Curious Bird has up for sale some of her hand drawn screen printed tees for kids. I for one am partial to the turtle.

Also, i was playing around with some actions i got form PW’s website and used a lovely picture of Firecracker from Larksongs blog. Firecracker is one of my favorite kids, as well as one of the cutest.

This is how this photo started.

I can do.

Seriously.. No pink. I searched.. and couldnt find anything. It just doesnt appeal to my senses.

Stripes were way more abundent than i had expected.

And how about a plaid?

These are my hubby’s pajama pants that i have pilfered to make my own. He doesn’t seem to care. Please don’t mind my toes.

My next stripe is one that was given to my husband from his Mom. She crotched him this blanket while he was in college, she made it extra long because his legs are soooo long. Its also in his college colors.  I like it, its usually decorating the back of a couch somewhere in our house.

OK, so yellow was a hard one for me.

I don’t own a lot of yellow, as i don’t care for it much as a color. Its just not me.

But i did find some.

Mur’s eyes used to be blue/green.. Actually they were almost teal, for the first 2 years of her life. I had never seen a cat with eyes like it. But as she has gotten older they have turned cat yellow. She turns 10 this year. My little kitten turns TEN! How on earth are all my little babies getting so old.

Lola started out with this ball. I have no recollection of buying it, but i must have. Because it quickly became her best friend.  She carried it everywhere. Eventually she popped a tiny hole in it and it made a whishh sound. She loved that sound and would sit there and squish it for hours. It made her so happy. Eventually I had to buy another one.. and then another.. and this continued on for a long time. We eventually bought these balls in bulk online, in case one died.

Eventually i made the mistake of buying her a squeaky football, and this poor ball has been replaced, and sits lonely on the kitchen table.

I have had this picture on my desktop for almost 6 months now. I love it. Its simple, and beautiful.

The side of my fridge offered up some “yellow”.  Top is a lovely picture that my dear dear Ruthie made for me, and below it is the artwork of my little Bea Bea. They are the most lovely children, whom i miss horribley. Next to that is my Eat pad. It lets me keep track what we had for dinner, and or are going to have. (As you can see, i havent used it this week)

My kitchen is lined with this god awful wallpaper. But the horror of it all is, I haven’t torn it down, because its that quirk about my house that i just cant seem to rid myself of, despite my extreme hatred of it. Unfortunately, they just match.

TINK!

Special Edition Disney Ornament this year.

Last year at Anthropologie, i found these ornaments, that reminded me of best friend and I. She’s a Blondie, and I am a Redhead. I bought both of us a set. I love them. I waited for them to go on clearance as they were 12 bucks a piece when i first found them, and eventually got them for 3 dollors apeice.

The Super Soaker 50. This thing is so old. Wow. Anyways. This is how we punish animals. Animal on the counter, PUMP PUMP SQUIRT!

Any more, all it takes is one pump, and even thats rare.

the Bad Habit Breaker

I came across a new blog that i so far like called Curious Bird. This seemed like a fun idea, so i thought i would join in. It also gives me simple projects i can do quickly with my camera, Lord knows i need practice.

So, Todays color is PURPLE!! Yesterday was blue, and if i get ahead of myself i might go back in time and participate. I thought maybe i would give a history behind some of the pieces i put up as well.

This first piece is a piece of fairy artwork that I purchased at Yellow Daisy Arts and Crafts festival. I have three pieces from this artisan. I love her work. This is actually the third peice, i have. Unfortunately i cant find a link to her website at this moment.

On our First anniversary (dating) we went to Cedar Point. We both love rolller coasters and what a better way to spend a cold wet rainy/snowy weekend than riding roller coasters! When we got to the park, i realized that i didnt have a hair brush with me. There are no convience marts around the park, so we bought a brush IN the park. (cant say that didnt cost an arm and a leg).

My first Anniversary Gift..

When we moved out of the house, we got rid of all the excess furniture we had. We moved into a small (but nice) 2 bedroom apartment for about six months. When we moved back into the house, we had no furniture really. The couch we had brought with us to dayton was old, bulky and black Pleather.(can you say Bachelor!!)  I didnt want to bring it back, so i sold it for dirt cheap to some younge guys from our car forums. Found out it was thier first apartment, so i threw in some old dishes, and pots and pans that we didnt need/use. They were so excited they could surprise thier girlfriends with actuall dishes, instead of plastic wear they had been using.

Anywho, when we moved Home, DH said we could buy new furniture. So we bought a LOVELY purple couch set for the living room, and a huge U-shaped couch for the family room. The cats get more use out of it than we do, and its typiclly coverd in towls to keep kitty fur from ruining it.

Another apartment story. When we moved into the apartment, we knew with 5 animals, we had to keep the carpet looking brand new all the time. So with me working full time and paying for the apartment and Nathan working and still paying for the house, we wanted the best product out there to keeping carpet clean. Dyson was there waiting/begging me to buy it. So i did.

My Bathroom. My Oasis. Its totally girl’d out. I dig it. Purple and butterfies.

I get very bored with white walls. Why would anyone want white walls? Or off white.. seriously, there are 32million colors out there, surely every wall doesnt need to be white!? Well, despite my DH not wanting any part of painting, I have managed to paint three rooms of our house.

Our Bedroom is the most recent of my triumphs.   I painted it purple. Do you sympathize with my husband? How girly can a bedroom be? Well I manned it up a bit too. Its a nice slightly romantic calm place to be. I cant wait for it to be 100% done.  Curtain rods are my downfall, and despite all my efforts to install it properly, wall anchors are fighting me every step of the way .

Mur enjoying the new artwork, and Lola taking a nap (big surprise).

The one project we have left to do, that is an all over the house project is to replace alot of our carpet with a good sturdy laminate flooring. The color we have picked out actually matches the closet doors (which will eventually be painted black after the floors are installed). The color suits us, and its not too dark, and not too light. Should go well with really any decor.

So no one can ever say i dont practice, despite my ability to get no where.

This one is me me trying knitting with two yarns. Part of me is sad to cover up the thick yarn with the fancy fuzzy yarn. Its Lion Brand Fun Fur in Tropical, and the base thick yarn is Moda-Dea Tweedle Dee, in Blue heather.

Heavenly Creations is where i purchased this lovely lovely yarn. I love how it crotchets and how it feels. I think if i could knit socks, i would love tu se this. It would feel devine on my feet.  The sucky thing is, i forgot to keep the label, so i dont recall who made it. I want to buy more of it.

This is my torture right now.. This scar.. its getting long, i swear!! I love knittig this, the yarn is so so, but its a lovely color. Knitting this really hurts my writsts, so i have to take breaks from working on it.

The three side by side.  Now Mom H. and Angela can be proud of me. One day, maybe ill go outside my box and make something NOT rectangular shaped!

I have taken cake decorating classes before. In fact i took one from a brilliant teacher, Mary, when i lived in Beavercreek at a pretty well known shop called Cake Craft.  I have bought most of my cake supplies from here, and miss it greatly. The teacher was fantastic. She taught the REAL craft of cake decorating. How to make a real butter cream icing, (NOT WITH SHORTENING, otherwise known as the Wilton method) How to make tasty fluffy cakes, correct ways to make drop flowers, and roses.

I made the mistake of thinking that i could just get a refresher course from taking Wilton Class  at Michaels. Boy was i wrong. I couldn’t believe what a sales whore pitch it was! BUY BUY BUY!! The teacher was nice and did share a few times of things that i didn’t know, but i felt like the only thing i was really learning was all the Wilton products that were out there.

They don’t even teach you how to prep cakes, or anything!

So i made a crappy cake. I am not proud of it, in fact its pretty sad. But the class was awful.

Please dont judge.

My icing was getting very sweaty and i couldn’t make it write properly  at the end of class, and I hated th way this thing look so much that i didn’t  even finish borders and stuff. We also were supposed to try out thier icing “spray paint”. As you can see, it spots, i am not impressed.

A cute little girl, Presents, and lots a good times.

We got some nice loots, spent some time with my family, and still got in some relaxation.

Holidays have kept me busy, i have lots to write about, and not enough hours in the day!

Subjects coming.

Wilton Class

Scarf still not done, but moving along

Some photography stuff, not sure what though yet..

and

What christmas was like.

I have spent the better part of 2 days, now working on a picture that i had in my head. I have tried SO hard to make it look like what i had vamped up in my head, but it has failed. Why cant technology fit inside my head?

Part of having A.D.D. is my in ability to work on just ONE project, so while i was working on this project, i have three photoshop books(*thank you God, for Scott Kelby) spread about my desk, my Stitch n Bitch book, Christmas cards that will never get mailed, and Mozilla has about 10 tabs open, on all three subjects that i previously listed.

I did however actually get most of the project i am writing about today done. I am making a calendar to print on Zazzle.com for our car club. This has been in the makings for a couple of months now. I have asked our membership to donate pictures that they have taken, and been picking and choosing cars to put in the calendar. This has been fun and lots of hard decisions.

In the process of this, i am also learning about how to make new brushes, mattes, and how to edit pictures properly. In doing so (add again) also realizing changes i need to make in my OWN photography, and testing the waters on it as well, torturing our poor animals with the flash that hurts thier eyes, when i practice, as they are my victo…subjects, yeah subjects that’s it.

Speaking of subjects.. i got the Devil Kitty to pose for me last night as i practiced bouncing my flash a bit..

So anyhoo, its 4am, i cant sleep as usual, and my brain is going a million miles a minute. Its a wonder how i remotely keep my house clean.

While i am thinking about this, i must mention this.

I love themes.

But i will never have just one, so dont be surprised when you come back and its changed.

Currently i am in love with the notebook one we are currently using, but it doesnt support widgets (how silly is that??)

So i am on the verge of ripping into the code to see if i can fix that, but, with so many projects and so little brain power for them all, who knows it it will happen.

So for now, i will see if my Amazon widget works in a post.

I have had a physically hard week. My failing body is wearing on me this week. I have slept on the couch most days this week, and have been mostly immobile. Nathan of course has taken great care of me. He made dinner one night, brought homes things from the store i needed.. Even sat up and worried about me, when it was particularly painful night.

Finally the pain ended yesterday. I feel better now, and moving around.

In fact, i felt SO good today, i went and had a haircut… I long needed, well deserved haircut.. and dye.. and highlights.. A sweet Day Spa bliss.

This weekend our COS Holiday Party is going off, hopefully without a hitch.  I might make some cookies, which if i do, i hope to take some pictures when i do.

I have two favorite loves..

Cheese, and Pasta.. There for a am in love with Stuffed Pasta Shells.

*not my picture*

STUFFED JUMBO PASTA SHELLS
CHEESE FILLING:

2 lbs. ricotta or cottage cheese
1/2 lb. Mozzarella cheese, grated
1 lb Italian Zesty Sausage (bob evens works well, as does Jimmy Dean)
1/2 pound of chopped baby leaf spinach
2 eggs
1/2 c. Parmesan, grated
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp oregeno
1 tsp Garlic salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. parsley
1 Jar Mids Spagetti Sauce (I love this brand its as close to what my grandma made as i can find)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Bring water to boil and then add pasta, boil pasta approximately 15 minutes.

The cheese filling.
Beat eggs; add ricotta, Mozzarella, and Parmesan cheese; mix in seasonings and chopped spinach
Brown and Crumble your sausage, and then add it to the cheese mix..

Using a large casserole dish, layer sauce, meat, and pasta shells which are stuffed with the cheese filling. Bake 45 minutes.

I love socks. I love fun sucks, i love pretty socks, i love warm socks, toe socks.. Whatever, I just love em.

Anthropologie has very pretty socks and other hosiery..

So this year, was my familys year for Thanksgiving. We headed to Dayton around 12 with all my food in tow. I made a few more of PioneerWomans recipies. I made her delectable and rich Carmel Pumpkin Cheesecake, and Easy Green Beans.

Typically i follow her recipies to a T, but i don’t much care for Gingersnaps and made my own crust out of crushed graham Crackers. I also did some reading about baking cheesecakes first and made sure to put a water bath below the spring form, and let the pie cool in the oven as well for 30 mins after cooking. I was left with minimal cracks.  The pumpkin i used, was the pumpkin puree i made a month or so ago with Amber.

The green beans were mostly fresh.. (as fresh as walmart sells.. lol) but did the job. I also didn’t realize that green beans would turn even more green when sauteed. My sister Amber requested this recipe, as she loves green beans. I have had a ton of requests for the recipe. I also didn’t skimp on the garlic.. i love garlic… more garlic please.

Im sorry i have no pictures to share this time, i was too busy cooking to take pictures. Next time, i will, i promise.

In other news, I want to wish Carrie and Ted a wonderful trip to meet thier new little boy, Owen, in Russia. We hope he comes home to us soon!!!

Its time for christmas lists!!

For my family and friends i would love to have comments on here to maybe your amazon wish lits or ideas for gifts..

Nathan and I both have wishlist on amazon, his is sligthly outdated..

Nathan and I went to a rally cross this weekend.

It was cold and rainy and miserable out. The course would have been a great course, but i was sooo wet that each run took almost three minutes each. By the end of the day, i was soaked to my knees, despite spending most of the time in my car. Nathan however stayed warm and toasty.

!

Nathan was packed into his clothing. I made the executive decision that he would need a good worthy rainsuit, when he asked me to get him a new one for the weekend, instead of the target special cheapo pvc ones. I was a little surprised at the cost of one, but decided to risk it and buy it anyways. It had a good think layer and seemed big enough for him to double up clothing underneath.

Nathan balked at the price a bit as well, but decided that it was a good investment as well, since it would last a long time. Saturday made him even more happy with me purchase when he was able to wear his THICK big red coat, sweatshirt, thermals, and tshirt underneath the jacket, and and the pants fit nicely over his jeans/thermal, as well, withought being too tight.

Nathan finished 3rd in his class, and came home to claim all the NTR mud that we brought home with us. Much to Nathans chagrin, i did however forget to take a picture of his poor mud covered car. Oh well, always next time

.

We also got the first snow Monday morning (2am’ish). Big fluffy flakes, that dont stick, but are beautiful to look at. I was alone to see this in our house. As the dogs and cats cant appreciate the beauty. But i do. It always makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

I love halloween. LOVE it

I grew up with my dad who every halloween got out all kinds of decorations and decorated the house. It was fantastic. We would scare the kids or make them laugh. I loved it..

Then as we got older, and we trick or treated on our own.. my friends and i would come up with elaborate costumes, and wear them all over the neighborhoods we knew.

For halloween now, i hand out candy to the little kids, and dont do as much as i would like to decorate. So my neighbor and i sat in front of her house and handed out candy for half the night, giving all the little kids glow sticks with their candy, that matched their costumes. They were all so cute..

Then we took her kids out around the neighborhood and stopped at a house that had a whole Wizard of Oz theme. I loved it.

So i am planning.. Planning a theme, not sure what, but i will do it next year with my neighbor.

My Kids this year.. I am horrible to them. Every year, i buy them costumes, and torture them..

I decided to take a beginner knitting class this month at Heavenly Creations. Patti was a great teacher and very vibrant.

This is the scarf i am working on..

Dear Coders Mom crocheted Cerebus for me, a pattern i bought off of Etsy.

I thought he turned out very cute. We have named him Ocho.

I sit in the backyard with the dogs alot. Mostly i just park my butt in the middle of the yard and watch how all 5 animals saunter, run, and frolic thru the grass. Sometimes, Lola will just sit by my side with her ever faithful ball. Mazey will always walk the fence line, constantly “on guard”. Farina circles me, Mur curls up in my lap and purrs her self to sleep, and Gizmo leaves the yard as soon as he can, off to kill some small vermin who wants to infest local gardens.

Loves rolling in the leaves

It also means that the leaves of our 18 trees have all fallen off.

The Leaves

This sends my Darling Coder, out into the yard to rake, for hours on hours. He hates it, but he diligently does it, every year. He grumbles at me, and ask me why i am photographing him while he’s working, with the look on his face that says “You should be helping me”.  I politely decline and continue to tell him, year in and out that grass has been growing just fine for millions of years, with leaves falling on it.

(in all honesty, we trade off outdoor chores. I pull the weeds, plant the flowers,(or help them to their deaths, i am good at that) and I enjoy (seriously!!) shoveling the driveway.

its nice having a partner in life.

Darling Coder hard at work.

Thanks to Working Woman Food, i tried this recipie.

Chicken Fingers with Spicy Avocado Sauce
For the Chicken Fingers
2/3 cup whole wheat bread crumbs*
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips

Preheat the oven to 400F. Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.

Combine the bread crumbs, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, thyme, paprika, salt and pepper in a shallow dish.

Mix well. Dip the chicken strips in to coat evenly, and tap off the excess. Lay the chicken strips on the prepared baking sheet in a single layer.

Spray the tops with cooking spray. Cook until golden brown and cooked through, about 20 minutes.

For the Spicy Avocado Sauce
2 small avocados, pitted and peeled
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoons minced pickled jalepeños
Juice from 1/2 small lime
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce, or more to taste

In a medium bowl, mash the avocado and sour cream together with a fork.

Fold in the jalepeños, lime juice, cilantro and hot sauce, then season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve the chicken fingers with the avocado sauce on the side for dipping.

*To make whole wheat bread crumbs, take a slice of whole wheat bread and put it into a food processor. Process until it makes fine crumbs. I only needed one slice of bread to make the amount of crumbs needed. Feel free to substitute prepared bread crumbs.

One of my friends is starting out in the internet world. She is a SAHM and is trying to get a book published for knitting childrens clothing. (pattens ideas, and what not) The publishers she talked to, said she needed to be more in the know, in the internet blogger knitting world.

Soooo.. i am helping her to create this. She is also learning about computers. (this has been fun, i swear)

So anyways.. Its just up and running in the last few days, and she will be putting up knitting patterns, homemade ideas for recipes, and school lessons for her home-schooling.

www.larksongknits.com

Feel free to check it out..I’m still working on it.. trying to get a logo, and a theme she is 100% happy with. She will also soon be getting an Etsy Shop..

 The Awesome-est Blueberry Muffins

I made these muffins a few weeks ago.

They were awesome. I sent them in with Nathan to work.

Here are the pics i took of them.

Fantastic Contraption: A fun online physics puzzle game

Posted using ShareThis

Places Nathan and I have visited together!

We have alot more world to cover.