Menu for week 1/28/08

Here is my menu this week. I have been planning menus for a few years. I found on I'm an organizing Junkie's blog her weekly challenge for organizing and posting you menus. I have found it extremely useful for grocery trips and even makes it easy to shop for sales. I try to let the kids help with the menus and cooking. I also try to once a month do a huge freezer cooking for busy nights or meals only Big Daddy will eat. Makes it easy on me. It is all about me - right?

Monday - Princess's birthday - Big Daddy's Famous Fried Chicken (use to called spearless wings)
Skinny Onion Rings, and Birthday Brownies!

Tuesday - Chef Special Stir Fry - Fried Rice - frozen chicken and fries for the picky ones

Wednesday - Spinach Tortellini Soup - Garlic French Bread - again - frozen chicken and fries for the picky ones - Queen Bee and I will eat out with friends (cheer night)

Thursday - Busy night :) Leftovers, whatever anyone can find in the frig, freezer or pantry

Friday Night - Hamburgers and Hot Dogs, homemade french fries - chocolate chip cookies for dessert

Our cookie of the week this week: Peanut Butter Cookies -
Last week we made Martha Stewart's Black Bottom Coconut cookies, double chocolate chip cookies, chocolate chip cookies, and brownies - mostly for Princess's birthday party.

Enjoy your week!

A word for the year - Patience

I found this great blog from Kristi -Everything is Pink. Besides the fact I love the color pink. Seriously - love the color pink! My room was pink growing up, I wear pink pretty much everyday, my sorority colors were pink and white, my girls love pink...I have now gotten off track.
Any whooo...Kristi has a great post about her word of the year. It made me think, what would my word of the year be?

I choose Patience. I have none, not one ounce. I want everything right now, right here, no waiting. Patience is one thing I need to learn. My patience quickly runs out when the kids are screaming and fighting - yes, they do that. I think patience would be good for me, for the whole family. Patience in everything, from waiting in a line to waiting for a phone call or email. Patience that anything good comes with time. Or is it anything worth having is worth waiting for? You get the idea. My kids need to work on their patience too. So in effort to self-improve I will be holding on to my patience. Gee, this is where I wish I knew how to make those great digital pictures or graphics. Then I could make one that says, you guessed it "Patience". Maybe I should have chosen Learn - LOL
I will know Learn to have Patience for those brownies to finish baking!
Have a great weekend!
Tomorrow is the big crafty B'day party! I will post pics on Sunday :)

New Projects this Week

This week has been my "catch up on unfinished projects" week. Fun huh?
Here are a few things I actually finished...

My first apron. Next time I need to add pockets, maybe make the front a little wider. I am going to put a monogram on it for my SIL.These are a pair of soft shoes for my cousin's little boy. I also made him a matching burp cloth and paci holder. I think they turned out cute for my first pair of baby shoes :)Off to finish playing with block printing. It is one of the crafts we are doing at Princess's party on Saturday. I will take pics when I am done - so far - too cute!!!!!

CUTE!CUTE!CUTE!

I love tootling along the blog -line and finding tutorials! Look at this adorable tutorial!!
I make handmade fortune cookies every year at Christmas and for the Chinese New Year (Yes, the kind you eat). But these are precious. I have to make these...now to get some tan felt...
Check out Craft Sanity Blog to get the tutorial.
Let me know if you make them!

Last week's yummy treats! The kids and I decided to make these yummy chocolate and peanut butter blondies last week. They received rave reviews!
Here is the link to the recipe and the picture the Hershey's website gives:
We added the chocolate and peanut butter swirl pieces to the recipe and added more of the mini Reeses baking bits. Yummy!!! I think our picture looks tastier! Of course we had to put them in cute cello bags with pink and brown rafia.
Let me know if you try them! I would love to know if your turned out just as tasty!
Off to get this week's recipe going....

Sunday Scrappin'

For my Sunday Scrappin' I worked on our Wedding album.. It has only taken me 12 years to get it together. I know you thinking -wow that must be some album. It really is just all black , 8 x 10 pics held on with photo corners. Nothing extraordinary - but sweet and simple. I will get the pic posted today. I just have 1 page to finish up. Alteast I can say - One album down LOL

Promise - the next album will be a little more substantial and creative :)

My Ta-Das - is not scrapbook related -but it is crafty! I almost finished with my SIL's apron! I will post when it is done. I also made cute baby booties, burb, and paci holder for my cousin's new baby boy. I wish they lived close enough I could hug him. But sadly they are in Minnesota...so long distance hugs will be sent this week. - That would also answer the bonus question. Getting these projects wrapped up!

My To-Dos - get ready for Princess's "Crafty" Birthday Bash this weekend...UGH... 13 kids and lots of great crafts. Let's hope they don't wreck my studio and basement. I am going for controlled chaos.

Have a great Monday.

It snowed again!!

It snowed again!! I was so excited! Big Daddy, Princess and her friend, and of course -Little Man -built this great snowman! He is a "hiking" snowman. We had to improvise on the embellishments -but I think it turned out great!
Hot Chocolate anyone????

Did you get snow this year? Did you build a snowman??? Share! I would love to see pics.

Snow in the South!

We had snow!! How exciting for us Southerners!! We didn't have 6 inches or anything, just a couple of loose powder inches - enough to have a good old fashioned snowball fight! The kids had a great time! Yes, I know Queen Bee is in shorts. She had just come home from cheerleading practice. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to stick around. It was gone by noon. Then today it was almost 60 degrees. It is suppose to snow again tonight. I guess we will see what it looks like when we wake up!

Here's to snow ball fights and hot chocolate!

Feeling the L-O-V-E

I LOVE Valentine's Day -I mean I really LOVE it!! It is my Fav holiday! In the spirit of loving Valentine's Day - why not join this great swap from Missy at Fabric of My Life.
I am so excited. My mind is twirling wildly with the possibilities. It also made me realize. I have not posted hardly any of my craftiness. I also have not posted Princess's newest outfit. I am taking care of that right now. Hmm..I need to work on my photography. It is a very cute outfit but still "cool" enough for her to not feel like she is 5 years old. Geesh - she is only going to be 10 in a couple weeks!!

Go visit Missy and join the LOVE Swap! Kiss your kids and hubby. Eat more chocolate!
That is my mantra for the day!

Warm PJ Drive

Another great idea from Flat Betty! (you can click on the link on the left side bar) or click HERE to get to Flat Betty. A warm pajama and book drive!!! Everyone needs warm Pjs! Who doesn't love to cuddle and read a good book? Please visit Flat Betty's site to help raise money for this event!
I off to check my calendar to put together a PJ/book drive to help out! More details later...
What are you waiting for? Go visit Flat Betty - Hurry!!!!!!

Queen Bee does a good deed

As parents Big Daddy and I try hard to instill caring and a value of service to others in our children. This is a hard concept, but one that we try to model through actions and teach throughout daily life. Well, Queen Bee started growing her hair over a year ago. She said she wanted to donate it to Locks of Love. Great I said. Little did I know how long it would take. I know, patience is a virtue and all good things come with time. But day after day of struggling with the angel's hair - it hurts when you brush it, there is a knot, I don't like that hair do - UGH!! Finally, after looking around and hearing about an Oprah show -we found Pantene's Beautiful Lengths Program. They only needed 8 inches! WOO HOO!!! Last week my girlfriend cut Queen Bee's hair! All 8 inches! She was so excited. She was even featured on the school's morning announcements. That is a big deal in 2nd grade! Here are some "during" pics! Hmm...doesn't seem like a lot of hair, but it really was a HUGE change. She looks totally different now.
We are all proud of her! Have a fabulous day!

a great idea

I was tootling around blogs today. Yes, I was suppose to be working. The machine was sewing out, I was just waiting for it to finish - honest! I found this great blog by Rachel. I have done Fly Lady. That is all fine and good, but I am not great at it. I am too easily distracted or get side tracked too easily. I also tend to start too many projects without finishing :) You know, you get a bright idea then you have to do it right then and there. Well, that's me! Anywho - I like Rachel's idea of 5 minutes a day to create a sanctuary. My home is NOT a sanctuary at all! I would love that homey feeling when I come home. Not just decorating but clean and organized. Maybe this will help motivate me. Who knows, we 'll see! I can only try -right!

Our Cookie a week

So the kids I decided to make a cookie a week. Easy enough right? Well, they are finding so many recipes - they want to make 2 -3 cookies a week! UGH!
Last week -week 1 -we made a "Surprise Cookie". Basically a chocolate cookie with marshmallow on top then a chocolate frosting on top of that. YUMMY!
I have pictures -but not of the finished product.
So this week we made Paula Deen's Chocolate Drop Cookies. They are sinful. Super scrumptious!
I have to get a picture of them but here is how we are packaging this week's cookie:

We are also getting creative in packaging. I made these cute boxes out of card stock. I just used strips of parchment paper and cute ribbon to tie them I wish I had more grosgrain I was willing to sacrifice for packaging. But I have a hard time letting go of the good ribbon LOL
Enjoy a treat today!

My New Bag -

Here is a pic of my new bag I just made -super cute. I used a Heather Bailey fabric and an Amy Butler fabric. It is very functional and fun. A little big for everyday use, but I like it!
Have a fabulous day!

Happy 2008!

Happy 2008. I hope you had a great Christmas Holiday and a Happy New Year. I know we did. I needed the break. But now it 2008 and we are back to the rat race :)
I just saw Jamie Lee Curtis on our local noon show talking about her new book - Welcome to the Human Race - about a young boy who thinks life is really a race, like a foot race. Gee - I really feel like that sometimes. Or it is a HUGE one up on your neighbor. That gets tiring. But it does give you a fresh perspective as the new year begins.
So my resolutions this year:
1. Be organized the entire year - go ahead and laugh now.
2. Lose 25 pounds - have to put this in here. It is required by law.
3. FINALLY put things in my Etsy shop - yes, I know, way over due.
4. Have more fun with the kids and family. Make some real family time this year. *Insert your cliche here*

That is it for those pesky resolutions. Hopefully I won't break them all - maybe just #2 :)

I will say the kids and I decided to make a new cookie every week. This is after we made about 30 different varieties for Big Daddy's store/associates and his managers. That was a lot of fun.
So our first cookie of the week is......Emily's Surprise Cookie. I will post pics tomorrow. They turned out fine except I baked them a tad too long. They were a little over baked on the bottom. They are all chocolate and marshmallows - you kind of forget the over baked part once you bite into the marshmallowy goodness.

I also have my first wine bottle cheese board to put in my Etsy shop. Not my first ever. My first one I am actually selling in the shop. I have done these for a few years and sold quite a few. I am proud of them. I make each one myself, I bead each one and make it very glamorous. Tell me what you think!!
Okay -bad pic. I will fix that tomorrow. It is hard to photograph wine bottles!

Here is a pic of a sign I made my friend Teri. Yes, only Teri can appreciate my elephant humor :) I am still working on my foot, thank you.
OH and one more thing - promise last one. Here is a pic of a cute pin cushion I made for gifts this year. I made several different color combos. They are big about 4 inches square.Yes, I put the super cute flower on each one !!!

That all for tonight! I am off to dream land. The kids are actually back in school. That is crazy. Back up to the crazy 6:30 hour to get them off for some learnin'
XOXO