Angela!! Woo hoo! I will send you out a flame bag Monday morning Angela, I hope you like it...though I hope you and your family don't have to use it often!
Since Stephanie asked, and I do have enough material to make a few extras, I would be willing to 'sell' them. I don't really feel right about selling them but there is a little time and money involved in making them so if anyone wants one let me know and for let's say, a $5 gift card, I'll happily make you one!
I will share what's in it though....
Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Cheerios
Stick pretzels
Kettle Korn
Peanuts
Butterscotch chips
White chocolate
Red and green sprinkles
Mix all together (I totally make it up as to the measurements of each ingredient) and then drizzle melted white chocolate and red and green sprinkles while mixing.
Candy Covered Marshmallows
This one's pretty self-explanatory and so simple, plus makes quite an impression
because they're so fun looking. Stick a marshmallow on a stick (I've used popsicle and bakery sticks), dip into melted chocolate, then sprinkle with candy or sprinkles. There are so many things available this time of year to use....mini chocolate chips, fun sprinkles, red hots, crushed candy canes, tons of different chocolate chips, coconut, it goes on and on. My favorite are the crushed Heath bar chips!
We're kinda new to the grade-school environment so I didn't quite know what to do about a gift for Jacob's Kindergarten teacher. On the advice of a good friend who is a Kindergarten teacher, I decided to make a personalized ornament. Here's what I came up with....
I dusted off my grandma's old Singer sewing machine and have been making 'boo boo bags.' My kids have grown up with these and we all use them frequently, for a variety ailments. For awhile Jacob was having headaches/migraines frequently and the only relief he would get was by putting an 'ice cold bag' (as well call them around here) on his head and laying in a dark room. We have quite an assortment of 'headache bags' both homemade and store bought. I wanted to try making my own and customize them with fun, soft fabric and maybe adding some herbs such as lavender. They are not only good for headaches but sore muscles, sprains, sunburns, bruises, toothache, etc. We keep ours in the freezer but they can also be heated in the microwave. I intend to give them as gifts, but I wanted the opportunity to share something with my blog readers.
Everyone that comments on this post will be entered into a drawing for a free headache bag! I will draw a name on Friday of this week. As long as you live in the US and even if I don't know you-please enter!
Speaking of opportunites to win something...awhile back I posted an entry about an A-B-C playlist (A-B-C MIX) ...while I got a few emails, comments, and responses that people had a playlist to share, I still haven't actually seen anyone's playlist---so that means that contest is still open too!
I've spent the weekend creating a variety of gifts and holiday themed items...for me that is a very fun and relaxing time. I did manage to shower, but immediately put my pj's immediately back on. So it's been a good weekend so far! So often I get ideas and inspiration from other people's blogs so I thought I'd post some of my creations on here to maybe inspire someone else to create. Rather then post everything all at once, I set a variety of entries to post at various times over the next few days.
One item Jacob and I made tonight while Grandma and Ella were at a Christmas play, was Oreo balls. I
know I shared the recipe last year but it is such a hit, it can be repeated!
OREO BALLS
1 package Oreo cookies, crushed
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 package white almond bark
1 package chocolate almond bark
Using a hand held mixer, mix Oreos and cream cheese together. Roll
into walnut size balls. Chill for an hour. Melt approximately 3/4
package of chocolate almond bark. Dip balls into the melted bark.
Allow to harden on wax paper. Melt about 1/4 package of white almond
bark. Decorate with drizzles of the white almond bark.
ENJOY!
I love that we all have our own handmade stockings. My Mom made the kids, my grandma made mine, and I made Aaron's.
I have had this nativity for all my life. I don't know where it came from (Mom?) but it is hand-stamped "made in Italy" on the bottom. ~~Edited to add-spoke with my Mom and she too had them all her life!~
A new purchase this holiday season. Feather's are apparently 'hot' this season but the second I saw this I just had to have it. A peacock feather Christmas tree-what could be better?!
This is the coolest thing...I received an email today from one of my very favorite sites (Photojojo) with the coolest doo-dad you can make for your camera to really trick out the bokeh in photos. Bokeh refers to the out of focus area of a photo and is achieved by setting your camera to a low aperture value. Bokeh is beneficial in photography because it is a way to emphasize the primary subject.
An example of using Bokeh:
Photo of Aaron in front of our Christmas tree (using the lowest possible aperture).
Now this is what I made to fit over my lens using cardstock, electrical tape and an exacto knife...
And these are the resulting images...
How cool is that?
At this point I still don't understand how this works, but I love it just the same! I can have some fun with the holidays lights and this trick...time to really get creative...
This photo supplied by Disney Resorts, shows Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Rob Thomas posing with Santa Goofy on Saturday, Nov. 24, 2007 in Santa's Sleigh at the Magic Kingdom theme park in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Thomas, a solo artist and lead singer of the multi-platinum-selling rock/pop group 'matchbox twenty,' was on vacation with friends and family at Walt Disney World resort during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
Aww...and this little gem I just got...
I have so many things to be thankful for this year. One thing I definitely have to be thankful for is that my children have found such a great group of friends. As a result (or maybe the cause!), Aaron and I have an incredible group of friends too.
This is a picture taken recently of a small smattering of their friends...aren't they a great looking bunch?
Jacob is lucky this week and has the whole week off of school due to a new Thanksgiving break. Jacob got even luckier when Daddy took him golfing with him this morning! He really seemed to enjoy going out to a real golf course to try out his new clubs...I think he was getting tired of the Aqua Golf!
I have a bit of a thing for buttons. I have collected them for as long as I can remember. If a clothing item comes with a spare or a button falls off something, I absolutely CANNOT throw it away. It immediately goes into my huge button jar. When Aaron's grandmother passed away this past summer I inherited her big box of buttons. Seems she too was a button collector! She took it a couple steps further however, hers were sorted by color and she would even cut the buttons off of clothing before tossing old clothes. How genius!
Recently I saw an idea to make a button tree as a Christmas decoration. The majority of the buttons used were Great Lee's, but in my collection I also have buttons of my Nana and Aaron's Grandma Erickson. I thought it was the perfect item to make with Grandma's buttons. We will think of them always.
That's the sound of the MB20 groupie train starting up! Tour dates were released this morning!
Jan 25, 2008 Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hollywood, FL
Jan 26, 2008 St. Pete Times Forum Tampa, FL
Jan 28, 2008 Philips Arena Atlanta, GA
Jan 29, 2008 Cricket Arena Charlotte, NC
Feb 1, 2008 Sears Centre Hoffman Estates, IL
Feb 2, 2008 Palace of Auburn Hills Auburn Hills, MI
Feb 4, 2008 Xcel Energy Center St. Paul, MN
Feb 5, 2008 Bradley Center Milwaukee, WI
Feb 7, 2008 Quicken Loans Arena Cleveland, OH
Feb 8, 2008 Patriot Center Fairfax, VA
Feb 12, 2008 Turning Stone Resort & Casino Verona, NY
Feb 14, 2008 Madison Square Garden New York, NY
Feb 15, 2008 The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa Event Center Atlantic City, NJ
Feb 16, 2008 Seneca Niagara Casino Theatre Niagara Falls, NY
Feb 18, 2008 Mohegan Sun Arena Uncasville, CT
Feb 19, 2008 Sovereign Center Reading, PA
Feb 21, 2008 Times Union Center Albany, NY
Feb 22, 2008 Air Canada Centre Toronto, ON
Feb 25, 2008 Sprint Center Kansas City, MO
Feb 26, 2008 Qwest Center Omaha, NE
Feb 28, 2008 Toyota Center Houston, TX
Feb 29, 2008 Nokia Theatre Grand Prairie, TX
Mar 2, 2008 Ford Center Oklahoma City, OK
Mar 4, 2008 World Arena Colorado Springs, CO
Mar 5, 2008 Broomfield Events Center Broomfield, CO
Mar 6, 2008 E Center Salt Lake City, UT
Mar 8, 2008 Key Arena Seattle, WA
Mar 9, 2008 General Motors Place Vancouver, BC
Mar 12, 2008 HP Pavilion San Jose, CA
Mar 14, 2008 Reno Events Center Reno, NV
Mar 16, 2008 Staples Center Arena Los Angeles, CA
Mar 17, 2008 Cricket Pavilion Phoenix, AZ
Mar 18, 2008 The Pearl Concert Theater Las Vegas, NV
(Updated with the answer...)
And you won't be able to pick him out from this one. Why? BECAUSE HE WAS INSIDE!
Fire yesterday, late afternoon, off of Placer. 2 houses destroyed.
Halloween is one of our favorite holidays and we've had a great day! We started 
pizza/trick or treat party. So much fun to see the kids in their costumes every year! We finished the evening up at one of my best friend from high school's house party...fun to see her and her family and to catch up a bit. Funny thing is, I hadn't seen her in 10+ years and this is what we show up looking like!
Hope we didn't scare her away! We love dressing up and trying to outdo ourselves each year.
Is this one not just a bit creepy?
This evening we went to the Arboretum at Turtle Bay where they were doing a special event for/with dogs. I brought my camera (of course!) and had lots of willing models tonight!
And a favorite from the pumpkin patch yesterday....
We've had a busy October weekend. Jogathon, Fall Carnival, haircuts, soccer games, haunted houses, pumpkin patches, scary movies, etc., etc....the fall fun just doesn't stop!
This past weekend we took a little mini vacation down to Vallejo to Discovery Kingdom. It's a neat experience because in addition to lots of rides, it's also a zoo with sea life shows. The kids enjoyed it very much but still rate Disneyland as their favorite! Jacob loved the animals the most and Ella the rides. I'm not kidding when I say we must have gone on the Cobra (a smaller roller coaster) 6-8 times! Jacob skipped it the first 4 times or so but then he decided to try it and loved it too. The animals were really fun to see, even though they have some naughty ones....particularly the white tiger and the walrus! All in all it was a great getaway!
Click to see our photos!
