Friday, November 5, 2010

I have a new camera, and I LOVE it!!!!

If any of you are in the market for a new camera this fall, this one is wonderful.  It’s the Canon SX30 IS – not a little camera, this one has substance, but still not so big that you can’t put it in a larger purse.  It has a brownie finder, as well as a LED screen, which is a must for me.  Hey I’m a product of the 50’s, I love view finders, and a grab bar on the side – the pictures I’m taking are so good, it’s the best camera I’ve ever owned.  It takes HD movies, too.

It’s 14.1 megapixels with a 35X zoom.  That’s not a typo, the zoom is 35X.  Amazing for a point and shoot.

Hooterville has been helping me set it up, I’m actually taking pictures, programming the settings, instead of putting it on automatic thanks to her help.  I’m not a photographer, but this camera makes it easy for anyone to take good pictures.  Click on the camera, it will link you to Amazon and you can read all about it. 

My friend, Trish, bought it first, and now my buddy Carlene has purchased it.  What a great camera this is…

Here’s the link to an online photo album of pictures I took at Ryan’s.  If you like horses, you might enjoy this.

~ jan

Williams-Sonoma Fall Forest Piecrust Cutters, Set of 4

 

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Thanksgiving Tools_ Our Top 5 Under $20 — Inbox

Don’t you just love this set of piecrust cutters for Thanksgiving.  My mother always used a leaf from the yard and cut her own leaves for the top of pumpkin pies.  It’s such a nice memory.  These are just a bit more refined…

If you’re interested – here’s the link>>>

Donna Reed Show Theme Song

How about a blast from the past this morning...

So, I think I’ll fix a bit of breakfast…

I have a blueberry muffin in the freezer, I’ll just defrost it, oops, no microwave.

Okay, I’ll quickly poach an egg, nope, can’t do that either, no microwave.

But I did manage to brew more coffee without the pot overflowing.  But why didn’t all of the beans grind?  Some are still whole???

Okay, I’ll live with it…

Note to self:  Never again attempt to defrost a blueberry muffin in a paper cupcake liner in the toaster oven.  Without going into details, because dear hubby reads this blog, let’s just say that it wasn’t pretty, ladies….

Why me?

Life can be going along just fine, everything is smooth, no worries and then kaboom, it all goes to hell in a hand basket.  Here’s a recap of my last twenty-four hours -

  • The microwave died, just totally blacked out.  Since it’s over the range, it’s pricey – $250 to fix a seven year old microwave or $400 to buy a new one.  Grrrrrr
  • The fireplace quit working.  Hubby got it going, now it quit again this morning.
  • The washer isn’t spinning clothes out, I pulled out a load this morning and they were soggy.
  • Maggie upchucked in the floor, she’s fine now, who knows what that was about.

My can opener decided to quit opening cans, it’s in the trash.

My coffeepot overflowed for no apparent reason.

And that’s what’s going on in Heavensville this morning.  If bad things happen in three’s, then I’ve had more than my share.  Hope your Friday is better than mine!

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Grammie’s thoughts about my one year old granddaughter….

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I’m writing this blog for myself, more than others, because Abby is changing so quickly now and I want to always remember what she was doing when she was almost thirteen months old, and when I put the entries here, I will always have a record. So if you’re tired of baby posts, I totally understand, just skip over this.  It’s just me, being a sentimental grammie today...

She’s talking now, not just babbling or repeating words, she actually understands what she is saying.  I always say it’s like a light bulb has switched on and she comprehends now.

She presses her little hands to her chest and says, “baby.”  And sometimes when you say “Abby” she presses her hands to her chest.  She tries really hard to say “Abigail” and she’s getting better at it.

She points to the M&M’s and squeals “Puppy.”  She claps her little hands in time with music and she dances to the songs on the Disney Channel.

She’s toddling around, still likes to hold Mommy and Daddy’s hand as she walks around the room, but she does take a lot of steps on her own.  Sometimes you can see intense concentration, and other times she forgets she’s not holding on and just walks.

She shoves toys under the couch, and then lays down with her little bottom in the air and peers underneath the couch to see what’s there.

She pretends to talk on her little cellphone – she talks to it and then listens, hoping it will say something.

She prefers her books to her toys this month, turning pages endlessly and putting them in your lap for you to read to her.

When you put her in the crib and walk away, she waves and says, “bye, bye” “bye, bye”. 

She says “hi” to you whenever she sees you and get this huge grin on her face.  When I talk to her on the phone she yells “hi” to me over and over again.  Then she babbles a long string of words, which, unfortunately, I can’t understand.

She loves to roll her red ball, and gets so excited she wiggles all over and squeals at the top of her lungs.  Lindsay plays ball with her the best, she can really get her wound up.

She laid her little head on Uncle John’s shoulder and hugged him when he kissed her goodbye last weekend, and yes, I cried when I saw it.

Auntie Dee-Dee dresses her up in the most girly outfits she can find and then we both ooh and aah about how adorable she looks.

She’s Daddy’s girl, goes to find him when he’s in another room and loves visiting him in his office.  As soon as she hears his voice, she stops what she’s doing and goes to him.  He’s such a good father, he spends so much time with her, and is always focusing in on her and what she is doing.

And she thinks Grandpa is wonderful, tool.  She reaches for him and loves riding around his arms.  They go outside and look at the cows, he buckles her in her car seat and pushes her stroller, he’s totally besotted with her.

She sits in her high chair and when you offer her food that she doesn’t want, or when she gets full she shakes that little head back and forth and goes, “no, no, no, no, no.”

She’s really an independent little girl, she definitely wants to do things “her way.”

She loves it when her Mama sings to her and dances with her.  Her little eyes just shine when Lindsay comes into the room.  Lindsay sings and dances “Boom, Shakalka Boom Boom” with her in her arms, and Abby shimmies her little shoulders and laughs. Linds has repeated this little nursery rhyme to her since she was tiny and she loves it, jumping up and down on her lap when she says it -

Five little monkeys jumping on the bed,
One fell off and bumped his doodle head.
Mama called the Doctor and the Doctor said,
"No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

And how does she react to me?  Oh, she reaches for me to take her, and of course I just melt.  She loves playing with me, and always gives me huge smiles.  We play peek-a-boo and patty-cake and itsy bitsy spider and sing silly little songs.  She bends her little head down for me to kiss her and snuggles on my lap with her blanket.  We’re quite a pair, Abby and I…

My pal Violet, a must have!

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Abby has this toy and she adores it.  It comes with software so you program Violet with your computer, and you can program in your child's name, favorite color, favorite animal, and favorite food. You can also select five songs for it to play and five different lullabies (for a total of ten personalized songs).  You push on the paws to choose what you want Violet to say.

Lindsay keeps this in the car, and Abby sits in her car seat, clutching Violet and listening to the songs and verses.  Last weekend I heard her softly saying “woof, woof” and then oh-oh – just like Violet was saying.  It says her name, “Abigail” and it also spells it.  It won’t be long until she starts repeating that, too, she’s picking up words really fast now.  She’ll be looking out the window, or smiling at us, but all the time she’s doing that, her little fingers are pressing on Violet’s paws. It’s just the cutest toy I’ve seen in a long time.

If you have a baby or toddler in your life, trust me on this one, this is inexpensive and it’s a fantastic gift.  Just read the reviews, people love this.

If you have a little boy, there is Scout, you can see him on the link I’m sending you.

Barb, are you reading this – put this one on your list, girlfriend, Gia would love it!

Here’s the link, Violet is only $14.99 on Amazon – what a deal!

Felt Playhouse

If Abby were older, this would be an adorable gift for her.  It’s a felt playhouse that fits over a card table.

I first heard about these last year, I “think” Carlene was the one who sent me a picture.  I found this on Facebook this morning, with details about how to buy one, or design and make your own.

Maybe some of you have a little one in your life and might be interested, if so, here’s the link>>>

And here are Google Images of lots of these, tons of ideas of different designs.  Soooo cute!

Inspired Ideas

My friend, Amy, over at Inspireco has put together an amazing online Christmas magazine.  It's 170 pages, chocked full of things you can make for your holiday season.

Here's the link to the magazine.  Click on her magazine, and when it loads, flip through the pages, and look for the little dots at the bottom of the page, it will take you to all of her additional pages.

You will enjoy this, pinkie swear.

~ jan

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Another one of those simple things…

tea

I’ve been looking for a small basket for my tea and Splenda, so I can sit in on the counter instead of digging through the cabinet every time I want to brew a cup.  I found the perfect one last weekend and was just thrilled.

It doesn’t take a lot to make me happy at this age, a little thing like this is such a kick in the pants.

~ jan

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Men Schmen!


40 years of marriage..

A married couple in their early 60s was celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary in a quiet, romantic little restaurant.

Suddenly, a tiny yet beautiful fairy appeared on their table. She said, 'For being such an exemplary married couple and for being loving to each other for all this time, I will grant you each a wish.'

The wife answered, 'Oh, I want to travel around the world with my darling husband The fairy waved her magic wand and - poof! - two tickets for the Queen Mary II appeared in her hands.

The husband thought for a moment: 'Well, this is all very romantic,
but an opportunity like this will never come again. I'm sorry my love, but my wish is to have a wife 30 years younger than me.

The wife, and the fairy, were deeply disappointed, but a wish is a
wish.

So the fairy waved her magic wand and poof!...the husband became 92 years old.

The moral of this story:

Men who are ungrateful bastards should remember fairies are female.....

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Twick or Tweet…

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