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Ho, Ho, Ho

So.... last week I'm on my laptop looking at photos and doing a few things online and my computer starts having glitches and acting funny and my internet closes out.  I open it back up.  The internet is running fine, then BOOM.... everything gets crazy on my screen and my computer crashes.  Me... being me... I immediately start panicking and sweating and texting my husband at work... saying everything is wiped off my computer, that all of our photos of the past year are gone, all of my documents are gone and what on earth am I going to do?!?!  He of course says it probably can be recovered and we'll have it repaired.... to which I respond.... that if it cannot, it's no different than having a house fire, that all of the memories from the past year are gone and what on earth am I going to do?!?!?!

Two days later, my computer is repaired and I have all of my photos and files back. I hate it when he's right (well, except this time).  And he hates how I freak out.   I yam who I yam.....

So, the real reason for this post was to show Grady cutting down his own Christmas tree.  Wait, let me clarify.  He chose his own tree.... Daddy cut it down.  Trust me, Grady didn't miss any of it though.

Seriously, just give this kid a task... he's all over it.  He looks like this when he takes out the garbage for me...

And he is so proud.  He is such a happy boy... so full of life and personality!!  He really finds joy in everything he does.  We are so blessed!!

I need to get a photo of his tree decorated.  It's the cutest thing!  

Getting Ready for Christmas

This has been a long week. The little man and I have cabin fever. He's had a terrible cold and the weather has gone from hot to rainy to cold to cold and windy.... so I haven't wanted him out at all. But since we have been inside, he's been so sweet to sit and watch cartoons and movies and then do some crafts later in the week. I know he's starting to feel better because his devilish side is coming back out and he's back to being obsessed with playing with his truck and semi toys. He is a little rascal..... :)

Next week is Thanksgiving and we're trying to wrap some things up here in the house to get the living room (construction room) cleared out so we can put our Christmas tree in there again. Hank and I have had the tradition of cutting our tree down the day after Thanksgiving and now that we have children (OK... just Grady and one on the way...) we want to make it a big deal for the kids. This year will be the first year that Grady can have his own tree. Hank and I will have the "Big Kid" tree and Grady and any siblings will always be allowed to have their own little tree that they cut down and decorate any way they want. We are super excited and I think Grady will have a blast with it. Today we started making some decorations for his tree.....

 He made a huge mess and loved painting the pine cones.  Maybe I can bribe him to pick up the rest of the pine cones in our yard if he thinks they are for his tree.....

I found some little felt balls at Target for $1...... gotta love Target....

So we made some miniature trees with ornaments....

We tried to make some clay ornaments with a flour/salt recipe I found online, but it was a FLOP!  They didn't bake hard enough.  So, next week we'll try another recipe I found for a baking soda clay.  Hope that works better.  

Until next time..... Happy Thanksgiving!!

Kid's Room Update

I was just on my computer going through some photos and realized (even more) how lazy I've been about showing updates as we have finished projects around here.  I have been taking pictures of the progress on a regular basis, but we stay so busy I seem to never show how things improve.... only the mess we begin with. 

One room that is literally one step from being completely finished is Grady's bedroom.  When we stared, the crown molding was chipping right off and falling onto the floor, the fireplace mantle needed to be stripped along with the window trim, baseboards, doors, etc.  Hank replaced the two windows in this bedroom and one of them had a lot of wood rot that Hank repaired.  The walls were in crazy shape... I posted about that here.

Here is a reminder of what the bedroom looked like before.

And here are a few pictures of what it looked like while working on it....

And... after finishing those walls, trim, windows and buffing the floors.... here is what it looked like.  :)

Now of course we have a ceiling fan installed, curtains up and all the furniture in the room.... it's just that it's been difficult to get a picture when "the toddler" hasn't destroyed it with toys.  I need to work on that...  :) 

We did leave the crown molding down.... until JUST last weekend.  Ummm... that means a year looking like that!  We had a huge stack of trim in our attic that needed to be stripped, but with so many other projects going on, we just told ourselves we'd get to it when time allowed.  Thank goodness, most of our large projects are over and for the last couple of months we have been hammering away on that stack of trim.  We really didn't mind... if all we had to deal with was an ugly area around the ceiling for awhile, we could do that.  But, now that we're getting it all stripped, primed and nailed back up again... it's like a breath of fresh air!!!!  So, this bedroom has the crown back up and hopefully I can get it painted in the next week or two. 

I'll post updated photos soon... I hope....  :)

Chicken Fried Rice

This is a great and simple recipe that my mom emailed to me a few weeks ago.  My husband loves things like this and I remembered my mom making this every now and then when I lived at home.... so I decided I'd give it a whirl.

First start off by washing your chicken thighs (and I pulled off the skin) and adding some salt and pepper.  Bake them in the oven on 350 degrees until done.  I cannot remember how long mine baked... but I guess I knew they were finished because they were no longer screaming....

Get it???  heh... heh....

When the chicken is finished baking, take all the meat off the bone and set aside.

Scramble about four eggs... more or less depending on how much you like in your rice and then set aside.

Set aside about 1/2 can of small green peas... drained. 

Cut up some green onions.... I like a lot of onions... 

And lastly.... cook your rice.  Again... however much you do or do not want.  I think I made enough servings for four.  And it was PLENTY!

Add your ingredients to a skillet.....

Then add your rice to the skillet.  Mix it all together... and VIOLA!!.... you have a simple chicken fried rice dish!


You can switch this recipe up however you like.... add some water chestnuts, or chopped carrots, or celery... or get creative!

 Add soy sauce to taste, throw a few egg rolls in the oven to eat with it and enjoy!!!  :)


Ingredients:

Four chicken thighs
Six green onions
Four eggs, scrambled
1/2 can green peas
Rice (about four servings)
Soy sauce