Happy and Halloween

We have had some happy around here lately. We spent some time at the cabin. By "some time" I mean less than 24 hours there and back but it was still fun. And in case you were wondering, Yes, you can fit 5 dogs, 3 adults, 1 toddler, all the gear and a smattering of plumbing supplies into an Escalade. There was only a little bit of snow, but a lot of cold.

We also enjoyed the festivities of Halloween. We went to trunk or treat, we carved pumpkins, handed out candy at the house, and Little G and I even made it to a few neighbors houses. I can not tell you how happy Little G makes me. 

I love Halloween. It was fun this year.

Lots of photos, not a lot of words lately. Life is good when you have the cutest monkey on the block.

Baby Steps

So from the beginning of this blog I have always wanted this to be a safe place for me to go. I said I wanted an honest blog. I feel the things that I have written are real and honest, but might not have painted a complete picture of my life. Things are never what they seem on the surface.

I have a lot of things happening in my life right now. The majority of which I don't feel like sharing with the world. That's honest, right? So while this blog might not have every single facet of my life splayed out in full view, I still want this to be a place where I can share the things that make me happy.

Things in my life are different and confusing right now. I don't really want to talk about it. I am growing and changing. I will be a better and stronger person tomorrow because of the things I do today. I will try to move forward even if I'm not sure which way forward is.

I am healthy. I am safe. I am loved. My son is the light of my life. He is handsome and smart and funny. He fills my heart with love and hope and happiness.

One day at a time. One day at a time. Or as my good friend Bob would say, "Baby Steps". You may also sing a rousing verse of "your death therapy cured me, you genius", if you like. All kidding aside, I want to share things here, maybe not all things, but some things. Good things that make my heart happy.

What to do, what to do?

Well my blog people, what should we talk about today? I don't know, but I felt like I should blog before the Cards game started instead of trying to write and watch baseball at the same time.

I have been quilting away like a crazy lady downstairs. I think at the beginning of the week I had 20 or so finished quilts waiting to be picked up! They are slowly being picked up by their owners. 4 made it out of the studio today only to immediately be replaced with 4 new quilts awaiting quilting. I have even more scheduled quilt drop offs tomorrow! Its busy and I like it like that. However, Ditto is feeling left out. He is not supposed to come into my studio, so he hangs out on the top of the stairs, looking at me longingly. Sorry dude, no dogs allowed!

So I was a little jealous of all the cool kids that went to Sewing Summit this past weekend. I wanted to go but there was NO WAY it would have fit into my schedule. Plus my "negative self" kept telling me that I wasn't good enough or bloggy enough or quilty enough to go. Why is it that I self doubt myself so much? I'm an AWESOME quilter (if I do say so myself!), my blog is new and still growing but I'm proud of it. I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, People like me. (Thanks Al Franken, I am good enough!) Still, there's always a shadow of doubt in the back of my mind. I'm sure that's normal. Like the first day of school, wondering if anyone will play with you at recess. I guess it never goes away no matter how old you are. And because everyone was out playing, all the blogs that I love were very quiet. Not all of them, but a lot of them. But everyone seems to be back and now I can rest assured that my quilt blogs will be inspirational and motivational again! Thank you to all my blog homies that I stalk, I need you more that you know!

I feel like I should give you an ongoing quilt project update, but those are funner if I have pictures to go with my ramblings. Ill work on that.

Why is it so hard to pick out a Halloween costume for yourself? I have lots of ideas for Little G and will cherish these next few years where I might get some say in what he wears, but for the life of me I cant figure out what I should wear. We are going to friends sons birthday/ Halloween get together and they have asked everyone to come in costume. At one point in my life I might have been able to pull off the sexy nurse, sexy kitty, sexy librarian, etc . . . but definitely not now. Plus I think showing up to a 5 year olds birthday party dressed as a sexy bumble bee just might be a tad inappropriate. Last year the family went with a group costume and it was super cute! We were Popeye, Olive Oyl, and Sweet Pea! But Matt doesn't want to do a theme this year so I'm stuck trying to find something for just me and Little G. Lets just say, its been tough so far. Any family appropriate ideas out there? Help a mommy out!

You got a little stain on your . . .

Deck.

So I normally try and only blog about the stuff that I do and not all the stuff that everyone else is doing. But, The Hubby has been extra busy this weekend. He really wanted me to take a before and after pic of his handyman work so here you go:

BEFORE

 AFTER

Its not perfect (his admission) but it is a million times better. There is still a little bit of work yet to do, but it will certainly take us through the rest of the fall without a yucky looking deck. We will see what it looks like in the Spring and just might breakdown and do a massive sanding and re-staining party then. And the best part of all of this is... I did nothing. Well that's not completely true. I answered some questions and helped for a minute or two when asked, but 99.5% was done without me. Heaven, I'm in Heaven. Thank you Hubby.

Because it was a painty kinda weekend I picked up all the paint for my next two painting projects. More details later :)

We had a great weekend (besides a Cards loss yesterday)! It was full of everything and nothing all at once. I felt like we got a whole bunch done but also felt like we hung out together a lot. While we were picking up some painting/staining stuff at local giant hardware store the Firetruck and Ambulance were in the parking lot and they were giving tours to all the kids. Little G was tired and kinda grumpy so I only took a few photos.

The Hubby also made dinner one night. Clam Chowder and French Bread. I helped a lot with the french bread but only because I sent him to run some errands. It was yummy!

I don't know what he is doing, but he was been majorly helpful lately. I'm not complaining or anything, just wondering what hes trying to butter me up for ;)

I think we have an official first word from Little G! "UH-OH!" Well, its the only thing he will repeat back to you after you say it, and he says it on his own, but I don't think he knows what it means. I don't know if that counts or not. Its so funny. Who woulda thought you could have a whole conversation using "uh-oh"!

Finished Walking in Circles before Lying Down, Merrill Markoe. Liked it a lot, but I like dogs and dysfunctional people.  Currently reading Salem's Lot - Stephen King

Well I am going to go back to giving my Cardinals full attention - we are winning right now 6-2! - well make that 7-2 yay Pujols! Gotta go!

Adventures of Photographing a One Year Old and GO CARDINALS!

First of all, photography is a recently new hobby of mine. I'm learning all the time. Its been fun for me most of the time. Its been frustrating at other times. But its taking me out of my comfort zone. I try to think a little bit before I just start shooting. I'm I good at it? I don't know. I feel like Ive taken some pretty good shots and for each one of those shots I taken a million bad ones. I don't have photoshop (its not for lack of want believe me), so all of the photos that you see here and at my photo blog are straight out of my camera with the only editing being a possible crop. I kinda like it that way for now. Would some of my photos be better with a little editing, yes they would. But I think if I knew I could just fix all my photos after I take them I would become lazy with shooting them in the first place. I don't know, like I said, I'm still new at this.

So Ill walk you through my thought process on this mornings adventures.

I don't know about you but I am soooo excited about game 5 for the Cardinals tonight! So excited I threw on my sparkly Cards tshirt, dirty white STL hat, and red and white polka dot socks. Because I'm the mom of a little tike, I get to dress my kid in whatever tickles my fancy. So on went the Cards onesies and matching shorts. I even grabbed his hat in hopes that he would keep it on for more than 30 seconds. I wanted to write a blog post today about how excited I am for the game tonight so I needed some cute photos to go with it. So out to the front yard we went dressed in our Cardinals garb. I don't know what I thought was going to happen but I slung my camera over my shoulder ready to capture whatever went down. I was hoping for at least one shot of Little G all cardinaled up and lookin cute, cutie pie face, standing still. Now here's what I got.

Hmmm, I think Ill hide behind this hat, but I wont wear it.

I throw the hat. Please note the smirk on his face. Brat.

I'M YELLING! Nice face dude. I laughed out loud when I saw this.

I'm running. I'm also not looking at where I'm going. Take an action shot mom. Are you watching?

Whats this shadow thing? I don't know, but Ill chase it while I bear crawl on the driveway.

No, I will not look at you if you put my hat on backwards.

I'm a skilled bubble blower.

Hmmmm. These rocks are so interesting. What should I do with them?

Ill put them in my mouth. Oh crap, you are watching me. What? I'm not supposed to do that?

Okay then Ill just lick them.

And because I love you, a peek behind the camera.

So there you go. Little G's and my photo contribution to the Cardinals nation. 

So whats next on the list for my "Go Cards" post? Well here's a little song for you. 

"Go Go Go Go Go Go Go Go Cardinals - It's your birthday - Were gonna party like it your birthday..." 

You must sing it to the tune of 50 Cent In the club. Not familiar? Here is a dorky youtube vid to get ya going Go Shorty I'm a family lady so its a video of a lizard dancing to the mostly edited language version.

Cant do the lizard dance? How about some sweet "churn the butter" moves. Its my preferred dance. While wasting time on youtube finding you the most informative "churn the butter" step by step dance guide, I found this gem. Now normally I wouldn't have posted this video but mama rapper seems to be sporting a pretty awesome hat, so here ya go. You gotta wait like a minute before yall see what I'm talkin about. lean wit it, rock wit it, hold on, stop, do the Butta Churn While I could pick apart this video all day (did ya notice the white ankle socks with the black flip flops? Straight up gangsta if you ask me!) I am going to choose to not hate on what are apparently my STL homies.

Anyways throw it all together and what do you got? My perfect Go Cards song and dance.

PS
GO CARDINALS!!!!!!!!!!!

V is for Variations on a Fruit Pizza **Recipe Included**

So I finally found this recipe! It was tucked away being used as a bookmark. I figure I better share it with you before all the yummy fruits that you can use go completely out of season! I have tweaked and twisted and rearranged this recipe enough that I feel confident calling it my own creation. Huzzah!

Variations on a Fruit Pizza:

For the "dough":

• 1/4 Cup Powered Sugar
• 1/4 Cup White Sugar
• 1/4 Cup Butter
• 1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
• 1 Egg
• 1/4 tsp Vanilla
• 1/4 tsp Cream of Tarter
• 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1 1/2 Cups Flour

Cream the sugars, butter and oil. Add the Egg and Vanilla and beat well. Sift in dry ingredients, mix well. Place mixture into a Larger Ziploc bag and press flat. Chill the dough in the fridge for about 30 - 60 minutes. Chilling the dough makes it easier to work with in the next step. Line a 10x15 jelly roll pan (this is a smaller size pan that you probably think of when you think jelly roll pan) with parchment paper. Press the dough mixture into the pan until it is flat and even. Bake at 350 for approx. 15 minutes. Let cool then cut into pieces approx. 1" x 3" in size.

For the "sauce":

• 1 8oz Package Cream Cheese
• 3/4 tsp Vanilla
• 6 TBS White Sugar

Cream these ingredients until they are smooth. Spread on top of individual 1" x 3" dough pieces.

For the "toppings":

• Use your favorite fruits that are in season! Really you can use any fruit that strikes your fancy. Place the toppings on the 1" x 3" frosted pieces. These are my favorites:
• Kiwi
• Blackberries
• Raspberries
• Strawberries

For a little extra something I like to use Lime and/or Lemon Curd as a finally touch. Just throw some in a Ziploc bag, cut the corner off, and drizzle on top of you fruit topped cookie! Cant find the Curd? Here's a quick glaze recipe:

For the glaze:

• 6 TBS Water
• 4 1/2 TBS Cornstarch
• 3 TBS Lemon Juice
• 1/2 Cup Orange Juice
• 1/2 Sugar

These are yummy and the perfect 2 or 3 bite sized cookie. Plus they look good!

Ready for the pictures?

Here's what you need for the dough.

This is what all the wet ingredients look like mixed.

This is what it should look like with all the ingredients.

Put the mixture into a big zip top bag. Notice how awkward and difficult this bag looks? Check out a way easier way to load up a large zip top bag!!

Easier right? Yup, just fold the top down and it stays nice and open for you!

Press it flat and put it in the fridge for awhile while you do some other stuff.

Okay press it into the pan. Lining the pan with parchment paper makes it super easy to remove!

Viola, time travel. This is what it should look like after you bake it!

After everything has cooled just pick up the parchment paper carefully and remove the big cookie from the pan. I like to cut it up with a pizza cutter! Shazam! Cookie bites done!

Here's what you need for your "sauce" aka frosting!

Ummm, this should be its own dessert. Okay that's kinda gross, but it does taste good!

You may then place it in a Rhinoceros bowl if you are lucky enough to have one. Okay any bowl will do.

Wash and slice up the fruit that you are using and then set up a little assembly line. Cookies, frosting, fruit, plate, curd!

So here's one little cookie all fruited up. Ain't it cute!

Yummy!

Put them all on a big ol huge plate. Or two or three big ol huge plates. Really kinda depends on your plate!

So whats all this curd business? Check out the pic, that's what I use. Cant find it? Make your own glaze, I did give you a recipe!

Put it into a small ziptop bag and cut the corner off (a small cut is good, plus its easier to make the cut bigger than smaller) and drizzle on top of your cookies. This stuff has a pretty strong flavor, so use your discretion at the amount you put on!

 

I would like one right now.

Don't they look tasty? They were a hit at the party that I made them for!

Well you might be thinking "whats all this pizza business?" Normally fruit pizza is made by placing the dough in a round 12" pizza pan, cooking it, cooling it, but NOT cutting it up first. After its cooled you spread the "sauce" (cream cheese mixture) over the dough. Then you can arrange fruit all over the top. The fruit becomes really pretty, put the fruit in circles or make a design, its fun play with it! Then sprinkle your curd or glaze over everything and then slice it into wedges! I found that while it looked good, once you cut it up it was a mess, and a very large slice of cookie that usually didn't have all the fruit parts that I wanted! So I made it bite size! Its a little more work in the beginning but I find that's its easier to share, and more approachable for potential eaters in the smaller size!

Okay so after all that, if you are still with me Ill tell you the super cheater trick. It is not as good. It does not really even compare to the recipe I just shared with you. But its a lot faster. But not better. Just faster.

Use prepackaged sugar cookie mix as the dough.

Use cream cheese frosting from a tub as the sauce.

Fruit it up to your little hearts content.

Use a premade glaze.

There. You may use this in a pinch if you must, but if you want it done right, do it like I told you the first time. Hey, Ive been there too, does this sound familiar?

Him: "Hey Hun"

Her: "Yeah, what?"

Him: "I forgot to tell you that I told Friend X that we would come over in like 2 hours to watch the game and BBQ"

Her: "Okay, that sounds fun"

Him: "I also said you'd bring dessert for like 30 people"

Her: "Really dude? Really? Thanks."

Don't say I never gave you anything.