Ballet Watch Day

Last Wednesday was "Parent Watch Day" at Phoebe's ballet class. Phoebe *loves* ballet. Actually, she loves any dance, I sign her up for ballet and tap because ballet is the foundation for all dance and tap is just fun. Her little friend, Ellie, was out of town so that was kind of a bummer and my photos are a little blurry because the lighting is goofy in the studio. (Does anyone know of an awesome indoor lens other than the NIFTY FIFTY that would be great in low light? I see these other people with some kind of lens that seems to work great, but I'm too shy to ask. I seem to find myself in low light pretty often.) I figured somebody out there might enjoy these photos as much as I do!

"Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance. Great dancers are great because of their passion. " --Martha Graham

Missing Abilene

Our family did not go to ACU HOMECOMING.

It's a little weird, I'll admit. I've been to every Homecoming since I was 5. I love it. I love the carnival. l love seeing friends now scattered hither and yon. I love the parade. I'd like to say that I loved chapel and the football game, but I don't go to those. I'm sure I would love them, too. There really is something about ACU that feels like home.

But our little family is running a little ragged these days. I'm grieving over the loss of my mommy-with-toddlers season of my life. (I have a friend who despises this phrase, so it makes me think of Mary M. every time I use it.) I didn't appreciate the slow rhythms of diaper changes and potty training and pj days and playdates. I didn't listen when those seasoned mothers a little farther down the mommy road than me said that when your children get into grade school things would be even busier. That my children would need me more when they were in school and life would fly by at lightening speed hurtling past at a frightening rate. I didn't listen when they began to complain of crazy schedules and no friendships and only speaking to their husbands for 10 minutes before they fall asleep exhausted at the end of a night. I was too busy cleaning up snot or trying to find my keys that someone threw in the trash. (True story, by the way. Eli once threw my keys in the trash and Brad had already taken the trash to the dumpster before we realized it...two days later. The bag was still there, thankfully, but that's when I hung the key hooks up by the back door!)

And then Phoebe started kindergarten and I haven't caught my breath since. I'm grieving those toddler days. Well, grieving them when I'm not crossing things off on my crazy long to-do list.  So, a month ago, when Brad and I were sitting down to compare calendars, I had a little meltdown and we decided not to go Homecoming. It wasn't a reunion year and the thought of a slow, mostly unstructured weekend was just too much to resist.

It was the right decision, I know. But seeing everyone's facebook posts at the carnival and club breakfasts and the parade made me a little sad. So I did a little retail therapy and bought Eli THIS shirt online. Because that's probably my biggest fear...that missing a Homecoming will make my children think that ACU isn't that important and they'll want to go somewhere else (gasp!). Phoebe has hand-me-downs and I'm keeping her from tees as much as I can while I can.

And as my kids played outside with the neighbors all day Saturday and I took the first Sunday afternoon nap I've taken in loooong while (maybe years?), I realized it was worth it. I missed my yearly dose of purple and white, but I gained a few hours of sanity in return. 

She's Going To Kill Me For This Some Day

I can't help myself. I *must* video Phoebe dancing to DANCING WITH THE STARS...especially when her dance is so awesome!

She likes this now. But I'm sure there will come a time when she'll want to kill me for taking this video. Probably in middle school. 

Right now, though, I've posted it so all of you can bask in the awesomeness that is Phoebe. 

** Recipes for CHEESY SAUSAGE HASH and PESTO CHICKEN WITH TOMATO CREAM PASTA are up on Eating At The Taj McCall. And one of them was a total flop...or so I thought! 

What's Cooking Wednesday: Idad's Pumpkin Cake

Idad was my great-grandfather (my mom's mom's dad). Even though he passed away when I was eleven, I don't remember much about him. Then, several years ago, I asked my mom if she had a pumpkin cake recipe and she gave me this one, telling me that he would make it and send it to his grandchildren when they went off to college as freshmen. Kinda cool, right?

In my head, October is "Pumpkin Month" so I tend to want all things pumpkin and that includes this cake. Idad's recipe did not include icing, but I think the cake looks naked without it so I added a simple cream cheese icing. The cake itself is delicious (especially for breakfast!) so the decision for icing is totally up to you, but there are no naked cakes here, folks!

Idad's Pumpkin Cake

3 cups sugar

1 cup Crisco

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream the Crisco and sugar together. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, nutmeg, allspice, ground cloves, cinnamon, and salt. Beat into butter mixture alternately with pumpkin. Grease and flour a bundt cake pan. Pour cake batter into pan. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan 10 minutes and then invert onto a serving platter. When completely cool, drizzle with icing, if desired. 

Cream Cheese Icing

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

6-7 teaspoons milk

Combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, and 5 teaspoons milk in a bowl and beat until smooth. It needs to be a nice glaze (mine was a little thick), so add teaspoons of milk until desired consistency. Drizzle over cake. 

You've Got A Friend In Me: Pumpkin Patch Edition

You've got a friend in me

You've got a friend in me

 When the road looks rough ahead

And you're miles and miles from your nice warm bed

Just remember what you're old pal said

Boy, you've got a friend in me

You've got troubles

Well, I've got 'em too

There isn't anything 

I wouldn't do for you

We stick together and we see it through

You've got a friend in me

Some other folks might be 

A little bit smarter than I am

Bigger and stronger too

But none of them will ever love you the way I do

It's me and you

And as the years go by

Our friendship will never die

You're gonna see 

It's our destiny

You've got a friend in me

Yeah, You got a friend in me

Show and Tell: A Halloween Reversible Tunic

It seems lately that all I've been doing is sewing or cleaning or getting ready for something. What with the Fall Festival and the Baby Shower and just life in general, my posts have been all Show and Tells. I guess that's ok. It's certainly where we are. It's seems as if there's almost no time to think...or blog.

Today is no different. (Although I would have sworn this was supposed to post Friday, but I got back on my computer this morning, and there it sat, as a draft. Oh well. Good way to start a Monday, I guess.) I made this tunic for Phoebe last weekend for Halloween. That's right. Last weekend. When we had Fall Festival (where I spent from 8am to 10pm at the kids' school on Friday) and a BABY SHOWER at my house on Sunday. That should tell you how absolutely easy this pattern is!

I was a little daunted by this tunic. Remember the ONE my mom made a few years ago? (And doesn't that baby girl just break your heart?!) But there was a cute chevron dress floating around Pinterest with an appliqued pumpkin on the front. (Actually there were several, but they were all cute.) I knew I wanted to make something for Phoebe for Halloween so I started looking for patterns and found THIS one.

Easiest pattern ever. Well, maybe not ever, but pretty close. It really did only take me a few hours to put it together...and most of that was working on the pocket! I attached that to the front of the tunic before sewing it together so the stitches wouldn't show through on the reverse side.  (I'm not totally happy about the pocket yet because the top tends to fold down when she wears it. I'm thinking of putting a button on the tunic to loop the ribbon "stem" around.) 

And did I mention it's reversible?!

I wish I'd done something "Halloween-y" on the other side so it would be truly reversible, but the orange peeking out when she runs (or twirls or dances or throws a fit) is still pretty cute. 

And it's good for doing arabesques, too. :)

Ten on Ten: October 2012

Ten on Ten:

one photograph an hour on the tenth of each month for ten consecutive hours

finding the beauty in our everyday lives

See more Ten on Ten photo blogs HERE

What's Cooking Wednesday: A Baking Extravaganza!

As I mentioned before, I started "What's Cooking Wednesday" to share the easy dessert recipes I've found (or find) to serve at Huddles. Although my Huddle students probably don't realize it, it's one of the ways I show my love to them. I (sort of) enjoy doing it and I'm (hopefully) showing them a little love at the same time. I also post the recipes a week later than I made and served them. Mostly to give myself a week to get the posts ready and maybe get them posted first thing Wednesday morning. Some weeks I do better at this than others. But I'm still posting so all is not lost...and someday I'm going to catch-up, right?!

Well, last week was a doozy. I forgot to take a photo of the dessert I took to Huddles. Actually, I didn't forget. It was Sopaipilla Cheesecake. It always makes me think of our former Huddle student, Sarah, who L-O-V-E-D Sopaipilla Cheesecake and one time I made it, she was fasting, and I have never seen a teenaged girl in so much angst. So I packaged up a piece for her breakfast and in my head, Sopaipilla Cheesecake makes me think of Sarah. Anyway, back to why I didn't get a photo. We had a crazy evening, with everyone in our family going four different directions. While I was handing off the dessert for Huddles to Brad while passing him at Eli's make-up game after sending Phoebe off to church with a friend, I forgot to hand him my camera and have him take a photo. I had waited to finish it because Sopaipilla Cheesecake is sooooo much better warm and it was going to bake at the house we where we have Huddles. I'll share the recipe, though, because it's delicious. :)

But I also baked other things on Wednesday, too. The kids' Fall Festival at the school was Friday night and I had some baking to do for the Bake Sale. I did remember to take a photo of those early Thursday morning before I took them up to school. And I'll be sharing the recipes, too! 

It was a Baking Extravaganza around here last Wednesday!

First, I made Trix Treats. I found the recipe HERE, but didn't separate the colors. Mostly because I was lazy and I had bought the store-brand Trix and the colors just weren't as vibrant. Because I didn't separate the colors, I had enough to double the recipe, but I'm only posting the regular recipe. To double it, you'll have to do a little math. :) I'll be making these again, for sure! They are so fun!!

Trix Treats
3 tablespoons butter
1 (10oz.) packages regular marshmallows (I have no idea which are the "regular" marshmallows. Is it the big ones? The small ones? I just grabbed the bag that was 10 oz. I think they were the small ones.)
6 cups Trix cereal

Coat a 9x13 inch pan with cooking spray. In a saucepan, melt butter and marshmallows over low heat, stirring occasionally. Using a greased spatula (or your hands, like I did), press mixture evenly into a prepared pan. Push them down pretty good so they'll look nice when you cut them. Cool completely in pan. Invert onto a cutting board and cut into even(ish) squares. You can always leave them in the pan, but I took them out to package them.

This is the Popcorn Cake I made. Yummy. It's like a big, soft popcorn ball on crack. What is wrong with that?! The original recipe can be found HERE.

Popcorn Cake

2 bags Butter Lovers microwave popcorn, popped

2 cups M&M's 

1 1/2 cups broken (not crushed) pretzel sticks

1 stick butter

1 (16oz.) bag marshmallows (I used the small ones because they came in a 16 oz. bag.)

Generously grease a tube pan with cooking spray or Crisco. Remove all the unpopped kernels from the popped popcorn and put in a big bowl. Stir in the M&M's and pretzel sticks. Set aside. Melt butter and marshmallows in a saucepan over medium heat. Let cool a few minutes so it won't melt the M&M's when mixed with the popcorn mixture. After it's cooled a bit, pour into the bowl with the popcorn and mix thoroughly. Press into the tube pan really well. Let cool for at least an hour before inverting onto serving platter. I actually cooled mine overnight so it would set up completely. To serve, cut into pieces like a bundt cake pan. 

While I didn't take a photo of the cupcakes because they were being packaged individually at the bake sale, I made them with a Butter Chocolate Cake Mix (like THIS) and used frosted them with Peanut Butter Frosting (found HERE, but I didn't use peanut butter cups or the same cake recipe).  These are to die for!! My friend, Rhonda, made them for Dixie's ELVIS SHOWER on Sunday and they were a huge hit there, too. I wasn't worried. :)

And, finally, because I promised, the recipe for Sopaipilla Cheesecake. I'm pretty sure if you're a member of any church or Bunco group or have ever attended any kind of potluck, you've had this recipe, but maybe it will change the life of someone out there who, though hard to believe, has never tried Sopaipilla Cheesecake. I know it changed my life when I first had it. Mostly because it's so yummy and so extraordinarily easy. 

Sopaipilla Cheesecake

2 cans crescent rolls

2 (8oz.) packages cream cheese, softened

1 stick butter, melted

1 1/2 cups sugar (although I never use quite 1 1/2 cups, it's probably closer to 1 1/4 cups.)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch pan. Press 1 can of crescent rolls into the bottom. Blend together the cream cheese, 1 cup of the sugar, and vanilla. Pour over crescent rolls. Pinch the seams together of the other other package of crescent rolls (or use the seamless kind) and lay on top of the cream cheese. Pour the melted butter over the top and sprinkle with the remaining sugar and cinnamon. (I keep a container of cinnamon/sugar already mixed up in my pantry so I just sprinkle that liberally on top.) Bake for 30 minutes or until the crescent rolls are done and golden brown on top. Serve warm. Trust me. It's best when it's warm. 

So there you go, four dessert recipes that any baker (even the bad ones, like me) can whip up. 

Really. 

Love Me Tender Baby Shower

On Sunday, I got to host a baby shower for this little guy. Isn't he precious?!

His mom, Dixie, is one of my good friends and we've all been waiting and waiting for his arrival. Since she's one of "those" women don't find out the gender before the baby is born, we had to wait until just after the baby was born to do some of the planning.

Mostly just the color scheme, though, because I knew *exactly* what kind of shower I was throwing for her when she announced she was pregnant...it didn't matter what Dixie had!

You see, Dixie is a H-U-G-E Elvis fan. And I'm not talking about the hokey, glitzy, cheesy Elvis fan you see in Las Vegas. She is a tried-and-true-loves-the-music-and-the-man kind of fan. The one who takes her family to Graceland for vacation and has a tearful, touching moment with her middle son (who's also a huge fan) at Elvis's grave. 

So I had my super-talented friend, Kristi of I SHOULD BE MOPPING THE FLOOR fame, design a printable that would be the centerpiece of the whole shower. 

It was perfect. Seriously, the woman is a genius. If you need anything creative done for anything, she's your gal. You can send her your nebulous, un-formed ideas with made-up words (like vintage-y or sweet, but not girly) and she'll send you exactly what you wanted!  I chose red and turquoise for the shower colors because Dixie loves red, like I do, and turquoise because I was choosing and that's one of my favorite color-combos! hee hee

We named all the food (which were all of Elvis's favorites...thank you, Google!) after famous Elvis songs. It was more a homage to Elvis than an all-out-Elvis's-face-on-everything kind of shower. A classy Elvis baby shower, if you will. 

These were all the hostesses (minus my friend, Liz, because she was running the TOUGH MUDDER with her husband because she's crazy like that).

Despite deciding that I am too old to be hosting baby showers and that my thought about having the shower on the same weekend at the Fall Festival at the kids' school was not my brightest (it seemed like such a good idea at the time, too), it was a fun shower. I left the lanterns hanging over the table because they were festive and the pinwheels were moved to my mantle...nice reminders of a sweet shower I got to share with a sweet friend.

**I entered this at MOPPING IT UP MONDAYS! Be sure to check out all the other awesome stuff! :)

Show and Tell: Phoebe's Class Quilt

Other than THIS pumpkin, I've been working furiously on a Phoebe's class quilt for the Fall Festival that was Friday night. Every year, someone in the Pre-K and Kindergarten classes makes a quilt with all the students handprints on it. I made Eli's CLASS QUILT the year he was in kindergarten. It was the first quilt I'd really ever made start to finish. 

This year, I was ready to hit the ground running when school started. I told Phoebe's teacher I'd make the class quilt at Meet The Teacher so I'd have lots of time to get it done. And while I didn't have it finished super early, I didn't feel super rushed either. I got it totally finished a day or so before it was due. Go Me!

I didn't make their handprints into anything like an owl or a spaceship. I went with simplicity and chose the school colors instead. Since we're a small district (one elementary, one middle school, one high school), all the schools share school colors so it's a quilt that can really grow with them. I even put their graduation year at the bottom. Doesn't 2025 seem like such a long time from now?!

To make it extra special (and so mamas would shell out the big bucks for it at the live auction), I had each child write his or her name and I hand-embroidered it on the quilt just like they wrote it. It took a little time, but it was totally worth it.

Seventeen little name and handprints on a class quilt. All Phoebe's classmates were appropriately impressed. Well, as impressed as 5-year-olds can be anyway. And her teacher isn't this tall. She's tall, but she's standing on a chair in this photo so the quilt could reach the floor and we could still see her face. 

While my quilt didn't bring in the major big bucks (one mama paid $625 for her pre-kindergarteners quilt!), it didn't do half bad. (I don't remember how much exactly, because I was cleaning up the uber-successful bake sale I was helping with.) I was proud of my work and we made a little money for the school. All's well that ends well. :)

I'm linking this quilt up today at MOPPING IT UP MONDAYS. Be sure to check out all the other amazing projects bloggers have "mopped up" this week!