75 bucks down the drain (Sob. Sob.)
Frugal ornaments
"Helen Keller" & "Ann Sullivan"
I love the way they look!

Am I the only one getting a "hankering" for chocolate and peanut butter?! :-) I have received several requests for this recipe and thought it was easiest to post in this manner.

The only thing I do differently is to use chocolate flavored almond bark instead of chips. It makes the chocolate dipping step easier. (At least to me it does.)

Enjoy and mail me a few! :-)

The three guys at work
Finished project
Three of the "designers"
Mommy and Seth at the first step

Our first gingerbread house ~ compliments of Marcia and Candy Davis (friends from Dayton, OH). We received this as a Christmas gift in 2005, but I decided to save it for this year. I think it is cute for a bunch of first-timers, and we will be able to enjoy it for the entire season.

Now, we did have a bit of an issue because I did not think it should be consumed. Consequently I was faced with all kinds of questions & comments. "Mommy, can I have this little piece of icing?" "If we are not supposed to eat it, why are nutrition facts listed on the box?" (You mean lack of nutrition?!) "Mommy, this candy is not too hard. Can I eat it anyway?" "Mommy, I really think we are supposed to eat it. Can we?" And so on, and so on, and so on. . .

Personally, I see no reason to put hours of labor into something that will be instantly devoured! I thought we could enjoy it for weeks to come, and I finally pacified the men in this home by promising a batch of gingerbread cookies that will be eaten. Whew! I squeaked out of that one!

a lot like Christmas. At least at our home it is. Instead of shopping on "Black Friday," we had a partial day of school, had lots of fun setting up the boys' tree and made our first gingerbread house.

I love seeing the excitement on their little faces and listen to their chatter as they design the tree. They now have a "big tree" instead of the little one which was getting way too small for their ornaments. In January, I found a $180. brand new, 7 1/2', pre-lit tree at Goodwill for $30, and I snatched it up for us. This season, the boys found themselves the proud owners of our old 6' tree. "Ethan's branch" is so telling of a child's motto ~ "More is better!" :-)

Ethan at work
"Ethan's branch"
The finished product
Mommy helping Seth sort the ornaments.

Janelle Manley
Kim Russo
Linda, Martha, Nancy & Ginger
Thanksgiving treat
Suzanna Hooper

There is a lull in my day, so I decided to hop on the computer and brag on my "kindred spirits." (Sorry I do not have snapshots of everyone. Hope you will enjoy the few.) Lately I have been pondering the wealth of friends that I call mine, and I am so blessed. Having lived in six different areas, I have met many wonderful (and some not so wonderful :-) people that have touched my life. One of my teachers taught me that everyone can contribute something to you if you will allow them. I have endeavored to do that and have found myself on the receiving end many times. To all of my acquaintances, friends and kindred spirits, thanks for what you have added to my journey. My heart has needed to keep growing in order to make spots for everyone! :-)

I have one corner of my heart that has those that are my oldest companions. The ones that I cannot remember not knowing. Lisa (Burton) Robinson and the "Dinkins" gals (Linda, Nancy and Ginger) are in that category. Wow! Do we all have some good stories and laughs on each other!!!!!

There are so many school friends with whom I have shared hours of fun. . . Yolonda Lewis, Jennifer (Williams) Nelson, Annie (Williams) Davis and Johanna (Nelson) Howard are some with whom I still correspond. Suzanna Hooper and I became instant friends close to twenty years ago, and I still think as highly of her as I did then. I never grow tired of being with her! She has the longest standing title of "best" in my friend category.

Janelle Manley is a newer friend and one of my "best" as well. Her home is the one spot on earth where I feel most comfortable! We have the greatest time with them. Troy and John, Janelle and myself, Cale, Clarissa, Seth and Ethan. Now they have little Camden! They are one of the best families on the planet, and I am so proud to call them my friends! I miss you all terribly.

I have a big stash of good friends from SD, IN and OH. It was nice to live at GBS and make new friends and reconnect with old. Nancy Lambeth and I have enjoyed more laughs than I will ever count! :-) She was a blast. I had better stop naming GBS folks, or I will just have to type the entire phone list.
Since moving to SC in August, I have a new set of people that God has allowed to contribute to my life. My neighbor, Kim Russo, is wonderful. I do not know what I would do without her!!!! There is a host of ladies at church that are so nice. I have enjoyed many fun conversations with these gals, and they have warmly accepted me.

The whole world of blogging has reunited me with some old acquaintances and moved them to the rank of "friend." I have even met new friends through this avenue. Thanks, "Anonymous," for emailing me:-) You are wonderful to know. One of these days, I will have an outing with all the IN gals!

Thanks to each of you ~ from the oldest to the newest! Friends truly are the flowers of life! You have stood by my side and made such a difference.

Thanks for all the spice you add! I love all of you very much!

Freedom
Family
Two little boys
Family

I have already donned my apron and rolled up my sleeves to begin preparations for tomorrow but decided to take a little break in the middle. . . Like many other bloggers, I am going to take a few moments today to list several things that warm my heart and finish the list on the holiday.

2. A sweet husband that doesn't care how long I stay on the computer! :-) He will always help with kids or housework if I need it and his schedule allows, is very patient with me (most of the time~I can be very trying), invests in his sons and will even iron my clothes for me if I ask. (That is the one job that is ugh!)

4. A big family of parents, siblings, in-laws, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins. . . I know that if something should ever happen to me, many of these people would be at my side in a heart~beat, and I am very thankful for this! I have wonderful memories surrounding my family, and I will always treasure them. Sorry I cannot be with the Cincinnati gang for this holiday. You will be in my thoughts. Thank you for loving me and always making me feel welcomed.

Here we are in aisle #3 of the electronics department looking at a brand new iPod. . .

Do you have one of these on your list for yourself or anyone else this year?

Good! You have come to the right place!

I received this iPod as a bonus through a home based business and have no use for it. (We might have some interesting tales from the castle if I walked around with things plugged in my ears:-)
I finally decided to pull it off the shelf and see if I could find the poor, unused thing a better home. (Troy says I am being tacky doing this on my blog. "That is why there is eBay." "Oh, that is too much of a bother, and there is no commandment forbidding a garage sale from the castle." I really hope all of you do not think this is tacky!)
I have never used this iPod and the features on the back of the box state:
~Plays music two ways: sequential order from first song to last or random shuffle mode
~Holds over 120 songs at near CD quality (Capacity based on 4 minutes per song and 128-Kbps AAC encoding)
~Up to 12 hours of continuous playback with rechargeable lithium-ion battery
~Superportable at 0.78 ounce and just .33 inch thin
~Automatically syncs music from your Mac or PC
~Plays AAC, MP3, WAV, and Audible formats
~Includes Ipod shuffle, lanyard, earphones, and iTunes for Mac and Windows

At Walmart, this one is selling for $69. (At least I think it was the same type. I am not the most media savvy person you will meet.)
I will send this to your doorstep for $55 ~shipping and insurance included. (All proceeds from this sale will benefit the Greenville County Speeding Ticket Fund.)

~Be the first to email me, and this iPod is yours. (Well, after you agree to pay, of course! :-)

Here are the latest portraits of my little buddies. (Pardon the crooked scanning job.) I gaze at these pictures and cannot imagine life without them. Isn't it amazing how they can wrap themselves around your heart?!

Yes, we have been invaded!!!

Life has been a flurry of activities lately, and pirates landed during the midst of it all. They came following a patriotic story surrounding Ft. McHenry and the birth of the Star Spangled Banner. I gave the boys a suspense filled edition of this exciting part of our national history, and their little imaginations produced some new characters - the "Pirates of America!" Their mission? To rid us of the British warships. It started with them jumping off the diner chairs (their ship) into the sea (blue bean bags). The longer they were pirates, the more their bravery grew until they were diving off the kitchen stools. Sadly the "sea" had to go after it began to spew "SOS" signals of white beans. Now the "pirates" are diving onto the carpets. (Yes, it is a little painful to watch.)

Aunt Joanna's Tuesday departure

produced a tale of woe for the boys. At the airport, Ethan began a muttering campaign of how it is not fair that she had to leave. We all enjoyed her and hope she is able to return in the future.

Like mother, like son. . .

and so continues the saga of Martha and Ethan. It all started with a treat sent by Grandma Sampson ~ brownie cutters, icing and sprinkles. We recently indulged, and Ethan helped himself to a little more indulging after the meal. I could not locate him after supper until he crawled out from under the table with icing tube in hand. :-) Oh, yes. He comes by that quite honestly. Numerous times my mother would get ready to bake only to find that cans or tubes of icing had the majority of their contents missing. I also cleaned out a whipped topping container or two. So, I could hardly be shocked at Ethan.

History has a tendency to repeat itself, correct?!

Things have started taking on a different tone lately. I have seen such a huge improvement in Ethan's antics that I thought I might never again post crazy stories, and life would suddenly be calm. . . Choke. Cough. I will not bother to recall all the new tales from his corridor. Some might produce weird visitors like my friend, Angie, has had the privilege of meeting in the blog world. Ethan did pull a cute one today. He drew a sweet picture of me holding two flowers. (I am glad he told me it was me, or I might not have known.) He proceeded to flip the paper and draw this bean like thing with two dots and a wavy line under them. "What is this picture, Ethan?" "That is me, and I am sad because you won't take me to the park." "My dear boy, it is library day, and it is raining and cold!"
Seth has been supplying us with the tales of late. He attempted to cut his hair and removed a nice little snippet, didn't he? Can any of you explain how someone can get their shoes in the bathroom (The boys' tennis shoes are kept on either side of the hamper.), and one shoe ends up in the toilet?! He was at least apologetic, and thankfully the shoe was not drenched. And please do not ask why I flushed the toilet after I retrieved the shoe! :-) I am way too busy!

Recently, while trucking up and down the hall with loads of laundry, I heard an interesting conversation coming from the boys' room. I peeked in just in time to see Ethan face down on the bed. Seth was tying his hands behind his back with a menacing, "This is the end of the road for you, Mate!" :-) They had been watching a DVD where the Crocodile Hunter had caught some poachers. Those little imaginations!

You know my life has been busy when I have not blogged in 5 days! I hope my dear husband notices. (Ahem!) He says that I have to post about 3 times a day.

Well, it has been a crazy week, and I am exhausted! Warning - you will probably find typos, and I am so tired I will not catch them. As for the castle tales. . .here is what has been happening in the company corridor ~ Joanna, my younger sister, crossed the moat last Tuesday. She was a helpful maid while I painted, and the boys are enjoying her presence.

David Spivey, one of Troy's best friends, and Jordan and Jamie (I have no clue how to spell their last name.) spent Sunday night here. It was soooo fun, and there was much laughter :-) (Pictured is Troy, David and Jamie.) We had a wonderful time and hated to see them leave!

For the chaos end of it. . .I am very sore but still functioning:-) We had the wonderful idea to shampoo our carpets after painting, and I moved most of the furniture so we would have good access to the floors. I even "tossed" the dining room chairs in the yard to make more room. I began giving them a thorough cleaning but got sidetracked. Hours later, the rain drenched them and finished the job. I thought it was pretty funny and had a good laugh, but for some reason, I was the only one who laughed! I told Joanna that I need to quit improving my living conditions because more chaos seems to happen with each project!

The couch, yes, the lovely or once lovely couch is still in the same condition. I have not had time or energy to attempt any improvement. Angie and I are on the same page, and Les and Carrie will never be allowed to repair even a broken toothpick in my house:-) I am not an "afghan on the back of the couch" type of person, but in this emergency, we had to pull out great-grandma's and cover the damage. Speaking of afghans, when I was young, I think my mother collected them on the back of her sofa. I remember thinking it looked so cluttered, and when we were expecting company I would do away with the lovely items. As people were pulling in the driveway, I would make a mad dash for the living room, swipe all the afghans and toss them in a closet. I was such a trouble-maker! My father convinced me that it was in my good interest to stop that practice or else:-) Back to my couch, I enjoyed reading all the comments. Whoever was the "Martha Stewart," you brought me a great deal of laughter regarding your comment! Please email me and tell me who you are. I have an educated guess, but I would like to know for sure. Someone had an "inside track" to know all that about me:-)

Do you like the brown paint behind the couch? I love it! The butter color is on the opposite wall and in part of the hall. It is the color I will use to make stripes on the brown. I love the way the pictures look on the yellow colored wall. My sister, who happens to be the antithesis of me when it comes to decor, cannot understand why I would hang two of the same painting next to each other. I just smile and say, "It's different!"

I cannot believe what I just did!!!! I placed the vac on the back of the sofa so Joanna could reach higher to get dust from the ceiling and walls, and you can guess what happened. I tipped the vac so the beater bar would not be bumping the couch, but I guess I was too late or did not get it back far enough. Oh, well. I must admit I am a little sad because we just bought this couch in July. Any ideas on how to patch this? Is there a certain thread or needle I should use? Thanks for your help. I will now take my disheartened self and go back to prepping the walls.

Let's see. . .for a positive thing. . .At least it is on the top and not a cushion where people would sit.

Oh, yes, we had the privilege of doing that at the Charlotte airport. My typical "modus operandi" is to drive around until whoever is arriving has luggage in hand and waiting at the curb. Joanna was able to persuade me to park, come in and wait for her. That was a guarantee that her plane would be late! The boys did not know until we arrived that their "surprise" was Joanna, and they were thrilled!
Her plane was to arrive at 6:58, and we waltzed in at 6:45. We will not have long to wait, and that is a positive thing because Ethan did not have a good nap. That is what I thought! Time began to lapse, lapse, lapse and lapse. . . There was no info on the board concerning the flight. What would you think when other flights have "on time," "delayed" or at least a stated time next to it? Her flight was the only one in yellow letters with a red square surrounding it. A sure sign to Seth that she was dead. I finally asked and was informed it would be about an hour late. Nice! I brought nothing in the airport but us, camera, phone, wipes and hand sanitizer. It was then my maternal obligation to entertain bored boys. Ethan had a hard time sitting for long stretches of time. The boring solitude of that was disrupted by a sudden bloody nose from the dear boy. After the excitement of that, we began to ride escalators. They were again thrilled! We walked from one end of the airport to the other, counting the big squares on the floor. I believe there are 219.
Joanna finally landed, and we met her at the baggage claim, which had no info concerning her flight's luggage. It never did. So, we sat for another thirty minutes or longer. A lady on the same flight saw some of their items come by on a carousel, so we quickly grabbed everything and left.
We were then faced with an 85 mile drive back home and a stop at Walmart for groceries. I found myself in bed around 1 in the morning. Consequently, I am tired and crabby today. Yes, I was already having to apologize by 8:30 :-) My nice mother sent Take 5 candy bars to me, so that should do some cheering!

As the saying goes, "I have a lot on my plate this week."

I am excited that my sister, Joanna, will be here today. (The picture was taken two years ago, but it at least lets you know what she looks like. Please excuse Seth's expression. He is not the photogenic one:-) My boys have no clue about her arrival, but I have been cruelly keeping them in suspense over a HUGE surprise! Yesterday I started attacking the "list" I had formulated to do while she was here to watch the boys but soon realized it was too long. I have included some photos of the progress.

~I finished the kitchen trim and set up a little decor. I am not doing much and decided to use what I have. If I buy more, it is more to move.

~I prepped one of the hall walls and painted it. (I took all the the snapshots at night, so they are dark due to the lack of natural light. Sorry.)

I also included a picture of the window coverings I bought for the patio doors. They are not my favorite style, but anything was an improvement over those whopping blinds! They were on clearance, too, so I snatched them. I did like the retro look on the top of them. Troy jokingly told me it reminded him of a shower curtain.

And now you're wondering about school? Yes, I canceled on Monday. I started Seth earlier than planned so I could have a few free days if needed. He was pretty excited, and the boys spent part of the time playing battle. "Peter" (Seth) and "Edmond" (Ethan) were quite busy fighting for Narnia. (Yes, "Crashing Fat Bellies" has not been played in a few weeks. I think it is because I moved the couch, and they do not want to whack the coffee table. They would have to rename it "Hurting Little Backs.")

Well. . . I am off to start school, attack more of the "list" and go to Charlotte for my sister. Sigh. . .I will probably drive under the speed limit!