Flashback to exactly one year ago

If I am remembering correctly, those beams are about 2000 pounds each.

Yay, new cabin pictures!!!!!!

The covered porch... wah hoo, this looks fabulous. I haven't been up since the end of November.

Brr... it looks quite chilly up there.

The corner of the porch... doesn't that tung 'n groove look awesome? Gosh it's pretty. Tim is amazing.

The air conditioning duct work. Mike and Tim are going tomorrow to get a bunch of plumbing and electrical stuff.... it's really moving along.

This is where the vents will be on the floor. I know this is kind of a boring picture... but ... it's exciting still...LOL

Covered porch

Timmy sent these to me while I was up in Reno.

I'd post more pics, but blogger is taking forever

Here I am at my most favorite place to eat in Sparks, Johns Oyster Bar

Lazyman's Cioppino! Jumbo shrimp, crab meat, baby shrimp and chunks of cod in a tomato base soup.. it is soo good. Comes with loaves of freshly baked bread w/ pats of soft butter!!

Before and after pics

I loved this bed... it had all kinds of drawers and cabinets. I bought this when I was only 22 yrs old. This was the very first thing we ever bought on credit ... and the very last thing we bought on credit besides our home. I was so sad to get rid of it ~but then again, I don't like change ~ that's just me.

This is our new Sleep Number Bed. Let me tell you, it is sooo comfortable!! Now we know what the big deal is. My mom, sister and brother in law all have one. They got us started.

Mike putting up the crown molding. We'll be getting our new white shutters next week.

Mike laying down the maple laminate flooring. He's done our whole house.

Look, no wires! We're so excited. We won this TV at a Christmas party over 2 years ago and we're just now getting around to using it. Didn't Mike do a good job!

Mike and his squad on New Year's Eve

Aren't they so cute! This is Mike's very first squad and he's like a proud papa. LOL

We treated the guys to some yummy Memphis Bar & Grill black eyed peas w/ ham during briefing so that they would have extra good luck for the entire year.

Auld Lang Syne ~ a repost from last year

Do you know more than the first couple sentences of this cool New Years Eve song?

Well, I never did until a guy on the radio asked... so Mike and I looked it up.

Auld Lang Syne ~ "For old time's sake" or "to the good old days" may be modern-day expressions, in common use as a toast, that capture the spirit of "for auld lang syne."

If you want to know the lyrics to the song, check this out ... it's pretty neat. Scroll down a bit on the link for the lyrics.

Now, for the BEST PART!

Auld Lang Syne (Millennium Mix) Video ~ this is soo awesome! Played by Kenny G w/ little soundbites of major news stories/events in the 20th Century. The very end is my favorite part.



HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Happy New Year Black Eyed Peas ~ have good luck the entire year!

Mom went to Memphis Bar and Grill yesterday and bought some of their black eyed peas ... and OMG, were they ever good! I found this recipe on All Recipes.com and it looks awesome as well.

INGREDIENTS
1 pound dry black-eyed peas
2 cups chopped cooked ham
salt and pepper to taste
1 pinch garlic powder
2 onions, diced
1 (14.5 ounce) can whole tomatoes

DIRECTIONS
Place black-eyed peas in 8 quart pot. Add enough water to fill pot 3/4 full. Stir in ham and diced onions, and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Place tomatoes in a blender or food processor, and blend until the tomatoes are liquefied. Add tomatoes to pot. Bring all ingredients to boil. Cover the pot, and simmer on low heat for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or until the peas are tender.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The porch/deck coming along!

Corner.. look at that view!
Back side
Basement french doors

Matthew's Blog: A night at the Magical Forest

Matthew's Blog: A night at the Magical Forest Click on link for more cute pics of Magoo's smiley face.

Just look at that face...he was grinning from ear to ear the entire ride!!

When the carousel took off, I was surprised at how fast it was going... I was trying to hold on to Matthew w/ my left hand and to the pole that was moving up and down, with my right hand ...

and I ALMOST FELL OFF!! LOL, I should have been on the other side, but as we went flying past Heidi, I said, "OMG I almost fell!" and she was laughing and said, "I know, I saw!!" There was only a small area for me to stand on.

I may be a slacker in regards to Christmas decorating...

but I've been a holiday baking fiend. This is for Mike's squad... date nut and banana nut bread.

*giggling*

This is as far as I've gotten with decorating this year! The tree is still in a box... and so are the deco! Mike did bring it all down from the attic. But look! My Christmas cards are up on the coffee table ... we do have a cool red metal wreath that we can put all our cards on.

In my defense, I did mail out 165 Christmas cards this year.

Since Christmas is only in a few days and we'll be heading to Beaver for 3 days...I may as well not put all this stuff up. I'm really not a scrooge or a Grinch. *lol*

Yummmy... this is a German Apple Pancake

I made this for the boys the other morning before they went to work on the cabin.
It's a recipe my grandmother gave us when we were little kids. It's almost like a dessert!!

All you need is an iron skillet... 3 apples, butter, cinnamon, brown sugar, eggs, flour, vanilla, milk.
I used my Pampered Chef apple slicer peeler corer to slice the apples up in a jiffy.

Let me know if you want the recipe and directions. Actually, I just put the recipe down in my comment box.

It was a cold three days in Beaver!!

This is a very windy spot ... and when that wind blows ... it's blistering... poor Timmy... his face is so red, that it's almost purple.

Mike backfilling before he starts the front porch.

I love that the deck is so high.. the basement will still get lots of sun.

The three mouseketeers staining all four sides of the wood before attaching to the frame on the deck. They were so cute... listening to Country Chuck on the radio.

We are now licensed to foster children ....

So, that means I will be very busy with less time for blogging and Facebook, I'm sure. *pouts*
DFS called yesterday to tell us to start expecting calls.

Las Vegas needs over 450 families to help w/ kids that are in Child Haven. That was pulling at Mike's good heart ... and as Mike said, the Bible says to care for orphans and widows. :-)

For now, we are licensed to care for one 0 to 3 yr old... I think we want only newborns b/c they will have just come out of the NICU and won't be sick.

We need to be very careful that Matthew isn't exposed to any type of illnesses. A lot of times, these kids are not well cared for or healthy.

We are also licensed for mildly medically fragile kiddos, g~tube baby & breathing treatments, since we are well trained to do that. I hope I'm not too overwhelmed, but if it doesn't work out, we can change our status.

Most of me wanted a toddler for Matthew, but I am hearing that babies just out of the hospital might work best for us for now.

We'll see how it all goes. I am kind of nervous about it.

We had always planned to have two kids, but then when Matthew was born with this rotten heart defect, that sadly changed things. Also, I'm not a spring chicken and my eggs are old! LOL
I do feel bad about Matthew being an only kiddo... and I am his only playmate. Casey was an only child and it was sad for him, especially since I was a single mom most of his life.

I will still be posting pics of the cabin and little updates as I have time.

We made sure that the licensing people knew that we intend to go to Beaver every week to finish up the cabin.

Spoiled kitties or what?

*giggling* This pic cracks me up.. they were wrestling on the chair, and jus as it snapped, Baxter put his head upside down, you can see Spookies litte upside down head too. Baxter kept biting her head, then licking it... it was funny.

Grandma loves her little "grandkitties".

Geez, what a life huh... all they do is sleep in comfie places and eat. Oh, yes... and play play play.

Boo!

They love Matthew's high chair.

The black stuff on the decking is Grace Ice and Water Shield, to protect from water damage.

Finishing up the backside now.