Rainy afternoon...

Have a spooooky and safe weekend everyone!

Two wild & crazy ghouls!

Detailed plans for two ghost costumes for Halloween evening!
I am thrilled that the thought of buying their costumes never crossed their minds.

Garden Porn

Meal Plan Monday

Just a three day work week this week! Although it's a light week for me, Doug will be pretty busy so I put together some easy meals that take little prep from him. We ate out a bit too much last week and I am ready to get back to home cooked meals!

Monday: Salsa verde chicken enchiladas. I will assemble these on Sunday night so that all Doug has to do is pop them in the oven just before meal time. Serve with black beans from the freezer.

Tuesday: Chili. I made a batch of this last week and the kids devoured it! Will toss all the ingredients into the crock pot before heading out the door for work. Kyle can whip up some jalapeno cornbread muffins to go with it.

Wednesday: Pulled pork sandwiches. A nice big pork butt goes in the crock before I go to work. Will season with salt, pepper, lots of garlic powder, liquid smoke, and Jack Daniel's honey BBQ sauce. Just shred before serving!

Thursday: Spinach quiche. Farm fresh eggs make this dish sooo goood! Will serve with homemade biscuits and fig preserves.

Friday: Salmon burgers. Using the same basic recipe for salmon croquettes, these will make nice burgers topped with fresh veggies and a sour cream dill sauce. Served with fresh fruit.

Saturday: Baked potato bar with leftovers. Baked potatoes will be delicious topped with chili or pulled pork from earlier in the week!

Sunday: French onion soup with fresh bread. Will put the soup together in the crock pot before going to church and mix up some artisan bread dough when we get home. This will be so good to wake up to after a loooong Sunday afternoon nap!

Sixteen years ago today...

Happy anniversary my dearest Doug.
It's been a wonderful 16 years...and I'd do it all again!
Here's a little stroll down memory lane for you....

Make a Smilebox slideshow

My little Buck-a-roo

DANNY: "Look mom, I made a cowboy gun!"

"I made it little because I'm little."

"I also made this really BIG gun."

ME: "Well, if you made the little gun because you're little, who gets the big gun?"

DANNY: "Oh, that's mine, too!"

"Now all I need is a horse. If I had a horse I'd name him Bananas."


I love the logic of four year olds!

Pumpkin-tastic!

This recipe makes three of the most delicious loaves of pumpkin bread...'cause if you're going to make pumpkin bread, you might as well make a LOT! These loaves freeze beautifully or you can wrap them up in a pretty kitchen towel and ribbon and give to a neighbor.

They'll love you for it.

And it might make up for all the trouble your four boys cause around the neighborhood...maybe...ok, the bread and cash.

Not to mention it makes your home smell like pumpkin pie!

3 cups canned pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cups apple sauce
4 cups sugar (brown/white/organic cane...it doesn't matter!)
6 eggs
4 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour three 9x5 inch loaf pans.
In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin, oil, sugar, and eggs. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves; stir into the pumpkin mixture until well blended. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.
Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour. The top of the loaf should spring back when lightly pressed.

Variations: add chocolate chips, pecans, walnuts, or dried cranberries!

Happy Birthday Banner

Another great project inspired from Handmade Home!
(I say "inspired" because Mrs. Soule cut out triangles of muslin and sewed on fabric lettering...I took the easy way out, but I think the end product is just as pretty!)

I made this banner for John Paul's birthday but will be using it for all our birthday celebrations. I used scraps of material from meaningful things around the home. The boys will be sure to recognize material from quilts I've made them and some of my handmade dresses.

To make the banner, cut out triangles using pinking shears. Stipple on lettering using a stencil, or free hand your design:

Tuck the ends of the triangles into double fold bias tape and sew.
You could also use hot glue or Heat-N-Bond in case you don't sew.

So easy, so pretty, and hopefully, so meaningful over the years!

Already thinking of lots of other fun banner ideas for the upcoming holiday season!

Happy Birthday John Paul!

Sunday was JP's eighth birthday. We got up and had a big breakfast of pancakes and sausage balls, then off to Mass. After Mass we went into Sugarland for an afternoon at Chuck E. Cheese (JP's most favorite place on earth...Doug and mine, not so much!)
We had lots of presents, pizza, and too much cake! Our precious boy had a great time.
So happy to be your mama, my sweet John Paul, you make me laugh and appreciate life every single day! I love you very much!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Spoooooky!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

What's for dinner?

I got up early this morning and started planning out my day. When I was pondering what to make for dinner (that's what I get for not menu planning this week!) I couldn't think of anything that sounded good. Thinking I would put it off until later, I went to check on our garden.

Looks like our gracious Lord planned our meal for us!

We'll be having stuffed peppers, roasted eggplant, and lima beans!

Bless us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts which we are about to receive from Thy bounty through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

A Spiritual Bouquet

Art work by Kyle...

Many, many prayers by the Creamer family...

Makes for a spiritual bouquet...

Get better very soon Mr. Lawrence!
We love you!

Towel rug...minus the rug.

So this weekend I wanted to make some projects from my new favorite read:
Handmade Home by Amanda Soule.
I set out to make her wonderful towel rug, but thought about taking the project smaller and making a dish draining mat for the kitchen.

It turned out so cute that I made two from one of our old raggedy towels and a scrap of vintage bed sheet.

A little more incentive to do the dishes?
maybe.

Onto the bath mats next weekend!

You know it's Fall when...

...you can no longer walk out in the backyard barefoot!
Not because it's too chilly without to walk without shoes, but because of the painful pecans and their hulls underfoot!

Just in time for holiday baking!

Now who can I get to shell all of these?

What Abby and I are currently reading...

'Handmade Home' by Amanda Soule
It's such a lovely book! Full of sewing projects for the home using repurposed fabrics. Her writing style and photographs really speak to me.

I want to be her when I grow up!

Going to start on her Towel Rug and Beach Blanket to Go this weekend (maybe sooner if it's a slow day at work!) Who knows, some of you might find her projects in your Christmas stockings this year!

Sewing...it's my therapy, and I'm definitely needing a little therapy right now!