Presenting . . . My New Creation

I had this idea and with hard work and perseverance, here it is.

May I present my Time Treasured Tree. I made this for Leslie's Bridal Shower. It turned out so nice and pretty. The gravel is to keep the vase stable, which if you look closely is actually aquarium gravel for fish tanks. HAHA! Leslie and Chase's wedding colors are Pool, which is very similar to Aquamarine. I had to find something to weigh down the vase and this is what our group came up with. The rhinestone buckle that hugs the pool ribbon, I picked up at Hobby Lobby for $4.99. So pretty! It adds class and separates the gravel from the sparkling tulle nicely. The branches, I purchased from Hobby Lobby on sale for $4.

I cut it all up and spray painted them silver. The photos, I made myself during a photo shoot with Leslie and Chase. They did so good. I cut them in 3" circles. I glued two pictures back to back, punched hole at the top and added a ribbon to hang on the branches. I made enough photos for two trees (9 photos each tree).

The pearl garland was a nice touch, I thought. The garland has pearls cascading down the tree. Leslie had a chance to see the trees last weekend and really liked them. She wants to be able to use them not only at the shower, but also at the wedding reception. Yay!

I've been getting ready for the Bridal Shower. We have one more week and then it's show time! I will be sure to take lots of pictures. You know me. It's been a big month because of the planning for not only a bridal shower, but also my baby boy will turn 3 years old in a couple of weeks. Let's not forget the numerous birthdays this month.

Katie had another field trip yesterday. They had an opportunity to visit the Nursing Department at a college. They created a "Pretend Hospital". I believe it's an introduction to good health and the medical field for the students. Katie said she had a good time. The medical field is absolutely in our family. I mean, I have three nieces and nephew that are RNs. The nephew is back in school studying aesthetics. A niece worked in Medical Records before starting her family. I have a niece that's in school studying to go into Physical Therapy. A nephew was just accepted into medical school in Tennessee. My great, great, great grandmother was a midwife and her father was a physician from Georgia. So yeah, it's in our blood I guess, but our Katiebug assured me that she still wants to go into teaching.

Katie's still surviving school, but she's ready for a break. Thank goodness for Spring Break. Right? I haven't decided what we are going to do for Spring Break. Any suggestions? We are ready for Easter though. Weeks ago, Katie and I bought our Easter dresses and even a cute outfit for Colton. So cute and it matches Katie's dress perfectly. Now, I've got to find new shoes for the kids. Katie is in a difficult size right now. She wears a 12 1/2, but it's so hard to find half sizes in most shoes. I've had to let her walk around in a 13 and Doug reminds me often how they are too big. Whell! I do what I can.

Colton is really changing this time of year. He is getting taller and developing into such a character. Normally, we can only survive going to one place a day. The one place is usually Walmart and then Colton is ready to go home. Tuesday, I thought I would test the waters. I needed to go vote, but wasn't ready to go home and neither was Colton. There were a couple new stores that I wanted to go check out and I'm glad I did. You need to check out my new finds.

Department Store Direct is a neat little store just over the railroad tracks in town. They furnish everything from furniture to men's tools at very low prices. Doug and I were talking about maybe getting a bunk/twin beds in Colton's room for guests. DSD had a nice wooden bunk bed available for $129. What is neat about DSD? They supply items that are online returns that are not damaged. They receive a new truck every week.

Jack and Jill is a quaint little shop filled with antique furniture, glassware, candles and other knick knacks. They had a beautiful Lillian Russell set (queen size bed, dress & chest) for $3400. The craftsmanship in the cherry wood was so pretty. It's too bad that it was a queen size bed and not king. You've got to go check it out. The sales clerk said they get new pieces every week. They also have a warehouse because they can't fit all the furniture and stuff in this little store. I think they are looking for a new location, so they can fit more items in it, which would be great because what I saw, I liked. Jack and Jill is located in the plaza across the street from the Serra Nissan on Hwy 31.

I've had the opportunity to babysit my great nephew, Zayden.  He is such a good baby.  I haven't had the first problem with him.  He is a little chunk.

Colton has shown signs of jealousy, but he is coming around.  He can't understand why Zayden won't sit down and play superheroes with him.  LOL!  He loves it when Zayden laughs and smiles at him when he is making faces and being silly.

Operation Remodel Bathroom Almost Complete

Operation Remodel Bathroom is almost complete!  I worked on the room from 10AM-1AM yesterday.   It being my first day, I did all the repairs and prepped the room.  Luckily, I was able to get 2 coats of Kilz and paint on all 4 walls and ceiling.  Yay!  I was so tired, but the rewards were great. 

Some before pictures.  The walls are a cream color with cranberry trim and accents of dark green. 

Today (day 2), I spot painted and color washed the room.  I've never color washed a room before in my life.  I debated on doing it from the get go because I'm always afraid of doing something new or different that is this big.  I'm glad I did it though.  The clerk that helped me from Lowe's reminded me about starting the color wash behind a door in the corner first, until I got the hang of it.  Well, what if you don't have a wall behind your door?  I decided to chance it  start the color wash/lime wash behind my toilet and in that corner.  I have to tell you when I first started, I was thinking to myself, WHAT THE HECK WAS I THINKING?  I just knew that it was going to look awful and it's not a professional job by no means, but I was worried concerned a GREAT deal.  I just took my cheesecloth and dabbed and rubbed down in spots, to soften it.  I didn't get the softening brush because the directions stated that you could use either the brush or cheesecloth.  Here lately, I've been keeping a supply of cheesecloth.  Don't ask me why.  While I was texturing my newly painted walls thinking oh my gosh, I'm going to have to paint all of this over, I could see some glimmer of hope.  Thinking to myself, I wanted to paint a section of the room and then I would step back and see if I love it or hate it.  I'm glad I did because I nearly stopped and was about to repaint over it.  As I kept texturing, I could see the creation and really enjoyed doing it.  I was hoping Doug wouldn't come into the room until I got most of it done, but he slipped in when I got a small section finished and came unglued and was as concerned as I was.  LOL!  I just told him to leave and come back when I got more done.  We both really like the effect the color wash leaves on your walls.  We're glad we decided to do it now and it was so simple.  It's not hard to do, but you need to go by the directions of how to color wash/lime wash.  The wash dries really fast.  You apply a LIGHT (barely touch the wall - that light) coat with a 1'x1' "X" on the wall, followed by several small "x"s all over the wall until the glaze is gone from your brush.  Like I said, the glaze dries fast, so you'll have to brush those x's.  At one point, Doug thought I was beating the wall with the brush.  LOL!  Well, it's just that I was working fast, so the white glaze would lighten up and give the effect I wanted.  When we paint the Kitchen/Dining Room/Living Room areas, I think the color wash would look great.  I'm planning on painting these rooms in warm colors.  I haven't decided on a particular color, but it will be along the line of taupe or a type of coffee.  By the way when you pick up color wash it is naturally in the color white, but you can have it tinted in another color. 

Here's a sneak peek of yesterday's finished paint job.  You'll have to over look all the reflections bouncing all over the room. 

Light from the flash bounced off the mirror some how and now I have a reflection on my new wall. 

I don't have any pictures of the color wash today, but stay tuned. . .

Tomorrow, I plan to hang up our new bathroom wares (towel rack, hand towel holder, shower curtain rod and paper holder).  I have yet to find valances/panel to hang up in the window.  Ugh!  I thought about just making them, but mom informed me that her sewing machine is not working properly because dad tried using it.  So we're on to step 3, I'll have to go with another color for the curtains.  Since there are touches of antique white/off white, surely I can find some lace curtains.  Beings that I threw away the blinds that were in the room because I dropped a piece of hardware down the vent . . . oops, our curtains are currently a piece of newspaper taped on the glass.  HAHA! 

You've heard of the saying, "when it rains it pours."  Well, it came a down pouring these past couple of days and all I could do was laugh about it.  Day before yesterday, I kept running into brick walls when I was trying to get things lined up for my paint job.  Today with me painting the bathroom, it's been hard to use the sink because of all the stuff on the counter top.  So we've been using the Kitchen sink in it's place.  I was in the process of cleaning up my mess in the bathroom and went to wash my hands in the Kitchen sink when a nice fountain was pouring down onto my feet from below.  Yep!  You guessed it.  The Kitchen pipe busted. No, let me rephrase that it disintegrated and I've got the pictures to prove it.  Doug and I began laughing as soon as he pulled it out from underneath the sink.  We couldn't believe how it just fell apart.  Lowe's here we come.  While we were there, I went ahead and picked up the bathroom wares (towel holders and paper holder).  I haven't decided on the hooks on the back of the door.  I would like to have another 3 hooks, but I may have to get 3 or 4 individual ones.  {hmm} Decisions, decisions. 

You probably can't tell, but that's a huge hole in the middle of the pipe

This part just fell off.  Doug decided to install PVC this time around.

By the end of the day, the bathroom got cleaned up and the sink was fixed, thanks to my handy wonderful husband. 

Tip of the Day: You may already know this tip, but I discovered it this afternoon when I needed some paint thinner.  Not having any paint thinner in the house, I thought "why not fingernail polish remover?"  It's basically a paint thinner just in a small container.  I had some paint on my skin and little droplets on the bathroom floor.  The polish remover worked really well.  I guess, I went through about 6 cotton pads with polish remover on it.  Now, before you think "my gosh Mirya, don't you believe in drop clothes?"  Hold on.  I did use drop clothes.  I've recently discovered that I have a mild case of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), I can't stay focused on one thing for very long and then I catch myself merging over into something else.  Luckily, I'm able to slap myself back into focus.  So, I started cleaning off the paint spots and discovered that the polish remover does good to get the stubborn residue that catches in the dimples and dents in your linoleum.  Before I know it, I'm down on my hands and knees working the cotton pad in the corner crack of the floor, trying to get this dark speck out.  Ugh!  Needless to say, after the labor I've been doing around here, I had to rub my neck and shoulders down with Aspercream (scentless of course).  Ahhh! 

Great Finds

I've been trying to fit some healthy ingredients to me and my family, you've read my past posts about Whole Grain, High Fiber Diets and all that.  So, I wanted to get us some oatmeal cookies.  Well, if you like oatmeal and chocolate chips, you might like "Chips Ahoy Oatmeal Chewy Cookies"  Oh, Colton and I love them.  Doug and Katie are birds of another species.  I think Colton is going to be a lot like me when it comes to chocolate.  He loves it!  Katie and Doug both prefer vanilla over chocolate.  Colton and I just don't understand that reasoning.

Cooking Suggestions
As you know, I've been mastering pizza.  BLAHAHA!  Bottomline, you can't mess up a pizza!  Last time I made pizza with pesto, Doug remarked how he didn't like the pesto at all.  I have to admit, it gave me terrible heartburn.  So this time around, I made sure to put just marinara sauce on the pizza crust.  I substituted the ground beef for ground turkey.  We really liked the ground turkey and will be adding it a lot more to my pizza creations.  I think this one I made was a big time winner because we (Doug, Katie and I) had to go back for seconds.  The toppings included: ground turkey, ground pork sausage, crumbled bacon, sliced black olives, sliced button mushrooms, ripe diced tomatoes, diced green peppers, diced onions and lots of mozzarella and provolone cheeses on a whole wheat crust.  YUM!

Katie had to have her picture taken

Movie Time
Katie's had a hard time controlling herself from all the excitement because she found out that "Toy Story 3" is out and her grandparents have agreed to take her this weekend, if nothing happens.  The movie is suppose to be in 3D, so Doug and I were trying to explain to Katie about having to keep her glasses on throughout the whole movie.  At first, she said she could watch the movie without glasses.  After we explained the way the movie would be, she told us "but it's not real it's just a movie."  Finally, she told us that she would keep the glasses on during the movie.  We'll see if she'll do it throughout the whole movie. 

Diva
Ya know, I thought I would have a couple more years down the road before I had to deal with "The Miss Know It All."  You know her or him, if you have sons.  You have a dear sweet child, who holds on to every word that you say as the gospel.  Then before you know it "MKIA" creeps into your sweet angels life and as time marches on the "MKIA" takes over completely until they reach about 14 years old and then it morphes into "I Da Know" kid. I've probably posted about this before, but guess what?  I'm venting again.  Katie is an overall great kid and the sweetest thing you'll ever know, she just likes to keep that person locked up and I'm still trying to find where she's hiding her.  She has to have the hardest head {figuratively speaking} and will do just about anything to get a charge out of me.  What's so bad is Colton is falling right in line behind her.  What sister does; therefore, he shall do as well and she loves it.  Ugh!  When we go to Walmart, I never take the same route and all I hear from the back seat driver is "momma, do you know where you're going?  I don't think this is where Walmart's at?  Momma, are you sure?  Oh no, we're lost!"  Now, I'm sure you reading this can find lots of humor, I can too NOW.  At the moment, all I can think of is my happy place.  Like Jim Carey in "Dumb and Dumber" when they stopped off at a gas station and the truck driver arrived.  "Think of a happy place."  Yeah, it can start to get next to ya.  It's amazing, I've had my driver's license for 20 years, lived in the same town for over 30 years and never knew I was lost because I was once one of those . . . (tada) "Miss Know It All".  She doesn't limit herself to just directions to Walmart.  Oh, no!  This is a constant thing about everything, even washing my hands.  We were getting ready to eat, I washed my hands and I told her to wash hers.  She didn't see me washing mine and asked me if I washed my hands.  When I said "yes," she went as far as asking "are you sure?"  I try not to tell her where we are going.  She'll ask where we are going, but I try to tell her "just sit back and enjoy the ride."  She doesn't like it when I tell her that.  Sometimes, she aggravates me so much that I have a tendency to cave and finally tell her.  Ugh!   Lord, give me patience. 

"Oh Lord, Please Help Me!"

Prayer Request
My cousin just contacted us this morning to let us know that she heard from my great aunt Mary's daughter-in-law. Mary's home from the hospital this morning, but is too weak to celebrate her 100th birthday. Thank you for all the prayers. 

Great Finds
If you have a Movie Gallery close by you, you probably already know that they are going out of business.  It has made Doug and myself so sad because it was the main movie rental place, we would rent our movies.  As you probably know about me is I don't really care to go to the movie theaters.  Doug practicely has to drag me to the theater or it would have to be a movie that I really really want to watch.  Anyway, Movie Gallery has all of their movies and games on sale.  We were out riding around the other day.  While waiting to pick up our pizza order, Katie and I walked around the store to see if there was anything we had to have.  We picked up a Blu-ray of "Marley and Me" and "Made of Honor" both for $20.  While we were being checked out at Movie Gallery, the clerk and I were talking about the closure.  I asked him what happened to make them all of the sudden go bankrupt.  He agreed with me that they were doing great.  That is until the company decided to buy out Hollywood Rentals.  He added "that's when everything went downhill."

Doug and I tried out Redbox this past weekend.  I was pleasantly surprised at the quality for the price $1.07 each movie.  The only bad thing is it's a one day rental.  I got to reserve the movies, "The Young Victoria" and "Tooth Fairy" online and it had an option to rent the movies for an extra day.  The closest Redbox to us is Walmart and Walgreens.  So far, I like the Redbox because the online option.  You can see what they have in stock and go ahead and reserve the copies, you want.  So nice!  No lines or leaving empty handed.  They also have Blu-ray available for $1.75 per copy. 

Gymboree is getting ready for Fall because a lot of their past styles are 70% off.  There are some really cute outfits for 70% off the original price.  CLICK HERE for Gymboree savings.

The Children's Place sent me an email message advertising that they had a lot of their Summer clothes on sale. There are select items for $3.99 each. You'll have to check it out.

Katie & Colton Story
As of today, my official nickname for my children are "Diva" and "Flash".  Can you guess which name matches which child?  As Colton gets a little older and better at running, he is as quick as lightning.  I have to be extremely quick when it comes to getting groceries in or out of the fridge and cabinets.  It's like a blurr when his hands get in there and grabbing stuff.  If he can successfully grab any object, without me catching him, {with a smirk on his face} he'll run just as fast as he possibly can. 

When we use a cooler during the weekend, we have a bad habit of leaving the cooler in the house and just take the drinks out of the cooler instead of the fridge.  This habit we're going to have to stop.  I placed the cooler up underneath the Dining Room table, so Colton wouldn't be climbing on it.  Well this afternoon, Colton decided to pull this very full (of melted ice) cooler over.  Yeah, he is our little Hercules.  The cooler was a small Igloo, but still.  Of course, most of the water poured out onto the carpet.  COLD ICE WATER!  As soon as I put the cooler outside, I went grabbing towels to clean up all of Lake Erie in our Dining Room.  Very humble and sincere, Katie folds her hands, looks up at the ceil and says, "Oh dear Lord, please help me!"  LOL!  Trying to hold back the spurts of laughter, I told her that she is listening to mom way too much.  'Cause when things get a little stressing around here and I feel like I'm living in a zoo instead of a house, I pray A LOT. 

Have you ever seen the new Snickers commercials with Aretha Franklin?  That is Katie all over at times!  I love the new Snickers commercials -



Father's Day Crafts
Katie worked on her Father's Day crafts today, in between her studies.   

Katie colored some really nice coloring pages, we created some Father's Day coupons and each greeting card with a story to each one. After she finished her picture, she would tell me what's going on in the picture and I would write it down. She also insisted on writing Colton's name inside each card.  I'd spell his name out and she'd write it down.   

Movie's In Review

Tooth Fairy with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Julie Andrews was a sweet children's story with a great moral to the story.  Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it's not real.  Keep your childlike faith and the belief in your imagination alive. 

The Young Victoria with Emily Blunt was interesting to watch and very entertaining for me.  I've always been interested in the Royals, most of my life.  Doug says I'm crazy for watching something like this, but I enjoyed watching it.  Isn't it amazing how history continues to repeat itself, especially when it comes to corruption in any administration?  It doesn't matter who you are, where you live or where you work, there's always at least one rotten apple ready to infect the barrel full of beautiful ripe apples. I thought the romantic story between her and Prince Albert was sweet, despite the fact they were cousins. 

I compared the storyline with her biography and it seemed to be fairly accurate.    

Lots To Do

VBS "Saddle Ridge Ranch"
I've got Katie all registered for VBS this year. It will be her first year at Vacation Bible School. I think she'll have a great time. I hate that I didn't sign up for a specific job to volunteer during this year's VBS. I don't want to commit while I have Colton. I hope to help out in other ways such as gathering things for them and prayer. If you're looking for a great VBS experience for your children, then give Northbrook Baptist a chance.

Katie's Birthday Party
Katie's been so undecided for the past few months as to what kind of party she would like to have.  It's been between the following:  Strawberry Shortcake, Barbie, Princess and the Frog, The Little Mermaid, Hannah Montana and Hello Kitty.  After much deliberation, we've decided to go with the Hello Kitty theme.  We saw the new Hello Kitty design and we both fell in love with it.  Closer to her birthday, we will have another "cake and ice cream" party just with family.  She wants Strawberry Shortcake theme for that party.

This pattern just came out recently, so not all the Party City stores have all the pieces to this set.  I think it's crazy that the theme is available online before they are at stores.  Oh well!  I got most everything I needed for the party, except for the mylar balloons and centerpieces.  I'm not getting a whole lot this time around.  This party will be for Katie and her little friends.  She plans to invite her classmates and a few other friends.  I still haven't set a date, but it will be in early June.  The rental place, I was planning on renting the moonwalk informed me that the last time it was rented out, it got damaged.  I didn't think about asking if they plan on replacing it.  I'll call them back this week a long with another place, I have in mind.

I would like to make a two tier buttercream icing cake with fondant polka dots, but I'm afraid it will be too much cake.   I'm not expecting a lot of kids to show up.  You know you have the ones,  you know will show and those that won't.  So, I don't want to make a large cake because there will be so much waste.  I'm thinking about purchasing a flower shaped cake pan and decorating it.  Wilton shows one decorated real cute on their website.  I may decide on doing something totally different.  Stay tuned . . .

Great Finds

Annie's Homegrown is our family's new favorite snacks. Maryann introduced us to the first Annie's Homegrown snack.  She gave a box of chocolate snacks to Colton for an Easter gift.  They are pretty good and Colton loves them.  The only thing is they make a mess all over his face.  Soon after Easter, I noticed Walmart started carrying more flavors of Annie's.  We like Annie's Homegrown cheddar flavor crackers better than Cheez It.  It seems like it's more of a cheesy flavor than the other brand crackers.  Well, the other day when we visited Whole Foods Market, they had a wall full of Annie's Homegrown brand snacks.  I noticed the fruit gummies and I knew Katie liked gummies, so I let her pick out a box.  She chose the tropical flavor.  We tried them out for the first time today and they are very good.  They are not like any other gummy, where they stick to your teeth and they have a rich fruit flavor.  I recommend this brand snack! 

Prayer Request
A friend of mine, Rebekah, recently had sinus surgery in her nose area.  Now that she has healed and can breathe good, apparently her sinuses drained into her ear.  She went to Urgent Care for the ear ache and sore throat.  The doctor didn't look in her ear, instead told her it was sinus drainage and for her to go home and take some Advil.  Ugh!  Some creep!  She must have had an infection in her ear because it wasn't long before it ruptured.  Of course, it not only scared her seeing the blood coming out of her ear, but it hurt.  She went to an ENT and he told her what probably happened.  Now, she can't hear out of her one ear.  The ENT seems to think it will heal in time, but she may have to have surgery.  Now that she can only hear out of one ear, her equilibrium is off and she get a little dizzy.  I just hope the doctor can fix her ear.  Please remember her in your prayers.

Another friend, A, needs your prayers as well.  Her doctor discovered her thyroid was enlarged.  They ran tests.  Of course, she is upset.  Please ask God to not only heal her body, but give her strength to overcome.   

My Cleaning Favorites

Millard and Peggy were so sweet to keep Katie last night and spend some time with her today. I just seem to get a lot done when I have only one child at a time to care for. I know that sounds terrible, but as soon as Colton takes his nap, I end up spending that time with Katie. Of course, I never get anything done.

While Colton was sleeping this morning, I tackled the bathroom and kitchen. Ahhh! I don't know what it is about a clean bathroom and kitchen that makes me feel that the whole house is clean. Hahaha!

Okay, I have a few favorite cleaning products that I just love to work with around the house. I feel that they make my whole cleaning experience so much better. However, I hate cleaning the tub because I'm very sensitive to the cleaners. I like cleaning with Clorox, but my lungs just can't take much. Ugh! For years, I've always had this problem. I open the window and turn on the vent, but after a short time being the bathroom cleaning, I'm hacking away. I feel like my lungs are being completely cut off. For the next few days all I smell in cleaner and have wonderful headaches. I've tried using different cleaners, cleaners that are not as strong. The only down fall to that solution is I don't think the cleaner is very efficient. Oh well. Here are a few of my favorites:

I love this! I use it all the time on my counter-tops, walls, cabinets and floors. It takes off the worse stains or grease spots that you don't think will ever come off. I've even used it on stains in the carpet. I'm probably not suppose to, but it works a lot of the time.

I should buy this by the case because I keep these all throughout our house. As you know having little ones around, I never can keep things sanitized enough. I wipe off high-chair trays, toys, counter-tops, tables and I even use it to sanitized my bathroom surfaces.

This is amazing! No more overnight soaking for me. If I see there will be a dish that will need to soak. All I do is spray a little of this "Dawn Power Dissolver" and I leave it to be the last dish to wash. By the time I dip the dish in the suddzy water, I basically just wipe it clean. I never have to scrub dirty dishes again.

These just seem so much more sanitary to me than sponges and mops. I have a kitchen vaccum cleaner that I run over the kitchen and bathroom floors before I wash floors. I like to dust the floors with the Swiffer and then wash with the Swiffer Wet with a touch of Febreze. It makes the room smell so clean.

I have a couple of these around my house. They smell so fresh and clean.

Last but not least, I could not forget my favorite cleaner "Goo-Gone!" If you can't find anything to get off sticky, yucky grime, Goo-Gone can. I keep a large bottle of this under my kitchen sink.

Snowy Valentine Party

I just can't come up with that perfect title today because so much went on today. First, I've got to ask you. What will a woman suffering from severe cabin fever do on a snowy day? She gets out on the snowy roads, while it's nice and wet in 29 degree weather. LOL!

For the past couple of days, we were forecasted to receive a dusting to 1 inch of snow. They said the snow would begin at 4 AM this morning. How disappointed I was to wake up at 6 AM to no snow. About an hour later, it made it's appearance but not too hard. By 9:30 AM, the snow was here and let everyone know it.

Katie had a blast playing in the cold wet snow with her daddy. Katie had to make a snow angel, while dad threw snow balls.

Today was Katie's Valentine's Day party at school. Those little kids had a blast at their Valentine's party. When I walked in at 10 AM, there were children running all over the place. Mrs. Katie didn't know what had gotten into the kids, to make them act so WILD. They were just so excited! As you know, Katie and I made Oreo Kisses and Red Velvet Bon-Bons for the party. I told Doug last night, I will never do that again. I mean, what was I thinking? Making two different desserts that require chocolate dipping, while I had both children in the house with me and no one watching them. I thought it could be done. Well, it got done, but I'm missing a few nerves, hair and I've got this wild look going on. When Doug walked into the house yesterday, took a look on the Dining Room table (all the bon-bons and cookies), Colton crying, Katie acting her wild self and me with my "I've lost my freakin' mind" look going on and he began laughing. Now, why he was laughing, I will never know. In fact, I don't think I want to know, I can just imagine. I think if Colton was a little older, Katie wouldn't act like a ADHD child, it may have gone a little better. It took me all day, but I got them made. I have say, THEY WERE A HIT! Laura - you were right. You can't eat just one Red Velvet Cake Bon-Bon. That's exactly what Mrs. Katie told me as she was eating her 8th one. (Just kidding) It was probably her 7th. HA HA! I wished the Oreo Kisses would have made more than just 33 cookies. I guess I know now, I'll have to make 2 batches for parties. Everyone had a fit when they found out that I made them. Of course, everyone asked me for the recipes. They couldn't get over how easy and simple they were. Mrs. Katie has nicknamed me "Martha Stewart." HA HA! If she only saw me the night before. Shew! I have just enough Red Velvet Bon Bons to give to mom, dad, Peggy, Millard, me and Doug. Katie really like the Oreo Kisses, but they went FAST.
Momma's little Betty Crocker

Mom's kitchen helper. How do you like our ensemble? I noticed on "Regis & Kelly", a guest baker wore a head scarf while cooking. Have you seen these? They are scarves glued on a plastic headband. They've been on for quite sometime. I like them, but have yet to buy one. Doug makes fun of me for I begin cooking because I put my hair up in a ponytail and then put on a cloth headband, to keep the rest of my hair off my face. Bottomline, it's just good sense to pull as much hair back as possible. Katie liked wearing her bandana until it began falling off. I must not have tied it on good enough. She was so excited to wear her apron that Alise gave her for Christmas. It's so cute with a ballerina on the front.
Here's my kiss. I think I made them too small because I cut the foil to the exact measured suggested and it just swolled up my kiss. Of well, this was my first try at it.
I stacked 4 layers of the Red Velvet Cake Bon-Bons. I recommend them to any event!
Here's an example of some of the special Valentine's gift boxes, I assembled. The Oreo Kisses didn't look exactly like a Hershey's Kiss, but it will do. They tasted so much better than they looked.


All the children had to wait patiently for their Valentines from each child, holding their Valentine boxes in their laps.
A new little girl, Katie, joined our school classroom this semester. I asked Mrs. Katie, if it gets a little confusing with the room full of Katies. She smiled and agreed. All the kids call the new Katie "little Katie," but Little Katie announced to everyone that she's big now. LOL! I thought that was so sweet. She's such a little bitty thang. Of course, Katie is sitting by her best bud, Claire. So cute! Believe it or not, I do fix Katie's hair. She had a pink bow in her hair, but she told me that she didn't want to wear it. I tried straightening her hair this morning because it was going every where. There are some days (lots) where her hair has so much body in it that you can't do anything with it, except put it up in a ponytail.
After Katie's party, we dropped in on mom and dad. To wish them a wonderful Valentine's Day, we gave them a gift box filled with our yummy desserts. We visited a little while, until I could see outside that it was snowing much harder than earlier. I told mom, I wanted us to get home before it got any worse. On the news, they reported that we received just a trace of snow. Doug and I disagreed with them. We think, we got much more than just a trace. I'm sure, you will agree once you see the pictures.

Great Finds
Jello LiveActive is sugar free, 60 calories, 1 gram of fat and 3 grams of dietary fiber. It tastes just great and with my Weight Watchers, it's only 1 point.