FINISH

It's the team's motto ~ FINISH. The word "finish" has been mentioned several times throughout the season by coach and players during news media reports.  To finish what they've started and boy did they ever FINISH well. 

It was a fun and exciting football game last night. Doug and I got everything wrapped, so we could be parked in front of the television for the next 4 to 4 1/2 hours. Doug literally did not move off the couch, he was afraid that it would bring bad luck. I'm telling ya, Bama went to NOLA with game and hunger in mind. We have been eatten up with the sports media ever since the loss to LSU, the first time around. We should not have lost that game, but it happened. Revenge is ever so sweet.



Honestly, I think Jefferson and Honey Badger is still sitting on the field wondering "what just happened?" I think LSU thought they were easily going to chew us up and spit us out.  They just didn't know how hunger we were for the championship.  Two great teams from the Southeastern Conference, it couldn't have been a better match.  It's great to be from the SOUTH!!!  We gave LSU several opportunities to win the game last night, but this win was in our favor and I'm so glad it was. How sweet it is!!!

ROLL TIDE!

#14 BCS CHAMPIONS!!!!

Thanks-Giving Day 21 & Cute Craft Ideas - RTR!

Today's note of gratitude may sound a little weird, but then I am a little weird. LOL! Anywho. I'm thankful for the day, my dad suggested that I take a photography course at school. He had this 1970 something Minolta camera and never really knew how to use it (all these years). There are SEVERAL family photos that are over exposed, under exposed or that funky orange color. I needed an elective for school and he wanted me to teach him how to use his camera. I enjoyed taking the class a lot more than I thought I would and it actually sparked my on going interest in photography. I did learn how to use my dad's camera and had some pretty good photos developed from it. To this day, you'll see some of my photo posts. I am still learning new tips and effects. Not too long ago, my dad gave me his old Minolta camera. The film camera that started my photo taking hobby. Thanks Dad! I love you!



Hanging Paper Maple Leaves from Craft Ideas

What You'll Need:
- scrapbook paper in the colors of the season
- Spellbinders Set of maple leaves
- Wizard or Double-Do XL cutting and embossing machines
- stick glue
- sewing machine and matching thread

Instructions:

1. For each leaf you need to cut out 10 shapes (5 reversed). Because one side of the paper is white, glue 2 leaves back to back so that both sides are printed. When finished, you will have 5 sets of “doubled leaves”.
2. Line the leaves up in a stack and paper clip the sides together to hold in place.
3. Sew a straight line down the center of the stack to sew the leaves together and remove from the machine.
4. Cut away the excess bottom thread. Use the top thread to hang the leaves up.


Salt Dough Leaf Prints from The Artist Woman

What You'll Need:
salt dough, recipe to follow
artificial silk leaves
round container to use as cutter
oven
acrylic paint
mod podge for sealer

Salt Dough Recipe
4 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 1/2 - 2 cups water
extra flour for kneading

Mix first 3 ingredients together to form a nice soft dough. Knead smooth with extra flour. The more you knead this dough the easier it is to work with.


Keep leftover dough in the fridge.

Instructions:
Make up your salt dough. This recipe will make enough for 8 rounds.

Roll out dough and the using circular container or bowl, (coffee can) cut your rounds.

Pick a leaf for your design. I initially tried this with fresh leaves but they did not leave a good imprint. I think it would have worked with clay.

The silk leaves leave a better impression in the salt dough.

Place where you want it and press the leaf into the dough.

When you lift it off you should have a nice impression.

Place on a parchment or foil covered cookie sheet and bake at 250 degrees for about 2 - 3 hours or until hard.

Let cool.

Take some acrylic paint in Autumn colors.

After trial and error I found the best way to paint these is to paint the leaves in different colors first.
Let dry.

Then using dark brown paint that you have watered down apply a wash, like an antiquing glaze to the entire surface. The dark color picks up the veining in the leaf and still lets the Autumn color show thru.

Let dry and then apply a coat of glossy Mod Podge as a sealer.


Chocolate Acorn Cookies from The Celebration Shoppe

You’ll need:
mini Keebler Stripe cookies
Hershey’s Kisses
small piece of black licorice for your stem.

I attached them with a small dot of icing and done.

It's that time of year again!

ROLL TIDE ROLL!!!!!

It's too depressing to talk about the Bama game, so I'll just talk about Natalie's basketball game.

Nat #22 warming up before the game

Good save on the ball

Great defensive block

UAB Blazers - dancers and mascot (dragon)

Pep talk from the coach

Die hard Blazer fan

The funny thing about Natalie playing against UAB is that her brother is currently going to school here. 

Front entrance to the Bartow Arena is this HUGE dragon "Blazers"

UAH held UAB off up until the last half.  UAB has always had a great basketball team.  It was a challenge to UAH and I think Natalie's team did great.

. . . on the up side of the defect against LSU. We had a great tailgate party tonight, right here in our own Living Room. We had about 15 people here and TONS of delicious food.


Mom showing Whitney some really old pictures from the mid 80s.  There were pictures of Whitney when she was a newborn and some of us couldn't get over how Zayden looks so much like her when she was a infant. 

We fried 10 pounds of fish, fries, hush puppies, and even gator for appetizers. Our sides included oriental slaw and cowboy baked beans. I whipped up a batch of Coconut Joys and Peggy made brownies. There were all sorts of finger snacks like Chex mix, pretzels, popcorn, chips and dip. Everything was so good. Oh and we have a new cooking tip for frying fish. Doug read online that a guy used Italian dressing to marinade the fish. You can definitely taste the flavors, so good. The only thing Doug didn't care about is how the dressing makes the batter really stick to the fish. I thought was delicious and I liked the flavor party going on in my mouth. So good!

Guess who came to see us?

He is so precious and real alert tonight.

Day 4 Thanks-Giving and Christmas

On this day, November 4th, I'm thankful for my sweet and most precious gifts from God Almighty. I'm thankful for my sweet and beautiful children. They are truly a blessing from Heaven. We love our moments piled up on the bed, cuddled under the sheets, watching television and giggling. We also love going for rides, just because.

By the way, I must tell you that Katie has lost her second tooth.  Of course, I had to practically wrestle her down to get the tooth out.  She gets scared because she knows how it will feel the first few minutes, while trying to get the tooth out.  I suppose it is instinct to fight against someone trying to take something out of your mouth that's been there for many years.  The tooth was just dangling there, bloody and causing poor Katie pain.  When she finally got brave enough for me to give it a good yank, I held in my napkin another baby tooth with a long root. 

I would like to thank those that have kept me in their prayers and passed along sweet and thoughtful comments by phone or written. I really do appreciate them. Thank you!

Doug and I had an opportunity to watch Nat's basketball team play against UAB Blazers tonight. I think she did good despite their lose. Kevin, Maryann, Ryan, Sarah and Nate met us at the Bartow Arena. It was the first time I've ever been there. They have a very nice basketball arena. Doug and I did take lots of photos and I'll pass those along to you tomorrow. After the game, a few of us met up for a late supper. I wanted to do a little Christmas shopping, since the kids were not with me. The only store that was still open was Walmart, which is open 24 hours. I was able to pick up a few small things for the kids. I decided to wait on the big stuff until later. I've been keeping my eyes open with the "Black Friday Ads" currently available. Target has some great coupons already available. They are good until November 23rd. Walmart has already started their daily specials, also listed on the "Black Friday Ads."   If you are interested in viewing all the Black Friday Ads available, please CLICK HERE!

It's hard to imagine that Christmas is right around the corner; thus, I need to get a good start on my list.  Oh me, I made the mistake of pulling up Target's toy section on my laptop and having Katie go through it.  I showed her where the toy titles were located and asked her to write down her wish list.  Her wish list ended up being three sheets long and she says that she wants to go over it one more time because she doesn't know if she is finished.  She's at the age where she still loves her toys (dolls, playsets, LPS, Zoobles, Zhu-Zhu Pets), but yet she likes the big girl stuff like video games, stuff for your hair, nail polish, body spray, and lip gloss.  That kind of thing.  I plan to fix her up a Caboodle box with all sorts of fun things like glitter nail polish.  I've noticed all of her polish has gotten old and dried out. 

Tomorrow night is the BIG BAMA vs. LSWho?  football game.  This game has been the talk of the town around here, especially for the past couple of weeks.  Reports from T-Town is that the excitement for this game is out of sight and is bringing HUGE revenue into Tuscaloosa.  This is great news because the town could really use the profits right now with all the construction and rebuilding of Tuscaloosa.  Yesterday, our local news showed two chefs from Louisiana making ENORMOUS pots full of gumbo for a tailgating party.  It's all over the talkshow radio stations and we got to watch a little ESPN news late tonight. Everyone's talking about it and very well should be.  This game will be the first real challenge for Bama and I have faith that U of A will pull through with a great WIN.  We've got 10 pounds of catfish just for the occasion.  We are expecting any where around 15 people here tomorrow evening for a little fish fry, followed by watching the game at 7PM. Oh my gosh!  The food that we are expecting tomorrow.  I plan on trying a new recipe called "Coconut Joys."  They are homemade "Mounds" candy bar candies.  A lady from Millard and Peggy's church made these a while back for a bridal shower and I fell in love with these candies.  Oh, they are so good.  Peggy passed along the recipe to me and it sounds so simple.  I can't wait to try it out in the morning.     

ROLL TIDE!

Harvest Season Spirit

Now that I made my first ghost, I wanted to be creative with the second one.  This time, I supported the frame by adding more wire, from a cut wire hanger.  I also added a more frilly bow with furry boa and hair bow. 

I've been a little busy, decorating for Harvest Season.  It's amazing how you put out a few things and it gets you into a great spirit.  A table full of different sized gourds and pumpkins.  I still plan on making some salt dough characters and spooky trees.  Where I'm going to put them?  I have NO idea!  LOL!  Would someone like them? LOL! My hanging "Halloween Greetings" card, I purchased from one of my favorite stores "World Market." 

The "Trick or Treat" beggers and haunted house with graveyard, I purchased from Big Lots for $7 each.  I absolutely fell in love with them. 

I must tell you that you will have to start checking into Eighteen25 beginning tomorrow for all the Halloween craft and cooking ideas Link Up Party.  I'm thinking about sharing my crafts this year.  What do you think?  I know last year, I had so much fun at their Halloween Link Up Party.  I posted a couple of my crafts, but I received so many other inspirations.  I encourage you to link up, browse, and just have good fun.

Oh and I guess you can see from the photo above, I finally received my Bama Cross today.  Don't you just LOVE IT?!?  I'm so tickled.  A sweet sweet lady from Mississippi makes all kinds of these crosses for a living.  She makes all sizes.  Mine is considered large and is perfect for the front door.  Instead of displaying on my front door, I've got it in my hallway because I didn't want to take down my Halloween wreath that I just made.  Mrs. D had my cross ready for quite sometime.  Unfortunately at the time that she was ready to ship it to me, her son had an accident.  Isn't that awful?  Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.  I asked her if he was doing better, but she hasn't given me a response back.  If you are interested in purchasing one of these crosses (in any color), please leave me a comment along with your name and web address and I would be glad to get you in connect with Mrs. D. 
Happy Harvest!

Our Bama Game Trip and Prayer Requests

Sue called me a few days ago, saying that her husband bought tickets to the Bama game this weekend. This would be her first football game and she was bringing Maryann with her. She knew we were going, so we planned to ride together to the game and the places she would like to see. She was excited. I was excited. Maryann was excited.

We got to T-town really early because we wanted to take our time to see the sights. We drove through the tornado raged area. The clean up effort seems to be going well. We noticed that they went ahead and tore down the Hobby Lobby building along with many many others. Sue has heard us rave about Mellow Mushroom and had to try it. I don't think she was disappointed. The time we arrived there, was great timing. As you may know, it was the university's homecoming. Thus, a parade was making it's way downtown, right in front of the restaurant. It was great! The floats, sororities/fraternities walking along the streets, followed by area school bands. From there, we went ahead, parked the car, and walked along the streets headed for the quad. I felt so bad for Maryann. While we were walking, she twisted her leg and got hurt. She felt that as long as she could move her leg, walking, it might working out the soreness. She insisted walking to the museum and quad area. We took frequent stops, but she was able to hobble around the campus.

We did get to see the team's bus drive up to the walk of champions. Because there were so many people, we were not able to get up close to see the players or coaches. Maryann and I rode up the elevator to our nose bleed section in the stadium. LOL! Doug and I sat three rows from the top of the upper level. What a work out, walking up ALL those stairs. I really got a work out because the time we got seated, I had to go buy a shaker. Sue and I got the shakers. I had a mild heart attack by the time I got back to my seat, just to have to go back because Doug drank most of my soda. Here we go again. I surprised myself, making it back to my seat without needing fibulator.

Doug and I had a hard time watching the game for all the surrounding entertainment. We had the typical drunk, feeling real good and couldn't believe that the fans around him didn't feel as good as he. One guy a couple of seats by him asked him to sit down, so everyone else could see. Well, he didn't like it and let him know it. It wasn't long before another guys tapped him on the shoulder and asked him again to sit down. Well, he had a few choice words for him as well. That is until the fan pulled out his badge and told him to sit again. It wasn't until the off duty or undercover cop went to get security to escort the drunk out of the stadium, the drunk decided to sit down. The cop followed by three guards climbed up the stairs assess the situation. One security guard holding the drunk's collar, so he wouldn't fall going down stairs.  Yay! The surrounding fans cheered with satisfaction. We had a great time at the game. Doug had an awesome time because Auburn lost and Bama won. LOL! He tickles me.

After the game, we went to Mugshots for a late night supper. I love Picou (grilled chicken sandwich), so good. I don't think Sue believed us when we told her how good their sandwiches were until she tried it. She went on and on about how good it was and she just knew it was something that they put in the meat. We had so much fun and hope to do it again.

On our way home, we talked Maryann into just letting us drop her off at home. She was feeling really bad by the time we got back to the car from the stadium. Bless her heart, she will probably need to see a doctor this week about her leg.

Prayer Request
I would like to take this time to humbly ask you to please pray for the following people.

My cousin April was recently diagnosed with a terminal cancer. We don't know how long she's expected to live, but it's not good. She's only around 12 years older than me.  Her brother and sisters are either there with her during this difficult time or they are on their way. She has three older kids.

My nephew and his wife just found out that they are expecting their second child. She is having some difficulties and would appreciate your prayers.

Of course, my sister, Maryann, for her leg pain.

My mom's feeling much better.  The doctor says that they got all the cancer out of her temple.  She is on the road to recovery.     

What A Surprise!

What exciting news for Katie!  She FINALLY pulled her first tooth.  YAY!  I picked her up at school and I couldn't get her in the car fast enough, before she's telling me how her tooth feels loose.  I told her that she needed to keep wiggling it, so it would come on out of there.  At home, she fooled with it during homework time.  At supper time, she bit down on her hot dog and began crying and screaming.  I thought she was being her Miss Drama self.  I took a peek at her tooth and I could see the new tooth right behind the baby tooth.  I guess when she bit down on the hot dog, it broke a root because I could see that the tooth moved and there was a little blood.  Once I got her to calm down, I convinced her to let me take a napkin and see if the tooth would pull out.  I pulled a little and I could feel that last root pop.  My goodness the drama began again.  It took her a little while before she realized that I had the tooth in my napkin.  She didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so she did both.  LOL!  I had her go to the bathroom to rinse out her mouth. Well, she didn't understand why I wanted her to do that until she saw the blood in her mouth, looking in the mirror.  Here come the screams and crying once again.  All the blood scared her to death.  Shew!  You should have seen her face tonight when I told her that she's got at least 3 more teeth to fall out.  She told me, while I was tucking her in bed, she didn't want to go through that again.  I reminded her about how she wouldn't have to go through all the pain and having a bruised spot on her gum from letting her tooth just sit there until it fell out on it's own because it was all over.  Now, all she has to think about is the MONEY!  I got a chuckle out of her and she was all better. 

In the above picture, I took a picture of her talking to her grandparents on the phone about her pulled tooth.  She kept pointing to her tooth while she talked, as if they could see the tooth through the phone lines.  Too funny!  She wants everyone to know that her tooth is gone.  I felt so sorry for her at gymnastics today because she had to tell her new friends and kept trying to get her coaches' attention.  While watching her at practice today, I saw her pointing to her missing tooth to the coaches.  Bless her heart, I felt bad when the coaches didn't give her the attention she wanted.  I know the coaches have a schedule to keep and lots of little girls to watch over.  Katie didn't seem to mind.  She got to call her grandma Peggy as soon as we got home, so that made her feel much better.  

Prayer Request
My great aunt Mary at the age of 101 years old, passed away this morning.  She was the eldest and only living sibling remaining out of the 5 or 6 children.  Mary was my grandmother's, Ann, sister.  My grandmother passed away a month before my wedding day.  Aunt Mary was such a sweet sweet spirit and kept everything that was given to her.  My mother is a little upset that she passed because she was the last aunt/uncle living.  Aunt Mary and my mom were pretty close. I think it was because she was the last tie to my grandmother.  I know my family loved her very much and she will be greatly missed. 

Doug's great aunt Mae at the age of 87 years old, passed away this morning as well.  I was fortunate enough to meet aunt Mae, such a sweet and fun loving lady.  Viewing and funeral will be later this week.  My father-in-law seems to be doing well.  Please remember these families in your prayers.  Thank you.   


What To Do This Weekend?
The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond, has a new show on the Food Network.  The show actually premiered last Saturday, August 27th at 11:30am/10:30c.  Y'all may know Ree from her blog The Pioneer Woman.  When I first started blogging, I would follow her pretty good.  She's published a cookbook "The Pioneer Woman Cooks".  And now she's got a show on Food Network, one of my favorite networks to visit when Doug's not at home or asleep.  I hate that I didn't get to see her premiere the other day.  According to the schedule, Food Network will be re-showing last Saturday's episode "Surprise Birthday" this Saturday, September 3 at 11:30am/10:30c.  I am going to have to record this show, so I don't miss a thing. 

Crane Hill is hosting a Sweet Tater Festival Sunday, Sept. 4th and Monday, Sept. 5th. If you would like more Sweet Tater Festival Information Click HERE.

WSCC will host a Bridal Show at Stonebridge Farms on Sept 11th from 1-4PM.  For more information, CLICK HERE!  A friend's son is getting married at this farm this Fall and I am so hoping that we get invited.  I would love to practice taking a few pictures.  Y'all this farm is absolutely beautiful and is used mostly for special occasions.  They have a restaurant on the property that is only open on Thursdays, other than during the special bookings for the reserved occasions.  Doug and I have talked about going out there to eat dinner, but something always seems to come up at the last minute. 

Of course, last but not least -

Bama vs. Kent State

Saturday, September 3, 2011

11:21 cst

at Tuscaloosa

ROLL TIDE ROLL!

A Good Day All Together

Doug's parents were so sweet to have the kids spend the night last night. The kids were so ready to go with them, they almost forgot to tell us "bye". LOL!  What do we do, while they are gone?  {Hmm}

We haven't seen Whitney in several weeks and I've heard that she's really gotten big, so we decided to go visit her and Zayne. She's at the nesting stage. Bless her heart. She wants so much done, but can only do so much. Her mom, Maryann, has been coming over and helping her get the nursery ready. I think they did such a good job painting and decorating. I took my camera, but it's a small room and Whitney was tired. So, no pictures to show you. I will tell you that they painted in block style on the wall with a shade of green (I would say close to a sage color), a coffee brown and ivory colors. Beings that her nursery theme will be jungle, it is precious. She is so excited about her baby shower tomorrow. She told me, they will get all the last minute stuff soon after the shower and then they should be ready for baby.  She wanted to get her suitcase packed, but she only got as far as getting the suitcase out of the closet. Poor thing, she is all baby and so darn cute. Us girls spent most of our visit comparing pregnancy notes and experiences. I made sure and told her to keep my number close by, for her to call me when things get crazy. She promised me that she would. Oh, how I remember those days (best forgotten).

I'm set on go tomorrow for the baby shower. Whitney requested to have one of her favorites at the shower, Spinach Dip. HERE  is my Spinach Dip recipe, if you ever need a good one.  I've had great reviews on this dip, so I hope you enjoy it.  Normally, I cut out the center of a round King's Hawaiian bread and set a small soup bowl down inside the loaf.  I cut up the pieces of bread and set around the cut out loaf for dipping.  I also offer a large bowl of Scoops chips beside the dip.  It is soo good.  We needed some more centerpieces for the guest tables, so I decorated my gift to Zayne and Whitney's baby into a centerpiece.  I just spoke to Maryann and I believe everything is coming together nicely.  Please stay tune for LOTS of photos from the baby shower of the year. . . 

This morning, Doug announced to me "we are going to Birmingham."  Well, I always love it when get to go off because I get to visit places that I haven't visited in quite some time.  If you remember, Susan and Leslie were telling me about their visit to "Garden Ridge" at Grant's Mill Station.  Doug was so sweet to take me there today.  I was one happy woman.  As you know, I'll be hosting Thanksgiving this year and I had a few ideas for decorating.  Well, I needed a few things to accomplish these decorating ideas.  Nope, I'm not going to tell right now.  You'll have to just wait.  {wink, wink}  Y'all this place is awesome.  They have a little bit of everything from seasonal decorating items, ceramic decor, outdoor living, furniture, linens, wall decor, kitchen, party items and much much more.  They have a lot of unique items as well, which is what I loved.  The prices were very reasonable and they also had several areas 50% off the sticker price.  WONDERFUL!  Their wooden arbors were on sale for $40, real nice.  I needed Living Room pillows for our sofa and loveseat.  I purchased 4 real nicely made pillows for $9.99 each.  I was tempted to get a couple of the extra large floor pillows for the kids.  They love to lay and play on pillows in the floor.  I really liked this place and hope to have to opportunity to go back again. 

Before heading home, we stopped off at one of our favorite restaurants, "The Cheesecake Factory" for lunch.  YUM!  Doug and I split a juicy cheeseburger, so we both could enjoy a delicious cheesecake.  Doug ordered the Red Velvet Cheesecake, while I had the new Chocolate Bar Cheesecake (actually it's made of Hershey's chocolate).  Unfortunately, we couldn't finish our cheesecakes, so we brought them home for later.  Oh, I was such a happy Bama mama when I found a script "A" cookie cutter at the Campus Spirit's shop.  Now, I can serve delicious Bama cookies to our guests during this season's football parties.  YAY!!  I'm just having a good day all together.  Can't you tell?  LOL! 

We were not shopping around inside Sam's Club for very long before I found the new Better Homes and Garden's special "Trick or Treat" edition magazine.  I knew that The Celebration Shoppe was featured in the magazine because Kim wrote about it in her blog.  She does such great work and enjoy the free printables, she shares with her readers.  Right off the bat, I picked up the magazine and began looking through it.  I also noticed Martha Stewart has her 2011 Halloween edition out as well.  I enjoy looking through these magazines and getting creative ideas.  While I was thumbing through "Martha Stewart's Halloween", a lady walked up beside me and also grabbed Martha.  We got to talking and I mentioned the feature in the BHG of The Celebration Shoppe.  She seemed interested, so I flipped over to Kim's pages.  I sold the lady and she took a copy with her.  LOL!  Doug asked me if I get commission for selling the magazine for The Celebration Shoppe.  The sweet lady is an Avon manager and she host several parties.  I told her that she might get lots of neat ideas and free printables from The Celebration Shoppe for her business.  She thanked me and assured me that she would be checking it out.  I did purchase Martha Stewarts Halloween and I can't wait to check it out. 

Got Bama Fever Yet?

Maybe this will help . . .

Photos taken & designed by Mirya

Me and my whole family are so ready for Bama football.   In fact, I just placed an order for this beauty to welcome all of our Bama guests on our front door. 

A sweet lady from Mississippi makes these Bama Crosses made out of tin.  She is so talented.  The first time I noticed this sign was on Laura's blog.  I fell in love with it.  Laura got me into contact with the creator of this cross.  I just hope I get the cross before the Kent State game.  We shall see.  

ROLL TIDE ROLL!

Quest for #14

Are You Ready For Some Football?

Here's a little teaser for the Bama fans.

ROLL TIDE ROLL!!!!

Video taken during this year's A-Day game

WE ARE ALABAMA!

beginning . . . September 3, 2011

Bama vs. Kent State

at Tuscaloosa, AL

11:21a.m.  CT

Big Al Planking - ROLL TIDE! **Wordless Wednesday Special**