No More Coat Clutter

Since winter has arrived I have discovered something our new home is missing.

A place to hang our coats. Sure, we could hang them in our bedroom closet but that 

would mean walking through the mudroom, the kitchen, the living room and the bedroom to get there.

Way too much work for some. So my kitchen chairs have been covered with this clutter.

I just couldn't stand it anymore.  I thought about it a couple days and came up with an idea.

I told Superman that I needed a board and gave him the measurements. 

Didn't really matter what kind.  Didn't have to be fancy.

He went to the lumber yard and picked this out of the scrap pile for me.

Scrap is cheap.  I can work with that.

First I put a coat of stain on it.

Then, while it was drying, I got out my Cricut  and started cutting out letters.

That took a while.  I had a hard time deciding on font and size but 

I got it figured out.

I glued the letters on with a coating of Elmer's glue.

I just needed them to stay on long enough to apply some Polyurethane.

Actually I applied 4 coats of it.  Didn't want the letters to peel off ya know.

 Last but not least, I picked up some hooks at the hardware store and screwed them on.

And taa daaaa. No more clutter on the kitchen chairs.  

Waiting for a Miracle

Many years ago my son, Christopher, met a girl at school named Lauren.  

He insisted that she was just a friend for a while. 

 Then he admitted that she was, in fact, his girlfriend.

I actually liked her. 

 I told a family member that is was such a shame that she was his first love. 

They usually don't work out which was really too bad because they would have beautiful kids.

But then, they got engaged.  

I was lucky enough to go with him when he chose this beautiful ring. 

Luckily the jewelry store also gave out free kleenex because it made me cry a little bit.

They had a beautiful wedding, of which,

 I have no pictures on this computer of so we are going to fast forward a bit.

After a while God decided it was time for them to be parents.

So, ready or not here she comes.

On Friday December 20th she went in to begin her induction.

So they got settled in and the waiting began.

And more waiting.  

Yes, Chris really is in there.

Here are the Grandma's waiting.  

And yes, Kennedy will call us each a different name.

Here is some more of the waiting

We were pretty laid back.

Cousin Mason and Jarrod were waiting.

Jarrod was so excited.  

We know because he told us many MANY times.  He said

 " I'm so excited!  I'm going to be her cousin but kind of like an uncle. 

 I"m going to be her cuncle. I'm so excited!"

Here is the full fledged Uncle. Aaron and his pretty girlfriend. 

And after waiting and waiting and waiting. 

She was finally there.

And my blue eyed boy turned into a Daddy.

And I cried.  She is perfect.  And just look at that hair.

Mommy kisses are the best!

I am pretty sure she stole Granny's heart before she was even born.

She fits in perfectly  as one of my girls.  

Hope I can get them all together someday.

Gram just can't take her eyes off of her.

Just how can you not love that sweet thing!

Mad Scientist

After searching Pinterest for a simple crafty Christmas gift idea

 I decided lip gloss/balm would be perfect for the freezing winter months. 

I looked and looked but I just couldn't find one with the perfect formula.

So, crazy me, decided to create my own.

So I gathered my ingredients through out the state of Wisconsin.

(I also added some Vitamin E but I forgot to include it in the picture)

I measured out the ingredients and heated them up like this

The end product was this plus a few other flavor/scents like candy cane, butter rum and strawberry.

Looks simple enough huh.

Well it wasn't all really that pretty.  Here are a few pictures of the process.

This is a mix that I actually ended up throwing in the trash.  

The colorant(a.k.a cheap lipstick) I used just wouldn't mix and it was settled in the bottom of the jar.

Here is one of my many spills.  

And let me tell ya, oils and wax are not easy to clean up!

And as with most of my crafty experiments, 

when I was done I questioned whether is was high quality enough to give as gifts.  

As, usual I decided "negative".

The First One.

For years and years, every November my kids and Superman would plan on hunting deer. 

Were they using a gun or a bow?

Who would hunt where? Who got the stands? Who would hunt first?  

Who would get the biggest deer, first deer or the most deer?

 Did everyone have a gun, their license, some hunter orange to wear. 

I just sat back and listened to the planning.  

Preparing myself for the mass of hunting attire that would take over my living room.

Once or twice one of them would ask "You wanna go?"

"No thanks, If I go who would be here to cook for all of you mighty hunters?"

That was my job.  To fill their bellys with good warm food.  

I loved sitting back and listening to them tell their stories.

Stories of how cold, or hot they were.  Of seeing not one single deer. 

Or seeing them when they were just out of range.

 And of course the play by play stories of when they got one.

They were always so proud.  Not only was it a sport but they were providing meat for the year.

Meat to make delicious meals.  Fried tenderloin, jerky, 

deer chili, stew and of course burgers all summer long.

The children are now all grown and on their own so that makes Superman and I emptynesters. 

After several conversations about hunting I decided to venture out and take a try at it.

Here are a few photos of my first season of deer hunting.

A couple weeks before the season started, we went to the firing range and practiced with the guns.

I shot the 243 that the kids used to hunt with.  My 4 shots are the bunch to the right of the bulls eye.  

Dang it, I just couldn't get it in the middle.

When we got ready to head out this was the temperature.  

The wind was blowing and the wind chill was below 0.  BRRRRR!

Here were are getting ready to head out the door into the darkness.

I had so many layers on I felt the the Michelin man in blaze orange walking through the woods.

And after sitting in the blind for an hour and thirty minutes I took a shot at this buck.  Yes I know it is not massive.  Which explains why I actually hit it when I shot.  You see I am guessing since it has a little rack it must have a little brain too because when Superman pointed him out to me I got all kinds of excited.  Superman calmly moved out of his chair and opened the window for me. I quickly moved to the chair in front of the window and decided I wouldn't be able to hold the gun steady from that angle.  I dropped to my knees on the floor and when I did I knocked the chair over. Oh crap I thought but the deer just looked over at us and then kept looking for things to eat. Not very bright I guess. I looked through the scope and couldn't find him.  I looked over my gun and he was still standing there.  I looked back through the scope and there he was.  It all happened so fast. I may have shut my eyes when I pulled the trigger so I was sure I missed him.  "Oh crap" I said as I sat back in the chair and then I hear Superman say "He's down!"

I couldn't believe it!  I did hit him.  So yes it does have a little rack but that will be food in the freezer.

Superman gutted him out in the field and then we pulled him back to the house.

We loaded him in the truck and went to the local convenience store to tag him in.

When we got home we left him in the truck and went in for a while.  The temperature only warmed 2 degrees over the next couple of hours and I asked him how was he going to get the meat off if it was frozen.  He said I thought you were going to do it since you are the mighty hunter.  

'No" I said "I am the mighty hunter, not the mighty butcher"