Finally Back Where I Belong

It seems that in the couple of weeks that I was out of commission in blog land I managed to miss two major holidays and loads of great stuff. There were so many things I wanted to share, I just didn't have the time...or the brain power. We got a different computer and I couldn't get my pictures to load onto the blog. The pace is slower this week and I was able to slow down long enough to work the kinks out on the computer. Sweet, sweet normalcy.

The major cause of my busy-ness was with the school. I am president of the parent volunteer group at our elementary school and last week was Teacher Appreciation Week. We had something different planned for each day and we made a couple of the gifts for the week.



Here are the cakes from Thursday's Cake and Coffee time. One of the moms sells cakes and did them for us. Didn't she do a great job?

We've misplaced the cord to our industrial size coffee pot, so I had to make many, many little pots of coffee that day. Do you have any idea how long it takes a pot of coffee to brew when you've got a line of ladies waiting? FOREVER!

This is the outside of one of the boxes we made. They were waiting for the teachers on Monday. Each one was a little different. We used those clear plastic crafting boxes with all the compartments. Each compartment was filled with a teacher necessity--rubber bands, paper clips, hand sanitizer, chocolate... We purchased one big book of scrapbook paper and used it to cover the boxes.

The infamous candles. We made over 90. When I went to Meredith's Mother's Day Brunch on Friday each child had drawn of their mom and told what their job was. What did Meredith say? "My mom makes candles." And there was a picture of me surrounded by lots and lots of monagrammed candles.


The leftover paper from our scrapbooking box tops got shredded to make the straw in the bags. (We volunteer moms are thrifty.) The little tag on the bag says, "Thank you for letting your light shine in the hearts of our children."

I'll show you how to make the candles later in the week--super easy. Except when you're doing 93.


Other things we did during the week--

Monday--breakfast from Chick-Fil-A, survival boxes pictured above

Tuesday--salad luncheon (that was a big success, a definite thing to do again)

Wednesday--monogrammed candles

Thursday--cake and coffee

Friday--gift cards and notes from students

We also had daily drawings for teachers and staff of things we'd collected from area businesses. One of the big prizes on Friday was a 1/2 day sub (time off) for two of the teachers. When I went in the class and told the first grade teacher she'd won a 1/2 day sub she got so excited she jumped up and down and squealed. One of the little boys in her class asked, "Why is she so excited about a sandwich?"

That's a little of my time away. I'll share some more later. Have a wonderful Monday. It's great to be back, I've missed you all!

Wanna Swap?

I'm in the mood to do something a little different...and apparently in the mood for something crafty. I want to try a swap. For those of you who know me well, that'll be a surprise. I can be crafty and I am (surprise to myself) good at the stuff I do. I am just the most procrastinating crafty person there is. I have all these crafty intentions, even put it on my 'to do' list everyday. And that's where it stays. To do. (Although I DID make something the other day I'll have to show y'all in another post that's a little strange and a lot adorable.)

So I'm calling on all of you (and others you want to tell) to let's try somethings new. No matter if you're crafty or artistic or just in the mood for a challenge.

Here's what I'm calling it: SPRING CLEANING SWAP/CHALLENGE Rules:

1. Go through all those things you've collected to create with but haven't got around to.


2. Get one of those small 'all you can cram in for one price' boxes at the post office.


3. Fill it with all the bits you want to use in the swap/challenge--anything, everything.


4. Here's the twist (and the challenge). You're getting back your stuff. The person who receives the box has to take the materials they find and create something with it. And don't worry, the things in the picture above aren't necessarily the things I'd send you. They're just a few random things I pulled from my craft cabinet.


5. They mail it back to you. This way, you know you'll love the colors/style of what you get because they are things you picked out. You don't have to use the same size box to mail it back in and you can add something from your craft closet to complete the project if needed.


6. You get the fun of having something made for you that you never got around to and in a way that you wouldn't have thought to do.


7. You get the challenge of creating (in a time limit to prod us procrastinators) from a box of unexpected materials. It'll stretch your craftiness and your imagination.

So what do you say? You'll have until May 1st to let me know you want in on the swap. On May 1st I'll email you with your address. Box up your supplies and send them out right away. You'll have until June 1st to return your box.

Clean out those supplies and start making a pile of stuff to use.

Prepare to 'think outside the box'.

I'll try to get my techno guru (help Jen!) to work on a swap button we can post.

Visit the other people at http://suelovescherries.blogspot.com/ and see what crazy ideas they've come up with.

Talkin' Turkey This Tuesday

Projects, Projects, Projects...and a Few More Pictures

I shouldn't have said anything about looking for a project to do. I was talking about a decorating project. But we're bogged down in school projects. Here's Jack's cake of Australia. Last night I couldn't get the Ayer's Rock to look right and gave up and used a plastic one. This morning my husband suggested a Rice Krispie treat, so there I was at 5 a.m. icing a "rock". Last night I also filmed Riley's "infommercial" for his book report and helped with the layout of his Venn's diagram on 12th century Korea.
Y'all better really love this picture. I went through great peril to bring it to you. I was standing there taking this and looked down at a bush next to me--there was the biggest, fattest snake. You've never seen a girl walk backward so fast!

That's it for me today. I'm off to do some more spring cleaning and sew a turkey costume for tomorrow night's talent show. A mom's schoolwork is never done.

Little Pink Christmas Tree

Here's another Christmas tree we have. This is Meredith's. It's mostly pink and I thought it'd be fun to share it on Pink Saturday. It's a little tabletop tree, only about 2 feet tall, and it sits on her dresser. I used a small pink yo-yo quilt for the tree skirt. If you are looking for pink ideas for Christmas, be sure to visit all the posts at http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/


This is the button garland I made last year. I love the way it turned out, but if I did it again, I'd be sure to use ribbon with flexible wire to make it easier to position (the buttons are heavy and have a mind of their own).


Bubbles and balls and stars, oh my. The pretty stars are handbeaded by my friend Melitta. Each one takes her about two hours.


She also made this little angel I'm using for a topper. It's actually a pin to wear, but I thought she belonged on the tree.

And here's a little bird perched on the tree, a gift from my sweet friend Joey.

Have a wonderful PINK Christmas!

School Daze

It was back to school today at our house already. Might as well, it's too hot to do anything else. Here's everyone as we're getting ready to go. Hopefully they'll still be this eager later in the year (a mama can dream). Meredith's report from her first day of school--it was the best day of her whole life because she made new friends, the teacher made her color the circles red and wouldn't let her pick her own colors, recess only lasted five seconds, and she couldn't understand why they didn't let her call me on their cell phone when she did a perfect 'e' at school. She said, "I raised my hand and everything, and they still didn't let me call." The report from fourth and sixth grades were good as well, just not quite as colorful. The guy version of the first day of school--"fine".

Here is a little something else we made for school. It's Meredith's kindermat cover and blanket for naptime (she was the only one who didn't sleep, of course).



It's Friday, so we've got our study to do. Today's instruction--"serving the Lord". Keep in mind from our past weeks, our reason for loving. There are people who are hard to love. There are times when we're tired or upset and we don't feel like showing love. But the key to choosing to show love is to remember the purpose behind it. Let's take a look at someone who understood this well. Read Acts 20:18-20. "You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into province of Asia. I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, although I was severely tested by the plots of the Jews. You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house."

How did Paul serve the Lord? He did it with all humility and with tears and trials. If anyone had a reason not to feel like loving other people it was him! This was a man who was beaten, stoned, plotted against, thrown in prison. But he kept coming back for more because loving others enough to tell them about Christ and strengthen other believers was his way of serving the Lord. He had been greatly loved. He had been shown much forgiveness. Therefore, he was willing to show great love through much hardship.

We too have been greatly loved. We too have been shown much forgiveness. We to have a reason to serve the Lord.

Coloring Outside the Lines (I mean bag)

We're off to spend the day with Granny today and hopefully finish up the school clothes shopping. How nice it is for her to live around the corner from an outlet mall. Nice visit, nice prices.

I thought I'd share with y'all a little something I'm working on for the PTO. We're having a PTO breakfast on the first day of school for the kindergarten and pre-k moms. It's called the BooHoo WooHoo Breakfast. I drew a little picture and we're putting it on notepads to go in their goody bags. Me and my obsessively match-y tendencies just has to draw the pictures on the goody bags too. I thought they turned out cute. I did them in sparkly crayon on little brown lunch bags. Have a great day!

Monday Mess-Up Confess-Up

It's rose petal jelly...no, it's rose petal syrup...no, it's rose petal water...no, it's down the drain.

That's right. I totally messed up somehow on my jelly. I got up early Saturday morning and picked my roses for the jelly, pruning my rose bushes while I was at it. I came in and got started on the jelly. Somewhere between prepping my jars, supervising the boys' weedeating work, talking with the census worker, and fixing kiddie breakfasts, I did something wrong with the jelly.

It looked great, it smelled great, it had such a pretty color. I poured it in the jars. All the little tops popped like they're supposed to. Then I noticed that it wasn't as thick as I wanted. Later I consulted a canning expert (aka my mother-in-law). She said some things that don't have a lot of natural pectin require longer cooking. She suggested cooking it in the jars a little longer. The result, the runny jelly became pretty colored water. I think I cooked a little too long.

The moral of the story: Never promise jelly until you have said jelly already done and, never attempt jelly making on a Saturday morning. Never fear though, I'll try round two.

The weekend wasn't a total loss though. I did manage to put a big batch of pears in the freezer. And, I dabbled in being a bit creative. I was inspired by Sherry over at Blessings from our Nest. I added her great blog to my list of Favorite Things. You can link to it over on the right. I'm not a scrapbooker, but I do have some scrapbook supplies that I used to snazz up my PTO manual and customize Jack's notebook for school. We could only find white in the size he needed and I couldn't stand it being that plain. Thankfully we had some papers that were the school colors. I thought it turned out great.

The menus for the week:
Monday--Marinated Lemon Chicken, Garlic & Herb Pasta, Hidden Pear Salad, Rolls, Peas
Tuesday--Ham, Creamed Corn, Green Beans, Sliced Tomatoes, Rolls
Wednesday--French Toast, Sausage, Scrambled Eggs
Thursday--Cranberry Glazed Pork Loin, Mashed Potatoes & Gravy, Carrots with Honey
Friday--Chili Dogs, Macaroni & Cheese, Fresh Fruit
Saturday--Pizza
Sunday--Leftovers

I'll be back later today with the recipes...off to the pool.

Strawberry Picking

I think you can tell where we've been again. We were at the strawberry patch with our friends Haley, Kate, and Judah. The kids had a great time picking out the perfect ones and fun eating them once we got home. It's always great to spend time with friends. I was afraid the picking would be sparse today, but there were still plenty of strawberries there and the lady told us they'll still be open through the end of May. We may need to have strawberry picking, round three.

I guess I'd better give an update/confession on the diet progression. I weighed this morning and am still at exactly eight pounds lost. Before you congratulate me on at least staying at the same place, please know that number has fluctuated back up rather often. I have been terrible about sticking to the no flour/no sugar rules. In fact, my day last Friday consisted of doughnuts for breakfast, doughnuts in a meeting, cupcake for lunch, pizza and birthday cake for supper. It's a miracle I didn't go into some kind of sugar coma! There it is all laid out for you. I probably just lost a few more pounds from all that guilt I'd been carrying around.

I haven't forgotten about being creative. I have actually made a few attempts at drawing something and then quickly through it in the trash. I seem to be suffering from some sort of creativity block. Maybe I'd do better with guidelines, someone telling what I should make. Any ideas on what I should do?

Tuesday Show and Tell

Hello everyone, hope your Tuesday is going well. Ours is very rainy. It's a good day for getting housework done. It sure needed it! I'm gonna fix y'all a little post and then get back to my vacuuming duties. Then, I'm on to Meredith's room. If you don't hear from me again, you'll know I'm buried under all her stuff. I'd love it if someone could share some suggestions for corralling Barbie doo-dads. There are a thousand little outfits, and purses, and the tiniest shoes. You can hardly see them until you step on them and then "ouch".

Yesterday I was mentioning moms. Today I'm answering a request from my mom. Apparently she thinks I speak too critically of my creative/crafty skills, and she supplied me with an example to share with you all of something else I've done. This is a little pillow I made for her for Christmas. I'm not an avid cross-stitcher, but when I saw this pattern I knew it was the thing for her. There's a picture of her when she's young and she's sitting on a bench with birds around her and she wearing a shirt that's the same color blue. The pattern book had some other things I'd like to try in it too. Maybe I will be a cross-stitcher after all. Anyway, here's my show and tell. .

Chair Recover with Vintage Pillowcases

I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to write yesterday. I missed you all. The garden and yard were calling my name. There were plants to find homes for and vegetables to water, pruning, weeding, putting out pinestraw. The list could go on.

Today is a new day and I've got lots to share. I guess I got braver after my first attempt at creativity (homely though it was--maybe we'll just call it homespun, that has a little more flair). I had a project in my mind and decided to go for it. After a furious vacuuming and dusting session this morning, I settled down to recover my desk chair. I tried to document it for you. I only used a couple of vintage pillowcases that I had in the closet and some buttons from my pail. I sewed them on, slipped them over, and that was that. Now I'm contemplating what my next project could be. Oh yeah, I've still got to get material for that dress.


Here's my desk chair that I started with and a couple of vintage pillowcases that my mom picked up for me at a yardsale.



I took apart the seat. It was just a matter of flipping in over and unscrewing it from the frame. I simply stuffed the cushion into the case like it was a pillow, reached underneath and adjusted the fabric to suit me, and then screwed it back to the base. I left the decorative edge of the pillowcase hanging down like a little skirt in front. I thought I'd taken a picture of it, but I must have forgotten.

Next, I picked a few buttons from my jar of extras to embellish the top and help to hold it steady.


I wanted to show y'all this sweet little button. It's an extra from some buttons my grandmother used to make me a dress when I was a little girl. I guess I must have been thinking of my Granny when I made this project, because I also used a button that went to a dress she wore. Now I'll think of her each time I sit at my desk to work or create.


Here again is the finished product. A cute addition to my room.

I also need to give you tonight's recipe. Before I do, let me mention that the Cheesy Chili Soup was a big hit with my family, especially the kids. They loved the dallop of sour cream. They thought it was the greatest thing to get to swirl it and stir it in. Who knew? I'm going to have to remember that trick for other recipes too. Tonight is Pineapple Burgers. They are wonderful. I tried this recipe right after we got married and we've eaten it for many years. It came from a very old Betty Crocker cookbook for cooking for two. I've tweaked it over the years to make it easier. Here's my version of "Betty's" recipe.

Pineapple Burgers with Spicy Sauce
Hint--when you pat out hamburgers for the grill, make them big and thin. Better to have a raw patty that looks like a pancake because it'll draw up as it cooks into the size you want. Otherwise, you end up with those tiny, really fat burgers that look more like meatballs.

1 small jar pineapple rings 1/2 c. ketchup
1 lb ground beef 2 Tbsp. prepared mustard
1/2 c. brown sugar

Drain pineapple. Divide meat and pat out into 4 thin patties. Place burgers on grill or broiler and cook to desired doneness, around 5 minutes on each side. Grill pineapple slices for two minutes. In a small saucepan, blend brown sugar, ketchup, and mustard. Simmer 2-3 minutes. Top burgers with grilled pineapple and serve with sauce.

By the way, does anyone know what I can do with lemon balm? I've got a big beautiful bush full and would like to use it in some way. It smells so great. I'd like to do something more than just keep breaking it off to smell it.

On the diet front, I've been a very naughty girl. We went out for a Dairy Queen Blizzard the other night. How was I supposed to resist that? Then I made a nice chocolate dessert to go in the kids' lunchboxes. I had to try it to see if it was any good. I wouldn't want to send them to school with something yucky (wink, wink). Someone needs to mail me a little package of motivation.

Have a great weekend!

Tried and True

Has anyone been trying the recipes? What did you think of them? We had the Chicken Pecan last night and the Fruit Medley. We were the guinea pig family last night. They were both great. For the chicken recipe, I left out the celery and peppers so it was a little more kid friendly. It was total comfort food, a definite to add to my keeper box. The fruit recipe too. I thought at first I wasn't going to like it because the sour cream/honey mixture smelled pretty strong, but it was great. The only thing I did differently was to mix everything together instead of spooning the sauce over it. The sauce was fairly runny and it just seemed simpler to combine it all. It gave the fruit the chance to absorb some of the flavor of the sauce and I really liked the outcome.

Tonight we're moving on to try another new recipe, Chili Soup, that I gave you the recipe for yesterday. Here's the recipe for tomorrow. It requires marinating time. It says 4-6 hours and that should be fine if you are substituting beef, but I've always found when cooking venison it is always better to marinate it for an entire day. So, mine is going to start marinating today.

Elk Tenderloin
I cut this recipe out of my Paula Deen magazine. I am going to substitute venison for the elk and cut the recipe in half because my tenderloin is smaller.

1 c. soy sauce 1 tsp. garlic powder
1 c. Worcestershire sauce 1 tsp. onion powder
1/2 c. olive oil 1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. dried thyme 1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. rubbed sage 6 lb. elk tenderloin

In a large bowl, whisk together soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, oil, and spices until well combined. In a large zip-top plastic bag, place tenderloin. Add soy sauce mixture; seal bag and place in a large bowl. Marinate for 4 to 6 hours in the refrigerator. Grill or bake in oven at 400 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until desired degree of doneness. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.


Twice-Baked Potatoes
Not sure about this recipe, I think it came from my mother-in-law. I just know it's yummy. I substitute onion powder for the chopped onions.

6 baking potatoes 1 Tbsp. snipped chives
1/2 c. butter, softened 1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. milk (or 1/2 & 1/2) dash of pepper
3 Tbsp. crumbled, cooked bacon 1 1/2 c. cheddar cheese, divided
3 Tbsp. finely chopped onion paprika

Bake potatoes at 375 degrees for 1 hour or until soft. Allow to cool. Cut a thin slice off the top. Scoop out pulp into a bowl; add butter and mash. Add milk, bacon, onion, chives, salt, pepper, and 1 c. of cheese. Spoon into potato shells. Top with remaining cheese and sprinkle with paprika. Bake, uncovered, at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Yields 6 servings.


Here is the little creative project I made myself do. To be honest, I was really hating it. I was in there ironing it and asking myself why I'd promised to show y'all, and what in the world I was going to do with it, when inspiration struck. The verses in Philippians popped into my mind as I ironed, and a bookmark was born. I ran and got some spare cardboard (I keep those thin pieces that come in packages, they're great for projects) and inserted it for backing. I'm going to go back and stamp in the verse location near the bottom, Philippians 2:14-15.

"Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life..." Philippians 2:14-15

This experience just proves to me that I need to be more willing to throw things out there and it will work out, I don't have to be pre-perfect. And, how good it is to be accountable to others in order to force me to follow through. Thank you all for pushing me forward.