Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween!!

 
Happy Halloween! 
 
I wonder if the Disney Channel shows The Legend of Sleepy Hollow anymore? I remember watching it on tv every Halloween - right after school & before trick or treating. It's a classic & I absolutely love it (right up there with It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown).  Enjoy!


Sunday, October 28, 2012

Puppy Visit!

 
We had our puppy interview today!
 
 
The pups were so excited to see us!



Look at those pretty blue eyes!


Cuter than cute!
 We played with all eight of the puppies for about an hour. The pups were tuckered out after all the kisses we gave them. Once they were back in their pen, they immediately fell asleep.☺


We hope we make it to the final cut for one of the little boys!  Stay tuned!☺

Homecoming 2012

 
The CHS Homecoming dance was last night.
Here are a few photos of Matty looking especially spiffy. ☺
 

Required photo with mom.

Required photo with dad.

Matty, Cassie, Angie & Matt
Fun fact: Matty & Matt have been friends since Kindergarten.

Final photo (before Matty begged me to leave!).☺

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Netflix This!!

Omid and I found this movie last Sunday on the Sundance channel. We absolutely loved it! It's about a mom & her teenage son who relocate to rural Illinois from Palestine. Parts of this movie are so funny & some are very sad. Either way, it's one of my new favorite movies.☺

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Make This!!

Pumpkin Pasta!!

My sister B gave me this recipe. It is 110% delicious!! B made it for her birthday dinner last Friday. I have been begging her for the recipe ever since. She emailed it to me yesterday & I made it  for dinner last night. Even Naseem, our super picky eater, ate it (except for the mushrooms). Make this!!! You will love it!!

Pumpkin Pasta

2 T oil
1# bulk sweet italian sausage
1/4# shitake mushrooms
2 portobello mushroom caps, halved and thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 med yellow onion, chopped
Salt & Pepper
1/2 c dry white wine
1 c chicken stock
1 14oz can pumpkin puree
1/2 c cream
2-3 T thinly sliced sage leaves
1/2 t nutmeg
pinch of cinnamon
1# pasta
Grated parm to taste
1/4 c finely chopped fresh chives

Heat skillet, add oil and sausage. Brown sausage and crumble with a wooden spoon. Move sausage to one side of pan and add mushrooms, garlic and onions to the other side. Cook till mushrooms brown, then season with salt & pepper. Combine sausage and veggies and deglaze the pan with wine. Add chicken stock and heat for one minute. Stir in pumpkin and incorporate - it will be thick. Stir in cream, sage, nutmeg and cinnamon and adjust salt & pepper.  Add drained pasta - top with cheese and chives.

Monday, October 8, 2012

Make This!!

Here's a (new to me) way to make chocolate chip cookies. Just cut the amount of sugar listed in the recipe in half & replace it with a small (3 oz) box of instant vanilla pudding.

Delish!  Thanks for the tip, Kimberly!

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Get Crafty!

It's homecoming time for the local high schools. Matty wanted a creative way to ask his friend Cassie, to their school's dance. I begged him to do something different from all the other kids at Camas High. Most kids seem to do some sort of  message with balloons or cupcakes. No cookie cutter ideas here! I found this darling scratch ticket craft from ArtMind (via Pinterest) several months ago & pitched it to Matty. Thankfully, he liked it.☺

 Here's how we did it:


First Matty printed several copies of his message & glued it on construction paper.   Next we covered the message with strapping/packaging tape. Then mixed together 2 parts acrylic paint + 1 part Dawn dishwashing liquid. I painted over the taped message & let it dry. These were our practice strips to make sure it worked.
 We waited one hour before testing the paint. Success!
Final copy.

I got a little carried away with my sponge brush. The paint around the message
was way bigger than it should've been. Oh well.
My fix: add cute stickers...
....and glitter!

 
I loved this craft & was so happy it worked. Matty was pretty pleased as well. Stay tuned to see formal photos in the coming weeks.☺


New Specs!

My new glasses from Zenni Optical finally arrived! I have had them for a week now and am very happy with them. I waited to post pictures on the blog until I had my hair cut & colored (which I love!).
Thanks K.S!!!



These are actually my least favorite. I will definitely keep these in the glove compartment of my car in case of emergencies. I thought they were so cute in the 'frame fit' pix, but in person, they are anything but. Good thing they were only $6.95!☺

Whoa! Check out those stripes!!

These are plum colored & the frames are the twin of the above frames in black.
 
 
 
 

I will definitely order again the next time Zenni Optical has another BOGO sale. At their prices, I can afford to wear glasses as an accessory☺