Up to Our eyeballs in FOOTBALL!

Today was Stephen's 2nd game of the season. Last week we played the Leonard Tigers. The score was 6-6 at the end of regulation and we won in double OT!

Today we played the Trenton Tigers (lots of tigers in this league! LOL) and we won 30 - 0. Stephen did great and even recovered a fumble. Wow!

Stephen is #79 - I love watching him play ball!

Do you see what I see?

Nary a 90 degree day in sight and Holy Mother of Pearl, I see a 59!

I don't know why we're being blessed with this delicious weather, but I'm not gonna question it! I'm just gonna enjoy it! WOOT!

First day of 6th grade!

Time flies by

~a new obsession~

I've fallen in love! Lately, Virgil, Stephen and I have been frequenting Antique Shops and Thrift Stores. Lots of items catch my eye, but these cups and saucers have captured my HeArT! I've only purchased one (see it above! :) ) But, I'm thinking I'll start collecting them. I'm going to look for a variety of patterns. I don't want a matching set. I look forward to sitting around the table with my sisters, sipping our favorite Chicory coffee - each with a different cup and saucer. And they will probably tease me...but that's ok. I know they love me anyway! ~ @my

Homemade Christmas Ornaments (Part 1)

We have decided to make all new homemade Christmas ornaments for our tree this year. We started out with these button wreaths:

I got the idea here. Virgil had the idea of inserting red buttons to represent berries. And since I had a lot of white buttons, I decided to do some white wreaths as well. I think they turned out quite charming!

And since were talking Christmas, here's a yummy holiday recipe too. I made this tonight and it is DE-LICious! I got this recipe from Gooseberry Patch Homespun Christmas recipe book. It's a winner and something that will reappear come December!

Gingerbread Coffee Cake
1 c. water
1 c. molasses (I used sorghum..and maybe those are the same thing...I don't really know! Ha!)
1 t. baking soda
1 c. brown sugar
1 stick butter, softened
2 eggs, beaten
2 c. flour
1 T. baking powder
1 t. ground cinnamon
1/4 t. ground ginger
1/4 t. ground cloves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13 X 9 baking pan. Bring water and molasses to a boil. Stir in baking soda. (Ummm...make sure the pan you use is large enough to handle the bubble up..I had a bit of an overflow!) Let cool. Beat sugar, butter and eggs in a bowl. In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, cloves. Beat flour alternately with molasses, half at a time, into butter mixture until well mixed. Pour into the prepared pan.

Topping:
1/3 c. flour
1/3 c. sugar
1/3 t. ground cinnamon
1/3 t. ground ginger
1/2 c. chopped walnuts (I used a mixture of walnuts and pecans)
3 T. butter

Combin flour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger and walnuts in a bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture is coarsely crumbled. Sprinkle over gingerbread. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. (Watch the time. I baked mine for exactly 40 minutes and it was a little darker on the edges than I would have liked. I would try 30 -35 minutes and add more time if necessary.)

Glaze:
1 c. powdered sugar
1 1/2 T. milk
1/2 t. vanilla

Whisk sugar, milk and vanilla in a small bowl until soft enough to drip from a spoon. If needed, add more milk. Drizzle over top of lukewarm cake.

Enjoy!
~ @my

Dog Fighting

This is the only dog fighting I condone! ;)

~sorry~

I'm sorry. I really am. But, I am the mother of a boy. One boy. One {not so} little boy.

And when the mother of a growing up boy comes across something like this:

[Stephen at Vacation Bible School - Summer 2003 - age 5]

She must take a moment. Or two. And stop cleaning out her kitchen cabinets. And just be nostalgic.
For just a moment.