Cookie Decorating Party!

I, voluntarily, had 11 children (8, plus my 3) in my house decorating sugar cookies & gingerbread men! :o) That's right, I asked some of my friends to bring their kids to get hyped up on sugar to ring in the Christmas season! :o) Those of you who know me may be wondering if I've lost my mind... maybe :o) But it was so much fun!!!!

I was up late last night baking sugar cookies, and then early this morning baking the gingerbread men...

Then, at 5:30 this evening the first of our guests arrived! :o) A fellow COVA mom, Laurie, and her 3 girls. She and I have chatted on Facebook for the last year or so, but we've only met maybe twice! :o) I had so much fun getting to know her, and her girls! They are all pretty close in age to my three, so that was very cool!

Oh my gosh, Laurie, this picture just makes me smile!!!

They were followed by a new friend, Ivy, and her daughter. We go to church together and met through our 'anchor group'. It took Laura a little bit to feel free enough to run like a maniac (like my children were/are), but she LOVED making the cookies! :o)

And, last, but in no way least, my friend, Cheryl and her 4 kids arrived! By this time, all the kids were running amok and watching Veggietales Christmas movies in between. :o) Some of them had eaten all their cookies (my kids!), others were working on it LOL

The kids played dress up, they ran around, the jumped off the walls (well, maybe that was just my girls LOL)... in all, I think they had a great time! :o)

And you may be wondering where MY youngest midget was during all this manic running and dressing up was going on...

She was eating frosting... from the containers! And later, she was eating sprinkles! Every time I'd turn my back, I'd hear the sprinkle containers LOL She was SNEAKING around the table trying to get to the shakers as I was picking them up... I was in stitches watching her! Believe it or not, she went straight to bed... I know! I was surprised, too! :o)

Such a fun way to kick off Christmas; hanging out with friends and letting our kids go crazy :o) Thank you Laurie, Ivy & Cheryl for joining us... we had a blast!!

Been a while...

I've had it pointed out to me that its been a while :o) Lots has happened in the last two months, most of it not wonderful, but all of it strengthening our faith!

Rick got laid off from his job on October 23rd... and while we knew it was coming, it hasn't been easy. It took his employer three WEEKS to finally send his severance package, which was taxed like it was a bonus... so almost 25% taken! Ugh. But it came, and we're thankful... it will help us pay one more month of rent. :o)

Since Rick has been home, its been pretty nice... personally, I LOVE being around my husband 24/7 (and no, I'm not being facetious!) He's been helping me with the girls' schooling and we've been getting little projects done around the house! Last weekend, we took the spray paint we used on the ceiling fan and we painted our kitchen chandelier... it just looks very cohesive now! And pretty! :o) He's also been helping with laundry and dishes... THAT is so awesome! There is no downside to him being home, but there is a downside to the layoff... NO ONE is hiring! We're waiting on unemployment to kick in, 4 - 6 week they say... hopefully 4, we need it to pay our space rent/mortgage! :o)

A good thing that has happened is we have joined a small group at our church, not quite a Bible study, just a group. :o) We've met some really wonderful couples, and they all have kids! That kid part is wonderful, so often we meet people and they just can't handle kids or kids aren't invited or whatever... now the girls come with us and all the kids hang out together! LOVE IT! :o) Its been wonderful having people pray for us, and being able to pray for them... we've had a lot to pray about! :o) We're working on an idea for serving our community as a group, with our kids, too... I can't wait!

We've also had quite a bit of snow over the last month... very fun! We got something like 18 inches a few days before Halloween! It was mostly gone BY Halloween, but some was hanging around... it was funny to see the jack-'o-lanterns amidst the snow piles :o)

Almost done (check out the snow! LOL)

Our house & our pumpkins!

For Halloween, Kiera was a pumpkin spice princess (basically a go-go dancer with an orange wig!), Emmie was Mickey Mouse (made for her by her Aunt Kathy) and Abigael was Little Red Riding Hood... all very cute costumes! We went trick-or-treating by ourselves this year, it was different, but still fun. A good time was had by all, and the kids got LOTS of candy! :o)

Emmie as Mickey Mouse

Kiera as a pumpkin spice princess :o)

Abi as Little Red Riding Hood

Just before Halloween, Abigael celebrated her THIRD birthday! I can't believe my baby is 3!! We had Rick's parents over for a dinner of lasagna and then her Auntie Manda, Uncle Richard and baby cousin, Gianna joined us for cake and presents. Her Aunt Kathy & family couldn't make it because the kiddos had H1N1 (but all are well now, praise God!). :o( I made Abi's cake this year, mostly :o) I took an angel food cake and then filled it with a cannoli filling and topped it with a whipped cream 'frosting'... YUM! :o) Abi got some cool presents, too! It was a very happy day! :o)

Our church band decided it was time to make a Christmas CD, so we got to go to an early Christmas concert... very fun! We go to Crossroads Church (north campus), its about 5 minutes away... and we love it! We found our church the weekend we got here and we have never left! We are blessed to have Billy Sprague as our worship leader, and he is just amazing. The whole worship team is amazing! I enjoy watching them play/sing... you can just tell how happy they are to be up there, it just makes my day to watch them! Every Sunday is like a mini rock concert with some amazing worship songs! Love it! We are so spoiled :o) They sing this song, Beauty & Awesome. Rick and I love it and I want to share it with you... enjoy! :o)

And my dad came to visit!!! That was SUPER COOL! We hadn't seen my dad for so long... it was so neat that he came for a weekend :o) We took him into Denver & Boulder, but mostly we hung out and enjoyed his company! The girls absolutely ADORED him! Abigael was happy to cuddle with him, as were the big girls... I was just happy to have my dada around! :o) I didn't realize just how much I missed him. And on a selfish note, he brought me a TON of pictures from him & his siblings growing up... THAT was super cool, too! My dada was one good-looking kiddo :o)

Me & my dada

My dada , Emmie & Kiera in Boulder

Abigael & Grandpa

Grandpa with Emmie & Kiera

So that is pretty much how we've been... we've had good and bad days, with mostly good winning :o) And for that I'm most thankful!

She's just goofy that way...

Abigael will be 3 on October 17th. Honestly, I'm surprised she's still alive... not because I'd have killed her, but because she seems set on doing it herself! :o)

We're talking about a girl who has tried to drink dry erase board cleaner and Pledge Multi-Purpose cleaner. A girl who has eaten A&D ointment, Desitin and gummy vitamins (but I caught her after only 2!). A girl who drinks anything within reach including soda, coffee and plain ol' water (thank God we're not drinkers!). A girl who climbs up and down her sisters' bunk bed ladder, and has fallen off said bunk bed. A girl who used to run into the street, but thankfully now runs AWAY from the street when she hears cars coming! She's just goofy that way...

So, she's also starting to talk... a lot. Seems to be a genetic thing. I'm a talker, my girls are SUPER talkers... watch out future boyfriends/husbands. LOL

Today Abi comes into my room telling me she had a 'bloo bloo'... she'd cut herself on a pencil. How does one do that? She's just goofy that way...

So I take her in the bathroom, set her on the counter and turn around to get the bandaid & ointment. This is her normal 'booger sucking' position (she's just gotten over a head cold... lots of boogers LOL)... she kind of wigs out and tells me, "No 'niff mama... I no 'niff!" I had to promise her that her nose was safe... she's just goofy that way... :o)

Thought I would share :o)

Sharing the beauty...

that is my Rocky Mountain sunsets. I think they rival, or maybe even surpass, the beauty of a ocean sunset. Seems like no two are ever the same, and they don't even need Photoshop to make the colors *POP*, they do it on their own.

I love the way the bottom of these clouds are lit up by the setting sun...

The definition in the lower clouds is what caught my eye this night...

You just can't make this stuff up!!! I wonder what the sunset on the ocean looked like on this night...

These last two aren't QUITE sunset, but it was working on it :o) These are my favorites because you get the sunburst. Its pretty in color, but I set my camera to shoot in B&W because it just makes everything stand out...

Beyond sharing the beauty that I get to see on a daily basis, I don't have much to share. The big girls are busy reading, while Abigael is busy making a mess of the house. :o)

In the coming months, the leaves on the aspens will start changing, and we'll make our trek up into the mountains to take more pictures. There is a waterfall up past Boulder, in, of all places, Boulder Creek :o) It's an easy hike up... perfect for taking the girls.

Always in the right place...

at the right time :o)

Rick's time tow trucking has been put to good use, again :o)

Last night we were on our way to Subway for dinner. As we were pulling into the lot we passed a car with a flat, and we parked near it... it was right in front of the Subway shop. As we're getting out of the car, the lady with the car is saying, "I think I have a jack, but I'm not sure". Well, of course we have a kick-butt jack :o) So, we're unloading the girls and I ask her if she wants to use our jack... she was totally grateful. Rick brought the jack over and proceeded to help jack up the car and then got the cross lug wrench out... because the guy she was with was using the crappy one that came with the car :o)

Rick was so good about this part :o) He loosened the lugs for the guy, and then stood back and let him change the tire. Not because he didn't want to, but because they guy wanted to... and I thought that was so cool. Rick is so used to guys standing back and watching him change the tire... too many stories about heading out in the middle of the night to change the tire for a carload of 20-some age guys. That would irk me, too LOL

So we load up the jack and wrench, say good night and head into Subway... feeling very happy to have helped the people. About 5 minutes later, the lady walks in with a bottle of wine and gives it to Rick. We're not wine drinkers, but it will be used in a couple spritzers tonight :o)

And she had a baby with her... knowing that he was able to help her out and get her on her way just made my night. AND it showed the girls that lending a hand is a wonderful and welcome thing.

This is the 2nd or 3rd time an opportunity like this has come across since we got to Colorado. Not sure if its the Lord's way of saying that he should go back into tow trucking (which he loved, just not the hours) or if He is just showing us that it wasn't time wasted :o) Either way, its an awesome feeling.

I hope the Lord places someone in 'the right place' for you today :o) Or maybe YOU in the 'right place' for someone else :o)

Hot Water Heater: A Saga of EPIC proportions

Of course, you probably know, we have no hot water heater. Its been over a month now... heck, I think its been almost 2!

It all started when I turned on the hot water and only cold came out. Now, if it were winter, that would make sense... it seriously takes about 3 - 5 minutes for our hot water to work its way to actually staying hot in our pipes (we live in a mobile home, our pipes run under our house... when its 20 degrees out... it happens LOL). We went out to check the hot water heater, to find it pouring water out the bottom! They aren't supposed to to that! :o) We're not sure how long it had been leaking, but I know NOW that there is a lifted part of our linoleum near the water heater closet... YEA.

Rick headed off to work, I boiled a pot of water to do dishes :o) He calls me later to tell me that the cheapest he could find was $400 (for a gas mobile home water heater)... cool, we can handle that... oh wait, we had like $20 in our account LOL

First I called my church, only to be told they couldn't help us, not even enough to tell us if one of the members was a plumber. They had me leave a voicemail for the maintenance guy, who had gone home for the day and STILL has never returned my frantic call LOL Racking my brain, two days later I called a local group that helps in financial situations. They couldn't help us, BUT they directed me to somewhere that maybe could.

I called Emergency Family Services in Boulder and left a message. They called back a couple days later and told me, without even a pause that they would buy our hot water heater... but we needed to have it installed. We were incredibly greatful and said we'd get it done! When I went to pick up the check, I found out that they are NOT government funded. There are two wonderful annonymous benefactors that created this fund, and the group is to spend the money in the fund to help people, like us, out. They'd already bought THREE hot water heaters in that week alone!! I wish I could thank the guys! :o)

Rick and our BIL go pick up the tank and set about installing it. Yeah, trouble on the horizon. First, it won't light. Then, some sort of condensation leakage. THEN, gas leakage. We kept tinkering... but to no avail. The last time we tinkered was over 2 weeks ago.

Yesterday, my MIL's cousin was visiting and he said HE had installed a few water heaters in his time and he wanted to check ours out. So he spent the day here with my FIL tinkering. They made quite a few trips to Lowes :o) But again, to no avail.

This time the story takes an interesting turn. The water heater we bought originally is made by American Water Heater Company. They have a class action lawsuit against them right now. Great. Basically our problem is that something on the thermostat threads left, but the company ONLY makes that part threading right. How strange, but how like us to wind up with something so fun. Right. :o)

My FIL & cousin Jim found a place that has what we need though. So eventually (hopefully next weekend!), we'll be packing this BAD boy back into its box and returning it to Lowes for our money back, and heading over to Ferguson's to buy a hot water heater that will work and will be easier to install! :o)

In the meantime, we will continue to boil stock pots full of water to wash dishes and to add to our 4 gallons of water in a 5 gallon bucket to bathe with LOL Like I told someone earlier.. its our own version of Little House on the Prairie, except we're Little House in the Trailer Park :o)

Hopefully the next installment of our water heater saga will be the final installment! Wish us luck.

Health

... I've always taken mine for granted. Rick's too, until he was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes a few years ago. We're STILL trying to figure out how to eat right in regards to diabetes!

I was reading an article from the Sunday Denver Post about a little girl that was abducted and presumed dead, sucky subject in itself. But what caught my attention was that the girlfriend of the accused died not that long ago, she was 33, and she died of heart disease. I'm 30, and my mortality scares the crap out of me. Those of you that really know me already know this :o) It is my one greatest fear, the fear that makes me afraid of so many other things. I can trace it back to when my grandma passed away, oh so many year ago... not long after the nightmares started, and only recently have they started to be fewer and further between. Thank God for THAT!!! :o)

So this brings me to my taken-for-granted health :o) Though I've always been overweight, I've always been really healthy... perplexed the crap out of most doctors LOL Even while pregnant with each of my girls, they just KNEW I'd have gestational diabetes (never had it, though they treated me like I did with Abigael) and that I'd have the hardest recovery after my C-sections (with Emmaline, I was up and walking in less than 6 hours... that's fast!).

For more than the last year, I've had ice-pick-through-my-brain headaches and CRAZY whoop-de-doo dizziness... and my doctor in California said it was sinuses. Here in Colorado they ran blood tests and pretty much came up with the same thing... but my blood tests came back with high cholesterol and bad HDL & LDL levels, and I keep having high blood pressure in the office (but I think that it just because I get anxious going to the Dr... and can you blame me with my test results? LOL)

So now I have to figure out how to eat well. And, another one of those things that perplexes my doctors, I don't eat all that badly!! :o) I do need to start getting out of the house, since I don't have access to a car anymore, I guess walking will be my preferred mode of transport... that's a good thing, right? :o)

Those of you who know me know that when faced with a question or a problem, I read... so I'm off to find a website or a book that will help me figure out what to fix for diabetic/heart-healthy diet. Preferably something that doesn't taste like cardboard :o) Recipes are welcome; you can post them here, on Facebook or you can email me.

Father's Day at the Piccini house...

Had a lovely Father's Day here at the Piccini house... 

Invited the fam to our humble mobile home for a barbeque (would you believe that we fit 15 people in this little place?  We do... but then 7 of those are little people! LOL).  We all came together to celebrate the 4 fathers (not forefathers!) in the family...

- Rick (my honey)

- Ray (Rick's dad)

- Jim (Rick's sister's husband)

- Richard (Rick's OTHER sister's husband, and the newest daddy in the fam!)

This is Richard & Rick manning the barbeque, hamburgers & hot dogs, not to mention all the other yummy food we got to eat!

After lunch/dinner (what do you call it when you eat at 4??),  some of us headed over to the park.  Rick, Amanda (his little sister) and CJ (our nephew) played a rousing round of 'horsie riders until tomorrow' LOL  (Started out as 'horse', went too fast!)  During this time we had a nice downpour, LOUD thunder overhead and when it was over, the humidity was heinous :o)   Thank goodness we lived near the ocean previously, it didn't bug Rick & I at all!!

Here's my honey shooting a basket under the cover of some gnarly grey clouds... see the rainbow though??

Amanda just made a great shot... and celebrating :o)  Notice, the ground is wet, but the sun is now shining!

Amanda, CJ & Rick

While the big kids were playing basketball, the little kids played at the playground (l to r... Kiera on jungle gym, Abi, Emmie, Zach in yellow & Andrew).  The girls are mine, the boys are my nephews (and CJ's brothers!)

Once the rain was gone (we also had rain while the sun was shining... very odd!), Rick's dad, BIL & nephew came to join in the basketball game... just plain ol' "horse" this time. :o)

After about 2 hours of taking pictures (over 300 pictures of basketball!!!!), I headed home to hang with my MIL & SIL and my newest niece, Gianna.  Here she is laughing at her mama!

The evening wound to a close, most of the family headed back to their own abodes but Amanda stuck around to give Abigael a haircut...

Here is Abigael BEFORE her hair cut :o)

And here she is AFTER :o)  You can't tell from the before picture, but her bangs were to her nose LOL  The shorter 'do brings out the crazy curls on this kid's head! :o)
      

I hope you and yours had a wonderful Father's Day!!!

Can you bake a cherry pie? I can! :o)

When I was little, I LOVED the Puff the Magic Dragon movie... 

Here is a link to the WHOLE movie!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3476801002597020377

But one of my favorite parts is when Jackie Draper meets Very Long John Black and Blueberry Kid... 

Jackie: Can you bake a cherry pie, Very Long, Very Long, can you bake a cherry pie, Very Long John?  

Very Long John: I can bake a cherry pie quick as a cat can wink its eye, pumpkin, peach and half a dozen others.

Jackie: I don't believe you!  

Very Long John: You don't believe me?!  

Jackie: You're a pretty good pirate, but a baker?  Never.

I've never made a cherry pie.  Heck, the only fruit pie I've ever made is apple!  But I baked some peanut butter oatmeal cookies and sent them to work with Rick, and his co-workers requested a cherry pie.  I'm totally game because I LOVE to bake... my biggest wish/dream is to be able to bake and sell my baked goods for a living (but having no formal training, I'm thinking thats not going to happen!) :o)

I accepted the cherry pie challenge, and I even made the crust... which turned out to be a great idea because I got to buy a food processor! :o)  I used to cut butter in by hand, which is all fine and good, but with 3 kids clamoring for my attention, time is of the essence and all that! LOL  I did cheat though, I used pie filling.  I just didn't feel like pitting a ton of cherries, I could see that being even more time consuming that squeezing all those Key Limes! :o)  Doesn't this look yummy?

Then Rick thought it would be a great idea to do a lattice top... uh, I've never done one of those either! :o)  But I'm game for anything... here is the result, not beautiful, but it looks homemade! :o)

Here is the finished result... it smelled DIVINE!

Rick took it to work the next day and its my understanding that it was a hit.  Enough that one of his co-workers asked if I'd make a blueberry pie!  He'll even buy the blueberries for me! :o)  That should be fun!  Rick made sure to save me a piece so I could try it... but he completely forgot that I don't eat cherries LOL  So I took the last 2 pieces over to his mom & sister (since his dad had already had a piece on their drive home from work!).  :o)

Its summer and I'm baking... I must be nuts! :o)  Chocolate chip cookies for him to bring into work next week (with Guittard chocolate, yum!)... and maybe apple pie the next week :o)  And sometime next month, an Oreo cheesecake for Emmie.  Its a good thing Rick takes these things to work with him, otherwise we'd have to roll everywhere! LOL

Christopher Moore

He. Is. Amazing. Really.

Have you read any of his books?  I have, and I need to catch up... its been a little while.

Practical Demonkeeping - where I fell in love!  About Catch, the people-eating demon and his 'master'.  Some funny stuff here!  (Are you aware that Pine Cove, California is loosely based on the Cambria area?  It was!  The Head of the Slug bar?  Camozzi's.)

Coyote Blue - About Trickster, a Native American god, and him getting joy out of screwing with a 'former' reservation dweller :o)  (You know the term 'coyote ugly'?  Moore used it BEFORE the movie!)

Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story - Female vampire finds a guy to do her day-to-day errands, and he falls in love :o)

Island of the Sequined Love Nun - Guy impales his... nether-region on the gearshift of the airplane he is flying/crashing.  OUCH!  Finds traveling buddies in a transvestite and a fruit bat (named Roberto!).

The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove - Back in Cambria :o)  Prehistoric lizard lives in the ocean, doc replaces everyone's antidepressants with placebos, lots of horny people.  Fun for everyone! :o)

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal - I think the title says it all.  Biff is brought back to life to write a gospel (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John & BIFF? LOL) about Jesus' life... those missing years.  It is incredibly inappropriate, hilariously funny and a very easy read.  I shouldn't love it, but I do!

Fluke (Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings) - A guy wants to know why humpback whales sing.  At one point, while researching, he sees a whale who's tail has BITE ME written on it.  LOL

The Stupidest Angel - Back in Cambria!!  Christmas terror, brought about by a screw up by the Archangel Raziel.  :o)  (There is a 'version 2.0... I don't have it, I probably should... I don't know if there is a difference)

A Dirty Job - Charlie becomes death's 'helper'  :o)  (haven't read it yet... here is the point that I need to start catching up!)

You Suck - Bloodsucking Fiends revisited... Tommy is now a vampire, too.  Now he has to find another 'errand runner'.  I did read this one... yet another hilarious Moore tale!

Fool - Moore's newest release... still have to read it.  King Lear told in Christopher Moore's style :o)  Bound to be full of laughs!  I NEED to get this book! LOL

My mom, when she worked at the Cambria Post Office, used to put mail in P.O. boxes... his was one of them.  She got to know him a little, he signed a couple of my books.  Then he did a book signing for Lamb, and I got to meet him in person!  I would love to hold a conversation with him, I can only imagine he would be hilarious :o)  He signed my copy of Lamb "with mint jelly"... having never eaten lamb, I didn't get it.  I do now... and its funny!  :o)  

He has since moved away from Cambria, well, Ragged Point, in case you were wondering :o)

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I wanted to add... Chris Moore has Twitter... TheAuthorGuy... and he Twittered about Twilight (of which, you already know, I also love).  Here are some things he said...  VERY funny!

-  Twilight: My next vamp book EVERYONE is going to have lip gloss on at all times.

- Twilight: Ah, I get it. Indians and vampires are natural enemies. Like pirates and ninjas.

- Twilight: Bella: I'm sure of three things. Edward was a vampire. I love him. I have no personality.

- Twilight: OMG, it's werewolf/vampire air circus. Crouching Emo, Leaping Indy

- Twilight: On noez, Edward has to suck the venom out. That line NEVER works for me. "No, you have to or I'll change to werewolf!" Nope.

Afternoon Randomness: Pictures

I'm going to try to be a woman of very few words (which is hard for me!).  Mostly just pictures, maybe a quick explanation.  Enjoy!

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I *heart* Rocky Mountain sunsets...

My Emmie :o)

As usual, Kiera needs to brush her hair :o)  But don't you just LOVE the color?!

Abigael undressing a Barbie... her mission is to leave no Barbie DRESSED!  LOL

Pink Gerbera daisies, my second favorite flower.  First are RED Gerbera daisies! :o)