i heart faces

This week's theme at iheartfaces.com is actually "tooshies", and so...

This is the way Sam typically watches TV.

To see more tooshies or to play along, click HERE.

Fragmented Freewrite #19

We had an amazing Thanksgiving, and I hope YOU did, too!




We ate a lot and then made these turkey cookies, per Sam's instruction...

They were so cute and Luke really thought they were yummy!


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Speaking of Sam...he has enlarged lymph nodes on his neck, which was a bit of a shock. His doctor thinks that it might be mumps even tho he's had the proper MMR immunizations since birth. (I'm big on the shots.)

We are awaiting the results of an extensive blood test, so we'd love prayers, good wishes and positive vibes sent this way.


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I came up with a great new "recycled craft".

I collected these push-corks from a (cheap) wine that I like and was convinced that I could use them at some point.



Add some glue, beads/mini marbles and a name tag, and...


they make great place-card holders.


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Neil and I are enjoying a date today, complete with a New Moon viewing and something even more fattening than yesterday. Woohoo!


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We finally bought the flip. It seems so cool already and here is my first "test" video...



Do you have one yet???


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Have a wonderful last weekend of November 2009!!

Wordless Wednesday

November sky...

Fragmented Freewrite #18

Some Thanksgiving/Fall decorations in our home...

And, Luke came up with this on his own...



It seems that everyone is finally feeling normal here, so I'm excited about next week. Sam is out of school all five days, the weather is supposed to be nice and we will celebrate Thanksgiving with a Cajun fried turkey from Copeland's!


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I'm nearly finished with my Christmas shopping. Just a few gift cards to pick up. Can I get a "Woot! Woot!"???


I remember when I used to LOVE wrapping all the gifts. Now, I really dread it. It's hard to find the necessary alone-time and it's a pain to "re-hide" everything. Our next house must have a secret lair! Yes. A pool and a secret lair.

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Sam was star student this week in his Kindergarten class. He had to take in his favorite book, which was "A Big Cheese for the White House" and his favorite toy, which is currently (anything) Bakugan.

We also made a poster about "Sam" and here are some things he came up with...

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Pumpkin Spice cupcakes
with cream cheese frosting

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 2-1/2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
• 2-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 cup buttermilk

FROSTING:

• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add pumpkin.

• Combine the flour, pie spice, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda and ginger; add to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating well after each addition.

• Fill paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

• For frosting, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla and cinnamon; beat until smooth. Frost cupcakes. Refrigerate leftovers.

Yield: 2 dozen.


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Enjoy New Moon the weekend
and HAPPY TURKEY DAY!!

Wordless Wednesday

A house in the woods...

Foto: Orange

Orange is the theme this week at the paper mama, soI'm going back to this favorite foto of Sam lovin' on his pumpkins.

Fragmented Freewrite #17

It's been another crazy week!


Luke just cannot get over his sinus infection. He's on another antibiotic now...for 20 days!! Luckily, he's a great medicine-taker. Oh, and he also has pink-eye. It was going around Sam's school and apparently hitched a ride home.

Sam woke up yesterday "soooo tired, Mom." (He doesn't need a lot of sleep, so that comment was odd.) He went to school b/c they had a fun field trip planned, but I could tell when he got off the bus that he didn't feel just right. He came straight in and took a 2 hour nap. He also had no interest in eating anything. This morning he woke up and sad that his tummy was yucky. Gotta love that!

I also heard Neil coughing a lot when he was getting ready for work. Oh, the joys of the sick season!

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I've got a necklace giveaway going, so if you haven't entered click HERE.


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We had the most beautiful Fall weather last weekend. We spent as much time outside, as possible, so I had to grab my camera...


And, if you want to see photos from the Chili Cook-off, you can click HERE to go to that post.

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Enjoy this weekend!

I think it's supposed to another nice one in GA. Unfortunately, everyone in my family is sick!

Wordless Wednesday

Pure joy, after the loss of our beautiful cats in September...

LOVE this sweet kitty nose of pink and black...and the big-girl whiskers!
Go, Molly, grow!!!!!



To enter my current giveaway, click HERE.

...a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

Can't beat fall in Georgia!! Especially when it comes to a chili cook-off...

If you haven't entered my current GIVEAWAY, click HERE!!

Giveaway time!

True Random Number Generator Min: Max:
RESULT: 12


That's YOU, Blue Violet!!



As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I've suddenly gotten into beads, wire, clasps, etc. It's so much fun to pick random "things" and put them together to make a beautiful and/or unique, but often eclectic piece of jewelry.

So, I'm making a lot of bracelets and necklaces for gifts these days and thought I needed to offer one up on my blog. And, I chose this one because it reminds me of how absolutely beautiful our sky has been the past few days.




I had a really tough time getting this necklace to photograph properly. It's much prettier in person, as the silver actually looks silver and the shell is a beautiful soft blue.



If you would like to win this necklace, simply leave me a comment below. If you follow me, you can have a second entry, but only if you leave a second comment.


The giveaway will end on November 15th at Midnight. Winner will be randomly drawn and notified by email.

Fragmented Freewrite #16

Woohoo...it's NOVEMBER and today Luke is 20-months old!!

Goodness. I love this sweet babe!



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It was rainy most of Halloween. Sam was a skeleton and Luke was Frankenstein (the monster...not the doctor). We still had a great time, and if you didn't see the pics, you can click HERE.

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My Niece is 22-years old, so she went to a fun costume party on Halloween. I was very proud of her creativity. Can you guess what she was?

Cereal Killer Ashley, 2009

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I finally got my thank you cards prepared for Abby's & Aja's vet and crematorium. I think they turned out great and I hope the staff at both places like seeing these beautiful (and healthy) captures of our girls. We still miss them so much.

Here's the cover of the card...


We had such amazing experiences with the two companies (in spite of everything) that it was important to me, to not only thank them, but show them just how special our girls really were.

(I adore Scrapblog.com, and it just keeps getting better. If you aren't familiar with the site, you definitely should be!)

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I'm thinking that every week, I will include a photo of something "Dina". Here's the one for this week...


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Sam's kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Saniatan, had a birthday on Wednesday. We planned a little surprise for her during snack-time, and I think she was definitely surprised.

It's so much fun to see the kids in a structured environment. I always leave amazed by the power of a teacher!





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Our neighborhood is having the annual Chili Cook-Off on Saturday. It's the first big event in here since "The Flood" and we are really looking forward to it. The weather is supposed to be great, and the green-space and trails are beginning to look like they did in August. (Thanks to a ton of hard work!)

What do YOU have planned this Fall weekend?



Check back on Sunday b/c I'm posting my necklace giveaway. It would make a great Christmas gift! Just saying.