Who's your blog crush?

Talk to me Tuesday time over at Tip Junkie!
The question for tuesday is...

Who's your blog crush?

My ivillage homegirl, Jen @ The Fun House!

She's always inspiring me with all her creativeness, down-to-earthness and all around fun-ness!
I honestly don't know how she manages to be such a cool chick/mom/blogger, but she does. Go check her out!

-Jen

Who knew?

Blog giveaways could be so addictive?! Love' em!

Here's a few things I'd really like to win...

I need this for Nicholas- if I don't happen to win this, I'm buying it!

--> Kaboost Giveaway!

This apron is adorable. So fun & funky!

-->Real Flirty Housewife Halloween Apron Giveaway

*crossing my fingers I win*
-Jen

Brown Sugar Scrub!

What did I do over the weekend?

Brown sugar scrub makin'! My skin, especially my (yucky) feet, needed it.

I love this stuff! S0-I'm sharing the super simple recipe in case anyone else would like to fall in love with it, too.

Brown Sugar Scrub

Basic Ingredients that I'm sure you have at home, if not they are easy to find.



1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. oil <- I used grapeseed oil, but you can use any seed oil, even olive oil

1.5ml fragrance oil <- optional

That's it. Mix it up in a small bowl.



Using the scrub: Massage mixture into your skin. You can leave it on for a few minutes like I do, then rinse. Voila- soft, hydrated skin.

It's heavenly.


Cautions and stuff:

Be careful in the tub or shower, this stuff is slippery.

If you are a diabetic, try replacing the sugar with salt- works great, too.


Happy Monday!
-Jen

Art day in the K house...

Three days a week I watch my niece, Angelina (27 months).

On those 3 days she's here, I follow (loosely) a two-year old preparatory curriculum (weekly themes w/songs, rhymes, stories and crafts- you know, fun stuff).

Along with our weekly theme, this month we added in the autumn theme, so I'm having the little ones do as many cute fall crafts as we can.

Today, I wanted to try letting the kids stamp with real apples. I've seen it done and it's pretty cute.

This morning, I gather the supplies and take the kids outside to the patio table. It's pretty warm here, as fall temps came for a week and left.

**I'd like to take a split-second to thank hubby for the generous donation of two of his t-shirts, that he's completely unaware of, and without, there would have been no craft with paint today. The kids thank you, hon.**

I take a moment to show them what we'll be doing- they seem excited.



Uh-oh, the fingerpaint isn't working so well.


It's thick and goopy.


We continue on...

Nicholas (Wick-o-was as Angelina calls him) stamping.


Hmmm...
Not so sure this stuff is going to dry...


Let's just fingerpaint!


So much fun!



Angelina (or as Nicholas callers her, Wee-na) going hog wild.


Now this was some Friday fun!

Okay, what's next on the agenda...


TGIF!!
-Jen

A girl can dream can't she?

I want to see the Colosseum at night, just like this.








Bocca della verita – Mouth of Truth

Ancient Myth? It was believed that if one told a lie with his hand in the mouth of the sculpture,
it would be bitten off.

I'll have hubby put his hand in first. *snort*

I’d love to stop here as we stroll through the Ghetto and sample some vino roma.

And, as I stand inside the Pantheon looking up into the ancient eye,
I wonder if I’ll cry at the beauty of it all.





I can dream, can't I?
-Jen

Three for Thursday!

Three things that scare me:

1) Big, hideous, eight-legged creepy crawlies, a.k.a. spiders.
2) Swimming in large, natural bodies of water. I’m absolutely terrified something will grab my
toes or my leg and pull me under. Oh, and seaweed touching my body while swimming creeps me out big time.
3) Driving in deep snow. (Yeah, I know- I live in Michigan, how is this possible? Simple answer- I never learned how to drive the in the frigid, fluffy stuff.)

Three things that I currently adore:

1) Country Home Magazine!
2) Family weekend trips our local Historic Mill.
3) Blogging.

Three things that increase the quality of my life:

1) My trusty Crockpot
2) Hair Straightener- seriously, where was this in my teen years?
3) My family & friends. Of course.

Three things that have been driving me crazy:

1) Nicholas’ picky eating.
2) My unruly hair- it needs a good cut.
3) Dust - need I say more?

Three most recently read books:

1) Mercy Seller- Fabulous!
2) Sam’s Letter’s for Jennifer- Very good, tearjerker.
3) Ghostwalk- Quite interesting- I really enjoyed this book.

Words that changed me.

I love written words. Especially, written words of wisdom. Here are a few that changed me in one way or another.


Every man must do two things alone; he must do his own believing and his own dying. -Martin Luther King, Jr.

** This has always helped me to remember to follow my own path- no one else’s.

I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I ended up where I intended to be.
-Douglas Adams

** Spent way too many days of my twenty-something wondering what I was going to do with my life and worried that I didn’t have a clear enough plan. It took me awhile to realize this bit of wisdom.

Do I contradict myself?
Very well then… I contradict myself.
I am large… I contain multitudes.
-Walt Whitman

** I love this quote. I am ever changing, and that’s okay. :)

Things never were “they way they used to be,”
Things never will be “the way it’s going to be someday.”
Things are always just the way they are for the time being.
And the time being is always in motion.
-Alexander Evangeli Venopouloudakis - Robert Fulghum

** So true. This reminds me let go of those expectations I always seem to set for myself- you know, the high ones. Lol!

I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
- John 14:6

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

He's silly like his momma.

Conversation with my two-year old sweetie, Nicholas the other day:

Me: (pointing to a small ceramic pumpkin on the kitchen table) Nicholas, see the pumpkin?
Nicholas: It's Apple.
Me: No, sweetheart, it's a pumpkin. Can you say pumpkin?
Nicholas: Apple.
Me: Nicholas, can you say pumpkin?
Nicholas: (grinning up at me) Apple.
Me: (giggling) Pumpkin.
Nicholas: (giggling) Apple.

Silly goose.

I figure once we visit the pumpkin patch and pick out our apples...errr... I mean pumpkins, there's no way he can think the big orange pumpkins are apples, right??

Speaking of apples, here's one of my favorite fall recipes: Crockpot Baked Apples

5-6 baking apples <- last time I used Paula reds and they turned out good.
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 - 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
2T butter
1/2 t cinnamon <- I used a bit more, but I love cinnamon
1/4 t ground nutmeg
crushed pecans <- optional

1- Core the apples and peel each about 1/4 of the way down.
2- Put them in the crockpot.
3- Fill the apple centers with 1/2 cup of the brown sugar, the oats, raisins and pecans if you use them.
4- Mix the water with the butter, cinnamon, nutmeg and the rest of the brown sugar
6- Pour it over the apples and cook on low for 2-4 hours.

I serve them warm with vanilla ice cream. So yummy. :)


Happy Tuesday!

It's official- the first day of Autumn!

Aka the Autumn Equinox...

The day our nights start to get longer and our days shorter.

The day that people like Daddy K dislike, you know, those who hang on to every last bit of summer they can and shudder at the thought of wearing pants and sweaters.

But, it's the day that people like me LOVE! Our first official day of fall bliss, as we watch the start of leaves turning vibrant colors and falling to the ground, the cool, crisp smell in the mornings, tasty fall treats and my favorite- fall decorating!

-Fall wreath on front door? Check.

-Scarecrow out front welcoming friends and family? Check.

-Candy corn in candy dish strategically placed for easy access 10x day? Check.

I can't describe the warm, fuzzy feeling I get this time of year- but those of you that get the same feeling every Autumn, know exactly what I'm talking about. Let the fall fun begin, I say.

** A recently discovered tasty fall treasure: Candy Corn Taffy! **

Uber delicious and highly addictive!

Look at those little beauties, don't they look delish?