Blog Hop with The Baby Bottom Line

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Trying to Blog Hop...let's see how this works

As a Newbie to the blogging world I am learning more each and everyday, sometimes learning just how much I don't know lol...but this week I figured out how do work a linky (I think...I hope).  So I thought I host my own link-up/blog hop/WhatchamCallit kind of like a "Welcome to the Neighbourhood Party" ...but maybe in reverse???? (Who really needs an excuse to party??)
So my "theme" for my first ever linky party is "An Oldie but a Goodie" what is your favorite post from when you first started your blog??
Everyone is Welcome to "party" and invite a friend along ;)

Thankful Thursday

I was NOT feeling good at all yesterday but Thankfully I did not throw-up and even more Thankfully I woke up feeling much better this morning.
My family are pretty lucky in the sickness dept.  we are over all a pretty healthy bunch.  Rarely do we get sick and never does it last for too long.  I am very Thankful for this.  I do not handle puke well and I do not like to be out of commission for any length of time. I am Thankful for Wayne who may not be the most helpful fella on the regular basis but when in a pinch (or barrelled over a toilet) he springs into action and comes to my rescue.  He made me lunch yesterday and supper for our family while I laid shivering and useless on our couch, whining like a baby.

Wordless Wednesday ~Bieber Fever~

Biggest Surprise!

This Christmas while opening gifts I had the biggest surprise yet! 
I was watching the girls open gift after gift when Ainsley passed a small gift to me. 
When I opened it up I was elated!
  It was the Family Tree necklace that I had tried to order myself from Vivian Lane Jewelery.  When I messaged Laine she had told me she was too busy to do Christmas orders and would have to get back to me in the New Year.  (Which was fine with me, I have a birthday in February to celebrate : p )

My sister-in-law, Kim, had ordered the necklace for me before I even had the chance and told Laine not to sell me one.  Then she had it shipped to my father-in-laws to be wrapped and delivered to me on Christmas morning.  Kim and I talk long distance almost EVERYDAY!  How she ever managed to keep this secret I'll never know but I LOVE my necklace!  Thank you so much Kim!!

Green peridot for Ainsley's August birthday
and Orange citrine for Ava's November birthday

Re: Done

Today is Boxing Day and all is done!  Really done, even my anxiety & guilty conscience! 
My kids had an amazingly ridiculous Christmas!  I must of unleashed atleast a dozen Zhu zhu pets in the last 48hrs.  Wayne LOVED his new jeans and his work socks, as well as his new barber kit.  I was super pleasantly surprised to receive not just a new camera (finally lol) but also a beautifully fleeced lined wool sweater that I have been wanting for years!!
My father in law was ECSTATIC to receive his basket of preserves and photo books of the grand kids...but most of all he loved the calender that I filled out with all of the kids, spouses & grand kids birth dates and anniversaries.
Christmas was enjoyed by everyone!

Wayne received a 22lb fresh turkey with his Christmas bonus on Thursday so I cooked that on Christmas Eve and we invited my younger brother & sister to dinner in addition to my sweet niece (who lives with us) and her boyfriend.  We had a nice relaxed meal complete with all the fixings.  Turkey, stuffing, gravy, carrots, potatoes, yellow beans, squash, cranberries and rolls.  { Thanks to Wayne for peeling all of the veggies for me while I stuffed the turkey} Then we went out visiting.  My Aunt & cousins and then best friend & her family.  Then we put on our brand new Christmas jammies and tucked the girls into bed.
Ainsley had lost a tooth early in the am so I searched the house for a dollar and then Wayne & I started the daunting task of putting the new Little Tykes Kitchen set to together for the girls...and putting the others gifts under the tree.  I don't think I got to bed until almost 2:30am by the time all was said and done.

But at 8:30am it was all worth it!!
The grand parents came to watch the girls open gifts (a tradition that was started when we purchased our first house 3 years ago) and then we had a quick brunch before heading to the church.  This year we had the opportunity to help out a local charity, The Joshua Group, serve a Christmas dinner to the less fortunate.  What a humbling experience!
 I am so glad that my family were able to do a little something to make a difference in someone else's day.  We all got our hands involved in something from plating food, to lugging boxes or serving drinks.  Ava (3yrs) climbed up into a chair next to a gentlemen named Fred and started a conversation with him and was excited to make a new friend.  Fred, who frequently stays at our local Salvation Army, had offered his only Christmas gift to Ava and it just opened my heart so much....A man who received just a small shopping bag of necessities on Christmas morning offering up his only possession just makes me want to do more and more however and whenever I can.
The Joshua Group's founder, Robert Hayes, inspires me to get involved in my community doing anything and everything I can...and doing it together as a family!  I hope that in 2011 us Clark's can be a help to Bobby (Robert).

Christmas 2010 is officially DONE!!!  ...and I am happy for EVERY minute of it!
I hope everyone has a Safe & Happy New Year!

Thankful Thursday

I spent a long cold Thursday hanging out at the garage waiting to have my van fixed. Which gave ample time to consider what I am thankful for.

...a warm woodstove to cuddle next too
...a HUGE hearted mechanic who considers my children's safety before the cost of his labour
...that Wayne's employer still employ's him when he leaves on call for weeks and months at a time
...that my employer is flexible with Wayne's schedule an allows me to come in late without ever a complaint
...that we have never had to worry where our "turkey dinner" was coming from

I hope that everyone has a warm & happy holiday, but I do know that unfortunately this isn't always the truth.  This Christmas morning Wayne & I are packing the kids up and heading out to volunteer at a local church and serve food to the less fortunate.  I figure this is the very least we can do.

DONE! Done! done???

So I sit here tonight DONE!  Done shopping, done wrapping, done baking, almost done school for 2 weeks (just a 1/2 day left)....
And already the guilt has kicked in....
Will the girls love their presents?
Will my father-in-law  appreciate the work and thought put into his personalized photobook of the grandkids? 
Could I have done more?
Poor Wayne, another year of socks and jeans.
All Wayne has wanted for the past 3 years is a LARGE FLAT SCREEN TV...we made a deal a long time ago, if he bought us a home of our own with a playroom for our girls then he could finally splurg on himself.  He held up his end of the bargain.  We have a 2600sq ft home.  My girls have an enormous playroom.....and well Wayne still dreams of his tv :(


So ofcourse when I'm stressed I like to take my mind off of things by cruising the web...and well today I came across CSN Stores and let me just say WOW!   They have EVERYTHING!!!  and they EVEN SHIP to Canada!  (easily excited I know lol) 
I started with the usual...kids stuff lol and they have some wicked deals and then I got looking at tv's and then at TV stands for flat screens so that I can visualize the tv actually in our home.......and well Wayne's birthday is just  around the corner...and the week after Christmas usually has some pretty good sales ;) ;)
I think this birthday may be even better than the surprise party I threw for him last year!

Wordless Wednesdays ~Salmon Dinner~

Burning the midnight oil

It's just days away from Christmas and I am averaging little to no sleep. 
Tonight I finished wrapping gifts and then tackled Ainsley's gifts for her classmates.  We had made playdoh on Halloween (orange & black cherry) and sent it in lou of candy and it was a HUGE hit!  So Ainsley thought it'd be great to make a different kind to send in as a christmas gift (candy cane & gingerbread).  So here I am up still at 2am just finishing 18 sets of playdoh...with Ainsley's help (she woke up to go pee and "couldn't go back to sleep")
For each kid we had a snowflake cellophane bag filled with a handful of playdoh and  tied with curling ribbon with a cookie cutter & a fun-foam snowman attached.

Playdoh Recipe
2cups flour
1 cup salt
4 tsp cream of tartar
2 tbs veg. oil
2 cups of water mixed with kool-aid packet

Mix dry ingredients with oil then slowly add water.  Stir til combined them microwave for 3-5 minutes removing to stir at every minute until you can no longer stir.  Then roll out on counter and knead til smooth.

** I omitted the kool-aid packet for our flavours tonight.  For the candy cane I added peppermint extract at 3mins, then added glitter when I started the kneading process.
 For the gingerbread I mixed in  ginger, all spice, nutmeg & cinnamon to the dry ingredients.

RED PEPPER JELLY

For years and years my Aunt's have made red pepper jelly, it has been a staple at all family get togethers & holidays...it's never been my favorite but since Wayne has joined my family he really really enjoys it.  So this year we have adventured into the world of canning...since the elders will no longer do the work for us lol.
So far we have canned beets and green tomato chow and today I finally got around to red pepper jelly...just in time (I hope) for christmas.
It was rather simple (I think...we'll see if it sets right) and Ava loves to help, especially when there's a food processor involved.

Red Pepper Jelly
6 sm. red peppers (1 1/4 lbs.)
1 c. vinegar
1/2 tsp. salt
5 c. granulated sugar
1 bottle liquid Certo

Chop peppers fine. Measure 2 cups pepper and juice in large pot. Add vinegar and salt. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer covered 10 minutes until tender. Stir in sugar, return to rolling boil and boil, uncovered and stir one minute. Remove from heat and immediately stir in Certo. Stir for 5 minutes to blend. Pour jelly into sterilized jars and seal. Serve over Philadelphia cream cheese with crackers.

Ribbons

Ava has been doing a "Time for Tots" group at our local library for 2-3 months now and her favorite part of Thursday mornings has got to be the RIBBONS!

So I really wanted to make her some for her stocking....I've had leftover dowel pieces (from the toy shelf Wayne & I built 3yrs ago) that I have been meaning to put to use and endless bottles of paint & spools of ribbon....BUT time, oh my, WHERE DOES IT GO???? 
I have been meaning to start this project for weeks but something else always comes up and now christmas is literally just days away...so I started this morning.

You will need:
looped screw
dowel
paint
ribbon

Step 1:  screw a looped screw

 (tecnical name?  I think not lol) 

into the end of a dowel

(you can get these at Walmart or hardware stores,

 or at the bottom of my messy craft drawer hehe)

Step 2: paint whatever colour you wish

...dry...repeat until satisfied.

Step 3:  loop ribbon through screw and Voila! 

 (btw I'm far from french lol)

Simple eh? (I am Canadian though haha)
I wonder why it took me so long to start these???

Thankful Thursdays

Today I asked Ainsley and Ava "What are we thankful for?" and this is what we came up with....

Ainsley:

 tattoos...the power company gave them to Ava so she'd stop climbing their display while I paid our bill lol

getting to wear pj's to school tomorrow!  ...our province is having an anti-bullying day where they plan to "Put bullying to rest!"

FOOD!!!  ...especially pizza

Ava:

Christmas trees...she has not taken her eyes (or hands) off of it since I put it up lol

Kraft dinner

POP!!! ...she doesn't get it often but she loves the bubbles

Mom:

My sweet baby girls

a warm cozy fire

...and to almost finally be done shopping for the year

Our 1st Annual Cookie Exchange

This year I decided I was going to stop waiting to be invited to a cookie exchange and just host my own.  So I Googled the "rules"and copy & pasted, edited them onto a Facebook event and invited away.

I had 7 ladies commit, that was just right!
I made 8 dozen turtle cookies to swap for 7 other recipes (and one to share at the event).  How could I go wrong?
...Only 5 actually showed up, some were  people I haven't seen in AGES, but
it was a great day full of great conversation.

We ended up with tons of loot....turtle cookies, almond fingers, chocolate & caramel pretzels, Christmas mice, snow balls and chocolate chip.   Everything was pretty tasty!

back row: Christmas Mice, Snowballs, Chocolate chip
front row: Almond fingers, turtle cookies, pretzels

Christmas Mice (pb cookies)

Caramel pretzels (with chocolate & crushed pecans)
 Chocolate pretzels (hugs melted topped with M&M's)

Turtle Cookies (sugar cookie topped with melted caramels, pecans & chocolate)

The whoel thing was a hit!  We can't wait to do it again next year!

Wordless Wednesdays ~Here come sthe toothfairy~

Simple Pleasures

This week has been pretty busy, with Christmas just around the corner, relatives in town, parties & dinners etc etc etc....

But I just wanted to take a moment to enjoy the Simple Pleasures

This is the "work table"  in my office...generally it looks like a pile of ruble but tonight (or early this a.m rather) I have managed to get it cleared off and sorted....I know this will not last for long so I thought I better take a picture for proof LOL

Thankful Thursdays

Thankful Thursdays is something I was inspired to do by a beautiful blog called http://furlinedtoiletseats.blogspot.com/. 

So first off I am thankful to Fatima for her interesting posts and for sharing them with strangers like myself.

I am thankful, as always, for my very hardworking man, especially on cold cold days like today where he put in 12hrs on a roof  and spent a total of 4 hours travelling back and forth .  It's his hard work that keeps a roof over our head and food in our bellies.

I am thankful, as always, for my beautiful healty girls and the ADOURABLE things they say.  Quote of the week: Ava (3yrs)-  I say "Ava, Mommy just loves you to pieces!" and she responds "I know.  I just love you to parts Mom-o"

I am thankful that my client (I do private home-care at night) is super forgiving about my tardiness....see above mentioned hubby spent 14hrs out of house today 5am-8pm....I am suppose to work 7pm-10pm.

Wordless Wednesday ~Ready for Christmas~

Back-to-Back Thursday Family Fun!

It's Thursday again! 

This week "Time for Tots" featured a Squirrel craft...god bless the people who prepare these things for the Family Drop-In program because some of their designs are quite tedious...however Ava enjoys ANY craft that involves a glue stick.

this was all cut from craft paper: tail, body, arm, head & acorn

Every week I let Ava pick her own book to borrow as well as one her older sister might enjoy.  These are her picks for this week.  (I know there are 2 for each...what can I say I'm a sucker for books...I'll have to post about our in home "library" someday...or maybe just the credit card statement lol) 



left: Happy Feet  Friends Forever bySiobhan Ciminera
right:  Whiskers by Catherine Daly
Ainsley loves that she can read these all by herself or with minimal help.



left: Skip through the Seasons by Stella Blackstone
right:  Elusive Moose by Joan Gannij
(I just noticed that the one on the left is a seek-and-find book which should make it even more fun)

 
Mommy even found a new novel to read this week.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1472878.Firefly_Lane

I read one of kristin Hannah's books recently, called Magic Hour, and got so wrapped up in the characters.  I really enjoyed her writing so I used my local library's website to search out other books by her and requested holds for them.  I cannot wait to see how good this one is.


Family Ties this week was week 9 of 10 and we had a great night but reality set in that our time is almost through....for now, gossip says they're working on the next installment :)
For our family meal we had cheese pizza (Ainsley's favorite) and lots of fruit (Ava's favorite).  As the icebreaker we did a "story chain".  Table one writes the opening line to a story, then passes to table 2 to add the next ...and so on.  The last table puts on the finish touch and then reads aloud for everyone to hear.  The kids got quite the kick out of the silly result.  (This totally reminds me of my jr high Mad Libs days).

When we split into our groups:
Preschool cut pictures from flyers & magazines and made their own picture books.
School age did a lesson on action words aka verbs and acted out all of their actions.
Adult's had a mini-info session.  Several resource groups from our community made small presentations letting us know what services are available to our families in our own "backyards".   There were represntatives from Family Counselling , Loans, Adult Education  and  the neighbourhood Community Centre.   All I can say is WOW!  There was a LOT of useful information and a LOT of programs available that I had NO IDEA exsisted.

So all and all a very GREAT DAY WITH MY FAMILY!

Postcards, Postcards, Postcards

Ainsley came home today with her weekly newsletter from Grade 1 that describes what they're working on in class this week.  Along with their spelling words and math they have a "subject" called You & Your World.
In You & Your World this week they are Following Barnaby the Bear's trip across Canada and the postcards he writes back home.
So the enthusiastic mom that I am, I hop on Facebook and ask my friends to take a moment and send a postcard from their hometown to Ainsley's grade 1 class....and the only responses I got were from my 2 SIL's and a couple of my neighbours (from MY hometown lol)...BUT my SIL graciously posted it on her status as well and let's just say HOLY POSTCARDS!!!  Not just from across Canada but all across North America :o
I can't wait until they start pouring in so we can check them all out!

If you'd like to send a postcard to a grade 1 class please comment below for more information lol

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ainsley didn't want to get her "favorite"shirt dirty so she "had"to take it off

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies are a Clark Family Favorite and the girls were really excited to make them afterschool on Monday.

Here's our recipe (Company's Coming Most Loved Treats)

Hard Margarine (or butter), softened   1cup
Brown sugar, packed                          2 cups
Large eggs                                          2
Vanilla                                                 1 tsp

All purpose flour                                  2 cups
Baking powder                                    1 tsp
Baking soda                                         1/2 tsp

Quick-cooking rolled oats (not instant)  2 cups
Semi-sweet chocolate chips                  2 cups
Medium, unsweetened coconut             3/4 cup

Beat margarine and sugar in large bowl until light and creamy.  Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla. Beat.
Combine flour, baking powder and soda in a small bowl.  Add to margarine mixture.  Stir well.
Add remaining 3 ingredients.  Stir until well distributed. Drop, using 2 tbsp. for each, about 2 inches apart, onto greased cookie sheets.  Bake in 350*F oven for 8-10mins until golden. Let stand on cookie sheets for 5mins before removing to wire racks to cool.  Makes about 5 dozen :)

WOOOO HOO It's FINALLY Up!!!!

I bought this calender for my girls, atleast 2 months ago, at Staples. It was something like $19 (Canadian), which I thought was a little steep.  BUT I thought if I mactac the hell out of it I could get LOTS and lots of use from it while educating my little ladies.
So  needless to say months, rolls & rolls of mactac and LOTS of patience later we finally have it hung up in our playroom! 
Grampy rescued this big dry-erase board from his office (pre-retirement) for us to hang it on....we quickly realized it was not magnetic so we had to move onto Plan B (packing tape).
 All of the dates/months/days of the week are held on with velcro dots from the Dollarama (since I mactac'd over the slidey holes...which would not have stood a chance in this house). 
Our Daddy (Wayne) works outside so you can ALWAYS find the weather network on in the a.m because of this our girls are very intrigued with what's going on outside our windows.
The weather chart is a HUGE hit with Ainsley(6yrs).  She charts the weather with the dry-erase marker and watches for patterns and trends in the weather.  Ava(3yrs) LOVES LOVES LOVES the weather wheel and it's little spinning arms (Thank you Dollarama for the pretty purple brads*)
Ava often wakes up and runs to my bed yelling out the weather forcast for the day "Mommy wake UP! It's a Sunshiny Day!!" or "Mommy GET OUT of BED!!  It's wet and rainy out there!"

I LOVE this set up for many many reasons but most of all for the fact it helps me in my argument for appropriate dressing for the weather.  If your weather wheel says windy and snowing then there is NO argument for sundresses.
I have to Thank my sister-in-law for finding this at her Staples in Niargra Falls.  I have wanted one since Ainsley was a toddler but had no idea where to look.

Salt Dough Ornaments

This year the kids have an artificial tree of their own (oh so spoiled I know...but I bought it 2nd hand for $20) to hang all of their many many holiday crafts on.
To start the season off we did salt dough ornaments on Wednesday.

They are fairly simple.  To start you need:

2 cups of flour

2/3 cup salt

3/4 cup of water

Combine flour and salt in large bowl.  Slowly stir in water until it forms a ball.  Turn out on to a lightly floured surface and knead for 2-3mins.

Then roll out and cut shapes with cookie cutters.

Don't forget to punch holes for ribbon (to hang)

.Bake for 30mins at 300*F...Cool then paint.

Then I seal mine with clear acrylic sealer spray (do this outside or in a well ventilated area because I gagged my family out this year....ooops)

Usually I use christmas wrapping ribbon to hang these on the tree, but because I used the funnel to make my holes this year the kids were able to slide the ornaments right onto the branches of their tree.

Lasagna Roll ups ...Mmmm Mmm so good :)

I have so many things to post from this week that I couldn't decide what first...so I went with something all together different and then I'll go post crazy when the kids & Dad go to bed :)

Tonight for supper we are having one of our new family favorites!
I got this "recipe" from a friend of mine and we now love love love it.

You need :

Lasagna Noodles (NOT oven ready)

spinach (fresh or frozen)

sauce (canned or homemade)

parmesan cheese

ricotta cheese

an egg

mozzarella cheese (grated)






Boil your noodles as directed and your spinach (if fresh) then drain.

In the meantime mix ricotta cheese, 1/2cup parmesan cheese, 1cup mozzarella and egg together...later add chopped spinach...in medium bowl

Then roll out noodles flat and smear mixture on

Then roll up

Add about 1/3 of sauce to bottom of casserole dish, then put roll ups in

then pour remaining sauce over and bake at 350*F for about 20 mins....then  I put more mozzarella over top

an heat til melted

Back-to-Back Thursday Family Fun!

Do you ever find that somedays are busier than others?  Or that all the excitement happens in a small time space between long boring stretches?
Thursday is our busiest day of the week. It's the day the kids can't wait for!

Every Thursday morning Ava & I head to our local library to do a program called "Time for Tots".  This is based on ages 18-36mths.  They do a Welcome song, ribbon & action songs, drum time and a story.
Ava LOVES her weekly program, especially the ribbons ( watch for an upcoming post on How To:  Ribbons).

1. Welcome Song  :  A is for Abigail, pretty , pretty Abigail, All the children love her blow a kiss Hello.
2. Ribbon & Actions Songs    The Itsy Bitsy Spider... Head and Shoulders, Knees & Toes...Twinkle Twinkle Little Star ...Hokey Pokey
3. Drum Time  Horsie, Horsie-  Clip, Clop,Clip, Clop,Clip, Clop,Clip, Clop,  Horsie Horsie On your way      We've been together for a many a day.  So let your tail go swish and your wheels go 'round--Giddy up, you're homeward bound! Clip, Clop,Clip, Clop,Clip, Clop,Clip, Clop,
4. Story Time  Today was Brown Bear, Brown What Do You See? 

The Craft for the day (in the main part of the library...drop in program)

was brown bears & polar bears.

You need:  Construction Paper (cut into Medium circle{3inch diameter}, small cirle {1inch}, and 2 smaller circles{1/2inch}), glue, scissors & black fun foam (cut small circle-size of thumb, punch 2 holes with holepunch)

Then  afterschool on Thursdays we have "Family Ties".  It's Literacy Program that promotes Food, Family, Fun!  Our family and 9 others meet at Ainsley's elementry for a healthy meal (tonight was chicken rice with veggies, and chicken with multigrains rolls), social time with other families, then we seperate into 3 age groups: Preschool, school, & adult and do an hour of workshops that involve Literacy & Numerancy in our homes.  This evening Ava's group did The Itsy Bitsy Spider, The Monkey's tease the Crodile & a drawing (Preschool).   Ainsley's group learned about Different Ways to be Smart: Word, Music, Picture, Body, Math, Nature, Myself, and Other People Smart (School).  The Adults had the Principal of the school as a guestspeaker and she had a very informative chat with us on how the report cards work, how our school is a "Community School" (we have businesses in the community who volunteer at & sponser our school) and did a Q & A for any of our concerns etc.

Overall we had an EXCELLENT day! ...I just wish sometimes the excitement were spread a little more evenly throught the week...since I still work evenings as well...leaving me to blog at obscene hours of the night lol.

GoodNight!!  Have a GREAT FRIDAY :)

Old traditions are continued

As a child I spent a lot (pretty much most) of time at my grandparents house.  My Nanny was my best friend in the world, the only person who truly understood me and loved me even more because of it!  I am not going to lie to you I was SPOILED by my grandparents!  There was NEVER a day that I looked into the freezer and could not find chocolate icecream.  And never a weekend passed that my Nanny didn't prepare my favorite meal on Sunday.  Every Sunday evening without fail Nan would make a ham dinner with scalloped potatoes just for me....I know this because she also made double the recipe so I could take leftovers home for the week :)

With my favorite meal we also got to sit out in the dining room, use the fine china & crystal, and light candles.  This was a special weekly tradition was just for me!  No one could make me feel more special than my Nanny & Grampy.

I have lots of fond memories of my grandparents that I love to share with my kids as often as possible.  And now that they are getting older we are starting to incorporate some of my favorite traditions in our own lil family.

So tonight we had our first candle lit dinner.

To prepare for our first candle lit dinner we made placemats.  I saw this idea on one of my favorite blog sites confessions of a homeschooler.  But we opted to go with a paper version.

front side

Ainsley's personalized side

Ava's personalized side

We used a legal sized file (trimmed), scrapbook paper (plate, cup, napkin & handprints) & construction paper (utensils)  for one side. 

Then I let them decorate the other side with stickers, die cuts & a tic tac toe board. And then covered both sides with mactac (lets just say clear the room of kids & men before attempting this because you have to get it right the first try or you have to start from scratch...or have a really wrinkled mat like Ava does)

We had a lovely meal of roast beef, carrots & potatoes (scalloped ofcourse) and chocolate pudding for dessert.  While we ate we discussed proper table manners for "fancy" restaurants vs. everyday meals with the family. Over all it was a lot of fun and a great learning experience for everyone ...even Dad who still argues that his fork is in the "wrong" place ;)

Saturday Night's sure have changed...

It's FINALLY my weekend off, 12 nights straight I've waited for this, and I am sitting home childless & bored! 

My girls are having a sleepover at their Nanny's tonight and Dad is eating munchies watching UFC, so here I sit in the office wondering which of my millions of projects to tackle tonight.  I think the most tedious should be the first to get out of the way ....but because it's a bit of a pain I'm really stalling here (hence this post lol).  This was a really cute idea I found on http://www.marthastewart.com/.  I bought the materials 3 years ago in hopes to make these cute mittens for my lil girl and her cousins for  Christmas...and well thank goodness there is a newer Clark girl and newer cousins because the older versions will no longer fit the materials.  How's that for stalling? 
So procrastination aside here's how I am spending my Saturday evening alone with my hunny...romantic eh?

My stitching theory changed from one mit to the next...

Next time (haha) I will do these right from scratch because these premade mits were
soooo difficult to fit my hands in to stitch