Hellooooo....

I hear that echo! Please be patient with me, I AM CREATING!! I don't want my mini-creative streak to be disturbed until my Christmas cards are all done, hopefully that will be BEFORE Christmas. So, I promise I will get NYC, UnTurkey Day, Mason's Birthday and much, much more posted REALLY soon!!

Continue with your regularly scheduled program.....

[Happy Halloween]

I just want to get a quick post up to show everyone Mason's costume! I swear he is such a good sport!! We pulled the costume together and he went trick or treating this afternoon. Without further ado, "Mabel The Old Lady":

Post #250!

Wow, this post marks my 250th post since I started this blog in the later months of 2008. It's been a heck of a roller coaster ride since then. Good times, bad times, just life in general has filled pages upon pages of my [awesome] ramblings! So, on that note enjoy #250.....

I have crockpot fever. I went out an bought myself a reasonably priced, medium size crockpot at Walmart about two weeks ago. I didn't go totally cheap, like I did on my recent can opener purchase, but that story will come in time....So, back to the crockpot. In theory love the idea of loading a crockpot with goodies in the morning and coming home to a great smelling kitchen, after a long day at work and sitting down to a 'home cooked' meal. In theory that would be great, but let's throw in "Robyn The Impatient" into this mix: Crockpot bought at 5 o'clockish. I wanted to make a hot cooked oatmeal for the morning, so, if I start it at 10pm on low it will be ready for my 6am wake up. Great, right? That crock pot sat on my counter top and I swear I could hear it say, "Roooobyn, Roooobyn you want to cook and you want to coooook now, don't you Roooobyn?" [In a weird British accent]. So, I had to fight the urge to start the crockpot before 6pm. Then I started to rationalize my reasoning to start right now. "The longer it cooks, the better it will be" and "I could always get up at 2am and turn it off". So, my reasoning won out {like I knew they would}. The crockpot went on at 6pm, full of all kinds of canned fruit and oatmeal and it smelled so good. At 2am. When the smell woke me up. I came downstairs and turned it off and tasted my creation. Ehhh, it was overcooked. No, overcooked oatmeal does not taste good. So, I had to suck it up and throw it out. I was so mad at myself. I hate to waste food. Onto my next issue: Too much food. A crockpot's worth of food could feed an army, well a small army, but you get the idea. I always fill it too full and then get weeks worth of food that I would have to eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner and midnight snacks to eat before it goes bad. Solution: The freezer. The problem: My freezer. It's so small, it is cramped with leftovers and I have to fight with it to close every time I want an ice cube. Do they make freezers the size of mini-fridges? That would be a perfect size, but I have not seen them that small.

This brings me to a recipe that I made this week and The Tale Of The Cheap Can Opener.

Roasted Cauliflower Pumpkin Curry Soup:



This was pretty messy to make, a lot of steps, but worth the taste. I roasted cauliflower until tender. I had on hand an acorn squash, that I roasted also. Then I put all of that into the blender and pureed with veggie broth until smooth. In the pot on the stove I had sauteed an onion with a few cloves of garlic and a big can of pumpkin. I blended all the ingredients until mixed well and heated through. I added a can of fat free evaporated milk, but the true creaminess came from the cauliflower. It was really good, I served it with crusty bread. I was the only one eating this concoction, though. Mason is a good sport about my cooking, he did try it, but didn't like it. At least he tried ;0)

Back in the day I had one of those cool electric can openers. It was great, but it broke, so I replaced it with a nice labor intensive hand held model. It worked great. For years. So in my transition from house to townhouse, it started to act out, like a 9 year old with a bad temper, oh oh, I mean it just stopped working all together. So, while at Walmart I was looking at the selection of can openers. There was a $4.97 model. A $2.97 model. And a $.97 model. Which one do you think I went with? Yeah. I really don't need to reveal the answer because I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be writing this if I had gone with the $4.97 model. The first two times I used it, I remember remarking how well this cheap can opener worked and it's FOOLS, FOOLS I TELL YOU that would spend anymore than a buck on a can opener. Fools. So this brings me right up to the point of where everything is coming together for my pumpkin soup. Everything is in the pot, except for the pumpkin and I break out the can opener.....It's stripped. Useless. I begged it for one more use, but it wouldn't budge. Stubborn can opener, I reply. How can you open a can without a can opener. I mean the name says it all. CAN. OPENER. A million thoughts ran through my head, like asking the neighbor to borrow theirs, but I didn't want to interrupt their disagreement of which is better: Pepperoni's pizza or KFC. So that idea quickly went out the door. Ok, I've got pliers. I washed them and proceeded to pry open the can. In the mean time, I was not only praying that I didn't lose a digit, I was praying that I didn't lose an entire limb. Pliers, not so good. Brainstorming in full force, I decided to use the can punch (I don't even know what it is called). You know the thing that you use to open cans of juice so it can pour out? I guess you could call it a success considering I didn't have to spend half my day at the ER and I got pumpkin soup! DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME [for legal purposes I felt the need to post that warning]:


Ouch!


Well, Mason's football season is going to be over next week, they are undefeated and this win will make them the champs!! Let's Go Devils!!



The kids doing the "Pitchfork"!!



Please, everyone reading this this week. Please say a little prayer for Friday's custody hearing. I pray that the judge hears Mason and takes into account what he wants. I want THIS to go our way this time. Thank you everyone for the continued support. We appreciate it more than you know!

Crikey Mate, it's been 2 weeks??

(Please feel free to use the Australian accent to read this blog the whole way through....)

It's not like I have anything going on where I have to have this much blog-neglect, right??

If you had Smell-o-PC, you would smell the delicious vanilla cupcakes that I am making for Mason when he gets home tonight! Yum. I always try to make something special for when he arrives home, I would like to make him a special dinner, but since he doesn't get home until 8pm, I am ASSUMING he has already eaten dinner, not that he wouldn't try to eat two dinners!! I am simultaneously making hot chocolate {pure talent, don't be jealous}, in my NEW TEA KETTLE!! I LOVE IT! I also made a SMOOTHIE in my NEW BLENDER! Here is how it all came about.....

I have an awesome family who is very generous and we had a great visit last weekend with Aunt Maggie, Uncle Joe, Jim and Jon! It was great!! I am so glad that they decided to make the trip! We spend some quality time and there was little down time! The Flood Memorial, Linner [Lunch/Dinner], swimming, Mason's football game, whew....we were busy!! I'm sure the gas mileage was waaaay better on the way back because they had unloaded all the goodies that said family had sent back for us!! I didn't realize how bad that frozen fruit in my freezer really wanted to be blended into a delicious, nutritious, nutrient-packed breakfast drink! But it did and it was goooood. Mason has never had massive amounts of [diet] hot chocolate like he has this past week! I always hated mixing the packet then microwaving, it never turned out, but it does now! I even made the mulled apple cider, so comforting at night when it is so chilly! This is not your average blender [or what I like to call "the-throw-away blender because it's so cheap, it breaks when you put ice in it!!], this is a Food Network grade blender and it has all the bells and whistles!! I plan to use it to make soups this winter.

So, the visit was way too short, but can't wait to get together again!




Mason and I went to pick pumpkins on Monday:



Then we brought them home to carve them, long story short, I should have gotten a picture 5 minutes after we were done because within 3 days they were rotten and liquefied-GROSS!! So, that didn't go over so well! It was a cute little farm set up for Halloween:



Mason wouldn't get any closer!!


Look at this cute little Radio Flyer:


Speaking of Halloween, I was using the photo editing online software and they have options to make Halloween style photos! I used Mason's "Self Portrait: Feet" to play around with and got this:




I took Baileigh out the other morning because someone-who-will-remain-nameless could not get out of bed to take her out, but I found these pretty leaves [I LOVE Fall]:



Thank you, everyone for all the wonderful household needs/wants and the support is amazing. I truly feel Blessed to have such great family and friends!!

I HATE THIS

It is now 1am. I can't wait until Sunday, 8pm. 19 hours until Mason comes home. Home. Where he belongs. I HATE to drop him off in Altoona. I hate that he is FORCED to go there. I hate how his (and mine) life has turned upside down because of a selfish, low-life, worthless piece of garbage (and that's putting it nicely). I'm sick to my stomach for the custody hearing at the end of the month. I'm sick to my stomach that this is going to go on for 9 more years. I hate to feel like the entire last 11 years of my life have been a LIE. I hate to wish only evil thoughts, but honestly, he doesn't deserve to have anything but. I pray someday he will get what he deserves, that is, most days, the only thing that keeps me sane. That and LOLcats:





And this cool couch that I'd love to have:

So Much To Say....

I hope my fingers don't fall off!! Let's get to it:

First things first: Food
I found this AMAZING cheese at Wegman's:



Apple Pie Cheese. Oh.My.Goodness. I bought apples to eat with it, but when I sliced the cheese to taste it, it didn't need any company. It tasted like Apple Pie Cheesecake! It was sooooo good! I can't wait to get some more! I'm glad I snagged a picture before it was gone!

Next Up: This weekend

What a weekend it was! So busy! On Saturday we went to the PotatoFest. We tried (and liked A LOT), sweet potato ice cream. Yum! It was so buttery and creamy, I can't wait to try it in my ice cream maker. Here was my view:



Then Mason had a game! It was a real nail-biter! They did win 12-8, but in the last few minutes of the game all of the parents were really sweating it out!! Now we are just one step closer to the coach putting on a dress!!

Sunday:

We got up early to go to get pictures, I have been wanting to get up-to-date photos of Mason for awhile, now. So, I thought an old railroad theme would be nice. He was very cooperative, and the photoshoot ended up being one of the funniest days in a long time! Mason is such a goofball, so it was nice to see him actually enjoying himself! So without further ado, here are the best (out of 100 photos) shots:
















I really liked how they turned out, I guess it helps that the subject is as adorable as can be (not biased, or anything!)

Then....
We went on a hike. I have to admit, I came up with the idea to go hiking, but deep down I had a fear of meeting someone (or something) in the woods that was not friendly. We got to the hiking destination and I put on the backpack that I had packed full of water, lunch, snacks and (a knife for protection). We started up the hill and within 4 minutes, Mason stops and [huffing and puffing] says he needs a snack and water to refuel himself--WHAT?? We could still see the car from where we were at!! So, I deny the snack, but of course, let him get the water. Making our way up, there was a half-way bench. Mason and all his drama, sits down and once again says he needs a snack. This kid could eat 24/7 if I let him! So, we decided to take the trail to the bottom, I'm going to be honest, at first I wished we hadn't! Parts of it were SO steep that Mason was crawling backwards!! Ha, it was so funny!! We found a bridge and we had lunch and we made it to the top:



It was so worth it! And you are never too far from a Sheetz:



I gave Mason a tin to collect 'goodies' in the woods and he found this:




Isn't that cool looking?? It looks like a baby Flamingo hatching!! Pretty cool!

And finally, I have been wanting to get a picture of this street sign for awhile now, but apparently someone else wanted the actual street sign because it was down for a long time, and then a new one popped up. So, I thought I'd get a picture before someone else "takes" it:

Ahhh, some free time!

What very little I have has been replaced with Ice Road Truckers and texting! I love, love, love my new phone and the ability to text is AMAZING! I never saw the big deal in it, until I actually got it. So, by switching cell phone plans, I'm saving money and getting extra, can't beat that! I am determined to stick to a budget next month, I am a huge Dave Ramsey fan, so I decided to write up a budget for October. I can't wait for the bills to pour in!! Sounds strange, doesn't it?? Everything is working on paper, so lets see how it goes in real life. I think my biggest problem is going to be the grocery store, I am a foodie, and therefore like to try new things, most of which are not on the cheap side. But I am determined to work this through, get my life on a plan and live debt-free! I know it will take a few months to actually get the budget working perfectly, but this is a start. I have never been good at managing money, so I have the time and patience now, so I plan to stick with it. Plus, I forgot how fun coupon clipping can be, the thrill of the bargain is always worth the time of searching for deals. So, that's all I've got for this post, how exciting was this??

[lAzY sATuRdAy]

As I lay on the couch watching nature shows, I thought I'd get these pictures out from the football bonfire that was held for all the football teams on Thursday night:



Me and Mason:

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It was a beautiful night, cool and clear and the fire was HOT!! Mason has his first football game on Sunday--Can.Not.Wait!! I'll share pictures later!

Comfort In A Bowl

I stopped into Weis Market on Saturday to pick up a few limes and they have a free magazine with all kinds of goodies (and coupons) inside. I came home and read it and it had a recipe for Potato Soup. Nothing new, but it sounded sooooo good for these chilly days we have been having! I, of course, could not follow the recipe to a T because it called for chicken broth and bacon. Problem solved: Veggie Broth and Facon to the rescue! I had no idea how simple it really was to make this. I did add one more twist, instead of getting potatoes and baking them, I had a half a bag of hashbrowns in the freezer--Genius! It worked fantastic, tasted amazing and now have enough leftover for another bowl for tomorrow night. I paired it with a warm, crusty roll, yummy! Adding a can of corn would really add pizazz, also!



I've got a sick kid on my hands. It never fails, as soon as all the kids go back to school EVERYONE gets sick! He has weigh-ins tomorrow for football and I am sweating it. I don't think he's going to make the cut off weight limit. I've been feeding him low-fat chicken noodle soup all day and pumping him full of water, for two reasons.

1. I know both of those will help with his cold.
2. I know both of those will shed water weight!

Keeping my fingers crossed, I don't want him to sit the bench for the whole season. Well, I have to pack lunches, it has been nice enjoying a 3 day weekend, but back to the regular routine.....

Note To Self:

DO NOT BUY A CHEAP BLENDER. Shall I explain? Mason was not going to be with me this particular Saturday evening, so I decided I wanted to make some frozen margaritas. So, I pick up a blender at Walmart and since I had other things to buy, I thought I'd go cheap on the blender to balance the final bill. Well, well, well. I won't make that mistake again! Picture this: Quiet, a horror movie all ready to be watched, triscuits with olive dip in a bowl, the couch is piled high with blankets to snuggle in, did I mention "Quiet"? Then I poured the margarita mix into the blender and followed all the steps that ensured I would be enjoying this adult beverage within minutes, got the salt rimmed glass all ready to go, I place the ice into the blender......

DEAD. Motor burned. No margarita.



Oh well, so the lesson is to never buy a cheap blender. I guess I will be going smoothie-free also for a little longer. On the same note, I had to say my final goodbyes to a very dear friend. One that goes by the name of C.I. Skillet. I wept a tear and tried to save her life, but it was too late. Let me back up a little. While my life was plummeting into the depths of hell at full speed (a little dramatic, eh?) I had made my famous mushroom bake one last time. I baked it with love, like usual, and when dinner was over, I placed it in the sink to soak for only 20 minutes before I was going to hand wash it. 20 minutes, 5 days what's the difference? I did not forget about her, I just couldn't bring myself to look at the remains of what was a meal that was requested often by a person who remains nameless. He had left and all I had was dirty dishes. I tried to scrub, soak and beg that wonderful baking friend, but at last, I had to part ways. So, until we meet again, Ms. Skillet, it was great knowing ya.

I went to Panera last weekend with Lee Ann and we had a fabulous time! Talking, food, drinks, it was just great to get out of the house and relax. While I was there, I tried the veggie sandwich for the first time ever! SO good. So good, in fact I decided to re-create it at home:



Hummus spread, sliced cucumbers, roasted red peppers, thinly sliced red onion all stacked up on tomato basil bread. Need I say more??

Football is in full force:




I don't think Mason is into it like he has been in past years, but that is to be expected, I guess because he has a lot of memories attached to football season.

Some random pictures that I took:

A beautiful flower:


Mushrooms growing along a tree:


Mason enjoying a slushie:


That's All, Folk's!

Let Them Eat Cake....

So, I really wanted to get a blog posted last night after the "Enforced Bed Time" kicked in, but I was enjoying the "me" time all too much to pry myself off the couch and stop watching 'Hoarders'. So, hopefully this week in between school lunch packing, homework-checking, football practice running, tear-wiping, dinner time eating and "make sure you scrub behind your ears" time I will be able to post some nice pictures for you all to enjoy! So in the mean time, enjoy these "I'm-oh-so-jealous I can't make these cakes" cakes:






Ahhh-mazing!!