10

A beautiful fall day.

The air was crisp and the sun was shining.

A Man.

A Woman.

Two hearts joining.

Family and friends celebrating.

10 years ago, that was us.

Starting our life together.

Loving each other forever...

Happy Anniversary
Honey!

Pet Peeves

Yesterday was just one of those days.

When all of the little pet peeves and annoyances of mine seem need to show themselves ~ and all in one day.

So here we go:

1. Men with long fingernails ~ Hands prettier than mine on a man ~ no thanks!

2. People who drive 30mph up/down the aisles of a parking lot. Have you heard of pedestrians?

3. Subs for my favorite fitness class (um NO, my regular instructor can not be sick ~ just kidding, but she is dearly missed!)

4. When a Facebook friend exclaims that she has 90% of her Christmas shopping done already and is feeling much better now about Christmas. UMmmm, ITS OCTOBER! CAN WE GET THROUGH HALLOWEEN?

5. When you purchase new technology and CAN NOT get it to work!

And speaking of that, because of this GREAT new thing, it is possible I won't have computer access for a few days. Bummer! Hopefully It won't come to this, but if it does, I will see you all again soon.

Ahhh, I feel much better! Thanks for letting me vent.

What would it say?

If this old house could only talk,
What a story it could tell.
Of the family held close to its heart.
Of the sights and sounds
remembered so well.

~ Gerald JJ Johnson

Have you ever seen an old, broken, sagging abandoned house along the side of the road?

There seem to be many of them as we drove through different states to visit family.

I often wonder about the life of that house that was once a home.

If those walls could talk:
Would they tell stories of joys or sorrows?
Would it describe the laughter that once burst through the windows?
Or would it be about the sorrows and hardships that put strain on the family that once lived there.

Where did the family go?

See this house?

I know who lived here.

I know where they are now.

I've heard some of the stories and look forward to hearing more.

But, I wonder, what would the walls of my house say?

What would the walls of your house say?

Are those the "stories" we would want told?

Tutu's for my 2 little witches!

I know I've done a tutu tutorial in the past, but I had to do another, because I just love how these tutu's turned out.

Click here to see the actual details on making them, but basically you need tulle and elastic.

Measure the elastic for your little one's waist and stitch the ends together.

Measure the length you want your skirt, then cut your tulle into strips ~ about 5-6" wide and double your desired length.

Slip the waistband around your thigh or other object and begin tying (so they are in half equally on the waistband) the tulle strips on. Do this all the way around and TA~DA! A cute little tutu!

Come back after

halloween to see the full witch outfits!

I'm participating here: 

Stop by and check out all the other great ideas!

Something to think about Sunday

My baby's 1st birthday got me thinking, actually remembering.

I remember when I was little (although old enough to read), I would crawl into my parents bed.

Across from the bed, my mom had a plaque hanging on the wall.

This plaque had a picture of a mother rocking a baby and I can still remember what it said,

"Cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow...

For babies grow up, we've learned to our sorrow...

So quiet down cobwebs...

dust go to sleep...

I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep."

I don't know who wrote this, but now, after 3 kids I understand how true it is.

So today, I ask you to stop, don't clean, don't do laundry for those dirty clothes and dusty shelves will still be there tomorrow. Instead, really focus on and enjoy the ones you love. Today they are here and today they want you ~ all of you.

Birthday Party (part 2) ~ mmm... time for cake and presents!

Instead of one birthday cake, I made Smiley two different kinds of cupcakes ~ carrot cupcakes and banana cupcakes ~ both with fluffy cream cheese frosting. YUMMY!

I made personalized little toppers for each cupcake by using a large decorative circle punch to cut out her picture. Then another circle punch just a little bit bigger than the first one to cut out a piece of card stock. I glued them together, glued the final product to a small bamboo fork and stuck them into the cupcakes. Very easy and pretty darn cute if you ask me. I think she liked it too!

Ready Princess? DIG IN!

Ugh...

Feeling a little full.

Time to open a few presents.

Smiley never really got into opening her gifts ~ although these pictures say otherwise:

Overall, I think she had a good FIRST Birthday!

Happy Birthday Smiley ~ We love you LOTS and wish you MANY more!

Someone is turning 1 (part 1)

1 year.

365 days.

I see it written here, but I can't believe it.

Where has the time gone?

It was 1 year ago when I was in the hospital taking in the sights and sounds of this beautiful little girl for the very first time.

She was tiny (although not so tiny for being 3 weeks early). 7lbs 6 0z.

And now she is 1 and she is:

Smiling

Giggling
Standing
Crawling
Being curious
Babbling
Dancing

And no longer a baby ~ she told me so herself just the other day.
I tried to give her some baby cereal in an attempt to use it up. I gave her a spoonful. She proceeded to spit it out, more like squish it out. Down her chin it went. She then grabbed it and threw it across the kitchen.

I GET IT Smiley! You ARE NOT a baby anymore!

So I will celebrate her today and remember to cherish her everyday as well as her sister and brother. Because, in a flash they all will be another year older!

A little BLING for your front door

I saw a gold leafed monogram here on the blog U Create. I decided I had to try this.

Very simple and who doesn't need a little bling in their life?

Check it out.

Before:

Plain and Simple

After:

A little BLING to dress up the door:

All I used was a wood letter, black spray paint (the directions said to use red for best results, but I didn't have any red spray paint on hand), spray adhesive, gold leafing, and sealant. There are kits that come with all of these things (except the letter), or you can purchase the items separately.

First you paint your letter, and let it dry.

Next, apply your adhesive ~ the spray I had took 5 mins to become tacky.

Then apply your gold leafing ~ I used gold sheets

Let dry.

Apply sealant. I did 3 coats allowing to dry at least 15 mins between coats (mine was a quick dry).

That's it.

Simple and it brightens up the door a bit.

Check me out here and lots of other fabulous ideas!

You know that old phrase, "Practice Makes Perfect" ?

What is it you are practicing in your daily life (you know your daily habits)?

Is that the thing/action you want to be perfecting?

Friday Funny

Happy friday from me to you!

and

Please take no offense, JUST LAUGH!

Ready?

Blonde Jokes:

Two blondes living in Oklahoma were sitting on a bench talking, and one blonde says to the other, "Which do you think is farther away... Florida or the moon?"


The other blonde turns and says "Helloooooooooo, can you see Florida ?????"


CAR TROUBLE

A blonde pushes her BMW into a gas station. She tells the mechanic it died.

After he works on it for a few minutes, it is idling smoothly.

She says, "What's the story?"

He replies, "Just crap in the carburetor"

She asks, "How often do I have to do that?"


AT THE DOCTOR'S OFFICE

A very pretty redhead goes into the doctor's office and said that her body hurt wherever she touched it.

"Impossible!" says the doctor. "Show me."

The redhead took her finger, pushed on her left shoulder and screamed, then she pushed her elbow and screamed even more. She pushed her knee and screamed; likewise she pushed her ankle and screamed. Everywhere she touched made her scream.

The doctor said, "You're not really a redhead, are you?

"Well, no" she said, "I'm actually a blonde."

"I thought so," the doctor said. "Your finger is broken."


BLONDE ON THE SUN

A Russian, an American, and a Blonde were talking one day. The Russian said, "We were the first in space!"

The American said, "We were the first on the moon!"

The Blonde said, "So what? We're going to be the first on the sun!"

The Russian and the American looked at each other and shook their heads. "You can't land on the sun, you idiot! You'll burn up!" said the Russian.

To which the Blonde replied, "We're not stupid, you know. We're going at night!"


FINALLY:

A girl was visiting her blonde friend, who had acquired two new dogs, and asked her what their names were. The blonde responded by saying that one was named Rolex and one was named Timex.

Her friend said, "Whoever heard of someone naming dogs like that?"


"HELLLOOOOOOO......," answered the blond. "They're watch dogs!"




Ok, so I know they're bad, but hopefully you at least cracked a smile! 

Jar Jack O'lanterns

I was surfing one day (um, the internet) and came across instructions to make these cute little guys, girls, ghosts, monsters or whatever suits you:

Aren't they cute?

Click here to link to the actual instructions and to check out some much better pictures of these little guys.

They are quite easy to make.

All you need:

clean jars (a good reason to clean out the fridge)

orange tissue paper

Mod Podge (decoupage glue)

a paint brush (to apply the glue and to paint the tops)

black construction paper

green acrylic paint

candles (reg. or battery operated) or a string of lights

Ready?
Cut or tear your orange tissue paper into strips. Measure them against the jar and trim to the desired length.

Working in sections paint your clean jar with Mod Podge and cover with orange tissue paper.

(Yes, this is a little thick and needs to be spread out a bit.)

Until the whole jar is covered.

(look at all the concentration going on here)

Then go over the entire jar (covered in tissue paper) with Mod Podge.

Let dry.

In the mean time you can create the faces you want on your jars using the black construction paper.

As you can see, Sassy got creative and made a spider as well as some faces.

When the jars are dry, glue (we did Mod Podge again) your faces (or spiders) onto the jars. Go over the face with Mod Podge again to seal it.

Paint the tops of the jars green to finish them off and let the whole thing dry (your suppose to wait 24 hours, but I, myself the kids wanted to see them all lit up as soon as they were dry to the touch)

We used battery operated tea lights (great deal at Home Goods) to light them up.

I think they are pretty cute!

Just in time

So glad we were able to do this:

Before this:

Over breakfast yesterday Action looked at me and said, 

"Hey mom, do you see all these snowflakes falling down? 

Isn't it magnificant?"

Something to Think about Sunday

Once in awhile we all could use a reminder about the choices we've made and the ones we will be making.

Are you living your life to the fullest?

What if today was your last day?

Can't see the video?  Leave a comment or send me an e-mail and let me know!

Thanks for the reminder Nickelback!

And a challenge to you ~ evaluate your life and the choices you make everyday and think WHAT IF?

Apple Crisp

Because we went to the apple orchard and were able to bring home quite a few apples, I decided to start baking.

I started easy.


Apple Crisp

5 cups sliced, peeled apples
3 Tbs sugar
1/2 cup oats (regular not quick cooking)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup coarsely chopped nuts (I used walnuts)

1. Stir apples and 3Tbs sugar together. Place into a 2 quart baking dish (I sprayed mine with non-stick spray)

2. Make topping by: Combining the oats, brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Then cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the nuts. Sprinkle the topping over the apple mixture.

3. Bake at 375 degrees for about 35 minutes or until apples are tender and topping is golden.

4. Serve warm with ice cream if desired.

Mmm, nothing beats the smell of apples and cinnamon

baking on a chilly fall day!

Enjoy!

Sorry, the picture isn't the best ~ it was an afterthought! I was too excited to eat!