Merry Christmas!

This year we are blessed to add Danny's fiance Sarah to our family photo!

Blessings to all this coming year!

Santa and Frosty Hot Cocoa Treats!

My youngest son went to see Santa a few days ago.  He always likes to figure out whether it is the REAL Santa, or one of his elves dressed up as Santa!  This one he decided was an elf, because the REAL Santa does NOT have blonde hair!  :)

Most kids I think tell Santa just one or two things.  But no, not this boy!!

He had a list as long as Santa's!  Notice the shorts?  It was in the 70's here.  And yes, we have the air conditioner still running in the house.  Wishing it was colder out...then the Christmas season would really feel more like Christmas! 

For Ryan's Holiday Winter Party at school, I'm making the treat bags and decided to make little Hot Cocoa mixes with a candy cane, a snowman peep and a packet of hot chocolate.  I saw something similar to this around Halloween time when they used the ghosts, so when I saw the snowman peeps at the store, I knew this would work out perfect for the kids!

Here it is packaged up with little boxes and snowflakes found from the Dollar Store.  I added a large candy cane, some different kinds of mints, and put it inside a clear plastic bag tied with white curling ribbon.  Sweet and easy, perfect for our winter snowman theme!



Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving!  We are so thankful for family, friends, God's provision and good health!  Today we are going to our future daughter-in-law's family's home for Thanksgiving.  We are so blessed!!

A quick picture of my foyer

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fall in Florida

At the end of October, our little community had a fun Movie in the Park day, with vendors, games, a pumpkin patch, costume parade, bounce houses, hay rides and watching Ghostbusters II!  It got a little chilly by nightfall, but it was a fun time with lots of friends all gathered together.

My two beautiful girls - my daughter and future daughter-in-law!

All of the kids together!

Alivia and Sarah enjoying the time before the movie starts -- really just waiting for their Chick-fil-e!

Next up was Fall Festival at Ryan's school the first weekend of November.  Every year my kids get their picture taken in front of this wonderful scarecrow display!  So cute!!

Of course it is all about the games...    Hamster Ball

Angry Birds

Laser Tag

And where was I?  Running the Bake Sale inside the Cafeteria!!

Boo at the Zoo

Last night we went to our annual jaunt up the road to Boo at the Zoo.  Always a fun time with friends, kids, dressing up and candy!  This is about the closest my kids will ever come to a snake!  Love the look on my daughter's face!

My husband loves to dress up and try to (scare) entertain the kids.  Here he is as Brent the Clown!

Ryan this year wanted to go as Spider Man

My daughter and her friend Amber in matching shirts.

Gotta give some love to the Donald!  haha

Ryan and his friend Kadie making smoke bubbles.

Very cool smoke bubbles!  They don't pop in a gloved hand, but they do pop if you touch them with your bare skin.

Brent the Clown enjoying the 'spooky' train ride!

Me and Michelle on the train

This guy was a good juggler.  They also had a Haunted Trail that was a little more intense this year.  Ryan was a little scared with all of the screaming the kids would do at him.  And I was scared of the Chainsaw dude at the end.  :P



Making a Character Cake

This past weekend my youngest son Ryan turned 7.  He wanted his party at a place called Fun Town that had skating, laser tag and arcade games...and he wanted a Pokemon cake!  I went to the major grocery stores and requested one, but they told me Pokemon was 'old' and they didn't carry the characters anymore to make the cake.  My friend had bought a Pikachu Cake Pan off of ebay a few years ago and had it in her garage sale a while back, so I thought it may come in handy someday to have so I bought it from her.  I'm so glad I did!! 

I must say, it has been a while since I tackled a character cake.  The last one was my oldest son's 2nd birthday and I think it was a Big Bird cake pan way back then!  ;)  So I was a little nervous just where to start.  My son wanted a chocolate cake, so I used a box cake mix and sprayed the pan with regular Pam Spray.  This was the best choice.  It came out perfect!!  I made the cake the night before, then made the buttercream icing from the Wilton website in the morning.  All 5 colors.  For the black I used a bottle of Cookie Icing.  It worked out OK, but not great.  I did have some issues using it.  It is a little runny and you have to clean up some seepage into the side areas quickly, but it turned out fine.

I suggest practicing a little on some waxed paper.

I bought my basic Wilton Decorating kit around 30 years ago and they still work wonderfully!  Read the instructions folks.  Of course I thought I did, then when I re-read them, I messed a few steps up.  Ha!  I outlined the cake first then did the outside blue area.  I think the instructions said to do it the other way around, but this worked out fine.  I cleaned up the edges later as I went on.  Start at the top and make your way down.  That was the best way to go on the main color, but I did follow the instructions of when to do each color at which time.  Thank goodness they have the instructions in a data base on the Wilton website!  My pan did not have the paper instruction sheet, but it was on the website.

Well, hello Pikachu!! 

Is this a happy 7 year old or what??

And the final verdict?? Ryan just loved his Pikachu Cake!!!  And everyone said it tasted good too. So don't be scared to try one of these cakes!!  It was actually fun to make!

Linking up to:  Tip Junkie, Hope Studios, Sugar Bee Crafts, Today's Creative Blog, Tatertots and Jello and New Nostalgia

My Son is Getting Married!!

We are so VERY excited here!!!  Our oldest son asked his beautiful girlfriend to marry him and she said YES!  And they are SO happy!  She is witty, beautiful and smart...just like me!!  I know... it isn't about me, but I can't help but want to run to the nearest Barnes and Nobles and go buy every BRIDE magazine that is out there, just to look at the pictures and get ideas for what is in style!  I'm assuming lavender dresses and light gray tuxes are not IN at the moment.  Ha!  I'm already pinning ideas on Pinterest, stalking wedding blogs, and looking at every wedding picture that my friends place on facebook!  And this wedding won't be until next summer!  Oh boy, the diet and exercising has already begun.  If someone wants to start a 'Mother of the Groom' fund so I can get a breast reduction, lipo, a facelift and lasik, I'm all for it!!  haha!

Sarah's family and friends were all up in the North Carolina mountains at her family's summer home for Labor Day.  It was a beautiful morning, with a gorgeous sunrise.  The most romantic place to be on a nice September morn...

Her younger sister Lisa took these pictures.  She is a great photographer.  How awesome that they will have these pictures to look back on over the years.  We have prayed for this new daughter-in-law to-be of mine for many, many years!  Yes, excited is one word for it.  SO very blessed is another.

We love you both so much!!



Moss Covered Letter

My friend Sarah and I decided to make one of the moss covered letters we saw on Dear Lillie's blog a while ago.  We tried looking for the sheet moss in the craft stores but couldn't find any, so we ended up ordering some from Lowe's and was able to go and pick it up. 

We traced the letter out on cardboard which we cut from a large box, then hot glued the moss in parts to the form. It is best to leave it a little long on the sides and wrap it around, gluing the excess to the back so it gives it a nice finished look.

Here it is above our television in the family room for now!  I just love it!

Linking at Common Ground, Savvy Southern Style and Feathered Nest Friday



Update Cloche Fix

After making one of the Cheese Dome Cloches, I quickly realized that it needed a wider base because of the weight of the glass dome on top.  It is REALLY heavy glass!

I went to Michael's and bought a small wooden placque for $.99 and glued it to the base with Gorilla Glue, then spray painted it once more.

Now it is MUCH better!  So don't be afraid to add a placque base to your candlestick if it isn't wide enough!  A quick fix that worked just fine!



The Cheese Dome Cloche

After seeing the beautiful cloches made out of cheese domes months ago, I decided it was time to make one of my own.  I'm really happy with the way it turned out!  I may look for a bigger base to glue on the bottom to make it a little more sturdy.  The glass dome is really heavy!

 I got the cheese dome at goodwill for $1.99 and the candlestick from the thrift store for $.99.  Luckily the candle cap unscrewed right out so I didn't have to deal with any sawing! I sprayed them with ORB spray paint and let them dry overnight, due to our horrible rain and humidity we have here in Florida right now.  Then glued both pieces together with Gorilla Glue.  

I filled it with the bird's nest I found a few months ago, from an old tree that my husband took down in our back yard.  After the yard waste men took the branches, this was left behind!  So cute!  I just need to find some eggs now to put inside.  Soon I will decorate it with halloween goodies!

Back to School!

It is back to school time here in Florida!  The peace and quiet is lovely, but I do miss the noise as well.  Finally no TV blaring in the background 24/7!  haha 

Here is Ryan at his desk - his First Day of 1st Grade!

Traditionally with all of the kids, we get their picture by the front door. 

Alivia starting her first day of 8th Grade!

And here we are at the bus stop.  Billabong shirt, Volcom backpack, Vans shoes and a Lil Wayne bracelet.  Oh the fashion!!  lol  They were both SO excited to start back!