BLOG HOP TIME AGAIN!!!!!!

Welcome to Lovebug Scrapbooking's "INSPIRE US!" blog hop!! Our blog hops
take place on the last Saturday of
every month. Thanks so much for joining us!

If you just happened by this blog and didn't realize a blog hop was taking
place, please go back to Lovebug Scrapbooking and start the Hop. You won't
want to miss all the ispiration from our members....... or the prizes

This time around I wanted to share with you a recipe I got from my Aunt Mayme, it is a lovely, light dessert perfect after any big meal. We used to try to go to Thunder Bay to visit her every year on March break and she always made this one for me.
This isn't the greatest picture of it, but trust me when I say you will love it!
This is basically an upside down lemon meringue pie, the meringue is your bottom crust...how fun is that!


Beat 5 egg whites stiff and add while beating
1 1/2 tsp vinegar
1 1/2 tsp water
2 tsp vanilla
1 2/3 cup white sugar
3/4 tsp baking powder
Pour into large WELL greased cake pan. Bake at 275 for 1 hour. Turn heat down to 230 and bake for an additional 20 minutes. Turn oven off and leave the pan in the oven overnight.

Next morning
mix 1 tin Eagle Brand Milk
1/2 -3/4 cup lemon juice (I like to use more as it doesn't end up with a strong lemony taste otherwise)
1 egg yolk
*Whip 1/2 pint whipping cream and fold into the above mixture. Spread on top of meringue and chill atleast 3 hours.

Your meringue might be puffed up and uneven - just poke it lightly down and then add topping.

Another thing I like to do is to grate a little zest of lemon onto the top of the dessert for a little more zing.

Now how about leaving some comments for me and share one of your favorite recipes with me? If you do, I'll put your name in a draw for a RAK from me. And please come back and tell me how you enjoyed this recipe when you try it yourself.

This blog hop will run from today, February 27th until March 2nd. We will
be drawing for winners on March 3rd.

Follow along in our blog hop! Your next stop is Carla's Cooking Blog so you are definitely in for a treat!

Busy, busy, blah, blah, blah

Well the last few weeks have been busy and blah at the same time.
First the blah, still no job prospects in sight and some days I'm okay with that, others it cuts me to the bone and I am struggling with feelings of disappointment, sadness, uselessness etc etc. No worries folks, it isn't like I'm despondent or suicidal just a little blue. I keep reminding myself that things will turn out as they are meant to and that I have to hold on to my faith, but you all know sometimes that is easier said than done. But I will survive, I just might not be enjoying the ride right now is all.
Now for the busy. Logan made the Junior Boys 4 Steps to Stardom Bowling team again this year for our lanes and the tournament was this past weekend. They won GOLD!!!
Woohoo boys, well done.
They will be heading to Timmins on March 6 & 7 for the Provincials and I hope they do well. We won't be travelling with him this time. He will go on the bus with all the other bowlers and coaches and will be billeted out while he is in Timmins. He is a little nervous as of course he is a pretty shy kid, but he is also a really polite and wonderful kid and I know he will be fine. That being said of course my nerves are frazzled at the mere thought of one of my kids being that far away from me on his own. Thank God my godson/nephew Tim is one of the coaches and he will be there too so I take comfort in knowing that Logan isn't completely without family.
Here are some pics of the boys and their amazingly sweet coach.
This is the team BEFORE the winners were announced (of course that is my amazingly handsome son in the back row beside the coach)

And this is the team AFTER they got their gold medals, atleast some of them changed expressions...geesh Lord save us from moody teen and pre-teen boys LOL (oh how love when I see my boy smiling and happy, he's the first on the left don't you know LOL)


And on another note, don't forget there is another fun blog hop starting on Saturday, it all starts on the Lovebug Blog

Happy Birthday Dad, we miss you

It is my dad's birthday today and as you now he passed away in July. Today I am not sad though, I am spending my day watching home videos, looking at photos and remembering all the good times.
Logan of course turned 13 on the 23rd of this month and he and Gramps shared a cake every year. This year Logan didn't want a cake on his birthday. He chose instead to have his cake today, on Gramps' birthday instead. And so, we will have family over for dinner tonight and have birthday cake, and raise our forks to my Dad to let him know we are thinking of him and most importantly to show him that we are doing okay, we miss him terribly but are doing as he would wish and celebrating instead of commiserating.
That boy of mine, he is something else. These are all pictures from 2004 of Dad and Logan sharing their cake.

How about a few pics?

Not enough coffee yet this morning but want to post before I get busy, I'm on a mission to post everyday if I can.
Now, how is THIS for a coffee cup? LOL


Here's a family photo (we only seem to get them when my cousin Bill comes to visit)
this was taken just a few days before Christmas. Geesh, I really need to start wearing makeup or something before I start scaring small children and animals.


And here is a fun one of my three kids and the two "kids of my heart".

Getting There

Life is slowing getting back to normal????
I wanted to thank everyone for all the phone calls, emails, flowers, food and everything that we were inundated with during this difficult time.
I was so touched and humbled by the outpouring of compassion from everyone.

We are concentrating now on making the remainder of our summer as good as possible for the kids, they haven't been able to have much fun.

Off to make supper for the family now, pudding and ice cream for little Evan who had 2 teeth extracted today (crowns that he got as a toddler that were bothering him).

I'll try to be back in the next day or so with some happy posts.

Blessings to all.

Great day at Sandy Beach Park yesterday!

Finally the sun showed it's face and we decided to head out to Sandy Beach to play away the afternoon. A good time was had by all.
For those unfamiliar with the park, there is a HUGE hill leading down to the water here is a shot I took from about 1/2 of the way down looking up

and here is one that I took from the same spot facing down towards the water.


Logan (age 12) decided he wanted to roll down, being a good Mom,I said "go for it" he began rolling with me running alongside him yelling "keep going, keep going" and he being the dutiful son obeyed.
I was not aware there was a big drop off right near the bottom of the hill that had some rocks etc, and Logan just kept on rolling, right over the edge and into the water..bwahahaha


Amidst my hysterical giggling and scrambling for the camera you could hear quite clearly Logan's voice as he screamed "I hate you!" and "I can't believe my own mother betrayed me" and of course the one said most often "Stop laughing, that wasn't funny" Perhaps the funniest part was when the fishermen in the boat just off shore yelled back "It looked pretty funny from here" LOL

Logan being the good sport he is even said he would attempt it again so I could get the video running and capture it better, but of course by that time I had seen the sharp rocks and the danger involved so I didn't take him up on the offer.

Oy Vey......10 days since last post?

I officially suck as a blogger, but will it help if I dazzle you with my adorable yet trying children?
Here's some pics from last weekend when we went to Sandy Beach park to enjoy some sun
Click on the pics to get a closer view if you can stand all that adorableness in one sitting. They're cute I tell you, damned cute, and I don't say that lightly LOL

My Little Model, isn't she gorgeous? Carly knows how to strike a pose.




The Evster....seeking some solitude in Zen-like fashion no doubt? (okay so I forgot to re-orient the picture, just tilt your head for crying out loud)




Look at the smile on this face, with all the pre-teen angst, it is sure a welcome sight to see Logan looking this happy



"Patience grasshopper" were Evan's exact words as he tried to teach Carly and Logan how to correctly skip stones. That boy is a natural...Logan and Carly weren't quite as successful

12 Years Ago Today

My life changed in so many ways.
The birth of my first child, my darling son Logan. He is such and AMAZING kid, he is smart, funny, and sweet. Of course he is also sarcastic, bossy, lazy at times and downright frustrating some days, but I love him to death and can't imagine our lives without him.
I can hardly believe it! Where did the time go?
Wasn't he just adorable?

And in his honor, how about some of my fav layouts about him?

Happy Birthday Judy!

This photo was taken October 1999 at the Garth Brooks Concert in Minneapolis, one of my funnest memories of Judy. We had such a blast!

Today is the birthday of my sister Judy who passed away June 29, 2003.
This post is in her honor.

Today

Today you would be 59
Today I shall not cry because you are gone
Today I shall rejoice that you were here
Today shall be a happy day of remembrance.

I love you Judy. I miss you.

My Boy is Off on his BIG adventure

Well this morning started at about 5 am, had to get up to have my boy Logan (11) to his school for 6:30 to begin their big adventure. He and his fellow Fine Arts students are on the way to Winnipeg for a packed trip. They will be arriving back home around 1:30 am, with any luck LOL
Their first stop is at The Forks for a trip to the Manitoba Theatre for Young People to see "Rich". They should enjoy this as it has received rave reviews and is all singing, dancing and skateboarding, what teen or pre-teen wouldn't enjoy that, huh?
Their next stop is at the Planetarium for a showing of "Planets Around Us. Logan isn't big on science, but neither was I and I always enjoyed going to the Planetarium so I'm sure he will be intrigued.
From there they are going to the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner and then heading off to of all things, the opera! WTH??? Okay it doesn't appeal to me, but these are Fine Arts students and this is a great opportunity for them. Apparently tickets to this opera start at about $95 a person, but our school has arranged for our guys to watch the dress rehearsal and they are doing it for only $10/person, so what the heck.
Now the opera they are watching is Il Trovatore which again means nothing to me, but the cast is apparently top notch and are very famous in that genre, who the heck knows?
I know Logan will have an absolute blast, unfortunately, me, the worry-wart mother that I am is sitting here with her stomach in knots and will remain like that until my boy is back home safe again. I am somewhat more relaxed than I normally would be as today is my Mom's birthday, and since I firmly believe she is our Guardian Angel and watches over us all the time, I know that today she will keep an extra special eye on my boy, so that is my comfort thought of the day.

5 Years Ago Yesterday

Our family chain is broken and nothing is the same but as God calls us one by one our chain will link again.


We lost my oldest sister Judy, one of the toughest, bravest, most wonderful women I have ever known on June 29, 2003. Yesterday I decided to have my day of remembrance and to wait until today to post about it. I laughed and giggled and thumbed through photo albums, remembering all the good times, and boy there were a ton of those!

She struggled with illness most of her life, Crohn's Disease, Colitis, Ileitis, all household words to us.
But through it all she had grace, dignity and more bravery than I could ever hope to have.
Judy's biggest gift to us all was her philosophy of "Never Give Up".
I love and miss you dearly Judy, and think of you every day. No tears here, nope, only smiles and giggles for all the fun times that we shared.

That though the radiance which was once so bright be now forever taken from my sight. Though nothing can bring back the hour of splendor in the grass, glory in the flower. We will grieve not, rather find strength in what remains behind.
William Wordsworth

Memories of Mom and How I Want My Kids to See Me

It has been 16 years today since Mom passed. But I'm not that sad, I choose to remember the fun and wonderful times and not focus on the sadness of this day. It was only one terrible, horrible day compared to a lifetime of wonderful, happy memories.
Cruising the photo albums today and what did I find? This gem. My mother in all her wacky glory...who gets this excited about sticking their head through a toilet seat I ask you? It's gotta be one special woman, right? LOL

Carly and I spent some time today watching old home videos of my Mom (who of course passed away long before little Carly was born) and laughing our butts off.
Was my mother perfect? Of course not, but she was close enough for me. I hope and pray that someday my kids will look back and feel about me the way that I feel about her.
I leave you today with the request that you take a few moments to think of your Mom, or a mother figure in your life, take joy in their presence in your life whether they are still with you or not.
Here is a layout I did a long time ago about my Mom, I might have shared it here before, I can't remember.

I also leave one that I completed yesterday (my apologies for the crappy photo of it, it's the best I could get for now) that talks about just how I want my kids to think of me.
As always, just click on the photo to make it bigger if you care to read the journalling
Have a wonderful day everyone!

It Ain't Right, G'Day Mate, and Silly String

I have to say it just ain't right that my children are so photogenic and every picture of me is horrific. Check it out, 3 kids with gorgeous blue eyes and angelic looks...check it out a mom with atleast 3 chins and a spare tire around her belly, and no that is not where my boobs normally are...it was the weekend, a girl shouldn't have to wear one of those things on the weekend..



We'll blame it on the fact that I was wearing my old sweats, and old sweatshirt and my niece's jacket. We'll also blame it on the way I am slouched so totally unladylike in that chair.
In reality,I am a very svelte lady, just so you know....... (I also have some prime real estate in the Brooklyn Bridge area if you are interested...)



Anyhooooooooo, This photo is of my niece Megan, nephew Tim, and of course my rugrats, Evan,Carly and Logan. Point of interest...Megan is heading to Australia in days. She is going as a volunteer and will be working at the Wildlife Walkabout Park just outside of Sydney for 2 weeks, and then spending 2 weeks doing those death-defying activities like white water rafting, rock climbing etc that I am way too much of a fraidy kat to do LOL Gonna miss her tons g'day mate!

And look what Megan did on Saturday night to her parents' nice clean house...she attacked...completely unprovoked...with silly string, see how she almost got it all over her brother Tim's plate and his friend Stephanie's plate? How rude LOL. It wasn't me...honest it wasn't... okay so it was my idea, but she didn't argue when I told her to grab the other can and help me LOL

Bad Blogger...Good Family Connections!

So once again I have neglected my blog...sighhhh...

Well Logan and his team went to the Provincial bowling championships, they didn't win Gold but they won the Bronze and I couldn't be prouder!

It is March break here this week and I am staring in the face of Hannah Montana overload. We broke down and let the kids get themselves a Wii and there is a HM game that has been on almost nonstop for the last 3 days....oh my......

Not much else to report, I am trying to finish a layout finally.

Oh, I forgot! While in Thunder Bay last weekend, my Aunt Bev gave me a bag full of treasures! Family heritage photos that made my heart skip a beat! I found one of my Grandmother as a baby, taken in 1904. The similarities of it along with other baby photos of the family reached out and grabbed me and I had to do a layout immediately. Here it is, blurry and colors out of whack but the layout is there LOL

Provincial Championship, Here We Come! And Happy Birthday Rachel!!!!

My son Logan (11) and his Bantam Boys bowling team won the Northern Ontario Zone Championship this past Sunday. They beat out Kenora, Fort Frances and Atikokan to win the honor or representing the region in the Provincial Championships! WAY TO GO BOYS!!

Thankfully this year, the Provincials are only in Thunder Bay (3 1/2 hours from here) and I will be able to travel up with my sister Terry and her husband Steve since my nephew Tim and his Senior Boys team won too! Woohoo!!!

I would love to show a team picture of the boys, but I don't have permission from the other parents and don't want to plaster their kids all over the internet without it, kwim? LOL

But here is a shot of Logan and his most amazing coach Brenda Hazelwood. They don't come any better than this lady let me tell you. She is such a positive woman, never criticizes the kids, just encourages them and makes sure that they remember that fun is the most important part of the game. Exactly what you want in a coach!



And before I forget, Happy birthday to my dear friend
Rachel. Love ya girl
and I wish I could have been there today to help you celebrate

Ahhhhhhhhh, Peace and Quiet

I love my kids, I really do, but this week they have been...what's the word I am looking for? Oh yeah.....LOUD!!!!!!!!!!!! Today they are all at school and Paul is at work and it is so blissfully quiet here, too bad I have to go out and search this dumb city for a belt for my vacuum, geesh, what's wrong with people? Is it is hard to carry a vacuum belt in stock? Then I need to pick up the kids from school and take them to the bowling alley, Logan has a practice. If all my stars are alighned correctly, then Paul will remember to come to the bowling alley after work and pick up Evan and Carly so they don't drive me insane.... Anyway, I digress...(again)

A few things to report. Logan has won a spot on the House bowling team for the Bantam Boys. This Sunday, the 10th is the Zone playoffs and if they win this they will move on to the Provincials which thankfully are only in Thunder Bay (3 1/2 hours) this year. I am hoping to be able to go if he makes it, but time will tell. He is so proud of himself, now if he can just relax and not stress himself out, he should do quite well.

The trying to quit smoking is going okay I guess. I am using Chantix which is the first aid that hasn't made me deathly ill. I am on day 8 of the pills and am down to less than 1/2 of what I normally smoke. My official "stop date" is Valentine's Day, I picked it cuz of the whole "heart" thing, kwim? Symbolic, don't you think? LOL

Evan as usual cracked us up last night. The kid has decided he doesn't like cheese. So he is filling out his Valentine's for school (Tom & Jerry ones) and one of them says "I like you more than cheese!". This is the conversation that followed:

Evan :"well duhhhhhhh, I like everyone more than cheese, even my arch nemesis"

Mom: "Arch nemesis? What are you a superhero now?"

Evan: "of course I am, I am FART BOY, I can clear a room faster than a fire alarm!"

Mom: sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

A Message from Above - Just What I Needed!!!

Well yesterday was one of "Those" days. My kids didn't have school, the buses had been cancelled. Good behavior was not on the menu for them. They have been doing more than their fair share of fighting, yelling etc and I was having a "I don't want to be a Mom" today days. I'm sure we've all had them.
On top of that, the local paper mill where my husband is employed did their annual "Christmas Cheer" thing and announced the shutting down of a machine and the loss of 125 jobs. Merry freaking Christmas, huh? Thankfully my husband and brother-in-law are not losing their jobs (yet) so we can breathe a little bit, atleast until they make the next announcement.
Well, once again during a dark time for me, my Mom was my savior.
My Dad had called and wanted me to scan a few family layouts for him to send out so I was digging in the linen closet where all the albums are. Onto my head falls my Grade 12 High School yearbook. So, to avoid being hurt again and because I felt a need to look at it, I opened it up.
Staring me directly in the face on the inside front cover were all the inscriptions from friends and classmates, but one jumped out at me immediately.
I had forgotten that I had Mom sign my yearbook and seeing her handwriting and reading her oh so true words were exactly what I needed yesterday to shake away those blues. If you click on the photo you can see a larger view and read the words that changed the whole course of my day. Love you Mom, even though you have been gone for over 15 years now, you are still there for me everyday!


Oh, and to clarify for some who may be confused...many of my friends call me Kat, and in my younger days "Kitty Kat", so my mom was referred to by me and my friends as "Momma Kitty", how cute is that, huh?

Happy Birthday Mom, I Love You

Today would have been Mom's 75th birthday, hard to imagine. This is a photo taken of her about 5 months before she passed away. She hated having her photo taken but Christmas of 1991 she had me take this picture of her "all dolled up" and she gave it to us all in a frame for Christmas that year. A strange coincidence? I don't know, I'm just saying.

Although she has been gone 15 years now, I still feel her here with me almost daily. And how truly blessed I feel that I do. I did a layout about the many times that I have heard her speak to me and felt her with me, I will try to scan it and share it with you all.

Mom passed away of course long before any of my children were born, but you wouldn't know it to talk to them. All 3 of my kids can tell you stories about Grandma Ellen and you would swear they had been there listening to her tell them. I love that. It's one of the things I am proud of, that I have given my kids a sense of who their grandmother was even though they didn't get to meet her (yet).

In the meantime, this morning Carly just cracked me up. She was snuggled up on the couch beside me as always and I told her that it was Grandma Ellen's birthday. So she looked up in the sky and began to sing Happy Birthday to her. It was so funny and so cute. She did it all day though, so by about noon it wasn't quite so funny anymore LOL

Not much else to babble about right now, be back tomorrow (atleast I will try)

Have a great evening everyone, blessings to you.

Sad Day and Happy Memories

Received the sad news last night that my uncle Jim Carter passed away. I am trying hard to focus on the positive in that he is not suffering anymore, but it's hard to hold onto that.


My Uncle Jim was a real card. He and I had an odd way of communicating, I called him "crotchety, cranky old man" and he called me "cheeky bossy little girl". We teased each other unmercilessly but always in fun and we both knew that we loved each other.

Uncle Jim always made me laugh, and many of my best childhood memories took place at his camp near Thunder Bay at One Island Lake. He and Aunt Bev always made sure a good time was had by all and everyone was welcome.

One of the funniest things was when he had us walk the trails by camp and told us that he had seen Snow White and the Seven Dwarves up there earlier. As I walked the path with Megan and Tim (then I think only 3 and 5), he snuck up behind us and starting whistling the "Whistle While You Work" song. Meg and Tim were so excited, they ran all the way back to camp to tell Uncle Jim. Meanwhile poor Uncle Jim had to hustle back to his lawn chair and look non-chalant so they wouldn't catch on. It was so funny and the kids didn't even notice how red in the face and out of breath he was LOL

When I grew up and had my kids, they still loved going to camp or to Uncle Jim's house. They knew that all those cool old toys, ice cream and yummy persians would be brought out. They also knew that Uncle Jim and I would natter at each. Me telling him to quit giving my kids so much junk food, and him telling me not to be so mean to my kids.

He was an amazing man and he will not be forgotten by me.


I love you Uncle Jim, rest in peace you crotchety, cranky old man. ((HUGS))

My nephew Tim...my angel!

I have to share with you all about my amazing nephew Tim. Tim will be 18 in December and he is just the best kid around. So sweet and thoughtful and I love him to pieces.
Yesterday he came over to bring me some birthday gifts he had brought for me. I am not a cryer by nature, but he bought me to tears, happy tears.
He brought me an adorable charm for my Italian charm bracelet, it is a slice of pizza. Tim works at Pizza Hut and has for a few years, he has worked his way up from busboy to shift supervisor and I am so proud of him.
But he also brought me something else, an angel. Now you who know me, know that I collect angels and am a fanatic for them. This one is even more special, it plays the song "Wind Beneath My Wings" when you open the box. If you have never heard the song, you can see and hear it here.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTXRzolPzFo
Now I have always loved this song, but it has special meaning to our family now. When we lost our sister Judy on June 29,2003, she had chosen this song to be played at her memorial and she dedicated it to her oldest son Scott. The fact that Tim bought me this beautiful angel and it plays this beautiful song just touched me beyond words.
I love you Tim, don't ever change, don't ever stop being the sensitive caring man that you are. ((HUGS))
Here is my Tim snuggled up with my daughter Carly at her birthday party and also a not too great shot of this most amazing gift.