My Family

My Family
What if you woke up tomorrow with only those you thankded God for tonight. Thank you God form my amazing family.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Way behind

Wow, how do I get so far behind. I know some of you are saying "she doesn't work, what else does she have to do?". Well it's December, enough said. I love Christmas time. I get myself into a lot of trouble because I love this time of the year (except the cold weather) so muuch. I tend to spend way to much money because I get caught up in Christmas crafts and gift buying. I even buy cute boxes to put under my tree without gifts in them, just so it looks so pretty. CRAZY!!

This is kind of a sad year for me though, both of the kids have decided they would question the big red suited man this year. Well the saying has always been "you stop believing you stop receiving". HaHa, we'll see. Maybe I will go with the When you stop believing you get underwear saying. Wonder what their reaction will be when they see packages of new socks and undies instead of the well sought after XBox and Kindle. I hope I do not forget to record their reactions.

My latest craft activity was inspired by a large painting I saw on Pinterest. I was home alone and bought a BIG canvas, maybe 20x24, and painted a santa hat and wrote the wonderful quote from the Grinch on it and hung it above my mantle. I love it. Can't wait to post a picture of it. I have always wanted a Christmas painting to hang over the mantle but was to cheap to purchase one of those expensive ones. Well now I have one that I LOVE that cost 17.99. Woohoo!! I will get a picture up asap.

I haven't really made any great eats lately, but I did make a cheese ball shaped like a snowman the other night for an ornament party that was really cute and good. I forgot to take a picture but will post a picture I found on the web of it.

Ingredients:
3 blocks cream cheese
3 cups shredded cheese
several shakes of hot sauce
squirt or two of yellow mustard

Mix all together, seperate into 1/3, combine two of those for the bottom of the snowman, and use the remainder for the top of the snowman. Cover the outside with a small tub of whipped cream cheese. Decorate with random food items ( I used black beans and cilantro ). Serve with your favorite crackers.
YUMMY!!

I will post some pictures later.

Donna

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

I am always baffled when someone invites us over and request that we bring some sort of food dish.  I have lots of ideas and about a million pins on pinterest connected to food, but I don't know which one to choose.  Well this past weekend was no different.  We were invited to watch the Alabama/LSU game and to bring a dessert or appetizer.  Well I brought both.  I went with my old faithful spinach dip and a yummy dessert I had made twice before, each time with completely different outcomes.  Anyway, both were wonderful and I will give recipes for both, but if you are ever wanting to wow your friends or family or make someone fall in love with you, go with the dessert. 

Spinach dip

1 pkg frozen spinach (thawed and drained)
2 cans petite diced tomatoes, drained ( I like the zesty jalepeno)
1 can sweet white corn, drained
1 block cream cheese
Shredded cheese (your choice)
sliced jalepenos

Mix all together except enough shredded cheese to cover and the sliced jalepenos.  I put in a pie dish for easy dipping.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese and decorate with the sliced jalepenos.  Bake on 350 until nice and bubbly.  Serve with your favorite chips. 

The tomatoes and corn really add a twist to the basic Spinach dip recipes. 

(I just call the following sin, because I don not know the name)

Sin

favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe (I used a store bought mix)
1 pkg double stuff oreos ( might make with the pepermint ones at Christmas)
favorite fudgy brownie recipe ( I again used store bought)

Line a 9x12 dish with parchment paper or spray really well
Make the chocolate chip cookie dough and layer in the bottom of the dish
Cover with oreos
Make the browies and pour over the top

Bake in oven on 350 for about 40-45 minutes, cool completely, remove from dish and slice.

*you can serve with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce




This dessert of course is a favorite of those who love chocolate.  Who would have thought of layering all of that madness and serving it as one dish. 


On to crafts.  This past Saturday morning the weather seemed a little gloomy so I drank more coffee stayed in my pjs and painted away.  I can't wait to post the cute little elf that I painted, but for some reason can't get the pics to upload right now.  I also painted a really cute canvas for Abi's room and a distressed looking canvas for my kitchen.  Later in the day I got a call from a friend of mine who owns a little Candy store downtown that she sold my Candy Cane wreath I had made.  Woohoo, my first craft sale.  So exciting except that I really liked it myself.  Oh well guess I have to make another one.  Shortly after ODing on caffeine we were off to the stables for Abi's horse riding lesson.  We officially start lessons on Wednesday this week and I really need to sell some cute crafts so I can pay for them, haha.  If you see something you like or have an idea of your own, let me know and I will get you a price.  I also created an etsy store over the weekend in hopes that I could promote and sale that way.  I will post a link to the site on my blog. 








Until next time
Donna

Thursday, November 3, 2011

The weather here in the mountains has been absolutely beautiful.  The leaves are amazing.  I have really enjoyed my drives to carpool. Even with all of this beauty surrounding me the saga goes on at the Cantlay house.  I really ove my house but it seems that nothing ever seems to go smoothly for us around here.  About two months or so ago my dishwasher decided to start making strange noises and finally had its final wash, and about a year ago my oven decided that it would no longer broil.  Well the oven decided last month to broil only, so we decided to update our appliances.  What a challenge when you are trying to shop frugally for high priced items.  We decided to go with stainless (just in case we put the house on the market).  Well the new dishwasher barely fit, the fridge had to take a deep breath to get in its whole and the cabinet and tile counter tops had to be cut to allow enough room for oven and cooktop.  Really, could these things not easily just go in the wholes they were obviously made for...haha.  Well, I am still waiting on the hood vent because the one he brought to install yesterday had a dent in it.  Maybe the installer will become a permanent fixture at my house.  Anyway I will post pictures when the mini reno is complete. 
On to crafts....
Some of my girlfriends and I had our first craft day yesterday.  What fun.  We ate and painted away.  Even had participants who claimed they are not crafty at all join us and produce some really cute paintings for the holidays.  One of the girls introduced me to the best writing on crafty stuff .... a magnum sharpie marker.  I had to go out and buy one right away.  (and it was under 3 bucks. wow).  I made a cute Christmas canvas for one of my favorite families.  (posted picture... but shhhh don't tell it is a present.)

Today I had to make myself quickly dust, vacuum, and wipe down the kitchen counters, because I wanted to create my house rules painting.  What fun.   I painted it on a 16x20 canvas so it is a really nice size and I have already hung it on my kitchen wall.  Can't wait for the family to see it.  Wonder if they will all agree on the rules I decided upon????
I have decided to start taking orders for canvases made to order with your sayings and colors.  I am currently working on a cute snowman family painting and a Christmas card holder board.  Will post photos tonight.  Can't wait.  Let me know if you want one. 

Thursday, October 27, 2011

quick craft

I guess I needed to go to my happy place tonight and create a craft.  Not perfect but really cute.

A week of a lot of ahmmmms

Wow it has been a week since I have had a chance to catch up here.  Last weekend we took off with camper in tow to Hiawassee and camped with my family.  We had a great time and of course without fail we had camper issues... the furnace decided to not work.  Luckily we had a portable heater that kept us all nice and toasty. 
Since returning home I feel like this has been a non stop week.  I don't even remember Monday, haha.  I probably washed clothes all day.  Tuesday, Abigail decided she wanted to be Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz for halloween, and of course I had to drive all over the world looking for a costume... no luck.  Tanner had his football banquet that night and finally we landed at home about 8:45, whew.  I met a friend for breakfast Wednesday morning and guess what she knew someone with a Dorothy costume.  Yayyy.  Mission accomplished.  We had trunk or treat Wednesday night at our church ( I may get kicked out for my car decor... but it was fun).  (see picture)


Today I came across a great tip that I can't wait to try.  I am going to start tomorrow and will have it completed before Christmas.  I may even double up on one or two days since they are pretty simple.  I do have a head start because I cleaned out DH's closet Monday (oh that's what I did).  Note to self:  never do this again because all he has done is fussed that I removed items that he thinks he should keep. 



Yummy sounding recipe that I found today,  Can't wait to get my new oven to try it out. (found these on 3B's - Baseball, Baking and Books blog

Cookies & Cream Brownies
*One batch brownies with chopped up Oreos added.
*Cookies & Cream Frosting, doubled :)
2 cups powdered sugar
4 Tbsp. butter, room temperature
1 Tbsp. heavy cream, plus a little extra
approx. 8 oreos, crushed well
Combine all frosting ingredients except the oreos and beat with a hand mixer until light and fluffy. You may need to add a bit more heavy cream to get a spreadable consistency. Mix in crushed oreos (more or less). Spread frosting evenly over cooled brownies.

You can fancy these up by topping each bar with an oreo cookie half like I did or you can top the whole thing with ganache thus smothering the “cream” between two layers of chocolate. 
 Pictures of Abi as Dorothy coming soon.  


See you hopefully sooner than later.  

:-)) Donna

Monday, October 17, 2011

oops

Okay, so really sorry, but something happened and I didn't get the PINK pictures.  I thought more of the kids would have participated than they did.  Although great pink turnout for the Gilmer/Pickens game.  Way to go Bobcats. 


Today A friend of mine and I got our creativity on and put together a really cute scarecrow girl for Gilmer Middle School.  She turned out really cute.  Next year I see more kiddocrows hanging out by the school entrance. 

I really hoped to be posting a picture of the delicious Poppy Seed Cake I made myself for my birthday, but..... my oven decided to become evil and burn the mess out of everything I put in it.  So the picture was not so appealing.  Maybe in 14 days when I get my new oven.  Oh well I guess I will have to settle with a measly massage for my birthday tomorrow.  Can't wait. 

BEWARE:  when I get the new oven I hope to overwhelm you with easy DELICIOUS yummies. 

Thursday, October 13, 2011

The Gilmer Pink Out

Check back tomorrow for pictures from Gilmer County's first pink out in support of Breast Cancer Support and Awareness.  I can't wait to see all of the kids in their pink tomorrow.  Now if we can just help the kids understand how serious cancer is and that we should not take our everyday life for granted. 

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Prayers for Lily Grace and her mommy and daddy

Today my sister and her husband lost their unborn baby girl.  What a sad loss, but we must remember in times like these that he wrote His story long ago and knew this was going to happen.  He did not do this because he is evil, he makes no mistakes and their are no accidents.  He will be by you and if you look and ask him "What his plans are for you" he will answer and show you how you can help others through your loss.

Is 41:10,13 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.  For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you

Heb 13:5
(Amp) He (God) Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support.  I will not, I will not, I will not, in any degree leave you helpless, nor forsake nor let you down, relax my hold on you - assuredly not!

Well I have been getting my craft on for the past few days.  My living room looks like it has been invaded by paints and ribbon. Maybe I will have enough ornaments finished by Christmas for teacher gifts.  I love the candy cane wreath and can't wait to see it on my front door.  Neighbors be ready to be jealous.  Taking orders also, saw one online for 85.00 plus shipping.  The santa glass I made last year and can't wait to make some more.  It turned out so cute.  I would like to make some short glasses to use as dipping containers for veggies. 







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Friday, October 7, 2011

Ornament Craft

Plan to add some cute dots or swirls and some really cute ribbon.. will post completed photos when done.  C could be for Cantlay, Candace, Cantrell, Caryl  hmmmm who should get this

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

party invites


These turned out really cute, if I say so myself.  Created for a friend. 

up and blogging again

Well I have decided that it is time to blog again and keep those of you that are following up to date on my adventures of a stay at home mom, you know a professional know it all.  Haha!!  Any hoo, School has been back for 6 or 8 weeks and I have still not found a job of any kind.  I did finally receive my Masters Degree diploma.  Not as rewarding as I thought the feeling would be.  To be honest I liked graduating with my bachelors best.  My parents even threw me a graduation party for that.  I did have some really great friends that gave me soem great gifts this time around but no big party.  Anyways, that was kind of the deciding factor on any more schooling for me.... whats the pointt if you don't get a fun party.

Tanner, my dear 7th grade son, decided he would try his hand at middle school football this year and it has been quite fun.  I like the fact that we are busy in the afternoons which eliminates the need to monitor the tv watching time! Most days by the time we get home and get dinner and homework done it is past bedtime.  This week he has his last game and I will kind of miss it.  He will be back at karate though.  Wonder if he remembers any of his forms? 

Abigail has once again decided to give dance a shot.  She wanput my foot down and say this save it for middle school.  I am just not the competition cheer mom needed for that sport.  She is taking hip hop, ballet, tap and jazz.  She makes a very cute dancer and will probably be very good at it.  We are hoping to find somewhere for her gymnastics teacher to giver her lessons again.  One of the bad things about living in a SMALL town.

I have recently decided to dedicate one day a week to crafts so I can get back to doing something that I really LOVE....  So far I have painted a christmas canvas and made a pretty cool pumpkin wreath.  I will post pictures tonight.  I am hoping to get a crucut machine soon and have some really cool ideas for gifts.  I have become addicted to the Pinterest.com boards and love looking at all the diy projects. 

Until later....

" What if you woke up tomorrow morning with only the things (people) you thanked GOD for tonight"  -- unknown