Delicious

I love flowers....

Tren and I bought these at a yardsale two years ago, when we moved into the house we are in in Emmett. We got, I believe, 2 cookie tin cans for $5 each. The lady was foreign and when I asked her what color the flowers would be she said "purrrrple". As you can see, they are white. Oh well, they are perdy and I love them.

Some day when we have acerage, I'm going to have my own 5 or 10 acres and just grow flowers of all kinds. Can't wait! You can come and walk through my flowers, if you'd like. I guarantee it will make you feel amazing!

Henry Hen Hen!!

Henry is a little over 6 months old now. He weighs in at 21 lbs. Rooster will be 3 in September and is a modest 13 lbs. I have the hardest time getting a picture of the two of them still and together. So, I took a picture with them just now. Yikes...

They were very excited to be in the house. Rooster looks a bit peeved that I'm holding Hen, too and not just her. (I look scary.)

I don't know how to capture the massive-ness of Henry. Here he is standing next to a 5 gallon bucket. Maybe that will help...

He is just huge. And he is only 6 months old!!

A while ago, we had Tren's mom and niece over for dinner. They were outside playing and Rooster and Henry were out and running around and jumping like usual. Blake is not used to this. Tren sprayed Henry with the hose and we made an awesome (sad) discovery. He. Hates. It. Hen disappeared for about 10 to 15 minutes and then I realized he was gone and panicked that he had somehow escaped. We called his name and he slowly came creeping around the corner of the house. Then he sat here:

Are you laughing? Because I am! He was so scared it was hysterical! I had to coax him out of the flower pot and over to me and he was still a bit on edge...

He is too cute and too huge and too everything! But! We love him. And we love Roosty too. She is my sweet girl.

Dammit Doll

For Mother's Day this year, Jesika wanted to do some crafting for her gifts. I'm always up for this. Jesika found what she wanted to do and sent me the link. I went to the Craft Warehouse and found some great "country" looking fabric. Then on Friday night, we had Karin come over to watch Belle, Peyton and Bailey at my house while we did our work and watched the baby. We didn't follow the instructions because we did not want to hand sew this entire thing. So. We started out with cutting out our body and then the first one we sewed right sides in and then turned it inside out. This looked like it was going to be one skinny doll. So, the next one, we sewed it with the right sides out. This was going to be a much fatter doll. Jesika stuffed the skinny one and I stuffed the fat one. It was hilarious watching them puff up. As we stuffed, Jesika's started looking more like a voo-doo doll and mine was just plump. I liked the healthy look and she liked the voo-doo look, so I used the plump one for Annie. (I had wanted to make one for Annie all along, but I loved the fabric so it was working out nicely that Jesika didn't like the fatty.) Then we cut another body out for her mother-in-law.

Here is my fatty pants:

I put a little set of spicy red lips on her... they crack me up!

Jesika made a cute belt and button necklace for hers.

I didn't know what to do for mine. So, I came up with a cape/shall thing for her. We tried different colors of material on her and couldn't decide on one so I made her a few different options.

Then into the cans they go!!

And for some reason, I don't have a picture of my dear sweet in her can.

Lastly, the poem that goes along with these Dammit Dolls:

When you want to climb the wall,

And stand right up and shout.

There's a little Dammit doll

You cannot do without.

Just grasp it firmly by the legs,

And find a place to slam it.

And as you whack the stuffing out

Yell Dammit, Dammit, Dammit!

If Dammit's not a word you say

Then twist its little neck

And grumble out repeatedly

Oh Heck, Oh Heck, Oh Heck!

And once you're done abusing it

Just sit it on the shelf.

But hug it first, as I'd hug you

If I were there myself.

(Sorry Annie that you will find out about this before you get your red lipped beauty. You werent supposed to have a computer until June, again.)

50th Birthday Cake

Last Saturday Tren and I hosted his mom's 50th Birthday party. I was in charge of the cake. I was trying to come up with something awesome (of course) to do and did some googling on over-the-hill type cakes. We decided I'd better do something not so over the hill-y. Tren's mom LOVES sheep/lambs, so I googled "sheep birthday cakes". I got some great ideas and then thought about cupcakes. So I googled "sheep cupcakes". AHHHHAH! Love this idea. Tren and I talked and we decided I'd make little lamb cupcakes and a big red barn cake. Earlier in the week I made my little bite-sized twinkie cupcakes for my lambs. Then I also made a few 9 inch red velvet cakes for my barn. I made 6 of them, and had a few altercations getting 2 of them out of the pan, so I really only ended up with 4 good solid squares and some chunks. Friday night after work I had to get started on these things. I was not feeling creative AT ALL. I needed a pal to help me get in the groove on this. I have never made a birthday cake alone. This was becoming a problem and I was about to just say screw it and only have the twinkies. I decorated one little sheep the way I had planned to, but it was hideous. Then Tren came to my rescue and we came up with this sweet little creature:

Do you love it? I do! First the twinkie was dipped into the frosting. Then using a jelly belly that had been cut in half we put on the ears, and then another half for the nose. Then blue frosting for the eyes. Then he was rolled in coconut. Done! Well,.... 49 more and I was done...

Do you see the one in the top left corner? That was the first one I made and wanted to smush it and quit. It looks like a mouse =ugly

I had Tren cut me a big piece of wood to hold all this stuff on. I knew cardboard wouldn't work. I covered it in foil and then made some green frosting. At this point, Belle is wanting to be very involved, so after spreading my green grass, I let her do some green sprinkles. Then we added a bit of sheep droppings. This was funny.

Then I started to build the barn. Belle was talking and talking and talking. "why are you doing that?" "what is that for?" "I want to help." "I need to do some of it." -holy smokes she talks alot!- So I tell her that she can't really do any hands-on helping, but she can tell me how good it is looking and that I'm doing a great job. I am not exaggerating a bit when I say this, but she told me I was doing a great job or it looked great every 30 seconds. After about 2 minutes of this I thought she was being sincere, but then I looked and noticed she wasn't even looking at what I was doing anymore. Lovely. I got the barn up and realized I didn't save any of my frosting to do the white trim on the barn. So, I waited for Tren to get home to go get me a tub of frosting. I had used all my powdered sugar for the red. Oops..

Then I added the white trim, a "K" for Kim and the fence. I had also made a bail of straw. I was very happy with it and even though the barn looked a bit frumpy, I loved it. It was perfect and I couldn't wait until the next day to add my baby lambs.

Finally it was about 11:30 on Saturday and time to put on the flock!

The cake turned out just as I had imagined it! It was a hit and very delicious, too. This was by far my most favorite cake to make.

Happy 50th Kim!

The Flock

Tonight I made 50+ little bite-size cupcakes....

Then I injected them with a most scrumptious "twinkie" filling...

Soon these little babies are going to be a flock of sheep surrounding a big red barn. Just you wait!

woot!!

Painting

For the longest time, I've wanted to get in to painting. Canvas painting. I wasn't sure what kind of paints to use or how to start. I went out to Grandma Adams' and got some advice. She told me to start with the acrylic paint versus the oil paint because acrylic dries faster. I went to the Craft Warehouse and much to my surprise, all the paint stuff was on SALE! woot!! So, I bought some brushes, a huge! canvas and some acrylic paint. I think I spent about $25 for all of it. OH! And since Belle was with me and everything was on sale, she got a little 8 x 10 canvas for $1.50.



I wasn't sure what I was going to paint so I didn't do anything with my supplies for a few weeks. It just sat in the spare bedroom. Finally! It came to me and I figured it was pretty simple so I could do it. But, I had to find time to do this... Sunday night, Belle and I got out our supplies and started painting.



This was NOT at all how I thought it was going to be. I borrowed an easel from Grandma Adams but the canvas I bought was too thick to be held in place. So I couldnt use it. Oh man... I need an easel. My back is that of a 70 year old woman's so hunching over on the kitchen table was not fun. Plus I would block the light from above me and this caused me to have to hunch over and to the side so I could still have some light. Ugh. I need an easel (Tren please build me one). Then there was Belle, constantly talking and talking and breaking my train of thought. That one is a Chatty Kathy! I bought the small tubes of paint so I was afraid I'd run out before I was done. I didn't use as much as I probably should have. I started at the top and did my blue sky. Loved it. I was happy. Then on to my 4 rolling hills. Great... looking reallllllll nice. Then I had in my mind to do some sort of sage brush along the bottom. So, I keep going with my brown hill color and I didn't use as much paint to try and distinguish between hill and dirt where my sage brush is going. This looks hideous. I am getting mad. Belle is still talking. So I stop about 4 inches from the bottom. Belle tells me I should do a little trail there along the bottom. So, I get the lighter brown paint and go for it. OH MY WORD!! I want to throw this thing away! It is so ugly. So, where the mountains meet the dirt, I paint some "sage brush" in a dark green. These actually look like pine trees! Crap! So, I decide I'll put a few scattered pine trees in my light brown dirt. Oh wow. Not good. Looked like Belle (no offense Belle) had painted this thing instead of me. So. I sit and want to just cover the whole thing in black since I've used nearly all of my tiny little dark brown tube of paint. I decide I'll try and throw some clouds in the blue sky. HA! That was a joke. I need better brushes. So, I let the white dry and then cover it back up in the sky blue. What a mess this is becoming. I keep staring and getting more annoyed with my inability to paint. ARGGGHHHHH!!!!!!! Then I covered the bottom "trail" in light green. Ohhhh yessss.... This is getting better. So I cover the pine trees all up with dark green. This is looking better. Then Tren comes home and tells me it looks like I did a mirror image of the mountain... like part of the dark green is reflecting the mountain in a lake! What is this he is talking about? So I start looking closer and finally see it. Woot! With his advice, I mix black and the dark green and then paint a little line across, splitting up my dark green and making this "lake". Not so bad now! Woot!! I made the line a little thicker and then got the dark green and smushed some bushes on the edges of the lake to give it a good look. Woo woo! Then I decided I wanted to make 3 hills instead of the 4. Grandma Adams told me a long time ago that when painting you do odd numbers. Well in anything art-y you should to odd numbers. So, I pulled the 2 center hills together to make one big one. You can sort of tell it's 2 made into 1 if you are at the right angle. Then I signed and dated it and now I love it! What do you think?




I'm out of dark green and dark brown paint.

I think my next ones will be more just shapes and random things... I didn't expect to be a pro at this right out of the gate, but I thought I would do better. I really think with a few tips, some better brushes and an easel I can improve.

St Patty's Wrap Up!!

Well, St Patrick's Day went perfectly as planned. A bit hectic and crazy, but perfect! We have one of those water cooler things that you take your big jug to Albertson's and fill up and then put on your cooler to have delicious water always at home. There is a mini-fridge in the bottom part. This is where Belle chose to hide her treasure box for the leprechauns.

That night, the leprechauns came and TOOK Belle's treasure box and left this note:

Belle was not too happy that they took her box and left her a paper "leaf-clover". They did hang some fun garland and wrote on my mirror though.

After work and school, the Green family, Lewis and Blythe, Grandma Kim and Blakeleigh, and Grandma Bernice all came over for some green dinner and fun!

'Cheers' with our bubbley!

After dinner the girls and dads all went out to the front yard while Jesika and I cleaned up the dinner mess. Suddenly! We were ambushed by the leprechauns! They came in through the sliding glass door, through glitter all over us, put some balloons by the water cooler and ran back outside. It was just a bunch of green and glitter and giggling! We ran outside to get the girls and told them to come in and check out the balloons.

We noticed a green ribbon leading from the cooler out the door and so we sent the girls out to find out what it was. The green ribbon lead all over the back yard! They ran and ran to find where it ended. It ended up back in the flower bed. We noticed there was green glitter all over and that it looked like something had just been burried there!

So they began to dig! Suddenly Belle made contact with something and noticed it was glittery and colorful! It was their boxes!!!!!!!!

They were freaking out!!!! (It was pure joy for me and Jesika too. They were so excited, really!)

After they had opened their boxes to find their gold coin chocolates and green jelly bellys and glittery body stickers they ran around the yard... all hopped up on sugar! (from left to right: Blake, Peyton, Blythe, Belle)

When we were done outside, we had Belle go let the dogs out of the garage and you know what, those dang ol' leprechauns even got the dogs!!

This was one of the best things ever! When I was taking the stuff out of Belle's box to put her treasures in, she had put little notes in it I was unaware of. She drew a picture for the leprechauns of a leprechaun. She also put some of her own money in the box. She knew they liked shiney things and money is shiney. It was very fun for me to get a little surprise when I was giving her one back.

New Decor

There is a show on tv called "Pickers". These two guys travel around the states, show up at people's houses who have lots of "junk" in their yards and lots of little buildings around their houses, and see if they have any antique stuff they are willing to sell. This show fascinates me! I have always liked old things and have always wanted to start collecting. Well, Tren's mother has been saving antiques or heirlooms, for quite some time now. We went over to her house and went "picking". She has lots of things that were her grandmother's or grandfather's. Tren told me he can remember all of these things in his great grandparents house from when he was little. Kim (Tren's mom) was very excited to let us borrow her things and display them in our house. We went home and put up the new decor. I don't know how to get a good picture of everything. There is so much stuff and it all looks really awesome! There is another plant shelf on the opposite wall that we are going to do our own picking and decorate.

View from the floor:



(Picture below)From left to right: What we think is a battery charger, cabbage slicer, iron, Carnation Milk box, fire torch thing, cream can, lard bucket.



Another view:

(Picture below)From left to right: Lard bucket, washboard, scale, frying pans.

(Picture below)From left to right: Lantern, wood box that they used as a bathtub / with rug that his great grandmother made on the loom, deer antlers (these are Tren's... not old), Tin can with old screws and random little things in it?, and toy gun Tren used to play with (not too old).



(Picture below)The item leaning in the window frame is a spool of thread. This thread is awesome! There is another piece I am going to hang on the wall and it is a drawer from a sewing desk that has old spools of thread on them. The thread is so thick and the spools are made from wood and they just look sweet! Maybe I need an old sewing machine for my shelf?!

If you ever cross anything old that may fit in to our collection, let me know! I just might want it!!

St Patty's Day!!

In talking with my boss about traditions for holiday's, she gave me this great idea she used to do with her kids when they were little.

Did you know that leprechauns will come to your house and if you leave them something sparkly and shiny, they will leave you something sparkly and shiny or maybe even sweet!?

We wanted to make nice little treasure boxes for our goodies for the leprechauns to find and see if they would leave the girls something. So, Jesika and Peyton came over to do some St Patty's Day crafting!! I found these great little wooden boxes with a latch at Kings. They were going to be perfect for our treasure boxes! We let the girls paint!

We had green and gold glitter to add to them to make them nice and sparkly so we were sure to attract those little leprechauns!

After lots of glue and paint and glitter and a few puffy sticker shamrocks, the boxes were done!

On the inside, we put some shamrock garland stuff and some green rocks that we are thinking the leprechauns are going to L.O.V.E. and maybe take in exchange for something else.

Now all we have to do is wait till St Patty's to see what happens!! Check back then to see!!

ps. If anyone wants to do this too, I can tell you in advance what are planning, so you can do the same! (if you'd like)