Hey there, Hi there, Ho there!

Been busy with this and that. So hello to all my blogging  friends. Did you miss me? What is today? Wednesday already? I need a day off doing nothing. Friday I did errands in town, wash, dinner and more wash. Saturday I can't even remember what I did, but it was probably something productive at home. We did go out to dinner though. 

Sunday was Costco day, and that is always fun. I am probably one of the few people who enjoy going there. Came home and made a Costco cooked chicken dinner. They are so good and less work for me. 

Monday my sister in law Chris came over for a few days. She is such a big help to me with my mom. We got out for a few hours at the casino and had dinner at the buffet. Yeah for me, I felt like I was on vacation.

Than yesterday, Tuesday, we took my mom to lunch at Applebees and to the mall to get her some winter clothes. New blue coat, a pink fleece jacket, Cuddleduds, new fleece jammies, and 3 pairs of warmer pants. Oh, and 3 new electric throws from Costco. She wears the heat out of them every 6 months. They just stop heating up. So I think she is all set on her winterizing.

Last night was Taco night and a yummy Costco apple pie with ice cream. And more wash...I even started my new book last night around 11 pm..I was exhausted from shopping at the mall. I love online shopping, especially Amazon. Hello Christmas shopping online. 

Today is Rod's day off, so we are going out to do whatever we want to do. Chris said we need to get out alone. She didn't have to twist my arm. I think the Spaghetti Factory is in my vision for our dinner date tonight. So in a nutshell, that is where and what I've been up to the past few days. Nothing earth shattering, but that is how I like it. 

Orange Cake

Orange cake is so yummy. You need to take my word for it. I decided on Chocolate frosting for it and it was a good choice. 

Orange Supreme!

My mom was bored on Tuesday, so I suggested she make a cake. I wasn't sure if she would want to, but with my help, she did great. 

Tada!

Would you like a piece of cake?

or 2 or 3 or 6?

I think we should call this "my mom was bored with watching the election cake." 

What was the last thing you baked? 

World Prematurity Day

Help Light up the White House in Purple, on Jan 3rd 2013

Little Colton with Daddy. 

And our big boy Colton now!

Most everyone knows that my grandson Colton was born 10 weeks early, and only weighed 2 pounds, 6 ounces. Because of that, I became aware of how much good the March of Dimes does for all premature babies. They need your signature to get the White House lit up purple. Just click the "sign petition" link below. 

We can end this crisis My Friends, For every child who has overcome the challenges of being born too early. For every parent who has fought through the distress of a premature birth. For them, we recognize November as Prematurity Awareness Month®. The March of Dimes is pulling out all the stops to make sure everyone knows how urgent the prematurity crisis is in this country and around the world. We're asking for the White House to be lit up purple early next year as a symbol of hope. We have less than 2 weeks — until November 18th — to get 25,000 signatures. Urge the President to raise awareness about the prematurity crisis by lighting the White House purple! Our goal is to get the White House lit in purple on January 3, 2013 — both to honor the 75th anniversary of the founding of the March of Dimes by President Franklin Roosevelt, and to give hope to the families whose children have been born too soon. So far, more than 7,000 people have signed our petition at WhiteHouse.gov. Please join them by November 18 and help us raise awareness about the prematurity crisis: sign petition Sincerely, Jennifer Howse President, March of Dimes

I just signed the petition and it only took me just a few minutes. I am signature # 9096. 

Nancy K

Port Orchard, WA

November 07, 2012
Signature # 9,096 

I want to see the white house lit up in Purple on Jan 3rd 2013. 
Wouldn't you like to see all the Purple too?

Chicken Parmesan

Italian Night!

These are great if you haven't tried them yet. I get them at Costco, but I'm sure you can get them anywhere. 

They are uncooked so they need to be cooked for 30 minutes or so. I cook them from frozen on a cookie sheet. I turn them once and than later I add spaghetti sauce, shredded cheese and Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. Bake for a few more minutes and you get what you see in the photo. 

I make pasta for the rest of the spaghetti sauce and add some garlic bread. Easy to make and better than just spaghetti. 

And the best part is leftovers the next night. I put one of the Parmesan chicken on a bun and have a Italian chicken sandwich. 

What do you think? Does it look good? 

Voting Day

Yep, I did...

I dropped my ballot off at the Elections office on Monday. 

Too bad there wasn't any parking. I had to circle around and fight off the other cars wanting the same spot that I was going to get come Hell or High Water.  Having to share parking with all the courthouse people isn't fun. It would of been really nice to have a  worker out there letting you just drive up and deposit the ballot. Kind of like Tax day at midnight, at the post office, when you drive up and a postal employee takes your envelope, and you watch him/her put it in the box. Having a worker out there would be so much easier to drop off your ballot.  Frantic drivers aren't fun to do the parking dance with. 

Now I know why I never go to the Mall at Christmas time. I don't like crazy parkers.

Than I started thinking how crowded and crazy it will be on Tuesday, Election Day, trying to find a parking spot. Glad that I already got my vote in. But also glad that we don't have to go to the polling booth to cast our vote. At least mail in and drop off, is easier than standing in the voting booth.

I wish we could vote electronically from the computer. 

How do you vote? 

Tea for Two and Two for Tea

The Victorian Rose Tea House

The Tea House is our favorite place to have lunch. It is our special place for taking family when they come to visit. Or to take my granddaughters Ashlyn and Mackenzie to have a tea party. We went to the tea house on Sunday with my niece Kelly and her mom Patty, both visiting from Santa Ana Ca. Jennifer, Ashlyn and my mom went too. 

Here is sweet Kelly and her grandma. 

One of the many decorated Christmas trees

The place is all decorated for Christmas with a little bit of Thanksgiving tossed in. 

The Thanksgiving Tree?

The dining area

Sisters!  Um, I mean my daughter Jennifer and me.

My mom wanted a shirt from the color of the napkins.

The cute little sugar and creamer set. 

Ashlyn's yummy chocolate cake.

My creamy chocolate pie

and Jennifer's cinnamon syrup bread pudding.

Oh, and we also had sandwiches, soup and salads. We ate them before the photo, so just trust me that they were good. Especially the potato soup....

Tell me where you like to take your visitors. 

Fa La La La La ~ La La La La

Today, mom and I went to Walmart to get some groceries. As soon as we walked in to the store, I noticed the music. They were playing Christmas Music...What? Really? Good Grief. I'm still laughing at all the Halloween costumes on Facebook. I really wasn't prepared to hear Jingle Bells while I was picking out toothpaste, dish soap, and soup today. Than I started stressing out about Xmas gifts, doing Xmas cards, my yearly calendar, and Xmas cookies that I never make. 

I haven't even given any thought to Thanksgiving yet. I wish they would spread out these holidays more. Or at least warn me that Christmas music is playing on November 1st. If I see a Xmas tree on top of someone's car this week, you will hear me singing something not so nice. Wasn't it just the 4th of July? 

Have you heard any Xmas music yet?

Fall Back

This weekend we turn our clocks back. I didn't realize it until I heard it on the news. We get an extra hour. We fall back. We repeat the hour. Ok, I think I have it. It always takes me a few weeks to adjust to the new time change. 

What are you going to do with your extra hour? I think most of you will probably say "sleep". Mine will probably be an extra hour of reading my book. 

BOO!!

When I was a kid, I used to go trick or treating with my sister and a few of my brothers, (the older brothers took off with friends). We would dress up with whatever we could find, usually as a Hobo, Aunt Jemima  or a Gypsy. We always used pillowcases to put the candy in. We would cover a lot of blocks and come home around 10-11 pm exhausted. So when I had kids of my own, we did the same thing with them. I think they enjoyed it. Or was it just us still having fun and telling them that they still have 3 whole blocks to cover? Than we did the same thing with a few of the grand kids too. 

Here are a bunch of Halloween photos of my kids over the years, with a few others thrown in. 

The Unhappy Bride

They were so cute!

From the looks of what she is holding, I think she was in charge of cups for her school party.

 Holly Hobby and my little garbage man!

Little policeman and my big baby Jennifer

They were KOOKY SPOOKS that year. How cool were they?

Can you tell that even their dad loves Halloween?

When your dad is a mailman, you become Mailman Jr. 

My lovely little lady and again we have an Indian. 

My little girl was growing up..or out?

and out again!

Their cousins Michael and Cherie

The last time I dressed up for Halloween. Left, me, the pretty one. Center, Jennifer, not sure, and on the right, well I'm not sure again. Deck of cards maybe? But there was a lot of hair going on. 

Clowning around! I use to wear that blouse and thought I needed the make up to match it?

Tommy before his makeover 

and Tommy after the makeover, plus a black eye. 

Hoping everyone going trick or treating and has a lot of fun. Grab those pillow cases and get going. You still have 10 blocks to cover. 

Do you have a favorite costume from years ago?