Greatest Invention Ever!!

 

Why didn't I think of this???? Picked up this extra long funnel at the tree farm over the weekend for $6. Yep, no more trying to water the tree laying on your stomach, spilling water all over the train and presents. Greatest idea ever don't ya think! We just stuck it in the back of the tree and you leave it there. Makes my job of watering so much easier, but why am I the only person who ever thinks to check the water level? Funny how that works. And why am I the only person who remembers to take a photo of the kids and have Christmas cards made, address all the envelopes and mail them??? I might just forget to do that job this year! 

Our tree hunt........

The price of a fresh cut tree is crazy! I'm a Frazier Fir girl, it's the only tree I like and of course has to be the most expensive. We are thinking of selling the three Blue Spruce trees in the backyard next year, so if you'd like to come and tag them for next Christmas .....I'll sell them to you at a really good price. Can't promise a wagon ride and we won't bale, shake clean or give your tree a fresh cut but maybe I can throw in a candy cane for the kids!

The 13 year old was mad at me before we even left the house. I told her she was not allowed to wear her brand new coat to the tree farm because she might get sap on it. Well I never heard the end of that, she and her little girlfriend made fun of me  the whole time we were tree hunting. Every time anyone got near a tree all I heard was "be careful you might get sap on your coat". Very funny girls!

 

Overall, it was a pleasant day. There were snow flurries in the air, Christmas music in the car and pretty scenery. We only overlooked one detail. When we put an extra kid in the backseat of the car, there really is no room for the tree. Basically one of the kids straddled the tree the whole ride home. ( Don't ask why the husband doesn't put the tree on the roof of the car, I have no idea! I wasn't about to offer my advice after he so patiently stopped at three different tree farms until we found just the right one!!)

Read about my funny friend Beth and her experiences preparing for the holidays! She is a riot!

How is everyone else holding up during this crazy season?

Thinking outside the bowl!

Hard to believe it has been a whole week since Thanksgiving! I just wanted to share this neat little idea that I used as an appetizer last week. Yep, it's a small head of purple cabbage but it makes such a pretty little bowl too! Just scoop out the inside ( I gave this job to my dad and he did a fantastic job.......it was very symmetrical!)  And we saved the inside to throw in a salad later.

This dip was a twist on the classic spinach dip and it was delicious!

Here's what you need:

 1 Knorr Vegetable Mix

 16 oz. nonfat Greek yogurt 

 1 cup low-fat mayonnaise 

1 lb. plum tomatoes, diced  

1/4 cup red onion, diced  

10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed & squeezed dry

1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions

 Mix it all together, cover and chill 2 hours.

Serve with warmed pita bread, cut into wedges, sliced cucumbers, and Greek olives

ENJOY!

I finally did it...............

Yes, I finally made a decision! ( the older I get , the harder it is for me to make up my mind..... especially when it comes to making a purchase that I will live with for a long time)

But the day before Thanksgiving I finally decided to purchase new dishes!! Just plain tired of looking at that 20 year old Pfaltzgraff with all the nicks and chips out of almost every piece!

The coffee mug is a perfect fit in my hand ( I'm funny about my mugs, do you know what I mean?) but why is all dinnerware super-sized? The plates are huge and the bowls honestly fit half a box of cereal in them. (Must watch out for that because I love cereal!!!)

Found this set on sale at Kmart of all places!  I was pleasantly surprised by their selection, love when that happens!!  

Now to just keeping them from breaking or chipping for the next ten years or so!

(yikes, just jumped over to the Pfaltzgraff website and only saw about six other patterns that I might like)
 should not have done that

   Must move on to other decisions....what to do with this boring dining room wall, it needs some love asap!!

Sunday Driving

This weekend was our final outdoor soccer tournament for the season, picture me doing a happy dance right now! I'm definitely a fair weather sports fan. I love watching my kids play sports but not so much in mid-November when the morning temperature is about 35 degrees and we have to be on the field by 8am! Time to move on to some indoor sports.

However, I am not complaining about the beautiful drive that led us to the soccer field. The scenery was outstanding! Luckily this was very much a country road where we could stop the car on a moments notice for photo opportunities. And there were plenty! Funny how the children just don't appreciate the things I see! My son insisted that we could get arrested for just stopping the car in the middle of the road.

Enjoy my Sunday morning drive!

I hope these chairs are still here when my daughter needs her senior pictures (she's only in 7th grade at the moment) but I just love this setting and think it would be an awesome place for pictures!

Check out this super-sized photo.

This is going to be a crazy week! I'm hosting the meal at my house on Thursday ( what was I thinking). So what is everyone up to this holiday week? Traveling, eating at home, going out? Whatever you do, have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

boys will be boys

I thought I signed my son up for Flag Football.  Which I thought involved no tackling! Apparently I'm wrong and this is what I've had to deal with every Wednesday after school. Today is the last session. Yesterday we had major amounts of rainfall......I can't wait to see how these boys look today!

This should be good!!

Friday Finds

Possibly the cutest front porch ever!

They had a visitor on their front porch too!

Caught in the act!

Brick beauties

Details , details.......I can never pass these up.

A barn sale that I've always wanted to stop at............very interesting place. According to the kids,  kind of scary! I have to admit, I was a little creeped out too!

It was a gorgeous autumn day for exploring!

Character and Charm

Driving in a new town the other day, this lovely home caught my eye! I would love to take a peek at that "tower room". I envision a wonderful little reading room with a window seat and lots of pillows! That's where you'd find me in the afternoon, curled up with a cup of chai and a good book!

This house was next door to the home above. I imagine it was the same builder, they were almost identical.

I love this stone! Can't you just picture the inside of this house .......wide plank wood floors everywhere, a fireplace in the kitchen.

You all know how I love a Cape Cod! This one just says "SWEET " to me. I'd put a little white picket fence in the front yard and window boxes under all the windows to complete the picture.

On a totally unrelated note....  Friends I have not abandoned you, I am having major computer problems and am unable to view almost all your blogs let alone post a comment. I am missing so much and will have major reading to do when the husband gets a chance to address this problem!

So, so frustrating!!! I have a major love/hate relationship with this computer! I just wanted to let you know that I'm thinking of you and can only see a tiny portion of your posts in Google Reader. I think I need to call in the Geek Squad!