It is that that time of year again.

Yep!  Time to carve the pumpkins.

Every year the kids ask me to roast the pumpkin seeds.

I never do it, because I do not like roasted pumpkin seeds.

I do not like the taste,  I do not like the texture and

I do not like the amount of work required to roast them.

Welllllll......  this year I decided to do something different.....

So... after the kids carved the pumpkins,

I took the seeds......

Yep!!  I took the slimey seeds and divided them from the stringy pulp.

And, I decided to deep fry them....

They needed to fry as long as they needed to bake, which seemed like forever.

But really,  it was only about 20 minutes or so....

They became a golden brown; sounds good, doesn't it?

They were then drained to remove as much of the grease as possible,

and then I freely poured on the cinnamon and sugar....

Yeah Baby!!!!!

And how do you think they tasted????

AWFUL!!!

So, I still do not like pumpkin seeds.....

But I love carved pumpkins....

What do you do with your pumpkins seeds????

Should I do something different to  make them taste better????

I would love to hear your ideas.

Love,

Catrina



Ten years ago, the ninth of September, our family moved to the State of Ohio.

The family really struggled with moving away from the beach,

and from the family....

There are things like that in each of our lives....

the place we are living,  something we don't really expect ...

or truly plan on......  or just some hurts in our lives.......

The view from my back door

This can cause us to wonder where God is and does He really care......

The view from my bedroom window

It could even cause you to wonder if you are all alone...

A close up view of our road

It can even grow to make us wonder,  does anyone care?????

The view out my front door

And then I am reminded.....

Each beautiful picture in nature....

Is God speaking,  I am here......

and I love you.........

He does,  you know...

Love

Catrina













Precious

I don't think there is anything sweeter than

when your kids are willing to create something for you so you don't have to.



My precious Cindy (my 'adopted' child), and my man child Caleb

grated, mixed and created the homemade laundry soap for me.

So I wanted to share their hard work with you......

These are the ingredients:  2 boxes of baking soda,  1 box of borax,  1 container of oxi clean laundry

 whitener, 6 bars (grated) of fels-naptha bar soap, 1 box of washing soda, and Purex Scent Crystals.

It was hilarious watching the two of them grate the bars of fels-naptha...

Okay.... so maybe Caleb grated the bars and Cindy and I just watched!!

After grating the bars,  they poured the gratings into a large bag.....

And added the rest of the ingredients.......

Then shake,  fluff, or roll the bag to mix the ingredients.....

Just make sure your bag is thicker than our was or you will have a mess....

as we did......

We then proceeded to triple bag it and continue mixing..........

After the kids mixed it together,

they put it into a beautiful container that Cindy picked out for me...

Isn't it gorgeous!!!! 

Even if you don't make your own homemade soap, 

this will be pretty on your washer or beside it with regular detergent in it.

I have some pretty special kids......  that do pretty special things.......  so I will

work at continuing share what they do...... because they are precious to me...

Love,

Catrina

My son left for Basic Training 5 months ago........

And since then, my life has felt like it has been in a whirlwind that just hasn't quit....

So I am wanting to start back up with my blog,

as it is so therapeutic... and besides that... I just love doing it.

So to get back into the swing of things...

(it took me 15 minutes to figure out how to log back on here)..

I am starting with something simple...

I attended a craft party where we were making fabric wreaths.

I went shopping with my daughter for the fabric

and she and I decided to add more than fabric.

we chose three different fabrics: brown, teal, and brown with polka dots.

Along with the fabric we chose a brown and teal ribbon,  and a brown and teal netting......

You cut these into similar size strips and start loading up your wire.

You form a loop with your fabric strip, and you put the other end (with the two ends)

through the loop and draw it in tight.

I personally don't know what I was thinking!! 

 I should have put on makeup and fixed my hair... but I guess it is what it is....

I was tempted to make this picture very small so you couldn't see the close up of my face!

When I finished, I realized I had extra ribbon, fabric, and netting....

So I just pushed the loops together and "filled 'er up!"

Because, not every net strip was the same, 

I had to trim them up after I had completed the wreath.

I then hung it up in my bathroom.......

The wreath matches the window treatment that I had shared earlier this year.

It is on my sister's blog...  Youaretalkingtoomuch.com......

And you have a completed look.......

I have another "craft session" with my friends tonight.....

and I am going to attempt to stain glass paint......

I will share that with you as well.....

Love,

Catrina