Friday, December 31, 2010

Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart: A NovelMr. Darcy Broke My Heart: A Novel by Beth Pattillo

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I really liked this book. It was a quick and easy read and I liked the twists at the end of the book. It was an all around good, fun read.
Perfect relaxed read for Christmas vacation.


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Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Gingerbread Houses and a Visit to the Doctor

Today the big kids got to go to Grandma's for a long anticipated chance to make gingerbread houses.  My 18 month old got to stay home and sleep off the effects of a shot to get rid of croup.  Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas without someone needing a last minute trip to the pediatrician.  I'm just glad our trip was several days BEFORE Christmas!

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Tips for Decorating Christmas Cookies with Young Kids

Nothing says holidays like decorating cookies, Christmas especially.  We decorate cookies for most holidays, usually with extended family, but this year it was just me and my older 2 kids and a friend and we had just as much fun.  That is one of the joys of cookie decorating, it is great for any size group.  Here are some tips I have learned over the years of decorating cookies with my students while I was teaching first grade and decorating cookies with my own family. 

1.  Know your limits!  Baking sugar cookies can be fairly difficult.  Don't try to start from scratch all in one day.  Make your cookies the day before you plan on decorating them.  If you are going to bake your own it is absolutely necessary that you chill the dough, it is best if it can chill overnight.  I am convinced this is the secret to getting the cookies to work and keeping yourself from tearing out your hair in frustration.  Realize, you can order unfrosted sugar cookies in almost any shape from nearly every grocery store bakery, all it takes is a simple phone call.  If you live in Utah, Macy's has them for super cheap.  That is all I have done for years.  This summer was the first time I was able to actually get a sugar cookie recipe to work.  My kids don't know the difference all they care about are the sprinkles.

2.  Make your life easy, buy the canned frosting.  I know the homemade usually tastes better, but honestly, by the time your toddler is done dumping sprinkles all over the thing and has licked his or her knife several times, taste is not really going to be a factor.  Simplify!  Buy several tubs of the Betty Crocker stuff and call it good.

3.  When you buy your frosting, always buy the "whipped" frosting for decorating with kids.  It is soooo... much easier to spread.  My personal favorite is the whipped cream cheese frosting.  Then when you get it home, divide it up into multiple bowls and use food coloring to dye it different colors. 

4.  When setting up an area to decorate, realize it will be messy, if you are worried put a dropcloth or old tablecloth under your table.  Sprinkles go everywhere and at least one kid will dump an entire bottle on their cookie.  

5.  Don't buy the peppermint sprinkles, they look cute but are nasty, same with the really cute mini candy pieces they make in holidays shapes.  Stick to tastier things, regular sprinkles and colored sugar, mini chocolate chips (my personal favorite), and m&m's.

6.  When you start, give each child a paper plate with a cookie on it.  Give them their own plastic knife, or if they are really little, use a popsicle stick and then put spoonfuls of frosting on their plate.  This helps prevent licked knives from going into the main bowl of frosting multiple times.

7.  Lower your expectations.  Most little kids will love decorating one, maybe two cookies, then they will either want to eat it or eat the m&m's and be done.  Be okay with that.  Get your camera out right when your child starts decorating and get a couple of good pictures and take a picture of the finished product.  Your child has had a great time and you have the pictures to prove it.  This is the reason I suggest taking the easy way when it comes to the cookies and frosting.  If you haven't spent hours and hours slaving over making the cookies and making the perfect frosting, then you are not going to be mad that only a few cookies got decorated.  If you like baking from scratch and have a recipe you like, then go for it, but realize kids are not really going to appreciate that part and be okay with that, recognize the from scratch part is for you, not for the kids.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Kids Christmas Craft

My four year old is obsessed with crafts.  All day long she begs for crafts to make and if I don't help her come up with things she takes matters into her own hands.  I am all for creativity and I love crafting myself, but when I am not looking the supplies are left everywhere and lets just say crayons, markers, and scissors don't go terrifically with an 18 month old.  Lately I have been going to Hobby Lobby and Michaels and looking for their cheap-o kids craft kits because they require little supervision and any leftover supplies can be tossed in the trash with no guilt.  These beaded candy cane ornaments have been one of the better kits I have found.  I got them at Hobby Lobby, but you don't need the kit at all. 

Supplies:
pipe cleaners
red and white plastic beads (ones that have a similar size hole as the width of the pipe cleaners)
wire cutters (scissors will work, but it dulls them and is harder work)

Instructions:  Fold the bottom of your pipe cleaner so that the beads can't fall off.  String beads onto pipe cleaner in a pattern alternating between red and white.  Fill to almost the top and then bend last little piece of pipe cleaner to hold the beads on and twist into a candy cane shape.  Add to the Christmas tree!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

December Daily Album

I saw Ali Edwards "December Daily" scrapbook project last year and thought it was a great idea, but decided I was way too busy to attempt it.  I saw her posts again this year during the weeks before December began and it got me thinking.  I was worrying a lot about how my broken leg was affecting our holidays and was frustrated with the way it was holding us back from a lot of the activities we normal enjoy.  I was worried that my kids would feel cheated and that I would feel cheated.  Then I started thinking that maybe the craziness of my leg being broken was going to make this one of those Christmas' my kids would never forget, so I decided if that was the case I was going to make it full of as many happy memories as I could and since we were going to be required to take everything more slowly than usual because of my leg, then I was going to make the most of it.  I hurried and put together this simple album.  I bought Ali Edwards' downloadable overlays with each day on them and using paper and supplies that I already had in my stash did a little bit of decorating.  It is not at all fancy, my goal was to make this easy enough that I would actually follow through with it.  I bought a cute 1 inch binder at Target and have tried to make sure I take a picture of something we do for Christmas each day.  If I forget to take a picture, then I make sure I write enough to fill the whole page.  We haven't done big things, but as we are reaching the halfway point of the month of December I am realizing that we have more family traditions than I realized.  I love the fact that when this Christmas is over, my kids will be able to look at this album and actually remember what we did.  Next year we will be able to sit down at a family home evening before the month of December hits and look through our album from 2010 and talk about what things we want to make sure we do again in 2011 and then add any new things we think of.  I am so glad I took the time to do this, I think it will quickly become a family treasure!

Sunday, December 5, 2010

A Little Embroidery

Here's a sneak peak at some embroidery I've been working on lately.  I'm pretty excited about how it is turning out. 

Simplifying Christmas

This year out of necessity I have had to take a good hard look at how to simplify our Christmas.  I still can't drive, which means our activities are limited.  My doctor surpised me this last week and said my bones were healing well enough that this month I could start putting weight on my leg and gradually get rid of the crutches.  He left it up to me how quickly I wanted to try going without crutches.  Amazingly, I am able to go without the crutches already, which has made all the difference to our family.  I am able to use my hands which is a wonderful blessing.  Unfortunately, I am still slow because of the boot and moving around ups the pain some, so I still can't drive.  Anyway, as a result of my limitations, early in November we sat down with the kids and talked about what things were most important to them that we do this holiday season, so we could make sure we did those things.  We explained that some of our normal holiday activities might have to change a little.  For example, we have had a tradition of going to the zoo first thing in the morning on Thanksgiving.  This year the weather was horrible and there was tons of snow I just couldn't get around well enough to attempt it so we decided to put it off until next year, but we made sure that we stuck with our tradition the night before Thanksgiving to get new Christmas jammies and watch Elf together. 
We had cut back in a big way on our decorating.  As much as I love Christmas decorations, they are completely overwhelming to me this year.  Everything requires so much more effort, so we put out the most important things and I have had to learn to take a step back.  We had to break down and buy a new tree this year and when I sent my husband to buy it, the one he came home with had colored lights.  I have always hated colored lights.  I am an all white light person, but my husband didn't even look at the box to see what kind of lights were on the tree.  I wasn't about to send him hauling it back, plus it was a Black Friday sale.  Well, I have discovered my kids love the colored lights.  They are thrilled and as I think about it, that is so much more important.  The same sort of thing with the ornaments.  Normally, I spend the whole time we are decorating the tree trying to move the ornaments around so everything is even and looks best.  This time, I sat at the table and handed ornaments to kids  (making sure my 18 month old got the right ones) and let the kids do all the work.  Once again, they were thrilled.  I hope in the future I can remember this Christmas and try and worry less about the unimportant things.

The picture on this post is of some of those cheap-o chocolate advent calendars.  In an effort to try and make each day special in way that would work for me this year, I asked my mother-in-law to pick one of these up for each of my children.  They cost next to nothing, but they have been perfect for my little children.  Even my 18 month old can participate in this tradition.  I don't know why I haven't done these before.  I guess I have been too busy trying to come up with all kinds of grandiose Christmas activities to have time to think of something so simple.  These will definitely be a new family tradition.

At the moments when I find myself starting to freak out about all the things I can't do this year, I am consciously trying to focus on the things I can do.  I am trying to enjoy the slower pace, the quiet time I am spending sitting around in the living room with my babies.  The opportunity we have to really focus on our favorite tradition of reading different Christmas stories throughout the month of December.  I am grateful for the many visits from friends and family and joy that brings both me and my kids.  My 4 year old leaned over to me in church today and asked me who was coming to visit us today.  I said that no one was and she said, maybe someone will decide they really miss us and come to see us.  She said it so matter of factly that it was obvious that she feels like all the people dropping by are doing it because they care so much about her.  Isn't it amazing how even a 4 year old picks up on love!  I am so grateful for answered prayers and a knowledge of a Heavenly Father who loves me and my little family and the knowledge that his hand is in my daily life.

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Saturday, November 27, 2010

A New Fireplace

I'm kicking myself for not taking a before picture of this, but previously, my fireplace was that seventies white lava rock, you know the stuff that people used to put in their parking strip as zeroscaping, just bigger rocks.  I have hated it from the moment I set foot in this house for the first time.  It was one of those things that I really had to convince myself to overlook when we bought the house.  I'm sure it was fine when the house was built, but I cannot for the life of me figure out why it was ever the style.  It was so uneven that there was no possibility for a mantle, which is the only thing I really want for a fireplace and everytime we tried to use the fire itself, it would shoot black soot all over the rock.  Unfortunately, the fact that we bought an old house has meant that there are a million projects that need to get done, so this one has been on the back burner for awhile.

I have to say, at the moment I am completely convinced that my husband is "Superman".  I am still hobbling around on crutches and essentially useless when it comes to pretty much anything!  I can't carry anything, I can't chase after the 18 month old (she outruns me in a second...stinkin' crutches), I can't even get her out of bed if she wakes up during the night.  I can empty the dishwasher or do the dishes, but it takes so long it makes everyone crazy to watch.  Laundry is another task that I can do, but it requires large amounts of help with carrying and moving.  Even getting the kids bathed and showered is a problem because the steam from the bathroom makes the tile floor so slippery that my crutches are completely treacherous.  Needless to say, my husband is picking up massive amounts of slack for me.  He has always amazed me with the fact that he is not a complainer, but with this situation it has completely blown me away.  Never once has he complained that he comes home from work and has to do all the stuff that I normally do.  He walks in the door and is kind of like a machine.  He knows once we have eaten dinner he has to get dinner cleaned up and kids bathed and then we divide up reading out loud to the kids and he gets everyone tucked in.  He usually manages to get some laundry started and fetch and carry all the stuff I need, like ice or phones or my ipad. 

Why am I telling you this, well you have to know how surprised I was this weekend when he said he was still planning on tearing out the rock on the fireplace.  We had planned this project before I had my accident and had found a carpenter to help us with the finish work, but honestly, I figured it would all have to be put on hold until I could help or at least until I was more help with keeping the kids out of the way.  Not so, my husband and his dad knocked out all the rocks today and cleaned up all the mess.  I am completely amazed!  All there is now is a cinderblock wall and I am so excited I can't see straight.  It is going to make such a difference to the look of my front room! 

Sunday, November 21, 2010

The Frog Princess (Tales of the Frog Princess, #1)The Frog Princess by E.D. Baker

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


My friend recommended this book. She has 3 daughters and told me it was a must have for my two girls as they get older. The story was darling. A perfect little fairy tale. It is supposedly the story Disney based the movie "The Princess and the Frog" around. Unfortunately, Disney chose not to follow very closely. I wish they had followed the book exactly. It would have made for a much better movie. I'm anxious to pick up the sequels.



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Friday, November 19, 2010

A Turkey for ThanksgivingA Turkey for Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Thanksgiving books are so hard to find. I would really love to have a whole collection of them that we could read all through the month of November, but there are just not a ton of great ones out there. One that I do have, that is an absolute favorite is called "A Turkey for Thanksgiving", by Eve Bunting. The story is sweet without being sappy. There are some humorous twists and best of all, the illustrations are amazing! Mr. and Mrs. Moose want a turkey for Thanksgiving, so Mr. Moose sets out to find one. It doesn't take long before all his forest neighbors are helping him. The story ends with what happens when the animals find a turkey.



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Friday, November 12, 2010

A Day at a Time

I have spent the last 20 minutes trying to figure out how to add a picture to the post? I still haven't completely figured out how to use my iPad. I finally set up a new gmail account because I am having such trouble with my comcast account. I feel like I should have some sort of project or recipe to post, but in all honesty I'm focusing on more basic things at the moment. Today was a huge step for me, I pulled myself into and out of my shower without any physical help. I still required a spotter to make sure I didn't fall, but I managed the standing and sitting by myself. I was ridiculously happy about such a small thing. This afternoon has been a little tougher. I thought I was moving around pretty well, but this afternoon I started on my refill of my pain medicine and it is the downgraded version. It is harder than I thought. I can feel a lot more than I have been able to before. My leg is starting to itch, which I think is a good sign, but putting on lotion is a
Little creepy. I keep discovering places on my leg that I can't feel. It is the strangest sensation! A large portion of my time is being occupied by learning to use crutches.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Accident

Much to my dismay, my crafting and projects have been put on hold as of late. On October 29,2010, I took my three kids to the Farmers market to get one last box of apples. It was the last weekend for the farmers market, so there weren't many people around. after we got our apples, we went over to the playground to play for a few minutes. Next to the playground, down a little grass embankment was a small stream with ducks. There was a chain link fence to keep kids from falling in at the bottom of the small slope. My 18 month old was fascinated with the ducks, so I picked her up and started walking down the grass to get closer to the fence for a better view. Suddenly I felt my ankle bend and my feet slipped out from under me. My daughter and I both slipped to the ground and I strarted pulling my leg towards me to get my balance. I'm not sure if my foot was caught on a root, but Shortly I heard a snap. At that point I knew I was in trouble. I tried to get up but quickly realized that was not a possibility. I was carrying my cell phone, so my first thought was to call my dad because my pArents house is only a few blocks from the park and my dad works at home. He left immediately and I called my husband's aunt who lives on my street to come and get the kids since I figured my dad and I would be headed to the emergency room. By the time they arrived, the pain had intensified and they took one look at my predicament and said there was no way around it, we were going to have to call an ambulance, despite the fact we were directly across the street from the hospital. I had managed to wedge myself into a rather difficult corner. In the meantime my husband managed to arrive. The drive across the street to the hospital was grueling. The x- Ray process was more painful than I ever could have imagined. The end result was surgery and a three night hospital stay. I had broken. Both bones in my leg. Twice at the bottom above the ankle joint and once right below the knee. My leg is now complete with a metal rod, a plate, and multiple screws. I am not allowed to put any weight on my leg for 6 weeks and will spend some time after crutches with a walking boot on. I am completely irritated with my new limitations, but I am so grateful for the help and support of so many family members and friends. It is amazing! Thank you!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

$0.47 Shoes

I am not lying.  I only paid $0.47 for these shoes.  I wore them today and so far they are even comfortable.  Yesterday just so happened to be the right day to wander into Old Navy.  They had a rack of shoes, mostly flip-flops and sandals, with a few ballet flats mixed in and there was a sign saying everything was $0.47.  I still had to ask a cashier because frankly, I didn't believe the price was right and there was a clearance tag on the shoes that said $9.99.  $0.47!!! Deal of the century! 

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Canning for a Beginner


I am so lucky to live down the street from my husband's aunt.  She has recently retired and it is wonderful!  I have really wanted to attempt canning, but although I have watched a friend once or twice, I just didn't feel like I was ready to attempt the task on my own.  Anyway, Sherry went to the Farmer's Market with me Friday morning and said she would help me make applesauce out of my giant box of Jonathan apples.  It turned out so yummy and it really wasn't hard, just time consuming.   Although deciding to do a quadruple batch of a new green tomatillo Salsa recipe that Sherry got from another neice added a signifcant amount of time to the project.  The salsa and the applesauce turned out amazing!  I'm so glad she was willing to show me how to can and I think I will definitely be doing it again.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Just in case you haven't figured it out yet, my kids and I are big fans of anything pumpkin chocolate chip flavored.  It amazes me a little because a lot of people don't like pumpkin flavored things and my kids tend to be picky, but anything I make that is pumpkin, they devour.  Our latest favorite is this muffin recipe from http://www.melskitchencafe.com/Here's the link for her recipe. 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
from Mel B.


1 2/3 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1 T. pumpkin pie spice**
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 c. canned pumpkin puree
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 c. chocolate chips


Mix ingredients well and then add chocolate chips. Pour into greased muffin tin (or use muffin liners). Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Don’t overbake or they will be dry!


**My tip: if you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, use the following combination: 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ginger, 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg and 1/8 teaspoon cloves. Mix together and woila! – you have the equivalent of 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (and it is much cheaper than buying it premade). So for this recipe, you would need to triple the above amounts to equal one tablespoon pumpkin pie spice.



My own tip with this recipe, be sure not to overbake these.  They get dry really quickly and they cook much faster in my oven than the recipe suggests.  I think you only want to cook them 17 or 18 minutes.   My kids go through these so quickly, that the last batch I doubled and there were no problems with doubling.  I always buy the big cans of pumpkin because they are cheaper and I still only used half a can, so I may try quadroupling the recipe next time to use up the entire can of pumpkin and then just freeze them. 

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Finished Product: Pottery Barn Style Headboard

I finally finished staining and distressing my headboard.  I am absolutely thrilled with the final product.  The only problem is that now it makes the entire rest of my bedroom seem completely shabby.  I have plans in my head for making a quilt and painting some of my other furniture, but thinking about it all at once has me a bit overwhelmed.  Thanks so much to Ana White and her Knock-Off Wood website.  This project was so much fun.  I am starting to believe that all women need to learn to use a nail gun because it leads to a serious self-esteem high!  I can't wait to settle on another furniture building project!  Although perhaps I ought to take some time out to fold the massive pile of clean laundry on the chair in my room first. 

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Make Your Own Pottery Barn Style Head Board

Here is my latest project from Ana White's Knock-off Wood website.  I am in the process of sanding and staining it, but making it has been so much fun!  I was really nervous to undertake this project because it involved using a nail gun, but my awesome friend Natalie said she would make one too so we could do it together.  A big thanks to my great brother-in-law, Bryant, who was willing to trust me with his nail gun, I'm not sure I would have trusted me with it.  The nail gun turned out to be the greatest part about this project.  It was so fun to use, once I got past being afraid of it.  If you don't believe Ana's projects are possible, you should.  Natalie and I went to Home Depot on Saturday with our cut list and left it with them to cut.  Then Monday morning after we dropped the kids off at school.  Between the two of us we have 4 kids under 3 that were all with us.  We started about 9:30 a.m. and were done by 1:30 building two queen size headboards and that included a trip to Home Depot because they cut one of our pieces and inch too short and move from the back deck to the garage due to rain.  The wood cost us $60 each and the name brand version costs $800. 

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Halloween Children's Books

My daughter and I put out our Halloween decorations this weekend.  I have to admit, Halloween is not my favorite holiday.  It may stem from the fact that I spent some years teaching first grade.  Ask most any elementary school teacher and they will probably tell you they hate Halloween.  Anyway, I have really been trying to focus on traditions lately with my family.  I have been amazed how excited my young kids get by any type of tradition.  My 3 year old daughter was on cloud nine about putting up decorations.  The ones you see pictured are pretty much all I have, but I did buy a package of glittered cardboard Halloween cutouts and some vinyl window clings and you would think I had spent millions on decorations rather than pennies from the reaction they got.  Tonight I decided that I needed to do what I had seen some others throughout blogland do.  I needed to look through my book collection and find any Halloween ones I have and put them in a basket to read with the kids for the rest of the month.  I knew I had a few, but I didn't think there were that many, boy was I wrong.  Here is a list of what I found:

*Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich by Adam Rex
Haunted Castle on Hallows Eve (Magic Treehouse #30) by Mary Pope Osborne
*Mercy Watson: Princess in Disguise by Kate DiCamillo
The Witch Goes to School by Norman Bridwell
The Halloween Parade by Rosemary Wells
Ready, Freddy! Apple Orchard Race by Abby Klein
Alice Nizzy Nazzy: The Witch of Santa Fe by Tony Johnston
Four Stories for Four Seasons by Tomie dePaola
Fancy Nancy Halloween or Bust! by Jane O'Connor
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
*Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
All About Owls by Jim Arnosky
*Bear Feels Scared by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman
The Spookiest Halloween Ever! by Teddy Slater
*Piggie Pie by Margie Palatini
*Sheep Trick or Treat by Nancy Shaw
*The Little Scarecrow Boy by Margaret Wise Brown
I Like Pumpkins by Jerry Smith
Five Little Pumpkins by Dan Yaccarino
The Runaway Pumpkin by Kevin Lewis
The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin by Joe Troiano
It's Halloween by Jack Prelutsky
*Frank was a Monster who Wanted to Dance by Keith Graves
The Littlest Pumpkin by R.A. Herman
Skeleton Hiccups by Margery Cuyler
2x2=Boo! A Set of Spooky Multiplication Stories by Loreen Leedy
Bats by Gail Gibbons
Jeepers Creepers: A Monstrous ABC by Laura Leuck
*Zoom Broom by Margie Palatini
*The Berenstain Bears and the Prize Pumpkin by Stan and Jan Berenstain
*Arthur's Halloween by Marc Brown

Our favorites have an asterisk next to them.  I guess I like Halloween a little more than I thought.  One thing I did decide as I was looking through my books, there are a lot of books that you can use as Halloween books that are not necessarily Halloween themed.  For example, Where the Wild Things Are or Owl Moon or any non-fiction animal books that might qualify as creepy, like bats, frogs or lizards.  I think my kids will be excited tomorrow to see all the Halloween books in one place. 

Friday, October 8, 2010

Thanksgiving Craft

I have been working on finishing up some unfinished projects.  I thought I better hurry and get this one done before we hit Thanksgiving.  I started it last year, but only got about halfway.  I found the directions at this blog.   I love hand-sewing.  I think it is so relaxing.  I am always on the lookout for a fun hand-sewing project and this one fit the bill.  I also love working with wool felt.  I love that Joann's has started  carrying some wool blend felt.  It feels so nice and soft, nothing like the acrylic stuff.   

Monday, September 27, 2010

Children's Book Review

Too Many ToysToo Many Toys by David Shannon


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book has been my daughter's bedtime story the past two nights in a row. I love all of David Shannon's books and this one is no exception. The illustrations are amazing! The Legos are a particular favorite in our house. The story is one that will delight both kids and adults alike! Every parent can sympathize with the mother who is trying to get rid of some toys, while every child knows what it feels like to have your parent insisting that you "clean-out" your toys. The battle between parent and child over exactly what to get rid of is hilarious and the twist at the end of the book is classic. If you happen to have a toy collector at your house, "Too Many Toys" is a must read.




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Thursday, September 23, 2010

Creative Influence

Paige goes to pre-school in at an in-home pre-school.  As I was waiting to pick her up, I noticed a Grandpa and granddaughter dragging in the garbage cans together and then walking to the mailbox to collect the mail.  The toddler-age granddaughter was skipping along with her grandpa in a way that made it obvious she was thoroughly enjoying herself.  It instantly reminded me of time spent with my grandparents as a child.  I thought of the way that even the most mundane of tasks completed with my grandparents was suddenly special. 

As I reflected on time spent with my grandparents I thought of my sweet little grandma who passed away recently.  She never had much self confidence and she was afraid of a lot of things so I don't think she would ever believe she taught me much, particularly about creativity, but I think she is a large part of my creative inspiration.  She spent hours and hours embroidering beatiful pillowcases.  She had 6 children and 22 grandchildren and created beautiful pillowcases for all of us and some to spare.  Her work is delicate and precise. 

Some of my first crafting attempts were at embroidery.  Embroidery is still one of my favorite craft mediums and I find when I really crave calm, I am instinctively drawn to embroidery.  My Grandma did not teach me to embroider.  She was left-handed and grew up believing she was "dumb" so whenever I would ask her to teach me, she would tell me she couldn't.  She regularly told us that she was not at all creative.  I remember sitting at the foot of her lazyboy chair and watching her needle pop in and out of the fabric.  She would take old magazines and use the pages to keep her strings of embroidery floss from tangling.  I remember my sisters and I being enamoured by her gold and silver stork embroidery scissors.  I have always secretly wished I had my own pair. 

When I grew up and moved far from home and my Grandma and I began crafting, one of the first things I found myself trying was primitive stitchery.  I was immediately drawn to it.  I had a few demonstrations from salespeople at a stitchery store and I purchased and embroidery stitch guide.  I knew a few stitches from my days in Young Women's, so I set to work.  Now approximately 10 years later, I find that I am fairly skilled at embroidery.  As I think back on my experiences I am confident that much of my skill development comes from the inspiration my grandmother provided.  I watched her create perfect little stitches over and over again.  I recognized, even at a young age the beauty she was able to create and I wanted to create something similar.  By the time I started embroidering, my grandmother was suffering from Alzheimer's disease and could no longer remember how to embroider but there were times when she could remember that she once did it.  I tried to talk to her about it a few times.  I told her that I really enjoyed embroidery.  It always brought a little smile to her face.  Now she is gone and I have several beautiful pieces she created that I treasure, but what I treasure most is the inspiration she provided me with.


Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Albert's Impossible ToothacheAlbert's Impossible Toothache by Barbara Williams


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I have a copy of this book that we would read when I was little. My copy is actually called "Albert's Toothache". My daughter and I read it together tonight and she liked it so much she insisted we read it a second time. I had forgotten about it. The pictures are charming and the story is one every child can relate to. Everyone in Albert's family is sure he is lying about his "toothache" and he just keeps saying that no one every believes him. In the end, it is all one big communication mix-up. It is the perfect chance to subtly talk to your child about the importance of communication between parents and children and the importance of honesty. This is a classic well worth your time to read.




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Sunday, September 19, 2010

Quick and Easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Waffles

I am so grateful to my cousin for introducing me to these!  This is a mix you can buy at Target.  If I remember right the box was maybe $2.99?  My kids and I are huge fans of pumpkin chocolate chip anything, bread, muffins, cookies, you name it.  My husband isn't quite as big of a fan.  Anyway, when my cousin posted about pumpkin chocolate chip waffles on her blog, I knew I needed the recipe.  I had no idea it would be something so great and so easy!  She told me she bought this mix at Target and added mini-chocolate chips.  They are perfect!  You need to add them to your fall traditions.  A couple of tips.  Make waffles.  We tried the pancakes and they weren't nearly as good.  I think the pumpkin makes them hard to fully cook the middles without burning the outside.  Also, be sure to use mini chocolate chips.  The big ones melt all ove the place and are a mess and cause burning problems too.  These are one of the few times when more chocolate isn't better, stick to the 1/2 cup suggestion on the box.  I would also suggest using about half the butter the recipe calls for and extra milk.  These smell fantistically fall-ish and taste even better.  You definitely need to take a trip to Target immediately.  Thanks Suzie!

Saturday, September 18, 2010

A Ton of Flower Tutorials

I just found this link and am thinking I need to make some hair accessories for my girls.  Anyone want to join me? 

Thursday, September 16, 2010

One last post about the lockers

I promise this is my last post about these, but I wanted to show them off accessorized.  Knock-off Wood is really the most amazing website ever.  The baskets on the shelf are from IKEA and the ones on top are some I already had, but got awhile ago at Hobby Lobby.  I am so excited to use them for library books.  The ones above the lockers are going to be for hats and mittens and stuff for winter and maybe for goggles and swimming stuff for summer.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Knock-off Wood Finished Product: Kids Lockers

I am so proud of this project I think I might burst!  I have always wanted to do this kind of stuff and I am so excited that I finally decided to try it!  I made a few mistakes.  I should have done major sanding.  I should have listened to my husband and gotten the hooks like they use on school coatracks, rather than the ones that I thought looked cuter, but I feel like those are all pretty minor mistakes for a complete novice.  I love the beadboard and I am so happy with my Ralph Lauren Faux Finish glaze that I used once again.  I don't know why it doesn't show up better in the picture, but it really adds the perfect subtle finishing touch, plus it hides all kinds of mistakes. 

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Knock-off Wood Project

This is what my garage looks like at the moment.  Don't look too close at the corners.  It desperately needs to be cleaned, but I wanted to show the project I have been working on for the last several weeks.  I love the webside Knock-off Wood and found this project on it a few weeks ago.  I have been dying to try my hand at making some furniture, but have been scared to give it a try.  I have been going through project plans over and over again trying to decide if there was something I dared attempt.  I saw this one and decided to go for it.  I felt dumb as could be pushing my cart of giant pieces of wood around Home Depot and then having to ask the guy at the cut table to make my list of cuts.  I had no idea if I was getting the right stuff, but I was completely surprised by how nice everyone at Home Depot was to me.  In the past, when I have asked for help there, I have often felt like I was treated like dirt, but this time, when I really felt like I had no idea what I was doing, everyone was completely helpful and nice.  I think it helped that I made sure to go at about 4:00 in the afternoon on a Saturday because my husband promised it wouldn't be crowded then and he was right.  It has turned out to be easier than I thought it would be and my husband, dad, and father-in-law have been super helpful.  At the moment I am having a terrible time waiting for coats of this:
to dry so I can show a finished piece!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Displaying Kids' Artwork

I have had several projects in various states of being done the last little while.  I finally finished this one the other day.  It was actually quick and easy once I had all the components, it just took me awhile to gather the parts.  I saw something similar to this on some blog sometime, I really have no idea when or where.  I have been saving some old cabinet doors for just such a project. Anyway, all it took was one coat of red spray paint and some leftover Ralph Lauren Faux Technique Glaze that is tinted with brown paint.  I used eye hooks to string the closeline across the bottom and got my sister-in-law to make me some vinyl lettering that said "masterpieces".  I'm really happy with how it turned out.  I wish you could see how awesome the glaze looks from the picture. 

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Free Printable Vintage Paperdolls

I just found this link via a website called The Modern Hive.   I think they are about the cutest paper dolls ever.  I need to refill my colored ink for my printer immediately!  Paige would love them and I know there has got to be something fun I can do with them. 

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Free Books!

Please excuse the picture.  No matter how many times I try to rotate this picture in different programs, everytime I upload it, it flips back.  Does anyone know how to rotate a picture once it is in your post in blogger?  LAME!  It would help if I had an ounce of  innate computer sense! 
Anyway, I wanted to show this because this is how many free books we got today.  The certificates are $5 gift certificates to Deseret Book.  We went to the KSL sponsored Book Festival at the University of Utah this morning.  I went because they were supposed to have some local authors there and because my kids had done the KSL reading program this summer.  I was a little leary, I thought it would probably turn out to be a waste of time, but I really try to focus on reading with my family and I am willing to do just about anything that might encourage me kids to read, so we tried it.  Boy did we luck out.  I had hoped they might be giving each child one free book, but this was unbelievable.  When we got home my daughter said, "that was so fun mom, thanks for taking us."  I'm not sure where that amazing politeness came, but I am all about free, especially when it scores points with my kids.  The really amazing thing was that it was hardly crowded at all.  I think they are supposed to be making this an annual thing.  If they do, we will definitely be going again.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Winnie Finn, Worm FarmerWinnie Finn, Worm Farmer by Carol Brendler


My rating: 5 of 5 stars


My 3 year old daughter has recently fallen in love with worms. We have had several rainstorms lately and she is fascinated by the worms that appear once the rain stops. When I saw the book "Winnie Finn, Worm Farmer" on the new arrivals shelf at the library, I took it home. It proved to be a good choice. The illustrations are wonderful. The fictional story contains multiple true life facts about worms and it is the story of a girl who uses her brains and know-how to accomplish something that all the adults she runs into say isn't possible. This is a perfect story for kids!




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Monday, August 23, 2010

Another New Back to School Tradition

I found this idea on a blog I was reading the other day and thought it sounded perfect for our Family Home Evening tonight, which also happened to be the first day of school.  Here is the link for the origninal post.  During the day I made these cookies:
They are regular old sugar cookies cut out in hand shapes.  I found the cookie cutter at Spoons and Spice today, and it cost less than $1.  Then you put a Hershey's Kiss in the middle of the palm while the cookie is hot.  We read the book "The Kissing Hand" by Audrey Penn and talked about how no matter what happens at school our kids need to remember that we, their mom and dad, love them and we also talked about how their Heavenly Father loves them too.  Then we got to eat the cookies.  I was surprised at how much my kids liked the sugar cookies plain with the addition of the Hershey's Kiss.  They were all about making these cookies a yearly tradition.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

A New Tradition: Back to School Shopping

Lately I have been trying to find ways to spend time with my kids individually.  I remember as a kid, loving any time I had alone with one of my parents.  Now that I am a parent, I realize how difficult that time is to carve out with each child.  A friend of mine mentioned that one thing she does is try to take each child out all by his or herself and do some school shopping and have lunch.  I thought that sounded like a great tradition.  I decided I would try it.  I don't buy a lot of school clothes before school starts because it is still usually so hot that my kids are still wearing summer stuff, but I do try to make sure that they get to pick out one thing to wear new for the first day of school and we always buy one new pair of shoes.  I took my son first since his school starts first.  We went last Saturday, so my husband could stay home with the girls.  We decided to go to breakfast and drive to the outlets in Park City.  We had a great time.  My son hates to shop, but was excited to pick out his things.  He is very to the point when it comes to choosing things.  He does not waste time and I actually had to convince him to look at a couple of stores before he made his final decision.  We had a great time and were able to spend some time on the drive talking, which is much more difficult to do with the younger girls around.

My 3 year old, Paige immediately started begging for her turn.  So Tuesday afternoon I got a babysitter and headed out with Paige.  I had taken a survey this spring that earned me a $20 gift certificate to the Grand America, so I took her downtown for one of their "teaparties".  She was thrilled.  We had a great time and kept taking about how we were just like "Fancy Nancy".  I was a bit of a nervous wreck as we sat drinking our fancy hot chocolate in china cups and saucers, but amazingly, she didn't spill a drop and nothing got broken.  She didn't love the finger sandwiches, but the tiny french pastries and strawberries with real whipped cream, were a huge hit.  The best part was, including the cost for a tip and parking, I paid less than $10.  After, we went to the mall to do our shopping. Paige takes her shopping seriously, she knows what she likes and it tends to be the loudest, and fanciest thing she can find.  Already, I find we butt heads frequently when it comes to fashion.  We had quite the stand-off from the outset because she was insistent that she needed the new swimming cover-up that she found.  Let me just say, trying to explain seasons to a 3 year old is not easy.  After multiple attempts and several hours of searching to find shoes that we both agreed on that they had in the right size, we gave up and headed to Target for the inevitable glitter sparkle shoes that I knew would satisfy Paige, but I could count on only setting me back $12.99.  Now when you come to my house and it is covered in silver glitter you will know why and realize that the compromise was hard won!
Overall, I am excited to start our new school shopping tradition.  I had a great time with both kids and am excited to continue next year (although next year I will make sure that Paige's shopping comes after a long nap, not during her normal nap time).

Thursday, August 19, 2010

PoppletonPoppleton by Cynthia Rylant


My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The series of "Poppleton" books has made my daughter's summer. My three year old loves the idea of "chapter books", but is not quite ready to move onto listening to books without pictures. The humor that Cynthia Rylant uses is perfect for a 3 or 4 year old, but not so obnoxious that an adult can't get through the book. There are a bunch of Poppleton books, so we could check out a stack from the library, but they are short enough that you can read several before bedtime. I have been reading them out loud to my daughter, because she can't read yet, but they are also the perfect book for a beginning reader too.




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Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Pope JoanPope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross


My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book was fascinating! I always know when a book is well-written because I speed through it in a few days. That was exactly the case with this one. I couldn't put it down. The story is of a girl who loves to learn, but learning is not permitted for women in the middle ages. Joan finally gets around the problem by disguising herself as a man. Amazingly, she becomes incredibly successful, unfortunately, that means that if anyone ever discovers her secret she will be killed. The genre is historical fiction and I particularly loved the fact that the auther added and afterward discussing what parts of the story are historical and what parts are fiction.



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Friday, August 13, 2010

Forgiveness: My Burden Was Made Light

Forgiveness: My Burden Was Made Light


AMAZING! This story has amazed me from the first time I saw it in the local news. What an incredible family!
North and SouthNorth and South by Elizabeth Gaskell


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book started out pretty slow, but in the end I really liked it. If you like Pride and Prejudice, you will probably like this one. It is a little long and wordy, but a great read.



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Monday, August 9, 2010

Cinnamon Biscuits

Our church block ends at 12:30 each Sunday.  By the time we get home and get the meal fixed it is usually about 1:30, so by the time dinner time rolls around we're not super hungry, but we need something.  I found a new recipe this week as I was searching some new recipe blogs that I wanted to try for cinnamon rasin biscuits (you can find the original blog here).  These were the perfect Sunday night snack.  I have always like biscuits, but became particularly partial to good biscuits after living in the South.  I have never really tried making them from scratch, but this recipe suggests using your food processor and boy did that make it quick and easy.  These were so yummy and the perfect thing if you need a cinnamon roll fix but don't want to go to all that time and effort.  Here's the recipe, followed by the few changes I made.

3 cups all-purpose flour


1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3/4 cup unsalted butter

1 cup raisins

1 cup milk

melted butter

1 cup sifted powdered sugar

1 - 2 tablespoons 1/2 & 1/2



Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine first 6 ingredients in a food processor. Pulse several times to mix. Add cold butter cut into 6 equal parts. Add to dry ingredients in food processor. Pulse several times until mixture is crumbly. Transfer to large bowl. Add milk and raisins and stir until moistened. Knead dough on lightly floured surface 4 or 5 times. Pat dough to 1 inch thickness. Cut with biscuit cutter. Placed on greased cookie sheet. Brush biscuits with melted butter. Bake for 14 - 16 minutes until lightly browned. Drizzle with glaze made of powdered sugar and 1/2 & 1/2.

Yield 15 - 2" biscuits

I didn't add the rasins because I was out of them and I have a son who hates rasins.  I didn't have half and half, so I just used milk which worked out fine and I added a teaspoon of vanilla to my glaze.  These turned out awesome.  Next time I might try adding some mini-chocolate chips because my kids would love them even more.  They are amazing warm, out of the oven, but the leftovers were still good this morning.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Irony

This week I finally broke down and bought a new point and shoot camera.  You can see that I was finally able to take some pictures of the projects I have been working on lately.  I found a great little camera that I got for $69.99, it is a Kodak Easy Share M341.  It is teeny, tiny and will be great to take all those places that I don't want to have to worry about my big camera.  The irony is that I finally got it and got it working so I could take pictures today.  Immediately I got a call saying my lens was finally fixed and I could pick it up.  Now that I have missed nearly the entire summer of picture taking, I have two working cameras.  LOVELY!

In other news, these are pictures of two projects I have had a lot of fun with lately.  The first is a garland I made to use on my decorative shelf for the patriotic holidays.  It was super easy and turned out darling.  It took a little time, but was the perfect brainless activity to work on in front of the T.V.  I found the tutorial at  The Crafty Crow and they got it from Saltwater Kids.  I made my flags a little bit bigger, I used an index card as a guide and I also used my sewing machine to stitch the flags to the twine.  Other than that, I pretty much followed the tutorial. 

The second picture is a cedar chest I bought on KSL.com.  A few weeks ago I decided that I needed something to keep my shoes in because my closet is so small.  I thought a cedar chest would be perfect.  I have always wanted one, so I headed to KSL.com .  I quickly found the cheapest one I could find that was realtively close to my house.  The outside was a little beat up, but that didn't matter because I planned on painting it anyway.  I followed the tips found at http://www.allthingsthrifty.com/
I spray painted it with Kiltz spraypaint primer, then spraypainted it with Krylon aqua and used the tips for glazing and it turned out great!  It was so much easier than I expected and I am thrilled with the results!  I definitely see more furniture painting and glazing in my future.  It was fun and completely rewarding!

Monday, July 26, 2010

Vacation?

We took a little weekend trip to Park City this last week.  The trip itself was great, unfortunately it did not end well.  We planned to come home Saturday night.  My 3 year old, Paige, was swimming at the hotel pool with my husband Saturday morning,  while I was shopping at the nearby outlet mall.  Mid-shopping trip I got a call from my husband saying Paige needed stitches.  She had been jumping off the side of the pool and turned and hit her chin on the side of the pool.  It was a nasty gash and really deep.  I ended up taking her down to Primary Children's Hospital where she ended up with 3 interior stitches because it was so deep and 10 outside stitches.  She was a trooper though and for her the worst part is that she can't go to swimming lessons or the pool for 2 weeks.  Once we got home and started to unpack, we thought we had seen the worst of what the day had to offer.  Boy were we wrong.  That evening, my 8 year old started throwing up and didn't stop all night.  Before I went to bed, I checked on my 1 year old.  She had thrown up all over her crib and had to be woken up and bathed and her sheets changed.  Then I finally fell asleep only to wake up and throw up myself!  Why oh why must vacations always involve blood and throw-up!  I think I'm staying home for awhile!

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Broken Camera Lens

I think I just may lose my mind if I can't get my camera lens back shortly.  On the 3rd of July I realized my camera lens was broken.  I have Nikon D40, nothing super fancy, but I love it and use it nearly daily.  Unfortunately, I have never gotten any other lenses besides the 18-55mm kit lens that came with it.  I about died when I found out it was broken.  It took all kinds of research to decide if I should fix it or buy something new or what.  I found out that the 18-55mm lens was a great versatile lens and only $100, so after debating for a week or two, my husband said, just go into Inkleys and buy a new one.  Inkley's had told me that it wasn't worth fixing because a new one was only $100 when I went in to talk to them.  When I went in a few days later, after searching online and realizing I couldn't find that lens anywhere online for anything close to $100, I was told, "You can't just buy that lens, it only comes in the kit with the camera, which is not even available any more".  Are you kidding me!  Anyway, the search started over.  I have checked into every option, including buying an entire new camera and I have finally taken it to a place here locally that fixes lenses for a fairly reasonable price, but their wait time is at least 2 weeks and now they are waiting for a part to come from Nikon.  I have essentially lost the entire month of July for pictures.  I am realizing that I really need at least a little back-up point and shoot.  I have several craft projects that I am dying to post about here and I can't because I can't take any pictures, not to mention the fact that I can't take any pictures of my kids and during this time my baby has started walking.  When I talked to the camera shop today, they said the part only has to come from California, but Nikon randomly will have parts on backorder and it might take 3 or 4 weeks.  I really don't know what I am going to do if it doesn't come soon!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Mary Elngelbreit's Nursery Tales

Mary Engelbreit's Nursery Tales: A Treasury of Children's ClassicsMary Engelbreit's Nursery Tales: A Treasury of Children's Classics by Mary Engelbreit


My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I blogged about wanting this book back at Christmas time. I got it and I have absolutely loved it. Fairy tales have always been a favorite of mine and I love Mary Englebreit's artwork, so I was sure this would be a hit and it didn't disappoint. The thing that I really love about this collection of fairy tales is that the stories are fairly simple and there are lots of pictures. Three and Four year olds seem to always love fairy tales, but so many of the fairy tale collections have few pictures and lots of words. My three year old and I read this collection regularly!



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Friday, July 9, 2010

Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen by Susan Gregg Gilmore

Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen: A NovelLooking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen: A Novel by Susan Gregg Gilmore


My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen is a great read. It is funny, sweet, and quirky, complete with several unexpected twists and turns. It is the story of a young girl growing up in a small town with dreams of experiencing more in life than her little town has to offer.



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Sunday, July 4, 2010

Fourth of July Sugar Cookies

Sorry that the photo is not great.  I am having some issues with a broken camera lens.  Sugar cookies have long been the bane of my cooking existence.  I NEVER make them!  Unfortunately, with young kids, they are a necessary evil.  Cookie decorating is the joy of nearly every holiday.  I have tried and tried to get them right and they just never work out.  They are always falling apart as I try to cut them out and move them to the cookie tray.  I never have the patience to chill the dough.  They seem to require such a time commitment and they have always seemed so tempermental to me.  So at my house, when we decorate cookies, I order them already baked from my local grocery store bakery, a solution that works out fine with me for the most part.  However, there is this annoying part of me that is always bugged by the fact that I can't get something that is supposed to be such a cooking basic right.  Anyway, since the 4th of July is not typically one of those "cookie decorating holidays", so the pressure for perfect cookies would be minimal, and because I have several awesome star cookie cutters.  I decided that I was actually going to attempt some sugar cookie making.  I figured that if I volunteered to bring them the the barbeque at my parents house for the fireworks, if they bombed, I could just make something else and take it for desert.  I did in fact make some carmel popcorn to take along with these cookies because I was so unsure of my cookie making skills.  I think I may finally have figured a few things out.  I knew I had to actually chill the dough, which must be the true secret.  I have also discovered that I tend to roll the dough too thin and to cook the cookies too long.  Next time I will be a little more careful on both those points, however, note that I am suggesting there will be a next time.  I started with the most basic.  I got my recipe for the cookies from the Martha Stewart website.  It was called "Ideal Sugar Cookies".  The recipe was great,  I did use milk instead of the brandy it gave as an option, but other than that, I followed the recipe exactly.  Next time I would double the recipe, because it wasn't a ton of dough and if I am going to go to all the work of making sugar cookies, I am going to make plenty.  Here's a link to the recipe.  After the cookies had cooled completed I used a sugar cookie glaze recipe from allrecipes.com that was awesome.  Here is the link and below is what I actually did (I read some of the reviews and made a couple of changes). 

Sugar Cookie Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tblsp light corn syrup
2 tblsp milk
1tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients together.  Then dip cookies in glaze.  (can add food coloring for varied colors)

After dipping my cookies in the white glaze, I dipped them in red, white and blue sprinkles.  They were a hit and maybe now my kids will grow up thinking that sugar cookies don't have to come in a plastic container!

The Corinthian, by Georgette Heyer

The Corinthian The Corinthian by Georgette Heyer



My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved this book. It was funny and face-paced. It was a romance, but not in the least bit "cheesy". Predictable, like all of Heyer's, but an all around fun read. Heyer is a favorite of mine because she delivers romances without smut.  Perfect summer read!



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Motherhood

Friday, June 18, 2010

O h, wow! Is this the cutest alphabet you have ever seen! I found it via this blog.  Which is absolutely awesome by itself.  I am a pretty big fan of owls.  Anyway, this is a free graphic from this blog.  Pretty cool isn't it!