A Season of Change

How's this for a change? This time last week, it was freezing here....literally....highs in the 30s and snow flurries in many places nearby. Today it's a warm, sunny 77 degrees. But more than that, it actually feels like spring! The thought among the old-timers around here is that we won't have any more extremely cold weather after the first full moon in March, which happens to be this Wednesday. With that knowledge, I have the beginnings of spring fever! And of course, I have a list of landscaping projects I want to tackle. Thankfully, Tracy is right there with me on those things. We're not much on painting, laying tile, etc., but we both enjoy yard work!


Yesterday, I made a quick run to the yard sale of the decade at Darby's house. From the size of the crowd, my guess it that it was a huge success! After getting to know her online for the past several months, it was a treat to get to meet her in person!


After that, the yard work began. These.....

are going in here......

This is a large bed we made about 6 years ago, with an Autumn Blaze red maple and two Overcup oak trees. To add some color year round, we've worked up a combination of smaller shrubs to plant in the middle of the bed. Unfortunately, we didn't finish that project yesterday, but since the time changed today, hopefully we'll be able to work on it one afternoon this week. I'll show the finished project soon!

Are any of you "into" landscaping?

Have a great week!

Watch Out, Emeril!

Could we have a future chef on our hands? Or is it just that it's so much fun to make noise? At least I don't have to wonder about where he is! :-)

More Yumminess!

I couldn't resist another recipe, because this is so good and is so easy for a lemon meringue pie. I haven't actually made this one yet, but I ate it yesterday. I love that the filling is creamy (like Chik-fil-A's), rather than jello-y, and it uses the same number of egg whites and yolks, so no waste there!

Lemon Meringue Pie

One 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

(the one I had omitted this and it was still yummy!)

3 egg yolks

One 8 inch graham cracker pie crust

In medium bowl, combine milk, lemon juice, and zest; blend in egg yolks. Pour into cooled crust.

Meringue

3 egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/4 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in sugar until stiff. Spread over filling; seal to edge of crust. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until meringue is golden brown.

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Now I need some help from all of you.....if there's anybody out there. I need your BEST "recipe" for removing stains from carpet. I've tried lots of commercial products, but none totally get this stain out. It's where Matthew got sick, couldn't make it to the bathroom, and threw up on the carpet. Gross, I know, but I figure that the rest of you mamas are used to such things! Anyway, any suggestions you can give me will be most appreciated. I'm really hoping to get another 5 years or so out of this carpet!

Wordless Wednesday (Almost!)

I just have to include a few words! The weather was gorgeous today, so this afternoon we headed outside for a little playtime. This was only Luke's second time to walk outside. Since he's started walking either it has been too cold out or we've been too sick to get out!

Hmm....what is this stuff?

He turned around in a complete circle feeling the grass!

Matthew and Rio got plenty of exercise too!

Hope the rest of your week is good!

Sunday Dinner

This weekend we had a big family dinner to celebrate Tracy's grandmother's birthday. At the last minute, I decided to cook a peach cobbler in addition to my other dishes. It was a hit, and since I enjoy reading everyone else's recipes, I thought I'd share.

Easy Peach Cobbler

1 cup sugar

1 cup self-rising flour

(It MUST be self-rising! The first time I ever made this, I used regular flour and it was a disaster! If you don't have self-rising, you can use regular flour as long as you add some baking soda and salt. Most cookbooks have a conversion chart to give you the exact measurements.)

1 cup milk

1 stick margarine

1 large can peaches

Stir together sugar, flour, and milk. Pour into glass baking dish. Add peaches. (You may want to cut them up into smaller pieces.) Melt margarine and swirl into this mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.

While I'm on the subject of Sunday dinner, I must vent just a little. Am I the only one raised that if you are going to a covered dish-type event, you take FOOD? Several young couples I know my age never bring ANYTHING to a get-together. I understand if you live out of town that it could be difficult (although not impossible...I mean, at least run by KFC!) to bring something, but there is pretty much no excuse if you live nearby. Some of these rely on the fact that their parents will be bringing food, but I'm of the opinion that if you're out on your own, and especially if you have a family, you need to step up and help bring some food. Maybe I'm just a little too "Southern belle", but I was raised to take enough to feed your family....that means two or three dishes. What about you? How do you feel about taking food to family or church gatherings? (Maybe this will finally get me some comments! Hint, hint!)

A Little Sweetness

Whew! What a week it has been! "Sick" has been the word of the day around here for the last week. I have had the flu, and Tracy has been sick too. We were afraid he might have the flu too, but the doctor did a flu test and said no, that his was just the "crud" that's going around. Finally we are both doing much better and now feel human again!

Thankfully I was feeling better enough to fulfill my promise of baking cupcakes for Matthew's Valentine's party at school. I was bound and determined to do these, after the disaster we'd had with the ones at Christmas. I was the cupcake mom then too....had decorated them the night before the party and put them in the oven for safekeeping. The morning of the party, I opened the oven to get the cupcakes and find that they are covered in ANTS! We have trouble with ants from time to time, but never, never, ever in the oven! That's always my "safe place" for storing decorated cakes that won't fit in a box.....birthday cakes, groom's cakes, etc. Poor Matthew was devastated. He cried, and I nearly did too. So this time, I decorated the cupcakes at my mom's house and left them there for safekeeping! They survived and were a hit!

And even sweeter than those yummy cupcakes are these sweet little hands! I snapped this picture Valentine's night while Luke was asleep in the swing.

Happy Presidents' Day! Have a great week and stay well, my friends!

Just Doing My Part

....to keep the pediatricians in business! Or it seems that way lately! I have spent the past two Saturday mornings at the pediatrician's office. Matthew has recovered well from the flu; however, now he has an ear infection. He started complaining of his ear hurting during the Gaither concert (of all times!) Friday night, and finally he and Tracy had to go sit in the truck a little before intermission. I really wasn't sure if he was genuinely sick, or if he was just sleepy and the concert too loud for him. Saturday morning, he was fine when he got up, but after a couple of hours, started complaining of his ear hurting. Things went downhill from there in a hurry! Poor little fella was crying, with big ol' crocodile tears, he was in such pain! Thankfully, some ear drops and antibiotics seem to be doing the trick, and he's almost as good as new!

Luke has managed to stay well through all this. The only thing "wrong" with him (if you want to call it that) is that he's just rotten. I could just eat him up though!

Busy week here....FBLA competitions to organize. Hope yours is great!