The Latta Family

Lately I have been starting to wonder if I'm going to make it 30 years teaching (I'm on year 20).  I have been wondering how I can possibly do . . . everything.  We already do so much with so little . . . it's taking a toll on my positive attitude.  I feel a bit overwhelmed, so I decided the best way to deal with this situation was to make a blackberry apple pie.  I went to the produce stand on Monday to get apples and something else that I don't remember now.  While I was there I saw they still have blackberries! Oooh, I love blackberries in a baked good.  I didn't have time to do anything with them on Monday, and Tuesday we were super busy, but today I decided I HAD to have that pie.  That pie would fix my morale.   Who actually bakes a pie on a random Wednesday?!  This girl. Don't worry, it's store bought crust.  :-) The blackberries make it a little liquidy, but I drizzled it over the pie . . . and I scooped it into a spoon and drank it.  I fel

I started this quilt forever ago.  I finished it this weekend.  A friend- who is a serious quilter, as opposed to myself- just a "for fun" quilter, invited me to go on a quilting retreat with her and some friends, and told me to bring my mom along. We went to this lovely little place in Waynesville, NC. (if you're interested, go to Facebook, and type in Ponderosa Quilt Retreat). We showed up Friday, and started quilting practically as soon as we walked in the door and kept right at it until the minute we packed up to leave around noon on Sunday.  It was the most awesome place and after being there, I totally understand why women participated in quilting circles back in the old days.  Being surrounded by women, sewing, the mountains, beautiful weather, and open windows . . . it was perfection. Literally nothing could have made it better. This quilt started with me saving some of my favorite of Andrew's and Alexa's baby clothes.  Then I decided, I needed to do som

There are some days with Alexa that are just . . . clumsy.  Excessively clumsy.  So, so, so, so clumsy. She and I stopped by school (Doug opens and locks up the school every other Sunday for a church that rents it, so I was able to get in, once they were done) and I got myself a little more organized for the week.  (This week will NOT be like last week!).  Anyway, while we were there, she was drawing on the board, and as she found dry erase markers that didn't work she would "throw them away."  Or . . . they would get tossed in the general direction of the trash can and go every which way except IN the trashcan.  After a bit it was comical, how they NEVER got in the can. Then we stopped by the grocery store to get a rotisserie chicken for dinner.  We were maybe 50 feet from the entrance.  It took her forever to get out of the car- because she had flung off her flip flop in the car, and then couldn't get it turned in the right direction to get her foot in (although

Oooh y'all, this one might be one of my most favorites! We have this gigantic spot above our kitchen cabinets with nothing but blank space.  That blank space has bugged me.  It was so blank, so boring, so blah.  I wanted something up there, but I don't like a lot of knick knacks.  They look cluttered, and they get dusty.  I didn't want to look up there and see dust and spider webs.  The other thing was, what would I put up there?  Kitchen things? Eh, our kitchen and living room are all one room.  Living room things, then?  But then, I would have to buy things to put up there, which requires shopping, and I don't like shopping.  What a dilemma.  😏Finally, I decided I wanted to do something with old recipes, if we had any from either of our grandparents. I don't remember exactly the order of how this idea came to me, but I do know Doug's mom was pretty much the main contributer.  If it weren't for her, and her treasure of a book . . . I wouldn't have