Welcome To My Home-Living/Family Room Edition

Here we are at week two of the Show Us Where You Live Tour hosted by Kelly at Kelly's Korner.

This week it is Living and Family Rooms. I have both but really only use one. So come on in and take a look. You are always welcome here!

This is the Living Room as looking from the Dining Room.



And this is from the entry way looking to the left.

We were actually looking into having the wall behind the couch knocked out and have it all open with just one great room kind of thing. But, with the economy so uncertain we decided to hold off on that.

This is my favorite piece in the living room.
It is a little glass table that holds lots of little treasures.



This is the family room as looking from the entry way.
The rocking chair to the right of the fireplace was "retrieved"
from the trash by my Dad and refinished.


This a view as standing in the kitchen door.


The wall behind the couch is the wall we want to knock out.


This is my my grandmother's hope chest. My dad found it buried
in a pile of junk while he was cleaning out an old shed and refinished it.

This is an old pie safe my Dad found in someones barn. He pulled it out and refinished it. The tin covers on the front had to be replaced, the tin on the sides are original. The quilts on the floor and on the top are all passed down from family members. There are a few more, but those are on our beds still cause it still chilly here at night!

This is what I keep inside. I don't know if you can see but on the top and middle shelves on the left are some mason jars of canned goods that were put up by my Grandmother. She has been gone now for about 20 years so I don't think I would want to sample them!! I also keep the rest of my cookbooks there along with some other keepsakes and what nots.

Thanks for stopping by and come back next week to find out what room we will be visiting then!

What Are The Odds?

This is a true story. It's not my story, but it is way too funny not to tell.

Saturday my two daughters and son-in-law got to go to the Kentucky Derby. Elizabeth lives in Louisville and Steph is three hours away.

As they arrive and enter the track they decided they would stop and go potty before moving on to their seats. The only available option was a Porta-Potty. So Steph steps in and goes about her business. While straightening up her garments she DROPS HER PURSE INTO THE POT. I will wait a few moments while you respond with your yucks and eeeeewwwwws...............got it out? Yes, you read that correctly. Steph dropped her clutch into the only hole in the Porta-Potty. And I quote "Mom, there was a turd floating right next to it."

She said she reacted quick enough to get one little corner of the bag that had not become immersed and fished it out. (the bag, not the turd) She retrieved her debit card, drivers license and cell phone. She said she left everything else, like the bag, her cash and her make up laying there.

After hand sanitizing the heck out of the rescued items. They proceeded to their seats only to realize that the other half of her ticket was needed to enter into their seating area. And of course hers was kind of crappy. She had to humble herself and explain to a security guard what had happened. Fortunately, Elizabeth had seat 52 and Rob had seat 54 so the guard was a little more understanding. She had to be escorted to her seat by security and was told that she could not leave her seat because she would not be allowed to re-enter.

So the moral of this story. If you are ever at Churchill Downs and see a cute clutch just laying on the ground with a $5 bill sticking out of it, LEAVE IT ....just let it alone and walk away.

Saturday in Chicago

Well this weekend has certainly been very different from last weekend! I was busy, busy, busy!!

Yesterday we drove into Chicago to take a tour of where my grandson will be born. He should be here within the next 17 days or so and we are very excited.

OK...I know this is selfish but even though I try not to be, I can be that way sometimes, but if you are the praying kind, could you please pray that Little Man will not make his appearance between May 14-17th. You see my youngest daughter is graduating on May 16th in Nashville. That is about an 8-9 hour drive from Chicago. I am so excited to see her graduate and want to enjoy every moment of my last child's graduation weekend. She has worked very hard and deserves a fantastic finale to her undergraduate years. I also do not want to miss one single moment of my first grandchild's birth. I am going to be needed there when my very queasy son comes face to face with the reality of birth. Somebody will need to be there to splash cold water on his face to keep him from fainting and his wife is going to be a little preoccupied, so it needs to be his mama!

Regardless of when he comes, my first prayer is for the health and safety of Little Man and Kelly. But I really, really want to be there.

Back to the tour....the hospital is amazing. It is a women's hospital so it is all about the whole process of labor and delivery and new born care. There are a few of the rooms that have the most amazing view of Lake Michigan. I don't know how much a woman in labor would be able to enjoy that, but they are there if she should get the chance. There are Bose stereo systems and large screen TVs in every room. You can choose to have a tub brought into your room where you can soak during labor and even opt to have a water birth. I tell you something for sure, birthin' babies sure has come a long way from the day when all you were given was a bullet to bite on!

After the hospital visit we made our way back to Chris and Kelly's which by the way included a long walk from the hospital to the train, a train ride, a long walk from the train to the car, a car ride and then back upstairs to the apartment. Oh and Kelly's mom, Grandma Kat as she will soon be known as, was with us too. I guess this was kind of like a mini-grandma training weekend!!

My Mom and Charlie met up with us and we all visited the Lincoln Park Zoo. We went to dinner...twice. What happened was my Mom had a gift card that Chris & Kel had given her a couple years ago for Christmas for a restaurant that was near the apartment that they were living in AT THE TIME. Well, there was a restaurant near the zoo by the same name and we thought we would just go there instead of driving all the way across town to go to the other one. All seven us walked in and sat down, drunk some water and determined that this was NOT the same restaurant. Called and made reservations at the Andersonville restaurant. We all got up...all seven of us, and left to go to the correct restaurant!! I am sure the waitress was more than a little confused. But we made it to the right Ranalli's and had a wonderful dinner. We of course needed a little bite of something sweet and stopped and got some ice cream before we had to leave and head back home in the most northern parts of Illinois!

So that was my Saturday. Today, I am tired and my feet are sore, but I had a great time yesterday. I didn't get any pictures from the hospital but here are a couple from us on Michigan Ave.

Isn't Kelly's belly cute?

I only got half of Grandma Kat in the first picture
so here is all of her with Kelly!

Welcome to My Home- Kitchen Edition

Ok, I admit it, I am a peeping tom. Not the naughty kind. But the kind that if you are so inclined to leave your curtains open, then I am so inclined to look inside as I drive by. I am not looking at you! That would be perverted. I am looking at your walls and trying to see your furniture. If it is a large picture window without any kind of a blind or sheer obstructing my view, and I can spy a knick knack or two, I am tickled to death.

But Kelly, over at Kelly's Korner, has made it so much easier. (FYI, this is not MY Kelly, this is a different Kelly.) She is hosting a Show Us Where You Live Friday. Every Friday she will have pictures of a certain room in her house and ask you to link up and show pictures of your home. This week it is kitchens.

So, here ya go. Take a look at my kitchen. And you don't even have to drive by slowly, I will even give you some close up shots!!

When you have peeped into my kitchen, go back up and click on the blue Show Us Where You Live link and it will take you to Kelly's blog. Then at the bottom of her post are almost 200 other kitchens you can look in on. Just think of the gas we are saving by not having to drive around and sneak peeks into these rooms!

This is looking from the dining room.
Sorry, it's kind of dark.

On either side of the sliding glass door that goes out to the deck, there are
two small walls. On one side I made this shadow box that has some of the spoons, forks
and knives that my kids used when they were babies and toddlers.
Each kid had their own special place setting. One was Mickey Mouse, one was
Sesame Street and one was Strawberry Shortcake.

I don't know if you can tell but all of the spoons from those sets are missing.
They all got thrown out when the kids would empty their cereal bowls into the trash,
spoons and all. I lost so many spoons that way.

This is the other side. The bowl with the yellow flowers belonged to my Great Aunt Elfie.
It is sitting on a small bookcase with just a few of my cookbooks.
The three pictures on the small wall on the other side of the sliding glass door are pictures of the three kids in their own kitchens. (I bet they have all THEIR spoons.)

The view from the sliding glass door looking into the dining room.

The chicken is an antique that my dad gave me and it is where I keep my salt.
I like to throw a pinch in here and there, it makes me feel like Rachael Ray!
The salt and pepper shakers were my mother-in-laws.

This is an antique desk and an old crock that my dad found.
He and my brother used to have a small antique business.
Somehow all his good finds managed to find their way into my house!

The sink.

The rolling pin was my mother-in-laws.
The sifter belonged to my grandmother.

I hope you enjoyed the tour. Come back next week and see what room we will be featuring!

Life In The Fast Lane

I don't want to brag or make y'all jealous of the way I live life on the edge, but thought I would share what my weekend looked like:

Saturday:
Woke up.
Rolled over.
Woke up again.
Got up.
Sat in Recliner #1 with glass of tea and a Rice Krispie treat.
An hour later, washed face and brushed teeth.
Took a break, sat on Recliner #2.
An hour later, got dressed.
Took a nap.
An hour later, feet were cold so put on slippers.
Grab a bag of Reduced Fat Kettle Cooked Lays.
Had a snack back on Recliner #1.
Had to get up and get more tea.
Exhausted, I lounge on sofa.
I think I dozed off, not sure, but if I didn't, I have blocked an hour of the Food Network from my memory.
Stepped out side and pushed a wire through the floor of the Gazebo. (Dano made me)
While I'm up I'll grab a Weight Watcher Cookies and Cream Ice Cream Bar.
Sat in Recliner # 1 again.
Become engrossed in a book and read until it's time to move to Recliner #2.
Time for dinner. Put on real clothes, combed hair and waited in Recliner #1 for Dano to get dressed.
Went out for dinner.
Came home, put left overs in fridge.
Put on jammies.
Went to Bed.

Sunday:
Woke up after Dano hit me square on the head with his elbow.
Laid on couch and seethed with anger.
Woke up.
Sat in Recliner #1 with glass of tea and bagel.
Watched a Betty Davis movie from start to finish.
Showered.
Dressed for church.
Went to church.
Went out for lunch.
Came home, changed into sweats, took a nap.
Woke up and read more of my book.
Woke up again and read more of my book.
Got dressed for evening Bible Study.
Went to Evening Bible Study.
Went out for Pizza.
Came home.
Put jammies on.
Went to bed.

It was just a blur. Just a frenzy of activity. And I enjoyed every last minute of it.

The Proper Perspective

I had a crummy day at work today. People were grouchy and argumentative. And it seems like the harder I work the less I get done.

They raised the interest rate on my credit card. If I don't use it ever again, the rate will stay the same but that means now that I have to go through all the automatic things that I have it linked to and update them. That is irritating and really makes me kind of mad.

I got a stain on one of my favorite shirts. Dang it. It's not like I have a closet full of clothes to choose from and besides I really like that shirt.

I came home and caught up on some of my favorite blogs and read this one about Stellan.

Yeah, my stuff is nothing. I'm sorry I even mentioned it.

Oh How I DON'T Miss Bowling

Last weekend when we weren't eating cake, we were eating out! Usually when the kids are home I try to cook at least once or twice but I just didn't have it in me this time. I did make Lynn Wades Amazing Cheese Soup for their Easter After Church Farewell Gotta Get On The Road Dinner and it was good and not nearly as time consuming as the typical ham, potatoes, deviled eggs, salad, two vegetable, dinner rolls and Paula Deen dessert kind of meal that I would have liked to prepare!

So it ended up that we were very International this visit.
Wednesday when Steph got here we had Fiesta Cancun. I tried the Tacos Carnita's and it is now my favorite thing there. You just can't go wrong with pork!
Thursday, Elizabeth and Rob didn't get in until later so we went to Chili's before they got here. Friday, after Chris and Kelly got in, we went to Thai Basil. I had the Shrimp and Asparagus and Mushroom Trio and I give it a big thumbs up.
Saturday, after the shower Chris wanted to try a Moroccan Bistro we have in town for his birthday dinner, but we heard some bad reviews so we opted for his second choice San Jose. I know Mexican two nights in one week, but you just can't go wrong with tacos, burritos and quesadillas. Because it was Chris' birthday he got a free dessert and of course he had to wear the obligatory sombrero and so did everyone else that sat at his booth. (We had to sit a different booths because they were so busy.)

Then after dinner, for entertainment we went bowling. Let me fill you in on the root cause of my deep seated hatred of bowling. When Dano and I started dating he was on two or three bowling leagues and either because of his deep love for me or his attempt to demonstrate his masculinity, he always wanted me there. So because I was young, in love, and wasn't old enough to drive yet, I went and sat through endless hours of strikes, spares, splits and pick-ups (bowling pins, not me!). So here I was back in the bowling gallery again. And let me just say that the bowling atmosphere has not changed one iota since the mid 1970's.

It was fun to see the kids trying out their bowling gene's that was passed on to them through their father's gene pool. So with these last pictures, we close the chapter on Easter Weekend '09. It was a fun filled weekend of Baby Showers, Birthday's, Bowling and Blessings!

Dano The Bowling Legend

Liz the Budding Bowler

Steph does the bowling dance.

Chris contemplates what color ball to use next.

Rob takes this next attempt at a spare very seriously.

This is what you do when you can't bowl, you don't have your own car, and you are in love.

Party for the Little Man

Last Saturday was Chris and Kelly's baby shower. It was given by Aunt Liz, Aunt Steph and Cousin Vicci. They did an amazing job....a "Martha Stewart Approved" kind of job. Great Job Girls!

The cake was beautiful, the decorations were adorable and the games were HARD!! But it was fun and Little Man Cantwell got so many nice things. The generosity of our friends and family always humbles me. Thank You from the bottom of my heart.

Here are a few pictures from the party...enjoy!

The Cake



The Diaper Cake
(one of four!)




The Games




Some of The Gifts

The Guests

We Are Family.....I Got All My Sisters and Me

It doesn't take much to pull all of the Cantwell women together for a party!! But throw in cake and gifts and not one of us would miss it for the world!! I will share more about the Baby Shower later in the week.

This picture is a picture of all the women from my husbands side of the family. When I see all of these smiling faces it just blows my mind at how fortunate we are. That's not to say that there hasn't been difficult circumstances in these lives because there has been. There have been some very devastating losses and some serious health concerns. There has been heartbreaks and heartaches. But in spite of the sad times, we have remained family. We have also shared an abundance of joyful times. We have celebrated graduations, marriages, births, new homes, new jobs even new landscaping! (Remember...it doesn't take more than a reason and cake for us to celebrate!)

I count it such a blessing to be included in this group of women. Their strength, courage, kindness and love has encouraged me as much as my own flesh and blood family has.

We don't see each other nearly as often as we should or would like to. But we are always in each others hearts and prayers and never more than a phone call away. I thank God for this group of Cantwell Women.

I love you girls!!

He is Risen, He is Risen Indeed!

He is risen! The tomb is empty! He Lives!!

Christmas in its miraculous splendor was only the beginning, the best was not to be realized until almost 33 years later after three days of great anguish, sorrow, pain, suffering, mourning, and hopelessness. Not until the third day when the tomb was discovered empty and the One who had come to save the world had won the battle over sin's grip on humanity was the reality of what the birth of that baby really meant to the fallen world.

It's the empty tomb that allows me to say I am forgiven. Its the empty tomb that allows me to say the debt of my sin is washed clean by the blood of the one who is no longer in the tomb. Its the empty tomb that offers the hope of salvation to every person willing to accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Risen Savior as a gift of mercy.

He lives...He is Risen....I am Saved.

I hope that today has been a blessing to you. It has for me. My children were all here this weekend and have now all gone their separate ways to their separate homes to live their separate lives. But just for a few days, they were all here together. I don't take these times for granted for one moment.

I have lots to share about all the things we got to do together, but for now I will just leave you with a picture of Easter present!!

April 11, 1980 Was A Very Good Day!

Happy Birthday
Chris!

Put on Your Easter Bonnet

Easter 1963
Me and my basket!

Easter is just a few days away. There is still time to get out and get that extra special Easter frock. I don't know if we were rich or poor when I was growing up. Didn't know if I missed out on anything that all the other kids had or not. But I do know that every Easter we were guaranteed a new Easter outfit. I even remember one my mom made for me when I was 12 or 13.

I continued that tradition when I had children. Every year Chris would get a new suit, the girls would get a new dress, a bonnet, gloves and white patent leather shoes. And of course new hair doos. The pink sponge rollers had to go in about 3:00 Saturday afternoon in order for the hair to be good and dry by Sunday School time the next morning. Oh how I miss those days. But I am sure Chris would rather die than let me pick out his Easter duds. And the hair.....my girls would tie my hands behind my back and put me down with a strong sedative before they would even let me near their hair with sponge rollers. But I am thrilled to have them all home this weekend to celebrate Easter with me. I will take them with their unmatching, non-frilly outfits. I don't even care if they don't wear bows in their hair. I will just remember them the way the were and love them for the way they are.

Easter 1955

Danny's family minus Danny---He didn't come along for another 4 months

Easter 1983
Chris and Elizabeth

Easter 1985
Still only Chris and Elizabeth

Easter 1988
Ta Da!! Chris, Elizabeth and Stephanie

Easter 1989
Will they ever forgive me?

Happy Easter to All!!

Just Doing My Part to Stimulate the Economy!

I have been a shopping maniac this week. When we first found out that my son and his wife was expecting their first baby, our first grandchild, everyone was expecting me to hit the stores and start building his wardrobe right away. But I refrained. From the results from this past week I think that was a very wise decision.

Monday I was at Babies R Us.
Tuesday I hit Target.
Wednesday I was in Kohl's (had a 30% off coupon!!).
Thursday was a trip to the mall and hit several stores there.
Friday was Walmart.
And today I went to the other Target and Kohl's.

I have requested a new debit card because the numbers on mine have been whittled down to just nubs.

I have had so much fun and wish that I could show you all the goodies I bought but I don't want Chris and Kelly to see them until the shower next weekend. I will just have to give you an idea of the amount that was purchased with this picture.



I will have lots of pictures to share after the shower.

Oh, and just so you don't think I have become selfless and turned all my Kohl's Cash over to the Little Man, I picked up a few things for myself! These are my favorites.