Soup Lady, "Cooking from the Heart"

Bean Soup

I love ham with a bone.  It is the essence for incredible bean soup.  Yummy!!!

Nicholas and Sons

They are like family to us...

Turkey Day #2

The Whitney, Gabbards and Bustins like to PARTAY!!!  The holiday season beginning with Halloween and ending with New Years gives us lots of opportunity to celebrate the season.

We are hosting Turkey Day #2 at our house!!!! Yeah!!!

If I have time I like to have some sort of activity for the kids.  For this party I am going to have the girls put together a book using our museum day for inspiration.  I put together a book of my own so they can have an example.   Here is the planning stages for the artistic session...

For big parties it takes me a couple of days to prep and cook.  Here are some of the items I put together the day before...

Chocolate Heath Bar Ice Cream...

 

Caribbean Chip Ice Cream.  Coconut Ice Cream with White Chocolate Chips...

Pasta Salad...

Chocolate Cake...

Fudge...

Spinach Artichoke Dip...

Cheesy Potatoes...

The Rolls...

Prime Rib...

Gettin ready for our family...

Tea Totler...

Appetizers...

Here's Momma!!!!

Tim and Ron always end up in some corner together.  Probably talking "fishing"...

Tauna always jumps right in to help...

Pretty, pretty Patty!!!!

The Pappas...

Dinner is ready!!!!

Mary Ann and Tom...

Jason and Patty...

Sam pickin' a fight with Timbo...

Solid as rocks.  This is one amazing couple~~~

"Pretty Girl"...

My sisters...

Hellooooooooooooo, I want to go outside now!!!

History...

Scrap Booking...

Brother...and sisters....

Caught, in the act~~~

Just kickin' it...

The heat of battle.  They boys against the girls!!!!

An orchid from Patty.  This is my favorite flower...

This has been such an amazing week getting to spend time with family.  There is nothing like it to me.  I love you all and I give thanks to each of you for being in my life.  For sharing special moments with me and Jamie.  For making our lives fuller, richer, and blessed.  Thank you!!!!!

Turkey Day #1

Our family loves to party!  Patty and Ron always host the traditional parties on the day of the holiday.  Here is a photo journey of the day...

Here is my sweet hubby pressing my skirt...

The welcome committee...

The sistas...Patty and I have become so close over the years.  She is definitely like a sister to me...

Our little Doug has become a man...

The lovely Tiffany.  I can't wait to see what she will be wearing.  Always something cute!!!

Tiff calls Jason "pretty".  Here is why!!!

The deviled egg assembly line...

It's beginning to look a lot like XMAS...

Jaw Fish plays Farkle...

Jason makes the gravy...The BEST!!!!

Pappa Ron carving the bird...

The "wrassling" match...

Dinner is ready...

Being thankful...

Leg, anyone???

Yeah, right!!!!

Kailey keeps an eye on her BIG bro...

Tiff and "Winger" (inside joke here)...

Summer has a job at Ralph's and joined us a little late.  Here she is with her bright Summer smile~

Gangsta children in training...

"Winger"

You are the one...we are the two...

I love Jason and Summer together.  As soon as Summer walked in the door Jason hopped up and began heating her plate of food.  After dinner, a little snuggle time...

Tiff and Pappa Ron...

Today, on this special day where we are reminded to give thanks, there is no place I would rather be, than with all of you on this Happy Turkey day! You complete me. 

Love Deb

Girl Friends and Grandma

Even if you are family you may not be friends.  Take my sister and me for example.

However, when you are family and are friends magic can take place.  Take Jamie and me for example.

Now that Kailey and Sammie are older...we have had some nice experiences in family functions...it was time.  Time to move onto being friends.  Sealing the deal so to say.  So, yesterday, I tried an experiment...

When I was little I was exposed to museums and cultural activities by my cousin Val.  I was just included as one of a group.  Not really for me, but I benefited by being part of the group.  Now, time to pay it forward.  Except, this is for the girls.  A conscious effort that this is for them.  That they are special.  That we are friends...

Here is how our day unfolded...

The boys and girls came over for two adventures:

1. The boys were going to go go kart racing
2. The girls had a choice: Museum day, movies, or watch the boys race.   (Me: pick museum, pick museum, pick museum...in my head).  They picked museums.  YEAH

 Before our respective adventures, a quick snap of the "adventurers":

Ususally, when the girls see me I am in some sort of "pajama" thing.  Today, I dressed a little.  No make up, but added some lace to my sweat pants.  When they saw me they said I was beautiful.  There is NO better compliment than that!!!!

Our adventure was to take place in downtown Riverside.  Everything I wanted to do with them was in walking distance and would introduce them to many of the artsy influences our community has to offer.  Our first stop...The Art Museum...

 

 

Kailey, is definitely the sensitive artist.  She really was looking at the art from an artists perspective.  

I told Kailey the art she was looking at was done by amateurs for competition.  She thought about this a moment and said, "But my art is not like this".  Then, I realized this was the adult competition.  The children's was upstairs...Let's go see what the kids art looks like. 

Artists in training...

Sammie Hammie...

 

 

After the art museum we were off to the library.  I took the pulse of my "victims",...err...I mean girlfriends.  Are you bored???  Sammie rocked her hand back and forth.  Kailey, was doing fine.  In my mind I thought...I needed to keep the day moving to keep up with their active minds and bodies...

Next, the library...

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like XMAS...

Next stop...Metropolitan Museum...

Off to lunch...

This was an opportunity to take a break and get some feedback on the day and guage the interest meter of my "victims", errr, I mean girlfriends.  So far, so good.  However, Kailey did get a little bored because we waited so long for Sammie's pepperoni pizza to be cooked...

Off to do some window shopping...

Then, the book store.  I love this store.  It has a cozy area set up with classical music in the background.  I asked the girls if they liked the music.  They both said yes.  This will set up a future trip to Disney Concert Hall to see one of the Toyota sponsored youth concerts...

Each of the girls had $10 to spend.  I was happy to see they both selected a book as part of their shopping spree...

And of course, no trip to Downtown Riverside would be complete without a trip to Casey's Cupcakes...

Sammie's Photos of the Day...

Sam had a real interest in taking photos.  Here is her interpretation of the day...

 

At the end of our day we met the boys back at the house.  They were playing video games.  The girls headed back to the bedroom to settle in to watch TV.  Then, Jason came back saying it was time to go.  They did not want to go (smile)...

I guess that says it all...a great day was had by all.  Still wanting more...

And, that my friends is a great way to end the day.  Still wanting more...

I love you girlfriends...

Grandma

Pole Position with the Bustins

On Wednesday morning Jason and Doug came over and we headed over to a place called "Pole Postion" in Corona, California.  I have been to the one in Las Vegas and wanted Doug and Jason to experience in-door Go Kart Racing with me.  These are really cool cars with electric motors.  They go  really fast and have excellent acceleration.  After watching a quick safety video we were ready to race.  Since we got there shortly after they opened for the day, we were the only ones on the track for our first race.  They use a computer to keep track of all the lap times for each racer and after you are done they give you a print-out of your fastest time.  Doug had the fastest time for that race.  I love the sound of the electric engines as they whine while your racing.   W-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r Varooooom!

Here's a little video clip of Doug and Jason starting a race.   (old man Jason Bustin won, of course)

 

Afterwards Papa Jamie stopped by George's, an old favorite place on Magnolia avenue in Riverside for some cheeseburgers, fries, large Cokes and a Steak sandwhich for the winners Jason and Doug! 

Placing our orders........Doug,.....Bacon and Swiss Cheese on mine please!

We all had a great day and really enjoyed ourselves.  "A Look of Satisfaction!"

Thanksgiving at the Bustins

Our Thanksgiving Week started out with a visit to Trevor and Debbie Bustin's for a nice meal and a "look-see" at their new home in  Yucca Valley.   This is a huge home for sure with high ceilings and wide halls.  This home sits on two acres of land in the highlands of Yucca Valley.  We had so much fun playing in their game room and eating a nice meal together with the see though fire place burning nicely in the family room.  The whole Bustin Family are some of the nicest people on this planet.  It's such a treat to visist with them and I really enjoyed my time with them. For those of you who don't know, Trevor is Jason's twin brother.   

They have a pool table, air hockey game and a double basketball hoop game (not in the picture)

Spacious Kitchen!


 Trevor tells me that this new home is about 5,200 sq. ft. including the four car garage.

Did we have a good time at Trevor and Deb's?   The look on Patty's face tells it all!

Rocky

Harley in Drag...

CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS, #368

Chuck Lorre is the creative genious behind some of my favorite shows: 2 1/2 Men (with Charlie, not Ashton, Big Bang Theory, and Mike and Molly).  At the end of the show he includes a vanity card.  Following, are his thoughts:

The Church of Fundamental Quantum Thingies

I just watched a PBS special about the nature of space hosted by noted author, physicist and Big Bang Theory alumnus, Brian Greene. When it was over, I was struck by the thought that the mysterious dark energy that fills the universe might be what human beings have been praying to for thousands of years. I mean, think about it. What if prayer and meditation are natural, evolutionary pathways to connect to Einstein's cosmological constant, Buddha's nirvana and Jesus's dad? According to physicists, this dark energy is both infinite in extent and the prime mover for an expanding universe. Kinda fits the bill, right? Let's take it a step further. What if gravity, the mysterious force pulling the cosmos inward, is what our feeble frontal lobes perceive as evil? And finally, what if the two forces in balance are what allow for the whole shebang to exist in the first place? We label them good and bad. Love and hate. Life and death. But at the end of the day, all we have are two fundamental quantum thingies that can be directly experienced. Hmm... not sure what to do with this revelation. It's kind of a coin flip between starting a new religion - you know, going full frontal L. Ron Hubbard - and applying for a federal tax exemption - or just making a nice donor pledge to PBS.

Carmels, an Experiment

I decided to try to make carmels.  During the cooking process I realized my candy thermometer was not working.  So, I tried to salvage the concunction and decided to make a carmel/brittle concoction.  More candy to come in future posts.  Once I get a reliable thermometer...