My Little Turkey!

After I worked SO hard on this project, Kirsten decided that she didn't want to put the outfit on so I could photograph her. Little turkey. HOWEVER, once I got it on her, my little turkey performed like a HAM!! I used a tutorial I found at The Cottage Home to make this shirt and put my own twist on it! Here it is!!!

This ADORABLE clip was inspired by Ashley's adorable embellished tee over at Make It and Love It. Thanks for the inspiration, Ashley!!! Now my little turkey/ham is ready to celebrate Thanksgiving in one-of-a-kind style!!! Sorry for the poor photography...the sun has gone down and we're in our living room. *sigh* Oh well.

A Thanksgiving Project

I came upon an adorable tutorial the other day and decided that Kirsten must have this cute shirt to wear on Thursday! Last night we went to Walmart to get a white long sleeved shirt and could not find one in Kirsten's size that was NOT a turtleneck. As a kid, I LOATHED turtleneck shirts (and still do!) because I always felt as if they were too tight around my neck, so I have always sworn not to put Kirsten in one if I can help it. However, I thought that I would try to cut the neckline and alter it to make it more comfortable. After some alterations and getting the applique nearly finished, I began to alter the sleeves...and proceeded to run out of bobbin thread while still un-pinning. Yes. I thought I was sewing and I wasn't. Crap. So, the shirt will be done sometime later today, but I wanted to post a teaser of the pretty fabric that I got!

I love how all of the textures showed up so well on my little Canon PowerShot A1100 IS in PINK!!! I would have whipped out the Nikon D90 that Ryan and I both love, but for simple shots like this, the Canon is just as good! We read a review from a highly respected photographer (can't remember his name right now) that said he preferred Nikons when it came to SLR's, but Canons when it came to a point and shoot. Wow! We made good decisions! :) Anyway...I am off to re-pin the cuff onto Kirsten's sleeve. I can almost taste Thursday's turkey now...When it comes to me, Grandma and Dad...ol' Tom doesn't stand a CHANCE!!!!! We're like the father on "A Christmas Story" who picks at the turkey while being yelled at by the mother, "Don't touch that turkey, it's got an hour to cook! You'll get WORMS!"

Feelin' Thrifty!

EARLY Sunday morning I was laying in bed and could not sleep. I decided to lay there in the dark and figure out what each of us was going to wear in a few hours and lay it out before Ryan and Kirsten got up to avoid the endless battle of me pleading with Kirsten to JUST. PICK. SOMETHING. I remembered that I had some cute zebra patterned cotton laying around just begging for me to make a skirt out of it and I got to thinking about what shirt I would pair with it. She has a plain black longsleeved tee that she wears, but it's BORING and it needed some pizazz. SO, I got up and made THIS! I am so proud to have whipped it together in about 35 minutes. The skirt was made from scratch and I just added the cute ruffle to the neckline on her Garanimals shirt from Wal*Mart and voila! Super cute outfit for less than $5! SCORE! What do you think of my creation? Please ignore my pitiful photograph. My cute little model is napping. I think I will have her daddy do a photo shoot in this outfit, tho! I think her baby sister needs one of these outfits, too! :)

Now doesn't that ruffle on the neckline just make that plain shirt DARLING?! Next I am going to attempt to make a cardigan with another of these frugal little t-shirts using this tutorial from Ruffles and Stuff as inspiration! :) Happy day, everyone!

Mm, mm, good!

I want to start off by saying a big THANK YOU to our veterans, past and present, living or gone! Without veterans to fight for our freedom, Americans would be slaves to tyranny, because freedom is never free. Thank you to all my friends and family who bravely have and are serving our country!


Today I determined that I was going to make my husband something other than sandwiches or Kraft Macaroni and Cheese for supper.  I am normally an avid cook, but this pregnancy has kicked my butt! So, I set out to make Chicken Cordon Bleu, Green Bean Casserole and Mashed Potatoes. Okay, so the mashed potatoes are coming from a box, but I only have a few potatoes left and want to use them this weekend. Don't judge me. I took my chicken out this afternoon and allowed it to defrost to save myself some energy later. At this point, I also thought how yummy some fresh bread sounded and decided to set my hand to that, as well. However, the kitchen was in such disarray that I couldn't even begin to cook, so I set out to clean the kitchen. Two dishwasher-loads full later, it looks MUCH better! Again, don't judge me, I'm having trouble finding the energy to walk up and down the stairs without passing out right now. While I was cleaning in the kitchen, Kirsten started to complain of a headache. Not a surprise since she had been screaming at me for no apparent reason just before. After a few minutes, I had pity on the poor child--I could tell her head really did hurt--and gave her some children's Tylenol. I kissed her forehead to find that it was hot. Great. Took her temp and it was suddenly at 100 degrees--after having no symptoms and playing all day. Not a horrible reading, but I knew she wasn't feeling well. Giving her some water and covering her up, I told her to lie down and take a nap...she was out in moments. Back to the cleaning grind for me!

After lots of effort, supper was in the oven and smelling delicious! There are few things that will make you feel better than food. Specifically butter and cheese, which I had used lots of! I decided to put a twist on my chicken cordon bleu and use havarti cheese instead of swiss. Swiss is not my favorite cheese and I feel that havarti has a more refined flavor anyway, so rather than buying swiss, I just opted to use the havarti I'd already purchased for ham sandwiches! I also crumbled havarti and sprinkled parmesan into the sauce that I spooned over the chicken...that tasted heavenly when I dipped my finger in to test it! Here's a picture of our simply delectable meal!

 When supper was done, Kirsten was feeling too sick to want anything to eat so Ryan and I ate it all. Halfway through our meal, she tells me that she needs to go to the bathroom...while I'm carrying her, she gets sick. Everywhere. You know you're experienced at kid puke when you can clean up and happily finish your meal. We were laughing pretty hard about that.

I am off to take care of my sweet little girl...

Catching up

Wow, I REALLY don't keep up with this blog. Oops. As most everyone knows, we are expecting our second daughter around April 3rd! We're all very excited and Kirsten is thrilled to death to be getting a baby sister. With the Holidays coming up, we are no less busy than anyone else this time of year, especially since my energy level leaves our house in complete disarray most days. Today I managed to un-load and re-load the dishwasher, as well as make a grocery list and deal with a toddler who's emotions were running even higher than usual. Poor thing, everything is just too exciting for her. I do think that it's about time to drag out the "You'd better behave...SANTA'S WATCHING" trick that all of us parents love to take full advantage of this time of year. God bless Santa. LOL I'm hoping to be able to hit up a thrift shop or two to score a great vintage bowl...if anyone has one they want to get rid of...I'd be more than happy to take it off their hands. Just saying. Anyway, I plan to use this bowl as an Advent wreath. My family always did Advent when I was a kid and Ryan and I have never found the time-slash-initiative to begin this simple, yet meaningful tradition in our home, but I've decided that this is the year. Ryan doesn't have any attachment to it whatsoever since he's never done it before, but I remember how much it always reminded me as a child what Christmas is really about: our Savior. I've managed to procure a copy of Waiting for Christmas by Carol Greene which was the book my mother always used when I was a child and I am greatly attached to it. Since she is too stingy (love you, Scrooge--er--Mom! teehee) to part with it, I happened to find a copy from Amazon for ONE PENNY!!! That's right, honey, ONE PENNY! The shipping was a mere $3.99, so I purchased this "gently used" book for all of $4. It's been shipped, so we shall see how "gently used" it really is soon.

I've also been busy thinking about Hanukkah this year. Since my side of the family has VERY Jewish roots, Hanukkah is special to me and I wanted to do something on our own this year since we always depend on Mom and Dad's Hanukkah party. lol I'm so excited for feta cheese puffs (yes, made with pasteurized milk!) and potato latkes and--holy of holies!--CHALLAH BREAD!!! Among other DELECTABLE food, of course! We Jews know how to eat!! This will be a nosh to remember!

I think I shall leave your mouths watering with the thought of delicious food and get off of my derriere to finish getting ready for church. Hopefully I will remain more vigilant about blogging in the immediate future.