My Father-In-Law

This month, because it would have been his 56th birthday and also a perfect time to give thanks, I would like to pay tribute to Theo Hamer. He was not only an amazing husband, he was an amazing father, grandpa, brother, uncle and great friend, but most importantly he was my father-in-law. He accepted me and took me in as one of his own from the very first day I met him. He always introduced me to people as his daughter-in-law. He was a person you couldn't help but love. Dad had a quirky sense of humor and a infectious smile that I will never forget. He was one of the hardest workers I have ever known and would do anything for you. He left his best qualities behind in his amazing children and for that I am thankful! Love and miss you Dad!

Christmas 2011, Madison and Grandpa.

Dad and his four goofy sons. They are exactly like him in so many ways!!

Dad and Mom Thanksgiving 2011.





My Pretty Tree

Today to celebrate Fall and all it's glory, I wanted to share my pretty tree with ya'll. It's gorgeous if I do say so myself!! It has already lost half it's leaves in just 2 days. My entire yard is covered, and my daughter can not wait to rake them up and jump in. I hope you enjoy as much as I do. Happy Fall!!!!!!





The ground is covered!



I think yellow is a wonderful color!!



Some of the first leaves changing this year.



Big Sister Chloe

On Monday my little sister had a new baby boy!!! Hurray!! I already love him so so very much. Because my niece Chloe was becoming a BIG SISTER I wanted to make her something to remind her just how special she is to all of us. I gathered some pictures from when she was born and put together alittle book just for her. She loved it and took it to share with her friends at preschool the very next day.

Homemade Laundry Soap

I broke down the other day and decided to try one of the many homemade laundry soaps on Pinterest. Total cost was $12.00. I think it will last for months. I like it alright, although it doesn't smell quite as nice as my old stuff.

This is what we used.
6 cups Borax, 4 cups Super Washing Soda, 4 cups Baking Soda and 4 cups Fels-Naptha soap. You just grate the soap and mix everything together. I use 1-2 Tbls for each load.

Madison thought the soap looked like cheese.

I didn't have a big container, so I used some small Mason Jars I had on hand. The soap filled 7 of them. If you'd like to save a few bucks every month here's the link http://www.greatoakcircle.com/homemade-laundry-detergent

DIY Barbie Furniture

My daughter currently is in love with playing "dollies" So this year for Christmas my husband and I are making her a cool Barbie sized doll house. I of course will be the interior designer!! I have already made several pieces of furniture. Duct Tape is my new favorite thing!!!

Made the couch out of cardboard and duct tape. The cushion is an old burp cloth stuffed with cotton balls. Instead of sewing I used hot glue along the edges. Pillows will be made next.

Madison loved it! It actually seats up to 5 Barbie sized dolls.

The dining table is also just cardboard, duct tape, toilet paper tube and alittle scrapbook paper. Madison picked the colors and helped glue the mosaic.

The bed still needs a bed skirt and a blanket. The posts are pencils rolled with duct tape of course. My inspiration for the bed posts came My Froggy Stuff  http://youtu.be/OrpJbtjd7D8 on YouTube. This lady has tons of fabulous ideas and methods for making doll furniture.

I will post more as I get them completed.

Rainbow Party For My Madison Claire

So this year when asked what kind of cake do you want for your birthday, Madison replies with "A rainbow cake". She loves the Rainbow song from an episode of The Cat In The Hat, "Red, orange, yellow, then green followed by blue, indigo and violet, that's a rainbow song for you." She sings it all the time. Here is a clip. http://youtu.be/4Fs81MDwCzk

We made rainbow colored old school paper chains.

  

I made a homemade rainbow pinata out of three paper sacks and tissue paper. It was super strong and the kids couldn't even break it, but they had fun trying. I would suggest layering 2 sacks instead of three.

I made a seven layer rainbow cake too. Very pretty! My cake stand was made from a cute blue plate and bowl I found at Wal-Mart. Cost $3.00. Glued together with some construction adhesive.

I wrote the words to "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" on my kitchen chalkboard.


We hung paper chains and a rainbow colored balloon arrangement over the table. Of course there were balloons of all colors everywhere! I hung poster boards on the wall in the family room bordered with rainbow streamers so the kids could color wall murals. There was also swimming, the slip-in-slide and water balloons for the kids to cool off. Overall it turned out to be a wonderful day and Madison had a fabulous birthday.

Happy Fourth Of July

Instead of celebrating the fourth at our place, this year on the fourth we celebrated at a friends house. It was actually nice to just sit back and enjoy the food and the fireworks instead of having to play hostess. I made a fun shirt using a bleach pen, and very groovy rice krispie treats!!

Pardon the small blood stain, my daughter skinned her knee that night.

It's the little moments like these that remind me of why I love my child so!!

I doubled my recipe. Just a tip, very messy dying the red and blue so wear gloves!

Avocado Facial

So, I may be slightly allergic to avocado's. My sister and I were bored this afternoon and decided to do a homemade facial. We smooshed one avocado with a tablespoon of honey. It truely looked like we had baby poop all over our faces!

It was stinky also!!!!! Results....My sister says her skin felt soft and refreshed afterwards. I on the other hand had a different experience! My face itched the entire time and for several hours after. I have had a case of breakout ever since, especially on the chin area.

Beware of smearing strange produce on your face!!!!!!!!!!

Candy Bar Father's Day Card

Wanted to do something different this year for fathers day. Found this cute fathers day card idea on the internet. I changed it slightly from the original version. My husband LOVED it! He couldn't stop smiling!

Hot glue held the candy bars in place the best!

Oven Crayons

After seeing this cute idea on Pinterest, my little girl and I decided to peel all of our old broken crayons and make new ones in the oven. Sounds super easy.........not for us! Took forever to peel them and the crayon wax seeped through the cupcake wrappers and ruined my muffin pan. Am I an idiot? I have come to the conclusion that if a project involves an oven I should just avoid it all together. I always burn my garlic bread too!

Super Scrummy Baked Taquitos

In honor of Cinco De Mayo I wanted to share this wonderful taquito recipe I found on Pinterest. These are my daughter and I's new favorite thing!
http://www.chef-in-training.com/2012/02/baked-creamy-chicken-taquitos/

The first time I made them my little girl said "mmmm" after every bite and said "Mommy can we eat these everyday?" Soooooooo Good!

Michael Takes a Bite!!

Although I didn't like the final color of the cheese, I was pretty excited about the end result! My husband loved it too!!!!

Cheeseburger Birthday Cake

My husband joined the old crowd and turned the BIG 30 in April! Being the fabulous wife that I am I surprised him with a Cheeseburger B-day Cake!! Did I mention he could eat cheeseburgers each and every day! He loves, loves, loves them! So this cake just seemed perfect!

This was my very first attempt at a cake like this. Before jumping in, I searched the internet for photos of similar cakes. I decided to just wing it.

For the buns I went with white cake and the patty (which I left un-iced) I obviously went with chocolate. I used canned icing and dyed the colors myself.