Merry Christmas!

My New Years resolution is to get back into blogging again. It just hasn't been much of an interest for me, but I miss writing. I would love to get back to blogging at least once a week, I so enjoy looking back at my posts of the things the girl's and I have done!

I truly can't believe that Christmas is THIS WEEK. Holy carp. Thankfully, I am DONE! Done I say! Yesterday the girls and I finished our baking, I don't do a ton, because nobody eats the stuff. Well, except for me, and I don't need it... We made a couple batches of cut outs, which took us about 10 minutes to roll out, cut out and decorate. I then spent the next hour trying to clean up all the flour off of the floor, counters, chairs, walls, knick-knacks......

After seeing Rachel's disappointed expression with us being done with cookies, we decided to make some truffles. They turned out very yummy, and were super easy (like, um, really easy. Cream cheese and chocolate). We then made my Grandma Omi's molasses cookies and date filled cookies (recipes in another post).

And in true Christmas fashion, here is a little glimpse of our decorations...

This is our entry way tree. It stays up year round (and yes I DO get teased that I keep a "christmas" tree up all year), and we decorate it for all the holidays. For Christmas this becomes our homemade ornament tree. I love seeing how full it gets every year!

This is my favorite ornament from this year, super easy, and the kids loved seeing how their hands turned into Santa!

The fireplace mantel all decked out. The picture above the mantel I got this year from At Home America, I only paid $7 for it because of all the bonuses I got for having a show, yay! The stockings I decorated. When Brad and I got married, and then had Rachel, I painstakingly sewed each of the little glitter balls on for the names. Then with each kid, I totally went for the hot glue:)

Our Griswold family Christmas tree, lol. We named it this last year because there are 800 lights on it. Yes, that's right, 800. When it was on, our house was darn near glowing it was so bright. Hubby whipped up an apparatus so that we can dim the lights, so we can actually see in our living room now.

So that's just a glimpse into the life of Christmas in our house. I LOVE this time of year. I have enjoyed evenings with nothing bu Christmas music on, and warming up with the fireplace. I am sad that it's coming to an end. If I don't get on here before Christmas, I wish EACH and everyone one of you an incredible, blessed holiday!

Linking to:

ABC&123

Creations by Kara

Finger Lickin Good!!

No, no, this isn't a shout out to KFC, sorry! In fact I've always hating that saying. Why in tarnation would I want to lick my fingers and tell people about it? Well now I know why!

A couple weeks ago I tried my hand at making ribs. I know, I know, I've never made ribs, you say?! Nope, never. I checked out allrecipes.com to see what I could find, and man oh man are there recipes to be found! After spending most of the morning looking at different ones, I settles on one that required you to boil the ribs, grill them and then crockpot them all day.
And this is how they came out....saucy...spicy....and falling off the bone. They were DIVINE! I have made them twice since then, and each time they are unbelievable!

Barbecue Ribs

Ribs (duh)
1 bottle of Famous Dave's Rich and Sassy sauce
1/2 bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's Honey Barbecue sauce
1/4-1/2 C of a hot wing sauce (I used Louisiana Wildly Wicked Wing Sauce)
1 bottle of dark beer (I used Leinenkugel's Creamy Dark)

Mix the two barbecue sauce's together; Boil a large kettle of water, and add ribs (cut ribs into sets of 3). Boil ribs for 20 minutes. Preheat grill, slather ribs with barbecue sauce; grill ribs about 5 minutes. Mix the wing sauce with the rest of the barbecue sauce, and add beer. Place ribs in crockpot, and add the sauce over the ribs. Cook on low all day, until they fall off the bone!

Now, you can use whatever type's of barbecue sauce you like, these were the ones I happen to have on hand, and it truly made those ribs amazing! Of course the boiling, grilling and crockpoting had nothing to do with it....ya....

Linked To:

CSI Project

The Season of Advent

I really can't believe that today is December 1st! We had an incredibly beautiful fall, but it seemed to fly by. Now begins the crazy month of Christmas. I hear people daily talking about how they wished they could skip this season, and that makes me sad. I LOVE this time of year. Love. I love the music, the sights, the smells. Absolutely everything.

My biggest complaint with this season is keeping our girls focused on the REAL meaning of Christmas, and not making it all about the gifts. We started doing an advent calender last year. I used my Cricut machine to make red and green tags, and then covered those with Christmas scrapbook paper. I got this great idea from Hattie over at Little Red Roost

She shared a great download of the scripture verses to attach to the tags. Each morning the girls take turns picking the right tag for the day (they are numbered) and read the scripture.

After we read the scripture, I have folded pieces of paper in a bowl that they get to pick out of. Each piece of paper has something fun for them to do, such as a pedicure night with mom (at home of course:), game night with mom and dad, cooking with mom, etc. They look forward to this every year, and it's nice to read the scripture about how Jesus came to be. Hopefully they are learning something from this, haha!!

Easy Peasy Chicken in the Crockpot

Doesn't this look like the MOST delicious chicken dish EVER?? I mean, see how creamy and comforting this looks? Let me tell you....Oh wait, you can't see it? Huh. I suppose that *might* be because I didn't take a picture? I know I know, why even post a recipe if you don't have a picture, right? Well sorry peeps, but this dish is seriously THAT good, you don't even need a picture...

It originated from an allrecipes.com recipe called "Jennie's Heavenly Slow Cooker Chicken"
This looked divine, except I don't have cream of mushroom soups on hand, and I didn't have a container of cream cheese with chives either. So, technically it's not Jennie's Heavenly chicken, I suppose. Maybe I could call it, "Cara's Kinda Sorta But Not Really Chicken in the Crockpot". Whew, that's long. How about "Amazing Slow Cooker Chicken", better?

Amazing Slow Cooker Chicken

1 whole chicken cut up (as in, the thighs, breasts, wings all separated)
4 Tbl butter
1/4 c. flour
milk
cut up mushrooms
2 cloves garlic
1 packet dry Italian seasoning
1 package cream cheese
chives
1/2 c dry white wine
spaghetti noodles

First make your white sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan, add mushrooms and the garlic, saute until mushrooms are soft, add flour and cook one minute, then add enough milk to get the right consistency (A little thinner than pudding consistency). Add the package of cream cheese, wine, chopped up chives and seasoning packet. Place chicken in the bottom of the slow cooker, and pour sauce over the top. Cook on low all day. I made spaghetti noodles and placed the chicken mixture over the top with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

When Someone Touches Your Heart

I had a fantastic weekend, full of fun on so many different levels. Friday night we had a friend's birthday bash complete with a party bus, loud music and a stripper pole. Yes, you heard right, a stripper pole. *sigh*. Despite that (and no I didn't actually dance around it), the extremely loud music and far too much dancing (did I mention that I had a hard time walking on Saturday?), it was a lot of fun. Thankfully I won't have to do that again any time soon...

Saturday we got our first snowfall of the season, the heavy wet kind. The girls had a blast making a snowman and trying to beam me in the head with a snowball. Did I mention it was heavy and wet? Thought I did... We also started celebrating the holidays, by watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. I LOVE this movie. I think we watched it at least 12 times last year!

Today the girls and I went to church, I absolutely crave this time to sit alone in church and just "be". The girls go to Children's Church during our service, and as selfish as it sounds, I love it:) Sitting in front of me was a young man who has Down's Syndrome. His name is Timmy and I love watching his enthusiasm for Christ. He gets so excited while the worship team sings and it's precious to watch. So today I sat behind him and his mother. He would look back at me and smile big. During one of the songs, he turned around and grabbed my hand and held it through the rest of the song. I cannot even begin to tell you the simple, incredible joy that I felt during this moment. Tears came to me eyes, and I fought like mad to keep them at bay. At the end of the service, he turned and gave me a bear hug.

Watching him and his mother, I learned something. I saw the incredible love that this mother has for her son, and how even with his outbursts, she accepted him for who he is. I thought of my own girls and how certain things make me CRAZY, and how quickly I can get bent out of shape. The lesson I learned today was that we are all different people, from different walks of life. As much as I want my kids to do everything my way, and others to believe in the same things I do, it's just not possible.

I wish we could all see the world through Timmy's eyes. Can you imagine what our world would be like? Maybe the next time we feel ourselves ready to blow, we can think of Timmy and remember the joy and happiness we ALL have in our lives!

Cauliflower Potato Cheese Soup

This is a FABULOUS comforting fall soup. I made it last week, and literally ate it every day for lunch. The kids didn't believe there wasn't squash in it (they have discovered my sneaky ways of adding squash to things...), and actually liked it!

Cauliflower Potato Cheese Soup

2-4 Tbl oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
1 large can or carton chicken stock
1 pkg frozen or one small head chopped cauliflower
2 ounces peeled garlic (I used 2 cloves of garlic)
6 small potatoes, chopped I used leftover mashed potatoes from the night before)
1 cup milk
1 cup shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
salt and pepper

Heat oil and saute onion, celery, and carrots until softened.
Add chicken stock, cauliflower, garlic and cook until soft.
Liquefy in blender or food processor and return to pan.
Add potatoes
When potatoes are cooked, add milk, cheese and salt/pepper to taste.
Heat thoroughly but do NOT boil.

Halloween

We had a fabulous Halloween here, although very BUSY! Uh, who isn't, right?! Here are the girls decked out in their finest.....


Carving pumpkins....

And playing Halloween games...

I see a little bug hiding behind there....

Hugs,

Christmas Cards? Go Shutterfly!

So, did you happen to know that Christmas is exactly 58 days away????? I had to laugh because at a wedding in September, I had my cousin take a picture of us, and I had to make sure we were all coordinated and looking good because it was to be our Christmas card picture! Brad thought I was crazy. He should know better, silly boy. Of course I am.

Two years ago we used Shutterfly for the first time, and I LOVED how our card came out. Since then I have also made a thank you card for everyone that helped us out on our vaca to Mexico. Oh to be back in the warm sun, sand in your toes, pina coladas, gourmet meals, no whining children.....Crud, got away from myself again.....

Anyhoo, I really love Shutterfly, and right now they are doing a promo for bloggers, you can find the info here to find out how you too can get free cards!

I am thinking of using this design for our Christmas card this year. We were all decked out in blues, and I luuuuuurve me some blue and brown!

Here are some of my faves....

I LOVE this card, so adorable!!
Peppermint Pink

Or how about this one, toooooo cute!
Bright Blooming Tree

Wall calender love???
Calenders

I have always wanted to do a kids January winter party, how cute would this be?
Winter Invite

Orrrrr, a fun adult cocktail party?
Cocktail Invite

Of course Shutterfly isn't just for the Holidays, they have E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G in between!
Baby Invitations
Address Labels
Photo Books

And so much more!

What I've Been Up To.....

I apologize for my (almost) month long absence, life gets in the way ya know and before you know it, a month flies by! We are doing well, Alayna is doing much better now that we know what she needs. She seriously eats like every 20 minutes, but not much, usually an apple, pear, banana, or almonds or cheese. Her behavior has been a HUGE improvement!

So, this is what we've been up to......

Pontooning on the lake. Yes, in October! The weather has been incredibly warm, and it's been awesome seeing the fall colors around the lake.

Chasing coots on the lake. We literally spent 20 minutes going through flocks of them, there were so many on the lake! Don't worry, no animals were harmed in said chasing.

Cooking. Ahhh, my relaxation. Rachel and I made homemade noodles to go along with Fettuccine Alfredo from my all time fave blog Finding Joy In My Kitchen. They turned out delicious!

And seeing this....Alayna snuggled up with her favorite stuffed animal (beast) Fetch.

I also want to include a couple of prayer requests....

Amy from New Nostalgia is going through breast cancer. I so enjoy her posts (and of course her blog:) so throw out some prayers for her, will ya?!

And another one of my fave blogs is Annie from The House That Jade Built. They are dealing with the possibility of their unborn baby being born with Down's Syndrome and many health issues.

These two ladies have really struck a chord with me, and I consider myself one of their prayers warriors! Will you join me?

Alayna Update

Thank you for your kind words, thoughts and prayers! We saw a Pediatric Endocrinologist at Park Nicollet Clinic in St.Louis Park yesterday and got some encouraging news! He believes she has something called Ketotic Hypoglycemia. Basically, because she is so small (in the 5th percentile for weight and 33rd for height), her body has no fat stores to take energy from. So for her, when she eats (which is not alot to begin with) her body uses that for energy, but when that is gone, her body doesn't have the fat stores to steal from to keep that energy. Therefore she needs to eat very frequently, and more high protein/good fat snacks and meals. When her body has used up that energy, her blood sugar crashes, so to speak, because it has nothing to take from.

This all makes perfect sense to us, in how we deal with her food battles, and her behavior. We still need to monitor her blood sugars for the next couple weeks, just to make sure they stabilize. We are also waiting to hear back from other tests, one of them being an antibodies test that *could* show the early stages of diabetes. So, all good news for now!

What a roller coaster of emotions we've had in the past several days, but very thankful to have something to go with now:)

Wow, What a Whirlwind of Emotions.....

Oh man, it has been a very trying 24 hours here. This will be a long post, so don't worry if you can't make it through, I am writing this more as a journal entry for us. It's amazing how quickly your life can change in a few hours....

Friday morning Alayna woke up and came into our room, and promptly fell asleep on the floor. I didn't think much about it, figured she was woken up abruptly and was still tired. About 15 minutes later Emma came downstairs and said that she was now laying on their bedroom floor sleeping. Ok, now that's a bit strange. Brad went up, laid her in bed and came down to say that he thought she was probably getting sick. Lovely. I went in a couple times to check on her, and make sure she didn't have a fever, no fever. About 8:45 she finally came out, and laid at the top of the stairs, moaning. I tried to ask her if she had a tummy ache, or felt like she had to throw up, not much of a response. When I picked her up, she was completely limp, like NO muscle tone to her at all. I brought her downstairs and tried to wake her up. She would open her eyes, but then fall asleep immediately.

I had made homemade waffles for breakfast, and started feeding them to her, which she would eat with her eyes still shut. After about 10 minutes, she could sit up, and pretty soon wanted more. She looked VERY pale, and definitely not herself. (Do you remember my previous post??!!) Brad and I decided a call to her Pediatrician was in order and I chatted with a nurse for awhile. We decided to take her in at 11:30. Brad called to say that they were doing a bunch of different blood tests and would know more in an hour or so. After he dropped her off at home, he headed back into work. About 10 minutes after he left, the doctor called to say that her blood sugars were 334. He told us to promptly take her to the hospital where they would admit her and start figuring out what to do next.

Of course panic sets in as I think of my sweet baby having diabetes. I called Brad on his cell phone to get back home, and then we had to wait for daycare parents to pick their kids up, and figure out where our older two girls were going to go. I just couldn't believe this. Once we got to the hospital, we talked with the Pediatrician soon after and she informed us that it was in fact Type 1 Diabetes. Unbelievable. However, and 20 minutes later after giving her a blood test, the doc came back in very puzzled, because now her blood sugar was 60. She had no idea what was going on. They decided to monitor her sugars overnight to see what they would do.

At 11:30 am, her blood sugars were at 334, at 5:00 pm they were 60, at 7:00 pm they had jumped up to 225, and then throughout the night they were steady in the 130's. They were truly stumped as to what was going on. They also found glucose in her urine. However, there is a test called an A1C that will give you an average of the blood sugars from the past 6 weeks, and hers came back normal.

So many unanswered questions. Thankfully we have an appointment on Monday with a Pediatric Endocrinologist in the Twin Cities, and hopefully will get more answers there. It is just so hard not knowing anything. Obviously something is not jiving in her body, we just need to figure out what that is.

Fall Has Arrived

I have been slooooooowly adding my fall decorations the last couple weeks, and the reason being sloooooooow was because I had some awesome four legged furry friends find a home in my fall bins. Yep, that's right, mice. I opened up my bin to find my Indian corn shelled, wax figurines eaten, and even some ceramic pumpkins broken in half. Seriously. There was also a lovely little nest all made up. Isn't that sweet?

So, after having a few words with myself, I got everything cleaned out, and the fun began. After looking at everyone's awesome fall decoration posts, I found many that did the photo frame words. Of course I had to do one myself. Thankfully I have about 450,000 picture frames waiting to be used. I spray painted them all black, added fall-ish scrapbook paper, and used my Cricut to make the letters.


I love how it looks, waaaaaay better than last years mantel which was just a little too busy for me

Outside I put some fall pumpkins and picks in the old cream separator, and of course my wonderful Indian corn that only has one cob left. Darn mice.

Here is my bench area, filled with fall goodies, this is one of my favorite areas to decorate. If you're new to Homespun Kitchen, this is an old hayloft door that I grabbed when my husbands Dad tore down one of the old barns. The bench my Mom got for me at an antique store, see how perfect it matches?!

This is the wreath on our front door. It's a berry/twig wreath that stays up year round, but then I add things to it depending on the season. Love that.

Here is a pic of the porch as you walk up to it. To the left of this is a little swinging bench that I decorate with red pillows and a little table that also has some fall decor on it. I LOVE this time of year, and I love seeing everyone's great ideas that get me motivated:)

Linking To:

DIY Showoff

Fingerprints on the Fridge

A Thank You and a Cake Challenge

First of all, I want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone for your awesome words of encouragement and advice for my parenting woe post:) I feel so much better knowing that I am not alone. At least I don't feel the need to purchase a velcro wall anymore. Just kidding. Maybe.

So, if there are any other Food Network junkies out there like us, than surely you have watched a Cake Challenge, or 50. We LOOOOOVE those shows, and Cupcake Wars, Chopped, The Next Food Network Star, Rachael Ray, Sandra Lee, Ina Garten......Shoot, little off subject there.....

So anyway, my girls decided to have their own "challenge" with playdough. I gave them 30 minutes to make their "cake" and told them that I would judge and award a winner. Now, lets back up a bit to say that THEY made me judge them. They did. I was not going to say a winner because, well, there is only two of them, lol. But they insisted that no one would be mad and they would be happy for the other. Well, ok then.

I gave them a theme, which was a baby shower. I laughed OUT LOUD when they both got their notepads out to whip up their designs. They also recruited daycare kids as their assistants!

Tada!! Here are their creations:


Emma's was a heart shaped cake with another heart on top, she made a teddy bear (which I thought was a baby with big ears, OOPS!), bottle and pacifier. Adorable!

Rachel made two suitcases on the bottom of hers with a heart shape, she then took a bamboo stick and stuck it through one of the heart shapes and into the suitcase so it stood up, how creative! She also made a bottle and a pacifier.

I loved how they found glitter to made the "cakes" glittery, (and my house sparkle, but not in a good way), and just the overall creativity of their work. Soooooo, the winner was....Rachel....

Emma acted all mad, but then started laughing, little turkey. All in all good fun was had and my house was left a glittery, playdoughy mess:)

Parenting- Just Keepin It Real

So yesterday was NOT a good day in the Zimmer household. Brad was gone for three days, which is normally just fine, but for some reason, this week was just an "off" week. Ya, I'm pretty sure I'm not the only Mom who has had this. Right? I hope?

I have three beautiful, intelligent GOOD kids. I do. I know that. But for some reason, my 4 year old enjoys wreaking havoc on me. I really haven't figured out why yet. When I do I will let you know. I think yesterday was the culmination of the whole week and it just broke me down. We went out for supper with my husbands family to celebrate his parents 45th wedding anniversary. My nephew (who is the same age as Miss A) was also there, and it literally broke my heart to see how much his mother was enjoying him and laughing at the things he was saying.

Afterwards we got in the van and I just broke down. I WANT to enjoy Alayna, but right now she is making it so hard for me, and it makes me feel absolutely horrible. So after the supper, I had to suck it up for a while as we went to his parents for cake. I'm sure many of you have had that experience of choking back the tears while putting a nice fake smile on your face.

After we got home, I lost it. I just want to see her in the mornings and be excited to see her, not dread it because the instant she wakes up she starts whining for something to eat. And then when I don't have what she wants to eat, she throws a tantrum. I prayed last night that God could just give me one whole day of her in a good mood so I could see what a great kid she really is. I know it's in her, for everyone else, she is great.

I see all of these blog posts about how incredible their kids are, and the funny things they do, and it really tears me up. WHY does she have to be so difficult for me? She has made me question myself as a parent, and whether or not I even WANT to be home anymore. It just sucks because I really do love being home, and as stressful as daycare is sometimes, I DO enjoy it. We had fun creating things this week, and learning. But I also don't want to feel like running away by the time Friday rolls around, ya know?

So, I guess the point of this post is to see if there are others out there dealing with a difficult child, what your thoughts are/tips you have, etc.

I am just one tired mama....

Stromboli

Thanks to Alison from Oopsey Daisy for this delicious Stromboli recipe! I made this last night and it was a big hit with the kids. Well, and Brad too, of course.

Stromboli

1 loaf Rhodes frozen bread dough (I used my bread machine on the dough setting and made the dough)
Mozzarella cheese 8-12 oz.
Ham- thinly sliced 8 oz.
Pepperoni 8 oz.
Green pepper- sliced
Onions- chopped
Basil
Oregano
1 beaten egg


If you use the frozen bread dough, allow dough to thaw and rise. Roll out to a rectangle about 1/2-1/4 inch thickness.

Brush dough with beaten egg, and start piling on the fillings! I laid a pile of mozzarella cheese first, and then the ham. Unfortunately I had no onions or green pepper. Then sprinkle basil and oregano over the filling.

Now bring the sides of the dough together and pinch at the top. Flip over so the seam side is down, place on baking sheet and brush dough with the beaten egg.

Bake at 400 for 5 minutes, then cut it down to 350 for 18-20 minutes.

I love this recipe because it really is good with whatever you have on hand! Make sure to check out her post, as she has lots of step-by-step pictures.

Thank you Alison for the great recipe!!

Back To School Part II

With the first day of school here, I decided (like 20 minutes before they got home) to make a sign to hang on the front door to celebrate the first day of school! I had wooden tiles from our local craft store (that has permanent loans for me to take out, lol....) that cost me $1. I had Brad cut several wooden rulers in half for me, and hot glued them to the wooden tile. With the limited amount of time that I had, I just glued some school scrapbook paper onto the rulers and cut out "happy"

And of course there always has to be a special snack, so this year I made these super cute apple cupcakes I found on Family Fun.

Can you tell momma was excited??!!

Linking To:

"tute" in Tuesday
ABC and 123

First Day of School!

Wow, time sure flies when your having kids arguing, screaming, tattling, not getting along because you think your sister is dumb.....Oh my goodness, did I just say those things out loud?? I MEANT when you're having fun. Yeeessssss, that's what I meant.......

Today was the first day of school, and as the majority of Moms are quietly wiping away tears of sadness, I found myself skipping along to the sounds of birds chirping. Just kidding, it was raining out this morning, but I was skipping. Just keepin it real here.

Yes, I will miss my kids, they are a lot of fun to be around, and a big help to me. But I won't miss the arguing and tattling and so on and so forth.

We have much going on with the first day of school. The night before we have our spa night. I whip up facial masks in the blender, make fancy little heart shaped sandwiches, chocolate covered strawberries, and they get to drink sparkling cider out of wine glasses. (Don't worry, they're plastic:) After soaking in the tub (and bubbles flowing out of the windows practically), they get pedicures and manicures. I give them the full treatment, massages, foot scrubs and of course polish. We call it Spa LaZimm (Zimmer is our last name). Alayna is very anxious to be able to participate next year, although we did allow her to come and have some bubble fun in the tub...

After our spa experience, I had the girls whip up some apple print note cards for their teachers. I just cut up an apple, had them paint it read, and stamp it on blank note cards. Once they were dry, we wrapped them up with red raffia, and made a tag with their teachers name on them.

And for breakfast, I made them pancakes in the shape of their initial. Such fun! And this afternoon, I made them apple shaped cupcakes for their afternoon snack. Emma told me I am the best First Day of School Mom ever!!!

Linking To:

"Tute" in Tuesday
ABC and 123

Broccoli Wild Rice Hotdish

I know, I know, you don't need to rub your eyes here, yes I did TWO posts in ONE day. It's true. Not sure what came over me, but it happened. I think I am starting my Fall routine early or something. Maybe it's because of the weather, ya, that's it. It must be the 95 and humid weather that we are enjoying right now. Hmmm, must be.

This is one of my favorite dishes, or, hotdishes as we call them there thangs here in the nort. This recipe originated from my Dad, and as the title says, there is broccoli in it. See it? no? Oh ya, because I didn't have any. I substituted carrots instead, which turned out fine, but I still prefer the broccoli. It is a super yummy, Fall/Winter comfort food around here!

Broccoli Wild Rice Hotdish

1 lb. ground beef
1 stalk celery
1 large onion
1 cup of wild rice (cooked. And if you are like me who never makes wild rice, it takes a LONG time to cook!)
1 can of mushroom soup (or make your own white sauce, as I do)
2 cans mushrooms
1 C yogurt or sour cream
1 # broccoli (par boiled)
1/3 C soy sauce

Brown together the hamburger, celery and onions. Wash wild rice and drain well (this is AFTER it has cooked). Add the ground beef to the mixture and add remaining ingredients. Bake at 350 for 2 hours in a covered dish.

Linking up to :
Tasty Tuesday
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
What's On The Menu Wednesday

Barnwood Shelf

Soooooo, have I mentioned how much I love barnwood? Have I? Cause I don't remember much talking about it before, hmmmmm.....



Oh my stars, I have had more fun using up all the old wood from Brad's parents farm lately! Remember the Barnwood Wall in our family room? If you haven't seen it, it's a must:) My next venture with the wood, was this amazing shelf that Gail from My {Re}Purposed Life created using old fence wood that someone had given her. My wheels started turning, and before I got too dizzy, I commissioned my WONDERFUL hubby into making one for me! After about 2 hours, he finished his creation...



Isn't it just amazing??!! We put it on our patio, and boy did I have fun finding things to put on it!

My Mom had given us this sign, but it originally said "deck", so of course I had to grab some scrapbook paper and redo that. The old frame is from My Grandfather who made it out of an old hayrack from when he was a kid.

The wreath I bought at Crafts Direct for $2.99, and the lantern was one given to me by my father-in-law. The glass in it was all cracked, so I broke the rest out of it.

On the second shelf I wrote one of my favorite quotes on a chalkboard that had no home, and also placed an old Land O Lakes cheese box also given to me by my father-in-law.

On the bottom shelf I put an old bowl that was my Grandmother's, and some berry twigs. I look forward to finding more things to add to this shelf.

This is by far my favorite piece of furniture, I love the history it holds, and the love by the person who built it. Awww, anyone need a kleenex? Just kidding, but in all seriousness, Brad did an amazing job, and I am so proud of this piece! Hope you enjoyed it!

Linking to:

Metamorphosis Monday
Show Off Your Cottage Monday
DIY Showoff
Just Something I Whipped Up

It's So Very Creative

Spotlight Yourself
Get Your Craft On

Look What I Made Day

Thrilling Thursday

Flaunt It Friday

Feature Yourself Friday

Creative Chick Parade

Tator Tots and Jello

Mustard Seed Creations