A Wall of Memories

Okay....I'm just gonna put it out there......I love to take pictures!! Of my kids, family, friends, funny stuff, pretty stuff, scenery, just about anything. And I love to scrapbook....shocker! Well, a spin-off of all of that is my gallery of pictures I have going down the stairs to our family room.



There is no organization to it....I didn't lay it all out on the floor to design it or anything.



I pretty much just buy black frames and eyeball it....



I never get tired of looking at all these pictures.......I just treasure them! Anyone can start a little gallery wall...why not?

Warri

Warri means "house" in many African dialects. It is a primitive Monopoly game. The stones are called Nickers and they are usually a small hard nut from the Guillandria bush found in all of the Carribean islands. I have had this game for almost 35 years. Yikes! That was kinda scary when I was figuring that out...My family started going to the island of Barbados when I was in third grade...loooong before Rhianna made it popular. This game was a local favorite...in those days old men would sit on wooden crates under shady trees and play this for hours.

We got one and played it by the pool or in the evening....there was no T.V. on the island in those days.....only radio....and what was broadcast was mostly the play by play of cricket matches and steel drum bands.... So we did puzzles and played Warri.



I haven't played this in years, and actually forgot all about it....I came across it when I was looking for our travel backgammon game to pack for vacation. It looks like a really simple game...but it's not! There's a bit of strategy to it...I taught Cub to play and he really liked it.



I even have the original typed (yes! with a typewriter :) directions.....complete with tons of words spelled wrong and lots of typos. I never did find the backgammon game...but I will be sure to bring my Warri game when we head to the beach. What are some of your family favorite games???

Favorite Friday

Yeah for Friday!! If you're new and stopping by for the first time, I do a little thing on Friday where I feature one of my favorite things of the week....Today it's my pink geraniums. I just looooooooove them and plant lots of them every year. Every year I think maybe I should try something else....but I just can't! And I usually stick with pinks too....after all of these years they still make me happy. What are your summer time favorite flowers??

Are You Chilly in the Summer??

I know I can't be the only one is gets chilly in the summer....I always bring a little sweater or wrap whenever I go somewhere....I can't stand to go places and have the air conditioning cranking and I'm sitting right under the vent. Well....going on a road trip isn't much different. I've found that when I sit in the front seat with Chip he cranks the air too.....and when you're wearing shorts, a tank top and flip flops because it's 90 degrees outside, I get chilly with the air blowing on me.....so I travel with my own mini-down filled blankie!

I never leave home without it in the summer...I even got one for each of my kiddos when they were little. You can throw it over you when the air conditioning is too cold...and when you get to the beach house where you're staying and the pillows aren't too comfy, you can fold it up and use it instead. And for the record, it's obviously also great in the winter too!

Happy Birthday Joy!

We Soul Sisters had another little get together to celebrate a birthday....Joy...my real-life friend from Joy Beadworks birthday was today....things have been crazy for all of us, so we had a mini-celebration today, with the real shin-dig coming sometime in July.

But certainly we had to have cake! Marzipan lovingly volunteered to bake her very favorite Carrot Cake.......it was scrumptious as always!!! She even switched it up a bit by throwing a handful of coconut in. It was a short little visit....but very sweet :)

Favorite Friday

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my favorite thing this Friday. I'm declaring these Chocolate Chip cookies from Trader Joe's my FAVORITE....It has been forever since I've had them and I forgot how much I looooooooved them!!!! They are small, crispy and perfect. There is only one Trader Joe's in our area and it's about an hour away...I'm embarrassed to say I haven't ventured down there in almost 2 years....but this past Sunday we were in the area for a Krohn's disease walk, so we stopped by afterward. I bought two tubs of them...one for now and the other to take to the beach...weeeellll, we finished the first one before we got home....and I'm pretty sure the second one won't make it on vacation :) Have a wonderful Father's Day weekend!

Brickle Drop Cookies

Ok, I have to be honest...I had no intentions of making these cookies. I was to be leaving for the retirement dinner for 250 people that I was helping with in an hour and Cindylou flitted in to say she needed to bake cookies and decorate them with constellations on top for extra credit points for her Global Science class the next morning. REALLY??? She already had two finals she was supposed to be studying for, and make an appearance at this dinner...so, being a nice mom...I said I'd bake her the cookies and she could decorate them. Well, I've had this bag of Heath english toffee bits in my stash for a while and thought we'd try the recipe on the back. They were pretty yummy....but next time I think I might cut down on the toffee bits and throw some chocolate chips in...Here's the recipe if you'd like to give them a whirl:

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
3 eggs
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 1/3 cup Heath Bits O'Brickle (8 oz. package)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease cookie sheet. (I didn't do this....I just use my wonderful Silpat mats :)
2. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla and salt in large bowl until blended. Add eggs; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar; gradually add to butter mixture; beating until blended. Stir in toffee bits.
3. Drop by teaspoon onto cookie sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned ...cool slightly, remove to wire rack. Cool completely. About 6 dozen cookies.

Today is Tutorial Tuesday over at my real-life friend Jennifer Juniper's blog....I'm linking up....do you have anything you can teach her???? Hop over and link up to her little party...it's always fun!

Favorite Friday

Ok, I should be saying that my Favorite thing this Friday is that it's my kiddos last day of school.....but I get really super emotional about it and I just couldn't go there.....so I'm featuring this old, beat up watering can that my sister gave me years ago. She got a bunch of them at a flea market outside Paris and I just love it's character. I have no idea how much it really holds....it had 10L stamped on it....is a liter about the same as a gallon? I didn't think I would be using it at all this summer with this crazy, rainy weather we've been having...but these past several days have been sweltering and not a drop of rain. So, I'm in my little watering routine over here every morning....keeping all of my flowers blooming and growing.

It All Started In Kindergarten

Tonight was a very special night.....a dear friend and dedicated teacher retired after 30 years of shaping young children's lives. All three of my children were blessed with having her as their teacher. She taught them all more than just their A,B,C's and 1,2,3's...she taught them about manners, respect, their country and God.



Several friends and mom's got together and hosted a spaghetti dinner for over 250 people. It was an amazing night of sharing, memories and tribute...my real life friend Jennifer Juniper made her a plaque for all of the children to sign.



I truly believe that everything you need to know for life you learn in kindergarten....here are Cindylou, T. and Cubby with the amazing woman who will always be in our hearts.



Our theme for the evening was "Keep on Swimming" from the Nemo movie....she has this painted on her classroom wall. So we will...

Favorite Friday

It's Friday....and you know what that means :) You're here to see what I've picked for my favorite thing this week.....Well, this week it's Wendy's Apple Pecan Chicken Salad. I can get on a roll with it. It seems like I've had a lot of running around to do these past few weeks and this salad had been keeping me happy. It's easy to get at the the drive thru and I love the combination of the pecans and the apples. It comes with a tasty dressing too. It would be easy to do at home, but if you're on the run give it a some time.

You May Appreciate This

Check out this super idea! A dear friend gave me this card for my birthday a few days ago and it's still making me laugh :)