Treat Bags

The kids are supposed to take a bag of candy to school for a party on Friday. So, instead of sending in a bag of candy. I thought it would be cuter to make treat bags. Today my Mom and I sat down and completed 40 or more of them. The tops are inexpensive plain Joanne Fabric paper. I stamped the tops and then ran them through the Cuttle Bug ( a dry embossing machine) . I made the scallops and circle with a couple Stampin' Up punches. There is very little skill required to complete these. Just a lot of patience! Lots of cutting required! My girls enjoyed helping some too! Now, I only have 20 some more to go! They are going to be made out of paper sacks. It will be interesting to see how they turn out! :D

Here's a few cards I've made recently......I go through spurts where I make them quite often. Then I'll slack off and not make one for weeks. I truly enjoy making them. It is fun and rewarding!

Home for the FALLIDAYS

We've been having such beautiful fall weather I couldn't resist taking a few fall photos.....
I know they're not the best photos but the weather was just too nice to pass up the opportunity.
The wind was gusty at times while I was taking the photos. So you'll probably notice things blowing around.

I found these photos of our family room the other day. My far away friends were interested in seeing them. This room used to be an unattached garage. DH rebuilt and remodeled it. DH also built the staircase from scratch. I had the privilege of painting, furnishing and decorating it. These photos are from a couple Christmas ago. I have rearranged some of the furniture since then. Basically, for the most part it still looks the same.

Coat FUR Grace

While shopping a week or so ago. I came across this "fur" coat for Grace. The best part is that it only cost $5.00. I of course, couldn't resist. Not only was it a great buy. She looked ADORABLE in it! Grace cooperated even though it was around 80 degrees outside. I only took around a dozen shots. It was just too warm to make her suffer for very long.

Pumpkin Cupcakes

I would feel extremely selfish if I kept these adorable pumpkin cupcakes to myself and didn't share them with you. I bought a cupcake book and it had these cuties in them. I knew immediately I had to make'm. I didn't have that book a day or two and they were made. My MIL wanted me to make a cake for my SIL birthday but I asked her if I could make these instead. Of course, she said that was fine and my SIL loved them so much she wanted to make them for her sons kindergarten class. That's why I had to pass along the idea to you.
The cupcakes are very easy to create. You prepare them like regular cupcakes , then color canned vanilla frosting orange, cover the frosted cupcakes in orange sugar sprinkles, put a medium sized amount of frosting in a zip lock bag and cut a small 1/8 in. size hole in one corner to create the ridges. Lastly, cut the green twizzlers into 3/4 in. pieces and stick them in the top of the cupcakes (angle some of them slightly).

Shopping list:(you may already have most of these supplies at home)
1 cake mix
1 can vanilla frosting
pack of assorted twizzlers
orange food coloring
orange sugar crystals
ziplock bags
cupcake baking cups

Grace's First Camp Out

Our family went on our first camp out this past summer. This photo of Grace (3) was taken during our camp out. She was the last person to wake up that particular morning so I had an opportunity I couldn't resist. To me, a sleeping child is a perfect example of peacefulness. You can find a link to this photo contest HERE http://www.5minutesformom.com/4380/win-a-new-bedroom-set/

Happy 14th Anniversary to US.....

Blessed be the Lord God Almighty we just celebrated 14 years of marriage. The Lord has brought us so far from where started. We are blessed above and beyond God's promises. I pray that we as a couple continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

My honey brought me 14 roses on our happy day.

Lord willing we'll be celebrating our ann. in Baltimore for a few days this week.

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

It's the most wonderful time of the year. Moms face is a glowing her heart is exploding with gladness and cheer because this is the beginning of a new school year. The children are waiting their hearts anticipitaping as the school bus draws near. Oh, it's the most wonderful time of the year.

Yes, this is song I was singing the first day of school. Yea, I know, I used to pride myself in the fact that I was not one of THOSE moms that enjoyed seeing their kids off to school. Well, somewhere along the line that changed. I've never been this ready for a school year to begin. It helps that for the most part the kids were excited too. We've had a VERY busy summer and due to that I was ready for life to kind of get back into a routine.

Weston started Kindegarten this year. So far, he is LOVING school. He's doing a great job getting up and at'em in the mornings. It's amazing how much he's changed and matured just this summer. I hope this good trend continues!

Photo Contest at 5 Minutes for mom

Our daughter (see photo below) was inspired one day this summer to construct a tire swing. Her daddy (my husband) noticed her carrying a smaller tire with a short string attached to it. He asked her what she was going to do with the tire and string. She informed him that she was going to hang the tire from a pole. In her mind it was a great plan. To make a long story short, her daddy went and brought out a bigger tire with a long rope and hung it HIGH in the branches of an old massive tree in their play yard. That is an impressive and impossible feat in the eyes of little ones. This of course, thrilled her heart and embedded memories in her being that she will not soon forget about her daddy. Our daughter enjoying the tire swing after a BIG push from daddy.

You can join the contest too. Click on this link for more info http://www.5minutesformom.com/

The winner will receive $500.00. That would add even more fun to school shopping. We could even buy the personalized backpacks from L.L. Bean the girls wanted. They would love that!

Our First Camp Out

We've been talking about taking the kids camping all summer. So, we made a last minute decision and decided to go this past week. We camped for 3 fun days and 3 restless nights. The weather cooperated to a T. The nights were cool and the days perfectly warm. We had a great time and thankfully no mishaps. This was our campsite. It was right next to the lake and had elec. hookups.

Weston wanted to go fishing one morning immediately after he woke up. I think he had to sit a while longer to finish waking up. He didn't want to bait his hook so, Mel helped him.


Weston was instructing her on how to bait the hook how "daddy said".
The campground had a playground. Which they all enjoyed.

I think this tire swing was their favorite. I could hear them screaming all the to our campsite when Mike was twisting them.Mike starting the fire for breakfast.
Mike cooked us two yummy breakfasts. Biscuits, homade hamburger gravy, scrambled eggs and bacon.
Breakfast closeup.....We had a blast on the paddle boats. We took them out two different days.The girls made some new friends while were there. They had a lot of fun playing with them.
I couldn't resist taking this super sweet picture of Grace. She looked so cozy asleep on the tent floor.