Through the window...

Jack put out bird feeders in our front yard on Saturday evening.  He carefully  arranged them so that we could see the birds through our office window when they came to feed.   I was thrilled and on Sunday morning,  I was up at 7:30am hoping to find some feathered friends hangin' out in our front yard.  I wasn't disappointed.  Within an hour of  "bird watching", I saw and photographed a male Cardinal, a female Cardinal, and a Yellow-Rumped Warbler.  I also got a quick glimpse of a house wren but, didn't get pictures of it.

I took tons of pictures, but since they were all taken through the window, they aren't as crisp and clear (just a tiny bit filmy looking - our window could use some cleaning obviously!) as they would be otherwise.  Even so, I'm happy with the pictures; they turned out pretty good. 

Male Cardinal on our Crape Myrtle tree.

~The female Cardinal.   You can see the male Cardinal in the background.

~enjoying his breakfast.

~And last, but not least, a cute little Yellow-Rumped Warbler. 

Yesterday, there were even more birds that stopped by to enjoy our feeders.  I saw a pair (maybe the same pair) of Cardinals, a Yellow Rumped Warbler, two or three wrens and one house finch.  As I write this post, I can look out the window and see a house Finch resting in the Crape Myrtle tree.  He is just setting there all puffed up (it's a really cold morning - only 25 degrees) and is as cute as can be with a red head and chest.  I've taken several pictures of him/her that I would like to share later in the week.

So, all thanks to Jack, I can now see a bit of nature without actual going out into the cold! :)  I know that sounds lazy, but I really do dread the cold.  For now, taking pictures through the window is just fine with me!  I'll be waiting for Spring in the warmth and comfort of my house.  

Furry Friends Friday!

I guess because the weather has turned off cold, I haven’t really been interested in going outside and taking pictures of nature. Since cold weather and I are not friends, I avoid the relationship altogether. I like to be warm and therefore enjoy warm weather and the feel of the glorious sun.  We havent' seen much of the sun, which is really depressing to me, since December. So, I haven’t really taken many pictures of nature since before Christmas.  I have, however, been taking lots of pictures of food (some I have posted here and some I have not) and of our furry friends.

It wasn’t until yesterday when I was going through and organizing the pictures that I’ve taken over the last couple of months that I realized how many pictures I have of the family pets - not just ours but our parent's pets. There are tons! So, I made up “Furry Friends Friday” as an excuse to share these pictures. Plus, they deserve a post all about them from time to time.

Most of the pictures are outside sure, but taking picture of the animals is so much easier and less time consuming then getting the perfect macro shot of a tiny flower. I spend less time in the cold and I’m close to the house where I can run when the cold has gotten the best of me.

Also, most of the pictures are of Jack's Mom and Dad's sweet doggies; Max and Sammy.  I've been trying to take more pictures of them, because I really didn't, up until now, have any. 

So, without further ado, here are our furry friends...

~ This picture of Bella cracks me up.  When I look at it, I'm reminded of the movie, "Meet the Robinsons" when the T-Rex says, "I have a big head and little arms. I'm just not sure how well this plan was thought through".   I'm sure you have to see the movie to understand, but Bella does have a big head and little arms in this picture.  Funny and cute!



 

Tex with the tie to one of Madi's shirts.  He's always into something.

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

"am I in trouble again?"

~Madi and Sammy playing through the fence.  It was driving Sammy crazy that she was outside of the fence and he was inside so he began to run in circles...

~Madi throwing leaves at Sammy.

~ Bella does not like this game!  In the middle picture she's looking at Madi like "Really?!"  Funny stuff!

~Bella actually running and playing with Sammy - a rare thing.

She's so stinkin' cute!  When Bella has her ears laying like they are in this picture, Jack refers to them as her "jester's" (like a jester hat). It always cracks us up.

~This picture of Cassie isn't real recent.  I took it back in October, but I feel bad because I don't have a recent picture of her and I really wanted to include her in this post since she is one of our furry friends.  Well, she's furry, but she's not friendly and she's as crazy as a mad hatter.

~This picture of Sammy and the ones that follow where taken on a different day than the ones above.  As you can see from both sets of pictures, he never stops running around!  And he's always carrying his ball, hoping someone will throw it for him.  Look at his hopeful expression - hopeful that I'll put my camera down and throw the ball.

~OK, this one really cracks me up!!  Sammy running with the ball in his month and his tongue hanging out, flappin' against the ball...hilarious!

"Throw it, I'm ready!"

~Big, sweet ol' Max,  Jack's Mom and Dad's German Shepherd.  Such a handsome fella.








 
~He's watching Sammy run around.  I picture him thinking - "What's wrong with that fool!"

~ I finally got him to look at me.  He doesn't hear so well, so I had to wave my arms around and do goofy facial expressions to hold his attention for this shot.   It's funny, dogs seem to like goofy faces just like babies do. 

~My Mom and Dad's Bichon Frise, Leo.  He prefers to be referred to as, "His Royal Cuteness".

 ~This is an old picture of Madi with Max and Sammy, but I had to include it here.  It's one of my favorites.  I love how Madi showing Maxie some major lovin'. 

And, I had to include Blue in this post.  He's not a "pet" per say and he's not "furry", but he's always hanging around.  I guess we can call him one of our "feathered friends" instead.  Every time I look at this picture, I start singing "Setting on the Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding.  I love that!

We are so thankful for our furry friends; they make life so much more enjoyable.  Their love and devotion is something to be admired and modeled in our own relationships. 

"Animals are reliable, many full of love, true in their affections, predictable in their actions, grateful and loyal. Difficult standards for people to live up to."

~Alfred A. Montapert

~My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am.

~Author unknown.

 

I hope at least on of these pictures brought a smile to your face and that you have a fantastic Friday! :)

Blueberry Yum-Yum!

~Blueberry Yum-Yum

Please allow me to introduce you to a family favorite, Blueberry Yum-Yum.  Blueberry Yum-Yum is a dessert that my Grandma Lewis (my Dad's Mom) was practically famous for. I don't know exactly where she got the recipe; if she created it or copied it...but I do know that she perfected it! 

I remember visiting my Grandparents home in Savannah, Georgia when I was a kid and how Grandma's Blueberry Yum-Yum was a special treat for my sisters and I.  There was always massive amounts of good ol' southern cookin' to be had on these visits, but her yum-yum was always the star of the show.  I also remember that she use to bring it to the Lewis family reunions and folks would literally line up to get some of the blueberry goodness.  My sister, Melanie, a confessed Blueberry Yum-Yum addict was always in that line.

Grandma was nice enough to share her recipe with my Mom many years ago and this past weekend Mom decided to make it for the first time in in quite a while. The picture at the top of this post is of Mom's latest version of Grandma's Blueberry Yum-Yum.  It looked just like it should and even though Mom complained that she has never been able to make it exactly the way Grandma did, I can honestly say it tasted like perfection to me! 

Mom has passed the recipe on to me and has given me permission to share it, so you're in for a real treat today!!  Thank you, Mom! And thank you Grandma Lewis!

The really great thing is that the recipe that Mom has was handwritten by my Grandma years ago.  How awesome is that!? She passed away some time ago but, when I look at her handwritten notes on making this classic family treat, it is like she is in the kitchen making it all over again. I would scan it and attach it to this post, but my scanner is broken. :(  

I'm really happy to share this recipe and hope that if you try it, you will let me know how it turned out and if you enjoyed it.

Blueberry Yum-Yum

2 Cups fresh or frozen blueberries

2 Cups sugar (Divided)

1/4 Cups water

1/4 Cup cornstarch

3 Tbsp water

1 Cup all purpose flour

½ Cup margarine (softened)

1 cup walnuts (chopped fine).

1 8oz pkg cream cheese (Soft)

1 8oz pkg frozen whipped topping

Combine flour, margarine and nuts. Press dough in baking dish. Bake 20 mins. at 350. Let cool.

Combine berries, 1 cup sugar and ¼ cup water in small sauce pan. Cook over low heat until berries are soft. Approx. 15 mins.

Combine cornstarch with 3 tablespoons water in bowl - stir to dissolve. Add mixture to blueberries stirring constantly ‘til thickened. Set aside to cool.

Combine cream cheese and 1 cup sugar. Beat ‘til smooth – fold in cool whip. Speed this over cooled crust and then pour blueberry mixture evenly over top.

*Grandma’s end note says:  and that’s it!

This is what I get for asking Jack to pose with the Blueberry Yum-Yum...

~ He acts like he's going to give it to Bella...

You can imagine my frustration with this man, I'm sure!

Finally, he acts right!  It really shouldn't be this hard! :)

Inspired by Starbucks, created by 5forks, copied by little ol' me.

As I’ve previously confessed, I’m a coffee addict. I usually drink about 6 cups a day and even though I recently switched from caffeinated to decaf (mostly anyway) I still enjoy a good, steaming hot cup. So, naturally, I love Starbucks and go way more often than I should!  Anyway, last week while I was at Starbucks, I noticed, (somehow for the first time) the “Petite Vanilla Scones”. My stomach cried out “Get those, get those!”, but knowing that was meeting Jack later for lunch helped me to resist. The price of these tiny scones, 3 for $2.75, helped as well. That just seemed a little pricy to me.

Days later, I was still hankering for those little pastries and so began my mission to make vanilla scones at home. It turns out that I’m not the only one on a vanilla-scone-making-mission. I found that “Starbucks vanilla scone recipe” is a very popular Google search. I found tons of blog entries and recipes; all of which promised to be “just like” or “almost like” those at Starbucks. Since I didn’t know what the vanilla scones from Starbucks tasted like, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to compare the two, so I just went with 5forks blog who had the best looking picture (imagine that) of their scones.

I must say, I’m really glad I picked this recipe! It was rather easy and not very time consuming at all; which is perfect for a novice like me.

Here’s a picture of the scones I made from the recipe on 5forks.

The scones turned out perfect, thus putting an end (after three or four) to my ridiculous craving. The only thing I did differently was that I added a slash of vanilla to the glaze. I love vanilla and I tend to use extra in most recipes. Also, next time, I plan to make my glaze much thicker by not adding as much milk to my powdered sugar. This reminds me, there is a typo, I think, in the recipe over at 5forks. Under the list of ingredients for the glaze, it calls for milk but in the directions it says water. I used milk and it turned out great. It tasted delicious, just not thick enough, but that was my fault. So anyway, I'm guessing that you can use either water or milk.

I always enjoy sharing recipes that I have tried and enjoyed. If you would like to try this recipe, click here.

Have a blessed day everyone!

Madi and the BMS Swim Team, Swim Meets

The Belton Middle School Swim Team has (only) had three swim meets thus far this school year. I posted the pictures and information to the first swim meet in a previous post.  However, I'm just now getting around to posting the pictures and info. (what I can remember anyway) from the second swim meet, which was on Nov. 4, 2010 and the third swim meet, which was on 12.2.10.

Nov. 4, 2010 Swim Belton Middle School vs. Lake Belton Middle School:


Madi during the 50 yard butterfly.  Her friend Maggie is walking along side cheering her on.

She got a slow start, but made up pretty quickly.. 

 Although she got a slow start and was last for the first lap, she did a great job catching up and placed second in this heat.  Madi has some serious upper body power which is one reason why she rocks the butterfly!  But, it doesn't always save her and she has to work on getting off that starting block quick - as soon as that whistle blows.



Madi during the 50 yard freestyle.  I don't remember what her time or position was in this event.  

Madi diving in during the 100 yard team relay.

As you can see, she's pullin' hard! 

I can't tell you how much I love to watch her gettin' after it like this!  Makes a Momma proud! :)

Dec. 2, 2010.  Belton Middle School vs. Lake Belton Middle School and Temple Middle School.

I volunteered to be a timer during this meet, so I wasn't able to take pictures.  Thankfully, Jack stepped in and saved the day...well, kind of!   I was able to get about a dozen clear photos out of the 30 or so that he took.  Hey, it's better than none!  :)  So, thanks to my guy, I have a few pictures to share!  

This is just before the meet started.  We (the timer's) and the swimmers are getting ready for the first event.  I have to say that I really enjoyed being a timer!  I got to meet some really awesome kids from all three teams and had the opportunity to encourage them before their events and praise them afterward.  

Getting her cap on and chatting with friends.

Madi and friends walking to their lanes.

Butterfly during the 200 IM.

Backstroke during 200 IM

Breaststroke during 200 IM

Freestyle during 200 IM

The scoreboard just after Madi's finish.   

2nd place! Go Madi!

I was SO excited to get Madi in my lane!  Here she is on the starting block ready to represent lane 5!

50 yard freestyle.

Just look at my reaction! 

Sadly, that's how I look the whole time Madi is swimming! 

I'm all stressed and stuff!

50 yard freestyle.

Almost done! 

YES, 1st place!  Great Job Madi!!

We're really proud of our girl! She did a great job at both of these meets. Her times continue to improve as does her technique. We're ready for the next meet, bring it on! :)