A little behind... got a GIVEAWAY!!

I grew up in a family of three girls. Both of my sisters are amazing people! Both very talented! I often feel like I was the one left behind when they handed out talents in our family.

My sister K owns two marble slab ice cream stores. She can make amazing cakes. She was an amazing gymnast all thru school. People are drawn to K! She knows how to be a listening ear. She has a real knack for writing little rhymes for advertising and can memorizing things with such little effort. She got the skinny legs and thighs in the family. She is definitely the artist, and it shows on her cakes.

My Sister D- is there anything she can't do? She can act, sing, mother, dress, shop on a budget, does amazing things with her hair, bake, cook, sew, the list goes on...At 13yrs old she was teaching me (21yr) how to cook- I could burn water! She has lived with me several times over the years, and taught me a lot of what she knows. Now that she has her own family, and is off having her own adventures, she has found ways to keep herself busy. Her passion is sewing. After a lot of prodding she has finally opened her own etsy shop-PinksNaptimeEscape. So to celebrate her Grand opening (like a week ago- that's how slow I am) she has offered one of her creations for me to give away!This tied baby blanket and matching burp rag could be yours!
Great to wrap your little one in, or to add to your hope chest, or to give away as a baby gift.

Now she is new at this etsy stuff. She wants to know what the general public like, and to get her name out there. So to qualify for this give away all you have to do is 1-2-3.
1. click HERE and check her out
2. leave a comment below tell her which item is your favorite listing(with an email address so we can contact you)
3. cross your fingers you win this beauty!
NOW if you want an extra chance to win I will put your name in twice if you post this on your facebook or blog (we love to check out new blogs!)

My favorite design is her butterfly. My Ape baby had the most adorable onsie with the butterfly appliqued to it! Now tell me what's yours.

This giveaway expires at midnight MST July 31, 2011

An Itch to create

After spending the week reorganizing my closet and my craft stuff, I have been dying to create! It's too hot to build furniture (which I am totally inspired to do), too hot to paint, to hot to do any landscaping (which I have tons of ideas for), I finished my last few books and am read out, SO with the AC blasting it is just the right temperature to sew.

After spending hours on Pinterest I finally found something I wanted to attempt.

I found this hereI shortened it into a shirt rather than a dress.

I also attemped my first french seam! FUN!! I found this site here. I don't own a serger and we are totally on the Dave Ramsey plan and I have so many other things on my priority list right now. I hate frayed edges and French seams make so much sense on the bottom part of this shirt! Sorry no pictures just trust me, check it out!Its finished, after spending the afternoon unpicking a few mistakes I made
and then having to sew with the kids 'cause you can't bring out the machine without letting them sew something

I must say I like it! The oldest likes it too. She has request one for herself and even picked out the material she wants for hers. I'll make this again in the future!
Now I want to try out a few more patterns/ideas

Happy 4th!!

KISSING TOADS, grilling, making ice cream, laughing, new T-shirts, naps, turtle races, red white and blue popcorn, family time, friends, and fireworks!
What could be better?
Happy 4th!
Thanks to all those who defend our freedom and the constitution!

Revelation and Resolve

Recently I was thumbing thru a plethora of recipes and food sites looking for new ideas. As I started going thru them I realized everything that looked good and delicious was also very fattening and only going to add to my waste line.

It takes talent to cook healthy food that tastes good!
(my revelation)
I decided to try and make healthy food yummy!

(my resolve)

We spent most of the month of June on vacation. Thanks to both sets of parents! When we returned it was time to clean out the fridge (since it was already most of the way empty). In the process I realized how many eggs we had from our chickens in there. I needed to get rid of 5+doz eggs and more were coming in every day!

I found this fabulous recipe here for Spinach-Feta eggs! DELICIOUS!!(Sorry no pics of my own, wasn't cooking with the intent to share-BUT with a recipe like this who could stop themselves! Delicious!)

I made a few of my own adjustments, to make stick to my resolve. I added a few ingredients and made a few substitutions
added 1cup sliced portabella mushrooms
added basil (An OOPS! cause I grabbed the wrong jar at first, but will do it again, great flavor!)
Subbed two eggs and three egg yolks instead of four eggs
Subbed fat free milk for heavy cream
Subbed fat free feta for regular feta
I also omitted the mozza cheese (just cause i am not a big cheese person).

I HAVE to say it again It was delicious! My kids ate it and loved it! My husband made his own dinner that night and after a taste, he cleaned out what was left in the pan and on the kids plates! Definitely on my list of dinners to make again soon that won't add to my waistline!

With all the recipes in Blog world with cupcake pans I decided to make my own take on an omelet in a cupcake liner. When I first got married I heard the line "When moms on a diet the whole family is on a diet". LOL How true! We love bacon! I like the alternative-turkey bacon but the kids aren't overly anxious about it. So when its breakfast for dinner night they get bacon and I get turkey bacon. Easy resolve! They need the fat I don't! I lined the liner with a slice of bacon (for the kids/hubby) and turkey bacon (for me). Then filled the liner with 1/3cp hashbrowns and dumped a whipped eggs over each cup (6-7eggs plus a little milk makes enough for 12 muffins). Sprinkling cheese over them before baking would have been an nice added touch (but then again I am not much of a cheese person).

The Turkey bacon stayed where I wanted it to more than the bacon did, but there were no complaints on taste!

12 of these fed my small family of six easily!

Another one to add to the dinner list that won't add to my waist line!!

Happy Canada Day

Being Canadian has it's advantages when you are married to an American. In July it happens to be a month of fun and parties! We celebrate Canada day on the 1st and Independence day on the 4th. A whole four days of fireworks (if there isn't a burn ban-DANG! the OK drought this year), food, fun, and celebration.

Every year my mom sends Canadian T-shirts for the kids, which they proudly wear. The kids already laid theirs all out ready to adorn them tomorrow morning!

This year we decided to take a little outing to see Cars 2 and out to dinner but nothing much else for the 1st. I did however manage to make some yummy Nanaimo bars for tomorrow to throw in a little taste of home. I made these a time or two, every time with a new recipe. This year I think I found a keeper! They taste rather close to the real thing!! I found it here. I made a few adjustments-
I added 1/4cp more nuts on the bottom layer because I like nuts .
I couldn't find custard powder for the middle layer so I used 2Tbsp of corn starch and 1-1/2Tbsp vanilla instant pudding powder and added 1Tbsp more milk.
On the top layer I added another two bars of semi sweet baking chocolate.
FABULOUS!! The kids can't wait to dig into them first thing tomorrow.

I also saved a large box of Smarties for our movie tomorrow! Another taste of home!I think I am going to have to run every day this weekend just to keep up with the caloric intake planned for the festivities LOL
I really wanted to make these blueberry muffins for the kids in the AM but just can't find the energy tonight. Maybe next year...

HAPPY CANADA DAY!!

Graduation treats

During my search for teacher gifts and I came across these tasty treats HERE

I knew I had to make these and I had just the event in mind! A High School Graduation open house for two amazing young ladies!
They were a smash! (both the treats and the girls)

A tip- If it is 92F and humid start by freezing your chocolate treats then unwrap them so the PB cups don't stick to the wrappers. Store in the fridge before serving. They melted rather quickly making them tricky to get off the plate.
Regardless they went rather quickly.Thanks N and K for the fabulous party! Congrats on your achievements! Can't wait to see what the next few years bring to you!

Teacher gifts

The kids were upset at me for not making something for their teachers for the last day of school. I felt kinda bad for neglecting them also! After all we had two of the best teachers this year!!Since the last day of school is an exemption day for the students with good grades and attendance, both of my kids were home. I scoured the blog world for a quick an easy craft they could do while we made bread and decorated a few jars of apple butter.

I came across these HERE
I had all the materials, and the kids were in a good mood to help (they even drilled most of the wholes themselves). These took very little time to put together, yet they are adorable!

I found it rather suiting since my sensitive child's teacher was named teacher of the year!
As she should be with all the crazy boys in her class. She had a knack for knowing how to encourage and challenge the kids. My son just loved to learn from her!
My Flittering butterfly's teacher was #1 in my books! This years teacher knew each student on a more personal level rather than a test score level. Our daughter went from barely passing last year to honor roll this year! She taught her students in such a way that they respected her and loved her without loosing control of the class. We love you Mrs D!! Our Flittering butterfly will forever be comparing her future teachers to you!
Thank you teachers for all you do!