Very Talented Visitor!

My awesome mother-in-law was just up for a visit this past week. She is super fun and hilarious! She and I really had a good time together. Her schedule and life is so busy, I'm really thankful she made time to visit us. While she was here she taught me a new fall craft.

This is Sonia. Also know as Abuela to all the grandchildren. She helped me create this cute pumpkin centerpiece. Can you tell what it's made from?

Seedless Blackberry jam...Hello Deliciousness!

I posted on the family website that I made seedless blackberry jam...with F.R.E.E. berries that grow wild here. These sweet little bundles of fruitiness grow everywhere. SCORE! In the past, to make seedless jam I had to ruin a perfectly good  use a wire strainer and a rubber spatula.



Lot's of pressing and scraping until all the fruit was through and all the seeds were left in the strainer. It took forever! (but totally worth it!) When I told Ron that I was going to make seedless jam he brought me this strange looking little pan:



True kitchen gadget love!

I think it was one of the treasures from the Talbots. It hooks on the side of a pan or bowl and you turn the handle and it presses the fruit through the bottom and leaves all the big ol' seeds in the top. It looks so old, I wasn't sure if it would be effective at all...but it worked like a charm! I didn't adjust my recipe for seedless.



First Major League Baseball game!

Ron took me to my first ever major league baseball game tonight. The Mariners vs. The Yankees. It was so much fun! See all those seats behind us? Yeah that's 'cause we were practically on the field!! Our seats were so awesome! Our team lost...but it was still a great time! My hubby spoils me so!

Oh, and we got free Ichiro t-shirts tonight too! I put mine on, but Ron already had a cool Mariners t-shirt. And what baseball game would be complete without a HOT DOG! Make mine with mustard only, please!

                                       Looks kinda gross, but it was tasty!
                    It was a beautiful night and a fun way to end the summer!

Going to Utah ....soon

Here are two of my little munchkins that I get to see when we go to Utah at the end of the month! Yay! I can't wait!

All Fixed

If you read the previous post you might be wondering what-the-heck I was talking about. Well, my brilliant son-in-law made that snaffoo disappear!  The background is still not the one I wanted. But I'm going to leave well enough alone for now. I'm so grateful to have smart people around me...and he didn't even mock me...not openly anyway ; )

How did THAT happen??

Okay, I'll be the first to admit that I am techno-challenged to the max! Last night I decided that I wanted a new background for my blog. I've changed backgrounds before and I L.O.V.E. Shabby Blogs, so I copied the code and set it up. Easy peasy. Hmmm...something went funky and it didn't give me the background I wanted. So I did it again and it gave me a different background but still not the one I wanted. After repeating this process about a hundred times I decided I would just keep the ugly one that is on there right now. But somewhere in the process I copied the instructions to the code for the background and I can't figure out how to get rid of it. OIY! If anyone can tell me (in detail) how to get rid of that too, I'd appreciate it. And if you feel the need to openly mock me, go right ahead. I'm already mocking myself!

Sweet Listenings

I'm visiting Ron's daughter Janae and her husband Peter down in Oregon for a week. Janae is on strict bed rest during the final months of her pregnancy, so there is no heavy lifting of any kind...and that includes sweet little Annabelle. So I've been one of the fortunate ones who gets to play all day with little Miss A. and occassionally fill Janae's water mug. I've had the opportunity to meet some of her friends as they have come over to visit her. She always introduces me as " my dad's wife...", which I know I am...but it sounds kinda like she's introducing the cleaning lady, or the pool boy, or the plumber that lives down the street. So the last person who came over I introduced myself as Janae's wicked step-mother. There. That sounds a little more personal. You may be thinking "Why would she title this post Sweet Listenings?"  Well this afternoon Peter was putting Annabelle down for her nap...that baby girl goes down unlike any other child I've ever seen...and I could hear them in her bedroom singing "I am a Child of God" together. She's only two! I'm telling you it was the sweetest thing ever!

Annabelle today at the park