Mackinac Island

This past weekend Eric and I were blessed with a weekend get-a-way to Mission Point Resort on

Mackinac Island.  It is only 3 1/2 hrs north of our home and made us glad to live in such a beautiful state.  See, I am typing this now so I can remember it when we are knee deep in snow in the next few months!  The seasons truly are amazing and refreshing. 

It was one of the best weekends we've had!  The weather was crisp and sunny.  The sunsets and sunrises were magnificent.

We've been there several times before, but this trip seemed different.  It was extra relaxed...

Our hotel behind - it is gorgeous and has great history!

Extra active...

Eric ran around the Island - 8.2 miles!!

I rode next to him and kept his pace an overall 8.5 mph...I know, I know, I had the "tough" job! ;)

Extra beautiful...

Extra fun...

 And a pumpkin spice latte on the cool morning made it extra special! :)

Olivia's Cooking Party

My latest crafting venture was to make hats for Olivia's birthday party (the theme was cooking).  I had almost purchased some hats from the Oriental Trading Co., but I didn't want to pay the shipping and all the free shipping offers had a minimum of $49...that is a lot of junk to buy!  Those of you who know what Oriental Trading Co. is know what I mean! Soooo, I looked up a couple ideas online on making your own.  All the tutorials I came across called for using tissue paper as the hat part, but I was sure that the tissue paper would get destroyed/ripped.  This same week we had a new couch delivered for our family room and it was covered with this white, muslin-type cloth.  I definitely saw a connection!

So the only other ingredient to these super cute chef hats was a piece of poster board.  Process: Cut a chunk of material, tape it to the strip of poster board, and staple it closed.

  Of course what made them cute were the kiddos that were wearing them!

It was a fun day!  The kids made their own "pigs in a blanket", fruit skewers, and decorated a cupcake to take home. 

"Doggie Bags"

Rolling Pin Favors

Playing a game of "Oh Waiter!" - the goal is not to spill the water

Tired of guessing yet?? lol  It is an apron cake.  Basically a 9x13 sheet cake with the corners taken off and trimmed in licorice. http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/apron-cake-685580/

So thankful for wonderful friends!

Oh! I must put another thing on here.  For Olivia's birthday we got her some cooking gear and a good friend of mine made her an apron from a dishtowel.  You must visit her site here!  I found the dishtowel (and matching oven mitt) at Burlington.

September 5

Today is September 5, 2010.  Probably very insignificant to most people, perhaps not - there are a lot of stories out there!  September 5th was my dad's earthly birthday...the day we celebrated his life every year.  One birthday I remember asking him what his favorite color was (I wanted to make a card for him and this was a much needed piece of information in my little world).  He told me brown..."brown?!" I thought?!  Yuck!  I asked him why he liked brown and I don't remember the exact answer, but it had to do with the leaves and fall.   Recently my 7 year old daughter wanted to know MY favorite color.  I looked around our house and then I thought of the colors of most my clothes..."I guess I wear a lot of brown and I like neutral colors, I have brown eyes...so I guess my favorite color is brown or black."  *gasp*  My daughter was probably thinking "Yuck!" lol   It wasn't until just today that I put two and two together.   I had told her my honest answer and I just today remembered that time I had asked my dad his favorite color.  I can't count how many times God has used little moments like that to bring a smile to my heart.  He is so good.

Back to September 5th, that was also my due date for Olivia who just turned "5" this week.  If you want to really stretch it we could say that 5+5=10 which is the year.  Those of you who knew my dad will surely be laughing at this because he was always coming up with funny ways to remember things.  He also had a little motto that he used with his struggle against MS - "alive to 55" he would say. :)  I can hear it now.  He would have been 56 today...

My Dad's last birthday with us - 2008

Eggplant & Zucchini Spaghetti

Favorite dish of the week...by far!
http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/eggplant-spaghetti-fresh-mozzarella-50323.aspx

This is the same recipe except I forgot to add the mozzarella balls (shhhh, don't tell my cheese-loving husband!).  It really was an accident, I have the pricey boogers just sitting in my fridge waiting to be used!  I will happily make this soon and add the cheese, much to Eric's delight!

Welcome!

So I decided to do my first entry about something that happened on the "first" day of the week.  It was Sunday and I had put our trusty crock-pot to work (as it works for me almost every Sunday since everyone is famished by the time we get home from church).  I put a towel down on the table before dishing out the chicken - the towel was worthless as you can see:

 
It was quite upsetting.  Eric tells me of this guy he met that does furniture re-surfacing...we think "is the table even worth what he will probably charge?"  After a day or two of looking at this hideous spot, I decided to google some home remedies.  A post about an iron and white t-shirt kept popping up - at this point I have nothing to lose!  Ready, Set...my logical side is screaming "WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH AN IRON ON YOUR TABLE!"  After-all, isn't that how the spot got there in the first place???

My impulsive side goes for it and this time it wins! :) 

What did we do before "google"...a re-finishing man that would have probably brought his iron and white t-shirt and charged me $100.
Just a note, before trying this at home, I think the key was having an iron with the "steam" feature.  The idea is to get the moisture back into the table.  From what I read anyways, I am no expert!








A little polish and we are as good as new!

 I know what you all are thinking..."she needs one of those "hot pads" - I am on it!

Before & After

This week the cool air was a welcome change to the hot, sticky August weather we've had lately.  On Wednesday, I took advantage of the day and tackled my perennial garden.  I wish I had taken a "before" picture, but alas, I was happy just to keep a 13 month old happy while on my mission.  This was as close to the "before" as I could get...

But the AFTER makes it all worth it!















My "crew"

Olivia came out to help me in her winter gloves (mimicking my garden gloves), but the swing set was calling and she didn't like being "pricked".