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I hope everyone is having a falltastic day!
This is my absolute favorite time of year and as soon as I find a country that has fall all year round, that's where I'm moving, lol. But that aside we didn't do much today, as it was a school day, but we had a great dinner filled with foods we picked or made from scratch when we would normally have bought it. We put some of our home made apple butter on rolls we made, and made salsbury steak from scratch (a recipe I stole from Jazz at Octoberfarm =) and then finished it with home made pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie.
This year we are giving a lot of thanks for the upswings our fortunes have taken, as well as all of the challenges we have faced and will face. Without challenges we can't grow, and if we can't grow what's the point?
The past two days have been grey from most of the day, and there has definitely been a bite in the air. I almost thought the weather being so mild most of the year was an ominous sign of summer ravaging through autumn and winter, but instead it seems that at least this year we here in the desert of southern California are going to get all 4 seasons this year! That is something to definitely give thanks for!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Travel Log 9-20: A Very Squishie Day
Not only was today my tiny little squishie man's 2cd birthday, but today was also the day he decided to take his biggest stride into potty training yet- he peed in the big potty!
Little man has been doing it for quite some time, but so far Squishie has been content to sit on the "little" potty and try to go. But not today! Today he decided to earn his big boy training pants!
It was kinda funny actually. He is not tall enough to go in the large potty so he started off doing some pretty impressive flat lifts of his body with his little hands on the rim of the bowl( which was horrifying from a mommy standpoint!) and lifting his entire body in an effort to get the weapon to its assigned target. This did not work very well, and once mommy had caught her breath from laughing the little potty was disassembled and turned into a step stool. He then proceeded to step proudly up and, now that he was tall enough, to begin to scream at me because he couldn't get it going right away. Then when he did and it was right on target we did a lot of screaming and dancing in the bathroom!
Which totally rocked because one of his presents was his first set of big boy pull ups (which of course got upstaged by the bizillion hot wheels his dad picked out for him, lol).
The little guy went off to sleep like an angel, and tonight mommy and daddy shall go to sleep with visions of a diaper free future dancing in our heads!
Little man has been doing it for quite some time, but so far Squishie has been content to sit on the "little" potty and try to go. But not today! Today he decided to earn his big boy training pants!
It was kinda funny actually. He is not tall enough to go in the large potty so he started off doing some pretty impressive flat lifts of his body with his little hands on the rim of the bowl( which was horrifying from a mommy standpoint!) and lifting his entire body in an effort to get the weapon to its assigned target. This did not work very well, and once mommy had caught her breath from laughing the little potty was disassembled and turned into a step stool. He then proceeded to step proudly up and, now that he was tall enough, to begin to scream at me because he couldn't get it going right away. Then when he did and it was right on target we did a lot of screaming and dancing in the bathroom!
Which totally rocked because one of his presents was his first set of big boy pull ups (which of course got upstaged by the bizillion hot wheels his dad picked out for him, lol).
The little guy went off to sleep like an angel, and tonight mommy and daddy shall go to sleep with visions of a diaper free future dancing in our heads!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Travel Log 9-15: Burnt Sauce, Picked Apples, and Pumpkin bread
So this weekend my dear hubby and I went out to the apple orchards and took the munchkin hoard with us. Fortunately the buildings are still standing and only minor amounts of mayhem wreaked upon the unsuspecting populace. However a whole bunch of apples were sacrificed in a gratuitous and horrifying manner to allow us to bring home, along with our 10 lbs of child labor provided apples, 2 gallons of apple cider!
So far the plans are to make a bunch of apple butter, but the apples are disappearing qucikly! We also baked a passle (what the heck is a passle anyway??) of pumpkin bread which has been devoured (I swear someone other than me ate some- a little). I was actually so filled with domesticated confidence and power I decided to make this weeks batch of spaghetti sauce all by myself, right after the older kids got home from school. Foolish you say? Bah! I laugh at distractions and 3 year old trips to the potty!
Which is probably how the sauce got burned, lol.
So far the plans are to make a bunch of apple butter, but the apples are disappearing qucikly! We also baked a passle (what the heck is a passle anyway??) of pumpkin bread which has been devoured (I swear someone other than me ate some- a little). I was actually so filled with domesticated confidence and power I decided to make this weeks batch of spaghetti sauce all by myself, right after the older kids got home from school. Foolish you say? Bah! I laugh at distractions and 3 year old trips to the potty!
Which is probably how the sauce got burned, lol.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Travel Log 9-8: And the New Winner is......
Rue!!!! So shoot me a line and I'll get them shipped out to you!
In other news it's been a really good week. My best friend is coming to visit for halloween, the weather has been awesome and overcast/rainy, Hubby is doing great at his new job, and the munchkins are starting to get used to me being home with them. Despite that fact that only about an eighth of my brain functions before 10am I've hammered out a routine for getting the older kids to school and the younger ones up and fed, so I feel like a domestic champion!
On top of that, this weekend I used the mad money I had saved up and bought myself some books I have been dying to have off of Amazon. And they got here today!!!
I know a lot of people look down on llewellyn's, but I got their witch's calendar for this year and next year, as well as their spell-a-day almanac and can say that so far I really like them. The almanacs are an interesting blend of multiple personalities, paths, and insight and I like the variety. The calendar's, while not heavy on my preferred style of artwork, do have all the high points that I always forget to mark on mundane calendars already filled in for me.
So yeah, things are on a definite upswing and I am thoroughly basking in it!
In other news it's been a really good week. My best friend is coming to visit for halloween, the weather has been awesome and overcast/rainy, Hubby is doing great at his new job, and the munchkins are starting to get used to me being home with them. Despite that fact that only about an eighth of my brain functions before 10am I've hammered out a routine for getting the older kids to school and the younger ones up and fed, so I feel like a domestic champion!
On top of that, this weekend I used the mad money I had saved up and bought myself some books I have been dying to have off of Amazon. And they got here today!!!
I know a lot of people look down on llewellyn's, but I got their witch's calendar for this year and next year, as well as their spell-a-day almanac and can say that so far I really like them. The almanacs are an interesting blend of multiple personalities, paths, and insight and I like the variety. The calendar's, while not heavy on my preferred style of artwork, do have all the high points that I always forget to mark on mundane calendars already filled in for me.
So yeah, things are on a definite upswing and I am thoroughly basking in it!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Travel Log 9-7: Oh What a Tangled Web.....
It has been a bit like a hurricane over here in this little corner of astral space. A lot of changes have been happening so quickly it has pretty much knocked me off of the web for a while.
Change number one is that my hubby has finally landed what appears to be the perfect engineering position! It pays well above our expectations and is a solid, stable, family- owned and operated company where he can stay for quite some time.
Change number 2 is that I am now a stay at home mom again. While there was some massive negativity from the management when I left the dealership I worked for (in fact they insisted on firing me instead of accepting my resignation), I am really happy to be home with my munchkins full time again. But the down side to be home and not bone tired, dragging myself to the bed, is that I got a chance to take a good look at the level of housekeeping my dear hubby had been maintaining. Yeeeeeaaaaah. I almost screamed. I gagged when scrubbing out the sink. I swear there was the scree scree scree of psycho music in the back ground when I got to the bathroom. It was pure horror....
And now it's all clean and shiny. Some of the fixtures have been replaced because they were lost causes in my book. And now I am starting my domestic bliss, and the joys of potty training for the squishie man.
Oh and the winner of my giveaway hasn't responded, so I"ll be drawing another name out of the hat tonight!
Change number one is that my hubby has finally landed what appears to be the perfect engineering position! It pays well above our expectations and is a solid, stable, family- owned and operated company where he can stay for quite some time.
Change number 2 is that I am now a stay at home mom again. While there was some massive negativity from the management when I left the dealership I worked for (in fact they insisted on firing me instead of accepting my resignation), I am really happy to be home with my munchkins full time again. But the down side to be home and not bone tired, dragging myself to the bed, is that I got a chance to take a good look at the level of housekeeping my dear hubby had been maintaining. Yeeeeeaaaaah. I almost screamed. I gagged when scrubbing out the sink. I swear there was the scree scree scree of psycho music in the back ground when I got to the bathroom. It was pure horror....
And now it's all clean and shiny. Some of the fixtures have been replaced because they were lost causes in my book. And now I am starting my domestic bliss, and the joys of potty training for the squishie man.
Oh and the winner of my giveaway hasn't responded, so I"ll be drawing another name out of the hat tonight!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Travel Log 8-22: And The Winner IS......
The Silverspoon!!
Send me your shipping information and I'll start making your custom scented tea lights!
Send me your shipping information and I'll start making your custom scented tea lights!
Friday, August 20, 2010
Travel Log 8-20: Oh What a Strange Windy Road
Well sorry I have been MIA all week but life caught up to me in some pretty surprising and distracting ways. The Hubby's long unemployed string has officially ended and all the preperations for that have overwhelmed and swamped what time I have off from work.
So I have not gotten to check out some of my new followers pages like I should, or to update on here about the couple things I started on last week.
First things first- if you haven't then please sign up for my Giveaway!!!
Secondly if you are of a of a literary bent check out my idea for a tag, or pass the flashlight, story. You wouldn't have to write very much and I think it would be a whole lotta fun! Since the stories are invariably ghost or horror stories before they are over (never heard of a fantasy one, but hey that would be kinda cool too.....ok reigning in to one idea at a time, lol) it's perfect to bring that Halloween spirit into these dog days of summer! Already got a few participants so lets all have a lot of fun with it and send this story shooting through blogland (ok..delusions of grandeur over, but still the more people who participate the cooler the story comes out!).
But just as a tidbit for today let me share with you a quick set of instructions on how to make a candle ribbon that you can use multiple times for spell work:
STUFF YOU'LL NEED-
1. Ribbon (the length is dependant on the size candles you normally use, or what kind of marking you plan on doing on it and color should be matched to intent- whatever type of spell you plan to use this for pick the color that resonates most clearly to you about that subject)
2. A marker (color should be contrasting to the ribbon in shade- if the ribbon you chose is light, the marker should be dark and vise versa. Also the type of marker should really be dependant on the size of the tip for ease of writing or drawing clearly on the ribbon you chose's width).
3. Beads of your choice. (I usually pick a stone dead based on the correspondence to the intent of the ribbon I'm making, or just default to quartz for clear casting).
HOW TO DO IT-
Step 1: Cut your ribbon to the length you want it and begin marking it with symbols, or text of your choice. I tend to pick words that fit with my goal for the type of spell work. Like for love I would put hearts and words like love and romance and passion. You repeat these up and down the ribbon and you can be as fancy or simple as you want.
Step 2: attach your beads. Depending on the type of beads you chose there are a couple of ways to do this. If you can thread the ribbon through the beads because you had the foresight and general thoughtfulness to get beads with big enough holes to do this, you rock and get extra credit! Then you just have to tie a knot in the end of the ribbon, leaving enough tail to put on the beads and leave room to tie another knot, and you guessed it- slide on the beads and tie a knot beneath them to hold them in place and trim the end. During the knotting you can charge the knots themselves with intent, as well as the beads as you are putting them on ( or do as I do and charge them in moonlight or during a ritual).
Or if you are more like me and pick beads for how pretty they are and not for how practical they are for your project (it's not my fault all the really pretty ones aren't made with big holes!) then a second and just as easy process will attach those spectacular sparkly and obviously superior (lol) beads to the ribbon. Take some thread (color of your choice for intent or expediency) and a needle and tightly sew the beads onto the ribbon. You can still put the knots in so that it will look similar to the original process as well as include the charging to both the beads and the knots.
Step 3: Tie it around your candle of choice. I usually loop it a couple of times in a pleasing criss cross pattern and then tie it with the beads hanging down( simetrically, because as messy as I can be there are some things I'm anal retentive about). This is something your own intuition should guide and you'll come out with it perfect no matter what because it will be perfect for you!
You now have a personalized and reusable candle ribbon that you can have for years to help strengthen and simplify your spell work. The more times you use the ribbon it becomes more charged with your energy and intent, much like a tarot deck does. I have found that I love these as it allows me to get plain candles in white or black to have on hand, and only really need to delve into getting the colors when I really need that extra oomph!
Hope you enjoyed this little tutorial and someday I'll get some pictures of the process, no really I will-lol.
So I have not gotten to check out some of my new followers pages like I should, or to update on here about the couple things I started on last week.
First things first- if you haven't then please sign up for my Giveaway!!!
Secondly if you are of a of a literary bent check out my idea for a tag, or pass the flashlight, story. You wouldn't have to write very much and I think it would be a whole lotta fun! Since the stories are invariably ghost or horror stories before they are over (never heard of a fantasy one, but hey that would be kinda cool too.....ok reigning in to one idea at a time, lol) it's perfect to bring that Halloween spirit into these dog days of summer! Already got a few participants so lets all have a lot of fun with it and send this story shooting through blogland (ok..delusions of grandeur over, but still the more people who participate the cooler the story comes out!).
But just as a tidbit for today let me share with you a quick set of instructions on how to make a candle ribbon that you can use multiple times for spell work:
STUFF YOU'LL NEED-
1. Ribbon (the length is dependant on the size candles you normally use, or what kind of marking you plan on doing on it and color should be matched to intent- whatever type of spell you plan to use this for pick the color that resonates most clearly to you about that subject)
2. A marker (color should be contrasting to the ribbon in shade- if the ribbon you chose is light, the marker should be dark and vise versa. Also the type of marker should really be dependant on the size of the tip for ease of writing or drawing clearly on the ribbon you chose's width).
3. Beads of your choice. (I usually pick a stone dead based on the correspondence to the intent of the ribbon I'm making, or just default to quartz for clear casting).
HOW TO DO IT-
Step 1: Cut your ribbon to the length you want it and begin marking it with symbols, or text of your choice. I tend to pick words that fit with my goal for the type of spell work. Like for love I would put hearts and words like love and romance and passion. You repeat these up and down the ribbon and you can be as fancy or simple as you want.
Step 2: attach your beads. Depending on the type of beads you chose there are a couple of ways to do this. If you can thread the ribbon through the beads because you had the foresight and general thoughtfulness to get beads with big enough holes to do this, you rock and get extra credit! Then you just have to tie a knot in the end of the ribbon, leaving enough tail to put on the beads and leave room to tie another knot, and you guessed it- slide on the beads and tie a knot beneath them to hold them in place and trim the end. During the knotting you can charge the knots themselves with intent, as well as the beads as you are putting them on ( or do as I do and charge them in moonlight or during a ritual).
Or if you are more like me and pick beads for how pretty they are and not for how practical they are for your project (it's not my fault all the really pretty ones aren't made with big holes!) then a second and just as easy process will attach those spectacular sparkly and obviously superior (lol) beads to the ribbon. Take some thread (color of your choice for intent or expediency) and a needle and tightly sew the beads onto the ribbon. You can still put the knots in so that it will look similar to the original process as well as include the charging to both the beads and the knots.
Step 3: Tie it around your candle of choice. I usually loop it a couple of times in a pleasing criss cross pattern and then tie it with the beads hanging down( simetrically, because as messy as I can be there are some things I'm anal retentive about). This is something your own intuition should guide and you'll come out with it perfect no matter what because it will be perfect for you!
You now have a personalized and reusable candle ribbon that you can have for years to help strengthen and simplify your spell work. The more times you use the ribbon it becomes more charged with your energy and intent, much like a tarot deck does. I have found that I love these as it allows me to get plain candles in white or black to have on hand, and only really need to delve into getting the colors when I really need that extra oomph!
Hope you enjoyed this little tutorial and someday I'll get some pictures of the process, no really I will-lol.
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