Stuffed Bell Peppers

Tried a new dish tonight, ground beef stuffed bell peppers! I remember my mom making something like this growing up and for whatever reason I did not like it. But lately, it has sounded SO good so I started googling for a good recipe! I found it here, and it was quite tasty!

I only made 4 medium peppers and even then, I had leftover stuffing so I made it into a loaf. Think we will be having meatloaf and mashed potatoes tomorrow night! It was quite tasty and fairly easy although a little time consuming. I did glance through the reviews (which everyone raved over) and some people had some tips for speeding it up which could work. I think I had too much rice and that is why I had so much leftover...not sure? And maybe would like some extra of the sauce to put on after it cooked. Anyhoo, it was still really tasty, Matt went for seconds so I take that as a sign that I could make it again!

The website I found the recipe on is called Simply Recipes. Neat story, its a "blog" full of family recipes! I think I will be perusing for some new things to try!!

Halloween Garland

It actually looks much cuter in person!

I found these cute glittery pumpkins and bats and with a little festive ribbon, made a garland for our fireplace! The mantle is by no means finished as most of my Halloween stuff isn't out of the attic yet, so I just grabbed a few things that were out to help the look! :)

If you are in need of inspiration, go check out some of these great ideas!

Kelly's Bridal Shower

Looking forward to celebrating the big day on October 2nd!!!

Book Wreath

The project that reignited my love of crafts. Seriously, I have eyed this tutorial FOR.E.V.E.R. and finally decided to go for it!

Living with Lindsey was where I saw it originally and if you google book wreath, her's is the first one that comes up! I followed her tutorial exactly, including the trip to the $ store for my supplies. It basically cost $2...$1 for the book and $1 for the wreath, woohoo! It came out super cute and was a big hit at Kelly's shower, or at least they played nice as I proudly showed it off. It is hanging in our office right now but I am envisioning "framing" it (think big empty frame on the wall) and hanging the wreath in the middle of it in my guest room. It has been needing some personality in there for awhile.

So, here it is, my book wreath! Love it, thanks Lindsey! Now go make your own! :)

(Only one book was harmed in the making of this wreath, Dark Victory-Bette Davis biography. I like to think of it is "re-cycling"!)

Game Room re-do and thrift store find!

We have this great big game/family room upstairs that I love because we can close the door and just be comfy! What that also means is that it is a big fat hodge podge of things and stuff! I have been on a craft kick and reading all these great blogs about inexpensive and creative make-overs people do to rooms, furniture and decorating and am getting inspired! This room is a blank canvas right now and I am ready to turn it into something...just not sure what. So, this will definitely be a work in progress...especially because my vision and hubby's are surely entirely different. If he had his way, it would probably be leather stadium couches and a GIANT tv screen ;-)

So here is the room as it is now, messy and all.

We have some good things in the room...comfy couches, entertainment center with shelves, another set of shelves, a toy box and 2 book cases. The problem is its so unorganized I don't feel like its properly being used. The first thing I think that needs to be done is to buy some baskets and get the entertainment center under control.

The next is the layout of the room....I am not sure about. I think I want to cut that bookshelf in the back in half, paint it, and make it more kid friendly. Those are all MY books that I love, but truly, I could probably part with half of them and the ones I love move into our office. I also think maybe moving the couch up against the back wall to give more space?

The other thing I want is a kids table, somewhere Z and M can sit and color, do crafts, eat, whatever! I have this old end table that is perfect. Pondering making the top a chalkboard or maybe just making the whole thing a fun color?

And I picked this adorable kids rocking chair up at goodwill today for $9! It is in perfect condition and nice heavy wood, I figured I can surely turn it into something.
So there you have it, all the players in this thing we call a game room. Any ideas or suggestions to turning this into a more organized, fun and CUTE room??

**Oooh, and Matt found these OLD baseball pennants from when he was growing up...I am thinking somehow they would look GREAT in this room!**

Halloween Footprint Art

Ok, I know this is a juvenile project, but the boys sure had fun getting their tootsies painted and I think we will look back and marvel at how tiny their feetsies once were! ;-)

So I picked up a 2 pack of canvases at Michael's for about $6. I already had the paint and ribbon so that was about the cost of this project. Love that!

First I painted the canvas black and let dry overnight. Then I took the boys outside for the fun!

I wiped their tootsies down with a wet wipe to make sure they were clean and then started painting a foot! We had some construction paper with us to practice with first :) And made a few handprints too just because!

Then we made a nice white footprint on our nice black canvas!

After both boys had done their foot prints, I let the canvas dry. Then I wrote a small BOO in the corner of each and after that dried, Mod Podged of course!

A little glitter and embellishments around the edges... I am not quite satisfied with their faces....May have to work on that!

And a bow to top it off and we have two cute wall decorations! Grammy gets to be the recipient of the second one. I had other plans for my 2nd canvas but Z felt each one needed a foot print!

So there you go, cute, inexpensive and fun craft for the kiddos too!

I am linking up with Fireflies and Jellybeans: show off your stuff! Lots of cute ideas out there, go check them out! :)

Radio Talk

Was listening to the radio this morning, flipping channels and landed on the Gayle King show on and they were talking about a few things that I found very interesting....your 6 word memoir and the FRP (friend reduction program), ....Bear with me, I promise it was interesting, LOL.

I'm sure you all know who Gayle is, Oprah's bff. Well she was sitting on a plane next to a man and they were just chatting it away and he started talking about how at a certain point in his life, he realized he was over stressed, over scheduled, and not spending enough QT with the ones that matter the most. So he trimmed the fat, so to speak. His way was a little harsh I think as he actually told the people that he longer had time for them in his life, but I did have to relate a little to what he was talking about. As a dual-working family with 2 crazy little boys, I quickly came to realize that my time was not my own any more and sometimes, I just cannot do it all. One thing that I am very blessed about is that I have my book club, my "sisters" and I get to see them no matter what, once a month. This is such a relief to me, since some times you just cannot attend it all, that no matter what, I have a once a month "date" with them! Friendship is good for the woman's soul! And I have other friends, mostly out of town that I am blessed by the Internet and facebook and email to be able to keep in touch with. What did we do before? I guess people just lost touch that much easier? Once I did realize that saying No to a commitment was okay, life got a bit more simpler. I don't think I ever had to really do a FRP, I think some relationships naturally drifted apart as life moved on but I can see how some people would have to do it. Have you had to do a Friends Reduction Program at all as you have gotten older, relationships changed, added children into your life, where certain people or groups no longer fit into your life or lifestyle? I was really amazed by how many people called in and consciously did this.

The other lighter topic was what would your 6 word memoir be? Kinda like a haiku ;-) After a night with little sleep and a crying little ALMOST 11 month boy who just wanted to, ahem, PLAY when he should be sleeping....I decided my memoir is (at least for today) Someday I Will Sleep Eight Hours Again! Oooh lordie y'all, I never want to fast forward life and skip any of these stages, but I sure do look forward to the day when I get more uninterrupted sleep! What would your 6 word memoir be for today??

Other than that, I am just pondering all the crafts and projects I want to do. I am blown away by how creative some people are out in blogland and has me seriously wanting to hit up my local $ stores and thrift stores! Stay tuned, I will share with some of the projects as I create them. I started one yesterday that the boys got to participate in and I think it is going to turn out pretty cute! :)

Halloween Frames

Here is my first Halloween project! I love decorating my mantle for the different holidays...and one of my favorite parts about my "regular" mantle is having pictures on it but the frames don't quite fit in with Halloween theme! So I decided to make some that would! :)

I hit up Michael's with my Sunday coupon which was 20% entire regular price purchases and 50% off one regular item. I picked up some $1 unfinished wooden frames, some Halloween ribbon, and a package of Halloween themed scrapbook paper. I already had paint and modge podge at home.

And here we go!

First i picked out the paper I wanted to use and traced the frame shape onto the paper and cut them out. Disregard all the other stuff in the background....those black canvases and pumpkin are for other projects I am working on! ;-)

Then I painted the edges and inside of the frames black.

Next I glued the paper to the frames with Mod Podge.

Then with an exacto knife, I cut the inside of the frames out. This was a little more difficult than I thought it would be so I would welcome any suggestions on how to do this step more easily. Once the inside was out, I used a file to sand down the edges.

And then mod podged some more...

After letting them dry, I embellished with some Halloween bows and that was it!

What do you think?

I filled them up with pictures of the boys from the past Halloweens...I made them all vertical in the late night and when I went to put pictures in I realized I needed 2 landscape....

This one I think I can make work if I turn mr. pumpkin to face the right way.

This is my fav Halloween photo. I LOVE how Z is peering into the window waiting for the next candy giver to show up! He was so little still last year but caught on quickly to the whole trick or treating thing!

And baby Mark, only 2 weeks old and out at our church pumpkin patch/fall fair. I forget how tiny he once was! Time passes too quickly!!

And finally...my favorite frame (LOVE the giant bow...who says moms to boys cant still do girly sometimes??) but alas, no way to turn the ribbon without ripping the paper on the frame.

Anyone in need of a cute Halloween frame? Perhaps I could do my first give away! :)

I had fun making these and looking forward to trying it out with different holidays and themes!

Linked to:

Feeling Crafty!

Not quite sure how it started, blog hopping I think....but I am on a craft kick! I think it began by me looking for ideas for a good Halloween party for the kiddos. Since Mark's birthday is smack in the middle of October, we decided to have a costume party for his first birthday!

Anyway, in the search for the perfect party ideas, I have come across all KINDS of creative ladies out there! There are so many great and inexpensive ideas out there. Of course I don't sew or knit so things of that nature are out, but anything that involves paint or a glue gun I think I can handle! :)

Friday night, totally un-Halloween related, I made a book wreath. I came across this tutorial awhile back and always wanted to make it and finally decided to do so. Only one minor glue gun burn and it turned out great! I proudly hung it in my study downstairs to show it off during Kelly's and it was a hit (or at least they played nice and said they liked it, lol). I will take a picture tomorrow so you can see my finished project.

Next up are a couple of Halloween projects...I am working on one tonight and prepped one for the boys to participate in tomorrow. I hope they turn out cute. Then there is this awesome ribbon wreath from Tater Tots & Jello that I have my supplies and I hope to create in the next couple weeks. So many great ideas out in blogland...stay tuned to see how mine turn out! ;-)

In family news, Markey started taking some steps this week!! I have seen him take about 5-6 at a time before falling so I think in the next month or so, he surely will be walking. Other than that, life as usual! Hope you all had a good weekend!

Sweet Mark

The Many Faces of Z

Just a little cuteness and other random thoughts

Nothing new to report...except that I think Mark must have like 4 more teeth coming in right now! Poor little dude, he had a tough time sleeping last night.... It is really weird too, I can see the outlines of his teeth behind his gums, so strange!


And theresa commented that she thought my "#3" title from the last post meant I was announcing my next pregnancy! hahaha, that one gave me QUITE the chuckle!! Not quite time for that yet!! :) It is weird to think that if we were sticking to our age gap though, I would be pregnant again in the next few weeks! Oh my! Think I will enjoy the holidays first and then ponder that next year! :)


Oooh, guess what tomorrow is, people???????

It's 90210 DAY!!!!!!!!

So channel your inner Donna, Kelly, or Brenda and catch an old episode to celebrate today!!

And then just a couple pics of my sweet boys....enjoy!

The boy loves the spoon!

Z is reading Mark Elmo's potty book....too early to potty train? ;-)

Sporting his Aggie cap!