Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Hunting Season

It's officially deer season, and Curt's out there on a quest to get the buck of Tioga County. :o) Danae and I went with him to his parent's cabin to keep him company in-between his hunting excursions. So far, it's been rain, rain, rain...and then some! It makes for a difficult time of hunting, but we had some other adventures.

First, within an hour of arriving at the cabin, we decided to go for a walk. As we passed the shed, Curt and I heard a waterfall-like noise...and then discovered that a water heater pipe had burst in the shed, and water was flowing out of the side of the shed. Lovely. A few hardware store parts and supplies, and it was back to normal...but without hot water. So, yes...smelliness abounded for a few days.

Our second adventure was a bit more exciting. So, it rained a TON Monday night into Tuesday, turning the creek behind the cabin (that also runs along the unpaved road to the cabin) into a mini whitewater rapids of sorts. As we drove Curt out to his hunting spot on Tuesday morning, we went by a spot where there's a road across the creek that is usually crossable...only to find two men standing in the back of a pickup, halfway submerged in the water. Oh boy. I checked to see of anyone was already helping them. Nope. We were the first sign of life they had seen, (mind you, it was a little after 7am), and they had already been there almost an hour! Danae and I sped back to the cabin, called 911, and hurried back to the men. Poor guys. They were safe, but the truck seemed to be a goner. Within 10-15 minutes, an ambulance, fire squad, police, health personnel, and fire police were all on the little dirt road, getting the men to safety.

All in all, it was a good time away, even though a buck did not end up in the back of our truck. Let's see what this coming weekend brings for the hunting hubby! :o)

Friday, November 23, 2007

Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday

We had a PACKED house for Thanksgiving dinner! All of my immediate family and Curt's immediate family came to our house for dinner. We had a total of 16 people in our little townhouse...craziness! In the end, the food was GREAT and I really enjoyed being around lots of family. (I hope you guys enjoyed it, too!) Also, thanks to Aimee for letting me borrow her trifle dish...Meagan and I had a ball making it! Unfortunately, I was too busy to remember to take pics of everyone at dinner...sorry for my forgetfulness! :o(

So, after much discussion, my siblings, brother-in-law Tim, Meagan, and I decided to hit up Target and a few other stores this morning for the Black Friday sale. Boy oh boy, I don't think any of us will do that again! We left the house at 5:30ish and got to Target to find the parking lot full and the line wrapped around the side of the building. Pure madness. Seriously, how do people make it from one store to another on this particular morning??

After attempting to use a cart and realizing that wouldn't work (waaaay too many people, lots of cart-smashing), we started carrying what we were going to buy. Nope, my brother James didn't get the awesome camera that was on sale, but I think we had a fun time seeing each other before the sun came up and got a few other deals in the end. More pics can be seen by clicking on "Our Online Albums" to the left.

So, did you have a good Thanksgiving? Any shopping adventures? :o)

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Kitchen Table

Curt and I have been mulling over the possibility of getting a new kitchen table and chairs for the past few months. In early October, Curt and our friend, Joel Bare, decided to trade labor hours: Curt would help him with a house project, and Joel would build us a table. It was finished this past weekend and delivered yesterday! Oh, the joy I felt!


I don't think this picture give it any justice, but at least it's something for you to see! :o)

I am floored by Joel's work...it's amazing! We are so happy with the way the table turned out, the paint color, and the stain color for the top. The other plus is that it's ready for the Markey/Ulrich Thanksgiving Feast, and with the four leaves in the table, we can fit up to 12 or 13 people around it! Seriously, if you need a piece of furniture made, check out Joel Bare Woodworking on Millcreek Road in Bird-in-Hand, PA. High-quality, hand-made furniture by someone who knows what he's doing...what else could you ask for? :o)

Monday, November 19, 2007

Mountains Weekend

This past weekend we went up to Curt's parent's cabin in Tioga County for one last time this year. We had a fun time, full of game-playing, Play-Doh sculpting, food eating, and...snow! The snow showers came down later Saturday and all Sunday morning. Good thing we didn't stay until Monday...we later saw that the area was supposed to get up to 5 inches by Monday morning, and the road where the cabin is does not get plowed! :o)

Here are some pics of our mountains adventures. Click on "Our Online Albums" to see more.

Grandpa and Danae playing with Play-Doh

Daddy and Danae

Derek and ShilaMommy and DanaeSNOW!

Enjoy today!

Friday, November 16, 2007

Danae-isms

Well, it's been a fun and interesting week! :o) Our Little Miss averaged an accident a day, which is great...it could have been much worse! So, we'll keep trucking on this weekend!

Here's a little "Danae-ism" for you to start your weekend...enjoy!


Danae: Mommy, Danae mad at puppy.

Me: Where's your puppy?

Danae: In the corner.

Me: Okay...why are you mad at your puppy?

Danae: My puppy spilled Danae's goldfish...not nice, puppy.

Me: Oh...your puppy spilled your goldfish on the floor? Hmmm...why don't you go over and talk with your puppy.

Danae (to the puppy in timeout, while hugging it): I'm sorry...puppy say I'm sorry. I love you, puppy.
(As you can see, it's a stuffed puppy, not a real one.) :o)

Monday, November 12, 2007

The Week of The Potty

As you probably guessed by the title, we are tackling all-out potty-training this week. Little Miss has shown interest in the potty since June or July, and she would go on it sporadically since then. However, for the past few days, she has been telling Curt or me when she needs to go, instead of us constantly asking her if she needs to and hearing, "No, I'm fine." (Not kidding, she really does tell us that. What a character!) So, it's off with the diaper and on with the Dora underwear!

So far so good today. She stayed dry for most of the morning, and there's no pee on my floors, so that's a plus! We figure, if she has an accident, that's okay...she's a newbie at this get-rid-of-the-diaper thing, and she'll eventually learn. The only thing is that we've been giving her Smarties (a.k.a. Farties) as a reward when she goes, and today she's racked up at least 10 so far. Hmmm...time to change the strategy.

She's now waking from her nap, so I better run and get the Dora's on. :o) Pray that this week goes well!

Friday, November 9, 2007

Happy Birthday, Curt!

Today is my hubby's 28th birthday! Happy Birthday to him! :o)


We were just talking last night about a person who is around 20 years old, and the comment came out of my mouth, "He's around 20 or so, not much younger than us." Then it hit us: we are both much closer to 30 than we thought! What in the world are we talking about, "not much younger than us"??? And where in the world did the years in-between 20 and 30 go? Oh, boy...

At any rate, Danae and I will be taking the Birthday Boy out to dinner and then have some cake at home. Our little Peanut wished her Daddy-O a happy birthday (very clearly, I might add) on the phone while he was at work this morning. So, now that she knows it's Daddy's special day, she's been talking about it a lot...reminding me when I made the cake, when I mention his name, etc. She's my little helper all right!

So, again, Happy Birthday, Curt, and many more!

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Holiday baking and the such

FYI: The Lady of the House over at Three Men and a Lady gave me the tip of googling how to get music on my blog. So, for those of you who have asked...sorry! The only advice I can give is to research it. It's the best way to learn.

Now that I've finally remembered to post that bit of information, let's get on to the real purpose of this post: HOLIDAY BAKING! YUM!

Thanksgiving Day may resemble something close to a circus in our house, with both sides of the family coming. So, I'm after some of your best, tried and true, delicious (and maybe slightly healthy?) cookie, pie, bread, cake, and turkey (YES, turkey!) recipes. Is there anything that you love to eat or bake during the holidays? I LOVE to make pumpkin pie and have already made 3 or 4 of them in the past month or so. Here's my Pumpkin Pie recipe:

- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup instant biscuit baking mix (Bisquick, etc.)
- 2 Tbsp. margarine
- 1 can evaporated skim milk
- 1/2 cup Eggbeaters (or 2 eggs, whichever you prefer)
- 1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin
- 2 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 9-inch deep dish pie crust

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Put all ingredients into blender. Blend on high for 1 minute. Pour into pie crust. Bake for 1 hour, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.


It's really that simple!

So, if you have a recipe you want to share, go ahead and post it on your blog. If you don't have a blog, e-mail the recipe to me and I'll post it on here for all to see. Happy sharing! :o)

Monday, November 5, 2007

Applesauce-O-Rama!

Saturday was applesauce-making and canning day at Sarah's house. Boy, what a project! We had 8 or 9 people helping out to make applesauce for 5 people. After working from around 9am until a little after 6pm, all of the over 200 pounds of apples were made into their saucy counterpart. (With around 40 quarts of applesauce now in my basement, guess what the gift of choice is for this Christmas!) :o) I must say, though...applesauce-o-rama day is much better spent doing it with others than by yourself. Thanks, friends, for a fun day!



Friday, November 2, 2007

2-Year-Old Portraits

So, I took Danae to JC Penny last week for her 2-year-old pictures, and I'm sharing the preview with you! (The package comes in next week.) Here are four of my favorites. Given that Danae kept telling the man to "stop it" and that she was "all done", I'm glad for at least one photo of her smiling! :o)