ONE OF EACH

2011-12-26T17:29:00.001-06:00

I am now blogging over here: http://www.littlepearstudio.blogspot.com/.

I would really love it if you would join me over there and move your bookmarks.

Thanks!

Crochet Blanket

2011-10-16T15:21:00.001-05:00

I saw this blanket on a favorite blog and I thought it was too cute not to try. She just revealed her finished blanket today. I just started mine this week but already I have several rows done. I love the randomness of the stripes. I can do whatever stitch or pattern I feel like doing. I really likes these colors. I see this blanket being used in our bedroom draped over my favorite chair.

It's Fall

2011-10-12T10:02:00.001-05:00

I'm not sure why I haven't been on this blog in such a long time. I've been super busy with the usual Fall activities and have lots of things I could show you. I have finished several knitting/crochet projects and there's been lots of cooking and decorating going one around her. I will get those posted soon I think.But here's a quick lineup of things on my mind:

*Texas Rangers! Love me some baseball and we are enjoying watching our team in the playoffs again this year. We even had tickets for last Sunday's game against Detroit in the AL Series but it got rained out and rescheduled for Monday afternoon when we were both working.   The wonderful friends who were taking us took their kids instead so it worked out fine but we were bummed to miss attending a playoff game.

*Pinterest - I am still addicted to this site! I love seeing what ideas other people are coming up with. And I finally made myself a "Completed Board" where I can store all the pins that I have tried with notes about how it worked out. This is great for all the recipes I pin.

*Crochet/Knitting - I always find it fascinating that just when I think I'm burned out with these two things I have a renewed interest and start some new project and work on it feverishly. I have a great Winter sweater on my knitting needles. And I just finished myself a new Winter scarf in pinks and greens. And last night I started a new crochet throw for our living room.

*My health - I found a new doctor who is doing wonders for me with my Neuropathy and helping me to manage it without the harsh medications other doctors have suggested. But wouldn't you know it, just when I get all of that in line, I somehow have torn the meniscus in my knee so I'm in a knee brace for a couple of weeks hoping to avoid surgery.  Getting old is not for the faint hearted!

*Kids - Cullen has just started another session of hockey lessons. His love for hockey has continued longer than anyone expected. He and Greg went to the season opener Dallas Stars game last weekend which he loved. Madison is taking an extremely heavy load at school this year as a Sophomore. She's studying all the time!

That's about it. Happy Fall!

Shrimp Ceviche

2011-08-28T17:49:00.000-05:00

I made Shrimp Ceviche today. So yummy on a hot summer evening! Here's my version of a recipe I had found in an old mexican cookbook.

1 1/2 lbs of fresh deveined medium shrmip, chopped into chunks
1/2 cup of fresh squeezed lime juice
1/2 cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 red onion, finely diced
1 cup of chopped seeded Roma tomatoes
1 serrano chili, seeded and finely diced
2 teaspoons of sea salt
Dash of ground oregano
Dash of Tabasco Sauce
2 Tbsp. Cilantro

In a non-reactive casserole dish, either Pyrex or ceramic, mix the shrimp, onion, tomatoes, chili, salt, Tabasco, and oregano. Cover with lime and lemon juice. Let sit covered in the refrigerato for 4-5 hours, stirring hourly, making sure more of the shrimp gets exposed to the juices.

Serve with avacado if desired. We eat it with tortilla chips like a dip.

Rangers Party Invitation

2011-08-22T08:36:00.000-05:00

I forgot to show ya'll the awesome invitation I ordered from a great seller on Etsy for Cullen's Birthday party. This is the top 3/4 of the invitation. It was designed to look like a real baseball game ticket. My address and RSVP info were below the "Basham Ballpark" with a bar code. It looked just like a real TX Rangers ticket and everyone loved them! I got the digital file from the Esty seller and just printed them at Costco.
I got so many comments on them after they arrived in everyones mailbox!

This Moment

2011-08-19T16:34:00.003-05:00

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

8th Birthday Party

2011-08-17T19:30:00.000-05:00

We had an amazing time at Cullen's 8th Birthday party this past weekend! The theme was Texas Rangers baseball. I tried to have all the usual baseball park food: hot dogs, cracker jacks, peanuts, sunflower seeds, Baby Ruth bars, twizzlers. The highlight of the "concession stand" was the popcorn and snow cone machines.
For goodie bags I had clear bags with the following: Texas Rangers twisty straw, Big League Chew bubble gum, baseball nerf thrower, candy, baseball stickers, and a little soft baseball.
For entertainment/games I had a catcher shaped ball throw, dart throw and the Rangers pinata.
I had a Rangers autograph dog that everyone signed as a keepsake for Cullen.
Everyone had a great time and we are so happy with how everything turned out. Cullen had a great time and got tons of new Legos and amazingly, a signed Josh Hamilton baseball from a friend of ours.

What I am Reading

2011-08-11T11:45:00.000-05:00

I was so excited to get this new book in the mail today. I have been following Amanda's blog for several years and have used so many of her recipes and patterns for my family. I envy her deliberate, slow paced life she has with her family.
I can't wait to find some quiet time to sit down and read through this book and try the many craft/food ideas inside.

2011-08-02T05:49:00.001-05:00

I love using handmade knitted washclothes. And sometimes I need to make a new batch and delegate the old ones to the car wash rag pile. I think this time I went a little overboard! This is my stack of new ones which all need their yarn tails woven in. Anybody need a new knitted washcloth?

A Good Days Work

2011-08-01T17:48:00.001-05:00

I love having a whole Saturday with nowhere to go so I can putter around the house doing this and that and getting lots of projects done. This was one of those weekends.
I have an abundance of tomatoes so one thing I wanted to do was get some tomato sauce made and in the freezer. I loosely use this recipe from SouleMama as a starting point. Having homemade tomato sauce is such a great thing in the winter when good tomatoes are few and far between. We used some of the sauce for make-your-own pizza night yesterday and it was perfect.

I also made crock pot apple butter. I LOVE apple butter on biscuits. When I found apples for sale at a steal at the grocery I bought tons of them and made my apple butter. I found this recipe several years ago and have used it over and over. So simple: 12 cups of peeled, cored and chopped apples, 5 cups of sugar, 2 teas. cinammon, 2 teas. cloves or nutmeg. Put it all in the crock pot and cook on low for 6 hours. Remove lid and cook another hour. You can keep it a little chunky by just putting it in jars at this point but I use my stick mixer to puree it and make it truly the consistancy of butter.

On the Fence

2011-07-21T11:40:00.001-05:00

(this photo is totally unrelated to today's post topic but I thought Cullen looked so cute in his Dallas Cowboys jersey this morning on the way to his daycare field trip to tour the Cowboys stadium)

Is everyone couponing now? I have friends who are couponing alot. I am on the fence about it. I have tried the last few weeks to remember to keep the coupons from the Sunday paper and I signed up for couponmom.com that sends me emails about weekly deals. I did find one of Madison's old school binders and dig out some of Cullen's baseball card holders to make myself a little place to store all my coupons. I can't figure out the whole CVS/Walgreens system of buying certain things and getting store bucks then turning around and using those to buy more things to get more store bucks, etc.
I have one friend who solicits all her neighbors for their Sunday coupons and usually ends up with at least 10-15 sets every week. She also goes to 3 different grocery stores every week. I wish I had her commitment level but I just don't think I will ever be able to commit to that! Granted, she usually feeds her family of six for way less than I feed us four every week. She stores shampoo and soup in the her extra bathtub that they never use. She's about one manic grocery trip from being on the TV show Extreme Couponing!
I think part of my problem is that I'm too picky about what I buy. And my kids are pretty picky too about what they want to eat. I'm not going to use a coupon for something we don't want just because it's 25 cents off. So I think for now I will be happy with using the coupons I find for the things we use and maybe commit to taking those savings and putting them in our vacation change jar. (Love our vacation change jar!)
What is everyone else thinking? Are you couponing?

Summer is ....

2011-07-10T16:07:00.000-05:00

... for Saturday night trips to the snowcone stand. Butterscotch, Coconut Cream and Tiger Blood are some of our favorites. Last night we decided that if we lived within walking distance we would come every night and beginning in June work our way down the whole list of flavors over the course of the summer.

Speaking of snowcones, we are beginning work on Cullen's 8th Birthday party coming up in August. Texas Rangers party! We are renting both a popcorn and snowcone machines. It's going to be a baseball blowout! All the foods you find at the ballpark and baseball things galore. Even a baseball themed dart throw. I have a whole board of ideas pinned at Pinterest. Should be so much fun!

Project Life Tuesday

2011-07-05T19:53:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted anything in so long for Project Life Tuesday! But I'm still keeping up and am so pleased with our 2011 album. Please visit Jessica over at The Mom Creative for all the wonderful Project Life links.

This week was hard coming back from vacation and getting back into the routines of summer living. Work, day camp, laundry, etc.

Sunday, June 26
Madison is going to be a bridesmaid in our niece's wedding this November and we had to go get her fitted for her dress. It will be this dress in a rich chocolate brown.

Monday, June 27
First day back at work after vacation so I thought a Sonic sweet tea would make it less painful.

Tuesday, June 28
Cullen started a new school-aged kids day camp today. He loves it! Field trips and water play days.

Wednesday, June 29
With the temperatures reaching 100 degrees every day here in TX everyone is taking turns in the little blow up pool in the backyard.

Friday, July 1
Date night with Greg at Mexican Inn!

Saturday, July 2
We got out the ice cream freezer and made some great ice cream this weekend.

Country Vanilla Ice Cream

2011-07-05T19:26:00.000-05:00

I have fond memories as a child of making homemade ice cream with my family. Of course, way back then it was a hand crank machine that my dad would work and work over to get that ice cream made. My mother had some of the greatest recipes. I have some of those saved in her old recipe box. One recipe calls for a 6 pack of Nehi Orange Soda. I am going to try that one this summer I think. We belonged to a camping club and there were about 10 families that camped together through the summer months and we would always designate one trip as our ice cream social. Each family would bring their freezer and all the dad's would sit around on Saturday cranking away making all kinds of vanilla, chocolate and other flavors of ice cream. There was one memorable peach that had huge chunks of fresh fruit in it!

This past weekend I decided we have to revive this wonderful tradition so I dug out the recipes and we made chocolate/chocolate chip and the wonderful old fashion vanilla pictured above. It's so much easier when the electric ice cream maker does all the work!

Here is my mother's Country Vanilla Ice Cream recipe. It's not for the faint of heart with all that cream and sugar but it's worth it!

Country Vanilla Ice Cream

5 eggs

2 1/4 cups sugar

2 cups cream

1 can condensed milk

5 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. salt

6 cups whole milk

Gradually add sugar to beaten eggs. Continue to beat until mixture is very stiff. Add remaining ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Chill about an hour. Pour into ice cream freezer canister and freeze.

The ice cream is nice and thick. You can add fruit, nuts or chocolate chips.

Red and Blue sprinkles optional for July 4th!

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T16:31:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend! We are not doing much except grilling, playing in the wading pool and trying to live in the 100+ degree weather. I saw these strawberries on Pinterest and had to try them. My dipping technique isn't the best but I think they are kind of cute. We have made 2 batches of homemade ice cream so far this weekend. I'm planning to get back on here to share my out-of-this-world old fashion vanilla recipe we use.

Chicago -- Carriage Ride

2011-07-01T21:49:00.000-05:00

Chicago -- Shedd Aquarium

2011-07-01T21:43:00.000-05:00

Look, he's following me!

I stop... he stops.

He wants to talk to me!

He's letting me check out his teeth!

I go left.... he goes left. He likes me!

2011-06-26T16:10:00.000-05:00

Has anyone else tried this brand of cleaner? I love it! It's Mrs. Meyers Clean Day cleaning products. I have the Countertop Cleaner, Hand Soap, and the large candle, all in the Basil scent. The basil makes your whole house smell wonderful!

2011-05-18T11:23:00.000-05:00

I saw this poster at a photography blog. Thought it was a nice reminder of what's important. Do you think my bosses would get upset if I put this up on my office wall?

Quilting

2011-05-14T20:18:00.001-05:00

It's been awhile since I started a new quilt. Aside from a couple of baby clothes quilts, which I love making, all my fabric has been sitting for awhile. But both the kids are wanting new quilts. Madison needs something a little more "grown up" and Cullen wants a sports quilt. So I found a bag of Anna Maria Horner Garden Party fabrics I had ordered sometime last year. I'm making those into a great scrappy modern feeling quilt for Madison. I will show you that one after I get a little further along. I am still hunting down sports fabrics for Cullen. And I found this baby quilt top almost finished in my fabric stash. I have the same lady bug fabric in yellow so I'm going to be making a matching one and give both to a friend expecting twin nieces soon. I put the borders on this green one today and started hand quilting it this evening. I LOVE hand quilting.

2011-05-07T21:40:00.000-05:00

Happy National Scrapbooking Day! I didn't have alot of free time today but I did get one layout completed and a some foundations started for more pages.

Here are some of my recent pages from Project Life. A Spring Break trip to the Ft. Worth Zoo got it's own page.

I added a letter size page protector for a cute drawing from school that Cullen brought home.

This one included a program from a memorial service I attended.

Field Day 2011

2011-05-06T23:14:00.000-05:00

Easter 2011

2011-05-06T06:35:00.002-05:00

Spring Break

2011-05-06T06:27:00.000-05:00

I took a little Spring Break from any blog posting. But, I figured it's time to check in and say hi!

We love Spring in Texas. The weather has been a little crazy but overall it has been a good couple of months.

Laying around in the hammock

Attending a Texas Rangers baseball game.

Experiencing a local flea market for the first time. It is an old established market with a permanent carnival area!

Lots of rain in just a few days brought these to the yard.

And I finally got a new phone. This has certainly been a distraction.

What else? I got a promotion at work so that has meant some extra hours away getting trained and in the groove of new responsibilities. I have a couple of little garden spots that are thriving. Tomatoes, beans and several kinds of peppers.

We are working on finalizing our vacation plans. We had been all set to go back to the beach this year but nobody seemed too interested and so I decided to drop our reservations and now we are rethinking just what we want to do.

And on the Project Life front, I'm still going strong. Last year late April/early May was when my enthusiasm started to wane and I drifted away. So this year I took note of that and made sure I stayed the course and had lots of things in mind to keep me in there. And it worked. I'm still going and keeping current with each week. I have all my journaling cards done, photos printed and all the "extras" I love in their special places. I think a big Project Life update is coming this weekend. I also ordered an extra Amber edition binder, some blank journaling cards and page protectors from Amazon after seeing the suggestion on Becky Higgins blog this week. Going to use those to finally give a home to some old photos sitting in a box in my closet.

2011-03-23T18:12:00.000-05:00

I kinow everyone is talking about Pinterest. Have you seen it?? It's a great concept -- kind of like a virtual cork board hanging in your home. Everytime you see a photo of something that you would like to "pin" you just save to your boards. I just joined this week and am slowly adding things to my boards.
Here's mine.

And since I can't do a post without a photo..... here are a couple of my photos for Project Life (post coming soon about how well I'm doing keeping up) for this week. Some of my containers I planted this weekend. And some of my favorite candy all dressed up for Easter. I'm ready for Spring!

2011-03-17T11:50:00.000-05:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Stole this ABC's of Me from Becki at Just the Three of Us.

Age -46

Bed size - Full

Chore you dislike - cleaning in general!

Dog - Oscar, full size daschund, our rescue baby

Essential start to your day - Coffee and the morning news

Favorite color - red

Gold or silver - silver

Height - 5'7"

Instruments you have played - flute

Job life - Kindred Nursing Services - Nursing Home Business Office

Kids - Madison and Cullen

Live - Texas

Mom's name - Harriett

Nicknames - Hat

Overnight hospital stays - ganglion cyst removed from ankle in high school, had appendix out in college and 2 stays for childbirth
Pet Peeves - dumb people in general, rude cashiers/servers

Quote from a movie - Very seldom stop long enough to watch movies!
Righty or lefty - Right handed
Siblings - one sister

Time you wake up - 5:00 to 5:30 a.m.

Underwear - Jockey

Vegtables you don't like - corn

What makes you run late - not getting myself organized the night before

Xrays you have had - teeth, arms, leg, foot, ankle, head

Yummy good you make - mom's recipe for toffee bars

Zoo animal favorite - elephants

15

2011-02-24T19:27:00.000-06:00

Madison turned 15 this weekend and we ending up celebrating all weekend! Shopping and pedicures with dinner at Cheesecake Factory. And then on Sunday we had dinner and ice cream cake with my parents.
She is so grown up!

Project Life Tuesday Week Five

2011-02-08T05:45:00.000-06:00

It's time again for Project Life Tuesday. Week Five was all about the weather! Here in Texas we usually only get one or two good snow/ice events every winter. And Mother Nature decided to dump both on us this week while the whole country is watching for Super Bowl Week!

Sunday - it was unseasonably warm and Greg and Cullen had to get outside and play.

Monday - Bindi the cat has to be right up in my face even when I'm on the computer.

Tuesday - 19 degrees and ice and snow. Means no school for the kids and a long rough drive to work for mom and dad.

Wednesday - Ice is still hanging around with a high of 18 degrees again today.

Thursday - Cullen and Dakota, his friend from across the street decided the ice would make a good makeshift ice hockey rink.

Friday - More snow fell overnight and Madison decided to get out and play.

Saturday -- Staying in out of the cold means breaking out a new jigsaw puzzle for the family to work on.

Super Bowl

2011-02-05T18:33:00.001-06:00

When we moved to North Texas almost 4 years ago the new Cowboys Stadium was just a HUGE hole in the ground and everyone was talking about the Super Bowl was coming. It seemed so far away at the time! For these last 4 years we've joked about getting out of town when the Super Bowl comes to town, how awful the crowds are going to be, etc. Well now it's here!
Unfortunately we haven't been very good hosts this week. Terrible weather has slowed everything down. These Green Bay and Pittsburgh fans just don't understand that we usually don't have to drive in ice and snow here in TX, we don't know how to do it!! All of the celebrity parties have been either cancelled or barely attended. Roads have been horrible for driving from event to event. We don't really have snowplows here. The DOT borrowed some from West Texas this week.
But despite all the weather and traffic trouble, tomorrow afternoon over 100,000 people will gather at Jerry Jones' palace in Arlington and play football. And it should be a great game!

Turtle Snacks

2011-02-05T14:47:00.001-06:00

I saw these little snacks on Dina's blog over at No Place Life Home and had to try them. They are super simple and taste like turtles. They are the perfect little size and with the sweet and salty mix of flavors you will eat way too many like I did!

Preheat oven to 250 degrees and put some parchment paper on a baking pan. Just lay out pretzels and top with a Rolo candy and a pecan half. Bake until partially melted. Then let cool... or if you are impatient like me..... place in freezer for 10 minutes to cool. Then try not to eat them all in one sitting!

Project Life Tuesday - HOME Edition

2011-02-01T06:40:00.000-06:00

It's time again for Project Life Tuesday! This week I did one of my planned theme weeks. I love having our home reflect our experiences and memories. So this week I concentrated on capturing the photos and decorations around our house that mean the most to me.

Sunday, January 23

I ordered this plaque from a wonderful vendor on Etsy last year. I love all her personalized plaques and want more. This one is hanging over the large window in our dining room.

Monday, January 24

We took Madison's picture in front of each letter at the entrance plaza at Disney's California Adventure back in 2001 when we first went to Dinsey while living in California. This past summer we did the same with Cullen and those photos are at the framers now finally getting their matching frame. Sadly, they just took these huge letters down recently to make way for a new entrace to the park, so we are glad we have these!

Tuesday, January 25

I bought this plaque at a street fair in Granbury, TX a couple of years ago. I have photos of the kids surrounding it in our hallway. I am in the process of updating the photos so all the frames are down now.

Wedneseday, January 26

I loved this frame the minute I saw it at Kirklands. It holds a photo of Greg and the kids feeding dolphins at SeaWorld.

Thursday, January 27

This is a pencil drawing of the Maison deVille Hotel Audobon Cottages in New Orleans where Greg and I stayed during part of our honeymoon. Greg brought the print back from a business trip to New Orleans.

Friday, January 28

A corner piece from one of the transom windows from the old house I grew up in. When we sold the house in 1994 I found some old pieces that had been replaced and kept one and had it framed.

Saturday, January 29

An old photo of my mother at a neighborhood children's birthday party from approximately 1956.

Cooking Creme

2011-01-22T10:17:00.000-06:00

Has anyone else seen this in their grocery store? I just happened upon it in the cream cheese section and thought I would give it a try. It's Philadelphia Cooking Creme. I got the Italian Cheese and Herb flavored. There were a couple more flavors to choose from.
I used the recipe on the back of the carton which was super quick and super yummy.

Chicken Primavera Pasta

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken cut into bite sized pieces
2 cups frozen stir fry vegetables
1 tub Cooking Creme
2 cups cooked fettucine

Cook chicken in skillet until done. Add vegetables and cook an additional 4 minutes. Add cooking creme and stir. Serve over pasta.

Project Life Tuesday

2011-01-18T07:08:00.001-06:00

Here we are in week 2 of Project Life. Head over to Project Life Tuesday to see everyone who is participating.

January 11

Made sausage cheese balls for a breakfast at work this morning.

January 12

Cullen is accumulating quite a collection of Magic Tree House and Ready Freddie books.

January 13

Using the sign in slip for Madison for the High School from where I checked her in at lunchtime. She was exempt from her 2 morning exams so she got to spend the morning with me at work. Also putting in a little "Shining Star" slip that Cullen got for being good in Music class at school.

January 14

Cullen has been doing so much better in school with his reading and spelling tests and just everything! So Greg and I let him get something he's been wanting for a reward. A hampster! Here it is in the little box sitting waiting while Greg and Cullen put the cage together.

January 15

Using the take out menu from our great lunch at Rockfish Grille where we used a gift card we recieved for Christmas (our favorite seafood restaurant!).

January 16

It's Girl Scout cookie time! We got all of our favorites from one of Cullen's friends.

January 17

Yeah! A whole six weeks of perfect behavior! Good job Cullen!

Sunday is Soup Day

2011-01-16T17:27:00.001-06:00

When the weather turns colder all I want to eat is soup. And Sundays are great for having a slow simmering pot of soup on the stove.
Last week it was a copykat recipe for Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup from here.
And today it's Lentil Soup. Served with cornbread or a big hunk of bread it's yummy!
Any good soup recipes I need to try?

Project Life Tuesday

2011-01-11T06:29:00.000-06:00

I am participating this week over at Project Life Tuesday.

First Completed Knit of 2011

2011-01-08T15:05:00.001-06:00

I saw this yummy Lion Brand Organic Cotton and bought a couple of skeins in the Olive color for a quick new scarf. Using huge size 15 needles this was a quick knit. It's such a soft yarn. I love this one.

Week One of Project Life

2011-01-08T12:51:00.001-06:00

I have my first week of Project Life done and over on the Project Life page.

A picture of me? And Project Life, rethought

2011-01-02T07:55:00.003-06:00

Wow. Rare mom sighting while laying on couch watching Rose Bowl.

So, last year I vowed to do Project Life all the way through to the end. And since I didn't get one of the Project Life kits, I ordered all these divided page protectors, new 12x12 3 ring binder. I was on fire until about mid April and by the end of that month I hit the wall and stopped. So I kept the 4 months I had completed and they are a wonderful addition to our 2010 family album. I just put in a title page with something to the effect of "A glimpse into 4 months of our life".
So this year I ordered one of the 2010 editions of Project Life from Amazon on Black Friday. The new 2011 editions are beautiful but I still liked the color scheme of the 2010 edition and yeah, Madison is right, I'm cheap.
So I added a Project Life page tab over on the left right under the Home tab. Please go there and see how I'm approaching this year's Project Life with a new attitide.

Super Bowl

2011-01-01T15:59:00.000-06:00

Super Bowl fever is rampent here in North Texas! Of course this year's game will be played in Arlington at the new Cowboy Stadium, which is about 10 miles from our house. We have been immersed in all the preperations, traffic warnings and hype for about 18 months. My poor dad works about 1/2 mile from the stadium and has been threatening to move a camper to his work parking lot and live there for a couple of weeks so he won't have to drive anywhere near the stadium.

I found this small tin of popcorn at the grocery store this week and thought it would make a good momento of the time the Super Bowl came to our neighborhood.

Rose Bowl

2011-01-01T06:06:00.002-06:00

Sorry Becky, we are big TCU Horned Frog fans around here!

Year in Review

2010-12-31T18:00:00.000-06:00

2010 has been a great year for us.

I worked on my photography

I dd some scrapbooking (and discovered digital scrapbooking!)

Someone finally took off their training wheels

Someone turned 14

Someone turned 40!

Someone turned 7

We don't take pictures on mom's birthday...... too many candles!!!

We had a very snowy start to the year

We took a magical trip back to California

Class pets came home to visit

Someone moved up from Tball to Coach Pitch

We only made it to Six Flags one day this summer, the hottest one apparently

We saw the Texas Rangers play in their World Series season

Someone caught their first fish

Can't wait to see what 2011 has in store!
Happy New Year!

Headbanz

2010-12-28T21:23:00.001-06:00

Cullen got this great game for Christmas that we have been having so much fun playing. Headbanz is for all ages. Just put one of the plastic bands on your head, let another person pick a card and put it in the slot and then take turns asking questions to quess what your card says.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T10:53:00.000-06:00

Hope your holidays are magical and spent happy with family and friends.

December 1

2010-12-01T10:00:00.007-06:00

Cullen got new Santa slippers from Target.

2010-11-23T07:54:00.000-06:00

I am so glad I saw this on Becki's blog Just the Three of Us!
If you have a blog you can get 50 free Christmas cards from Shutterfly.
I already have most of our Christmas cards addressed but decided just the other day to send out a few more so I was going to buy some more anyway.
Go sign up yourself!

December Daily 2010

2010-11-21T17:44:00.000-06:00

I am going to participate in Ali Edwards December Daily this year. I am not putting pressure on myself to do a layout EVERY single day of December but most days I'll have something to tell a story about I think. Unlike most, I haven't put specific dates on my pages yet. I have my number circles all ready to put on each day as I finish assembling it.

I am using this album from American Crafts which comes with a plain chipboard cover. I embellished the front and back with some Christmas cardstock I purchased at Michaels, ribbon and rickrack and some date stickers and then modpodged the whole thing. I still want to write a letter about us and our holidays to put on the inside front cover.

I did an abreviated version of December Daily last year and planned then to participate this year so I started a special box that I have been collecting all sorts of Christmas embellishments, papers, doodads, etc. So putting this album and the blank pages together has been easy peasy. I ordered some great little red number tabs and santa circle tabs from Elle's Studio. I already have my holiday cup wrapper and pastry bag from Starbucks.

I have most all the foundations pages made. I have an assortment of types of pages from divided page protectors to full 8 1/2 x 11 pages and a few small odd sized things thrown in. I also have a baseball card holder for small mementos, etc. So far a few of the pages I have ready are "Our Tree", "Photo with Santa", "New Ornaments 2010", "2010 Christmas Card", Christmas Eve Traditions" (new pj's and reindeer food on the front lawn among other things), a Receipt Envelope for all the holiday receipts, CD Pocket envelope in the back for all of our Christmas photos on a CD.

I have also made a list of some of the things I want to be sure to include this year which includes:

*School Christmas parties

*Starbucks Holiday Cup Wrapper

*Our Christmas Card and mailing list

*Photos from Christmas Cards we receive

*Decorating our tree

*Work Christmas parties

*New Ornaments

*Photo with Santa

*Christmas PJ's

*Our Advent Calendar

*Letter to Santa

*Reindeer Food

*Gingerbread houses (another annual tradition)

*Newspaper

*Holiday Baking and recipes used this year

*Samples of wrapping paper used this year

*Outside decorations

*Cookies for Santa

*Trip to Tennessee the week before Christmas for Greg and the kids

I'm going to try to post here most days of December what I'm putting into this album.

Little Pilgrim

2010-11-19T06:20:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was the First Grade Thanksgiving Feast at Cullen's school. First there was singing of the Thanksgiving songs.... 5 fat turkeys are we, etc. They were given the choice of Pilgrim or Indian for costumes.

Then there was the feast. Cornbread, fruit salad and wampam mix both made by the students in class, veggies and cheese, and juice. What a feast!

And look at the dessert! The teacher makes these for the kids every year. Little Pilgrim hats. A striped graham cookie upside down and a chocolate covered marshmallow with a little yellow icing buckle. Aren't they cute?

Baby Clothes Quilt

2010-11-18T20:55:00.000-06:00

A friend asked me to make a quilt from some of her daughter's baby clothes. I thought this was a really cute pattern to use for the little 5" squares I cut from all the little dresses and rompers. I used a really light pink to bind the quilt and my friend and her daughter loved it!

2010-11-17T08:19:00.000-06:00

I just put a great roasted veggie sandwich recipe on my other blog, My Blue Kitchen. Check it out!

Our Fall Mantle

2010-11-14T14:24:00.005-06:00

I love our fall leaves and paper mache pumpkins on the mantle with the afternoon sun streaming in. Do you see the framed prints? Aren't they great? They came from here and here. Just download, print and frame. She had one for Halloween too and I'm hoping she has something Christmas themed.

And this is another print from the same website. Another easy Fall decoration. I had all three printed at Costco for pennies and used some of the frames I already had around the house. Be sure to follow her directions for dowloading so you get the best quality prints.

I was out shopping this weekend and saw lots of Christmas decorations but I'm just not ready to think about that yet. Thanks to Becki at Just the Three of Us for sharing these.

Clown

2010-11-14T06:41:00.000-06:00

We have been watching the PBS documentary series on the Big Apple Circus. It has inspired C. to play clown alot lately.

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T09:08:00.002-05:00

Two Wheelin

2010-09-28T20:33:00.000-05:00

Somebody finally let us take off the training wheels this week!

Today and Always.....

2010-09-23T09:42:00.000-05:00

...they will be the best of friends.

Random Digital Layouts

2010-09-18T14:56:00.000-05:00

I am still dabbling in digital scrapbooking using some templetes and kits I've downloaded recently. I used an Ali Edwards templete for this quick little page with photos from a trip to the lake last spring.

I did this to simply document my love for cooking.

This was a kit I used to create a page using this photo which was enhanced using a Pioneer Woman 70's Photoshop Action.

And this was another templete I used to drop a photo from this summer's trip to CA and a simple text box.

Our Little Buckaroo

2010-09-18T14:32:00.002-05:00

2010-09-10T12:48:00.000-05:00

This is a premade digital kit I used to document some of our photos from a trip to TN to visit family.

Remembering the Alamo

2010-09-06T10:06:00.000-05:00

This is a new layout about our trip to the Alamo last fall during a trip down to San Antonio.

2010-09-01T18:30:00.001-05:00

A layout about Madison's first trip to the Memphis Zoo.

2010-09-01T18:18:00.000-05:00

I found these proofs from a photo session we took Madison to at Sears when she was about 2 1/2. Journaling is about how afraid she was of getting her picture made and when we got a flyer for Sears that had a teddy bear background we took her and her favorite bear and she let us get photos as long as her bear was in there with her.

2nd grade Christmas Party

2010-08-31T13:10:00.000-05:00

I participated in a challenge over on the Club CK forums to scrap a photo from my school days.

6th Birthday Party Album

2010-08-29T08:05:00.001-05:00

We had a BIG birthday bash for my son's 6th birthday at a local farm. The theme was loosely based on John Deere and colors were yellow and green. I got so many awesome pictures I decided to make an album to commemorate the ocassion.

When I scrapbook an event I like to get everything gathered and done with or else it will languish in half-finished land forever. I also like to keep it SUPER SIMPLE. In this album I mostly used only 4x6 pictures without much cropping or resizing. I used some simple green and yellow papers, letters, ribbona, and embellishments including the yellow and green bandanas I used for table decorations.

I used a Bright Green 3 ring album. I included all of the extra pictures in divided page protectors in the back.

A couple of quick scrapbooking sessions and I had a complete album!

These are just a few of the pages that were included:

Title Page

Invitation

California 2010

2010-08-01T11:21:00.000-05:00

We spent a week in Southern California visiting Disneyland, the beach and California City where we used to live. A fabulous time was had by all.

Nesting

2010-04-10T08:08:00.000-05:00

We have a visitor nesting in our patio light fixture.

Shrimp Etouffee

2010-01-12T10:38:00.003-06:00

{photo from Food Network}

This is the best Etouffee we've had in a long time. Served over rice it was the hit of the weekend.

FAMILY

2010-01-07T10:14:00.002-06:00

A quick scrapbooky fold up I made from a kit from Cosmo Cricket.

2010-01-06T20:18:00.002-06:00

We decided that Cullen was ready for his own Nintendo DS for Christmas this year. He had found his sister's old pink one and had been playing with it for months. So we thought a more masculine red one would be appreciated. It has been a big hit. The Star Wars Lego game has been the most popular so far.

Afternoon Snack

2010-01-06T08:17:00.002-06:00

One of our favorite snacks to make after school. Easy peasy. Make up a boxed brownie mix and pour into pan. Then mix up some chocolate chip cookie dough mix or used a roll of refrigerated cookie dough and drop onto brownie batter. Bake and you have the best of both brownies and cookies!

Ok let's try this again...

2010-01-03T13:26:00.005-06:00

Another year.... another attempt at a 365 photography project. Last year's attempt kind of puttered out about March. Lots of reasons. Broken laptop. Busy life. But I am going to try again and put less pressure on myself. Some weeks will be a weekly summary with only a couple of photos.

http://www.toodlebuggs.blogspot.com/

2009-12-04T10:25:00.002-06:00

**UPDATED***
Here's a portion of one of the garlands waiting to be added to and hung.

I've been crocheting these little circles in Christmas colors to make a garland. I just keep adding circles since they are so quick and addictive! Will post a picture when I finally stop and hang it.

2009-12-03T13:30:00.002-06:00

My favorite lunch right now.

Romaine * apple slices * blue cheese crumbles * pecans * Kraft Asian Sesame Dressing

San Antonio

2009-11-25T14:36:00.002-06:00

The kids are out of school the whole week of Thanksgiving this year so we took the opportunity to slip away for a few days down to San Antonio for some fun. We needed the time away just for family time. Some mexican food on the Riverwalk, Sea World to visit Shamu, hotel indoor pool, the Alamo. It was great!

Fall Sports

2009-10-11T15:57:00.002-05:00

Fall Tball and Soccer are keeping us busy every week. We love seeing them both having fun doing their favorite sports.

Meyer Lemon Tree

2009-10-07T11:30:00.003-05:00

My lemons are ripening!
I have already gotten 1 lemon off my tree and there are about 8 more turning yellow.
Is 9 lemons a year considered a good harvest??

Hand Puppets

2009-10-07T11:24:00.006-05:00

These Martha Stewart hand puppet kits are so great. Cullen has collected all of them over the past month. Each kit comes with complete supplies for about 4 animal hand puppets. And they are so easy to do. All of the facial features/tails/ears etc. have adhesive backs so the kids can just peel and stick. Cullen needed very little help making these. We now have about 14 puppets made.

New Scrap Crochet Throw

2009-10-05T07:20:00.003-05:00

This thing is huge! I used all my odd balls of leftover yarn from years of projects. I think the dog might have claimed it for his own.

My Little Bullrider turns 6

2009-09-15T17:54:00.006-05:00

It's been a zoo around here lately

2009-07-12T07:39:00.002-05:00

All seen in the backyard in the last 2 days.

I am living.....

2009-07-11T17:07:00.002-05:00

on the surface of the sun apparently.

2009-07-08T08:20:00.003-05:00

If you love photography you need to go to the ClickInMom's website I have linked over on my sidebar. If you choose to join use the coupon code FRIEND until July 31 and get 20% off the membership fee (which is really low already!).

I love their forums and have already learned so much about Photoshop and taking better pictures.

Freezer Corn

2009-07-03T13:43:00.004-05:00

When corn is 10 cents an ear at the market, freezer corn is on the agenda.

Squash Pickles

2009-07-03T13:06:00.002-05:00

8 c. thinly sliced yellow squash

2 c. thin onion slices

2 c. vinegar

3 1/2 c. sugar

2 tsp. celery seed

2 tsp. mustard seed

1/4 c. salt

Put sliced squash and onions in bowl or plastic pan and sprinkle 1/4 cup salt over them. Let stand for 1 hour. Pour off water that accumulated.
Combine vinegar, sugar, celery seed and mustard seed; just bring to a boil. Add squash and onions. Bring to a boil again and cook 5-10 minutes. Fill clean canning jars. Pour vinegar mixture over pickles and seal. Makes about 5 pint jars.

2009-06-15T09:50:00.003-05:00

Off to Tennessee to visit grandparents and friends.

Go see the movie UP. It's the best we've seen in a looong time.

I'm so excited to have some small lemons coming along on my new Meyer Lemon Tree. I'm so happy I saw Katie's and got one of my own.

Scrapbooking alot. Also knitting again.

Tale of the Tape

2009-06-15T09:47:00.003-05:00

It occured to me the other day when I saw this on the table.... two kinds of tape that describe what I've been up to.... blue painters tape because I've been painting kids rooms.... and medical tape cause I am a klutz and kicked a large rock in the front yard flower bed and broke my little pinky toe.

Coon Skin Cap

2009-05-28T22:48:00.001-05:00

I think our summer just got a little more fun!

2009-05-13T09:04:00.002-05:00

So a quick trip to Fort Worth to window shop for campers and a couple hours later we come home with this. Can you say EXCITED KIDS?
I grew up camping in a pop up camper so i can't wait to show the kids the fun. No more tent. We are up off the ground! And I have a fridge, sink and stove. We are going to christen it this weekend at the local TX state park.

2009-05-06T13:26:00.002-05:00

They apparently have been talking about the Swine Flu in Kindergarten

Cullen while riding home from school this week, "Mom, I know about that swine flu, it's from everybody putting their fingers up their noses and touching the doorknobs."

2009-04-23T19:47:00.001-05:00

Enjoying the first of the lettuce from the backyard garden with some fresh salmon off the grill.

2009-04-14T22:45:00.002-05:00

I finally decided it's time to stay home with the kids. Gave notice at work... bought summer passes to the local water park... I'm ready.

Scary but exciting. Big change for me. But I'm not worried.... I have my own personal superhero watching over me.

Tomatoes are coming!

2009-04-05T20:04:00.001-05:00

Finally......

2009-04-04T08:38:00.004-05:00

I've probably never mentioned that I studied Photography as a minor in college. I've always loved taking pictures. I still have this old Pentax that my dad bought me in high school. The black vinyl cover is peeling off and there's only one lens that still works. The metering is shot and I never know how many pictures I've taken because the counter quit working years ago.

I did a summer internship at a small community newspaper as the lone staff photographer with this camera. I took hundreds of photos that summer. Car wrecks, 4H winners, county fair rides and soccer games. I learned to develop my own film and discovered my love for black and white photography. I even had several people purchase prints of my photos.

In recent years I've always just bought simple point and shoot digital cameras gradually getting more and more megapixels. But every once in a while I would dig out the old manual, buy some film (which is getting harder to find) and remember the old fashion thrill of not knowing what you've got until you get the film developed.

I've been yearning for a nice digital that I could also use manually just like the old pentax. Of course, as most things go, there were always other things I could spend that money on and I would just pass by the cameras and be content with what I had.

Well I'm making some changes around here (more about that later .... all good) and I've decided that I want to cultivate my photography and try to do more with it.

So, yesterday I bit the bullet and went and bought this with all the accessories.

I'm in love. I've already been outside this morning stalking the kids on the swing set.

13

2009-03-13T21:17:00.005-05:00

{several years ago at Disneyland}

She turned 13. What can I say? A teenager. My little girl is gone and in her place I find a poised, confident young woman.

This year has brought:

lip gloss...curling iron...abocrombie and fitch...same size shoe as me...talk of who likes which boy in school...dangly earrings...her own cell phone...first Coach purse...jr. national honor society...golf team...cross country team...new jr. high friends...contact lenses...Itouch...

I couldn't ask for any better.

A Sick Girls Best Friend

2009-03-11T10:36:00.002-05:00

Bath Time

2009-01-21T13:46:00.000-06:00

1 can of Spiderman shaving cream + 5 minutes of unsupervised bathtime

2009-01-10T17:44:00.003-06:00

I am participating in the 365 Project. I'm taking one picture every day and at the end of year I will have a scrapbook with 365 pictures of our everyday life. I started another blog to post my pictures everyday.

http://www.toodlebuggs.blogspot.com/

(the photo above is of the scrabble tiles I bought off Ebay to teach Cullen spelling)

2009-01-05T12:49:00.001-06:00

Some baby hats made on commission for friends. Again, I made extras cause they were so cute.

Bibs

2009-01-04T12:43:00.001-06:00

I made several bibs for one of Cullen's friends new baby sister. I had tons of the fabric left so I made extras.

Tale of the Dishtowel

2009-01-02T14:59:00.006-06:00

Dear Cullen,

So suppose one day after school you and your older sister were trying to get a snack together and BEHAVE while Mom tried to finish up some work in the back of the house. So you think it would be funny if you pretended to pour your orange juice on your sister's leftover spaghetti she's heating up. Well of course you wouldn't expect same sister, tired of your 5 year old sense of humor, to grab a dishtowel and "flick" it at you to make you stop. Considering the dfference in height between the two of you the towel would be aimed smack dab at your right eye. When Mom hears the wailing coming from the kitchen she of course is more concerned with finding out why there is screaming while she's trying to work and less about why you are laying in the floor wailing. After you refuse to open your eye for over 5 minutes and the tears haven't slowed down then maybe Mom might decide to actually look at your eye to see what all the fuss is about. That's when she notices that the pretty blue part of your eye that she's always loved is quickly filling up with blood. So while you are still screaming you find yourself being hauled to the ER at the local hospital. Oh yeah, your sister is now wailing too cause she's figured out that the little burst of sibling temper might have been a little more serious than she thought. The nice doctor at the ER makes you show him the eye and asks you if you can see anything. You try really hard but finally say NO, not really. So now everyone is wailing and you are back in the car on your way to Ft. Worth to the BIG children's hospital ER. Daddy meets you there and you quickly decide that he's going to be the calm one in the bunch. A very special eye doctor decides that you might need surgery so they said you couldn't eat anything. You are hungry and make it known that you aren't too happy. Even if you couldn't see the food at this point anyway. After lots of nurses, doctor's, free toys and a special metal eye patch you finally get to go home and sleep in your own bed. You are really glad you don't need surgery and only have a hyphema. Mom's really glad to hear that you can't go to school or bend over or really do anything but sit on the couch for a whole week! Over the next 3 weeks you get to go see that eye doctor so many times you've memorized the eye charts in her office and know the only way to get into their prime sticker drawer is to cooperate when they are shoving big machines into your eye. Thankfully you can see out of the eye again and the only lasting damage is a life long high risk of glaucoma in your eye. You of course, being 5 and the most caring, thoughtful little brother have decided that your sister will never live this down and are taking every opportunity to tell friends, family and strangers that "my sister killed my eye".

Is This Just a Southern Thing?

2009-01-01T12:58:00.004-06:00

Sausage and Cheese Balls

1 lb sausage

2 cups shredded chedder cheese

2 cups Bisquick

Mix all together until COMPLETELY blended (I do it by hand but a stand mixer with a paddle would be best).

Roll into small, bitesize balls and place on cookie sheet.

Freeze on cookie sheet until frozen. When firm, put in ziploc bag and store in freezer.

When ready to cook, pop as many as you want onto a cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees until cooked through and crispy. Drain on paper towels.

Now sit down and enjoy these heavenly bites while the fat clogs every artery in your body.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2009-01-01T12:55:00.000-06:00

2008 Christmas Card Photo