My First Award!

I would like to thank the Academy.... oops! make that Sandy!
How exciting! I received my first blog award! Thank you Sandy! You are such a sweet and encouraging friend. Thank you for thinking I am deserving! Now I need to follow some instructions that come with this award, which are answer the following questions, in one word (eek!) and pass the award on to 6 others and notify them that they have received it. So here I go!


1. Where is your cell phone? beside me

2. Your hair? askew

3. Your mother? missed

4. Your father? smart

5. Your favorite food? Macaroni Grill's bread

6. Your dream last night? forgotten

7. Your favorite drink? water w/lemon

8. Your dream/goal? raise happy children who love God (oops! Is that more than one? )

9. What room are you in? living room

10. Your hobby? reading

11. Your fear? loss

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? traveling

13. Where were you last night? home

14. Something that you aren’t? boring

15. Muffins? yummy!

16. Wish list item? lap top

17. Where did you grow up? every where

18. Last thing you did? breakfast

19. What are you wearing? pj's

20. Your TV? on

21. Your pets? outside

22. Friends? precious

23. Your life? wonderful beyond belief

24. Your mood? great

25. Missing someone? Mom

26. Vehicle? truck

27. Something you’re not wearing? scowl

28. Your favorite store? TJ Maxx

29. Your favorite color? red

30. When was the last time you laughed? today

31. Last time you cried? Monday

32. Your best friend? Kerry

33. One place that I go to over and over? Church

34. One person who emails me regularly? Kerry

35. Favorite place to eat? many

Now to share with others!

1. Taylor @ taylorsscrap.blogspot.com

I enjoy reading your blog and love the description of yourself! What a fun way to tell others about you!

2. Breanne @ stirredlove.blogspot.com

Thanks for inspiring me in the kitchen. All your dishes look so yummy and I have printed out some that I plan to try myself!

3. let--it--shine.blogspot.com

I enjoy all your wonderful, do-able ideas, but I think my absolute favorite thing is the quote you have on your post by Marianne Williamson. Moving and thought provoking! Thanks for sharing all your talent!

4. Lisa @ mooreminutes.com

Love to see what you have going on over there. Your newest make over is terrific. And that poem! Thanks for passing it on to the rest of us. Think I'm going to need it on a sign!

5. The Nester @ thenestingplacenc.blogspot.com

How clever you are! I am never disappointed by all the things you come up with! You're one of the first blogs I started following and am always looking forward to seeing what you've got up your sleeve for the next blog!

6. Whitney & Ashely @ shanty2chic.blogspot.com

Absolutely love all your ideas and that you are a sister team! My creative juices start flowing whenever I venture on over to your site! Yours is also one of the first blogs I started following, and a favorite!

Christmas Memories and Traditions

Only 11 weeks until Christmas!!!! 11 weeks people! 2 more weeks and we're out of the double digit numbers! Oh my! Well while there's still time let me share some of my favorite Christmas memories and traditions with you.

Growing up we really didn't have any Christmas traditions, but I do have some great memories from those days. One of my favorites is when my mom had a house full of teenage children. Teenage children that would constantly mess with the presents under the tree, shaking them, checking them out, trying to figure out exactly what was inside. Of course we never messed with our siblings gifts, we were only concerned about our own. Well this particular year Mom decided to get a step ahead of us. She wrapped all of our presents while we were at school one day and we came home to see them all happily sitting under the tree. What a wonderful sight this was as we walked in the door! It took us no time at all to drop all the cumbersome things that were in our hands and dash right over to the tree in search of our own presents. Now would be a good time to mention that during this scene Mom just sat on the couch with a sly little grin on her face. Like greedy little scavengers we dove right under the tree and began to examine the gifts for name tags, only very quickly we realized there were none! What???! After she stopped laughing, Mom told us she had 4 different wrapping papers that she used on the presents and each child had their own, but she wouldn't be informing us which one was ours until Christmas morning. Ugh! Well the days between then and Christmas passed and they did so with very little shaking and prodding of the presents. It wasn't very fun unless you knew which ones belonged to you. But on Christmas morning we anxiously gathered around the tree waiting for Mom to pass out our gifts with our individually chosen gift wrap. Mom started grabbing the presents and passing them out and then she grabbed them back and handed us a differently wrapped present than the first one she had issued to us. Then she just started laughing! Again....What???! Well as it turned out Mom forgot which paper belonged to which child! So once again we were stuck with not knowing which gifts were ours. This problem was quickly remedied when Mom finally just passed us all a present and told us to open it so she would be able to tell what went where. What an absolutely unforgettable Christmas she made for us, even if it was by accident! Like I said we didn't really have any Christmas traditions, and I think we were all glad this didn't become one!

Another great memory of mine happened when we were a bit younger, about 4th or 5th grade for me. It was Christmas Eve and Mom and Dad had sent us all off to bed. We had been there for awhile, but of course sleep would not come. The excitement of the next morning loomed in our heads and refused to let us drift off. My sister Tabby and I lay in our bed wide awake, as I'm sure my sister Ronnie and brother Randy did in their bed, waiting... Much to our surprise, we didn't have to wait near as long for some of the excitement as we thought we would, because all of a sudden we heard a noise out in the living room. A noise that we could tell was coming from around the Christmas tree. With wide eyes my sister and I turned to each other only to see an excited but a scared look mirrored on the other sister's face! It had to be Santa! There we lay frozen, completely unable to move because of what the prospect the noise suggested! Should we go out there? Well of course we should! With this decided, we raced anxiously to our bedroom door swung it open and quickly spotted the extra presents that had been added to our tree, but no Santa. Randy and Ronnie arrived at the same moment. We were stunned to say the least. But the hoopla wasn't over, because as we stood there contemplating what we sooo wanted to believe to be the truth, we heard loud stomping sounds on the roof! Once again that look of amazement, wonder, and awe took over our faces and then one of us had the idea to race to Mom and Dad's room to see if they had something to do with this, or if it really was Santa. Into their room we raced and there they were quite comfortably laying in bed. Wow! It must have been Santa! That was the only explanation. How exciting this Christmas was for us, we have never forgotten it. Years later we just couldn't stand not knowing what had really happened, so we finally asked and wouldn't quit until they told us how they did it. Come to find out uncles can be very handy around Christmas time and are extremely gifted when it comes to stomping on roof tops! Well done Mom and Dad!


Now for some traditions.


Well I guess the first Christmas Tradition I remember taking part in was when I married my husband. His mother bought me my first of many Christmas ornaments that she added to each year. This was very special to me. Not only because of my ornament, but because of my husband's. His ornaments that had been given to him over the years by his mother and grandmother became the ones we put on our first Christmas tree, along with the ornament I had been given that year. This of course is something I and my mother in law have continued for my own children. I love the memories that they renew each Christmas as we unwrap them to see what interests my children had and or what activities they participated in. It's like a story of all their years.

Another Christmas tradition we have with our children is taking a picture each year with Santa Claus. I love seeing how much they have changed from one year to the next. A couple of years ago this tradition was in danger of not occurring. Christmas Eve sprang upon us before we knew it and I suddenly realized we hadn't made our trip to the mall for the picture. So into gear I went as the girls and I started racing around to get them ready to go see Santa. Let me tell you with 3 girls, racing isn't nearly as fast as it sounds! Anyway we finally pulled into the suspiciously sparse mall parking lot and walked up to the front entrance only to encounter a locked door. Immediately my mind began racing, wondering what were we going to do for our Santa picture? It was Christmas Eve for goodness sakes and there wouldn't be another opportunity to find a Santa if we didn't find one today! Then I remembered a Santa that would stand outside his home in my sister's neighborhood and pass out candy and wish a Merry Christmas to the cars that stopped. Off we raced to the next town over to hopefully find this Santa working on Christmas Eve. No such luck. I was so tempted to go up and ask this man to slip into his Santa suit for our picture, but decided I better not. Disappointingly we left without our picture and headed home. We were all out of options, or were we? Then it hit me, I knew exactly where to find a Santa and knew he was available to take a picture with us, and **BONUS** we wouldn't even have to wait in line! I told my husband to head on back and directed him to Santa's location. When we pulled up my girls couldn't believe I was going to make them take a picture with this Santa and I quickly let them know they had no choice because we were not going back home without a Santa picture! So as they unwillingly ambled out of the truck at the GAS STATION, I got out my camera and readied it to take the picture. It only took a minute to situate them in front of the station's window painting of Santa and snap my picture. Mission accomplished, Momma happy! As soon as we all climbed back in the truck to head home, we burst out laughing! What a redneck Santa picture! This is one I know they will never forget and one I know my mom would appreciate. Sounds so much like something she would have done! Just in case you're wondering we have continued going to the mall Santa for our pictures since then, but I won't ever forget where to find a Santa should I get in another bind!

This is linked to Redwriting's Twelve Weeks of Christmas. You can check out some more Christmas memories and traditions here:

Mom~A'~Cafe'

We've been having a lot of rain lately and for quite a long time. And do you know what that means? It means my kids are stuck in the house and bored, because of the wet & muddy mess outside. This got me to thinking....


One summer a few years back my kids and I were at home with nothing to do. It had been this way for several days and I could tell by just looking at them they were extremely bored. I hated this for them, because I knew they didn't have the same options for summer entertainment that I did as a child. You know the ones I'm talking about, when you could hop on your bike and head on over to your friend's house and let the fun begin. We would stay out most of the day, just riding around laughing and finding all kinds of things to do and adventures to set out on. Once I remember stumbling upon a secret basketball court that was located in our back alley way. What a find! There was also the creek in town that had a great pond for swimming in when we were little and a dam that we enjoyed as we grew bigger and became better swimmers. None of these things are choices that my girls have. Granted, I'm sure if they used their imaginations they could have come up with something on their own, but I decided they needed a jump start. That's when I came up with Mom-A'-Cafe'.


First thing I did was go into the kitchen to take an inventory of the food we had on hand and see what kind of fun recipe I could come up with. It had to be something that they had never eaten, so that it would be special. I started putting it all together and when I finished I decided that the food needed presentation. You know it had to be fancied up in some way, so I added a little "something-something" to make it more fun. Then I found the cute/fancy little plates and cups we never use and put the food on them. I also spritzed up their drinks as well. It was just sprite, but when I added a couple of sliced strawberries, and it became a beverage to get excited about.


Well after all of this I called the girls and told them I needed them to go and sit outside at the patio table. I donned my apron and went out to tell them in a very silly voice "Welcome to Mom~A'~Cafe'", and proceeded to inform them about the special of the day. I'll admit that at first they gave me a couple of strange looks, but then they decided to join in on the fun. Well of course they all wanted the special so I served them and continued to go back and forth to refill their drinks, check on them and then bring them the special dessert of the day.


I don't think they'll ever forget this and I know they look forward to the days that I surprise them with another Mom~A'~Cafe' day. They have even requested it several times since then. Another neat thing to come out of all of this is that they have also done one for me!


So now I'm always on the look out for unique kid recipes and I save them up for those times when I think my girls could use a Mom~A'~Cafe' kind of day.


I would love to know about any recipes you have that would be great for our Mom~A'~Cafe'. Here are some of the cute little recipes I've used before.


To view a picture for this recipe you can go to familyfun.go.com It is super cute and a perfect kid food! They have a lot of great recipes here.

Arctic Oranges

RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
4 oranges
4 cups orange juice
4 cherries
1. Cut the tops off the oranges in a zigzag pattern. Hollow out the insides, remove the seeds and combine in a blender with the juice. 2. Set the rinds in a muffin tin and fill with the mixture. Drop a cherry inside each orange. Freeze for 2 to 3 hours. Soften the treats for 5 minutes, then serve. Makes 4.




Ham and Cream Cheese Spirals

1 package ham
1 container cream cheese, softened
flour tortillas


Spread desired amount of cream cheese onto the flour tortillas. Layer slices of ham according to how much you want. (I do more ham than cream cheese for my kids.) Roll tortilla, then slice.

There are many variations for this recipe that you can find on the internet, but for my kids I just keep it simple.




You can also view a picture for this next recipe at familyfun.go.com. It's another very cute recipe that the kiddos will love!


Grapefruit Gals


RECIPE INGREDIENTS
Grapefruit
Grapes (for hair and eyes)
Maraschino cherry (for nose)
Raisins or banana (for mouth)
1. Arrange red or green grape clusters around the top for hair. 2. Add red grape eyes, a maraschino cherry nose and a big grin made of raisins or bananas.



Fruity Peanut Butter Pitas



1/4 cup of peanut butter
1/8 teaspoon each; ground cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg
1 whole wheat pita bread cut in half
1/2 medium apple, thinly sliced
1/2 medium firm banana sliced

In a small bowl, blend the peanut butter, all spice, cinnamon and nutmeg. Spread inside pita halves; fill with apple and banana slices.
Yields 2 servings.

My Grown Up Christmas Wish List

It will be here before we know it, Christmas that is. My friend Keelie is having a 12 weeks of Christmas party and I'm getting in the spirit of things. Just thinking of all that is about to take place gets my head to spinning! So here is my Grown Up Christmas Wish List.

1. That we will have the tree up and decorated before December gets into the 20's. Hey now, don't judge me...we live a crazy busy life in December!

2. That I will not be up late the night before a family Christmas party or Christmas day wrapping all the gifts or cooking. It would be nice to look decent in the pictures the next day, instead of sleep deprived.

3. That I will find the perfect gift for each and everyone on my list for the perfect price and at the first place I look for it.( Hey it's a WISH list!) And that all the shopping is finished at least 2 weeks before Christmas.

4. That my family and I will have some wonderful lazy nights at home where we decide to make Christmas cookies and drink some cider, or play a board game or two, even watch a couple of Christmas movies together. How marvelous this would be.

5. That there are no big toys to assemble on Christmas eve! Well maybe not, this just reminds me how big my children are getting, when there's no assembly required!

6. That my house is clean for all of December! It's so hard keeping it all together when it's just normal everyday things happening, it's even crazier when there's so much extra going on.

7. That my daughters' and I have a wonderful time in the kitchen together preparing our Christmas meal. With each daughter finding her own special dish she wants to add to the meal each year. Sounds a bit "Little House on the Prarie-ish" doesn't it? Well, that's exactly what I'm going for!

8. That our family can have some wonderful and precious Christmas moments together that our daughters will always remember. The kind that put a smile on your face just by thinking about them.

9. That my family and I spread the true meaning and joy of Christmas to everyone whose path we cross.

To some my list may not be fun or exciting, but for me it would be about as perfect a Christmas as there ever was.

If you would like to join in on the fun, you'll find it here:

Keelie's Wreath Party!

It's time for Keelie's wreath party! I have already taken a sneak peak at some of the creations and they are great! So now it's time to display mine. I was so excited about getting started that I didn't think to take any pictures of the process, but I'll tell you how I did it. You won't even need the pics because it's not at all hard. I started out with a grapevine wreath. this one is oval shaped. Found some leafy garland in the colors I liked (red-how do you like that Red Writing???) and added it to my wreath.

Then I came across some glittery, sparkly thingies that I just couldn't pass up. Because if it glitters and shines I'm on it,

just like a bug on a light at night!

These were so simple to add because they're picks that I just stuck in the wreath and then twisted the wire ends around to make them hold.

Made a bow from this net looking stuff. Here's the extra that I had left over.

Think I'm going to drape it across my dining room table and put some fall goodies on top of it. I also found a cute little feather clip that I thought would add a softer texture to the wreath and attached it to the bow.

And last of all I tied the cross in the center of it all (that is after I super glued it back together), just to give it more of a focal point. What do you think?

Here's another fall idea you might like. I found it at:

let--it--shine.blogspot.com

It is located under the post "Personalized Topiaries" on Wednesday Sept. 16th. ( Apparently I have no idea how to link you directly to this page!) But nevermind that, because these are so cute, you're going to want to make the trip to her site!

Great for fall, easy, and cute any where you put them!

Thanks Keelie for all the fun!

Channing's Journal

Yesterday as I was cleaning up Connor and Channing's room I came across a little notepad that Channing had turned into her journal. I think it is one of the sweetest things I have ever read! And funniest...and most precious...it's one of those priceless mommy things.

It's the journal that almost wasn't. You see while we were out shopping last weekend she had asked me for a notebook. I told her no, because we have several of those around the house that she can use. (And we do!) Well apparently God knew she needed that notebook. So much so that when we stopped off at McDonald's later and ordered a happy meal, there it was...the notepad was the toy in the happy meal! She was happy and I was happy that she was happy. Of course she couldn't wait to start writing in it and had me digging around in my purse for a pen the minute we got back in the truck. As I went around finishing my shopping list, she sat in the truck with Dad and began writing. And I am so glad she did. I decided I would have to scan the journal because I know that one day she will see my post and never believe she wrote this stuff! Hope it puts a big smile on your face, like it did on mine.

The cute little journal. Not bad for a happy meal toy.



How cute is it that she has her entries labeled "secret" and "not secret"?

Ok I know what you're thinking..."You have got to get that girl a bunny for Christmas." Well we'll just have to see about that....

And I seriously didn't know the girl had so much confidence! Thank goodness she doesn't go around telling people how pretty she is. She just saves it for her journal! I absolutely love this entry!

Another display of that confidence that she has somehow kept to herself!

What mommy's heart wouldn't melt to see the bottom entry in their child's journal? I'm sure I'll be whipping this thing out during her teenage years to remind her just how precious we are to her!

Now she's boosting my confidence! Love it!

"Double Secret"...it's getting pretty serious!

Now this is the one this has me shaking in my boots! I think I better gear myself up for the teenage years!

Well that's all the secret, double secret and not secret entries that her journal holds for now....but don't worry because now I'm off to sneak this back into her room so she can put some more intimate details of her life in here for me to share with the world!

A Wreath Party and Scavenger Hunt

I've recently discovered some new things about blogs. It's not just about reading or getting ideas, it's also about playing! There are a couple of contests going on right now at some blogs I am following and I aim to win me some prizes!!!

The first one is at my friend Keelie's blog spot. redswriting.blogspot.com Not only is she a wonderful crafter and writer but also an excited Christian who shares about her love of God. I enjoy all her posts and am sure you will too. Anyway she has this thing for fall. Loves everything about it and has even made me look forward to it. (I'm more of a summer gal.) So as a way to celebrate it's arrival she is having a "Wreath Party" at her site. I can't wait to showcase my own wreath and see everyone elses. I know it will all be great. If you would like to participate, just go to her blog and look for the August post titled "as requested". But hurry because it all ends on Sept. 22nd. Happy Fall Y'all!

Here's another great and simple idea Keelie has on one of her posts. I even picked me up some little birdies, so I can do my own interpretation of this transformation. Mine will be for Christmas.

She turned this

into this!

A simple but huge difference, wouldn't you say?

On another site that is rather new to me I spotted a "Scavenger Hunt". This lady has a lot of neat and wonderful ideas and the scavenger hunt just happens to be one of them. This hunt sends you to a lot of different blog sites to find the clues and all the while you are searching you're also encountering all kinds of wonderful ideas that you just can't wait to try. If you would like to play you can find out how at this spot: thediyshowoff.blogspot.com The contest ends this Friday the 18th, so hurry on over.

Here's another favorite project I like and found at the DIY show off. Once again, simple yet makes a statement. How cute is this going to look on my front porch?

You'll want to visit both of these great blogs. But make sure you have plenty of time when you do, because you won't be able to tear yourself away anytime soon!

I already told you there are PRIZES, right???!!!! So what are you waiting for?!

An American Girl Birthday Party

This year for Channing's 7th birthday and Connor's 11th birthday, we had an American Girl Party. All of my girl's birthdays are very close together, so we usually celebrate 2 of the girl 's birthdays at the same party, if not all three. However, since Kerra is getting on up there (15), she had her own party. (Post to come later.) I used to get pretty creative with the parties, but here lately I was doing the fun but easy swim party. Apparently too many years in a row. Not so this time around, because my girls informed me they wanted to do something different. So now I had to come up with something new that both age groups of girls would enjoy. Knowing that Connor's group was nearing the "too old" category for this type of party, I thought I better hop to it, before it was too late. It turned out to be a lot of fun, and a lot of work. But it was sooo worth it! They loved it and that's really all that matters,isn't it?

The invitation.......

I have a computer program from Hallmark, that I made these with. They were cube shaped with all the party info on the sides. I put them in a clear cellophane bag that had some black and white paisley like designs on them. (Hobby Lobby) I also added some confetti and dinner mints. (Because it was a dinner & a movie birthday party.) We used a brightly colored piece of netting to tie them up with, then the girls and I set off to deliver them to their friends. Of course I forgot to take a picture of them, but trust me, they were cute!

The location.......

Well I knew I needed a big space for all I had planned and access to a kitchen. That place turned out to be our town's community room. It was perfect and the price wasn't too bad either, $25.00! No that's not a typo! I even had access to it the day before, so I could begin setting things up.

The party.......

We were going to do it all! This was a dinner & a movie party where the girls got to do the cooking. As they walked in the door they were each given an apron with their own name on it. (Hobby Lobby on sale! My friend did the names with her sewing machine for me! What a great friend, huh?)

I hung all the aprons on the wall for them to see when they walked in.

The craft......

After putting on their aprons, they were sent over to the craft table where they got to make their own napkin ring. (Using the same netting that tied up the invitation bag.) The big girls helped the little girls as needed. When they were finished they placed their napkin ring on the table where they were to be seated later on in the evening.

The cooking.....

Hey Good Looking! Whatcha got cooking?!

Now it was time to get cooking! I had three tables set up, each with their own recipe, ingredients and supplies. I also had an adult at each table to oversee the little chefs at work. The recipes came from the American Girl cookbooks that I bought on sale for $5.00 each at the American Girl website.

The menu:

Kit's Cincinnati Chili

Samantha's Corn Oysters

Kit's Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Felicity's Sally Lunn Bread

Molly's Frozen Fruit Cups

The salon.....

Each group finished at different times, and when they did it was their turn to go to the Doll Salon. This was a table that was set up with doll salon chairs, doll brushes, water bottles and all kinds of hair goodies for the dolls. I had a friend of mine bring some of her daughter's many American girl dolls for those who didn't have their own. The little ones of course got into this a bit more than the older ones, but they all had fun with it.

The movie......

When everyone was finished making their recipes, it was movie time while some of the recipes were still simmering. Our movie was Kit Kittredge. I even had a movie snack prepared for them out of one of the cook books. The plan was to show it until the food was finished, then seat everyone for dinner. I would let them finish it up after the meal, before their parents arrived to pick them up. We had some technical difficulties however, so we used the time by opening the presents instead. We watched the movie at the end, and this might have even worked out better.

The snack.....

These were also from cookbooks. Molly's Frozen Fruit Cups...mmm mmm

The dinner......

The tables were set and each girl was directed to her name card. Birthday girls sat at the head of the table. They all enjoyed getting to eat their creations and many came back for seconds. Then it was time for the birthday cake. I opted for birthday cupcakes instead, from the Cupcakery. They were beautiful, colorful and glittery. Now does that say little girl's birthday party or what? After each birthday girl picked the cupcake she wanted, the others got to pick the one they liked best. They were all so beautiful and yummy that no one was disappointed with what they picked.

They all did a terrific job on their dish....and by terrific I mean edible! :)

The pink table was for Channing & Friends, the lime green for Connor & friends. Did you notice the cute little napkin rings?

A close up of the delicious, glittery, yummy cupcakes!

While they were eating I packed up each apron in a goodie bag and also put in the napkin rings they made. This way everything was ready to go and there was no frantic searching for their things at the end of the party.

Now back to the show.....

After dinner we turned the movie on to wait for parents and also gave them the option of going back to the doll salon. It was doll salon for the younger ones and movie for the older ones. All in all it turned out to be a fun party for all the girls.

The end.