Pictures that make me happy...

When I was home visiting I raided some of my mom's pictures and did a whole bunch of scanning. I could have made several trips to that little hub of scanners, but with Adam & Casey's help we knocked out more than $50 worth of pics in half an hour or so. Then I had to buy them A & W in payment for their time & help. (They really were a HUGE help too, soooo worth it!)

This is of my maternal grandparents... from the left, my Nana & Papa & two of their very good friends. It is taken before my mom was born so probably 1944 or 1945. Casey said this is one of the coolest pictures he had ever seen... very Rat Pack like.

These were taken at the same time, 1965... My dad's senior picture & my mom's junior. Not much of *smile* on either of their faces, but it brings one to mine.

This not only brings me a big smile, but a lump in my throat too. Cameron would have been about 18 months or so. What a sweetie he was.... still is. And his smile is the same now as it was then.

Not only a smile for this one, but a big laugh too! Rest assured the kid did learn to dress herself, and very well too. My life was NEVER dull!

Casey was one of the kids that woke up happy and smiling. Thank God! What a cutie!

Have to remind myself that this sweet girl has 3 sweet (most of the time ☺) girls of her own.

And then there is this picture.... I laughed for 5 minutes when I saw it! Poor Cameron. He is 2 1/2 and has just met his baby sister for the first time. Up until now he was pretty excited. But as you can tell by the WTF look on his face, he has done a 180!

xoxo

Lissa

Green Tomato Salsa

I have to admit, I have never tasted green tomato salsa or relish. So when it was suggested, by my friend Dawn, that we make it I turned to several different cooking sites to see what was in it and involved in making it.

First thing involved was Adam's hunt for a super duper food processor. He settled on this big dog.

After 'processing' away this is what we ended up with.... mush. At this point I was a little afraid that we had just wasted a lot of good ingredients, but who am I kidding, that wouldn't be a first!

Here is the finished product. Tastes good! Another successful experiment. I am a believer that Adam can make just about anything work.

xoxo

Lissa

Making memories....

Gabi & Maggie were here this weekend. It's been a long time since we had them for a weekend and I had really looked forward to them being here. I usually only have Gabi, but really wanted to have them both. Wonder when I'll get brave enough to have them all again. *smile* I like to have them one at a time so they get lots of one-on-one attention.

First thing is ALWAYS to go to the 'secret attic' and get the toys and art supplies. This was probably 1/2 hour after we made it through the door! Tea party and art projects reign supreme on Nana & Adam weekend. It's not unusual for poor Adam to be having a tea party minutes after waking up! He's such a great sport.

It amazes me that this long legged creature is linked to me by our genes. Of course her mommy was exactly the same.

Cupcakes were on the list of things we wanted to do. Gabi was too busy at the moment to help, but Maggie very patiently took the liners apart and took it all very seriously. She was too cute!


Very proud little cupcake girl!


Now she was NOT too busy to eat cupcakes!


You might think that we watch 'The Great Pumpkin" because it's that time of year, and you would be right. But of all the movies we have THIS movie gets watched every visit. It could be worse!



The pumpkin patch was such a fun part of our time together. They ran and fed animals (tried to anyway, after being fed nonstop they weren't too hungry)


They tried to talk us (briefly) into a ginormous pumpkin. And I have to admit, when I pictured their mommy & daddy's faces I almost thought it would be worth hauling it to the truck. But then I thought better of it.

We did a little hay riding. It was pretty perfect!


Adam gave them a little outside project. We needed to get the tomato and pepper plants pulled up, so he had them pick 'all the tomatoes and peppers that are left on the plants'. Neither one of us thought there was much left. Never underestimate a 5 year old & a 2 year old with a goal...

THIS is what they found! This will be turned into green tomato salsa... stay tuned.

Dinner, bath, movies & sleeping slumber party style on the living room floor and couches. Then pancakes & we are ready to be outside again. It always so sweet to watch our Gabi being such a good big sister. She is forever taking care of her and making sure she can keep up.

And they are off and running! Does my heart good.

Now this makes my heart ache.... how many times did I watch their mommy run towards the fun. So the goal is to watch them run, and help them have as much fun as possible. And I guess make as many memories as we can hold in the process!

xoxo

Lissa

Happy Friday

Friday. 5:30pm give or take. I told Adam last week that these are my favorite moments of the week. I walk into the house. It's our sanctuary & nest that we put so much time, energy & love into... the safe zone. And there it is.... the whole weekend stretches in front of us to make of it what we choose. I love Friday evening.

This weekend is not going to be a "restful" one. But that's cool. I'm going to pick up the 2 oldest "babies" in the morning & then watch out! We are going to skip Pumpkin Fest this year (sorry Robert!) head out to Peach Tree Farm & see what kind of trouble we can get into out there. Poor Adam may not make it as he has put in more than 80 hours this week.

So next week beware, there will be lots of pics of my precious treasure... My Stinker Bell & Princess Maggie Beth. :o)

Happy Friday... hope it was this peaceful....

xoxo

Lissa

Salsa & Peppers

This spring we decided to plant a kitchen garden. We bought some edging, removed grass, hauled topsoil & compost and just like that we had a great little spot right off the corner of the deck. The first thought was just herbs, but Adam had thought that tomatoes & peppers were a great idea too. He was soooo right! We ended up with 3 types of tomatoes, banana peppers & jalapeños. As for herbs it's basil, spicy oregano, thyme, dill & rosemary.

I think it must have been the act of planting a garden. I think I need to add that this in itself is something I never though I would enjoy, but really wanted fresh herbs.

This is the first batch of peppers

We decided to pickle & can them. They turned out amazing!

I didn't take pictures during the process, but this is the salsa. We didn't get a lot, but learned a lot about the process & found a really good recipe that we tweaked just a little. It's pretty sweet with a great kick at the end. I'm thinking about buying a flat of tomatoes to make more.

So our first summer of a garden & what came out of it went really well. We learned that we need to move some things around & maybe make a different area for just a salsa garden.

In January & February I'm going to really enjoy opening a jar and remembering the summer.

xoxo

Lissa

Time for balloons

Some posts by a high school friend, who now lives in New Mexico, reminded me of another fun festival, of thousands, that happen every fall. The

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta!

is going on right now thru October 10th.

On a beautiful evening a few weeks ago we heard the strangest noise that made Adam & I both stop in our tracks. And then at about the same time we figured it out. Turns out, it was NOT the fire breathing dragon that was my first instinct. Don't judge. It was a couple of hot air balloons that were using the park as a landing spot.

I don't like balloons. At least not the birthday party variety, unless someone is sucking in the helium and talking in funny voices. But I love the hot air variety, and some day I'll get to ride in one!

The hot air balloons are one more thing about fall that is beautiful. If you look around Columbia these days you're bound to see 1 or 2 yourself!

Yum! Goldfish balloon.

xoxo

Lissa

My fondest wish... for the moment

I want a camera. Ok, I HAVE a camera, and it is a great little camera. It takes really good photos and it's small and fits in my bag. This means I (almost) always have it with me. And on any given trip or even walk I just stop, point & shoot.

I want a DSLR... I kinda feel silly even using that term, like I'm not really worthy of using the terminology. Yeah, that's a completely different issue. I am forever gravitating toward blogs that give me info on RAW vs JPG, aperature & shutter speed... I'll just say it is one more thing for me to geek out on.

Where am I in the process?? Paralyzed by my choices! Nikon vs Canon vs Sony, do I need video, do I want to get a package deal so there is an extra lens?? AAAAHHHH

I have talked to a lot of people who have different cameras (this is good & bad) and have come to realize that people are very loyal to their brands, yet I have received some really helpful info. All of it will go into helping make my decision. What is the big deal you ask? In my fear induced thoughts this is what happens... I am going to spend a lot of money and then 2 weeks later I find something that fits my needs, and lets face it, that I just like better. So my next step? I'm going to head down to Columbia Photo and ask a ba-zillion questions. They should love me. HA!