Oh What Fun..It Is To...

Make hard candy at mom's house! With everyone there to help make a HUGE mess!! We made 9 batches yesterday..mom, me, Rylan, Jen, Bart, Sam, Tyler, Mimi, and Laney..oh..and Bart's sister Katie came for a bit to help too. We had waaayy too much going on in the kitchen..between washing dishes(so we could reuse the pans for hard candy), salsa cheese dip, cranberry tea, potato soup, and hard candy..two batches at a time, I might add. And with all of us in the kitchen..IT WAS NUTS!! But we had a blast..made some good candy..and a terrible mess of powdered sugar.

We made watermelon, pomegranate-watermelon, cran-raspberry, blackberry, spearmint, peppermint, and 3 batches of cinnamon. The pomegranate-watermelon and blackberry are my favorite! If you have never made hard candy..you have to make plans to make it with us next year! It is definitely a fun event that everyone should get to experience.

Jen decided to show us a game they used to play at camp in Colorado. They would line up flour along the tables and at random places, make a bigger pile. You have to put your mouth right on top of the line and say chugga-chugga all the way down the line till you hit a big mound..and then you say choo-choo..and keep going.

 

So Jen demonstrated for us with powdered sugar..and it went EVERYWHERE. But it was absolutely hysterical! So then we made Bart do it too..

This would be a great game to play when you're outside..it made a big mess in mom's house..but it was already a mess from making hard candy.

Fun times!!

12 Days of Christmas Correspondance

I had to put this on here! We had our Ladies Fellowship Christmas Party for the church Monday night. We are asked to bring a story, poem, or song we'd like to share and a lady reads this every year and we all laugh hysterically..even though we've heard it several times! I never get tired of hearing this! ENJOY!

***
December 14th
Dearest John:
I went to the door today and the postman delivered a partridge in a pear tree. What a delightful gift. I couldn't have been more surprised.
With dearest love and affection, Agnes
***
December 15th
Dearest John:
Today the postman brought your very sweet gift. Just imagine, two turtle doves.... I'm just delighted at your very thoughtful gift. They are just adorable.
All my love, Agnes
***
December 16th
Dear John:
Oh, aren't you the extravagant one! Now I must protest. I don't deserve such generosity. Three french hens. They are just darling but I must insist.... you're just too kind.
Love Agnes
***
December 17th
Today the postman delivered four calling birds. Now really! They are beautiful, but don't you think enough is enough? You're being too romantic.
Affectionately, Agnes
***
December 18th
Dearest John:
What a surprise! Today the postman delivered five golden rings. One for each finger. You're just impossible, but I love it. Frankly, John, all those squawking birds were beginning to get on my nerves.
All my love, Agnes
***
December 19th
Dear John:
When I opened the door there were actually six geese-a-laying on my front steps. So you're back to the birds again, huh? Those geese are huge. Where will I ever keep them? The neighbors are complaining and I can't sleep through the racket. PLEASE STOP!
Cordially, Agnes
***
December 20th
John:
What's with you and those birds???? Seven swans-a-swimming. What kind of joke is this? There's bird do-do all over the house and they never stop the racket. I'm a nervous wreck and I can't sleep all night. IT'S NOT FUNNY.......So stop with those birds.
Sincerely, Agnes
***
December 21st
OK Buster:
I think I prefer the birds. What am I going to do with eight maids-a-milking? It's not enough with all those birds and eight maids-a-milking, but they had to bring their own cows. There is poop all over the lawn and I can't move into my own house. Just lay off me. .
Ag
***
December 22nd
Hey:
What are you? Some kind of sadist? Now there's nine pipers playing. And do they play! They never stopped chasing those maids since they got here yesterday morning. The cows are upset and are stepping all over those screeching birds. No wonder they screech. What am I going to do? The neighbors have started a petition to evict me. You'll get yours.
From Ag
***
December 23rd
You Creep!
Now there's ten ladies dancing - I don't know why I call them ladies. Now the cows can't sleep and they've got diarrhea. My living room is a river of poop. The commissioner of buildings has subpoenaed me to give cause why the building shouldn't be condemned. I'm sicking the police on you.
One who means it, Ag
***
December 24th
Listen Idiot:
What's with the eleven lords a-leaping? All 234 of the birds are dead. I hope you're satisfied, you rotten swine.
Your sworn enemy, Miss Agnes McCallister
***
December 25th (From the law offices Taeker, Spedar, and Baegar)
Dear Sir:
This is to acknowledge your latest gift of twelve fiddlers fiddling, which you have seen fit to inflict on our client, Miss Agnes McCallister. The destruction, of course, was total. All correspondence should come to our attention. If you should attempt to reach Miss McCallister at Happy Dale Sanitarium, the attendants have instructions to shoot you on sight. With this letter, please find attached a warrant for your arrest.
-Merry Christmas
 ***

A Much Needed...

4 day vacation!! Rylan and I definitely enjoyed our 4 day weekend! We didn't have the usual amount of Thanksgivings to go to this year..so we really got to spend some quality time together. Thursday we had Thanksgiving at noon with the Rusks and then we stopped by Grandma's to see everyone. Friday we got out our Christmas decorations and put up the trees. Oh yes! Plural! TREES!

Our tree is not real..oh yes Jared Cummins..we are communists! :-) (Rylan was highly allergic to real Christmas trees when he was a baby..not so much anymore..however..we don't want to chance anything) Sheila and Larry gave us their old tree and it is beautiful!! We have both of our ornaments on it from the time we were little..all the way up to our first house and first Christmas ornaments. Such a merry little tree it is!

And then we have the weeee-little silver pom-pom tree. It has old ornaments on it and some in the apothecary jar next to it. It needed a tree skirt so I used an old quilt remnant that I had. I just love this little tree!! It's definitely my fav!

We put away the fall decorations and re-decorated the house for Christmas. We went and cut down some greenery so we'd have some to decorate with both inside and out. Saturday we got things ready for the Bromm Thanksgiving..cleaned..ran some errands..and we to the Christmas Parade that evening. Our church won the Queen's Award!! Woo Hoo! Way to go everyone!

Sunday was the usual..church and then Thanksgiving with the Bromms. We did a lot of lounging and got some much needed rest! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

More Pics of Cait

We took quite a few pictures of Caitlyn yesterday. There were sooo many good one's that it was hard to choose which to post..but here's a few! Again...the camera loves her and she just knows how to pose and smile. I loved her hair in these! So festive and wintery!

Christmas Lights

We put up Christmas lights yesterday at mom and Pat's. What an adventure..as it always is! We decided to put lights at the very top of the front of the house this year..wehich we've never done..so nails had to be put into the wood before hanging the lights..and the ONLY way to hammer the nails in and hang the lights on that side is to lay on your belly with half of your body hanging off the roof. This picture is just that..Jen on her belly hammering in the nails while Bart holds on to her legs. Bart really had NO idea what he was getting himself into when he signed up to help. And any of you who have seen our house as Christmas know that we outline that ENTIRE house..sooo..needless to say..Bart had an all new experience yesterday.   :-) But I know he loved every minute of it!

This picture may be a little hard to see..but this is Jen and Bart on the little roof...they were trying a new way to hang lights..so they climbed out the bedroom window (the ONLY way out..no joke!) and they have a stool. Now I did not get to watch what or how they attempted to make this work..but I'm going to guess that Jen tried to stand on the stool while Bart held onto it..so it wouldn't fall off the roof. Just my speculations from across the woods..(I was taking senior pics of Cait). Funny stuff we are!! Always coming up with new ideas and new ways to TRY to make things easier?!? or more comical!

Jen is finishing things up in this picture..usually the antenna is the last thing to do..since you wouldn't want to climb up or down it with lights strung all over it..hence you'd crush them!! And we all know that mom does NOT need another strand of lights that don't at all or half way light up..stupid broken lights!!

I think days like this are the reason we all really don't want to do our own Christmas lights on our own houses. Not that we don't have a good time..because we do and I can remember whenever we'd skip school to hang Christmas lights without mom knowing until she got home. She'd be mad that we skipped school..but SOOO happy the lights were done and that she didn't have to help! :-) Gotta love the memories we've made! Maybe I'll post pictures of putting up mom's 12 foot tall Christmas tree this year..if I remember to take my camera when we help..hopefully there won't be any peeing of the pants this year..we won't mention who is famous for doing that.. :-) Love you Jen!!

Pictures Again

I took pictures of Rylan and his sisters yesterday at Mom and Pat's. We got some really good one's and some not so good one's..I really like the three below..

 

Rhett & Leslie's Engagement Party

We went to Leslie and Rhett's engagement party Saturday night. It was quite the gathering..if I must say so myself.. hehe :) 

Picture Event

 Oh yes! This IS an event!! To coordinate everything..time..clothing..location..poses..EVERYTHING!! We also have to consider height..hair styles..shirt color..and such..because we don't like Leslie and I next to each other because of our hair..and Leslie and Samantha's shirt color is so similar..ahh too complicated!

We decided this year to do pictures at Bart's parents' house in Amity. We also went to Uncle Willy's pond nearby. The first two pictures are my favorites..I especially like the one in the pine trees! Since we don't do Christmas cards anymore..too much $$..we're just printing pictures and carrying them with us..so if you see one of us..and you haven't received a picture yet..just ask!

Planetary Alignment?!? Say What?!?!

So Randy calls me Wednesday night and asks me what my broom is doing?!? I was completely confused..and a little freaked out, none the less. He informed me that all, or most, of the planets were aligned that night and if you'd stand a broom upright, that it would stand all by itself. So I grabbed my broom out of my front closet and plopped it in the middle of my living room..and..IT STOOD UP!! I didn't even try to make it stand..I just set it in the middle of the floor..and it stood up!! How creepy is that!! He told me this would not happen again for another 99 years so I should take a picture of it..CRAZY!! Rylan and I sat and stared at it for awhile...we were sooo amazed.. :-) HA! You can totally tell that he's more interested in the TV than the broom standing up!

Fun in Chicago

These are some of the pictures from our adventure in Chicago. The people in the hotel thought we were nuts when they saw us with our hair like this. TOO FUNNY!! We jumped on the beds and ran around like a bunch of crazy freaks! Great times!!

Our Project

Cheryl and I did a project last night and today. This is the final product! Check it out! It's a historical landmark in downtown Arlington Heights, Illinois. We had a blast this weekend and learned a TON of exciting things!!

Crazy Week/Weekend

What a crazy life we live! Rylan is in Indy at National FFA Convention until Saturday, he left early Wednesday morning for it. I'm in Chicago(Schaumburg/Arlington Heights) at a Multimedia Conference. We left last night after our class...arrive around 11..and drove the whole way in the stupid rain! I won't get home until Sunday night...and then we're back to school on Monday..AHHH!! Things are just nuts around our house. I'm sick of the rain, however, I hope it rains at our house tonight so we don't get TP'd!! We're incredibly sick of getting TP'd! My conference is beginning and I'm really excited about it..lots of new technology!! We're using Macs..and I LOVE THEM!!!

Happy Birthday to My Blog!!

It has been a year since I started this whole blogging thing! Can you believe it?!? I knew whenever Parent/Teacher Conferences rolled around that it was about this time last year that I started this blog. And yesterday and today we've have P/T Conferences..I've had no parents..none..zilch..nada..so..it's been real fun today! Last night I had class..so I didn't have to sit around all evening..although I did have to take a 1/2 a personal day to go to class..pretty crazy huh? So today I've been working on my paper for class..updating websites..planning for next week..and such. FUN FUN!! Jesse's home this weekend..and we're planning to go eat tonight and then maybe go out for A drink. ;-) ha

Crochet Hats

So I've been crocheting some hats and I'm so excited that I'm able to just pick up and run with it..especially since I haven't crocheted since I was a Freshman at Eastern. They are so adorable!! I am going to work on some scarves and put them on here too.

The infant/toddler/children hats are $15..scarves are $20 and adult hats are $20..scarves are $25. You can customize them any way you want..color..flower size..etc. The silk flowers do come off, whereas the crochet flowers are tied on..I can also layer the crochet flowers up to 3 layers deep.

I have so many ideas and whenever I get time to sit down and crochet some more this weekend..I'll do so and post pictures of them! I've had many high school students in my classes as for hats to match their winter coats..they love them! Let me know if you'd like one..any color and any size..

This one is for Travis and Amy Tarr's little girl..Marlee Belle..she was born yesterday afternoon. I got her brown cowboy boots with pink threading...so I made her a hat to match! TOO CUTE!!

Girls Night

Kate came home for the weekend for Pat's birthday..so we decided to have a girls night, Saturday night, after we had dinner with the whole family. We spent most of our evening at Hi-Benders in Ste. Marie..dancing with Kenny Kraus..talking to Terri..a lady dad used to date..playing pool..and so much more.

Kenny nearly made me sick..he's such a great dancer! And it reminded me so much of the summer we spent so much time at the cabin and Leslie and Kenny would dance almost every night to whatever was playing.We had a GREAT night at Benders..it was definitely..well..almost the highlight of our night. The real highlight was Leslie and Kate sitting in the Alley behind the Gypsy duck taping Kate's shoe back together because I stepped on it. Too funny!! We were leaving the Gypsy and had our hands on the person's hips in front of us..running out the back door..and I stepped on the back of Kate's shoe. Directly after I stepped on her shoe and broke it..she said something to me like "Amy, you f***ing Wildebeest..it's not like you're Mufasa and I'm Simba and you're chasing me through the jungle trying to save me!" (It's from the movie LionKing!)
I nearly laughed my ass off! It was so funny!! And it's so Kate to come up with something like that! I laugh every time I even think about what she said! Oh what a great night!! Below is a picture of Leslie and Kate duck taping Kate's shoe back together..

Oh..did I mention that we ended up at the TownHouse in Lawrenceville..and I almost beat the crap outta this guy across the bar from me because he was looking at Leslie and Kate's boobs..Yah! I think I had my fair share of fun Saturday night..we're hopefully gonna do this every time Kate comes home because we had the best time ever!!

New Haircut

Okay..so I'm ready for a new do. And I like messy but big hair..So I found this style that I LOVE! I would have the sides be long enough to hit my jaw line and I would have as much hair in my face..but I like the sweeping bangs and the messy/chunky look of it. It's very similar to what I have now..just a LOT shorter. I'm also gonna have my natural color pulled with a little bit of auburn and carmel chunky highlights. So..I need everyone's thoughts before I get it cut. Do you like it?? Is it me?? Do you think it would look good on me?Sometimes I think I'm as bad as Leslie..she gets a new haircut and then I get an itch to get one. HOWEVER..I have been thinking about either letting it grow or getting it whacked short again. And I'm leaning towards it being short....cuz I love being able to add height to it.

Wordle.net

So Erin texted me last night and told about wordle.net and it is the coolest thing discovered so far on the web!! She told me to plug in my blog website and the largest words are the words you use most. I made several and showed my web design kids today and I've let them play on it today!! The love it!! You can print them and everything!! I think I'm going to frame one about Rylan and I and our lives. I made the one above by inserting my blog website and it generated this. How cool!!

My New Hutch

Mom and Pat got Rylan and I a Broyhill Attick Heirlooms stlye Hutch from Timberlake Furniture as a wedding gift and it was delivered yesterday!! I was so excited that I had to fill it with my Longaberger dishes!! It matches my table perfectly and it fits great in my dining room.

A True Farm Girl

August spent the day with Rylan and I a few weeks ago. We took her to the farm with us to do chores. She filled the water tub for us.We picked sweet corn and shucked it outside. We showed her how to shuck the corn and she did a few ears by herself. She pulled one piece at a time off of the husk. When she got to the silks and give it to Rylan and say 'yucky hairs' and he'd pull off the hairs and then she be so excited and yell 'CORN!' and put it in the bucket. Every time she shucked an ear, it was a surprise every time to see the corn inside.

Later in the afternoon, Rylan and I canned green beans. We started snapping them and August wanted to be right next to the both of us helping. So we'd snap off the ends and she'd snap them in half and throw them in the bowl.
It was too funny to watch her help us do everything..even with toys scattered all over the place..she'd rather be helping us shuck corn and snap green beans! You gotta love this girl...she's a one of a kind!

Gulf Shores, Alabama

Last week, Rylan, Jesse, and I headed to Gulf Shores, Alabama to stay at The Beach Club for 3 nights. It was a short vacation but we had an absolute blast! Jesse counted every Waffle House we saw on the way down..however, he had never eaten at one. I knew there was one in Foley, AL..the town directly north of Gulf Shores. We stopped there to eat and it was the 16th and last Waffle House we saw before we got to Gulf Shores.

This picture was taken at about 7 in the morning and we each only had about 2 hours of sleep throughout the night. A Waffle House stop was much needed! We spent every day on the beach from about mid-morning (9:30ish) to late afternoon (3:30ish). We did nothing but relax and enjoy the sun, sand, and ocean. The second night we were there, we decided to go to the outlet mall for a bit..because I am in desperate need of some new clothes..and then we went out to dinner at the Gulf Island Grill.

You gotta love Jesse's glasses..this kid kills me sometimes!

The last day we were there, I got stung by a JellyFish. Not a full bodied JellyFish..just one little tentacle got caught in my bathing suit top..it stung me on my chest and I tried to get it out of my top but it was attached somehow to my bathing suit top and flung down and stung me all the way down the center of my stomach to my belly button. YIKES did it ever hurt!! It scared the crap out of me so I splashed water on me until I got out of the water..screaming at Rylan to get out with me..I'm sure I looked like a fool. Jesse, in the mean time, was watching with much anticipation to see Rylan pee on me in public! I DON'T THINK SO!! Anways, I grabbed my beer and started dumping it down my chest..I'm sure that looked lovely to all the families around us too! After that was empty..I grabbed a beer can filled with frozen water and stuck it into my bathing suit top between my boobs..I gathered everything I could and took it to the room with me..with the frozen beer can still between my boobs. I'm sure people thought I was a freak holding a beer like that! :) I didn't care though! We'd heard to put either tooth paste or shaving cream on it..and we only packed a travel size tube of tooth paste..so I grabbed Rylan's shaving cream and started lathering it onto my chest and stomach. I'm sure it was a site to see!

This picture is a little foggy because of the humidity..but I'm sitting on the balcony with shaving cream all over me and Jesse is pretending to lick it off of me. Good thing I had a few too many drinks in my that day..or I'm sure the sting would have hurt a ton worse!

This was the last night we were in Gulf Shores. We had a great time and shared some good laughs. I must say that Jesse definitely brings out the youthfulness in Rylan and I! We love you Jesse!

Oh..How Time Flies When You're Having Fun

I know I am WAY behind on posting and my mom keeps nagging at me to post..so here it is! I promise I will try harder to post at least once a week whenever school starts..being at home with so many things to do..the last thing on my mind is sitting behind a computer. ANYWAYS!! About 2 weeks ago, Rylan and I got to keep August for 4 days..and we had a blast with her!

Mom brought donuts over for breakfast for us and we ate outside on the deck.

We pulled out the red wagon for her to play with and she loved it..she tried to pull me in it..push me in it..she layed down in it..she even helped pick a few tomatoes from the garden and put them in the wagon to pull around.

However, she could not understand the concept of only picking red tomatoes! Funny stuff!

I took August to the city pool one day with Julie, Hilary, and Kristen. She latched right on to Hilary and Kristen because they kept taking her down the slide and under the mushroom.