get out of the restaurant. The man told us of his trips to Europe. He saw the Sistine Chapel in Rome. He told about the guard in there being able to speak at least 4 different languages. Then he told us about how his son shared a door room with Matthew Fox while in college at Columbia. And how he slept in Matthew's room once and met his lovely fiance (the wikipedia link tells about her). He went on and on about how well off his children are as doctors and lawyers. And how important he thought it was that his wife taught them several languages by the time they were my son's age. He was a really sweet man.



Then we went hiking. We went about 2 miles on this beautiful trail. Matt went the whole way with Zachariah on his back.
I loved this bridge and took our family portrait looking into the water. Maybe for our Christmas cards...or not.
And a kind fellow hiker offered to take a picture of all of us. I can't even believe I'm posting this here, but oh well.



We also visited a dairy farm. They were all ready for fall. Zachariah loved it. He wanted to wander on his own. And since it was mostly geared towards children, we let him. We just followed where he wanted to go. He loved the pumpkins, tractors, goats, and cows...not necessarily in that order. Here is the pumpkin he picked.
Matt took Zachariah on a little ride they had for the kiddos.
He loved that the goats didn't mind hugs. :)
Smile Zachariah!

We spent the rest of Saturday at an outlet mall. Matt got a great deal on some dress pants that he really needed. And I found a fall jacket that I love. Unfortunately Matt ended the day with a killer headache, but he was able to relax and sleep in the car a little while I drove home.

Sunday morning we slept in a bit and enjoyed some time at home. Then we packed up some things and headed to my parents' house. We spent the rest of the day there. Zachariah was content playing with all of the fun toys Grandma has. And Matt and my dad played video games all day. My dad's XBox stopped working, so they went to the store and bought a new PS2. And he still would like to get a Wii when he can get his hands on one. In the evening my sister came over with pizza and subs. Yum.

Monday we went to the Toledo Zoo again. We had lunch at Red Robin first. Matt loves this place, and he had a free meal coupon for his birthday. Zachariah liked the restaurant too.
the zoo was fun. It was a lot less busy this time, so we just spent time at the things we really wanted to see. Zachariah rode the carousel once (he wanted to go again but I was feeling queasy about halfway through the first ride). Then we went on the train. Here is Matt and Zachariah waiting to see the train.
One of the funnest things for my boy was climbing on all the statues. He really enjoyed the one of the tiger and two tiger cubs. He kept wedging himself between the cub and momma. He thought it was great.

Monday after we finished at the zoo we went back to my parents house to change clothes and relax a while. Then we met Matt's mom and dad for an anniversary dinner. They were celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary. Matt's dad invited us without his mom knowing. She was so thrilled to have us and Matt's sister, Carol there to share dinner with them. And Zachariah loved the calamari they ordered. (Personally I won't touch the stuff. Yuck.)
Then we went back to my parents' house and stayed the night.

Tuesday was a sad day. It rained. And that seemed appropriate.
We went to the funeral for Cheryl's baby boy, Ethan. I've never seen a casket so small, and I hope I never will again. Brett and Cheryl are doing GREAT though. What strong people. Brett even spoke during the service. Basically what he wanted people to know is that they know God had a plan in this baby's short life. He brought him here for a purpose and took him back to heaven too. Cheryl hardly even cried. I talked with her briefly, and she's doing well. She says she has her moments, but mostly she's OK. What a lovely little service though. We all had lunch afterwards at their church. It was nice to see the family and talk to them about the terrible loss.

We spent the rest of Tuesday at my parents' house. Then we came home in the evening. Since then I've been playing catch up, it seems. That's what I did. Nice, huh?

I'm here

Really, I am here. It's been a long, busy week. We took Saturday through Tuesday off as a little vacation. We did some fun things (hiking, pumpkin hunting, animal petting, zoo exploring, shopping, and more) and we did a sad thing (funeral). We got home late Tuesday night, and I still don't feel caught up. It's been difficult being thrown into the middle of a week like this. I have so many things that I I'd like to blog about. We met an eccentric man while we stopped for lunch Saturday, and it's a great story. For now though, I'd like to get my house back into order and catch up on reading blogs when I need a break. I'm sorry if I don't comment on all your blogs. I'm trying to make sure I read everything and comment a little bit. I'll be back sometime to blog again. I just need to get back into the swing of things here first.

Birthday Bash

Happy Birthday to my darling husband, Matt. He has blessed this world with his presence for 28 years now. And even though he thinks he's getting old, he still has a few more years before the big 3-0.

This morning I made him breakfast before he headed off to work. We went out for dinner on Wednesday as a pre-birthday thing. And we're doing some fun things this weekend in celebration. This is usually a great weekend in October for us to get away, so we're sticking with that tradition. This time we'll just take some day trips. I'm sure I'll post about it next week.

So, happy birthday MATT! I love you! You're the best husband and father.

32 days

One month is just not long enough. 32 days isn't long enough. Less than 768 hours is not enough. None of that is enough to get to know and love your newborn baby.

Ethan David went to be with the Lord tonight. Matt's cousin, Cheryl, and her husband lost their son. He had such a bad infection and was so tiny. His body just couldn't take it anymore. Here is what Cheryl wrote tonight:

"Our son Ethan David went home to be with Jesus tonight. Mommy and Daddy were with him. He was a fighter who gave 110%. His spirit never gave up, although his body could not sustain his life here on earth. I will post details as we have them. Thank you for all of your prayers and love. Cheryl and Brett"

I'm sure we'll hear more from them in the next day or so. For now my heart is broken for them. I don't know how to deal with this myself, let alone think about how they're dealing with it. I know that this teeny little baby's life has been rough. He has been sick and had serious medical problems since he was born. Sometimes we just don't understand things like this. I truly believe God sent this little boy into Cheryl and Brett's arms for this short time. I'm not sure why, but God knows what's best. He had reasons, even if it causes broken hearts.

What a sad night this will be for the family of this tiny baby. Please remember them in your thoughts and prayers.

**The photo above is Cheryl holding Ethan for the first time ever on Oct. 8, 3 days before he died.

I don't know why

I knew that was going to come back to bite me. Why did I complain that it was too hot? WHY? In two days time them temperature went from upper 80s to 50s. And that's during the day time. After the second day of the cold weather, I gave in and turned on our furnace. It was cold in here, people. And of course it's been cloudy and dreary and rainy.

I had a feeling it was going to go from summer straight to winter this year. That's what it feels like right now. It's supposed to be 60ish this weekend. Which will be great hiking weather. Plus it's supposed to be sunny! We almost always go hiking this weekend in October.

Here is the weather in Ohio in what Zachariah has been wearing. (But yeah for finally being able to get him into his new fall clothes.)

Sunday- short-sleeved shirts and shorts. (Notice how the dog is best friends with the kid- only when he has food in his hand.)

Tuesday (a bit cooler)- short-sleeved shirts with pants. (Notice where the dog can usually be found sleeping in my house. Ha.)

Wednesday (a lot cooler)- long-sleeved shirt, pants, and a jacket to go outside (He almost needs his winter jacket on.)

Zachariah was being quite the model yesterday afternoon as seen in the photo above. I put his denim jacket on to leave, and he wanted to pose. I have several cute shots of him. It was his idea to pick up the pumpkin and feature it in his picture. What a sweet, funny boy.

To blog or not to blog

I blog because...

- I need a place to be me without fear of judgement.
- I want to connect to other moms.
- I sometimes want to share my private feelings with people who don't know me.
- I want to talk about my son.

My blog is not known to my husband, family, or close friends. There are, however, a few real life friends who do read my blog. I know of a few, and there may be more. I trust that what they learn here will be kept private. It's like carrying on a private conversation with someone, you respect their privacy. Anyway, I'm not concerned about that. (But I'm not confident enough to tell my family and close friends about it.)

Sometimes I'm here to be funny. Sometimes I have to be serious. Other times I just feel like writing. And most often I just want to get my feelings out. Do I hold back? Of course I do. I'm not sure I'll ever be a good enough writer to put it all out there. Or maybe it's that I'm not that kind of writer.

Some days it's as much fun for me to read other people's blogs as it is to write my own. But here is where I feel comfortable. I feel like I belong.

That's why I blog. How about you? Leave a comment or make it a post yourself. What is your blog to you?

Dinner

Tonight was a fairly typical dinner at my house. It's good, but it's bad. Let's break it down.

The good: Matt makes supper probably 40% of the time. I love this. He's a great cook. The times he doesn't cook, I usually get things ready before hand. Crock pot recipes are great. Or one dish things that Matt can throw in the oven when he gets home are good too. But if I don't prepare something, he'll take over. He's great at improvising and making something out of odds and ends we have around.

Zachariah ate brussel sprouts tonight. He loved them. I had to go back and get him more...twice! I told Matt we'll have to remind him in 10 years, that, yes, he used to eat brussel sprouts.

The bad: Although Matt makes a really good supper, he never cleans it up. He leaves out the pans and cooking utensils. He lets dishes pile up and throws them precariously in the sink...if they even make it that far. The kitchen is always a terrible mess after he cooks dinner. And I don't even mind cleaning up if he cooked it, but he never helps clean up when I cook. I don't get it.

Also, he leaves the table when he's done eating. I usually fix Zachariah's plate, then get him started. Then Matt and I will fix our plates and go sit down with him. Matt usually gets to sit down before me, because I have to fuss and make sure everyone has everything they need. So, we sit and eat as a family...until Matt is done eating. He'll usually sit there for a little longer, but then he takes off. He sometimes gets all his dishes into the sink before doing something else. I'm left to finish eating, take care of Zachariah, and then clean my dishes as well as the kids. Then I go clean the kitchen up, and right after that (if not before) I'm getting Zachariah ready for bed.

After all that, I clean up all Zachariah's toys. Matt almost never puts them away. I'll admit there have been a few times when it's not a huge mess, so I just make sure it's pushed to the side. But most of the time, I put everything away. Matt gets to sit and relax while I do this. He will ready Zachariah a story, and then I put him to bed.

At that point I'm exhausted. And Matt wonders why. Ha!

Something to look forward to

Do you see what I'm seeing? I have been aching for fall. Supposedly it's been here since September 23rd, but I'm not convinced yet. Then I saw today's forecast, and alas there is hope.

Monday- Bleck, 88? Are you kidding. Guess I'll have to keep the shorts out for today.

Tuesday- Getting better. Maybe I'll wear carpi's.

Wednesday & Thursday- Now we're getting somewhere. These are fall temperatures. And I'll even take the little bit of rain. Time for jeans.

Friday & Saturday- PERFECT! This is fall. Warm sunshine with cool air. Jeans and long-sleeve t-shirts. I can't wait.
Sunday- Wonderful. I'm getting giddy just thinking about the weekend ahead.

Early Saturday morning

Matt had to work today. Hopefully it only lasts until noon. He plans to bring home lunch with him. I couldn't go back to sleep after he left this morning, so I was up earlier than normal. Bleck. Then about an hour later Zachariah got up...earlier than he usually does. Double bleck.

We have a long weekend with no plans. It could get hairy around here. Matt gets Columbus Day off (pays to work for the government). I will still have to tutor, because the schools are not off. So, I get a whole day with my husband home. Yeah! *she said dripping with sarcasim* He'll probably just lay around or do something else that gets in my way. Therefore, I will get nothing done and my house will be a disaster. For some reason it's always much cleaner when he's not here. Even if the kid is here. I don't get it.

I'm working on my 200th-ish post with childhood memories. It's pretty fun thinking of little things to tell you about. But it's hard to decide what is worth sharing. It's taking me a while, but I think it will be a fun post to put up.

Loaded

I've been too busy here lately. I'm hoping this weekend will be relaxing. I'm not even completely sure what's been keeping me so busy. I suppose our involvement in new activities takes up more time now. But I'm happy with those things, so we're adjusting.

Matt is enjoying having one evening a week with Zachariah to himself. They can go out for dinner, play together, and he gets to do bedtime. And it's so nice for me to get out alone for a while (for choir practice), and then come home to a peaceful house with a sleeping baby.

Yesterday my parents came over for a visit. They both took a week off work, but they haven't been doing too much. They went away one night and did some shopping. Other than that they've been staying home. I know my mother is worried about what's going on at work. She's also concerned about her friend, who has cancer, and is having complications right now. They won't tell her much of what's going on, because they want her to enjoy her vacation. My mom knows the friend is doing OK, but she thinks they learned more about her cancer spreading and it's probably not good. (It's been a long battle for this lady. She's been battling it for 7 years now.) Anyway, I think it was good for them to come here for a day and have fun. They seemed to really enjoy themselves, and I think they both needed the pick-me-up. Matt and my dad went golfing, which they both loved. Mom and I went shopping, which is always fun. Then my mom stayed here with Zachariah for a while, so I could go tutor. She thought it was funny the little things that Zachariah did that reminded her of me when I was little. I find it fascinating to hear about the similarities.

Today I can relax a bit. I don't tutor today. Matt is doing a computer job after work this evening, so he will leave right after supper. I'll probably play with Zachariah for a while, then put him to bed. And I'll have some quiet time to myself. YEAH! But until then it's just a lazy day for us here.

Oh, I almost forgot...in other news...Zachariah speaks. This last week or so he has been an explosion of words. If he hears a word, he at least tries to repeat it. He has a handle on "car", "tractor", "more", and several others. Wow, it's been fun to see his "wheels spinning" now. We're embarking on a new journey.

So, speaking of the young one, here are some recent pictures. Enjoy.

Too soon?

So, I ask you, is it too early for me to be thinking about holiday baking? I'm not sure why, but I woke up this morning thinking I could start baking some Christmas/Thanksgiving goodies and freeze them. Maybe it would be less stressful later on if I started now.

But why, oh why, am I thinking about this already. Maybe I'm growing as a mother and realizing that things don't always go as planned with a toddler around.

Last year I opted out of holiday baking. This is something I normally love to do. I believe I make a few small batches of cookies and some chocolate covered pretzels, but that was about it. Much less than I usually do. I knew that I would not have the time to commit to it with a baby around.

So what I'm thinking now is that I can start baking some of the cookies and have them out of the way for other things later. My little cousin always requests my gingerbread men cookies. And I have to make them for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I'm in big trouble if I forget (I've done that before). They freeze very well and so do my sugar cookies.

But am I nuts? I'm not the type to get into Christmas too early. I refuse to put my Christmas tree up until after Thanksgiving. And usually other than a few different kinds of cookies for Thanksgiving, all my other baking gets done the week before Christmas.

The more I think about it, the more I realize how easy it would be to just pull a tray off holiday cookies out of the freezer in time for an get together. And it sure would be a lot less stressful. I may start pulling my recipes out and deciding what to bake.

More?

Proof that my son is growing up:

Yesterday while I was tutoring Zachariah came up to me with his empty snack container, held it up to me, and said "mooure". I told hold him OK, let's go get you something. Then I stopped dead in my tracks and realized my baby just talked. It's not that he doesn't ever talk, but he only says a few words and "more" has never been one of them. Usually he'll just sign it. It was so cute. When I ask him if he said "more", he said it again - "mooure". Aww, so cute.

This morning he woke up saying "Daddy? Daddy? Dad?" from his room. I laughed to myself, because he usually screams when he wants up then stops as soon as I walk in. So yesterday after nap time, I told him "If you just say 'mommy, mommy' I'll gladly come get you, and you won't have to scream." Ha, ha. So, that's what he did this morning. Except he was calling for daddy. But after saying that a few times, I heard "Momma...momma." Adorable.

Most days I'm amazed at the new things he's doing...as I'm sure every mother is at their child. While trying, this is a very fun age.


**In the picture at the top Zachariah stole my keys and was trying to "start" his tricycle with them.

Flooring

Matt had a great time on his guy's camp out. He really enjoyed himself, even though he didn't sleep much. He did get a nice nap on Saturday, but that was after he cleaned my dining room floor.

We have a floor cleaner, but we haven't used it in a while. I've been noticing yucky stains on the carpet in the dining room lately. They directly correlate to where the high chair is positioned. I think they are various marks from assorted flying foods. I had mentioned to Matt earlier in the week that the floor was starting to disgust me. We talked about it briefly. Nothing else was said, and he decided on his own to clean the floor. What a sweet man.

The floor is cleaner and looks nicer, but it still has a few marks on it. I'm not too concerned. This is cheap, generic carpet that was put in the house before we moved in. Ideally we would just replace the carpet. I'm hoping that some day that's a possibility, but for now it's not. So I will live with it and know it won't always be like this.

***
In other news I've surpassed my 200th post. I was thinking of something fun to do in celebration of that. I did a list-like post about me for my 50th post, but I want something a little different. After doing that I had no motivation to write 100 more things even for my 100th post. Here's my idea. I need to know what you think. I'd like to try to write up 200 random memories from my whole life. It would be revealing about me, and I can think of some funny stories that might come out of it from my childhood and on.

At least we'll eat well

Everyone has been talking about food lately. I have so many recipes that I'd like to try. I don't know where I'll begin.

Shannon just posted a yummy sounding recipe for Deep Dish pizza. I know that would be a hit in our house. She's also posted recipes for pork chops, manicotti, and these. Wow, what a cook. I think I'll just go move in with her.

Then Sarah tells me about making zucchini brownies, cookies. Then she hosts an Internet potluck and gets tons of recipes and shares her stew recipe.

Swistle has super scrumptious brownie recipes. And I hear that her soup is good too.

Kelli has a cool breakfast recipe that I'd like to try sometime. Oh, and I'm dying to try this chicken recipe of hers, because I know we'll love it.

Then Jennifer started a whole new food blog. She's had lots of good things there.

Don't you people understand that I have a limited food budget to work with? I guess not. Looks like I'll be trying lots of new things in the next month or so. Maybe I'll get ambitious and share a few new recipes of my own. Until then, you can learn from these ladies. Thanks for the great recipes!

Do the caterpillar roll

Nope, it's not a new dance craze. This is a family tradition that is too good not to share. When I was a teenager, my dad showed us this fun trick he did while driving. We lived close to the middle of nowhere, and there were lots of open country roads.


Dad calls this "caterpillar buzzing". Here's how he does it. When you're driving down the road, you can spot caterpillars crossing the street in front of you. This of course occurs in the fall when the caterpillars are out. So, you line up the outside of your tires with the caterpillar. Then just you come just short of squishing it beneath the tires of your car. If you just barely miss it, and strange phenomenon occurs. The caterpillar will ball up and go rolling across the road. You have to be quick to look in the side or rear view mirror to see it happen. This is what we call "Caterpillar Buzzing".

It's so much fun to watch for the little things crawling across the road in front of you while you're driving. But you have to be careful, if you get too close you'll just squish them. Or sometimes the best way to get them would be to swerve into oncoming traffic. This is not recommended.

But if you have wide open road and lots of caterpillars, this may be the sport for you. Happy caterpillar buzzing! This is one of my favorite things about fall.

If I feel like it

I feel like I want to blog a lot today. We'll see if I still feel like adding more posts later.

It's Friday! Yeah! It seems like less people blog on Fridays. That means I'm more bored, because I'm home with not much to do. Friday is always the start of the weekend for me. I do not tutor on Fridays. Usually by Friday I have all my errands done and things around the house done. I keep up with it and sometimes Zachariah and I go out for no purpose other than to get out of the house.

Tonight Matt is going to an all men camp out at church. They'll cook hot dogs, laugh, play games, and have a good time. I'm glad he's going. Matt doesn't really have any close guy friends that he does things with. He gets along well with and does things a lot with my dad and his dad and sometimes my sister's husband. Other than that, he doesn't have anybody. And we don't see them often. They all live at least an hour from us. My point is I'm very glad that Matt is getting out and doing something with "the guys". I'm hoping he'll make some new friends. It's not that he doesn't have other men to talk to, but there isn't really anyone for him to do things with occasionally. He needs a golf buddy or someone to go watch "the game" with, etc.

So, I'm home alone tonight. I'll probably end up staying up late. I hope no spiders come to visit. ;) (Matt sprayed for them last night, so hopefully they'll leave me alone.) Matt is coming home for a few hours after work. Then I'll put Zachariah to bed soon after he leaves. So I have the whole evening to myself in a quiet house. I'm actually looking forward to it.

In other random tidbits: I got these oh so yummy cookies at our local grocery store today. They make all sorts of wonderful cookies: sugar, chocolate chip, monster (which have oatmeal, chocolate chips, peanut butter, and m&m's), and pumpkin in the fall. I got the pumpkin ones. It's been a long time since I've had them. They only make them for a few months in the fall. They come with a little cup of cream cheese icing for you to ice your own cookie. And they are super good! I can't wait to eat one.

Zachariah was hilarious in the grocery store this morning. I told him we should get hot dogs to make for lunch. He quietly started making his panting noise (how he says dog). I thought he made some noise but didn't catch it, so I asked him if he wanted hot dogs for lunch. He panted louder that time. I burst out laughing right there in the middle of the frozen food aisle. I told him no, not that kind of dog. So, he shook his head no and panted. Then laughed at me. He kept doing this. I tell you, my kid is a little comedian.

It's a good thing I keep buying clothes for Zachariah. He has ruined two shirts this week alone. The one I put on him today, I didn't even notice until he'd been wearing it a while. It has a big mark on the back. I'm not sure what it looks. It looks like a water spot. Maybe it will wash out, but if it doesn't I guess it will be a good play shirt for at home.

OK, that's enough randomness for now. I'll probably be back later today or tonight. (Plus my 200th post is coming up...yeah! I haven't decided whether or not I'll do something special and fun. Guess you'll have to wait and see.) Have a great Friday and weekend.

It's an addiction

Somebody stop me...I'm a shopaholic. I went to Toys R Us to use my 20% off any clothing or shoe item coupon before it expired. (Our store has a Kids R Us clothing section inside.) I looked and finally settled on one cute item, pictured first.

Then since Zachariah was being so good and we had nothing better to do, I decided to walk around the mall (since it was right there). When I went into Children's Place I saw that they had 50% off all sale prices! Over half the clothes in there store were marked with a sale price, so there was an extra 50% off that. Wonderful! I got a few more things for this winter for Zachariah. But even after both stops, I only spent $25. You can't beat that. And Zachariah loved the construction shirt. He wouldn't put it down. Now, that is worth it.

I'm being watched

I'm usually up for a little while by myself at night. I tend to be the night owl in my house. Now I don't go to bed terribly late, but the rest of my family goes to bed early. Zachariah turns in around 7:30, and Matt is usually in bed by 10:00 and sometimes earlier. Me, ideally I'd stay up until 1:00 or so, but I can't do that when my son wants to get up at 7:30. I need about 7-8 hours of sleep. So I try to go to bed around 11:00. Most nights I can handle that, but once in a while I get involved in something or other around the house (or just relaxing or blogging) and I stay up later.

Lately, the change of seasons has me feeling a little funny. I feel like someone else is up with me every night. Yes, the dog is usually lounging on the couch, but this is different. It's starting to creep me out. It's like someone can tell I'm up late alone and easily scared.

Well, it's really rather a something than someone. And I know what it is. And it comes back every fall. It's big, hairy, and creepy. What is it? It's a wolf spider. These are such ugly spiders. They are huge. They run across my floor. When you try to catch them, they will rear back and almost hiss at you. **shudder** Here is how I take care of them...I get out the vacuum cleaner and suck them up with the hose. Luckily, they don't like the be bothered, so they are easily chased off. They don't spin webs, they don't usually climb walls, and they only come out after dark. But still...ewww!



I don't like to see these in my house. Matt better remember to spray soon. Every night this week I've seen them scurrying across my living room floor. Now that gives me reason to hurry and get in bed.

Welcome Fall

... now go away summer!

Fall (or Autumn if you please) is my favorite season! I love the cooler weather. My favorite is warmish days (in the 60's or low 70's is ideal) and cooler evenings/nights. I love the fresh air and the changing leaves. The caterpillar buzzing is fun too, but that's for another post.

The holidays are nearing. It's something fun to look forward to... only 90 days to Christmas. There are always lots of fun activities. The pace of things begins to slow down in fall. It's getting darker earlier, and I have the urge to snuggle under a blanket on the couch in the evenings.

I love the change of clothes. I prefer jeans, long-sleeve shirts and warm sweaters.

There are so many great foods that are great in the fall. We begin making warm, comfort foods. Then there's cider, pumpkin cookies, cake donuts, candy corn, and other yummy things.

These are all things I crave about this season. It's just so lovely.

But, it's still hot here. Summer just won't go away. We've only had a few cool days, and the rest have been unseasonably warm. I'm ready to pack away the carpis and t-shirts, so I can pull out the sweatshirts and jeans. I want to dress my son in his fun new fall clothes. I want to be able to take him on walks and not get eaten up by mosquitoes or sweat from the humidity.

I'm in no hurry for winter to be here, but could summer just leave for the year? Is that too much to ask?

Mixed batch

I wasn't sure I was even going to post today. I've been trying to post at least once a day. Today has been to blah for me. Even worse than the normal Monday blahs. Zachariah has been into everything today. And he has been deliberately disobeying me...very frustrating. And he hasn't been wanting to take naps...grr. And I've had this awful headache for the second day in a row, but it finally went away after some Tylenol and chocolate. So here are the rest of the things I wanted to tell you about:


1. I have other things I want to blog about, but I will save them for later since I don't feel up to it today.


2. Last night we went to a meeting at church. It's supposed to help get people hooked up with a small group. We've been involved in several small groups since we've been at the church, but it's been about 3 years (or more) now since we have. I've been itching to get back into that again. I miss having a "community" of support around me. We need it. It was Matt's idea (he's why we didn't do it earlier), so I was thrilled about that.


3. I'm not sure what I think about the small group that we've chosen for now. There are two younger couples (one married for a year, the other engaged to be married next summer), and two older couples (the leaders who are a little older than my parents and another who might be old enough to be my grandparents age- though I don't know for sure). The two younger couples get along very well and do things outside of the group together. I'm guessing we're just a few years older than then, and we're the only ones with a young child. I hope that we fit in. I have some hesitations about it, but only time will tell. We'll go to the first meeting next Sunday night.


4. Matt has committed to going to Mali, Africa next year. They're looking at the first part of November. Now we need to raise at least $3,000 before then.


5. His leaving may alter plans I had in mind about trying for another baby. I haven't talked to him about this yet, but I know I need to. I made these plans after we discussed it back in the spring. I think he's conveniently forgotten the conversation.


6. For Sara and Devan - Google reader is really easy to do. Go to their page and sign up for it. Then you "add subscription" for blogs you follow. For instance put in: http://mommydaisy.blogspot.com/. Then whenever I update my blog, the reader will find it and post it right on there for you to see. It's way easier than compulsively checking people's blogs all the time for updates...not that I ever did that.


7. Kelsey - I watched the movie "Disturbia". It was pretty good. Pretty much like I thought it was going to be. I don't like horror or scary movies, but this was just a "suspense" movie.

That's all for now folks. I can't think anymore at the moment, so I will just post this. I will get some better posts out soon.

Please leave a message

If you would try to get in touch with me this weekend, you would get my voicemail. We've been pretty busy, and tomorrow will be a long day too. We went to visit with my family Friday night through Saturday evening (which it is while I'm writing this post). We arrived home about 8:30ish and by 9:00 everyone was in bed except me...and the dog. I'm watching TV and doing laundry. Fun.

There are 29 new blog posts in my google reader. I just can't bring myself to read them all now. I think my problem is once I start reading I want to comment, then I want to read more. I know I don't have time for all of that before I decide I need to crawl into bed. And since we'll be gone most of the day tomorrow, I'm thinking I'll spend Monday catching up on blogs like I usually do when I'm busy. So if you don't hear from me for a few days, you'll understand why.

Tomorrow we'll be at church most of the day. I decided this week to join choir. (Shoot, that reminds me that I really need to listen to the song that we're performing tomorrow. I'll have to do that now before I forget. Well, maybe after I post this.) I have to be at church earlier than I usually am, because the choir practices and performs for two services. Hopefully Zachariah will do well being there for that long. Thank goodness we have a wonderful nursery with such caring volunteers. After going home to eat lunch and rest for a few hours, we'll head back to church. There is a meeting in the evening that we'd really like to attend.

So, this weekend I've been busy, ate too much junk food, spent time with my family, took Zachariah to the park to play (and play and play), got Zachariah's Halloween costume (probably something for a future post), watched a movie, ate more food, and so much more. How was your weekend?

Across the ocean

That's where Matt wants to go. My husband wants to leave us for two weeks in October 2008. His point of interest is Mali, Africa.

Matt has been interested in doing a missions trip for a few years now. He had considered going with a work crew to Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina. The timing of that trip was not meant to be. They were scheduled to go in March 2006. I was pregnant with Zachariah and due on March 8, 2006. I told him that probably would be a bad idea for him to be away. It was a good thing he didn't go, because Zachariah would have been about 2 weeks old when the group went.

Ever since then he has had the idea of a trip in the back of his mind. This week he found out that the church is scheduling a trip to Mali. He went to a meeting last night to learn more about it. I've been encouraging him to look into it more, because I think it would be a great thing for him to experience. I'm a teeny tiny bit jealous that I can't go too, but it's just not the right time with a young son. I think that someday I'll be able to do a missions trip too. Maybe we'll be able to do one as a family when our children are older. Like I told Matt, we have our whole lives ahead of us.

We looked over all the information last night. It will cost quite a bit to make this trip happen, but we know that we can probably raise the money from family, friends, and other church members. There are various fundraising options that we have. As I was listening to Matt read over things, I knew in his mind he was already going on the trip. But our goal for now it to pray about this and make sure it's God's plan for us. If it is, things will come together. I think Matt's heart is already in it, and I hope that we can make this happen for him.

Why I'm mad at my car

Monday night was fun. I went to a mommy's group at church. It's the first time I've ever gone, and it was about time. I wanted to go last year, but I felt like I should stay home with Zachariah. He was so young, and he and Matt had problems getting along then. So I felt tied to the house all the time. When the group started back up this year, I only gave it slight consideration. At the last minute Sunday I decided #1 it would be fun, #2 I need to meet other moms, and #3 I need to get out by myself more often. What really drove me to this decision was Matt planning to go to several church activities in the next few weeks...alone. Which means I'll be home with Zachariah all evening. Not that I don't like spending an evening with my son, because I do, but I figured if he could get out then I could too. Anyway, I had a great time. I already knew about 1/2 of the moms there, and then I got to meet a few new really nice ladies. Everyone was great, and I didn't have problems talking to anyone there. Plus we made a really neat calendar that looks great on my fridge.

I drove home feeling relaxed. It was nice to have an evening child-free. And I knew he'd already be in bed when I got home. I was contemplating stopping to do a little grocery shopping on the way home. But I decided I'd like to spend a little time with my husband before he goes to bed, so I better just head home. About half way there, something seemed odd about my car. Then I looked down and noticed that the engine temperature was getting hotter than normal. Then check engine light never came on though. I prayed that I'd make it home without any problems. The needle continued to dance from hot to very hot. And when I stopped at a red light about two miles from home, it went to very very hot.

I made it home fortunately and noticed it was sounding a little funny before I shut it off. Of course I came right in and told Matt that it was acting up. He went outside with a flashlight and checked under the hood. He noticed that the coolant was low. After searching the garage for some, he realized we didn't have any and took off for the store....without telling me he was leaving. He was just upset about having car problems, and he went into "stewing" mode. He told me later that he realized half way to the store that he should have told me he left. After not hearing him for a few minutes I thought he may have left to get something. That was confirmed with a quick glance out the window and seeing that his truck was indeed gone. Anyway, he came back with anti-freeze for the car. He poured the whole gallon in, and half of it was gone immediately. (The rest leaked out overnight.) So we went to bed knowing it could just wait until morning, and we'd take it to the dealership for repair.

Matt did apologize before going to sleep that night for being upset about the whole matter. He wasn't mean, but he just got a little testy. I'm used to it...that's what he does when things go wrong. In the morning he was very sweet and apologized again a few times through the day. I was just happy for an "I'm sorry" once.

Anyway, I called the dealership and scheduled an appointment for Thursday. That's the soonest they could get it in. Then I arranged to have the car towed to the dealership. Thank goodness for AAA. Then in the afternoon Matt took off from work early, and we drove out to the dealership. I made sure they had my car, and I got a loaner car from them while mine is there. Usually I just get a newer version of my car (Ford Focus), but this time I got a new Ford Fusion. It's nice. Just a little bigger than my car, but it drives very nice like mine. So for the week I have a nicer car and everything is OK until I find out how much it will cost to fix mine. I think they can just keep it, and I'll keep their car. Ha.

So, all this car trouble has me thinking maybe it's time to start looking for a different car. Mine is already 5 years old. We've maintained it well. When I got it, I knew it wouldn't last forever. It's a small car, and I'll be in trouble if I have anything more than two car seats in it. I doubt we'll get anything new soon. But it might be fun to think about for a while. I'm hoping mine has a few more years, so I can save up for a new vehicle. But for right now (today anyway), I hate my car.

Shorty McShorter

"Older siblings may stunt younger children’s growth." Could this be true? These are just statistics that researchers have found.

My son is very tall for his age. He always has been. There really aren’t too many tall people in our family. Matt has a few uncles who are taller. And we’ve been told that both of his grandfathers were a bit taller. That’s about all the tall people we can find in our family. Most are under 5’8” actually.

After reading this article, I wonder will the rest of our kids be short just because Zachariah is tall. Did we use up all our tall genes on him? If you have more than one child have you noticed anything like that? Do you think it’s different for girls/boys? It is just interesting to me.

Then there is this: “Having a male twin sibling reduces a woman’s fertility.” Strange.

A social butterfly

My son is such a little social butterfly. He's not usually afraid of other people. He will go to almost anyone. And he thinks that everyone will automatically love him.

At church on Sunday he wanted to visit everyone around us. We were sitting on an aisle (for quick toddler problem escapes) and he wanted to go see the man in front of us. This is someone we know, and he knows Zachariah so it wasn't a problem. He has grandkids and loves children. So, Zachariah went up with him and sat for a little bit. Then he came walking back to me. The whole time I was on the edge of my seat waiting to grab him, because I didn't know when he might just dart off across the sanctuary. After sitting with me for a while, he decided he'd like to go see the man in front of us again. As he was heading back to me he heard a baby fussing and stopped to try to figure out where it was coming from. Luckily it was coming behind me (from Eli actually), so he didn't run off. But he did peek back at Sarah to figure out what was going on. (The kid loves babies, so we're probably lucky he didn't crawl up in Sarah's lap to touch Eli's head.) At that point I knew it was time to take him to the nursery.

I think if I'd let him, he would just wander the sanctuary during the whole church service finding people to "play" with. He would crawl up on anyone's lap who looked inviting and would smile at him. He would smile at people, laugh when they laughed, and climb all over the pews. I can just see it now. And that would make him happy.

He is like this everywhere I go. He will befriend anyone. I'm interested in seeing where this quality leads him in life. He seems to be a sensitive soul too. I could see him being like I was in school. I could make friends with anyone. In fact I usually made friends with everyone. Sure, I had my group of friends, but I could hang out with almost everyone else too. I always had compassion for the person without any friends who always ended up on their own in the dark corner. Especially when I was in elementary school, I remember trying to include these people. My youngest sister always went one step farther and made these people her close friends. I was always pleasant to them, but I remained loyal to my friend. When around adults I always felt comfortable. I could carry on conversations and feel like I fit in better with them than the younger kids most of the time. (Could this be part of being an oldest child?) This explains why a person we went to church with thought I was a senior in high school when I was really just finishing 8th grade. I was completely flattered, as you might imagine.

So, will my son be like me? I don't know. But it's so funny for now to watch him interact with people. He's happy in a room of strangers (if I'm there too). He'll have them all wrapped around his fingers before the night is over.