Quilts

I'm crushing right now on quilts. I'm so completely jealous of women that can make them, especially the really intricate ones. In high school we had the choice of cooking class or sewing...guess which one I chose. Oh what I wouldn't give for a house full of quilts. Quilts of different colors, sizes, textures, styles. I would have fall quilts, winter quilts, etc, etc.

I love the look of rag quilts and it appears they are easier to make than a regular quilt, so I'm going to set my mind to it and *try* and make a rag quilt. There seem to be millions of tutorials to make one, so I'm going to have to sift through and see which one seems easiest (or makes the most sense for this non-sewer).

I remember when I was little, the room we used to meet in for girl scouts at Nativity school was also used by a quilt club. I remember seeing the little old ladies sitting around a huge table quilting and chit chatting. I need to find a quilt club! Anyone else want to join?

The Broom

On Tuesday, I paid Camdyn a quarter to sweep the front sidewalk.

On Wednesday, the broom was missing.

I looked in the yard, I searched the garage, I combed the house. No broom. Camdyn, swore she had no idea where it went.

That afternoon, I left for work. While driving, I heard a thump on the roof of the car. I glanced in the rearview mirror only to see a broom tumbling behind me. My broom. Found it. Lumpy had apparently decided to store it on the luggage rack of the Expedition and after reaching 45 mph, it couldn't hold on any longer. Oh, Lump.

Thank God no one was behind me.

When telling the story to Riley, she wanted to know if I'm sure it was our broom. She was concerned I'd just killed a witch...

Playing

...the calm before the storm.

And yes, I'm one of those moms that likes to match their kids. :P

At this point, Rowyn moves in and attempts to grab the horse.

S'mores in the oven

I made indoor s'mores today for the kids when they got home from school. I found the recipe online (I can't for the life of me find where, so if it is yours, I apologize!).

Honey Teddy Grahams
Large Marshmallows
Chocolate Chips

375 oven
Line cupcake pan with the liners, sprinkle in a few teddy grahams.
Add marshmallow, then a few chocolate chips, and finish up with a few more Teddy Grahams.
Bake 5-6 minutes or until marshmallows are golden brown.
Allow to cool for a few minutes and dig in!
They'll need spoons, they're ooey, gooey, good!

Mummy Dogs

Tonight we made Mummy Dogs with Crescent Rolls and turkey dogs. They were fun to make and the kids thought they were awesome!

Riley added ketchup blood on hers.

Cooper preserved his in barbeque sauce.

Lumpy tore his bandages off and promptly gobbled him up.

Camdyn: A Photo Shoot

I took a few pictures of Rowyn today, she was in such a good mood, I didn't want it to go to waste. While taking pictures, Camdyn had been playing with Cooper's cars and saw that she was missing out on the action. She announced she wanted her picture taken too.

Of course, honey. Smile pretty for Mommy.

Followed by...

...so entertaining. I can hardly wait to see her first set of school pictures.

The Good Little Girl

We have a book called, The Good Little Girl, by Lawrence David. It tells the story of Miranda, a good little girl, but when her parents don't keep their promises due to their busy schedule, Miranda's alter ego, Lucretia comes to visit. She is mean, green, nasty, bossy, and doesn't listen. On Friday, Lucretia stopped by our house.

What a terrible day, so terrible that I was soaking in the bathtub by 8:30 pm and in bed by 9. I was physically and mentally exhausted, Camdyn...err, Lucretia, had sucked every last ounce of sanity from me. Yes, it was that bad. When the kids got home from school, she went out and rode bikes with them for awhile. I collected myself and decided to make a Halloween dessert, I got the idea from Bakerella. Due to lack of ingredients, I made brownies and had to use white frosting. I had no Trix, so the spiders were Halloween M & M's. Mine were no where near as cute as hers, but the kids liked them.

My spider webs look like flowers, because I'm and idiot and pulled the lines in the wrong direction! Der!

Darth Vader even enjoyed dessert...you didn't know he was a Hawkeye fan, did you?

PO.P

Have you noticed that everything from Sweden is always awesome...like IKEA and BRIO to name a few! Anyway, check out this clothing company, PO.P by Polarn O. Pyret; Crazy fun stripes, patterns, bold colors and now thanks to Celebrity-Babies you can receive 30% off non-sale items using code POPBABYuntil October 29th. Cute, cute stuff!

Decorations and Angels

I love Halloween, decorating and baking ghoolish treats...I don't however love finding costumes for four kids. I think we're just about settled, although I'm irritated, because I can't find the chicken costume Camdyn wore. I think I've gone through every bag and every bin in our bomb of a basement, but really with all that mess I'm sure I missed it somewhere. I did, however, find a bunny costume I forgot we had, so I guess it'll be Little Rowyn Rabbit Foo Foo this year. I found football pads and bmx pants at Goodwill, so Cooper will have his choice of what he wants to be this year. Camdyn fits perfectly in Cooper's old Sully costume, so she's ready. Guess Riley is the only one left to work on.

My fireplace, still needs something more, but it's a start.

I heard Camdyn playing and singing a little song, "Nakey, nakey, nakey." I wasn't sure what was going on, but when she was finished playing, I found this grotesque scene. It looks like a Charlie's Angels show gone wrong.

Last night the kids made Green Goblins, an idea I got from Mandy here. Ours looked more like green blobs, but the kids had a great time...even Rowyn got in on the action.

You'll need:
Kix cereal
marshmallows
3 Tbsp butter or margarine
green food coloring
assorted candy and sprinkles

Guess who's mound of cavity causing goodies that is?

I can see the mouth Riley, but after that, I have no idea. :P

Baby Rowyn and her soul patch.

Caramel Apples

Not your typical caramel apples...almost too cute to eat.

Recipe and image from Country Living

(makes 12)
12 crisp apples
1 1/3 cups dark corn syrup
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1 1/3 cups light brown sugar
1 1/3 cups heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Line a baking pan with a generously oiled sheet of parchment paper. Push a candy apple stick into the core of each apple. Combine the syrup, sugars, heavy cream, and salt in a large saucepan over medium0high heat. Simmer until the mixture reaches 270°F – about 15 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in the butter and vanilla. Let cool for 6 to 8 minuets, until caramel thickens to a toffeelike consistency. Dip and gently swirl the apples into the caramel and place on the prepared baking sheet. Let cool completely.



Decorating: Dip apples in melted nonpareils. Or roll caramel-covered apples in pumpkin seeds or chopped roasted nuts, or drizzle with melted chocolate.

Ribbon handles: Wrap colored ribbon or raffia around wooden candy apple sticks and tie in a bow. Use two colors to create a striped effect. Secure with glue at the blunt end that won't be inserted into the apple.

I found these candy corn sugar cookies on the same Country Living website. They're just orange colored sugar cookies with the back dipped in chocolate almond bark or dark chocolate candy melts and the front in almond bark. Love these!

Yummy Gummy Stars

The kids and I made our own gummy stars yesterday, with a recipe found HERE. We used strawberry/banana Jell-O with the Knox gelatin, and the star molds I got at Michael's. One 30z pack of Jell-O and 3 envelopes of Knox made 30 gummy stars.

If your mom saves your binkies for bedtime only, don't worry, you can always find a suitable replacement.

Morning Fun

*Peek*

*A-Boo!*

Pumpkin Shaped Sugar Cookies

Yesterday was a good day. No work, the kids were pretty well behaved, I made homemade potato soup, banana bread for breakfast the next day, and we made sugar cookies in the shape of pumpkins. The kids did all the decorating. My mom and I took the kids to the play area at the mall, where they played their fool heads off. I found some cute candle sticks at Goodwill I plan to paint later.
I watched Nie Nie on Oprah and she really put things into perspective; something as simple as wrapping her child in a towel after tubby time, lifting him up and cuddling is impossible now due to burns on 80% of her body. Things that most of us take for granted everyday. I'm trying to make a mental note to slow down and enjoy every moment, no matter how small and seemingly inconsequential it may be.

Immediately after this photo, Cooper licked the frosting off and threw the cookies out.

Riley said her pumpkins were friendly, because she didn't want to eat scary pumpkins.

Camdyn's pumpkin seems to have thrown up all over the other one.

Cooper fell asleep with Brody the monkey in our bed. It was the perfect end to a perfect day.

Teasing

I bought Riley a coat very similar to this at the end of the season last year. Today was the second time she's worn it to school, except this morning she was fighting me on wearing it. She told me she hated it, that it was ugly. Several seconds later, she was in tears. She said kids were making fun out of her for wearing it. I explained that it was a cute coat and adorable on her. I told her to tell those kids they have no sense of fashion. Which she promptly responded with, "What's that supposed to mean?"

We constantly talk to our kids about tolerance and about teasing. I've always told them that their daddy and I want them to be the type of kids that will help make a new student at school feel welcome. To be the kids that don't judge others and certainly don't tease someone because of their appearance. I still remember being made fun of, 7th and 8th grade were especially harsh. I don't want them to go through that, nor do I want them to be the bullies. If only it were that easy, right?

So my question to you blog readers is this...do you make her wear the coat and risk continued ridicule or do you leave it sit in the closet and piss and moan about the money you wasted?

Let the decorating begin!

I recently added these cuties to my Halloween decorations, I actually got mine at Michael's with a coupon, because I'm all about a bargain. I'm still in the process of finding homes for them all, but a few seem to have made themselves comfortable.

Lumpy's Lump

Yesterday Camdyn had a trip to the doctor for a laceration. She slipped and hit her face off the corner of the computer desk...disregard the other mark, who knows what happened there. :P
Anyway, they used that super glue like stuff and she's good as new. She was a very brave girl and didn't shed a tear at the clinic. She came home with like 32 Dora stickers for behaving so well, which she promptly flaunted to her siblings once home.

Riley Breck is 8

Today my first born turned eight. I can hardly believe it. All day she watched the clock in anticipation for 2:14 pm when she would officially be eight.

Cooper, Camdyn, and I made her a birthday banner

The spread

The giant cupcake cake and cupcakes, I am officially baked out.

The birthday girl

Bowser's Inside Story for the DS...and one happy little gamer.

Blendy pens...the combinations are endless, as will be the fights over who gets to use them.

Thank you Aunt Mugs...and the pumpkin whoopy cushion. It's a gas.

Riley's birthday card from Grammy.

Riley's Cuttle Kids from Grammy and Grandpa...soon she'll be making cards of her own!