Chic Crafty Chick

Hello Kitty Birthday Party

2012-02-02T00:00:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago my oldest sweet little niece turned 3. And I was so excited to hear that my sister was doing a Hello Kitty birthday party. When my sister and I were little we loved Hello Kitty. So it was nice to hear that my niece is getting into Hello Kitty too.

I wanted to share some pictures of the decorations my sister pulled together for the party. Many of the decorations such as the giant pom poms, tags for the goody bags, and the polka dotted balloons came from Polka Dot Market. I was excited to learn about this website from her because they have some great decorations and with a flat $5 shipping rate, that makes it more affordable to place a big order with them.

The polka dotted balloons and pom poms all came from Polka Dot Market. I love that polka dot look.

This is a cute kid's lemonade stand my sister bought and used as a cupcake stand.

Everyone got a Hello Kitty cookie to take home. And these were delish! She ordered them from a local place.

This is the candy bar she had set up for the kids. The red bags sitting flat on the buffet had personalized from Polka Dot Market. She created the red buckets by punching out polka dots circles from vinyl.

And here is the sweet birthday girl with her momma stealing a kiss.

If you love the party decorations you've seen in this post then be sure to check out my sister's Etsy shop. She makes hair bows, tutus, and other wonderful creations. Harper's Hat Box

Sam's Club 6 Box Tops on a Pack

2012-01-26T00:00:00.000-05:00

Recently I received some information from the folks at MyBlogSpark and General Mills that Sam's Club is offering bonus box tops for education on some of General Mills products. As I've posted in the past, I'm such a huge fan of the box tops for education program so when I was approached to blog about it again, I immediately jumped on it.

I know in my area our local schools have been dealing with economic challenges due to severe budget cuts. So being able to do something as simple as cut out a box top off many of the great products I already use, then it is a win for me and the school.

It is really great that a number of General Mills products found at Sam's Club have bonus box tops on them. You can get 6 box tops on packs. Just think of how those extra box tops could help out your local school. You can check out the Box Tops For Education website to check out all the great products that contain box tops for education. Last night I cut box tops off our Ol El Paso Tostada shells and seasoning packet I used to make dinner.

I'm excited to share that the folks at General Mills and MyBlogSpark have a $25 Sam's Club gift card you can win to buy some great General Mills products at Sam's Club. You have two ways to enter using the Rafflecopter.If you are seeing "Read More" below this, please click on it. That will then launch the Rafflecopter giveaway widget so you can see how to enter. Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received a $25 Sam's Club gift card from General Mills and MyBlogSpark for participating in this Spark.

Smashbox Primer

2012-01-25T10:04:00.000-05:00

I don't know where the last two months have gone. The holidays always go so fast and I thought I was going to be getting back into the swing of things and things would settle down in January, but that has not been the case. I've been fighting sinus stuff for the last week which has just dragged me down. And when I feel icky, it is hard to blog and do a lot of other stuff I want and need to be doing.

But today I'm pluggin on and I wanted to share a product I discovered and love. Months ago, I put an order in for some makeup on Ulta's website. I love shopping with them because they have a rewards card program and you can get points towards salon services, or money off your order. I usually go for the money off my order. And the great thing about it is you can use it when making a purchase in the store or on their website. So when I purchased some items through the website, they asked me if I wanted to try three samples of different products. One of them I chose was Smashbox Photo Finish primer. I had seen a segment on the Today show a while ago and a makeup artist raved about it. So I was anxious to try it.

Well, once I tried it the sample I was hooked. I decided that I was saving up some money and was going to put an order in on Black Friday to Ulta. And one of the things I was going to get was the Smashbox Photo Finish primer. They ran a special on the .2 oz bottle for about $10 if I'm remembering correctly. And I think they may sell these small bottles in the travel section of the store. When you go to see this, don't be surprised and get sticker shock. The big bottle I have pictured above is $49. But one thing I'll say about the product is a little bit goes a long way. After using this for over a month now, I still have a lot in the .2 oz bottle and I use it every day.

What I like about it is that it gives your complexion a photo finished look. You put this primer on first before applying your foundation/powder. I personally still use foundation and I use a cheap brand and it works great with it. When the primer comes out it feels thick coming out of the tube, but don't worry it will just glide smoothly on your face. It reminds me of a clear hair gel consistency. I have to say it freaked me out a little bit the first time I went to use it.

I was in the Ulta store around the holidays and a lady came in and was complaining about the foundation they had sold her. She had a lot of wrinkles and felt that her foundation was looking clumpy. I interjected that she needed to try the Photo Finish primer from Smashbox. It really helps even out your face. She had never heard of primer before and was excited. I was talking to the Ulta consultant and she was saying that in their store they have two camps. One is pro Smashbox primer and the other is another company which I don't remember.

After that experience in the store, I thought I'd blog today about primer in case you had never heard of it. It really has been a great find for me. And I had never heard about it until the Today show segment. I love learning about new things like this and since I love makeup so much, this has been a fun find.

Do you use primer and if so, which brand do you use and what do you like about it?

Pampered Chef Recipe Review Mediterranean Hummus Pizza

2012-01-20T09:33:00.000-05:00

Today I'm sharing my review of Pampered Chef's Mediterranean Hummus Pizza recipe from their "Quick Vegetarian Main Dishes" cook book. I made this pizza for us last night and let me tell you that if I was giving a rating on a four pizza cutter scale, this one would get four pizza cutters from me. This pizza is delish!
If you like Mediterranean flavors that are punchy, bold, and filling then you will love this recipe. I have to say I'm not a big fan of olives, but the kalamata olives were perfect in this recipe and the other ingredients really help balance out the flavor so it isn't over powering. So if you are someone who hasn't liked olives on your pizza in the past, still gives these a try. Of course kalamata olives are different I'm sure from what Papa John's and other pizza places put on their pizza.

The recipe calls for using meditarrean seasoned feta cheese crumbles. I didn't find these at the store, so I purchased feta that was tomato and basil flavored. That cheese worked wonderfully on the pizza.

I think this pizza has so much flavor that packs a great punch that you won't eat tons of it. I found it to be really filling. I was thinking this pizza would make a great appetizer if cut into small bite pieces. I am thinking of taking it to either a MOPS night meeting, or when we bring food to my Bunco group.
So if you are looking for something different to try, I highly recommend this recipe. Also, this is about the second or third recipe I've made and reviewed on my website from the "Quick Vegetarian Main Dishes" cookbook. Here is a link to my previous post for the Harvest Cream Soup recipe from this cookbook. If you know anyone having a Pampered Chef party anytime soon, take a chance to flip through the cookbook and see what you think. Have you made this recipe or any other recipes from this cookbook? If so, I'd love to know what you think.

The highlighted words in the recipe are the products Pampered Chef sells that you can use in the recipe. I went ahead and included them so you'd know, but of course if you have your own tools you can use those as well. If you don't own this large bar ban, you could do the same thing using a pizza stone.

Mediterranean Hummus Pizza

Crust
1 tbsp plus 1/2 tsp olive oil, divided
1 pkg (13.8 oz) refrigerated pizza crust
1 garlic clove, pressed

Toppings
2 jars (7.5 oz) quartered marinated artichoke hearts, drained
2 medium plum tomatoes
1/4 medium red onion
1 two inch. piece seedless cucumber
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives
1 container (7 oz) plain hummus
2 oz. Mediterranean seasoned feta cheese crumbles (I used a block of feta & crumbled it)

1.) Preheat oven to 425. Lightly brush Large Bar Pan with 1/2 tsp of the oil using Chef's Silicon Basting Brush. Unroll dough onto bottom of pan, gently stretching and pressing dough to cover bottom. Combine remaining oil and garlic pressed with Garlic Press in prep bowl; brush evenly over dough. Bake 12-14 minutes or until crust is light golden brown.

2) Meanwhile, for toppings, cut artichokes crosswise into smaller pieces. Slice tomatoes in half lengthwise; scrape out seeds and dice. Thinly slice onion. Using Ultimate Mandoline fitted with v shaped blade, slice cucumber; cut slices into quarters. Coarsely chop olives using Food Chopper.

3) Remove pan from oven to Stackable Cooling Rack. Spread hummus evenly over crust. Arrange artichokes, tomatoes, onion, cucumber and olives over hummus. Sprinkle with cheese. Cut pizza into squares.

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

NYC New York Color

2012-01-17T21:56:00.000-05:00

Over the holidays I was lucky enough to receive a VoxBox from Influenster that was chock full of goodies. My favorite product that came in the box was a tube of Nude York City Liquid Lipshine from NYC New York Color. I have used their lip gloss before, but it has been a while. So I was really pleased to get this tube.

I love this color because it is neutral. It is nice to have something that will go with any outfit. What I also really like about it is it makes my lips shiny and glossy without being sticky. I hate when lip gloss feels sticky. And since winter has been here, I have had dry lips so I like keeping something on my lips to help against the wind.

I liked this lip gloss so much I went to the store to get a different tube to have another color and they were sold out. Hopefully now that the holidays are over, stores have restocked. Apparently it has been pretty popular.

I've seen it in Target and Wal Mart so the next time you are in one of those stores, I'd recommend checking them out. If you are a subscriber to All You magazine or you pick it up at Wal Mart, many times they have great coupons for NYC New York Color products. I love getting a great beauty product at a good price.

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

I came. I decluttered. I organized.

2012-01-16T09:25:00.002-05:00

I haven't been posting much because things have been a zoo at my house. More than the usual craziness that comes from having two young, active boys.

My husband and I have made an unofficial New Year's resolution to take back our house. We haven't been able to do any type of freshening up or maintenance in about five years. So we decided it was time. And we have started with our bedroom and the kitchen.

This weekend my wonderful husband spent Saturday and Sunday painting our bedroom. And today I thought I'd share some information about our project. Some lessons learned and things we've found that work for us. First, if you or your spouse go to Lowe's and you need calk, be sure to check to see if you have the white paintable caulk and not clear. Poor dh found out that he'd bought the clear after he had tried to fill cracks. He wasn't planning on painting our ceiling, but had to after that because of course the clear caulk leaves a sheen. But it all worked out and we were glad we got the ceiling painted.

And speaking of paint, we have found that the Valspar paint sold at Lowe's is our favorite. About 5+ years ago when we last painted, the paint was called American Traditions. We have had a wonderful experience with this paint. I have two boys that put finger prints and marks on our walls and the paint has held up.

Something else I learned over the weekend about the Valspar paint is that they sell a ceiling paint that goes on purple, but it dries white. I didn't buy it because I thought it might send dh over the edge after the clear caulk incident, but I spoke with my sister on the phone and she and my brother in law recently used the paint and she raved about it. She said if you have an open foyer, or a space where the ceiling is challenging, the purple tint helps you know where you've painted. She had a great experience with it. I will note that when I spoke to the sales lady at Lowe's about it, she said there was one person who used the purple tinted ceiling paint when it was humid outside, it and took a long time to dry. So if you think you want to give it a try you might want to keep that in mind.

It has been freezing cold, in the forties here in Virginia and it is a pain to paint when it is cold, but I think we are finding for us it is the best time. Our area has a lot of precipitation/humidity and we've had trouble with painting drying quickly if the weather conditions don't cooperate.

We are really excited to start taking our house back and enjoying being in our little family nest. I hope to get some more posts up to share some of the other organizational finds I've been incorporating. I'm hoping that a decluttered, better organized house will bring tranquility. I'm taking this in small chunks so I don't get overwhelmed. Rome wasn't built in a day, so I can't expect to snap my fingers over night. But I think it would be nice to be like Samantha Stevens from Bewitched and wrinkle my nose so that all the housework would be finished.

And if trying to get our house straight wasn't enough, I'm in the throws of potty training. I'll be blogging about that later.

So that is what is going on in my world, I hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Private Selection by Kroger

2012-01-04T15:22:00.001-05:00

Over the holidays I had the chance to try some of the Private Selection products that are available at Kroger. I tried some of their pizza, appetizers, and desserts. BzzAgent sent me some coupons to try the products for free and to get my feedback on them.

The first picture I have below shows their Margherita pizza. The box says it serves three. It has a variety of cheeses and if memory serves me, basil too. It was delicious and the crust was a bit crunchy. I would definitely eat one again. Dh tried their chicken bbq pizza. He felt it was a little spicy.

These pizzas run $6.99 in the store. I will keep my eye on them and if they run a sale, I will definitely get them again. They are good if you want a good pizza for yourself. But they won't feed a family of four. They would make a great date night meal at home for two people.

On New Year's Eve I had a box of the Private Selection Miniature Cream Puffs that I served. What you see out on the platters is how many come in a whole box. They were a great thing to serve at the party. They come frozen and it says to unthaw them out of the fridge for 30 minutes or for two hours ahead. I didn't have quite 30 minutes before I pulled them out, but that ended up working out ok for the party. By the time midnight rolled around, all of them were gone.

So these are some new items I had a chance to try over the holidays. I love trying new things. Have you had a chance to try any of Kroger's Private Selection items? If so, I'd love to know what you've tried and liked.

I'm happy to finally be getting a blog post up this afternoon. My oldest son is sick and has kept me up for the last few nights. I am one tired momma trying to clean up after Christmas and I was hoping we would be getting back into the swing of things this week. But, I guess that will be next week.

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Christmas Town Busch Gardens in Williamsburg Virginia

2011-12-30T10:30:00.000-05:00

Before Christmas dh and I had a chance to sneak away for an afternoon to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg to visit their Christmas Town. They have been doing this for a few years and this is the first time we had a chance to visit.

We decided not to take our kids (ages 3 and 5) and for this year it was a wise decision. Even though we have taken them to Busch Gardens over the summer, the boys just can't sit still through shows and wouldn't have enjoyed that part. I think next year we will be able to take them. I wanted to put that disclaimer because even if you have small kids, you might be able to take them.

We got to the park around 3 and first decided to go and watch a show. We watched a show called Gloria and it was spectacular. We felt it was the best of all of the shows we saw. The actors did a fabulous job and the singing was wonderful. They did all of the scenes of The Christmas Story. I would recommend seeing this show if you have a chance to go.

Once it got dark, the park was a magical winter wonderland of twinkling lights. It was amazing how they were able to transform different areas of the park. They drained water from the Pompeii ride and filled the moats with blue lights to look like water. It was gorgeous.

One of our favorite things was to ride the train around the park to see the lights. Even though it was cold, the weather wasn't freezing and we had a great time riding around the park and seeing the lights from different angles.

They have a nice Santa land so if you decide to visit and have kids, you will come away with a beautiful Santa picture.

I'd recommend checking out Busch Gardens Christmas Town. I'd also recommend keeping your eyes out for discount tickets. We are pass holders and got tickets that way. If you don't have passes, Chick Fil A had discount ticket coupons available at their restaurants and Pepsi was running promos where you could get discounts with their cans.

Here are some pictures of our time at Christmas Town so you can get a feel for what you might see if you decide to go. Oh, and one of my favorite things was to go through the section where they had real penguins you could see. Those little guys were so cute diving and posing for pictures.

Hope you enjoy my pictures from our fun outing. And I hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Colonial Williamsburg Christmas Decorations

2011-12-27T13:30:00.000-05:00

Merry after Christmas! I don't know where the time has gone, or where it is going. We have been busy having fun and we had a wonderful Christmas. I was so happy that none of my kids got sick and they have been so excited about visiting Santa and then having him come to deliver presents. We've had some late nights, so we are all trying to rest up and stay home a little bit.

Before Christmas, dh and I were able to sneak away and spend a day in Colonial Williamsburg. We always love walking around the historic area and looking at the decorations. It is amazing what they can do with the natural flora and fauna in the area. As you can see from the many pictures below, they used things like pomegranates, feathers, playing cards, dolls, shells, bird houses, etc. In some of the pictures you will see ribbons. Apparently they have a contest every year and some of them are awarded ribbons.

If you've never been to Colonial Williamsburg before, I'd encourage you to come and take a trip to visit. It is amazing to think that our fore fathers lived there. The history in the area is amazing and it is a beautiful area to visit.

I hope you enjoy these pictures and I hope to get some more holiday picture posts up before the end of the year. Which is funny to say since the end of the year is at the end of this week. LOL

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

p.s. I have a favor to ask if you are so inclined. I joined a deal website called NoMoreRack a few months ago. They send out daily deals. I purchased a jacket and shirt for only $8 last month. Shipping is only $2 on each item. They have rewards that if you have friends sign up, you can get great prizes. I'm trying to get 25 friends to sign up because I can get my boys a remote control helicopter for free. You don't have to give any credit card info, just create an account following my referral link. NoMoreRack Referral Link please click here

So, if you wouldn't mind doing it for me I would so appreciate it. My husband's uncle has had a remote control helicopter at a few family functions this holiday and the boys have loved it.<p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div></body></p>

God's Christmas Promise Book Review

2011-12-22T21:28:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago the folks at DaySpring sent me a copy of God's Christmas Promise which is a recordable story book that features the Christmas story. We have been using this book to read the Christmas story at night. I've been using it specifically with my oldest son and we have thoroughly enjoyed the book.

As I mentioned, you can record your own voice on each of the pages. The book comes preloaded with a narrator's voice. We have been using that voice to read the story because I have been so swamped, I haven't had a chance to record my own voice reading the story. I have read the directions on recording my voice and they are very straight forward, so I don't think that will be hard to do at all. My biggest issue is having a quiet minute to do the recording. We have been on the go so much, even in the evenings.

I found the book to be a great, new way to have story time at night. And I love it that after the holiday rush, I can sit down and record my voice so that in the future my kids can flip through the book and hear my voice reading the story.

The first night we read the book, my son Sawyer was tired. But as soon as I opened the book and the narrator's voice started telling the story, he perked right up. The book is well made and is made of a thick material, but is still light weight enough for a child to flip through the pages. I also like the illustrations in the book.

I would recommend this book and if you are still doing some Christmas shopping, I'd check it out and consider picking one up for yourself and/or as a gift.

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Christmas Decorations 2011 - Part Two

2011-12-15T09:06:00.003-05:00

I have felt limited in what I could do in the last few years with having small children. But this year I've been able to change things up a bit and that has made me so happy. Before the holidays, I started seeing a lot of beautiful pins on Pinterest. It really intrigued me that people had these over the top, gorgeous garlands used on mantels and what not. I love the use of ribbon and mesh and decided I wanted to do that at my house.

One day I went to my local Ben Franklin and I was tickled to see they had the large mesh ribbon that I had seen on Pinterest. I love the look of the lime green color that I've seen coming into Christmas decorations the last few years. I think it adds a bright, whimsical look. And with having small children, I thought that would fit in great at our house. So, I purchased red mesh and then got wide green ribbons to add. I also bought red and green ting ting. If you've never heard of that before, that is the sparkly twisted branches that florists use in arrangements. I used that to tuck in my garlands, as well as my Christmas tree.

So, here is a picture of my garland going up the rail to go upstairs. I decided to put our stockings there this year so that the boys wouldn't pull them down off the fireplace. We have heavy nutcracker stocking holders and I didn't want the kids to get hurt, or break the holders.

This picture is of my fireplace mantel. As you can see, I have my nutcracker collection up there. I've run out of space for nutcrackers, so the collecting is done.

The wire mesh is really wide. To fashion it into the garland the way I wanted, I unrolled it a little at a time and then I bunched it into poofs (yes, that is a technical term - LOL) and held it in place with floral wire. Floral wire is my best friend when Christmas decorating. Once I got my wide mesh garland in place, I then went over it with a roll of the red and green ribbon. I then had a wide roll of shiny ribbon that I would cut a piece out and fold in half to make it look like half a bow. I then wired that into the center of where the poofs came together on the red mesh garland. I also added that crazy bright green "rope". That stuff was so much fun to work with. It came in a package with four strands. I just started tucking it into my garland and it naturally would curl into loops.

My final step to putting my garland together was to tuck the ting ting in.

I know this looks very elaborate, but I'm telling you that you could do this too. And the thing that was great about these supplies is I was able to do my fireplace mantel, the garland I picture above, as well as I adding some of these supplies to my Christmas tree and I still have some left over. Most of the rolls came in 25 feet which went a long way. So for spending no more than $30 in supplies, I got a lot of bang for my buck.

I hope to post more pictures of my decorations, including my Christmas tree. Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods.

Christmas Decorations 2011 - Part One

2011-12-14T09:39:00.002-05:00

Bunco was so much fun last night and I got the final touches of decorating completed just in time. I've been wanting to post pictures of my decorations, so today I thought I'd share a few pictures with you. This will hopefully be a teaser so you'll come back and see the rest of the pictures I'll share. LOL

I do a lot of decorating for Christmas. My husband has said he thinks our house looks its best at Christmas because I do so much. It makes us all happy and makes our home feel welcoming. It has made my heart happy to see my kids get excited about the decorations. And sometimes a bit frustrated when they want to go behind mommy and redecorate. But I'm trying to take it all in stride and I've learned to give them their own tree to decorate, and to set up a kids table that has things they can touch and move around.

So the first picture I wanted to show is the garland I have on the rail when you first walk in. We have an open foyer. A few years ago I bought gold Christmas lights at Kmart, the Martha Stewart lights. So I have those in the garland. On a side note, I went to Kmart yesterday and I guess they aren't selling Martha Stewart anymore. Bummer. Now somewhere in the back of my mind I'm remember something about her having it out with Kmart a few year ago, but I obviously didn't remember that yesterday. But I digress.

The big star in the picture below I just got at the craft show I attended the first of December. The booth where I bought it had beautiful decorations and they were very reasonable. I couldn't believe it, but the big star was only $12. I really thought it would have been over $20. I also got one small star that matches it. It is an ornament on a tree in my dining room. I kicked myself after the craft show and wished I'd purchased more of the small ones. They would have looked really great on garland too. But I already have gold, shiny snowflakes on the garland, so I did have some bling. I purchased those at Target. They sell them every year and they come in different colors. They have about 6 together and they are a dollar. I've found them to be a great, inexpensive way to add sparkle to your tree or garland.

The next picture I wanted to share is my dining room table. Because everything else in my decorating is bright, blingy, and flashy, I like to keep a very simple table scape. Because my dining room table isn't huge, I find that doing a long arrangement is better than a wide. That way I can still use my table for entertaining. The two candle sticks that are on the far outsides of my display came in a kit and I got them for free last year when I purchased some things from Ulta. I like how they are clear and chunky. The other two glass pieces, the small hurricane and they taper candle stick are older Southern Living at Home pieces. I used to sell that and so those were some favorite pieces I had. The greenery is real and are pieces from the bottom of our Christmas tree. Every year my husband has to cut off some of the bottom branches to get it to fit in the stand, so I use the "scraps" in decorating.

The two center pieces have real cranberries in them. And as you can see I place a tea light on top of the cranberries. On the table mixed in with the greenery I have some red Christmas ball picks. They are so easy to tuck in the greenery. I had some bits of ribbon left over, so I got some floral wire picks and wired the ribbon on them the sticks so I could tuck them in the greenery.

If you don't have a large budget, you can still go from drab to fab. You can easily put something together for under $10 or even $20. If you don't own any clear glass pieces, two places I'd recommend checking are Dollar Tree and Wal Mart. They have very reasonably priced clear candle holders, hurricanes, and vases. Cranberries, limes, lemons, and even nuts and dried beans (red and green) can look wonderful filling a glass container. I've seen pretty martini glasses at Dollar Tree that would be perfect for filling with berries and tea lights, just as I did with my hurricane pictured above.

My final picture to share with you today is how I used plant stand to display three faux chocolate Santas. My plant stand is a tall pedestal and was a perfect way to decorate the corner of the dining room. I'm also not using it for a plant right now, so that helped. LOL

I hope you've enjoyed seeing a peek at some of my Christmas decorations. I plan on doing another post to show you more. Let me say that there will be lots of sparkly ribbon, and especially that mesh wire ribbon that has been all over Pinterest. Hint, Hint. LOL

I hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods. And take time to slow down and enjoy the wonder that is the Christmas season.

Holiday Bunco

2011-12-13T09:02:00.003-05:00

So the weekend was fun filled Saturday morning with having breakfast with Santa and then the rest of the day and Sunday was down hill when my son came down with a fever. Having sick kids always throws a monkey wrench in things. I'm glad that the fever broke yesterday and he is doing better.

I was up until midnight last night getting ready to host Bunco at my house tonight. I love having it at my house during the holidays since I go all out with the Christmas decorations. I'm hoping that after tonight I'll have a little bit of a breather so I can post pix of my Christmas decorations.

I believe I heard this morning there are only 12 more shopping days until Christmas. We are in great shape, just a few gift cards to pick up. The major things are off the list.

So, how are you doing on your Christmas shopping? Have you bought any gifts that you are really excited about?

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Pinterest - a little Pin will do ya

2011-12-08T16:01:00.001-05:00

So have you discovered Pinterest yet? If you are scratching your head and thinking, "What the heck is a Pinterest?" then let me tell you that you are missing out! If you look to the right on my blog, you'll see I added a new button to follow me on Pinterest. For those who haven't heard of it, it is an online bulletin board. You can follow different folks and see what "pins" they like. You can repin things into different categories. It will make a great reference for the future. And major warning, it is highly addictive. LOL
I have found so much information via Pinterest. And I have to say that it has inspired me to add some new holiday decorations to our house. The wealth of information available on Pinterest is unbelievable. I find that I like to peruse the site while I'm watching tv at night.

I was at a craft show last week and stopped this girl and her mom because they were buying some mesh ribbon. I told them I had been on Pinterest and seen so many great ideas. They hadn't heard of it. So, I guess I'm spreading the word on Pinterest. Just call me a Pinbassador of sorts.

So, are you on Pinterest and if so, which is your favorite category to check out?

Ho Ho Ho

2011-12-08T08:56:00.001-05:00

I'll be putting up a post later today. For now, hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

12 Days of Christmas

2011-12-06T08:45:00.001-05:00

Ok, it is December 6th and I am scratching my head wondering how the last 6 days just flew by? We've been busy having fun. So I'm glad that before things got even crazier than normal, I made a plan.

My husband and I are in that tough preschooler phase where we don't get much time by ourselves. It is hard to be romantic. We are lucky if we can have a normal conversation where someone isn't interrupting by shoving a sippy cup in our face demanding milk, or having a melt down about something.

So yesterday I decided to start the 12 days of Christmas. I've been sneaking out to his car and leaving him presents and notes. Yesterday I had a fun box of candy with Ralphie from The Christmas Story movie. And today I decided to do something bigger. I found one of those kits to decorate your car like a reindeer with the antlers and the red nose. They had them at Dollar Tree. I figured for the price, it would be a great joke. We are always joking about those kits because my sister hates them. So when dh went out this morning, he came back in the house laughing. It really made his day. I think he is going to look forward to his surprises. And hopefully he will see how much I love him and the thought I put into each little thing. I'll keep you updated on the other goodies I've found.

So, that is some of the fun things going on around here. What are you doing that is fun and festive?

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Craft Show Season

2011-11-30T08:20:00.001-05:00

I don't know where the days are going now that we've gotten through Thanksgiving. My posting time has been limited because the few days before Thanksgiving my oldest son was sick. Fortunately he was well by Thanksgiving. And then we had all kinds of activities going on including my birthday. So we have been celebrating and shopping and have just been plain busy. Not that I am complaining. LOL

So tomorrow is one of my favorite days of the year. It is a local craft show I go to every year and I am so excited. DH is taking care of the kids and I get to go and shop in peace. I'm over the moon excited. This year they are offering a great new option where you could pay extra to go early and have stroller free shopping. I am so glad, because the strollers drive me crazy. They really shouldn't be allowed at the event. There just isn't enough space and it isn't fair to the kids who are crammed in. I've never and would never have considered taking a stroller to this event. I didn't go one year because I didn't have child care. I just think it is a safety issue that if you had to exit the building quickly, you couldn't do it easily with the way the event is set up.

There are certain vendors that come every year that I always seem to find something. One is a great jewelry vendor and another sells unique candies that I always buy to put in dh's stocking. This craft show is where I first discovered Oka B shoes. I love going because you never know what great things you'll find.

So, my question for you today is do you have any holiday craft shows or bazaar's that you attend? What do you usually look for when you go shopping?

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Arthur Christmas

2011-11-22T14:21:00.001-05:00

This past weekend I had a chance to go to a preview show of Arthur Christmas. My husband won tickets and told me to take a break from the kids and go see it. So, I went with one of my sisters in law.

I didn't know a lot about this movie, except I had seen a trailer for it a number of months ago when we went to see another movie and I thought it looked like an interesting movie. The trailer I saw didn't give a whole lot of detail about the movie.

I have to tell you that I really liked this movie and I would recommend it. I told dh I would go see it again and I can see it being one that we would buy the dvd when it comes out. This movie would be fun if you and your significant other want to go out on a fun date night.

Without giving everything away, Arthur is someone who works at the North Pole. He discovers that a present has been misplaced and the movie shows his adventure to get the present delivered before Christmas morning. The movie has some modern day answers for kids on how Santa can deliver so many presents on Christmas Eve. It shows the magic and wonder of the Christmas season.

There is a lot of humor that adults will enjoy. The movie has a PG rating, so you can take kids to see it. I think older kids would enjoy this movie. This is one I don't see my three year old sitting through.

So those are my thoughts on Arthur Christmas. Have you heard of this movie and have you see a sneak peek yet, or are you going to see it? What is your favorite Christmas movie?

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods.

Blogging Later

2011-11-22T08:37:00.001-05:00

I'll be getting up a blog post later today. This a.m. I'm dealing with a sick kid and preschool drop off. Oh the joy.

KRE-O for Christmas and keeping spirits bright

2011-11-17T16:30:00.000-05:00

I know that Thanksgiving is next week, but my mind is already on Christmas. I have already started my Christmas shopping, as well as looking at Christmas decorations. It is such a beautiful and magical time of the year that I can't help but get excited about all the possibilities.

Hasbro and SocialMoms approached me to blog about the great new line of KRE-O Transformers toys Hasbro has out. Transformers: Dark of the Moon was the third Transformers movie to come out and it was a big hit this past summer. So Transformers are hot with little kids and big kids (aka hubbys, brothers, etc. LOL). If you have a husband who is a big kid like mine, he still likes to get toys for Christmas. And with having two boys, he is in heaven when we start looking at Christmas presents. We both have been amazed and delighted to see toys like Transformers come back in popularity since they were around when we were kids. It is nice to share with our kids some of the things we enjoyed as kids.

The KRE-O Transformer sets are for kids ages 6 and up. They range in price from $7.99-$59.99 and have beginner builders to deluxe sets for pros. They allow kids to construct one of two models: a Transformers character into a robot or into vehicle mode which offers two different builds in one. Most sets come with a unique KREON figure that adds another level of play to the sets. I think that sounds like a great way to encourage imaginative play.

KREO bricks are compatible with other leading brick based sets on the market so families don’t have to invest in a new brick system or worry about mixing up bricks and blocks! I really like this feature. And I'm sure the kids will as well. I love the versatility they provide. Connecting different sets together could provide for some really unique Transformers!

Here is a picture of the OPTIMUS Prime KRE-O set. Can you imagine the squeal of delight when your child comes down on Christmas morning and see's this guy peeking out of his stocking?

And speaking of squeals of delight, I wanted to share some things that our family does every year to brighten the holidays and spread Christmas cheer. As I mentioned in a previous post, we participate in putting together shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. We also do Elfing in our neighborhood. This is where you put together a goody bag of things and leave a sign and instructions on your neighbor's porch. It is a lot of fun. I usually start Elfing on December 1st so it has a chance to reach as many people as it can by Christmas. It is a lot of fun to pick out goodies for my neighbors. I usually find things the whole family can enjoy like some great treats, or fun little game the kids will enjoy.

The final thing I wanted to share that my family will do to brighten the holidays is go look at Christmas lights. And when I say go look at lights, we will probably go no less than ten times during the month of December. We LOVE Christmas lights. And now our boys are old enough to enjoy the magic and wonder and we can't wait to share it with them. We of course have a large Christmas lights display in our own yard which I'll be sharing with you in the coming weeks. I hope to video it this year.

So what do you do to brighten the holidays? Have you started your Christmas shopping?

“I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Hasbro blogging program, for 8,000 My SocialMoms Rewards Points and a KRE-O gift. The opinions expressed in this post are mine and don’t necessarily reflect the opinions of SocialMoms or Hasbro. For more information on how you can participate click here."

Insert Chariots of Fire Music Here

2011-11-14T08:44:00.001-05:00

So this weekend my husband ran a half marathon. He isn't allowed to run a full marathon like he did a few years ago, because I told him I can't be a running widow with two little kids.

He really likes it when we are there at the finish line to cheer him on. I got a burst of inspiration and decided that we were going to have CARS theme poster. Our oldest son, Sawyer dressed up like Lightning McQueen for Halloween, so he wore his costume. I went to Dollar Tree and got one of their math books and cut out the CARS pictures I put on the big poster. The big poster says, "My dad is fast as Lightning. Kachow!" As you can see, I had to pull this together in a hurry, so it was a challenge getting all the letters on there. LOL

The small poster I'm holding says "Pit Stop" and had Guido and Luigi. My kids love CARS, so they were excited for us to take these with us. We had to bundle up because it was pretty cold Saturday morning.

Here is a picture of us after the race.

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Getting the Jump on Christmas 11-11-11

2011-11-11T08:30:00.001-05:00

Happy Veteran's Day everyone! And happy 11-11-11. What a cool date! I'm so thankful for folks like my brother in law who keep our country safe, and my grandfathers who both served. Wishing all the veterans and their families a blessed day.

I know a lot of people don't like it that the stores seem to be getting ready for Christmas earlier and earlier, but I have to admit I like seeing the decorations and hearing the music. I do feel for those poor folks who are having to work Thanksgiving Day or at the crack of dawn for those who have to deal Black Friday.

But to focus on the positives, I was at Wal Mart yesterday and got a wild hair and decided to buy a Colorbok ornament kit that the boys could paint. The kit came with 6 ornaments, one brush, and multiple paint colors. The kit was $3.

My boys had a blast painting. I didn't have any newspaper to put down on the table, so I pulled out my wax paper and put that on the table. In a pinch it makes a great cover. The second thing I did was I had the boys do some finger painting on some other ornaments I had purchased. I didn't have any disposable containers to put the paint in. Then I remembered a trick my mom told me. I got out my plastic wrap and put it inside two small bowls. The plastic wrap provided a protective coating for the bowl. Then clean up was a snap because I just pulled out the plastic wrap and threw it away.

If you see these little Colorbok kits at Wal Mart, I'd recommend them. The paint went on easily for the boys. Also, the thing I really liked is that I dropped one of the ornaments on my hard wood floor and it didn't chip or break at all. For $3 I didn't expect much, but this little kit was great and I would recommend it.

I have decided that for the next few years I want the boys to paint ornaments so that I'll have them when they are older. I'm having them paint enough so that one day when they go out on their own, they'll have some of the ones they painted too.

I also have another ornament tradition I started when our first son was born that I buy the boys each an ornament every Christmas. They have evolved as they've gotten older, and I've tried to find things that the boys are into at this stage in their life. A few years ago I used to read "Where the Wild Things Are" to Sawyer. So that year he got an ornament that had that. Two years ago I got Logan an Elvis ornament. I discovered when he was a baby that Elvis would soothe him and stop him from screaming in the car. It still works to this day. He can be in the middle of a meltdown and "the king" settles him right on down.

Here are pictures of the ornaments that the boys painted.

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Operation Christmas Child

2011-11-09T09:05:00.000-05:00

Are you giving thanks or thinking of things you are thankful for with the Thanksgiving holiday coming up? I know that some days feel so hard with all the things I have going on and the challenges I face, but when I stop to take a minute to look at where I am and how God has blessed my family, I know I am better off than other folks.

I'm happy to be doing another post about Operation Christmas Child and how this wonderful charity impacts so many children world wide.

I'm excited that my family has participated in this for the last few years. It makes me so happy to pack these boxes. As I pack, I pray for the children that will receive them. I pray that this will bring them joy and that they will know that someone out there loves them and is thinking of them.

I have to admit I had to quickly pull mine together, so I didn't get a chance to take pictures of what I put inside the boxes. But one thing I did this year was save a bunch of the Happy Meal toys we get and I used a number of those brand new toys to pack in our shoe boxes. Since they are small, you can fit a lot of them in the box. I also stocked up on school supplies and sent things like crayons and glue. And of course coloring books are always great too. Here is a shot of some of our boxes in my car ready to be dropped off at my church.

I was sent a link of this Sudanese Boy Gets Football Joy and I encourage you to take a look at this video. It is really short. The look on that boys face is priceless. I have to admit that since I have started having boys I try to pack shoe boxes geared towards boys. I guess I am biased, but I think there are so many things out there for girls, I think it can be a challenge to pack for boys.

If you want to participate in this wonderful cause, be sure to visit the Operation Christmas Child website where you can get details on how to participate. This is a great way if you have really young children to have them help you pack the shoe box and to instill an understand of helping others. I also like that it gives me a way to show them that there is a bigger world outside of the area we live.

For your reading enjoyment, I'd like to recommend stopping by Amanda's blog Serenity Now Blog. She is also sharing today how she packed shoe boxes and she has some great pictures of the goodies she sent.

Another great read today is Melanie over at The Big Mama blog. She is currently in Ecuador and the pictures on her blog are incredible. They will touch your heart.

I'd love to know if you participate in Operation Christmas Child and pack shoe boxes? If so, what do you send? Leave me a comment, I'd love to hear!

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Good bread for cold nights

2011-11-08T08:35:00.000-05:00

Today I wanted to share something new I discovered on one of my weekly Wal Mart runs. Over in their bakery department where they have the loaves of french bread and other rolls, they sell these packages of bread by Ecce Panis. They come in ciabatta like I have pictured below, as well as rolls and demi loaves of french bread. What I love about this bread is that you bake it yourself at home. It has a wonderful taste. And depending what one you get, they run between $1.50 and $2.88. The ciabatta was $2.88.

I had some of this bread with the home made Harvest Cream Soup recipe I shared a few weeks ago. We have had a number of these breads with different dishes such as the soup I just mentioned, as well as spaghetti and stew.

I love it that these breads have a quick bake time, under 10 minutes. This bread baked in 8. If you have the Pampered Chef mini bar stone, as you can see the ciabatta is a perfect fit.

So, this is something quick and easy cooking up in my kitchen. Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Catching up

2011-11-07T08:36:00.000-05:00

Today is a whirl wind of activity which hasn't left me a lot of time to blog. But I will be blogging on some great topics later this week including Operation Christmas Child and some ideas for the upcoming holidays.

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Lightning McQueen and Thomas the Tank Engine

2011-11-02T09:02:00.000-04:00

Well had a wonderful time Trick or Treating even though it started to rain when we started out. We were able to go to a number of houses and it was exciting this year to see Logan get into it. Last year he wouldn't go, but he was so happy to be Thomas the Tank Engine.

At one point dh had to go and get the car for us and Logan started to fuss. He was in the back seat yelling, "More houses. Stop! Stop!" LOL Needless to say for someone who has only been given a few M&Ms, he picked up real quick that candy is a good thing and got into Halloween.

Here are pictures of the boys in their costumes. As you can see, we had a Lightning McQueen pumpkin and a Thomas Pumpkin. The boys loved them and their costumes.

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods.

Thomas the Tank Engine Pumpkin and more!

2011-10-31T09:00:00.002-04:00

We have had a jam packed weekend. Saturday was my sweet Logan's 3rd birthday and we had a great time celebrating that. And then last night we carved pumpkins.

Every year I usually carve a pumpkin using the Pumpkin Master's stencils. This year I decided to do something different and I went online and found a free stencil for a Thomas the Tank Engine stencil. Logan and Sawyer LOVE Thomas so I thought they would like this. Sawyer was Thomas last year and Logan is going to be Thomas this year. I can't wait to get a picture of Logan in his costume by the Thomas pumpkin.

My sister in law and brother in law came over and helped carve. They used the Pumpkin Master's stencils and did fabulous pumpkins. Here are how our pumpkins turned out.

So, we are ready to get into some Trick or Treating tonight. I'm praying the rain will hold off until we've had a chance to go. This will be the first year Logan will be into it, so I'll be so sad if we can't take them.

Hope you are having a Happy Halloween in your neck of the woods!

Smurfy Pumpkins

2011-10-28T09:37:00.001-04:00

Today I wanted to share with you some pumpkins we saw at the pumpkin patch. Brings back memories of watching the Smurfs when I was a kid. So, anyone dressing up as a Smurf for Halloween?

Count Down to Halloween

2011-10-26T00:00:00.000-04:00

The winner of the General Mills giveaway is

True Random Number GeneratorMin:Max:Result:1

That comment was left by Teresa

comments:

Theresasaid...: Favorite Character.... would probably be Yoda.. IF he can do marital arts so can I :)
GM cereal.... I guess Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
Thanks for the offer :D; October 13, 2011 2:01 PM

Congratulations!

This has been such a busy week for us. We have my son's birthday coming up and then of course there is Halloween.

So, that is what has been going on here. Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods.

Halloween Decorations

2011-10-19T08:30:00.000-04:00

Today I thought I'd share some pictures of some of my Halloween decorations on my front porch. I like to decorate with things like pumpkins and scare crows so the decorations are fall festive without being scary.

The first picture is a big shot of my front porch. I love having different types of pumpkins.

This second picture gives you a side shot of the little scarecrows I have in the little adirondack chairs. The big planter has pansies and a scarecrow in it. That crazy looking vine behind it goes around my doorway to frame it and it has white lights in it. I love it and sometimes keep that up through Thanksgiving. I want to add more fall decorations to that vine garland, but I haven't had time yet.

This pumpkin is my new favorite item. He is painted wood and looks so rustic. I got him at Ross.

This is a picture of the Charlie Brown wreath I made last year. They had these foam shapes in a big pack at Michael's last year. I didn't even use half the pack to make this. I hot glued them on so they would stay and the wreath still looks great going on year 2. It wouldn't be Halloween without The Great Pumpkin. I am a huge Charlie Brown fan.

And this is the scariest decoration I have outside. I have a big spider on each of our lights.

Do you have any great Halloween or fall decorations at your house? Leave a comment and let me know. I'd love to see if you've shared any of your pictures on your blog.

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

The Force is strong with this one

2011-10-13T12:00:00.000-04:00

One of the first things I learned about my dh when we started dating is that he is a fan of Star Wars. And crazy as it may sound, it is one of the things I love about him.

So when I heard through the MyBlogSpark program that General Mills Big G cereals had come out with special edition cereal boxes to celebrate the release of the complete Star Wars saga on Blu Ray, I was really excited. The Blu-Ray compilations are now out in the stores. So if you are looking for a unique Christmas gift, check them out.

Wal Mart is exclusively carrying the special Big G cereals commemorating this latest Star Wars release. Specially marked Big G cereal boxes have scenes when placed together create a panoramic poster. These posters depict good versus evil with many of your favorite characters like Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, and Princess Leia and others. Some of the cereals containing these stunning posters include: Honey Nut Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and Lucky Charms. These will be in stores for a limited time.

The folks at MyBlogSpark and General Mills were kind enough to send me a box of each of these cereals to try, as well as a $25 gift card to Wal Mart. I have been eating the heck out of the Cinnamon Toast Crunch. With the cool fall weather, that taste of cinnamon has been great in the mornings. I've been having a bowl along with a cup of apple cider from my Keurig. I'm in cinnamon heaven. LOL

And now for the great news. They want to send one of my readers a fabulous prize pack containing one box each of Honey Nut Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and Lucky Charms. And a $25 gift card to Wal Mart.

You have 5 opportunities to enter. You must post separate responses to this thread for each entry to count. You must also include your email address so I have a way to contact you. This giveaway will end at midnight EST on Friday, October 21st. The winner will have 24 hours from when I contact them to get in touch with me, otherwise I will draw another name.
1.) Which General Mills cereal would you like to try?

2.) Follow me @chiccraftychick on Twitter.

3.) Follow the Chic Crafty Chick Blog. Check out the right hand side of my blog to follow. If you are already following, please leave a comment saying you are a follower.

4.) Add Chic Crafty Chick to your blog roll, or add my badge to your sidebar. Be sure to come back and leave the link to your site in a separate comment.

5)Which Star Wars character is your favorite and/or which Star Wars movie is your favorite?

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies

2011-10-12T08:31:00.001-04:00

The other day I was on Pinterest and I saw a recipe for these cookies pinned by the Scrambled Henfruit Blog. She says that she got it from The Cooking Photographer Blog. So now I've found two more blogs I love.

By the way, if you haven't discovered Pinterest you've got to check it out. Warning, it is a very addicting website. LOL I'm amazed at all of the great stuff on there.

I made these cookies yesterday afternoon to take to my monthly Bunco group last night. Let me tell you that these are heaven on a plate. First let me say that when I was making these cookies I had an idea pop into my head. A revelation if you will. My youngest son was a total crab yesterday afternoon and kept wanting me to pick him up. I was trying to get the batter made so I could put it in the fridge to chill and he kept grabbing my leg. I've decided that this should be one of the Top Chef Just Desserts or one of the other Top Chef series quick fire challenge. See if you could cook in thirty minutes with a screaming kid constantly grabbing your leg. Or stopping your work to pick them up. So Bravo, if you are reading my blog then if you decide to use this idea, please let me come to the Top Chef kitchens to watch. LOL

And now back to the cookie making. As you'll see in the recipe below, I did some adaptions from the recipe that the Scrambled Henfruit blog posted. Instead of using cinnamon, I had Pampered Chef's Cinnamon Plus Spice Blend which I'd never used before. So I decide to roll the dice and add it in. I also did not have an hour to chill my batter. I had 15 minutes. I will agree with the Scrambled Henfruit blog that if you can give yourself an hour, do so. I found the dough a bit of a challenge to work with and it would have been easier if it had a chance to firm up a little more.

Another note, is I used the medium size cookie scoop by Pampered Chef. When I got to the step where you put the caramel in the middle, I pinched off some dough from the bowl and used that to cover the caramel. I felt like these cookies were giant, but I don't know if you could get away with making them but so much smaller since the caramels are big. If you wanted smaller cookies, I'd recommend cutting the caramel in half.

Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies
Ingredients

1 cup softened butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 box (7.4 oz) Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Instant Original Drink mix -not sugar free- all 10 packets (I found this in my grocery store near the hot chocolate mixes.)

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 cups all purpose flour

1 bag Kraft Caramels (14 oz)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350° F. Line cookie sheets with parchment. (You really need the parchment!)
In a small bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon.
With your mixer (or an energetic spoon) cream together butter, sugar, salt and all 10 packages of apple cider drink mix powder, until light and fluffy.
Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and mix well.
Gradually add flour mixture to butter/egg mixture. Mix until just combined.
Refrigerate for about an hour. (If you're really impatient you don't have to do this, but it makes it so much easier to work with.)
When you are ready to bake, unwrap your caramels.
Scoop out cookie dough ball about the size of a walnut. (I used a rounded cookie scoop-full. My scoop holds about a Tablespoon.)
Flatten the ball of dough slightly in the palm of your hand. Press the unwrapped caramel into the center of your dough and seal the dough around it, covering it completely. Place on parchment covered cookie sheets 2 inches apart.
Bake 12-14 minutes, or until very lightly browned around the edges. Please don't over-bake! Once the cookies are done, slide the parchment off of the baking sheet right out onto the counter. Allow cookies to partially cool on the parchment. When cookies are cool enough to be firm but still slightly warm, carefully twist off of parchment and allow to finish cooling upside down (either on the parchment or on a rack.) If you forget about them and they cool too much and stick to your parchment, put them into the freezer for a few minutes and they'll pop right off.
Yield: about 4 dozen, depending on how large you make your cookies (or how many caramels have been snitched out of your bag before you begin.) Store in an airtight container

I enjoyed one of these cookies before Bunco with a cup of hot apple cider from my Keurig. Can you tell I like apple cider? LOL

So, do you drink apple cider? What do you think about apple cider cookies?

Harvest Cream Soup by Pampered Chef

2011-10-05T08:49:00.003-04:00

The weather has cooled down here in Virginia and so that has made me change my game plan when it comes to dinner. I've been wanting to try some new recipes and make some hearty meals using in season ingredients. So I flipped through my Pampered Chef Quick Vegetarian Main Dishes cook book. I've wanted to have more vegetables in our diet, so I thought it might be nice to try something from this cook book.

I chose to make the Harvest Cream Soup. The first picture is of my roasted vegetables. And of course the second is the finished product.

I liked this soup, but dh said he thought it was rich and that you wouldn't want to eat more than a bowl. I served a Roasted Garlic Italian Demi Loaf of bread with the soup. I bought that at Kroger. I think having a good, chewy bread is perfect with this soup. I have a ton of this soup and I'm wondering how well it would freeze. I think I may give that a try. Another thing of note, I like the taste of the soup, but I felt like it needed something else. The leek taste is pretty strong. When I make it again, I am going to roast one sweet potato and add that in to the blend. I'm wondering if adding a touch of sweetness will balance it.

I would say that if you have a busy schedule, I'd recommend cutting up the butternut squash and leeks the night before. That way all you have to do is roast your veggies and then puree them.

When I made this, I didn't add the ginger root juice or sour cream at the end. Next time I will add those. I ran out of time trying to get this on the table.

So have you ever made this recipe before, or do you have a home made soup recipe to share? I'd love to hear what you are cooking.

Harvest Cream Soup

1 lb butternut squash
2 leeks (white and light green portions only)
1 lb baby carrots (about 3 cups)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove
Salt and course black pepper
2 cans vegetable broth
1 can evaporated milk
1 one inch piece unpeeled ginger rood
Reduced fat sour cream

Preheat oven to 350. Cut squash into 1 inch pieces. Cut leeks in half length wise then into 2 inch pieces. Combine squash, leaks, carrots oil and garlic pressed with Garlic Press. Add to mixing bowl and toss. Season with salt and pepper if desired.

Arrange vegetables in a single layer on Large Bar Pan. Bake 40-45 minutes or until vegetables are tender and deep golden brown. Remove pan from oven to Stackable Cooling Rack.

Combine half of the vegetables with half of the broth in blender. Cover; blend until smooth. Pour vegetables into 4 qt. Casserole. (NOTE: I just put mine in a pot on my stove) Repeat with remaining vegetable mixture and broth. Add evaporated milk to Casserole; mix well. Cook over medium heat 5-6 minutes or until heated through, stirring occasionally.

Grate ginger root using Microplane Adjustable Grater. Gather ginger root in palm of your hand and squeeze over soup to yield 2 tsp; discard flesh. Stir juice into soup just before serving. Season to tasted with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into bowls; swirl in sour cream, if desired.

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

(If you are hopping over from Amanda's blog Serenity Now thanks so much for stopping by!)

Booing has begun!

2011-10-03T11:50:00.002-04:00

So for those of you who are new to my blog, this is the time of year that Booing begins in my neighborhood. Booing is such a fun thing that gets started at the beginning of October so it has time to spread by Halloween. When you Boo someone, you put together fun treats and then leave them on your neighbor's porch for them to find. You include a sign and instructions so they can continue Booing other neighbors. After a week or two, it is fun to drive by houses on our street and see the Booing signs go up on the front of houses.

Here is a peak at some of the goodies I've found recently that are perfect for Booing. By the way, that Orville Redenbacher Caramel popcorn is awesome. It is a perfect fall snack. And I've found Dollar Tree and the Target dollar spot to have wonderful booing items.

If you want to start Booing in your neighborhood, check out the Halloween Booing Printables on this website. I'd love to hear if you Boo in your neighborhood. And if so, what kind of goodies do you like to leave?

Checking in Monday a.m.

2011-10-03T08:52:00.002-04:00

I'm going to be putting up a spooktacular post later today. Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Top Chef Just Desserts

2011-09-30T08:38:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite no calorie sweet treats has been the show Top Chef Just Desserts. If you don't watch it or haven't caught it, it comes on Wednesday evenings on Bravo. It comes on at 10 p.m. at my house. This show is one of my guilty pleasures. With all the stress I've been under recently due to all these medical tests I'm going through, I love looking forward to Wednesday nights when this show comes on.

The show has contestants that go through various challenges every week that are dessert based. They are just on their creativity and of course the taste of their dish. One of my favorite episodes happened two weeks ago where they had the original cast from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory come and they chefs prepared a Wonka land room. The things they did were incredible. I would love to have been able to go through that room. Just walking through and taking in the wonder of it all must have been incredible.

Bravo runs lots of reruns of their shows, so if you haven't been watching and want to catch up, check your local listing. There are still enough folks left that if you picked up watching now you would still enjoy it.

This is the second season of Top Chef Just Desserts and I think it is better than the first. I think the show has found its groove. The folks who competed in the first season were great, but I just think the show seems more focused and what I expect of Top Chef.

Are you watching Top Chef Just Desserts and if so, who do you want to win?

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Roasted Sweet Peppers

2011-09-27T09:18:00.000-04:00

Recently my Bunco group started back up. We take a break during the summer. This year we decided to change things up and do it pot luck. During that time, I was doing the gluten free diet because I was waiting to get confirmation on whether I had gluten sensitivity. I'm happy to say I don't have it. But the recipe I made is great whether you are doing gluten free or not.

Right now in the grocery section you can find small plastic containers of sweet peppers. I personally don't like spicy peppers, so if you are in that category don't worry these are sweet and not hot/spicy. As you can see from my picture below they come in beautiful red, orange, and yellow colors. I bought two packs of these peppers and hollowed out the seeds. Then I had a log of goat cheese and stuffed the peppers with the goat cheese. I brushed each pepper with olive oil along with the baking sheet and then put them in a 350 oven. I turned them when they started to get dark (I'd guess about 20 minutes into roasting).

These are such a great appetizer and easy to make. They were a huge hit. I love all the colors and how it brightens up a table and your plate. Have you ever made these peppers, or do you have a great appetizer recipe you'd like to share? I'd love to hear.

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

DaySpring Back to School Supplies

2011-09-26T11:10:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, I was sent a wonderful set of school supplies to review. DaySpring in recent years has come up with this line that includes: three ring binders, composition notebooks, folders, pencil pouches, etc. with edgy, contemporary graphics, phrases and Bible verses geared towards middle schoolers. Even though I don't have kids in middle school yet, I wanted to do this review because I was really intrigued and I do have friends who have kids in middle school.

When I opened up the box, I was really blown away by these products. I thought the graphics and the message on the items would be something middle school and high school kids would like. Even though I don't fall into those categories, I love the "Whatever" three ring binder. It is the verse from Philippians 4:8. Such a great, edgy way to put it out there.

I took pictures of these great products because I wanted you to see them for yourself.

So here are pictures of all the great supplies they sent. There is a pencil case, three ring binders, a spiral notebook and a smaller notebook. The black three ring binder reads, "This message is illegal in 53 countries." The bottom picture shows a wonderful gift bag. The verse on the bottom says, "God has been very good to me." (Genesis 3:11) I love that bag because I think it is great for any occasion. Isn't the little spinner cute? This would be great as a birthday gift bag, or just a pick me up. And I love it that the bag comes with tissue paper. I hate having to hunt for a bag and tissue paper separately.

I believe these items can be purchased at your local Christian bookstore. I know school has already started, but I think these items would make great Christmas presents. The notebooks could make great journals and the pencil case would make a great stocking stuffer. Because you know stockings can be hard to stuff sometimes. And if you had a girl who didn't want to use it as a pencil case, I think you could use it as a small make up bag instead.

So this is one of the good things I've been checking out lately. And with all of the crummy medical tests I've had recently, these really brought a smile to my face. I know you'll love them too.

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

What a week

2011-09-19T08:59:00.000-04:00

This is a week that is going to be busy and stressful. We are on our preschool adventure. So momma is getting used to both little birds flying the nest for a little bit.

Tomorrow unfortunately have to go in and get a colonoscopy and endoscopy procedure done. I've had some issues and we are sure what is going on. Also, I am hoping that they will be able to tell me if I really do have gluten sensitivity because my blood work was inconclusive. So, things have been crazy and stressed around here to say the least.

I can't wait to get back to some regular blogging. I've been working on a knitting project the very few precious moments I get. I'm also thinking ahead to Halloween and have already bought a few cute decorations that I"ll share later in the week.

I hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Play-Doh Play Dates Website

2011-09-15T14:30:00.000-04:00

One of the things that I love right now is that my kids have really gotten into playing with Play-Doh. That makes me happy for a number of reasons. The first is that I have fond childhood memories of playing with Play-Doh. I used to love (and still do) the feel and the smell of it and how you can create so many different things with it. The possibilities are endless. The other reason I love it that my kids are into playing with Play-Doh is that my boys are VERY busy and don't stop a lot. So, any chance where they will sit still and play and give me a few minutes to get something done in the kitchen is huge in my book.

I was approached by the folks at SocialMoms to review the Play-Doh Play Dates
website. I had never heard of this website before, so I was intrigued to go and check it out. And I have to say I haven't been disappointed. The website has ideas for parents as well as teachers. It provides different play date ideas with different themes. An example of this is that the theme for this month is pizza play date, but of course they have a number of different themes. Under each theme they have "Fresh Ideas" which are nifty links for you to click on and they show you easy step by step direction of how to create Play-Doh creations that go with that theme. The steps can easily be followed by an adult or child. The pictures in the instructions are really helpful and cool to look at. One of the pizza theme creations they show you how to make is a Play-Doh pizza. Another one that was really neat showed you how to make a calzone. Who would ever have thought you could make a calzone out of Play-Doh?

Also to support the different themes they have "Crafts". The crafts that go with the pizza theme are so cute. They have about four different ones you can click on. One of them, for example, is a pizza box. When you click on it you can then print off the page and cut out and then fold the paper into the shape of a pizza box. This is a craft I think older kids would like to do. So once you make your Play-Doh pizza, you'll have a paper pizza box to put it in. Wouldn't this make a great party or play date favor?

The final link under the theme is the "Snacks" theme. They give the idea of making english muffin pizzas which is a great idea since working with Play-Doh will work up an appetite. Also, you can tell the kids that instead of trying to eat the Play-Doh, they can eat their real mini pizza. LOL

The website also has a great games section. I really liked this because I've wanted to let my kids start playing some simple games on the computer to get them used to working a mouse, but I've found some of the websites difficult. The matching game on this website is a great game for young children to practice not only the obvious matching skills, but learning to use a mouse as well.

As I mentioned before, there is a section for teachers to utilize lesson plans that incorporate using Play-Doh. Most of the plans I saw went from PreK-3rd grade. I know if my kids had a teacher that utilized Play-Doh as part of a learning activity, I would love it. Working on fine motor skills, as well as utilizing multiple senses such as touch, sight, and smell would be a great way to enhance their learning experience. So if you know a teacher, be sure to share this website with them. I think they'll find the information very useful.

Here are some pictures of my boys playing with Play-Doh and making a Play-Doh pizza. They both love pizza and were thrilled with getting to make a pretend pizza.

Here is our finished pizza. The boys had so much fun making their pretend pizza.

I love this Play-Doh Play Dates website. I think these ideas are not only great ideas for play dates, but they would work really well for a birthday party idea as well. The Play-Doh would make a great favor for the kids.

So that is what is happening in my world. Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods.
Disclosure: This post is part of a SocialMoms product evaluation, for which I’ve been selected. I’ve been compensated for my time with 8,000 My SocialMoms Rewards Points. The opinions expressed in this post are mine and don’t necessarily reflect the opinions of SocialMoms or Play-Doh.

Manic Monday

2011-09-13T08:27:00.001-04:00

So yesterday was single handedly the worst Monday I've ever had. Preschool drop off was a nightmare and then I had someone who was rude to me in Target. I'm stressed about my kids going to preschool today, so I've been up since 3 a.m. This is one of those times I'm slammed this morning and I've been stressed so I'm giving myself the day off. I'll be back to blogging tomorrow.

Hope you are having a good day in your neck of the woods.

1st day of preschool

2011-09-12T08:47:00.002-04:00

Today is the first day of preschool for my oldest. The youngest will join him tomorrow. So it is a big day here. I also have to go to the specialist to find out what is going on with me. So, I'm going to share my cool DaySpring review with you tomorrow. I've also got some other great things I'll be sharing this week.

Fall is officially here because we are hitting the ground running today.

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

My crazy week

2011-09-09T08:51:00.001-04:00

Oh blogging how I've missed you. I feel like since Hurricane Irene came through and it has just thrown everything into a tail spin.

My biggest "news" I had this week is that I got some test results back from my doctor. I've been having issues for months and they did some blood work. I found out I have gluten sensitivity, so I've got to find out what this all entails. Some folks on Twitter have been so kind as to point me in the direction of bloggers who blog on gluten issues.

I've so enjoyed working with the great folks at MyBlogSpark. And a year ago yesterday, I blogged about Chex mix cereals and how they are gluten free. I went back and read the post and had said I was so glad no one in my family had gluten issues. Then a year later, I find out I now have gluten sensitivity. Crazy, huh? Here is a link to the Chex Gluten free cereals post if you are interested.

Monday I'm going to a specialist and will find out some more information. I have a family history of Crohn's Disease, so I'm praying I don't have it. So as you can imagine, things have been crazy. Plus, the kids start preschool next week so we will be getting used to a new schedule.

I've got a great blog post coming Monday on some great Christian school supplies by Dayspring. So be sure to come back and check them out.

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

How we survived Hurricane Irene

2011-09-01T09:33:00.002-04:00

After what I've been through with Hurricane Irene, I'm now calling myself "The Pioneer Woman". LOL We lost power Saturday afternoon and then it came back on mid day Tuesday. I am so glad I did some things ahead of time. And I did learn some lessons on ways I can prepare if another one hits.

The first thing I'm glad I did was heed the warnings and fill my car up with gas. Because the day after the hurricane it was insane. Here are shots of one of the gas stations and the lines that spilled into the road. I heard people were getting into fist fights over ice. Can you imagine?

Dh on the other hand did not fill his car up with gas. He went to a gas station and waited in a line to have them run out right before him. That prompted him to drive to an area about 20-25 minutes away from us and we found out they hadn't been hit as hard. We were able to go to that area and eat at Arby's Sunday evening.

Sunday evening Sawyer started running a fever, so Monday morning we went to the pediatrician. I've never felt so sorry for a kid to have a fever with no ac. They gave us an antibiotic and knock on wood he is getting better.

During the storm we had a Coleman Lantern which I highly recommend. That gave out the best light. We had candles which I don't like to use as much with the little ones. I do have a candle sconce on the wall, so that helped that it was up high and out of their reach.

I wanted to share with you how I got creative for rigging up light sources for us. You don't realize how dark it can get until you don't have light and even don't see light from your neighbor's houses.

To back track, at the beginning of the summer Dollar Tree had some really cute Chinese Lanterns. I bought them to take on vacation because I bought a bunch of flamingo themed things to decorate our beach house. I remembered I had the lanterns so I pulled them out and hung them on the ceiling fan so they would provide some light and be out of reach of the kids. The kids loved it and Sawyer was so cute and asked if we were having a birthday party since I was decorating and had lit candles. He was excited because he thought we would have cake. LOL I have decided I will definitely get more of these battery powered Chinese Lanterns to have. I had four originally hanging from the fans, but I had to put one in Sawyer's room so he would have a night light. So thanks Dollar Tree for saving us in that regard. I don't know what I would have done if we didn't have that lantern for him in his room. As an FYI, I was at Dollar Tree last Thursday before the storm and they have super cute Halloween Lanterns. I bought two pumpkin lanterns and they had white and purple too.

We did have some storm damage and had one of our big trees split in the back. I tried to take some pictures to give you a perspective of how big this tree is. We watched it split and were so blessed it went over our fence into our neighbors yard and didn't damage their property or ours. We had some neighbors who didn't fare as well and they had a tree go through the middle of their house . They are ok, but they've had to move in with family and will probably be out of their house for months.

Here are pictures of the damage we sustained. So glad it missed my fence and my kids new play set.

Here are some other pictures of homes around me that didn't fair as well. And some of these folks still don't have power. We can hear their generators still going in the distance. As you can see, tree damage was severe and that is what has hampered the power company from getting power restored quickly.

I'm thankful to all the folks who are working on getting power restored as quickly as they can and are missing time with their families. And some of their families still don't have power. But the numbers are dropping quickly, so that is good.

I am proud to say my family faired this storm fairly well and we were one of the folks who didn't have a generator. But that came at a price and I lost all my food in the fridge and in the freezer in my kitchen. But when I look at all our blessings that we are safe and have power again, that puts things in perspective. Of course food can be replaced easily, your family can't be replaced.

So this is the what has been happening in my world. How have you been? Did Irene mess anything up for you? Hope you all have stayed safe!

No power, thanks Irene

2011-08-28T08:50:00.001-04:00

We lost power around 5 pm Saturday evening. We had a tree snap and break. Thankfully it didn't hit our house or our neighbors. I will try to post again when we get power. I think it will be a while since our area got slammed with downed trees.

Hurricane Preparedness

2011-08-26T09:10:00.000-04:00

I guess this week is determined to go out with a bang. We had the earthquake earlier in the week and now we are under tropical storm warnings with Irene blowing through. I've been trying to play catch up from vacation this week and to now get ready for Irene coming through my area. We've had a couple of hurricanes and tropical storms go through our area in the last few years and so today I thought I'd share a couple of tips I've learned that have helped us get through.

1. Fill your bathtub. Sounds goofy, but I did that a few years ago and it saved us. You may have to use water from your bathtub to flush your toilet. Dh laughed at me for doing it, but then when we needed it he was glad I'd done it. That brings up another point. Have a bucket ready in case you need to get the water out of the bathtub.

2. Dish washing. If the power goes out you won't be able to wash your dishes, so run your dishwasher ahead of time. Also, get some of that foaming hand sanitizer. That works best if you have sticky things like peanut butter on your hands. You won't want to use all your water up to wash your hands.

3. Water. As I mentioned above, water may become a precious commodity so having foaming hand sanitizer can help. Getting bottle water is good. Another thing I'd recommend is if you have any empty gallon milk jugs, fill them with water and freeze them. They will make a great ice block if your power goes out and can keep your fridge/freezer cold for a while.

4. Battery Powered Lantern. Until I had kids I never realized how great this was to have in the house. I always used candles before, but you don't want to have candles going in a room with small kids. So a battery powered lantern is nice to have. Here is a tip. If you are having a hard time finding flashlights and batteries in your area, Dollar Tree now has battery powered Chinese Lanterns for Halloween. I just bought some yesterday. You can hang up a couple of those if your power goes out. Plus you'll be ahead for Halloween. LOL

5. Canned goods and fresh bread. I've got peanut butter on hand and tuna fish. Things that don't require cooking are good to have on hand.

6. Fill your propane for the gas grill. A few years ago we had a grill that had a side burner and it was so handy when we lost power. If your food starts to go bad in your freezer, you can use your gas grill to eat it up.

7. Trash bags. These are handy if you have storm debris.

8. Glow sticks. Storms can be scary for some kids. Why not try to make it fun and let them have glow sticks. These can be found in the camping section of Wal Mart, or Dollar Tree has had some fun ones in the shape of princess wands, swords, bracelets, and necklaces.

9. Can opener. Be sure to have an old fashioned can opener if you need to open cans.

10. Charger. Be sure to charge up your cell phone, ipod, laptop, etc. You may not how power for a few days.

I'm saying a prayer for the folks in the Outer Banks of North Carolina since it sounds like they could get hit hard. It is hard to believe we were just there a week ago and it was beautiful. Hoping they won't get hit hard.

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Shakin and Quakin

2011-08-24T09:27:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a crazy day here. As you probably heard, we had an Earthquake here in Virginia. We had a small one a few years ago, but what we experienced yesterday was scary. I was in the house with my kids and all of a sudden the house started shaking. I didn't know if a big truck or a low flying plane was going over. Then as the intensity increased I knew it was an earthquake. I grabbed my kids and ran into the bathroom. That is where we should go if there is a tornado. Guess I'll have to rethink the earthquake drill now.

And they say we may get rain from Irene coming up the coast. I guess the plague and famine will be next. LOL

We just got back from vacation on Sunday, so I've been playing catch up. I can't wait to share some stories from vacation.

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Pureology Green Schools Contest

2011-08-23T13:48:00.001-04:00

Recently I joined a group called Influenster. They work with different companies on various initiatives. They recently contacted me about an initiative sponsored by Pureology. Pureology is currently running a contest where folks can nominate their local school to win a green makeover. There were will be multiple prizes awarded, so various schools will have the chance to win. There are some interesting facts on the website about how green initiatives can directly impact a child's education in a positive way. You can read about the details here on the Pureology Green Schools contest website. It sounds like a great contest and any of the schools who who win will be lucky. I'm personally excited because I have sisters in law who are teachers. I can't wait to share this opportunity with them.

I was thinking back to when I was a kid and I believe there were public service announcements that had the owl that said, "Give a hoot, don't pollute." It was such a catchy slogan that it has stuck with me. I think that because of that psa, as well as at various times during my education it made an impact on me to try to do what I can to limit my families foot print. That is why I like to share about programs like this. Starting kids early is a great way to teach them how to incorporate an awareness about the world around them and their impact in it.

If you are interested in joining Influenster so you can be one of the first folks to hear about programs like this one sponsored by Pureology, follow my link here http://tinyurl.com/3pwl3br When you join Influenster, you can earn various badges which make you eligible to receive what they call a free VoxBox. Because I blogged about this iniative, I'm eligible to receive a box of free green products. There are various areas of interest, so be sure to check it out via my referral link above. If you have any problems, shoot me an email and I'll be sure to help. I can't wait to get my first VoxBox and I'll be blogging about it once it comes in the mail. I've seen on their website where folks in the past have received VoxBoxes of beauty products. Who know what they will have next.

What green initiatives are they doing at your child's school, or what kind of green things do you do at your house?

Sabor a Cajeta

2011-08-19T00:00:00.000-04:00

Today is my final blog post this week of sharing another blogger with you. Today I'm highlighting Sabor a Cajeta . Ok, I have to admit that high school Spanish didn't stick with me, but this is a great blog to visit because Lisa blogs in both English and in Spanish. I'm featuring her today because every Friday she posts beautiful pictures in her Friday Favorites posts. day in your

She has a great eye for photography and shares beautiful pictures of the world around her. She likes to blog on topics such as her craft projects (she loves to sew), as well as her children and any other great tid bits she wants to share with her readers. I know Lisa in real life and I can tell you that she is as lovely in person as she comes through on her blog. You will love her blog so be sure to stop by.

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods.

Kate Middleton

2011-08-17T00:00:00.001-04:00

Today I'm continuing my week of sharing other great blogs I like to read. On Monday I recommended Serenity Now . If you missed that post, be sure to check out that great blog. Today I've got another great recommendation for you.

Ok, after seeing the Royal Wedding I have to admit that I love seeing any kind of press about Kate Middleton. And I especially love seeing the clothes that she wears. To me she has such a wonderful style that is elegant and lady like. So imagine my delight when I recently discovered two different blogs who are dedicated to chronicling the different outfits worn by Kate Middleton.

The first blog Kate Middleton Style shows you a number of the different outfits as worn by the Duchess of Cambridge, Countess of Strathearn, Baroness of Carrickfergus (those are apparently Kate's new titles). I love that this blog will show you a dress or pair of shoes and then tell you where you could get a knock off. Because I don't see me coming into any money soon. But I have to admit that it is nice to take style cues from someone like the Duchess/Countess/Baroness.

The other blog that is What Kate Wore . I love the commentary of this blog. Even when there are lull's in the blog having material to report on, they find some kind of Kate related tid bit to share. For example, they were recently covering a quote that Anne Hathaway made about her regard for Kate's style.

So if you too are a lover of the Duchess' style, be sure to go and check out these blogs and let them know I sent you.

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Serenity Now: a mommy's solution to staying sane

2011-08-15T00:00:00.002-04:00

This week I am going to be sharing with you some blogs I like to read. I'll be sharing another post on Wednesday and then on Friday. I think it is nice to find out about other great bloggers and I know I appreciate when other bloggers are kind enough to give me a shout out. So today I wanted to share with you Serenity Now which is written by Amanda.

I don't know tons of bloggers "in real life", but I do know Amanda. I think that you'll see from her blog that she has a great sense of humor. She likes to blog on similar topics that I do which include: cute crafts, being a mommy, recipes, and a dash of fashion thrown in as well. I recently discovered a great tile craft project that she did that I think will be perfect for my MOPS group. You never know what kinds of gems you'll discover when reading her blog.

So be sure to stop by Amanda's blog and tell her I sent you. Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Operation Christmas Child

2011-08-10T00:00:00.038-04:00

Over this past weekend, I was in the stores taking advantage of the tax free weekend we had for back to school shopping. Last year I used the great sales on back to school supplies to stock up for the shoe boxes we stuff for Operation Christmas Child which is run by the Samaritan's Purse organization.

If you've never heard of this before, it is a great organization that collects shoe boxes stuffed with goodies for needy children in other countries. For many children, this is the only gift they will receive. I found it astounding that they were able to get shoe boxes to 8 million children last year. Can you imagine?

On Sunday, I picked up crayons and glue at Kmart. They are on sale for 25 cents this week. They do limit you to four. So if you are out shopping for back to school supplies, grab an extra pack (or couple) of crayons and supplies and start planning ahead to participate in this great cause. If you are not affiliated with a church, don't let that stop you. You can go to the Samaritan's Purse website and they can tell you where they have a local collection center. And if you feel led even further, they can use volunteers at the collection centers.

I personally like to fill boxes for little boys since I have two boys. I had to be bias, but I feel like it is way easier to find girly things to put in boxes, so that is why I put together boxes for boys. Small trucks, dinosaurs, and coloring books, etc. These all make great items to send. By the way, they ask that you don't send liquid items (so bubbles are out) and don't send things that could melt like chocolate.

I'm sure as we get closer to the holidays I'll be blogging about this again and sharing what I'm collecting for our boxes. And don't stress if you don't have shoe boxes. Last year I saw where you could pick some up for free at Family Christian Bookstore.

I wanted to share some pictures with you of children around the world who have received shoe boxes. I thought this first picture was so cool because it shoes folks in Africa taking shoe boxes to kids and as you can see, they are riding elephants! What a cool way to travel. Can you imagine if your shoe box was delivered by elephant? Amazing!

The faces of these sweet girls in Iraq just touched my heart when I saw this picture.

And this looks like a happy group of kids in Peru.

And these kids are hanging out in Zimbabwe with all of their shoe boxes.

I'll be blogging about this again as we get closer to the holidays and give you more ideas for packing shoe boxes. Wouldn't it be fun to organize a group you belong to (co-workers, Bunco, MOPS, etc) and set a challenge to see who can stuff the most shoe boxes? Start now and by the time November gets here, you all will be ready to go. November is when shoe boxes get turned into local distribution areas so they can get to the kids by Christmas.

So, have you ever put together a shoe box for Operation Christmas Child? What did you pack in your box(es)?

If you are jumping over from
then welcome! I'm glad Amanda sent ya!

Clearly Fresh Bags

2011-08-09T00:00:00.008-04:00

With summer here, it is a great time to take advantage of fresh produce. I love having fresh veggies and fruits, but what I hate is buying them and they go bad quickly. Sometimes we have the best of intentions to eat things up, but then something comes up and all of a sudden the produce is bad. And I am someone who doesn't like to waste food.

I was recently approached by the folks at Clearly Fresh Bags and asked if I would test their bags. I said yes, I was definitely interested. Well over the last two weeks I've done just that. I bought a number of different items at the store and was pleasantly surprised at how well the bags worked. I was sent a package that contained 10 gallon size bags. This is what they offer on their website.

One of our problems is bananas going brown quickly. My kids are hit or miss when it comes to eating them, so I was happy that these bags helped keep the bananas from going brown quickly. I was able to buy bananas on Monday and keep them in the bag and some of them didn't get eaten until Thursday. None of them had turned brown.

I also tested the bags on a bunch of asparagus. I was able to put them in and not use the asparagus for about 5 days. The asparagus tasted great and wasn't mushy on the ends which is what has happened in the past if I haven't cooked it within a day of buying the bunch.

Here is a link to the Clearly Fresh Bags website. You can order bags directly from them. Considering how much you can save on produce, I think the bags are reasonably priced.

For those of you who are concerned about recycling, the Clearly Fresh website says the bags are recyclable and gives instructions on the proper way to recycle the bags.

I'd love to hear if you give these bags a try. Or have you already known about them and used them? Be sure to let me know either way. I'd love to hear about your experiences.

Here is a picture of one of my bags. It has also been great for tomatoes.

Up with the birds

2011-08-08T11:14:00.000-04:00

So, I'm dragging today because my oldest was up at 4 a.m. I think he has some kind of 24 hour bug. Just wanted to check in and remind everyone to check out my post about getting bonus box tops for education at Sam's Club. You could win a $25 gift card to Sam's. The giveaway ends Wednesday, so don't miss it.

I'll be back to posting later this week. Hope you are having a great week in your neck of the woods.

Seventh Generation

2011-08-05T00:00:00.018-04:00

My youngest son has dabbled with potty training, but right now we are still in diapers. I recently was offered the opportunity by the folks at Seventh Generation and MyBlogSpark to try Seventh Generation's newly relaunched Free & Clear diapers.

If you aren't familiar with Seventh Generation diapers, here is some interesting information they provided to me. "What Seventh Generation leaves out is just as important as what they put in. Free & Clear diapers do not include chlorine processing, fragrances, latex and petroleum based lotions. In an effort to contribute less overall landfill waste and continue to ensure a premium standard of absorbency, the new Free & Clear diapers have been redesigned with a lighter-weight core. With processed chlorine-free wood pulp in Free & Clear diapers, Seventh Generation also makes certain that no chlorine is released into the environment during the totally chlorine-free (TCF) whitening process of the diapers and training pants.

Seventh Generation has also reduced the size of the diapers’ plastic packaging, meaning that each pack now contributes even less overall landfill waste than before. In fact, Seventh Generation Free & Clear diaper packaging can now be recycled at local supermarkets where plastic bag recycling collection boxes are available."

So the next time you are in the store, be sure to check out Seventh Generation and their Free & Clear diapers. They are a company who is committed to helping you lower your environmental footprint when you use their diapers.

Sam's Club for Back to School

2011-08-03T00:00:00.037-04:00

It is hard to believe that it in just a few short weeks the kids will be heading back to school. This will be a big deal in our house because both of my boys will be going to preschool. This will be the first year of preschool for my youngest son. I'm sure momma will be shedding some tears that first day.

This coming weekend is a tax free weekend for back to school shopping. This is a newer phenomenon here in our state and is something I'm really glad to be able to utilize when shopping for our supplies.

Over the last year, I was happy to support our local school by collecting Box Tops for Education. This is such an easy thing to do and the few seconds it took to snip them off the box was very rewarding for me. So when the folks at MyBlogSpark contacted me to let me know that Sam's Club has some great products that have bonus Box Tops for Education, I was excited to share the information with you. When you shop at Sam's Club, you will find General Mills brands such as: Honey Nut Cheerios, Nature Valley Oats 'N Honey Crunchy Granola Bars, Totino’s Pizza Rolls are offering bonus box tops! These items will have specially marked packages that will have 6 bonus box tops. That is a lot of box tops!

And even if you don't have kids in school, if you have grandkids or neighborhood children I'm sure they would appreciate them. Last year my sister who doesn't have school aged children was kind enough to save her box tops for us, as well as both grandmas. Many classes have contests for the class who collects the most box tops. Start saving them now to help out with those contests.

I'm excited that today you have the opportunity to win a $25 gift card that you can use at Sam's Club. (MyBlogSpark & General Mills sent me one too. Yay!) You have 5 opportunities to enter. You must post separate responses to this thread for each entry to count. You must also include your email address so I have a way to contact you. This giveaway will end at midnight EST on Wednesday, August 10th. The winner will have 24 hours from when I contact them to get in touch with me, otherwise I will draw another name.

1.) Which General Mills products are you most excited to see featured in the “6 Tops on a Pack” offer at Sam’s Club?

2.) Follow me @chiccraftychick on Twitter.

3.) Follow the Chic Crafty Chick Blog. Check out the right hand side of my blog to follow. If you are already following, please leave a comment saying you are a follower.

4.) Add Chic Crafty Chick to your blog roll, or add my badge to your sidebar. Be sure to come back and leave the link to your site in a separate comment.

5)Follow Sam's Club on Facebook Sam's Club Facebook Page

Cooking Day

2011-08-02T10:05:00.000-04:00

Wow is this summer flying by. And my two boys are keeping me hopping. I've been having a battle for a while with my youngest and his eating. So today I'm having a cooking day and I'm baking the Peanut Butter and Banana muffins from the Deceptively Delicious cookbook. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm keeping my fingers crossed he will like these because he loves the Apple Crunch muffins at Panera. So hopefully these will be a hit.

I also will have some upcoming reviews and giveaways as well. Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Spanky's Grille, Kitty Hawk, NC

2011-07-25T09:16:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned in a previous email, last week I was playing catch up after vacationing in the Outer Banks (or OBX as you'll see on the stickers on folks cars) of North Carolina. If you've never had the chance to visit the area, I recommend it. It is a beautiful area and we enjoy vacationing there every year.

When we go on vacation we usually eat out a few times and then cook a number of meals at the beach house we rent. Last year when we were on vacation, we struck up a conversation with a nice lady who was checking us out at Wal Mart. She recommended a great local restaurant and we tried it out. We liked it so much we went back again this year. I think this place will become one of our "must stop" places when we go on vacation. I didn't get a chance to post about it last year, so I wanted to make sure and share it this year.

As you can see by the fun logo, the restaurant is called Spanky's Grille & Pizza. They are located at mile post 3.5. For those of you who've never visited the area, this is how the local folks identify where restaurants and shops are located. I have to say it makes it really handy when you are trying to figure out the area.

Spanky's is a great place to take a family and get a delicious meal while eating on the cheap. They run various specials daily. Every time I've gone I've gotten their $2 cheeseburger because I can't pass up a good hamburger. They make delicious cheeseburgers and fries. The menu is varied and even has things like funnel cake! There is something for everyone on their menu. The staff is super friendly and it was the kind of place we felt we could take our kids and be relaxed if they were a bit noisy.

The restaurant isn't huge, but we've never had a problem getting a table and the service is fast. If you go and there is a crowd, I'd recommend getting take out from them. You don't want to miss trying them out.

But if you do dine in and someone orders the "Mad Viking Burger" they ring a bell when they bring it to the table. Along with the kitschy decor, you'll enjoy the fun atmosphere at Spanky's Grille. Go friend them on Facebook. You can find a link by visiting their website Spanky's Grille

As a disclaimer, no one at Spanky's asked me to write this post or gave me anything free. I found this to be a great place and wanted to share it with my readers. Like I've said before, I describe my blog as a "chat with your girlfriend" kind of blog, so if you were here in my kitchen having a cup of tea with me then we would be taking about this restaurant. LOL

So this is one of the places I've visited recently. I hope to share some more about my vacation adventures in upcoming posts. Have you been on vacation and found a new great place? I'd love to hear about it in the comments.

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Birthin Babies

2011-07-20T18:32:00.000-04:00

Life never goes how you think it will and yesterday is a prime example. My sister went to the hospital and had my new niece a few weeks early. I got to go and see the baby and mom and baby are doing great. Her name is Sutton. And she has some kissy cheeks on her. Can't wait until I can see her again.

So that is what has been happening in my world. Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Back in a few...

2011-07-18T09:44:00.000-04:00

I have been enjoying some fun in the sun on vacation last week and I'm back and trying to play catch up. I always think summer is going to be slow, but some how it seems to be even busier every year. We had a great trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I can't wait to share about some of the great stores and restaurants we visited during our trip.

So, I'll be putting up some posts later this week. Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Fiber One Cereal

2011-06-28T00:01:00.019-04:00

As I mentioned in my blog post yesterday, things have been crazy. And it has been hard to eat right. But the folks MyBlogSpark and General Mills sent me 5 boxes of Fiber One cereal. The flavors they sent were: Fiber One Raisin Bran Clusters, Honey Clusters, Caramel Delight, and Shredded Wheat. They also sent me some really interesting information I thought you might want to know.

"The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans say people should consume 25-38 grams of fiber daily, and that the average American consumes only 15 grams. What's amazing is that incorporating fiber into your diet can be effortless and definitely delicious with Fiber One cereals offering at least 30 percent of the Daily Value per serving (Some Fiber One cereals offer more than 50 percent!)

If you check out this link to Fiber One right now they have a $1.75 coupon off on Fiber One product (while supplies last). So if you want to give Fiber One cereals a try, then this would be a great way to give it a try.

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods.

ZFDGAMYQGYKG

Post Wedding Fatigue

2011-06-27T18:15:00.000-04:00

So Saturday my sister in law got married and my oldest son was the ring bearer and I was the matron of honor. Things were so crazy. But everything went off without a hitch. We were so busy we didn't get to take any pictures, but I can't wait to get some from other folks. I'll post some pix when I get a chance. So that is what has been going on in our world.

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods.

Playing Hooky

2011-06-15T22:26:00.000-04:00

So I've been playing hooky from my blog and for good reason. As I posted last week, it was our 10 year anniversary. We went out to dinner on Thursday and had a wonderful time. We were blessed to get to leave on Friday and have a long weekend with just the two of us in Myrtle Beach, SC. We had a wonderful time and I've been recovering from our fun in the sun. I'll post about it later.

Hope you are having a great week in your neck of the woods!

June Bride

2011-06-09T10:10:00.000-04:00

10 years ago today it was a beautiful June that was 70 degrees and no humidity. And I married my best friend. Where did the last 10 years go?

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Tea Room

2011-06-07T14:17:00.000-04:00

As I've mentioned before, my sister in law is getting married soon so about a week ago I had a tea for her and the other bridesmaids. It was so nice to get together and share an afternoon of good food and great conversation. Here are a few pictures of the tea.

Here is the table that was set up. I have to admit I was a bit annoyed with the tea room for having Memorial Day decorations on the table for the shower. Don't get me wrong, I want to celebrate Memorial Day, but they knew this was a wedding event and not a military wedding event.

I was so glad I bought the cute wedding flag and had the "Bride to Be" sash for my sister in law. Otherwise you wouldn't have been able to tell it was a wedding event.

My sister in law was so excited to have the flag and the sash. I also got her a veil that said "I do" on the ends. It was really cute.

I made up little goody bags for each of the girls. The tags I bought in a pack at Michael's and I added some ring stickers on the bags.

Ok, I am not the best at photo editing, but I wanted to show this picture because it is the closest picture I have of the food. I cut out the flower girl's face since I didn't ask her mom if I could post this picture. So, that block is where her face was in the picture. LOL They had some wonderful rosette breads that were some type of cinnamon bread. They also had mini cheesecakes. Everyone had their own individual pot of tea which was wonderful. They had cucumber sandwiches and also mini pimento cheese sandwiches which I loved.

So those are the pictures from the tea. Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Later Gator

2011-06-07T08:42:00.002-04:00

I will be posting later today with pix of the tea! In the mean time, grab a glas of sweet tea because it is gonna be a hot one today!

Darn pictures

2011-06-01T08:40:00.000-04:00

I have been on the road driving kids from one thing to another, so I haven't had a chance to pull pix off my camera. But needless to say we all had a great time at the tea on Saturday. So hopefully I'll get to post some pix and an update before the end of this week.

In the meantime, we are all trying to stay cool as the heat index was at 101 here yesterday. Even the dog wants to jump in the kiddie pool.

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Memorial Day

2011-05-30T13:02:00.001-04:00

Happy Memorial Day. I thank the brave men and women who make it so my kids and I can be in my backyard in safety, without fear. That my kids can experience the innocence of childhood and great summer days playing in the water. Thank you.

Daily's Frozen Cocktails

2011-05-27T11:38:00.000-04:00

Wow is time flying. There has been so much going on. Yesterday was fun because I got to go shopping with my sister in law for shoes and jewelry for the bridesmaids in her wedding. We picked out some cute shoes. We are counting down to the big day next month.

All of a sudden in the last two weeks the heat has cranked up here and it has be hot! So I've wanted something cool to drink. I thought today would be a great day to share one of my new finds since the holiday weekend is here. I was shopping at Wal Mart and they have these Daily's drink pouches you can freeze and they already have the alcohol in them. The one that caught my eye was the lemonade so I purchased that and a peach diaquiri one. I have tried the lemonade twice and oh my heaven it is wonderful! I don't like drinks that have a strong alcohol taste and this doesn't taste strong at all. All you do is throw it in the freezer and once it freezes it is ready. The lemonade is like having a lemon icee. You can really enjoy the lemon flavor.

I highly recommend trying these. I haven't tried the peach yet. If I remember correctly, one packet was $1.67. These would fit easily into a small cooler.

So, I hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. Be safe out there!

Later

2011-05-27T08:39:00.001-04:00

I'll be blogging later today. Happy Friday!

Here comes the bride....

2011-05-23T10:54:00.000-04:00

I've been MIA on my blog because between raising two wild boys, nursing a hurt dog (yes, Miss Zoe's eye has still not healed completely) and getting ready for a wedding I don't know where the days are going.

My sister in law is getting married next month and Sawyer and I are in the wedding. It is so hard to believe how quickly time is flying. There are still so many wedding details. I'm hosting a tea for her and the bridesmaids this coming weekend, so I've been trying to get goodies together for that event. It should be fun.
I'll be posting pictures after the tea.

So that is what is going on here. Are you attending any June weddings? Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods.

Before the Rapture Happens....

2011-05-20T22:50:00.000-04:00

I've been busy this week, but thought I should get a post in before the rapture happens tomorrow. I just didn't want anyone to think I'd received preferential treatment and got raptured early. You know, like getting bumped to first class.

So I'm still here and hope to get some more posting done next week. That is if I'm still here. :)

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Spring & Summer Fashions

2011-05-16T00:00:00.045-04:00

Last week was a whirl wind week for me. Miss Zoe had to go to the vet twice and we will be taking her back again today. She has had an ulcer on her eye and poor thing has had to get two medicines multiple times a day. But she has been a good little patient and has received lots of boiled chicken as a reward.

I've had the chance to get out to a few stores over the last two weekends and picked up a few new things to spruce up my spring/summer wardrobe.

I got this dress at Belk when I went to visit my mom. I loved these colors when I saw this dress hanging on the rack. The colors and print remind me of Lily Pulitzer. This dress was a great deal because I got it for 70% off.

I was so excited to get this dress at Target. I've recently seen that polka dots are a print in fashion. It is hard to tell from this picture, but the dress is a cotton dress and it is brown. I love that it has a little twist in the drop where it dips. It is going to be perfect when the hot, humid weather hits here this summer.

Ok, can you tell how much I loved this dress from Target that I went and bought it in black? LOL The dress also comes in a navy blue with polka dots.

My final show and tell for today is this peasant top. I feel like the color didn't show up well in this picture, but it is a beautiful bright orange. I never wear orange, but this was so pretty that I had to buy it. And believe it or not, I got this at Wal Mart. I've received a number of compliments on it.

So, these are my new fashion acquisitions. Have added any new goodies to your wardrobe?

Strawberry Picking

2011-05-11T10:31:00.000-04:00

What a week this has been. I had hoped to get a post up yesterday, but things got crazy yet again. I'm happy to say Miss Zoe is doing well. The vet said she has an ulcer on her eye. It should be healed up in about 2-3 days. Poor pup.

So Mother's Day we decided to go to a local farm and pick strawberries. Last year I made freezer jam. I like using the method as described on Make and Takes Blog . My oldest son loves this jam and it was nice into the fall and winter to have these in the freezer to pull out for pb&j sammies.

Here are some pix from our strawberry picking.

Logan got down and straight to work.

Logan liked helping put them in the basket.

Here is a shot of the crop. Up close and personal.

Sawyer joined in the picking as well. He did a great job with picking them.

Can you see dh's finger pointing at him to say "No, don't throw strawberries!" And as you can see from Sawyer's outstretched arm he threw one. Or maybe four. Then we got the heck out of dodge so he wouldn't hit someone with a strawberry and before we got kicked out and permanently banned from the place. LOL

I think this last picture sums up pretty well what it is like to take a two year old and four year old boy strawberry picking. It wouldn't be strawberry picking without squishing strawberries.

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Bloggin Later

2011-05-10T08:37:00.002-04:00

I'll be putting up a post later today. It isn't even 9 here and we've already had a busted lip. What a morning.

Miss Zoe

2011-05-09T12:06:00.000-04:00

I'm really concerned about our sweet Boston, Miss Zoe. I've had her at the vet two times in the last three months concerning her right eye. She has a white spot on it and her eye has gotten swollen and irritated a number of times. They gave me some drops for her which I'm supposed to give as needed. She hasn't needed them, but we had to give them to her yesterday because her eye was swollen. They also told me that if the white spot got a hole in it them to bring her in. I thought I saw something earlier, so we are off to the vet this afternoon. So, this is not how I had planned my Monday to start out but it is what it is.

So please say a little prayer for our sweet Miss Zoe.

Royal Wedding Party Recap

2011-05-03T11:42:00.000-04:00

So Friday my MOPS group had a beautiful Royal Wedding Party. The wedding party was so much fun. The kids played and moms chatted. Our hostess did a Royal Wedding trivia game. I've never had 3 hours go by so fast.

We ordered cookies from The Bakehouse As you can see, she was able to do a diamond ring like Kate's ring and of course no party would be complete without tiara cookies. I was so tickled by the cookies. And I have to tell you that these were not only beautiful, but hands down the best bakery cookies I've ever tasted.

Here is the wonderful finger foods and cake our hostess had for us. I am so stealing this idea of using pansies to decorate trays. They are in season and a wonderful way to and an easy pop of color.

So did you watch the Royal Wedding? What did you think?

Royal Wedding

2011-04-29T08:13:00.000-04:00

It's Royal Wedding fever here! As you can see, I've got my replica of Kate's ring on and I'm ready to party today! I'm so excited that my MOPS group is doing a Royal Wedding party. And what could be more fun that viewing wedding festivities with a group of girls. We plan to ooh and aah over the dress and all the pagentry. And having a cider toast to the bride a groom.

I'm so excited because I've got special tiara and diamond ring cookies I bought from a fabulous local baker. I'll be sharing those later on my blog.

So are you watching coverage of the Royal Wedding?

World's Greatest Boss

2011-04-28T10:46:00.000-04:00

I'm sad to think that tonight is the last night I'll get to see the antics of the World's Greatest Boss aka Michael Scott from The Office. It is hard to believe that Steve Carrell is leaving this beloved character behind.

I have been watching The Office since episode one. Michael didn't start out as one of my favorite characters, but he has such a goofy, lovable way about him you can't help but like the guy. And I have to say I'm glad it looks like they are giving fans a nice way to end his time on the show, wrapping it up in a nice little boy and not doing something terrible like killing him off. He is the kind of guy could help but root for and the would get the girl in the end. This character reminds me of the friend that you have that is a bit quirky, but very likeable who hasn't found Mr. or Mrs. Right and you would love to fix them up with someone but you just don't know who. And then lo and behold they seem to find the right person and you rejoice in their happiness.

So will you be watching The Office tonight? Who is your favorite character?

On a different note, I'm am so excited about the Royal Wedding tomorrow. I'm attending a Royal Wedding party tomorrow morning and I"ll be sure to post details.

So here is to raising a coffee mug to Michael Scott and a champagne flute to Kate & Will. Wishing you all happiness.

Easter Recap

2011-04-26T22:32:00.000-04:00

Ok, I don't know how it has gotten to be Tuesday already. And as I said to someone where did the month of April go. Not that I'm complaining.

We had a great weekend of Easter festivities. I'm always amazed at the changes in my children from one year to the next. Last year my little Logan loved doing Easter egg hunts and was great at getting as many eggs as he could. This year he learned there was chocolate in the eggs so he had a hard time putting the eggs down to get more. He mostly wanted to pick one up and immediately empty them and eat them. Who could blame him, right? LOL

Here are some pix to recap our Easter activities.

Logan liked checking out all his eggs.

He also enjoyed petting a real bunny someone brought to the Easter egg hunt at church.

Sawyer was hard at work gathering eggs.

Here Sawyer was taking a quick break from his hard work of egg gathering.

We had a great Easter weekend. How was your weekend?

Blogging later

2011-04-26T08:28:00.001-04:00

I'll be putting an up an update later today.

Thomas at the Wash Down

2011-04-20T08:49:00.000-04:00

So what happens when two little boys go wild with their water table? Hmm, they make a mud pit and recreate the adventures of Thomas the Tank engine and get mud all over Thomas. Needless to say Logan and Thomas went to the wash down for a good scrub. And the reason mud is all over his face is his brother threw the mud at him. What could I do but take a picture?

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods.

Water Table Wonder

2011-04-19T09:10:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned yesterday this week is spring break. So no preschool and what is a mom to do? Never fear, Walgreen's is here! No, Walgreen's isn't paying for a plug on my blog and no they didn't send me anything free. But hey if they want to I wouldn't say no. LOL I'm singing the praises of Walgreen's today because I was in my local Walgreen's about two weeks ago and I happened to go down the toy aisle and lo and behold they had a small water table for $20. I was so excited because I've never seen one this reasonably priced before. And my boys LOVE playing in water. I love shopping at Walgreen's because I always find really cool things.

Right after I purchased our water table I was with my mom and told her about it. She immediately went to a Walgreen's near where we were and purchased one to have at her house for the grandchildren. So I can see that good times will be had by all at our house and at Nonni's house.

For $20 we got the table, a great cup for pouring, a water wheel and two boats. The only sticky wicket was when we opened the set and put it together the water wheel was missing a wheel. Since the boys had already started playing with the table, I decided to call the company and ask them to send us a replacement rather than try and get another one from. DH called the company yesterday and they should be sending us a replacement. My mom got her table out and it had all the pieces, so it was just dumb luck on our part. But I'm not complaining because the table is still great and the boys haven't fussed because a wheel is missing.

So if you are looking for some outdoor fun you might want to see if you can get a water table. My mom works with kindergarden kids and she says in their classroom they will fill the tables with sand, rice, or beans. So you can extend the use of the table into the cold winter months too.

We've also found some great little water squirters at Dollar Tree and they've had packs of those squishy water balls in the dollar spot at Target. Great accessories to add to your table.

By the way, can you tell from Logan's shirt that we are ready for Cars 2? We are huge Cars fans here.

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Spring Break

2011-04-18T10:20:00.002-04:00

It is spring break here this week, so I'm playing hooky from blogging today. Running outside to enjoy the sunshine. Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

How does your garden grow?

2011-04-12T08:30:00.001-04:00

Today I thought I'd share some pictures of various beautiful tulips that have started to spring up around my yard. Many of these planted over 5 years ago and they have come back up.

These beautiful red ones (I know they look more orange in this picture) were along my driveway. Until yesterday when some fast four year old fingers finally couldn't resist and picked them.

This is one of two planters I've put at the end of my driveway. I put a small solar light in them so no one hits them backing out at night. I love this cheerful light apple green color. These pots are 15 inches and were only $8 a piece at Wal Mart. I hate it that big pots cost so much. And, if I get lazy and don't put them away in the winter, I don't have to worry about them cracking like clay pots.

So, are you getting down and dirty in your yard? What are you planting these days?

Spring has sprung

2011-04-07T11:45:00.000-04:00

I'm keeping this post short today because I've got a lot I've got to get done. I don't know how it is Thursday already. This week started off great, but it seems to be on a downward slide. Here is to keeping my fingers crossed for a good weekend.

Today I went to Wal Mart and I gave in to the call of the plant section. So little Logan and I are on our way outside to plant some plants or they won't get put in their pots. I'll be posting pix to share with you later. So my quesiton for you today is, are you planting anything or buying any spring hanging baskets? I'd love to hear how you are celebrating the return of spring.

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Who doesn't love free stuff?

2011-04-04T00:00:00.034-04:00

Today I wanted to share about a really cool program I recently found out about. I received an email from Old Navy asking me if I'd like to be part of their style council. It sounded like a really cool program, so I signed up. Old Navy has a group called Crowdtap who is coordinating the program for them, as well as programs for other companies.

The website is neat because once you join, you can log in and participate in short polls they call "Quick Hits". The ones I've seen are multiple choice so they take no time to do and sometimes you can win money doing it. Just the other day I won $1. Once you reach ten dollars you can cash out. They also make a donation to a charity you choose. I chose the Red Cross because I know they do such good work and they are helping in Japan right now, among other places.

The thing I'm excited about is that you can get some really cool free products from companies. Last week some folks who were in Crowdtap got coupons for a free dress from Old Navy. Unfortunately, I didn't get that one, but I can't wait to see what I get when they roll out their next program. Other companies I've seen mentioned on the site are: Playtex and Entenmanns, Goldfish, and as well as some other companies not mentioned by name (i.e. leading spirits company). I'd love to get free stuff from them.

You can only join Crowdtap by invitation. So, I wanted to invite any of you who might be interested to join. Disclaimer that it does help me out if you join under me - help me level up folks so I can qualify for Old Navy's cool stuff next time. LOL Crowdtap If you do join, I'd love to know if you get picked for any neat programs or free stuff.

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

You're Engaged! No foolin.

2011-04-01T08:35:00.000-04:00

Today is a very special day to me. 11 years ago today, dh proposed to me. I'll never forget that day. It was a beautiful day, the temps were getting close to 70 degrees and lots of sunshine. A farmer's market had opened and I wanted to go. So dh drove, but he decided to take a detour to the state capitol.

The capitol is on the way to the farmer's market, so I thought nothing of it. He suggested we take a walk. I should back up and say that at the time, we both worked for different state government agencies that were in that area. So, to me would could be taking a walk through the farmer's market and come back to the capitol any time, but I thought I'd humor him.

We came to the large set of steps that goes up the side of the building and walked up. There was a family up there. There were hanging around and I noticed dh seemed very annoyed they were there. Finally they went inside and we were alone. All of a sudden he drops down on one knee and proposes. I was floored. I knew he would propose at some point, but I had no clue it would be at that point.

So the rest of the day was spent going to visit my family and his family. No farmer's market that day. LOL

I guess you could say he was a fool in love. One thing about getting proposed on for April Fools Day is you never forget the date.

I hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Future VCU Ram?

2011-03-31T12:36:00.000-04:00

Here is some March Madness from my house. As you can see, Logan was pulling out all his tricks and likes hanging on the rim. Could I have a future VCU Ram here? LOL
Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

VCU in Final Four

2011-03-28T08:43:00.000-04:00

Ok, I have to admit I'm not usually a follower of the March Madness, but today I'm proud to say that my alma mater VCU is in the final four baby! When they made the cut to the 8, the news showed the crowds in Richmond going to the streets. The students were peaceful, but they went celebrating down Broad Street in Richmond.

Twitter was abuzz yesterday when they made it to the final four and local media said that the team was going to get in at 1:15 a.m. and that folks could come to the Siegel Center and greet them. It was amazing. I can't wait to see what the news has to say later today about that.

So, I guess I'm off to order a final four t-shirt. Hope they don't sell out before I can get mine.

Hope you have a great day in your neck of the woods!

OPI Coloring My World

2011-03-24T11:54:00.000-04:00

I got to the doctor the other day and I'm finally on the road to recover. Hallelujah! I've missed blogging and I've had so many things I've wanted to blog about.

Today I wanted to share about a new OPI nail polish color from their new Texas collection. It is called Austin-tatious Turquoise. I love this polish! I have been wearing it on my toes because I'm not good at keeping polish on my nails. Turquoise is one of my favorite colors to wear. I feel like you can wear it through all seasons, but especially spring and summer.

The picture I was able to pull for this doesn't do the color justice. It is the bottle that is the bottom right of the picture. It is such a pretty color and it has a little bit of sparkle to it. This is one you definitely want to do two coats to get the color to show up well.

I think in general this is a beautiful collection that OPI has put together. I'm such a fan of their polish. I find it lasts and the color choices are always a plus. And they come up with the cutest names.

So if you are looking for some new polish to brighten your day, I'd recommend checking out this color. And if you aren't a fan of turquoise then I'm sure you can find another color in this collection you'd love.

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Update

2011-03-22T11:20:00.001-04:00

So I have been fighting a cold|sinus infection for two weeks. I went to the doctor this morning and they gave me some meds so I hope to be on the road to recovery soon. I hope to get a real blog post up tomorrow. Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods.

St. Patty's ReCap

2011-03-18T10:44:00.000-04:00

I should be saying TGIF, but it doesn't feel that way. I haven't been posting much because I've been sick for a week. I am hoping that this junk will clear up. My stomach muscles have been getting a work out from all the coughing I've been doing. And then my kids have taken turns with being sick, so I am over winter and cheering on the arrival of spring.

I wanted to share my St. Patty's decorations with you and I figured better late than never. Also, I have a tradition ever year I get my boys St. Patty's shirts. I usually do an online memory book and for the last few years I've done them by the different months and so March includes pictures of the boys in their shirts.

I got this cool hat at Ben Franklin. Wishing I'd bought at least one more to hang on the window beside this one. I like putting decorations in unusual places like my kitchen bay window.

The little St. Patty's Sign and the pipe and hat I got at my local Ben Franklin. The shiny garland I got at Dollar Tree.

How cute is this little plaque? I got it at Dollar Tree. As you can see it has rope to hang it, but I tried to just tuck it behind and had it up on my mantle.

I'm disappointed this paper shamrock didn't come out well. But I purchased it at my local Hallmark store. They have great little things like that.

I love my sweet Logan, but he never wants to smile for pictures. Let alone stand still. LOL

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods. How did you celebrate St. Patty's Day?

Reuben Ring for St. Patty's Day

2011-03-16T00:00:00.012-04:00

I wanted to share this Pampered Chef recipe. I am going to make this Pampered Chef Reuben Ring recipe for us to enjoy on St. Patty's Day. I highly recommend it. It is really easy. I was hoping if I posted it today and you wanted to try it, it would give you time to buy all the ingredients.

Reuben Ring
8 oz sliced deli corned beef, chopped

1 can (8oz) sauerkraut, drained and squeezed dry

1 1/4 cups (5 oz) shredded Swiss Cheese, divided

1/4 cup Thousand Island dressing

2 tablespoons snipped fresh parsley

1 garlic clove, pressed

1 egg white, lightly beaten

2 can of Crescent Rolls

Prehead oven to 375 degrees. In Classic Batter Bowl, combine corned beef, sauerkraut, 1 cup of the cheese, dressing, paresley and garlic; mix well.

Take the crescent rolls out of the can and put the large ends of the crescent roll triangles so that they are side by side making them into a ring/circle. After you've done this, then do the next step in the recipe.

Scoop filling evenly over desired shape. Once you scoop filling onto the larger part of the triange, take the small end and pull it up over the filling. If you have a little excess at the small point of the triangle you can tuck it in. Go around the whole ring and finish shape as directed. Brush with egg white. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown

Yield: 8 servings

When I make this I usually don't put in the parsley and garlic and it still tastes great.

Hacking up a lung here

2011-03-15T16:15:00.000-04:00

I've got some kind of flu/cold thing going, so I'm resting today and hope to be back to blogging tomorrow. I'm so sick of coughing. Hope you are healthy and well in your neck of the woods.

Pier 1 Easter Decorations

2011-03-10T08:28:00.000-05:00

Today I'm excited to show you some great Easter decorations I've recently gotten that came from Pier 1. This week we had Bunco and I was lucky enough to win two prizes. I won a really cute bunny basket and a set of speckled egg tea lights. I loved this stuff so much that I ran into Pier One last night and found the cutest bunnies. They are on faux gnarled sticks and they look like they are covered in moss. They are just adorable.

I didn't have time this morning to take pictures of these things, so I pulled the picture off of Pier One's website. The bunnies that are on the sticks are shown in the place setting picture. In that picture they aren't on sticks so now I'm wondering if some stores might have some of the bunnies where they aren't on sticks? I think I may have to call another Pier 1 in my area to find out. I am going to use the two I bought that are on sticks to put in the center of two large glass hurricanes I usually fill with plastic eggs. I thought the bunnies would look cute in the center of each of the hurricanes.

Right now I have St. Patty's Day decorations up which I hope to take pictures of soon. I love decorating for different holidays. I feel like now that my kids are getting older, I can get back to doing that.

So, do you like decorating for different holidays? What do you like to put out?

Hope you are having a great day in your neck of the woods!

Cheerios Winner

2011-03-09T16:09:00.000-05:00

The winner of the Cheerios contest was

True Random Number Generator

Min:

Max:

Result:

10

Toystory said...

Following you on Twitter

Twitter name: 1prizewinner

1prizewinner(at)gmail(dot)com

March 4, 2011 8:28 AM

Congratulations!

Winner for Kroger Cart Buster Event

2011-03-06T19:00:00.000-05:00

The winner of the Kroger Cart Buster Savings was comment number

True Random Number Generator

Min:

Max:

Result:

24

Raven In A Blue Room said...

Google Friends Connect - following your blog publicly as Louis

schnitzomage {at} gmail {dot} com

March 1, 2011 7:06 PM

Congratulations Louis! If I don't hear from you by 6 p.m. EST on Monday via email, I'll have to choose another winner.

Cinnamon Cheerios Fan Club

2011-03-01T13:44:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone, I hope you are having a great week. I think that spring is just around the corner. I noticed daffodils blooming in a neighbors yard. And I have to admit I'm getting the itch to go and visit a local garden center.

Since spring is about new life and beginnings, I'm excited to share with you today about a new product I recently got to try. Just when you think Cheerios couldn't come out with anything new and better, they knock my socks off again. My oldest son, Sawyer is president of the Cheerios fan club. On a personal note, Cheerios will always have a special place in my heart because Sawyer has a speech delay due to his very premature birth (he was 1 pd. 12 oz at birth). We have struggled and fought for every word and "Os" was one of the very first words he could say to communicate to us that he wanted Cheerios to eat. So, not only do I feel good about giving them to him because of their low sugar and whole grain goodness, but it also helps he can ask for them.

So when the folks at MyBlogSpark sent me an invitation to try these new Cheerios, I was ready to sign up. We got our box and I put them out on the counter the first morning. I got busy putting milk in the boys cups and I turned around to find that Sawyer was trying to open the box himself. You've gotta love that 4 year old "I can do it myself" attitude. As you can see, he ripped off part of the box in his eagerness to get to the Cheerios. He was so giggly when I told him to hold the box so I could take a picture of what he'd done. LOL Fortunately I was able to intervene and help before I had Cinnamon Cheerios all over the place.

I have to admit that as soon as I opened the box, the first thing I did was put it up to my nose and took a deep breath. Ahh, that cinnamon smells was so good! And then when I tried a bowl I was hooked. I like it because it has a great cinnamon taste without being overpowering.

Monday I blogged about the Kroger Cart Buster Savings Event taking place at the Kroger family of stores. When you are going out to Kroger, be sure to put some Cinnamon Burst Cheerios in your basket.

I'm happy to say that the good folks at MyBlogSpark and Cheerios have a prize pack for you to try these new Cinnamon Cheerios as well. And this prize pack is awesome. It contains a family 4-pack of pack of cereal bowls, travel cereal chiller and cinnamon scented candle. I was so excited when I received all of these goodies.

You have 5 opportunities to enter. You must post separate responses to this thread for each entry to count. You must also include your email address so I have a way to contact you. This giveaway will end at midnight EST on Sunday, March 6th. The winner will have 24 hours from when I contact them to get in touch with me, otherwise I will draw another name.

1.) How many days a week do you usually eat cereal?

2.) Follow me @chiccraftychick on Twitter.

3.) Follow the Chic Crafty Chick Blog. Check out the right hand side of my blog to follow. If you are already following, please leave a comment saying you are a follower.

4.) Add Chic Crafty Chick to your blog roll, or add my badge to your sidebar. Be sure to come back and leave the link to your site in a separate comment.

5.)Tweet the following: Cheer for FREE Cinnamon Cheerios with @chiccraftychick and Cheerios. Win a Cinnamon Cheerios Prize Pack http://bit.ly/ehkOAk #myblogspark

(Cheerios provided me with this gift pack and giveaway through MyBlogSpark)

Kroger Cart Buster Event

2011-02-28T00:00:00.062-05:00

I don't know about you, but I've been so disgusted with the recent jump in gas prices. I've been looking at other ways to cut down on our expenditures and one way is through our grocery bill. So, I was excited when I was contacted by the folks at MyBlogSpark and Kroger to see if I'd want to participate in Kroger's Cart Buster Savings Event. This event is going on February 27th through March 12th at the Kroger family of stores including: Kroger, Ralph's, King Soopers, City Market, Dillon's, Smith's, Fry's, QFC, Baker's, Owen's, Jay C Food Stores, Hilander, Gerbes, Food4Less, Pay Less Supermarkets, and Scott's Food & Pharmacy.

I love shopping at Kroger and check their ads weekly. I'm excited that this cart busters event has a lot of the brands I like. Some of the brands you can check out include: Multigrain Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, Hamburger Helper, Yoplait, Progresso, Totino’s, Green Giant, Cascadian Farm, Tide, Charmin, Bounty, Pampers, Pantene, Crest, Iams, Febreze, Old Spice, Bounce, DiGiorno’s, Nestle Toll House, Juicy Juice, Coffee-Mate, Edy’s, Stouffer’s, Lean Cuisine, Hot Pockets, Nestle Candy, Purina and many more! I can't wait to get into Kroger this week to stock up on some of these great products.

During this event they've got a really cool Deal of the Day event going on. The first 1000 people who click the deal link and receive a free load-to-card coupon for the featured daily item. Kroger Cart Buster Event I'm all about using coupons, so I can't wait to take advantage of this great feature.

I'm excited that today you have the opportunity to win a $25 gift card that you can use at the Kroger family of stores. You have 5 opportunities to enter. You must post separate responses to this thread for each entry to count. You must also include your email address so I have a way to contact you. This giveaway will end at midnight EST on Friday, March 4th. The winner will have 24 hours from when I contact them to get in touch with me, otherwise I will draw another name.

1.) Which store will you shop at if you win and what will you buy?

2.) Follow me @chiccraftychick on Twitter.

3.) Follow the Chic Crafty Chick Blog. Check out the right hand side of my blog to follow. If you are already following, please leave a comment saying you are a follower.

4.) Add Chic Crafty Chick to your blog roll, or add my badge to your sidebar. Be sure to come back and leave the link to your site in a separate comment.

5.)Tweet the following: The savings are hot with @chiccraftychick and Kroger. Win a $25 Kroger Gift Card http://bit.ly/XVmhS #myblogspark

(The Kroger family of Stores and General Mills/Nestle/P&G provided me with the gift card, information, and giveaway through MyBlogSpark)