Fish tail French Braid

My first attempts at the French Tail French Braid. It got a little loose in the middle, and it twisties at the end.
But all in all. It's very pretty. It brings out Korals highlights very well.

And shes wearing her winter dress. We raided Nonnas fabric this winter!!

"The barn that Billy built"

This is the barn
That sits in the yard
That is complete

The barn that Billy built

This is the window
That sings with light
That smiles delight

The barn that Billy built.

This is the roof line
That all the brothers confused
As the saw went off
But no glue was used

This is the barn that Billy built.

This is the ladder
That swished and swayed
That stuck deep in the mud
As they Spick and spayed

The barn that Billy built

This is the barn
Made with love and laughter
Each shingle touched
Each nail in place

This- is the barn that Billy built!



In all reality, it was built with the many hands of loved friends and family.
Without them, this would look more like a tee-pee made out of sticks and sheets. :)
We have an amazing support group!

Home made dog toy

This puppy was driving me NUTS!!
Chew this, tug that, nibble this, lick that!!!

So I filled an empty water bottle with a few teaspoons of peanut butter, then tied a sock around that sucker!
Jackie had to rip the sock, to get to the opening of the water bottle, just to get a smidget of a taste of peanut butter.
All the while, every time she bit down it made this wonderful crunch noise!! This toy lasted an hour.

A wonderful peaceful hour.

Come to think of it, I only used the left sock of that pair; where did I put the right one?!

Ice cream treat!

Sharing an ice cream with hubby.
Neapolitan ice-cream frizzed with home made brandied cherries!

Grown-up dessert. :)

Me and my girls cozied up in bed watching tv....

Warm and cozy......
Me and my girls.

Roasting veggies for home made salsa!!!!

Mmmmmmmm yummy home made salsa!!!!!

Orange Tree....

....Always trusting in Jehovah.....

I just wanted to say "Thank you Jehovah."
Because my orange tree is LOVED.
My whole house smells like oranges.
Orange ice cream, bread, furniture polish, candied peels, juice and zest!!
Thank you Jehovah for a beautiful fruit with endless options!!

Oh yes, and thank you Jehovah for the boost of Vitamin C!!

Warm fleece house dress!

Here I one of the house dresses I made Bella boo. She loves it!! It's warm, yet girly. I added a strip of yellow fleece as a tie back even though it does have a zipper. And even though the pattern calls for sleeves, I didn't add any.

Warm peppermint hot chocolate anyone?

Kids are out raking leaves. Hope they enjoy the nice warm treat! Xoxo

Coca cola apron

Here's the apron I made my daddy! Of coarse, he dosent have such a nice figure!!! Lol

Baby Billy made a cobbler

....Always trusting in Jehovah......

My wonderful son made a peach* and blueberry cobbler. It was amazing by itself....or if your like my husband, over ice cream.

 

* Peaches were from Nanno Gensu's peach tree; canned by the loving hands of  Mama Maria.  

Koral made beautiful Bread......

....Always trusting in Jehovah......

Koral used the fresh oranges to make bread!! She squeezed 6 oranges and zested 4.

The results were Amazing!!!!!!! Citrus bread!!! Who'd a thought?!

Home made Orange Sherbet

....Always trusting in Jehovah.....

The children and I made the yummiest Home made orange sherbet using fresh oranges from our tree!

It was such a fun experiment! 

The results: eh. 

Why: It wasent as creamy as I would like. It ended up "fluffy". But I will say the zing from the citrus was simply amazing. But again, that has nothing to do with me. 

Thats all Jehovah!!

Sometimes cooking has nothing to do with the food, or the results, as in this case.

It had to do with the love and laughter in the kitchen!

.

Candied Orange Peels

....Always trusting in Jehovah......

My dear mother-in-law has taught me how to make Candied orange peels!!! Yummy!!!! This recipe is fantastic!

Steaming my husbands Shirts...

....Always trusting in Jehovah.
.....
Since my Husband has been so fortunate as to receive the promotion he was hoping for :) , he finds himself wearing a button up shirt 7 days a week. 5 days for work. Saturday service. Sunday meeting.
So it is quite essential that I keep this duty up regularly. So we invested in this dandy little machine. I have to say I am very happy with it, and it makes my job super easy. One of my favorite aspects is that I can hang my hubbys shirt properly while steaming. And as "Whoo-Hoo" factor, the steamer head has 5 separate settings. I am very happy with it!

Sicilian olives cracked

....Always trusting in Jehovah......
This is not a picture by me.
Im not sure who this picture belongs to.
But the idea is similar; Cracked green olives with garlic and olive oil.
I think there is a little too much olive oil here.
But the idea is good.

This was always a pleasure to do:
Olives, cracked and marinated with olive oil and garlic!!! yummy.

TAAA DAAA!!! Here I am....

....Always trusting in Jehovah......

 I have been INSANELY busy with children. Lets see, oh yes, I gave birth in October; Breastfed continuously for almost a year, Helped all the other living, breathing creatures in my home to function and lost my mind twice. But I do have to say; I am the most blessed woman on the face of this earth. Lets see---


I learned how to make the MOST AMAZING BISCOTTI!!!!
Thanks to my dear mother-in-law (mama):

 My husband died of happiness.


I made Super yummy homemade-from-scratch Chili!


 The kids couldnt touch it because of the FIRE!!! But the before taste was so lovely. And of coarse, whats home-made chili without :

Jalapeno Corn bread (Of coarse, from scratch)
 Again, the kids ate something else.

Which leads me to another set of pictures.

I made Home made fried chicken. Yummy.



And Broccoli fried rice




And I made my own HOUSE PRODUCTS!!!! :)

Home made furniture polish:
 The recipe makes since. And I will say I give it 4 stars. But, it contains olive oil. So after about 5 minutes or so, I have to go back and wipe away all the oil. But it left my cherry wood beaming with life!


Floor cleaner:

This recipe was SO EASY. The vinegar got rid of all the doggy smell in the house. :)


Wall cleaner:



 This was a very simple, very clean recipe. After your done scrubbing and scrubbing (Which in my opinion, works better than Soft Scrub.) the paste flakes off the wall, along with the dirt and grime. So you will have to sweep or vacuum after. But the results are squeaky clean.

I've sown Bella 2 house dresses, one in fleece using the pattern below.
(I did not make the one below.)
But I used the same templet.



Ive sewn a bee apron for my mom that I will be sending up to her in January. And a "Coca Cola" themed apron for my dad.


That is the last month or so.

My husband and I Auxiliary Pioneered together recently. What a wonderful privilege.

Oh yes, tonight i am making Rotisserie Teriyaki Chicken. YUM!



Hopefully, I will begin writing in my blog again. As I find it very enjoyable and lovely.

With Love....
Meya

How do I love thee, Let me count the ways.....

....Always trusting in Jehovah......

Its just a bean. A little brown bean. Dried, ground up, then hot water is poured over it.
Add a little warm milk, maybe a flavor shot.

--Ta da---

No biggy.

So Why does my mornings feel lacking when I dont get my Joe?

Its certainly not from the caffeine. I've got jelly beans that have more energy than my coffee.

Its what it represents.


I give myself a limit; When Im done with the cup, Im done writing for the morning...........



Time to get ready for the day, When Im done with my coffee.......




Even if I drink 8 cups of coffee today, to keep myself going, there is only one cup, as delicious and fantastic; The first cup. All day I will be running around keeping up the kids, hubby, friends, family, dog and life. I only get to stop-- once a day. In the morning, before the chaos wakes up with their demands, questions, facts, emotions and lack of self sufficiency.

This cup means, solitude. Only my thoughts. Thoughts that I want to think, reflect, enjoy. Not thoughts that contain others well being. Not thoughts about raising children or keeping anything going. Just a moment to be me.



For this, I am grateful.

Oh look, my teenager is up.....

....Always trusting in Jehovah.....


.

"Good morning pookie. Did you sleep well?"
"Grrrrrr"
"Thats nice dear, please dont piddle on the carpet."



Oh look. My son is up.
"Good morning sunshine. Did you sleep well?"
"purrrrrrr"
"Thats nice dear, please dont piddle on the carpet."



Oh look. The youngest it up.
"Good morning little one. Did you sleep well?"
"ummmmmm..."
"Are you hungry?"
"Ummm...mmm..."
"Thats nice dear, please dont piddle on the carpet."
"ummmmmm......."


I Just dont understand why my children do not find me enjoyable in the morning. Oh well, must be them.



LOL!!! (Me before coffee)



Me AFTER coffee. But in all respects to my children.
I think they caught onto this math rather quick!!

LOL!!!

4:30 am.... And here I am....

....Always trusting in Jehovah......

I know you cant see her face. No, she's not watching a fish intently.

 She's sleeping. 

Why is she sleeping? BECAUSE SHE HAS KIDS.

She has 3 cubs running around somewhere, each going in their own direction.

Each one getting into their own mischief. 

Maybe, she's trying to drown herself, but dosent have the energy to put her snout 2 inchs lower.

Maybe, shes about to play with one of her dear little cubs, and shes soooo tired; and what your seeing is the pure exhaustion of a loving mother.

Maybe she looks this way because eventually, she'll move on to her next task.

"Just.....going.... myyyyy pace. Leave me alone."

  I think a side view of this poor tired mommy would look like the above picture. "Ok hon, you go play right there, and i'll be right here..... Smiling at you." Snnnnoooorrreee...............

And of coarse. The teenager cub has tooooo many opinions, and the mama bear looks less and less tolerant. I call this picture "I will rip your face off kid." 

And were off to school.... "Yes. You have to go. And I dont want to hear any gripe about going up hill both ways in the snow." :)

And good ol' mama bear will tend to the younger cubs until the over opinionated teenage brats come home. 

Even the brats get a little love. Some forget, once mama's babies, always mama's babies.

And of coarse, papa bear and mama bear need 6 seconds to themselves. Hopefully, daily.

So the day can start again, "Mama....are you up?"

And the night can fall.......

                                                And through it all........ Love Never Fails.

                                                 (1 Cor. 13:8)