Merry Christmas

The assumption that beauty is an accessory, and dispensable, shows we don't understand the importance of giving the soul what it needs. The soul is nurtured by beauty. The soul craves beauty and in its absence suffers. Beauty is arresting. It is important to be taken out of the rush of practical life for the contemplation of timeless and eternal realities. You may find yourself driving along a highway when you suddenly pass a vista that catches your breath. You stop the car, get out for just a few moments when the soul glimpses an occasion for beauty, if only passing a store window and stopping for a second to notice a beautiful ring or an arresting pattern in a dress. Outwardly, of course, nothing is accomplished. We may not buy the ring that has caught our eye, or photograph the vista. The point is simply to feed the soul a sight that invites contemplation. Living, soulfully, might require something as simple as pausing.

(Thomas Moore)

Merry Christmas from our family to yours.

My Summer: 3

Because of my oldest daughter's stomachaches, I spent many hours in the kitchen this summer. I very much enjoyed At Home with Jamie. I used his enthusiasm to put my garden to use, and start cooking fresh!

I also feel like I received a cooking education via Alice Water's The Art of Simple Food. It is fantabulous! It's a few generations of lost secrets in the kitchen. It's funny, in this era of graphic design with all things visual, and our generation's rapidly declining attention span, enter Alice Waters, with the brilliance of simplicity. I need pictures... I need pictures on everything, blogs, magazines, and cookbooks (especially cookbooks). Nope, not in this book. It's a tonic to over stimulation. It's a salve to hyperactivity. It is a classic.

Waters offers nine tenets for a "food revolution":1 Eat locally and sustainably 2. Eat seasonally 3. Shop at farmer's markets 4. Plant a garden5. Conserve, compost, and recycle 6. Cook together 7. Eat together 8. Remember food is precious

We spent the summer trying to do just that!

And one of my proudest accomplishments this summer is my attempt, and successful achievement of homemade jam. There is something powerful about researching and attempting something that seems so forgotten, and lost inside a people of convenience. It's enchanting. I think I understand myself better and have drawn a little closer to my farming roots. There is a simple way of life that I hope my family can sustain inside of suburbia.

Now we have tasty jam on the shelf made from blueberries, apricots, and pears. Not to totally freak you out, but we did happen to pick the blueberries and pears ourselves!

But none of that tasty jam would have been possible without Lip Smakin' Jams & Jellies. What a resource!

My Summer: 2

Wanderlust...
We traveled this summer! We went everywhere and saw everyone!



I love to travel. Maybe it's because my parents were divorced and I spent 8 hrs of every other weekend in the truck riding from Houston to San Antonio, or maybe it's just innate? Either way, nothing makes me happier than good music coming through the radio, the dotted line on the pavement whizzing by, fields and trees passing along the window, and the intoxication of anticipated adventure. Restless by nature, I guess, born under a wandering star.

The list includes but is not limited to Austin (TX), Fredricksburg (TX), Fort Worth (TX), Little Rock (AR), and New Port (RI), and Boston (MS).

Summertime

School's out for summer! I can almost smell the spf 50, backyard swimming pool, and garden fresh green beans sizzling in a buttery iron skillet! It's time for water fun and free time! I'm dedicating this summer to "enjoying the summer".


Below I've compiled a list of local summer activities I'm aware of. Obviously it does not include EVERYTHING, but I hope it's a start for most of us. If you know of anything else in our neighborhood (or nearby) please leave a comment with the info. I'd love this post to be a summer staple for local families to denounce the children's, "I'm bored" squall.


Water Fun:
http://www.quilliancenter.org/

http://www.thebulletin.com/archives/2003/may/waterworld.htm

http://www.schlitterbahn.com/gal/



Eateries:

http://www.kingwoodhumblekidseatfree.com/



Activities:

http://www.amctheatres.com/smc/movies.html

http://local.yahoo.com/details?id=19054784

http://www.themudpie.com/index.htm
http://www.themudpie.com/Storytime.htm

Shanks http://www.shankzgolf.com/ (balladium is a blast!)

Library activities http://www.hcpl.net/calendar.php



Culture:

http://www.adplayers.org/CT_home.html

http://www.mainstreettheater.com/

http://www.centrestage.org/index.html



Local Harvest:

Moorehead's http://www.sayblueberry.com/

http://www.localharvest.org/search.jsp?map=1&lat=30.052800&lon=-95.220720&scale=9&ty=-1&nm=&zip=77339


http://www.localharvest.org/search.jsp?map=1&lat=29.770633&lon=-95.414819&scale=9&ty=-1&nm=&zip=77299


Summer Camps:

YMCAhttp://66.162.125.52/lakehoustondaycamp.pdf

Discovery College http://kingwood.lonestar.edu/27083/

Happy Birthday To Me

(These cupcakes were from Sprinkles.)

I enjoyed a belated birthday "girls weekend".

It was perfect. I basically pretended to live my best friend's single life with her for a weekend in Dallas. :) We saw movies, went shopping, ate at local eateries, and spent a morning kayaking.

We also saw the best movies! Angelika is my new favorite movie theater. I saw Helen Hunt's Then She Found Me, and Ben Stein's Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. They were both wonderful. One's a "tear-jerker" and one's a major "thinker".

Thanks, Jennie. Now back to reality. ;)

Hubby DIY

We're all a bit crafty these days. I love, love, loved this bench in the Sundance catalog, but couldn't justify the price. Only a few weeks later when I walked outside my betrothed was lovingly giving his own craft a whirl. He is a handy man!

Now we have our own version. Made from the fence that fell over a few months ago. :)

Tacky decor, I know, I know... I haven't decorated yet, but I pretty much want it to look like ANY room in the Sundance catalog when I'm finished. I guess I better DIY a quilt with those kind of prices!!

If you don't already get the Sundance catalog. Sign up the pictures are gorgeous, the style is novel, and you get a mug shot of Robert Redford in every issue. I found this great website for catalogs. It's called Catalog Choice. You can make an account and browse many catalogs, as well as cancel catalogs you may get that you no longer wish to get. They have a paper-friendly motivation so they don't sell your info to every other catalog company!

Happy Easter

Pretty girls. Easter dresses. Designer fabric. Lemons. Pears. Texas Spring. Resurrection.

All in all a pretty good day! ;)

{I never stand still...}

{ I am 3. I am done with this photo shoot.}

Goin' to "Cali"

If you ever loved a cousin... Couldn't this picture melt any heart of stone?

Well they're off, and it was a teary goodbye. Poor little cousins bidding "adieu". They will go from weekly visits to yearly visits and they are not too excited about it.

S-I-L will be in California until my brother gets out of OCS, and then they will get their new assignments. And then we will plan our vacation. :) If you look closely you will see her shirt subtly says, "wish me bonne chance" {good luck in French}. She will need it flying solo with her 6yr old, 3yr old, and 1yr old. ;)

Rodeo

Can you believe we took the girls to Hannah Montana?? And let me just say I really enjoyed the livestock show. :)

Loved the chicks, the rabbits, the cattle, the bull riding, and barrel racing!
Hannah Montana, sheesh. What is wrong with mainstream America? Do they really not have anything else to get earsplitting excited and dressed up about? If not that is sad! Never one to be impressed by pop culture, lets just call it an innate reflex to reject what is trying to be force fed to me, I really don't get it. She is cute enough, and the daughter of the oh~so~famous Billy Ray Cyrus, (just think achy-breaky heart and a mullet to jog your memory) but why the craze? Everyone was so buzzed about her I was kind of hoping to REALLY like her after the show, but it was quite anti climatic. I guess it's just good marketing??

Of course the girls liked it, and we surprised them with the tickets so that was good family fun!

Do You See the Potential?

Trash to treasure, baby. Check out this chair someone was getting rid of on garbage day. I saw it, did a u-y and grabbed it. I think I will spray paint it white and make a seat cushion out of this great sparkly red vinyl I saw at High Fashion Fabrics. It's so great on it's own, I want to resist the urge to over do it.

My little muchkin insists that it's a chair for Herman. This is herman! I don't think Herman will be with us for long, so until I can undergo a new makeover project I'll let Herman hang out in the totally awesome brimming with potential chair.

Speaking of makeover projects, do you remember this post? I was nominated as a finalist! Thank you, Danielle. There were four finalist in my category (fabric...of course). Most categories had a winner and one runner up. My category had a winner and TWO runners up. I was neither the winner nor the 1st or 2nd runner up. I really, really lost, nah we'll call it "fourth place". Pretty exciting none the less, and my coffee table does STILL LOOK AWESOME (and protect noggins)!

So I Made that Apple Pie

There's a party in my tummy, so

yummy, so yummy...

So here it is right before it went into

the oven. Isn't she lovely...

The end result = delicious, everyone in the house was a fan. Funny story though, the night I baked it my husband didn't eat any pie when the girls and I tried it. Later that night, I went upstairs to put the girls to bed and when I came downstairs he was eating a BIG helping of pie and watching TV. He NEVER, not once, made a comment about it. No "this is good" or "thanks for the pie". I was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

irritated. I wanted to yank the bowl out of his hands. Normally I would have made a comment or at least gone fishing for one. I mean this was handmade crust and a dad-gum homeade apple pie. No freezer, no box, but an old-fashioned labor of love. I went to bed angry (one of my no-nos) and woke up angry, but I didn't say a word (next to impossible for me). However when he came home the next day from work, he was casually looking through the mail and out of nowhere came over and gave me a high five and said, "Oh, that by the way was the best apple pie I've ever had!" Redeemed. I did mentioned how I'd been seething at him for almost 24 hours now, so he better be glad he removed his head from his... luckily he's still my sweetie pie.

At least it ended well. And now the pie is gone, all gone. If you want to take an apple pie adventure of your own these are the recipes I used:

pie crust

apple pie instructions

Good Luck

Homeade Apple Pie

I can't fight it, I have this overwhelming urge to make an apple pie~completely from scratch. I also want to bake homemade bread. I am not really in love with being in the kitchen, but I come from a long line of super wonderful bakers, and my new wonderful kitchen is really inspiring. It harbors new energy that was previously zapped from me.

The latent farm girl is waking up inside of me. I'm sure I'm being inspired by:

Blue Yonder and Backyard Farming

But it runs much deeper. It's a desire for sustainability. The ability to be capable in hard times. My grandfather, who grew up in the depression, said no matter how hard times got his grandmother made fresh bread everyday. He is still a bread snob to this day. :) My grandmother grew up in central Texas in a farming family, she went on to have seven children and spent most of her days at the kitchen sink (all over the world, they were airforce) preparing beautiful meals and baking delicious sweets.

I know you've heard this tangent from me before, so scroll if you don't want to hear it again. I get overwhelmed with how disposable our society has become. I am flustered by the hectic, rushed, non-enjoying life pace we keep. Why can't we slow down and reconnect over simplicity? We only feel productive when we are flustered and flying by the seat of our pants. That is so silly. Let us reclaim the value of spending time with our children, our families, or even alone in a quiet moment. And let us not forget the legacy the generations above us have handed over.

For apple pie inspiration! I'll keep you posted on my baking endeavours.

That apple betty at the top is my grandmother with her first of her 7 children.

My Family is Moving

My brother and his family (his adorable wifey~a very dear friend to me, and their three boys) will be moving in two weeks. They are military so I knew they would be leaving before the summer came, but I had no idea they would be leaving so soon. I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around them vanishing. I see them weekly, and now no more. How will I cope??? I prayed major last week for them to sell their house so my s-i-l would no longer have to keep it on the market, but I had no idea God would work so quickly. :) I guess the prayers of the righteous avail much?? (Just kidding.)

There is talk they may transfer to Alaska??? I guess I can live vicariously through them and book a flight, right? I will miss them so much. And this little guy better not forget his Aunt SesSes! The big boys won't fall out of love with me, I feel confident of that, but I'll be crushed if the little one does!

A picture says a thousand words and this is how I feel about the whole thing:

I invented post-its...

No I did not invent post-its, but I did go to my 10-yr high school reunion this weekend. And other than Genine Gerafalo not being there it was much better than Romey & Michelle's high school reunion. Everyone grew up very nicely. I reconnected with lots of old friends. It was fantastic. I mean... there is not enough money in the whole Western Hemisphere to make me re-do middle school or high school again, but the reconnect was refreshing. Everyone is still beautiful and living large.

Speaking of beautiful and living large check out my friend Cindy's Ranch. If we gave out awards Cindy's would be: "The One Who Gives the Most Back to Society" http://www.cornerstone-ranch.com/

She and her husband run a non-profit ranch to serve adults with mental disabilities through complete residential care, providing an active group home community that enables their residents to experience abundant life. How's that for a mission statement and a life purpose??

For any of my long lost buddies who are now reading my blog. Hello and I love you! Here's a few pics of my family and my brother! Tommy and Mary have three boys, and David and I have two girls.

Here's Tommy's fam!

And here are my girls.