Party In The Tee-Pee at Cheeseman's Farm

The absolutely scrumptious cake from Mimi's Bakeshop.
The decorated Tee-Pee at Cheeseman's Farm Betsy,the owner, came out to take pictures for their web site!
Face masks, pre-colored.
I found these at JoAnn's...they are Mr. Potato Head like mix and match pieces. They were perfect to decorate the 15 or so pie pumpkins that were included with our party package.
A finished mask...found at JoAnn's in the dollar bin....VERY FUN.
I am a total sucker for all of these wooden go stand behind it things and stick your face in it while I take your ridiculous picture things.

I am happy to report that the BIG party over the weekend was fabulous. We lucked into some beautiful weather and were able to use the tee-pee at the pumpkin farm. We had a wonderful lunch (thanks to a sandwich ring from Giant Eagle), did several crafts with the kids, went for a private wagon ride to the pumpkin patch, then played in the hay maze. One of the finest days on record in my book.

Living with Over Excited Princesses and a Bear

I have 3 birthdays this week in my family.

Unlike some of my friends, who LOVE to plan parties and put lots of thought and preparation into them, I usually feel overwhelmed. The girls are SO excited about their birthdays...I believe that they think that you are magical somehow for the day. Rose pedals should be thrown at their feet, and the world should sing their praises. When it's just a normal day except for some cake and candles, you are undoubtedly disappointed. The disappointment is my fear. Even though I put lots of effort into making the day fun and somewhat of a surprise, I always feel like I fall short of their expectations.

My husband's birthday is this week too. It takes me a week to figure out why he's so D*** grumpy most years. He absolutely HATES his birthday. So, this next week is filled with emotional high and lows, me in the middle trying to temper it all.

Here's to hoping that I somehow manage enough enthusiasm for the girls, and sprinkle some fairy dust along their path for the day, and bolster the unhappy birthday boy into at least enjoying the cake for the kid's sake!

Something NEW

I'm So EXCITED to introduce a NEW line of beads for my ring! These are all handmade one of a kind glass beads, with a sterling silver collar on either side of the bead. These beads fit perfectly with your Joy Beadworks Ring and interchange in the same way. These beads add a whole new dimension and a whole new look to your collection of Joy Beadworks Beads!

It's a conspiracy, I swear.....

I raced in to pre-school Monday....We even remembered the little tyke's backpack! There's a big message board out front that reads: RED day is T*******. (the kids are supposed to wear red, they're learning about colors). At my usual frantic pace, I read "today" as the "T" word.....maybe it just didn't look right, because I re-read, and it actually said "Tomorrow".... a reprieve! So, tomorrow is red day...cement this tiny tidbit into memory.

So, along comes Tuesday...I'm humming along, taking care of the 6 of us in the usual ways, dishes, laundry, getting 3 off to school, lunches, is it library day?, where's my math worksheet? and on and on..... I get my little one one ready for school. I get a text from a friend reminding me that it is red day at pre-school. (I'm EVER SO GRATEFUL for the reminder.) I look over at my little one in his freshly-put-on orange shirt. Red Spider-Man shirt to the rescue!

Here's where the conspiracy comes in: Did it ever occur to any of you that maybe this little "color lesson" is really a PARENTAL QUIZ given by the pre-school teachers to determine PARENTAL COMPETENCY? Maybe if little Johnny's Mom remembers to dress him in red, little Johnny's Mom gets to come in and be a helper for the Halloween party and get to share in the kid's delight of such a fun event ?(Children's delight is the true currency of Motherhood.) If Susie's Mom totally forgot, maybe she just gets to SEND IN the snack? Time will tell....I made a little mental note of those who forgot. We'll see if they are at the Halloween party!

Good Job

This way overused phrase has always been like nails on a chalkboard for me. I felt so vindicated when we recieved a letter from school indicating that this phrase be banished for a number of reasons. Especially when applying the phrase to children.

First off, it's way overused, and therefore rendered meaningless.

Secondly, being a kid, and doing everyday things, like playing soccer and coloring are NOT JOBS...they are part of the entire learning process called childhood...it's NOT WORK.

Thirdly, You'll create a child that is praise-hungry. You sap their own feelings of self-accomplishment, because they come to not value their own opinion of their work, only your opinion of it.

There are probably many more reasons, but in my clean-up-the-clutter moment yesterday, I threw the letter away. They're probably too deeply psycolgically based for me to explain with only 1/2 a cup of coffee in me today anyway.

Store Bought....You Can't Eat That.....

There are a few things that you just can't buy at a store...Jelly is one of them. Truly, Smuckers tag line of : "If it's Smuckers, It's got to be good", is a classic example of reverse psychology.

When we go on vacation, Someone has to bring the jelly. And, I make it seem like we use jelly on everything, but the truth is, it's mostly peanut butter and jelly's.

You just can't eat what you buy at the store. I just don't know what they do to it to make it so bad. Homemade jelly is so full of flavor. My family makes all kinds of jelly: grape (shown here), peach, strawberry, crabapple, and whatever else there is an abundance of. I think you can make jelly out of anything. I remember a very dust jar of tomato jelly at my Mom's when I was a kid.

The Oak Tree

I grew up on a farm that has been in the family since 1832. As I get older, I realize the significance of this. The world offers so many choices, and to commit yourself to this land has required many sacrifices by the people who have chosen to carry on the legacy.

This mighty oak has graces the top of the hill for as long as I can recall. I remember going out there to sort out my teenage problems, and was shocked to hear that my Dad had done the same thing when he was a teenager. This tree has survived storms and lightning, despite the fact that it sits on top of a hill in the wide open.

This oak somehow embodies the spirit of the place: It has survived for over a century, despite the odds, to grace the hill with it's strength, majesty and grace. It is a stubborn and tough old soul, just like the ancestors who settled here.

Pumpkin Shirts for the Whole Family

I saw these shirts in Family Fun Magazine. Somehow I thought this would be a fun family craft for family day at our house. I looked around last week for some white T-shirts...the boys all have undershirts with small stains, so they worked well. I ended up finding a few for the girls at Old Navy.
First we tye-dyed the shirts...some made giant circles that would later become pumpkins, some made a bunch of smaller circles, some made just one small circle in the lower corner of the shirt.

I cut up potatoes and made stamps. We came up with a few fun combos and then used black fabric paint to stamp them on. We also used some green for leaves and stems. It was a ton of fun. The kids really liked it! Very easy on the craftyness. I would definitely recommend you try it!

All or Nothing

Have you ever noticed how you can have weeks on end in the summer with no real plans, and all of a sudden, you get 2 invitations to seprate events on the same day at the same time? This happens especially with kids birthday parties. Nothing for a long dry stretch, and then a flurry of invites all for the same day and time.
I was picking peaches over the weekend in my parent's orchard. I was admiring the loaded trees, and I was thinking "It's All or Nothing". We wait for the blossoms in the spring, cringe when it frosts late, and hope that the trees didn't get it too bad. Then we watch the fruits develop, and hope the bugs don't get them. We tried the peaches last week, they looked good, but they were too hard. This week they were falling from the branches. Ripe and ready, in huge abundance.
So, the frantic race is on to "do something" with them. We canned 32 quarts. (Which hardly dented the supply.) My car was full of them and Dad was hinting (strongly) that he'd like a pie.

When I'm racing around my life trying to be/do all things, I think: "it's All or Nothing". I'm so wildly busy right now. I know someday I will search for things to do. I will try to drink in the "All" that I am in the midst of right now. I will try to capture special moments, like canning 32 quarts of peaches with my Mom.

My Perpetual Girlfriend: Vicki Iovine

Vicki is my Girlfriend who writes the side-splitting Girlfriend's Guides. Vicki doesn't know me personally, but I list her as one of my girlfriends anyway. She would be my girlfriend if she lived anywhere near here. Vicki has 4 kids and an hectic/crazy house/lifestyle....let's just say that we can relate.

I laughed trough the Guide to Pregnancy, and the Guide to the First Year, and the Guide to Toddlers. I started reading : The Girlfriend's Guide to Getting Your Groove Back, but realized that I was still in the midst of diapers, naps and babyfood. It was just not relevant. I need to read that one next.

I picked up The Girlfriend's Guide to Parties and Playdates the other day. (It was published in 2003....Sorry Vicki, I've been busy over here and haven't had a chance to keep up with your latest.) There's lots of good stuff in here girls....some stuff you already know...like never invite 2 of your daughter's friends to play at the same time ( 3 is a bad playdate number). And some stuff that is very interesting like tips on how to organize your house so that the toys don't crowd you out but yet the kids still want to live there.

So Funny....

My friend over at Hope Studios ( www.hopestudios.blogspot.com ) told me about this web site www.yearbookyourself.com . She yearbooked herself at this web site which allows you to upload a picture of yourself, and then see how you would have looked over the years...enduring the latest "hair fashions".

Here's the trick: Don't yearbook yourself, yearbook your husband! Preferably with a picture of him with a goofy face anyway. The results are enormously funny. My sides hurt!

Charmed, I'm Sure

A friend of mine had recently been to a local wine festival, and was inspired by their wine glass charms. These little charms make your glass distinctive, and allows you to identify it among the others that are all on the kitchen counter in the middle of the dinner party.

We used handmade glass beads and paired them with matching seed beads. They look so great! These would make a great hostess gift paired with a delicious bottle of wine. It adds the little thoughtful "something" to your gift.