Thanks MOM

I love my mother. She brought up her old sewing machine today for me to keep. I needed to have a different machine, because the one I have is broken. So on Monday my mother went with me and my not so fun to shop with toddler to Malone. The necessities were purchased at Joann's. She then came back up to my house today to bring me her old machine, plus she helped me with yard work. My mother and I don't always do projects well together, but she let me do it myself. She stood by, and watched me figure it out on my own. The bag I am making is sort of difficult for a beginner (so my mother says). It is almost like quilting with all the patchwork. I got 2 hours in during Jacks nap then I got another 90 minutes will he went to a baseball game with my husband. I wish I had more time. I am also thankful that my mother loves me and my son sooo much. She is the greatest woman.

stromboli oli oli

I made my first ever Stromboli. I didn't use a specific recipe but combined a multitude of Stromboli recipes. The dough was actually frozen dough that I thawed and rolled to 11x18. I then added some pepperoni and salami with mozzarella cheese. Rolled up the dough tucked in the edges and baked at 375 for about 20 minutes. I am now in love because this can be altered to whatever ingredients that we are in the mood for. I think it would be good with turkey and veggies, or ham and cheese. My husband is not a fan of vegetables which is why I tried the Italian mix. Delicious!

our easter

My husband and I were feeling kind of guilty that we didn't do a whole lot of Easter activities with our 21 month old. I guess I found it hard because I was raised Catholic, but don't find myself an active member like I was forced to be in my youth. I was almost confused to be teaching my son about the Easter bunny, what does a bunny have to do with Christs resurrection.

So with my confusion I decided to not overload my son with Candy, in fact he was slightly disappointed in the two jelly beans that he found in each plastic egg. He doesn't eat alot of candy, not that I am against it but that we just don't have alot around. He found each hidden egg around the living room(only hid six) and that was that. I think that he mostly enjoyed watching and helping make a bunny cake. I am not much of a baker but my mother in-law dropped off a Wilton bunny shaped cake pan. We whipped that up last night and Jack watched me he held the mixer for a minute. He was happy just bouncing around the kitchen singing bunny cake, bunny cake.

My grandparents in Lyon Mt., is were most of our lives have spent every holiday there. It would seem rather insane to most. Some history on the Siskavich's, they are very Catholic and obviously didn't believe in birth control. My father is the oldest of 13 children. 10girls and 3 boys. There are approximately 50 people at any holiday packed into a small house. There are two picnic tables, one in the living room and on the back porch. A fact I found funny today was that my father was mashing potatoes with a tool that they used to mix cement. It looks just like a potato masher but 10x the size.

Styrofoam plates and plastic utensils are a must, no one wants to wash that many dishes. After desserts that is when the bracket comes out. Yeah, like a sports tournament. Then it is the egg knocking contest. My grandfather numbers all the eggs, numbers from a hat so on and so forth. The last one with non dented egg wins. We have recently added money and the pool was worth 35 bucks.

Jack had a blast and actually remembered their house. He hadn't been there since Jan. and wanted to know were Santa was. He enjoys his crazy aunts who force kisses upon him. He was leary at first but after 5 min he warmed right up.

It was a lovely Easter. I may not have come up with a reason for teaching my son about the easter bunny, but we started and continued some great family traditions.

Lights

So while my father was here installing my new faucet, he also installed my new master bathroom lights. They have been sitting in the box since after Christmas. I am so excited that slowly the house is becoming what we want it to be. There used to be glass plated gold chandeliers. The previous owners of our house were a lovely french Canadian retired couple whose taste were lets say eighties. The next project I want to tackle is the laundry room. I am trying to find a shade of green that I like. We also want to replace the carpet in our bedroom. Mauve is really not fitting my new color scheme. Before replacing the carpet we want to get a new dresser set. It is fun to have goals for our house and I don't feel rushed to do things around here because lets face it we have a lifetime to do it. I just hope my father is around to help out and teach my husband and I some things.

everything but the kitchen sink

So I was on my third or fourth load of dishes today, and all of a sudden my feet are getting wet. Well of course I have a leak in my faucet. The faucet itself is corroded. When we bought this not so old house almost 4 years ago, it was only 9 years old. We have hard water despite the softener and filter that we use. We have in 4 years replaced our; washer, dishwasher, sink drains, and hot water heater. It is frustrating to me because my husband is not a handy-man. We are learning but thank god my father who is a self taught plumber, electrician, and carpenter lives only 45 minutes away. I love my parents, if it were not for them I would be in big trouble. We have known for a while that we would have to replace the faucet but all in all it could not have been better timing. My parents are making a trip to Lowes tomorrow for their own renovations, and I gave them the name of the new faucet that I want. So yeah for my new faucet being put in on Tuesday. Until then I hope the bucket will catch the floods.

movie making

I am always stumped as to what to get my mother for gifts. I have been working on this video for my mother, possibly for mothers day. I am still working on it but this is a start. I am going to make one for my mother-in-law as well. I am obsessed with black and white photos. Some of them I used a brown scale finish.