Beautiful weather for outdoor reading!

The weather has been perfect for sitting outside and reading a good book (or two or three).  My reading seems to come in spurts but when the mood strikes, I have several books going at the same time.  Right now I am into four books.  I talked about my self-help book (healthier eating) in my last blog.  I have started the transformation by purchasing healthy and mostly organic fruits and produce.  I have switched from soy milk to rice milk and I am trying to rid my house of sweets and processed foods.  More to come in a later blog.  You know how much I love my Gator football team so you know how excited I must be for Tim Tebow's new book to be released in April, 2011.  While I am waiting on it, Mike Yorkey wrote "Playing With Purpose" about the lives and faith of the NFL's top new quarterbacks. (Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy, and Tim Tebow)  The main thing that sets the three quarterbacks apart from their peers is their boldness in sharing their faith in Christ.  It is a great book by a Christian author that has more than 70 books under his belt.  The third book I am reading is "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan, a pastor of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, California.  He challenges Christians to take the Bible seriously.  I find it eye-opening and soul searching.  The fourth book I am enjoying is "When God Winks at You" by Squire Rushnell.  It is a great book about how God speaks directly to you through the power of coincidence.

If you are not enjoying a good book outdoors, I hope you are spending time doing something else you love on these beautiful days. 

Terreckly,
Kathy

Temp is FALL-ing!!!

I guess you could say I'm as happy as a tick on a hound dog.  It is going to be our first cool weekend of the season and I can hardly wait!  Cool, as in, nice crisp air and sweater weather or possibly a cup of hot tea curled up with a good book (there is a chance of rain beginning tomorrow).  High of 60-65 Friday-Sunday!  Yeah!  It has been a long hot summer and I think everyone around here is looking forward to fall.  Everyone except my daughter, that is.  If the temperature drops below 80 degrees she heads to work in her ugg boots and some sort of sweater or jacket.  Might just be why she chose to live at the beach. 

The book I will be curling up with (rain or shine) if I can sneak in a couple of hours is a self-help book I picked up last week.  I consider myself a healthy eater but I am no longer a "spring chicken" and it is time to quit kidding myself and take control of my health.  It makes me happy to be in the kitchen and now I must begin eating with my head instead of my heart.  This is a blog in itself and you will be the first to know when I officially begin the transformation.  (which will be very soon indeed!)

Right now, I am happily transforming my daughter's home from Halloween decor to Fall.  You know how I feel about those "spooky" things hanging around.  A couple years ago, we took the oldest grandson to the mountains during this time of year and had a wonderful time.  We brought home pretty leaves and delicious apples but unfortunately hubby can't take vacation time right now so we have to make do. (Boo Hoo)  I went to the grocery store this morning and came home with beautiful organic produce and organic fruits for the table. 

I think a pot of homemade chili and grilled cheese sandwiches will be in store for my weekend.  I might even whip up some yummy pumpkin bread.  I think you are supposed to "pig out" before you begin a new weight loss program.  Right?  Happy weekend, happy fall!

Terreckly,
Kathy

                                                  

Preschool Halloween Party

The little guy had his Halloween party and parade at the church school he attends on Thursday.  He has a few costumes to choose from but as expected, he wanted to be batman.  When he was getting dressed Thursday morning, he was determined to hold his batman laptop computer while I put his costume on.  When I tried to show him the sleeves would not go on over the laptop in his hand, he got really frustrated and tried to explain to me that it would.  He was determined to make it work.  After a while, he threw it down in frustration and it landed right on his big toe.  Now he was upset.  He has been showing this really stubborn streak lately.  (Don't know if KK's stubbornness has worn off on him or if it is a touch of Independence.)  After a few tears he finally gave up and got dressed.  When we were ready to leave, he put his mask on and I reminded him the teacher really discouraged things that covered their faces as they might fall while trick or treating through the church office.  He said I had misunderstood her and what she meant was if you weren't "big" enough to see good when you wear a mask you shouldn't wear one.  Ok, so we will take it and ask before we wear it.  Ok, KK you will see that I am right.  Guess what, the teacher thought it was great!  So much for that!

On the way home, he said, KK can I watch batman on "on demand" when I get home.  You will have to wait until Mommy gets home and talk with her about that, okay?  Well, I don't know why I can't ever watch it.  I said, sweetie, you know, Batman is not real, it is just a character and he cannot really jump from building to building and do all the things it looks like he can.  I know that KK, just the man inside of batman can do all that stuff.  His name is Bruce.  OK, so that explains why Mommy doesn't like you to watch it.

Terreckly,
Kathy

Easy chocolate tofu pie!

Well, it is the furthest thing from Nana's yummy chocolate pie with her delicious meringue on top but it is yummy and much healthier.  I was craving chocolate today as I perused the aisles in the grocery store.  As I went through the health food section, I spotted the granola pie crust that my Publix has unfortunately discontinued.  It is about the only "graham cracker type" that I have found that doesn't have high fructose corn syrup or trans fat or something artificial.  I grabbed it and the other two ingredients, came home, and whipped it up so it would be ready after dinner tonight.  I have listed the recipe below in case you want to try it. 

2 boxes of mori-nu extra firm tofu, drained
6 oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate morsels, melted
1 granola pie crust

Melt chocolate chips in double boiler.  Put drained tofu in blender and pour chocolate in with spatula.  Blend thoroughly and pour into pie crust.  Refrigerate for a couple of hours.  Keep refrigerated.

Note - You can use another brand of tofu (extra firm) if you like.  You can also put cool whip on top and decorate with chocolate chips.  I have done this several times and everyone loves it.  I don't tolerate dairy so I leave mine plain.  It is still yummy.

Terreckly,
Kathy

A Typical Day

I am at my daughter's home today and our 5 year old has a T-ball game at 5:30 tonight.  Since he has to be there early for warm up and batting practice, we (me, the little guy and the 5 year old) will meet Mommy and Daddy at the game.  This means, KK has her work cut out for her today which is early dismissal day at school.  Once he gets home, the two little monkeys start acting like "two little monkeys"!  They cannot keep their hands off of each other no matter whether they are playing or watching a movie.  They love to wrestle and you know how much the big guy likes to tackle! (no football uniform needed)  All I can say is the little guy is going to be one tough cookie one day and you know what they say about paybacks!! 
I got an early start this a.m. to Publix so I could prepare a big pot of my homemade vegetable soup.  Well, two pots of soup since my daughter is vegetarian and everyone else in the family likes their meat. I had to make something easy since we won't get back from the game until after 7:00 and the boys need to be in bed by 8:00.  I'm thinking an apple cake sounds really good too with this cooler weather :)
My little superhero played so hard this morning he climbed up on the couch after lunch and fell asleep.  He got a 45 minute nap in before I had to get him up to pick Max (the dog) up from the doggie parlour then on to pick up the kindergartner.  Mommy might not be real happy with that little power nap when he is still up at 9:00 tonight but it surely helped me out.   

The hardest part of the day was getting the ball player dressed including finding everything he "needs" to go in his equipment bag.  Boy, times have changed since my son and daughter played T-ball.   Well, we are off to the ball field!!   Do you hear me singing?  Take me out to the ball game.  Take me out with the crowd.  Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks, I don't care if I ever get back.  Let me root, root, root for the home team.  If they don't win it's a shame.  For it's one, two, three strikes you're out at the old ball game.

P.S.  Shhhh.   Hope Mommy doesn't read my blog and see those cleats on the couch!

Terreckly,
Kathy

Easy to Make Tin Can Lanterns

The little guys and I made these cute lanterns to decorate their front porch for Halloween.  They were really easy to make and the boys were very proud of themselves when we were finished.  If you would like to make some, the instructions are as follows:

Can of various sizes (used aluminum or tin cans washed and with the wrapper removed)
large nail
hammer
soft towel
strong wire
wire cutters or pliers
orange spray paint
votive candles (white or orange)

Wash and soak cans a few minutes to remove paper wrapper.  Dry and fill about 1 inch from top with water.  Freeze.  While frozen, take out one can at a time to design.  Lay can on side on the soft towel and use hammer and nail to tap out face.  Don't forget to tap holes on each side for wire.  When all cans are designed, put on newspaper outside and spray paint inside and out.  When dry, put wire in each side and secure by twisting.  Place a votive candle in bottom and light.  You can hang these or set them around.  Important Note:  You will notice in my pictures that we painted the cans before tapping holes in them.  This was a mistake as I had to touch up the paint after we tapped the faces on them.  If you follow my instructions above it is less work.  Have fun!

Terreckly,
Kathy