Whatever

30 seconds is all it took me to make each of these cards. And they didn't cost much to make either. The butterfly stickers are Miss Elizabeth's from the dollar store, the white cardstock is Stampin' Up! and the pink is Chatterbox cardstock. The rub ons are from a big pack of greetings from Making Memories. They go on like buttah. ;)

On Wednesday, we had an impromptu pumpkin carving party with our neighbors the Smiths. They got off the bus and Natty asked if she could have a playdate with Caroline and Dylan asked if he could have a play date with Colin. I reminded them that they were going to carve their pumpkins today and they asked if they could help. I said if they want to why not? So, after all their respective homweork was done, they came over and we had a little carving party. Such FUN! Let the designing, gutting and carving begin. :) Colin and Dylan with their jack o' lantern. Kelsey with her kitty kat jack o' lantern. Cute! Natty and Caroline and their finished pumpkin...

For my week in the life project, I decided to tackle it by dedicating the particular day of the week to what each is all about. I think it is the easiest and most fun way for me to get this done. I had such a blast taking the photos of the ordinary. However, my kiddos were tired of the camera by Friday. LOL!!! Someone suggested doing this project for the same week every year and see how it changes. I hope I can remember to do that because I really think that would be kinda neat to look back on. Ok. So here goes, My week was from Sunday, October 5th to Saturday the 11th. Sundays are all about family time and getting ready for the week. This particular Sunday we went to Barton orchards and picked our pumpkins along with a few more apples. I spend a lot of time on Sundays ironing and meal planning so that my week goes as smoothly as possible. Here are some apple picking shots from Sunday the 4th. And the shot of my trusty Rowenta iron and Niagra starch. I could not live without...

In Butterfly World they have a section of tropical plants and flowers. The first time we visited, this section wasn't built. So, we were really excited to get to see something new. I took a picture of the flower descriptions so I wouldn't forget the names of all the different flowers. Aren't I clever. ;) Here's the purple flower. Pretty! :) A red one.... And a yellow one... Maybe one day I will have my very own tropical flower garden to tend. :)

This year our annual pumpkin picking trip took us to Barton Orchards up in Pauquag. It's a bit of a drive but they make picking an event. Hayrides, corn maze, petting zoo, farmer's market and even apples...tons of apples. We picked a couple of pumkins and a bag of apples. It was a gorgeous day. But I think the best part for the kiddos was this slide they built into a mountain. It was underground and pretty long. I was able to get some cool shots of them coming out of it. Neat, huh? A sea of pumpkins. How's that for an orange photo? Dylan and his pick. :) Natty and her pick. :)

Every year the girl scouts donate cookies to the Veterans in our community. They are not picky and chocolate chip will do. That's good news for me since that is about the only cookie I have perfected. I signed up to bake 1 dozen but they were short volunteers and asked me to bake 4 dozen instead. :O So, here is my first batch right before it went into the oven. As you can see, they are on my trusty silpat mat. My cookies never stick and never burn. If you don't own a silpat mat but love to bake cookies then you need to get one. They are sooooooo worth the money. 4 dozen yummy chocolate chip cookies all packaged up and ready to be delivered to the vets. I made extra for us. :) I hope they like them. :)

this gorgeous brown alpaca broken rib scarf for my sister for her birthday. It's easy peasy. It uses size 10 needles. Cast on 25 stitches. Knit 2, purl 2, knit 1 until it measures the desired length.

On Saturday, October 4th several SJ ladies and I converged on a lovely scrapbook store in CT to meet and oh boy am I glad I wasn't too sick to go. It's been too long since I met with these fabulous girlies. I vow never to wait a whole nother year to get together with them again. We laughed so hard I thought I was going to cough up a lung. I even scrapped 3 layouts and a mini book. That hasn't happened in months. See what a few hours with some friends can do for a girl!? A photo of the whole crew.... And here I am modeling my camera strap. I wasn't even drinking. LOL!!! Patti's friend makes these beautiful fabric camera straps and all of us bought one. This one had my name all over it. It reminds me of Miami and the beach with the pretty colors and patterns. Nancy was taking pictures of all the straps but mine wasn't yet on my camera so I improvised. hehehe. ;) I cannot wait til we meet again. February girls??????

Sloppy Cubanos 4) SERVINGS 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) 1/4 to 1/3 pound chorizo, casing removed, finely chopped (about 1 cup) 1 pound ground pork 1 onion, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped 2 teaspoons paprika (about 2/3 palmful) 2 teaspoons ground coriander (about 2/3 palmful) 1 teaspoon allspice (about 1/3 palmful) Salt and pepper 2 tablespoons brown sugar 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (eyeball it) Grated peel and juice of 1 lime 1 cup chicken broth One 8-ounce can tomato sauce 4 Portuguese rolls or submarine rolls, split 4 deli slices Swiss cheese 3 to 4 large dill or half-sour pickles, chopped 1 bag plantain or other chips 1. In a large skillet, heat the EVOO, 1 turn of the pan, over medium-high heat. Add the chorizo and cook, stirring, until browned, 2 minutes. Add the pork and cook, crumbling it with a spoon, until browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the onion, garlic, paprika, coria...

Cookbook Heaven that is. See, I have this love affair with cookbooks. I read them like novels and cherish them forever. If I ever redo my kitchen, I will need to create a space that holds all my prized cookbooks. Right now they are devouring my baker's rack. So, when I opened up the NYT yesterday morning and saw a full page ad for a new Giada cookbook, I almost screamed. Well, I would have but this darn sore throat and cough prevented me from doing so. It came out yesterday!!!!! I am so excited!!! :D Then while browsing Amazon.com I found out that on October 28th, this baby comes out. EEEEEEEEE!!!!!!! My family will thank me for sure. :)

Oatmeal-Apple Scones MAKES 8 Prep Time: 30 min Bake Time: 20 min 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon half-and-half 1 large egg 1 1/2 cups flour 3 tablespoons sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 3/4 teaspoon salt 1 stick (4 ounces) butter, chilled and cut into small cubes 1 1/2 cups rolled oats 1 apple, cut into 1/4-inch cubes 1. Preheat the oven to 450°. In a small bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup half-and-half and the egg. 2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Blend in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the oats and apple and toss. Stir in the liquid mixture until the dough just forms a ball. 3. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface. Pat into a 7-inch round; cut into 8 wedges. Transfer to a parchment-paperlined baking sheet and brush the tops with the remaining 1 tablespoon half-and-half. Bake until golden, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.