Christmastime Memories

Alivia's Christmas Concert started out the month of Christmas cheer!

Ryan and Mrs. Smith at the Science Fair, put on by the Orlando Science Museum!

We had snow here in Brevard County - actually it was "bubble" snow, but the kids loved it!

Of course, meeting Santa is what it is ALL about in DECEMBER!!

Danny made it to Ryan's class Christmas Party -- and Ryan LOVED having him there!

Ryan making a GREAT looking Gingerbread house!

Ryan was a big help in the kitchen, helping me make Gingerbread Cookies for the holidays!

This is one of the bracelets I made for a dear friend of mine.  She LOVES Santas!!

Our oldest son LOVES switching the letters around to spell NOLE instead of NOEL!  grrrr...

Of course, Cookies for Santa are placed out on Christmas Eve!

And finally Christmas Morning, where "all is right with the world"!  Merry Christmas!

A Christmas Story

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas!

Photo from Tim Holtz Website

Can you believe it is already December 1?  Where has the year gone???  Every year there is ONE thing I look forward to on December 1st, and that is Tim Holtz' 12 Tags of Christmas!  Can you believe he creates these works of art each night???  I would have these done like way back in July!  ;-)  Check in everyday for the next 12 days!  It truly is a wonderful thing to look forward to.



Christmas 2010

Holiday Bright Story Christmas Card

Get custom photo Christmas cards online at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

Black Friday Shopping!

Are you a Black Friday shopper or a Cyber Monday shopper?  I believe most people hit the stores the day after Thanksgiving for the great deals that are out there!  We started Thanksgiving Day by making a few purchases online (Target.com and Amazon.com).  Then Sweet Girl and I met up with my bff Shannon and her son to hit some stores at 4:00am!  Crazy!  The parking lot was SO packed at our first stop (Target), we could barely get in to park, but we did fine.  I did have to run to Wal-Mart to get a few things price matched that Target ran out of, but we hit SO many stores in lightning speed!  PLUS Panera was open for breakfast at 6:00am so we had a nice bite to eat before we hit the big mall!  8 hours of shopping, and we were done by noon!  It was a VERY productive day!  My best deal was a Ralph Lauren button-up shirt for my son.  Reg. $79.00, on sale, an extra percentage off, $20 off coupon, and then add a leftover gift card that I had -- brought it to less than $30!

I am participating in Infarrantly Creative and Tatertots and Jello’s Blog Hop for a chance to win a Mint Cleaner. It is the revolutionary machine that cleans your hard floor surfaces for you.

Click here to join the blog hop and a chance to win!

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Bed, Bath & Beyond

Happy Thanksgiving!



Our table is almost set, one casserole is in the oven, pies are done, College Boy is home, people are coming over this afternoon, and it is a beautiful day!  Veggies are being chopped by the Rocket Scientist, house is being cleaned by Sweet Girl, and Little Man is playing the Wii.  We are truly blessed!!  Happy Thanksgiving everyone.  We truly thank God for all of our blessings this day.

Fall Soccer 2010

Click here to view this photo book larger

Halloween Cookies!

All things are "spooky crazy" here at our house this weekend!  With 3 different parties to attend and goodies to bring, yesterday was filled with baking, icing and dipping!  Here are a few "treats" that I made.

When at Target the other day, I saw the candy corn kisses and thought I would make cookies with them.  I ended up using this recipe for Candy Corn Kiss Cookies.  They turned out great!!

Next up is the "Witches Hats" cookies, or wizard hats (what is a female wizard?) for my daughter's Harry Potter Book Party, for her class.  She took the Candy Corn Kiss cookies as well.  You can find the directions here for these.  I lucked out at the grocery store -- publix had the fudge stripe cookies B1G1 free! 

Then finally I made these Oreo Cookie Pops.  Just melt your candy melts in the microwave, dip the end of the stick into it and insert it inside the cookie.  Let it harden a bit, then procede with your dipping!

I added a little oil to thin it out.  Once you dip your cookies, lay them on a sheet of waxed paper and decorate with sprinkles.  I did put them in the fridge a bit to harden up the chocolate.  And here you go!

All treats and no tricks!  Happy Halloween!  Or as my youngest will say... 

"Trick or Treat, Wash my Feet, Give me something good to eat!!"

Linked to:  Tatertots and Jello
                         Under the Table and Dreaming
                 Today's Creative Blog
        Hope Studios

Boo at the Zoo!

On opening night, our family went to the local Boo at the Zoo event.  We had a great time, and saw many people we knew.  A friend of mine, Michelle, and two of her kids met up with us and we stayed for a few hours.  We looked at the animals, ate some dinner, rode the Haunted Train Ride, walked through the Halloween Horrors Trail and the kids got some candy.  Ryan dressed up as a Ninja and Alivia dressed up as a Nerd.  I asked Alivia for days what she wanted to be, and she pulled this costume together herself.  The only thing we bought were the glasses and the socks!  I thought she did a great job!

The Rocket Scientist dressed up as a demented clown, and started scaring the kids.  He'd say things like, "Hey kids, wanna squeeze my nose???"  They ran.

I couldn't find my annual Cat Ears headband that I wear, so I dug around Alivia's hat box and found this beret.  All I needed was a paint brush and pallette.  I said I was a French Painter.

At the main gate, this woman was dressed up as a witch, and had a real snake for the kids to touch.  Notice Ryan wearing his gloves.  Probably the only way he was going to touch that thing!

There were many sponsors handing out candy, and many booths set up for the younger kids to have fun at.  Here Ryan is holding a Smoke Bubble that was cool.

During the costume contest, Captain Jack would ask the kids their name before they walked across the stage.

Which way did they go????

My friend Lisa told me to go opening night at these types of events, and boy was she right!  The tickets were cheaper, the crowds were not as large, we went a little early and got to park right up front, and had a blast!  We'll definitely be doing this again next year!  Happy Halloween!!



Homemade Applesauce in the Crock Pot

I have been in the mood to make homemade applesauce, ever since Ryan's teacher made it in class for Johnny Appleseed Day a few weeks ago!  She added a box of red hots to the apples, but my kids don't really like cinnamon in their applesauce, so I went by this recipe below.  Have I mentioned how much I love my old Crock Pot?  It is the best device ever!  You can freeze this in freezer bags, or cook it longer and make apple butter to can!  I think I will try that next.

Homemade Applesauce

8 medium-sized Gala apples, peeled, cored, quartered, and sliced
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
1/4 cup water or apple juice

Place all of the apple pieces in a large bowl and stir in sugar and ground cinnamon. Pour water or apple juice into the bottom of a large crockpot (slow cooker) and add the apple mixture. Cover, turn the crockpot setting to Low, and cook for about 8 hours (or on High for 5 hours), stirring occasionally.  Blend until smooth or mash for a more chunky type of sauce.  Serve warm or room temperature.

Makes approximately 4 cups of applesauce.

Linked to Tatertots and Jello and Hope Studios

Happy 6th Birthday, Ryan!

A big Happy Birthday to my son Ryan who turned 6 on Saturday!!  His big brother came all the way from Tallahassee to celebrate.  His favorite was his BIG party on Sunday with all of his friends at the bowling alley!

Mexican Flag Cake

This cake was for my daughter's spanish class.  I actually got the order wrong - it is suppose to be green first, then white, then red!  It was delicious they said, regardless.  I made the emblem out of dark melting chocolate (the wilton candy wafers).  Next time to note:  Cooking time for cakes in aluminum pans is much longer than the box requires...and for RED icing color, make sure you buy a large container of red gel colorant!  You'll need it!



I WON!!

Last week I posted a Michael Mead giveaway link on my blog, and I am so happy to say that I actually won the drawing!!  I am so thrilled!  I won a $100 gift certificate to Tippy Stockton Jewelry Designs! I have been looking at her site, and I can tell right now, I'm going to have a difficult time narrowing down what I want to pick out.  Everything is so gorgeous!  Take a look for yourself, and let me know what you just can't live without!

Matthew Mead and a Giveaway

Have you seen this?


Don't miss out on this holiday must-have:
 
Matthew Mead holiday book-a-zine!

I already ordered mine MONTHS ago!  You can see a video sneak peak as well!

Moms of Boys!

I saw this commercial last night.  Too funny!

Australia Zoo

Crikey!  One of the highlights of Brisbane was taking a tour bus to the famous Australia Zoo.  This is Steve Irwin's zoo, the Crocodile Hunter.  It is hard to imagine he was killed just a few years ago, but he is alive and well here.  Everywhere you look they have his image.  Even toys in the souvineer shop!

I made a friend while waiting for the bus, who was from England, and we took each other's pictures.  Here I am feeding the elephant.  Most all of the animals here at the zoo are not wild, but tame.  Including the Elephants, the tigers, the kangaroos, the dingos and even the wombats!

You can purchase a bag of feed and feed the kangaroos and wallabies.  They roam around a large area and come right up to you and feed out of your hand.  They are soft to pet, also.

Koalas are everywhere.  They have tree structures up, then place fresh eucalyptus branches in the holders and the koalas feed off of those branches and stay up in the trees.  I never tired of watching them.  I would say most were sleeping, but some were awake, like this little guy!

Steve Irwin, larger than life at the Crocoseum.  We watched a bird and reptile show there.

This big crocodile's name was Graham, and the trainers were trying to prove a point that crocodiles are very slow to move on land, but don't get near the water if there are any nearby!

Here I got to hold a Koala.  SO soft and cute!  Loved it!

And this little guy was SO fast, I could hardly get a picture of him -- the Tasmanian Devil!  Looked just like a little DOG we have here at home, and acted like him too!