HaPpY HaLlOwEeN!

I would like to wish all of my blog friends a Happy Halloween.  My sister RAW had these pictures of our Mom on her fb page and I thought that I would "borrow" them from her.  I don't remember when this party was but it was at our lakehouse.  It was one of our church group parties and we played lots of games and had a great time.  Mom was dressed as a little girl that night with long blonde hair and those glasses are off of a puppet we have named Pearl (Pearl has a boyfriend named Bocephus and they are rather glamorous puppets!).  I have more pictures from the party but I have no idea where they are.  Well, I really do, they are in a box in a crate in our middle bedroom but I don't know where in the box they are and they would have to be scanned and me and the scanner don't get along.  If hubby isn't here, I can't scan!  Maybe one day I will share the rest of the pictures.

Mr. Giggles and I celebrated halloween by going to the grocery store, buying some mini butterfingers and then going home and parking ourselves in our recliners to watch a scary movie.  The movie we ended up watching is Jeepers Creepers 2 (if you are a Jeepers Creepers fan, they have a 3rd installment coming out next summer. . . . .can't wait!).

I hope you all had a good Sunday.  Hi Mrs. H.'s mom!!

Halloween Eve

What do you like to do for Halloween?  Do you dress up?  Mr. Giggles and I love Halloween and we used to have parties every year.  We had so much fun.  Most of the time we would have them at our lakehouse which has been the location of many many parties over the years starting when my Mom was younger.  I have heard so many stories about parties they had at the lake. . . .the haunted trail, outstanding costumes and just lots of fun had by all.  We also used to have parties at church every year and one year we turned the classrooms in the building into a haunted house.  It was so much fun and I think that everyone from church was there.  As we have gotten older, things have changed as they usually do.  We don't have parties anymore because it got to where our friends weren't able to attend because of their kids.  This just makes us aware once again all the things that we are missing out on because of not being able to have kids.  I am sorry if this sounds whiney but it just really makes me see what I am missing as I see and hear what all of my friends are doing tonight.  Anyway, I hope you are all having a good evening.  I am getting ready to head to bed to read and listen to a scary movie!

http://vintageholidaycrafts.com/

Today my Aunt and Uncle came up to visit and to help my Dad put in the beautiful front door my Mom had picked out for their house.  They got it put in and it looks awesome.  I had planned on taking a picture of it this afternoon but I forgot.  I really wish she could be here to see it.  This afternoon I did get curtains hung back up in the guest room at my parents house.  I think that I am going to have to get new curtain rods because they painters messed up one of the ones that Mom had used.  I hope to be able to find the quilt that goes on the bed in that room soon.  We put one on the bed but the one Mom had on it looks much better.  Anyway, I will try to get a picture of the door so you can see it and see what good taste Mom had.

Thank Goodness for Nyquil

Well, it wasn't really nyquil but a cheaper just as good brand.  I felt horrible yesterday so when I went shopping I had nyquil or substitute on my list of must haves.  I took the recommended dose at bedtime last night and fell asleep very quickly which was nice because for the last few nights I have not slept at all.  Some of it has been due to illness but some of it was because my mind turns on and starts thinking about my Mom and going back over what has happened over the last 15 months.  Mostly I guess second guessing decisions I made about different things.  I know that those things can't be changed but I worry that I didn't do or say something right.  Well, back to the story at hand. . . . .I slept straight through the night until about 5:30 this morning when I had to get up (thanks nature!) and I started coughing when I got back in bed.  I knew I needed more sleep so I got up took a little bit more of the nyquil substitute and slept until 9:45.  I feel so much better than I did yesterday.  Hopefully by the end of the week I will feel much better.

Yesterday I got to go to Lowe's with my Dad to buy some lumber.  My Aunt S and Uncle J are coming to town this weekend to help my Dad put in his new front door.  I can't wait to see the new door.  You see, Mom and I picked up this door before they had to have the foundation work done on their house.  They had planned on changing out all the interior doors and the front door.  Well, because of the foundation work and then Mom's illness kept all of this work from being done.  The front door is beautiful and I know that Mom would be excited to see it being put in.  I will try to get a picture of it to show you how beautiful it is. 

Our being at Lowe's led me to ask myself this question. . . .If you are in a job position where you should be friendly and helpful, shouldn't you be that way?  Shouldn't you be that way instead of sullen and put out because we ask you to cut the wood (which is something your store offers) or because we want to check out and you have to stop talking to your buddy.  Is friendly and helpful customer service too much to ask for when we are at a store.  I do not like going to a store and being ignored by the checkout person until they have to ask me a question or give me the total.  Anyway, just a short rant on rude and unhelpful people in the service industry.  Does that bother anyone other than me?

Lastly I made something from Mrs. H's collection of yummy recipes.  It was the Jalapeno Chicken Enchiladas and it was incredible.  I have posted the recipe on my other blog and you can find the recipe here or you can stop by Mrs. H's blog and check out all her recipes.  This recipe took me about an hour or so to create and cook and it was well worth the time.  Looking forward to leftovers tonight.

I hope you all have a great day. 

Weekly Menu

Monday:  Jalapeno Chicken Enchiladas (Mrs. H's recipe), guacamole
Tuesday:  Leftovers or fend for yourself
Wednesday:  Fend for yourself
Thursday:  Sloppy joes, potato salad
Friday:  Out to dinner with Dad and hubby
Saturday:  fend for yourself

Where Did Fall Go?

Good morning y'all! As I wonder through the wonderful world of blogland, I find that it is really fall in most parts of the US. Well, a few weeks ago we had some wonderfully cool weather but it was just a cruel joke my friends. Today we have a good chance of beating the record high of 91. It has been pretty warm for October. I am so ready for some cooler weather. I have not stopped wearing shorts and tshirts yet. Please send some cooler weather and rain our way. We have gone the whole month of October without any rain and I think we were pretty much the same way in September. Hot and dry. . . . . . .Oh fall, where art thou?

Restful Weekend

This weekend was pretty restful and I am so thankful. I have fighting allergies (I think) since I got back from my sister's house and it has made me feel pretty crummy at times. So Mr. Giggles and I pretty much stayed at home and watched all the scary movies we could!

Today was a beautiful Lord's day even if it was pretty warm. My Dad led singing today at church and I absolutely love it when he does. I know that it is very hard for him without my Mom being there to support him. We have always sat at the front of the building and when Dad would lead lead singing you could be certain that he was going to give my Mom a wink or a smile and he would usually do that for one of us girls. I miss seeing him looking at Mom and giving her that wink. I really miss seeing him smile and being genuinely happy. I love my Dad and I miss my Mom.

Hoping for some more sub jobs this week. I will be subbing in Juvenile Justice on Thursday. Should be interesting! Other than that we don't have much planned for the week. We will be doing our civic duty and early voting on Tuesday evening. I am so tired of hearing the political ads. It wouldn't be as bad if the promised made during a campaign were actually kept and the negative ads didn't have to be shown.

Have a great week. Halloween is almost here! Do you get yummys for trick or treaters and if so, what do you get? Since we live out in the country, we don't have trick or treaters so we don't buy any candy cause heaven knows we don't need it but I am curious to know what you do.

Hi Mrs. H's mom. Hope to see you soon! :)

Quick Fall Decor Tour

I have not gotten in a big hurry to get my fall/Halloween decorations out. I am finished for now. I didn't take any pictures of the outside and I ended up taking a couple back off of here because the pictures were not good. Here is the majority of the stuff.

My Mom got this little lamp at an auction at my nephews school when they lived in Georgia. I love it and wish I could leave it out year round.



This is a little lamp I got from my G-mom P. We had it in my Mom's hospital room last year.

Just a basket of leaves and sparkly pumpkins.

Kinda blurry but Halloween Cherished Teddies and two pumpkin candlestick holders I picked at a church rummage sale.

My dining room table. The pumpkin is fiber optic, the scarecrow and the witch are also from my G-mom P and the silver tray was a gift I received for being a hostess at a baby shower. It says Bless This House.

The cabinet where all of my dishtowels and such live. The welcome friends pumpkin was a gift I got last year and everything else is old but much loved.

And this sign welcomes you into the back door.

My favorite black cat and a cute wreath. Please excuse the pile-o-pillows.

Part of my mantle. I could not get a good picture of the whole thing.

Right side of the mantle.

Whole mantle. Yes, we have plywood in the fireplace because the fireplace is moving away from the house and it lets lots of cold air in.

And this is the left side of the mantle. And that is the end of the tour. Hope you enjoyed.

Show Us Your Life - Nurseries and Kid Rooms

This week over at Kelly's Korner there is a nursery/children's rooms tour. I decided to join even though I have neither a nursery or a child's room. I have known since before Mr. Giggles and I ever started trying for a family that I wanted our baby's room to have moons and stars. Since I made that decision I began the task of finding what I wanted. When I got pregnant the first time, my Mom, Aunts and Gmom Watson went to Las Vegas for their annual girls trip. While there, two of my Aunts went to Build a Bear and made us the cutest bear and put him in pjs with stars (and if I remember correctly the stars glow in the dark). After we lost the baby, I put the bear back in his box and he now sits on top of hubby's wardrobe waiting. A couple of years later I found the perfect bedding. It is Boyds Bears, First Bear I See Tonight and it had everything I wanted. . . .stars, the moon, primary colors and bears. My Mom helped me get all the pieces that we could find. Let me say that finding most things was not an easy task. I routinely went to four different Walmarts, two in my town and two out of town. We weren't able to find curtains so Mom and I got gingham in red, blue, yellow and green which goes very well with the bedding. This is the bedding but it is not my room (all of my stuff is at my parents house in storage).

The furniture we will use in our nursery was used by my nephew and niece. If I remember correctly it is Jenny Lind brand. It includes a cradle, changing table, chest of drawers and baby bed. It is in storage in my husbands storage building. Well, everything that is except for the chest of drawers which is in use right now in the house. The wood is a light blonde color. I couldn't find any good pictures of the furniture to share with you.

The room that we would use as a nursery has grey carpet and grey paneling on the wall. It has one window, the closet door and two doors into the room (when the house was first built, every room had two doors into it).

Even after ten years of trying three pregnancy losses I plan on using the same theme for the room. One reason is because it includes all the things I wanted in a nursery and the second reason is because my mom helped me get the bedding and pick out the material for curtains. Since she passed away it makes everything a little more special. I hope that one day we will have children who will get to use this cute stuff and as they grow, I can tell them how much their Memom enjoyed helping pick out the cute things for them even before she knew they were coming.

Thank you for stopping by and checking our dream nursery.

Have You Missed Me?

It seems like forever since I have been on here. I had planned on joining Jennifer's Friday with Friends but as you can tell it didn't happen. I only had time to do a short post. Let me catch you up on our weekend (if I can remember what we did!).
Friday night Mr. Giggles, my Dad and I went and had pizza for supper. I had bbq chicken pizza (I love this pizza). . . .yum. Then Mr. G and I headed over to Walmart to do our usual Friday night pick up a few items we needed. We ended up being there for an hour and a half. Then we went home, watched some tv and then crashed.
Saturday we lazed around the house until the afternoon and then met my Dad at the mall. He was at a robotics competition practice with his students. We then met some really good friends of ours who were in town for the football game. We went to dinner and ended up staying at the restaurant for over two hours. It was so good to see them. We wish they lived closer so we could see each other more often.
Sunday my Dad and my sister Rae headed north to my sister B's house. We went to watch Tatortot play football last night. It was so cool to see how big he truly is getting to be. Us girls got some pumpkins ready for Halloween while we waiting for game time to get there. We went shopping with my Dad while the kids were at school. We went to Belk and they got some really good deals. I'm not much of a shopper and have a hard time finding clothes that fit. I was the official cart pusher!
We came home today and I am exhausted so I am going to say goodnight and I will talk to y'all again soon!

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day

October 15th is our day to honor our sweet babies who are in heaven. Please take a moment to say a prayer for those who instead of bringing their babies home, came home with empty arms and a broken heart. If you are able to, please give those you know a hug and tell them you care.

Remembering our angels

Baby Giggles - October 7, 2001

RDS Baby Giggles - December 21, 2007

Baby Giggles - March 22, 2009

"An angel in the book of life wrote down my baby's birth. Then she whispered as she closed the book, too beautiful for earth."

Author unknown

Birthday Continued

My G-mom P and I have been trying to get together for my birthday lunch for nearly three weeks. Well, today we were finally able to go. We have this wonderful restaurant that we like to go to for special occasions and because a friend of ours is the owner/chef and because the food is just so yummy. Today for lunch I had beef tenderloin enchiladas and G-mom had chicken marsala with mashed potatoes and for dessert we had key lime pie. I enjoyed lunch and spending some time with my G-mom.
When I got home I did some more fall/halloween decorating. I have had a hard time getting that done. One minute I am so excited about getting it done and the next I just don't really care. My totes of stuff have been sitting on the front porch for over a week now and I am still not really finished. Well, maybe I am. I guess I will decide tomorrow.
This evening I met Mr. Giggles at the local Walmart where we parked my car and headed out to Veterans Park to watch our friend Mr. H. play soccer. We enjoyed visiting with Mrs. H. and watching the guys play. They won their game by forfeit because the other team forgot to show up. . . . .no, really they did. The game was at 6 and the weather was absolutely perfect for it. I was wishing that I had a sweater because it was getting a little chilly.
Today started out rough for me but it ended up being ok. I have had my Mom on my mind all day. Missing her a lot. I just realized that I haven't talked to my Dad today and now it is too late to call. Love you Dad :)

Thankful Thursday

My family

I have to say that I had to dig deep to come up with something that I am thankful for today. I am being very honest so consider this your warning.

Today I am thankful that my Mom is no longer in pain and she doesn't have to ever worry about the dreaded "C" word again after having to deal with it twice. 365 days ago, my Mom had a stemcell transplant which was supposed to fix the leukemia so that she had a smaller chance of relapse. Although I am so thankful that Mom doesn't have to deal with the earthly things that we do, especially the pain. . . . .I am so angry that she is gone. I miss my Mom and that is about all I have to say. Thankful for Mom not being in pain but so terribly angry at the pain that we are all still having to deal with. If you want to know more about our journey you can go here.

Wordless Wednesday

To Cute

There is this little boy that goes to our church and he is so stinking cute. He got a sister this summer that looks a lot like him so I can only imagine what she will look like when she is his age and he turned the big 3 last month. I told his Mom last week that is he goes missing it is because I have snagged him and took him to the pumpkin patch!! Tonight I could hear him singing and it is cute! When my Dad is leading singing, this little cutie is doing it right along with him. As cute as he is, it really hurts my heart to know that if Baby Giggles would have made it, he would be very close to the same age. It makes me wonder what God has in store for me as I have reached another part of my life where it may possibly be too late for us to become parents. It hurts my heart that I have lost three precious babies. We want to be parents and don't understand why God seems to have decided that we aren't going to be. I know that God's will is best but being human, I want to know why.

Well, I hope you have a great week. I am ready for the cooler weather to come back.



Weekly Menu:
Monday: Taco Salad (the Mr.) and Salsa Verde Roast & Rice (me)
Tuesday: leftovers
Wednesday: fend for yourself
Thursday: Pecan crusted tilapia
Friday: out to eat
Saturday: who knows

Happy Birthday. . . . . . . . . . .to me.

Today was my 40th birthday. I have a very hard time believing that I am 40 but it really doesn't bother me. I was not really looking forward to my birthday this year. I thought that last year's birthday was bad because my Mom was in the hospital and couldn't spend the day with but little did I know that this year would be worse. But because I have a great family and because they love me (warts and all), they made it a good day. The day began with my sister RAW and my adopted sister and I headed out of town to attend Scarecrow Festival which is a yearly craftshow. I even had some money to spend but came home with most of it!! I did find some yummy pecan brittle for my honey and I to share and the cutest terra cotta heart and flower. I will have to take pictures to show you the cuteness of them. While shopping, my cell phone rang and I heard the sweetest sound ever. . . .my nephew and niece called to sing happy birthday (I also spent a few minutes chatting with my other sister). They will never know how much that meant to me. I love them so much and hate that I don't get to see them very often. Also while we were there we ran into one of my Mom's childhood best friends. We talked about my Mom and what a wonderful person she was and we cried. She kept apologizing for making us cry but we would much rather talk about her and cry than for people to be afraid to talk about her. My Mom was an incredible woman and we love to hear the kind things other people have to say.My husband stayed at home and baked my birthday cake (which was good. . .butter cake with chocolate icing, sprinkles and candy birthday hats) and waited for us to come home.
We headed back home to meet my Dad and hubby to eat and since I misread the clock and gave a bad time estimate (in my defense, my sister's clock in her car is about 15 minutes fast) we had a few minutes to spare and that gave us enough time to stop at Kohls. I had a mishap with my wallet last week so my hubby told me to get a new one for my birthday which I did and the best parts are that I got one almost identical to the one I had which I loved and better yet. . . . .it only cost me $5.82!!
We went to On The Border for a very yummy supper. I can't remember what everyone else had but I had chicken fajitas (that is what I had for supper last night too!!) and they were fantastic. I was very happy that my Aunt D (my Mom's super cool sister) was able to meet us (we didn't think she was going to make it because she had been moving hay). I am so thankful that she is in town to celebrate my G-mom P's birthday which is next weekend. We left the restaurant and headed our separate ways before heading to my Dad's house to eat cake and open presents. I stopped off at my house to pick up a few things along with my husband!! While at home I checked my fb and I had 59 birthday wishes from friends. I read through some but not all. I am going to enjoy reading them tomorrow when I have a little more time. As of right now I have over 70!
We headed down to Dad's with cake and punch makings in hand. A couple of things I got were a yummy smelling candle, some canisters with cherries on them (I would love to do my kitchen in cherries) and some cookbooks. We ate cake and visited a while and then everyone headed home because we were all exhausted. To end the wonderful day, I spilt most of a 32 oz cup of sticky punch in my hubbies truck. Yes, I know. . . .you are jealous of my talent. Needless to say, I will spend Monday destickifying his truck for him.
Overall, I had a good birthday but I missed my Mom something terrible. Never in my life would I have dreamed that I would spend this milestone without my best friend. Thankfully I got to spend the day with most of the important people in my life; my hubby, my Dad, both grandmothers, my Aunt, my sister RAW and my adopted sis LEH. Thank you guys for making my day special. To those who couldn't be here SRJ, RDJ, Tatortot and Madcow, I missed you very much. I love you all very much and I am so lucky to have you all in my crazy life!!

Friday with Friends: Fall Foods

When Jennifer told us what Friday with Friends was supposed to be, I wracked my brain to come up with something yummy to share with you and I did it. My Mom used to make this and it is so yummy and so stinking easy. No, I haven't ever made it but only because my hubster doesn't like soup. I know, he has some food issues!! Actually he is not nearly as picky as he was when we first got married. Anyway, I hope you decide to try this out and that you enjoy it. If you do try it, leave me a comment and let me know what you think. If you want to check more recipes, please go visit Jennifer here.

Taco Soup
1/2 - 1 pound ground beef
1/2 onion
1 package taco seasoning mix
1 package dry ranch dressing mix
3 cans Rotel tomatoes (hot or mild, your choice)
1 can black beans
1 can ranch beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can corn
Brown ground beef with onion and drain if necessary. In a large pot add ground beef, onion, taco mix, ranch mix, Rotel, black beans, ranch beans, pinto beans and corn. DO NOT DRAIN any of the canned items. Cook until warmed through. Serve with tortilla chips and sour cream. Oh, and it is good with corn bread.

If I remember correctly, it freezes well.

If you would like some more of my recipes, please visit my other blog here.

Nothin Goin On!

Well, as you can tell from the lack of exciting blog posts (or any posts at all) that there really isn't much going on in these parts. Thursday I did a half day of student teaching at my Dad's school. Eighth grade science. . . .I can't remember anything about that class but luckily all I had to do was show a video which was pretty interesting and I actually learned something! Friday I stayed at home all day long except for when I had to run into (ok, drive into) town to go the the mailbox. I had plans of getting so much done but I am sad to say that I accomplished nothing except to get the bed made up. Friday night we had our second First Friday 42 night. Again we were the youngest there and I didn't play but visited with the hostess and one of the ladies from church. I also read the entire Pioneer Woman cookbook. Loved it! I told my hubby that he could get it for me for my birthday. We shall see if he remembers! The hubby and I and my Dad were the last ones to leave after a wonderful visit the the host and hostess. Saturday we headed to my in-laws house, picked them up and headed to Fish Daddys to eat lunch which was very yummy. Then we headed to Mr. Giggles school so we could give them a tour (more about that later on) and then headed back to their house for birthday cake and presents. We had homemade italian cream cake (so very yummy thanks to the mil) and the presents included a great new purse and a Big Lots gift card. Today we had church which included two wonderful services. We didn't get our usual nap because he had to head back out to the hubsters school because, they have finally completed a building project that began in 2006. This building project included the tearing down of half of the school and a gym and then building a new elementary school which was opened last year. This year a new gym, administrative offices, library and new halls connecting the entire school were completed. This school is one campus and is pre-k - 12th grade with a population of 520 (give or take) students. Today was the school dedication and it was very nice. The hubs was asked to say the opening prayer which he did and did a wonderful job. And that is what has been happening here. Nothing exciting. . . .just our normal life. Oh, and if you were wondering whose birthday we were celebrating it was mine. My birthday actually isn't until Saturday but yesterday was the only time my bil and sil could come.

Have a great week. :)