Still Alive

Hola, hola!  Yes, once again I have been MIA from my lil 'ol blog but I had no choice.  I think I have mentioned before that our home computer is a little on the old and slow side.  Then upgrades or whatever happened on Google's end did not allow me to edit my photos in Picnik via Picasa because again my computer was not able to hang.  Long story and a very frustrating one but I'm back and I can't wait to share with you all what I did over the Christmas break.  I helped my grandmother, aka Güela, make tamales.  Yes, one of the many beautiful Mexican traditions especially at Christmas.  Here is a sneak peek of our work.

Oh and why am I back now you ask?  Okay, maybe you didn't but my oh-so-handsome and wonderful-out-of-this-world hubby bought me a MacBook for Christmas!  He totally had me fooled.  Oh how I love him so.  Mama is happy and even happier to blog from my own bed if I please.  Oh happy day.  :)

Texas Proud {Dallas Cowboys Stadium}

Good day, fabulous people.  Today I am going to kick off my new little series I like to call Texas Proud.  I am a native Texan loud and proud.  I say y'all instead of you all and most times my multi-word sentences sound like one word.  Jueat?  = Did you eat?  Yacomin? = Are y'all coming?  I never knew "we" spoke that way until it was jokingly pointed to me one day.  Heehee.

So today I am going to brag about the Dallas Cowboys Stadium.  Ah, yes that was one tough loss this past weekend but we still root for them.  :)

Oh this place that good 'ol Jerry built is grand and to sum up my reaction when we first walked in - WOW.  First, let me begin by saying that the mister, kids and I visited Cowboys Stadium for the very first time on November 4-5, 2011 for a Scout Sleepover and Rally Day.  Personally, I have never been to a Dallas Cowboys football game.  I have whined plenty about never going to one but I have yet to attend an actual game.  Still waiting to go to a game.  Waiting, waiting, waiting.  Until then, I continue to watch them from my 'ol tube.  Okay, enough about moi on to the real stuff.  My son is a Cub Scout and Cowboys Stadium was having their second annual Scout Sleepover.  Sleepover as in all Scouts and their guests got to sleep on the field.  My boy and the mister were over the moon excited! Here is all that they go to do on Friday night.

• Guided Tour of Cowboys Stadium
• Movie (Despicable Me) on the HD Video Board & popcorn
• Football drills on the field
• Fitness activities lead by NIKE Fit Club
• Dinner and a light breakfast
• Commemorative photo
• Scout patch for the brag vest

Here is the Friday night action:

Amanda Guerra with DFW's NBC5 was there to do a live report during the 10 p.m. broadcast.  My boy was able to squeeze in for a little bit of camera time. 

While the mister and our boy were having their fun filled evening inside Jerry's place, my girl had quite the meltdown because she wanted to join in on the fun.  I had already made previous plans to stay with my cousin until we joined them the following morning.  So what did I do to cheer her up?  I took her over to the pro shop after saying our goodbyes in hopes of finding something pink in the kids section.  Well duh how could I forget about a cheerleader unfiorm?  I found a supa dupa cute DCC uniform with pom poms and she was once again a happy little princess.  I too was giddy and could not wait to put it on her the next morning.

I suited her up and she was too adorbs.  See for ya self. The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders were very, very nice and professional.  One of the reasons they are the best!  :)

A good day was had by all at Cowboys Stadium.  We had fun playing and running around the field.  I can actually say that I got to play catch with my boy on the same field Tony Romo throws touchdown passes. I think that is what my husband enjoyed the most- playing football with our son in Cowboys Stadium.  Too cool.  I was impressed with that big-o facility and the entire staff was Texas friendly and very professional.  We were asked a few times if we were having a good time by different staff members.  Oh yes, we will be back next year.  Maybe my girl and I will camp out with the boys... um not!  I heard it was a little chilly in there. 

I love this last picture.  The football player in front (my boy), followed by his number one fan and cheerleader (my girl) with the head coach (my hubby) behind them.  Love!  :)

Tortellini Soup {Recipe}

It is that time of year to start kicking it up a notch in the kitchen.  Here in Texas we are just starting to get some cool weather and then other days it's in the 80's.  Yeah, we like it like that.  :)

So I started looking through my recipes and came across one I discovered last year and it instantly became one of my favorites: Tortellini Soup. 

I found the original recipe at Allrecipes but I have tweaked it a bit and sometimes I choose to add Italian sausage to the soup.  I absolutely fell in love with this soup and it tickles me pink that my kids eat it up and I don't get any complaints from them.  Although sometimes the hubby will grunt when I choose to omit the Italian sausage.  I tell ya, that man has to have meat in every meal. 

So here goes the recipe!
Ingredients: (or as Teresa from RHONJ says, ingredienteses)

• 1 tbsp virgin olive oil
• 1 cup onions, chopped
• 1 cup carrots, chopped
• 1 zucchini, chopped in quarters
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic,minced
• ½ tsp dried basil
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp parsley
• 5 cups beef stock or broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 can Italian style diced tomatoes
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 8 oz cheese tortellini
• Parmesan cheese shavings

Directions:
-In a large stock pot, saute the onions in the olive oil for about 3-4 minutes.  Add the garlic and saute for another minute or two.

-Next add the beef stock/broth, water, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, carrots, basil and oregano.  Bring to a boil,  reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.

-After 30 minutes add the zucchini, tortellini, green bell pepper and parsley.  Add salt and pepper to you liking. I add about three pinches of kosher salt and a pinch of pepper.

-Simmer for another 10 minutes or so and then your soup is done.

-I like to use my potato peeler to shave some Parmesan cheese once I serve each individual bowl. Serve with some delish garlic bread and you've got yourself one comfy hearty meal.

Oh believe me it is delish!  And I know you noticed my fancy smanchy garlic bread.  You see, by the time I was ready to sit down and have my bowl of soup; I discovered that all of the garlic bread had been eaten.  So Mom (that be me) had to toast a slice of bread, spread some butter and season it. Such is life.  :)

A Special 'Handmade' Thanksgiving Wreath

Hello, hello.  It has been a while and I'm sawy.  I have been super busy lately and lots of holiday stuff is sneaking up on moi.  As I said before, everyday I'm shuffa-ling!

Okay, so Thanksgiving is a little over a week away and I finally finally made a very simple wreath for my door.  I wanted a wreath using the hand traced cut outs of my kids' hands.  After some world wide web searching for ideas I decided to use my kids hands as the feathers of a turkey.  So this is what I created:

As you can imagine, it was very simple to do except it took a little bit of time making the turkeys.  Other than that it was easy to put together.

I made the turkeys using:

• soft foam sheets: red, orange, brown, beige
• yellow, white and black card stock
• adhesive pop-ups
• glue and hot glue gun

Step 1:
I traced the hands of my boy and girl on each sheet.

Oh yes that is a Dallas Cowboys pencil I am using.  Loyal fan for-eva!

Step 2:
After tracing their hands, I cut them each out and used one set for each turkey (a totoal of four hands for each turkey). 

Step 3:
I placed each hand cut out on top of one another until it formed the feather formation I liked.  I glued each one together with my hot glue gun.  For the bodies of the turkeys, I used a small bowl and a cup to trace and cut out from the brown foam sheet. Again, I glued the bodies to the feathers with my hot glue gun.

Step 4:
I made the eyes the same way I did my halloween treat bags.  I used the the white card stock and black pop-ups on the bigger turkey; and the black card stock and white pop-ups on the smaller one.
As for the nose, I just snipped a corner off of some yellow card stock and voila I had me some noses.

Step 5:
After my turkey assembly, I grabbed my wreath and glued on some dried natural grass to create a nest.  Glued my birds on top of that and then decorated it with fall floral picks.  I added some ribbon to hang it up and I was done.  Although I need to learn how to properly make a bow. No, I don't know how to make one.  Gasp!

My first Thanksgiving wreath and it has a special 'hand' made touch.  I love it.  Next year I'll add a couple of improvements but for now I am content and so happy that I was able to incorporate my babies hands.  Happy Mama.  :)

I'm linking up with these fab bloggers:

A Verry Merry Vintage Style * Sugar Bee Crafts * A Diamond in the Stuff

Night Owl Crafting * Ginger Snap Crafts * Organize and Decorate Everything

Creations by Kara * A Place Called Home * The DIY Showoff

Tatertots & Jello * Craft-o-Maniac * One Artsy Mama * Sew Woodsy

Save Thanksgiving!



source

Yes, let us save Thanksgiving.  After all, it is the holiday where we stop and says thanks for the blessings in our lives.  I am with Nordstrom, take it one holiday at a time.  Why the rush for Christmas already?  Actually that is a question that I asked back in August when I first saw the Christmas decorations on store shelves.  Really?

It irks me that Thanksgiving is pretty much skipped over and that most, if not all, autumn and Thanksgiving merchandise is already on clearance.  The only good thing about that is that you can get your turkey and fall leaf decor at a great price.  I mean, again, Thanksgiving is about being thankful for many reasons and retailers are telling us to ignore it and concentrate on Santa.  Oh that's another pet peeve of mine.  Retailers shove Christmas down your throat starting in late summer yet quickly shut'er down come December 26.  Wrong.  Christmas is not over until January 6th.  That is when I stop celebrating and then take my tree down on January 7th.

I know I am not the only that is irked and bother by this.  RespecttheBird on Twitter even started the appropriate hashtag #savethanksgiving.  The radio station 105.1 Jack FM out of Kansas has also started their own coalition.  Good for them! Really, I can't be the only one that feels this way.  Yes, I have started my Christmas shopping but not the decorating.  It is not time.  I am still enjoying my pumpkins, fall leaves and all things turkey decor and food.  I am saving Thanksgiving.  Who's with me?  :)

A Pink and Zebra Hair Bow Holder {Cute!}

Last weekend one of my bff's had her daughter's third birthday party and the theme was pink and zebra.  Right away I knew that I wanted to get her a gift with that color scheme.  I looked around a couple of stores but didn't find anything that really caught my eye so I said the heck with it and told myself to make her a gift.  I pondered for a bit and remembered that I had seen hair bow holders at holiday type craft shows and on the internet here and there.  I had never made one and figured it couldn't be all that difficult, right?  Nope it wasn't and I was actually surprised and a little pleased with myself.

Okay here is how beginner crafter me did it and if there is a better or easier way then please help a sista out and lemme know!  :)

Here is this pretty little thang I made.

Step 1:
I used a 16"x20" canvas, a bottle of bubblegum pink Americana acrylic paint, a wide sponge brush and a paper plate.  Oh and some newspaper too of course.

Step 2:
Let the paint dry for at least 4 hours or overnight like how I did. Use three three different colored/design ribbons for the board.  Cut each ribbon long enough to fold over on the back for gluing. Lay the ribbon out on the board to determine the spacing.  I used a few of my daughter's bows to help me space out each ribbon before gluing them down to the back side of the board.

Step 3:

Tape each end of each ribbon down on the board BEFORE you begin to glue.  Yes, this was a little time consuming for me but it was the only way I could think of keeping the ribbon in place in order to flip the board over for gluing.

Step 4:

Carefully flip the board over and start gluing each ribbon end with a hot glue gun. Take the tape off of the glued end before working on the other side.  This way you will be able to give the ribbon a little "pull" before gluing the second side.  Gluing both ends of the ribbons and then removing the tape may leave a little too much space between the ribbon and board. 

I used the back of a spoon to smooth out the glue because it was a bit too hot for my fingers.  I also used a ruler to guide me as I want along just to make sure my ribbon was not off center.

Step 5:
Flip the board over and make sure all  is good and securely glued.  It's beginning to look purdy purdy!
Cut a piece of ribbon (I used the zebra design) a little longer then the width of the board.

Fold the ribbon in half, cut it and place it design side down on the back of the board. Glue it down, flip it over again and tie a knot at the top. 

Step 6:
Okay, we're in the home stretch.  I didn't want to hand this board over with just ribbon on it so I thought adding her name with some black chipboard letters (scrapbooking section at Hobby Lobby) and touch of bling would give it that perfect touch.

I lined up the letters on the board and then glued each one down with my hot glue gun. It's been over a week since I gave her this gift and the letters are still holding up but I think there is a better alternative to the hot glue gun for this one.  A couple of the letters were a little wishy washy so I added more glue and stuck them back on.  Still, will use different glue from now on.  Not sure what kind as I need to research that mo' better.

Here it is again and with the pretty little princess happily posing with it.  Ain't she a cutie?

I was a little proud of myself and it looks much prettier in person.  I think I will make more!

FYI: I purchased most of the supplies from Hobby Lobby either on sale or with a 40% off coupon.

I'm linking up with these fab bloggers:

A Verry Merry Vintage Style * Sugar Bee Crafts * A Diamond in the Stuff

Night Owl Crafting * Ginger Snap Crafts * Organize and Decorate Everything

Creations by Kara * The DIY Showoff * Tatertots & Jello 

 Craft-o-Maniac  * One Artsy Mama * Beyond the Picket Fence

The Witch Stop {Halloween Décor}

As much as I like and celebrate Halloween, I don't have much décor.  I am slowly building up my Halloween stash with every clearance sale on November 1.  J

With that said, I was able to use a few of the few things I have on hand and decorate one of my walls.  We have a narrow, almost bare wall that connects the dining room and kitchen.  All I have on it are two wall candle sconces.  Pretty boring.  Well this year I spruced the area up with a little Halloween touch and all for under $10.  Everything pictured below was purchased on clearance, sale or I already had it on hand.  I just had to get a little creative.

And this is what my wall looked like before the witch stopped on by and hung up her hat and broom.  I told ya it was boring.

First I bought two orange candles at Hobby Lobby that were 50% off and decorated them with some bat stickers that I got for 40% off also at HL.

Holy batman those turned out cute!  :)

Next I took a plain yet glittery orange broom that I had on hand and decorated it with some black, glittery tulle (50% off at HL).

I folded the tulle three fold and wrapped it around the broom like a scarf.  I also tied some ribbon around it and instantly it looks much better than just a plain-o-broom.

I then tied some Halloween ribbon to the broom and witch's hat (that I got on clearance two years ago) and hung each one from my wall sconces, then I placed the candles on top.  Ta da!  It is simple and not too much but I love it.

Happy Halloween!

Linking up with these fab bloggers:

A Diamond in the Stuff * The Thrifty Home