Who's Been Playin' with My Camera?

Hunter! Caught Ya!
Taking pictures of himself in front of the house.

Marc came home from work the other day and brought in my camera. He said, "Do you know where I found this?" Of course I didn't. It just so happened he noticed it sitting on the bumper of my van as he was pulling into the garage. Well, much like when 3's and 4's leave their signatures on the furniture and walls as they are beginning the art and craft of writing their own names - they also have a knack for leaving evidence in cameras. Hmmm. Who do YOU think put my camera on the bumper?

"My Favorite Things" Quilt Project

June "Starbright"

May - "Open House!"


April - "Attic Windows"

March "Cornered!"

February - "Oh, My Heart!"

January - "Shoo Fly"

"My Favorite Things" first 6 blocks

Designed by Sharon Hultgren

using fabric from the J. Apple 'n Bee Orchard collection designed by Carol Endres

sewn by ME! :)

This is a project that I started 10 - yes TEN - years ago. It was a 1999 Collection Quilt with "Blocks of the Month" that I fell in love with at the store and purchased and LOVED starting. I've learned I am AWESOME with ideas and STARTING things. Finishing my projects is another story. I have decided to actually FINISH it! It will be my first REAL quilt. I LOVE to play with fabric and make blocks, and I LOVE quilts! This is supposed to be a queen-size when it's finished, so I hope I can complete it. The basting and binding is intimidating to me. We'll see - wish me luck!

I love this quilt for it's "collection" of blocks and fabrics. I love apples and bees, so this really spoke to me for so many reasons. I get warm fuzzies every time I look at it!

Pioneer Caleb

Caleb AFTER the Pioneer Handcart Trek
Caleb DURING the Pioneer Trek with his "family"
Caleb is in the front on the right
His "Ma 'n' Pa" are the couple on the left

What a BEAUTIFUL sunset!!!
Caleb BEFORE the trek - on his way out the door!

We just got our Caleb back on Saturday after a 4-day "Pioneer Trek" in which he re-enacted some of the experiences of the Mormon Handcart Pioneers.
He put us through so much drama about his clothing before the trek that I was doing the "happy dance" after I dropped him off and praying for a humbler, kinder Caleb to return. It is still undetermined as to whether or not that prayer was answered to my wishing.

Caleb is VERY into his "look" and fashion. He wanted to carry this big part of his personality into the trek as well - which for him included purchasing $50 Hollister button-up shirts to wear for his recommended "plaid button-ups - NO T-shirts" requirement. Caleb does not want to appear "preppy" in any way, and has recently decided the only things in his wardrobe worthy of wearing are THREE of his T-shirts. The other T-shirts are too "preppy." So we do laundry every two days, and I still have no idea how a T-shirt of any kind can be considered "preppy." Plus, he picked out all the T's in his closet. I guess that's just part of what makes me the mom. Well, me being the overly practical person that I am, as well as trying to instill some reason, logic and thrift into my child - I told him there was absolutely no way I was going to spend $100 of MY money for Pioneer Trek shirts (each boy is required to bring TWO button-up shirts.) I let him know I planned to go to DI or Goodwill and find some decent button-ups for the occasion. A trek is like camping and he's just going to get it dirty, yadda, yadda, yadda. If he didn't like what I picked out, or he wanted them badly enough, he was more than welcome to use HIS money - assuming he earned that much in time.
Well, I don't know how many of you with teens can relate - but he FLIPPED out at the thought of going to a DI or Goodwill store, and there was NO WAY he would wear ANYTHING from either one! I tried to ease things up for him, by saying maybe we could find something really cheap at Target or on clearance somewhere that would suffice. He tried to reason with me that getting something JUST for the trek was an even bigger waste of money because he would never wear it afterward. So if I got something he could wear to school as well, that would be MUCH more practical. Wow, these teens are good, but I still wasn't buying it! This type of back and forth conversation went on for at least a month. . . and please keep in mind, I'm only giving you a small taste of this whole thing.

To spare you the drama details, I ended up getting some AWESOME deals on clearance at Fred Meyer. One of the pairs of pants was less than $5 - and I don't think I could have done that good at DI or Goodwill. Needless to say, I got his 2 pairs of khaki pants, 2 button-up shirts, hiking boots (from clearance at Big 5), and straw hat for less than $50. I was quite pleased with my trifty purchases and the great deals I'd found in his sizes and everything. Well, he still insisted on one Hollister shirt. He had earned enough of his own money for just one. Since he was home while I was in Vancouver, I had to go to the Hollister store without him and communicate via cell phone to get one he liked. He'd shown me the one he wanted online, but it was not in the store. So I took pictures of the ones I thought he'd like and sent them to his friend's cell phone (which by-the-way Hollister is NOT pleased with me for taking pictures of their clothes. They got after me AFTER I'd already sent the pics I needed to send - phew!)

He was quite pleased with his Hollister shirt. I told him it was a very nice shirt, and I thought it would be great for school next year, but I discouraged him from taking it on a trek. He ended up going on the trek WITHOUT the Hollister shirt (proof, he DOES take my advise sometimes!) - so the pics above are the products of my thrifty finds. :) Now this is the part I don't get. The Hollister shirt is hanging up in my laundry room, and he wants me to return it to the store. I DON'T GET IT!!! He drove me to near insanity for over a month for that *#@*% Hollister shirt! Now he wants me to take it back! Did he really just want me to spend $100 on Hollister shirts just for the trek, and he never really intended to wear them to school anyway? (Like so many of the other rejected shirts now in his closet.) I may never know. . .sigh . . .

How did he like the trek? The food was AWESOME! Which was NOT a realistic Pioneer representation, but I'm glad he ate well. He was not fond of his "Ma." sorry "She was sexist and controlling and didn't let them have ANY fun! She liked the girls, but not the boys and made the boys do all the work! She didn't let them go play with the "children" in the other families, and they had earlier bedtimes, etc. etc. etc." (Keep in mind, this is one side of the story.) Was it worth it? Well, he has a nice farmer's tan.

Smoothie Anyone?

Ammon & Hunter enjoy a Berry Smoothie

Since I was posting about Ammon in the kitchen, I was reminded of a memorable story about him from last year.

First some background: He LOVES to make smoothies! He has been diligently creating recipes for a few years now. He has an entire notebook filled with smoothie recipes that he invented and wants to publish. (In looking at some of them, many of the quantities are too big to fit in any blender, but there are some creative flavor combinations.) His 4th grade teacher confiscated his "Smoothie Recipes" notebook a few times due to it distracting him from his school work. I finally had to promise her he wouldn't bring it to school anymore.

Ammon also LOVES money! So being the entrepreneur he is, he decided to mingle his two passions and sell smoothie recipes door-to-door in the neighborhood. He enlisted some of the neighborhood friends too, as well as his little sister. I didn't realize what they were doing until they had earned about $17. I was a little embarrassed that they were selling torn scraps of paper with illegible handwritten "recipes." We have some generous neighbors that took pity on them! I cracked up when I caught them - his little sister with a backpack full of "smoothie recipes" and money, riding on her bike door-to-door. Maybe she had the best luck at convincing the customers to actually invest in their product.

My husband Marc is partly to blame, because he had been watching the "Big Idea with Donny Deutch" and instilled a "you can do anything if you set your mind to it" attitude about business. Which is not a bad thing, but where does good business cross the line with being a bad neighbor?

So I tried to explain that it wasn't neighborly to sell things to the neighbors. It also wasn't appropriate for his little sister to be out going door-to-door like that. I thought I'd made my point clear. Later that week, on our way home from church, we noticed a hand-written sign on one of the light posts in the neighborhood. We slowed down to get a closer look and read it. Low and behold, it had our address and phone number on it to come pick up smoothie recipes! We didn't know whether to crawl under a rock or suck it up. Then there was another one on the next light post, and the next. We had to drive around and remove all the signs from the neighborhood. We just laughed and laughed until we cried! Where there's a will there's a way!

Speaking of smoothies, I can't wait for the berries to come on!!! Just a few more weeks!

My Little Chef

Ammon LOVES to work in the kitchen! Here he is making Banana Pancakes for dinner. :)

I appreciate that both my big boys like to cook. It really can be helpful sometimes when they can whip up a simple meal. Ammon offered to make these, and I was delighted to let him!

Ammon had his 5th Grade BBQ and awards ceremony yesterday. So he is officially done with elementary school. YEAH!

Share the Music

Sit back, relax and enjoy my "playlist!" I have been having a BLAST putting it together! I was up until after 2:00am this morning finding many favorite treasures to add! I like to just put my playlist on and work on a project while I listen. It even makes balancing the checkbook enjoyable. :)

Jessica's Marshmallow Clouds (chocolatey marshmallow cookies)

YUM! Chocolately Marshmallow Cookies!

My Pampered Chef stoneware is WELL used! I've had it for many years, and I use it almost daily. It's one of my kitchen essentials.

Image of combining the marshmallows with the dough.

Olivia and Hunter running the mixer.

This is a recipe from an old college roommate, Victoria. I haven't kept in touch with her, but she had a Mrs. Field's Cookies Recipe Book, and I got a few recipes from it while we were roomies. I believe Jessica is Mrs. Field's daughter. This is one I've made a few times. It's just a fun alternative to traditional chocolate chip. The "secret" to this recipe, is to NOT OVERBAKE them! If you overbake the cookies, they are harder and the marshmallows melt into the cookies and you don't even notice they are there. I have a convection oven, so I baked mine only about 7 minutes.

My daughter woke up yesterday wanting to make a recipe from her "My Little Pony" activity book. In looking at the recipes I didn't have all the ingredients for any of then, so I convinced her to make this recipe instead.

Jessica's Marshmallow Clouds

(Yields: 3 1/2 dozen)
3 c. all-purpose flour
2/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1 c. sugar
1 c. brown sugar, firmly packed
1 c. salted butter, softened
2 large eggs
2 t. pure vanilla extract
2 c. (12 oz.) miniture semisweet chocolate chips
8 oz. miniature marshmallows, frozen

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Until you are ready to assemble the cookies just prior to baking, keep the marshmallows in the freezer - otherwise they will thaw too rapidly.

In a medium bowl combine flour, cocoa and baking soda. Set aside.

Combine sugars in a large bowl. Using electric mixer, blend in butter, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy.

Add the flour mixture and chocolate chips, and blend at low speed until combined. Batter will be very stiff.

Gather 4-5 marshmallows in the palm of your hand and cover them with a heaping tablespoon of dough. Wrap the dough around the marshmallows, completely encasing them and forming a 2-inch diameter dough ball.

Place balls on ungreased baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake 8-10 minutes. Cool on pan 2 minutes, then transfer to a cool, flat surface.

Happy Birthday Amber!

I made this card for my sister-in-law for her birthday. I came up with this design on my own, which actually turned out decent. I usually have better luck following someone else's pattern or design, so I was glad to create an original. The stamp images are copyright of Stampin' Up! The papers and ribbon are also by Stampin' Up!

Another school project

Olivia had a school project to do a dinosaur report. She was assigned - Iguanadon. She had a wonderful time reading up on him and researching him, and she even gave me ample notice that she needed to have a model for her presentation. Well, I calendared it along with all the other calendar items, and then life happened. We had company in town for a week, then our bathroom flooded and we were blocked from our kitchen for a week which threw everything off and helter skelter. So the night before the project is due - she reminds me. By this time it is super late, and I have to be to work at 7:30 in the morning. I find a recipe for model clay that I have all the ingredients for, that looks super simple and is supposed to air dry. I make up the clay which looks a little runny, but the recipe says it will gradually harden. I start to make a frame with a hanger and then begin to form the clay on the frame. The clay is not hardening. It is holding shape for a few minutes and then it begins to slide down the frame. By this time it's almost midnight. I'm super tired, and I remember how much I dislike school projects like this anyway - so I do the only thing I can manage - I cry. I tell her she can just skip the model part and go to bed. (I mean really, this is grade school and in the whole scheme of things is this really going to matter? It's not like she even gets real grades in grade school.)
Well, Marc disagrees. We can't teach her to be irresponsible already. I figure we did our best, and I'm out of ideas. Well I remember the red playdough that I made 6 months ago that my preschoolers are still using. A red dinosaur sounds a little grotesque, but I pull it out and let my husband take a shot at it. I have to go to bed. So next morning after I'm off to work, Marc lets Olivia paint his sculpture with green tempera paint, and then he takes her to school. All considered, I think it turned out pretty good. The red playdough underneath the green actually made it look fleshy and realistic. Yeah! Another school "project" DONE - Phew!

Faith is like a little seed . . .

My youngest, Hunter, just came running in with excitement that his "seeds are growing!" He got this cup of wheat grass seeds at our church Primary on Sunday, and it is already sprouting!!! He learned (from a good friend and amazingly talented lady, Denise) about how faith is like a seed that must be cared for in order to grow. The picture is a bit blurry because he was so excited he could barely hold still for a picture. :) Anybody have any good ideas for uses with wheat grass?

Caleb's Mug from Art

My oldest, Caleb, just walked in the door with another creation from art class. I thought this was a cool mug. It would look really pretty with some yellow flowers in it. He always amazes me with his projects and the care he takes in them. It makes me miss when I was in art . . .

True Art

Above: By Natalie
Above: By Hunter

Preschooler's Art just gives me goosebumps! It is so innocent, raw and uninhibited. Unfortunately, I've lost much of these qualities (as do most of us as adults) - maybe someday I can tap into that again. I think Picasso (and some other "abstract" artists) is mostly famous for his ability to hold onto these attributes even into adulthood.

These are some pieces that I was so tickled with I had to scan them into my computer and add to my bi-monthly newsletter (which I am supposed to be working on right now . . . ) I couldn't help but share and add them to "the blog." These are simple black line drawings of "My Family" which were later colored with watercolors. The bottom one is by my son, Hunter who is currently 4-years-old. There are only 6 people in our family, but he was having so much fun making heads - I guess he got carried away. I often try to figure out what they are thinking and how they are processing, but alas, it's usually a mystery. . . but still so curious and precious.

A Favorite Book & Quote

I added a "Favorite Quote" side-line gadget today, because I am a collector of good quotes. I do not have a knack for writing and conveying my thoughts and emotions on paper or through words, but I appreciate people who do. I love this quote from Max Lucado's You Are Special, and I (and my husband) use it on my (our) children when they repeat someone's opinion or judgement - usually the negative ones (dots.) "Who are they to give stars or dots? They're Wemmicks just like you." We are all human whether we are a celebrity, politician, homeless, teacher, teen, stay at home mom . . . and we are constantly expressing opinions and making judgements. I love the message of this book that just because someone says something or thinks something or writes something, doesn't make it so. We are all children of God, and as long as we are doing our BEST and in favor with Him, that's all that matters!

My Black-Eyed Susans

About the header: These are my Black-eyed Susans from last summer. We have a flower garden all along our back fence, which we enjoy adding to each summer. We especially like perennials because they are so hardy, come up like magic in the spring, and last all through the summer - not to mention we have found some real treasures! My Black-eyed Susans are the last thing to bloom in August. I love admiring their beauty from my back windows or as I go into the back yard. I'm in awe at God's creations and care for something as seemingly insignificant as a flower. They are so beautiful, calming and truly magnificent.

Quilt Blocks

Looking at my sister-in-laws' Blogs and quilt posts of this project, inspired me to add my own. It has been a rewarding project - even though I was up until 2:00 AM yesterday trying to finish so I could get it in the mail to Amber! Thanks Brittany & Amber for the idea! I can't wait to see it all done! What a darling pattern. I LOVE the scrappy-ness of it! I was appreciative of that quality about it because I'm very much a novice at quilting. I hope my contributions are perceived as "scrappy" and not crappy. :)

I enjoyed getting together with Connie and Cassie to get me started. We enjoyed cranberry scones - made from scratch by Cassie and just visiting about our different stations and loves in life.

I LOVE the fabrics!!! I enjoyed laying them out and admiring them. Marc & I had fun picking "favorites."