Blue Family Scene

A trip to the Big Orange Box...

2012-01-24T11:58:00.001-07:00

We took a little trip to the big orange box and ended up coming home with all of these goodies.

I am so excited for this project. Can you decipher what it will be from the following pictures?

Any guesses yet? I will be letting you know very soon. The hubs is almost done with his part then its over to me for the sanding and painting. My mind is just racing with the make over that is NOW in the process... So exciting... And YES, we have a carport and it was FINALLY snowing here. This is like only the 3rd time this winter it has snowed. And now it is warm again and starting to melt. The kids did make a snowman at 8:30 last night. We needed to get one in this year some how. LOL

Hope you all have a great week. :O)

Better Late...Then Never

2012-01-23T20:37:00.000-07:00

So I was downloading some pictures and found these ones. I am so late in posting. Been busy but should have at least gotten these posted in December 2011. BUT not a chance. So here are the rest of our Christmas decor. Enjoy.

This is the tree in the 4 and 6 year olds room. I know it is girlie and I only have one daughter but I bought everything for it last year during the after Christmas sale at Walmart.

This is the tree that was in our basement family room. I let the kids decorate it by them selves. I think they did a great job.

Well, I hope to post tomorrow about a little trip we took today which ended up with us bringing home some goodies.... :O) I am so excited about it... Until then... Have a great one!

Favorite Projects of 2011

2011-12-27T14:02:00.000-07:00

After going through this years posts, it seems like I did not get very many projects done. When in reality I have gotten quite a few more done than I have posted about. I better get on that. *New goal for 2012: Be a better and more frequent blogger! So here are my favorite projects this year (and in no particular order)....

1. Board and Batten in the living room. You can read about it here, here, and here.

2. Shelving for our food storage.

3. New flower garden for next year (2012).

4. Book page wreath.

5. My Halloween table scape.

6. Room redo on a very tight budget.

7. Our ADULT Christmas tree.

Hope your have had a wonderful 2011 and here's to making 2012 the BEST ever!

Our Christmas Tree

2011-12-09T20:38:00.001-07:00

I thought it was about time to show you our finished Christmas tree that is in our living room. I decorated this tree by myself this year. I let the kids loose on their own trees this year. I will show those to you starting tomorrow. I still have one thing to get for this tree. I ran out of the string of pearls that I just can not seem to live without every year. So I will have to make a trip up to Hobby Lobby to get another strand. So no judging the bottom of the tree. So on with the show..

I decided to use some new, old, and even older ornaments this year and make the tree I have always wanted. My colors this year are: turquoise, lime green, red, pearly white, soft gold, and mercury glass. I am in L.O.V.E. with this tree this year.

The next pictures are of the "NEW" Mercury Glass ornaments that I actually bought last year but did not use. Bummer because they are soooooo beautiful. Just look for your self.

This next picture has both new sparkly lime green and red ornaments and the red long ornament that the Hubs uncle gave us for our wedding present 14 years ago. He is/was a florist with his own business. He even was one of the designers for FTD. Anyways, he would decorate Christmas trees in his shop and then gave us everything for one the trees. Can I just say GORGEOUS. I love them all. You can also see the pearl white and soft gold ornaments in this picture. I bought those during the AFTER Christmas sale at Kmart like 10 years ago.

This turquoise bulb is also from the Hubs' uncle. They are soooooooo pretty. Love the hash marks.

These blown glass heart ornaments are the kids FAVORITE. I got them way before I met my husband. So they are the oldest ones we have. I got them from the catalog LTD. I do not know if they carry them anymore. But I sure do love the way the lights on the tree glisten off of them.

So there you have it. My ADULT tree. Hopefully you like it as much as I do. But, if you don't that is alright because I am the one that has to look at it every day... :O)

Come back tomorrow to see the tree that the kids did in the family room. It is a fun one. :O)

Sugar over load......

2011-12-08T20:15:00.001-07:00

*Caution: These are "real life" everyday photos. Please ignore the mess.. AND other things..

So today was the Hubs Birthday. We spent the day together and had a great time while the kids were at school. We did have the youngest with us as he does not have preschool on Thursdays. When I asked the Hubs what he wanted for his Birthday he came up with a great easy and super fun present from the kids. He asked if they could make his cake and decorate it themselves. I was in. So off to the store to get the proper ingredients. Cake mix, check. Frosting, check. Frosting in cans with tips, check. And of course candles, check. So on to the decorating. I divided up the cake into sections so each kid had their own section to decorate. That way there was no fighting. ( please ignore the outlet hinging off the tile back splash. It does not work and needs to be fixed.)

First up was Nate and he went a little over board with the frosting.

Next up was Jordan. She loved it.

Cameron thought it was great but needed a little help.

Then there was Colby. He had determination on his face. He ended up writing something on the cake. He thought he was being funny.

Here is the end result. Can you tell what Colby wrote? No, well it says DUM BO.. Like I said before, he thought he was being funny.

So here is the Diabetic Coma Cake. One small bite of frosting was all I needed. If you know me I do not like frosting. Except if it is made by a friend that runs the bakery at the Allen's grocery store in Springville, Utah. He makes the best cakes EVER!!! Try the chocolate cake with the double fudge frosting. It is rich but OH SO GOOD... Just tell him I sent you and he will set you up... :O) (And ignore the following: 1. doorbell thingy on the hallway wall that has no cover. I can not find it. I think the Hubs threw it away. 2. The pin wheel that started coming apart. 3. The super UGLY dirty ceiling fan that needs to come down. On a side note I do have a replacement for it. Just need to do the old switch-a-roo.)

Anyways, I did get a bit off the subject. HA HA. Time for the Hubs to enter the picture.. Yes I did that play on words on purpose. I tickle myself some times. :O) We sang to him then showed him the cake.

He LOVED it.

He asked the kids to help blow out the candles as he is "getting to old" for it.

Everyone loves to lick the frosting off the candles.

He was having a little too much fun with it. Then he posed for some pictures.

Love you babe! Happy Birthday. Doesn't he look good for an old man?

Decking our halls for the holiday's.....

2011-12-03T13:55:00.001-07:00

Wow, has is really been a month since my last post? Time is sure getting away from me. I/we have been really busy. Always something that needs to get done. We are in the middle of a big project for the kids. We are moving what seems like the whole house around to accommodate the older boys having their own rooms. But, that is another post for another time. Well, tis the season that the Christmas elves come and make a mess of the house for the holiday's. Thought I would show their progress thus far.

Thought I would start off with a nice picture then show you all the real mess..

Why does Christmas decoration have to take up so much space?

See my lanterns on the bench? I got those from a store here in Utah called RC Willey for, wait for it, $10.00... Yep you read that right. $10 for all THREE. I love them.

See I told you it is a mess.. Cleaning up after these Christmas elves is my top priority right now.

They did happen to get the tree up in the living room. PLEASE ignore the half covered wing back chairs. They are still a work in really bad progress. My sewing machine is still broken so I am trying to cover them at little expense as possible until either I get a new machine or mine fixed OR I go buy new slip covers from Sure fit. We shall wait and see. Anyhoo, to the rest of the pictures. This next one is actually very promising.

The snowmen will be finding another home. Just needed to get them up off the floor so the dog does not chew them up. Still working on that with him. See the table in the left corner? That is the table from this post.

Here is a better view of the start of our holiday decorating. This table was the only thing decorated for like a week until the elves decided to come and help out. I love its' simplicity.

We also had a little help from Rocco. Thanks for coming. Have a great weekend and enjoy getting your house ready for the holiday's. :O)

Christmas came early....

2011-11-05T16:21:00.002-06:00

Well, that is what it seems like. This is what we have woken up to TWICE this week. This kids had fun shoveling the drive way. Their enthusiasm will end when the snow stays and just keeps falling.

But, we did get an early Christmas present (or president as Jordan says). Meet the new addition to out family...

This is Rocco. Is he not just the cutest? I just love the different colored eyes. It makes him that much more special.

Oh, he is a doll.

He made fast friends with Nate. Which if you know Nate that is extremely easy to do... Especially if you are a Boston Terrier. They are Nate's favorite. He now has 3 to spread his love around to (my parents are the proud owners of the other two).

Cameron is a little scared of dogs but we will get him over it.

I think he is the perfect addition to our family.

So do you have any exciting Christmas presents planned this year?

Halloween 2011

2011-11-05T09:45:00.001-06:00

Well, I am finally getting to post the pictures for the kids from Halloween. We started the day off with a school parade at the elementary school. It was COLD but the kids were great about it.

This is Jordan with her Kindergarten teacher and my friend Mrs. Comte. She was a "Book Fairy". I so need to do this costume next year. It was super cute.

Here is Colby (4th grade) as a Zombie Football player from the game "Plants vs. Zombies".

Jordan in the parade.

This is Nate my oldest. Simple costume and I love it. He is dancing in these pictures.

He loves the song " Party Rockers" by LMFAO. He is doing the shuffle from the video. It was quite funny to watch him dance while wearing the mask.

The hubs and I finally broke down and told him the dance moves from the video are from the 80's and that was how we used to dance. NOW he thinks we are cool.

Colby made some modifications to his costume before heading out for Trunk or Treating.

And last but not least, Cameron. He wanted to be Buzz Lightyear again this year which was fine by me. He is a super cute Buzz if I do say so my self. And I do. :O)

Thanks for visiting and I hope you liked our "Parade of Photos" for Halloween this year. As always have a great weekend.

It's about time....

2011-10-27T17:42:00.003-06:00

Thought it was about time to show you all my Halloween/Fall table decoration since Halloween in on Monday. I also thought it would be fun to see the difference in my decorations for Halloween/Fall from last year (2010) to this year (2011.)

So here is last years table Harvest table scape. Simple but nice. I still really like it. But this year I thought I would go a little spookier for Halloween. So take a peek...

I still is simple and I like it. If you have not noticed yet... The cloche is the one I made back in March of 2010. You can see it here.

I put a glittery skull in the cloche and L.O.V.E. it in there so much.

Isn't he cute. I hope you have a wonderful Halloween weekend. Until next time. :O)

Getting ready for next year...

2011-10-24T13:54:00.000-06:00

At the beginning of the month I started on a project that I have wanted to do for... Well, since we moved into this house 7 years ago. I know, why do today when you can do it tomorrow or 7 years from now. Well here it is 7 years later and this is what I have done.

I know it is not that big of a deal right now but come next Spring it will be BEAUTIFUL!!! See, I have this wonderful neighbor that wanted to thin out his "weeds" as he calls them. The the rest of the world they would be called "flowers." Now I have a very hard time turning down anything FREE so off I went to his house and helped dig them all up. I already had the iris from my father (he came down last year and planted the bulbs he had to thin out from his house into the front of mine. They are right there in between the windows.

This same neighbor also gave me the cutest garden stakes that he made. What do you think of them.

Meet my new mosquito. I do not mind him staying around. No swatting at him will be happening in my presence.

And here is Miss Dragon fly. I am thinking I might have to paint them to really make them stand out. We shall wait and see how the flower garden looks next Spring to determine the colors. Hope you have a great week. :O)

Book page wreath

2011-10-17T12:15:00.001-06:00

So I have been loving all the book page wreaths in blog land and knew I needed to make one some time. We have decided to be on a very strict budget and cut down on a lot of things. You see every General Conference weekend I come up with some type of home project to work on while listening to the Saturday sessions. Well, this last Conference I had no project to work on. The April conference I redid my bedroom and did not spend much $$ at all so the challenge was on to make something and NOT SPEND ANY $$$ at all. Enter the book page wreath.

I used what I had here at home. I was getting a large box ready to send to the DI and had put a book in it so I took it out and went to town. I marked and cut a circle from another box I had using a paper plate as my guide. Then ripped out the pages of the book and started to roll.

I cut a smaller circle out of card board and wrapped it with some of the book pages and glued it on. The whole wreath was hot glued together. The large "B" was one I got a Hobby Lobby about a year and a half ago while living in Michigan. I just painted it black then added black Martha Stewart glitter to the top. Then glued it on the wreath. It turned out so pretty I think.

I hung it in the hallway over the cabinet I painted earlier this summer. But more on that later. What do you think?

On another note, I have been playing with my new camera. So much fun. Here are a couple pics I took while at my sons flag football game.

Is she not just the cutest? It helps that she is so sassy. AND loves to have her picture taken.

Hope you enjoyed the wreath. Have a great week. :O) Until next time...

It's Football Season!

2011-10-10T11:58:00.000-06:00

It is that time of year again. Football is in full swing. We have been practicing and playing in games since July. It is fun to watch our oldest play. He is doing great. He plays running back among other positions. He is very quick.

So this is what we have been doing the last couple months. So fun. :O)

We start the playoff this week. The boys are soooo excited to be in them. While the game is being played this is what our other kids are doing.

Well, you do what to stay warm and comfortable while watching the game. :O)

A little game of peek-a-boo is always fun.

And we are always ready for the next game. :O) Have a great day and enjoy the football season as much as we do. :O)

Back from the Dead...

2011-10-07T21:10:00.000-06:00

Wow, not having a camera sure puts a damper on blogging. It has been over 2 months since my last post. So sorry. Well I finally got a new camera and am in L.O.V.E. with it. It is a Sony something something or other. The hubs picked it out. His father is a wedding photographer and the hubs has been talking to him for the last 2 years about cameras. So I let him pick it out. It only took him 2 hours in the store to finally decide which one. But that is alright. I GOT A CAMERA!! :O)

Well, remember this picture I showed you all last year after going shopping at the case lot sales?This cold storage room needed some serious help. It was semi organized. I wanted shelves so bad. The hubs said he would do them and here we were a year later and it still looked like this. Until... Today... :O) When the hubs got up today ( he had the day off) I told him to get to work so I could get all the canning from this year in there. It was ALOT! So, I took everything out and here is the final result....

Now it is super organized. I did not ask for pretty, just functional and sturdy. And that is what I got.

Oops, need to restock the cereal. I have 2 bins empty.. I learned how to use the pressure cooker this year. I canned green beans. :O) They are right above the bins. Hope they last us till next summer.

The tomato's are canned in quarts for my favorite tomato soup. I will have to share that with you all another time. It is DE-LISH! Then pints are all salsa. YUMM-O!! It is my friends recipe.

It is a good start on our food storage. Wish the room was bigger. I would love to have look like a store like you see on TLC's Extreme Couponing.

Well, thanks for coming to visit. Again sorry for the long break in posts. I do have a lot of projects that I did during the summer break. Can not wait to share them with you. Until then have a great weekend.. We get to go to the groundbreaking for the Payson Temple. So excited. :O)

Do you Pinterest?

2011-07-13T17:09:00.000-06:00

I know that a bunch of other blogs have been telling about Pinterest so I thought I would give my two cents about it... I LOVE IT.... I started using Pinterest like 2 MONTHS ago. It is like having a design book on your computer. It is easy. You just find a picture or what ever interests you that you want to remember and "pin it" on to a board. It is that easy. So go on over and check it out. It has everything from books to design to fashion to photography etc... You will love it. It is a bit addicting to look around. But oh so much fun....

What have we been up to... The roof!

2011-06-30T14:44:00.000-06:00

( I am apologizing for the horrible pictures in advance.. I hate this camera and can not wait to get a new one.. Hopefully soon like for our anniversary or my birthday... They are only 2 weeks apart so I will accept the camera for both.. Like the hubs even reads this blog... LOL )

So I told you that we had a huge wind storm that took off about a third of our shingles from the roof. The insurance company came through and paid for the repair. We just had to provide the labor... With out even asking, the day after everything was delivered for the new roof there were a bunch of men from our church on my roof waiting to help.. Have I ever told you how much I love being back in Utah and how much I love our church ward.. We may not be a rich ward but we are a ward that knows how to help and when to help. These guys are AWESOME!!!

The men just kept coming and climbing up the ladder.. No complaints, just a "Pay is forward". That is the kind of people we have in our neighborhood... Are you jealous? I will share them if you move here... You would not regret it in the least...

They were almost done here..

It only took one day to do the roof... I took it on myself to feed them and keep them hydrated.. Least I could do...

Thanks again everyone for spending your Saturday with us on our roof. It is pain staking work and you will be so very blessed for your willingness to help others.. I know that the hubs and our oldest are willing and able to help the next one in need... Especially with a roofing project... We are on the look out... :O)

Graduation Day!

2011-05-28T14:45:00.000-06:00

Well, it finally came.. My little girl graduated from Preschool... She is getting so big..

Her graduation program was great. We laughed A LOT. Each graduate had to do a solo song/nursery rhyme. They did great.

Jordan wanted to sing "Mary had a little lamb" and do a little dance called "Step Step"... She had been practicing for weeks. Singing all day every day.. Like she was an opera singer.. No seriously.. She sang like an opera singer.. The boys were so sick of hearing her sing they would not go to her graduation. When it was her turn to sing she was super shy and kept singing "Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little,lamb" over and over.. No other words escaped her mouth. It was a riot.. :O)

Oops.. Forgot to turn this picture.. my bad...

Here she is with her teacher Mrs.Alesha... She is the greatest...

Walking in line to receive her diploma..

Out door after shots..

She was so happy to say that she is now in KINDERGARTEN...

Oops, forgot these too.. My bad again...

Taking a bow.. Thank you and please come again... :O)

New Updates to the Living Room...

2011-05-24T14:25:00.001-06:00

Since I had so much time on my hands because I could not blog, I added a few things to the living room. I started this make over last year.. Like June of 2010.. So yes, it has been slow going on this one.. I hope to have it complete this summer. Or as close to complete as possible... :O) I started off by ~~forcing~~ persuading the hubs to visit a store I have been wanting to go to for like EVER... DownEast Basics... LOVE IT.... I found a new sofa to put in the living room.. I have been eyeballing a Pottery Barn one but could not afford it. I know I could have gone to IKEA and gotten theirs but it just is not that comfortable.. So I kept looking. So off to DownEast Basics we went (dragging the hubs to whole way).. I walked in and there she was.. Just waiting for me... I sat on it for like 30 minutes before I even bought it so I know it is comfortable.. And trust me... I have already taken a nap on it and it was heaven... The best part... It was only... WAIT FOR IT... $650. Yes you read that right... And it is the Pottery Barn sofa I wanted.... :O) And for half off... Score!! Doing a happy dance right now...

I got the pillows from a friend that got them with her Pottery Barn club chairs she got off of KSL... They did not match her decor and she so lovingly gave them to me.. I forgot to take a close up of them so I will have to do that soon...

Next update was the new area rug I got at Lowe's... I have been looking ALL OVER for the perfect rug for this room... But I was not willing to pay over $150. So the hunt went on.. I found this one that is 7'7'' x 9' I think at Lowe's. Best part... It was on clearance for $ 87. HUGE SCORE and even bigger happy dance now.... :O) I love the way it looks with the new sofa... :O) It does have a large floral pattern but it is still a neutral rug... AND super soft on the tootsie...

I know, I need to slip cover those wing back chairs... That will be happening hopefully this summer... I have been pricing the fabric for it.. But we have to put a new roof on our house this weekend so slip covers will have to wait for awhile...

Here is a close up of the area rug...

I love it... It is so pretty.. It did take some talking to the hubs to convince him of this purchase as did the sofa... He thought we were fine with what we had... Which was only 2 wing back chairs and a computer chair in this room.. Not going to work for us when we have family coming this fall to visit... He was upset with me for a little bit.. But he came around and likes it now... As always, I am right and he is slow to realizing this... Wish he would just grasp this concept now so we could move on to bigger and brighter things.. :O)

Well, thanks for stopping by... And please have a safe and fun week...

Back up and running...

2011-05-19T21:53:00.000-06:00

I mean blogging... :O) We thought we had gotten the computer working again and was able to use it for about a day then it crashed... BIG TIME!!

We decided to head out and check out some new computers just in case.. Found one we like and ended up getting it.. Luckily the old one still has 3 weeks left on the extended warranty so we will be taking it in to get fixed and that can be the kids computer...

So if they happen to TOUCH my NEW computer it is off with their hands... J/K!! (kind of)

So hopefully I will have a great post for you tomorrow... I have several that I want to do... So much to catch up on... :O)

Until then ladies... Have a great weekend... :O)

I {HATE} computers... Sometimes...

2011-05-02T17:41:00.000-06:00

Have you ever had one of those weeks? You know the one.. Nothing is going quite right, the sun does not shine AT ALL, and it seems to never stop raining or snowing.. Yeah, one of those weeks... That is what my life has been like for the last TWO weeks... Is it ever going to end?

My loving children did something to my computer a week and a half ago so now we can not get on the Internet... We have had some one come and take a look but they could not even figure out what was wrong. We have a signal but can not connect... Children are now band from ever touching my computer again. So here I sit at the Library using their computer. So no pics to add to this post.. Or any other for that matter.. The Hubs is at home trying to figure out how to fix it..

At least the sun is FINALLY shining.. I hope it lasts. I am tired of overcast weather. Utah is definitely NOT in a drought anymore..

This will be short because I would like to visit some of my favorite blogs... Which makes me think of some good post spot lights for in the future..

Have a great week and keep your fingers crossed that we can get the computer back to normal.. :O)

Spring Break, Zumba, and Lists...

2011-04-15T14:09:00.001-06:00

Wow, it has been 10 days since my last post.. What have I been doing? I really want to know... It does not seem like much.. The kids are on Spring Break so I guess I have been on one too.. :O) I have cleaned my house ( well, the kids have been helping more than usual which I think we will keep it that way!) several times.. Made a trip to the DI and gotten rid of LOTS. Spent time with the family and read a whole book... :O) I also was in a 5K this month and have been exercising my butt off... I LOVE ZUMBA!! No, really I do.. I HATE running but after doing Zumba for awhile now running it a lot easier.. I am getting ready to be in another 5K in May and one in June..

Are you a list person? I am.. I like to see what I have to get done and cross it off when said task IS done.. I just sat down to make my new list of projects/tasks to complete and it is a lot longer than I thought it would be. Boy, I better get going on it fast.. I have made a dead line for completion by July 1st since there are some MAJOR projects on the list... Like a new roof! Not looking forward to that one but it needs to be done!! I am also hoping to paint the house and the eves.. I am ready for a change.. So I hope the dead line will work in our favor.. Keep your fingers crossed that it does..

Now, I am off to try and get something done so I can cross it off the list.. :O) Wish me luck! :O)

And as always, Have a great weekend!! :O)

Living Room update...

2011-04-06T12:45:00.002-06:00

I have been working hard the last couple days and this is the result of my hard labor... Sorry the pics are not great... My camera broke and I needed a replacement quickly. I will have to wait on getting the camera I really want a bit longer.. :O(

This is what my living room looked like awhile back. It was kind of a Tuscan feel. And I loved it. The color on the walls was from Walmart called Riverroad by Kilz. It matched some of the thread that was in the pillows on my couch and loveseat. But here is the Living room now. Same corner/ front door pic.

I am planning on painting the door. The front/out side of the door is black and so will the inside of the door be black too. Very soon. Ignore the wing back chair.. Still need to get that slipcover done.

Now everything is not in its rightful place... I was just so tired of everything in the middle of the room. So I moved it all around for now.. You can see in this pic the way we framed the window. It helped so much with the board and batten.

Again, ignore the other wing back chair... And all my paint supplies on the table..

And yes, that is my china cabinet still floating in the middle of the room. I want to paint it and move it to a different spot so there it sits... For now...

I am planning something new for this wall that used to house the china cabinet.

Here is how we had the board and batten meet the floor. Again, so sorry for the horrible pics... Yuck!!
But I do like the way the b&b meets the new hard wood floor. It looks so pretty in real life... I better get that new camera soon so I will enjoy my pictures better.. Or figure out what is going on with this little camera first.. I like the first choice better.. :O) Now to see if the hubs will agree.. Probably not.. :O)

It is now time to go couch shopping... I know what I want but it is always a struggle to get the hubs on board. But, when I get my way he always likes it in the end.. :O) Yeah me!!

Hope you all have a great week... Hope you weather is nicer than ours.. Saturday was 74 degrees and then we woke up to 6 inches of snow on Sunday... It has been cold ever since... Not liking it at all... :O(

What's happening!!

2011-04-04T11:45:00.000-06:00

Not much here.. Still working on the B&B in the living room. Almost done. I have been under the weather for the last 2 weeks and so it had been slow going around here. I did do a 5K on Saturday. That was fun but I came home to 2 sick kids.. Not fun!!

I will post soon on the completion of the B&B. Have a great week... And here's to hoping I start feeling better very soon... :O)

It's "PRIME" time...

2011-03-16T16:03:00.002-06:00

When I last left you, this is what my living room looked like. Well, not any more...

So I got ALL the nail holes filled with wood putty... Then the room sat for a couple days as my oldest left his Geometry report and Science Fair project for the last minute.. So needless to say that is what I have been helping with. They are all turned in so back to business... Yesterday, I sanded all the nail holes smooth then wiped the boards down then cleaned my floors of all dust... THEN I painted the upper part of the walls in Glidden Autumn Haze (thanks Shelley from House of Smiths). It is very neutral.. I am in L.O.V.E with it..

Today, I primed the Board and Batten......

Looking good....

Oops... Need to get to the side of those boards asap... I can not wait until it is done... This is really changing the look of our house... You see, EVERYONE in my neighborhood has the same house.. The only difference between mine and everyone else is mine is a couple hundred square feet larger.. But that is it... So I am doing my best to make mine way different. And I think it is working... :O)

As always, have a great week... :O)

While the Hubby is away....

2011-03-08T13:17:00.006-07:00

The wife will play... With power tools... :O) I told you yesterday that I had a project I was super excited about and we started it last night... Here is the pile of MDF I had cut at Home Depot over the weekend... Can you guess what my project is? Well, I am jumping on the band wagon or rather the Board and Batten wagon... :O)

Last night I had the hubs help put up the baseboards.. I needed the extra hands for that part.. Boy, I wish I was Elasta Girl... That is who I sooo long to be... Would it not just be wonderful? Okay, back to the board and batten..

I had the guys at HD cut the MDF to 6 inches high for the baseboards. I am loving it...

So the hubs went to work this morning and here I was with the power tools.... H.E.A.V.E.N!!! Thought I would get going on the next step.. I had the guys at HD (again) cut the slats 2 inches wide and the top piece 3 inches wide. So on I went putting the slats on the walls...

Looking good so far...

L.O.V.E it!!

So sweet!!

Ignore the mess in the middle of the room... But does that not look good so far?

I just need to put up the 3 inch top piece then comes the daunting task of caulk and painting... I will show you how it turns out later this week, I hope!!!

As always have a great one....

It's the little things...

2011-03-07T13:47:00.003-07:00

It's the little things that make us happy right? Like wood floors... :O) They are so beautiful... Only problem with them is.. Can you spot it? No? How about now?
She has... That would be the floor vent. With no cover on it... Do you understand the problem yet? If not let's take a better look shall we?

Oh, there it is... She is thinking maybe I can get my foot down there.. BIG PROBLEM!

After putting in the wood floor we needed to come up with an idea of how to match the covers to the floor. You see wood covers come in VERY light finishes. And to match our Brazilian Cherry Dark wood is like VERY HARD... And not to mention VERY COSTLY!! So we waited and waited and waited... I had to put bright magazines/ boxes/suit cases/ whatever I could find on them during the day so no one would walk on them and fall through.

Then we went to Home Depot this weekend (for a different project that I am sooooo excited about) and came across the perfect vent cover for our wood floors... :O)

Now do not look at the floors very closely.. I have not cleaned them since Friday. Better get on that. But, don't the new vent covers look great?

They soooo match the floors... :O)

They are metal with a brushed bronze finish... (Sorry for the bad pics.. Rainy outside today.)

I think they look great!! Here is a closer picture of them...

I really like the design on them too. Well, one more project down and like 973 more to go... :O)

As always have a great week.. :O)

Project time!

2011-03-01T15:37:00.004-07:00

So we went away for the weekend to Steamboat Springs. Have a blast and now it is back to reality.. The sun is shining and it is feeling like spring is coming... Yeah!! So that puts me into project mode. I have decided to dedicate the Spring time to finishing my living room. You see, it has looked like this since September minus the table and chairs. I added them after the Christmas tree was taken down. I got the wing back chairs off of KSL for $50.. That is for both chairs..... SCORE!! I got the table at DI.. Boy is that a story.. I had been looking for a table like this and the wind back chairs for the family room. I had them down there for a while then mover them up to the living room.. Any hoo, I found the table at DI and it was $50. I did not buy it.. Why you ask? I said it was too much.. It kept bugging me and I waited 2 weeks then went back hoping it was still there... It was AND it was marked down to $35 dollars... So I bought it... That is all the furniture in here except for a table housing the computer and a china cabinet. Not much and not enough room for more that 3 people to sit. So my goal is to find a couch, love seat, a chair what ever I can on our budget and get this room done. I have some plans to add some architectural detail in here. Can not wait for that. Hope to get to it soon. But for now my project is to slipcover those wing back chairs.

See, not bad chairs just ugly dusty rose fabric. NOT my style...I decided to try my hand at making my own slipcover for the chairs so I am kind of practicing with some drop clothes that I had. Did not want to buy the fabric until I was more comfortable with making the slipcovers. So here goes... I will not be telling you what I did. But I will show you the pics I took along the way. :O)

Now I just need to go and sew it all together. Wish me luck.... :O)

Here is a side by side. Hope it all turns out alright..

P.S. I did not have enough drop clothe for the cushion so that is sitting on the floor waiting for inspiration or more fabric... Who knows... :O) I will be back later to show what it looks like after I sew it... EEK!!

What makes you happy?

2011-02-22T21:18:00.003-07:00

Well, since I was able to fix my sewing machine myself... Tee Hee!! I needed to get back to business... And what business is that you ask?

Ruffles, lots and lots of ruffles.. And I do not mean the chips... :O) See this beautiful pile of ruffles? There are 80 ruffles there... Yes, I am happy now.. I am finally on the home stretch with this project.. It sure has taken me longer than I had hoped.. But I am sure it will be worth it in the end... Stay tuned to find out what I am making..

Until next time my lovelies... Have a great one!! :O)

Yeah for me!!

2011-02-22T12:11:00.003-07:00

I did it, I did it, yeah, yeah, yeah... No eating here tonight, hey, not eating here tonight, your on a diet...

Okay, I know lame... But it is one of my favorite movies of all time... Got to have me some "shark bait who ha ha"... :O)

No really, yeah for me because I FIXED MY SEWING MACHINE!!!!!! :O)

Like I said... Yeah for me!! I did it all by myself!!!

Now, off I go to get my sewing grooves on!! Later! :O)

Room redo on a VERY tight budget!!!

2011-02-17T09:22:00.005-07:00

Since moving back to Utah from Michigan and into our old house I have been trying to update it on a very tight budget... VERY TIGHT mind you....Last October (during General Conference, yes I watched every session) started my painting craze... I started with the master bedroom makeover and to date have spent around $150. Not bad.. That even included new bedding.. :O)

Next up was my daughters room... I painted it this periwinkle while I was preggers with her. It matched her bedding and was exactly what I wanted then.. Well not any more... Sorry picture taken after I started to prime the walls.. I had the primer in my stash!! Yeah! So cost was $0...

It's a little bright and in your face...

So I decided to check out my paint stash and see what I had.. I did not want to spend any money on it.. I know lame... But I did find my 5 gallon bucket of Glidden Sand White paint. Love this paint. It looks different with the way the light hits it.. Sometimes it is grey and others it is a light tan. I used it for the bathrooms and the downstairs bedroom and my craft room and the hallway down stairs.. LOVE IT!! Now that was also like 3-4 years ago.. So to say the least there was not much left in the bucket... It had just enough to do her room.. :O)

This is my start at organizing her closet.. More on that later..

Doesn't that look so much calmer? I love the contrast against the new hardwood floors. Just need to put up the base boards.... STILL.... Hopefully that will be soon...

The transition is so much smoother now.. :O) To date I have only spent about $12 on her room make over.. I even found new curtains at a steal of a deal. Need to put those up now...

I have not decided if I will leave her bed in this nook. But for now it stays.. Don't you just love the denim quilt? My mom made it for her 5Th birthday... She is so wonderful... Thanks mom!! :O)

I still have some things to do in this room. It is just taking me longer than planned..

Now, way back when (last fall to be precise) I mentioned I had found the most exciting treasure at the DI... I know exactly what I want to do with it.. Just need to work up the courage to get it done... But here is a little look at the so called treasure...

Aren't you just in love with it? I knew I had to have it... I was standing in line to pay and saw it in a cart at the checkout and just kept eye -balling it. So when I got up close enough I mention how cute it was and the cashier said the customer changed her mind and it was going back on the shelf unless I wanted it... DING DING DING!!! No price tag so I asked how much and the cashier said $3. YES!!! It was mine!!! Do you blame me?

Do you have any guess as to what I am planning on doing with it? Let me know what your guess is....

As always have a great day!! :O)

Do you always get what you ask for?

2011-02-16T19:57:00.004-07:00

Okay, so I promised I would show you all what the Hubs got me for Valentines Day.... The typical dozen roses... I love white roses... :O) And TWO Nickelback CDs.. Yeah!! There is a third one but I can wait on that... I guess he figured I really liked Nickelback since I am always playing them on the laptop in my craft room while sewing... :O) That and I told him I wanted them... LOL What a good hubby!!

These next pictures are from last night... I had put everyone to bed and thought they all had fallen asleep.... But I was WRONG!!! When I walked up stairs to go to bed this is what I found...

Yes, that is the 3 year old.. Still up... And eating... He got himself a cup of water and a bowl of left over spaghetti... Then proceeded to eat...

Do you think he gave himself enough spaghetti?

He was so happy with himself... Love that little man!! Check out the stamps on his face... He and his sister got them from the dentist yesterday as their prize for a good check up and them they proceeded to stamp their faces.... Luckily they do wash off very easily...

Have a great day!! Until next time.... :O)

Valentines update!

2011-02-15T20:09:00.003-07:00

I thought I would surprise my family when they all got home from school/work for Valentines Day yesterday. So this is what they saw when they came home... The table set with love....

I even made these bad boys and they were AWESOME!!!

See, doesn't it look nice all set up for Valentines Day? Did you happen to notice anything different about this spot? No, well I will share more on that in another post...

Everyone got a heart on their plate and I even made everyone tell what they loved about well everyone!! It was so fun to hear the different things... My 5 yr old daughter was the funniest.. She sure can come up with some doozies... Is that even a word? Oh well!! :O)

I just wanted to wish you all a Happy (Day Late) Valentines Day!! Tomorrow I will show you what I got from the hubs!! I was soooo happy!!

Bed News, Bad News, Bad News....

2011-02-10T08:13:00.002-07:00

Argh!!!

My sewing machine broke last night while I was making ruffles!!!!!!!!

I need my sewing machine!! I still have curtains to make!!! Argh!!!

Did you go to the Sundance Film Festival?

2011-02-01T20:16:00.008-07:00

*Warning this post had LOTS of pictures..

Neither did I.... But I sure did want to go... But not with the kids so we had other plans for the family... We took the kids to Midway (which is not far from Park City where the festival is) for the weekend and boy was it fun!! Here are some pics of the view from the condo we stayed in.

I just love the mountains...

The little kids had so much fun playing in the condo. We had little tents for them to sleep in. I did take pics of it but some how they did not get downloaded to the computer. Oops...

We played Monopoly A LOT!!! The boys had so much fun that we played until 11:30 almost every night.

Our only outing was to go... Tubing at Soldier Hollow... And boy was it fun... Especially from someone who does not like heights or going too fast (hate feeling out of control)...

Cameron and Jordan played in the snow while the rest of us got ready...

We must take a long time to get ready... Or at least I must... LOL

Here we are being pulled up the hill.... Hang on tight...

First down is Colby....

Next up, is Nate...

There he goes...

Still getting the little ones ready... Gloves fell off so reattaching was a priority.

We went down several times then Jordan started to cry that she was cold. So we sat and waited until Daddy came down.. So then we went down a couple more times.

Here is Colby and Cameron waiting to find out what we are doing next...

Nate, well he was just being a stud!!

And then there is MY stud!!

Family pics were a must...

It was such a fun time.. Note to self... Must do this again soon...

Boy they look really tired.. :O)

We wanted to take the kids to the Ice castle but never made it so I took some pics on Sunday before we left.

That castle was so cool. Hope to go back and see it sometime. I did snap some pics of it at night just for the effect.

Is that not just cool!!!

Anyway, thanks for coming along on our family weekend.. I suggest that everyone do this now and then.. Family time is the greatest time spent!!

Have a great week!! :O)

What I have been up to....

2011-01-27T18:01:00.006-07:00

I was supposed to be organizing the rest of the kitchen but decided to put that off for a while. I was supposed to be organizing the bathroom cupboards but decided I did not want to do that just yet since I need to cut some wood to make a shelf for the cupboard. So what have I been doing you ask?

Easy.... I have been sewing... I decided I wanted to make something for Valentines day that could be left up for the Spring time too... So what have I come up with? You will have to wait and see as it is not done yet... BUT check out those colors....

OOOOH!! So lovely! I am in L.O.V.E. with how the colors blend so nicely... It is my own private rainbow! LOL :O)

I have also been playing with this....

Now, I got this back in September for a SCREAMING deal at the Scrapbook USA here in Utah. But, alas it stayed in its box until today... I got all my cartridges linked to it and got it registered... Speaking of registering it... If you have bought a Gypsy and not registered it you need to. They will give you 5 FREE cartridge downloads.. FOR FREE!!!! Of ones you do not have!!! SCORE!!!! So go register it over at Critcut.com/gypsy.

I am planning on playing with my Gypsy this weekend since we will be in the mountains playing in the snow. Should keep me entertained and DRY and WARM. :O)

Lastly, I have been de-cluttering this space....

It is my craft room. You could hardly walk in here this morning... This wall was stacked to the ceiling with boxes.. You see if I can not find a place for something it gets put in here. Not any more.. I have plans for this wall.. I have a cabinet that I got off of KSL for FREE and am turning it into something spectacular!! But, you will have to wait on seeing that..

This is one of the project areas from last fall... I turned the so called closet area into a scrapbook station. It is equipped with a counter top that I got at the Habitat Re-store. I will show better pics of this area when it is all cleared out. Don't you just love the bolts of fabric? The lighter one is for my curtains in the living room and kitchen/dining rooms. Hope to get those done real soon. The Buffalo check is for curtains and reupholstering the chair in this craft room. I will be working on that soon also.. The large picture is of Wrigley field. I got it for the Hubbs for our anniversary last July.... Still need to hang it obviously....

Thought I would show you the rest of the craft room too... Just keeping it real... Ignore the mess PLEASE because it is a Huge mess.... But, lots better than it was.. Really that is not saying much. As there is a lot to do still... But, as always it is a work in progress..

This cabinet holds lots of goodies... Decor goodies... It's my stash!! SHHH! Do not tell the Hubbs about it...

And the sewing area... At least I can sew now... Before I always had to take the sewing machine off the table so we could eat. So projects got left behind and never finished. Not any more!! :O)

See, here is my stash of sewing projects to be completed.... All nice and neat... Even comes complete with a almost finished key fob... Just one more stitch and it is done... I better get on that one so I can check it off my list...

Thanks for visiting me and I hope you enjoyed this little impromptu tour of my craft room. Now since looking at the pictures I have noticed that I seem to have an over abundance of picture frames... Need one or 20? I will have to come up with something to do with them... Oh, the wheels are a turning......

Have a great one and come back again.. :O)

The Kitchen Organization is on...

2011-01-17T13:51:00.005-07:00

Alright, I know I was supposed to have a post done about my closet organization project for last week... But, they (yes more than one closet in the works) are not done... It is turning out to be a bit of a bigger project then anticipated... But, the fruits of my labor will be enjoyed by all.... :O)

So on to this weeks organization projects... The Kitchen... I started with some drawers that were bugging me.. Every time I opened them things would shift and I could not find what I wanted. So, in came my new found friend... I am in L.O.V.E. with it... It is Duck brand cork peel and stick liner.. I found it at Lowes for like $9.99. Kind of pricey but if it helps the drawer problems then it is worth it to me... First I cleaned out the drawers real good and even vacuumed them. Then measured the size i needed and cut away.... The back has the grid on it so cutting was a breeze...

Now, you are going to want to apply this the same way as vinyl. Peel back just enough to get started and SMOOTH it out.

Start in the back. It is much easier that way. Just pull the back off as you go and keep SMOOTHING it down.

I cut this one a bit short on the side but that is alright by me.. When I put everything back in you will never even know... Unless I told you and well, I did so SHHHH! It's our little secret..

Know I forgot to take a picture before I took everything out of the drawer but here it is on the counter.. I know very messy counter.. Believe it or not that is the only messy counter I have... But enough on that...

Now I wanted to get some containers to put things in and keep them neat but I did not want to leave the house so I went on a hunt and came up with bread pans... I have a lot that I collected from the DI over the years and have not used the small and medium ones in a very long time.

Isn't she all pretty now? I can now find my measuring spoons right away... And the best part, when I close the drawer and open it up again... EVERYTHING stays in its place.... YEAH ME!!!

Here is the start on the drawer the kids are always in... Still using the bread pans...

Oh, the neatness....

Now the silverware drawer really bugged me... The container to hold all the silverware would slide to an angle every time it was opened... This just bugged me to no end. I needed to empty the dishwasher but chose to do this project instead...

See all better.. And I even emptied the dishwasher.. Now we all can eat again...

Now, this is just the beginning of what I have in store for the kitchen organization. I have much bigger and better things in store for it....

Until then... Have a great one...

I will be linking this to Traci over at Beneath My Heart on Friday for her organization party so head on over there then..

And the NEW YEAR starts.....

2011-01-03T09:45:00.004-07:00

Happy 2011 everyone!! Sorry I took a few days off to spend with my family and let me tell you it was nice.... But the kids are back in school today (YEAH) and the hubs has the day off... Maybe I should get back into the swing of things....

Traci from Beneath my Heart is having an Organization linky party for the month and I think I might try to jump on board... Now she has goals for each week and I think that will help me keep motivated with the organization... They are not too hard or too big of projects but, ones that we all need to do and just put off way too often... Well, at least for me....

So head on over and visit Traci (you wont be sorry) take a look around at her most beautiful house. She is amazing.... Love her blog!! I BIG Hearts it!!

I hope you all join in the fun for the month.... Until next time... Have a great one!! :O)

Favorite Room Re-do!

2010-12-30T11:55:00.007-07:00

The Lettered Cottage is having a favorite Room Re-do party today and I thought I should join in.. Mine so far this year... The master bedroom... I know it is not quite finished yet but, the transformation thus far is wonderful and I am in L.O.V.E. with it...

Here is the before.. I know, sorry it is a bad picture... Could not find the one I wanted so this will have to do.. This was right before we moved to Michigan in Dec 2008.
Next is when we moved back to Utah in June 2010.

And here it is today...

It really is turning out wonderful... Just takes some time and lots of $$$. But I am working on that... Trying to do it on a super small budget... So far so good...

Hope you enjoyed this little re-do... I know we are... Have a great New Years and be safe!!

Top 10 of 2010

2010-12-29T13:47:00.017-07:00

I thought I would join in over at Rhoda's from Southern Hospitality for her Top Projects of 2010 party... So here are mine... (remember that I changed the name to my blog from Bluefamilyscene to {Living in Blue} ).

This is one of my most favorite... My cloche... it just happened to be the inspiration for Allison at House of Hepworth's which in turn inspired so many other lovey ladies to make their own...

Christmas because I just loved the table scape I did this year... I am really getting into them..

This wreath hanger was a copy I did from Shanty2chic...

The tag blanket was so much fun to make...

Love my Pottery Barn inspired candle display...

And who did not like my repurposed baby food jar apothecary jars? Again, inspired by Shanty2chic...

Granite counter tops... Need I say more?

And Brazilian Cherry hard wood floors... IN LOVE!!! :O)

Simple but makes a statement.. Our giant framed {B}...

Another simple repurposed item... The tray that holds my necessities next to my stove...

This is a 2 for 1... Our farmhouse bed and painted walls in the master bedroom...

Okay, that is more like 11 or 12 of my favorites... But who is counting? :O)

That's all folks... I am looking forward to the projects that 2011 bring our way... Hope you all have a great week and end of the year...

How do you weather a storm?

2010-12-28T15:01:00.008-07:00

Remember me telling you about the kids having a snow day last week on their last day of school before Christmas break? Well, I thought I would share some more pics from that day..

This is the hubs car sitting at the end of our driveway to show you how high the snow really got. It took me almost 3 hours to shovel just that part where his car is at.. You see the wonderful city will NOT let you shovel snow into the road but THEY have no problem plowing it into YOUR driveway. It was packed and super heavy!!! I did happen to take some pics of the kids playing in the snow... This is my favorite one...

Isn't she just the cutest?

They made this snowman... Then my daughter sat on top for quite some time... Sorry no pic I was shoveling...But then later I caught a glimpse of my eight year old doing the same thing... He had just fallen off when I got my camera.. It was a funny sight.... sorry you all missed it...

Then remember me telling you all about the pillow fight that led to my 3 year old in a sling... Well, we went to Primary Children's Hospital on Wednesday the 22ND and found out he does not need surgery right now... Just a cast... YEAH!! We just need to keep an eye on him after the cast comes off as to make sure he does not injure it again which will lead to surgery...

The hubs wanted a red cast for the Utes... He only does that because he likes to rub it in to the BYU fans at work... I had to explain to him that the cast was not going on HIS body so HE does NOT get to pick the color... The person getting the cast gets to pick... The hubs did say he gets to veto if pink or purple are chosen... Good thing the 3 year old picked green... It matches Buzz lightyear... which is his fav!!!

I did not have a chance to show you all the kids stockings... I made them last year...

This year I made the sign for them to hang on and I added some monogram bling.

I love how they sparkle.. They have different size gems on them.. I got them at Hobby Lobby. They were pretty cheap...

Here is the train table that the 3 year old got from Santa... It took only 8 screws and 5 minutes to put together.. The train track took much longer to put together...

Now this is the kitchen that my daughter got from Santa. It took 2 1/2 hours to put together.. We thought about making one but could not think of how to get it done with out her seeing it... So I was searching the Internet and came across this one at a super deal.. So, I bought it....

Here is the tree after Santa came to visit... I know it does not look like much but they got what they all wanted and they were happy...

Santa even liked the cookies the kids made....

This is after the presents we unwrapped and mom and dad were insignificant at that point...

They sure did leave a mess... But had lots of fun... :O)

I think they noticed me taking pictures... Well at least the younger two did...

Ahhh, the mess is almost picked up... and the 3 year old is still having fun...

Notice anything in this next picture?

No? Well, check out said 3 year old's underpants... They are on backwards... He was in a hurry when he had to go potty.. You know that train needed to be played with... :O)

As always have a great week... :O) Be safe!! And enjoy all the after Christmas Sale shopping...

Happy Holidays!!

2010-12-25T08:34:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! May the Lord bless each and everyone of you and your families.. Be safe this Holiday season...

And eat lots!! Have a great one!! :O)

It's a what?

2010-12-21T08:36:00.003-07:00

Well, woke up this morning and started to get the kids ready for school... Started to pack their lunches and the phone rang... Who is calling at 7:30 am? The hubs.... Guess what? School has been canceled... What? But, it is the last day of school for 2010!!! They have to go!! I NEED them to go!!! I have things to do that require them to be GONE!!! Oh well!! So I looked out side and this is what I saw... ARE WE BACK IN MICHIGAN? That is my walnut tree!!!

Crazy!!! But, oh so beautiful!!

Now the trash cans were not covered last night... Look how high that snow got... It is at least 12 inches maybe more..

Here is my driveway which was shoveled last night... Can you see that round thing with all the snow on it? I know dumb question... That is my wine barrel flower pot... It is like about 24 inches high... Now we did pile snow by it and now it is barely visible...

Here is the street... You can see my mail box... See how high the snow is on it?

This is my lilac bush.. It stands about 6 foot tall.. CRAZY!!

Hope everyone has a great winter vacation... Looks like I will be watching as the boys shovel ALL DAY LONG!!! LOL

Did I mention they left the shovels on the lawn last night and when the hubs left for work at 4 am this morning and saw the snow and found NO shovels he was not to pleased... He drives a sports car and had to shovel with his hands... He even got stuck a couple of times while backing out.... So, the boys found the shovels FINALLY and are shoveling the driveway... Wish them luck... They need it!! LOL

Oh fudge...and last minute projects!

2010-12-20T16:04:00.003-07:00

I thought that would caught your attention... :O) I finally finished my ornament wreath and am loving it... I got the ornaments at Walmart. They were a package of 4 for only $1. The colors match my new tree perfectly... :O)

I had the ribbon left over from my PB knock off here.

It has wire in it so it was super easy to get it just right. Love that!!

Look how shiny!! I have been wanting to make one of these since I saw them last year...

Now I do... :O)

Next are the teacher gifts I did this year for my kids teachers...

I got the $1 candles at Walmart and just cut some scrapbook paper to size and wrapped it around and secured it with some tape. Then I printed off the tags and cut them and attached them to the front of the candles... SUPER easy and inexpensive... Got to love that....

Now, how about the fudge....

Me, well not so much of a fudge fan but the hubbs is... Well, that is before I came across my aunts recipe... I love this fudge!! It is so creamy and easy to make. Double score in my book!!

Just needed to show you all how yummy it all looks! :O)

Now for the recipe!

Million $ Fudge

4 1/2 cups sugar

1 can evap. milk

1/2 cup butter

Bring to a boil and cook for about 7 minutes.

Remove from the heat and add 1 tsp vanilla and stir.

In your KitchenAid (which I recommend for this recipe) brake up into pieces the following.

2 jumbo Hershey bars

2 packages chocolate chips

1 pint marshmallow creme

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Pour hot mixture over all and beat until gloss is gone ( the dough hook works best.)

You are going to fall in love with how easy and creamy this is....

Enjoy and have a wonderful Christmas time!!! :O)

Better late than never!

2010-12-18T13:51:00.004-07:00

So I have had all these plans for different posts to do the last few weeks... Well, the best laid plans do not always turn out like we want them too.... I still have been having LOTS of headaches from having my wisdom teeth out... It has now been 2 weeks since they were taken out and still having the headaches... Will it ever end? Then the other night I decided to head out to Walmart to buy a much needed fabric marker. I thought since the kids were at home with there dad I would take the time to just walk around and not have to talk to anyone or hear anything...... Then came the phone call.... Now I was only gone 30 minutes... So what happened you ask? My 8 yr old was having a pillow fight with the 3 yr old in the family room and this is the results of said pillow fight.... Yes, that is my 3 yr old with a broken elbow!!! I spent all day yesterday between the Dr. office, the hospital, and the Ortho surgeon. NOT FUN!!!

He is in really good spirits about it though. Just look at that smile... :O)

He thinks the sling is pretty cool... And is loving all the attention... He had a huge milestone this week also... He is potty trained... YEAH!!! He even taught himself to go #2 in the toilet... YEAH!!! With his broken elbow in the splint! What a smart little boy!! :O) My goal of no daily diaper changes for 2011 is DONE!!!!!

Now we just have to take him to Primary Children's Hospital on Wednesday to see if he needs to have surgery or just a cast... Please, let it be just a cast!!!

So, I was showing you a tour of our house for the holiday's and since Christmas is just, well, next Saturday I thought I better finish it up.. Here is the china cabinet in the living room.

I so want to paint it white!!! Think that will have to wait til spring though.. I did not get into too much decorating this year... Just did not feel good enough to do it.. Well, there is always next year... :O)

This is the start of my mercury glass collection... I got the hurricane at Fred Meyer in Idaho over Thanksgiving... 50% off!! The trees I got at Bed Bath and Beyond, for the hubbs birthday.. What am I not supposed to buy for myself on someone else's birthday? News to me!! :O)

The little votive's I got at Target for .99 cents... I also have bought some mercury glass ornaments but have not put those up yet.. Might just have to wait and do them next year..

I just love mercury glass... It is so aged, shiny, and makes me all happy inside.. :O)

This is one little nativity that I put out this year.. It is sitting on the little table that sits next to my front door.. I got that table in Michigan for $8 at the Goodwill. I need to paint it also.. White is starting to be my theme for the living room furniture.

I did happen to put a small tree up in the family room and let the kids decorate it.. Even the cat got in on the action....

Sorry, I have no pics of the tree. Forgot to take vertical pics!! oops!!

I decided to change my tree in the living room this year. We bought a slim tree and all new decoration. This is the top of the tree.. GORGEOUS if you ask me!!

Here is the whole tree... I love the colors and best thing is that all the ornaments are shatter proof.... Except the sign... that is ceramic...

I got everything from Sam's club.. They had some great Christmas decor this year....

Please ignore the no curtains hanging... I have the fabric but just have not had the chance to make them yet.. I hope to be getting to them very soon... So stay tuned...

So, please have a safe and wonderful Holiday Season!!!

Merry Christmas!! :O)

Christmas tour day 2!

2010-12-10T09:43:00.004-07:00

Well, here is day two of the tour... I know I said I would post this the other day but well, life just gets in the way... Like having your wisdom teeth out... OUCH!! Yes, that would be me!! Not something I really wanted to do at my age (I am only in my thirties so I am still VERY young!). Still it had to be done since one came in and it started to lock my jaw every now and then... Not fun!! Anyhow, Lets get back to the tour... Today we will be visiting my dining area... I think it just might be one of my favorites this year... :O)

So on with the tour..... Here it is all finished and purty!!! :O)

I am trying to have the blue on the frame blend in with every holiday.. I hope it works.. I like it..

Christmas bulbs= Walmart $1/package of 4, ribbon= FREE from my stash... I like it... :O)

Here is the table scape up close and personal.... I added the silver glitter to the mat... I wanted it to transition into the silver and faux mercury glass candle sticks.

I panted the candle sticks silver and also did the faux mercury glass ones with some candle sticks I got back in the day (aka my wedding)... I think they turned out nice...

The subway art I got from a blog that the name is escaping me right now... But she is fab and is always making free downloads for her subway art for each of the holidays... When I can remember her blog name I will let you know so you too could enjoy the fruits of her labor... :O)

Again, here it is almost done but needed a little something... But what could it be?

AAH, more bling!! I added the Merry Christmas ornament to the greenery in the pitcher.. That does it!! :O) Me likey!!

I sprayed painted the pitcher white (it used to be yellow) and added the greenery and berries which is from Hobby Lobby and was 50 % off thank you very much!! And the table runner is the one I used for Autumn that had leaves stenciled on it.. I just turned it over to the solid side... CLEAVER if I do say so myself....

I love how it all works together....

I hope you are enjoying the Christmas tour thus far... Make sure you come back to see the rest of the tour....

Until then ladies... Have a great one!! :O)

A Christmas Welcome!

2010-12-07T15:52:00.002-07:00

I finally have gotten on the band wagon and started to put up my Christmas decorations... YEAH ME!! We shall start out side for our Christmas tour.... The hubs bought these matching potted/lighted trees for me last year at a FAB store in Illinois.. It is called Old time Pottery... Love that store... Super cute stuff and super cheap... (Ignore the vinyl screen door... Our renters somehow ripped it... Maybe I can replace it next year..)

Oops!! I forgot to turn this picture... So sorry... Just thought you would like a close up of the tree... They are real pretty when it is dark and the lights are on.. Too bad I can not find the adaptor for the light hanging by the top of the front door. Guess I will have to go buy a new one... Oh the pains of moving and having others pack your things up.... You can never find what your looking for when you need it.... When I get the adaptor I will take some pics and show you all how pretty they really are...

I love the urn they came in... :O)

Here is my door. The welcome vinyl I put on the door about 3 years ago.. The white berry wreath has been hanging on that door since we bought the house 6 years ago... It was a DI find from like 8 years ago that I paid only $.50 for... :O) I think I have gotten my moneys' worth out of it....

This year I added some red ribbon and a rusty tin star also from the DI...

Simple, but I love how they look together...

Well, I am off to finish the tree.... Come back for the next part of the tour tomorrow... Until then ladies.... Have a great week....

Little changes to the blog...

2010-12-01T11:55:00.002-07:00

If you have not noticed yet... I changed the tile of my blog to... {Living in Blue}... I think this is a much catchier (is that even a word?) title.. You still need to use the Bluefamilyscene URL when linking to my blog but other wise here's to the new title... :O)

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are prepping for Christmas... I know I am... I have lots to show you when I get the chance... :O)

Until next time... Have a great one!! :O)

A little touch of Fall...

2010-11-09T14:05:00.003-07:00

So it is almost Thanksgiving.... I can hardly believe it.... I have been going through more boxes. Trying to finally unpack and move back in... So it has only taken me like 5 months... What's the big deal, right? Slow and steady wins the race... I have been trying to tackle as many projects as possible before all the FOUR LETTER WORD hits.... You know...snow... SHHHHH! Don' say it out load... So as I was saying... I have been going through some boxes and came across some fun autumn things that I wanted to display....

The table runner I got at Kohl's for like $8-10. I love it... The hurricane I got at Walmart like forever ago... Try 4 years... It was actually and amber color... It was dusty and as I was washing it off and the color started to come off... FINE.BY.ME. I wanted it to be clear anyways...

I made the stacking blocks last year for a craft fair I was in back in Michigan... which just so happens to be this weekend...... I love the colors of them... So warm.. Makes me want to wrap up in a warm sweater and go jump into a leaf pile... LOL Anyways, I got the pumpkins at Robert's Crafts (with a coupon of course)... They were orange but I just took off the stems and spray painted them Rustolium Heirloom White and put the stems back on... I think they are adorable...

I hope everyone is having a wonderful autumn... Enjoy it before the you know what comes... Until next time... :O)

Master Bedroom touches...

2010-11-07T10:06:00.005-07:00

So I finished the painting of our bedroom a few weeks ago (well, actually a month ago...But who is counting?) I ordered two new quilts for the bed at Overstock.com at amazing prizes... I love that site... They arrived and I love them. I also have been collecting items from garage sales, DI, and Savers... Take a look.... The berry wreath I got a garage sale for .50 cents... The stand was $1 at DI...

This dish was the priciest.... I got it at Savers for $6. I loved it and thought it would work great to hold some of my jewelry that I wear everyday... I love the details in it and the sparkle of the jewels.....

They look nice sitting on my dresser..

Now I just need to put a mirror over my dresser... I have one but it needs some attending to before I can hang it... Sorry, you will just have to wait a bit more on that one....

See that wall really needs something.... It's going to be great when I get it done... :O)

I finished the bed skirt that my bestie was helping me with... I love the material...

It has the blue/grey from the wall color and the touch of red that I needed... Can you see my new quilt?

Here is a view of the foot board for our bed... I painted the bed white... I LOVE IT!!!

I know the pillows need some work... I will be getting to that soon I hope... Priorities, priorities.... But doesn't the headboard look great with the wall?

This red quilt my mother made for me and I knew I wanted it in this room... It gives just the pop of color I wanted in here... I am really loving how the room is coming together... I feel so at peace when I enter my bedroom now...

Stay tuned in for some more projects I have been working on... And a super find I got a few days ago.... LOVE IT!!! Until then, have a great week...

My how time flies!!!

2010-11-06T17:32:00.005-06:00

It seems like just yesterday this precious little girl was turning 1... She is the sweetest thing... Always a smile on her face... Even with frosting all over it... I think this is when she decided she likes frosting more than the cake... This is her first Birthday...

And now... She turned 5!!!

She loves to dress up... Loves her hair to be curly, but not to sit and wait for me to put the curlers in.... :O(

She is so much fun... One of her favorites is to sing ALL. DAY. LONG. She even makes up her own words to songs... We are thinking of getting her into singing lessons... We shall see...

Happy Birthday my sweet baby girl!!

We had a little party with just our little family and she picked cheese cake for her birthday cake...

AHHH... Progress...

We had a Princess party for her a week later with her little friends... What fun they had... Everyone was to dress up as a princess...

I baked mini bundt cakes and let the girls decorate their own. They loved that!

They even got their nails painted...

If you look closely you can see my two boys (12 yrs and 8 yrs old)hands... They too got in on the action of nail painting.. I only let them have 2 fingers painted... Did I mention that we put glitter polish on all the girls/boys nail after the colored polish?

What a fun memory... Baby girl you are so worth it... I love you!! Happy Birthday!!

P.S. Her Birthday was actually in October but the hubs took my camera and switched out my
SD disk and put a new one in... I can not for the life of me get any of the pictures on that SD disk to import... AHHH!!! So I had to go looking for my old SD disk and these were some of the pictures that were on it... And lots more of some projects that I have been working on... Until next time... :O)

You know your a mom when...

2010-10-12T14:52:00.002-06:00

Your sweet 5 year old comes and sits on your lap because she is not feeling well.. So you just love on her and hold her tight... Then it happens.....

She vomits all over you and all you can do is hold her tighter and start to run to the bathroom praying that none of it gets on your NEW hard wood floors....

I know priorities right? Well it worked... Floors saved, me not so much...

We showered and dressed and headed to the store for some 7up.. Me holding the 3 year old and the 5 year old holding a plastic bag close to her face just in case...

Tragedy was avoided! YEAH ME!!

BUT...

The school called.... the 8 year old is not doing to hot...

So off I went to get him... He was sitting and bent over a trash can...

Me, I had an ice cream bucket this time... Man, they come in handy...

I sure hope tomorrow is better..

Hope your day has been better than mine... Have a great week.....

Chatting with my bestie + ReStore = ?

2010-10-07T10:35:00.007-06:00

What happens when you visit the Habitat for Humanity ReStore? Well, in my case you end up with this.... A five gallon bucket of paint.... In the perfect color ( I wanted a blue/grey) that you and your bestie were just talking about in the car on the way to the ReStore.... But, check out the price...

Your eyes are not deceiving you it does say $20... YEAH!!! And it was....

Practically full..... SCORE!! Just saved me like $100... Lovin it!!! Doin my little happy dance now..... :O)

So what does it lead to.... A whole master bed room make over.... :O) And, no it does not take 5 gallons to paint my bedroom.. I have plans for the left over paint.... :O)

So the paint went up and I am lovin it even more... I knew I wanted to do something unexpected in this room but what? I saw a post on the Jones Design Company blog that I just loved about painted wallpaper... So I had to do it..

I down loaded the same pattern she used and went to town... It does take quite a while to trace but the out come it worth it...

I know it is hard to see the pattern on the wall but trust me it is there...

Next, came the painting over the pattern... This went pretty fast...

If you notice in the bottom left corner I still have a very small section to do still... Will be getting to that as soon as I get this post finished... :O) I decided I only wanted to do one wall... The focal wall...

Here is the quarterfoil pattern up close... Don't judge if it is not perfect... I am liking it...

Remember the post I did about our new farmhouse bed? Check it out here if you do not remember... Well, I got the primer on and left it like that since we were moving... So now as soon as the weather cooperates I will be finishing up the paint on it and placing it against my new favorite wall... :O)

My bestie is helping make my NEW bed skirt.. I can hardly wait for this room to be done... So fun.. I have always seemed to leave my bedroom for last.. Why do I do that? Well not anymore... It will be the first one totally completed since moving back... YEAH ME!!! :O)

So stay tuned for the revealing of my New and Improved master bedroom (even though it is the same size as the others... Shhhhh don't tell anyone that...)

As always have a great rest of the week and a super weekend... As for me and my house... We have my oldest son's last football game and a Birthday party for my daughter.... She turned 5... Where has the time gone?

P.S. linking to my favorite parties listed on my sidebar.. Check them out... We have some very talented ladies out there....

Gotta love case lot sales....

2010-09-28T20:38:00.006-06:00

So while we were living in Michigan there were no case lot sales... Bummer! But there was a store called Aldi's that basically had case lot sales all year round.. So that helped with our food storage.. However, when we moved back to Utah (this last June ) we had to use up a lot of our storage to condense it down for the movers... So now we are back in Utah and the case lot sales are in full swing... I stopped by Macey's today to pick up a few things and they were getting ready for their case lot sale that starts tomorrow (Sept 29th). They let me buy everything at the case lot price.. Yeah me!! So here is what I got....
Now where am I going to put it all? I was thinking the pantry in the kitchen, but.....

Yeah, does it look like I can fit any more in there? I so need to organize it... I at least know where everything is.. Not the hubs though.... When he can not find something at 3:30 IN THE MORNING he makes sure to bang everything he touches in order for me to wake up and show him... HMMM.... Organization of this pantry is in my very near future... I feel it coming... Just check out what I have to deal with...

Okay, so we do have a small cold storage in the basement under our front porch.. Did I mention it is SMALL?

So here is one of the problems with it... There are only shelves on one side of it.. See this open space? I asked the hubs to help me make some shelves to put there so we can utilize the space..

This is all of the floor space in there... I went to A Fresh Market and bought 50 boxes of cereal last week. They had a great sale on Life cereal.. My kids favorite of all time... so I stocked up and put them in the see through storage totes..

Here are the only shelves in the cold storage. They are packed with you guessed it... Apricot jam that I canned last month before leaving for Texas.. And other goodness that I canned (and my mom)last year and some this year... Like the tomatoes the hubs bought at the scout auction and I had NO TIME to can but had to do it anyways... Like at 8:30 P.M. , boy was that a fun night..

You can see some of the tomatoes on the right side of the picture. They did turn out nice.. We even had as little left over that would not have been enough for another batch so we got them all ready for homemade creamy tomato soup.. It is the 4B's recipe.. Talk about YUMM-O!!!

Now back to where to put all that case lot stuff... I do have a storage tote for pasta that was only half full so in went the mac-n-cheese... Can I get anymore in there?

Nope that looks pretty full to me... At least the lid stays on tight... LOL

So until the shelves get made this is how the cold storage will have to look... Not too bad... It is kind of organized..

Thanks for reading and letting me banter on... As always, have a wonderful week.... :O)

Decorating tidbits

2010-09-23T11:31:00.004-06:00

Alright, I am getting back into the swing of things... YEAH!!! I thought you would like to see some little decorating tidbits that I have done this week... Super easy and not much $$ to boot.... My kind of decorating... AND I love the results...
This is the gorgeous frame/super nasty picture I got at DI for $15... It is HUGE!!! I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it.... First, I took out the picture and painted the frame then brushed on some Ralph Lauren smokey glaze... LOVE IT!!! I also had a large gold "B" that I got for $2 at Hobby Lobby several months ago (like when I was living in Michigan) and painted it black... I found the perfect spot for both...

I like the simplicity of it.. But it still makes a BIG statement...

Got to love the frame... OH the details......... :O)

Is it not just perfect for that wall? Now if only it would get colder out so I could take down the a/c unit from the window.... I am thinking central air next year.... Hey, a girl can dream... LOL I have finally gotten my fabric for my curtains/mistreatments (which is what they will turn out to be) that I ordered back in JULY!!! It only took them 2 months to send... If you do not remember what the material looks like check here. I will be hanging the mistreatments in the dinning room, kitchen, and living room... In my head it all looks great... We will find out if my head is full of cob webs... But still, I like the way the wall looks now... And you?

Ignore that fan hanging... I am trying to encourage the hubs to let me get a chandalier.. We will see if it works? Keep your fingers crossed... Here is another little cheapo tidbit... I got this tray at DI for $1... It was brown and ugly... Sorry I forgot to take the before pics..... :O( I removed all the hardware and little medallion on the front then spray painted it white... Then put everything back after it was dry... I think it looks good holding all the necessities next to the stove....

I did put some felt sticky pads to the bottom as to not scratch my granite counter tops....

Still thinking about painting that red flower pot... Yes, that is right it IS a flower pot I got at Joann's like 6 years ago... I am just not sure yet... I know that turquoise and red go together but I do not know if I want them together... Understand?

Doesn't it look so nice sitting there?

I even like the grape medallion...

Well ladies.... Hope your week is going wonderfully!! I will be linking to the Thursday parties listed on my side bar... Feel free to go and visit any of them... You will not regret it a bit... Just click on the button and off you go..... :O)

Review and updates...

2010-09-22T10:33:00.008-06:00

Alright ladies, I know it has been a month since my last post... Honestly I have not forgotten you all.. Just had a very busy month and had to put blogging on the back burner for awhile... I am so sorry.... I sure have missed you all.... I found my pictures from before I left for Texas... Here is my pretty apricot jam... It is soooo Yummy!!!
While I was making all of this the day before we left for Texas....

The hubs and our oldest were bringing in the wood floor.... YEAH!!

Such hard workers they are.... Thanks boys!!! :O)

So the hubs started working on the putting in the wood floor after I gave him my little motivation speech... See here for said speech...

He worked for a whole week putting it in... Did I mention that we got enough for our ENTIRE main floor of our house? Yeah, that is like 1000 square feet...

It was a very looooong week.... But well worth it!!! Just take a look for yourself...

This is my daughters room... She wanted to be in the picture but did not want to show her face... That's a first.... LOL

Isn't it purdy? I just love it... We still have to put up the new base boards and hang the doors back up.. But the floor is DONE!!!!!

On the last day of laying the floors I had Wes from Artistic Marble and Granite come in to install my new GRANITE counter tops.... Yeah you heard me... GRANITE!!!

He is such a great guy and does awesome work... I am in love with my new granite counter tops... I keep petting them every time I walk past them... LOL

I got the Ubber Tubber... Love that name... It looks black but has specks of green and gold in it along with the black... It is Gorgeous!!! Oh, and I got a new under mounted sink... Now that is pure joy!! :O)

I will be posting more of this little remodel tomorrow.... Just some touches I have done... Still lots more to go... Until then ladies... Have a great week!! :O)

P.S. I will be linking to the Wednesday parties. Check out my side bar under the parties for some great blogs.... :O)

Motivation anyone?

2010-08-19T15:45:00.006-06:00

Yeah, I am starting to get motivated to get things done on my house... I mean it's not like I have a bunch of family coming from all over the country to my house for a baptism and Priesthood ordination next month... LOL

Well, actually I do... EEK!!!

I have "encouraged"(I like that word) the hubs to get the wood floor done by labor day "OR ELSE" I will be paying lots of $$$ to get it done by the 7th of September... What a motivator I am... Works every time.... :O)

I also had my granite guy come today and make the template for my counter tops.... I can hardly wait for them to get in... I am bouncing off the walls.. Told the hubs that the granite guy came today and I think he really knew I was serious about the floor... Let's get her done!!!

As always, have a great week!

Issues?

2010-08-17T10:58:00.004-06:00

Okay, so I am having a lot of issues this week... Well, the last couple of weeks really... My new Brazilian Cherry wood floor is still not down, my fabric for my curtains I ordered over a month ago still has not arrived, and to top it all off..... I can not find my pictures I downloaded on this lap top......... I had some great pics showing what all I have been up too... Like I made 9 batches of apricot jam the day before we left for Texas... Is that crazy or what... They were free apricots so I had to do it....

So I have decided I need my PC up and running (It is still packed) so that I can download pictures and be able to find them.... I even had pictures of the Brazilian cherry wood floor for you to see but those are lost too..

I have some great projects in the works.. Hopefully I will be able to figure out where my pictures went and how to get the new ones up for you all to see.. I will give you a hint... Organization is in the mix of things to come!!

As always, I hope you all are having a great week. Enjoy this last little bit of summer... My daughter starts Preschool tomorrow and the boys start school next week... Where did the summer go? Need to go get me some hugs and kisses while I can.. Later!! :O)

Progress anyone?

2010-07-21T11:17:00.005-06:00

Well, since we have been waiting on our flooring to arrive... Which I just got a call on.. It should be here tomorrow.. FINALLY!!! I have been painting up a storm.. I am trying for a light and airy feel. The color I chose is called Seaside sand. It is a real creamy yellow. I know it looks white but it is not. Here are some before and afters for your viewing pleasure...
The hallway before... And after... So much lighter.. Love it!! I have some fun ideas for decorations in there.. :O)

The kitchen before...

And after... We are planning on putting up some board and batten but that will have to wait for a little while..

I still have to paint behind the fridge and stove.. That will hopefully be getting done this weekend..

The living room before...

And after...

Note to self... If your husband and son decide to help with the painting make sure they know to peel off the vinyl on the walls first.. It comes off so much easier than if it has been painted over.

Thanks for sticking around with me during all this remodeling... As always have a great Wednesday!! Linking this post to any and all parties for Wednesday.. Just check out my side bar under LINK PARTIES WEDNESDAY! Bye! :O)

While I go walking...

2010-07-19T14:08:00.004-06:00

I have to stop at all the yard sales... I found some great stuff this weekend.. I can hardly wait to utilize them in my decor... I got the spindles for a $1 each and the skinny ones for $.50 each. The basket was $2 and the white basket was FREE.. Gotta love that!

The mason jars (with the old lids/seals) were $1 each. Been looking for some since I saw Lindsey over at The Pleated Poppy use them in her master bath as soap dispensers.. So clever! Sorry, I do not remember what I paid for the rest.

Now, this coffee table was my shining moment for the weekend. See I go walking every night with some friends and this past Thursday night we happened to walk by a house that was getting everything ready for a yard sale the next day. Now it was like 9:30 at night and getting dark so I had to take a quick look around and saw this beauty and asked how much... $8 was all she was asking.. "I'll take it.. Can you hold it for me until 9 am Friday?" "Sure thing." So the next morning I went and picked it up.. I have some major plans for it.. YES, painting it is on the agenda. Can you guess what color?

Have a great week. I will be linking this post to Rhoda's Thrifty Treasures party over at Southern Hospitality so go on over and have a look around. Later lovelies!! :O)

P.S. I will also be linking to Coastal Charm for her Nifty Thrifty Tuesday.

Don't step on the floors!

2010-07-17T21:12:00.005-06:00

Okay, so it has been a while since my last post... Geesh, where has the time gone? It is the middle of July... What's with that? I remember the summers being so long. Now they seem to just fly right by. Oh to be young again..

On another note... Our wood floors were SUPPOSED to arrive last Friday but they had not even left the east coast.. They finally were to leave this last Tuesday or Wednesday.. I was promised that we will have them by July 23rd. That is 2 WEEKS late.. Ugh!!! We had everything ready and set to get the floors laid this weekend.. Now, we will not be able to get them done until the middle of August as we have a baby blessing to be to in Texas. Problems problems problems... That is what my life seems to be right now...

On a happier note... I did order my fabric for my curtains.... I am so excited... I had to wait until I received some 50% off coupons from my mom. I went to Joann Fabric and found just what I wanted and went to order it and pay... Gave them my 50% coupon all happily and she handed it right back to me and said it was already on sale for 50% off..... SCORE!!!!!!! That made for a happy day yesterday.. :O) Want to see it? Okay, here you go...

So what do you think? I am in love with it... I can hardly wait for this project to get done... My head is just swooning with ideas... I also went to some garage sales this weekend... Found some great things... But I will leave those for my next post... Until then my lovelies (did I even spell that right? Oh well.... :O)!!! Have a great one!! :O)

Comforts of home!

2010-07-05T13:33:00.003-06:00

It is always so much nicer to sleep in your own bed.... Right? My little ones think it is even better to watch TV in my bed. I can not blame them.. It is not like I have had the time to unpack their toys yet... Here is how the house has been looking lately... Boxes everywhere...

I did manage to get my new Stainless steel appliances though!! LOVE them!!! :O)

We had to reconfigure the top cabinets because the fridge is larger than the one we used before. But I don't mind.. In fact, I like it much better this way..

We did have to order a new base cabinet since the old one is a tad too big.. See we put new cabinets in 6 years ago. Natural Hickory.... I LOVE THEM!!!! The company is still in business and still makes the same cabinets so score!!

I have been painting. Good bye green.... So far the kitchen, hallway, and living room are almost done. We had to pull the carpet up in all the rooms and are expecting our REAL wood flooring to be delivered on Friday... So I better get the painting done... Have a great one!! :O)

Scene of the BIG secret!

2010-06-28T09:39:00.003-06:00

So this was how the house we were renting in Michigan looked two weeks ago... The hubs' company moved us back to Utah so we did not have to pack a thing.... We had people for that... I feel so special... They have done it for us twice now.... :O) I have not determined if it is less stressful though. I can not find anything now.... :o(

This was day ONE of the packing...

They had my ENTIRE house packed in ONE day!!!

So here is day TWO.... Everything was put on this huge moving truck...... In one day.... If you are not counting that is only a TWO DAY moving job!!!

Whew!!! I worked so hard.... I had to buy lunch for everyone for both days... I know it was rough but someone had to do it... :O)

My littlest one loved being out side with the big truck... He kept trying to ride his little bike up the ramp.... He was so funny....

Isn't he just the cutest? So sweet.....

Next up, moving in..... To Be Continued......

Secrets out!!!

2010-06-25T11:49:00.003-06:00

Okay, I can finally tell all of you the secret the hubs has made me keep. Drum roll please........

WE MOVED BACK TO UTAH!!!!

The secret was so we could surprise one very special person.... My bestie Marilee!!! She rocks... We drove to her house first thing and I knocked on the door and her son answered. I whispered to him to get his mom... He made her come after much force... She opened the door saying come in then started screaming.... stopped long enough to yell my name then started screaming again....with a huge hug!!! It was so awesome!!!!!!!! Well worth keeping the secret!!!!!

We are happy to be back. But will miss our new friends we made in Michigan...

Now comes the fun/work time.... We came home finding that our renters had a dog in our house and let it pee all over our new carpet.... So we had to tear out the carpet and get it out before the movers came to deliver our belongings.... So lots of work... But that is okay... I have so many ideas/plans in the works... Moral to the story... Even when it is written in the lease that the renters can NOT have pets in your house they do not always abide by it.... BUT, now I am getting wood floors..... Yeah!!! That makes me happy.... I have been taking pictures so will be posting more and showing you before/after shots of my house.... So exciting.... Until next time.... Sorry this is so short... We just got the internet hooked up and hour ago.... So you see my priorities... Its you my little chic-a-dees.... :O)

Where's all the posts been?

2010-06-08T17:06:00.003-06:00

So sorry for not posting this last week and not posting very interesting things the last couple weeks... Things have been real busy here. You know its life!! So I am truly sorry for not posting much at all!! Thought I should let you all know I will be without the Internet for awhile. As soon as it is back up and running I will be posting lots more and they will be so much fun.... Yipee!! :O) Major projects in my mind for the summer... :O)

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer with the kids home... Mine still have until Friday before the summer fun can begin... Seems like they are in school forever here.....

Any hoo, have a great week/weekend and I will be back in full force in a short few!!! :O)

Last weeks endeavors

2010-06-01T13:35:00.003-06:00

So sorry if have not posted in a while. I have been working on a few things.. Mainly dejunkifying my house.. I feel the need to purge everything.. Especially ALL the toys that the kids have accumulated over the years.. I have made 2 trips to the Goodwill and another one scheduled for this week... Progress!!! :O) I thought I would show you all what happens in our back yard EVERYDAY!!! Yeah, that's right... It is where all the deer come and bed for the night which does not help when you want to plant a garden... It just so happens this one came early (about 4 in the afternoon). she stayed there for quite a while until My oldest decided to slam the screen door.

On Friday evening the hubs and the boys headed out with a friend on his boat and see what they could catch on Lake Michigan.. Well, the score was 500 to the fish and only 3 to the humans. My husband does not have the best record with motion sickness... He is the one that fed the fish... Like 4 times at least... My boys were the ones that caught the fish...

Here they are Saturday morning (they did not get home til like 12:30 in the morning so cleaning the fish had to wait). The boys were so proud. Can you guess what we ate on Sunday?

That's right.... We ate fish... It is salmon so that made it alright... Which leads me to what I did today... We have 2 cousins getting married.. Well one got married this last week but, anyhoo... I started their wedding presents today...

What do you think? They are cookie jars with their name etched on with the est. year.... I hope they like them.. I sure do..

Sorry the pictures are not very good. But, you get the idea... I just cut some crap vinyl with my cricut and placed the negative side to the jar then applied the etching cream.. Waited 5 minutes and washed it off and pulled the vinyl off and there you have it... So easy!!

Hope you all had an enjoyable Memorial weekend. My nephew was able to come home from Afghanistan for some much needed R&R. We were not able to be there with him this weekend but our thoughts and prayers and tears are with him... He is by buddy! And I love him so very much!! Thanks Zach for serving our country and risking your life for us.... We love you!! :O)

I got an Award!

2010-05-23T14:03:00.003-06:00

How awesome is that!!! I am like bouncing off the walls right now!! I am so flattered!! Thank you!! Jessica from Me and My Bucket awarded me this beauty!! Thank you thank you thank you Jessica!!! You all seriously need to go over and visit her.. She is so stinkin cute... Some day I hope to meet her (in person). She has great ideas and the cutest baby boy with " pinch me, kiss me cheeks"!! Gotta love it!!

Anyhoo, So with this award I need to tell you all 10 things about me that make me happy... Huuuummmm (wiggling fingers in front of me).

So here goes:

10 Things that make me Happy........

1. Anything Twilight... Yes, I am a Twihard!! I admit it.. The hubs thinks I am crazy but that is okay. Go Team Edward.... :O) (Have you heard R Pats sing? I likey!! ) I read all 4 books in like 2 weeks.. I even reread the last few chapters of the 4th book twice... Yes, obsessed is my middle name!! :O)

2. I love to sing. I might not be good at it but singing just makes me happy!

3. I am a huge Reality TV freak! Right now I am watching both Housewives of NY and New Jersey! My life is pretty much drama free (which is fine by me) so I live vicariously through these ladies... I am also soooooo excited that Big Brother is starting soon... Happy dance!!

4. Chex mix makes me happy! Now my fav is the regular kind but I do like the sweet n' salty one too. I am trying to wing myself off of it though...

5. My memory foam pillow. The hubs has tried very hard to steal this from me... NO ONE can use my pillow!

6. My kids! I can not get enough of their hugs and kisses... They bring me such joy!

7. My husband! I can truly say that I love him more today than I did 13 years ago when we got married... He has sacrificed so much for us and i am so proud of him... He just finished his 2nd degree in College!! Yeah Jason!!!!!!! :O)

8. Shoes! I wear them always... Well, mostly flip flops even in the winter... When I find a pair I really like watch out because that is pretty much the only shoes you will see me in.. (BUT, I hate feet! Go figure?) I had to have a moment of silence last year for my most favorite pair. I had them since my 2nd child was born... He turns 8 next month.. It took me like 3 weeks to find a suitable pair to replace them... I am very picky when it comes to flip flops!

9. Cherry Dr. Pepper... Now I am trying very hard not to drink it... I have cut back to 2 cans a week... I wish it was in fountain form but it is probably a good thing its not.... Instead I like to drink Fruit2O. The raspberry one is fab!!!

10. This one puts me over the edge! The hubs knows I am definitely nuts due to this one... I am a HUGE INDY FANATIC!! LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT!!! Just finished watching the qualifying for the Indy 500... So happy that it's next week!! Go Helio!! He just earned $175,000. 00 for getting the pole position... I NEED HIS JOB!!! Team Penske all the way... Did I mention that Team Penske qualified all 3 of their cars in the TOP 4 spots... Team Target/Ganassi took position 3 but Penske has positions 1, 2, and 4!!! Super fast!!!

I wish to add one more thing that makes me happy!!! It's all of you that take the time to read my rantings and check out what I have been up too... Blogging has brought me so much joy. It is an outlet that I never knew I needed... You all keep me inspired to do more, be more, and enjoy more... So here's to you!! BIG HUGS!!!!! :O)

Now onto who I am giving this same award to.....

There are so many ladies that I would love to give this too so it is making it so very hard to narrow it down.... But, here goes....

1. Shelley from House of Smith's
2. Lindsey from The Pleated Poppy
3. Sausha from Show & Tell
4. Ashley & Whitney from Shanty2Chic
5. Traci from Beneath My Heart
6. Melissa from 320 Sycamore
7. Vanessa from V & Co
8. Jen from Tatertots & Jello
9. Lisa from Recaptured Charm
10. Star from A Load of Craft

Thank you ladies.. It's your turn to pass this award on to 10 friends and tell us 10 things that make you all happy... I for one can hardly wait to read your answers.... :O)

These are some very talented ladies so please go on over and visit them and enjoy them as much as I do... Thanks again for bringing joy into my life!!!! You all ROCK!!! :O)

Just another typical Saturday!

2010-05-22T13:41:00.004-06:00

Well, today we have been relaxing and not doing much.. A part from me making breakfast and cleaning the kitchen then making homemade (from scratch) cheesy potato soup.. YUMM-O!

The boys asked if they could go to Branstrom Park (just down the street from us) to go fishing. I let them and this is what they came back with.....
Did you count them? 11 Frogs! Boys will be boys... They are just like their father. He used to come home with buckets full of frogs and left them in his parents garage forgetting to tell them.. His dad got up the next morning to leave for work and walked into the garage (without turning on a light) and saw the floor moving and started screaming... Now knowing my father-in-law he is not one to get scared easily so this is very funny to us all.... He still does not let the hubs forget it!! I just laugh!
This is the biggest one they caught today. He is huge!!!
Here is my oldest holding him. No, he is not scared of the frog, just mad at me... Typical!!! He is getting ready to turn 12 and well, you get the picture!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I am off to prepare my talk for church tomorrow. Yes, I have been working on it for the last 3 days... Just needs some finishing touches.... Until next time, have a great one!!! :O)

Free Bosch Mixer!! What?

2010-05-20T19:15:00.003-06:00

Okay, so I have told you all about this amazing food storage site that teaches you how to save on groceries and how to set up your food storage..... If you do not remember it is called Deals to Meals. Well guess what? They are having an awesome give-a-way right now.... One extremely fantastically lucky person will win a Bosch mixer!!! What? I so want it..... so go on over and check it out.... Good luck... Keep your fingers crossed that I WIN!!!

Okay, Okay, I know!!

2010-05-20T12:03:00.006-06:00

Okay, so I know that I have been a little (try a lot) slacking in my posts the last few weeks. I am so sorry.. I do have good reason though... I just can not tell you yet.. Again, its cuz of the hubs... so I am so sorry. I have been working on an on-going project though and thought I would share it with you all.. I saw a post over at Clean Mama and I knew I needed to copy her. See she made this fab recipe binger and with my ever growing pile of recipes this was the answer to tame the beast.. So here it is...

I bought the largest binder I could at Walmart.. It was $7. Steep but I would fill it fast... And I did. This is only like a 1/4 of my recipes and the folder is almost full.. Told you I had a lot. So, anyways. I have taken some pics to show you all my pretty work...

For the full tutorial go here.

Isn't the inside so pretty? I love the colors I choose for this project.. Bright and cheerful! Like me!! :O)

Everything is going in a page protector.

It is quite the undertaking but is and will be so worth the effort... Now I just need to go buy more sheet protectors and another binder.... Until later..... Have a great one..... :O)

Linking to parties on my side bar... Check them all out... You will have so much fun and who doesn't like to crash a party..... :O)

I won!!!

2010-05-17T10:15:00.004-06:00

I am so excited!!! I won the give-a-way over at Recaptured Charm! If you have not visited her yet please take the time to do so... She is amazing!! I just love her blog!! She has the most wonderful ideas.. She is also thinking of having another give-a-way real soon so you might want to take a look around..

Enjoy!! :O)

Okay you Twilighters!!

2010-05-13T14:13:00.008-06:00

Just thought I would let you in on what I have discovered on the Stephenie Meyer site. She started a 5th book in the Twilight series.. BUT, it was leaked out over the Internet (big surprise there) and so she has stopped writing it. She does not know when and if she will finish it. But she has made it possible for all of us Super fans to read it for free.. Is your head just a buzzing and your heart racing yet? I know mine is....

Go to StephenieMeyer.com and look under the Twilight Series section and you will see a tab on the left side that says "Midnight Sun" click on it (that is the tile of the 5th book) and read and she gives you the access to download (not print) the partial draft for free... It is like 264 pages long...

She also wrote another book that is a "novella" as she calls it that tells the story of "Bree Tanner" the newborn vampire in Eclipse. It is for purchase at Amazon.com right now for like $7-8 in hard back. But does not get released until June 5th. You can wait and read it for free on the Internet during June 7th thru July 5th at breetanner.com.

This should hopefully get us all through the next month and a half until Eclipse comes out to the Theaters... Until then.... :O)

I entered, did you?

2010-05-12T08:54:00.004-06:00

Have you all been checking out all the fun give-a-ways that are out there in blogland this week?
Go check out Recaptured Charm for a fantastically beautiful Peridot butterfly necklace... I want it!!!

Take a look around at all the blogs in my Daily reads on my sidebar. They are awesome and they have some great give-a-ways too!! As always, have a great week!!! :O)

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-09T12:10:00.003-06:00

Here's a little "Happy Mother's Day" to all you beautiful mothers out there in blogland...

Now, a little tribute to my mom.... Thanks for being my mom... I love you for who you are. For who you taught me to be. For the example you are to me and my children. Thank you for raising me in the Gospel. You are near and dear to my heart. Thanks for the endless hours of laughter. Thanks for your friendship. A day hardly goes by that I do not talk to you and I am grateful for that. Thanks for putting up with me. You are my friend and my mother and for that I love you.... :O)

Happy Mother's Day!!! :O)

Can you keep a secret?

2010-05-05T08:44:00.004-06:00

I can too... Well, that is what I am trying to tell/show the hubs... It is all because of him I have to keep the secret.... If I was in Austria I would be singing it from the top of the mountains... You know like in The Sound of Music.. The hills are alive.... I love that movie... :O) When he will let me tell, you all will be the first... :O)

Anyways, the hubs is at it again... He brought these beauties home this morning for me.... Do you think he is trying to butter me up for something? Getting ready for Mother's day? Or just loves me that much... :O) I like to think the last but know it is probably the first.... LOL
Aren't the colors beautiful? He knows I love tulips. They are so romantic in my book. They make me happy.

Not to sure about that pitcher/vase... It is more of a raspberry rather than a red. Sorry for the terrible pics but we are having yucky weather right now.. I am thinking about painting the pitcher white. What do you think? I think it will work much better. It is plastic so should not be a problem spray painting it.

I thought I would share another recipe with you all. Do you ever watch 19 kids and counting? I do for some reason.. Still not sure why but I do... Any hoo, they showed this recipe called Chicken Etti and I thought I would try it. I have to say it was pretty good. But I changed the name to Chicketti or Turketti as it was last night. It is just a lot easier to say.

Here are the basics. I forgot to put the chicken broth in the picture, sorry...

You will need: 1 package noodles (I prefer penne rigate for this)
3 cups cooked chicken or turkey (I used leftover turkey for this and yes

I did fix a whole turkey dinner in May... It was DE-lish!!!)
1 can green chilies
1 cup chicken broth

1 lbs Velveeta cheese

1 can diced tomatoes ( I used my homemade canned salsa)

1 can cream of chicken soup

First boil your noodles, drain, and place in a casserole dish.

While the noodles cook mix in a large pot on medium the following: green chilies, chicken broth, cheese, tomatoes, and cream of chicken soup. Stir until melted together.

After you place the noodles in the casserole dish shred your chicken/turkey and place on top of noodles.

When the cheese and soup mixture is all melted together pour over the noodles and chicken/turkey.

This is what it should look like. Make sure to mix it all together. You want to coat every noodle.
After it is mixed place it in the preheated oven at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

If you are like me, everything is better with more cheese.. I take it out around 27 minutes then add a layer of shredded cheese to the top and put it back in for 5 more minutes.

It comes out looking like this.... YUMM-O!

Pair it with a nice salad and dig in.... I have made this twice now. Once with chicken and once with turkey. They are both wonderful.. Can not tell you which one I like more. I might have to say turkey right now because there are leftovers in the fridge. I know what I am having for lunch. Do you? Hope you all enjoy this recipe... Have a great week! :O)

Winner winner chicken dinner!

2010-05-02T14:36:00.006-06:00

All right ladies.... Sorry I did not get to posting on Friday... I was to busy dejunkifying... Yes it is my made up word... If Sarah over a Thrifty Decor Chic can use the term decrapification then I can use mine... LOL

Any hoo, the winners of the give-a-way are:

Suzanne from Meridian Road
and
Becky from Beyond the Picket Fence

So ladies, if you would be so kind as to email me your addresses I will get your goodies together and in the mail to you... Thanks for playing..... :O)

In Progress?

2010-04-28T10:27:00.008-06:00

Well, I have been in a sort of project hiatus this week. Lots to do but did not finish anything... I have been very busy taking care of 4 kids, cooking, cleaning, Young Women's, kids homework, and everything else... Did I mention that I am the YW President and have NO counselors or adviser's so it is just me doing all the activities and lessons... I get stressed by it often... While the older two boys are at school I have been trying to tackle a few projects in between entertaining the 4 yr old and 2 yr old... Here are a few.... Tackling the playroom/sun room. I have been working on this room for 2 weeks... I got rid of 3 garbage bags full of old toys and stuff animals. This picture looks messy but, in fact it was much worst. Hoping to get this done over the weekend...

I am tired of walking on toys... My motto for birthday's and Christmas will soon be "Please just send $$ for the kids savings accounts..." Got to pay for their missions and college somehow... :O)

I have been doing A LOT of these....... (I could not stand it so I cleaned the dishes right after this picture was taken... Do you feel lucky that you got to see it?)

And this is a never ending process at my house... In fact I put another load in the wash after this picture..... Now I need to go put those clothes away.... dread dread dread.... Maybe I will wait till the boys get home from school and make them do it? Now that is a thought..... :O)

I have been working on this "little" project that is turning out to be not little at all... It is a binder for ALL my recipes... I am also working on setting up a family recipe blog for my side of the family... I am REAL excited about that. Can not wait til it is done and everyone starts entering in their favorite recipes... Yum Yum Yum!! :O)

Also in the picture is my sewing machine that needed a break since I have been sewing up a storm... I have been making baby presents like crazy.. Just need to finish up some for my sis-in-law who is due in June.... Yeah Brindee!!! :O)

And finally, I have been painting our new bed that the hubs built. It took him just a few hour over 2 nights. He is so good... But my job is the painting... Now these pictures are just showing the priming that I have been doing.. Just finished that this morning... Why is it taking me so long you ask? Did I mention that I have 4 kids.... 2 still at home during the day that I have to keep busy and quiet since the hubs works nights? And I am the YW President with NO counselors or adviser's...

It is just a fact that I live with EVERYDAY!!! But, I love every minute of it.. Even if you do not hear me "Say it" "Out loud".... Okay, my little chick-a-dees I know you all know that movie quote... Tell you what.... I will put a little something together to mail out for 2 lucky ladies that can tell me the movie, character name, and the actor that said it. Come on ladies do not let me down....... I know you know it.... So leave me a comment. I will randomly pick and post the winners on Friday!!! This should be fun... My first drawing.... I am so giddy!!! :O) Until then! Have a great week....

Have you....?

2010-04-23T13:28:00.002-06:00

So have you stopped and smelled the roses lately? I bet the answer is no since they are not blooming yet. Well, I did... We made our bi-weekly trip to Sam's club and these lovely beauties are what the hubs slid into the cart. Just because....Well, kind of. We were relaxing and talking one night and I started to rub his feet and he was in heaven... He then told me he was going to buy me something...."A chainsaw?" was my response which made him laugh and from then on we were reciting one of our most favorite movies... Multiplicity... If you have not seen it go rent it. It is sooooooooooo funny!!!

On a more serious note...Look at those colors. Green, yellow, orange, and red. Just looking at them makes you feel all warm inside and happy. I decided to use them for another center piece on our table.

I like them there but something was missing.... But what?

Ah, much better. I found some black grosgrain ribbon and sewed a thinner black/white check grosgrain ribbon on top and made a bow.

You likey? I do. Hope you all have a wonderful week. See what you can do to get your hubby to buy you something unexpected this week....Like a chainsaw... LOL :O)

Movie night consessions

2010-04-21T12:48:00.007-06:00

Thought I would show all of you wonderful ladies what I have been up to today... Besides baking bread. LOL Tonight is our joint activity for the youth and I am in charge. I wanted to show some of the DVD for our new theme for 2010. I knew right away that treats would be in high demand if they were watching a movie. So away I went. I made up these sour cream containers (you know the ones from Wendy's) to put candy in. I thought you all might like to see how they are made if you are not familiar with them. So here goes. I took 12x12 sheets of scrapbook paper and cut them to be (4) 6x6 sheets.

Next, run a strip of double sided tape along one side.

Roll the opposite side of the paper towards the taped side and keep rolling to make the tape stick.

You should now have a cylinder like below.

Use your double sided tape again and tape one end of the cylinder.

Pinch it closed. Make sure that the corners are sealed closed.

Now run the sealed end through a crinkler thingy.. Yes that is the real name of it at my house. But, make sure to only go up about an inch.

See how the end looks like it was done in a factory on a big machine. Yes it is very professional looking.. Aren't we all just so happy.... :O)

When all the cylinders are sealed and crinkled fill them with what ever treat you would like. Since we are watching a DVD I decided movie treats were in order. So licorice bites, gummy bears, and chocolate were on the menu.

Make sure to leave enough room at the top so you can close that end too.

Once filled it is time to seal the opened end. Use your double sided tape again and pinch closed
in the opposite direction. So it will look like a kind of triangle. Does that make sense?

Run it through the crinkler thingy again and you are done!!!

Here are all of mine done. So pretty. :O) Here is my basket filled with popcorn containers purchased at Target in the dollar section and of course the popcorn itself. If you look closely you will notice some shiny silver key chains. I made all the youth washer key chains that say "BE STRONG" on them. I hope they like them.

Okay, I am all packed up and ready to head out.... Oh yeah, it does not start until 7:30. Guess I will just have to go finish priming my bed.

Hope you enjoyed this post. Until next time... Have a great one! :O)

Perfection

2010-04-21T10:18:00.003-06:00

Okay, remember this picture from the last post? I have learned a lot since then.... We ran out of bread and needed more so I decided to make some and here are the results..

So much prettier than last time. I guess I did not knead them long enough. But, this time they turned out PERFECT!Look how his they raised. LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!! :O)

We/I have decided to not buy bread at the store anymore. My kids like it for sandwiches and toast so that is all that matters right? I love it and this is such an easy recipe. Again head on over to My Food Storage Deals. They are changing this over to their new blog which is Deals to Meals so be aware. Any ways... Oh so pretty they are and waiting to be cut into... Any one want a slice with butter? Jam? Honey? Let me know... :O) Have a great week....

Sunday Dinner

2010-04-18T12:43:00.007-06:00

Okay, so this is my first post about food. Well, actually food with a recipe. but, before I get to the recipe a little story and some pics for your entertainment.... Not really but anyways... I have been wanting to learn how to make wheat bread for quite a while now. I have tried to make white and it has been ok but it never turned out rising as high as I would have liked. I could not figure out why. Then one day I found two of the most wonderful food blogs eva.... Enter My Food Storage Deals and My Kitchen Cafe. My Kitchen Cafe has step by step directions on making bread and everything you need to know about yeast. I read and reread to make sure I new what I had done wrong and what I need to do to make my bread turn out the way I wanted it to. I printed out the wheat bread recipe from My Food Storage Deals and away I went. This is what my wheat bread looked like coming out of the oven. Don't laugh at my misshaped loaves. I told you I am not an expert at making bread.. Now you know why... But, I must tell you this was the EASIEST bread recipe eva!!!

See this loaf? Look at how high it raised. BEAUTIFUL!!!

Light and fluffy and yumm-o! I think this recipe is a keeper for sure!!! Now here is MY made up recipe for spicy taco soup. Caution: this is spicy so some kids might not like it. But you can adjust it to your liking.

The majority of ingredients comes from your pantry. SCORE! What is not pictured is the hamburger, garlic, and, minced onions.

Ingredients: 1 lbs ground beef

1/2-3/4 T minced garlic

1T minced onions

Brown meat then add garlic and onions and simmer. Drain meat mixture and put in a large stock pot.

Add to stock pot: 2 cans pork and beans (do not question my madness for some reason it works)
2 cans corn
2 cans diced tomato ( w/chilies if you like. That was all I had.)

2 cans diced chilies
2 cans tomato sauce
1 can black beans

1-2 packets taco seasoning

2 cans filled with water ( I use the pork and beans can)

Mix and let it come to a boil. Cook for about 7-10 minutes then let it simmer for another 5 minutes.

I like to serve mine with a little Parmesan cheese on top. You can put what ever you like with it. Tortilla chips, grated cheese, sour cream. Almost everything is a possibility.

This recipe can be changed with your imagination. I also use it for a vegetable soup. I just leave out the chilies and add canned carrots and canned green beans. Season to your liking. I still use taco seasoning but not as much. NOTE: DO NOT add noodles to the soup. If you like noodles in with your soup cook noodles separate and put them in a bowl them spoon soup over the noodles. Macaroni noodles are the best with this soup.

I hope you try it and like it as much as we do... Let me know what you think and anything different you came up with for it.... Until next time... Have a great week!!! :O)

Spring is in the Air

2010-04-14T12:31:00.005-06:00

And so is the paint fumes.... Remember this star from one of my previous posts? I thought so... Well, it has been bugging me a lot. I finally decided to do something about it...

So out came my trusty spray paint and off to work I went. the color of choice this time was Krylon Blue Ocean Breeze.

I love how the color is so calming and oh so pretty at the same time... Don't you agree?

I am in L.O.V.E. with how it turned out. It looks so nice up on top of the cabinet. Just wish I could paint that cabinet too. But, alas it does not belong to me so mustard yellow it stays.... The blue does help it blend in much better though...

So pretty!!! Are you drooling yet? Good thing it is mine.

So here it sits in my half finished pass through/computer/craft room. Yes I do almost everything in this room. It is basically MY room. I just let every one else walk through it to get to the kitchen... LOL Isn't that just so nice of me?

Well, I am linking this post up to the usuals so check out my side bar for the link par-tays!! As always have a great one!! :O)