Cadence's Dance performance

Can I just say that my child is wearing more makeup here then I usually ever do! Her teacher sent home a flyer that said to make sure their hair was right and that they were wearing stage makeup so they "pop" Really? she is eight - I don't think I need her to pop! Cadence was frantic that I do her up with makeup - She was quite upset when I couldn't produce any blush or lipstick - what can I say? I don't own any blush or lipstick! (the pink on her cheeks is liquid eyeshadow smeared on) Cadence is in tumbling and Hip Hop, so she performed in both and I have to say I was quite impressed with how she can get her body to bend in ways I never could. There might be some hope she takes after Pete in the Athletic department.

This is her hip hop outfit, and attitude. I think they are creating little beasts at her dance studio.

Snowboarding! (or more aptly called Why won't my body do what I want it to?

The family all came to Utah this holiday season. It was great, chaotic and fun! One day Kris and her kids and the Ford family went up to Solitude to meet the Dover family who was staying there for Christmas. The kids all had fun with each other, but this post is not about the holiday togetherness, which I am sure I will post more about later, no this post is about how what I loser I am when it comes to physical activities.
And by the way, I posted this picture cause I think it is really good, and I am just that narcissistic, I purposefully don't post pictures that are awful of me, and 9 times out of 10 they are, I am not saying anything deeper psychological about myself, I am just not photogenic.
Anywho, enough rambling. Rebecca wanted to try snowboarding, and since my husband is an avid snowboarder and I have all the gear already, I thought I would try a class with her. Kris being a good sport joined too. I do have to say that the class was a lot of fun, doing it with my sisters provided a lot of laughs. We practiced a lot on a little hill that we had to walk up, and yea that was tiring, but I was having fun. I started to think "hey I can do this, I can become a snowboarder". Then we took the ski lift up to the first bunny hill, and oh yea, I biffed it getting off the lift. I biffed it hard. Like cartwheeled over myself, with only one foot strapped in. yea it hurt. The rest of the hill was not much better, super painful. At one point I sat down, not because I fell but because I was so tired!
And sure I got back up and tried again, and I went back up the lift and tried again, but I was left with this overwhelming sense of failure. Now dear readers don't feel like I need a reassuring pat on the shoulder that is not what this is about. I just started thinking about all the things I do in my life, and yes most of it is crafts, and yes people tell me I am talented, but I stink at physical activities, and what a wall this is for me to realize that I genuinely suck at things. Sure I have said a lot of times that everyone has a different talent and I am okay with admitting what is and what isn't my talent, but to then take it a step further and say I am horrible and awful at something. Whew I don't know if the thought exhausts me or relieves me, but it is weird to think that. Also I can not even get up on water skis, try as I might, no way and don't get me started on the wake board. And I know some of you out there say - if you try hard enough you can learn anything, and sure that is the attaboy speech, but I think I am just not made for it. I have no grace, or coordination. But please don't get all feathered up, I will try again, I will not give up on trying to snowboard, especially since my husband loves it so, I just need baby steps, and a lot of practice.
But I will do it, or at least I am trying to commit in writing that I won't give up, but it just feels like kind of a break through to me to realize my limitations, to be so utterly frustrated by them to want to keep trying but to be so tired that I can not physically go on. I guess I don't hit very many walls like that in my life, no not because I am awesome (well maybe I am a little) but mostly likely because I probably don't put myself out there enough. (I don't think I could hedge anymore on this - yikes!) I think my brain is getting stagnant from not varying up my activities, not stretching myself enough. So no I don't believe in New Years resolutions, (cause who wants to be disappointed?) But I guess I just inadvertently set one for myself. How about that?

Recipe on the Fly

I don't have a picture of this, it didn't look like it would photograph well, but it was tasty and super easy so I thought I would share my creation. Husband and I are trying to eat healthier, I am dragging my feet since I love food so much, I really need the heavy, warm filling foods (ie Carbs, Carbs and Carbs). So this was an attempt to satisfy those carb cravings, without overdoing it, and no I don't have a name for it sort of a mac and cheese substitute.

1 Box whole wheat fiber fortified penne pasta - cooked and drained - to this I added a bottle of white queso dip (from the chip aisle - has about 40 calories per serving. Then I added a can and a half of black beans, (had the half already opened in fridge, you could add whatever you want) then a package of cooked chicken sausage. I don't love real sausage, but I am really digging on the Walmart brand of Bistro Sensations - I used the habenaro and jack cheese sausage in this, sliced and cooked in a pan.
The queso and the sausage gave it a nice sharp spicy flavor, afterwards I thought about adding corn to give myself a vegetable serving, it would have gone nicely with it. oh well. So I figure this whole thing made about 8 cups, and for a one cup serving it was about 400 calories, give or take a few and 6 weight watcher points for those of you on WW.

Cute Cute Pictures!

A client of mine, sent me these adorable pictures and I had to share. I love seeing my hats on kids and other people, sort of a satisfaction thing. Plus this turquoise and red is one of my new favorites! Had to share!

Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving at the Dover household! My Father (an architect) has built this overhang thing over the table, very cool and adds some interest to the kitchen. So for Thanksgiving he decorated it with cranberries and garland, I was very impressed with it and the centerpiece that I took a picture. That's right instead of pics of the family I got a picture of the table, pretty typical with me. Oh well, it was yummy food, a very nice day, and fun games. What more could you ask for?

Pete and Cadence, a little blurry but the only picture of an adult that I have, so I added here.

Cadence, April and Shadow (the cat). Cadence tried to maul April the way she does the cat, didn't really work out for her, at least April doesn't bite or scratch.

April, hitting the sauce, uh huh starting early in the Dover family! (Just kidding its apple juice)

Me, and my Grand Ideas

I know. It's been awhile. I shouldn't be here, I have ten orders still waiting for me, and another craft fair to prepare for. I should tell you about Thanksgiving and the following weekend. However, instead I will blog about dribble, and how I try to come up with clever parenting ideas (they have to be clever to cover up my lack of them) and how they usually back fire.

So the latest.... we have been trying in vain to teach Cadence about the value of money. As soon as she gets a dollar, she spends it, and sometimes it is on silly weird things like the boneless chicken from Walmart. Also sometimes she makes annoying comments like (if something breaks) "oh just buy a new one". Argh! The other thing we struggle with is getting her to earn her privileges, for a while we had ticket or "mooey money" where she had to earn them by doing chores or being good and then spending them to watch TV or have a friend over.

Sooo my big idea (stolen in part from other ideas I have heard) was to pay Cadence straight out a dollar a day at the beginning of the week. Then she has to pay with an actual dollar for an hour of TV or computer or the wii. Sounds great right? This would limit her to only an hour a day, or she could save them up for the weekend, since we usually don't have time on school days. But this was her allowance (which we have never done before, but she asked) so she can have the experience of spending and seeing her money go, or she can try to save a couple of dollars each week, for a toy or whatever. Except my child, who's money normally burns a hole in her pocket is enjoying saving her money! She is saving like 5 out of the seven each week, which is great, it was what I wanted to teach her, and she has already bought Pete a present for Christmas with her money. But, here is my big butt (he he Peewee) if you have met my child, she is an only child and she talks, a lot. So instead of playing the computer for some awesome quiet time, she follows me around, and wants to play games, do crafts and generally talk about all the kids at her school and all the crazy things she has seen on you tube (her latest obsession). So yea, although I would call this experiment a success, she might be driving me crazy. Thank goodness there are lots of Christmas activities coming up!

Love seeing my hats in action

Here are a few pics of some hats I did for Highlite Photography. One perk from doing craft fairs and selling to people I know is seeing the hats on. I already know how they look on me and my daughter but I really like seeing how they look on others, almost makes the hats more cute. So I pulled these pics off of Highlite's blog to share, Does anyone know if that is legal? oh well.

Halloween Night

I know it is a little late to talking about Halloween, but I haven't even taken down my decorations yet, and my pumpkins are slowly shrinking still on the front porch, so I can't be that late. I just wanted to share these photos and get them up here. We carved a few of my pumpkins, Cadence didn't really think I was going to let her, I'm not sure what else they would be for...except decor for Thanksgiving. First we had a Jack Skeleton pumpkin which is kind of funny since both my two sisters carved their pumpkins the same way. There is some crazy genetic type statement for you!

Then this one was Cadence's idea, (from the Family Fun website of course) she wanted a piranha eating two little guppies. Very cute I thought. For some reason I do not love carving pumpkins, maybe it has something to do with the fact that every two seconds Cadence asks if I will take over for her and I end up doing most of the work. What ever happened to just letting kids go and do whatever they can do? Oh well we threatened that we would make her do 100% of it next year.

We went to our Church Halloween Party and Trunk or Treat. I brought the dog, cause how cute is she? She hated the costume by the way. We totally ran out of candy cause I really underestimated how many kids would show up, especially since I didn't think 17 year old should be doing it nor 5 month old, really is that 5 month old going to eat that candy? I think if they can't hold their own bag then it doesn't count.

We went over to the Gibsons for Chili and trick or treating. Here is Kermit and Miss Piggy yet again, Miss Piggy did have some cool eyes, lots of pearl necklaces and a nose, all missing in action, and I should have taken a picture before they were lost. sigh.

Um, what is this?

So, being a crochet gal like I am I can always appreciate good workmanship and design. I also keep an eye for things I might like for myself. I have been noticing the scarflet look lately, you know kind of a chunky collar in a really scrumptious yarn. My eyes caught on this today. I really can't believe this is not a joke, and in the description they say that "hip girls everywhere can't wait to get their hand on this". um yea. not sure what else to say, but if you disagree with me and have an extra $159 dollars (uh huh it costs 159$!!!) you can purchase it here... http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=31748195&ref=fp_feat_6

Red Butte - Garden After Dark

In Salt Lake City, part of the University of Utah, there is a large botanical gardens (Called Red Butte) that we are members to and this year we went to their Garden After Dark Halloween shindig. This event is so cute! I was really impressed, I thought the garden was just going to be decorated with jack o lanterns and they would sell popcorn and hot chocolate, and kids would be in costume, but Oh no there was so much for them to do... I totally want to make this a new tradition in our house.

There was pumpkin painting, Cadence made a Miss Piggy pumpkin and Molly decorated hers with every color possible and then a big BYU sign. Then they went outside for face painting.

Then they got to make their own witches broom from dead tree branches and dried grasses.

Very Cute! Also there was a story teller, sharing spooky stories and showing off magic tricks.

The girls loved the potion making the best. There were stations with different herbs and spices on the tables and they got these little glass vials to fill. The recipes were on big posters and both girls choose the flying potion. There was a a woman dressed as a fairy giving out "fairy dust" or glitter to add to the potions. Cadence still has hers on around her neck!

Miss Piggy giving Kermy a kiss on the check - her idea!

And Pete and I, carrying all the loot. I bought them glow in the dark swords and then we got hot chocolate and a caramel apple to split.

Those Crazy Dog Costumes

Ok, I never thought I would be a crazy dog person, who dressed up her dog, but then we got one and it is just to cute not to, plus she is like 5 pounds and it is 35 degrees outside. So yes I am a sucker for dog sweaters, haven't gotten too crazy with anything else, but these costumes are hilarious. some might be a little cruel to the dog, but I won't pass judgment. This dog looks like he loves his frog costume.

Ok, this one does seem a little cruel.... and the dog is showing it on her face. Don don, don don (Imagine the Jaws theme, since I can't seem to type it out.)

Awesome, for all you Star Wars fans. I happen to think these are funny due to the fake arm nature so the dogs look like they are standing straight up.

Does this seem wrong to anyone besides me?

White Chili with Chicken

We had our first snow fall this morning! I am feeling definitely inspired to cook up some warm hearty soups. This last Sunday I made this recipe from the Family Fun Magazine (Love this magazine!). A little known fact about me is that I can take a perfectly good recipe and make it out of this world wonderful, but also extremely unhealthy. This is like my super power of making fatty dishes, and I really struggle to make healthy things, so find the recipe here -http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/white-chili-with-chicken-784989/ and then to change it like I did (I promise you wont be sorry!) The recipe calls for like 2-3 Tablespoons of half and half, Well I thought what a waste since I bought the whole container of it, so I added the entire 2 cups of half and half, then I doubled the amount of cumin, since I thought it just was not strong enough. The result was a creamy mildly spicy hearty chicken soup. Oh and I also used a rotisserie chicken. yummy served with chips and cheese and bread. delicious.

Cute new pics and outfit!

I am extremely lucky to know a few great photographers, unlucky though because I will not settle for Target pics anymore. I really appreciate beautiful photography. I never wanted to be the type who fills their home with pics of themselves, always seemed a little obnoxious, but I have one of those, and I can't even replace the older ones with the new ones since I love them all.
Highlite Photography http://highlitephotography.com/ is run by some family of mine, and I can't say enough good things about them! They are gorgeous and hip and change with the times and keep their look really current.

These pictures were taken up at Silver Lake, a personal family favorite spot for us, and yes there was a ton of snow on the ground, who would have guessed on the second day of October. And to the other question, I made this whole outfit, (OK not really the leggings are Gymboree and the boots Walmart). But I made this skirt from a collection of adorable fall/back to school prints with apples and leaves and owls, I love it! I made her a little peasant type shirt to go with it and then crocheted the hat and this little brown tank top. Obviously I did not have a pattern for the tank top and this is first run experiment, but I think for the pictures, it totally turned out awesome.

Tonight's Dinner is brought to you by....

Uh huh, that's right Panda Express now bottles their famous orange chicken sauce. I have been feeling a bit frazzled lately, so I of course jumped on this easy dinner idea. Even easier when cooked up with pre cooked chicken strips. Tonight however I did coat the chicken and fry it to crispy goodness first, being nice to the daughter. Have I mentioned that Panda Express Orange chicken is her absolute favorite take out item? So the verdict on the sauce? Pretty good, the kid was in heaven thinking she had gone and died in orange fantasy, the obvious problem, this really does not taste like the original stuff. no. However, it is good, and I think it would taste good on meatballs or with egg rolls. So I would say it is a good buy to have on hand, but not if you think it is going to taste just like it advertises, hey the kid didn't know any different. And yes you are sensing some detachment right now, my husband has been out of town now for 5 days... one more I can hold onto sanity.

Haloween Giveaway Winner

Congrats to Kila Szymanski for winning the trick or treat tote!
I used the random number generator at random.org and assigned each comment a number like first person was number one and so on. Well the random number for today was 4! So Congratulations, hope this tote will be well used this season. Just email me (lauraford21@hotmail.com) with your shipping address and I will have it off to you ASAP!
And thanks to everyone who participated in the giveaway, come back next month for something cute, and let me know if there is anything in particular that you would like to see up for the drawing, I love to be accommodating.

Another Hat Giveaway!

Little Willow, a fabulous design blog is featuring my hats, and etsy store, today. With the feature they are giving away one custom made hat to a lucky random winner. Run right over and check out her cute blog, leave a comment to enter, and do it quickly since it will only be up till Thursday. http://littlewillow.com/2009/10/13/tuesday-giveaway-crabby-crochet/

Crazy Corn Maze

For Christmas last year, Pete gave Cadence a purse with 12 coupons in it for Daddy Daughter Dates, one for each month. Cadence gets to pick what she wants to do (with a budget of 25$, and yes Pete did do the math on this being a pretty expensive gift). This month she wanted to go to a Corn Maze, so I tagged along which I have done once or twice before. Sadly I am good for bowling and corn mazes and such, but no good for kids movies. (like Aliens in the Attic - haha Pete)
Cadence was hilarious in the maze, we told her she was in charge of navigating, and every time she would hit a dead end you could see the confidence meter lowering, but then we would have a sign that we were going in the right direction and she was right back there, swaggering a little claiming she could "sniff" the direction. We got quite a kick out of her. And yes in case you can't tell from the pictures it was freezing! 45 degrees when we left, she could not be persuaded to wait til next week when we warm up a bit. Also I lost the bet to Pete that they would have kettle korn for sale. I mean hello corn maze, shouldn't you sell corn on the cob and kettle korn? I will lodge my complaints with the corn business bureau.

Italian Chicken Bundles

I thought I would share one of our family's tried and true recipes. This is one of those go-to meals that is easy, delicious and looks way more impressive then it really is. You can imagine this with a yummy spinach salad and some garlic bread right? Well here is the recipe and then I will tell you what I change, then you can choose how you want to make it
Italian Chicken Bundles
1 1/2 C. skinless chicken breast cubed small
1 bunch green onion sliced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 garlic clove minced
1/4 C. Parmesan cheese grated
2 bunch. spinach steamed
8 oz. fat free ricotta cheese
1/4 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
tomato sauce
10 egg roll wrappers

So since the recipe only calls for 10 wrappers and the package comes with like 20 - I immediately double the recipe. This recipe is also supposed to be low fat, I throw that out the window and use low fat ricotta cheese and I throw in 1-2 Cups of mozzarella cheese. Also I double the garlic amount (again I know) and then I use loads of fresh basil - if it is handy unlike how I have let it freeze again. If not I still throw in dried basil. Also I just use frozen spinach -

So instructions - Cook chicken and onion in oil on med. heat, brown the chicken and then add garlic for 1 min longer. Let the chicken cool and then combine with Parmesan (Save some to sprinkle - and use real cheese, not the dried flaky stuff) and the rest of the ingredients together. Then spray a 12 cup muffin tin with cooking spray stuff and then assemble your bundles like so...

You just fill each cup with the mix, close the flaps over the mix and then spray again to help keep closed and to add the crispiness to the top. Pretty huh? Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 min. until browned and pretty and then serve with the spaghetti sauce of your choice. Delicious!

Halloween Party

Pete and I got invited to a Halloween Party, costumes required. That last bit alone, almost made us say no, partly because we didn't have a ton of time, I mean honestly who has a costume by Oct. 2? Well I guess we could have pulled something out of the box and done something, but for some reason I really wanted to have matching costumes. (Part of my Craziness?) Whatever, so my husband does not like to do anything halfway; the party by the way was a black lit poker night, so I suggested we go as skeletons then the bones would really glow. Too boring for my husband apparently - his idea was to be a garden gnome, funny yes, but I didn't want to be a gnome. So his second choice was to be Hades. So the following pictures are against my better judgement - I would really like to add that the no shirt part was 100% his idea. I designed the costume to be worn with a black shirt underneath, and he thought it looked weird or cheesy or something, so he says to me "It would be nice if I could just take my shirt off" I reply with "well yea it would be nice if you were all toned and tanned, but..." next thing I know he has no shirt on. I think he looked awesome though. He is wearing fake leather pants (I made them) and arm gauntlets - and you can not see but he has a little Greek headband thing with flames over the ears, very hard core. - I was a little upset over the lack of Greek mythology in America, but here is a quick summary, Hades; God of the underworld (he has a helmet of fire). His wife is....tada...

Persephone; Goddess of Spring. This is the myth of the seasons, Hades tricked Persephone and she went down to the underworld and ate 4 pomegranate seeds, thus the four seasons, Hades lets her out once in awhile, thus the oncoming of spring. World melts, yada yada yada.... Any who, This dress was not what I had designed on paper. Mind you there are no patterns for Hades and Persephone I made them up and guess what? I would get kicked off Project Runway. So whatever, I was not happy with the results, but oh well.

Stay tuned for pictures of Sushi becoming Cerberus, the three headed dog that guards the gates of the underworld.

Halloween Decorations

I thought I might share a few pics of what my house is looking like lately. This is what I do instead of the dishes. (or laundry, or sew or garden)
Disclaimer; this is not an original idea of mine, I wish it was since I love it so. The decorating behind this look is pretty self explanatory. Empty and wash jar, fill with Halloween inspired candies, melt candle over jar. Easy huh? And Cheap! and awesome! Added benefit is that The lids are covered by wax, so you can not open them and eat it. I love the look of big hurricane jars filled with Halloween candy, but I would just eat it, so this is a great solution for me.

Makes for a very cute mantle piece. It looks great when all the candles are lit, but you have to put something under them, since the whole idea is for them to drip everywhere.

Here are a few other shots of Halloweeny things. Here are some pillow covers I made, no I do not put them all on the same couch, just did it for the sake of the picture. The witches hat was the easiest and I think stands out the most due to the large graphics.

This is a patchwork quilt Cadence actually made with her Grandma 2 years ago. She picked out the fabric and placed them where they wanted to be and then they sewed them together. I really like how it looks framed up by the entryway, makes me think something big needs to go there permanently.

And last but not least, an addition to my front door is this black feather boa wreath I made, from a foam wreath ring and a feather boa. Very easy yet again, are you catching on to the theme of my decor? I do have plans for bigger more complex things, like a series of witches hats that I make each one different and elaborate, but that is why it is still a plan. Anyway, enjoy the season, you know we are at my house!

October Monthly Giveaway

Ok, so I am jumping the gun here a little, since it is about 11:30 on Sept. 30, but I am all hyped up on sugar from eating cupcakes and m&ms at work. And yes that does just about sum up my job, sit around eating sugar. I worked a wedding tonight and they had cupcakes instead of a wedding cake - genius huh? especially since I didn't have to cut a big ol wedding cake but I digress.
This month I am deviating from the hat giveaway to showcase this cute trick or treat bag. The bag is about 10"x12"x4" and is fully lined with scary eye fabric. There is a felt bat sewn on and black rick rack around the top. What could be more fun? oh yea filling it with candy!

So to enter to win, please leave a comment, maybe let me know if you think this bag is gender neutral or not? since I tried to make it so. I believe that I have changed the setting so that anyone can leave a comment and you don't have to be registered. I will leave it up for 2 weeks and then pick a random winner from the comments using the random generator thingy. I will post the winner here on October 15th and then I will mail it out to you, just in time for Halloween. So enjoy, share and comment. To check out other cute bags click away here http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6188913