Cathymac's Holiday Hamlet

Monday Musings

2010-02-22T08:24:00.000-08:00

No pictures on this post, which really bothers me...but what's a girl to do when she has computer problems at home and is "borrowing" a computer at work to do her blogging?

I hope to have that particular little problem remedied soon. In the meantime, just a few little catch-up details from the Hamlet.

Catch up detail #1: Jonah is now a baseball player!! He tried out Saturday, will find out his team and coach today or tomorrow...I hope he's on a red team. I like red teams-the Braves, the Cardinals, the Razorbacks...

Catch up detail #2: I spent the weekend, except for the hour or so we were at the ballpark, on the couch with muscle spasms in my neck and right shoulder. It's not much fun, and I don't recommend it.

Catch up detail #3: I have some BIG plans for our yard this spring and summer...stay tuned for details, and if you're really lucky, some before and after pictures!

Catch up detail #4: I'm ready for sping. Those of you who know me are most likely very surprised at this detail, and may possibly think I've been kidnapped and that someone else is writing this, but it's really me. And I'm really ready for warm weather. Just back-porch sitting, baseball playing, flower planting, herb gardening kind of weather. Not that hot, mosquito slapping, sweat provoking, stay under the air conditioner kind of weather. Actually, I'm ready for fall, but that's another post for another day in the not too far future.

Catch up detail #5: I have a bunch of ideas for upcoming blogs, just need time to get them done (oh, yes and a working computer). Look for these exciting future posts: 5 word phrases; spring decor ideas; Easter plans; and a give-away!!

I need to get to work on some paperwork for my grown up job. Working for a living is not much fun...not a fan. But the bill collectors are insisting that I do it, so ta-ta for now!

Leave me a message and let me know if I've left out any details that you are dying to know and I'll try to answer it!

Later!
Cathy

Snow Day!! The Blizzard of '10!

2010-02-11T18:12:00.000-08:00

For some of you who get snow all the time, it's just another day. For us, who rarely get snow, it's an EVENT! And, like all good events, it should be celebrated. And celebrate we did!

This is the front porch as it looked at 5:30 am when I got up Monday morning. Our weather guys hadn't predicted this..so I was totally surprised!

The boys suited up and headed out. Before long, they had a snowman going, albeit a dirty snowman!

Their dad helped them finish it, and I forgot to get a picture of the finished product on my camera. I did get one on my phone, but unfortunately I have no way to load those pictures onto the computer.

I sent my brother, Michael, a text and told him to send his kids down if he wanted to. My boys love playing with their cousins. He said he'd send them down, but he had to stay home and work. I said ok. Then he said "well, if you'll make some coffee I'll come down too. This snow isn't going to last long, might as well enjoy it." I said ok. So they came down. And Jonah and Makayla were telling us something...

And so we looked out the door and it was pouring snow. I'm talking snowflakes the size of quarters...

And the kids played and played and played...

And then they came in and ate and ate and ate...and that snow that Michael said "won't last long"? Well, it's Thursday night and it's still here. And guess what..."they" say more is on the way tonight! Yippee!! More celebrating coming up!!!

Stay warm!

Cathy

Super Bowl!!

2010-02-07T14:29:00.001-08:00

You already know that I'm a football nut. So today is a little bittersweet for me...the biggest game of the whole year, but it's also the LAST game of the season. And baseball, which is my other big sports addiction, won't start for several more weeks...but, hey-we do have the winter Olympics to look forward to!! I also love them. I want to race a bobsled, and I'm pretty sure I'd be real good at it. I used to race all the boys on our Flexible Flyer sled every time it snowed or iced on our hill when we were kids! Sometimes I even won.

It seems that the Superbowl has gotten to be more about food and commercials than the game...or at least equal amounts to the game. I have some yummy stuff planned, but I don't have pictures of it yet...but I will. Lynn says I'm the only person he knows that photographs my food before I eat it. Well, how else can you post it if you don't photo it?

We have a hot drinks station left over from the snowy/icy weather last weekend. We had hot chocolate, chai tea and green tea, along with coffee and caramel apple cider mix. Yummy!

We're having a burger bar tonight..I'm making sliders. Actually they are just cute little mini burgers and I really don't understand the purpose of them, but they are awfully cute. Here's the setups for the burgers. Oh, I get it-you can dress each burger differently and have 3 or 4 or 10 different tastes.

That bottle of red stuff-that's the homemade sugar-free ketchup I made. It's good...spicier than regular ketchup, it makes a fabulous garnish for burgers or a base for barbeque sauce or cocktail sauce. I make homemade Thousand Island dressing with it-just mix equal parts of mayo and ketchup (homemade or store bought) and a spoonful or two of pickle relish. I make a Big Mac salad...two all beef patties, special sauce (see above), lettuce, cheese, pickles (relish) and onions-no sesame seed bun for me, just the salad. It's so good. You don't even notice you don't have a bun!

My boys discovered appetizers around Christmas and are in love with all appetizer dinners. So we're having shrimp poppers, cheddar poppers, cheese sticks, aforementioned sliders, chips and dip (bean dip and Fritos-my favorite!) and chicken nuggets and fries.

So, which ever team you're for, I hope you enjoy the game, the commercials and have great food! Geaux Saints!

Later!

Cathy

2010-02-06T17:43:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day will be here in a week. Do you decorate for the heart holiday? Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. A couple of years ago, I did. I used my favorite black and white checked ribbon to make bows on red and white heart shaped paper doilies..then tied them on a pine wreath on my front door.

I stuck some more doilies on the mantle in the yellow berry garland I had there...with the "heart" banner I made-my very first one!

And I used them on my year round tree, making it into a Valentine's tree!

This year, I haven't decorated at all. I did place some of my white dishes on top of the corner china cabinet and leave the red berry and pine garland from Christmas to light it up. I will show you some pictures of that later. I like the way it looks...sort of festive, but not so much that my family makes fun of me.

I have another blog for you to check out. It's a new one to me, and boy, is it fun!! It's called Visual Vamp. The owner has lots of pretty pictures. You know I've gotta love a blogger who has her own tiara/crown/diadem collection!! Hope over and join the carnival!

We might get more snow Monday night! I would love to see one more "event" and then I think I'll be ready for spring. I have lots of plans for my yard that I'll be sharing soon!

Until then,

Cathy

A Wintery Mix and an Ideal

2010-01-29T07:19:00.000-08:00

No, not idea...ideal. More on that later.
First, the wintery mix. We are in the middle of a winter storm. I just checked the weather at Channel 7, the ultimate Little Rock area tv station in my mind, and now they are predicting that we are going to get slammed all day, with it wrapping up midnightish. Ok, fine by me. It's my ideal day. See where this post is headed?

So, we get up and it's sleeting like mad, and Lynn said that the boys and I aren't going ANYWHERE today, whether they cancel school or not. I said "yes sir" quite happily. When I was a police officer, back in the dark ages as Jacob likes to say, I had no choice and had to drive in this mess. I no longer HAVE to do (well, so far anyway) so I DON'T do it. I stay home. And I'm blessed with a husband who has more common sense than almost anyone I know and he had the foresite to cover the woodpile with a drop cloth, so we have a stack of dry wood to put on the fire he was kind enough to build for us before heading out into the elements to win the bread and bring home the bacon. In other words, he's working this morning, then stopping by the grocery store on the way home. Yay, Lynn!

So, the boys and I are having an "ideal" morning at home. Jonah has been in his cozy little bed, watching "Tom and Jerry" cartoons on dvd. Benjie is wrapped in his comforter on the blue couch (you know the one, the most comfortable seat in the house, the one we all fight for on Sunday afternoons and wintery mornings) watching "ScoobyDoo" and Jacob is sleeping. Me? I'm drinking another cup of coffee made yummier with real cream-none of that fake stuff for me-and surfing the web. I've caught up with a high school friend and a college friend on Facebook, texted Melissa a half dozen times and Lynn once to add waffle makings to the grocery list, and found some fabby new-to-me-blogs. I'm formulating a plan for showing them to you. I have several, so I'm thinking I'm going to spread it out over a few posts.

The starting point for blog-searching for me is my friend Susan's Between Naps on the Porch. You know Susan if you've read my blog much. Her fabulous porch was the inspiration for my own porch, and she drew my name on one of her giveaways, sending me a totally gorgeous and unexpected Christmas gift. I've emailed her enough over the past couple of years that I refer to myself as her "favorite stalker". I'm sure she would agree with the "stalker" part-"favorite"-maybe not so much.

Susan hosts Tablescape Thursday, a fun little blog party where bloggers post photos of fabulous tables set for fun events-some real, some imaginary-and then link to BNOP. It's wonderful surfing on a snowy, sleety (um, yeah..that IS a real word) morning with contented little boys leaving me alone. So today, when you check out Susan's darling table, check out some of the others too. But pay lots of attention to this one if you are a French Country nut like me.

Talk about inspiration! I went a ways back into her archives and wow! Does she know how to decorate! Beautiful stuff. I want this and this and this...um, huh. Oh, heck..anything you see on her site that you want to bring to my house...would be ok with me!!

Enjoy your day, whether it's an ideal or not. It's the only January 29, 2010 you'll ever have!!

Stay warm!
Cathy

Blog Resurrected

2010-01-25T11:45:00.000-08:00

I've revived my food blog, Dinner at the Hamlet and given it a new purpose. I will be using this as a sort of on-line journal for my new "diet". I don't think of it as a diet, I think of it as the way I will be eating for the rest of my life. All the details are there..check it out. I'm working on a face-lift for it too.

Speaking of facelifts, do you like the new look here at the Hamlet? I really like the browns and creams. Sort of like the chocolate that I no longer eat. At least I can look at it!

Stay tuned here for some upcoming news. I'm giving this blog a little re-vamping too, and to celebrate I'm planning a little giveaway. I'm not good at these things, so I'm not giving details until they are nailed down. Check back later this week.

Until then...stay warm!

Later!
Cathy

Catching up

2010-01-22T19:01:00.000-08:00

Sorry again. I'm going to do better. Really.

For the first time since Christmas, we don't have a busy weekend. The little boys are at a church-sponsored lock in tonight, and Jacob is at a movie with a friend. Jonah has a basketball game at --gasp--8:30 am...then it's home to a fire and enjoying the rain! I have to do some work on Mt. Washmore, but other than that...we're chilling this weekend.

Last weekend was Reality Weekend, and it was amazing. A group of around 600 kids from 14 area churches raised $19,000 for Compassion's work in Haiti. Isn't that awesome?

I'll try to get some pictures of the worship service posted tomorrow. But tonight..I'm enjoying a warm fire, a sweet husband and a quiet Friday night. See ya'll later!

Stay warm!
Cathy

Thinking Spring

2010-01-10T20:22:00.001-08:00

I like spring. I really do. I just don't like summer because I stay hot all the time anyway when it's not 100 degrees and 95% humidity outside. So you can just imagine how I suffer when it is that. But I like spring because it's not hot yet, but it's not cold either...and the decorating possibilites are endless. Plus, we can use the back porch again.

Have you ever opened a new spring catalog on a bitterly cold winter day and thought "oh, my word! I have to have that, only to check the price and discover that you don't have to have it after all..in fact, it's just not going to happen. Then, if you're as crafty as I think I am, you immediately think "heck, I could make that for 1/2 the price....maybe even 1/4 the price." That happened to me recently when I opened my newest issue of TouchStone Catalog. I adore that catalog. If you haven't seen it, go to the website and request a free catalog...so much inspiration waiting.

So, here's a few things I think I might like to have..either by ordering it (not going to happen right now) or by copying it. (note: sorry for the quality of these pictures..I tried to enlarge them and they just got blurry...)

Is this not the cutest thing ever? A wreath made on an old garden hose. Love that...it would be so cute on the back porch, don'tcha think?

And I'm also thinking Easter brunch...

Wouldn't this make a cute centerpiece or dessert table centerpiece for Easter? It's not a great picture...it's faux chocolate eggs made into a topiary and placed in an urn. How hard can that be? Hobby Lobby carries paper machie eggs 3/$1...and Wal-Mart carries Apple Barrel paint for less than 50 cents per bottle..and if I can paint my entire kitchen with the stuff, I can for sure paint some fake eggs, right? Right! And yes, I did paint the kitchen with craft paint. I thought Lynn was going to have a heart attack when he saw it. He got over it.

More of the eggs in glass jars...aren't they just darling?

And speaking of darling...

This egg and berry garland is too cute. I want to try several of these...for the corner china cabinet, mantle, back porch...all kinds of great options with this.

Stay tuned for these and more spring projects. What do you have going on?

Keep warm!

Cathy

Crazy busy!

2010-01-07T18:54:00.001-08:00

Note: This picture has absolutely nothing to do with this post, but I really like to have a picture for every post and this is one of my favorites, so enjoy!

I know it's been almost a week since I've posted, but I've been so busy with work and life that I haven't had time to take pictures for the blog! I have lots of posts in my head, but need time to photograph some things to show you. I am going to work really hard on this over the weekend. I have two after-Christmas treasures to show you that I picked up for pennies each--and I want to show you some of my Christmas loot from my sweet baboo. He did good this year.

The big news right now is the bitter cold. As I write this, it's 23 degrees...but no snow for us. Honestly, if it has to be 23 degrees, shouldn't you have some white fluffy stuff to slip and slide in? To add insult to injury, the wind is gusting up to 30 miles per hour...making it feel like 5 degrees below zero! I feel so badly for our dogs, who are outside but have a warm house and each other for warmth..plus about 2 bales of hay and the blankets they haven't torn up.

We still have some Christmas to take down, which is in the plans for Saturday.

What's up with you? Please come back this weekend to see if I have a more interesting post...maybe I will!

Merry, Merry!
Cathy

New Year's Goals

2009-12-31T18:12:00.000-08:00

Since I've made such a big hairy deal to everyone I've talked to about not making "resolutions" but "setting goals", I guess I'm going to have to follow through. I really do need to start restricting my sugar and white flour intake, cut back on caffeine, drink more water and get moving!! It's not so much that I feel bad all the time, I just never feel good. Does that make any sense at all??

It's not going to be hard to eat healthier, walk more and drink water, except for the eating healthier, walking and water intake. That's the hard part.

It means less of these...

And more of these...

Not so many of these...

And more of this...

And probably none of these, at least not very often.

I miss them already!!

What are YOUR goals for the new year?

Happy 2010!

Cathy

Have Yourself

2009-12-31T05:51:00.000-08:00

A Happy Little New Year!

See ya next year! Be careful and have fun tonight!

Merry, Merry!

Cathy

Christmas Eve table and Christmas morning love!

2009-12-30T10:08:00.000-08:00

This is what our Christmas Eve table looked like:

The dishes are my Nikko Classic Christmas. The tablecloth I purchased several years ago, but I can't remember where. The centerpiece was a gift last year from the boys..I added the greenery, the red balls and the mercury glass votive cups. I use tealights in the votive cups, and it sparkles so pretty!!

Here's Jonah just prior to opening his Santa stack...

And Benjie loved his Johnny Popper boots more than anything! Even anything John Deere, which is his favorite anything.

Hope you had a great Christmas. Happy New Year!

Merry, Merry!

Cathy

Still Celebrating!

2009-12-27T14:29:00.000-08:00

We're not done celebrating here at the Hamlet. We have stretched it out this long, might as well keep it going!

I won't take my trees down until after the New Year. I will enjoy the 12 Days of Christmas, which actually began on December 25. The days leading up to Christmas were Advent. THIS is Christmas! Until January 6, I shall keep Christmas in my heart (and in my home).

But after that...it'll be on to Valentine's Day! I have a whole bunch of winter projects in mind, and I'll be sharing them, along with my New Year's Goals (I don't make resolutions, just goals) in the days to come. But in the meantime..

I'm still watching Christmas movies and listening to Christmas music (thank you, KLOVE for realizing that Christmas is not just one day...) and drinking eggnog and eating bon-bons. Time enough for resolutions and taking down decorations after the new year.

How are YOU celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas?

Merry, Merry!
Cathy

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!

2009-12-25T00:00:00.000-08:00

I hope your holiday is filled with

and

and that it's very

Indeed!

Have a blessed holiday! See you after Christmas for the big wrap up!

Merry, Merry

Cathy

Home Tour-Final Post!

2009-12-21T18:00:00.000-08:00

Come in for the final day of the tour. It's cold again...and supposed to get colder. Would you like a cup of hot chocolate? I added whipped cream and caramel syrup because I know that's your favorite! Bring your cup and come with me...we'll start in the master bath.

This is the Nativity set that is on the antique dresser in the bathroom. The dresser belonged to my great aunt and is one of my cherished possessions.

This Nativity set was a wedding gift 11 years ago...Lynna and I were blessed with a Christmas shower, hosted by a good friend who knew I loved Christmas and would need new decorations for my new home. This set was given to us by my mom's best friend and her daughter, who are very much a part of our family, by heart if not by blood.

This is the top of the linen cabinet. See the three snowmen angels? I love the way they look all vintagy and old, even though I purchased them about 5 or 6 years ago at the dollar store! The Eiffel Tower was a gift from the boys last Christmas. The hat boxes came from Tuesday Morning.

This is the tree in the bathroom. I bought it several years ago, also at the dollar store. The needles are just about gone in spots, but I think that adds to the vintagy feel. The lights on this tree are pearl lights, one string only, so that they give off a soft glow. I love the look. The amber crystals came from the Christmas shop in Branson several years ago. I use them on the fall tree and this year I didn't want to put them away after Thanksgiving, so I moved them into the bathroom and added silver balls. I just love the way the brown and silver look together.

This red compote was my grandmother's. It is not expensive but I love the ruby colored glass and the way the glass and glittered balls look in it, perched on the side of the bathtub.

The seat of the tub...more vintage balls. The brown ones, both plain and glittered, also came from the Christmas shop in Branson. Got them all on sale for 75% off! I grabbed up all the brown and amber ones they had! They had a limit of 7 per customer, so I divided them all up into groups of 7 and paid for each group at a separate register!

Silvery glittered pine cones!

A stack of silver gifts, all wrapped up with brown and cream brocade ribbon. I found this ribbon at Wal-Mart in the craft section. All of my ribbons came from the craft section this year, instead of the Christmas section.

I bought this iridescent mini tree at Target several years ago at the dollar spot. I can't remember if they were $1 or $2.50, but either way, it was a bargain. This year I found these fuzzy tailed birds at the Dollar Tree, all three on one card for $1! Score!! They are so cute!

Now, on to the bedroom! I adore cream and cranberry, which our bedroom is decorated in year round. In the fall and through the winter, I add chocolate brown. Here's my reading nook! I made the paper banner last year. The red berry wreaths stay in the windows year round. In case you can't tell, the toppers are red/cream checked. I have plans to re-do them after Christmas. That might be a good Met Monday project. Stay tuned!!

This wall tree is directly across from our bed. Normally I put it over the bed, but this past summer we raised our bed about 6 inches and the tree just didn't work this time. So I moved it to the other wall.

More of the bargain brown and glittery ornaments from Branson...

And a close-up of the sheer ribbon I used on the silver balls. I love how elegant it looks together!

Mr. and Mrs. Lovebird Snowmen always reside in our bedroom or bathroom during the holidays. I usually put them on the vanity between our sinks, but this year they seemed to fit better on the dresser, in front of my jewelry box.

And finally...the love seat in the bedroom. My Mom made me the red, cream and green afghan a few years ago..it has sparkly threads in it! And the pillow came from Wal-Mart several years ago. Thanks so much for touring my home. I hope you have a fabulously wonderful Christmas and in case I don't get a chance to get back before Christmas, Joyeux Noel!

Merry, Merry!
Cathy

O Holy Night-Good Tidings of Great Joy!

2009-12-20T06:34:00.000-08:00

So it was, that while they were there the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joywhich will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this well be the sign to you: You will find the Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manager.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, goodwill toward men."

Luke 2:1-14

Day 4 of the Virtual Holiday Home Tour!

2009-12-17T00:00:00.000-08:00

Just a few little odds and ends from around the house...

This snowman has a face...and I have no idea why it didn't show up in this picture! But it really is pretty cute! It's in a compote that my mom gave me, along with some "snow" made from salt and plastic snow!

The light over the table..I love that mercury glass ornament on it, don't you?

My colorful vintagy tree in the kitchen...I added some vintage glass balls from the flea market.

I have several little snow village pieces, but this year I didn't do a whole big village thing..just scattered them around the house on pedestal cake plates and silver trays...this one is a tree stand, with many comings and goings...

This one is just a little village scene..a house and a church, with Santa posing for photos.

Look at the picture below and you can see a young fellow making snow angels...

I just love these little vignettes, even better than a whole village grouped together. I have my big village up, too...I'll show you that in another post later in the week.

Next up: the master suite! Doesn't that sound fancier than "our bedroom and bathroom"?

Only 8 days left!!

Merry, Merry!

Cathy

A Christmas Brunch for Tablescape Thursday

2009-12-16T18:40:00.000-08:00

And Part 2 of the kitchen tour!
I hosted my company's Christmas brunch this morning. We had a great time of food and fellowship, with each of us contributing a dish to the meal. We had a breakfast casserole, a hashbrown casserole, fresh fruit, muffins, biscuits, croissants and sticky buns, along with coffee, hot apple cider and an assortment of juices. It was all so good! So, I decided to combine the rest of the kitchen tour with Tablescape Thursday from Susan's blog, Between Naps on the Porch. I am feeling especially warm and fuzzy toward Susan, because she hosted a giveaway on her blog recently and I won!!! Details and pictures will be forthcoming!

So, here's an overview of the kitchen, all dolled up for the holidays.

And here's the brunch table. I love black and white checked, and I especially love it paired with a red tablecloth and my Christmas dishes. These were Lynn's mother's dishes, which she gave to me when she sold her home and moved in with Lynn's sister. I adore the Nikko Christmastime pattern and the fact that they belonged to Lynn's mom is just icing on the cake!

This centerpiece is always a fun one. The crystal bowl was a gift from a friend for my first ever Mother's Day, 17 years ago. I love it filled with strawberries in the spring, or with cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving, but this is my favorite way to use it...filled with red glass Christmas balls! These are hand painted with white snowflakes by yours truly.

Here's the place setting I used today. The "crystal" glasses were Dollar Tree finds several years ago, and the holly patterned stemmed glasses were also my mother in law's, as were the napkins that match the dishes.

Now, on the rest of the kitchen!

A candelabra on the microwave, all dressed up with ivy and ribbon.

The red berries again..

The wreath in the window...

And Santa in the corner! My mom made this plate for me a few years ago.

Don't forget to stop by Susan's blog and see what pretties are awaiting you!

Next up:

Village vignettes from all over the house!

Merry, merry!

Cathy

Home Tour, Part 2

2009-12-14T07:49:00.000-08:00

Kitchen Tour, Part 1!

Today I'm posting part of my kitchen decorations. I want to get some better photos before I show you the whole package!

This is one of my favorite centerpieces ever! It's not for anything special, it's an every day center piece. Every time I look at it I smile. I love red berries, and the pitcher is part of a set of dishes that my dear friend Terri gave me for my birthday last year. I love white dishes! So versatile, don't you think?

These little snow people are on the microwave, along with another pitcher of red berries..

My homemade Gooseberry Patch catalog paper cones, on the whimsical, vintagy tree. You'll see more photos of this tree in the next kithen post. I love it! I found some vintage ornaments at the flea market that are perfect on it, so I need to take new photos of it to show those.

And this is a homemade ornament on the same tree, also using catalog pages.

I'll be back with more kitchen stuff soon!! Enjoy the rest of the homes on tour by scrolling down to the post below and clicking on the links. Remember, if you are participating, you have until midnight to get your links posted!

Merry, Merry!

Cathy

Virtual Home Tour-part 1!

2009-12-12T00:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the third annual Magical Holiday Home Virtual Holiday Home Tour!! Since I have lots and lots of pictures to show you this year, I decided to break the tour of my home down into several days. Today I'm just keeping it brief and simple, showing you some of my living room decorations. Later in the week you'll see the outside, the kitchen and the master suite, along with a few odds and ends from other parts of the house.

So, welcome to my home! Would you like a cup of cider? It's awfully cold outside today!

As you step through the front door look to your left. This is my solution for all the holiday cards we receive. I never had a good way to display them, so this year I got creative! I used a picture frame that Lynn made! Yes, made. And he even custom blended the paint for me! I used a piece of foam core, covered it with wrapping paper and put it in the frame, then hung the frame on the wall! I just tape the cards on. I tried pushpins, but they made the card fronts stick out, so I used tape.

This is the mantle. Before you say anything, I do not like this mirror with it...and hopefully will be replacing it soon. I'll post new pictures when I do, but I didn't want you thinking I didn't have anything on the mantle!

The candles are from the Dollar Tree and are just the right size to group. The glass jars on either side are also dollar store finds. I have lots of pieces like these in my decorating closet. They are so handy for candles, ornaments or whatever strikes your fancy to put in them! I added purple to my red and gold on the big tree, and these purple ornaments with gold glitter were perfect. I have several on the tree as well.

The trees on either side of the mantle are faux trees placed in a flowerpot which I wrapped in muslin and tied with seam binding tape. I copied Lidy's mantle from French Garden House! Hers is much prettier, but I think mine looks pretty good! Lidy used rosemary topiaries, but I made a decision this year to "use what I have" and didn't want to purchase rosemary, although I would love to have one! Also, I added glitter to my pinecones, which Benjie and Jonah picked up for me. You can get a little glimpse of my Dept. 56 Original Snow Village on the right of the mantle. You'll be seeing details of it later in the week.

Here's the overall picture of the tree. It's faux, 9' tall and big! It takes up a big part of the living room, but I LOVE it! My precious friend Phyllis gave it to me. Remember her house from this post? (You have to scroll down a little to see it..it's worth it!). Thanks honey!

A little message for the holidays...see the purple beaded garland?

Santa and Frosty, together again! This is a glass ornament that I got at a Bunco ornament exchange a couple of years ago. Love it!

And the gold glittered hydrangea from the sneak peek post!

Come back tomorrow for more! And check out the links below for lots of holiday pretties!!

If you are participating in the tour, be sure to link your POST url and not your general blog. That way, anyone who drops by later this week can find your tour post! Mcklinky will be open until midnight on the 15th!

A little sneak peek...

2009-12-08T18:32:00.001-08:00

Since I've never used one of those Mcklinky things before and I'm nervous about it, I decided to do a trial run before the Virtual Home Tour on Sunday. I'm giving you a little sneak peek and a kind of before and after post, all rolled into one!

Remember these? These were the beautiful hydrangeas I picked last fall (08) from my brother Michael's backyard bush. They were absolutely gorgeous. I fell in love with the rich colors...

So, with Lynn's help, we pounded nails into the shelves in the laundry room (before the re-do, so ignore the clutter!) and hung the blossoms upside down to dry.

And they did-beautifully! So beautiful, in fact, that I glittered them and used them on my Christmas tree this year!

You'll see the whole tree and much more during the MHH Virtual Home Tour on Sunday, December 13. Join us!!

P.S.-I dressed the blog up a little bit for the holidays, too!

To participate in the sneak peek, link your completed post link

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas...

2009-12-06T00:00:00.000-08:00

Jonah asking Santa for hiking boots!

Benjie asking Santa for a cross bow!

Merry, Merry!

Cathy

Christmas at the OK Corral and Christmas Parade

2009-12-05T18:12:00.000-08:00

We've had a busy week at the Hamlet. I worked in the office all week, which was great for the paycheck but sure hampered the house keeping up! I had a mountain of laundry, dirty dishes and general clutter to deal with.

On Thursday, Jonah's 3rd grade program, "Christmas at the OK Corral" was presented. It was really good, and since the only costume requirements was for "cowboy attire", we were in really good shape! Here he is, fresh off the stage of Caldwell Elementary!

On Tuesday night we attended our town's annual Christmas parade. We had a good time, even though it was freezing. I guess that's what I get for commenting on Monday that it needed to cool off considerably before the parade...and boy, did it! We had fun watching all the entries and the people.

Benjie and Jonah think they HAVE to wear their Santa hats to the parade.

And we MUST take hot chocolate in thermoses..

This was my favorite entry. Sorry it's not a very good picture...my camera is getting old and doesn't take as good pictures as it used to.

I've almost got the house decorated. Don't forget to stop by next Sunday for the Magical Holiday Home Virtual Holiday Home Tour. That's a mouthful! It'll be fun, with several folks participating.

I hope you are having a blessed, peaceful, restful weekend. I love weekends, don't you?

Merry, Merry!

Cathy

Just a little while...

2009-12-02T11:01:00.000-08:00

and the pictures and details will be forthcoming from the parade last night. Because I'm having to work at my grown up job today (boo, hiss. Extra Christmas money-cheers and hurrahs!) and the fact that I over worked my elderly little camera last night, therefore it's batteries died a short death and had to be recharged and I didn't have time to post pictures last night, you'll have to wait until after church tonight to get the pics and story. We did have a great time. Benjie and Jonah both sat on Santa's lap, which surprised me because they think they are too big for most of that kind of stuff...so it was a happy surprise. I have great photos, but...(see above for details)!!

Have you done something fun and Christmasy today?? Leave me a message and let me know!
I'm developing an idea for a fun little Christmas blogging party...details coming soon!

Merry, Merry!
Cathy

First Day of December!

2009-12-01T06:50:00.000-08:00

I LOVE December! It's so...holiday like, don't you think? I am also excited that tonight is our home town Christmas parade..I love me a good holiday parade! I remember one of the first parades our little city held. I was in the 7th grade and a member of the drill team-which is now usually called the "dance team". We had two junior high schools in town at the time. On the Eastside campus, they were the Cougars. Their uniforms were green and white. On the good side of town, Westside (the one I attended!) were were the Bulldogs, with our bright red and white. So, at Christmas, can you guess what happened? Yep-they combined the two drill teams to march together in the parade, alternating red uniformed with green. I do remember it being a lot of fun and very cold that night. I don't know why, over 37 or so years later, I vividly remember that night, but I always do. And I usually tell my children about it as we wait for the parade to start. Again.

Last year we sat with Michael and his kiddos for the parade. My nephew, Conner, is a total fire truck fan. Every volunteer fire department in the county has a fire truck in this parade, with Santa coming in on the big ladder truck at the end...very exciting stuff for everyone, but particularly for a (then) 5 year old fire truck nut. Conner, needless to say, was over the moon. Every truck that went by, he shouted out "I LOVE your firetruck!" in a very excited, enthusiastic voice. It made our parade! We had the most fun ever!

I can't wait for tonight. I've got dinner planned for a quick meal so that we can get to the courthouse lawn early enough to see the lighting of the courthouse-it is so beautiful, all decked out with thousands and thousands of tiny white lights. There are displays of holiday scenes all over the lawn, and there will be choirs singing and Santa will sit in the gazebo after his big debut and take requests from excited little men and women...and I'll be sighing contentedly and feeling that all is right with my world---at least at that very moment!! We always take a thermos of hot chocolate and a bowl of popcorn...both of which are usually gone before the parade actually starts. We always wear our Santa hats and have a ball waving at all the Boy Scouts, marching bands and beauty queens. Sigh...so much fun!

Look for pictures and details tomorrow!!

Merry, Merry!

Cathy

Tracey's Tour

2009-12-01T00:00:00.000-08:00

I am sorry to say that I won't be participating in Tracey's Virtual Holiday Home Tour over at Notes from a Cottage Industry...I am not finished decorating yet. I am getting there, and I've been working on it steadily...but I need to make a Wal-Mart run for a few little but essential items (mainly lights) to finish up and I just ran out of time today. And I have to work the next 4 days (bless my heart) and we are busy, busy, busy this week, so I am sure it'll be Friday or Saturday before it's finished.

But don't let that stop you! Hop on over to this beautiful, inspirational blog and see what kind of eye candy she's offering this year!

Happy Touring!

Cathy

Virtual Holiday Tour of Homes

2009-11-29T12:38:00.000-08:00

My friends from Magical Holiday Home and I have decided to have a virtual tour of homes again this year. Last year, on the eve of the tour, my computer, with my pictures safely tucked inside, shut down and would not come back on. Since I had prepared the tour with links and scheduled it to post automatically, the tour went on, but without me! That's just the kind of thing that happens to me! Hopefully that won't happen this year. For one thing, I'm going to leave my photos on my camera memory card until AFTER the tour date. That way, if something does happen to the Toshiba, I can use another computer and still share my pictures!

If you'd like to join us, feel free. You don't have to be a member of MHH to join in-but if you're a Christmas crazy, you owe it to yourself to skip over there and check it out. We have an active message board with lots of interesting discussions on a variety of topics. I'll have a Mcklinky thing-a-ma-jig up and running at 12:00 am on December 12. Be sure to link to the actual tour post, not your blog in general. That way, if someone doesn't get around to viewing your blog for a few days, they will be able to find your tour post easily.

This is going to be fun! I'm also planning on participating on another tour this week, if I can get my pictures taken in time. Tracey at Notes from a Cottage Industry is hosting a fabulous blog tour on Tuesday. I hope I'm ready!! You totally owe it to yourself to see this. Tracey is wonderful and has a gorgeous blog and lots of followers. It'll be worth your while!

Looking forward to counting down the holidays with you!

Later!

Cathy

Happy Holidays!! Counting down the Days

2009-11-28T18:31:00.001-08:00

It's the holiday season, and I couldn't be happier! I'm a holiday kind of girl, in case you haven't figured that out yet! I love, love, love the holidays. It's busy at the Hamlet this time of year, as you might well imagine. This is the big decorating weekend-I restrain from decorating for Christmas until Thanksgiving is over, but after Turkey Day, it's katie bar the door!

Today we put up a huge, 9' tree in our tiny little living room. It's a bit crowded, but it's so pretty! We used gold, red and purple on it..with white lights. It's really nice, and I'll be sharing pictures of it and the rest of our decor on December 13, during the virtual Holiday Tour of Homes with my friends from Magical Holiday Home. We will be sharing photos of our holiday homes with you on that date. Even if you're not a member of MHH, please feel free to join us. I'll have a linking system in place and you can just link right up! By the way, the picture above is from last year.

Jonah starts basketball practice on Monday, the local Christmas parade is Tuesday, church is Wednesday, and Jonah's 3rd grade program is Thursday. I told you it's busy at the Hamlet!

With only 27 days left until Christmas, I'm guessing it's busy at your house, as well! Leave me a message and tell me what you're up to!

Have a great rest of the holiday weekend!

Later.

Cathy

Almost Thanksgiving...let the holidays begin!

2009-11-24T18:53:00.001-08:00

I am so happy it's almost Thanksgiving! I love Thanksgiving...it's my favorite holiday! How can you not love a holiday that focuses on all the right things-Thankfulness, food, family, food, fellowship, food, football and a little food?

I hope you have a bountiful, peaceful and productive holiday!

I'll be taking the holiday to do this:

And then I'll be back for Christmas!! I'll have a couple of announcements about upcoming events, some pictures of early decor, and a summary of my Black Friday adventures!

Happy Thanksgiving. Don't forget to thank God for the blessings in your life!

Later!

Cathy

Glittered paper cones! A Met Monday post!

2009-11-08T16:31:00.000-08:00

I'm participating this week in Susan's Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch. If you've never visited her fabulous blog, you are missing a treat and need to hustle over there and check out all the eye candy. I know Susan personally...ok, I don't, but she did very kindly respond to several e-mails from me when we were working on our back porch. She is so sweet and very patiently answered all my goofy questions. I emailed her so many times that now I affectionately refer to myself as her "favorite stalker"..which I'm sure she wondered a few times if I was a stalker! But she answered each question and encouraged me to ask any others I came up with. I feel like I know her personally!

So, here's my before, during and after. I am always trying to think of something cute and inexpensive to use for Christmas decorations. I am also totally hooked on crafting with paper, and you know I love to glitter things. I have a white tree that I put in the kitchen and have done a lot of different things with it. But this year I wanted something really cute and vintagy and different..with no budget to work with.

But I did have a stash of Mod Podge, decorative scissors, glitter, tinsel, pipe cleaners..and a brand new Gooseberry Patch catalog. Hmmm...

I leafed through the catalog and tore out some pages that had images I really liked on them, then used a salad plate as a pattern to cut out some circles, some with regular scissors, some with decorative scissors...

Then I got out the Mod Podge and my handy dandy foam brush and coated both sides of the circles with the glue and formed them into cones. I crumpled up some aluminum foil to make "stands" to put the wet cones on to dry...

I coated them three times with Mod Podge, letting them dry between coats. This not only makes them sturdier, it gives them a nice shine.

Then I took the dried cones to the back porch and coated them one more time with the glue and glittered them with clear glitter. Sorry, I forgot to take pictures of this step. Then, I took sparkly pipe cleaners and made handles for all of them by hot gluing the ends onto the sides of the cones. Then I used silver tinsel and tiny little silver ornaments to embellish each cone. Each one is totally unique...

Here's a couple of close ups...

The Gooseberry Patch catalogs are just the perfect weight to make these cones. And, the hand drawn illustrations are just the right amount of vintage charm that I was looking for...and the price was certainly right! By the way, if you're not familar with this charming catalog, click on the link above and check it out. I love their cookbooks and have the entire collection of Christmas books, except for this year's. I'll be ordering it soon, no doubt!

By the way, each one of the cones started out the same size, but ended up shaped just a little bit differently..something about the way I folded them, I guess.

I also made some cones for the same tree that are a little less sparkly..but cute as button anyway. I used newspaper for these cones.

I love this one...it's my favorite. I cut a circle of lightweight card stock to study up the newspaper cones..they seemed a little flimsy, so I just glued the newspaper circle to the cardstock circle, then made the cone.

I am going to fill these cones with peppermints for the tree...cute, yes?

Only 47 days until Christmas! At least ONE of my trees will be ready!! Stick around...more paper cuties to come!

Later!

Cathy

Out of the blue-counting my blessings!

2009-11-03T08:00:00.000-08:00

Because I am finding myself in a big, fat blue funk today, I've decided to move my central operations (that means my computer, cell phone and coffee cup) to the back porch, trying to let the chilly autumn breeze blow away the cobwebs and nastiness that is residing in my brain. I have so much to be thankful for. First, of course, is the motley crew above...my boys!! Thank You, God!

Our screened in back porch, which 11 years ago we only dreamed of having. It's not finished, still needs to be painted and of course you KNOW I'll be redecorating and fluffing it some more, but it's sittable..workable..comfortable..and it's ours! Thank You, God!

For a teenager, Jacob is such a good boy-he's very easy to get along with, agreeable to most things and has surrendered his life to serving God in the ministry. How much better than that could a 16 year old boy be?? Thank You, God!

Benjie and Jonah are good kids, too, despite the mud they insist on tracking into the house. And, they are best friends with their cousins, Makayla and Conner. Conner was not here when this picture was taken, but I'll find one of him and post it soon. I am so happy that my boys have first cousins two houses down the street-how cool is that?? Thank You, God!

And we have food to eat! Every thing on this plate came from Lynn's garden-tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers and peppers! Thank You, God!

And we have a warm, comfortable house to live in. It's not very big, and it's not at all fancy, but it sits on family land that is not mortgaged, the house payment itself is manageable most months and it keeps us warm and dry in the winter, sheltered all year round and cool in the summer. And, we have an outdoor firepit! I've always wanted one of those!! Thank You, God!

I feel better already!!

Later!

Cathy

I'm Going to Do Better...

2009-11-02T19:00:00.001-08:00

...or at least I'm going to try to. I've neglected my blog horribly lately, and I'm really trying to do better. I did a couple of posts over at Haunted Hamlet with some Halloween pictures, and then a couple over at Scarecrow Soup with some pictures...the links are in the sidebar.

But I'm really wanting to get back to regular blogging on my good old everyday blog. I'm really, really going to try.

Right now, at 9:02 p.m. on Monday night, I'm watching the World Series. Our hometown boy, Cliff Lee is pitching a whale of a game for the Philadelphia Phillies. He grew up in our neighborhood and his parents and grandparents still live here. My hometown pride is large tonight. It's so weird watching someone you know personally pitching in the World Series.

And AJ Burnett, the Yankee's starting pitcher, is from Little Rock. How cool is that. Love that!!

So..I'll be back..I'm working on some Christmas crafts and gifts...maybe I'll get industrious enough to take some pictures and show you what I'm working on!!

Until next time...

First Day of Fall and a birthday!

2009-09-22T20:35:00.000-07:00

Today is the first full day of fall. That makes me very happy. I love fall, it's my favorite season of all!

I did a whole post on fall over at Haunted Hamlet. Check it out.

Tomorrow is my brother Mark's birthday. He'll be old. Have a happy birthday, Mark! This is a picture of him and his bride, Laura. They had been married a matter of days when this picture was taken last year at our annual Boo!Bash Halloween party. Cute wedding picture, don't you think?

This was one of the few pumpkins that Mark planted last year that Hurricane Gustov didn't wash away! I brought it home and glittered it. Lynn says I either glitter, paint black or put ivy on everything that comes into this house. That is not true. Sometimes I paint it white.

Cooler weather is coming, according to Barry the weather guy. I hope so..I'm so ready!

Enjoy the season! Get out and do something fun.

Later!

Cathy

Getting Back into Old Habits...

2009-08-27T08:43:00.000-07:00

It's been almost 3 weeks since I've posted on this blog. I don't have very much of an excuse, except laziness and a general boring life, which I've chosen to spare you the details of. But, now that school has started and our fall routines are getting established and re-established, I decided it's time to get back to some old habits. Blogging more often is one of them. I hope I don't bore you!

Some other old habits that I want to re-establish:
* Daily housework. Ok, that's a lie. I don't want to re-establish that little nasty habit, but nasty is the key word in that statement. For those of you who don't keep up with this sort of thing, it's only 120 days until Christmas. Not until time to start cleaning/preparing/planning/shopping for it, until THE DAY!! I start to feel a little panic when the countdown hits 100 days...and that's only 20 days away!! So, it's time to get back into a regular cleaning/tidying up routine around here. The problem with that is, it's regular. Not a fan.

*Daily morning walks. Again, not really a fan. But the glorious weather we've been experiencing lately and are supposed to be experiencing again next week leaves me with little excuse to not tie on those tennies and hit the pavement. Ugh.

*Work. I am only working a few hours each week ( and only getting paid for a few hours each week). The agency I work for no longer is contracted with the school where I was working last year, so I'm waiting to get more clients-excuse me, patients-at another school. Hopefully soon. So really, this one is out of my control. I'm doing what I can with what I have to work with right now.

Holiday Grand Plan.
Along the cleaning lines, it's almost time to begin the Holiday Grand Plan . Now, that makes me happy for a variety of reasons. One-it means it's almost fall! Two-it means it's close to the beginning of Cathy's Holiday Season, which, essentially is fall plus Christmas. CHS runs from Labor Day to New Year's Day each year and is jam packed with activities, events and gatherings...also known as "my life"!! And Three-it keeps me on track with getting the house and myself actually ready for the holidays. As I've mentioned before, I'm a great planner. A doer-not so much. This comprehensive eighteen week plan is designed to get your house holiday ready, along with gifts purchased and decorating done.

I've heard some people say they don't particularly like this plan because it's too long or they don't have all the rooms covered. That is precisely why I like it! I have enough time to spread out the big projects. I don't have an entryway or attic to get organized and cleaned, but I have plenty of things to fill those weeks. I can take two weeks to get porches done-because I have two porches. See how that works? Nice, huh? I don't feel a rush to get done, but do have a small sense of urgency to get things accomplished because of the time limits, if that makes sense. I know it does to me, so it probably won't to normal people.

Anywhoo....the plan begins on Sunday, August 30. I have a notebook for it and everything. OK..two notebooks. One big one-a 2" binder-that stays at home and a small Dollar Tree planner that goes with me. Shut up, Michael.

So...look for lots of fun stuff coming up in the next few weeks! The Boo!Bash3, our annual Halloween party, is in the planning stages and will be held Saturday, October 24! I'll be sharing some ideas for it on Haunted Hamlet, beginning in September.

I'll be back as soon as I can to share more exciting stuff with you, if you're still awake after reading this! See why I don't blog more often these days?

Later!
Cathy

Some Things I Learned Today..

2009-08-08T09:03:00.000-07:00

1. Oatmeal, when cooked in the microwave, is not only hot, but when you add the Splenda and butter and milk, it's slippery!
2. When said oatmeal is hot and slippery, it's best eaten in the kitchen, not transported to the living room, even if you do want to catch a new decorating show on Fine Living that you've been meaning to see.
3. If said oatmeal does slip out of your hand into the living room floor, it will splatter everywhere.
4. Splattered oatmeal bears an appalling resemblance to something that one of the kids might have thrown up, but try to remember that the smell is not the same..it's just your imagination. And you still have to clean it up, no matter how much you are gagging.
5. Additionally:
a. It's best if the lid to the laptop is securely closed. Then the splattered oatmeal does not get into the keyboard and Lord only knows where else.
b. The floor is going to be slick and wet and sticky.
c. A basket of clean clothes, sitting in the floor waiting to be folded and put away, will have to be washed and dried again before it can be folded and put away.
d. A small dry towel and a wet mop are much better for cleaning up the mess than a large wet towel and a dry broom.
e. You will have to use Pine sol to clean up the slick and sticky.
f. Oatmeal, when allowed to dry just a little, will adhere nicely to upholstered furniture, front doors, air conditioning vents and huge water guns. And flip flops. And feet. And pj bottoms.
5. You will have to change clothes after the mess is cleaned up. See above.
6. When making the second bowl of oatmeal after the disaster, be sure to check the milk before you pour it on the cereal. It could be bad. If you pour it then check it, you have to make a third bowl. And, that will help explain the smell, which might not have been totally imaginary.
7. Oatmeal does not taste as good as I thought it would.

That's what I learned today!!

Countdown to the first day of school!

2009-07-26T15:26:00.000-07:00

At our house, we're gearing up for the first day of school, only a little over 3 weeks until the big day! We start here on August 19. It's going to be a busy three weeks. This week, we have to get things ready for camp next week...so I'll be counting out shorts, shirts, socks and underwear for three boys for a week at camp. Plus gathering up towels, toiletries, snacks and sunscreen!
Then...a blissful week with all three of them gone. Just Lynn and I, all week long. What will we do?? Then, a week getting final school prep done, then bam-school starts the middle of the next week. Just 3 1/2 weeks.

The first day of school also means back to work full time for me. I will be getting my stuff together, too. I need new school clothes and some comfortable shoes. I need new pens (the mandatory black), a new three ring binder and maybe a new tote bag to store my files in that I take back and forth to work. I need to take the laptop to the office and have new forms installed by our computer guy. And of course...a new lunch box!!

But, it's also the end to some things. It's the end of letting the boys sleep in...although I've only slept in a couple of days...and only on Fridays when I don't have to make Lynn's lunch. But the boys have...and it's been nice. I always say that the time between 6:30 and 7:30 am is my hardest hour of the day. This year, I'm planning to implement some new policies. For one, everyone is getting their own alarm clock, with incentives to get up and dressed in time to leave the house. I'm still mulling over the incentives, but I'm thinking money...it usually works best.

Additionally, since both Benjie and Jonah are planning on playing football this fall, they will be responsible for getting homework done in a timely manner, along with their chores. And, since they are just far enough apart in age, they will, of course, be playing on different leagues. Sigh. So, as part of my fall routine, I'll be doing paperwork at one or the other football field, watching one or the other boy practice. That's part of my homework.

There will be other changes, of course. After the first week of school we should have a good idea of what the fall will be like. I just adore fall, as most of you reading this knows, so I'm ready for the changes. Our weird but welcome cool July has just made me that much more excited about fall.

Some things will be the same. Lynn and I will still continue to be youth group leaders and will be active in school events...and we'll still host our family breakfasts, hopefully on a more regular, monthly schedule. We'll watch Razorback football on tv, wishing we were actually at the game, and attend Panther games, cheering for the home team. And we'll celebrate 11 years of wedded bliss on October 2. I'll turn 50 on October 16 and we'll host Boo!Bash3! on October 24. We'll trick or treat on the 31st with our besties, Eddie and Melissa and Cameran. We'll have three Thanksgivings-one at our house with Lynn's side, one at church with our church family, and one with my side of the family. I'll put up too many Christmas trees, and complain when I have to take them down, vowing to cut back next year. I won't. We'll attend the local Christmas parade and drive around town looking at pretty lights. We'll say to each other "let's do something this New Year's Eve", but we won't. We'll wish for snow all winter and celebrate the few flakes we actually get. We'll host Easter lunch, endure spring break and then pine for the last day of school. And before you know it, we'll be saying "only 3 1/2 weeks until school starts" and be referring to the 2010-11 school year.

At least that's the plan!

Later!

Cathy

Harvest time!

2009-07-14T13:07:00.001-07:00

Here's some of the bounty from Lynn's garden. Squash, tomatoes-red, yellow, and Romas-cucumbers, peppers and okra have been on our menu every night lately. The garden is not that big, but it's really producing. This is from one night...

And this was from the night before...

We are eating well, my friend!

What are you eating this summer?

Later!

Cathy

2009-07-14T13:07:00.000-07:00

I Won!!

2009-07-08T10:49:00.001-07:00

My sweet friend, Jerusalem of the soon to be famous blog My Little Life sent me an email today telling me I've won her blog giveaway!! How cool is that? Thanks, sweetie! Hop over to her blog and I think you'll agree with me that this girl's life is anything but little! She's awesome...and I've met her in real life!! Isn't that neat??

Not much stirring around the Hamlet right now...just too hot to do much, although it's been much less humid, therefore much nicer lately.

I'm working on Christmas in July again...check it all out on Pumpkins and Reindeer. And if you're wondering why I have two posts on one day...blame it on Blogger and it's stupid scheduled posting feature. It's driving me nuts...one day it doesn't post at all and the next time I schedule it for a certain date, like tomorrow, it posts it immediately...sigh.

Oh, well...enjoy!

Later!
Cathy

Happy Birthday, Josh!!

2009-07-06T09:51:00.001-07:00

Happy 25th birthday to my first nephew! You're old, man!!

Me and the birthday boy at his wedding last year!

Love you,

Aunt Cathy

Come Home to Comfort

2009-06-10T07:31:00.000-07:00

That's the subtitle on the new July issue of Country Living magazine. It's made me think a little bit about what comfort is and how we achieve it in our homes. I have my ideas and I'll bet you have yours, too. I'd love to hear them. Just leave me a comment in the comment section.

Today I'm thinking about the "coming home" part. I am a home body these days...I'd rather be at home than anywhere else. I love to travel and go new places but I'm always ready to be home. But what do I want to come home to?

Certainly not a laundry room piled with dirty clothes. Or worse-bedroom and bathroom floors piled high with dirty clothes. So, it's necessary to do laundry.

A clean enough house is always nice to come home to. This may surprise some of you, especially those who've been to my house, but I do have a regular "decluttering" ritual. So even if it's a little cluttered when you come over, you should know that it could be worse! I've learned lots of skills for decluttering from various sources-magazines, books, Internet sites. I have taken a few of each of those and made my own ritual. I really have cut out a lot of the clutter in our home. It's an on-going project.

And, as an added bonus, I've discovered with decluttering that the house may not be sparkling, but it looks much cleaner when it's not cluttered. My floors are the bain of my existence..I cannot keep them clean. But a quick sweeping and it's ok...they may not be spotless, but if there's no chunky stuff on the floor, it's ok if someone drops by unexpectedly.

Clean bathrooms are another comfort. Now keep in mind I have three (ok, four) boys in this house...so clean bathrooms are almost in the luxury category. But I'm trying to do better, especially on the front bath. Again, a work in progress. It's becoming a part of my daily ritual to make a swipe through there, too.

Pleasant scents are necessary for coming home to comfort to me. I have found that even unlit, scented candles make a big difference. The trick is finding a scent that you can live with on a daily basis. In the fall and winter, especially over the holidays, the scent of my home is spicy-apples, cinnamon and cloves are likely simmering on the stove when I'm home. In the warm weather, though, it's a little trickier. I have discovered that Aromatics' Summer Sorbet is nice, and so is anything that is lime/coconut scented. Vanilla is a year round favorite with me...and the colors all work well with my decor...yellows, greens, creams and reds fit in almost every room in my house.

I am going to continue exploring this idea of coming home to comfort. Stay tuned!

Later!
Cathy

ps-I'll be waking up my Christmas planning blog, Pumpkins and Reindeer, soon for Christmas in July!! Only 198 days until Christmas!!

Hello, it's me...

2009-05-08T19:00:00.000-07:00

Bet you thought I'd disappeared off the face of the earth, huh? Nope, just busy!

I won't bore you with all the gory details, but I've been working, working, working. I know I've said that before, but it's true this time. Ooopps...I mean AGAIN this time! LOL!

Just a few little updates:

*Jonah is playing soccer and really doing well. He's our natural athlete, I do believe. He really loves sports and wants to learn to play them all. He's planning on playing flag football in the fall.

*Benjie is not playing soccer, but plans to play-gasp, wheeze, heave-tackle football this fall. I adore football, so I'm encouraging him even though it scares me some. He's a tough little hickory nut, though, so he'll be fine. Really. He will.

*Jacob is...well, Jacob. He's still into 70s and 80s rock, he still is wearing tee shirts and shorts and he's still not driving. Can't even go there.

*Lynn is like me...working, working, working.

*Our newest projects are our porches. Lynn painted the front and it looks splendiforous! I love the gray and black color scheme, and I was able to pick up some black and creamy white chair cushions. However, I'm thinking I might move them to the back and bring red to the front...

*which brings me to our back porch. We are screening it in! Finally! yay! I was planning on using red cushions back there, but now...not sure.

But be sure to stay tuned...I'll be posting pictures as soon as we get two hours in a row without rain...which is not looking like it'll be this weekend!

I'm really, really, really going to try to do better on my posting. Seriously. I am!

Later!
Cathy

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T14:43:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter from the clan! Hope you've enjoyed your day.

Hallelujah, Praise the Lamb! He is risen!

Later!
Cathy

Ta-da! My first Met Monday!

2009-03-29T19:26:00.000-07:00

Susan over at Between Naps on the Porch not only hosts Tablescape Thursdays, she also hosts Metamorphosis Mondays, where participants show before and after pictures of projects they've been working on. I've wanted to participate for a while, but as you probably know from reading my good intentions, I have lots more "before" photos than "afters". However, I spent MY spring break repurposing the laundry room. These before photos are actually about mid-way through the project-no way in this world am I showing you the REAL befores...you'd call the health department or DHS or someone to take the children out of that mess. Let's just say it was crammed full of 10 years of treasures and leave it at that, shall we?

After I emptied the room, my painter (who I happen to be married to) graciously painted the oak cabinets and shelves a shiny black.

Then he painted the walls Sherwin Williams "Totally Tan" and I put everything into a clear plastic box with a white lid. If it didn't fit in a box with a lid, it had to find a new home. There were lots of homeless items there for a while...but this is the final result!

This is the shelf that you see when you first come in the back door....

These shelves are above the one pictured above. See how nice and orderly everything is?

This is the end of the room...we even swapped the washer and dryer's position...now it's much easier to do the laundry, which, after all, IS the purpose of this room.

Just a little vignette on top of the dryer...

That's the Prayer of Jabez that I've framed...

And here's the overall view, with the lamp on..

I should tell you that I have pictures to go on that big blank wall on the left, but I still need to finish painting the frames. I'll get it done soon!!

Be sure you check out all of the projects that Susan has to show!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Later!

Cathy

If you have it, I want it back!

2009-03-23T15:42:00.000-07:00

Has anyone seen my camera? I seem to have mislaid it...and I can't make a cool post without cool pictures!

Back later, hopefully!
Cathy

Profound words from Miss Priss

2009-03-21T15:48:00.000-07:00

No, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth again. I've just been busy. And to quote Miss Priss, also known as my niece Sarah, working for a living is way over rated, and I'm not a fan. Well said, Sissy!

I'm on spring break next week. I'll be back!

Later!
Cathy

Easter Brunch

2009-03-04T00:00:00.000-08:00

Although it's still 6 weeks minus 3 days until Easter, it's never too early to plan. I am really excited about the brunch we're planning. I am still brain-storming, but here's some early ideas.

As I've mentioned, we're planning on hosting the brunch on the Saturday before Easter. This should make the logistics easier and give us more time to visit.

I'm planning to have it out on the back porch, much like we do the Halloween party, except in the day time. I've got some ideas and I'll be sharing them with you later.

The menu is a blend of traditional Easter lunch and breakfast. We'll have some kind of eggs-I have a couple of new recipes that sound interesting. We'll have ham and bacon, some potatoes, a tossed salad, fruit trays, croissants, biscuits and popovers. And a signature drink, juice, milk and coffee. I'm hungry just thinking about it.

Of course, we'll have a theme and decorations to match. I'm fleshing out these ideas and I'll share details as they occur to me.

Do you have any favorite Easter recipes that you'd like to share with me? I'm always interested in new ideas. What do you expect to always be on the Easter table...something that it just wouldn't be Easter without? Please share!

How are you doing on YOUR Easter planning?

Later!
Cathy

Home Spruce Up

2009-03-03T00:00:00.000-08:00

As part of the Easter countdown that Ginger has organized over at Magical Holiday Home, today I thought I'd share my Home Spruce Up List.

So, here goes:

Outside:
*Paint-front porch, shutters, front door and mailbox post
*Plant front flower beds-this will be my herb garden this year. I may not have it completely planted (depends on the weather) but I'd like to get it ready
*Paint back porch

Inside:
*Paint boys' bathroom and redecorate (details later...)

Now that's not too bad, is it? Notice how much painting is on the list. Do you remember that I live with a painter. Sigh.

Although this is a fairly short list, it should make a big difference in how the place looks.

Tomorrow I'll share a few details about the brunch itself.

Are you counting down until Easter? How are you getting along with your plans?

Later!
Cathy

Easter Countdown-Week One

2009-03-02T05:59:00.000-08:00

What a weekend! It snowed Saturday night. We only got the lightest dusting, but it was a lot of fun watching it fall. Now Melinda the weather lady says it's going to be 80 degrees by Friday. And, with it being March and all, I'm actually ready for some warm weather. Not heat and humidity, just warm and breezy and all spring like.

Did you know that Easter is six weeks from yesterday? Well, my buddy Ginger knows it and has prepared a nifty little Easter countdown for us. Although I probably won't be as faithful to it as I should be, I'm going to try to stay with it and get this place ready for guests. So, here's Ginger's assignments for week one and my responses to it!

To Do This Week:
[ ] Make the promise! Spend 15 minutes each day this week to get organized for Easter.
This is easier said than done. It's doesn't seem like much time to devote, but sometimes 15 minutes is a lot around here. However, I will make the effort!

[ ] Set up your Easter section in your holiday planner. Add blank lined pages for any notes and records.
Already done.

[ ] Create and add a master “to do” list for Easter.
I'm working on this. There's a lot "to do"!

[ ] Make or designate a planning calendar. Pencil in items to accomplish or list Lent services/activities.
Done. Not a big deal...we have an Easter program at church and brunch here. Done!

[ ] Begin at the beginning: review your family’s holiday values. Print and record your findings on the values page. What messages do you want conveyed about this holiday? What activities are most meaningful?
Interesting food for thought. It's so easy to get caught up in bunnies and baskets and to lose sight of the real meaning for the holiday, which is celebrating the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. We'll work on keeping a clear focus on this this year.

[ ] Baskets await!! Start a list. Don’t forget to record purchases and plan accordingly.
All three boys will get a basket, and I'm debating on whether or not I want to do small favor baskets for my brunch guest. Keep in mind that there's about 30 invited, so I'll have to give this some thought.

[ ] Make a list of people you want to send Easter cards to. Locate addresses, and consider making a computerized address list for maximum time savings.
I don't do cards.

[ ] Making cards? Don’t forget to create a supply list.
See above

[ ] Print a home spruce-up worksheet and complete the home spruce-up exercise. Plan and schedule any pre-holiday home improvement projects. Think: Spring cleaning!
This is a lengthy list. I'll expound on this tomorrow.

[ ] Will your family travel this holiday? Or will you have guests? Plan your trip or plan guest accommodations this week.
We're not traveling..we're hosting.

[ ] Think family photos: stock up on camera batteries, pick up Easter scrapping supplies or other photo related chores.
I need to pick up ink and paper for my photo printer.

[ ] Schedule carpet cleaning now! Think Spring and seasonal cleaning chores.
No carpet cleaning on the agenda here, but lots of other cleaning. I'll work on this list and post it later this week.

So, there's the first week of Ginger's assignments. Here's hoping that I can stay on track. This is a busy week, so I hope I can accomplish some things.

What are you up to this week?

Later!
Cathy

Time's a Wastin'!

2009-02-26T08:39:00.000-08:00

Good morning. It's a gray day here, but fairly mild, temperature wise. Melinda the weather lady says it's going to rain tonight, and my sinuses will concur with her prediction.

Since I'm home with a whiney...oops, I mean sick...child, I decided to make good use of my time and browse from some brunch recipes. Now, I could, of course, foolishly use my time doing laundry, cleaning house, or doing paperwork, but I'm not made that way. I like to be wise in my time management, and Easter is only 6 weeks away, so it's high time to get some menus made, tablescapes planned and lists prepared. Only 6 weeks, people! It's practically urgent.

So, anyway, in my browsing and surfing, I found a new-to-me site that is packed with breakfast and brunch menus and recipes. I haven't finished exploring it yet, but every recipe or menu that I've read sounds good, simple, not too expensive and easy to make with on-hand items. Check out Breakfast-and-Brunch-Recipes.com for your own Easter or Sunday brunch menu. Or, heck, why not a Tuesday brunch. Or Friday. Why wait until Sunday?

As for me and my house, we'll be having our Easter brunch on Saturday before Easter. That way it can be a relaxed and fun affair, with no hurry to get home from church and bake the rolls or hurry off to church for evening services. Stay tuned for more of my 6 week Easter countdown plans. Ginger over at Magical Holiday Home has it all planned for us-doesn't she always?

I found some new sites and blogs that I'll also be sharing in the upcoming days. I love finding new sites that are useful and fun. There's lots of creative folks out there. In the meantime, check out Susan's offerings for Tablescape Tuesday. Pretty stuff all over the web!

I have to go do laundry and clean the house and do paperwork...I've had enough serious work for one morning. Off to do the trivial stuff!

Later!
Cathy

Spring Fever

2009-02-23T06:31:00.001-08:00

I have spring fever in the worst of ways. Those of you who know me will likely find this very odd, since I'm a cold weather, fire in the place, snugly socks, hot coffee/tea/latte kind of girl. Yes, I do love the cold weather and winter, but I have to confess...the older I get, the less I like it to linger. I like it to be cold for Christmas, New Year's and Valentine's Day...then it needs to be warm for St. Patrick's Day and Easter. It's not unusual for us to have snow in March in Arkansas, and I can remember at least one Easter that I had to swap the boys' shorts and polo Easter combos for long sleeved oxfords and khakis because it was too cold for short. So, that's a long way to say that spring could be almost here or it could still be a ways off.

Lynn is not helping any, either. Every day he's got the Farmer's Almanac out, checking out planting dates for our area. He is so eager to get his garden planted that I'm afraid we're going to have a repeat of two years ago. He was eager then too, and we went to the garden store and spent about $100 for plants, seeds, fertilizer, and other gardeny stuff...then just as the little plants were peeping out of the ground-bam, a late freeze. Got it all. So then we went back to the garden store and spent another $125 for more plants, seeds, fertilizer and other garden items. We did have a nice crop of peppers and tomatoes that year, but I believe I could have bought bushels of them from the farmer's market for $225. But, hey-it gave him something to do and kept him off the streets, right?

We actually have several things planned for our spring projects, as usual. We'll see how many of them actually get done. Once again this year, my biggest goal is to get the back yard landscaped and accessorized. I still want to screen in the back porch and add ceiling fans back there, along with opening two doors. I want to transform one of the windows in our bedroom into a door to allow easier access to the bathroom, and then create one from the laundry room, creating easier access to the kitchen for when we're grilling. Also, we have an extra refrigerator in the laundry room, so that would be a great place to stash ice and drinks. I have a lot of other things I want to do on the back porch, and you'll hear all about it as we go along with this project.

I also have visions of a rock or paver patio with a built in fire pit off of the porch. It would be wonderful for our outdoor Halloween party that we host each October.

I have donated use of my flowerbeds in the back yard for Lynn's veggies that need to be separated from others...something he read in the Almanac. I think veggie plants can be pretty too, so I told him he could put some in with my flowers. I am also hoping to put a water feature out there, but am concerned about Elvis bathing in it when we're not looking. Elvis is the dog.

And, I am still not content with my laundry room. I had intentions of gutting it last summer and completely reorganizing it, but just never managed to get it all done. I'm planning on doing that this year while it's still too cold to work outside. I have a vision of a black and cream, well organized area to do laundry and store my craft supplies. We'll see...oh, yeah, ya'll don't know that I have a new washer and dryer. Out of necessity. Merry Christmas to me.

By the way-Saturday's breakfast was a fun time. We only had 12 of us and it was cold and raining, but Lynn had a beautiful fire in the fireplace, we had warm drinks and conversation and lots of fun. Can't wait until next month.

I did get a few pictures, but they'll have to wait. I've got to get ready for (ugh) work right now. Thanks for dropping by...see you soon!!

Later!
Cathy

At Last!!

2009-02-20T13:30:00.000-08:00

I'm back in bloggerville! We finally got our computer issues resolved and we're back in business!

I'm so glad to have my computer back, I could honestly just cry. Of course I have tons of things to catch up on, and will be using it to do my real life jobs, so that's the reason we went ahead and bit the bullet and got it fixed. Well, as far as Lynn knows that's why we did it!

I will keep this one short and sweet, but check in regularly to get all caught up on the comings and goings of the clan. We are having our family breakfast tomorrow, so maybe I'll have a few photos from that to show you tomorrow afternoon. Sound good?

Later!
Cathy

A Guest Tour

2008-12-17T00:00:00.000-08:00

My friend Phyllis is a creative genius when it comes to decorating, and she really outdoes herself at Christmas. Honestly, I've visited stores that weren't as well decorated as Phyllis' house. When I visited her house last week, she graciously agreed to allow me to photograph and show her home, and in fact even sent me some additional pictures that she had taken. As pretty as the pictures are, just know that pictures do not do her house justice!

We'll begin our tour at the front door. So simple, but elegant and oh, so festive!

These are the French doors going into her sun room. She is a real estate agent, so she has collected house ornaments over the years. She has them displayed over the doorway in a beautiful, foofiied garland!

Isn't that tree grand?

This is the mantle in the sun room. She has two trees in there this year, all done up in shades of fuchsia, purple and silver. Gorgeous.

This is the top of her china cabinet in the dining area.

And her beautiful staircase treatment:

This is one of her whimsical trees...she also has quite the Santa collection.

Another picture of that gorgeous tree...sorry for the randomness of these pictures...I'm still not great at uploading stuff in the proper order!

This is the mirror in the powder room. The POWDER ROOM, people. It is absolutely beautiful.

I hope you enjoyed touring my sweet friend's home. I do have some more pictures that I will post later. Thanks so much, Phyllis!

Later!

Cathy

Holiday Open House

2008-12-16T00:00:00.000-08:00

Today is the Holiday Open House hosted by Kimba at A Soft Place to Land.

The rules were pretty simple...just post anything holiday related and link it back to her blog! So, I thought and thought...what to do? what to do? Then, while thinking about holiday menus, I remembered how good and easy this is, and how it's become a Christmas Eve tradition for me to make this:

It's Cathy's Cinnamon Roll Bread Pudding!

12 cinnamon rolls, chopped into bite-sized pieces and allowed to dry for about an hour

1/2 cup sugar

4 beaten eggs

4 cups milk, cream or half and half (or a combination)

1 stick melted butter

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

Put the bread cubes into a buttered or sprayed large casserole dish or a 13x9x2 baking pan. Mix together the sugar, eggs, milk and butter and spices, pour over bread. Let it set for about 30 minutes. Place the baking pan into a larger baking pan, and carefully pour hot water in the larger pan, until the water reaches about half way up the sides of the smaller pan. Put in a preheated 350 degree oven for one hour, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. I serve mine with whipped cream or a sauce of melted butter, powdered sugar and a little rum or rum extract, all whisked together and poured over the pudding while it's hot. Oh, so good!!

Variations:

*Use French bread, cubed, and allowed to dry for about an hour.

*Use flavored liquid coffee creamer in place of the about half of the milk. Hazelnut is yummy, and so is caramel vanilla.

*Use eggnog instead of about half the milk, and replace the cloves with nutmeg.

*Use croissants or donuts instead of most or all of the bread

*You could add any dried fruit you like-apricots, raisins, cranberries would all be good.

I love bread pudding, and it's one of the few desserts that I don't mind making. I love to cook, but desserts are not my thing! Isn't that weird?

Thanks for the opportunity to spread a little Christmas cheer, Kimba!! Be sure to check out all the other blogs who are participating too!

Home Tour tomorrow!

2008-12-14T14:58:00.000-08:00

Don't forget to check out Pumpkins and Reindeer for the home tour! And then hop right back here Tuesday for the Holiday Open House!!

Oohh, A Holiday Open House

2008-12-09T06:31:00.000-08:00

Kimba over at A Soft Place to Land is hosting a Holiday Open House next week, and I've signed up to participate. It'll be the day after the virtual Holiday Tour of Homes we are doing at Magical Holiday Home. I'm hosting that one, over at Pumpkins and Reindeer, but I've linked this blog to Kimba's, just to, you know, spread around the holiday cheer!

Now, what to post? Kimba said that it can be anything...a recipe...a picture...some decorating tips...hmmm....

Maybe a picture from last year of my hall tree...

Or maybe my festive Santa and snowflake mantle from last year...

Or my village display (please ignore the ugly showing of cords...I did fix that after I took this picture, but neglected to take a new picture) from last year.....

Or the centerpiece we created for a ladies' brunch at my sister in law's church....

....or, maybe, just maybe...something new from this year! Stay tuned to see what I come up with! I really do have a plan....this is just to tease you a little! I just love a Holiday Open House, don't you??

What are you up to today? Only 16 more days until the Big One!!

Later!

Cathy

Praise the Lord!

2008-11-30T14:55:00.001-08:00

Jonah accepted Jesus as his Saviour last Sunday and is being baptized tonight! Now all three of my children are safe in the arms of God! Hallelujah!

33 Days until Christmas

2008-11-22T08:05:00.000-08:00

Did you know that it's only 33 days until Christmas? And if you didn't know that, you clearly do not watch tv, listen to the radio or go to Wal-Mart...they've been telling us for several weeks now that it's on the way!

We are firming up our Christmas plans around here. I am so excited. You know how I love Christmas and firming up plans. I'm just giddy with it all !

I am hoping that after I get my Christmas decorations up to have pictures up for you. And don't forget that on December 15 some Magical Holiday Home folks and I will be participating in a virtual Holiday Tour of Homes, similar to the fall tour. This one will be hosted on Pumpkins and Reindeer, my Rudolph Day planning blog. If you don't know what Rudolph Day is, it's the 25th of each month, used to do something (anything, really) to prepare for Christmas year round. It sure makes the load lighter in December, I'll tell you! And, if you want to participate in the home tour, you don't have to be a member over at MHH...just leave me a message on P&R and I'll add your link! I need everyone's link by about 6 pm central standard time on December 14 to get it all ready.

Today I've posted about SpyElves on P&R...if you don't know what SpyElves are, go check it out.

I am working on my shopping, just a little at a time. We're pretty sure we know what Santa has in mind to bring, and we'll be helping him get that secured soon, due to a little "outside" job that Lynn picked up this weekend...not "out of doors" outside, but "out of his regular job" outside. Maybe I should have just said "extra". But you know my motto-why use one word to describe something when you can use 10 or 11.

But, before the baubles, lights, garlands, wreaths, and other Christmas items come out, we must celebrate my all time favorite holiday, Thanksgiving. I told all of my (client) kids yesterday not to eat too much turkey and pumpkin pie, and they all laughed and said that they probably would, anyway. I told them I probably would, too. I am off all next week (well, except for Tuesday, but I won't even go into that because I am aggravated about that), but my kids have to go to school Monday and Tuesday.

on Tuesday night, we have Thanksgiving at church. That is my favorite service of the whole year. We all gather in the fellowship hall and eat a lovely turkey and dressing dinner with all the trimmings, then we move into the sanctuary and have a song service. Everyone who wants to sing can...Lynn and the kids and I sang last year, and believe me that was a once in a lifetime event for me. Benjie and Jonah are going to sing with Makayla and Conner (my niece and nephew) this year. They are singing "Amazing Grace". I can't wait.

Then on Thursday we'll go to Mom's and eat again, along with about 40 of our family and friends. No, that's not a typo-there's actually 40+ at that gathering. Then on Saturday, it's another celebration with Lynn's family at our house. After we eat, Lynn's sisters and cousins head to the movie, along with our boys, and he and I collapse on the couch for a while. Sometimes I go shopping.

Then, Sunday afternoon, weather permitting, I'll start pulling out the Christmas decorations! Oh, boy! I can't wait to start!!

What are you up to on this Saturday? Is it cold where you are...it's 26 degrees here! Stay warm!

Later!

Cathy

Finally Friday!

2008-11-21T06:27:00.000-08:00

I've been posting a few Thanksgiving type recipes over at Scarecrow Soup . Keep checking over there... I have a bunch more to share in the next week, then SS will go the way of Haunted Hamlet..still with us, just not the main focus!

I'm getting excited about the upcoming holidays. I know that money is so tight for everyone, and there will be lots of cutting back, but I honestly think that lots of people will be celebrating the true meaning of Thanksgiving and Christmas much much more than they might normally do. Yes, it's so fun giving (and getting, if we're being honest) lots and lots of gifts, but really, the heart of the holiday is celebrating God's bounty in our lives and the greatest gift of all, the birth of Christ Jesus. What could be better than that?

I'm hoping to have a few minutes this weekend to put together another tablescape for Tablescape Tuesday. I think I'll practice the Thanksgiving tablescape I have in mind and see how it looks. If you are reading this and are coming to my house on Saturday after Thanksgiving, you might or might not see the same tablescape. Depends on my mood on Saturday-or actually, Friday night!

Some friends and I recently had a discussion about the use of paper plates, specifically the use of them for holidays. My position remains the same: I don't care one whit if you use them, more power to you if that works for you. However, God willing, I will never use them for Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter. I might consider using them for Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day, if the plates are pretty and we are eating outside...and we will continue to use the ugly Styrafoam plates for Halloween, because we usually have about 50 people for that, and even I don't have enough plates for that. Ok, I probably do, but we're still going to use the ugly paper ones.

See these dishes? These are the ones that Terri gave me, remember. Well, this is just a portion of the plates I have...so I have plenty and I have a new-to-me dishwasher, thanks to Lynn's sister Gail. Thanks Gail! So it's ok to use the good stuff...even if I have to hand wash them, it's still ok. Wow-that was quite the rant, now wasn't it?

And while I'm ranting and rambling, let me just say that you will almost always be presented a clean plate, be it paper or china, at my house for your dessert. So just take it and use it and quit protesting that you can just eat your pie on the same plate you ate your pork chops off of. It's not going to happen. It's gross and we have plenty of dessert plates, too. (See above!) Humor me. It's one of my (many) quirks that make me, Me. Shut up, Michael.

Ok, that's enough rambling for today-I have to go to work!!

Starting the Monday after Thanksgiving, the Hamlet will move full steam into...Christmas mode!! Whoo hoo!

Later!

Cathy

Monday Musings...

2008-11-17T06:27:00.000-08:00

Guess what! I met Jerusalem of My Little Life blog yesterday. She is adorable!! Mom and I attended the open house at her store, The Shoppes on Woodlawn, in Little Rock yesterday. It's in an old, charming house in an old, charming neighborhood. We even saw Santa riding in a horse drawn carriage, which is actually a trolley of sorts..it had several seats. We enjoyed a cup of warm spiced cider, and you know how much I love that! There are several "shops" within the "shoppes", so it was tons of fun! Plus they had 25% off of everything. We didn't buy anything yesterday, but I'm definitely going back to do some Christmas (or maybe some Cathy) shopping. Lovely, lovely, glittered stuff! And Jerusalem was the sweetest hostess. We immediately hugged each other when we met...and I was so glad to see her. I'll definitely be back!

Debbie at Ribbonwood Cottage has some great Christmas organizing tips on her blog today. Check it out.

Over at Scarecrow Soup I'll be sharing some recipes that I always make for Thanksgiving, and at Pumpkins and Reindeer I'll have some Christmas organizing tips of my own!

We had a busy weekend...Braylen's birthday party on Friday night-he was 2!! Happy belated birthday, Bray-Bray! We had the family breakfast Saturday...details are in the post below. After breakfast Lynn went and helped his sister move, then again on Sunday. And if you read the first paragraph, you know what I did! Then I did go and help Gail with her kitchen...not as much as I'd planned, but it was getting late when I got there.

I expect most weekends to be pretty busy between now and the holidays. Fun, isn't it?

Later!
Cathy

November Family Breakfast

2008-11-15T16:17:00.000-08:00

We had our monthly family breakfast this morning. It was a cold, crisp fall day, and it was a perfect day for gathering in a warm kitchen. And it was warm in my kitchen!

I set up a tray with glass mugs, apple slices and cinnamon sticks for those who chose a cup of warm spiced apple cider to warm up with. Here's the tray, minus the apple slices..they were still stashed in the fridge when I took this picture.

Here's my cup of spiced apple cider...it was really good.

This is the table before it was occupied. I used my new turkey gravy boat, my little pumpkin with a gold ribbon tied around the stem and the amber hurricane globe with wheat sheaves you've seen before. I put a little burlap under it all to make it feel a little rustic.

We had the usual menu-bacon and eggs, biscuits and gravy, pancakes and sausage, with orange/cranberry and blueberry muffins available as well. I had coffee, tea, hot chocolate and of course the cider for beverages.

We had a really good time. Every left to go do fun stuff and we just chilled a while at the house.

We'll be getting together again in December...what do you think would be a good theme for the December breakfast?

Later!

Cathy

Three or More Thursday!

2008-11-13T00:00:00.000-08:00

Tam over at The Gypsy's Corner has a fun little weekly event called "Three or More Thursday". I decided to start seeing what I have in threes...you know they say that three of anything makes a collection!

I have three books dedicated to autumn-two Gooseberry Patch books and one Susan Branch book; I have three little roosters and three wooden pumpkins!

What do you have three or more of??

Later!

Cathy

Tablescape Tuesday!

2008-11-11T04:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Tablescape Tuesday! Sponsored by Susan at Between Naps on The Porch, it's a good way to get ideas for your own party tables or special events. This is only the second time I've been together enough to get one posted!

This is a fall tablescape, set up for a soup supper. The tablecloth is one I picked up several years ago from somewhere. It is sort of a muted fall design-the colors are not at all vibrant, just soft and subtle.

The dishes are the white dishes that my sweet friend Terri gave me.

The centerpiece is a bunch of wheat in an amber colored hurricane globe. The wheat is from Dollar Tree, as are the goblets and the hurricane globe is an after season find at Kirkland's last year.

Ideally I would use a more colorful napkin, but this is what I had, so it's what I used!!

Be sure to visit Susan't blog to see some beautiful tables! Enjoy!

Later!

Cathy

Holiday Prep

2008-11-10T06:09:00.000-08:00

Well! How in the world did it get to be Monday again so soon?

The Hamlet is in full holiday planning mode...Thanksgiving is in TWO WEEKS which means that the beginning of the Christmas season is also in TWO WEEKS. I am so excited! Are you?

If you read this blog any at all, you know that I stay in holiday planning mode year round...but now is when I really hit my stride and pick up the pace. With money as tight as it is this year for everyone, I have to really wonder how many people will actually have a "big" Christmas this year...meaning lots of gifts.

We have pared down a lot in the past years, not so much because of money but because we want our kids to understand the real meaning of Christmas. Of course we go to church regularly, so they do understand the true meaning which is celebrating the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. But I want them to also understand things like sharing with others less fortunate, doing good just to do good, and that some people don't understand the meaning of Christmas so they should share it.

I am planning a lot of homemade stuff this year. I won't go into too many details because I know that SOME family members read this stuff. I will say that we need to draw names for our exchange, which we have not done yet. I am no longer in charge of that duty-I relinquished that chore to my brother, Michael, who seemed to think he can do it better-and he probably can. However, it is the 10th of November and we have not drawn names yet. I'm just saying....

If you want some good, quick and easy candy recipes, check out Pumpkins and Reindeer. I really shouldn't call them recipes-they are more "methods" than recipes, as Rachael Ray might say!

I hope you have a good, productive, safe and healthy Monday!

Later!
Cathy

Leaf Peeping!

2008-11-09T10:22:00.001-08:00

Although we had fun and it was a good family day, we didn't see many pretty leaves on our leaf peeping trip yesterday. The peak was supposed to have been this weekend, but I think it was actually probably last weekend. We didn't even see anything pretty enough to take a picture of, except for these two:

The boys waiting for their breakfasts to be delivered at Cracker Barrel...

and this neat old car that we saw at the gas station. Several people got out of it, so I'm thinking that they were out riding around too. I'll bet it was fun riding around in this!!

How was your Saturday?

Later!

Cathy

I'm a deer widow!

2008-11-08T04:05:00.000-08:00

The Great White Hunter!

Lynn finally, finally got to go hunting on opening day of gun season! Bless his heart, he's wanted to do that for 10 years now, but something has always prevented it-usually having to work. But this year, he's there! Right now! And I encouraged it!

I think we may take a little fall foliage tour this weekend...we haven't been anywhere all summer, and this is one of the peak weekends in Arkansas for leaf peeping, so my plan is to head out for a few hours when Lynn gets home from the deer woods.

If we do so, I should have plenty of pretty pictures to share with you later.

In other news....

*I'm trying to get organized enough to have a Tuesday Tablescape contribution this week. I have those fabby new dishes that Terri gave me, and an idea blossoming in the recesses of my tiny little mind, so we'll see how that plays out. I really enjoy looking at everyone's pretty tables. If you enjoy that sort of thing, check out Susan's blog and see what I'm talking about.

*Thanksgiving is quickly approaching, which means that Black Friday is right behind it. You know Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when all the stores have these manic sales, trying to start their holiday shopping season in the black...are you a Black Friday shopper? I am if there are stupendous bargains, but honestly, these days, it had better be a biggie, or I'm staying nestled snug in my bed at 4 am!! Did you know that there are whole websites devoted to advertising these sales? Here's my favorite. Here's another one. Check it out and see if your stores are offering things good enough to get you out of bed.

*Yesterday while buying groceries I did pick up a few non-perishables for my Thanksgiving dinner. I like to start early so that the whole meal is not such a blow to my pocketbook, which honestly can't take many more blows!

*But, all is good...Lynn is starting work Monday at a local cabinet shop, finishing their cabinets. It's where he worked when we married, and it's a good thing. It's not quite as much money as he was making, but it should be stable. That is important..sometimes the amount coming in is not as crucial as the frequency!

I hope you have a good day and a great weekend. Get out and enjoy the fall weather!

Later!

Cathy

Way to go, Ann!!

2008-11-07T06:41:00.001-08:00

Congratulations to my Bunco buddy, Ann for winning a seat in the Arkansas House of Representatives! She's going to be a good one!! I'm so happy for you and proud of you, Ann! Good luck!

49 days until the Big One!

2008-11-06T08:13:00.000-08:00

Only 49 days until Christmas! Yay!!

I am home today with a sick kid-Benjie got up this morning throwing up. However, he seems to be much better now. Hmmm...oh, well, everyone needs a "mental health" day every now and then, and I know for a fact that he really was sick this morning.

We are going to be pretty low key around the Hamlet this weekend. The weather is supposed to be beautiful. Lynn is going to work at the church, and I'm going to clean out the freezers in preparation for the holiday stockup! I want to make some goodies and freeze them, and I like to keep a few things in the freezer for quick meals or impromptu get-togethers. Do you do that?
What sorts of things do you stock up on?

In the freezer, I like to keep flash-frozen chicken breasts (so that I can pull out 2 or 3 and make soup or chicken and dumplings, or 5 0r 6 and grill them...), frozen french fries, biscuits, and some bags of vegetables, especially purple hull peas and whole kernel corn. Most other veggies I used the canned version. I like to keep a couple of extra boxes of margarine sticks and a couple of rolls of sugar cookie dough, too! Around this time of year, I start stocking up on boxes of pie dough, bags of flour and shelled nuts to keep in the freezer, also.

In the pantry, I like to keep cans of beans, cream style corn, and lots of cans of tomatoes in various forms-sauce, pureed, crushed, diced and whole. I like to use either pureed or crushed in soup or chili. The sauce I add herbs like basil and oregano for spaghetti sauce. I pour the diced over chicken breasts with onions and peppers for my version of "Swiss Chicken".

I also usually have bags of dried beans, pasta and rice in the pantry most of the time. I almost always have a cake mix or two, some brownie mix and some chocolate chips, cans of frosting and ingredients for a few desserts. I like to use canned apple pie mix, we like it better than fresh. I also like to have peaches for a cobbler, cans of pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk. I buy boxes of beef and chicken broth and store them in the bottom of the pantry. I also like to keep an extra bag or two of sugar on hand. And it's great to have bags of dried fruit-cranberries, bananas, raisins and apples are favorites around here. I like to put dried cranberries, apples, raisins and mixed nuts together for a healthy sweet-but-salty trail mix. YUM!

These three are getting where they eat so much, that I have to keep a few things stashed away!

Growing, aren't they? My three little blind mice! They unfortunately all three inherited their mother's eyes. Sad, really.

I hope you are having a good time getting ready for the upcoming holidays! I love this time of year more than any other...fall in all it's glory, with the holidays looming! What could be more fun??

Later!

Cathy

My Productive Weekend!

2008-11-02T14:44:00.000-08:00

The fall leaves are getting really pretty here...it seems to me that they are a bit later than usual this year, but after looking at our family Thanksgiving picture from last year, I noticed that the leaves are quite green in the background, so maybe it's not that late, after all. Todd the Weather Guy says that they should peak in mid-November...we love to take a Saturday or Sunday afternoon and drive around, just looking at leaves. And now that gas is a LITTLE bit cheaper we might get to do that this year! LOL!

Jacob and I did a little flea marketing this weekend. I found all kinds of wonderful things, but restrained myself from purchasing most of it. I really have been conscious of what I'm bringing into the house these days, and will only purchase an item if (1) I really NEED need...and I mean real need, such as groceries or clothing or a gift for someone; (2) I know exactly where I'll display/store it/give it to and (3) it's in my means financially. I could have really loaded up this weekend...I found a treasure trove of goodies! I found a fabulous French Provincial dining table, 6 (or maybe 8...can't really remember) chairs including two arm chairs and a gorgeous china cabinet, all for $800. It is so pretty, just what I want if I ever get a real dining room. Alas...I don't (1) REALLY need it; (2) Have a place to store it and (3) have the financial means right now to get it. But, hey-a girl can dream, can't she?

I did buy a few little things...actually, I have one person's Christmas gifts half way done! Sorry, no more details will be forthcoming on that...just in case that person is reading this! LOL!

But...I did find a couple of things that I did purchase...and here they are!!

Now, picture this huge, and I mean huge, basket painted white and dry brushed with gold, filled with logs for the fire, or with red, cream and brown towels for our bathroom, or, my favorite idea right now-a huge red bow tied around it and piled high with beautifully wrapped Christmas gifts, sitting under the Christmas tree, ready to hand out to our family and friends. You can see it, too, can't you? Oh, yeah, baby! Best part-it was $4!!

Now this little jewel I can totally justify! (1) I didn't have anything turkeyish; (2) it's going on top of the cabinet in the kitchen and (3) it only cost $4!

What do you think of my bargains?

Later!

Cathy

Fall Projects

2008-10-30T06:39:00.001-07:00

This is Josh and Sarah, my niece and nephew, at the Boo!Bash2. Cuties, huh? They also have another brother, Wade, but since he didn't show up...I have no current photos of him. See what happens when you don't come to family events??

I think I'm finally settling down into a routine, what with this working nonsense and all. I am so blessed to be able to set my own schedule (to a degree) and since I don't get paid when I'm not actually seeing kids, it only makes sense to be at work only when I can do things to get paid for. I'm sorry if that only makes sense to me, but I know what I mean!

What that means is I have a little time to get things done at the house before I go to work after everyone else leaves, and then after work before everyone else gets home. See how nicely that works out for me? It may not always be this way, so I've learned to live in the moment and enjoy what I have. OK, maybe it's more correct (correcter?) to say that "I'm learning" rather than "I've learned"...

So today I'm making a list of things I'd like to get done in the house before Thanksgiving. Lynn and I host the Miller family on the Saturday after Thanksgiving for the family gathering. We have around 20 or so usually...and maybe this year we might actually get around to having dessert on the back porch, as I've planned for the past 3 years but have never actually pulled off. Sigh.

I want to:

1. Paint the front porch. Gray porch, black rails, shutters and front door.

2. Paint the back and side porches. Same gray as front porch. Paint the back door black.

3. Paint the boys'/hallway bathroom. Cream colored.

4. New accessories for above mentioned bathroom. I have several items that I'll be repurposing to use in there, so it's not going to be too terribly expensive.

5. Re-purpose said items. This involves some painting and possibly a little glittering..oh, yes!

6. Move some furniture around to make things more functional. This will involve some help from the menfolk, so will likely be done on a weekend.

I already have an idea of what I'm going to do for the Thanksgiving table. That, however, is going to be a surprise! Stay tuned for progress notes...or lack of progress notes!

Did you notice how many items involve painting? Does anyone know a good painter? Thank the Sweet Lord, my painter is busy painting for people who pay him to paint! YAY!! So I may have to do the painting myself. Tee hee! My painter usually says he'd rather paint it himself than fix my mess ups. We'll see how this plays out...usually just the threat that I'm going to paint gets him going! That is a little sneaky, but hey-he is the one that created that little situation!

Now, if I can just get off this computer, I have time to unload/reload the dishwasher and start a load of laundry before I head to work. Oh, joy!

Later!

Cathy

Christmas Countdown Begins!!

2008-10-28T06:08:00.000-07:00

All of you who know me personally or read my blog often know that I just LOVE to count down things! If someone else hasn't organized a countdown for an event, I just create my own. Fortunately, the creative CEO from Organized Christmas did the work for me on this one, and she did it 10 years ago! Check out the Christmas Countdown and see if it will work for you. It is a 6 week comprehensive plan to get organized and ready for the holidays, to allow a stress free celebration. I like how she breaks things down into weekly chores and allows plenty of time to deal with real life situations that we all know crop up here and there. I hope you can use it!

As you can tell by the name of this blog and the number of holiday planning blogs I have, I just love the holidays. I am big on celebrating and get teased often about it, but that's ok. I am a big girl and I can handle it! Bring it!

I am excited about the upcoming holidays. By necessity, we are going to have to have a simpler holiday than we've had in the past. But I am not sure that that's a bad thing. I want my kids to understand the true meaning of Christmas (and they do..but it never hurts to keep that the main focus!) and to understand the importance of doing things for others. They really are sweet, loving boys, and I want them to remain that way.

I do love to decorate for the holidays, but this year I've set a goal to keep it simple and festive, and to use what I have rather than purchasing new things. The one thing I am going to have to purchase is a new tree...the one that I've used in the past is long past it's prime and we had to wire it together the last time we used it. Last year we had a fresh tree and may do the same this year. If not, I'll have to purchase a faux one.

Are you thinking about the holidays yet? What do you have planned?

Later!
Cathy

Sad News

2008-10-27T06:02:00.001-07:00

I have sad news this morning...Anne Pressly died Saturday night from her injuries.

Channel 7 has a lot on their website about it and I won't go into details, but you can check out the entire story, a video montage and lots of other info on Anne.

This is so sad. And, if you check out the KATV website, you'll see that there's been another woman die during a home invasion in Little Rock and a shooting on a college campus in Conway.

I am so mad.

Later,
Cathy

Big Day!

2008-10-24T06:44:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow is the big day here at the Hamlet....Boo!Bash2, our now annual Halloween party/fall festival kicks off at 6 p.m.

We are expecting 60 or so guests to roast hot dogs, drink warm yummy drinks and take a hayride...costumes are requested but not required! It's going to be a lot of fun.

And, I will have some pictures up on Haunted Hamlet Sunday afternoon, hopefully!! Right now, I have to go finish getting things ready!

Stay tuned...the Christmas Countdown starts Sunday! It's just one holiday after another around here!!

Later!
Cathy

Please Pray for Anne

2008-10-21T15:20:00.000-07:00

Local news achor Anne Pressly was brutally attacked in her own home Monday night. You can read the whole story at her station's website, KATV, Channel 7. We watch her every morning. As silly as it sounds, we feel like we know her.

This kind of senseless violence makes me sick at my stomach. Please pray for Anne and her family, as well as her Channel 7 family.

Hang in there, Anne...God loves you and so do we.

Prayerfully,

Cathy

Look What I Found!

2008-10-17T05:28:00.000-07:00

On my front porch when I got home from work yesterday! Three boxes of dishes! White dishes! My favorite!

A while back, my Bunco buddy Terri noticed my white dishes with a fruit border and mentioned that she had some pieces in her flea market booth that would match. She said she needed to move them and wondered if I wanted them. I of course said "yes", then promptly forgot about them. But sweet Terri didn't, and delivered them just in time for the 20th anniversay of my 29th birthday!! Along with the dishes was a sweet note acknowledging the day and wishing me a happy one. Aren't they glorious?

Here's the pitcher, filled with dried hydrangeas from Michael's yard...won't it be great for pouring juice at our family breakfasts?

There's service for six of these beauties! And, there's a set of extra large cups, just like the smaller ones...perfect for hot chocolate on a snowy day or sipping soup for lunch! Actually, I'm drinking my morning coffee from one right now!

And there's salt and pepper shakers, a gorgeous platter, a cream pitcher and sugar bowl and a gravy boat. I'll be setting a lovely Thanksgiving table this year, won't I? And, I'll be ready for Tablescape Tuesday next week! Check back and see what I have in mind....

Thanks so very much, Terri! I love them!

Later!

Cathy

Fallifying the Hamlet

2008-10-16T16:34:00.000-07:00

Today is the virtual Fall Tour of Homes over on Haunted Hamlet. I really appreciate everyone who participated in our first one, and look forward to next year...and Christmas!

Here's some pictures I didn't post over there...no particular reason why, I just chose other ones. So, I thought I'd post them here.

The picture below is what I call the "chicken coop". It's a yard sale piece from a couple of years ago...$10!! Oh, yes...that's not a misprint....I intend to paint it white and put chicken wire in the doors someday. I have already bought the paint and chicken wire. Someday....

This is the end of the mantle in the living room. These hydrangeas came from my brother Michael's yard. They are huge, and dried so pretty. I love this look...not a traditional fall look, but one that I really like. I added the pumpkins and gourds to "fallify" it. Oh, and the banner that you see doesn't say anything...just fall colored triangles on gold ribbon with fall chip wood pieces on it. Simple but cute. Kind of like some people I know....

When I discovered the beautiful hydrangeas in Michael's yard, I asked him if I could cut some of the blooms for a project I'm working on. His reply was "What's a hydrangea bush?" so I felt that it would be ok to cut the blooms...if he didn't even know what it was, he wasn't likely to miss a few blossoms, right?

And this is one of my absolute favorite things about fall-candy corn! I love the stuff...and this is about the third bowlful that has resided on the table this year....I really like the mellocreme pumpkins, too...hmmm...we haven't had any of those yet. Maybe I'll look for them tomorrow at the grocery store. Or not...I'm really trying to watch what I eat....baahaahaaa....I almost typed that with a straight face! I'm so looking for the pumpkins tomorrow!

I'll have some more fall stuff soon...our party is next Saturday, so I'll be decorating for that soon!

I hope you have a great day and weekend!

Later!
Cathy

I've Been Tagged!

2008-10-14T05:56:00.000-07:00

Ginger over at Ginger's Journey has tagged me to share 7 random and/or weird facts about myself. I'll do my best to limit it to 7...

1. I love tomato soup, ketchup and spaghetti sauce, but I don't care for fresh tomatoes. Execpt those little bitty grape tomatoes that I grow sometimes in my garden...those taste like candy and I can eat them straight off the vine.

2. I start lots of projects, but I finish very few. I am big on planning, not so good with the follow through. I'm working on it...

3. I love a clean house but I absolutely hate to clean house. Hmmmm.....maybe I need a maid?

4. I love the holidays...all holidays, but Christmas and Halloween and Thanksgiving are my favorites.

5. I am an October baby and was an October bride...and that was planned-well, the bride part was. I don't know about the baby part!

6. I love to entertain. I love to have family gatherings, friends over for dinner, kids' parties..whatever. However, I have never, ever thrown a party that I didn't comment at some point "I wish I'd never even started this...I don't want to have this stupid party..." It's not true, I do, but I get so caught up in the details that I stress myself out. Also working on this one....

7. I love going to flea markets and finding wonderful treasures, but I always feel kind of dirty when I leave there and have to immediately wash my hands. I even keep antibacterial gel in the car, just for this purpose.

Ok, that's it. Not too bad, huh?

If you have a blog and you want to participate, consider yourself tagged!!

Later!
Cathy

October update

2008-10-11T09:40:00.000-07:00

Since I've gotten so bad about posting (and have been taken to task about it more than once lately), I thought I'd take a minute this morning and do a catch up post! Then, I HAVE to do some housework...well, I SHOULD do some!

Everything is ok, just kind of crazy around here. I am working, Lynn is picking up stuff here and there to do and the boys are going to school. I know it doesn't sound like much, but after the laid-back summer we had, it seems like everything has exploded around here.

I am working on plans for the Boo!Bash2. Since our budget has tightened considerably lately (and I understand that everyones' has, too) we are making some minor changes to the party plans. Check out Haunted Hamlet for those details. I think it's going to be loads of fun, and I do think it's important to keep things as normal as possible for the kids in these crazy times. They have looked forward to this all summer, so we're doing it!

I'm already excited about Thanksgiving and Christmas, as well. I think we may really get back to the true meaning of the holidays this year...there certainly won't be any big extravagant gifts or parties around here, but we will have a few gatherings with family and close friends. Again, I think it's important to remain bonded to our loved ones during times of uncertainty, don't you?

I am trying to decorate with what I have and not buy anything if I can avoid it. I'd rather put my limited funds toward the food. Hurricane Gustav washed away all the hay and pumpkins that I'd planned to use, so we'll just have to make due without them!

I'll be visiting flea markets and such for Christmas gift ideas in the next few weeks, and I'll TRY to post pictures of my finds...

Have a great Saturday. The weather here is sunny and warm, with cooler evenings. Just the way it should be in October in Arkansas!!

Later!
Cathy

Glorious October!

2008-10-04T08:11:00.000-07:00

On one of the message boards I visit every now and then, there is an autumn discussion. One of the the posters asked if anyone thought the reason they were such a fall fan is because they are autumn babies. Several people who responded are not autumn babies but still confess a love of autumn. Well, I'm going to tell you right now-I believe that there is a connection between the season you are born and the season you love the best. I am an autumn baby and was an autumn bride. No coincidence there-I planned my wedding around the fall leaves! Oddly enough, I didn't use fall colors in my wedding, but I wish now, 1o years later, that I had. Wouldn't this centerpiece be glorious on individual tables at a wedding reception?

And, I'm a sucker for vintage Halloween stuff. I just love it! I found this on the web at a site that offers free clipart...isn't it wonderful?

I am hoping for a vintage feel to the Halloween party this year...but real vintage stuff is so expensive, IF you can find it around here, so I'm having to vintagize (is that a real word or another Cathy-made-up word) some things...don't forget to check out the Haunted Hamlet on October 16 for the Magical Holiday Home's virtual Fall Tour of Homes for a tour of MHH members' holiday homes. You'll be able to (hopefully) see what vintage goodies I've come up with!! We're going to do it again in December for Christmas decorations!

Ok, I've got to go do some housework stuff...yucky but necessary!!

Later!

Cathy

I'm a working girl...

2008-09-24T12:18:00.000-07:00

...and I'm not sure how I feel about that...I really love staying at home, but in this economy, I'm not sure many of us will have that luxury any more. I don't mind working, it's just that I'm so spoiled after being home for so long. But, if you have to work, my job is not bad!

I will be working in the mental health field as a case manager, assigned to a specific school and working with a specific therapist. I'll be able to set my own schedule, and will be paid according to how much I work...so between now and Christmas, I plan to work quite a bit. That should make Christmas a little easier.

Lynn painted a house last week and we're sure more stuff will come up, we just don't know when. That's very scary when you have three kids and a mortgage! Right now he's painting the church, bringing it into the 21st century...it's been pink and blue (mauve and country blue, I believe is the correct terminology) for the past 20+ years. It is now a neutral but pretty off white, my new favorite color to paint everything! That's funny coming from a color loving girl like me!!

I am very excited about the Boo!Bash2! We are just a few weeks away, and plans are in full swing! Unfortunately, Hurricane Gustav took the pumpkins and most of the hay with him when his rains flooded the farm, so someone down river from us has a ton of fall decor, just waiting for them! We are having a yard sale this weekend, and the proceeds from that will be used for the party.

That's about all the exciting news here at the Hamlet. I am so ready for some cool, crisp weather...they are saying maybe next week. We got a little taste of it last week, then BAM-back to upper 80s!

Later!
Cathy

National Stay at Home Week

2008-09-20T13:20:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't blogged lately-I've been busy, and I just haven't been in a blogging mood!

For those who've asked, we are doing fine, thanks so much! I could feel all the prayers circling my family, and God answered them in a big way. Thanks so much!!

I'll share job details and all that jazz later, but today I just want a little fluffy post to get back into the swing of things!

So, I'm watching the Arkansas Razorbacks get slaughtered on tv by the Alabama Crimson Tide (roll on out of here, Tide, and leave us alone!), and one of the national commercials talked about "National Stay at Home Week", so I went to the ABC website to check it out. It's actually just a way to get everyone to watch tv next week, September 21-27, for their season premiere week. Ok, that's kind of cheesy, I guess, but the whole concept is actually very nice. So, I'm making plans to make it an all out holiday kind of week. I know there is massive eye rolling out there, so just cut it out. You are not forced to participate. However, you will miss a lot of good times with your own family if you choose not to!

Here are some little ideas I've come up with for a week long celebration:

*On Sunday, refrain from complaining and nagging the children to clean their rooms. Give them a break by taking a nap so that they don't have to hear you fuss at them.

*On Monday, have a little treat for the family when they come home from school or work. I'm thinking my guys would just LOVE to see my nails perfectly manicured!!

*On Tuesday, have their favorite dessert for after dinner. My family is easy to please when it comes to sweets and like a big variety, so I'm thinking we should just narrow it down to my favorite, bread pudding.

*On Wednesday, treat them to the sight of you enjoying your favorite Starbucks offering-mine is Pumpkin Spice Latte, and none of them care for it, so out of consideration for them, I won't get them one!

*On Thursday, let the kids have a fun time cleaning the kitchen after dinner. Teens especially enjoy this activity, although they will often act like they don't. Don't worry, it's just an act and they really LOVE for you to ask them to do it! So, ask often! Let them know how much you love them!!

*On Friday, take the day off and don't worry about housework, laundry or cooking. When they complain about not having any clean underwear, explain that it really doesn't matter...it's stay at home week and they aren't going anywhere anyway! Order pizza for dinner, and to include your hubby in the activity, let him pay for it when the pizza guy arrives. Just camp out in the bathroom until hubby pays and the pizza guy leaves. Hubby'll never figure it out and you'll be $25 ahead! That's 5 more Pumpkin Spice Lattes!!

*On Saturday, sleep in as late as you'd like. Then let hubby take you out for breakfast. Don't worry about breaking the rules about staying at home...all ABC cares about is that you are there for prime time tv viewing, and you'll be back well before Saturday Night College Football comes on!

I'm liking this Stay at Home Week idea. I'm not sure this is what ABC had in mind, but hey-whatever works!

Let me know what activities you choose!

Later!
Cathy

Tablescapeless Tuesday

2008-09-09T08:14:00.000-07:00

I forgot to email Susan over at Between Naps on the Porch, so I don't have a tablescape to show you today. Sorry...I've been busy the past few days. Maybe next week, Lord willing!

Without going into all the nitty gritty details, let me just briefly explain what's been happening here at the Hamlet. I do mean briefly-it's not a subject for debate or discussion, it just IS, so I'll just tell you the news and then we'll move on!

Last week my husband was let go from his job. We don't believe the reason he was given is the true reason, but honestly, it doesn't matter. God has and will take good care of us, and has already opened new doors that wouldn't have opened in the old position. Lynn has already gotten a new house to paint for a builder that he's worked for before, with a promise for more to come, and he has his application in several places for another type of job...painting is hard, physical work and his body is starting to complain, so it's probably time to move on...

And, if that isn't proof enough that God is good, I've been offered a full time position that appears to be the stuff that dreams are made of...flexible hours, good pay and still time to be home when the kids are. Can't ask for more than that.

So, big changes are happening at the Hamlet. Good, but different.

Please pray for us.

Later!
Cathy

Holiday Grand Plan

2008-09-04T07:27:00.001-07:00

This is the official first week of the Holiday Grand Plan. I've mentioned this before-it's a comprehensive plan designed to get your house cleaned and sparkling for the holidays, as well as a holiday prep plan.

I've worked really hard this summer getting the house cleaned, so I'll mostly be working on holiday prep along with my regular routine cleaning chores. But, there are a few planned things that I need to do.

One of them is paint the front porch. This first week is dubbed "Front Porch and List Week", and my intention was to paint the porch and decorate for fall. Well, you know what they say about good intentions-Hurricane Gustav had other ideas! I can't even decorate much for fall inside because my fall decor is stored in the storage shed in the back yard and I'm not going to drag things out in the rain. So...yesterday we sat in the dark, and today I'm playing catch up on laundry and other house cleaning.

The porch is going to get painted...just not on "Porch Week". Sigh. You know this upsets me, but what's a girl gonna do?

But-never fear! The Lists are made!!

What's going on in your world? Leave me a message and let me know!

Later!
Cathy

Gustav Hits!

2008-09-03T18:06:00.000-07:00

We have been suffering through the "outer bands" of Gustav here in central Arkansas. We've had over 7 inches of rain in two days and when I got up this morning, an hour late, the power was off. I'm just thankful I woke up when I did! I got everyone up and ready by the time Uncle Michael got here to get them...and they went to school very reluctantly. I'm really not sure why they wanted to stay at home-we had no power, which means no tv, computer, radio, dvd player, lights, stove, hot water or AIR CONDITIONER, while at school they had all of that!

I even got three calls this afternoon cancelling church services tonight-no power there, either! And, it flooded the basement a little..fortunately the staff discovered it in time to deal with it before it got too bad, and they got it resolved without much damage.

Our power came back on about 4:30 pm-just as we had made plans for the evening by gathering up candles, lanterns and flashlights, deciding on a grilled-on-the-back-porch dinner of burgers and fries, and instructing the boys to get homework done while it was still light enough to see...but you know what? Nobody complained!

With predictions of a colder and wetter winter than usual for our area, this might have been a good check up for us..because we live directly across the highway from Wal-Mart and the county hospital, we just always have had good luck with power outages-we are almost alway lit up when others are dark! This makes me realize that I need to get our winter survival kit dusted off and replenished with candles, matches, a flashlight (with batteries this time) and maybe even some canned food...that sounds like a good autumn project!

Tablescape Tuesday

2008-09-02T07:53:00.000-07:00

Today is Tablescape Tuesday, according to Susan over at Between Naps on the Porch. She has a whole long list of pretties to look at today!

This might be a bit unusual tablescape, but it's one of my favorites. It's from my nephew Josh's wedding this past May...Mom and I decorated and cooked for the rehearsal dinner. It was an Italian styled affair, and we served lasagna, spaghetti and salad, the Groom's favorite meal! We also had a brochette appetizer, along with Arnold Palmers for appetizers, and homemade cheesecake for dessert, along with assorted other cakes. It was all so sweet and romantic. The wedding was gorgeous, as were the bridal couple!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Later!

Cathy

Monday Musings

2008-09-01T05:20:00.000-07:00

It's Labor Day, the unofficial end of summer, and I couldn't be happier! Those of you who know me well know that I am a FALL kind of girl...I don't like hot weather and I don't like to sweat. I don't like bugs or flies or mosquitoes or any of those flying things except maybe fireflies and butterflies...and I sure don't like walking out of the house into sauna conditions of 90% humidity. But I do like nice cool, crisp mornings, warm afternoons and and cool nights. I love pumpkins and pretty fall leaves, I'm a football freak and I just love the smells of woodsmoke in the air, apple cider in the crockpot and a good roast in the oven! Bring on the fall festivities!

But first we have to get through the effects of Hurricane Gustav...heavy rain and winds predicted for Arkansas this week. I hope everyone stays safe and dry. I'm praying for those folks in Louisiana who are predicted to get slammed again.

We have a busy fall coming up. Jonah is determined he's going to play soccer (note to self: get him signed up this week-last chance!!) and we like to attend as many BHS football games as we can. Jacob is a very social being these days and always has things going on, so that keeps us busy as well. You might not know this about me, but I love to entertain, and fall is my favorite time to throw open our home and invite friends and family in.

Here's a small update of September events at the Hamlet:
Sept 8-Big Jewels by Park Lane party here-my Grand Re-Opening event!
Sept 11-Bunco here
Sept 13 -Arkansas vs. Texas football game watch party (details coming soon!)
Sept 20-Monthly Family breakfast

I think that's everything on the calendar for September, but if I think of something else I can squeeze in, you'll be the first to know!!

Later!
Cathy

PS-don't forget to stop by tomorrow for Tablescape Tuesday!!

Finally Friday!

2008-08-29T18:48:00.000-07:00

Today is finally Friday. It's been a kind of busy week, so I'm glad it's over.

No Labor Day gathering for us at the Hamlet...Lynn is going to paint at the church tomorrow and at his regular job on Monday. So, I guess it's just me and the munchkins, hanging out at home and trying not to kill each other.

I took all three of them to Wal-Mart today (I know, I know, I deserve what I get) and it was AWFUL. I am not kidding you when I tell you that it was like trying to contain two little baboons in a banana factory. We went there with the intention of ordering three (gasp) pair of glasses. We'd already had the eye exams, but for some crazy reason the insurance wouldn't pay for them, so we had to re-order...it was a whole big thing. Anywho...while the sweet lady helping us was fitting Benjie for his glasses, Jonah was running around the store, trying on all the half priced sunglasses and asking in a very LOUD voice-"Why is this taking so LONG???" Then..."I smell a toot....who tooted??" Then..."Burrrppppp....hee, hee, hee...uh..excuse me". I wanted to throttle him. Then it was Jonah's turn to be fitted, and Benjie entertained the masses...with louder burps that Jonah, and announcing, again in a very LOUD voice, "Mom, I need to use the bathroom. I can't hold it any longer....my stomach hurts...MOM???? CAN I GO TO THE BATHROOM??"

Jacob took Benjie to the bathroom, and other than that was right by my side the entire time, like he was attached to me. He chatted about each of his brothers' glasses, he mentioned the party he was attending tonight about a dozen times and asked about 210 wildly assorted questions, really important stuff like "Are we going to have spaghetti for dinner any time soon?" and "Do you think Nanny will let me drive her truck when I learn how to drive" and "Did I tell you that the party starts at 7:00?" Then, it was his time to get his glasses fitted...and he was no where to be found. He was over by the little kids glasses, chatting up a very cute little girl. Turns out she's someone he knew from school, and clearly someone he'd like to know better. Boys are so funny at 15.

After leaving $400 of my money with the glasses lady, I had intended to buy some groceries for the weekend. After the dog and pony show, though, I just didn't have the heart, energy or desire to shop for groceries, with the baboon brothers in tow especially. I picked up Arby's on the way home...and it was Gooood!

Have a great Labor Day weekend if I don't talk to you again until next week!

Later!
Cathy

Thursday

2008-08-28T08:02:00.000-07:00

Not a whole lot going on around here, just the usual laundry mountain climbing and raking a path through the house.

I'm kind of thinking about putting together a little gathering to celebrate Labor Day, but it'll have to be on Saturday, if I do. Lynn will be working on the actual day, and if we do something in the evening, it makes it hard for kids to get up for school the next day. I guess I could do it around 5 or so, though...now I'll need to get a list going for that!

I posted over at the Haunted Hamlet today about my list making compulsion and how my husband ridicules me over it...well, ridicules is a harsh word, but he does tease me a lot. Why can't men understand that list making is essential to good planning? I agree, I do go a bit over board, but you have to understand-I'm a list maker from way back, and old habits die hard. I do actually have lists of my lists. No kidding, and stop laughing. You'd think that someone that makes as many lists as I do would be better organized, wouldn't you? Not so!!

I haven't tried this recipe yet, but I think I might do it if we do have a get together. I've been craving spinach dip lately for some weird reason, so this sounds really good. It's from Susan Branch's cookbook Vineyard Seasons, now out of print. I found mine on Amazon for a song, and have enjoyed it greatly.

Spinach Dip
(makes 2 cups)

1 10 oz package chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 1/2 c. sour cream
1/2 c. mayo
1/2 c. minced red onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp. hot pepper sauce
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Combine all ingredients, mix well. Cover and chill.

Susan has a note on this saying she serves it with cut up fresh raw veggies and all kinds of crackers. Plain ol' Lays potato chips are also good with spinach dip! That's my note, not Susan's!

I'll let you know about the get together!

Later!
Cathy

Tablescape Tuesday

2008-08-26T19:57:00.000-07:00

Susan over at Between Naps on the Porch is hosting Tablescape Tuesdays, starting today. I just now read that-it's 10:00 pm-so I didn't get a chance to send her a link. But I'm going to try to remember to do so next Tuesday. In the meantime, since I didn't have time to set up a tablescape, here's one from last December...a ladies' church brunch I attended where each hostess was responsible for dressing her table, from cloth to centerpiece. We used my Nikko Christmas dishes and my Dept 56 Original Snow Village Wedding Chapel church. The church was a wedding gift and the dishes were my late mother-in-laws. Aren't they beautiful? I loved this tablescape!

Be sure to hop over to Susan's site..don't you just LOVE the name? How darling...and check out that magnificent wicker porch swing in her header picture..my dream come true!! Someday, I'll have one of those, as well. By the way, I found Susan's site by way of Cindy's fabulous blog, My Romantic Home. It's just beautiful and one of my favorite blog spots. Check it out, too!

Later!
Cathy

Monday Musings...better late than never!

2008-08-25T10:29:00.001-07:00

As everyone knows, last Monday was the first day of school. It's a big year at our house for Jacob, he's a high schooler now! Even though it was a very long time ago, I do remember being a BHS sophomore! He is going to have a blast this year, I just know it. Benjie and Jonah are having fun being 3rd and 2nd graders, too.

Here they were on the first day of school:

On Saturday before school started we had our August family breakfast, even though over half of the family were doing other things. We had a small but fun crowd, and Braylen got to come, too! He's a big ham, as you can see in the picture below. He had his mouth full of bacon when I took this picture..he loves the stuff. Aren't they cuties?

They had a good time together that day.

I am working on some fall and Christmas crafts today in between loads of laundry and other house cleaning chores. Check out Haunted Hamlet and Scarecrow Soup for what I've been up to..and hopefully I'll get around to a Christmas post today, too, over at Pumpkins and Reindeer.

Later!

Cathy

Full Weekend

2008-08-24T13:47:00.000-07:00

We've had a full weekend. It all started on Friday afternoon, when we left the boys with my mom and headed to Camp Ferncliff for a youth group leaders' retreat. We ate dinner with our youth pastor and his wife, Jonathan and Mandi, and another fun leader, Pam. Then we went to the conference room for some games, good conversation and hot tea! It was a cool (well, relatively speaking) evening, and we had a great view of the ducks on the pond outside the picture windows of the conference room. We stayed up late for us, and then headed to our room. It was a quaint little room with a twin bed and a double bed, a small attached bathroom and no tv!

Saturday morning other leaders joined us for breakfast and then we had a full morning of worshipping God, fellowship and planning for the 08-09 season of Chapter Two, our youth gatherings on Wednesday night. Our youth group is called 8/12 for the grades of students attending, and we have 11 leaders in all. We each take a grade and gender specific small group for discussions after Jonathan's presentations. It's a fun time of worship and fellowship, too!

After we ate lunch with the leaders, Lynn dropped me off at the Crowne Plaza in Little Rock for a Jewels by Park Lane fall line launch and fashion show. Yes, I modeled! I wore a gorgeous turquoise set. We had chocolate, coffee and new jewelry! What more could you ask for? We even had a bride in her beautiful gown modeling a stunning crystal and pearl ensemble. It was fun and girly, and lots of people showed up. It was a good ending to a good start on a weekend!

Saturday night we watched the Olympics again, cheering for all the Americans who were competing. Aren't they doing great?

Now it's Sunday afternoon, and we are all sort of doing our own things...retreating to our own corners, I call it. Lynn is napping, Jacob is doing homework and Benjie and Jonah are playing with their cousins Makayla and Conner. I am writing this post, then I plan to nap for a while before we go back to church.

That's the exciting details of our weekend! We rarely do anything, but it seems like when we do have things to do, it's all at the same time! Such is life!

Later!
Cathy

Day 2!

2008-08-19T05:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I played, today I pay!

Yesterday as you recall, Mom and I shopped all day. We hit the craft stores and looked at all the Christmas decorations as well as the fall decor. Lovely, lovely day!

Today...another story! I have a mountain of laundry (Monday is my usual laundry day, but see above!) and a dirty house. So, I'll spend this lovely, lovely rainy day inside cleaning and folding laundry! And that's ok, too. I like rainy days, and with the kids gone, the house may actually stay clean, at least until 3:30 when they all get home!

I'm looking for some good crock pot recipes. Got any? Let me know if you do..I'm planning on doing some substitute teaching this year, so I need to have a few meal plans in place. Send me any goodies you have and I'll give you credit here!

I bought a pad of scrapbook paper yesterday that is so beautiful, I just can't wait to get started tearing out pages and cutting things out. It's Christmas paper, so it'll be seasonal projects..stay tuned for details and pictures! I know I'm going to do some altered drink carriers (for details on this, see Pumpkins and Reindeer) and possibly some pinwheels. I made a lot of those a few years ago, and they were big hits. I'll post directions if I decide to make them. I glittered them up and gave them as gifts that year, and i have to say, they were pretty cute ornaments. I even made some small ones and used them as place cards at Christmas Eve dinner!

I'm thinking that between loads of laundry I'm going to get creative with Christmas scrapbook paper! I'll let you know how it turns out!

Later!
Cathy

Oh, Happy Day!

2008-08-18T17:10:00.000-07:00

Today was the day I've waited all summer for-the first day of school! Oh, happy, happy day!

I dropped the three scholars off at their respective schools, did a little happy jig, then headed to Mom's to pick her up. We had breakfast and hit all the best craft stores in Little Rock. It was a good day.

Plans are in full swing for the October 25th Boo!Bash2. You can check out all the details as they unfold on Haunted Hamlet. I hope that if you are in our area, you stop by and have a hotdog and a hay ride with us!

All the stores are just full of autumn decorating things, faux leaves, pumpkins, gourds, etc. I just love the sight of them. I hope it gets cool soon, although the weather has been just delightful lately. It was only about 85 degrees today, with low humidity. Lovely, lovely day to keep little kids cooped up in a classroom. Even better for Moms and Nannys to shop!

How was your day?

Later!
Cathy

Finally Friday!

2008-08-15T06:28:00.000-07:00

Well! It's Friday again, and the final one before school starts. This summer has gone so quickly that I can't even believe it. We have stayed pretty busy this summer, so it makes for a quick one.

Today is my niece Kourtney's 18th birthday! I can't believe she is 18! She's so much fun to be around and I'm going to miss her riding to school with me every morning! We had the best fun going to and coming home from school every day. Happy Birthday, Kortie!

It's a happy day in the Miller household-Donny and Marie (Osmond, for those who live under a rock and don't know that) are on Good Morning America this morning! I am a die-hard Osmond fan, have been for a long, long time! I actually got to see Donny (be still my heart!!) in Las Vegas a couple of years ago, when I was there for a convention. Really, a convention. Sent there by the city, where I was employed at the time. It was a tough job, but hey-I got to do it! It was the night before I left, and I went to the concert (and to Vegas) all by myself. I had a blast! I sang and screamed with the rest of the Donny nuts! It was fabulous! I scored an autographed cd and a t shirt for myself and one for my BFF Melissa. She was thrilled and so jealous, especially since I had asked her to go with me and she DECLINED! I also asked Lynn to go (asked him first, of course) and he DECLINED! Next time I'm going to ask Melissa's husband Eddie to go...he wouldn't DECLINE! He might not love the Donny show, though.

And, here's the sweet part-Donny and Marie just announced that they are going to Las Vegas to perform for a year....and I am going to Las Vegas in February for another convention-Jewels by Park Lane this time. I'm going to do my best to see them. Whoo hoo! By the way-they both look FABULOUS for old people! Donny is a couple of years older than me, but Marie is actually 3 days older than me. Sigh.

We are planning a quiet weekend for the last weekend before school starts-breakfast tomorrow morning with the fam, then just hanging out for the rest of the weekend. I usually make a special meal for the boys either the night before school starts or that night. They usually want either pizza or spaghetti or mac and cheese...easy kids' stuff.

By the way, I did manage to make it to Bunco last night, won 2nd! I got a sweet little reed diffuser thingy that will look great in my newly decorated bathroom! Thanks, Kathy! Next month Bunco is here!

Open houses went well. Lynn took Benjie and Jonah to their school, I took Jacob to the high school for sophomore orientation and open house, and I was at Kathy's house by 7:20! Just in time to eat! Oh, yeah, Bunco is all about eating. We had 50th birthday cake for Ann (happy late birthday, Ann), our resident brainiac and state representative candidate, and chocolate brownies and chocolate cake bites. Oh, my it was all so good!! The food, the fellowship and the conversations are always great! Glad I didn't miss it!

What's going on in your world this Friday?

Later!
Cathy

Thursday Notes

2008-08-14T06:36:00.000-07:00

Aren't the Olympics fun? I love watching them, and so do Jacob and Jonah...Benjie, not so much!

And that Phelps kid-isn't he something?! He's a swimming machine! He makes me proud to be an American all over again. And isn't his mother precious! You just know by looking at her that she is a hoot and a lot of fun to be around. I saw an interview with his sisters this morning, and when the interviewer asked them what they thought of their brother being called a "sex symbol", they were both laughing so hysterically that they couldn't even answer! I love that! That's what I'd do if someone asked me that question, too!

And, for my Aunt Peggy in Arizona's benefit, here's the other "news" of the day!''

Tonight is open house at both schools, and at the same time, and across town from each other. And us being "vehicle challenged" right now...I'm not really sure how that will play out. I also have Bunco tonight, but I may have to miss. I sure hope not, I don't like to miss, but what's a girl gonna do?

We are packed and ready for school. We bought supplies over the weekend, new shorts, shirts and shoes yesterday. We also sat down and sorted out supplies, named them and packed them into backpacks, ready to be transported to classes tonight at open house. We know Jonah's teacher, Mrs. Carper. She taught both Benjie and Jonah in kindergarten, before she regained her senses and moved to second grade. She and Jonah are old friends. We haven't met Mrs. Goff, Benjie's teacher yet, but I expect her to be as nice as all the other teachers we've had over the years. And since Jacob is moving to the high school, I don't know any of his teachers yet. I hope to meet them tonight.

Saturday is the August Family Breakfast with a back to school theme. I'll TRY to post pictures, but I usually get busy and forget to take any! I'll try this time, though!

More rain is predicted for the weekend (yay!!) so we'll try to enjoy the sunny, warm, low humidity day the Lord has given us today. It's supposed to be 90 degrees, but the humidity is very low, especially for August in Arkansas, so I'm not complaining! Todd the weather guy said we might not get to 80 this weekend with the rain. Works for this fat girl!

What's going on in your world on this Thursday?

Later!
Cathy

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!

2008-08-12T09:23:00.000-07:00

Although this picture was taken just before Benjie and Jacob departed for church camp last week, this is typical of the first day of school...notice how ecstatic Jacob looks!

Ok, no homemade candy corn for us! After I posted about making it, I went back and re-read the directions, reassessed the situation and gave it up as a really, really bad idea! Although it sounds great, it also sounds like something that would end up a disaster at my house. But, hey-if you are so inclined, here's the link to it...let me know how it turns out.

This is sort of a transitional week here at the Hamlet. School starts Monday, and we are trying to get into a sort of school routine...earlier bedtimes, earlier rising times, gathering school supplies, sorting out clothes, making sure we have enough socks and underwear...always a challenge around here! I think B and Jonah are set, except for a pair of shoes each and a new backpack. Jacob needs some shorts and a few t shirts, then he's set. And of course, we have to get new glasses all around...hopefully they'll be ready before school starts.

And, next Monday morning when the last one gets out of the car and heads into school for the first time in 3 months, if you are watching, you'll see the strangest sight....mothers, all over the city, county, state and country, doing the "Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy" dance....all in unison...all with a blissful look on their (our!) faces! Oh, Happy Day!!

Later!
Cathy

Cave Day!

2008-08-10T19:11:00.000-07:00

We had a cave day today, and it was soooo nice! If you don't know what a cave day is, you are missing out! "Cave day" is the name a local radio dj gives to those wonderful rainy days when you don't have to leave the house, and can stay home and watch movies all day long. I don't watch movies, but I sure do like to read all afternoon. Today it was 72 degrees and raining, all afternoon. In August. In Arkansas. Who'd have thunk it?

Over at the home place, Magical Holiday Home, there is a link in a post that gives a recipe for homemade candy corn. Seriously. Homemade candy corn..you know the little triangle shaped orange, yellow and white candy that comes out in the fall...the ones that I eat until I'm sick? I love the stuff. Truly. I buy bags of it and stash them so that I can have them far into the winter...but, come on, people! They cost pennies-about 150 of them, to be exact for a HUGE bag...why in the name of all that's candy would I want to make my own? Why in the world would I want to mess with food coloring, sugar, and rolling pins...cutting little triangles and putting them together...why would I do that? It's just silly...and so time consuming, and so messy....right?

I'll pick up the stuff tomorrow and let you know how it goes.

By the way, homemade ginger ale is good! When Michael found out I'd made homemade gingerale, he commented "if anyone would do it, you would" like it's a bad thing. Don't tell him about the candy corn, ok?

Later!
Cathy

Welcome home, boys!

2008-08-08T07:37:00.000-07:00

The boys are coming home today! Yay! I really have missed them, so has Lynn, but Jonah has MISSED them! The house has stayed relatively tidy (leading me to the conclusion that Benjie and/or Jacob are the messy ones...), relatively quite (same conclusion) and very low key (again, one can only draw the same conclusion from the evidence presented...). We have really enjoyed Jonah, but man, am I glad someone else will be here to help entertain him next week! LOL!

Seriously, boys, we're glad you had fun (I know they did, despite the LACK OF PHONE CALLS ALL WEEK), glad you had the spiritual experience, but mostly we're glad you are coming home!

In other news...

Have you ever heard of the Holiday Grand Plan? It's a comprehensive cleaning/holiday preparation plan for people like me who have good intentions to be ready early but tend to fall short when left to their own devices. Although I've NEVER, in about 8 years of trying, completed the complete plan, believe me, every little bit you do accomplish makes a big difference in your home at the holidays.

As I've reported off and on, I've just about got the house in shape, but there's always a little left to be done. This plan breaks the house down and focuses on specific rooms each week. Because I don't have several of the rooms (like a guest room, or a dining room or an attic or a garage...)I have lots of wiggle room to tweak and re-organize as I please.

But, my favorite part of the plan is not the cleaning part (go figure...) but the holiday prep. You really should check it out, because I'm not kidding when I tell you that if you get everything done in September, October and November that you can, December is waaaayyyy more fun!

Check it out! I'll be starting it August 31. Want to join me?

Later!
Cathy

Break!

2008-08-07T05:11:00.000-07:00

A break in the heat wave, and a break in the dry weather are both predicted for today and tonight. According to Melinda the Weather Lady, we should get some rain and cooler temps today, and then lower humidity and temps for all next week. I am so thankful...Thank You, Lord! A "cave day" as the guy on the radio calls it...that means staying in and watching movies and/or reading all afternoon..well, in theory, anyway! I'm sure I have more to do than that...but we'll see!

Lynn and I have had a good time with Jonah this week, him being an "only" and all, with the other two at camp. He had a rough time Monday, moped around all day, saying "I miss Jacob and Benjie" about every two minutes, but now I think he's getting the hang of it. He ended up sleeping in our bed last night-very rare "treat"-for Jonah, not for anyone sharing the bed with him. The boy has the sharpest elbows and boniest knees I've ever seen. By the time he'd drifted off to sleep, I had abandoned my side of the bed and taken to the couch in the living room. Poor Lynn! But Jonah was happy!!

As I type this, I'm watching the morning news and they have been discussing the mortgage crisis...it's awful. I can't imagine what's going to happen..so many people are losing their homes in this unsettled economy...makes me sad for them, and thankful we are ok, at least right now. There's a lot to be said for little houses-and little mortgage payments!

The big boys will be home tomorrow-Jonah is happy! And I am too!

Later!

Cathy

Wednesday Wanderings...

2008-08-06T07:37:00.000-07:00

No news from camp! I guess no news is good news. I really didn't expect to hear from them Monday, but I thought they might call Tuesday. Jacob usually doesn't call home much when he's gone..he says it makes him homesick to call home. I'm sure they are having a blast at the Bogg!

Jonah and I have been having our own fun. We went to the dollar movie yesterday-saw Stuart Little 2-very cute movie. Then we went to the grocery store and then hung out at home all afternoon. Not much stirring around here in the 100 degree heat.

Speaking of misery, my cold is much better, but this eye thing is still going strong. I'm being treated for pink eye..but I'm not sure that's what it is. Whatever it is, it makes me remember why I'm not a fan of pink!

There's not a whole lot going on here today, either. Sorry this post is so, well, BORING!! I thought about deleting it, but I get fussed at when I don't post regularly, so...this is the consequence of me posting with nothing to post about.

I am working on some plans for the fall...details will be on the specialized blogs. But I'll give you a little sneaky peek at what's coming up at the Hamlet:

August 16 will be our monthly family breakfast. The theme will be "Back to School" and I plan to have the year-round tree decorated accordingly, along with a tablescape to match. The menu is almost always the same-scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes and biscuits and gravy. Juice, coffee, tea and milk.

August 18-the best day next to Christmas and my birthday-SCHOOL STARTS!! Big girl's day out planned for that day-breakfast at Mimi's Cafe, shopping (window shopping, but, hey-it counts as shopping) at Garden Ridge, Hobby Lobby, Pier One and the mall...then home to make spaghetti and/or pizza for the First Day of School Celebration Dinner. Not sure who besides me will be celebrating, but I know I will for sure!

August 22-23 is our youth group Leaders' Retreat-I don't really know any details, but I know that it's not at my house, so it's a party for me!

August 23 (afternoon) is our big Fall Jewelry Launch Fashion Show! Chocolate, coffee and new, shiny, gorgeous, fabulous jewelry! How can you not want to attend that?

September 11 I have Bunco here at the Hamlet. Details on that will be following, no doubt!

And of course in between all the scheduled stuff we have all the usual things-church, soccer practice, work, school and homework...fun stuff!

So, obviously, a day or two here and there with nothing going on is NOT a bad thing!

Later!
Cathy