been so busy...

It been awhile since my last posting but my computer was down and being repaired from a malfunction in the memory card. Add in all this great 60 F degree weather and I have not had the time to play much on here.
So Panda had her "Cinderella Ball" at school. She looked so beautiful in her dress, which happened to also have the brand name Cinderella! I am a bargain junkie so of course the dress was only $25 (US) at Burlington coat factory. I found the exact dress in the mall for $89 and a consignment for $99. Her tiara was bought for her first Ball in Kindergarten and cost $8 at the Flower Factory. She wears it every year to the Father/daughter dance at school. Of course the dresses go to a second hand store afterwards. I usually get half of what the dress sells for new. In this case, I may get what I paid for it since the main stores had such high price tags. *p.s* I just noticed this picture makes her look like she is wearing lots of makeup! She only has on natural color eyeshadow and face powder. The lighting was not that great...*



Lil' man, Frog & I went on a very nice Fall hike earlier in the week. Lil' man was so enthralled by this tree. He kept yelling "hello" up into the trunk to the "bats". It was so peaceful on the trails. The children were quiet and enjoying our walk through woods. Not to mention how nice it was I could "mommy meditate" while walking with them.

~I drove down to West Virginia Friday, with my daughters, to check out that 17 acres. well, I found that the realtor was "fluffing" up the whole ease of the low water ford. (if you look closely in the picture, you can see my Silver VUE which is parked across the river & on the road.) He even tried to tell me the water was only 3 inches deep! We had to cross over the river in his 4x4 truck and when i looked out and down through the window- well that was more then 3 inches- try about a foot of water! The fluffing did not stop there- it went along with him trying to tell me how many people were going to view the place before my planned arrival and how the last time he was up there, there was a small puddle of water in the living room- which was from all that rain they had. While we were touring the place, he brought it up again saying "the last time he was up there". Umm, yeah I thought you were showing this place to like 3 people before me?! That would make you a liar in my book. You slipped up buddy! You could tell by the way he was talking he had not been up there in a while by the little things he said about the place and its condition. Needless to say, It was not what he described. My little brother "Army" was interested in the place and asked if i would check it out for him. He is stationed in Texas, so an inspection would have to be done by me. I have advised him to keep looking.
~On another note, 3 of the trees have been cut down to date. 2 cottonwoods next the house shading a garden bed & a hardwood that was next to the magic tree which shaded another garden bed.
My yard and animal pen has patches of sawdust everywhere. The deal was you cut em down and keep the wood for heating but I will take care of the brush. I did not realize how much brush there would be from 3 trees! We have had bonfires for 3 nights now which has not made a dent in the pile.

I will try my hand at making fire starters with some of the sawdust. I packed 2 medium size buckets full of it. I have been saving & drying out spent coffee grounds to mix into them with paraffin wax (leftover from canning supplies) as a "glue". I will experiment with wicks. I have some non plastic twine from a few straw bales I saved and will see if cut up, these would work as wicks for the starters. I may have to cut up and compress some newspaper pieces for this purpose in comparison.
The purpose is not only for my bonfires but as part of a gift basket I am making for a friend. It includes homemade graham crackers and a tin of chocolate chips as an indoor s'mores family night. They are a family of 5 with the children being ages 2,5,& 8.I cannot think of a "homemade" game to put in the basket, so if anyone has some suggestions, please comment. I am not total die hard homemade gifts, but would like to be as close as possible without it giving the appearance of "cheap" or common. I want it to be an interaction with each other theme. They have a wood burning fireplace. complete with a bottom cement mantle. As a child, we would come in and sit on this to warm our backs from playing in the snow. This home has been in my paternal family since his making back in the 50's.
Well I have gabbed enough here and need to utilize the last day of beautiful weather by cleaning up the yard more.
~Tammie