Halfway Homemade - Halloween edition

So tomorrow is the Halloween parade and celebration at the kids school and being the over achieving (read insane) mom I am I had to make them some treats to share with their classes. Now I intended to only do these for Princess's K class but being who he is Little Man gave me that "look". All of us mom's know the one I'm talking about.

Now this treat is SUPER simple. Took 20 mins and cost under $10 for get this - 85 treats! Yes, I said 85 and yes, I only have 3 kids. Little Man has a grand total of 35 kids in his class while Monkey and Princess round off at about 25 each.

Now the halfway homemade part....those rice crispy treats? They are store bought. Oh yeah I'm not THAT insane! :-) I grabbed 2 boxes of 12 each from Walmart for a whopping $3 a piece. Cut them into 4th's and there I have nice child size treats. (I'm not one to sugar them up "too much")

I melted and drizzled white chocolate across the MANY rows of treats and sprinkled with Halloween colored sprinkles for a holiday touch.

Did I mention the ROWS of treats? Yeah? Okay - as long as your still with me.

These babies are still hardening in my kitchen (aren't I sweet to share right away) and then I will package them up for the kiddo's to lug in tomorrow. Along with their costumes. Oh what fun! I'm dressing up too!

Easier than it looks...

Everyone has been been raving compliments on me for the Princess's bows but seriously all of you can do them. I have simplified them for myself...LOL.

Start out with ribbon twice the length you want your bows width to be. This one is 6inches long for a 3in bow.


Glue the ends together to form a circle.


Pinch your circle flat and then pinch the center together.


I wrap this part with floral wire but some use string or sew it (too much work for me)

You want to make two of them the same size to form your "bow"


Place them together and wrap with another piece of floral wire.

Here I attached a yellow bow behind the printed one. The yellow bow is a 4 in bow.

You can embellish your bows with anything you like...more ribbion, buttons...etc. For this one I used one figure eight.

I like to wrap the top of my clip in ribbon...I think it helps the glue hold it to the bow better. Be sure to only wrap the top of the clip - if you add ribbon to the bottom you'll have trouble getting it into the hair.


Glue clip onto the back of the bow.

TA DA! (I made two for when she wears pigtails) I forgot an earlier picture of it but I tied and glued the middle black ribbon to the centers of the bows before adding the figure eight to the back (which I just glued to the back of the yellow bow)


So there you have it. I said it was simple. The "bow" is basically two circle's pinched and attached to each other. Those sneaky bow makers hehe.

It's the little things...

Sometimes it takes nothing more than a little jem that you find at Hobby Lobby for $3.00 to make you feel "happy".

I'm baaaaaaaack!

You may not know (sorry about that) but this man, Chef (my hubby), is deployed. Well he is in a relatively cushy location but their internet SUCKS. Like seriously - in today's world you'd think....anyways. Well we've determined (well he did) that he can access this here blog (YEAH!!) a lot better then face book SO he has requested/demanded/asked that I start blogging (someone mark a calendar!) again so he can see updated pictures of the kids and know what the going ons at home are. So here we go my peoples.

I love him! (Picture of us taken on the day he left)

Sara, here's your Spring....

Sara asked today :"Where is Spring?" I found it ... in my backyard...after the snow stopped. LOL

Grandma's Wise

Grandma over at Grandma's Modern Day Trunk of Treasures wrote a recent blog post about a night with her friends. Reading it reminded me of my good friends and how exactly like this they are.

So to my friends. I love you all and miss those of you who are not here.

Here's the beautiful post.
http://grandmasmoderndaytrunkoftreasures.blogspot.com/2009/03/helping-hands-of-friends.html

Holly

Bringing school to blogging "Beauty"

As we all know (lol well some of us) I am in school online. Each week we have a discussion question that we have to answer and respond on. This is this week's question from my Creative Child class.

Everyone has had some experience with beauty and has a special idea about what is beautiful. It can be a very interesting experience to examine this concept with each of the five senses. Share with us the 3 most beautiful things (living or nonliving) that you have experience with your five senses. Why did you select those three things

Here is my response.

1. The birth of my daughter Abigail, she is our little angel, and when we learned that she would soon leave us. I can't even describe the feelings I had. I was in awe of the support my husband was able to give me, I was grateful for the chance I had to hold her and the pictures I have of our short time with her. I have a memory box that holds her dress and I can still smell her on it. I can taste the tears that rolled down my face as we said goodbye and the taste of my husbands when I kissed him on the cheek. Her birth and death brought us closer together then we've ever been. She is our angel. She is beautiful.

2. The view from in front of my house and anywhere else I am in Colorado Springs. Oh you know what I am talking about. After almost 5 yrs here I can not get over the beauty of the mountain range and Pikes Peak. It just fills me with peace everytime I see it. The colors are always different and it looks so inviting. I am able to remember the feel of the rocks under my feet when we drove to the top of Pikes Peak. The smell of the fresh crisp air as we climbed higher and higher. Oh and the taste of the doughnuts at the top. MMMM reminds me of funnal cake.

3. Oh goodness....I asked my friend Sara to help me with the third one. She jokingly said "Vanilla Bean Cheesecake" and well after thinking about it I couldn't agree more. I love food (as you can tell by my waist line) and lately I have had a hard time finding things that were completely enjoyable to me. They would just taste "alright" and not completley satisify me. Oh but this cheesecake. When they brought it out to me (from the Cheesecake factory) I was hesitant to take a bite. It looked so perfect and I didn't want to ruin it. The first bite was so smooth and creamy. A hint of flavor without being overly sweet. (mmmmm - road trip anyone?) I couldn't help but sigh. From the taste to the cold metal of the fork in my hands to the sighs from my friends as we all enjoyed our cheesecakes, just reminds me of friendship, happiness and togetherness. Who wouldn't find that beautiful.

I've chosen these three things to talk about because they have each brought me peace or reminded me of a time where I felt happiness and wonder.

What about you? What are three things YOU find beautiful and involve all 5 of your senses (or most of them) Respond in the comments if you answer this...you can answer here or in your blog. Just be sure to come let me know to come and take a look. :-)

How to excite a Preschool Teacher and her children.

The UPS man stopped here today and brought Little Heroes Preschool a HUGE box. What could it be???


"I can't see! I can't see!"

E has the right idea.... "CHAIRS!!!!" she exclaims.

"We LOVE our new chairs Ms Holly!"

ahhhhh aren't they beautiful! :-)

Preschoolers Gone Bad...

Princess and Chef have been messing around on the couch. As many know Chef can't resist nibbling on the kids. Not sure WHY he is so obssessed but I've always worried that it would turn out badly. Well not only we're they messing around as usual....convo went like this.

Princess : Bite me!

Chef: No you bite me.

Princess: You first, bite me.

Chef: No you bite me so you can count them.

So he turned this "bite" feast into a learning experience. ??? This does NOT make it okay.

I just *shake my head* and take pictures.

A retreat.

So I feel that every woman deserves....no needs...a retreat. A place they go into that just relaxes them. I have been searching for mine. I wanted it to be my bedroom. A place that I would enjoy some solitude. ... such a place was not to be. I searched high and low for bedding that would be soothing and romantic ... I found some at Linen's and Things...but it was a short lived love. It feel apart within 2mths. INSANE! Not happy. THEN they go out of business. Those fools! I didn't know what to do. I searched every where. Then Sara....(think she got tired of my complaining) said "Why don't we just make it?" "Really? mmm" I replied. Not completely sure about that.


So a week or so later we're off to JoAnn's. Promise we won't take long (anyone else hear the laughter?). I am in heavan! So much to choose from. (she introduced me to the home fabric area) I didn't know where to start. FINALLY we find the starting fabric...and then I just keep choosing and choosing....this for the bed, this one for pillows, oh might as well as cover the stool the cat ruined (grab that one), OH need trim, and tassels. SO MUCH! I was excited.


Got home and started in right away on the stool and the curtains. I took the easy way out and hot glued the curtain seams (no sewing) and just pinned and tucked the stool cover and hot glued on the trim. Nice! Took and hour.




Yes the curtains are only hung with rings and clear command hooks. Easy peasy.



Here's the stool. I just hot glued on the trim around the edge of the stool. I like how it somewhat contrasts with the bedding. Bringing some "testosterone" into the room.

So a week passes by before I can even THINK about doing the rest of it. Because this WILL require some sewing. Finally I woke up on Saturday and said well hell I better get it done. LOL.

That's with TWO table leafs in the table. GAH! The blanket/duvet like cover took FOREVER (I have the backache to prove it).

Below is one of the toss pillows. I cheated...sewed the square and THEN fabric glued the trim around the edges. Held it in with pins until it dried.

So I made everything and I mean everything. I still have to finish the bottom of the cover (glueing velcro onto it so it "closes" at the end), the bloster pillow and a rectangle envelope pillow. Other then that....(very minor things) I'm done.

Drum roll please.................

SARA! Get OFF the bed!

Okay NOW you can see it.

I also want to add trim to my lampshades so they coordinate.

Have you see it?

My mind...have you seen it? If so I'd like it back. I mean I have taxes and school work to do. A brain would be nice (one that works would be a bonus). I mean seriously. Wanna know what I've gotten myself in to?

Okay so what happened was....

I've been needing beautiful bedding for my room. Nothing..I mean NOTHING fits what I see in my head. I am also impaitent. SOOOOOOO.....

I went to JoAnn's today and got a lot of savings (my code for spent a lot but hey it was on sale so it's all good). I bought beautiful fabric and well I HOPE I'm able to turn it into a beautiful bedroom. Wish me luck. I might need to be locked up after this...

Ahh so today I am doing my stool (it's a camel saddle from Iraq that my cat has destroyed the fabric of) and my curtain ala'Nester (read pins and a glue gun...LOL).

Next on the agenda is 2 Euro Shams, 2 Shams and a Comforter. I still have to buy myself a sheet set and a bed skirt (I'm not THAT crazy).

Where will YOU be???

On March 21st.

*I* will be watching Twilight, over and over and over....until Chef loses his mind or kicks me out of the living room. (Shoot he better be nice he might get lucky...LOL)

Twilight will be released on DVD March 21st. Get your running shoes on. LOL

You can also pre order from Amazon and Walmart.com.

Don't say I never share....LOL.

Evil... I tell you she is evil...

So Princess woke up with a cold on Monday....

So I've been feeling the itchy in my throat for a couple of days. Last night Chef treated us to Jack in the Box (new here and we've never had it before) and he was a dear and got me a Strawberry milkshake.

I let the boys have a sip before me and Princess had one after them. Then it was mine. So the boys asked again....no

"Sorry I'm sick guys. I can't share cause I don't want you getting sick."

Princess: "I'm sick so *I* can have some more!" *GRINS*

UGH (So that is why she shared her cold....so she could steal my milkshake.)

So cute and tiny....

So I've been wanting a set of Ikea children's plates and bowls. They look so cute and colorful online and would be PERFECT for daycare. Unfortunally I don't have an Ikea nearby (or even in this state) so I have to wait for my friend Sara to go to Europe or ask my May 04 mommy friend (she works there - LOVE IT) to grab me some (shoot their $2.00 a set not bad). I don't do well with waiting....(a fault of mine - I can admit that). Well lucky ducky I found someone selling a set of plates and bowls on craigslist for $3.00. Off I sent Chef to do my bidding (okay I begged him to run to the other side of town for them...LOL).

OMG they are SO TINY. Like I didn't realize (which I would of if I thought for a moment and actually read the measurements or took a sec to realize that Ikea would have EUROPEAN items (they have smaller stuff man - hence why they are skinney and I am fat (another post)))). LOL. Okay so like I said - they are TINY. Too cute but still so tiny. Hmmmm will this work I thought to myself? Well maybe for daycare but not for my kids. (like the bowl will hold 5 honeycombs and well my son's are almost 10 and 8 - -yeah okay not working for them)

So I'm thinking this will help the daycare kids to portion control and not waste a ton of food (they plate themselves) and it's - well it's too CUTE to not use. LOL

Here I took a pic.

Okay in that pic is a SMALL roll and a half of an apple on that plate...see TINY! LOL The bowl is holding a 1/2 cup of lettuce...LOL. (That's a cup from Tupperware not Ikea - I'm slightly wondering about the actual size of the matching Ikea cups but I'll have to wait...LOL)

Isn't it CUTE though? LOL I love JUST LOVE the vibrant colors though. I have green, orange, yellow, blue, teal and pink.

I'm thinking I need more but we'll see. I have a shout out to my May mommy and just waiting to see if she is comfortable with shipping to me (Ikea doesn't sell them online - they SHOW THEM but don't sell them online - why????) or have to wait for Sara to leave the country and get me some. LOL

**just a side note - CO will be getting an Ikea in 09-10....sometime...LOL.

The Interview

Elise over at FairyFlutters was needing people to interview. I was needing a blog post. WIN WIN

Here is the interview:

1) Tell me how you met and fell in love w/ Chef.

We met in 1996, Sheppard AFB, TX. I was in the Air Force and lived in the dorms. He lived on the floor above me. We became friends first and hung out all the time...along with the yahoo's that lived around us. Chef was pretty persistant. I broke up with my long distance BF and all of a sudden Chef was all about being with me (read - we slept together (I'm such a whore...LOL)). I said I wasn't ready and I wasn't looking for a new boyfriend. He sure was persistant though and wouldn't EVER leave me alone. LOL he was always there for me and always so sweet and nice (what happened man...LOL). I couldn't help but fall in love with him. (He was a tad stalkerish...LOL) We married in 1997 before I headed off to Saudi for a short 4 mths. The rest they say is history.

2) When was the last time you saw the ocean? Describe how you felt when you were sinking your toes into the sand? If you've never been to ocean, you can substitute a lake. :P

When we were in Turkey we went to a lovely resort and it was right off of the Mediterranean Sea. It was beautiful and the boys had a blast. Really when I was "sinking my toes in the sand" I was a tad peeved....LOL. It sure was prettier then it felt. Now when we were in NM at the Bottomless Lakes (near Roswell) they had a small sandy beach portion and I LOVED to wiggle my toes in it. The kids all had a blast and I really enjoyed our time together there. Princess was trying to bury my feet.

3) If you could hop on a plane tomorrow and go anywhere (all by yourself) for one weekend, where would you go and why?

I would go to see one of my friends. Goodness I wouldn't be able to decide who though. Stacy - I would LOVE to spend some time with. Bonnie - I haven't seen in 8 yrs. Amy - We're friends online but have never met IRL. Coley - I had a BLAST with her that last time we were together. Sonya - she is in Guam so a weekend wouldn't be enough. SO many more....can we just all meet on a cruise ship????

4) What was the last book you read? What was your lasting impression after finishing it? (If you haven't read a book, insert movie!)

Oh goodness you just HAD to go there didn't you. I am currently re reading the Twilight series (New Moon to be specific) and at the same time reading The Host (same author). I really like how the Twilight books pull you in (even if your not into vampires - which I wasn't). I NEVER read books more then once for the enjoyment of it. Even now I am thinking and feeling things I might not of the first time around. I really enjoy them. I have read some of the excerpt from Edwards POV (here) and I can't wait for the day that Stephenie finishes it.

5) You have found $500 in your purse and you have no idea how it got there or why, how would you spend it?

I would do something fun with the kids. Pick up some new games for the DS's or Leapster or a new Wii game for all of us. We'd go out to eat and somewhere fun. The kids need some more clothes so we'd go on a shopping trip. Sounds boring huh??? I can't help it. Seeing them happy and looking good makes me happy. :-) I wouldn't mind a new pair of shoes though. LOL

GAH!

I'm here I'm here. SO I have been off since Christmas. Which has been great and I have taken advantage of it and was MAJORLY lazy. SO therefore this week will be bombared with multiple posts from Christmas, my adventure of switching kids bedrooms (on Christmas Eve no less) and the Birthday of my middle baby. Not to mention yesterday was MY birthday and well I didn't do ANYTHING, not even the laundry. Good thing the boys are home this week and can get theirs done today. LOL

*sigh* I'm back at work today though. Fun Stuff!

PS How do you like the new background? It's temp don't worry....LOL Just a little shout out for my fav books. LOL I'll be changing it at some point when I find something. I just LOVE The Cutest Blog on the Block site for blog backgrounds.

A Princess and her cat.

So you remember this picture from yesterday and I promised you that there was more to the story. Well there is. See Princess is actually terrified in this picture. Liea (the cat) not so much as you can see. Since rearranging the living room to make room for our tree Liea has taken it upon herself to regularly attack Princess anytime she walks by the living room. This night was no exception. Princess and I were busy doing different things and everytime she walked by the couch Liea would spring from the other side.

Finally we sat down to watch "Charlie Brown Christmas" on ABC and Liea kept climbing into the Princesses lap to cuddle and Princess would get all nervous and cringe so I would nudge Leia off of her. (Who can blame Princess right - I'd avoid her too at this point). I had nudged her away no less then 5 times in 3 mins when finally Princess laid down and Leia tried one more time. I just told Princess "To be calm and she just wants to cuddle now." So she tried and Leia made herself at home. The look of pure terror on my daughters face sent me rushing for the camera (as if any of YOU would do anything differently...LOL). Of course you can't tell from the picture but Princess was NOT happy about the cuddling. She see's a camera now a days and she has to smile. It's like a rule or something. (I don't think she can get her arm any farther away from the cat if she tried.) LOL

Deck the halls.....

I joined in with TipJunkies Virtual Tour of Homes. I enjoyed visiting all of the homes and already have so many ideas in my head for next year. Money keeps me from doing them this year. (Lucky for Chef LOL)


Welcome to the Party of Five addition of Deck the halls. I know I said that the tree would be up on Monday but life got away from me. Forgive me. Now let us get started.

First stop is our lovely tree in the living room. Most everything on here is homemade, bought for our children or snowmen (which is in memory of my Grandmother and now the decoration of choice when we buy our yearly family ornamnet.) Even the garland is homemade.

Next are the stockings..... (keep those hands OFF of the tree - no one said you can have a candy cane. Put it back.)

Now we're on our way upstairs (I SAID PUT IT BACK.) First stop is Little Man's room and his very own tree. Isn't it cute? Even if it does lean a little. ;-)

Up close shot of his little woodland creatures ornament.

Moving right along now. Here we are in Monkey's room.

Up close shot of one of his handmande ornaments. (yes he made it)

BEEP BEEP. To round off our tour we'll stop off in the Princesses room. (Santa had a little too much sip sip huh)

Another up close shot. This time of Hello Kitty.

This concludes our tour of Decking the Halls. There IS more to see but those can be saved for a later date as they are still under construction. Now thank you for stopping by and I will see you later. (HEY didn't I tell you to put that candy cane back? HEY! Come back here! Why I oughta....)

"I've had a lot of savings"

Black Friday shopping actually worked for me this year.

Savings at ToysRUs - $120.00

Savings at JCPenny's - $130.00 (more then I even spent)

Hearing Sara laugh when I told Chef "I've had a lot of savings" when asked how much I've spent. - PRICELESS

I live to amuse.

I proceeded to go home and save another $35.00 online at Amazon.com

LOL

All in all not a bad trip out on Black Friday. We were lucky enough to run into nice people and we met Lisa at JCP for shopping and then we met Erica at the movies to watch "Twilight".

A very nice day trip with a fun friend.

Thanks for dragging me out Sara!

What happened was???

It started out innocently enough.


Hey Look! It's Kerstie - man when did she get those HOlights? Well whatever works Sister. Whateva works.

Oh she hit a bump in the rode. WTF. Is that....is that POLLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What is Polly doing in the trunk?

OMG Watch out! What the heck is going on here.

Oh the horror. Kerstie? Kerstie? Are you driving the getaway car? Oh no!