casa de cupcake.

Valentines.

2012-02-14T16:42:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day has slowly become one of my favorite holidays. I can't but love the candies, hearts and lovely flowers that come with it. I know, so corny, but I love it.

My husband isn't so fond of this holiday. He is romantic and thoughtful most everyday and doesn't need a specific day to show it. I know, I am a lucky girl. In years past I have acted like a princess and not been understanding to his needs instead of mine. I told him the other night that sentiments of the holiday weren't needed and that I was okay if I didn't receive anything. Really, okay. Little did I know...

I woke up this morning to my kitchen embellished with love notes, lots of love notes. If you know me, you know I am a "words of affirmation" girl and words are my thing. His notes made me laugh one minute and cry the next. I felt so overwhelmed by these simple yet meaningful displays of love. I also got a beautiful BLUE hydrangea. If you are curious as to why these are so special, you can read the ~~saga~~ details, here. ☺

This note was my most favorite.

I have {thee} best husband.

I hope that all of you have had a wonderful Valentine's Day!!

Big Sis says...

2012-02-07T17:04:00.001-08:00

Listening to a classical music mix and a song from Lord of the Rings comes on...
Big Sis: Mom, is this opera?
Me: No, this is from the movie, LOTR.
Big Sis: I can't believe I am listening to PG music!!!
Me: {giggle to myself} smile.

a new year! -- photo challenge.

2012-01-30T16:34:00.001-08:00

Day 30 -- self portrait.

a new year! -- photo challenge.

2012-01-29T19:03:00.001-08:00

Day 29 -- light.

a new year! -- photo challenge.

2012-01-28T21:52:00.001-08:00

Day 28 -- nighttime.

a new year! -- photo challenge.

2012-01-27T17:01:00.000-08:00

Day 27 -- daily routine.

a new year! -- photo challenge.

2012-01-26T15:23:00.001-08:00

Day 26 -- transportation.

a new year! -- photo challenge.

2012-01-25T12:12:00.001-08:00

Day 25 -- artwork.

This is my favorite kind. {sigh}

a new year! -- photo challenge.

2012-01-24T21:23:00.001-08:00

Day 24 -- gratitude.

a new year! -- photo challenge.

2012-01-23T21:52:00.001-08:00

Day 23 -- inside my closet.

a new year! -- photo challenge.

2012-01-22T14:58:00.001-08:00

Day 22 -- clothing.

My favorite scarf.

a new year! -- photo challenge.

2012-01-21T21:00:00.001-08:00

Day 21 -- where I sleep.

a new year! -- photo challenge.

2012-01-20T14:03:00.001-08:00

My day got away from me yesterday. Oops. I was doing so good too. :(

Day 19 -- best friend.

Day 20 -- seasonal.

Tip-ful Tuesday on a Thursday -- how to dry out your winter boots and gloves.

2012-01-19T14:50:00.000-08:00

I wanted to shared a tip that I have been using the last few day because it's awesome and because it can't wait till Tuesday. ☺

Our area has been shrouded in the fluffy white stuff and now today, icy pellets. My girls have been so excited and playing in it non-stop. Remember their sadness, here. ☺ Their snow clothes are on the small side, so snow creeps into their boots and gloves.

I find it very difficult to dry out wet boots and gloves, wouldn't you agree? It's not like you can just throw them in the dryer. ☺

The quickest and easiest way to do so is to use newspaper! Just stuff each boot and set them aside to dry. The newspaper absorbs the moisture and also keeps them from getting musty and mildewy. It is quite amazing.

You can stuff your gloves with it too! You don't need to cram each finger with it, just fill it up as best you can.

a new year! -- photo challenge.

2012-01-18T15:30:00.001-08:00

Day 18 -- something new.

Angry Birds Party -- goody bags.

2012-01-18T13:27:00.000-08:00

Big Sis has been obsessed with her Angry Birds these last few days. Playing with them, writing stories about them, playing the game on the computer, snuggling them...you get the idea.

While staring at them on my table, I realized I never blogged about the goody bags. Wow. Talk about spacing out...I apologize to all of you who have been patiently waiting for the reveal. Well, the wait is over. Lets get down to business!

Goody bags -- Our selection of items was pretty small back in October. Now, you can find Angry Birds everywhere. It never fails, months after I have a party with no decor, etc. it pops up. My friend told me I am a trend-setter. Yep, I am a trend-setter.☺

I used a small brown paper lunch sack, a mailing label with TNT in the Angry Birds Font, and made one-inch strips of brown construction paper {cut into various lengths} to glue around the label. Easy.

We filled them with sunflower seeds, Angry Birds band-aids, silly putty, Angry Birds stickers, silly string, candy from the pinata, and the golden egg they picked out. Something that would have been really fun to add were Angry Bird fruit snacks. They are now available for those of you having parties. How NOT fair, oh well. ☺

Golden eggs -- The little prize at the end of or in the midst of your level. I had some leftover plastic Easter eggs and spray painted them gold. We put small treasures inside like sticky hands, etc. I will say that those little things are hard to spray paint. I came up with this idea so I could get them all covered with as little mess as possible. Worked perfect!

Take your toothpicks and stick them into the foam base. Take your newspaper/old phone book pages and place over the toothpicks. You will need to carefully pull them down over the toothpicks so you don't tear the pages. I did it this way because, it was the way I came up with. I am sure it would work reversed but I didn't want to take the time to hammer the toothpicks through several layers of paper. ☺

Place your eggs on the toothpicks. They have these handy-dandy holes in the tops and the bottoms that makes this really easy!

Spray your first couple layers, let dry. Flip the eggs over and repeat the process until your eggs are nice and golden. The kids had so much fun with their golden eggs.

Golden egg nests -- Take a small brown lunch sack and roll down the edges. I manipulated a bit to look like a nest. Place your golden eggs inside for a cute decoration. Easy.

If you are curious about other aspects of the party, click here and here. ☺

a new year! -- photo challenge.

2012-01-17T16:46:00.001-08:00

Day 17 -- memories.

a new year! -- photo challenge.

2012-01-16T16:32:00.001-08:00

Day 16 -- animals.

a new year! -- photo challenge.

2012-01-15T21:31:00.001-08:00

Day 15 -- technology.

We couldn't help but be silly.

a new year! -- photo challenge.

2012-01-14T18:30:00.001-08:00

Day 14 -- movement.

a new year! -- photo challenge.

2012-01-13T12:36:00.001-08:00

Day 13 -- written words.

a new year! -- photo challenge.

2012-01-12T16:05:00.001-08:00

Day 12 -- hands.

a new year! -- photo challenge.

2012-01-11T16:38:00.001-08:00

Day 11 -- something old.

A very dear treasure, my Granny's pearls.

snow fun!

2012-01-11T15:35:00.000-08:00

My girls have been a little sad that the fluffy, white stuff hasn't really come to visit us this winter. I on the other hand, am ecstatic. This is no secret to my friends, I loathe the snow. In fact, I have a nickname when it comes to the snow, are you ready for it...Scrooge-rah. Yep, that's me.☺ I insert my bah humbug when snow or the possibility of it is mentioned. It is all in good fun of course, but honestly I would be happy if I lived where there is no snow ever.

This fact makes my girls really sad. I suggested when they had a friend over that we do something "snow fun". Of course they were thrilled to do something with the word snow in it.

I wish I could take credit for this adorable idea, but I can't. I found the idea here on this awesome blog. If you have the time to check it out, she has lots of great crafty ideas. She gives simple and easy directions.

These are how ours turned out. Aren't they "snow cute"? Their friend felt it necessary to give her girl some "bunny ears". She is such a jokester!

Right now most gloves are on clearance for close to half off, so go grab some and make these! I hope that this "snow" craft will tide my girls over till spring!☺

a new year! -- photo challenge.

2012-01-10T15:27:00.001-08:00

Day 10 -- nature.

House beautification -- Spray paint DIY.

2012-01-10T13:57:00.000-08:00

I have found a new home decor friend. It's name is spray paint. Yes, I have jumped on the band wagon. I have been wandering around our casa thinking, "Could I spray that and if so what color?" I know it is craziness. How could I have not thought of this sooner?!

As you recall in my post on our chandelier project, I talked about how when picking out fixtures we went with what was cheap. I didn't realize how I had come to really dislike them all...the faucets, the light fixtures, the back splashes, etc. If I could have my way, I would rip it all out and buy new things. Hmmm. We know where that got me on the last dreaming of large amount purchases, don't we. ☺

Now, let's now introduce my new friend. Say hello!

The first item we tackled was our bathroom fixture. Here is it before it's beautification...

I didn't do anything special to prep it other than wipe it off and dry it. I made a little "spray area" in the garage and painted away. It took about 3-4 good coats to get the fixture covered really well. Something I didn't know was how the light bulb covers went on. I sprayed them upside down so they didn't get a good coat of paint. I am going to re-do them, so don't look too closely. ☺

Here it is all finished...

While I was at it, we decided to spray the light switch and plug covers in my kitchen. I mean, why not, right?
We originally wanted to purchase the oil rubbed bronze light covers. They were just too expensive, so they were put on hold, until now. I put them on a small piece of wood, layed them in my "spray area" and coated them 2-3 times.

I look all around my casa and smile so big. I am giddy. I can't contain my excitement. David and I were both shocked at how well everything turned out, I mean shocked.

Who knew that one can of spray paint could provide so much beautification and happiness? ☺

a new year! -- photo challenge.

2012-01-09T17:40:00.000-08:00

Day 9 -- inspiring person.

I haven't said much on these posts because I wanted the pictures to do the talking instead of me. This picture was really hard for me to figure out. I have lots of inspiring people that I could have shared but time and time again I kept coming back to one person.

I saw this quote on Pinterest today...

I then knew for sure who the picture of my ~~inspiring~~ beautiful person was. I don't see this person everyday, so I wasn't able to take the photo myself. I have to admit that I borrowed it from my email. I don't think that they will sue me for copyright infringement, I hope. ☺

I love you, my beautiful Sibling. Thank you for being you. You inspire and bless me everyday.

House beautification -- Chandelier DIY.

2012-01-09T15:33:00.000-08:00

Slowly but surely our casa is getting back to normal after the installation of our new floor. I have all of these ideas in my head of what I want to finish before I put all the light covers back on and touch-up that last bit of paint and...why is it that the little projects, seem the hardest to finish?

One of the many things I have wanted to upgrade has been our dining room chandelier. New paint, new floor, new curtains...it just didn't fit my idea for the room. Almost 10 years ago, when we were choosing the fixtures for our house, I wasn't thinking about what was stylish or pretty but what was cheap and what fit into our budget. It hasn't been my favorite, but has done a good job.

David and I were out and about on our weekly date when we ended up at the local big box store that likes to use orange to decorate with. ☺ He listened patiently as I shared my dream of how the chandelier I picked out would make the room so much prettier. I guess that the $200 price tag and not my dreaming was the determining factor. I admit I was frustrated, irritated and defeated. I had that chandelier so hyped up in my mind that it was hard to listen to his love and reasoning. We came home and I formulated a plan.

I looked at our chandelier and tried to see if there was any way that I could give it a little upgrading, myself.

The first thing I wanted to see if I could turn the arms and face them up. With a little tweaking and turning I was able to move them. YAY! The problem was the metal ring that rested on the bottom of the glass cover. I removed the light bulb and the glass and slipped the metal ring off. Woohoo! I also gave each of the glass covers a good cleaning. I didn't realize how dirty they had gotten. Oops. Guess I dropped the ball on that cleaning bit. ☺

At this point, I am really excited at the potential. Doesn't it look kinda cool?

I carefully put all the glass covers back on, alternating as I went, for balance. I almost knocked it off the chain! Those glass covers are heavy!

This is the final product. Yay!! I couldn't be more pleased! I also left the chain long. Before, it was tacked up really close to the ceiling. It looks a little more distinguished now. ☺

David also helped by adding in a new dimmer switch. Who knew that something so little could make such a big difference! The girls love how the lights can be soft, then bright. It is something that we have all had fun ~~playing with~~ setting. I am so thrilled with how it turned out.

Looking back now, I am so thankful that I listened to my husband's love and reasoning. I have such a great feeling of satisfaction that I didn't spend a dime to make this chandelier pretty. I look at it now and smile. I hope that this inspires you to take what you have, tweak it, and make it beautiful!

a new year! -- photo challenge.

2012-01-08T20:12:00.001-08:00

Day 8 -- favorite color.

a new year! -- photo challenge.

2012-01-07T20:19:00.001-08:00

Day 7 -- something funny.

my favorite.

a new year! -- photo challenge.

2012-01-06T14:23:00.001-08:00

Day 6 -- books.

a new year! -- photo challenge.

2012-01-05T10:51:00.001-08:00

Day 5 -- morning sky.

a new year! -- photo challenge.

2012-01-04T09:47:00.001-08:00

Day 4 -- leaves.

a new year! -- photo challenge.

2012-01-03T08:37:00.001-08:00

Day 3 -- happiness.

a new year! -- photo challenge.

2012-01-02T16:07:00.001-08:00

Day 2 -- smile.

Gets me every time. {sigh}

a new year! -- photo challenge.

2012-01-01T17:17:00.001-08:00

Day one -- favorite food.

a new year! -- photo challenge.

2011-12-30T11:00:00.000-08:00

2011 is on the doorstep of saying good-bye. How is that even possible? I don't tend to make New Year's resolutions because they are so easy to break or always seem impossible to keep. I was pinning a few fun things on Pinterest a few days ago and noticed that a friend had pinned this...

{source}

I had forgotten that I had pinned it several weeks previous. It came from the website, positively present.com, which is way cool, btw. ☺ It got me thinking how fun it would be to start the New Year off with a fun, positive project. I know it says "gratitude" in there, but the picture ideas are simple and could be done at any time of the year. I have the fun app, instagram on my phone and am constantly taking pictures of random things and tweaking them. I love it so much, I even took our Christmas card pictures using this app. ☺ Normally I would spend forever editing on the computer, but with this app at my fingertips, I figured it wouldn't be that much of a challenge to take on this project. It should be fun!

I'll do my best to post my picture everyday. Feel free to join me! Yay for a New Year!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T13:13:00.001-08:00

Luke 2:10-12

"I bring you good news...Today a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. You will find the baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Last-minute Christmas wrapping.

2011-12-23T17:56:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! I hope you are enjoying these last few days before Christmas. I know we are!

I have a fun and easy idea for those last minute presents that need to be wrapped.

Our local grocery store during the holidays has these gorgeous paper bags.

I KNOW! I think they are so pretty.

I wanted to give the gift I wrapped it in, a little extra festive touch.

I heart glitter, especially Christmas-y glitter. ☺

Here is how I did it...
--Wrap your present first. It is a lot easier to manage the glitter after your gift is ready to go. ☺

--Trace your shape with a bottle of good old school glue. The tip makes tracing a breeze!

-- Sprinkle your glitter till the glue is good and covered. I turned the gift on its side and gave it a good tap. The extra glitter fell onto a piece of wax paper for easy clean-up and re-use. ☺

--Let it dry and you have a beautious gift, ready for giving.

Hope you have a merry, merry Christmas!!

Christmas Coundown -- Felt Nativity.

2011-12-22T09:36:00.001-08:00

Day 11 --

Sorry to be so absent as of late. I have so many posts {in my mind} and so little time. I thought using the Blogger app on my phone would expedite blog posts...well, um, it kind of has, but not really. Ugh. This happens every time I get in a groove and then something happens and my posts are intermittent. Thanks for sticking around and patiently waiting for another blog post. I have a feeling that is not the reality, but it makes me smile to think the a fore mentioned. ☺

Luke 2:10,11

I bring you good news...

Today a Savior has been born to you;

he is Christ the Lord.

I originally made this cute little set at a MOPS meeting when Big Sis was very little. That was, so it seems, very long ago. I have always wanted to create a template, so that I could make them with the girls. I finally did that today. I uploaded it to the online-unknown, so you can have it for your very own particular use. Ok, so I have been watching Pride and Prejudice a few too many times, but how can you not? {sigh}
You will have to bear with the crudeness of it. Don't judge me. I don't have a cool, high-tech program that allows you to make cool stuff. I just had a pencil and a piece of paper. I made a photo copy of it today and it worked out great. So enough of the back story...

let's get crafting!

Supplies:
Nativity template, printed on card stock
craft felt, in a variety of colors, including skin ☺
pipe cleaners.
ribbon, trim, ric rac, etc.
crafting glue
a Sharpie
q-tip
blush
good scissors
small magnets {optional}

I went ahead and traced the patterns onto the felt for the girls and they cut them out. Easy peasy.

The Angel
--glue the face, halo{pipe cleaner, trim etc.}, hands, and trim
Make your face using the Sharpie and give a little blush to the cheeks, using your q-tip.

It is a bit easier if you desire a "halo" effect to glue it under the face. It helped anchor it a lot better than placing it on the back. We also noticed that the Angel's face needed to be trimmed down a bit compared to Mary and Joseph.

Mary and baby Jesus
--glue Mary's face first. You can eyeball it and move it down if necessary. Glue down the head covering, over the face. Make her face in the same manner as the Angel.
--glue baby Jesus's face to his body. Make his face. Glue the baby to Mary. You can place her hand on either side.

Joseph
--glue his face and head covering in the same manner as Mary's. Make his face. Use your pipe cleaner and make a Shepard's staff. Run glue along the base of the staff and place on Joseph. Glue his hand where you want it. ☺

You have now created your very own Nativity set. You can leave them as they are or you can glue a small magnet on the back, perfect for hanging on the fridge.

The girlies did such a great job! Can you guess which girl made which Nativity??☺

Christmas Countdown -- paper candy canes.

2011-12-13T10:52:00.000-08:00

Day 2 --

We are counting down to Christmas and the birth of our Savior. It is one of my favorite times of the year. I have had lots of fun this year. I decided to start counting down on the 12th and end on Christmas. Sounds like a good plan, doesn't it?

For this activity, we made paper candy canes. I found the idea here. Her website is filled with awesome ideas!!

We made ours a little different.

* We used a chisel tipped marker and didn't have to worry about using a ruler.
* We also added a little stripe to make it look like a real candy cane.

The girls and I had so much fun. I did the marking and the girls did the rolling. We have put them up all over the house. They add that handmade, festive touch I love.

You should try them out! Plus, they are calorie free!! Yippee!

The Twelve Days of Christmas.

2011-12-06T19:31:00.001-08:00

We are enjoying the sights and sounds of Christmas! The house is decorated for the most part, inside and out. We get so excited when we spot Christmas lights while driving around. We have the radio station that plays Christmas music 24-7 on, all the time. We have watched all of my Christmas classics so many times {I have already lost count} and it is only the 6th. I admit that we got a head-start before Thanksgiving, but no one made a fuss. ☺

I was organizing the spare bedroom for company the other day and stumbled upon a simple piece of notebook paper. I noticed Big Sis' handwriting on it. I unearthed it from the pile it was under and discovered her own version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas". I must have tucked it away last year and completely forgot about it. It made me smile so big. I could vaguely remember hearing the girls singing of all 12 days. I thought it would be fun to share with all of you. Who knows, maybe her version will catch on?? Hope you are enjoying the sights and sounds of Christmas, too!

The Twelve Days of Christmas by Big Sis

First day - A wonderful Solar System
second day - 2 Barbies sleeping
third day - 3 awesome friends
fourth day - 4 bags of candy
fifth day - 5 golden gifts
sixth day - 6 packs of french fries
seventh day - 7 stars are shining
eighth day - 8 girls are swimming
ninth day - 9 dogs are drumming
tenth day - 10 cats are piping
eleventh day - 11 cows are dancing
twelfth day - 12 children singing

{I just adore her writing and spelling. sigh.}

How busy a month can be.

2011-12-02T22:00:00.001-08:00

Hello dear friends! I can't believe a month has gone by since I posted last. So many things have happened this month!! I don't plan to try and catch you up on everything {you would be bored out of your minds} but here are a few pictures of the fun, just in case you were wondering. ☺ Editor's note: I have now added captions to our busy month.

I adore this face. She is so excited to wear her new glasses. Yep, she is just like me! ☺

I heart our Christmas tree! I am very, very excited to have a real tree after 9 years of a fake one. ☺

Big Sis in her performance at school. She was Snirt #9!

Little Cute and I trying out my new iPhone. ☺

Big Sis sharing her "marball". Fun times at recess. ☺

Celebrating 10 years of hard work at David's job. It was a beautiful table and a yummy dinner.

Happy Anniversary! 13 years of looove.

Happy birthday!!!

Happy November! -- thankfulness.

2011-11-01T11:14:00.000-07:00

I am going to secretly admit that I am happy its November. I got really tired of all the Halloween stuff everywhere. I am happy that its now pumpkins, turkeys, colored leaves and thankfulness time. I have soo much to be thankful for, soo much. I am reminded of it everyday. I thought maybe {if I think of it} I will share a few things I am thankful for this month.

So here goes...

This one is hard to be thankful for, but I am.

I am thankful for the many, many piles around my house, the concrete dust everywhere, the giant stack of boxes in the hallway, the huge pile of debris taking up my parking spot in the garage, the brr-cold mornings because of the concrete floor and the constant feeling of chaos these last few weeks. Why am I thankful for these strange things? It means that in a few short days, I will have the floor of my dreams. The waiting, longing and desiring we have had last 9 years are finally coming to fruition.

This, my friends, is why I am thankful.

{This is the sample. I do this quite often. I know, its weird. It reminds me to be thankful for the chaos all around. Isn't it so pretty?}

school lunch -- a little fun & fruity.

2011-10-28T06:30:00.000-07:00

It is hard not to get into a rut when making the girlies' lunches e.v.e.r.y.d.a.y. I have a friend who creates a list of fun things, mixtures and all sorts of cool stuff and lets her daughter pick from the list. Whoa, genius. I was so inspired that I had to do a little something to make it more fun for me them. Pinterest has also been a great place of inspiration. Some of the lunches that these moms make...wow. My girls are like me and like a little creativity but are creatures of habit. They like what they like and don't want it changed. {sigh}

I finally got a burst of random creativity. I sent this little guy in their lunches. I hope that they like him.

{taken in secret with my phone. ☺}

I used some googly eyes, a little sticky-square from my scrapbook supplies and a Sharpie to make Mr. Banana. I wish I could see their faces when they open up their lunch boxes and see him peeking out...

What fun things do you like to send in your kiddos lunches??

Jog-a-thon.

2011-10-27T10:33:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago the girlies' school had their annual Jog-a-thon fundraiser. Sadly, we didn't raise the usual funds to help our school, but the girls and their classmates still had a good time. I was able to be there to help out and to capture a few photos. We were so thankful for good weather that day. In years past, we have had to have it indoors due to rain. God answered our prayers that day! ☺

Little Cute and her friend.

They walked together the whole time. So cute. Little Cute walked 7 laps! Yay!

Big Sis is getting a little tired.

She jogged 9 laps around our school field! Even after jogging, she is such a beauty!!

Wordless Wednesday. -- Little Cute edition

2011-10-26T06:00:00.000-07:00

Punkin Bread -- a recipe.

2011-10-25T10:51:00.000-07:00

This morning we woke up to very chilly temps. Brrrrrr. It appears that Fall is quickly making its presence known. {applause} It is mornings like this I LOVE to bake. A favorite around here is punkin bread. It makes a great snack, breakfast, dessert...I thought I would share with you the recipe that we love around our casa.
Pumpkin Spice Bread

ingredients:
3 cups sugar

2 cups canned pumpkin

1 cup water

1 cup vegetable oil {You can substitute unsweetened applesauce for half the oil, I have done it several times and it has come out good.}

4 eggs

In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar, pumpkin, water, vegetable oil, and eggs. Beat until well mixed.

3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
3/4 tsp. cloves

Measure the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, nutmeg, and ground cloves into separate bowl, then stir ingredients until combined. The girlies like to help with this part. ☺

{I wish you could smell how wonderful this is.}

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture, beating until smooth.

Grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans. The baking PAM works awesome. Divide the batter between the pans evenly. Bake for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from pans. Serve warm. Hmmmmmm.

Very Pinteresting.

2011-10-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

I adore Pinterest. It is actually a small obsession. My friend Christian introduced me to Pinterest and I am so thankful she did. I just have to say that she has amazing pins! A few days ago on her blog, she shared some of her favorite Pinterest things. I am borrowing her idea. I hope she doesn't mind. ☺

I could easily spend hours looking at "random things" as my husband has put it. He teases me, but it is because he loves me so. ☺

I have found so many great ideas and have actually put several of them to use.

Pinterest #1 - Pretty Hamburgers

This is what we did and it totally worked! Aren't my hubby's hands so cute? ☺

Pinterest #2 - On the hour...

She originally used it for an anniversary present, but I used it for a special friend's 30th birthday. I had SO much fun putting it together. I used my Silhouette to get the cupcake shapes, yay!

Pinterest #3 - Bread tags = organization.

Um, all I can say is awesomeness.

Pinterest #4 Paint chip keychain.

Instead of painting little chips and putting them on a ring, I just punched a shape out of the paint sample card, punched a hole and used the complimentary rings from my local Home Depot. I wrote on the back of each punch what room is painted what. With all the fixing up here at our casa, this will be an invaluable tool matching and coordinating colors!

If you want to join in the fun, find me on Pinterest. ☺

Angry Birds Party - decorations!

2011-10-20T05:00:00.000-07:00

THIS is my favorite part of a party. I love setting the mood for fun and excitement. I had to get creative in this department since there are ZERO decorations at your local store.

I went to my go-to, pom-poms. I followed the basic directions, you can find those here. I then cut out eyes, tails, and extra feathers to replicate the different birds. Glue dots work best when affixing the extras. ☺

Red Bird

Yellow Bird - This guy was the tricky one. I kept the ball in half and stapled the sides together to create his triangle shape. You just have to play with it and get it to where you want it. I made a tail to cover up the cinched middle you get when making a pom-pom.

Bomb Bird

I also made a few pigs using small party plates. Oink!

I used my favorite ruffled streamers and a classic paper chain.

I love balloons. I found these cute polka-dotted ones at Wal-Mart. They were perfect!

The party table was simple. It had an assortment of Big Sis's favorite things. I especially love these guys sitting in the middle. We spray painted plastic eggs gold and put a special treasure in each one. {Be looking for a post on them and the goody bags!} The kids added one to their goody bags at the end of the party.

The entry into the kitchen I used the streamers from Big Sis's 'party in a doorway'. I cut out extra birds left over from her invites and taped them to the streamers.

We still have the decorations up. It is part laziness and part, I love them. ☺

Fashion Show -- a bit of nostalgia.

2011-10-19T09:20:00.000-07:00

I was going through and doing some housekeeping in my drafts file and stumbled upon this post. It is from January 2009. I can't believe that I never posted it!! My girlies are so little. I got the biggest kick seeing my loving husband participating in all the fun. {sigh}

I was given a wonderful gift yesterday, time for myself. Thank you, husband! I was able to visit with my dear friend, child free. We were able to sit, drink coffee and eat blueberry muffins. It was a great day! Little did I know of the fun going on here at home. David had a fashion show with the girls...yes, a fashion show. They set up a fan, music and took pictures of this event. I guess the saying is true, "While the cat's away, the mice will play." Heehee.

Tip-ful Tuesday.

2011-10-18T15:06:00.000-07:00

I haven't done one of these in ages. I actually have two today!!

#1. If you are feeling frumpy and bleh, go get a haircut and color {if you can spare the $$}!! I just came back from a little hair beautification and it totally helped perk me up. It is amazing how fun and flirty you can feel after coming back from the salon. Ahhhh.

#2. Cardboard = easy movers. I am telling you, a HUGE help. I had to move this beautiful piece of furniture to another location while we do a little upgrading to our casa. I could barely move it on the carpet without the legs getting bogged down.

I just grabbed some cardboard out of the garage and cut a piece for each leg. Ta-daaa, super awesomeness. Cardboard is way less money than those easy mover thing-a-ma-jigs you can find at your local store. The money that you saved here can go towards your new haircut and color. ☺

Angry Birds Party - the pinata!

2011-10-17T11:48:00.000-07:00

While browsing and browsing looking for ideas for the Angry Birds Party {there aren't a whole lot}, you see lots of pinatas that people made. Big Sis said that was one thing she had to have for her party. I have a couple friends who love making them but it is not my cup of tea. I decided to embellish a pre-made one. Now that is my cup of tea! ☺

1. Find a pinata that is the right shape. This baseball will do nicely!

2. I could go two different ways here, either spray paint or to embellish. I decided to strip it and put on a new set of tissue-papers. I just used a glue stick to affix the tissue to the "skeleton".

3. By the color of the tissue, can you guess what I am making?! ☺

4. Cut out shapes to make the face and the crown. I used a small green party plate to make the nose, eyebrows and the inner ears. ☺ I used construction paper and card stock for the crown, eyes, and ears.

Happy Birthday, Big Sis!

2011-10-12T12:23:00.000-07:00

It is your last single-digit birthday...
I am continually amazed at how much you have grown these 9 years. What a beauty you are becoming!

Here are some of the things like to do and enjoy:

play with your sister. you love and adore her, most of the time. ☺
read your Bible.
give really good hugs.
collect and learn about marbles.
Converse are your favorite shoes.
you are a tee shirt and jeans kind of girl.
play Angry Birds and Zelda - really well.
play soccer. Go Yellow Jackets!
be a good friend.
have a big heart for others.
enjoying T&T.
a voracious reader. This makes me very proud. ☺
watch Texas sports with Daddy.
doodle, draw and create.
love to sing and act.
play Barbies.
have to wear a headband at all times.
have a large collection of jelly bracelets.
take pictures.
have an amazing imagination.

You are such a joy to our family.

We love and treasure you, very much!

Angry Birds Party - the invites.

2011-10-08T15:16:00.000-07:00

Incase you have been living under a rock and don't know what Angry Birds are, youcan find more about them here. ☺ As with many fun things sweeping the nation, it has swept into our home. It issuch a fun game and even though it is a game of 'mindless playing', you do haveto strategize. Big Sis loves them.

She was doodling the other day and made these cute drawings. Don't you love the notebook lines? {sigh} I said, "Why don't we use those for your birthday invites?" The look of glee on her face was priceless. This is what we came up with.

It was lots of fun working on them together. I did the cutting and prepping, she did the gluing. I'd say we make a pretty good team. ☺

This guy was my favorite. It might be hard to see, but I love the explosion lines she made. ☺

Just in case you are wanting to have an Angry Birds Party yourself, I found the "official Angry Birds" font here. Yipee for free fonts!

A favorite new book.

2011-10-03T10:19:00.000-07:00

We love going to the library! Little Cute spotted this book the last time we were there. With our recent trip to Seattle, we just had to check it out. It was a fun story talking about all the different places to visit in Seattle {where Larry gets lost}. We loved the beautiful illustrations and Larry was pretty cute too. ☺ It got the girls excited to go back and visit more places! Yay for fun books! Here are a few pages of the places that we visited. Aren't the illustrations beautiful?! This author has several other Larry gets Lost books. We can't wait to check them out and explore other places. You can spy them here. ☺

Special day countdown: a tutorial.

2011-09-30T17:00:00.000-07:00

We don't need a special day to celebrate here, but it sure makes it a bit more fun.

Big Sis's birthday is coming up exactly in 13 days. My little project is perfect and will help her know how many more days are left until her birthday. You could use this same idea for a holiday, a special trip...anything where you are patiently counting down the days.

Here is what you need to make your own countdown:

12 count egg carton
fun tissue paper

fun little treasures to tuck into each space

Trim all of the center dividers and anything else to make it level with the outside of the carton. Turn the carton upside down and trace the outside of the carton onto the tissue, cut out. Set it aside for later. ☺

Fill each compartment with your little treasures. This was my favorite part!! I put confetti in each compartment along with a the treasures. Big Sis chose Angry Birds for her party theme, I couldn't resist adding a little of that in there too.

For a little extra fun, make circle shapes to go over the top of each compartment. This also helps any eyes from peeking through the tissue. ☺

I wanted to make sure that Big Sis didn't get the same item each day she counted down. I made sure to lay out the numbers so that wouldn't happen. I also have a special treasure for the last day of the countdown. I wanted to make sure she didn't open that one too early. ☺

Using a glue stick, place all of your circles onto your tissue-paper top. Take the glue stick and run it around the edges and any other nooks and crannies to secure your top.

All finished! Happy counting down to your special day!

Love.

2011-09-28T11:13:00.000-07:00

I was outside a few days ago and spotted this in my hydrangeas. I was in awe how despite its ugliness before, it had grown into this beautiful and simple shape of a heart. ♥

A weekend of firsts - IMAX and the Space Needle.

2011-09-27T10:30:00.000-07:00

After ~~our~~ my awesome time at the girlies first MLB game, we walked across the street to our hotel and settled in for a good night rest. I couldn't resist taking this picture...I love the Seattle skyline at night.

The next day we had planned to take the girls to The Pacific Science Center and IMAX. Much to our dismay the PSC was closed for their yearly cleaning. We were a bit bummed, but thankful that the IMAX was still open. We grabbed lunch in the Seattle Center food court and got ready to view our movie. We saw Hubble 3D. Um, wow. It was so awesome to see the depths of our universe and to witness some history at the same time. Big Sis was especially excited, she LOVES space.

Little Cute and the largest electric guitar. She loved this.

I really, really liked this little guy. ☺

After the awesome show, we headed to the Space Needle. I loved hearing the girlies talk about how cool it was. I remember my first visit to the Space Needle. You are filled with wonder and can't believe the amazing views all around. We didn't have great weather, so it made exploring a little chilly and really windy. We left with lots and lots of smiles and good memories.

Seriously, one of my favorite views...

My children...classic.

This handsome face melts me every. time.

Don't you love this?! ☺

Blackberry Cobbler.

2011-09-25T19:21:00.000-07:00

Happy fall everybody! Today was the first time it actually felt like fall, yay!! What isn't to love about pumpkins, sweaters, Pumpkin Spice Lattes at my favorite coffee place, cool temperatures, pretty leaves and an occasional drizzle of rain? ☺ With the temperatures feeling a little cooler, it made me want to bake up this cobbler using our blackberries even more. I found this recipe by just looking it up online and with a name like Betty Crocker attached to it, I had a feeling it would be really yummy.

Here are the needed ingredients:

2 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blackberries {thawed and drained} They also make a note to NOT use blueberries.
1 cup sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1/2 cup butter, melted. hmmmm.

In a medium bowl, stir together blackberries and sugar. Let stand about 20 minutes or until fruit syrup forms. Heat oven to 375 degrees.

In large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt and milk. Stir in melted butter until blended. Spread in ungreased 8-inch square pan. Spoon blackberry mixture over batter. {Mix batter as gently as possible, and you'll get a tender and moist cobbler!}

Bake 45-55 minutes or until dough rises and is gold. Serve warm with cream or ice cream.

This turned out sooooooo good. Big Sis and I were the only ones who enjoyed it. Sad for the other members of my family, more for me! ☺ I will most definitely add this to my recipe binder. I liked how there weren't very many ingredients and it was really easy to put together. They gave a good suggestion of using half raspberries and half blackberries for a fun flavor combination. I just might have to try that next time! ☺

A weekend of firsts - MLB baseball game.

2011-09-23T16:19:00.000-07:00

I am a pacific NW girl and have always loved Seattle, especially in the fall. Ahhhh. It is soo fun.
It just so happened that my dear sweet husband's favorite baseball team was playing my hometown team. A trip to Seattle was in order. We were able to sneak away last year, here. This year, we wanted to take the girls and let them experience the fun of a baseball game. Sadly, my girls are fans of their dad's team. {sigh} I tried. It is hard to get them to come over from the "dark side" when you team doesn't win much. Oh well. I proudly sported my Mariners shirt and teal sweater in a sea of royal blue and red. ☺ If you happened to watch or tape this particular game, you would have seen our cute little family...

{Definitely not one of our finer moments as celebrities.}

For any baseball game you need to make a poster. The girls were on top of that.

Look at how cute they are!

Waiting to get an autograph.

So excited to see their favorite player, Josh Hamilton. No luck for our family, but a ~~autograph hound~~ nice lady gave Big Sis one of her pictures and David got a baseball card of another favorite player, David Murphy.

My three Ranger fan loves.

Sadness for them, this pitcher didn't do a very good job. He helped my team score some runs. ☺

When your team is behind, you need to bust out the rally cap. He is sooo cute, even though is rooting for the wrong team.

Despite the rally cap and lots of cheering, the Rangers lost 4-0. I couldn't believe that my team won and it was a shut-out! I am one happy lady!!

Some silliness after the game. I guess you have to be a Rangers fan to get this. ☺

We all had a fun-filled time, even though there were three disappointed fans. I can't wait for the next time!
Update: Since this game last weekend, The Texas Rangers clinched the AL West. We are very excited to cheer them on through the playoffs. Maybe next year, my team will be in the chase. Yay for October baseball!

Blackberries, they are just a little bit pokey.

2011-09-21T11:47:00.000-07:00

The girls and I recently picked blackberries. The title is how Little Cute described them...☺ We picked them a couple years ago with our sweet neighbors {who sadly moved to California recently} and it is a memory that my girls talked about often. I remembered picking them around this time and decided to go on a spur-of-the-moment picking after school and of course didn't have my nice camera. I was wearing flip flops, a white skirt and the girls had semi-nice clothes on for school. NOTE: do not go picking when wearing the above mentioned clothing items. I looked down at my legs this morning and shook my head at all the scrapes all over my legs. I think I even have a few thorns stuck in my fingers. The bushes for the most part were picked over and the only berries that were good and ready were the ones waaaaaaaay up top. We must have looked so silly in our nice clothes with a stick to bring the berries our way. Even with getting poked, scraped and dirty, we had a wonderful memory-filled time. I am excited to get the cobbler put together. Check-in soon and I will give a recipe {I found online} a try and the outcome. Hmmm. I can hardly wait for the warm, berry goodness...

The bushes are along one of the many hiking paths here in our town. LOVE that.

There were a few little creeks and a little waterfall. They were so cute.

The girls even found a "secret hideout". ☺

Getting poked and scraped. ☺

The fruits of our labor.

We had such a fun time. Say cheeese!

Wordless Wednesday.

2011-09-14T11:24:00.000-07:00

Big Sis says...

2011-09-12T21:13:00.000-07:00

I love dinner times. It gives us a chance to spend a little time together each day. It also is one of the times where the girlies share some pretty funny stuff.

This is our dinner tonight...

Big Sis is saying something using the word "ain't". I remind her that the correct form is "isn't". Without missing a beat she says this,

"I'm trying to be Texas, they say ain't."

Oh my.

I'm guessing our family in Texas would be proud. ☺

Sugar cookie cut-outs.

2011-09-05T16:24:00.000-07:00

Happy Labor Day!

I just had to look up how long our country has been celebrating it and what the purpose was. I know, something I should have remembered learning in school, guess I didn't log that one away. According to a website that has semi-trustworthy information, our country started celebrating this day back in 1882 AND its observance celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers. ☺ Nice!

The girlies and I were pretty lonely after our house full of company left yesterday. When I asked what they would like to do, baking cookies was at the top of their list. Little Cute picked out sugar cookies and we went to work. I was given this recipe at my bridal shower many years ago. I LOVE this recipe. It is one that you can throw together in a jiff and it makes LOTS.

ingredients:
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. baking powder
3 cups flour

cookies:
Cream together butter and sugar till fluffy. Scrape bowl. Add egg and vanilla, beat together till fluffy. Scrape bowl. Add in slowly, baking powder and flour until combined. {Sometimes, my dough doesn't come together in a ball right away. I will scrape the bowl and then mix until it does. It can be dry sometimes too. I just sprinkle a bit of water and mix. It normally does the trick. ☺}

Cut ball in half and roll out to desired thickness. Use cookie cutters to make shapes, transfer to pan. Sprinkle with colored sugars or jimmies and bake OR bake the plain cookie and frost when cooled. Your baking temp is 400 degrees for 6-7 minutes or until lightly browned.

We like to sprinkle with sugars here. If you like to frost your cookies, here is the recipe that came with them. I use this frosting for EVERYTHING. It is simple and yummy. I heart homemade frosting. ☺

frosting:
3 tablespoons butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2-2 tablespoons milk.
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Cream butter until fluffy. Gently combine powdered sugar until small pea shapes appear. Mix in milk 1/2 teaspoon at a time till the frosting is the consistency you desire. Mix in vanilla. You are now ready to frost your cookies! ☺

Tip-ful Tuesday.

2011-08-30T17:54:00.000-07:00

Do you have a constant stream of questions as to whether or not the dishes in the dishwasher are clean or dirty?

Are you frustrated when the members of your household don't put their dishes in the dishwasher?

Do you find dirty dishes mixed in with your clean ones and can't figure out which is which?

Well, I have just the tool to help you with these questions. I know that there are fun little things that you can find at craft bazaars and knick knack shops to help, but I wanted something a little more streamlined. A little more simplistic. I bet that you even have it in your home. Are you ready for my tip?

Magnetic letters. Yep, magnetic letters in all their plastic, colorful glory. Had you going there for a minute, didn't I? ☺ You all know how much I love me some magnetic letters. ☺ I used them here for another Tip-ful Tuesday. This friendly reminder has been in place now for about two weeks and has been the answer to all the questions above. No more questions for me! ☺

Do you use magnetic letters for anything in your home? ☺

calorie-free cupcakes.

2011-08-26T13:13:00.000-07:00

Oh yes, there is such a thing. ☺

My dear friend had her baby yesterday and I have to say he is ohhh so wonderful. {sigh} I could have held him for hours. I felt it the proper duty of an "auntie" to bring him his first cupcakes.

I found the original idea here. I wish I could have claim to fame on this one, but she does a great job explaining it. I did however take them to the next level and added a little cupcake flag. I showed you how to make those here. The scale is of course much bigger, so I used a lollipop stick instead of a toothpick. They looked good enough to eat! ☺

Happy birthday, Momma!

2011-08-25T09:29:00.000-07:00

We love, love, love you!

Summer fun! - water slide.

2011-08-19T22:49:00.000-07:00

One of the things we set up for Little Cute's birthday party was our own water slide. I saw the idea in a magazine several years ago. It was the year that all of those ginormous blow-up water slides started showing up. There was no way that I was going to spend $200. This alternative has been really fun to have, especially on the really warm summer days. If you have a play structure in your backyard, you can make one too. ☺

Here is what you need:
2 camping mats
1 tarp
camping stakes
a sprinkler

Lets make a water slide!

Take your camping mats and place them under your slide. I like to roll one up a bit so that the girlies don't bump their bums. ☺

Place the tarp over the mats and tuck under the slide. Use your camping stakes and place them around the tarp.

Turn your sprinkler on and voila, you have a water slide!

Now you have hours of fun!

If you need some more slip-in-your-slide, a little dish detergent goes a looooong way. ☺

Happy summer!

party ideas! - beach bash party.

2011-08-18T10:48:00.000-07:00

I loved how this birthday party turned out. Little Cute and I had so much fun putting everything together...she chose an excellent theme. The party was simple, laid back and lots of fun. She had 6 of her friends come and share the day with her. There was lots of giggles, hugs and fun.

the decor

the food

friends and fun

Wordless Wednesday - a California wedding.

2011-08-17T13:59:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday, Little Cute!

2011-08-15T15:47:00.001-07:00

You are growing up into such a sweet and caring little girl. I can't believe you are now, 6!

Here are some of the things you like to do: ☺

play with your sister, she is your favorite and your best.
look at Charlie and Lola books.
snuggle.
pretend to cook with my kitchen things.
ride your scooter.
play with your friends.
drink pink milk.
dress up.
wear my "clompy" shoes.
draw beautiful pictures.
write/draw notes and pictures to cheer up those you love.
you love to play with your little animals.
play Barbies!
laugh and giggle, especially when I try to take your picture.
say I love you, to make me smile.
are an awesome help around the house.
are very fashionable. ☺
wiggle, wiggle, wiggle that wiggly tooth.

and last but not least, you gave your heart to Christ.

You have brought so much joy to our family and those around you.

We love you very, very much!

A little of this and a little of that.

2011-08-14T13:04:00.000-07:00

I am going to ramble on this post. It will be filled with run-on sentences and poor grammar. If you want to bail now, you can. ☺

I have like 1,001 things that I want to share with all of you, but I don't have the time to sort through my pictures and make them all pretty. ☺ I hope to get things rolling on here really soon. I have missed sharing something everyday. As the Pioneer Woman says, "You have to water it everyday or it will wither up and die." I do not want that to happen. So stay tuned and don't give up on me!

Our summer has been busy, really busy. I don't know how we made it through but we have. I was reflecting the other day on all that we have done and thought, "the one common denominator in all of our busy times has been family". I will be honest and say that I have taken my family for granted over the years. I know, I am totally lame. I am 32 years old and am finally realizing how important and special each of them are. Praise the Lord I am learning these things now instead of later. I was fortunate to spend time with my extended family in California AND Texas. I am one lucky and blessed lady.

My family--near and far--is super-special to me. I haven't really shown that very much in recent years. Distances and circumstances have created this huge chasm for me. I admit that once that chasm is in place, it is really hard to want to overcome it. I learned this summer that when you are willing to bestow grace and love despite the circumstances, you will receive them in return. My heart has been filled to the brim these past weeks. I have been reflecting on all of the good memories. WOW. What an amazing time!! I can't stop giving God the praise for all of it. I wish it could have lasted longer than the times we were given. I have been jealous of those who live in the same town as their loved ones. You can get together to BBQ on the weekend, celebrate birthdays and holidays; which nurture those relationships with ease. I would give lots and lots to have my family here. I hope and pray that someday that desire might be achieved. You never know what God has planned. ☺

I found this quote on family...it speaks what is on my heart.

Family life is full of major and minor crises -- the ups and downs

of health, success and failure in career, marriage, and divorce --

and all kinds of characters. It is tied to places and events and histories.

With all of these felt details, life etches itself into

memory and personality. It's difficult to imagine anything more

nourishing to the soul. -- Thomas Moore

Make sure you treasure the times you have with your family, even the times that are less than desirable. ☺ Don't be like me and be all needy, lame, selfish...we can add lots more adjectives there to that list. Love on them whenever you can. Give them a call, send them a card...Let them know you treasure them and are glad they are your family, I know I am going to try and do my very best.

For those of you who endured my poor grammar, thanks. ☺

party ideas! - favors.

2011-08-10T09:47:00.000-07:00

I am soo happy to be back to blogging! This past weekend I was in California for my sister's wedding {pictures to come!} and family reunion. It was so wonderful being there. I realized how special my dad's side of the family is. I miss them so much already!

I have been putting together the last minute things for this Saturday. I can't believe that Little Cute's birthday is just around the corner. Yay! I saw this idea here. It was my first time to make a "bag topper" using my Silhouette. I am digging the ability to use perferation in your creations. Each bag will be filled with a favorite snack of Little Cute's. Can you guess what it is? ☺

I also had some leftover circles from my garland. I cut out some sixes and made a few cute tags to tie onto another favor item. How did I survive NOT having a Silhouette?!?

Little Cute says...

2011-08-01T13:01:00.000-07:00

My mom, Big Sis and Little Cute are sitting at the table chatting about one of her friends from school...

"Anyways, he's going to be turning 7 and I'm going to be turning 6, and if he wants to propose, thats fine!"

Um, Honey, you need to have a little chat with our daughter. ☺

party ideas! - baby shower.

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

Today I helped celebrate one of my dearest friends soon-to-be baby boy. It was such a wonderful time. The company was fun, the food was fabulous and the drinks were tasty. She loves reading and was an English major in college. I thought how fun would a "vintage school theme" be? I had seen a few ideas while browsing the web and my mind went "a planning". I was one of three ladies who put this fun celebration together. I am so thankful for their planning. They made sure that we had the fabulous food and tasty drinks. It was so nice not to have to worry about everything. I could seriously get used to that! ☺

I was able to borrow a few vintage treasures from my Dad's amazing collection {THANK YOU, Dad!}, grabbed some cute things from a store on Etsy and some fun fabrics to match. I loved having a reason to sew again. My poor machine had been put away for far too long. I made fabric bookmarks for the favors. I found this awesome idea and tutorial here. They were so easy to make!

I am so thankful for this special lady and how she blesses my life. I can't wait to meet her new little bundle of boy. Yay!

taken {2009}

party ideas! - decorations.

2011-07-28T13:11:00.000-07:00

I have been crafting up a storm getting ready for Little Cute's party. It makes me so happy. The combination of sewing and paper crafting is a match made in heaven.

I took these...

and turned them into this. I love Wal-mart clearance!!

A sister's love.

2011-07-22T10:03:00.000-07:00

R20 - day 112

I am sitting in my sister's new, cute little place, looking around and smiling. Tonight, is her bridal shower. I never thought that this day would come, but I am very happy its here. She has been through some rough patches in her life and God has been faithful through it all. As she would say, "God has hand-picked this awesome guy just for me. I just had to wait and be patient for him to come." I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical, but after meeting him just briefly and seeing the look of love in my sister's face, I knew that he was the one God had for her. Congrats to my beautiful Sibling and her soon-to-be hubby! I love you, Mindy!

Tip-ful Tuesday.

2011-07-19T17:41:00.000-07:00

R20 - day 109

I love garlic bread. Oh, how I love it. I will see it's foil package at the store and have to buy it. I love it especially when you walk into the grocery store and you can smell the french bread baking. It just wafts into your nostrils...ahhh. Ok, seriously I am like drooling and wishing I had a warm gooey loaf right now. {sigh}

I don't know about you guys, but at least once a week I have a crazy day and don't get dinner going as soon as I would have liked. Those nights are usually a cereal night, sandwich night or Little Cute's favorite, eat whatever you want night. I am ashamed to admit that, but hey, this is real life people.

One of the things I tend to make in a pinch is spaghetti. You always have ingredients on hand except one thing. Thats right, garlic bread. I used to make a whole loaf but ended up throwing a lot it away because we wouldn't finish it all. Not cool in my book. I would love to eat all of it, but half of a loaf is not Points Plus friendly. ☺

I came up with a solution (through trial and error), freeze half for another dinner! Genius!

I like to smooth out the buttery goodness before I make a parchment paper sandwich. This is the key to success. Trust me on this one, friends. I wrap it up in a freezer Ziploc and ta-daa.

When you are ready to use it, just leave it out on the counter while cooking your dinner and then throw it under the broiler until you get the right color/doneness. Yay! No more wasted garlic bread and a great side to any dinner!

birthday planning and an update.

2011-07-16T13:29:00.000-07:00

R20 - day 106

We have hit birthday season here, YAY! I am getting excited over the party theme that Little Cute has requested. It incorporates a few of her favorite things. Can you guess what it is?? ☺

I probably won't be blogging much in the next month. I will be decorating for my dearest friend's baby shower, serving as maid of honor in my sister's wedding, seeing family and getting ready for Little Cute's birthday. Whew! Before I know it, it will be time for school to start.

Oh and to update a bit...The outage is still in full swing. David has been home on vacation and won't be headed back to work for a few more days. It has been wonderful having him home, I feel truly spoiled. The outlook for finishing soon doesn't seem to bright. We will probably know more details when he gets back to work. The last bit of info we were given was a possible finish at the beginning of August, I am not holding my breath. {sigh} It truly feels like the outage that will never end. 106 days and counting...

The girls had a great time with Grammy while we were away. She kept them busy with making scrapbooks {teary mom moment}, feeding the ducks, crafting and painting, trips to the store, eating yummy treats, decorating cupcakes, movie nights, computer games, water balloons and running around in the sprinkler. My heart was so blessed to see and hear about their adventures. Thank you, Mom for making our time away possible and special. We love you!

Making smores.

2011-07-14T18:38:00.000-07:00

R20 - day 104

One of my favorite things about summer is making smores. Yuuummmmmm. There is nothing better than a toasty marshmallow, chocolate and a graham cracker sandwiching them together. We don't really camp here at Casa de Cupcake, so we improvise a little bit.

This is how we make them:

grab your supplies.

open your Sterno. be careful. make sure not to burn yourself, once its lit!

get your smore set up and ready for a toasty marshmallow.

toast your marshmallows! it takes talent to roast them in the middle. good job, little cute! ☺

we tried toasting the coconut marshmallows...um, they were amazing. i was in a tropical mood since we were leaving for Hawaii the next day. ☺

smoosh together.

enjoy! happy summer, everybody!

Aloha from Oahu!

2011-07-09T11:06:00.000-07:00

R20 - day 99
What an amazing few days we have had! I have done and experienced things I will never forget and we are just getting started! :) Here are a few in no particular order:

* Saw my very first and up close green sea turtle! I love the honu!
* Ate at a shrimp truck. Yum!
* Ate a shave ice. I had rainbow of course!
* Eaten a few too many macadamia nuts.
* Visited the Arizona Memorial and USS Bowfin. What an honor to witness such a sacred place.
* Bought a bamboo wind chime-I have been searching
and searching for the perfect one!
* Enjoyed the surf, sounds and faafees of Hawaii.

4th of July.

2011-07-02T16:37:00.000-07:00

R20 - day 91

We are getting ready for a fun holiday at Casa de Cupcake. I love any reason to decorate, especially for a holiday. ☺ I had several of the decorations left from our church's Memorial Day picnic. I shared a few fun ideas here and here. I am so in love with the ruffled streamers. If you haven't made them yet, go make them! They add that extra bit of festiveness, yay!☺

Hope you have a Happy 4th of July!

A little paint and cardboard.

2011-07-01T17:26:00.000-07:00

R20 - day 90

It is amazing how two weeks have flown by just like, that! The first week was filled with adventures, paint, cardboard, visits with friends and many, many hours at the church. The second week was filled with hopping on the Boomerang Express and learning about Jesus!

The girls were troopers as I cut, created and painted our church into an Outback frenzy for VBS. I love getting to craft and create. I was a little worried at how the girls would survive being at our church for hours and hours over the course of a week. They did amazing and ended up creating some great memories and fostering some new friendships. I know that I have lots of good memories from our hours at church. I mean who wouldn't love to run around your church with your friends?? ☺ On a few of the days we went to the local school and enjoyed a free lunch. Saaa-weet! The girls are here with their twiggy friends. Sadly, the lunches were just for the kids. I love me a good corndog and chocolate milk!

taken {on a non-bajillion pixel camera phone}

Here is what took me $25 in supplies, 5 days to create, a generous church supply of tag board/props and all the free cardboard I could carry away {Thank you to a local appliance store for all the cardboard!}, to make an Austrailian Outback!

We had several different locations that the kids were rotated through: Bible Study Outback, Missions Harbor, G'day Cafe, Worship Rally Central, Recreation Rock and Crafts Crossing. I was in charge of creating Bible Study Outback, Missions Harbor, G'day Cafe and Crafts Crossing. We had received a large portion of decorations, backdrops and props from a sister church, so all I had to do was put them together and create a fun environment. I would say that my favorite out of all of them was Bible Study Outback. I loved how it all came together. ☺

My church family blessed me so much with all of their kind words and encouragement this last week. I was overwhelmed today when I was told that they left Missions Harbor and my Boab Tree up. They shared how amazing it all was and wanted to be able to enjoy it all summer. Really?! {sigh} It was such a joy to be able to craft and create and to share with them. ☺ I wonder what adventure we will take next year?? Allll Aboarrrrd!!

10 reasons I LOVE Chick-fil-A.

2011-06-30T16:33:00.000-07:00

R20 - day 89

One of the things that I look forward to most while in Texas is eating at a Chick-fil-A restaurant. It is one of my favorite places to eat. Here are my top-ten reasons why...☺

10. They have the most amazing condiments bar. I mean who wouldn't love this?!

9. They have baskets of Purell handwipes stashed in several places. A mother's dream come true.

8. Each table is decorated with a REAL flower. Hello, seriously?! LOVE!

7. They have some of the funniest commercials. I just love the misspelling cows, "EAT MOR CHIKIN." ☺

6. They are closed on Sundays. ☺

5. You receive an after dinner mint with your meal.

4. They have the best lemonade {even the diet is amazing} on the planet! Oh and did I mention that you get free refills? Yep!

3. You don't get french fries, you get waffle fries. My favorite!!

2. They provide some of the best customer service. ☺

1. It is a celebration when I get to eat there! Yay! It doesn't feel like a typical fast food restaurant. When you are a busy mom and on a budget, it doesn't get better than this. I can't wait till the next time!

It will be the most amazing day, when I can eat at one here in my neck of the woods. I checked and currently, I can drive 251 miles in one direction or 214 miles the other way. {sigh} A girl can hope and dream, right? ☺

Pictures.

2011-06-29T13:32:00.000-07:00

R20 - day 88

I love taking pictures. I may not be very good or have crazy, expensive lenses, but I love it. My wonderful hubby got me, my very first SLR about a year ago. From the very beginning I have refused to take pictures in auto. Why get such an amazing camera to only shoot in auto?!? I have loved learning how to use my camera by trial and error. So thankful that there is a delete button! I had fun learning the 'Tv' {shutter speed} setting while we were in Texas. A trampoline provided some really great practice. ☺

What fun things do you like to learn on your camera?

mustard seeds.

2011-06-22T17:24:00.000-07:00

R20 - day 81

Yes, I am still here! I have missed so much in 11 days, wow! Many of you know that we took a spur-of-the-moment trip to Texas to visit David's family. Our sister-in-law was recently diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. She is my age.

We felt this tugging in our hearts to make every effort to be there. We wanted to encourage and support our family in any way we could. When you leave for a trip to Texas on 3 days notice, your world is a little chaotic. I had piles and piles of laundry to sort through. {It was a good reminder why I shouldn't be a laundry procrastinator. Ugh.} I wasn't sure if we would be able to pull it off because of all of these random details...David's time off, commitments here at home, our flights there and back were at later hours in the day, our seats were scattered all over the plane, the funds to take a last minute trip, layovers, travel to and from the airport, etc. No matter how much I started to worry, God was there taking care of those little details.

My sister-in-law had had surgery about a week before we arrived and still hadn't received any of her results. On our traveling day there, she finally received them and to the doctor's amazement with no explanation, they had removed all the cancer. There was also the possibility of not having chemo. She is truly a walking, modern-day miracle. I wanted to share a bit of her perspective from her journal entries...

Most of you know that we've been waiting on my path reports ever since my surgery & today I had a post-op appointment at Baylor. Well, PRAISE GOD, I guess I'm a miracle! There is absolutely no other explanation for what has happened. Before I had surgery when I received the results of my biopsy I was told that I would be going through chemo but that the chemo wasn't actually designed to target the type of cancer cells that I had but that many people live years with this type of treatment to keep it at bay. Not exactly what I was hoping for. However after my CT scans they backtracked a bit because they had expected to see that the cancer had spread throughout my abdomen & then, thank God, there was no obvious signs of disease anywhere other than what they had already seen. So then they said that there was a slim chance I might not have to have the chemo. We waited 11 days to get the reports back & here are the results.
They found abnormal/cancer cells in 1 lymph node, uterus, both ovaries, fallopian tubes and the abdominal tissue that they took out, however the cells don't seem to have spread but merely traveled, they do not show to be invasive! My tumor was borderline & they feel at this point that they were able to remove all of the cancer. I am officially the survivor of Stage 1 Ovarian Cancer. The next part is what is strange. I displayed all of the symptoms of stage 4 Ovarian Cancer, my symptoms are the ones that start showing up when it's usually too late to do anything but buy a little time, YET I was only a stage 1! I have none of the markers in any of the tests that would indicate Ovarian Cancer & I don't fit into any of the risk categories. They have now categorized my case as Highly Unusual & they are going to be having a conference next Wednesday with all of the Gyno-Oncologist to go over & study everything pertaining to my case. Yes, I'm officially a weirdo! My doctor says that there is a slim, less than 1% chance that they will come back from this conference with all the specialist & say that I do need to go ahead with the chemo. I pray that's not the case but the truth is that when she told me I wasn't going to have to do it I was a little scared. I was terrified of doing chemo but I almost feel as if I have to have it to be protected. There I go still trying to put God in a box. If by some chance they do decide that I need it, I'll of course do what needs to be done but I'm greatly encouraged by the fact that my doctor says she doesn't believe I'll have to do it.

I guess I should have warned you to get your Kleenexes out. ☺

Did I mention that this was a surprise to a large part of David's family?? We had to let a couple people know to work out our logistics, but our surprise was pulled off without a hitch. We showed up on Wednesday morning and I won't forget the look of surprise on her face. Yay, I love surprises! Our days were filled with lots of playing {well, all of the cousins anyways ☺}, a birthday, puppies, muggy heat, bug bites, lots of laughter, fellowship as a family, Father's Day, lots of eating {my favorite Texas things}, tears, lots of hugs and celebrating the miracle, that is my sister-in-law. It was so hard to leave and miss them a ton already, but it feels good to be home. I am so thankful for the time we were able to be there. We serve such a big and powerful God. I was reminded of that this last week, when we put our faith in God and trust him completely, we have the same faith as that of a mustard seed.

We love you, Maggie!

taken {2010}

update - inquiring minds want to know.

2011-06-11T10:01:00.000-07:00

R20 - day 70

Has it really been 70 days? Eeek.

With the passing of time, I realized that I had blogged about somethings that were in need of an update. ☺

I shared several months ago here about my hairdryer. My friend was so generous and let me borrow an extra one of hers till my new one arrived and just my luck, I killed that one too. Seriously?! I felt really bad. Finally, after 10 days my new one arrived. It came already pretty and cute with some blowing power to boot. Not nearly as much as my previous one, but it sure is fun to use.

My first project of this outage were my hydrangeas, here. I was so worried that I had killed them while ~~attacking~~ pruning. I will be honest and thought for sure that I had cut off too many limbs with growths on them. The cuts that I saved only lasted for a few weeks. Bummer. I was hoping that was not a precursor to what my bushes would look like. Thankfully, following the prompting of others around our neck of the woods proved to be a great idea. They are looking soo good. Yay!

Another project idea was shared here. Sadly, I have yet to start on it. It is sitting taken apart in my garage. I had no tools to really start my project. My dear husband said that I should just sand the top by hand to get going...um, no. The last time we tried to do a project without tools, it was lets say, not pleasant. I have been browsing tools online for what is good and what is ehhhh. Unknown to me, my love, had been browsing too. He picked up this on one of his deal websites and it arrived yesterday. WAHOO. I am now ready to start my project! ☺ Definately more to come on this...

Lastly we have Big Sis and her butterfly, Tom. Much to her dismay, Tom passed away about a week after I posted here. She was really heartbroken. I had a small box that we tucked him in and said our good-byes. I find it ironic that the box I found says, "HE LIVES!" with John 3:16 on it.

We have yet to bury him. She wanted to bury him somewhere at school, since she found him there. Maybe now that school is out, we will be able to find a few spare moments to remember him and give him a proper burial. ☺

Summer fun! - a photo scavenger hunt.

2011-06-10T11:11:00.000-07:00

R20 - day 69

We are meeting some friends at the park today, to celebrate the last day of school with a picnic. I thought it would be really fun to explore the park AND make it a fun activity.

I quickly threw together a form for the kids to check off as they go. {I tried to figure out how to upload my form here to my blog, but no luck. If you would like the form, I would be happy to email it to you. Just leave a comment with your email address. The font probably won't be the same {{I wish I knew how to fix that}} but you will have the general idea OR you can just make one yourself.} It has some simple things for our kindergartners to find and also some challenging ones for our older kids.

It will be so fun to see what the girls find. I think I might even have to join them in the fun. Yay for summer!

School is almost out...

2011-06-09T10:59:00.000-07:00

R20 - day 68

Today is the last full day of school for Big Sis and the second to the last day for Little Cute. {sigh} How is it that I am on the threshold of having a 3rd grader and a 1st grader? I never thought that this day would come and here it is, only one day away. I still think of them as this...

I know, seriously the cutest kids ever. They just melt me. Oh how I miss those days...

Anywho, with summer just around the corner, I have determined to have a fun-filled summer making memories, crafts and participating in several activities. I have been browsing some of my favorite blogs for ideas and there are a TON! I have a few up my sleeve as well. No worries friends, I will be sharing. ☺

Some of the places I have been looking...

Skip to my Lou's Craft Camp

Positively Splendid's Summer Survival Guide

This Mama Makes Stuff - Summer fun ideas!

eighteen25's kids crafts!

My go-to favorite for the summer...

Family Fun!

We are also participating in these fun activities...

Kids Bowl Free!

Free summer movies at our local cinema. There are lots of different cinemas that participate, make sure to check your local cinema for details!

What are you planning this summer?? ☺

The Terrible, Horrible Giant.

2011-06-08T12:29:00.000-07:00

R20 - day 67

Last Friday, Big Sis's class put on four plays to share with their parents and other classes at school. I had the opportunity to help make their costumes. It was so much fun, soo right up my alley. ☺ I loved seeing the look of delight on their faces. This play was my favorite. It really shows how adorable Big Sis is and her love of drama. It is a tad long and was recorded using my phone. I hope you enjoy!

House Beautification - umbrella stand.

2011-06-06T14:22:00.000-07:00

R20 - day 65

While working on the backyard, I noticed that the umbrella stand was in need of some beautification itself. It was a gift from my dad {thank you!} along with the umbrella last summer, but needed some repair due to rust. It has been really fun to have in the summery months. I wasn't sure how to go about fixing it up, but with a little inspiration from some of my favorite blogs, I thought I would give it a go. I went to my go-to store and looked at the spray paint aisle. Hmmmmm, choices. I have to admit that I was wanting something in the aqua family but no such luck. I settled for plain and simple.

A little silliness while waiting for the paint to dry. ☺

I had no idea what I was doing but followed the directions on the can and I think it turned out really well. A couple of coats later, it is now all shiny and pretty! ☺

House Beautification - a fun, cheerful backyard.

2011-06-04T12:30:00.000-07:00

R20 - day 63

So, after that last post I thought I should post something fun, cheerful. ☺

We have been spending more and more time outside, especially in our backyard. It is the one area that has never really gotten any love over the years. It is your basic backyard set-up...fence, smallish-non-practical patio, swing set, pot of random flowers and a few chairs. See, I told you ~~boring~~ basic.

I discovered some window boxes at my local Jo-Ann store and really, really wanted them. Price tag - $39.99. Seriously people? I just kept watching and watching and over Memorial Day weekend they were 60%. Saa-weet! I grabbed a couple and while checking out noticed that one had some residue on it and the gal says, "I can just give you 75% of it, do you still want it?" Uhhh, yes please!!!!! I got one of my window boxes for $4.99. Yep. We call that a score my friends. David helped mount them on the house. They were now ready to be filled with flowery goodness.

The girlies and I set out to my favorite store and picked up all the essentials we would need to fill up these beauties. We had a lot of fun picking out flowers and their colors. We also picked up a strawberry plant, the girlies couldn't resist its charm. I couldn't resist them. ☺ I also grabbed some fun, cheerful pots for really cheap. Oh how I heart Wal-Mart and their good deals. I also grabbed some fun, cheerful pillows to match and to spruce up my chairs. This is my inexpensive alternative to a new patio set. ☺ I also dusted off my umbrella and stand and now have a fun and cheery patio. I love sitting out there now. I can't wait for my mom's next visit. ☺

I think we might have to have dinner out there tonight. ☺

Also, I now have a fun, cheery view from my kitchen window.

A little ramble.

2011-06-01T16:42:00.000-07:00

R20 - day 59

I made it to June.

I am beat, tired, wore out, droopy...I didn't think that I would get this weary during the outage, but I have.

It is hard to make it through these days lately without being grumpy, irritable, unkind.

I broke down the other night and just cried.

Why am I being like this?

I shouldn't be complaining. I could totally have it worse. My husband could be on a night-shift, he could be deployed to another country, he could be working a job in another town...

I just miss him.

My solace during this whole thing is that next month, we are going to Hawaii!

Going to Hawaii. Going to Hawaii. Going to Hawaii. It has now become my mantra, I think it might help. ☺

This picture makes me happy.

Thanks for listening.

Happiness is...

2011-05-28T12:20:00.001-07:00

R20 - day 56

Having fun and summery toe nails - that I did myself!

party ideas! - Memorial Day or 4th of July.

2011-05-27T17:35:00.000-07:00

R20 - day 55

I have a soft spot for all things Armed Forces. I guess it comes from growing up in a military family and community. I take great pride in celebrating those who have served our country so that our freedoms stay that way, free. I especially heart the Navy. ☺

Our church is having a Memorial Day picnic this weekend and I offered to help make it festive. One of the ideas I came up with were some fun centerpieces for the tables. I needed something inexpensive and that was easy to make a lot of.

I crafted two different types.

A floral arrangement and a balloon-weight-flag-thing. I need to come up with a cool name for that one... Sprays of Glory? Star Spangled America? Red White & Blue? I am not good at these things. Do any of you have a suggestion?

If you want to make one of these festive babes you will need these supplies:

*balloon weight - scored them at a store that sells $ items!

*mini flags

*yellow ribbon - for Memorial Day remembrance

*mini metal pails - found them in the $ spot. Saa-weet!

*plastic water bottle

*rocks - only if you are using your centerpieces outside. It is breezy where we live, so I thought I would weigh them down, just in case.

*flowers of any type - fresh or fake.

To assemble the floral arrangements - Take your mini pail and place a cut water bottle inside. Put a few rocks in to make it weighted.

Fill the pail with your flowers. I had to arrange them several different times to cover up the bottle sticking out over the edge of my pail. If you are going to use fresh flowers, you won't need to weigh down your pail. You would just use the bottom portion of your water bottle. It makes a perfect vase for holding the water.

Add in your flags and tie a yellow ribbon {for Memorial Day} to the top of one. Ta-daa! You are finished, so festive!

To make the balloon-weight-flag-thing - Grab your weight and carefully stick your flags inside of the opening. You have to be patient when sticking it in there. I accidentally tore the packaging jabbing it in a little too hard. If you can't get it to stick securely, wrap it with one of the wired star sprays. It holds it in really nicely. Add your yellow ribbon {for Memorial Day} and you have a fun, festive centerpiece. You can use this idea for several different types of parties. I used this same idea for our Awana Grand Prix, I just used a black and white checkered flag instead. They were a hit! Someone also thought they would make a great trophy. The possibilities are endless!

Have a great weekend and don't forget to remember those who have served and sacrificed for our country!

a recipe - western ranger cookies.

2011-05-25T19:31:00.000-07:00

R20 - day 53

I heart baking. I love the approximateness of it. Yes, so not a word, but lets roll with it...☺

I grew up eating, making and helping bake these cookies. I don't know where the recipe came from but it has been a staple in my mom's brown plastic recipe thing. I heart that book, so many good recipes and memories. {sigh} I was feeling sentimental the other day, so I made them. They have several ingredients I love, coconut being one of them. Yay! Little Cute was begging for chocolate chip cookies, but I was wanting something different, so we changed up how we baked them. I think that her creation took them from a yummy cookie to an amazing cookie.

ingredients:
1 cup butter {I like to do half & half - one stick margarine, one stick unsalted butter}
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups self-rising flour {I don't normally have this type of flour in my pantry so I use this little trick - put 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder and 1/2 tsp.salt in the bottom of your 1 cup measuring cup, spoon in flour, level off.}
1 cup quick or regular oats
1 cup coconut
2 cups krispy rice cereal

Mix together butter and sugars, until fluffy. Scrape bowl. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix again until combined. On a low speed, gradually add flour, oats and coconut. Scrape bowl. Fold in the the krispy rice cereal.

Using a cookie scoop, place dough on baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees. These are the yummy cookies you get.

Little Cute's version:
Using a cookie scoop, take the ball and dip into a bowl of mini chocolate chips.

Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees. These are the amazing cookies you get.

They go perfect with a hot cup of tea. ☺

party ideas! - ruffled streamers.

2011-05-24T14:01:00.000-07:00

R20 - day 52

I love me some party decorations and any reason to make them. I still have the paper flowers I made hanging up in my craft-sew-create-room-that-we-eat-in-sometimes.☺ They are so cheery, I can't bear to take them down. I stumbled upon this brilliant idea on my new favorite blog. She is amazing. I wanted to try my hand at this fun little idea. I am a lover of all things ruffly and girly. ☺ I don't have the same type of machine she does, but I followed some of the tips and it worked like a charm. ☺ I made some for a package I sent to my sister for her birthday and she loved them. I am also making some for our church's Memorial Day picnic decorations. LOVE.

I do have a few notes though...
* do not use streamers from a "dollar only" store, they are really thin and harder to work with. Splurge on streamers from a regular store or a party store.
* remember, you can re-use them so take care when hanging or removing them.
* use cheap thread. do not use your Gutermann. ugh.
* color thread is really fun instead of white. I liked coordinating them with my streamers.
* scotch tape is your friend.
* if you miss a section {I did several times while sewing the three colors together}, it totally works to go back over it with your machine. Just put a piece of Scotch tape over your thread ending. ☺
* have fun making your streamers. I even let Little Cute help me sew them. The girls know to never-ever touch my machine, so it was really special and fun to get to press the "gas pedal" on full blast. ☺

I know that from now on, we will only have ruffles!

Big Sis - butterfly protector.

2011-05-21T12:36:00.000-07:00

R20 - day 49

The last few weeks, Big Sis has been learning about the life cycle of the butterfly at school. She comes home from school using words like: chrysalis, proboscis, metamorphosis, migration, larvae, meconium. Um, wow. I had to ask her to define a couple for me because I did not even know them. Her class was fortunate enough to receive their own larvae, each student had their very own. I was informed of her larvae everyday until he turned into a caterpillar. He was given a diet of mallow. She was so excited sharing all the details of her caterpillar and those of her classmates. The best part was hearing her talk about how they were getting chubby and ready to form their chrysalis's. After 9 days they emerged from their temporary homes. It was sooo exciting! They let several of the butterflies free in the field at school. It was bittersweet as some of them didn't make it and died. Big Sis has always had a tender heart for living things.

This last Friday, Big Sis and her classmates were playing in the field during lunch recess. I was there helping with selling waters and sodas for the Family Day BBQ put on by the school. She and her classmates were playing with several of the butterflies at recess. They would run up to my table and shriek with excitement over them. It was cute. I am picking her up from school later that day and she has her hands cupped together and a very concerned look on her face. She shares with me that one of her classmates had rescued a butterfly from a bird. Um, wow, again. She was soo concerned for its well-being and asked if we could take it home. I of course have a moment of compassion on her and said, yes. She was so excited and thankful. I recommended that she leave him in the planter that we have on our patio. She tries to set up home for him and is hesitant to leave him unattended, I know, so sweet. I reminded her that he is God's creation and not to worry.

Meet Tom. I don't remember how this name came to be, but it fits him. He is a Painted Lady butterfly.

If you notice, his wings don't look like they formed properly. I am guessing this is why he was prey to a bird. I am hoping that with a little care, he will perk up and be able to complete his "mission". ☺ Big Sis has been tenderly taking care of him. She even made him a sugar-water mixture to make sure he gets enough to eat. She used her knowledge from school and told me about how her teacher had made some for their butterflies.

Here is her step by step on how to make your own.

step 1. gather up your supplies - sugar, a plastic cup, sponge, plastic container and water.
step 2. fill the plastic cup half-full with water.
step 3. place the sponge inside the plastic container.
step 4. take a teaspoon of sugar and pour into the water.
step 5. mix up the sugar and water.
step 6. pour the sugar water onto the dry sponge.
step 7. place your butterfly onto the sponge. You will see that his proboscis has curled up. He had had his fill of the yummy goodness. ☺
step 8. place your butterfly back into your hospital house and watch him get well.

I don't know what Tom's fate will be, but it sure has been wonderful watching Big Sis in action caring for this little guy in need.

My first garage sale purchase.

2011-05-20T15:55:00.000-07:00

R20 - day 48

I did it. I joined the garage sale love club. ☺ I never thought this day would come, but it did and I am very excited. As many of you remember, I kind of rambled the other day about my house and how it wasn't to my liking...Ok, so my sweet friend and several of her friends are having a garage sale this weekend. I decided to stop by and visit and look around. I had not even thought about making any purchases and I spied with my little eye this table tucked away on the front porch. Hmmmmm. My crafty, home beautification brain started spinning. I have been wanting a new dining room table for a loooooooong time. It had all of the things I wanted: four legs instead of a pedestal, large diameter circle shape, a leaf for company, quality craftsmanship...eeek. I called the husband to check with him and then checked with the friends selling it. It wasn't in awesome shape or in the color I would desire. I am a bit nervous to make it my first refurbish project, but I think the results will be exciting! Thank you goes out to my sweet friend for giving me a splendid deal. I can't wait to make it my own! ☺ Now, to find it some cute chairs...