Halloween/Birthday Party

 The Bainters invited us out for a birthday party.

Noah, Steve and Trudy's birthdays are pretty close together.

Steve wanted a "fried extravaganza"

Everything we ate was fried . . . . . 

Corn dogs, pickles, monte cristo sandwich,

oreos, mushrooms, snickers, twinkies,

and such!

 I couldn't eat it all . . . . . too much grease for me.

But it was fun to try all the different items. 

We played a couple of games and then carved pumpkins.

Mom fried donuts while we were carving.

My pumpkin.

Lincoln's pumpkin.

McKay's "pac-man" pumpkin.

And all the pumpkins together.

Stevie's pumpkin didn't get ready in time for the upper picture.

She and all of us did a GREAT job!

So spoiled

Lately I have been feeling a little bit spoiled. 

Let me digress and give some background.

Eight months ago I decided to radically change our family's diet.

"I" yes I, decided (after reading a book)

that I was going to greatly reduce and practically

eliminate most sugar and preservatives from our "my" diet.

Other than on my "seventh day of rest"

(and social occasions! I've found you don't need to be perfect at this)

 where I do partake of forbidden foods,

we are now eating things in their most basic form.

Anything you can pick, gather, glean

and sorry . . . . slaughter

you can eat.

i.e., all fruits, all vegetables, all meats, 

whole brown grains in every form

and basic dairy products

are allowed!

I really took this to heart

and as a result have lost

2 pant sizes

and 

15 pounds!

(I haven't seen this pant size since before my last pregnancy

yes, 15 years ago)

When balanced correctly 

you can eat more food than you ever dreamed possible.

Food tastes better and sweeter.

Sweets still have their allure

but just don't taste as good to me anymore.

I feel wonderful.

I didn't even realize I didn't feel good before.

I had achy joints, especially in my hands

and they ache no more!

I used to feel bloaty all the time. . . . 

I'm mostly free from that feeling.

A miracle!

This is a lifestyle change for me, not just a diet.

So why do I feel spoiled?

I mentioned to my mother that I was eating

Ezekiel bread.

She had never heard of it . . . . 

and neither had I until I started this diet thingy.  

In Ezekiel 4:9 it states:

9 ¶Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and fitches (spelt), and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof.

Ezekiel lived 390 days on this bread.

I'd say it must be pretty complete!

It is a heavy, bulky yummy bread.

Yummy, that is, when your mother makes it for you!

 I don't have her recipe for this,

but here is one I found on the Internet.

I wonder if Ezekiel had honey (and yeast) for his bread!

I'm sure it makes ALL the difference.

• 2 1/2 cups wheat berries
• 1 1/2 cups spelt flour
• 1/2 cup barley
• 1/2 cup millet
• 1/4 cup dry green lentils
• 2 tablespoons dry great Northern beans
• 2 tablespoons dry kidney beans
• 2 tablespoons dried pinto beans
• 4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1 cup honey
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons salt

Definitely

FOOD

for thought!

P.S.  Lincoln and McKay

STILL eat sugar

and chips, and ______ and _______ 

and do it in front of me . . . .Erggggghh!

Up the creek . . . . . with a paddle

Sometimes while I am teaching piano my mind takes a vacation.

It happened today (the "mind" vacation).

While my mom was playing a very peaceful

and tranquil song entitled

"Canoeing"

I sat and thought about our family's

experiences with canoeing . .. . .

kayaking, to be more precise.

On one of our family trips we

decided to take a kayaking "Eco"

tour in the Florida Keys.

What I remember of this adventure was nothing

like the peaceful song my mother was playing.

On this occasion,

I was paired up with one of my sons . . . .

Chancy . . .

my ever so thin little 90 pound (if that!)

Chancy.

Our problem? 

We BOTH had a paddle.

He took the front of the kayak and

proceeded to tell me all I was doing wrong

and all I could do right to help him propel

the kayak in the right direction.

This situation became pretty heated

as I remember.

until he came up with a solution:

Mom, just PLEASE stop paddling!

With some reservation I took his advice.

Ahhhh peace!

My mom's piano playing could now be reminiscent

of the kayak trip,

other than, I felt guilt for letting my

90 pound boy paddle me

around while I relaxed and enjoyed the scenery.

I had to rewrite my post when I found this picture . . . . I had me SITTING in the front and Chancy weighing 107 pounds!!!
I have a BAD bad memory!!!

He did pretty well on his own!  This isn't the first time my kids have gotten me out of a bind!

Here is Justin and Halley.  Halley is sporting her VERY expensive Jamaican braids.  They hurt her head but I WOULD NOT
let her take them out, because they cost a pretty penny!  Nice mom, aren't I?

Good thing McKay wasn't in my kayak . . . . he'da had a hard time paddling me around!

Thanks mom, for the memories!

I'm glad you can't read my mind while you are taking your lessons!

49th, WOW!

Happy 49th Anniversary Mom and Dad!!!

Thanksgiving

It's kind-fun to find pictures on your camera that you didn't take . . .

The wonderful months of fall . . . . .

and with fall, brings my most favorite holiday of all  . . . . .

with it's food . . . .

more food . . . and especially family. . . . .

though I and the rest of us felt the absence of some of our loved ones.
It would be nice if we could all be together again.

This is Ceci skyping with Baxter.

I've resisted skyping, but had an enjoyable time talking with Baxter.

Maybe it's time to go buy a camera . . . .

We made our (what is becoming) traditional "gingerbread" houses.

Mom actually made gingerbread this year!

I'm amazed at how much even the boys love to make the houses.

Trude got quite involved in the making of her house!

Mom and Dad . . . with dad working "outside" the box as normal!!!!

He made a combination gingerbread/cardboard house.

(and joined me in the use of a glue gun to bond the house together)

(which is cheating according to my nephews)

Here's my gorgeous man.

McKay's finished project . . . .

and mine . . . . . (Ceci's in the background)

and Lincoln's.

We can't end the day without Christmas carols!

McKay went and sequestered grandpa's guitar.

which must have fueled Grandpa's desire to save our ears (from McKay's playing)

and join in in the accompaniment.

It's been a few years since he's actually played along.

I loved hearing him play again!

Stevie was just itching to get involved in the piano playing!!! 

She did a good job I think.  She'll be taking my place in a few years! 

and . . .  as many times as I tell myself, "you can't flip videos"

I still make the mistake of taking them wrong . . . .

So you will need to "flip" your head to watch!

Trudy played for us too (I have a video) but I think she'd skin me alive if I posted it!!!

Happy Thanksgiving ALL!

All better now . . . . .

Trudy had some meetings on Friday when we quilted, so she was able to drop by and visit with us.  All is right with the world now!  At least my small world . . . . . .

AND . . . . . I guess my mom has decided to put great trust in me, because she bestowed one of her quilt embroidery squares upon me.  Pressure, Pressure, Pressure.  Wish me luck with it!  I should watch what I blog . . . . . you know the book "Hung by the tongue?"  I wonder what it's blog equivalent would be . . . . ?

Mama/Daughter/Papa time

Many years ago, my mom took on a gargantuan project.  She set out to make quilts for all of her grandchildren.  All 14 of them (7 boys and 7 girls, if I'm counting right!).  The boys quilts got done pretty quickly as she made them patchwork quilts from discarded jeans.  They are beautiful and a lot of work even though they worked up quickly!

She has made most of the girls (she's on the 5th one now) Sunbonnet Sue quilts.  12 squares each quilt . . . of hand embroidered splendidness.  She is getting approximately 1 a year done. (I wish I were a granddaughter!) My daughter got the first one as she is the oldest granddaughter, and mom has been busy ever since trying to embroidery squares and get these quilts done before the girls graduate high school!!!

I've offered several times to help her with this, but I think she wants to "own it."  She will, however,  let me help with the quilting once she has everything put together.

Here are some of the squares:

Ah!!! my needle is poked in this one!!

And the whole quilt is done in red and white.  Very striking I think.

My sister hates the fact that while she is working mom and I get together and quilt . . . .

Trude, this pic is for you to let you know what an awful time we've been having . . . . . 

As the kids might say . . . . . Physch!!!  (pronounced "sike"!)

We do wish you were with us though . . . . . you are there in our hearts!!!  (boy was it hard to take that 1st picture!)

Our 4th of July

We did some last minute planning and went and reserved us a spot at the pool behind our house and put together a quick family get together and bbq.  The lady in the blue shirt and her daughter just sat themselves down at our table and ate their dinner there.  I guess she felt like she could join our party :)  No one dared say anything!

Lincoln was the grill master.   We haven't bbq'd with charcoal for quite a while.  We had an old bag of them in our crawl space and gave them a try.  They were supposed to be quick-light.  Their "quick" must have been worn out!  Lincoln and another grill-dude had fun spraying lighter fluid on them to get them going. 

Stevie is such a sport and will always pose for me.  Ceci (behind her) always gives me a silly face or stare . . . . She looks good in this picture though :)

Zane joined the swim team with McKay this year . . . . he is becoming quite the swimmer . . . . . .

This is McKay . . . . . flying high off the diving board!!!

Some of our grilled food . . . . . Yummy!  The charcoal briquettes have a much more even heat than our gas grill!

And our marinated chicken . . . . . marinated by me . . . . . . grilled by my hubby.

My mom and dad . . . .

Ceci and McKay. . . . . . . .

Our pool doesn't allow any toys in the pool, but for this day they had probably 10 beach balls in the pool.  They were a lot of fun, and made for a more colorful picture!

Noah, my dad, and Stevie . . . .  (with Lincoln in the background)

Lincoln and Steve . . . .

Later, after we had watched our neighborhood's fireworks, which were quite good, we went and did our own small show.  I tried to catch McKay writing his name.  I need to play with my camera more to figure out how to get the shutter to stay open longer . . . . I caught the "m" and "c" though!

I just thought this picture was cool . . . . . . so there you go!

I say this all the time, but family times really are the best!  I love it when we all get together!  Hope you had a good one too.