Bath Fizzies

Orginal recipe can be found here.
Citric Acid looks like this.
You can buy silicone ice trays here.

Babysitting and Gumdrop Waffle Cone Trees

Song: Oh Tannenbaum, Vince Guaraldi Trio
This album was given to me long ago, and it's my absolute favorite. Followed closely
by the Nutcracker Suit.

Twine Wrapped Ornaments

Song: Christmas Time is Here

Log Snow People

My Newest Favorite
Song: Winter Wonderland, Jason Mraz

Rugs and Rags

One of the reasons I started this blog was to not only keep friends, family and strangers up on how big my kiddo is growing, how big other kiddos are growing and the world around me, but to share ideas and little projects that keep me busy. The little projects have been few and far between lately. Life gets in the way sometimes. However, I take a couple months off from my all consuming "hobby" and get to play for a few weeks. So, in the wake of holidays, (they are very very close) I wanted to get some gifts in the works.

Now, don't get me wrong, I have always loved buying gifts, but I have more so loved making gifts. I've been wanting to try these for a long time now, but had no idea really where to start, so Monday night, I jumped right in. I tore some sheets up and crocheted them into a rug. Really....not that hard as long as you know the basics of crocheting. It's like making a GINORMOUS potholder....but instead you now have a rag rug!

As most of you know, I love making things out of recycled stuff. Old sheets are a perfect thing to make things out of. I found this video and then followed it to the site to get better directions. But basically all I did was make a double chain stitch for 6 stitches and then go around over and over again, adding a stitch here and there to keep it from curling up. ....and in case you couldn't find your way around here are the basic instructions to make it!

Hallows Eve

Even though there were countless things going on in town last night for the little ones, we decided to stay in  and make our very own special Hallows Eve Dinner. I'm really enjoying the time with my family right now and I wanted to make something super special for last night. We went all out. It was completely AWESOME.  We set up tables in the front porch for both the adults (all 4 of us) and one special one for the kiddos. We strung lights across the top and had candles everywhere. There were spooky gourds and pumpkins glowing.

We had spider web cake.

We drank out of pumpkin glasses.I just cut pieces of black duct tape so at the end of the evening we just peeled it off and had my stemware in tact. We colored the milk orange for the little ones.

I made little treat sacks for the little ones. All two of them.

Pumpkin Cheese Ball:  Just made with my favorite cheese ball recipe. Added a little food coloring and cut out pieces of green pepper for the face.

Got little decals for all the bottles. This is really ugly BBQ sauce that went with the goblin and troll legs we had (they were suppose to be bat wings, but the coloring was more green so we changed the name)

Little Marshmallow Witches provided by my good friend.

Hot Dog Mummies.

And Finger Poppers. (these were my favorite of the entire meal!)

Song: Monster Mash

There is actually a whole playlist of Halloween songs in there.

S

It was 80 degrees in the middle of October when we has the S meal. It was the most fantastic day there could have been. It was unbelievably beautiful. We spend the entire day outside, except to cook, which took very little time (thank goodness!)

For the S meal we had:

Shrimp Scampi

Salmon (baked)

Squash (Yellow, from the garden)

Snow Peas

and Snakes on a Stick (which I didn't get a picture of, but basically, bread twisted on a skewer and dipped in cinnamon and sugar)

The shrimp scampi I think was the best I've ever made. It turned out so unbelievably fantastic and I didn't even do that much for it.


For the sauce (I didn't measure, I just threw it in)


Butter
Lemon Juice
White Wine (I think I just used the Cabernet that I had here)
Garlic
Salt
Pepper
Dried herbs
and when it was done I added a little Parmesan cheese.


Viola... fantastic food.

 The Squash was just sauteed in olive oil and added a little salt.

The Salmon was baked in butter and spices and fresh basil. (baked is about the only way I can eat it anymore...it just tastes better to me with all the stuff on it as Salmon tends to be a little dry)

Oh and thank you big brother and Dad for bringing it to me!  I love that I always have fish in my freezer at my fingertips at any time!

Goul Drool

When I was a kid I used to put a quarter into a little machine and out popped a little round container of this stuff. I remember thinking how strange it smelled. I remember thinking this it was so boyish and disgusting...I loved it., especially around Halloween.

Well I have a boyish little boy who is the ultimate disgustinator (yup..made that up and let's face it, little boys are kind of disgusting, it just comes with the territory)  So we decided to make some slime. Or Goul Drool as it was called yesterday. It kept him occupied for most of the afternoon, which was good, because this is pretty much the exact same thing that is running through my sinuses right now. (gross but true)

Goul Drool: Mix 1/2 cup glue and 1 cup of water. Add two or three drops of food coloring.

In a separate glass bowl mix 1/2 teaspoon of borax (found in the laundry detergent isle) with 1/2 cup of water.

Mix the two together and stir frequently. Really, one of the easiest projects out there.

Now.. go get your slime on!

Bark

I have an area in the house where I wanted some close ups of birch bark. (It's not my area, but I still deem it my job to decorate in such areas) so while we were out this summer in the mountains, I grabbed a few of these. I was in an area where a lot of the bark had fallen off the trees... so, I picked it up and brought it home with hopes I would find something to do with it. 

So I finally did this week. During the fall, I've gotten away from decorating with all the cutsie figurines, knicknacks etc and such for the holidays....I bring the outside in, I like to use as much from nature as I can. It seems more real. More modern. More...me. The grown up me.  This is what I did with the bark and I filled it with pine cones from the front yard that I little one likes to go and collect for me.  And since I normally have those filled with candles, I surrounded it by candles to show it off.

Apples

We've been working with apples a lot lately. Had a couple projects in the works (but more on those later) so I thought it would be really fun to take Park to an apple orchard to go pick apples.  I found one that wasn't too far away. They were a "pick by reservation only" place and I graveled to get them to allow us to come on a holiday weekend to pick a few apples, explaing that this is the one and only weekend I can come between now and the end of October and how I would really really really love to see it. Not only did we get to pick apples...but we had the whole place to our selves. The farm animals. The picnic areas. The quiet. It was completely serene and beautiful. They are not a huge place yet as far as apple picking goes, but they have planted enough trees in the last few year to make it an awesome operation...when the trees get a little bigger.

We brought home mostly Macintosh apples. We ate them while we were there as well.... as there is just something about eating a freshly picked apple from the tree that makes it taste so much better!

Song: Apple Orchard, The You Brush Your Hair

Sticks and Stones

 I picked out the color for the downstairs accent wall pretty early on in the project. It's a boy area down there, but I still want it to be comfortable for everyone. So, it's got a good mix of rustic and modern things in it. I wanted it to feel warm. Cozy. Comforting. Relaxing. Yet.... kind of a little itty bit stylish.

Well...it's kind of hard to be stylish with a giant breaker box in the middle of the room. This breaker box was in the room where we put the bathroom on the other side of that wall and of course that disrupts all kinds of codes, so we simply turned it around and put it in the living room. Well, then we really didn't know what to do with it, so our contractor built a frame around it. Then we had him add another frame on top of that (beveled out in the back so it can hold something) and attached it so it opens like a door. So all we had to do was find something to put in it. Originally, I was going to put a photograph. Woodsy one. BUT...they are kind of all over the house, SO. I made a clock. Out of sticks.

The whole project cost me less than $10.  I just bout a piece of foam board and then painted the same color as the accent wall. Then I attached the clock mechanism (you can buy at most any craft shop) and then cut sticks for the numbers. It worked out perfectly.  I love building things out of sticks!!! And the great thing about it.... it's removable. I can change it at anytime, which knowing me I will. Several times over.

Song: Sticks and Stones, Tracy Lawrence

"I" scream, you scream.

So I didn't make any ground rules for the whole cooking through the alphabet project, so I decided to move into other languages for our food. Number one: because "I" is a really hard letter and it was a little difficult to find a main dish and I didn't have a whole lot of time to prepare. Number two: We have A HUGE garden full of fresh lettuce and things that needed to be eaten.

So out we went to pick our dinner. Lettuce, spinach, radishes, tomatoes, chives, basil, onions.
I also added some kalamata olives and feta. For the sauce (thanks to my friends who served me this on cucumbers and tomatoes) I just mixed olive oil and lemon juice with a little bit of salt and pepper. It was fantastic!!!

We also had Italian Sodas. One of my favorite drinks from my childhood. Only mine were Kiwi and Coconut instead of Vanilla (my baby is a vanilla king!)

Italian Soda:

Club Soda

Whipping Cream

Flavoring

You can use each of these with your tastes in mind. Some people like them quite a bit more sweet than I do.

We also had Strawberry Ice Cream (Homemade!!!!) which was fantastic!!!

Song: Your Love is Better Than Ice Cream, Sarah Mclachlan

Royally Good Weekend

9 years ago I lived someplace else. Someplace that a native Wyomingite doesn't really like to admit (though I really don't mind.).....I lived in Colorado. For a year. (I can hear the gasps from the masses)

Out of college my husband and I moved to Colorado Springs, which at the time and is still, a booming, fast growing city. We were lucky enough to have moved into a community with a built in family of sorts. Some blood, some not. But since we were all so far away from our real families... we made our own. It's the place where we gathered for everything. (hence my love for feeding giant groups of people on a regular basis.) It's the place where we started things on fire (another time...), where there was heartache and happiness. To say the least, it was a beautiful place to start.

This weekend was the first time I have been back for 8 years and it's so amazing how it comes back to you (though parts are nearly unrecognizable!) I stayed with friends that truly make me happy to be around and I miss seeing them.

But, while I lived down south, there were a lot of things I didn't see while there (mainly because newly weds are normally kinda broke, and we were no exception.) So, this weekend, instead of going to aquarium (I'm sooo sorry I disappointed my kiddo.) I drug my family on an adventure. Which turned out to be a wonderful one at that!

We went to the Royal Gorge just south of Colorado Springs near Canon City. It was amazing. Though I will admit, I always find it strange that in America we are charged to see the natural wonders of the world. And, while I can visit the beautiful scenery...I can also ride a carousel and pet a donkey.



that's me an Park.... I thought it was pretty quick of me to catch us in the mirror as we were whirling by!

I love how lovingly he looks while being pet. He looks like he wants to kiss my kiddo!

I tried to point this out, to give you an idea of how big it is!.... the circle is the tram you can ride across (which of course I rode the tram!!!)

Most everything that was man made was built with this quartz.

This is what we rode to the bottom.

And, in Canon City there is a Winery. At an Abbey. God Bless those Nuns.

And this.... 8 years ago, he was a baby. And now, he was looking out for my baby. He slept in a cot next to him and protected him from all the things he hates. Thanks T. for being so great!!!