Finally a Post From Kristie and Flashback to Halloween :)

Well to start off, sorry I haven't posted anying for a very long time. My family recieved some news during the last couple months that turned our lifes completely upside down. We found out my mom has cancer. The Dr.'s first told us it was pre-stage 1 and that all would be well. Then after her 1st surgery, we were told that it was stage 4 and uncurable, but treatable. The timeline also shrunk from 8 months - 10 years down to 6 months - 3 years. It has been a hard trial to deal with, but I think things are finally soaking in and I feel like I am able to continue on with some things now. All the thoughts and prayers that have been sent and are continuing to be sent are much appreciated. We are all very grateful for all the love and support we have recieved.

(WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS FLASHBACK TO HALLOWEEN :)

I looked back over that last couple months and realized I never posted pictures of my sweet little lady's halloween costume. She was Minnie Mouse and between my mother in law and I we made her whole costume.

We found the pink t-shirt on clearance for $1.97 at Children's Place, I bought the black long sleeved shirt and black tights at Walmart, she already had the pink croc's, and we made everything else. We used a poodle skirt pattern for the polka dot skirt and my mother in law free handed the bloomers (so cute!) She also made the white collar to go on top the shirts. Then I made the all the bows, buttons and ears.
I think it turned out pretty cute! She loved being Minnie and had a great time trick or treating!

Our New Author

We'd like to take a quick minute to introduce our readers to our new author, 

Mindy.

Kristie and I have known Mindy since high school, and if memory serves we were all on the year book staff together 9 years ago... (Wow! Ladies are we REALLY that old?!?)  

Mindy loves to craft and we are happy to welcome her aboard.  I think we're all excited to see what she's got up her sleeves.

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On another note, those of you who are wondering if we're ever going to finish the redesign on our blog pages, I promise we'll get with it soon.  Personally, I'm trying to figure out what happened to the year.  The last thing I remember was my daughters birthday in May!

Here's hoping for a slightly calmer new year!  Yes?  Maybe?  Please?

The. Best. Lemon. Meringue. Pie. Ever.

This recipe is seriously DELICIOUS!!! Best lemon meringue pie ever!!! You can find the recipe here.

Lemon Meringue Pie

Ingredients

• 1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked (homemade, frozen, refrigerated...whatever you prefer)
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1/3 cup water
• 4 eggs, separated
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 
  
• Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups sugar, salt, and 1 1/2 cups water in a heavy saucepan. Place over high heat and bring to a boil. In a small bowl, mix cornstarch and 1/3 cup water to make a smooth paste. Gradually whisk into boiling sugar mixture. Boil mixture until thick and clear, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolks and lemon juice. Gradually whisk egg yolk mixture into hot sugar mixture. Return pan to heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in grated lemon rind and butter or margarine. Place mixture in refrigerator and cool until just lukewarm.
4. In a large glass or metal bowl, combine egg whites and salt. Whip until foamy. Gradually add 1/2 cup sugar while continuing to whip. Beat until whites form stiff peaks. Stir about 3/4 cup of meringue into lukewarm filling. Spoon filling into baked pastry shell. Cover pie with remaining meringue.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, until meringue is slightly brown. Cool on a rack at for at least 1 hour before cutting.

Amazing turkey and rub

(Sorry there's no picture, I don't have a fancy camera like everyone else in the blogging world!!)

Last year for Thanksgiving I couldn't find a rub that was what I was looking for, so I took a few different recipes and came up with my own. It is SO good! It always makes me feel good when my husband takes a bite of food and says, Oh yum! That's so good! He even made the comment for the first 3 or 4 bites of turkey! Yum! I used it again for our Thanksgiving Turkey this year. I wanted to brine my turkey using THIS recipe, but unfortunately, my grandpa unexpectedly passed away, so I found myself traveling for the 3 days before Thanksgiving. I got home Wednesday afternoon in time enough for a little bit of prep, then my hubby and I went to see Wicked!! Anyway, the bottom line is, this rub is so delicious, and it is so easy!! We will be making a turkey again for Christmas (I got a free one from my work!).

Mindy's Thanksgiving Turkey and Rub (I had a 18 lb turkey, so I doubled the rub)
Ingredients for the rub:
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp sage
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tbs brown sugar
5 slices bacon (I use turkey bacon), cooked and crumbled
1 tbs Worcestershire

Other ingredients:
Turkey (whole, or turkey breast)
Carrots
Onion, sliced
Celery, diced
Worcestershire sauce, a few dashes
2 tbs butter
2 tbs flour (for your oven bag)
Oven/Turkey bag
1 cup water or chicken broth

1. Mix ingredients for the rub in a small bowl. I add the Worcestershire last. Use your hand to loosen the skin from the turkey (NOT frozen, I thaw in fridge for a few days before). Make sure that you don't remove the skin...you are just going to (literally) rub your rub between the turkey and the skin. Cover with plastic and return to the fridge for 4-24 hours (this is a rough estimate. If you don't have time, it's OKAY to rub the turkey and immediately cook it!)
2. Put flour into oven bag and shake around (this ensures that the bag doesn't burst). Place whole baby carrots, sliced onion, and diced celery in the bottom of the bag, and set into your roasting pan
3.Take your turkey and place on top of the veggies in the bag. Cut your 2 tbs of butter into several smaller pieces and press them onto the top of the turkey (on top of the skin). Sprinkle with a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce. Pour you water into the bottom of the bag. You can also sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper as desired.
4. Tie your bag with the included ties. Cut a 6 2" slits into your bag (that's the directions that the oven bags I bought gave) to release steam. Place pan in the oven and cook according to the directions on your turkey (it depends on how large it is. I generally reduce the head by 25 degrees, and cook for an extra 30 minutes).
5. When finished, remove from oven and let sit for 15 minutes before carving. Make the most AMAZING gravy. YUM!

**You can also cook a turkey in the crockpot...just cover tightly with foil instead of using the lid!!! Prepare with rub as above. Place a crockpot liner in your crockpot. Put veggies and water in the bottom. Put turkey in and cover tightly with foil. I usually stick my meat thermometer right through the foil so I don't have to lift the foil and release heat. If your turkey has a pop-up timer, just note where it is at so you can notice it when it pops!

A Christmas Door Hanging

I decided I wanted something new hanging on my front door this year, something different and fun.  I had this old stocking, the red and white fuzzy ones that cost a dollar at most stores and a little Christmas teddy bear that I can never manage to find a home for... after a quick trip to the dollar store I whipped this up yesterday.

It's fun.  I don't think I've ever seen a stocking door hanging before.  It was super easy to make.

I picked up a few foam blocks from the dollar store and stuffed them down inside.  I wrapped one of them in Christmas paper and grabbed a candy cane from my yearly collection.  

So to start, stick something heavy in the toe of the stocking, to keep it hanging straight.  (I used an old padlock we lost the combination for.)  Then stuff the stocking with foam blocks to make it look bulky.  Take your stuffed animal, candycane, and wrapped box and arrange them in the top of the stocking.  Hot glue, or use another method of tacking, to tack it all down so it doesn't blow away in the next storm.  

You may need to safety pin the white cuff to the stocking, mine kept sliding upward.

That's it, it cost me about $2 to make and it took less than 1/2 hour.

Frosted Snowflake Christmas Tree Balls

About 4 years ago my husband bought my some plain clear glass Christmas tree balls.  I had no idea what to do with them, so they sat in the Christmas box for 4 years.  I finally got an idea and I put it to work today.

Frosted Snowflake Christmas Tree Balls

To make these balls I started by using my Silhouette SD and I cut a whole bunch of little 1" snowflakes out of bright pink vinyl (I chose a bright color to make it easy to see after they had been painted), and I placed them just like stickers randomly on my glass balls.
You could use snowflake stickers if you don't have access to a vinyl cutter
(each ball has 3 snowflakes)

Next I took the top off the balls, I removed the springy prongs and put those back in, so I would have a way to hang them up to dry.

Then I took them outside and I used this Frosted Glass spray paint (found at Home Depot)
(use gloves to keep from painting your fingers)

Painted them as evenly as I could (kinda hard to see wet transparent paint.)

And hung them to dry on my little make-a-shift drying line.

After the painstaking hours of waiting for them to dry, I carefully peeled off the vinyl stickers (try to peel from the center, it makes it much easier) and replaced the cap and spring.

Now they are all ready to go when we pull the tree out next week.

This is what the individual snowflakes look like around each ball:

Are you making any homemade crafts this year?  Tell us about them.

Today is a day...

Today.  Today is one of those days I will look back on in 10-20 years and laugh.  However, today I'm going to try really really to keep my cool and to remember all those wonderful things people say about children.... ya know the ones I mean "children are so innocent" "they're so cute" "children are God's greatest gift."

Because today my daughter climbed on top of the fridge while I was not looking and found the finger paints, then hid them in her room until nap time.  Today a single room in my house was redecorated without my knowledge.
Today I screamed.

When I opened the door, after the speechlessness left me I asked my sweet innocent child what the crap she was thinking!  She replied very sweetly and very innocently "I wanted to paint my wall!"

It took me over an hour to clean the carpet and the paint on the wall won't come off. That'll be an adventure for tomorrow.  I hear magic erasers work.  Have to try one of those.

What kinds of messes have your kids made?  come on tell me.  it'll make me feel better.