Snow Cream Recipe, The Bedroom Reveal, and other updates

Ingredients
8 cups snow, or shaved ice
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
Place snow or shaved ice into a large bowl. Pour condensed milk over and add vanilla. Mix to combine. Serve immediately in bowls.

SO YUMMY! Our wonderful neighbor Paula made some and shared.

Meadow is allergic to milk so she enjoyed a soy icecream sandwich. We'll have to try out a batch of soy snow cream.

And now for the moment you've all been waiting for. Pacing your floors in anticipation I am sure (hahaha) The new room!



Ok, first I have to say that Greg's Mom read the post about re-doing the bedroom and said "I want to help!" So she made this reveal WAY more exciting by buying us a sweet find on Craig's list (Chocolate faux leather sleigh bed!) Squeal! Oh my goodness, thank you so much. It is beautiful and we feel like we live in a hotel now. :) And thank you to my mom for watching the kids so I could drive to Raleigh before the snow hit and pick it up in the van!

It is amazing what a difference some paint and a bed can make! Woah. It feels a lot warmer and cozier now. I got such good deals y'all. I am feeling proud of myself so I have to tell you about it at the risk of boring you to tears. BCF stands for Burlington Coat Factory.

End-tables $0 (sold my old to pay for the new - yeah!
Bed - compliments of Debbie Winters' Mad Money Fund
Painting above the bed was just moved from another wall $0

BCF Bed in a Bag (Comforter and pillow shams and pillows $65 with a 40% off coupon $65
BCF Inspiration Pillow $6.99 (I know, what!?) $7
Paint and Supplies $60
10 Curtain panels (BCF) and and 3 rods on Clearance (Target) $146
Lamps (Target) $40
Wooden Pot (Target) and sticks to go in them (BCF) $29
Made $10 selling the old mattress frame -$10

Total $337

That still sounds like a lot to me but I know I got bargains. I still feel a little guilty about spending it though. I guess mothers get used to not spending money on themselves or at least not in those increments. It sure is nice to have a soothing place to retire at night though. I love it.

The next project is to replace the yucky builder paint in the Master bathroom. It is going to be awhile. I am all painted out. The ceiling parts of my bedroom about did me in. lol. :)


In other News! Parker participated in the ""reflections" art contest for his school and was a finalist for his school but did not move on to the state competition. We are really proud of him and everything was his idea from the subject to the design and the title. He also took the pictures himself and cut them out and arranged them. The theme was "Beauty is..." We asked him what he thought was beautiful and he pointed to me. I wanted to cry and gave him big squeezes. It made me almost forget the time he poked my belly and said it was jiggly like Santa Clause. And the time he said "Who in this room has a big bottom? Mama!" - lol! ;) He titled the piece "Lego Mom." The description that went with it was "Beauty is having a Mother who loves you."

Snow Babies

New Year, New Job, New projects

Greg started a new job on January first with a multi-media company called Mindworks Multi-media in Durham that he has free-lanced for for years. They were in search of a full time producer, editor, director, lighting guy and he fit the bill. He jumped in with both feet and they are keeping him really busy. It has been a welcome adjustment to have a steady income rather than having to rely on new jobs coming in and contractors paying within an acceptable time frame. It has been an adjustment for him not to be his own boss (his new boss is great however) and has also been an adjustment for the kids and I because we have been used to seeing him during the week a bit more. The trade-off will be him not having to travel quite so much...hopefully. We'll have to wait and see how much he travels this year. :)

Among my many New Years resolutions is to transform the master bedroom and bathroom into something that does not resemble the sarlacc pit. Our room seems to be a catch-all for odds and ends and is always the last place in the house to get some TLC. The transformation has begun but is not quite finished. It has been fun for me to paint and go bargain shopping for curtains and a new bedspread. I also caught a yard sale where I picked up some great end tables to match the new room and I sold my old ones on Craig's list for the same price. Whoo-hoo! And thank you Burlington Coat Factory for the coupon. And Thank you Vienam Vets for picking up some stuff we no longer use/need. To schedule a tax-deductible pick-up of your own call 1-800-775-VETS. They pick up clothing, furniture, appliances, childrens toys and household items.

Here is the before picture of the room:


Here is the inspiration for the new room:


Stay tuned for the reveal!

Thought this looked pretty sweet

for the daddy/daughters out there :)

A Night of Two Hearts

Daughters ages 4-12 and their fathers are invited to share their love for dance by signing up for Cary’s Annual “Daddy-Daughter Dance” to be held on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at the Cary Senior Center, 120 Maury O’Dell Place in Bond Park. Photographs begin at 5 p.m., and the dance begins at 6 p.m. Pre-registration by mail or walk-in is necessary; registration is $17/person (residents) and $22/person (non-residents). Father and daughter must both be registered. For more, visit Daddy-Daughter Dance at www.townofcary.org or call (919) 462-3970.

It is complete

The daring duo that is. Parker the protector and Meadow the cookie eating, lightsaber wielding padawan.

Jedi Robes do not have shoulder seams

I had a rewarding Saturday this Saturday. Parker has been wanting a Jedi Robe and I had a coupon to JoAnn's fabric and a dusty sewing machine staring at me. We found a beautiful soft brown flannel that yelled JEDI! and so we brought it home and got to work. I did a little research online and found many suggestions like "Jedi Robes do not have shoulder seams but many have a seam up the back" and "The hood should be large enough that it drapes onto the shoulders and can be pulled down over the face to disguise" and "The bottom hem is usually 3-4 inches because it allows the robe to drape just right." It was pretty fun and funny to read about. There were also a couple of patterns I could alter a bit and voila!

He loved it and wore it almost all day the next day and my heart was happy. Now we are working on one for Meadow. Every Jedi needs a Padawan (jedi in training) to help him or her. :D

Funny Girl

I picked up Meadow from Preschool today and on the way back to the house we had the following conversation:

Me: Meadow, what would you like to eat for lunch? ( And then I listed some options)

Meadow: It's a secret.

Me: Well, how will I know what to feed you?

Meadow: Say the magic words and I will tell you.

Me: Please?

Meadow: No, say the magic words in the house and I will tell you.

Me: What are the magic words?

Meadow dramatically: Falling leaves.

Me, solemnly, upon entering the house (Meadow looking up expectantly): Falling leaves.

Meadow: A hotdog!!

Ring out the old, ring in the new

New Years Eve this year was incredible! We spent the day before hanging out with Greg's Parents and Grandmother. Then, on New Years Eve they took the kids to the science center and to a movie and then kept them overnight while Greg and I, his Cousin Jason and his lovely wife Kelly got to spend the day in and around Asheville thrift shopping and eating yummy food – YEAH! We scored some good books etc. and had a great time looking at our leisure. Here is one of the favorite shirts (hand crafted!) we ran into but didn't purchase although it was tempting ;):



We ate dinner at a neat asian place called Doc Chey's where we had the best soup ever. It was called coconut chicken soup. Sweet, spicy, creamy deliciousness. I would have been happy to have a swimming pool full of it. The picture does it no justice but here it is anyway:





All of this fun building up to the highlight of seeing our current favorites and local musical geniuses THE AVETT BROTHERS in concert at a sold out show at the Asheville Civic Center! And oh, what a concert. One of the best we've seen.












Here is the beginning of the line at about 4:30:





Greg and I decided that even though we are getting old and even though we stood outside in the cold for 2 hours before even getting into the colosseum that we had to be up close and personal and stand on our feet for 6 more hours. lol. At the end of the night my feet hated me for it, and I walked into our hotel in sock feet because I couldn't bear the thought of putting my shoes back on but it was worth it! We ended up being about 10 feet from the stage with a great view. And the music was so wonderful we couldn't help but dance shoulder to shoulder with the other sardines. The band paused to count down the new year and confetti followed by fake snow filled the colosseum. It was awesome. They played for almost an hour after that. These were the best two videos we could find online:





The two opening bands were also very good and interesting.

Sally Ford and the Sound Outside (Also grew up in NC). Sort of a like a Billie Holiday 1940's sound but updated and modern. Very fun to listen to.




Langhorn Slim - A folk rocker with amazing energy. Very fun and an amazing performer. His voice sounded like a mix between Cat Stephens and Paul Simon maybe.


We got to sleep in (even though my eyes blinked open at 8) and have a lovely breakfast and them home to our cutie pies. A fun time for all. We hope everyone is enjoying 2010!



I heart Asheville.

And here is Meadow pretending that she is an AT-AT. :)