When K's Working . . .

I spent the whole day making pillow tops out of some fabric I found on EBay. When we were visiting J and P's for the first time last fall and I discovered her love for Americana style art I had to get this fabric because I thought that it would make darling pillows for her new house. Well . . . I finally found some time to finish them up while K's on a business trip to Sacramento today. I'll do the back side using some of the fabric we schlepped home from our visit to S and M's the Michigan last spring. When I get those done tomorrow I'll let you see the finished product. I think they'll look pretty nice when they're done and it's been fun making them. Now I'll have to figure out something cute to make for S!

Life in the Big City

We drove up to the lovely town of Chico, California. It really isn't the big city because it's a quaint little town with some lovely old victorian style houses. We're here because K did a presentation to other co-op representatives from Escapee parks all over the country. His presentation was a hit and the materials we put together was in popular demand. He and G represented Park Sierra, while C and I visited with a couple we spent ten days with in Quartsite.

We're staying in a nice suite in the Marriott Residence Inn where we were supposed to share a two-bedroom suite with G and C. They had our suite ready for us BUT it was a "smokers room" - YUCK! We refused it so they gave us two suites for the same price next door to each other, which works out fine.

After dinner we brought in chairs from their room and played four rounds of Pegs and Jokers - women 2 to men 2. It's early but we're pretty tired having gotten up at 5 this morning. K has hit the hay early and I took a nice hot bath, a rare treat living the lifestyle we do.

Aaahh, Life is Good!

Tomorrow is the big day in that nearly 2000 RVs will be ascending upon this town for the annual western Escapade. We'll stroll around the vendors area to see all the stuff we can't live without and head for home on Monday.

They Were a Hit!

The rib dinner was a smashing success. Over 125 pounds of ribs were smoked and fall-off-the-bone delicious. Along with the sides of baked beans, coleslaw, and potato salad plus a yummy cake for dessert—all of which was served to the crowd of 125 chomping-at-the-bit (because they had been smelling the smokers going for two days) members and guests in less than 15 minutes—it was a grand affair and everyone went home with full bellies!

Each cook was presented with a "Bunny Prize!"

Happy Easter everybody!

OD's Beans for A Crowd

IT ALL STARTED when I was visiting with some folks down at the clubhouse a few weeks ago chatting about an upcoming smoked rib dinner they were going to host for the Saturday before Easter. Their menu was to include baked beans and I inquired about their method of baking beans. She talked about taking canned beans and doctoring them up a bit with ketchup, mustard, and brown sugar. You can see how this story is going . . . of course I had to chime in to say "I have a secret recipe for baked beans that are out of this world!" So I told her the story of Daddy baking beans nearly every Friday and taking them into J&J and all his customers from miles around would come by the shop to get a taste of his famous beans.

AND THEN I TOLD HER the story of getting Daddy to teach us how to make those beans because he had the technique in his head and no recipe at all. We spent a weekend with the folks RVing at the beach. The whole purpose of the weekend was to write down everything he did while making a batch of his beans . . . the recipe developed as we'd follow him back and forth from the beach to the motorhome while he "drizzled and sprinkled," jotting down his every move . . . so now the whole family can make "ODs Baked Beans!"

After hearing the story she asked "Would you like to make those beans for the park dinner?" I gladly agreed.

Now I've never made such a large quantity before. It was a whole lot of work because we had to 8-times the recipe and that makes for a lot of "drizzling and sprinkling." My best friend in the world, who happens to be my husband, helped me from the get-go this morning and we finished about six hours later. Check out the pictures and I think you'll agree that they're gonna be delicious and my Daddy would be so tickled to know that his beans will be enjoyed by 125 folks at one time!

Saturday's Saga

First things first . . . as Mom always said to us kids on Saturday mornings "Work before pleasure . . . clean your room!" Cleaning bedrooms started off with me telling them that I'd do their laundry if they'd toss out the dirty clothes into the hallway. Boy, did I ask for it!



Breakfast dishes in the dishwasher (I'd forgotten what a luxury that is!) . . . rooms pretty much cleaned up . . . time for the next event of the day!




Let's see . . . first we're going to lunch at In-N-Out and the kids introduced us to "French Fries Animal Style" — What a mess!



Then we're off to Albertsons for Gatorade (a MUST according to eight-year-old J who claims "My Dad insists I have it during halftime so I don't get dehydrated!), and then to the gym for two first-of-the-season basketball games. . . J's is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. and C's is at 3:00 p.m. - each on different ends of the same floor. And by 3:30 p.m. they're both going on at the same time!


What fun to watch the difference of experience of the same sport . . . lots of cheers for the "big kids" and lots of tears of joy for the "little kids!"



You can see in the picture of C's team —that's C on the right, arms at his side, not really wanting to run all the way down the court AGAIN—that the coaches are truly blessed with patience as they teach the 5-year-olds the concept of the game plus the basic skills of the game.



K and KL had time during halftime to play a few games of Tic-Tac-Toe always ending in a Cat's Game and then having to play Rock Paper Scissors to see who goes first for the next game.



After a full afternoon you'd think the boys would be exhausted, but oh-my-NO! They had lots of energy left to play a vigorous game of "Anti-Terrorists" - actually they had the most fun figuring out what to wear and striking a pose for the camera. Such hams!



Driving home we looked forward to a quiet time of watching a great Hallmark movie "The Long Shot" . . . dinner of pot roast and veggies which have been stewing in the crock pot most of the day . . . a great game of Pegs and Jokers . . . and, oh my! and thank the Lord . . . it's time for bed!

"Pancakes!"

That was the gleeful reply when I asked little C what he wanted for breakfast. "And I can help you make'em too!" He ran over and pointed to the counter exclaiming "That's where my mom lets me sit when I help her." I told him I just needed to finish my coffee while Papa cooked the bacon, and then we'd get started.

So I got the Bisquick out, a big bowl, milk and eggs . . . and J and KL immediately chimed in with perfect harmony . . .

"CAN I CRACK THE EGGS?"

So there you have it . . . teamwork to the max! All I had to do was pour the batter onto the electric grill, KL was in charge of flipping the pancakes. She quickly learned to watch for the bubbles as a first sign the pancakes were ready to turn.





Is that a tongue I see?



Yes, it's definitely a tongue . . . it takes a lot of concentration to stir the batter, let alone keep it in the bowl!



Perfect pancakes every time!

The only thing missing were the blueberries. C reminded me that "When we come to Oregon, remember how we picked our own blueberries? Can we do it again?"

Life is Good! and so were those pancakes!

The Past 24 Hours . . . Where Do I Begin?

What a grand time we've been having in beautiful Southern California. We arrived Thursday just in time for dinner and to enjoy watching Survivor with the whole family. What fun it was to watch J with so much excitement when his teacher's husband, Bruce, was on the winning team at the first half of the show. We topped off the evening with three Pegs and Jokers games with P and J - men won 2 to 1!

On Friday morning we went to the kid's school to see both J and K receive awards. J's was for good grades for the second trimester and K's was for straight A's . . . we were so proud of both of them. P and J took off for Sacramento right after the award ceremony. I could almost here the "WoooHoooooo!" as they pulled away. We had the rest of the day until 3 p.m. when all three kids were brought home at the same time. We watched "Dreamer" with KL and J while C took a short nap. A great movie that K bought with her own money! We had fun that evening making pizzas for dinner. The kids all made their own . . . thanks Auntie S for the great idea. They were all quite creative and had a great time each eating their entire pizza!





After dinner they pitched in emptying the dishwasher while I loaded it back up. It was still light enough to "shoot some hoops" outside. The three play so well together, K always ready to help C make his basket, while J showed off his basketball skills. Little C tugged at my heartstrings when he said oh-so-sweetly "I like it when you guys come here!" This morning, pancakes and bacon was a team effort. C mixed the batter while K and I cooked the bacon. J set the table while KL flipped the pancakes. During breakfast we talked about the plans for the day. I told the three that after their rooms were cleaned up (insert here a saying I grew up with, I can remember every Saturday morning my mother would say "Work before pleasure!" which always meant that our rooms would have to be cleaned up before we could go out to play) plus a small bribe to encourage them to finish today so they didn't have to spend the whole weekend in their room . . . that they could pick out the place to go for lunch.



They immediately got into a huddle and came up with In-N-Out Burgers and they introduced us to "Animal Style Fries" (what a mess! but tasty!) — We had lunch on the way to the gym where both boys had their first game of the season . . . J's game was at 2:30 and C's started at 3 - both simultaneously for two quarters. Of course a trip to the store on the way was required because "Our Dad says we need to have Gatorade during halftime so we won't get dehydrated!" And then it took me nearly ten minutes scanning all the different flavors and colors of this premium beverage . . . and you know what? Albertsons didn't have any of the three choices I was given as far as flavors go so I had to figure out a good compromise which all three would like. You gotta know that was a tough decision to make, for sure!

Both kids played their hearts out and we had a fun time keeping our eyes on both games. When we got home K showed me the trick she's been working on with Murray . . . who has a bit more training to be as good as his Uncle Kruggie!



The kids spent an hour or so finishing up their rooms before we took time to read a book together and then we enjoyed a potroast dinner which had been simmering in the crockpot all day . . . don't you love coming home to the smell of dinner cooking!



After dinner we played a roaring game of Pegs and Jokers . . . KL and I (with C's help) against K and J - girls (and C) won! These kids have just been a delight to be with . . . they are such a joy to be around . . . very sweet dispositions with nice manners . . . P and J have done a great job raising three kids we are so proud of! The time has gone by pretty fast . . . tomorrow we have a busy schedule fitting in church, K's Bible study, and another game of Pegs and Jokers, and a movie to watch!

I've got so many great pictures but I think you get the idea of how much fun we're having . . . Life is So Good!

Where Does the Time Go?

Okay Middle America Mom, you're right . . . the snow has definitely melted, however those darn rain showers just won't stop! We've been busy here at Park Sierra. Let's see, here - in bullet points- is a briefing of what we've been doing since the snow storms:

• Made my Daddy's baked beans for a "test dinner" with 20 guests in attendance . . . getting ready for the big one on April 15 for 120. We received kudos from the guests, but we were expecting they'd like the beans . . . as we all remember that he made the best!
• Spent our birthdays and St. Patrick's Day with little sister and brother-in-law J and R. We always have fun hanging out at their place. J and I cooked up some fun meals for the four of us to enjoy. Came home in a killer rain storm . . . white knuckle driving . . . but we made it home safely only to witness more snow falling (just briefly, thank God).
  
• We've been working hard on pulling all the loose ends together with the Volunteer Committee here at Park Sierra. It's such an important job and we have a great committee to work with. Now we have to get the presentation packets ready for the big presentation to the board on April 11. . . which means we need to get this completed by this coming Wednesday because we'll be leaving for Simi Valley for a long weekend on Thursday and K will have to do the presentation to the Board the day after we get home!
• P and H came up for just a very brief visit . . . but we made time for the infamous ravioli dinner and three games of Pegs and Jokers! (Women - 2, Men - 1)
  
• Spent a whole morning planning our year from now until fall, making reservations where we could and plotting out on the calendar when we can make the rest of the reservations, beating the crowd with our new upgrade of our Thousand Trails, etc., memberships.
• Published another Speak EZ, this time sending the files via email to Kinko's in Fresno and they had the completed job shipped back next day since they're now owned by FedEx. . . how cool is that! Plus—the quality is so much better.
• Been making the newborn caps with my "Knitters and Hookers" bunch, quilting with the quilting group, and shopping on EBay for fabric bargains. I've decided that I really have enough fabric (only because I'm running out of storage space).
• Went to a great quilt show in Clovis . . . drooled over probably 100 quilts and now dream about having a longneck quilting machine that I'll keep up in Oregon so that I can "piece" in Coarsegold and "quilt" in Cascadia!
• Helped the Knitters and Hookers host a "Friday Night at the Movies" where we asked everyone to bring a snack to share with the folks at their table and watched "Walk the Line" - no charge for the movie, since someone here in the park owned the DVD - everyone had a great time and during the intermission you were free to wander from table to table and nibble on other table's snacks.
  
• Spent a bit of time this afternoon adoring a good friend's granddaughter (six months old) who came to visit from the Bay Area.

So . . . there you have it in a nut shell (rather large nut shell). Now it's getting late . . . actually even later since we need to move the clocks forward so I think I'll hit the hay. I'll probably be posting again in Southern California . . . surely there will be some good pictures to include at that time!

Life is Good!