DeeDee's Musings

Aubri is two now and is a BIG sister! Little Max was born at 9:55 AM on May 31st, 2012. She's a pro at giving soft kisses and touching his arm softly to check on him.



Ava is 9 months old and a ball of fire. A fisher of goldfish, a climber of stairs and an all around taster of all foods.

Ava and Aubri are bestest buddies and they enjoy playing and engaging each other. :)

Ava is still getting to know Max, but is warming up to the idea.

bug watching

swimming conversations

poolside giggles

deep thoughts shared under a tree

Between snapping up pictures and giving kisses, this Granny has been sewing a little, experimenting with new recipes and with a gift of an embroidery machine have been trying my hand at digitizing and embroidering.

Well the hooks and needles are calling to me and so in order to keep from logging a bunch of time in a project that I really wont wear, I decided to make something for Aubri.

With my navy yarn from Caron simply soft (I just love this yarn) I went to designing a sundress for her with a crocheted top and a knitted bottom. My way of learning knitting without a huge investment.

Maybe the investment is why I haven't progressed.....

Anyways... as I started I got excited about a little sweater to cover the sundress, seeing we still have chilly mornings and evenings down here in Texas. It is January after all.

So after drawing it out, planning it, I started it last night.

Well back to crocheting!!

After a wonderful day in service, we relaxed outside where I let my creativeness flow.

Here are a few photos I snapped up while enjoying the afternoon sounds.

The socks may be by Granny, but the lil one is a gift from her parents!

Aubri is getting to be such a big girl. She rolled over from her tummy to her back for the first time. Lol, well at least over at her Grannys house.

She is intrigued by everything, loves playing with her light up and musical toys, and she's getting where she turns her head to see the picture you just snapped up. :)

Little ones are just so smart and advanced nowadays.

Here is 56 assorted crochet hooks. Yep 56!

pretty much quarantees that I will have the correct hook for my project no matter where I am. Lol

I also won a HUGE lot of knitting and more crochet hooks. Awww man this is wonderful!! My most recent win is a needle felting kit with wool roving. I have been eyeing all of the wonderful creations on Ravelry for sometime and finally decided to take the plunge. Heheheee also have some other colors of wool roving I'm bidding on, we will see how that goes. :D

Started on a grey wool jumper for Miss Aubri today, maybe I'll be finished by the time the chill in the air gets here. After its made will make a little pink top with a peter pan collar. CUTE!!

Well thats all for now!

DeeDee

ps: on a side note..... All of my way to tardy swaps are now shipped!!! Yea and thanks to my wonderful partners for being so patient with me. ;)

wow! planted this amaryliss last year when Nina and Nathan were building their house. it sprouted up the greenery pretty fast and then went to sleep, despite my talking and petting it.

Saturday, we were coming in from service and while taking pics of a baby praying mantis I spotted little pods and started taking pics of the emerging flower.

true beauty is always right before us.

A meal to remember, that's what. Kurt started cooking last night and let it simmer and smoke all night long, getting up only to add more wood and stir the coals.

At 11 this morning he started pulling meat out of the smoker that was so tender he didn't even need to use a knife to cut it. Roast, chipped bbq, sliced brisket, scraps and a little fat for beans and we have meals for quite a while.



Never tried it? Please do. Besides the satisfaction of making not only many meals in advance for your family, you have made it all by yourself, no added costs, chemicals or worry. Just go online and find yourself a good marinade for your meat, make sure to keep your smoker at the recommended temperature for food safety and when it gets ready you and your house will smell so delicious that you too will be telling the world!

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Here is a picture of my new grandbaby, Aubri Nicole:

Campbell and I are growing many many lettuce plants. He is so excited and shows his mommy and Grammy everytime they come in. He grabs thier hands and runs over to them and shows them all of the plants! We planted tomatoes and they are just now peeking through the little peat pots. The paperwhites are growing very nicely but the amarylis' bulbs arent doing anything. :-(   Will have to find a replacement for them in the pots.

We finally got the trim work painted at Nathan and Nina's house and just need touch ups through out and then we clean the floors so that the wooden flooring can be installed. It looks so nice with the golden walls and the dark trim in place!

Have a new baby coming over to stay on Tuesday and Thursdays while his Mommy goes to college. Kaydn is 2 months old. Good practice for when Aubri and Summer's baby boy Trey come and visit.

Today I focused on the livingroom and it is now baby ready, I can watch tv from all couches without straining, the baby pack n' play is up and waiting for a little one to enjoy its company, and my crochet things are more neatly arranged so that it doesnt distract from the overall room. The fish got a clean tank and Bonnie cleaned out the rats yesterday. Pearle even got a bath this evening with me! Of course Louie ran and hid, I will have to bathe him on Wednesday when it is just Campbell and me.

Wednesday I will tackle the dreaded kitchen..... dum dum dummmmm.... mainly it is all of Kurt's bbq pans and tools that need to find a permanent home and moving out some un-necessary things that dont belong in the kitchen.

Then all thats left is the organizing of the desks in the office, the master bedroom and closet and the scary sewing room.  Ahh but I am getting ahead of myself. That is in the future.

Pulled out my crochet hook that knits, from Amazing needles, and played a little with it yesterday. Pretty easy, may knit that way for a while until I can really concentrate on learning to knit the real way.

Catch you later!

How cold it is, LoL! With most of the south drenched in an ice blanket it is hard to make plans, work on projects or even think about spring coming. Here in SE Texas we have had a full four days of 21 degrees at night and not reaching but low 40s during the day.

Not really impressive for you folks out there from up North but for us Southerners it is impressive. Our heaters are working overtime and still not keeping us warm, our pipes are bursting left and right (poor Nathan and Nina experienced this yesterday) and the only thing that is happy about it is our outside pets are liking and getting used to staying inside. :-D

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Stomach was still bothering me so I stayed home from the assembly this past weekend, even though I bought me a cute skirt and top to wear. Kurt and Bonnie went and had a wonderful time and it looks like everyone else that wasnt feeling well stayed home too. Kurt said there were no coughs to be heard. I guess everyone took the letter from the Branch office to heart and stayed away. We usually have around 3000 people but Kurt said that the attendance was a little over 1700. Thats a lot of people that stayed home.

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Was able to crochet on a scarf to match my new brown skirt, and my sewing machine is and has been ready and waiting for me to start on my sewing projects.

I did make a scarf with a 'foxes head' I say loosely 'foxes head' because it actually looks like a rats head. LoL Thought it would be cute and now that I look at it, I think I will cut off the head part and leave the scarf. That should make a few people happy, hehehehe, isnt that right Bonnie?

Campbell and I are enjoying Dora and eating pancakes and sausage on a stick and hot chocolate. Yummy! Though he has had more fun tearing his apart and drinking is hot chocolate. He sounds like his cold is just about done as well, {{smiling}} maybe the both of us can lick this stuff and get on with our life.

Today if we can brave the cold air, inside (lol), we are going to place a larger amount of plastic wrap over our little lettuce plants in a tent like shape. They are starting to peek out of the starter pellets and we dont want to crowd them. Our vegie garden is already started, now to add a few more vegies. For that we have to go to the store and get more seeds though. Our flowers we started havent done anything that I can see yet, but then it is early for zinnias, daisies and marigolds.

Plans for this week:

1. organize Kitchen
2. enter and print out all of the childcare information from last year to give to parents by the 20th.
3. make the fleece flowers to go on Jamie's baby blanket and stitch all of the squares together.
4. cut out and sew the little dress for Jamie's baby
5. sew up the edges of my coaster swap gift for Gramma
6. Start my tea towels for my swap partner to be announced this week.
7. Regular chores

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Will have to share pictures after Bonnie gets home with my camera. I have some cute pictures of Campbell helping me plant and check out our little plants and I am sure there is one or two of Bonnie from the assembly.

Ever have one of those decisions that are hard to make because 1. You want to go and participate and 2. but you dont know if you are completely over the flu so you wont share it with others or catch and add to your own?

That is where we are. Our assembly is this weekend and even though we had the letter from the branch about staying home when sick, if your feeling better do you go or stay? How long do you wait until it is ok to attend?

This is a special assembly because it will be Nathan and Nina's last one as just a couple, plus she is looking so cute you just want to show her off to all of your friends. LoL something that she would rather I didnt do, probably because it embarresses her, not sure.

The next two days will be engrossed in thinking and praying onthe matter so we make the right decision. Dont want to miss out on a special spiritual meal, but then dont want to make anyone sick so that they miss out on thier spiritual meals either.

Choices Choices.........

Dinner was yummy last night and we all even had a glass of wine to enjoy with it. Its been so chilly and we have all been so yuck that we have been all bundling up together. Three people and a hairless pup sleeping under the electric blanket reminds me of when the girls were little, except the pup part. Louie just sleeps on his pillow and watches over all of us. Lol

Today we are going to plant the bulbs and maybe even deliver one to Nina's and Kims house to help wake up the spring in us all. Too bad they are poisenious, they are so pretty. Paperwhites and Amaryliss bulbs are gorgeous! Campbell will enjoy putting the potting mix in the pots, might even plant a bulb for his Mommy.

He came in this morning wearing his leather jacket and cowboy boots, so cute! Made some homemade hot chocolate for us to drink and warm us up at the same time.

Today I am making deer chili, very easy to make especially since the crockpot does all of the work!

Deer Chili

Ground Deer Meat, 1 pound
Pinto Beans, dry 2 cups
water

Chili Powder, Garlic Powder, Salt and pepper
Tomato Sauce, 1 large can

Rice

Place the dry beans and the deer meat into the crockpot and cook on low ( 8 hours will produce a tender yummy chili) Add your seasonings and fill with water.

After 7 hours, add the tomato sauce and check if more seasonings need to be added.

30 minutes before you are ready to serve cook rice.

Serve all and enjoy!

Laid out my blocks for Jamie's baby blanket and it looks like it will be just about 30 by 30 inches square. A nice size for a baby blanket!

Going to wash all of the fabric for her dress, the blanket lining (fleece) and Nina's fabric for her birth announcement.

Will be making the drawings for the coaster and towel exchange in my pin cushion swap this month. The towel is pretty much on hold until after this weekend, then we get our partners and can get busy creating. The coasters is a side swap and I have my ideas, but like my girls tell me, draw it out so you have a plan to follow.

Going to implement that little piece of wisdom this year! 

Catch you later!

Only difference is we are still working to get Nathan's and Nina's new home completed so they can move in and welcome our very first grandbaby in March.

While I lay in bed, head covered up so I would stay in my hot/cold state, Nina would pop in from time to time to visit the bath and head back to her house. When she passed my room it was quickly and a get well Mom could be heard, I knew better to come out of my room and get her sick. That wouldnt be very considerate so I just waited until she passed and smiled at her from a distance.

Once I asked her to show me the baby and she flashed her coat, very quickly so I could see her little belly and that one act of kindness made me smile all weekend. It was such a cute gesture that it makes me laugh everytime I think of it.

While laying around, I decided that this year I am going to get organized so that I can go into my sewing room whenever I want and make messes and have fun and when its time, close the door to come back later.

I joined a tea towel swap, even got my towels yesterday and organized all of my favorites on Ravelry. Melanie and me are going to make the new baby a cute little bedding set. Still working on two baby blankets, crocheted, for two friends of mine.

Nina showed me how she organized her favorites on Ravelry last week and since I wasnt interested in watching tv, when I wasnt sleeping I was tagging all of my "to do projects" Now I can just search within my favorites and pick out a project. I had many repeats of the same project or variables of the same project by others so many of those were cut down. Will make it easier to find and do in the future!!

Didnt watch the little one yesterday, but he's here today watching Noggin and eating cookies and cran-grape juice. We are going to have a little visitor next month sometime, when Summer goes back to work and little Trey comes to stay. So Campbell and I are going to take a vitamen C every day and stay nice and healthy as much as humanly possible.

Today little man and me are going to plant some paperwhites and some amaryliss bulbs and watch them grow. Right now it is 26 degrees outside and hopefully it will warm up some so we can go outside for a little bit.

Bundled up of course!!

I am going to really try and post something at least twice a week, a recipe, a project, or just a thought or two about whats going on.

Bonnie and Connor are officially not a duo anymore, sad but they are thinking long run not in the right now time frame. Better to see a problem and face it before it becomes a problem that cant be endured.  My love to all involved, and a hug to help heal the wounds of the heart. They run deep and are hard to get over.

We got to see the new baby last week and she is already a cutie!! Hiding against her Mommies belly and covering her face with her fingers she is already having fun being the center of attention. We would say Bonnie's name and she would grin and wiggle around. In fact Bonnie spent the night at Ninas house and she had fun playing touch tag with the new baby girl. Bonnie would poke and the baby would poke back. Bonnie's face was all aglow with excitement as she told me all about her little game.

Todays recipe is  Brocolli Chicken Casserole

Very easy to make and yummy to boot!

Ingredients:

Chicken, 6 breasts
Rice, 1 cup
Campbells Cream of Brocolli soup, 2 cans
Frozen Brocolli, 1 bag small
water 2 cups 
salt, pepper
cheddar cheese, shredded 2 cups

Heat oven to 300 degrees.

Put the rice on the bottom of a glass baking dish. I use a 9x13 size with 6 breasts. Place thawed chicken in a layer on the top of the rice. Add frozen brocolli, all around the breasts.

Mix the cream of brocolli soup with water and pour over the chicken, rice and brocolli mixture. Make sure all of the rice is covered with liquid, add more if necessary. Sprinkle salt and pepper on top of it all to season, to your taste.



Bake in the oven for 1.5 hours covered up. Then take out, make sure that the chicken is fully cooked (I poke mine and see if the juices are running clear), cover it all with the shredded cheese and place back into the oven until the cheese melts.

Serve with bread sticks, a salad and a hungry family and enjoy.

Clean up is easy, just one pan and serving dishes and measuring cup.

Enjoy!!

Well off for now, catch you later with pics.

1st update is that my youngest is engaged!

Here is the young couple to be:

Started it back over this evening and it is coming along really nicely! Sleep and closer reading and following the directions are always a plus!


This is at 7pm:

Still have a way to go before I can wear it to the meeting tomorrow night, BUT, its getting there! And I have decided to wear a brown skirt with a white sleeveless top and this scarf draped around me. Will snap up a picture and let you see the finished project!!



until next time!