Month: October 2011

Come Eeeeeen… And Geeeve Me Your Blooood

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Velcome!

That hat looked much cuter in the store.  And in all honesty, I am much cuter than this picture depicts.  Normally, my bosoms are high and firm (no, I am not lying about that), not almost to my waist as it looks like in this picture.  And that saggy,  pudgy elbow sticking out is not mine.  I do not know where that came from.  You may have to click on the pic to get a closer view of my vampire teeth.  They are so awesome!!!  I am wearing them to work in the morning.

All the little munchkins started coming around 6:00 this evening.  Here are my first ones:

the dude looks like a lady!

Oops!  That’s Nate.  He helped hand out whistles, play-doh, tattoos, booger pickers a/k/a monster fingers, glow sticks, spider rings,  freshly cut hands a/k/a latex gloves with a little air with some surprises inside, and caramel nut chocolate apples.  I would estimate we had around 200.  There were 140 small play-dohs, and we handed out those till they were gone, along with two or three other items.  After that we started on all the other things until I got down to just spider rings and a few glow sticks.  It was a fun-filled, packed neighborhood this evening.

My first guests to arrive:

A beautiful princess and a super hero

Next came this little cutie below.

Aniston

Most of the evening I spent here in these chairs or up walking around filling bags and talking to the kids.  They all love the whistles.  I love hearing them blow them all over the neighborhood.  A little whistle band.

Gigi the Vampire

My little Kate was Pocahontas, and Ava was the cutest flower petal you’ve ever seen.  I moved them around the yard trying to get a good photo of them.  If you’ve looked at some of my attempts to photograph them before, then you won’t be surprised at these.

"No, over here, Sissy."

Kate thinks she is the boss of Ava.  I don’t know why she should think she is the boss of anybody; she is always telling me, “You’re not the boss of me.”  So I guess that only works one way:  Kate is boss of everybody.

We kept after it until we finally sort of got a pretty good picture.

Flower Petal and Pocahontas

um, pretty close

Hold it! Hold it! Click

A happy time was had by all.  A tired Gigi had a ball.

Hope your Halloween was spooktacular as well!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN and boo careful tonight

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YIPPEE! Tonight is the big trick or treat event. I have my costume all ready to go; the moving, laughing broom is sitting, waiting to frighten unsuspecting ghouls and princesses; and the treats reside in my big orange tub excited to be handed out to the kiddos and not-so-kiddos.

My camera will be standing by for all the cool costumes to be uploaded on to the blog. I will try to guess who is who and sometimes who is what.

So check back later for the details!!

My newest favorite breakfast

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English muffin with orange blossom honey, banana, grapes

This is my newest favorite breakfast.  I used to toast English muffins and put crunchy peanut butter on them, but since I went to Savannah and bought honey from the Savannah Bee Company, I am totally addicted to their Orange Blossom honey.

the best honey in the whole world

They also have Tupelo, Black Sage, Sourwood, Winter White, just to name the ones I have tried.  Tasting the differences in the Savannah Bee Company’s honey is a treat in itself.  It was like going into a fine winery to have a wine tasting.

As soon as we walked into the store on River Street, I saw the testers lined up.  And I was in love!  After reading about it once upon a long time ago, the differences in the flavor of honey had been something that I had wanted to try out.  It was totally the experience I thought it would be… and if you are ever in Savannah or Charleston, look up the Savannah Bee Company and do a little honey tasting.  But in the meantime, check out their web site (click on their name in bold above) and read about why honey tastes different.  I couldn’t believe the difference in the taste between them!

My very favorite is the Orange Blossom.  Doesn’t that look buttery?  It has a buttery, citrus flavor.  I think I could just tip it up and drink it out of this bottle.

delicious honey

The breakfast isn’t that hard to make.  Here are some easy directions:  Cut the English muffin in half, toast, then add a bit of butter.  Pour honey over muffin (although I have thought about pouring it all over everything… it’s that good).

Start with a fresh English muffin, whole wheat

While the muffin toasts, cut up a banana or strawberries, get out the grapes, kiwi, blueberries, whatever fruit suits your fancy.

(Please do not enlarge the picture of my little toaster oven. It is dirty; it needs cleaned; who wants to volunteer for this job?)

 

Normally I only use butter unless I forgot to set it out to soften. This is good too.

begin the pour

 

 

Pop out the cork on your favorite honey and try to stop yourself from pouring the whole bottle over your muffin, fruit, in your coffee or tea, all over your fingers (so good to lick off, by the way) …

keep pouring

 

Tree Climbing Goats

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Sometimes I wonder around the world on the internet.  The following are some pictures I found that I loved.  They are rather unbelievable even though I know that goats can go just about anywhere and eat just about anything.  Enjoy!

Goats in tree

In Morocco, the native Tamri goats are so enticed by the berries of Argan trees that they have become adept at climbing the branches to reach their food. Even stranger still, the goats’ droppings contain seed kernels which local farmers then grind into an oil that is used in cooking and cosmetics.

goat eating in tree photo by Johan Versteeg

goat in tree photo by Neil67

goats in tree by Kristel Van Loock, copyright 2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To read more about the tree-climbing goats, check out WebEcoist.

WOMEN SHIFTING PAST EXIT(Imprisoned Smiles) (via Whenquiet’s Blog)

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Yesterday I featured Faith, Family, and the Farm.  Today is Whenquiet’s Blog.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

WOMEN SHIFTING PAST EXIT(Imprisoned Smiles) The women of Mae Hong Son, Thailand continue to partake of a custom initiated by the men hundreds of years ago. According to our guide, this custom was initiated so that the men can hear when their women sexually stray.  These resplendent, “kissed by the sun” women appear so strong and proud, in spite of the appearance of discomfort.  At the age of eight years, young girls are forced to don thick brass coils around the neck. The coils increase in … Read More

via Whenquiet’s Blog

You Love Me Anyway

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(The following post is by Faith, Family, and the Farm)

One of my favorite songs right now is “You Love Me Anyway” by a Christian Band called The Sidewalk Prophets.  Read some of the words to this song.  They are beautiful.

“I am the thorn in your crown
But You love me anyway
I am the sweat from Your brow
But You love me anyway
I am the nail in Your wrist
But You love me anyway
I am Judas’ kiss
But You love me anyway
See now I am the man who yelled out from the crowd
For Your blood to be spilled on this earth shaking ground
Yes then I turned away with a smile on my face
With this sin in my heart, tried to bury Your grace
And then alone in the night I still call out for You
So ashamed of my life, my life, my lifeBut You love me anyway
Oh God, how You love me
Yes, You love me anyway
It’s like nothing in life
That I’ve ever known
Yes, You love me anyway
Oh Lord, how You love me.”Isn’t that just amazing?  Almost every day these words run over and over in my mind now that I know this song:  “I am the nail in your wrist, but you love me anyway.  I am Judas’ kiss, but you love me anyway.”  I don’t know why it is, but I can read scripture and hear bible studies and stories over and over, but when someone puts words to music, they stick with me and touch me.  Several times throughout the day, these words remind me that no matter what I could ever possibly do, Jesus will love me anyway.

Oh, how I wish I could make everyone understand and embrace that.  How do you tell these struggling teens whose parents tell them how bad they are, who have other kids tell them how worthless or pathetic they are, who are told repeatedly by a teacher that they are dumb, that there is someone who will love them no matter what, without conditions, without strings, without if’s, and’s or but’s?  I could play them this song 100 times and I know that unless they’re at a certain point in their lives, they will not get how huge it is.  What stories from the bible can I teach them to help them trust and believe this?  How can we get them to understand that it may not seem important today, but it should be the most important thing ever in their lives, over boys, over girls, sports, friends, grades, clothes, appearance, etc.?

And if you read those lyrics and wonder, what does all of this mean?  It is about the Crucifixion and what all ‘we’ did to Jesus, who loves us anyway.  You can read Matthew 26 and 27 to get a decent idea of what is going on.  Make sure you have a translation you understand.  And you may even have to read it twice, as I often have to do, to fully grasp the meaning.  If you don’t have access to bible, but you’re sitting at a computer, go to www.biblegateway.com and type in the scripture above.  Try the New Living Translation or New International Version, they are the ones I understand and like the best.  (I use that website a lot, it is a very useful tool!)

I so wish I had the answers.  But God gives us the choice.  We have free will.  It is part of the whole package.  We must make the choice.  It is there for the taking, free, anytime, anywhere, anyhow.  But the choice has to be made.  Going to church, going to youth group, attending bible studies, taking mission trips, going to church camps and convocations does not mean that Jesus is in your heart.   Romans 10:9 says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”  Say the words and mean it.  No matter what you have done, he’ll love you anyway…

Halloween Contest Winners

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Thank you for playing along with me!  Happy Halloween!

Scooby Doo and The Gang

Congratulations, Sarah, on your winning photo!

Here is your sequence for the Halloween treat for the lucky voter:

Congratulations, Darla!

3  Darla
2  Dymisha
6  Sarah
1  Addie
4  Cheryl
7  Jill
5  Jeana
8  Robin
9  Cecilia

Scaring Darla… Again

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It’s just sooo easy!  She’s such a scaredy cat!  Saturday we went by Keely’s to pick up the grandgirls.  On the porch was a rubber snake… which scared her!  Jack went to pick it up, and Dar starts begging, “Please don’t throw it on me.”  He was only going to move it away from her, but she had already jumped up off the swing and hurried out to the yard.  Poor girl.  It took all my willpower to keep from throwing it on her!  But I didn’t.

angel of a sister

I am such a good sister.

The time at the mall, though, I did have to laugh so hard my belly hurt.  Dar and I and some other family members (can’t remember now who all went) were standing just inside a store in the mall by the front window displays.  We were all talking, and Dar starts calling my name in this weird voice.  I turn to look at her, and she is staring at the mannequins while she is trying to get our attention with her arm extended to touch us.  She couldn’t touch us because she was mesmerized with fear and couldn’t look away from the mannequins long enough to see where we were.  Just flapping her hand behind her in our general direction.

She said, “That mannequin moved its hand.”  Say what?  We all stood there and looked at the  mannequins on display.

mannequins

None of them were moving anything.  So Dar keeps on trying to convince us as she is staring fearfully at the display.  “That mannequin moved its hand!”  Uh-huh, we believe that.

About that time the mannequin lifted it’s hand off the shoulder of the one beside it and did a little wave, then put it’s hand back down.  I think, maybe, we all could have screamed.  I can’t recall right now.  But I do remember the group of four or so college-age kids standing outside the window dying laughing.  And, finally, the “mannequin” couldn’t stand it any longer either.  He also started laughing.

It was great!  Dar gave them a great time that day, and they gave us one.  We have laughed about that ever since, and that was years ago.

Like Mother Like Daughter… Or Is It Like Daughter Like Mother

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On Halloween night to greet all the trick or treaters, I will be wearing this:

Vampira costume

… only I will have a shawl covering the flabby arms with some really cool fingerless gloves and an awesome hat.

I will also have these in my mouth:

vampire fangs

If you click on the picture, it will get larger, and you can see that they are supposed to be smaller and sexy.  (cough, cough)  I do not think sexy is going to be in my vampire costume equation.  They are small and will fit in my mouth with the aid of some kind of plastic goo that will harden just right (unless you leave it in too long) thus giving me the ability to take the teeth out easily and reinsert them easily.  Or at least that’s the plan.  I will probably wind up at the dentist office with a drill trying to get vampire fangs out of my mouth.

Last but not least, these will be on my fingers.

black fingernails

I think they come with stick-on paper, so I will probably have black fingernails all over the yard by the time it’s over.  They could be glued with that fake fingernail glue, but then I would probably be at the manicurist right after the dentist.

Tonight I find out that my daughter had already bought the exact same teeth and a vampire costume.  I forgot to ask if she had also gotten the fingernails.

So be careful… vee vill suuuck your bloooood!!  We have the teeth for it!

 

It’s Time To Start Voting!

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Frankenstein Cookie Jar

It’s time!  Time to begin voting on your favorite Halloween costume!

The winning picture gets the cookie jar.  It’s so cool.  The candy corn are salt and pepper shakers.  Thanks so much to those of you who went to all the trouble of getting me photos or emailing them.  Keep checking back this week because I have a couple more to put on.  You can vote as often as you want.

He is just too adorable! From Cracker Barrel!

Since I love all of Cracker Barrel’s Halloween merchandise, I stopped by there on my way home from physical therapy (remember the fall in the pool?), and this is what caught my eye.  My photos aren’t very professional-looking or even well-taken, just hurriedly done so I could get them on the post.  But I think you can tell enough about it.  I can’t wait for the winner to receive it… just in time for Halloween treats.

Each picture has a number on it.  At the bottom of the contest post (click on pumpkin, top right) you will see a place to leave a comment.  It’s easy; just follow the directions.   All of you who vote will get your names in the pot for a Halloween treat as well.  The random winner out of the voters will receive this:

a fun spatula and kitchen towel

I hope you have enjoyed, my faithful few, perusing the Halloween collection of pictures.  The prizes will be awarded on Monday morning so I can get them to the winners for Halloween.

Thanks for playing along, my little playmates and Halloween lovers.