Crafting Wednesday

Wednesday has become a super fun craft day!!  A group of crafty friends and I started getting together once a week on Wednesday to do a craft together.  We take turns hosting and have a big potluck.  We all bring our kids and they have a ball playing with all their friends.  While they play, we craft, nibble on food, and have a great time together.
Here are some of the projects that we have done......so far ;)

Book Page Pumpkins

http://www.u-createcrafts.com/2011/09/book-page-pumpkin.html

Beaded Spiders

http://tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com/2010/10/guest-project-make-beaded-spider.html

Braided Ribbon/Chain necklacehttp://www.u-createcrafts.com/search/label/jewelry-necklace

Halloween Jars

   http://notsoidlehands.blogspot.com/2011/09/guess-whos-cute-craft-is-on-front-cover.html

 Wooden Turkeys

  http://www.u-createcrafts.com/2010/11/creative-guest-2x4-turkey-by-craft.html

Fall Blocks

http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2009/10/autumn-blocks.html

I have had a great time making these and even better time getting to know 6 other ladies.  The host house gets turned upside down and your craft gets interrupted with one or more child's needs but we all have fun with it and the kiddos have a big play day together and everyone loves it!   What's the next crafts on our list girls??

Halloween Treat!

I wanted to share a fun Visiting Teaching Treat that I gave out recently that was super easy and yummy too!  I put together these bags that has a cute message and oh... so... yummy caramel popcorn.

  Here is the recipe: 

Caramel Popcorn

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 quarts popped popcorn

(I used regular popcorn kernels and a 5 quart pot and popped the popcorn over the stove, mainly because I don't own a popcorn machine.  You can follow the instructions of the kernels pkg on how to pop them using the stove.)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.  Place popcorn in a very large bowl.
2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil without stirring 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in soda and vanilla.  Pour in a thin stream over popcorn, stirring to coat.
3. Place in large baking dish (I used a big roasting pan which made stirring really easy) and bake in preheated oven, stirring every 15 minutes, for 1 hour. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Tip:  Once my popcorn was popped I put it in the oven while it preheating.  It is easier for the caramel to get mixed evenly over the popcorn while it is still warm!

Copy & Print out this message in a fun Halloween style font and attach to bags filled with the popcorn goodness!

SINCE THIS IS THE TIME FOR GOBLINS AND BATS,

HALLOWEEN SPIRITS AND GHOSTS AND CATS.

WEIRD HAPPENINGS AND WITCHES BREW,

THESE ARE THE THINGS I WISH FOR YOU...

MAY THE ONLY GHOST THAT COMES YOUR WAY,

BE THE HOLY GHOST TO GUIDE YOUR WAY.

MAY THE ONLY SPIRITS YOU CHANCE TO MEET,

BE THE SPIRITS OF LOVE AND KINDNESS SWEET.

THESE ARE MY HALLOWEEN WISHES FOR YOU,

MAY GOD BLESS YOU IN EVERYTHING YOU DO.

IT'S NO TRICK, I JUST WANT TO SAY,

{ IT'S A TREAT TO KNOW YOU IN EVERY WAY!}

 Throw in some cuties like these helping out in the kitchen and you have yourself one great morning!! Even if my floors ended up being soaking wet! *grin*   Enjoy!

Love me some RUFFLES!

I recently came acrossed this picture of a ruffle wreath and LOVED IT.  So I tried making my own version of it using some left over corduroy fabric I had from making my kitchen curtains.  And I ended up with this beauty!!

I absolutely LOVE how it turned out.  I had fun making the flowers and was so happy that my mom sent me a burlap potato sack from home a couple of months ago and told me to see if I could make things out of it.  I loved how the burlap accents the flowers and it originated in Idaho!!

I will now try my hand out on giving a tutorial on how I made it.  Hopefully it is clear enough and you can make your own version for yourself!!

Step 1: Cut 2" wide long strips of your fabric of choice to cover your wreath.
Mine was a 12" wicker type wreath I bought at the dollar store.  Apply hot glue to your fabric a little bit at a time, then wrap around wreath.  Repeat until entire wreath is covered.

Step 2:  Cut your fabric the width that you would like your ruffles to be. 
I cut mine 4" wide and foot long. Then using a basting stitch on your sewing machine sew down the length of one side of your fabric with 1/2" allowance on the side.  You do not need to backstitch on this.  After you sewed down the one side then pick one string from your thread and pull to start making your ruffles appear.  I used two different threads to sew with for two reasons.  1. I wanted a stronger thread on top that would not break as easily when I pulled on it to make the ruffles.  2.  It makes it easier to see which thread you are pulling and then you can pull from both the top and bottom of the fabric.

Keep pulling the fabric till your ruffles look like this

Step 3:  Hot glue your ruffle around your wreath. 
Apply the hot glue to the fabric along the top and wrap overlaying your ruffles.  Repeat making ruffle fabric pieces and gluing them to your wreath till she is all covered in beautiful, fluffy, ruffles!!

Step 4: Accessorize your wreath!

I twisted the bottom of a square piece of burlap and hand sewed it to keep the twisted look in place and hot glued it on.  Then I placed three flowers and a bit of extra ribbon to put on top of that.  I made two different kinds of flowers. 

1. Fabric flowers

Using a t-shirt that I haven't worn in like forever, I used this tutorial to make the cream fabric flower.

http://emilys-little-world.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-to-make-t-shirt-fabric-flower.html

2. Ribbon Flowers

First cut a circle out of felt of the size you would like your flower to be.



Then make a knot at the end of your ribbon.  This will be the center of your flower.  Hot glue the knot  and any extra ribbon on the end in the middle of the felt circle.  Then twist the ribbon and hold while you place hot glue around the knot and then secure your twisted ribbon down on top of the hot glue.  Twist ribbon, glue, and secure all the way around till you are at a point to cut the ribbon off, and glue down the end.  I  used a match to burn the end of the ribbon so I wouldn't have to worry about any fraying then I glued it down.  And you now have a gorgeous ribbon flower to accessorize with!


Hopefully this tutorial was helpful!!  I ended up putting my wreath over a mirror I have in my living room and I get to smile at it all day now!!

Louisiana Trip

Our trip down to Louisiana started off pretty awesome with an early morning shopping at Target with Scottie Pippen!  Yes, I was the crazy lady taking  pictures of him while in my van before the doors opened to go shopping.  I watched as Scottie sort of laughed at the guy who tried to open the doors to let himself in when it was so obvious by the people standing around, Pipen included, that the store was not open yet.  It was a funny feeling seeing a celebrity type of person in a regular setting.  I have been around many different stars while at concerts, baseball, basketball, football games, etc., but never at a random meeting like a Target store!!  Did I get my boys an autograph? No.  Did I go and talk to him? No.  I wanted to, but just didn't quite know how to go about it.  I was going to the store to buy snack and drinks for our long drive and he obviously went out early to not be bugged by random people. Right?  Me, a regular lady with three kids in tow just didn't seem like it would be interesting.  So I was torn by wanting to be around a star, and not pestering the guy.  Oh well, it was still super cool shopping along side him walking the aisles of the "bulls eye" store and seeing him being really nice to everyone and going about his day.

The boys and I were at Target so early because we went with Nate to his work.  He had to work a half of day and would be off at 11:30 so Target and breakfast is what we occupied ourselves with.  After Nate got off we had lunch and then headed out on our drive.  Because we were starting midday we stopped for the night and continued the next day.  We were a bit worried about the weather for the week since Louisiana was being visited by Tropical Storm Irene and a possible hurricane!  The whole weekend we arrived it rained over 20 inches!!  Some parts were having bad flooding issues, but Steve/Diana's house was just fine.  By Tuesday of the following week it had cleared up and the sun was shining.  We arrived safe and sound at Gr and Gr Cottrell's house around 4 or so just the perfect time to jump in the warm pool!  It was raining off and on and as long as there is no lighting it's a GO to swim!! 

 An hour into the fun and games this, no way in heck could your repeat, accident happened!

Clay was having a great time on the diving board and playing fighting games with Nate.  And if anyone knows Clay he is relentless at trying to win at something.  Some how he was a bit too crazy and didn't get far enough away from the diving board and hit one of his baby teeth on the side of the board as he was jumping into the pool.  The tooth made a huge gash up his gums.  It not only pushed upward but in as well making the bottom of his tooth the only visible part of it left. 

We left the other two boys with Steve and Diana while Nate and I took Clay to the Emergency room.  Like all emergency rooms we did our fair share of waiting.  Unfortunately, this hospital didn't want to mess with Clay's tooth problem and thought it would be best for us to go the the Children's Hospital Emergency Room and see and pediatric orthodontist there.  Since we were in Louisiana and not home we didn't even know there was an Children's Hospital around.  The doctor asked if we had a GPS, we replied yes, which he was really relieved about. He said "Getting to this hospital is a bit of a crazy route and we wouldn't want you ending up somewhere like the projects or something"  How reassuring Doc, thanks.  Getting to the next hospital was crazy and the roads it was taking us on didn't even seem like a road at all, more like back alley ways!! All the while it was pouring rain buckets outside.   Clay was handling things great with his bag of ice and some Tylenol we gave him.  We prepped him for what might happen like a shot to make his mouth numb and he seemed a bit worried about it.  After the dentist came from being on call we made our way through the winding hospital to a dentist wing on the fourth floor.  She was really nice to Clay and couldn't believe how his tooth looked that she ended up taking before and after pictures of it to show her colleagues.  After Clay was given a numbing shot in his mouth I asked him, "True or not true?  You just got a shot in your mouth?"  He hesitated and said "Not, true"  "Then you have a good dentist huh because you just were given a shot in the mouth!"  I replied.  He was shocked.  She extracted the tooth in a couple of different pieces all which were too small for Clay to keep for the Tooth Fairy so she gave him a little treasure chest instead to put under his pillow.

Here is Clay after the tooth was taken out and I asked him to tried to rub his lips together.  It was hilarious the faces he was pulling because he had no control of his right side!!  It was late and all of us were hungry since that last time we ate was at lunch time before we arrived at Steve/Diana's house.  It was past 11 when we got back, and we retold the events of the past six hours and two separate emergency rooms.  Clay was exhausted had a quick bite to eat then crashed in his bed.

So glad it all went OK and it is something to look back on and shake your head on how crazy it all was.  All in all I think Clay ended up being happy to get some Tooth Fairy money a bit early.  Although, the process of doing so was a bit extreme!!

10 Years!! Sept 7th

Nate and I celebrated our 10 YEAR Aniversary on September 7th!!  We were able to leave our boys with Nate's parents (many many thanks to them) and drive to Mississippi to check into the Beau Rivage resort on the Gulf of Mexico!  We checked in on Tuesday and left that Friday afternoon.  It felt like the perfect amount of time!

The Hotel was beautiful and the buffet was super yummy!  We had a ocean view room from which we saw gorgeous sunsets on the Gulf.  The hotel was a casino as well which we basically walked around once and thought how crazy people can get sitting in there all day long and losing track of time (casinos don't have clock up anywhere just so people will lose track of time) and money, but we didn't come for any casino gaming anyway.  We spent over 5 hours or so shopping one day at an amazing outdoor shopping outlets called
The Gulfport Premium Outlets http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/outlet.asp?id=83
Shopping with Nate can be enjoyable with no time limit and no kids, who knew,  he he j/k :)

I made the best decision marring Nathaniel Stephen Cottrell!  He is the rock that hold us together. We have three healthy, happy, enegetic boys that are our life and we love deeply.  Nate and I work so well as a team at our families goals and just living life.  He is my best friend.  Life will always be busy and crazy with kids, stress, duties, and obligations, but Nate has always taught me to give it all that you have, care for the people around you, and be strong in what you believe.  And I know for I fact that I believe in US!!


Super bright ehh Nate!!

Our whole time there was sunny and beautiful.  We shopped well, relaxed well, and ate very well!!

The beach next to our hotel didn't have tons of people, probably because anyone wanting to swim would just go use the pools, hot tub, and lounge chairs at the hotel, but it was nice walking in the water and getting my feet all sandy.  There was a long pier that we walked down that made us feel like we were surrounding by water on all sides.  I stopped and laughed and said to Nate "I think it is so funny the things we don't have to be saying right now because our kids are not with us.  Things like, 'don't climb that, you'll fall in, don't lean over so far, stop, that wood will give you splinters if you drag your hands along it'."  I didn't have to worry one bit about Nate not being able to take care of himself or not be aware of dangers, he has that handled all by himself!  A whole line of instructions, worry, and alertness was unnecessary right then and it was good to just enjoy us. 

10 years has been wonderful and I look forward to so many more.  As they say life has many twist and turns, bumps and bruises, but I have NATE with me and he has ME! 

Louisiana Swimming fun!

Visiting Louisana is always a treat for everyone in our family!  We really enjoy spending time with Nate's parents Steve and Diana and the boys are in heaven with being spoiled by grandparents, hours of swimming fun, creating new lego structures, and playing card games with Grandma.  I always know my kids are in good hands with Steve and Diana!

 Clayton has mastered his diving!  Head down and tucked in, feet sometimes together, and jump straight into the blue aqua below.  He has always loved diving for gold coins (dollar coins) in Grandpa and Grandma Cottrell's pool.  This time he seemed to be super fast so Grandpa threw ten or more coins in a time and everyone would see how fast he could find them all on his own and he often came up with two or three at a time!!  He loves this so much that we have to tell him to take a break just to catch his breath!

 Hayden is a water bug!!  He loves diving just as much as Clay, but he would stand ontop of the hot tub and find his coin at the bottom of the pool and then jump off to dive for it!

Justin was just pure crazy when it came to swimming!!  He would do so many crazy jumps yelling "Superman" as he went.  He wore floaties that held his little body above water great.  Justin is fully aware that he is funny.  He gets humor and wants to make everyone laugh.  When he figures out he was the one everyone is laughing at he often will repeat and repeat his funny thing he did.  We all get a kick out of it that he KNOWS he is funny and uses it!!

I loved hearing all what the boys did while we were gone for our anniversary.  Steve said they had a morning routine of swimsuits on, breakfast, working out, maybe a bit of yard work and finish off with a dive in the pool for hours of pool time.!!  I thought is was so funny Clay and Hayden were trying to get more muscles to wrestle Nate when we got back, love it!  Again, it always is a huge treat to go to Louisiana and see Steve/Diana and it is hard to leave but we are so thankful to be a part of the family and spend time together. 

First Day of School!!

I have two kids in school this year!!! Both were really excited to meet their teachers and make new friends.

Clayton-2nd Grader

Clay is such a smart kid. He is thoughtful of others, is concerned if someone else isn't happy, goofy, thinks he knows more than his mom at times, wants to get tough to beat his dad in wrestling, a really good big brother, and is tender hearted. He needs no help with his homework and is good at getting it done first thing so he doesn't have to worry about it. The teacher has told me that Clay easily gets along with everyone in the class and she can sit him by anyone which is helpful to her. Clay has his own locker at school. It is by a wall right next to his classroom which he thinks is cool.

Hayden - Kindergartener

Hayden has the same teacher that Clay did in Kiindergarten. Mrs. Morrison. Hayden thinks that is cool and wants to show her he is smart like Clay too. Only I know he will be a bit more energetic and class clownish than Clay was. :) He loves going to school, but feels that it is boring sometimes. When I asked why, he said that the work is super easy and he gets it done fast. He didn't need any reasurring to get on the bus, even though he was the only one getting on at his stop and didn't know anyone else on the bus. He tends to give me a hug and say bye before the bus gets there so maybe he can do it without anyone looking which is fine with me, I still get my hug. Hayden has tons of confidence and doesn't worry much except when it comes to him having to try hard to beat a level of Super Mario, then he does it till he has it mastered. He is good to Justin before he leaves and likes riding the bus home with Clay.

Brookfield Zoo

Before Sophie left us in Chicago we had to take her to the famous Brookfield Zoo!! A huge zoo with amazing animals pretty much sums it up. The day was beautiful, the dolphin show awesome and all of us in heaven. I just love zoos!!

Bears Wilderness, huge vulture, macaws, and fluorescent frogs.

Anyone else want to visit for a zoo trip? Super fun all day long!!