A Gut Check....



photo courtesy of I Heart Guts

So guess what happened to Candace last night....

Yup, after a couple of days of crazy pain

that she thought was from some bad pizza

and her efforts to get all those costumes ready for the church play....

Well, she didn't even make it to the play but ended up

in the emergency room.

Thanks goodness she is already home tonight

and even brought home some lovely pictures of her surgery to share.

We are praying for a speedy recovery!

I thought the appendix doll was pretty funny

that I found on Pinterest

but I don't think Candace will share my sense of humor on this one.

She'll probably want to kill me for even sharing this

but I thought you'd all want to know why she'll be MIA for a while.

Get well Candy, I don't know what I'd do with out you!

More Pinterest Fun!

If you haven't been enticed to come see

what Pinterest is all about

we thought we'd entice you with some things

we found that are simply pinned onto my board

titled "hilarious".

mind.body.soul.



popartuk

weheartit

source unknown

.the.world.is.your.oyster.

notinmybrain

nicegirlnotes

Hoping some of these make you smile~!

Happy Weekend!

Pinterest Sparkler Love

stylemepretty.com

My sister in-law called me this morning looking for sparkler wedding favor ideas.

 I quickly headed over to Pinterest, it is so cool! What a great resource, I couldn't believe all the sparkler ideas.  Here are a few of the pretty wedding sparkler ideas I found this morning.  

intimateweddings.com

sparklersonline.com

boards.weddingbee.com

orkut.com

etsy.com

sparklersonline.com

Who knew sparklers were so popular at weddings?

Hopefully a couple of these ideas will help her,

 and hopefully we will be back soon with some regular blogging! 

 We are barely managing to stay afloat this summer!  See you soon!

A Squirrel's Tale

This week has totally snuck away from us.

Forget accomplishing anything on Candace's room,

she's been stuck sewing 20 something angel and townspeople costumes

for a play they are putting on for her church group.

Today in between letting some paint dry

for some birthday banners I'm making

I thought I'd catch you all up on our latest squirrel adventures.

 Last night I was going through some of our pictures to help my parents out with

a lame newsletter about our family that of course

none of us want anyone to see pictures of us in.:)

I stumbled across all my little squirrel pictures and

I know, it's silly, but I was missing my "babies" and how fast they grow up!

Here's Gracie our first squirrel who is now 2 years old!

Here's a funny picture I got of Gracie who learned to sneak in the pet door

in the morning...and eating next to Izzie in her cage and Morris the cat.

Looks dysfunctional doesn't it!

She's living out in our yard now

and hasn't been too happy with me for kicking her out of the garage 2 weeks ago.....

which is where she had 3 babies this spring....

yeah, she chewed down into my mini Christmas tree box and had them!

Note to self: Mini tree completely destroyed~make sure to throw away.

We didn't dare peek in on them because she was fiercely protective

but the night we first saw them.....

Yes, crappy picture in dirty garage in dim light=

a giddy phone call to my parents to let them know I was a Grandma.:)

Here they are sleeping in some can holders in my garage.

They are now chewed to death so I guess I won't be using them.

When they were weaned they were more than happy to move out of the garage

and now I get to see them hang out around the bird feeder, 2 girls and 1 boy.

Oh did I show you the picture of Big Red?

I'm pretty sure he's the Daddy.

Check out his creepy blue eyes!!!!

He is huge and was hanging out an awful lot with Gracie,

the boyfriend who wouldn't go home.

Meanwhile, remember sweet little Izzie?

She was brought over by my thoughtful friend Beth.:)

Izzie grew up beautifully and loved to chew on every electrical cord in our house.

The TV, the vacuum, the Dustbuster, the computer, the lamp....nothing was spared.

When we finally went to release her this spring she did very well.

She went off for 2 days.

So I spent 2 days sitting in the freezing cold waiting for her to come back.

She did, and then we thought we'd try again a few days later

and she didn't.

I had all our neighbors on the look out and we couldn't find her.

I didn't over feed her so she matched right in with all the other squirrels.

I hope it's a good sign.

I have really missed her.

These last pictures of her were taken right before Easter

after my crazy week of crafting for a boutique and getting only 10 hours of sleep.

The bags and accentuated wrinkles made me almost not post these.

But we are coming up on our yearly anniversary of baby squirrels being dropped off

at my door and I have to admit.....

even though it's totally nuts....

I'm kinda hoping one does.

Don't repeat that to anyone!!!!

If you missed out on our previous

squirrel adventures check here and here!

Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding

Alright, we took one bite of this

deliciousness and just about died.

I'm not a huge fan of bananas and I admit I was

a little skeptical to try it, but I totally trusted our brother

when he said we had to try this.

All he had to say is that it was Paula Dean's recipe.

It was so wonderfully creamy, smooth,

and downright wicked....that we've

been dreaming up other varieties of flavor combinations to try! 

Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding

2 bags Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies

6 to 8 bananas, sliced

2 cups milk

1 (5-ounce) box instant French vanilla pudding (our brother used banana pudding)

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 (12-ounce) container frozen whipped topping thawed, or equal amount sweetened whipped cream

Directions

Line the bottom of a 13 by 9 by 2-inch dish with 1 bag of cookies and layer bananas on top.

In a bowl, combine the milk and pudding mix and blend well using a handheld electric mixer. Using another bowl, combine the cream cheese and condensed milk together and mix until smooth. Fold the whipped topping into the cream cheese mixture. Add the cream cheese mixture to the pudding mixture and stir until well blended. Pour the mixture over the cookies and bananas and cover with the remaining cookies. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Recipe courtesy of Food Network! 

 Our brother said they've tried it with coconut cream,

a strawberry lemon combination,

and next we'll have to try something with chocolate!

YUM!!!!

We've had so much fun playing together as a family

and it was super hard to see them go this morning!

This week we are hoping to finish off some of the finishing details

for Candace's master bedroom.

We'll be hanging all the curtains and hopefully getting those bedside tables

painted so we can show you our IKEA hack!

Happy Baking!

A Korean Feast!

This week our older brother is visiting with his family and we've been

completely distracted enjoying them!

Every time we all get together we have 

to have a Korean Feast!

Our family has a love of Korean food since our 

family lived there for 3 years.

Here are two of our all time favorites that are definite crowd pleasers!

This is a Korean BBQ at it's finest!

First up is Bulgogi

2 1/2 pounds of tender beef sirloin sliced super thin

2 Tablespoons Sesame Oil

3/4 cup Soy Sauce

2 1/2 Tablespoons Toasted Sesame Seeds

1 Teaspoons Black Pepper

1 Teaspoons Salt

6 Green Onions Diced

1 Large Yellow Onion

6 Cloves Garlic Minced

We usually have the butcher in the meat department slice the meat thinly.

Mix together and let marinate at least 4 hours or overnight.

You can fry it up in a pan or for best results

use grilling pans on the grill!

Our other favorite is 

Yaki- Mandu!

(or as we know it, Korean Egg Rolls!)

Yaki-Mandu

3/4 lb Hamburger (pre-cooked)

3/4 lb Ground Pork (pre-cooked)

1 Zucchini finely grated

3 Eggs

1 Carrot finely grated

2 Garlic Cloves Minced

1 Small Bunch Bean Sprouts

4 Green Onions finely sliced

1/2 Yellow Onion Finely diced

1/2 Head Cabbage finely shredded

1 Tablespoon Sesame Seeds

1 Tablespoon Sesame Oil

2 Teaspoons Salt

1/4 Teaspoons Black Pepper

2 packages Won Ton Wrappers

Make sure all veggies are finely diced

and we always pre-cook the meat.

It's a group effort to make these little guys!

You only want to add about tablespoon of filling into the wonton wrapper

and then fold in half, sealing the edges with a bit of water to make them stick.

Fry in a pan of hot oil till golden brown.

Serve hot and with a dipping sauce of 1/2 cup Soy Sauce and 1/2 cup Vinegar.

Don't forget to add the Kimchi! A spicy, hot, marinated cabbage.

It's a must have, but it's not for the weak!

If you've never tried Korean food

you won't want to miss these two yummy recipes!

 Next we'll share the most divine recipe for your sweet tooth

that our brother shared with us! You won't want to miss this one!