Scrapbook Day!

I spent Saturday with my scrapping

friends in Maryland. 

Here are the layouts I got done. 

I am almost done with 2010! 

If you want to see the layouts closer

just click on them. 

Have a blessed day.

Critters

The last few day we have had a few visitors. 

The deer was chowing down in our front yard. 

At least our bushes and trees will stay trimmed.

Meet our landscaper.....



We are trying to figure out what the

birds around here enjoy eating. 

It seems they all like sunflower seeds. 

This chickadee takes a seed and then

flys to the bush to crack it open. 

Chickadee

But then there is the squirrel. 

We saw him climb the pole a few times

unable to get to the seed. 

He has since figured it out.

Time to move the pole or just give in and

let him enjoy the feast.  What would you do?

Lunch time!

It is DONE!

Well a few years ago I went to Landcaster, PA.  My friend Jule helped

me pick out a wall quilt to make.  You can read about my progress HERE and HERE.  In the beginning I was really excited and had it pieced together in a few weeks.  Then the hand quilting began and I got a bit bored with it and put it aside.  I would work on it on and off for the next two years. 

 

This week I finally finished it. It is not perfect like I would have liked it to be, but it is finished. It 6 inches smaller than it was suppose to be. How did that happen???? My stitches are uneven and I had left it alone for so long I used two different thread colors to quilt it, dumb…. I don’t think it is suppose to have all those bubbles. Maybe I will try to iron it.

I love the colors. They are bright and remind me of all the autumn colors. Maybe I will make a winter one next.

I met a lady from a local quilters guild at Border’s the other day. They meet once a month just down the road from my house. So I may go check it out next month. I will keep you posted.

Happy F.A.T.H.E.R.S. Day!

"F" aithful.
"A" lways there.
"T" rustworthy.
"H" onoring.
"E" ver-loving.
"R" ighteous.

"S" upportive.

Did you know???

I have some really talented men living with me. The boys got up early (7am) Saturday and built shelving along the back of the garage. It turned out great!

Matthew wanted me to take this picture of the level. He was so proud of his workmanship. Now we have lots of space for holiday decorations and other stuff I can’t part with right now.

The office area is pretty much done for now.  I went through Michael’s Army boxes and pulled out some awards and farewell memorabilia to decorate the room with.  I was going to clear off the desk for the picture but I didn’t want to unorganized Michael’s system.  I organized the books by theme and put travel goodies on the shelves. 

My craft room is done for now.  I painted the room a light teal.  It gives the room an airy feeling.  I took things from all over the house to fill up my room.  Michael made me the two facing tables, the lamps were from Matthew, the dresser, shelves and glass desk are left from Sarah’s room. And the shelving is from somebody’s bedroom back in the day.  In the closet I have tons of room too store paper and other craft supplies.  I never had all my things in one place before.   So it is not so matchy matchy but I love the layout.  Now I just need some crafty friends to come over and craft with me.   

Sloppy Joes

This is a recipe from my childhood. I got this recipe from my mom early in our marriage. It is one of my favorite meals. I make a scratch sauce to mix in with the meat. It is best served with French fries or tator tots.

Sauce:
Melt 2 TBS of margarine in a small pot
Add onion powder (I never measured, I think 2 tsp.)
Add ½ cup water
1/3 cup vinegar
1 cup ketchup
2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbs brown sugar


Brown 1 lb. ground beef; drain and return to pan
Pour sauce over meat until saturated. (You will have leftover sauce)
Cover pan and simmer for 45mins – 1 hour. Check and stir every 15 minutes.

All Decked Out!

This week I worked on the deck area. 

It took me about four hours to scrub all

 the pollen off the chairs, table and umbrella. 

Then I went to Lowes and bought flowers

for all the pots I have collected. 

Then Michael found a spot for our birdfeeders. 

It is hard in this yard because there are a bunch

of spots that squirrels could leap to the feeders.



BEFORE



Scrub, scrub, scrub.......

AFTER

The ground is very hard right now so I think

I am going to wait till next year to put

in the perennials into the beds along the side of the yard. 

 Also we need to figure out how to take care of the pond. 

Right now we have successfully grown algae

 and made a home for a couple frogs. 

Thanks for stopping by.

The next room I will be finishing up is my craft room.

Moved to Virginia

Well we have finally landed in Virginia. We packed ourselves up and had movers move ALL our stuff down here.

I have unpacked all of our boxes.

We are working on finding a place for everything.

Here are a few pictures of the house.

As I finish setting up rooms I will share them with you.

Front of our new house.



Kitchen / Dining room

We have a kitchen / dining combo area. 

Our big table fits great in front of the 7 foot windows. 

 It is like watching the nature channel as we dine,

play games and hang out. 

My favorite part of the kitchen is the

crushed ice maker in the door of the refrigerator.

Kitchen

TV Room

 We made the front room into a TV room.

It is painted a dark red and the wood blinds

make it great to watch movies/TV in.

Matthew lives in the basement. He decorated the area.

The lovely wall hanging behind the TV is

something Michael and I bought back in 1984

 on the side of the road in Germany.

It has hung in most of our homes we have lived in over the years.

 We have passed it on to him for his décor.

Mattew's Pad AKA Man Cave

This week I am working on our deck area and my craft room. 

I will share those photos soon.



SOLD

Well, our house sold.  That wasn’t so bad, but now the fun starts.  We need to find another house, tons of inspections, fixing things, appointments, packing, … Man I’m tired already.  So I won’t be  blogging as much, but I will keep in touch.

Cinnamon Rolls

Chris came home to visit this weekend.  He wanted to make cinnamon rolls from scratch.  So he went to a recipe site called "Goons With Spoons".  I think only a guy would think this would be a good recipe site.  It is a bunch of nerds from the internet.  But he made the most delicious cinnamon rolls. The best part he said was it had step by step pictures.  You can get the recipe HERE!

Scrappy Time

I spent a few hours yesterday finishing these layouts from our trip to the Windy City.  Doing them made me miss my peeps back in the hood;)

 I think we need to take another trip to Chi-town soon.  I am going through cardamom toast withdrawal.

Snickerdoodles

I have been on cookie spree lately.  This week I made Snickerdoodles.

YUMMY!

You can find the recipe HERE

Thanks for stopping by.

Have a blessed day.

Getting MESSY!

This week I had a chance to get my hands messy and create some fun little pieces of mix media art.



I gathered all my supplies. 




We covered the kitchen table and got busy!



 I took these supplies and convinced my son’s girlfriend to join me in creating THESE little beauties.  I am still trying to let go and get messy.  Art isn’t perfect, right? 



I knew those store cards would come in handy someday.



I treasured spending time with my son's girlfriend today.



A reminder that kindness can be just a simple gesture.



Sarah enjoyed painting more than the paper piecing.  She did a great job, don't ya think?

If you head over to Stephanie's Blogyou can learn about all the great doodling and art she creates. This blog is where I have gotten my inspiration for all my doodles and artwork.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Peanut Butter Cookies

I wrote down this recipe as a young bride living in army housing back in 1986. My neighbor Rhonda Hite was a mother of two young children. I thought she knew it all. I had just given birth to my first child and had no clue what I was doing. She seemed to have all the answers. I thank God for all the army wives I have met over the years. We are a unique breed of strong, independent, welcoming, and accepting women. If you ever meet a military spouse, make sure you thank them for THEIR sacrifice to holding down the homefront while their spouses are fighting for your freedom.

I didn’t plan to jump on that soapbox, sorry.
There isn’t anything special about this recipe except they are YUMMY. Enjoy.


1 C Butter

1 C White Sugar

1 C Brown Sugar

2 Eggs

1 C Peanut Butter

2 tsp. Vanilla

2 ½ C Flour

½ tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Baking Soda


Cream the butter and sugars. Beat in eggs, peanut butter and vanilla. Add flour, baking soda and baking powder. Flatten dough with fork if desired. Bake @ 375 for 8 - 10 minutes.