ahhh, fall is here

I love autumn. The colors. The scents. The food. The coziness of it all. I probably look forward to autumn more than any other time of the year. I did get my fall decor up the week before Labor Day. Even Mr. Fye said he enjoys this season's decor additions most. This year I have a thing for peaches! I say "this year", but really I go through cravings where I eat one thing for a while and then I am over it... all year long. Right now, it is peaches! Succulent, flavorful, juicy peaches! You'll notice this dish seems to be missing one..... really, it is missing two!

Yesterday was Rachel's 23rd birthday. It was here before I knew it! We had a steak dinner for her. Don'tcha think the McD's cups add that special touch to the table? I did think about removing them for the picture but decided to go for reality.

I forgot to take a picture of the cupcakes we had. I got them at a bakery that we are considering for her wedding. She said I was multi-tasking. For those who have seen the pictures of Brandon when he shaved his head, it looks like he misses the mohawk look. Hopefully, he wasn't trying out his wedding hairstyle!!

Kenny, Becky, Laura, Steve, and Me

The last several times I posted pictures I had to load them backwards so they would go on right.... sooo, I did that this time and look! They went on the way I loaded them..... urrrgg! Anway, my Mom, sister Becky, and brother Steve came up from Texas for the week of Labor Day. Mom and Steve came last year and so it was great to have Bec join them this year! This picture is the Platts cousins. There were 3 Platts brothers. Uncle Bill, Daddy and Uncle Don. Uncle Bill had a daughter, Cheryl, but I don't recall ever metting her. Kenny and Laura had a brother, Gary, that died last year from melanoma. And we had an older sister, Debbi, who died 10 years ago next month. It was great to see visit with them, hear family stories and catch up with each other.

We used to spend Christmas Eve with Uncle Don and Aunt Pat and they would always give us those huge candy cane sticks. Bec talked to Aunt Pat about getting together she said she wanted us to come for dinner, that she had a surprise for us. My first thought was the candy canes... maybe she had some for us to bring back a great memory. Then I had a second thought and well, let's just say that was it and it was ok that it wasn't the candy canes! She made the traditional Platts Family Christmas Dinner of rump roast, Grandpa Platts's Yorkshire Pudding, mashed potatoes
and gravy, green beans, jello salad, applesauce and pumpkin pie and homemade carrot cake. It was such a wonderful meal and so thoughtful!

Back at Anut Barbara'a we celebrated some of the family's September birthdays... this year was for my cousin Leslie, Mom and cousin Tim. Any excuse for more sweets! We do love our sweets! My sister came to stay a couple of days with me, so we went to get donuts at Dunkin' Donuts, since they don't have them in Texas. Of course, I had to get some from Long's to show her how much better they are and then a couple of days later we patronized Jack's Donuts in New Castle because they are the very best! Jack's has been there as long as I can remember. We just went there for memory's sake..... yeah, right!

In photo: Brenda, Denny, Ted,

Karen, Tim, Steve,

Aunt Barbara, Becky, Leslie, me, Mom (Gloria)

These are the Turpin cousins with Mom and Aunt Barbara. We missed Aunt Harriett and again, my sister Debbi. The cousins are arranged by age. Debbi was the oldest so she would have been top left. It was a fun "photo shoot" and it was fun to catch up with the Turpin side, too! When we go to Aunt Barbara's we expect homemade ham salad and coke cake. She didn't disappoint us!

Cousin Karen hosted a family cookout. She and her husband Nick have a nice big farmhouse east of New Castle that would hold all of us if it had rained. But the weather was absolutely beautiful! Pretty windy, but wind is better than extreme heat! Steve was the Grill Master for the day and Larry and Ryan were there giving their two cents worth I am sure.

The Sherry Three. I lived with Aunt Harriett and Uncle Paul from age 13-18. So these three and combination cousin/siblings for me.

One of the food tables... I have to admit I have a slight twinge of coveting when I see this table. There was one other table/desk like it when they bought it in PA (for $15 no less!!!) and so it isn't like I can go get one like it... thus the "coveting." The other end looks like this end and the center is filled with drawers on both sides! LOVE it!

I had planned on having a photographer friend come and take pictures, but timing got mixed up and it didn't happen. It was a great place for pictures! The barn had this cute little window in it. So we filled it with a cute little girl and a cute big guy!

Then her Poppy had to get in there! Poor Brandon.

Our family... Ryan, me, Larry and Rachel.

Our family plus one... Brandon! Next year he will have to claim us!

I love generation photos.

My Mom and her children. Steve and Becky look like Mom... Me... I am a Daddy's girl!

I love this piture of Mom and Aunt Barbara. Oh, the stories we heard! I now know where a child or two of mine gets their "rules are just suggestions" attitude. ;o)

Isn't family great?!

It's a wrap!

A summer delight... Cherries!!

Well, the menu for the next two weeks has been made! I don't know why it is so hard to make a 2 week menu! I should just put money back and then go weekly to the grocery, but shopping isn't one of my favorite things to do so the bi-weekly shopping works for that! Oh, well, here it is!!

Thursday- chicken picatta, linguine, peas and tomatoes

Friday- lexington style chicken, baked potatoes, salad

Saturday- tacos

Sunday Dinner- pork roast, mashed sweet potatoes, caulifower and broccoli, eggs, rolls, caprese salad, white cake with homemade buttercream frosting (This will be my birthday dinner)

Sunday evening- blt's

Monday- lemon basil chicken, red potatoes, carrots

Tuesday- salmon patties, salad

Wednesday- mexican pie (hamburger and chili beans in a baked pie crust topped with taco fixin's)

Thursday- YOYO (You're On Your Own) (I may be going to a party)

Friday- Steak, roasted sweet potatoes, broccoli

Saturday- Family Fun Night at church- Taco Salad, Twinkie layered dessert (Twinkies cut in half length-wise for crust then a layer of each: vanilla pudding, peaches, bananas, strawberries and top it with Cool Whip) (the original recipe just used bananas and pineapple... switched it up to suit my family)

Sunday Dinner- Lasagna, green beans, salad, bread

Sunday evening- mini pizzas (crust is flattened Grands biscuits)

Monday- Chicken Sorrento (chicken chunks, broccoli, carrots and onion marinated in creamy italian dressing)

Tuesday- balsamic bbq chicken, mac and cheese, baked beans, green beans

Wednesday- nacho chicken ( chicken slow cooked in 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 cup salsa with a pinch of chili powder and then served over crushed tortilla chips and topped with cheese)

Thursday- Parmesan Chicken served over linguine, salad, bread

Calvin Trillin said, "I don't care where I sit as long as I get fed."

That is not true in our house... the food must taste better when they are sitting next to Daddy...

they still fight to sit by him!

July Happenings

There are lots of pictures in this post... you know, if I'd do this more often I wouldn't overload like this!

July has been a good family month!

My baby turned 18. I know! How did that happen?? Look at those dimples.. he's a cutie!

In June I had the bright idea to paint his room. Rachel had a bright idea to change rooms with him since her room was bigger and she is hardly ever here. So, I set about moving furniture around and painting. It took a lot longer than I planned due to an unplanned trip to Baltimore, but I did eventually get it done. So, this is a new poster for his room... "101 Best Movie Quotes." He likes to quote movies and can do awesome impersonations... Shrek is my favorite!

On July 3 Beech Grove has their fireworks and since it is just a couple of blocks over we usually have Ry's party on that night. We throw great parties... fireworks and everything! Well, really this year he didn't want me to go "overboard." Me?? He just wanted to have some guys over, play video games and eat pizza. He wanted cinnamon rolls for dessert, but our a/c was caput so I made individual Oreo sundaes instead... he didn't complain!

On his actual birthday I made his usual birthday treat- peanut butter pie. It was yummy!

He deserved a big 18th birthday blow out since he is such a great guy.

But he got what he wanted... low key, and hopefully he felt how much he is loved!

Makenzi and her Mommy came to visit us. I just love this girl! She is a bit shy at first when she comes. She knows us but it does take a while to warm up. The older she gets the less time it takes...

I am anxiously waiting for the day when she runs from the car into our arms!

This is what she first played with after she got here... She got all the dishes out and lined them up to prepare a feast for everyone. The next day she was making "snacks" and I asked her if I could have some. She "made" it and then held it up ad said, "This is for Rachel." The next one was for "Rachel's friend" and then Rachel got at least 3 more...

I never did get any! She is so much fun!

I made ice cream sandwiches with Pop-Tarts... she really liked those and thought they made the perfect breakfast!

Here's the bathing beauty enjoying the summer sun! If we got to see her more in the summer I would have bought a bigger pool. Next year this one will be perfect for the new Baby Fye we will have and Kenzi can get a bigger one!

This morning he woke up and sat on her Mommy's lap for a quick hug then sat back and and said,

"I want to go to Wal-Mart." She wanted to buy more fireworks. She does know what she wants!!

We spent a few hours at the Beech Grove Park with Liz, Trenton and Chloe until the storms rolled in and forced us home. It was a hot day and it was fun for the kids to spend time in the creek.

The enjoyed watching the crawdads scoot along from rock to rock. Trenton called them lobsters.

Makenzi's Daddy didn't get to come home this time, but I caught glimpses of him....

Kristi WAS enjoying the crawdad dances until she thought they were turning into attack crawdads!

She'd had enough!

This was actually before we went to the park... we got cleaned up after wading in the creek! We are making cake balls!! My family loves cherry chip cake so I thought making it into cakeballs would just be the ultimate!

I was so wrong! Perfection shouldn't be messed with!

Now, chocolate cakeballs.... oh,yeah! They are sooo more-ish!!

We had a lot of fun making them and eating them!

We made a trip to Build-A-Bear! She had a tough time deciding which animal to get.

She first grabbed the pink teddy bear, then her eye caught several others...

We thought she had settled on the black doggie....

Then she spotted the pony! Cinnamon the Pony even has a button to push that says "Mamaw Loves Makenzi!" I am sure Kristi is so tired of that!! Aunt Rachel and I thought Cinnamon needed a cute little skirt but Makenzi knew her ony loves the outdoors and had to have a beach chaise lounge chair! Cinnamon even shared it with Kenzi's babies!

You need some history on this picture. Robby, although not a complete health nut, did try to limit his added butter. He never complained about anything I cooked, but when he would see me prepare vegetables he always commented with "What are trying to do? I can feel my arteries clogging now!!" He said it in love and it didn't stop him from eating anything! Now, enter Kezni... that sweet little girl that is so much like her Daddy loves butter! If you put it on a roll she will lick it off... This picture is of her idea of a cup of dairy... not ice cream.... butter!

She put the butter in this little cup and was licking itlike ice cream!

Rachel and "her friend" Brandon. Brandon went with us to PA and rode back with Larry, Ryan and me since Rachel went on to Roxbury to help at a youth camp. He met family, spent 3 days with all of us and had a 7 hour trip back home with us and he is still coming around! Might have something to do with that pretty little girl! She took at picture of him at a friend's wedding in April and when I saw it I said, "Rachel, he's not ugly." She said, "I knoooow!" They have known each other for years... isn't it funny how after years of knowing someone you finally "see" them?

I had 40... yep, 40 pictures of them to choose from.

They said they were for me... some I think was more for their benefit. ;o)

We got to meet Ann's fiance, Pat. He is avery nice man. He walks several miles a day and stays in good shape for his 75 years. He has a 3 wheel motorcycle and a camper and enjoys traveling. Ann will enjoy that!

See that smile on her face? I don't know that I have ever seen her so happy!

This is his home that he has lived in since the early 60's. Isn't it adorable? He takes very good care of his home. He does his own cleaning and honestly I don't know of anyone that out cleans him. You can tell things are not new by the style (when he bought, he bought quality, to last) but things look like they were put in yesterday!

This will be Ann's home come October. A family friend said it is the best kept house in Harrisville.

On Sunday we spent the day at Lake Erie. It was a wonderful day. Hot, but not too hot. I really do not like beaches. Well, I like them, thoroughly enjoy them, once I get to my spot. I hate (yes, I know 'hate' is a strong word, not to be used lightly) walking through sand. Not because the sand is dirty, but becuse of all the litter in the sand. auggggh. But when I get to my spot I love the sound of the water, relaxing in the sun

and the squeals of laughter coming from all the children.

Ryan doesn't read my blog, so I am going to insert this... I thought it was cute. I won't expound too much,

I'll just say that in effort to remain "decent" he built up a sand wall. I thought it was pretty creative.

Here's Miss Chloe having fun in the sun. The sun was too bright to look up. Why didn't I bend down??

And here's Master Trenton... they had a great day!

" Sexy Men Speak French" The back says in French, "Excuse me, madam. Do you speak French?"

Last year's birthday gift from his sister... it was supposed to say "hot guys"... that would have been Mother Approved!

July for the Fye's has been fun and eventful. We are busy, happy and tired people!! We have a few more days left in July, but other than normal busy-ness, I don't think there will be anything news worthy!

Looking forward to a great August, though!

I'll leave you with this thought:

Families are like fudge. Mostly sweet, but with a few nuts.

Just sayin'.

Magnolia Beauty

Sunday evening I realized that I did not take one picture of our family or of the Easter table. I did get this one picture of the roasts... only because Liz reminded me to. That is so sad! I need to relax on holidays and at dinners and remember to take pictures and enjoy the moment! And if I would have had someone else start taking family pictures that would work, too! I just don't like for my family to have to wait too long before the meal is on the table... but a few minutes wouldn't kill them!

The cheesy pork roast was absolutely fabulous! It has a cream sauce that goes with it and makes it fantabulous!

Today's Daybook...

This is the view from my living room window. This year we have more blooms on our Magnolia tree than we have ever had.

It is beautiful.


Today I am thinking about the menu for the next two weeks. Why is it so hard to come up with two weeks worth of menus?

I am thankful for the visual pleasures the Lord gives us.
Fresh, bright, vibrant spring colors to help us stretch out of our winter hibernation.


In our learning rooms we have moved from winter boredom to spring daydreaming.
The transition was smooth. Home Educating one has its trials.

In the crafting room I am gathering ideas for my next round of card making.

Thinking I will use some of these pictures that have been cropped just so!

From the kitchen I am looking forward to Sunday night's SNAC (Snack Night After Church) when I will be taking Yummy No Bake Bars and chicken salad on croissants. We have been wanting the Yummy Bars but I didn't dare make them without someplace to take them! I keep having mixed thoughts... "I hope everyone eats them all!" ... "I hope we have leftovers!"

I am wearing work out pants and a multi-colored topped. Comfort is the cry of the day!

I am going to help a friend with wedding ceremony decorating on Thursday. I am looking forward to that!

Maybe next week I will have pictures... depends on if the Bride puts pics out first... Not gonna steal her joy!

I am reading a lame, lame, lame mystery that I got from the Dollar Store.

Ready to go to the library or the church's library!

I am hoping that I will get to see Rob and his family before too much longer!

We are praying for hail here in central Indiana.

I know that sounds terrible, but that is how we will see Rob this summer.

He travels all over the country and if he could spend work time here that would make us very happy!

Some of my favorite things are dishes. I just dishes... they make me smile!

Today's quote:

"Any child can tell you the sole purpose of a middle name

is so he can tell when he's really in trouble."

Dennis Frakes

What's Going On Today

Outside my dining room window... I noticed today there are bright purple little buds starting on one of our trees out front. It is the tree we used to take Easter pictures in front of, but it hasn't been in bloom the last couple of years. If it's not ready Sunday, maybe it will be when Makenzi is here mid-April.

I am thinking... I have quite a lengthy project list for this spring!

I am thankful for... Pastor Bailey and Esther. When our church has communion Pastor and Esther serve us. I love that. I said that to Rachel on Sunday and she said, "Mom, you say that every time." But it is true, I love how they, as our Pastor and wife, serve us together.

From the learning rooms... catching up on keyboarding.

I am wearing... a short jean skirt, my one and only sweatshirt, it's eggplant in color and I have on Colts Blue socks! Yeah, I'm not going anywhere!

In the crafting room... wall words for my kitchen. I decided on "Together... our favorite place to be." It seems that some of our best family times are around our table... talking, laughing and yeah, sometimes eating.

I am going... to work on our next Kids Konnect Bible lesson. I will be using 'Who Will Be King?' from Matthias Media.

I am reading... Ulterior Motives by Terri Blackstock

I am hoping... Larry feels much better tonight. Cat allergies=no fun.

I am hearing... 24.

Around the house... a few dishes, but all looks pretty good... well, there is that laundry that needs done...

I am creating... an Easter tablescape.

Favorite things... glue dots.

Today's picture... is of some of my Sunday School class and my wonderful assistant teacher, Theresa. This is from our bowling BLAST (Beleving, Learning, Adventures in Studying the Truth). We have one BLAST event each month.

Today's Quote: When we do what we can, God will do what we can't.

Quest for Healthier Menus

A couple of weeks ago I decided that to get past this almost 3 month plateau I am on I needed to plan healthier menus. So I searched the wonderful resources of the web and the local library, and my dear cousin gets me a subscription to Healthy Cooking for my birthday (it changed this last year from Light and Tasty to Healthy Cooking). I was determined to find meals that my family would like and that our waist lines would like also. You know... that's not so easy. We like what we like. There is a reason I am on this particular weight loss plan. So, on my quest to healthier menus, I got sidetracked. The healthy cookbooks from the library and the magazines are all earmarked and ready to be copied, but to get to the lighter fare on websites (at least most of the ones I looked at) you have to pass by the good stuff... or is that, the not-so-good for you stuff. So, I am thinking that tossing in a lighter fare menu or recipe here and there is definitely a good thing, but moderation is probably where we should live. Afterall, God gave us those different tastebuds for our enjoyment, not to torture us.

In the last 4 days I have tried 4 new recipes! I get tired of the same ol' things to eat. I remember a childhood friend's family had spaghetti every Friday night. At the time, it sounded wonderful to me and I remember thinking that is what I am going to do when I grow up... Monday night is chicken night, Tuesday is hamburger night, Wednesday is.... well, you get the picture. There's no way I could do that! The only thing we may have 2 weeks in a row is pizza!

When I started the "Quest" I also opened another Delicious account just for recipes. I love this!! I have one account for business and personal. It has all the blogs I follow and they are listed under various tags such as decorating, crafts, Sunday School, weddings, etc. Then the one for recipes has tags for resources (recipe blogs or sites like Taste of Home), appetizers, breakfast, fruit, pork, etc. So when I go to plan my menus I go to that Delicious account and can pull up those recipes or I can search for more ideas. It is so handy. It probably won't be long before I open another account for A Mari Celebration. If you haven't checked Delicious out, you ought to. A free organization tool! Fun!

Here's the 2 week menu for this round. I am going to go back to Friday so I can include the recipes I tried this weekend, since there are keepers and I want to share them with you!

Friday- Homemade pizza with copy-cat "Papa John's" sauce (mmm, so good! I made a double batch and the rest froze it in 1/2
cup containers)
Saturday- Cowboy Sandwiches (the recipe has a different name... these were ok, don't know that we will have them again..)
Sunday- dinner- homemade lasagna, cauliflower, green beans, salad, rolls and lemon crumb cake (this cake was in the Healthy
Cooking magazine and I couldn't get a link to it. It is a dense cake. I liked it, but my family isn't real hip on
lemon.)
Sunday- after church- slow cooker pulled pork with homemade coleslaw and perogies. (oh, my! the recipe said the pork tastes
better the second day and boy was he right! Last night, I was thinking it was an awful lot of steps to go
through to get that result.Not hard steps, just time consuming, but today I am thinking it was definitely
worth it. I will double the sauce recipe next time, though. It's a keeper for sure!
Monday- Butter Roast Chicken, crash hot potatoes, and peas (The chicken recipe is one I have hadfor years and my
family loves it.)
Tuesday- beef tips and homemade noodles, mashed potatoes and carrots
Wednesday- leftovers
Thursday- enchiladas and corn casserole
Friday- Lexington Style chicken, baked potatoes and broccoli (another favorite chicken recipe)
Saturday- taco roll (taco meat and cheese rolled up in a pizza crust)
Easter Sunday- Cheese stuffed Pork Roast, cheesy mashed potatoes, broccoli casserole, carrots, cauliflower salad, homemade
yeast rolls, deviled eggs and I am sure dessert will be served but I don't know what it will be yet!
Sunday night- chili dogs
Monday- chicken paremsan, linguine and green beans
Tuesday- cube steaks and gravy, mashed potatoes, and peas
Wednesday- pizza roll
Thursday- bbq ribs, mac and cheese and baked beans

So there's a peek into our culinary world... as you can see we will be relying on moderation! If it is between food that we don't enjoy and adding more exercise to my schedule it will have to be exercise!