Our New Home

Phew!! This has been a loooooong couple of weeks. We got our house contract signed and to the lawyers office...we lost a house due to the sellers bank not moving very quickly on their short sale (would not recommend getting involved in a transaction like that unless you have a lot of time to wait-which we did not), we made another record fast trip to Michigan this weekend to buy a house (or else!) and we did just that! Here she is! We are very happy with her. Especially my husband. This is our first brand new home. I am really looking forward to making her just our style and making her our home. We close on our old home on November 25th-the day before Thanksgiving. And we close on our new home on November 30th. We will stay with my family for Thanksgiving and a few days after. It is amazing how much finding a home can lift ones spirits. :) God provided a lovely home for us and for that....we are very very thankful!!

She is.....

Our house is officially sold. Phew! The couple who bought our little house is just getting started in their life together. I am excited that they are the ones who get to make their memories in this home. It is a great house. Now the business of getting our new home begins. I hope it goes as smoothly as selling our home was. Someone told me that God was the best real estate agent. Man...was she right. :)

Why Don't They Make This In My Size?

I ordered this sweet little shirt for my youngest daughter. I believe from Gap. It is just my speed!! You can't tell from the picture but the "icing" on the sugar cookies have glitter on them. Too cute! She says that she wants to be a Pastry Chef when she grows up. So, I thought this shirt was appropriate. And really...every day is a good day to bake cookies! :)

Mama's Boots

Today I bought my first pair of boots. I had boots as a child that my parents bought for me. As I recall, they looked something like this......




Groovy. Today I found these little cuties. They are just my speed. I love the fake fur inside and the little toggles on the outside. I am not an Ugg girl. Just not.

Ta da! I think they are darling and I can not wait to wear them. Well...on second thought....yes I can. :)

Kind of hard to take a picture of your own foot...but here they are on. They are comfy and warm. Just what I will want to protect my piggies in the snow.

And, Simon had to jump into their box while I was modeling for you. Wonder why cats do that?

Tonight

I showed my house again tonight to a couple who has already been here once. While making sure things were picked up in the yard before the showing....... like soccer balls and volley balls and garden hoses from watering our baby grass...I turned around and saw this. My little house from the back side. And it really took my breath away. I love this little brick house. And tonight we probably sold her. The realization that we are going to be moving is drawing nearer. Tonight I am full of tears because of it. Actually, not so full...they are leaking out right now as I am typing this.

Anyway, I wanted to show you my little porch since she is finished. She really is beautiful. And I am going to miss her.

19 Years

Today my husband and I have been married for 19 years. WOW! Happy Anniversary Mark!

Sewing Afternoon

Due to our home being on the market...we kind of "purged" items from our house and placed them in a storage unit until we move. A trick from HGTV..make your home look less cluttered and more spacious. One of the things we put into storage was my little sewing table. I did keep my sewing machine at the house. I have been so busy lately I have not had time to do something for myself. Like sew. I find that when I do say I am going to play with my hobby...something always gets in the way. Someone else needs me for something or something more important takes it's place. Well, yesterday I did not let anything get in the place of me having some time to do something I wanted to do. Sew. I found this little tutorial on these girls blog and just had to make some since I am a huge Disney fan and have several friends that also love Disney and I wanted to make one for them.


All my supplies gathered and ready to begin. The Diet Coke was for strength. :)

I used to never iron...thought it was an extra step. Then I found out how wrong I was. You HAVE to iron seams when quilting. Some day I will have an ironing board up all the time in my "sewing studio" (I am really dreaming here) and I won't have to drag it out every time I make a project.

My make-shift sewing table in the living room. I had to move the church pew down to get to the outlet to plug in my machine. Bring in a kitchen chair. Bring in that BIG table from the garage and set it up. Lots of work.

Strips all cut out and ready to be put together. I wanted to go with fun colors. I think they are rather cute.

My little helper that comes to my side every single time I begin to sew. Cracks me up...until he starts to chew on the thread.

This is why I wanted to sew in the living room. I could of just sat at the kitchen table, it would of been a lot less work...but I really wanted to watch this movie since it was "my afternoon." :)

Isn't she just the cutest thing?

And here is my finished project. Minnie Mouse pot holders. I love them! I hope the people I made them for are as pleased as I am with them. I know it will put a smile on their face. And, I have a smile on my face! I got to spend some time doing what I enjoy doing. It was a lovely afternoon.

Give me Smore'!

I promised you yesterday that if the Smore cookies were good I would share the recipe with you. O. MY. LAND. are these cookies ever good! If you are a fan of Smores...then you need to run..not walk..to your pantry and get out the ingredients and make yourself up a batch.


I mean really...how can a recipe not be good with chocolate and marshmallows I ask?

Mini chocolate chips in all their glory.

On the cookie sheet ready to go back in oven to toast the marshmallows and chocolate chunks. Yes...that's right....mini chocolate chips AND chopped Hershey candy bars....be still my little ole heart.

And here is the final results! Can you see how lightly toasted the mini marshmallows are? What a hoot!

Here is the recipe. I can not remember where I got this recipe. But man am I ever thankful that I did get it. Don't say I didn't warn you. :)

S'mores Cookies

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups miniature chocolate chips

3/4 cup mini marshmallows

2 Hershey bars, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a medium bowl combine the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking soda, salt. Whisk together. In a separate larger bowl beat together the butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Slowly beat in the flour mixture until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheet.Bake for 8 minutes, and remove from the oven. Push 3 to 4 marshmallows and a few pieces of Hershey bar into each cookies. Return to the oven and bake an additional 3-4 minutes until fully cooked. Cool cookies on a wire rack.Makes approximately 4 dozen cookies.

Lazy Day Cookin'

It is going to rain here in my little town today. I just checked the forecast and it is green green green. Which will be lovely for the grass seed that got planted this week in my yard. Oh! I have not told you that my screened in porch project that began on July 1st is FINALLY complete!! Hurrah!!!! And the ironic thing of it all is that now we are moving and someone else will be enjoying my little porch. They will never know all the frustration and teeth grinding I went through doing that project. Oh well.

Anyway, since it feels so much like fall today I decided to put something in "The Pot" as my nephew calls it. The crock pot that is. I picked up this cookbook last year at Barnes and Noble in their cheap book section. It is filled with great recipes. Today I decided to make Beef Stew. Here is the recipe if you want to try it. It is really good!

Beef Stew

2 pounds stew meat (browned in a skillet)

5 carrots sliced

1/2 onion diced

3 ribs celery diced

5 potatoes cubed

28 oz can tomatoes

1/2 cup quick cooking tapioca

2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 10-12 hours or high for 5-6 hours.

That is it! Easy and very yummy! Here it is cooking right now as I type and it smells fantastic to.

I am going to make some cookies today as well. Smore cookies. Sounds good, doesn't it? I will let you know how they turn out. If they are good, I will share the recipe with you. I also have plans to do some sewing today as well. Since we have been so busy showing our house lately, I have not made time to do something fun. Sweeping and cleaning my bathrooms is certainly NOT fun! I will show you what I am making after I finish them. It is going to be soooo cute if I can figure out the pattern. :)

The rain is coming down watering the grass seed (thanks God) and I am listening to Swing Kings on the Satellite. Good smells coming from The Pot and cookies getting ready to bake. Looks like this is going to be a pretty good day! Hope yours is to. :)