Baby Bonnet Complete

I am SO happy how these booties and bonnet turned out. I love this pattern and I also learned a lot while working on it. I think I'll make a few more and if people have a boy it's blue ribbon and a girl....pink! Let me know whatcha think!!! Oh, George had to try them on too along with Madison....George doesn't look too happy!

Thank God for Tarps

Luke was able to get on top of our roof yesterday and nail down some tarps to cover up the damage. We now look like fuzzards, but hopefully they will stay in place. We are waiting for the Insurance people to come by and look at it....who knows when that will be. We have a roofing company coming out on the 7th to take a look also. Enjoy our pics!

Thanks Mother Nature

Well due to the high winds yesterday, Luke and I are going to have to get a new roof! I noticed a few shingles in the backyard when I put the dogs up yesterday. Luke hurried home before daylight ran out and said there were a lot more that were bent, etc. I'll try to get some pictures of it today. Don't want to look stupid though, since I will almost have to be in Mrs. Polly's yard to see our roof. Our house is on a mountain that's for sure! Oh well. I'll keep you posted on the excitement around the Williams Household....right now I'm off to do housework and laundry!

On a Good Note

I woke up this morning with no ear pain!!! Now we'll see if it lasts all day, but it was truly a relief! The Dr. just told me to stay on the antibiotics and to go to the ENT. Well I can't see him til February, so I am currently on their cancellation list.

On another good note (2 for the morning already!) Snoopy, our Beagle has been on Prozac for about a year now. He would just howl in the yard all day for no reason. The Prozac has been wonderful...until the Potassium Bromide came into play. He has been having seizures for the past 6 months or so....and they would last 15 minutes a piece! Since he has been on that his howling has gotten worse. He is fixated on the fence every morning and can't seem to stop barking. Dr. Mike now put him on Zanax and Prozac along with the Potassium Bromide. So far this morning he hasn't made a peep. Of course, it is raining outside, so that could have something to do with it. I started him out at 1/2 a tablet of the Zanax, so I hope this works!

It's not that I don't want him to bark at all, it's just we are afraid the barking will lead to another seizure which can do even more damage and possibly be fatal somewhere down the road. He was abused by his previous owners with a shock collar and a pet taxi so small my cat wouldn't fit in it! But now he has a wonderful home with people who love him...and great brothers and sisters!

Well that's all for now. I'm off to iron, do laundry, and knit some more. I'll take pics of that soon. I'm so happy with my progress! Bye Blog!

Another Ear Infection

I have had another ear infection in the same ear for the past week! I am calling the ENT at 8:30 this morning to go in and see him. The antibiotics my PCP put me on are not working I guess, because I still have the same dull ache. It all started with my lymph nodes swelling behind my neck...that's painful let me tell ya! So we'll see what he says. I have had this all since October and it's getting a little old to say the least! I'm just hoping it's not my wisdom teeth up top. They have grown in straight and all and the Dentist has said nothing about them. Who knows with me!

On a positive note, I did finish the baby bonnet this weekend and will take pics later on today! It turned out really cute. Now, I'm going to tackle the baby booties to match it. They use stitch holders, and I've never done that before, so who knows. I'm learning a lot though!

Have a great day blog!
Melissa

Supper was GREAT!

Just wanted to also share a new recipe I fixed last night for supper. I have gotten my money's worth out of this month's Paula Deen Magazine. I tried her Irish Stew....it was TOO good.

Here's Paula's Irish Stew

3 lbs. stew meat (I used a little under)

5 c. peeled, chopped potatoes

2 (14.5 oz) cans stewed tomatoes

4 cloves of garlic, minced (by all means by the jarred garlic already minced!)

1 large onion, chopped

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

In large Dutch oven (this just means a big pot with a lid to me!!!), combine meat and water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Add potatoes, tomatoes, garlic, and onion; reduce heat to a medium low and simmer for about 2 1/2 hours until meat and veggies are done. Stir in salt and pepper and serve. (Stir in the salt and pepper at the end or else your taters will absorb all the salt!).

*** Of course, I can't ever follow a recipe to the line so I added about 3 peeled, chopped carrots. I love cooked carrots, but in a stew they almost made it too sweet. So add them if you want, I don't care!

Paula's Raw Apple Cake - This cake is GOOD. You don't really need the caramel glaze...just powdered sugar on the top would be good.

2 c. sugar

1 1/2 c. vegetable oil

4 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 1/2 c. all purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

3 c. peeled and chopped apples

1 c. chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a 12 c. fluted pan (I used a big bundt pan).

In a large bowl beat sugar and oil until creamy. Add eggs one at the time and your vanilla. Beat until smooth.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and sift together. Add to the sugar mixture beating until combined. Stir in pecans and apples.

Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes (until toothpick comes out clean in the center). Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then cool completely on a wire rack. Spoon over warm caramel glaze.

Caramel Glaze

1 1/2 c. firmy packed brown sugar

1/2 c. butter

1/2 c. chopped pecans

3 tsps. milk

Combine in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook until temp. reached 234. Spoon over cooled cake.

*** I made this on a cloudy day, so it was sticky....make it on a sunshiny day and it will be great! The cake was even better this morning for breakfast! LOL!!! Enjoy!

Knitting Baby Bonnet Gone Wrong!

Look at those SMALL needles. See the decrease?

Too small at the top....great at the bottom

It's a pretty pattern. It's supposed to have holes in the decorative part to put ribbon through, so I thought I would do pink if it's a girl and blue if it's a boy. I'm going to make this for a friend of mine that's pregnant!

Ok, so I took these pics for Aunt JJ. I got a new knitting book from Luke for Christmas and really wanted to use a pattern out of it. It is an easy one....or so I thought. I have learned a lot though. I now know how to Knit 2 Together and how to Yarn Over....what I didn't know is how to knit the next row after you do all of that. So instead of keeping the same number of stitches I was decreasing every so often. Towards the end of the pattern, you are supposed to have about 60 something stitches......I had only 20 something. So, I pulled it all out and will start over today. I am going to do this right this time...or at least I hope so. Don't laugh Aunt JJ, you created a knitting fool, but not a bright one!!! LOL! I'm trying though!

An Icy Day

Our patio

It's cold!

Poor babies...they look warm!


It started to sleet yesterday about mid morning. Of course in Arkansas, that means everything shuts down and the grocery stores are slammed with people getting milk and bread! Luke even came home about 1 o'clock yesterday. I was able to get a few shots of the ice. The poor dogs even had icicles on their dog houses....not to worry though, they came in early to sheets being warmed by the dryer. They were happy...and actually didn't feel cold at all when they came in! Sorry you had to miss it Mom!

Our Children

The stuffed houses

BJ is a good boy!

Can you even see Stormy?

Samson barely in there!

Doing what Snoopy does best....howling!!!

George and his box

Alyeska disgusted with George

Madison in her bed.

Luke put new straw in the dogs houses this past weekend. They love it! I was hoping this would make Snoopy stop barking at the fence every morning, but it really didn't. They love the houses packed with straw. It's a hoot trying to see our 91 lb. Samson get in the houses! Madison is always shy whenever she comes back from the beauty shop...so she stays in her bed and hides! George loved playing with my birthday box, and Alyeska, well she's too good for boxes!

Happy Birthday to Me

My flowers from Mom and Dad

Flowers from Luke



Me and Luke at Cracker Barrel

Matt and Alan

Little Jackson

Strawberry Cake and Neapolitan Ice Cream

Me and Brenda



I had a wonderful day on my birthday. Madison and I went to the "Beauty Shop." I got a new "do"....it's short!! I was getting tired of the flipped out look, so I went short instead...it will take a little bit to get used to for sure! And, if I don't like it later, I can always let it grow! Mom and Dad sent me beautiful flowers (they were in Dallas), and Luke even brought home a bouquet for me! He even surprised me with a Lowe Pro bag for my new camera. I had a wonderful birthday.

Birthday with the girls

Christylee and Alicia

Me and Chrusty

Tonia, Alicia, and Christylee

Bring on the whipped cream and nuts!!!

Top it all off with some chocolate. They were GOOD!!!

Every year Christylee, Tonia, Alicia and I get together in honor of our birthdays. Mine is the 23rd, Tonia and Christylee's is the 24th. Alicia's is later on in the year, but she still joins us anyway. We had the best time last night. We ate dinner at Chilis and then came back over here for dessert. We made Brownie Sundays...and about passed out from the fried food and sugar high! We laughed about old times and caught up with everyone. Alicia's boys are 5 and 7 now and that just shouldn't be!!! Tonia is into making jewelry and it is really pretty. Christylee and I swapped recipes as usual. I'm so blessed to be able to have friends like these. No matter how long we go in between seeing each other, it doesn't take any time at all to catch up!!! It was a day to remember for sure!

Birthday Celebration at Cozymels

My birthday isn't until the 23rd, but Mom and Dad will be out of town on that day....so we celebrated my birthday at Cozymels on Friday night. Chris and Charelle and Diamond were even there. The food was fantastic, and I even brought home leftovers. We came back to Mom and Dads for birthday cake and a movie. We watched the Bourne Ultimatum...it was pretty good...it had some great fight scenes and of course it doesn't hurt to look at Matt Damon for a couple of hours either. I had a wonderful birthday celebration!

What you get for doing the right thing....

He had to take it off completely!

Madison wanted to see what the fuss was all about.

So I had to entertain myself somehow!

So I ran to Walmart Tuesday afternoon after the preschool. I had a little bit of a headache...mainly because all 9 children talked at once ALL day. It was a fun day! So after I do my shopping me and the buggy head for the car. I took my friends Amy and Jill's advice and parked right by the buggy bin. I mean the bin was right in front of my car. So, I loaded my trunk...closed the lid...and preceeded to push the buggy to the bin. I didn't even notice that the buggy was too close to my car! BAM...I hit the mirror pretty hard with my buggy. I didn't think it was really that loose til I got on the freeway and it had a little jiggle by then. Luke actually was able to fix it last night with a long screw. It's back and safe where it belongs. So, when you try to do the right thing by putting the buggy up, watch out...you may just hit your mirror!

Congrats Heather and James

The happy couple.

Heather and her Dad

One Happy Family!


Luke and I had the wonderful opportunity to take pictures at James and Heather's wedding this past Sunday. Of course, most of mine were blurry because I didn't want to use the flash and get in the way of Luke's camera. But enjoy them anyway! James and Heather are great friends of ours. James works for Dad and Heather cuts wonderful hair!!! We were so happy to spend their special day with them. They had the reception at Boscos and it was fantastic. The food was awesome...and the band even dedicated a song to them so they could dance! It was a very special day. Congrats guys!!!