A Little Of A Lot

Letting go

2012-01-27T11:08:00.000-05:00

If you came here to read something funny, to get a good recipe, to find a new tutorial or some new Etsy goodness, please come back again soon, today isn't that day. If you're ready to hear a Mothers rant, and are prepared to perhaps feel a little perplexed when you are done, then hang around.
I'm going to start off with this... I know that Public Defenders have a job to do and there are times when innocent people who are seeking justice get it because of them, but this isn't one of those stories and I am hoping that putting my thoughts and anger into words will lighten the turmoil I've been carrying around and help me close this chapter that has been going on for far too long.

On December 11th 2010 my then 13 y/o son and 3 friends (ages 12 and 13) went to our local mall, they all took something that portrayed them and were planning on getting a picture made with Santa. Ben had taken his skateboard. While the 4 of them ( 2 girls, 2 boys) were standing at their meet up point they were approached by an older man, long straggly hair and beard wreaking of alcohol. The first person he spoke to was Ben asking for his license and registration for his skateboard, Ben didn't think too much about it, and pretty much ignored him, he then went on to ask the kids their names, ages and what schools they went to, he stroked Ben on his arm and squeezed his shoulder, telling him to enjoy the pretty ladies now and that it wouldn't be so easy to get women when he got older, at that Ben told his friends to come on and he started to walk away, seconds later he heard one the girls yell "Ouch" as they all went to walk away this man grabbed one girl by her wrist and tried to pull her away with him, the other kids walked back towards them and with that the guy let go and started to walk away telling the kids "Merry Christmas, be careful what you wish for because you might just get it." Needless to say they were shaken up, pics with Santa never took place instead it was calls to parents to go pick them up and then later on phone calls and interviews with the Police. Ben was able to tell the Police of a very telling tattoo the man had on his arm that read 'Doug' and it was that tattoo that led to the arrest of the offender. Days later a Police Officer went to the kids school and had them look at pictures of long haired , long bearded men that had been in custody and try to ID the perp.
Fast forward to January and we received a subpoena, the defendant was being held and a court date was scheduled for the end of the month, that day came and we all went to court, all 4 kids and their parents, as we walked into the court room we noticed an older man keep eyeballing our kids from across the room, the kids became uncomfortable and told us "That's him, that's Doug." didn't matter that he was now clean shaven and had had a haircut, they knew it was him. As the kids anxiously awaited what was to come the attorney for the prosecution came up to us and told us that a jury trial had been requested, that we would receive a new date in the mail and that we could leave. The trial date was set for May 5th, we all showed up again, the states atty came out and told all of the kids that because of them a potential pedophile was going to be locked up that day, because of them our town had become a safer place. The Defendant was pleading guilty and was looking at spending anywhere from 5 - 15 years behind bars. The kids were told because he was pleading guilty they didn't have to testify and they could leave or they could go and see the justice system at work and see justice been served. They all chose not to go into that court room, not one of them wanted to see him ever again. We all left relieved and happy, and then 3 months later I heard a knock on my door it was a sheriffs deputy with another subpoena for Ben, the defendant had changed his mind and had asked for a continuance which was granted because the witnesses had left, the next court date for a jury trial was set for November, so off we all went again, we waited and waited and waited.... the defendant didn't show up and a bench warrant was put out for his arrest. He was arrested 2 weeks later and was locked up until the new trial date which was this past Monday. We all went back to court again, this time knowing there was going to be a trial, the kids were going to have to get up on the stand and speak replaying all that had happened that afternoon over 1 year ago.
We walked into the court room, there was the defendant, bald and clean shaven looking smug and eyeballing the kids again, the jury was selected, the kids were asked to leave the court room and the trial commenced.
Long story short the defendant walked away, able to go back to his old ways and do who knows what to other children. The jury was never shown the photos of the bruises on the one girls arm, the defense claimed they hadn't seen the photos and hadn't had time to prepare. The Defense atty showed the photo of the man the children had identified, the man with the long hair and beard asking how the children could possibly be 100% that that was his client, because the prosecution hadn't told the defense they were going to ask Ben to identify him via the tattoo that was disallowed, the defense atty was the same atty that was going to get up on the stand in May with his client and tell everyone his client was pleading guilty.... this atty KNOWS the man is guilty of this crime, this atty KNOWS this mans criminal record, he KNOWS the man spends more time in prison than out (Which at this point is a saving grace) The defendant never got up on the stand, he didn't have to say a word and he walked out of that court room a free man. At the end of the day there were 4 children left scared and wondering what they could have said or done differently to have changed the outcome, parents angry and pissed knowing their children lost an innocence at the mall that day that they can never claim back, that a man who is a nuisance to society and a very real threat to our children is out walking our streets and a defense atty who had done his job and I guess you could say he did it well, but what I don't understand is how someone who has just done everything he can to ensure his client can walk out of there a free man can possibly look at himself in the mirror and like what he sees, how can he sleep peacefully at night knowing that he allowed this man to walk away and prey on other innocent people, I just don't get it and these are the thoughts keeping me up at night. I don't know how we can protect our loved ones when the legal system has loop holes such as what we have here, loop holes in that a man who knows his client is guilty, is a danger to society, a very real threat to our children and yet he in order to do his job well has to pretend that his client is a man misunderstood and misidentified.
I just don't get it.

What's your word ?

2012-01-15T10:20:00.000-05:00

Have you chosen a word to live by yet for 2012 ?
I was thinking about this last week and the word running in my brain over and over was Balance. By the end of 2011 everything was out of balance even our diet became unbalanced as I tried to juggle too many things. My business grew and grew and grew some more and for that I was encouraged, grateful and humbled, but as it grew my house grew dirtier, meals became quick and hurried things to throw together and were hardly ever balanced, Hamburger Helper even got served twice for the first time ever and it'll be the last, that stuff is NASTY !! Christmas shopping was put off until Christmas Eve, Christmas cards didn't get mailed out, cookies for Santa were baked at 10pm Christmas Eve, instead of a tin of his favorite cookies being added to his pillow case it was a package of cookie mix for Ben.
There were a lot of firsts and none of them were firsts I'd want to repeat. I didn't even get my white Christmas tree in my kitchen decorated, that's generally one of my favorite things to do in the Christmas season. So this year I will be taking some deep breaths and long looks around me and find a new balance. Try to figure out the things to let go of and the things to hang onto, learn to say "No" again.... I'm doing better but there's still room for improvement but it's all baby steps right ?

So what's your word ?

And the winner is.......

2011-12-17T09:23:00.000-05:00

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

2011-12-12T10:26:00.000-05:00

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

2011-11-29T14:50:00.000-05:00

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

2011-11-28T07:46:00.000-05:00

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

2011-11-23T09:48:00.000-05:00

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

2011-11-20T23:21:00.000-05:00

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

2011-11-10T08:08:00.000-05:00

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

2011-11-09T22:25:00.000-05:00

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

2011-11-08T14:33:00.000-05:00

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

2011-11-07T19:57:00.000-05:00

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

2011-11-03T23:04:00.000-04:00

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

2011-10-31T10:25:00.000-04:00

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

2011-10-30T20:22:00.000-04:00

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

2011-10-17T10:58:00.001-04:00

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

2011-10-14T07:12:00.000-04:00

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

2011-10-10T11:28:00.000-04:00

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

2011-10-05T22:56:00.000-04:00

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

2011-10-04T16:31:00.000-04:00

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 ?

2011-10-03T23:10:00.000-04:00

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 ?

2011-10-01T16:51:00.000-04:00

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

2011-09-21T14:54:00.000-04:00

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

2011-09-03T17:42:00.004-04:00

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

2011-08-28T20:44:00.000-04:00

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

2011-08-03T10:28:00.000-04:00

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

2011-08-02T13:37:00.000-04:00

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 !!!!

2011-07-30T20:14:00.000-04:00

"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

2011-07-29T20:45:00.001-04:00

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

2011-07-28T21:02:00.000-04:00

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.

A Summertime joke

2011-07-26T15:45:00.000-04:00

Maybe it's the heat that's getting to me or the many trips to the beach that anything remotely beach related makes me smile but here's my new favorite Summertime joke, 7 y/o thinks I'm mad, oh well.

Why do sea-gulls fly over the sea ?

Because if they flew over the bay they would be bagels.

Knee slapping stuff huh ?

Carry on and enjoy your Summer :)

Things I may never know

2011-07-11T17:17:00.000-04:00

Why as soon as I jump in the shower no matter the time of day or night my 7 y/o has to use the bathroom and why out of 3 different bathrooms she can use she has to use mine ?

Why the phone doesn't ring all day and then as soon as one call comes in call waiting will bleep 2 seconds later to let me know there is another caller on the other line ?

Why my husband can nap for 3 hrs on any given day during the weekend completely undisturbed, but when I try to take a 20 min cat nap I will be disturbed by barking dogs, noisy kids, telephone calls, people ringing my door bell and children coming in to ask "One quick question" ?

Why the only time my children NEED to really talk to me is when I am on the phone, they might have ignored me all day long. but as soon as I'm on the phone they need a full blown discussion about something ?

Why my vehicle only breaks down when I am out of town with my 2 youngest children ?

Why only true emergencies occur when my husband is out of town ?

Why I only get sick when my husband is out of town ?

People tell me it's all character building, I say it's downright annoying

The first of many

2011-07-06T13:06:00.001-04:00

Whoever said little boys weren't fun to sew for lied, I mean really how cute is this onesie ? and it took a whole 10 minutes to whip up. I've a feeling I'll be making a lot more of these, Colton may end up with enough for every day of the week.

Want to try your hand ? Here's a simple tutorial you can follow and she's also gracious enough to offer a free PDF pattern http://www.crapivemade.com/2009/03/appliqued-tie-onesie.html

Curve balls

2011-07-01T10:18:00.001-04:00

Sometimes life throws us curve balls that we are totally ill equipped to deal with, those curve balls are often the ones that you feel will never be thrown in your direction, but I'm here to attest that they can come at you from any direction, at any time and it doesn't matter who you are, what you are, what color you are, what your economic status is we are all on an equal playing field and it's what we do with those curve balls that matters the most.
Want to meet our curve ball ?

Meet Colton Thomas, isn't he cute ? I never believed I'd be a really young Grandmother, I never believed my 7 y/o would become an Aunt at 8, I never believed my not yet highschooler would become an Uncle and I certainly didn't believe my 19 y/o would become a Mommy and neither did she. None of this was planned, in fact everything was in place for it not to happen until the time was right, but once again we are reminded that our timeline and God's timeline aren't always the same, what we believe is the right time and what God has chosen for us doesn't always add up.
In one month 2 young men lost both their Grandfather and father, just 2 months later they both learnt that their fiancess were both expecting baby boys on the same day, coincidence ? Maybe, though I don't think so.
So yes, we were sent a curve ball of extraordinary means and it has being a long hard 4 1/2 months, huge life changing decisions had to be made, the future re thought, family members who have decided that they don't want to be a part of the 'shame' and so have decided to walk away.. and as hurtful as that is it's ok, it really is, we don't need that toxicity anyway, these 2 young people have enough to contend with without having to deal with hurtful comments and actions, it's better that those people just stay away. We have all come to love a little person we haven't yet met but will ensure that this Thanksgiving will be the best yet.
So now that things have settled a little I'm hoping to be here more often and bore you with all the cute little baby boy items that'll be coming off the machine, because if there's one thing this baby won't be lacking it'll be love and handmade gifts from Grandma :)

It's May Giveaway Day

2011-05-22T22:58:00.000-04:00

After a month of craziness around here that left me neglecting my blog in order to take care of other more pressing things today seemed as good a day as any to restart the blogging and kick it off by joining the folks over at SewMamaSew and do a Giveaway. In the past I've had one special item put aside just for today, not this time though. I'm going to give you a choice you can choose between photo props for a party of 10, this will include 10 mustaches, lips and glasses on a stick along with 10 lollipop lips ... if you're the winner and this is your pick I'll contact you and together we'll come up with the perfect party pack for you.

Don't need crazy party props ? then choose from either one of these accessory packs, a zippered pouch, tissue holder complete with tissues and a matching key fob, just leave a comment saying which set you prefer

Or go on over to the shop and choose any one item.

Yep, you read right any item of your choice. No bells or whistles for this giveaway just leave me a comment and tell me which gift you'd like to receive. I'll be accepting entries until midnight EST on May 25th. You don't live in the U.S ? no worries I'll let you play along too :) Winner will be picked via random generator sometime on May 26th, please be sure to leave me an email address where I can contact you to let you know YOU"RE A WINNER !!!

Big brothers rock

2011-04-21T23:37:00.000-04:00

When I was growing up my best friend had a big brother and oh boy was I envious of her, he was big and strong and looked out for her and he was funny. Me I had a little brother who was annoying, and whiney and needy. (Not really but compared to the big brothers he was)
Ben is the big brother I always wanted and he takes his role seriously. He is exactly how I envisioned my big brother would be. He looks out for Reagan, he makes her laugh, he's nice to her friends and he's a great role model.
We have just started Spring Break and the anticipation of the Easter bunny is upon us. Reagan doesn't believe in the Easter Bunny and that's ok BUT there's a part of her that is leary that he might exist. Her friends tell her he's like Santa and sees everything you do in the days leading up to Easter which has Reagan in a tail spin, it doesn't matter what she believes or what we tell her, there is a part of her that is fearful that he might be real. The idea that some creepy bunny ( and lets face it every Easter Bunny I've seen is creepy) could be walking around the house at night looking in at her while she sleeps has her totally on edge, so Ben being the awesome big brother he is told Reagan that from now until Easter she can sleep in his room and she is totally ok with that. She has always slept with him Christmas Eve for the very reason that she hates the idea of Santa walking into her room while she sleeps and she knows that she is safe, her brother's room is a safe haven from all mythical beings. If Santa, the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny are going to be on the prowl she's going to be in his room and I love that about him, he could quite easily make fun of her, tease her and give her nightmares but no he ensures she's going to feel safe and gives up his bed.
Tomorrow I'm sure he'll take her book, tweak her hair, pull a chair away from her as she sits down, he'll do something to irk her and she will scream "Ben I hate you" to which he will laugh and take off but I guarantee the last thing that'll come out of her mouth tomorrow night before she goes to sleep is "Night, I love you Ben" and he will respond with "I love you too Reagan" and with that she will drift off into a sweet slumber knowing that with her big brother there to protect her no harm will come of her while she sleeps.

I'm addicted

2011-04-06T16:45:00.000-04:00

Well maybe addicted is a strong term because I can live without them if I REALLY have to, but oh my word I love these things, they are a perfect for when you crave chocolate but want something juicy too. Gummy bears covered in chocolate, really does it get a whole lot better ? The only problem ? They're so stinking hard to find. My first box I paid almost $4 for at the movie theatre *EEK* and I was hooked, the next time I went they were gone *BOO* then I found them at the Dollar Tree *EEK* and they stayed there for a long time and I would buy them on a regular basis and then all of a sudden GONE, they no longer have them, can't tell me if they'll ever have more * BOO, BOO triple BOO* but then on Saturday we were in Big Lots and my wonderful, awesome daughter of the year found the very last box and she bought them for her Mommy and now I'm savoring and hoping that if I only eat one a day they should last me until I find them again.
Anyone know where they sell these all year round ?

Dress A Girl Around The World Update

2011-04-01T13:20:00.000-04:00

I figured you all deserved an update as to how this was going. Despite no comments on my posts regarding this (Not gonna lie I was a little disappointed about that) I have had many people contact me privately who have either donated funds for me to go and purchase the fabric and supplies to make dresses in their name, donated money to "Use as you see fit" , have donated fabric or have sent fabric to me, as of today it looks like about 40 little girls will be blessed :)
Thankyou all so much for your generosity you are all such a blessing.
This picture is just a glimpse of what I'll be tackling this weekend as you can see the March 31st deadline that I had put on this is going to be extended as I wait on some fabric that has been mailed and more money donated needs to be spent and hey I'm only one person and that's a lot of dresses to sew, that pink fabric alone will yield about 6 dresses :)

Thanks again, I'll update again next week.

A cake decorator, I am not

2011-03-31T19:45:00.000-04:00

I am sooooo not a cake decorator, I'm more of a 'Frost By Numbers' kinda gal, you know stick a star shaped nozzle on a piping bag and fill in the indents on the cake left from the pan, so when I read the directions on what to do I take them quite literal, I may question in my mind but then will go on to shrug my shoulders and think to myself "Well Mr Wilton said to do it this way".

Tuesday was Reagan's turn to take snack into school, I remembered mid morning on Monday, I had already done my grocery shop for the week and did not want to venture out again so I started blog surfing for some inspiration and came upon these little darlings, cute huh ? First off I couldn't figure out why only 16 cupcakes when a box mix states it will make 24 on the box and I've always gotten 24 out of it, and I needed 22 and I wasn't going to start on another box of mix just for 6 more cakes. Well I don't know what happens to batter when you divide it into 6 bowls and add food coloring but the amount decreases, it's true, crazy but true, yet if you divide it into 3 bowls you're good to go, if you don't believe me try it, it's weird. So my cupcakes only ended up with 3 colors, but the kids didn't know and what you don't know won't kill you (usually). Then I got creative, I hate the taste of cake mix from a box it's just kind of 'icky' so once the cakes cooled all the way I poked holes in the top and poured orange jello onto them and let it soak in, creative huh ? Then I put them in the fridge AND FORGOT ABOUT THEM until 1hr before they were due to school Tuesday morning, "S%^& " Open up the pantry no canned frosting, look for powdered sugar, didn't have enough. Panic set in and so I started blog surfing again and I found this blog where Supermom had made these same cakes ... though she'd only made 16 so they had the perfect 6 colors, WHATEVER !!! She gave all the directions and then 'frosted' CoolWhip on top, oh they looked so cute and guess what ? I had Cool Whip, So I took it from my freezer, waited for it to thaw a bit and then started 'frosting' , OMG, what a disaster, 'SuperMom' failed to add that she had to have added something to her CoolWhip to make it stay or she cheated and used Cool Whip from a can to get the perfect swirl because let me tell you, CoolWhip from a tub is not the consistency to frost with, even if you get a perfect swirl it will quickly drip and become a gloopy mess even if you put them in the refrigerator immediately... don't believe me ? Take a peek at this gloopy mess and yes the pic sucks I was rushing like a mad woman, freaking as to what to do as 22 kidlets were waiting on Ms Penny's snack and no all the cakes aren't there because after too many attempts I realised this was a big time FAIL

So I snapped a quick pic and hauled some serious butt to the 'Mart, where I sprinted down the aisles like a crazy woman and snatched up a much coveted can of Redi Whip and ran to the school where I entered the classroom and exclaimed " Who wants messy cup cakes ?" and up shot a dozen hands eager to please Ms Penny. I LOVE those sweet 6 and 7 year olds, they're so forgiving, so around I went handing out 'Messy cupcakes' with the teacher on my tail prettying them up with the Redi whip and Reagan adding a shower of sprinkles and all was well in the world again. So take it from me, if you want to frost something w/ Cool Whip and keep it looking pretty BUY A CAN and squirt those swirls, they won't let you down.

Grandad's words

2011-03-27T12:02:00.000-04:00

Growing up just down the street from my Grandparents meant spending many many hours with them. Some of my fondest memories are sweeping Grandad's garden path, watering the gardens by dunking the watering can into the water butt and filling it up with rain water, trimming his hedges with scissors, really anything that had to do with gardening. I vividly remember him shaking his head when he would see neighbors going crazy planting gardens in early spring and saying "Ne'er cast a clout 'til May be out" He would just click his tongue and continue with his pottering and once again I am reminded of him and his ways and his sayings as we experience a crazy, crazy Spring here.
Last week it hit 80 degrees, it was warm and sunny, fingers were getting itchy and thoughts of fresh produce growing in the garden came to mind, the desire to run out and plant vegetable seeds and flowers was at the fore front of my mind, but I refrained, Grandad's words echoing around and around in my head and boy am I glad I did, look what we woke up to today. Yep, I think I'll heed Grandad's words and won't start planting "'Til May be out"

This is what happens...

2011-03-25T09:56:00.000-04:00

When I tell Reagan I want to take pictures of her new haircut. Love this girl, she cracks us up on a daily basis.

Dress #2 and a thankyou

2011-03-23T13:30:00.000-04:00

Many thanks to those of you who have both donated money and fabric. As of right now 14 little girls will blessed with new dresses.
If there are still some of you out there who would like to help then please either leave a comment here or send me an email.

In Like A Lion

2011-03-21T13:06:00.000-04:00

We were awoken on this first full day of Spring to an early morning thunderstorm, doesn't get a whole lot more lion'esque' than that.

I used to think I was a Summer girl and don't get me wrong, I love the Summer, but I think that maybe, just maybe my favorite season is Spring afterall. After all the dark cold days of Winter we awaken one day to the sound of song birds once again, the cold bare branches on the trees start to come back to life with small green buds of leaves that will one day soon shade us from the hot summer sun. The dead grass suddenly springs back to life with it's hues of green, the sun shares it's presence with us for longer periods of time bringing with it a welcoming warmth and the promise that one day soon we can trade shoes and socks for flips flops and bare feet.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a hater of Winter, to sit inside and watch the quiet snowflakes fall, or to go for a brisk walk and come home to hot chocolate and marshmallows is wonderful too, but spring brings with it a feeling of renewal and promise and makes the heart a little lighter and happier.

Spring Pools by Robert Frost

                                     These pools that, though in forests, still reflect
                                     The total sky almost without defect,
                                     And like the flowers beside them, chill and shiver,
                                     Will like the flowers beside them soon be gone,
                                     And yet not out by any brook or river,
                                     But up by roots to bring dark foliage on.
                                     The trees that have it in their pent-up buds
                                     To darken nature and be summer woods --
                                      Let them think twice before they use their powers
                                      To blot out and drink up and sweep away
                                      These flowery waters and these watery flowers
                                      From snow that melted only yesterday.

Whole Wide World

2011-03-20T17:23:00.001-04:00

I can't listen or watch this video without finding my eyes brimming with tears by the end of it. Maybe it's because I am a mom of 2 wonderful daughters who are getting ready to explore the world in ways only they can. Victoria is 19 and is looking at a life in the Marines, she's dedicated and more determined to do this than anything else she's ever set her sights on.
Reagan is 7 and wants to be a rockstar, a gymnast, an artist, a cook and a teacher. She's full of spunk and loves life like no other child I've known.
If you're a follower of NieNie you'll see some familiar people.

Dress #1

2011-03-17T14:37:00.000-04:00

If you have ever thought about making these pillowcase dresses but then shy away because it's dressmaking, don't do it again. These things are so easy to whip up. This dress took me a total of 30 mins and that included cutting it out. These can be made by the most novice of sewers, PROMISE.

This dress really is even, I just tied the shoulder a little off and so it's sitting wonky, hard to tie a shoulder strap when it's not actually on a shoulder.

Dress A Girl Around The World Sewing Marathon

2011-03-14T14:23:00.000-04:00

Are you like me and have lots of extra fabric sitting around your house filling up bins and taking up space waiting for that perfect project to come along ? Are you someone that doesn't sew but likes to get involved in projects that help others ? If so then this post is for you.   'Dress A Girl Around The World' is a campaign that distributes pillowcase dresses to girls all around the world. Click on the link and you can learn all about it.
This campaign has particularly touched my heart and maybe it's because I'm the mother of a dress loving 7 y/o. She loves to dress up and look pretty as do many of her friends and she is lucky that she is able to. There are thousands of other little girls around the world who will never get to experience the feel of something soft and pretty against their skin, they will never know what it's like to have a pretty dress made just for them and that hurts my heart. I know how I feel when I've being in grungy sweats all day and then I get to go and change into something pretty, my mood lightens, I feel better about myself and for whatever reason everything around me seems so much better, little girls no matter who or where they are deserve to feel the same way once in a while.

So won't you join me in this sewing marathon between now and March 31st in blessing these little girls ?

Here's how you can.

1) Spread the word, lets get as many people involved as humanly possible

2) Sew a dress and mail it to :   Rachel Eggum CinaderHope 4 Women International
                                                  P.O Box 74010

Phoenix, AZ 85087

3) You don't sew but still want to help ? No worries. You can mail me a new pillowcase or a yard of fabric, I'll sew it for you and mail it in in your name. I'll also take a pic of the finished product so you can see what you sent.

4) Don't live near a fabric store, live over seas or don't have time to shop for fabric and supplies ? Not a problem, you can PayPal me $10 and I'll buy the fabric and supplies, take a pic and mail it for you in your name.

5) Don't have a PayPal acct but want to donate ? I'll take cold hard cash or a personal check and do all of the above.

A couple of people have raised questions about religious materials being sent along with the dresses, that is entirely up to you. The organization themselves do not, I will not be sending any type of literature religious or otherwise, if you are wanting me to make the dress for you and want something added you will have to send that to me and I will be happy to add it for you.

In return for your generosity I am going to host a Giveaway.. A matching wristlet, key fob and sunglass case (Pictures coming later) All you have to do is enter a comment here committing to donate at least one dress, when you have sewn your dress I ask that you take a picture and send it to me, (I'll be doing a big post on April 4th showcasing all the dresses made and mailed, along with the winner of the giveaway) If you are donating, once your donation is made come back and comment and you'll be automatically entered into the drawing. The more dresses you donate the more entries you get. ( 1 entry per dress)

I knew it

2011-03-12T18:30:00.000-05:00

Though there are times that Ben and Reagan fight like cats and dogs and you can hear Reagan yell loud and clear "Ben I hate you" and then see Ben run in the opposite direction after he's just done something to annoy the living daylights out of her... took her last piece of gum, shot her with a Nerf dart as she rounded the corner, they have always had a really special relationship, it's so sweet and everything I imagined a relationship would be if I had an older brother (I was always so jealous of my friends who had big brothers)

Today they spent the morning up in his room together, Ben was cleaning, Reagan was sat on his bed keeping him company, talking his ear off, drawing and writing. She took a little break from him and came to show me what she had written for him, it was the sweetest list EVER of the top things she liked about her brother and because I think it's so sweet and need to have a way to always remember it I decided to post it and share it over here.

Things I like about Ben

--------------------------

1. Nice
2.Fun
3. Loving
4.Best brother
5.cool
6.Fun to hang out with
7. Awesome
8.Funny
9.Lots of cool friends
10.Includes me when friends are over
11.Gross
12.Loves to be nice
13.Talkative
14.Sweet
15.Weird
16.Fun way annoying
17.Polite

Sweet huh ? :)

Finding Balance

2011-03-11T14:11:00.000-05:00

Yes, it's been over a month since my last blog post, so much for my good intentions of blogging daily or at least bi daily, ah well C'est La Vie.

This week I have come to the huge breakthrough realisation that what I lack the most of in my life is balance and what I deal with the most is perfectionism. If I were to tell my husband that I'm a perfectionist he would most likely laugh his butt off, but no I am a perfectionist and my perfectionism has paralysed me and in short I've lost balance to my life.

Perfect examples.. I now not only sew and sell in my Etsy store I also sell to a boutique. I had a crazy busy holiday season with my Etsy store (very good thing) but the B&M (Bricks and mortar) store was also busy, both shops were left almost empty so I had to work my butt off to fill them both again. My priority was my etsy shop, Etsy doesn't rely on foot traffic, the B&M store is outside in a quaint shopping area that's not very heavily populated in the cold Winter months. So for almost a solid week I frantically stitched, took pics and listed for my shop, during that time the house started to look a little neglected, but I managed and managed pretty well as long as I ignored the upstairs of my house, I also started preparing for things in the B&M store, ordering supplies, picking out fabrics etc. Then my dishwasher broke down and one day while washing dishes a glass broke and sliced open my right thumb right on the joint, it required 4 stitches. Suddenly I was out of commission, orders for my etsy were pouring in, I was well stocked in that arena and it felt great, but then I got a call from the owner of the B&M store, the weather was getting warmer, people were venturing out again, though I'd had a great month there things were going to rapidly go down hill if I didn't send her some more inventory. She in particular needed more key fobs, I had the supplies and had had them for a while I had just put off making them because I was too focused on my etsy and now here I was unable to make them because I needed my right thumb in order to do the fabric folding while making them.
The week after my stitches came out I did nothing but cut, iron and sew fabric making oven mitt sets, key fobs, zippered pouches, kitchen towels and clothespin bags, during that time guess what ? My Etsy sales slowed down because I was lower on inventory and I hadn't spent any time on that shop, my house became cluttered and dirty, laundry piled up, dinners went from delicious and nutritious well balanced meals to mac and cheese, burgers, hot dogs and the only vegetable served was French Fries. At the end of the week and once everything was boxed up and sent off I just sat and took inventory of what had just happened. I was totally burnt out. I looked around me and nothing was pleasing and yet I'd spent the last week looking at and making gorgeous items that people were going to purchase and those items were things to make people happy and here I was the creator of those things feeling anything but gorgeous and happy.
I gave myself a full day to really take stock of my feelings and regroup and it's within that time I realised that lack of balance and too much perfectionism were what had got me into that mess. I'm all or nothing. When I'm sewing I spend a full week sewing just for Etsy or the B&M store, when I'm cleaning house I'm not just doing one room at a time I'm doing the whole house. If I can't fill up my Etsy or the B&M shop I freeze and wait until I can take a full week to do so, if I can't clean my whole house in one day then I don't clean any of it. If I want to make a gift for someone I have to make sure I can get it all done in one day or I'm stressing that it won't get done, the other week my youngest needed jeans and sneakers, I waited until Saturday (even though we go near stores every day that sell those items) because I knew I had nothing else planned for that day so we could hit every single store if we had to (which incidentally we did). By the end of that day we were exhausted, it was an enjoyable day but it would have been even more enjoyable had we checked out a couple of stores during the week while we were driving by so we didn't have to go every single store that day, we'd have already known they didn't have what we wanted.

So this week I have practiced being less of a perfectionist and bringing a better balance to my day and here's what's happened. I have added something new to my shop every day, I sent off another box of stuff to the B&M store (it was just a small box, but it's excess inventory for her to put out instead of calling me in a panic that stock is low) I made a dress for my niece (enter back sewing just because and not to pay the bills) baked bread from scratch, made jello cups for after school snacks, have cooked a well balanced dinner every night, laundry is caught up ( though not all of it is put away) the house is picked up, some rooms have only had the vacuum run over them, others have been vacuumed and dusted, others have been vacuumed, dusted, polished and windows cleaned. all the bathrooms are clean.
Gone are the days (I hope) of not washing clothes because I know I don't have time to fold and put them all away later, not cleaning house today because I can't get the whole thing done, or I'm not going to vacuum the living room because I don't have time to dust and polish too.
No more not sewing that cute dress or cool shirt because I don't have time to do it tonight.

And the reason I haven't been blogging ? Because I haven't been able to sit down and complete a full blog post in one sitting or I don't have pictures to go with it, oh and I don't like my blog background so I can't blog until I have a new blog look.... it's not going to be perfect so I just won't do it.

So goodbye perfectionism, it's going to be hard to let you go, but oh, it's going to feel so liberating and welcome balance my new found friend, I hope we have a long and happy friendship

Meet Mr Prickles

2011-02-07T13:15:00.000-05:00

The 100th day of school is fast approaching for many schools in the U.S. Those of you in warmer states celebrated yours a while ago I'm sure, but here we'll be celebrating on Friday. As is the apparent tradition, teachers in elementary grades give kids a project, Reagan's was to make a picture using 100 objects, to be creative, 100 pennies on paper was not considered creative. So on went the thinking caps, she already made one project that she took in last week, but the over achiever that she is she wanted something different, she didn't feel her last project was creative enough and within a couple of hours Mr Prickles was born. How cute is he ? 1 piece of brown card, 2 wiggly eyes, a black pom pom for his nose, a glue stick and 100 tooth picks and you too can have your very own Mr Prickles.

Happy Birthday to me

2011-02-05T10:10:00.000-05:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME !! To celebrate my Birthday with you, for one day only (FEB 5th) I'm going to give 44 cent shipping and handling on all orders within the U.S and Canada. Refund will be given via PayPal so I don't have to go in and change everything, afterall it's my B'day and I just wannna have fun :)http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheGivingTree#

Have a great day everyone, I'm off to eat doughnuts and go shopping with my favorite 7 y/o :)

Public service announcement

2011-02-04T10:25:00.000-05:00

I was going to post a recipe for some amazing fat free cupcakes (yes they do exist) that I made, BUT I got the cupcake ready for it's picture debut, turned around and promptly ate it and yes, it was the last one and I don't know about you but a recipe without a picture is like milk without cookies... it's just not doable, sooooo I'm going to share something totally creepy that happened to my 18 y/o the other day and it's something we all need to keep in mind next time we go out to the grocery store.

Wednesday Victoria received a private message on Facebook (thankfully her profile is private) from an old man, a creepy old man, an old man that she'd never seen before. In his email to her he documented her whereabouts and what she was doing several days earlier, he concluded with "Now I'll tell you how I found you, you were cashing a check in Walmart, I was standing behind you, you flashed your check, I read your name and haven't being able to get you off my mind" CREEPY, NASTY STALKER DUDE !!!

So to all of you out there that use checks in a store, be careful who is standing around you and cover up as much of your information as possible. After reading the message I will never use a paper check again unless it's to a friend, from now on at the store it's debit card all the way.

So there's my public service announcement, now go about your daily lives as usual and beware of all suspicious looking characters around you, especially creepy old men.

Alien Abduction

2011-01-26T09:50:00.000-05:00

I know there's a lot of speculation as to whether or not there is life on other planets and whether or not aliens come down to visit earth, well after this morning I am here to tell you it is very, very real.

Reagan and I were in the living room doing some of her Scratch Art (very fun) once we were done I asked her if she'd like a snack and that's when the alien abduction happened, the child in front of me said " Yes, once I vacuum up these small pieces." 'Scuse me ? my child does not like the vacuum and she especially doesn't like to clean up, confused I said "Have at it" and I went to prepare the snack. Whilst doing that the Reagan lookalike went and got the vacuum plugged it in and proceeded to pick up every single speck of paper and then she caught me taking her picture and that's when it almost got ugly, do you see that face ?

I retreated back to the kitchen as the Reagan lookalike continued cleaning and as quick as the abduction happened my sweet child reappeared, ate a brownie downed a glass of milk and left the cup and plate on the table for me to clean up. I was kind of hoping the alien Reagan would hang around for a while and clean up the whole house, but alas no such luck.

You know it's time for a haircut when.....

2011-01-21T09:50:00.000-05:00

The wind is blowing 90 miles an hour, you start to cough, the wind blows your hair into your mouth and down your throat, whence making you cough, gag and choke all at the same time, once you have recovered from all of that you jump into the van to take a child to school, you slam the door, get yourself situated only to get a raging pain go through your head, yes, the wind blew your hair back outside of the van without you noticing and you have just slammed a whole pony tails worth in the door. And that boys and girls is why I get my hair cut shoulder length in the Winter, my appointment is next week, until then it will be tied up and under a hat.

Pure genius

2011-01-19T11:36:00.000-05:00

My children are not the best milk drinkers in the world, Reagan would prefer to down a gallon of water before she drank a glass of milk but she knows she doesn't get any flavored drinks until at least 1 glass of milk has been consumed, Ben would rather walk on hot coals than to have to drink white milk but he will happily down a glass of chocolate milk, the only problem is that he'll empty 1/2 a bottle of syrup into the glass or a cup full of powder, so all the nutritional benefits of the milk has just been depleted. He's old enough to make his own drinks mommy shouldn't and won't make them for him. The other night he asked if I'd buy some Ovaltine, I'm ok with that, it has added vitamins and minerals and he needs all he can get right now at 13. My issue was how much he puts in the glass, yesterday I picked up a canister and had a pure genius moment. I went over to the craft aisle and picked up some small baggies that are generally used to keep beads in, you can buy 100 for $1, came home and filled up 30 bags w/ Ovaltine and put them back in the canister, now every time one of the kids wants chocolate milk all they need to do is take one of the premeasured baggies pour it into their glass, add milk, stir and voila, chocolate milk made to a Mother's liking. The kids don't throw the bags away instead we have a bag hanging in the pantry for them to put the empties in until they get refilled the next time. Another bonus ? Doing it this way actually gives you about twice the amount of servings than is specified on the jar, I'm sorry but 4 tablespoons of mix to 1 glass of milk is a bit excessive don't you think ? The only downside to this ? The kids are drinking more milk now than they ever have and I'm having to buy 2 gallons of milk a week instead of 1 :)

So, do you wanna knit but don't know how ?

2011-01-17T23:33:00.000-05:00

I do desperately and so does Reagan. I've looked on YouTube, I've read the books but I'm too much of a hands on learner, reading a book and trying to figure it out makes me feel stupid, watching a Youtube video I always forget that maybe I'm looking in mirror image and well it's just not pretty. The last time I tried to learn anything via YouTube was how to crochet... FAIL !! and it didn't help that Marc walked by and told me I looked like a monkey trying to do a math problem. I have no clue what that looks like and I'd like to know how he does but from his tone it wasn't complimentry.
When Reagan told me at Christmas that she wanted to learn how to knit my heart sank a little, it was one of the few things she's wanted to learn how to do that I couldn't help her with.... "mommy fail' then I saw an advertisemnet for Michaels Daily special, it was one of these http://www.createforless.com/Provo+Knifty+Knitter+Loom+with+Hook+1+set/pid76932.aspx and it was only $7.99 so I picked it up along with a ball of yarn. Since Christmas it has sat in a corner of her room, yesterday was one of those days where it was cold outside and I just wanted to snuggle up on the couch watch the football and craft, so I asked Rea if I could try figuring out her knitting loom, the wonderful child that she is she gladly obliged, so I opened up the package raring to go and saw that the directions were for a hat... SERIOUSLY ????? Could we not start out with a scarf ? Directions for a hat were all I had to go by so what could I do but 'knit' a hat and that's what I did. Now I'll admit that casting on the first time for me was tricky, remember I'm a hands on learner, reading the directions made little to no sense to me and I felt like a total moron when I saw that on my first attempt I'd done it backwards, but I persevered and 3hrs later a hat fit for a 7 y/o was completed and the 7 y/o was thrilled and we all lived happily ever after.

I feel like using a loom is somehow cheating a little, it seems so easy but looking on various websites you can make some pretty neat things, and the fact that it's so easy means my 7 y/o can use it hassle free and she is and loving it and is making a hat for a friend. Sooo if you want to learn to knit but are totally clueless then I absolutely recommend going out and purchasing the Knifty Knitter, then you brag to your local friends about it and one of them will announce that she knits and will give you knitting lessons. I'm so psyched, I'm going to go buy my first pair of knitting needles tomorrow :)

Spaghetti Carbonara the healthier way

2011-01-16T11:15:00.000-05:00

So it's that time of year again when many of us are trying to shed those extra holiday pounds, but it's also that time of year where many of us are still enduring the colder winter temps and are still craving comfort foods, which if you're anything like me tend to pack on even more pounds, (I call it my "Polar Bear Season" ) and then come Spring I go into panic mode about the extra poundage and how those cute little Summer outfits just aren't going to look as cute as they once did, so I'm always excited when I come across a favorite that someone has taken the time to revamp and come up with a new and improved reduced fat version and it's always an added bonus when you can't tell the difference, or hey, it might actually surprise you and taste better than the fat laden one and that's what I came across the other day while reading the November issue of Redbook. They took the Cheesecake Factory's 2,200 calorie , 83g saturated fat packed Spaghetti Carbonara and turned it into a 450 calorie, 7g saturated fat delight. I made it Friday night and every single family member loved it and asked that it become a regular dish. When my kids and husband all eat the same thing and all go on and on about how good it was, believe me that makes for one happy me.
So without further ado here is the new and improved (IMO) Spaghetti Carbonara... I did make a couple of subtle changes to what was in Redbook but nothing that is going to add to the fat content or take away from the taste.

Serves 6, Calories: 449, Total fat 17g (saturated 7g), Protein 18g, Carbs 54g

1Lb Spaghetti
3 Large eggs
1/4 C chopped parsley
1/4 tsp each hot red pepper flakes and salt
5 strips of bacon
1Tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/3 C frozen peas, thawed
1/2 C grated Parmesean cheese

1. Cook noodles. Drain , reserving 1Cup of pasta water
2. Meanwhile whisk together eggs, parsley, pepper flakes, and salt
3. Crisp up bacon, chop into small pieces and set aside
4. In bacon drippings add garlic and black pepper and cook 1 minute more, reduce heat to medium low.
5. Add pasta, egg mixture, peas, bacon and 1/2 C of pasta water, stir and cook 1 to 2 mins add more pasta water if necessary ( I added an extra 1/4 C ) until sauce has a creamy consistency. Mix in cheese and serve immediately

Returning to the land of Blog

2011-01-15T18:33:00.000-05:00

WOW !! That was a long break. The creative juices ran out, sickness set in and I just didn't have it in me creatively or physically to sit down and blog, but I feel my creativity returning along with my energy (thankgoodness) .

Christmas came and went, it was nice, it was quiet, the kids claimed it was the best ever, therefore I declare it a success.

The New Year came in and along with it came hope for the future, 2010 will not be going down as one of the best years ever, but I have the optimism that 2011 will.

Resolutions weren't made only to be broken days/weeks/ later, though goals were set. Goals to spend more quality time with the kids and less time wasted at the computer, to move Reagan into Victoria's old room and turn Reagan's room into a sewing studio in order to give Reagan a much needed bigger room and to free up the den and turn it into a game room, and for me to have a place that I can call my own, to be able to close the door when I need the quiet or to protect friends and family from the odd stray pin or needle that's waiting to embed itself into unsuspecting feet.

To create something daily, whether it be a sewn item for my store , gift or maybe even myself, a healthy meal for the family or a handwritten letter ( gasp at the thought). Creating takes me to my happy place and I want to spend a lot of time there this year, it makes me a better wife, mother and friend. Last but not least I have a goal to expand my business, I don't know what that's going to entail yet but I've been spending a lot of time praying and meditating on it, just waiting for that God breeze to come through and send me in the right direction.

So far I've done pretty well, I've made something for the shop every day, I'm ahead of schedule and have started working on my niece's gifts for her 1st Birthday. I handwrote a letter to my MIL, she'll be shocked, I've made lots of new tastey meals for my family, I've spent more time with the kids when they're around and no longer hear myself say "In a minute" 1,000 times a day. I used to hate that about myself, now if I can, I stop what I'm doing and give them my full attention and only once have I asked Reagan to wait a minute while I finish playing "Penny's Diner" on Y8.com.

So here's wishing you all a Happy, healthy and more prosperous 2011 and a small look into what's been going on around here since Thanksgiving.

Christmas came and went

We had a huge snow storm the day after Christmas, giving us all a good excuse to stay in the warm and enjoy each other's company for an extra day.

We went on long walks once the roads were cleared so we could finally get out of the neighborhood

Late night snacks

Snuggling with furry friends

And lots and lots of sewing

The best day ever (at least pretty close)

2010-11-27T19:36:00.000-05:00

Have you ever had one of those days when you just want to be a kid again, you want to let your hair down and say to heck with the cares of the world ? That was me today. Reagan was invited to a Birthday party at the local roller skating rink, to say that I was less than thrilled to take her is an understatement, 3 hrs at a roller rink with a kid that doesn't skate can we say "WooHoo" ? Off we went I did the mommy thing, and then watched as my kid precariously took off on these big clonking shoes with wheels, to say she looked uneasy is an understatement, imagine a baby duckling on ice. As I watched her tackle the rink, listened to the pounding music and watched other skaters gliding past her I started to feel a little sorry for her (They won't let you on the rink without skates), my feet were itching to put a pair of skates on, though I've only ever ice skated or roller bladed ( eons ago) and the only available skates were the 2 in front and 2 behind kind which to me were a little intimidating. Then Reagan's words resonated through my head, when asked if she was sure she wanted to go she said "I would really like to at least try", then I thought how tickled I would have been at her age if my Mom would have made a complete fool of herself and joined me on the rink and that's when my mind was made up, I went and bought my ticket and rented my first pair of 'traditional' roller skates ever. When Reagan saw me her face was priceless, I may not have had a camera to capture the smile but I think that look will be engrained into my brain forever. My first time around I told her I needed to go alone and she needed to stay far far away from me while I got my 'Skate legs' It took a while for me to feel comfortable with not being able to slide my foot to the side, and not stop by doing a side slide but before long I got the hang of it and though I say so myself I rocked *WINK* I took Reagan's hand and edged her away from the wall, she fell once, cried, sniffed "I hate this" and wanted to go home, With a few encouraging words and a hug she ventured out again, before long she was only holding my hand and not doing a death grip to the side ledge, a couple of times she wanted to leave the rink, she'd had enough but I couldn't keep off of it, she'd watch and smile and I could see the look on her face, I'm thinking it was the same one I had earlier in the afternoon, the wanting but being unsure, I got her out again and told her to copy my feet, she did, she rocked, she laughed, giggled, fell and started laughing so hard I couldn't get her back up again, before I could say "Roller skates" she said "Do you think we could go out into the center ?" Yes my child that was death gripping the wall 2hrs previous was wanting to go out into the very middle of the rink where there was nothing but a Mommy's had for stabiliy, I took her out to the very middle circle and told her to look around, she was really in the middle of the rink and was standing unaided, her look was again one of those priceless ones and then before we knew it the DJ was announcing that he was playing the last somg of the session and guess what ? We were the last ones out there.
This afternoon started out with being one of those obligatory Mommy duties and ended up being an afternoon of fun and more importantly an afternoon when I became more child like in my thinking and let the stresses of everyday life take a back seat and made some pretty fun life long memories with my favorite 7 year old.
We're already talking about when we should go next :)

Etsy Black Friday shop

2010-11-26T17:02:00.000-05:00

Many, many stores over at Etsy are having Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, many are having sales all weekend. Go on over and check out the fabulous stores that are participating and pick up something that's a tad more unique than what you'll find w/ all the commercial door busters at the mall.

From now until midnight Monday I am having my own sale, 10% off all items plus free shipping anywhere in the U.S just use this code at checkout TGT2567.
Hope to see you there.

Music to my ears

2010-11-06T17:53:00.000-04:00

Reagan is not a big vege eater at all and I find it very frustrating but that may have all come to a screeching halt, I just introduced her to Lays French Onion Dip. She was starving and needed a little something to tide her over before dinner, I suggested dip and tortilla chips, she was a little leery she's never eaten French Onion Dip before. I put a dollop on a chip, her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree, "Hmmm, this is AWESOME, you know what would be really good with this ? Vegetables" No way Jose, she's now sitting with a plate of raw veges, a little bowl of dip, happily munching away and watching an episode of " Good Luck Charlie" (Love that show.) It really is the little things huh ?

Chocolate and Pumpkin cupcakes

2010-11-02T12:56:00.000-04:00

If you are looking for a Fall cupcake then this is the one, so yummy and you can adjust the spices to your liking. I used pumpkin pie spice, but cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger would be awesome too.

Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes
--------------------------------

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

1/2 C butter
1 1/2 C packed brown sugar
3 Large eggs 1 1/2 C sifted cake flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 Tbs Pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp Baking soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 cup Buttermilk*
1 can Pumpkin puree
2 tsp Vanilla

1.Cream together butter and sugar
2.Beat in eggs one at a time
3. Blend all of the dry ingredients together
4.Stir together Pumpkin puree, buttermilk and vanilla
5. Alternately add dry ingredients and Pumpkin mix to the creamed butter, sugar and eggs

Pour batter into cupcake holders and bake for 25 mins.

These are delicious frosted with the frosting from this post .

* If you don't have buttermilk you can substitute for 1 cup of your preferred milk mixed together with 1Tbs of apple cider vinegar

When bad things turn into good

2010-11-01T09:46:00.000-04:00

Saturday I got busy making cupcakes for a Halloween party we went to last night, I'd decided on Chocolate and Pumpkin cupcakes covered in Ganache, then I was going to frost on a spiders web and stick a plastic spider in the middle, cute huh ?
I baked the cupcakes, they turned out great, went on to make the Ganache, the same Ganache I've made a million times before and FAIL, it turned out NASTY !! Started off using Bittersweet chocolate (that'll teach me not to read the box) then I heated it up too quickly and it got all grainy and separated on me, I wondered if I could salvage it, I dipped my finger in to see how it tasted and oh, my face squished into a thousand directions, the only place it was good enough for was the garbage.
So then it was onto Plan B, I no longer had time for the Ganache to be made, cooled and set in time for frosting, I didn't have a can of frosting on hand so I surfed the net and came up with an awesome recipe, I'd link you to it but I can't find it now, I will however share it with you all. Never again will I buy canned frosting, this is delish. I added some extra pumpkin spice to mine to give it an extra Fall type taste. The consistency was more in tune to that of mousse and despite the amount of sugar it wasn't overly sugary at all.

Chocolate Frosting (To die for)
---------------------------------
2 3/4 c Confectioners Sugar
6 Tbs Unsweetened Cocoa powder
6 Tbs Softened butter
5 Tbs Evaporated milk
1 tsp Vanilla

1. Sift together sugar and cocoa
2. Cream butter until smooth
3. Alternately add Sugar mix and milk
4. Blend in Vanilla
5. Adjust as needed

ENJOY !!

Monday, Monday

2010-10-25T15:02:00.000-04:00

Ever have one of those days when you're just not ready for the day to start and you certainly don't want to start negotiating first thing in the morning ? That happened here today, Monday came around way too quickly, my bed was too warm and the hour too early. I needed to be eased into my day and negotiating wardrobe choices with my 7 y/o certainly wasn't on the agenda, so yes, I let her go to school looking like this.

I'm sure the her teachers are wondering if I've lost it, was I thinking it was St Patricks Day coming up instead of Halloween ? Did I read the school dress code policy ? (I did, it's the way she's standing that makes those shorts look shorter than they really are.. right ? ) Maybe they'll think that my washing machine broke down and I couldn't get to the laundromat, maybe they'll be concerned and wonder if I'm sick and too ill to make sure that my child is appropriately dressed for school. Or maybe, just maybe, they'll nod their heads understanding that we all have one of those Mondays when the mere fact that my kids were sent off w/ a full belly, and brushed teeth and hair was an accomplishment in itself

It was one of those days

2010-10-21T09:42:00.001-04:00

I got up at my regular 'O Dark Thirty and heard the wind and rain, put my foot out of the bed and felt the nip in the air.

I went about my usual morning routine, coffee, packing lunches, saying "Goodbye" to one child while waking up another, you know the normal Mommy thing, but the more I heard and saw the rain the more I really didn't want to go out, I turned on the heat for the first time since April and suddenly the house was filled with a cozy warmth, making it even harder to want to start the day for real. Before I knew it it was time to take Rea to school, I threw on my sweats pulled back my hair and off we went, I couldn't wait to walk back into my house again, when I did I was met with the yummy warming scent of a Glad Plug In, my house felt and smelt cozy. I went about doing dishes and then sat at the sewing machine and started working on an order, all the while the wind was howling the rain was pouring but I was warm and snug in my abode and my thoughts turned to dinner.... Home made Chicken Noodle Soup, Home baked Bread Rolls and an apple pie or apple crisp ( That was my biggest decision of the day ) YUM !!! and that's how my day continued until it was time to go back out again to pick up Reagan from school, I ran upstairs to brush my hair before I left and that's when I saw it..... I hadn't showered all day, my hair was still pulled back, I still had on my sweats, not a scrap of make up was to be seen and well, I looked like I had just rolled out of bed. I just stood and stared, a little taken aback. I'm a shower first thing in the morning gal, I NEVER wear sweats throughout the day unless I'm deathly ill, my hair is always done, my face is always moisturised and with a little make up, I always look like I am ready for my day. I looked at my watch and I had 5 mins to fix my hair, brush my teeth and put on a little make up, no time for a change of clothes, it was what it was, I put dinner on to simmer, the rolls were rising, the apple crisp was baking and I ventured out of my house for the second time that day into the cold and rain, I picked up my girls, we came home and were greeted by the amazing aromas of soup and apple crisp (no fake Glade this time) the bread rolls had doubled and were ready for baking, the table was set and soon as a family we sat down and ate a meal together sharing the happenings of our day and you know what ? It was the perfect day. It didn't matter that I didn't look like my usual put together self, it was what was in my heart that made the day so perfect. The contentment of having a wonderful family to provide for and a business where I can come and go as needed and work in my sweats, my customers will never know (unless they read this) and it sure as heck didn't matter that I wasn't wearing any make up, I was just happy being me and doing what I love. I've a feeling there might be more "Throw on the sweats and go" kind of days around here, though I will shower and fix my hair, that was kinda gross, by the time the realization hit that I hadn't showered it was another 6hrs before I could stand under those jets and that just kind of left me with an 'ick' feeling.

My favorite shades of orange

2010-10-18T16:42:00.000-04:00

I'm not generally an orange loving person but for a couple of months out of every year it becomes one of my favorites

Who can resist pumpkin patch orange ?

Or the orange glow of a fire on a crisp Autumn night ?

Even Jack Frost can't defeat these hardy flowers as they give us one more glorious glimpse of color before Old Man Winter shows up

Why do I need a wider window ledge ?

2010-10-15T15:02:00.000-04:00

So that all the flowers Reagan picks for me don't end up in my kitchen sink.

Bouquets from the florist are beautiful but ones hand picked by a 7 y/o are so much more special

It's October

2010-10-12T23:54:00.000-04:00

You know what that means right ? It means that it's Breast cancer awareness month. Have you done your self breast examination this month ? Are you up to date on your Mammogram ? You know that place on your breast that just doesn't feel/ look right ? Go get it checked out now !!!!

Everybody thinks of breast cancer as A) something that happens to somebody else, B) Something only women get, C) Women younger than 35 don't get it , D) It always starts off with a lump.

Guess what ? all of those assumptions are WRONG, it doesn't always happen to somebody else, you and me are just as likely to get it as the person at the end of your street, not only women get it. Yes it's rare for men to get it but they can and do, we had a male family friend diagnosed with it 15 years ago, he underwent chemo and radiation therapy and then went into remission,he was one of the lucky ones. Women of all ages can and do get it, when I was nursing back in VA we had a 16 y/o girl come in for what appeared to be nothing more that Fibrocystic Breast Disease, it did sadly end up being breast cancer. Not all breast cancer starts off with a lump, the most fatal and aggressive type of breast cancer is Inflammatory Breast cancer, it starts off w/ a red area on your breast, is tender and hot to touch, as it progresses you will notice that the breast enlarges, the nipple appearance changes and you may notice a discharge. If you notice any of the above PLEASE go get it checked out. My own mother noticed small changes in one of her breasts, the skin got dimpled and was hot to touch, she blew it off, figured it was an infected mosquito bite, it wasn't until her nipple inverted, her breast tissue turned to almost black and she was in excruciating pain that she saw a Dr, by then it was too late, the cancer had already metastasized into her bones and she died 15 months later. She never got to see her first Grandchild reach her first Birthday, she never saw her son get married, she left behind a father who had to sit back while his one and only child died in front of him, she left behind a husband who worshiped the ground she walked on, I don't get to call up my Mom and ask mothering advice, I have to rely on friends and instinct. Could her death have been prevented ? I don't know, could early detection have given her more time ? Yes, more than likely.
Can early detection of 'traditional' breast cancer save lives ? Absolutely. So go do that breast exam, make sure all the women in your life are doing theirs and if you notice or suspect that by even the remotest chance there could be something wrong make an appt and go see your Dr immediately, your friends and family will thank you for it and you won't miss out on some of the wonderful milestones in your own life and the lives of your loved ones, it might just be the most unselfish thing you've ever done.

In a blink of an eye

2010-10-10T10:16:00.000-04:00

Thursday night I went to bed, Mom to a teen, a tween and a 7 y/o, Friday morning I woke up and found myself the Mom to 2 teens. It doesn't seem possible that I could possibly have 2 teenagers, it doesn't feel right saying "Victoria and the little kids" Ben was always one of the "little kids" now I'm going to have to start saying "Reagan and the big kids"

I was looking through pictures yesterday and came across Ben's Birthday pictures taken last year, he looked like a little boy, he was still wearing a size smaller than his age, he was shorter than me and his feet were about the same size as mine. This year his looks have changed, now he's all teenager no doubt about it, he has the skater hair cut, his legs reach his arm pits, he's an inch taller than me, his feet are 2 sizes larger than mine, he's wearing large youth or small men size clothing and girls are no longer "Icky".

But some things have stayed the same, he is still Ben, the kid who no matter what will stand up for what is right even if it's not the popular choice, still opens doors for his sisters and me, still talks to adults as though they are not an alien species, still adores his little sister (though sometimes they fight like cat and dog), still has stinky feet (I hope that changes one day), still loves Elmo and Cookie Monster, still loves to skateboard everywhere he goes, and is still just a good kid, I know he's mine and so I might be a little partial, but it is what it is, he's a good kid.

He's definitely not perfect, sometimes those hormones kick in and he becomes this alien life form, he still looks like Ben and sounds like Ben but dear Lord, he can get whiny, pouty, mouthy and down right belligerent, and I have to admit that throws me for a loop. Sometimes I see the absurdity of the moment and find myself laughing at his outbursts, (they can be that ridiculous) other times I just get free weeding out of it ( #1 punishment around here ) and sometimes he gets sent to his room like a naughty 2 year old to calm down.

At the end of the day though, he is my son, I love him and wouldn't have him any other way.

Hope year 13 is a wonderful one for you Buddy, love you to the stars and back, always and forever, Mom xox

Scarf Giveaway

2010-10-07T07:30:00.002-04:00

Everybody likes something for nothing right ? With scarf season upon us you might want to get a head start over here

Quick, Easy, Nutritious & Tasty

2010-10-06T12:13:00.001-04:00

Sounds good huh ? I think as busy women we are always looking for something that includes all 4 of those words and my guess is that most of us manage to get in the Nutritious, but the quick, easy and tasty ? Not so easy, seems like we think we have to slave away at the stove for an hour or more in order to feed our family something that we see fit for their consumption.. Where did we first get that notion ?
Well I have found something that fits each one of those categories and it's something all of the kids and adults in the family enjoy.. I should call it success on a plate, oh and there's very little clean up too, even better :)
Julie was looking for new recipes, another thing I think we all struggle with, coming up with something new and not the same old, same old. So I decided to share with her and all of you, one of our tried and true suppers and one that's so simple your kids can even help with the process.

Tangy Quesadillas
------------------

Roast chicken, torn into bite size pieces
Grated cheese
Cilantro (chopped)
Finely chopped jalepeno (optional)
Bacon
BBQ Sauce
Soft tortilla shells

Mix the cheese, cilantro and jalepeno together in a bowl.
Take one tortilla, on one side place your chicken, sprinkle with your cheese mix, pour on a little BBQ sauce, fold the other half of the tortilla over so it looks like a half moon. Place on a skillet at medium heat and cook for 4 mins per side until ligtily browned and the cheese has melted, serve w/ a mixed salad and tada, dinner is served :)
Easy peasy. Sorry about the poor picture quality, but I saw Joys post just as I was serving our dinner and so snapped a quick pic before one of the kids devoured it

Really ?

2010-10-05T17:24:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it's been almost 2 months since I blogged, guess I've been in a blogging slump, ah well, it happens to the best of us right ?

What a difference 2 months makes, Reagan went from 6 to 7 and into 1st Grade, Ben went from 12 to 13 ( at least will be on Friday) and into 7th grade, Victoria graduated High School and started her first job, I gave in and let Victoria's boyfriend give Reagan a puppy for her Birthday... what was I thinking ? the school runs started back up, schedules fell back into place along with Fall sports and Marching band, I have found myself with more hours in the day to do as I please than I have in the last 18 1/2 years and it feels weird and liberating all at the same time.

Just like 95% of the U.S population we are having a tough time making ends meet and so the shop that went into a slump during the Summer also, is now picking up and with the (much) cooler temperatures keeping me more inclined to want to stay inside, I have rekindled my love affair with my sewing machine and we have been inseparable this week creating things for the Fall and upcoming Holiday season, can we really be thinking holidays already ? In fact we have been so inseparable that my husband asked me just the other night if I could maybe drag myself away from the machine for a couple of hours and give him a little attention, I obliged but reminded him that Fred Singer provides clothes for our children, to which he retorted "I provide a roof over their heads" Couldn't argue with that logic, appears that they're both great providers and help immensely in the creativity dept.

Marc helped create these 3 beauties

Fred helped create these

The latter 3 are for sale in the shop The other 3 I'm bound by law to keep :)

August

2010-08-10T09:48:00.000-04:00

Such a bitter sweet month, a month where we celebrate knowing that we have 1 more month of Summer vacation, yet feel a little sad knowing that we only have 1 more month of Summer vacation.
We get to celebrate Reagan's Birthday, when is a Birthday not fun to celebrate ? I love the build up to Birthday celebrations, but it also reminds me that my 'baby' is no longer a baby, this year she'll be 7, why does that seem like such a big number ?
We have to buy new school supplies, I love buying school supplies almost as much as the kids, but somehow the fun gets sucked out of it knowing that they are going to be used for such a serious purpose... I always buy extras to keep at home for fun projects though, I'm a sucker for brand new crayons and markers.
This Summer Ben and Reagan both went through growth spurts, bah for having to fork out wads more money for new clothes, but yay for all the big Going Back To School sales to lessen the hurt just a tad.
But the one thing I won't be sorry to be rid of ... the constant arguing. After 7 weeks home together the novelty has worn off, the kids are driving each other crazy, they are nit picking the screaming hurts my brain and makes my ears bleed, instead of sleeping in they are getting up earlier and earlier, each one hoping to reach the TV control, the computer, the last serving of cereal, the last pancake, before the others eyelids even beginning to twitch. Last night Reagan had it all planned out, she was getting up early to make B'fast for Marc and me (How sweet was that ?) but she wanted to make pancakes, there were only 2 left, Ben's favorite B'fast food ? Yep, you guessed it, pancakes. At 7am I heard the telling squeak of her bedroom door and then the running of her footsteps down the stairs, her determination to get the last of the pancakes was quite impressive, she made the Breakfasts and bought them up to the bedroom, a smile spreading from one ear to the other, not only had she gotten to make the Breakfasts that she apparently went to bed dreaming about, but she beat her brother, her celebration didn't last too long, within minutes of her 'win' I heard much bigger footsteps running down the stairs and then the little whoop of "Yes" as big brother plonked himself in the big cozy chair, remote in hand and trying to find the one early morning TV show that he could at least tolerate in order to ensure that it would be one little sister couldn't stand, after all where's the fun in finding a show they could both enjoy ?
So yes, I'll be sad to say "Goodbye" to 'Fly by the seat of your pants' days,but to say "Goodbye constant arguing" makes me almost excited to see that big yellow school bus in just 3 short weeks.
*SNIFF* Who am I kidding ? I hate the kids going back to school, I want Summer to last forever, I want lazy days at the beach, in the pool, reading under the willow, playing cards, going on hikes to last forever and ever, I'll even forfeit the crayons and markers if Summer could last just a little bit longer

A weekend of firsts

2010-08-09T08:49:00.000-04:00

I love that for the most part my kids love to try different things that take them out of their comfort zone, I was definitely not that way when I was a child and I have a hard time with it now, so to see my kids embrace new things is like a breath of fresh air.
This weekend a friend of mine hosted a crab feast and what better way to get it going than to go catch the crabs ? (There were back ups just in case)
I had no clue what to expect therefore neither did Reagan but she had so much fun and has requested that we go back and do some more on her Birthday (I think that can be arranged) The crabs were biting one after another which made the whole experience a whole lot more fun.

Once we'd had enough of the heat it was back to Mindy's house for clean up, food prep, and Karaoke. Marc and Ben met us over there (they didn't crab, they golfed instead) Another of our friends set up the Karaoke system and Ben jumped in as though he'd done it all his life, Reagan was a little mike shy and realised karaoke isn't the same as singing along to the radio, but she had a blast regardless.

Love, love, love weekends like this and talking of firsts I also picked the first of my tomato crop. I was a little late in planting and was beginning to wonder if we'd ever get tomatoes this year but sure enough they've started to come along nicely.

Drastic times call for drastic measures

2010-08-06T09:42:00.000-04:00

Living here in MD we are visited here every Summer with a myriad of annoying bugs, after this year I may want to move to Alaska where I only need to worry about mosquitoes. This Summer has been HOT and because of it it has been a bad year for ticks and fleas, blech, blech, blech.
Our biggest problem this year are the fleas, OMG, I have spent more time and money trying to eradicate them from our lives this Summer than any other year and I think they are taking out their revenge on me. I wear socks around the house and they climb to the top of my sock and bite me all around the sock band, looks lovely.
I'm itchy and it's driving me nuts but something has bitten me between 2 toes, it's blistered up, the toe is red and inflamed and it HURTS !!! Last night I couldn't sleep it itched so much, I got up and went into the bathroom to spray some anti itch stuff on it only to find the bottle was empty, I was almost beside myself, I looked in my draw to see what I had and lo and behold I had some Vagisil cream left over from a yeast infection earlier in the year (I know TMI) now if it can work for my girl parts I reckon it can work on my not so delicate parts right ? so I covered my toe and guess what ? Immediate relief, OMG it felt so good. Of course because my toe itched the other bites decided to itch, so I covered myself in Vagisil, went back to bed and had a glorious night sleep.

Sweet taste of Summer

2010-07-30T20:13:00.003-04:00

One of our favorite summer activities is to go fruit picking, is there anything more rewarding than going out, picking fresh produce and then bringing it home to turn it into something even more wonderful ?
Monday, Reagan and I ventured out to pick blueberries (So much easier than strawberries) and purchase fresh peaches at one of our favorite farms in order to come home and bake one of Reagan's favorite cakes, Peach and Blueberry Pound cake .
This cake has to be one of our favorites, it's perfect all year round, served alone at tea time or served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream as a tasty desert

Peach and Blueberry Pound Cake

-------------------------------------

1/2 C Softened butter

1 1/4 C Sugar

3 Eggs

1/4 C Milk

2 1/2 C Cake Flour

2 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Salt

2 1/4 C chopped peeled peaches

2 C Blueberries

In a mixing bowl cream butter and sugar . Beat in eggs one at a time. Beat in milk. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt ; add to creamed mixture. Stir in blueberries and peaches. Pour into a greased and floured 10 inch fluted tube pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 60 - 70 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan for 15 mins, remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with confectioners sugar if desired.
ENJOY !!!!

No need for NASA ?

2010-07-29T13:18:00.001-04:00

Last night we were sat eating a nice family dinner and the topic of circumcision came up. (don't most families have those types of discussions at dinner ?) Ben asked "What exactly is circumcision ?" so I explained it to him, he then asked if the penis looked different, I told him that yes it did, that it always reminded me a little of a rocket ship, I also went on to say that I wouldn't be surprised if in 10 years or so there will be far more uncircumcised boys than ever, to which Reagan pondered and then exclaimed, "So I guess we won't have to go to NASA" O.M.G, where does this child get her sense of humor from ?

Virus's are the worst

2010-07-20T13:38:00.000-04:00

And I'm not talking the runny nose, sore throat, tummy ache, throwing up kind I'm talking the one that hit my computer a month ago and hasn't yet been resolved, whence the looooong break in posting. I hope to be able to resume normal postings in the next week or so, until then I'll check in when I can and leave you with a shop update for those of you who may be interested in new oven mitts, placemat sets perfect for a Summer picnic or a handy dandy clothespin bag.

The Best and The Worst

2010-06-15T13:21:00.000-04:00

We have fabulous neighbors that live across the street from us and between our 2 households we appear to have come up with a bit of a bartering system, I do all of their clothing alterations and in return we get fresh produce straight from their garden, at least that was until a couple of weeks ago when Reagan returned some shorts I had mended and she came home with a humungous bag of Kettle Corn... O.M.G, that stuff is awesome, just the right combination of sweet, salty and crunchy to satisfy the 3pm munchies and the best part, 36 calories per cup, if you do Weight Watchers that equals 1 point. So it's tasty and guilt free a win win situation all the way around, can't beat that right ?

Now for the worst, have you bought Old Navy flip flops this year ? O.M.G, could they make them more uncomfortable ? I think not. What happened to the softer rubber, the slighter thicker thong between the toes to prevent rubbing ? I don't know about you but I'd rather pay $5 for one pair and have something wearable and comfortable than go for the $2 special this past weekend and end up w/ flip flops that make you want to walk barefoot and risk the bee stings than actually subject your feet to that hard plastic mess. I'm all for a bargain but when it comes to the cost of comfort and especially in the Summer, forget it. Old Navy, please go back to your original materials and up the price a little, we really wouldn't mind. On a plus note, the kids sizes are still the original materials, last night I stuck my size 7 feet into my daughter's size 2 flip flops to walk out to the garage and they felt just right.

When life hands you fabric scraps (and cardboard)

2010-06-13T13:11:00.000-04:00

Make bookmarks.
If you sew and are anything like me you have tons and tons of fabric scraps sitting around somewhere, they're too small for a large project but too big to just toss and so we set them aside for the day we start quilting.... yeah right. I'm also one of those sewers that is helping to keep Wrights in business by buying their Bias Binding as opposed to making my own so I have all of those little cards laying around too,but I KNEW that one day they would become useful, and that day is today. I was determined to come up w/ a project to use up fabric scraps, Reagan wanted to give her classmates gifts, she mentioned a pillow each... Hahaha, she's a funny girl, 24 kids and 5 days, I don't think so, but bookmarks to accompany their Summer reading books, perfect right ?
So without further ado I went to work, they are so easy to make I figured I'd write a quick tutorial for them, in case some of you out there are in need of quick projects too, and no worries if you don't sew , a hot glue gun works just as well.

Take your cardboard insert from a pkg of binding, or a piece of cardboard measuring 2 inches x 5 inches and a piece of fabric measuring 13 1/2 inches x 3 1/2 inches

Place cardboard in the middle of the fabric

Fold your seam allowance over the edges of the cardboard and using a hot iron, press. do this on all 4 sides.

Once completely covered

Straight stitch close to the edge (or hot glue the edges down)

Stitch around all 4 sides and then take a hole punch, find the center top of your bookmark and punch 1 hole

Take 11 inches of co ordinating ribbon

Thread through the top and voila you have a bookmark to keep or giveaway with a favorite book as a special gift.

Fads, the art of negotiation and a lesson in manners

2010-06-08T13:08:00.000-04:00

Who knew that a simple rubber band in the shape of some tangible item that springs back to its original shape even when pulled out in all directions could possibly be the next craze in America to appeal to Kindergartners and beyond ?
I had never even heard of them until a friend mentioned that they had been banned from her child's school, then another friend in a different state mentioned that her 5 y/o was crazy about them, I had just asked what they were and in walked Ben with 2 rubber things on his wrist,immediately I knew what they had to be, he showed them to me, exclaimed how cool he thought they were and away he went, all was quiet until Reagan caught sight of them "You have Silly Bandz ? No Way !!" That weekend a 6 y/o with chore money burning a hole in her pocket was walking the aisles of TRU in hopes of finding the much sought after Silly Bandz, 5 minutes later Ben came around from another aisle all flushed looking "Reagan, I just found the last packet of Silly Bandz" Her face lit up like a Christmas tree, seriously you'd have thought it was christmas with the yips of joy, hugs and sheer excitement that started to exude from her body.
The following week at school the trading began, apparently the presence of Silly Bandz must have made it's first true appearance in our town over that one weekend. There were stories of who traded what with who, who wasn't go to be friends with another if they didn't trade a bunny for a seal, what boy was going to beat up another because his Girlfriend traded the Silly Bandz he had given her, with another... it was CRAZINESS I tell ya.
Thursday rolled around and Reagan bounced out of school with a smug look on her face, looking oh so happy with herself. I asked "What's with the big smirk" "Well" she started off, Nubanu gave Stephen a heart Silly Bandz, he didn't want it and so gave it to Zachary, he likes me and gave it to me *Giggle giggle* " At that Victoria's ears perked up, "You have a heart Silly Bandz ? Let me see" Little sister dutifully took it off and gave it to big sis "I want it" Whined Victoria (Seriously)Reagan told her she could wear it to her Graduation that night and that was it, so a deal was made. The following day the original recipient of the heart S.B decided she wanted it back, Reagan told her point blank, nope, no can do, Monday the original recipient told her more forcefully this time "I want that silly Bandz back, I'm not going to be your friend if you don't give it back." To which Reagan responded "You might want to use your manners and say please" To which original recipient said "Please *HUFF*" and the response she was given was "That's better, you can have a bunny Silly Bandz, just not the heart." and that was the end of that, I believe Victoria is still wearing the much coveted heart, Reagan has a stash that she has decided not to wear to school "Because they get annoyng" and Ben walked out the door wearing an armful this morning.
Here's my question of the day Why can't I come up with some silly invention like a Silly Bandz and cause it to become the next fad ?

She did it

2010-06-04T13:48:00.000-04:00

I can not believe that it's possible for me to be the mother of a High School Graduate.
15 1/2 years ago, 2 1/2 year old Victoria left home for the first time to attend Pre School, in one hand she had her Barney book bag, clutched in the other was her Pooh Bear stuffed toy, last night, 18 year old Victoria walked off a stage shaking hands w/ school administration with her right hand and clutched in her left was her High School Diploma.
Makes a Momma a little teary. Congratulations Victoria, we love you !!!

What a difference 20 years makes

2010-06-02T18:11:00.000-04:00

20 years ago I was living in England, I couldn't fathom ever being a mother,had no idea what it was like to live anywhere but the one house I'd lived in all my life, I'd never driven a car, swung a golf club or eaten sushi.
Now I'm living in the U.S, we're now in our 5th house and in State #3. I'm the proud mommy of 3 great kids and run a regular taxi service shuttling them between school, friends and work, sushi is a regular diet staple around here and today whilst out having fun and celebrating our 20th wedding Anniversary, I beat Marc for the first time at golf.. well, not really golf, it was putt putt, but hey I still beat him... he blames it on the heat and allergies, me, I'm blaming it on my wicked putting skills today :)

The last 20 years have been an adventure that's for sure, sometimes I've wondered if we'd ever reach this milestone, other times I couldn't fathom not.
So now we're onto the next 20, and will be kicking it off with our first born graduating high school tomorrow evening, hard to imagine that so much can possibly happen in such a period of time, especially when it feels that our Wedding just took place a couple of years ago.
So hun it's onward and upward, let's see where the next 20 years takes us.

In the country at night

2010-05-31T18:09:00.000-04:00

I have lived in both town and country and can I just say that night time in the country is 10 times louder than in the city. In the city it's just people shouting, car engines and the occasional siren, I can sleep in the city with my windows open, the sounds of the city streets become white noise and I can sleep like a baby.
In the country it's a whole different ball game, during the day time, the only sounds I hear are the birds chirping and children laughing... love it, but at night, OMG, whole different ball game, it starts with the crickets chirping, quickly followed by what must be some of the biggest bull frogs, then the cicadas kick off, followed by an owl in the nearby woods and the Whip-Poor-Wills.
I love to sit out under the stars with a mug or glass of something and take in all the sounds around me, but when it's time for bed forget it, no windows open in this house, the sounds are so loud and so different that they never become white noise and alas I have to close up my windows, if I were to fall asleep to the night time orchestra, I would awaken at 5am, to the Dawn Chorus of all the birds that manage to roost and sleep in the trees around us.
Never in a million years would I have believed the country to be a place of endless noise at night

The winner is .....

2010-05-23T09:02:00.000-04:00

Victoria from http://victoriamiller.typepad.com/the-granny-diaries/ (sorry my link up still isn't working)
Victoria.. the dinosaur print lunch kit will be on its way tomorrow.

To the rest of you thank you so much for entering.

Several of you asked where I bought my PUL from, I buy mine from Hancock Fabrics

Giveaway Day

2010-05-17T07:58:00.001-04:00

It's Giveaway Day again over at sew mama sew (Click the title of this post and it'll take you over there) and to celebrate the beginning of the picnic season I am giving away one reusable lunch kit in your choice of fabrics offered. Each kit comes complete with a Sandwich wrap, 2 snack bags and a cloth napkin. No more plastic bags or paper napkins filling up the landfills.
Sandwich wraps double as a placemat, no more lying your food on nasty picnic or cafeteria tables.
Each wrap and snack bag is lined with PUL (Polyurethane laminated fabric) making them easy to keep clean, just wipe them down and reuse time and time again, want to throw them in the washing machine ? No problem. How about the clothes dryer ? Absolutely, though air drying would be better.
Want to win a set ? just leave me a comment telling me one of your favorite Summer activities along with your fabric choice.
This Giveaway is open to everyone(yes even all of you across the pond) and will close midnight May 20th. On May 21st early in the morning I will let the random generator work it's magic and post who the lucky winner is.

Good Luck !! and don't forget to check out all the other great giveaways. For some reason my link up won't work, so to find Giveaway participants go on over to www.SewMamaSew.com

Fabric choices
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Happy Birthday Dad

2010-05-16T23:14:00.002-04:00

Had my Dad still been alive, today would have been his Birthday, I mentioned that to Reagan this afternoon and in true Reagan fashion she responded "Then we should bake his favorite cake" And so that is what we did.
Dad's favorite cake was a Victoria Sandwich Sponge cake filled with strawberries and fresh cream. As luck would have it I had gone strawberry picking with the girls yesterday and had made my first batch of jam for the season this morning, so everything was set for a wonderful Birthday cake and to remember the life of the person who would have devoured at least half of it.

Victoria Sponge Cake
---------------------

For the Cake
1/2 C butter, softened
1C Granulated sugar
4 Large eggs
2C Cake flour
2tsp Baking powder
Pinch of Salt
1tsp Vanilla extract
4 Tbsp Milk

Strawberry and Whipped cream filling
-------------------------------------
4 Tbsp Strawberry Jam
2 C Fresh strawberries, sliced
1 1/2 C whipping cream, chilled
2 Tbsp Granulated sugar

Topping
-------
Confectioners sugar to dust
Strawberries to garnish

Instructions
-------------

1. Preheat oven to 350 degress. Butter and flour 2, 8 inch cake pans. Line bottom of pans with parchment paper

2. In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt

3. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla; then add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. On low speed slowly add the flour mixture. When flour mixture has been fully incorporated add milk 1 tbsp at a time, mix well into the batter

4. Pour batter into each cake pan. Bake in pre heated oven for 20 - 25 mins.

5. Turn cakes out onto cooling rack after 10 mins, let cool completely

6. Once cakes are completely cooled, spread one layer with strawberry jam, add sliced strawberries on top of the jam.
Whip cream, adding 2 tbsp sugar, until peaks form. Spread over the strawberries. Place other layer on top.
Dust with powdered sugar and garnish with strawberries.
ENJOY !!!

Why I love Etsy

2010-05-02T16:56:00.003-04:00

Etsy is becoming my one stop shopping spot, I can get pretty much anything I want/need all in one place without leaving my home and the best part is the people you find over there.
Recently I was hearted by a fellow Etsian who runs a soap shop, not sure what it was about her shop but I fell in love, it was one of those moments where you are pulled in but you're not sure why. I've never bought soap online, I don't like not smelling a product first, I have incredibly sensitive skin and so I'm really careful as to what I use on it and bar soap in general just does nothing for me, I'm a liquid soap kinda gal along w/ body wash on a scrubbie, though I will use a Dove soap bar on my face in the shower, but I was all out.
I contacted Deb the owner of the shop DedaNotions, explained to her about my sensitive skin and how dry my face gets and wondered if she had something. Right away she emailed me back telling me of her soap named 'Despair' Now I'll admit the name didn't make me feel real warm and fuzzy and then she went on to tell me how she'd originally made it for her son who was at the time suffering from acne, again that made me question it, why would I use the same soap as a kid w/ acne ? She also told me of her soap 'Innocence' totally fragrance free, sounded better than Despair too, right ? I debated trying one or the other and then she kindly offered to send me a sample of each.. ok, how's that for Customer Service ? A week went by and honestly, I never gave the soap samples much more of a second thought, though I did check out her shop a couple more times. Then this past Wednesday I went to my mail box and there was a pkg in there for me, I had no idea what it could be, I kept trying to remember what I'd ordered and then this awesome aroma came up from the envelope, Lemongrass to be exact.When I got into the house and opened up the package I was expecting to see small note card sized bars of soap, but instead Deb had sent me 2 full size bars, Holy cow !!! I emailed her right away and thanked her, she went onto tell me that she'd first mailed them to the wrong town, so the samples were returned to her, she felt horrid for the delay and so sent me 2 full size bars... O.M.G can we say "Excellent customer Service" I hadn't even considered it a delay and because she was sending me samples and not even wanting me to pay the S&H, so for her to go all out like that really impressed me.
The following day I tried both soaps and O.M.G (again) they're awesome. Despair is my absolute favorite soap of all time, it leaves my face feeling clean, moisturized and glowing after every wash, my face feels so good I don't even want to put make up on over it. I've used it for 4 days now and have already noticed a huge change in my complexion, it's no longer dull, it's healthy looking, my skin has honestly never felt better and the smell of the Lemongrass is to die for. Today I used it in place of my body wash and again I've fallen in love, Deb has herself a new customer.
I have also used the 'Innocence' bar on both my face and body, again with great results, but I like the smell of 'Despair' better, I am now using 'Innocence' on my 6 y/o, she thinks it's cool because it came in the mail and a "Lady really made this".
So if you're looking for a new soap go check out DedaNotions over at Etsy www.DedaNotions.Etsy.com I promise you , you won't be disappointed.

*Anyone know how I can directly link ? I used to be able to, now I just get a box pop up and my link won't copy in there, it goes directly to my text.*

Reagan's Chicken Noodle Soup

2010-04-27T19:10:00.002-04:00

I am in shock. Reagan asked if she could make dinner tonight, she wanted to make soup with a recipe she'd made up. Admittedly it was pretty much like every other chicken noodle soup recipe out there but she tweaked hers and added her own flair and O.M.G it worked, her chicken noodle soup is the best I've ever eaten I could have had 3 bowls of it.(Ben did) She's happy to share her recipe with you, but please remember she's only 6 and she didn't measure any of the seasonings, just threw in what looked about right and tasted it until it was perfecto.

Reagan's Chicken Noodle Soup... Serves 4
-----------------------------

3 Chicken Breasts
2 Potatoes... cut into small cubes
2 carrots... Cut into small cubes
3 C Chicken Broth
1 C Water
Lemon Pepper
Salt
Black Pepper
Poultry Seasoning
Egg Noodles

1) Season chicken breasts with lemon pepper and a little extra black pepper to add zing
2)Cook chicken breasts until no longer pink inside
3)Cut up chicken into cubes and set aside
4)Pour chicken broth and water into a large saucepan, stir in salt, pepper and poultry seasoning
5) Add chcken, potatoes and carrots to the broth and bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 mins, add egg noodles and continue simmering for another 20 mins.

Be sure to taste and adjust seasonings to suit your palette

ENJOY !!!

The difference between boys and girls

2010-04-24T14:32:00.004-04:00

I'm the mommy to 2 girls and a boy, the girls are 18 and 6, the boy is smack dab in the middle at 12.

The last couple of weeks I've started on my Spring cleaning and have now finished all 3 kids rooms, the girls were the first to be done. In each one I found the typical girl stuff, make-up, hair pretties, magazines such as Seventeen and Teen People, Victoria had the usual teen girl stuff, dead flowers given from a date months ago, perfumes without the lids and a dozen different lotions, Reagan's room was full of stuffed toys, Littlest Pet Shop paraphernalia, tiny shoes belonging to Polly Pockets, and play make up... everything looked familiar and smelt as it should and then it was onto the 'Boy' room and Oh BOY !! The first thing that really hit me was the smell, I'm not even kidding, even a clean tween boy smells stinky, what is it with that ? I do remember reading an article a while back when Victoria was about 13, how Mother Nature bascally works her magic with the pheromones of a daughter making her smell disgusting to the father... interesting stuff huh ? So I'm wondering if the same works for the mothers of sons, because I'll tell you what, if a boy every approached me smelling like that when I was dating, I'd have sprinted in the opposite direction. I know he showers everyday, I know he uses deodorant and body spray and I know his clothes are always clean, so what the heck is the deal ? Before I could begin I had to open up a couple of windows, thank God it was a nice day.
Then I couldn't help but notice the other differences, I was finding things that I was totally oblivious to, things that looked like they belonged to something but what I have no clue. Instead of Polly Pocket shoes, I was finding miniature pedals, instead of little accessories belonging to plastic puppies I was finding teeny tiny wheels, there was no make up but these weird little metal and plastic things about 1 1/2 inches long, turned out they were mini screwdrivers for the mini pedals and mini wheels to make mini BMX bikes and skateboards.
There were no magazines with innocuous names like Seventeen but a magazine named Thrasher.. HELLO !! I had to make sure my son wasn't getting the big boys to buy his magazines, so I flipped through only to find pages and pages of skateboarders, BMX'ers, dirt bikers and other extreme sports. Everything just looked and smelt foreign.
When I was pregnant with Victoria I really thought she was going to be a he, I couldn't even imagine raising a girl, now I'm seeing that I am so better cut out for girls than boys, I understand what the girls are talking about, when Ben tells me how he just achieved a 360, just did a perfect kick flip or did a 6 stair downtown, I just nod my head, smile and add lots of encouraging sounds, making a mental note to research what he just said so that I can at least look like I know what he is talking about next time.
However the one good thing about stepping into the cave of the unknown this time was that I made a collection of treasures that I'd found and asked what each one was for and became educated. The next time I step on another of those damn plastic screwdriver thingies, I'll know it can go out in the garbage, because seriously you only need one screwdriver of each size, not a million. Thanks to Thrasher I now know that when he tells me he did a 6 step downtown, he'd better watch out and it had better be a Sunday when the govt buildings are closed and when he tells me he did a perfect 360 I can be totally 100% genuinely impressed because I know I sure as heck would never be able to launch myself and a skateboard up in the air and turn a full 360 degrees without falling in a huge heap and breaking every bone in my body.

The cost of some new air deodorizer ? $6
The cost of a new curtain rod ? $4
The cost of a new blanket ? $20
The cost of Thrasher magazine ? Priceless... I now know what my son is talking about and we can really communicate until he becomes a full fledged teen that is and forgets that to communicate we have to use words, not grunts.

Earth Day 2010

2010-04-22T12:48:00.005-04:00

So what have you done today or in the last year to become more earth friendly ?

Personally for us as a family we have tried to cut down on all things disposable, no more paper napkins, paper plates, plastic cups or plastic baggies, we are now a cloth family. Not only is it good for the earth to stop filling up the land fills therefore, needing more space to throw our junk but it's good for the pocket book too, no more throwing our money out with the garbage literally.

This morning Reagan asked, just like last year, "Shouldn't everyday be Earth Day ?" and again I responded with "Yes Reagan, it should."
Last year she was home with me and so we got to do some fun projects, this year she is in school, but that didn't stop her from wanting to do something, she ran around finding all the recyclables for me to load up and take with me when I pick her up from school and then we'll run out to the recycling plant.
She also asked if she could have one of the reusable lunch kits I made yesterday to add to the store, I told her I needed it for the store to which she responded "But Mommy, wouldn't this be the perfect day to start using one ?" Can't argue with that logic can you ?
So off she went with her new handy dandy lunch kit and I'm here sewing up a storm adding more to the store as I go along for all of you out there in Cyber Land who are also looking at ways to 'Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Today in recognition of Earth Day all Clothespin bags are on sale at the reduced price of $10 and for one day only all of the Reusable Lunch Kits will be on sale for $15
If there is a print you would like but isn't available right now just convo me, and we'll work something out.

Hot Cross Buns

2010-04-02T22:43:00.009-04:00

Hot cross buns! Hot cross buns!
One a penny two a penny - Hot cross buns
If you have no daughters, give them to your sons
One a penny two a penny - Hot cross buns

Today Reagan made her first batch of Hot Cross Buns, once they were baked and dripping with ooey gooey goodness we went around delivering them to friends and neighbors (legend tells us that sharing Hot Cross Buns on good Friday brings both good health and happiness for the next year to the recipient and the gift giver) Personally I think anytime we bake and share food with our friends and loved ones we get immediate gratification which is always heart healthy and who wouldn't feel loved after being gifted some wonderful yummy food ? (especially when baked by a 6 y/o :-) )

She measured

She rolled

She kneaded

She waited patiently for her dough to rise

She changed her outfit and then rolled buns

She glazed and baked

If you would like to make your own, we used this recipe posted over at http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/2009/04/honey-soaked-hot-cross-buns.html. The honey makes a wonderful change from cane sugar.

Honey-soaked hot cross buns, from my mom
Ingredients for buns:
1 package of dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water plus 2 tablespoons of water
3/4 cup of milk
½ cup of butter (one stick)
2 tablespoons of honey, plus more for glazing
1 teaspoon of salt
½ teaspoon of cinnamon
½ teaspoon of nutmeg
3 eggs
2/3 cup raisins or currants
4 cups of flour (plus more if dough is too wet)

Ingredients for frosting:
1 cup confectioner sugar
2 tablespoons of water
1 tablespoon of honey

Method:
Combine dry yeast and 1/4 cup warm water.
Warm over low the milk, butter, salt and 2 tablespoons of honey until the butter has melted. (Do not let it come to a boil!) Add to yeast mixture.

Whisk in cinnamon, nutmeg and eggs into the mixture. Add 2/3 cup raisins and slowly add the ﬂour, one cup at a time.

Knead on a lightly floured surface for five minutes until the dough is smooth and resilient.

Let rise covered in greased bowl until double.Then punch down the dough and divide into 24 balls and place, sides touching, in a greased and ﬂoured 13x9x2 pan and let rise again. With a sharp knife, cut crosses into each bun.

Bake at 375 for 15 minutes.

Glaze with honey (as much or as little as you like) and bake five minutes more. Meanwhile, stir together the confectioner sugar, the honey and the two tablespoons of water to make the frosting. When you take the buns out of the oven, cool for 10 minutes, then cross each bun with the frosting

April Fools Day

2010-04-01T18:33:00.003-04:00

We may not have gotten him soaked (that time) but his reaction was priceless.(Look up on the top left hand corner of the door) Ben we love you :-)

And there went March

2010-03-31T14:26:00.008-04:00

I can not believe we are into the very last day of March already, where oh where has the last month gone ?
For me a huge chunk of it was spent behind a sewing machine sewing up fun things for the store like bright and cheery oven mitt sets
Clothespin bags in anticipation of the warmer days ahead making way for us to hang out our wash

Teacher appreciation gifts

A couple of gifts were thrown in the mix and then on the first day of Spring we were treated to gorgeous weather, weather warm enough to beckon us to the beach for the first time this year, it was glorious

Now we are in the early days of Spring break and the throes of Easter preparation, the eggs are cooking as I type, in order to get ready for decorating later tonight.
Talking of eggs I'm going to share with you my fool proof way to the perfect hard boiled egg, one where you can be guaranteed no cracked shells and no icky grey around the egg yolk.
Add your eggs to a pan of cold water, bring to a rolling boil and then turn off the heat. Yes, I said turn it off. Let the eggs sit for about 10 - 15 mins ... the eggs will cook themselves in the hot water. Pour out the hot water and refrigerate the eggs. Voila, the perfect hardboiled egg.

Tomorrow the perfect Easter cookie. See you then.

2 things I have learnt today

2010-02-28T18:15:00.004-05:00

1) I am an incredibly impatient person

2) I do not have ADD

How did I draw to these conclusions today ? My SIL IM'd me on Facebook Saturday night to let me know she had finally gone into full blown labor, for a while it was just the 2 of us talking, my brother was in bed sleeping, her family were all tucked into their own beds and the 2 of us were visiting, she was telling me how she was feeling and asking if what she was feeling was normal, then things got a little too uncomfortable for her and she went and woke up my brother. I then went to bed, anticipating that I was soon going to be an Auntie, I took the portable phone upstairs with me and placed it on my nightstand, I slept deep and panicked when I woke up, sure that I had missed the call, checked the ID unit, nope hadn't missed the call. I came downstairs, Chris had said he might email me, checked my email.. nothing, checked my Facebook, yep a message from Chris, Boo, it was about something totally unrelated but did mention they were now at the hospital. That was 6:30 am their time, 1:30am my time.
I waited and waited for the call telling me that a new member of our family had arrived, I ran knocking everyone out of my way every time the phone rang (never them) I didn't want to go anywhere, I must have sat at the computer staring at the screen hitting refresh every 2 minutes, wondering if my SILs sister was going to IM me with an update, then I remembered a very important soccer game was on the TV and she'd be glued to that.
I had sewing to do, orders to fill and I did a little of that, but all the while wondering what was going on 3,000 miles away, I finally gave up with the sewing, it wasn't going too well. At about 3pm a chat box popped up on Facebook, it was my brother FINALLY, he asked if I was here, yes, yes and yes, I fully expected a call to come in, nothing, then up popped "She's in the final stages" Thank goodness !! Then he went on to tell me that she was at 5cm, uhm, no that's not the final stages, that's halfway there, I didn't have the heart to tell him that (they're 1st time parents), so we chatted for a bit and then he logged off because his phone battery was getting low and he needed to save some juice for later.
I knew the next time I would hear from my baby brother he would be telling me that he was a Daddy.
Knowing that Sharon was only at 5cm, I knew there was maybe about another 4 or 5 hours, finally I was able to relax and take my mind off of them for a while and get some stuff done around here, I fixed my sewing machine problem, fixed dinner, tidied up, watched a little TV and then about 9pm the phone rang, I sprinted, I hurdled I got to that phone before anyone else even heard the first ring finish, and I answered it to this garbled noise, WTH was that ? Who was that ? OMG it was my brother, I have no clue what he first said to me, he was having a 'moment' and it was surreal, finally he told me "It's a little girl, she's beautiful" He then told me to hang on, she was about to let out her first cries, I gathered Ben and Reagan around the phone with me and then all of a sudden we heard that wonderful noise of a baby's first cry, is there anything better ?
Ben had a grin plastered from one side of his face to the next, Reagan's eyes sparkled and cheeks flushed, she was no longer the youngest and she had a baby girl cousin, could life get any sweeter in her world ? I think not.
So baby Grace, welcome to the world, you taught me that patience is not my thing, never have I been more impatient for something to happen in my whole entire life and no I do not have ADD, my mind was on your Mummy, Daddy and you the whole time.
I'm yet to meet you and see pictures of you with your eyes open, but I love you so deeply it almost hurts xoxo

It's the weekend

2010-02-27T09:16:00.002-05:00

For most families the weekend means spending quality family time together, right ? Here it means that Ben and Reagan will annoy the living crap out of each other until one or both of them get hurt and today is definitely no exception, I am at the point where it's almost white noise, for Marc not so much, he escapes to run errands, (I swear he makes them up as he drives away).
So today heard from the living room, while Ben was trying to watch T.V

Ben: Reagan you make a horrible window

Reagan: That's why I'm standing here, practice makes perfect.

O.M.G !!!

5 minutes later, Reagan came out crying / whining, Ben went to block a slap from her and elbowed her square in the mouth.

Have a great weekend folks !!

The Perfect Man

2010-02-15T09:56:00.002-05:00

According to Reagan (6 y/o) The perfect man is a snowman.

Reagan: I want my husband to be a snowman

Me: Why ?

Reagan : I can dress him how I like and when he gets on my nerves I can take him to the beach or blow a hair dryer on him.

Bwahahaha

When the weather outside is frightful

2010-02-10T20:52:00.004-05:00

We have to do something inside, that's delightful. Today that consisted of Reagan and I whipping up some scrumptious oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and oatmeal raisin cookies. DELICIOUS !! and because you might be in need of some baking therapy while stuck inside, or just because you want to bake something for fun we're going to share our recipe with you.

COOKIES
--------
2 sticks butter 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 C granulated sugar 2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla 1 1/2 C all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt 3 C oats
1 C raisins ( we used 1/2 C raisins and 1/2 C chocolate chips)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Beat together sugars and sugar until creamy
3. Add eggs and vanilla, beat well
4.Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt, mix well.
5. Stir in oats
6. Divide mixture into 1/2, adding chocolate chips to one 1/2 and raisins to the other.
7. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet
8.Bake 12 - 14 mins or until golden brown
9. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet ; remove to wire rack.
ENJOY !!!

I was also in need of some fabric therapy and so whipped up a pair of two handed oven mitts and a co ordinating kitchen towel in some bright cheery fabric featuring Summer fruits. I'm in desperate need of cheery and bright right now, enough of the white already and in case you are too, they are available in the store www.thegivingtree.etsy.com (Blogger isn't co operating with me tonight to give you a direct link)

Be careful what you wish for....

2010-02-09T23:31:00.014-05:00

Because you might just get it. For weeks and weeks several friends were hoping and praying for snow, they'd wake up pissed at the Northern hemisphere for they had lots of the white stuff and we were still brown, cold and gloomy. Then I got on the band wagon, yep, it would be nice to see some of the white stuff, just enough to play in for a day or 2 have a snow day off school and then be back to normal again, but noooooo, what do we get ? 2 weekends of HEAVY snow, I'm talking record breaking snow. Bear in mind this town gets an annual average of 8 inches of snow (I know, because I looked it up)On January 30th it started snowing and it didn't stop until it dumped 13 inches of that beautiful cold white stuff on us.
The kids were ecstatic, we all got bundled up and hit the slopes, A.K.A the Elks Lodge, hey don't knock it, in a town of no hills you do whatcha' gotta do, there we enjoyed several hours of sledding enjoyment. Reagan proved to be the dare devil out of the 3, at 6 y/o the other 2 would not have thought much about going down those hills, Reagan laughed so much I thought she was going to pee her pants (really). True to form the schools were closed on Monday.. more sledding, the schools were closed on Tuesday, we attempted sledding, but nope too many people in one spot, no snow just mud, Wednesday, O.M.G still no school, just antsy kids and a crazy Mom, Thursday, reprieve, 2hr late start but it's better than nothing, right ? Friday, school started right on schedule, only to be interrupted by a whole new storm. Seriously now, that's a bit much, the snow started falling at about 3pm Friday and didn't let up until it had dumped another 18 inches on us 30 hrs later.
Sunday it was back to the slopes, this time w/ sleds and snowboards and this Momma decided to give snowboarding a go, fun as heck, ever tried it ? No, then you really should, word of warning though, you will hurt and be stiff as a board for the next X amount of hours, not sure how many because I'm still hurting, wine and Ibuprofen aren't touching it right now. Monday, guess what ? No school, so yes we hit those pesky slopes again, Tuesday, no school,Victoria did, I don't know what, Ben went snowboarding, Reagan and I built snow people, Tonight another freaking storm has started, only this one has started with ice, turned to freezing rain and sleet, is going back to ice and then just for the hell of it, it's going to give us another 4 - 12 inches of snow... these kids will NEVER be going back to school at this rate.
So as of February 9th a town whose annual average snowfall is 8 inches we have received 31 inches and counting.
It's been a blast but Mother Nature after this round, please no more until next year and then can we have it a little more spread out please ? Our kids need to be in school during the gross winter months, not the glorious sunny ones.

The wisdom of hot chocolate

2010-01-26T22:13:00.003-05:00

The Wisdom In Hot Chocolate...

A group of graduates, well established in their careers, were discussing their lives at a class reunion. They decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired, who was always an inspiration to them. During their visit, the conversation turned to complaints about stress in their work, lives and relationships. Offering his guests hot chocolate, the professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot chocolate and an assortment of cups. Some cups were porcelain, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, and some exquisite. He invited each to help themselves to the hot chocolate.

When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in hand, the professor shared his thoughts.“Notice that all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones ? While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. The cup that you are drinking from adds nothing to the quality of the hot chocolate. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What each of you really wanted was hot chocolate. You did not want the cup . . . but you consciously went for the best cups.”

“And soon, you began to eye one another’s cups. Now friends, please consider this . . .Life is the hot chocolate,your job, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life. The cup you have does not define, nor does it change, the quality of life you are living. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the 'hot chocolate' life has provided us.”

Enjoy your hot chocolate!!

Always remember this . . . . . . . . . . The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything that they have!! The richest person is not the one who has the most, but the one who needs the least.

Live simply . . .
Love generously . . .
Care deeply . . .
And Speak kindly . . .

A brewing disaster ?

2010-01-13T23:53:00.002-05:00

Oh boy. I married a coffee drinker, a coffee drinker who can not function unless he gets to the office on at least 4 cups of the heavy leaded stuff. Last night as I was preparing the coffee maker for today I made a mental note "Pick up more coffee" Guess what ? Didn't happen *EEK* What did happen is that the wonderful people from Gevalia sent me a sample pouch in the mail today, when I mentioned to DH tonight at 9pm.. "Uh oh, forgot coffee" he said brightly "No worries you can top it off with this ?" Really ? I truly thought we were all out, so my load was lightened for a while, I just went to load up the coffee maker for tomorrow and I was right there were maybe 5 granules left of the other stuff ... oh boy. In a frenzy I went around opening up freezers (we have 3) , nope, no extra coffee, I opened up the cupboard on my microwave cart where I store all of my tea, thinking (hoping) that there was some coffee in there, for a split second I found some relief in a gold shiny package that soon dissipated when I read 'Mulling Spices' so not the same thing and he would totally know. I then scoured the shelves in the pantry and lo and behold I found 2 little packages of coffee, admittedly they are Jack Daniels flavored and DH hates flavored coffee but with a bit of luck come morning his mind will be so foggy and his taste buds so deadened by the dry air in our house at present that he won't be able to taste the added stuff that he so dislikes. One can only hope, right ?