50th Post Giveaway!!!

I have finally made 50 posts!!!! In honor of that, I am giving away a $10 gift certificate to uppercase living. Just post a comment to enter once, follow my blog to get two entries, post a link on your blog to get three entries. These are just a few examples of Uppercase Living designs. Check out the Uppercase Living catalog http://expressyourself.uppercaseliving.net/
A winner will be selected on Monday February 9.

A funny from my brother

My brother sent me this very funny tutorial from a place called Holy Taco.

We here at HolyTaco, we're big sports fans. And we're also big fans of eating piles of snack foods while we watch said sports. So, in honor of the Super Bowl and our need to cram our faces full of processed foods with funny names, we created this football stadium made entirely out of snack foods.

Ingredients:

The Field:
1 Pound of Guacamole
15 Oz. Queso Dip For The Steelers End Zone
15 Oz. Salsa For The Cardinals End Zone
2 Oz. Sour Cream for the Field Lines

The Players:
15 Vienna Sausages
Helmets - 3 Oz. Sharp Cheddar Cheese

The Goal Posts:
1 Slim Jim for Each Goal Post
1 Oz. Monterey Jack Cheddar To Anchor (each)

The Stands:
58 Twinkies
1 Pound of Bacon
1 Bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos
1 Bag of Cheetos
1 Bag of Corn Tortilla Chips
1 Bag of Chex Mix

The Blimp:
20 Oz. Football-Shaped Summer Sausage (optional) (on second thought, no, this isn't optional. Go buy one.)

TOTAL CALORIES: 24,375
TOTAL GRAMS OF FAT: 1,285
TOTAL COST: $86.47
TOTAL DELICIOUSNESS: 1 Billion trillion, dude. One billion trillion.


STEP 1 - Ingredients:
Put all your ingredients on an empty table and take a really crappy photo of them.


STEP 2 - The Field:
Take one pound of guacamole and smear it on the center of a baking tray, leaving a section on either end for the end zones.


STEP 3 - The End Zones
It's important here to fill one end zone with one filling, and one end zone with another, so that neither team receives home field deliciousness. We chose salsa for the Cardinals, and Queso dip for the Steelers.


STEP 4 - Yard Lines
Take sour cream and put it into a turkey baster, then squeeze gently to make the yard lines across the field.



STEP 5 - The Players and goal posts
Vienna sausages make delicious players, and tiny cheese wedge helmets help keep them from getting concussions. Two different types of cheese helps to distinguish the teams. The goal posts are made from Slim Jim's, that we cut up, then stuck together with tooth picks. Monterey Jack cheese was used as an anchor to keep them standing, with a tooth pick linking the two together. At no point was it necessary to "snap in to" any of these slim jims. Cutting worked better


FIELD REVIEW
Now that the field is finished, you can begin constructing the stadium around it, which you will also eat. It's important to lay down some paper towels, so that no food comes in contact with your disgusting table top. (Because if you're a person who makes this, you definitely have a disgusting table top.)

STEP 6 - The Stadium
The twinkie is nature's brick. You can make your stadium as large as you want, depending on how many twinkies you have at your disposal. We had 58. And probably could have used 90. Use tooth picks to secure the twinkies to one another. This outer stadium wall will provide a delicious dessert when the contents of the stadium have been eaten.


STEP 7 - The Bacon Wall
The bacon wall is the most important part of the stadium, because it keeps the throngs of screaming fans, in this case chips, from falling on the field, in this case the guacamole and salsa. Insert tooth picks into the first row of twinkies, and then weave the bacon in and out of them, so that it forms a pliable wall.
STEP 8: The Fans/Chips
Without the fans, there would be no game. It's no different in your snack stadium, so select four different kinds of snacks to fill the stands. Be sure to use pieces of bacon to separate your crowd into sections, as you can see in the corners of the stadium in this photo.


STEP 9 - The Frenzy
As you can see, the chips give the feeling of a crowd of crazed fans. Especially the cheetos, who can barely contain their excitement at Vienna Sausage Roethlisberger and his delectable team.




STEP 10 - The Sausage Blimp
At any major sporting event, a blimp shows up. In this case it's a 20 ounce summer sausage, that's shaped like a football. It doesn't float, we just took out the wire in photoshop, so don't get freaked out.

Check out this Bloggy Give away

The Shabby Nest is having a give away http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/2009/01/grand-opening-giveaway.html

Prayers Needed

A friend of mine (I've know her so long I can't remember when I didn't know her) had a seizure last night and they are running tests. They believe she has a brain tumor. Please pray for her and her family. She is a single mom with a little girl in first grade.

Update: My friend is being transfered to St. Louis for more tests.

$5 Foot Long

Aaron is obcessed with the $5 foot long jingle. He walks around the house singing it to us all the time. The other night he went with Joe to pick up dinner and he sang for the girls at the counter.

They thought he was so cute that they gave him two cookies!!!! He was really full of himself that night.

Cabin Fever!!!

It all started with some sleet around 1:30 on Monday and My husband decided that he better pick Aaron up early from day care. As he crept over there, he hit a patch of ice that spun him around and put him in the ditch on the opposite side of the road.

We got a couple inches of snow last night on top of the sleet. These are just a few photos of our new truck (less than a year old). My husband is bruised and sprained but not hurt other wise. I am so thankful that he was wearing his seatbelt, we had a fatality at about that time on the other side of town and the person wasn't wearing a belt.

I crept across town and took another route to pick Aaron up and then crept to where Joe was in the ditch and rescued him.

I am thankful that I have a job that allows me to stay home when the weather is bad. But now Aaron has cabin fever. I wish he knew the meaning of "sleep in", especially since the bruising and sprains caused Joe to toss and turn and groan all night. But no.....I had to get up early to fix Aaron this

First Blog Awards!!!!

My friend Jenn (http://meaghanmariepretties.blogspot.com/) Beautifying the World One Clippy at a Time gave me a blog award. Jenn's blog is so funny!! She loves vintage furniture.

I also received an award from http://thecrownedcasa.blogspot.com/ I love her toile decorating.

Here are the rules of the game...For Bloggers who show great attitude/gratitude:1. Post the lovely picture 2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show Great Attitude and/or Gratitude.3. Link to your nominees within your post.4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.5. Share the love and link this post to the person from who you received your award.

Thanks so much guys!!! I am excited to receive my first awards.

Here's the story behind this award:
The authors say that blogs who receive this award are exceedingly charming. This blog invests in the PROXIMITY in space, time and relationships. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."So, now it's time to pass on this award and 'propagate' some friendships!

To pass it on, I'd like to send them to:

My longtime friend Jess (I knew her when she only had 2 lovely daughters) http://jessicamommyof4.blogspot.com/

My bloggy friend Carrie who just had a beautiful baby boyhttp://buzzingsofaqueenbee.blogspot.com/

My bloggy friend Shannon who is an incredible decorator http://thedavisfamilynwa.blogspot.com/

I love her projects and her photographs http://19butternut.blogspot.com/

Melissa has awsome projects! http://granvillehouse.blogspot.com/

My friend Kim http://ablissfulheart.blogspot.com/

Liz Ness......she has awsome projects too http://lizness.typepad.com/a_little_life/

Another Missouri girl, Pat.......she has great decorating ideas and takes wonderful photos, too http://backporchmusings.blogspot.com/

Kasey at a Beautiful Mess http://qkhunt.blogspot.com/

Kacey at Chronicles of a Mommy http://chroniclesofamommy.blogspot.com/

http://glitterandbliss.blogspot.com/

I know, I should be able to do the pretty links, but I haven't had time to read up and little guy is still sick. Had to totally postpone the birthday party until next week. He did open a couple of gifts which I'll show later. He's napping now. Better late than never!

Join a Children's Book Swap

Reading to Know and Library Hospital are hosting a children's book swap beginning on Feb 1. You are matched with a partner and swap a favorite children's book.

What a good way to introduce new books to your children.

Classes start today

Whew! It has been quite a busy couple of weeks!!! My grandmother passed away last week and we had lots of family in and out for many days. While it was not unexpected, we are recovering from the loss and trying to get laundry and housekeeping caught up.

College classes start today and I am busy trying to get all of my course info posted on the class websites. I am teaching a 16 week Health, Safety and Nutrition in Early Childhood course and an 8 week (I must be crazy!) Foundations of Early Childhood course. I had thought I had all of my material ready but my Health and Nutrition power points have disappeared! I am busy trying to recreate the presentations.......hopefully they will be much better.

A's 3rd birthday is Friday and we will be having a train party. We found a silcon cake pan similar to this one that I will be busy baking and decorating later this week. We will have a small family party on Friday evening.

And, if that's not enough, we have having an open house for our Uppercase Living business. The new book just came out and there are lot sof new designs and new colors. If you're interested, check it out here http://expressyourself.uppercaseliving.netWhew!!!! Now I have to get back to tmy power points.......some of my students may be reading this.

Prayers for Harper

I read a blog called Kelly's Corner and Kelly had her baby Harper earlier tonight. Harper is in trouble and needs your prayers. She is being flown to children's hospital. Please pray for Harper and her family. http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/

Our Creative Life Give away

Our Creative Life is giving away a rug....go check them out! http://ourcreativelife.blogspot.com/2009/01/100th-post-and-giveaway.html

Lola B's Give away

Lola B's is having a give away. Go to http://lolabboutique.blogspot.com/2009/01/one-year-older-giveaway.html to enter.

Nesting Place

Nesting Place is having an awsome give away. Go check it out.

99 things

I saw this on imperfect earlier today, its a list of things i've already done, want to do and never want to do. join in if you'd like!
Things you've already done: bold Things you want to do: italicize Things you haven't done and don't want to - leave in plain font

1. started your own blog
2. slept under the stars
3. played in a band
4. visited hawaii
5. watched a meteor shower
6. given more than you can afford to charity
7. been to disneyland/world - visited both
8. climbed a mountain
9. held a praying mantis
10. sang a solo
11. bungee jumped
12. visited paris
13. watched a lightning storm at sea
14. taught yourself an art from scratch
15. adopted a child
16. had food poisoning
17. walked to the top of the statue of liberty - you'll only do this once
18. grown your own vegetables
19. seen the mona lisa in france
20. slept on an overnight train
21. had a pillow fight
22. hitch hiked
23. taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. built a snow fort
25. held a lamb
26. gone skinny dipping
27. run a marathon
28. ridden a gondola in venice - does the one in Vegas count?
29. seen a total eclipse
30. watched a sunrise or sunset
31. hit a home run
32. been on a cruise
33. seen niagara falls in person
34. visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. seen an amish community
36. taught yourself a new language
37. had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. seen the leaning tower of pisa in person
39. gone rock climbing
40. seen michelangelo's david in person
41. sung karaoke
42. seen old faithful geyser erupt
43. bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. visited africa
45. walked on a beach by moonlight
46. been transported in an ambulance
47. had your portrait painted
48. gone deep sea fishing
49. seen the sistene chapel in person
50. been to the top of the eiffel tower in paris
51. gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. kissed in the rain
53. played in the mud
54. gone to a drive-in theatre
55. been in a movie
56. visited the great wall of china
57. started a business
58. taken a martial arts class
59. visited russia
60. served at a soup kitchen
61. sold girl scout cookies
62. gone whale watching
63. gotten flowers for no reason
64. donated blood
65. gone sky diving
66. visited a nazi concentration camp
67. bounced a check
68. flown in a helicopter
69. saved a favorite childhood toy
70. visited the lincoln memorial
71. eaten caviar
72. pieced a quilt
73. stood in times square
74. toured the everglades
75. been fired from a job
76. seen the changing of the guard in london
77. broken a bone
78. been on a speeding motorcycle
79. seen the grand canyon in person
80. published a book
81. visited the vatican
82. bought a brand new car
83. walked in jerusalem
84. had your picture in the newspaper
85. read the entire bible
86. visited the white house
87. killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. had chickenpox
89. saved someone’s life
90. sat on a jury
91. met someone famous
92. joined a book club
93. lost a loved one
94. had a baby
95. seen the alamo in person.
96. swum in the great salt lake.
97. been involved in a law suit
98. owned a cell phone
99. been stung by a bee

Whirl into Winter Give away

We Have a winner! Debbie at die Steppdecken des quilter please email me your address and I will send your prize!

I am participating in the Whirl into Winter Blog giveaway between now and January 14. A winner will be selected on January 15.
I am giving away the 2008 Longaberger Holiday Helper Basket, liner and protector pictured below and a "welcome" expression from Uppercase Living.

All you have to do to win these great gifts from me is post a message on this blog telling me what your favorite winter time hobby is along with your email address if you do not have a blog. Check out the reset of the give aways at http://www.whirlintowinter.blogspot.com/ There are more than 60 giveaways listed.

New Uppercase Living Book & $10 UL savings just for contacting us

The new Uppercase Living book is available on Monday and has tons of new stuff! Uppercase is doing a limited offer of the "Little Hands Keepsake" for $25 with any $50 purchase. You are going to want to place an order to get this fabulous gift package worth $50 for only $25. It is perfect for Mother's Day or for any mother or Grandmother. Just contact Joe princecharmn2u@sbcglobal.net to order. And to sweeten the deal, tell Joe you saw the offer on my blog and receive a $10 discount. Check out our UL website at http://expressyourself.uppercaseliving.net/Home.m The new book should be available around noon on January 5.

Christmas wrap up

Things have been busy at our house over the holidays. Here is an over view of some photos from Christmas. This is Aaron's first visit with Santa. He was afraid to visit Santa last year. He got to see Santa at his day care Christmas party.
This is our 2008 Christmas tree. It fit much better in the other house so we have purchased a shorter tree for next year so the angel will actually fit on top.

A lovely photo of cousins all looking at something in the corner of Grammy's living room. Both of my nieces are 7, my nephew is 4 and A is almost 3.

Sorting trains into the train case on Christmas morning.

Daddy making silly faces at the camera!

New Additions to Etsy Shop - Stone Cottage Gifts

Freedom on weathered barnwood. $16.00
Coaster Sets terra cotta, white and cream (set of 4) "believe, love, hope, dream"
$10.00 a set

"Lil' digger" sign $23.00




"yes, you are the fairest of them all" perfect for your little princess $25.00

Check out our Etsy site http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6010427

We are happy to do custom orders. We will have more posted soon.

Resolutions

New Year's Resolutions

I always hate to think about resolutions but this year I am making a couple and I am hoping that you can help keep me focused.

1) Spend more time doing family things

2) Keep my Etsy store stocked and refresh inventory often

3) Reduce the family debt load (reason to keep Etsy stocked)

4) Plan weekly menus in advance

5) Lose 50 pounds (I know its a lot but I am trying to avoid some health issues I could have in the future)