Busy with pictures!

A few weeks ago I gave Walmart all my negatives to have them put onto CD's. I didn't know what else to do. With all my paper craft things I want to make I need to be able to edit and print the baby pics. We did not get a digital camera until Madi was was one year old so everything before that was on negatives. Today is like Christmas for me getting my pictures back and right at my fingertips to use. Plus I learned to do the mosaic thing.

The pictures are Madi on her first birthday....look at Ben right there and Madi was the most beautiful baby girl.

Madi at just a few days old.

Ben was a pumpkin for his first Halloween.

The one with Ben in the green shirt....well it's one of my favorites. That was the first time I got to see him after giving birth to Madi. My mom came to stay with him so Steve could be with me at the hospital. I was in there for 4 days and didn't see Ben for 2. That's a long time for a Mom who had never spent a day or night away from her baby.

So what or how do you store your before digital photos?

My house

Before moving here to Georgia we were stationed in Germany. When you are moving, the Air Force gives you 8 house hunting days, to do exactly that....go find a place to live at your next assignment. It's actually hard/scary to do. So, Steve flew from Germany to Georgia to go buy us a house in 8 days. The only request I had was a backyard, a flat driveway and sidewalks. Steve's only request in the house was a bonus room over the garage. Well this is what he bought and I LOVE it! In some of the pictures you can see how much fun I have had decorating for Halloween.

One of my favorite things of my home here is the white fireplace. Whenever I am outside with the neighbors and we talk about decorating, I always go on and on about my grand fireplace. They just laugh at me and remind me that everyone in the neighborhood has the same one. I have to remind them this my first 'real' house and I am still not use to this.

I LOVE having an open floor plan with big tall ceilings. I will be so claustrophobic if and when I have to move back into base housing with their 8 ft. ceilings.

My kids have always been ones that wanted to be right next to me. If I am in sight they are so content playing, coloring or reading. I love this window that allows you to see in and out of the kitchen. I can watch them play in the living room and even look up from my cleaning or cooking to see those funny parts of the movie they are watching.

What am I going to do when the day comes to move? :( I am just going to enjoy this while I can that's for sure!

BOO!

Shannon over at blessournest BOO-ed me today! :) Thank you for the fun surprise Shannon.


Here are the rules: Pick some people to BOO and let them know that they have been BOO-ed. Have them link back to your blog to pick up their treat (picture) so they can BOO their friends. Put the picture on your sidebar so everyone knows that you have been BOO-ed. BOO

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!

Election Day menu...

Earlier tonight I was sitting down trying to come up with a menu for this week. Senate Bean Soup has been on my list of new things to try. Instead of this week though, I am saving it for Tuesday November the 4th, Election Day! So on that night we are having Capital Hill Senate Bean Soup for dinner and All-American Apple Pie for desert. I have never made the soup before, but found this recipe online. This soup is served everyday in the U.S. Capital.


Capital Hill Senate Bean Soup

1 pound dried navy beans or great northern beans, washed and drained
2 medium smoked ham hocks
3 medium potatoes, cooked and mashed
2 medium onions, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
2 large cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper
Preparation:Cover beans with water and bring to a boil; boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 1 hour. Drain bean liquid into a bowl; measure and add enough water or broth to make 5 quarts; pour back into beans. Bring beans to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 2 hours, or until beans are very tender. Add ham hocks, potatoes, onions, celery and garlic, and continue to simmer for another hour. Remove ham hocks and cut up meat; return to soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper.Makes about 2 gallons or 8 quarts.


Chocolate Covered Halloween:

This is what my kids named it. I found this over on ramblinggal1960. Hers looks so beautiful compared to mine. But mine was delish!!!!



White Almond Bark
Halloween oreos
candy corn
Halloween M&M's
pretzels
Halloween sprinkles

Getting paid to shop at Garden Ridge.

How good can life get. Yesterday I substituted in Special Ed again. Thursdays are the days they go on their CBI....Community Based Instruction.
Garden Ridge was our destination for the day. Each of the four kids had a vocabulary word to look for. They were words like blanket and pumpkin. Yes, I got a comfy ride on one of those short school buses.
Our group was made up of the four kids and four teachers. You really do need that one on one ratio with them. The biggest and I mean biggest kid is an 8 year old with down syndrome. I thought he would love seeing all the Holiday stuff...nope, he was scared to death of Santa. As soon as we walked in the doors, there were HUGE blow-up Santa's. He started screaming so we turned down and an isle to find more giant Santa's riding on rocking horses and on merry-go-rounds. The poor kid fell to the ground screaming, so it took all of us to pick him up and get him into a cart. He is such a sweet kid I was shocked and felt so bad for him. Me just being a mom/substitute thought we needed to hit the road out of Christmas....no, one of the teachers grabbed a small Santa and kept telling him to say no, no Santa. It seemed mean to me at first but by the end of the day and the whole experience I see the whole picture now.
The day was fun. The kids really enjoyed seeing all the different colored flowers, all the pumpkins, feeling some of the feather ornaments we found. They tried on lots of funny holiday hats. We found soft blankets and really poky plants. And last but not least the CANDY isle!!!! Boy do they love candy! We bought some candy but had to go eat lunch first. To Wendy's we went. Those kids enjoyed some nuggets and french fries. But our big 8 year old ate a grilled chicken salad and a diet coke. He tells you "I want Coke."
I am so impressed with my kids school and our county for the love and care they put into these special needs kids. My day was so enjoyable I can't wait until they need me again.

My MOST prized recipe

Grandma Kiehl's Caramels:

1/2 lb. butter

2(15oz) cans sweetened condensed milk

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup sifted flour

2 cups light corn syrup

1 tsp. vanilla

In heavy saucepan, melt butter, add corn syrup and sugar. Boil for 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring constantly. Add 1 1/2 cans of sweetened condensed milk. Mix flour thoroughly with remaining milk, add to syrup-sugar mixture. Boil until mixture darkens and forms a medium-hand ball (240 degrees). Stir constantly or mixture will stick!!! Add vanilla and pour into buttered 9x13 pan. Allow to cool.

Cut into 1" pieces with a sharp knife. Wrap pieces in small squares of waxed paper. Makes about 5 dozen pieces.

This is what the look like all rolled up.

I have the caramels all bagged and tagged, ready to give out for Halloween treats to our teachers and friends next week.

When I was little my Grandma would make these and mail us a batch to where ever we were living. Anytime she would send a box we would open it hoping to find these MOST delicious caramels inside.

I have made these every fall for the past 11 years. My kids get so excited when they see me making these. It makes me happy to see them enjoying these fall traditions we are making.

garland and pj's

Last night I finished this flash card garland. I love personalized stuff!

My kids enjoy the simple things. Both my kids needed some new warmer pj's with our nights getting colder. Today I got these and have them spread out on their beds, to surprise them with when they get home from school. Bet we snuggle together and watch a Halloween movie tonight.

flash cards

I found this idea over at gagaforgarlands.

I LOVE the flash card look. These were so easy to make. Just print, cut and round the edges. Think of the possibilities.....

Yes...it's me!

Today I had a whole new look. I am stepping up in the world of fashion. Clothes were NEVER my thing. It was only four years ago I bought my first pair of women's jeans. Then I slowly moved up from wearing a lot of men's t-shirts to all girls. About two or three years ago I got into the necklace stage. And now today I added a sweater! Yesterday I saw this sweater on sale and thought what the heck...it's at least long enough to cover my backside so why not try it? Now my hair is the same. Ever since I was in the Air Force when I was younger I have always worn it up. Of course Steve is gone the day I turn into a fashionista, so one day next week I will have to dress all fancy again so I can impress him.

funny stuff and jokes

After my friend leslie suggested using cookie cutters for seasonal decorating, I got right to it in my kitchen. My friend amber had sent me this yummy recipe for pumpkin cobbler, and since making it, I left it out on the counter...I think it looks cute. Well along comes Ben..."Mom you need to fix this recipe. There is no cooking time written on it. You need to write Fall right there."

Amber you sent me an incomplete cute recipe...the bake time is written on the back, Ben doesn't know. :)

( You will have to click on the recipe to see the blank line for the cooking time:)
I need and want a new camera SOOOO bad...then I won't have these problems.

I LOVE this idea I found over on tipjunkie. How fun to write a new joke each day for your kids lunch. I will have just as much fun doing this for the kids as they will with them. Bet their friends at lunch will all be in on the action.

Arachnophobia

Ben helped me make these cute little creatures. All it took was 5 sheets of paper and my stampin' up punches. They are meant to fit on the little mint patties, but these are for Madi to hand out to her classmates on Halloween, so we used the bigger size. Then we added the string at the top to make it look like the spiders were hanging from a web.

Okay yesterday on Columbus Day I taught in Kindergarten. There are always two teachers in there. Well the teacher I was teaching with had been teaching them about Christopher Columbus. Later on during the day we were walking in from recess and one of the classrooms had a few pictures of Columbus on their bulletin board. The teacher pointed them out so the kids could look at them. All of a sudden one of the kids blurted out "I thought Christopher Columbus was a boy." There were three of us teachers right there and we just busted out laughing....Boys these days don't wear puffy Capri's and shirts with puffy sleeves let alone that silly hat.

It was a Saturday to remember!

They kept showing a sign...It's Saturday...I love that. We had such a fun Saturday! Great fall weather. Great seats!!! Look at our view....we were only 30 rows up on the lower level.

Mom and Ben.

It was a bit loud.

After the game we walked around the stadium to go see the graves of all the UGA's. They are all buried near the end zone. When we walked under the bridge we saw a bunch of people standing near the car of the owner's of UGA...we noticed the Savannah tag with UGA on it. We backed into a corner just hoping to get a glimpse of him and low and behold his golf cart pulled up RIGHT NEXT TO US!

You know those crazy kids you see on the front row of the student section....they are painted up and put together they all spell Georgia....Here is Ben with a "G" whose name was Ben too.

Here we are after the game in front of the scoreboard...and right next to the hedges!

It's Friday!!!

On Fridays, both Ben and Madi have gymnastics. Gym Dawgs in the making? Here is Madi on the balance beam. Ben was way in the back practicing dive rolls and other stuff so I couldn't get his picture.

Georgia plays Tennessee tomorrow. Here is a picture of Lulu and Junior, I think they are the most famous Tennessee fans ever...I wonder why? There is this guy, Colonel Coxwell, that Steve knew in Germany and has served with twice in Iraq. He was stationed in North Carolina until this past summer when he got a job at the Pentagon. Well, he called today around 1 pm to let us know he had 4 extra tickets for tomorrow's game. Some members of his family didn't want to go tomorrow so did we want them? Colonel Coxwell always gets lots of season tickets and will just fly down every weekend for the game...must be nice huh. Needless to say, we are going to the game! So you can look for us on TV :)

Good luck Georgia!!!

Love Potion No. 9

When I saw this recipe in the same magazine that I got my Halloween count down idea in, I just knew it was for me. I just printed out a copy of the recipe and stuck in a black frame. I also printed the recipe out in a smaller size and taped it to black paper and hung it with ribbon for an ornament.

Ben and I thought that the recipe and a candy bar would be a fun treat to hand out to his class on Halloween.

I filled an enamelware bowl full of cookies cutters with the love potion no. 9 recipe attached to sell at the plumtree.

Daddy's little Georgia girl

Here is Madi this morning before school. She LOVES this new little jacket I got her. She loves UGA and pink so this is THE jacket of all time. Can you believe this little thing will sit and watch a whole football game. She is definitely a Daddy's girl! Anytime she sees the colors blue and orange she is like eww...Florida. Her dad has done a good job into turning her anti-Florida too.

I try not to make it a habit of giving my kids pop tarts for breakfast but what mom could pass these up during college football season. They have been a hit over the past week. Oh the excitement of opening a new pack to see what teams are in there. Whatever the teams are the kids make up what they think the score would be if those teams played...this one is a given...today Ben said 24-21 Georgia...we will see in a few weeks.

A reminder and recipes

Today I heard the greatest reminder on how precious our time and family are. To enjoy every aspect of today. To make the fondest memories. As mothers, we have heard many times from the mother's who have come before us, that time just slips away and your precious little ones are grown and gone. I am so guilty of having rough times, with two small kids, barely 2 years apart and just wishing I could get to the point where they could be in school and look now I am here but wish I could stop time. Today I heard a reminder to embrace all those loads of laundry because one day they won't be there and I will miss them and all that goes with that....and I know I will. So tonight I so enjoyed spending a wonderful evening with my family.




I have been married almost 12 years and had never made stuffed peppers before...so I thought I would shake things up a little. Since I didn't have a recipe for these I pulled one off of allrecipes.com. The picture is a little blurry but they turned out really yummy.




1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup uncooked long grain white rice
1 cup water
6 green bell peppers
2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Place the rice and water in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and cook 20 minutes. In a skillet over medium heat, cook the beef until evenly browned.
Remove and discard the tops, seeds, and membranes of the bell peppers. Arrange peppers in a baking dish with the hollowed sides facing upward. (Slice the bottoms of the peppers if necessary so that they will stand upright.)
In a bowl, mix the browned beef, cooked rice, 1 can tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Spoon an equal amount of the mixture into each hollowed pepper. Mix the remaining tomato sauce and Italian seasoning in a bowl, and pour over the stuffed peppers.
Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, basting with sauce every 15 minutes, until the peppers are tender.

My alterations:
I steamed my peppers in the microwave first for about 4 minutes. And then I also add all the tomato sauce to the recipe instead of the basting part...it was easier for me and then only baked them for 30 minutes.


For dessert I made a new recipe my friend amber sent me for Pumpkin Cobbler.





Pumpkin Cobbler

3 eggs, beaten
15 oz. can pumpkin
12 oz. can evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 Tbsp. vanilla

18 1/4 oz. box yellow cake mix
1 1/4 cup melted butter
1 cup chopped nuts

Mix the first set of ingredients together and pour into an ungreased 9" x 13" pan. Sprinkle cake mix over the top; drizzle with melted butter. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes; top with nuts. Bake for an additional 15 minutes.

We dipped some ginger snaps in the cobbler and loved it all.

Stitching

Stitching is a very easy and cheap hobby. You can use a pattern, print out your last name, favorite poem or anything. You can trace your kids hands to stitch and save even. If you have a pattern or something you have printed out you lay it under a piece of muslin and trace it. Then cut a piece of warm and natural to go behind the muslin. You pick out what ever colors of DMC floss you want and then you are ready to stitch using a backstitch.




These are easily framed or turned into pillows.








After seeing a beautiful stitchery on my friend Leslie's blog, it made me want to go get some new material and fix up some of my own stitcheries. Yesterday I went to my local quilting store and picked up a few new fat quarters...look at how pretty that material is. I tried adding some V shaped stitches around it. I love it. Now I have LOTS more to do.

For part of our dinner the other night I made these little mummies to ring in the month of October. I found the idea in one of those little cookbooks all on Halloween foods. I forgot to add the little mustard eyes the recipe suggested. My kids LOVED them!

Did you know...

...you can be a Mom AND a teacher? This has been a very busy but fun week so far. Monday I was at my kids school helping out and Tue. and Wed. I was a substitute teacher. On Tuesday even though I was subbing I got to sit with Ben and eat lunch. During lunch, a little boy who I didn't even know, came up to me and said "I didn't know you were a teacher, I thought you were a mom".
My most favorite things in life have everything to do with Homemaking....family, kids, house stuff, crafts. Since moving to Georgia just a little over two years ago, I have been so lucky. I have been making crafts to sale at one of my local antique stores and last year when Madi started school I started substitute teaching at their school. I have always loved kids. Even before being a mom, when I was in the Air Force, my first three years were spent in the Pediatric ICU at Wilford Hall. My second job the Air Force gave me was flying Aerovac out of Yokota AB, Japan. Every time a mission with a baby or child came up they would call me in. Most people are scared of the delicacy of tiny infants and children but this was my specialty. At church I always worked with the Primary kids or in Young Women. Besides being a mom I think I finally have found that being a (Kindergarten)teacher is my dream job.