November 30, 2011

Crowns

The girls are so into Princesses, Babies and Ballerinas right now. Every single game they play revolves around one of these things.

In fact last week, they were watching Barbies movies, and if you are a Mom of Barbie fans, you have heard or seen that every barbie movie involves the bad guy wanting to marry Barbie.
If you ask me- I think that is a great plot!

So the girls wanted to play "getting married" but K comes running over to me and says "Mommy I want to get married, but I need a crown!"

Really?!?!?

I would LOVE to make you a crown!!

First we choose the fabric-

Then we sewed up those cute crowns. Thank you The Long Thread, I totally used your pattern so I didn't have to make my own!


 I put velcro on K, but on A's I just sewed it up. Her head is still pretty small for the pattern I found.


 I had to convince A to pick blue and red…. she wanted both sides blue.
Oh and the best part- A will only wear her crown backwards! Ha ha ha ha.



November 29, 2011

While the Parents are away….

A Huge Thank you out to Aunt Karla and Uncle Cyril for watching the girls while we shopped.

The girls had a great time and had lots of happy things to say.










November 28, 2011

BLACK FRIDAY

We pretty much rocked Black Friday's Socks off.
We came. We Shopped. We Concurred.

Highlights of our trip include:

  • Walmart toy specials and TV sales
  • 2 hour lines to check out at Walmart
  • Laughing
  • Target mad dash ending with a women being pushed into Barricade and it toppling over
  • the run from the front door of Target to the electronics and Barbie Aisle 
  • Bath and Body Works Bag of Goodies!
  • Laughing
  • JCPenny and their 24.99 boot sale :)
  • IHop at 3:30 in the morning
  • Laughing
  • Ross and their wonderful dresses and purses
  • Joann and the line for fabric cuts- only took 3 hours.
  • the sweet older man (like late 70's) that stood in line behind me for his wife for the whole 3 hours
  • my sweet husband who also stood in line with me at Joanns
  • Fabric. Sweet glorious fabric
  • Baby Carhartts for Brother
  • Sleep after being up for 30 hours
  • Missing a hitting a Deer by a miniosecond
  • Dinner at Famous Daves
  • Laughing
  • More shopping
  • Kids Christmas Shopping finished!
  • Laughing 
  • Beautiful views from the house
  • A Homemade Card Game
  • Arguments 
  • Tea and Tam…..
  • Laughing
Great Great Great weekend.


BTW I have now stayed up ALL night 3 times in my whole life.
I was not built for this.
I am still trying to recover.

November 22, 2011

3 Little Things

Little entry today.

1. My new favorite lunch- 1 red pepper, 2 slices of old cheddar or Laughing Cow cheese with (of course) a Dr Pepper.
2. When I miss my Justin I wear his sweaters. Then they lose his smell… I need him to wear them all at once so they are back to Justin sweaters.
3. I made popcorn last night, made enough for the girls to have it for a snack today. It is now ALL over the basement…. oh well they spent all morning playing Honey and Mom with popcorn. It was sweet.
4. Went through my fabric stash today- going to Black Friday this weekend. Going to hit Joann's hard…. hard I tell you. Getting excited for all the new sewing projects gonna happen here!
5. Almost done wrapping the Christmas Countdown Books!
6. Once Thursday hits, I am stupid busy for the next 2 weeks. Its gonna be slightly crazy around here.

Ok… not 3 things.5 things.

November 21, 2011

Family Search Indexing!


We had a great enrichment night this week.
We were taught how to do Indexing!!!

Alright call me a dork- I am now slightly addicted.
Slightly.

My favorite part is reading the names of people living a 100 years ago or more, reading their occupation and wondering what their life must have been like.
I do this out loud by the way…. with a variety of accents… (all the accents I can do sound Native/Scottish… sometimes I sound a little Jamaican too).
I make up stories, scenarios and pretend arguments with spouses/children.
I amuse my self for hours….

November 18, 2011

bcharmed

I am a bcharmed stylist.
Seriously…
calling all Calgary, High River, Okotoks and ALL friends.

You will fall in-love with this product.
Think affordable, fashionable, design your own look- jewelry.

Those of you who know me- are now thinking…. Heather?!?! Heather selling Jewelry? Thats….. odd.
I know.
But seriously its great. stuff.

Click the photo in this post. Or my button on the side bar.


November 17, 2011

Got my hair done

Got my hair done during nap time

Someone refused to sleep today.

Instead she decided "Mommy I comb your hair."

I was trying to return emails, facebook, scripture reading and organization.

Instead I got a hair do and a headache


Then it was my turn.

But Mommy didnt get to decide.

I was under strict instruction. How many bows, ponies and how many times I could comb it.


We sure are pretty!

November 16, 2011

SS 2011

I was lucky enough to attend 2 Super Saturdays this year!

If you ask me we should do Craft days Quarterly- not Yearly.
Cause I love me some craft days with Daddy watching the kids and Mommy doing some visiting, painting, laughing- and just having a grand ol time!

Here are a few things we did this year. I didn't get to do ALL of the projects- but I sure tried :)
source


Not sure where the idea came from for Frosty and Joy


Source 
Other side




Source

Source

Source
Source
All of the projects, except the last 2, are the ones I did. Unfortunately I signed up for too many crafts- like always- and have yet to finish the last too.

A quick shout out to people who blog and share projects on the internet. That is how we found all these fun ideas- so I thought to blog what we did for others out there who- someday- will be looking for SS projects too!
Have Fun Crafting!

November 15, 2011

To Die For- Oh you Sweet-sweet-pull apart Bread

I woke up hungry today.

On my Mmm.. try this Pintrest Board
That always inspires me to bake.
Ohhhh… and bake I did.

I have been wanting to try this Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread since I saw it.

I pinned it…. I looked at it at least once a week….. it was hounding me… hounding me I tell you!!!

So this morning was The Morning.
It was a great smelling morning and a excellent tasting one.





Thank you to Joy the Baker.

You Bake away and I will Bake in your footsteps.

Here's the recipe.. if your lazy and won't click on the link. But you should cause she did step by step photos… pretty photos.


Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread
Makes: one 9x5x3-inch loaf
Recipe adapted from HungryGirlPorVida
For the Dough:
2 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons (1 envelope) active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 ounces unsalted butter
1/3 cup whole milk
1/4 cup water
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the Filling:
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
2 ounces unsalted butter, melted until browned
In a large mixing bowl (I used just the bowl of my stand mixer) whisk together 2 cups flour, sugar, yeast, and salt.  Set aside.
Whisk together eggs and set aside.
In a small saucepan, melt together milk and butter until butter has just melted.  Remove from the heat and add water and vanilla extract.  Let mixture stand for a minute or two, or until the mixture registers 115 to 125 degrees F.
Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula.  Add the eggs and stir the mixture until the eggs are incorporated into the batter.  The eggs will feel soupy and it’ll seem like the dough and the eggs are never going to come together.  Keep stirring.  Add the remaining 3/4 cup of flour and stir with the spatula for about 2 minutes.  The mixture will be sticky.  That’s just right.
Place the dough is a large,  greased bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel.  Place in a warm space and allow to rest until doubled in size, about 1 hour.  *The dough can be risen until doubled in size, then refrigerated overnight for use in the morning.  If you’re using this method, just let the dough rest on the counter for 30 minutes before following the roll-out directions below.
While the dough rises, whisk together the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg for the filling.  Set aside.  Melt 2 ounces of butter until browned.  Set aside.  Grease and flour a 9x5x3-inch  loaf pan.  Set that aside too.
Deflate the risen dough and knead about 2 tablespoons of flour into the dough.  Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rest for 5 minutes.  On a lightly floured work surface, use a rolling pin to roll the dough out.  The dough should be 12-inches tall and about 20-inches long.  If you can’t get the dough to 20-inches long… that’s okay.  Just roll it as large as the dough will go.  Use a pastry brush to spread melted butter across all of the dough.  Sprinkle with all of the sugar and cinnamon mixture.  It might seem like a lot of sugar.  Seriously?  Just go for it.
Slice the dough vertically, into six equal-sized strips.  Stack the strips on top of one another and slice the stack into six equal slices once again.  You’ll have six stacks of six squares.  Layer the dough squares in the loaf pan like a flip-book.  Place a kitchen towel over the loaf pan and allow in a warm place for 30 to 45 minutes or until almost doubled in size.
Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.  Place loaf in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is very golden brown.  The top may be lightly browned, but the center may still be raw.  A nice, dark, golden brown will ensure that the center is cooked as well.
Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 20 to 30 minutes.   Run a butter knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the bread and invert onto  a clean board.  Place a cake stand or cake plate on top of the  upside down loaf, and carefully invert so it’s right side up.


November 14, 2011

Christmas Blues

Ya know.
I love my kids. I love to spoil my children sometimes. So does Dad and grandma and grandpa and aunts and uncles.

Now its time for Christmas Lists and we are stumped.

Our girls like to play 3 games
*Question* is that normal? The girls are 2 and 4- should they be playing a more variety of games?

1. Honey and Mom
2. Kitchen with Honey and Mom
3. Barbies and/or Little People

Problem….
They have TONS of kitchen stuff- a kitchen, food, aprons, hats, and dishes.
Honey and Mom requires babies, baby equipment, high heels, purses, baby blankets, hats and necklaces.
Barbies and Little people- we have the fisher price doll house and barn, a huge bin full of little people, and a handful of Barbies.

So we have come up with a couple ideas.

A Barbie Doll House- Justin will build it- that one to be exact.

Some Barbie Furniture

A Disney Princess Barbie Pack (we are going to black friday so really whatever Barbie Pack that is well priced)

Mommy is going to make them each a purse and maybe a cape

A few DVD's maybe (Black Friday)

They also need a new dress


Barker is getting batteries put in our MANY baby toys.

Do you have any other ideas for me? Better ideas maybe?


November 12, 2011

Its Movember… again

This Mustache is adorable.



In response- Justin did this. (and because of Movember)

He and the boys call it The Perv Stash.


 Creepy eh?

I really Mustache you a question, 
but I will SHAVE it for later!!!

November 9, 2011

Stage West


How do I argue with something I kinda agree with?
I wish I was a better writer like- Sam Seabourn or something but I'm not- so you just just get to read this and hope you understand my points.     Back in September I was that Joseph was coming to Stage West in Calgary and of course I was stoked. Its one of my favorite Musicals.      So I called up and booked 4 tickets, and checked on a few things like Dress Code and infants.   So we show up Tuesday night- I was soo excited.       We walk in the door and we are waiting in line to pick up our tickets when a manager comes over and asks to speak to me.     I was pulled aside and politely informed that infants were not welcome at Stage West.    I was stunned- for a minute- he then goes on and asks where we live and if he could book us another night with out the baby.    That's when I said- I'm sorry but I a nursing Mother and when I called to book these tickets I specially clarified with the booking agent if this was OK. The man on the phone said that was fine.    So the manager asked who I spoke to- I had no idea but I told him I spoke to a man.
Apparently there are only 2 men that answer the phone- him and one other.
Anyways I am politely protesting and at the same time trying not to cry.
I know, a little silly right?
I was so excited for this stupid show I was about to get turned away with my baby.
So the Manger says- Look I a really sorry that you were misinformed, but if you promise to take your baby out if he make any noise you can stay. However if ANY ONE person complains I am going to have to ask you to leave.
Ok….
We got to stay. For the whole thing.
Brother Bear was a absolute angle for the whole show and didn't make a peep.
The show was fab, it was a great night- even though I felt like a leper and a outcast because I had brought the baby.


Heres my argument.
I understand that sometimes it is inappropriate to bring a baby to things.
But if the mother is aware of others- and realizes that others will  NOT appreciate a screaming baby during a show-and takes the child out if there is a disturbance- why are they still not welcome?
Couple months ago I took Brother to Wicked the Musical and yes he was fussy- I spent all of the last half of the first act in the quite room.
 So what.
I still got to see the show- even with a baby.
Why are there Mothers out there who think its CUTE if their child is making a disturbance of some sort- and ruins it for the rest of us?
Last night I felt like a complete and total outcast.
It was not a nice feeling.
I love my children and do not consider myself a second rate citizen because I am a mother.
I do have respect for others and I will take steps to insure my children are not a problem in public.
P.S Joseph really was amazing. I will be singing along with it for the next couple days so feel free to stop by and sing along with me. If you would prefer we sing along to Wicked or Les Mis or Phantom… whatever.

Christmas Book Countdown Book List

Everyday in December last year we did a Christmas Countdown Activity.
The girls had a great time doing, and to be honest it made our days pass so quickly and gave us something to look forward too.
So of course we must to it again- with a slight change.

We love books at our house so we are going to open a story and do a craft/activity with it.
I got the wonderful idea from Jocelyn.

First let me say- yes her book list is amazing.
I have been collecting books all year- mostly from Thrift Stores and some from Costco.
Hopefully this book experiment with go really really really well and it will be come a tradition. And IF it goes well THEN I will look into getting NICER Christmas books. But for now we will go with the books I found- cause to be honest- my kids are a little hard on books and they don't care if I paid $24.99 or $0.99.
You know what I mean??






I am still working on our craft list… I have a few rounded up.. but still looking for most.
I am keeping track of the craft ideas on Pintrest (on my Christmas board). Any suggestions would be appreciated.

So here you are friends who have been asking. Hope this helps- hit up your neighborhood thrift store.

Anyone else doing this??




On another note.

I often get people asking me how on earth do I blog? It takes them sooo long.
To which I reply- keep doing it. Once you get good a post will just flow out- and you will get faster at it.  Today my blog post took FOREVER. Because I held this little man up to the computer like that while I typed- he stared at himself at Photo Booth while I blogged. He has been rather grumpy today and this kept him laughing or contemplating for like 25 mins.
Thats all.

Mister Sir


Hello Mister.
Mister. Sir.
My Mister. Sir.
My Mister. Sir. Sir.

Mister Sir is 5 months old.
Almost sitting.
Rolling all over the floor, from front to back and back to front.
Got his first shots yesterday
I though he weighed 16 lb..
No
He weighs 15 lb. 3oz
he is in the 50% for weight and hight and head.

Mister is a super smiler.
He LOVES his Mamma.
Most days only his Mamma.
He likes Grandma too
Men are not his preference
He likes the Ladies.


He likes to sleep in the swing and in Mamma's bed.
Beside his Mamma.
Swore I would never do that.
But he is waging a war.
A war in which Mamma gets no sleep
Some times Mamma wins
Most times he wins

He likes to nurse
and thats it
will not take additional supplementing
Which would be fine
but he still eats every 2 hours
without. fail.

He likes to clasp his hands together
it is sooo endearing
he likes his teething ring and
lg foam puzzle pieces

He to watch his sisters play
as long as they play right in front of him
he is soo patient when sister carries him
and dropps him. twice.