My Blog's New Home

I've moved to my new home over at ARealSusieHomemaker.com!  Join me for the latest on real life, real recipes, real savings, and real faith.

Summer Time With the Peamites

When I was visiting a friend, I saw that she had a giant beach ball sprinkler.  I thought they were such a neat summer toy, and since she said that her kids absolutely adored it, I started looking for one.  I didn't want to get one at the height of the Summer season since it would be full price then, but didn't expect it to be marked down as soon as early July!

But then again, they are starting back to school sales and where we live, school starts for the public schools at the beginning of August.  A friend of mine that manages a Dollar General store said she opened her first Halloween shipment today, so needless to say, retail is a bit ahead of the rest of us. :) 

I'm glad I was able to get it before Peamite Alpha started back to preschool, so we have plenty of time to enjoy it.  I even had a good time with it.  Very refreshing on a 100 + degree day!

That must be a good hug from Peamite Bravo since his tongue is hanging out!

Mischievous Little Peamite

I heard Peamite Bravo in the kitchen playing with her fridge magnets.  The familiar ABC song would randomly play, and I'd hear the sound of magnets being dropped on the tile floor.  Then...it got quiet.  Do you know what that means in little kid terms?  Yup, up to no good.

A couple of minutes later, she comes running out of the kitchen whining, "hands dirty." I couldn't figure out what in the world she had gotten into.  She said, "Mommy's cake."  I hadn't made a cake lately...no cakes to get into!  I go into the kitchen to investigate, and see what she meant.  She poured out a whole bottle of lustre dust.  Cake friends, do you feel my pain?

Shiny mess all over the floor and her.  Oh, and money down the drain...whole bottle...gone...wasted...expensive waste. :(

No More Diapers!

I think every parent looks forward to the day when they don't have to buy another diaper.  The road there may be a little messy, but it's well worth it when you realize how much money you save in the end.  I would estimate around $500 a year, probably more for the first year.

So, let me just say, Hallelujah!  Peamite Bravo is sans diapers and is doing so well using the potty like a big girl!! I used the same method for her as I did for my son, and let me just say, she is a lot easier.  I've always heard that girls are easier to potty train than boys, so there may be some truth to that!

We started out by going to the store and letting her pick out her "big girl" underwear.  I knew to buy a lot so I wouldn't have to do a ton of laundry everyday, because the first couple of days, they go through 7 - 10 pairs before they get the hang of it.  She was very excited about her Tinkerbell underwear!

At one point on the first day, she brought me a diaper and asked me to put it on her, but I had to explain that diapers were for babies, and she's a big girl now.  Glad that worked!  Guess I should've put them out of sight first!  We took the leftover ones we had to our church's nursery so they could have some extra.

She had lots to drink and a couple of popsicles to give us plenty of opportunities to "practice."  For my little girl that does not like to be dirty, this method works great, and she caught on very quickly.  Of course we still have the occasional accident - why I will still be carrying a change of clothes for a while, but a lot better than lugging around a stocked diaper bag.  Also why I'm very glad that we have several sheets for her bed.  Since we converted her crib into a toddler bed, it has a water resistant mattress, so we saved on the cost of a mattress protector this time around.

Hope all you other mommies and daddies are having success with potty training.

Black Olives: An Unexpected Snack

My family and I love going to the local Pizza Inn.  Freshly made pizza really makes the difference.  A favorite of mine there is the Chicken Fajita Pizza which is topped with black olives, but I don't hold that against it.  I just pick them off and continue on.

Several months back, Peamite Bravo was sitting next to me while I picked the olives off.  As soon as I got them off, she was scooping them up.  Once she realized how much she liked them, I couldn't pick them off fast enough!  It was like I was giving her candy!

When we visit Pizza Inn now, we go straight to the salad bar and put a pile of black olives on Peamite Bravo's plate.  Then she exclaims, "Oliiiiives!" (ol - leaves)

I don't know why it took me so long to realize, I should just buy some black olives for her snack.  Whole pitted olives quickly found their way onto her cute little fingers.

Dressed in the Night

The azaleas in front of my house have made an appearance. Finally.  They are always the last to bloom out of all the other azaleas that I have scattered about our property.  They're also such a pretty soft pink.  I trimmed the hedges, and a couple of days later, boom! azaleas everywhere.  Just look at how they fill up the bushes in the below picture.

While out admiring God's handiwork, and also the hard work that went into trimming the bushes, the kids came around with the dog.  Peamite Alpha loves his Wolverine costume.  He asks if he can wear it all the time.

 Comet smiling with the kids

Comet giving Peamite Alpha kisses

Last night, Peamite Alpha asked if he could sleep in his costume, so David put him to bed in it.  When David went into his room this morning to get him up for school, he was in the bed with a t-shirt and jeans on.  At some point during the night, he got up, dressed in school clothes, and then went back to sleep.  

Yes, what a strange child I have, but that's ok, it makes life interesting, and therefore, I have something to tell you about here. :)

Comet said OK

Comet likes to bark.  It's what dogs do; their way of communication.  Our dog likes to talk, so I guess he fits in just fine with our family.

This morning, he was justa barking.  I looked out the window to see if I could see what it might be, and it was a truck way down the road that had parked on the side of the road.  I'm guessing they're doing some sort of work, since people have been working up and down our road lately.  He's so far away, there's really no reason for Comet to be making such a fuss.

I stood at the living room window and called out to him.  I figured he would hear me just fine since dogs have super hearing, and he did.  I told him to stop barking at the people down the road.  When he realized I was having a conversation with him, he walked over to the window and looked up at me.

"Comet, don't bark at those people way down there, they aren't bothering anyone.  If they come to our house, then you can bark, but while they're down there, please be quiet!"

And I kid you not, he looked right at me, and gave a short bark as if saying, "Ok."  and went on his merry way.  I haven't heard a peep from him since.

 

Katie petting Comet

Gardening Little Homemaker

So, I just wanted to say, I'm so proud of myself.  Since we can't afford to hire someone to keep up our landscaping, it's my duty.  David said if it was up to him, he'd dig it all up so he wouldn't have to fool with it.  But, Crazy Me would rather have a nicely landscaped home, so like I said, it's my responsibility.

I invested in a cordless hedge trimmer...much like the one in the picture below.

And let me tell you, it makes all the difference in the world.  Going from hand shears to that, made the job so much easier and quicker. We have bushes and trees all around our house, and I have trimmed and cut and pulled for 3 hours at them.  I felt empowered using a power tool.  I am woman, hear me roar...or meow. 

I was surprised at how many little oak trees were trying to sprout up right next to the house among the bushes.  Since I don't exactly want a towering oak right next to my house one day, I cut them down while they were easy to get at with a lopper.  Which is also one of my favorite gardening investments shown in the picture below.

I think I spent most of my time cutting down little oak trees than anything else.  They were literally popping up all over the place.

Today was a great day to get all this yard work done.  It's not very warm today, and a nice breeze from time to time.  Since it was such a beautiful day, the kids were out with me the whole time running around, swinging, riding bikes, and occasionally helping me pick up limbs to put on the burn pile.

I had to stop before I was completely finished because I knew I needed to go in to get Peamite Bravo down for a nap.  She had worn herself slap out playing that much!

The landscaping will be a work in progress for quite a while until I can get to the maintenance stage.  The house we bought hadn't been lived in for a while before we moved in, so the landscaping had been neglected a lot.  There are briers and weeds everywhere.  I'm holding off on pulling up the briers this Spring until I can harvest the dew berries.  They'll be done soon...I noticed they're already turning green.

In addition to the dew berries, we bought a hanging strawberry plant, and my parents gave me a cutting from their blueberry bush.

The kids are great about taking care of them.  We make sure they have plenty of water almost every day.  Mom said her blueberry bush has lots of blueberries on it that'll be ready soon, but unfortunately, my new plant is too young to have fruit this year.  We have that to look forward to next year!

So this little homemaker is going to rest up before Bible study and revel in all the hard work accomplished today.

Peamite Bravo's 2nd Birthday

My little Peamite Bravo is getting to be such a big girl.  She's starting to talk in more complete sentences, and is very expressive of her feelings.  She also knows what a party is, and that we were having one for HER.  She would say, "my cake" and "my party."  Except it sounded like Eddie Murphy when he sings "Party All the Time."  Yeah, potty.  

We had a "nandy" (candy) birthday party for her.  Candy everywhere.  On the cake, on the cupcakes, and scattered about.  Even her dress had candy on it.  Her Aunt Emmy is the best shopper and finds the cutest outfits.  Look how adorable it is! 

Even the invitations were lollipops!  Kimberly Davion of www.gluepaperscissors.net designed the invites, favor tags, and cupcake wrappers.  Just look how adorable these are!  (Sorry, everything's adorable right now.)

 

Lollipop Invitation

The invitation swung open to show the party details!

cupcake wrappers gave extra color!

Sweet favor tags!

I looked and looked for inspiration for the birthday cake, but all of them were huge.  We didn't need a lot of cake.  Although, we did end up with way more than needed because half the people invited couldn't make it, but that's another rant.

I finally came up with this idea, and ran with it.  I was really pleased with how it turned out.  You can't really tell in the picture, but the whole cake was shimmery.  I airbrushed it with lustre dust.

Cake I made for Peamite Bravo's 2nd birthday

Lemon Cake with Vanilla Buttercream and Fondant

I also made cupcakes.  Kids love cupcakes.  It could be the same exact flavor as the cake (these were not) and they would still go for the cupcake.  I thought this to be true anyway, until we went to a friend's birthday party the next day, and one of the kids insisted on having a slice of cake instead of the cupcakes, which indeed was the same exact recipe for both.  I think she's a grown up in a 7 or 8 year old's body. 

Anyway...I made some cupcake toppers and used real candy as well for toppers and decoration.  Dressed in Kim's beautiful cupcake wrappers, the cupcakes were perfect.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

I even made sugar cookies to look like pieces of wrapped candy for the party favors.  

 Sugar Cookie Party Favors

Everything was very colorful and happy.  I couldn't find plates and napkins with a candy theme, so I just went for more color.  I think you can see them well enough in the picture.  Colorful dots!

  Party set up!

Peamite Bravo had a great time.  She was very excited to play with all her new toys, and couldn't wait to wear her new clothes and shoes.  I loved seeing her reaction to everything.  Like I said earlier, she's very expressive now.

Now I'll leave you with us singing "Happy Birthday" to her, and how she tries to blow out the candles.

At the end you can hear my mom tell Katie that she can blow them out now.  That's because we had to keep her from blowing out the candles as I was trying to light them before we sang! :) 

How Do You Say?

How little kids say things are just so cute. The above video is of Peamite Bravo saying "lemonade."  I think she really likes the 'L' part of the word since she lalalalas every 'L' word she says.

We taught our kids from a very young age to say please and thank you.  In the next one, you can hear how PB says, "thank you" and "I love you, Dad."

Did you notice how she curled her tongue into a U shape at the beginning of the video?  Did you know that was genetic?  Yup, learned that in Biology - Thanks, Mrs. Webb!

Now, if there ever was a kid that loved popcorn, that would be mine.  She could eat the whole bag with no help.  You can even see how excited she gets about just at the mention of the word, as she calls it, "ca-corn"  I just noticed today that she pronounces a lot of 'P' words with a 'C'.  She loves pickles or "cickle".  She also loves black olives...which I discovered when I was picking the olives off of my Chicken Fajita pizza at Pizza Inn one day.  She was eating them off my plate as fast as I could get them to her.  When we go to the Inn now, we're sure to get her a little pile off of the salad bar to go along with her pizza.  Can you tell I don't have a picky eater?  Yay for that.

Think I'm gonna go pop some "ca-corn" now.

Living Room Tent

Peamite Alpha and Peamite Bravo were wanting to camp today.  PA had his backpack and a snack all ready to go.  PB was on his heels ready, too, although I'm sure she didn't have a clue as to what was going on, just wanted to play with brother.

While the kids were occupied, I set up a sheet tent for them.  It reminded me of my "fort" days with all the couch cushions, blankets and sheets arranged to make a fort for us to hide in.

It's been up all day, with the kids going in and out of it.  Here are the kids "camping" in their tent.

Peamite Alpha is telling me that he can see the TV through a little gap in the tent.  Peamite Bravo refuses to drink out of a sippy cup the correct way.  Notice how it's upside-down?  Yeah, that's my kid.

 

Peamite Alpha is saying "cheese" while holding a piece of cheese.  Peamite Bravo cutely scrunching up her face as she loudly cries, "CHEEEEESE."  

At least they're happy and occupied while I work on cakes for this week!

Springing

I guess that groundhog was right!  Spring is springing early!  Those tiny purple flowers are starting to pop up all over my yard.  That is one of my favorite parts of Spring...those adorable little flowers.  I also love that color green of brand new blades of grass peeking through the brown, dead grass.

Not only do I love Spring, but so do the kids.  The weather is so nice to play in.  Not too hot, not too cool.  The kids had fun running back and forth from the house to the trees.

 

I really love the action shot of the kids running.  It looks so fun!  Too bad it's not that enjoyable to me any more...I didn't have to worry about my abundant blessing when I was that young. ;)

Hey Mom, Look What I Can Do!

I started a new venture last year.  I love it most of the time.  Sometimes it's frustrating, but overall, it's fun and a learning experience.  I bake for people.  Cakes, cookies, pies, candy, and other goodies.  Mostly I decorate custom cakes, which is really why I started doing this.  I wanted to share some of my favorites with you.

Unfortunately, my waistline has taken a hit.  (Quality control!)  I was doing so great on my weight loss journey, but I slowly got away from my good practices, and slipped back into my old ways.  It's ok though, I'm getting back on the horse. or on the wagon. whatever.

And It Came Crashing Down

I slept in a bit today.  It was hard not to since it was so overcast out; it made for a nice, dark bedroom.  As I was drifting in and out of consciousness, I could hear heavy machinery working outside...seemed really close to our house.  When I got out of bed and looked out the front window, I saw why it sounded so close!  A whole crew of folks was working on cutting down a couple of dying oak trees that were a danger to power lines, passing traffic, etc., one of which was at the edge of our property.

 

The above picture is the tree on the edge of our property.  The guy in yellow is cutting a wedge out at the bottom so they can direct the way the tree falls.  They also had tied a cable around the top of the tree to help pull it down. (picture below)

I thought it was neat to see a giant oak tree come down.  Not something you see every day, so David grabbed Peamite Alpha and we watched as they prepared to bring the towering tree down.  Peamite Alpha asked me to take his picture as we watched.  He likes to do silly faces...I call this silly Cheeto face.

He said, "Let me see, let me see!" and just as I finished showing him the picture I had taken of him (which he was very proud of) the tree came crunching down.  

It sounded like a bunch of twigs and sticks snapping in two all at the same time with a final thump as it hit the ground.  It didn't sound like how a live tree does when it's cut...creeeeeaaking, snapping, thump.  This one crunched a lot, confirming to me that it was mostly dead. (The Princess Bride flashback...remember that scene? 

Miracle Max: He probably owes you money huh? I'll ask him.

Inigo Montoya: He's dead. He can't talk.
Miracle Max: Whoo-hoo-hoo, look who knows so much. It just so happens that your friend here is only MOSTLY dead. There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive. With all dead, well, with all dead there's usually only one thing you can do.
Inigo Montoya: What's that?
Miracle Max: Go through his clothes and look for loose change. 

ok...moving on.)

Peamite Alpha cried out for me to take another picture. "Mommy! Take another picture of me in front of this bush in front of the big tree." So, here is Peamite Alpha in front of the freshly fallen tree.

 Peamite Alpha was watching the crew cut up the tree...

and load limbs into trucks...

when he noticed one of the prisoner's pants (They were clearing debris and loading limbs onto the trucks.)

"Daddy! I have candy cane pants, too!"

He was referring to a pair of his Christmas pajama pants.

Loading Screen = Frustrating

Hello.  I'm still here.  I know I haven't posted anything lately, but it's not for lack of trying.  I have come by a few times to write, but I like to add pictures to go along with what I'm telling you.  See, the problem is, I can't upload my pictures...it just says "loading" for umpteen-gillion forevers, I get tired and frustrated, and say forget it.  I'm not that interesting anyway.

I only live about 4 or 5 miles out of the city limits, but apparently here, that is the friggin sticks, so therefore, no high speed internet.  We're doing the wireless internet thing for now, and pray that someone will install high speed internet out here asap!

So until then, my blog suffers because of this problem and my lack of patience.  I'm sorry, but like I said earlier, I'm not that interesting anyway, so you probably didn't even notice. :)

I've been staying busy baking, being a mom, a wife, and in the Lord's Army.

Peace out for now, and I'll try again another time.

Time To Move On

Over the last year, I have come to the realization that a particular friendship has gone by the wayside.  I tried to deny it, but it's true.  I tried to hang on to it, but I got blown off.  I realized, I was being treated as an acquaintance, and not a friend.

I don't know why exactly it happened.  Perhaps, the whole out of sight, out of mind thing, but then I got to thinking, that's not an excuse because all of my close friends live far off, and they all make the effort that a friendship takes.

It hurts, and I think it's because I took/take it personally, like, that person doesn't like me any more.  But really, our views are different, our values are different, and we really don't have anything in common anymore.  But still.  They didn't make an effort! It was so one-sided.  I slowly gave up, and today, I'm moving on.  I've complained, and now I'll move on.

Scheduling Life

So, I have discovered in the last week or two that scheduling life does not work like it does say, your work day.  I got really frustrated at myself for not having tasks done at the end of the day, so I figured it was because I was mismanaging my time.  The truth is, life "got in the way."  Kids are demanding of your time and attention, and have no regard to your "schedule."  So, I would be exhausted at the end of the day, busy, busy, busy, but nothing was done...what had I done all day?  Oh yeah, took care of the kids, cleaned up after them, fed them, changed diapers/help use the potty, get them down for a nap, kiss boo boos, dole out morning and afternoon snacks, make dinner, feed kids again, clean up kids, get ready for bed, read bedtime stories, sing a bedtime song, tell Carter 3 times good night before you close the door, and then collapse on the couch to have a minute to yourself.  And of course, that's just the basics...there's always the unexpected that creeps in there daily.

What I did learn though is, you can have a schedule to a point.  Like, I will sweep and mop this morning, and then start lunch/dinner at this time, and fold clothes while watching evening TV.  So, really, I guess that's not a schedule, but more of a to-do list. 

Making a schedule/to-do list has made me more aware of how my time is spent, and that I need to make the time to do the things that I need to and want to.

So, next on my list is to clean the kitchen...so ta ta for now.

Remembering With Antiques

I was very young when my mamaw passed away.  I was about to be in the 4th or 5th grade, as it was summer.  My mom worked at the elementary school at the time, and was helping out with summer school.  My papaw called to say Mamaw passed away.  I called Mom at the school to let her know.  (This is back when people didn't have cell phones on them 24/7.)  She came to the office to answer the phone and I relayed the message.  Papaw called a couple more times to see when we were coming up there, and I told him that Mom wasn't home yet.  He asked that I call her again to let her know that Mamaw had passed away.  I did...but I don't think she fully grasped what had happened.

See, her mamaw, (my great-grandmother) had just recently been in the hospital, so she had assumed it was her that had passed.  She didn't find out that it was her own mother and my mamaw that had passed until we arrived at their house.  I remember her crying, but not a lot else since it was such a long time ago.  I wished that I had known her better.  From what I hear, I have a tender heart just like her.

After her passing, my mom got some of her china and the china cabinet.  Below are a few things that Mom passed onto me.  The first is my favorite.  They sat on top of her stove, and now that's where they are in my home.

Blogger and I are not getting along right now...it won't upload my picture correctly, so here's a link to my pink McCoy vase...http://flic.kr/p/8JWFYA

And here's my white McCoy teapot.

and another link (grr at Blogger) to my blue pitcher...http://flic.kr/p/8JWF8E

and finally, a link to my old metal Snowdrift can.  In case you didn't know, Snowdrift was a brand of vegetable shortening, such as Crisco.  They just don't make 'em like this anymore! http://flic.kr/p/8JWGRf

It's not a great picture, because I didn't get it down, plus it's pretty faded, but you get the idea!

I love that my life is filled with reminders of my Mamaw through these antiques and even loved ones.  My son is named after her; Carter was her maiden name.  My niece is also named after her.  Eva Ray was her name, and my niece's name is Eva Raylynn. 

One day I'll pass these memories through antiques onto my children, but for now, they are proudly displayed in my kitchen.

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

The saying goes, "Time flies when you're having fun."  Well, we must be having lots of fun, because it seems like we just got married!

Five years ago today, we got married.  It was one of the most wonderful days of my life.  Lots of fun - family, friends, and topped off with the best honeymoon vacation.  (We stayed at Disney World and on the Disney Cruise for a week.)

Over the next 5 years, we're still just as silly and in love...

We added to the fun by having our first child.  Our son, Peamite Alpha.

 Then we moved to Birmingham and had a new adventure and some fun along the way.

Then we decided to celebrate all the fun we were having by going on vacation...

Then we added to our fun by having another baby.  Our baby girl, Peamite Bravo.

We moved back to Mississippi and bought our first home.  We then proceeded to have lots of fun remodeling the house and getting moved in.

Then we got a dog.  Isn't Comet just so cute playing with Peamite Alpha?

And in the other picture, you can't even see Peamite Bravo because the dog is over her playing.  She was justa giggling. :)

 

 So, five years have passed, and God willing we will have many more to come.  I'm just so glad it's with the cuties in the pictures below.