I like to share!

I want to share a few links today!

I'm always on the lookout for fun summer boredom busters and I love these ideas:

Liquid sidewalk chalk. My friend, Kendra, made this with her boys and now I'm dying to try it too!

Design-Your-Own-Sprinklers. I saw this link on my BlogHer sidebar the other day. WAY fun!

Rainbow cookies. This is right up my girls' alley.

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We bought a new grill a couple of months ago and are enjoying it SO much. Here are two yummy recipes for grilled chicken:

Chicken Bryan (like at Carrabbas). Delicious and decadent.

Mexican Chicken Salad (it's rare for me to find a recipe I don't have to alter with all of my current dietary restrictions but this one fits the bill!)

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My husband has been consumed with a book project for a really long time. Things are finally wrapping up for the book's release this fall. John posted the video trailer on his blog yesterday if you want to take a peek. It's good--really really good! (And it's only 1.5 minutes long.)

Also, he wrote about shopping for swimsuits with our girls last week. It's a very sweet post. Maybe one of my very favorites. My girls are so lucky to have him as their daddy, and I am so very grateful for the way he loves our three children.

Happy clicking!

Pink Pancakes and Love Bugs

Happy Valentines Day!

Our day started our with a little festive fun--pink, heart-shaped pancakes. They were a hit. Even if a few of them looked a lot more like Africa than a heart.

(Inspiration for these pancakes was found here and here! Thanks, Angela!)

After I dropped my last kiddo at school, I met John for a Valentine breakfast date. We had a family dinner date last night and sadly, our week is full and busy and this is the only time we could manage for the two of us. Still, it was wonderful...I love dates with him!

In a few minutes I'm heading to a third grade Valentine party where we'll be making some Valentine Love Bugs. They're really homemade chia pets. And I'm still waiting for my "samples" to start sprouting some hair! My super-creative friend, Jen, gave me the idea...and the grass seed. Thanks, Jen.

After the party, it's home for dinner and homework and showers and all that other ordinary stuff that everyday life is comprised of. And I wouldn't trade any of it for the world. I'm feeling very blessed today.

Hope your Valentine's Day is full of lovely things!

Show of Hands

Last week my friend, Angie, posted a super cute Valentine craft idea for kids.

Let me back up a minute and tell you about Angie. She lives a little north of me and we met a couple of years ago at a luncheon at Joanne's house. Angie is adorable! She's smart, creative, and absolutely HILARIOUS. I wish she lived closer to me because I love her and her neopolitan kiddos. (She's had another baby since that neopolitan post...hmmmmmm...wonder what color hair Chloe has?)

A-N-Y-W-A-Y.

Angie's Valentine craft? Soooo cute!!!!

On one of our snow days last week the girls and I followed her tutorial for  I Love You shrinky dink necklaces. Who doesn't love shrinky dinks?

Didn't they turn out cute? Abbey made hers into a necklace (simply slide a ribbon or cord through the space under the folded fingers) and Sarah just wanted to keep hers as is. Angie's tutorial is super helpful. We made ours with some #6 plastic I'd been saving for homemade shrinky dinks. Here's a link with directions for that as well.

I think I'm going to do this with Abbey's class for Valentines Day. I volunteered at school one day last week (and I have a new appreciation for teachers who stand on their feet and talk to kids for seven hours a day...wow, that completely wiped me out!). Since I was there all day, I collected the tops of the salad clamshells at lunch which are #6 plastic. Woohoo! I love free craft supplies!

You've probably figured out by now that when you fold the middle and ring fingers of your hand down, that's sign language for I love you. If you don't already read Kristen's blog (Kristen is Joanne's sister), then you absolutely must go read this post right now. It's about her hands, and it's beautiful. 


Thank you, Angie, for sharing your fabulous idea!

The start of something new!

Raise your hand if my post title makes you start humming that song from High School Musical!

Sunday night our family joined with 9-10 other families from our neighborhood and went Christmas caroling.

The weather was absolutely perfect, the voices were strong and enthusiastic, and it was great fun! Our group was very large and I'm afraid we might have scared a few people when they opened their door to see all of us on the lawn but they seemed to enjoy having us sing to them! The one neighbor who listened to us sing every single verse of The Twelve Days of Christmas with a smile on his face the entire time was such a good sport!

After singing, we went back to our next door neighbors' home for hot chocolate and Christmas cookies. We even had an ornament exchange. I love that this is the ornament we ended up with. What a perfect reminder of a fun evening with our neighbors.

The snowman is holding a candle and a songbook that says "2010". It's just perfect!

My creative, energetic, generous, and amazing friend, Heather, organized the whole night. She made songbooks for every family (easy, kid-friendly favorites) and distributed them beforehand so the kids could practice. Believe me, the kids took her seriously and were well rehearsed! She also bought battery-operated candlesticks from the dollar store and gave each family a couple to use for the evening. We gave everything back to her to save for next year because it was such a great evening that everyone wants to do it again next year!!!

If our neighborhood 4th of July Pancake Breakfasts and Block Parties, and Halloween carnival and hayrides, and Bunco, and Summer Happy Hours haven't convinced you that we live in the BEST neighborhood ever, then maybe our Christmas Caroling party will?!? WE ARE SO BLESSED TO LIVE AMONG SUCH AMAZING FAMILIES!!!

This is what we're giving our neighbors this year for Christmas.

It's cookie dough that they can refrigerator or freeze until they're ready to bake again (are y'all cookied out yet?) I totally copied the idea from this blog. I copied the Chewy Chocolate Chip cookie recipe too. My Silhouette and snowflake punches came in handy yet again for the red wrapper. We still have more dough to deliver, so if you're my neighbor and you're reading this, please act surprised when we show up on your doorstep bearing gifts later this afternoon.

All is (finally) calm.

Christmas break officially began yesterday afternoon.

I think my happiness exceeds that of my children.

The few days before school lets out for the long break are full of craziness and busyness and all sorts of activity.

That craziness is behind us now though. I'm sipping coffee in a quiet house while the snow is falling gently outside.

Things are finally calm.

Very calm.

And if feels very wonderful.

Our weekend isn't too crazy either which thrills me. There are some fun activities thrown in there but nothing that compares to the week we've had!

I have a couple of links to share with you.

The girls and I made these Mint Brownies (we chose peppermint) to give to a few of their teachers along with some packages of gourmet coffee. I don't usually give food gifts, but the coffee just begged for some brownies to go with it. John and the girls said these were delicious. I wouldn't know because I didn't eat any don't like chocolate but they sure looked pretty!

We also made these "gingerbread" salt dough ornaments for Abbey's class to paint at their party yesterday. It's a typical salt dough recipe with cocoa powder added to the mix to give it a nice brown color.

I bought some Sharpie paint pens (at Michael's by the acrylic paint) and some inexpensive, plain ribbon to make a hanger for the tree. They turned out pretty cute!

(This one cracked and I didn't end up using it for the party, but my kids painted it anyway!)

If you think you want to try this, here are a few tips:
Spray them with clear acrylic spray and let dry completely BEFORE you paint them with the paint pens. The dough is very porous and the paint will bleed like crazy.

Don't make the mistake I did and assume that the ModPodge Dimensional Magic will make them all shiny and bright. It will until it dries and then it will turn milky white and you'll have to start all over again. Use a spray acrylic glaze like this one instead.

One batch of dough makes about 20-24 cut out ornaments. I made 1.5x the recipe and ended up with about 34 ornaments to paint.

One more idea to share...

The girls have been making these three-dimensional snowflakes. They are so pretty!!!

I saw the idea on Leah's blog last year and thank goodness she posted a link to the tutorial. The video is cheesy but watch it once and you'll be on your way to making dozens of gorgeous snowflakes to hang in your windows or from your ceiling!

They're really not hard to make UNLESS you try to make them with a group of twenty one kids at a class party and there simply isn't enough of you to help each kid individually. The party ended with two boys crying. I felt TERRIBLE!!! (But it's sorta funny to think that I made kids cry).

Happy crafting!

Off to pour another cup of coffee and enjoy the calm and quiet while it lasts!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's some of what our family is thankful for this year...

A nice home
Family and friends
Great neighbors
Dusk
Coffee
Jesus
James Michael (our new nephew/cousin)
Parents and Siblings who love me!
Dogs, rabbits, horses, butterflies, giraffes, zebras, and hippos
Teachers and school
God saving us
Wyldlife
Jack
Our church
Date Nights
Television
Food
Mountains
Snow and blizzards (because we get out of school!)
Our trampoline
Football
Creativity and imagination
People with hearts so big that they need surgery (Our friend, Katie, is having surgery next month for a heart abnormality. She has the biggest, most beautiful heart!)
Answered prayers
Books! Books! Books!
Campaigners, Confirmation, Bible study, and devotions
Music
Smart kids
Electricity
New sod in the backyard
Turkey and other foods

...and much, much more. Amen.

Just Ducky

Our middle child, Sarah, is probably our most artistic child. If she isn't reading, then she's usually creating something or dreaming up something she'd like to make.

A couple of weekends ago she asked me for some duck tape. But she didn't want just any old silver/gray duck tape, she wanted the bright, colorful kind like she'd seen at our last visit to the craft store. 

John offered to take her on a quest to find some and they came home with three rolls. She borrowed my laptop, googled "duck tape wallet", found a tutorial, watched it twice, and then whipped out wallets for herself, her sister, and her friends. Ta-da.

(I blurred out all the "personalization" so that's why the peace pattern looks weird.)

Here's a pic of the inside...she figured out how to make dividers and pockets. Smart girl.

And then she made bracelets and a case for her cell phone.

She had enough duck tape left for a pink purse.

And then because I'm a huge believer in encouraging kids' creativity, I bought her some MORE fun duck tape and she cranked out more wallets to sell to her friends (she has some entrepreneur mixed in with all the imagination!) and another couple of purses. 

She did every single bit of this all by herself.

Creating isn't just fun for her, it's a craving. Right now she's in the other room doing cross-stitch with some stuff she found in my closet. At least twice a week she makes something awesome with polymer clay and asks me to bake her creations. She took a sewing class a couple of months ago and got bitten by that bug as well. She's always drawing or designing or creating something. Anything. 

Can I just tell you how much I love it? She's never asked for a video game in her life; her favorite place to shop is Michael's or Hobby Lobby. Her Christmas wish list includes fabric and more art supplies. Makes this mama happy!

I love her creative mind!!! She inspires me. 

Our Thankful Turkey Centerpiece

Yesterday I mentioned that I was thinking of changing our traditional Thankful Chain up a bit. Typically, I keep strips of cardstock in a basket and every night during the month of November we each write something we're thankful for on a strip then staple them together making a simple chain. The chain usually stays up in the kitchen (over the curtain rod, across the top of the kitchen cabinets, etc) throughout the year as a reminder of all that we have to be grateful for. One year I even used our thankful chain as a last-minute Thanksgiving centerpiece! I save and hang all of our old chains downstairs in the basement on a coat rack. It's quite a sight.

The thankful chain is a great idea, but I wasn't feeling the love for it this year.

I started looking for ideas along the same lines and found this turkey. Instead of writing on strips you write the things you're thankful for on the turkey "feathers".

 It's cute...but I didn't have any yarn on hand.

So, I brainstormed a little.

I have a grapevine pumpkin on my kitchen table that I won in a gift swap at a friend's Fall Party last year and I knew I could make it work as the body of a turkey thanks to our beloved Mr. Turkey. If you click that link, prepare yourself. I got a little teary-eyed because my kids were sooooo little in that picture. 

I pulled out my Silhouette and used the curve shape tool to design and cut some feathers--large and small. Please don't ask me how exactly I did it because I can't remember. If you want me to email you my Silhouette feather file, I'll happily share. 

I taped toothpicks to the back of the feathers so we could stick them down in the grapevine pumpkin.

Next, I downloaded a turkey body from the Silhouette store, cut it out, then used glue dots (I'm a huge fan of glue dots) to secure it to my grapevine pumpkin.

Voila!--our Thankful Turkey centerpiece. I LOVE it!

I cut 40 "feathers" to use throughout the month, but I decided today that I'm going to cut 40 more and use double-sided tape to adhere them to the back, covering up the tape/toothpick. That way we can write on each side of the feather and the back and sides of the turkey will have some interest as well. I'm so pleased with how it turned out! I need to write on one of the feathers that I'm thankful for my Silhouette!

The Party That Wasn't

My sweet little third-grader missed her class Halloween party today.

She'd been looking forward to it all week. Maybe even all month.

She crawled in my bed a little before 5AM this morning and a few minutes later the vomiting commenced.
Ugh. She knew after the second or third episode (and there were many more episodes to follow) that she was going to have to stay home from school and miss the party. And the costume parade.

I felt so sorry for her. Poor, poor baby.

My day came to a screeching halt too. Not that I minded. Yesterday I did all of the stuff I normally do on Fridays (groceries, cleaning, errands) so the only thing I had planned today was a morning hike and Abbey's class party. I'm one of the room moms for her class and was in charge of crafts. I called some friends and got things squared away (my friends ROCK!) and just enjoyed a lazy day at home with Abb. She knows me well because she said, "Mom, I bet you're happy that you get to stay at home in your pjs all day." For whatever it's worth, I took a shower and got dressed this morning.

I think Abbey is feeling a tiny bit better. She finally quit throwing up mid-morning and has since kept popsicles and saltines and even some chicken noodle soup down. Hooray! She asked me a little while ago for some Halloween candy so I'm pretty sure we're well on our way to normal. Hopefully she'll get to go to our church's Halloween Extravaganza tomorrow. Hopefully.

Here are the witches' fingers we made for her class party today. Y'all do realize that I've milked the candy-coated pretzel idea for just about all it's worth don't you? I think my husband found the very last bag of Wilton Spooky Green candy melts in Colorado Springs yesterday. Thank you, J!

My sweet friend, Jen, stopped by to pick up all the stuff I had prepped for the party and gave Abbey this cute mummy cupcake. Abbey's eyes got really big...and I know she wished she felt good enough to eat it rightthatverysecond. Maybe tomorrow...

Doesn't she look pathetic? And isn't that ghost necklace cute? I made 21 of those glue-ghosts this week for her class to decorate at their party.

And finally...I'll just let Abb tell you how she really feels. She drew this picture for me this afternoon. Sadness.

I heart that girl. I hope she feels like herself again tomorrow!

Everyone's Smilin'

I got a pic tonight of everyone in costume. And look...no one is rolling their eyes but everyone is SMILIN'! It's a Halloween miracle. 

Where's Waldo? Oh, there he is, right smack in the middle of the M&M's.

I got the inspiration for the girls' costumes here. There wasn't a pattern or instructions so I totally winged it which probably took me 5x as long, but I think they turned out super cute and the girls love them. The Silhouette machine that I won came in SUPER DUPER handy with the lettering!!!

Our dress-up fun begins tomorrow and I believe we're in good shape! Yay!

LinkyList

Good morning friends! I just have a few minutes but wanted to let you know that HisGirlAmber is giving away a copy of John's book, Start With Me, on her blog. Amber won the copy I was giving away, read it, wrote an awesome post about it, and decided to give a copy away as well. If you're interested go here to enter her giveaway. You have until Friday. Thanks for your kind words, Amber!

A couple other things I wanted to link you to.

I love this candy corn dispenser that Angela made.

I also love her decorated pumpkins and her candy corn kiss cookies. Rumor has it that Target is where you should look for the candy corn kisses; I've looked numerous other places without any luck.

If you only click on one link, make it these Halloween pancakes. They are simply adorable and a guaranteed smile-maker for your kids! If you're not following Angela's blog, you should be!!! (That's the bossy me telling you what to do. My sister would tell you that I've always been good at being bossy.)

The girls and I made these cute ghost necklaces last weekend. So easy and super cheap!

I'm dying to tell you about the costumes I'm making for the girls but I'd rather just show you the finished project. Patience, grasshopper. I ordered Will's costume (because he's thirteen and homemade is just so uncool) but I almost had him talked into dressing as iPod earbuds. Sweet, huh? That's the best costume I've seen in ages.

Lots-o-stuff

Yesterday I made a big batch of refrigerator bran muffins. The batter keeps in the fridge for six weeks and the muffins are yummy and warm on our cold, fall mornings. I'll post the recipe soon! I was home almost all day yesterday and accomplished little more than making those muffins and making dinner. I guess I needed a lazy Monday. It was nice.

October is a busy month. I've finally learned not to let that catch me by surprise. Or overwhelm me. 

I love football. L-O-V-E football. This is the first year since we've lived here that we've had a cable package with the sports tier and let me just tell you that I'm in heaven on the weekends. The only problem is that we only have one television and the kids prefer Disney over ESPN. I'm having trouble sharing the remote these days.

I'm thankful for friends who've mastered the art of sharing though. Look what my friend, Jen, left on my porch yesterday. 

She told me she had a gigantic zucchini to share with me. She wasn't kidding was she? I'm thinking that baby will make lots of zucchini bread and muffins. 

I think I mentioned that our neighbors were growing pumpkins and one had started growing on our side of the fence. We've loved watching it grow bigger and bigger and change from green to bright orange. So cool! I felt like our neighbors probably wanted to keep their pumpkin and I've been telling the kids that it wasn't really ours so they were pleasantly surprised when our neighbors told us yesterday that they wanted us to have and enjoy it. We picked it last night!

Sarah titled this photo "Lean on Me". Cute.

Speaking of pumpkins. Check out these adorable scrapbook paper pumpkins. I'm definitely going to try making some later this week. I'm in charge of the craft for Abbey's fall party in a few weeks and I think this might be a fun idea to try with them as well!  Ohhhhh...the Mac software for the Silhouette finally became available and I downloaded it over the weekend. I had fun playing with it while watching the Broncos game on Sunday. It is so C-O-O-L. I need more time to experiment with it!!!

I met a blog friend last week for breakfast! Dawn and I had a really great time getting to know each other (except for the part where we talked about maggots). I love it when blog friends become real-life friends, don't you? If you've never visited her blog, you should so you can love her too. 

We met at one of my favorite places--Panera. Did you know that Panera started in St. Louis as the Saint Louis Bread Company? Yep. I flew into St Louis last week and spent the night before driving down to Arkansas with my aunt. She took me to the "Bread Co" as the natives call it. She also took me to Trader Joe's. I couldn't figure how to get all my loot home with me on the plane without checking a bag--and remember, I'm the queen of the carry-on--so I shipped it home to Colorado and it arrived the day after I did.

John was out of town last weekend. The day after I got home from Arkansas, he left for Canada but he's home safe and sound now and we're thankful to all be together this week. ANYway, John usually takes Sarah to her horse lesson on Saturdays because he loves horses and he loves Sarah and that's kinda their "thing". But since he was gone I got to take her. She's doing great and has made some terrific progress, but more importantly, she loves it. 

Abbey was more intrigued with this baby deer than her sister. She actually thought it was a statue because it stood so still for so long. It sorta did look like one. 

Alright. I think it's time to get going. I have some lots to do today since yesterday was a wash. Peace out, peeps. 

Platter Project

Remember that tiered serving platter idea I shared last week?

Well, I made one!

It was super duper easy to make and I think it turned out GREAT!

I was at Kohl's one afternoon and found the cute melamine plates on clearance. They were C-H-E-A-P! I even had some Kohl's cash to spend so I guess technically they were free!

I ran in our downtown thrift shop the next day and found the candle holders. I only needed one but I bought two because they were on the red-dot/half-off shelf so I got them for .50 each. SCORE!

The most expensive part of the project was the epoxy. I bought it at Home Depot, but later discovered that my Walmart carries it for almost a dollar less. It think it was around $4. I bought this kind (for plastic) because I was using melamine plates.

It literally took my family more time to eat these yummy scones (thanks, Chef John) than it did for me to assemble the platter! I'm thinking of making another one using fall-themed plates for Bunco next month.

If you're interested in making one of your own, click here for detailed instructions! And be sure to show me photos of your completed project!

The Saturday Evening Post

I have a lot of links to share in this post, and I think I can break everything down into four categories:

Awesomeness | Food | Movies | Crafts

Starting in alphabetical order...

Awesomeness:
I used a gift card I had and ordered a set of these chalkboard Wallies. They're awesome. You just peel and stick them to any surface and it becomes a chalkboard. I put mine on my back door and have been leaving messages for the kids. I'm trying to find a frame to put around them to dress it up a little. I'll show you the finished project when I get to that point!

I won a HUGE giveaway this week--a Silhouette machine. GET OUT!!! Seriously, I could NOT EVEN BELIEVE IT when I found out I was the winner. In a completely ironic and random twist, I won this from Beckie the same day I linked to her paper bead earring tutorial. What an awesome prize! I am so excited and can't wait for it to get here so I can play with it.
I'm afraid I'm going to have to play at my friend's house for awhile because I realized the other night that the software isn't Mac compatible. They're working on a Mac version but it's not available just yet. Argh.


Crafts:
One project I'd like to use my awesome, new, and did I mention FREE Silhouette machine for is this ultrasound frame. Adorable!

I think this wipe-off menu board would be a fun, easy project.

I love this tiered serving platter idea that I saw on Robin's blog. Isn't it CUTE? So many fun possibilities.


Food:
We made this carmelized onion gorgonzola pizza the other night and it was delicious. The only change I made was baking it on a pre-made whole wheat crust I picked up at the natural foods store. YUM. It's a keeper.

Remember my mission to eradicate HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) from our diet? I was pleasantly surprised to find this at the grocery store last week. Made with real sugar! My children love me for buying it, but they don't love that I limit their consumption.

I saw another blogger mention these crystallized lemon granules a couple of weeks ago and they are amazing! I don't love water. I have to force myself drink it, but one of these packets transforms my water into a delicious treat. I highly recommend them, and no one is paying me to say that! You can click here for a $1 off coupon. (Note: I signed up a couple weeks ago and still haven't received my coupon. I will definitely use it to buy my next box though!)


Movies:
I love movies. Love, love, love them. My favorite movie of the summer was Ramona and Beezus. It was sweet, and funny, and just absolute perfection. I even liked it better than Toy Story 3! If you've seen it, you've loved it too, right? It's one that I'm definitely going to buy the minute it comes out on dvd.

Yesterday I went to see Eat Pray Love all by myself while the kids were in school! I tried to read the book last year but just wasn't able to finish it because I really struggle to read non-fiction. I thought the movie was kinda slow and really long, but overall I liked it. It probably helped that I hadn't read the book because the movie is rarely as good. I realize there is some controversy about this film. The author and I don't share the same view of Truth, but there are still some good takeaways and I'm glad I saw it. Plus, I really like Julia Roberts!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. I'm loving that ours has been a mix of productive and restful so far.

Paper Bead Earrings

Last fall, I found a tutorial for making paper beads on one of the craft blogs that I stalk. Beckie is seriously creative and I'm convinced she can make or re-purpose just about ANYTHING.

She made beads out of PAPER and then made the paper beads into earrings. I've been on a search for Mod Podge Dimensional Magic since I read her post. I've searched every craft and scrapbook store in Colorado Springs without luck so I finally ordered some online and finally made my own beads out of some of my scrapbooking paper.

I picked up some headpins and some doo-dads (I'm sure they have a proper name) and some earring wires and transformed my beads into earrings. I think they turned out pretty cute!

(Now I finally have some earrings to wear with my gray cardigan this fall and winter, and let's face it, I'll be wearing that sweater next spring too.)

This was a fun, easy, and a fairly inexpensive craft. I spent about $15 (happened to find everything during a 40% off sale) and ended up with enough stuff to make about 12 pair of earrings.

The possibilities are really as endless as your creativity and/or your paper collection.

You might want to avoid doing what Sarah and I did with our first batch of beads. We put the Dimensional Magic on the ends of the beads and inadvertently "glued" them to the toothpick. If you make some beads, only cover the OUTSIDE of the bead, not inside of the rolled ends! You need to be able to slide the bead off of the toothpick once it dries.

I didn't take pictures of the process, so you'll have to check out the Beckie's tutorial if you want to make some. I think these Christmas tree ones are cute. As are these cha-cha-cha ones. There's also a site called Paper Beads that has a ton of ideas.

Half and Half

I'm sitting here drinking coffee and that title just came to me. Half and half.

Half catch-up.
Half links.
Half-y Saturday morning to you!

John was in New Jersey (again) this week. After a super long day of flight delays, cancellations and crazy pieced-together flights he made it home around 3am this morning. Ugh.

I'm thrilled that he's home. We all are actually. And we have a fun family day on tap!

I told you last week I'd post pics of our tie-dye projects. 

One more picture. This poor, poor book. I was sitting outside reading one morning and ran back inside when my doorbell rang. I forgot that I'd left my book out there until mid-way through a huge afternoon downpour. I'll be buying the library a replacement book. I'm thankful it was paperback.

Alright, here's some links I wanted to share:

Thanks to Betsy, I am now a Sporcle addict. So is Sarah. We've spent a LOT of time on that website this week. It's sorta like an online Outburst. You pick a category list (for example Pixar movies) and have a limited amount of time to guess/list the answers. Seriously fun. Seriously addictive. Don't say I didn't warn you.

I've been wanting to try these cookies ever since I saw a giveaway on another blog. They're made right here in Colorado but aren't available in my little town so next time I head to Colorado Springs I'm going to pick some up. Can't decide which flavor to try first!

I also really want to make this blueberry-zucchini bread. Doesn't it look yummy? I've had this recipe bookmarked for a week or two but every time I bring blueberries home the kids gobble them up immediately. I'm going to have to put a "Please don't eat these!" post it note on the next carton I buy!

Speaking of baking, please tell me that you guys know about Silpat? I don't ever bake cookies without it.

I've found a couple of new blogs recently that I'm really enjoying. FunMom has some GREAT ideas of things to do with your kids. I really want to try this one (water gun art) soon! And I'm also enjoying Make and Takes. Super, super cute stuff there as well.

A couple of you asked about the shirt Abbey is wearing in the picture on yesterday's post. I won a giveaway last spring from Snootie Patootie and let Abbey pick out a shirt. She wears it all the time!

Earlier this spring I bought a red and blue striped polo shirt that I love. I had it on one day this week and my friend told me it reminded her of Zoom. I laughed so hard. Do any of you remember Zoom? I used to LOVE that show. If you loved it too, click here and sing along! (And laugh). I also used to love The Bloodhound Gang segments that were part of the PBS science show 3-2-1 Contact. Anyone remember that? I found some of Bloodhoung Gang clips on YouTube! I was sad that my kids weren't the least bit interested in the blast from MY past.

Hope you all have a great Saturday. I think we're going to see Ramona and Beezus later this afteroon. I loved all those books when I was little! (And I have a tiny crush on John Corbett).

Camping, CPQ, Rainbow Eggs, & Crafts

I'm super excited! We're loading up our cooler and a tent and some chairs and some marshmallows, Hershey bars, and graham crackers (and a whole lot more) and heading to the mountains to camp with two other families. Do you know how much I love camping? I love it. The more rustic it is, the better!

I wasn't always this way. I was in Girl Scouts for ages, and every summer we sent my sister off to camp while I stayed home. Why? Because there was no place to plug my hot rollers in. And I would rather have stayed home than have had bad hair at camp. Thankfully, I've matured a bit since then. And thankfully Life is Good makes ballcaps.

Camping in Colorado makes a huge difference. Arkansas is muggy and buggy and that detracts from the whole experience for me. I remember doing some camping as a kid but mostly I just remember mosquitos. There are very few mosquitos here, but we do have to worry about bears! Yikes.

We're not camping long. Because VBS starts bright and early Monday morning, and also because I want to hang out with the one and only CarpoolQueen while her family is in town taking in the glory of Pikes Peak.

I'll be sure to take lots of pictures. Of camping AND of CarpoolQueen.

Here are some pics I can share now though. My friend, Jen, brought us some rainbow eggs yesterday. They're going to taste really good cooked over a campfire! I tweeted about it [Aside: I like Twitter so much more than Facebook. If you want to follow me, I'm @lifeat7000feet] and my friend Lisa asked me what rainbow eggs were. They're multi-colored eggs that come from special chickens. I tried to google rainbow chickens and got funny results. I'm not sure that's what the chickens are called but the eggs look like this:

Pretty! And tasty too. John made us some for breakfast.

Also wanted to share a fun 4th of July craft that the girls and I made yesterday. 

Sarah came home from camp with this cute necklace from the camp store. 

The pendant part is a guitar pick! I decided these would be super easy to make for the 4th of July using red/blue bandanas! Fender makes a speckled pick that is red/white/blue/black which is PERFECT. I ordered mine here. They are 3.99/dozen with free shipping! I ordered a lot because we're going to make these as a craft at our 4th of July block party.

I think they turned out really cute! I like the beads better on the one that Sarah bought but I couldn't find any of that shape at Michael's the other day. I've got to keep looking. And if anyone knows where I can find navy blue bandanas PLEASE let me know. I've tried Michael's, Hobby Lobby, Walmart and they only have royal and cornflower blue. I'm going to try Jo-Ann and Hancocks and DollarTree next week but if any of you have seen them somewhere please let me know! The black looks okay, but I think I would like navy better. It's definitely more patriotic.

So...directions? You simply punch a hole in the pick with a regular ole hole punch. Thread a 1-inch strip of bandana through the hole and tie a knot. I'd either wash/dry your bandana first or dampen it before you start, otherwise it will look stiff and wide. Add a bead on either side of the knot and tie around your neck. I think you'll need the "thin" guage picks. They're very sturdy and I'm afraid you won't be able to punch through the medium ones. Depending on how many picks we have leftover, I want to make some matching earrings. How cute are these?!!

Alright. I think I'll be unplugged until Monday. Peace out, peeps. Y'all enJOY the weekend.