Pixeletta's Place

everett and edna

March 15, 2012

During the summer when I was a kid, my family would load up our orange Volkwagen Rabbit and drive 12 hours to Kansas to see my grandparents.  It was a trek I loathed and loved all at the same time.  Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas are really not the most interesting states to drive through - especially as a kid.  Plus our Rabbit was not equipped with a DVD player, satellite radio or even air conditioning.  

The trip for me didn't get exciting until I saw a certain clump of trees to the left side of the road.   This was always the first sign to me that my grandparents' house was only minutes away.  As you pass this clump of trees and make a quick left into their driveway and cross the railroad tracks you would see their little barn mailbox.  And then finally, you would see the sign with their names on it and the car would stop and the doors would fly open and then we were greeted by two of the best people I have ever known.

 

 

pizza hut

March 14, 2012

It's been a long day of driving across the states of Iowa, Nebraska and now finally Kansas.  I have made this trip dozens of times but yet this time it is different because I am coming alone. 

As I turn the corner to continue down the road to my grandparents' gravesite, I notice the new Pizza Hut.  This may seem like a weired thing to notice but the Pizza Hut has been here since I was a kid.  It stands out in Osborne, Kansas because it is the one and only chain restaurant (and there are probably only 5 restaurants total).  Pizza Hut has survived and even flourished all these years in this tiny little town in the middle of nowhere where businesses have come and mostly gone away and the people have gone away too.  

Pizza Hut is also significant because our family usually ends up eating here when we come to visit.  I have a hard time remembering not going to the Pizza Hut for dinner at least once during our time in Kansas.  As I drive by I wonder if we'll be eating here tonight but without my uncle at our table.  It will seem weird and very sad.

  And yes, we did eat at Pizza Hut tonight.  

on the road

March 13, 2012

I'm on the road for the twelve hour drive to my uncle's funeral. The next few days are sure to be stressful. Who knew your hotel shower curtain could provide advice?!!!

 

a new year

March 12, 2012

When the real new year was officially starting in January, many of the blogs I frequent were writing about their "word of the year."  It's like a resolution, but you focus on a specific word and what it means to you and decide how that fits into what you want to the new year to be about.  I am definitely not one for resolutions and picking one word seemed impossible and maybe a bit extreme.  

Instead I moved on to thinking about what I REALLY wanted to do this year.  I really wanted to cut back on volunteering that didn't directly benefit my kids.  I really wanted to take more photos.  I really wanted to take more time to focus on the little moments that happen every day.  I really wanted to do more things as a family.  And as I thought about these things I realized that I missed my blog that allowed me to document all those little things with words and photos.  And I realized that I really did have a word of the year.

Even though I was skeptical about the whole "word of the year" thing,  I can't believe how much it helps me to slow down when I think of this word.  Is it a sign of craziness when you need a word to help you remember to take in all the everyday moments?  All I know is that it's helping me accomplish the things I wanted to do this year.  

Even though it is March, I am ready to start my blog and take my photos and I am ready to cherish all the moments that this wonderful life gives me on a daily basis.  So with all that being  said, here's a small moment to start things off.  Does it get any better than this?

PS...How ironic is it that I choose to write this post at the exact time I get the call that my uncle has passed away.  Go forth and cherish.  The moment may never come again.

the adventures of freddy the elf, part one

Freddy, our elf sent from Santa Claus to watch over us, arrived the day after Thanksgiving just as he did last year.  Lilly has been waiting with much anticipation for Freddy to appear today and after getting our Christmas tree she came home to find Freddy here.

The next morning it didn't take her long to spot Freddy in our dining room peeking out of our gumdrop mugs.  Zac found him pretty easily too!

Since Lilly was at a sleepover the next night I guess Freddy decided he should have his own party and this is where we found him the next morning.  I think he loves Ariel!

The next morning Lilly was very upset at breakfast because she couldn't find Freddy - in fact there were actual tears cried in fear that Freddy wasn't coming back at all.  So the eating came to a halt and it was an all-out elf hunt for Freddy.  He was sneaky and hiding in mom and dad's bedroom peeking out of the laundry basket. (It's the perfect place to never be seen as the laundry is the last on my to do list!)

And today Freddy was in a more obvious spot on our TV music box.

Freddy will have more adventures every day until Christmas Eve.  Stay tuned.....

 

thank you, thanksgiving

Thank you, forty flowers.

Thank you, monkey brains.

Thank you, homemade cards.

Thank you, running mix.

Thank you, Turkey Trot.

Thank you, encouraging signs.

Thank you, forty-year-old body.

Thank you, Muppets.

Thank you, birthday cake.

Thank you, sweet boy.

Thank you, lovely girl.

Thank you, love.

Thank you, Thanksgiving!

 

 

100 Summer Things - Make jam

Aug 7 2011

 

6/100

When I was little we made jam every summer.  Usually our jam-making coincided with our 12-hour drive in our VW Rabbit to my grandparents house in Kansas.  My sweet mother always wanted to take some to her parents and so the night before our big road trip we would be slaving away over a hot water bath in a kitchen that didn't have air conditioning.  I loved to make jam but I hated how hot it was.  Fast forward 30 years later and my daughter was making the same complaints as we made jam this week.  I had to laugh because she was hot in an air conditioned kitchen!!  Kids will be kids!!

 

We started with some fresh raspberries

 

and smashed them through a strainer to remove some of the seeds.

 
 
We washed the jars and lids

 

 

and put the jars and rings in boiling water to sterilize.

 

Once all the berries were smashed, we added the pectin and some butter

 

and started cooking the mixture on the stove.

 

We then added the sugar and stirred some more.  Check out Lilly's stirring position!!

 

Once the mixture had been cooked, we ladled the jam into the hot jars and topped with the two-piece lids

 

and placed them in the hot water.

 

After ten minutes, the jars were taken out to cool and we had jam!!

 

After a few rounds of Apples to Apples, we stopped for a toast break.

 

Zac was our official taste tester.  I think we did okay!!

 

 

Scrapbook page:

 

100 Summer Things - Try a new ice cream flavor

Aug 3 2011

 
5/100

We decided to end our 4th of July activities with a trip to Lake Harriet and some ice cream at Sebastian Joe's.  We have been eating ice cream here since we were first married so it's always fun to visit there with the kids and reminisce a little about those days when we lived in the city.  But our main goal was for each of us to try a new flavor of ice cream.

Stuart chose bananas foster and Zac chose (or rather we chose for him) raspberry with chocolate chunks.

 

I know Stu liked his but I'm not sure Zachery was totally lovin' his.  Lilly tried coconut cream pie.

 

I think she liked it!

 

I chose to try Stuart's most favorite ice cream flavor on earth, Pavarotti.  It's caramel, bananas and chocolate chips.  Sounds delicious, right?  Wrong.  It's not Sebastian Joe's fault - he makes fabulous ice cream.  It's just that when I was little I had to take this banana-flavored medicine for a kidney problem I had and I HATED that stuff!  I wanted to throw up every time I had to take a dose.  Ever since then anything that is banana-flavored sets my tummy whirling.  I can eat bananas, banana bread, and don't even try to keep away from a plate of bananas foster but anything with banana flavoring just doesn't do this body any good.  But, hey, I tried!

 
Does my displeasure show??

 I guess it turned out well because Stu got to eat a new flavor and a cup of his favorite and I got to eat Zac's ice cream (my favorite) because Zac was too interested in this big giant turtle!!

 

Scrapbook page:

 
 

100 Summer Things - Have game day

Aug 3 2011

 
4/100

Today was game day and I have been really excited about this item on our list.  It seems life can be so hurried sometimes that we don't take time to just sit down and play games together so it felt good to haul out all our games and play until we were ready to eat dinner. We started with a geography quiz game and then moved on to Lilly's favorite game Twenty Questions.  After that we played my favorite game

 
Clue!  I have loved this game since I was little and I always thought it was so cool when someone figured out who was the murderer.  As I was playing it with Lilly today I started to think it's a little weird that I am hunting down a killer with my daughter.  Anyway, after a few rounds of Clue we downloaded a game on my computer called Gourmania.

 
(Please excuse the ridculous mess in my office.  I CANNOT keep it clean no matter how hard I try!!)  In Gourmania you are helping the estranged daughter of a millionaire open restaurants in order to earn her father's trust back.  In each restaurant, you have to find the ingredients for the recipes your customers are ordering and serve them their food as fast as you can.  For a job well done, you receive money that you use to open your own zoo, fix it up and fill it with animals.  It's a little cheesy but it was a little addicting and Lilly and I have had a ton of fun playing it together.

 
Our next game was LIFE on the XBox and then some puzzles for Zac.

Then we broke out another XBox game - The Michael Jackson Experience - and Lilly proceeded to kick my butt in a dance-off. 

We ended the day with a little fishing

and then Zac made up his own fishing/building block game.

Super fun day just hanging out with my kids!  We need to do this more often!!

Scrapbook page:

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

100 Summer Things - Hike at Riverbend

Aug 2 2011

 
3/100

We started the morning at a State Park but the mosquitoes were so bad that we drove home.  Feeling a bit let down that our day wasn't going as planned, we decided to drive to the nature center just a few miles down the road from our home.  Lilly and I have been to Riverbend Nature Center many times on field trips with her class and had always told Stuart how much fun it was.  So today was Stu and Zac's chance to visit the nature center and a chance for Lilly to lead the way!

We started out at the swamp where we have seen turtles in the past, but there weren't any turtles today!

 

We then took a hike through the woods

 

 

 

where we found rocks to climb, mud to dig in and of course more mosquitoes!

Poor little Zac was getting eaten alive even with bug spray on so we headed out of the woods to the prairie trail.

 

After a few pictures by the water we headed down the trail.  I can't believe how beautiful this place is and how peaceful this particular part of the land is.  I love the open prairie with the grasses and wildflowers waving in the warm summer wind.  I could sit up there forever.  But the kids were starting to get tired and hungry and we started hearing the inevitable "When are we leaving" or "Dad up" or "I'm hungry".  We finished our walk and I took one last photo and we headed to the drive-in for some cold root beer and hamburgers!

 

Scrapbook page: