bonus recipe (and costume #2)

For those of you new followers, thanks for visiting. Since I doubt you're following my blog just because you love to see 15 pictures of my children, I'll throw in an added bonus! Here's a recipe for what I call 'Roper's Dip', only because I got the recipe from my friend Roper. Last time I made it, someone told me it was like their 'Texas Sin' recipe. While I'm not really a big fan of sin, I think that's a better description of the nearly-sinful goodness of this dip.

1 round french bread loaf

1/4 c butter

1 bunch green onions

12 cloves garlic

8 oz cream cheese - room temp cut into 1" cubes

1 pt. sour cream

1 jar marinated atrichoke hearts

12-16 oz grated cheddar

Sautee onions & garlic in butter. Mix sour cream and cheddar in large bowl. Add onions and garlic. Mix. Fold in chopped artichoke hearts and cream cheese. Mix. Cut off top of loaf, Hollow out, fill with dip and place top back on. Wrap in 2 layers of foil. Bake at 350 for 1.5-2 hours. Stir lightly. Serve w/ bread cubes (below) or tortilla chips.

Cut bread you hollowed out into cubes. Lay on cookie sheet, spray with pam and sprinkle with garlic salt. Toast in the oven while baking the dip (watch carefully so you don't burn them!)

Here's Joshua in costume #2, and Joshua and Zoe watching a video of Daddy reading a construction book. He sent the video when he was deployed over Christmas last year. Zoe was so excited when she saw him on the TV; she just pointed and kept saying Da! Da! Da! I had to put her in the pack n play because she was all up on the table trying to reach 'Da!' on the TV.
This is Joshua's firefighter costume. He told me that he needed a yellow jacket, a tank and a hose so that he could be a firefighter, so we found him the requested items and off he went. Oh, the sippy cup is in the backpack because he said he needed water in his tank.

Mo' pictures

Lion and Tiger
and Zoebug, oh my (I'm so sure you didn't see that coming)
here's a better picture of the Zoebug. We were all on the way to Parents Day Out. The tiger is not my child, for those who don't know.

When I went to pick Joshua up, his class was walking back from watching a movie. This was so cute with them all holding the rings. Almost made me want to be the Octomom. Then I picked Zoe up, she cried "A Da!" (all done) and Joshua whined about wanting candy and no nap the whole. way. home. I think I'm fine with 2.

Pictures - part deux

oh, now I'm multi-tasking... crocheting my rug while pictures upload :) Unfortunately, Zoe's been in there talking to herself for a while so naptime may be over...

Here's Zoebug and her black eye. She fell while on Joshua's toddler bed and hit the corner of the toddler rail with her cheekbone. Craig said I should dress her up as a boxer for Halloween. That would be hilarious!!

They've been playing with the spice rack again. They'll play with it for an hour. This is now officially the best wedding present ever. I'll have to look up who gave it to us and write them another thank you note!
Zoe spent 20 minutes trying to stack them all on top Joshua at 'Trunk or Treat' not wanting to search through the hay for candy. He was a little overwhelmed by the crowd & didn't want to play any games. He was also walking around without a shoe for a while, unbeknownst to me. I'm sure that was a little distracting for him too. We found it on the lost & found table on the way out.

He's just bending over staring at the candy. He didn't want to pick it up. At least I don't have to worry about him taking candy from strangers. Zoe was clipped in the stroller drinking her bottle and staring at everyone.

My Naptime List

I always have a looooong mental naptime list that somehow never gets done. Today, blogging went to the top of my list as it has been pointed out that my blogging has been missed of late. I have a bunch of pictures to catch up on posting, so I'll just throw a few up at a time so as to publish ASAP, as requested.

Our lion pilot. Joshua has been wearing this costume since Wednesday afternoon at 4pm. He has taken it off for bedtime & baths, but has otherwise been in it non-stop. He has taken a nap or 2 in it also. Actually, today, he wanted to dress up as a firefighter for a while. I'll have pictures of that soon too.
He insisted that he push Zoe alone. "I don't want you to help please Mommy." We were at Chick Fil A, of course. Our lil' ladybug
So ferocious, huh? Actually, when I asked him who he was, he said "Tawny Scrawny" and went to get his Tawny Scrawny Lion book, always a favorite.
Here's our Zoebug. She was not a big fan of the hood, so this is the only picture I got of that.

Other things on my naptime list include:

1) nap (ahem... maybe this is why I never finish my list :). Kidding, those of you who know me know I can't nap.

2) shower (while I'd love a nice hot bath with yummy smells and bubbles, there are at least two reasons that won't happen. 1 - the rest of my naptime list and 2 - there are plants making a home in my bathtub for the winter)

3) crochet t-shirt rug. Just what it sounds like, I'm crocheting a rug out of old t-shirts. Important stuff, people.

4) Zoe's quilt top. Just got her fabric all laid out and I get to start cutting and piecing as soon as I get a chance, like, next year maybe.

5) dishes, laundry, etc. blah blah blah...

6) make yummy dip for neighbor's party (I'm not going, I'm just making her the dip)(and keeping some to eat)(see recipe post above)

7) some sort of exercise. I'd love to run on the treadmill and do some Body Pump, but there's no way I have time for that.

More pictures soon...

bored?

if you're bored and have some fabric scraps & spare time, or need homemade gift ideas, you can go check out some fun ideas at Sew Mama Sew. Here's a link to my tutorial...

http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/?p=1850

I feel so famous :) Me, and the other hundreds of people who made tutorials...

what a clown!

Joshua found this nose and wanted to put it on. Also, Joshua has been starting his sentences with 'also.' I wonder where he gets it... In the car the other day, he was making various requests at 2-3 minute intervals. "Mommy, may I please go back to school and get my reindeer racecar?" I answered that - for the record I have no idea what he was talking about - and then he was silent for 2-3 minutes "Also, I don't want to go home and take a nap, I just want to go back to school please." I answered that, 2-3 minutes later... "Also, may we please go to chick-fil-A and ride the ice cream truck." Answered that, 2-3 minutes later "Also, may I please watch cat in the hat when we get home because I'm not sleepy and it's not dark out, just light, so I don't want to take a nap?" He's got it all figured out :)

Here's the template I use for making rice wraps. If you can't read the dimensions, let me know. I use a 1/2" seam.

This is the top. I make them in 2 pieces. I put about a cup of rice in this one after I sew the two together. The 13.5" side is sewn on to the inner curve of the larger piece. You can see some light pencil lines about 1.5" apart. I sew here right before I put the rice in to make little compartments. Like this.

This is obviously only half the wrap. I trace one side at a time, or trace it with the 9 1/8" side on a fold. I sew little lines (about 3-4" long and 2" apart) on this part before I put the rice in also, otherwise, all the rice slides to one side. If you're confused, see here (again... it's the same as the last 2 links).

See the 6" side on the bottom. Make one side 1/2" longer than the other so that you can fold it in, pin, and topstitch after you put the rice in . I topstitch two lines, about 3/8" in and 1/8" in

Also, here was my cooking endeavor for the week. (oh, look! I would like to once again direct your attention to the beautiful backsplash skillfully crafted by my wonderful and handsome husband). Here are my ingredients...

Not even kidding, these brownies were good. Yes, that's a can of black beans. Yes, I said brownies. Yes, I put the beans in the brownies. Yes, Joshua and Zoe (and the neighbor's kids, and the neighbor and I) ate them.

No, I did not concoct this on my own. I'd link to where I found it, but I forget. Some girl was doing weight watchers and apparently you can eat the whole pan or something and it only costs you like 2 points. Maybe I'm the last one in the world to know about this. Am I? So, puree the beans, juice and all, until they're as smooth as possible, then mix the bean puree and brownie mix together, bake as usual. She suggested adding a couple egg whites to make them a little lighter. They were a bit dense! I guess you can use any brownie mix you like. I ate mine hot out of the oven with starbucks java chip ice cream. No, that did not defeat the purpose... my purpose was to get my children to eat black beans. So there.

I had to pry the spatula away from Zoe when the batter was long gone (who did that?) and she was asking for "mo? mo?" (more). That's my girl :)

Shameless! A Scrappy Hairbow Tutorial

** I edited.... This is actually now 3 tutorials in one, so be sure to scroll all the way down. I got started on my scraps and got a little carried away. I actually have one more that I haven't added yet.***

It's true. I will stop at nothing to showcase Zoe's cuteness! As you saw a few posts ago, I made Zoe a little outfit. It's been 'scrap buster' month over at Sew Mama Sew, and I had been wanting to make some new accessories for the little lady so... when you put the two together, you've got a cute little scrappy hairbow (ok, flower) tutorial!

Meet our model, Zoe:

I made Zoe this little outfit, and we all know that no little girl outfit is compete with out accessories, specifically hair ones! I showed an alternate use for our finished product in the picture below, because our little model was sound asleep when I finished. I just clipped the flower on the outfit (there was enough space behind the ruffle to slide the alligator clip between the stitches). Shall we begin?...

Step 1: gather yo' scraps. Step 2: Draw cute flower of choice in size of choice on cereal box of choice. Cut out each petal.

Step 3: Put 2 layers of fabric A (henceforth referred to as 'purple fabric') wrong sides together. Fit as many petals as you can on your scraps. Draw and cut (or just cut) around your petals 1/4" BIGGER than the template. I used a different petal template for each because I wanted each petal to be different. I didn't cut the flower out as one piece because my scraps were too little.

Step 4: Put 2 layers of fabric B (yellow fabric) wrong sides together and trace (or cut) exactly around the template.

Step 5: find something small and round to trace a few circles for the center. That's a chapstick cap.

Here are all the pieces you should have. I pinned the 2 pieces of each petal together, and the 3 circles together.

Step 6: Sew 1/4" around each petal. I rounded the corners. {6b} Cut off the fabric around where you sewed so that you have about 1/8" of fabric outside the stitches. {6c} Sew around the circle as close to the edge as you can. I did about 1/8".

Step 7: Cut a circle out of a piece of thin scrap paper. The bottom circle was too big so I had to cut another.

Step 8: Pin your petals to the paper, one at a time so you can get them just how you like them.

This is how the back looks...

Step 9: Pin a piece of fabric to the back of the paper, big enough to cover the hole. Turn it over and sew a little circle around the middle of all your petals, attaching them to the fabric on the back and holding them in place. The stitches should be covered by your 2nd layer of petals so you can make the circle bigger than the circle on the front will be. I think mine was 3/4" diameter

Step 10: Pin your yellow ones on one at a time (thru the purple and the paper). I cut 6 but ended up only using 5 for the inner circle. Sew a little circle to hold them on (this time, make it smaller than your center circle will be. Sew on your center circle, following the same stitches with which you sewed them together. Or if you're just that good, you can combine the previous 2 steps into one... go for it. I double dare you.

Step 11: Sew a neat little 'pocket' for your alligator clip by taking an approximately 2" x 1/2" scrap, folding it in half the long way, and stitch along the 2 long sides. Hand stitch (Gasp!) or hot glue (double Gasp!) it on to the back of your flower. Slide your alligator clip in.

Step 12: Clip on your cute baby's head and take pictures

Step 13: Take more pictures...

Step 14: more pictures.

Awww.....

But really... who can stop at just ONE cute hair bow?? I happen to love gingham (and, um, big hairbows), and had these lavendar gingham scrub pants with a drawstring in my 'repurpose' pile. You say drawstring... I say ribbon. Read below to see how to make super simple hairbows out of 'real' ribbon, fabric string (as shown in one of the previous entries), or repurposed parts

I wanted mine about 4" long, so here's how I started. Just fold it back and forth and hold your finger in the middle.

I make 2 loops on each side. One time, I leave the ribbon flat, and one time I flip it in the middle for a little extra 'volume' on the ends. For a 4" long bow, I needed about 20" of ribbon, plus a few for the middle, or a few of a contrasting ribbon, whatever you like.
Stick a pin right in the middle, where your finger was. Take a few inches of ribbon and tie a knot in the middle of it (you can kinda see my knot, sorry it's not the best picture)

Y'all are Smart so I bet you don't need pictures of these next few steps... (1) sew through the bow where the pin is. (2) get the knot in the middle where you want it and sew the tails of the knot together on the underside of the bow. I trim them and whipstitch. You want it tight enough that it won't slide around. Slip your alligator clip through the knot part on the underside (obvs.).

Voila. Clip it on your cute baby.

Last one I promise... Make a cute little gift tag out of your scraps. Can't take credit, I stole this idea from my sister in law, she used ric rac tho.

Make a cute tag out of whatever paper, punch a couple holes in the top. Get 1 or 2 coordinating scraps.

Put the first one through both holes, front to back. Cross it over in the back and pull both ends back thru to the front (I did this about a MILLION times making my wedding programs)

Put the second scrap thru both holes, just back to front. If you started off with 2 the same length, the outside one will now be a little longer. Attach it to your gift with double sided tape on the back.