Way to go Bevyn!

My neice Bevyn was in a pie contest today! She did so well that she placed in a few different categories. She made a variation of an apple pie and made it all from scratch. This was a pretty competive contest and there were around 30 entries in the apple category. Way to go Girl!

1st in Presentation
2nd in Customer's choice
2nd in Judge's choice
4th place overall

Jacob's root canal

Jake survived his last root canal. In fact, he came through with flying colors. I really should have sent him to school afterwards, but who knew if pain would kick in. I think Jake is so relieved to have the pain go away. He has bore it well, but has been in pain for a month now. It is good for it to be over--almost. He goes back in a couple of weeks to get them capped. Thank goodness, we found such a wonderful dental office. They just rave over and over about Jake. He truly is a good patient and kid.

Mammo was interesting today. Almost all my patients were very upset about the new guidelines. As usual, women are dispensable and it's sad that other women are so ready to let them be....

Oh well, my sweet angel is asleep and it's time for Jake and my read-aloud book. Tonight, we start Ramona Forever. Love that Beverly Cleary!!!

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

What rainy days we are having! I know that we need the rain, but I am forgeting what the sun looks like, lol! Actually, I love rainy days. They are perfect for reading books, watching tv, doing crafts, comfort food...

Yesterday, I was craving a hot bowl of chili, but since I have no ground meat, I had to look in my pantry for what I did have. So here is my latest creation: Cheesy Potato Soup. I am proud to say that I tinkered with some soup recipes and came up with this one on my own. I served it with hot corn muffins. Yum, yum!


Other than that, we are just same-o, same-o! It is almost the end of the week. Laura and I have been working on the house. Me on cleaning it, her on destroying it.... It's a good balance. ;) Jake has been keeping up with his studies. Sandy has been working hard. All and all, it is a nice quiet week for this family.

Jake's teeth

I didn't realize that I didn't update with Jake's broken tooth solution. He is all fixed up now. Jake went in for xrays and before we knew I knew they called me back and his tooth was done. They pressed a filling into it and shaped it. Unless you look very carefully, you can't see the difference between his real tooth and the repair.

The dentist said that Jake has to be careful as he eats not to bite and pull. The filling could come off again, but not to be alarmed. In 3 to 4 years, if we want to something more involved, we can have a more permanent fix.

Jake is happy to be back to normal. His root canal is scheduled for next week. Hopefully after that, Jake will just have 6 month checkups.

Thank goodness, we found such a good dentist in time!

Fun den meeting...

Tonight, my den went on a tour of the courthouse. It was so much fun. We saw how they screen visitors and one scout got to be fingerprinted. Only one due to time contraints, but I am bringing an inkpad to our meeting next week so they can all be fingerprinted. :)

We got to see the actual courtrooms and then holding cells. They were not the place I would want to hang out. The "rubber room" or solitary was really interesting and gross too. The room had about 2-3 inches of rubber coating over the walls and door. Only a glass window in the door. However, the police officer asked, "Where's the toilet in here?" Guess what--it was a grate in the floor and it actually flushes!!! So I would say that my scouts will not want to be visiting the jail cells again in that type of capacity, lol!

I think their favorite part was the control room. The officer in there was able to show them security views not only of the courthouse, but the jail house down the road. You could see the inmates playing cards, working in the laundry, sleeping... The boys especially loved how he could remotely close cell doors.

So next week is CSI night where we will dust for fingerprints, do dental molds etc. So for this month, I am the "cool" den leader. ;)

Monday morning...

What a weekend! We ended up having a nice weekend, even though we are recovering from colds and Jake's poor tooth.

Saturday morning, we did two community service projects with scouting. In the morning, we placed American flags on all the veteran's graves. We had a good turnout and it was done pretty quickly, so the boys had time to look at the graves and think about who these veterans were. The cemetary served us drinks and donuts which was very nice. Laura was so cute. She kept going up to the tombstones and kissing the angels on them. It was so sweet!

Then we picked up the Scouting for Food drive. Our pack collected 200 bags (heavy bags) of food from our area. One nice lady apparently always makes sure to put a bag of candy in for the boys. Isn't that nice? I would have never thought of that. The boys really appreciated it.

Jake goes for an xray this afternoon for his two front teeth. Let's hope there is no damage to the roots!

All I want for Christmas is healthy teeth...

Jake just can't get a break. When we went for his root canal, another cavity had abscessed and was causing him a lot of pain. So they did the root canal on that one and the first one has to wait until the 19th.

Then I got a call from school today. Jake had fallen on some playground equiptment and hit his two front teeth. The fall knocked about a 1/4 inch off his front permanent tooth and both front teeth are somewhat loose.

His dentist says he will be all right since it didn't break into the crown of the tooth. He said that the teeth will probably tighten back up. So on Monday, we will see about getting xrays to see if he damaged the roots and might need root canals on those teeth. The dentist reassured me that he can fix the tooth that is chipped and make it as good as new.

Poor Jake!

Spooky

Now how did our brooms do that? And how can I get them to sweep instead of just standing there.... Ooo... spooky! ;)

Apples again...

Tonight, we had the best supper. I made Beef Pot Pie from scratch. A good way to use up our leftover pot roast. :) Then for dessert: apple fritters. I wasn't kidding when I said I might try it, lol!

They were super easy and very good. They are rolled in cinnamon sugar, but I think they would be good with syrup. We will be trying that tomorrow morning for breakfast. Sigh! I really need to start playing with healthy recipes....

Jake is still hanging in there with his teeth. Unfortunately, the other cavity is now starting to hurt him. Tomorrow, he has his root canal. I can't wait to have this over with. I can't imagine how Jake feels. He is such a little trooper!

Jake is also a good student--according to his parent-teacher conference. He scored well on his DRA test and was well above the benchmark. yay! He also was complimented on his handwriting. He did not get that from me, lol! His grades are good too. Whatta kid!

Laura was so cute today. She was a bookworm today. This morning, I awoke to her reading in her crib. She made me read the same "Biscuit the dog" book to her over and over. Then she would take it to different places in her room and turn the pages. She would point and say "hoo, hoo" which is Laura-ese for "woof, woof!" and then say "Pretty". She is so sweet!

I will update tomorrow after the dentist. Wish Jake best thoughts!

How 'bout them apples...

Well, with everyone under the weather last week, a fall festival booth to run, a fall party to run, costume to sew, etc.--I didn't get to figure out what to do with those last apples we picked from the orchard.

So.... Jake and I decided to take a few and attempt to make apple head dolls. I have always wanted one ever since I was a little girl and saw one at a craft fair. It is one of those Appalachian crafts I have always wanted to try.

So here we go: two heads and four hands!

It was a good lesson for Jake in carving. He is due to earn his Whittling Chip from cub scouts this spring. Haha! I am such a good leader. ;) His apple is on the right. Didn't he do a fantastic job!

So Mr. and Mrs. Applehead are resting in a cool dry place for the next four days. Then we will have to separate those fingers. Then they get to rest for four more weeks until dry and shriveled. I so hope this works and they don't mold. They are so doused in pure lemon juice that surely their face would pucker just from the pure acidity of it.

After they dry, we will make bodies out of old wire hangers and then I will fasten them some old timey clothes.

Now, those last few apples.. Hmm.. Maybe apple fritters???

Next time, when the apple turns... :)