Confidence

I have decided that as enjoyable as it is to sleep in, that I am often more tired during the day if I have slept later.  Yesterday I slept in and was tired the rest of the day.  I even fell asleep and had a nap in the afternoon. (Maybe I am just getting old.  LOL)  Anyway, I need to get lots done today, so I guess it is a good thing it was my day to get up at 6:15 am.

We have to take Bradly to Warsaw for his Therapeutic counseling session tonight which means we have to leave as soon as Nick gets home from school and won’t get home until about 6:45 pm.  Tomorrow night the boys have their last Therapeutic Horseback riding class.  They are going to miss it.  I think Nick has managed to amaze the instructor.  This little boy was scared of so many aspects of horseback riding when he started these classes.  Judy (the instructor) just kept encouraging him to try new things and eased him into not being afraid.  He now gets on and off the horse by himself, and he sits right up like a professional, holds the reigns, and rides.  He even trots now and rides the obstacle course by himself.  Judy was starting to lead him last week and when she saw how confident he was, she threw the lead rope up over the horses neck and let Nick do the obstacle course himself.  He has gained so much self confidence through participating in these classes.  The number one rule is that you have to respect the horse, the other participants as well as yourself.  It has been a great experience for both boys, and I hope they get this opportunity again.

My dear friend Peggy, makes amazing greeting cards.  She has donated tons of them to a lady who sends them overseas to the soldiers.  She has so many still left, that she brought a box full up to me and I convinced her to let me sell some of them for her in one of my Etsy shops.  It took some convincing, but finally she agreed to let me try it.  I decided to sell the cards in groups of three or four and keep the cost very reasonable.  Peggy will be happy to just make enough from the sales to purchase more card stock and other supplies so she can keep on creating her cards.  I am sharing some of the card pics today. :o)

 

 

 

 

 

White Velvet Cutout Cookies

I almost forgot that I promised to share a wonderful new Christmas sugar cookie recipe my hubby discovered last year.  These cookies have replaced the cookies my mom made all the years I was growing up and were so enjoyed.  Steve found this recipe in an old “Taste of Home” publication from 1997.  It only took us over ten years to finds this recipe, but we are so glad we did...LOL  Enjoy!  :o)

WHITE VELVET CUTOUT COOKIES

2 cups butter or margarine (softened)                                              

1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened

2 cups sugar

2 egg yolks

1 teas. vanilla extract

4 1/2 cups all purpose flour

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy.  Add sugar, egg yolks and vanilla; mix well.  Gradually add flour.  Cover and chill 2 hours or until firm.  Roll on a floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness.  Cut into 3 inch shapes; place 1 inch apart on greased baking sheets.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until set (NOT BROWNED).  Cool 5 minutes; remove to wire wracks to cool.

BUTTER CREAM FROSTING

3 1/2 cups confectionary sugar, divided

3 TBSP. softened butter or margarine

1 TBSP. shortening

1/2 teas. vanilla extract

3-4 TBSP. milk, divided

food color (optional)

Combine 1 1/2 confectionary sugar, butter, shortening, vanilla and three TBSP. milk in a mixing bowl; beat until smooth.  Gradually add remaining sugar; beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add enough remaining milk and food color until frosting reaches desired consistency.  Frost cookies. 

YIELD: 7 dozen

I Finished the Backpack

I was so nervous about the order I got for one of my “Doggie Travel Bags”, because she wanted me to make hers into a backpack, rather than a bag with two straps.  I said yes, although I had never made a backpack and I was so scared I couldn’t do it.  I made a practice one that took me 2 days to make, but by doing that, I figured ways to make the bag sturdier and a bit easier.  Sometimes I think pattern companies make their patterns too hard when in fact the same thing could be accomplished in an easier fashion.  I much prefer creating my own patterns to using a store bought one, but sometimes I have to bite the bullet and use one that came from the store.  Anyway, I finished the ordered bag yesterday and I am very pleased with how it turned out.  I may never make another one though..LOL  The customer stopped by this morning to pick up her backpack and she was thrilled.  It was just what she wanted.  I love the great feeling I get when I create something for someone and have it turn out just as they envisioned.  I took a couple of pics last night, so I could post it for you all to see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One last thing…we are so happy for Bradly because as a member of this year’s “Chess Club” at school, he is going to his first beginners tournament tomorrow for most of the day.  We have to have him at school at 8:30 am where the kids will be picked up and driven to Belmont Central School for the tournament.  Brad will be back around 4:30 pm.  Brad is very excited and this is huge for him because it is a privilege he has earned by working on his honesty issues and becoming more trustworthy.  We are so proud of his accomplishments.  :o)

Working Hard

Ugh…I am feeling a bit stressed (but happy) with the orders I need to get done.  I am showered, dressed and ready for the day and it is only a little after 9 am….so as soon as I finish with my blog, I am off to my studio….hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to work I go..LOL

My hubby has been doing such a great job of keeping up with the laundry and the cooking while I am working.  He is a peach.  :o)  Yesterday he baked oatmeal scotchies and an apple pie.  He finished up the last of our 2 bushel of apples and made more apple sauce for the freezer.  He roasted a delicious chicken, made stuffing from scratch, mashed potatoes and he cooked up two winter squash.  Am I one lucky women or what??  It does help to marry a bakery manager..LOL  **  In case you can’t tell, our diet is not going well.  **

Speaking of baking, tomorrow I want to share an awesome sugar cookie recipe that Steve found in a country magazine.  He made them last year and they were so good and easy that we traded that recipe for our old family recipe I have been eating since I was a kid.  These have cream cheese in them!!  MMmmm  :o)

Candy, Candy and a “French Maids” Costume

Brad and Nick both managed to gather quite a bit of candy while trick-or-treating last night.  Rachel came home for the night and took them out.  Rachel’s friend Kelly went with them  I guess they were out about an hour and a half and quite cold by the time they got home.  So now begins the battle of them wanting to eat candy 10x a day (Nick started today by grabbing his candy bag and asking if he could eat some candy out of it.) .  Of course I told him that he was not eating candy for breakfast…so he had two granola bars and a drinkable yogurt.  Now, he is eating a tiny sucker (yup, I caved in, but at least he had something healthy first).  LOL

Yesterday my neighbor’s hubby asked me if I could whip up a “French Maids” apron for his wife.  Evidently she bought a costume at Walmart, but he didn’t care for it.  I made one and if I do say so myself, it turned out very well.  When her hubby saw it, he was thrilled (I have a feeling he was thinking of maybe getting more use out of it after Halloween if you know what I mean…LOL).  Anyway, his wife called me later and thanked me for my contribution to making her look even cheaper than she was already going to look.  She said no way she was going to wear it to hand out candy, but she would wear it to the Halloween party they were going to later last night.  Turns out she had no idea her Hubby was having me make this “French Maid” apron.  He surprised her.  Ha ha.  I assured her I thought she wanted this apron made…..she wasn’t mad but it was rather funny.

  These pics of the boys and then the boys with Rachel before they went out last night aren’t very good, but I thought I would post them anyway. Nick was a robber…he came up with his outfit and Brad was a Ninja.  :o)

Are You Ready for Halloween??

When you live in town on a busy street, it is a must to be ready for Halloween.  We have to plan on between 200-300 trick-or-treaters.  They start to converge upon us beginning at 5:00 pm and they keep coming even after curfews sometimes and we have to tell them we are out of candy.  The boys are quite excited about going trick-or-treating, especially Nicholas.  Bless her heart, but Rachel called to say she would be home tomorrow and take the boys trick-or-treating.  What a peach!!!  :o)

Bradly returned to school yesterday after staying home for three days as he had the flu.  Wouldn’t you know that about 10 am yesterday, the school nurse at Nick’s school called to say that he was in her office sick, could we come pick him up.  When Steve got there he was all covered up and anxious to go home because he didn’t feel good.  We were afraid he would have a cow about coming home early since they were dressing in their costumes and having their Halloween party and a parade in the afternoon.   He was fine about leaving, but when they go home he was in tears and wanting to wear his costume.  He has a clown costume and I saw no reason that he couldn’t wear it, so he did and was happier than a pig in mud.   By 11:30 am he was feeling great and asking for a piece of pizza.  He has been fine ever since and was actually quite hyper and irritating for the rest of the day.   He had almost vomited 2x in school so everyone assumed he had the flu also.  Evidently something just hadn’t agreed with his tummy.  We are very glad that he doesn’t have the flu.

The kids have no school today as our school district is having a staff development day.  I have a teacher book/tote bag almost finished and am hoping to finish it and list it in my shop today.  I also have two men’s barbeque aprons finished and I am hoping our buddy Robert next door, who is a senior in high school, will come over and model them so I can take some pics and then list them also.  Bradly has some more ornaments  ready to list also, we just need to take pics of those too.  Anyway, I think I have a busy day ahead of me and hopefully it will be a good one.  Here is a pic of my newest listing…a zippered teacher pouch.   I also just listed a cute little “Dora the Explorer” purse for a little girl.  :o)

Recycling Newspaper

I am frequently impressed with the ingenuity of the crafty people that sell items on Etsy.  I have seen so many creative products made from recycled materials.  I ran across this shop today called “reuse2recycle”  .  Even the name of the shop is a clever play on words, and leaves no doubt in your mind that they use recycled products to create new products.   This seller is looking for some feedback on her shop as sales are not going well.  Take a look at her products and if you have an opinion, please let her know.  Here is her addy and I will add a couple of pics.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=8278996