Crafting

Today I did some crafting....I love to, but usually don't have time for it. I have had my supplies sitting for weeks....here is my cute little decoration I made that I can use all year or just Christmas....
First I picked out scrapbooking paper that coordinated. At first I was going to use Christmas paper but the more I thought about the word I was using "Joy" I thought it is something that I would/could display all year around. So I went with paper that I liked and was neutral in theme.


Then I took the 4 1/2 inch blocks I found at Michael's and painted them black. After that Molly Modge Podged them with a nice coat. I then placed the paper on top of the Modge Podge.

After you smooth out all the bubbles I then put a coat of Modge Podge over the top to seal. While they were drying, I spray painted the wood letters (bought at Michael's) in "Joy".

Hot glue the wood letters to each block.

I hot glued bows to each block for added cute-ness.....

How fun! You could do this with so many other words....even your last name....that was my first idea....my last name is too long...


Ooooo...the most exciting thing is that I had to make two because of how the supplies were packaged so I am giving away one. If you want to be entered in my first drawing ever, make a comment by Tuesday, Dec 1st 9am. I will announce the winner later this week.

Birthday Bash

I finally had a chance to look at Molly's birthday pics and post them. Karinne and Molly were all about the princess stuff. They celebrated their birthday's together at our house. It's always fun to have family around!

Friendship Bread

I got my first batch ever of Friendship Bread....I have researched it and it seems it could be kinda mean to give this stuff away to friends. I have heard of people running away when they see you coming with a cup of starter in a large zip lock bag.

As of now, my first run with it has been good and I didn't give any away. On Sunday, I had my first taste of Friendship Bread and wasn't so fond of the orginal recipe. I don't usually follow standard anyway, so I searched for all the recipes I could find and came up with a great way to use most or all of my starter and save one for myself....for 10 days from now.

After you share 3 of the starters with friends you can use up the rest by making my Blueberry Streusel Coffee Cake. I opted to make the Coffee Cake and then throw one starter in the freezer, keep one on the counter for 10 days from now and then I made delicious Cranberry Lemon Cinnamon Rolls with the other. Next time (yes, 10 days from now) I am going to use up 2 or 3 of the starters on Cinnamon Rolls, they turned out well. But beware, if you live close by, you may just see me coming with a bag of starter for you:)

Fall Fun

We had a fun weekend! The boys had their Fall parties at school on Friday, which involved TPing each other as mummies. Then on Friday night we went to church for a Fall party and the kids got their share of candy and more! On Saturday, the kids handed out candy so they could see all of their friends (and stay warm). If you know me, I am a last minute person, so I decided to make the boys' Jedi costumes and was sewing until 5:30pm. I thought they turned out pretty good. I tweeked them on Sunday afternoon since I really didn't have them finished by the time trick or treaters were coming.

Texas

Well, I finally feel more recuperated after a long trip back from Texas. I took the kids to Texas to visit Grandma and Grandpa, Caleb and Laura, and hopefully their new baby. I am so thankful that it worked out that I got to see their new little one (Liliana), who in my opinion is absolutely precious!!!! Laura, I totally forgot to ask how you spell her name? How will you spell Lily? Lili?

Anyhow, we had a great time in Texas and it was jammed pack with fun! The only troubles we had was getting home...our flight was cancelled so we had to wait til the next morning where the airlines scheduled me at 5:50am to fly with 3 kids....yeah, that was fun! Actually it wasn't too bad, just some mild meltdowns from Molly. One included her kicking the seat in front of her and tipping her tray table, which of course was holding a full glass of apple juice, which slid right off and into my tote bag! Oh the joys!

So now I have had a mini nap, Molly has had a big nap and we are ready for an evening of happiness!

Jack in the magic show at SeaWorld

more pics posted above

Some Pics

So I've been too busy....

to blog....I guess that is a good thing right? Molly is still sleeping this morning which is what she really needed and the boys are off at school, AND I have had a cup of coffee so I am full of energy. I have a huge list of things to do, errands to run, and dr. appt to run off to...Yippee yeah on that one.
But, I did want to point you off to my other blog (the one I probably blog more on) if you haven't checked for a good recipe lately....I just posted last week Cinnabon Popcorn....it is so yummy and easy! I am on a popcorn kick, mainly because both of the boys are selling popcorn (do you need any?) and I still have some from last year....so now we are having popcorn more often. I also have a great recipe for Peanut Butter popcorn (haven't posted that yet), but if you know me, you know I LOVE peanut butter.

Oh, another thing came to mind....I wanted to encourage you moms out there who are pooped out....didn't get enough sleep last night? cleaning up cereal thrown on the floor from a toddler's delight? ooooo, how about baby powder shook all over the room (yep, my boys did that when they were 2 and 3)? Did you cry over spilt milk last week? (yep, done that, really). How about, your husband has been working so much that you are exhausted, too exhausted, to deal with the kids.....or maybe your a single parent and you deal with no one to help you out which make you super exhausted every single day....Which one of your kids pee'd on the floor? Did any of your kids break one of your favorite special "things"? doesn't it happen to all of us? In the moment, you wonder what AM I doing....should I even be a mom? Can I handle this? Yes you can....we can look to God for our strength..."God IS our (yours and mine) our refuge (we can run to Him) and our strength(He will help us thru the day), an ever-present help in trouble(sometimes I can call kids "trouble" right?)" Psalm 46:1

Have a great week....and if you listened to my ramblings, sorry:) Just thought "it's about time I should blog", right Penny?

Trader Joe's Favorites

I was talking with some neighbors (Nichole and Susanne) about Trader Joe's and we were all sharing our favorites so I thought I would compile a list....so do share....

What are your favorites?

Mine:
I am sure I will forget a few....
any of their cheeses
cinnamon grahams (they taste like home made ones)
pizza dough
espresso toffee pillows (candy....thanks Nichole...a new addiction)
great olive oil at a great price!
Triple Berry O's (cereal)
ABC cookies (my kids like them...more for their shape than the taste)
Apple Crushers (for kids lunch....applesauce in pouches with a straw)
Brittney Blend Veggies
Roasted Frozen Corn
candied pecans (great on salads)

Geocaching

My brother told me about geocaching. Have you heard of it? I had not but it sounded so fun I had to try it with the kids. Basically you use your GPS to find hidden "treasure" boxes all over the world. Sometimes they don't have treasures in them and sometimes they do! Some of the locations have just a journal in them, others have toys and/or special geocaching coins in them too. Our first try at finding one was unsuccessful. We searched and searched and could not locate it. The kids got hot and tired and hungry and we had to give up....I don't like giving up.
So I on Friday, I decided to try once again. I picked a different location this time. This one was to have lots of fun treasures that the kids would enjoy. The one rule is if you take a "treasure" you have to put one in.

So here is Molly and Jack in the lead on our nice paved trail that is to lead to our treasure.

Here, Drew is typing in the longitude and latitude of our potential treasure find.

Drew was in charge of which way to go on the GPS.

After much hunting around the location site, I saw the box sticking out of the rocks!

The boys were so excited to dig it out while I was on the lookout for mugglers (you know, those who would walk by and are not familiar with geocaching...) I had no idea what a muggler was until I logged on to geocaching.com

As you can see, we were all happy but the 3 year old who told me she had to go potty after we reached our location, which was quite a hike. No potty around....and she couldn't hold it off any longer, so I taught her to squat....at first she didn't want to, but realized how much she had to go....and she was fine....

Here was our treasure! Out of all the treasures, Drew and Jack let Molly pick the bubbles she had grabbed right away. Oh what fun! We can't wait to try again!

Oh, I even had fun taking some close ups.....of weeds:)

Roller Babies

This is too funny not to share.....enjoy!

The Lakes Part 2

See boys fish....See Drew fish.... See swan....

See swan and babies..... (deleted scenes) See Drew shout, " I caught a duck!".

See Drew hook a baby swan in the leg.

See uncles coming to the rescue.

See Mommy and Daddy swan freak out!

See Arlo cut the line.

See baby swan get tangled around the pier and around the mommy and daddy swan.

See Arlo loosen the line from the pier.

See swans leave quickly.

Yikes, and to think I missed it all but the above shots!
I sure hope that the hook came off and all the swans are recovering ok. By the way, Drew said it was an accident....and if you know, a 7 year old boy and a fishing pole can be dangerous. :)

The Lakes

We had a great time with Arlo and Lisa at the lake cottage! My dad was even able to come up and spend time with us too! tubing.....

jet skiing....

hot dogging....

On the 4th, the guys all went to the store to pick out some fireworks.

Dad made us a good fire for smore's....

We missed ya mom!

The Zoo

So yesterday I had the most amazing time at the zoo....and so did my kids! I am also enjoying my new found "skill" of putting a slide show together.(for some reason the images aren't as great as the other show I did and the music kinda drags/skips....I will have to work on that)... So here is the day....It was first of all a beautiful day...not too hot. I got a lot of great pics of kids, my favorite subject.....plus my friend Lisa, who works with the marine animals took us behind the scenes....so while everyone else was coming in for the dolphin show, we got to go play with the dolphins, kiss the dolphins, high five the dolphins, do tricks....how fun! I think what surprised all of us, was how much more fun the walrus was! He or she makes the most funny sounds and the way he or she eats is hilarious! They have this amazing sucking power...it sounded like those vaccum tubes at the bank! And man were his kisses slobbery and full of suction!!!! Enjoy the pics.

I haven't tried this, but I think this would be a really fun way to "travel" around the world with the kids...hey, and it would save some cash too. These kits also come with after dinner trivia....how fun is that. Since I love to cook and love to try new things this may a fun way to introduce other cultures right here at home! Plus I love the idea of having all the spices delivered without hunting them down from 5 different stores! What do you think?

http://www.destinationdinners.com/

Have a great weekend!!!!

My Little Ballarina...

Adam's Birthday....

Pinata time....

Walking with grandpa....

Karinne and Molly....

Crazy boys....

The latest style?...

Molly was so excited to show me what she put on all by herself....dirty twisted socks with open toe shoes...anyone ready for this style? :)