A few more days...

of Gammie and Auntie time. We'll be on hiatus for a few more days until we get home and find the camera cord.

Until then, Happy New Year!

Not Too Sharp(ie)

Hey Y'all!

We have been driving all over the southwest the past few days and are finally settled back in Dallas with Gammie and the aunties (and Uncle Will). But not before a few eventful days in New Mexico including 2 Christmases with Nana and then Papa Ray Ray, a sweet visit with Auntie M and family, lunch with friends and the Sharpie incident.

Tuesday morning we went to Papa Ray Ray's office to say goodbye and Sweet P was in oral fixation mode. Papa Ray Ray tried to give her a few things before settling on a basketball signed by a State Champion basketball team from 10 years ago. A few seconds into her playing with the ball, Papa Ray Ray said:
"Whoops, look what she did to the ball." We all looked to see the smeared name on the ball.
Daddy: "Look at her face."
Chaos followed.

Sweet P had Sharpie all over her face (and tongue) and jacket. Freaking out a little (okay, kind of a lot), I cleaned her up the best I could with a paper towel and some soap. She was furious after that and wouldn't stop crying. I can't imagine Sharpie tastes very good. But not to worry, Auntie Rosita googled to see if there was anything serious to worry about and found that there wasn't.

So at the end of the day Sweet P was fine. That Championship team signed basketball, however, has seen better days.

We're Off to See the Wizard...


Not really. We're going to see Gammie! And Nana! And Auntie Rosita! And Auntie K! And Papa Ray Ray! (None of them are really wizards, but I liked the sound of that title).

We're going South for a few weeks and out of the frozen igloo we call home. I'll do my best to post from there (especially because being with family always makes for good stories) and hopefully we'll have some great pictures (because I'm crossing my fingers that I get a new camera!). Here are a few things I hope will happen here in the great state of Iowa while we are away:

1) The door in our bedroom will be fixed so that it no longer allows a draft and drops that room 30 degrees lower than the rest of the apartment.

2) The snow will melt, all 12 inches of it.

3) The temperatures will rise to above 25 degrees.

4) That spring will be here.

Now, I'm really only counting on one of those things to happen because I'm pretty sure the other three are in the dictionary under the word "Impossible." I'll let you take a guess at which one.

So until we meet again, Merry Christmas to you and yours! Have a fabulous Christmas season! We'll see you soon!

Creative Bones Part 2

Remember how I said I don't have many creative bones in my body? Well apparently this Christmas season, I seem to have grown a few (or at least one). This blog talks about my present for Auntie K. I'm about 99.9% sure that Auntie K doesn't read my blog. How do I know? Because Auntie K once said,
"I don't read your blog."
So with that statement I'm pretty sure she still doesn't. (Don't worry, Auntie K isn't some mean, "don't care about what you write about" sister. She's a junior at LSU, captain of the swim team, biology major. So I forgive her for not having time to read my blog about things that are pretty useless to a 20 year old--I digress).
I decided to make Auntie K a t-shirt quilt out of all of her old high school and club team swimming shirts since she doesn't wear them anymore (and my family can't seem to get rid of things like that). Having made my own t-shirt quilt from old sorority shirts (and could probably make another out of cheerleading shirts--I know, the stereotypes keep on coming), I had a pretty good idea about how to make one for her. Here's the cut and dry version:

Cut t-shirts into 13x13 squares. I use both the front and back of most shirts. With pocket graphics, I cut them into smaller pieces and sew them into a 13x13 square to use in the quilt. There were enough t-shirts to make 2 sides so I don't use a sheet or other material for the backing. I simply make 2 identical sides and go from there. After cutting them, lay them out in the order you would like them to be on the quilt. Hers ended up being 5x5 (mine is 5x6 so it can be bigger if necessary). I sew the rows together first, then take the rows and sew those together until I have what looks like a blanket of each side. I then use batting (the row kind, not the fluffy cloud version) and sew the sides together along with the batting leaving an opening through which to pull the quilt to make it right side out. Once you have it pulled through, stitch up the opening. You can sew down each square corner to ensure the batting stays in place or leave it as is. Auntie K's isn't finished just yet, so I don't have a picture; but I'll try to get one up when she opens it on Christmas Day.

I just hope she likes it! So try it out. I am NOT a pro sewer, I have sewn 3 projects (counting this one) in my lifetime. If you have t-shirts that you can't bear to give away, dust off that sewing machine and put it to work. Make a t-shirt quilt!

Note: T-shirt quilts are EXTREMELY comfortable. They make a heavy blanket and are great to snuggle with, but watch out--it might get snatched from you because the Farmer loves mine.

Puppy Chow

Love me some puppy chow. Not that kind! Gross!
The homemade powdery Crispix kind. Although, I didn't use Crispix. Hy-Vee had hexagonal crispy rice on sale for $2 less than Crispix. So it was my obvious choice. I also shook up the recipe because the Farmer doesn't like chocolate. (I can hear the gasps of women everywhere!) Because I love him, I made it with butterscotch chips...which don't melt quite as easily so I had to make some modifications. Read on for the yummy recipe.

Butterscotch Puppy Chow
9 cups Crispix, Corn Chex, Hexagonal Crisps, etc.
12 oz. pkg butterscotch chips
1/2 stick of butter (I use salted)
1/2 cup peanut butter (I used chunky because again, the Farmer doesn't like creamy...picky isn't he?)
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar (or more if necessary)

Place cereal in large mixing bowl (I use a huge popcorn bowl so it's easy to mix around). Heat butterscotch chips in microwave until soft (I used a large glass measuring cup for this), add butter and microwave again until butter has melted (this will help the butterscotch chips to melt). Stir until you have a butterscotch liquid. Add peanut butter and stir. Pour on top of cereal (another reason the glass measuring cup is good to use-it has a spout!) and stir until evenly coated. If your bowl has a lid, dust powdered sugar on top, close lid and shake! If not, pour contents into gallon sized baggy (I've also heard of using a paper grocery bag) and shake! Put into freezer for 10 mins to allow to harden. Break apart (if frozen together), EAT!

It is SO good. I love the chocolate version, but this version is yummy! Try it, you'll like it! (Can also use peanut butter chips, white chocolate, etc.)

Warning!!! This stuff is addictive!

Oooh baby it's cold outside

8 degrees (feels like -6) to be exact.

After being shut in the house for two days, Sweet P and I ventured out to Target today. The Farmer dug out our garage (the snow drifts were 5 feet high!) and we were on our way. Today was the first time I've ever worn the Cuddl Duds I got last Christmas. I still have them on! They are so warm and toasty.

It was also the first time Sweet P wore her new car seat blanket from our friends Amanda and Lydia at Liddy Loo and Mommy Too. She loved it! (And so do I!) Check out Amanda's awesome creations and how cute her little model is!

Here's a picture of my little model in her blanket:

It's beginning to look a lot like...

a blizzard!

We are on blizzard watch today. Never thought I'd say those words, but I should have known blizzard would become part of my vocabulary once we moved to Iowa. So we're on lock down.

Well, Sweet P and I are.
The Farmer is at work (not on the farm! don't worry!). So we are hunkered down in the apartment for the night. And we're going to have homemade pizza for dinner! Is your mouth watering? No problem, I got ya covered.

Homemade Pizza Recipe!

Homemade dough (fast and easy)
2 c. flour (we use whole wheat)
1 tbsp yeast (we use Fleischmanns, can also use quick rise)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2/3 c. warm water

Add one c. of flour to other ingredients, slowly add 2nd c. of flour and form dough into a ball. Cover with a towel and allow to sit for 20 minutes (you can let it sit for longer if you want!). Knead a bit, then roll into desired shape (we use a cookie sheet, but feel free to use a pizza pan!)

Add sauce (sometimes we use homemade, but tonight we're being lazy and using Prego!). Top with lots of veggies! Broccoli, onions, olives, peppers, mushrooms, spinach, whatever you have! Add a bit of minced garlic (yum!) and basil if you have it (during the summer we had fresh basil from the garden, SO good). Top with pizza style cheese. Bake for 10-15 mins at 350'.

Edit: I was going to take a picture of this, but it was gone too quick! We added jalapenos and woo!!! hot! But nice when it's snowing 14 inches outside.

Creative Bones

I don't have many creative bones in my body, but every so often I put them to work.

This week I decided I was going to start making Sweet P's hair bows. She has WAY too many as it is, but I really wanted to make a Christmas tree bow for her. So I did.
And it turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself. Take a look:

So that's a little of what we've been up to this week. Isn't Sweet P a great model?

Where Have You Been?



Good question! Where have we been? Going crazy!

Just kidding.
Sort of.

We went to Colorado for Thanksgiving and woo! what a fun time we had there! There was a lot of new family for Sweet P to meet and she did such a great job in the car! 9 hours and barely made a peep about it! She had a great First Thanksgiving (thanks for asking)--even managed to stick her hand in "cousin to be" Kevin's mashed potatoes.

The Farmer's grandparents live on a farm in Colorado (not the same farm we'll live on--remember, I'm the IOWA Farmer's wife). They live about 15 minutes from the nearest town, err place with a grocery store and a few houses. But it was nice to just be out there with no obligations. Regardless, we had quite the eventful visit starting with the Farmer discovering a dead cat in the basement when we arrived. Gag.

Thanksgiving was yumm-o. If you didn't know (and now you do), the Farmer and I are vegetarians. We get asked (A LOT) what we eat on Thanksgiving. Ummm, everything but the turkey (oh and the Farmer's picky about dressing, sheesh). We played some Scrabble and Monopoly and the Farmer kicked our pants at both! Grr.

Sweet P got to spend lots of time with Nana, Uncle Rhett and her Great Grandparents. We came back on Saturday and watched Elf while we decorated our tree! I love it and thankfully, Sweet P hasn't been too attracted to it...yet! This week has been pretty busy for us...more on that tomorrow!

PS. If you look closely you'll notice the gash in my kid's nose from her self-mutilation on the way there. Lovely.

Hanging out with Dad

Uncle Rhett