Home is Where the Heart is

Anthony has always told me that home is wherever we are. He is right and with all the houses that we have lived in, I have needed to be reminded of this often. But of all the houses there is one that stands out the most, our South Carolina house. I love that house, and I often say to Anthony how much I miss it. It was not a big house, and wasn’t even a fancy but it was ours. When Anthony moved in, it hadn’t been lived in for quite some time and after first ripping up the really awesome green shag carpet, Anthony moved in. I moved in a few months later and we together began making it our home. This picture was taking by my parents shortly before we moved.
(L to R: Kirby, Me, Toni, Hope, Maddie Grace, Anthony and Emma)

When we decided to sell and move, I cried and wanted to interview every person that came to look at the house. Finally, a nice gentleman named Harold, came and saw the house, luckily I was there due to the dogs and got to show him around and answer any questions he had. A day or so later he made an offer and after some negotiating we settled on a deal. A few weeks later Anthony and I were there cleaning and finishing the last of the moving, it was closing day, a very sad day in my book for sure. The house was so empty yet it still seemed like my home. Harold came to do his final inspection, I tried not to cry, but after he was done looking around, I said to him, “Harold, can I ask you a question?” He smiled and said sure. I replied, “You are not going to bulldoze my house down are you?” He smiled and said, “No, I am going to rent it out.” I was thrilled! I hoped that someone would love this house as much as I did, and still do.

I hope to someday find another house that I love just as much, if not more than that little house in South Carolina. I am sure I will drag Anthony to see lots of houses before; I find one that feels like home.

Holiday Baking Pt. 2 and 3

So for the 3rd year in a row I have made Pumpkin Pie from scratch. It is pretty de-lish, if I do say so myself! Anthony loves them, so no matter the trouble or the time it takes I do it for him. Here is a picture of the filling. I did learn however that the pies don't crack if you let the filling sit for 30-60 minutes.
Here are the par baked shells.
And best of all my brother and I made sugar cookies together. He won't admit it, but it was fun to do something together with him.
I didnt bake as much as I have in years past, probably due to the move, work and everything else going on. I think next year I am going to take a lot of time off leading up to the holidays, or maybe I wont be working at all! That would be great!!!

Merry Christmas

On Christmas morning we usually take pictures of the tree, the presents and most of the time the dogs, as my brother and I are ‘big’ kids now and I don’t like to pose for pictures in front of the tree. So this year I thought it would be cute to take pictures of the oldest one in the house, Kirby and the youngest of the house, Sizzle. After a major struggle to get the bow around his neck this is the series of events that took place.

The rubbing of the face.


The looking rather pathetic.

Finally, a good one.

After the pictures, we went up to the office and were looking through the pictures, while Kirby chewed on his favorite blue ball. Sizzle insisted that she helped. Thank goodness Kirby is a good boy and very patient.

All of us had a wonderful Christmas, everyone in the family must have been on Santa’s good list, because I think everyone got what they wanted and more. Anthony and I are and were so happy to be home with family for the holidays, and can’t wait for the upcoming events.

Holiday Baking Pt. 1

This year I decided that I would attempt to make Red Velvet Cupcakes. After two trips to the grocery store I was ready to start. Here is the batter, that was such a beautiful color and what fun to make.
The first batch looks pretty. I wish I would have remembered to buy cupcake wrappers that were Christmas-y. OOPS!!

The finished product!!! I opted out of the cream cheese icing, and just used vanilla icing. Either way they were DE-LISH. So far, I think my hubby has eaten the most!

O' Christmas Tree

So in the spirit of all the immediate family being home this Christmas, my parents decided to let us have a REAL Christmas tree. So after Thanksgiving my parents, Anthony and I set out for the perfect real tree. My mom and I really got into it, however the boys were not so thrilled. Here is Anthony and the tree cart in search of the perfect tree.
This is actually a picture of the second Christmas tree farm we visited. The first was a flop and most of the trees had already been picked over. This tree farm is actually owned by a nice family that we have known for years.

We finally all agreed on this tree. It is rather large, but we think it is beautiful. By now, it has started to rain, Jeff is done Christmas tree hunting, and I am insisting that they, the boys, SAW IT DOWN! However, Mr. Ude offered to use a chainsaw and cut it down, the boys, Anthony especially jumped at the offer. Thank you Mr. Ude.
We finally got the tree home, after a quick stop at the grocery store. It is still looking rather large atop my decent size SUV!

Here are the boys (you can't see Anthony) getting the tree down from my car!

So here is where the problem begins....The REAL tree project, thus far has been rather uneventful, until now. This picture is showing the discovery that the trunk is in fact to big for the stand. Now, Anthony and I were pretty sure that the Christmas tree stand that we purchased a few years ago was the biggest that they make, without buying a industrial tree stand for ALOT of money! So in short this is where the tree quickly becomes the Christmas tree from HELL!

So after 2 weeks, a few fights and alot of emotional pain and agony, the tree is up!! Here is the tree the night we finished. As you can see even in the this picture the tree has a bend in the trunk. We didn't notice this until we got it in the house. In all reality, I think all of us really hate this tree for some reason or another. However, me...I am happy about the whole ordeal. It just goes to show the less perfect something is the better. We, as a family, will all remember this dumb tree.
Authors side note: We have now gone through quite a few fuses due to all the lights on the tree. So currently the lights are not working. O' Christmas Tree, how big of a pain you really are!!!

The Seattle Pops

Last night we went with my parents, my "good looking" uncle and some friends to the Seattle Symphony with Cirque De Soleil...IT WAS AMAZING!!! Even Baby Aiden was amazed, as soon as they began to play, Aiden began a circus act in my tummy. The music was fabulous and the performers were truly amazing. Here is the program from the show that Anthony saved.
This is us before we left. Aren't we cute? My belly is definitely showing these days. Unfortunately, you can not get the full effect of my belly due to the lack of my mother's camera skills.

Long time NO POST!

So a lot has happened since I posted last...are you ready for the short version?? A move from St. Louis to Washington State, a snow storm, a new job, Thanksgiving, a check engine light and a growing belly! OK so the move went great, in my opinion. I flew with 2 dogs from St. Louis to Seattle the week before Thanksgiving, and Anthony and my step-dad starting driving the Friday before Thanksgiving and made it home safely on Sunday. Then came the snow storm. UGH! Here is a picture of my parents pond with just beginning of snow. It is pretty, I must say!

After being here 4 days, I started at my new Starbucks, I love the store and the people I work with! Two days after starting, I was heading home and my Trailblazer's check engine light came on, UGH! Luckily it was nothing big and was fixed with a tightening of a gas cap and an oil change. Thank you car, remember I love you and need you to last me a while longer!

Thanksgiving....what a wonderful day! Food, family and friends what more could we ask for. Anthony and I have so much to be thankful for this year and well every year, but especially this year! Lastly, my growing belly! As I head into my third trimester, I feel myself slowing down, which I must admit, I do NOT like. I have lots to do and want to do it all. I promise I will post another belly picture soon. In the meantime, I hope everyone had a great holiday and hope to get out in the sleepy garden soon!

Fall is here and Winter is approaching

I hate these furry little creatures!! They are a nuisance to me, my dogs and the neighbor!!! Here is one of the probably 5-6 that we have in the neighbor. They run across the power lines and think it is great fun to occasionally stop in the middle of the line, turn and bark at the dogs!!! This in turn makes my dogs GO CRAZY!! Thankfully none of them have ever fallen off the the power lines, because I don't think it would be a probably sight.
Here are a few pictures of trees around the neighbor. I think fall colors are so beautiful and will miss all of them when Winter takes over.

I think that Fall and Spring are my favorite seasons for sure, but summer has its perks and I spend winter planning and dreaming of my garden by the fire with family and the best dogs in the world. This holiday season and next will be the best yet. This year for the first time in 4 years we will all be together and next year we will have Baby Aiden to celebrate with. I can't wait. People have said to Anthony and I, that the best years are yet to come and I think they are so right!

Herbs for the Winter

So as we pack and get ready to leave next week for Seattle, we are debating on what herbs to move and what herbs to go ahead pick to death. I have 3 containers of Oregano, 2 containers of Thyme, 1 lone Parsley Plant, and some Tarragon. My Blueberry plants and Japanese Maple Tree have started to go dorminent so I will put some fresh compost and hay in their pots and they will be ready for transport. This will be the third time I have taken these plants with me to a new house.
This is the best grass in the world.....Lemongrass! Anthony and I call this our love plant!!! As Anthony asked me to marry him at a restaurant called 'Lemongrass.' This plant is definitely going!
Here is my Rosemary, Sage and the original Lemongrass Plant. All these are going for sure. All the pots need to be fertilized badly but I think I will wait until we get to Washington as all the pots will be spending 3 days in a dark cold moving truck.

Some of these herbs I have will be 3 years old this fall. I am very proud to say that I started the Sage, Oregano and Thyme all from seed. I will be trying to start cuttings from these Rosemary plants in the spring. Any hints on doing this would be helpful.

Sad and Sleepy Garden

This bed once held peas, broccoli, beets, radishes, spinach and green beans. Now all that's left is some bolted cabbage. After I took this picture Anthony took down the 'keep out' dog fence. Next year we will have 'keep out' chicken fence. This is the bed that was full of tomatoes! Its back to being empty. Our neighbor walked by and commented on how bare our yard looks now. Its so true, very bare and boring.

Along with the bolted cabbages, all I truly have left is the brussel sprouts!! I think next year I will use stakes to help them grow straight and tall. Oh how I love brussel sprouts. Anthony and I will be sure to pick all the little sprouts off before we leave next week for good. I will be sad to leave this place as it has taught me so much about gardening. Although I don't know if I could look at these bare beds all winter, I might go crazy!

One lesson I learned for sure happened in this bed......grass is more stubborn than I will ever be!!! In the spring, we rototilled all the grass under and covered this bed with black tarp, however as you can see the grass has come back stronger and better than in the spring. It would have taken a serious undertaking to kill off this grass, hopefully the next renter will be more successful.

So as this gardening year comes to an end, I have already started planning and thinking about next years. Next year I will be sharing a garden with my parents, which will be a lot of fun! My step dad will be so happy as I will be able start most everything from seed. I will be using grow lights this coming year though which will be a new experience for everyone. Can't wait!!!!

23 weeks!!

Its hard to believe that in roughly 17 weeks Anthony and I will be parents!!! Yikes, scary yet VERY EXCITING.

We are having a boy and his name is going to be Aiden Paul Cantor. Anthony was sure it was a boy all along and Baby Aiden proved him to be right. Right now Baby Aiden spends most of his day rolling around and kicking me. Sometimes he kicks or elbows me so hard that my tummy bounce, which makes me laugh and then he does it more. I quess he thinks he is a comedian. The other thing that is crazy is that when Anthony talks and kisses my belly, Baby Aiden goes CRAZY!

For now this is how we enjoy our baby, but we can't wait to enjoy him when he gets here!

Tropical Citrus Trees

So a while back I found these trees at Lowes for $1!!! What a deal!! When I bought these little trees they were about a quarter the size they are now. I am soooo proud of these little trees, since I know ZERO about growing trees especially tropical Citrus Trees. Growing up in Washington we don't have such things that are TROPICAL TREES! There is nothing tropical about that state. So thinking that we were going to be in St. Louis for quite sometime I bought these little guys. Now we are moving to Washington and my poor little trees will be making the trek too, so we will see how they do.

Thankfully my parents have a great gardener friend that is going to let me put them in his greenhouse for the winter along with all his trees. YAY! I am hoping he will help me prune them, fertilize them and just teach me about the overall care of them. Can't wait to pick his brain for sure.

I did some reading last night about them and so far, by accident I have done all the right things. Yippee! Also yesterday while taking their picture I notice these really SHARP THORNS on them, I said to Anthony I didn't know Citrus Fruit Trees had thorns on them. He didn't know that either, but later when I was reading the website said that they have thorns on them to help protect them from predators. It also stated that you can certainly prune them off or just wait and as the tree gets older they will lessen. Interesting, interesting!!

I love that you can always learn something new when it comes to gardening!!!

The Garden is DEAD!

Anthony and I have been holding on to the last of the garden for weeks now. Each night before bed I would say a little prayer that the weather would stay above freezing, well it worked until this past weekend.

As you can see my tomatoes did not survive!!!! It is a sad day at the Cantor House! However, on a happy note while cleaning out one of the beds we discovered that one of my brussel sprout plants has tons of sprouts. WOOHOO!!! I am pretty sure that the sprouts will be the last of this wonderful garden. I have learned so much this year about gardening and how do to it without chemicals. I can't wait to take what I have learned and apply it to my parents garden next year in Washington.

Can't take them anywhere!

For years my mother would always complain about cell phones, either we used them to much or they were never on when she tried to call!! BUT NOW, she is one of us and might even be worse!! The whole time she was here she was texting, (who would have thought she would learn how to do that) taking pictures and so on and so on! Here I have proof that both of my parents of crossed over to the darkside as she would say.

I believe in this picture she was texting Basket Gal!

Eckert's Pumpkin Patch in Millstadt, IL

Pumpkins, pumpkins and more pumpkins! I loved this place! It had apple orchards, pig races and farm animals! Here are just a few pictures of all the pumpkins and the patch itself!

Anthony's a good sport!

Three years ago I decided that I wanted to go to a pumpkin patch I was missing being a kid and wanted to enjoy some kid activities so I drug Anthony to the pumpkin patch. He got to skip last year due to living in the middle of no where Georgia and working nights, halloween came and went and we missed it! So this year once again I convinced him to go with me to a pumpkin patch. I did, however, explain to him that next year will be more fun as we will have a baby to enjoy this adventure with. This is him enjoying the pumpkin patch.

This is him faking his enjoyment!!! He is such a good sport with all the activities I make him endure!
After the pumpkin patch, I did treat him to Fast Eddies which is a motorcycle bar, that is world famous! Can I just say it is kind of scary, but the food was good and cheap! He enjoyed it and was happy to have some beers and spend some time with me!

Family Reunion!

I love these pictures! I love my family and miss them so much!