The Lazy Days of Summer ...

Backyard Tic-Tac-Stone

Poor Jim has a wife with too many ideas. Here was today's ...

Tic Tac Stone



Here is what you need:
(9) 4 inch brick pavers (Lowes for .68 each)
(1) bag of stones (Walmart craft dept for $4)
white interior/exterior paint
kids paint brushes (watercolor ones work)
couple of kids
(1) willing and able man

Once you have everything you need, wipe off 10 similar in size, flat stones. Pour paint into a disposable plastic container and set out brushes. Sit your children down at the (covered) table and proceed to instruct the older one to do the O's and try to convince the little one to do the X's (because the O's are harder to paint.) Let the stones dry.

Next, head outside and carry the stone pavers to the area of choice (shade) and lay out half an inch apart, 3 on the top, 3 in the middle, 3 on the bottom. Now, go find your willing and able man. Tell him that you've tried (you will need a shovel propped up near the digging site) and you just can't break through the soil and would be come and help. He will be impressed that you have the tools (shovel) and the pavers already in place. He will gladly take over. Stand back.

This man will note the square footage of the work area. He will then set aside the stones and remove the grass and 1 inch top layer of soil. He will then tamp down the soil to make the bottom flat and even. Then he will place the pavers as you had them before and will add back in the soil by shaking it from the clumps of grass.



Spread out evenly and tamp down with your foot.



Carefully sweep the stones off and you can now add back in some tiny sprigs of grass to help along the regrowth. Grass will fill in the dirt area between the pavers.

Sit down and enjoy the game!

Disc Swing (a.k.a. The Tire Swing)

Owen and Miles wanted a tire swing. Our trees in the backyard, while providing lots of wonderful shade, do not have extremely thick branches. Once Owen drew the blue print for the tire swing - along with instructions on how to mount it to a post that would support the tree and branch, since they weren't quite thick enough, we knew he meant business. Every day for a week, they asked Jim, "can we go today to get our tire swing?" and "today is a good day for a tire swing." Finally, we decided on a disc swing and I found one at Toys 'R Us. They love it. Miles still calls it his "tire swing."



Owen in "tire swing" disc swing heaven.

Kindness Fortunes ...

I read the sweetest little article about "the Artist of Everyday," Keri Smith. I just loved her adorable ideas on helping kids and adults create magic and beauty from daily life.

We decided to try her "Hidden Fortunes" idea, where you leave little notes in places for people to find. The notes should include little quotes or phrases to make someone feel good or smile.



Here is what you do:
1. Cut a piece of paper (we cut strips from my 4 x 6 index cards because I have stacks!) into little strips, each approximately 1 x 3 inches.
2. Write a fortune or affirmation on each of the slips. Some examples: "You look really nice today," "Someone is thinking about you right now," or "Don't cry because it is over. Smile because it happened."
3. Fold the fortunes and drop them at random wherever you go - we went to Lowes and Walmart and had gobs of fun poking them into the flowers outside and sitting them in platters, bowls and glass pitchers at Walmart! Feel good knowing that someone will find them in the very near future!

Spike's Sweet & Salty Milkshake

These were the perfect treat to go with World Cup Soccer!

Serves 4 kids - double for adults

1/4 cup peanut butter
2 cups Snyder's of Hanover Peanut Butter Pretzel Sandwiches, plus extra for garnish
1 cup milk
2 cups creamy vanilla icecream
4 dollops whipped cream
salt

In a blender, crush peanut butter pretzel sandwiches. Set aside 4 tablespoons for garnish. Add ice cream to the crushed pretzel sandwiches in blender. Add 1/2 cup milk and blend until smooth. Add more milk if needed. Rim four glasses with peanut butter and salt, then dip rims into the reserved crushed pretzel sandwiches. Pour shake into prepared glasses, garnish with dollop of whipped cream and extra peanut butter pretzel sandwiches.

Stampin' Up Party

On June 12th, I hosted a Stampin' Up party at my house. I invited friends, some of whom scrapbook and stamp, and others who came just because they love me and knew I'd be thankful.



Among other things, I made a Black-Eyed Pea Dip. I fretted over this dip at the last minute because it was just missing something... and since I'd already added a half block of cream cheese to "fix" the recipe, I wasn't quite sure what that "something" was. I don't know why I worried, some of the girls just RAVED over this so-so dip! For those of you who wanted the recipe - it is down below.

We had cucumber sandwiches...



Sausage Balls with Horseradish Mustard Dipping Sauce...



Brown Sugar Cakes with Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Icing...



and Party Spirals from Sam's ... because I was so worried that Black-Eyed Pea Dip wouldn't go over very well ... Who knew?!!!



Here's that recipe:

(3) 15oz. cans black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup finely chopped pickled jalepenos (in the jar or can) reserving juice
10 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 medium sweet onion, finely chopped
1/2 stick Land O'Lakes Butter, softened
1/4 tsp garlic powder

and if you liked it at the party...

Add 1/2 block cream cheese

In an eletric mixer or large mixing bowl, mix together the peas, jalapenos, 3 Tbsp of reserved jalapeno juice, cheddar cheese, onion, butter and garlic powder until blended. Heat the dip in a medium crock pot until hot and taste (this is where you add in that 1/2 block cream cheese if you aren't completely happy.) Serve warm with fritos corn chips.

Tip - this dip gets better with age - days 2, 3 and 4 the dip was just divine! We threw in some crushed tortilla chips and it was killer good!

Is it actually hot enough to fry an egg...?

Today, Owen, Miles and I decided to conduct a little experiment ...


Here is our egg, in a non-stick pan, placed on the driveway about 2:00pm today.


Here is our egg at 2:20pm. Check out the bottom edge - that is frying baby! Standby for final results!

The perfect tea cup ... the overly priced, perfect tea cup

Apparently, I still have an eye for the expensive - for the non-attainable. The expensive, non-attainable tea cup? Who knew! But aren't these adorable?



They are called "Cup on Cup" by artist Molly Hatch. Sadly, they are priced at $120 each and who could pick just one? You'd at least need two - and with that, I might as well resign to being single again because Jim would kick me and my $240 pair of tea cups O-U-T!



Oh, but aren't they soooo cute?!

Blueberry Seltzer with Lime - new favorite summer drink!

Here is what you need:
(This will be enough to get you through the week. One tiny little bottle of seltzer just wouldn't do!)

1 bottle OceanSpray Blueberry Juice
1 2-liter bottle Seltzer Water
1 lime

Pour about 1/4 cup blueberry juice into a glass, fill the rest of the way up with seltzer, then squeeze a lime slice and toss it in, throw in some ice cubes and enjoy! You have a fizzy little fruity drink - and it's non-alcoholic and maybe even healthy! Yum!

Johnson's on 4th

For a long time, Wednesday mornings meant Johnson's on 4th with Jennifer Bendetti. I have taken a hiatus from going every single Wednesday, but I think Jennifer is still at it - and maybe more than once a week! When school starts back in the fall, I will be right there with her - 9:00am at Johnsons. Breakfast at Johnsons makes me happy.





Here we are with Dixie. Dixie is like no other. That woman can sling some breakfast plates and make the best little pot of peach tea around! (That is saying a lot because mama knows her hot tea!) Jennifer gets a Mocha Royale. When she is feeling brave, she orders it with caffeine and then later texts me to apologize for talking so much. This always makes me laugh.

Dixie knows almost everyone in town - and what they want to eat. When she gets finished behind the counter, she will come over and hang out for a while. We always like to hear about her daughter and what is going on around town. Dixie is in the know! We like that!

The tip jar at Johnsons.



Dixie's cute Midget MG - and all of our monkeys in tbe back.

Working Mom's Weeknight Cookies - aka Death by Crinkles

Here is what you need:
(1) 13x9 fudge brownie mix
(1) cup all-purpose flour
(1) egg
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup canola oil
(1) cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Confectioners sugar (enough to drop cookies into and roll about.)

Here is what you do:
With whisk, mix together the dry brownie mix and the flour, then add in the egg, water and oil. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Drop dough (preferably with a cookie scoop) into confectioners sugar, roll about to coat.


(Miles eating the confectioners sugar faster than I could roll the cookies!)

Place 2 inches apart onto a foil-(coated with Pam)-lined cookie pan. Bake for 8-10 minutes. As soon as you pull the pan from the oven, transfer the hot cookies from the pan onto a wire rack to cool. Yum!

Great Grandma's Buttons...

My Great Grandma was an amazing woman. She was 92 when she passed away a few months ago. She loved to do word finds, watch soap operas (she called these her "stories") and she raised 4 kids in the south, having not ever worn pants, never missed a Sunday of church, nor learned how to drive! (How is a woman to escape from it all without being able to drive?) That was just it - in her day they didn't need to do that.

The woman was sharp as a tack. She couldn't hear a thing until some of us grandchildren started whispering at the table behind her recliner and she'd let us know quick that she knew what we were talking about! Sassy didn't cover it!

Great Grandma had an amazing collection of aprons - I love aprons! I never knew she liked them too! She quilted - I love quilts! I guess some of my favorite things of hers are the skeleton keys that I have hanging on a ribbon in my kitchen. My mom recently gave me a third one to add to my collection. Great Grandma's house was old - and those skeleton keys opened all of the doors in that house. The ceilings were so low, because apparently people back then didn't grow as tall as they do now, so some of the men in the family have been known to bend down when passing through the doorways.

Great Grandma had a beautiful, old sewing machine. The kind that is built into a cabinet with a peddle underneath. I used to sit at that sewing machine and absentmindedly peddle faster and faster, not knowing what was going on under the lid of the cabinet! Later, I discovered all of her old buttons. Those that had matches were strung onto thread and tied off, so that they didn't get separated. I love that. Somehow I was blessed to get that tin of buttons and sat down the other day to go through them. Here are a few of my favorites...

Small Town Life...

I tried so hard to move away from Effingham in my early 20's. I successfully lived in an apartment by myself in Savannah (scared out of my mind at night) for about a year. Once Jim, from Green Bay, proposed marriage, I willingly moved right back to Effingham where he lived. Love will make a girl do strange things! We decided to build our house in Effingham and start a family. At first, I regretted that I didn't spread my wings and fly further than the town where I went to high school, but now I have grown to love it. Now that we have two boys, I love our little small town life. Big city life has nothing on this...

More things to love... Bake It Pretty

Sometimes I feel a little guilty showing you some of these cutesie things. You might have lived a quite contented life without knowing they even existed. Now here I have shown them to you and told you where to find them - the guilt sets in. They are just out there... waiting for us to buy them and bring them home to love! So here goes...


www.bakeitpretty.com

I have been dreamy over this website for awhile and I realized that I needed to share it with those I love!

Here are some of their adorable items:

Cupcake doilies!


Posh cupcake liners!




For when you feel like an animal!


Monkeying Around



The Pirate Kit


Decorating Candies


Old Timey Bags - perfect for homemade pralines and cookies!

Greetings at Midnight...

Greetings & Salutations! Isn't that cheery for midnight? Well, it is midnight. I have to work tomorrow. I am sitting at my computer rolling through the terribly addictive blogs full of cute fabrics, cute stationery, pictures of tea cup stacks, bird cages, dress forms, dessert tables with cupcakes and all of this stuff gets me so excited and I just keep a'clicking! So, it's thundering outside, Jim is asleep and I am pecking away at my blog. My delete key squeaks - just realized that. Like the new background? It might be temporary. So I found this lovely little quote that I thought you girls out there might like ... and with that, I bid you all goodnight!

"I believe in manicures,
I believe in primping at leisure
and wearing lipstick.
I believe in pink. I believe that
laughing is the best calorie burner.
I believe in kissing, kissing a lot.
I believe in being strong
when everything seems to be
going wrong. I believe that
happy girls are the prettiest girls.
I believe that tomorrow is another day
and I believe in Miracles."
- Audrey Hepburn