Last night was a late one. Ellie, Kohlton and Brandon came home from their trip to San Diego at around 11:30 p.m. Larr drove out to get them. The dog and I tried to snooze on the couches until they arrived. Remmie had no idea why we were snoozing on the couches since I could not tell him, but oh my, was he ever so happy once his girl came back home. He has a singular love in his furry, doggy heart for her. This weekend he was missing her terribly and cried for a while. Then he thought that perhaps she was hiding in a closet, so he had me open every single one in the house for him to be sure that she was not home.
Ellie and I love to surprise each other, and so I had a surprise for her when she came home. I cleaned her room and I decorated it for Valentine's Day. She loves holiday decorations and was especially appreciative of my efforts. It was all very exciting. However, Kohlton was going to decorate her room for her for Valentine's Day or their upcoming 3rd anniversary, so I might have ruined that possibility. I feel a bit bad about that. I told him that he could still carry out his plan since my stuff would have been up for 2+ weeks by then. We'll have to wait and see what actually happens.
I had admired a set of decorations at the craft store, but did not want to pay the asking price. Then on Sunday they had a special 1 day sale where all of the Valentine's Day stuff was at a huge discount, so I grabbed the set with the paper fans, flowers, hearts, etc. first. Then I found a banner kit to make. I choose 14 pictures of Ellie and Kohlton from their activities in 2014 and hung them up. Larr helped with the tall stuff.
I loved making the marquee letter, but the glitter tape was difficult to use, so I would recommend using glue and glitter instead of the tape if you want to make one, too. I also purchased 4 plain clipboards, painted the front of them white and embellished them with some of the glitter paper and tape that I used on the "E" so that they would all coordinate. I thought it would be fun to swap out what is on each clipboard as the season and/or holiday changes. I found the subway art here and the other free printables here. I also used another free printable and some paint chip samples to make a special calendar. I am already trying to come up with fun new images to put on the clipboards in a few weeks.
Meanwhile, Ethan is still having a wonderful time rock climbing in Railay, Thailand. He spent many of the evenings with a girl from Russia. She has gone home now and she invited him to visit some time. He also met some climbers from Germany and Sweden who have issued similar invitations. It will be interesting to see if he takes any of the up on the offers. They will leave Railay soon and are considering where they should travel to next. They were considering Cambodia, but there are funky things about travel visas that may prevent that. Same goes for Malaysia. They are also thinking about going to Laos.
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Yesterday as I passed the bandroom on my way to a staff meeting, I heard the jazz band working on perfecting, "Birdland." The tune got stuck in my head and I "heard" it for much of the evening. It through me back, in a pleasant way, to the joyous times when Larr and I were in college. We literally wore out a tape of Manhattan Transfer or two. I love to sing along to songs and their music is always fun. Here's a few songs for you to enjoy, too:
And so begins December Daily, originally a scrapbooking event, that has become a tradition for many women.
Each year I buy myself new holiday music. Last year I bought "If on a Winter's Night" by Sting.
Some years I have purchased the CDs that organizations sell to benefit a cause. So far I have not found an album that I want to buy, so I picked out a few songs that I like from the Pandora (online radio) playlists that I like. I love what I purchased, but in the process of finding the videos for this post, I notice that they are all rather somber and quiet. I think I will have to find a few more songs that are higher energy and fun. Here's what I have so far. If you have suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Just leave me a note in the comment section of this post. I hope you enjoy it, too.:
(I am happy to announce that the boys have arrived safely and happily in New Orleans. Tonight they rest, eat and visit with Brandon's grandparents. Tomorrow, perhaps they will take a river boat ride. I am sure they will choose something great to kick off their first day of their stay.)
(The colors in this photo are terrible. The hats look much nicer in real life. The dark color is a speckled and heathered dark grey while the blue is a bright blue shade that is between cobalt and tourquise.)
We have several sets of friends who have not been successful in conceiving a child by natural means. Many of them have gone to extra ordinary measure to have a family. Bob and Jen are one such couple. They've tried to start a family for years. They were finally successful with the aid of modern medicine and welcomed Owen into the world on Valentine's Day this past spring.
We've known Bob for many years. He owns and runs the company that takes care of the grounds at school. He has employed Ethan for many years and he has become a friend. He is a tall, reliable and honest man of few years. Word got back to me that it might be nice to have matching hats for the two of them. As you might imagine, I was thrilled and set to work. Since the set would be worn by a baby boy and an adult (I wanted something rather gender neutral) I spent some time thinking about the design. The color choice was an epiphany after noticing a pair of biking socks Ellie was wearing one day on the way to a race. I was struck. Color can do that to me. Really, I was kind of smitten. The challenge then was to find colors of yarn that fit what I had in my head. It took me several stores and a trip to the big store in Boulder to finally come up with something I was happy with. The next challenge was figuring out the design. This one was inspired by a series of quilts that people had pinned in Pinterest. I graphed it out and set away with clicking needles. Originally I was going to include a small bit of red, but did not have any with me when I came to that spot while away at a race. I decided to do without the red. It would have been a nice touch, but I am happy with the end result. Bob was, too.
The yarn is a superwash DK from Cascade. I wanted something warm, washable and not itchy. It fit the bill perfectly.
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We will host our annual pumpkin carving party and potluck tomorrow evening. I usually make a curried pumpkin soup and a cheesy garlic bread, but I don't think tomorrow's crowd is all that adventurous. I opted for a nice spicy, smokey chili instead. We will also have a baked potato bar with sour cream, cheddar cheese, bacon bits and ham.
Here are a few images from the past years:
Here's a few fun Halloween Playlists as well:
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Boilermaker Tailgate Chili
via: Allrecipes.com
Serves 12
2 pounds ground beef chuck
1 pound bulk Italian sausage
3 (15 ounce) cans chili beans, drained
1 (15 ounce) can chili beans in spicy sauce
2 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with juice
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 green chile peppers, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon bacon bits
4 cubes beef bouillon
1/2 cup beer (I used water since I did not have a can of beer on hand)
1/4 cup chili powder
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce (e.g.Sriacha or Tabasco™)
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon Smoke Flavoring (I added this. You can use liquid or powder form)
2 (10.5 ounce) bag corn chips such as Fritos®
1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar Cheese
DIRECTIONS:
1. Heat a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Crumble the ground chuck and sausage into the hot pan, and cook until evenly browned. Drain off excess grease.
2. Pour in the chili beans, spicy chili beans, diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Add the onion, celery, green and red bell peppers, chile peppers, bacon bits, bouillon, and beer. Season with chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, oregano, cumin, hot pepper sauce, basil, salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, and sugar. Stir to blend, then cover and simmer over low heat for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
3. After 2 hours, taste, and adjust salt, pepper, and chili powder if necessary. The longer the chili simmers, the better it will taste. Remove from heat and serve, or refrigerate, and serve the next day.
4. To serve, ladle into bowls, and top with corn chips and shredded Cheddar cheese.
The people who MC the bike races frequently play strange and fun music. Here's my favorite new song from the race this weekend. It features Tom Waits, so it is no surprise that I enjoy it. I hope you do, too.
I love this one. I wonder if it is old, or if it was digitally created from footage from a Bing Crosby movie. I hope you like it, too.
I made an Imix of some of the fun music I got. I just can't seem to remember how I got the CD case image to save as a JPEG last time I did it.
My playlist also include
"The Heatmeister" by Big Bad Voo Doo...
"Marshmallow World" by Bing Crosby
"Baby, It's Cold Outside" from "Elf"
Happy Xmas (War is Over) by John Lennon
Ellie has a different kind of tune stuck in her head. Here's a commercial that Ellie has has been singing all day. I think it is the cute tights that do it:
This is such a funny contrast from the girl who formerly loved to wear oversize sport jerseys. She is the proud owner of two cocktail dresses and is on the hunt for the perfect accessories. I love watching this process unfold. It makes me wonder, where will it go next? I'd image that bits of make-up will be making a debut soon.
I'd love to hear what new mixes or Holiday music you love.
We've been on a wild ride the last few days. I guess I feel the need to squeeze as much summer out of my days before returning to work as possible. I will write soon about our whitewater rafting and camping trip. We're getting ready for a Cyclogirl Party, so my time is tight. I never seem to get everything done the day before. Alas, such is life. Anyhow, here's a bit of fun for you in the meantime...
Printed with iTunes 1. Stay Awake / Julie Andrews 1:45 2. Inchworm / Danny Kaye 3:14 3. Hushabye Mountain / Various Artists 1:55 4. La la Lu / Peggy Lee 1:37 5. Edelweiss / Various Artists 2:16 6. Lullaby / Trout Fishing In America 3:41 7. Baby Mine (From "Dumbo") / Betty Noyes 2:07 8. Feed the Birds - Tuppence a Bag (From "Mary Poppins" 3:49 9. When You Dream / Barenaked Ladies 5:19 10.(They Long to Be) Close to You / Carpenters 4:36 11.The Luckiest / Ben Folds 4:25 12.Waltzing With Bears / Mack Bailey 3:48 13.All the Pretty Little Ponies / Kenny Loggins 3:59 14.Leatherwinged Bat / Kevin Roth 2:14 15.You Are My Sunshine (Pt. 1) / Elizabeth Mitchell 2:49 16.Somewhere Over the Rainbow / Israel Kamakawiwo'ole 3:31 17.Lullaby / Jack Johnson & Matt Costa 2:47 18.Gotta Have You / The Weepies 3:20 19.All Through the Night / Kevin Roth 2:06 20.Blessed Be / Alison Krauss 3:26 21.Night Mantra / Renee & Jeremy 3:20 22.Takes My Breath Away / Tuck & Patti 4:57 23.Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy) / John Lennon 4:04
I love reading blogs. I have several that I check every day. One that I love is by Ali Edwards. She is a designer for DesignerDigitals.com, the place that I get most of my digital scrapbooking items from. She recently had Baby Anna. It is touching to read their new experiences together. One of the inspiring things she has done was to create an IMix for the baby. She posted the song list, some links, instructions on how to make an IMix through ITunes. This got me thinking. First I started with just checking out the songs. Then I thought of the several friends who have had or are just about to have their first babies. I usually make a small photoalbum for them, one where you can put in one photo for each month of the first year, but right now I just don't have the time to create a few of those. They take me a long time. They are always a hit, so I wanted to come up with something equally personal. This struck me as the solution. I love to give very personal gifts that the baby will not outgrow so quickly. Some of my favorite gifts to us when Ellie and Ethan were born were the cassettes I received. I had an established set that I played for each of them. It quickly became part of our bedtime routine to turn on the music and I would sing along as I rocked them. This lovely routine lasted for a very long time. In fact, I still sing a few of the songs to them when they are feeling down or are ill. I began by listening to the songs on Ali's list. Then I read all of the comments that others left and listened to those, too. One at a time the kids would walk by, taking note of what I was working on. First Ellie suggested some that I had sung to her. The Ethan chimed in. What began as a small gift creation for someone else became a gift of a walk down memory lane. And my was it every sweet. I still have those songs in my head. At first I worried that I would not find enough music for my project. Very quickly it turned into a much larger list that became two playlists. One for bedtime and one for relaxing times. I love that you can create a playlist in Itunes then print out a CD cover that lists the songs, the artist(s) and many of the covers.
Printed with iTunes 1. Gotta Have You / The Weepies 3:20 2. Daughters / John Mayer 3:58 3. All My Days / Alexi Murdoch 4:57 4. Blackbird / The Beatles 2:19 5. Common Threads / Bobby McFerrin 4:17 6. Takes My Breath Away / Tuck & Patti 4:57 7. The Lovely Years / Fisher 3:00 8. Power of Two / Indigo Girls 5:22 9. In My Daughter's Eyes / Martina McBride 3:14 10.I Knew I Loved You / Savage Garden 4:10 11.I'm Yours / Jason Mraz 4:03 12.Little Bird / Jonatha Brooke 2:30 13.White Winter Hymnal / Fleet Foxes 2:27 14.Hands In Pockets (feat. Laura Gibson) / Portland Cello 3:26 15.First Day of My Life / Bright Eyes 3:09 16.Tiger Mountain Peasant Song / Fleet Foxes 3:29 17.Sunshine On My Shoulders / John Denver 5:14 18.Annie's Song / John Denver 3:02 19.Night Mantra / Renee & Jeremy 3:20
If you create an IMix, I'd love to hear about it. You can check out the instructions on how to create them either through Ali's Blog or through Itunes.
