Happy Halloween

Now go eat some candy!

Bessy sure is dressy

While Rachel was on Fall Break, I took the girls up to visit my parents. One exciting aspect of the trip was learning just a smidgen more about the castle I mentioned back here. I stopped at a gas station near by to inquire and was told by the woman working there that she had not lived in the area long, but had been told that an elderly woman in her 80's lives there by herself now. She and her husband had built the place a long time ago, before any of the other houses in the area had been built and that it was nothing but a residence. Curious. I was, in fact, so curious that I even found an overheard view of it on google. Now if I could just get its whole life history.



When the girls and I arrived at my parents, I was excited to see that Dressy Bessy had found her way out of their attic and into the library, where all the toys are. Bessy and a tiny piano were new additions. Rachel was mainly interested in the piano and in retrospect, I think I was the only one really thrilled about seeing Bessy again. I loved this doll. You could do so much with her! Did you have a Dressy Bessy? Or her "brother", Dapper Dan? I have asked so many people that question and gotten strange looks from them. How could a child of the 70's not have had one is what I want to know!



I'm thinking that if I use what I learned from the Black Apple tutorial for a basic doll, and also gave Bessy a good study, I could come up with a cool new version that might make a good Christmas gift for one or two of my nieces. Of course, I would either have to make some alterations or finally learn now to put a zipper in. Wouldn't she be cute with a little heart tucked into that zippered pocket? And I guess, unless I stumble upon an eyelet setter soon, I would have to do something different for the lace up vest, but you get the idea. I'll put it on my to do list. Right there with the two quilts that I was going to have done for when it turned cold (oops...that would be right now), baby quilts for twin girls due some time in December, a quilt for our newest niece and all the other ideas for Christmas rumbling around in my head. Seriously. I have got to find a way to get more time!



I've been putting the twirly skirt tutorial to good use, but the pictures are on Jim's computer, which is threatening to die (and take YEARS worth of family photos with it), so I am trying to remain calm and just trust that all will be well with that.

On a completely different subject, while I was sitting here at the computer, not too long ago, I kept hearing a weird noise. I would say (and did) that it almost sounded like an owl. And it was very close to where I was sitting, albeit outside. I finally convinced Jim to brave the cold with me to investigate. By the time we got out behind the house, it had moved, but sure enough, we found it in a tree behind our neighbor's house. I wanted to stay outside and watch and listen longer, but Jim declared it too cold and also said that you have to be careful about shining bright lights at people's homes late at night. Really? Still, it was pretty cool.

I've been tagged

Well, something has got to get me back to posting, so I figured I'd accept Carrie's tag and answer the meme that she sent me.


10 Years ago I:
1. I honestly cannot remember ten years ago!!
2. Was working at Shaw Rugs
3. Was a DINK
4. Traveled to the Netherlands with Jim and good friends (I think...I might be off by a year on this)
5. Had three cats and a dog

5 things on today's "to do" list:
1. Get Rachel started on her map project for school
2. Find my stash of iron on paper that can go through the printer
3. Finish my reading for tomorrow's Bible study
4. Pick up the house (ha!)
5. Cut out some more twirly skirt material

5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Kettle corn
2. Chocolate
3. Salt and Vinegar potato chips
4. Ice cream with lots of "stuff" in it
5. Nuts

5 places I have lived:
1. Chattanooga, TN
2. Cartersville, GA
3. Athens, GA
4. Ypsilanti, MI
5. Dearborn, MI

5 jobs I have had:
1. Commercial Carpet Designer
2. Residential Rug Designer
3. Carpet & Rug Designer
4. Movie Theater Employee
5. Slide Librarian Assistant

5 people I tag: (I'm short two)
1. Amy
2. Angela
3. Heather


I really do have some pictures to share, and will do so soon, I promise! (I think)

Hello, I'm sorry, I lost myself

Apparently I thought I was Martha Stewart or Bree Van De Kamp. Rachel had snack duty at school this past week and while my blog has not seen any action as of late, my kitchen feels like it has been working overtime. For some reason, I could not leave well enough alone and just go to Sam's and buy five big boxes of five different things and call it a week. No, I felt like I had to make as much as possible despite the fact that other kids have brought pretzels, raisins, "fruit" snacks and crackers. For Monday I made Chex mix, omitting all nuts and adding Cheerios and pretzels instead. Tuesday was Rice Krispie treats. I had an important dinner date with a good friend on Tues. night so the kids had to settle for cheese crackers on Wednesday, but I made up for taking it easy by making the Sneaky Chef's Chocolate Chip Cookies. Not only did I make these, but I made a triple batch and made them in Wilton pans that enabled me to turn them into giant cookie lollipops. I cannot tell you how long this took, but I'm pretty sure it was all afternoon. I was nervous about sending these for the kids (although it didn't stop me from doing it) because they are made with very little sugar compared to normal cookies and they use oats, wheat germ, whole wheat flour and white bean puree as well as the usual ingredients. Rachel reported that they were a hit with most of the kids though, so I was happy (and tired). For Friday I sent fall cupcakes. Those Hershey Kiss/mini Nilla wafer creations are supposed to be acorns. A link from the Hello, Cupcake! blog took me to this site and I couldn't resist giving them a try after finding a box of the mini Nilla wafers at Dollar Tree. I skipped the walnuts around the edge in light of nut allergies and had to decorate two with just fall sprinkles to accommodate the two chocolate allergies in her class. Imagine, allergic to chocolate! Imagine, the pounds I could shed! What a cruel allergy though. We'll take the Brazil nut allergy at our house over just about any other. I guess a radish allergy wouldn't be too bad either. Anyhow, snack duty is over until 2009 rolls around. The other kindergarten class takes a day at a time. While it doesn't eat up a whole week, it is nice to only have to worry about it twice a year. Time to ditch the kitchen and hook up with my sewing machine again!