Last night we got to spend some time with our buddies, Sean and Amber (and their kiddos… they have three and one on the way- totaling 4 soon!)  Sean is Troy’s best friend since… well as long as we can remember… I think maybe elementary or middle school ?  How funny that two best friends married two Ambers?  At any rate and Amber and I have been alternating being PG so our kids are literally stair steps… 7,6,5,4,3,2, and now the new baby.  I told Amber that I would not be joining the ranks of her PG’ed ness any time soon!  LOL

But I digress…  I walked into their house last night and (aside from the fact that I TOLD Troy that they would have their Christmas tree up and I was RIGHT!!!!!!  I am so behind already!) I smelled the most heavenly smell.  I am pretty sure heaven will smell like Scentsy’s “Welcome Home” scent.  I mean really.. I can honestly say I never thought anything would surpass my Bath and Body Warm Vanilla Sugar… but this one wins HANDS DOWN!  If you are in Lexington and having a Scentsy party or are a Rep… I need to invest!!!  (or should I say my hubby needs to invest for Christmas!)  LOL

Recent Comments:

• XXX says A tip to save some cash when enjoying movies it that instead of heading to the movies on a busy [more]
• daphne says I JUST LOVE YOU!!! You always amaze me. You’re wonder womman of another kind!! I know it’s hard to BE [more]
• Jen says We are currently going through a pregnancy possibly affected by VACTERL…having more tests run. Would like to discuss some [more]
• Jen says Hi Amber! It’s lunchablemommy – actually not on A full cup anymore, so I wanted to send you my [more]
• Tracy says Love it! That is something Maggie would do. She loves Disney Princess stuff too. LOL. [more]

• November 10, 2009 -- Heroes and Villains
• June 16, 2010 -- Today I read a magazine.
• January 12, 2010 -- Coming Home!
• December 5, 2009 -- Believe….
• November 22, 2009 -- Making Peace…

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Is it just me or is that totally flippin fabulous???????  I so want to find myself some crappy wood thing on Craigslist and transform it! Alas I will add that to my growing list of “Crafty things TO DO”…

Or what about this?  You know everyone had one of these at one time… uggggly!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I mean really??? I know that Kara said that this is now her organization for her laundry room but seeing as how I have a laundry HOLE in a bathroom that wouldn’t work.  BUT I SO need this to make my horrendous “stockpile” room closet look better!  I can SO see those baskets full of tuna and sauce packets.  Stacked up boxes where the trashcan is…  sigh… #129834 TO DO…Recent Comments:

• XXX says A tip to save some cash when enjoying movies it that instead of heading to the movies on a busy [more]
• daphne says I JUST LOVE YOU!!! You always amaze me. You’re wonder womman of another kind!! I know it’s hard to BE [more]
• Jen says We are currently going through a pregnancy possibly affected by VACTERL…having more tests run. Would like to discuss some [more]
• Jen says Hi Amber! It’s lunchablemommy – actually not on A full cup anymore, so I wanted to send you my [more]
• Tracy says Love it! That is something Maggie would do. She loves Disney Princess stuff too. LOL. [more]

• November 7, 2009 -- 8 weeks til Christmas
• April 18, 2009 -- In the famous words of Annie…
• February 18, 2009 -- Craigslist Love – Bargain Alert!

I would TOTALLY make this outfit for Ky for turkey day… I mean REALLY!  Have you EVER seen anything so cute in all your life?  Ky would TOTALLY rock this!  I am in love… maybe my FAVORITE set of clothing that I have found this year!  If I were not saving up for my VICTORY that God is giving us I would SO buy this!  LOL  Alas God’s victory wins out… maybe next year!Recent Comments:

• XXX says A tip to save some cash when enjoying movies it that instead of heading to the movies on a busy [more]
• daphne says I JUST LOVE YOU!!! You always amaze me. You’re wonder womman of another kind!! I know it’s hard to BE [more]
• Jen says We are currently going through a pregnancy possibly affected by VACTERL…having more tests run. Would like to discuss some [more]
• Jen says Hi Amber! It’s lunchablemommy – actually not on A full cup anymore, so I wanted to send you my [more]
• Tracy says Love it! That is something Maggie would do. She loves Disney Princess stuff too. LOL. [more]

• August 26, 2010 -- Be Still…
• June 30, 2010 -- Because Mermaids need water…
• June 29, 2010 -- Call me crazy… but we had a yard sale!
• May 7, 2010 -- David had Goliath… Kyleigh had THE POTTY!
• February 23, 2010 -- So it begins, Kyleigh’s next medical journey.

Hosted by Simple Mom… check out her blog for the FULL story!

This week’s project is GATHER YOUR ADDRESSES for your Christmas Cards.  NO!  It is NOT too early.  Doing these little things in ADVANCE saves you when you NEED to be doing things like baking etc.

Some places to FIND your card addresses are:

• your wedding mailing list
• university and/or sorority alumni databases
• church directories
• your kids’ school directories
• Facebook

A great way to compile these and save time on the addressing is to make your list in a simple Excel or Open Office spreadsheet.  When the time comes around you can print your addresses on white mailing labels, stick on the envie and poof… done!  You could even print those addresses NOW and file them away for a later date.  To break up some of the cost right AT the holidays you could EVEN buy the stamps NOW, place them and the printed labels in a file folder and all you have to do later is get the cards… I am going to try and achieve this goal this week…

Then you must decide WHAT type of Christmas Card to create!  Decisions, decisions… Will it be a photo greeting or just something cute off the sale aisle?  Depending on budget you can personalize ANY old card by sticking a photo of your family or a family newsletter inside.   You could even go GREEN and do no hardcopy cards at all!  Go to an E-greeting for your family and friends.  This year we will be doing a combo.  Since yours truly, is a photographer, I might be the black sheep of all my amazing photog friends if I did not send a REAL card… so I will do both a printed card and an e-card!  Its the best of both worlds   Whatever you want to do, decide now.  Most photographers have a cutoff date of late October for professional card and it may take you a trip to SEVERAL store to find that perfect pre-made greeting card.  Start now to reduce stress LATER!

For more great ideas on organizing your holiday card sending and great ideas for FRUGAL, CREATIVE Holiday cards, hop on over to Simple Mom.

Recent Comments:

• XXX says A tip to save some cash when enjoying movies it that instead of heading to the movies on a busy [more]
• daphne says I JUST LOVE YOU!!! You always amaze me. You’re wonder womman of another kind!! I know it’s hard to BE [more]
• Jen says We are currently going through a pregnancy possibly affected by VACTERL…having more tests run. Would like to discuss some [more]
• Jen says Hi Amber! It’s lunchablemommy – actually not on A full cup anymore, so I wanted to send you my [more]
• Tracy says Love it! That is something Maggie would do. She loves Disney Princess stuff too. LOL. [more]

• November 9, 2009 -- 7 weeks Till Christmas
• November 7, 2009 -- 8 weeks til Christmas
• November 16, 2009 -- 6 weeks till Christmas!!!
• November 9, 2009 -- HOT DEAL- FREE photo Christmas cards!!!
• November 8, 2009 -- Christmas Card Preview!

SOOOOOOOOO… I decided that with my Post Valentine finds I would just celebrate late! After church today I cooked brunch which consisted of Heart Shaped Pancakes, Cheese Eggs, Bacon and Pine-Orange Banana Juice. I cannot remember a holiday breakfast as a kid that did NOT include Pine Orange Banana Juice. Its the best ever!

I used my brand new Wilton Heart Shaped Cookie cutters that I scored the day after Valentines to Cut the pancakes. My kids thought it was GREAT! For some reason my kids call hearts “dreams”. Owen informed me that it was the best day ever that they got to eat “dreamcakes”.

So today… you too are going to learn how to make heart shaped pancakes!

I would post a recipe here but I am just too darn lazy to make my own pancake batter so I use the amazing and wonderful Krusteez! 1 cup of Pancake mix, 3/4 cup of water… why would anyone do anything else??

Cook pancakes (thin ones work best) a little larger than the desired size cookie cutter.

Allow the pancake to cool for a few minutes (lest you burn yourself like I did! I am beginning to think that my posts about cooking are going to become a commentary on how NOT to burn yourself while cooking various recipes!).

But WHAT are the scissors for? Well if you do not own a pair of COOKING scissors… mine are regular fiskars… you don’t know what you have been missing! I keep this pair clean just for food. The outer part of the pancakes can be tough to cut through with plastic cookie cutters BUT no worries… at the very least you make an IMPRINT of the heart shape then use the Kitchen scissors to trim off the excess!

Use the cutter to cut out the largest heart. As with cookie dough there is usually left over.

As a side note: My cookie cutter set ROCKS because it has big all the way down to teeny tiny hearts! So I used the leftover pieces to make smaller ones to stack. PLUS… we have to cut Kyleigh’s food into VERY small pieces because she chokes easily or will just ignore something altogether if not properly cut! So the smallest heart was absolutely perfectly sized for her!

I also thought these might be good with a strawberry glaze instead of syrup. I might try that next year!Recent Comments:

• XXX says A tip to save some cash when enjoying movies it that instead of heading to the movies on a busy [more]
• daphne says I JUST LOVE YOU!!! You always amaze me. You’re wonder womman of another kind!! I know it’s hard to BE [more]
• Jen says We are currently going through a pregnancy possibly affected by VACTERL…having more tests run. Would like to discuss some [more]
• Jen says Hi Amber! It’s lunchablemommy – actually not on A full cup anymore, so I wanted to send you my [more]
• Tracy says Love it! That is something Maggie would do. She loves Disney Princess stuff too. LOL. [more]

• February 22, 2009 -- Post Valentines Bargain Finds

I try to check in on Craigslist daily but since I have started redoing my kitchen and dining room I have really been looking hard. See the thing about CL is that there are some REALLY good deals to be had and there are some POACHERS out there who snatch up the deals really fast! So… if you want a good deal you have to check OFTEN and be ready to pounce!

I was today. Funny story that goes with this.

Back when Troy and I were going through “IT” we were preparing our house to sell. All of the accents on our house are black and my mother said… we need a BLACK water hose. Well I have never SEEN a black water hose to be perfectly honest with you! I was like… “yeah okay mom” to which she replied… “no … put it on the list…. I want a black water hose”. I humored her and out we went to the dollar tree to retrieve something I had previously forgotten. As we headed down Clays Mill I nearly got myself into a wreck. Low and Behold THUS MY EYES DECEIVE ME??? I literally did a 360 on Clays Mill … and there it was… in the TRASH in front of someone’s house. Not ONLY a black water hose but a TAN house for it all neatly rolled up. Funny how God works? Ask and you shall receive right??

So for the past week or two I have been inspired by my soon to be black kitchen cabinets and green walls and by Rhoda at Southern Hospitality Blog (here- http://southernhospitality-rhoda.blogspot.com/2007/07/tour-of-my-diningroom.html) who redid her dining table painting the base black… i LOVE it! I may paint my entire one black though depending on how much sanding I have to do on the top.

I have been surfing CL looking for that PERFECT claw foot, pottery barn inspired table and alas… today… it came to me! I had told Troy that if I were going to rehash it I only wanted to spend $20 or so on it. Imagine that. My perfect table was $20 on craigslist. It is currently sitting in the back of the jeep waiting for the weekend, the sander and the spray paint to come its way!!! I will post pics as it moves along.

My soon to be table (a la Pottery Barn) only for a WHOLE lot less moolah!http://www.potterybarn.com/products/p1385/index.cfm?pkey=cround-tablesRecent Comments:

• XXX says A tip to save some cash when enjoying movies it that instead of heading to the movies on a busy [more]
• daphne says I JUST LOVE YOU!!! You always amaze me. You’re wonder womman of another kind!! I know it’s hard to BE [more]
• Jen says We are currently going through a pregnancy possibly affected by VACTERL…having more tests run. Would like to discuss some [more]
• Jen says Hi Amber! It’s lunchablemommy – actually not on A full cup anymore, so I wanted to send you my [more]
• Tracy says Love it! That is something Maggie would do. She loves Disney Princess stuff too. LOL. [more]

• November 15, 2009 -- Fabulessly Frugal – this lady has MAD skillz!