Jumping the gun a bit, but...

I wanted to share the new toy my hubby bought me when we got home! While we were camping we discussed possibly getting either an RV or a larger vehicle and a camper. Now none of this was going to happen until next year when hubs returned from the Middle East. But Monday we decided to go out and just look around. We stopped first at the camper place and found several that would be in our budget as well suit our needs. We headed off to the local Chevy dealer as hubby wanted a Suburban to allow us to haul just about any camper we chose. My goodness they are expensive!!! We were getting ready to leave when the sales man mentioned an SUV that had been traded in the day before...it hadn't even been completely detailed yet...it was a 2006 Tan Yukon Denali...oh my was it pretty. Turns out the previous owner had traded it in on a CORVETTE!!!! So that should give you some indication of how 'clean' it was. They gave us an amazing trade in deal on our Sedona, and gave us a phenomenal deal on the Denali.



Hubby and I are calling it serendipity as earlier that day we were discussing giving our Sunfire convertible to a young soldier in need of a vehicle. (we've done that before and it really is a nice feeling to do something really nice for someone in need.

So we brought home this gorgeous new-to-us Denali which drives like a dream! AND suits our current and future needs perfectly!!!!

Day 2 of our vacation

We woke up bright and early to the sounds of birds chirping. It was a glorious way to wake up! We decided to make the 'short' quarter mile trek to the lower falls. (I say 'short' because the trek to the upper falls was 3/4 of a mile...however, the trek to the lower falls was much harder as it was zig-zaggy and very uphill!) So after much panting and climbing we finally made it to the lower falls. I didn't get any pictures as there was a young lady in the middle of a photo shoot. I didn't want to intrude. :-( It was pretty but not as nice as the upper falls.

We drove down the mountain a few miles to a little store selling both cut and uncut gem stones. We were able to go 'grubbin' again and we all had a blast. Each of the boys came home with several cherry-pit sized uncut garnets and tons of other semi-precious stones. Bradley got a fantastic nearly perfectly clear quartz point! Joe found a large chunk of smoky quartz and Hunter found a gorgeous piece of pink calcite. We picked up some lunch before heading north to find another set of water falls that the owner of the store recommended. The final leg of the trip back to the falls was incredibly hairy...1 1/2 lanes of dirt road with a cliff rise on one side and a sheer drop on the other. (can we say NO guard rails!!!) We encountered a couple cars coming the other way and MOST of them scooted as close to the cliff rise as they could to let us pass. HOWEVER the 1st car we encountered was some kind of luxury SUV who wouldn't move any closer that about 2 feet from the cliff rise...which left US riding the very edge of the drop. NOT a fun feeling! BUT we finally made it to the falls and I must admit they were SOOOOOO worth the harrowing drive.
(so I don't clog up my page with zillions of pictures visit my flick account to check out our vacation pics!)

What I've been up to...

Serendipity is a wonderful thing!!! First off I must admit to a bit of a lie...While I WAS in Atlanta for a few days I wasn't there to visit a friend...I was actually there to pick up my husband for his 2 week R&R from Iraq!!!! (couldn't say anything as it was a surprise to his family who read my blog through Facebook!) That in itself was an experience as he was supposed to be in late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning. But due to arriving late(not his fault!!!) He missed the 1st flight out and didn't arrive until Friday morning! You can just imagine our boys surprise when I came home with their Daddy!!! We left Tuesday morning and headed north to Dahlonega, GA. After much driving around and around...(north GA doesn't seem to like to label roads!!! lol) we found the gold mine. We spent an hour or so sifting though a giant rubbermaid tub full of sand, dirt and gemstones! The boys found some wonderful semi precious stones, and had a fantastic time!(Pics of that coming later, gotta find my memory card! LOL) We did also pan for gold, but that was way harder with much less 'satisfying' result. We did each bring home a test tube with a few tiny slivers of gold in it though. But they had way more fun 'grubbin' for gems! We headed north again in search of our campsite, but again due to lack of proper road signs we ended up south of where we needed to be. Bought a map and finally found the original destination, then decided to head back to the area where the mine was to hit up Wal-mart. Then headed north into the mountains to camp at Desoto Falls State Park. We ended up in this gorgeous little camping area filled with lovely lush green trees and a pair of amazing waterfalls!
We camped in Desoto for 2 nights and had a fantastic time. Since this is getting rather wordy I am gonna cut this short and will update more of our trip tomorrow!
ARGHHHH!!!I am having trouble uploading pictures anywhere online, but I promise to add some real soon! :-(

I've been busy...

And have a good bit of busy more to come. I was off line the last couple days to go visit a friend in Atlanta. (Momma took a couple days off for some 'me' time.) Today and tomorrow will be spent preparing to head to KY for Donnie's family reunion. Bummer that he won't be able to join us though. =( BUT the boys and I are looking forward to taking some time out before school starts to get out into nature. We are going to tent camp in Northern GA and do some hiking and visit Dahlonega, which is the site of the first US gold rush. We'll take the tours of the mine and then do a little panning for gold! They boys are beyond excited about this. Then we are off to KY for the reunion on Saturday. Then we'll head back home sometime Sunday. The busy-ness will continue and our oldest Joe starts his junior year of high school on Wednesday! (Yep the 28th of JULY!!!) The younger 2 have a little bit more time, but not much. They head back to Kindergarten and 4th grade respectively on the 6th of August. So we are enjoying our last bit of 'freedom' with a nice refreshing vacation!

No pics today, but I promise to have tons and tons to share after our vacation! =D

OMG soooo yummy!!!!

Tonight for dinner I grilled some steaks, sliced them and threw them on top of a fresh green salad. For dessert I made strawberry shortcake. Normally I make a sweetened drop biscuit. This time I was just not in the mood for them. So I went looking to see if I could find any recipes for sugar cookies using dry biscuit mix. That brand in the yellow box!!!!) I found this one:

3 c biscuit mix
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1 egg
1/3 c water
2 t vanilla

Drop by spoonfulls and bake in a 375 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. Flatten them with a spatula, then return to the oven for an additional 2 minutes. (for my oven 8 minutes was perfect!) Let cool on wire rack for a little bit.

These were really good, with a hint of nutty-ness from the brown sugar. Not exactly my idea of a sugar cookie, BUT these ARE my new go to's for shortcakes!

BTW Cassie is still trying to convice Darren that she needs full access to his armchair for business purposes. She really seems to be pleading her case. Although I still don't think it's gonna happen! lol

Darren Demands Due Diligence

(Ok I know I promised no more alliterations...BUT...Really though I think I'm done...as Edward...well I can't think of anything that my Edward needs right now! LOL )

So after indulging Cassie the other night, Darren came to speak with me after the girls had gone off...where'd they go? I honestly have no clue! LOL He sat down with me and very politely informed me that While Cassie's red ottoman is comfortable and certainly big enough for two...he wouldn't mind having a nice big comfy 'man' chair. He said it was no rush, but it'd be nice to have something to kick back in and watch some TV. (when he can get a TV that is.) I told him that I would consider his request, but I was rather busy right now. I explained that I was altering 4 pair of dress pants for my sister, plus working on a commisioned set of American Girl-sized doll food...oh yeah and planning a camping trip. With a shrug of his shoulders and a "K" he set off back up to lounge on the ottoman.
As I sewed my sisters slacks I couldn't help but glance over at the big guy trying to get comfy on the ottoman. Ok so he had a point!

When I got to a stopping point in my alterations...I grabbed my Freida Gray book Dolls' House Furniture. Hmmm these were 1/12th scale projects, so it stands to reason that if I emlarged the patterns my 200% they should be perfect for 1/6th scale. Well I found a nice comfy looking arm chair and set to work. I used foamcore...lots and lots of 1/4 inch foamcore. Probably should have broken out the 1/2 core, but after my debacle with cutting the ottoman from it, I didn't want to! LOL (although a fresh blade makes ALL the difference!!!!!) I grabbed my olive green 'suede' and set to work. The armchair took much of last night and a good portion of today to do. And there are definitely things I will do differently next time, but I am very pleased with the results!

Hope you enjoy it too! Cassie came home and just had to try out Darren's new chair. SHe likes it too! However...
Darren was not amused and quickly regained his 'throne'. {no worries, there was lots of giggling coming from Cassie as he 'dethroned' her! ;-)
She tried to convince him that as an interior decorator, she really needs to know all about every piece of furniture coming into our home. Hmmm do you think he's buying it??? Yeah me neither! LOL

Cassie's Career Choice

(Forgive the alliteration craziness, but since yesterday's title was Bren's Bakery I figured what the heck! LOL)

Cassie came to me yesterday and wanted to let me know she finally chose a Major...she wants to be an interior designer! Wow talk about an awesome choice. That was something I myself wanted to do for a while as a young woman. So we chatted for a while, while I was altering some dress pants for my sister. Cassie rummaged around in my fabric boxes until she came up with a fabric she liked. Next thing I knew she had grabbed some scraps and a needle and was stitching away beside me.

Her little toss pillow turned out adorable and she loved the fabric soooo much she asked me to sew together a little cube cushion for her. (she said she'd do it herself but she's just not heavy enough to move the foot pedal!) So I whipped up this great little seating cube. Cassie pointed out that within the last week 7 new girls have joined us. (most are here for fashion makeovers and won't be seen for a while) Sooo anyways seating is going to be vital here real soon, and she is very excited to get started on her best friend Bren's bakery too. (hmmm seems like I'm gonna be real busy here soo too!!!)