My Birthday Weekend Trip

As I mentioned Friday, this was the weekend of our much anticipated weekend getaway.  I was pretty bummed about turning 40, but this trip was a great distraction.  I've always said that on my birthday, I don't want to refil anybody's cup, cook anything, change any diapers, have to break up bickering children, and all of the other mundane mom stuff.  This is the first year since I've had kids, that I actually didn't have to do any of that.  Did I miss my kiddos?  Hmmmm...of course I did, but it sure was nice to have some peace and quiet for a few days. 

Our cabin is on Beaver Lake.  It is quiet - no kids or pets. 

This is it before we made it messy because I didn't clean it up all weekend.  Well, obviously I didn't trash it and leave it like that, but it was "lived in" while we were there. 

This was our Saturday morning visitor.

We did a lot of hanging out, eating whatever we wanted (I refuse to get on the scale for at least a week), watching movies, and sleeping.  We also ventured into the town of Eureka Springs for a little window shopping.  Eureka is a "quaint Victorian village" as the tourist brochures say.  It's in the Ozark mountains so there are lots of windy little streets downtown full of little tiny shops and restaurants. 

HOORIBLE picture!  Hubby didn't warn me he was taking it. 

Eureka is full of these little alley ways that lead to tiny restaurants and/or pubs. 

There are lots of beautifully restored Victorian homes.  Many are now B&B's. 

This is the hisoric Cresent Hotel.  It is said to be haunted and there are ghost tours.  Someday I might get brave enough to go one one......maybe.

This is the place I really wanted to visit.  This is where we got married - 10 years ago this Thursday.  Unfortunately, it is only open for wedding this time of year.

Hubby and I downtown. 

and just for fun...

this is Humpty Dumpty who sits on a wall in downtown Eureka. 

We had a wonderful trip and I'm so thankful for my sweet family who took care of my babies while we were away. 

Getaway Trips, Birthdays and Giveaways

Hello bloggy friends!  It is Friday, January 28th.  Know what that means?  That means that this is the last day I'll be in my 30's.  That's right folks.  I'm turning the big 4-0 tomorrow.  Normally I would probably be really upset because I've been feeling a little old lately, but luckily it's also my getaway weekend with my Hubby so I'm sure my mind will not have time to dwell on the big 4-0. 

Hubby and I are leaving today to go to our favorite cabin.  My parents gave us a wonderful gift for Christmas - this trip and child care while we're gone.  WOO HOO!  Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas and Happy Anniversary to me!  I am very excited about our trip, but a little apprehensive about leaving my babies for two days.  I know they'll be well taking care of, but I don't leave them overnight very often so I'm a little out of practice. 

Know who else is having a birthday?  Holly Homebody's is Sunday, I believe.  AND Staci @ Lizard&Ladybug.  Staci is having giveaways all week in honor of her birthday.  Check it out!  Also, today's sponser for Staci's giveaway is none other than ME!  I'm very excited about it so y'all stop by and enter and tell her Happy Birthday while you're there! 

ALSO, in honor of my birthday, I'm planning giveaway of one of Tanya's Favorite Things (kind of like Oprah, who shares a birthday with me, by the way).  Check back Tuesday for details! 

Hope y'all have a wonderful weekend.  I know I will.  Be sure and stop by Staci's for the giveaway (from all week, not just mine).
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Valentine's Day Framed Love Note

So, when I was trying to decide what quote (or lyric) I wanted to use for my Valentine's Day Sewn Art, I happened upon a quote that I loved.  "You're nothing short of my everything." - Ralph Block    - Isn't that sweet?  I knew it sounded like something I would say to my Hubby.  Okay so it's a little more poetic than my usual "Baby, you totally rock!"  So, I thought I would make a little love note for Hubby that he could look at everyday, even though I'm quite sure he won't look at it everyday, or tomorrow, or even ever again.  Oh well!  I'll know it's there.  So, let's get started shall we? 

I started by searching google for "printible envelope template".  I would LOVE to link you to the one I used, but sadly, I can't find it again.  Sorry.  Anyway, I printed out my template and cut it out.  I traced around the template on to my scrapbook paper, cut it out and folded it into an envelope.  Then I used craft glue to glue down the edges and secured it with paper clips until it dried.

I also added the patterned paper at the top so it would show behind my love note.  Then I went into Word and typed my love note, printed it out and cut it down to size. 

My note says, "Beloved - You're nothing short of my everything.  I love you!"  I left Ralph Block's name off of my love note.  I hope he's not offended.  Sorry Ralph!  And, yes, I do call my Hubby "beloved" all the time.  I know.  I'm weird. 

Then I found a frame I had stashed in the closet that has been there so long I didn't know I had it.  Love that!  BUT, I couldn't find another piece of scrapook paper to put in the back of the frame.  White wouldn't work because the frame is white.  I had a piece of gold, but it was almost the same color as my wall.  Nope.  I needed black.  I went back to the junk holder closet and came across a black file folder.  YES! 

Y'all do that kind of stuff too, right?  You cut up weird things to use as backgrounds in frames.  Seriously,  tell me I'm not the only one.  Anyway, this is how it turned out.

Sorry about the pictures.  I was having a really hard time with the flash and the glare of the lights. 

Yes?  No?  Let's try something else. 

Yes?  No? 

So, what do you think of my love note?  I think I need to go shop my house and find some more color to add to the table. 

I'm linking this project to 

 







 
 



   

Valentine's Day Sewn Framed Art

Hello bloggy friends.  Boy, time flies when you're almost 40.  Valentine's Day snuck up on me...again.  I've been seeing some really cute crafty stuff floating around on everyone's blogs and I finally decided I needed to get something cute made up before Valentine's Day is OVER.  Since my sewing machine is sort of fixed, I decided to try my hand at something new.  I wanted something out of the quote, "All you need is love" or what that be considred a lyric?  Either way, I wanted the "All you need is....." printed and the "LOVE" to be appliqued.  I thought I would NEVER figure it out.  I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to this computer stuff, but I finally got it right, or at least right enough. 

I started in Microsoft Word and typed up "All you need is...." and copied it to Photobucket.  Then I used a few of their editing tools to make a mirror image of it and printed it off onto these...

I cut it out and ironed it on to a piece of white fabric.  Then, using Word again, I typed the word "LOVE" in a different font and traced it right off the screen (don't tell Hubby).  Then I traced it onto my heat and bond, ironed it on my favorite fabric, cut out the fabric and ironed it on my piece of white fabric.

 and zig zag stitched around it, in red of course.  Does any of that make sense?  Then I framed it in a $3.00 frame from Wal-Mart. 

So, what do ya think?  Easy custom Valentine's art.  I had everything except the frame so this was a $3.00 project.  Love that!

I'm linking this project to:

 


Have a great day bloggy friends!

My Birthday Party!!! Guess What I Got!!!!!

So, next Saturday is my birthday.  My sister's birthday was January 14th.  We always have a joint birthday party at my mom's house.  My mom makes our favorite foods and we have a grand ole time together and, since my sister is not into dessert that much, I usually get my favorite cake (Thanks Kel!).  So, we all went to church Sunday morning and then over to my mom's for lunch. 

We couldn't decide which of our favorite foods we wanted, but we finally settled on two of our favorites.  Our family Lasagna recipe, which is THE BEST and probably the only recipe that is a family secret, and Chicken Fettucine Alfredo.  MMMMM!  YUM!  We also had salad and veggies, but really, who cares about the green stuff, right?  Okay, maybe it's just me. 

Yes, this is my plate of food and I totally skipped the "diet" food and calorie count for my birthday party. 

Here we are blowing out the candles on my favorite chocolate cake.  YUM! 

Not only did we have our favorite foods EVER, but then we got presents too.  Wanna see what we got?

Yeah, baby, we got Cricuts!  WOO HOO!  I was so excited that I jumped up and down until my daughter informed me that I was shaking the china in the cabinet behind me.  OOPS!  Guess I better get back on that diet today. 

So, I am pretty sure that this is my favorite birthday present EVER!  Oh, the things we will make together!  Gotta go read up on my new toy.  YAY!  Thanks mom (and dad) for our party and my cool new toy! 

Y'all check back tomorrow.  I'll be sharing the Valentine craft I made this weekend. 

Getting To Know You Thursday......Snow Days, Best and Worst

I grew up in a small Arkansas town.  As the saying goes, "if you don't like the weather here in Arkansas, wait a day.  It's always changing."  It's been in the 50's all week, but today, it's snowing and sleeting outside. 

I remember as a child watching the weatherman on TV and hoping and praying for snow.  I would get up twenty times during the night and peek out the window to see if it was snowing. 

Photo from Google Images

Our school crossing guard told me the kids she grew up with used to turn their pajamas inside out because they thought it would bring snow.  I know many of you get TONS of snow and for y'all, I'm sure the excitement has worn off.  But here in Arkansas, we don't get snow very often so when we do, it's a BIG deal.  I am sure there are many excited kids who are hoping to be out of school Friday and Monday too as we are expecting more snow on Sunday and Monday.  All of this snow got me thinking about when I was little and what fun we would have in the snow. 

I was about twelve years old and school had been cancelled for the day.  Everything was covered in fluffy white snow.  We probably had about three inches on the ground, which is a lot for us.  Our yard was totally flat, as was our road.  There were no hills anywhere within walking distance either.  No hills and no sled equals no fun.  So, my family piled in my mom's car and all went over to our church to meet some of our friends.

This is our church.  This picture was taken from the bottom of the hill.  Nice hill, right?  But, we still didn't have a sled.  So what did we do?  We went into the church kitchen and hijacked a bunch of those HUGE restaurant grade cookie sheets to use as sleds.  We had such a great time sledding down that hill and hiking back up again.  My mom has pictures somewhere (actually they're in a big ole Rubbermaid tub still in the envelope.  Mom and I use the same photo storage system - HA!) of us all the bottom of the hill, in navy snowsuits clutching our cookie sheets, which were almost as big as we were.  That is my favorite snow day memory. 

Wanna here the worst snow day memory?  When I was about eight or nine, we lived in a VERY hilly neighborhood.  We had a huge hill right outside our house and I had one of these: 

Photo from Google Images

Sounds great right?  Bad thing was, I jumped the curb and ended up under my dad's van with a bloody face.  Luckily our neighbor heard me crying and carried me down the steps to our house.  NOT a good snow day memory. 

So, what's your favorite snow day memory?  What's your worst?  I know some of you get tons of snow and probably hate it now, but I know you have at least one great snow day memory to share!!  Let's here it!

Another Applique Dish Towel

Y'all know I love a cute dishtowel, right?  I made this one last year for Valentine's Day.

I made several more for Halloween and Christmas that I shared with y'all, but I realized I never shared the one I made for my MIL for Christmas.  Wanna see? 

Her name is Mary, hence the "M".  My MIL is a wine drinking chocolate lover.  We made her a basket with two wine glasses decorated with the matching "M" vinyl, which I got from The Preppy Farmer.  She totally rocks and was extremely helpful.  I forgot to take a picture of the glasses and the finished basket.  The basket was also filled with pink tissue and lots of chocolate. 

Okay here is picture of the basket half way disassembled, but at least you can see the glasses.  Cute, huh?


I sure am ready for my kids to outgrow the spilling of chocolate milk and red Kool-Aid so I can make a cute kitchen towel for myself.  I guess it's good that they clean up their own messes but it's NOT good that they use my kitchen towels to do the cleaning up before I can stop them. 

I've seen some really cute Valentine's crafty goodness popping up everywhere.  I'm feeling inspired.  I'm hoping to get some stuff started today.  They're calling for ice and snow tomorrow.  I wonder if I'm gonna have another 3 day weekend with the kids.  They haven't had a full week of school since before Christmas, not even to mention I do NOT need anymore snow ice cream.  Oh well.  We'll see!

Have a great Wednesday!

My New Favorite "Diet" Fast Food

I don't know about y'all, but Tuesday is the craziest day of the week at my house.  It seems like all the dentist/doctor's appointments, etc. get scheduled on Tuesdays.  Tuesday is also full of after school activities, such as dance and cub scouts.  So, if there is ever going to be a drive-thru meal at our house, it's gonna  be on a Tuesday.  Today was one such day.

 I've been running errands all morning and only had a few minutes to squeeze in lunch in the car before I ran home to stash groceries and leave to pick up the kids from school.  I remembered the yummy soup Hubby brought home from Taco Bueno last time he drove thru and got me tacos (I have a SLIGHT taco addiction).  It was Chicken Tortilla Soup and it was delicious.  In fact, it was so good that he finally just took a last bite and gave me the rest of it because I was hovering over him watching him eat it.  So rude, right?  I hate it when my kids do that.  Oh well.  I couldn't help myself.  It was delicious! 

Okay, so this photo is from Google Images and it's not the Taco Bueno kind, but I scarfed mine down before I bothered to take a picture for you and I couldn't find one online.  Oh well! 

So, I ran in, ate my soup and pulled up my LiveStrong webpage to enter what I've eaten today.  I was almost afraid to type in Taco Bueno Chicken Tortilla Soup.  I typed it in and waited while the website looked for the calorie count.  I was so afraid 500 calories was going to pop up.  Instead, a tiny little "61" popped up.  SIXTY.  ONE.  61!!  Oh my gracious!  Taco Bueno has saved me from myself.  "That cannot be right, " I thought.  "It's too good to be 61 calories."  So, I went to the Taco Bueno website to look up the nutrition facts and it was correct.  A cup of "Skinny Style" Chicken Tortilla Soup is a mere 61 calories.  Skinny Style means with no cheese or tortilla strips.  Want it with cheese and tortilla strips?  It's still only 117 calories.  Want a whole bowl?  Skinny style is only 148 calories.  With cheese and tortilla strips it's still only 237 calories.  Oh my gracious people!  This is the best diet food news I've had since I discovered my VitaMuffins.  MMMM Good! 

So, do you have any weight loss secrets, tips or fabulous foods you've found that aren't loaded with calories?  I'd love to hear about it.  I need all the help I can get!  I turn 40 in 11 days and by golly I need to lose at least 4 more pounds before then. 

Golden Globes 2011

It is award season!  I love award season.  The only thing I hate about award season is that I'm not working anymore and therefore I have nobody to dish with.  So, I'm dishing it with you folks.  I just love to check out the beautiful people's gowns, jewelry, etc.  not to mention which celebrity is dating which celebrity.  Love that!  So, let's talk gowns, shall we?

I usually like to watch the Red Carpet specials before the actual show to see all the celebrities as the walk in so you can get the full effect of the gown.  Unfortuantely, my family had other plans for my televisions.  Hubby was watching football in the living room and L REFUSED to let me watch it in my room.  For some reason he has taken over my TV and when I tried to change the channel, he started what I call "autism cussing" - words that I cannot understand, but I'm sure are probably not very nice.  Not to mention that he gets LOUD and I couldn't hear the interviews.  So, I missed part of the special, but I did get to see a few celebs as they came in.  There were A LOT of champagne, ivory colored, or lack of color, frocks to be seen.  While a lot of them were pretty, they seemed to all run together.  None of them really stood out to me, with the exception of the Golden Globe girl, Gia Mantegna, daughter of actor, Joe Mantegna.

The outstanding color of the evening seemed to be green, worn by Angelina Jolie, Mila Kunis, Catherine Zeta Jones and Elisabeth Moss.

A few of my favorites for the evening:

Claire Danes in Calvin Klein - gorgeous!

Natalie Portman in Viktor and Rolf, which looks stunning on her baby bump.

Eva Longoria in Zac Posen.  GORGEOUS! 

Helen Mirren, lovely as always, in Badgley Mischka. 

There were also a few dresses that were not my favorite:

  This is the gorgeous, January Jones.  The dress itself isn't so bad, but my gracious I spent half the night waiting for her boob to fall out of it's strap thingee.  EEK!  I was a nervous wreck for her.

Tilda Swinton in Jill Sander.  Again, the dress is okay alone, but my goodness, she's all one color from head to toe.  She is in desperate need of some color!

I am all for having your own style and having fun with fashion, but seriously?  Helena Bonham Carter definitely marches to the beat of her own drum.  This is just plain scary from the top of her big 'ole 80's hair down to her different color shoes!  EEK! 

Again, Claire Danes won Best Actress in a Mini-Series or Made For TV Movie for Temple Grandin AND my other favorite, Jim Parsons, won for best actor in a Comedy Series for his brilliant portrayal of Sheldon Cooper on Big Bang Theory.  Glee took home the best Musical or Comedy Series.  YAY! 

Did you watch?  What was your favorite moment?