bonfires!!

It's usually the kind of thing I associate with Fall, but in our fam, it's an all year round kind of thing. The kids know the drill, when they get word that it's Bonfire Night they all run for the kitchen getting out everything we might need for the meal that usually goes along with the fire. So about that fire...many of you know that Nate is very much an Outdoors-man kinda guy, so you might think he's down on the ground next to the firepit with a stick and flint or somekind of earthy way of gettin our bonfires going. Sorry Nate it's time to get it all out...lets be honest...the man pours gasoline ALL OVER the wood and tells the kids to take cover as he throws a match in. You can feel the heat all the way to the front yard as the flames shoot up all at once, the kids LOVE it! Makes me so nervous that someone is going to come away from that with no eyebrows or worse. Oh well we've got fire and I guess that's all that matters.
So last night we planned for Pizza Firepies. For those of you that might not know what they are here's the deal...You need Firepie Irons ( can get them from W*l-Mart or any sporting goods store) spray them with cooking spray and place your bread down in them. Fill it up with whatever sounds good to you ( or your kids). Of course this one is all pizza fillings, but we have made them with ham and cheese, peanut butter, chocolate, bananas etc. Set them down into the fire...oh wait...

this might happen if you leave it for too long or it gets too hot too fast...oops, Nate ate this one.
So we move them back away from the hot coals and onto the hot stones, worked MUCH better this way...


Quickly after the Firepies are eaten Clayton is usually the one who busts out the marshmellows and graham crackers. The boy is in a state of pure joy at this point.

For some reason last night as Logan was going over with us the *recipe* for Smores, he was telling us it was *Graham CRAPPERS* that needed to go first, then the chocolate then the marshmellows. Crappers...hmmmmm...nice...

A little trick we like to do is place the graham CRACKERS and the chocolate on the stones next to the fire while the marshmellow is being cooked to your liking. This melts the chocolate a bit and also crisps the crackers...YUMMMM!


Now everyone has their favorite way of roasting their marshmellow, Madelyn freaked a bit when her's quickly caught fire and she was yelling at ME to blow it out. Later she remembered that she did in fact like hers on the burnt side. Logan is a more patient man, to the point that his first two were left to themselves and I watched them slowly melt right off the stick in the fire, small tagedy there for a moment, but the bag full of waiting marshmellows got him calmed down enough to head on to the next attempt.

Here's how I like them...melty, dark brown toasted marshmellows pressed between the warmed chocolate and crispy crakers...PURE BLISS!!!

Now here's the thing that might set our Bonfire Nights aside from your average bonfire...we basically have a dinner theater. The kids have been working all afternoon on their one of a kind performance. The rush through their meal and then JUMP ( bad combo for me)They manage to keep their food down somehow and press on through the show. Each kid has their own unique style, Emma a bit over the top, I know shocker to ya.

Madelyn was calculated down to each step across the trampoline ( again I'm sure your shocked at that too)and if we happened to have turned our heads even for a second the show was taken again from the top.
Somehow she managed not to break anything!

Logan was up next, again you might not be too surprised to hear that there wasn't so much the jumping with his performance as there was SPINNING and TWIRLING...at least he got his fishing hat involved.


So here's what we have discovered, one can really tell alot about themselves during a trampoline performance. If you'd like you can come over perform for yourself ( or who ever would like to watch) and discover your personality! Like for instance...Nate's last performance ended with a flip off the side and landing to where it was clear he was making sure we were not going to have any more children. My last performance it was clear that I indeed had FOUR children and after about three jumps I had to run inside and change my pants :)

LOVE antique shops!

If I had a million dollars I have to admit that a good portion of it would be spent antique-ing. I love blending the old with the new, I love items that might tell you a story if they could talk. When we lost Nathan's grandparents we were blessed to be able to adopt many vintage items from their home. I love knowing where these items came from and how Grandma used them. When I purchase things from a vinatage or antique dealer I have no idea what the story is behind the items, but I wonder...
So this past Memorial Day weekend my sister and I jumped on the opportunity to hit the antique shops outside of Logan, Ohio. As we walked up to the front porch area, the feeling of pure bliss takes me over. I can't tell you how much I LOVE looking at vintage stuff. I guess to some it's stuff or even worse junk, but I look past the flaws and see it's potential! Jess and I saw ALL KINDS of things from a vintage framed Wedding document from the 1930's to a Original metal Star Wars lunch box which was priced correctly at over $40. Oh well.
I was on a mission though, had to stay focused. I was DESPERATE for something to keep my jewelry organized. I already have a great way to display and organize my necklaces. My dear friend Lori and I made these last year and they are PERFECTLY up and away from little hands


Now my earrings, bracelets and rings on the other hand were drowning in each other on my nightstand ( which is a vintage piece from Grandma...I think I might be refinishing it soon...more projects!) I had a draw full of craziness and it layed ALL OVER the top...it was MADNESS! What a shame, as my Grandma would say.
So back to my shopping...I needed something to help with this situation, and I was overwhelmed. I wanted something glass or ceramic and it needed to have some sort of dividing going on.
Well then came the vintage jewelry, it was calling to me! I found a FABULOUS etsy seller that takes vintage jewelry and recycles it into new pieces. LOVE this idea!
So I came across a brooch, some beads and later found a necklace...oh that have SO MUCH potential

You'll have to wait and see what becomes of this :) By the way...this was a grand total of $11...the best part! THEN this little $5 ring jumped on my hand and I couldn't let this one go...I stinkn' LOVE IT!!!

Geez, can you see how distracting this process is??? I came here to find something to PUT my jewelry IN, not buy MORE jewelry!! I found some small glass dishes, I wasn't in love yet, but on the right track. It was crunch time, we had gone through EVERY booth and I wasn't in love...I was discouraged until I saw this beauty...it was YELLOW! So happy! For $14 this was PERFECT...ok so nevermind that it's a deviled egg serving dish. It's got the little places for my earrings...perfect! I wonder what sweet little hostess displayed her family recipe deviled eggs on this dish?? Did she have a yellow kitchen? I wonder.... I found a yellow glass dish that fir PERFECTLY in the middle for my bracelets and another glass dish for my rings! I was in love for sure!!! So here's they are...in their new home with a whole new purpose. Now I just need to refinish the nightstand! Cause I need another project!

My new blanket...Think Big

I've been crafting Chubby Baby Blankets for several years, my little guy still loves on his through out the day and has to go to bed with them both at night.

Here's Clayton and Nate sleeping in the airport in Miami last Summer on our way to Trinidad

They are backed with Minkee...soooo soft! Moms comment all the time that they would LOVE to have a big one for themselves. So a while back after recieving 2 baby blankets for his twins

a friend asked if I had ever made one for the mom. His wife LOVED their babies' blankets so much he knew she would love to have one for herself and asked if I could make one for her for Mother's day. I was very excited about this idea and totally went for it. Soooo......Here's the Momma's Blanket ( decided that using the word Chubby with this one may not go over so well with moms)







Wanna give it a try...It takes 1 yard of your middle fabric, 2 yards of the edge fabric and 2 yards of minkee for the back. Plan on using a TON of pins, you need to pin it every 2 inches so the minkee won't slide around. I am beyond excited about how the Momma's Blanket turned out. I think my friend will be thrilled. Now I want one for myself!