Great Kids Halloween Party

We had a great time on Saturday. It was the kids Halloween party at my 2 sister in laws summer homes at Woodsmoke Ranch. When we left at about 10 am it was rainy and cold and my hubby kept asking us if we still wanted to go. I asked my daughter and her friend and they both said yes. I am so happy we did go because the sun starting shining at about 1pm and even though it was still a bit nippy we had a great time. The kids got to trick or treat from 2 to 4pm and we went through about 17 bags of candy. We knew it was a slow candy day because last year we went through 25 BIG bags of candy. We had a lot of family members not show up because they thought the weather was going to be bad all day. Surprise. lol
We all made tons of food and leave it go all day. I made my barbecue pork in my crock pot, we also had chili, tamales, hot dogs, chicken and mostacolli and tons of sweets.
When it got dark we sat around the bonfire and made smores and my nephew played the guitar. It was so nice. We left fairly early because my hubby had to work the next day. My daughter was disappointed because she was standing in line waiting to get into the haunted house but my hubby was tired so she didn't get in. I told her next year she has to go earlier.
Here are a few pictures:
My great nieces Hope and Alexandra.

My daughter's friend Amber and My Sara as a Green Fairy.

This is hubby and I. I dress up like a pumpkin every year because I am the one who passes out the candy to the kids and they love it.

The carving of the pumpkins. My daughter didn't want to do one this year. That is my sister in law in the orange helping one of her friends sons. We only got 4 kids who did pumpkins. One year we had 20 pumpkins lined up on the deck with candles in them.

We had to use our portable fire pit because we were all sitting up front. They have 2 in ground fire pits in the back of their decks.

I have to have another MRI on Tuesday. I wasn't going to have one but the hospital called & reminded me. It is a follow-up from the brain surgery last December. The reason I wasn't going to have it because I am still paying the medical bills from December & I don't want to add anymore. I guess it will give me peace of mind to make sure the tumor isn't growing back. I am not worried though because I haven't had any headaches except my one that lives with me (my hubby) LOL


Missie made this one and the one above that says Welcome to my journal. I think it was a few years ago.

Have a wonderful week.

To Keep or Not To Keep

I have been debating for a few months on if I want to keep this blog. I feel frustrated that I don't post more but I also feel like I don't have anything interesting to say. I am a housewife/stay at home Mom, whatever you want to call it. My life just seems to be the same, clean, cook, bills, grocery shop, etc. etc. etc.
I love reading all of your blogs. I may not comment much but I do love reading about everything that is happening in your lives. I don't know if I am just having a pity party right now or what. I can't seem to get back on the eating right & exercise plan. I went to the doctor today and I had to get on the scale. I am so mad at myself for gaining back some of the weight I lost. My doctor asked me if I had seen the surgeon for my hernia to be repaired and I told him I canceled. I told him that I was suppose to be down about 90 lbs. and that I am still paying for all the bills from my brain surgery in December.
I know I am rambling because I have been really stressed about the bills and almost losing our house. OK enough.
Let's see if I can talk about something more positive, like my garden. I am still pulling tons of cherry tomatoes, bell peppers and I will be getting the brussel sprouts off very soon. I finally cut the last of the cabbage because it looked like a garden worm was eating the rest of them. I got 2 batches of coleslaw out of it.
I am suppose to go to Woodsmoke Ranch tomorrow to visit with 2 of my sister in laws. My mother in law called and wants us all to go to see my nephews football game tomorrow. I am thinking about it because I need to get out of the house but always in the back of my mind is money. Are we going to have enough money for gas? I have been trying to get my hubby to take over the checking account so I can sleep at night. My neighbor told him that since her hubby took over their checking account it has been wonderful. I can only dream. LOL
Well, I was going to add some pictures but I want to get ready to watch my 2 programs tonight. Survivor and Grey's Anatomy.

Longer Post Coming Soon

I just wanted to check in and wish everyone a wonderful Labor Day.
Hubby is on vacation and we are doing some projects around the house. I will try to make a longer entry sometime this week.
I have been reading all your journals but sometimes I don't get a chance to comment because I start to fall asleep at my computer.
Hugs to everyone.

Hello Everyone

Wow, I can't believe it has been almost a month since I did an entry.
I have just been keeping busy by playing in the vegetable garden and with my flowers. 4 of my tomato plants didn't make it this year. We seem to have more problems every year with the tomato plants. 2 tomato plants came up next to our bell pepper plants. I guess it is from some of the tomato that fell off last year and started from the seeds. I am not sure if they are going to make it since they are so crowded in between the cucumbers and peppers. We will see.

My daughter starts school in 15 days. The summer flew by fast. We go to pick up her schedule and books tomorrow. She is volunteering at a bible school summer camp all this week. I am not sure if I mentioned this before but she has to put in 40 hours of volunteer work in order to graduate. She is going to have about 20 hours already put in so I told her to just do the bible school next year and you will be all done with your hours. She is going to be a sophomore. I am hoping she will get some kind of job by next summer.

I was on a roll today with the cooking. I am trying to clean out all of the food in the deep freezer so I can defrost it. I also am trying not to buy so much food. I want to get in the habit of just buying food for the meals I am going to make that week. It is going to be hard but with money being so tight lately I have to do something. My daughter is dying because she keeps saying there is no food in the house. LOL
I just finished making hamburgers with onions and green peppers and when my hubby walked through the door I had stuffed green peppers made. I just pulled 7 big ones from the garden and decided to make them.
I also made tuna salad and cabbage/veg. soup for me. I also want to make some orange roughy tonight since I took the bag out yesterday morning. I am trying to eat right again. It has been a struggle. I am slowly losing the few lbs I put back on. I am hoping to be back to all the weight I lost by the end of August. I just need to get back to exercising also. Keep your fingers crossed. I don't think I need to cook for about a week.

Here are some of my cucumbers. I am getting pretty tired of them. I think I need to give some to the neighbors before they spoil.
Here is a picture of one of the frogs in our pond. I have seen about 4 total. My hubby just told me today that there are about 4 baby fish in the pond. I haven't even noticed.

Well, I guess I will go make that fish and maybe pull some more weeds.

More Vacation Photos and daughters birthday

This is one of the pictures of my daughters birthday. That is me, hubby and my daughter.


My niece was also there to celebrate her cousins birthday.

This was at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville. I can't believe it took me 13 years before I went to see it. I visit my sister almost every year and my brother kept telling me to go but I was always content just visiting with my sister and swimming at her house. I am so happy I finally went. I can't wait to bring my hubby here. He will just love it.
The rest of the pictures that I am going to show are from the Hotel. I hope you enjoy.


My daughter.

Me, my daughter, my niece and my sister.


My sister.


All the flowers, trees, plants and bushes were real.


Here are some pictures of us going boating on July 5th with our neighbors. Our 4th of July was terrible because it rained all day and night.

Tubing
Hubby not looking so happy while tubing. LOL


Well, it is time to go. Big Brother is on and I love that program.

Vacation and Garden Pictures

I have been trying to post a entry since I got home but I have gotten so busy with the garden and working outside that I haven't had the time.
I am pretty tired right now but I am determined to finish this entry.
This is where I spent a lot of my time. My sister and niece both had to work most of the time and I just love the water and swimming. There were days that I would spend 7 hours outside. My daughter and I are really tan. I would love to get a pool one day.

This is my sister and her hubby. He was only home on the weekends because he is an over the road truck driver. I just love him. He is so good to my sister.


We had a great bonfire one night. That is my niece and their 89 lb. puppy Bear. He is huge. We made the kids listen to our music and they kept making all these sounds and noises so we would turn it off. They called it old folks music. We just laughed all night. What a great time.

My niece and her boyfriend.

I have more pictures of my vacation but I am getting tired and I want to show you some of my garden pictures so here goes.

Here is my cabbage and some green onions we planted on the side. I can't believe how big all my vegetables have gotten since I was on vacation.
This is my lettuce which I already cut up and washed and had a salad tonight. It tasted great knowing that you grew it yourself.


Here are the brussel sprouts. We never planted these before and we are hoping they turn out. I wanted to try something new this year.
Here are the cucumber plants. We already have a few growing. I am going to try to can some pickles. My hubby bought me a book on canning and I want to try my hand at canning salsa, homemade spaghetti sauce, marinara sauce and a few other things.

These are the bell pepper plants. I just eat these raw and I also like to grill them with a little olive oil and salt and pepper.

We had so many plants this year that we had to put some of our vegetables on the side of the house. This is new for us also. It is spinach. I just love spinach. I put it in my salads all the time.
This is all the lettuce I cut yesterday. I had to wash it and put it in my salad spinner. It took me quite a while to do this.

The one on the left is one of my cabbages. I am going to make coleslaw tomorrow. The one on the right is another head of lettuce. The 2 bowls in the background are basil leaves. I love making homemade basil pesto and basil vinegarette.

Ok, I am getting tired and you are probably getting bored with all my produce so I am going to call it a night.

I do have more vacation pictures but I haven't downloaded them yet. They are pictures from the most beautiful hotel I have ever seen. It is the Opryland Hotel in Nashville.

I wanted to mention that I am still down 51 lbs. I gained a few and lost a few so I am back to where I started. I am going to get back on track.

I want to wish everyone a happy 4th of July. Stay safe.

I'M Back

I just wanted to say I just got back from vacation last night and I will post pictures and tell you all about it after I go through 24 days of mail and make tons of phone calls.
I missed you all and can't wait to catch up.
I want to tell my good friend Tabby over at Is It the Weekend Yet? that my thoughts and prayers have been with Dave since he has been in the hospital. I wish I could be there for you at this time.