Weekend Fun

We had a great weekend.  Kind of chill, not too much going on.  I kind of wish we went to he airshow.  We have never been and after seeing all the planes it looked like so much fun!  Maybe next year!  We  just did some small little things around the house.  I worked on a bunch of stuff for Papercutz.  I think our kids had so much fun playing with this stuff...

 I saw this link on my sister in law's blog for chasing cheerios and I was intrigued by the name.  They had this fun activity posted for your kids so we did it and Lily LOVED it!

 A Halloween Sensory Box!

 It got a little messy but big deal...nothing s broom wouldn;t sweep up!  She had fun & I got to get dinner all cooked and ready while she did it!  

On Saturday we hung out in the driveway for a good portion of our evening.  I was painting some wooden blocks for Papercutz and the kids played in the driveway with the chalk.  They played for a LOONG time.  It was GREAT!

We ended our night with some pizza and then heading back out with the girl next door to color the driveway a little more!

Once we got home from church today Gabe was so kind and let his sister hang out with him while he played games on the computer!  She didn't want to just share the chair she had ti sit on his lap!  He's such a good big brother!

I hope y'all had a great, family weekend too!

Door Project

So a few weeks ago I posted about this great website I found and she had done a few projects with some doors she had purchased at Habitat for Humanity.  So I picked up a few the last time I was there and I haven't done much with the yet.  Well, I've started them but not finished them...seems like I am good at that lately.  Well, this past week I decided to paint our living room and take on this project one afternoon.

This is what you need to get started.  A door or piece of wood, an old frame would work even with some thin wood in place of the glass.  I also had some spray paint, wooden numbers (the year we got married), liquid nails, hammer, hanger, 2 small nails.

Then I painted my numbers with the spray paint a couple of times and let them dry completely.   While drying add the hanger to the back of your door with your nails.

Apply liquid nail to the back of your wooden numbers and press firmly onto your door.

Voila, hang up in your room.  I think it cost less than $4 to do the whole project!

Great Friend

We had a fun play date last week with my great, sweet, caring, and ever so thoughtful friend Shawna and her crew!  I say crew because she watches her nephew's and another little baby so she carts 5 kids around with her each day!  Pure craziness.  The noise alone would drive me to...well you know....drink!  She is so kind and thoughtful and is always thinking of others before herself.  When we had our play date she brought all of her polish to do my toes!  What a treat!  (for me)  If you have ever seen my nasty, cracked, rough feet...it's true friendship let me just tell you that!  It was so kind of her to think of me in such a little way and it made me feel so special!  She is so full of joy & the love of God...with 5 kids!  I wouldn't be that's for sure, ha!  She's one of those friends who are real with you, tell you to suck it up when that's not what you want to hear, but then can also make you laugh 'til your belly hurts!  I love her dearly!  Here's a few snapshots of our fun afternoon.  (she also painted Lily's nails too)

This is me and my sweet friend Shawna...this is an old picture from this summer.

Lily's nail's with a flower!  Okay so I never took any of my toes but they were a fun kelly green color with yellow flowers!  SO FUN!  I have a FABULOUS friend!

New Business

I started my business about 7 months ago and I feel like God has blessed me with steady business.  It continues to spread and grow each and every month and it's doing something I love to do, create!  I received an order for some wedding invitations and I didn't want to use anything but the best supplies on it so I looked for my local Stampin' Up demonstrator.  She turned out to be fabulous and has encouraged me to start selling Stampin' Up myself.  With much thought and prayer I decided to take the plunge.  I figured I was already doing paper stuff anyways so why not embrace the opportunity to teach other people how to enjoy what I get to enjoy on a daily basis.

I excitedly decided to be a Stampin' Up Demonstrator and will start to host some classes of my own.  I will be starting a separate blog for, Papercutz and Stampin' Up so I can share what my business is doing and some ideas for people to use. 

I will host my first 2-day workshop on Thursday October, 14th 9:30am-11:00am (for all you stay at home moms), and Saturday, October 16th 6:30pm-8:00pm.  

Please let me know if you are interested in attending one of my workshops.  We will be making something for Halloween.  I will keep you posted!  

The Little Brown House

So I am obsessed with this website called The Little Brown House and I am working on some of her wonderful creations!  She uses inexpensive items to come up with such fabulous things.  I have made these for Lily's birthday party...

The dollar tree cupcake stand

and I am planning on making this soon and it fits perfectly at our house since we both LOVE coffee!

Coffee Filter Wreath

I went to habitat and got some doors to make these...which I am kind of sad our Habitat for Humanity is SO EXPENSIVE compared to some of the other ones I have been to.

Serving Trays

and these

Family Established Signs

Wouldn't they just make great Christmas gifts?

I hope you can take the time to go check her out.  Her site is filled with fun stuff to do for so cheap!

Life's Ups and Downs

I have had so many things I 've wanted to post in the past 2 weeks but a.) have not had a moment to do so and b.) we fried our, 8 month old mac book with a bowl of soup!  Last week was an emotional, crazy week!  We had great friends leave for Colorado over the weekend.  They were some of Gabe's best guy friends.  It was such a bitter-sweet time.  We will miss them so much!

We had our second Moms meeting which was just what I needed.  A fun, game time to act crazy doing Minute to Win it games!  Although it added some stress & worry to my life...okay and a little frustration I realized one thing...how weak I am when I am in need.  I believe with ALL my heart that God will PROVIDE and He is FAITHFUL in EVERYTHING.  But often times I assume He knows my struggles which He does but He is waiting for me to vocalize them to Him.  So, I am working on my prayer life.

"God is deeply concerned when his children are burdened by anxiety, in much the way parents are concerned about their children.  It is tragic that we often worry ourselves to death when God's supernatural peace is only a prayer away."-Cymbala

We had to make a decision to not go back to NY at Thanksgiving which was EXTREMELY hard for us.  We had already told Gabe that we were going and let's be honest I can't wait to squeeze little Hailey and Ella!  I miss them dearly.  Gabe only gets 3 days off from school so we were going to pull him for the other 2 and by the time we paid for all that we needed to pay for it just didn't balance out.  I felt like we would of been unwise with the money God has given us...we could use it better if we just wait.  Which is just so hard to do sometimes!   I know God has a plan in all this.  Sometimes it just stinks!

One of Bill's close neighbors died last week.  He has been ill his whole life and so it was a bitter-sweet moment.  We really wanted to be able to be there with family & friends to share our condolences.

Olson, Robert J. ROTTERDAM Robert "Rob" J. Olson, 50, of Rotterdam, died Tuesday afternoon, September 21, 2010 after a long illness. Born in Niskayuna, Rob was the son of Harold and Barbara (Mooney) Olson of Rotterdam. A 1977 graduate of Linton High School, Rob was member of Cobble-stone Reformed Church, attended the Cloverpatch Camp in Glenville, was an avid Boston Red Sox Fan and season ticket holder of the Tri City Valley Cats. He loved drawing and traveling, Rob was known as the Mayor of Groveland (Schoowee) and an inspiration to all who knew him. (Alb. TU)




Friday Gabe woke up with the poops so he couldn't go to school.  That kind of put a kink in my schedule but it was alright with me!  We got to be in our jammies all day!  We had date night planned for Friday night and we were so excited for that but then we had a miscommunication with our sitters and so we had no one to babysit.  So, we called Bill's Mom and she watched the kids for us.  After a long and crazy week we were able to get out and escape to dinner & the community theater with some friends.


Then this weekend was truly a family weekend.  Movies, crafts, a messy house, pajama's, pizza, popcorn, laughter, love, memories...

and of course pumpkins!  They each had to get one at the grocery store.  These will hold them over until we go to the pumpkin patch!


Oh yeah & I forgot to mention we got a new computer...yay!  We got an imac and a new desk!  We came to the conclusion that we just might not be a laptop kind of family....not right now anyways, lol!

Wishing For Fall

Okay so I have to be honest...my house is all decorated for fall.  I just wish it would get cooler already.  I am ready for sweatshirt wearing weather.  I have been itching to start cooking "fall menu" things like beef stew, soups, pot roast, butternut squash, apple crisp....but I need the weather to go with the meal, haha I already know I am crazy!  You just can't eat beef stew when it is hot out.

I have been really interested in freezing meals.  If I can cook once and eat one/freeze one for later that would be fantastic!  Do y'all freeze any good dishes?  Now that Gabe is in school I feel like some night's it's so crazy to get a meal on the table before we need to be out again.  When I was grocery shopping last week I picked up one of those tiny, over-priced little cookbooks by the register that was by taste of home, fall freezer meals.  I thumbed through it and debated wether or not there were enough good things in it but I got it.

Today I had my great friend, Shawna Hicks and her sweet kids over for lunch today and I decided to whip up one of those recipes from my cookbook.  I decided to make the Hearty Ministrone soup thinking it would kind of be fallish but not too fallish since it was still warm out after all.  :-)  It was SO yummy and it made such a big pot that we had enough to eat it for lunch, dinner, and have enough to freeze for another meal.  Woohoo!  It was SO good and pretty easy to make.  Also, it was quite cheap.  I had most of the ingredients in my pantry.

I also served a yummy "fall" salad.  It's kind of similar to the one Cracker Barrel makes, the Autumn Harvest I think it's called.  I might of just made that up I am not really sure but it sounds good.  I ate this same meal for lunch & dinner but it was SO good & healthy!

I thought I would share the recipe with you!  I hope you give it a try too!

Hearty Minestrone Soup

(by: Taste of Home)

Ingredients

         1 pound ground pork

         1/2 cup chopped celery

         1/2 cup chopped onion

         1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

         1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes

         1 can (16 ounces) kidney beans, rinsed and drained

         1 can (15 ounces) garbanzo beans or chickpeas, rinsed and drained

         2 cups tomato juice

         1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce

         1 can (14-1/2 ounces) beef broth

         3 medium carrots, chopped

         1 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

         1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

         1 to 1-1/2 teaspoons salt

         1/2 teaspoon sugar, optional

         1/8 teaspoon pepper

         
ADDITIONAL INGREDIENTS (for each batch):

         1/2 cup water

         1 cup uncooked ziti or small tube pasta

Directions

         In a Dutch oven, cook the pork, celery and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Drain.

         Stir in the tomatoes, beans, tomato juice, tomato sauce, broth, carrots, zucchini, Italian seasoning, salt, sugar if desired and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30-35 minutes or until carrots are tender.

         Transfer 6 cups of soup to a freezer container; freeze for up to 3 months. Add water and pasta to remaining soup; bring to a boil. Cover and cook until pasta is tender.

         To use frozen soup: Thaw in the refrigerator; transfer to a large saucepan. Stir in water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Add pasta; cover and cook until tender. Yield: 2 batches (6 servings each)

I did not use any pasta in mine and it was delicious!  I wanted to keep it gluten-free in case we have company.  :-)  Not to mention the extra calories...every little bit helps, right?

Apple Autumn Salad

Baby Spinach

Dried Cranberries

Cinnamon Pecans

Blue Cheese Crumbles

Fresh Apple Chunks

Dressing:

1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

1/4 cup Olive Oil

1/4 Grated Apple

Small dollop of dijon mustard

Dash of garlic powder

Dash of salt

Dash of dry mustard

Medium squeeze of honey

1/2 tablespoon sugar

whisk all ingredients together a drizzle a little over salad right before serving!

Enjoy!