Simple Snow Stitches

Back to School Time

2009-07-13T09:18:00.003-05:00

Call me crazy, but I started and completed the boys' back to school supply shopping on Sunday. Why? Are you Crazy? To be quite honest, YES! We are going on vacation in August the week before school starts. We arrive home on Sunday, meet the teacher on Monday and start school on Tuesday. I won't have time once August arrives to get that oh so necessary supply shopping done.

At the end of the year, the school sent home a flier for a Supply Kit. Hmmm, I almost bought it for the nice little price of $34.00 (which included shipping and handling) and that only would have been for M. Then I thought about it, I can do better than that, I have to buy supplies for 2 this year.

I knew on Friday I would be doing my shopping on Sunday. I received my email ad from Staples with penny deals. I wrote out a combined list for both boys, checked my current supplies, then checked the other sales ads and got ready to go. My first stop was Target. They had colored pencils for $.50 a box, I needed 1 but bought 2 the second is a backup for later in the year. They also had pencils boxes for $.50, picked up 2 as that is what I needed. Next on the list was backpacks. I got a great deal, I picked up two $9 backpacks and received for free 2 $9.99 lunch bags. I picked up a few other things that were not school related but vacation related and checked out.

I headed over to Staples, 3 pink erasers $1, a pkg of 8 pencils a penny with a limit of 2, scissors 2 pairs for $1, highlighters 6 per pkg $1 limit of 2, binders $.99 and then they had reams of copy paper buy them for $3.69 get a $3.68 rebate (makes them a penny each) with a limit of 2 and lastly a 60 pack of 4x6 photo paper for $8.99 with a $7.99 rebate (making it $1.00). They also had a coupon if you spend $20 you get $5 off. My total at Staples was $26.90 and I will be receiving $16.35 in rebates. Not to bad.

Next stop the dreaded Wal-Mart, but I finished up my shopping there and spent $17.56.

All being said, with 2 backpacks and all of their supplies I spent $46.90, which means I spent $28.90 on supplies for 2 kids and have lots of extras, versus spending $34 on one kid and still having to go out and go shopping. And we have enough supplies to get us started for the school year and we will have extras for later in the year. Will I hit the stores after school starts for their clearance deals? Of course, because extra supplies make great teacher gifts or stocking stuffers or friend gifts for upcoming birthday parties we will be having.

Up next I will be seeking some clothes deals. But I've decided they only need a few outfits each to start the school year. We're good on clothes as well!!!

Have you started your back to school shopping?

WIP

2009-07-10T07:00:00.000-05:00

I haven't started anything new, I've been working on some old projects this week.

How's it going? Quite well...

1. John Deere Cushions for Lara - DONE - Sunday, July 5. Needs to be delivered the next time I make a trip home.

2. Pinwheel Baby Quilt for my newest niece - quilt top almost done, working on prairie points.

3. Ragged Squares Quilt x 2 - my mom asked me to make for someone that she works with, one for the new baby girl due any day and one for her big sister. Both need to be sandwiched, quilted and binded. This is Lucie's.

4. Black and White Sox Quilt - this one is for my husband and his love of the White Sox. I started it in July and at the beginning of the week only had 5 sets of 4 blocks done. There are a total of 12 sets of 4 blocks. Making the quilt have 48 blocks. Here's the layout....

and a somewhate closeup of the 12 different fabrics.

Sorry for the fuzzy pictures, it's cloudy and rainy here on the day the pictures were taken.

It doesn't look like much, but I feel good about getting a bit of work completed this week. There are still some WIP that I need to pull out and work on, but I think working on 3 projects at a time, a little bit each day is enough for me to handle. With a little persistence, I should have at least 3 of these done by next week!!!

Independence Day

2009-07-09T07:00:00.000-05:00

We attended a party on the 4th of July, I had not been feeling well for a few days and needed something quick to take with us. Not that these were quick, but they were fun and I made them festive. My original plans were to make all white sugar cookies and use blue and red sprinkles on them. I didn't have any blue sprinkles and neither did the grocery store (and I wasn't about to run all over town looking for some). I ended up having a lightbulb moment and thought, why couldn't I tint the cookies. So that's what I did, rolled them in sugar and baked!

Stacked Coins Quilt

2009-07-08T14:53:00.002-05:00

My neighbor had a baby boy in May. A few of our other neighbors threw an impromptu baby shower for her, I had 2 days notice. I went, without a gift, BUT told her that I would like to make her a quilt. And here it is.

A glimpse of the back, with it's tag.

All folded up....

ready to be delivered....

I used 2 charm packs of Moda Neptune and unbleached muslin. For the back, I had a leftover piece of pre-quilted fabric from a bedspread another neighbor wanted me to make and I followed the quilted lines for my quilt.

The pattern used can be found at Moda Bake Shop. The pattern is Stacked Coins Baby Quilt.

Three by Three Swap - June Blocks

2009-06-12T05:00:00.002-05:00

Completed, packaged and mailed off Wednesday!!!

Sorry, my photo taking skills need improvement as well as my phot editing skills.

Friday Baking with NotQuiteJuneCleaver

2009-06-11T05:00:00.000-05:00

I was reading about NotQuiteJuneCleaver's Friday Baking and decided on Monday I was going to make the recipes. Shannon was going to a White Sox game and well, it was just me and the boys. We headed to the store to grab a few missing ingredients (3 to be exact) and came home to get started.

You can find the recipes here. First up, Quiche Susan. I have made Quiche once, did not bake it long enough and the middle was not quite done and well, it was gross. This one however, was AWESOME! The boys helped themselves to seconds.

I used 1 cup orange cauliflower, 1 cup broccoli and 1 cup mushrooms (these were all in the refrigerator). Sauteed them in olive oil and butter, until they were crisp tender.

I used a store bought deep dish pie crust (I didn't have time to make one as when I decided to start it was already 4:30 and we had to run to the store for those missing ingredients).

I used a mix of mozzarella, monterey, colby and parmesan for my cheeses. How yummy does this look right out of the oven????

And let me just say (and the boys agreed) this tastes even better than it looks. We'll be making this recipe again with different veggies, whatever we have on hand.

Next up was the Mixed Berry Cobbler. In the freezer, I had a bag of Mixed berries that included blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. The bag contained 3 cups. Hmm, what to do since strawberries were not recommended and I have lots of those in the freezer, I had some rhubarb. Well, that should work. I followed the rest of the directions and well, it was pretty good.

I forgot to snap a photo of it with the ice cream on top. It was really good and the kids have enjoyed it warmed with ice cream the last few days. I did get my strawberries into the cobbler through my ice cream, I used Strawberry Supreme Frozen Yogurt by Schwan's. It was oh so very good!!!

Tea Towel and Potholder Swap

2009-06-10T15:51:00.002-05:00

As I talked about here, I participated in a Swap over at down---to---earth. The items were to be postmarked by April 26, 2009. My swap partner was on holiday and not able to get a package ready to send to me, so I was waiting to hear back from her. I posted my package to her today. We are already getting busy with summer activities and I didn't want to sit on it any longer, better she has it and is able to use it.

Here is what I sent to her:

2 potholders

A dishtowel that I added the same fabrics from the potholders to:

She has chickens and I thought it only appropriate to send her an embroidered tea towel.

Okay, two tea towels, you can't have a rooster without a hen:

I found the embroidery patterns at Vintage Transfer Finds. She has a lot of great embroidery patterns.

We were also supposed to include a sweet or savory recipe. She chose savory, so I sent her our recipe for Sausage & Pepper Pasta.

Cookie Carnival - June - Strawberry Shortcake Cookies

2009-06-09T05:00:00.000-05:00

As soon as I saw this recipe I knew I had to make them soon. And soon I did, I made them the day I received the email with the recipe in it. This month's Cookie Carnival Recipe is for Strawberry Shortcake Cookies. I LOVE strawberries! But more importantly I LOVE strawberry shortcake. A recipe that turns my favorite dessert into a cookie, what's not to love.

I made my dough in the food processor, the recipe said to use a fork or your hands to cut the butter into the flour, I make my pie crust in the food processor, why not the shortcake dough.

I pulled my berries out of the freezer (preportioned into 2 cup size bags) and defrosted added the sugar and lemon juice.

Then I dumped my shortcake dough into a mixing bowl and added the strawberries. Mmmmm, this looked so good.

I had the oven set at 375 and tried to bake the first batch for the time suggested. This is what happened.

Oh wait, you can't really see what happened. Let's try again.

That was after only 20 minutes, I think if I had left them for the 24 to 25 minutes they would have been completely blackened.

Oh well, the next 2 sheets came out just fine. I was able to get 38 cookies using my small Pampered Chef scoop. The kids loved them. I liked them, didn't love them as I hoped that I would. They seemed to be missing something, I'm not sure what though. Will I make them again? Most definitely, with some adjustments.

Here's the recipe should you decide to make them yourself.

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE COOKIES

INGREDIENTS:
Makes about 3 dozen.
* 12 ounces strawberries, hulled and cut into 1/4-inch dice (2 cups)
* 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
* 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
* 3 ounces (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
* 2/3 cup heavy cream
* Sanding sugar, for sprinkling

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine strawberries, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining7 tablespoons granulated sugar in a large bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter, or rub in with your fingers, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in cream until dough starts to come together, then stir in strawberry mixture.

2. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop or a tablespoon, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment, spacing evenly apart. Sprinkle with sanding sugar, and bake until golden brown, 24 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool. Cookies are best served immediately, but can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day.

ENJOY!!

Interested in joining the Cookie Carnival, visit Kate at The Clean Plate Club.

Last day of school

2009-06-08T05:00:00.000-05:00

First day of school,

Last day of school,

He went to school with a gift for his teacher. A basket I made using a tutorial by Pink Penguin (I of course messed up the directions, but it still turned out cute).

Flower Pops

2009-06-05T05:05:00.000-05:00

Gotta love cake on a stick or Cake Pops as Bakerella likes to call them. My brother is getting married and all of his sisters had a bridal shower for him in May. Nancy and I decided that we were going to make Cake Pops as favors for our guests. The theme of the wedding is baseball realated and the bride to be loves gerbera daisies (orange ones to be exact). We were both going to make baseballs. I happened across a small daisy cookie cutter in my cookie cutter box and called Nancy and said I would make flowers. Nancy used a white cake mix and I used a chocolate cake mix. I used a M&M for the middle of the flower.

Let me just say, these are addicting.

And the closeup is not very good, I was in a hurry, but you get the idea.

Three by Three Swap

2009-06-04T15:59:00.003-05:00

I am participating in a 9-patch block swap over at twiddletails. I sent off my first 16 blocks at the end of May. I am just no getting around to sharing the pictures. I love to use my camera, I just don't take the time to upload the pictures to the computer, edit them, add them to flickr and then post about them. Anyway, here they are....

I love how they turned out, the pictures do not show their true colors bad lighting due to a windy day outside forced me to take the pictures inside. I can't wait to see what I get in return. I am working on my second set of 16 today. Hmm, will it take me as long to post pics. Probably.

Oh and as a side note, if you go over to twiddletails she is having a giveaway today, Just Because!

Sewing Machine Meme

2009-06-01T15:44:00.002-05:00

Sew, Mama, Sew! is hosting a Sewing Machine Month over on their blog. I thought what a great way to start off June. The month of May, escaped me. We became extremely busy towards the middle and did not stop until the end. June is shaping up to be somewhat fast paced, with what I hope to be a lot of down time. The boys and I need it. Michael is finishing up his last few days of Kindergarten, with the last day being Wednesday. Trevor finished up with his Preschool Graduation on May 8th. We have swim lessons and Vacation Bible School planned during the first 3 weeks June, all of a morning. That will give us our afternoons off, something we haven't had since August!! I have lots of sewing to catch up on and lots swirling in my mind. A list is needed, but I'm afraid to get it all out in the open, I may become overwhelmed and not start anything.

Here's a bit about my Sewing Machine...

What brand and model do you have? Singer, I don't know the model. I just know it has decorative stitching.
How long have you had it? Since December 2004
How much does that machine cost (approximately)? $150
What types of things do you sew (i.e. quilting, clothing, handbags, home dec projects, etc.)? quilting, handbags, home dec projects, some clothing, dolls, a little bit of everything
How much do you sew? How much wear and tear does the machine get? I don't sew often enough, it is therapy for me that does not get taken advantage of near enough.
Do you like/love/hate your machine? Are you ambivalent? Passionate? Does she have a name? No, it does not have a name, am I passionate about my machine, no. I like my machine in love iwth it no.
What features does your machine have that work well for you? I like the drop in bobbin, sounds strange I know, but on my grandmas machine (which is what I was using when I received this one) I had to get under the desk to put the bobbin in, crazy and complicated.
Is there anything that drives you nuts about your machine? No, the things that I could complain about are operator errors.
Do you have a great story to share about your machine (i.e., Found it under the Christmas tree? Dropped it on the kitchen floor? Sewed your fingernail to your zipper?, Got it from your Great Grandma?, etc.!)? We want to hear it! I was using my grandma's machine that is in a desk and not removable from the desk. You used your knee to make it work. Anyway, it would work fine one day and then the next day it would not work at all, not turn on nothing. Try again a day later and it would work. It was giving me fits. Anyway, my husband asked my mom what kind to get me, she sent him out shopping. I received my current one as a Christmas gift in December 2004.
Would you recommend the machine to others? Why? I would recommend it for beginners. I have really taken a liking to quilting and it does give me some fits but again that could be operator issues.
What factors do you think are important to consider when looking for a new machine? Ease of use and what you are going to be using the machine for.
Do you have a dream machine? Juki TL-98Q , however, I have to save my pennies in order to work towards this beautiful machine.

Okay, that's it for the fun little.

Some more baking

2009-05-08T06:00:00.000-05:00

Wow, I really do have a lot of photos backlogged. But I never seem to remember to take photos of the quilts and sewing that I’m working on. I WILL get better about that. Each month I try to participate in the Cookie Carnival. I participated in February, but not until March and then did not participate in March and had planned to in April but realized my photos were due at the end of April and well it’s now May.

February was the month that we celebrate T’s birthday. He’s all about trains. I thought I would share his cake…

I used an 8x8 cake pan. I cut the cake in half. For the cab of the train I cut the remaining half of the cake in fourth and placed one fourth on top of the cake. I used the other three fourths of the cake to make the car’s. Buttercream icing tinted blue and then lots of candy for the cars. The wheels are made of oreos and the connectors are made of licorice. He enjoyed it.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-05-06T06:00:00.002-05:00

A sneak peak and a WIP

2009-05-05T10:48:00.000-05:00

I joined in a swap over at Down to Earth back in February. The swap is for a hot pad and a dish towel and it was to be mailed by April 25th. I was very excited to get my partner and get to work on my items for her. My swap partner is from Australia and when we chatted a bit, I found out that her kitchen was in red, black and white. From her blog, I found out that she has a garden, loves flowers and raises chickens.

My partner should be receiving her package very soon and as soon as she does, I’ll show you what I made for her. But here’s a peek of the fabrics I chose…

I have also recently joined in a swap over at the twiddletails blog. The swap is for 9 patch blocks. We are to ship 16 in May and 16 in June. Here is a peak of mine in progress...

The only thing I have left to do is to put the blocks together. I wasn't sure how the colors would work out together, but all I can say is WOW! I really like them. I found a new favorite fabric store in the process. I was looking for some fabric for a baby quilt I am working on for a neighbor, I stumbled across this little (big) shop by accident while driving to my regular shop. They carry over 6000 bolts of fabric and offer classes. Hmmm, I think I may be spending some time there! I would like to go back when I don't have any kids with me. I had Ethan with me that day and he was ready to go. I had fabrics picked out at home for the swap, but when I stumbled upon their fat quarter and 1/2 yard cabinets, I couldn't resist picking up a few new fabrics.

Cookie Carnival - February but it's May

2009-05-04T06:00:00.001-05:00

It's been awhile since I participated in the Carnival! I had oven problems most of last year and finally broke down and bought a new oven in December. I have been baking lots since then. I did make the cookies for December in January, but didn't get to take pictures before the boys devoured them.

The cookies this month are called CHOCOLATE FUDGE COOKIES with TOFFEE and DRIED CHERRIES by Regan Daley. Oh my, my did they ever sound delish. A quick survey of the pantry and I had all of the ingredients except for the dried cherries and toffee bits. Hmm, I added the ingredients to the shopping list. It was hard not to run out and buy the ingredients and make them right then. But I'm on a budget, trying to only shop once a week and really trying to stick the grocery list. As long as the item is on the list it's okay to buy, if it's not then it's not an okay purchase.

The ingredients were purchased and I was going to make these for Valentine's Day for S, but had to many other things planned for that day so these sweet treats did not get made. A trip to the auto show on Sunday derailed my baking plans for Sunday. On Monday, the kids had no school, maybe I could get them baked, but time got away from me as I was in a cleaning groove. Finally, I was able to bake these on Tuesday and let me just say they were well worth the wait.

I was surprised at the amount of cookies that the recipe made. The recipe said to it would make 40 large cookies by dropping the batter by heaping tablespoons onto the baking sheet. I used the small scoop by Pampered Chef and the recipe made 81 cookies. Fresh out of the oven they are soft and gooey. Cooled a bit, they have a slight crunch but a soft middle. The boys liked them, that was a relief. S isn't home to try them, but I'm sure as soon as he gets home they'll be a hit with him as well, for he loves Heath bars and cherries, although usually separate.

Without further ado, the recipe for CHOCOLATE FUDGE COOKIES with TOFFEE and DRIED CHERRIES by Regan Daley.

INGREDIENTS
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened dutch-process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup tightly packed dark brown sugar
3/4 granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup plump, moist, dried sour cherries
8 oz. bitter or semisweet chocolate chopped into chunks about the size of the cherries
1 cup English toffee pieces for baking such as Skor Bits

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. line two heavy baking sheets, not non-stick, with parchment paper and set aside. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt together into a bowl and set aside. in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and both sugars until light in color and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl. beat in the vanilla. Stir in the flour-mixture in 3 additions, blending just until the dry ingredients are moistened. i find this part of the job easier with a wooden spoon, rather than a mixer, as I can see better which parts of the batter need more attention without over mixing. Stir in the chunky ingredients and mix until they seem evenly distributed. (the dough may be frozen at this point for up to 4 months: wrap the dough securely in plastic wrap, then in a plastic freezer bag. thaw the dough in the refrigerator without removing its wrapping before portioning the cookies and baking.)
2. Drop the batter by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheets and place them in the center of the oven. If you have a large, evenly tempered oven, place the 2 sheets in at once, on two racks positioned close to the middle of the oven. Switch the position of the trays once during baking. If your oven is small, or tends to have hot or cold spots, bake one tray at a time so the cookies bake evenly.
3. Bake the cookies for 15-18 minutes, or until barely set in the center and just firm around the edges. Rotate the sheets once or twice. Cool the cookies on the tray for 3-5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely before storing. (Feel free to eat them at any point.) Run the hot tray under cold water to cool it, dry thoroughly and repeat with remaining dough. Store the cookies in airtight containers, layered between sheets of parchment or waxed paper for up to 5 days.

Taco Soup

2009-05-01T06:00:00.000-05:00

My cousin, Nancy (you can find her here), piqued my interest about Taco Soup a few months ago. I had never had it nor heard of it and that sent me in search of a simple recipe and since I had all of the ingredients on hand I made it that night. It was good and I have made it again since then, but I have been searching for another recipe to try. A few days ago, I found it! It sounded oh so good! You can find the original recipe at Little Birdie Secrets.

Here it is with the changes that I made:

Taco Soup
1 can (16 oz) refried beans (I used Fat Free)
1 can (16 oz) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (16 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14 oz) chicken broth
1 1/2 cups frozen corn OR 1 can whole kernel corn (I used Sweet Whole Kernel Corn No Salt Added)
3/4 cup salsa
3/4 cup cubed cooked chicken OR 1 lb. ground beef, browned (I used 2 chicken breasts cubed)
1/2 cup water
1 package of Taco Seasoning Mix
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Tortilla chips, optional

Coat a large saucepan with nonstick cooking spray and add the cubed chicken breasts, saute until browned. In a large saucepan, combine first 8 9 ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes. ~~Add cheese~~. If you like, crumble tortilla chips on bottom of bowl and ladle soup over chips. You can also just crush a few chips on top of the soup if you prefer. Sprinkle cheese over top of the soup and serve with chips on the side. It's also great topped with a spoonful of sour cream.

This soup was really good. It was a thick and hearty soup. The kids loved it and asked me if we could have it for tomorrow for lunch. I highly recommend trying it (with or without the alterations)!!

Spring has ARRIVED!!

2009-04-30T13:06:00.002-05:00

You can't really tell by this picture, except that E and I were working on this sidebed. Let me just say, it's pain in the spring and late summer (when it starts to look shabby). But this was the first day we went out to work on it.

A little bit of work and we discovered these popping up. The hostas went from this...

to looking like this in a little less than a week...

We call this the tulip tree, I'm not sure if that's the right name or not.

and a close up of the pretty flowers...

The tree by my sidewalk will have beautiful purple leaves very soon, but in the meantime, I get to see these beautiful little flowers.

Mom, why do you call this a bleeding heart, does it need a bandaid?

And you know Spring has arrived when you attend your first game of the year.

Michael was catcher in I think the 2nd inning.

Ethan insisted on playing in the rocks, sand and dirt.

And Trevor, went home with his first game ball. He had his first two hit's from the pitcher without using the tee and enjoyed his first game. It is officially spring!

Easter Desserts

2009-04-21T19:46:00.004-05:00

Okay, I'm a little late posting these photos. First off, my oh so handsome boys (and nephew) if I do say so myself.

A family photo, yes, I guess I will finally share my face.

It is not an easy task getting the boys to sit still for pictures. Can you tell??

Let's move onto some desserts. Easter was moved from our house due to an emergency gall bladder removal. We packed our entire meal (I had prepped everything beforehand) and drove over to my brother-in-laws house. On the menu was:

Fresh Ham

Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus

Brussel Sprouts with Pancetta

Parmesan Scalloped Potatoes

Marinated Fruit Salad

Refrigerator Yeast Rolls

Lamb Cake

Buttermilk Lemon Poundcake

Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake

Next year I will be omitting the asparagus, I think I overcooked it. I normally cook in a gas stove and used an electric stove and well, I forgot about it. It wasn't really good, but I may try it again. The scalloped potatoes were by far the best that we have ever made. Definitely a keeper. The brussel sprouts, well, let's just say that I make the for Christmas and now for Easter and they are a hit. I make them the day before and let them sit overnight in the refrigerator and they absorb all of the wonderful flavors. All in all the meal turned out good, it could have been a disaster due to unexpected events.

Slowing Down

2009-02-17T12:49:00.004-06:00

I should have realized this a long time ago and I would probably not have been so strung out. I couldn't figure out why when E (baby boy #3) came along, my whole world seemed to fall apart. Part of it could have been moving with 3 small boys (the youngest not even 3 months old) to a town that we were familiar with and I should have been happy. Not so much so. As the days turned into weeks, the weeks turned into months and then the months turned into years I felt my whole world was spiralling out of control. In March we will be in our current home 3 years, the longest we have been in any house since we were married 7 years ago, the longest M has been in a house in his 6 short years of life and it's all starting to click.

Why? I slowed down and smelled the coffee, the flowers, the books, whatever you wish to smell. I have been looking at everyday chores, as just that a chore, the past few weeks I've started to change my way of thinking. I started to take time for myself. I don't really have one organizational website, book, person that I follow. I have adapted several into what works for me. But I do believe that anything can be done in 15 minutes. I work for two 15 minute periods in an hour on household chores or duties, then I move on and work on a craft for 15 minutes and finally I stop and read for 15 minutes. My, the things that I have accomplished in the last few weeks. I have to set a timer, if I don't, then I don't take time for me and lose track of what I was working on.

I may not always get done everything on my To Do List, but I've stopped beating myself up, started my new list for the next day and if there are items that need to be completed from the day before, I don't rewrite them, I just complete the task later in the week.

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T10:31:00.003-06:00

Valentine's Day is upon us. Our plans for the day include dropping the kids off at Parent's Night Out and then heading home for a nice dinner. I chose a simple menu from MyRecipes. It's called Charm Him on the Cheap, it includes:

Cherry Tomato Toasts
Skirt Steak with Lemon and Chili Roasted Potatoes
Broccoli with Lemon Crumbs
Chocolate Sorbet
and maybe some brownies, I haven't decided on those yet.

And this is a little Valentine's Fun.

1. Flowers for my Wife on Valentine's Day, 2. bleeding tree, 3. The arrival of a rainstorm, 4. dawn passion, 5. Love and affection, 6. Romance Isn't Dead, 7. A little piece of Heaven......, 8. The Gates, 9. in the mood for spring, 10. The Abode of God at Dusk, 11. At 3000m just a bit closer to God?, 12. CROP CIRCLE MAKER - Matthew Williams

I chose words related to LOVE and put into flickr and then chose the pictures that I liked.

1. Valentine's Day
2. February 14
3. I Love You
4. Passion
5. Affection
6. Amour
7. Cherish
8. Respect
9. Lust
10. Devotion
11. Worship
12. Faith

I hope you enjoy and Happy Valentine's Day!!!

The girls' quilts

2009-02-03T07:00:00.000-06:00

I just love how this quilt turned out. The first few pictures are of Lydia's quilt. I just love it. The pictures don't really show the true colors or how it looked after it was washed.

A little closer view.

The back is made from flannel, this one is butterflies.

And lastly, here is her patch. I used bleached muslin and traced a picture and wrote on it with permanent marker. It says, "Handmade for Lydia with Love by Aunt Wendy Christmas 2008".

And now, for Grace's. It's the same pattern as Lydia's and actually the same colors, but the colors were mixed differently. And her backing is flannel as well, just a different print.

You can learn how to make this Ragged Squares Quilt over here.

Menu Plan Monday - February 2nd

2009-02-02T07:00:00.000-06:00

It's that time of week again. I'm happy to say that all of my menu planning seems to be paying off. We have been eating healthier meals, saving some money and getting to try new recipes. The boys are really enjoying getting to pick a new cookie for each week to take to work with us. And breakfast and lunch have become much easier as well. Although, most items are the same that we would normally have for breakfast at least I'm not running around in the morning trying to decide what they are going to have. I look at my calendar the night before and tell them before they go to bed what they will be having for breakfast the next morning.

Anyway, here is the list of meals we are having this week!

Monday - Chicken Fingers with Honey mustard and salad

Tuesday - Tex Mex Pepper Steak with Rice and tortillas

Wednesday - Spicy black bean stew with Rice and salad

Thursday - Sage & Balsamic pork chops with pumpkin polenta

Friday - Boosotto with salad

Saturday - Dinner out (perhaps pizza)

Sunday - Mexican pasta with Tomatilla sauce, bread and salad.

If you'd like to learn more about Menu Plan Mondays, visit Orgjunkie.com. To see a list of this weeks meals visit here.

Quilt Along Block #6

2009-01-30T07:00:00.001-06:00

Quilt Along Block #6
Originally uploaded by wyndesnow

Are you tired of seeing these blocks yet? I thought since, I hadn't been posting that instead of posting them all into one post. I'd have a list of posts lined up.

Another one that I just love. Now for the problem that I ran into. I thought that I had enough of the background fabric for at least all of my blocks. But I don't, here's the next problem, I bought it 2 years ago during Christmas time and have searched for it. What to do?

I decided that I would only make 9 of the blocks instead of 12. And I will be using a different fabric to make the sashings. Problem solved.

This is block #6.

Quilt Along Block # 10

2009-01-29T07:00:00.002-06:00

Quilt Along Block # 10
Originally uploaded by wyndesnow

and yet another picture from the Quilt-a-Long. I really like how this block turned out. It's not my favorite block from this quilt but it comes pretty close.

This is block #10.

Quilt-a-long Block #8

2009-01-28T07:12:00.004-06:00

Quilt Along Block #8
Originally uploaded by wyndesnow

And here is yet another block from that crazy mom quilts first Quilt-a-Long. I know I'm a little late getting them done. And this is done in Christmas fabrics so I'll have a nice Christmas quilt to put away and use next Christmas.

This is block #8.
I say this quote the other day and it made me smile and I wanted to share:

Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine.-- Lord Byron

Quilt Along Block 7

2009-01-27T11:08:00.002-06:00

Quilt Along Block #7
Originally uploaded by wyndesnow

Many, many, many months ago I was participating in crazy mom quilts Quilt Along. I was also participating in her Star Quilt Along, but that's a post for another day.

I have been working on completing the blocks for this quilt, because that is one of the projects I would like to complete on my LIST.

This is block #7. I hope you enjoy!

Menu Plan Monday - January 26th

2009-01-26T13:04:00.005-06:00

Ah, last week went by so quickly. And it was nice knowing what we were eating when it was time for that meal. It's also nice to know that I haven't been to the store yet, I will probably need to go either Tuesday or Wednesday. I have used what I had in the house. We only had one day last week that we did not eat what we had planned. Due to used car shopping for S, we ended up eating McD's at 8:30p Friday evening, but we got a car. Anyway, here's our plans for the week...

Monday - Big, Thick Hearty Thighs and that's a compliment, salad and Italian Bread
Tuesday - Beef Minestrone and Italian Bread
Wednesday - Hoppin' John, Salad, Corn Muffins
Thursday - Columbus' Pork Chops with Salad and bread
Friday - Spinach and Artichoke Calzones
Saturday - Eggplant, Ricotta & Red Pepper Rolls, Salad, Bread (we did not have this last week)
Sunday - Italian Sub Soup

I again, have our menus planned out for Breakfast, Lunch and Snacks this week. Our snack for the first part of the week is cookies. I thought I'd share the recipe as they are quick, easy and rather tasty.

Ranger Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups crisp rice cereal
1-1/3 cup coconut
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375 F. In a large bowl, beat butter on medium for 30 seconds. Add sugar, brown sugar, baking powder and baking soda, beating until combined. Beat in egg and vanilla. Beat in the flour with the mixer. Stir in cereal, coconut and raisins. Drop by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto greased cookie sheets. Bake for 8 minutes until edges are golden. Cook on sheet for 1 minute and then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes 54 cookies (mine only made 40 but I used the small scoop from Pampered Chef and the recipe calls for dropping by teaspoonful)

If you are interested in more information for Menu Plan Mondays visit OrgJunkie.

Menu Plan Monday - January 19th (a little late)

2009-01-21T10:37:00.004-06:00

Wow, has it really been 3 weeks since I was able to post a menu. And let me just be honest, I didn’t do a very good job of menu planning while the internet was down. I did not hold myself accountable to posting a menu here, so I did not make one. Why write a menu up if I don’t have anyone but my family to share it with? Let me tell you why. I didn’t know what we were eating until it was time for dinner, I frequently had to make runs to the grocery store because I didn’t have something on hand, dinner was later than it needed to be because I didn’t have it a) started or b) in the crockpot before we got home and lastly, I spent more money because I kept making frequent trips to the store. So I sat down yesterday with 4 of my beloved cookbooks (a girl can never have too many cookbooks) and planned not only a week’s worth of menus, but a month’s worth of dinners, breakfasts, lunches and snacks. I will only post a week at a time, but I hope that this will help to further decrease my cost of going to the grocery store.

So without further ado, here is my menu for this week albeit, late:

Monday – I was sick (bad stomach flu) so S and the boys had McD’s.

Tuesday – Deluxe Burgers with French fries from WW Light & Easy Cookbook

Wednesday – Vegetable Chowder with Celery and Carrot sticks and blueberries in sour cream

Thursday – Pork Roast (in crockpot) with Rice

Friday – Savory Bread Pudding with a salad and orange sections from WW 365 day menu cookbook

Saturday – PARENT’s NIGHT OUT – the kids will eat pizza at church and S and I will pick something up.

Sunday – Eggplant, Ricotta & Red Pepper Rolls with Salad, Italian Bread and Chocolate Pudding.

I won’t bore you with my notes on breakfast, lunch and snacks. But I do like looking at little calendars and knowing what we will be eating throughout the day.

I’m off to get the kids’ lunch ready, I have had a change of plans for my afternoon and it looks like lunch will be in the car and I don’t want to stop at McD’s.

If you would like to participate in or get more information on Menu Plan Mondays visit I’m an Organizing Junkie.

Sorry for the interuption

2009-01-19T13:47:00.002-06:00

Due to uncontrollable circumstances with our internet provider (long story but thank goodness we are FINALLY back online) we have not had internet connection since January 5th.

I have lots to show and will do some updates this week, just not today as I have a stomach virus.

Five & Dime

2009-01-05T13:51:00.002-06:00

E-10 Five & Dime
Originally uploaded by wyndesnow

I finished up the girls' quilts this weekend and mailed them off today. Pics of them to come later. I also completed another Dear Baby Jane block this weekend. This one is E-10 Five & Dime. My hand appliqueing is getting better with more practice. This block took me maybe 40 minutes from start to finish, only because I kept getting interrupted by the kids.

The rush of school is back in session and the day to day rush will be settling back in. But I'm still going to move forward with my projects, even if it's only in 15 minute increments!!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T13:18:00.006-06:00

Happy New Year! My motto for the last week has been "All will be fine in 2009." And I truly believe that. For the first time in many months (maybe even a few years), I feel at peace. A positive outlook is in store for this year. Between now and May I will be working on my List. I'm very close to crossing a few items off. Maybe before Monday!!!

The project I worked on today...was completing a Dear Baby Jane block. This is a huge project for me and it may take me a while to complete. But it is something that I want to complete.

Here's the block I completed today. The picture is not very good, the color in the block is actually a pale pink. This is block A-1 Pinwheels Gone Awry. I did not foundation piece the block was recommended, but did cut out the individual blocks and stitched that way. I have not attempted foundation piecing or paper piecing and will attempt them as soon as I get freezer paper. It was not a difficult block to piece, I did have to refigure my measurements once but I think it turned out well.

A-1 Pinwheels gone Awry 002
Originally uploaded by wyndesnow

And on a side note...A dear friend of mine sent me a shelf that is a quilt hanger. I'm so excited to be able to use this. S asked where I wanted him to hang it and I said I hadn't really thought about it and he said how about above the couch (in the basement) and I said that would be fine but only if I get to hang a quilt on it. He said that would be fine, are you going to make a White Sox quilt. Well, it wasn't on my list of quilts to make but it may become one.

Menu Planning

2008-12-29T21:57:00.012-06:00

I don't think this is my first Menu Plan Monday, but it has been quite awhile. Menu Planning is something that I used to do all of the time and have become a little (a lot) relaxed on lately. I based my menu this week on what we have in the house and that I can easily make this week with out purchasing a lot from the store. I do have to get a few items, but this will be a very frugal week. I hope that I can pull a menu together next week with the same concept.

Monday - Baked Mostaccioli with Sausage (leftover from Sunday)

Tuesday - Oven Fried Chicken with sweet potatoes and broccoli edit: Really good and we ended up having a salad instead of broccoli

Wednesday - Beef Roast with potatoes and carrots edit" we ended up having hamburgers and tater tots, I forgot to take the roast out of the oven in time and it was not thawed.

Thursday - Hoppin John Soup with Rice and Sweet Corn Muffins

Friday - Pizza

Saturday - Baked Potato Soup with Bread Bowls

Sunday - Kathy's Delicious Whole Slow Cooker Chicken served with Rice

Want to see more menu ideas head on over to I'm an Organizing Junkie and check out Menu Plan Monday.

16.5 things to do before I turn 34...

2008-12-23T07:00:00.000-06:00

The new year is fast approaching us I am not a resolution person, well, let me say that I am the typical resolution making person, make them on January 1st and by January 15th they have gone by the wayside. This year, I’m not making any resolutions but I am going to make a list of 16-1/2 things I want to do before I turn 34. That gives me 5 months from today. My 34th birthday is May 23rd.

There are many people out there that make lists of things that they want to do or need to do. I am a list maker (not necessarily a list completer) but feel that I need to do this to feel better about myself.

The year 2008 has been a pretty tough year on me and my family. From the flooding of our basement to the most recent of my diamond popping out of my engagement ring and all the stuff that happened in between. I have been pretty hard on myself, my husband, my friends and my kids. I really don’t blame anyone, there is really no one to blame, life happens and it really happens for a reason, what that reason is I’m not sure but I do know that it will be shown to me at a later date.

Here is a list of the 16.5 things I want to complete before I turn 34.

1. Write a list of all the bad things that happened to us in 2008 and burn them in the fireplace. Let’s forget about them and start anew.
2. Pay off 2 credit cards.
3. Make plans to spend some time with my close friends (Kristi & Nancy we need to work on this).
4. Complete 2 of my quilt projects that are started.
5. Read at least 1 book a month for 5 months (Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May)
6. Send a care package of baked goods once a month (Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May) to an unsuspecting recipient.
7. Make a craft once a month with the boys (Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May)
8. Read 5 times per week with the boys ‘
9. Send birthday cards (Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May)
10. Make weekly meal plans (and stick to it) for 6 weeks.
11. Set up a savings account with automatic transfers from our checking accounts for Christmas next year.
12. Organize my storage closet, the one that houses all of my fabrics.
13. Plan a family outing once a month to someplace fun (Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May)
14. Do something creative every week.
15. Make a minimum of 1 block a week on my Baby Jane® scrappy quilt. (This one will be a challenge I’m sure!)
16. Hang my coffee cups under my counter. (They have been sitting there waiting to be hung since I received them for Mother’s Day)
16.5 Participate in the Cookie Carnival each month (Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May)

Some of these will be easy for me…some of them will be a challenge. I’m also going to try to be better about posting pics and pieces of our everyday. As I said above, 2008 turned out to be a really hard year for us, not necessarily bad we learned a lot from what happened to us, but definitely hard to handle. Of course, once this ambitious list is complete, I’ll have to come up with 34 things to do in my 34th year….hmmmm, maybe I should start thinking about that!!

My mantra for the last week (besides the prayer to St. Anthony) has been “All will be fine in 2009” and I truly believe that!

This That and the Other....

2008-11-04T10:14:00.002-06:00

Is hosting a GIVEAWAY! And all you have to do is leave a comment on her blog voting for which Name you like for her weekly Quilt/Sewing Blog Feature. Isn't this adorable! This cute little table runner is what you can WIN!!!

My personal choice is "Press Her Foot Friday". But she has a lot of cute names to choose from. That's just the one that caught my attention.

Holiday time

2008-11-03T07:58:00.000-06:00

I have been working on my gifts lists for the upcoming season and am going to be cutting into some fabric today for a few gifts for some girls on my list. I am going to try to make as many gifts as I can this year and must get a head start.

Here is my list so far:

2-3 Ragged Squares Quilt
Several sets of Patchwork Towels
2 Rocket Ships
a few crayon rolls that I gave a few Christmas' ago and have decided to do again
Silhoutte pictures of the boys for the grandmas
Tree pencil toppers for the boys' classmates at Christmas (on need to do 50)
And a few of these bags as gifts as well.

That's just the start of my list. Along with some other projects I'm working on. I think it will feel good to make as many gifts as I can this year. I need some ideas for teacher gifts, I definitely need for and perhaps 2 more for the girls in the office at pre-school. Any ideas??

I'm still here...kinda

2008-10-24T16:11:00.002-05:00

It's been a busy month. School started in August, back to work for me, birthday party in September, run, run, run, run, an order for 20 witches, 20 frankensteins and 6 cats that turned in to me getting another order for 40 witches and 40 frankensteins, 2009 document prepartions for another job and then the daily household stuff, laundry, dishes and sometimes vacuuming. The house isn't dirty but I wouldn't call it clean.

Here are some things that I worked on during my absence:

My dining room chairs BEFORE:
and AFTER:

And this is a birthday cake that I did for M's 6th birthday. He's really into Star Wars right now.

And just another snapshot...he had 5 friends come over and they all kept taking the figures off. I finally told them that the next person that removed one would lose their fingers. They stopped, thank goodness.

And now my external drive is not acting right so I cannot upload any other photos. I'll have to wait for S to look at it. It probably came unplugged again. More pictures later, maybe next week.

Storage Cubes

2008-09-10T13:49:00.003-05:00

I was not feeling well today and didn't feel like doing much in the line of housework. I do have to go into work and thought some relaxation was necessary. Crazy Mom Quilts is hosting "Gifts to Create for Christmas '08", she is posting tutorials for different handmade gifts.

One that looked easy enough to complete in a small time frame was the Storage Cubes. I already had precut fabric squares, a few boxes in the recycle bin and a remnant of some plastic vinyl. I set out to work. It took me a little less than an hour to complete this project.

Here is the finished storage cube.

I like it, no I love it. The tutorial was easy to follow with clear directions. I'll be making some more of these cuties. And maybe some of the ones that nest.

Some Fun on Labor Day

2008-09-01T11:08:00.006-05:00

A quick break from refinishing my dining room chairs. S and the boys have gone fishing and I have been sanding and decided to take a quick break. I found this over at Monica's and thought it would be fun!!

1. In Wendy's Garden, 2. Strawberry, 3. Taylorville High School, 4. Flores do cerrado 623, 5. ~~ When The Sun Goes Down..... ~~, 6. Sweet Iced Tea, 7. the sun over tuscany, 8. White Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake with Creme Fraiche, 9. SOMEWHERE IN THE SUN, 10. Duomo, Gubbio - Italy, 11. So close, So far.., 12. SQALwk2

Here's what you do if you'd like to participate:

Here’s how it works:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker. Choose 3 columns with 4 rows.

The Questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to? (or, What year did you graduate high school?)
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name. (kid version: favorite animal?)

That's it!! Have a great Labor Day!!!

Quilt for Charity #1

2008-08-21T10:01:00.005-05:00

I've talked of my fabric stash, but have yet to take a picture of it. Well, someday I will, just not today. This quilt was made from fabric from the stash.

A somewhat close up of one of the blocks.And finished. I think it needs some sashing around the outside. It measures 30" x 35".

And one more somewhat close up.

The second one is started and I’ll show pictures later. AmandaJean is having a Baby Quilt week. She's making one quilt top a day all week. I won't get that many done, but I hope to get the second one finished.

Look out kindergarten....

2008-08-19T16:14:00.003-05:00

the first of the Snow boys arrives this year. He's anxiously awaiting the first day. A little upset because I had him moved from afternoon to morning, which means no bus. But mom is working 3 afternoons a week in an after school program through church and no one will be home to pick him up. It works out best for all of us!!!

In a few short weeks, we'll be celebrating his 6th birthday. Here's to great new beginnings!!

A steal of a deal if you ask me...

2008-08-13T08:26:00.003-05:00

How much did you spend on those??? That is the question I was asked when I came home with all of these flowers. 2 dozen roses and some spring/summer beauties. Last year, I frequented the Farmer’s Market almost weekly and would spend $12 on 3 beautiful bouquets. This year, I have not been able to frequent the market as much. Why? Work on the house and to be honest, it was getting to be too expensive to take the kiddos. 3 bags of small popcorn, some produce for 1 maybe 2 night’s meals, flowers and bread for one meal, was costing $40-$50 dollars. That is half of my grocery budget for the week. And I know I could have done without the flowers, but they were just so pretty and every room needs some flowers and I just couldn't say "NO". Without the kiddos, I could have spent less and will probably go a few more times before the summer is over to try to get some of the fall bounty when it comes in.

Anyway, I digress; I was in my local Aldi’s on a Thursday morning just before lunch. They sell fresh bouquets of flowers for $2.99, you can choose from a dozen roses or whatever there mix is for the week. On this Thursday morning, the bouquets were marked down to $.75, yep, that is 75 cents for a bouquet. I bought 2 for me and 1 for my brother-in-law to take home to his very pregnant wife (which he kept forgetting so I ended up putting in a vase). I was very happy that I picked up 2 dozen roses for $1.50.
The flowers lasted for about a week and then were discarded. But I will be on the look out at Aldi’s for the extremely cheap flowers again (and if I just need a pick me up $2.99 is not so bad either).

Homemade Samoas

2008-08-12T08:09:00.005-05:00

My cousin came up for a visit. She was "home" for a little vacation (I can't wait for her to be closer to "home"). She and the kiddos came to visit us and she sent me an email that said, "When I am there we have to make these". I headed over to Not Quite June Cleaver and thought sure why not!

So while the kiddos played: we went to work...Let me start by saying, these should have come with a WARNING! You must not make these on a hot and humid day when the air is not on (because they were smoothing the walls in the basement, creates a lot of dust). You must also prepare for a bit of time, as they are time consuming. With all of that said…..They were AWESOME!We used semi-sweet chocolate instead of dark chocolate. We also had to resort to the refrigerator to get the chocolate to set up, only because it was so hot & humid. We also decided that if we were to make these again we would dip the bottoms in the chocolate before we put the caramel on top; maybe it wouldn’t be so messy, but then if the air was on and it wasn’t so hot & humid they may not have been messy. And as the baby slept we continued working.

The day after we made them, they were perfectly fine. The humidity had dropped and the heat had dissipated. I was able to put the cookies into a container with wax paper between and they did not melt.I highly recommend trying the recipe! I don’t think you will be disappointed.

Stronger

2008-08-11T07:46:00.003-05:00

I love Jewel, her music, her poetry and just her honesty. I am intrigued by the song "Stronger Woman". There are many days that I struggle, I sometimes feel I'm not a good enough mom, wife, daughter or friend. This song, to some, may be interpretted as a woman leaving an abusive relationship, but for me, this song represents that any person can find the inner strength to overcome whatever hurdles they have been presented with. The following is the chorus:

I'm gonna love myself more than anyone else
Believe in me, even if someone can't see
A stronger woman in meI'm gonna be my own best friend
Stick with me till the endI won't lose myself again, never, no
'Cause there's a stronger woman,
A stronger woman in me.

For me the song represents leaving the depression behind and pulling myself up off of the bottom and finding myself all over again. At times I feel lonely, sad, miserable and just rotten. The past few weeks have been a turning point, I told myself, the house cannot take care of itself, the babies NEED you to be STRONGER. I started digging myself up from the ground. I also need to take care of myself and "be my own best friend". Life gets in the way of the things that we love, life tries to take over and sometimes you just need to take a step back and say "Wait a minute, is this going to make ME HAPPY?" and when the answer was "NO" then I chose to decide to do something that makes me Happy.

My house had been turned upside down for 9 weeks, can you believe that 9 weeks! In that 9 weeks, what have I done. Not a lot except pouting and feeling sorry for the way my life is. Is the end in site....you bet it is, my list is made of the items that need to be completed before my big guy's birthday and we have a house full of people. A few things each day will get the job accomplished.
Over the past few weeks I started to take control again, I tackled the laundry, dusted (and the drywall dust just keeps coming back), mopped the floor, cleaned the windows (it's so nice to have the sun shining in clean windows). I have taken small steps, but I'm going to continue to add onto those steps until this HOUSE feels like my HOME. Ever since we moved in I felt like we were living in someone elses home. Not any more. It is finally starting to feel like HOME. The paint is all US, the dining room I can't wait until it is done.
And ultimately this well help me dig myself even further from the hole that I feel I have been living in. Here's to happier days, lots of sewing (in my new sewing space) and a renewed feeling of who I am!!!

(PS The random photos are of the kids working in the demolition of our basement)

Babies, babies and more babies - quilts that is

2008-07-31T07:42:00.006-05:00

The month of August is a busy baby month. Two of my sister-in-laws are due within 2 days of each other. And two mom’s at church are due within days of each other. I have been busy, planning and working on their quilts.

The first quilt I completed was for my brother and his wife. They are expecting a little boy around August 18. The theme for the baby’s bedroom is Ducks and Frogs. I had something in mind with bears but once I knew what they were decorating with I headed to my favorite fabric store to pick up some fabric. Not much out there in Duck and Frog land, but I did come away with some prints in flannel. And a nice bright, neony, green somewhat solid. Away I worked at completing the Zig Zag Quilt over at the Purl Bee. And the finished product.

Back of the Quilt

Folded FrontClose up front
I even attempted to get creative out of my box. I have seen several cards made from leftover scraps of fabric. I found an old thank you card and then stitched together scraps from the quilts. I then wrote a little saying and printed it and then stitched it onto the card.

Front of card

Back of card
Inside of card

The next quilt’s I am working on are for ladies at church. I’m going to alternate pinwheels and solid blocks in a pink and white with bears, because that’s what I have in my stash. Those are in progress but here are photos of the fabric.

And one of the blocks.

I have also completed a quilt for my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, however, I did not get a picture of it before I gave it to them. We will be visiting perhaps this weekend to see the new baby and I will ask if I can snap some pictures of it.

Cookie Carnival July - Blackberry Almond Bars

2008-07-30T13:40:00.002-05:00

It's cookie carnival time. I am participating in a monthly cookie carnival hosted by Kate over at The Clean Plate Club. Anyone that knows me knows that I love to make cookies. Friends and family have all been recipients of the Christmas Cookie Baskets and have even purchased a few to pass on. It just seems natural for me to join in a cookie carnival.

This month’s cookie, well, is a bar. Hmm, is a bar a cookie you ask? Sure! It is in my book anyway. I make chocolate chip cookie bars and use the same recipe, just throw the dough into a pan and let bake, sometimes it’s just easier that way.

My first attempt (yes, there was more than one) was for our family reunion on the 4th of July. I made a quick call to my mom to see if she had any of the “main” ingredients. We checked everything off except for the fruit, which I was bringing from home anyway, and the almonds, no problem those are in the pantry as well.

I get up the morning of the 4th to make my dessert, to realize the almonds are at home. No problem, I’ll just adjust the flour and go from there. I should have read the directions better, need a pestle and strainer. Hmmm, not happening at mom’s we’ll just dump everything in. Baked and it actually turned out well. So well, not a picture was taken.

That’s why I had to make it again. Here is the recipe:
BLACKBERRY ALMOND BARS(williams-sonoma)
INGREDIENTS:
For the shortbread:

* 12 Tbs. (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces

* 2 cups all-purpose flour

* 1/2 cup ground toasted almonds

* 1/2 cup granulated sugar

* 1/2 tsp. salt

For the blackberry curd:

* 2 pints blackberries

* 4 eggs

* 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

* Pinch of salt

* 1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

* 4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into 1-inch pieces Confectioners’ sugar for dusting
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat an oven to 350°F. Lightly butter a 9-by-13-by-2-inch cake pan.
To make the shortbread, in the bowl of a food processor, combine the butter, flour, almonds, granulated sugar and salt and process until small lumps form. Sprinkle the mixture into the prepared pan and press evenly into the bottom. Bake until the shortbread is golden, about 20 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack. Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.
Meanwhile, make the blackberry curd: In a food processor or blender, puree the blackberries until smooth. Pass the puree through a chinois set over a bowl, using a pestle to press on the solids and extract as much juice as possible; discard the solids. You should have about 3/4 cup juice.
In the top pan of a double boiler or in a nonreactive saucepan, whisk together the eggs and granulated sugar until blended. Then whisk in the blackberry juice, salt and lemon juice. Set the top pan over but not touching simmering water in the bottom pan, or set the saucepan over medium-low heat. (If using a saucepan, take care not to heat the mixture too quickly.) Cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spatula or spoon, until the mixture is warmed through, 1 to 2 minutes.
Begin adding the butter a little at a time, stirring each addition until blended before adding more. Continue cooking, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom of the pan, until a finger drawn across the back of the spatula leaves a path, 8 to 10 minutes more. Immediately remove the pan from the heat. Pass the curd through the chinois set over a bowl and let stand for 10 minutes. Whisk to blend, then pour the curd over the shortbread, spreading it evenly to the edges.
Bake until the curd is set, about 30 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely. Cut into individual bars, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Dust the bars with confectioners’ sugar before serving.
Makes 20 bars.

I did make a couple of changes though, based on what I had at home. I used a bag of frozen mixed berries (raspberries, blackberries and blueberries). And, I did not strain the pureed fruit but let it cook a little longer on the stovetop until it became thicker. I followed the rest of the directions.
The kids insisted on helping. They turned the food processor on and off for me. And as the curd was setting, they stirred it to make sure “it was cool enough.” The bars turned out great!!!!
The kids loved them, my husband loved them and as aforementioned my family enjoyed them at the reunion.
Can’t wait to see what August brings us!!!

A sigh of relief....

2008-07-30T13:00:00.000-05:00

it's done. The basement that is, well, the contractor work is done. We still have some work, but I don't care how long that takes, we can at least use the space. I will have several posts coming up. Although the blog received a break, I didn't stop thinking of things to write and didn't stop taking pictures!!!!

I can relate...

2008-06-24T07:54:00.002-05:00

Have you ever just needed to laugh and you stumble upon something that makes you do just that. Well, I stumbled upon We Are THAT Family . As I'm reading some of her entries, I thought to myself, I can SO relate. I particularly laughed at this post Is That Bad? Why, well my kids could say chicken nugget quite early, and when I've been busy doing something they (meaning all 3 of my guys) have gotten into the pantry and made a mess with hmmm, flour, cornmeal, marshmallows, sugar, pecans (you get the picture). Anyway, I needed a good laugh, a good chuckle and a break from all the stresses. I'll be visiting her again, I'm sure, because the drama's not over in this house nor is the end in sight. A friend keeps telling me, "Wendy, it can't get any worse." And I keep saying, "Oh, I don't know about that." The good thing about all that's been happening, I get a small sewing space for myself in the basement. The kids are going to lose some play / storage space, but they are gaining a BIGGER closet to store their toys in.

No sewing has been going on (and I have 3 quilts to finish up this week) due to the dining room is currently not a dining room but an empty room. I'm pulling the wallpaper down. Why did you add that to your list you ask? Perhaps it's because the previous owners decided to wallpaper over wallpaper and it was falling down. Since the ceiling has to be painted (because of the water leak from the shower) I decided that it was a good time to just do the entire room, get it over with and that's one less room I have to do later.

This is what I'm doing today

2008-06-18T06:53:00.002-05:00

My friend Amy recently moved to Wisconsin. She fortunately has not be affected by any of the flooding. She is coming into town today because she had tickets to go see Wicked. She had an extra ticked as her niece was not able to go and asked if I would like to go. Of course! I have a neighbor girl coming over to watch the boys, dinner's going in the crockpot and well, the carpenter can let himself out (he's my brother-in-law).

A bit of work to get done before hand. Have a great day!

Why is it

2008-06-16T15:29:00.002-05:00

the last few times I have made a cake, the darn thing sticks to the bottom of the pan and then when I tried to take it out it fell apart. It's so frustrating. For Father's Day, I made an Italian Cream Cake. Now mine did not look like the picture. Nope, I had to put it piece by piece on the platter, try to put the frosting on it and then add another layer. Did I take pictures? Of course I did, can I show them to you? Of course not, that part of the computer has been taken down as the remodeling of the basement starts tomorrow. The cake tasted really good, but it looked really awful.

On to some crafting news. I have been taking time for myself to quilt. Last week I put together a summer table topper. The week before I started and finished a quilt for one of my newest nephews that is due in August. His baby shower was the first weekend in June. I also finished up my neighbors quilt for her daughters bed, she is supposed to purchase the fabric so I can make the second one. I am going to make 2 baby quilts for Project Gabriel at our church. We have 2 expectant mothers that the ministry is helping and the church is having a baby shower for them. Since I won't be able to go, I am donating 2 baby quilts. Both are having girls which is refreshing from all the boys tuff I have to make.

As I said above, remodeling starts tomorrow in the basement. I took some cute pictures of my little construction workers yesterday, but alas, cannot post them. (We may hook the PC up in the bedroom so that we don't lose internet as well, which means I may have access to pictures if I ask nicely.) The dumpster arrived today and the boys and I have been carrying drywall out in short batches. They get bored and well, my back starts to bother me, so I have to stop and do something else and then start again. Hopefully, it won't take long. We knocked the walls down, that was an all day job and put a little money back in our pockets. We ended up getting a dumpster, but by me shopping around I found a great deal on one (it was $200 less than what our garbage company was going to charge us). We bought our tile, it was on sale, original price $1.09 sq ft and it was on sale for $.77 a sq ft. This week ceiling tile is on sale for 15% off, guess what we'll be buying this week. Drywall, does it ever go on sale. Probably not. And then, we are going to save on the paint because we are painting it ourselves (with a bit of help from my cousin who graciously offered to help out).

I still have some catching up to do on the SQAL that I'm participating in and the QAL I never completed, as well as some more blocks for Dear Baby Jane.

Have a great day!!

Sums it up!

2008-06-11T07:59:00.004-05:00

I may not be better than other people, but at least I'm different.

-- Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Parasols, Polka Dots and Pink Lemonade - 20 questions

2008-06-10T15:48:00.005-05:00

I'm participating in a swap that the Sweet Goodness Girls are hosting over at Sweet Goodness Swaps. We've been asked to share the answers to some questions and since I have been having a hard time getting a post together, I thought this would be the perfect time. Oh I have plenty of things to write about, it's getting things in order that I'm having a problem with. And on a side note, if I disappear in about a week and don't respond to emails and the such it's because we may not have internet access while our basement is being refinished. I've been told it's a 3 day project, but I have my doubts. Anyway, onto the answers to the questions.

1. What is your favorite Summer Drink(s)? Pink Lemonade, Strawberry Lemonade, any kind of Lemonade!!
2. What is your favorite Summer Activity? Relaxing outside with a good book while the kids are playing and seeing a baseball game!
3. If you could spend a lazy afternoon reading, what would be in your hands? John Grisham (his new book awaits to be read, it's sitting on the bakers rack). I take recommendations and like to read a lot of different books.
4. What is your favorite type of craft/art medium? Quilting, Sewing, Knitting, Crocheting
5. What is one art/craft supply you absolutely have been dying to have or try?
6. What are your favorite colors in our 'rainbow sherbet' theme? Pink, lime green, yellow, orange, aqua (or blue) I just picked up fabric (on sale) in Pink, Lime Green and Aqua all are varigated and have different tones of each color in them to make a table runner.
7. What is your favorite sweet treat? Lemon Ice (we just made some last night) and Strawberry Shortcake.
8. Are there any craft or art supplies you would NOT be interested in receiving? I'm not a scrapbooker.
9. What is your favorite song today? Home by Blake Shelton, Better Get to Livin' by Dolly Parton and Jesus & Gravity by Dolly Parton and Kenny Chesney (any of his stuff)
10. How do you 'pamper' yourself during the hot summer days? Taking care of the toes, polishing and moisturizing because I'm not much of a shoe girl in the summer months but prefer sandals.
11. Do you have any kidlets or pets? Yep, 3 boys (ages 5, 4 and 2) 2 Shih tzu dogs (both male) and a Beta Fish appropriately named Hamm Snow and yes it's a male.
12. What is your best potluck dish for summer get togethers? A Cauliflower Broccoli salad. Chop up a head of cauliflower and some broccoli crowns (about the same amount as the cauliflower) and then shred 3 carrots. Toss together so they are mixed. Mix together equal amounts of mayo and sugar (I start with 1/4c each) and then add some milk to thin it out so the dressing is pourable. Pour over the veggies and mix. Refrigerate to let the flavors blend and enjoy!!
13. If you could take a summer vacation anywhere, where would it be? I haven't been to Myrtle Beach in a long while and would like to go back. We like to go to Palm Beach Shores, FL and go there pretty regularly. And Italy is on my list of places to go!!
14. Describe your decorating style. Does that say anything about your personality? Country, Traditional. We have a lot of pictures of friends and family scattered about the house. It's a mish mosh of things that we enjoy.
15. What are your initials? WLS
16. Why do you like to join swaps? It's fun to send items away, it feels good! and it's fun to get surprises in the mail rather than bills all of the time.
17. You have 25 dollars to spend just on you for a little treat. What do you buy? ((you can list more than one thing) I'm not sure, maybe fabric to add to the collection, but something that I normally wouldn't buy.
18. What's one craft supply or art supply you absolutely can not live without? Fabric and thread
19. Who's the last person you hugged? The baby, he comes and gives random hugs and usually needs a kiss to!!
20. What's your favorite number and why? 4. I'm not really sure why. Maybe it's the number of close friends I have, maybe it's the number of children I always wanted to have, maybe it's a friends birthday, it's a number that has stuck for quite sometime and a number that when asked to give a number that first comes to mind.

That's a bit of information about me. Hopefully I will get some snapshots up of the stuff I've been working on, but with the way things have been going I'm not too sure. Maybe our string of bad luck is running out, if it happens in 3's then here they are:
1. Shower leaked into the dining room. Had to repair the wall in the bathroom and the ceiling in the dining room.
2. Basement flooded - In the process of getting the basement refinished. All furniture and stuff has been moved , I'll update more on this later.
3. My shelf / rack in the closet fell off the wall - Still trying to remove all of the clothes and sort through so the rack can be reinstalled.

Have a great Day!

Just a list

2008-06-02T09:07:00.004-05:00

Wow, I didn’t mean to not be posting. But we were gone on vacation and the week we came home I had several things going on (I thought the week would never end). But today, I just have list, a list of things that needs to get done today or at least this week. I’m sure as the week goes the list will grow, but I have a few things that I need to focus on. Here goes:

Laundry – Fold and put away 3 loads of colored clothes
Laundry – Wash, dry and put away 1 load of colored and 1 load of whites
Vacuum – Downstairs and upstairs
Sweep – kitchen, foyer, living room, dining room, laundry room and bathroom
Mop / Polish – kitchen, foyer, living rm, dining rm, laundry rm and bathroom
Clean kitchen – counters, wipe down cabinets
Hang cup hooks to hang coffee cups
Clean laundry room – is it just me or does cleaning the laundry room make doing the laundry easier? And it seems that this is the room things just get dumped.
Tupperware – sort and deliver items from party
Hem pants – for my neighbor’s husband 9 pairs pinned, now just to stitch
Bedding for neighbor’s daughters (they purchased pre-quilted fabric and it just needs made into their bedding)
Star QAL – Weeks 4, 5, 6
QAL – Weeks 6, 7, 8
Dear Baby Jane – 3 blocks
Baby Quilt – work on blocks some more
Pa’s Quilt – wow, this has been on my list and really just needs to be finished.
Mom’s quilt – again, just needs to be finished.
Begin working in the basement - I need to start cleaning and throwing away now that the insurance company has been out (and denied our claim) so that we can figure out what needs to be done.

Well, I guess all of this won’t be completed today, but a big portion of it will. I also need to upload pics from the camera from our trip to the Wisconsin Dells and our trip to visit my family this last weekend. And it has a picture of the quilt I started and completed last week for a baby shower. Hmmm, I can finish things when I put my mind to it.

Have a great day!!!

SUMMER of ME!

2008-05-22T16:29:00.000-05:00

With all that's been going on in my house, I have been neglecting the part where you are supposed to take care of YOU! This is something that I struggle with a lot though. I take care of everyone else and always leave me for last which means that I normally don't take care of me. I have struggled with my weight for many years now, I finally it all figured out when I found out I was pregnant with wonderful E. And needless to say, it has all went downhill with him. I did lose a few of the pregnancy pounds, found out we were moving (when he was a mere 18 days old) back "home" and I started spiraling out of control. Before I knew, we had been here 2 years and in that 2 years I gained 30 pounds. None of my clothes fit the way they used to. My "fat" clothes don't even fit.

I have been a Weight Watchers member before and that's how I lost. I rejoined but am still struggling to lose. I have been gaining and losing the same 5 pounds for 3 months. I came across a little challenge over at Baby Tea Leaves, that I found through 5 Minutes for Mom.

My goal is to lose 5 pounds by the end date of July 25. I don't have a big plan for that time, but I would like to lose 10 pounds August 31, that is my 15 year class reunion and my friend and I are leaving the hubbies at home with the kiddos and going alone. I'll be posting on "Fat Fridays" about my week.

I know I need to exercise more, I know I need to make wiser choices in my eating and I know I need to get my water in. I just need to focus on a goal and go for it.

Country Living Magazine

2008-05-15T16:53:00.004-05:00

Picture from CountryLiving.com

My husband collects the Coke Reward Points and just after Christmas asked me if there were any magazines that I would like. I said I'm not sure (I was already receiving 6 magazines, 2 of which I don't really know how I ended up receiving them) and so he started rattling off the names and when he said Country Living I said I would like to get that one. Yes, I know that's a lot of magazines and most of them get flipped through, so more than others and when subscriptions run out I won't be renewing the majority of them. And yes, I recycle them I either offer them to friends, the library or to our church recycling bin (the parish school is part of a recycling program that earns dollars for education).

I received my Country Living magazine on Monday and happened to be going into work that day and stuffed it in my backpack. I don't recall which page but I remembered seeing an article about a juried exhibit of quilts at the International Quilt Festival in Houston. This link will take you to the article. Basically, the Country Living Classics exhibit is going to be a selection of 30 quilts that have been submitted by readers that will be shown at Festival. They are looking for Classic Country Quilts of all sorts. Read the article for more information. No, I will not be submitting any quilts for consideration, but I think there are a few people that should.

Good Luck!!!!!

2008-05-14T12:23:00.003-05:00

I've had a few requests about the Free Fabric I received from Sew, Mama, Sew. You can purchase the fabric at the Sew, Mama, Sew Store. I received my Hancocks of Paducah catalog in the mail and was browsing through it and found the fabric in their with all of the other fabrics from the same line. So here is some more information:

The fabric line is called Flutterby by Tula Pink for Moda Fabrics. It is premium 44" cotton.

I also like to shop from Emerald City Fabric & Craft LLC, they have an ebay store and have the above line in a charm pack. You can bid on it or you can buy it now. Just thought I'd let you know. Wherever you may decide to buy from, the prices are all comparable.

Quilt a Long Progress

2008-05-14T07:48:00.003-05:00

An update of sorts, the basement is drying out. I'm not sure how long it will be this way. And now that the kids shouldn't play down there, that is where the kids want to play.

I am participating in a Quilt A Long hosted by AmandaJean over at Crazy Mom Quilts. This link will take you to a picture of what the fiinshed quilt will look like. If you remember, I was also participating in one prior to the holiday season last year. I posted about it here. Well in usual Wendy fashion, I didn't finish it. The holiday craziness caught up with me and well I didn't work on it. When AmandaJean announced she was having another quilt a long, I felt bad participating after having not completed the first one. But I decided to participate anyway and work on the first one along side of the second one.

Here are pictures from the first one:
Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4 (and my favorite so far)

Week 5 (not as difficult as it looks)

Yep, it's may and I'm working with Christmas colors. Crazy isn't it.

And now for the current one. I am really liking the fabric that I chose for this one. I almost want to make 2 of them. But don't want to bite off more than I can chew. I have several projects started and all are making progress but none are completed yet.

Week 1 SQAL

Week 2 SQAL

I have not completed week 3 yet, but will work on it sometime this week, maybe today. I need a break from cleaning (hehehehe). I have also prepared the fabric for the setting blocks, but have not worked on any of those yet.

I am still working on Dear Baby Jane no new pictures to post because the scanner is not attached (because of the basement conditions). And my pictures of those tiny blocks come out dark. I'm still behind, almost caught up, maybe a Dear Baby Jane catch up day is needed for me, hmmmm.

No pics, no quilting and a big mess

2008-05-11T18:28:00.002-05:00

Last week was very, very busy. The boys had their stepping up and graduation ceremonies. The shower in the master bathroom leaked into the dining room and has required a plumber and is now going to require tearing our bathroom apart to find the possible leak and fixing the problem. T-ball and last minute finishing up on a friend/boss' trip to Hawaii. A relaxing day was to be had on Mother's Day. All of the boys (including dad) went to church with me this morning and we stopped by home so I could change into jeans before heading over to MIL's. Well I needed to checkin my friend / boss for her trip to Hawaii, so I went into the basement to use the computer and after opening the door and turning the light on to find the basement flooded, not just a small amount of water but probably 3 inches of water standing in the basement. Yep, a huge mess. Lots of things are getting thrown away, lots of things are going to be purged and lots of things are going to be sold. I guess that is a good thing about this happening. It has made me realize that even though I knew we had a lot of stuff, I realize that we really do have a lot of stuff that just isn't going to be used.

Things I will be condensing:

Kids toys - getting rid of all of the baby stuff, my boys are 2, 4 and 5 they don't play with it.
Books - not all of them, but we do have a lot of books that we don't use.
Craft -things that I don't use and no longer enjoy doing. I really need to get rid of some stuff and make a pledge not to buy any more.
Paper - it has gotten out of control.
Stickers - sadly, this box probably has to be thrown out because the entire bottom is wet and dripping, I'm sure the stickers are not any good as well.

The basement mess is going to take some time. We will probably have to replace our desk and file cabinet, and our old kitchen table was being used as a train table and well, it collapsed today. Out in the garbage it will be going. To get rid of the weight machine or not. Hmm, I'm not sure but we'll see.

I am hoping to be able to still work on some projects over the next few weeks, but I'm not sure how much will get accomplished. I do know that no pictures will be posted as the computer is down (not broken but disconnected) and we won't have access to our external harddrive to save the pictures to.

Alas, it will all get taken care of.

Cleaning

2008-04-26T11:44:00.003-05:00

Over the last few years I have not been buying household cleaners. I was not just doing it to go green (that was actually an afterthought) but as a means to save money. Those chemicals can add up over time. It really started when the dogs kept having accidents (not really accidents, they would go and p on purpose) and I wanted a way to clean it up versus going out and buying something. I found a solution tried it and for the most part it worked. My dogs still insist on being rotten little pooches, but then my only other option is to leave them outside all the time which is not nice. I found a lot of information on making your own household cleaners and decided to try. Hmm, these work better than most of the ones that I buy. Matter of fact I really like making my own window cleaner, I even passed the information along to a friend whose tables were becoming foggy (she has glass tables) and she used it and said they sparkle.

Anyway, here are a few links to some of my favorite homemade cleaning solutions and some information on items you should keep on hand for green cleaning.

6 ingredients for a green, clean home
Down to Earth - many articles on green cleaning and living life more simply

I'll add more of my links later.

Really, I won?

2008-04-23T07:16:00.004-05:00

There are a few blogs that I read most everyday or every few days and then there are a few blogs that I read when I have lots of time, which is not very often. One of the blogs that I read quite regularly is Sew, Mama, Sew . They are finishing up their tutorial contest. And, there are several tutorials that I am going to be trying. And on Friday's they host Free Fabric Friday. The contest last week was to read over and comment on which tutorials you liked and so I did.

What did I win? One yard of fabric of my choice. There are several great choices in their shop and how can you choose just one. Well, I did but it was hard. I went with:

I really liked the snails and at first look, you can't tell their snails. I'm not sure what I will use it for, a purse or tote or perhaps part of an upcoming quilt. If you haven't checked the Sew, Mama, Sew store or blog go and take a peak!!!! But beware, you can lose track of time with all of the great goodies you find!!!

Bread and Cookies

2008-04-21T15:00:00.002-05:00

A day of baking was in store for me on Sunday. I love to bake bread; the boys love to eat bread. I should bake bread more often but I don’t. That is something that is going to be changing though. I always tell myself it takes too long and I don’t have enough time. I proved myself wrong Sunday. I baked several things and it really didn’t take all that long.

First off, I started the Hamburger Buns that we were going to be using for dinner. I prepared the dough and set it aside for the first rise. I then moved on to baking cookies for T’s snack day at school. Once those were complete the dough for the hamburger buns had doubled and I could move onto the next step, which was forming into the buns. I finished that task and set them aside to rise again. I then moved onto making some Italian bread that we will use throughout the week for sandwiches and breakfast items. I finished up the cookies while the dough was rising (filling them with cream, see below) and cleaned up the kitchen. The dough was ready to be punched down and shaped (into loaves) and put into bread pans to rise a second time. Enough time for me to settle down and relax before the timer went off. Off it goes and into the oven they go, after a milk bath and sesame seeds. We had fresh Hamburger buns for dinner and fresh bread for breakfast today.

Onto the recipes and pictures. The Hamburger buns came from The Margaritaville Cookbook by Olaf Nordstrom. We picked the cookbook up on our honeymoon. I haven’t made many recipes from the book, but I definitely like the French Bread and the Hamburger Buns. They are keepers and will be used in the future.

The Italian Bread recipe came from Prairie Home Breads: 150 Splendid Recipes from America's Breadbasket. I borrowed this book from the library and fell in love with it. I decided to purchase it. Again, another book that has several recipes that I am going to try but a few that I love already. I like Nonna’s Italian Bread , the Cheddar Bread and the Basil Bread.
Finally, onto the Oatmeal Cream Pies. T had snack day and wanted to take cookies. He wanted to take sugar cookies and I did not want to make them. To be honest, I’m burnt out on making sugar cookies all the time. I saw this recipe over at The Homespun Heart and thought they looked yummy. All ingredients on hand, we were ready to go. The recipe said that it makes 36 cookies or 18 sandwiches. I used the small scoop from Pampered Chef and was able to get 60 cookies or 30 sandwiches out of it. These were the perfect size for 4-year olds. The kids loved them and so did daddy. A few came home in the container and so we are going to have them after t-ball tonight.

And what about the kids, well, they were either at the park, playing outside with daddy or gone fishing. It was a nice day of baking for me!!!

As for what’s baking in my house today, wheat bread. I’ll have some pictures tomorrow. As they have just come out of the oven and are not ready to be taken out of the pans.

A few more blocks

2008-04-21T11:09:00.001-05:00

I was able to complete a few blocks this weekend for my Dear Baby Jane. The blocks I completed were B1 – Bachelor Buttons and C9 – Janes Tears. Why did I choose those blocks this weekend? I’ll explain, I needed to dive into Reverse Appliqué. I have never done appliqué and what better way than to dive in. I chose B1 because it didn’t seem to intimidating and I had just finished reading the book The Bachelor by Carly Phillips, appropriate right? Problems at first, but I worked them out. I didn’t clip the seams (duh, it makes the turns much easier and I know that from regular sewing). Once it was finished, I was neither impressed or unimpressed with the outcome. For now I shall keep it.
Onto the second block, C9 – Jane’s Tears. Hmm, could it be I chose this block on Sunday afternoon because I had spent Saturday evening and Sunday morning in tears. Probably and working on this block allowed me to release my blame and put it into the block. I’m not sure that I am going to post the exact reason why, for fear that I will be judged by someone that does not know me very well and believe me, I have blamed myself enough. For those that do know me, they already know what happened on Saturday which caused the fear and tears inside (and outside) of me. Perhaps later, when I am more comfortable with the incident (as we shall call it), I will post what happened.
I have worked on another block today, B2 – Sweet Tater Pie, in hopes to get caught up by next week but, we’ll see how the week turns out.

Third times a charm

2008-04-16T14:01:00.002-05:00

I have had a busy few days. On Saturday, I went to a meeting and then we just lounged around during the day. The kids were tired from their excursion to a White Sox Game and not feeling well. On Sunday, I went to church and when I arrived home I could hear this loud grinding noise coming from inside the house. My first instinct was “Oh my gosh what have they done to their dad or what is he doing?” And then the grinding noise stopped and I could hear loud music. Then the grinding started again. Hmmm, what is he working on? I come in the house to find that S decided to finish the upstairs hallway painting. We worked on the foyer in late August / early September but never finished the upstairs hallway. I helped tape it off and do the edging and we had the priming done by lunch time. Let it dry and then had the main color done with touch ups in the foyer by dinner time. A long day of painting, no catch up quilting or any sewing or crafting this weekend.

I shouldn’t say no quilting. I did work on B4 Chris’s Soccer Field. I cut it out and sewed, pressed, sewed and pressed until it was complete. Squared it up to add the border and well, I forgot to add the half an inch and the block was too small and did not look like the picture. Here is attempt one:
Start over, cut out the pieces, sewed, pressed, sewed and pressed until it was complete. Squared up the pieces only to realize, that I did something terribly wrong and I’m not sure what. But here is attempt number two:
And finally, start over again. Cut out the pieces, sewed, pressed, sewed and pressed until it was complete. Squared up the piece to add the border and this time it worked. It’s not exactly like the picture, my sewing doesn’t look to have been very straight. But for now I am happy with the block and have no intentions of making it again right now. Here is the third attempt:

Here’s hoping tomorrow (Thursday) will be an easier day and I can get another post up and maybe even one or two more blocks caught up. And what to do with the blocks I messed up? I think I'm going to make them into pincushions, I'm not sure.

A day off

2008-04-11T14:27:00.003-05:00

A day off, I have only been alone for 2 hours and already feel lost. Why is it that as a mom when we have time to ourselves we can’t seem to enjoy the alone / down time? S is taking our older boys to a White Sox game tonight and the little guy is staying with grandma. I’m not going because tonight is my one night a month that I play Bunco. Yes, I could have found a sub and gone to the game but, I really didn’t want to go. He is a brave man taking a 5 year old and 4 year old to a game by himself. My sister-in-law will be there, so if he needs help, she’ll be there.

On to some crafting news, I finished another block in my Dear Baby Jane Quilt. I completed C3 Rayelle’s Fence. I decided to strip piece it versus foundation piecing. I have never foundation pieced before and know that I need to because there is a block that has already been completed that requires foundation piecing. I’ll work on it this weekend. There are a few places the strips don’t match up exactly, but I really don’t mind.

I’m going to work on some of the appliqué blocks this afternoon. As well as try to finish up another project. Have a great weekend!!!

Sewing & Baking

2008-04-10T08:49:00.004-05:00

I decided to make some cookies and I found a recipe on Martha Stewart. The recipe is called Outrageous Chocolate Cookies. I did not have the semi-sweet chocolate on hand and I did not have semi-sweet chocolate chunks. So I used semi-sweet chocolate chips and melted them down and instead of the chocolate chunks, I used dark chocolate M&M’s (leftover from all of the Easter Candy). The recipe said it would make 24 cookies and I used the small scoop from Pampered Chef and made 40 cookies I’m glad I took these pictures the night I made them because by the next morning, yep you guessed it, the little guys devoured them. None left. And I would make some more but I don’t have anymore chocolate chips. Need to find another recipe to make them some more cookies but this time, I’ll need to keep them out of reach.

Onto more exciting news, I completed another project on Wednesday. I had been putting it off, I’m really not quite sure why. But she’s finished and I’ll be posting pictures at a later date.

I also finished another block for the Dear Baby Jane that I’m working on . This block is B13 and is called Four Corner Press. I chose yellow for this ring that the block belongs in and while I was going through the box of fabric found the yellow bandana print and while looking for a larger block I came across the fabric that I used for the center. I think they worked out well together. I have to start working on the appliqué blocks; this will be something new for me as I have never done appliqué. The saying you learn something new everyday will hold true for this.

Dear Baby Jane

2008-04-09T08:45:00.004-05:00

These are for my Dear Baby Jane quilt that I will be starting. I pulled out the box (an old ceiling fan box) full of these pre-cut by my nonnie, that I will be using as is or cutting in the the shapes needed. I'll be taking pictures of the blocks as I make them.

And I was so inspired after actually seeing some of this fabric that I just had to make a few blocks last night. I put the kids to bed after a long, long day. And browsed through the searching for the colors I have layed out in my quilt chart and just went with it. So here you go:

M-10 Simple Simon

A6-Uncle Homer

D13-Field of Dreams

Edited to add: I scanned my blocks and then formatted down to get a better picture of them than what I was taking with my camera. The black you can see on D-13 is part of the scanner. I forgot to place a piece of paper over the block before scanning.

Tuesday

2008-04-08T19:23:00.000-05:00

That's all I got. I did some housework today and some catching up. S is out of town until Thursday and even though the morning started out good, the afternoon went downhill quick. The boys (all 3) decided to be rather difficult and I'm ready for them to go to bed.

As promised, some more photos of projects I have been working on.

The following are several market totes/shopping bags that I have made. A few will be listed in my etsy shop. I made one for a swap that I participated in over here.

A gift for an upcoming birthday. Hmmmmmmm, I wonder where this will be going. I'll let you know once it has arrived.

It's about time...

2008-04-07T14:53:00.002-05:00

I know , I know, where have you been? Busy. I have tried to limit my computer time, because I find myself getting lost in Blogland. Then, when I do think, oh you should do an update, I forget the camera. Well finally, here it is and more to come this week I hope.

My sister-in-law is expecting her first child in August. I didn't want to give her a gift for the house, or clothes (because how to you buy maternity clothes for someone other than yourself) or give her a gift card, how boring is that. So I decided to make her a wellness bag. I saw the idea over at Sew, Mama, Sew here.
The above picture is the rice therapy pillow. And I did follow the directions for making their pillow. Instead of using velcro thought, I used buttons. I made cute little button holes that coordinate with the colors and then picked out buttons from the colors in the fabric pattern.
This is the Lavendar Eye Pillow. Now, I did not follow her instructions, but did make a plain rectangular one. I made a sock out of muslin to put the flaxseed in and then added dried lavendar from my yard from last summer. I wanted to keep it for myself because it smelled so good.
And lastly, this is the cute little bag I stitched up to go with it. I wrote down my measurements and what I did for the bag, but if I make it again, I will use a stronger interfacing. The sides collapsed to much for my liking. But it does have a pocket on the inside. I also included in the bag, some Bath and Body Works lotions and soaps. And T decided that she needed these cute little lamb slippers, his exacts words were "These are the PERFECT gift mama, we have to get them!" Who can resist the perfect gift. And a candle. I added little tags that I made and explained what each item was and how to use them. But, I didn't take a picture of those. She really seemed to like it.

The next few pictures are a gift for my mom. Her birthday was in February, I know I'm late, but my mom has everything she needs. She buys whatever it is she does need and usually won't tell us what she wants and won't buy for herself. I've made her totes, purses and a rabbit. I wasn't sure what to make for her and then I saw a picture of a quilt in a quilt book she gave me and thought she just might like that. So here it is...

It will make a nice lap quilt. I still have to finish it...the quilting part. I'm not sure how I want to do it though.
I have some other projects I've been working on. But I thought I would save some of those pictures for later in the week.

And I've decided to work on a Dear Jane Quilt. Crazy I know. You can read more about the quilt itself here. And I'm going to ask Anina , if it's too late to join in on her project. I ordered the book, a treat for myself. I have decided to use muslin for the main color, a trip around the world based on what I have on hand and I am going to dig into that box of scraps and precut squares and rectangles of old fabric that was Nonnie's. Wish me luck, I have some catching up to do!!!

Rabbits

2008-04-06T15:14:00.001-05:00

They are cute little critters however, they need to be moving along to someone else's yard that doesn't tend to their yard and leave mine alone.

No, this is not the same rabbit, but a pair. These pictures were taken out my front door. I love rabbits, I think they are cute but come on. Last year they ate my rose bush and tomatoes and flowers. Over the winter, they decided that my side flower bed (which I don't have a picture of but I'm headed outside to take one of it's spring ugliness) was going to be their primary source of food. There is nothing left. I really don't know that anything is going to come up. Hostas, nope can't find any yet. Of course, they couldn't eat the fern that I dispise. In the backyard, they have eaten the clematis up as high as they can, they pruned it for me. The lilac bush is missing the bark rabbit high up the tree, and the spirea (spelled wrong I'm sure) has been eaten down to the ground, there is some green on it, but I'm sure that won't last.

They are not afraid of my dogs either. They hang out in our neighbors yard (they have moved so nothing stopping them from living in their yard) and eat in mine. Today I'm going outside with some cayenne pepper to spray/sprinkle all over the plants in hope to save them.

what would you do...

2008-03-27T15:31:00.003-05:00

if you mailed a package on Friday, March 14, 2008, paid for Priority Shipping and a Delivery Confirmation and the package never arrived. This is the battle that I am currently waging with the US Postal Service. This is not the first package that has been lost, no, a shirt that a friend mailed to me last year, never arrived to me. I mailed a package to my cousin, in the package was a book that we were going to read together. Never arrived. And now, I have a package that has $30 worth of supplies, $8.90 in postage ($8.25 for the stamp and $.65 for the delivery confirmation) and a confirmation of the time and date is was delivered (March 17, 2008 at 3:22pm) and the package cannot be found. The nice lady at the post office was kind enough to let me speak to the driver, who has no idea where the package is but I will look for it. Are you sure it wasn't at your door? Absolutely, it was not at my door. The driver is going to continue to look for it for the next few days, but he's really not sure what happened to it. Can your client resend the package? Well, I suppose they can, but it has documents in it that I needed to have 10 days ago. Oh, I'm sorry. Well, if they can resend you those documents, I'll pay for the postage because I was the last one that had the package, or that is what it is showing anyway. I know that the postal service is bad in other countries (Italy is really bad) but I am beginning to lose faith in our Postal Service. I should not have to pay for the additonal services of Insurance which is an additional $1.65 and then if you want to send it registered or have a signature on arrival, that is an additional charge. Now granted, have I had second thoughts about sending it without insurance, at least then they will recoup me for my loss in the package. But I guess that's not the point, the point is the driver had it, it goes into a mail box (not by the side of the road, no it goes into a locked mail station on one street in the subdivision) and obviously had it because the article was scanned delivered and now it has disappeared. AHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Good thing I have a receipt, the person I shipped the box to probably wouldn't believe me when I told her that it had been delivered.

I have a new favorite....

2008-03-23T21:47:00.002-05:00

author. I just finished Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult. I picked this book up just after Christmas and just got around to reading it. It took me about a week to read. Once I started I could not put it down. The story is about a young Amish woman, an overworked big named defense attorney needing a break and the murder of an infant. The story shows what life is like in an Amish community and how family is very important. It also shows that appearances are not everything. I learned not only about the Amish and the law, but also more about myself, my doubts and my fears. I cannot describe the feelings that I went through. Anger, confusion, passion, love, sympathy, frustration, and so many more.

I will remember the acronym that Samuel explains while he is sitting in the witness stand talking about his "plain" life. JOY - J-Jesus, O-others, Y-yourself. The Amish live their lives by putting Jesus first, then others and finally yourself. In the spirit of Easter, this makes perfect sense to me!!

Farewell...

2008-03-17T15:01:00.004-05:00

Hamm-Snow...
What a beautiful little fish you were. You had a spunk I have never seen in a fish before and a personality all of your own. You will be missed.

Not for long though. Here is the story. Hamm-Snow is my boys' Beta fish. He was acting funny all week last week and kept putting his nose up in the air into the corners of the tank. Not much spunk left in that little fish. I came home from Bunco on Friday night and thought he doesn't look so good and what is that white fuzzy looking stuff coming out of his gills? Hmm, I bet Hamm-Snow is dead by morning. I get up and don't think about him, the kids had turned his light on and even said (as they do every morning) "Good Morning Hamm Snow". I finally thought to look at him, can't find him. Hmm, how could a fish disappear. And there he laid under the plants, not moving. I wasn't sure how to tell Trevor, as he picked him out and named him. My plan, go to the store and buy a new one. Nope, not going to work. Hey Trevor, can you come in the kitchen. Okay, Mama. He found him and said very somberly, "Is he dead?", "yes, he's dead" "Well can you put him a bag for me so I can show my dad?" "Sure I'll put him a bag for you" He takes the fish upstairs and shows his dad, who proceeds to tell him he can't keep a dead fish in a plastic bag. Shannon, Trevor and Ethan held a short (dump the fish in the toilet) "BYE Hamm Snow" and flush. Trevor comes downstairs and says, we need to go to PetSmart and get me a new one.

Hamm Snow has been replaced with a new Hamm Snow, this one is blue with red and black. No pictures of him yet, because well, he's not as spunky and doesn't have the personality of the 1st Hamm Snow. We'll see how long this one lasts!!!

My poor negelected blog...

2008-03-11T08:10:00.003-05:00

how I have mistreated you and neglected you over the last 3 weeks. I have many things that I could write about, but have just been neglecting doing so. I could say that life has gotten in the way and not allowed me to do so and that would not be true. I could say that I have not been doing anything that would be interesting enough to write about and that would not be true either. So here is what I have been doing and I will try to be kinder to you:

Last week, I started my vegetable seeds. I used Nancy's idea and started my seeds in my egg crates that I normally recycle. I set up a table in the guest bedroom and opened the blinds and re-opened the vent to keep it warm. I am going to add today a jar of water to the vent to keep the air moist in there, as the crates are drying out very quickly. I started tomatoes (3 kinds - roma, big boy and I don't recall the third), peppers, basil, oregano and parsley. As soon as I have another egg crate I'm going to start my thyme and some more tomatoes and peppers (to make sure that I have some good starts).
I spring cleaned my kitchen. However, I'm sad to say that all of my hard work has been quickly destroyed by my 3 little ones. You wouldn't even be able to tell that my floor was cleaned. But my counters look better and I'm trying to keep them up.
I decluttered my bookcase and took the books the Ladies Auxillary at church could use for the book sale they are having in March. Half of the proceeds will go to the parish debt and the other half to a local shelter. I'm going to go through the kids' books and send some of those off as well.
Yesterday, I finished a quilt top that is a gift. I will be quilting it later this week I hope.
I am working on a shopping tote bag for this swap. The swap partners have been announced and I am looking forward to getting to know my swap partner.
I'm preparing for the upcoming Easter holiday. For me I have not followed through with all of my Lenten promises, but I start over everyday and have really tried. The kids are excited about the Easter Bunny coming. I think this weekend I will take them to an Easter Egg Hunt being held. I have been preparing the menu and making my list of what needs to be purchased, what I can do in advace to make that day easier and of course the general cleaning. We will be having 8-12 people here, not many but still it's takes time.
Work - my 2 afternoons at church and with the office job I do from home for a friend
I've set up a plan to pay off our debt, we have too much and I have been trying the last few years unsuccessfully to get a lot of it paid off, but this year is different. I have a different approach almost like a game I play with the kids. It's funny how games make things more tolerable. I know if I make picking up toys a game the kids are more likely to get them picked up without complaining.
And there are many other things that include baking, cleaning and everyday mom stuff, along with church activities, my moms group and the kids activities.

My little blog has not been the only thing neglected, but so have some of my friends, definitely the gym and time for me. That has become scarce. I do try to read every evening after the kids have gone to bed and each morning i have been drying to meditate and journal my thoughts. I am trying to let go of the past to live in the future more freely. I have been letting my past hold onto me for much to long. I have been it prisoner or it's slave, it's obvious to me after a phone conversation I had the other day that one of the person's I have been worrying about what they thought and how I could repair that relationship, well he really doesn't care about me and my family. It was very obvious from the phone conversation that I was more of a nuisance than a delight. No more, I will let that person go, it is time to free myself of the memories and live my life more freely.

A picture or two to come later in the day!!!

Are you ready for...

2008-02-18T13:30:00.002-06:00

Trevor's 4th Birthday. That's how the invitation started. My middle guy turned 4 a couple of weeks ago and we had his party this weekend. He LOVES Gravedigger (he is now the proud owner of 10+) and wanted a Gravedigger cake and since I made his brother a pig cake everyone thought I should be able to make him a Gravedigger cake. Well, after some thinking (alot) and some sketching (of the truck) I decided how to build this cake. Here are the results:

And finally, here is a picture of Trevor with his cake. Can you tell he absolutely loved it? He told me, "Mom that pretty cool and I don't want anyone to destroy it!"

Quote

2008-02-16T09:04:00.002-06:00

One of my Valentine's gifts was the Reba CD Love Revival that was only available for puchase at Hallmark. The following is the quote that was on the inside cover:

"To me, true love is the sweetest thing in life. That's why we're all either in love or looking for love. Sometimes you have to work for it -- especially when life gets in the way -- but I believe true, deep love is always worth fighting for."

Valentine's Revisited

2008-02-15T08:45:00.004-06:00

A nice evening was had by all. The kids enjoyed the candy they received from Grandma and of course the candy they received from mom and dad had to wait until today. I made the above cake using this red velvet recipe. I only used 1 ounce of food coloring and omitted the pecans, the kids won't eat them. All in all, the cake was fabulous and turned out much better than it did for Christmas, seen here you have to scroll down to see it.

I did receive some nice gifts and I especially like the book of Angel Stories. If you don't believe, I think after some of these stories you would be a believer.

How was your Valentines?

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T16:11:00.002-06:00

As much as I would like to boycott today, I guess I am not able to. The boys had their Valentine's Parties yesterday at school and were so excited. I have a few small things for them, the gotta have SweetTart hearts, Strawberry Creme Heart Shaped Peeps (never seen these before but they love Peeps) and a little M&M dude filled with of course M&M's. No stuffed animals, no purchased card I made them a little heart and I think that's it.

It's open...

2008-02-12T08:12:00.000-06:00

After much thinking, deciding, considering, pondering (you get the idea) I opened an Etsy shop. I am selling under Simple Snow Stitches, which can be found here. I'll be adding more items at a later date, but wow, it does take time. And time for me is very precious right now. I'm trying to juggle a bunch of things. Once I get in the groove, I'll be a bit freer.

This is a picture of what I sent to my swap partner Jennilee. I took part in the Hanging Hearts Swap over at Sweet Goodness Swaps. You can view the some of the other entries at over at Flickr here. Here are two of the items that I have listed at over at my Etsy shop.

And finally, this is one of the dolls that I make. I will be working on getting a few more of these done and listed. I'm not sure how long it will take me, but I will be working on it.

I'm also working on window seat cushions for a friend of mine. No photos yet, but I'll try to get pics taken of them before I send them off. And I'm working on some quilt projects, well, actually I have a big one that I need to finish up before April.

I really have been busy working on projects...

2008-01-25T12:58:00.000-06:00

My little guy turned 2 at the end of December. With his birthday being so close to Christmas, we had his birthday party last weekend. He carries with him a hippo that we thought was a pig and he and "Pig" are best buddies. Now, "Pig" can be replaced with other animals as long as we eventually find "Pig". Since he loves his "Pig" so much I decided to make him a pig birthday cake.

This is him blowing the candles out on his cake. The pig was a big hit with friends and family. One nephew wanted the tail, on the snout and another one of his feet. I'm not sure you can see in the photos but he is laying on a bed of mud (it was an easy way to cover some mistakes). On with some fun craft projects. I have been working on a heart garland to hang for Valentine's Day. Each heart measures approximately 3". This one I added beads to, I have a few that are just hearts, with smaller hearts on them.
This one is a WIP. But coming along quite nicely.

I've also been working on some granny squares, that I am going to make into some pincushions, I think. These are so easy to stitch up while sitting and watching TV at night. And now that I have the basic pattern in my head, it really requires not much thinking.

This crocheted heart did require some thinking. It came from a pattern for a bookmark that you are supposed to use the fine bedspread thread/yarn for. But I just used a 2 needle and used some Peaches & Creme yarn and it turned out okay. I think I made an error or lost my place on the right side, it looks a little funky. But I am going to add a ribbon and add it to my garland. And finally, I have been wanting to start and finish a quick quilt. I was browsing through some quilt patterns I have and remembered about the Jingle Jolly Table Quilt over at Happy Zombie. And although it was put out for Christmas I had purchased a charm pack called Flirtations by Moda.
I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, although I still need to quilt and bind it. I have a few "errors", where I did not match up the corners just right. But I really like it and will be displaying it on my kitchen table. Hmm, I think I have some St. Patricks' Day Fabric and Easter Fabric. This would be a great way to change the look of the kitchen table every month. Oh the ideas are flying right now. I wonder if that box of fabric from Nonnie that I am sure is late 60's - 70's fabric (some of it resembles the dresses my mom wore in high school), would make a nice table topper. Gonna have to dig it out and use some of it!!!

A little challenge for me...

2008-01-16T17:00:00.000-06:00

I've started reading again. I stopped reading for some reason and I'm really not sure why. I had a book on my nightstand that I started reading before I had my 3rd son in December of 2006. The book is A Salty Piece of Land by Jimmy Buffett. I loved the book, long book, great read, I just could not finish it. I was reading a John Grisham book, The Innocent Man, and I finished it one evening and decided that before I start another book I needed to finish A Salty Piece of Land. I did, I finished it. This was before the New Year came in. In December, I read 2 books, Sisters by Danielle Steele and The Innocent Man , and then finished A Salty Piece of Land.

My goal for this year is to read 2 books a month. This month I have read Playing for Pizza by John Grisham and am currently reading The Same Sweet Girls by Cassandra King. When I finish this book, I'm not sure what I will read but I will be sure to update my list in my sidebar. Any recommendations??

It will happen

2008-01-15T16:16:00.000-06:00

Maybe not this year and maybe not next year, but it will happen. I will go to Italy and I will spend more than a few days there. I have considered going to culinary school and doing an internship in Italy. But my boys are too small for me to leave them.

I have set my goal for before December 31 of 2017. I want to see the big cities, yes, but I want to see the small towns and the old cathedrals, the paintings, I don't want to be just a tourist.

Could I move there, absolutely! I would love to do that. However, again, I am married and have my kids to think about. And as much as that is something that I want to do, that is not something that my family wants to do. Or my extended family would want us to do. I can hear it now, "You are moving my grandchildren away from me? How could you do that? You can't do that? They are MY grandchildren." Yep, I can hear it now. I thought moving to Texas was bad, but to move them to another continent, would probably end me up in the loony bin. It is a dream to live there, but what does it hurt a girl to dream. It is what keeps me going.

Dreams do come true, I believe in that. I believe that there is a reason that I want to go to Italy. I want to visit the town where my great grandfather was born. And perhaps visit the town that my great grandmother lived (the family is not sure where a little research will be needed).

I'll have to dig up some more literature on Italy and devour it, until I make it there!!

I know I have not posted any crafty pictures lately, that is coming in the next few days. I have a few WIPs that I want to finish up.

M is for Milk...

2008-01-09T07:45:00.000-06:00

Hmm, that's a no brainer. But why? Michael has the letter bag this week and we had to go around the house looking for items that start with M. Our bag is full of items and he wanted to take milk, but I was unsure how. The conversation went like this:

Michael: "Milk starts with M."

me: "That's right, milk starts with M. But we can't take our milk to school, we can stop and get a small one."

Michael: "Mommy, we can take a picture of it." (Said in the "do I have to think of everything tone.")

me: "You are right, we can take a picture. You are so smart."

Michael: "I know, Mommy."

So a picture of a gallon of milk is going into his bag along with a picture of himself becauce Michael starts with M (another discussion), a monkey, monster truck, magnet, marker, mitten, marshmallows, magazine, and I'm sure we put a few more things in there and I'm just not recalling.

Trevor, Ethan and I made dog biscuits. They had more fun playing with the dough than anything.

Michael and Ethan cuddling. Michael had brought his blanket and pillow downstairs and Ethan went over and curled up next to him. This was the nice photo. The remainder were of Ethan trying to take Michael's glasses off of him and Michael telling him NO.

And finally, Daddy being silly with the baby. He comes downstairs and says I found a baby in a basket. And sure enough, the above is what he set on the counter.

Happy New Year and I won...

2008-01-01T08:46:00.001-06:00

A big Happy New Year from the Snow house to yours! Although all of us did not stay completely awake until midnight, the adults were awake as the New Year came in. I did try to wake Michael up, who fell asleep on the couch, but he proved to be a heavy sleeper and would not open those little eyes. No champagne was drank, although it was chilling in the refrigerator. But it was a nice evening at home.

Now, what did I win? Because I have Harvest Moon Designs listed in my sidebar, Sue graciously sent me her new pattern set! The grouping is Pattern Grouping #20 and there are 20 patterns included. Sue is a great designer and she is always (and I mean always) putting out new designs. They have a quick response time, great pricing and even better, you can purchase patterns in a Grouping (like the one I received) for a discount. Harvest Moon Designs has a new pattern series coming out that is accessories and included in my grouping was their first scarf design! I encourage you to try one of their easy to read patterns.

I'm off to fix some breakfast, decorate my cake and get started on the soup. Beans and greens today not that I'm a southern, maybe at heart, but a little good luck and prosperity wouldn't hurt anyone!

Have a Happy and Blessed New Year!!

Finally Friday and Pictures

2007-12-28T16:19:00.000-06:00

It is finally Friday and though I don't have much to say or report on my craftiness, I do have some photos to share. At first I thought I had some photos of the crafty gifts I made for friends and family but I guess because I was in a rush to get them done, wrapped and either given or mailed, I forgot to take pictures. Drats, I do hope to get better at that this new upcoming year. I have been working the last few days in our basement, getting toys organzied, trying to get rid of toys. Which is hard when you have 3 boys all close in age and playing with the same yet different toys. I swear I don' t think we have any room for anything else.

I have also been working on getting my crafting area in order and under control and more "user" friendly. I have struggled with this since moving into our home. I should belly up and take pictures so you can understand what I'm talking about, but I am ashamed at how it looks. I see all of these beautiful sewing nooks and only wish that mine looked that way. I don't even have a window to set my machine under, which is why I usually move my machine upstairs onto the dining room table. But alas, my dining room table looks like a trashed area and I get frustrated and don't want to do any work. That is my reason for cleaning and organizing the basement these last few days. I am trying to figure out how to make it more appealing to the kids to play in (how could it not be, it is a wonderland of toys). I have noticed that the kids are more apt to play in the basement when it is picked up. So, how do I get them to help me pick up? That will be a project to work on.

Anyway, back to the sewing area. My sewing space is also shared with the office. I have about 1/3 of the room dedicated to sewing and the remainder is the desk, file cabinet and desk space. I have been pondering moving my area to the guest bedroom, the problem with this is that it puts me on the 2nd floor of the house and the kids playing in the basement or destroying the family room. I have also pondered, talking with my husband about selling our weight machine. Neither of us uses it, he and I both have gym memberships and it takes up a lot of space. If we removed it that would make a nice are (even under a window) that I could work. Not sure what will happen. But I really should take before and after pictures. But as I said. I am ashamed.

I have really gotten to feeling much better. I actually want to clean. For me that has been a struggle over the last several months. Now if only the laundry fairy would come and magically wash, dry, fold and put away my laundry. Oh how I dislike laundry and can't keep up with it.

So now for the pictures:

Looking at the dancing water.

The little one didn't want the big one near him for a photo.

An attempt to take a picture of the boys with Frosty (this is the only one that looks partially decent of all three of them, the rest are a beautiful mess.)

Christmas Program. Trevor's class sang "I'm a little snowman" and Michael rang (with handbells) "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and then their classes sang together "Santa Claus is coming to town" and "We wish you a merry Christmas"

The baby crashed. He had a long day and just collapsed on the kitchen floor.

The baby playing in a tote.

Christmas morning for Michael.

Christmas morning for Trevor.

Christmas morning for Ethan (yes it's a vacuum and yes he plays with it and cleans nonstop)

My Red Velvet Cake that was turned into a trifle because Ethan dropped one of the pans on the floor, dug his finger in another one and the third one just fell apart.

Helping daddy fix his headlight.

And lastly, Trevor wanted so badly to go outside and play. So he put his new boots on (the wrong feet), his coat (old one) was upside down, two different gloves (one mitten and one glove both were mine, and his hat). He looked rather cute and went and made a few snow angels in the backyard before coming in and asking for hot chocolate.

Well, that is probably enough for now.

It is finally over...

2007-12-26T08:00:00.001-06:00

Finally, a break for all of us who have been shopping (not me, my husband did most of it for the kids and I only helped with the in-laws, chose my family and friend gifts and of course his gifts). Wow, I guess I did do more shopping than I thought. But I chose to do the majority of my shopping online, this way I did not have to get out with the little ones in the crowds.

I received this newsletter in my inbox today. This is the blurb that I am required to post: Aby Garvey is a professional organizer and the owner of simplify 101, inc. Her mission is to help you create time and space for what matters most in your home and life. Aby is the author of the e-book "the happy scrapper - simple solutions to get organized and get scrapping!" Visit the simplify 101 website for organizing ideas and to subscribe to Aby's organizing email newsletter.
Anyway, it has some great tips. And I 'm going to use them to get the new toys. clothes, games and what nots in place.

And for me, so well deserved sewing time for myself. My quilt-along squares have fallen behind and I need to catch up. My time at the gym has fallen off and I need to get back in the routine.

As for New Years...I'm not sure what we will be doing. No plans have been made thus far. And for resolutions, I try not to make them because I always fail at following through with them. Instead for the upcoming new year I have made a Hopes & Dreams Jar . I can put my thoughts, things I want to accomplish and things I dream of doing and re-read those at the end of the year and see how many of those small pieces of paper were accomplished!

Have a great day!

A visit with Santa and a list

2007-12-11T07:15:00.000-06:00

Santa said as I sat Ethan downn that this would be a classic Christmas picture and it sure is. I love the look on Ethan's face with is little hands covering his mouth. And of course Michael and Trevor were looking at me instead of their dad and the camera. These 3 little boys just put a smile on my face (but can also make me frown).

With Christmas fast approaching (2 weeks away but who's counting) and family events starting this weekend, I need to get some stuff completed. So what better way than to make a list:

~Baking - I am way behind, but not worried about it. What gets completed will get completed and what doesn't just doesn't. But today I am going to make some Cowboy cookies and Peanut Butter Delights and some more toffee (the toffee is for gifts). Plus I have to figure out what kind of cookie I am taking to a cookie swap on Sunday and bake 10 dozen of the same kind.

~Gifts to make

1. Quintin - finish his colored pencil roll

2. Julie - oops she sometimes reads so I won't put down what I have to finish for her but know I need to finish it.

3. Joseph - ugh he's a handful and destroys toys, so he's getting a coloring bag.

4. Dale - asked for a Chicago Bears blanket and pillow like the White Sox one I made for him, yikes I need to go shopping.

5. Candle Mats/Potholders for the sibling baskets - This should not take too long.

~Noodle making - 10lbs by Saturday, can I do this, YES I can as Bob would say. 3lbs a day will take care of it, but I think I need more eggs.

~Cleaning - the house is coming along nicely. Just need to do some tidying.

~Gingerbread house - Kids want to make one do I feel like baking all of the sides, not really so it looks like I need to go to the store. probably not today.

~Kids craft - I found these cute dangles at Allsorts . I have the dangles printed and am going to cut out the kids' names and glue them onto card stock and let the kids add glitter and then we can decide where to hang them. Plus we might have to make some snowmen today with marshmallows.

I also need to take some time for me today and I will do that in the afternoon. I am planning on sitting and reading for a bit. I have many more things to add to that list, but don't want to bombard myself.

For in the kitchen, I thought I would share an eggnog recipe for those that are watching their calories. I received this recipe last year from an email from HungryGirl. And I'm sure she will be sending it out again, but I have not seen it come across my inbox. So here it is:

5 cups light vanilla soymilk (they used 8th Continent Light Vanilla Soymilk, I used Fit & Active Light Vanilla Soymilk from Aldi's)

1 sm pkg (4 serving) sugar free fat free vanilla instant pudding

5 no calorie sweetner packets (such as Splenda)

1 tsp rum extract

1/2 tsp nutmeg

Place all ingredients in the blender and mix until smooth. Refrigerate for a few hours. Makes 5 - 1 cup servings.

calories: 88 fat: 2g sodium: 350mg carbs: 11g fiber: 0g sugar: 5g protein: 6g

Points value of 2 and if you add 5oz of rum to the recipe it takes the calorie count to 153 per serving and a points value of 3.

It is a good alternative. And I am watching the calories this year!!!

And because I'm feeling in the a bit in the spirit, I thought I would share a picture from Christmas past: Michael's first Christmas in 2002. And then there is Payton (the reindeer, with droopy antlers)and Carmichael (the Santa).

ABC's of Christmas

2007-12-06T13:33:00.000-06:00

No this is not my house (this was my house 3 years ago) but this is my Christmas tree. It is up (finally) with lights and ornaments. A beautiful tree, but a big pain. My boys all put ornaments on it this year and the little one keeps unplugging all of the lights but I am grateful that the tree is up and everything seems to be falling into some sort of shape.

The boys and I attended and Advent Adventure at church on Saturday and we came home with a pamphlet of information. This was included : ABC's of Christmas

A is for Angels with halos so bright. Whose carols were heard on that first Christmas Night.

B is for Bells so merrily ringing. Joy to the world is the message they are bringing.

C is for Candles that so brightly shine. To give a warm welcome to your friends and mine.

D is for Doorway with garlands of gree. To make Christmas merry as far as they're seen.

E is for Evergreens with fragrance so rare. So plentiful at Christmas their scent fills the air.

F is for Fun the whole season long. From trimming the tree to singing a song.

G is for Greetings a merry "hello". With a heart full of love for people we know.

H is for Holly with berries so red. To make into wreaths to hang overhead.

I is for Ice on snow covered hills. Where sledding is fun along with the spills.

J is for Jesus the Christ child so dear. We honor his birth on Christmas each year.

K is for Kris Kringle so merrily stands. He is who they call Santa in so many lands.

L is for Lanterns I am sure that their light. Helped Mary and Joseph that first Christmas night.

M is for Mary her heart full of love. For her little son Jesus who came from above.

N is for Noel the angels did sing. To herald the birth of Jesus, our King.

O is for Ornaments so shingin and bright. With lights on the tree to sparkle at night.

P is for Packages with ribbons so gay. All 'round the tree for our Christmas Day.

Q is for Quiet Christmas Eve night. With snow covered hills glistening so bright.

R is for Reindeer who pull Santa's sleigh. To your house, to my house they know the way.

S is for Shepherds who first saw the star. Over Bethlehem's manger and followed it far.

T is for Trees we decorate so gay. Then wait for ol' Santa to hurry our way.

U is for Universe where Christmas brings joy. To all in the world to each girl and each boy.

V is for Visiting friends near and far. We travel by plane or by bus or by car.

W is for Wise Men who brought gifts so rare. And knelt down and worshiped the child they found there.

X is for X-mas or Christmas by full name. No matter the language it all means the same.

Y is for Yule Logs whoe bright sparks fly high. To give a warm welcome to friends passing by.

Z is for Zeal we show at this time. In giving to others and loving mankind.

Okay it's fixed but another problem today

2007-11-29T17:29:00.000-06:00

Today, was not meant for me to sew. I did do some sewing after I spent almost an hour taking my machine apart putting it back together, apart again, together again, apart again and finally together again and it was working. For some reason the bobbin holder kept popping up and I had to take it apart and put it back in. Once that was fixed then the thread was doing crazy things. Take it apart. Finally after almost throwing it out the window it decided to work again.

I have my block 1 done and need to locate the camera (I think it is in the van from our trip home over Thanksgiving weekend) and take some photos of it. I'm going to start working on block 2.

My other problem today is that I had Michael at the Dr. this morning. Complaining of an ear ache. Sure enough, ear infection in both ears. That means all 3 boys have had an ear infection over the course of the last 10 days and they are all on medicine. Ethan is finishing his up in the next day or two.

So, as much as I wanted to sew, I spent a great deal of time cuddling. Which is good for the soul!!!

Problem

2007-11-28T16:55:00.000-06:00

I think my sewing machine is broken. It is acting funny and not wanting to sew. So I quit working on my project for today and am going to pick up again tomorrow with fresh eyes. I hope it is nothing major and that it is just being tempermental.

Something for me....

2007-11-27T10:35:00.000-06:00

as well as some Christmas presents. With long thought and contemplation I have decided to take part in a Quilt-A-Long. I looked at it and pondered and thought will I actuallly continue on with the project as it goes on. Is it too late to start? I have so many projects that I need to work on why am I going to start something new?

Well, I have to do something for me and I can knock out a couple of Christmas presents as I go.

If you would like to join in with me (and the many others that are participating) go and visit AmandaJean at Crazy Mom Quilts.

And here are the direct links to the first 3 weeks / blocks:

Week 1 , Week 2, Week 3 .

And I believe this would be a nice way to get started on quilting if you have never tried. AmandaJean has great tutorials that are easy to follow and understand. I am going to work on my blocks today and try to post some pictures later.

Keeping Busy / Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2007-11-21T14:31:00.000-06:00

So I'm a little late posting Halloween Photos, but aren't they cute. This was the best picture we had of all three of them. I just love the little monkey. He learned quick what to do and was (as you can see) snooping in his brothers buckets!!!

Next on my list, is a Snowman Trio. I had a "vision" of these and decided to go with it. They turned out really cute and I made up a bunch more. Great teachers gifts and cute add ons to packages.

Then there was this...

My neighbors daughter was having a sleepover and she asked if I would make a cake for her. I said sure. Originally we were just going to do a layer cake, but then she say my "Special Cakes" book and looked through it. I told her that I was not sure that I would have the time (or patience) to do it. And in case it didn't I had a back-up plan. I think it turned out well. I'm not used to working with fondant and the boys didn't care for the taste of it. But the cake was cute.

That brings me up to date. I have been working on other projects, some of which I have neglected (forgotten) to take photos of and others that are still in progress. The holidays are fast approaching and I'm not sure everything will get done. But I am going to try really hard. Spiderman, Optimus Prime and the Monkey all keep me busy (sugar on the kitchen floor, oatmeal on the family room floor and play doh in the basement).

Now this is what I have worked on today...

2 pumpkin pies - one for my family & one for the neighbor
2 apple pies - one for my family & one for the neighbor

2 pecan pies (still in the oven) - one for my family & one for the neighbor

2 hazelnut tarts - one for me to take along as a thank you gift & one for the neighbor And finally, the above is 2 pounds of egg noodles. There is a total of 4 pounds.

As much as I love Thanksgiving, I'll be glad when it is over. I have been busy for 3 days and don't feel like I have gotten anything accomplished. (Not really, I have done a lot and feel really good about what I have done).

Have a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving!!!!!

Simple things

2007-11-05T15:37:00.000-06:00

The above is a Rag Quilt Wall Hanging that I made. Embroidered on each of the hearts is the saying "Live, Love, Laugh". That is how I have been living today. And how I am going to live each day from now on. I have been working my way through "The Purpose Driven Life" instead of 1 day at a time, 1 week at a time. I realize this defeats the purpose of the book, however, for me it makes it much easier to process. I was afraid that I would read each chapter do the journalling and go on without much thought. Doing it this way gives me time to review what I have written and really let the message sink in.

I was re-reading on of the questions, that pertained to life on earth is a temporary assignment. This made me think, then I wrote, if life is a temporary assignment, then the material items that we hold onto are really not necessary. As I have been getting my home ready for the holidays and just in order for a less chaotic life and much simpler life, I have been purging and getting rid of stuff. With life being a temporary assignment, it makes letting go of things much easier. We really don't need to hold onto all of the baby toys, there are children that we could use them. Do we really need all of those clothes that are hanging in our closet, time to get rid of more of them and donate those as well. Do we really need all of those books (paperback books that I have read and will probably not read again.) time to give them to the library and let them use them or sell them in their next sale.

The passage really helped me get a handle on living more simply and why I should live more simply.

Thinking more about the holidays

2007-11-03T09:19:00.000-05:00

I have been diligently working on getting my house ready for the upcoming holiday season. Things have already become a bit stressful in regards to where we are spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It has recently become a "situtation" with the in-laws. MIL wants all of us at her house on Christmas Day and BIL is having his in-laws at his house on Christmas Day. Which leaves me and my husband in the middle and no one cares what we want to do.

I read an article here. And I think that this article will settle if for us. I sent the article to my husband and asked if he thought we should pass on to his family. I really want to be home on Christmas Day. I really want to start our own traditions and values. I have been working on small things the last few years but I want to incorporate a few more things and that has been hard to do with the traveling over the holidays.

We are hosting my family on December 15th. This takes care of us having to incorporate a 2-1/2 hour trip on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day to see my family. I spend Thanksgiving with them every year and then that has left Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to the in-laws as in the past it was predicated that we spend both days with them.

Last year, I did not enjoy the holidays, a lot of stress. This year is going to be better, the house is looking great (shaping up quite nicely with some simple routines and a little bit of time each day decluttering), the Christmas gifts and shopping are coming along nicely, and I'll get the decorations out slowly and really ask myself, do I like this, why am I using it and if it's not loved or is being kept for no reason it is going this year.

I plan on having everything done, so that in the month of December, the boys and I can bake each day, play games and do some holiday fun stuff with the season of advent. Here's to a happy and joyous season for the right reasons and not the wrong.

Happy Halloween

2007-10-31T07:57:00.001-05:00

Today, my little guys are dressing up for school. We have Optimus Prime, Spiderman and a cute little Monkey (maybe daddy will wear a yellow hat and we can have Curious George and the Man with the Yellow Hat). Since I am helping in Spiderman's room, I have put my hair in pigtails, a flannel shirt and jeans, with cowboy hat in hand (it just looks silly on my head with the pigtails) to be either a farmer or a cowgirl, whichever the kids think. Good thing I kept some of the shirts from the line dancing and rodeo going days. They do come in handy every once in a while, even if it is just for a costume for the kids's parties.

Speaking of kids parties, I baked 120 sugar cookies yesterday. 26 ghosts and 26 pumpkins have no icing, as they are for Spidermans room as their snack. They get to decorate them. And then 20 pumpkins were iced to give in Optimus Prime's class as their Halloween "gift". And the rest were iced for the friends that come by our house trick or treating that we know that enjoy a cookie every now and again.

The pumpkins above are a little creation that I made. They have a cinnamon stick in them and have been baked with coffee in the oven to give them the fresh picked from the pumpkin patch. I actually made these last year and sold a few and this is the set that I have left. The little tag is stitched and says Fall Gatherings.

Have a great Halloween. Try not to Trick to many people but do try and get or give lots of Treats.

Time flies

2007-10-25T15:10:00.000-05:00

I have had a what doesn't seem like a busy week, but a busy week. Last night the boys and I made sugar cookies with the neighbor girls. They all had fun icing them. I did not get any pictures taken because I had to keep the little one from licking all of the icing off of the cookies.

I have started my Holiday Planner for the Christmas season. This is big for me, because the last couple of years I have not used one, but really should have. I am looking forward to a calm and peaceful holiday season this year. (That is as long as the families agree on where we are supposed to be be). I'm not sure if I will be hosting Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. I would prefer Christmas Day, to keep the kids home and not out running around and away from their gifts. We would be able to attend mass in the morning and then have a mid afternoon meal. However, the family is disputing who is going to be with who. I will be hosting my side of the families Christmas on the 15th of December. So our holiday starts 10 days early. Which means I have 10 days less time to get things done. But I'm looking forward to it (I think).

I have been sewing, crochetting and stitching up a storm, with a few pics to upload. Busy with those gifts for the holiday season. My shopping list is starting to grow. I'm watching sales ads and deciding how to wisely spend my money. I even have my grocery shopping list somewhat figured out, so I can get a few things each week to make the shopping easier later. I do not like to be out with the hustle and bustle of the holiday season with all the shoppers, makes me nervous.

We will be at my mom's house for Thanksgiving. Mom and I need to review the menu from last year and make our changes so she can have a shopping list as well. The sooner the better!!!

I must say that even though I have started my planning for the holiday season, I do not understand how stores can put Christmas decorations out prior to Halloween being over. I drove past Ace Hardware the other night and on top of their building was a lit Christmas tree, their doors had trim around it and Santa and Frosty were outside. The over commercialization of the holiday is ridiculous. And Thanksgiving just gets forgotten about. I really enjoy Thanksgiving I think even more than Christmas. So much more is expected of us during the Christmas season.

Okay, enough ranting...

Finally Friday

2007-10-19T18:04:00.000-05:00

Thank goodness. I survived the week. The basement is drying out. I extracted the water with the shopvac and then set fans all over the place (6 in total) and have the dehumidfier running. When I started it was at 75% it's down to 55% humidity. The windows are open and well, the smell is going away.

You may be asking, how or why did you do this? Our deductible on our homeowners insurance is not high, but it's not low. I received 2 estimates, the first one brought me to tears, this quote came from a nationally known fire & water damage company and he said that is would be $2600. I waited for the next guy to come, he was a small locally owned company. He came in and walked around (of course there are toys stacked and stuff everywhere) and he said it's really not that bad and based on what your deductible is you're going to be right there. He told me what I would need to do if I was going to try and do it myself. I listened attentively and followed his directions. He called me later in the day and gave me a quote of $1300. Wow, what a difference. However, I only had to buy 2 fans for $20, borrowed 2, owned 2 and have a dehumidifier and of course a commercial shopvac. The basement is almost completely dry and I'm going to have someone come in and steam and sanitize the carpet for about $150. Cost me much less than the professional companies and I didn't have to deal with workers in my house for 3-5 days.

Now what about mold and mildew. The first guy tested the walls and they were very dry with a few spots that were damp, fans blowing on them and the dehumidifier will dry them out pretty quickly. And our carpet is a glued down carpet, not having padding makes it much easier/quicker to dry and less chance of mold growing. I'm also going to be taking one extra step and washing the walls down with a bleach/water mix to make sure that I kill anything that might be there.

The smell has almost disappeared and I think that once the carpet is cleaned and sanitized it will be much better.

Have a great weekend!!

My mantra today

2007-10-18T07:34:00.000-05:00

As I continue to work in my basement, I will be saying the following prayer:

"Father, may I quit complaining and start believing, loving, and working."

This will help me to work through the mess and not be mad because I am doing it alone.

Tackle it Tuesday (posted a day late)

2007-10-17T10:47:00.000-05:00

I'm posting a day late for Tackle It Tuesday, I was so happy that I had decided to take the time to get the basement picked up. I came downstairs thinking it would take me a couple of hours. Timer in hand I went to work. Happily I was finished within 30 minutes. But I noticed some water. I called my husband and told him the floor was wet in the basement and I did not know where the water was coming from. His response...Great.

I was going to call a basement person today, to have them check the basement for leaks. I asked my husband before he went upstairs, did you check the basement? And his response, no. I thought I should just check and make sure it was not any worse. I am so glad that I did, there was water standing in spots. A call to the Village to have the water turned off, found the problem. It was the water softener, regenerating water constantly into the sump pump. The sump pump was overwhelmed and could not keep up causing the water to back up outside and seep into the underground drainage tiles and right back into my basement. I am having the water softener removed today (we do not use it and it is broken) and a company coming out tomorrow to check for cracks in my foundation.

Okay, another flood. Remember the first flood, while I was gone on vacation and my husband moved the refrigerator and pierced the waterline and flooded the basement. I finally had the basement smelling good, looking decent (toys still a major problem and peanut butter on the couch) but I felt a bit better about it and not worried about the damage (what lies underneath the carpet, walls, etc). Not anymore, I'm back at square one. Stinky basement, wet floor, high humidity, and I'm sure there is mold growing. AHHHHHHHHH. I need a break!!!k

Autumn Goody Swap

2007-10-15T15:40:00.001-05:00

I have gotten a lot of stuff done today. I am part of the Core Team for our MOMS group at church. And we have a new group of Moms going through the program and I am putting together our Celebration Dinner. Well, I am printing the invitations and decided that while they printed I would look over a few of the blogs I neglected to read over the weekend.

I visit 5 Minutes for Mom for some good ideas for me. And they have been hosting 5 Minutes Around the Blogosphere and it is in it's 5th week. The post lists contests, giveaways, books, ideas, free samples, community awareness, etc. If you have a few minutes, go and check it out.

I'm glad that I did today, I signed up for another swap. The sign-up deadline is October 18 and you should spend $8-$10 not including shipping and it must be mailed to arrive to your swap partner by October 31. It is an Autumn Goody Swap and it is being hosted by Are We There Yet? .

Here are the questions that you are supposed to answer, with my answers:

1. What do you like best about fall? The changing of the temperature, sleeping with the windows open and the covers pulled tight, a cup of hot apple cider, soups and stews and of course the changing of the colors of the leaves and the falling of the leaves.

2. Do you have any family traditions for this time of year? We decorate for Halloween, we go to a pumpkin patch and pick out a few pumpkins, the kids go trick or treating but we are home early enough so they can answer the door and give out treats to the kids as well. Pumpkin muffins, pancakes and bread for breakfast (although we could have these year round, there is something about having them in the fall.)

3. What if your favorite halloween candy? Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (hands down and I really like the pumpkins that are like the eggs at Easter).

4. What is the best halloween costume you have ever dressed up in? The only costumes I really remember was Strawberry Shortcake. And I'm sure there are no photos of that at least none that I have, maybe my mom, but surely not me. I am helping in the 3 year old preschool room for the halloween party and the other moms are wearing witches hats and I'm going to put my hair in pigtails and wear my cowboy hat. I'm sure they will take pictures of that.

If you'd like to participate in the swap, go check out Are We There Yet? but hurry the sign up ends tomorrow!!

I also visited Anina at twiddletails, she and her mom are having a granny square challenge to see which can complete the most. Who will win?????

And I visited Monica at the homespun heart, she has great ideas and recipes. Today she talked about cashing in a change jar for extra Christmas money and Coinstar. It is worth the read!!!

Well, I've run out of time. My printer has quit printing and that means that it's time to go upstairs and do some more work.

Have a great Day!!!

Support comes in all forms

2007-10-15T12:55:00.000-05:00

I have had a tough few weeks. Not much posting, not much sewing, not much housework but then this is not a sob story so I'll get on with it. I have volunteered at church to help with the Project Gabriel commission. I volunteered my sewing, crochetting and knitting services as well as my emailing abilities. My dear friend Kristi, must have known, that I was going to be making this post today as she sent me a few links and asked me to post them on my blog.

The first one is for Sew Much Comfort. The following is from their website:

"Thank you for your interest in sewing adaptive clothing for our wounded service members. Sew Much Comfort is a nationally recognized non-profit organazation providing adaptive clothing, free of charge, to wounded service men and women at every major military hospital in the United States, Landstuhl (Germany) and at Combat Surgical Hospitals.It is our volunteer seamstress that make our mission possible. This project is dependent on the generosity and skills of countless Americans who wish to show their support to the wounded service members who have given so much of themselves in serving our country."

This is something that for me would take a lot of consideration. I think it sounds like a great program and I am definitely going to flag it for future consideration.

The second site that she sent me a link for is America Supports You . This is a way for us to send messages and ways for us to donate items to our troops. This is taken from their website:

"Thank you for joining millions of your fellow Americans in wanting to find ways to show support for our military. Whether you want to send a care package to a soldier, donate airline miles to help reunite returning military men and women with their families, support scholarship funds or send support to wounded service members, on this page you will find over 150 non-profit organizations dedicated to helping our troops and their families.If you know of a non-profit organization in your community focused on helping our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Coast Guardsmen, Marines and National Guardsmen that is not currently listed, please contact America Supports You today to have them join the team."

Many of my friends and family know that I have been sending cookies overseas. We have a friend of the family that looked at a flier that I was considering passing around for a Cookie of the Month Club (long story short, I have to have a commercial grade kitchen and it cannot be out of my home to do baking) but she called me and wanted to place an order for a year of cookies to be sent to her son. I baked cookies every month for the last year and boxed them up and shipped them. She told me that he and his buddies would wait for the cookies to arrive and then sit around and enjoy every last one of them. He has had his cookies taken (stolen) because someone was afraid to ask for one. I always tried to send a few extra for him to share with others. His mom told me that the one thing that he and his buddies really enjoyed were treats from home. Cookies are hard to come by. I did call a local agency to dry and donate the extra cookies for them to send in their care packages but they did not accept that type of donation.

I would urge anyone that knows of a family member, friend, friend of a friend or family member that is in the service and deployed overseas, to bake something and send. They will truly enjoy not only the cookies but a package from "home". It does not cost that much. I used the flat rate box from the postal service that costs $8.95 to send and filled it full. Many times my box would weigh much more than the $8.95 but since it was a flat rate box it really paid off.

The holidays are coming, lets add a little joy to their hearts and see how much joy your heart is filled with!!