Yakiddy Yak Yak

Making progress, this is what it looks like come and see!

2009-06-10T14:25:00.000-07:00

Hello!!!

To all of my Blogging Buddy's

out there in Blogland!!!

Oh how I have missed you all so! This girl has been very busy working on so many projects at once, and still being Mom/Grammy too. I just had to take a lil brake from blogging to keep up. Let me show you just a bit of what I have been up to...

Some of my fabric stash organized in some fantastic cubby shelf's I got from my daughter's work-they are remodeling-score!
That is an antique buffet that the shelf's are sitting on-gorgeous I know! That buffet actually belongs to my daughter who is kind enough to let me use it.

Soon I hope to have my studio set up. Decided it will be best to set up in the garage. Since the cabinet is so big and hard to move. I will just have to take over 3/4 of the garage-oh well!

Still waiting on the "Big Project" to be completed. But we have also made progress there as well. The bottom half of the unit is done with it's final coat of clear. Still need to finish the inside of this one there in the center.

Take a closer look...

The photo is not the best quality-sorry but the lighting in the garage is so bad that was the best I could do. I will have better light once everything is done. In the next photo you can see how pretty the finished wood looks-soooo worth the time it is taking.

Hopefully this weekend the Old man Pop Pop will get the upper unit with at least one clear coat-UGH that man is sooo slow! It is painful waiting. I have done everything I can do to help-now it is all up to him to get 'er done! LoL!

I have also been keeping up on gardening. Flowers in my front yard ( will get photos of that posted later)and a nice size veggi garden in my side yard. Come along and see we had some fun with it...

OOP Mister scarecrow not appropriate behavior!

LoL!

But look at my nice neat rows...

We have garlic, onions, cilantro, radishes,carrots,

a few heads of cabbage, broccoli, tomatoes, Corn,

string beans, zucchini squash, and pumpkin.

And other Herbs growing in a half wine barrel on the deck.

Here is the string beans coming along nicely...

Once the string beans grow up enough

I will secure them to the Tee-Pee structure.

Then lil Emily jean can go sit in there and pretend.

The next shot is of one of the five pumpkin plants we have started...

And LOOK My broccoli has cute little baby broccoli heads starting!

Yea! I'm so darn excited!!!

Here is just one of the many tomato plants. We have different varieties growing. I think this one is the sweet cherry tomatoes -no blossoms yet though...

Cilantro-YUM!

We eat Mexican food a lot at our house

and enjoy Cilantro in the dishes!

Just another view, at dusk...

I have also refinished six kitchen chairs which I did not post a photo of. But I plan on doing a little mini make over in my kitchen -so you will see those then along

with other shots of the kitchen then.

I have enjoyed countless hours of fun in my gardens.

Also down time on the deck and patio enjoying

the gorgeous weather we have had.

I hope all of you are having a wonderful summer too!

I will be getting around to say hello and visit your blogs.

A special thank you goes out to

Elyse of http://tinkeredtreasures.blogspot.com/

for leaving me a sweet well wishing msg. wondering where I was. Thank you for thinking about me girl! That got me to snap out of my stuck mode and get a new blog posted!

I will try to be better about staying on

blogging track my dear friends!

Take care enjoy life-looking forward to hearing from you all!

Sweet Summer Time Bloggy Love,

Tam :)

L@@K what I won~ I am so excited to show you!

2009-04-27T11:57:00.000-07:00

Hello Ole Blogging Buddy's!

I was lucky enough to WIN a absolutely darling little gardening apron from Pat over at The Sewing Room!!! She is an amzing seamstress and crafty gal!

You all should pop over and visit her blog-give her a BiG HeLLo and tell her Tam sent ya! She is one of the sweetest bloggers, I have been enjoying getting to know through her blog, and I know you will too!

click on this link--->

http://babysewandsews.blogspot.com/

Folks just l@@k at how darling this little apron is...

And Emily Jean was so excited to wear it.

She calls it her "Sunshine Garden Apron"

How cute is that? I know!

I was thrilled to see her so happy!

I had to use my Blackberry to take the photos so they came out a little bit dark.

Emily Jean loves big pockets~LoL!

I am sure that pocket is going to get a lot of use!

And look a big surprise in our package

~a yummy chocolate bunny! M-M-M!

Do you think that poor bunny knows

whats about to happen to him?

LoL!

It was delicious!

Thank You so much Pat

it was a really fun give away to win!

Emily Jean has been enjoying using her apron and

we all shared that yummy bunny.

***

Last weekend we went up to

the Skagit Valley Tulip festival.

What a great time we had and it was a gorgeous day!

I did a post with photos on my http://applecreekcottage.blogspot.com/

S00o please hop on over and check it out kids.

I hope you all have a fabulous week!

***

Much Bloggy Love 2 Ya~Tam! :D

Count Your Blessings...

2009-04-17T21:40:00.000-07:00

This beautiful sky was a blessing counted today, one of many.

It was one of those magical days. I sat on my deck watching my granddaughter play. As the clouds rolled by, and a cool breeze brushed my face, and the wind chimes clinked, I was very grateful. I have learned to truly appreciate even the smallest things in life. Like hearing the birds sing and my granddaughter's giggle. The grass has such a lovely shade of brightness, newness, baby grassiness right now. Today I remembered how that felt to me when I was a little girl, and it made me smile.

Although the sun was shinning there was still a bit of a nip in the air, but I didn't mind that at all. I rather enjoyed taking it all in, feeling all of my senses heightened. I was feeling my ole bones after working so hard in the yard yesterday.

So this was a sweet reward.

Even the garden gnome was happy!
Yesterday my hubby worked on my "big project" a little more. Slowly but surely we are getting it done. I think the closer we get to having it finished the harder it gets to be patient and wait. He didn't get to work on it this week as much as planned. The weather was perfect but there was so much running around playing taxi for the kids. I try to remind myself, that too is a blessing to be counted. Someday they won't need us as much and we will probably be wishing we could go back in time.

I already miss being a mom of very young kids.

Seems like just yesterday.

My granddaughter helps to fill that void!

My computer was finally re-formatted and seems to be over it's problems, (another blessing thank You Cotye). Fingers crossed it will last! I had been borrowing my daughter's lap top to be able to jump online here and there. I am so happy to have my computer running again. Now I just have to get all of my software for photoshop, etc. reloaded and I will be good to go!

This sweet bird decided to come pay us a visit yesterday. I was very surprised because there were five of us outside gathered around when he decided to show up. He fluttered past several times even stopping on the feeder for just a second. Then he would quickly fly away again. Finally he must have realized we were not a threat or he was just too darn hungry. But he finally sat for a minute or two eating, taking time to gaze at me. Isn't he so cute? I know I thought so too! We all stood as quiet as we could, I fumbled for my Blackberry.

I thought he was so sweet and it was the highlight of my day!

The feeder hangs right outside of the kitchen window and getting a glimpse of visitors like this little guy makes doing the dishes much easier.

We do have two cats but they luckily missed the show!

The photo's are not very good I kind of moved a little, and they don't do this handsome bird justice. I tried not to move, but oh well. Plus they are taken with my Blackberry because I have no camera for myself right now and didn't want to borrow my son's. Seems like everything decided to breakdown at the same time! Once in a while the photo's actually come out pretty good with my Blackberry though.

I didn't get to surf the free bee's on Craigslist this week-maybe I can get to them next week. It is pretty fun to do~ So keep an eye open for that all you Free Friday lovers! LoL!

And now that my computer has regained it's senses I might actually be able to get back to regular posting?

Gosh I certainly hope so anyway!

My husband is finally feeling much better! Thank you to all of you well wishers! After having some more test done he has been given a clean bill of health. Yay!

He had given us quite the scare there for a while. Old man Pop Pop has been off all this week. I have had breakfast in bed everyday! And Lil Emily has been spoiled rotten as well~ LoL! Retraining for her will begin next week ;)~LoL!

Things are finally getting back to normal around our house.

That does mean a steady stream of craziness-but that's just how it is for our family.

Funny how sometimes I can get bored with the same ole same ole. And then when an interruption does come along I catch myself wishing for that same ole same ole!

I have been enjoying making connections with old friends on facebook here as of late.

And also with some of my blogging buddies~ Thank you to those who added me to their friends list!

It is not at all like blogging and takes some getting used to. Blogging is a whole other world~isn't it?

I am dreaming of summer days, Emily running through the sprinkler, barbeque's, kite flying, reaping the benefits of hard work in the garden, the smell of fresh cut grass, picnics, cold drinks, Popsicle kisses,and the sun setting late

~how about you all?
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Stop to enjoy the simple things in life and count your blessings!

~Hugs & Smiles~

Tam :)

Nothing but classs...You know You Want it!

2009-04-03T16:27:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon Kids, and welcome to another fun filled edition of

"Free Friday!"

Take a seat, grab a snack and a cool drink

~lets get started!

Remember this all comes off of the "Craigslist Free adds"

The add reads:

This chair is nothing but class. Gold/orange/yellow striped. Rocking, swirling, moves whichever way you want it to! I love this chair and you will too

Nooope pretty sure I won't! Ha!

Remember the movie "Animal House"?

Add:

Free couch. Its ugly but a really nice couch. Nothing a nice blanket can't fix. Not worn down at all.(lol get a clue!)Looks like a cat got at it on the left side a little but its not bad at all. I don't have a cat. So maybe a hungry roommate.

(a scary thought!)

First come first served. Will not hold it for anyone. I'll take the post down when it's gone.

Huh? What? You mean it when you say you wont hold it for anyone? Darn!

The next couch didn't have anything written about it. But I think the photo says it all?

I was imagining the furniture store might have been called

"Frank's Funky Town Fine Furniture."

I do think if you wear your 3~D glasses it could even be a spiritual experience! LoL!

Pure elegance huh? :)

Ummm are these people trying to hide something or

are they just very messy?

And there is something sticking out under the middle cushion!

Holy crap Batman maybe there is a dead body hidden in there-

That's it now I am frightened!

And then we have this one-

such cleaver selling points don't you think?

‘50s Early American Kitsch sofa. Cute & Comfortable Perfect for Apartment

~Or just a suggestion...the dump!

For our last couch for the day...
Free Comfy Couch... quality made, good condition, solid wood ends with horse and barn theme upholstery. Colors are cream, rust, orange and brown.

OOO Baby they got me considering it for a second with the barn theme!

Hmmm what can I say about the next one???

Someone was banking on the word "free" of wiping out any ability for a person to comprehend that this one is broken!

Add:

This does not work. It broke down making a humming noise about 2 years ago. I thought I'd take it apart to see if it was something I could fix but I realize that is a task I will never get to. We took off a small plastic tab (thing) on the bottom of the metal filter to fix my parents' ionic breeze so that part is missing. It's free.

I am so glad they clarified what the plastic tab was! LoL!

Need some wheels??? Handy with the tools?

Got a reallll bargain here for ya-hey it's "free!"

And if that didn't excite ya well girls hold onto your skirts-

this one will! Not! LoL! Notice the size of this thing...

This add is priceless:

The wife says either this goes or I do. Today. First come first served.

I have just a few questions for ya fella...

A. Did your wife know you had this in your garage before she married you?

B. Can the marriage be annulled?

C. Did you mean it when you said this deal was just for today?

Dang! Now you know it is going to be a man who wants this life size Captain Kirk-I would love to be the fly on the wall listening to that guys wife when she sees it for the first time! LoL!

I hope you all enjoyed this weeks edition of "Free Friday"!

Have an awesome weekend Blogging Buddy's

~Beam Me uP Scotty!~

~Tam!~

FREE Friday!!!

2009-03-20T14:53:00.000-07:00

You all know how much I love a bargain.

And I did find my wonderful FREE "Big Project" antique oak cabinets on craigslist.

That was a terrific freak of a find! LoL!

So ever since I have been surfin craigslist in hopes of another great find if you will. (Hey it could happen!)Well that has turned into something my husband and I get a kick out of doing and has become a silly form of entertainment for us. Lol~Yes I know we have way too much time and need a new hobby!

Here is how we play the game come along with me to see some of the "FREE" finds on craigslist for this week.

As we are scrolling through the listings every time we see a free couch we look at the picture.

The idea is to find the ugliest couch listed. You heard it right! Trust me it can be quiet funny at times. Some of the other things listed are a crack up too. You just wouldn't believe what people will put on there. Lets get started shall we...

Look at this beauty, and this is the best of the bunch!

And if your decorating taste is

GrOOvy GraNNy

here's the perfect couch for you...

And this is what the listing for the next one said...

FREE grey couch. Well loved but still very comfortable. Has a small hole in the cushion cover and a big burn mark on the arm, but it is FREE for pick up!!!!

Can you just imagine yourself relaxing

in this sweet baby...

(Don't mind the stains, BO and um use you imagination smells)

*GaG*

And my favorite FREE couch, drum roll please...

Yea you know you were totally diggin on that orange velvet dream!

And lets take a look at some sweet freebies other then the couches...

Upholstered swivel rocker. Needs a good cleaning. Ugly, but comfortable! At least 30 years old. FREE!!!!!!!

("free" makes any ugliness not matter~Right?)

I actually didn't think that chair was the worst

I've seen posted but,

I just love how they listed it!

This next listing I found interesting...

We have quite a few free snails. They are smaller in size but grow rather quickly so we have more than we need. Please email if you can pick up this weekend and are interested. Thank you.

Aren't we usually trying to get rid of snails?

Okay and here's a real humdinger...

I am leaving this in our driveway in front of the garage door. I will delete the posting as soon as I notice that it is gone.

What The???

I think that posting is gonna be there for a while-what do you think?

I mean come on people have just a teeny tiny bit of pride would ya?
Here's another fun one...

Picture says it all. First come, first served.

Awww yea they got that right! LoL!

I have two more for ya, and the next one~well I will let you be the judge of this listing...

free good shape-

(Okay but ummm what is it?

And how do I know I want it if I can't tell what it is?)

That last one had ya stumped huh? Me too!

This next one, my last one for today just takes the icing off the cake!

...
I must have been tanked, but I lost the left shoe somehow, somewhere. Anyone interested in just the right K-Swiss Classic Black. Find a use!

(Dude~like hey man what size is it?)

Don't bother to rub your eyes or blink~

you saw it right!

Listen pal if you are drinkin that much maybe best to go barefoot next time or stay home! LOL!

I hope you had as much fun as I did? I have wanted to do a post on this for a while now. So if it is popular enough I may continue to do a FREE Friday post again. Probably not every Friday, nope just when the urge hits me!

Have a HAPPY,

Fun filled, Sun shinny, Glamorous weekend kids!

~Much Bloggy Love, Tam! :D

Wishin you all The Luck of the Irish Today!

2009-03-16T21:19:00.000-07:00

Good Morning fellow blogger's-it's been too long hasn't it?

I couldn't let another day slip by without popping in for a visit!I hope you are all wearing 'O bit of green today hhhmm? I wouldn't want you to get pinched!I am lucky I have green eyes so I never have to worry about wearing green or getting pinched.

Last week was a busy one. I celebrated my 48th birthday-Yikes-two years until 50! LoL! Amber made me a yummy lemon strawberry cake. I tried to tell them not to load my cake up with candles-but oooh no they did it anyhow! LoL! Luckily the house didn't catch on fire and burn down! There was some of those funny candles that you can't blow out-silly kids! Little Emily did her best to help Grammy blow her inferno I mean candles out! It was fun!

Old man Pop Pop is still hurting trying to recover from his surgery. He really is taking longer then I expected to be feeling better :( Tomorrow he has an appointment with the surgeon for his post op check up. We will see what the doc. says.

Thank you to those that commented on my last post and gave me words of wisdom and encouragement. I got a kick out of some of your comments girls! LoL! I am probably going to go to my reunion.There are a lot of people I would like to see, and it just might be a blast?A date for late October has been set, a Friday night at a bar, Sat. night is a formal event at the Pasadena Hilton, and Sunday a picnic. (Don't know that I will go to all three or not?) Which is good that it is not until October that gives me time to plan and get the nerve up to go -ha! I have been playing on facebook a lot lately -that is where everyone is hooking up for the reunion. Posted a bunch of pics on it last week. I had started my profile there over a year ago when my daughter talked me into it. Never did get into it until recently. So kids if you are into facebook and want to add me, you can click here---->http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/profile.php?id=1013506963&ref=profile I am still trying to figure out how to use that site, it is very different. I think it would be fun to have my blogging buddies that do FB on my friends list too! Abbie from vintage moth, and Cheryl from blueberry buttons are on my friends list already.

April is the tulip festival just a little north of us here. Every year I swear we are going to go but something always comes up-this year we are going absolutely 100% for sure! I will have a way to photograph that by then. I can't wait to go! And I am excited to share it with all of you so keep your eyes open for that!

Okay so who has been watching American Idol? I have-LoL-I admit it! Who is your fav tell me? I think I have mine picked but after this week I will know for sure. I think it is good that they changed the rules up a bit with the judges having a one time "save". Adds to the drama of it all.

I hope you are all having a wonderful week!

And...May the Luck of the Irish be with ya!

~Smiles & Hugs~Tam! :D

HOOOKAY SO To Go or Not to Go THAT is the question?

2009-03-09T21:36:00.000-07:00

Well my camera is broke, and that doesn't make me very happy. My computer somehow has lost a ton of photos-more panic! And... my computer is not acting right, making it hard to type-crap! So this ole blogger is very frustrated and can't post whats she wants to! :(

Seriously? Come on universe give me a freakin break would ya?!?!

I was thinking that since I can't post photos that I wanted to then I would scan something. Well yep you guessed it-cant find what I was going to scan! It was a couple of old school news papers from my high school days. I know they are here somewhere and will get them scanned and posted when they re-appear! LoL for cryin out loud!

Seems there is something in the sun, moon and stars that is bringing on this twilight zone activity? Here it is March and we have had some gorgeous weather until yesterday when an Arctic storm blew in and it snowed AgAiN! UGGGH! We may get between one and four inches tonight. Now I love it when it snows but there should be a limit to which mother nature is allowed to torture me!

Word Up Mother Nature, It Is Time For SPRING-sheesh!

Bring on some sunshine and please let it stay a while

so my tiny little soul can be happy.

I have been working on some sewing projects, and having fun. I just can't take photos of them right now to share. I should have a couple of pics on my computer of two of them-if I can find those pics ever again!

The hubby is slowly and I mean slowly recovering. He has had a bit of a tough time, which is to be expected. With him not feeling up to par and the weather not cooperating I have not been able to work on my "Big Project" darn it! I don't think it will ever get done and it is driving me a little nuuutss! And yet we are so close.

To top things off my 30 year (yes it has been that long) high school reunion is coming up-UGH! Can I just moan that one out one more time-Double*UUGGHH*! I couldn't post my senior photo because it was one of the ones that went poof off of my computer. So I found this one, I was 17 and it was my senior year-so there ya have it.
I think I am about to have a severe mid life crisis right here right now! LoL! I have friends asking me if I'm going to this reunion and I can't make my mind up. First of all the people there at these things all just get drunk and act stupid-I don't drink! I went to the 10 year but not the 20. It was uncomfortable, and somewhat fun-mostly uncomfortable.
You would think I committed a crime for Pete's sake! Yes there are people I would like to see. But it is almost as painful at times as it was to be the tall gawky pimple faced girl with little boobs I was back in the day! Okay I did have a decent body and so wish I could be 36", 24", 36" again! But You Know what I mean? Yea I had a ton of friends and there were good times, in fact some great times, but it is still awkward for me. I don't know why that is? It's like I want to go but then again I don't. So silly I know, and the anxiety is ridicules! It could be fun? Right? Oh I just don't know!
They don't even have solid plans made yet-except that they are going to have a combined reunion for '78, '79' and '80 (later this year August or September). I'm not real hep to that combined idea-but whatever. Although I do have some great best friends from '78 that would be fun to see. There is talk of a three day event. Yea I know! Leave it to the class that closed the doors on the '70s to think that one up! LoL! What on earth would we all do for three days anyway? If it is a formal then I will have to get the perfect fitting dress and new heals which means wearing panty hose, probably control top too! LOL! And... with heals depending on the heal I will be at least 6' 3-4" because of course I will have to wear a pair of totally hot shoes to go with the perfect gosh darn dress! Then there will be accessorizing going on to boot-like I said before-UUGGHH! Okay maybe it's not as big a deal as I'm makin it out to be? But hey I am Peri-menopausal, and middle aged I am entitled to a mid life freakin break down aren't I? Or at the very least a little fitt?

So alright kids I need a pep talk here. What has your experiences been like in this area of life and give this girl a bit of help-tell me what you think??? Hope you are all having a wonderful week and... I do hope the strange twilight fever won't get you and your computer like it did mine!
I will try to get around to all my sweet blogging buddies to say Hello-sorry it has been so long- I got sucked up in some kind of time warp! LoL!

Keep on Blogging You Groovy Kids!

~Smiles~Tam!

Thank You Friends!

2009-02-27T22:10:00.000-08:00

Hello and

a Big Thank You

to all of my sweet blogging buddies for your kind words, thoughts and prayers for my hubby!

He is home and doing just fine~Yay it's over! The surgery went very well, with no complications. However afterwards because of the pain he was in they had given him so so much pain medication he was not breathing properly and getting high enough oxygen levels. So he had to stay for a while longer on oxygen until he could come out of the medications and anesthesia. That poor guy was really out of it! He literally would not take a breath in and fall asleep, then the alarm would go off on the machine!
So Amber and I would keep reminding him to breath.

I couldn't help myself while he was all gaga on meds-I was naughty and just had to tease him a little-it was great fun! LoL! I won't say some of the silly things we were telling him, Amber and I, but I will tell you his responses were funny as heck! One thing I thought would be a crack up was to draw a goofy face on his belly while he was out of it and take a photo. But I forgot to bring a felt pen with me~LoL! I know devilish!
We are always finding ways to have fun and play practical jokes on each other in our house. I did take some photos of him out of it in his little cap and gown. Oh please don't worry I will spare you all that goriness! LoL! I will save that for some kind of bribery~ Heehee!
I was up at 4:30 am (neither one of us slept much last night) he had to be at the hospital by 5:20am and in for surgery at 7:30 am. The surgery was done by 8:45 am which was great. But it took until 1:30pm to get him okay enough to take home. So we finally did get him home and comfortable, fed him jello and my homemade chicken soup the wonder cure. He was a happy camper~mission accomplished!
I absolutely crashed and burned around 6pm, I was so exhausted myself! I was very lucky that my sweet daughter was able to have the day off to help~thanks Amber! It would have been hard to go it alone.
I do not however see how this man is going to be well enough to go back to work on Tuesday!!! He is such a stubborn man I swear!
I expect he is going to hurt a lot more tomorrow, but have no fear this girl is all geared up for a long weekend! LoL! I am hoping to be able to get a little blogging time in and sewing of course.

So I will be visiting all of you wonderful friends in blogland~Look out here I come~LoL!

And...

here's wishing you all sunshine and happy days~

See ya around~Tam!

I'm Not AWOL or MIA ~really...

2009-02-25T22:53:00.000-08:00

The old guy of the house has been very sick and in a lot of pain. He goes into the hospital Friday morning to have surgery to remove his gallbladder and repair a hernia. So I haven't been blogging like usual-been hit and miss. Although I have been trying to visit all of my usual blogging buddy's I jump on but I never seem to get enough time to play online like I usually do and have missed some of you. You know how these old guys are, just little boys in bigger bodies! LoL! I have been having to baby him quite a bit. I always have said he is my fourth child. ;)

So please forgive me for not hangin out and being my usual self. I am not used to him being sick. He is suppose to go home the same day as the surgery as long as everything goes well. I am sure it will and he will be just fine. He should be able to go back to work next week sometime. So I will see ya all around whenever I can jump on. Hopefully everything will be back to normal sometime next week?

I hope you are all healthy happy and having a wonderful week!

I look forward to visiting with you all real soon~Take care all of You Cool Blogging Buddy's!

~HUGS & Smiles~

Tam

:0D

My LiL Weekend Adventure!

2009-02-16T18:29:00.001-08:00

Look at this absolutely gorgeous day!!!

Our little adventure consisted of throwing the family including the dog, into the suburban and driving down to one of my dear friends home.

She lives just a short 7 miles from this tasty beach

on the central Oregon coast!

It was a five and a half hour drive from our house

~not too bad and well worth it.

******

This was Valentines day-I was wishing for a perfectly wonderful sunny day like this

-and I got my wish!

How cool is this? Yea I know! So just scroll down and enjoy...

I mean does it get any better then this...

Our Aussie dog Buddy even had a blast playing on the beach.

That's him with our eldest son.

We also went for a site seeing drive through the bay front.

This is the Newport bridge...

Pretty cool bridge~huh?

I don't know the people in the photo

they just happened to be in our shot.

The sky was sooo blue with the most perfect fluffy white clouds!

Crab pots...

I totally dig on the pine trees by the sea!

Ohhh yea look at that!

And many treasures were found...

Emily Jean said " I Love The Ocean!"

Buddy Dog was a very good little traveler...

This was the amazing view from our dear friends house.

We got to stay in a darling apartment at their house with this view.

Thanks Ted and Barb~You guys RoCk!

This is a photo of (from left to right)

Ted, Barb, my hubby Gene (Pop Pop), Me (Grammy), daughter Amber holding granddaughter Emily Jean, youngest son Jared and of course Buddy the dog :D

Our eldest son was taking this photo so he didn't make the shot.

We will get you next time Cotye! LoL!

Barb is my friend, I have mentioned before, that I grew up with.
We became best friends when we were six years old, and
Barb is a very talented girl! She plays several instruments and was even a drummer in a all girls rock band ("The California Girls")

that toured all over the world!

She was the house drummer for another band in

L.A. for many years too (Snotty Scotty and the Hankies).

Anyone who is anyone in L.A. knows who I am talking about!

She still plays Vibes and sings at events around where she lives.

Although Barb lives a much more simple life now with

her wonderful hubby Ted.

What a darling and very blessed couple they are!

*******

Barb has a very cool blog I know some of you have found

and are familiar with.

She draws an illustration (Mr. and Mrs. Slug and friends) on a napkin everyday for her husband to pop in with his lunch.

He has saved many of them and some date back three years!

The story has evolved over the years

into a very believable fun cast of characters.

I think it should be published-

It would make a ubber cool coffee table book!

So go on over to her blog and say hello.

http://babbler-slimyslugfriends.blogspot.com/

It is a very fun little story to follow,

and what an interesting way that it has come about!

******

We are very lucky to have such wonderful and fun friends, and

we had a great time visiting them this weekend.

Barb's Mom Gail was there visiting and

I was so happy to get to spend a little time with her too!

***

Family+Dear Friends

+ A Sunshiny Day on the Beach=Priceless!

Thanks again Ted and Barb!

Bunches of Groovy Love~Tam!

I Heart YOU!!!

2009-02-13T21:58:00.001-08:00

Yep I do~ I heart all of You wonderful folks out there in blogland! I am very thankful for the friendships that I have had the pleasure of making here via cyber space :P

And...

I hope you all have a

~SmOkin HoT~

HaPPy VaLeNtInEs DaY!

Do something you love kids!

I am off on an adventure this weekend,

Aaa~huh~it's gonna be good,

I will try to remember to take photos to share.

Also... I will be bringing my laptop so I may plug in?

Catch up with you all very soon~Tam :D

ABC "In The Motherhood" TV show update!

2009-02-11T20:07:00.000-08:00

Hi blogger buddy's!
What is so funny is I rarely watch ABC so I didn't see the commercials for the TV show. And they have not sent me any emails telling me that the show is going to air. Thankfully my sweet blogger buddy Valerie at http://valeriegail.blogspot.com/ told me that they were running commercials about the new show! Thanks Valerie!
So I went on ABC.com and sure enough there it was~"In The Motherhood" premiers Thursday March 26th 8/7c !!! YEAH! I still don't know when they will air the show with my story that they bought. But I know I will definitely watch ABC more often now!!! LoL! So if you are curious about the show just go to this link http://itm.abc.go.com/ It is such a funny show I am going to like it, and I think you would too!
The cool thing about this show is they are going to continue the same format as the web series. Megan Mullally from "Will and Grace" is one of the lead stars of the show~how freakin cool is that~she is so darn funny!
Mom's write in and share their stories, and then if you are very lucky your story may actually end up being used for the show! How wonderful is that? Yea I know! So girls get on over there and write in those funny mom stories!
I hope you all have been having a wonderful week! I will be back soon with a new post`and I will try to make it fun and fresh! LoL!
~HUGS~&~SMILES~Tam!

Hey ~Lets do some catching up!

2009-02-08T22:04:00.001-08:00

Oh ~well hello strangers~LoL! I know my sweet blogger's it has been way too long since I have posted on this blog. Sooo lets get rockin shall we?

OOO Yeah look at those gorgeous brass handles on the drawers of my

"Big Project"!

Those are the original brass handles that were on my big green monster when I picked it up. I am not going to risk loosing the wonderful patina by cleaning them. I think they look terrific just how they are!

And Oh for crying out loud how absolutely outrageously beautiful is that wood grain???

My hubby did a great job with them hasn't he?

Did you see that "tiger" effect? Me too-sooo awesome! If you love old furniture the way I do then I know you appreciate this! Well it has been a looong time waiting to finish this sweet piece of wood! And kids darn it I will still be waiting a little bit longer too! The bottom was almost completely stained this weekend. The drawers were done being stained and got their coats of clear coat, which brings out the grain so nicely don't you think? At least we are making some progress. The weather did warm up a little bit so we were able to get more done. Maybe someday it will actually all be done and put back together...hhhmmm...a girl can only dream at this point!
Check out this next photo. It is three silly girls getting ready for day number two of a girl's day out! Or I should say weekend out! We had a blast together this weekend! Yesterday we hit the salon and got pampered. Didn't take any photo's there ~sorry~I was relaxing!

Amber's head in the photo, it looks like I'm given the bird-

but I swear I wasn't ~LoL! It was the peace sign~really!

You can tell I am tired but I was excited to spend time with my girls!

We were all pretty excited to get out and play today!

Look at those fabulous toes! Mine has the hearts on them.

Picked up some fabric for Emily Jean's spring coat.

And some terri cloth and fabric for trim to make some towels,

and wash cloths for a new baby boy.

The baby shower is Tuesday which means I have only tomorrow to make the gift. No pressure right? LoL~Thanks Amber!

Isn't this elephant and heart fabric so cute-

they will become PJ's for Emily Jean.

We also went to a thrift store treasure hunting. Look what we found...

A really cute box to put trims and such.

It will sit on a shelf of my "big project"

once it is finished and my studio area is set up.

And the next photo is a ceramic cup with the cutest little rooster inside.

Being that I love roosters it was a must have! LoL!

And then there was the perfect lampshade

for one of my favorite old lamps

that my dear grandmother gave me.

Amber spotted this little gem, a silver jewelry box.

We had a great time finding our little treasures.

Oh and my gosh look at this sweet rocking chair that is perfect for our Little Emily Jean!

We found it at Joann's at a very reasonable price! I will have to sew a darling little cushion for it, and possibly a coat of paint too.

We have been looking for the perfect little rocker for sometime now.

I will soon be having a give away on my other blog http://applecreekcottage.blogspot.com

So keep a look out for that! I will also announce it here as well.

Wishing all of my friends in blogland a wonderful week!

Blog on~Smiles~Tam!

What can I say?

2009-01-28T02:04:00.000-08:00

Hi The following photo is just a teaser pic from http://applecreekcottage.blogspot.com

But WAIT first Just scroll down for the rest of my fun post for today...

I have been tagged by two of my very sweet new blogging buddy's "Candy" over at http://rockcandy56.blogspot.com/

And Phyllis at http://mycrumbsofhappiness.blogspot.com/

I suggest you go over and visit their blogs.

Candy and Phyllis are such nice gals with pretty cool blogs! I think these tagging's are a fun way to get to know blogger's -don't you? Thank you for thinking of me Candy and Phyllis!

Candy and Phyllis actually follow my other blog at http://applecreekcottage.blogspot.com

But I have been posting over there a lot lately, you really should if you haven't already-check out what I have been crafting(got my dolls done and posted).

So I decided I would put this on a post over here and share in the love! Hope that's okay Candy an d Phyllis?

Here are the rules:

1. Link to the person that tagged you & post the rules on your blog

.2. Share 7 random/or weird facts about yourself.

3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post & include links to their blogs.

4. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

1. I wish I could sing-well I try and I'm that mom singing in the car on my way to somewhere!
I not only singing in the car but I will fake like I have a mic and try to get my kids to join in. I usually win since I won't give up until they do! It is so funny I love to do that to them! I think they actually secretively love it! :) I do sing in public I do it at church along with everyone else.

2. One of my hobbies I really enjoy is genealogy. I found out I am related to the Bushes, Elvis, my great grandmother is President Eisenhower's mother. Yep it's true my grandmother on my fathers(dad's mom) side her dad is Dwight's brother! Did I lose ya on that one? I have lots of other presidents, kings, queens, etc in my lineage. My husband says that's why I am a royal pain in the butt! LoL! Right now I am stuck on a couple of names-but I will get past that eventually! One some lines I have gotten pretty far back-I am amazed!

I have eased up as of late and need to get back to my research though. I have been crafting and blogging a lot with my me time.

3. I love the study of ancient man, I'd rather go to Mexico or Egypt to see the ruins and pyramids then go to Hawaii! Big surprise I know. I watch all of the nerd channels and shows I can regarding this. I also wish I could go on digs whether it be for an ancient city or dinosaurs (yea I dig on paleontology too)-how cool would that be? Except I would have to give up my blow dryer for a bit-could prove to be a huge challenge, not to mention make up would be futile. HHMMM a sacrifice I think I might be able to make?

That brings me to...
4. I hate to leave the house without make up on-in fact I never do! I feel naked without it or like I'm not wearing a bra or something! LoL! Crazy I know but hey I wouldn't want to scare anyone! LOL!

5. I am so afraid to say this one because it may jinx me-

I have never gotten a traffic ticket! I swear it's true hey I can't believe it either-freakin knock on wood! Gotta keep that good vibe goin on this one! My goal is to make it through life without any tickets-do you think I can do it? Probably better start either hitch hiking or taking the bus to increase my chances of making that goal huh?

6. I wish I could be a cop for a day-no more like a week at least-yep gonna need at least a week to clean up! LOL! Can you imagine "ME" a cop-lol! A six foot tall German/Amazon looking blond haired lady cop-I would be going to my Sarge "Sir I am terribly sorry I had to shoot the idiot he really ticked me off!"

7. I really love rock n roll! And I am a Grandmother-how weird and how cool is that? I feel for some reason like that is an oxymoron-LOL! I know! I can remember as a kid with my best friend talking about when we get old (gulp) and become Grandma's we were going to be the coolest old lady's ever. We said -no we swore to each other we were going to wear jeans (check)-go barefoot (check) still listen to rock' n 'roll (check) and be the coolest ever (Double check!) I think my kids could actually verify this one! :) Do you remember that Barb?

Barb and I became best friends when we were six years old and let me tell ya we made plans for our future-it was so funny and now that I look back on it, it's pretty darn cute! But isn't it true Grandma's of the 21st century really are so cool-right? I know-we rock! In fact Barb I hope you Sluggy's over there at Slugs rest (http://babbler-slimyslugfriends.blogspot.com/) will do this tag!!!

Well there ya have it seven more fun facts or randomness about me. Hope you found it interesting and thanks so much for visiting! I am not going to choose a specific seven blogger's instead if you are reading this and would like to participate please do! And let me know so I can read about your randomness!

I promise I really do have a few things I want to do a post about-I have been so short on time and I need to do some scanning and a write up for my next post.

But it will happen so keep this channel on and come back again!

Well kids here it is like 2:30 am and I am blogging-nothing new I know. But I had better hit the hay! I need to rise and shine early for my granddaughter I care for. I have insomnia and sometimes it is tough. I tried sleeping aids -they just kill my day as they don't wear off enough. So I just deal with it. Sometimes it's not so bad. But right now my hubby is away on business and I can't sleep! The crazy thing is I can't sleep when he is home because he snores and I can't sleep when he is gone even more! UUGHH whats a girl to do? Oh I know-blog! LOL!

Please leave me some comments-I love me some comments!

I hope you will play along too!

Have a wonderful Wednesday and I will see ya around Blogland! *HUGS*&*SMILES*~Tam*

Something fun to Yak about...

2009-01-25T18:22:00.000-08:00

"This is an award for being a wonderful Mom
You do fantastic work
Be proud of your accomplishments!"

I received this wonderful award from one of my favorite blogging buddy's Lynnette. She truly does deserve this fine award -she is a terrific mom!

Her daughter is off to collage and I know Lynnette misses her girl very much.

She has a cute photo of her and her daughter when she was just a newborn baby-so cute!

You can visit her here http://lynetteslam.blogspot.com/ Go there and leave her a nice comment!

Thank You so much Lynnette for this special award it means so much to me, and I am honored that you would give it to me!

You all know how much I love and adore my kids, they mean the world to me!

I just can't choose one over another of my Yakkers to pass this award onto.

I know what terrific Mom's you all are, and would like to pass this fine award onto all of my Mommy Yakker's!

So girls please pick up your award and post it with pride on your blog-

you sooo deserve it!

Oh and of course please do pass it onto your sister bloggers!

This weekend has really flown by, and the weather here has been crazy!

Yesterday was sunny, cold but sunny-it was great! Until late in the afternoon it got really, really cold and began to snow-again.

UUGGHH!

It was one of those very deceiving days-where you could look out the window, see sunshine-so much so that it appeared to be much warmer then it was. But once you step outside-bbuuurrrr!

We were cleaning out the garage and trying to get things to the recycle centers and donations dropped off.

Luckily we did get that all done, but the terrible cold weather put a hamper on any work getting done on my "Big Project" again! :( Oh I am so bummed! I am sooo close to having it done that I can't stand it!

So please mother nature if ya could just do this girl a favor and send us some nice weather so I can finish my project??? Please????

And hey all of you out there please send some sunshiny day vibes my way would ya? LoL!

By the way...I made a camera case for my son. It was an easy and fun project, what do you think? Go take a look, leave me a comment

http://applecreekcottage.blogspot.com

I would love to hear from all of ya ~Let me know what you have been up to!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

And that you did something that makes you smile?

To all of my Aussie friends out there-Happy Australian Day!

I am off to visit all of my blogger buddy's out there in blogland

and catch up so see ya around!

~Smiles~Tam!

Easter with a TWIST! And some other chit chat!

2009-01-18T23:47:00.000-08:00

As you can see by my photo up top there I have been busy sewing and crafting! Been having a great time! Come on over to my other blog http://applecreekcottage.blogspot.com and see the challenge I gave myself. I made the Easter basket with a twist and a pretty little bag! See the cute bag in the photo below.

I hope you all are having a wonderful Monday and...

Happy Martain Luther King day! We have come a long way in this country! Watching the shows about happenings of the 1960's really takes me back. It is so strange and makes me feel old. I always use these times as an opportunity to talk to my kids about how grateful they should be for what they have. And I explain how different the world was.

I am so lucky, no blessed to have such great kids.

Sometimes I give them a Mommy history lesson, as I call them.

I remind them of all the conveniences they get to enjoy that we did not have when we were young. Sometimes all this remembering makes me feel so old!

In the "Olden days" if we were out and wanted to call home we had to drop a dime in the nearest payphone. There were no cell phones. If I needed to go somewhere I rode my bike! And we lived in the foothills of Los Angeles-whew those hills were killer on a bike!

We didn't always have remote controls either-crap we had to actually get up off off our butts to change the TV channel.

One of 13 channels-now we have over a hundred!

Remember when the game for your TV came out it was called "Pong."

I do and our family got it-we thought it was so cool!

If we got bored we went outside and played! Right about now my kids would start to joke around with me and say something like "Yes Mom and you had to walk ten miles to school in the rain with no shoes-we know!" LoL! Stinkers! No actually it was about four miles, and if I could have gotten away with being barefoot I would have! LOL!

I listen to mostly but not exclusively music from the 60's and 70's. My kids have grown up with that and they love it. It is funny how they see the world sometimes. Because they often say how lucky my husband and I were to grow up at that time. How cool the style of the clothes were, the awesome music and all. Oh LoL!

I try to teach them about how young in many ways our country really was. The terrible growing pains that our country went through to get where we are today. About the riots, assassinations, predigest, protests, the draft, and wars that I remember. I remember feeling very scared when I was young-worried about our country.

I can remember sitting in the auditorium in elementary school watching TV and seeing the first man on the moon, watching the rockets take off and the landings in the ocean. Do any of you remember that? How cool is that anyways?!?!? And when our astronauts were in trouble our nation came together and we prayed together. That's right we PRAYED as a nation and it was okay! And our prayers were answered!

I remember saying the pledge of allegiance at the start of everyday in elementary school-can't do that everywhere anymore.

Now we have people trying to take away what our very country was built upon-Trust in God out of everything. It has gotten way out of hand!

When certain songs come on I teach my kids the background the reason the song was written.

That there is a little history lesson often times in some of those "old songs".

And my kids get it-that's the really cool part-they really get it!

Folks complain about our great nation-I think they have forgotten just how far we have come in a very short time really. We have so much to be grateful for! Count your blessings folks-we live in I believe the greatest nation in the world! It is the promised land!!!

Remember what JFK said " Don't ask what your country can do for you, ask what YOU can do for your country!"

I love that! As we welcome in this new president in a couple of days, who I will just say I did not vote for, lets not think or expect him to be the Savior to our nation. It takes more then just a mere man to run this great country~Remember what JFK said and get busy!

Oh how I could go on and on-but I won't!

I wouldn't want to offend anyone after all.

I just wanted to share some of my feelings.

Speaking of feeling old...

When my daughter was about four maybe five she asked me the funniest question. She said "Mommy did you ever eat dinosaur meat, and did it taste good?" What??? I had to hold back the laughing and save it for later when I told my husband! It was so tempting to just go along with that one, because she was serious, and I could have told her "Oh yea honey and it was sooo yummy too!" But I didn't-don't know why. I do wish I was as young as I was when she asked that question~ I feel like I ate dinosaur meat! LOL! Isn't life just grand?

Drop me a comment and tell me something fun and or exciting that you have been up to!

I always love hearing from all of you!!! Until then...

Remember: You can either let life happen or you can make it happen! So go get em kids!

Groovy Hugs~Tam!

A fun giveaway I won!

2009-01-15T23:06:00.000-08:00

A Big hello to all of my Blogging Buddy's out there on this Friday!

I wanted to share a very nice surprise a lovely giveaway from Laurie of http://lauriescharmingdesigns.blogspot.com/

First of all she painted a very sweet picture of with her signature nest with blue eggs on the envolope-Love it Laurie!

And then inside...

One of Laurie's latest creative designs-a hand painted key chain!

There is the nest again-don't you think it is just darling? Me too!

Side two a pretty rose and...

she even topped it off with a very pretty soft green ribbon.

Laurie you made my day-No my week!

Thank you so much-I am so glad I won!

It has been really fun getting to know Laurie, and I found out we have a few things in common. She is one talented girl! If you haven't visited her blog yet I highly recommend you scoot right on over there and take a look around-so many beautiful hand painted items. Laurie is known for her sweet tiny paintings on spoons and charms. She makes an easel for them too with some beautiful embellishments! Laurie also very nicely frames some of her paintings and of course key chains like the one I won.

She sells many of her designs.

I know you will enjoy Laurie and her talents as much as I have!

In case you have been wondering where's Tam been this week?

Well I will tell you. I have had three birthday's in my family this month-one (my daughter) last week.

And then Monday my baby turned 16-uggh he's not a baby anymore!

He is taller then me by 3"-he is now 6'3" and still growing~

for cryin out loud!

Seems like yesterday he was my surprise handsome baby boy!

Now he is going to want to drive even more and...

do I dare say it...date~Gulp!

The old man of the house also known as "Pop-Pop" had his 51st birthday on Tuesday. Yes that means 51 swats when I catch him!

And I will too~ LoL!

I have also been doing some designing, cutting of fabric, and sewing this week. I will be posting some of that on my other blog http://applecreekcottage@blogspot.com

So keep your eyes open sometime Friday I will get a new post up over there! Fun stuff kids!

I have also been hitting one of my favorite places to

shop for goodies-eBay!

Got some great stuff there at bargin prices to help fill my fabric, and pattern stash up. Oh the joy of it! :D

I still have some more shopping to do!

I am hoping the weather man is telling me the truth-there is suppose to be sunshine this weekend! Yay-but honestly I will believe it when I see it. We might even hit 50 degrees-wooohooo! But if he is right-you guessed it we will be trying to get closer to being "finished with the big project"

Oh how happy that would make this girl!

I'm feeling the pressure of all the many, many things I would like to accomplish.

Including spring cleaning-oh big *sigh*

And no still don't have our roof, ceiling, and sliders fixed yet. Arrghh! That's all I'm gonna say on that one.

I have a couple of other fun things to post as soon as I can get them together for you.

Thanks for visiting-leave me a comment and let me know what exciting plans you have for this weekend?

In the mean time I would like to wish you all a wonderful weekend! Hope you are all doing something that makes you smile!

~Big Giant Hugs~Tam~

A Wonderful Award from a Wonderful Blogging Buddy! And a BIG Thank You Too!

2009-01-08T22:50:00.000-08:00

Look what my wonderful friend Kirsten gave me!

Yay-Lucky Me!!!

Thank You Kirsten for thinking of me!

Sorry it took me so long to get this posted! I was having a problem getting the pic of this award to up-load to the post. Crazy I know-I could get it to up-load for the side bar but not the post for some reason-it kept saying error-and only with this picture! So I gave it a little time to get over it's tantrum! LoL!

Kirsten has a very fun blog! I just added her blog button to my side bar. It's the gal that is running-very original idea Kirsten! Kirsten is a runner in case you haven't had a chance to get to know her.

She can run a marathon-I envy her-wish I could do that!

I just hit my dreadmill-I mean treadmill!

Stop by and say hello to Kirsten and grab that cool blog button for your blog too!

http://something-about-nothin.blogspot.com/

Kirsten says the Friends Award is given to blogs that are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and to be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Well Kirsten had to google self-aggrandizement noun, the act of making oneself more powerful, wealthy, etc., esp. in a ruthless way esp. in a ruthless way? She said on her blog "I don't think this was the meaning the creator of this award meant." But they did say "The hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated."

I think propagating new friendships in blogland is a very cool thing-don't you? OOOF course You do! If you would like to met some other very fun blogger's just go to the comments for any of my post and you will find some very special folks! I am a very blessed girl! :D

Of course once again I would give this baby to so many more-it was hard to keep the list at a minimal.

Here are some very deserving blogs for this award...

Abbie... http://downabbiesroad.blogspot.com/

Cami... http://creatingmyselfcreatively.blogspot.com/

Lea... http://farmhouseblessings.blogspot.com/

Valerie... http://valeriegail.blogspot.com/

Brenda... http://countrydreamsandcreations.blogspot.com/

Debbie... http://jadehollow.blogspot.com/

Pat... http://backporchmusings.blogspot.com/

Claire... http://ethel-loves-fred.blogspot.com/

MiMi... http://www.womenchangingtheirworld.com/

Cheryl... http://blueberrybuttons2008.blogspot.com/

Lisa... http://cranberryflats.blogspot.com/

Pam... http://antiqueornot.blogspot.com/

These are some awesome girls-Thank You for your blogging friendships!

~Smiles~Tam!

P.S.

I would like to say Thank You to all of my Sweet Blogging Buddy's that help to wish my lovely daughter Amber a Happy 25Th Birthday! She was so tickled that you all would do that! AND... Amber is taking her first test to become a Firefighter/Paramedic next Wednesday the 14Th! So please remember her on that day say a little prayer for her to do well.

I am so very proud of her!

To all of my Pacific Northwest Friends...

2009-01-08T11:04:00.000-08:00

(This farm is in the southern end of Western Washinton)

As if it wasn't enough that mother nature has pelted us with more snow then we have seen in Western Washington in a very long time, now we have been getting a ton of rain and high winds in some areas to boot. Where I live is up on a hill thank goodness, so our immediate neighborhood is okay for now. But get on the road and start driving and without going far we are sure to encounter creeks that are now rivers, flooded fields, and some roads closed. Some areas have been hit so hard and many people have lost their homes. All of the mountain passes are closed due to avalanches and flooding. As is many major highways into Western Washington. So no freight can get in. We had this problem on a smaller scale when the snow was hitting us badly and the passes were closed. Some of our local gas stations were closed because they ran out of gas, and grocery stores were low on some supplies. The sadest thing are those areas that were hit just a year ago November and lost everything and were just starting to rebuild their lives have once again lost everything!
Tomorrow it is suppose to be dry-I pray it is true-we really need the break! We still have patches of snow despite all of the rain-if you can believe it? But by tomorrow I suspect it should be gone as it warms up some more. Down our road a little ways in the town next to us to the east (Duvall) is flooded by the Snqaulamie river. And right next to that to the south Carnation all of the people who didn't leave when warned are now trapped and the city is like an Island!
I just wanted to let all of my dear friends out there in blogland who might be affected by this mess, please know that they are in my thoughts and prayers! I pray that this crazy winter can be over with soon and we can all recover quickly from it! My hole in my roof seems so small compared to what so many folks are going through right now!
I am going to go get some sewing therapy in right now. Later I will post a nice award from a special blogger buddy!Bye for now...Tam

I am calling on all of my Blogging Buddy's for this one!

2009-01-06T00:24:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! I have a big surprise on my daughter's blog. PLEASE come on over there and help me with this. You will see what it is when you get there. It will be a ton of fun for me to pull this one off! LoL!

Big Clue: She will be blowing candles out later today!

Awww big sigh and a tear of joy! Thanks for your help-You are all so awesome!

***GiGgLEs***

Okay shhh~sneak this way... http://whiskerpalace.blogspot.com/

A Good Sign for 2099! And...a very lovely award too!

2009-01-04T19:13:00.000-08:00

Hello Kids~ I hope you all had a wonderful and magical holiday! We had a nice time with the whole family home-most of the time. LoL! We have had so much snow here in Western Washington this year. And yes there is still plenty of snow on the ground darn it! In fact it had the nerve to snow more tonight and cover all the lovely bare spots that were just starting to show up from the sickningly slow melt. We are all starting to get cabin fever I think-because grumpy attitudes are rearing their ugly head's now and then. Still haven't gotten the repairs done on the house-waiting on the insurance company to decide to pull their fingers out of their noses and do their job!!! I also am very disappointed that because of the cold I haven't been able to finish my "Big Project". And I am sooo close too!I have been able to get some time in on ebay and pick up some great stuff for all of my sewing projects! And of course I did do a little bit of sewing too.

But I do have some exciting news to share, just take a l@@k--->

Do see what it says in the return address right by the blue arrow?

Yes it is THE ABC as in TV studios!!! I had entered a contest oh a year ago on a website called "In the Motherhood" Some of you may have heard of it? You can post stories about motherhood. Then other people vote to select a winner. If you win you get some prizes and your story done in a webosode. Which is like a mini TV sitcom but only on the web-hence webosode. Leah Remni, Jenny McCarthy, Chealsy Handler star as the mother's in these series. But wait-I did not win that contest-it's even better! The folks that promote the contest contacted me back in early October and asked if they could pass my contact info on to ABC. That ABC "might" be doing a TV pilot and show based on the "In the Motherhood" and was interested in "possibly" using my story. How freakin cool is that?!?!? Of course I said yes and then was contacted by the legal department of ABC. I had to fill out some forms and send them in. This is what I got--->

Along with a check, Thank You very much ABC! You can imagine how excited I am that ABC would even consider using one of my true life stories!!! I was flippin out! Almost makes it worth all of the crazy silly funny things that happened in our day to day family life!!! I always say it is like a Rob Reiner movie at our house~LoL! I waited to share with you all until this came in the mail-somehow that made it all feel real to me. Sooo if and when they air the show-and hopefully they will tell me when-I will let you all know so you can watch. I know these things take time and it is only a possibility-but this is one patient girl!

I will take it as a sign of Good Things to come in 2009!

I plan on it being a very good year!!!

And if that wasn't enough I got this fantastic award from my good blogging buddy Lynette over at http://lynetteslam.blogspot.com/ . We both started our blogs about the same time and Lynette found my blog and Waa~Laa we became blogging buddy's! It has been really fun getting to know her and I always enjoy visiting her blog! So what are you waiting for kids-get on over there and say hello!

This award focuses on the friendships that blossom here in blogland."Blogs who receive this award are 'exceedingly charming' say its authors. This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY-nearness in space, time and relationships. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

I am such a lucky blogging girl because so many of you out there in blogland have become my friend. I have enjoyed getting to know so many wonderful, creative, fun people from so many different places all over the world! That is such a cool thing-don't you think? I do!

My Grammy who raised me always taught me that there is nothing in this world like a good friend! She was so right! It is very hard to choose just eight of you, I would choose everyone of my blogging buddy's if I could. But I know this award is going to get around very fast! I think this time I will venture out and choose some folks who are not on my followers list but who pop over to my blog and leave me comments. So here goes my eight...

Robin at http://therobinsnestcountrycrafts.blogspot.com/

Elsye at http://tinkeredtreasures.blogspot.com/

Cherry at http://cherrysjubileehome.blogspot.com/

Gemma at http://lozanddinny.blogspot.com/

Cerri at http://www.littlepinkstudio.typepad.com/

Sara at http://sarasweetsurprise.blogspot.com/

Laura at http://shorechic.blogspot.com/

Laurie at http://lauriescharmingdesigns.blogspot.com/

These are some very talented and sweet bloggers!

Thank You again Lynette for a very special award!

My Christmas Adventure!

2008-12-25T19:49:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Eve...the children were all hushed fast a sleep in their beds...Hubby and me had just finished putting the last gifts under the tree when -FlAsH-BuZZ-out goes the power! No problem we said with a smile we have a nice fireplace -so we stoked the fire and went off to our beds. We dreamt of power restored come morn...

As we awoke-Nope-no power and snow fell-again! Being full of grit and Christmas spirit -not willing to let this get us down we once again stoked the fire and got on with our Christmas traditions...

As we sat there all dressed in our winter coats and covered in blankets-so filled with Christmas Joy~And although our teeth did chatter~we didn't get annoyed...

With smiles on our faces and glee in our hearts...

So many gifts to unwrap-what fun we did have!

When all of a sudden whats that? Could it be Santa-did he forget something-I shuttered!

A clutter and loud bump-so much of a racket-could that be reindeer dancing on our roof top?

Nope! Just a big giant tree branch crashing through the roof top the sliding glass door did shatter...

For sure this was not Ole Saint Nick but a Branch sticking right through

But no matter~what luck we did proclaim~how thankful no one was hurt!

Now we did clean up that big mess with just a little fuss and furry.

But we did it right quick! We did it in a hurry!

An appetite for Christmas dinner we worked up-but what??? We forgot no power for that pot luck!

So mom the good little girl scout did shout "Don't pout~I will get out my dutch oven and cook up our holiday spread in the fireplace just like an oven!"

Ham, scalloped potatoes, yams and green beans! YUM~

Why it was the best darn Christmas dinner we ever had eaten!

They might not pick up our trash...

Or deliver the mail in nearly a week...

The power is out but we won't yell and shout!

"We are too full of Holiday Cheer" said my sweet dears!

Low and behold our dad did bring a generator

-"Oh Joy"-

Now mom can blog! And a movie we can watch! All hooked up for a long winters night at least we have light! Be safe and stay warm-Pay no attention to that darn storm! I hope you all had a Very Merry Christmas~And with that my dear blogger friends I bid you good night!~Tam ;)

JoY to The World!

2008-12-24T14:16:00.000-08:00

Wishing All Of my Blogging Buddies And their Families~a Joyous~ Magicial~ Memorable~ Very Merry Christmas!

And...It just started snowing AgAin!!!

And...my power just went out! Terrific!

Oh ~JoY to the World!

Drum Roll Please..................

2008-12-23T21:56:00.001-08:00

And Yes what is this? Why it IS Fudge! I did it -I really did-finally I made a successful batch of fudge!!! Thank you to those that sent me recipes and tips-they worked!

I thought for a second I heard Angels sing?

And then we have -Kooky Star Sugar Cookies...

Christmas Trees, Snowmen, and more...

Bells, Angels, Blue Moons, more Trees, Snowman and Scottie Dogs...

Jared and Emily had a great time decorating the cookies and eating some of them too! LoL!

Amber did a nice job on this Scottie Dog

He is cute in his green sweater and pink collar-don't ya think? ...

Amber also decorated an ornament cookie...

Great job flooding the icing Amber!

And a bunch of mixed up Christmas cookies!

That pan is full of fun! Some of those cookies got a little psychedelic on us! LoL!
Tomorrow-Chocolate Chip, Criss Cross-Peanut Butter and Drop Cookies!

One More day and one more stocking...

2008-12-23T13:56:00.000-08:00

Little Emily Jean needed her very own special little girl stocking. Sooo Grammy got out some fabric and whipped up a stocking in a hurry! Whew! We took a photo in the snow-yep it's still here! But I like it! No I love it! It has warmed up a tiny bit today and we have a little break just for today. The forecast calls for more snow tonight-tomorrow and Friday!!! Then Saturday it is suppose to warm up a bit -enough so that when it rains the snow goes away. But wait that won't last long because everyday next week-Snow again! I have never seen this much snow at one time in the 9 1/2 years we have lived here in the burbs of Seattle!

I have to say I am excited to have a White Christmas! Today we are going to get a ton of baking done. So I am putting some good music on, stoking the fire, making some hot coca and getting my apron all floured up! Yay! And not to mention-FUDGE! Fudge attempt number two-lets see if I can do it right this time? I got a new candy thermometer and I'm ready to rock! Of course I will take photos to share-gosh I hope I don't mess this batch up! LOL!

Tonight maybe I can get gifts wrapped so I can just relax tomorrow?

I hope all of you girls out there in blogland are having as much fun as I am today?!?! Leave me a msg. and tell me what you are up to?

And now I am off to the kitchen-wheeeee! Look for a new post tomorrow-bye for now!

~sMiLeS~Tam!

Sweet Saturday...A Special Cake for a Special Girl!

2008-12-20T01:16:00.000-08:00

Three years ago December 18, 2005 our family was blessed when our daughter had our first grand baby-Sweet Emily Jean!

Tomorrow we will celebrate with a Birthday Bash!

Old Grandma and Grandpa will be there-and I do believe Tinkerbell is going to make an appearance!

This gorgeous cake was baked and decorated by Emily Jean's very talented Mommy (my daughter-Amber) Isn't it sooo pretty? Yea I know I think so too! Amber had such a great time making this cake for her little girl. Brings back some great memories!

What a very special cake for a very special little girl! All the while as Emily's Mommy worked on decorating her cake she was so darling singing Happy Birthday too Me! LOL! Remember what it was like to be a kid and look forward to your birthday?

Hope you all have a Sweet Saturday Too!

aTaM *:) Y

I feel sooo cool! Yep I do!

2008-12-19T01:16:00.000-08:00

You want to know why I feel sooo cool? because my dear bloggy buddy Valerie over at http://valeriegail.blogspot.com/ Game me this SuPeR CooL Award! Thank you Valerie-you awesome girl you! She was so cute because this was her first blog award and I remember how excited I was when I got mine! I think Valerie's blog is pretty cool too! And now I will pass this sweet award onto some other very cool blogs-please give these wonderful blogs a visit. These are just some of the coolest ever blogs that have visited my blog and left wonderful comments and been such nice blogging buddy's! I would like to say thank you to all of you for your comments and support-mean so very much to me! So I am giving this bloggy award to each of you bloggy buddy's! I know it is not conventional-but oh well it is what I want to do.

I am having problems with my computer either that or my Internet-I don't know but my blog kept freezing or shutting down! I know-not good! Is anyone else having problems trying to post?But I have tried to enter and re-enter everyone over again. So please if you do visit me and comment forgive me for missing getting your name and blog in this post and consider yourself tagged as well! You all keep this girl smiling! May You and Your Sweet Families have a Safe Wonderfully Memorable, Magical Holiday Season! Much Love~Tam :D

Brenda... http://countrydreamsandcreations.blogspot.com

MiMI... http://www.womenchangingtheirworld.com/ http://jadehollow.blogspot.com/

Pat ...http://backporchmusings.blogspot.com/

Julia of Hooked on Houses... http://www.blogger.com/profile/04937060849774403002

Kristen... http://kristenscreationsonline.blogspot.com/

Lynette... http://lynetteslam.blogspot.com/ Merrie...http://wheretheblackbirdssing.blogspot.com/

Nikki of Blah Blah Blah Blog... http://nikkicrumpet.blogspot.com/

Jerseygirl... http://beachyinthecity.blogspot.com/

Tardevil... http://confessionsofa40-somethingmamaqueen.blogspot.com/

Cheryl... http://blueberrybuttons2008.blogspot.com/

Kristen... http://something-about-nothin.blogspot.com/

Elyes... http://tinkeredtreasures.blogspot.com/

Darlene... http://darlenesdays-darlene.blogspot.com/ http://littlefrenchgardenhouse.blogspot.com/

Barb... http://babbler-slimyslugfriends.blogspot.com/

Dana... oldredbarnco.blogspot.com/

Lisa... http://cranberryflats.blogspot.com/

Lea... http://farmhouseblessings.blogspot.com/

Sue... http://junkitjunction.blogspot.com/

Angelia... http://cottagemagpie.com/

Liz... http://mabelshouse.blogspot.com/

Cherry... http://cherrysjubileehome.blogspot.com/

Meme... http://thescreamingmeme.blogspot.com/

Martha... http://missvandroo.typepad.com/

Christie... http://prettypaperbook.com/blog/

Penny... http://lavenderhillstudio.blogspot.com/

http://www.nannygoatsinpanties.com/

Carolina... http://carolinaeclectic.blogspot.com/

Emily of little window shoppe... http://www.blogger.com/profile/07807922345940918348 Cami...

http://creatingmyselfcreatively.blogspot.com/

Loz and Dinny... http://lozanddinny.blogspot.com/

GiGi...http://myfireflycottage.blogspot.com/

Hiedi... http://www.mypapercrane.com/blog/?cat=9

Ele... http://abitofpinkheaven.blogspot.com/

Mary... http://merci-notes.blogspot.com/

Tara... http://kidzorg.blogspot.com/

Dana... http://thestonerabbit.typepad.com/

Cerri... http://littlepinkstudio.typepad.com/little_pink_studio/

Cynthia... http://cynthiascottagedesign.blogspot.com/

Megan... http://cottagebluebird.typepad.com/

Cindy... http://romantichome.blogspot.com/ http://janetclare.co.uk/blog/

Dawn...http://the-feathered-nest.blogspot.com/

Tracey.. http://acottageindustry.typepad.com/a_cottage_industry/

http://storybookwoods.typepad.com/storybook_woods/

Jill... http://bittersweetsoap.typepad.com/bittersweet/

Pam... http://antiqueornot.blogspot.com/

Holiday decorations...or should I say... re-decorating! LoL? Or Just a Simple Christmas in the Woods...!

2008-12-14T21:45:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our home. Suddenly Saturday the kids decided they were in the mood for decorating. So we drug a couple of boxes into the house. The plan was to keep it simple which equals easy take down after the holidays. We had put our tree up the day after Thanksgiving. It has been decorated, un-decorated and re-decorated I don't know how many times! Our little granddaughter Emily Jean has been hard at work-she just can't control her creative urges when they come upon her! LOL! So take a close look at the tree-which we had put up on an old chest thinking it might detour her from her mission-keyword being might-didn't happen. Usually it is just the cats we have to keep from going after the bulbs!

Did you see all of those bald spots and then the clump of bulbs at the bottom of the tree? She is partial to the red bulbs-she kept taking all of the other colors off! Emily Jean just stands there and says' "Oh Grammy it's soooo beautiful, it is the most beautiful thing in the world!" as she puts her arms opened up. She should be an actress when she grows up-she is something else. She would also be great on a demolition team! Haha! Of course we all adore that little angel beyond measure and this is just one of many sweet holiday memories with her. Now we tried our best to re-decorate again-lets see how long that last?

Take a look quick ...

We were going to go cut down a real tree from the forest. The permit is only $10.00 and the kids really wanted a real tree. But me being such a hippy dippy girl I hate the idea of cutting a tree down! LOL! yea I know come on Tam-but hey also I didn't want to be one of those people you see on the news that got lost in the woods! Just think with this wild weather-it could happen! I do love the way a live tree smells but where we live all you have to do for that is step outside-it smells like Christmas everyday of the year! Okay...

Lets move onto the next photo-These nice figurines are always on that buffet-I just like they way they look with the light on-see how they glow? I know for a grown up-heck a grandma even-I sure do get awfully excited about the smallest things-don't I ? Oh well-just how I am-have to make life fun-and why not? I have a close up of the frame that sits on that buffet right over on my side bar-it is one of my favorite scriptures as a Mother/Grandmother.

Well the mantel has been re-decorated more then um twice. But that is only due to the lights burning out. Every time we think we have gotten all of the burnt out lights changed, another one burns out. On try number three-we gave up on having lights twinkling there. The garland looked so perfect the first time-somehow it got changed in its design concept-plan and ended up all wrapped around my berry garland that is on the mantel all year long. I like the JOY-good reminder of what I can experience this holiday amongst the craziness. I am working on minimizing that craziness and hope I can have everything done and ready. I still have to go gift shopping and bake goodies-yep I left it to the last minute-Blaaghh-shame on me! We also have a birthday to celebrate this Saturday. UUGGH and then just enough time to prepare for Christmas day (Now lets not forget I still have work to do on my Big Project-LOL). I can do it! I am super Mom/Grandma after all! Nooo problem!

A close up of that "JOY" :D Gotta just smile through it All!

Our little Victorian village on the library table-this gets re-decorated too!

Emily insisted on her Barbie house being apart of the holiday cheer! Look at the candle in the window, and wreath on the door-topped off with lights! She loved it! My Grammy heart swells when that little girl squeals with delight!

This little tree used to be on my entry way table-It's Emily's lil holiday tree for now. For some crazy unknown reason she hasn't tried to re-decorate or un-decorate this tree? UUMm at least not yet, I should be careful what I say!

Amber had a decorating idea and put old ornies in this big jar and popped a pretty bow on top. I looks cute with the vintage snowman next to it. They sit on top of some books in the living room.

This was a fun craft project I did with gals from church years ago when our kids were little. I re-did the names and added Emily. I think it is a fun and cute idea-the kids always did love it! And we kind of used it as a way to get them to go to bed on Christmas Eve. We said once you put that plate out for the night on Christmas Eve then Santa's coming soon so you have to go to bed and sleep. It worked...sometimes! Of course in the morning the reindeer had eaten their carrot and Santa had gobbled up all the yummy cookies and the kids had presents under the tree!

I wanted to make this Santa pillow and had the idea-so Saturday I whipped him up! I think I like him-he came out just as I visioned him. And he was easy peasy!

Well there you have it-very simple Christmas decorating at our house this year. I like simple!
May you all have a magical, wonderful, memorable Christmas! Thank You for you constant kind words and for visiting my blog-I am truly grateful for all of your friendships!

See you around blogland...Happy Blogging!

~Tam :D

SNOW!

2008-12-14T20:26:00.000-08:00

Look what we got this weekend-SNOW! Hooray! It sure looks like Christmas around here. You can't see the lights on the house-but they are there! We dodged the high winds-somehow-whew! Well our little snow bunny sure didn't mind the white fluffy stuff at all! She was very happy to go out and play in it. Isn't she cute? She was so funny in her snow suit-she could hardly move at first- it was pretty funny. When her mommy got her dressed she couldn't get up with out help. LoL!We all had a good laugh! Her third birthday is this week, one week before Christmas to the day.

She was the sweetest Christmas blessing ever!

We live right on a corner -this is what it looked like today...

It can be tricky coming around that corner!

I like this next photo the way the light comes down through the trees-it is magical -I think This photo doesn't really capture it as good as it was in real life.

Don't ya just love those giant cedars?

If you look carefully the snow on the moss going up the big tree, to the right there, it looks really neat!

Almost looks like God sprinkled us with powdered sugar.

At least the snow wasn't too bad- yet. Although we are suppose to have temperatures drop even more this week and may be get some more of the white stuff. I don't mind it at all-in fact I love it-as long as I don't have to drive in it! LoL! We have lived here in this state for nine going on ten years and this Southern California girl is still not used to driving in snow! But when I can stay home, throw some wood in the fireplace, light it up why I am a happy girl! I do really Love living in the forest! I will be posting some Christmas decorating or re-decorating-LoL at our house, so be lookin for it! You will see what I mean in the next post. What is the weather like where you all are?

Holy Cow-I have been Tagged again!

2008-12-10T22:41:00.000-08:00

Wooo Hoo Tagged again!!! How exciting is that?!?!? This time by Valerie over at http://valeriegail.blogspot.com/ She is a new bloggy buddy and I am having a great time getting to know her. Go on over to visit her blog I know you will enjoy it as much as I do!

I am a little slow at getting this posted sorry Valerie(a day late). I have been sooo busy with my projects especially tiny clothes for dolls. I won't make dolls that small again -cute as they are! LOL! I promise I really will get a photo of them posted soon.

Well this is where I state my 7 random/weird facts about me. HHMMM let me think...how much do I want to share publicly?LoL!

1. The house I grew up in, in the foothills of northeast Los Angeles, California-was haunted! Yep it was-really! Lots of crazy stuff happened in that house. It was built in 1910 and was a very cool house. I never really appreciated it until my family moved out after 20+ years! I couldn't wait to grow up and get out and then once I did I just wanted to be able to go back there forever! Isn't it so crazy how things like that happen?

2. I am the oldest kid of my family and the only girl. It was rough let me tell ya! My brothers could be brutal! I was the only one that was fair haired and light eyes. Even my mom and dad had brown eyes and very dark brown hair. I didn't match and stood out like a sore thumb!LoL! My brother's liked to tease me and say I was adopted-brats! I do have two half sisters that I met when I was all grown up. Blaaggh- (Long story)

3. I used to be quite the crazy adventurous, daredevil growing up
(big surprise I know). I ran track, biked, speed skated, roller skated, surfed(Yea Baby!) and so much more. Somehow I survived although a little beat up but not too many scars luckily! I am sooo lucky to be alive! Now since having children I have lost my courage and am a big wimp!

4. I want to live to be 103. I don't know why the random number but it is my goal at least! Hey it might happen!

5. I have a 36" inner seam-yea I know I am an amazon! LoL! I hate trying to find anything long enough. I usually have to special order or sew it for myself. I always wished that I could be average height... big sigh!

6. My favorite perfume is Crystalle CHANEL. I LOVE~LOVE~LOVE that fragrance-it is the best! I have worn it since I was 15 years old (1976~Yea I'm getting old Darn it! and who cares 40+ is the new 20+~right?) That was just year after it came out, and now they are going to discontinue it. What the? Those crazy you know what's over there at CHANEL what are they thinking?!?! I am currently buying a bottle every so often to stock up before it runs out so I have enough for the rest of my life-it is my signature scent what can I say?

7. I can be a bit of a germafobe. No I am not OCD just grossed out on picking up what other people leave behind. I try not to touch even the handles of the bathroom doors with my bare hands even in the finest restaurants-yuck! Or even read magazines at the doc's office. The way I see it if it is getting left behind-can't be anything good-right? LoL! I know what a kooky girl! :D

8. I prefer not to eat at restaurants. I guess it is the germ thing again-God knows what these people are doing with their hands before they touch my food-eeewww gross man! Now come on admit it you know you all have thought about that too at some point! :P

Yea I broke the rules and put an eighth question-so what get over it! LoL! The funny part about that is at the beginning of this I wasn't sure I could come up with seven! Oh maybe I should do a number nine-I like to break the rules sometimes!!! Haha! Oh and here's a tenth-I am a comedy junky and I love stand up! I took drama for five and a half years and improv was my favorite to do.
Oh my I did it again~Told ya I like to break the rules~What a shame I know.

Alright girls you know what happens next-yep that's right I get to tag some of you lovely blogger's! I can't wait to hear what you write! I think it is so cool learning more about you all!
So hey have fun with it-be creative, don't be shy! Just read the tag for the rules.

I am going to go into tag mode now (I'm in a bloggy trance) and make my list of lucky blogger's!

1. Brenda at http://countrydreamsandcreations.blogspot.com/ She has a lot going on you just have to check her blogS out! She just started two other blogs for her handmade creations which are darling. And one for recipes~Yum!

2. Pat at http://backporchmusings.blogspot.com/ This girl can decorate let me tell ya! And she is as sweet as can be! Scoot on over check her blog out and say hello you won't be disappointed!

3. Claire at http://ethel-loves-fred.blogspot.com/ Claire is such a cool blogger and she is quite a crafty girl too! You just have to go visit her. I really love the name of her blog too-one of my favorite shows was I Love Lucy and I laughed at the name the first time I saw it and knew instantly I would like her blog!

4. Merrie at http://wheretheblackbirdssing.blogspot.com/ She is another very talented girl and is into prim-you should see what she has posted on her blog it is darling! Not to mention what a nice girl she is!

5. Darlene at http://darlenesdays-darlene.blogspot.com/ This gal has her home decorated so cute for the holidays-you should see her collections! Oh and she also is a crafty gal as well-you won't want to miss her blog!

6. Angela at http://cottagemagpie.com/ OOO what a pretty blog she has! yummy recipes, beautiful decorating, so many girlie things we all love! She visits my blog and leaves such nice comments. And your mouth will water when you see the pictures of that tasty food-so don't pass her up!

7. Cherry at http://cherrysjubileehome.blogspot.com/ Wow her blog is so adorable and cottage chic I Love it! And she is another sweet blogger who visits my blog with nice comments. Her blog is filled with beautiful photos of her gorgeous holiday decorations and much more! Cherry is another very talented crafty girl-I always enjoy visiting her blog!

Crap who needs to pay for magazine subscriptions with all of these beautiful blogs!

Huh?

Did I just say that? okay ~correction~ I still have a hard time passing up my magazines! LoL!

And just a lil message to my long time dear friend Teresa, (she is one of my Yakkers)-yea you sista! Would ya please finish getting your blog set up already so I can include you in all the fun-sheesh!

Teresa and I have been friends since aaaa I think we were 15-she knows way too much about me! LOL!

Mouth zipped Teresa!

Well girls it was a tough but productive day around here. No I didn't get to work on my "Big Project" darn it! But I did get to work some more on the dolly clothes. My gosh I am never making dolls that small ever ever again! Have I said that enough yet? Even if it is a very cute size! These dolls are just some felt dolls I made the pattern up myself-including the clothes patterns. I have old lady hands and sometimes making that small stuff is just buggars! They are going to be cute-only made three boys, and five girl dolls. I hope they are well liked-I am going to set up an etsy shop (hopefully). Of I course will be making and selling more items. But right now with the holidays and my "Big Project" I haven't been able to work on sewing like I want to or need to! I also especially love to make little fancy ~I call them church dresses, as well as casual dresses, dress coats(One of my fav's) and of course baby items of all kinds and who knows what will pop up in my head to create! I have had many family member's and friends tell me, bug me actually to get my own boutique going. So as soon as I can get my studio finished set up and fill up my fabric, and notion supplies-LOOK OUT~ I will be knocking things out like a freight train! Right now I feel like I am in limbo and it is so frustrating!!! I just want things to be done and ready~ I am raring to go baby!

So enough of my rambling on. Thanks to all of my sweet bloggy buddy's you are all so awesome and I truly love hearing from you! Your comments and friendship means a lot to this girl. Any of you that already sells items and have tips feel free to help me out-please!

We are expecting a big crazy storm this weekend like we sometimes get in the winter months here in the Pacific Northwest. I hope and pray we don't loose our power this time and fingers crossed no downed trees or power lines at our house either!

I hate to go without being able to use my blow dryer, straightener, sewing machine oh and hot showers just to mention the few most important!

Hope you all have a wonderful rest of your week!

BLOG ON SISTAS!~Hugs & Smiles~Tam!

Up-Dates and more Up-Dates!!!

2008-12-09T20:18:00.000-08:00

A little up-date to my

“Big Project”

A lot of my bloggy buddy’s have been asking about it, so I thought it is time to up-date blogland on it. It is sooo close to being done. Of course we have to deal with the cold weather working on it in the garage. Which doesn’t help with the paint and stain to dry in any decent amount of time. Guess I picked a bad time of year to do a project like this-being winter weather and the holidays. But hey that won’t stop this girl! I took some photos to share and let you see. I have gotten the top piece stained one coat, and painted one coat on the inside of the sides. I think it came out a little dark but hey it’s not done yet so we will see how it looks once I sand it and put another coat on. I think the clear coat will help show the grain better too. The photos don’t do it justice-the grain on this is gorgeous! We discovered that on the bottom piece in the middle it had been turned into a freezer of some sort. There was a metal casing with a drain in it. Around that there was about an inch and a half of cork used as insulation. We got all of that removed and it is pine on the inside of that part, so it will be painted. You can tell that there used to be cabinet doors that are now missing. The sections on the ends of the top piece are also pine on the inside and will be painted as well. It appears that this cabinet has been re -constructed just a little bit. But most of it is a gorgeous red tiger oak. The drawer handles are brass and I love them they are sooo cool! It was such a major job getting all of the green or aqua paint off of it. I have no finger nails and I had so much saw dust on me it was in my ears! LOL!
You should have seen this girl decked out in safety goggles, a mask, knitted cap to protect my hair, and gloves. Of course the guys insisted that I wear all of this stuff but they wouldn’t do it for themselves-the stinkers! I felt like some character from a scifi movie! LoL!
We used a blow torch to burn and scrape the paint off. That was kind of fun actuallyJ. And we sanded like there was no tomorrow. It has been really hard work, shivering in the cold garage, but it will be so worth it. I haven’t been able to get as much mileage on my bribes to get more time working on this from my guys.
I am sooo darn excited to get my little sewing crafting studio set up. I can hardly wait to get her done-she is going to be beautiful and wonderful to use! And it will make working on all of my little projects so much easier too. We have only been able to work on it at night sometimes during the week, and on the weekends. I am trying to push to get this done and set up by next weekend-lets see what happens? Mamma the motivator will be in fifth gear to get it done!
Then I will need to shop and get a little more fabric and supplies to completely fill her up-Don’t ya just love it!?!? I know me too! LoL!
Now as for the blogging magazine -man is it a nice magazine. I have really enjoyed reading it a little bit here and there in between everything else. LOL! There is some really good info in there. I haven’t forgotten that I plan on sharing some of it-so be patient I will get a post on that soon!

Fudge recipe- Thanks to all who sent me recipe's and tips you are all so awesome! I will be making fudge for Christmas. I tried to make fudge for Thanksgiving well, using the recipe from the back of the whipped marshmellow jar. I think I invented spoon fudge-LoL! I was well into making the fudge when I went to use the candy thermometer discovered it was broken! So I tried to finish it imporvising-but it never did get really firm. The same problem I had years ago-darn. My 15 year old son absolutely loved it and said it was the best he ever tried. He sayis I should make it and sell it-silly boy! So I need to get a new candy thermometer and I will be good to go! I will take a photo and let you all know how it came out.
I hope you all are having a wonderful bloggy week! Thanks for visiting and... I always love hearing from all of you in blogland!
Smiles~Tam!

Just a lil teaser!

2008-12-03T23:48:00.001-08:00

I got it!!!

I did-today late in the afternoon, my kookie mailman comes late a lot of the time. He is lucky I didn't tackle him! Lol! Look how cute Martha decorated the package-sooo fun! Thank You Martha!!!
My granddaughter had to have the stickers and I carefully peeled them off for her-the little monkey. Except I did adorn my lap top with a piece of the darling tape. Please do go visit Martha on her fabulous blog http://missvandroo.typepad.com/miss_vandroo/ she is a very sweet gal! Oh I bet you are wondering about the magazine-aren't you? Of course you are! Well it is absolutely gorgeous! The pages of Artful Blogging are so nice and thick, the photos in this magazine are amazing!
Now I don't know if you girls are anything like me when I get one of my magazines in my hot little hands well... the world fades out around me...I get kind of in a silly trance and I look at each page one at a time so slowly and carefully taking it all in before I begin reading. I am one of those dorks that sometimes, not every time mind you, but sometimes I look from the back first-then I read from the front to back-sooo silly I know! You would think I found a missing artifact of some kind the way I look at my mags! And the fact that I actually won this one-how cool is that!?!?
It truly is a feast for the eyes and soul. I need a little time to completely read this sweet baby and then I shall choose some favorite articles to share with you- I wouldn't leave my Yakker's out of the loop-oh no! I will tell you right now -I am gonna love this magazine! It is so nice it is almost like a book! I would recommend you pick one up for yourselves or go to www.stampinton.com to subscribe. At the very least take a look at one the next time you are in a book store-you won't be
disappointed! I have to add this to Santa's list -and believe you me I definitely
HAVE been a very good girl this year...well...most of the time. Hehe!

Although I am only two months new to the blogging world I am loving it. I am very grateful for the sweet bloggy buddies I have made-you are all so wonderful and kind to me! Thank you for participating in my blog-I adore each and everyone of you and your great comments! I always look forward to checking my blog everyday!
I have been a busy girl sewing up some cute little dolls and their clothes-hopefully soon they will be ready for their premiere. Oh and of course on the weekends I have been working on my "big" project-it is coming along very nicely-I can't wait for you to see it. Hopefully I will be getting the finish on it very soon. I will have an official post for that! I also need to get started soon on a wool dress coat for my Emily Jean-her third birthday is coming quickly and not to mention Christmas-oh I have sooo much to do and so little time! But I am going to take a tiny break and read my new beautiful magazine.

So toodles for now...I will be back soon with a new post!

MUch GrOOvy BloGGy LoVe to You All! ~Tam :P

Have A Happy Merry SITSmas!!!

2008-12-01T22:57:00.001-08:00

HaVE a HaPPy MeRRy SITSmas !

Dash on through the NET

and head on over to...

http://thesecretisinthesauce.blogspot.com/

Don't forget to visit all your SITSa's and leave some Holiday Cheer!

Now here is all the fabulous details to share with all of you Bloggy Buddies...

The Grand Prize for tomorrow's Merry SITSmas is:
YOUR Blog Featured as Friday's Favorite on Their website and....
A $200 Target Gift Card!

(How cool is this? Yea I know -now go and join in the fun!)

I'm A Tagged Girl!!! Who will be next???

2008-12-01T19:42:00.000-08:00

I have been tagged by Lynette over at http://lynetteslam.blogspot.com/
Thanks Lynette! It was fun to read her 6 random things we don't already know about her. I never would have thought she would be the tattooed type! LoL! Go on over and check it out-you are sure to be in for a fun time.
~Rules to this Tag~
1. Link to the person who tagged you
2. Post the rules on your blog
3. Write 6 random things about yourself
4. Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them
5. Let each person know they been tagged and leave them a comment
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up

1. My little toe on my left foot is what I call my "ugly toe". LoL! because it is permanently fat and crooked from stubbing it and breaking it so many times.

2. I have green eyes with a blue ring around the outside...But they photograph blue for some reason and... my husband says he can see the devil in them!

3. I am a recovered pack rat...Sure wish I still had all that fabric I gave away!

4. I am a neat freak... my family most definitely is not! They say I am a perfectionist(I am not)

5. I don't like scary movies...they give me bad dreams...always!

6. I have never gotten a tattoo and as wild as I was when I was younger I have never had the desire to... Although my ears are pierced I rarely wear earrings anymore...and NO nothing else is pierced either-Lol! OOOps that makes 7 huh?

OOOkay here are my six picks for this game of tag. I am first off going to get some of my newest Yakkers in on the fun!

1. MiMi ... http://www.womenchangingtheirworld.com/

2. Jadehollow... http://jadehollow.blogspot.com/

3. Cheryl...http://blueberrybuttons2008.blogspot.com/

4. Barb...http://babbler-slimyslugfriends.blogspot.com/

5. Kristen...http://kristenscreationsonline.blogspot.com/

6. Jerseygirl in D.C. ...http://beachyinthecity.blogspot.com/

I am looking forward to learning six random things about these fun blogger buddies!

I Won! I Won! I Won My First Bloggy Give Away!!! YAY!

2008-11-24T11:56:00.000-08:00

L@@K What I won from Martha over at http://missvandroo.typepad.com/miss_vandroo/
***WoW*** I am sooo excited it is my very first give away win and her first give away-How cool is that!?!?! I didn't even know this way cool magazine existed until I saw it on her blog-where have I been? I have a confession to make...I am a magazine addict! Ha! I know what a terrible thing to have-but I really love magazines! And I have been having a blast blogging so what more can a girl ask for then a magazine about blogging! I can hardly wait to get it! Well you all need to go on over to Martha's blog and give her a visit -she has a very nice, fun, cute blog!
Thank You Martha I am doing the most ridicules happy dance while I sing and shout right now! My dog and cats think I'm crazy-my kids and husband already know I am-LoL! Have you ever seen so many !!! In a post before? Nope I bet not-I am a happy giddy girl today-one of the side affects of being me! *Thank You *Thank You *Thank You *Martha-You are so awesome!

I need some fudgy bloggy help-please!

2008-11-18T14:08:00.000-08:00

OK Girls I need your help! I am trying to plan what goodies will be made and I want to make fudge this year for Christmas. I have my usual expected cookies and candy I make but I have a hankering for fudge. I haven't attempted it for many years because as I remember it the last time I did it didn't turn out so well. And I said "I will never make fudge again!" Well you know how the saying goes-"Never say never!" So here I am with some recipes but I don't want to have to try them out to see which one will be the best. So I am asking for you to send me your tried and true best and easy fudge recipes please. And any tips you can give me will be greatly appreciated. I am a fantastic cook and baker but fudge for some reason just didn't work out for me the year I tried to make it anyway. It didn't set up right mostly. And it was many years ago -I am much older and, ehhhemmm wiser now, so maybe it will work out this time. [You can send them to my email tamgirl0@msn.com and put fudge recipe in the subject box so I know what it is for in case your email ends up in my junk box.] I am sure it will be a great fudgy success with my blogger buddy's help! Thanks Girls!

Another Fun Award!!!

2008-11-13T19:11:00.000-08:00

My cool Blogger Buddy Tardevil over at

http://confessionsofa40-somethingmamaqueen.blogspot.com/
Has given me this really fun award! It is called "The Book Worm Award." Thanks Tardevil!!! Go on over and check out her wonderful blog she is a very fun girl and I have had a great time getting to know her! :D

So here are the very interesting rules to this one.

1) Open the closest book to you, not your favorite or most intellectual book, but the book closest to you at the moment, to page 56.

2) Write out the 5Th sentence, as well as two to five sentences following.

I had just finished reading "A New Earth" By Eckhart Tolle. I love this book, and it just so happened to be on my nightstand still on top of a stack of books. I really like to read and can go through a book pretty fast. So here goes...

Whatever they had identified with, whatever gave them their sense of self, had been taken away. Then suddenly and inexplicably, the anguish or intense fear they initially felt gave way to a sacred sense of Presence, a deep peace and serenity and complete freedom of fear.

This Phenomenon must have been familiar to St. Paul, who used the expression "the peace of God which passeth all understanding." It is indeed a peace that doesn't seem to make sense, and the people who experienced it asked themselves: In the face of this, how can it be that I feel such peace?

And I will be in contact with my blogger buddy's that I'm passing this award onto!

My winners of this fabulous award are~

Kristen at http://kristenscreationsonline.blogspot.com/

Claire at http://ethel-loves-fred.blogspot.com/

Merrie at http://wheretheblackbirdssing.blogspot.com/

Amber at http://whiskerpalace.blogspot.com/

Barb at http://babbler-slimyslugfriends.blogspot.com/

I can't wait to see what these girls have been reading!

I recommend you go to their fun blogs and check them out-I know you will enjoy getting to know them as I have!

Check out this give away!!!

2008-11-12T01:14:00.000-08:00

This quilt is just one of three-yes that's what I said three quilts that will be given away!!!

They are all absolutely beautiful!!!

Just pop on over to http://oldredbarnco.blogspot.com/ and see how to enter.

How fun it this? Good luck to all! (especially to me-lol)

An Up-Date on the "BIG" project!

2008-11-11T23:23:00.000-08:00

Hello Blogger buddies! Here is the latest on the BIG project. WoW! The bottom cabinet is almost ready for the final sanding prior to staining and finishing. We used a torch to heat the paint and then scrape the old many, many coats of paint off. That was really something and made paint removal go fast! But we were very careful not to burn the wood. There were a few spots that had me concerned but it sanded up just fine! Oh and~Yes we wore masks and goggles, but it still stunk pretty bad. Bet our neighbors were wondering what the heck we were up too! Then we got busy sanding. Started out sanding by hand and then pulled out the electric sander and some 80 grit paper. That's when we really made some good progress. Good thing I don't have my acrylic nails done right now-LoL! But I will be getting a new set after we are all done-that's for sure! I will need a day of pampering! LoL! Of course I will have to do something special for my guys helping me. :)
I am not sure yet what color of stain I will use yet-any suggestions?
The photos don't do the beauty of the wood justice. You can sort of see the "tiger" in the oak. That will show up much better once it is stained. It is definitely going to look distressed no matter what we do-but that's okay I like that. I want all the "character" of the many years this baby has been around to show.
I am sooo excited-still even after the hard work it has taken three of us ~so far haven't lost my humph to keep working on it. But I must say we have accomplished a heck of a lot in just two days. I am the type who will push and about kill herself and then crash and burn to recoup. It is worth it- I want this thing done! I have lots of sewing projects waiting for me.
I think the top might be harder just because of the inside. Also I am hoping that it was truly made at the same time and that the wood looks as good as the bottom does. I am pretty sure that they were built at the same time.
I will have to use the heat gun on the glass doors and cross my fingers I don't brake the glass. I really don't want to have to take the glass out. Oh and the pulls on the drawers look like they are brass-so cool! Anyhow I will take more photos as we get along on the top piece and of course when it is all done and in my home. It will be fun to compare the "old" and the "new" look. I can hardly wait to load this gal up with all my stuff!
It kind of reminds me of something out of an old fashioned general store and I love that.

My husband and youngest son have been really wonderful helping me get this done and that means a lot to me. I couldn't do it without their help!

Well kids thanks for stopping by and reading my up-date! I haven't been online like usual so if you all haven't heard much the past two days -it is because of this project. Hope you all have a wonderful week!

An Invite to all of my Blogger Buddies...

2008-11-10T14:01:00.000-08:00

Hello blogger buddies! I would like to invite you to visit my daughter Amber's new blog. Yes she is the one in my "this is not my dad" story!Amber is our only daughter as a matter of fact and the mommy of our precious grand daughter! She is doing a blog on pets and tips for pet care, and exchanging fun pet stories~ etc... She works at a veterinarian office and thought it might be a nice idea to share some tips-and more fun stuff! She is a lover of animals just like her ole mom. :) So if you have a pet, would love to have a pet or just plain enjoy furry little creatures pop on over and say hello to her! She is a pretty fun and cute girl(of course she's my daughter after all-LoL). And please do join her blog! You can find her here~http://whiskerpalace.blogspot.com

She is just getting started and could use some blogger buddies! Thanks~

And I will get back to ya again for some up-dates on my "large green shelf's". I have been working on them and they are coming along pretty nicely-what a job it is though! Thankfully my husband and #2 son are helping me out with that! Hope you all are having a marvelous Monday! LoL!

The Coolest Thing EVER!!!

2008-11-08T20:58:00.001-08:00

OK maybe it's not the coolest thing ever but... it is still pretty neat! Alright I guess the coolest thing might be winning the mega lotto or owning your dream house or something like that. I know it looks ugly now but soon it will be beautiful!

A week ago I had spotted this beauty on Craig's list~for FREE! Yep that's right free! They were closing their shop after many years and needed it gone. I was thrilled because I have been looking for something to get all my sewing and crafting supplies organized. I had been checking every week for something that could work and stay with in my shoe string budget too. One day right before I logged onto Craig's list I said OK this just has to be the day I find something! And wouldn't ya know it that was the first thing on the list!!! It was posted less then an hour before I found the listing too! So I emailed back that I was interested and where and when can I pick it up. However there was no reply, and it had been removed from the listing. So I figured that once again I must be a dollar short and a day late. Although I felt pretty sure the universe had intended that to be mine~really it just felt like it-I can't explain it. I was sooo disappointed but accepted that it wasn't to be until...this morning (a whole week later) I got an email asking me if I was still interested in the "large green shelves". I squealed with delight and called for my husband-I'm not so sure he was as excited as I was. In fact I know he wasn't. He knew what getting it meant.

I replied to the email and said absolutely I would love to have the "large green shelves" They called us told us where to pick it up and away we went down to China Town- Seattle! Once there we realized the enormity of this beauty~but because my family loves and adores me so much and I batted my eye lashes just right and did the puppy dog eyes with a gentle smile and told them it would make me the happiest girl in the world and it was just the most perfect thing for all my "stuff"~they said no problem we will get it for you as they hung their heads, shook them and sighed a big sigh!

I guess they are used to my little adventures? Good thing they love me so much! I do make some pretty darn good thank you cookies after all!

So ~We had to rent a 14 foot moving truck and go back with tools to take it apart and move it. They needed it out of there today! The plan was to get it apart in as few whole pieces as possible. It came apart in two pieces-top and bottom. But it was 12 feet long and 7 feet tall! Wow! It has all of the drawers and the sliding glass doors too!!! How freakin cool is that?!?! I know! And I also discovered that the back side middle panels actually have a mirror that has been painted over. Don't know for sure how the mirrors are going to look once we remove the paint?

While my #2 son and husband were working on getting it apart I admit I was feeling a little bit guilty~it was no easy task! But we were already committed and there was no turning back at that point. Poor guys were really straining themselves to get that thing onto the moving truck. It is solid wood and very heavy. There was a very nice man there that helped us as well.

The 14 foot moving truck was not really 14 foot at all and the darn thing stuck out a few inches or so. They tied the thing down and couldn't shut the door. We drove all the way home like that and made it! Whew!Now this monstrosity that I happen to be so in Bliss with is in two pieces in my garage (I didn't realize it was really as big as it turned out to be).

We discovered as we removed the top from the bottom in the shop that it was actually oak and looks like it might even be tiger oak! What luck is that??? I know I am so darn excited!!! So now I have to get this thing stripped of the 60 years of paint it has on it. That's right it was in that old shop for 60 years! Why it's only ten years older then my husband~it's an antique! Imagine all the people who have passed by that? How cool is that? I know! Anyhow I just had to share my wonderful FREE find!!!

My 15 year old son says hey mom what if it is haunted? I said oh well then so be it because it is mine now! The folks at the Asian shop called "Kong Sun Co." were very kind to us and I am a very blessed girl to have such a fantastic find! I am so thankful to them for giving me this beautiful "large green shelf" as they called it. I actually think it is more blue in my opinion~OK maybe aqua? And it is more like a cabinet then a shelf~but who cares~right?

Anyhow it will soon be back to it's natural state to show off the oak~ that is if the paint comes off nicely. When I first saw it online I thought of painting it a nice creamy white or even a distressed black~the aqua wasn't going to match my decor at all. But then when I discovered it is solid oak I thought it might be sac religious to paint it??? We will see what happens as the refinishing project gets under way.

Boy do I wish I could have had the chance to clean out my garage before I put the"large green shelf" in there! Not much room to move around with all our other junk in there . Anyhow~ I will take some photos and share the process with you all. Luckily I have vaulted ceilings in my sewing room and a wall long enough to house it. But getting my guys to help move and change that room all around after refinishing it is going to be a new challenge in it's self!

Awww what a long day but so worth it! I feel like I just returned from a long journey for some reason. Crazy to get this thing and start such a big project-maybe? Having my guys happily move it~priceless!

But that's just how I am, and if this girl makes her mind up she's gonna do something~you guessed it~it gets done~one way or another!!!

Some girls get excited over diamond rings-hey I'm easy~just give me a piece of furniture to refinish that will make me happy. Well truthfully yes diamonds do make this girl happy! I cannot lie about that one. LOL! But this really is just as good as a new diamond ring~to me anyways.

Thank You Universe! I think the law of attraction really does work. I am a very blessed girl!

And thank you to my husband and son's for all of their help!!! And for loving a kookie mom like me! I will have those thank you cookies for ya tomorrow sometime! :)

What a lucky girl I am L@@K what I got today!

2008-11-06T19:08:00.000-08:00

I got this cute award from Lisa at http://cranberryflats.blogspot.com/ Go on over to her cute blog and say hello! She has fast been becoming one of my favorite new blogger friends!

Thanks Lisa!!! Well here is the name of the game for this one. I need to list five things I always wanted to do. HHHMMMM I'm thinkin... aaa thinkin a lil more........ok I've got it!

1. Write a book-I think? Pretty sure-yea I do!

2. Travel around the US and afar like Germany, and Ireland to name a couple. I am afraid to fly though-I do it when I have to. But if I am ever going to get to do this one I better get over that huh! LOL!

3. See Led Zepplin in concert-(so get it together Robert Plant!) They were my favorite band as a teen oh and they still are. And this rock and roll girl has seen a lot of bands but the Hammer of the Gods I missed-unbelievable I know!

4. Learn to read music again-I forgot how! Crazy yes!

5. Build my forever self sufficient solar powered dream house on some acreage with a view of the coast! Yea baby! Hey it could happen!

Now keep in mind that is only five of the things I want to do! This girl has so much more!!!

It was fun thinking about that question!

I will be soon contacting three of my blogger friends to pass this fine award on to!

Ok here are my blogger friends that I am passing this fun award on to-and hard as I tried I just couldn't choose only three! These gals all have some wonderful blogs-go have a l@@k... And thanks for being such great friends bloggy buddies!

Nikki @ http://nikkicrumpet.blogspot.com/

Lynette @ http://lynetteslam.blogspot.com/

Kristen @ http://something-about-nothin.blogspot.com/

Tardevil @ http://confessionsofa40-somethingmamaqueen.blogspot.com/

Lea @ http://farmhouseblessings.blogspot.com/

Megan @ http://cottagebluebird.typepad.com/cottage_bluebird/

Barb @ http://babbler-slimyslugfriends.blogspot.com/

Cheryl @ http://blueberrybuttons2008.blogspot.com/

Girls if you read this post you know how to play the game-have fun! I'm looking forward to see how you answer the question!

Holy Freakin Crap!

2008-11-04T23:02:00.000-08:00

Anyone know where I can buy a bomb shelter-CHEAP?

Ok-Another funny one or two!

2008-11-01T23:39:00.000-07:00

Good Morning! I thought you all might need a few good laughs. Sooo I have a couple of stories from my life to share. Pretty sure you are going to get a kick out of them??? Here goes...
#1
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON-Sort of?

Our youngest son who at somewhere between one and two years old embarrassed me at church one Sunday. It can be quite adorable when your cute little toddler shows you just what he has learned.
At Church right in the middle of prayer he was sitting on my lap facing me. He was so proud to point out and recite to me. He says, getting louder with each body part touching me.
Mommy, eyes, nose, mouth, ears……
(his hands reaching out squishing) BOOBIES!”

The entire chapel full of people stopped looked at us and laughed for what seemed like an eternity before bowing their heads and returning to the prayer. I was horrified to say the least! I wanted to get on my knees and crawl out!

I sure did get some real friendly smiles and a few snickers for the remainder of that day.
My husband by the way was the one who got in trouble for that one!

If any one thinks their toddlers aren’t paying attention to what you are doing-think again! Dad thought it was so funny to do that to me once, imitating me teaching his son and I guess our son thought hey why not do what daddy did? He was sooo proud of his little self! I’m sure everyone laughing at him made him feel he had done something pretty neat!
And dad was a little more careful what he did in front of his kids (thank Heavens).

#2.
BIG GULP!
I have been called among other things by my kids, mother earth. Because I have such a love of animals and, try to teach them to respect all living things. They say I am such a dippy hippy sometimes. Oh well whatever I am a child of the sixties after all!
One summer day I was in Mother Nature, dippy hippy mode I guess.

So happy to have one of those summer days when everyone is home and we are outside enjoying life. I was at the time a Cub Scout leader and really enjoyed working with kids. Seeing them learn about nature with all that wonder in their eyes. I was the type of mom who didn’t kill spiders (most of the time) I taught my kids they are important and have a purpose. That, they eat the bad bugs so, we should learn to live with them. I would make them catch the spiders in the house and release them outside.
There were no scouts over that day, but we did have a lot of toads around the yard. Where we lived at the time, during the summer months all of the toads would come out of hibernation. It was common to see them hopping across the lawn or driveway. Our youngest at the time, a real manly, nature, outdoorsy man that he was, really enjoyed collecting bugs, rocks, sticks and toads. It was pretty common for me when I did the laundry to find these things in his pockets. Sometimes I forgot to check the pockets before I put them in the machines-yea yuck!

On this particular day our five year old son decided he otta keep one of the toads he found and had become fond of. He had this toad in a big giant plastic cup-a big gulp cup as a matter of fact. And he had a name for him “froggy” All the toads were named froggy to this kid. Just like all crickets were named “Bambi”. But that’s a whole other story!
I tried to tell him it really was a toad and that there is a difference. He asked me “mommy can I please keep this one for my very own pet he is so cute” And he looked at me with his adorable big blue puppy dog eyes of his. I said, “no honey this toad”, he said “froggy” I said, “whatever – look” I said, “he has a family I am sure.” “And this toad is a wild animal he belongs to nature and needs to be free and live outside.” I explained the toad would never be happy stuck inside our house. Our little boy says, “but, mommy I will make him a really nice home.” So I went on to further explain, “he might be a daddy toad and how his little children toads would miss him and his toad wife would miss him something terrible if he kept him.”
So I said, “you see honey we really need to let him go free-it’s the right thing to do.” After a little coaxing and explaining he said he understood and wouldn’t want the “froggy” (he wasn’t gonna budge on his name for the toad) to be sad. So he reluctantly began lowering the big gulp cup to the ground as if to gently pour out the toad.

We had a very cute little Beagle doggie in our neighborhood that came over for a visit just then. Her name was Lucky and we all loved her very much. Lucky enjoyed coming over to play with the kids. So, just as the toad was released to the ground and began to leap-well you guessed it Lucky dog snapped it right up! Yep she ate it right before our eyes! Oh my gosh our son was so upset! I was astonished myself! I mean I really just couldn’t believe it! But it happened I saw it.

Well our little son grabbed lucky quick and began shaking her upside down. I was horrified and somewhat shocked at what had just happened for a number of reasons.
Our son was shouting, “cough it up right now lucky spit out my froggy now -Lucky!” And he squeezed and shook that dog let me tell ya!
He shouted, “hold on froggy I will save ya I will get ya out!”
Our son went on to say, “I mean it Lucky you let that froggy go!”.
I was so sadden to have to tell my son, “honey it’s a little too late for the toad ” and he said looking very heartbroken at me with his little lips all pouty,” Froggy!” I said, “okay Froggy whatever-put Lucky down she’s not going to spit the froggy out I’m sorry!”
He says “it’s all your fault mom!” “If you would have let me keep him he still would be alive- It’s not fair!” And he goes on to say, “and now what about his family they are going to miss him-they will be so sad!” I was thinking to myself oh here we go again! So then I knelt down next to my son, apologized that the “froggy” had gotten eaten.

And then I explained about how it is survival if the fittest in the wild and that this is how nature is. That Lucky wasn’t a bad doggie she was just doing what came naturally to her. He looked at me with his sweet big blue eyes all filled with tears and my heart nearly melted as he said, “but mom I loved him.” And he also said he understood kinda what happened but that he wasn’t happy about it!

Oh and he also said he still loved me-whew! We did exchange some good mommy son hugs and kisses, and the wiping of tears too.

This is just another one of those things in our family that we every so often have a good laugh reminiscing about.

GOLD!!!

2008-10-31T13:47:00.000-07:00

Look what our big beautiful maple tree has left us! And we just cleaned up leaves last weekend.
I love the way it looks when my yard and deck are covered in leaves! I think I will just let them be for a while. This year they didn't get much orangey or red color-lots of gold. Unfortunately it is pouring down rain and may be a wet trick or treat for all the little ghouls and goblins tonight here in the Cottage Lake area.

Such is life in the forest of the Pacific Northwest! I have a terrible yucky flu bug and am taking myself straight away to bed. Someone else will be answering the door tonight if there are any brave enough to go out in this mess. Of course I will have my trusty lap top to cruse the Internet when I get bored. Or maybe I will catch up on some crocheting? Or even some much needed extra sleep-awww yes that sounds so wonderful! Lucky girl I am my hubby is home today and is caring for me. I will have endless cups of herbal tea with my lozenges and meals delivered to me in bed. What more could a sick girl wish for?

Wishing you all in Blogland a Happy Halloween and a fabulous weekend!

And we have Winners!!!

2008-10-30T14:20:00.000-07:00

This was a tough one I have met so many wonderful blogger friends and it was hard to find some who hasn't received this award already! I would like to thank those of you who have been so kind to me in my new adventures here in blogland. It has been a blast getting to know you all and see so many talented people who inspire me! Sooo without further adue here are the winners of the friendship award...
Lisa at cranberryflats.blogspot.com
Jersey Girl in D.C. at beachyinthecity.blogspot.com
Cheryl at blueberrybuttons2008.blogspot.com
Penny at http://lavenderhillstudio.blogspot.com
Pam at http://antiqueornot.blogspot.com
Okay girls you know how to play the game it is your turn to answer the questions below and find some fine blogger friends to pass this fun award on to. Have fun! :)

My Very First!!!

2008-10-29T08:30:00.000-07:00

WoW~Hooray~Yipeee!!! L@@k what Kristen from

http://something-about-nothin.blogspot.com/ Gave me~It's my very first blog award!!! How cool is that? I know-I am so excited. What a very nice surprise to find this morning. Thank You Kristen! (Kristen was one of my first blogger friends)

1. Do you have the same friends since childhood?

Yes I do have some of the same friends-I am a very lucky girl. One of my dearest friends has been my BFF since we were silly giggly mischievous six year old girls. And I have several others from my tweens and teens. We are all spread out in different states now but keep in touch. I also have lots of friends I have made in my adult years and of course my newest friends from blogland :) I am very grateful for all of my friends-they are like family to me. True friends really are worth their weight in gold!

2. What do you value most about your friends?

We are always there for each other through good or bad thick and thin. We accept and love each other for who we are.

3. Are your friends sounding boards?

Absolutely! And I am always there to be a good listener for them too.

4. What is your favorite activity to share with friends?

Life happenings- Funny ones are my favorite. And boy do I have some stories to tell! LOL!

Thanks Kristen that was fun! Now I shall find some blogger buddies to pass this fine award on to!

Trick or Treat Bag

2008-10-25T18:35:00.000-07:00

This was a fun little project I did a year ago for my grand daughter. She adores her trick or treat bag! It is a easy project that takes very little time. The festive panels on the front and back were done using a favorite product of mine-printable fabric. I found the free clip art on line, printed, pinned and then just whip stitched them to each side. You can even print up a photo to use.

I also use that same printable fabric to make my own labels for all kinds of projects-Love It!

“This is not my dad!”

2008-10-23T14:35:00.000-07:00

Ok where do I begin? I have sooo many crazy, silly, funny motherhood survival of the fittest mother stories to tell.
We like to say it is a Rob Riener movie in our house most everyday-and it really is! Our three children are now just about all grown up and I have made it with most of my marbles –I think? On second thought how would I know? Anyhow, my now 24 year old daughter has been telling me that we should have a TV show about the funny family life we have had. Here is just one of those experiences.
Our Daughter, our first born and only girl was an amazingly smart girl she could speak very well by age two. I thought I was doing myself a favor by trying to give her a head start in life with flash cards, tapes and books about everything you can imagine starting from infancy. Including safety (we’ll get back to that topic later). You know the type of kid they ask why, what and where for everything. Well one day my efforts to be the best mom ever back fired big time! Now I know this may seem like a long one but bear with me it gets good at the end!
One day I needed to go to the fabric store. Gosh I love the fabric store-unless I had to take our two year old daughter. I just needed to get a couple of things really fast. At least that is what I told my husband. We decided that it would be best and so much faster if he stayed outside of the store in side the mall and I would run in real quick. Ok I didn’t exactly run. It was so wonderful to take my time and enjoy my little bit of time to myself.
But then not too long after I was in the store I got this sick feeling in my gut like “oh no I had better hurry” kind of instinctual feeling. So I quickly got in line, the long, long, freakin really long line. I thought to myself gut check- is this a “man I better get out of here life or death something is wrong feeling?”-Hhmm-“No”. Thank goodness for that I thought, just relax mom it isn’t that bad. Oh god yes it was! And I had no idea what was waiting for me when I got out of the store in the mall.
As I got more restless and the line was moving slowly but surely something caught my attention outside of the store. Hey something was goin on in the mall! There were a lot of people gathered around and I thought I saw a security guard run by! I thought “thank goodness I’m about to pay for my things and get out of here!” Just when I did I worried about what could be going on out there where my husband and little girl were waiting for mommy. Then suddenly as I left I realized the commotion was because of my husband and daughter!
An elderly woman was hitting my husband with her purse and a security guard was looking very sternly at my husband with one hand on my husbands arm. With great relief in his voice my husband cried out “there is my wife now!” “Honey please tell this security guard” and as he looked scowely at the elderly lady “and this lady that this is my daughter!” There was quite a crowd around and our daughter was very upset. I said “Of course she is your daughter and I’m her mother what is going on?” Well our daughter was so distraught that I didn’t take her in the fabric store with me (and my husband wasn’t about to give in to her either) that she did something very naughty but also very smart for her age. She was taught very well after all. She was shouting what she had learned from the safety kid tapes and books “Help! Help! This is not my dad this is not my dad!” Over and over again struggling with her father she kept shouting this! I was so embarrassed! The elderly lady’s expression changed from unsure and stern to a snicker and great relief! The security guard and all of the folks that had gathered around thought that it was pretty funny too. My poor husband was exhausted, but very happy to have that experience over with! As you can imagine our shopping day at the mall was over! Of course we did explain to our daughter how important it was that she only do this if someone really is taking her away. And as I often do-
I think to myself ”So this is my life!”

The photo is from a friends wedding we were both in and she was the same age( 2 ). Our daughter was one of the flower girls-the lil stinker got scared when the photographer started snapping pictures as she walked down the isle just ahead of the bride(one of my best friends). So what does she do? She screams throws her flower basket up in the air and runs out of the chapel!!! And I mean outside outside-my husband had to run after her to catch her!

Of course I thought to myself why on earth would this day be any different-what made me think we could actually have a uneventful day? Oh well that friend ended up divorced some years later-maybe it was a sign?

Mother's Cookies~You will be missed!

2008-10-12T21:40:00.000-07:00

These cookies were some of the few store bought cookies my grandmother would bring home. When these cookies were around all was well in my little girl life~I knew I must have been good. They bring back so many wonderful memories for me. I have passed the Grammy~ rainbow sprinkled animal cookie experience to my little grand daugher. Only to find out this week that Mother's Cookies will be no longer-they have closed their factory doors~OOOH Nooo! Luckily my husband and son were able to grab the very last bag at our local Safeway store. I thought it best to photograph a plate full so I can refer to it whenever I need to. And so sadly another end to a long time favorite. I fear to think what will be next to go???
I must admit they do not taste as good now as I remember. But oh that exciting feeling of goodness still comes over me as I choose my favorite animal shape to pop in my mouth!
R.I.P. Mother's Cookies!

Just Getting Started

2008-10-07T12:33:00.000-07:00

Hello Kids!

Well it is another rainy day here in the great northwest

-BiG SuRpRiSe!

Although there is some sun breaks with beautiful dapples of light shinning through the trees. It is defenitly fall with winter not far behind.

This as you can see is my very first post, please bear with me as this blogger site is still under construction.

I'm sure I will change the appearance at least 100gazillion times before I stick with one "Uniquely Me tAM" design. I can't stand to be "normal" or like anyone else. So if it looks different each time you visit so what-get over it! Lol!

I have always tried to find a way to stand out and be different.

Stick with me you will eventually have some good laughs and perhaps some serious conversation and points of view and some cool pics sprinkled about.

I encourage feed back so please by all means "YAK BACK"! Become a follower or as I afectionately call them"Yakkers."

I am an avid crafter, love to sew and design. I make clothing of all kind-but truely enjoy making children's clothes. My gorgeous grand daughter is my muse. I also sew for my home, quilts, Curtains,table clothes, napkins, pillows and so much more!

My kids describe me as a cross between Martha Stewart and McGuiver-and that's okay with me!

One of my passions is Real Estate-I love homes the way men love cars! I can spend a whole day just driving around exploring a new area soaking up the architecture. That is almost as good as chocolate!

One of my favorite things is interior design -I can't help but shuffle my furniture around at least once or twice a year to get that feeling of a brand new space.

I enjoy art of many different mediums and will be sharing much of my handy work on my blog.

There is nothing like curling up with a good book with my cats and dog. And then sharing what I got out of my reading.

I LOVE All things that are what I call "Good for the Soul"

Living here in the Great Northwest one cannot help but enjoy the outdoors. Which includes boating, walks by one of the many lakes and gardening. It is a very inspiring place to live! Having grown up in Los Angeles California living in the burbs of Seattle is like being on vacation all year long! We get to have four seasons and most of the time winters are not too bad.

I have fun talking about my fun filled family life with my husband of 25 years, three children and two year old grand daughter~how I survive and stay a somewhat mentally intact? You all know how it is being mom the motivator, keeper of the knowledge of all schedules, lost shoes , planner of meals, etc...

I am looking forward to getting to know as many diverse folks and welcome new friends.

Good friends are worth their weight in gold and make my heart grow! Thank You for stopping by and please come for a visit again!