Cute Blog Layouts Matter, but Customer Service Matters More!

Facts: I'm new to blogging.
My children have waayy surpassed my computer knowledge and skill.
I want to enjoy my computer and blogs not add them to the list of things that drive me crazy and want to through out the window of a tall building.

So when I went looking for a cute layout for my blog I need easy, fast and of course cute! I found one I liked, uploaded it and loved it except for one thing...the main part was too narrow. I tried messing around with the html and got no where. Since I don't understand a single letter, symbol, space da gum thing about it I figured I quit while I still had a blog and the earth was still spinning on it's axis. For those of you fabulous computer minded people don't look down on me...I graduated from college before anyone really had them. I remember typing one of my last papers before graduation....on an electric typewriter, ok!...so be patient with your elders. I sent a "help I'm computer/html illiterate" e-mail to the designer not really expecting a reply...Ashley ROCKS! She not only took the time to walk me through enlarging the "brown" part step by step, in case I didn't want to or couldn't figure out editing the html, she wrote me a whole new code I could just cut and paste. I'm proud to brag I was able to edit it myself! I feel soooo smart, which is a rare thing when you have a teenage daughter and preteen sons. No chance of getting a big head with them around. Check out her blogspot....click here.

Back to School Organizing Bug

So, one of my pet peeves is buying stuff I already have plenty of, but didn't remember I had it. That goes for groceries, clothing, household stuff and SCHOOL SUPPLIES! Combine that with my personal crisis that is school starting again and you get Back to School Cleaning! I love my kids, I loves school holidays. Some of my most depressing days are the first day back to school after vacations. To help me prepare we're having make Shelice happy activities like...cleaning under sinks and closets. I know I should post before as well as after pictures, but I have too much pride and since this blog is new I didn't want to scare anyone off so soon. So, here are 3 sinks and two closets...only 6 more closets to go!


PS The bottom closet on the right is the one where my daughter and I "cleaned upon" some of the inspiration for our new blog. Look down the right side for the pink button. It won't officially open until the first of August, so bookmark it and then be sure to check back. We welcome feedback, ideas, links etc

Cycling Matters...really fitness matters!

Well another Tour de France has come to a close. Way to go Carlos Sastre and team CSC, what a great tour for ya'll. Our family really started watching when Lance was on his roll. We still do not understand all the ins and outs of cycling. What we do understand is how tough, grueling, demanding, man, where do I stop, not to mention how incredible these riders are, physically tough, mentally tough, and that diet. Just to compete at that level, climbing up the Alps and then the descents at speeds that are just insane. Have I mentioned the scenery of France and Italy from this years tour, it's just beautiful. What I don't understand is the drug scandals and why certain teams can ride and why some cannot. Like Levi Leipheimer, from team Astana, from what I understand, they were not allowed to compete because of what happened in the past with their team and some of those team members doping. There's a new coach Johan Bruyneel, who coached Lance, new team members, it just does not make sense to a weekend warrior. All in all, we enjoy watching cycling, one of our favorite riders is George Hincappie, seems like a classy guy, humble, and true competitor. Viva la Tour! Gary

Unexpected Orange Matters!

While my dear spouse watched the short version of today's Tour de France stage I was "blog jogging" (my sister and blog inspiration calls it that...I hope I'm using the term properly) and came upon my new favorite blog (beside my sister's, daughter's, son's etc). .

Orange has special significance to our family...it's Nathan's favorite color. I was in heaven....great ideas, love her voice, lots and lots of orange and THEN I found my new favorite website.
Holy Cow Batman it's a twofer! Quick back story. We adopted our three sons from Russia when they were 2, 2.5 and 3. No, we weren't crazy, No, it wasn't a spur of the moment decision and Yes, we would do it again in a heart beat...just gotten happy drugs sooner and cherished each moment more) None of boys spoke English and we didn't speak Russian. We tried to learn basic words and phrases in Russian, some of which we still use today. Our Russian resources are limited but we do what we can...and now we have a whole new resource . Hey, for those of you non-bilingual families, you can teach your children how to make the sound of a horse in four or five languages...that 'll put all those "my child is a genius at 9 months" parents in their places. I'm not sure how my soon to be sixth graders are going to use their soon to be new found knowledge to their advantage, but maybe there's scholarship potential in it for my soon to be college student. Orange and Out! ps This post is dedicated to my brilliant daughter who taught me how to import pictures and make them a link. Love ya Angel.

This isn't a cooking blog

My new favorite person in the world, who is also a professional chef, has worked a miracle. We'll call her the Cooking Goddess. On Thursday the C.G. gave her first cooking class. We made Fetucci Alfredo. It is one of my ever so very picky seventeen yr old daughter's favorites...so I dragged her to the class with me. Not only did she enjoy it...she made it for us for dinner tonight...all by herself...and she cleaned up after. This is the child that used to cook with me all the time when she was little, but in the last few year has become an expert at whinning, complaining and feigning helplessness to get out of doing nearly everything in the kitchen. Don't even get me started on our dishwasher issues. There wasn't much left over, but I can still taste it calling me for a little bedtime snack. I'd share with you if I could...ok that's a lie, but I would give you the recipe. It's a good thing she had a friend over or I would have licked the plate! Oh, and who is the mother of those boys that look like little piggies shoveling the pasta in their snouts? Someone teach them some manners

1 Chicken = how many meals?

My new obsession is seeing how many meals I can get from cooking once - like making a roast and then having left overs and a pot pie. I've started making my own chicken broth. It's really easy. I get meat cooked at the same time, and it makes me feel all domestic goddess! Here is my list for the latest whole chicken plus a few legs and thighs...they were even cheaper a pound than the whole chicken. 1. Chicken Quesadillas 2. Chicken Salad 3. Chicken Noodle Soup 4. Spaghetti with Chicken. So anyone wanna share any of their time saving meal tips?

Scouting Matters

Zac and Will went on their first boy scout camping trip. They went to Uchee Creek Campground down on Fort Benning. They got to do all kinds of things and worked on numerous merit badges. Such as a five mile hike, swimming, cooking their own meal, canoing, making a fire on their own, and boating. I slept over on Friday night and left Saturday morning. They came home late Saturday afternoon. As you can see they were ready to go and were wore out upon return. They're ready to go again!!!!!! Gary

Where, When, Why...matters

During our recent family vacation Gary decided we should have a family blog. Mychel has one. Will has one. Zac has one. I spend way too much time on the computer as it is, but since he was motiviated, I jumped on board. After a couple of days of discussion we found a name we both liked that wasn't already taken. I'm looking forward to both of us sharing what matters to us and hopefully it will matter to those who choose to stop by. We've been blessed to have our lives embellished by the many wonderful people we've met in the many states, cities, homes, and wards we've lived. Keeping in touch with them and making new soon to be cherished friends matters!