Lisa Russell Designs

So long 2011, it was a pretty good year!

2012-01-04T11:17:00.000-05:00

We had a pretty good year this year when looking back. In March, our oldest son Danny graduated from college with an accounting degree. He is now getting his masters and CPA. He worked an internship for Deloitte and has been offered a job when he graduates up in Boston. We are so proud of him.

This is him and his girlfriend at the time/now fiance Sarah! They make a great looking couple.

2011 also brought some sadness to our community, with the ending of the Space Shuttle program. This is the last rollout of the shuttle a few months back. A lot of friends lost their jobs, and had to find other ones all over the country. It was so beautiful to see the launches all of these years.

The Space Shuttle on the launch pad.

In September, Danny asked his beautiful girlfriend to marry him and she said YES!

We are so excited to have a wedding coming up in May of 2012!

Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T19:01:00.000-05:00

This year we are blessed to add Danny's fiance Sarah to our family photo!

Blessings to all this coming year!

Santa and Frosty Hot Cocoa Treats!

2011-12-14T15:26:00.001-05:00

My youngest son went to see Santa a few days ago. He always likes to figure out whether it is the REAL Santa, or one of his elves dressed up as Santa! This one he decided was an elf, because the REAL Santa does NOT have blonde hair! :)

Most kids I think tell Santa just one or two things. But no, not this boy!!

He had a list as long as Santa's! Notice the shorts? It was in the 70's here. And yes, we have the air conditioner still running in the house. Wishing it was colder out...then the Christmas season would really feel more like Christmas!

For Ryan's Holiday Winter Party at school, I'm making the treat bags and decided to make little Hot Cocoa mixes with a candy cane, a snowman peep and a packet of hot chocolate. I saw something similar to this around Halloween time when they used the ghosts, so when I saw the snowman peeps at the store, I knew this would work out perfect for the kids!

Here it is packaged up with little boxes and snowflakes found from the Dollar Store. I added a large candy cane, some different kinds of mints, and put it inside a clear plastic bag tied with white curling ribbon. Sweet and easy, perfect for our winter snowman theme!

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T08:21:00.000-05:00

Wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving! We are so thankful for family, friends, God's provision and good health! Today we are going to our future daughter-in-law's family's home for Thanksgiving. We are so blessed!!

A quick picture of my foyer

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fall in Florida

2011-11-19T07:27:00.001-05:00

At the end of October, our little community had a fun Movie in the Park day, with vendors, games, a pumpkin patch, costume parade, bounce houses, hay rides and watching Ghostbusters II! It got a little chilly by nightfall, but it was a fun time with lots of friends all gathered together.

My two beautiful girls - my daughter and future daughter-in-law!

All of the kids together!

Alivia and Sarah enjoying the time before the movie starts -- really just waiting for their Chick-fil-e!

Next up was Fall Festival at Ryan's school the first weekend of November. Every year my kids get their picture taken in front of this wonderful scarecrow display! So cute!!

Of course it is all about the games... Hamster Ball

Angry Birds

Laser Tag

And where was I? Running the Bake Sale inside the Cafeteria!!

Boo at the Zoo

2011-10-15T08:01:00.000-04:00

Last night we went to our annual jaunt up the road to Boo at the Zoo. Always a fun time with friends, kids, dressing up and candy! This is about the closest my kids will ever come to a snake! Love the look on my daughter's face!

My husband loves to dress up and try to (scare) entertain the kids. Here he is as Brent the Clown!

Ryan this year wanted to go as Spider Man

My daughter and her friend Amber in matching shirts.

Gotta give some love to the Donald! haha

Ryan and his friend Kadie making smoke bubbles.

Very cool smoke bubbles! They don't pop in a gloved hand, but they do pop if you touch them with your bare skin.

Brent the Clown enjoying the 'spooky' train ride!

Me and Michelle on the train

This guy was a good juggler. They also had a Haunted Trail that was a little more intense this year. Ryan was a little scared with all of the screaming the kids would do at him. And I was scared of the Chainsaw dude at the end. :P

Making a Character Cake

2011-09-27T10:26:00.005-04:00

This past weekend my youngest son Ryan turned 7. He wanted his party at a place called Fun Town that had skating, laser tag and arcade games...and he wanted a Pokemon cake! I went to the major grocery stores and requested one, but they told me Pokemon was 'old' and they didn't carry the characters anymore to make the cake. My friend had bought a Pikachu Cake Pan off of ebay a few years ago and had it in her garage sale a while back, so I thought it may come in handy someday to have so I bought it from her. I'm so glad I did!!

I must say, it has been a while since I tackled a character cake. The last one was my oldest son's 2nd birthday and I think it was a Big Bird cake pan way back then! ;) So I was a little nervous just where to start. My son wanted a chocolate cake, so I used a box cake mix and sprayed the pan with regular Pam Spray. This was the best choice. It came out perfect!! I made the cake the night before, then made the buttercream icing from the Wilton website in the morning. All 5 colors. For the black I used a bottle of Cookie Icing. It worked out OK, but not great. I did have some issues using it. It is a little runny and you have to clean up some seepage into the side areas quickly, but it turned out fine.

I suggest practicing a little on some waxed paper.

I bought my basic Wilton Decorating kit around 30 years ago and they still work wonderfully! Read the instructions folks. Of course I thought I did, then when I re-read them, I messed a few steps up. Ha! I outlined the cake first then did the outside blue area. I think the instructions said to do it the other way around, but this worked out fine. I cleaned up the edges later as I went on. Start at the top and make your way down. That was the best way to go on the main color, but I did follow the instructions of when to do each color at which time. Thank goodness they have the instructions in a data base on the Wilton website! My pan did not have the paper instruction sheet, but it was on the website.

Well, hello Pikachu!!

Is this a happy 7 year old or what??

And the final verdict?? Ryan just loved his Pikachu Cake!!! And everyone said it tasted good too. So don't be scared to try one of these cakes!! It was actually fun to make!

Linking up to: Tip Junkie, Hope Studios, Sugar Bee Crafts, Today's Creative Blog, Tatertots and Jello and New Nostalgia

My Son is Getting Married!!

2011-09-06T11:54:00.001-04:00

We are so VERY excited here!!! Our oldest son asked his beautiful girlfriend to marry him and she said YES! And they are SO happy! She is witty, beautiful and smart...just like me!! I know... it isn't about me, but I can't help but want to run to the nearest Barnes and Nobles and go buy every BRIDE magazine that is out there, just to look at the pictures and get ideas for what is in style! I'm assuming lavender dresses and light gray tuxes are not IN at the moment. Ha! I'm already pinning ideas on Pinterest, stalking wedding blogs, and looking at every wedding picture that my friends place on facebook! And this wedding won't be until next summer! Oh boy, the diet and exercising has already begun. If someone wants to start a 'Mother of the Groom' fund so I can get a breast reduction, lipo, a facelift and lasik, I'm all for it!! haha!

Sarah's family and friends were all up in the North Carolina mountains at her family's summer home for Labor Day. It was a beautiful morning, with a gorgeous sunrise. The most romantic place to be on a nice September morn...

Her younger sister Lisa took these pictures. She is a great photographer. How awesome that they will have these pictures to look back on over the years. We have prayed for this new daughter-in-law to-be of mine for many, many years! Yes, excited is one word for it. SO very blessed is another.

We love you both so much!!

Moss Covered Letter

2011-09-02T10:31:00.003-04:00

My friend Sarah and I decided to make one of the moss covered letters we saw on Dear Lillie's blog a while ago. We tried looking for the sheet moss in the craft stores but couldn't find any, so we ended up ordering some from Lowe's and was able to go and pick it up.

We traced the letter out on cardboard which we cut from a large box, then hot glued the moss in parts to the form. It is best to leave it a little long on the sides and wrap it around, gluing the excess to the back so it gives it a nice finished look.

Here it is above our television in the family room for now! I just love it!

Linking at Common Ground, Savvy Southern Style and Feathered Nest Friday

Update Cloche Fix

2011-08-20T08:00:00.000-04:00

After making one of the Cheese Dome Cloches, I quickly realized that it needed a wider base because of the weight of the glass dome on top. It is REALLY heavy glass!

I went to Michael's and bought a small wooden placque for $.99 and glued it to the base with Gorilla Glue, then spray painted it once more.

Now it is MUCH better! So don't be afraid to add a placque base to your candlestick if it isn't wide enough! A quick fix that worked just fine!

The Cheese Dome Cloche

2011-08-17T15:33:00.004-04:00

After seeing the beautiful cloches made out of cheese domes months ago, I decided it was time to make one of my own. I'm really happy with the way it turned out! I may look for a bigger base to glue on the bottom to make it a little more sturdy. The glass dome is really heavy!

I got the cheese dome at goodwill for $1.99 and the candlestick from the thrift store for $.99. Luckily the candle cap unscrewed right out so I didn't have to deal with any sawing! I sprayed them with ORB spray paint and let them dry overnight, due to our horrible rain and humidity we have here in Florida right now. Then glued both pieces together with Gorilla Glue.

I filled it with the bird's nest I found a few months ago, from an old tree that my husband took down in our back yard. After the yard waste men took the branches, this was left behind! So cute! I just need to find some eggs now to put inside. Soon I will decorate it with halloween goodies!

Back to School!

2011-08-10T11:39:00.000-04:00

It is back to school time here in Florida! The peace and quiet is lovely, but I do miss the noise as well. Finally no TV blaring in the background 24/7! haha

Here is Ryan at his desk - his First Day of 1st Grade!

Traditionally with all of the kids, we get their picture by the front door.

Alivia starting her first day of 8th Grade!

And here we are at the bus stop. Billabong shirt, Volcom backpack, Vans shoes and a Lil Wayne bracelet. Oh the fashion!! lol They were both SO excited to start back!

Chocolate No Bake Cookies Recipe - when the sweet tooth hits!

2011-07-29T11:18:00.001-04:00

This is an old recipe that I have had since I was in Third Grade. I can remember this being the first cookie I had ever made, and the teacher bringing in her electric burner and pot while we made them in class.

Here it is in all its glory! Ha! I am taking these to my son's friend's house for a playdate today. So easy and fast to whip up and you usually have the ingredients already on hand! Love that! My 6 year old helped, until I added the peanut butter (he is not a fan). Posted below is the grown up version of the recipe.

Chocolate No Bake Cookies

1 stick butter
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup peanut butter
3 cups oats

Measure oats into large bowl. Rip off a piece of Wax Paper and put it out on the counter. Combine butter, sugar, cocoa, milk, and salt in pot. Stirring constantly, heat over medium until mixture begins to boil. Boil for 4 minutes. Turn off stove, and add peanut butter. Stir until completely combined. Add vanilla, and stir again.
Stir in oats until oats and chocolate mixture is combined.

Spoon out onto wax paper. Let cool completely. I used a small cookie scoop to spoon out the mixture. Half of this recipe makes PLENTY of cookies! Even enough to share!

Chicago Trip - Family, Food and a couple of great finds!

2011-07-26T09:31:00.003-04:00

Our family just got back from the beautiful city of Chicago for our summer vacation! We have not been up there for a couple of years. We all flew up and stayed a week, visiting with family most of the time.

One day we were driving out and happened upon a nice big Goodwill store in Indiana. Oh, I wish I had a lot of time to look around, but went right to the basket area and look what I found! A beautiful miniature basket around 8 inches long! It looks like an antique to me! I think it had $2 on it.

Right near the basket was this crock. I turned it over and it had a raised inscription of 7005 on it, and knew it must be old. Upon further investigating, my $2 vase turned out to be a Zanesville Stoneware piece valued around $45! WooHoo! I love it!

It was actually chilly in the evening the first couple of days we were there. The guys played bags, the kids had fun catching up with their cousins and my sister in law Diane and I sat freezing by the fire! They made fun of this Floridian, because I was saying that 59 degrees was cold. :P We enjoyed the crisp night air, and seeing the fireflies out. We don't get those in Florida! Ryan and Alivia tried catching them.

What else do you eat when you go to Chicago, except PIZZA!!!! Oh my, when we got off of the plane I made my husband stop at a pizza place for a slice of deep dish for lunch, then one of our family gathering nights always includes a pizza night from Aurellio's, so I got my share then as well!! It is SO good!!

On the way to my sister in law Susan's place, we pass by one of Al Capone's old brewery's, which is now a car shop. I like the painting they now have on the wall there. This is in Thornton, IL

Another look of the old Al Capone place

When visiting family, we do a lot of sitting and eating up there. Ha! I gained 6 pounds in one week alone! Italian Sausage, Lasagna, Mostaccoli, Chicago Pizza -- time to work off the extra weight! Here is Danny and Sarah sitting on the front porch with my niece Catherine.

Danny and Sarah flew up for our reunion weekend, and on Sunday they had to fly out. Here they are showing their train tickets, as they went downtown to sightsee and eat deep dish pizza at Gino's East with Uncle Tom and Jon. They also saw the Bean and the new Marilyn Monroe statue, before heading to the airport to catch their plane back home.

All of the Cousins from Rick's Family together

A fun Pyramid Picture

Always sad to come home from seeing family! I wish we all lived closer.

Happy 4th!!

2011-07-04T15:56:00.008-04:00

Happy 4th of July!!

We are celebrating with family and friends. Good food, good drink and good fun!! The Rocket Scientist got a new grill and was dying to try it out, so we have ribs, steak and corn on the cob on the grill, I made my mom's potato salad recipe and a new summer pineapple salad recipe, made some brownies and Sarah brought some Patriotic Krispy Kreme Donuts!!

The centerpiece up above only took me a little bit of time to make this morning. I got the planter from Goodwill, bought the flags from Wal-Mart and used some floral foam to put it together, adding blue raffia as filler inside! A super easy certerpiece with no gluing involved! Inspired by Martha Stewart.

Linked to: Today's Creative Blog, Hope Studios

Atlantis -- Space Shuttle Roll-Out

2011-06-10T09:04:00.003-04:00

Here we are at the Roll Out of the last Space Shuttle that will take off. Atlantis. She is the last of the Space shuttle Orbiter Fleet to fly into space. Such a bittersweet time for these folks who have worked on such a magnificent program over the years. I'm sure tears will be shed by many. But we need to keep up with technology and advance the space program, so this good thing must come to an end.

Here is my youngest with Astronaut Mike Good before the roll out.

Here we are waiting for the event to begin, sitting with friends.

Can you see Atlantis in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB)??

On her way out!

Isn't she beautiful!! You can even see her name on the side! Just click on any of these photos to make them larger to view.

Estate Sale Finds

2011-05-30T16:51:00.004-04:00

After taking my son to camp last Friday, I came upon a garage sale with a hand written sign, and no mention of it in the newspaper. I saw some things in the driveway, and quickly found out there was more inside - more like an estate sale instead of a garage sale! Hand written signs = GOOD PRICES INSIDE! :)

I just love the salt and pepper shakers, even though one is missing the cap. That is OK - I put flowers inside or a small Christmas tree during the winter! The old frame I have been looking for, and the old wood print is already hanging in my dining room!

I love the vintage handkerchiefs and vintage tablecloth! That second one says 'Florida', which is perfect for this homegrown Florida gal!

This vintage suitcase has the name 'Jane' embossed above the lock.

I love this floor lamp, but am not crazy about the shade. It looks too small, so I will have to find another one.

And the CREAM of the CROP -- there were two of these, the footboard and the headboard! A child's size beautiful wrought iron bed!! One is in the dining room, and the other outside on the back porch for now.

Like little Angel Wings!

Thanks for looking!

Linking up to: Southern Hospitality, Coastal Charm, Savvy Southern Style, White Wednesday

Teacher Appreciation Gift Clipboard

2011-05-24T08:27:00.005-04:00

For teacher appreciation this year, I wanted to make a homemade gift that was functional, practical and decorative. I came upon this tutorial on how to make this decorative clipboard from Michelle Wooderson at Miss Mash, changing up the colors to be a little more traditional for a kindergarten room. The teacher just LOVED it, and so did other room moms I shared it with!

The paper I picked up at Hobby Lobby. I modpodged the clipboard I got at Wal-Mart, and some clothespins which I already had on hand. The corkboard comes in a package and you just cut it down to size with a ruler and a craft knife.

Add a Jolies embellishment or make your own, matching a handmade card. The post it notes I applied with double stick tape. I basically followed Michelle's tutorial completely and I am just thrilled with how it turned out!

Thanks for looking!

Linking up to Today's Creative Blog, Tip Junkie, Blue Cricket Design, Tatertots and Jello and Hope Studios

Our College Graduate

2011-05-02T15:48:00.002-04:00

I am SO proud of my oldest son! All grown up and graduated from college with a Bachelors in Accounting, graduating with honors and Magna Cum Laude (sporting the garnet cord). Today he comes home for a few days, then is travelling to Thailand to do some mission work with his accounting skills for an orphanage in a rural town in the center of the country. Then he will come home again just for a few days, then he will be living down in Boca Raton for the summer, working on an internship. After that, graduate school and getting his CPA. I am so proud that he has a plan. God's plan for his life! His major changed a few times, until he settled with Accounting. We love you Danny, and are SO proud of you!

Danny is in the middle, looking at the camera. Do you see him??

This is why we will be buying the PROFESSIONAL photos when they come out!

"I did it!"

I'm so proud of my oldest!! He has been with me the longest of the kids. Love him!

A family shot in front of the fountain and the Ruby Diamond Auditorium

Danny and Sarah IN the fountain!

Alivia and Danny at his apartment place

Ryan trying on the cap for size!

Danny and his roommates who all graduated together, at the 'after party'!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T06:53:00.010-04:00

From Luke 24:1-12 ESV

(1) But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.

(2) And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb,

(3) but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

(4) While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.

(5) And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?

(6) He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,

(7) that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”

(8) And they remembered his words,

(9) and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.

(10) Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles,

(11) but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.

(12) But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.

He Is Alive!

Head on over to Saucy Sprinkles!

2011-04-24T06:43:00.000-04:00

My dear friend Sasha is celebrating 5 years of blogging! I love her blog -- so full of great recipes and crafty inspiration! Click here to sign up for some of her giveaways!

Love Cross Stitch

2011-04-05T14:28:00.000-04:00

I do love cross stitch, but this is the little LOVE freebie from the Workbasket that I finally finished and framed. I used DMC 115 on linen. I think it turned out nice! It was supposed to be done by Valentine's Day, but you know how that goes... I finished it last month, but just now got around to framing it in a cute little 5x5 square frame I picked up at Michaels!

Springtime at the Wetlands in Viera

2011-03-02T15:28:00.000-05:00

The Wetlands - Viera, FL

Here in Florida, it is starting to look like spring! We have planted some new plants around the house, I planted my strawberry pot and tomatoes, and my herbs are growing like mad! I just love this time of year, though my husband would beg to differ, due to his seasonal allergies! This past weekend the weather was so beautiful, I took the Little Man to a birthday party and they just so happened to live near the wetlands, where you can find MANY kinds of birds and alligators, all in their natural habitat!

This was the largest alligator we saw, around two feet long! Ryan was more interested in blowing bubbles than he was in looking at the alligator!

This little guy was eyeing that fish that was bigger than he was, in the water -- a good dinner, for sure!

And this alligator was just about to cross the street, when we came upon it. He crouched down in the grass, then walked a little more towards the road, then decided to go back into the water.

Ryan in front of the Alligator Safety rules sign!

A Lovely Plantation Wedding

2011-02-16T09:43:00.002-05:00

Only in Florida can you have a beautiful outside wedding in the middle of January! A few weeks ago, one our dearest friends' youngest son got married at a lovely plantation surrounded by ancient oak trees in Apopka, FL called Highland Manor. Our oldest son was also invited and he and his girlfriend Sarah joined us there. You see, Danny and Donnie have been good friends since they were 8 months old! That is a long time. And the bride Rachael? Danny was in Little Lambs preschool with her way back when they were 4 years old. So sweet! It is wonderful to see how God works sometimes!

The Kiss

Enjoying the plantation outside after the wedding

Rick, Myself, Sarah and Danny

Donnie and Danny

The gorgeous bride and groom with my son and his beautiful girlfriend

And who do you suppose caught the garter???

First Cross Stitched Ornament of the year

2011-01-19T13:36:00.000-05:00

DMC Freebie Pattern

DMC floss used

Stitched on Natural Linen

This is the first ornment I have ever made. I have always admired them but never sewed one together. After veiwing so many beautiful handstitched ornaments on trees this season on various blogs, I felt I should give it a go. I have cross stitched ornaments, but I used to put them in tiny small frames and then hang those on the tree. After seeing Faye's coffee ornament for a friend, I knew it would be a perfect gift for one of my dear friends whose birthday was just a couple of weeks ago. She loves coffee SO much, and I had it in mind that she could hang this off of the doorknob on her pantry door in her kitchen.

Here is the backing fabric. I loved the swirls in the design and copied Faye's idea of using a swirl background to back it, and used a silver and copper colored bead at the base of the gingham ribbon.

Here it is hanging on MY closet door! I did choose other colors for the cup itself, and used two different colors of floss to make the "froth". Thank you Faye for sharing with us your design! I just love how it turned out!

This is now my NEW stitching bag! I get so many complements on it. My friend Annette, who I made the coffee ornament for, made me this bag for Christmas and I just love it! It has a padded pocket inside where I place my scissors and it is SO big, I can carry my stitching, graphs, books, even my iPad! Next I am working on a "LOVE" ornament for another friend. I do need to make some for me though! Hopefully soon!

The ABC's of ME

2011-01-10T12:47:00.002-05:00

This is a picture of our dog Ozzie (who is mentioned below). The Rocket Scientist had knee surgery last week and decided to drive himself to work today. He is doing well, but is on crutches for the week with a bandaged knee and a brace. Yikes! After Friday we will see if he has to keep using the crutches or not.

I have been seeing these ABC's of me out in blogland, so I decided to post them for myself here!

A - Age: 48
B - Bed size: Queen
C - Chore you hate: Mopping
D - Dog's name: Ozzie (named for the White Sox General Manager)
E - Essential start of the day item: Extra Bold coffee from my Keurig
F - Favorite color: Pink
G - Gold or Silver: Silver
H - Height: 5'5"
I - Instruments you play: Alto Sax and Organ/piano
J - Job: Bookstore Sales Associate at our church bookstore
K - Kids: 3 Daniel, Alivia and Ryan
L - Living arrangements: Me, Husband, 3 kids, dog and fish all in the same house!
M - Music you love: Pop, Christian and Christmas Music!
N - Nicknames: Mom
O - Overnight hospital stay at hospital: Yes, when I had my kids
P - Pet Peeve: People driving slow
Q - Quote from a movie: "You should see what it looks like from out here!"
R - Right handed or left: right
S - Siblings: A half brother and a half sister
T - Time you wake up: usually around 5:30
U - Underwear: Yes
V - Vegetable you dislike: Parsnips
W - Workout Style: Just Dance 2 on Nintendo Wii
X - X-rays you've had: teeth, ankle, back, neck
Y - Yummy food you make: cupcakes and fudge
Z - Z best place to visit: Disney World!

Happy New Year, 2011!

2011-01-01T09:24:00.003-05:00

Happy New Year!

What does this new year mean to you?? What will it bring?? It is exciting to THINK about the possibilities. I'm sure there will be good times and ones we hope would never occur. What about New Years Resolutions? We hate to make them, but only because we hate to break them! But you can't help but think about them. I like the words of that wonderful woman of God, Corrie ten Boom, who said, "Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God."

Here are a few things I would like to accomplish this year:

1. Eat better. Yep. I believe for me, sugar and wheat are the culprits in my life that make me unfit when I consume it in excess. I will try to reduce these two things in my daily food consumption.

2. Be Fit. Oh, how I do NOT like to exercise! I don't want to be exhausted, panting and out of breath. But to lose these extras pounds, I believe we have to Eat Less and Move More. That is my husband's diet. He has always said this, and he is accomplishing it pretty well these last few weeks. I will have to join him on this one, along with my daughter, who also needs to exercise. 30 minutes 5 days a week. We will see how that goes.

3. New Flooring. The carpet in my house is not in the best shape. The tile and grout needs some major help. Enough said.

4. Finish the office. It looks pretty good, but needs organized (ugh) which I do not know how to do. I am not a decorator or an organizer. I wish I was, but something happens between my brain and my hands that just does not seem to work. I will let Pottery Barn Catalogs do that for me. ;-)

5. Work with my Hands. I love to make jewelry and cross stitch. I would love to find time to do some cross stitching this year.

6. Read. I would like to read the Harry Potter Series. We will see how far I get on that!

That is it! I do look forward to some things this year. My Oldest Son graduating COLLEGE (yippee!), my youngest son graduating Kindergarten, and the middle girl -- well, I'm sure she will love getting through 7th grade! I pray I will accomplish some of my goals here. I will look back to this post over the year and see how I do. Motivation is key!

"You crown the year with Your goodness, and Your paths drip with abundance."—Psalm 65:11

God is in control of your future. He is ready to bless you in this coming year.

Christmastime Memories

2010-12-29T12:45:00.002-05:00

Alivia's Christmas Concert started out the month of Christmas cheer!

Ryan and Mrs. Smith at the Science Fair, put on by the Orlando Science Museum!

We had snow here in Brevard County - actually it was "bubble" snow, but the kids loved it!

Of course, meeting Santa is what it is ALL about in DECEMBER!!

Danny made it to Ryan's class Christmas Party -- and Ryan LOVED having him there!

Ryan making a GREAT looking Gingerbread house!

Ryan was a big help in the kitchen, helping me make Gingerbread Cookies for the holidays!

This is one of the bracelets I made for a dear friend of mine. She LOVES Santas!!

Our oldest son LOVES switching the letters around to spell NOLE instead of NOEL! grrrr...

Of course, Cookies for Santa are placed out on Christmas Eve!

And finally Christmas Morning, where "all is right with the world"! Merry Christmas!

A Christmas Story

2010-12-24T09:47:00.000-05:00

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas!

2010-12-01T05:56:00.001-05:00

Photo from Tim Holtz Website

Can you believe it is already December 1? Where has the year gone??? Every year there is ONE thing I look forward to on December 1st, and that is Tim Holtz' 12 Tags of Christmas! Can you believe he creates these works of art each night??? I would have these done like way back in July! ;-) Check in everyday for the next 12 days! It truly is a wonderful thing to look forward to.

Christmas 2010

2010-11-30T19:57:00.001-05:00

Holiday Bright Story Christmas Card

Get custom photo Christmas cards online at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

Black Friday Shopping!

2010-11-27T05:17:00.005-05:00

Are you a Black Friday shopper or a Cyber Monday shopper? I believe most people hit the stores the day after Thanksgiving for the great deals that are out there! We started Thanksgiving Day by making a few purchases online (Target.com and Amazon.com). Then Sweet Girl and I met up with my bff Shannon and her son to hit some stores at 4:00am! Crazy! The parking lot was SO packed at our first stop (Target), we could barely get in to park, but we did fine. I did have to run to Wal-Mart to get a few things price matched that Target ran out of, but we hit SO many stores in lightning speed! PLUS Panera was open for breakfast at 6:00am so we had a nice bite to eat before we hit the big mall! 8 hours of shopping, and we were done by noon! It was a VERY productive day! My best deal was a Ralph Lauren button-up shirt for my son. Reg. $79.00, on sale, an extra percentage off, $20 off coupon, and then add a leftover gift card that I had -- brought it to less than $30!

I am participating in Infarrantly Creative and Tatertots and Jello’s Blog Hop for a chance to win a Mint Cleaner. It is the revolutionary machine that cleans your hard floor surfaces for you.

Click here to join the blog hop and a chance to win!

The Mint Cleaner is available at the following places:

Amazon
The Mint Cleaner

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Bed, Bath & Beyond

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T09:08:00.000-05:00

Our table is almost set, one casserole is in the oven, pies are done, College Boy is home, people are coming over this afternoon, and it is a beautiful day! Veggies are being chopped by the Rocket Scientist, house is being cleaned by Sweet Girl, and Little Man is playing the Wii. We are truly blessed!! Happy Thanksgiving everyone. We truly thank God for all of our blessings this day.

Fall Soccer 2010

2010-11-02T18:33:00.001-04:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

Halloween Cookies!

2010-10-29T05:49:00.006-04:00

All things are "spooky crazy" here at our house this weekend! With 3 different parties to attend and goodies to bring, yesterday was filled with baking, icing and dipping! Here are a few "treats" that I made.

When at Target the other day, I saw the candy corn kisses and thought I would make cookies with them. I ended up using this recipe for Candy Corn Kiss Cookies. They turned out great!!

Next up is the "Witches Hats" cookies, or wizard hats (what is a female wizard?) for my daughter's Harry Potter Book Party, for her class. She took the Candy Corn Kiss cookies as well. You can find the directions here for these. I lucked out at the grocery store -- publix had the fudge stripe cookies B1G1 free!

Then finally I made these Oreo Cookie Pops. Just melt your candy melts in the microwave, dip the end of the stick into it and insert it inside the cookie. Let it harden a bit, then procede with your dipping!

I added a little oil to thin it out. Once you dip your cookies, lay them on a sheet of waxed paper and decorate with sprinkles. I did put them in the fridge a bit to harden up the chocolate. And here you go!

All treats and no tricks! Happy Halloween! Or as my youngest will say...

"Trick or Treat, Wash my Feet, Give me something good to eat!!"

Linked to: Tatertots and Jello
                        Under the Table and Dreaming
                 Today's Creative Blog
        Hope Studios

Boo at the Zoo!

2010-10-25T16:08:00.001-04:00

On opening night, our family went to the local Boo at the Zoo event. We had a great time, and saw many people we knew. A friend of mine, Michelle, and two of her kids met up with us and we stayed for a few hours. We looked at the animals, ate some dinner, rode the Haunted Train Ride, walked through the Halloween Horrors Trail and the kids got some candy. Ryan dressed up as a Ninja and Alivia dressed up as a Nerd. I asked Alivia for days what she wanted to be, and she pulled this costume together herself. The only thing we bought were the glasses and the socks! I thought she did a great job!

The Rocket Scientist dressed up as a demented clown, and started scaring the kids. He'd say things like, "Hey kids, wanna squeeze my nose???" They ran.

I couldn't find my annual Cat Ears headband that I wear, so I dug around Alivia's hat box and found this beret. All I needed was a paint brush and pallette. I said I was a French Painter.

At the main gate, this woman was dressed up as a witch, and had a real snake for the kids to touch. Notice Ryan wearing his gloves. Probably the only way he was going to touch that thing!

There were many sponsors handing out candy, and many booths set up for the younger kids to have fun at. Here Ryan is holding a Smoke Bubble that was cool.

During the costume contest, Captain Jack would ask the kids their name before they walked across the stage.

Which way did they go????

My friend Lisa told me to go opening night at these types of events, and boy was she right! The tickets were cheaper, the crowds were not as large, we went a little early and got to park right up front, and had a blast! We'll definitely be doing this again next year! Happy Halloween!!

Homemade Applesauce in the Crock Pot

2010-10-08T11:08:00.006-04:00

I have been in the mood to make homemade applesauce, ever since Ryan's teacher made it in class for Johnny Appleseed Day a few weeks ago! She added a box of red hots to the apples, but my kids don't really like cinnamon in their applesauce, so I went by this recipe below. Have I mentioned how much I love my old Crock Pot? It is the best device ever! You can freeze this in freezer bags, or cook it longer and make apple butter to can! I think I will try that next.

Homemade Applesauce

8 medium-sized Gala apples, peeled, cored, quartered, and sliced
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
1/4 cup water or apple juice

Place all of the apple pieces in a large bowl and stir in sugar and ground cinnamon. Pour water or apple juice into the bottom of a large crockpot (slow cooker) and add the apple mixture. Cover, turn the crockpot setting to Low, and cook for about 8 hours (or on High for 5 hours), stirring occasionally. Blend until smooth or mash for a more chunky type of sauce. Serve warm or room temperature.

Makes approximately 4 cups of applesauce.

Linked to Tatertots and Jello and Hope Studios

Happy 6th Birthday, Ryan!

2010-09-27T14:33:00.000-04:00

A big Happy Birthday to my son Ryan who turned 6 on Saturday!! His big brother came all the way from Tallahassee to celebrate. His favorite was his BIG party on Sunday with all of his friends at the bowling alley!

Mexican Flag Cake

2010-09-24T06:40:00.001-04:00

This cake was for my daughter's spanish class. I actually got the order wrong - it is suppose to be green first, then white, then red! It was delicious they said, regardless. I made the emblem out of dark melting chocolate (the wilton candy wafers). Next time to note: Cooking time for cakes in aluminum pans is much longer than the box requires...and for RED icing color, make sure you buy a large container of red gel colorant! You'll need it!

I WON!!

2010-09-21T09:24:00.004-04:00

Last week I posted a Michael Mead giveaway link on my blog, and I am so happy to say that I actually won the drawing!! I am so thrilled! I won a $100 gift certificate to Tippy Stockton Jewelry Designs! I have been looking at her site, and I can tell right now, I'm going to have a difficult time narrowing down what I want to pick out. Everything is so gorgeous! Take a look for yourself, and let me know what you just can't live without!

Matthew Mead and a Giveaway

2010-09-18T07:24:00.000-04:00

Have you seen this?

Don't miss out on this holiday must-have:

Matthew Mead holiday book-a-zine!

I already ordered mine MONTHS ago! You can see a video sneak peak as well!

Moms of Boys!

2010-09-15T09:29:00.002-04:00

I saw this commercial last night. Too funny!

Australia Zoo

2010-09-10T06:29:00.001-04:00

Crikey! One of the highlights of Brisbane was taking a tour bus to the famous Australia Zoo. This is Steve Irwin's zoo, the Crocodile Hunter. It is hard to imagine he was killed just a few years ago, but he is alive and well here. Everywhere you look they have his image. Even toys in the souvineer shop!

I made a friend while waiting for the bus, who was from England, and we took each other's pictures. Here I am feeding the elephant. Most all of the animals here at the zoo are not wild, but tame. Including the Elephants, the tigers, the kangaroos, the dingos and even the wombats!

You can purchase a bag of feed and feed the kangaroos and wallabies. They roam around a large area and come right up to you and feed out of your hand. They are soft to pet, also.

Koalas are everywhere. They have tree structures up, then place fresh eucalyptus branches in the holders and the koalas feed off of those branches and stay up in the trees. I never tired of watching them. I would say most were sleeping, but some were awake, like this little guy!

Steve Irwin, larger than life at the Crocoseum. We watched a bird and reptile show there.

This big crocodile's name was Graham, and the trainers were trying to prove a point that crocodiles are very slow to move on land, but don't get near the water if there are any nearby!

Here I got to hold a Koala. SO soft and cute! Loved it!

And this little guy was SO fast, I could hardly get a picture of him -- the Tasmanian Devil! Looked just like a little DOG we have here at home, and acted like him too!

Australia - Part 2, Brisbane

2010-08-31T09:40:00.001-04:00

After staying 3 days in Sydney, the Rocket Scientist had a speaking engagement at a conference in Brisbane, Australia in Queensland. He would be busy at the conference for 3 days, so I had time to roam around this city and take a bus tour to see some of the local sites. I just wish we had more time here to enjoy everything this beautiful place has to offer!

The first day, we thought we would have a quick flight from Sydney to Brisbane with the entire afternoon and evening to take in the sites, but that wasn't the case. The Prime Minister was speaking just a few yards away from our hotel, which caused many delays in our flight schedule and even getting to our hotel once we landed. It literally took 3 hours, longer than the flight, to get to our hotel from the airport! We were not happy...so by the time we got to the hotel, it was dinner time and we were starved! We made our way down the South Bank and I said let's just eat at the first place we see, which was Ahmet's Turkish Restaurant...and I am SO glad we did! We had a wonderful meal with Turkish Bread and dips, a vegetarian appetizer platter, and lamb, chicken and beef kabobs, all on platters and ready to share! I brought home the leftovers for lunch the next day...I have got to learn how to make that bread, it was SO good! Our waiter I asked if he was Turkish and he said no, he was from Slovakia! I thought it was funny when I asked for a "to go" box, a nearby young waitress had to go ask someone else what I was talking about. There, it is called "take away"! Too funny!

Right outside our hotel room on the river's South Bank, there was a beautiful arbour walk and a gondola ride where you could see the city from up high. There were many shops and restaurants around this area, so I made my way around in the morning to do a little sight seeing and did some shopping in the afternoon.

The Arbour Walk along the South Bank

Streets Beach - an actual swimming area along the north side of the river, where you can swim and sun!

A yummy pastry called a Caramel Slice that was REALLY good!

A short walk over Victoria Bridge takes you to Queen Street, which boasts to have over 700 shops, and boy they were not kidding! No cars can go up and down this area. It is all stores! I bought many of my gifts here and even met some soccer players from the Brisbane Rush soccer team that were signing posters and giving them out. I picked up one for the College Boy since he is SO into soccer! He loved it! It was a little warmer in Brisbane compared to Sydney, and slowly the shops were getting in the Spring fashion line and putting their Winter items on sale, which was good for me since we are just going into fall/winter here. I noticed the fashion trend was boots or flats with leggings or black tights, layered under skirts, tunics or shorts with large black purses (similar to the girl in the photo up above). Spring looked like alot of lacey items and stripes! I asked a girl working in one of the shops if she thought the trend was ahead or behind the states, and she thought their style was behind. I guess we will see!

Australia - Part 1, Sydney

2010-08-27T09:19:00.003-04:00

The Rocket Scientist had a business conference to speak at in Brisbane, Australia a couple of weeks ago, so seeing it was our 25th wedding anniversary, I went along with him and we combined it with a business and pleasure trip. And boy, am I SO glad I went!! Such a beautiful place to go and so much to do!

Our hotel was right on Circular Quay on the Sydney Harbour. Everything was within walking distance, and since they drive on the other side of the road over there, we were ok with that! Most restaurants and pubs are in an area called The Rocks. This area is wonderful, old and full of history. It is where the settlers first landed with Captain Cook when the city was born. The steps, buildings, roads...just wonderful! We had a few meals in this area that were wonderful, like Lamb Shanks, Kangaroo Loin and Guiness Beef with Mash and Mushy Peas!

Our first day there, we walked across the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

There were so many beautiful views of this Opera House. I never tired of seeing it. Such a beautiful place!

Here is a beautiful view of the Harbour Bridge at sunset. We walked across the lower walkway of the bridge, but you can climb up and over the top of the bridge as well. We passed on that. :-)

We then took a tour of the Sydney Opera House. You can't take pictures inside the building, but we did get to sit in on a rehearsal. Sometimes they can have up to 5 venues playing at the same time, not only operas. The Opera House needs a 1 billion dollar makeover. When it was first built, they thought it would cost 3 million to build it, but it ended up costing 15 million. The money they used to pay off the loan was made from gambling, and it took just 18 months to pay it off. That is quick!

The next day we took a Harbour Coffee Cruise. We looked at all of the many spots around the harbour, many expensive homes, and beautiful beaches.

The pillars you see in the water are where they put up a shark net so swimmers can safely swim. I diver just two years ago lost his leg and part of his arm to a shark in this same area. Yikes!

Halfway through the cruise, they served coffee, tea, filled scones, biscuits (cookies) and these lovelies! Lamingtons - which were white cake squares dipped in chocolate, then rolled in finely shredded coconut!

We also took a bus trip out to Bondi Beach.

One of the highlights of the trip was going Whale Watching. The boat went out to the pacific ocean just two miles off shore, and they found 3 humpback whales! I have always wanted to see whales in the wild, in their natural habitat. This was so thrilling to see!

Such a beautiful sight, and they were so close to our boat!

After the whale watching we walked around the Botanical Gardens that backs up to the Opera House.

Sitting on Mrs. MacQuarie's chair.

Happy 25th Anniversary!

First Day of School

2010-08-09T13:34:00.002-04:00

Today was Sweet Girl's first day of Middle School! No more Elementary school. Now she will go from class to class on her own, find old friends and meet new ones. During registration we walked upstairs and downstairs, reading her schedule and following the map going from her first class to her last, just to make sure she knew where they all were. She is pretty confident of where she is going, and was all excited and ready to start the day. I didn't even have to wake her up! Wow! This school has two floors, but it is all outside. Instead of riding the bus, I took her in and got a few pictures of her in front of the school.

Here she is in front of the Media Center. "Hurry up mom! You are the only one here with a camera!!"

She had so many school supplies, I had to drive her in. She will take the bus home.

Little Man will be starting Kindergarten this year! He went for his visit with the teacher today, to see where he is academically, and she told me he tested so high that they will probably be moving him up to the TK-1 program. I am OK with that. He is almost 6 and learned SO MUCH in his VPK class last year, I think he would do just fine! Of course I had to give him McDonald's for lunch after a job well done. His favorite lunch!

He actually starts school this Thursday, but since Rick and I will be gone (AUSTRALIA!) one of the teachers asked if she could take a picture of the both of us. I said yes! Now I can say I didn't miss his FIRST day! ;-)

3 kids, 3 different schools: Danny will be starting his senior year at FSU in a couple of weeks, Alivia in middle school and Ryan in elementary school!! Whew!

My New Toy

2010-08-03T07:46:00.002-04:00

As if a trip to Australia wasn't enough as a gift for our 25th wedding anniversary, my sweet husband surprised me with THIS coming yesterday by FedEx!

Just what I NEEDED (wanted) for our international trip in 8 days!! We have all been playing with it. I can't wait to upload movies in HD which you can RENT for the long flight, and even TV Shows (can you say GLEE?). I already have 2 books, and want to get some more! Whee!! What fun!!

iPad -- simply amazing!

Turtle Brownies

2010-07-31T11:05:00.003-04:00

Last night we got together with some old friends that were in town and I was bringing dessert. I had a brownie mix in the pantry, but wanted to spruce them up a bit. I had some caramels in a bag and decided to use those and searched for a recipe for Turtle Brownies and this is what I ended up using. They were VERY good - nice and moist, really, but did NOT look like the picture at all! The above picture is from the Betty Crocker website where I got the recipe. Mine did not have that beautiful layer of caramel. Instead, it just baked into the brownie layers with no distinguishable difference of layers, at all. Still very good, and I would make it again!

Turtle Brownies (from the Betty Crocker website)

1 box (1 lb 2.4 oz) Betty Crocker® Original Supreme Premium brownie mix
Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for on brownie mix box
36 caramels, unwrapped (from 14 oz bag)
3 tablespoons whipping cream (I used half and half)
1 1/3 cups semisweet chocolate chunks (from 11.5 oz bag) (I used mini chips, what I had on hand)
2/3 cup coarsely chopped pecans

1. Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Spray bottom and sides 9-inch square pan with baking spray with flour. Make brownie batter as directed on box. Spread 1/2 of batter in pan. Bake 18 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, in large microwavable bowl, microwave caramels and whipping cream uncovered on High 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until smooth.

3. Pour caramel over partially baked brownie; spread to within 1/4 inch of edges. Sprinkle with 2/3 cup of the chocolate chunks and 1/3 cup of the pecans. Drop remaining brownie batter by small spoonfuls onto caramel layer. Sprinkle with remaining 2/3 cup chocolate chunks and 1/3 cup pecans.

4. Bake 34 to 37 minutes longer or until center is almost set. Cool 1 hour at room temperature. Cover; refrigerate 1 hour before serving. For brownies, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Store covered at room temperature.

Favorite Finds

2010-07-30T11:01:00.003-04:00

Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Cleaner: This product really works, in keeping the mold and mildew at bay. We have a shower with a shower door, and the air does not circulate to dry up the water quick enough to keep it dry inside. This works well, and you can get the refills at a good price at Sam's Club for a 4 pack.

Martha Stewart Covered Casserole for Macy's: This beauty is not a LeCrueset pan, but a Martha Stewart covered casserole that cooks beautifully and cleans up as good as new! I love it! It is very heavy, and it sure came in handy with my jam making!

Crock Pot: Yes, this is an old, 1985 Crock Pot with a removable insert, that works as good as the first day I used it! I have an oval stainless steel one as well, but it gets hotter and burns things easier than this big one. Never had a problem with this old gal...and I got it as a wedding present!

Yep, she's lasted as long as my marriage! :-)

Wusthof 6.5" Santoku Knife: My favorite sharp knife that cuts through meat, whole carrots, and anything else I put to the test, with ease! I also have the Santoku knife sharpener and use that everytime I go to use my knife, and just love it! I had a different brand and it was too heavy to use. This one is light and works GREAT!

That is it for now! Just a few things I can't live without!

Homemade Granola

2010-07-27T10:55:00.003-04:00

Last night I made some homemade granola for breakfasts and snacks during the week. I tasted it before I put it in the oven, and new it was a winner! I got this recipe from Polly on her blog and website.

Here is the recipe:

Homemade Granola

2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

1 c. slivered almonds (raw, not roasted yet!)
1/2 c. unsweetened coconut
1/2 c. maple syrup
1/4 c. canola oil
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix all together by hand. Spread onto cookie sheet and bake at 325* til golden brown, stirring often approx. 30 minutes. Cool on waxed paper and store in an airtight container.

Warning -- this is SO good you may eat it all in one day! I love it on top of vanilla yogurt, or whatever flavor I have on hand. SO yummy!

Check these places out for more great ideas!

Today's Creative Blog
Sumo's Sweet Stuff
Hope Studios
Someday Crafts

How to have a Successful Garage Sale

2010-07-26T10:03:00.000-04:00

This weekend, we had a garage sale and made close to $1000!! That is the most I have ever made at any previous sale, so I'm going to share with you some tips on how to make YOURS a successful one!

Tip #1 - Have it two days. I had mine on Friday, where I made most of my money, and also on Saturday.

Tip #2 - Advertise in the Newspaper, Craigslist and anywhere else you can. Yes, people DO read the paper, and I did pay and extra $5 to have two stars in my add to make it stand out. It paid off.

Tip #3 - Signage. Have plenty of signs out, either make your own or do like I did, and buy them at wal-mart. On Saturday, someone not only took my sign down, but used it for themselves by crossing off my address and adding part of their own! I had NO traffic, until I had my husband go check the signs, and sure enough, the one pointing onto my street was gone. Luckily we had extra signs from a previous sale which he quickly put out, and the people then started coming. SO signage is EVERYTHING!!

Tip #4 - Use 1 and 2 gallon ziploc type bags to bag like items in and put a price on it. This way people won't be nickle and diming you to death, but will buy a bag of stickers or a bag of pooh toys all for one price!

Tip #5 - Group like things together. I had all of my candle items together, my linens together, crafts together, Easter items together, etc.

Tip #6 - If you have alot of one item, set them all together and print out a price big enough for people to see what that price is.

Tip #7 - If your kids want to help, have them man one table with their items on it, or have them sell lemonade, cola or water. Many people will buy from them, especially during these hot months!

Make sure you line your things up along the driveway, if it looks like rain keep any paper items inside the garage, and have tarps to cover things you do not want people to look at, like the bikes and lawnmower... It took me a couple of weeks to price everything, but it was worth it. I had many people tell me this was the most organized sale they had ever seen!

Blueberry Jam

2010-07-20T06:21:00.006-04:00

I wish I could say I grew these berries myself or picked them from a farm, but I did not. Just bought them from my local grocery store. When the summer berries are at a good price, get them!

Wash and destem all of your blueberries. I also run my hand around in them and "feel" for any overly soft and mushy ones, and remove those.

Make sure you get everything out and ready. Sterilize your jars, simmer your lids, have the sugar ready to pour at once, and get your pots and pans out.

Do you see this pan??? THIS is the LOVE of my life, when it comes to large dutch oven pans!! My husband should be VERY jealous! It isn't a LeCreuset, but a Martha Stewart HEAVY enamelled cast iron dutch oven! My husband bought me this from Macy's last Christmas, and I almost forgot I had it when i was making all of my jams. So see, he shouldn't be jealous over this enamelled beauty since he bought it for me! It cleans up SO nice, and looks perfect when you are done, just like it was new. Love-Love!!!!

Bring your mashed fruit and pectin to a rolling boil. Then add your sugar, all at once. Return to a rolling boil for 1 minute, and ladle your fruit goodness into sterilized jelly jars. Put on the two-part lid, screw on the jar rings but not too tight, and return it to a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. After the 10 minute canning, take them out and let them alone on the counter. You will here the lids "ping", which is a good thing! After 24 hours, take off the rings ONLY, use your finger to try to lift up the top lid. If it comes up, it didn't take, and you will have to either put that jar in the freezer, give it away, or put it in the fridge to eat for later! Sometimes they don't all can, but this time all of my blueberry jams did.

Here they are, all done! I also rewipe the jars, because there tends to be some stickiness around the treads of the jars, even after canning. Make some pretty labels and you are done! Here is the blueberry jam recipe:

Blueberry Jam

4 cups prepared fruit (buy about 4 pt. fully ripe blueberries)

1 Tbl. lemon juice
1 box of SureJell Pectin
6 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl

BRING boiling-water canner, half full with water, to simmer. Wash jars and screw bands in hot soapy water; rinse with warm water. Simmer and do not boil the flat lids and screw bands in a saucepan. Let stand in hot water until ready to use. Drain well before filling.

CRUSH blueberries thoroughly, 1 layer at a time. Measure exactly 4 cups prepared fruit into 6- or 8-qt. saucepot. Stir in lemon juice and pectin. Bring mixture to full rolling boil (a boil that doesn't stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in sugar. Return to full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 min., stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with metal spoon.

LADLE immediately into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8 inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with 2-piece lids. Screw bands tightly. Place jars on elevated rack in canner. Lower rack into canner. (Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add boiling water, if necessary.) Cover; bring water to gentle boil. Process 10 min. Remove jars and place upright on towel to cool completely. After jars cool, check seals by pressing middle of lid with finger. (If lid springs back, lid is not sealed and refrigeration is necessary.)

I am linking up here:

More Jam - Strawberry and Triple Berry Jam

2010-07-08T09:23:00.002-04:00

After trying my first attempt at making blackberry jam, I decided to venture on to Strawberry and Triple Berry jams. I ended up getting fruit at the market, but it would be much better if you could grow your own. That is something I will have to look into next year, because I am WAY past the planting stage right now! But taking advantage of all of the wonderful summer fruits, I am able to get some gifts together for Christmas, etc. And canning is surprisingly very satisfying!

Strawberry Jam (Recipe from allrecipes.com)

2 pounds fresh strawberries, hulled
4 cups white sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice

1. In a wide bowl, crush strawberries in batches until you have 4 cups of mashed berry. In a heavy bottomed saucepan, mix together the strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice. Stir over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to high, and bring the mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil, stirring often, until the mixture reaches 220 degrees F (105 degrees C). Transfer to hot sterile jars, leaving 1/4 to 1/2 inch headspace, and seal. Process in a water bath for 10 minutes. If the jam is going to be eaten right away, don't bother with processing, and just refrigerate.

Triple Berry Jam (Recipe from Tasty Kitchen)

•2-½ cups Strawberries, Hulled
•1-½ cup Raspberries
•1 cup Blackberries
•2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
•1 box Pectin
•7 cups Sugar

Preparation Instructions

Have your jars sterilized and waiting for you in a large canning pot, sitting in simmering water. Make sure that the water covers them by an inch or two. Have you lids waiting in a seperate warm water bath.

Crush berries one layer at a time with a potato masher, and put into a 5 to 6 qt. saucepan. Dump in the lemon juice. Measure the sugar in a separate bowl and set aside.

Stir the pectin into the fruit and bring to a full boil. Quickly stir in the sugar all at once and return to a full boil. Boil for 1 minute.

Take off the heat, and skim off the foam with a metal spoon. Ladle quickly into hot sterile jar, leaving 1/8″ head space. Clean rims and threads, put a lid on it (har de har har), fasten rings, and hand-tighten them. Immediately return each jar to the hot water bath as you fill it.

Once your water bath is full (do not stack jars), pump up the heat. Once it is at a full boil, let it boil for 10 minutes, turn off the heat, and let it rest in the hot water for an additional 5 minutes. Remove and place in a draft-free area to set. If they do not seal, follow normal canning procedures with the defective jars, i.e. try to re-lid, and repeat the water bath OR, if it’s just a jar or two, be a piggo and stick it in your fridge once it’s cool, just making sure to use it within a week or so.

Here are some links to follow:

Hope Studios

Jammin' Time! Blackberry Jam!

2010-06-29T05:38:00.006-04:00

This is the time of year when berries are at their fullest, so what better time to make some jam? My two favorites are Blackberry and Strawberry, so that is what I made. I was inspired by our grocery store believe it or not! The blackberries were SO beautiful, I bought two packs of them to make the jam. We don't have any u-pick places or blackberry bushes, so that was the way to go! These will make great gifts when Christmas comes around!

The recipe I used was from CDKitchens. I didn't have a canner, so I used the biggest pot I had to boil and process the jars, which was my Pasta Pan...and it worked! I boiled my jars in it for 10 minutes, and simmered the bands and lids in another pan for around 10 minutes.

I used these half-pint jelly jars with the pretty silver lids and bands.

I tried to strain out the seeds, but that didn't quite work. Oh well, I will try a larger strainer next time!

Blackberry Jam

3 cups crushed blackberries
1/2 package powdered pectin
4 1/4 cups sugar

Put measured crushed berries in a pot. Add pectin and stir well. Place on high heat and stir constantly bringing quickly to a full boil with bubbles over the entire surface. Add sugar, continue stirring and heat again to a full bubbling boil. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and skim. Fill and seal containers. Process 5 minutes in boiling water bath.

Note: I have scaled this recipe to serve/make 6 half pints, so this is a half recipe and I ended up getting 5 half-pint jars of jam (originally serves/makes 12 half pints). Please adjust for pan sizes, cooking times, measurements in the directions, and divided ingredients accordingly.

This recipe from CDKitchen for Blackberry Jam serves/makes 6 half pints

Here are some fun links to visit, to see what others are doing!
Today's Creative Blog
New Nostalgia
Hope Studios
The Girl Creative

Vegan Microwave Popcorn in a bag!

2010-06-22T13:40:00.005-04:00

A Dairy-Free microwave popcorn recipe that is easy, inexpensive, and quick!

1/4 cup of popcorn kernals

1 tsp. oil

1/2 tsp. salt

Mix all in a large size brown paper bag. Microwave on high for around 2 minutes, or until 5 seconds lapses between pops. I just used the POPCORN button on my microwave.

Be careful opening the bag, with all of the steam excaping

Here is a picture of my helper!

Eat and enjoy!!

For those of us who can enjoy butter, feel free to use melted butter or spray butter before adding grated parmesan cheese or extra salt!

Please check out these sites to get some other yummy ideas:

Today's Creative Blog
Tatertots and Jello
The Girl Creative
Hope Studios
Sugar Bee Craft Edition
Someday Crafts

Ozzie our Dog says, "Mama"!

2010-06-21T20:08:00.000-04:00

A Happy Father's Day

2010-06-21T07:30:00.003-04:00

This funny picture just about sums it up! Dad wore his "PADRES" (padre, get it??) shirt to the Marlins vs. Rays game in Miami and got to check off the Miami Sun Life stadium off of his list, of the Major League Baseball fields he has to visit. His goal is to go to every major league park in the US. I believe now he has only 13 to go! He and the kids went on Saturday night, while I went to work. This picture describes what they thought of the giant kazoo's they passed out at the game. NOT SO MUCH! They said they were REALLY annoying! But Little Man seemed to LOVE them!! They called them Vuvuzelas!

After I worked Sunday morning, the guys got to relax by watching baseball, golf and World Cup Soccer. Then we grilled bratwursts and had them with peppers and onions, grilled fresh corn on the cob and also grilled freshly caught SHARK which the College Boy caught the night before on a shark fishing trip! Mix all of that with some great gifts from all of us, and I'll say it was a great Father's Day!

Treasures from the Sea

2010-06-08T13:20:00.008-04:00

Today was a nice morning to take a walk along the beach. I love looking for unique seashells and sea glass. You never know what you will find! I started reminiscing about other beaches I have been to in Florida over the past many years, and the most memorable are connected to what kind of treasures I found on the beach, washed ashore amongst the waves, just for me to find. St. Augustine I remember friends surfing, shopping and historical landmarks. We used to get some shells there called Angel Wings. I never find those anymore along the beach. They were pretty, white, and shaped just like an angel's wing. In Jacksonville, I found a PERFECT sea urchin without a chip in it. I kept it for a very long time in my room, until one day it sadly broke. Crescent beach we used to drive on, and we'd find these LONG skinny shells that we would attach to our fingers and pretend we had five inch long fingernails! In early spring I also remember the jelly fish, washed ashore. Once I got stung by one while swimming in St. Petersburg beach. Let's just say I have never been back! Pensacola we had white, sandy beaches. On Sarasota beach we found perfectly whole sanddollars. On Sanibel island we would find starfish. In Cedar key we found seahorses. Cocoa Beach we find mother of pearl, abalone and scallops. Boca Raton we'd find cocquino shells and Satellite Beach I love to find my treasured Sea Glass. Of course we would find so much more than this, but this is how I associate my beaches -- with the type of sand it has, the surfing, and the shells you find!

Twilight Moms

2010-06-03T17:06:00.003-04:00

I was hacked by the college boy!! He thinks this is so funny...!!

Memorial Day Weekend and a Macaroni Salad Recipe

2010-06-01T16:05:00.001-04:00

This weekend, we had a FUN 3 day weekend since NASA was closed for Memorial Day. On Saturday, I took Ryan to the zoo. We always have a great time there, and this time they have the new Butterflies exhibit open until later next month! We always see the big Python, the Cheetahs, the Rhino and try to feed the giraffes if they are in. This time the giraffes were no where to be seen. Little Man LOVES to play on the big two story fort in the Paws-On area, but that didn't open until 10:00 so we decided to feed the birds in the Aviary, see the bats, and then see the butterflies.

This time Ryan had a fun cockatiel that landed on his shoulder and ate his stick, but then I think it nipped at his finger, and that was the end of that. The nectar he fed the other birds lasted about 10 seconds and it was gone. By the time I was done paying and going to see where he went, he said his food was gone. So the next stop was the butterflies.

We got to see one whole butterfly emerge from his cocoon, which was cool. They come out quick once they decide to come out!

I love this picture of the butterflies we saw up close.

The lady working there was trying to tell Ryan NOT to touch their wings, because the scales would come off and it would make it difficult for them to fly. But to a 5 year old, all he wanted to do was try to catch one. Oh well...he tried!

After there, we went to the paws on area and he had fun with a boy he met named Jerry. So funny to see kids make fast friends! He went into the vetinarian area where they can put on coats and pretend to treat sick and injured animals. I think this picture is so funny - look how he put the stethescope on his head! I'm not sure if he will make it as a doctor... lol

Then I took him to the water area where he could cool off. We were so hot, when we got home, we both went for a swim! Whew! Love having a pool during hot days like this. I think it is in the 90's now, or upper 80's.

On Sunday, we went shopping and took advantage of some Memorial Day weekend specials! Alivia wanted a new swimsuit...Oh. My. Gosh. You must have PATIENCE when taking a 12 year old bathing suit shopping! What a challenge to find the right top to go with the right bottoms!

She ended up with a two piece that had a printed top and a solid bottom that she mixed around. It did look cute! Then I said I was going into Ann Taylor Loft, where everything in the store was 40% off, then when you spent over $100, you got a $25 off coupon to use the next week! WooHoo! I did a little damage in there, picking up this cute top and a few others:

Monday Alivia had her Swim Team practice. They meet through all holidays, but luckily her session was only from 9-10, so afterwards we met up with Rick and the other kids out on the beach. They said there was parking (Tables beach area) available but by the time we got there, the parking lot was full and people were parking on the grass. We were there with the Hendricksens and the Loa's, and saw MANY MANY locals there as well! Fun, fun!! I brought some chicken, chips and grapes to eat for lunch.

The water was choppy and there were a lot of surfers out. We came back home around 1:30, went for a swim, and had an old fashioned Memorial Day Bar-b-que! We had hamburgers, I made my broccoli slaw and macaroni salad, then our friends next door brought over hotdogs, potato salad and chips. Rick made some refreshing frozen margaritas and the kids swam...and all was well with the world. It is so nice to enjoy a nice relaxing 3 day weekend!

My friend Jennifer over at Hope Studios posted this macaroni salad and I made it yesterday for the barbecue. It does have a taste like devilled eggs. With horseradish and hot sauce in the recipe, I knew the Rocket Scientist would love to eat it! A different recipe from the sweeter kind my mom used to make, but it was good! College boy loved it because there was no milk in it, and the Rocket Scientist said it was good but he would have liked more hot sauce!

Here it is from Jennifer's site:

Juniper's Macaroni Salad

Ingredients:

1 lb box macaroni (any shape is fine)
1 dozen eggs, hard boiled and shelled (I used 8)
1 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced sweet onion
2 1/2 cups Hellmann's mayonnaise (I used low fat Hellmann's)
1 T. yellow mustard
1 T. horseradish (secret ingredient!)
1 t. celery seed
2 t. salt
1 t. pepper
2 t. Frank's Red Hot Sauce (secret ingredient!)

Cook macaroni according to directions, drain and let cool. Meanwhile, mix mayo, mustard, celery seed, horseradish, salt, pepper and hot sauce. Cut eggs in half and reserve yolks in a separate bowl. Cut the whites into large chunks and add to the macaroni along with celery and onion. Mash yolks and add to the mayonnaise mixture.You get a nice, rich dressing that is reminiscent of deviled eggs. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and sprinkle with paprika. Taste and adjust seasonings. You may like yours wetter and you can add more mayo at this point.

Slow Cooker Southwest Chicken

2010-05-28T06:58:00.002-04:00

A meal fit for any College Boy! And it is lactose free! I came across this recipe the other day at the Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen website. Anything that I think the family will like, plus be able to make it in a slow cooker?? Well, that is a major plus in my book. I LOVE my Crock Pot! This old thing has been going strong for almost 25 years. Can you see it to the right in the above photo? I hear the new ones now have a timer on them, which would be great, but as long as my dinosaur is still working, I'm using it!

3 out of 4 loved it,but the 5 year old thought it was a little too spicy. We also had it with some White Mountain Publix bread. College Boy is spreading his butter on a piece above.

This shows how the two oldest kids had NO TROUBLE cleaning their plates!

And mix it with table conversation? Priceless! This recipe is definitely a keeper!

Slow-Cooked Southwest Chicken

Added by musingsfromthekitchen on December 16, 2009 in Main Courses, Slow Cooker

Prep Time 10 Minutes
Cook Time 6 Hours Servings 6 Difficulty Easy

Ingredients

30 ounces, weight Canned Black Beans, Rinsed And Drained
14-½ ounces, fluid Reduced Sodium Chicken Broth
14-½ ounces, weight Canned Diced Tomatoes With Green Chilies
1½ pounds Chicken Breast
16 ounces, weight Salsa
1 cup Frozen Corn
1 Tablespoon Dried Parsley
1 teaspoon Cumin
¼ teaspoons Pepper
Salt To Taste
Hot Rice, To Serve
Preparation Instructions

In a 2-3 quart slow cooker, combine the beans, broth, tomatoes, chicken, salsa, corn and seasonings. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until chicken shreds easily. Shred the chicken and return to the slow cooker. Serve with rice.

Two Graduations

2010-05-22T10:36:00.003-04:00

Yesterday we had a VERY full day with two kids graduating from two different schools and having to go to two different ceremonies! Luckily we had the College Boy in town to help with transportation and picture/video taking!

Big Brother helping out

Alivia had a wonderful 6th grade graduation ceremony that was two hours long, filled with lots of memories from the past year in a beautiful slide show they put together. The kids were recognized for talents and awards, and afterwards had a fun time socializing with friends, teachers and eating cake!

Here she is with one of her BFF's

Her GREAT teacher, Mrs. Duschl, which she had for 6th Grade

She stayed for the full day and wanted to ride the bus home, one last time. All of the teachers line up outside and wave goodbye to the kids! For lunch, one of the teachers ordered pizza and a cookie cake for those who stayed, and they helped the teachers move things from their rooms. She had a blast!

Once her program was over, we LITERALLY ran out of the door and into the parking, along with other parents who were scurrying over to the other school to attend the next graduation ceremony. Luckily the Little Man's school was just a few miles away. One program ended at 10:15 and the next started at 10:30!

This was Ryan's last year of Pre-School! He is now going into Kindergarten, the same school that his big sister just graduated from!
7 more years for me! haha

Here he is in the back row. It was the very last song, which was OVER, but he wanted to keep the arm movements going. Too funny! I think he did this 3 times after the song was done.

After their main program, we went to the classroom for a diploma presentation and snacks. Here he is with his WONDERFUL teacher, Ms. Megan, whom he had this year! We will definitely miss her, the class, the classmates and the wonderful school. It was a fantastic year and Little Man loved every single minute of it!

Unfortunately, not all of the kids will be going to the same school next year. His one buddy here will be going to another school down the way, but hopefully we will be able to keep in touch!

We celebrated with cards and gifts later that afternoon and had dinner with friends whose boys just graduated from 8th grade into high school, at the Alamo Mexican Restaurant. Fun times and great memories were shared over the years!

Congratulations Alivia and Ryan! God Bless you and We Love You very much!

So proud of both of you!

21 years ago

2010-05-17T14:32:00.000-04:00

21 years ago, this young man came into the world and changed my life for the best -- giving me a new title of Mom. Happy 21st Birthday, College Boy!! We are so proud of you! xoxo

A Mother's Day Dessert from Little Man

2010-05-12T08:03:00.003-04:00

For Mother's Day, Little Man wanted to make me a special dessert. Here he is, describing his concoction in recipe format:

Hi! Today I wanted to make a special dessert for my mom for Mother's Day, so here it is. The first thing you do, is get all of your ingredients out.

You start with a chocolate donut. You have to have one of those. So after church, we stopped at Target to get a chocolate donut, and also a banana. It also has a banana in it. Mom vetoed the grapes idea. Other ingredients include chocolate syrup, sprinkles, cherries and pretzel sticks.

Start out by slicing up the banana. Use a knife your mom will let you use with her supervision, and slice them into bite sized pieces. Next, put it in the bowl along with the chocolate donut. Squeeze a bottle of chocolate syrup all over the banana. Mom says not to get too carried away with the syrup! Take a spoonful or two of sprinkles, any kind, and sprinkle them over the chocolate syrup so it sticks.

Next get out the whipped cream. Oh, see how I just used half of the donut? The other half will come in later. You will see! Now, squirt the whipped cream over the bananas so you have a place to put the cherry and the broken pieces of pretzel on top.

And here it is!! Present this to your mom BEFORE supper, so she doesn't say she is too full after supper for her dessert. Mom said this was SO good, she didn't need any supper after she ate this!

(!!YIKES!!)

And here we are! Mom is wearing the pendant that my sister picked out for her from us, and the flower pin that I made for her in my preschool class. And do you see my face?? That is where the other half of the donut comes in. You get to eat it yourself!

I love cooking!

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

XOXOXOXOXO

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T07:26:00.000-04:00

The Rocket Scientist is leaving to go out of town today, so we celebrated Mother's Day dinner out on Friday night. A great steak and seafood meal at Longhorn's Steakhouse. Yum! Then yesterday we did some cleaning, shopping and swimming, and today we will go to church and I will bask in the love from the kids (and see if Sweet Girl will run the vacuum cleaner for me!). I do miss my mother and my mother-in-law. I miss not talking to them or sending them flowers. Here is a sweet poem I found on my friend Melissa's facebook page:

~~~

If roses grow in heaven, Lord, pick a bunch for me ~ Place them in my Mother's arms & tell her they're from me ~ Tell her that I love & miss her, and when she turns to smile ~ place a kiss upon her cheek & hold her for a while ~ Because remembering her is easy ~ I do it everyday ~ There's an ache within my heart that will never go away.

Happy Mother's Day in Heaven. I miss you Mom.

Power Bars Recipe

2010-05-06T09:13:00.004-04:00

Last week, the kids' swim teacher had his last day coaching/teaching, so the kids and I decided to make him some Power Bars as a thank you and going away gift. I had saved this recipe from Heidi Swanson in my archive a couple of years ago, but just recently on another blog I follow, a girl posted it again. You can find the original recipe here. So Little Man and I went up to the health food store right up the street and bought the ingredients to make them. They are SO good! I will post the recipe as is, but it would be good to try adding some dried fruit, like dried cranberries, apricots or blueberries to the mix. Enjoy!!

Big Sur Power Bars

1 tablespoon coconut oil (or regular butter)
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 cup slivered almonds
2/3 cup (unsweetened) shredded coconut
1 1/4 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups unsweetened crisp brown rice cereal
1 cup brown rice syrup
1/4 cup natural cane sugar
1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
2 tablespoons ground espresso beans (I did not have this so we didn't put it in)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a baking pan with the coconut oil. If you like thick power bars, opt for an 8 by 8-inch pan; for thinner bars, use a 9 by 13-inch pan.

On a rimmed baking sheet toast the pecans, almonds, and coconut for about 7 minutes, or until the coconut is deeply golden. Toss once or twice along the way. Mix the oats, toasted nuts, coconut, and the cereal, together in a large bowl and set aside.

Combine the rice syrup, sugar, salt, espresso, and vanilla in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir constantly as it comes to a boil and thickens just a bit, about 4 minutes. Pour the syrup over the oat mixture and stir until it is evenly incorporated.

Spread into the prepared pan and cool to room temperature before cutting into whatever size bars you desire. Makes 16 to 24 bars.

I am linking this post over here:

Nourished Kitchen

2010-04-28T08:32:00.001-04:00

photo from Nourished Kitchen

Does this not look like the most DELICIOUS french toast that there is? I came across this recipe on Nourished Kitchen. I have been doing alot of reading on her site lately. It is very interesting, how to change over to healthy, nourished cooking from heating things in the microwave that are processed. I have been getting fed up with HFCS in everything, and added sweeteners, preservatives...but getting the whole family on board is another issue. Have you ever looked into drinking whole, raw milk? Just fresh from the cow. Our milk is ultra pasteurized and contains the dead bacteria from the pasteurization. Shouldn't we be drinking the milk that has the good, healthy, natural probiotics in it instead of buying probiotics over the counter for $70 a bottle? I kid you not, I have paid that much in the past for one bottle! I am going to start making my own whole wheat bread, my own yogurt, and kombucha tea. One step at a time!

Riverwalk Field Trip

2010-04-20T16:58:00.000-04:00

Last Friday, Little Man had a field trip with his class to Riverwalk Park. It is right on the Indian River, with a lovely boardwalk to walk on which leads all the way out to the river. First we met in their educational room, where they had live sea animals and displays, had a story read to them about a pelican, and learned about the wildlife in the area. This park is only a few miles from our house.

They learned about the gum tree, which native american indians would chew the inside and it would taste sweet, like gum. Also a red bay leaf tree which is like what we cook with, and some very large poison ivy, which we learned NOT to touch! In regards to how their leaves grow...

Groups of three, let it be!

This awesome live oak tree is more than 100 years old, and has a fern growing on it called Resurrection Fern. The resurrection fern gets its name because it can survive long periods of drought by curling up and appearing dead. When just a little water is present, the fern will uncurl and reopen, appearing to resurrect. This tiny plant has even been taken on a space shuttle mission to watch it resurrect itself in space!

Some boat docks on the Indian River

How lovely is this picture, looking out over the river with the palm tree in view? I may blow this up and frame it for my beachy pool bath!

After the nature walk, the kids came back and made a cute craft.

A pelican with some fish to put in his beak!

New Job

2010-04-16T16:08:00.002-04:00

I have been training lately for a new job I took at our church's bookstore! I would say it is like a mini christian hallmark store. I just work one day a week on Saturday nights, but have to go through some training first to see how everything operates. My first day was last week, and it was fun, I must say! There is more to it than I thought, though. Transfers, purchase orders, pricing merchandise, making cd's/dvd's... This 40-something brain doesn't have a memory like it did when I was in my 20's! haha So far, so good for this SAHM going back to work!

But what did I do to myself today? I was taking VERY HOT soup out of the microwave for lunch, and somehow spilled some of the boiling broth onto my left hand. The contents spilled out, I dropped the bowl onto my glass cooktop stove, and made a complete mess! I quickly took my wedding ring off and ran my hand under cold water. This was all after going to my workout this morning and before taking a shower! I have 2nd degree burns on two of my fingers, and the hot water from the shower hurt SO bad! Luckily I have some melaluca oil in the medicine cabinet which took away some of the sting!

Easter Weekend Recap

2010-04-10T07:52:00.001-04:00

We got back from our little spring break vaca, just in time to boil some eggs, cool them of, and color them in time for Easter Morning. Here the kids are working HARD on their designs!

Earlier that evening, Sweet Girl was up at the park playing on the tire swing, and got her hand pinched in the chain, which took a good chunk of skin out of her palm. The Rocket Scientist took her up to the Urgent Care Center, and they put steri-strips on it. I was surprised she didn't get stitches, but that is good for her. Not as much pain and suffering!

The Basket that the Easter Bunny brought the Little Man

(his favorites were the Spiderman Watch and the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie)

The Basket that the Easter Bunny brought Sweet Girl

(Do you see that big yellow egg? Filled with a $20 bill! Such a generous Easter Bunny this year!)

It was a beautiful day out, and Little Man had fun finding the Easter Eggs that...

Sweet Girl helped to hide. Here she is sporting her injury. The steri-strips did not stay on long, and it is pretty much healed up now. We then went next door to the Hendricksen's house for Easter Dinner, sharing it with their extended family. We had ham, homemade mac & cheese, devilled eggs, strawberry spinach salad, green beans with shallots, and raspberry elegance cake for dessert. Yum!

Spring Break Fun!

2010-04-07T15:58:00.001-04:00

What a fun spring break we had! The two younger kids were off from school, but dad had to work up until Friday, so we did some fun things around where we live. On Monday it had rained in the morning, so we stayed in our pajamas all morning long and watched a movie. That was our lazy day! On Tuesday we went to the Brevard Zoo with some of the preschool moms and friends.

Can you believe how close these giraffes are? We were able to pet them and feed them, right up close. We were there around 11:00 in the morning, which was perfect! There were around 5 of them, all gathered up to be fed.

Wednesday we went to the movies and saw "How to Train your Dragon". Afterwards, we went to McDonalds to eat lunch, where they had the toys from the movie and got a couple of them. Little Man was thrilled! It really was a good movie! Even Sweet Girl loved it! I think I even shed a tear or two while watching it. Very touching at times! ;-) On Thursday we went with some friends to the park right by our house. This was also a planning day for our BIG weekend we had planned!

Ron Jon's Cape Caribe resort at Cape Canaveral! It is a great water park resort that is close to home.

It has a great slide which mostly the Little Man went down, over and over again. He knows he is at least 42" tall, which they say over and over, and was so proud to be big enough to do it alone.

We also enjoyed floating down the lazy river, which the youngest kept calling the "wild" river! lol

Sweet Girl enjoyed laying out by the pool, sipping on a strawberry smoothie and getting a suntan.

We ended the evening eating out at Fishlips, out at the Port. I ate a little too much fried food that night and my stomach was SO full, I didn't want anything fried for a lonnnnng time!

The next day we went back to the water park, but had to cut it short. This is why:

The Rocket Scientist's allergies were SO BAD we had to leave before noon. I felt bad for him. He was SO miserable and he literally could NOT see out of his eyes, the pollen was so bad! We went inside and the kids had fun on their inside climbing area, then went to the game room where Little Man won a ball and some candy, and the rest of us had fun playing games.

So that is our Spring Break of 2010!

He is Risen!

2010-04-04T18:33:00.000-04:00

Easter Brings Hope a devotional from Greg Laurie

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live."
— John 11:25

Easter is not about brightly colored eggs, wearing pastels, or enjoying a big meal, although it could include these. Easter is about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

For some, Easter will be a great day, spent surrounded by family and friends. But for others, it will be a sad day, because Easter is a reminder of a loved one who has died and is now desperately missed.

Death seems so cruel, so harsh, and so final. That is what the disciples were feeling when they saw their Lord, whom they had left everything to follow, hanging on the cross. They were devastated. Death had crushed them. But if they would have gone back in their memories, they would have recalled an important event and statement Jesus had made.

They would have remembered Jesus standing at the tomb of his close friend Lazarus. They would have remembered that Jesus did something completely unexpected: He wept (see John 11:35). Jesus wept, because He knew that death was not part of God's original plan. Humanity was not meant to grow old, to suffer with disease, or to die. But because of the sin of Adam and Eve, sin entered the human race, and death followed with it. And death spread to all of us. Jesus wept, because it broke His heart.

But standing there at Lazarus' tomb, Jesus also delivered these hope-filled words: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live" (John 11:25). Death is not the end. And the resurrection of Jesus Christ proves it.

If you have put your faith in Christ, then Easter means that you will live forever in the presence of God. Easter brings hope to the person who has been devastated by death.

Spring Break!

2010-03-28T16:58:00.000-04:00

We are on spring break this week! The weather has finally cooperated, and we are in the 70's and 80's, so hopefully we will be spending alot of time outside. Have a great week!

Cake Balls

2010-03-26T10:10:00.003-04:00

I have been in a dessert baking mode lately. I like trying out new ideas and new recipes. Hence, the Cake Balls! Funny name, don't you think? You can also put these on sticks and call them Cake Pops. I haven't tried those yet. In reading the recipe, they seem pretty easy and straight forward to make, but with all recipes, once you start getting into them, there seems to be a bit of a learning curve to them! This is what happened with these. I'm sure I can perfect these if I keep making them, but for my first try, I think they turned out pretty well!

A simple idea -- why didn't I think of this before?? You take a baked cake from any cake mix, crumble it in a bowl once it is cooled, add a 16 oz. container of any flavored frosting to the crumbs, and mix. Roll the mixture into balls and refrigerate a few hours until firm.

Next, melt your candy coating (wafers, bark, melts...) in a narrow, deep bowl. Dip the chilled cake balls into the melted coating and place on a sheet of waxed paper.

Decorate immediately with sprinkles.

Some tips I learned along the way...

1. Do not use the whole can of frosting. Use about 3/4s of the can and mix to see if the cake mixture is moist enough to form into balls. Nothing worse than gooey cake balls!

2. Use a cupcake or cookie scoop to form uniform balls.

3. Make sure the balls are REALLY chilled before dipping into the candy coating. Either refrigerate for a few hours or place in the freezer for only 15-20 minutes if you are impatient. ha!

4. Use a small spoon to dip the cake balls. Drop and spoon the coating OVER the balls. Try not to get cookie crumbs in the candy mixture! Which leads to #5....

5. Sprinkles cover a multitude of sins! haha I have found it is better if you use a light colored cake mix with light colored coating, and a dark cake mix with dark colored coating. That way you won't see the little cake crumbs that somehow magically appeared into your coating mixture.

6. Tap your spoon on the side of the bowl to remove excess coating from the balls so you don't have a puddle once you drop them onto the waxed paper.

That is about it! It took a few tries to get these babies right, but I'm pretty happy with the results. To see PROFESSIONAL looking cake balls, visit Bakerella's website! Lots of cute ideas!

Artful Thursday - Resurrection Eggs

2010-03-18T13:46:00.003-04:00

The craft I am going to share today is how to make Resurrection Eggs. It is a wonderful way to teach others about the TRUE meaning of Easter in a Christian sense. You can read the scriptures and what it represents in one sitting, or do as I will do it, one day at a time, like an Advent Calendar if you will, leading up to Easter Day!

What you will need is an empty egg carton, 12 empty plastic eggs, misc. items to fill the eggs, a sharpie to write the numbers on the eggs, and the printed verses which you will see below.

Looking around the house, I seemed to find everything that I needed to fill the eggs. Even a palm branch which I later found in my drawer of cake decorations!

I cut out the scriptures, folded them up, and placed each item from the corresponding day in the numbered egg. The last day there is nothing in the egg because the tomb was empty! I placed the scripture of that one underneath the egg in the carton. Just print out this list below and cut out. Easy!

Egg Number 1

Message: Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. The people waved palm branches.
Passage: Matthew 21:1-11.

Item: A small plastic leaf or a piece of a palm branch.

Egg Number 2

Message: Mary poured expensive perfume on Jesus' feet.
Passage: John 12:2-8.

Item: Small perfume sample, a piece of cloth or a piece of cotton with perfume on it.

Egg Number 3

Message: Jesus ate the Last Supper with His disciples.
Passage: Matthew 26:17-19.

Item: A small piece of cracker to represent the passover bread.

Egg Number 4

Message: Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.
Passage: Matthew 27:3.

Item: A dime or plastic “silver” money.

Egg Number 5

Message: Jesus carried His cross.
Passage: John 19:17.

Item: A Popsicle stick that is cut and glued in the form of a cross or a small plastic cross from a necklace.

Egg Number 6

Message: Soldiers placed a crown of thorns on Jesus' head.
Passage: John 19:2.

Item: A small thorny branch or a single large thorn.

Egg Number 7

Message: Soldiers parted Jesus' garments and cast lots for His coat.
Passage: John 19:23.

Item: Miniature dice.

Egg Number 8

Message: Jesus was nailed to a cross and pierced in His side.
Passage: John 19:18,37 and John 20:25-29.

Item: A nail.

Egg Number 9

Message: They gave Jesus vinegar mixed with gall on a sponge to drink.
Passage: Matthew 27:34.

Item: A small piece of sponge.

Egg Number 10

Message: Spices to prepare Jesus for burial.
Passage: John 19:40.

Item: a few whole cloves or other whole spices.

Egg Number 11
Message: The stone covering Jesus' tomb was rolled away.
Passage: John 20:1.

Item: A small rock.

Egg Number 12

Message: The tomb is empty. He has risen!
Passage: Luke 24:6.

Item: None.

That is it! Thanks to Sarah from Create Studio for posting these instructions on her blog last year.

Fed Up with School Lunch

2010-03-16T08:12:00.002-04:00

Yesterday on my AOL news, they featured a story about a teacher that decided to eat the school lunch everyday for a year. The above picture is an example of what she gets from the cafeteria where she works. She is young and healthy, and has a husband and a young child to care for. All she wants to do is bring AWARENESS to what the kids are eating. She is blogging about her experience, and you can follow along here: Fed Up With School Lunch

In lower income areas, the school lunch is the only meal these kids get all day. What you see will shock you, and what the kids actually have time to eat and what they throw away is astounding. I must say, our meals at my daughter's school does not look like this, but who is to say it is not going in that direction? I know Jamie Oliver has brought awareness to the UK, and has a program starting here in the states soon, so let's hope the meals will change for these kids - that they won't be loaded up with HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP and get diabetes by the time they are young adults! Absurd! Below is "Mrs. Q's" school lunch wish list, which I agree with!

School Lunch Wish List -- a list from Mrs. Q

I've been doing a lot of thinking about what changes would make school lunch better for students. Here's what I've got so far (I might be shooting for the moon here):

1) Commit to offering pizza only once per month and removing hot dogs from the menu.

2) Offer a piece of fruit at every meal in place of a fruit cup, fruit juice or icee. The fruit part of the meal should be actual fruit and it should be sliced so that kids can grab it and eat it.

3) Allow parents, educators, and students access to nutritional information for each meal. It can be online.

4) Offer greens (spinach, salad, etc) in a salad bar to students every day and educate them on how to make a salad.

5) Remove pre-packaged items (bagel dogs, peanut butter sandwiches, cheese sandwiches, etc) from the menu and replace with casseroles, soups, wraps, or fresh-made PB&Js (all of which are cost-efficient and can be made in very large batches).

6) Commit to a 50% to 75% reduction of plastic/paper containers and remove all styrofoam from the cafeteria. Install dishwashers in all schools (like it used to be).

7) Offer more options geared towards students with allergies and intolerances (lactose, wheat, nut, etc). Might as well educate students on what "lactose intolerant" means and what "allergy" means so they can be on the look-out.

8) Every school has a fully operational kitchen with dishwasher and cooking staff. If it means hiring more workers, let's think of it as a "stimulus plan." It's worth it not to truck in all of this stuff.

9) Every school incorporates new nutrition-based cooking curriculum to students of all ages and requires the students to enter the kitchen and learn basic snack and meal prep. Even pre-schoolers can spread peanut butter or soy-nut butter on celery and put little raisins on top.

10) Teach students where their food comes from by taking a trip to a farm or planting a school garden so that they can be invested in food and have an experience in DIRT! "Dirty" is not a bad word.

11) Actively incorporate recycling into the school program and instruct students on how to recycle and what can be recycled and why it's important.

I will continue to follow along her journey, and hopefully make a difference somehow in ways this can change.

Weekend Recap - Shopping and Baseball

2010-03-14T17:48:00.000-04:00

College Boy was here for a week, and on Friday it was time for him to leave to go back to school. On Saturday morning, I made banana oat muffins for breakfast. Little Man was suppose to have a t-ball game on Saturday, but because of the MONSOON that was stationary over Brevard County, the games were cancelled. So what do you do? Go shopping with Sweet Girl of course! We went out to find shoes, which she found

but also had to have two new pairs of shorts, a new shirt, and something else she so desparately needed

a new swimsuit for her swim practices that she has twice a week. Later that night we went to church at our main campus to see Potter's Field Ministry do their performance. They present the gospel while Mike makes something on the potter's wheel and his wife Pam sings.

It really does speak to your heart. We have seen them before, but it is always a treat to see them again and again. The next day we went to a spring training game, Nationals vs. Cardinals. It showcased the little league teams in our area, and Little Man got to go in on the field with other teams in a parade

It was a beautiful day out. Of course I forgot to put sunscreen on my chest and neck, and I got burnt to a crisp and a little on my arms. We ate lunch in the stadium, stayed 8 innings and left. A very fun and full weekend!

Never Quit!

2010-03-11T12:55:00.000-05:00

This was a little blurb I got on my facebook page from Charisma magazine:

--------------------------------

The only way to lose is to quit. The temptation to quit, to turn in a different direction or to give up is always present. Learning how to resist that temptation is a major factor in winning.

Legendary Alabama football coach Bear Bryant identified players who were winners in his sport. Coach Bryant was a strict disciplinarian and the model for integrity and fairness. He once described the three types of individuals who play the game:

"First, there are those who are winners and know they are winners. Then there are the losers who know they are losers. Then there are those who are not winners but don't know it. They're the ones for me. They never quit trying. They're the soul of our game."

Be the individual who never quits trying. Never stop. You are now destined as a winner in the game of life!

-------------------------------

This is a reminder to me as well as an encouragement to others. As a mom, a wife, a friend, a sister...whatever we are as women, don't quit and don't give up! I believe we see who we really are in our struggles in life. If we quit, we fail. What good comes in that? When you persevere, I believe God can teach us GREAT and MIGHTY things along the way. Revelations in our own souls. Change that we see from the depths of our being. Press on, sisters! Press on and rely on God to help you along the way!

Oscar Night

2010-03-08T11:11:00.004-05:00

It was Oscars night, and what do we all look for first? WHAT ARE THEY WEARING!! There was alot of gold, alot of pale skin and alot of pale colors! Here are my hits for the night:

Cameron Diaz. My NUMBER ONE pick for the night! You looked STUNNING my dear!

Kate Winslet. This looked a little matronly on you, but I liked the color and the fit, the nice hair, the subtle accessories, and the pale skin.

Sandra Bullock. I loved it, even though it did look a bit like an ice skating outfit. But the Olympics are over, so you can wear whatever you like, because you are a winner! The lipstick was a little too dark, but you looked great and it was YOUR night! Congratulations!

Amanda Seyfried. Hit Jennifer Lopez. Miss

Too much bustle going on there!

Now for the misses:

Charlize Theron. You know you are a beauty. You don't need to bring attention to the tatas here! Even if it did flow down to the train, this just did not work.

Miley Cyrus. Not enough cleavage to pull off this number. Too tight and too low in the bust!

Zoe Saldana. Did you not get the memo that PALE was in?? It looks great on the top, but WHAT in the world is happening down below!?!!! ugh!

And now, what was up with the HAIR last night??? Here are the total HAIR misses!

Anna Kendrick. You are young! Look it!

Sarah Jessica Parker. They sell White Rain hair spray at the dollar store!

Kristen Stewart. SMILE!! This frown does NOTHING for you!! And neither does the hair.

George Clooney. My main love... The long DO has GOT to go!

Zac Ephron. Oh, Zac...you are a young cute boy, but THIS is the Oscars!! COMB YOUR HAIR!!

A few misses of another sort, are Farrah Fawcet, missed from the memorial lineup, and Scarlett Johansson was missed on the arm of her man Ryan Reynolds. I also think they missed with the Best Picture win. Never heard of The Hurt Locker! All in all, most outfits and hairstyles were hits. I LOVE the Oscars!! You all do not disappoint!

Little Man's first T-Ball Game

2010-03-07T17:11:00.009-05:00

The Space Coast Credit Union Rays

It was Little Man's opening day for his T-Ball game yesterday. His Gramps was here to witness the event and his big brother! So great to have the whole family together, even if it is for a short time. They bat through the roster twice, no outs and no runs are counted. Just pure hit and run fun!

Ryan was at right field, and played his position well, although he somehow managed to cross the field and tackle the pitcher for the ball during the first inning. Here he is creeping up into the infield from his position.

At his first at-bat, he started running towards third, but luckily realized he was wrong about half way there.

Whew, that's better!!!

During his second time at-bat, he grounded to third well, and made it to first, but two batters later, while rounding second, HE was the one to scoop up the ball and toss it to first! LOL! Here you can see the ball in mid air!

College Boy and Gramps

Sweet Girl and the Rocket Scientist. Trying to warm up in the COLD!

The wind blew right at us during the whole game. This is FLORIDA IN MARCH! It is suppose to be 70 degrees out, not 40! All in all, it was a fun time.

Artful Thursday

2010-03-04T08:45:00.001-05:00

Let's see...since we have my Father-in-law staying with us this week from out of town and College Boy is staying here for a week, we have a little bit of a lack of sleeping space around here now so I decided to go with a "sleep" theme today.

I found a cute little image from my stash of vintage patterns, and placed it on a cute background and punched it out. I got out some of my tulle and chamomile flowers, made a simple sachet, tied it with ribbon, added on the Tim Holtz addage label and made a cute sachet to place on a pillow, bed or tray.

Here it is on my little tray in the bathroom with other perfume bottles I have.

The two little kids remind me of myself and the Rocket Scientist. I think I'm telling him to "shhhhh!!!"

Sweet Dreams!!

"I can't believe crazy eyes won"

2010-03-02T09:57:00.003-05:00

That is a tweet from Jake Owens last night, and I couldn't agree more! I'm all for voting for the local girl, but really. REALLY. REALLY!!!! Vienna??? If he was looking for someone adventurous, young and naive, then I think he found what he was looking for. Then we find out that the "staged" departed Ali is going to be the next Bachelorette. Will she lose her job over being there for so long? REALLY!!

And what is this about JAKE going to be a contestant on Dancing With the Stars?? I didn't see that coming. So I guess that means we have to see more of "crazy eyes" in the audience, cheering on her man! And other contestants -- Buzz Aldrin? Pamela Anderson? KATE GOSSELIN???? Oh, Lord have mercy... REALLY?????

Inspirational Sunday

2010-02-28T15:20:00.000-05:00

----------devotional by Greg Laurie

We all know how God mightily used Simon Peter as an apostle. But do you know how Peter originally came to believe in Jesus? His brother Andrew told him about the Lord.

We never read in Scripture of Andrew preaching to multitudes of people. Andrew never wrote any books of the Bible. Nor did God work miracles through his hands.

But God used him to reach his brother, Peter, who did all the above and more.

We can't all be Simon Peters. God is looking for people like Andrew too. The fact of the matter is, if we had more Andrews, we would have more Simon Peters.

This reminds me of a more contemporary version of this point.

From selling soles to saving souls

Edward Kimball was an ordinary man who taught Sunday school at his church. He sensed God's leading to share the gospel with a shoe salesman.

After nervously pacing outside the store several times, he found this young man in the storage room. Kimball shared God's love and the salesman received Christ.

The year was 1858 and the salesman's name was Dwight L. Moody, who went on to become one of the greatest evangelists in human history. But the story doesn't stop there.

But wait, there's more!

Several years later, when Moody was preaching, a pastor named Frederick B. Meyer was deeply stirred by Moody's preaching. As a result, he started a nationwide preaching ministry.

A college student named J. Wilbur Chapman accepted Christ after listening to one of Meyer's sermons. Chapman became a pastor and started holding evangelistic outreaches.

One of the assistants he hired was Billy Sunday, a former baseball player. Sunday went on to become a powerful evangelist, reaching thousands and thousands of people with the gospel in the early 20th-century.

From Billy to Billy

One of Billy Sunday's evangelistic crusades was held in Charlotte, North Carolina. Afterward, a group of enthusiastic businessmen wanted to do more outreach in the area and asked another evangelist named Mordecai Ham to come and preach.

During Ham's revival meetings, a young farm boy known to neighbors as Billy Frank made his way down the "Sawdust Trail" and gave his life to Christ. Today, we know Billy Frank by his given name, Billy Graham.

So look at this chain of events, starting with this unsung hero. Kimball reached Moody, who touched Meyer, who reached Chapman, who helped Sunday, who reached businessmen in Charlotte, causing them to invite Ham, who reached Graham!

It starts with one!

It all began with the simple witness of Edward Kimball!

If we had more Andrews, we would have more Simon Peters. If we had more Edward Kimballs, we would have more D.L. Moodys. If we had more Mordecai Hams, we would have more Billy Grahams!

So do your part to reach someone today. Who knows, they could be the next great evangelist God uses to reach a generation!

"We're Into It"

2010-02-25T15:07:00.002-05:00

Here are a few things we are into right now. One thing is playing TROUBLE. We play this at least once a day, and if Little Man wants to play more than that, he will play it against himself if no one else can play. Too funny!

The next thing I am into right now, along with the Rocket Scientist, is our Keurig coffee maker! OH how I look forward to seeing this little machine every morning!! Do you see that rounder with little coffee cups in it? I just love that thing! When friends come over, we have a total assortment of hot drinks to serve in an instant, with NO coffee pots or large bags of coffee sitting around waiting to be used up. We like the dark roasts the best, but I have hot chocolate, chai tea, flavored tea, flavored coffee...the list goes on, and you can change your mind every morning of what you want to drink.

LOVE-LOVE!!

How cute are these little "Cuties"?? We all love these little clementine oranges. They are small, easy to take with you, easy to peel, no seeds, and only 50 calories for a sweet snack. The kids love them and will eat them, and even the 5 year old can peel one all by himself when he takes it in his lunch. Brilliant!

But we can't be into a healthy snack and not include a sinful one. Sweet Girl used to be in Brownies and Girl Scouts, so we definitely have to do our part in supporting our local troups! Yum!

I can't leave out favorite television shows from this list. Right now one of our favorites of the whole family is American Idol. I don't know what it is about this show, but we just love it. It is ~~usually~~ good for the whole family to sit down and watch, and you feel like you are a part of it.

Oh, how they have us fooled!

And ONE MORE favorite television show of the Rocket Scientist's and mine is MODERN FAMILY on abc. What a great show!! We love all of the characters and we can SO relate to Claire and Phil! haha It is SO funny. Well, this is it! This is what we are into right now! ;-)

Frugal Wednesday -- "shhh.... $2.99!!"

2010-02-24T07:55:00.001-05:00

Have you seen the ~~annoying~~ Wendy's commercial on TV with the two guys and the meal is $2.99? Well, my family thinks it is so bad, it is hillarious, so they poke fun at it whenever they can. Hence, my frugal, vegetarian supper last night! I try to come up with a "meatless" meal for supper at least once a week, and it just so happens that last night's dinner, the WHOLE thing, came to just under $2.99!! lol

Here it is:

Half a Baguette from Publix -- $.69

Steamed ravioli in the bag with a tomato basil sauce -- $1.00 (clearance priced)
Eat Smart broccoli salad on sale at Publix -- $1.00

So there you go! Meatless and frugal and under "shhhhh......$2.99!!"

Dear iTunes Execs...no explicit rating??

2010-02-23T14:15:00.004-05:00

Dear iTunes Execs,

I was wondering what your criteria was to mark a song "explicit" in your "explicit" and "clean" ratings that you have in your iTunes store? Is it the words themselves, what the song means, what it represents, is it appropriate for 12 year olds??? I'd really like to know. I don't think any of you have a 12 year old that has downloaded this IMMA BE song by the Black Eyed Peas, or you would have the word EXPLICIT next to it! Because this morning my daughter asked me what "semen" was. I said, "What???" Let's just say I had to then explain exactly what that word was. I then looked up the LYRICS to this song to see in what context it was being sung about. Hmmmmm.... Will.I.Am is a "Banker Loaning out SEMEN??" Oh great. Let's explain that to our kids. Also, I see the "F" word is on there, kinda "mispelled" there on the immabe website. On purpose? hmmm...and the "SH" word is on there at least 4 or 5 times. Not to mention the "N" word many times. SO, please explain it to me....just WHAT ELSE IS THERE???? WHAT ELSE?? I understand I was lax in not looking up the words to this before my daughter downloaded it. I did not hear anything in the small blip you give us to listen to, and also the album itself does not have an explicit rating. But COME ON!! Maybe some kind of rating should be called for here???

Sincerely,

A Wiser Mom