They're not edible - but I CAN make....

FABULOUS flower arrangements! YAY for me. I may be a terrible cook, but my home looks and smells lovely.
These are all arrangements I created for Emily's grave recently. The Gerber Daisies were fabulous - and as it turns out, deer LOVE to eat them. They were beautiful for only a few days before being munched - but I'm sure Sweet Emmy got a chuckle out of having these lovely creatures all round her special spot.
I tool this arrangement out for her birthday, and I was SO pleased.... the sunflowers I grew myself, and the others were all purchased by my lovely mother. How perfect it was, that 3 sunflowers (representing each of my daughters) bloomed on the morning of August 25th! THAT was my angel working, I just know it!

These are the sunflowers I took out a few weeks ago. Again, I grew all of them myself, and sadly "IKE" blew through our area and took all of them down. These were the only survivors. We do have one small sunflower blooming this morning, and Kate pointed it out to me with glee. I was thrilled.
This is an arrangement from last fall
This is a traditional white arrangement. I always take white flowers on Emily's angel day, and this year, I really outdid myself. I was SO proud, I had my friend Jeni take a photo of me with it! How vain am I ...

Interesting use of an oven...

My Sweet Cousins L and L have been gleefully bantering back and forth on their blogs all summer long. They blog about wonderful veggies from their CSA deliveries, creative recipes from their fabulous cook books and their vine ripened tomatoes (still on the vine) which are free for anyone to take - and I would, if I lived within 500 miles of said tomatoes. I have very much enjoyed the "photo show quality" pictures (especially this weeks shots of the 3 legged carrot) posted by my dear cousin L. I have to admit they are pretty enough, I am actually tempted to eat a vegetable! However, It has been pointed out to me throughout the summer months, I have posted NO beautiful photos of my cooking creations!... So I figure this picture is long overdue. Pictured above is the lovely Tostitos pizza I made for dinner last night. I followed the directions on the box exactly, and I just don't understand what happened. Please note, there are NO shadows on this picture.... the poor pizza REALLY IS that black! Also, I will not be offended if you laugh out loud at this picture. Even I laughed when I walked into the kitchen and found my dinner in this sad, sad state. On a positive note, my monthly check of my smoke detectors is now complete and they are in working order!
Above is a photo sent to me by a friend, of the Green Veggies in her local store. Please look VERY carefully at the picture, and note why (at the age of 32) I still refuse to eat anything that's green.... I have a terrible chlorophyll allergy.... true story. Well - maybe not completely true....
This photo, I took myself. They are the lovely sunflowers I grew in my front yard. I simply adore sunflowers. I grow them every year, and as part of my "green living" I use them to block the sun coming in my front window, which heats up my living room almost unbearably. These sunflowers cut my air conditioning usage significantly, and save me approximately $10-15 per month in energy costs! If I may say so, did a mighty fine job with them this year. I openly admit I do NOT have lovely cooking creations in my home, but I always have lovely flower arrangements. That is a separate post, which will be coming soon....
Finally, look at this adorable child. She's just beautiful! I GREW HER all by myself! It's true!!! And check out that attitude..... who could grow a child with such attitude, other than me. She was aggravated because I made her sit in about 30 chairs and proceeded to take pictures of her in each one. We are furniture shopping, and I need her to sit in each chair, so when I get the photos home, I know approximately how large the chair is - based on the amount of room Kate takes up in said chair. This IS the chair we are going to purchase (I have finally decided) and I look forward to having it in my home. It's a bit "loud" but that's OK. I will find a fabulous sage pillow to rest in the corner, and it will look stunning in my living room.

*********Edited to add: My new favorite song is called "Angels on the Moon" by Thriving Ivory. If you have not heard this song, you absolutely HAVE to listen to it. Maybe it just speaks to me - but WOW... what a song! Oh, and "Little Wonders" by Rob Thomas is still running a close second. What wonderful music is out there these days!!!!

A Loooooonng overdue update....

This is (embarrassingly enough) only my 2nd update in a month but I promise to do better from here, updating at least a couple of times a week. Here's the rundown on our lives:
Molly is STILL involved in cheer leading for the 5Th grade boys football team, which she loves. Cheer leading STILL consumes at least 3-5 nights per week for us, so I do NOT love it - but it's over in 2 weeks - thank goodness. Nevertheless, it's continuing to bring Molly (who can be an introvert from time to time) out of her shell - which is worth it. I should note: The 5th grade boys have not won a single game this season, and they only have 2 left. This is NOT because of a lack of her awesome cheer leading. I believe it is because the boys are too busy turning around staring at the 3rd grade girl cheerleaders, to pay attention to the darn game! Having an adorable baby and toddler is awesome..... having an adorable 3rd grader - not so much! I'm starting to notice the boys "noticing" my daughter, and I'm REALLY not into that. I heard 2 little boys riding their bikes (very slowly) down our street the other day, and one of them said "That's where MOLLY lives...." and they both giggled. Hmmmmmm....... Molly ALSO pointed out to me that the word "S-E-X" is written in the upper right hand corner of seat 16 on Bus 11 in BLACK INK!!! Holy goodness!!!! I asked her if that word "had meaning" to her, and she blushed as she responded.... "Yes Mom, it means you're HOT!" ........

Kate is sweet and wonderful, as always. She is still VERY opinionated and strong willed, and has been challenging me quite a bit. She was negotiating for a barbie Christmas ornament at Hallmark the other day, and I had to keep from laughing out loud when she very seriously said "Now Mommy, if I agree to put this back like you asked, I will need YOU to buy ME an Ice Cream cone, for my excellent behavior and listening skills!" ....wow. I've clearly taught her well.

I am back from my Active Duty stint here in town. Life was extremely hectic for the last 6 weeks, as I have been working 3 jobs; including my traditional national guard duties, my active duty job and also my Civilian Job. I am looking forward to having some time to breathe sometime in the near future - however, the next available date on which I do not have any pressing obligations is Sunday October 19th. I am counting down the days...

Oh, and before I forget to mention - Molly has taken an interest in my flute and can already make sounds with the mouth piece! I am seriously thinking about taking it to the shop and having it re padded for her. I have told Molly and Kate they WILL be in the band - so they'd better start thinking about which instrument they wish to play, because it's not optional! I will allow them to choose whatever they like, but I'm thinking flute or clarinet for Molly, as she will be getting braces in 5th grade and brass is probably not the best bet for her. Kate (I can tell already) will be playing the drums - which my aunt from Illinois will appreciate I am sure! Maybe we can progress to the Oboe and have Lousin L teach us how to make our own reeds. I did always think that was incredibly cool!