Oh where oh where has the blogger gone!

We have been so busy since Halloween. Mouthy monster is now 8. Monster High is the thing here now. At least it isn’t that suck up B**** Barbie… LOL! Teenage monster is now done with Band, for the year. They went to states and scored in the top 5! Very Proud of her. Picky monster went and got her physical yesterday as well as two shots. She is all set to go to the tryouts for bowling next week. I think she will make the team. Her running average for the league is 118. If she makes the team she will be getting a varsity jacket for her birthday in July.

I have been baking bread, knitting a scarf and finishing up Pride, Prejudice and Zombies. I would be remiss if I didn’t say that I had been spending a ton of time on Pinterest. I absolutely, love that place. I have so many pins. I just hope I will have time to follow up on most of them.

Here are few things that I wanted to share that I found. They are good for any time but with the holidays right around the corner, they are perfect!

Chocolate-dipped Peppermint Sticks

Give the Gift of a Homemade Spa Day

Free Mandala Printable Sheets

Yart

Merry Christmas

I hope that everyone was visited by Santa last night! I know the fat bugger came here... LOL! Grim's traps didn't work again this year though.... poor Grim he was so disappointed! One year he might catch Santa! The monsters got a ton of stuff! They are even going to be warm with the scarves that I was able to get done... and Grim's feet will be warm also (got the slippers done)! I am so happy that I was able to get everything knitted up. I guess that I am a knitter after all! LOL!

The monsters had a ton of fun on Yule. We decorated the gingerbread house that I bought (maybe I will try to make one next year....doubt it though ;o). And the oranges studded with cloves was a big hit. They loved making them for all the family and friends! We welcomed in the light of day.... (no sun just light). They thought that was a waste of good sleep time.... awe well they are young yet! But all in all they did have a good day and that is all that matters!

All that is left to do today is eat.... I cooked most of the meal last night! The turkey, bread, squash and pound cake are done. Veggies cut, potatoes peeled, ham rolls, potato & macaroni salads are made. The ham, kielbasa and heating everything back up is today's chore.

I was able to get peanut butter, toll house, M&M, and russian tea cookies made... all the rest will have to wait until another day. This was one of the most peaceful holiday season's that I have ever had. I even decided that I will be making orange inspired jelly this week since all of the citrus is in season. That way this jelly will make it into the gift bags next year!

I think the one thing that I do want for next year is a type of drink. Maybe ginger beer or something festive that everyone can drink... so no booze! Not everyone likes eggnog or mulled cider.

I am looking forward to this next week of relaxation. It's good to be the Queen... LOL! Tomorrow we are going to be watching all 3 of the Pirates of the Carribean.

Gotta Eat,
Yart

Winter Break

Finally, it has arrived! I am so happy! Two weeks that I don't have to get up and go out into the cold! And the monsters are happy, too! Well, this weekend is a busy one. I have a potluck Christmas party to attend at the Legion tonight, then at noon we have to take the monsters to the kids Christmas party at the post. They have a good time and last year they each got a gift certificate for Toy's R Us!

One Monday I have some activities planned for the monsters to do. They are going to adorn oranges with cloves and decorate a gingerbread house! I'm not sure yet what I will be cooking for dinner but I am sure that it will not be anything elaborate. We will make our wishes at night and then burn the wishes in a old ashtray. Then I will take them driving around looking at all the lights! Well, that will happen after I get back from working bingo..... I know, I know I signed up for it way before I payed any attention to the date.

Also on Monday we will begin making cookies for the season. I don't think that I will be making quite as many as I usually do. I want this year to be very peaceful! And for that to happen I don't need to get all stressed out by the prep work. I need to clean and cook and bake. Most of which I can handle. But with some of the expectations that I put on myself I get frazzled. Not this year, at least I am going to make a conscious effort.

I also want to thank Mother Moon! You are a very generous person. I received your gift in the mail today. I am so touched by your kindness. I absolutely love the bracelet. And the chocolate is a great indulgence! Thank you again so much!

If I don't make it back on here before Yule. I would like to wish each and everyone one of you a Blessed Yule!!

Gotta Run,
Yart

The walking is still going very well.

Blue Balls of Christmas

Here is a recipe I came up with.... I made them last year and everyone just loved them!



8oz cream cheese softened
food coloring (I use blue, hence the name)
1 tsp of almond extract
1 lb package of powdered sugar
1/2 cup of sugar

Combine cream cheese with enough food coloring to get the color you want. The add the powered sugar and white sugar. As you are mixing add almond extract. I used the medium size cookie scoop this time so I only ended up with just over 2 dozen. If you use a smaller scoop you will get a lot more. Once the balls are on the tray I put it in the freezer. Once they are frozen I put them into a zip lock freezer bag. Now they never come back out of the freezer. We eat them frozen. They are so yummmy!! Since they went so fast last year I'm not sure how long they will last

Lost Week

Where has the week gone... Lets see, Thursday I had my meeting at the legion. It went well. We were able to get a couple of things decided. And the meeting only lasted 50 minutes... That is with all of the pomp and circumstance. Woo Hoo! Left the post and picked up band monster from her last practice!

Friday, went to try and find a hobby lobby. One is being built in my area, but won't be open in time for Christmas. We couldn't find it. Better luck next time. I did go to Michael's and got 6 skeins of yarn. 2 for scarfs and the other 4 for hats. I finished the hat I was working on. But since my computer doesn't like my camera's new memory card I can't show you. Still working on that.

Saturday, hmmmmm! Oh, yeah.... LOL! We went to State finals. In our division we came in 6th place out of the entire state! And there were 10 teams preforming on Saturday. I think that we did really well. I guess last year we were in 7th at the end of finals. So we did better and the kids were so excited!

Sunday, just hung out at home. I did dehydrate the rest of the carrots and I had picked up some mushrooms on clearance so those went into the dehydrator as well! I finished hat #1. I am hoping to get some good pictures of all this stuff so that I can get it up on the etsy shop.

Monday, shredded the zucchini finally! I got 10 - 2 cup zip bags. That is enough to make 20 more loaves of bread. Now you see why I procrastinated on processing them.... It really didn't take long with the food processor. But the task was just really daunting. I worked bingo! Only a few more for this year. Then I'm taking January off. Yep, the whole month! Then when I go back in February, they are going to really train me on calling. They might as well, as I have 3 1/2 more years to do this. I also started hat #2 and scarf #1. I also signed up today to do the Domestic Witch's Home 'Crafted Holidays. If you would like to sign up you can by going here... but hurry as I don't know when the cut off date is.

Tuesday, went and did my first mystery shopping job. I will get paid $10 and upto $2 reimbursement. It was very easy to do. The forms I had to fill out once I got home took longer then the job did... LOL! I was so pumped from doing that I made 4 loaves of bread and a peach cobbler. Yep, food and money go hand in hand for me... Plus, since I had to buy something in the store I picked up something for the monsters for lunches and they are going to pay me back... How kewl is that!

Today, so far I haven't gotten a lot done. I worked a bit on the hat. I got 2 heads of cabbage shredded. It is sitting in the salt right now. I smashed it down but I am letting the salt do it's job. In a bit I will go back and smash it down again and see if it needs anything else. Hopefully, this batch turns out. It should, today was the first time I have had icy build up on the car this season.

Gotta Run,
Yart

The end

I am always saddened by the end of October. Most of the leaves are down now and snow and cold are just around the corner. I know they are always just around the corner. But now that Halloween is over.... Well, anyways! The monsters had a ton of fun last night. It was a brisk night, but the full moon guided our way and scent of balefires filled the night air. I love Halloweens like last night. They remind me of when I was a little monster!

I have put up The Soccer Mom's to Wicca button for "31 days of Yule daily contest" Button. I can't wait. It I have the luck that I had with the October giveaways then I will be very happy indeed. And if not, then I will have kept myself busy, having fun entering into all the contests.

I need to get working on making things for Christmas/Yule! Next week we are done with Band for this year.... So I will be making cookies and freezing them. The monsters today started putting in requests for their favorites. I have a ton of preserves already to go into baskets with the baked goods. I have the zucchini bread made. I need to make cherry nut bread. Oh, and the nuts should be showing up in the stores soon. Last year I paid $1.98 a pound for unshelled walnuts. I will do this again this year and shell them. I saved a ton of money and once they are shelled they go into the freezer so I have them when I need them. Last year we did almost 10 pounds and I used them in everything all year. I like having that type of staple on hand.

I started to knit a hat. I got all twisted around so I had to frog it. I went to talk to my knitting teacher and she was able to set me straight on it. And she also showed me how to lock in the last stitch on the casting on row. Good thing she did cause what I did was completely wrong... LOL! I can't wait to get back on to that project I think that making a hat and knitting in the round will be great fun.

Oh, and I can't forget. We have a birthday today.... Mouthy monster is 6 today! She will keep the name Mouthy, just change the age. She wanted cheeseburger helper for dinner and homemade chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Needless, to say she was very happy with the day that she had!

Gotta Run,
Yart

Thursday Afternoon

I have been busy trying to get stuff done. Yesterday I made the weekly bread. Good thing to, cause tonight I want to make grilled cheese and soup. It is still in the 60's after our little bout with Indian Summer yesterday. But the chill is starting to set in the basement as I type. I think I am going to look into getting electric baseboard heaters. Since we live in a town that makes its own electicity it is way cheaper then heating with gas. Once we can get the basement dug out so that it doesn't leak anymore, we will be able to finish it the right way. But until then it gets fricking cold down here.

Tonight after dinner, when I get back from dropping the band monster off, I have a new recipe to try. It is thanks to The Vintage Sage, she posted the Pumpkin Bread with Chocolate Chip recipe. It looks like it is going to be a family favorite! Then hopefully, this weekend I am going to have the monsters help to make a whole slew of items that I found over at Cat In The Moon. She posted 3 yummy recipes that I just am dying (LOL!) to try! Homemade Marshmallows, S'Mores Hot Chocolate With Graham Crackers, Pumpkin Whoopie Pies Oh, and before you get to the recipes you get to read a ghost story... It is very fascinating! Considering that it could be true...

I have one slipper done! And I'm half way done with the second one. By tonight I should have my feet in Handmade Slippers! Then I need to adapt the pattern to fit Grim's foot. He had picked out the yarn about a month ago. He has been patient waiting for mine to get done first. Remember the orange and varegated yarn I was telling you about I am going to make a hat. Well, maybe two if I can stretch the 2 skeins. It should work. They will be mirror images. That's if I get to it.

I have been looking on line at different activities for gift giving this year. I know, but we only have a short time for those of us who either procrastinated or didn't have cash until the last minute. I have seen what is being called a recycled Christmas/Yule. Where everything is bought at Salvation Army, Goodwill, yard sales or from a charity (Humane Society). I have already picked up a couple of things. My MIL is done (yard sale find), the monsters have a couple things I've picked up so far (yard sale finds), Grim will get new ( Just because I can't buy his gift used), my mom will get ?, she has enough stuff now, maybe a gift card. With my mom that's not a copout either. There is a Goodwill in another town I might try to take a trip to and see what they have.

Well, I've rambled enough!

Gotta Run,
Yart