Christmas gift idea PLUS news on Project 365

I don't know about you, but I'm always looking for fun & creative new gift ideas...especially since I'm over the Activity Day girls at church. Found these today on one of my favorite blogs- BECKY HIGGINS. If you click on the link, she gives full details and instructions on how to make these darling drink coasters. I can see many possibilities with these..family photos, words, FABRIC and so much more! Let your creativity do the work.


And this..oh my heck! A few summers ago some super cute girls in our Stake did a 'Summer Ideas' class, and low and behold came the famous Duitsman 'Oreo' cake. Got it from the class and tweaked it a bit. Although I've masted the cake, it always comes out uneven and that involves cutting and making a big crumb mess. Yuck. I'm all about smooth and easy, non-messy baking (and cooking). Today, while drooling over Williams Sonoma and all the new goodies, I found this little beauty! I'm in LOVE. Seriously. Call me crazy, but how much fun will this be? It's possible to make that famous 'oreo' cake in perfect form. Gotta add this to my Christmas wish list.


Last but not least..Much time has passed since I've even thought about Project 365. How sad huh. I kind of lost intrest once the kits were advertised for sale, and thousands of us crazy scrapbook people got excited about it, then on sale day all kinds of problems in the sales department. We were traveling to Utah that day and I spent endless hours on hold (from my cell phone)...out of desperation, I called my Mom from one of the girls cell phones to see if she'd log on-line and order for me. But to no avail, she also encountered problems with the site. Talk about BIG DISAPPOINTMENT. That fire, that passion for this project would move on. I was determined to start without all the pretty papers, cards and album (kit). As the weeks went by, I found that excitement diminishing away. I mean, where were all the goods that I drooled over, waited for and talked to everyone about? Then the kits started shipping and the internet was filled with "I GOT MY KITS TODAY", I'll admit, I was a bit green with envy! Oh it gets so much better...Some people (you know who you are) were then selling these kits on EBay for ridiculous prices, I mean crazy! I wanted one badly, but not enough to pay $300 for one that retailed for I believe $40. Needless to say, my project died a slow death. I think I made it through 12 weeks of photos that I kept on a separate private blog...it was easiest to post a picture a day, then journal. They are neatly awaiting a pretty little kit, and for me to scrapbook them!

Today, as I did my regular blog roll...I found a post on Becky Higgins-if you don't follow her blog, you might want to take a peek. She has left CK=Creating Keepsakes to venture out on her own. I am so excited!! She is one talented gal. Anyways, as I scrolled down today, she announced a new kit that is in production at this very moment! More details to follow, but this is so close and dear to her heart and I just know that she really wants to reach out to those who basically missed out, and keep this project ongoing. It's SIMPLE, it's fresh, it's so very EXCITING! This is a sneak peak of what's coming...Oh my, I can barely contain myself! Looking forward to starting 2010 with PROJECT LIFE.



Go see it for yourselves. Pass on the good word. Do you feel inspired? Where will your photos be in 2010..?

BECKY HIGGINS Make sure to click on her 'blog'



Snow Days

Photography by: Lyndsie

We've completely missed Fall this year...and winter has arrived! It was snowing before all the leaves had fallen from the trees. We had 2 full SNOW DAYS (yay!)...and then a Fall break day. It was really nice to be able to stay home, enjoy the snowy cold days, eat soup, and watch lots of movies. Although the snow is pretty much melted now, and the temps have returned to the 60's, it won't be long until the bitter cold returns. We are in store for a pretty wet & cold winter!



Candy Corn Cupcakes....Yum!

Photo Credit: Our Best Bites

Yum yum! Jessica and I are some what of cupcake addicts lately-always looking for fun new recipes to try out. One of my very favorite food blogs posted this recipe a few days ago...thought it was so cute! Wishing that we were going to a party just so I could make some! Enjoy.
P.S. don't forget to click on the frosting link-it's a pretty yummy recipe.

Candy Corn Cupcakes

1 18.25-oz. white cake mix (I prefer Duncan Hines)

1 c. sour cream

1/2 c. vegetable oil

3 large eggs

1 tsp. almond extract

Yellow and orange Wilton food gel (about a heaping 1/2 tsp. of each)

A double batch of Perfect Cupcake Frosting and Filling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 24-cup muffin tins with white paper liners (although you may not make it to 24 cupcakes). Combine all ingredients except for food coloring in a large bowl and beat on low speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then beat on medium for 2 additional minutes.

Divide batter equally into two bowls; you should have about 2 1/4-2 1/2 c. of batter in each bowl. Mix about 1/2 heaping tsp. of yellow coloring into one bowl of batter and 1/2 heaping tsp. of orange coloring into the other bowl.

Divide the yellow batter evenly among the muffin tins. I used a standard cookie scoop, which measures about 1 Tbsp. I only had enough to make 20 cupcakes with the cups filled about halfway. Holding the edges of each pan firmly, bang the pan a few times on the counter to level out the batter. Repeat the process with the orange batter. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes in the pan and then allow to cool completely on a cooling rack.



My sweet Birthday girl

21 years ago, 33 hours of labor, she barely entered the world with a cord wrapped around her neck 3 times. I thought she was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen (ok, I'm a bit partial).

Hard to imagine that this beautiful little baby girl is 21 today! The years have truly flown by. What a joy this girl has been in our lives, and continues to be. From the very first day she entered the world, we knew she had a sweet strong spirit. With those beautiful big blue eyes, one look and she melted our hearts. I'm so very grateful to have been entrusted with this sweet girl! What a blessing she is to our family.

6 months

2nd Birthday

4 years

13 years

HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY MY SWEET GIRL!!
We love you so much.

xoxoxoxo
Mama

Am I a Jack, or a Cat....?

This is so cute! I've seen many variations of the whole 'Boo' your neighbor, but this has got to be my favorite! Start a new tradition in your neighborhood, or with your friends. We've altogether skipped Fall here in Nebraska. But what a fun family night activity! Hop on over to Skip to my Lou and check it out, pattern included. Enjoy!

How to start the “BOO” in your neighborhood

All wrapped up in a cute southern accent

One of the most beautiful people I've ever met. This is Kelli.

Friendship came so easily, mostly because we are so much alike, yet so different. Our friendship sparked off of her son's Baptism when she made the most incredible turkey sandwiches with homemade bread. I can hear her say right now "Nah, it was nothing", in her cute Kentucky accent. Kelli and her husband were living on one of the Church's ranches when we met, and because of them, we quickly learned so much about the whole cattle process from calving, weaning, AI (artificial insemination) and back to more calving. It really is such a fun process, especially hands on!

Kelli has been an inspiration and a breath of fresh air. She has taught me so much over the last year! One of my most favorites is bread making. Of course I won't show that picture again, but lets just say my first batch of bread grew a boy part. Yep, that sums it up. I gave that special loaf to Kelli and she adorned it for as long as she possibly could. We laughed about that silly bread for months! Besides bread, she taught me how to be more frugal and she didn't even know it. If someone gave her something, she knew exactly what to do with it and she wouldn't consider throwing it away. I LOVE that about her! She grew a vegetable garden this summer, but sadly we had a lot of hail and it didn't take off so well (no ones did) so when friends and neighbors started giving her things out of their gardens she kindly shared with me. I am so lucky! With her help and guidance I was able to put up (can) A LOT of food this year, peaches, pears, pickles, tomatoes, salsa, pear sauce, stewed tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, grape jelly and wild plum jelly. No, she didn't give me all of that, but she knew people who knew people. One afternoon, we went to do our VT and on our way back we stopped by one of her neighbors and she climbed up on a ladder just to pick more grapes for ME. This girl never slows down, and I often wonder if she ever sleeps, but that's besides the point..there is always something wonderful cooking in her kitchen and guaranteed fresh home made bread in the oven!

One of the best qualities in friendship is knowing your friend so well, that you just KNOW when they need something to lift their spirits, cheer up their day or just to make them smile...Kelli was just that! If I needed a good laugh, she would just call me..if I needed chocolate, she would just happen to leave my favorite candy bar on the seat of my car, or in my church bag. On my birthday, she surprised me by making my entire birthday dinner & dessert and drove it all the way into town, just for me! When I say into town, I mean just that..my Mother in law can vouch-Kelli lives over an hour away, down a single dirt road, over the hills and out in the middle of nowhere. Often, she would just drop by to bring me eggs, or books, or something new to try. Lucky for me, dropping by meant that she was in town running errands and she thought about me.

They say that some friendships are for a season, this friendship is forever! I LOVE this family so so much. They are so fun to be around, especially with 4 of the most adorable boys! "If only the boys were older" the girls say. They love them nonetheless. And to be honest, I think these darling little boys have crushes on my girls, they can't get enough of them...

Recently Kelli and her family moved back to Kentucky. As in less than a week! My heart aches. But the tears I shed are for joy, and for peace, knowing they are where they are supposed to be. It was hard. Felt like last year all over again, only I was staying and she was leaving. It was terribly hard to say goodbye-so we didn't. Quick hugs as though she were returning to the Ranch, and they were gone. Even though I won't be able to make that hour trip to the Ranch, Kelli is a phone call away, and a quick email...hopefully before too long she will get her computer up and we'll be able to video chat! Nebraska does feel like a different place now, even still, I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to meet such an amazing friend and have the experiences we had. It's all part of the adventure.


Yummiest Rolls ever!

*Picture courtesy of Best Bites*
The kids and I made these Sunday morning for General Conference breakfast...Oh my! Not sure I'll ever make cinnamon rolls with yeast again. We made both Orange & Cinnamon. The orange ones weren't a big hit with all the kids, but I sure liked them! When you are craving a cinnamon RIGHT NOW, this would be the recipe to use. And if you even start to wonder about the ingredients, don't worry your pretty little head, you will be pleasantly surprised at how wonderful these truly are!  You'll never buy Pilsbury again.

Here is the direct link to the recipe:
Our Best Bites