Sunday, December 6, 2009

The best gingerbread recipe ever

These make very soft cookies and the flavor is mild...not to intense (like some gingerbread I've tried).

Gingerbread Men

1/4 c. boiling water
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 c. baking molasses
3 c. flour
1/2 c. butter or margarine
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 egg
1/2 c. brown sugar

Melt butter in boiling water. Add all the other ingredients. Then chill the dough for 2 hours. Roll out and cut into shapes. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool and decorate. Makes 24 cookies.



Thursday, December 3, 2009

Holidays In Hand Days 1-3

This year I decided to to Jessica Sprague's Holidays In Hand class and document every day in December. Let's see if I can keep up!

December 1

Did: Holiday Hoopla at Bowsher. It was pretty much a bomb so we managed to salvage the evening by stopping at Speedway for some hot chocolate. Then we drove around the neighborhood looking at Christmas lights. The girls notice so much more this year. The best house was on Sherwood hear River Rd...giant pine tree decorated with LED lights. Very impressive.

December 2
Made: Ornaments at our Daisy meeting
Remembered: Making gingerbread cookies...the three of us girls. The girls want to do it again this year. Made plans to do some baking this weekend.

December 3
Made: Christmas pictures/list for Santa using my Christmas stamps. The girls are so good with the stamps this year. Gretchen made a whole list for Santa and Heidi made a picture. So cute. Gretchen asked if her list was "too greedy" and I told her it wasn't. How sweet that she was concerned about it.

Remember: a Christmas filled with joy.
I can't remember a Christmas that wasn't filled with joy, really. But I think the most joyful one would be 2001. I knew I was pregnant a few days before, but on Christmas Eve we got the official word from the doctor. We shared the news with the whole fam damily at Grandma's house. They were literally pulling out of the driveway when we yelled and told them to stop. I was so excited I couldn't keep the news inside. Grandma cried. I had never seen her cry before. That night as we sat in church at the candlelight service, I felt joy, peace, relief, excitement...and so many other things I can't even describe. It was the greatest Christmas gift I had ever received.

Of course every year since then with the girls has been wonderful, and they "get it" more and more every year.

Plans for the weekend: watch the Phineas & Ferb Christmas special on Friday night, work on Christmas cards, bake cookies, some shopping, attend event at botanical gardens.



Sunday, October 18, 2009

// Right now \\

On the calendar // help with the book fair at school tomorrow, soccer game, work in the Trinity kitchen

On the needles // a second pair of hand warmers with a fabulous soft wool

On TV // Brothers and Sisters (yup it's a guilty pleasure

On the couch // Rob with his laptop and me with Pinkie

On the menu // Sweet potato soup and homemade bread, some kind of crockpot supper, frozen pizza with salad and the Kraft 1 bag 5 dinners Healthy Living menu

On the phone // No one right now...thank goodness!

Monday, August 24, 2009

First Day of...

I read a great blog post today that really summed up what I'm feeling about the first day of school tomorrow, so rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, here it is (courtesy of Elisa Blaha :: enJoy it:

Today is the first day of school for so many people. I'm a little bit envious. So much excitement. Clean notebooks. Favorite outfit. The only day of the year when you are not tired when the alarm goes off and instead jump out of bed to start making your hair look right. The day when you really only want toast for breakfast to settle your stomach. You actually enjoy packing your lunch. You walk into every class hopeful about who might be there. You listen to the teacher and decide if this is going to be a class that requires a lot of meaningful effort or if this will be one that you just get to skate by in. Your homework is to read chapter one and write an essay about who you are in less than 200 words (or maybe now its 140 characters.) You carefully add it into your planner.

Day one feels so clean and new. As if anything can and will happen.

What if today was day one? For you, not just your kids or your younger brother who is starting his senior year at USC (love you, Robbie. Hold on tight, it will fly.) How would having a clean state, fresh notebook, & high expectations change your Monday?

::::::::::::::::::

Today was spent doing a lot of things to get ready: haircut, dentist (yay no cavities for either girl), finishing hems and tucks in uniform skirts, discussing breakfast and lunch menus, and early bedtimes. The girls are excited and ready for school, but also a bit nervous (which I assured them was completely normal).

Happy first day of...





Saturday, August 22, 2009

Summer in a Nutshell Part 1: Synchro



I love synchro. I loved it as a kid and I love it now that Heidi is doing it. I encouraged both of the girls to join in June but Gretchen was really hesitant. Now that she has watched Heidi do it for a summer, I think next year she'll want to participate.

Heidi went to practices twice a week for June and July, and then had a few extra ones the week of the show. The whole summer has been plagued by rain and cool weather, and the dress rehearsal was no exception. We all huddled in the club room during a pretty intense thunderstorm while the girls were getting their hair done. They weren't even able to get into the water that night! No matter though...the show was great and brought back so many memories. Heidi's group was just adorable and they swam to "Just Can't Wait to be King" from The Lion King. I think her group had the cutest costumes, but then, I'm a bit biased. LOL

I hope both girls want to do this next summer.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Summer=


Credits: SYTYCD Week 2 kit by Wild Dandelions, word art by Ali Edwards

Summer = swimming. gardening, barbecue, camping, running around barefoot, wearing skirts and dresses, flip flops, rhubarb, walking to Lickity Split, the big synchro show at Laurel Hill, library reading program, garage sales, that summer glow, catching lightening bugs, baseball.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Fairies Everywhere!



Credits: Mon Petit jardin by MaeliaDesigns, Dear Mom by Anna BV, Yin template 114, Spell It Plastic Beads by Kim Jensen, Font: Pea Bethany

Melissa told me one day about these cool things called fairy doors in downtown Ann Arbor. I showed the girls on the computer, and that was it...we HAD to go see them! Melissa had a band rehearsal in AA on a Saturday, so we all hopped in the camper for the trip. We found most of the doors downtown, and the girls were delighted. Heidi left the fairies notes and Gretchen left jelly beans. We even found one door that wasn’t on any list...it must have appeared recently! We also went to thebookstore to find the last one. My favorite was the Red Shoes, since it had its own garden. Now they are hoping the fairies will come to live with us. I hope so too!





Wednesday, March 25, 2009

A six year old Ali Edwards wanna be

The story:

The girls' homework assignment was to find two photos of something starting with the letter L. Since I only have old scrapbook magazines around the house, we used what we had and went to work. As Heidi was browsing the pages, she saw a photo of Ali Edwards and said, "Look, it's a lady...lady starts with L!". Okay, that would work. After cutting out the photo she had a silly streak and decided to make "Ali" talk...



Friday, March 20, 2009

Road Not Traveled



Photo mask by Gunhild Storeide
After School paper and alpha by Lynne Marie
Glitter spray by Michelle Martin
Daisy by Kasia Designs
Date stamps by Amber Clegg
Fancy swirl by M Koegelenberg
Fonts: Pea Bethany, Pea

Journaling:
There was a time when I believe God was calling us to move to the mountains. I’ll never know if it was really Him, or just my own desire to pick up and change our lives. Rob wasn’t convinced and so we stayed. Now we both wish we would have been brave enough to just do it. Even though it’s never too late, we don’t want to uproot the girls. Maybe our dream will come true when we retire. Never say never...




Thursday, March 19, 2009

Art Music Video

This is the coolest thing I've seen on You Tube for a while:






Friday, February 27, 2009

Insomnia can be productive

Last night I had one of those nights when I can't sleep. My mind was racing while I was laying in bed, and I was fixated on how I could rearrange all the stuff in our porch/sunroom to make better use of the space. There was no way I was sleeping until I got up to investigate this situation. So, I ended up moving stuff around until I was satisfied. Unfortunately, by the time I completed this task it was 6am, and there was no point in going to sleeping at that time. I made some coffee and listening to my favorite am talk radio show, and even got a shower.

I'm waiting for the crash landing that will inevitably hit sometime this afternoon. It's a good thing we don't have to go anywhere, and the girls have a few new movies from the library to watch.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Yarn Bombing: part 2

A little present for my bff's parents, on a neighborhood street in south Toledo. My girls were with me when I left this, and as I was tying it to the basketball pole, my DD was yelling, "Mom, I don't think they are going to like that! They don't even know you! They won't like a stranger put knitting on their pole!". After I explained that yes, I did know them (since I was 4 years old) and yes, they would like it, DD was mad at me for laughing about it. "Why do you think something that is pretty is funny?" So suddenly, the knitting went from being a thing that would annoy someone to being something pretty. Ah, the mind of a 6 year old...

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Yarn Bombing: my new hobby

I adore this.



And so tonight, with my best buddy Melissa, we did this:

(Airport Highway in south Toledo, right in front of the Happy Rose buffet.)



Then we put this on our friend Tom's car. A little while later, I got a phone call. "Michelle, did you put some knitting on my car?" I haven't laughed so hard in a while. Neither had Tom. And neither had Melissa. Yeah, it was like we were 12 again. I love being silly.


I need to figure out how to do this:

A Happy Fridge is a Clean Fridge


Ah...this feels good. Need to do this more often. Now I can actually see what is in the fridge and plan meals efficiently. What a concept.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Organizing 101...NOT!


I used Kim Jensen's fabulous new Damaged Goods, available at Scrapdish. Her extraction work is just exquisite! Also used Jen Wilson's date stamp and fonts are Century Gothic (title) and Pea Lisa (journaling).

I was quite restrained in my journaling. If I was being honest, I would write a lot more hostile stuff in there...something like this:

I HATE clutter. HATE IT. It makes me crazy!!! Everytime I look at one of the junk-filled countertops or corners in my house, I want to scream. Or cry. Or both.

Okay, now that I have that out of my system, it's time to make lunch, then help the girls make Valentines for their classmates. At least that will be fun!



Monday, February 9, 2009

Caution, Zombies Ahead!

This is very funny...



I want to be able to hack into a road sign!!

Friday, January 16, 2009

Don't Act Like Me

Gretchen: Mom, can I go outside?

Me: No, I already told you it's too cold out. It's 10 degrees!

Gretchen: But, Mom, it's sunny outside!

Me: Gretchen, that's one.

*I'm thinking here...she's not going to let this go*

Me: Actually Gretchen, yes, you can go outside. Go ahead and step out onto the front porch. See how cold it is. Don't even bother putting your shoes on.

Gretchen: You mean you want my feet to freeze?

Me: Sure, why not?

Gretchen: MOM! Don't start acting like me!

Now that has got to be about the funniest thing my 6 1/2 year old daughter has ever said to me!

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Make Your Own Clay Elements

How cool are these?



The gals over at It's a Creative World came up with this project. Using polymer clay, you can create your own elements to add to you scrapbook pages. I bet we call have some sitting around our house. Or, if you don't want to spend any money (like me), you could whip up a batch of salt dough to make them.


Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Tightening Our Belts

Scrapping News: That's hot...NOT!
I just ran across this post on the ScrapHappy blog and it made me cringe. Seriously? Paris Hilton producing a scrapbooking line? Puh-lease!!!

If you attend CHA in January in California...please, for the love of all that's decent...please don't give her booth any attention! I wonder if she'll be there doing a make and take.


Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Greetings!
Welcome to my new blog...Twisty Medium. Why Twisty Medium...that doesn't make any sense, right? It may not, but I went with it anyway.

Ever since I watched an episode of Grey's Anatomy where Meredith described herself as "dark and twisty", I knew I had the perfect adjective to describe myself. Dark? Well, sometimes...but I'd rather get away from thinking about that stuff, if you know what I mean. Twisty? Definitely! Life is not all about baking break, taking in every moment and wishing it would last forever, making perfect looking art, knitting 24 hand warmers in a weekend, or whatever else you might be reading about online these days. Those things are all wonderful. But, when I end up feeling inadequate after reading a blog, should I really be reading it at all?

If you are looking for no-nonsense, tell it like it is, everyday life stuff, then you've come to the right place. If I like something, you'll know it. If I hate...you'll know that too! I hope to be able to share stuff I think is cool here, and hopefully it will inspire you or at least make you smile.

Scrapping Stuff
I decided to try Project 365 this year, and so far I'm really enjoy it. Today's pic is Rob's buddy Plecko, who lives in the fishtank at school. Plecko helps to keep the tank clean and isn't too active, but he's fun to watch nonetheless.