Where has Rhonda been? long and rambling post here to catch up

Just a little busy.

baby Andie stayed with us for 10 days while her parents went to Sturgis. 

My parents came and stayed with us too so they could have some extended time with their great grands.

One of my brothers visited 2 different days and brought his girlfriend.

My other brother came too,  he stayed 2 days and brought his dog.  

Our children all came over too as much as they could.  

It was lots of fun but I was busy with meals for everyone and Baby Andie did not sleep quite as good here as she does at home.  

 

The grands are all doing great!
Little Andie is 5 months and looks big and is strong for her age.  
She certainly does not look like a premmie anymore.

Braeden just had his 1 month birthday and has grown from about 7 pounds to almost 10 pounds.  
I am very thankful for these 4 healthy, thriving and sweet children.  

National Smores Day 

It was National Smores Day last week so John and Nina brought the ingredients and prepared Smores Cookies that day.  They are a Pinterest recipe (of course!)  have a graham cracker crust that bakes and is topped with a marshmallow and chocolate.  

 They are delicious! 

 But a little hard to remove from the pan.  Next time,  I think they will use paper cup liners in the mini cupcake pans.  

The Heat!  

It has been another HOT record breaking summer.  

We had a stretch of about 7 days with temps over 110 -there were lots of fires in our state,  

one very bad one was just 1.5 miles from our home

We still need rain but are thankful the weather is cooler for now.

You may of seen this photo taken in my town,  

saying that it is so hot here, 

that the streetlights are melting.

Well,  it has been really hot but not that hot.

This streetlight melted because it was right beside a dumpster that caught fire,

 not because of the hot weather.

Funny "journalists" , huh?

Feeding everyone

It was too hot to turn on the oven so I used my crockpots most evenings for supper.

I have a 3 quart and a 5 quart crockpot. 

I made baked potatoes in one of them twice.

One meal was salsa chicken.

Another meal was a beef roast.

Also beef stroganoff type dish served on rice.

The favorite meal of all was a beef roast seasoned with taco seasoning and Rotel, cooked till very tender and  shredded in the small crockpot with refried beans cooked in the bigger crockpot.  

Another meal was reheated ribs from the freezer - son Bobby was a barbecue contest a few months ago and he prepared several trial runs of brisket and ribs - so it was nice to have that meat cooked and ready to heat during a busy time.  

  

Nap Time 

Granddaughter Elizabeth napping at our house.

The quilt she is covered up with is the last piece of patchwork my grandmother made,  I think Grandma was about 95 when she hand pieced it,   her eyes just got too bad for her see to do anymore handwork.

Grandma gave it to me and I quilted it.  It is just about the right size for a toddler bed.  

I think it is really sweet that Elizabeth is using a quilt from her great great grandmother.  

If you got this far,  

I will be back this evening to answer comments

It was really fun to see so many comments last week even though I did not have time to answer them then.

a new Home Sweet Home

Hello everyone

I was busy last week,  doing more cleaning out and organizing,  getting ready for a busy week to come.  

No blog-worthy pictures on my camera but these pictures from my son's new apartment are worth sharing.  

one view of the kitchen- no upper cabinets at all but several open shelves and racks for hanging towels or using clips to hang things like pots and pans

those round windows are one of my favorite features- there are 4 them on that wall.

more of the kitchen
the microwave is built in below the counter top
this looks into the dining room area

more of the living room

Living room

that upper border is made of reclaimed wood with lots of different finishes- really looks nice.

there is a built in coat rack and huge chalkboard you can't see in this picture
the doors for the entry, bedroom and the bathroom

The bedroom has a big walk-in closet that also houses the stacked washer-dryer combo.


I will get some more pictures when he gets it decorated- right now it is full of boxes and bubble-wrapped furniture.  

Frugal doings in July

July has not really seemed like a frugal month with the air conditioner running almost non-stop

and the prices of everything at the store going up .

Still.....

There were some frugal doings though.  

I've dried  many loads of laundry outside.  I really prefer to finish in the dryer but it is so hot,   I just hate to turn on the clothes dryer.
Most loads are drying outside in about 30 minutes - that is probably faster too.

and you tell I am not running up the water bill by doing much outdoor watering either......

 produce
raised by Gavin and Braeden's other grandparents
 it was as delicious as it looks too!

Hand-me-down playhouse that Nina got from another family at church.  They passed it on to us as their children have outgrown it and it was passed to them from another family.
Gavin and Elizabeth are already enjoying it and little Andie says she will be playing in it with them as soon as she can.

I was hoping to find one at a yard sale this summer so I am really happy to have one given to us.  

One of two piles of flower bed pavers we got from a neighbor who was getting rid of them.  

this is one of 3 rose bushes we bought at Aldi 2 springs ago.
It has bloomed like this 3 times,  more than 50 pretty yellow roses each time.
I think the bushes were $3.97.

Several months ago 

I bought 3 different scents of aromatherapy lotions and body sprays at Bath and Body Works,  

I really like 2 of them and noticed that they were 1/2 gone already.  

Since I don't like the 3rd scent and Bath and Body Works has a satisfaction guarantee,  

I returned  that unliked lotion and spray and traded them for a scent I will use.  

 It was a very easy transaction and I am really glad I did it.  

Theo likes a new brand of dog treats called Waggin Train.  

The small bags sell for about $2 and their was a recent news paper coupon on Waggin Train treats for $3 off 2 packs.  

I've already used the coupons from my papers and ordered a dozen more coupons from an Ebay dealer for just about $1.  

I don't seem to use a large number of coupons anymore but when there is a coupon deal like that good on items we use,  I like to look on Ebay for additional coupons.  

We went to Texas for a short trip and I stayed at my parents for a couple days. 

I helped my mom do some cleaning out of her clothes and craft supplies.  

We put a lot of her castoffs in their garage sale and organized everything she did keep. 

 I brought home 4 storage tubs of her unwanted and extra fabric and quilt supplies.

Mom and I also wear the same size shoes.  

She cannot wear the styles she used to so I brought home dozens of pairs of nice shoes and boots.  

I cooked all meals at home this month except for meals we ate on the road.

I really think most eating out is over-rated.  and way too salty!

I continue to clean out cabinets and closets and have another growing pile of stuff to give away 

If none of my friends or family take it all,  

I will be offering it on our local facebook "free" site or taking it to a thrift store.

how about you?  Has July been kind or harsh to your bank account?  

Happy Birthday Jeff~

My husband's birthday was the same day as the Olympic opening ceremonies so Nina baked his cake with an Olympic theme.
Isn't it great?
She use edible paper and her silhouette machine to make the decorations.
The sports emblems are Jeff's favorite Olympic events.  

All our children and grands were at Nina and John's Saturday evening for a birthday party for Jeff.

Gavin thinks Aunt Nina's cakes are the best part of birthdays.
Elizabeth likes the present opening part the best.

Grandpa Jeff thinks having all his children and grandchildren together at one time is the best.  

And Zerbie, the worlds largest and sweetest Doberrnan,  thinks sitting on the couch
 just like the other guests is the best.   

Last week's baking

It is another crazy-hot summer in Oklahoma but I am still doing a little baking.

I do it all the same time so the oven only gets heated up once.

Last week,  I made 3 loaves of banana bread

a pan of brownies - and shhh, don't tell my family but I used a jar of baby food prunes  that I found while cleaning out,  the recipe called for 1/2 cup of butter - I instead used just 1/4 cup of butter and that tiny jar of prunes.  They were delicious too.  

I also made a batch of whole wheat bread dough in the machine and added some of the vital wheat gluten I got from Amazon last week.  They turned out much lighter than 100% whole wheat normally is.  

I am sold on it and will be using it in all my recipes.  

This camera angle  gives a distorted view- 

it makes the hot dog and sandwich buns look bigger than the bread loaves  :)