My in-laws recently remodeled their kitchen. Oh it looks wonderful! My MIL now has two ovens for all the cooking and baking she does. They added huge amounts of cabinet and counter space, and a lovely island.
The biggest improvement by far, however, was the dishwasher. Can you believe they have been living without a dishwasher until just this year? They had five children! They have 17 grandchildren! Add in spouses and they can have up to 34 people over for reunions and holidays. (They use a lot of paper plates!)
I thought it was adorable when my FIL went to my husband and asked him how to run the dishwasher. Adorable, and funny! Have you ever seen a man load a dishwasher? They just can't do it. (But you can't criticize them, or they will stop trying.) There really is a science to it. I'd teach a class in it, but every dishwasher is different. It really only takes some common sense and a basic knowledge of how the dishwasher works - you'd think they could get it.
So I had to chuckle to myself as I listened to Bubblehead instruct his dad on how to put the soap in, etc. Like the blind leading the blind.
(Bubblehead did come to me afterward horrified and commented that his dad had put all the dishes in covered with food - he didn't rince anything off! At least I've taught my husband well in that respect!)
We had a lovely holiday in Utah with Bubblehead's family. The kids ran wild with their cousins and stayed up late and ate junk. Bubblehead and I were able to sneak off to a movie (we took his neice and nephew to see the new Harry Potter movie.) We even did some shopping. (My great deal - bottles of Perrier for 88 cents. No Christmas shopping - we prefer to work under pressure around here!) Labels: quips
I don't understand how four days worth of laundry turns into K2, but it has happened. I also have lots of Christmas decorating to do, not to mention Christmas cards, cookies, shopping, shipping, traveling, and cleaning to do. I wish I had more time to spend reading all of your blogs - I'll be making to the rounds, it just may take me a while.
And my quip du jour today comes not from my children, but from my husband. Don't ask what he's talking about - you don't want to know.
"Dante's 5th level of hell called - it wants its smell back."
I'm off the land of no internet connection, so before I go I want to wish all my friends and family a very Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy your holiday, and if you are crazy brave enough to hit the Black Friday sales, post here - I want to hear about your best deal!
Ella sat down this evening before dinner to do some coloring, and decided to draw not one but two books for her Grandma who we will be traveling to see for Thanksgiving.
Both of her books are about a little girl named Mia, who is in a wheelchair. Mia has a puppy dog named Woofy, and a tall treehouse. (Her Daddy helps her up - I had the same question.) In Mia's Thanksgiving, Mia goes to the store with her mommy and helps her cook Thanksgiving dinner. In Mia's Christmas Eve, Mia gets a new baby sister.
Here I am mentally brainstorming for months for an orginal, creative idea for the childrens' books I want to write, and my four-year-old whipped two out before dinner. I'm sure by tomorrow afternoon she'll have a contract to have them published, and they'll create Mia toys to go in Happy Meals, which will coincide with the movie release.
Don't be surprized when Ella learns to type and I sign this blog over to her.
"I have pants on!" Labels: quips
for all your sympathies and kind words. I miss Kabiel very much. I'm taking a lot of comfort in our other "puppy" dog, Kaleb. I'm not sure what he is thinking of all this, but I'm sure he's noticed the extra love and attention he's getting.
Little Man really isn't aware of what happened. Ella has lots of questions, but is taking it well. She went up to Kaleb after it happened and said, "I'm sorry Kaleb, but Kabiel is dead."
And coincendently, Kaleb celebrated his 10th birthday two days ago. I think he's got a lot more years left in him, though. He doesn't know he's ten - he still acts like he's two!
If you know me online you may know me as kabiel, which is my often-used username around the internet. I stole the name from my little K-9 friend, seen here with Ella.
We got Kabiel from my cousin, who bred Chows for a while, while we were living in Georgia. She kept me company while Bubblehead went out to sea. She was the cutest little puppy, and ornery from the day she was born. Ornery, but sweet. Just a good dog.
She loved "playing" with other animals. Among her prize catches was a oppossum, an armidillo, and two birds. Sadly (or fortunately, depending who you are in this scenario) she never caught the much sought-after squirrel.
She moved clear across the country with us, in the back of our car. She and her brother Kaleb shared the back seat, and she just stretched right out on that seat. Poor Kaleb slept sitting up leaning against the window.
Kabiel hasn't been well lately. She was coming up on her 11th birthday next month, but it became more and more apparent to us that she wouldn't make it that far. Today when the snow started blowing I went to bring the dogs in, but Kabiel wouldn't get up and come in for me. I had to brush the snow off of her and pick her up and carry her in. I laid her on a towel near me in the living room. She rolled over a few times while I watched TV. When I took the kids outside to play in the snow, she didn't want to join us.
Bubblehead spent some time scratching Kabiel's ears tonight, and he said he even got a few little tail wags out of her. We could see that she was on her way out, and we decided to take her into the vet in the morning to have her put to sleep.
But Kabiel decided to go at home, while the kids were eating suckers and laughing at their Daddy.
Goodbye little girl. Thank you for making me feel safe all those nights we spent by ourselves. Thank you for letting me scratch that soft spot right near the tip of your nose, even though I know you didn't really like it. Thank you for putting up with the kids when they wanted to "feed" you leaves.
I'm sorry little girl. I miss you...
Ohhhhhh, so very sad. It's always painful losing a friend.
-G
By 
DementedPhotographer, at
5:25 AM
So, what do you think of my new look? This was a little blogoversary gift to myself. The little ones look a lot like mine (Ella with the crazy curls, and Little Man with not much hair. LOL!)
A HUGE thank you to Mia for all the hard work, and for putting up with my "one more tiny change"es!! She really is the best, and if you're looking for a design yourself, I highly recommend her!
The blogroll has been moved the right sidebar, and as soon as I have some time I will be adding all the blogs from my extended list to it. Give me some time on that.
I have more to say, but will save it for later. I'll let you bask is the loveliness of my blog now! *wink*
Here is my mom's pumpkin bread recipe, which I believe she told me she got out of the newspaper years ago. The most lovely thing about this recipe is you mix it all in one bowl, which if you don't have someone to clean the kitchen when you're done baking, you understand how great that is.
Pumpkin Bread
3 cups sugar
1 cup cooking oil
4 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup chopped walnuts
3 1/2 cups flour
2 cups canned pumpkin
2/3 cup water
Cream together sugar, oil, and eggs. Add salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, soda, walnuts, flour, pumpkin, and water. Mix well. Pour batter into 4 greased loaf pans (7 x 3 inch). (You can also use this batter to make muffins - just adjust your cooking time). Bake in oven preheated to 350 degrees for about 1 hour, until toothpick stuck in center comes out clean.
Also by request, the game I'm addicted to is a little game by Popcap called Zuma. You can play it online here, but consider yourself warned!
*Once again I'm going through a "slow" phase on my blog. (To tell you the truth, I've gotten myself addicted to a computer game, and now waste a lot of my computer time with it. Those things are just evil! LOL!)
*Look for some changes here early next week. That's all I will say about that now, but do be sure to stop by!
*I've been wanting to try my hand at another poem (since my last one came out so nice!), but I guess that inspiration is an important part of the writing process, because I come up empty every time.
*Oh the amount of leaves I have to rake up! It was fun the first 12 times I went out and did it, but it's really getting old now. If you're interested, I'm trading homemade pumpkin bread for yard work. Bring your own rake!
Here is a little song Ella recently "wrote" and is very proud of. I can't tell you how many times I've heard it in the last few days. (The music as well as the lyrics are original, so I can't tell you the tune it goes to, but just make one up in your head as you read the lyrics - I guarentee you'll be close)"Dirt dirt, dirt dirt,
dirt dirt dirt dirt dirt dirt,
dirt dirt, dirt dirt,
that's what Ella DOES!!"
"I can't eat those potatoes. I'm electric to them." Labels: quips
(Incase you don't speak four-year-old, she meant she's allergic to them.)
