Hot Stuff

 Whenever we peruse plant nurseries in the spring Karl and I lose all common sense when we get to the pepper plants.  Why would we buy Cayenne peppers plants?  What do you do with Cayenne peppers other than grind them up.  And  we already have a jar of ground cayenne we rarely use?  But we bought a pony pack (6) of them.
When I realized the fallacy of our thinking I gave three away to an unsuspecting gardening friend,  then I planted the rest these guys in a remote area (as if anywhere in our yard is remote!) and ignored them.  They still grew.
They survived the summer heat and took off in the fall.  By the time I left for Houston for pre-Christmas they were covered with little peppers.

Now Karl can't stand for anything to go to waste...even if we don't need it.  So he picked all the peppers before the impending freeze.
I came home from Houston after Christmas to a fridge full of little peppers.

At Karl's insistence  I sorted and toss the little beggers on the  dehydrator.  I did get chastized for throwing out what Karl felt were good one (okay, I was a little brutal  in my sorting).

They filled the house with pepper fumes for a day and then they just sat there in the corner ignored for several weeks.  

Last Weekend Karl finished up the project.

 He ran the little dried fellows through the coffee-grinder-turned-herb-grinder

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This required wearing mask. I hope inhaling the fumes is as healthful as eating cayenne is suppose to be.  It was potent!

Results...two small jars of Cayenne pepper. 

 And boy is this stuff HOT!

Guess I better get use to the heat.

Time on my mind

 This is my favorite clock. It sits on our fireplace mantle.  Whenever one of my boys is off on an adventure I set the clock to the time zone where they are.   When they were on their missions it was set to the time zone of the current  missionary out.  It's been set to a lot of different time zones that I'm sure I will never visit. And when no one is adventuring it is set to EST since most of my boys reside in that time zone.

I just reset the clock to the time in Singapore and Malaysia.   My adventurers should have arrived there  about two hours ago.  They are probably just crashing in their hotel (hopefully)  to get a few hours of sleep before they start exploring this fascinating corner of the world.

Dear Clark and Rachel. 

Have fun and be safe.

Love, Mom T. 

P.S.  Thailand is in a different time zone...be sure to change your watches.

Happy Birthday to me.

 Some women don't like to get items that are needed for the house for gifts. 

NOT ME.

 

That's my favorite kind of gift! 

 A major goal checked off the list kind of gift.   

 So getting a new stove was on our  list of things to accomplish in 2013.  But when the oven went out right after Christmas we decided to accomplish it in 2012.   But the one we decided on was back ordered and couldn't be delivered until January 12th. 

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me.  Love it!   

A new stove, phone calls from all my kids and two of my brothers (really!)

Then cookies and serenading from some special friends. 

  I feel happy and so blessed.

How Santa does it.

 Before Christmas Santa got a request. 

Violet wanted a Princess wedding dress to add to her dress-up collection.  Of course Santa sent  this request to his head Elf in charge of Princess apparel. 

So this head Elf pondered how to full fill this request and thought about just making something simple... like a long tulle tutu attach to a white leotard with some simple trim.

Then she headed to Saver (you didn't know Santa Elves shopped Savers...even Santa's elves are on a tight budget).  

So while she was searching the racks for something that might work she spotted this...  

A size 2 toddler dress for under $5 with a 20% off coupon ( yes we elves use coupons too)

She quickly bought it and hurried back to the workshop to work the magic of making it into a size 4 that could also "grow" with a  fast growing princess.

Okay...elf magic involves a sew ripper, some princess fabric and a few hours.

First she removed the skirt and opened up the side seams and the sleeve seams up to the cuff.  

In the side seam she inserted a 4 inch panel of shiny white lycra that tapered to a point at the sleeve cuff. Plenty of room for growth.  And stretch to accomadate the movement of an active little princess.

Then she  added a 2 inch band of interfaced satin to lengthen the bodice.  Satin belt loop were added to hold the  2 inch satin ribbon in place that  would pull in the extra bodice fullness to fit a tiny waist and camouflage  the length addition.

Next she  lengthen the beautiful beaded and ruffled skirt by adding 12 inches of lining to to top.  This was longer than needed but a tuck was added to take up the extra length... that could be let out as this princess grew.

Then she  add a "Belle style over-skirt  that could be  gather up or let down to accommodate growth. This was all gathered and attached back to the bodice.

The quick little veil was  tulle roll hemmed with shiny rayon thread, gathered and hot-glued to a Dollar Store headband (yes, Santa's elves also shop at the Dollar Store)!

 

JOB DONE

A beautiful little dress-up gown  that  will make this  little girl  (and few others)  feel like a princess bride for several years to come.

This is Christmas magic at it's best.

It's puzzling

 It's been awhile since we put a puzzle together at a Tobler gathering.  I don't know why...maybe we figured there were too my little fingers to  carry off pieces or not an extra place to set one up.

 

 But this last Christmas we decided to try one again.   So fun... for most of us.  One unnamed individual kept murmuring about his dislike for puzzles but he even spent some time searching for fits...it's addicting.

 We did keep several little people puzzles near by for those that weren't up to the 1000 piece challenge.  But even little Violet found and fit a few pieces.

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It was the  perfect mind challenging activity to fill those down times.  Great activity just to visit over. A little competitive...we had alittle cricket  noise maker we'd click and cheer when we'd fit a piece...until Karl got annoyed by it and hid it.

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Last piece.

 We did it!!!!!

More Christmas fun

Poor Janet was just getting sick so we left her home to rest 

and went on an adventure.

 A quick drive by Johnson Space center. 

 Chad works in one of those back buildings somewhere.

Then to the Kemah Boardwalk.

As soon as Violet saw the carriage she knew she was where a princess should be.

 Want to ride the Carousal?  Yes please.

 And of course we must ride on the top deck where it's harder to get a picture.

 The Boardwalk

 Help me Grampa.

 

 Loved the quote.

  Jailed...for having just to much fun.

 Or was that for being just too darn cute.

When we got back to the parking lot we discovered that 5 adults had walked off and left the van door wide open.  My camera case (I had my camera with me) was still  sitting on the seat.

It must of been Honest People Day at the Carnival.

 Mode of travel.  Ethnie strapped securely to the floor so we could all be accommodated in one vehicle. Gramma Jan between two car seats...watching Dora in Spanish.  Hola amigos.

 Then home relaxing and watching...

Christmas Story.

Now don't shoot your eye out.

The Winner is...

For our ward Christmas Party, in addition to the usual  food (breakfast) and music, had an ugly sweater contest.  Papa Bear decided to participate.

To his disappointment at the party  there was no formal voting or announcing a winner. They didn't need to...everyone knew who won!

The Challenge

After reading the Clark and Rachel Blog  Papa Bear had to demonstrate his abilities.

Though it's not anything to shout about...he is a bit more limber than Clark.   But the real question is...can any of the brothers beat their ol' dad in flexibility?

Home Alone

 We returned from Houston to finish up the Holidays.  Jake and Steph had her parents visiting.  We were left to entertain our selves

...so we did

 New Years Eve...Dinner at BJ's.  One of our favorite places.  Then we burrowed in to watch a couple of Netflix movies.  We got caught up in the last movie and  were 20 minutes late welcoming the New Year.  

 

 New Years Day we braved the crowds and went to the Bellagio Conservatory to see the holiday display.

Beautiful as always

I loved that these cottages had Frosted Mini-Wheat shingles.

And since we were so far south we went to Bass Pro Shop to see if they were still festive... nope.

But Bass Pro is always a fun place  to wander around.

New Years Night Jake & Steph invited us over for Ribs...so yummy.

And chance visit with her folks.  Thanks...sorry we were so tired.  Old folks can't handle too much fun in one day.

We extended our holiday fun January 2nd with a Ronda Vincent Concert.

It was a small concert at a golf resort clubhouse.

The kind of concert where they leave the house lights on so Ronda could see and visit with her audience.

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She looked just like this.

Ronda Vincent

The Queen of Bluegrass.

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Our friends from the band "Stuck in Reverse" opened for her...

so that made it extra fun.

 Hard to believe the Holidays are over!  They went by crazy fast.   

Now it's back to work and the daily grind

...but we're trying to live 2013  a little better.

Happy New Year!!!

Christmas Carpenters

 Making Graham Cracker Houses is a  favorite Tobler Christmas Tradition that dates back to the beginning of time...a long time.

  Now the next generation is getting into the festivities. 

 Apprentice carpenters learning the skills.

 

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Chad and Luci Lu doing teamwork. 

 The concentrations of a true artist.

 

Our workshop got a little messy

...another trait of true artists.

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Someone does the same design every year. 

 

 Simplicity...the work of a truly creative mind thinking out of the box. 

Way to go Jake.

 

Best of show...Steph.

Smoke coming out of the chimney sealed the deal.

 Poor Janet was feeling under the weather and didn't feel up to doing capenter work and did'nt want to share any of her germs....hence no Janet cottage.