A day to relax...

it's exhausting, but someone has to do it.

Happy New Year...

Happy New Year !

don't forget to feed the birds...

• Suet (lard) for Bird Feed

1 cup suet (bacon grease, Crisco...)

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup raisins or peanuts (chunky peanut butter)

1/2 cup cornmeal

1/2 cup seeds (sunflower, mixed)

Mix together and place in forms or make into balls, enjoy the show.

May God Bless You and Yours This Year...

and the beat goes on...

Eat your veggies...

do fried sweet potatoes count?

Crazy blanket...

More improvements...

he made shelves for the stereo speakers.

set up a new air compressor

Kenneth also worked on organizing his shop and running more electrical outlets and switches.

Candy, candy, candy...

Oreo Balls...

1 whole package of Oreos

1 8 oz. cream cheese

Separate and scape the cream filling into a bowl with the cream cheese.
Mix together.

put the cookies into a food processor and make into fine crumbs.

If you don't have a food processor a zip lock bag and rolling pin will work too.

Mix cookie crumbs and cream cheese together, make into little balls and refrigerate at least 2 hrs. till firm.

Melt Almond bark (according to package directions) and dip balls, place on parchment or wax paper, place back into frig to harden. These are soooo good.


Amanda made sugar cookies with Junior mints.
Make cookies and bake in mini-muffin pan. Immediately after pulling from oven push a mint into each cookie. Enjoy.

1st Christmas...

We will try again to actually include Emily in the dress, she was tired.

I got toys...

there for Emily!

she got a glow worm...

some t-shirts...

Kenneth redid his boat trailer

I finally got the rocker finished (it only took 20 years)

Amanda's dishtowels


and Courtney here's yours...

A Very Merry Christmas...

Our Tree

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a kitty under the tree.

Sale, Sale, Sale...

Sale, Sale, Sale... there's a sale on at Gooseberry Patch, from 25% - 85% off 465 items.
sale ends January 4th. Check it out.

Christmas cookie rules...

• Christmas Cookie Rules


• 1. If you eat a Christmas cookie fresh out of the oven, it has no calories because everyone knows that the first cookie is the test and thus calorie free.


• 2. If you drink a diet soda after eating your second cookie, it also has no calories because the diet soda cancels out the cookie calories.


• 3. If a friend comes over while you're making your Christmas cookies and needs to sample, you must sample with your friend. Because your friend's first cookie is calories free, rule #1 is yours also. It would be rude to let your friend sample alone and, being the friend that you are, that makes your cookie calorie free.


• 4. Any cookie calories consumed while walking around will fall to your feet and eventually fall off as you move. This is due to gravity and the density of the caloric mass.


• 5. Any calories consumed during the frosting of the Christmas cookies will be used up because it takes many calories to lick excess frosting from a knife without cutting your tongue.


• 6. Cookies colored red or green have very few calories. Red ones have three and green ones have five ? one calorie for each letter. Make more red ones!


• 7. Cookies eaten while watching "Miracle on 34th Street" have no calories because they are part of the entertainment package and not part of one's personal fuel.


• 8. As always, cookie pieces contain no calories because the process of breaking causes calorie leakage.


• 9. Any cookies consumed from someone else's plate have no calories since the calories rightfully belong to the other person and will cling to their plate. We all know how calories like to CLING!


• 10. Any cookies consumed while feeling stressed have no calories because cookies used for medicinal purposes NEVER have calories. It's a rule!*

Free game...

Here is a free computer game from "Best Buy". If you like to find hidden objects, download the free version and enjoy!

Resolutions

Are you a person who make the New Years Resolutions? Well if your is to eat better check out these sites from "Hungry Girl".

• Yup, I do have a slew of sites I use. I tend to go for the sites that really serve a specific purpose over ones that have lots of fluff and fancy copy. (Ugh -- I hate fluff!) Here is a list of my favorites:

• 1. CalorieKing - This site is THE place to go for nutritional info. There are other sites that are similar, but this has the most complete and accurate database of nutritionals for generic, name-brand, and restaurant foods. I visit it dozens of times every week.

• 2. Dotti's Weight Loss Zone - Dotti has what I think is THE best database of Weight Watchers POINTS® values for foods from specific restaurants. As with any unofficial site, you should try to double-check the stats to be sure they're accurate and up-to-date. Dotti ROCKS.

• 3. WeightWatchers.com - Even if you're not following the WW plan, this website is a FANTASTIC resource. The message boards are amazing, and anyone can search away on them. If you're a member with a question about anything under the sun, post it on the boards and you'll have dozens of answers almost INSTANTLY -- that's what I like best about the WW site. While members get the most from this site, there are tons of articles and valuable info available to everyone as well.

• 4. SparkPeople - I receive hundreds of emails from people each month who RAVE about Sparkpeople.com. Join for free, and you'll have access to tons of tools, the site's community, health articles, and more. People SWEAR by it. There's even a team for HG fans. WOOHOO!

• 5. The Daily Plate - Thedailyplate.com is fantastic. With a food journal, exercise tracker, calorie calculator, and database of a bazillion foods, this site is one of the best out there. You really need to be organized, though, to get the maximum benefits from it, since there's a lot going on there.

• 6. The World's Healthiest Foods - Worldshealthiestfoods.com is an amazing resource for food info. Find out which foods are the most nutritious and why, plus find recipes and fantastic articles. The book version is an absolute FOOD BIBLE, and the site itself is packed with info.

• Hope you like the sites!

Arby's Coupons...

Print out your own Arby's coupons for discounts on 6 items. Coupons are good till 12/31/2008. http://arbys.fbmta.com/members/ViewMailing.aspx?MailingID=27917288339

(copy and paste the link into your web browser to get to the coupons)

Skillet Granola...

When I first started doing research for our kitchen garden I came across the website "Little Homestead in the City", I continue to follow and hopefully learn from their experiences. When I told my friends about them they were like "I bet they eat Granola too!" and Yes, they do! Here is a recipe they shared this week. It sounds wonderful.

Skillet Granola(4 servings)

• 1 cup old-fashioned oats


• 1/4 cup sesame seeds (sunflower seeds)


• 2 Tablespoons honey


• 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons butter


• 1/2 cup dried fruit or raisins (optional)

In a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. As the butter begins to melt, slowly stir in the honey until well combined. Add the sesame seeds and cook for 2 minutes - stirring often. Add the oats and cook 3 to 4 more minutes - stirring often - until the oats are golden brown. If you're adding raisins or dried fruit, stir them in just as the oats start to brown.

Spread granola evenly over a large cooking sheet to cool. A very easy recipe with no baking required. Good stuff to have around as cereal or to sprinkle over oatmeal or grapefruit.

from "All Breakfast All the Time"

Winter Solstice...

Sunday, December 21, 2008, 6:04 a.m. (CST) marks the solstice—the beginning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and summer in the Southern Hemisphere.

Longest Night of the Year. The winter solstice marks the shortest day and the longest night of the year. The sun appears at its lowest point in the sky, and its noontime elevation appears to be the same for several days before and after the solstice. Hence the origin of the word solstice, which comes from Latin solstitium, from sol, “sun” and -stitium, “a stoppage.” Following the winter solstice, the days begin to grow longer and the nights shorter.

FUTURE REFERENCE:
The date December 21, 2012 AD (13.0.0.0.0 in the Long Count), represents an extremely close conjunction of the Winter Solstice Sun with the crossing point of the Galactic Equator (Equator of the Milky Way) and the Ecliptic (path of the Sun), that ancient Maya recognized as the Sacred Tree. This is an event that has been coming to resonance very slowly over thousands and thousands of years. It will come to resolution at exactly 11:11 am GMT.