Were You Ready

for some football this past Saturday morning?

We started our beautiful day with our great College Football Saturday Tradition!!!

Pops was happy to break in his new charcoal grill for our College Game Day Brats!

Aren't you ready to join in the fun??

Small tabletop charcoal grills and assorted gas grills are on sale now, at the "end" of grilling season. It is never the end of grilling season for us. But as for the grilling wimps, they are winding down and the stores are marking down their wares.

Brats for breakfast... OH, the breakfast of champions!!

I was waiting impatiently as the smoking started.

Then, I looked out the window and saw the full-fledged smoking was going on and I could hardly wait. My mouth was watering.

Oh, my! Land's Alive! Deliciousness is mine in only a few moments...

Digging out the buns and condiments...

I like mine a little crispy with some (read: quite a bit) ketchup. Sometimes, I add a thin line of yellow mustard. Other times, I skip the mustard and opt for a ketchup only brat. Pops likes his with ketchup, mustard and horseradish. He likes to torture himself. Bud ALWAYS has a little ketchup and a little mustard and just a sniff of the horseradish! He also prefers his with as little "char" as possible. Branch goes for hers with a little tiny bit of ketchup. Blossom... no bun please! Just slice it up into little wheels and she'll enjoy it on a fork and skip the sauce!

How do you like YOUR brat? If you didn't have brats for breakfast this past Saturday, maybe you should try it this weekend! You still have time to get your grill if your excuse is you didn't have one. You still have time to buy a package or two of Johnsonville's Beer Brats. You still have time to acquire buns and the appropriate condiments. You still have time to join the fun and Enjoy!!

Oh, Happy Day!!

Well, someone turned 8 today... and it wasn't me. NOPE. I did not have my eighth birthday today... that was a couple years ago.

Anyway, a request was made for breakfast in bed and we try to accommodate around here, sometimes. The preparations include card making along with the semi-fancy breakfast on a tray.

This year, I added a bit of humor to the fun, since a breakfast in bed was requested...

Our Bud always likes spooky things and is forever requesting to decorate in the fall with all the spooktacular things. I do not usually accommodate that request. But, I bought some of that spiderweb stuff just for the occasion of his birthday and he can keep it up through halloween this year.

We stood outside his door singing "Happy Birthday" over and over and over. We sang 3 times. The girls knocked on the door. We sang again. I hollered and asked him to open the door since our arms were full and that some other desiring child would happily accept our offerings if he didn't open up... We heard stirring and we joined into a fifth chorus of "Happy Birthday" and finally the door began to open...

I think that he was surprised!!

He wasn't coming to the door because he was so sound asleep!! He crawled back into bed for his breakfast and gave a big stretch.

Then, we allowed one morning present before the day was off and running without us...

Here we go, things are starting to wake up -

Just right for an 8 year old boy!!

We are off, now, for the rest of his birthday surprise. We are taking the kids to a cabin to camp overnight and have a campfire, complete with hotdogs, s'mores and all the campfire songs you could imagine!! He (and his sisters) are going to be thrilled!! Until then... I'll go be "Joe at the Button Factory" or I'll be "Goin' on a Bear Hunt" or I'll be looking for "Four Chartreuse Buzzards Sitting in a Dead Tree." Who knows... maybe, just maybe I'll have a new song to sing.

Excuses, Excuses...

So, you're thinking that I HAVE to be doing something other than "just" educating my kids, right?

Ok. Ok. You are right. So, I am full of excuses! The couple weeks before I headed out to Illinois I spent some time at my sewing machine. Branch had a little friend from Nebraska have a birthday and I was behind a bit in getting her gift made and sent out. My friend from college (who was also the Maid of Honor at Pops' and my wedding) just had her third baby... her first boy - and I wanted to put a package together for their family, too.

So, I was busy busy sewing and trying to create a little love to send for some happy occasions. Wanna see what I did?!?!

Here is the birthday girl's apron with a set of measuring spoons and a wooden spoon. Hope you had a very happy birthday (a month ago) A.S.D.!! Enjoy your package that should arrive on Monday!

For the new baby, I made a hooded bath towel and a little hat. Dad likes to do a bit of hunting and the last towels that I made for the girls were SUPER girly, so I thought this time, camo and hunter orange were a nice touch. There is also a little soap holder for a bar of soap... mom might like the scented soap, and the little ribbon makes for a kid-friendly "soap on a rope"!

The girls in the house all were sent a jar... with an apron inside. I sure like the look of the glass canning jar, but when thinking about the ages of the recipients, decided some recycled plastic peanut butter jars were a better fit!

The label on this jar says "Mommy's Big Helper Apron" and is for her 4 year old daughter. The description gives plenty of good ideas for a four year old to help with.

This jar's label says "Mommy's Little Helper Apron" and is for her 2 1/2 year old daughter. There are a few suggestions for being a big help to mom for her age in the description.

I named this apron the "Etta Apron" and it is for mom. The label has washing instructions. I chose the name "Etta" because it means Home Leader or Ruler of the Home.

Branch was concerned that I didn't sew anything for the dad of the new baby. I asked if she thought he'd like a frilly apron, too! She shook her head no and said maybe I should sew him a tie!! Or maybe I should make some socks. Then she thought a little further and said, but our dad likes to save money and not spend it, so maybe you could send some diapers so that daddy doesn't have to buy them. Maybe he would like that! I am banking on the hope that he will like the thought I put into a hunting themed baby bath towel!! I am hoping that he will like a couple little girls who like to put on an apron to help their mom! I am hoping that he will like it when the new mom feels up to making a meal and throws on her new apron and they enjoy a delicious meal together. I wish I lived closer (they live outside of Kansas City, KS) so that I could deliver a hot homemade meal, too... But, it would definitely be cold and gross by the time it arrived! So, instead I will just stick with my "hopes" and cross my fingers that he didn't have his heart set on finding a new tie in that box!!!

The packages were shipped off yesterday and will arrive either Monday or Tuesday... I (and Branch) hope that the gift recipients love their surprise boxes!!!

I'll be back to show some other sewing projects soon. (Including a maternity skirt that my mom and I whipped up while I was in Illinois last week... I just have to finish the hem.)

Good Hair Days Can Really Fix It!

Yesterday, Blossom woke with a bit of a stuffy nose. I sent her to bed last night with a round of feel better meds. She woke this morning (blech, at 6:45 am!!) with a worse stuffy sound about her. She came and crawled into bed with me and was a weepy, crabby soul who was irritated (rightfully so!) at her stuffy head and nose.

I decided that there is just nothing quite like a steamy shower to help loosen that congestion up in the morning. So, into the shower she and I went! Of course, that in itself was a treat... a bit of water "play" with mom! I don't play much, but she likes to play while I try to wrangle her and try to get the bubbles all over her head and body! It didn't take long for another little girl to find her way to the bathroom and let me know that she, too, would like a shower! So, there we were, all three of us "ladies" showering in a TINY little shower!

We got out, dried off and all had our hair up in little turbans of sorts and the girls found their clothes and I found mine. It seemed as though Blossom was feeling better/less congested, but still had those not feeling her best eyes. I asked her if she would like to have her hair curled. She thought that sounded great and ran to get the "curler." But, she came back with a curling iron instead of a bag of sponge rollers! I sent her back to get the curlers and began putting them all in. (Sorry no photo of the blue curlers all over her head!) She left them in most of the morning and after doing some preschool work, we took out her rollers and WOWzers... What a head of curls she has!

She is quite proud of her good hair day. I think that even having to blow her nose every 10 minutes, she is feeling better by lookin' soooooooo good!