Happy New Year!

My resolution for this year is to actually blog! hah I also have another one to learn a new embroidery stitch every month and hopefully blog about it.  Have a wonderful night.  See you next year!

Here's a little slideshow from Christmas.....Now I'm off to have dinner with my husband, have a few drinks and then come home early and play board games, cause we're cool like that....=)

Song Credit: The Christmas Waltz by: She & Him heres the Link.....

Adventures of Fred: Day 1

Our Elf on the Shelf, Fred, made his first appearance in our family last night before bed.  Two readings  and lots of questions later Tayson finally went to bed, super excited about where Fred would be hiding this morning. 

Well T got quite a surprise when he woke up this morning.  Fred made him breakfast! A fun shaped pancake with an M&M face, hot chocolate, some doughnuts and "snow."  He even wrote his name in the "snow."

Fred, needless to say, is now a very big hit in our house!

T even learned a new way to eat pancakes, they are great dipped in "snow!"

Check back tomorrow to see what Fred gets into. 

I'm back....

Merry Christmas! I disappeared for a while.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep doing the blog, but I realized I missed it, even if no one reads it.  I'm back just in time for Christmas and today is a big day in our house! Santa sent Tayson his very own Elf on the Shelf! Tayson named him Fred.  

I think I am going to use my blog to document the day to day happenings of Fred.  Also I am going to share all my Christmas crafting, I've been busy and I can't wait to share it with everyone!

Thanks everyone I can't wait to start sharing.  Here's Fred's very first picture.

MIA

I know I have been missing for a while but we have been crazy super busy......I hope to resume posting soon....=)

New Tunes Tuesday: Blind Pilot

This week we are going to talk about Blind Pilot. They are one of T's and my favorite band.  They are played around this house daily and T asks for them by name a lot.  I don't quiet remember how I discovered them, I think I randomly found them on i-tunes one day and it was love at first listen.  I have actually saw them live, they opened for The Decemberists last year on their Hazards of Love Tour, one of the best concerts ever by the way. 

On to the music....
I would call them an Indie Folk band, they have a traditional sound that I love.  T's favorite part of the band is the banjo and upright bass, which by the way he thinks Santa is bring him those 2 things for Christmas HAH.  If you like, Avertt Brothers, The Decemberists, Mumford and Son, any bands along those lines you will love Blind Pilot. 
They have one cd, 3 Rounds and A Sound with another one coming out this September called We are Tide.  They also have an ep on i-tunes with a cover of Gillian Welch's "Look at Miss Ohio" which is amazing! 

My favorite songs in no particular order
"The Story I Heard"
"Paint or Pollen"
"Oviedo"
"Look at Miss Ohio"
I can't wait for the new cd to come out heres a link to their Page with a free download of their new song!  

Cooking Sunday! Confetti Rice

Taco Night, or as T calls it, Taco Bell dinner.  He loves Taco Bell and we do eat there occasionally but at least once a week we have tacos. 
Since we don't really eat meat, my taco filling is a little different. I use rice with some lovely items mixed in.  This week we had brown rice with corn and edamame.  I usually throw black beans in there also but I was out =( I use this as taco filling for me and I make a bowl for T.  The thing I like about this recipe is you can add anything you want.  This week I just made the basic and at the end I will give you some possible additions.  So here is the basic recipe

Confetti Rice
1 TBS butter or oil 
1 cup edamame
1 cup corn fresh or frozen
1 packet taco seasoning or more to taste
2 Cups cooked brown rice
1/2 Cup Black beans drained and rinsed

Heat oil in pan, add edamame and saute' for a few minutes.  Add corn and taco seasoning next and cook for about five minutes.  Once the edamame and corn are fully heated  add the rice and black beans and cook for about 10 minutes. Taste and add more taco seasoning if needed.  Corn and edamame will brown slightly.  Use as taco filling or make a rice bowl add toppings eat and enjoy!

Pretty simple I know but we eat this at least once a week around here, its a great way to use left over rice.   Some great additions to your taco or rice bowl would be, black olives, salsa,sour cream ( we use tofutti) lettuce, tomatoes, onions,  cheese or anything else you can think of.  For this one we added onion and cheese. This can also be vegan if you omit the cheese or use soy or my favorite Daiya Cheese. 

Thanks for reading and I hoped you enjoyed my recipe.  Next week a twist on traditional rice crispy treat!

FABULOUS FRIDAY

Today is...

FABULOUS FRIDAY

I love Friday's for a few reasons! 

1.  My husband comes home! 
2. Its the first day of the weekend!
3. My husband comes home! (did I say that already?)

that's as close to a smile I get from him!

 This weekend we are doing nothing! I love these kind of weekends we get to hang around the house and just be together.  Our weekends are short and tend to fly by fast so I like to savor the few where we have nothing to do.  I love my little family!

So I do have a few plans for the weekend.  I am going to finish a set of valances for my bedroom, work on a few little birthday gifts for a cute little girl. I'm so excited I never get to make girl stuff!  Time to start my weekend, see you Sunday with a fun recipe enjoy your weekend!

my guys are cute aren't they?

Freezer Paper Stencil Captain America Tee

Who Knew! Freezer paper is an amazing little invention! I have read about it on so many blogs and I was waiting to find just the right project for my first attempt.  Well I found that project over at I Am Momma - Hear Me Roar.  She has an amazing tutorial for Captain America tee's.  Well my son is now completely obsessed with him, even though we have not seen the movie and never watched a cartoon.  So I thought this would be the perfect first project for freezer paper stenciling.  I think I may have been a little ambitious hah.

Now don't get me wrong it is very easy to do and she has wonderful instructions, but I am not good with details and being precise.  I think I should have picked something out that didn't require you to be quiet so accurate.  Lets get to some pictures and I will tell you what I did wrong and what I will do again!

Ok, here it goes.  First off so glad I spent the $5 on the x-acto knife, I don't think you could really do it without that.  I printed off the design from I Am Momma's site and traced it onto my freezer paper.  Here's where my first mistake came.  I can't trace hah.  Back to the whole detail orientated thing, tracing is very hard for me I never get my lines right and I tend to rush.  This is one of the reason why I think this was an ambitious first project, for me.   You have to get those circles just right or the stencil won't line up right.

 I have the first part all ironed on and started painting my white.  I am feeling really good at the point.  The paper really does iron right on. 

 Now this was the tricky part, see that middle white ring?  Well I painted that first and then put the stencil over it and it didn't line up perfect.  Now I'm sure I could have done something like make another one but eh, I was just more playing then anything.  So since it didn't line and cover all that i painted white I got some red paint on the white ring.  Not that big of a deal my son didn't care that it was perfect!

Here is is all finished! I am pretty happy with it.  like I said no perfect but cute none the less.  The kiddo doesn't mind so neither do I. 

 Have to throw in a few action shots.  Mamaw had just bought him the shield the day before and I do believe he is getting the helmet tomorrow.  Oh I also added a little star to the bottom of the shirt, just cause!  Thanks for looking and I will have more freezer paper adventures soon!

Terrible Two's

This is my sweet, wonderful adorable son, look how happy is.  This is what my used to look like 75% of the time.  Now we are well into the terrible 2's and I only get this cute little boy 25% of the time.
The rest of the time I now get this crying, whining, hysterical little boy that, according to him, "I don't like you anymore." He no longer wants to change his clothes, get his diaper changed, sleep, eat anything except goldfish crackers and cliff bars, or drink water.  I hope this phase in his childhood goes quickly I miss my sweet little boy! 
  

New Tunes Tuesday

Welcome to my first New Tunes Tuesday! I will be talking about music I like, old and new. Since this is my first week I am going to just kinda give you an over view of what I like.  I am all over the map with my musical taste.  I grew up with my mom and grandma listening to old country, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Earnest Tubb, Patsy Cline and so on.  I still love old country music but I am somewhat particular about new country music, if it doesn't have a fiddle or steel guitar to me its not country =)

Now I'm going to show you how eclectic my musical taste is....

Top 5 Artists (in not particular order)
1. The Decemberists
2.Everclear
3.Yeah Yeah Yeah's
4. George Straight
5. Matchbox Twenty

Wow that was hard and it changes from day to day now in no particular order other artists I like are...
She & Him, Bird and the Bee, Janis Joplin, Blind Pilot, Old Crow Medicine Show, Bob Dylan, Brad Paisley,  Little Big Town, Aerosmith, Florence and the Machine, Company of Thieves, Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs, Mumford and Sons, Pink, Amy Winehouse, Ben Folds, Blink 182, No Doubt it goes on and on....I could sit here all day name music but I'm not going to bore you with that today.

Music is a big part of my life, I can hear a song and remember a specific time of my life. Example, Shooter Jennings had a song called "4th of July" and every time I hear that song I go back to the first summer I spent with my husband in his semi and it makes me smile. I feel in love with my husband that summer and that song was the background music.

The same goes for thinking back to major events in my life they are all tied to music.  When my grandmother passed away Backstreet Boys "Show me the Meaning of being Lonely" was big and I can remember just sitting in my car crying listening to that song over and over.  Now I don't think when that song was written that they were thinking about the death of a grandmother, but, for me, that's what the song was about and it meant a lot to me. There are a lot of songs i tie to my grandma, but they are all happy, that song makes me think of her death and how hard it was.

On a happy note right now I am rocking out to some Eisley, a recent discovery and just bouncing away.  I hope everyone enjoyed my first new Tunes Tuesday! Next week I will focus on a single, artist album or maybe even song! Thanks for Checking it out!

Happy Monday!

Good afternoon, this week I am going to re-do my blog.  I have been working on a schedule and I am going to start having certain posts on certain days.  I haven't worked it all out yet but I do know starting tomorrow we will have New Tunes Tuesday and every week I will list some good music that I am feeling that week.  Thursdays will be a crafty blog and Sundays will be, Cooking Sundays. I'm still working out all the kinks and I plan on giving the blog a new look and my wonderful husband is drawing me up a new logo! So bear with me this week and look for some changes.  I will be back tomorrow with my first New Tunes Tuesday.  

           xoxo
              Ruby

Touch-A-Truck Day!

Today was Touch-A-Truck day at the local YMCA.  They had trucks from all over the community there for the kids to touch and play in.  The kids had a to take a little paper around and get signed by each truck station.  Once they had went to all the truck stations they received a certificate and some coupons for local business! They also had a horse, clown making balloon animals, bounce house and tons of fun things! It was a great event and I hope they continue it each year. 

Now my truck obsessed 2 year old had a BLAST! His favorite was the concrete mixer truck.  

Here's some more pictures from the event.  This was a wonderful free community event.  Thank you to everyone that organized and supported the event. 

I Won!

If you are an avid blog reader, as I am sure most of you are, you enter giveaways.  I enter one or two a week and never win, but this time I won! Gina over at Acute Designs  is having her summer of giveaways!  I enter and didn't win a par of Toms.  Then she posted that the person who won never responded and the new winner was ME! 

Now for the really funny part. I have wanted Toms for a while and just never got around to buying them.  I finally broke down on vacation and bought a pair the next morning I won the giveaway hah....

So now I have 2 wonderful pair of Toms and two children now have new shoes also, one for one.  

If you'd like to check out Gina's latest giveaway head over here.  She has a wonderful site and an amazing shop that I am in love with. Thanks Gina!

Child Of The 80's...!!!!

I am a geek, a very big geek and I'm ok with that.  On Sunday night I went to a concert with my best friend and my sister.  It was an amazing concert and we all had a blast. We almost got flooded out because of the rain, we got stuck in major traffic, and then had to walk 2 blocks in the pouring rain! I don't remember when the last time I had that much fun was and it was great! Guess who I saw!

NKOTBSB!!!!

Or for those un-hip people New Kids On The Block and Backstreet Boys! It was such a good time with great people.  We got all dressed up teased our hair and did crazy make up.

This is Donnie, I have loved him since I was about 6 years old.  In this picture he is singing my favorite song, Covergirl. Right after this picture he ripped his shirt off and I screamed like a 10 year old girl seeing Justin Beiber.  I didn't get a picture of the shirt getting ripped off, sadly my camera went dead this was the last picture I took. 

This would be the Backstreet Boys singing I'll never break your heart to some very lucky ladies.  I swear I wasn't hoping they would slip and fall...=) 

My sister, me and my best friend.  We really had the best time. It was worth every penny and I am so glad I spent it with my sister and my best friend!

Cooking Sunday!

Happy Sunday! We had a wonderful breakfast this morning, banana waffles, Morning Star Sausage, and hash-browns! It was so good.

I'm going to share the banana waffle recipe with you, sorta.  I can not take credit for this recipe I found it on Vegweb.com.  I did tweak it a little so I will link to the recipe and then tell you what I did different.  Banan Waffles. 

First thing first unless you are just feeding 2 people double this.  Doubling this make about 8 waffles in my waffle maker. 

 Heres what I do.

2/3 cup whole wheat flour
    2/3 cup vanilla nondairy milk (I use soy)
    2 teaspoons turbinado sugar (raw sugar)
    1 teaspoon pure maple syrup
    1/2 teaspoon sea salt
    1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
    1 banana cut up
    1/4 cup light olive oil
    1 tsp cinnamon

    1 tsp vanilla

 Mix everything together, I use my stand mixer so the banana really gets mashed up well.  The kinda tricky part for me was finding out a good amount for my waffle maker.  I use about 1/4 and cook till the light goes out.  I never timed it but I think its about 5 minutes.  These are pretty standard in my house everyone loves them and there are never any leftovers. Hope everyone has a great Sunday. 

The Joy's of Sewing....=)

I'm going to start by saying I am just learning to sew.  I know the basics, I can make a pillow, curtain, anything really that just requires me to sew a straight line.  I am trying to venture out of my comfort zone.  I made a draw string bag for a swap and I made my bug a pair of seersucker shorts! Neither was great but I'm ok with that.  I know I will never be great at sewing, it requires a level of detail that I don't have.  All the measuring and cutting within fractions of an inch, never going to happen lol. 

That's not going to stop me from having fun with it though.  Today my attempt is a camera strap cover.  It is my first endeavour into fusible interfacing.  Lets say that didn't go as planned.

Did you know if you leave the iron on it very long it melts.  You should have seen my iron, I wish I would have taken a picture of it before I cleaned it.  So lets go over the mistakes I made today.  

1. When ironing open the seams do not stay in one place to long it will melt the interfacing. (see above picture)

2. Make it a wider so it is easier to turn right side out and so it actually fits the strap. It took me about 20 minutes to get it turned inside right. 

3. Do not put the interfacing all the way to the ends.  Next time I am going have the interfacing a little shorter then the straps, it was really thick and kinda hard to get started on the end with the interfacing and the fabric all doubled over.  

This is the finished project, it fits but it's kinda snug, it was hard to get on, oh and theres a chunk of melted interfacing in there =) 

I am going to try again, I think I can make this work!  I know I can make this work! 

If anyone has comments or suggestions please feel free to leave them! I read all everything and I will respond.  

Organizationally Challenged?

Hi my name is Ruby and.....I am not a neat person, I am not organized, I do not like to clean....(my wonderful husband will vouch for this)

I am somewhat overwhelmed with projects at the moment and when I get overwhelmed I just do nothing.  So this is my small attempt at getting "organized".   This is my space, I love my space and it makes me happy it may look messy but I know where everything is!

So my small attempt to get "organized" and finish my projects, see that small yellow square?

Yep thats it! I made a list and taped it to the wall so I won't lose it.  I said it was a small attempt.  I think my problem at the moment is I am working on a valance for my kitchen and I'm just not feeling it.  I like it but I don't want to work on it but I also don't want to start anything else till I finish it.

So, are you a neat organized person?  Or are you like me, messy and happy?

Cooking Sunday!

Ever have one of those days where you wake up and just want to start cooking or baking?  Well I did this morning. 

So far I have made....

1. Doughnut Holes from Sarah Kramer's La Dolce Vegan!

2. Breakfast Casserole, my own recipe.

3. Oatmeal Cookies, adapted from Simple Oatmeal Cookies in La Dolce Vegan! 
 Recipe Below! Bear with me this is the first time I've wrote out a recipe. 

Heres my Oatmeal Cookies.  I call them Everything Oatmeal

1/2 cup vegan margarine (room temp)
2 tbsp raw sugar
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup soy milk
1 tsp wheat germ
1 tsp milled flax seed
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 mini m&m's

Preheat oven to 325. Mix sugar and margarine together.  Add in everything else but the m&m's and mix well.  Once everything is combined good add your m&m's.  I roll mine into small balls and then kinda flatten them. Bake at 325 for 15-17 minutes.  This makes about 12 nice sized cookies.  I almost always double it though! I like this because you can add whatever you want to it.  Today I also threw in some mini reese's pieces.

They are kid approved!