Whew!!

Gifts have been delivered, food has been cooked, and our Christmas Tree is ready to go:

I wanted to take a minute to wish a Merry Christmas to my 4 followers :D

I am still very new to this blogging thing and my New Years resolution is to blog more often and make it more interesting.  I am so excited for 2012.

2011 was a great year and we have much to be thankful for and much to be recognized.  Today I want to thank my Santa's Helper, DK, for all her help this holiday season.  We managed to wrap gifts for 12 family members, bake goodies for the neighbors, make homemade ornaments and keep our sanity.  I could not have done it without my dear daughter.  She is amazing.

We will be adding our ornaments to both of our blogs and I will update as soon as that is done.  They would be great projects for 2012 Christmas.  I am so excited to get started on crochet projects for 2012 as well as all the sewing and crafting projects that are on my list.

But...today is Christmas!  A day for family, friends, food and fun!  Right now my dear husband has a fabulous smelling Christmas breakfast in the oven.  We found this recipe and adapted it slightly to be done in the oven instead of the crock-pot.  It smells divine!!  Here is the finished product - Egg Brunch Casserole

Not only did it smell delicious it was delicious. 

Here is the link to the recipe:

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXYIoHsJ4aazDdgFNs1aF3dLsa2Ds5nZfTtuqeWTTaHIfViudDPmOJomwqjUVUjCYHpmo8HbfZfzF15p_TrBnPr_oFzl3Uee1VsfxQYVxh0lYmqCfXt7zgYFytv42-wRXBZ-qYhqIEmqDi/s1600/untitled.bmp

(I still need to figure out this link thing)

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah, Blessed Kwanza and Happy Yule :D

Wow been a long time...

Since I have only two followers I am sure neither of them have been wondering what I have been up to however...I still want to blog and have not done it in a very long time.  We have been so busy with the holiday preparations and with just life.  I have also had some pretty bad fibromyalgia weeks.  I had a great day today though and so thought I would sit down and write a bit.

What I have done today:
1.  Bundled sage - made 6 sage sticks
2.  Made a very large pot of turkey carcass soup
3.  Made a bottle of Gourmet Poultry Seasoning
4.  Worked with a teen on his attitude
5.  Made a bunch of cookies - my homemade Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies (from dough that I had in the refrigerator)
6.  Made rolls to go with the soup

That is along with all the other things a mom does during the day. :D

It was lots of fun and I feel accomplished.  I am planning on posting pictures and recipes later tonight or tomorrow.

Tired...yet Thankful

I still only have one follower but that is OK.  She is one of my most favorite people in the world ;) love you sweetie.

Today and the last few days have worn this mom out.  Busy, busy, busy...  Today I remembered the value of friendship.  I spent most of the day at the courthouse with my best friend as she was going through a personal very hard day.  But amongst this very hard day was family...three generations of moms and sons and daughters and sisters and brothers and grandchildren. 

It reminded me that no matter what when you have the love of family you have a remarkable gift and a remarkable responsibility. 

Because I was at the courthouse I was not home to do my normal momming things.  Thank goodness I have a remarkable DH and GK and BR who all held down the fort and began the Thanksgiving preparations.  DH made a red velvet cheesecake that I will be sharing the recipe for after we get a taste of it.  GK made 4 pies which I will also share recipes for after we also taste them.  I did get pics though :D  Also I noticed tonight that all the veggies were chopped for the stuffing and the cornbread prepared for BR's sweeties cornbread.  We want all of our thanksgiving guests to feel welcome and to feel that they have a part of their traditional Thanksgiving at our table.  When BR invited his sweetie to Thanksgiving last year we told her to bring a family recipe or two and we would incorporate it into our celebration.  She brought her grandmother's cornbread stuffing recipe and it was delicious and the kids are looking forward to having it with our traditional bread stuffing at our table again this year.  We love our traditional foods but we also love trying new things.  This year our new things are the red velvet cheesecake and a pear pie...YUM!!  We are also cooking our turkey on DH's new Green Egg. 

So I want to post this tonight and am excited to share these things with you over the next few days.   I am so thankful for being a mom and a wife and a friend.

Fall Wreaths from Dollar Store items

Hi all,

I am so excited about this post. I was at the a dollar store during the first weeks of fall and they had such pretty things I got very excited and inspired about putting together wreaths from items only from the dollar store.  We did not have that many decorations that were simply Fall or Thanksgiving and not Halloween.  I thought some pretty wreaths would be just the touch.  I spent about $24 in supplies including the grapevine wreaths, flowers, leaves, tiny gourds, larger gourds and pumpkins and a bag of colored natural elements.  So far I have made two large grapevine wreaths and two small wreaths and have two medium size ones left to craft.  I decided to share the completed ones with you now and hope it gives you as much inspiration as the elements in the store did me.

The store had several different colors and sizes of sunflowers and so that was my first inspiration.  I have to admit I did not get the wide ribbon from the dollar store.  They only had narrow ribbon so I picked up some wider ribbon at a craft store for 50% off.  Here is the Sunflower wreath.

I love the fall leaves and the variation of colors.  Also this store had a couple of different types of artificial leaves.  The two small wreaths were done in leaves and ribbon and flowers.  They are tiny grapevines but I think the results were awesome.  Both very different.  ;) maybe that is because GK made one of them.

What do you think?  I love them both :D

Lastly, I saw this Pumpkin Patch sign and knew I could do something with it.  It fit right across the large grapevine and I used the tiny gourds and the colored natural elements and some artificial grass to create this beauty.

We had so much fun creating these new fall decorations for our home.  It was also lots of fun working with my daughter and seeing her creativity.  Momming adult kids is so awesome and we do have so much fun together.  Also just to let you know of that $24 of material I definitely have tons left.  Probably enough to do 4 more wreaths.  It was a great investment.  I think next year they will make some nice gifts too. I will let you know if I get any more wreaths done for Fall but I am now thinking with Christmas on the way and the snow falling in Colorado I am probably more likely to do Winter/Christmas decorations next.

Have an awesome weekend. :)

More you should know about me

Since I only have one follower this might not be pertinent at all but there are just a couple of things you should know about me and my momming. Oh and sadly I realized today that I did not coin the word momming. While doing a search on Google I found the word used by several fabulous moms and in several blogs. So...I did not coin the word but I still think it is a fabulous word and it describes well what we moms do every day.
So the first thing you should know about me is that I am not fancy. I am real and a bit plain and will give you real honest information and in plain language, with plain ingredients and will use and share ideas with you using normal fabrics and craft supplies.  There are plenty of blogs and moms who use top of the line and that is so wonderful for them.  However in our house we are not trying to keep up with anyone including the Jones’s and we love to find a bargain, create from what we have, save money and stretch what we have.  So, on this blog you will find the normal and every day.  You can make beauty from the normal and every day and that is what I try to do.

Next thing you should know is that this blog is as much for me as for anyone.  I will share a little of this and a little of that and it won’t be all of one thing or another.  I will share the things I love and the things I do every day.  Some of my loves include…well first of all my family but after that…Good food and drink, crocheting, crafting, sewing, fairies and fairy gardens and houses, stuffed animals (right now I have an unhealthy obsession with Pillow Pets), gardening, my hot tub, feeding the birds in my back yard, saving money, making things from other things, rescuing objects and using them in something beautiful, my dogs and cat, my front deck, the mountains where I live, rain and snow, Kewpie dolls, Troll dolls, ladybugs, mushrooms and toadstools, dragonflies, and flowers.  Whew!!  And I know that is not all.  I hope as you follow that you will share with me the things you love too and if you have any questions I can answer please let me know.  All of these loves don’t make me crazy then just make me well-rounded :D

You should also know that I have been momming for a very long time.  I am the oldest of 10 children and was a foster parent for several years in the 1990s and now again.  I am the Aunt to over 50 nieces and nephews and of course we have 7 children now.  I love children and love teens and love being a mom and an aunt and a friend.  I have a girlfriend now who is expecting a baby any minute and I just can’t wait.  And the day I have grandchildren…well that will be a wonderful magical day.

So that is all I wanted you to know today.  Have a wonderful Thursday tomorrow.  Hugs!

In Progress

Busy day today.  Shopping for Christmas with DH, enchiladas from the freezer, put there when I made a pan of them for dinner two weeks ago, and working on my current crochet project.

My son BR's girlfriend found a Nyan Cat Scarf and wanted one lots.  So I am attempting to make her one for Christmas.  If you don't know who Nyan Cat or the Poptart Cat is...YouTube Nyan Cat.  It has become quite the YouTube sensation.  I found a pattern from Kelly Freeman at Ramen Needles and I saw this one by Master Planner at Deviant Art. 


I love the colors of Master Planners so i am using the pattern from Kelly Freeman and the yarn that Master Planner used and I am almost done with the rainbow portion.  Here is a pic of my work in progress.

So it is a work in progress but I will be sure and update the blog with the finished project. :)
Also...I figured out how to name the URL so I don't have to have the whole thing typed out.  Yay!!  A little bit everyday. 

Now to jump right in...

Today my focus is on food. I have been pinning at Pinterest, probably more than I should…but I have gotten so much inspiration. And that is truly what it is there for right? So here are my projects for the day and I will add pictures where I can, but please don’t judge the blog by the pictures. I will also update progress on this post throughout the day.

1. Meatloaf for dinner (My own recipe adapted from what I can remember from childhood) Big success. My normal recipe makes two big loaves of meatloaf but tonight we did one big loaf and 17 personal sized meat loaves in the muffin pan.

Meat Loaf Recipe

3 lbs ground beef
1 lb ground pork
7 slices of bread (I used 4 slices Italian and 3 slices whole wheat)
1 1/3 cups milk
3 eggs
1/2 of large onion chopped
1 Tbl. Salt
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp ground sage
1/2 tsp savory

Mix all ingredients together and spread in ungreased loaf pan. (I did spray the muffin tin) Or put smaller amounts in muffin pan to fill each muffin section.

Cook uncovered in 350 degree oven. Loaf pan 1 1/2 hours, muffin pan 30 - 45 minutes.

During last 10 minutes of cooking top with topping of your choice. Serve with topping of your choice.

Toppings: DH likes just Ketchup, I like A-1 sauce mixed with ketchup, mustard and a little Worcestershire sauce, GK made a new one tonight with Ketchup and Sriracha sauce. We have also used BBQ sauce. You can do whatever your family likes.

2. Found this on Pinterest - Crock Pot Peach Cobbler adapted from a recipe on Get Crocked

My Adaptation Recipe: Just so you know I usually adapt recipes that I find. We have a big family and teen/young adult kids so usually we need more than the recipes I find. Also I try to use what we have on hand. For this recipe it was not fresh peach season so canned peaches were an easy alternative.

Crock Pot Peach Cobbler for 6 quart Crock Pot

1/2 c. all-purpose baking mix, such as Bisquick
2/3 c. sugar
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 12oz. can evaporated milk
2 Tbs. butter, melted
4 eggs
1 - 29oz. can peach pieces in light syrup, mashed
4 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. cinnamon

Drain peaches and mash. I use my hand blender to blend/mash but not liquify the peaches.
Lightly grease crock pot or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
In a large bowl, combine sugar and baking mix. Add eggs and vanilla. Stir. (I use my hand mixer on lowest speed.)
Pour in margarine and milk and stir.
Mix in peaches and cinnamon, until well mixed.
Pour into crock pot. Cover. Cook on Low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.

Serve warm. Top with vanilla ice cream if desired, or half and half.

Update: The cobbler is done and it took 8 hours on low. It looks delicious and tastes divine. BC says he could eat it until the end of time... LOL

Here it is in the pot pre-cooking:


And done:




3. Oatmeal/Milk Chocolate Chip cookies (my own recipe)

This is a recipe I have been using for years. It makes a very large bowl of dough. We cook one batch of a dozen cookies after making the dough and then the rest goes in the refrigerator so we can have hot fresh cookies whenever we want. At our house they only last about 3 - 5 days. Note: The first batch may seem a little wet and the cookies may spread a bit. However after a day in the fridge they are just right. The oatmeal soaks up some of the moisture and that is why I make them the way I do. If you are going to cook the whole batch right away you would probably want to increase the flour by about 1/2 cup.

Oatmeal/Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/2 cups shortening
2 C. sugar
2 C. packed brown sugar
4 tsp. vanilla
4 eggs
1/3 C. milk

Cream all these ingredients together in a large bowl.

In separate bowl combine:

4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well.

Add:

6 cups whole oats (old fashioned)
1 cup milk chocolate chips (you can add more chocolate chips but we don't like too many) Add the oats 2 cups at a time and mix in well.

Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet and bake for 11 minutes in 350 degree oven.







4. Antibacterial Spray I found on Pinterest and it took me to this site. (http://www.macheesmo.com/2011/01/four-homemade-cleaners/)

Lavender Anti-Bacterial Spray
- 1 Cup water
- 20 drops lavender essential oil

Easy right?! It’s smells great and lavender is very high in linalool which is naturally antibacterial.

Of course I adapted this just a bit. I used 2 cups of water and 40 drops of Lavendar essential oil. And wouldn't you know it I did not have an extra spray bottle...so I mixed it in the water bottle the water came in and have added "pick up spray bottles" to my To Do List.

Here is my semi-finished product:



Update:  11/17/2011
I found spray bottles today at Walmart for .97 each.  WooHoo!!  I will be making the rest of my soaps tomorrow and will let you know how it goes.  I also purchased two squeeze bottles.  One of the cleaners comes out really thick and so the suggestion was a squeeze bottle.  It will be fun to put it all together.  :D
I definitely need to learn how to do all the things that make this blog look professional :( I struggled with formatting and pictures but there is lots to read and I am sure I will figure it out for next time.

Amira Rain

Why am I here?

I guess the time has come.  I have been contemplating a blog for a long time now.  But who would read it?  And what would I say?  And do I care?  I guess I found the answer in the third question.  I really don’t care whether I become popular or well-read or a huge member of the blogging world.  Now, don’t get me wrong all of that would be fabulous but for me it is about me recording what I am doing and sharing that with my family and maybe, hopefully helping some other fabulous mom along the way.

Why “Fabulous Momming at 50”?  Well first let me say I am almost 50 and still getting used to that idea, but I plan on doing this for a while so, 50 it is.   I think I coined the word Momming.  And this word is huge because it encompasses a lot.  Whether you are employed outside your home or inside your home, if you have children you are Momming and all moms know that we mom 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.  We are always Momming in our brains, if nothing else.  You are searching the internet for ideas, you are reading books, you are talking to other moms and you are taking classes.  You are doing all of this so that you can be the very best mom ever!!!  And you do it for no monetary reward.  You do it all for the times you hear, “thanks mom” or with a mouthful of food “wow, this is really good” or for the late night phone call from an adult daughter who says with tears in her voice, “I just needed to talk to my mommy”.  That is why I do it!!

I want to share with you how I do it.  I will get to that in the days to come.  But let me talk about my Momming for a minute.  I am a mom in several ways.  I have 3 biological (bio) children.  They are:  BR – 26, GS – 23, GK – 20 (initials used to protect the innocent LOL, the first initial is B for boy and G for Girl and the second initial is from their name, numbers following are their ages).  I have three bonus children from my husband’s first marriage, they are:  GSa: 16, GC – 14, BF – 12.  And I am also a foster parent and right now we have one foster child and he is BC – 15.  So yes that is 7 children between the ages of 12 and 26.  And I love every minute of it.  The three bonus children do not live with us full-time but they are here often.  Two of my three bio kids live with us full-time and are full-time college students.  The foster child of course lives with us and my other bio daughter is in South Korea.

So now you know a little about me and why I am writing this blog.  I hope if I get readers who don’t know me personally that I will come to know many of you through this blog and our sharing of ideas and thoughts and hopes and dreams for our Momming experience.  And I am off…rather like a herd of turtles but here goes.