Over the River and Through the Woods.....

..........not to Grandma's House, but everywhere else. I was gone last week to this sweet couple's house.

We definitely started out with illusions of grandeur of all that we could accomplish. I arrived on Saturday afternoon, and immediately set out to help cook for the church Valentine Banquet. We prepared Chicken Tetrazzini for 100 people, and put together Brownie Trifles. I will include the recipe at the end of this post. Now let me tell you what we did accomplish. We unpacked and put away everything in her kitchen. No big deal you might say, but let me tell you. This child has everything anyone could want for a kitchen. She told me if she remotely thinks about purchasing anything for the kitchen, to remind her she does not need it!

They have moved in and will be closing tomorrow. There is still a lot of work to be done, but they are there. Sorry I have no additional pictures, but truly I have got to learn to use my new camera.

While there, my sweet boy was a little down, and when asked what I could do for him, he replied, "come to my student art show" when is the opening I asked? "Thursday afternoon", he replied. Now, my daughter is 3 hours from our home in one direction, and my son is 2 hours from our home in the other direction. How could I not go. He said they would be giving some awards, and he probably would not receive any, but he had high hopes for something. I left my daughters to head home Wednesday morning, arrived home Wednesday afternoon. Went to church to keep the nursery, got up Thursday AM, realized Chloe had some fleas on her, so I clipped and bathed two dogs, dumped a few things out of the car, threw a few things back in the car and headed off to my son's home and the art show.

I arrived about 10 minutes before the awards, to hear my son receive the first award of the evening, from one of the local museums, and then later to receive one of the faculty scholarships! I am still tired, but so glad I was there. One of his professors is trying to convince him to spend a semester in Italy participating in the study abroad program through his school. That is what he hopes to use this scholarship money for. I spent the evening, then returned home the next day.

Friday was my husband's only night of so we went to dinner and watched a movie and I fell asleep. See he is on night shift so we are not on the same schedule right now.

My sister's son is playing ball at the university that is located about 45 minutes from our house. I felt that I need be supportive, and this will provide an opportunity for my sister and I to see each other, much more often than we have. Sunday after church I rushed home to head there and watch an afternoon of college baseball. He is a pitcher, so it is always who knows if he will play. He did, and again, I am glad I went.

Now I forgot to add I had bronchitis, and a birthday all during this time! I came back to substitute teaching 4 days this week, and possibly visitors this weekend. Now you know why I haven't been around lately. Life has definitely been happening at this house.

Brownie Trifle Recipe

Box Duncan Hines Fudge Brownie Mix 8 Oz Cream Cheese Softened Large Container of Cool Whip Couple TBS of Powdered Sugar Large Family Pkg Instant Chocolate Pudding

*Bake brownies*Beat cream cheese until creamy, add powdered sugar and mix well, stir in half of the container of cool whip* Mix chocolate pudding as directed* Layer in a trifle dish, or can be made into individual servings with one brownie on the bottom of cup. *Next top with cream cheese mixture* Top this with chocolate pudding* Put a dollop of Cool Whip on top* We garnished with a fresh strawberry on top.

This is one dessert you can't go wrong with and easy too! We served these in Martini glasses at my daughters wedding, and there were none left. Enjoy! I have missed all of you. Have a wonderful and blessed week. Jackie

Time Out

I have had a little "Time Out" here. This was not intentional, but just how it has been. This is the time of year that we go into "outage mode". Simply put, my husband will be working 5
12 hour nights with one night off every 5 days and it rotates each week. For the next 2 months we will not have much time together at all. This is a very tiring time for him, but we are blessed and so thankful that he has a job. This means whatever I do, it is for the most part by myself.

Friday I will head out to my daughter's to help get things ready for her and her husband to finally move in. This house has been months in the remodeling stages and they have done much of the work themselves. I thought I would give you a few previews, and hopefully share some much better pictures when I get home. I didn't realize how bad the lighting is on the pictures. I assure you that the colors are not like what you are seeing. These were taken a month ago when we delivered her washer and dryer and wedding gifts that had been stored at our house. I have to say I am just a little jealous of her kitchen. Her cabinets are beautiful and the countertops have a granite look. I love it! I don't have the before pics but the transformation has been amazing! It is a work in progress, and I am excited for them to be finally moving in. of you are

I know this looks like School Bus yellow, but it is NOT!

A peek at the main bathroom.

Hopefully we will be adding a few finishing touches,

and I will have some better pictures. Better, in my

ability to take them.

Hope you are having a blessed week! Jackie

Wonderful Weekends

Have you ever had a weekend that just exceeded any expectations that you had? This was one of those weekends at our house! My boy and girl were both home and it was the four of us here together again. It has been quite some time since it was only the four of us. You will find this to be true when you become an "Empty Nester".

My son came home Friday afternoon, and much to my SURPRISE, he spilled the beans that his sister was on the way home! We went out for Mexican and had a great dinner together. Saturday came, and remember.....my Boy and I were taking our sewing class to make our Amy Butler bag, so my Girl and her Dad headed out to Lowes. We like to do things different at our house. They were gathering a few items to do some finish work at her house, and we were set to sew....
..... and sew we did for about 7 hours! We had a blast! It was my son, me, and 7 other ladies. How many Moms do you know that can say they have taken a sewing class with their son? I am one blessed Mom let me tell you! Our Girl had dinner ready when we returned. YUM! Sunday our whole family was at church. What a blessing!

Now for a look at the finished project! I was so excited about how it turned out. I am even looking forward to making another one. I forgot to take a picture of my Boy's bag, but his was great. This was a difficult project for a beginner, but he hung in there and it turned out great! Hope your weekend was as fun as mine! Jackie