Seizing My Day

hold on a sec….

just need to draw a name out of the hat…

MERLIN!!!  ………

Abby and Sammy wanted to do that!!

Bad Dog!!

(sorry about the blurry picture… I wasn’t exactly planning on taking that picture!!)

OK… now that I have gained control of my laughter!

The winner is……..

right there in Sammy’s little fingers…

don’t worry he is visually impaired…

and the papers are folded up ….

and he is still learning to read anyways…

not that he even CARES who wins!!

*cough*

so easily distracted I am…

ta da!

Wonder whose name is on that little piece of paper???

…………………………

Mommy he is trying to read it!!!

I am supposed to read it!!

Give it to me Sammy…

(keeping it real folks!)

um…

comment number 68…

Ta Da!!

Congratulations Alison  @ From This Front Porch !!!

Lucky gal!!

To the rest of my fabulous readers ~  Sorry Charlie!  =)

Really I wish I could give all 74 of you that entered a book!  ~ but I can’t!

Speaking of Charlie!  I love Charlie!!  PW’s Basset Hound!

Ain’t he just the cutest dog this side of the Mississippi?!!

Wait… then Merlin wouldn’t be the cutest dog this side of the Mississippi!  =)

Oh anyway!     There ya go folks……..

The Lucky winner of My First Giveaway !!

It was a very very yummy week ~

and I am not going to open my PW Cookbook  again for a while…

well…   a couple hours anyway!!

WHAT !!?!!

I need NEED to make those Angel Sugar Cookies for my little Girl Scout today!

She is Leading the meeting today … on Pet Care!

She loves animals…  but she hates being the speaker…

Pray for her courage today!!  =)

Anyway ~

Snack is PW Angel Sugar Cookies cut into little dog bone shapes!

Hope the dough works with a cookie cutter!

What am I still doing here…… I have SO much to do!!

because when your little girl leads the meeting…

so do you.

=)

Is it Friday yet??

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sorry Sasha ~ Iny’s Prune Cake isn’t exactly super high on my cooking list!!  =)

My Insane tactics for a Giveaway is nearly at its end!!

Click HERE to enter for  a signed copy of one of these!!

after you read my post of course!!

Only 14 hours and 2 recipes to go!!

(ending 2 hours early folks!  sorry but I am whipped!)

10 pm tonight I NEED to lay this madness to rest..

and start putting your names in the hat!

ok ~ so I might put them in the hat early if you have entered already!

but those of you who are new, visiting or late bloomers… still have until 10 pm!!

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Yesterday was crazy busy ~ as will today be ~

My little lady ~ Abby is the speaker at Girl Scouts this week!

Pet Care planning has been taking place all week!  =)

What was I thinking?!  ending a Giveaway on the same day

I thrive on deadlines and madness!

anyway ~  last night I made these ~ because I said I would make one recipe a day! =)

scones are easy enough right?!~

Like I said ~ last night ~ end of a tiring day ~ what was I thinking?!

Mixed the dry ingredients~

Mixed the wet ingredients ~

Poured the wet into the dry ~ stirring ~

WAIT!!

I forgot to blend the dry ingredients into the butter!!!  NO!!

So I did what any respectable woman would do in a baking crisis …

Yep!  I pulled out the cheese grater!

the “dough” was stiff

I could not blend the butter in with my trusty pastry blender

I tried!  =)

I needed to make the butter small…

like the little balls you get while using your pastry blender when you do it correctly!

Magic!

Brilliant!

but the pastry blender did not do the trick even with grated butter!

the dough was tough !

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

no worries…

off go the wedding rings…

in go the hands!

Worked like a charm with that cheese grated butter!

The dough turned out lovely !  Looks perfect doesn’t it?!

but will it taste ok!??  gulp!

I added raw sugar to the top to “help” the taste.. just in case!

They looked good when they came out of the oven…

resist temptation ~ don’t taste until they cool and have icing!!!

maybe I didn’t resist ~ Maybe it was FEAR!

put kids to bed ..

make yummy maple coffee flavored icing…

Taste…

YUM! …

I may have Said really loud

“I LOVE THE PIONEER WOMAN”

at which time my husband comes to taste the sugary goodness!

Success!

the hubby thinks they were a little dry …

but my picky eaters loved them!!

anyone want to try one and tell me the truth?!!

whew!

feeling proud of my panic stricken cheese grated butter moment! =)

I might try that when making the vanilla bean scones again…

have you found those on her website?

www.thepioneerwoman.com

to die for!!  yum!

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OK ~ So ~  This week I have cooked:

Page  58 ~ Marmalade Muffins    (w/ blueberries)

Page  76  ~ Edna Mae’s Sour Cream Pancakes (oh my word)

Page  96 ~ Macaroni and Cheese

Page 128 ~ the Perfect Pie Crust

Page 126 ~ Chicken Pot Pie

Page 212 ~ Blackberry Cobbler (yum)

Page 120 ~ Perfect Pot Roast (heavenly)

Page 68 ~ Maple Pecan Scones (tasty!)

Today I hope to make the Angel Sugar Cookies again ~ made those the day of the book signing ~ the BEST darn sugar cookie you could ever EVER eat!  =)  We are going to try ~ TRY to cut them into BONE shaped cookies for the snack on Pet Care day at Girl Scouts tomorrow!!  =)

I might even make those yummy lookin Comfort Meatballs… because folks… I need comfort food one more day before I go on a salad only diet next week!!

I love love LOVE PW cooking ~

but a girl has to watch her butter intake when she has high cholesterol!   =)

Must go walk the pooch ~ the naughty cat chasing, monkey pot holder eating Dog of mine ~ before my busy day starts racing!  a tired puppy is a good puppy!!  =)  so I keep saying… one day it might come true!!

yes ~ he is actually howling at her ~ poor kitty ~

after he chased her, pinned her to the ground and tried to eat her!

CatchasingMonkeyPotHolderEatingNaughtyPuppy!

who me?

uh-oh!  Gotta go!

Come back you…

Couchcirlingmonkeypotholdereatingnaughtypuppy!

Mine ~ no Mine ~ NO MINE !!

My personal challenge!

I am afraid of cooking RED meat!

yep!

When I was little I hated  most meat  dishes…

I always traded my meat for my sisters veggies ~

except lima beans of course!

But my mom used to make a melt in your mouth Roast ~ yum!

The one meat dish I remember enjoying as a child!

My mom passed away before I took an interest in cooking her perfect roast.

Though it is not the most important…

it is one of many things I wish I could go back in time and ask her about.

Seize the Day folks!  =)

anywho… the Roast…

Today I opened Ree’s cookbook and I followed her Perfect Pot Roast recipe!

See…

I might have added a little red wine to her recipe!  =)

The house smelled heavenly All. Day. Long.

And this baby… melted in my mouth!

It IS in fact…

The .  Perfect .  Pot Roast.

My ENTIRE family LOVED it…

Loved it!

I have picky eaters in my house!  =)

Bless You Ree!!!

and because I was still feeling like Super Woman…

I whipped up this too…

I am sorry..

I am having fun with this ONE week of sinful cooking!  =)

next week it is back to spinach smoothies!  promise!

This Berry cobbler was SO quick and easy …

After putting together a fairly quick roast dish…

and a fairly quick berry cobbler…

and well…

watching the wind bend our trees nearly in half…

and watching branches fall off these big trees… yikes!

I am just saying…

they are Really close to my house…

and with strong winds like today…

SCARY!   (ok… and exciting!!)

We filled our bellies with tasty melt in your mouth pot roast …

and Berry Cobbler with Tillamook Vanilla Bean ice cream…

2 Amazing Recipes from Ree Drummonds ~ The Pioneer Woman Cooks!

Need I say more?!

One. Happy. Family.

If you don’t Win This Cookbook from me on Thursday ~

it is WELL worth the investment!!

Can I say it again ~

Bless You Ree!

This chick is having fun cooking this week ~

before kids ~ I cooked  a whole lot more than I do now!

Perhaps after the giveaway ~

I will start pulling out my old recipes and really start cookin again!

This chick lost her loving feeling…

for cooking that is…

with the  kids, medical stuff, home schooling, picky eaters!!

……….

Blogging is inspiring me to find those things…

Those things that I love doing!  =)

Blog Blessings!   Amen.

Only 3 more sleeps until One of y’all wins  a signed copy of  THIS:

I love reading along with Ree Drummond on The Pioneer Woman . com

She is hysterical, funny, witty, a character (wait do those all mean the same thing?)  She is a city girl who feel in love with a cowboy and has been living on a working ranch ever since.  She has been blogging since 2006.. about… Cooking, Home schooling, Photography, Home and Garden, funny Confessions ~ endless entertainment!

She is an inspiration to this blogger!

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In honor of my giveaway

I promised I to cook and post at least one temptation recipe per day

from my signed copy until the giveaway!

don’t worry about my health ~ I am exercising more this week too!  =)

I ran the middles school track a couple times this weekend ~

my body does NOT like running ~ oh my hips, knees, my back!

I need to invest in a bicycle ~  my joints will thank me!

Our weekend was busy busy ~ but that is all for another post! ~

Food ~ think Food Jenn ~ Food!

You saw the Pancakes from Saturday morning ~

Dinner Saturday night was PW Mac and Cheese …

first I made the sauce…

and combined it with shells …

viola!

Homemade Mac and Cheese … right out of my Pioneer Woman cookbook!

delish!

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Sunday after a busy busy day again ~ I made this ~

and put it in the fridge while I boiled and chopped this…

before I added it to this…

Stop right here… SMELL…

oh. my. word!

I may have eaten a little, well some…

OK .. A LOT of this …

you don’t even want to know how many “test” spoons I went through!

*cough*

The final product…

if for one minute you think …

“my chicken pot pie recipe calls for potatoes….maybe….”

DON’T act on it!!!  just don’t.  I am just saying. don’t.

because though it was tasty…

the juices might disappear into those potatoes you thought about adding…

and those darn potatoes might make your Chicken pot pie a little dry…

sometimes it is really stupid to deviate!  I am just saying.

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Back up about 11 minutes and 33 seconds…

while the chicken pot pie is baking…

and you are beginning to feel like Super Woman…

since you managed to clean the HUGE mess you generated while making the pie

in the first 11 minutes while it was baking…

and your kitchen now has clean counters…

Go ahead…

pull out the fixins for your favorite Banana bread…

you can do it you ARE  Super Woman !

Quick …

whip up your tasty banana bread batter!

and if you are out of mini chocolate chips…

don’t worry…

pull out this…

eat one piece…

and then get out your BIG knife…

easy sneezy!

add it too your batter…

and bake into these!!   oh. yum.

I may or may not have “added” 1 tbsp of molasses …

just for “kicks”.. .

I WAS feeling like Super Woman last night! =)

and

this morning…

I whipped up some homemade whipping cream …

and put it on the sliced loaf…

and my little people had a delicious breakfast…

I have not gone off the deep end…

Don’t send help… this won’t last… Super Mom will loose steam!

OK.. so before I sign off today… I am just going to say …

A HUGE wind storm is whipping through Olympia WA right now…

tomorrow they expect heavy rains, wind and lightening…

why do you need to know this??

It may or may not cause a power outage… no no no!

which may or may not affect my Giveaway!!   yikes!  =)

Pray our power stays on…

and more importantly …

Please Pray that none of our huge trees fall… the ones sitting just 30 – 40 feet away from our main living area in the house… and my bedroom!  Pray that they withstand the wind… and that they stay in the ground!  standing. tall.  yikes!  (the not so perks of living ON the greenbelt!)

I might need to sleep with my kids tonight!

they might be scared!  THEY really might! =)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now if you will excuse me… I have some cookin to do!!

before I loose power!  =)

Jenn~

from Ree Drummond’s cookbook… page 76 to be exact..

You will never again use a pancake “mix” out of a bag …

in your life…

EVER!

Just saying!    (unless you are camping at the beach of course)

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I love love love this cookbook!  No one is paying me to say this!!

I am happily promoting the cookbook b/c I am sure I have died and gone to heaven with all these YUMMY new recipes to try!

and with pictures to boot.. right up my  alley!

what happened to alley’s anyway?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OK ~ Day 2 of PW cooking… or the morning of day 2 anyway!  =)

I started with these ingredients ~

I might have added something that wasn’t listed in the ingredients!

I do that… being the rule breaker that I am…

then I added this mixture…

and stirred them together…….

into this

Yep the bowl changed… I made two batches this morning!

forgot to take a picture of this step with batch one!  =)

Speaking of pictures… when I was taking the pictures…

I may have gotten distracted and taken a picture of these…

Do you feel neglected feet?

your polish is looking a little worn…

you are cold.

and don’t get much arch support.

i know…

sorry.

*cough, cough *

then I  prepped the pan…

which I bought at Ross in March.. for $5.

it has hearts on the bottom…

who buys valentines day pans ?!

apparently me! only b/c  it was marked down!

I miss my old cast iron pan…

I don’t want to talk about it!

Pancakes.. I am talking about the most amazing pancakes!

I may have deviated from the recipe again

and added those baby chocolate chips…

its a Saturday tradition in our house…

I can’t break Saturday traditions!  =)

On a side note:   My little man had his first sleepover yesterday…

where it was just HIS friend sleeping over…

and I failed… FAILED…

to take even one picture of them!!

What is wrong with me?

forgive me Sammy!

anyhow.. this is what their breakfast looked like!  =)

too much maple syrup I think!  oops!

really my kids hate too much…

a little goes a long way!

Really ~ they do hate too much!

I swear!

While I was fryin up those yummy delicious pancakes..

I noticed these on the counter…

and I thought I could do a few reps

while watching my pancakes burn

I mean cook!

OK ~ so I did burn ONE pancake this morning…

but not while I was weightlifting …

(ah ha ha ha)

it was while I was distracted by this computer genius!

aka Mr. McFunny, Mr. McGeek, Mr. McVoices, Mr. McSilly …

do you watch NCIS??  so funny… we love how they pick on the techy guy …

by calling him McGoo or McGeek… ah….. light bulb moment!

anyway.. MY Mr. McGeek captured my eye lens for a minute

and I burned his pancake!

don’t let that sweet smirky smile fool ya…

(or the bad lighting)

I had to work it out of him…

which is why I burned his pancake!

Mr. McStubborn!   =)

NOW ~  I am going to spend the rest of my Saturday washing these…

and these…..

I grew up eating on plates EXACTLY like these ones…

with the sweet little green flowers …

found those treasures at our local goodwill…

in GREAT shape!

oh, the childhood memories of canned and boxed dinners eaten off those plates!  Canned Chinese food comes to mind first!  =)

and I made pancakes in this Corelle bowl as a child…

just like I did today… =)

sweet memories!

and I drained pasta in an ugly green colander like this old one

which actually belonged to  my in-laws

which we  inherited …

I really do want a new one…

but ….  even though that one wasn’t mine…

it reminds me of my mom… who is no longer with us.

Drifting thoughts today!

is that really how you spell colander anyway??

anywho~  much to do ~

scrubbing, cleaning, throwing away papers, organizing, looking at my new blog magazine, walking the dog, kids to play with and feed, weeding, toys to pick up, parties to attend, cards to fill out and presents to wrap!  blogs t read!

ah!!!  well… anyway..

I love listening to these as I scrub and clean … and ‘stuff’ …

They make the sweetest sounds…

while blowing in the wind…

I love wind chimes!

One of my favorite pressies from my man!

Sweet sweet sounds!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Tomorrow I will try to post my dinner from tonight!!

from page 172

or page 110

well… maybe page 126!

Oh the possibilities!

Don’t forget to go and enter my giveaway for Ree Drummonds fabulous cookbook!  signed cookbook that is!!  =)

ta ta ~  Jenn ~

PS  I purposely did not post the recipe b/c that would be wrong of me to give away all Ree’s secret recipes!!  besides… if you don’t win the copy I am giving away… it is worth every penny to buy the book!!  no joke!   Love it love it!

I need to add running and weightlifting to my “to do list today”!!  ha ha!

She will bake….

First she will find a recipe that she is craving that minute

and she will cream butter and sugar together…

then she will crack an egg into it….

while her lovely 9 year old snaps a picture

(in action mode of course)

Then she will sift flour into the bowl…

and accidentally get some on the handle ….

of her secret baking weapon  =)

works better than a spoon!

She might change one ingredient….

because her kids don’t love marmalade …

blueberries are nice in muffins…

sorry PW!

then she will put vinegar in milk…

since she doesn’t have butter milk…

and pour it in…

while her brilliant 9 year old snaps another action shot!

the mom likes the daughter helping take the action shots…

The mom pulls out her Wilton baking cups

since she doesn’t have a muffin tin…

and she uses PAM in them…

Then she fills the cups 1/2 full..

and places blueberries on top…

that look like eyes and a nose…

no room for a smile folks…

Her hand will look like this…

she might lick it before she washes it…

and resumes baking…

Then she will add more batter

and blueberries…

Since she has extra batter…

she will use the butter wrappers to grease a small cake pan…

She thinks she is pretty clever using those butter wrappers…

Then because the mom is silly…

she will make a happyface in the batter…

she does that sort of thing…

Remember the muffin post … (go here to see what I mean)

and those of you who were asking for the banana zucchini muffin mix…

should definitely click there

(after you comment here of course)!  =)

Then the mom will finish placing blueberries

and sugar on top the batter… yum!

The mom smells yummy muffins in the oven…

mmmmmmmmmmm…

A few minutes later …

the mom with the Pioneer Woman cookbook will give those tasty muffins to her young…

and they will eat breakfast.

happily.

Then the mom might take her daughter to school…

and her son to “uncle Peters” house

because he is like grandpa to her kids…

and She might…

Maybe…

Go Junk Shopping with “Auntie Margaret”…

after she clicks publish.

The mom might go by the name ~Jenn~ when she is not called Mommy…

the end.

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In honor of my giveaway ~  the Signed copy of The Pioneer Woman Cooks ~

I am going to post a recipe from her cookbook every day from now until the giveaway closes next Wed. at 12 Midnight Pacific Coast time!  =)

However, I am not going to reveal the measurements of her recipes!!

that would be rude… right?

I highly recommend you all go buy a copy… after you put your name in for my giveaway and wait to see if you win!!  =)

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the Junk store just called … I am late!

Remember the day I went to get this signed?

April 17 ~ Seattle ~ Third Place Books ~ group E ~ 7:00 – 8:00 pm

I love love love my Pioneer Woman cookbook !

Ree Drummond likes to cook with pictures and butter

I love that about the P-Dub !

Ree Drummond is The Pioneer Woman ~ you all know that right!?~

Ree started blogging in 2006 ~

I started blogging 77 days ago!

I think it took less than a week for me to realize that

EVERYONE in blog land talked about the Pioneer Woman~

So I went to investigate ~ naturally ~ and I found out that

Ree Drummond is hysterical !

and you all know ~ I love to laugh ~ with tears streaming down my face!

I crave laughter like that!

if you have never visited The Pioneer Woman’s blog ~

What is wrong with you?!

Did I say that outloud?

Sorry~ I can’t help myself sometimes!  =)

Really ~ if you have never been on her blog ~ Go now ~

www.thepioneerwoman.com

You will not regret it!

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Oh …

My Giveaway ~ right!

While I was having MY cookbook signed here

see ~ me and Ree ~

at which time I was a total dork *cough*

Do you see there are actually 2 cookbooks sitting there with me and Ree?

I know I know that is NOT proper grammar ~ but it rhymes!

*ahem*

Do you see she is talking to me for  a few seconds there…

she just read the ‘hint’ for whom she should sign the book

and turned to tell me I was sweet (I think ~ remember I was a bit starstuttered)

This is what I asked her to write…

Can you read her writing?

Surprise!

WHAT? ~ you figured it out already!?!  fine.

This is what you will get if you win!!!

SO ~ I suppose this is the part where I tell you the rules ~

oh no !

Rules.

You know about me and rules.

But, I do obey some rules.

the important ones.

Like if I really really wanted to win a signed copy of Ree’s cookbook!

=)  wink wink

So ~ My giveaway is only open to USA and Canada ~ I am sorry!

This one is completely out of my pocket folks!

and these pockets are not deep!

Here is what I came up with.

I like the number 3 ~

SO you will have 3 chances to win.

1.   Follow  Seizing My Day via Google Connect ~

and leave me a comment telling me you are a follower.

If you are already following ~ easy sneezy ~ just leave the comment love =)!

2.  Blog about My Giveaway

and then come back and leave me a comment

on this post with the URL so I can come read it!

3. Go visit The Pioneer Woman

and Leave her a comment in her cooking section ~

tell her you are trying to win her cookbook on my blog!

Of course, you need to come back and tell me what number in her comments you are (like  Cinnamon Toast Post # 735) ~

that cracked me up!!  😉

I might go check!

Then I will put your name in the hat again!

Her cooking post right now (midnight) is  about Cinnamon Toast ~ hysterical as always!  I was commenter number 800 and something!   I love that gal for makin me laugh so darn much!

The hat ~ Yep ~ I am doing this the old fashioned way ~

and this little cowgirl is going to be my assistant

OK ~ she really isn’t a cowgirl ~

but she did have a Horse themed birthday party 2 years ago ~

and her mommy DID teach them all the Achy Breaky Heart Dance !

while the little cuties wore the little white hats!

*ahem*

I hope that I don’t end up with 37,000 entries!  =)

This is in fact My first Ever Giveaway ~

Shall I give y’all a week to enter?!

I love the number 7 also~

yep ~ 7 days ~

So I will announce the winner Next Thursday ~ on the 8th day ~

I am real good at this giveaway stuff ~ shall I do this for a living?

ha ha!

Maybe I shouldn’t quit my day job!

it is really late ~ and I have been on the phone a LOT this week ~

I’ll  splain later!  but that means

I am not getting much done this week!  ugh!

Like reading your blogs!

So I am just sayin ~ hope I said everything I need to say!

and today all day … in my spare time… I am going to visit y’all!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This has nothing to do with my giveaway ~ but

My little man and I were on a flower/plant/tree exploring adventure today~

and this caught my eye

so I snapped a picture

and now I realize He or She fits right in really ~

If you know the P-Dub ~

you know exactly why this little happy tail wagger

fits into my PW Giveaway!

Sorry folks ~ the dog will not come with the cookbook!

Oh ~ please please make sure your blog name/url is connected to your comments!  A few of my regular commenting friends blogs never show up in the comments ~ while others do ~  why is that?!

So as you some of you know ~ I home school my little boy ~

he sees the world with 20/200 vision ~

where as the rest of us view the world at 20/20.

He is a  Delightful little man, I enjoy spending my days with him!

and ~ some areas of schooling are challenging for us both..

however,

the sky is the limit when it comes to projects!

Projects can be created to suit his vision with little to no challenges!

unlike math, reading and well… sports!  ugh!

SO~

I love this current project involving the mailman!!  =)

It all started with a map.

Learning the fun facts about each state

and coloring the State worksheets

and locating the States on this great map is fun and all…

But then…

I found this little article in my Dec/Jan Family Fun Magazine…

about a post card project…

collecting postcards from family, friends, connections from all over the USA!

How cool is that!!

Not only did I love love the idea ~

I had to take it one step further

b/c I like to complicate things a little!

So I did this……….

this is the best part

I love love this part !  =)

YES… Canada is a lot smaller than the US…

you see…

I enlarged the USA one day…

at a public school program for home schooled kids …

another story for another day!

anywho…

I went back the next day to enlarge Canada …

without measuring the width of the USA…

oops!

*sigh*

ah well ~ on the humor side ~ I came home that day announcing

“honey I blew up Canada today”

* ahem*  oops that sounded wrong!!

um… I enlarged Canada today!!

anywho…

We would love love your help with this project!!

you see…

I posted on Facebook and asked family and friends to help out…

and we have had some great postcards  come in!

But not nearly as many as we had hoped!!

sniff!  we are very shy of our goal!

We would love to collect All 50 states, All Provinces and one from each continent!

Oh… in the Family Fun mag… they did NOT enlarge the countries…

Making a giant map was my spin on the project!

I figured it would be exciting to fill the map!!

and the kids LOVE it ~ yay!  =)

Though I only home school Sammy ~

both he and Abby LOVE getting the postcards in the mail

and reading the fun facts about each state

that our friends or family have written about on the back of each one!

Here is a closer look at where post cards have arrived from already

Mexico, Holland, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Israel, England, Dubai and India…

I have a couple friends who travel  a lot!!  =)

Thank you Derek, Amy and Auntie Margaret and Uncle Peter!!

British Columbia and Alberta from Canada so far …

Thank you grandma & grandpa and the Morris Family!!

Washington not pictured… ahem… we live in Wa!!  ha ha!

I did finally put it up after this picture!

Oregon, California, Nevada, Wyoming, Texas, Minnesota, Michigan and Colorado…

Thank you Jer, The Berbells, Aunt Linda, Jon & Barb, Jane and The Messings!

SO  ~  How can you help?!   Thanks for asking!!

If your state is not listed above…

could you, would you, with a stamp,

Help our postman fill our map??!!

(ok ok I know that didn’t completely rhyme… but it was clever… no?  yes?  =)

Now ~ I am a mom ~

I have been known to BRIBE when I really really want something done!

remember I have like 300 of these?

Sammy and I actually picked these babies today ~ before the rain!  =)

anyway…

I am happy to send one or two 4 leaf clovers

to each person who sends my babies a State  postcard!

only one of each state though ~ we will have to play a game!

there is one teensy tiny request…

We would love love to have the Name of your State on the front of the Postcard!

and fun facts about your city or state

(other than the capital or state bird … we got that covered!)

anyone?   Beuler?! Beuler?  (spelling?)

So ~ if your state is already listed above ~ you are already out of the game

I am sorry!! =)

(which automatically axes like 50 % of my readers  as I am sure most of you all are from Sunny California!! )

But ~ if you do not see your state, province or country listed under each map ~

Please please comment ~ with the name of your state!~

First willing soul to comment from each state wins the clover!

I will connect with the winner via email to seal the deal!

My kids will happily fill out either a postcard for your kids…

with a 4 leaf clover attached to it!!  or just a clover!  your choice!!

Please  consider helping Mr. Mailman bring us a Postcard from your State!

I am sorry to those of you whose states we already have!!

In time ~

I will come up with other clever ways for ya all to win lucky 4 leaf clover from our crop!

Bless You All for reading my madness ~

and coming back to laugh at with me

or cry with me

or be crafty or clever with me

or just be with me!

one more sleep until my giveaway!

yikes!

OH ~  I will also do a weekly shout outs with my updated map!!

for those lovely kind folks who send us a postcard!! =)

Yep… you guessed it…

no first ever Seizing My Day giveaway today…

(buzzard!)

I am sorry!!

PLEASE forgive me?!!

It  IS  worth all this suspense !!

I think…

Apparently I had Lofty goals for a weekend home alone

with the kids

and

the dog…

so I guess I wasn’t alone…

I was just missing the hubby…  =)

I DID feed my children

and clean a bit of my house ~ with bleach

I did sort some laundry

and clean my floors

nope ~ no sir ~  not mopping

just sweeping and vacuuming

I did attended a soccer game ~ my little girls team won again!!

go Cheetahs!

I did pay a bill or two

and chat on the phone with 2 friends I have not talked to in a long time

I did read a few blogs

and do a little home school project updating

I did help little girl with an upcoming Girl Scout project

and wash a couple loads of dishes

Have I ever mentioned I hate the “house wife” part of the stay home mommy job!  =)

I DID WEAR the DOG out ~

4 trips to the local school yard in 2 days

and I did bake warm banana zucchini muffins just now so the house smells like baking when Mr. McGeek gets home …

whew ~ I am tired!

I think I wore the mommy out too!

Anywho ~ yep ~ I said anywho it is  one of my pretend words!

How does Wednesday sound for my giveaway?!!

tease, tease, tease…

I will say this…

it IS something to do with my day in Seattle…

remember the day I met Ree?!!  (wink, wink)

can you believe I am going to post without a photo??!

what is wrong with me?!

=)

*cough*

if you will excuse me …

I need to go figure out how to get that random generator thing on my blog so I can do my exciting give away on Wednesday!!  =)

y’all come back now ya hear!

While you are baking breakfast cookies for your man

To take with him on HIS weekend away

from you.. (I am just sayin)

So he can go to his annual Linux Fest computer “geek genius” conference

not that you want to reward your man for leaving you home alone for the weekend

with 2 kids and that dog

whom you will have to take out into the scary back yard to pee

late at night

by yourself

when there are monsters out there

I am just saying…

If you leave the cupboard door open

while you are baking

and you stop to take a picture of the ingredients you are using

because you are a blogger

and that is what you do

THIS might happen…

with the cupboard door open

while you are taking a picture

since I had my camera in my hand

I snapped a picture

before I started laughing!

then I I tried to get the flour bag out of his mouth

BAD dog!

I had visions of white flour all over my carpet

Come Merlin!

Stop runing around my living room with that flour in your mouth Merlin..

IF YOU LEAVE THE CUPBOARD DOOR OPEN WHILE BAKING…

Your husband might come home to you kneeling on the floor

in a tug of war position…

with your camera still in your hand

trying to get the flour out of your dogs mouth

and get a picture at the same time

all the while laughing

with tears streaming down your face…

every time I got the bag away he jumped at me

and got it again!

I was not exactly helping

with the laughing and all

anyway…

I got it…

after my hubby witnessed the madness

Whew!

NO white flour all over my floor!

just one little “nip” on my hand!

I was NOT playing Merlin!

I don’t care if I was laughing…

I mean it!

Now what do you want??!

Go away dog!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and then there was Sammy…

waiting

watching

smelling

Notice the time on the clock way back there

behind Sammy!

=)  yep

sometimes I bake at 9:15 pm

apparently!

With dog and child underfoot

I finally managed to finish these!

Yum!  Except in all the chaos I forgot to put the raisins in..

the recipe does not call for raisins, pecans, or craisins

or flax meal

but sometimes I add them anyway

=)

want the recipe!??

Can you read that?  =)

OK

I have a date today…

while my hubby is away

With the mountain of laundry in my bedroom

and the soccer field

and the bleach

the toilets

the sinks

the floors

Never mind the weeding

or the painting I need to finish in the bathroom

and the kitchen!!

if only…

and then there is the

Exciting First Ever Give Away ~ on Seizing My Day!

that may or may not have something to do with my trip last weekend to see P-Dub! =)

I am hopeful for Monday folks…

hopeful! =)

y’all come back now y’hear!