Happy, Happy, Happy!!

My brother and family arrived safely last night after 11:30 p.m. We are going to be so busy the next couple of days, but I will be one photo taking Auntie!! My newest nephew, is a precious love muffin and I could just eat him up.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my wonderful friends in our blog universe. I hope you get to enjoy all the blessings in your life and provide a blessing to someone else along the way. Peace!!

Turkey Day Countdown

Well, my baby brother (Tony) left his home in Biloxi, Mississippi this morning at 3:30 a.m. to drive up here to Virginia Beach. He and his beautiful wife (Courtney) and two boys are headed here for the holiday and I can't wait!!!! He should be here tonight around the time I get home from work (6:00). That is a long drive with a 9-year-old (Skylar) and a 7-month-old (Deagan). I am sure they will be ready to get out of that car when they arrive!!

I am the oldest of four children and Tony is the youngest and only boy. So his three big sisters have subjected him to all kinds of dressing up over the years. Poor kid! But he has turned into a wonderful man and an amazing father and I couldn't be prouder of his success. And even better, he loves to cook too and is really good at it, so we should have one heck of a good Turkey Day.

Are you getting your menu and ingredients ready for T-day? Are you having overnight guests? Are you eating at home or at someone else's place. Please tell me all about it!!

P.S. The extra room is done!! Clean and ready to house my brother and his family! Yippee, I did it and I'm here to talk about it!! Pictures to come!

The Last Remaining Frontier

Since our relocation in July, we have been in remodeling limbo. I have repainted, recaulked, cleaned, dissected, redecorated most every room in the house. Well, all except one. My guest room/home office/craft studio. Exactly....how am I going to get all of that into one little room? At the old house we had two extra rooms. One was guest room/office and the other was my craft studio. Well, needless to say, I have been putting off digging into that space and the room has become a catch-all for pretty much anything we don't currently know what to do with. See for yourself:



I know, I am cringing inside seeing the photos! Well, my brother and his lovely wife and two nephews are driving up for Thanksgiving. The are driving about 15 hours from Biloxi. I can hardly wait to see them and their new addition, Deagan Alexander, who has been on this planet for 5 months and Aunt Kim has not even seen the precious bundle in person!! So this weekend, I will be transforming this hot mess into a comfy, cozy sanctuary for my brother. What??? I can do it!! So not much blogging will be going on for me - or anything else for that matter. Check back for the results photos! Have a great weekend!

Pink Candy Favors

Making candy using molds couldn't be easier and never fails to impress guests. The candy molds and candy melts can be purchased at any number of craft stores in the cake supply aisle. The molds start as low as $1.39 and are reusable. They come in a huge variety of designs. I got the candy melts on sale 2 bags for 5 dollars and they come in an array of colors. One bag of candy melts made over 100 candies. Two things to remember when making candy: #1 - microwave on 50% power, chocolate burns easily. #2 - Chocolate and water don't mix, so don't try to thin it or anything with water, that equals a big mess!! You don't have to have one, but the squeeze bottle is neater and makes things a lot easier.


Melt Chocolate in the microwave in the bottle according to package directions:


Using the squeeze bottle, fill the molds 3/4 way to the top. Pat the molds evenly on counter to spread the chocolate. Stick the mold in the freezer for about 3 minutes. Turn out the choclates. It is that simple.


Aren't they pretty? Don't know if you can see the detail, but there are pacifiers, bottles, rattles, rocking horses, diaper pins and booties.


I packaged these in little tins with a sticker of baby feet on top for favors!

Chicken Salad My Way

Here is my simple and delicious recipe for Chicken Salad. You can either cook your own chicken, or get a roatissare chicken from the grocery store:

Chicken, cooked and shredded (1.5 to 2 lbs)
Lemon Pepper Seasoning (2 Tablespoons)
Can Crushed Pineappled, drained
Chopped Pecans (1.5 to 2 cups)
Mayo (enough to make the mixture stick)
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice before serving



Mix all ingredients and chill overnight. Serve with croissants. Let me know if you love it, I know you will.

Strawberry Daiquri Punch

Here is my delicious recipe for strawberry daiquri punch that I served at the baby shower. Don't worry, I left out the rum for the mommy to be! Now the ingredients are simple, but the key here is freezing it overnight - if not frozen, it does not taste the same.


Mix together, 1 pkg strawberry Kool-Aid, 1 cup sugar, 1 gallon water, 1 large can pineapple juice, one can frozen lemonade thawed and two pints frozen or fresh strawberries. I mix it direcetly in the punch bowl that I will be using to serve at the event.



Freeze overnight. Thaw 3-4 hours before serving. It is closer to 3 hours if you are using light rum to spike it with. Just pour it over top and it will help melt the punch to slushy consistency. I forgot to take a photo of the end result, but let's just say there was NONE left over.

Baby Shower Yumminess!

The baby shower for my sister-in-law, Jenny, took place this weekend. It was a lot of work, but she had a great turnout and it was a success. The co-host, Angie, and I made everything ourselves except the veggie tray. Included on the menu were chicken salad croissants, ham and cheese biscuits, spinach dip, veggie tray, meatballs, pesto and sun dried tomato bruschetta, apples w/caramel dipping sauce, chocolate fondue with assorted dippers, chocolate petit fours with rasberry filling - oh and strawberry punch. Everything was DELISH!! Throughout the week I will be posting some recipe tutorials, so come on back and check them out.

So here's the table!




These are the scrumptious petit fours I made, truly a labor of love!


That's me there on the left, my sis-in-law in the middle and the co-host, Angie, who is 6 months pregnant with TWIN BOYS!! I know I look preggers too, but I'm not, just fat!! Where are you Kat with your "no hips" photo rules???? Kat is having an awesome 10 week contest, you better run over there and check it out!! Of course, if I ran over there, I might not need the "no hips" rule, right? I digress.....


For a sweet gift, I bought this photo mat at Target and everyone signed it for the future "Sweet Caroline"!! The baby due date is December 10th, so come back and see copious photos!!!

Troop Love

When I told y'all about my sweet son, Caleb, going to Iraq before, some of you asked for his mailing address. He called last Sunday and was feeling a little down. He said he feels like a loser when the mail comes and there is nothing for him. :( Poor baby!! Mama sends something about once a week, but I guess he'd like to hear from someone other than me. So if y'all want to spread some bloggy love to a lonely sailor, far from home, please do! We can't forget these young people, it is our duty - just like they are doing their duty!!

HN Jonathan Mothershed
2\10 T Btry
Unit 73363
FPO, AE 09509-3363

Contest Craze!

Jeannie is having a contest. I don't know about you, but I could stand to shed a few pounds and this happy girl is giving away one of her very own cookbooks with healthy and delicious recipes. Please check it out - and her blog is A-DOR-A-BLE!


Laurie @ Tip Junkie is have an amazing 12 days of Junkie giveaway. The best part is that we will be supporting and promoting women in business!! Please don't miss it!


One more, Rhea is having a Vampire Inspired Giveaway!!

Happy Veterans Day

Support the ones who have given their time, devotion, energy, blood, sweat, tears and the ultimate sacrifice, their lives, for all of us to enjoy our freedom.

Let Freedom Ring!!

Weekend Bounty

Look at these gems that I looted when I was thrifting. This is just a prequel for these items. Wait until you see what I have in store for these babies.
Don't you love before and afters shots on blogs? I sure do!

SITS featured Thrifty Decor Chick this weekend and I was very inspired by her ideas. I am so making that monogram wreath AND her laundry room was do DIE for. Please, go on over there and check it out.
Do you like thrifting? What is the best deal you've ever gotten and /or your favorite find?

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

Or not - but Kat is gearing up for this week's contest: Check it out!





Here are some super cute photos of my niece and nephew in their Halloween gear!
Sara Kate

Jackson Paul

Waiting for Water to Drip

Pedro kitty is growing up. He has gotten a lot bigger in the past few weeks and he is still as sweet as can be. This is what he does in the morning when I am getting ready for work. He sits there staring at the faucet waiting for the water to drip. At first I thought he was just thirsty, but I filled the little birdbath on the counter there with water and he could care less about that! He is steadfast in his focus and has the utmost patience. Maybe I could learn something from my fur baby!

Oh, Bebe'

I will be hosting a baby shower for my sis-in-law, Jenny, on Nov 15th. I am so excited because I love throwing parties! I mentioned here before that I chose a french theme for the shower. Jenny is having a sweet baby girl to be named Caroline Rose. I am going with a black and white shower with baby pink accents. These baskets I bought at TJ Maxx were my inspiration for the whole thing. Aren't they pretty? Best of all, they were on sale. I bought both baskets for less than $25 total! I know!!!! I can't wait to fill them up with croissants and door prizes.


I was fishing around for some baby shower games and some of you gave me some good ideas. Stay tuned for the photos of the food and fanfare!

Here are photos of the invites I made. We have a lot of friends and family out of town that cannot attend, but me and my friend, Theresa, made 50 invites by hand. They turned out really sweet.

You probably can't see very well, but the little pink dots are pearlescent beads and they are so pretty in person. I was going for understated and elegant, I hope it didn't come off as too plain. What do you think?

My friend, Kat, is having 10 weeks of giveaways. Yup, you heard me, 10 weekends worth of prizes. The first prize is a doozie, so head on over and check it out.

Halloween Parade

Grim Reeper!!


Polka Dot Rocker!!


Kids from the Hood!!


Itty Bitty Blue Power Ranger!!!

Daddy trying to freak us out!!