Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Splash of color

***** I started this post a while ago and never got around to finishing it.  Since I am using this recipe today I decided it was a good time to share it with you all! **********



It was quite the weekend at our home.  We had lots of family visit and It was full of wonderful things.

First wonderful part?  The weather!  It was a gorgeous 55 degree the entire time they were here!  As they left last night it started to rain.  It has been wet, cold and gross since then!


Since the weather was so nice we decided to take a stroll through the park.....although some of us did more rolling then strolling......




Clara showed off her suburb rocking and sliding skills to maamow..........


That night we decided to finally paint the blank walls I've been staring at for months now.....





Since I was feeding a crowd I decided to make my go-to- roasted chicken.  The next day I whipped up some homemade noodles and made my grandmothers famous chicken and noodles with the leftover chicken..  It is my favorite meal in the world!  I will share it with you now!

Grandma's Chicken and Noodles



  • 3-6 C of flour
  • 4 eggs, beaten 
  • 1 Leftover chicken
  • vege's of your liking


  1. Take your leftover chicken, bones and all, and put it in a pot of water and simmer for about 2-4 hours to make a good stock.
  2. While the chicken stock is cooking, beat four eggs and mix them with 3 cups of flour.  This will make a nice firm but moist ball of dough.
  3. Put a good cup of flour on your working surface and start working it into your dough with your rolling pin.  You are going to want to keep doing this until you can easily roll them out.
  4. Once you have your dough rolled out (to your liking, it doesn't matter how thick or thin you make it) cut them into however large or small strips you want and let them rest for a while.  My grandma always lets them rest for the day, my mom throws hers in the pot right away, so you can decide how long they should rest,
  5. After your chicken has simmered for a few hours pull it out and put it to the side.  You want for it to cool down a bit before you pull all of the leftover meat off of it.  Put your vegetables you want into your pot and boil until soft, about 30 minutes.
  6. Add chicken and noodles and boil for another 15-20 minutes.  The noodles should thicken up the soup, but if you want it thicker just throw some extra flour in at this point.
This recipe does take a good portion of your day to make, but it is not really labor intensive.  Sometimes I like to cheat and use packaged noodles.  If you do this know that they will swell up after they have been cooked and refrigerated for a day or so, but it still is just as tasty.

Happy Wednesday to you all!

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Failed

So like most people in this world I try very hard at everything I do.  I commit myself 110% and can not stand failure.  The past couple of weeks have been so very hard for me and the family.  Our little stinker, Buehrle, has pooped in his kennel every single night since we brought him home from his "training".  We tried medicine,  I put him on doggie probiotics, we tried waking up every two hours, I even started making him homemade dog food in an effort to make his stomach happy.  We took him to the vet several times and each time they told us that he didn't have anything wrong with him.

I tried everything I could possibly think of and  every idea I tried I failed at.

Now I know that there are a lot of people out there who can handle two children, a really hard working Mister and a dog who likes to poop in his kennel every night, but I could not.  I was cracking under the stress of taking care of all these things and it wasn't fair to me, my children and my poor puppy who obviously needs more then I can give to him.

So Buehrle went away yesterday.  Right now it is temporary to make sure he will thrive in his new environment.  I'm kind of hoping he doesn't like it there so I can have a reason to bring him back home for my own selfish reasons, but I know that will not be the case.  He literally went to puppy heaven.  One of my best friends took him home with her.  He now gets to live on a farm where he will have lots of space to run, he has a pond he can swim in and he will have a new dog friend, Toby.  On top of all that he will have an amazing new master.

I spent the majority of yesterday feeling like I gave up on my baby and crying like a baby, myself.  I made the Mister promise not to ever bring home another living thing that I can fall in love with.  He laughed at me and promised he wouldn't.

I miss my dog  :(  I know dogs don't have the same emotions as humans but I hope he knows I love him.




Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Rate Your Landlord

I Have Learned Some Interesting Things As Of Late


  1. Stabbing yourself with wood carving tools makes you look like a cutter.
  2. I can never ever ever become a truck driver.  (Driving for long distances makes me see RED.  I've driven over 24 hours in the past week.  It blows.)
  3. Rats can burrow through the foundation of your house and live in your home.
  4. My dog is terrified of city buses and.......ducks.  

I get the bus.  Its big and hisses and beeps and if I were Buehrle I would probably yelp and hide behind my master if I saw one too.



But ducks?  Seriously?  And its not like they were crazy angry geese chasing after him.  They were just swimming in the pond.  We were on our morning run when I figured out these fears of his.  He ran to the other side of me so quickly it was like someone lassoing my legs.  Luckily I have *amazing balance and did not fall on my face.

*this may or may not be true.


One more thing I've been thinking about strongly lately?  

As a woman who has been a renter for the last twelve years I have been in some crazy situations.  I have lived in some very odd housing.  I have had some really great landlords.  I have had some really crazy landlords.  But I have also had some really shitty slumdog landlords.

So the other day the Mister and I were talking.  There are all these different websites where you can "rate" things.  Why isn't there a "rate your landlord" website?

First and foremost, there is Yelp, where you can rate damn near anything in the world (and whose ratings I strongly rely on for my everyday adventures in consumerism.)  There is great schools for when you start looking into your schooling options (and you should start early, folks.)  They even have sites for rating your college professor.

So why, I ask you, is there not any kind of *Rate Your Landlord* website?  You willingly hand over your entire life story to this complete stranger in exchange for a measly 12 months of your life.  And for what?  It is always a huge gamble!  The Mister told me it is a lawsuit issue and it could make it easier for people to get sued for slander, but its not slander if its true!

I know I would have missed out on a lot of headaches if this type of service existed.

What is your *favorite landlord horror story?

Monday, November 14, 2011

Long lists and Huge Projects

I've been so busy lately and I'm afraid it is only going to get busier.  Here is a list of things I have to do within two weeks.


  1. Jay Cutler Trophy
  2. Bears face wood cut out
  3. Sew 5 christmas blankets (That are needed before next weekend)
  4. Plan Friends thanksgiving and all that is involved with that
  5. Figure out how to retrain my once angelic dog.
  6. Laundry.  Lots and lots of freaking laundry.
  7. About five hundred million more things for wedding planning. 

I think I can..I think I can...I think I can...I think I can.................

Crunchy leaves make for a happy baby!

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Whomping Willow

Do you remember the magical tree that is planted on Hogwarts grounds?  

The one that was placed there to hide the secret passageway from Hogwarts that leads to the Shrieking Shack in nearby Hogmeade so Lupin could change into a werewolf in secret?

No?  Well I'll tell you.  That magical tree is called a Whomping Willow.  It is a very violent tree that will attack anything or anyone who comes near it's branches.  The branches of this tree function just like arms.


I believe overnight the tree outside my house has transformed into a Whomping Willow.  

View from my window*

*This may or may not be my actual window.

Or maybe it is just fall.  Yesterday was a beautiful day.  The baby and I spent it travelling.  I learned that the lace I like costs $213.00 a yard (Ouch!) and that felt blankets are easy to make.  So I bought WAY to much felt and plan on sewing everyone in my family a blanket for christmas.  

(The family that I live with, not all of you.  Sorry guys!  That would put me in the poorhouse for sure!)

My mama and my little sisters are coming to visit me this weekend.  They are also going to look at some colleges in the area.  Seeing I did not attend college the "proper" way I will not be much help outside of showing them how to get to and from.  I need to ask a bit of help from you all.


My question for you:  What are things to look for as well as good questions to ask when visiting potential colleges?

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Out-Halloweening Your Neighbor

While walking around the neighborhood this October I could tell that something BIG was in our future.  One by one each house started putting up bigger and better decorations then the last.  If their neighbor put up more fake spiderwebbing then the other they would go buy 15 more rolls.  The final product was more extravagant then I could ever imagine.  Here are a few examples of what I mean.......




















Years and years ago I bought the most beautiful black and red cloak.  It wasn't the smartest purchase at the time since it really isn't socially acceptable to walk around in cloaks in this day in age.  So every year I find different ways to use it for my Halloween costume!  So far it has been used for a goat, vampire, devil and now.....Medusa.  (bwa ha ha)

I first got the idea of becoming Medusa a few months back when I ran into this awesomeness.  This is how the the transformation went.

First, put your hair into different sections.  Put pipe cleaners in each section.  
(Don't put to much hair in each section unless you double up on the pipe cleaner.) 




After you put the pipe cleaners in, braid it with your hair.

(Totally look like coolio here.)


Since I put to much hair in some sections and my "snakes" were a bit saggy I put a thick head wrap around my head to give them more support.

(At this point the Mister still said I looked like Coolio.)


BUT, add some GREEN hair spray, GREEN eyeshadow and RED lipstick....


And then you have yourself Medusa!!!!!



Clara was Minnie Mouse.  She really liked her "makeup"


Rhiannon went as an 80's nerd, although I think she looked more like a plain old hipster.  




 





After we got home we played in the yard and passed out candy to all the other trick or treaters.  There were about 510.465,243,857 children who came to our house.  There were so many kids we ran out of candy and Rhiannon gave away all the candy she had got from trick or treating that night.


I believe Halloween this year was quite the success!