Happy Un-Mother's Day

These are a few of my favorite pictures of my mom. She is visiting right now and I find myself reverting back to a high schooler. I seem to just let her cook and take care of the kids, as if they were her own. She is so good at it, and really enjoys the kids so much, that who am I to take that joy from her? ;)

We only have a little time left before she leaves again, so to her, I declare this her official Un-Mothers Day.

♡ All your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them. -Walt Disney

I've been away..........

Planning

Preparing

Being excited

Daydreaming

Getting ready...........

for this:

We just got back from one of my favorite places in the world. Although I am not that well traveled, I have been to WDW more than a few times. More than a few hundred times, actually. I am not sure which attribute I LOVE the most......

Is it the pixie dust that resonates in the air?

The delectable concoctions that fill the air with sweet aromas of chocolate, cinnamon and vanilla?

Is it the whimsy of a world of fairies, heros and villans?

Magical waltzes with twirling, spinning with your true love?

Could it be the unimaginable Florida skies filled with glorious colors of oranges, pomegranates and peaches?

Is it the thought of a man had a vision that no one believed in, they thought he was crazy.....but he believed, he went for it, and accomplished the impossible?

I can't put my finger on just one thing, but rather millions of reasons that I love loading the car with my little ones (whining....are we there yet, and ALL) our ridiculous amounts of luggage and heading on the 9 hour drive to Orlando. Getting to the parks just in time to catch the last show of the night. Getting goosebumps seeing Fantasmic for the 100th time. (Man I heart that lil' mouse, white gloves and all) Waking up at 6 to get myself and the little ones ready to get to MK on time to see Mickey open the park. Going on Splash Mountain, and seeing my two monkeys with their hands high in the air, squealing shouts of pure glee. Exhausting ourselves from playing all day, to then finally crashing in our hotel room......

Then of course, starting all over again the next day.

Honey....when are we going back again? ;)

SOURCE for all the fantastic photos.

I am not sure where I first saw this, but I love it. I carry it with me in my wallet:

11 things I learned from Noah's Ark

1. Don't miss the boat.

2. Remember that we are all in the same boat.

3. Plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the Ark.

4. Stay fit. When you’re 600 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.

5. Don’t listen to critics, just get on with the job that needs to be done.

6. Build your future on high ground.

7. For safety’s sake travel in pairs.

8. Speed isn’t always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.

9. When you’re stressed, float awhile.

10. Remember the Ark was built by amateurs, the Titanic by professionals.

11. No matter the storm, when you are with God, there’s always a rainbow waiting.

I hope you see the rainbow today.

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Chocoholics...BEWARE!! Delightful Gooeiness Ahead!

THE CULPRITS:

1 cup butter, melted

3 cups white sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

**optional…Pam to coat your baking dish**

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C)and lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish. I used Pam.

Combine the melted butter, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each, until thoroughly blended….

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Instead of using a sifter, I use a colander. I mix all the ingredients with a spoon as they go thru the colander. Then you want to gradually stir the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture until blended.

****DISCLOSURE…this may cause a huge haze of flour in your kitchen, not allowing you to see a thing, sneeze, then having a truckload (not really) of flour to clean up.***

By hand, stir in the chocolate morsels, then spread the hole yummy thing it in your baking dish.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes….I always start checking a couple minutes before with my handy dandy toothpick.

Now the instructions say to cool completely before cutting. I never listen to this step, but in this recipe it is IMPORTANT. The top of the brownies still need to harden J

It was either from the sweet fumes coming from these little pretties, or the cloud of flour that immersed me as I stirred them into existence, but unfortunately this is the end of my pictures. I was taking the brownies to a party and I simply forgot to take a picture of the finished ones. I can tell you they were a smashing hit and every morsel was devoured.

Hmmm…maybe I should make more today J

Take a bite...and bask in the glorious deliciousness of CHOCOLATE....like Mr. "M" here.

The original recipe was from
Allrecipes"

Braided Headband Tutorial

When I was younger, I thought that the creative gene had completely missed me, although it ran deeply in my family. I NEVER thought I could draw, paint let alone SEW! I remember when I first decided to start sewing, I asked (let's call her Ms. X) if she could show me how to navigate my way through a pattern. Ms. X was very persistent that patterns had to be followed to a "T". Every notch had to line up, and if not....well HA! So in my ignorance to her, I asked, if the patters are so tedious to follow, could I make my own? I still remember her dauntingly laughing and telling me there was NO WAY!

I am not going to lie and say that this in no way slowed me down, that I victoriously showed her! In fact, it did discourage me. She knew how to sew, and I was just beginning. I did end up trying again and being able to conquer my fears. The best part is that I love to sew, and if I would have listened, I would have missed out on this great blessing.

I wanted to write this for all of you that think that you are not creative. You can't sew. That is way too hard! I am here to tell you...TRY. You may realize that you are creative, you CAN sew and even though some projects can be hard, the end result are worth it....and you may even fall in l♥ve!!

On to the tutorial:The Ribbons and
Pigtail's Braided Headband




With this tut, I wanted to use up my bag of scraps, so I did it with that in mind. All you will need is some scraps, thread, pins and your sewing machine. I am giving you the dimensions that I used for a toddler headband, but you can change it up to make your own.

I started off taking 3 fabrics, lining them up and cutting 3 strips 15" by 3" as seen here:



I folded the 3 strips in half (lengthwise...the 15" turn into 7.5) and stared cutting strips about 3/4 of an inch in width. You will have 3 strips.




**as you can see in the picture, I am going to have more than 3 strips...I doubled it to make 2 headbands**

Now I cut my extender piece. This is the piece that ties around her head. I am going to be making a frayed headband,so I will not finish the edges. I made my ends more fancy like a leaf, feel free to do a square shape.



I folded my fabric, so that when I cut, I would be able to cut 2 pieces at a time. I cut them 8.5" by 1.5".



I ended up with 4 pieces total.

Now back to your strips. The fun part was braiding them. I lined up mu strips and put them under a corner of my sewing machine to hold it down as I braided.



Get your pins and extenders. Sandwich the ends of the braids into the end of the extender and pin in place. Do both sides.



Now we can sew it all together...and use that machine as something other than a weight :)

Start where you have pinned, to secure the braids in place. To hold it in place tightly, go back and forth over it several times.



Now go around the extenders, to keep them quilted together.



Sit back...admire your new headband...**sigh**




Put it on your pretty princess...L♥vely!

The DIY DISH

For those of you that have not seen this yet, take a minute, grab your favorite snack or beverage, sit back and....ENJOY :)

(ooops....and don't forget to mute my playlist to the left first)






**click on either picture to see the DIY Dish Blog**

glitter.

i've been sick....

neglecting my blog....

letting my kids tear up the house....

having take out for dinner....

i am ready to feel better.

glitter always makes me feel warm and fuzzy...



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Ahhhh...much better now :)

How does it make you feel?

What will you do?

Today, I will…

be happy even though it is gloomy and raining outside

strive for perfection, but not be let down if I don’t make it

be the best mom I can be

not over-criticize myself

make a yummy and nutritious dinner (spinach (shhhhh..) tortellini)

not look at my hair in the mirror and think of how I could change it

not eat more than one slice of chocolate cake (even if I want 2)

not sigh when I realize that I am not quite a Psamls 31 woman

try not to think of all the things I could be making if my sewing room was unpacked

hug my kids every hour

not look at other ladies creations and think I fall SO short

remember my good points…like my long eyelashes

play dress up with the kids

get fresh flowers

still do my devotional…even though I missed it and slept in this morning

smile more

be kind to someone that doesn’t deserve it

play super Mario bros on the wii, even if I still need to unpack

look into learning how to knit ;)

take pleasure in beauty...obvious or not

be thankful and content

tell my husband how much he means to me

catch up on old friendships

tell all of you THANK YOU for reading J

Etsy Crushin'

I found these lovelies on Etsy tonight as I was "fantasy shopping" like I like to call it. If only I could win that lottery (that I never play) :) and spend my days online shopping...hehehe. That would still never happen. Well maybe just one day....

Rose

Bear Hat (which was bought by the time I got the link...TOO cute!!)

Sheep Soap!!

Twin Wear

Red Riding Hood

Cloudy with a chance.....

I am on the computer sitting next to the kids as they are watching Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.

I really fell in love with this animated lovely.

My favorite part has to be when Sam is telling

Flint that she used to be a nerd and shows

him her big glasses.

Right before she places them on his head,

you can see what she thought

(before she could see clearly)

Flint looked like.

He had slicked back hair with

a strong structured face.

He puts the glasses on her and she sees

a nerdy guy with a thin face a

crazy hair.

I laughed out loud. Isn't it funny how we can perceive things differently....when we want to?? Like maybe my obsession with crafting, which I see as a cute collection of scrapbook papers, fabrics, threads, sewing machines embroidery machines, buttons, ribbons...that ultimately barely fit into my craft room?

When I walk in there (without glasses) I see a beautiful collection of lovelies. When my husband walks in, he sees threads dangling from...well everything! pins lodged in the carpet and the reason that I stay up late at night. To me, it is Charming. When I walk in there, there is a smile in my heart.....

......so I chose to keep my glasses off :)

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