Weekly Theme: Fall and Pumpkins

Halloween is next week, which makes it the perfect time for this theme.  I'm so excited to carve a pumpkin with A&A for the first time.  I know they'll love exploring the guts.  :)

Activities:

jack-o-lantern silhouette craft

Roll a Pumpkin Game 

life cycle of a pumpkin printables

pumpkin coloring pages

leaf coloring and identification pages

DIY homemade fall playdough

potato stamp pumpkins

fall sensory bin

pumpkin painting

Videos:
Five Little Pumpkins

Spookley the Square Pumpkin

That's How a Pumpkin Grows

Franklin's Pumpkin

Life Cycle of a Pumpkin

Curious George a Halloween Boo Fest (Netflix)

The Magic School Bus Spins a Web (Netflix)

Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood S01E32 (Netflix)

Books:

Pumpkin Soup

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything

The Littlest Pumpkin

Room on the Broom

Nuts to You

Ketchup

I haven't been around much lately (two babies keep a woman pretty darn busy).  So here's what's happened in the last few months.

Sisters:  Heather, Rhonda, and Carlene

On December 2 my aunt, Rhonda, passed away of ovarian cancer.  After suffering severe abdominal pain, she went to the emergency room and was admitted to the hospital.  They found a mass in her abdomen and two months later she passed away.
Most women that die from ovarian and uterine cancer have a similar story.  You usually don't have symptoms until the cancer is full blown and it's too late for treatment.  There is, however, a blood test you can get now to predict your risk for ovarian and breast cancer.  Please read this website for more information.

Alex and Ayden, aka The Babies, turned two months old December 16th. 

Christmas.  Can you find The Babies?

And to end our year, we bought a new car....a 2005 Nissan Pathfinder.  We were lucky to find a great deal on this vehicle and drove all the way to Sandy Springs GA (just north of Atlanta) to pick it up.  Now I will have no trouble driving the babies around town! 

My dreams came true this year and I am eager to see what 2011 has instore for our family.

Etsy Sunday

CHRISTMAS!!!
Skull and Crossbones Kitchen Towel
Wood Snowflake Ornaments
Rustic Wood Burned Christmas Tree 
Log Cabin Throw/Quilt
"Hell yeah I've been naughty" Ornament
Coffee Bean Burlap Stocking

Happy Birthday, The Pope!

I love you, always.

Etsy Sunday

I doubt I'll be doing much decorating this Halloween season, oh but I do love this holiday!  Here's a nice Halloween/Day of the Dead themed Etsy Sunday for your viewing pleasure.
REDRUM decal  (redrum reference, totally creepy)
Paw Readings signage
Zombie Artwork with frame
Day of the Dead skull garland
Bad Witch Shoe Sign

Potato Stamps

I wanted to share the old, really old craft of making potato stamps.  You can use these to stamp everything, and they are super easy to make and much cheaper than store bought rubber stamps.
What you'll need:  a couple of potatoes, a knife, ink pad or paint, pencil, dish cloth

Cut a potato in half (not lengthwise), then use the dish cloth to dry the cut end of the potato.  This will help the ink stick better.

Use the pencil to draw a shape on the cut end of the potato.  Then use a knife to very carefully cut around the shape.

Making sure your potato is pretty darn dry, press your potato stamp onto the ink pad and transfer it to the article of your choice.  I used the backside of Christmas wrapping paper to wrap a Valentine's gift for The Pope.  Then I used my stamps on blank note cards.
(The "all you need is love" stamp is leftover from our wedding.  I used it to stamp takeout boxes for our candy buffet.)

Etsy Sunday

I love this time of year.  My birthday is February 3 (I'll be twenty-eight this year) and then just a few days later is Valentine's Day!
Honestly, I expected more Valentine's Day goodness on Etsy.  It was a little lacking.

Flour sack kitchen towel
Will You Be My Valentine wreath
And They Lived Happily Ever After wall decal (you know I love these!)
Angel wings paper sculpture

Welcome 2010!

I am finally back from my break from blogging.  I have reluctantly removed the Elvis Christmas picture and changed my playlist from 50s Christmas classics to a great collection of oldies.  (Have you ever noticed sock hop, malt shop, and doo wop all end in -op?  Must have been the two favorite letters of the 50s.)
The Pope and I spent lots of time on the road this holiday season visiting folks in Augusta and Raleigh.  We hardly had time to spend quality time with everyone but loved every minute.  We are thankful to have two loving families to share Christmas with.

Today I am working on getting the house clean and ready for the new year (we have yet to take down and put away our Christmas decorations).  I would love to get us super organized this year and I've been looking for a great wall calendar.  Of course I love the retro themed ones.  If I were a single girl I'd buy one of the calendars with old pin ups on it but of course it's not completely appropriate with a man in the house, boo.

Enjoying the staff Christmas party

Christmas Break, See You Next Year

"And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.  But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for I bring you good news of great joy for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."  And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace among men with whom He is pleased."

Christmas DIY Wreath/Centerpiece

I love seeing something at a store, or tasting something at a restaurant, and going home to create it myself.  Well here is my latest do it yourself project, Christmas themed.  It's super easy but may be a little time consuming.

Begin with a wreath form like this styrofoam one and lots and lots of Christmas ornaments (I found plastic ones at Fred's when I was in Augusta for Thanksgiving).
Starting with the larger ornaments, hot glue each one to the sides and top of the styrofoam first.  Then go back and fill in with smaller ornaments.

I am going to use my creation as a centerpiece adding a white candle to the middle.
This is my next DIY project!

I've Missed Y'all

Thanksgiving put a damper on my blogging. Plus my family in Augusta still has dial up.....ring, beeeeeep, beeeeep.
I did have a great holiday break in Augusta hanging out with family. The Pope even made deviled eggs at Maw's (my grandmother) request despite the fact that he hates eggs and mayonnaise.  This was a true test of his love for me.
My parents have recently bought a house in Pine Mountain, Georgia (right next to Callaway Gardens).  So Saturday Carlene, The Fosters, and I drove down to check out the remodeling they've done.  I should have taken pictures but they still wouldn't have made sense to you.
See, the house was just a regular, normal sized home and then the previous owners added a super strange addition.  There is a five or six foot square tiled "tub" that is about four feet deep with stairs and railing!  In another spot in the house there is a trap door that is sort of an indoor root cellar, or I guess it could be used for a very small panic room.  There are even two kitchens in the place, like a duplex but not.  Weird.  Anyway, my parents are making this two-house home into one large home....taking out walls, adding walls, basically completely remodeling the existing rooms.

Stay tuned this month for The Pope's irish coffee recipe and my Christmas crafts.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thank you, Lord, for a loving and caring husband.  Thank you for blessing me with such a great man.
Thank you for a great supportive family that always understands.
Thank you for your grace, mercy, and forgiveness.

Etsy Sunday

Tis the season!  I am ready to start playing my Elvis Christmas album and so ready to put up my Christmas decorations!!!  The older I get the more I love, love, love the holidays.

Colorful glass star ornament
Button snowflake ornament
Christmas vinyl wall stickers
Victorian ornament
Flip flop ornament
LOVE this centerpiece!

My Wish List

flexible measuring cups
dry measuring cups
garden/yard stuff
Embroidered Effects
Julie and Julia (dvd releases Dec 8)
cupcake stand
How to Make Almost Everything
yards of fabric
Plant Penguins
beginner sewing books like this or that
bamboo bread box
used DVDs (Dawons' Creek, Hairspray, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Shag)
diner cake stand
embroidery scissors

Dia de los Muertos

Etsy Sunday

This week I wanted to focus on Halloween items from Etsy.  Just look at all the great things I found!

Medusa earrings
Spider web umbrella
Hair, hair bow
Los Novios handbag

Christmas recipe numero uno

Jon and I are heading to Augusta for Christmas. Yay! I will go down on December 21 to hang out with my family, get ready for Christmas, and help cook for the whole week. I wanted to try a few new recipes for Christmas dinner. Here's the first I've decided on. I found this recipe in The Nest magazine.

Warm Apple Tart
Preheat your oven to 375
Peel, core, and eighth 6 fuji apples with 1/2 cup store-bought caramel topping
Line a shallow baking pan with parchment paper and a (roughly) 18" sheet of frozen puff pastry
Arrange the apple-caramel mixture on pastry
Combine 6oz cold butter, 6oz sugar, and 6oz flour until crumbly and sprinkle on apple mixture
Bake 40 to 45 minutes. Cut into slices.
The Nest suggests serving it with butter pecan ice cream.

Le Père Noël

I just got a letter back from Santa (at this site, you can EMAIL Santa!!!) Here's his response to my email:

What a nice surprise Stephanie!

Thank you for sending me your email all the way from Wilmington! The Net sure is wonderful because now I never feel lonely all the way up at the North Pole. I can get those wonderful Christmas emails any time of the year now, but it's always special when I get one from you, Stephanie.

Well bless my whiskers, Stephanie! Are you fibbing to ol' Santa Claus?!? You can't possibly be 26 years old already! Why it seems like only yesterday that I was leaving presents for a certain little girl and here you are now, practically one of Santa's elves! (*grin*)

Sorry the presents the last little while probably haven't been quite as exciting as they were when you were a little girl but, well, you know how these things go (*wink*). Anyway, Santa's glad to see some of the 'older kids' (not to mention anyone in particular!) still take the time to write. I also hear you've been a REALLY REALLY good girl. (Of course, you won't mind if I do a little checking, will you? Ho!! ho!! ho!!).

Let's see what you put in your letter for Christmas wishes: 1. kayak; 2. set of pots and pans and; 3. wardrobe of clothes. Ho!! ho!! ho!! That's exactly what I thought you might like! Of course, there's only so much room in the sleigh so I hope you won't be too upset with me if I can't bring you everything you asked for.

Oh yes, before I forget Stephanie, the elves really want you to visit my new blog! It is called Santa Claus' Christmas Blog. My blog is all about Christmas, life at the North Pole, and me, Santa Claus! You can even write messages to me and see what others have written. I can hardly wait to see what you write!

Oh! oh! I just got a report from an elf that a little girl who lives close to you was being very naughty! Guess I better end my letter to you so I can change my Naughty & Nice List again. Take care Stephanie and don't forget to come back and visit me here at EmailSanta.com on Christmas Eve!! And remember... only 30 more sleeps until Christmas!!

All My Love,


P.S. The reindeer say "Thank You!" for the nice treats! I hope you don't mind, but I had a bit of carrot and celery too. After all, even Santa eats his veggies!

Happy Birthday, Saviour

Christmas time survey

1. Egg nog or hot chocolate?
I prefer coffee or apple cider.
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Does Santa know I've moved to NC?
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
white lights
4. Do you hang mistletoe?
I would if I had some to hang
5. When do you put your decorations up?
Well I've never had my own decorations to put up. This year Jon and I put our decorations up the weekend after Thanksgiving. I already have presents wrapped under the tree. For some reason I am very in to Christmas this year.
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
hmm, sweet potatoes
7. Favorite holiday memory as a child?
waking up early with Samantha to see what Santa left us
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
I asked Momma when I was like 11.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
yes, that's when our family opens all of our gifts
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
this year Jon and I decorated our tree with very colorful ornaments and a few of his old ornaments. There were these Elvis ornaments, at Walmart of all places, that I loved but I didn't get 'em.
11. Snow, love it or hate it?
I like it for like 30 mintues, just enough to play in it. But then I'm cold and want it to melt nd turn warm again.
12. Can you ice skate?
no
13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
One Christmas I asked Santa for a single rose...I got it!
14. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you?
spending it with family
15. What is your favorite holiday dessert?
Maw's hot pecan pie with chocolate chips in it
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
decorating and wrapping presents
17. What tops your tree?
a star
18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving?
I REALLY enjoy giving but I also really like receiving!
19. What is your favorite Christmas song?
I'll Be Home for Christmas by Elvis
20. Candy canes?
not so much
21. Favorite Christmas movie?
Elf, so freakin' hilarious
22. What do you leave for Santa?
I used to leave cookies for Santa and apples for his reindeer.
23. Do you attend Annual Christmas parties?
not so much
24. Does your family send out Christmas cards?
nope
25. Do you agree with changing "Merry Christmas" to "Happy Holidays"?
Heck no, it's CHRISTmas for a reason.