Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Shabby Apple Giveaway!

                                                       
Yes that's right we said GIVEAWAY!
Thanks to Shabby Apple one of our wonderful readers will receive
a $50 Gift Certificate from Shabby Apple!

Hooray just in time for Summer and Mother's Day!
Shabby Apple has a new "Vintage Clothing" line and the dresses are to die for!
Close this window
Here are a few of our favorites!
We love the clean cut lines and of course anything with polka dots!                           
                 Close this window
All you need to do to enter is leave us a comment!  Yup that's it!
We'll run the drawing through this week and choose a winner on Saturday!
Once the winner is announced you'll have 24 hours to contact us before we choose another winner.
Make sure to check out all the lovely dresses over at Shabby Apple, especially their Vintage ones!



Thursday, April 25, 2013

Labors of Love


I have to admit I've been horribly distracted the last little bit.
A week and a half ago our 3rd squirrel Fifi disappeared, at dusk, which only means one thing.
Big bird gobbled her up.  No not the one from Sesame Street, most likely a Great Horned Owl.
We're not sure we are liking owls very much right now.
She has been our sweetest squirrel so far and our little family is heart broken.
I know, you're probably thinking, wow, it's a tree rat, a rodent.
There is something that happens when you feed and care for a little creature from the very beginning of it's life, it awakens the Momma in you.  I'm especially sensitive to this since I have suffered with infertility.
If you wonder where my crazy animal/pet fetish comes in, it's because I've always wanted to be surrounded by the pitter patter of little feet.  I just didn't know "how small" they would be.

So when my Dad called me the night before my hubby went out of town last week
I completely jumped at his offer to help me with a project I've been wanting to tackle for years now.
I've been wanting to rip out our fireplace ever since we moved in here.
Yes, that's popcorn ceilings~that's another project to tackle...eventually.  That's my hubby in his lucky Ohio State hat.  I don't think people even recognize him if he doesn't have it on.  Go Buckeyes!
I realized I don't even have a picture of the "before" fireplace wall really.
The wall is about 12" deep, with a faux wall, laid over a solid brick wall (so the house would look updated to sell~to us of course.), then the original wall.  When we moved here I traded in my large house for one almost half the size which was fine because the yard was too die for!  Huge trees and not a sign or peep from any neighbors, my very own little private park!
Right before Turkey Day my hubby and his friend installed 2 windows that I fought tooth and nail for with the hubby.  Now he can see the errors of his ways.  Period.
My hubby~I let him be "the man" for the day.  I didn't even touch a power tool, just ran for drinks and lunch.  It was really nice!
I bought cabinets for my birthday 1 1/2 years ago that have been sitting in the garage waiting for the "opportunity" to be used.
Here's my Instagram photo of my Super Man Dad!  He gave me 30+ hours in just 3 days to remove everything and haul it to the dump.  Oh did I mention that we also lost his hearing aids in the debris and had to dump out all 4 garbage cans of rubble to find them?  We did find them though and they still work.  He is the most amazing man I know, he'd do anything for his girls~and boy does he get the opportunity for us to take him up on it!

Stay tuned and I'll keep sharing everything as we get closer to being done.  I ripped off the entire mantle yesterday and got all my wood cut to rebuild it.  Also next Friday we'll be decorating doors down at the school for Teacher Appreciation Week.  Photo's will be posted that night, I promise!  Now back to installing those cabinets.....

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Mom's Famous Buttermilk Pancakes


Last weekend Candace and I both had the same idea for breakfast on our lazy Sunday morning we were enjoying with our families.  We broke out our tried and true recipe for Pancakes/Waffles that was passed down to us from our Mom.

Growing up we didn't have very many traditions in our home~it was too crazy trying to raise 6 kids and keep your sanity.  I still don't know how our dear Mother did it all.  One tradition was that every Saturday morning while us kids were huddled around the TV for cartoons, our parents were whipping up Buttermilk Pancakes to sustain us through the endless hours of yard work that were soon to follow.

I tend to stick with the tried and true since I get nervous about trying new recipes.  Candace on the other hand has tried several other recipes but none seem to measure up to the original that we were raised on.  It can be used for making waffles too!

Mom's Famous Buttermilk Pancakes
3 eggs
3 3/4 cup buttermilk
3 3/4 cup flour
6 Tablespoons soft shortening or oil
3 teaspoons sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Optional: add 1 1/2 cups drained fresh or frozen blueberries to batter~fold in carefully.  Top with strawberries & whip cream.

Thoroughly mix all ingredients, adding in extra buttermilk to achieve desired consistency. Cook....Devour.:)

Now that we are raised and have families of our own, it is a thrill to hear our different siblings say "I made Mom's pancakes this morning.", or when our brothers come to town their (and their kids)  first request is that Mom makes pancakes the next morning.  I will admit that no matter how well I make them, they never taste quite as good as when Mom does!

Thursday, April 11, 2013

WYLTC Tidbits!

In case you've missed what's been going on over at
Wood You Like To Craft this week
make sure to head over and see these great ideas and tutorials for
April's theme of "Mother's Day".
Here's our Photo Flower Bouquet

Wendy from Craft Goodies

Krystal from Sassy Sanctuary

Melinda from Under My Umbrella

We were so touched by the personal stories and reflections of Motherhood by these amazing crafty women! It's obvious why we love crafting with them so much~they craft with heart!  Can't wait to see what next month's theme will be!

Monday, April 8, 2013

WYLTC? Mother's Day Craft


We are hosting Wood You Like To Craft this month
and our theme is "Mother's Day"!

Come check out our cute Mother's Day Wooden Flower Bouquet
and stay tuned for what Krystal, Wendy and Melinda have to share this week!