October 27th..

I {heart} faces..

PINK!!

We know how we all love pink around here..

This week’s challenge is all about pink in honor of breast cancer awareness month.

Head on over and see who else loves pink!

October 26th..

October 25th..

October 24th..

The primary program went well..  bribes too.

October 22nd..

More to come on this later..

October 23rd..

More in Store..

Monday’s a Jessica Sprague, designers release new products, fresh and hot, usually at an introductory price.  There are lots of cute new stuff over there today! 
I suggest you go check it out…
Just a couple of the newest:
Christmas Photo Cards from Elle’s Studio.
Set 4-

(Above photo by Brooke Pitcher.)
Set 5-

They are cute, quick, and easy!  All you have to do is plug in your pic, add your personalized text, send them off to print, and your Christmas cards are taken care of!

October 21st..

The Dickamores..

Let’s not play around..  these guys have been waiting around for a while too.
(Thanks for your patience Julie!)
Let’s hope they were worth the wait..


Love these grossed-out faces!

Hello blue eyes!



Totally candid and I love it!


 


Hope the cow poop and wait were worth it!!  Love you guys..

Bushman Family..

I really don’t want to admit how long these have been waiting for me to finish.  Let’s just say it has been long enough!
Loved the colors Natalie chose, and could have been a member of her family this day.  I matched pretty well..  We think alike!







Even managed to get her to smile at me..  she doen’t care for me most of the time.




Gorgeous family!

October 20th..

October 19th..

I cannot, nor do I want to calculate how much time I spent at this store, waiting for fabric to be cut.  I know..  I know..  moonlight madness sale and all, but seriously?

Now to get those Halloween costumes made….

October 17th..

October 18th..

I am calling it “excitement”.

When Peyton gets excited, she tends to repeat herself.

Like, as in, a sort of stutter.

But it’s not.

I am calling it “excitement”.

She’ll do it when she talks about anything with which she is excited, but it mostly happens with my name.  When she wants to get my attention or tell me something important/exciting.

The other day, it went something like this:

“M-m-mom.  Mo-mommy-mom.  M-m-m-m-m-m-mommm.  Mom.”

“Pey just say mom one time.”

“Okay.  Mom one time.”

“I meant just say mom once.”

“Mom, once.”

It went from there, in a circle.

So I guess I will get to hear her cute, excited little voice more and more!   That little brain is moving faster than her little mouth can handle.

One Buck Wednesday.

So I know I gush about Jessica Sprague like, ALL THE TIME.  But I do for a reason (or more than just A reason..). 
Just like always, there is some good stuff over there today..
FOR ONE BUCK!!
(Or $1 if that is more clear.)
Two products for you to get excited about from Elle’s Studio:
This fun Hybrid “Merry Christmas” banner.
 
My goal this year was to be ahead preparation-wise by one month.  This has helped me with my December decor!
One buck people!
($1.)
I printed-off the goodness, cut, rounded corners and inked away while my glitter-edged letters were drying.  Punched holes, added hole reinforcers (inked with the same ink), added more sparkle by adding sticky rhinestones to the little dips in the letters, then put it all together using Craft Glue Dots.  I strung it up using twill ribbon. 
Cute, I know!
Supplies:
-Elle’s studio “Merry Christmas” banner.
-Martha Stewart is the bomb!  I used her glitter glue and “sterling” microfine glitter on these babies.
-I used Stazon “Brown Timber” ink.
-Craft Glue Dots placed on 3 points on top and bottom and  one on either side middle.  Seriously, get 2 boxes.
-Rhinestones.
-Ribbon of your choice.
-Hole reinforcers (optional).
-scissors, hole punch, and corner rounder

This little ditty is based all around that little journaling block..  see it? 
This also comes from Elle’s Studio, “These Moments at Christmas”, and comes with MORE little journaling blocks.  So cute..  and just one dollar!
The rest of the page is thanks to:
“In The Making Design”
-“Spotted & Dotted”, “Striped & Checked” papers from the “Basically” collection.  (Brand new in the store as of Monday.)  Template, “It’s a Start 2, page 3”.
-Stitching by Anna #1 White.
-Font, “Caviar Dreams”.

A new challenge for YOU!

You know how I love challenges (especially of the scrapbooking kind) and how they get you thinking and groovin’..
Well, here’s a new one, just for you!
Miss Jessica Sprague herself now has a Facebook page!
(Isn’t that great?!)
And she has some fun MISM challenges for ALL to participate in.
(WHAT is MISM?!)
More In Store Monday is when the fabulous team at JS.com announces new classes, new kits, new digital tastiness, all great stuff.
(I know, I have spent my fair share there..  more than my fair share if you ask the bacon-bringer here.  Love you Mer-Bear!)
The challenge comes in here:
Create a layout using products from More In Store Monday, and you get 5 Spraguebucks to spend any way you please in that store.  Seriously, any item your little heart desires and you have $5 to go to it!  It’s incredible, I know.
So go, become a fan..
Buy some stuff (if you haven’t already..), go make something lovely, post it to the Facebook page, and maybe…
You’ll win!
Here’s my goodness:

Supplies:
MISM template by Crystal Wilkerson.
Papers and stitching from her “Rainbow Sherbet” kit, background paper from her “Sweet Summertime” kit.
Font: King Cool KC.
Good luck!!

October 16th..

Glitter anyone?

October 15th..

If it isn’t “Toy Story”, then it’s this..

Exhibitionist.

If I were that kind of mom, I would have a picture posted RIGHT HERE  -------->

 

to prove my point, but since I love my child dearly, and love when her father doesn’t get upset with me, especially for posting inappropriate pics of her on the www., I will abstain and just let you in on the little story that goes with that “would be” pic.

Ever since little one was liberated from her Huggies, she has found a whole new world.

(Don’t sing that song from “Aladdin”.)

(Bet you are now, huh?)

She has started to dress herself.

She has found the fun in changing her clothes at least twice a day.  (Thank heavens that usually the second go-round is her first, original outfit from the day’s wardrobe.)

She has also found the fun in going “commando”.

This is fun for mom especially, as I get to check out that situation every time we are about to leave the house.  To be caught, out in a public place, in that condition, would be quite the event! 

(Can you see my fake, strained smile?)

Besides those fun little incidents, there is one that is even more fun.

That would be the streaking between the wardrobe changes, or the trips to the potty. 

She has recently decided that stripping-down to her birthday suit is an absolutely necessary step to take in her  journey to the potty.  The stripping-down begins at the end of the hallway farthest from the bathroom, and continues with a pile of clothing just inside the bathroom door.  There is also another little streak, and pursuit after the streaker, after the trip to the bathroom is complete.  The process of getting her to put her clothing back on, or putting it back on for her, is much like a rodeo event.

So now, you know what is going on inside our little home, with our most exciting, active, potty-trained, 2 year old.

Come to think of it, maybe I could post a pic..  it really wouldn’t show much of anything.  Just a blur of fleshtone…

October 14th..

October 13th..

Comfort: Cinnamon Rolls

I know that we all crave comfort foods at times, and those times are usually when we are feeling under the weather.
Ever since Peyton (my 2 year old) decided to be super sweet and share her cold with me, I have been needing some of that comfort.
It also helps that a friend brought over cinnamon rolls and we (and when I say “we” I really mean “I”) just kind of didn’t get enough..
This recipe is the one my mom has used for her cinnamon rolls since, well, ever.  This is the one that hits the spot where comfort and familiarity in concerned.
So the other day, when I was feeling in need of some comfort, I popped a couple of reds, a blue or two, washed all the germs from my hands and made me some..

Sweet Dough
1 tablespoon sugar
2-3 tablespoons yeast
3/4 cup warm water
2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil or soft shortening
7- 7 1/2 cups flour
Stir yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar into the warm water.  Set aside.  Mix together in a saucepan: milk, sugar, salt, oil, and eggs.  Whisk while heating until quite warm but not too hot.  Transfer to a large mixing bowl and add yeast mixture.  Mix together and then add the flour, just a little at a time until a smooth dough forms.  Knead lightly on a floured surface.  Let rise until double.  Bake finished product at 375.
Now when I do cinnamon rolls, I roll this dough out on a floured surface until it is 1/2 inch thick.  I spread melted butter over the entire piece of dough, then top very generously with: brown sugar, then cinnamon, then white sugar.  My mom adds raisins, but because I detest them in everything but Chex mix and Rasin bran, I leave them out.  Roll the dough up into a long roll, and cut about 1 1/2 inch sections.  Place in a greased baking pan and let rise again.  Bake for about 20-25 minutes at the above temperature, or until the tops are nice and golden brown.

While these are baking, I start the frosting.  I used to use my plain old buttercreme, but have since fell in love with cream cheese icing on these.
Cream Cheese Icing
3/4 pound butter, softened
1 pound cream cheese
dash of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 pound powdered sugar (maybe a little more)
Cream together the butter and cream cheese.  Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.  Add more powdered sugar until you get the desired consistency.
Let the cinnamon rolls cool to touch and then spread on the frosting.

I do not recommend eating one while typing though. ;)

October 12th..

That’s right, twice the fun with this cold!

Imagine these, plus gallons of water, boxes of kleenex, glasses of orange juice, and you have my day.

October 11th..

Harvest.

I love this time of the year for so many reasons..

There is this, cool, fresh crispness to the air.  There is a definite smell to fall.

Flannel becomes a part of the daily wardrobe, sometimes 24 hours of it.

Fall pumpkiny, spicy scents for the warmer.

Warm hearty dinners.

Soup for lunch.

In the mood to bake (even more).

I like how it gets dark sooner.  It does get old when we start to crave summer, but I love having the family gathered in, spending the evening together.

I also love the abundance of the harvest, especially tomatoes.

I picked all of these off of one plant in one day.

We are in heaven, for a couple of days at least.

(We pray that we will still get more.)

Our last zucchini, but at this size, and how many we got, I think we (and our freezer) will be okay.