FlipFloppingMamma

SO much to read!!!

2012-01-06T18:07:00.001-06:00

Our library is SO efficient that when you order books on a Wednesday they ALL come on Friday!

I'm going to have to get off Pinterest and get to reading! :)

More Holiday Tags

2012-01-04T06:00:00.000-06:00

Not only did I make a lot of gift tags I also made tags to hang on bottles....a wine bottle, soda bottle or water bottle...whatever you want.

Christmas tags & Notebooks

2012-01-03T06:00:00.000-06:00

This year I made hundreds of tags and cards for special orders and a cute little shop in a nearby town.

I found this stamp at Archivers and just fell in love with it! Who doesn't love sparkles!?

I made a number of little notebooks to keep track of all your Christmas lists.

LOVE the Twine!!

These are giftcard holders. Great way to dress up a boring Walmart giftcard.

So, where is my handmade Christmas card this year? Yeah...I didn't make one. I know....it was the first ever I did not make a handmade card. I went for the photo card this year. I had SO many handmade gifts to make for me and others that I just had to let something go this year.....

Watching a little Christmas Grinch

2012-01-02T06:00:00.000-06:00

I've been MIA for so long I feel like I should back-date these posts but I won't. I'm just going to post about all the fun things we did over the Holidays and try to get everyone caught up.

I had a new house again to decorate for Christmas. Seems like I just figure out where to put everything and then we move. But it's ok....I like the change. The living room is small again this year so everything feels a bit cramped for awhile but it also feels good to have everyone and everything in the same room.

The kids enjoying the winter sunshine and watching a little Grinch.

Fort Massac Encampment

2011-10-26T15:28:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago we took the kids a reenactment at Fort. Massac. You couldn't have asked for a better fall day. If you can ever be in Southern Illinois in October this is really a great family even. The Encampment attracts over 100,000 visiters in just one weekend!

I love that everyone is dressed in their uniforms going about doing normal everyday things....like eating buffalo chili.

Bubby got a lesson in guns from one of the Lewis & Clark expedition.

Sissy got a lesson is jump rope making.

The 'wild' Indians walking around can be very unnerving but they love to pose for pictures.

The kids trying out their new headgear. Sissy is trying to look mean and serious.

I love that this Mountain mamma is carrying her baby in a sling. Good to know some parenting skills never change.

This nice Indian stopped to talk and get pictures with us.

He was very accommodating.....

He asked Sissy and this other little girl, who also dressed for the occasion, to hold his club and then he pulled out his knife. Sissy had no idea till she saw the picture. How crazy am I? Take a knife to my kid...GREAT idea! Let me get my camera! ha!

Everyone was all dressed as Mountain Men, Soldiers or Indians....except for this guy. He wore his Steampunk outfit. I don't get the Steampunk thing..... The other people dressed as Reenactors I get. There used to be Mountain Men, Soldiers and Indians walking around. Guys walking around with goggles on their head just seem strange to me. I think Steampunk people are trying WAY too hard.

At the end of the day there was a large battle. My camera battery died at this point so I didn't get a lot of pictures. I think these reenactments are a lot of fun. It's like a movie come to life right before my eyes. I was waiting for Daniel Day-Lewis to come running through the woods to save us. I'm still waiting...

Don't Sweat It!

2011-10-24T11:53:00.000-05:00

This is for you..... You pretended the snooze button didn’t exist.

You dragged your butt out of bed while others slept. While others ate their pancakes you had a feast of protein, glucose and electrolytes.

You double-knotted. You left the porch light on and locked the door behind you.

You ran. 5ks, 10ks, 26.2 miles. Some days more, some days less.

You did pushups. One or more than one. Doesn't matter....you did pushups.

You rewarded a long run with a short run. And a short run with a long run.

You cramped. You bonked. You paid no mind to comfort. On weekends. On holidays.

You made excuses to keep going. Questioned yourself. Played mind games. Put your heart before your knees. Listened to your breathing.

Sweat sunscreen into your eyes. Worked on your farmers tan. You hit the wall. You went through it.

You decided to be a man about it.

Forget that!! You decided to be a woman about it. Finished what you started.

Proved what you were made of. You did it!! Now get up and do it AGAIN!

Hunting & Fishing Days

2011-10-22T09:21:00.001-05:00

Every year a local farm hosts a free Hunting & Fishing Days sponsored by Winchester. It's really a great little event for the family .....but only if you are into hunting and fishing of course.

The kids & The Hunter can't get enough of it! I just go along to make sure The Hunter doesn't buy another gun.

Both the kids did really well at the archery. They both hit about half the targets. Apparently it helps to stick your tongue out when shooting a bow.

Sissy LOVES to cast. She would stand there and cast all day long if you let her. I prefer for her to come home with dinner...but that doesn't always happen.

The kids came home inspired to create a campfire out of a soup can and roast marshmallows.

Perfectly 'normal' fun at our household. ha!

Finally.....Fall Party

2011-10-20T08:46:00.000-05:00

When someone asks me my favorite season I really have to say the season I am in at that moment. I do like summer. I like fall. I like winter and spring. I like them all for many different reasons. But this summer I had a really hard time with. It's been a REALLY long and HOT summer this year. Weeks and weeks of high 90's and 100 degree temps can really take it out of a body.

I was REALLY looking forward to fall this year and now it's here! Woohoo!! All this coolness and damp feels like a tall drink of water for my skin. All summer while my friend Susan and I were laying by the pool we were thinking of THIS party....A Fall Party!

A Fall Party where we could make all the yummy foods we have been seeing on Pinterest all summer. Yummy goodies like Scarecrow Crunch.

Pumpkin Cookies.

Pumpin Bars...Yummy!!

What party isn't complete without a S'more Stand.

It was a total carb-fest and it was GREAT!

There was a tiny bit of protein...hotdogs over the fire. *wink

A small neighborhood 'hay-ride'.

And of course....S'MORES!!

It was a chilly night with a warm fire and good friends. It's been a long time since I've been to a party where everyone...adults and children got along. That really does sound bad doesn't it? I need to get out more. I think we had 7 children playing together perfectly till 11pm when we had to drag them all home.

I learned my friends don't think I can mix drinks well but I can drive a Gator in the dark around the neighborhood at midnight....or maybe it was only 8pm. I don't know....seemed like midnight.

Barbella Card

2011-10-19T14:45:00.000-05:00

I love this little Barbella stamp.

This is the perfect card for someone who has just

completed 100 pushups for the first time
a perfect Plank for the first time
ran a mile for the first time
run a 5k for the first time
made a commitment to their health for the first time in their life.

Be Better Than Yesterday.

Rainy Fall Day

2011-10-18T09:54:00.003-05:00

Eggies...Love/Hate Relationship

2011-10-17T21:05:00.000-05:00

Yes, I bought Eggies....no I didn't buy them off a infomercial. But I did get them in the 'As Seen on TV' section of the store.

We have a lot of eggs and we eat a lot of hardboiled eggs around here. The problem with making hardboiled eggs around here is we have fresh eggs and fresh eggs DO NOT peel very well.

So, all summer we have been seeing the infomercial for Eggies and they of course made it look SO easy. The kids would flip out every time they saw the commercial demanding that I buy them.

I finally broke down and purchased the box of 6 Eggies at Bed Bath & Beyond. I figured if they didn't work I could always return them. I haven't returned them but to be honest I do have mixed feelings about them.

First of all... there are ~~about a million~~ 26 pieces and you have to assemble all 6 of the Eggies and take them apart to clean them every time you use it. That is a pain.

You also have to spread cooking spray, such as Pam, on all parts the egg will be touching. They don't tell you that on tv.

After you crack your egg into the Eggie you then drop them into a pot of boiling water.

So, basically your egg is boiling inside a little plastic egg. Easy Peasy. But....most of my Eggies seem to leak.

The egg spills out into the boiling water. I've used the Eggies 3 times now and 2 or 3 of them always leak. Which, I guess, is about the same as boiling an egg in the shell. A couple will always crack in the boiling water.

If you properly use the cooking spray on the inside of the Eggies then your egg will slide right out all in one piece. No, they don't look a perfect hardboiled egg.......

but there was no work in getting them out of the Eggies in the end. There is a great deal of work at the beginning so I guess it evens out. I hate peeling hard boiled eggs and usually end up throwing half an egg away because the shell will not easily peel off. My eggs usually end up looking like this and then I will sometimes just through it away....cause God knows I have another 6 dozen in the fridge.

So...do I recommend Eggies? I don't know to be honest with you. I'm going to try them a couple more times and we'll see.

Disclaimer: Eggies did not pay me to use their product. I wish they would have cause I'm out $10 and I'm not sure I like the product. I'm not bashing their product I'm just not sure I like it yet. Just being honest.

One Lonely Tomato

2011-10-03T13:26:00.001-05:00

It's October 3rd and this is the ONLY tomato our garden has produced. I have NO salsa!!

We have 20 plants and they are full....full of GREEN tomatoes. I keep going out and talking to them telling them they need to be red but they don't seem to really care.

I am going to have to buy salsa....this is not good!!

5 Year Old Card

2011-09-27T16:46:00.000-05:00

Card fit for a 5 year old.

This card was a lot of fun to put together. I used about every tool I could find.

Creative Memories bubble punch
Stampin' Up! Circle Punch
The Cricut Songbird Cartridge
Stampin' Up! Riveting stamp set
Random 'celebrate' stamp
Rendom 'dot' stamp

I apologize I've been away for awhile. I've been working on some behind the scenes blog stuff lately and it's been slow going.

Be Patient With Me

2011-09-17T19:13:00.001-05:00

Blog under construction. Please be patient with me.

Manly Birthday Card

2011-09-14T16:35:00.003-05:00

Another simple birthday card for a guy.

Fully Re-covered Card

2011-09-06T20:27:00.001-05:00

I received this sofa stamp when I bought a grab bag from Unity Stamp Co. on Superbowl Sunday. I had NO idea what to do with it until I found a fun quote on Pinterest to use with it.

A friend of ours was in the hospital and him being a guy I, again, had no idea what kind of card to send to him. I have the hardest time making cards for men. After finding this quote I thought it was perfect!

Jeep Card

2011-09-03T16:55:00.000-05:00

A Jeep card for a guy who is retiring. I used my fun Jeep stamp from the Unity Stamp Co. It's the perfect stamp for a guy card.

The other stamps are also Unity Stamp Co. but they are from a Super Bowl grab bag I bought once and I don't know if they went with a set or not. The twine is of course from The Twinery. Love the twine!!

Happy Retirement Mike!

It's a Good Day!

2011-08-26T15:12:00.000-05:00

It's been a week since my last post and I apologize. The harddrive on my laptop died last Sunday night. Yes....actually died which meant I HAD to make an appointment with Apple for Monday morning and drive my poor, sad laptop to St. Louis to be repaired. This time they couldn't make the repairs in a couple of hours so I had to leave it with them. Now the upside to all this is I got to see my good friend Meagan AND go shopping (in St. Louis!!) TWICE in the same week. Made up for the fact that I had no computer all week.

Yesterday after a day of HomeGoods and Mexican food with Meagan I was able to pick up my laptop (and start Pinning away!) Today has been a good day. I got in a FABULOUS work-out this morning at the gym. It's been a hard week around here cause it was the kids first week back to school and I have to admit...this morning's work-out really kicked my butt. Took me a bit to recover. About 1pm I decided I needed a coke but I really did not need to make the 12 mile round trip to get one. It was a silly idea really.... (now I realize I shouldn't be drinking the Coke and if I would just stop then I wouldn't have to go to the gym so much but that's not going to happen.)

Well...as soon as I had this conversation in my head (yes in my head...I do that a lot) the phone rang and 2 different people who owed me money called to tell me I could come and pick it up. Then within minutes the library called and told me the book I was wanting was in. It was a sign!! I should go to town!

I get to the library and all the new magazines are in! Woohoo!!

So, I will now drink my Coke and read my new magazines in peace....for a few more minutes.

See...it's been a good day.

The Twinery Anniversary Giveaway!! --Help Me Out!!

2011-08-19T10:03:00.001-05:00

This is my new love....Baker's Twine. And this is the entire Ultimate Collection from The Twinery.

The Twinery

I know it's just string but I LOVE LOVE LOVE this stuff. I only have the small sampler pack right now and I totally hoard it. If you get a card or craft from me made with baker's twine then you are something special.

So...now dear readers....help me out! Check out The Twinery Blog and enter to win the Ultimate Collection of Baker's Twine for me. I would be forever in your debt. I might even give you some...maybe.

(I just called a friend to tell her to enter and instead of saying Baker's Twine I said Baker's Wine. She said she would be more inclined to enter if it was for a case of wine. HA!)

First Day of School 2011

2011-08-17T08:50:00.000-05:00

And they are off.....

...do you hear the SILENCE!?

Teacher Gifts

2011-08-16T07:40:00.000-05:00

It's always a good idea to butter the teacher up before school starts so when my kid does something crazy she might not be so hard on him/her.

I found this super simple idea over at eighteen25. She had the cutest ideas! Take a inexpensive calculator, wrap it up in a bag and attach the cute tag.

According to my calculations (download)

Following in Her Mamma's Footsteps

2011-08-15T06:00:00.000-05:00

She love mowing.....

unfortunately I don't want to hand the reins over to her yet.

My New Addiction

2011-08-12T16:49:00.000-05:00

I have a confession....a new addiction. This is a no calorie, low budget addiction. I can sit for hours (HOURS!) with my new addiction and the whole time I'm learning and expanding. I'm finding new ideas, new recipes, and old loves. Guessed it yet? It's Pinterest!

Here is how it works. You know when you are looking across blogland and you find a picture of something you like and you want to save it for the future? So you save it to your hard drive and then later you look at it and wonder what website did it came from? All you have is the picture. Well, Pinterest has solved that problem! Pinterest lets you create Boards to organize and share all your favorite ideas. The picture is then saved to your Board of your choice with a link back to the original website.

After opening an account you will start to get Followers and you can choose to Follow others. It's so much to see what everyone is looking at. Every time you refresh the Pinterest homepage it's like opening a new magazine with all kinds of wonderful things to look at.

Here is a sampling from my 10 Boards.

Products I Love

Pics of fun things I would love to have or I had at one time. I'm on the look out for cheap (free) wire baskets or milk crates now.

Etsy

Favorite Places & Spaces:

I want to go here and live. This is the prettiest little place EVER!

Rustic Cabin Vacations

Books Worth Reading:

I just finished reading Ashley Judd's memoir and it was so moving! This woman is amazing! She travels to the worst of the worst places in the world to educate and care for woman who have seen nothing but desease, war, famine, rape & death. Very hard to read in some areas but so worth it.

MS Magazine

My Style Board:

The board is for all the fun things I would love to wear. Someone is always putting together these fabulous outfits that I would love to purchase and wear. I found this wonderful necklace that I think would be perfect for me. Somebody buy it for me please!!

Etsy

My NEXT House:

We have a saying in our family when something in the house isn't just right: "My NEXT house will have that." My mom has been saying it forever and she has been in her house for 25 years. So, this board is dedicated to all the places I want to live NEXT time.

Southern Living

Cards:

This board is obviously dedicated to pictures of all the cards I want to make in the future or have made already. This has been a GREAT way to organize all my card ideas. I used to bookmark the site (and then forget the name) or copy and past the picture to my harddrive but then didn't know who made the card. This flipflop card is just the cutest EVER!

True Gift's From the Heart

Words I Love:

This is a Board for all the funny signs and sayings I keep finding. Someone out there is just too darn witty!

source

Recipes:

A Board for all the yummy things I'm going to make someday. I did dedicate a whole week awhile back to all Pinterest recipes.

Basil Popcorn

People I Love:

A Board dedicated too all those wonderful people out there who I think are great...real or fictional. I love the movie Rear Window. Ever seen it? No? Pick a dark evening and watch it. It's wonderful!!

Source

Want to Make:

The Board where I put all the ideas of all the things I want to make but I don't have time cause I'm too busy Pinning. I'm a sucker for a window with vinyl. Loving the vinyl signs right now.

Etsy

So...I'm sure the one think you HAVE to know is...how do you get started with Pinterest? You have to go here and request an invite. Why you have to be invited I don't know. But it's a lot easier if you just send me your email and I'll invite you. It's quicker that way for some reason. Then you put a little 'Pin It' button on your toolbar, go to the Pinterest home page and start browsing. Three hours later you can email me and thank me.

Keeping Cool

2011-08-09T16:59:00.000-05:00

When the temps reach 100 plus for weeks at a time what do you do?

We spent a lot of time in the basement keeping cool.

Keep cool!

My Wild Indians!

2011-08-04T13:13:00.000-05:00

Farmer Instead of Hunter

2011-08-03T10:07:00.000-05:00

Lately the hubby has been more farmer than Hunter. Our garden is doing really well considering this is the first year in this location. We have had a number of zucchini, cucumbers, and peppers so far. The lettuce was ok for a couple of days and then gone. The tomatoes are coming along nicely but the carrots and onions have not fared so well. Hopefully I will be able to trade someone for those.

We were able to get some local manure for the garden and I know it will help us a lot next year but OMG! has it smelled. I thank God we are not goat farmers cause it was rank around here for awhile.

We are lucky to have a lot of veggies from the garden and from friend's gardens because if we had to depend on ours for everything we would probably be in trouble.

Favorite Time of Evening

2011-07-29T21:09:00.000-05:00

I love this time of the evening.

Yup..pretty much sums it up

2011-07-28T06:00:00.001-05:00

Shel Silverstein

Peaches

2011-07-27T18:40:00.002-05:00

Tractor Pull

2011-07-26T21:00:00.000-05:00

Nothing says middle America like an antique tractor pull. I took the kids to see my Uncle Fred who pulls all over the midwest.

What do you do when nobody is pulling yet? You catch bugs and inspect them.

My Uncle Fred. Half of the best Pulling Team in Illinois. The other half is my Uncle Bill who was pulling in Missouri the same night.

I was a bad mommy....forgot earplugs.

The start of a first place pull.

First place!!

It was a beautiful night.

Fishing with Dad

2011-07-21T19:30:00.000-05:00

13 Bass. Very proud kids and a yummy super.

R.I.P Mr. Big

2011-07-20T11:55:00.000-05:00

I'm sorry to have to report to you but Mr. Big is no longer with us. We came home and found him laying in the field. Apparently he was the victim of a hawk.

Such an ordinary end for such a fabulous looking rooster.

Within minutes of finding him in the neighbor's hay field guess who showed up.....the hay rake. So, I had to run out there and properly dispose of him before he raked.

I'm really sorry to see Mr. Big go because he really was the most amazing looking Rooster but.....it's going to be a LOT quieter around her in the mornings with only one rooster.

Cave-in-Rock in the 100 Degree Heat

2011-07-19T15:30:00.000-05:00

Nothing says family togetherness like everyone piling into the car when it's 100 degrees and visiting local landmarks. We had been talking about taking the kids to Cave-in-Rock in Southern Illinois for awhile and decided it wasn't going to get any cooler anytime soon so we might as well go.

I have really always thought this was just the coolest place. Cave-in-Rock is carved into the side of a rock hillside right on the Ohio river between Illinois and Kentucky and has been mentioned in travel diaries since the early 1700's. That's what I think is so cool. The history of this place is amazing! People have been using this place for shelter and to do good and bad for hundreds of years and I get to stand right where they stood.

Since I was little I've always looked at the top of the cave and seen J & BC Cole's name written with smoke or paint. I couldn't even imagine how high the water had to be for him to write his name up there. This past spring the Ohio again completely filled the cave and many others wrote their name all over the top of the cave. It made me sad but then I thought when is writing on cave walls considered history and when is it graffiti?

The kids had a really good time running all over the cave. I just liked that it was 20 degrees cooler in the cave. And now.....prepared to be amazed....I'm actually posting a picture of myself on this blog. This is a first! Be amazed!

And now...on to more HOT summer fun!

What Happens On The Porch....

2011-07-18T06:00:00.001-05:00

......Stays on the Porch.

Just what every proper sitting-porch needs.

Chickens on my Doorstep

2011-07-15T21:22:00.000-05:00

Remember that movie about the ones we do not speak of? You don't? Well, it's scary as hell and freaked me out....but it's SO good so go rent it! Every since THAT movie I've had an unnatural fear of giant chickens with red cloaks. Actually, a fear of giant chickens dressed in red cloaks is NOT an unnatural fear. Fear them!

So, one night I open door and THIS is sitting on my door step. This is NOT natural. The only thing that kept me from drop kicking it was the ice cream. No need to harm the ice cream.

My dear friend Haley thought I needed this for my front porch. I think she is right. My friends are so strange!

Perfect Flip

2011-07-12T10:52:00.000-05:00

We spend a LOT of time outside and in the pool. Some days they get up, put their suits on and are out till dark. Only coming in to potty and demand food.

All that pool time has created quite a pool shark.

Perfect!!

Lincoln's New Salem Villiage

2011-07-06T21:19:00.000-05:00

We have decided instead of taking a large trip this year to take a couple of day trips and maybe a camping trip this summer. There are so many fun places to see within a couple hours drive and it's crazy that we don't take advantage of it more.

A couple of weeks ago we visited Lincoln's New Salem Village near Springfield, IL.

Such a picturesque little community. Exactly what we want someday....but with a Target close by of course.

They were having their summer festival and it was a lot of fun to walk among the reenactors.

The Temperance Society was selling lemonade and water to quince your thirst.

We were able to show the kids where Abe Lincoln once walked and slept and how people lived at that time.

The kids had a lot of fun spinning yarn, making soap and eating kettle corn.

The kids wanted to look the part.

We had a really relaxing day. The weather was cool(er), the kids enjoyed themselves. The Hunter loved looking at all the garden plots and I just loved it that everyone was getting along and I got to get out of the house.

Sit a Spell and Relax

2011-06-28T11:45:00.000-05:00

Have I told you how much I love my deck? Well I do!! I LOVE it! Love laying in the evenings on my new Mother's Day chair.

The only thing I probably don't love about it is the lack of shade but I took care of that last weekend. I found a great deal on some umbrellas and a fun matching pillow. Fun colors!!

My hubby's coworker gave me a fabulous deal on flowers. One was so big it filled an entire washtub!

Why don't ya come and sit a spell with me?

Southern Cream Cookies

2011-06-27T20:29:00.000-05:00

Remember these cookies? They are the delicious cookies my wonderful neighbor brought to me a couple of weeks ago.

I had decided I was going to return her container with my own cookies but it took me awhile because we kept eating the cookies before I could deliver them down the road. Not only did I want to thank her for the cookies I also HAD to have the recipe.

Here is the yummy recipe. It's from an old cookbook and written out in paragraph form.

Southern Cream Cookies

Cream 1 cup shortening with 2 cups sugar; add 3 beaten eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 cup sour cream. Mix well. Sift 5 cups sifted all-purpose flour with 3 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon satl, and 1/2 teaspoon soda. Add to creamed mixture. Add 1 1/2 cups broken walnuts. Drop from teaspoon onto greased cookie sheet. Bake 350 degrees about 15 minutes. I then make a simple icing of powdered sugar, vanilla & milk and poured over the cooled cookies. Makes 6 dozen cookies.

This will make a TON of cookies to be prepared. Get out the milk and enjoy!

Personal Skillet Cookie

2011-06-20T09:47:00.001-05:00

Ever heard of a Skillet Cookie? Me either. My friend Lisa insists they are the BEST dessert EVER created.

Basically you take a WHOLE batch of chocolate chip cookie dough and fill a 12-inch iron skillet. (Any cookie recipe will do I'm sure.) After baked to a golden brown you dump an ENTIRE carton of ice cream on top and eat in one setting.

My friend has had a total lifestyle change in the past couple of years and would only DREAM of eating a entire skillet cookie....but she still talks about them ALL.THE.TIME. So, I decided this issue needed remedied I found a 2-inch iron skillet and filled it with dough for one small cookie. I baked it and then sent her a picture. She thought it was a HUGE 12-inch dessert and wanted to kill me for tempting her. I them presented her with her very own Skillet Cookie for ONE.

The ice cream was even personal size! I'm sure all the calories were still horrible for her but I feel confident she was able to work them off in a very short time.

I think all things are good in moderation. We just won't talk about all the mini Skillet Cookies I had to test to make sure they were good enough for her.

I ROCKED the Lemon Meringue Pie Today

2011-06-17T15:00:00.001-05:00

I rock!! And I'm not afraid to say it today. This is my FIRST attempt at a Lemon Meringue pie and it turned out PERFECT!!

My friend Jennifer asked me to make her one for her dad for Father's day. Since I owe her big time for bringing me food while we were moving I said yes. I was a bit uneasy though cause I've never made a lemon pie before.

It was way easier than I thought and the meringue turned out PERFECT. I've always heard horror stories about how hard it is to make but for some reason all the god's where on my side today.

I hope it's lemony enough for him. Happy Father's Day to Jennifer's dad...whoever you are. :-)

You are what you eat

2011-06-13T15:22:00.000-05:00

If this were true then I would be super sweet and dark complected like a McDonald's Coke.

10 Things NEVER to Say to a Stay-At-Home Mom

2011-06-10T06:00:00.003-05:00

1. When the kids are older, do you think you'll get a real job? (My baby will be going off to Kindergarden in the fall and I've been asked this SO many times in the last couple of months!)

2. How June Cleaver of you! (Going to have to get me some pearls!)

3. Oh, so you don't work? (Nope! Never! I just lay around all day)

4. Since you have extra time on your hands, could you whip up a few dozen brownies for the bake sale tomorrow? (Or could you watch my kids for me? They will be no trouble...they will just play with yours all day.)

5. All day with your kids? I can't even imagine. (Once had a mon tell me REPEATEDLY she would 'shoot herself in the head if she had to stay home with her kids'.)

6. I'm jealous. I wish my husband were rich so I wouldn't have to work either. (Yup...we're rich. Just keep thinking that.)

7. What do you do all day, anyway? (Same thing your cleaning lady does but with 2 kids messing it up right behind me.)

8. I'm sure you're not the only one who's ever wasted money on a college degree. (????)

9. That explains why your son is so clingy! (Makes about as much since as 'that explains why your son will end up in jail'.)

10. Weird. I assumed your house would be superclean. (Yeah, it was clean yesterday...sorry you missed it.)

-Candy Kirby of thelaughingstork.com, with help from her Twitter followers and friends

Reprinted with Permission of Hearst Communications, Inc. Originally Published: 10 Things Never to Say to a Stay-at-Home Mom

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/05/31/hearstmagfamily5277360.DTL#ixzz1OoX8YzVf

It's Summer....Slow Down

2011-06-09T15:45:00.000-05:00

Have you ever sat and watched a Hummingbird up close?

They really are the most amazing little birds.

We can sit on our deck in the evening and have 4 or 5 of them buzzing all around us.

Next time I'm griping cause I do not draw a paycheck and have no money to go to Target remind me of this perfect summer day at home.

Remind me of the kids splashing in the pool, me laying on the hammock 'watching' them and the Hummingbirds going crazy over the feeders. Remind me it's summer and to slow down.

Relaxing

2011-06-08T16:06:00.002-05:00

Taking it easy in his hammock he built.

So Pitiful Looking

2011-06-07T16:10:00.001-05:00

Meet Mr. Froggy

Poor Mr. Froggy has been in a plastic container (with air holes) for 2 days and I just told Bubby he was going to have to let him go.

Bubby: Please Mom!! I LOVE Mr. Froggy!!!

Bubby: Seee!!!! He LOVES me!

A Little Shameless Self-Promotion

2011-06-06T19:43:00.002-05:00

I love getting presents and if you will remember I said here and here that if you send me a gift I will talk about you. I will use my blog to tell ~~my 40 readers~~ the world how wonderful you are. A couple of friends said, "Any gift?" I said, "Sure! Even if it's bad I can still talk about you. "

Friday I opened my mailbox to find a package from my friend Stephanie! I miss Stephanie and haven't seen her in almost 2 years....doesn't see possible. Stephanie is my most Catholic/world traveling/volunteering/organizing/giving/novel reading/Cannova loving friend. You need something done then call Stephanie. She will have the event organized and in the papers before you can even turn around.

I was very excited to receive a package from Stephanie because on more than one occasion she had promised to send me some ice cream from a local ice cream place we used to visit when we lived up north. But upon further inspection I decided it wasn't ice cream because 1. it was 100 degrees outside and 2. it wasn't leaking....I'm a smart one let me tell ya!

No ice cream but there was vanilla and spices from McNess. McNess vanilla is right up there with Mexican vanilla is my book. I can't wait to try the wild game seasoning. The Hunter will love it! Thank you so much Stephanie!!!

So...if you want your name mentioned on my blog go right ahead and send a gift of any kind....and remember.....cash ALWAYS fits.

lil' Sarah

2011-06-04T06:00:00.000-05:00

This past weekend we attended a retirement party for my Uncle Mike. After all these years he is FINALLY retiring. Of course I find out later he worked a couple days this week....but it was at least by choice this time.

In anticipation of his retirement him and my Aunt Nancy bought a small RV. It's so cute!! The kids think it's great. After watching a lot of Sarah Palin's Alaska this past spring Bubby wanted to know if 'Uncle Mike's RV was JUST like Sarah Palin's'. Uncle Mike told him it was EXACTLY the same but only smaller (about 1/4 the size!) So, much to my cousin Jennifer's dismay the RV is now named lil' Sarah.

Much to The Hunter's dismay I have been carrying around random pieces of barn wood for years. Every once in awhile I find the perfect project for the perfect piece of wood. Using a little vinyl and my wonderful Cricut I made a sign for my Uncle Mike. Now he can hang it outside the RV and annoy Liberals wherever he goes. ;-)

After the Storm

2011-06-03T06:00:00.001-05:00

We have had some horrible storms lately. Everything that went through Joplin, MO came through here the next day. Fortunately it wasn't as bad.

On the up-side you do get some beautiful rainbows and clouds.

Birthday Cowl

2011-06-02T12:59:00.000-05:00

I got a birthday package from my dear friend Rachel and it was squishy and you know what that means....hand knitted item!!

A beautiful hand knitted cowl. I love it!! She made it from hand dyed hand spun yarn. I know what a sacrifice it was for her give up this lovely yarn so I thank her SO much.

Stupid Chickens!

2011-05-27T12:06:00.002-05:00

Teacher Gifts

2011-05-26T22:09:00.000-05:00

Today was the last day of school around here. The kids are super excited of course. I'm just hoping they sleep past 7am in the morning...we'll see what happens.

I saw this great drink cup idea on eighteen25 and LOVED it!! I thought it would be great for end of the year teacher gifts. We have had such GREAT teachers this year and every little thing I can do to say thank you is a must.

I filled each cup with drink mixes and a gift certificate to a local store.

I printed a little flag out to add to each straw.

As you know I love love love the subway art I keep finding. I found this printable and thought the teachers needed it for their classroom.

Summer has begun!!

There's an App for Everything!

2011-05-24T14:46:00.002-05:00

Bubby will only watch shows like Man vs. Wild, Swamp People, Dual Survival and Top Shot. Part of me thinks this is great cause I don't have to sit through a lot of SpongeBob or Little Einsteins but...the down side is these shows have a lot of 'manly' type commercials in them. We get exposed to a lot of 'little blue pill' commercials, car commercials, & home improvement type store commericals.

So, this beverage commercial keeps playing.....

and Bubby thinks this is a FABULOUS idea! He doesn't really get what kind of beverage this is for he just thinks this would be VERY convenient.

I have to admit....I agree with him.

Get Featured on My Blog

2011-05-24T08:06:00.000-05:00

Want to be featured on my blog? It's simple! Send me a gift!! I will then take pictures of what you give me and talk about how great you are. :)

The other day I had a knock at the door and there stood a wonderful neighbor holding a HUGE bucket of cookies for ME (and my family I guess). She said she was welcoming us to the neighborhood. How cool is that? I told here I have never received a 'welcome to the neighborhood' gift and I have lived in a lot of places. (Unless you count the neighbor who yelled at us on move-in day cause our cat had escaped and was on his porch 'terrorizing' his cat.)

This picture is of the bottom of the bucket of cookies cause we ate them FAST. I will get you the recipe soon cause I have GOT to makes these cookies.

The next day I had flowers delivered!! I have NEVER had flowers delivered to the house. Aren't these beautiful? Our friends Rod and David spent last Saturday with us and sent them as a thank you. Later we will be able to plant these in the yard.

This has been a fun week for presents. More to come!

Always Better at Grandma & Papa's

2011-05-20T12:38:00.000-05:00

Who doesn't like going to Grandma's house?

There is ALWAYS food at Grandma's house. No matter what time of day it is.

Grandma: 'You need something to eat? Sure I'll make you fried chicken at 10am.'

Bubby: BEST chicken EVER!

Grandma's house is the BEST!

Trying to be all artsy with the camera

2011-05-19T11:34:00.002-05:00

My Mom....the PERFECT Pie Maker

2011-05-18T07:56:00.000-05:00

It's easy to give thanks for pie--it's like an old, loyal friend.

And there's nothing as bountiful as a mound of fruit piled into a crust,

begging for a blanket of dough.

The perfect piecrust should be golden brown

and should practically

flake when you look at it.

7-Minute Frosting

2011-05-17T08:11:00.000-05:00

THIS is the way we do candles in my house. My sister found this super fun Sparkler candles. Wouldn't these be fun for 4th of July??

She made the cake for Mother's Day dinner and we all sang Happy Mother's Day to each other. You don't know this song? It sounds very similar to the Happy Birthday song. ;)

Then we all shut up so we could eat the best cake and icing EVER! 7-Minute Frosting. LOVE IT!!!

7-Minute Frosting

2 eggs whites
1 1/2 Cup Sugar
1/3 Cup Water
2 tsp. Corn Syrup
1 tsp. Vanilla

Combine unbeaten egg whites, sugar, water and corn syrup in top of double boiler; beat just enough to blend ingredients. Add sugar slowly to mix well. Place over rapidly boiling water and beat with hand beater or electric mixer until mixture is light and fluffy and will hold it's shape. (7 minutes by hand or 3-4 minutes by electric mixer.) Remove from heat; add vanilla. Continue beating until frosting is stiff enough to stand in peaks. Makes enough frosting for tops and sides of 2 (9-inch) layers, 3 (8-inch) layers or 2 dozen cupcakes (if you don't eat it from the bowl with a spoon).

Flamingo Thank You Cards

2011-05-16T08:12:00.001-05:00

I love this little Flamingo stamp. It's from Inkadinkado and it's so simple and cute. You can't really see it in the picture but I used Crystal Effects on the Flamingo wings for a little extra sparkle.

As you know I live an hour from any craft type store. I didn't have a Flamingo stamp and after looking around online I discovered the shipping was going to be as much as the stamp and of course I needed it NOW. I complained on Facebook and my friend Susan called and said her mother-in-law was going to the city and she could pick one up for me! Thank goodness for social media and small town helpfulness

Since there were so many cards I thought they needed a little box instead of just being thrown into bags. (And I can't find my bags. Still trying to get my craft area together.)

I used an old Creative Memories paper pack called Romance. The top of the box I stamped with the Always in Bloom Wheel from Stampin' Up! The twine is, of course, from The Twinery. I SO need to invest in more twine right now.

I don't have a pattern for the box. I just measured the width of the cards and scored the cardstock to fit. It's very similar to the cupcake box pattern that it out there but it's a bit larger to accomodate all the cards.

The sun is shining!! Happy Monday!

Spring

2011-05-13T06:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Weekend!

What would YOU look like?

2011-05-12T06:00:00.003-05:00

Ever wonder what you would look like if a camera followed you around all day? I would HOPE I would look less like Kate Gosselin and more like Michelle Dugger but I think I kinda know which I would be leaning toward.

My friend Meagan's 5 year old helped her out this week, after the 3 year old had an accident, by letting her know just EXACTLY what she looks like to her. I had to pass this along to you cause it's just TOO funny!

The following is from her blog. Check it out here.

Abby and Hannah were playing in our room. Hannah yells, “I peed.” Seriously?!?! She hasn’t had a full blown accident in several days! Grrr! I walk in our room and she is IN OUR BED UNDER THE COVERS!!! Super grrrr!!! I took her out and put her on the floor and stripped the bed as quickly as I could. I came downstairs to wash the sheets and Abby starts yelling down questions.

1. What color is your hair?

2. What color are your eyes?

3. Are you wearing flip flops right now?

A few minutes later Abby brings me this picture. She drew it for Daddy so he can see how mad Hannah made me while he was gone.

Nice.

Disclaimer: All photos and quotes belong solely to Feger.net.
No where do I insinuate this event happened
to me or that my child drew this picture.
My children are fully potty trained and my boy
only pees on things outside in full view of everyone.

Delightfully Difficult

2011-05-11T15:02:00.002-05:00

A Little After Lunch Walk

2011-05-11T07:56:00.000-05:00

Days like this are when it's nice to be home with Bubby.

He requested an after-lunch walk and I thought that sounded like a great idea.

This creek is really pretty but I'm just glad isn't not so close to the house.

A much needed afternoon walk for both of us. An a much needed little rest before we started back.

I did it again

2011-05-10T18:54:00.001-05:00

Well... technically I didn't break it...the shelf fell and broke it all but....

since I'm the one who put the shelves up (and didn't put them in a stud) then I guess it's my fault.

Our Historic Route 66 Connection

2011-05-10T07:46:00.000-05:00

As you know we recently moved and we now live on the historic Route 66. It's a VERY small section of the old highway. A very uneventful section of the highway. One of those sections that veers off the main highway a little and you might look at it and say 'there's the old road...glad we don't have to drive on that'.

Well not THESE people! These people seek out those old roads and drive across the country 'experiencing America'. I guess you have to be of a certain age to have a love for Route 66. I appreciate their love for it but I'm a child of the 80's....I don't get it.

This is the third group we have had come by so far. I just happened to be outside getting some pics of the kids when they drove by. Since only about 5 cars go by a day here and I know them all by now I figured these guys were not from here. I started taking their picture and they started honking.

One car stopped and told me they were all from Australia and they were driving across America. I wanted to ask them if they realized gas was $4.09 a gallon!

Yesterday 2 more cars drove by while we were cleaning out the garage. They drove a little past the house and then got out, stretched, and took some pics. We were cracking up since I'm sure they have a picture of our house and messy garage in the background of all their pictures. True Americana.....

'Great' Parenting Advice

2011-05-09T18:58:00.001-05:00

You know when you first have kids and everybody and their second cousin is giving you parenting advice? I can't believe nobody told me about this!

Well....did you know about this? Nobody ever gave me this 'great' piece of parenting advice.

An Evening Walk

2011-05-06T11:15:00.000-05:00

An evening walk always reveals lot's of interesting treasures to be found.

CRAZY morning!!

2011-05-06T08:46:00.000-05:00

NOTHING says crazy like spending 20 minutes tearing your kitchen apart looking for a part for the blender that DOESN'T EVEN EXIST!! My old blender had that part....NOT my new one.

Sigh....now I have my smoothie and relax.

What I Baked Today

2011-05-04T15:50:00.000-05:00

Look!! Today in my oven I made little butts.

Well...as long as you feed & water it

2011-05-03T12:21:00.000-05:00

Him: Hey Mom!

Me: What?

Him: You lose!!

That's our new game. If you say 'What?' you lose. We play it ALL the time!

Hey mom...can I have a 4 wheeler? Some day when you are older you can have one.

I'll take care of it everyday...I promise!! I'll feed it gas everyday!

Oh well....in that case.

We Have a Little Wildlife!

2011-05-02T15:28:00.000-05:00

No more corn and bean desert for us!! There is such wildlife around our new home.

Pretty little birds of every color....I've got to find the bird feeders and get them out. In the evenings we hear the springtime frogs and birds in the creek bottoms. I've lived in the woods half my childhood but I have never heard such hoot owl chatter! I'm going to have to get the camcorder out and record them. It's just amazing. The deer walk through our yard every evening on their way home. I do know that where there are deer there are coyotes so I'm hoping they stay away from the chickens....or at least get the roosters cause they are SO NOISY!!

If it would ever stop raining we would be able to sit out on our new deck in the evenings. Happy Spring!

2011-04-30T06:00:00.002-05:00

In Peyton Place there were three sources of scandal: suicide, murder and the impregnation of an unmarried girl.

Amazon

Peyton Place has it all. I saw the movie a long time ago and always thought the book would be a great read. The other day at the library I was walking the aisles and saw it! I think this book is a must read. It's about YOUR town...ANY town.

......Scandalous occurrences, of a public nature that is, do not often take place in small towns. Therefore, although the closets of small-town folk are filled with such a number of skeletons that if all the bony remains of small-town shame were to begin rattling at once they would cause a commotion that could be heard on the moon, people are apt to say that nothing much goes on in towns like [insert your town here]. While it is true, no doubt, that the closets of city dwellers are in as sad disorder as those of small-town residents, the difference is that the city dweller is not as apt to be on as intimate terms with the contents of his neighbors's closet as is the inhabitant of a smaller community. The difference between a closet skeleton and a scandal, in a small town, is that the former is examined behind barns by small groups who converse over it in whispers, while the latter is looked upon by everyone, on the main street, and discussed in shouts from rooftops.......

I live in a small rural area and I have to say it's discussed behind the barns and shouted from the rooftops EVERY day here. People should read more and gossip less.

Bubby

2011-04-29T06:00:00.000-05:00

My baby boy is 5 today.

My life would be SO boring without him.

Morning Observation

2011-04-28T06:00:00.001-05:00

I think George would get in a LOT less trouble if

the Man with the Yellow hat would give him proper adult supervision. Who lets a monkey loose on a bike in the middle of town anyway!!? I'm shocked the ASPCA isn't all over this guy!!

Tropical Drink Invitation

2011-04-27T12:44:00.000-05:00

Sharing some Sure Cuts A Lot love!!

This is a special order invite I did this week for a party that is being held at a Tiki Hut. I knew I wanted to use my Cricut but I had a real learning curve trying to figure out where to get a picture of something tropical to cut out.

A couple of weeks ago I attended a short seminar on the Sure Cuts A Lot, with my friend Susan, at a scrapbook convention. It was VERY helpful but of course when you come home and put it all into practice it's always different. Luckily I found this site with all these FREE SVG files!! What a goldmine!! Someone had already done all the work for me. I downloaded the image and then broke it apart and had the Cricut cut it out. I admit I had to watch a couple more tutorials and I wasted a lot of paper but once I got it together it was a breeze!!

I also had to put my entire craft room together so I could find all my tools. Every time I would get ready to do something I would realize I had to unpack another box looking for something. So, I decided it was just easier to get it all put together and THEN craft.

The Cricut and the SCAL program are my new best friend!!

Mushroom anyone?

2011-04-26T07:59:00.000-05:00

This is what happens when it rains for days and days and days.......

Picture courtesy of Backwoods Berries

you get mushrooms the size of trees! OR....this is what happens when it rains and rains and rains and somebody can't get into the field and has time on his hands to stage elaborate photos.

Remains of the Day

2011-04-25T14:40:00.000-05:00

I've moved a number of times in my life and I would have to say I have a pretty good record when it comes to not breaking things. Well...I just broke my record...so to speak.

I have now officially broke more things in this ONE move than I have my ENTIRE life!

Picture that fell off the wall and busted. It was an odd size, of course, so I will now have to drive an hour to replace it. Which means a Target trip so not all bad. :)

This is a whole container of dishes I've broke in the last week. Christmas glass, 2 Yankee Candle tea light holders, and a fruit jar.

Add this to the:

Blue salad plate
hand painted pie plate
Christmas mixing bowl
blue soup bowl
hand thrown pottery bowl

That brings my grand total to 10 items broke in the last 10 months. Four of the items are irreplaceable. :/

Little Grow Peep

2011-04-21T06:00:00.000-05:00

What do you do with Peeps? You eat them? I don't...I think they are gross. They really have no taste. I would rather spend my calories on something else. But I gotta admit....they are SO super cute!

I saw this cute idea for a Peep centerpiece in the Woman's Day magazine and thought the kid's teachers needed them. I found the little ceramic flower pots in the Target Dollar Spot and thought they would be better than the little tin buckets the directions called for. If they want throw it all away I figure they can still use the pot to plant a flower in.

You can find the step by step directions on the Woman's Day website but let me just say it was super easy to make. You just hot glue the Peeps onto an embroidery hoop and a flower is born. After Easter if you get in a sugar fit and want to eat them I guess you can bite the heads off but to be honest the centerpiece should last the rest of your life since Peeps NEVER spoil.

Moving Chickens

2011-04-20T18:22:00.000-05:00

The chickens have arrived!! We moved and that means the chickens had to move too.

The Hunter loaded the chickens into their house and loaded the chicken house onto a trailer. He then drove them through town, around the square and down the road to their new home. I can only imagine what people thought. haha!

He backed up into the yard and put it into place.

It looks a little sad doesn't it? Don't worry...it's going to get a fresh coat of paint and a new roof soon.

Everybody survived but they are having some issues assimilating into the general population.

Another Lovely Week Ahead

2011-04-17T21:49:00.000-05:00

I think I'll sit down for a minute. I'm so exhausted. I haven't been to the gym since we moved and I'm thinking it will be a bit relaxing to get back to Spin class this week. ha! I feel liked I've walked a million miles and I've never left the house! I just walk from room to room trying to figure out where to put everything.

I'm ready for a vacation.

My Craft Room...right now

2011-04-14T14:56:00.000-05:00

Somebody asked me this week to post a picture of my craft room.....this is it. Impressed?

We just moved into a new house and everything is piled and stacked. I'm absolutely exhausted! So much to do and there just doesn't seem to be enough time to get it all done. The kitchen is put together so now I can cook. Our bedroom, bath and closet are put together so now I think I can sleep. Next is my craft room! I'm itching to get back to crafting.

October Afternoon Notebook

2011-04-06T19:19:00.000-05:00

Want a quick little notebook? Combine October Afternoon and twine from The Twinery and you got yourself the cutest little notebook EVER.

The paper and stickers are from the Fly a Kite paper pack. October Afternoon is turning into my most favor-ITE paper company's (that is totally a word...my Grandma Mabel used to use it all the time).

I love love love the vintage look of the paper and stickers.

Please bare with me for the next week. We are in the middle of a move and things are starting to get crazy. You feel the need to show up and help pack or clean then I welcome you with open arms. :)

Primitive Easter Cards

2011-04-01T07:43:00.000-05:00

I had a special request for some primitive Easter cards. I have to tell you I had the hardest time with these cards. I know what primitive decorating is and I like it but I don't decorate this way. My eye is not drawn to it. Actually, my eye is not drawn to much of anything...haha! I have the hardest time matching colors. Thank God for packs of color coordinating paper.

I finally found some paper at Hobby Lobby that I thought would work. I distressed and tea stained and then distressed some more and this is what I finally came up with.

I thought I should go ahead and buy a cute little bunny since the only other bunny I have was way to whimsy and cute looking. He looks KINDA primitive so I thought he would work.

Happy Weekend!

Pick A Petal Easter Cards

2011-03-31T08:11:00.000-05:00

What do you do when you don't have any Easter stamps? You improvise! I saw this technique years ago at a Stampin' Up! workshop and I was finally able to use it. See..those workshops DO pay off!! I used a flower petal from the Pick A Petal stamp set to make cute little Easter Bunny ears.

The flower petals look like cute little bunny ears sticking out of the card folder.

I wrapped the card in my new fun twine from The Twinery and the paper is from some old Creative Memories baby paper pack. I'm cleaning out my stash this week. I've listed tons of stuff on Ebay and the rest I've taken out of the packaging and decided it needs used. Why am I buying new paper?? So, from now on if it's not a completely special order where I have NOTHING that will work then I will not be buying anymore paper. Did I just put that in print?? Sigh.... I can still buy stamps, right??

A Truly Riveting Post

2011-03-30T07:49:00.000-05:00

My friend Donna helped me out in a super huge major way this year. As payment she requested a little sewing project which I promptly farmed out to my friend Haley cause we all know how me and sewing don't mix well.

Then she requested some hand made cards. That I could do!

I used Garden Variety paper from Cosmo Cricket...which is turning out to be one of my favorites. The Stampin' Up! stamp set is called Riveting.

I found this cute little clipboard idea over at Chic'n Scratch. She covered a coaster with fun paper but I used chipboard and cut it to the shape I wanted. I then covered it with Cosmo Cricket's Social Club paper. Attach a post-it pad with a simple office binder-clip and voila! How cute is that?!

Good neighbors are so hard to find. Mine are the BEST!

The Chicken Whisperer

2011-03-25T16:16:00.003-05:00

My friend Meagan is here today and she seems to have the touch....crowing on demand!!

Fun in Louisville, Kentucky

2011-03-24T08:12:00.000-05:00

This past weekend, like I mentioned before, I traveled with my sister south to Kentucky. We started our trip off right with Larry's House of Cakes cookies. Anyone from Southern Illinois will know Larry's cookies. I haven't had these for years and they were SO good. Melt in your mouth goodness. We had 4 cookies but one is in my mouth while I'm taking this picture.

After driving all evening in high style in our new truck we arrived at our grand hotel downtown by the river. We checked in and I tried to talk my way into a suite but the clerk wasn't having anything to do with it. No suite but he did give us a room on the 14th floor. Notice anything? There isn't a 13th floor. I find this weird. Can you really trick the god's into thinking there is no 13th floor?

Like I said, the day of the conference while my sister talked, I shopped. ALL-BY-MYSELF. I even lunched by myself. I went into stores just cause I wanted to and then I left stores just cause I wanted to. I didn't have to explain myself once. I walked past the Disney store and nobody threw a fit and wanted to go in. I walked up and down EVERY aisle in Archiver's. That was so much fun! I kinda did throw a fit when I had to leave there though...just kidding.

While at Panara lunching I read a magazine article about Carmen's Cupcakes and thought they sounded like EXACTLY what I needed. I typed the address into GPS and found it! BEST dang cupcakes I've EVER had.

If you are ever in Louisville Kentucky I highly recommend them. My cupcakes are always so dry. How do they make them so rich and yummy??? Maybe I should try to prefect the cupcake??

Before dinner my sister's friend, Ezanya, who lives in Louisville, showed us around. We found the cutest little vintage clothing store with these fun sunglasses. You think people actually wore these in the 50's? This store had such fun clothing and accessories. I would love to have a place like this close so I could stop in every week and see what she has new.

For supper we ate at Lynn's Paradise Cafe. How perfect is that? Yummy food and so fun! Couldn't talk them into giving me my food for free either. I guess talking people into doing what I want is not my thing.

We tested out some fried green tomatoes and stuffed ourselves silly on sweet potato fries. So yummy!!

It was a good weekend. Relaxing? No. But good to get away from the same ol' day to day stuff.

Facebooking the Old-Fashioned Way

2011-03-23T07:51:00.003-05:00

This past weekend I traveled with my sister to Louisville, KY. She was a guest speaker at a conference and I was a shopper of the stores. We all have to stick with what we are good at.

View from our Hotel

Since getting on Facebook a couple of years ago I've discovered my life can pretty much be summed up in multiple one-liners. Lines and phrases that tell JUST enough of what is going on in your life but not TOO much. (And then there are some who tell WAY too much on Facebook but that is a whole other post.)

When I'm away from the house I can't Facebook cause I don't have a fancy Iphone. To me my phone LOOKS fancy cause it's pink but other than that it's JUST a phone. I know...sad isn't it?

Little joke: How do you tell if someone has an Iphone? Oh don't worry....they will TELL you! hahahahaha! Sorry...I only tell that joke out of complete jealousy.

Anyway...now that I've insulted everyone I know I'll get on with my post. While driving down to Louisville we kept thinking up great one-line Facebook posts but since neither of us have an Iphone we couldn't post them. So, I decided to write them all down on paper...you know paper...that stuff we used to use in grade school to write on.

So here goes......Things We Would Have Facebooked IF We Had Iphones:

You can tell how classy a radio station is by how often they 'HOWL' between songs.
It's SO small! Maybe it's Canadian.
You realize we had to drive an hour NORTH to get to KY?
Why would you want to put your finger in it?
Flipflops on. Check. Driving a new truck. Check. Headed to the mall. Check. hmmmm.....Hope I can find my way out of the parking garage.
While in CVS I was directed to aisle 'T&A'. In Louisville, KY this translates to aisle 10-A. I was so confused!
Nobody seems to be home anywhere. They all must be out whooping it up at pizza restaurants WE can't find.
Sorry ma'am....we are out of pizza.

Now I realize most of these won't be funny cause you weren't in the truck with us driving through the night trying desperately to find a pizza place. Who would think it would be THAT hard to find a pizza place in Southern Indiana but it is. The GPS kept taking us to long lost forgotten places that closed 50 years ago. When we finally found a place we had a 12 year old waiter who kept calling us ma'am and would ONLY let us order a large. So strange.

Our whole trip was like this....we would drive and drive to the 'perfect' place and then get there and it was ok. But at least we had fun doing it...AND we looked good in a new Ford F-150 pickup. That's all that matters.

Unexpected Gift

2011-03-18T10:48:00.001-05:00

Remember earlier this week when I said I broke my favorite pie plate? What's the old saying...When God closes a door he opens a window?? Something like that....

Anyway.....last Saturday, right after I broke my pie plate, my friend Kerri gave me a present....a new pie plate!!

She said she has been carrying it around since Christmas and our schedules are so different that we could just never get together. Just when I was feeling down and had broke something I really liked a friend walks in with a smile and gift. How cool is that!?

Kerri and I are berry picking buddies. We picked a lot of produce together last summer and burned up a lot of miles looking for interesting places to eat lunch.....usually some place totally off the beaten path. What better gift for a berry picking buddy than a new pie plate. I've never had one of these cute little pie birds before either. How cute is he??

I went right home and made an apple pie. It was so yummy and looked so cute with the new little pie bird sitting in the middle.

Thanks Kerri!

St. Patty's Day Teacher Gifts

2011-03-17T09:27:00.001-05:00

Who doesn't like a little jar filled with gold wrapped chocolates??

I thought the kid's teachers needed a little chocolate treat today. I found the super cute labels over at eighteen25 and printed them out on cardstock. I then mounted them on white cardstock and rounded the corners. The lid needed a little something sparkly so I added the ribbon. I could have used the green & white twine I just bought but I'm out already. :/

Very simple little present that really you would use for any holiday or event....just change out the label. Hope you are wearing green and have a happy St. Patty's Day!

It's all in who ya know

2011-03-15T13:15:00.001-05:00

My kids are now at an age where they are pretty easy to handle. Not that I am not needed anymore but they are way more self sufficient than they were at say...18 months. My son was hard at 18months. He was active...VERY active.

Getting into breadcrumbs January 2008

Many days I had him strapped to me in a sling while I made dinner cause he wanted to be in EVERYTHING. My daughter was probably a handful too but she went to a babysitter at that age and sadly I only had to deal with her a couple hours a day...WAY different situation.

Over the years I have called my sister during the day and one or all of us would be crying or I would be in the car trying to tell her a story and there was crazy commotion going on in the background. She would listen sympathetically and then say something like, 'Well I've got to go eat pizza or go watch a movie (UNINTERRUPTED!) talk to ya later.'

Christmas 2010

So, last week I had to laugh when my sister went to nanny for a friend of hers. My sister is great with kids and these children are no trouble but some of the little things that where happening made me laugh cause it was the SAME issues I've had for years.

Scenario #1: Small children, time zone change, and pre-dawn phone calls make for VERY early mornings. Apparently not early enough cause when I called her at 5:30am (her time) she was NOT happy with me...go figure. One morning she had the kids strapped in their car seats and she was desperately trying to GPS a McD's so she could find some caffeine. I've done this for YEARS while my sister (and all her co-workers) laughed at me. Then they would all breeze off to their childless martini lunches.

Scenario #2: Rainy mornings mean no park time. Since it's not her house or neighborhood and she doesn't have a built-in set of mommy friends I can imagine it can make for a very long day. So, she used her head and did the next best thing...Target! She let them play in the toy aisle and looked at all the pretty Target things.

Scenario #3: After leaving Target the Nanny needs some more caffeine and the toddler insists on a hamburger. Did you know you can't get a hamburger at 10am at a McD's? My sister didn't. I had to laugh as she said she wanted to crawl through the drive-thru window and strangle the woman for not getting 'her' little girl the ONE thing she will happily eat. We've all been there haven't we? You look at the clerk and want to say 'for the love of God can you please hurry up before my child self-distructs!!'

So, today Bubby was on his 3rd breakfast and wanted a cheeseburger at 10:10am. I went through the drive-thru and talked him into an egg sandwich. I got to the window and, of course, knew the girl (small town...we are even Facebook friends). She happily told me she would get me a cheeseburger. HA! I had to call my sister and tell her 'It's all in who ya know.'

Update: I just called my sister to tell her I blogged about her and she texted me back to say 'I'm in a restaurant and can't talk right now...do you need something?' So ironic! haha!

What? You don't dust at 3am??

2011-03-10T04:13:00.000-06:00

If you can't sleep then get up and do something instead of lying there and worrying. It's the worry that gets you, not the loss of sleep. --Dale Carnegie

It's now 4am and I've been up since 1:20am...not that I'm counting. I decided since I can't sleep I might as well get up and do something. So, I've cleaned the house, folded all the laundry, organized the pantry and got breakfast all but cooked. I'll be so ahead tomorrow!...which will be great cause I'll be exhausted and need a nap.

I've run out of quiet things to do so I thought I would blog a little. This is a picture of my favorite pie plate I broke awhile back. I don't have many cabinets in my kitchen so I have a lot of dishes stacked in a pie safe. Well, the pie safe apparently isn't THAT safe cause I opened it and my pie plate slid out and broke. What's aggravating is it's hand painted and can't be replaced.

Sitting on top of the pie plates was my new favorite mixing bowl. It matches my Christmas dishes pattern and I probably should have put it away a long time ago but it's the PERFECT size so I keep using it. It has a handle and a spout for pouring which are great for making pancakes. Luckily, unlike the pie plate, it can be replaced.

While picking up and putting stuff away in the quiet hours of the morning I think I've come to the conclusion we have too much stuff. The house we live in now is pretty large and we are spreading out a bit too much. Trying to make room for new pie plates and ceramic bowls might be taking the focus away from what is really important. So, tomorrow....if I have the energy I'm going to start purging a bit. This time it won't be just the kid's toys it will be MY toys as well.

More Surecutsalot Labels

2011-03-09T13:49:00.000-06:00

I should title this post 'A whole post about a bucket' but that wouldn't get me as many Google hits. Beware....this is a whole post about 2 buckets.

I have to share with you another little project I did this week using my Surecutsalot and Cricut.

As most of you know I cook most everything from scratch so I buy a lot of flour, sugar, and other baking supplies in bulk. I always buy flour and sugar in 25lb bags cause not only do I bake a lot I also don't want to be running to town to buy a tiny bag of sugar every time I want to do something. I would love to have a fancy pretty container to store my bulk items in from somewhere like The Container Store but to be honest I have found them not to be big enough.

A couple of years ago I discovered these 5 gallon buckets at the local farm supply store. I think they are supposed to keep dog food fresh but right now they are keeping people food fresh. I've had more strange looks when I haul these out but I've never had issues with bugs since I got them. They are air tight!

Functional...yes! Pretty...no!

I decided to spray the bottom of the bucket white to cover up the wording and the lid red. It didn't take but a few minutes and I had totally different bucket. I stood back and I was all proud of myself for my little project when I realized I had just created a plain white bucket with a red lid. Woohoo! Nobody has EVER seen that in the feed store before! (sarcasm intended) I probably could have bought plain buckets and it would have been way easier but I already had the bucket and had the paint. Trying to be economical and use what I have people!

Using the Surecutsalot program I used the same label as I did with my small canisters and enlarged it. (The buckets I keep in the pantry the canisters I keep on top of my pie safe). It was a lot easier to cut out the bigger letters. I'm learning that some fonts are not that easy to cut out.

Now my buckets don't look like they came from the farm supply store....well maybe they do but at least they have fun labels on them.

In Love With Surecutsalot & My Cricut

2011-03-07T16:01:00.001-06:00

I have to share with you my new toy....Surecutsalot. It's a program I downloaded to my laptop that works with my Cricut. If you have a Cricut you HAVE to get this program. You will never have to buy another cartridge again....unless you want to. For less than $60 you can download a program that will allow you to cut and paste ANY image into the Surecutsalot program and then cut it out on your Cricut. Seriously! Any image!

A friend of mine has been telling me about this program for awhile now but I thought it sounded too good to be true. It took me a couple months of research and reading different reviews to finally take her word for it and make the plunge. I know....I'm slow sometimes. But that's ok. It took me 10 years to finally convince this same friend to shop at Aldi's and I can't get her to use a coupon to save her life. ;) We are all a little slow sometimes.

Ok...so here is the rundown. First, go to Cricut and download the latest firmware for your Cricut. Right now it's free so get on it. Second, go to Craft Edge and download the version of Surecutsalot you need. I downloaded to my laptop so I can take it with me. Third, don't forget to look around for a coupon. I was able to get 10% off so it only cost $53. It downloads right to your computer and you are ready to cut!

I looked around for a label I liked to put on my canisters. I copied and pasted it right into the program.

screenprint from my laptop

After finding the label shape I wanted I typed in the word. Don't worry about the color cause it's just going to cut it out on whatever paper you have.

I chose black vinyl. I cut out the labels and attached them to each of my jars in a matter of minutes! Fun easy project. Can't wait to do more.

I highly recommend this program. The main thing I want it for is the fonts. I hated having to buy a different cartridge for each font.

Disclaimer: This is just a basic label. It is not copyrighted. But if you are going to use a copyrighted image please proceed at your own risk. I for one would NEVER use something that is copyrighted...much less sell it.

Good Target Day

2011-03-06T06:00:00.000-06:00

My total bill from Target was $14.92. I don't have a picture of my receipt so you will just have to take my word for it. BUT....if you take off the protein bars and the 3 dollar spot items I bought it brings my bill down to $5.26! That's right...$5.26 for all this:

2 packages Scot Brite sponges (4 sponges)
2 jars of Miracle Whip
2 jars of Newman's spaghetti sauce
4 boxes of Excederin
1 box of Ibuprofen
1 bottle of Tide Stain Release
2 Clorox wipes
1 package of yogurt

Not a bad Target run. Haven't couponed a lot lately cause I really haven't needed anything. There hasn't been a good group of deals lately that made it worth the drive but this week I had to go for some other things I decided to get my coupons organized and get a couple of things.

St. Patty's Day Cards and Twine

2011-03-05T11:17:00.000-06:00

Happy Weekend!! Cold, dreary and rainy today. Perfect for a little crafting I think. I found some super cute tags and I'm itching to get started on them. I'll be posting this week.

I had a special order for St. Patty's Cards this week and since I don't have any shamrock stamps I had to improvise a bit. I searched around on Slipcoaststampers and found this idea using green paper. I corner rounded the edges to create the flower and used a white button in the middle.

I didn't have the green and white baker's twine or even green ribbon though. After calling around I discovered I wasn't going to be able to drive and find it either. Apparently it's a 'seasonal' item. Go figure. I could have gone to get the green ribbon but by this time my heart was set on the green baker's twine.

I finally found exactly what I was looking for at The Twinery. They have sampler packs so you check out all their colors before you purchase a large roll. Look how cute these are? Who knew I would be so into string!

The upside to all this....other than finding cute twine....is I didn't have to drive anywhere and purchase it. This is a good thing in my house cause if I have to drive further than 5 miles I have to hear about it from the The Hunter. This way I make him happy. I get the high from purchasing this online. I get the high from it arriving in the mail. I get the high from actually using it on the card and my friend gets cute cards. Win win win for everybody involved.

Irish Eye Chart

2011-02-28T14:44:00.001-06:00

With St. Patty's Day right around the corner I thought I should post some of the holiday crafts I have up around the house. I'm still lovin' my little jars! I decided after the candy-fest we have had around here from Christmas to Valentine's day that I didn't want to fill these jars with anything sweet....i.e. green M&M's.

I thought of green easter grass but then decided on this shredded paper. I ran some green paper through the shredder and voila! Super easy and cheap! I then used the Cricut to cut out the shamrocks.

I haven't found any 'Keep Calm' type prints to copy other than 'Kiss me I'm Irish'...which I'm not so I feel weird putting stuff like that out there. I did find this St. Patty's Day craft at Tatertots and Jello and I thought it would be a cute and simple decoration. She used her Silhouette to print out her letters but I just made a Word document. I typed in some random letters, stuck the word LUCKY in the middle and found a cute shamrock clipart....printed it out and....DONE!

I needed a green frame so I used a bunch of really cool techniques to get this fabulous green and black crackle look. It took me days and days to get this one-of-a-kind look. Actually, I took an old black frame I had lying around out to the garage and spray painted it with a can of green spray paint that was too cold. The can has been out there for years and since it's only about 34 degrees outside today the paint bubbled up on the frame and didn't stick in some places. This is what happens when you don't follow directions.

Any other time this would have been a disaster but for once I think not following directions worked out in my favor.

Isn't Mother Nature Funny?

2011-02-25T11:08:00.000-06:00

It rained all day long yesterday. Poured. They kept calling for a wintery mix but it was just rain.

Drove to town about 4pm last night and it was just sprinkling. We had on normal shoes and rain jackets. It was almost 40 degrees...no reason for snow gear.

By the time we got to town it was snowing so hard I could barely see the road. When we walked out of the gym it was a rainy/snowy/slushy MESS! 3 inches of snow and slush....blah!

I think this is retaliation for all the texts I've been sending my Northern friends bragging about our 50 and 60 degree weather.

Mother Nature got me back in a BIG way.

Does This Mean I'm Finally Stylish??

2011-02-23T10:15:00.001-06:00

Well, this is a first....I've have received a Stylish Blogger Award from Stamping Sanity....one very cool stampin blog. Check out Sandy's blog if you want fun Stampin' Up! ideas. I met Sandy last November at a craft show. I saw her booth from afar and practically mowed people down to get to it. My sister was like, "Act cool. Act cool! She'll raise her prices if she sees you running to her booth." I bought some cool cards that I never have sent out. They sit on my window ledge as inspiration.

Part of the award is to do the following:

1) thank the person who gave this award to me and link it back to their blog
2) share 8 things about myself
3) pass this award to 8 other individuals that I have recently discovered
4) leave a comment so that they can pass along the recognition!

8 Things About Myself....as if there is anything left to tell.

I have been married to The Hunter for almost 13 years.
My beds are all unmade while I sit here blogging....but the dishes are all done and the washing machine and dryer are going. A friend told me recently she always makes her bed cause if someone breaks in she doesn't want them to think she is dirty. I'm hoping they take one look at the house and think 'someone has already robbed the place' and then turn around and leave.
I have a thing for organizing closets and cabinets. The house might be a mess but the closets are all in order!
I find time to take at least 2 classes a day at the gym (reason housework isn't done).
I love to bake. Baking calms me. When I'm stressed and the rest of the house is in a mess I will just drop it all and bake. Hence reason I have to work out hours a day.
I hate veggies but I eat them cause I know they are good for me and my skin.
I love BBC dramas which are basically British soaps.....but I wouldn't be caught dead watching American Soaps. For some reason if they are speaking 'British' then it's way more sophisticated.
I love office supplies. When I used to work in an office I used to LOVE LOVE LOVE making out the purchase order for office supplies and when they came you would have thought it was Christmas. Now I buy stamping and scrapbooking supplies.

8 Blogs Who Inspire Me
(other than Stamping Sanity who I check EVERY day). There are so many blogs out there I check pretty regular for ideas and inspiration but I'm just going to limit this selection to crafting blogs only so if yours is not on there PLEASE don't get mad at me.

I Despise a Floggin' Rooster

2011-02-21T21:18:00.000-06:00

The snowing is melting!! It has REALLY warmed up this past week and I'm loving all of it but the mud. It's now that time of year I have to put it into 4-wheel drive to get in and out of the drive way.

We ordered 25 more chicks last week.

They are all doing well so far....only lost 2 so that is good. The kids love to check on them everyday and hold them.

The chickens don't venture out much when there is a lot of snow on the ground but all this 50 and 60 degree weather has really put a spring in their step. While out taking pics of the chickens I realized I haven't introduced you to our new boys....Mr. Big and Aiden. A friend of my mom's talked us into taking 2 of her roosters off her hands. They had names when they arrived but soon I thought they needed new ones.

After watching them for a couple of days I decided the bigger rooster should be called Mr. Big......

and the other one should be called Aiden. Ya know...from Sex & the City. They both seem to fight over the blond chicken, Sara, so I thought these names were PERFECT.

I was worried about having roosters around the place. I have heard horror stories......I Despise a Floggin' Rooster!

There is something comforting in hearing them crow throughout the day. Since we keep them locked up at night I don't have to hear them till The Hunter get's up and lets them out in the morning.

The seem to really watch over their girls....and I like that.