Help Mom!

Help Mom! Mom, I am stuck.

Really....sure enough she is. This just made me laugh.

Highest Bidder!

The other night Kevin told me he wanted to own something from 1965, the year he was born. Ok, what will that be, I thought. He showed me a motorcycle on ebay (I will admit, I wasn't as thrilled as he was). Then came the hook...an adorable yellow scooter from 1960, for me! What a great hubby. The auction ended Monday night at 6:30 and he had to be at a meeting, so the finally bidding was up to me. So as he is sitting at the meeting, clicking refresh on his phone, I am at home trying to be the highest bidder. WELL....I won! So here are some pictures of our latest toys. We won't see them until December, because they are going to be in Seattle till then.

Sucess on #8

Number 8 on my list of 34 things to complete this year was a YUMMY SUCCESS! Even though making homemade tamales was not easy, it was so much fun. It took me ALL day....literally...I started the pork at 6 am, added the onions and peppers at 10:00am, shredded the pork at 1:oo pm, started soaking the husks and making the masa at 2:00, rolled them and had them in the steamer by 3:00, and by 5:00 we were eating. Since this was my first time making tamales, I searched the Internet for video tutorials on how to make them. I found a few that seemed pretty good, so I followed their directions. All of them said if you do it right, you will see the lines from the corn husks when you peel them off. I actually squealed when I unwrapped the first one and the lines were there. Amy and Mom had to help me plate up all the dishes...you would have thought we did this on a pretty regular basis, with as quickly as we got the dishes done. Everyone agreed they were YUMMY...SPICY, but YUMMY! I might have to make them again sometime.

Not only did I try my hand at tamales, but I made homemade tomatilla dip, flan, cheros!

Great family dinner. HUMMMM, wonder what will be my next cooking experiment. Hopefully it will get cold soon, because I have a recipe for Cheddar Beer Potato Soup that is just waiting to be made.

8 items out of my list of 34 finished...I better get cracking! Wonder how my girlfriends are doing on their lists????? I bet the thought I forgot that they too made lists....BEWARE ladies I am checking up on you!

I am bored

I was just sitting on the couch thinking how bored I was. I told Kevin I wanted to make something. It was too close to dinner to get the sewing machine out. I did a scrapbook/paper project yesterday. I really did not want to grade the test I brought home or enter the grades into Power School (that seemed too much like work). I wanted to bake something. The only problem, was that I really did not have the stuff to make much. I did have the stuff for apple pie!

These adorable pies were made in the jumbo muffin pan. Can't wait to top it with some vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.

I caught a quail!

Ok, so it is 6:40 and I am rushing to get the last of my stuff together and eat something before I head out the door to work. What do I hear???? "Mommy, Daddy, I caught a quail!" My first thought is "You can't be serious." Which is followed by "God, let it be alive!" when I notice she is actually holding something in her little hands. IT MOVED! Thank God it is alive. When I ask how she caught a quail (and not a baby one or a really old one), she tells me it was just starring at Tucker. So I walked up behind it quiet and picked it up. Of course she says this in that "geez Mom, don't you know anything" tone. Life is never dull or quiet with Ella in it!

#6...BAD IDEA

Sunday morning, my friend Trish dropped us off at Topock Marina so we could canoe down through the gorge. This is #6 on my list of 34 things to accomplish before April. I knew it would be hard, but I thought it would be fun too. WRONG...I cried for the last 3 hours of the trip. Partially, because I was STUCK...there was absolutely NO way to cut the trip short. I was tired, and just wanted a beach to stop at, but because the river was high there were no beaches. I won't be doing that again.

Hour 1...Still happy!

Hour 2...A new stick to play with during the ride. Still happy!

Hour 3 and 4..No beach, lost the sticks...time for a nap. Mommy starts crying!

Finally, a beach, some lunch, and look what daddy caught. Only 1 hour left to go!

Ella was not to thrilled to hear we still had an hour to go...to tell the truth neither was mommy! Kevin said he knew this would probably be a bad idea....next time he promises to tell me NO when I come up with a hair brain idea!

Gosh Darn It!

We had to head down to Scottsdale on Wednesday. Just a quick up and back trip...with a stop at Sprinkles Bakery, Debbie's for a canoe, and a Pizzeria.

Kevin and I like to watch the Food Network. We put the addresses of place in the Phoenix area into our GPS system, so when we are down we can check them out. The Best Thing I Ever Ate had a pizzeria right by the ball park mentioned. Pizza is something Ella loves, so we headed down there stopping and picking up some cupcakes. Of course, they decided to go on summer vacation and were closed. We ended up at the Rose and Crown instead (a little pub in one of the old houses). Gosh darn it....Kevin ordered the Shepherd Pie and it was better than what Ella and I ordered. This is the 3rd time we have went someplace completely new and Kevin's food was the best at the table. Considering his food is usually wrong this is amazing. I was so jealous!

After lunch we headed to Debbie's to pick up the canoe. We are going to canoe down the river from Topock tomorrow. Yippie, I will be able to mark off number 6 on my list!

Sprinkles....wow! That place looks more like a jewelry boutique than a bakery! There were almost too many choices (is that even possible??). Ella and I love to watch Cupcake Wars and one of the judges in the owner of Sprinkles. So when I found out there was one in Scottsdale, I knew I was going to have to make a stop there! They were worth the $10+ dollars it cost for 3 cupcakes...yes, only 3!

For a bit I didn't think we would get there because there was road construction going on at the intersection. Once Ella and I saw the building, nothing was going to keep us from getting there.

Yummy! pumpkin. I think I might have had the best flavor! It is obvious in this pciture we are eating in the car. In fact we were sitting at a Circle K (not getting gas) eating our cupcakes before we headed back to Havasu!

Kevin had a tough time decided between the pumpkin and the peanut butter chocolate. I offered to share my cupcake, so the peanut butter won.

I was surprised that Ella went for the vanilla cupcake when there was a strawberry one. After a couple bites she said she didn't like it. However, when I turned around it was ALL gone. Next time she is going for strawberry.

20 minutes REALLY!!!

So I follow a blog that always adorable little projects. There is a cute little zipper clutch I have been wanting to try. So today was the day I decided to try this cute little 20 minute craft. Since sewing is not something I am an expert at, I figure it would take me about 40 minutes. WRONG 1 1/2 hours later I finished it. Maybe it was the fabric....maybe it was the zipper...maybe it was me...I don't know, but I know have a very cute (and slightly imperfect) little bag. Now I will have to make about a half a dozen more before I master it. I think everyone is getting homemade gifts this Christmas!

Now, I am off to bake a apple carmel upside down cake. Since I am better at baking then sewing this should be much less stressful. Or at least till I eat some and decide I need to exericse to counteract the calories.

Happy Labor Day weekend everyone!