I Despise Dishonest People

Why?!  Why is this world creating an environment where we all have to go into hiding in order to protect ourselves and our families?!  It is because of these dishonest people that I am contemplating deleting this entire blog, deleting everything I have online, my Facebook account, Pinterest, and so forth.


So I get this email this morning, which, I believe is a fraud situation and I did NOT click on any of the links. It said:

There is a website called Kongregate where a young child has been using the screen name "Abby_Welker" 

and 'Anoks", using your pictures and going as you. This child has been going into chat rooms spewing profanity which I feel if people were to look up her 'names', would bring up your site AND wrongfully judge you. Normally I dont care too much if people do this, but I see you as a responsible mother to 4 children, and I figure its your choice on what to do. 

I have included screen shots of the accounts, and the urls to reach them.

Sincerely

Ashley H.

Sure enough--she gave me 2 screen shots with MY picture and MY name--but it's not my account.  And---creepy---she knew that I have 4 children.  (if 'she' is a 'she'.  'She' is probably a creepy, pervert, dirty old man)  I know it's not a secret that I have kids, but it's still creepy.  

So rather than click on the links, I type it up myself:  and I find this profile - using my NAME and MY PICTURE.  ???!!!  (at least they think I can pass off as a 19-year-old!)

I go to send them a personal message, a scathing "get my #$%@ face and #%@% name off your %#%^@ account!!!" kind of a message, but, of course, I have to SIGN UP with them.  Scam.  

I'm being scammed on two sides and if I knew who to report this to, I would.  Don't worry--I'm definitely looking it up today and going to somehow get it taken care of.  To say that I'm upset would be an understatement.  If any of you know how to report/fix/correct this problem, I'd appreciate any info.

In the meantime....I'm probably going to remove every photo of mine from my sites.  This is just over-the-top dishonest and creepy.  

Pickin'

I'll share my favorite quote that I'm always telling my kids...stop me if you've heard this one...

You can pick your friends.

You can pick your nose.

Just don't pick your friend's nose.

(baaaahahaaa!!! hhaaa!!! gets me every time!!!)

They hate it when I tell them this. It's like every day.  Especially when a friend is over. They bury their face in their hands and wish to high heaven that I was a normal mom. 

Speaking of picking...

We picked peaches.  

It was hot, but delightful.  I climbed a few trees, got a few scratches, and discovered that climbing the trees was a worthless venture because the birds had pecked all of the good ones up there.

We came home with some beauties, though!!

Now I need to hurry up and do something with them.  I can't wait--the possibilities are endless.  I'm pretty sure I want to make this peach jam, as well as bottle some for cobblers and such.  

And they're so pretty. My pretty little peachy babies.

 More pickin' going on...

I also picked out some books to add to my shelf.  {gasp!!}

I haven't added to the shelf in a while, and since I'm on a roll of doing nothing, I figure I could do nothing whilst looking at pretty things to make.  

I'm madly in love with crewel and I can't wait to look at this book and discover all of the amazing projects I'm probably not going to make!!! {exciiiiiiting!}

This one makes me giddy, too.  My baby girl LOVES playing with her cooking stuff, so I might feel a little itch to do a project from this one.  Maybe.  I'm thinking I'd like to have a bunch of adorable felt food made in time for Christmas.  And, if you know me already, I better start now.  haha.

That's all of the picking going on for now.  Thank goodness.

My Multigrain Buttermilk Pancake

What the?!  How long has it been since I've been on here?!  I don't even know if anyone even looks at this dumb blog anymore!  It has been a while....I have no excuses.

Wait, yes I do.  I do have excuses.  Alone with 4 kids, no Love Nugget for 6.5 weeks, moving across the country into a much smaller house with boxes from floor-to-ceiling, trying to dig myself out.  Literally.  We had to dig.  I'm still digging.  We're okay now--thanks to a storage unit and some hard work.   Now things are pretty normal, my Boy has joined us and started his new job, and all is well.  We're basking in the sunshine, swimming at the pool, loving the sunshine, and getting together with some awesome friends!  Love it!!  Did I mention there's sunshine?  Tons of it.  Yes, it's warmish...okay maybe even a little HOT at times.....but I'll take it!  The evenings cool down and the sunsets are breathtaking.

Anyhoo.  After sampling, testing, and tasting, I think I have found my personal favorite pancake and it's time to pass on the love to you.  I don't know if you know this, but I am a bit of a pancake snob.  {gasp!}  I don't eat them often, and when I do, I expect them to be incredible.  {I know....so snobby and picky...I feel terrible.}  I also want to feel less guilty eating pancakes...so if I can throw something healthy in them, then I somehow feel justified.  Right?  I'm justified, right?  At least these have more fiber in them than a Hershey bar.  Now that's saying something.

...and now a little about my griddle.  My treasured griddle.  My sweet, small, simple, little round griddle.  Okay, it's not huge, I get that.  It can't crank out 10 pancakes at one time, which makes feeding large groups challenging, but this griddle ROCKS.  It's got flavor like nobody's business.  {where does that phrase even come from?!}  It also serves as a weapon.

...so I do two at a time, customize them how I want, and the pancakes are FULL-FLAVOR, baby.  We're talking days, weeks, months, and years of butter seasoned cast iron.

My favorite topping is pecans.  LOVE the flavor of this combo.  My kids like chocolate chips or blueberries---but not together.  eww.

And now....the recipe.  It's all in my head, too.  No running and getting a book for me.  Are you impressed?!  I can whip these out in no time!!  Too bad I never want to.  Cereal is so much easier.

Abby's Multi-Grain Buttermilk Pancakes

(a.k.a. SOME PRETTY AWESOME PANCAKES)

In a batter bowl, whisk & combine dry ingredients:

1 1/2 c. unbleached flour

3/4 c. wheat flour (I use white wheat)

1 t. salt

1 t. baking soda

2 t. baking powder

2 T. sugar

1/2 c. quick oats

2 T. chia seed

2-3 T. wheat germ

In a large measuring bowl, whisk together:

2 c. buttermilk

1 c. whole milk (or whatever milk you have--canned milk is heaven, too)

3 eggs

1 t. vanilla

2 T. oil (I just eyeball it)

With wet and dry ingredients mixed together well, pour your wet into the dry, and combine until smooth and lump-free.  If it's too thick, add a little more milk as you need.  Cook on a buttered, sesoned, cast iron griddle for the most flavor.  

Of course, you all know what you like on your pancake--but here's our top 3 favorites:

Strawberries & Homemade Whipped Cream

-put strawberries, a squeeze of lemon, and some sugar in a food processor, pulse until desired consistency.  

-heavy cream, a few scoops of sugar, and some vanilla - whip until soft peaks form.

Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips

Pecans with Kadie's Buttermilk Syrup --- seriously gourmet if you have the syrup done ahead of time.

And now my toddler is nude and I have no idea what kind of mess she has created.  Bye for now!