Pinewood Derby 2010 Results

We can hardly believe it! Sam is still asking if last night really happened. But before I tell you the outcome of last night let me give you a little history. The past 2 years that Sam has participated in the Pinewood Derby he has come in 1st place within his rank but never placed in the Grand Finals. This year while he was coming up with the design for his car I asked him how he wanted to paint it. He said that he wanted to paint it with Wendy's ribbon. Wendy is a friend of the family that is going through cancer right now. Sam knows about this and we have been very open about it with him as he knows her too along with the rest of the family. Sam got to know her daughter (who babysits and house sits for us) and I want him to know what's going on. So I told him that the color of her ribbon is blue. He also said that he wanted to write down the side of the car "We ♥ Wendy". You can only imagine how big my heart grew at hearing about what he wanted to do. So away we went working on the car. He had a feeling yesterday that he might win big and I had to remind him that there was a very big chance that he wouldn't. Just because he had one the past two years didn't mean that he would win again this year.

Well he proved us all wrong! He came in 2nd in his rank and then in the Grand Finals he came in 2nd! We are just all so proud of him! Here are some pictures for you to enjoy. You can see it on his face just how happy he is. Believe me...that smile is still there. We will be going to visit Wendy this week so that she can see the car and trophies.

Sam before the races began. Already has a smile on his face.

Eye on the prize!

On your marks, get set, RACE!

Sam's car is in the lead!

Sam checking the results.

Sam with his first trophy...for his rank.

Now with both trophies!

See what I mean about the smile from ear to ear!

The car and trophies!

Pinewood Derby 2010

So...how did Sam do tonight at his Pinewood Derby...come back here tomorrow to find out all the details. It's almost 10:50 at night and we just got home a little while ago. I'm tired and still need to read to get ready for our Sunday School lesson tomorrow. But for now I leave you a picture of his car on the official scale.

Looking At The Sky On Friday

Here is the view from our back door this past Thursday. This is what our skies have looked like for the past few days. If you'd like to see more sky photos head on over to CrAzY Working Mom.

Browser Help

Okay...all you computer people out there...I need some advice. I'm starting to really dislike using Internet Explorer and am considering using another browser. I've done some research but I still have questions.

1. Which do you prefer, Firefox of Safari?

2. Should I consider something else that I don't know about yet?

3. If I do switch to another browser can I still use Outlook Express for my email?

4. If I end up downloading more than one browser can I switch back and forth between browsers?

Please advise.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Dr Pepper Museum

Small Update

I'm sitting here staring at the computer monitor trying to think of something, anything, to write about today. But I'm drawing a blank. So I thought I would just start writing and see what ends up coming out.

Oh....I just remembered something....I completely forgot to update you on the outcome of the photo contest I entered. I came in 2nd. It was a great competition and the photo that won was great. I had 227 votes to her 250 votes so you can see that it was a close one. Thanks again to every one of you that voted for me. It was greatly appreciated.

For those of you that may have missed it...here is my photo one more time.

Soups On

As I stated in my previous post I am having our Girls Night Out at my house this Friday evening. For dinner I'm fixing some soups while every one else will be bringing sides, desserts and of course drinks! I know one of the soups that I'm going to do already but thought I would ask for ideas for the second. The first one will be Chunky Tomato Basil Soup. What would you have for another soup? I'd prefer it to be fairly easy to fix as I do have a busy week and don't want to spend all day Friday preparing it. Thanks in advance for sharing your ideas!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

This week is looking pretty busy. Monday and Tuesday I will be concentrating on cleaning the house because Friday is Girls Night Out at my house! I can't wait! Also, we have finally gotten Sam a dresser (second hand) and will be picking it up sometime this week and to make it fit in his room we not only have to make sure it's clean but we need to do some rearranging. We all have our usual busy schedule during the week: bells, tap class, choir, PTA Board meeting, Scout meeting, Battle of the Books meeting, work, interviews and to top it all off Saturday is Sam's Pinewood Derby. The car is cut and that's it so far. So we'll be doing a lot of sanding and painting to get it in top looking form. Then the wheels will go on.

With that all said...I'm going to do my best to still post a little something each and every day as part of the 365 blog challenge but if I don't get to responding to emails, comments or any other types of inquires you'll at least know I'm not ignoring you. Have a wonderful week!

PhotoHunt - Balanced

This weeks theme over at PhotoHunt is: Balanced. I thought of several ways that I could go with this and all of them seemed obvious to me. If you've read my blog for long you know that I like to go for the "out of the box" scenario for these themes. Which is what I'm going to try to do today.

I am a mom, wife, child of God, sister, daughter, aunt, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, friend, singer, hand bell ringer, tap dancer, home maker, Cub Scout mom, PTA Board Member, amerature photographer, crafter, knitter, cross-stitcher, etc. But most of all I'm ME! Sometimes as a all of these hats fit on my head I tend to forget that I am my own person too. It truly is a balancing act and sometimes I find it hard to be balanced while performing that act. About a year ago (with another photo challenge) I had to take a self portrait of myself without using a tripod. It was not as easy as it sounds. Again, another balancing act...literally. Trying to keep myself balanced while keeping the camera balanced. After taking almost 80 photos here is the outcome of that photo session.

If you would like to see more "balanced" photos please click on the icon at the top.

For those of you that are asking me about the photo contest I entered...I came in 2nd place...227 votes to 250 votes (if I remember correctly). It was a great race and I'm looking forward to the next contest I enter. If you didn't get to see the photo that I entered and would like to do so you can go to this post to see it.

Looking At The Sky On Friday

We actually had some FANTASTIC weather today! It got up to 78 degrees! Can you believe that? Our normal high here should be in the 50s. Not near 80! Oh well. I'm not going to complain to loudly. Today we had blue skies and white whispy clouds. Enjoy!

If you would like to see more head on over to CrAzY Working Mom to see more.

Is A Book A Book When It's Not A Book?

The title is the question that has been going around lately with a few friends of mine. I recently started to listen to books on my MP3 player while doing things around the house, going for walks or exercising or while waiting for Sam at one of his many activities where actually reading a book just isn't feasible. I started doing this because I really want to read more books this year but am having the trouble finding the time to read more. I do read some nights before going to sleep but it's just not every night like I used to as I'm pretty tired lately. The conversation all started when I told some friends of what I was doing. They loved the idea but also said that it's not really "reading" a book. Well I say it is. No, I didn't hold the book in my hands and feel the pages as I turned them. No, I didn't even use an electronic reading device (Kindle or the like) but I did listen to the book being read to me. When children are younger they say that reading a child a book is just as good as them reading it themselves. Wouldn't that still hold true for us adults? What do you think? Would you count it as having read the book or not?

Wordless Wednesday ~ Snow on Christmas Eve 2009

Head on over to 5 Minutes for Mom to see more Wordless Wednesday photos.

Beef Taco Pie

Last night I was trying to think of something to do with the ground beef that I had thawed for dinner. So I threw some things together and I came up with Beef Taco Pie! What I love about this is that it can be made so many different ways!

Beef Taco Pie

1 lb Ground Beef (or any other meat)
6 Tortillas (I used
flour but you could use corn)
2 C Salsa (I used Wal-Mart All Natural Black
Bean and Corn Salsa)
Shredded Cheese
Doritos
Sour Cream
Cooking Spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Ground the beef and drain. Add in the salsa. Tear up 3 of the tortillas into bite size pieces and add to the mean mixtures. In a pie dish spray in some cooking spray and then use the remaining 3 tortillas as a pie shell. Then layer in the following manner: Beef mixture, a handful or so of crushed Doritos, a handful or so of Shredded Cheese and then repeat. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. I let it set for about 5 minutes before cutting into it. Once plated you can put on a spoonful of Sour Cream.

The above pictures are before it went into the oven.

The below pictures are after. YUM!

Fetching

This weekend I worked on a project just for me. I haven't done that in quite some time. I used some recently purchased yarn from my trip to Fredericksburg, TX, called Manos Wool Clasica ~ Handspun Pure Wool Kettle Dyed. It's so soft and yummy. Here's a little bit about this yarn:

"Manos del Uruguay...The Hands of Uruguay, is a non profit organization which
assembles over 400 artisans in cooperatives scattered throughout the countryside
of Uruguay. The aim of the organization is to bring economic and social
opportunities to rural women. Experience the lustrous feel of the handspun wool.
Dyed over wood fires the marbleized striated yarn emerges, sometimes subtly,
often dramatic, giving the effect of several colours in one single strane."

I am almost done knitting up a pair of Fetchings. Believe it or not but this is the first time that I've done cables! You can find the pattern here. Here are some pictures of the one that I have finished. The second one is almost done. The colors are a bit off in the photos. The colors are closer to the photos with my hands than the ones without. I must say that this is a yarn that I will purchase again.

The Most Comforting Thing I Know

In our Sunday School class at church I am leading our current study. We are going through the book, Is There Life After Stress, by James W. Moore. Today's chapter was Stress and Emotional Pain. I would like to share with you the last page of this chapter.

"One of the warm memories of my childhood was something that happened to me when I was five hears old. I had spent the day with my grandmother, who lived nearby, and toward evening, a fierce storm hit.

"Oh, Jim," my grandmother said, "how in the world are we going to get you home in this weather?" And the answer came moments later, as my dad walked in the front door. He had come to get me.

The storm showed no sign of letting up ~ the wind was blowing, rain was pelting down, lightning was flashing, thunder was rumbling behind the clouds. It was a dark and scary night. Our house wasn't far away,but the storm was nasty and getting worse.

My dad had on a big blue all-weather coat, and as we prepared to leave, he said, "Son, come under here." He covered me with his coat, and out into the storm we went.
Even thought it was raining hard, the wind was howling and I couldn't see a thing under that coat, I was not at all afraid. Why? Because I knew my father could see where we were going, so I just held on tightly and trusted him. And soon the coat opened and we were home.

Death is like that, I think. And the grief experience is like that too. God covers us with protective love; God holds our hand and guides us through the storm. Sometimes there is no way around it, and we have to walk through the pain of disappointment. Sometimes we have to walk through the pain of rejection. And sometimes we have to walk through the pain of sorrow. But the good news is that we never walk alone!"

PhotoHunt - Jiggly

This weeks theme over at PhotoHunt is: Jiggly. According to Merriam-Webster the word jiggle means to cause to move with quick little jerks or oscillating motions. My first thought was Jello. But I don't have any made up at the moment and I'm not going to make some to photograph right now. So I went to look at my many photos and found one of Sam playing football this last fall. You could say that there is a lot of quick little jerks or oscillating motions in football. So with that said here is the picture:

If you'd like to see more pictures click on the icon above. While you're hear I'd really appreciate if you'd vote for my photo (see sticky note above)! Thanks in advance.

Looking At The Sky On Friday

Forgot to grab my camera earlier this week when the skies were nice which I'm upset about because the other morning there was a gorgeous sunrise. Today...cloudy and rainy all day long. So back into the archives I go again. This was taken out in our back yard in Louisiana. Want to see more sky photos? Head on over to CrAzY Working Mom to see more.

How Do You Roll?

Me? Personally in this house we are for Team Over!

Over at MBC (Mom Bloggers Club) there is a great giveaway going on! I am trying to be one of the first 200 Mom Bloggers Club members to participate because I could win a month's worth of Cottonelle toilet tissue. That's 24 rolls! Now that is something I could use for sure! Cottonelle is hosting a poll to see how you roll. Head on over to Cottonelle to see how the poll is going.

Now here is the fun part for you...leave a comment on this post and you will be entered to win 1 of 10 Cottonelle gift baskets randomly chosen on January 29, 2010 from all entries.



Disclosure: I am entering a contest for a month's worth of Cottonelle toilet paper as a member of the Mom Bloggers Club.

Photo Contest Time

It's that time again! Photo Contest Time! Woo Hoo! Write From Karen is hosting another photo contest. If you'd like to enter there is still time. You have until tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 p.m. Central Time. This photo contest theme is: Winter!

This really is my favorite time of the year. Unfortunately living in Texas you don't get the winter that I am used to...remember I'm not from here...I'm from Kansas and Missouri and have also lived in Wisconsin and Illinois so I know WINTER! Luckily this winter we had the Arctic blast hit us. It was fun watching all the native Texans try to keep warm and drive on the ice (I know better...stay inside). But it gave me a chance to go out and actually get a winter photo. There is a church close by to me that has a fountain (remember they aren't used to temperatures below freezing) that remains on all the time. Yes, they kept it on during these frigid temperatures too. It made for the most beautiful flowing ice fountain! I love how the ice looks like it is actually moving down the fountain just as it would have had it not been frozen. At the very top you can see that the water is still on and just adding to it's glory.

Voting will begin tomorrow afternoon and I'll remind everyone...quite often...to head on over to her blog to vote for my photo.

Wordless Wednesday ~ My Favorite...SNOWMEN!

Click to see the picture full size! Head on over to 5 Minutes for Mom to see more!

Exercise

Do you remember my postings about Resolutions? If not click here. I'll wait...go on....okay...back?

I've struggled with the part of being healthier. The eating and drinking part isn't so bad at all! It's the exercise. I was pretty sick at the beginning of the year with a terrible cough, head cold and chest cold. But I've turned the corner this week! I've walked for 30 minutes for the past couple of days and I'll be returning to my tap class tomorrow (which will be at least 1 1/2 hours long). My exercise goal is 30 minutes a day of some sort of exercise. I've got a I'm drinking a lot less Diet Coke and a lot more water. My snacking is better...not as good as I want it to be but I know it will get there. I don't have a working scale right now so I don't know if I've lost any weight or not. I do know that I am feeling a bit better. With that said I'm also going to try to get more sleep most nights.

Manic Mondays ~ Deceiving

Continuing on from last weeks Manic Mondays post....

I checked out the book Deceptively Delicious, by Jessica Seinfeld (yes, married to Jerry) at the library today. I have never been a fan of tricking your kids into eating fruits and veggies because I believe that they will have a hard time learning to eat them, like them or even love them when they are older. I could be very wrong I really don't know. Sam has always been one to eat his fruits and veggies but since he's not eating that much lately and I know that his nutrition value has gone down (yes, he even takes vitamins) I'm going to give this a try.

On Amazon there is one review for this book that has a great suggestion that I may do mainly because I can always use help in the "doing it quick and easy" area. Here is what she suggested: "...one suggestion for busy parents - use organic baby food. I don't have a food processor and I don't have a dedicated block of time to clean, cook and prepare all the purees for the week. For about $.65 (or less) per jar, I can have 1/2 cup of organic winter squash etc. that has already been cleaned, cooked and pureed for me. Plus, it will keep on the shelf until I need it so I can buy extra when they go on sale." Now I can do this!

I'm open to reading suggestions so please leave some comments. Just remember to be nice.

Unconscious Mutterings

Starting back up with Unconscious Mutterings. Basically they provide a list of words and you answer with the first word that comes to your mind. Like to play along? Then click on the button above.

1. Resolutions :: Broken
2. Page :: Turn
3. Narrow :: Road
4. Refuse :: Stubborn
5. Fountain :: Water
6. Grunt :: Groan
7. Construct :: Build
8. Nightmare :: Dream
9. Inch :: Worm
10. Instant :: Now

PhotoHunt - Bulky (Recipe Included)

This weeks theme over at Photo Hunter is "Bulky". The first thought that came into my mind was bulky winter clothing. But I figured a lot of others would do that too. So I thought about what else I could do. Then I remembered that I had made my chicken pot pie last night for dinner and like with all other activities around here I grabbed my camera and took some photos. I've posted this recipe here before but I have added some other notes to it below. So without further ado here are my pictures (and recipe) of my chicken pot pie with the "bulky" ingredients inside.

This picture is with just the veggies and chicken. It got even bulkier once the soup and milk were added.

Chicken Pot Pie

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

1 box Pillsbury Pie Crusts (follow the directions on the box to bring them to room temp)
2 cups frozen Mixed Vegetables thawed
1 small Yellow Onion chopped or diced
Pepper
2 Chicken Breasts
2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup
1/3 cup milk

Cook the chicken breasts and then cut them up to bite size pieces. In the same pan as you cooked the chicken cook the chopped onion with a pad of butter till transparent. Place one of the pie crusts in your pie plate and then place the mixed vegetables and onion on the bottom. Next put in your chicken. On top of the chicken layer sprinkle with pepper. Next you will place the cream of chicken soup on top of the chicken layer. Pour the milk on the top around the edges. Sprinkle with pepper again. DO NOT add any salt as you will not need it. Place your second pie crust on top of and crimp the edges. Poke holes in the top of the pie crust for venting. Place either a cookie sheet or a sheet of foil under the pie pan to catch any drips. Cook for 30 - 40 minutes. Let sit for 10-15 minutes before cutting and serving.

NOTES: . I didn't do it this time so that I could get better pictures of the ingredients in the shell but I do find that it comes out better if you put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix them up before putting them into the shell and cover them up with the top crust. If you don't want to mix up all the ingredients together mixing the soup and milk together will also help with the consistency of the dish. I have also found that using one can of soup will also work if that is all you have in your pantry. I've tried using other pie crusts but have found that Pillsbury Pie Crusts work best in this recipe. I haven't tried using my own handmade pie crusts but I'm sure it would work. Pepper...please note that this ingredient is to taste. A lot of times if I'm cooking chicken breasts for a dinner I'll cook a couple extra just so I'll have them to use in this later in the week. Makes this an easy dish to throw together after a long day.

Looking At The Sky On Friday

Today we have overcast skies and not worth picture taking so I'm digging back into my archives of sky pictures for this weeks Looking At The Sky On Friday submission. This was taken early in the morning this past August while I was getting breakfast ready. If you'd like to see more sky pictures head on over to CrAzY Working Mom. You can even join in the fun.

Dork or Warm?

This morning after I got home from working (crossing guard) I realized just what I must have looked like....a total DORK! I had on my red coat, a green scarf, a purple head covering (see pictures below) and my bright neon yellow vest. Not to mention the layers of clothing on under the outerwear. But you know what? I WAS WARM! Over 60 ISDs were closed in our area but not ours. The feels like this morning was 12 degrees with winds at 20 mph and gusting to 28 mph. The van was iced but the roads were pretty much dry. Of course the corner where I work there was ice and every time I stepped out into the street I had to time it just right and then I would say a ton of prayers that I the cars would stop in time. I can't even begin to tell you how many vehicles slid through the stop signs and then would gun it and spin their wheels on the ice to try and go again.

Now on to my head covering. It's called a Calorimetry...I knit this quite some time ago but never had a chance to wear it. I never did check my gauge so mine is a bit bigger than I wanted it but it still works. When it's really windy outside I like to have my long hair up so it doesn't blow in my face but it makes it hard to wear a really warm hat. So when I saw this pattern I knew that it would work for me...and it does! Now my head and ears stay toasty warm and I can still have my hair up! You can find the pattern and how it should really look here: Knitty

Here is the back side where you can see how it attaches with a button.Please note that it was so cold out this morning that I wore no make-up at all and my eyes and face are now red from all the cold wind.Do you realize how hard it is to take the picture of the back of your own head?

Wordless Wednesday ~ Really? No More!

Wordless Wednesdays...head on over to 5 Minutes for Mom to see more!

10 on Tuesday

I'm participating in 10 on Tuesday again. This weeks list is:

10 Things You’re Looking Forward to in 2010

1. Being healthier
2. Getting more done around the house

3. Winter Olympics

4. Spending more quality time with friends and family

5. More date nights with hubby

6. Start a savings fund...again

7. Learn more about taking photos

8. Read

9. Crafting

10. Seeing this list finished

Manic Mondays

Today was back to school for Sam. He really didn't want to go back but he went anyway grumbling under his breath all the way. I tried myself to get back into my own routine but I decided that I needed another day to get better. I have coughed some today but by far this is the day that I have coughed the least. I think I may finally be getting better! It will be nice as this has lasted a week.

I had several things that I was going to blog about today but all of them escaped my mind once I sat down here to write about them so I went over to Community of Moms and looked at the Blog Dare posts and found some ideas to spark my brain.

Manic Mondays: Tell us what just drives you crazy about parenthood... what didn't you expect?

What I didn't expect with Sam was for him to be such a picky eater. Even when he is off of his meds (ADHD) he's still very picky. Hubby and I both LOVE foods and really like to try new things (within reason) and Sam used to be the same. Not anymore. ARGH! So trying to plan meals, purchase food and preparing them with hopes that he will at least try it sometimes feel as though I have done it all for nothing. I'm hoping that this will just be a phase. He's still a healthy boy and is still growing like a weed and I'm thankful for that. But it still drives me CRAZY!

I'm participating in 10 on Tuesday again. This weeks list is:

10 Things You’re Looking Forward to in 2010

1. Being healthier

2. Getting more done around the house

Resolutions?

I've been doing quite a bit of reading today and since the 1st of January about people's resolutions. I have to say that I've seen a lot of the same as last year. I don't know if I really like resolutions or not. With that said there are a few things that I would like to improve on for myself.

I'd like to see myself blogging every day. See below post.

I'd like to be more active and be healthier. For this one I'm going to join in with A Classic Housewife in a Modern World and exercise for 31 days. I first heard about this through my dear friend Rachel over at The Science of Music and thought that this might be something I could possibly do. I haven't started yet due to the fact that I'm fighting a terrible cough right now. I will try to dig out my Yoga DVD or find some to do on the internet. At least that way I'll be doing something. Not only are we are to exercise daily in the month of January but we are to blog daily about the exercise. I don't think I'll blog about it daily but I'll at least do updates on how I've done. I don't have any grandiose plans of losing a lot of weight but it sure would be nice and hey, it might get me into the habit of actually being more active! Now that would be great!

I'd like to read more. Not just fiction either. I really like non-fiction but I just don't seem to read it much lately.

I'd like to learn more about taking pictures. By this I mean that I'd like to learn more than to just point and shoot.

I know that this isn't much of a list. I actually have more but I don't want to overwhelm myself. I think that this list is doable and once I get it going then I'll add more to it.

How about you?

The Blog Dare

As you can see from the top button over on the left side I've decided to take the plunge and accept "The Blog Dare". Over at Community of Moms (which is a wonderful site and group of ladies by the way) the owner/creator has put up a dare of blogging every day of the year. I've been wanting to get back into blogging and this was the way to do it for me. So far I've been doing pretty good but then again it is only the 3rd day into it. Do you think you can do this? If so, click on the button and join us! It's going to be fun!

PhotoHunt - Lick

I'm going to get back into the PhotoHunt this year! This weeks "theme" is...Lick. Since I decided to do this weeks at the last minute I chose to use two photos that I have previously posted here on my blog but not for PhotoHunt. These two photos were taken just weeks apart from each other but they are so alike and yet so different. Enjoy!

The following are the upcoming themes if you'd like to play along. You know you want to!
Jan 9: Bulky
Jan 16: Jiggly
Jan 23: Balanced
Jan 30: Spotted

To see more "Lick" photos click on the icon above and take some time to leave some comments for others as well as here.