Not really freezing, but it’s gotten down in the low 50s here. Apparently, that’s a record low for this time of year. I dunno. I keep hearing to expect snow by mid-October, so why would low 50s (that’s the high today) be surprising to those who haven’t recently transplanted from the South?

Sam has taken to having her hair put into pigtails. Last night when she got out of the bath, I was going to put her hair into braids to keep her hair from tangling while she slept. That didn’t work so well, so I pulled it into pigtails instead. We fought at bedtime because she didn’t want her hair taken down, and this morning, the first thing she asked for was “uh-flies,” butterflies in her hair. That little monkey wanted her hair up again! I think she’s realizing that pigtails are “girly” and she’s gotten into all things girly lately.

Today’s Foodie Friday entry will be one of my comfort foods. I made this last week for dinner and it went over really well with the kids. Problem is, there was a lot of leftover, so keep this in mind when making it.

Chicken & Dumplings

• 1 whole chicken
• 2 chicken flavored boullion cubes
• 2 small cans or 1 large can Cream of Chicken soup
• milk*
• self-rising flour
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• water
• dumplings
  • 2 cups self-rising flour
  • 3/4 cup COLD milk
  • Mix flour and milk together until soft dough forms. Add more milk little by little if dough is too stiff.

Use 2 small cans or 1 large can of milk, depending on the size soup cans you used.

Early Morning: Wash chicken under cold water, leaving skin on. Place chicken in a large stockpot and cover with water. Place over medium-low heat and cover. Let chicken cook for at least 6 hours over this low temperature.

Late Afternoon: Turn heat up to high and bring stock to a boil. When chicken is falling off the bone, remove all chicken, skin, and bone from stock. Continue to boil stock while mixing dumplings. Drop dumplings into boiling stock, using a spoon to lower them in. Do not splash!! Cover; let dumplings cook for 20 minutes in stock.

While dumplings are cooking, remove any remaining chicken from the bones. Make sure to remove all skin and discard. Discard bones, neck and giblets.

Add chicken pieces, soup, boullion cubes, and pepper to stock and dumplings. Pour milk into a bowl and mix self-rising flour in until you have a thick paste. Add this to the pot. Mix well, but try not to disturb the dumplings. Return to a boil. Cook for 10 minutes.

Serve garnished with freshly cracked black pepper or parsley flakes. Serves about 20.

This is a good recipe for a day when you can stay home with the stove. It’s great on a cold day, as this is a good hot soup to warm you to the core. Enjoy!

1. Crocheted bulky sweater. It needs to be taken apart and reworked.
2. Knitted winter scarf for William. It’s on the needles.
3. Ditto #2 for Tracey. It needs to be reworked, as it’s too short for him.
4. Sister Scarf for Breast Cancer awareness. It’s currently on my needles.
5. Crocheted yummy surprise. My latest pattern, a design collaboration with Stacy and Sarah.
6. Crocheted blanket in a JoAnn Sensations yarn, and the name escapes me. The yarn looks like dreadlocks, but it makes a wonderful heavy winter blanket to snuggle under.
7. Two crocheted faux suede purses that my mom ordered. I haven’t had the inspiration to work on them.
8. A crocheted nylon purse for my mom. Again, haven’t wanted to work on them.
9. Crocheted thread tablecloth. I’ve restarted this one several times with different patterns. This a large project and will probably be on my list for a while.
10. Knitted snake draft dodger. This is a pattern I’m writing for the Knifty Knitter and will be teaching at Michaels the first Saturday of November.
11. Combination knitted and crocheted purse. Another pattern I’m writing, but I can’t seem to get motivated to work on this one. It’s on the needles and the pattern is written to the point where I’ve stopped.
12. Organizing my webspace. I’ve been wanting to move everything to my domain, but haven’t really had the time necessary to do so.
13. Scrapbooks. Are these ever really finished?

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

This Meme hails from Adam’s blog, which has the history, Dr. Watson’s analysis of Holmes and meme rules. I stole it from Dane Bramage.

And now the meme…

1. What is something you know practically nothing about? weaving
2. What is something where your knowledge is weak? medicine, though I do know a fair amount of first aid
3. What is something you know just enough about to get by? spinning
4. What is something where you have a profound depth of knowledge? crochet
5. What is something that you do even though you don’t do it well? draw, even though I took private art lessons for three years
6. What is something you are expert at? HTML; took several web design courses in college after teaching myself HTML and ended up helping teach the classes

Now, I tag thee, fellow bloggers: Stacy, Sarah, Sara, and Cordelia

William and Tracey were so excited this morning when they were getting dressed for school. Tracey was so excited that he left the Cheerios container on the edge of the refrigerator door so that when William opened the refrigerator, the container came crashing down and Cheerios flew everywhere. Today is the boys’ first den meeting for Cub Scouts, and they were excited because they get to wear their uniforms to school. After the Cheerios incident, we couldn’t find William’s Webelos belt, so he ran around in his PJs while we were all looking for it. Del finally found it–in the pile of shoes by the door–and William had to rush to get dressed to catch the bus. What a morning!

After the boys left for school, things calmed down considerably. Right now, Delbert is coloring in his Star Wars coloring book and Sam is playing with her noisy toys. She’s asking for “Iggles on, pleez” so I’m going to have to go soon and put Wiggles on for her. Sam is talking in complete sentences more often than not now, and I’m proud of my little girl. Last night, I asked her what her name is. She said, “I Sam, pleez.” She also tells me that “I need rock (socks) on” or “I need shorts on” when we’re getting dressed. It’s so cute! Oh, and she still talks about that monkey in her eye….

Delbert’s speech is still muddled at times, but he does well when we tell him to slow down. I think sometimes he forgets and just runs off at a hundred miles an hour and then his words get jumbled together and he’s hard to understand. We’re working with him on his pronunciation with his favorite book, My First 500 Words. He likes to read that one with us, and it really helps him focus on the sounds and pronunciations of the words. It’s really cute when he sits down with Sam and reads the book with her. Sam has gotten really attached to Delbert since school started and they’re the only two kids in the house. (Last night she told me “I Delbert LOVE!”) Delbert still tries to get away with a lot of stuff, but I’ve been able to crack down and make him listen better. He still likes to antagonize his little sister too, but that’s normal sibling behavior. I hope he grows out of it before too long. He goes to kindergarten next year!!

Yesterday I mentioned that I’ve started the Slim-Fast diet plan. I’m also trying very hard to cut out my caffiene-loaded Coca-Cola. The extra sugar isn’t good, and I think the caffiene may have some effect on my hands. Yesterday, the only soda I drank was a key lime Sam’s Clear American. No sugar, no caffiene. No itchy palms. Huh. I guess I need to lay off the caffiene! Anyway, I did really well on my food intake yesterday. Ate/drank my Slim-Fast for breakfast and lunch, had a banana and a bottle of grape Flavor Splash for snack, and a good dinner that my MIL cooked–steak, mashed potatoes, and green beans. No extra fat, either. I felt good after dinner. I didn’t feel the need for caffiene at all and didn’t have cravings for something sweet throughout the day. I think this is going to work, and I plan on sticking with it as long as I have to in order to drop this extra weight. I want to be a LOSER! (weight loser, that is)

The abyss is nothing more than a blank screen, an opportunity on which to paint the future.

— Lauren Zimmerman (www.enlightpress.com)

The vastness of the universe is but an empty canvas, on which we can create our own painted future.

— paraphrased from Lauren Zimmerman

Very true that life is a blank canvas on which we create our own outcome. I like to think of my life as a canvas, with each day starting blank. My surroundings–people, places, things–and the way I enteract with them are the paints, chalks, or pencils that color my world from day to day. Different mediums combine to form my life-art for the day, all depending on how my surroundings affect me.

Seems Monday rolls around every week whether we’re ready for it or not. This weekend’s weather proved dangerous, even deadly to some, in Lexington, KY. There was a massive amout of flooding and many people lost theirs lives. Others are experiencing major flood damage to their houses, and others still have lost possessions such as vehicles and housing. Please keep everyone in the Lexington, KY area in your thoughts and prayers as they sort through the water and mud and try to get cleaned up so that they can continue their lives.

You may have noticed the weight tracker in my sidebar. If not, oh well. That’s my way of reminding myself where my weight is and how much I’ve lost or gained over the week. Let’s just say that it hasn’t been going in the proper direction. My doctor wants me to lose 60 pounds to get back down to 140. It’s not easy, and so far I haven’t lost anything. I’ve gone to the Slim-Fast plan. Two shakes a day–one for breakfast, one for lunch–along with their snacks and plenty of water–I’m drinking Flaver Splash by Aquafina and Sam’s Clear American for my “soda”–and then a good dinner. I’m feeling icky with all this extra weight I’m carrying around, so I’m really going to push myself to lose this fat. Besides, I just bought my pants for my Cub Scouts uniform and had to buy a size 40/32. The 32 doesn’t bother me; I know I’m tall. I just wish the 32 was also in the waist!!! And, yes, I wear men’s jeans and cargo pants. I looked in women’s, but Wal-Mart didn’t carry the right color in plus sizes. Besides, wearing men’s pants makes it easier to keep track of my current waist size!

Finish these famous quotes in your “own” words.

1. A penny saved is- collecting dust.
2. Man is the only animal that- kills for sport.
3. Happiness is nothing more than- an elaborate fairy tale.
4. It ain’t over till- I say it’s over.
5. To err is human; to forgive- miraculous.

Yep, had to add the goofy grin.

Please stop by and check out our Cub Scout Pack’s home page. I’m still in the process of tweaking it a bit, so if anyone has any ideas, please pass them my way. I’m planning on adding a calendar with all the meetings and training sessions, camping, etc. and a message forum for the leaders, helpers, and parents to use for communication when the phone may not be appropriate for whatever reason.

I’m using a style sheet, so all the pages have the same feel, but I’d like feedback about the colors, fonts, etc. from other people. My FIL and hubby think it looks okay, but I want more objective opinions. Thanks.

I’m also still sewing badges on uniforms. I’ve already lost count on how many times I’ve poked my fingers with the sewing needle…and I haven’t finished the first shirt! I’m on the last (current) badge for William’s shirt, then I need to start Tracey’s. Mine is last because the boys want to wear their uniforms to school Tuesday. I can use the day Tuesday to sew badges on my uniform if neccessary.

Yesterday’s mail proved very promising, as my hubby brought home my Jimbo hook!! It’s every bit as purty as Jimbo described and fits my hand perfectly in my crochet grip. Now, I have to get downstairs to my chunky/bulky stash and whip up some scarves with this gorgeous hook!! Thanks, Jimbo, for the beautiful piece of usable art!

I thought today I’d share some Do’s and Don’ts about making cookies, especially since the first batch I made yesterday was completely fubar. (fubar = fucked up beyond all recognition)

Bottom line: if you’re baking cookies, your kids will know, so you better get it right the first time!