To Grandmother's House We Go......

We are off on a vacation to see hubby's family.  The girls are excited to see their Grandma's and Grandpa's.  If I learn any really good lesson's, I'll post them from my hubby's laptop.   Now some of you may be thinking, oh golly poor girl, she has to spend every vacation with the in-laws... well yes we only take vacations to visit family, but lucky for me they live in Hawaii!!  So Aloha my friends, I will write soon!

I won a giveaway!!!!

This is very exciting to me, I never win anything!!  I won an adorable apron from the vintage barn.  Go checkout her blog!  the vintage barn has barn sales every summer, the next one is July 10.  They are located in Couer D'Alene, Idaho.  I am going to try and make it to the next sale with my girlies!

BLACK BEAN SOUP

Alright, this really is NOT a food blog!  But I cannot help myself, this soup was so yummy  and good for you I had to post the recipe.  Pardon the messy bowl, but this picture was after I had already eaten a bowl and had just gotten my second serving.

This soup has 21 grams of fiber per serving!  Fiber is sooooooo good for you, eat up!

BLACK BEAN SOUP

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 C diced celery (i didn't add this)

1/2 C minced onion

1/4 C chopped green bell pepper

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon fresh black pepper

2 C (low sodium) chicken broth, or veggie broth

1 C water

3-15oz. cans low sodium black beans, rinsed & drained

One 15 oz. can low sodium stewed or diced tomatoes

(I used tomato sauce, cuz I don't like tomatoes)

Heat oil in medium stockpot over medium heat.  Add celery, minced onion, and bell pepper.  Cook about 10 minutes until tender.  Add garlic and next 4 ingredients; cook 3 more minutes.  Add broth, water, beans, and tomatoes.  Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer 15-30 minutes.

Let me know how you like it!!

Out with the old.....

Okay, forget that last cookie recipe.  I made them the way your supposed too and these are just divine!  So good and I get giddy knowing there is no butter or sugar!  I still changed it up a bit, but you can see the original recipe here.

Healthy Oatmeal Cookies

1 1/2 C whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 C oats
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 TBSP cinnamon

1/2 C honey
1/4 C olive oil
1/4 C applesauce
1 TBSP molasses
1 egg (beat w/ 1 TBSP water)
1 tsp vanilla

choc. chips or nuts optional

Mix dry ing. in large bowl.  In smaller bowl mix wet ing. , then mix together.  Drop by teaspoonfuls onto baking sheet.  Flatten cookie for even baking.  Bake for 15 min. at 335 degrees.

So yummy!!!  I think these are guilt free, but I have no idea the amount of calories they have.

GIVEAWAY!!!

bella shabby is having a giveaway, for a cute little wristlet made from Amy Butler fabric!  Perfect for your Starbucks card.  If you are a Starbucks addict like I am, you need to have this!!  Go to bella shabby and leave a comment to enter!

Lessons from a Walmart Cashier part 2

So.......... I was at my colonoscopy consult this morning,  I know, do you really need a consultation to see if you would like to go ahead with this awful procedure?  I guess you do.. I should know, this is my third one.  Or is it fourth?  No I think third.  But I do not remember the others having this lovely "consult".

Mom died of colon cancer, so that is why I must get colonoscopy's done every 5 years.  I will admit I was supposed to have it done last spring, but I dread it.  Not the actual procedure, but the "prep".  I'll tell you about that when I'm actually doing it... I meant to bring my camera to the endoscopy office, but I forgot..

I don't know what this has to do with my cashier lesson, it was just one of my errands today..  So I go to Walmart early this week for groceries, because we are out of everything.  Now I am in a much better mood than last week.  But I know I can always expect some type of  lesson from the cashiers so I've come to look for it.
First let me tell you I did pay it forward  from compassionate grandpa and gave some money at the Starbucks drive-thru for the lady behind me, did you guys do anything?
Anyway I get in line with Peggy at Walmart, she is nice and asks me how my day is going, just like at Starbucks drive-thru.  One day I am just going to be honest and say well I have a migraine and I feel like crying.
But today I do not and smile and say good.  I unload and pull up to checkout, she has the whirly thing full already so I'm putting bags in my cart.  Now I always fill my cart, sometimes I have to hang on to items so they don't fall off.  So I have alot of bags.  I've got the cart loaded with bags of groceries, and she comes across the magnifying mirror I am buying, scans it and starts walking over to my cart.  I thought , oh my she is  going to try and find the bag with the lotion!!  She digs through my cart, checking several bags,  to find the bag with the lotion, bless her heart, she is organized.    I think it bothered me a tad bit, because I had a Walmart cashier do this several times once.  She kept bringing things to my already full bags in my cart.  I didn't want a cart organizer.
Why do these things bother me so much?  I get just as irritated when I have to go to customer service to return something, they always ask you why you are returning it.  And I wonder if my reason will be good enough for them...   There is a return lady at Target who scares me.
She is always mad, never smiles, and acts like you have brought her a bag of rocks when you present your return to her.  I've tried to make friends with Target return lady.  I always smile real big and try and make conversation with her.
She never responds...  My friend called me one day and said Oh return lady at Target is nice to me now!  She smiles at me!   So I thought oh good , my next return won't be so bad!
Not me, I went up to the counter all smiles and had a few funny comments in mind to make her smile... didn't work.
Maybe I will make that my new mission, to get Target return lady to smile at me!  I'll keep you posted.

Healthy Cookies

Healthy cookies seem, not right, I know.  But I recently found out I have high cholesterol!  I know!  I thought, I am waaaaay to young for that, and I eat healthy!  I do not eat fried foods, no fast food, except in the summer if we are running errands and lunchtime hits.  So maybe fast food 3-4 times a year.

I do not drink pop, we eat red meat about 3 times a week, but we raise our own beef.  I frequently have veggie sandwiches for lunch.  Well you get the picture.  I was so sure they had switched my blood work with the old man ahead of me at the lab. 

He was there with his nursing home helper.  And the poor guy was asking for a few freedoms in life, and his "helper" kept saying , now you know that is against the rules, but we'll talk about it back at the nursing home.

The helper promised to take him to Target after the lab work to pick up his perscriptions.  Then they would pick out a bag of cookies and some pop for him!

So I thought, YES!  that has to be it, that man from the nursing home eats cookies and drinks pop all the time!

But alas it was not to be, it really was my test result.  So my friend sent me a recipe she found online, since I changed it up a bit, I'll give you my version.

Oatmeal cookies

1 1/2 C whole wheat pastry flour

1 1/2 C oats

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 TBSP cinnamon

1/2 C agave nectar

1/4 C olive oil

1/4 C applesauce

1 egg

1 TBSP water

1 tsp vanilla

Mix dry ing. then mix wet ing. and add to dry.  Bake at 335 for 15 min.

These are not very sweet, so you can add chocolate chips and use honey in place of agave nectar.  I just happened to have agave nectar.  I am also going to try adding more oats next time.  They are kind of like a heavy cake.  I like them.  If it means I do not have to give up my oatmeal cookie addiction then they will do! 

And Lord, please don't let my kids abandon me at a nursing home when I am old....

The Latest Lollibag

First I have to put up this cute pic of my hubby and Sophie going out for some daddy/daughter time!

Now here's the Lollibag is progress:

I started off with vintage yellow cotton for the ruffles.

and more ruffles....

This is vintage cotton for the lining.

And here it is!  The vintage button is a perfect bubblegum pink.  I'm off to see what's going on in blog land....

Lessons from Walmart cashiers...

OH boy... yes, yes , yes,  I do believe it is just that time, I am a raging monster inside.  You would think that  I would learn a few things.  And I have!  But it has been a challenge to put them to use today.
So this morning I went to Walmart to go grocery shopping, thank you Lord for Walmart, because their prices are great when you have 5 kids.  But... I will just come out and say this... the cashiers, well, God must be using them to teach me some lessons.

The first time I was irritated by a Walmart cashier, was when Sophie was still eating baby food.  I had all my jars on the checkout lane.  The man cashier, which from my last post you now know I have trouble with men.  The man cashier, who has an austrailian accent, which I would normally like, proceeded to ring up my GLASS baby food jars.  And as he did he just as quickly tossed them , yes tossed, and some tossed pretty hard, into the bags.  It was loud as they were tossed down on the hard surface.  I made a funny face, and stared at him.  He continued to toss, so I finally said, kind of loud, could you please not throw the jars???  He looked at me and continued to toss.  I learned that lesson fast, never go back to austrailian accent guy.  A few months later, his lane was open and he invited me to checkout in his lane, and I declined and waited in line at the next one.

Today I got in line with an older lady cashier.  I had asked Sophie to sit a hundred times and was trying to hurry to look at my coupons, make Sophie sit and empty the cart all at once, so I suppose I was not the image of nice.  Let me tell you something about me.  I don't make decisions easily, sometimes I can, but most times I cannot.  And if I am in a bout of depression, say..... during PMDD,  I cannot make a decision to save my life,  no matter how small!
While I am juggling above mentioned things, Walmart cashier says to me, do you want these juice boxes in a bag?  I froze.  Do I want my juice boxes in a bag... hhhmmmmm.... crap..... do I?.... I don't know!... should I get a bag?...... or save the earth???.....
I am swearing in my head, while I am staring blankly at her.
Why can't she just bag my groceries and not talk to me!!  I finally made the decision to save the earth and said ... no.
So now I am finally done unloading my cart, I'm pushing the cart forward to the pay station, while holding my coupons, and holding Sophie down in her seat while she is trying to stand up...  I am deeply involved in searching my coupon envelope.... I hear Walmart cashier speak again...  I look up, she says, do you want these batteries in your purse?
WHAT?  do I want those batteries in my purse?  I made that decision quickly, I said NO! and it was an irritated NO!  and the minute I said the rude NO, as in.... NO you moron... my thought went to the compassionate stranger, and I knew I had failed.  But I managed to quickly push that thought from my mind.
After I had swiped my credit card, and was signing, she held out her hand and said I'm gonna need to check that.  I have even had one Walmart cashier grab my credit card out of my hand while I was still signing.

I sure do miss Glenda.. my favorite Walmart cashier.  I for some reason started going to her line every week, she was an old grandma, she had made her blue Walmart shirt, you could tell, she had gray hair and glasses.
We started talking after a month or so, and I would greet her, Hi Glenda!  How are you?  We quickly became friends.  She even painted a beautiful paint by number for me.  It is so intricate, it must have taken weeks!  She had no idea that I love paint by numbers!   When she gave me that painting, I gave her a huge hug and said Glenda it's so beautiful! 
She would always look for me on saturdays and I would make sure I went to her line, no matter how long.  I made her a Lollibag.  One Saturday, she asked what my favorite colors were, and I told her.  A few weeks later, she told me she was making me a quilt.  I started crying right there in line at the thought that she was making ME a quilt!  I walked around the counter and gave her a huge hug and said Glenda thank you!  I can never repay you for that kindness!  And she said .... just be my friend!  and she squeezed me so tight.  Whenever Glenda hugged me, my day instantly became brighter and I felt loved!  You know when the hug is real, don't you?  Yes.

Not long after that day, I noticed Glenda was no longer at Walmart every Saturday.  I kept asking around, and finally someone said, she got fired.  I thought what?  How could sweet Glenda get fired!  I guess she made one to many mistakes on the food stamp vouchers, so they fired her.  I miss her so much.  I tried sending her a Christmas card to an address I think may be her, but I don't know her last name.  I should just drive to that address and see if it's her.  I don't know if I have the guts, but I sure do miss her! 

Notice how I quickly glossed over my failure above, I know.  I will make it up to that cashier next time.  I will be extra nice and say a prayer for her.  Do you just ever have one of those days, or should I say weeks, where you cannot pull yourself out of gloom?  In those times the last thing I want to do is pray and put a smile on my face.  But when I force myself to, it does make a difference, but today I did not :(

Vintage Love

Today is my hubby and I's 17th wedding anniversary.  According to etsy, something has to be at least 20 years old to be called vintage.  So I guess you could not call our love vintage YET.  But sometimes it feels that way!

My hubby and I dated for one month before we got married.  And there were plenty of naysayers.  Looking back I am sure now that I did not know what love was 17 years ago.  It is such a blessing we have made it this far.  There have been times we've wanted to divorce each other, but by the grace of God we have stayed together.

I just cannot imagine life with anyone else.  He has worked hard so that I could stay home with our children.  He has raised my oldest son as his own.  It has not been easy.  But I love him more now than I did the day we were married.  It really does feel like a vintage love to me.

Vintage things are worn, and have a story.  Vintage linens are soft and broke in.  Would you really have your linens any other way?  Vintage linens have been through the wringer of an old washer, and then hung out to dry and made bright by the sun.

Yep, that's our love, through the wringer of life, washed and worn, but made bright by the Son.  OH and do we have stories to tell!

Is your love vintage yet?

Home

Don't you love seeing inside someone's home?  Whether it's on a blog or your driving through a neighborhood at night and someone has left the drapes open.  If they have the lights on you can see into their world.  I love seeing kitchens, I wonder what they are doing?  Or sometimes they have the TV on in the family room.  It makes me want to rush home and snuggle on the couch with my kids and hubby.

This is my hallway you are looking at.  When we bought our vintage farm house it was in need of tender loving decorative care.  Every wall was covered in either 1972 wallpaper or wood paneling.  We have a very extra long hallway, incredibly long.  It took me days to strip that hallway wallpaper.  While stripping wallpaper I ended up damaging the walls.  I just thought how can this hallway ever be anything nice to look at?  I ended up putting on a paint/glaze treatment, but it was just a long boring hall of yellow.

So one day I was reading a magazine and I saw a lady had painted flowers in her dining room.  I thought it was so unique.  So I said to myself, I can do that!  So I set out drawing flowers in my hallway.  First I draw them in pencil then I bring all my little bottles of arcrylic paints out, lay down a sheet and get painting.  Oh and I always have a cup of Good Earth iced tea too.

I have been painting these flowers over the last 6 years.  I am going slow, but I have to be in a flower drawing mood.  I am almost done with one side of the hallway.  On the other side I wrote my favorite Bible verses.  Ephesians 3:14-21 For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.  I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.  And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

 

I have also written the words to some of my favortie hymns.  One of them being There is a Fountain.

It is so beautiful, we sang it at my mom's funeral, I cannot sing it without crying, not only for my mom, but at the words and their truth of what my Savior has done for me!

There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Immanuel's veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.

The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day and there may I , though vile as he, wash all my sins away.

Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood shall never lose its power, till all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more.

E'er since by faith I saw the stream Thy flowing wounds supply, Redeeming love has been my theme and shall be till I die.

When this poor lisping, stamm'ring tongue lies silent in the grave, Then in a nobler, sweeter song I'll sing Thy power to save!

by: William Cowper

Don't you love that hymn?  Didn't it touch your heart?  I hope it did :)

My Dream

My dream is to have a workspace like the artists in Where Women Create magazine.  I think it is so inspiring to look at that magazine!  This is my current Where Prudence Creates area (dining room).  I have the lamp on the table because I LOVE IT! And sometimes I turn it on at dinners.  It is very messy right now, because I am creating a new Lollibag, a smaller version of the green one way below..

Lauren and I have both of our sewing machines on this little table.  Again it is a mess, we are both very messy when we sew.

I love these two white chippy paint shelves.  They are vintage of course.  They hold our favortie things and things that need to stay out of Sohpie's hands.

Here is a vintage wall basket to hold scraps and things and an L for Lauren.  Our thread and a picture from a magazine that has inspired us.

Lauren's jar of vintage buttons, she has been collecting for years.

So as you can see this is NOT impressive!  But it is all we have right now.  I do have visions of re-doing my oldest son Josh's room into a workspace.  But my dear son still lives at home.  So for now we will over take the dining room.  OH and I also want to be featured in Where Woman Create.  Someday..

A Vintage Pastime

Coffee..  When I was little my mom would always go out with her mom and sister for coffee.  Or go to their house for coffee.  If we went out with Grandma for coffee, it was always at Perkins or Bakers Square for coffee and pie.  I would just sit in the booth and watch my mom and Grandma drink coffee and my Grandma eat pie.
I wish I remembered what they talked about. I bet it was the same thing I talk about with my friends.  When I moved to Oregon 7 1/2 years ago I met two wonderful friends and we started "doing coffee" once a week.  Denise has the espresso machine, so it is always at her house.  Well last year we all got so busy, that we didn't do coffee for about 6 months it seems. 
Today we had coffee, and it was a RELIEF.  I didn't realize how much I missed it!  Or how much I needed to cry a little.  I shed a few tears before Heidi got there, usually if one starts crying , we all start crying...There is nothing like girlfriends.

It's funny cuz I don't do anything with Denise outside of coffee, I mean I consider her a good friend, but we don't hang out or call each other.  But when we "do coffee", I consider both Denise and Heidi, my best friends, we can talk about anything, act silly, cry, or just sit there and stare at each other.  We have gone through pregnancies, a miscarriage, unemployment, home selling, home building, mother/mother in law problems, marriage troubles, a runaway teen, the list goes on...

I don't know when it started but we used to take girls trips, the 3 of us, driving to Portland, for a weekend of shopping, we would stay at the same boutique hotel everytime, and eat at the same Japanese sushi place, the first night we arrived.  Oh how I miss those girls trips.  It was truly rejuvenating! I started a photo album with girl trip only photos, there is not near enough photo's in there.  Somehow with the economy and each of us adding one more child to our families, the trips fell by the wayside.

I most appreciate about coffee is that we can talk about anything, and when we find were becoming to negative, someone will say, hey guys, lets remember how blessed we really are!  I am truly thankful that I am able to be a stay at home mom and that allows me to be able to "do coffee".
So tell me girls, do you "do coffee" with anyone special?

Here's what I made with the fabric

Here it is, my new Lollibag with boucle flowers!

OH.... you just stay home?

How many times have I heard that?  Oh you just stay home with the kids?  You don't have a job?
HA HA HA, yes most of those phrases were spoken to me by men....
I will admit one of my favorite times of day is when I put Sophie down for her nap.  My second favorite time of day is when Portia, my soon to be 8 year old comes home from school.  She is always so happy when she walks through the front door.  She skips to the bathroom to wash her hands (I've trained her well), and then she runs to the kitchen to get a snack.  Today she picked ritz crackers, lunchmeat and shredded cheese.  She got a plate for her baby sister and included her in the preparation of this snack. 
I love when Portia and Sophie sit at the bar in the kitchen and eat their snack together.  While they eat I usually am making cookies, or ironing, or prepping food for dinner.  I love hearing about her day at school or listening to her tell her little sister how to make the "ritz sandwich". 
Today I told Portia  that I was thinking of letting Sophie try out her big girl bed tonight.  Portia said, ya mom, she can always sleep in my bed too!  At first I thought, ugh, no what if someone gets sick, or they will be fooling around and playing instead of going to sleep.
But then I thought, how sweet was that , that Portia is willing to take care of Sophie and help her make the adjustment from crib to bed.  And is it really a big deal if they fool around for a while before bed?  Well it probably will be tonight when I try it and they are screaming and jumping on the bed, and come running out of their room a million times, but I'm going to give it a go!
I want them to have fun memories of their childhood and those aren't always on vacations or from huge events, they can be snuggling up with your sissy in bed at night.
When I was little my sister and I had seperate rooms, with a passageway in our closet.  At night, I would go through the closet to sleep in my sisters bed.  I think we should have shared a room, but there was just the two of us and I supposed my mom thought why not give them each their own room?
With five children we have had to add on to the vintage farm house, but the two youngest still have to share a room and I'm glad :)
WOW I really got off track today..... I was saying  this "just staying home" business is the most important business!  How would we have any good people in the world if it weren't for us stay at home moms?  I think we are vital to the world!  Without us everything would collapse! 
So give yourselves a pat on the back girls, chin up and carry on!

Have Lollibag, will travel....

My girls and I were just talking about taking a road trip this summer.  Well it started when my husband said he was taking the boys to drag races in Minnesota this summer.  So I thought well I'll take the girls somewhere then!
  Last summer over 4th of July weekend, I took my oldest daughter, Lauren, to Mary Janes Farm Fair, in Idaho.  The picture above is Mary Jane and Lauren.  We had so much fun! This summer, I wanted to stay at Mary Janes Bed and Breakfast, it is "glamping" or glamour camping.  The bathrooms are outhouses, as cute as they are, I don't think my two youngest girls would do well with outhouses.  So maybe when they are older we'll go there.
I think we have decided on heading to the Oregon coast for seashell hunting.  We'll also be on the hunt for antique stores to find vintage fabrics.  So I am off to sew a million Lollibags to fund our road trip!  I have started my Lollibag with the new fabrics from the photo below.  Jessica from Two Shades of Pink suggested I put flowers on this bag, so that is what I am doing!  I will post a photo when I'm done!
Is anyone else going on a road trip this summer?

Oh what to do with this fabulous fabric!

I went to Joann's today, I NEVER buy new fabric, I prefer vintage.  But this pink and white was on clearance and the green just caught my eye.  I am going to make a Lollibag from the green and accent with the pink and white.  So for the accent, should I do ruffles or flowers or what?  Give me your opinions!!

Favorite things and Favorite photo's of 2009

Sophie

                                                                 The hay field

                                         A beautiful view

3 of the herd

A vintage church sign

A Lollibag that went to Alaska

This was my favorite Lollibag, it was sold at the Funky Junk Sisters Show in Washington

http://www.funkyjunksisters.blogspot.com/

                              Bonnie, one of the twin goats

                    A new baby cow is always so sweet, welcome Lucy

A favorite charm

Christmas trees are ready to sell

                                  A new lamb for Christmas