And the winner is.......

MARILIZE !!!!
Congrats Marilize, I'll be emailing you in a few to get your address.

Marilize also shared the link to bake Lebkuchen a german soft, spicy cookie and it sounds delicious here's the link if you'd like to try them http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1941/lebkuchen. As for me I'm going to have to try finding a way to convert the measurements, the ingrediants alone make this sound like a must try for Christmas.

Many thanks to all of you who entered, a double thanks for those of you who shared recipes and links to your favorite cookies, guess what I'm going to be doing today :)

Happy Baking everyone !!

Giveaway Day

It's Giveaway Day again over at Sew Mama Sew http://sewmamasew.com/blog and just like in times past I'm one of those bloggers participating so without further ado lets get to the nitty gritty.
You have until 5pm on December 16th to enter, that's this coming Friday, so you have plenty of time to not only enter here but the hundreds of other blogs that are participating too :).
I will choose a winner by random generator and notify the winner via email by Sunday and your goodies will be in the mail to you before Christmas day.
I'm opening this Giveaway up to everyone who has a mailing address, so if you live on the other side of the world that's A'OK you can still enter.Please only one entry per person, if you enter more than once you go on Santa's naughty list and will end up with a lump of coal instead of the awesomeness you could win here.

Talking of awesomeness want to see what I'm giving away ? A fabulous make-up brush clutch. Actually these clutches can be used for anything from make-up brushes, to crochet hooks and markers as long as they're 8 inches or shorter. Pretty sweet huh ? You get to choose which design you'd like from the ones pictured below.

 All you need to do to enter is leave me a comment and tell me what your favorite Christmas cookie is, if you have extra time on your hands (HAH) you could even leave the recipe or maybe you've blogged about it, if so link it up, I'm sure many of us are in need of new recipes, I know I am and be sure to state which clutch you'd like.
If you're also hosting a Giveaway and would like to link to it please feel free to link up in your comment.
                                                                      Good luck !!!

Scrummy

Scrummy, the best Adjective I can come up with for this little guy. I just want to eat him up. My dear friend Melissa from Bluebug Photography spent a little time with Mr Colton yesterday and gave him his first photo shoot. I think they make a great team, don't you ? I can't wait to see the rest. If you live driving distance from MD and need great pictures taken with a fabulous photographer you should really give her a call, in fact in my humble opinion I think she's worth jumping on a plane for.

Cyber Monday

I'm not generally one for self promotion, but today I'm making an exception, I'm offering 25% savings on everything in my store today only when you use the code CYMO11.
So feel free to go browse and make a dent in your Christmas shopping. Custom orders in the U.S will be taken through Dec 9th in order to get them to you in time for Christmas.
Here's just a small sample of what's available.
Happy shopping and thanks for browsing.

 

Beautifully and wonderfully made

Colton Thomas came into this world 11/21/11 at 12:26pm, weighing 7 pounds 4 ounces, 19 1/2 inches long and a head full of dark hair. He's quite possibly the cutest baby I've ever seen. Mommy is doing great after a rough first day, I asked her last night how she felt now that she was a Mom, she told me "I don't really feel that different other than I have someone to care for now, he's awesome and I'm going to call him King Colton." Yes, she's smitten.

Uncle Ben and Auntie Reagan adore him already, they could both quite possibly inhale him.

Pappy (Marc, LOL) adores his new Grandson and went straight back to work after visiting him and handed out cigars to his fellow co workers. Me, well duh, he's scrummy and will always know he can come to me for anything at anytime. We just have one small problem, what he should call me ? He won't be talking for a while so it's not too big an issue, but it is an issue when I don't know how to sign cards and a special book I have for him.

Grandma sounds ok, but maybe kind of old, Nana reminds me of the dog in Peter Pan, Mi Mi... nah, Gi Gi.. everyone seems to think so, me not so much, Mom Mom... nope, Mamoo.. no can do, Omah.. doesn't sound right, Victoria thinks Mimsy... she's so silly but as silly sounding as it is it's kind of growing on me.

I don't know, what do you think ?

All change

This time tomorrow our family will have grown by one generation and the emotion felt right now is surreal.
I remember as though it were just yesterday going to the Dr for the U/S to find out if my first born was a girl or a boy, I remember the Dr tipping the table so far back to move the baby and was finally able to say "It's a girl." I remember the day that little girl was born, her first day of pre school, walking through the doors clutching her Winnie The Pooh and her Barney bag. I remember her days in montessori and telling all the boys to "Knock it off" when she caught them going through other kids cubbies, her days of soccer and T Ball, and them moving onto swim team, how she lost her first tooth and then her second tooth both on the same night while eating Oreo cookies. How ticks freaked her out yet spiders fascinated her, so much so that when she was 5 she became the proud owner of a pet tarantula and named her Rosie. I remember how she decided to clean her fish with kitchen cleaner, how she almost took off her finger cutting apples to make a wreath, how at 3 years old I caught her scaling the shelves in our pantry because she smelt chocolate, how she kicked her Daddy and scowled at the sonographer when she was told that her new sibling was going to be a brother. Her love of the outdoors and all thngs buggy, playing Barbies with her Great Grandfather and scaring off pretend cats in the clothing dept of the big dept stores (also with her Great Grandfather) Her early teenage years filled with angst and pink hair and now this time tomorrow my first born will be making memories with her first born. She'll no longer be just a daughter, sister, grand daughter, neice and cousin, she will have gained perhaps the sweetest title of all 'Mommy'.

21st Century Cinderella

Reagan was chosen for a speaking part in the school play and she's extremely excited about it, her role ? Cinderella. Yesterday her music teacher called and asked if I could perhaps make Reagan's dress and Sleeping Beauty's.. Sure. She also told me "If you have dress up clothes they would work too." Reagan grew out of playing Princesses a long time ago so we don't have anything but I do have a good friend who has a lot of dress-up clothes and pulled some out. Her daughter is the same age as Reagan but a size smaller and Heather warned, these are a little small on Gracie, but they might work. Reagan tried them on and came up with 2 different looks... what do you think ?

I don't think so either. Off to the fabric store I go.

Just grateful

Day 9 : Does that sound lame ? I'm just grateful ..... I'm grateful that right now our lives are on an even keel, nothing mind altering or earth shattering. I was asked once "Are you happy ?" My response was "I'm content" and that's how I feel, content and blessed. So many of my friends are having to deal with so much right now it makes my heart hurt for them, there's not a darn thing I can do for them to alleviate the pain, confusion and anger they are feeling and I feel kind of guilty, does that make sense ? I've dealt with my fair share in the past and wouldn't wish it on anyone, I know how they are feeling and it sucks, yet this is their chapters and ones that will end eventually and they will come out of it just A'OK, I just wish they didn't have to have these chapters to deal with in their Book of Life, but at the same time know these life altering occurences make us who we become and that's not always a bad thing, so for now I will pray for my friends  and be there for them when they need an ear, a shoulder or a hug and remain grateful that right now for me Life is good and I can be the one offering the support and prayers.

Pea soup

Day 8 : I'm grateful for 1hr fog delays, it was pure bliss going back to sleep after the 5:45am wake up call from the school board telling us school would start 1hr later.
I really wish I had taken a picture of what it looked like, it was quite spooky looking out there with the reds and oranges of the leaves peering through the dense fog.

Playing catch up

I really do have a lot to be grateful for and I don't forget it I just forget to write about it LOL. Sooo let's play catch up from the last 4 days.

Day 4 : My Moms Group.... these women are extraordinary, I could go on and on about how awesome they are and it would take all night. I've never met a group of women quite like them, I am blessed indeed.

Day 5: Technology... I'm so grateful for the phone and internet. without it I'd never get to see my neice and pictures such as this

I haven't met her in person yet, 3,000 miles is a long way away but I do get to see her grow up and feel like I'm still a part of her life.

Day 6: A mother who passed down her love of sewing, she may not be with me now and she never did get to see anything I have sewn but she gave me the desire to learn and that has now turned into the ability to help clothe my children.

Day 7 : My wonderful loyal customers. Without them I would have no business, I wouldn't be able to stay home and be here for my kids and my kids wouldn't be participating in their extra curricular activities or wearing the clothes and shoes they do. Thankyou all and my children thankyou too.

Thankful Thursday

Like many other people this month I have decided to take on the 30 Days of Gratitude project, it's a great way to take time out of our day and realise just how lucky we really are.

I know we're now November 3rd and I'm just posting so let me catch you up.

Day 1 .. I kicked off with this Gratitude Treasury over at Etsy chocked full of wonderful things that we can use to adorn our homes or selves to remind us that Gratitude really is the best attitude and we all have a lot to be grateful for.

Not he best pic, but the only one we have with all of us and TJ too :)

Day 2.. I'm grateful for my family and 'Bonus son' They are who make me who I am today, I'm so very very grateful for them, they teach me how to love more, laugh more and not to stress over the small stuff. They keep me grounded, they teach me patience and they have taught me how to love not only life but myself as well.

Day 3 ... A house to call my home. This house isn't a huge house, it doesn't have a lavish interior, it's pretty average but there's something about it that makes me love it, the best way I can discribe it is it's like a big welcoming hug, when I'm here I feel happy, safe and loved. Every day I drive by this
and it makes me want to cry, just a few months ago there on that spot sat an old 2 storey house, it was old but it was someones home, one evening after a long night at work it's occupant came home, started to cook dinner, went to sit down while it was cooking and the pan caught fire, within minutes the whole house was engulfed, there was no saving it, thankfully the owner got out with few injuries but every day I can't help but say a prayer for him, I hope that wherever he is now he's happy, maybe he'll build a new home on this same spot some day.

Are you doing 30 Days of Gratitude ? If so leave a link in the comments I'd love to see yours, if not it's not too late to start :)

Happy Halloween

Hope everyone has a Spooktacular day !!

My dogs are traumatized and it might be a REALLY long day if my neighbor doesn't go and remove the coverings from her raspberry bushes, my dogs are black and I think they believe the KKK is in our backyard.

I should have listened

Reagan's school was offering free Flu Mist vaccines, I jumped on it.. no shots in the arm, no dr appt needed and paid by the state with my tax dollars.. nothing to lose right ? She'd had it before so no worries. I signed the paperwork, didn't read the accompanying info because she'd had it before. she begged, she pleaded "Please Mommy no, let me have a shot, I hate that stuff." I told her flat out " No, you're getting the flu mist, you had it last year, it's uncomfortable for a few minutes but then it's done and you don't get a sore arm." so Friday she got the Flu mist and Saturday she got the sore throat and Sunday she got the fever and stuffy nose and Mommy felt like crap when she finally read the paperwork and saw that they gave her a live vaccine and has promised that she'll never get that damn vaccine again.

Emily Post, I am not

Growing up my parents taught me to use my manners and they taught me well (I thought) No elbows on the table while eating, don't speak with your mouth full, don't excuse yourself from the table until everyone is finished eating, don't start to eat until everyone is served, etc, etc. What they failed to teach my brother and I was that when a female excuses herself from the table for whatever reason, the men at the table are supposed to stand up and when she returns they are again supposed to stand up and wait for her to seat herself. My first 'nice' dinner date with my then husband to be resulted in me looking like a fool and my mom exclaiming after I told her what happened, "He's going to think you were dragged up not brought up". We had finished dinner and before dessert arrived I wanted to go freshen up, when I came back Marc rose from his chair (he was raised well apparently) I promptly grabbed my jacket, confused he asked "You want to leave ?" confused I replied "No" he then asked why I was grabbing my jacket, I told him because I thought he'd got up to leave, he told me "No, I was being polite ." OOPS !!

Now fast forward 22 years. This past Saturday we were invited to a dinner party hosted by Marc's boss and his wife, they are older ( my parents age), they come from the deep South, they come from old money, they lived 'The Help' their families were the ones doing the hiring, they are very 'proper', now when you mix that with a girl raised in a blue collar working family from England some embarrassment (on my part) may occur and it did.

First off we were all  in the living room having cocktails, the hostess was in the kitchen finishing up dinner prep and then a little while later announced for everyone to go on into the Dining Room and find our places... dammit Marc was on the other side of the table and way down the other end. Everyone stood behind their chair waiting for our hostess to come in and seat herself.. now apparently Marc was raised to a little higher standards than they were, he was standing by the side of me waiting to pull out my chair for me, the hostess was concerned he didn't know where to sit, when he told her why he was stood there she said "Why, weren't you brought up nicely ?" Score for Marc but her husband(Marc's boss) looked a little taken aback, afterall he was waiting patiently to seat himself at his own chair. Then our hostess informed us it was buffet style and we needed to go help ourselves... I HATE that, I swear everybody always stands back and waits for me to lead the way I HATE it, so this time I waited and waited and indicated for some others to go ahead of me.. PHEW !!  after the 4 people in front of me served themselves it was my turn, I helped myself and then made my way back to my seat and wouldn't you know it, nobody else was at the table... WTH ?? I have no clue where they took off, so guess what I did ? Sat down, yes people I put my tush on that freaking chair and then guess what happened ? Everybody converged back into the dining room and found their places (again) and guess what ? Not one of them sat down.... here we go again, waiting for the hostess with the mostest to finish whatever the heck she was doing in the kitchen, so discreetly (though I'm sure by now everyone had noticed the girl in grey sat down) I pushed back my chair and stood behind it and guess who was standing right there ? Marc's boss, oh kill me now. He just gave me that fatherly sympathetic nod and went on to serve himself, our hostess came back in told the ladies we could now be seated and enjoy our food, and we did. The food was good, the conversation was better, and a nice evening was had by all but every now and again I get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach wondering what (if) anything was said about how I'd sat down before others and especially our hostess were at the table. I think I'm going to have to borrow an etiquette book before the next dinner party, I don't know that I'll ever recover from this last one

*Hangs head in shame*

Now off to write a card thanking them for the wonderful food and hospitality. I wonder how many others will think to do that ;)

Mmmm.... Mmmm.... Gooood

Some nights I hit the jackpot and cook a dinner everyone likes, last night I hit the double jackpot and made something that everyone LOVED. Reagan's eyes bugged out of her head with the first bite as she said "Mmmm, this is good." then she took a few more bites and said "I could eat this every night" Then Ben said "This is really good" and Marc then chimed in  "Yeah, this is tasty" so that one is down in the favorites book and when something is that good and the whole family likes it it would be selfish not to share the recipe because I know plenty of you out there in Cyber World go through the same thing every meal time that I generally do with at least one person complaining, not eating and electing to make a PB&J sandwich.
So here's what we had and the recipe to follow.... I don't have pictures because I didn't think I'd be blogging about it.
Spicy Garlic Lime Chicken (it really wasn't that spicy), sauted garlic spinach (corn for the kids) and willd Rice (courtesy of Uncle Ben)

SPICY GARLIC  LIME CHICKEN
--------------------------------------
3/4 tsp salt                                                              1/8 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp ground black pepper                                   4 Skinless boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper                                           2 Tbs butter
1/4 tsp garlic powder                                              1 Tbs Olive oil
1/4 tsp dried thyme                                                 2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp dried parsley                                               3 Tbs lime juice*                                                 
1/8 tsp paprika

1) In a small bowl mix together the first 8 ingredients and then sprinkle generously on both sides of the chicken breast.
2) Heat butter and olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Saute chicken until golden brown, about 6 minutes each side. Sprinkle with 2tsp garlic powder and lime juice*. Cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently to coat chicken evenly with sauce.
Yield 4 servings

Per serving: about 220 calories, 28 g protein, 3 g carbohydrates, 11g fat, 0g fiber, 8mg cholesterol, 572mg sodium.
* The recipe calls for 3 Tbs of lime juice but that was a little sour, 2 Tbs would have been perfect.

SAUTEED GARLIC SPINACH
-----------------------------------
1 Tbs Olive oil
3 garlic cloves crushed
1 bag of baby spinach

1) In a deep skillet heat olive oil
2) Add garlic and spinach, saute until wilted

WILD RICE
--------------
1 box Uncle Bens long grain and wild rice

1) Open box and prepare according to package directions :)
     
                                                                           ENJOY !!!

Get a head start

 

For today only I'm offering free worldwide shipping in the shop if you use code FREESHIP at checkout.

So take advantage and get a head start on your Holiday shopping.

Let's play a game

Q : What do these 2 things have in common ?

A: Ben's finger

You weren't expecting that answer were you ? So I'm sat down watching Survivor (How ironic) and Ben came to me and said Mom, what should I do about this ? To which he held up his middle finger (what can I say he's 14) or what would have been his middle finger if I could have seen it, and why couldn't I see it ? You see that black metal rod next to the glass cleaner ? His finger was stuck well and truly in it, there was no gap, it was airtight and his knuckle was turning purple. My initial thought was a trip to the ER, then I told him to pour vegetable oil around it and then Ta Da, I remembered a time that Reagan got her leg jammed between  chairs while we were waiting for Victoria when she was still in High School, to this day I don't know how she managed to do it but she did, the office staff and myself did all we could and then they called the janitor who took one look at her leg, sprayed it with glass cleaner and her leg slid straight out. So tonight I grabbed the glass cleaner, sprayed it around the bottom of the tube and around his knuckle and after a couple of seconds it came right off... PHEW !! So even if you don't like to clean windows go buy some glass cleaner and if you don't want to keep it with your cleaning products keep it along side your first aid kit, you never know when you're really going to need it.

Classy

So imagine this, you pull into an elementry school parking lot and line up with all the other people collecting their car riders, you pull in in your mommy mobile and park behind a mid sized sedan and then a big truck comes in and pulls up behind you, you turn your engine off, grab your magazine to enjoy the last couple of minutes of solitude before a little person jumps in and starts to talk your ear off about their day, as you turn the page you notice the sedan in front of you is rolling back, you have nowhere to go, you can't back up... you'd back into monster truck, you can't go left or right because you'd run into parked cars, so what do you do ? Yes you honk the horn and what does person in front of you not paying attention to what's going on do ? Flip you off. Nice huh ? but then it gets better, classy woman in front then figures out what's going on and stops the car and then starts it back up and moves forward a little and then guess what classy lady does ? She sticks her head out of the window and yells " Better now B *^#*h " ? All this while kindergarten through 2nd graders are being dismissed. I really have to hope that she is not the mommy of the sweet looking little girl that jumped in her back seat, it would be a shame for that to procreate.

How'd she get so smart ?

For her Birthday Reagan was given an iPod Touch, she loves that thing and has amazed me at how well she has figured it out on her own, but what really shocked me is that she has figured out how to text from it... she's 8, people !! Tonight while I was cooking dinner I noticed Marc kept looking at his phone and texting someone, I didn't think twice about it, it's a normal occurence but then Reagan came running into the kitchen giggling and showed me her screen, she was texting her Daddy and he had NO clue. the conversation was something like this :
Rea: Hi
Marc:Hi ?
Rea: How was your day ?
Marc: It was good, who's this ?
Rea: Who's this ?
Marc : Marc
Rea: Hi Marc
Marc: Who's this ? Victoria ????
Rea : I'm not Victoria
Marc: Who's this ?
Rea : I love you
Marc : Who's this ?

That was when Reagan could no longer contain her giggles and asked " Who you texting Daddy? " All the while standing in front of him with her iPod, suddenly his face went from confusion to total understanding and then back to confusion... "You know how to text on that thing too ?"  To which she giggled "Yep" took off running and Marc went back to checking emails but not before sneaking one more look at his phone to look at what had just ensued and I know I saw a grin spread across his face :)

Seasonal confusion ?

As I look around me outside I see that some of my plants are suffering with a little seasonal confusion. My Azaleas which are only supposed to bloom in the Spring decided to bloom again just in time for Fall, my garden has never looked healthier, yellow flowers are showing up on my tomato plants again, little green cherry tomatoes are patiently hanging out hoping for some extra sunshine to ripen them, the Basil has taken on a whole new life and my roses are producing brand new blooms, the only plants that seem to know that  now is the appropriate time for them to bloom are my Mums, though a couple of them decided that it would be fun to bloom during a heat wave in August... they are now a burnt up dead mess, whereas the patient ones are looking glorious.

 

So are we dealing with global warming or global cooling ? My plants are all confused as am I.

Hobby Lobby, that was a cheap shot

Every time I walk into the foyer of Hobby Lobby I am blown away by how good it smells, I literally stand there and breathe it all in a couple of times. Yesterday after walking around and around figuring they had to be selling their 'signature ' scent somewhere I asked a sales Assosciate if they sold it, sure enough she sent me to the aisle with potpourris and candles, told me it was Fall berries (or something like that) I picked up the bag, took a whiff and no nothing like what's in their foyer, I ended up sniffing every bag and every candle and nothing came close so I walked away defeated. On my way out the store Victoria stopped and said "No way, Mom it's AirWick Plug in's " HUH ? Sure enough all along the power strip on the back wall camouflaged by Christmas trees and furniture were Air Wick and Febreeze plug ins. Apparently it must be a special combo that someone has found works well together because there would be an Airwick and Febreeze plugged in next to each other and then about 6 more outlets down would be the same combo.
So now I'm off to Walmart to figure it out, Hobby Lobby, you could make a fortune if you would just come up with your own signature scent, surely you are aware of how many people wak in and exclaim "Man, it smells good in here."

Zoom, zoom, zoom

That's how August felt to me, it just whizzed by before I could say "Summer" and I'll be honest it made me a little sad, sad knowing that after the much anticipated build up to Summer we're almost to the end of it. 6 more weeks and it'll be Fall, I love Fall and all that it brings, but I don't love knowing that we have to say goodbye to the warm temps, close up the pool which brings hours and hours of fun, rake up leaves and start putting on socks again.. BLECH.

So a quick recap of what August meant to us this year.

Reagan turned 8 and instead of having a birthday party this year she opted for a trip to Build a Bear workshop with her best friend, where ironically they built bunnies instead, then it was rides on the roundabout at the Mall just to be silly and lunch at Pizza Hut.

 

We got to spend more fun days at the beach, towards the end most of the tourists had left and we got to enjoy more open spaces without fear of being trampled ... Don't get me wrong I'm not a tourist hater, I certainly appreciate how they boost the economy in this area for several months of the year, it's just nice to be able to enjoy the sand on our feet not kicked in our faces :)

We had some crazy weather, the most extreme all coming in the same week, first we had an earthquake (unheard of for around here) then we had a visit from hurricane Irene and while she was visiting there were tornados cropping up all around us, it was scary to hear about but at the end of the day we came out of it ok, just a lot of tree clean up afterwards and a pier at one of our local beaches took a pretty hard hit.

We experienced some issues with burst water pipes, a broken water pump and over flowing sinks, that has warranted the need to a newly painted kitchen ceiling... any offers ?

Ben still won't co operate when I try to take his picture

And then it was time to go back to school :(

Wonder if September can top all of that, so far she's been pretty calm :)

Kids lunches: How to cut up an Aussie Apple

Stolen in its entirety from here http://designdazzle.blogspot.com/2011/08/kids-lunch-how-to-slice-aussie-apple.html   Maybe stolen is a harsh term, so I'll say borrowed, but this is the most brilliant idea on how to cut up an apple for the kids lunch boxes and not have it turn brown, you have to go check it out.

Just like her Momma

When I was Reagan's age I loved to iron (in fact I still do) Monday was always laundry day for my Mum and every Monday night Mum would take out all of the shirts, blouses and skirts from the pile and let me have at the rest. Yesterday Reagan saw me prepping fabric and asked if she could do the ironing, once she was done she asked "Can I iron all of your fabric from now on ? That was fun"

Yep she's my kid

Whoa

Whereas March came in like a lamb, August came in like a Pride of Lions and then some. The light show we were treated to was quite amazing, the cracks of thunder were sometimes  deafening , the wind was tumultuous as it carried away huge limbs from a couple of trees and yet the rain was soothing and reassuring, telling us that the crops would be watered and the wells replenished.

YES !!!!

"Yes !!!!" That's what my younger two shrieked at me just now, want to know why ?

 Because they've been begging me for the last 3 days for homemade pizza, Thursday Daddy was home and he doesn't care for the wheat crust so that wasn't going to work, Friday Daddy left for 4 days so pizza was promised for dinner Friday night, guess what ? This mom forgot *OOPS* but I redeemed myself and bought them fast food, that is a rare treat and so they forgave me. First thing this morning Reagan reminded me "Remember Ms Heather's pizza for dinner tonight, ok ?"  "Ok, Deal, I promise." We went out to the mall, bought sneakers and flip flops, checked out the new Hobby Lobby *SWOON* and then had to run home for the Comcast man to come and fix our phone, We were all having such a fun time that we forgot lunch so everyone was hungry by the time we got home and I kept hearing "We are having homemade pizza tonight right ? we're STARVING !! " Yes 10,000 times yes, you will have pizza tonight, so with beady eyes watching I measured out the ingredients into the breadmaker pan, once beady eyes were satisfied that they were in fact getting pizza tonight they walked away.. might have been their biggest mistake of the day. I closed the lid to the breadmaker, set it for the dough recipe, walked away knowing that I had 1hr 40mins to sew, 1 hr and 40 mins later the beeper went off, I hurried out to the kitchen, turned off the breadmaker, opened the lid and guess what ? I'd forgotten to add the pan.. FAIL. So another 2 hrs later after their stomachs were beginning to think their throats had been cut I was finally able to pull this from the oven and feed two incredibly hungry yet grateful children.

Half Birthday's and Pool Surfing

Sometimes in order to get a little sanity break and to get things done around here like, I dunno, cleaning and laundry, it's best if I add an extra child into the mix and sometimes that extra child comes in the form of the 7 y/o's best friend in the whole wide world and sometimes that best friend just happens to have her half Birthday on the day of your playdate and that best friend has a big girl crush on your 13 y/o son and he finds it funny and just happens to love little kids and is an awesome baby sitter to his 7 y/o sister and before you know it you have a match made in Heaven. He's a certified baby sitter and has taken a course in water safety, so guess what ? I trust him to be out at the pool keeping watch on his little sister and friend and he just so happens to need some extra cash, Heaven I tell ya. So while I was in the house ( A/C) cleaning and doing laundry they were in the pool having a grand old time, such a good time in fact I had to take a break and take pictures, boogie boards make excellent pool surf boards in case you haven't heard (in case you're wondering, while 'pool surfing' was going on I was out there the whole time )

After spending hours in the pool and then just chilling in the 7 y/o's bedroom it was time to partaay, remember we had a half Birthday to celebrate, so everyone was called down for 'Snack time' Little Miss G was told that she had to cover her eyes before she could see the snack and then SURPRISE !!

I think she was happy :) It was a challenge figuring out how to do 7 1/2 in candles, so we went with 7.6, the . being a raspberry, creative huh ?

Tonight I feel rested and invigorated, amazing what adding an extra child to the mix can do for you, now I'm going to have movie time with my 2 youngest, I need to hear some chatter before I go to bed :)

Evinrude

Evinrude, the motor that just keeps going and going, want to meet my Evinrude ?

She's the motor around here that never stops going. She wakes up at 7:30am and she continues talking non stop until she goes to bed at around 10pm in the Summer, sometimes later. By the time she's asleep I'm a basket case. I don't know of anybody who can ask "Mom, what's your favorite animal ?" be told "A giraffe" and 10 mins later after talking the whole entire time she finishes up with "Do you really think Daddy's first memory is sitting in a yellow bath tub on his dresser ?" How does that work ? I've been complaining lately about not sleeping at night, I think I know why, I'm still hearing her voice echoing around my head even while she's sleeping, asking me a billion questions, telling me the life story of a friend, talking about what we're doing from one hour to the next and trying to figure out every minute of every day from now until eternity. Oh how I'm beginning to love my glass of wine at night.