Happy Dance

Whoo whoo….we are so ready for Thanksgiving vacation to be over with.  We had a very nice Thanksgiving, but Steve and I are about at the end of our rope with bickering and arguing by the boys.  Oh, and let us not forget the lying..I am sick of that too!!  LOL

We just got back from a trip to JoAnn Fabrics where I purchased some thread, some fleece and the non-skid stuff that goes on the bottom of my dog booties.  Now it is time to finish decorating the tree.  It is  up, but three strands of lights did not work when Steve went to put them on the tree last night.  We just bought them last year so that was quite annoying.  He bought more today, so now we can proceed.  All the other decorations are out..even the outside lights.  :o)

Yesterday we had to have our cat, McGreggor, put down at the vet’s office.  He was sick and getting worse.  Megan got him from a rescue about 7 years ago and then she moved and he became our cat.  He was well loved and had a good life, but we shall all miss him.

Cleaning Day

I have declared that today is going to be our “deep” cleaning day in the living room.  All furniture will be moved out, vacuuming done and the curtains washed.  By getting this done today, the living room will look nice for Thanksgiving and will be all set  to put up our Christmas tree this weekend.  I sure hope I muster up a little more energy than I have right now..LOL

On Sunday I  got very nervous while I was looking at the store ads.  I had put on my reading glasses, but everything was a bit blurry…not as bad as when I don’t wear my glasses, but I couldn’t see very well.  I asked my hubby if he thought I was due for an eye exam, because I thought my eyes had gotten much worse.  I have to admit I was rather nervous as I am diabetic and have been eating some sweets I shouldn’t be…so I thought it was effecting my eyes.  Well, when I took off my glasses and went to set them down, I saw that one of my lenses had fallen out….Steve and I really had a good laugh over that one..LOL  :o)

Where Has The Week Gone???

Wow, this week has just flown by.  Hard to believe it is almost Friday.  We have to run to JoAnn Fabrics tomorrow.  I have an order for a set of dog booties made out of tie dye fleece.  Hopefully the store has some…they have so much fleece, it would seem there should be some tie dye there somewhere. 

Bradly had a great birthday despite the fact that he was not feeling well.  We kept him home from school on Monday and took him to the Dr.  Thankfully he did not have the flu, but he did have an ear infection.  He is feeling much better thanks to the antibiotics.

I was blessed today to sell 10 sets of dishcloths from my shop.  That was a total of 20 dishcloths.  I am thrilled that they sold as I have had them awhile and it seemed like they were never going to sell. 

My Arelel Designs shop has some new girls purses made from various children’s fabrics.  I also made a drawstring backpack for a preschool aged child out of Dora the Explorer fabric.  I thought I would post some of the pics.  I don’t know about all of you, but I love seeing pictures when I read blogs.  :o) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bradly’s Birthday

Bradly turns 12 years old today.  He came to us in foster care almost 8 years ago when he was 4 years old.  Wow, time does go quicker the older you get…LOL  Despite a few ongoing problems, Brad is doing great and has come so far and worked so hard to achieve the gains he has made.  Brad’s report card came in the mail yesterday, and I just have to share his grades.  This is without a doubt the best report card he has ever received.  English/Language/Arts-88, Spelling-75, Social Studies- 86, Math-80, Science –85, Art- 99, Chorus -95, Health-100 and Phys. Ed. – 98.  We are so proud of him.

Bradly requested steak, potato salad, broccoli with cheese sauce and fried mushrooms for his birthday dinner.  He requested blueberry pie for his “cake”.  My parents and Chris and Heather (our oldest adopted son) and his girlfriend , (the one having twins in a month or so) are coming for pie and to share the gift opening.  Rachel came home yesterday so that she could be here too.

I got the pics taken and listed Bradly’s new ornaments yesterday as well as the baby mittens my mom made.  I also completed another purse I had an order for and cut out 5 little girl purses.  I must say, yesterday was quite a productive day.  Here is a pic of the adorable mittens my mom made and one of Brad’s new ornaments.  :o)

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)