daily yarns 'n more

hi daddy

did i tell you we went bowling in minnesota?

We had a blast, and after bowling we went for pizza.  I can't tell you the last time that I went bowling.

It's not the easiest taking pictures of people bowling...You tend to get their backsides...Which doesn't always look the best in photos :)

Today turned out to be a great day. 

I managed to get some laundry done,

go up to the office and work,

run some errands

and

do the 30 day Shred by Jillian Michaels.

I have been working out on the elliptical but I also want to do a little more.  I'll be honest and say that I couldn't even get through it the first day I started it.  The second time I did it I got a little bit farther through it.  But, today I finished the whole workout. 

I am totally pumped!

We'll see just how much I shred by the end of the month when Jim and I head to Florida for a week.

the rink

Where kids learn the skate.

Looking out the kitchen window down at the rink,

being reminded of our kids out on the rink in our backyard when they were growing up.

well, i guess it's not mine anymore

I finished the hat and before it was even done my youngest decided that she liked it.  So, the wonderful mom that I am, I gave it to her.  The button is from my button tin, that came from my mom, that came from her mom.  My grandmother probably cut it off an old coat that she had

We are having snow, snow, snow right now and it's predicted to keep snowing until tomorrow.  The drive to and from work was very slow going and I'm glad to be home.  Jim put a fire going and it's going to be a night of relaxation and reading the new Kindle that some of the kids got us for Christmas.  So far we haven't fought over it.

Had a visitor yesterday.  Our daughter Elaine came by and she babysits for Anna who is a great niece to Jim and I.  Anna loves babies and she just loves Zoe.

Jim pulled out our Juice King juicer.  We found this juicer in an antique shop in Minnesota a few years ago.

 

I'm not sure if this is supposed to have a cup attached to it or if you just put your own cup underneath it.  No matter tho it works like a charm getting every bit of the juice out of an orange or grape fruit.  I would really love to know exactly how old this is.

I hope to get some snow pictures tomorrow.  Working seems to just get in the way of my fun ;)

i forgot to make it last night

Egg dish that is.  I wanted to send Jake off with a full belly.  I think that's a mom thing with wanting to feed their kids no matter what age. 

It's been crazy over here and it has been since Christmas.  I think the anticipation of this day has been just hovering around us and we have just chosen to ignore it.  But, now we can't because the day is here...sigh.

So, I do what I do and cook.  I made some yummy breakfast dishes yesterday from this cookbook, and since I forgot to make the egg dish last night I paged through this morning my other favorite cookbook, the "H" family cookbook and was so pumped to find an egg dish that didn't need to be refrigerated overnight...Score!

New Years afternoon we had a going away party for Jake.  My dil Kate made this beautiful delicious cake.  We ordered pizza and just visited, ate and sang some songs and ate some more.

I went yesterday and bought more fabric for the aprons and now they are all cut out and ready to be sewn.

There are 4 ladies living in this house now and we are having a challenge for the year.  Jennie has an elliptical machine and we are challenging ourselves to do 31 hours for the month of January since there are 31 days.  I looked at the board yesterday and saw that 2 of us had already done 25 minutes and 30 minutes, so I went and did 30 minutes on it last night.  This is going to be so good.  It's going to make me get on it and work out.

I have to show you the most precious Christmas gift that Jim and I received.  Our 8 year old granddaughter Trisha made this ornament for our tree.

 

 

It's now packed away and waiting to be pulled out for next Christmas.

I trust everyone had a wonderful time bringing in the New Year.

getting in some bonding time before he leaves

Yesterday morning Zoe woke up early, so Jake came down and went to sleep on the couch with her.  They both ended up sleeping for a while in this position.  This baby will be the hardest for him to say good-bye to, I think anyway.  We all are going to try and make sure she knows her dad when he comes home.

Happy New Year everyone!

christmas is over

It flew by so fast that my head is just spinning.

Our Christmas started out with some carolers on Christmas Eve.  Some of the family went caroling in the rain no less and ended up singing Christmas songs to us.

 

It was a fun night.  We ate and ate and ate...Then we played some games.  Even the kids got in the fun...Pin the bow on the present.

 

You can see they ended up all over the present.

 

Even on one of the spectators.

The adults played a couple of games as well. 

Here is the winning team from one of the games.

Every year Santa comes to visit.  Most of the kids are pretty leery of him but excited to see him.

Even my youngest got to sit on his lap.

 

We had a wonderful Christmas and things are quieting down.  Today I worked and I have to work tomorrow as well.  I have 6 orders for aprons from the ladies where I work.  I'm too excited.  One is a full apron and 5 are half aprons.  I already have the full apron made and I need to get more fabric for 3 of the 5 half aprons.  I thought I only had 3 apron orders and this morning I found out I actually have 6.  I'll take them :)

according to my husband

The Christmas season is officially here.  Apparently is wasn't here until he could smell the smells of Christmas baking.

 

My grandmothers wonderful prune tart recipe that I grew up eating.  My mom made these and I loved them as a child.  My dear husband loves them as well.  My youngest just loves the crust and will scrape the filling out.  I watch her like a hawk, so I can have the filling before she throws it away, and I filled these tarts with LOTS of prunes....YUM!

Whew!!!  My work week is over until next Monday.  Still there is lots to do. 

Our house will be busy and full again.  Our son Jake is deploying again...So, Jennie and baby Zoe will be living with us while he's gone.  They will be moving in over the next couple of days.  It'll be kind of like The Walton's, with everyone living together and helping each other out.  Just when we thought that the bedrooms were getting empty they are filling back up again.  We worried about our youngest being alone by herself after having 10 brothers and sisters slowly leave the nest over the years.  When the last sibling who was still living at home with her left to get married, the house got really quiet.  It's not easy being the youngest, and especially not when you follow behind 10 others.  So, for the next year or so we'll have the house hopping again.

It's been snowing here so I'll show you some snow shots from around the yard that I took this morning poking my head out the door.

 

I love taking pictures of "the duplex".  Especially in the winter.

 

The hens are still tucked in nice and warm.  It's pretty surprising how much they don't mind the snow.  Jim finally figured out how to keep their water from freezing.  He rigged up a homemade warmer for the water to sit on...Works like a charm.  Now to wait for that first egg to come.

I hope you all have a wonderful awesome day today.

Whew!!!!! and a Double Whew!!!!!

I finished them all.  The sleepover quilts that I made for the 5 oldest grandchildren.

These are so cute that two of my DIL's said that they want one :)

As you can see this is what I've been doing this weekend.  Actually I sewed all the quilt tops a few days ago and on Friday I started putting them together and Saturday I finished them up.  Now I can check these off my list.

Hey, Hey, Hey....It came!!!!!  and We didn't have to wait until NEXT Halloween to get it.  The motor on this thing is HUGE compared to the other two grinders we've had.  It comes with a 10 year guarantee.  The reason why we got it so fast is because we didn't order a colored one, so it didn't need to be painted.  My understanding of the company is that when you order one then they put one together and ship it out.  But, if you want a colored one they have to paint it and that's where the hold up is.  So, we just ordered a plain one.

This grinds the wheat a bit slower than our other one but it grinds it much finer too.  You can grind it however course you want it.

The weather is getting much colder here and so far the chickens are doing fine with it.  We still haven't had any snow other than a few snow flurries and a light dusting on the ground.

We have a warm fire going in the wood stove and Sadie has parked herself in front of it.  She knows where the warmest spot is.

I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday.

hi...my name is jose

Jake and Jennie called us the other night to see if we wanted to go to dinner with them.  So, we went to Benihana's.  We have never been to one before.  I got a charge out of our chef, his name was Jose.  I don't think he was Japanese but that didn't matter he sure knew how to cook.

 

 

We ate all night it seemed.  Our first course was soup and a salad.

 

Jose made some shrimp and onions which were very yummy.

I'm lucky to have been able to take these pictures...I left my camera at home but my ever so wonderful daughter had hers with her.  Thank you Lauren!

 

Green tea ended the meal.  I'm not much of a tea drinker but this wasn't too bad.  No dessert for us we had...

FULL bellies!