A Special Prayer Request For Beth Marie~ Please leave her a message~

You know

you meet some people in blogland

and they are just the kindest souls-

wonderful people full of sweetness

and love.

Beth @

Day By Day With Beth Marie

is one of those people

Over a year ago in July of 2013

Beth had surgery for cancer

that was followed by radiation

and chemo.

She bore it like a trooper

and was pronounced

cancer-free.

In November of last year her

house was hit by a tornado

and suffered quite a lot of damage.

She got through that, too, without

a complaint-

glad to be alive and feeling healthy.

Sadly,

Cancer has reared its ugly head again.

A few days ago Beth, once again,

had surgery.

She is meeting with the oncologist 

and is expected to have 

THIRTY - FIVE 

chemo treatments between now and 

THANKSGIVING!

That's a tall order for anyone 

at any age.

Beth has asked for prayers.

You know-

it's a hard thing to ask for prayers for yourself.

Especially when you are a strong, independent 

person- as she has had to be since her

husband passed away.

She has been a person that has always

prayed for others.

Now maybe we can repay her just a bit.

Please pray for her.

Pray that she has strength to see this 

unpleasant ordeal through.

Pray for healing of body, soul and spirit.

If you are not a pray-er then please

send her your best wishes,

love and support.

You can leave her a message here and 

she will check them as she can.

Thank you- All of you!

You are the best!

BigBoyE Heads Off To School & Changing Wisconsin's Motto

First I have to say that these

are NOT my best pictures.

hahahaha- I NEVER have

any best pictures!

I am waiting for a cord for my 

regular camera so that I can load

pictures into my computer.

Sometime over my 

BLOGGING BREAK

my cord went MIA.

Anyway -these are taken with my

back-up camera...such as it is.

Here is our little guy all 

set to go-shown here with 

Mom, Dad, Charles-In-Charge and

Baby Bright Eyes.

You will notice that 

CHARLES IN CHARGE

is looking pretty happy

to think he is now 

IN CHARGE!

You will notice that BigBoy E's smile

is slipping just a bit.

Daddy loves his BigBoyE

but BigBoyE

is getting just a tad nervous..

even though he has his ducks in a row.

He has decided he is going to be an

ACROBATIC ZOOKEEPER.

Guess that means he will swing through

to check on the monkeys?

There was a picture of me with Ethan, too.

However, I only had 3 hours of sleep before

my 2 hour drive down and I 

looked like crap I was really tired..

We walk across the street past the playground

and into the school yard.

Uh-Oh Apprehension strikes!

And we leave just before the tears start.

Ours AND his!

However, SOMEONE doesn't look like

HE is going to cry!

He now has Mom to himself

a few hours a day...

Well-except for 

THIS ONE! 

Baby Bright Eyes

and she is clueless.

She'll catch on in about 

four more years!

Sorting continues in the basement.

You know how Wisconsin is the 

DAIRY STATE?

They fondly embrace the

GOT MILK? campaign.

image

Well, thanks to ME they have decided to

CHANGE THEIR SLOGAN!

Yes, Indeedy!

Their NEW slogan is

GOT PAINT?

Sadly that is only one section of

THE PAINT ROOM....

Cleverly hidden behind 

Curtain #1!

Back later-

Guess who is visiting

this weekend?!

I'll tell ya all about on Monday!

Have a GREAT weekend!

EASY Guilt Free Cookies! No Sugar-No Flour AND They TASTE GOOD+ Cleaning Up A MESS!

Holy Cow!

We say that a lot in Wisconsin-

even though we KNOW cows are 

NOT  REALLY HOLY.

You DO know that, right?

Anyway,

Holy Cow- I have been busy.

I didn't get the craft room done yet.

However, I did get the basement sorted.

Yes. I. Did.

To celebrate THAT accomplishment

I wanted something SWEET.

I have been TRYING to eat healthier

so I saw a recipe that someone posted

AND

I decided to make it my own and 

change it up just a bit.

You know me-Can't leave well enough alone.

Look!

Look and See!

Look and Smell!

Look and Eat!

uh- oh-

what the heck are those bubbles in my coffee?

I hope SweetCheeks didn't dump a goldfish in there!

Come closer.

Can you smell them?

Hey!  I never said they were PRETTY!

I just said they TASTE GOOD!

See that little Green Bay Beverage bottle

in the top picture?

Here's a closer look.

 THAT was sent to me by my friend, Kris,

at Junk Chic Cottage.

She found it in an antique store about 200 miles

South of me.

MyHero grew up drinking soda

from Green Bay Beverage Company.

It has been closed and gone for years

and we have NEVER seen one of  their

bottles anywhere.

How cool is that?

Hmmm...maybe my flowers would 

LAST LONGER

if I made sure the stems were IN the water.

What do YOU think?

Okay- 

Here is all you need to make these cookies.

Banana Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

2 LARGE very ripe bananas

1-1/3 cups Oatmeal (Quick cook kind)

1/2 cup raisins

2 Tablespoons peanut butter (I used Cashew butter)

1 Teaspoon vanilla (I use Mexican Vanilla)

(optional- Add- 1/3 cup chopped nuts)

Mash bananas completely.  Stir in all ingredients. 

Drop by large tablespoon onto prepared cookie sheet.  I use Baker's Joy spray.

Bake @ 350 until set. (12-15 minutes -or more depending on how dry you like your cookies)

I use air baking sheets.  These take about 18 minutes on airbake sheets.

Cool completely.

These are so moist and sweet-

You won't believe they don't have sugar in them.

I did NOT get the craft room done.

But I DID get the basement pretty well sorted.

Here is a BEFORE.

I hate to even show it.

I am NOT putting MY name on this

cuz I don't want it floating around the 

internet with MY name on it!

I was thinking about putting 

SOMEONE ELSE'S NAME 

on the picture below.

You know- Someone like

Suzan@ Simply Vintageous

Wouldn't she LOVE to get credit for 

having a basement area that looked like THIS?

She would think she died and went to 

Decorating Hades.

Is that SAD, or what?

Well, a lot of this has now been 

MOVED to the craft room.

And here is that area now.

I stitched some drop cloths,

used clothesline and strung them up

to hide the vacuum, water softener,

and some pipes that run through there.

The table is set up for the kids

to use for craft projects.

All their supplies are in a 

cabinet to the left now.

I can just whip the tablecloth off

if the project is messy.

I see a pillow peeking out

from underneath the table.

Apparently, I didn't do my

"blog picture" check

before snapping pictures.

I have pictures of BigBoy E's

first day of school coming soon.

Maybe even tomorrow IF

I can get myself in gear!

Meanwhile-

Have a great day.

I will be figuring out storage

solutions in the small craft room today

and HOPE to have pictures of

that in the next day or so.

God Bless America- 9-11 Thirteen Years Gone

If you want funny you won't find it here today

because I am remembering the 

911 tragedy that touched all our lives.

I think every single one of us remembers where

we were the moment we heard about what

had happened in NYC at 

The World Trade Center.

We were enjoying the last few days of summer

and living in a house we had built on the

Ahnapee River in Algoma, Wisconsin. 

I was on my way to Green Bay and 

stopped at McDonalds to get a 

cup of coffee.

Did you hear? asked the server

with a horror stricken look on her face.

She then proceeded to tell me what she knew.

I turned around and went home and stayed

glued to the TV for three days straight.

watching the tragedy unfold.

The tragedy united us in a way nothing else

ever had.

We were proud to stand together,

man to man, woman to woman,

race to race and

citizen to citizen.

We were proud to 

 declare that we were one.country

indivisible by ANY terrorist attack.

Let us remember that today.

Let us remember those  2,996 people

that lost their lives needlessly that day.

Salute a solider.

Shake a policeman's hand.

Thank a firefighter.

Say a prayer for all those still grieving.

Let us stand united yesterday

 today and tomorrow.

I am proud to be an American

God bless us all.

Still Working On My Projects

Just as I promised-
I am back this morning.

Guess what?

I am about 80% done

with projects.

Whew!

I have been using up paint.

This used to be BRIGHT BLUE.

and was a roadside find years ago.

It was dirty-dirty-dirty

and was used in the garage for 

storage for at least a decade.

A little elbow grease and a little paint

and it is clean enough to use again.

I had some Seafoam paint left over

 and that is what is on the outside.

The inside is another can of

GREEN that I had.

It is still wet there as you can see..

I am moving my basement area 

Crap Craft/Sewing area to a little room

that MyHero had built into 

one corner of the garage

when we moved in.

It was supposed to be to start plants
in sun-filled windows 

and to pot things up.

Umm...Hello-

It faces North and gets NO sun.

Bad idea-bad, bad, bad!

Well, I am taking that baby over.

Yes.I.Am.

I found some material I had stashed that

I had about 5 houses ago.

Look how good it matches the picture

my grandgirls gave me years ago.

Now, I might have hit a little 

snag this weekend.

A little

TIME CONSUMER. 

However, 

I know how to FIX him.

Just one misstep and this is what happens here!

Still misbehaving, huh?

Well, buddy, I warned you.

Down you go-

IN THE HOLE 

as they say in 

THE BIG HOUSE.

No use to look through and try
to "cute" your way out.
Nope- Not gonna work here!
Just milk and cookies for you and

THAT'S FINAL.

Ha!

Bet Mom & Dad won't let him come back!

So, I am almost ready to reveal one of 

my projects.

I just need a day or two more.
I won't get anything done today
because I am headed to Milwaukee
this morning to see my 
little BigBoyE
(is that an oxymoron-or am I the moron-
don't answer that)
Anyway, he is off to kindergarten.
2 hour drive down-and then back
and an appointment in town at 1
and a meeting tonight that goes until
about 10.  
I might not get around to visit-
ya know what I mean?

Hope you all have a great week.

Happy Birthday(s) To The Dynamic Duo

Today is my beautiful daughter's birthday.

Happy Birthday, Tara!

And, tomorrow is my handsome

son-in-law's birthday.

Happy Birthday, Big Al!

12 Years and 1 Day apart

and they found each other.

And look what found THEM!

I think I smell cake baking this morning

but I promise not to eat too much because 

I don't want to be sick.

Why?

Well, because 

TOMORROW 

I just might give you 

A PEEK 

at one of the projects I am working on.

Have a GREAT Monday!!!

Once Upon A School Day 2014

Once upon a time there were

Three Little Girls.

The three little girls woke up 

one morning to find that 

SUMMER WAS OVER

and

SCHOOL was starting.

They gathered their supplies,

ate their breakfast,

and arrived at the schoolyard.

There the Royal Princess

waved her magic wand and demanded that

her loyal subject tie her shoes

before she tripped.

Nana came along with her camera.

Nana DID NOT KNOW

that she was going to have

HER PICTURE taken.

Thus she had only pulled part of 

HER HAIR back and had

NO MAKEUP on!

It was NOT Nana's best look

but she grumblingly graciously had her

picture taken with 

SweetCheeks.

Yes- My hair is completely white now~

Thanks for asking!

Keep blogging- it will happen to 

YOU too!

The three little girls,

SweetCheeks, Ria & Lulu,

smiled for the camera.

They each found a friend.

Lulu found her sweet girlfriend, Anika.

Ria found her sweet friend, Livvy.

And SweetCheeks found her girl boy friend.

WHAT?

Is that a parachute he has strapped on in case

he needs to get away from her?

Then, the school bell rang 

and the three little girls

  filed into their school

and Mama & Nana 

cheered and hooted and hollered and 

went to get coffee

went sadly on their way.

The End

Working on a big project so I

may not be around for a couple of days.

Bear with me!

Happy Labor Day!

Just popping in to tell you I am still

above ground

and to wish you and your families 

A

source

I have the grandgirls here.

Tomorrow they start school

and I am left wondering 

WHERE DID SUMMER GO?

I will be back to blogging regularly 

in a few days....

pinky promise.

I just need to catch up on all the things

I DIDN'T get done on my

"Summer Vacation".

Thank you to all of you ~

that stuck with me-

and wrote to me-

and cheered me on-

and sighed and/or cried with me.

It has been quite a summer!

See you shortly..

well, I am NOT short...

but you know what I mean!

And here, of course, is what

MyHero is doing for 

Labor Day!

Pulling what hair he has left

OUT 

because I MIGHT have asked

him to do me one little favor....

or maybe it was two...

or it might have been three...

I say..

Labor Day means

YOU WORK

and I rest-

for a change

Amen!

REALLY - TAKING A BREAK- GONE BUT NOT FOR GOOD

Well, now that the front porch is done

I am working on the porch off the 

DINING ROOM.

Is it proper to cage an angel?

Sometimes I feel caged!

Caught in the midst of all that needs to be done.

Caught in the web of life.

So, I am taking a break.

A real break this time.

I have been swamped this summer.

There is a lot going on here
"behind the scenes".

No one is sick.

No one is in trouble.

No one is missing.

But there are things 

that need to be taken care of..

Things I need to do... 

 places I need to go

to do them.

I will be checking emails but not blogging

so feel free to email me if you like.

I promise to come back again when 

life settles down a bit.

Meanwhile, enjoy the 

SEASON OF SUMMER.

I am going to try to carve out a little time

to sit here and enjoy this.....

And this....

and even this family of pelicans 

down by the bay....

Wishing you joy in the everyday moments of life

until I return~

Oooops-gotta go!

I have people waiting for me!!!

Looks like one of them is 

waiting for a TOOTH, too!
(the other one is waiting for food)

Blessings

 I will also have a prayer post going
up for a special blogger as soon as she
gives me the word....because....
I promised her I would~
and a promise is a promise.