Momisodes

Ever wonder why kids choose to fight, bicker, argue, nit pick at the most inopportune time for moms? Yeah, *sigh* me too. Why is it they choose to do battle in the back seat of the truck on the way to school? Not just bickering or verbally abusing each other, but full on fist fights. Why? Because they know you are too busy driving and trying to be safe on the road. How is it that telling them, firmly, to keep their hands to themselves doesn't seem to work? Or telling them a bit more firmly and a bit louder that they need to keep their hands to themselves? Why does it take a crazy ass woman shouting at the top of her lungs to regain order in the vehicle? I'm not sure either. Sometimes I just want to tell them this:

Pardon my language.

Wordless Wednesday - Winter Sunset

In my neck of the woods

it has been raining, and raining, and raining. Did I mention that it has been raining? A. LOT. We have a seasonal creek that flows through the middle of our property and it looks a little like this:

I flows from one end of the property to the other.

This is how we spend rainy days at our house, tromping through the water. It is so much easier to let them run amok in the rain and creek than to have them crazy and insane in the house.

You can almost see the thoughts running through this one's head. "If only I could get past this blasted fence......I could have so much more water to wade through!"

Luke watching his brother's and cousin, debating if he should join in on the antics. "Should I get totally drenched and get mom's rain boots wet inside or just watch from the sidelines?" Being the good kid that he is he kept my rain boots dry on the inside.

Wyatt in deep thought. I am wondering "Is that umbrella really keeping him dry?" Does it really matter? Not really, it's just the fun of having one in the rain while tromping through the water.

Two little monkeys hamming it up for the camera. That is a day in the life here when there is lots and lots of rain. Now maybe we will have a bit of sunshine before the next big storm.

When Life Gives You Lemons

Make Lemon Cake
Recipe by: Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided
• 4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup grated lemon zest (6 to 8 large lemons)
• 3 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, divided
• 3/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the glaze:

• 2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 3 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 2 (8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch) loaf pans. You may also line the bottom with parchment paper, if desired.

Cream the butter and 2 cups granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, and the lemon zest.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, combine 1/4 cup lemon juice, the buttermilk, and vanilla. Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately to the batter, beginning and ending with the flour. Divide the batter evenly between the pans, smooth the tops, and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar with 1/2 cup lemon juice in a small saucepan and cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves. When the cakes are done, allow to cool for 10 minutes. Remove the cakes from the pans and set them on a rack set over a tray or sheet pan; spoon the lemon syrup over them. Allow the cakes to cool completely.

For the glaze, combine the confectioners' sugar and the lemon juice in a bowl, mixing with a wire whisk until smooth. Pour over the tops of the cakes and allow the glaze to drizzle down the sides.

Now, doesn't that look scrumptious?

I Heart Faces - We Are Family

This week at

it is family week.

This is a picture at a family favorite vacation spot. My family loves to go to Pismo Beach to play in the sand, ride dirt bikes on the dunes, and tool around in our Jeep. Some ladies were driving their golf cart around and taking pictures for a local paper and asked us if we would be one of their "family" shots. They took one of us with their camera and then took another with our camera.

So head on over to I ♥ Faces to see all the other wonderful family photos. You won't be disappointed, in fact you will probably be inspired to pick up your camera and take more pictures.

Spring is in the Air

See these? Can you guess what they are? Well, I'll give you a hint....they are best home grown.

See her? That is Vapor, she adopted me about a year and a half ago. She is the sweetest kitty ever. She likes to supervise whatever I do when I am outside. So she supervised while I did the bulk of the planting.

Yep, here they are, all planted. There are about 96 of them. I even planted some Anaheim Peppers to make Chile Rellenos. Mmmm, mmmmm, good.

Trevor decided to help me at about the time I was finishing up. That's okay I don't mind a little help. Maybe my green thumb will rub off on him. Maybe he will be the next gardener and food preserver in the family.

My makeshift green house. Do you like it? Yes, a bit primitive, but it gets the job done. Maybe someday I will have my own real green house. A girl can hope right?

Sooooo excited. This is just one of the many that have broken through the soil.

Many more have sprouted and I can't wait to get them in the ground. I just hope I am more successful this year in the transplants. Last year I killed off quite a few during the transplant. Have you figured out what they are? (No telling Julia!)

Dear Loving Hubby

Christmas has come and gone. I'm still not sure what my gift is. I went to you to ask if I could buy myself a 50mm lens for my camera (from you) since I received nothing from you that day. I was told (several days later) that I am getting a fence, but if I wanted the lens instead to go ahead and get it. I opted for the fence. I know it has only been 16 days, but the fence has been in disrepair since the day we moved in (8 years ago). I love the section that has been done, but would love it even better if the rest of the fence matched. Could you please humor me and finish the fence?
Thanks honey and I love you,
Your dear loving wife

I have a post planned, I just haven't transferred the pictures from my camera, so it's a Friday Fill-In.

And...here we go! Tip of the hat to The Beatles this week :-)



1. There are places I long to go see.
2. Boys, go blow those clouds away.
3. Standing in the rain is refreshing.
4. Lions and tigers and bears, oh boy.
5. He went out tiger hunting and came home with a frog.
6. You keep my mind from wandering .
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to the kids going to bed, tomorrow my plans include a strong coffee and Sunday, I want to go for a run!

All in a Day's Work

A couple of years ago I bought myself the Nikon D60.....a present to myself since it was a great deal. It came with two lenses and a camera bag. If I had bought all the pieces separately I would have spent upwards of $1700, instead I spent approximately $990. So on the last day of 2009 I decided I would take it out and test out some of the features I had recently learned. (I am taking a crash course on the camera and all it's functions with Nikon D60 for Dummies). Since my hubby is in construction and has been asking me to take a picture of equipment I thought the piece below would be fun to play around with.....so here goes.

I can't say I know how old this thing is, but it is old. My hubby used to run one of these on a daily basis. Now there doesn't seem to be much need for one on the construction sites. Since the economy took a dump the construction industry has slowed down tremendously. Luckily he is a go getter and seems to keep himself busy so that there is a steady stream of income.

What you see is the old style steering device. Can you imagine?

This here is one of the many components of this piece of equipment.

One of the many gears in order to make the machine do it's job.

The wheels. I can just imagine how rough it would be to run this machine on a bumpy construction site. Talk about back pain.

Manufacturer....Looks like it says Russell Barger Factory. Never heard of 'em, I'm sure Jeff has.

Couldn't tell you what this is, but I am sure it has it's importance.

That is the blade. Can you guess what this machine is? No?

It is an old time Motor Grader. Ours is not so rustic and is made by Caterpillar.