creamy lemon-blueberry dessert recipe at kraftfoods.com

I've been baking again.....Like the title says, its

Creamy Lemon-Blueberry Dessert

Its quite yummy, and super easy! To see the recipe click on the link below.

creamy lemon-blueberry dessert recipe at kraftfoods.com

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

:: My big plan was to post pictures from the St. Patrick's Parade we went to this weekend....however, my camera (actually I was using Michael's camera, which isn't nearly as spectacular as mine....so I should have known better....tee hee) has locked up and foiled my plans. Instead I will share a funny little story with you.....

During most of my youth I was down right ticked off that I wasn't Irish! I remember one year getting in a little bit of an argument with my grandma (sorry grams!) over the fact that I insisted that yes indeed I was of Irish descent!... and she insisted that oh no I wasn't! I so badly wanted to be Irish that I even begged her to change my name. I remember specifically that I was quite partial to Briana (I almost picked that name for Anna), Colleen, and Deirdre....now I came close to part of my wish...I actually grew up knowing a Deirdre!

That same year I was quite indignant and wanted to prove grandma wrong, so I insisted that she dig out our family tree so I could prove just how Irish I really was. WELL, as it turns out, I am in fact not Irish (boo hoo), but instead very DANISH.

Ok so I'm not Irish...but I am still a big fan of the Irish! And, over the years I have since recovered from my disappointment:)

Hope everyone had a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Anna's baby quilt...

:: I finished putting Anna's baby blanket quilt top together. I had it laying on the dining room table when she woke up from her nap (which was minutes before this picture was taken...you can see she still looks sleepy). She walked out to the dining room and said "what's this I see?....did you FINALLY finish my quilt?" I said, "no not yet...I only have the top finished". She responds with, "well geesh mom, are you EVER going to finish this quilt?"

Yep, she's 4, and knows how to tell it to me straight!

:: Remember...this was made with her 8 receiving blankets that I saved from when she was a tiny girl. I think this quilt will mean more to me, because I remember wrapping her up in all those blankets. Babies sure don't stay small very long. boo hoo

The Daily Shower

:: So how was your shower today?...relaxing?....yeah, mine not so much...For those of you reading this with children in your house, you will totally get what I'm on about here...

This is a "family show"...tee hee, so I will keep it G-Rated.

Here is a typical shower experience for me: I announce to the family "I'm going to take a shower now". That is everyone's clue that if they need to use the bathroom, do the laundry, wash the dishes, wash the car, or give the cat a bath they have 5 minutes to complete the task before I step in the shower.

So here I go...stepping in to the shower now. Just as I get the shampoo all lathered up in my hair (and no sooner...it has to be exactly when my hair is full of shampoo) Anna will walk in the bathroom and need me for something. (Heaven forbid that there be a door closed between her and I at any moment of the day....even a glass see through shower door....ugh!) Its usually that she has gone to the bathroom and can't reach the toilet paper. Seriously?!....could she not have waited until I at least had the shampoo rinsed? I suppose this should make me mad, because it almost happens every day, but for some reason I laugh every time.

The other day I had a light bulb moment, and thought aha....how about I have her go to the bathroom before I get in the shower?!...duh!....well I did that, and nope!....that didn't help a thing....as soon as my hair was full of shampoo I hear, "mommy....I need your help", my response under my breath is, "of course you do....there is shampoo in my hair!"

So once I finally get back in the shower to rinse out my hair the shower door has to open and close about 4 more times....its Anna again of course. "mommy, can you get me a show to watch on tv?.....mommy, can I have something to drink?....here's one of my all-time favorites.....mommy, can you get this dress on my barbie?" (Even I have my limits, I don't actually get out for all of those things).

OMG!....by the time I have finally answered all of the questions and done all of the assisting, and actually rinsed the shampoo out of my hair something hits me like the scalding hot water which happens when someone in the house has flushed the toilet while I'm HELLO! IN THE SHOWER!......

Time flies by so fast...it seems like Anna was just born and now she is 4 years old already. In a few more years (hopefully much longer than a few years really) she will be off with her friends and won't need me like she needs me now. So, I will choose to laugh at all of the interrupted showers and know that someday I will look back and laugh and miss all of Anna's questions and requests that she just couldn't wait to ask me until after my shower. I like that she needs me NOW!

Sweet Treat...

:: These cookies are a meal....if you've never had a "ranger cookie" before you should probably try them. Yum! I will put a printable recipe link on the sidebar under "Ranger Cookies"....(just as soon as I figure out how to do that....argh!...thought I knew how already....hold please and hum the Jeopardy theme song while I figure it out...and you're welcome since I'm sure that will be stuck in your head now). :0)

Organizational Bliss!

:: I am giddy over the fact that my sewing machine (her name is "Lucille" btw...what!...guys name cars) has a spot on my craft desk finally! You see it was covered with stamp/card making supplies before. Its not that I won't be making cards anymore...I have been taken over with sewing again lately so I decided to shift some things around and make room for fabric and the likes.
:: I love it when everything has a place...to me that's half the fun of being crafty.... organizing my supplies! Here's a secret....sometimes its even hard for me to cut into a new piece of fabric, because then I won't have it on my shelf to look at anymore.....I know...there's probably professional help for people like me out there!
:: And, look....I even cleaned off Anna's little craft desk/table. Somehow though she is always trying to crowd herself on to mine. Silly me thinking that if I made her a desk of her own she would stay off of mine and out of my supplies....yea right!

A little bit of springtime...

:: I bought a new Nordic cake pan today and had to try it out....isn't this cake cute?!

This pic makes it look like chocolate cake, but actually its a yellow bundt cake recipe....

And, we just happen to have some strawberries

from my mom-in-law's garden (fresh from the freezer)

to go with some whipped cream....

yummy yum yum!

So many of you have asked...

Please excuse the glare in the pic... operator error ;-)

:: Where oh where did you get that little desk?

~ This little desk was an antique store find.

:: Where oh where is it in your house?

~ It is sitting in the dining room.

:: And, did you paint those words on the wall?

~ Nope...didn't paint the words....they are a vinyl decal. I purchased them from Wonderful Graffiti. (click to see their site)

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!...and my mom-in-law too:)

:: Yep it would have been Theodore Geisel's 106th birthday today!...bet you didn't know his real name now did you? (1904-1991)

:: Anna's school is having Dr. Seuss day, as I'm sure many other schools are as well. She and her classmates wore their pjs to school, ate pancakes and read Dr. Seuss books. Cute!

Young cat, if you keep your eyes open enough, oh, the stuff you would learn!

The most wonderful stuff!

~Dr. Seuss

I turn my back for two seconds....

:: Seriously?!....
:: Michael has been working non-stop for the past few weeks...so much so that we went out to dinner for the first time in I can't remember how long last night, and I felt compelled to re-introduce myself to him....Anyways, I thought I would bake him a carrot cake today as a "hey, thanks for putting in so many hours". It was cooling...so I was doing things around the house. I hear the back door open (which is a funny all in itself, because really our "back door" is on the front of the house...I'll explain some other time) and think oh, he must be home. I find him cutting in to the cake! OMG! He looks at me with a smile like, Oh, was I not supposed to do that?....I just replied with NICE! }:-/
:: So much for making his surprise look nice....dork! He hasn't seen the cake frosted yet...it should give him a chuckle! Its the thought that counts right?

She's back to feeling like her old (young) self...

:: Anna was sick for what seems like forever, but really only about a week and a half...she had me pretty concerned. I missed her laugh and smile. The other day we went to visit Linda, and she gave Anna these glasses. I'm not sure if Linda was Elton John in a past life, or maybe Anna, or both?....they seem to have a thing going with sunglasses. Linda finds all kinds of different ones for Anna. This is the latest model~
:: And, notice the quilt?....(insert self indulgent smile here). I'm so happy to see her using it:0)

A rare occurrence...

:: Why am I showing you a picture of our living room couch you ask?...That might be what most people see when they look at this picture. The actual purpose of this picture is to show you something that I don't often see.....THE FLOOR! No toys, no pillows, no blankets....just a nice area rug....aaaahhhhhhh.....
:: Look!....here's another view....careful you don't trip, oh wait...that's right...there's nothing to step over or trip on! Bring your eyes up to the mantel shelf....see my new cute barn stars. I bought them online from Etsy from a seller called lil' miss crafty pants (you can click to see her stuff). I noticed she doesn't have many stars left, but I'm sure she'll be making more.

Project Complete!

:: Well I'll be!....I finished it! I am usually one to start a project and then get side-tracked on to something else and end up with a few unfinished projects laying around. I'm so happy to say not this time! And, what's even better....when I gave it to Anna, who has been patiently waiting for "her quilt", she immediately threw it over the piano bench and made a fort out of it! Success!

I started another one...

:: What's that?....have I finished the last quilt I started for Anna? Well no, silly! That's not how it works....have you ever met a creative person who only works on one project at a time?....I sure haven't! We like the chaos of more than one thing going at once after all! :0)

::I saved 8 of Anna's receiving blankets from when she was a baby with the intent on making a quilt out of them. Well here I am actually following through with my plan....pat on the back for me!
:: Do you cheat like me and use the Shape Cut?....its so easy you SHOULD!

:: Here are the strips I cut with the Shape Cut guide. It seems even with a ruler I can mess up a straight line, so I love the Shape Cut guide. Where can I get one you ask?...I found mine at Hancock Fabrics, but if you search it on-line you can find them all over. There is also the Shape Cut Plus (the one I really wanted)...its 12x18 I believe.
:: And whalah!....here are the quilt blocks all ready to be sewn together. I haven't forgotten about the other quilt I'm working on....I'll probably finish that one before I get back to this one.

Amy Butler & Heather Bailey Fans...Check this out!

:: I just had the most exciting morning! I found a new little shop called "The Top Stitch". I was searching for Amy Butler & Heather Bailey fabric and ran across this little shop right here in Spokane. Imagine my delight! Something cool and funky in Spokane...almost seems hard to believe...I know! The owner, Carrie, is so nice and helpful. She answered all of my silly questions and didn't make me feel ashamed of my lack of sewing knowledge. She even offers classes. I am so happy I stumbled across this place.

Check out her website: www.thetopstitch.com

Thank you Super Bowl!

:: Lookie what I did during the Super Bowl! Well okay, I had the game on, but I don't think I watched a single play, because I was sewing my guts out! Um yea, I did look up from my sewing machine to see the commercials though.

:: There is still a lot to be done, but at least the quilt top is together. I'm pretty excited that I'm this far.

:: And, as you're admiring my little project, please keep in mind that I do this for the pleasure of creating something. I'm not looking to win any contest with my sewing...in other words, look, but not that close! ;)

How long should it take?

:: So I've started a quilt for Anna...heavy sigh! Why the sigh? Well, I'm wondering how long this is going to take.... snicker! It seems like when I have an idea in my head of a project I would like to finish, and the family gets wind of this idea, then it is sure to be derailed. Therefore I have decided that this is going to be one of those projects like many others who will sit and stare back at me each time I walk past it....saying, "you whoo!....remember me?...you ever going to finish?" My answer: YES I AM!....may just take a few months:0)

A few blog pages I simply love...

I love wasting what could be a perfectly productive morning looking at my favorite blog pages....here are a few that I return to every time...(after I've cooked, cleaned and organized of course...wink wink):

www.thefarmchicks.typepad.com (Serena is my organizing country girl hero!)

www.kwernerdesign.com (Kristina is my mac loving crafty girl hero!)

www.frugalchicliving.com (Crystal is my coupon clipping professional who saves me money hero!)

The above three women who create these pages are my heros! If I could be these three woman in one I would be my own hero!....tee hee ;0)

And, for the baker in me:

www.bakerella.com

Is it really January?

:: Wait, is that grass in the picture?....is this REALLY January?....because there would not have been trike riding last year at this time. I think we're all liking this winter over last year...and the year before.
:: January of last year....try riding a trike in that!

News Flash People....Michael put the snow blower away yesterday, so now you know what that means.....we're gonna get some snow!

I'm BACK!!!!

Well well well....look who remembered she had a blog! I know...I can hear you all yelling already....it has been so long since my last post I actually had to look up my password!

I'm not making any promises about how often I'll post, but I thought I would at least update you with a few Christmas pics :) You will notice this year I am actually in the pictures....after years of not being in any, because I am always behind the camera I released my control of my beloved camera over to Michael and "let" him take a few pics.

:: Anna was beside herself with joy to put together her gingerbread house this year....I was dealing with a cold that I was pretty sure I was going to die from (everyone said I had HINI to every other dreadful thing, but why go to the doctor and find out when instead you can suffer through it & let it kick your butt?) This picture makes me laugh, because you can almost hear me saying, "just take the damn picture please....cheese!"
:: Michael II (15), Danielle (17) & Anna (just days from the big 4!)
:: Normally you can't pay the kid to sit still for a picture, especially if she knows I REALLY want the picture....I don't know, maybe she got lost in the spirit of Christmas, but this time she posed and everything!
::Michael, Danielle, Mom (me), & Anna on her 4th birthday. I kind of felt like a failure as a mother, because I didn't bake her cake, but her favorite cake has always been the "Chocolate Costco Cake"....so, give the girl what she wants and give momma a break:) I was just happy to see her 4th birthday....(ya know, cuz I was dying from my cold....LOL!)

:: You all know how much I love taking pictures?....well I got a video camera for Christmas!...as soon as I get the Christmas videos edited I'll be adding a couple movies. Stay tuned!