I Have a New Toy!

When you were a kid did you ever order from those Scholastic Book Club order forms?  Do you order from then now with your own child?

Well, every time you do, you earn bonus points for the teacher.  Somehow I acquired 24,781 points over the years.

That's a lot of points.

A......lot......of......points.

So many points, in fact, that I ordered this and I still have about 5,000 points left over.

Do you know what this is?

Yep!  It's my new iPad!

I LOVE IT!

I found a great apple green cover for it (no apple pun intended - really) and I am set to go.

(See how it goes with my little old green iPod?

Are you hoping for one of these under your Christmas tree this year?

Apparently I Took a Blogging Break

I didn't intend for it to be more than a week since my last post, but I guess I did just that.  The evidence clearly shows that I have not posted for over a week!
(Da Dum - Law & Order sound effect)

Just finished up Parent Teacher Conference Week.  It's always exhausting!  Now I have a week off to gather strength.  LOL

I have some news about my sweet Baby Bee!  Since second grade she has been growing out her hair for Locks of Love.  In order to donate, the hair must be at least 10 inches long.  I inadvertently increased this growing time because I kept having it trimmed so it looked neat.  Once I realized my mistake it didn't take too much longer for it to reach that magical 10 inches.

Well Saturday was cutting day!

Here was how she started out in the morning.....

After all was said and done.....

She loves it and so do we!  

But boy!  I sure do have to get used to how she looks now.

I'm so proud of her!

If you want to know more about this wonderful program, please go

here to the Locks of Love website.  What a worthwhile cause!

Thank you for stopping by!  Your comments and visits are always such a delight!

Where Has the Week Gone?

Didn't I just gain an extra hour last weekend?  Why do I feel like I just can't catch up?  What does adult ADD feel like?  These are burning questions in my mind - especially this weekend.

I have had a four day weekend and my house is till a mess!  I have half my Thanksgiving decorations out looking pretty and the rest are sitting on bookshelves in the library.  I have Parent Teacher Conferences this next week and I still haven't finished my report cards.  Do I sound like I'm whining?  I suppose I kind of am.  Please forgive me - I'm not generally a whiner (I think - - - on second thought don't ask my husband).  

I've missed visiting with so many of you this week.  

But there have been some wonderful things this week.....

1.  I attended a wedding and I was the official photographer. 

      The whole truth?  My nieces came over for the morning on Thursday and we had an impromptu wedding out under our front arbor.  Cutter Bee was the preacher (who kept telling us how she didn't have time to do the ceremony again because she had to do it in English and Spanish - where did that come from?), Reader Bee was the lovely bride and my daughter, Baby Bee, was the leaf girl (no flowers but there were plenty of fall leaves to throw about).  We cranked open one of the front kitchen windows and played the wedding march and recessional umpteen times.  The girls had so much fun!  Then there was the backyard reception.  I had a bottle of sparkling apple cider and the girls celebrated the wedding out back. 

2.   I went to the oncologist again this week - my blood still looks 100% normal so in December I'll have a CT scan and one more follow-up visit before I guess I will be declared to not have ever had lymphoma.  Thank you God!

3.  I discovered the Pioneer Woman blog/website.  Where has she been all my life?  I've already made her banana bread, chicken cacciatore, and this YUMPTIOUS (yes, I made up that word and I probably better copyright that one - it sounds perfect - yummy and scrumptious)  tomato and blue cheese pasta!  That last one made my skirt fly up!  Did I take pictures of these efforts?  NO!

4.  Went to a local thrift store today and found some fabulous white dishes.  

Lovin' this Homer Laughlin "Best China."  I'm thinking it might be some restaurant ware.  I picked up 4 of these.

The other pattern was Wedgwood "Hedge Rose."  I was able to score 5 of these plates.  

5.  Baked the most delicious pumpkin muffins today.  I used Trader Joe's pumpkin bread mix and their pumpkin cream cheese spread.  Actually Baby Bee made the pumpkin batter.  I scooped a little in our prepared muffin tins, the Baby Bee put a teeny scoop of the pumpkin cream cheese in the middle and then I topped them with some more pumpkin batter.  Oh boy!  More YUMPTIOUS!  We even had some extra batter so we made a mini loaf and took it over to the neighbors.  

6.  Spent some time snuggling with my Baby Bee.  

So - I shouldn't beat myself up, right? 

(Best part?  Snuggling with Baby Bee!)

Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to come by and see what the Sweet Bees are up to.  It's always such a delight to see you.  Do you get just plain ol' tickled when you see friends have been by to visit?  Well I sure do!

So nice to see you!

Bee Happy and Carry On!

Just had to share a little something that just came in the mail.....

Can you guess why I liked it?

You can get your own at 

The Blog Guidebook.

Thanks for buzzin' in!

Falling Leaves and Hot Chocolate!

After the warm temperatures we've been having today started to feel like autumn again.  The sky was gray and we were sprinkled on several times today.

Baby Bee had Jazz Bee (her BeeFF) over today and for a sleep over.  It was windy last night and the leaves really came down so of course the girls had to play in the leaves.

They also made necklaces and bracelets in the studio.

Jazz Bee (Baby Bee's BeeFF) made a bee necklace.

Baby Bee made a planet bracelet.

After dinner tonight we decided to watch and oldie but goodie - Monster, Inc.  I think that's my favorite Pixar movie and that's saying a lot 'cause I LURVE them all!  

I think we all wanted a sweet little treat and what's one of the best things to look forward to when the weather gets chillier?  Why hot chocolate of course.

Wanna' know how I make hot chocolate?

4 simple ingredients

1.  powdered chocolate (I buy Ghiradelli in a big can from Smart and Final)

2.  milk (we always have 1% so that's generally what I use)

3.  shaved chocolate (I love the bittersweet bar that you can buy at Trader Joe's)

4.  whipped cream (fresh is best, but I'm happy to use a can so I don't make too big a mess)

Shaved chocolate makes the best garnish and it's so easy to do.  I just read on Pioneer Woman's blog that she loves chopping chocolate - well I love shaving chocolate!

I use my vegetable peeler to make shaved chocolate.  

Yum!  Yum!  Yum!  Here's a nice freshly shaved bowl of bittersweet chocolate.

After shaving a good amount I store it in a little spice bottle for future mochas and hot chocolates.

I microwave, steam, or heat the milk on the stove.  Put in about 1/8 of a cup of the powdered chocolate in each cup.  Add the hot milk and stir to blend the chocolate that has now melted into the hot milk.  Squirt the whipped cream and then garnish with the chocolate shavings.

Here's the finished hot chocolate.....

Doesn't that look scrumptious?

We enjoyed our warm for our tummies drinks while we watched Sully save Boo from the evil machinations of Mr. Waternoose.

What are some things that signal the change from summer to fall for you?

Oh I hope you can come enjoy one of these with us soon!  I'd be happy to make you one any time you can come by for a visit.

Twins!

No, I'm most definitely NOT pregnant, 

but I wanted to share with a pair of twins separated by about 25 years.

This pair of suitcases belong to me and my mom.  I have the pink one and my mom has the blue one.

The one on the right is mine from about 1970 and the one on the left is mom's from 1945.

Now these are not quite identical twins but you might call them fraternal twins.

1970s version....

Not quite disco stars but still 70s.....

1940s version....

Pink and sweet on the inside (just like my mom)!

I always thought my handle was cooler than hers when I was a kid.  Now I prefer mom's leather one.

Hinges are identical - just different patina.

Mom's is slightly larger than mine.

I can remember mom's being up on a tall shelf in a hall closet in our house when I was growing up.  She kept her embroidery in it.

I remember using mine for sleepovers at my cousins' house and stuffing it to bursting.  I remember feeling so sad when my clothes would no longer fit in my suitcase.

I also used it for storing my doll, Kitty's clothes.  My parents watched Gunsmoke and I think that's where my doll's name came from.  

I asked Mom what she remembered about her suitcase and she remembers getting it when she was maybe 8 (1948) and it had a little hand tied quilt and matching pajamas.  I have that little quilt somewhere......I'll have to find it now.  I just called Mom to ask her the name of her doll and she couldn't remember.  (Thank goodness I wrote my doll's name in this blog so when I'm 70 and Baby Bee asks me my doll's name I'll be able to tell her!)  

So you are lucky - two vintage thingies for the price of one (and I'm NOT referring to my mom and me as the vintage thingies)!

What are you treasuring these days?

Thanks for buzzing in!  

How's your weather?  We have gotten HOT!  85 degrees tomorrow!  I'm losing my autumnal feeling and that is NOT a good thing.

I enjoyed seeing you today.  I'll be making a nice breve latte tonight.  Would you care for one? 

You can drink it while you go visit all the delightful vintage thingies at Suzanne's at Colorado Lady.

And if you're coming by for

from

How Sweet the Sound

I'll be happy to make you some yummy pumpkin waffles and a cinnamon dolce latte!

Doesn't that sound like a yummy breakfast?

Martha? I'm (Glue)Gunning for You!

I don't think it's any secret.  I've been aiming to be the next Martha Stewart for years now.  The content of my blog is clearly comparable to Martha's and I knew it was only a matter of time before the masses came calling.
(tongue firmly planted in cheek there)

Why am I calling myself the next Martha?
Why am I so full of myself?  

Well, I recently received a phone call from a reporter from our small town newspaper.  She had seen my entries at the Big County Fair.  She started talking to me about my fair wins and asking if I was a crafty person.  I replied that I was most definitely a crafty person.  As we continued chatting she asked me if I had a space where I created.  I mentioned how our guest room had started to morph into my "Craft Studio."  Then she asked if she could come and photograph my space.  Before I even could think about it, I said, "Yes!"

So (after massive clean up and a big reason why I haven't posted or visited much lately) I spent a delightful afternoon with the Reporter Bee.  She was so charming!  I felt completely relaxed and comfortable with her.

Well all this led to my 15 minutes of fame!  I (and my craft studio) were featured in our local newspaper.  A section, page 3!

This is my exciting news!

My favorite quote, "I don't know why I love dishes," she said.  "We had them as a child, so it's not like I was deprived."  

So do you want to see my "studio"?

Work in progress!

My niece, Reader Bee, wrote this on the studio chalkboard and I liked it so I haven't erased it.

Storage central!  (I really want to paint that armoire - SOON!)

Aren't these aprons sweet? They are such an inspiration!  Found the cute little clothespins at Michaels. They are from a fun little swap Cindy put together over at Rick-Rack and Gingham this summer.

I use the quilt as an inspiration board.  I just pin things I find inspiring on it.  Easy!

This is my favorite room in our little cottage.  It is always relaxing and comfortable in there and I can really get my craft BUZZ going!

So......now you know my exciting news!  It has been so much fun!  

Thank you so much Reporter Bee!  

I appreciate what a lovely article you wrote.

What would you do if you got a phone call like I did?

Would you say yes?

Thank you so much for buzzing by today!