jealousy...

it's a nasty feeling. and i have it. i have it because there are so many amazing people out there in blog land that have MUCH going on in their lives and they still manage to blog and blog WELL!!! so, obviously, i haven't blogged much and it makes me SAD!!! so I am working on it and hopefully will be back with an entry soon!!!
i will leave you with a picture i would have loved to have posted in a timely manner in november...

giles 2 1/2... mmm, eat 'em up!!!

FALLing behind...

wow. i think october blew past me! no, i know it has!!! giles and i had an adventure worth sharing. on tuesday we went to The Great Pumpkin Patch in Hayden, AL. it was about 1.5hrs from tuscaloosa and a fun day trip with precious friends from church. here are just a few shots from our busy day... enjoy!

giles with a little fall scenery
giles, very proud to ride HIS "hosey"

proud mama and happy boy!

this was the pumpkin patch... it had been a busy day!

here was our ride to the pumpkin patch... giles was beyond tickled to ride this!

with fall in full swing around here, i am enjoying the cacophony of falling acorns... hitting with a loud "thwack!" on the metal overhang on our deck and any other solid surface.... i think the dogs are used to it by now, but those first few days there were lots of calls for 'duck and cover' between them--- at least that is what i think =)

i have made a few halloween treats this season but for most of the month my camera card was just about one picture away from being full... so lots of fun shots were just left for me to remember, ha! ha! ha! i did discover mozy.com for back ups. seems like a great company. i emailed customer service one time and have had no less than 10 emails in regards to any further questions, rating service, etc... they have come from the helpful customer service representatives Nagarjuna, Nikhil and Shekhar. the humor in that, to me, is that i thought they were based in Utah.... but now, i am not so sure. but one thing i am sure about, they are really, really friendly!!!

so, i made this and it was delish!!! fun, easy and really quick! i used almond bark (the white, vanilla flavored). i made it twice to take to two different events. the first time i just used the bark. the second time i added one tablespoon of crisco as is recommended on the back of the almond bark packaging for thinning it out. the first go 'round i felt it could have been thinner so it could pour more easily. i just didn't have access to bulk melting rounds plus the bark is cheap! i also used generic (walmart great value) oreos and was much impressed with the quality! i found the candy corn on sale and also used great value pretzels... so, not to bad for a pretty impressive dish! the pics over at HBM are better than mine anyway, so go there and enjoy her pics!

hard, hard, hard to believe that christmas is in only a matter of weeks! i have designs on making some things and am realizing how much i need to get on the ball!!! this is my favorite time of year! i have been asked if my tree is up yet. i can say that only once did my tree go up in october and that was for a magazine shoot. now, nov 1 is a whooooooooole 'nother story. only kidding! that time of my life is in the past... i said it wouldn't matter... but i stand corrected. the joy of putting up a full-size christmas tree filled with christopher radko ornaments of every size, shape and celebration for essentially 8 weeks with a toddling two year old is non-existent. last year i "for-went" the full size tree and opted for a tinsel 7 foot lime skinny tree.... it worked but i am not completely sold on it again for this year. but i am for sure not sold on the full-sized one either. ugh. and there is no chance for the desire to buy another one to come along. so, i just hope the search for perfection doesn't leave us tree-less this year. hopefully something will feel "right" soon.... because it's time to start thinking christmas cards!!! =)))) and did i mention? i want a stress-free holiday season... I am getting off to a good start, huh?! only kidding... i am really not stressed, i actually like thinking about all of this stuff!

hope that each of you are enjoying this wonderful October weather... it is definitely refreshing. no more stifiling heat, windows are open and so far we've had some great soups and fall weather fare... LOVE this time of year!

life's a beach!

Oh yes it is! And we've just lived life on the beach for the past week. And it rivals my vision of Heaven! Mike, Giles, the dogs and I spent one week on St. George Island. The weather was perfect, the population was low- like we like it and Giles enjoyed the heck out of it. All of those things add up to a great week.
We packed up my wagon on Sat and got little sleep that night- toooo excited! Headed out in the eeeeearrrly morning hours in order to make it to mass at 10am in Apalachicola. I love St Patrick's church and Fr Roger. We've gone there for all of the years we've vacationed on SGI and it's very comfortable. I love the way Fr Roger relates the readings and the gospel to real life. He really keeps your attention. Giles was welcomed by all who sat around us. As we were about to go to communion he was lying on the seat of the pew. Usually he goes with us down the aisle, but because he was still and undoubtedly very tired, we just decided to leave him. We were going up to the alter when I noticed that one the parishoners had gotten up from her seat and had gone over to sit with him! Several people made a point to come over and talk to him--- and he loved it! After church we were starving and knew we needed to eat before trying unpack and deal with all that fun kind of stuff....

lunch at Owl Cafe- dogs invited to dine with us... upstairs, outdoor dining with a view of the bay
look closely...it's a rainbow, and although this pic doesn't show it well,
it was HUGE and very vibrant in person...

daddy and the boy eating a little breakfast...ready to slather the sunscreen...

little brought his bike...

and daddy decided he'd rent a bike to show him how much fun riding really can be...

once you get going ;)

stylin' and ready to go!

feelin' crabby? our pool had a visitor!

and we stayed out of the water until pool boy (mikey) came and retrieved the little crabby

you wouldn't think with a face like this....
he'd have a big ol' swollen lymph node, now would you???

enjoying all the amenities...

daddy boy with baby boy

it looks like we photoshopped in the beach scenery?!?!

we took pictures in this same spot with this same sweet jonjon last year....

makes me sad to know it'll be too small next year... =(---- he's growing up!!!

So, awesome time at the beach--- exactly as it should have been, restorative and relaxing. Worth the time and money spent--- not a second of regret. Already looking forward to next year!

starts and stops

Lots of starts and stops these days. Hubby is on a retreat and it's been me and the boy since Thursday afternoon. He's getting older, they do that don't they? Giles is learning more and more about expressing himself everyday. LOTS of days that expression involves weak knees, wailing, flailing, whining, crying and fit throwing. Fortuately he's a quick turn-around. Nothing lasts for very long, but it sure does come rapid-fire. He's still a ball of cuteness and personality that will keep me laughing- and that, fortunately, is what the memories I have are made of.
Right now it is IMPOSSIBLE to eat solo. Maybe that is just the way it is with kids? It is with mine. He can have just polished off a meal and see me or Mike working on something in the kitchen and it is as though he's just walked in from a long stint of malnourishment. I mean, really? Of course I have huge desires for him to only eat when he's hungry and trust his built-in, God-given hunger radar.... we'll just keep working on it =).

I think I may be pushing it here, but since I see pumpkins in the stores already and magazines are landing in my mailbox just bursting with fun fall decor ideas... I just had to make a simple contribution to our home decor...so, I did. For less than $5, here ya go. And to give credit, well, I can't. I saw this somewhere last year and made a mental note, but that's as far as it goes. It was in my mind- in picture, but not really all the minor details, like where the heck I saw it!
To start, I looked for a grease pencil and all I could come up with was a black crayon. So I made a few sketches of how I wanted my letter B to look. Decided I had what I wanted and went to working up an outline of the letter. Once that was done, I used black acrylic paint and filled in the lines. I think I did two coats, maybe three in some spots, but I really think it was two. I let each coat dry before applying the next. I finished it with a sealer so that the weather would not rub off the paint as easily.

outline
mid-way

finished and ready to go!

It was a fun project. I can't decide, should I add polka dots or just a big dot on either side of the B? Still mulling that over...

Alabama kicked off the football season with a fine start. Winning the first game of the season is always such a morale boost. Tonight AL plays Florida Int'l. It's a PayPerView game, so it's off to Mike's parent's to catch a little of the game. With it being only me and little, we won't stay too long. But it's that time of year... exciting Saturdays, packed Boulevards and cars EVERYWHERE! It reminds me of roaches scurrying around... seriously. That's what I thought of today at one of the major intersections while I was waiting for the light to change. Kind of a weird thought considering how much I LOVE football games/weekends and how much I DETEST roaches... but, nonetheless, it was a fleeting thought.

Last weekend while watching the AL game I finished my wedding album. Yup. Got married in '01 and picked '09 as the year to start and finish, all within 2 days, the whole album. I got motivated when some friends from church were talking about scrapbooking. We decided to get together at my house once little was asleep last Friday. It was a totally different experience than I had in my mind that scrapbooking would be. I had ramped up my anxiety about starting. I mean it's got to be just perfect, right? Well, once I realized that was certainly not the case, it got a lot easier! It was so much fun we got together again at my house last night! So that is two scrapbooking sessions in a week! Last night I started Giles' first scrapbook. His baby book was my first priority and that is finished- or at least up to the present. And now I have 8 pages in his scrapbook under my belt. That is a good feeling and it turned out to be LOTS easier than I expected. Little happies.

Hope the Tide Rolls in the right direction tonight, hope that Mikey is able to find peace and comfort in a weekend spent with the Lord, hope his travels tomorrow are safe and hope that my friend who is missing her daddy on his 67th bday is at peace with the fact that his bday party this year is happening in the most spectacular way---- he's partying with Jesus! Love you Elise!

Later, peeps!

busy bees, giles and me!

i am finally getting a little bit of a handle on the blogging... yay! i am learning that persistence pays off in all kinds of ways in my life these days. i am currently reading "the greatest secret in the world" and with that comes a 45 week commitment. i am eager to see persistence pay off in this respect of my life. it's a book to inspire that is for sure, and it quickly took hold of me.
i am also trying to persist in making giles' life entertaining. not that i am his entertainer, that is not how i want him to see me. but i am really great with it if he sees every day life as entertaining, that is what i want for myself AND for giles.... so, with that i am trying to include him in on some things that, if i were still a toddler, i think i would find pretty entertaining. a blogger, who by blog title alone, seems to embrace her life the way i like think i embrace mine, had a little project she did with her little ones... i thought it would be a fun intro into play doh for giles.... and so we got busy....

here we are with all of the ingredients
and donning the apron---- it's part of kitchen help time now... like, required... he loves it!

yes, play doh can be riced... or spatula'd... or squished into a snack cup...

so, my experience with the recipe i found was that it was not thick enough... it could be we were just too impatient (the TWO year old, people, not ME!) and so we thickened it up with equal parts salt and flour a couple of times....that worked for us. and it was fun! although when it was time to clean up, there was only 1/2 the amount giles started with..... we still haven't found the other part. yay.

play dough recipe... original version... but remember, i tweaked mine a bit

2 cups flour

1 cup salt

1 cup water

2 T oil

my mom's mom (grandma) had a banana nut bread recipe she made for us when we were little. my mom got the recipe from grandma and i got it from her. i luuuuuuuuuv it. i like to add an extra banana or two than the recipe calls for... it just adds a little yum. and i also have decided i like to cut the slices after the bread is chilled in the fridge for several hours. i think it cuts better that way and holds up better too.

here's helper extraordinnaire...holding the potato masher that belonged to grandma

again, real proud of that apron...

working that spatula as hard as he can... the batter is thick!!!

mixin' in the flour... he is okay with the mixer, but there's no love

but here...here is the love. "nan-uhbread, mamuh...nan-uhbread...."

over and over and over again...until the little bird gets some

Grandma (Helen)'s Banana Nut Bread

1 stick butter

1 tspn baking soda

2 eggs

1.5 cups flour

1 cup sugar

4-5 bananas (i definitely use 5, if not 6)

1/2-3/4 cup chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts, or both!!!)

preheat oven, i use 325, but you can use 350 (for 50-60 minutes- use the toothpick test). mix butter and sugar...add eggs...then flour and baking soda...add mashed bananas and nuts...pour into greased loaf pans

ENJOY!!!

giles is off to school tomorrow and mike has a few days of work taking him here, there and everywhere... so hopefully my next few days will be productive ones of working out, working hard and working on persistence... persistently.

Love!

twirly whirly pizza

wish i could claim origin on this one, not that it's THAT impressive, but cred goes to parents magazine, sept issue, i believe.
i asked mike what he wanted for dinner... true to form, he was not interested in making a production of it and wanted whatever was quick, easy and no big fuss. i asked him this late in the afternoon and right as he and bebe were heading out to the golf course (abandoned) to do a little off-road running while giles biked along side...until he grew weary, then dad heads back to the car to exchange little bike for big, comfy jogging stroller.... we love our BOB!
all that to say, it was time to visit my recipe binder to see what i could make with things we had on hand... enter, tear sheet from magazine- the twirly, whirly pizza. i had been holding on to this recipe for a few weeks and finally put it up in the binder, not sure when i'd get around to making it. but it did stick with me and when i was grocery shopping last, i picked up a couple of the ingredients i wanted to have on hand in case i decided to make it. obviously, i made it!

twirly, whirly pizza: this is a very, very, very adaptable recipe. i didn't follow the recipe exactly myself- like didn't measure the pizza sauce or the cheese...

you roll out a can of pizza dough, i used the great value brand from walmart- and i made two.

spoon some pizza sauce (again, great value) over the dough

i decided to use these toppings: chopped spinach, mini pepperoni, feta cheese, pizza blend shredded cheese, and on one pizza i used kalamata olives chopped up and on the other, i used roma tomatoes

you spread on your ingredients, be mindful that you are rolling this dough, so do go too crazy...

roll the dough and slice into eight pieces

place on a greased pie plate, on their sides and top with a light dusting of shredded cheese. bake these for 22-25 minutes on 400. my other observation came with the fact that one batch baked first and i needed the pie plate for the second batch. obviously the first batch cooled while the second cooked. i decided that once the second batch came out of the oven, the first batch could go back in for a few minutes. this time they went in on a cookie sheet. this allowed the sides of the rolls to crisp up a bit. mike and i both were a big fan of this, so we'll be sure to do that again. in fact, maybe next time i will just bake on a cookie sheet from start to finish... hmmmm.... anyway, we paired this with a classic caesar salad and fresh watermelon. it was enjoyed by all. and it really was super easy. enjoy!!!

layering on the ingredients

roll up dough carefully, then cut into 8 slices... i made my first cut in the middle

placed on their sides in pie dish, top with a bit of shredded cheese

voila!

here i go again... countdown and a little repurposing... take 2

it's with complete certainty that i say, this town's about to come unglued. you see, football season kick-off is next weekend. the countdown to football probably starts in early summer, around these parts. it's kind of a year 'round thing, actually. but the simmer really starts about summer time. like, we're talking number of days until kick-off are on the front page of the sports section, kind of simmer. i am all about the season myself..... to me it means one fired up husband, lots of fun tailgating fare- even when at home, and that windows being raised and fires in the fireplace are juuuuuuust around the corner. that is bliss for me... saturday at home with the fam, cooking some delights, windows up, fire blazing, radio blaring on the stereo while the game plays on the t.v. that's pretty good stuff.... so, obnoxious countdowns don't bother me, they just remind me of all of the fun times to come....

this morning my hubs asked, when i showed him my latest project- a repurposing of a piece of what might easily have been garbage (a variance on my earlier DIY project i shared),- if repurposing is just a newer, more hip (my words paraphrasing, not his) version of recycling. i would have to say, 'not'. so, i repurposed a 5 gallon (is that right?, it was huge, not totally sure on the measurements) ice cream bucket from my son's second birthday. i kept it thinking that surely, with all of his things, my things, our things, there was sure to come a time when i was really hunting for a lidded storage container. and this very thing happened yesterday. giles has a bunch of wooden blocks. some i have in a candy jar type container on his shelves- part play toy, part display on his shelves. i kept some out for him to have access to more easily and they are stored in a plain, white bag that came with the set. it has this velcro closure on it that wraps around and gathers the opening of the bag to close it. he's not a big fan of this. not to mention, when he cleans up, it's hard for his little self to hold open the sack and actually get the blocks back inside. so i looked around for a basket to use, or something and that is when i remembered that i had kept the ice cream bucket. and also, that i had this new, nifty way to make an ugly top to a container cute! so, i raided my scrapbook paper supply, found a cute striped paper (that was a lighter weight paper than the ones in my original project which does make it easier to work with, as i had figured) and went to work. here's how it all turned out, kinda cute?

proud to be using a protractor twice in a month, after all these years... ha, ha...


glue the lid with the mod podge onto the circle cut out, remember to leave
about 1/2in edge longer than what it takes to completely cover the sides

voila!

so today has challenged me with blogging.... i have lost an entire entry trying to learn how to delete pictures... i still am challenged by uploading pictures and dealing with the order they appear on the blog... but it's coming along. i spent a good chunk of time today shopping google for blogs that are more simple and user friendly than blogger. as you can see, i am still here. there's a hitch with all of them, so i think i'll stay put for awhile. due to picture posting issues, there's actually one more post to come... hopefully it'll be along here shortly, it's a little dinner ditty that might make one fun night in the kitchen for you and your kids!

surely this will get easier???

sadness abounds! i blogged and blogged and blogged, so proud of my blogging. only to have it get deleted when i was deleting some photos i didn't need... why??? i don't know how you select to delete something and then the whole thing goes bye-bye??? well, i have shopped around for a new blog 'spot' and really, they all have a learning curve from what i can tell. at least there does seem to be A LOT of help for blogger. i will just have to do some prayin' and know that actually blogging will be the best source for learning to blog. gah. not fun. well, at least not ALL fun... and don't really like it when it's alllll fun??? i certainly don't like 'wasting' time learning during nap times, i know that!!! lol...

so, earlier i had a post that i am going to go back and work on... so, hopefully, i will be back with what's on my mind shortly.... pray for me!

a new first...

i wish i had remembered to take my camera to mike's parent's last night... we went over late yesterday afternoon to visit. during the summer, that almost always means swimming too. giles has a safe-t-seal swim floatie that he's learned to swim with in the past few weeks. it is something that helps him stay afloat, but he's got to work in order for it to work. in other words, if he just sits there, it turns him all caliwonky and he freaks out. but since he's gotten a handle on how to work it, he's had a ball jumping in the pool, going under, coming up and swimming to the steps. over. and over. and over again. so we did that yesterday evening- even though it was a cool evening and the pool was a little chilly. and i finally got a pic of giles with mike's parents- mimi and grandpa....it's so hard to remember to get pics of giles with everyone.... and that's one i have been meaning to get more of!
and as for the new first... giles ate dinner with us at the dinner table tonight. no more high chair! he did great. he sure felt like a big boy!!! at preschool he sits in a chair to eat and so i think he thought that would be fun to do at home as well. so we pulled out the booster we take to the beach and off he went! he even wanted to eat a chicken wing all by himself... we're holding off on that for now ;)

hope everyone had a great weekend... i am SO happy about this fall weather... it signifies so many things i love are right around the corner!!! football being the first.... then our beach trip.... the decorating for halloween...thanksgiving...christmas.... and of course all of the fabulous food that comes with fall...homemade spaghetti and chili- yum! i love having the doors and windows open and wearing fleece--- oh and burning my favorite candles, frasier fir...yum!!!

One dish dinner...

here's the happy little camper eating some leftovers from the One Dish Dinner.... only he's showing that of course, there really doesn't have to be only one dish- maybe you'd like to add cheesy cauliflower, watermelon and yogurt too!
hopefully this little picture won't send you running for the hills or opt to never try my One Dish Dinner... but I understand if it does.... i actually apologize for the photo, i keep forgetting to take pics as I cook! it really did look much prettier than this in the beginning.

so, back to the ODD, it seems to be a favorite of mine...it does make it easy to plan for dinner. i like a vegetable, meat and carb- having it all in one dish, great!

so my latest one dish dinner: Spinach and Mushroom Chicken casserole

now with a title like that, i bet you are all kinds of curious as to the main ingredients, right? i bet... ha ha ha...

I started with leftover Rotisserie Chicken (traditional herb seasoning from Walmart) - and as always, it's just guessing here on the amounts...well, to start, actually--- i sprayed a 9x13 glass dish with Pam and preheated the oven to 350.

So, Rotisserie Chicken- maybe 2-3 cups

an entire container of fresh mushrooms, sliced

a box of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and pressed dry

2-3T frozen seasoning vegetable mix

a whole small onion, chopped (I really only use sweet onions, the others give me a headache)

1/2 of a large bag of whole wheat pasta- egg noodle type- boiled, only partially cooked though since they are headed into the oven

1 can cream of mushroom soup

4oz reduced fat sour cream

and I definitely would have added sliced water chestnuts if I had any on hand, seeing as I was out- no addy this time

for added crunch, once this was in the casserole dish, I sprinkled chopped pecans across the top

this baked for about 35 minutes, during the last 5 minutes I added French's French Fried Onions on the top and baked for 5 more minutes

It turned out pretty good. I would possibly cook the noodles only 3 minutes, remove them from the boiling water and layer them on the bottom of the casserole next time, instead of mixing them in...don't know just might.

DIY... who? me???

Crafty? Me? Most of the time I am really not feeling that. But then along comes a little project that I think I can use... so I give it a whirl. Here goes.... I am TOTALLY a blog stalker these days and found this on one of them. It seems as though it was passed along from one blog to another a few times over- or maybe only once or twice? Ha ha... I don't know... Let me give credit to design*sponge...since that is what got saved in my favorites.
So, with the beginning of my project you will probably conclude that, in fact, I am a big fan of Duke's mayonnaise- and you would be correct! Me and Paula Deen...gotta love a recipe with a little mayo in it. However, not to go off on a totally different tangent, I would never use the AMOUNT of mayo Paula uses... but we might rival in frequency. So, that declared... let's move on....
This pic (sorry, not a photoshopper, yet...) shows that we have several snack jars in the cabinet that, while at least uniform in lid color, are a bit boring. And seeing as how I stumbled across an o-so-fun DIY (do it yourself), it seems fitting to take these jars from 'eh' to, well, a little bit better than 'eh'??? At least I think so...

step one: get your jars, wash, rinse, dry
this shows what it looked like after I practiced on a lid...pretty cool, huh?

but, a little out of order here, this is actually what happens before... you glue the lid to the circle you have cut out, I used Mod Podge or whatever that stuff is called. I also realized when I got home, the tutorial I was following showed the MP for paper. I just got the regular kind with a matte finish. I also realized once I got started, scrapbook paper (at least the kind I found at Michael's) was pretty sturdy. This project might go over better with thinner paper- origami? wrapping?

here you can see I cut the slits in the paper once the MP was dry...

they are about 1/2-3/4 of an inch each

here's a finished product...

and here they are, all finished! fun times... glad I did it, cabinet looks lots cuter!?