Lemon Drops For Your Forgiveness: A Delicious Apology

And so I'm back, from outerspace, I just signed in to find you there with that blank look upon your face; not one post in 36 days, my blog thinks I'm MIA, but I'm back, yeah, yeah, I'm back, hey ya heyyyyyy!

Okay, sorry, that was torture, I know, but what the hey, man?!?!?!?! Has it really been 36 days since I last shared the madness??? How did that happen, where does the time go?

Buggie is 15 1/2 months old now, in the blink of an eye, do you hear me people, THE BLINK OF AN EYE!!!  My life is just zipping, zooming by, quick, fast and in a hurry, no time for this, no time for that with no consideration for what I want.  No one asked me if I cared that my days would turn into lightning strikes in the sands of the hour glass that is my life.  Why do I not get a say?

Anyway, how does one apologize to the blog world for not being around AT ALL in a VERY LONG TIME?!?!? 

Share an AWESOME COOKIE RECIPE, that's how!

I just baked some wonderful Christmas goodies to share as small tokens of the love that I have for my peeps.  I so want to do something for all of the people in my life that I love and that I wish I could spend more time with.  There really just isn't a feasible way to do that right now.  I can, however, bake some yummy goodness to share and hope that the love I put into it is enjoyed in every tasty morsel! (mush much?)  And share the recipe with you all so that you can be a part of the goodness, too!

These LEMON DROP cookies were a SMASH !!! 

I even heard some one thought they might have been store bought!  That is super cool!!!  I have to thank my Step-Mom for this fantastic recipe and the 'kick in the pants' I needed to get the baking started.  Thanks Grammy, you rock!!! 

Try these out as last minute gifts or to serve on Christmas Eve or just to enjoy when sprawled out on your couch watching Fantasy Factory =)

(Rob & Big and Fantasy Factory marathons on lately - LOVE IT!!!)

Happy Day to you all!  Enjoy yourselves and don't sweat the small stuff...small stuff causes crows feet and you don't want that, do you???  Yeah, that's what I thought!  Love you!!!

PEACE

LOVE

&

YUMMY YUMMY LEMON DROPS !!!

A

(Soft) Lemon Drops

makes 3-4 dozen (depending on size) ((obviously)) ;)

Ingredients

Cookie

1 cup sugar

½ cup butter, softened

¼ cup half & half

2 eggs

2 tsp grated lemon peel

½ tsp lemon extract

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

1 to 2 tsp lemon juice

1.   Heat oven to 350°F.  Combine sugar and butter in large bowl.  Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy.  Add half & half, eggs, lemon peel and lemon extract; continue beating until well mixed.  Reduce speed to low, add flour, baking powder and salt.  Beat until well mixed.

*** When baking cookies, I always (unless the recipe specifically states otherwise) cream the butter and sugar together for quite some time until the mixture is creamy and almost ‘fluffy’ – it can’t really be “fluffy” but you get the idea, I think.  Then I add the eggs, one at a time, blending very well after each addition.  I also combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and then fold or slowly mix it into the ‘wet’ ingredients that have been completely blended. 

2.   Drop dough by rounded teaspoonful’s 2 inches apart onto greased (or parchment lined) cookie sheets.  Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool completely.

3.   Combine powdered sugar and enough lemon juice for desired glazing consistency in small bowl.  Glaze cooled cookies.

I of course got not a single picture of these things.  They went too fast!  I plan to make more very soon so I will update with a picture as soon as that happens.  They are a cute, little, soft yellow cookie with a scone like consistency.  They are only mildly lemon and mildly sweet.  They are perfect as a sweet treat after dinner or with your hot tea (or coffee for you bean heads tehee) ;)

   They are simply AWESOME !!!

If there is any one out there reading this that enjoyed the lemon cookies please leave a comment about their yummy goodness for others to see.  Thank you!!!

I know that doesn't make up for 36 days of absence but I do hope you forgive me and ask that you bare with me as we sk8 through the holidays...literally! 

We are back in the 70's now (yeehaw) so we might be out sk8ing in the street tomorrow (provided the endless rain we had today has decided to cease).

Egad!!! Science Projects...Seriously?!? I Didn't Like 'Em Then...

and I sure don't like 'em now!

Did you guys ever have to do Science Project's in Elementary School???

Did you wait until the very last weekend before it was due to even start it???

I did!

Literally, almost every time, I would not start until it was sooooooo late. 

Alright, so I was a pretty good student and every now and then I would not procrastinate but, um, yeah, I totally slacked...a lot!

It was so hard on my parents, my slacking. 

How do I know this you ask? 

Do I remember how frustrated they were with me?  Not really.

Do I remember the exhaustion on their faces?  Not so much.

Do I remember a lecture about putting things off and how much harder it is when you wait until the last minute?  Ya, that I remember.



But seriously, I know this because I have spent my entire Saturday (sans 3 hours for some house scrubbin and breakfast festivities) working on a Science Project with my husband and my step-son.

3 HOURS !!!

OMGsh!!!

Here's the great part.  In Bubs new school they don't have a Science class.  No Science program, no Science class.

So how is a Science Project still in the mix?!?!?

I don't know, but it is. 

And I'm back in Elementary School (in my mind), sitting at my dining room table, wrought with frustration and the greatest desire to be doing anything else other than working on my Science project all day...because today that's what I did with my step-son...all day.

Aaaaaaaand, we're not finished!

Still lots more to do tomorrow.

Egad!!!

Does any one else out there struggle with this?  Any of this???

Procrastination in your own life?

Last minute Science Projects??

The I'd rather be doing anything else than this blues???

It's no fun...no fun at all.

Thanks for reading my ramblings.  Just had to get that out. 

It is kind of fun doing all of the research again.  I even feel like it's kind of getting me prepared for what it will be like to home-school Buggie.  Can't procrastinate there!

Still don't like Science projects.

Yeah, I said it.

P

L

B

A

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADDIE - Please Read

I have another favor to ask of you, my wonderful readers.

Please go visit this blog

http://thespohrsaremultiplying.com/the-famous-madeline/she-would-be-three/

Then wrap your arms around your loved ones and let them know how special they are to you, how much you love them and how important they are in your life.

We are not just here to gain things; attention, possessions, notoriety, fame, wealth...

We are here to love and to be loved.

THAT'S IT!!!

We have it all wrong when we believe for one minute that it's about anything else. 

TO LOVE AND TO BE LOVED...that's all.

Please don't lose sight of why you're here.  Please don't seek and strive after the wrong things, things that don't really mean ANYTHING.

Please go over and visit the Spohr's and share some love.

They need it.

We all need it.

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!

PEACE

LOVE

&
BLESSINGS

A

THIS IS WHAT I KNOW...

Happy Friday to all of you lovelies!

I hope your day is filled with lots of good things and lots of love!!!

I also want to say a special thank you to all of my new followers.  It's so nice to have you and I can't wait to share all kinds of goodies with you and learn even more from you! 

I am also very thankful to those of you who love me so much that you were my first followers...CB, SG, LaLa, BV, KAJ (although it doesn't show you are a follower but I think that you were at one time - weird???)

You are all VERY appreciated and I am glad to have you in my beautiful, bloggy life!!!

Please take a moment to check out this post.

http://www.littlebitfunky.com/2010/11/why-and-how.html

It is an awesome tale and I hope you will take some time from your day to shut everything else out, open up your heart and your mind and just enjoy!

I love you all and look forward to each new day with you!!!

Have a BEAUTIFULLY BLESSED Friday!!!

PEACE

LOVE &

BLESSINGS

A

"You Got Another Coming"...Jam Sesh!

Seriously, this is the best day ever!

Guitar hero with my boys.

French toast and turkey bacon brunch.

Cool weather.

And my beautiful baby girl.

Thank you LORD for this day and every Blessing in it...and please help me jam! :)

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend and that you're enjoying every minute of it!


***Coming Soon...
Stay tuned.  I'm working on an awesome project for my first guest post ever over at What Allie's Making Now.  I will let you know when I'll be over there but it should be sometime in the next week or two.  You should go check Allie out.  This chick is SERIOUSLY talented, like fa real!!!  She has the cutest little girl, too, who is stylin already in some of the most awesome 'makes' from her Mommy.  Check out this Halloween Witch that Allie created from head to toe - HEAD to TOE!!!  Why are you still here???  Go check it out! ;)

PEACE OUT PEOPLE =)

<3
A

Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People???

I really can't come up with a simple answer for this.  I just know that I'm constantly left wondering 'why bad things happen to good people'.  I know that bad things happen to bad people as well but it just doesn't make sense when it affects the good. 

Andy Irons died today.  Of Dengue Fever.  Seriously.

He was 32.  Married.  Expecting his first child in December.  World Champion Surfer.

And I don't know him personally but you know he's just one of those genuine guys.  I kinda feel like I've grown up watching him.  We are the same age.  Not cool.

So it seems the bad has fallen on the good yet again.  Will there be a silver lining? 

I just thought I'd post a little something I was feeling.  Kind of a tribute to Andy.  My prayers are with the Irons family. 

A

Let Me Tell You Something...

                   


This has been such an eventful day that I just wanted to shout it out loud!  I feel like I don't get much else accomplished in a day except for my normal routine.  You feelin me, Moms?  Taking care of a 14 month old is a full time, 24 hour a day job.   

To get something else done is so absolutely cool that I feel I have to blog about it.  Here it is, my big exciting day, wait for it, wait for it...

I took a shower
ANDDDDDDDDD
VOTED!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, I said it, showered and voted!  =D

Seriously, it feels so nice to not only cook and clean and feed and clean and play and teach and clean (I could go on but for sanity's sake, I will not) but to actually get a decent shower and go to the polls...it doesn't get any better.

Ok, it really does get better and I am not in such a stupor that I don't realize I sound like a total craze (I might be a little crazy but that's for another post). ;)  It is nice though to feel like you've accomplished a little more than you had hoped for.  Agreed?

Thanks for reading this far.  Happy Tuesday eve to you all.

PEACE

A

Just Something On My Mind...A Poem

TRUTH

Loved

Saved

Blood Shed

Chosen

Free

Once Dead

Awake
Alive
Mercy's Bed

Grace
Underserved
Forgiveness Pled

Humbled
Thankful
TRUTH Fed

Sometimes I am overwhelmed by the Blessings in my life.  I cannot believe, even for one moment, that I deserved to be Saved.  Saved from what you ask?  Myself.  Death.

I was shown Mercy and covered with a Grace that is palpable.  How do you feel Grace???  You do, my friends, and when HE lays it on you - you know it. 

I thought HE was about rules and punishment.  That HE was represented by the people I found in church on Sunday mornings.  The ones that would smile at you and shake your hand and present a wonderful display of a family but then act like they didn't know you on Monday.  Those who read their Bibles in a pew and told me that I was going to hell for my sins.  There is this line in a Jason Gray song: "Cause all religion ever made of me was a just a sinner with a stone tied to my feet." 

       

RIGHT???  That's what it felt like!  All going to church, or anything to do with church (i.e., GOD), ever made me feel like was suffocated.  I was going down dude and that was it.  Know this dude JESUS and act and look like us (NO THANK YOU!) and you're cool, otherwise you might as well strap on a block and jump in the river.

And oh my lanta, IT IS NOT LIKE THAT.  

Peeps - GOD's Love for you and I is like a rush of blood that flows from your toes to your brain in a second.  Like a roller coaster that drops you so fast and so hard that you swear you have to go back and find your stomach (or your lunch) ;)  It is the GREATEST Freedom I have ever felt. 

Just hear me out to the end...we're almost there :) 

I never understood why those few family's that I did come across in my childhood that were actually good people, you know the ones, you were always allowed over there, they always fed you and took you places and were geniunely interested in your life.  They were so caring to their children and didn't really raise their voices, ever.  Why were they like that?  I found out the day I finally opened my eyes and saw HIM for who HE really is.  

HE is Love...that's it people, LOVE.  And do you know what Love is, pure, true Love?  It is the TRUTH and it smells, and it tastes and it IS so sweet.  It is GOOD!  It is ALIVE (no joke).  It wraps you up and makes you better and shows you who you really are.  How amazing and special and awesome you are.    

It doesn't mock or point fingers.  It doesn't scold or reprove.  It doesn't hate. 

The TRUTH set me FREE and I will never be the same.  

Praise HIS Holy Name.   

PEACE

   LOVE &

      BLESSINGS

A



Awesome picture a friend of ours drew with pencil
It's hard to see in this pic but the word LOVE is in HIS left eye

 More Like Falling In Love

Jason Gray

Give me rules
I will break them
Give me lines
I will cross them
I need more than a truth to believe
I need a truth that lives, moves, and breathes
To sweep me off my feet
It ought to be

More like falling in love
Than something to believe in
More like losing my heart
Than giving my allegiance
Caught up, called out
Come take a look at me now
It's like I'm falling, oh
It's like I'm falling in love

Give me words
I'll misuse them
Obligations
I'll misplace them
'Cause all religion ever made of me
Was just a sinner with a stone tied to my feet
It never set me free
It's gotta be

CHORUS

...It's like I'm falling in love, love, love
Deeper and deeper
It was love that made
Me a believer
In more than a name, a faith, a creed
Falling in love with Jesus brought the change in me

My Boobs Are Mine....(sorry guys)

...once again.      teeheehee


Hello friends.  I have had a very busy week.  There have been lots of changes on the home front.  A new season is dawning and thus one is passing away. 

I know you're wondering about the boobs, probably can't get it out of your head right now.  "What is she talking about, her boobs are hers again?"  Well today marks the day that I completely stopped breast feeding.  We have been in the cut back process (weaning-makes me feel like a puppy should be involved) for a little while but today it is done.  Today I am a free woman...well as far as my boobs are concerned. 

You think I would be exstatic and completely over-joyed but it's not quite like that.  I am happy and sad.  I am happy because my baby is growing up.  Happy and thankful to GOD for how strong Buggie is and how healthy she is.  We are so Blessed by her, every single day.  The LORD has HIS hand on her, NO DOUBT! 

I am happy that we made it 13 months and 9 days doing something that is trying and exausting, sometimes painful and heartbreaking but oh so worth it producing a bond that cannot be described with words.  I am thankful for this AWESOME body GOD gave me!  Do you know the things this woman can do???  That all women can do?  We are serious! 

I am sad because my baby is growing up.  That she some how, in some ways, doesn't need me as much.   You see we have not only stopped nursing.  Buggie is now officially walking, sometimes running, around the house.  It has been a couple of months working with her, trying to get her to just take her hand off the ottoman once or take 1 step from Mom to Dad.  

               

A little snippet of her morning stroll         

Lately she has seemed much more interested in it but each adventure ends abruptly in a decision to stick to the crawl.  Then, this past Thursday, she was ready.  She took 2 steps to me from the bookcase in the office (/sewing room/storage closet room/guest room) ;)  It was so exciting and she was so proud of herself.  So we practiced quite a few more times.  Each time getting a little bit better.  By the time Daddy got home she was able to show him 4 steps in a row along with the biggest, cheesiest smile you have ever seen.  It has been a practice sesh (session) ever since.  Every day.  Every where.  She loves to walk and now tries running!  Egad!!!

Along with all of that she is changing, physically.  Like right before our very eyes.  We swore that she had changed from last night to this morning.  Her face, her hair, her smile.  She talks constantly with some words that you can actually understand.  Amazing!  She can read some words (thanks to Your Baby Can Read and Auntie Vy) and knows animals and colors (not all, mind you, but some).  She knows almost all of her body parts.  She loves her big brother with a love that is palpable, that you can see.  I could totally go on, as Moms do, but I won't.  Just know that she is AMAZING!!!  But she is changing and it is very bitter sweet.  

On a crafty note, I thought I would give you a sneak peek of something I have been working on.  I hope to have a mini how-to for you by tomorrow but there is no telling what tomorrow will bring. =)  I can only worry about today.

Isn't he cute?  Just wait!

I bid you adieu...until the morrow =D  I'm goofy, I know.  Happy Wednesday to everyone.  Half is past and half is yet to come!  Enjoy today - it is a Gift!!!

PEACE - LOVE & Bananas

P.S.  If there is anyone out there who has any questions about breast feeding please, please, please feel free to comment me with your email and I will contact you.  That way it's just between us.  I am no expert and will not claim to be but I did do it for 13 months and 9 days and Buggie and I went through a lot to be able to do it for that long.  I know the struggles and the joys and am so totally free and open to help, listen, encourage, you name it.  You can't embarrass me - you can't shock me...seriously! 

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off To Work I go....

...on some of my neglected projects.  Egad!  Why does that happen?  How do I start new projects without finishing those that are in the works???  I guess I would need a therapist to figure that out, huh?

I am trying to find some serious focus.  After the week and a half that has just taken place I feel like I've lost some momentum...not cool.  So to help get myself back in the groove I thought I would post some pics of a few of the things that I have managed to accomplish recently as a reminder of how great it feels to complete something! :)

You might have recalled that I mentioned some more birthdays in last night's post.  Well here is a sweet project I did for my Dad's birthday.  All you need is a picture frame, some scrapbook paper or card stock (paper of choice) and some Mod Podge (which big box dominator sells now-nice!). 

Totally slacked on getting a final shot with the photo in the frame but you get the idea.  Sorry about that.  It was super cute and a great present!!!


I also managed to make some super cute cupcake party take-home treats for Bubs Big Ten birthday party.  I had seen this idea in a couple of places and absolutely loved it.  All you need are some mason jars, cake & decorations.  They came out great and were a big hit! 

I baked my killer vegan cupcakes (that taste so good no one believes they're vegan and absolutely loves), cut them in half putting the bottom half of the cupcake on the bottom of the mason jar, piped frosting on top of that then placed the top of the cupcake on top of that and piped more frosting on that.  Bubby decorated them with sprinkles and such and then I did a little of this and that to the top and outside of the jars.  

If you have any occasion coming up where you need to bring a treat, try this.  So much fun!!!

Ok, I'm out for now...gotta get to sewing!  Stay tuned, more adventures in the life of the stitched & nameless to come!!!

Ahhhhh, FRIDAY!

Happy Friday to all!  Such a feat it is to make it to Friday and so great to be heading into the weekend.  For some reason it never feels this good on Sunday evening.  I have decided that over the next few days I HAVE to work on some of the unfinished projects I have going on around the house.  I can't focus on creating 'new' stuff when the current stuff is in stages.

I could work on this.... 

It's only our living room wall and it's only looked like this for about 4 months.  I'm afraid if I don't work on it/finish it soon D could take some drastic measures.  Not sure what those are but I know this is one project that needs to be completed.  We've already had family here twice since I started it.  I know they were expecting to come back and see the finished 'masterpiece' (not) and instead it looks exactly the same as it did when they were here in June.  Oy!        

I have about 15 sewing projects in the works...where do I even begin???

But really all I want to do is play with Buggie and spend some time marveling at some beautiful shots of Paris that my good friend Christy took on her recent vacation to the city of love, lights, weird food (teehee) and so much more.  You can't believe these pictures.  Please go over to Through My Looking Glass and check them out.  They are awesome!!! 

I guess for now I will at least complete our morning routine and try to wrap my head around where to begin.  Stay tuned......