Oh.My.Craftiness!!!

As CHRISTMAS gets closer and closer, we are preparing gifts to give to family and friends.. Yesterday, December 12, was FULL of Craftiness, Crabbiness, and Craziness.. Enjoy...

I love when I wake up and my kiddos are in good moods.. It just starts the day off right.. Here is what I saw when I went and got Braxton out of bed this morning.. LOVE HIM!

I started my day with everyone but Braxton and I awake.. Kinlee and Branson (the kiddos I watch during the week) got here soon after.. I was in full "craftiness" mode..

Here are some sneak peaks of some of the crafts we worked on yesterday for presents...

I also worked on some things for the house and for my shop SassyFrass Homemade.

**If you are interested in seeing more designs, please visit SassyFrass Homemade. All ready to ship designs are $10 (including necklace and pendant) or $15 for custom orders (including necklace and pendant)**

For one of my crafts I needed Mod Podge. If any of you are crafters, you know that Mod Podge is EXPENSIVE! So, here is my homemade version.. This is what you need...

White school glue.

A jar with twice the volume of your glue

Water

Yeah, that's it

Squeeze the glue into the jar. Fill the glue bottle with water. Seal and shake. Now squeeze that watery stuff into the jar. Seal and shake. Is it completely blended?

Yes?

Go decoupage something.

All the crafts were super fun today, but not with out a BooBoo.. 

**FYI Sandpaper Cuts HURT!!!**

Courtlynn was a pill during nap time today. I don't know what it is about that girl. She REFUSES to take naps sometimes.. I'm sorry, you are only 2, you WILL take a nap.. This is what "No Nap" looks like in our house..

She finally gave up and I rewarded her with a nice bath.. IN MY TUB!!!

Emma was 100% into all the crafts.. She's going to be my little Martha Stewart, minus the criminal charges!

Braxton was as happy as ever.. Mommy gave him a Mohawk today.. teehee

Dinner last night was Coyboy Casserole, thank you Pinterest! Here is the recipe:

Cowboy Casserole

1 1/2 pounds ground beef (I used 80/20)
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 can (15.25oz) whole kernel corn, drained
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoons sour cream
1 bag (30 oz) frozen tater tots (I used Ore-Ida Crispy Crowns)

Before I got ready to make this casserole, I let the Crispy Crowns sit on the counter to defrost for an hour or so. The original recipe used still frozen tater tots, but I felt they wouldn't cook as well if they were still frozen solid.

In a large skillet cook the onion until tender and translucent. Add the chopped garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Add the beef and cook over medium heat until no longer pink. Drain the mixture and place into a large bowl and set aside.

In a small bowl combine the soup, milk and sour cream. Whisk until smooth. Add to hamburger mixture and stir to combine. Add corn and 1 cup of cheddar cheese. Gently mix to combine.

Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer half of the Crispy Crowns on the bottom, pour the hamburger mixture over the top and then layer with the other half of the Crispy Crowns. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese and bake at 350 for 25 - 30 minutes, or until golden brown and crunchy.

While working today, Emma and Courtlynn did get along GREAT! I love listening to them play.. here is a conversation that I over heard...

WARNING: PG-13

Emma: What color is this ball?

Courtlynn: Wello (yellow)

E: Good job, What color is this ball?

C: geen (green)

E: Good job, What about this ball?

C: wed (red)

E (to me): Mommy, Courtlynn said this ball is red and it is! But... we don't have any blue balls! 

I about lost it.. I know.. I have a 12 yr old boys mind!

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After Courtlynn's bath she crawled up in my lap and wanted me to play "piggies", so I did it a couple of times.. Everyone knows the "piggies", but incase you don't..

This little piggie went to market,

This little piggie stayed home, 

This little piggie ate roast beef,

This little piggie had none,

This little piggie went wee wee wee all the way home (while tickling her)

Well, we did this a few times, she wanted me to do her left foot and then her right foot, but I drew the line when she wanted me to start with her hands.. I said, "No Courtlynn, you do it".. this is her version of Piggies..

Dis rosp bee

Dis home

Dis had no

Dis doo wee wee wee

LOVE HER!!!!!

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One more Courtlynn story...

As I was getting her out of the bath tub, she said, "I go potty!" WOOHOO.. So, I put her on the potty and here is the rest of the convo:

Me: Push

Courtlynn: I don't want to, you push my belly

M: No

C: I need my Dora (her potty seat)

M: No, your fine

C: I need a stool

M: Please just poop! 

C: I no need poop

M: Then pee

C: I peed on towel

I look down at the towel by the tub and sure enough, she had peed while I was drying her off to get on the potty.. Hey, there are some good things that came out of this though..

1: She knew she had to go

2: She told me

3: I need to move FAST when she says GO!

So, that was my day.. I did have to run to Firewheel to drop off an order infront of Starbucks and run a Thirty-One order to someone's house, and go by Walmart to get milk on the way home, but that's just all in a day's work, right! :)

This is how I ENDED my night!

I leave you with a Bible verse on rest:

Exodus 33:14 “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

A Look Back At The Weekend...

This weekend was BUSY!!! So BUSY I took like 1 picture all weekend! I know BAD MOMMY!! I do have some stories for you.. I'll take you down my BUSY weekend....

Saturday:

On Saturday, December 10, I had to Thirty-One party in Murphy at 10:00 am... I was headed to the party and realized that I needed to stop by Target and get some goodies to give away, the $1 bins are a LIFE SAVER! So, I stopped and got some goodies, went to the bank and headed to the party. Of course my GPS on my "smart phone" wasn't so smart and didn't know WHERE I was going so I wound up being 10 min later than I wanted to be. It's all good though because the party guests showed right on time and I WAS set up.. SA-WEET!

  **For those who don't know what Thirty-One is, feel free to visit my web site at Thirty-One**

After the Thirty-One party, I rushed home to finish the t-shirt order I have been working on. I was ALMOST done, and the machine decided to eat one of my shirts.. ARG! I got the shirts finished, everyone loaded up in the van, and realized I hadn't made the meatballs for the Sunday School Christmas party! AHHH!! I got all the stuff together to make those, put them in a bag, and a Thirty-One FedEx shipment comes to the door! Loaded that into the van **it's Mama's order** and head for Mama and Daddy's house.

We get to Mama and Daddy's house, unload, Greg starts the meatballs while I go through the Thirty-One shipment, we get the kiddos settled and leave. WooooHooo, night with no kiddos!! **Side note: I LOVE my kids, but love time away too**

For our Christmas party this year, we decided to go Christmas Caroling at 2 of the local nursing homes, come back to the church, eat, and do white elephant. It was so much fun.. I wound up bringing home a light up cup for Emma and a gift I can't say because I'm wrapping it up for Bryan for Christmas. Greg wound up with some thing that my nephew, Seth, is going to love, so I can't put that on here either! :)

Here are a few pics from Saturday night's party **Pics courtesy of Gena Clifton**:

**Story of the pickle ornament: "In old world Germany, the last decoration placed on the Christmas Tree was always a pickle cafefully hidden deep in the branches. Legend has it that the observant child who found it on Christmas Day was blessed with a year of good fortune and a special gift."**

Saturday was ALOT of fun. We didn't get home till almost 10:00pm.. 

Sunday:

Sunday started out just like any other Sunday, getting ready for church, until we were about to walk out the door and Greg remembered it was PJ day for the kiddos! I stripped off their clothes and found some Jammies REALLY quick and away we went.

After church we ran by Subway and got some $2 6 in sandwiches, ate them at the house, and then headed out to Plano. **Note: we would NOT have had to come all the way back to the house if I hadn't forgotten the order that Mrs. Patty had ordered and I was supposed to deliver!!**

We got to Plano, and Emma and I ran into Joann Fabrics to get a 12x12 picture frame to put the order in and some other paper that I needed for my next project (pics to come tomorrow)... We delivered the order to Patty and headed back to Wylie.

**Patty's order**

We ran to Albertson's to get stuff to make dinner for a couple in our Sunday School class and headed to Mama and Daddy's house. I started boiling the chicken while Greg ran BACK to Lavon to the house to get the deposit for Bryan's account! **ANOTHER Side Note: He WOULD NOT have had to run back to the house if I hadn't of forgotten the deposit, what's wrong with my brain!?!?!** While the chicken was boiling, I put in the Thirty-One orders from the previous day and then made the dumps! I delivered the dumps a little after 6:00 pm, went and picked up a check from a friend for Bryan's deposit, got back to Mama and Daddy's to pick up the kiddos and Greg (he was so sweet and had cleaned up all my dishes from cooking the dumps), and headed HOME! THANK GOODNESS!!!

We, including the kids, were pooped when we got home. It took all we had not to go to bed right when we walked through the door, but we waited until 8:30!! Yes, Greg and I went to bed at 8:30 PM and I only woke up once to potty and slept till 7:15!!! GREATNESS!!

Since this was a weekend FILLED with friends, I'll finish with a Bible verse on friendship:

John 15:12-15 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

Let's NOT Talk About Yesterday, Let's Focus On Today!

Yesterday, Thursday, December 8th = SUCK FEST

Yes, I am VERY thankful to God for every day that I am given, and I try to glorify Him in all I do, but today just SUCKED! Here is a good illustration that sums up my day (and also with Miss Emma did)

So, the Nut Cracker lost his head. How many times do I have to tell the girls to leave the stuff on the entry table alone?!?! Emma's response to breaking it, "Oh well, at least it was mine and not Courtlynn's!" Ahhh!!

Okay, so I DID get some things done.. Here are the 2 Christmas presents I was working on the other day that I did the "sneak peek".. One is a man's knitted scarf and the other is a A&M Coffee Coozie..

I was also able to work on an order that is due Saturday and got a start on our place mats for the table...

Funny story: I was making Emma's lunch and I was giving her some turkey.. Here is the convo:

Emma: What is turkey made out of?
Me: Turkey
Emma: Hummmm... That's funny.. Turkey the food and turkey the animal, 2 different things, 1 name..

**I think I'll save this convo for later and NOT turn her vegetarian too early!**

So, dinner.. I made chicken and mac n cheese for the kiddos and did something for Greg and I that I have never done before.. **Thank you Pinterest**

I made FRIED MAC N CHEESE.. **HEAVEN!**

Here is the recipe:

Fried Mac & Cheese Balls
makes 8 balls
2 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoon flour
3/4 cup half and half
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 packed cup leftover mac & cheese (I used Kraft)
1/2 cup flour
1 beaten egg
1 cup panko (you can also use regular bread crumbs)
pecorino or parmesan cheese for serving

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the flour and stir vigorously until the mixture is bubbling. Remove the pan from the heat, then slowly whisk in the half and half until it is fully incorporated and there are no lumps. Return the pan to a medium-low heat stove and use a silicone spatula to continuously scrape the bottom of the pan to keep the sauce from burning. When the sauce is thick and bubbly, remove the pan from the heat and add the mac & cheese. Stir to combine, then taste for salt and adjust as needed. Cool to room temperature, then place the mixture into the fridge to harden.
Once the macaroni mixture has cooled, it will be very firm. Use a spoon to scoop out a 1 1/2″ ball, then roll it between your hands to make it round, pressing down a bit to remove any air pockets. You should be able to make about 8 balls.
Add about 2 inches of oil into a heavy bottomed pot. Turn the heat onto medium high, and watch for the temperature to reach about 320 degrees F. In the mean time, get 3 shallow bowls out, and put the flour in one, the egg in another and the panko in the third. Roll each ball in the flour to coat evenly, then in the egg (make sure it’s well coated with egg or the panko won’t stick). Lastly, drop the balls in the panko and roll around to coat evenly.
Line a wire rack with paper towels to place the balls on once they’re fried. Fry each ball, rolling them around so they brown evenly until they are golden brown and crisp. Transfer the fried mac and cheese balls to a paper towel lined rack and let them drain. Let them cool for a minute before serving, then top with plenty of grated cheese.

As I am making dinner, I hear BANGING outside.. I open in blinds in my back door and this is what I see..

**Don't mind the can of spray paint in the yard!!**

So, I hadn't been home 1 night during the week this week, and I told myself I was staying home  TONIGHT! Well, that didn't happen.. I HAD to go to Target to return a shirt and get a different color.. Okay, so not so bad.. I got to Target and was about to turn into a parking spot when I saw someone coming from the other way. I stopped to let them pass before turning into my spot.. SHE TOOK MY SPOT!! I sat there a little dumbfounded and realized she wasn't going to pull forward into the next open spot, so I went around and took the spot facing her and glared at her (I know, not a very Christian thing to do, I'm only human!).. Once I thought she had gotten the appropriate amount of glaring, I grabbed my bag and started for the doors. Wouldn't you know she grabbed something out of her passenger seat and RAN to the customer service line AHEAD OF ME!!! Oh, it was on.. GLARE IN FULL FORCE! Luckily, I got done BEFORE her (I felt a little better inside).. I got back out to my car and got to thinking, maybe she was in a hurry, maybe she had someone sick at home, maybe she REALLY needed the money. We don't know what everyone is going through when they do ugly things, so instead of GLARING THEM DOWN, pray for them! **lesson learned, until next time :)**

I will end Thursday with a funny pic from the day... Braxton was in the bath and I turned around to wash him up and look what I found in the tub...

 **Note towel in tub**

NOW we are FINALLY to FRIDAY!!!!

Braxton (he's B's bff!!)

**Give a kid a toy, he'll play with the box**

**Also, we usually get REALLY cute pics of the boys together, but today we were a little off, sorry**

Jamie and Colin left and we got ready for 2 of our favorites.. The Rose Family and Papa Murphy's Pizza.. 

I also had a Thirty-One shipment come in.. woohoo.. 4 new products that I didn't have in my inventory, and now I do!! woohoo!!

Here is the "funny pic" for today.. Emma INSISTED on being the "funny pic" and wanted to show everyone her "funny face" **kinda scary**

Since Thursday was such a bad day for me, here is a verse that you (and I) might find helpful!

Psalm 50:15 and call upon me in the day of trouble;    I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

Just Another Day... And Yesterday!

Okay.. I got home REALLY late last night from running around Wylie like a mad woman **see later story** so pretend this is last night and I'm posting about "yesterday" (that's really now just Tuesday) and "tonight" (which is really last night), so confusing! 

So, last night I was in a desperate need of a girl's night.. so my sister inlaw, Amber, and I went to dinner and then to our favorite place in the universe, JOANN FABRICS.. **Cue Choir of Angels... NOW**

We had both never been to Cotton Patch Cafe, even though I had it catered for our rehearsal dinner (neither of us ate), so we decided to go there after seeing the Buffalo Wild Wings and Chipotle parking lots **Amber had never been to these places either! Has she been living under a rock!!** They have a new salad that was sooo nummy.... Check it out for yourself...

Then we went over to Joann's and just skimmed the aisles of GREATNESS! I did wind up spending $8.64, but considering what I got, it was worth it!

So, fast forward, I get home in bed and wake up the next morning. I'm sitting on the couch and my girls walk in the room... THIS is what I see...

Greg was obviously home with the girls last night and got them dressed for bed.. Emma, I guess, decided to wear a ballet dress up outfit, and Courtlynn is wearing one of Emma's GOOD shirts! It's all good though, they had fun and no harm done. I just thought it was so funny when I saw this, this morning.

Now to start my day... I first tackled the kitchen.. it was DISGUSTING!

Then, what's the first thing you want to do in a CLEAN kitchen?!?! MESS IT UP! I decided that I would use something from my Pinterest addiction finds! I made Greg Eggnog Fudge. Here is the recipe:

Eggnog Fundge

Ingredients:
 2 c sugar
1/2 c butter
3/4 c eggnog
10.5 oz white chocolate chips
1/2 tsp nutmeg
7 oz marshmallow creme
1 tsp rum extract


Line 8x8 pan with foil and butter.


In saucepan, heat sugar, butter, and eggnog to rolling boil, stirring constantly. Continue boiling 8-10 minutes on med heat. Remove from heat. With wooden spoon, quickly stir in chocolate chips and nutmeg. Stir until melted and smooth. Stir in marshmallow creme and rum extract until well blended. Pour in pan and sprinkle with nutmeg. Refrigerate to cool completely. Cut into squares and store in covered container! Tada!

  I worked on my "Christmas Table" **I'm not done, working on it today** and some Christmas presents.. Here is a picture of my "Fall Table" and a "Sneak Peek" of the Christmas presents...

That's just part of my day... The kiddos were pretty well behaved all day. 5:00 pm hit though and Braxton turned into his demon self... I don't know what's been going on with him! For the past week or so, once 5:00 hits, he turns into a screaming little demon child. Don't believe me, come and stay with him! AHHHHH!!

As alot of people know, right now we are in the process of POTTY TRAINING Courtlynn!!! Well, today I was taking a bath **trying to get the screaming out of my head, I put him in his crib to cry it out** Courtlynn came in and said she had to go poo poo!! WOOOOHOOOOOOO! **I KNOW she is going to HATE me later, but I got a picture of her on the potty.. teehee**

So, after poopoo in the potty and my bath, I went to start dinner... it got REALLY quiet **that's NEVER a good thing** I went to check on the girls and Emma is laughing hysterically at Courtlynn.. I'll let you see what I found...

Knowing that I was going to have to go and meet people tonight at Starbucks at 7:30, I went with an easy dinner that the girls LOVE!

Then I kissed the kiddos and the hubby bye bye and headed for my outing.. I had to meet 2 people at Starbucks to pick up Thirty-One orders, 1 person to pick up something I sold them on the Wylie Garage Sale Site **if you haven't been on there, you have to find it on Facebook, it's ADDICTING, I almost sold my children!!**, and 1 person that was giving me money for Bryan's return to the US for Christmas **hallelujah** (btw, he was a no show, boo) Then, I had to go to a ladies house and drop off another thing that I sold on the Wylie Garage Sale Site (woohoo), go to Kohl's and return some things, goto Target to get some t-shirts to fill an order, and then go to Walmart to get the rest of the shirts that Target didn't have and a few groceries. I was POOPED when I got back home **hince why this is going out a day late and a dollar short**

So, that was my day! If you're not tired after reading that, you're crazy! Haha.. but join me tonight **or tomorrow if it get's too CRAZY** for today's journeys!

I'll leave you with a quote that came up on my facebook ads bar today **remember yesterday, haha**

“In almost everything that touches our everyday life on earth, God is pleased when we’re pleased. He wills that we be as free as birds to soar and sing our maker’s praise without anxiety.” ~A.W. Tozer

And Away We Go.....

I've always thought about doing a blog, but I thought, "Who would read it? My life is BORING!!" Then I found myself posting every day pictures and funny things that Emma or Courtlynn say during the day on Facebook, and people were telling me...

"April, this isn't a diary or blog, this is your status"

So, here we go.. I now have a BLOG!

Let me first introduce you to my CRAZY family...


First, there is Gregory (Greg, Baby)... We met when I was in the 7th grade, he was dating my best friend at the time, we had classes together in High School, worked together at Albertsons grocery store (I was a bagger, blah), and then lost contact. Well, a few years later **I won't give away our ages to those who don't know (teehee)** we reconnected at Walmart (yeah I know)! We got to talking, he asked if I wanted to catch up later, I said yes, and, a couple of days later, we were having dinner at Chili's. Little did I know, he thought it was a date and I later found out that I took a swing at his ego when I insisted on paying.. **oops, my bad** Well, long story short, a month and 16 days later we were engaged and 5 mo and 14 days later we were married! :) We have been married for a little over 5 years now and I love him more and more everyday.

 

Me and my honey

So, fast forward 1 year and 3 days after our wedding day, and here comes Emma Grace. She is now 4 years old, sneaky, loving, clumsy, beautiful, and 100% my mini me!

Now, almost 22 months later came Courtlynn Faith. She is a red headed spit fire. She is gorgeous, stubborn, hilarious, and 100% 2!!

Okay, so Greg and I thought we were DONE with babies.. YES, DONE, but here comes Braxton Levi a little less than 17 mo later. He's adorable, happy, piggy, and 100% mini Bryan (my brother).

So, this is my family. I'm sure I will be talking ALOT about them in the coming weeks, months, years so get to know them. :)

I'll go ahead and let you know what we have been doing the last few weeks to catch up to today.

Thanksgiving was at my cousin Melynee's house. There were 19 people there and it was CRAZY but FUN! Here is a picture of my munchkins before we left the house in their shirts I made for them.

 **This is the best smile I have EVER gotten out of Courtlynn for a picture. I don't know why Courtlynn's feet look abnormally HUGE and I don't know what's up with Emma's hair or her smile, but, hey, Courtlynn's smile is SUPER CUTE!!**

Then we got to put up the Christmas Tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Last year Courtlynn didn't really "get" what she was doing, so this year it was all VERY new to her. Emma and her loved putting the ornaments on the tree.

**Note: I "fluffed" the tree some more afterward so there weren't any holes in it like shown in the picture**

As some may already know, we attend First Baptist Church of Wylie **shout out** and we are doing this AWESOME outreach during the Christmas season. From Black Friday (day after Thanksgiving) to Christmas Eve we are wrapping Christmas presents for FREE.. That's right FREE! No hidden cost, NOTHING!! I have had the privilege to wrap gifts 2 times since we started and Greg has gotten to do publicity (handing out business cards and telling people about it). Greg said that the funniest thing about doing the publicity is people don't get "FREE"... Here are some of the things he heard...

"Do we have to provide the wrapping paper?"--- no

"Don't believe him, we have to buy the tape."--- No

"Do you take donations?" --- NO

F-R-E-E

So, if you still need your gifts wrapped, come up to our store front in Wylie (Infront of Target, beside Mooyah Burger) and get your gifts wrapped for FREE!

That leads us up to last night (That will be a different post). I hope ya'll are ready for some Chaos, Misspelling, Bad Grammer, and lots of "ya'lls".. 

HERE WE GO....