Pictures of the new 'do!

As I mentioned before, Baby Doll has a new hairstyle. This time it is not because she decided to cut her own hair. No, mom and dad managed to mess it up all on our own. Thank goodness for Tammy, the best hairstylist a girl could ask for. So, for your viewing pleasure, here she is with before and after pictures.

This and That.

*sigh* It is the last day of 2009. What a year, but I suppose any of us could say that about any year. I am busy right now trying to think up a new blog background for January. The good news is I found my cell phone, but it hasn't seen the camera cord. And boy oh boy do I need that camera cord! Baby Doll has a brand new hairstyle! We have been cutting her hair for years without any mistakes. So this morning...there was a mistake and an emergency visit to the hair salon. :o) So now my youngest chickadee is sporting a wild, crazy, spunky and very short hairstyle. Hopefully I will be updating you all again later. If I don't make it back, I hope everyone has a wonderfully safe and happy New Year's celebration!

Happy Birthday, Grayson!

Today I was going to welcome you all back with fun photos of our Christmas. I even have some video! But the camera cord ran away. I think it is having a secret affair with my missing cell phone. So in lieu of our family photos, I will get a jump start on a very special event that will be happening tomorrow. Our nephew is turning 10! Dude, like have a totally awesome birthday!!

Have a great Christmas.

Merry Christmas!!

Today will be my last post until after Christmas. I wanted to leave you all with one more of my favorite Christmas songs. :)

Holiday siggies

I love Christmas. It is my favorite time of the year. I have had to restrain myself from making thousands of holiday siggies for myself. Some of my siggies are so much fun, whether I made them or they were made for me that I wanted to share them with all of you. First up is my pride and joy. This is my favorite Christmas siggy mostly because the animation was very difficult to do. Trying to make the same siggy snow and flame was a pain! But I think it turned out nicely and it remains my favorite. : )




Next one up is a great new one that was made for me recently. Graphics can be a blast, especially when you can get Anne to make one for you. Anne is the Community Leader over on Signature Making for Beginners, a great place to get hooked on a very addictive hobby!




For some reason I also love animation in a holiday siggy. It is a great time for falling snow or rotating pictures. Out of my vast collection of Christmas siggies (only a few made the cut for this post) there are just a few without animation.

The pointsetta siggy features one of our favorite picks from our most recent family photo shoot. The next blog post will be featuring all of our favorite shots. There wasn't much added to this siggy, the picture itself was perfection.




Finally we have another one of my siggies that makes me smile every time I see it. This cute girl, a Kate Hanover masterpiece, reminds me of me. If I could find that dress I would SO wear it! A lot...any time of the year. Aren't you glad I don't have a dress like that? Hahaha. So this lady is me in cartoon form. :o)





Which siggy is your favorite?

Celebrate the Day by Relient K, another favorite.

It is just a road map.........

I like to bake and cook but I rarely follow a recipe. I think one time I heard Paula Deen say that "a recipe is like a road map". You can take the interstate (and follow the recipe exactly), but if you take a few detours the trip may just be a lot more interesting and that makes the recipe fit your family.

So when I cook I make some detours here and there. Some of the detours are simple - for instance I do not like bell peppers, so I either leave them out or I substitute hot peppers. Sometimes I come up with something that my family thinks is a real winner. Only once or twice have a made something so inedible that they would not eat it and even them it was not wasted as we fed it to the pigs or the chickens.

A recent winner with my family and friends is Sweet Potato Cookies. They started out as an oatmeal spice cookie recipe from a friend but some additions and deletions they have been reinvented to be Sweet Potato Cookies.

Sweet Potato Cookies

¾ Cup butter, softened
¾ cup sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup finely shredded sweet potato, uncooked
4 Tablespoons orange juice concentrate
2 cups flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups oatmeal
1 cup flaked coconut (I make it a generous cup!)
1 cup chopped pecans

In a large mixing bowl cream butter and sugars. Beat in the egg, sweet potato and orange juice concentrate. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Slowly add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Mix in the coconut and pecans until just combined.

Drop by the spoonful 2 inches apart onto a greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until firm. Cool on racks.

I hope you enjoy these as much as we do. If you make some detours of your own I would love to hear about them.

Carol - Wyomingmom

A favorite holiday song, What Child Is This?

Sugar cookies!

I like free stuff. My computer can tell...poor computer. I have been spending a lot of time downloading some really great scrap kits from the Sugar Cookies Blog Train. I decided I had to share my goodies with any of you that might like to follow along. :)

Dayspring Holiday Giveaway

SimpleMom is sharing a Dayspring holiday giveaway! Check out the contest here to win three lovely, frosted luminaries of the Nativity.

The Art of Aprons.

I am a domestic engineer ...or a housewife ...or a stay at home mom ...or a homemaker ...or a housekeeper ...or a cook, or .... You get the picture. :)

"Wearing an apron is just good sense...An apron is domestic armor, shielding our clothing against the splatter and tatter of keeping house. Wear an apron and your guard is up." ~EllynAnne Geisel from APRONISMS * Pocket Wisdom for Every Day.

I had a basic red apron stashed in the far back of my kitchen drawer. After much frustration over the fact that every single one of my shirts have holes right around navel level, I finally fished it out from it's exile. I looked at it suspiciously and slowly slipped it on. Wow! I loved the way it felt, and the way it looked. The best part about it was that it worked. I mean, it kept splatters off my clothes, kept tears from my shirts, and kept my dishtowel nice and handy. How incredibly practical is an apron?! I felt like I had spent years avoiding a stereotype and so avoiding an apron. I now wear my apron off and on throughout the day and always feel my best when I have it on. It is not only my "armor" but an inspiration as well. I feel beautiful and feminine when wearing it. I feel prepared and energetic. I will never be without this friend of mine again!

My apron is a simple red full length apron. I admit to a new obsession. While I love my apron, especially because it is my favorite color, it is plain. That sure serves a purpose...but who wouldn't want a lovely apron like the one pictured above? So now I find myself often sifting through the never ending treasure chest of Etsy. Those ladies are fabulous! Not only do I want to spend any life savings on gorgeous apron after gorgeous apron, I want to break out my sewing machine and start making my own. Nothing has made me look twice at my stowed away sewing machine for quite awhile, so that is saying something. If you know of an apron that you don't think I can resist, please post a comment and tell me about it!

One last tidbit. Aprons are not just for beautiful women. They are for delightful little girls too! The next apron pictured may or may not be wrapped and under our tree waiting for a certain 7 year old..

Swimming cameras and bloating.

As I heard the plunk, I stood there like a deer in headlights. No...that didn't just happen...my camera did not just leap off the counter, earning a 10 with a dive into the soapy water filled sink. I fished it out by it's strap, staring at it stupidly as the water poured out of it. The camera would be fine, right? No biggie, right? Right, right?!!! Wrong...so very wrong. No more fun and random pictures from me. I will be beside myself without a camera. Until the next one joins our family.

I have come to a realization. If I am bloated about 95% of the month...I don't think it's bloating. Especially when I started noticing this trend soon after all of the Halloween candy was eaten. There was that moment when I was like, "Man, I am always bloated, what's with this?" Time to play some more active Wii tennis is start working out again. I hate bloating. But it is much more tolerable when it only happens 5% of the time. :)

An irritating Life's Truth.

When I have the time to look for all of the information I wanted to share with you all about making a Jesse Tree, I decide to load up a new Christmas music sampler first. When one has the time and ability to do a project, one is bound to get into an argument with the computer and need a cooling off period. :)

Bits of Health

It seems that the stomach flu was not finished with us yet. I am finally dragging myself out of bed today. I thought I would share a few things with you in hopes that it will help any of you from going through this nasty bug.

Olive Leaf. Have you heard of this? This really does work! I use the suspension liquid as it can be mixed in juice for the little ones. If you are fighting something, think you might be exposed to something, or are already feeling lousy, then try this out. I pick mine up at my local Sprouts.

Ginger. This is great for a sick stomach. I have sipped plenty of mugs of ginger tea in my time. Tea can be soothing, but if you prefer, you can always get tablets.

These are the two supplements that pop into my mind right now. Do you have any suggestions? Leave a comment!