kristy.makes

recipe: crockpot lasagna soup

2012-02-28T20:49:00.000-05:00

it's been hard for me lately to share recipes..

i've tried to have everything we eat follow along the lines of clean eating

as well as being gluten free.

neither of which is a particularly easy task.

planning our meals takes up much more time than it used to..

and coming up with clean & gluten free alternatives is somewhat exhausting..

especially for someone like me who doesn't particularly care for the food planning bit as it is.

but i've managed to keep us pretty close on the clean eating..

learning what to avoid & how to replace..

some meals you just have to know what to substitute..

and then sometimes..

i just gotta say..

this is as good as i can get..

take this lasagna soup.

SOO good, by the way.

here's a link to the original..from 'a farmgirl's dabbles'

and then below i've shown the changes i made.

Lasagna Soup:

adapted from a farmgirl's dabbles

(*my adjustments)

for the soup:
2 tsp. olive oil
*1 lb of turkey sausage

*1 onion, cut into slivers

4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. dried oregano
2 T. tomato paste
*1 28-oz. can organic crushed tomatoes

2 bay leaves
*4c. organic low-sodium chicken stock

*2c. water
*2c. tinkyada brown rice fusilli pasta (gluten free)

*4T. dried basil
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

for the cheesy yum:
*8 oz. skim-milk ricotta
*1/4 tsp. garlic salt
pinch of freshly ground pepper

2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add sausage, breaking up into bite sized pieces, and brown for about 5 minutes. Add onions and cook until softened, about 6 minutes.

2. Add garlic, oregano. Cook for 1 minute. Add tomato paste and stir well to incorporate. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the tomato paste turns a rusty brown color.

3. While the above is cooking, add crushed tomato, bay leaves, chicken stock, basil & water to crockpot. Stir to combine. Simmer in crockpot for 2-4 hours.

4. Right before serving, boil pasta according to package directions & add to crockpot.

5. For the cheesy yum, combine ingredients & serve dollop on top of soup, sprinkle with small amount of mozzarella.

like i said this soup was mmm, GOOD!

good enough to eat two nights in a row.

and the gluten free pasta, in case you are curious..

is GOOD.

you can't even tell the difference.

honest.

and truth be told.. it probably held up better the second night than regular pasta would have.

xo-k

project life: more free printables

2012-02-26T09:16:00.000-05:00

i am BEYOND excited....

i FINALLY have my project life design A page protectors in hand!!!!

i was a mad woman last friday when they hit amazon..

i was out running errands

& every time i got back in the car i check amazon via my smart phone to see if they were back in stock..

they hit the shelves & i hurried to make my purchase at about 1:30 while sitting in the parking lot of sam's!

i'm pretty leery of using my phone to make purchases, credit card protection & all that jazz..

but you know.. sometimes you gotta have priorities..

and mine was getting those suckers in my hands!! :)

so they came this friday..

along with a binder & some journaling cards..

i've put together the first two weeks prior..

and now they are snuggled safely in their little pockets..

i'm hoping to get all caught up now that i'm inspired

& have a place to stick the finished product! :)

i've massed quite a collection of free journaling cards,

and thought it was time for another mass link up.

hope you enjoy!

(please follow the links to the respective owners to download!)

so greatful for these techie ladies helping out those of us less talented!! :)

facebook journaling card via wild blueberry ink

the week of 4x6 journaling card via ps. please send chocolate

Oh what a week via creativity prompt

just write via creativity prompt

journal between the stitches via creativity prompt

story journaling cards via creativity prompt

days of the week via creativity prompt

journaling cards with label via kayla aimee

who? what? where? journaling cards via creativity prompt

quote cards via smiling colors

journaling cards via splendidly imperfect miss m

hope to update the blog soon with all my project life goodness! :)

are you doing project life?

if you are i'd love to see your pages.. do you post them on your blog?

link up in the comments so i can come visit you!!! :)

xo-k

books: death benefits. at the sign of the sugarplum. uneasy spirits.

2012-02-24T01:06:00.000-05:00

i have a love/hate relationship with book series.
part of me loves that the stories get to go on & on...
and part of me gets irked because i get through the books & then have to WAIT on the next book.
boo.
right now i'm waiting on four series to come out with their next book...

sookie stackhouse #12
black dagger brotherhood #10
southern fraud thriller #3
victorian san francisco mystery #3

and i'm in the middle of another four series...

lords of the underworld series
sister to sister series
brights pond series
sign of the sugarplum series

i promise that my blog will one day be more than books & boring.
until then.. i'm going to keep chugging along, in the hopes that maybe someone is interested :)

these are the last three books i've read..

death benefits: southern fraud series

If you, like me, grew up loving 'Murder She Wrote'.. or are currently one of thousands obsessed with the onslaught of CSI type shows, this is for you!

This is a great series. The second book picks up shortly where the first left off, but it can certainly stand alone. Julia Jackson is an agent for the Georgia Department of Insurance. She investigates insurance claims before payment can be made to beneficiaries... sounds boring right? It is SO not boring. In this installment Julia & her partner Mark Vincent set out to investigate a mysterious car fire, where the occupant has been burned to a crisp.. and before the body can be identified, his widow has a call in to collect on his death benefits..... And that's just the beginning. Death Benefits is a good ol' who-dun-it that will have you turning pages, while you try and sort out the cues for yourself.

Like I said.. if you are addicted to Law & Order, CSI, NCIS & the like.. this ones for you!

at the sign of the sugarplum

Hannah is a young girl from the country, ready to live it up in the big city. The city is London & the year is 1665. Hannah doesn't know it yet, but her time in the big city is going to be filled with misery, because the plague has just begun claiming victims.

I can't say I know too much about the plague, and I'm sure that the authors descriptions although sometimes graphic, were no where near as horrible as the sights people of that era actually witness. I found the book one part education & one part entertainment.

I think this is a young readers book, but I found I enjoyed it just the same. Would recommend to anyone willing to give historical fiction a chance... just don't expect anything other than a tale of a young girl & her sister trapped in a city crumbling around them. There isn't much of a plot beyond getting out of the city alive.

uneasy spirits

I cannot begin to express how much I love this series!!

I have no particular inclination to the Victorian era.. but this series is just amazing. The language isn't so detailed that you get lost in the descriptions of the surroundings... there is just enough to make you feel like you are right there in the 1870s, walking the gas-light lit streets of San Fran.

Annie Fuller is a twenty-something year old widow. She's lived a hard life in her short years, losing her mother, then her father, and then her husband. She's made a life for herself though.. she owns a quaint little boarding house, and she gives business advice under the guise of Madam Sibyl, a fictitious clairvoyant... & it's the very thing that lands her in the middle of her next ordeal.

Annie's newest boarder enlists her help in proving the new medium in town is a fraud. Uneasy about her own charade as Madam Sibyl, she agrees & finds herself in the middle of seances where tables shake & little girls act mysteriously... but is it a hoax?

Another well written mystery series that I've thoroughly enjoy & would recommend to anyone who likes mysteries!!

let me know if you check them out...

and again.. add me on goodreads! :)

xo-k

currents: 2.22.12

2012-02-22T12:26:00.001-05:00

eating: lunch. dannon pure yogurt. cocoa roasted almonds. sweet potato chips. apple.
drinking: water. lots & lots of water.
making: mr&mrs tags for a cousin's upcoming wedding.
thinking: life is far too short to worry about what your tattoo's will look like when you are 80.
wanting: a pedicure.
needing: dressy sandals & funky jewelry for the wedding.
loving: sweet potatoes. chips. baked. fries. can't get enough!
wondering: how long it will take for my crafty mojo to return.
anticipating: the delivery of my project life goods. should be here by the end of this week! yea!!
watching: discovery channel. i have a weird obsession with this channel + natgeo right now.
reading: finished 'at the sign of the sugarplum', 'uneasy spirits' & 'the darkest whisper' in the last few days. still reading 'farm girl' here & there.. it doesn't read like a book, it's more like snippets of life, so i put the kindle app on my phone & have been reading it when i get a few moments here & there while out.

i have a lot on my mental plate right now. worries mostly. things that make me so unproductive & retreat into books when i can't get my mind off of them. i feel soo indecisive about everything & it's making me nuts. my heart is just so heavy, i am doing my best to get through the everyday tasks.. i can't seem to get even those things done well. thankfully the kids haven't starved, and everyone has clean clothes.

kidding. sort of.

thanks for sticking through the dry spells.
xo-k

books: lords of the underworld

2012-02-07T21:14:00.001-05:00

i've decided that there are some serious upsides to the kindle.
while i miss the heft of a book, and turning the pages...
there is totally an upside in the cover not giving me away.

... ya. the dude totally calls me out on the vampire books.
whichever ones they may be...
he knows the twilight covers..
and the sookie covers are pretty much a dead giveaway (har har. dead)
and i had to hide away the covers while reading the black dagger brotherhood.
mostly from the dude, but also from the hubs.. because he totally makes fun of me.

and ya.. i think i've sunk to an all time low.
i got the first book in this series & was like huh, okay.. it's free i'll give it a try..
it wasn't until i went back to get the second book that i noticed the (HQN) next to the titles.
HQN? i asked myself.. what the heck does that...
O M G. HARLEQUIN?! as in ROMANCE?!
yep. harlequin. as in romance.
as in those books ladies hide in the grocery aisles with, covered in pictures of steamy couples intertwined.
his long hair blowing in the wind, big poofy shirt hung open.. her draped all over him like a bad accident.
harlequin romance.
i sorta hung my head in shame when i realized it.
then i purchased the next book & said, oh well! no looking back now.

i figured diving into a harlequin romance series was only appropriate given it's february.
ya know, the month of L O V E...
so, another confession.
i am reading harlequin romance.
(why is that so embarassing?)

in truth.. i'm actually fascinated by the story line.
i know i'll likely not convince you.. but it's the truth.
i wasn't lying when i said i was kinda over vampires, and witches & the like..
but the 'lords of the underworld' while paranormal, is something totally different.
it revolves around greek mythology, something that's always fascinated me.
(i took every religion class offered at the local community college, so that says a lot right?)
anyways, with out giving too much away..

(how would i explain these covers to the dude?! i wouldn't EVER want to!!!)

there was a group of warriors who were the guardians of the greek gods a loong time ago.
a female warrior, pandora, was chosen to guard a box that contained several of the most evil demons.
yep, pandora's box, a box made from the bones of the goddess of oppression.
the male warriors (and one female) were ticked off that a female was chosen for such a task.
so in revenge, they set the demons free, to prove how unworthy she was.
they had plans to collect the demons & again imprison them..
only the box went missing during the scuffle, and as punishment, each of the warriors was forced to imprison a demon within their own body...... for all time.

like i said. pretty interesting.
if you like greek mythology.
or....ahem.. harlequin romance novels...... ya.
still so lame sounding.
oh well ;)

xo-k

ps. are you on goodreads? if so- add me! :)
pss. if it's at all redeeming, i just finished up another one in the 'southern fraud series' & am moving onto a book called 'farm girl' that's supposedly for people who liked little house on the prairie... no? oh well i tried! :)

quoting: andy warhol

2012-02-07T09:00:00.001-05:00

via pinterest

i am my own worst enemy when it comes to creating.

i judge myself so harshly, then get discouraged & quit.

it's incredibly frustrating.

i'm a perpetual perfectionist when it comes to some things.

some things i just can't let go of.

i think there is a quote somewhere about comparison being the thief of joy.

i think it's also responsible for my dearly departed inspiration.

pinterest is good. but it is evil, as well.

when you constantly compare yourself to others..

or when your ideas get tangled up with something you saw somewhere else.

it's tragic.

so, i've tried taking a step back from the internet.

pinterest specifically.

i'm still using it for cues on clean eating..

but i've tried to withdraw from the crafting part.

the daily walks have done wonders for clearing my head of the jumble

& bringing ideas to the surface.

no music. no outside influences.

just me, the babe & nature.

i'm not trying to force anything specific.

i'm just reveling in the everyday.

how everyday something little changes about the babe

(like how he's learned to open the doors on his own)

or how much the dude's face has matured in a few short months.

or how it's possible, with a few stolen moments, to find that tug & pull of a new relationship..

with one that's almost 12 years old.

i'm letting all those little things that we tend to push past on a daily basis..

slip into my heart & warm it.

and it's amazing how those little moments will work their magic on everything about your life.

i'm thinking project life has a whole lot to do with it all.

and i'm so grateful!

xo-k

inspiration: time lapse stitchery

2012-02-03T15:18:00.000-05:00

is stitchery even a word?
if not, i'm claiming it is.
i've got nothing this weeks folks..
and no it's not because my nose is stuck in a book (or two, or four)

saw this today on the urban threads blog & had to share.
i love stuff like this.
makes me feel like ignoring the dishes & making something.
too bad i'm in the absorb mode & not in the output mode of creating.
ebb & flow my friends.

video from love&asandwich.

hope you have a great weekend..
i'm looking forward to a date night with the hubs.
dinner & a movie. no kids.
it's been a looong while
well, not counting the super lame-o christmas party for work he drags me to every year, and i'm NOT counting it.
i'm still debating wether i want to torture him with a chick flick (one for the money) or indulge in some vampire (underworld: awakening)
time will tell! :)

xo-k

rak: january

2012-01-31T08:24:00.000-05:00

one of my goals for 2012 was to do a random act of kindness.

also known as a RAK.

i have hopes that each month i'm able to do MORE than one...

but i have to be realistic about our single-income budget.

(sometimes i have visions/delusions of grandeur)

the whole idea of doing a RAK each month came from a few different blogs,

where the bloggers were doing SEVERAL acts of kindness on their birthdays.

(turning 29 = 29 RAK to be carried out that day)

realistically, for me, with a baby in tow..

running around town doing 33 acts in one day seemed like a disaster waiting to happen.

so i settled on incorporating MORE throughout the year.

mostly because it always feels good to do something nice for someone..

but more because i realized we were TELLING the dude to think of others before himself..

but in truth we didn't have a ton of opportunities to SHOW him what that felt like.

seeking out these opportunities, i hope, will not only encourage him to be thoughtful,

but will teach him to look to the world around him, and ask 'what can i do?'

i thought about who around me i could bestow some random kindness on.

i am blessed beyond measure with some wonderful people in my life.

family members & friends.

but when i searched my heart, i found my thoughts were drawn to one incredibly kind person.

my friend andrea, who i've never met in real life, nor spoken to in person.

the internet can be a wonderful place sometimes.

she is the same age as me, and sometimes there is wisdom beyond her years in her advice.

we've talked about our boys (she's a mama of two boys as well)

we've talked about behavior of said boys.

we've talked about marriage.

blogs.

style (her fabulous, my lack of)

project life.

masking tape.

music.

twilight.

we've talked about it all.

her words have soothed & help heal me more than a few times.

(i'm not sure she even knows that)

she's been the upbeat, positive voice in my head when i'm doubting my abilities.

and for all that, i wanted to do something for her.

she's a project lifer & i decided that i would break in my silhouette by making up some goodies for her.

(using my gift, to gift to someone else ;)

fonts: bebas, blackout, my topher, cursive standards & heydings icon (camera)

silouette shapes: television, weekday/weekend tags, set of 3 banners, tag, frame, word bubble, days border

i mailed off her package with a big smile on my face

& a HUGE tingle in my heart.

i'm looking forward to february's RAK.

(i already know what i'm doing! :)

happy tuesday!

xo-k

diy: valentine crafts

2012-01-27T08:25:00.000-05:00

i'm not sure if valentine's crafts are in the cards for me this year.

i am HOPING to do SOMETHING...

but as of right now, i got nothing planned.

..........yep. nothing.

so i thought i'd link up some of my valentine's projects from last year..

because the lack of craftiness around here is getting disgusting.

(i need those darn page protectors already...)

secret agent box.

this was my little present to mason last year.

it has been well loved, & the box could probably stand replacing!

glitter cup.

this was our gift to mason teacher last year.

just a store bought plastic cup, all glittered up for valentine's day.

cupid's wingman shirt.

a little felt applique on a onesie for the dude.

he was my little co-pilot for the day, making trips with me to drop off goodies to loved ones.

thumbprint heart keepsake.

this was the little piece that started my obsession for the year.

an inkpad, a pen, & some wiggly little fingers & your done.

fudgy valentines.

mason's class treats.

they were recycled plastic baby food containers,

filled with fudge & topped with valentine's sprinkles.

so cute, and a great way to get rid of some of my stash of stuff to re-purpose!

valentine's glitter frame.

just a few coats of spray paint, some mod podge & glitter.

(this kid cracks me up!)

here's to hoping i find my inner craftiness!

have a great weekend!

xo-k

book: charlotte figg takes over paradise

2012-01-26T07:49:00.000-05:00

we are just 26 days into the new year, and already i have 8 books under my belt.

i'm pretty proud of myself.

even if say, 5 of those books are young adult paranormal romance books.

it's still 8 books.

and to be honest, i'm kinda over the paranormal stuff right now.

i can't put my finger on why..

but i need books that are real right now.

books about real people, doing real things, overcoming real life.

i need real right now, even if it's hard.

even if the stories break my heart.

i need to hear them.

i need to be changed by them.

ever feel that way?

maybe it's just me.

i want to read 'the help' so badly,

but i'm still saving my amazon gift card for those dang design a project life page protectors.

until then, i'm still on the free ebook trip.

but you know what, it's not so bad.

i just finished 'charlotte figg takes over paradise' last night.

and i'm telling ya, it's running a close second to 'maids of misfortune' for the front runner in favorites.

but i guess as they are entirely different books, they can both occupy the numero uno spot for now.

i'm a big fannie flagg fan.

i bet you are familiar with her work, even if you haven't read a book.

she wrote 'fried green tomatoes'.

and as with everything else, the book is SO much better.

but this cover drew me in because i'm a fannie flagg fan.

promises of a quirky cast of characters suckered me from the get go.

and i wasn't disappointed. at all.

i don't want to give too much away.. but let me say this:

charlotte figg's husband, unexpectedly drops dead, and a stray dog named lucky claims her as his own. one day lucky brings home the neighbors mail, and as charlotte thumbs through it she happens upon a magazine with an advertisement for a double wide trailer for sale in a place called 'paradise'. she makes up her mind to purchase the trailer sight-unseen & that's where the story takes off.

charlotte finds herself in a world she never expected, living a life she never dreamed... and oddly it's exactly where she needed to be. she lands among a community of people who didn't know they needed her & somewhere in the midst of everyday life she overcomes a past she didn't really know was haunting her.

it's an amazing story. a funny, sometimes wacky story about a community of people with scars. some you see, and some you don't... and how they bond together.

totally worth the read, if you are asking me.

what are you reading right now?

are you on good reads? if so.. friend me so i can follow your reads! :)

xo-k

quoting: mother theresa

2012-01-25T15:43:00.000-05:00

it's 1:26am, and i really should be asleep. especially considering the sleep i didn't get last night. the dude had some crazy wild hair up his butt & got up at 4am & got himself dressed for school & then came in & asked me some question, to which i'm certain my reply was 'go to bed, it's 4am.' he of course informed me he was dressed & i vaguely remember telling him 'to get into bed dressed then!' then 4:45 rolled around & i felt a tug on my hand & when i opened my eyes i nearly screamed at his face 6 inches from mine. i can't quite remember if i was having a dream, but i know it's not a good idea for anyone to be that close to you when you wake up, especially if you've been having dreams, like me, of killer bees swarming my babes, and of people robbing & burning them in walmart parking lots. (no one can accuse me of a lack of vivid dreams... terrifying, but vivid)

but like i was saying, the second wake up call came at 4:45 when he wanted to know if he could open up one of the collector's hess trucks tucked away at the top of his closet. i'm pretty sure i got my point across the second time about someone needing to be injured, or close to death for him to come back in my room & to get his dang butt back in bed, clothes & all.

and that was when the snoring started.. i tell ya.. the hubs sleep apnea machine has been a blessing. at first it was a little odd as i got used to sleeping next to darth vader (ya know.. shhh...sppppaaaa... hisssss.. that whole thing..) but once i was used to the hiss & whirr of it.. i was MORE than grateful to be rid of the obnoxious snoring. not to mention the fact that it pretty much nipped those nights that i would wake up on his boisterous inhale & hold my breath while listening to see if he would exhale. not fun times, i assure you. sorta like watching your sleeping newborn & getting right down near their sweet little faces to make sure they are actually breathing... except he is typically sporting a beard & that gives off more of a 'i've snuck into a bear den while they're hibernating, dear God don't let them wake up' type of feeling.

so there i am at 5am now, wondering why in the heck he's snoring with his machine going, and contemplating a move to the couch for the remainder of the night. at some point he finally rolled over, and the snoring quieted, and i drifted off to sleep. only to wake this time, 30 minutes later, to the sounds of the babe crying in the monitor. i suspect it was just a nightmare, but his runny nose & constant whacking at his ear may see me in the pediatricians office tomorrow, and prove it something more.

even with all that activity in the wee hours of the morning... i'm still here, waaay past my bedtime tonight, with thoughts just running through my mind like they got nowhere else to go. and i know, i just know it's this quote i stumbled upon on pinterest, coupled with the book i just finished, that has my brain playing as a racetrack with my thoughts as the cars, chasing after one another.

i couldn't tell you how long ago it was. i can only tell you that my brother was single & in college.. and mason was an only child. but i remember this conversation we had. it keeps playing over & over in my head... a conversation where i sort of half defended myself, and sort of speculated at something that has just now begun to burrow into my heart & dig out emotions i seemed to have tucked away long ago & since forgot. and i can't wrap my head around the idea that's lurking just beneath the surface, but i know it's there... and it feels like it's taunting me these days.

he was in college, of that i'm sure, because i can vaguely remember the conversation starting out as one about his schooling & the road he hoped to take... and somehow it turned to a discussion about me & why i never finished school. which is odd, in retrospect, because my brother doesn't ask much about me. it's not that he doesn't care, to be clear.. it's just. well, he's kinda like my dad in that respect i guess... figures if you want him to know something, you'll tell him.. otherwise he's not prying. (whereas i on the other hand often find myself asking more questions that i probably should out of sheer curiosity.) and i remember telling him then, as i can honestly tell you now.. i didn't finish school because i didn't know what i wanted to go to school for. i wasn't one of those kids who grew up knowing they were destined to be a doctor, or a rock star, or anything for that matter. and i remember thinking while i was talking to him, that he was so smart, and somewhere along the line he might make a difference, that he would do great things, that people would respect him, like they respected my dad. and i told him 'ya know rick, i don't know.. i don't think everyone is destined to do miraculous things with their lives... some people just have to be the parents of people who do miraculous things' now.. don't get me wrong.. i love my kids just like any mama does but right now i'm thinking the only miraculous thing the dude is capable of is doing something the first time he's told, and learning to think of others first... and as for the babe.. well i'd just be happy if he'd say something more than 'bubby', 'bahye' or 'dadda', so that little fear that's creeping up in the back of my mind of why he's not talking at 18 months would go away.

i suffer from no delusions that my kids are going to save the planet, run for president, or invent the next iwhatever.... but they might.

what i am saying is that feeling, bubbling up beneath the surface is one of acceptance. one of forgiveness, for myself because i have let society spoon feed me this garbage that a career & accomplishments that come with monetary gain or notoriety are more important than my goal of becoming a truly enlightened human being, and somehow trying to pass that onto the world through my kids.

i know you're probably thinking, geez get on with the crafts already, and i will i promise. but this is where my heart is right now. my thoughts are a jumbled mess, and all of this likely explains the lack of blogging. i sit down to write posts, and somehow all of them seemed forced, because what i really want to be writing about is this stuff here. the stuff in my heart. but somehow when i sit down to type i can't translate my emotions into words that make sentences and paragraphs. so i ended up deleting what i write or walking away feeling frustrated that i can't get it out of my head.

so i just need to sit with my heart & my head a little while longer. i need to take pictures and live and listen to my heart. i need to make things that speak to me, and maybe look a little scary to the outside viewer. but i know it's there.. that something lurking underneath the surface.. and i just got to give it time to get out. all while you are sitting there saying.. what the heck does she mean by enlightened?!

xo-k

products i love: the lightscoop

2012-01-24T10:54:00.000-05:00

so, remember when i said i hated that i wasn't taking everyday-happenings pictures as much?

well.. this is why.

despite the cute face & diaper-clad bottom...

this picture is horrible.

this is my living room.

the place were we most 'live'.

it has one window on the front wall, horrible ambient lighting by the front door..

and that's it for light sources..

oh, in less you want to count the sliding glass door on the back wall & the dining room fixture...

but in terms of taking pictures.. it may as well be dark in my house.

ALL.THE.TIME.

and i may have not have mentioned this before..

but i hate my pop up flash.

or i did. i should say.

i am not lucky enough to own an external flash that can rotate.

nor do i own a flash diffuser.

i got nothing fancy to take care of poor lighting folks.

but what i do have is a lightscoop.

and it has changed my feelings about my pop up flash, i'm telling ya.

(that's my one crummy window right there..)

now this is what a picture looks like taken in my house.

flashy flash. washed out skin. looks like & is a crappy snapshot.

i don't know about you, but crappy pictures do NOT inspire me to scrapbook.

or preserve those memories in photos for that matter...

they usually make me dive right for the delete button.

but take a look at this.

same settings. (ie. auto.. i know i know)

same crappy lighting situation.

the difference?

i put the lightscoop on my camera to diffuse the flash this time.

and while it may not be professional quality..

i'm telling you, it's a HUGE improvement.

i can lighten it up in a photo editing program & actually have a decent picture.

(this is totally unedited out of the camera)

i am NOT being paid by the people at lightscoop to rave about their product.

i AM telling you, that if you are a regular stay at home mama, with regular camera equipment, and sub-par lighting situations.. this item will CHANGE your life.

(okay, maybe that's a little drastic..)

the best part is the price.

i don't know about you, but an external flash for my camera would run me upwards of $100.

tack on the cost of a flash diffuser & you got yourself another $10-30 bucks.

as a one income family, and a hobby photographer..

i can't see dropping that kinda money into a flash.

the lightscoop is $29.95.

that to me, is so worth the results you get.

it's lightweight & portable.

(photo source)

you just slip it on the top of your camera.
it works by bouncing your pop up flash off the ceiling to create a soft glow on your subject.
i have cathedral ceilings & it still works well.
(it DOES not work outside, as there is no surface to reflect off of)
there are two options. standard & warming.
i have the standard.
it fits SEVERAL camera bodies.. just check to make sure yours is on the list.
it is well worth it people.
well worth it.

and...in the words of forrest gump.
'that's all i have to say about that'

xo-k

project life: free printables

2012-01-23T08:40:00.000-05:00

i totally jumped on the project life bandwagon.

it's funny, when i became a stay at home mom, i was SO sure i was going to have more time to scrap.

HA!

all i have is more time to find dirt in every nook & cranny of my house...

and then to watch it sit for a week as i mop milk from the same spots over & over again...

(or more accurately wipe, cause who can mop with a babe running around?!)

anyway.. like i was saying.. i was so sure i was going to have more time..

but it seems like with two kids, and cleaning, and kid corralling & soccer, & cooking.. etc...etc..

i have even less time than before..

i have exactly 3 pages scrapbooked from 2011.

THREE.

and that's totally unacceptable!!

but marcy penner gave me hope & turned me onto project life.

i've watched her blog as she's posted pages over the last year..

watched as she tucked in pieces of memorabilia here & there..

the tag from a new shirt.. a piece from a card game..

and i was totally captivated by it all.

and then i noticed ali edwards was doing it too..

and i just couldn't help but be envious of how they had SO many pictures of the day to day of life.

and it made me realize how LITTLE i had been picking up my ACTUAL camera.

because, i used to be all about the everyday moments..

and i had been letting them slide by....

so, i knew when 2012 rolled around i was hopping on the project life train.

annnnnndddd then they sold out of the page protectors i wanted.

talk about a major sadface.

MAJOR. SADFACE.

but... i've been working steadily on collecting items & jotting down notes regardless.

i've got my first week put together

& i'm sitting down to pull together photos & goods from the last two weeks today..

& i'm ordering copies of some free printables i found online from staples

(because my home printer is a P.O.S)

and i thought i'd share the collection i had found thus far with you!

all of these are free printables from their respectable owners.

please follow the links below the photos for each download! :)

(action 2012 by erica hernandez @ two peas)

(days of the week @ creativity prompt)

(memories start here @ design editor)

(printable library, graph & notecards @ the creative place)

(DIY library card @ will knit for cake)

(recently reading @ pluckymomo)

plucky momo has freebie fridays for project lifers! :)

(grid journaling cards @ pieced papers)

(days of the week @ yellow umbrella designs)

(days of the week @ cathy zielske's blog)

(live free: love life @ digital art by mt)

(days of the week @ a vegas girl at heart)

soooo... i'm hoping to snatch up some design A pages from amazon as soon as they come in..

i'm stalking it everyday.. even if mrs. higgins claims they won't be in until february..

because i just know all those other people waiting are going to snatch them out from under me if i don't order as soon as they are listed..

(paranoid much, ya think?!)

and then hopefully, HOPEFULLY, i'll have some pages to post once a week..

until then all my little scraps & snippets are being stored in folders..

that are SO not as fun to look at.

fo' sho!

happy monday! :)

xo-k

ps. i'm embarking on a culinary adventure this afternoon.. wish me luck...!! :) and if my labors are fruitful, i may just have something yummy to post for you tomorrow too! imagine that.. two posts in one week.. can you handle it?! :)

products i love: lisa leonard designs open circle necklace

2012-01-21T10:22:00.001-05:00

if you've been in the blogging world for any length of time, it's likely you've heard about lisa leonard..

or at least SEEN a piece of her jewelry on someone else's blog.

i personally have followed her journey over the last several years,

and watched as her jewelry business has flourished..

and i have ALWAYS ALWAYS loved her pieces.

but.. i always had a hard time nailing down which piece i loved enough to purchase.

(there were just too many to pick from!)

then, to my surprise, i won a giveaway from epiphanie camera bags right before christmas..

and along with another amazing gift..

i won a gift card to lisa leonard designs!

to say i was excited would be an understatement, for sure.

i started right away trying to narrow down what piece i wanted.

i kept going back & forth between wanting a necklace with my 2012 word 'believe'

& wanting one with the boys names on it,

to replace the one i had worn almost daily with mason's name on it..

before rance was born.

well, you can see i decided on getting one with the boys names on it!

it's the open circle necklace.

this thing is hefty & solid & absolutely amazing in person!!

the front, as you see, has the boys names on it..

and the back says 'you are my happy thoughts'

i wasn't sure it would mean anything to anyone other than myself..

but to my surprise the hubs (who can't quote anything that's not 'top gun')

even knew it was from 'hook'.

but more precisely, it's from 'peter pan'.

like every mama, i love these kids more than words can express..

i wanted something different than 'love you', 'xoxo' or something similar.

and truthfully...

when i'm sad or down.. these kiddos lift me up.

even when i'm pulling my hair out over having to pick up the dvd's in the living room for the umpteenth time from the babe...

or wondering where i went wrong because i can't get mason to listen to save my life..

they do something silly...

and i remember how truly fortunate i am to be blessed with these two little guys.

and with a sprinkle of house dust (cause the fairies are scarce in a house full of boys)..

and a few happy thoughts..

my spirits start to rise.

life is full of more blessings than burdens... you just gotta know which angle to look from.

hope you are having a great weekend!!

xo-k

ps. if you aren't familiar with lisa leonard, or her blog.. i encourage to you click on over & find out a little about her & her story.. it's an amazing story, for sure... and one that may change you.

currents: 1.18.12

2012-01-18T16:50:00.003-05:00

watching: the dude ride his bike. he went from not wanting to ride it, to teaching himself to ride it... in just a few days. he seriously would NOT even try to ride it after christmas of 2010 when he took a major nose dive off it. it sat at my mom's house & every time we were there we'd try to get him to ride... with no success (he didn't even want to bring it home). insert neighbor kids with new bikes for christmas & suddenly he's DYING to ride it by himself. monday papa brought it over & by monday afternoon he was an old pro! (check one off the 2012 to do for him!)

reading: just finished reading 'Maids of Misfortune' (A Victorian San Francisco Mystery #1). it is my FAVORITE book of 2012, so far ;)

eating: ruby red grapefruit. every morning for breakfast. i can't seem to get enough of it.. but as it's supposed to be a metabolism booster, i can't see how it's a bad thing to be addicted to!

needing: project life design A page protectors. and waiting NOT so patiently for them to come in. i've been working on my first two weeks, regardless... but i want them in page protectors already! :)

obsessing: purging. simplifying. also known as getting rid of useless clutter taking up space in our lives. there is a definite garage sale in our future. no untouched toy or shoe is safe right now!

learning: how to use the silhouette cameo. how to eat clean & gluten free. how to accept change for what it is, and embrace the new 'what is' as something just as special as the old 'what was'.

loving: this stage that the babe is in. he's learned how to open the doors in the house & while annoying sometimes, it's so funny to watch him stand on his tiptoes & then squeal with delight when he gets in a room he shouldn't be. he's using the sign language i've taught him frequently, & we are adding new words about every two to three weeks. (here's the website i'm using if you are interested)

looking forward to: my cousin's wedding in march. it's in st. augustine & we are taking just a few days prior to the wedding to take the dude to the fort there. it'll be his first trip & i am BEYOND excited about it!

pinning: healthy food. pirate parties. project life. & amazing designs.

i'm busy with the business of life. nothing particularly interesting. trying to get my self on some sort of household schedule, so i can balance what i have to do, with what i want to do. it only took me 1.5 years of being a stay at home mama to figure out i need one, talk about late to the party. i'm enjoying that lull between christmas & valentine's day, and hope to tackle some house projects in the coming weeks. right now, most of my time is devoted to figuring out this new way of eating. it's like being in school trying to educate myself on grammar, with all the can's & cant's. it's a challenge, for sure, but one so far i'm enjoying! :)

xo-k

obsession: fonts

2012-01-13T21:38:00.002-05:00

i am totally obsessed with fonts as of late.

it started with trying to redo my banner..

and ever since i've hooked up the silhouette, it's gotten worse..

sooo much worse!

here are some of my current favorites:

you can click on the links to download these free:

5th Grade Cursive, Bebas, Blackout, Broadcast, District, Foglihten No 01

Handwriting Draft, Heavy Weight, Neo Retrofill, My Own Topher

i'm off to pack up my scrapbooking goodies for a weekend with my friends!

have a good one!

xo-k

life: i threw away my scale

2012-01-11T20:13:00.000-05:00

i did it. i threw away my bathroom scale.

and i feel good about it.

it has ruled my life for far too long.

you see, i'm not a small girl. i'm not even a curvy girl. i'm just plain old overweight.

to say i struggle with my weight is like the understatement of the year.

i've had my thyroid tested a dozen times since i was a teenager.

i've also tried weight watchers, slim fast, south beach, & the atkins diet.

i've seen doctors & nutritionists & gone to the metabolic research center.

i've exercised myself until my limbs were jell-o.

and i've stuck with all of them.

i've dropped weight, but i ALWAYS hit a 20lb wall.

it's the same for many i suppose, that 20lb barrier, the 'plateau' as they call it.

but here's the thing.

the plateau, and the scale, are my arch nemesis!!

because i, like most people trying hard to lose weight, need to SEE the results.

i need a stupid scale to show movement, or i get discouraged.

and for me, sometimes the plateau's last for a few weeks.

and in that few weeks, something in my resolve & spirit breaks.

and i get emotional, and because i'm an emotional eater.. i EAT.

i eat all those horrible comfort foods i shouldn't.

ice cream. bread. macaroni & cheese.

and then the cycle starts all over again when i wake up hating myself after a week of indulging.

so.. i threw away my scale.

it's only taken me... 15 years to cut the ties.

15 years to change my mindset.

i refuse to be ruled by a stupid number on a scale.

so.. the change in diet will continue on, as it has for the last few months..

and the exercise will be looked at as time with my boys, or by myself..

instead of a dreaded component of dieting & losing weight.

we have been pushing towards clean eating for the last few months

& we are going to start cutting gluten out of our diet.

the whole thing is sort of daunting & overwhelming..

but i'm trying to take deep breaths & work on what to eat each day.

if i can convince stephen to cut white sugar out of his diet..

i figure i can do anything.

xo-k

life: 2012 goals

2012-01-09T21:51:00.002-05:00

i learned some years ago that making resolutions wasn't for me.
i, like 3/4ths of the population, crash & burn in my resolutions by mid-february.

but i am not immune to the promise of a clean slate & a fresh start that the new year brings.
i went back through my 2011 list, and i was moderately successful in accomplishing some of my goals.
i'd like to be MORE than moderately successful, for sure..
but i don't feel like i came into the new year a failure because they weren't achieved..
goals feel like they don't have a set end date.
you don't make it that year? aim for it the next. and the next.

here are my 2012 goals in no particular order..

i think most of them are pretty self-explanatory...
i've already knocked out 5 books since 1.1.12, thanks to my kindle & free downloads.
getting a surprise in the mail is much more fun then receiving a text from a friend on your birthday.
a 'r.a.k.' is a random act of kindness.. more on this in the coming days
yes, i jumped on the project life band wagon. i'm just waiting for page protectors!
clean eating. it's a lifestyle, not a diet. more on this soon as well!
travel florida. we can't always travel out of state, but we are fortunate enough to have a state full of great places to visit. looking forward to short weekend trips to new places this year!
i have some dreams that are stirring in my heart.. some dreams i intend to work hard to follow this year...

what are your 2012 goals?

xo-k

one little word: believe

2012-01-06T20:12:00.001-05:00

(kobi yamada)

i've been reciting this to myself for the last week. last two weeks, actually. i should have been reciting it to myself all these years... but i'm sure i'm not the only stranger to self-confidence here.

when it comes to some things, yes. i've got confidence enough, now, to rock purple hair (which has slowly, and sadly faded away). i once was so obsessed with a pair of old man's pinstriped railroad overalls that i wore them far more often than i should have, especially since they started out as a halloween costume. i've never much cared what people thought of my clothes. i've always had the confidence to wear what i liked. i've gotten tattooed & pierced & never really worried about people looking down their nose at me..

in other ways, though, like taking photographs or baking, or making things and having people pay me for them.. my confidence is THROUGH THE FLOOR. i think the internet is the biggest culprit. don't we all browse blogs & websites feel like what we are doing isn't 'right' or 'good enough'?! measuring yourself against someone else's standard is essentially like taking a wrecking ball to the structure of your self-worth.

so, i'm saying ENOUGH. ENOUGH. ENOUGH. ENOUGH.

last year i was the start of a turning point for me. without thinking much about it, i dove into the world of thirty-one. i have been kept a float by my gracious aunt & her generous co-workers... but i haven't pursued much beyond that. i don't have a reason why, other than the thought of having to actually speak in front of a group of women i don't know... scares the hell out of me.

my friend stephanie asked me to cater dessert for her store's grand re-opening & second anniversary in october. before i even thought about it, i told her 'absolutely YES!' she has been such an amazing friend to me the last few years, i was eager to try and return the favor. (plus we all know i'm down for a good party planning ;) that saturday night i'm elbow deep in oreo truffles & thinking 'what in the hell did i get myself into?! what if no one likes the food?! it doesn't look like a professional bakery did it?! the swirls aren't just right!!' i seriously thought i was going to hyperventilate & the only thing that pulled me through was that i seriously didn't want to disappoint her. and you know what? people were RAVING about the desserts. i can't tell you how many compliments i received, or how many people asked me if i catered. i was completely taken back & flattered.

i have some dreams. some BIG dreams. there are some things in my heart i would really like to make happen. and i have let the years go by.. the opportunities slip through my fingers because of self-doubt. because i didn't BELIEVE in myself. because i didn't listen when other people said they BELIEVED in me.

i'm done with that.

'believe in yourself and all that you are. know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle.' -christian larson

what's your 2012 word? i'd love to hear about your word & why you chose it.

xo-k

ps. working on the blog (like you couldn't tell..) bear with me & please let me know if there is anything you can't read/see/etc!

books: southern fraud series, sister-to-sister series, of witches and warlock series

2012-01-04T23:28:00.000-05:00

hi, there.
how are you?
i'm good. very good, actually.

i'm lost in thought in that place that seems to reside between december 31st and about the 5th of january. you know what i'm talking about? that place everyone seems to gravitate towards to reflect upon the last years triumphs & tragedies. you're there too, huh?

i have my 2012 word. i'm letting it seep into my pores & psyche before i share it, although, if you follow me on pinterest, you may already have an idea as to what it is :) i am trying to put together my thoughts on it before i share it though. it's a word that has been growing closer & closer to my heart over the last few years.

in the mean time, i've been reading. a lot. A LOT. my kindle fire is an obsession. my husband teases he regrets buying it for me, but it's given him remote control for the first time in years (aside from game days), and secretly i think he's enjoying it, though he'd NEVER admit it.

the instant my kindle was up & running i was searching through the free books to download all the classics i wanted to read... then i went through all the books that were $2.99 or less. and i ended up with 4 books that i thoroughly enjoyed & paid about $2.99 for total, one of which was borrowed.

'Absolute Liability'

not my favorite of the four, but an easy who-done-it read in the fashion of 'murder, she wrote'.

the next book is due out sometime this year & i'm definitely going to pick it up to see how the character progresses.

'Stuck in the Middle'

i just finished tonight. another free first from amazon, the other two books are just a few dollars & i'm certainly going to pick them up. (or download them.. i should say.. I LOVE MY KINDLE) a heartwarming story about three sisters, centering particularly on the middle child, who is 25, and stuck in her life. i don't want to give too much away. but i laughed & i cried & i laughed some more. it does speak about religion, but i didn't find it too preachy, and it's totally worth the read.

'The Trouble with Spells'

free to download & it sucked me right in. ya, big surprise right? paranormal romance. it's actually a 'young adult' book. someone in the reviews described the two characters as rivaling edward & bella.... i'm going to duck for cover & say that i may like vance & portia more. i know you twilight fans are probably shooting death stares at me right now.. but it was a good read i'd recommend to any young readers.

'The Demon Kiss'

sequel to the above book... i think what i like is the action. the magic progresses at a believable rate, while the romance doesn't. i can handle all the 'i love you's' but knowing this is a young readers book, it sorta bothers me that it's such an all-consuming love. but, i liked the book & am totally ready to jump into the next one..

i tried & tried to get through 'northanger abbey'. i'm like 1/3 of the way in & half the time i just felt like i didn't even know what the heck was going on... whether the story was progressing or if austen was lecturing me. (did you see 'becoming jane'... i felt like the guy sitting through her short.. ha... story) so i decided to put it down & try to come back to it later.

hopefully the end of this week brings about some clarity of thought & some new blogs.. see ya then!

xo-k

sunday review: post christmas edition

2011-12-26T20:41:00.000-05:00

i hope everyone had a wonderful holiday..

we sure did..

aside from an aunt with severe abdominal pain who couldn't eat..

and an another aunt who chopped a piece off the tip of her thumb cooking christmas dinner...

i felt a little sad last night, knowing it was all over for another year..

and, let's be honest.. i'm not looking forward to going back to reality.

the hubs has been home for the last 8 days

& while there were a few times i wanted to send him outside with the dude so i could clean..

it's been nice!

1. the nice thing about the about the hubs being home.. breakfast cooked (and then there is the mess afterwards ;).

2. mr. bells hanging out in the dude's room to make sure he kept his room clean.

3. the hubs outside throwing the football with the dude & next door neighbor kids.

4. hubs makes a late night strawberry smoothie for us.

5. mr. bells sent us a video from santa telling the dude he needed to work a little harder to get on the nice list.

6. the babe is a lollipop lover! (airheads makes a lollipop with a plastic stick.. otherwise he gets to the end & tries to cram the whole stick in his mouth!!)

7. uncle ricky & aunt shea bought the dude some super fluffy camo slippers & he LOVES them.. is always bringing them to me to put on him.

8. shopping. at micheals. ALONE. another benefit of the hubs being home!! :)

9. mr. bells was jailed by the evil penguin.

10. babe's first publix cookie... he was covered in chocolate but totally enjoyed it!

11. candied bacon. yessssss....

12. chocolate chip & candied bacon cookies.. oh yea.. you heard me right!

13. more bacon.. this time for bacon jam.

14. last minute from a box (blech!!) cupcakes & icing. totally improvised the less than stellar last minute decorations.. whatever!

15. cousins! addison & aubrey are sisters.. and then the babe & the dude. my cousin the biggest sports fan i know ended up with two little princess daughters.!!

16. annual christmas eve family get together.. the numbers keep dwindling & the faces keep changing.. but we keep it going..

17. the babe & the dude in their pj's christmas eve with papa... papa teasing rance by sticking his thumb in his mouth..

18. the 'bacon basket' or 'basket o' bacon'... a gift for my dad & aunt. bacon salt. chocolate chip & candied bacon cookies. candied bacon butter. bacon jam. (last year was chocolate covered bacon & i needed to up the anty)

19. i about went into shock when i unwrapped my parents gift. a silhoutte cameo. that's what i get for telling my mom about it & suggesting we go into together on it! she's so sneaky! i am BEYOND grateful & totally undeserving.. but she's already put in her first order for custom vinyl.. so i'm guessing she had this all planned out!

20. my gift from stephen...a kindle fire. a TOTAL surprise. we had talked about tablets, but for the dude.. then we decided to wait another year or two. i have always wanted a e-reader... but haven't really expressed it to him.. so i was in shock. and.... i totally cried. a big ugly boo-hoo. again...so thankful & so undeserving.

21. mason got star wars operation from nana & papa & it was a lot harder than he thought it'd be.. and i learned that it was (at least this version) a lot easier than i remembered it being. speaks volumes about fine motor skills & aging!

22. another family christmas dinner. my dad had some cousins from his mother's side visiting & my cousin who i haven't seen in years (she lives in LA) were there. it was great to catch up with them & hang out in person with people i stalk on facebook! :)

the hubs goes back to work tomorrow like i said...

and i'm hoping once the year winds down to get started on some new goals

& some new home dec projects..

i hope to pop in between now & 2012!! :)

xo-k

recipe: peppermint brownie bites

2011-12-22T21:02:00.003-05:00

i think i can count on one hand the amount of times the dude has ASKED me to make something for him.

he's a picky eater, to the max.

like most kids, i'd imagine, he'd live on pizza, chicken nuggets & fruit if we let him.

along with an occasional pb & j sandwich.

so when he practically begged me to make brownies for his class christmas party, i had to oblige.

but the thought of trying to cut up brownies to serve to a class of 7 year olds..

well i just imagined whines of who's piece was bigger

& having to wield a knife with a hoard of kids on the brink of a sugar-coma looming over me.

sounds scary right?

add to that a baby who was missing his morning nap

& a mama who was up until 2am finishing his teacher's present..

& you just about have a clear picture of my stress level come 11am!

so i put my mini muffin tin to work.

i dropped a heaping tablespoon of batter into each cup

& then baked them off.

but plain ol' brownies are pretty lame.

and everything is better with peppermint..

especially at christmas time right?

so i found this recipe for peppermint cookies on craftaholics anonymous

& used just the icing recipe

thinning it out a bit with more milk so i could just dunk the tops of the brownies in the icing.

added some crushed peppermint to the top

& hauled them in for kiddie approval.

they LOVED them (of course)

and most of the kids came back for seconds..

some for thirds & fourths!

i used the brownie recipe i posted here

& it made about 52 mini brownies!

so good, and a pretty festive & simple way to dress up regular brownies! :)

xo-k

ps-2 days left until christmas! are you ready?! :)

linking to:
tidymom
whipperberry

christmas: memorial pound cake baking

2011-12-21T21:19:00.002-05:00

each year it gets a little less sad...

it gets a little easier..

it grows to be a little more tradition.

you may remember my post last year about our annual christmas pound cake baking..

or, you may be a new follower (hello! :) & have no clue what i'm talking about.

in february 2005 my granny passed away.

she was my mom's mother, a mother of six children... and was a single parent no less.

she sacrificed a great deal during her life for her children..

more than i'm sure even my mom & her siblings know about.

she has a sad story.. but that's not the story i want to share tonight.

the one i want to tell you is about a woman who was more filled with the christmas spirit every year than anyone i've ever known.

her family grew from six children to include their spouses & 12 grandkids..

and she never failed to have at least one present under the tree for each.

i can't remember a time when those presents didn't include if one

& most of the time, two of her famous pound cakes.

multiply two by six & add the all the neighbors & co-workers she baked for..

and you can understand why one person would have to start two weeks before christmas just to get it all done.

the point is, she loved christmas.

the lights, the songs, the decorations, the baking, the time with family..

and most of all.. giving.

so, when that first christmas after she passed came around..

it was difficult for anyone to imagine what it would be like..

the hole she left in our lives seemed to grow exponentially at christmas time.

we were really grasping at anything to help bring back some christmas spirit that first year...

and somehow we came around to the idea to carry on baking pound cake, just as she had...

that first year we got together was a real eye opener.

we baked ALL DAY.

and i mean ALL DAY.

i think we made something like 30 pound cakes.

it was insane to think one person did all of it alone.

but we laughed.

and we reminisced.

and i'm sure there were a few tears as well.

but we made it through the grief together...

and we created a new tradition, to carry on her memory.

this year was our 7th year making pound cake in her memory.

it's almost hard to imagine that mason was just 19 months old that first year,

running around getting into everything..

and this year it was rance up underneath everyone's feet,

while mason rode the 4 wheeler with his uncle ricky..

i don't think it's ever easy to let go of a loved one..

i'm just glad we have something to bring us together to remember her by..

plain pound cake:

-1 cup crisco
-1 stick butter
-3 cups sugar
-5 eggs
-3 cups flour
-1/2 tsp baking powder
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 cup milk
-3 tsp vanilla

preheat oven to 300.

1. mix flour, baking powder & salt. set aside
2. in separate bowl cream crisco, butter & sugar. add eggs, one at a time.
3. combine dry mixture with wet mixture.
4. add milk & vanilla.
5. pour into greased loaf pan. bake 1 hour & 15 minutes.

chocolate pound cake

-1 cup crisco
-1 stick butter
-3 cups sugar
-5 eggs
-1 tsp vanilla
-1 1/2 cups milk
-3 cups flour
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
-1/2 tsp baking powder

preheat oven to 300.

1. mix flour, salt, cocoa powder & baking powder. set aside.
2. in separate bowl cream crisco, butter & sugar. add eggs.
3. combine wet mixture & dry mixture.
4. add milk & vanilla.
5. pour into greased loaf pan. bake 1 hour & 15 minutes.

you can certainly stop here.. but our favorite is marbled pound cake...

marbled pound cake:

1. make one of each of the above recipes.
2. in greased loaf pan alternate dropping batter by spoonfuls in bottom of pan. (should look like a checkerboard)
3. for the next layer drop alternating colors on top of the first layer.
4. once pan is full, take butter knife & insert into pan swirling batters. DO NOT OVER MIX!
5. bake @ 300 for 1 hour & 15 minutes.

(i just realized... in all our years,

i apparently have never managed a picture of an actual BAKED pound cake!)

only three more days until christmas,

are you ready?! :)

xo-k

linking to:
fireflies & jellybeans
house of hepworth
tales from bloggeritaville
ladybug blessings

diy: embroidered doodles

2011-12-20T14:13:00.005-05:00

i really have the best intentions when it comes to giving gifts.

i usually have all kinds of ideas, & it's the funding that's the problem.

this time.. it didn't dawn on me until wednesday night that friday was the dude's last day of school..

and we hadn't gotten anything for his teacher.

wednesday night with nothing planned & not an idea in sight.

i was racking my brain for ideas while working on my christmas gift for my sister in law.

the dude was totally entranced watching me embroider

& was literally on top of me the whole time i was sewing.

he's a doodler that one.. and he gave us all christmas cards that night.

and i fell in love with this picture of a rose he drew me

(although i'll admit i thought it was supposed to be a tulip at first)

he's extremely detail oriented & his teachers are always complimentary & amazed at his artistic abilities.

so it hit me to combine the two & make something his teacher could hang on to..

it took him a about 15 minutes to perfect his flowers

& write out his teachers name.

i picked out the best flowers & written name & traced them onto a new paper

(because as a perfectionist.. there were tons of erased scribble lines to wade through)

once i was finished i waited until the next day to tape first the design

& then the fabric over the top to trace on the pattern with a water soluble pen.

then i stuck the fabric in a hoop & embroidered over the pattern i traced.

when i was done i used water to remove the pen marks from the water soluble pen.

ironed out the piece & taped around a 5x7 piece of cardstock.

stuck it in a frame & wrapped it up to gift.

i was a little nervous about whether she would like it.

but mason was sooo excited about it, that i hoped we were on the right track.

well, she loved it!

& she thanked me twice at school during his christmas party..

& then called the house again later to thank me again!

i was so relieved!

i know teachers aren't like parents or grandparents

& don't particularly want 100's of hand prints

& drawings from their students over the years..

but i intended this to be a bit of a nameplate..

something she could put on her desk

& not necessarily a keepsake.

it would definetely work as a last minute gift idea for family members though!

just trace over one of your children's doodles & viola! :)

xo-k

linking up:
tip junkie
today's creative
craftomaniac
skip to my lou
the blackberry vine
tidy mom
whipperberry

life: the sunday review

2011-12-18T21:32:00.001-05:00

i can't be the only one thinking..

'holy crap! christmas is 7 days away!'

i am so grateful that i've avoided most of the holiday stress.

i gave myself permission to not do any christmas crafting (for around the house)..

and i have to say.. i'm enjoying not feeling guilty because i haven't posted a bunch of craft ideas.

BUT.

that's not to say that i may or may not have spent a good 40+ hours on one craft this week.

a craft that was a christmas present to be exact.

i was really enjoying every minute of it, up until the day i needed to be done..

and i wasn't... well until the last minute.

when i tallied up all the time put into it..

i was really shocked, because it was a labor of love, so the time flew by.

so i'm not really surprised i don't have too many pictures this week..

or that i haven't done much other than wash dishes & feed my family & embroider.

1. mr. bells got caught playing with marshmallows in the pantry.

2. we pretty much keep the dude's bedroom door shut.. but i was in there hanging up some clothes & next thing i know i hear 'tap. tap. tap.' on the keyboard behind me.. the babe got his techie gene honestly!

3. with temps dropping into the 40s @ night we've had to put a crate back in the house for the dog (cue major sadface here..).. apparently mr. bells thought it was a jungle gym.

4. i think i pick up measuring cups 1,000 times a day.. remind me why i bought toys for this kid for christmas?

5. i gave in to the pleas for the 'stupid-giant-can't-turn-a-corner-to-save-it's-life kid-germ-infested' shopping cart at publix on a run to pick up milk. we ended up going up & down every aisle just so they had more time in the darn thing. sometimes you have to let go of your mommy-worries & hurries & just let 'em be kids!

6. a christmas card from mason, with a rose drawn on the front. i'm seriously impressed with it. still. (look for a project with this drawing this week!)

7. mr. bells was either really lame or really cool this week. he pulled out the lite brite to shout out a countdown this day!

8. brownies requested by the dude for his class christmas party. dressed up with peppermint icing & crushed peppermints. they were a HUGE hit with the kids. (sharing recipe this week)

9. mr. bells, buzz lightyear, spiderman & moosie played a game of sorry.

10. my big christmas present project almost completed friday afternoon. (i will share a better picture soon!)

11. 6th annual memorial pound cake baking @ my moms (more on that soon too!)

12. christmas card mason made for my brother. he's apparently under the delusion my brother is the nicest person in the world... CLEARLY he has been mislead ;)

13. it's our 'off' year for christmas with my brother & his wife (they take turns between families) so we got together a week early to sit down for dinner & exchange gifts. mason was gifted a lego version of hagrid's house from harry potter & he was SUPER excited.. especially because he had his best lego building buddy there to help him.. uncle ricky! :)

14. another pinterest recipe.. and OH boy. mini pecan pie muffins. SO good. the boys gobbled them right up & even the hubs (who defies the laws of nature by hating pecans & hailing from georgia) went back for seconds.

15. mr. bells is getting ansy for christmas... he was trying to check the stocking for goodies this morning, not yet mr. bells!! :)

16. those muffins. i'm telling you.. you'll totally want to make these. they taste JUST like pecan pie, and they only have 5 ingredients!

i have a few things to share in more detail as you can see...

along with some last minute christmas gifts i'm finishing up..

so check back later this week! :)

are you done with all your christmas shopping/crafting?

xo-k

christmas: my wishlist

2011-12-13T10:42:00.000-05:00

in truth, i want nothing for christmas.

i feel absolutely 100% blessed this christmas to have everything i need.

i feel like i'm coming into a season in my life where i can accept who & what i am & be content.

(that's not to say that i don't have faults, but working to better them is part of life i think)

i think that's the mark of a grown up.

well, maybe not.. but it's maybe a sign of evolving as a person?

who knows maybe i'm just talking out my rear-end this morning.

but, like every other human being..

i have a short wish list of pretty things.

(aside from the non-tangible things like peace, forgiveness & selflessness i always keep a wish for in my heart)

i need a break from my christmas present project, and this seemed like a time-filler..

because i really don't want to mop the floor that really needs it.

(can you say no-leak sippy cup, my butt!)

i've had my eye on this q&a 5 year journal for some time now.

i have REALLY good intentions when it comes to journaling..

and REALLY bad follow through.

this one gives you a single question to answer each day

& then space for answers for the next 5 years.

one question? that's totally do-able.

i've had the same fiskars paper trimmer for probably 6 years..

it's never done me wrong, it's extremely portable & space friendly.

but i'm an american crafts girl... and.. i can't help but love this thing.

cuts paper & has multiple blade attachments that can be stored in the trimmer?!

what's not to love!?!

i sorta feel like a grandma with this thing on my list.

a bed-pillow. but after hours upon hours of reading this year..

a pillow like this (maybe not this exact one) is so high up on my list!

i stumbled upon this little ring set on etsy over the weekend while cruising for ideas for christmas for my mom, and fell in love.

it's not too often you see 'mama' on stuff

i love that it's stacking & has the #2.

i love that it's made from old pages.

and i especially love that it's handmade!

i've been collecting ideas for wall art for my bedroom the last few months..

i aiming to make most of it by hand..

but i just love this poster, and think it very well may make it's way onto our wall!

anyone who really knows me, knows how much of a techie i am.

i CAN NOT help it.

trust me i've tried.

i've been in love with e-readers since they arrived on the market.

first the regular kindle & then the nook.. my latest affair is with the kindle fire.

::sigh::

i can't help myself.

(but at $199 it's a lot more feasible than the ipad which though desirable, is far beyond what i'm willing to consider for a tablet!)

well.... i guess i didn't kill enough time...

the babe...

(who i'm seriously considering renaming linus, ya know, from charlie brown)

is still sleeping & i should really mop the floor.

so i can get upset later when 2.5 seconds after he is handed his sippy cup there is milk all over the floor again.

joy!

xo-k

life: the sunday review.

2011-12-11T22:39:00.002-05:00

i'm pretty sure the accessibility of my cell phone camera is the cause of the decline of use of my dslr.

the ease of use coupled with the instant gratification of tubo filters, ya... it's just shameful.

BUT, i'm going to try and justify it, by saying that most of these shots would not have been captured had i not used my cellphone..

because, i don't know about you.. but i'm not one for lugging my camera to the movies.

(i'm too busy relishing in the fact i'm not toting a diaper bag that holds everything but the kitchen sink in it!)

but i worry about them getting lost in my cell phone.

so every day, or every other day if i forget, i email the pictures to myself.

i name them for the date & save them to a file on my pc.

something like dec2cell1.

that's december 2nd 1st cell picture.

i realize this may become a problem with no year attached..

but it's what is working right now.

and, in an effort to get just a bit of information saved with the pictures..

i'm going to start 'the sunday dump'. (please see below for..uh.. well just look at it okay?!)

i know i've SORT of already done this..

but i'm going to try & make it a regular thing.

we'll see how it goes. :)

1. we had an elf come to stay with us for the holidays, mason was quick in naming him mr. j. bells.

2. this little guy has given up on trying to get into the cabinets & has taken to getting into the drawers, i spend my days now picking up duplos AND measuring cups.

3. we finally bit the bullet and purchased new christmas lights (we haven't had any in a few years) & the neighbor girl (who's 8) said 'oh, wow, you are finally getting christmas lights this year?!' i had a good laugh at the hubs expense! :)

4. i've never been one for multi-colored lights, but i am in love with the LED versions! they are so bright, although this picture hardly does them justice!

5. i've been snapping mr. bells daily hi jinks. this day he was caught in a slinky hanging from the light fixture in the dining room!

6. i made peppermint garland for the tree. a not so quick, but easily done christmas craft.

7. capt. jack, lego pirate cornered mr. bells on the bookshelf at knife-point.

8. had a movie date with the dude to see the muppets. so cute. so happy to share my love of muppets with him now! :)

9. a beautiful, unexpected gift from my amazingly talented friend andrea! (ps. she should have these in her etsy shop soon, check her out!)

10. game of life with nana & the dude after the christmas tree was decorated.

11. reading 'little women' by tree light :)

12. mr. bells tp'd the tree, which got a good laugh fom the dude & dada threaten to kick his mischevious little butt to the curb, which got ANOTHER laugh!

13. mr. bells snuck in the freezer to eat some of dada's ice cream!

14. the babe has also (with help from bubby) discovered how much fun it is to get in his toybox & throw everything out on the floor.... several times a day!

15. mr. bells reading the nutcracker, a book inscribed 'merry christmas kristy! love, oma christmas 1989'

16. dinner @ Mediterranean blue in orlando with my brother & his wife after a day of shopping at ikea.

17. mr. bells playing hide & go seek.

18. i've discovered the secret to napping on the go... the babe has rekindled his love affair with blankies, a few rubs with his fingers & he is out like a light (although this was after the christmas parade last night & apparently nana wore him out!)

it'll likely be sparse around here this week.

i have a christmas present i need to knock out by friday that's going to require a great deal of patience & attention, so i fear it'll take up all my free time..

we'll see how it goes :)

xo-k

ps. so, ya know how sometimes you write something & then when you come back & take a second look at it & think... wth was i thinking?! ya.. the sunday dump? sounds... well.. just excuse me okay, but i live in a house with three boys where dump means something totally different. so... i'm rethinking this one.. !!!

book: little women

2011-12-10T10:23:00.000-05:00

my 'to read' list on good reads is growing twice as fast as my 'read' list.

i am realizing i have a slightly obsessive personality. (ha!)

when i get into something, i find that it's all consuming.

right now, it's books & reading.

(and sadly, i must confess still baking bread & sweets)

my affection for the movie compelled me to read pride & prejudice...

yes, you read that right.

but if you can look at that picture of matthew mcfadyen & not want more mr. darcy..

well then you are not a hopeless romantic, and i confess, i can't help you.

(i must admit, i'd gladly throw over edward AND eric for mr. darcy.)

so, like i was saying, because of the movie, i read pride & prejudice.

and yes, as always, the book was 1,000 times better.

(i feel like i should just throw in that, much to my embarrassment, i can't claim to be one of those nerdy girls who curled up with a copy of jane austen when she was 16 or 17.

i was a reader, to be clear, but much like my current bookshelf , i was a sucker for suspense stories, with a little romance thrown in.

mostly young adult stuff.

sadly, i would have lived in the young adult paranormal romance section,

had it existed in the early 90s.)

::hanging my head in shame::

why is it embarrassing that i love paranormal romance?

so embarrassing.

like, i want to hide the books as i check out like it's a box of feminine products.

ya know, so the 'real' intellectual people reading 'real' literature don't have any more fuel to mock me.

wait, what was i saying?

oh. little women.

ya, so far from paranormal romance..

and who's horrible winona ryder knock off did NOT compel me to read the book.

if i'm honest..

(and since i mentioned feminine products, it's obvious i'm going to be)

i read it to pad my bookshelf on goodreads.

my friend jaime (hi, Jaime! :) is a voracious reader.

(see, big word means i'm not all together lame)

she's read NINETY-FIVE books this year.

AND has a toddler and a brand new baby.

so ya, after the initial 'woohoo i read 24 books this year!' wore off..

i realized that 19 of them were paranormal romance.

so after feeling so proud & bookwormish..

i found myself looking around to see if anyone was looking over my shoulder

& laughing at my accomplishment.

so....

i decided that the list of books in the back of my head that you should be able to say you've read in your life, needed tackling.

you know, the classics you were required to read in high school that you skimmed

& somehow managed to pass honors english with an A.

(uh, huh, you did it too, didn't you!)

i was totally captivated by night by elie wiesel

i made my way through 1984 & Fahrenheit 451.

it took all i had to make it through animal farm.

(i think my 10th grade english teacher was obsessed with dystopia as well as jimmy buffet)

and i totally fudged my paper on all quiet on the western front

i don't think i was ever required to read little women..

but it just seems like a classic you should check of your list.

and i have.

I'm not going to lie.. I struggled for the first, oh 200 pages.

It just seemed to drag on and on and on.

alcott seemed determined for the reader to know absolutely every detail down to the last spec of dust on a shoe and wrinkle in a coat, and that started to wear on me.

The book makes a dramatic shift, fast forwarding three years in time,

and that's about the time I started to really enjoy it.

All in all I'm glad to say I read it, but I'm also glad to move onto something new.

when you see there are 30 pages left

& are like '30 MORE?!' and not 'ONLY 30?!'

that's a pretty good indication of how you'll come away feeling.

the plot. good.

the story. slow. sometimes VERY slow.

the characters. some okay. some blah. some interesting.

but, i added the somewhat lesser known little men sequel to my good reads 'to read' shelf.

that's gotta count for something right?

let me be clear.

i like the descriptions of life & times.

i like the pictures that were put in my head.

i just feel like it dragged too often,

or that maybe i was missing the moral i was supposed to be being taught?

please don't send me hate mail if little women is your favorite book ever.

(or if you think i'm lame for liking paranormal romance :)

any recommendations for a new-non-paranormal romance book?

(or maybe a suggestions in favor of one? :)

i'm upping my goal for books read in 2012!

(and vowing that only 1/4 will be filled with paranormal smut!)

happy saturday!

xo-k

recipe: chocolate brownies with peanut butter fudge icing

2011-12-08T09:24:00.003-05:00

i don't know that there has ever been a better marriage than that of chocolate to peanut butter.

(see: reeses peanut butter cups, reeses pieces, peanut butter m&ms, snickers peanut butter squared)

it definitely has stood the test of time..

(unlike the marriage of kim kardashian to chris whateverhisnamewas)

and yes.. i just spent a good 5 minutes figuring out how to stick that dig in there.

i hate reality tv, and it annoys me that people are famous for NOTHING.

(see: snooki & 'the situation' i mean really?!?! how are people like this famous?!?!)

but, like i was saying.

peanut butter + chocolate = sweet heaven
i know you'll agree, because you wouldn't want to disappoint me so close to christmas! :)

i ended up with a new 9x13 pan a few weeks ago after failing miserably at
baking up some from-scratch scalloped potatoes (the hubs fav)

& proclaiming it to be the pans fault.

yep. i blamed the pan.

because i didn't have a 9x13 which is what the recipe called for.

i also may have claimed his favorite brownies would be thicker if i had the right pan.

it's all about how you sell the purchase ladies & gents! :)

so i figured i had to christen my new baking pan

& what better way to do it then marrying together two different brownie recipes my hubs loves

(he is ~~kinda~~ a brownie snob)

the brownie recipe is from a scrapbooking friend.

she has been blessing us with her AMAZING brownies at our retreats for a few years..

and they are always irresistible.

ALWAYS.

i begged the recipe off her because i knew the hubs would be in heaven.

she uses all top of the line goods in hers, which make them divine..

but i use good ol' hershey's cocoa & the hubs is still in love with them.

the peanut butter icing recipe is from that southern charity cook book i have in my possession.
(i looked for an online source, & found this very similiar recipe from southernplate, i'm thinking every grandma has their own variation on this stovetop peanut butter icing recipe! :)

i made the peanut butter brownies it was intended for, and while they very good

& certainly eaten up at a fair rate..

it was a little too much peanut butter in one bite for our taste..

but the icing was SOO good, i couldn't wait to find something else to put it on! :)

brownies (my adjustments in parenthesis):

-2 cups sugar

-1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

-1/2 cup cocoa powder (i've upped mine to 3/4 cup)

-1 tsp salt

-4 eggs

-1 c canola oil (increase to 1 1/4 if you increase the cocoa)

-2 tsp vanilla extract

-1/2 c walnuts (i usually leave these out)

1. preheat oven 350.

2. mix all ingredients together until well blended. pour into 9x13 pan.

3. bake for 24 minutes. (we like ours a little underdone, so i typically take them out at about 22 minutes)

4. cool completely.

peanut butter fudge icing:

-1 1/2 cups sugar

-6 TB milk

-2 TB shortening

-2 TB butter

-1/4 tsp salt

-1 1/2 tsp vanilla

-3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1. mix sugar, milk, shortening, butter & salt in a small saucepan over medium heat.

2. stir constantly to prevent scorching, until mixture comes to a rolling boil.

3. once boil starts, allow to boil for 1-2 minutes WITHOUT stirring.

4. remove from heat & immediately add vanilla & peanut butter, stirring until smooth.

5. pour over cooled brownies & let set.

feeling refreshed after a trip to ikea yesterday

(am i the only one who feels like a kid in a candy shop in that place?)

i managed to come out only spending $26, which is the most i've ever spent there at one time..

but certainly not what i COULD have spent!

then dinner last night with my brother & his wife at an amazing little greek restuarant in orlando.

(ps. love the shops & food, hate the traffic big city!)

off to start/finish our gifts for family!

let the crafting commence! :)

xo-k

linking to:
fireflies & jellybeans
tales from bloggeritaville
house of hepworths

diy: laundry detergent (borax free)

2011-12-05T08:55:00.003-05:00

about three months ago i came across a few pins on pinterest for do-it-yourself laundry detergent.
i set my mind that once our current detergent ran out, i was going to give it a go.
but i also promised myself i'd really give it a good run before telling anyone about it.
so about the time i was ready to blog about it, i ran out of dishwasher detergent..
and figured i'd try out the do-it-yourself for that as well.

well, let me tell you, i've learned just a little more than i ever planned to about some of these
do-it-yourself cleaning recipes!

the first diy laundry detergent called for called for borax.
it seemed to be popping up everywhere, and everyone was claiming it to be wonderful...
so i gave it a go.

1 cup of borax.
1 cup of arm & hammer super WASHING soda.
1 bar of fels naptha (found in the laundry section) grated.

combine it all & use one tablespoon per load.
it lasted a good month & a half.
at about 5-7 loads a week, i figure i got about 35-40 loads out of the mix.
let me just tell you, this stuff works GREAT and is CHEAP.
a box of borax is less than $5, as is the super washing soda.
the bar of fels naptha is 97c at walmart.
with only using a cup of each of the powders, you could get SEVERAL batches out of these boxes.
FOR $10.

so here's where the twist comes in. (cause there is ALWAYS a twist right?!)
i mentioned i decided to give a diy dishwasher mix a go.
ya. SO not successful.
it also had a mixture of borax & baking soda...
and when i googled to figure out where i'd gone wrong..
i came across all sorts of information i should have been smarter about seeking out before i started using borax!!

turns out borax, and fels naptha, while cheap.. aren't exactly green.
which was what i naively thought i was being.
not. the. case.
the few websites i came across warned that borax could cause intestinal problems if ingested over time, and that it could also cause skin irritations, and developmental effects specifically in the testes!!!!
and this stuff doesn't have to be ingested, the dust can be inhaled to cause certain ailments.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

just googling it & sorting through half a dozen pages of information made me sure of two things:
1. i was NOT using it in my dishwasher
& 2. i was NOT using it on my laundry.

so, i found another diy laundry detergent mix.
and i'm happy to report it works just as well as the first did.. if not better.
the clothes, in my opinion, are much softer.

1 cup arm & hammer super washing powder
1/2 cup baking soda
1 bar dr. bonner castile soap grated (your choice of fragrance, i used the orange citrus)

again, so cheap.
the dr. bonner's soap is a little more inconvenient to find locally, at least in my area.
it's also $4.99 vs. the 97c for fels naptha (which by the way has a long list of chemicals & ickies too!)
but STILL. you are looking at less than $7 for 35-40 loads!!!!
and it's a truely GREEN diy mix.

the ONLY downside i could see is that there is no 'smell' to your laundry.
the only smell is just warm clean linen.
no lavender, or tide smells... although there is a very very faint citrus-y smell when i pull the clothes out of the wash.

i haven't worked on finding another diy dishwasher detergent yet, and am currently using the very-not-cheap seventh generation.
but i feel good about using it, and since i'm saving so much on laundry detergent, i don't mind so much until i find a good, green mix that doesn't leave an icky residue all over everything!

and we are just one step closer to cleaning the chemicals we can out of our home!

happy monday!
xo-k

linking to:
the blackberry vine
ladybug blessings

recipe: beer bread

2011-12-03T10:38:00.002-05:00

i have a confession.

i'm currently obsessed with beer infused foods.

i've managed to put together a few meals using the golden goodness in the last few weeks...

i've even worked it into a few breads.

i should mention...

I DESPISE BEER.

well, drinking it anyways.

i've tried to like it. honest.

because i see labels on bottles & think, gosh that must taste good.

but NOPE.

i'm just one of those girls who's always going to have a fruity drink in her hand, if anything.

but i will most definitely raid my husbands beer stash, when he has one...

to add to food.

because beer + food = heaven.

(if you haven't ever had anything made with beer, you'll just have to trust me on this!)

so i've made no less than 3 loaves of beer bread over the last month.

and each one of them was gone in less than 48 hrs.

i made this honey beer bread recipe first via gimme some oven.

adapted from the original recipe below from ezra poundcake.

(it tasted amazing)

but this recipe from ezra poundcake (found via pinterest, of course) has become the go-to.

because it tastes just as good & doesn't require the honey which i never seem to have!

beer bread:

3 cups all-purpose flour

3 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 bottle (12 ounces) beer

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted (Note: Feel free to reduce to 1/4 cup)

i used the whole stick (salted). it's bread with beer, why skimp on the calories now?!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-x-5-x-3-inch loaf pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Using a wooden spoon, stir the beer into the dry ingredients until just mixed.
Pour half the melted butter into the loaf pan. Then spoon the batter into the pan, and pour the rest of the butter on top of the batter. Slide a baking sheet onto a lower rack to catch any butter that might overflow from the loaf pan.
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until golden brown. Serve immediately.

yum. yum. yum.

it's even good the next day toasted with some butter on it.

really, there is no WRONG way to eat this. trust me! :)

i'm thinking this would be a great non-sweet treat to make & take to someone as a christmas gift.
wrap a little cellophane around it & call it good!

xo-k

linking to:
tidy mom
fingerprints on the fridge
whipperberry
tatertots & jello

movies: the christmas list

2011-12-02T09:28:00.001-05:00

i swear the span of time between thanksgiving and december 1st gets shorter every year.

it's like that short week goes into warp speed..

and then from there life is in fast forward until january 1st when everything slows down again.

can you relate?

i didn't finish my advent calender... heck i couldn't even decide on one (still can't.)

i dragged my feet on whether or not to purchase an 'elf on the shelf'...

but nana picked up my slack, because without my knowing it, she picked one up herself!

(nana's are the best! :)

so i'll at least have some elf pictures for you..

i sorta kinda debated on doing a december daily.

truth. i've started two in the last 5 years, and haven't finished a single one.

it's just too overwhelming for me, with all the holiday festivities.

so i'm not guilting myself over it, i'll just enjoy everyone else's! :)

it'll just free me up for some more christmas crafts & baking!

i get just as excited about christmas movies as i do halloween movies.

because there are some GREAT christmas movies.

but i own not a single one on dvd, nor vhs (yep. still have one of those)

why?

1. abc family hosts almost all of our favorites on their 25 days of christmas.

2. we own a dvr.

3. i'm cheap.

so i've searched & set our dvr to record over the next two weeks..

and since it took a little time to gather our favorites..

i figured i'd share the list with you.

i DID NOT however, link each movie like i did at halloween.

it took forever to do that, and i got a tree to decorate here people! :)

for the whole family:

mickey's once upon a christmas

mickey's twice upon a christmas

dr. seuss's how the grinch stole christmas

how the grinch stole christmas

a christmas story (my favorite and a MUST see on christmas day tbs ALL DAY!)

rudolph the red nosed reindeer

rudolph's shiny new year

frosty the snowman

the miser brothers christmas

the year without santa claus

jack frost

rudolph & frosty's christmas in july

frosty's winter wonderland

home alone 1 & 2 & 3

disney's a christmas carol

polar express

elf (i should say. i am not a fan. but i'm outnumbered so i included it :)

ernest saves christmas

gremlins

mickey's christmas carol

the nightmare before christmas

prancer

santa claus: the movie

the santa clause 1, 2 & 3

a charlie brown christmas

a chipmunk christmas

a muppet family christmas

for the grownups:

it's a wonderful life

the shop around the corner

the family stone

national lampoon's christmas vacation

scrooged (my brother's personal favorite!)

christmas with the kranks

deck the halls

dutch (another of my brother's favorites!)

four christmases

die hard (sorry had to slip that one in there, you know i'm a fan of bruce!!)

fred claus

the holiday

love, actually

snow

snow 2: brain freeze

bridget jones' diary

ghostbusters II

edward scissorhands

i know there are dozens more.. these are just our/mine favorites! if i've missed one you think we need to add to our list, please feel free to leave it in the comments! :)

xo-k

recipe: shirley temple cupcakes

2011-11-21T22:00:00.002-05:00

so you know how crazy busy life can get & then in the blink of an eye a week has passed?

that's how i feel today.

i can't believe it's monday.

...a week later monday to be exact.

last week:

-re-dyed my hair purple (it fades fairly quickly)

-rance had his first illness, a double ear infection.

-i made my first ever, from-my-own-imagination crockpot meal (recipe to follow soon)

-we had our last soccer practice of the season

-i introduced mason to space camp (the totally-awesome-80's-movie)

-i finished 'crowning glory of calla lily ponder' & hit my goal of 24 books for the year

-i started reading 'little women', to surpass my goal of 24 books for the year.

-i went to the midnight premiere of breaking dawn with 3 of my favorite people

& 2 of my favorite teenagers :)

-i came down with a 24 hr bug

-mason had his last soccer game of the season & got his first trophy ever.

-i baked goodies for my cousin's bridal shower

-i saw breaking dawn AGAIN with 2 of the same favorites from the midnight premiere.

-i spent time with family & laughed my butt off.

that's the spread at my cousin lisa's bridal shower.

i am responsible for the dessert (minus the bundt cake), along with a little help from my mom on the piping job.

my other cousin (who is ALSO a lisa) put together a beautiful table & party.

it was my first shot at 'girly' treats for a grown up party

& i was pretty excited about how they turned out!

the party throwing lisa is a graphic designer

& she made me up some graphics to match the invites she designed.

& i made up the cupcake toppers.

these were shirley temple cupcakes, found via pinterest OF COURSE.

i pinned them awhile back, and when she called me up & asked me to contribute i went to my boards for 'pink inspiration'.

they were SO moist & SO good..

very mild cherry flavor, but still very good.

here's a link to the recipe from 'the curvy carrot'.

with thanksgiving this week, there is no sign off life slowing down either..

here's to a busy life, that even with it's twists & turns & ups & downs,

is SO worth it! :)

xo-k

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book: the crowning glory of calla lily ponder

2011-11-15T21:37:00.000-05:00

it's no big secret around here i have a thing for vampire stories. i will admit that i get sucked into them, however horribly written they may be, and forget i live in a reality where the only real vampires are those people who are so miserable in life that they SUCK the life out of you.

them and the occasional confused individual who feels the need to cap their teeth & clothe themselves from head to toe in black patent leather.

but you can't bet your life i'm not out bragging about reading vampire smut. i already feel like i'm one step away from being one of those housewives who fawn all over those cheesy romance novels in the grocery store... not there is anything wrong with that... but i can not imagine myself picking up a harlequin romance novel, or any novel for that matter, where there is a half naked man on the cover with his hair blowing back in the wind.

i like my men sans billowy white shirt please.

SO. back to the book i just finished. it's more my genre, my preferred reading outside classics.

'the crowning glory of calla lily ponder' by rebecca wells. she's the author of 'divine secrets of the ya ya sisterhood' which i read after seeing the movie. (ps. the book, as usual, was SO much better) i picked it up on a whim & could not have loved it more.

i'm a sucker for stories about real people. small people from small towns. people who are great if for nothing else than their frailty & flaws. i don't think i have sobbed while reading. ever. it was ALMOST the ugly cry. almost. but it was SOO good.

it's written loosely as a diary.. it just sorta flows along from the time she is 5 until she is in her early 30s. you will cry, you will laugh, you will scratch your head. but you will connect with her.. or at least i did. it's one of those stories that will remind you that the human race is capable of such good, and how important it is to connect with those we love.

it was a perfect read for me right now. perfect.

xo-k

ps. if you are interested in more stories like this, or 'divine secrets..', check out these books by fannie flagg; 'fried green tomatoes', 'daisy fay and the miracle man'. or adriana trigiani's big stone gap novels.

dr. seuss birthday: food

2011-11-13T00:33:00.001-05:00

the food.. ohh the food...

i seriously don't think i've EVER had THAT much fun putting together a menu.

and it went without saying that when you work that hard on matching food to literature..

you HAVE to put labels on everything!!

and let me tell you..

everyone enjoyed the labels just about as much as the food!

for the kiddo's drinks we had a few juice choices:

pink ink yink dring (the cat in the hat): fruit punch

shloppity shlop (the lorax): blue raspberry

gloppity glop (the lorax): grape

i fell in love with the cups at this dr. seuss party..

& was so thankful she listed that she got them at hobby lobby!

i have THE WORST luck with kids not showing up..

and honestly, i'm beyond tired of coming up with treat bags

& then ending up with a bunch of left over treats.

so i decided these reusable cups were much more practical favors.

i couldn't afford to purchase the etsy digital file she did for the tags,

so i just used the doctor seuss font i found online & made my own flags.

the food:

noodles for poodles (fox in socks): caprese pasta salad

green eggs (green eggs & ham): deviled eggs

one fish, two fish (one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish): goldfish

truffula fruit (the lorax): grapes

cat's great tricks mix (the cat in the hat): maple bacon chex mix

grinitch spinach (what was i afraid of?): spinach dip

we had two sandwich choices, which i guess didn't get photographed..

ham (green eggs & ham)

rare who roast beast (the grinch who stole christmas): roast beef

the dessert buffet:

sneetch bellies (the sneetches): oreo truffles

which are, by the way TO DIE FOR.

thing 1 & thing 2 cupcakes (the cat in the hat): red velvet cake with buttercream frosting

(i can't find the frosting recipe i used, but it wasn't my favorite, so i'm not so sad about that!)

i printed out all these nice little circles with 'thing 1' and 'thing 2' to put on the cupcake wrappers..

annnddddddd.. ya.. they wouldn't stay on. neither double stick tape nor glue dot worked for me..

i was bummed for about 2.5 seconds & then i got over it! :)

yertles turtles (yertle the turtle): chocolate pretzel turtles

these were ALL over the web a few months ago..

and they are super simple.

pretzels, rolos & pecans

line a baking sheet with foil & place pretzels out

put rolos on top.

heat in 250 oven about 2-4 minutes, until the candy gets shiny

DO NOT OVER BAKE.

(experience speaking here people!)

pull out & immediately place pecan on top & push down.

viola. simple & tasty! :)

the cat's hat birthday cake: red velvet cake & buttercream icing

(same recipe as above)

as you can see, the babe had NO problem diving right into his cake.

he picked up each layer like a cookie and totally went for it!

he was in hoggg heaven.

xo-k

here's the invitation.
& here are the decorations.

currents: 11.10.11

2011-11-10T23:05:00.000-05:00

watching: the harry potter marathon on abc family. there is no such thing as too much harry potter. the dude said tonight before he went to bed 'ya know mama, i wish magic was real.' me to buddy, me too.

reading: just finished up the davinci code. contemplating re-reading breaking dawn until i can beg my friend yvonne's copy of the black dagger brotherhood #9 off her. then i'm back off vampire smut for a while.. ok.. so maybe not.. but i feel like i need to round out my year goal with something a little more substantial.. or just a little less embarrassing to admit you read!

eating: cherry tootsie pop. yes, i totally raided the kids halloween candy. i've successfully avoided the chocolate candy calling to me from the little pumpkins that sit there mocking me atop the fridge.. i deserve something for my efforts! (and nana keeps the boys well stocked with tootsie pops, so they will never notice!)

wanting: absolutely nothing.. :)

needing: a haircut. the purple has faded significantly.. i'm good for one more round of purple hair & then this rat's nest is getting a heavy trim. it's bad when i can't rake a brush through pin-straight hair.

stressing: over christmas gifts. and maybe not how you'd think.

obsessing: over learning how to crochet. my mother in law taught me a few stitches & terms when she was here in october & i'm having a hard time just picking a beginners project & going with it.

via

feeling: disappointed & frustrated. i don't understand people who live in a perpetual state of 'woe is me'. those who choose to blame others for their poor choices. who feel that deleting you from facebook will erase you from their lives completely, they seem to think you can wipe away family ties with a click of a button. it makes me so sad, but i'm tired of beating a dead horse.

anticipating: BREAKING DAWN!!! only 8 more days. and i'm so ashamed to admit to all you fellow twilighters that i have no tickets, nor concrete plans as of yet..... and.. THE MUPPETS. :)

xo-k

dr. seuss birthday: decorations

2011-11-08T22:49:00.004-05:00

ya, ok so the kid is almost 14 months old..

cut me some slack will ya?

there is no shortage of pictures or words in here..

so it's been a little daunting to get the posts together.

i'm going to start with the decorations..

coming in the front door.

i borrowed the idea from a few other parties to have 'happy birthday to you' by dr. seuss there for guests to leave a message to rance for his first birthday on one of the pages.

this sign is typed up in a dr. seuss font i found online..

printed off & placed in a frame.

the confetti is punched out from the scraps of book pages left over from other decorations.

i made this wreath from book pages out of a few cut up dr. seuss books.

i just cut the pages down into a square (6x6 i think)

& rolled them up into cones gluing them down as i went.

i kinda just wung it.. thankfully my booboos are covered by the front piece!

i spray painted a red wooden number one

& found some dr. seuss stickers at micheals to add to it.

for one of the table centerpieces i saved a bunch of boxes

& wrapped them up in coordinating wrapping paper

(not my favorite designs.. but it was harder than i thought to find the right color blue!)

i bought a cat in the hat plush off ebay for $6 (including shipping) & set it on top..

i put some of the stickers on cardstock to spell out the babes name..

attached them to wooden skewers

& then stuck them in the top of the boxes of the centerpiece.

for the dessert buffet i used the same method of wrapped boxes to make a cupcake/cake tower.

i cut out banner pieces from book pages & attached them to seam binding.

and put out our collection of dr. seuss books.

i sucked it up & shelled out the money to have balloons this go round :)

more banners from book pages..

i printed out some monthly photos of the babe & put numbered stickers on them...

then i made some clay 'rocks' & put wire photo holders in them..

more banners in the kitchen...

and then i made food labels for everything from cardstock..

printed labels & stickers.

hopefully you can check back tomorrow for the food!

xo-k

see the invites here.

the food is here.

linking here:

whipperberry

sun scholars

diy: mama & me notebook

2011-11-08T19:45:00.005-05:00

as much i want to say it's not true..

sometimes the dude gets less attention from me, just in general.

and for a kid who was an only child the first 6 1/2 years of his life..

that's a BIG change.

i try my best to set aside time for him on a regular basis..

to have chats like we used to..

but it doesn't always happen..

and sometimes, i think of things i'd like to tell him, and he's away at school.

so when repinned this idea on pinterest,

i knew i had to pick up a composition book right away

& set to making this a daily thing for us.

it's a mama & me notebook.

for me to write him letters of encouragement..

or silly little stories about what rance & i did while he was away..

to leave under his pillow for him to find when he gets home from school.

then he'll write me back, or draw a picture..

and i've given him instructions to be stealthy & sneak it back under my pillow before bed.

my hope is that it's something to help our bond...

something that makes him feel special...

and gives him a way to tell me something maybe he couldn't 'tell' me.

ya know?

and. it won't hurt him to practice his letter writing, or writing in general :)

supplies:

-composition book

-scrapbook paper

-alphabet stickers

-masking tape

-scissors

-adhesive

just lay your composition book down on top of your paper & trace around it..

cut out your shape with scissors or a paper trimmer.

put down your choice of adhesive.

put your piece of paper down over the adhesive & smooth it out.

annndd decorate as you see fit :)

& then if you have a child like mine..

write a DETAILED note about what the book is, and what to do with it.

(i feel like i have 9th grade handwriting in this.. but my normal writing is a mix of cursive/print & the dude can't read it well..)

then.. sneak & hide it beneath your child's pillow! :)

i'm excited.. maybe even more than he will be!

i kept notebooks with friends in school..

and i can't believe i didn't think to start one for the dude sooner..

although until last year he probably wouldn't have been up for it!

xo-k

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halloween: 2011

2011-11-07T23:16:00.005-05:00

i am under no delusions that i will always be able to get them in 'theme' with each other..

but i'm going to embrace it while i can :)

when mason decided he wanted to be harry potter,

i knew right away i wanted to make rance hedwig, harry's snowy owl.

i absolutely love putting together costumes..

and the older mason gets, the harder it is to convince him to let me do so..

he always wants an EXACT duplicate of whatever it is he wants to be.

(such a little stickler for details!)

(i love moments like these!)

in a situation that i'm sure is a result of karma..

his wand disappeared into the house a week before halloween.

(a few weeks ago he wacked my aunt with it)

we spent a good portion of sunday really SEARCHING for it.

i'm convinced house elves made off with it.

we had no luck in finding it..

so on monday morning i decided to make him one.

'cause you REALLY can't be harry potter if you don't have a wand!

i used this tutorial i found on pinterest.

30 minutes later & even i was pretty impressed with how it came together!

after being bummed about his missing wand,

even mr. stickler couldn't believe i had MADE his new wand.

and from a sheet of paper no less!

as for this little guy..

his costume was inspired by several different versions of owl costumes across the web.

i wasn't planning on posting a tutorial on how i did it, so i don't have pictures of the process..

but here's a quick rundown..

for the body:

i bought a $2 white onesie from the clearance rack at target.

i had some leftover white fabric &

i purchased a fat quarter of fabric from joanns of a piece of white with black circles.

i drew a elongated wide scallop shape on a piece of cardstock & cut it out.

traced it on the white & the patterned fabric over & over & over again

& then cut them out.

started at the bottom & laid my 'feather's out & hot glued them down at the straight part of the shape..

leaving the bottom loose to 'ruffle'.

for the pants, i bought a set of women's knee length socks & used this tutorial.

for the hat:

i bought a grey beanie from the dollar spot at target

cut out circles from the left over white & printed fabric.

sewed on white buttons

cut out a little triangle from gold felt

it looked a little bla, so i added a few left over feathers around the eyes..

& hot glued it all to the hat.

mason was so excited everyone knew he was & kept calling him harry potter.

my mom (like most mom's) kept bragging on me every time someone complimented rance's costume.

(which seemed like everyone!)

no one could believe his pants were really socks! :)

we went trick or treating with my cousin's family..

this is their little girl.

the phrase 'she's a pistol' applies SO well to this little one.

full of personality!

we didn't even pose her, she just hitched her thumbs in her pockets! :)

this may be my favorite halloween picture of all time.

and i'm not sure why. i just love it.

and if you look REALLY close you can see the marks of the first scar i drew..

because mr. stickler made me draw it three times to get it right.

and that revlon lipstain. it STAINS.. had to rub off a layer of skin in between drawings!!

that's about the best photo i could get with the three of them.

one was ready to trick or treat.

one just wanted to walk.

and one was just trying to get everyone to listen to her for a minute :)

and i said i wasn't going to do it, but i am..

i'm crossing 'celebrity sighting while trick or treating' off my bucket list..

we totally trick or treated at john travolta & kelly preston's house.

(one of them anyways)

and while i wasn't star struck like some of the others around us where.

i'm just amazed that in the po-dunk town i live in..

my kids got candy put in their buckets by kelly preston dressed up as a witch.

(and no, i didn't get a picture!)

hope you had a great halloween! :)

xo-k

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scrapbooking: the vampire edition.

2011-11-05T23:02:00.003-04:00

if you know what is comes out in 12 days, then this post is for you!

waaay back in 2008 i was COMPLETELY obsessed with twilight.

believe it or not, i'm not quite as obsessed now as i was then, although i still enjoy it.

it's something that my scrapbooking friends & i bonded over.

twilight was my introduction into the world of vampire smut, ehem.. romance.

and the first books i had read in the three years since giving birth to the dude.

so. what do scrapbookers do?

we document.

report. relive & retell our stories.

and i did A LOT of twilight scrapbooking in 2008.

i thought it only appropriate to share some with you as we count down to the beginning of the 'end'!

(that'd be obsessive cullen disorder.... :)

(don't the movies have THE best soundtracks?!)

this next one would be about my vampire obsession altogether.

i don't think i've ever stuck so many pictures down on one page.

ever.

and because no 'vampire' post is complete with out eric northman...
i've included these pages as well :)
i felt like that picture of eric in sookies dream was just too darn small in the above layout...

i scrapped it again :)

because there is NO SUCH THING as too much eric.

EVER.

the girls & i have this insane obsession with the line 'oh sexxxxyyy girlfriend!' from sixteen candles.

we chant long duck dong & other brat pack quotes non-stop.

(much to the dismay & confusion of some of our OLDER scrap-mates)

could have something to do with the late night crazies & excessive starbucks...

so one night..

probably a LATE night that included me donning an eye patch, or drawing something on my face...

i put together this gem of a page... :)

are you a twilighter?

are you sookie fan?

are you a vampire diaries watcher?

it's not a edward vs. eric vs. damon in this house..

we are all about the more the merrier.

(although if forced i'd throw the others over for mr. northman in a heartbeat!!)

did you catch the knock to twilight in the first vampire diaries episode way back when?

what are your twilight plans?

are you a midnight watcher?

i saw twilight 7 times. 4 within the first 3 days.

i saw new moon twice.

and eclipse once.

(all in the theater of course)

i've only been to one midnight viewing.

and i can't wait for november 18th to roll around! :)

happy sunday!!

xo-k

life: good behavior

2011-11-04T22:23:00.002-04:00

it's a day i'd never thought i'd see come.

ever.

two years ago we were in the thick of what seemed like would become a life-long battle with bad behavior.

and i may or may not have felt that way because i was taking fertility drugs and was emotionally strung out at the time...

every.single.day was a bad day at school for the dude.

i think i got 3 phone calls within the first two weeks of school.

and by the end of the second month of school i thought i was going to pull my hair out.

and then pull the dudes out as well.

i'm not sure if it's maturity..

or medication..

or a better teacher..

.....because his kindergarten teacher was horrible!!

(and i'm not just saying that. this lady called my son retarded. TO. MY.HUSBANDS.FACE)

but none-the-less...

the dude has worked HARD to get green almost everyday this semester.

the last two years it's been hard for him to be on green one DAY a week.

we've come a looooongg way.

and i'd never thought we'd get here..

but we did.

see...

(E is for excellent, which is the highest 'grade' you can get in 2nd grade & conduct)

and as proud as i am of him for the grades..

i'm even more proud of the conduct..

because he's smart & that comes easy..

and he's had to work much harder at his behavior.

even his art & music teachers, who he's had the last two years have never given him an E before.

so it's a BIG deal.

and i should say.. his 'bad' behavior hasn't ever been 'bad'.
more like... disruptive? difficult?
always talking out of turn.
getting out of his seat when he shouldn't.
being a know it all, and obnoxious to boot.
difficulty staying on task during group activities..
nothing that would land him in military school for sure..

so today we made a BIG deal out of it.

we always tell him how proud we are of him for good grades...

but this time we rewarded him with a lego.

which he's currently assembling in his room..

while i watch wizard of oz & fight off droopy eyelids!

have a great weekend!

xo-k

life: i have purple hair

2011-11-01T21:41:00.001-04:00

... and it's not leftovers from a halloween costume

... and it's not a botched dye job.

i did it on purpose.

and i'm really REALLY loving it.

crazy, right?!

i know.

i've gotten more than a few looks of 'is that her real hair?' in the last few days.

that's actually exactly why i did it.

well, aside from the fact i've always wanted to dye it an outrageous color..

i did it to help teach me to get over being worried about what other people think.

because no matter what you do, someone is going to have an opinion that differs from yours..

someone is going to think you are ridiculous, or insane...

someone is going to judge you by how you look instead of who you are.

and i've lived my life far to long in fear of what someone else with think.

it's held me back from trying to support my family with my talents..

because i'm always thinking that no one is going to like what i'm doing.

and you know what?

i can handle it.

i can handle the rejection.

i can handle the difference of opinion.

not everyone is going to like what i'm doing..

and that's okay.

what's NOT okay is being too afraid to try.

sometimes even mama's got lessons to learn! :)

xo-k

thirty-two confessions: part 1

2011-10-29T14:30:00.001-04:00

i've opened & closed a new post about three times over the past few days.
i have things i want to say, things i want to share...
but the words just aren't coming out of me yet..
and instead of forcing them, i'm going to give them time to come out on their own.

instead. i bring you thirty two confessions.
my birthday was last week, i turned thirty two.
it seems a little unreal that i'm an age i can remember my parents being.

so thirty-two confessions.
(things you may or may not have known about me.)

1. both of my children were conceived with the help of a fertility drug. we tried on our own for over a year with each, with no success, and i felt so helpless. i felt like God was sending me a message that i shouldn't be a parent, and days when i lose my patience & feel like the worst mother ever, i am reminded of that feeling all over again.

2. for all the pictures i take, and all the pictures i've taken that i absolutely love... i have not one single picture up in my house. none. not even a tabletop frame. it's mostly because i'm too cheap to buy picture frames.

3. i 'ran' away from home when i was 18. my mom embarrassed me in front of strangers & i overreacted. i left our place of business, went home & packed up a weeks worth of clothes. i headed straight for the only place i could think to go, the best friend's house. i say 'ran' away.. because within a few hours of being there, my mom called the bf's grandmother to make sure i was safe. because i'm just THAT lame about rebelling, she knew exactly where i'd be.

4. i can't remember being one of those little girls who dreams about growing up & getting married. i can remember being in love with alex p. keaton & thinking how cool it would be to be like 'kate & allie'. i apparently overlooked the fact they were both divorcee's & single parents. i also loved the facts of life... apparently i didn't catch the fact they went to an all girls school, cause that would have been lame.

5. ice cream is not safe in my house. i can take out a gallon in less than three days. that's a sad, embarrassing admission, but it's true. i am not ashamed to say i have eaten ice cream, for breakfast... i will however hide the fact that i'm eating it from my children.

6. i struggle with self confidence. despite the fact that i'm overweight, it has nothing to do with my appearance. it has to do with my abilities. cooking, parenting, blogging, crafting, scrapbooking, baking, photographing. i seek constant approval. when someone says they like a picture i posted, or comments on something i've baked, i feel like i can breathe after having held my breath forever.

7. i lost the three best friends i had in highschool, over the course of 4 years. because of this i'm insecure of how good of a friend i am.. i always second guess myself. (i do however, still have some friends from highschool, that have become wonderful friends)

8. i let my kids watch more than 30 minutes of tv a day. ya, even the baby. the tv is always on... but they are not always in front of it. i can't stand silence, sometimes it's the only way my head gets a break from itself.

9. i have a few things i'm 'good' at. scrapbooking, baking, photography, writing, embroidery, general crafting.... but i'm not GREAT at any one thing. some days i'd trade being able to do lots of things 'good' for the ability to do one thing AMAZING.

10. i struggle tremendously with faith. i want to believe. i want to feel His presence. i can't get in line with a church. i feel like if there is a God, a true all-seeing all-knowing divine being... then it wouldn't matter if you got yourself dressed to sit for an hour to 'act' like a christian... what would matter were the acts you did in your everyday life. my best friend said it right when she said 'going to church doesn't make you a christian anymore than standing in your garage makes you a car'. i believe that life is a miracle... that you should do your best to be a good person... that you should think beyond your own needs, and that with everything in nature, there is a balance... and so i believe there is evil in the world as well.
11. i have let my kids go to bed in the same clothes they wore all day, without a bath. no one is going to die if there is a crumb from funnel cake they ate at the carnival in their bed... or if there is chlorine in their hair from a day at the pool. i consider my being too tired to care about it when it happens, or their being so tired i have to tote them in from the car asleep, a day well lived. i can wash the sheets and THEM tomorrow.

12. i own an iron, but i don't iron. last thing i ironed was freezer paper to this tshirt. before that? it was more freezer paper to another tshirt in july.. and prior to that, i can't tell you when it was last used. that's why my dryer is my second most favorite household appliance next to my dishwasher.

13. i feel guilty because i am a stay at home mom, and i didn't make all rance's baby food from scratch. i don't have a good reason, other than it just didn't occur to me.

14. i have a irrational fear of the dentist, but i didn't always. i had two wisdom teeth out when i was 18/19... i had to have fill put in for a front tooth i chipped while horsing around with my brother & mom, around the same time. all of it was no big deal. but a few years ago i went in for my first check up since the dude was born (i know too long..) and they told me i had something like 10 cavities. it took everything i had to keep it together until i got in the car. i was hyperventilating & sobbing when i called my best friend (and boss at the time) to tell her i couldn't go back to work. when i called my mom after she thought someone had died i was so worked up. and just for the record, they both laughed at me once i got out that i had cavities.... for the first time in my life.. at 28. it only made the dreams i had through my first pregnancy of losing my teeth that much more scary when i had them again with my second child!

15. i REALLY REALLY want to open an esty shop. REALLY. but because i'm mediocre at soo many things, i have no idea what kind of stuff to make to sell..... and if i don't open a shop to sell, then no one can NOT buy from me.

16. i stopped blogging as much, not so much because i didn't have anything to say.. but because i was obsessed with the stats. i was so worried about how many people were viewing whatever it was that i was posting, that i felt like i was changing what i posted. i stopped posting personal stuff, because it seemed like no one was interested. i felt like i couldn't post unless it was a recipe or a craft. pinterest just made it that much worse. so i stepped away to regain some clarity on why i blog in the first place. it's to put those thoughts that i can't seem to verbalize out there. so i don't feel alone. even if no one answers.

17. once, when i was a kid, i hid for a few hours, i think to see if anyone noticed i was gone. i think i was about 12 or 13. i walked home from the bus stop, no one was home, took a book & a blanket & went and hid in the shed behind our house. it took a few hours, but i think someone finally came looking for me. and it was like 'oh, there you are.' it was really lame, but i think both of my parents were working two jobs at the time, and i just felt invisible & needed a little extra attention. i think about that sometimes & try to make a little extra time to invest in whatever the dude is doing..

(i should just clarify at this point... i have AMAZING parents. they both came from nothing & worked hard for what we had as kids... which meant they both worked two jobs... most of my childhood. that meant missed softball games & school events. they would have found the time to give me that extra attention, had i asked for it.. but i was an emotional teen (as well as an adult) and i think i probably acted like a little brat no one would want to be around, instead of coming to talk to them)

18. my husband & i argue in front of my kids. i know what you are thinking.. that's bad, right? we don't fight about something that deals with the kids, i should make that clear. we argue about little things. i always believed kids shouldn't see their parents fight. i never saw mine fight... but i honestly don't know that my parents have EVER argued. EVER. when the hubs & i first got married we used to fight all the time. i had never lived away from home, neither of us had ever lived with anyone else, he was in the military, we had NO money, and i was NOT digging the 'doting housewife' crap he was trying to lay on me. i thought all the fighting meant we shouldn't have gotten married, because, like i said, my parents never fought. i want my kids to see a healthy relationship, so they don't go through what i went through. i want them to see that two people who love each other can disagree & get passed it. i want them to see the whole picture.

19. i was devastated when i found out that rance was a boy. and with that, i felt tremendously guilty because even though i was incredibly grateful to be pregnant, i was disappointed with the gender, while others were still TRYING to get pregnant. i made my husband, who was excited, keep it a secret for almost a month until i could get my emotions under control. i didn't tell anyone, not my best friend or my mom. i felt so ashamed. we took mason to the ultrasound & he told his teacher the next day he wanted to make his mama a card because i was upset because i was having a boy. this is NOT something i/we said to him... but at 5 he apparently read through the tears & my emotions afterwards. i still feel guilty when i think about it, because i couldn't imagine loving any child more or differently than i love rance. i put this out there because i felt SO alone until i find a message board that talked about gender disappointment. it was a comfort to know that i wasn't the only one struggling.

20. on valentine's day...a long long time ago (12 or 13 years ago maybe?) my friend heather & i took a trip to daytona beach with the sole purpose of her getting her tongue pierced. i watched her do it, cringed when they put the barbel in, and thought she was crazy. 10 minutes after we left & were walking down the boardwalk we turned around & went back so i could get it done as well. it's pretty close to being one of the most impulsive things i've ever done!

i think i'll break this up into two parts. that's kinda of a lot of info to digest.
i feel pretty vulnerable putting some of this out there..
so i'm just gonna ask.. if you feel the need to comment something negative... think twice.
what will YOU gain from making me feel bad about something i've done/felt in my life?
we all have a path to walk in life, and this is mine.

xo-k

scrapbooking.

2011-10-27T22:29:00.000-04:00

sometimes it feels good to just sit down and scrap.

it's therapy for me.

i've been trying my best to work on getting older pictures out & down on paper with the stories.

(believe it or not... this is the dude... circa 2004)

(this is one of my first photos with my dslr. it's printed on metallic paper, which this photo just doesn't do justice to!)

i'm brewing up something..

well, new for me.

a new opportunity.

i'm super excited about.

xo-k

ps. it sorta kinda has everything to do with scrapbooking :)

embracing the camera: ferris wheel

2011-10-27T12:56:00.001-04:00

i can't believe i'm putting this picture up here.

it's from last saturday night, at a local carnival.

a carnival i've been going to since i was a teen, probably even before that.

it's NOT fall without a trip to that carnival.

we've missed the last two years for various reasons, and i was SO happy to get to go again..

and even better.. the dude was old enough & tall enough to ride some bigger rides.

he was in heaven!

i volunteered to take him on the ferris wheel...

admist wind & bad lighting i snapped this picture.

it's blurry. it has bad lighting.

my hair is pulled back in a braid & my bangs are bobby pinned to the side of my head.

it's not a hairstyle i rock outside of the house very often.

wind + child rearing make it a neccessity as i try and wrangle kids with growing-out-bangs in tow.

(let's not forget the wonderful double chin now either... and why wasn't i smiling?)

but i'm here. i was here.

i was present & i want my kids to remember that.

too see that in something more than their minds.

and just for good measure, in the spirit of my friend steph who photos her feet wherever she goes..

xo-k

linking up to :

the anderson crew

diy: halloween decor

2011-10-18T09:07:00.002-04:00

i think i mentioned that i LOVE halloween.. once or maybe even twice.

so it really shouldn't come as much of a surprise that all my recent craftiness has entailed halloween decor.

last year i was in such a post baby funk, just adjusting to life, that i couldn't get into the mood...

i mean really, who cares about decorating, when you are just happy to find time to take a shower?!

so here are some quick halloween decorating ideas..

for busy mamas of kids, big or little..

or crafty ladies who want a quick-fix for their crafting urges!

bloody drippy candle:

supplies:

-candlestick holders (these are pewter from my parents wedding reception!)

-white candles

-red candle

-lighter

there really aren't any 'step-by-step' pictures.. pretty much you just light your white candles & let them burn down to a height you like. these are more of a decoration, than a functioning candle... once your white candles are at the height you'd like, blow them out & let them cool until all the wax is hardened around the top.

next, light the red candle, and hold it at an angle so that the wax drips down onto the top of your white candles. let the red wax pool & drip down the sides of the candle for a 'bloody' effect & viola.

simple gory-esque candles to add to your halloween decor! and definitely do this someplace where you can scrap the wax off of, because it does splatter just a bit...

trash bag fringe curtain:

supplies:

-black yard/lawn bags (found at the dollar store for $1)

-duct tape/heavy duty adhesive

-scissors

i can't honestly remember where i first saw this idea. martha stewart seems a likely place, but to be honest with you, i just kinda went off my memory of having seen the picture of it however long ago... again, no real 'step by step' pictures. just cut up one side of the bag & then across the bottom seam to open the piece up into one long panel. attach it to your wall with your chosen adhesive ( i used scotch heavy duty outdoor adhesive, it's a SUPER strong foam tape). once attached start at one side & cut varying widths of strips from the bottom to the top. once you've cut fringe across the width of your panel, start at the top of each piece of fringe & pull lightly in two inch sections to stretch out the piece. you can then adjust the length by cutting/ripping off the bottoms.

i'm kind of smitten with this little curtain...

we have a black light (which you can see in the above picture) that lights up at night..

it's spooky & eerie & not at all well photographed :(

the dude thinks it's 'AWESOME'.. rance laughs when he goes through it..

and my husband eyeballs me with a look that says he's contemplating my sanity,

and asks 'you stuck trash bags.. to the house.. on purpose?'

he likes to give me a hard time.. and he just doesn't get it! :)

these projects cost me $6 total.

$1 per white candlestick

$1 for a box of 7 black trash bags

$3 for outdoor foam adhesive tape

i already had the candlestick holders, and the red candle,

but you can get both of those items at the dollar store as well!

cheap is good after you invest $30 in a harry potter ensemble...

but costumes are something i'm okay with investing a little money in, because it's one thing the dude gets good use out of, he wears them until they are holy & ripped, or he is too big for them!

what halloween decorations have you made this year?

i'd love for you to link them up in the comments!

xo-k

ps.. just a tip.. if your kid is like mine.. snag up discounted halloween costumes the day after halloween & save them for christmas presents! my mom & i have done this a few years now, and i can't tell you how much money it's saved us, as we have to replace spiderman, & batman costumes almost every year because he wears them soo much!! :)

linking to:
get your craft on
tip junkie
sugarbee crafts
ladybug blessings
whipperberry

movies: fit for halloween

2011-10-17T13:39:00.001-04:00

i'm in heaven every october.
october is a MAGICAL month for me.
aside from the fact that my birthday is in october (it's today, the 17th, if you really wanna know :)..
i LOVE every activity that goes on.
just can't get enough of it all! decorations, parties, costumes, festivals.. ALL of it.
i tend to lean towards the creepy/scariness of it all now that i'm older...
but i've ALWAYS loved the 'magic' of it all.
.....this may very well explain why i'm addicted to vampires. :)

(one of my personal all time favorites... even though it's more 80s cheese than scare!)

so... it goes without saying that my dvr is chock FULL of horror flicks right now.
one of my favorite things to do in october is search & record all my favorite scary movies.
i don't know what it is, but watching them in october just makes that magical/crazy feeling bump up a notch.
so i thought i'd share a list of my all time favorite scary & not so scary halloween movies.

kid-friendly:
halloweentown
halloweentown II: kalabar's revenge
halloweentown high
return to halloweentown
nightmare before christmas
hocus pocus
corpse bride
coraline
edward scissorhands
ernest scared stupid
labyrinth
the addams family
addams family values
teen witch
harry potter movies
the haunted mansion
casper
the witches
it's the great pumpkin, charlie brown
monster house
teen wolf
the worse witch
gremlins
gremlins II
arachnaphobia

for adults:
practical magic
sleepy hollow
sweeney todd: the demon barber
beetlejuice
ghostbusters
ghostbusters II
halloween
halloween (remake)
the omen
the exorcist
the amityville horror
the amityville horror (remake)
rosemary's baby
poltergeist
nightmare on elm street
nightmare on elm street (remake)
the shining
the evil dead
insidious
rocky horror picture show
haunted honeymoon
1408
pet cemetary
the sixth sense
the people under the stairs
the grudge
van helsing
resident evil series
the lost boys
underworld series
constantine
thir13en ghosts
the burbs
the witches of eastwick
dracula
dolls
mirrors
the exorcism of emily rose
once bitten
silver bullet
american gothic
killer klowns from outer space
flatliners
the prophecy
the haunting
house on haunted hill
stir of echoes
bless the child
an american haunting
2001 maniacs
cursed
dark water
the covenant
silent hill
the wicker man
30 days of night
the messengers
the reaping
the strangers
case 39
drag me to hell
the unborn
the haunting in conneticut
twilight series
queen of the damned
legion
daybreakers
the rite
the haunting of molly hartley

and then there are those that i'm determined to see this year:
paranormal activity
the fright night remake
i don't do gore.
i can't handle it, for the most part.
i've only seen two of the movies from the 'saw' series, and that was two too many.
i saw hostel... and if you haven't... let's just say the ripping fingernails bit sent me over the edge.
the hills have eyes, wrong turn, etc.. ya.. can't do those either.
i can't watch 'the children of the corn'. i have, and, i can't.
something about freaky kids just puts it over the top for me.
i remember my brother could never watch 'village of the damned'... he said it was the eyes that did him in.
and WHY do they always make kids toys all creepy like in those movies?
my husband swears that those monkey's with the cymbals are possessed.
it's probably movies that keep those things off the shelf now.. along with those 'my buddy' dolls that were doomed after the 'chucky' movies.. which aren't something i'm into either.

it's a little ridiculous.. but i can't do those leprechaun movies either. had a crazy bad dream one time about that crazy freak, and enough said...

my cousin used to have this girlie little yellow frilly room.. and in the midst of her 7 year old haven, a poster of freddie kruger. scared the bejesus outta me (when i was 6) & her mom would always have to take it off the wall when i came. i think after i saw the movie i slept in the hallway of our house for a week & to this day i can't really get comfortable in a bathtub. those memories stick with you! and having seen the remake now.. i can say the original must be stuck in my 6 year old psyche because the new one didn't freak me out the least bit.

so there ya go... my halloween round up :)

xo-k

currents: 10.13.2011

2011-10-13T23:58:00.001-04:00

working on some other posts.. i know, i know.. you are so tired of hearing this.. right?
ah. it's life. :)

listening: emily anderson's play list. seriously. over and over and over again. it's like the perfect magical october soundtrack. moody & wonderful. i made my own playlist to share :) i didn't plan on loving the song 'give in to me' from the movie country strong as much as a did... but it almost breaks my heart it's so amazing!

watching: the new girl. american horror story. vampire diaries. glee. i don't know that i've ever been glued to this many shows. ever. i heart zooey deschanel in the new girl. american horror story is strange and i can't stop watching it, it's like the scary movie that doesn't end. vampire diaries. ya.. do i have to elaborate? and glee. i can't get enough. i'm only sad true blood is over until next year :(

reading: the crowning glory of calla lily ponder. yessssss. still. i find that i'm having to really MAKE the time to read. & it's moving slowly for me..

obsessing: halloween decorations. a recipe binder. making jewelry & eliminating processed foods & chemical cleaners from my house. (more on that soon) pinterest. redecorating my home.

stressing: my house is never clean. i don't know why.. i'm home & i feel like i'm always cleaning. oh wait. i have kids. and a husband who refuses to kick his boots off at the door. christmas presents. i don't want to overload my tree with thoughtless manufactured presents.. i'd like to have a happy balance & give to those in need as well as have some handmade gifts sprinkled around.

baking or making: red velvet cookies. oreo truffles. rice crispies cupcakes. chocolate covered marshmallows. honey beer bread. garlic cheese biscuits. coffee cake muffins. honey oatmeal sandwich bread. chocolate muffins. peanut butter honey energy balls... i think that's it... :)

wanting: a pedicure. the kindle fire. to read the next book in the black dagger brotherhood. to go to the movies & eat sushi on my birthday. just a few new scrapbooking supplies.. it's been MORE than a year since i've added to my stash, i think i'm due :) & a style injection.

looking forward to: a visit to the pumpkin patch. the carnival. halloween. more soccer games. release of the breaking dawn soundtrack. breaking dawn. hand making gifts for loved ones. a fall thankful journal (can't wait to elaborate! :)

loving: pw's iced coffee recipe, paired with homemade vanilla syrup. soccer. reading scary stories to tell in the dark with the dude. spending my days with the babe.

xo-k