And the winner is...

The Phillies ... okay, they are only in the 3rd inning as I type this, so you know I'm announcing the winner of this:

Tina is the winner of this "lady.bug" bag!!! YAY TINA!!

Tina, please email me your address and I will get this in the mail as soon as I can!!

Thank you all for entering and Ginger, well done - you had several extra entries just for blogging about it - but alas, no win :( 

And, I must admit, while I tried to keep comments "contained" Mary was right - the banter of mulitple comments is the best - and then I feel like a winner!! LOL!!!

Go Phils!

The Phillies lead 3 games to 1 - GO PHILLIES!!

Ever since I was a wee young "lad" (those were my initials), I have enjoyed the Phillies. On my softball "trading card" when I was 9, I listed Mike Schmidt as my favorite player and the Phillies as my favorite team. I can remember my freshman year of college when the Phils were last in the World Series, they lost btw. That was 15 years ago!! And now they are in it again and just one win away from taking the title!!

While I do cheer on the Phillies, I'll just note they are only one of two of the Philly teams I like. I also like the Flyers (hockey) and anyone can have the Eagles and 76'ers (Sorry Mom). I've been to some Eagles games (only to cheer on the Dallas Cowboys) and Philly fans can be RUDE. I've never been to a Phils game, so the same could be true, but they just hold a spot in my heart, LOL!!! As for the 76'ers, I detest watching basketball on TV - hearing the shoes squeak is the most annoying thing to me!!! And just to add, as I'm mentioning sports, I also root for the Penn State Nittany Lions. My sister graduated from PSU and I always enjoyed visiting that campus and even spent some weekends with her. I got my master's from PSU, but the Harrisburg branch, not main campus.

So, please cheer on the Phillies with me!!

And as a thank you, here's a picture from the past!! Oh, the seriousness with which I played! ;-)

Don't forgot I will be picking a winner tonight for the handbag! Click here to go to the post.

Wordless Wednesday on Friday

Notice who what he's tucking into bed?

Silly Me!

Remember this bag? I completed it as a test pattern and posted it about 4 weeks ago. I teased about doing a giveaway with it - and then forgot, LOL!! Please forgive me!

This "lady.bug" style bag is made of cotton and features the perfect colors for fall. It is a nice, large bag with a magnetic closure inside. It is very deep and will hold LOTS!

Leave a comment on this post (one per person please) up until this Monday night, 8ish. I will draw one winner and announce it the same evening, 9ish, perhaps. :-)

Feel free to blog about it and send your friends my way - if you do, and they tell me you sent them, you can earn 2 entries!

Some great recipes

(Thank you to everyone who left comments on yesterday's post - your encouragement is much appreciated. If you haven't had a chance to read all the comments, please go back, a lot of wisdom and encouragement for all moms can be found in many of those comments - thank you all!)

I've felt more in the mood to cook these past few weeks than I believe I have all summer. Maybe it is the cooler weather, I'm not sure, but I'm not going to question it. Mealtime around here has been Y-U-M-M-Y!

First, but not too exciting, is one of the kids favorite new lunchtime meals, Hot Dog Crescents. Nothing too fancy, but they have been a big hit - and don't forget the ketchup! I picked this recipe up in the refrigerated section of the grocery store where they sell the crescent rolls. You can find interesting things in the refrigerated store section!

Pig's Stomach is a recipe from my mom. Do not fear - I do not use the stomach...nor did my mom. I've never seen it done, but you mix everything together and put it inside a pig stomach to bake in the oven. Thankfully, my mom created her own version without having to mess with a stomach, LOL!!! I hadn't made it for a while, but sweet Italian sausage was on sale at the store so I stocked up, froze some and made this for supper. To my suprise, the kids really enjoyed this.

This is one of T's favorites - it also comes from my mom, Hamburger and Noodle Stroganoff. The beef bouillon gives it that extra flavor to make it taste so good!

The other week I tasted a pear pie. I am not usually a pie person - if I'm going to have the extra calories of dessert - there had better be chocolate involved!!!!! Well, I enjoyed the pear pie so much that I set out to find a recipe. I found one at allrecipes.com and it called for a store bought crust but I decided I needed to make my own crust - if I was going to become a pie gal! ;-) Here is the recipe for the Pie Crust I used from the Joy of Cooking cookbook, as well as the recipe for the Creamy Pear Pie.

I tried two new recipes yesterday which I know will become family favorites. The first was Corn and Potato Chowder. Often, when I make soup, all we taste is the water the vegetables were cooked in - it just tastes bland. Not this one. The addition of ground red pepper and a little bit of Old Bay seasoning made this a wonderful meal after a cold day. I can see us making this one many times this winter. This recipe came from myrecipes.com.

The second new recipe is for Red Pepper Jelly. I hadn't tried this before, but heard people rave about it. I came across this recipe last month at the Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog. I picked up everything at the store in the morning and ended up running out quickly just before naptime upon realizing I didn't have enough lemon juice. :( It was worth the hassle to make that last minute run because T and I both enjoyed snacking on this jelly with cream cheese and crackers. I have plans for a pork dinner and I think this will be a wonderful treat to dip it in ... the kids will probably not like it and ask for ... ahem, ketchup!

All these recipes have been posted at my cooking blog and you can find each individual recipe by clicking on the recipe names throughout the post.

It took me too long to get these posted, but it was worth it. I hope to print a cookbook with all our treasured family recipes inside - or just it on the cooking blog for easy reference! ;-)

Please drop me a note if you try any!!

This parenting stuff ... it's tough.

I like to work through things that are bothering me by typing them out. Typically, that happens in emails to friends, but sometimes it happens in blog posts - at least that is what I am hoping happens with this one.

T stopped at home for lunch today, and we were standing outside before he headed back to work. I told him something I've been pondering ... "How do you know what the right choices are for our children?"

I feel like I am on two extremes ... For example, some times I think we should ditch the TV and all the movies we own and the next time I'm reasoning with myself that it isn't the worst thing in the world to let my son watch a few minutes of the Spid.erma.n movies as Spidey flies through NYC.

I know in my heart that the best answer is to rest in God's wisdom and that He will show me. But what about those times I don't feel that I'm hearing a clear answer to my questions? Do I look at Person A sitting at church who doesn't own a TV and children seem well-behaved? Or Person B who has a home theater, takes their children to the movie theater and whose children also seem well-behaved?

I am a people-watcher. Sometimes I wish I wouldn't be. My mind starts formulating concepts and ideas that so-and-so's children act/behave the way they do because of a few things I know about their lifestyle and how they run their household. To me, I think even though I'm not judging their actions with a big seal of disapproval, I'm still judging, aren't I? Or not?

I wish I knew what is right for our family. Again, I come back to constantly talking things out with T so we are on the same page with things. But, that is so easy to say...just by talking with him doesn't mean we will come to any type of conclusion regarding the matter.

I find myself constantly evaluating my own choices -

Did I read enough to my children? I think so-and-so reads way more than I do and I've got to get better at that.

And so-and-so spends a lot more time in the Bible with her child - look how quickly her child found the chapter we were discussing in Sunday school, my son can't do that yet.

So-and-so really has a meek and quiet demeanor - my kids would do so much better if I were more like that.

I keep finding all these areas I need to "fix" and then I end up complaining. I think it would be a better use of my time to pray about those areas and ask God to help me focus on my strengths for the benefit of the children. And allow those strengths to lead the "fix."

Am I making any sense? For those with young children at home, do you have these same thoughts? If so, how do you handle them? For those with grown children, did you think this same way? What got you through?

I certainly don't want to waste away my time just thinking - but instead I want to be acting ... I just don't know where to start.

I'd love to hear your thoughts...I feel like I've just gone full circle with my thought...sigh...

**UPDATE**
I wrote this last night before going to bed. After having time to keep processing, I had another thought.

I completely comprehend that parenting is not as easy as to think that if I do/don't have a TV, my kids will turn out fine. A family could have 10 TVs in their house and if they are wise in their viewing time limits - I don't think it could be a potential problem at all.

It really comes down to how use what we have. How do I use my time when my kids are awake? Are we searching through the Scriptures looking to see if he can find the book of Matthew? Am I setting goals to read every day or am I brushing it off until tomorrow?

I think the biggest thing that hits me is that I want a "quick fix." I want it to be easy and just do A, B and C to get the desired result. But that simple formula doesn't take into account all the other variables of L-I-F-E, does it?

While I understand that I cannot get this "quick fix" I am comforted in knowing that all parents, everywhere, ask these questions at one time or another. And I'm thankful many are a phone call, or an email, or even a blog post away!

This parenting stuff ... it's tough.

Weekend Ketchup ;-)

While my husband whisked himself away to Alabama for the weekend with 7 friends, I stayed home and got some things done.

Important things, like:
restringing my wash line after it wore through after 10 years,
napping in the afternoons,
eating take out food,
watching movies with the kids,
planning our upcoming week for school,
chatting late at night,
and working on my blog.

See? What did I tell you? Important stuff! Actually, it sounds like every other weekend, LOL!

I am bummed though, that I have no pictures to share of my husband's crazy adventure filled weekend. Guess who came home with some pictures?

They did the Dale Jarrett Racing Adventure - slip into a fire retardant suit, a helmet and drive speeds up to 170mph around a race track. I know, I know - sounds thrilling!

Far better picture than any with that #9 racer - what's his name again?

T was also able to pay a visit to John and Shirley - and John didn't take any pictures either - I am looking forward to seeing them next weekend as they make the trek north!

As for the blog redesign, I've been wanting to warm up my kids for quite some time and bring them in off the beach - I got cold every time I looked at my blog. I feel much warmer - as do they now! ;-)

Happy Monday!!

A thought for a Thursday

I believe if

sold

by the

they could bring in a lot more

from

And that is my thought for Thursday.

Would you like

with that?

Wordless Wednesday

Thanks Lynn for several of these (and I still owe you for them!!!!)

Animals. Animals. Tractors.

As I uploaded my pictures from the Farm Show last week, I realized I didn't have any of the kids with the animals. We went in first thing on Monday morning to hand in Quintin's coloring page and then spent about 2 hours walking around.

I made up a little journal for Quintin to complete as we walked around. Elle had one too, because "monkey see monkey do!"

You can't tell on this picture, but this pony had a lot of white on its back. Quintin commented, "It's a cow and a pony. It's both!" Boy was I glad we were the only ones in there that day! ;-)

It was very exciting to have no one around us and be able to take our time - we watched for 20 minutes to see this little one hatch. I felt bad for it - it worked so hard to get out of the egg, now it had to get out of the crate! Doesn't it look like it is sighing?

Here are some of Quintin's pages! I thought he did a great job with it and it fit in perfectly to what we were doing at home. We just finished up a unit in our Weaver curriculum on agriculture.

And we had to climb on the tractors. There is nothing like a ball field filled with tractors to make the perfect end to a morning field trip!

And, one more time - just for fun. Here's our "You said Open Our Eyes Wide?" look.

And, at the wheel of this huge Peterbilt Dump Truck - Mr. "You said close your eyes?"

Yep, that's us! :-) I think we OD'd on chocolate milkshakes!

It's Friday!!

We had a great time at the Farm Show this week and had way too many milkshakes - but it only comes once a year, right?

"Parade Lady" requested last night that she see some photos on my blog today - but we just have so much going on that it will have to wait till next week.

I just thought I'd put up one picture and one thought about the week.

First, the picture:

Sittin' happy in the dump truck with Daddy!! Apparently, we thought he said "Open your eyes as big as you can" instead of "Say cheese!" ;-)

And I'll leave you with my one nagging thought from Farm Show week. Actually, it is more of a request. Not that I think the gentleman I'm about to discuss reads my blog or even knows who on earth I am, I am just going to put it out there and ... and we'll, you'll see.

To the man working in the Sertoma stand with the long white beard: If you choose to wear a red shirt and Santa Claus hat, please realize the attention you will draw. With that said, think about what it looks like as children watch you step out of the stand for a break and light up a cigarette.

I'm sure it wasn't only my children gawking. My oldest looked at me and asked, "Santa smokes?"

Sir, if you choose to play the part of Santa, even in the off-season, please be aware of the little watching eyes and the lessons you are teaching. What is a parent to say? Santa needs a hobby when he's not making toys???

Fortunately, the shirt and shorts being cut-offs and the whole overall appearance lacking anything closely resembling that of a jolly man, were enough clues to help them realize this wasn't the "real Santa."

But they were still watching. So, could you just leave the hat at home? Or, maybe try to mimic another long bearded famous person. Say, someone from ZZ Top? I'm just sayin' ... Besides, you don't want to be getting coal in your stocking, do you?

Wordless Wednesday

See you at the parade! Look for us in a green RQ dump truck! :-) Stand on the passenger side of the street so I can wave to you!!!!

Happy Parading "Parade Lady"!!!!!

It's Farm Show Week

As fair season winds down, we finish up around here with our town's Farm Show - and this week is the week!

Remember, my golfing adventure?  The Farm Show is what we were supporting when we played.  My good friend, Tracy, is a bigwig this week!  We hope this week runs smoothly for her and all involved.  She is in charge of the parade Wednesday, and since I know she reads my blog (although this week, she may be too busy to) I want her to know she's been in my prayers for a terrific week!!

It's a week for our kids to get a chance to get up close and personal with farm animals.  It's a week for the local high school students, our alma mater, to showcase, as young farmers, their hard work.  And it's a week for our family to gorge ourselves at the food stands - pizza, crabcake sandwiches, hamloaf sandwiches (that is for you ShortStop), and our favorite - a local church youth group's milkshake stand! 

MMMmmm, yum!

So, if you don't hear from me, don't send out a search party, just look for us by the milkshake stand! ;-)

Nothing but the blood of Jesus

Beautiful, isn't it?

Have a wonderful weekend!

Semi-Wordless Wednesday

...'cause everyone needs a back end quarter of a 3D deer target laying in their yard. 

Don't you have one? 

Come on, aren't ya even a little jealous?  (yeah, me either!)