My Red Velvet Cake Experience

Today I did something I have never done in my life. I made a red velvet cake. I like red velvet cake but I'm not in LOVE with it. However, after reading this recipe online, I was literally drooling, so I had to make one. Ok, first step, go buy all the stuff I DIDN'T already have in my pantry. Do you know you need a whole bottle (1 ounce)of red food coloring ($3.28). AND 1 cup of buttermilk. Do you know buttermilk does NOT come in one cup containers? Now what am I gonna do with the rest of this buttermilk that cost $3.98 for a half gallon? I don't even like buttermilk. Seriously? Can you tell where I"m going with this? Next 1 teaspoon of vinegar, but did I have any on hand?? Of course not. Not too bummed about this because Easter is coming and you know you need vinegar to die the eggs! Besides it was only 78 cents. Ok, that was only the cake, now comes the frosting, Dream Whip, which I never buy was $2.58 and cream cheese was $1.98 and that was the WalMart brand. This is an expensive cake. Here we go, I am following the directions to a T and my brand new Kitchen Aid mixer didn't mix up the frosting all the way so we had these little lumps of cream cheese showing. No matter how much I mixed or how fast, they wouldn't cream together. Anyway. it was a beautiful heart shaped masterpiece before it was cut. After dinner I served Mike a piece with a cup of coffee and sat and waited for the rave reviews. And waited, and waited. Well, I am still waiting. I finally asked, "Did you like the cake?" No he says. It was a little bland. "Bland?" I ask.
"Yes, bland. I guess I'm spoiled with your chocolate cake." Now, I do make a mean chocolate cake. I guess I will have to eat the rest of this cake so it won't go to waste. The moral of this story is....."If it ain't broke, don't fix it". I guess I will stick to what I know.

On another note, tonight we watched Rin Tin Tin on Netflix with the kids, it was an original movie and we laughed til we cried. There is a train scene and McKane literally lost it, he was laughing so hard. We all got tickled just listening to him cackle. I had a little "aha" moment, I thought this is what life is all about. Family all together just hanging out watching old movies. Should have served popcorn instead of Red Velvet Cake.

Happy Anniversary To Us

Tody is our 37th anniversary. It seems unreal that this is my life. I wrote a little something to show you a little of how we got to where we are today. I hope you enjoy.
It's a tad long but I hope worth the read. SO grab a cuppa and travel down memory lane with us.

"A Modern Day Love Story"
A little history of how we got to where we are today.....

1974: Boy crazy 16 year old girl sees blonde haired blue eyed hunk for the first time and is instantly hooked. Boy doesn't speak to her because boy is dating someone else and doesn't want to be unfaithful. But boy DID whistle at girl. (this did NOT sit well w/girl) Boy meant whistle to be a compliment but girl interpreted whistle as: (does he think he's God's gift to women, he can just whistle and I will come??)
Girls takes family vacation to Mexico. When she returns, boy has ditched said girlfriend and is ready to move forward. Girl is on cloud nine.
First place boy takes girl is to his church, while in parking lot, boy mentions ex-girlfriend attends same church. Girl immediately turns and heads back to car. Boy talks her into going inside.
Second real date, boys asks girl to marry him. Girl asks “Are you serious”? Lucky for girl he was. Boy did construction work w/his dad. A building fell on his dad and boy escaped unhurt. Girl begged boy to get out of construction work. Boy agreed. Boy's dad recovered nicely.
1975 Feb- Boy asks girl's mother if she will sign for girl to get married when girl graduates in June because she will still be 17. Girls mother says she will think about it. Girls mother agrees to sign papers immediately IF girl promises to finish school. Girl readily agrees. Yep yep yep. Girl on cloud nine again. On Feb 22nd, boy and girl get married and plan to live happily ever after. Boy has to sign girl's report card for the rest of her senior year. Girl embarrassed.
1976 April – Boy and girl become parents for the first time. Lori Grace is born and they are instantly in love with her. All of girls dreams have come true, she is a wife and a mother. Boy and girl so happy!
July – Boy and girl lose precious baby girl to SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). Words cannot express how devastated boy and girl are.
Girl gets a job to help get over loss of baby. Boy working 3 part time jobs, having trouble finding a full time position. Girl's employer notices boy helping girl at work and offers to send him to appraisal school for Crawford & Company and company car is a perk. Boy and girl are over the moon excited.
1978 Boy and girl buy first house in Austell, GA and have another daughter. Penny Lynn. Life is good.
1980 Boy gets transferred to Dalton, Georgia where another daughter is born. Amy Renee. Boy works for Crawford and Company and girl gets a job there as secretary. God is good.
1982 Boy and girl move back to Lithia Springs. Life goes on, boy and girl work and raise family.
1986 Boy and girl sign contract on house. Girl goes to doctor, surprise surprise, girl is expecting! Boy tells girl she can have house OR baby but not both. Boy gives in and girl gets BOTH. November brings another daughter Paige Marie . Life is crazy.
1990 Boy and girl buy bigger house to accommodate children. Boys plays softball a LOT. Girl not too happy. Boy gets broken leg playing softball. Boy out of work for awhile. Boy heals nicely and life goes on. Boy tells girl he wants them to be foster parents. Girl says no way.
1991 Boy finally talks girl into becoming foster parents. Girl is less than thrilled. Girl thinks she is busy enough with her own kids. Boy doesn't agree and thinks they can be a blessing to other children who are needing love and a place to stay. Girl falls instantly in love with these children that enter their home. God is good. Boy and girl very happy but very TIRED.
1993 Boy and girl transfer to Tampa, Florida with USAA. While there, girl gets job at USAA in policy service. Girl gets PAID to talk on the phone. Girl is VERY happy.
1997 Boy and girl really missing family and friends and move back to Georgia. Boy and girl find house within 5 miles of previous home. Boy builds apt in home for girls mother to move into. Boy is so sweet to mother in law.
1998 Boy and girl resume foster parenting. Boy and girl have scare with boy's health but God is good and girl is happy boy will be around awhile.
2000 Boy and girl become grandparents for the first time. (Where did the time go?) If boy and girl thought they loved their children, they had NO IDEA how much the\y could love grandchildren. Girl discovers scrap-booking and is instantly addicted. Girl LOVES taking pictures of Kayleigh Madissen.
2001 Boy and girl adopt one of their foster children (a 14 year old GIRL) who has been a part of their family for the past 4 years. Autumn LeeAnn . One week after adoption is final, boy and girl get custody of granddaughter. Here we go again, now boy and girl have a 14 year old and a 16 month old.
2004 Boy and girl welcome first grandSON weighing in at 4 lbs. Owen Michael Grega He is a little early but starts plumping up in no time. Girl still scrap-booking.
2005 Boy and girl welcome another grandson into the family. Boy and girl get custody of grandson McKane Michael. Boy and girl so happy they FINALLY got a boy!! Girl still taking pics.
2006 Boy buys a spot in campground in Centre, AL on Lake Weiss. Boy and girl now LOVE to go to the lake. Boy and girl and grandchildren go every weekend they can get away. Lots of photo ops.....girl very happy.
2008 Boy and girl welcome another grandson. Ellis Bean (yes that's his real name) is Owen's little brother. They get to come to the lake with boy and girl quite often. Boy, girl and all the kids are happy cruising the lake. Girl still taking pics and scrap-booking.
2009 Boy and girl raising grandchildren, working, going to the lake.
2010 Same as 2009
2011 Boy buys girl a new camera for Christmas so she can take even better pics. Boy is still so sweet!
2012 Boy and girl welcome another grandson, Ashtain Mykel, born in January. Girl now has a million pictures to scrapbook. On Feb. 22nd, boy and girl celebrate 37 years of marriage. Girl still on cloud nine and can't believe how lucky she is. Girl thought she loved boy when she married him but now girl knows what true love is. Boy and girl still living happily ever after. God is good!
To be continued.....

Water Bottles

 

Just in time for basketball, upscale water bottles. I made these for Kayleigh and McKane. They turned out really cute. McKane wanted only one color on his initially. Of course after he saw Kayleigh's polka dots he said, "Hey, why didn't I get two colors like Kayleigh?" So I may have to doctor his up. I can add white and it will be Alabama colors.

In other news, Kayleigh had a spelling bee at her school today. Eighty students competed. Fifth thru eighth graders. She made it through 5 rounds and missed "harmonious" and was down to the 17th one left. We are so proud of her. She worked hard memorizing her words. Such a smart girl.

A Post From Kayleigh

Hey, my name is Kayleigh. This is my first time on my Nana's blog. Just a couple of weeks ago ME and part of my family went to NC, Great Wolf Lodge. In my words it was BEAST mode:3 My brother and cousins favorite part was all the slides. It was an indoor water park. My favorite ride was the "Tornado". The first time I rode it my behind fell through the little hole in the raft..by the time the ride was over, the only thing you could see was my pony tail and my lil' footsies(: My Papa would give each "Grandchild" at least $10 for the arcade.!!!! You just got to luv that man. I at least rode the tornado like 20 or 30 times. AWESOME.! Oh yeah, there is this big bucket thingy. It fills up like, every 5 mins with water. One time when the bell started to ring, (That Means Its Almost Full) I ran as fast as I could and got there just in time. I slid and was now on the floor when the bucket let the water down. Oohh.. >: Well I have to go. That's my phone ringing(:



Bye :3

Here are some pics of our trip.

 

Here I am with my brother McKane and my cousins Owen and Ellis. Santa, here we come.

 

McKane and I.

 

All 4 of us waiting.....

 

For THIS!!!!

Happy New Year

This is a really quick layout I did this afternoon to give to Emily, Kayleigh's other grandmommie. She completed this resolutions sheet and I just added a picture of her. Emily was thrilled!

One of my goals this year is to share more layouts with family and friends. I have been pretty negligent in sharing my creative talents. I have decided to do at least one layout a month for Kayleigh's other grandparents and her Dad, my mom, and Paige. All they have to do is buy an album and I will fill it for them. One down, 3 to go for January. They might all be similar so I won't be posting each and every one. Don't want to bore you. I will be sharing some of my December Daily album in the next few days. As soon as I get it finished. It's almost done. It's fun documenting the busy days of December.

 

 

 

 

You can pick up your own copy at: She has one for kids and one for adults.
http://thirtyhandmadedays.com/2011/12/new_year_resolution/

She has one for kids and one for adults. I'll be filling mine out soon.

Home For the Holidays

Here's Aunt Penny with her niece and nephews. I don't know who has more fun, the kids or Penny. She got to spend the month of December here while on break from teaching in Guatamela. She is enjoying being with family and seeing all her long lost friends. She went with us to Great Wolf Lodge the week before Christmas. I will post pics later of that trip. We had fun UNTIL the trip home. It took so long with the rain and accidents. Except for that, I think everyone enjoyed themselves. McKane's teacher bought me a frame for my birthday and it says "Home For the Holidays" and this is the picture I put in it.

 

I love this picture, McKane is becoming quite the little checkers champion. It might be because it's his game and he changes the rules to suit his needs.
For example.....you are not allowed to double jump.
A king can double jump if it's his king.
Your king cannot double jump.
I asked him why that was and he said it was his game! So he could change the rules. He really studies the board before he moves his piece, it's so funny to watch the wheels turning in his head. We did have to have a lesson on game rules.

I will try to update my blog more often in this new year. Speaking of blogs, how do you like the new design? New year, new blog, new posts. Life it good. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and made many memories. Happy New Year!!

Until we meet again.

Happy Thanksgiving

Today was a wonderful day spent with family. We ate until we couldn't eat any more and then we ate some more. Here's a recap of our wonderful day.

Of course we all had to do our "thankful cards" we guessed who wrote each card. Even the kids were involved. Too cute!

The children's table was outside and so bright that Ellis needed sunglasses. It was such a beautiful day.

Paige, Greg and Austin joined us.

Autumn and Robert had to hurry and eat to be at another Thanksgiving meal at 3....the sacrifices we make for family!!

Our wonderful hosts. Amy hosted Thanksgiving, I will be doing Christmas in Alabama.

After we stuffed ourselved, the sale papers appeared and here is Ellis showing us what he wants for Christmas.

While waiting on the sales to start we decided to go see this movie. Kayleigh and Aunt Amy went to see "Twilight" while the boys and I went to the fun movie. Then we walked around Atlantic Station and found this.....

Don' these little guys look sooooooooooooo excited??

That's all folks. We enjoyed our day and missed Penny being with us but she will be here for Christmas. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and spending time with those you love.