Loving Picasa

I found a couple of great tutorials on how to use Picasa photo editing program to its full potential. I have been playing around with making self portraits look better... not the picture, but the faces! Here are a few I have played around with.

Me while camping - smoothed out the face. This is the first one I tried. I 'softened' the wrong part of the picture. This was a learning one.

Hubby and KFC - Nothing done to KFC; Hubby got his skin smoothed, eyes blue-er, mole removed, and wrinkles smoothed out. Soooo, this makes him look too feminine!!! He of course hates it, but I think he is very pretty!....Whatcha think, Chessy with stubble! haha

This one is my favorite. The top picture we look so tired with dark circles around the eyes! But the bottom picture, we look refreshed!

Not sure if I have perfected the looks, but I had a lot of fun playing around with it! I probably will be altering any pictures of me from now on!!! :)

Butter My Toast

I saw on another blog (yes, I know, I'm obsessed with blogs...but you find GREAT ideas!), how to make homemade butter in a canning jar. Seemed like a really fun idea, but also a lot of hard work for your arm, as you had to shake the jar for about 30 minutes! I knew KFC would loose interest in the amount of time it took. Then I came across last Friday yet another blog on how to make homemade butter But in your Mixer! After forgetting to pick up some cream while at Target Friday, I managed to remember it yesterday while grocery shopping. Here is our process of making the Yummiest butter!

Pour in Heavy Whipping Cream

Lock and turn mixer on high

Wait...and wait some more. Takes a good couple of minutes!

Smell the whipped cream!

After several minutes you will have made whipped cream

Then the butter will start to separate from the buttermilk. At this stage is when the shield for the bowl was needed as the buttermilk splashed everywhere. The picture on the right is where you can see a little bit of the milk separating.

Keep mixing until it completely separates

Pour out the butter milk into another jar to save for another recipe. Then we added a little water to clean out the butter from the rest of the buttermilk. Drain off the excess water. After this you can add salt to make it salted butter, but we chose to keep it unsalted.

Scoop butter into cheesecloth and squeeze out off excess liquid

Place in jar and you're good to go! We used a pint of cream and this is how much butter & buttermilk it made.

Of course we had to make some toast to try out our fresh homemade butter! It was DELICIOUS!

I might just turn some of this butter into cinnamon butter! Mmmmm Mmmmm!

Meet Louie

Last week while hubby was away at work, I asked KFC what she would like to do one evening. She said "go to the place where the dogs get their haircut and have cats". Ohhhh so you want to go to Petsmart... Off we went. I  take her there every once in a while to see all the animals. Really, its like a free trip to the zoo! KFC's cousin BT had gotten a beta fish a while back, while I knew I would eventually get one for KFC I just didn't realize she had it in her sneaky mind that we were getting one that night! They're cheap so why not??? Better than the cat she has been asking for to live in her room! After watching a dog get its hair cut, visiting the sad looking kitty cats, looking at the birds and other rodents(ewww!), we ended with picking out a beta fish. After we gathered all its supplies, we were standing in the check-out line when I asked KFC what she wanted to name it... Louie was what came out. Ok, at least it matched the fish's gender.

So here is Louie the Beta Fish

I love the little light that came with the tank. It makes for a great night light!

Sew Another Dress

I have been wanting to do some more sewing but the joy of it was just not there for a long time. I even had lowered the sewing machine back inside its cabinet! - Which I have not done since I brought it home! But something clicked and I got back into the groove. I saw this tutorial, back in early May, from a blog I follow make it and love it. I knew I wanted to make this dress for KFC but was unsure if I could actually do it. It was a little more involved than the 'pillowcase' dress I have previously made. Her post said that making it was not as hard as it looked, so I decided to at least attempt it. KFC and I went this past Friday to buy the fabric.

The fabric really needed the use of a serger! Although I wish I had one, they kinda make me nervous on how to use them!!! I asked a friend that has one if she would do it for me. I also needed button holes made into the top and of course my machine didn't have the correct foot for that. She was able to do both for me! Now the dress looks 'professional'! haha

Dress Completed

My Model

Here is what the dress looks like from the blog I got it from... and what I went by every step of the way!

Working For The "Man"

Hubby has gone out of town for work and won't be back till hopefully Friday! I am trying to fill KFC and I's days so each day doesn't seem like an eternity. Today we started off at the library for a puppet show. It was VERY good! It was a one man show and he did all the puppets along with the different voices. I just figured there was at least 2 people back there! A cousin of mine lives across the street from the library and as we were leaving we saw him sitting on his front porch. We stopped by to say hi and he invited us in to 'tour' his home built in 1901! Very cool inside! We then left for home to have lunch and some rest.

KFC and I ask Papa if he would like to go to dinner with us and of course he did! :) I had a coupon to a local restaurant for a Free kids meal, so thats where we went to take advantage of the coupon. After dinner we dropped Papa back off at his house and headed to another library for a 7:00pm kids program thing. I felt the show was a disaster. I think it was a husband and wife team where the obnoxious wife sang 'educational' songs while her husband that was dressed as a giant tree frog danced! KFC somewhat enjoyed it but I wanted no part of it. We scooted out of there early and just played in the main part of the library.

In the past if hubby was gone I have allowed KFC to sleep with me. No change for this time. She knew what to expect. I can't sleep with her in the bed - I think I have heard too many stories of parents suffocating their children while they slept. Yes this is mainly for infants, but in past experiences I CAN NOT sleep but for 30 minute spans if she's in the bed. So, I made her a nice place on the floor next to the bed. I think she was asleep within a minute!

It's definitely hard not to have another spouse here to help out, especially when you are on duty ALL day long... No breaks! BUT, it is nice sometimes to do whatever you feel like doing. :) Oh, and not having to have the house clean every afternoon so it doesn't look like you've been a slacker all day! haha

Tomorrow we will try out a kids movie program that going on at our local movie theater. They usually replay movies that are not currently out right now. It's $5 for admission that includes a drink and popcorn. Thursday is the same schedule but at a different movie theater. Tomorrow we will be seeing 'How To Train Your Dragon' and on Thursday will be 'Shrek Forever After'.

I think I can... I think I can...

Help!!!

Blogger just informed me, as I was attempting to upload more pictures for a post, that I have reached my maximum free storage allowance for uploading pictures!!!! Anyone know how to get around this without having to pay for more storage??? I haven't even had my blog for a year and now its at a standstill. If I can't find a way around it, I don't know if I should spend money to blog or just create a new blog!?

Oh What A Mess!!!

Last weekend I noticed that the floor around our shower was 'squishy'. We waited till this past weekend to investigate it... Turns out to be a HUGE mess!!! In order to get to the flooring around/under the shower we had to take the glass door off, rip the plastic shower walls off, and then we could pull up the bottom of the shower. The plastic walls were not salvageable after pulling them off. When we first decided to buy this house I knew I eventually wanted to expand our shower and make it more of a walk-in shower. But right NOW was not in our budget time frame. This will probably be a very drawn out process, but in the end I will be happy with my new shower. Fortunately we have another shower, but I hate having to walk from the other side of the house to take a shower. Here is what it looks like so far...

Hubby ripping off the walls and starting the floor. Makes me mad to see that ugly wallpaper again. I had finally finished painting this bathroom in hopes of never seeing those ugly flower design ever again.

Hubby and KFC taking 'showers' in the kitchen! :) Notice how KFC copied her Daddy with the armpit washing and butt washing! Haha

Here is what we found under the shower floor... Gross, Nasty, Smelly mildew/molded flooring! The insulation under the flooring was even wet. Just a big ole mess! Also in the corner where the shower floor had a slight upwards grade to allow water to run to drain, there was a mouse's nest! Hubby said when he was cleaning the insulation out that was sub-floor he found, to be expected, mouse droppings, but also SNAKE SKIN!!! Needless to say we have filled all holes while we wait for the process to proceed! 

After pulling up the linoleum floor we could see that it reached far more that I expected it to be. It had gone under that 'fake' wall as well as starting to go up the Sheetrock. The wall had to go too! Hubby had to tear the linoleum up to get far enough out to replace the flooring. That means, we will now need new linoleum for the entire bathroom.

Old sub-floor cut out and all icky wet insulation removed (insulation not yet out in picture). Hubby has replaced the sub-floor and filled in all cracks with foamy stuff. Next is to design what will be the new shower.

What I would like to do is take that whole area, from the right side of the picture where the wall starts over to the other wall where old shower was, and tile it all. We would build another fake wall to give the shower another side but leave an opening for the doorway near the wall that on the right. That way its like a walk-in/ hallway  of a shower. We will move the shower head from off the 'fake' wall where it used to be, to having the shower head come from the ceiling. We will also need a light in there too. I had no idea it would require this much effort to fix a 'little' leak! If anyone has any cool ideas on the design or tiling let me know! Kinda going back and forth on a few ideas.

'She Likes To Move It, Move It'

Today was KFC's last day at dance class. They had a little dance recital, "The Big Show" today. Daddy, Chessy, Grandma, & Grandma T all came out to see KFC dance! She did GREAT! I wasn't expecting too much since she only works of KFC's schedule. She started off not doing too much, but soon got into the routine! Hubby video taped while I took pictures. And let me warn you, there are a lot of pictures! :)

For their 'costumes' TLG offered hula skirts and lays. Well our dog got a hold of the lay and broke it into pieces. KFC was VERY upset. So I took the pieces of flowers and made a hairbow out of it. It looked so cute with her outfit, kinda glad the dog got into it now! I attempted to apply make-up but for some reason KFC's skin doesn't show anything I applied. I put a ton of blush on her cheeks and it looks like I did nothing. I also put on pink eye shadow and unless you were in her face you couldn't tell. Mascara is about the only thing that looked different.

The "Big Show" consisted of a tap dance, a ballet dance, and some gymnastics- beam and bar routine. For the tap and ballet part the class did each dance twice, good because it helped the kids remember the routine the second time around.

The kids making their entrance

My pretty girl!

The tap dance

Sitting against the wall waiting to start ballet

Ballet Dance

Next was the gymnastics part. Here are all the kids sitting and waiting for their next instructions

Their 'warm-up' routine

Balance Beam routine. The bottom right picture is when KFC was having a MAJOR meltdown! After she dismounted the beam she ran over to play on the bars, daddy came and told her to sit with the class, and she lost it! All she wanted was to show us her pull-over. Took a little while to get her calmed down and back sitting with the class.

Bars routine. Right after I took the picture on the right, KFC said she wanted to do it again, meaning a pull over, so the teacher decides to whip KFC's body around into a hip circle! VERY impressed that KFC hung on and finished it with arms straight!!! This is a very advanced move. I got this on video but not on camera. :(

KFC getting her medal and her big "TaDa" up on the mat

Everyone sitting together with their medals

"It's Daddy"

While sitting at the computer, KFC started doing something behind me. She told me not to look until she was done. This is what I turned around to. She said its her daddy! If you can't tell what is what, here it is... The face is made up of a dog leash attached to an exercise band thing. Eyes and nose are cups. Eyebrows, mouth, and hair are crayons. Purple legs are drinking straws. Sent this picture to Hubby and his response was, "I have hair!".

Party Time

Happy 10  11Year Anniversary Lee & Ann!

Yes, we missed their 10 year anniversary so I figured it wouldn't hurt to have a small get together for their 11th.

Since the weather has been EXTREMELY hot here lately I was nervous it would be sweltering and no one would want to go outside. But the humidity wasn't too bad and it was actually bearable to stay out there. We had borrowed a canopy and two big fans that helped out too.

I got two big chunks of boston butt from the Hurdles Mills market to make us some yummy BBQ. It cooked in the oven for 5 hours then hickory smoked on the grill for another hour. We also cooked up some chicken legs to go along with F-I-L's hot sauce that he makes so well. There was a feast of mac&cheese, spoon bread, green peas, butternut squash, green beans, coleslaw, spinach ravioli, and fruit. Mmmm Mmmm

The night before I had Chessy come over to help me with making the BBQ sauce, cake, and setting up. I was very excited to be making the cake from scratch! Last year a fellow co-worker GAVE me her grandma's Kitchenaid stand mixer. She was just going to give it to goodwill or something and I quickly volunteered myself to taking it. I found a recipe off one of the blogs I follow for "moist yellow cake". She claimed it was the best and moistest yellow cake recipe she has ever made, so I took her word for it. She also had a recipe for butter-cream icing. It all turned out great! Chessy started on the mixer with the cake while I started a vinegar based sauce that was to go with the BBQ. After about an hour into the sauce simmering I had a MAJOR allergic reaction to something! My hands and feet started itching then swelling. Then I noticed me tongue started swelling along with my throat! Then I freaked out, sent Hubby to the store for some Benedryl! I couldn't talk and could barely swallow. But once Benedryl kicked in it got a little better and then the rash broke out everywhere. It took about till 8am the next morning for my tongue and esophagus to go back to normal. Where my feet had swelled so much I couldn't walk to next day cause it was still so painful. I recovered and didn't need the ER!

With the end to that long story, I never got a chance to make the cake I so desperately wanted to make. Thankfully Chessy WAS there and she saved the day! She made the cake, the icing, and assembled the cake all by herself. Once I was able to move again, I sat in the kitchen to watch the process. If you look closely at the bottom right picture you can see my leg propped up trying to keep the swelling down. You will also notice the gigantic mess she made, but if I had done it, it would have looked a lot worse!

The next day I got around to making the mini cupcakes to go along with the cake. On another blog (yeah I know, I'm obsessed with blogs!) I found how to make your own cupcake stands. Since I didn't have any, I wanted to make some too. I went my our local thrift store called 'Everything But Granny's Panties', its hit and miss there sometimes, but you can find some cool things in there! I found everything I was looking for! I needed a plate for the cake, so I found a big white plate, PERFECT for the size cake I was making, and it was only $1.50. Then for the cupcake stand I wanted some small plates and some small glasses or either small vases. I found a set of 8 blue, yellow, pink, and white ceramic plates for $12, and some type of 7 tiny drinking glasses for $3. Chessy hot glued them together for me and they turned out SOOO cute! In the bottom middle picture you can see the shape of the glasses better.

The kids playing before dinner

Hanging out

Cutting the cake - Notice anything???

The kids dancing after eating their cupcakes! Loved their moves!