tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71715810242620339082024-03-12T23:37:31.269-07:00A League of Her OwnKuparstwnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11534948159755570099noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7171581024262033908.post-43857945730837045092020-05-18T12:47:00.001-07:002021-02-10T13:35:32.315-08:00Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs<br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Instant Pot Best Spaghetti & Meatballs</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Original creative recipe from <a href="https://pressureluckcooking.com/recipe/instant-pot-spaghetti-meatballs/">Pressure Luck</a>. Find their variations there as well.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Ingredients: </span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">2 Tbsp oil</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">2 Tbsp salted butter</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">1 onion, chopped</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">3 cloves garlic, minced</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">1 lb frozen meatballs (store bought or homemade)</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">3 cups broth of choice</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">3 cups marinara sauce, divided</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">1 tsp oregano</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">1 lb spaghetti noodles</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">10 oz cherry tomatoes</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">1/4 cup grated Parmesan</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">(See original recipe site for variations and additions)</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Directions:</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">1) Add oil and butter to Instant Pot, hit SAUTE - HIGH. Add onion and garlic. Saute 3 minutes.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">2) Add meatballs, followed by broth, 1 1/2 cups marinara and oregano. Stir well.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">3) In batches, break noodles in half and layer on top. Press down to cover with liquid but do not stir!</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">4) Top with tomatoes. Secure lid. Hit CANCEL then MANUAL. Set for 8 minutes, quick release.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">5) After steam clears, remove lid, and add remaining 1 1/2 cups marinara and Parmesan. Stir. Rest with lid on for 3-5 minutes before serving.</span><br />
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<br />Kuparstwnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11534948159755570099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7171581024262033908.post-43355153145909238642017-12-31T12:12:00.001-08:002017-12-31T12:12:42.254-08:00Harvest Vox Box from InfluensterIn early November, I received the Harvest Vox Box from <a href="http://www.influenster.com/">Influenster</a>. There were all types of goodies inside given to me by Influenster in exchange for honest reviews. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfrNm6V46wWnCsmWLRZVfHYK_QYjrkwfCzXZ37x21kQpjTutUqlzMYdskDjdjFvp0SthSKnFk06ILkgwHb78lPLJeMkI9OVpLT8bfozdAYqcpZKXUcPXPbX7GtCJgP6l_rYNtFjULyu8E/s1600/IMG_0135%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1242" data-original-width="1242" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfrNm6V46wWnCsmWLRZVfHYK_QYjrkwfCzXZ37x21kQpjTutUqlzMYdskDjdjFvp0SthSKnFk06ILkgwHb78lPLJeMkI9OVpLT8bfozdAYqcpZKXUcPXPbX7GtCJgP6l_rYNtFjULyu8E/s320/IMG_0135%255B1%255D.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Contents of the box:<br />
Two coupons for <a href="https://tastymiddles.com/">Cole's Middles</a> frozen snacks.<br />
Two packets of <a href="https://ilovegain.com/en-us">Gain Botanicals</a> plant based laundry detergents<br />
- one Orange Blossom Vanilla<br />
- one White Tea & Lavendar<br />
One coupon for <a href="http://www.countrycrock.com/">Country Crock</a> spread<br />
A sample of <a href="https://www.verawang.com/fragrance/embrace/">Vera Wang Embrace</a>, Green Tea and Pear Blossom scent<br />
A sample of 24-Hour Intense Hydrating Shea Body Butter from <a href="http://www.treehutshea.com/">Tree Hut</a> in Coconut Lime Scent<br />
A sample of <a href="https://eva-nyc.com/">eva-nyc</a> Mane Magic 10-in1 Primer<br />
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I have worked with Influenster since mid-2015. They have shared some fun products with me (sippy cups and single use coupons) but this was my first full box. I was very excited to have been chosen and even more excited when it arrived! Even the sample size products are multi-use (except for the laundry detergent). The little body butter tub is going to last all winter!<br />
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My favorite product was definitely the Cole's Middles. Who doesn't love snacks? One coupon was used for bread with mac and cheese flavor. With the second coupon we purchased preztel middles with beer cheese. We prepared our snacks for family movie night. My kids ages 3 - 9 all enjoyed them, as did my husband. They were just the right cheesy, salty, tastiness we needed. We will definitely buy these again in the future!<br />
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Another favorite product was the Vera Wang Embrace perfume. I'm actually not usually a perfume girl. However, this scent is so light and airy it doesn't feel over-powering at all! It's very summery and we are in the dead of winter here in Cleveland. I look forward to wearing this scent in a few months!<br />
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Lastly, the hair primer from eva-nyc is a great product for my house where we have three ladies with long, thick hair! We're all enjoy the magic from this hair primer!<br />
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Those were our favorites, but I definitely enjoyed trying all the included products. I look forward to be selected again in the future for more products and coupons. Thanks Influenster!<br />
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Want to join and review products too? Use my referral link - <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null">www.influenster.com/r/1425699</a><br />
All products were received for free in exchange for honest reviews. <br />
Kuparstwnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11534948159755570099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7171581024262033908.post-87185200519044446682016-02-05T18:15:00.000-08:002017-10-28T11:07:13.032-07:00Four Creative Ways to Wrap Gift CardsMy nieces and nephews are all at the age where they prefer to receive gift cards or money for any gift giving situation. I completely understand this, but my kids are still little so my husband and I continue to enjoy shopping for actual gifts. Anyway, for Christmas, my husband and I thought it would be really funny if we got them the gift cards they wanted, but then we wrapped them all up in funny ways. You know, so everyone else could enjoy it too.<br />
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Gift one. 8 year old nephew got a Toys R Us gift card in a teddy bear.<br />
Difficulty level for you: Easy<br />
Difficulty level for them: Mildly entertaining<br />
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1) Locate a bear or other stuffed animal headed for donation.<br />
2) Cut an opening right along the seam on the back of the bear.<br />
3) Shove gift card in the bear. Be sure to surround it with stuffing so it isn't immediately noticeable.<br />
4) Sew the seam back up.<br />
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Gift two. 11 year old niece got a Macy's gift card in a big old ball of Saran Wrap.<br />
Difficulty level for you: Easy<br />
Difficulty level for them: Time-consuming and sweat-inducing<br />
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1) Tape a small ball of clear plastic wrap on each side of your gift card (so you don't end up with a rhombohedron* like I did).<br />
2) Begin wrapping your gift card ball while turning item every which direction.<br />
3) Make sure to cut the plastic wrap every three feet or so. Then begin with a new piece. This is slightly more time consuming, but otherwise, they are just going to unwind the whole thing in one fell swoop. And what fun is that for you?<br />
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Gift three. 12 year old nephew got a Game Stop gift card in a super-glued music box.<br />
Difficulty level for you: Super Easy<br />
Difficulty level for them: Disappointingly easy<br />
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1) Find the most childish and girly music box you can.<br />
2) Place gift card inside.<br />
3) Superglue the edges and close.<br />
4) Allow to dry.<br />
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Gift four. 16 year old niece got a gift card to Forever 21 in a block of ice.<br />
Difficulty level for you: Moderate (for time)<br />
Difficulty level for them: Patience-trying and may cause bursts of ingenuity or creativity<br />
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1) Get a large plastic tub. We used a 5 gallon tub that previously housed ice cream. It was sturdy and had a handle.<br />
2) Fill half way with water.<br />
3) Freeze.<br />
4) Carve out a little slot for your gift card to stand in so it doesn't slosh around.<br />
5) Fill remainder with water.<br />
6) Freeze.<br />
*7) It was unseasonably warm here at Christmas, so we wrapped it in one of those plastic gift bags meant for a bicycle. It did start to melt, so this was a good choice. If it had been our normal mid-20s, we would have wrapped normally and left it outside until unwrapping time.<br />
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By far the hardest to get into was the Saran Wrapped gift card. She really had to work at it and even recruited the younger cousins for help. The easiest was the music box. The bear was entertaining simply because they just decided to tear it limb from limb to get it open. Our oldest niece got tired of waiting for the ice to melt, so she hunted down a hair dryer and triumphantly came to us declaring victory. Hours after we opened presents.<br />
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All in all, this was fantastic fun (for us). We will be spending the next 10 1/2 months thinking up even better ideas for 2016's Christmas gift card requests!<br />
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* A rhombohedron is the name for a 3D rhombus. Now you're one word smarter!<br />
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Kuparstwnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11534948159755570099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7171581024262033908.post-1583392123455911852014-02-23T12:12:00.000-08:002017-10-28T11:07:23.035-07:00Cleveland Restaurants Progressive DinnerWe celebrated our 8 year wedding anniversary in June. We don't go out as much as we would like. And we have a pretty extensive list of "must try" CLE restaurants. So we thought a progressive dinner for our anniversary might be fun.<br />
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We started at <a href="http://cropbistro.com/">Crop Bistro</a> in the Market District. We got drinks and appetizers. It was awesome! (Kind of wish we'd stayed for our whole meal!)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Must have been feeling pretty dapper.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready to start a fun night!</td></tr>
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We ordered Balsamic Popcorn and the Grilled Flatbread. Both were amazing.<br />
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Seriously, the popcorn was amazing...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Like really really good.</td></tr>
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The building Crop occupies was built in the early 1900s as a bank. It's cavernous, but beautiful. Ask your server to visit the vault!<br />
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Next we went to <a href="http://spicekitchenandbar.com/">Spice Kitchen & Bar</a> in Gordon Square for our main courses. It was okay, but not what we had been hoping for based on recommendations from friends. Again, we wish we had stayed at Crop for the whole meal!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjie75GUzl9NptykkuwB6_1xD-02t66czLEWK84KPrQV_CBCHcyM8Px0zbwmx-9KsnmNVzXfGUPbEBwDxjUAgdhxgTpXop8QRI7N5a8XmB19jlCELqs1MboSQeFShNXtZ17gGvJYEOYARWz/s1600/IMG_1517.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjie75GUzl9NptykkuwB6_1xD-02t66czLEWK84KPrQV_CBCHcyM8Px0zbwmx-9KsnmNVzXfGUPbEBwDxjUAgdhxgTpXop8QRI7N5a8XmB19jlCELqs1MboSQeFShNXtZ17gGvJYEOYARWz/s320/IMG_1517.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dinner at Spice.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
For dessert, we went to <a href="http://rossogelato.com/">Rosso Gelato</a> in Rocky River. What a little gem of a place! We'd never been before, but we'll surely be taking the girls back. We've had real authentic gelato (and lots of it!) in Italy. People who claim that American copy cats just can't get it right aren't lying. But this place was nearly perfect! Give it a try sometime!<br />
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For second dessert (what what?!) we went to <a href="http://www.cafemelissa.com/">Sweet Melissa</a>. We got a triple chocolate torte and chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecake. Delish, but we probably should have stopped at one dessert location!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Too.Much.Dessert.</td></tr>
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All in all we had a wonderful time and we both agreed that we'd like to do this again in the future! It's an easy way to try a bunch of different places while only employing* a babysitter for one evening. AND, I can't believe it's been 8 years!!!<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*standard grandparent rates apply</span>
Kuparstwnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11534948159755570099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7171581024262033908.post-27558679294362776282012-06-18T17:25:00.000-07:002017-10-28T11:08:26.500-07:00Fancy Nancy Birthday PartyOur daughter is a HUGE fan of Fancy Nancy. If you don't know much about Fancy Nancy, head to <a href="http://www.fancynancyworld.com/">her website</a> or check out some of the books. It's just adorable. We haven't ventured into friend parties yet, but that didn't stop us from throwing a big Fancy Nancy soiree (that's a fancy word for party) for our family.<br />
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In the past we've done full meals for birthday parties. It gets to be a lot. It's also not how I grew up. In my family we just did cake and ice cream for the most part. I thought doing just a cake and ice cream party would cut down on my planning stress - for sure. Wrong. As soon as I got my husband to agree to a dessert only party, it occurred to me that we were having a Fancy Nancy party. So it couldn't be simple cake and ice cream. We were going to have to do cupcakes and parfaits (that's a fancy word for ice cream sundae)!<br />
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Invitations<br />
My husband used a mass produced invite as inspiration and whipped up a cute invite to the soiree, then we sent it out via e-mail.<br />
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Cupcakes<br />
I made four varieties of cupcakes in standard size and mini. The minis were great. It gave guests a chance to taste a couple flavors without the guilt of eating multiple cupcakes. We made Pink Lemonade Cupcakes w/ Pink Lemonade frosting, <a href="http://www.tablespoon.com/recipes/key-lime-cheesecake-cupcakes-recipe/1/">Key Lime Cheesecake Cupcakes w/ Key Lime Cream Cheese Icing</a>, French Vanilla Cupcakes w/ Chocolate Frosting, and Red Velvet Cupcakes w/ Cream Cheese Frosting. I'll admit, all cupcakes were mostly boxed mixes. You just can't mess them up! The key lime goodness did require extra ingredients and steps. The chocolate frosting and cream cheese frosting were homemade.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzSbWs4KHW2wFvIMctDHG1wFQU6LK7RgCG7tGCXPAmVqu0qIjWWSW9l0aPB4_yPRxKHZo1mTnoTwQFbdcAQR1EyWZSTIIrMwCk-giZFLtH3AiZy5_ikMh82b5M0NPjTDBZ7pv9YRMAeuw/s1600/IMG_7466.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzSbWs4KHW2wFvIMctDHG1wFQU6LK7RgCG7tGCXPAmVqu0qIjWWSW9l0aPB4_yPRxKHZo1mTnoTwQFbdcAQR1EyWZSTIIrMwCk-giZFLtH3AiZy5_ikMh82b5M0NPjTDBZ7pv9YRMAeuw/s320/IMG_7466.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cheesecake IN the cupcake. I'm so sad for anyone who didn't try this one!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2qmI-sbbjonc3u_lS14XLz8d_yRiahHXipd_XeWM5Ec_yewRxxh2AlHqTeSjPdZdHMSk2Rn1pJJAwzrUF1eQfNH3enTX0P96QE7sC2chgNaRAgE0I1LKHgOR0njTEDzqOBleO3Ox0sRg/s1600/IMG_7503.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2qmI-sbbjonc3u_lS14XLz8d_yRiahHXipd_XeWM5Ec_yewRxxh2AlHqTeSjPdZdHMSk2Rn1pJJAwzrUF1eQfNH3enTX0P96QE7sC2chgNaRAgE0I1LKHgOR0njTEDzqOBleO3Ox0sRg/s320/IMG_7503.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Minis.</td></tr>
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Parfaits<br />
Choice of chocolate or vanilla ice cream, chocolate dipped cones, cups and lots of toppings - chocolate syrup, caramel syrup, <a href="http://www.creationsbykara.com/2011/05/peanut-butter-sauce-ice-cream-topping.html">homemade peanut butter sauce</a>, marshmallows, Spanish peanuts, M&Ms, sprinkles, blueberries, strawberries, pineapple, whipped cream, and cherries.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHCrasjhLEjQX7RCo3LkpdYimuyTWLyGt5Pz4EJaSxmFcjTkOUMiPlQ9VWZGI92wRWh-oZyX15tWw8imFuMDoEFdfNRvZ7nxzO0dDvrj-2TUHWCAUZA0udKBmdArgpTQsQU1VfgbyOFDw/s1600/IMG_7468.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHCrasjhLEjQX7RCo3LkpdYimuyTWLyGt5Pz4EJaSxmFcjTkOUMiPlQ9VWZGI92wRWh-oZyX15tWw8imFuMDoEFdfNRvZ7nxzO0dDvrj-2TUHWCAUZA0udKBmdArgpTQsQU1VfgbyOFDw/s320/IMG_7468.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The person who came up with the rice idea is a genius!!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxbiQFCtR2NHZYzggRtmrJcjigxZzCxEObfjaF57m0PIyzBSrfJOyBgY3KxntqqBI99DXwLSWUoJeWozFRDc67a8dBkg3F89INdNkALKxdJkO-E8edQ5pQLw47f8wrOIkhZyIRlrNDAw8/s1600/IMG_7501.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxbiQFCtR2NHZYzggRtmrJcjigxZzCxEObfjaF57m0PIyzBSrfJOyBgY3KxntqqBI99DXwLSWUoJeWozFRDc67a8dBkg3F89INdNkALKxdJkO-E8edQ5pQLw47f8wrOIkhZyIRlrNDAw8/s320/IMG_7501.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Drinks<br />
Water, coffee, and <a href="http://allrecipes.com/recipe/orange-dream-punch/">Orange Dream Punch</a> (with addition of vanilla ice cream)<br />
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Decorations<br />
We used Maris's birthday banner (seen above) - an old favorite by now. I had the great idea to assemble, frame, and display all her Fancy Nancy puzzles. They weren't a standard photo size (of course!) so we did have to do some work to get them to stay without harming their future use, but once we did, they were adorable!! As you can see in the pics above, we made our own cupcake toppers and 'menu' which also added to the decorating theme.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie_thPD-x9OZzgN8GDv7JvbwydqJl9Gi6yA4-V6wOBNRbUn47c8LvuDJ_W6ZAaIkzxcA3jpSnf88gjEkKTExNzZUU0py7CRBeIr5xTFky-pC-1juy5Wn1MpeLeG8sMI8zJ1E38d02TZWs/s1600/IMG_7498.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie_thPD-x9OZzgN8GDv7JvbwydqJl9Gi6yA4-V6wOBNRbUn47c8LvuDJ_W6ZAaIkzxcA3jpSnf88gjEkKTExNzZUU0py7CRBeIr5xTFky-pC-1juy5Wn1MpeLeG8sMI8zJ1E38d02TZWs/s320/IMG_7498.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1 of 5 framed puzzles and her Fancy Nancy doll.</td></tr>
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Dress up!<br />
We had a dress up station called, Maris's Boutique. Lots of our guests came dressed up or with fancy accessories, but we were prepared for the ones who didn't! We filled her basket and coat tree with scarves, hats, ties, tiaras, necklaces, rings, bracelets, flowers, etc. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEYN_rEeRcbwa6K6fCZCcuFDDhM5KN-ISNZjW_YO7JQnoojWJDAuC5RN8O2rin1n91Y4Th9JMR1T-zkFBRjOYaSFk47gju9nszztAzUQsDJOSNUtgdzYurtH612WFl270CqM4Zj9cFn3g/s1600/IMG_7624.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEYN_rEeRcbwa6K6fCZCcuFDDhM5KN-ISNZjW_YO7JQnoojWJDAuC5RN8O2rin1n91Y4Th9JMR1T-zkFBRjOYaSFk47gju9nszztAzUQsDJOSNUtgdzYurtH612WFl270CqM4Zj9cFn3g/s320/IMG_7624.jpg" width="250" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ooh la la, Darling!</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3eVvxx-kK_1dggZBkrfB_1rUllTD2zhNhHwkNK_pocaLIRaLWmuGX8ERltpLLqTujbmKD3VPBMAhutXg0J4PbEOL09j9NK82uarBsLIIYVZzLuRv-eobsBE1RQrcb0FBg_xdKM67oBYY/s1600/IMG_7512.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3eVvxx-kK_1dggZBkrfB_1rUllTD2zhNhHwkNK_pocaLIRaLWmuGX8ERltpLLqTujbmKD3VPBMAhutXg0J4PbEOL09j9NK82uarBsLIIYVZzLuRv-eobsBE1RQrcb0FBg_xdKM67oBYY/s320/IMG_7512.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dress up!</td></tr>
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Lastly, you can't have a fancy party without fancy guests.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1IaylVcspujJbMtoOomcQm3f9vofIF8XZahW1PzLbwHGHUZV6X40qk-W4aBikmuTrNuWj1_W6Btn_489j1HZpRMxNmlDOT11oSA8int9IhodNVecmxND_5LSBIHmC_QdJOMoqDZiFwbw/s1600/IMG_7616.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1IaylVcspujJbMtoOomcQm3f9vofIF8XZahW1PzLbwHGHUZV6X40qk-W4aBikmuTrNuWj1_W6Btn_489j1HZpRMxNmlDOT11oSA8int9IhodNVecmxND_5LSBIHmC_QdJOMoqDZiFwbw/s320/IMG_7616.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fancy grandparents</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzrPJ86p9AU1C4YxRHBsGxLwxp_M0rOiPWBLOP7AodYtlrjAqBw6RF_3n4BDCXBIpmvAcps4NANI9EZ3pRLzllZGjzxx_Ln-N7funkKT9SZnojNC1WJUm1MSqqaVnm-OYU5c5nzFXAats/s1600/IMG_7621.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzrPJ86p9AU1C4YxRHBsGxLwxp_M0rOiPWBLOP7AodYtlrjAqBw6RF_3n4BDCXBIpmvAcps4NANI9EZ3pRLzllZGjzxx_Ln-N7funkKT9SZnojNC1WJUm1MSqqaVnm-OYU5c5nzFXAats/s320/IMG_7621.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Fancy Family</td></tr>
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Okay, now that the party is over, I've sworn off anymore themed events. We are going to go old school and have cake, ice cream, and presents in a decorationless house. Please come back in February where you will probably see that the previous statement was a lie. (I can't help it. They are so fun!)<br />
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Happy Birthday Fancy Maris!!<br />
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<br />Kuparstwnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11534948159755570099noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7171581024262033908.post-40083372300306746302012-02-03T12:36:00.000-08:002017-10-28T11:08:38.650-07:00Birthday Party {Supergirl Theme} {Soup Theme}Our youngest celebrated her first birthday last week. When planning her party we decided we wanted to have a soup party, which we would call 'SOUPer.' The Supergirl theme was then born from that. It turned out to be pretty fun.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Soup Buffet</td></tr>
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The food was yummy! We offered five kinds of soup which we kept warm in crock pots. To accompany the soup, we had nine varieties of bread, plus oyster crackers, goldfish crackers, bread sticks, and a cracker/cheese tray. We also put out some veggies and dip. We had <a href="http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110426045534AASOrJt">Stormy Day Ham Bean Soup</a>, <a href="http://iowagirleats.com/2012/01/08/spaghetti-and-meatball-soup/">Spaghetti and Meatball Soup</a>, Rivel Soup, Black Bean Soup, and <a href="http://www.food.com/recipe/paneras-cream-cheese-potato-soup-150863">Panera Cream Cheese Potato Soup</a>.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bread buffet</td></tr>
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Aside from your usual party beverages (all non-alcoholic - we <i>were</i> in a church!), I got to use my brand new Crate & Barrel drink dispenser for <a href="http://wouldbewritersguild.com/blog/2008/07/15/why-i-keep-getting-invited-to-parties/">a tasty punch</a>. I got that recipe from <a href="http://pinterest.com/kuparstwn/">Pinterest</a>. I'll be honest; the only reason we had punch was so I could use my drink dispenser!<br />
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My husband made the big cake and the smash cake. Thanks to my brother and his wife for saving the day (and party) by rushing to our house to transport the cake. I think my husband had high hopes for the big cake, but we just ran out of time! The smash cake was adorable with pink and yellow super symbols all over it! <br />
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We went light on decorations this time. I made a birthday banner for Miss Paige and we had four balloons that we tied to the high chair. The rest of our decorations were comprised of the tableclothes in purple, pink, and yellow, plus coordinating plates, cups, and napkins. I actually thought it was perfect! The colors were very vibrant and cheery and stood out in the large white room we were in. We also had a coloring station with <a href="http://www.printable-coloring-pictures.com/coloring/DCComics/supergirl.gif.html">Supergirl</a>, <a href="http://www.coloring-book.info/coloring/coloring.php?id=4130">Superman</a>, and <a href="http://www.coloring-book.info/coloring/coloring.php?id=8373">Superdog</a> printables.<br />
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As always I feel the need to extend the theme into our clothing. The four of us wore Supergirl/man shirts. Johnny actually had a white button down over his shirt a la Clark Kent, which was funny, but I don't think anyone got it. Paige also wore a tutu which I made for her.<br />
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All in all this was probably my favorite party to plan (my favorite theme remains <a href="http://aleagueofherown.blogspot.com/2011/01/polka-dot-birthday.html">the polka dots</a> though!). It was easy and fun. However, we would NOT do a soup party on our own again. It is one of my favorite ideas for a potluck, but even with help from my mom and grandma, I was completely overwhelmed. I made three varieties of soup myself. It was time consuming and not easy to transport. The cake suffered because I took over the kitchen. The only other drawback to the party was that it never once occurred to me to include my favorite ice cream - Superman. My dad, brother, and I are all kind of obsessed with it. I can't believe none of us ever thought to include it! Let's be honest, it would have been perfect!!<br />
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Thank you to everyone who helped to put the All Star 2's First Birthday Party in a league of its own!<br />
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Kuparstwnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11534948159755570099noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7171581024262033908.post-80208105825318067752012-01-19T04:41:00.000-08:002017-10-28T11:08:50.405-07:00DIY: T-Shirt Quilt<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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After I graduated from college, I made a t-shirt quilt with the t-shirts from my sorority. I had no idea what I was doing. I chose my shirts and some quilt fabric that matched to make the border. I do love the way it turned out, but it was not without challenges. I had no idea how to sew knit t-shirt material. Despite what the picture shows (or doesn't!) most of the shirt squares are pulled in the corners.<br />
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My second attempt went much better! I decided to make a quilt for my brother's birthday. He's transplanted to Denver, and I always like to make him feel <strike>homesick</strike> nostalgic. I bought <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/52039055/t-shirt-memory-quilt-blanket-pattern">a pattern</a> from <a href="http://maidenjane.blogspot.com/">Maiden Jane</a>. I had several questions that she happily answered through e-mail. Then I was off and sewing. I completed the quilt with relative ease. The final product was just what I imagined and I knew my brother would love it!<br />
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When I make the next quilt, I may merge the wonderful pattern I used this time with some of my favorite things about the first quilt I made. I do love the patchwork sashing of the sorority quilt. And I have big plans to adapt the pattern to make quilts from the All Stars' baby clothes in a few years.<br />
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Have you ever tried a t-shirt quilt?<br />
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Kuparstwnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11534948159755570099noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7171581024262033908.post-35051206136346400792012-01-05T19:08:00.000-08:002017-10-28T11:09:05.616-07:00DIY: Fabric FlowersRecently we had our family photos taken. The color combination I chose for our clothes had my girls wearing navy blue, so I wanted to do something to make their outfits more feminine.<br />
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My first thought and shopping trips were aimed at making felt flowers, but I just couldn't get the color right. I came home and researched fabric flowers instead. <a href="http://www.cluckclucksew.com/2009/05/broach-making.html">Cluck Cluck Sew</a> had exactly what I was looking for. I made a pin for my older All Star who won't wear anything in hear hair. All Star 2 got a flower on a headband.<br />
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<b>Flower pin method</b> - I cut fabric scraps into circles starting with the smallest first. I used a nickel as a guide to cut the first one. Then I used each of those circles to guide cutting a bigger circle until I was satisfied with the overall size of the flower. I attached a felt circle (cut a bit smaller than the biggest circle) to the bottom of the flower with fabric glue. Then I picked a coordinating button to sew in the center and secure all the circles together.<br />
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I decided to actually just baste stitch the flower onto my daughter's sweater because it was fairly large and I didn't want it flopping over. Next time I would probably sew each fabric layer together with a couple stitches.<br />
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<b>Flower headband method</b> - I drew a rough shape of a petal to use as a pattern. Next, I cut petals out of the same fabric scraps. I also cut two identical felt circles out of a coordinating color of felt. I sewed the fabric petals onto one of the felt circles by overlapping them and then moving in a spiral. When I was done, I sewed the matching button from the flower pin into the middle. Lastly, I glued the two felt circles together around a pre-fab headband.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love this smooshy face.</td></tr>
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I adore the way the flowers turned out and think they gave just the right feminine touch to our family photographs! (<b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><i>Photo below is © Tamarie Photography - Do no copy w/o permission.</i>)</span></b><br />
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Kuparstwnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11534948159755570099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7171581024262033908.post-43652375121889396122012-01-01T17:20:00.000-08:002017-10-28T11:09:27.903-07:00DIY: Wedding Invitation Christmas OrnamentMy brother was married this summer. Not long after his wedding, I found <a href="http://christyrobbins.blogspot.com/2011/07/wedding-invitation-ornament.html">this link</a> on <a href="http://pinterest.com/kuparstwn/">Pinterest</a> for a Christmas ornament made from a wedding invitation. I followed up with my mom who had saved her invitation and promptly claimed it for my project. I bought a clear plastic bulb ornament, ribbon in colors matching the wedding theme, and a cute charm defining love. The whole thing cost me less than $3.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hot pink and apple green for brother and SIL</td></tr>
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Supplies:<br />
1 wedding invitation<br />
scissors or rotary w/ cutting mat<br />
a pen with a round barrel (not hexagonal) <br />
1 clear Christmas bulb ornament (I used plastic) <br />
ribbon in colors coordinating to wedding theme<br />
charm (optional)<br />
something to attach the charm (I used several tiny split rings)<br />
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Directions:<br />
1. Cut invitation into strips.<br />
~ I used a straight edge and my rotary tool to slice the invite into strips. I lined up the straight edge to be sure all essential words would be visible and uncut.<br />
2. Wrap the strips around the pen, creating a spiral.<br />
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~ You may need to hold each piece in place for a few seconds if the invitation is thick. I <i>do not</i> recommend spiraling by using the old scissor curling technique. It could shred your strips.<br />
3. Put spirals into bulb.<br />
~ I found that if I fed the spirals into the bulb, the spirals all became too loose. But if I coiled them into a small disk before pushing the whole round piece through the hole, they were all too tight. So, I did half of each and the mix left it feeling more diverse.<br />
4. Replace the hook portion of bulb.<br />
5. Attach charm. (Optional).<br />
6. Attach ribbon for hanging and tie a nice bow.<br />
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Sometime after finishing the ornament for my brother and sister-in-law, my mom was cleaning out a box in my old room and found the invitation from my best friend's wedding. She was married almost ten years ago! What a great gift that would be! <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1OP-eQPyFOQ/TwDC5UDQzMI/AAAAAAAABHA/-xmyqKbiftg/s1600/IMG_6631.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1OP-eQPyFOQ/TwDC5UDQzMI/AAAAAAAABHA/-xmyqKbiftg/s320/IMG_6631.jpg" width="207" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Red and gray for BFF.</td></tr>
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If you know anyone getting married soon or having any recent invitations laying around, do this! It was so easy and I know both my recipients loved their ornaments! <br />
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Kuparstwnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11534948159755570099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7171581024262033908.post-43509852300024202142011-12-28T12:25:00.000-08:002017-10-28T11:09:42.852-07:00Cleveland Rave: Petitti's Garden Centers<a href="http://www.petittigardencenter.com/">Petitti's Garden Center</a> is a lawn and garden store with several locations around the Cleveland area. We live a few miles from their Avon store. Sometime before the All Star's first Christmas, someone recommended we take her to visit the Petitti's Santa. They let you take your own pictures, so we were sold!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VCLN7UJd1a0/TvPaC8aFltI/AAAAAAAABGQ/kc0pRdTVf3g/s1600/IMG_6581a-copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VCLN7UJd1a0/TvPaC8aFltI/AAAAAAAABGQ/kc0pRdTVf3g/s320/IMG_6581a-copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2011</td></tr>
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Since then, and as long as they continue to offer a visiting Santa, it is the only place we will go! They really do let you take your own photos! Every year the photographer has encouraged my husband to get up right behind him/her to get the best shot. They do have picture packages available for purchase as well. The same lovely gentleman has been playing Santa the 4 years we've gone. His partner is a welcoming and friendly Mrs. Claus.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IoqnBDZYV0w/TvPagUh6BSI/AAAAAAAABGs/9kT72AszH3Q/s1600/IMG_3463.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IoqnBDZYV0w/TvPagUh6BSI/AAAAAAAABGs/9kT72AszH3Q/s320/IMG_3463.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2010</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JJXgfLk-q5E/TvPafq0es9I/AAAAAAAABGk/Ul6Wx8_bBoo/s1600/IMG_5718.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JJXgfLk-q5E/TvPafq0es9I/AAAAAAAABGk/Ul6Wx8_bBoo/s320/IMG_5718.jpg" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2008 (We did not love Santa in 2009. No picture.)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qbKT3nKwkzg/TvPaCHhldmI/AAAAAAAABGI/6Om9LVOpgrY/s1600/IMG_6570.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qbKT3nKwkzg/TvPaCHhldmI/AAAAAAAABGI/6Om9LVOpgrY/s320/IMG_6570.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mrs. Claus</td></tr>
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As if that's not enough to get you in the spirit, your children will love Bertie the Talking Tree. She loves to meet new kids. She addresses them by name and happily sings songs with even the youngest customer! <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1E3cd0bizXM/TvPaDeAliPI/AAAAAAAABGY/D1JfhsJbmCU/s1600/IMG_6602a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1E3cd0bizXM/TvPaDeAliPI/AAAAAAAABGY/D1JfhsJbmCU/s320/IMG_6602a.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bertie</td></tr>
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New (as far as I know) this year, was <a href="http://www.petittigardencenter.com/index.php?option=com_events">Petitti's story time</a>. For several weeks during the months of November and December, Petitti's offered a wonderfully festive Storybook Hour. At the one we attended, vinyl tablecloths were spread out in front of Bertie for kids to sit on. Children gathered to listen to five stories read by a friendly Petitti's associate. In between stories, Bertie came alive to sing Christmas carols. Petitti's, leaving nothing to be desired, had a hot chocolate bar set out with marshmallows and candy canes!<br />
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After taking your children to all these fun events, you probably need some time to yourself. Petitti's holds a <a href="http://www.petittigardencenter.com/index.php?option=com_expertresources&task=ygt_article&aid=37">Ladies' Night</a>, which sounds perfect to unwind with your friends! Wine, champagne, cupcakes, and local fare are available. Additionally, participants earn a percentage off their purchases that evening. I did not attend this year, but have a friend who did. She said it was crowded (maybe they will add more dates in 2012!), but relaxing and definitely worth it! I'll be going next year, for sure.<br />
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Of course, at each of these events, you have the opportunity to shop shop shop. You will not be disappointed in the holiday decor selection or the grand displays. Picture opportunities galore! This year, at the Avon store, guests walked into what felt like a giant snow globe.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QsjxgPt8t58/TvPaAducMxI/AAAAAAAABFw/AAAHgUPBwko/s1600/IMG_1013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QsjxgPt8t58/TvPaAducMxI/AAAAAAAABFw/AAAHgUPBwko/s320/IMG_1013.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Avon store entrance.</td></tr>
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Don't forget Fido; Petitti's is pet friendly. Our mascot is a beast so we leave her at home, but I know she'd be thrilled with the dog biscuit buffet found in the pet section!<br />
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Thank you, Petitti's for providing an array of wonderful, family-friendly, and best of all - free (my favorite!) - activities throughout the year, but especially at Christmastime. Petitti's is definitely in a league of their own!<br />
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Kuparstwnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11534948159755570099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7171581024262033908.post-66618704793417169612011-11-12T16:24:00.000-08:002017-10-28T11:09:56.408-07:00Lego KidsFest: ClevelandLast weekend, Cleveland hosted the <a href="http://www.legokidsfest.com/index.html">LEGO KidsFest</a> at The IX-Center. I was lucky enough to win tickets from <a href="http://clueintocleveland.wordpress.com/">Clue Into Cleveland</a>. My husband and daughter went out for a Daddy/Daughter date and pretty much had a blast. (He's super excited that she loves LEGOs so much.) When they got home it was hard to tell who had more fun.<br />
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Information from the <a href="http://www.legokidsfest.com/index.html">KidsFest website</a> says: "LEGO KidsFest is a three-day show filled with hands-on, interactive and educational activities for the whole family. Get creative in the construction zones, meet LEGO Master Builders, help build the Creation Nation and Mystery Murals, experience LEGO Universe and LEGO Games, and see dozens of life-sized models made entirely from LEGO bricks." Additionally, my husband read (he can't remember where) that cities are selected for the tour based on LEGO sales. So, go Cleveland!<br />
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There were a variety of activities and stations for guests to participate in. Because our daughter is only 3, there were a couple my husband found to be just a little out of range for her understanding or ability. He thinks 5 or 6 years old would probably be the perfect age to enjoy all the activities offered. One station allowed builders to make a bridge then test its strength with weights. Another area featured all the LEGO games that are available right now. And I can't forget the the mountain of LEGO bricks (and a seperate Duplo mountain) set up for free-building (wishing my husband had taken a picture of that, just so I could have seen it!)<br />
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For their first activity, Johnny and the All Star made a flower from LEGO Bricks. For each flower created, LEGO donated $1 to Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital. Because she had to leave her flower in the garden, All Star was rewarded with a helicopter packet to build at home.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRvwSDd3IEs9cOuDquiG9WHmYpwKAN1zUsyRSOG5oNXmjRc4GIwNRV0nqKlqoVSb_Q22Cjb5HivWba3aGJhSOxjrooG_A9m7vaaLITiryULuh7PTrI3sxWZVRpiQIDwsiJxyd9gQ1xZEg/s1600/IMG_6326.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRvwSDd3IEs9cOuDquiG9WHmYpwKAN1zUsyRSOG5oNXmjRc4GIwNRV0nqKlqoVSb_Q22Cjb5HivWba3aGJhSOxjrooG_A9m7vaaLITiryULuh7PTrI3sxWZVRpiQIDwsiJxyd9gQ1xZEg/s200/IMG_6326.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The All Star with her donation flower.</td></tr>
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Another activity gave them two minutes to build a creation based on a topic given by the facilitator. My girl needed to create something that annoyed her. Based on the picture, I think they created something that annoyed Mommy! For this activity, All Star was rewarded with a build your own race car packet.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmKLGHMCBWng9OVdQyyYb99OrF_97rJTl-dfFFqLgCmVWBUv5Yb5u9ZmPvuv7BgrxRwOQJWU6hJltErn0pPZVOlqJxyJxUUMBRiyhvSf0WpK9VCZ7EHcjI-x-xYikhnn_kvZ4WyCHyPuc/s1600/IMG_6341.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmKLGHMCBWng9OVdQyyYb99OrF_97rJTl-dfFFqLgCmVWBUv5Yb5u9ZmPvuv7BgrxRwOQJWU6hJltErn0pPZVOlqJxyJxUUMBRiyhvSf0WpK9VCZ7EHcjI-x-xYikhnn_kvZ4WyCHyPuc/s200/IMG_6341.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bugs annoy Mommy!</td></tr>
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Creation Nation was a favorite for my husband. It's so large that he couldn't even get the whole thing in one frame. Apparently it travels from location to location so people all over the country have contributed to it. I do wish I'd seen this in person. It looks impressive! <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidTrG-t_NH01y0eVRUWCs6hGbl3c_ML-Cl15AVrJ88AOW8rM81rN-iy2Nod2hWCN8X36klLTu7vEJm2ASDFGa2PKjRCv1hP_jS_v5YaUYR8kpq5syQtbsa0eSgEr430o6Eig7-ZkV78ww/s1600/legonation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="104" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidTrG-t_NH01y0eVRUWCs6hGbl3c_ML-Cl15AVrJ88AOW8rM81rN-iy2Nod2hWCN8X36klLTu7vEJm2ASDFGa2PKjRCv1hP_jS_v5YaUYR8kpq5syQtbsa0eSgEr430o6Eig7-ZkV78ww/s320/legonation.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">LEGO Nation</td></tr>
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By far, for my family, the highlight was all the statues and creations displayed around the event floor. They saw Indiana Jones, Batman, Sponge Bob, the cast of Harry Potter, dinos, sharks, aliens, and of course, LEGO minifigures! Here are just a few pictures.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-zCLfRrLWMFy_FgaKuwtT27f7Fkvyz8EiKk47RRCKc6mMN7HRYQVD18T1BcA4FmIuaUECJg_P4bppAW23ZxqVAl8q7fYvWVD6Mzsnx_r1DNxVxOo5wxVsr9O3SZWGmqXLTgMcVIzxTsw/s1600/IMG_6380.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-zCLfRrLWMFy_FgaKuwtT27f7Fkvyz8EiKk47RRCKc6mMN7HRYQVD18T1BcA4FmIuaUECJg_P4bppAW23ZxqVAl8q7fYvWVD6Mzsnx_r1DNxVxOo5wxVsr9O3SZWGmqXLTgMcVIzxTsw/s200/IMG_6380.jpg" width="141" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buzz and Woody</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4HdZ4UX2R5Hv06MeaL7r8c1r4P8LA50XOXUwsdKeCzuQQOM8Y8vjxyo0xEixciAw5ok_8syZIoGsh7o5TDLAvgxNx5no3j-0NBgflacBtaJs05klsG1SeJH62ER-rxVmmyWknzYv-4Qg/s1600/IMG_6309.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4HdZ4UX2R5Hv06MeaL7r8c1r4P8LA50XOXUwsdKeCzuQQOM8Y8vjxyo0xEixciAw5ok_8syZIoGsh7o5TDLAvgxNx5no3j-0NBgflacBtaJs05klsG1SeJH62ER-rxVmmyWknzYv-4Qg/s200/IMG_6309.jpg" width="138" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The All Star loved the LEGO minifigures the best! Johnny tells me there was one with a lumberjack beard that she insisted on visiting 3 different times.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP52S424JQhxiFhu3krbon3ODEsCkONJEFvcZpGP43ueXQIDXpzUEcgPnTAzxveVRE4dLYhMkf4zdKKmLcBuwTXtDqqM_xiLoIqZSlMuWHbU88m9yAlmPkRk1dl41DtxWiS_xDnnr0VqQ/s1600/IMG_6316.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP52S424JQhxiFhu3krbon3ODEsCkONJEFvcZpGP43ueXQIDXpzUEcgPnTAzxveVRE4dLYhMkf4zdKKmLcBuwTXtDqqM_xiLoIqZSlMuWHbU88m9yAlmPkRk1dl41DtxWiS_xDnnr0VqQ/s200/IMG_6316.jpg" width="136" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dinos!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBblxHeyWPwRAdkO_syKXyePn4jAC4Wd4rZoD5O2jhxPcGPBXL23_cVILzuQmAmCvNz1d1_hyphenhyphenScpV5bjpkO1OX0iRc31Z69hDk37WfjSItBDEMZVDEZS8mAylktBoGcYsDYI_IH9_Gt08/s1600/IMG_6322.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBblxHeyWPwRAdkO_syKXyePn4jAC4Wd4rZoD5O2jhxPcGPBXL23_cVILzuQmAmCvNz1d1_hyphenhyphenScpV5bjpkO1OX0iRc31Z69hDk37WfjSItBDEMZVDEZS8mAylktBoGcYsDYI_IH9_Gt08/s200/IMG_6322.jpg" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sponge Bob</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtCeL61qI23wAP65IUbIsXpheaZTdoRxXzyJiLVX3P5Gui-4LOmUKtp3EuPewykfaCCWgThFAy_HN5fODR1E4mrC65qFOuoT8-8uEhJZWJygFN1grzHR-cNMn7xlME_o2JGuUWv3kmxGk/s1600/IMG_6338.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtCeL61qI23wAP65IUbIsXpheaZTdoRxXzyJiLVX3P5Gui-4LOmUKtp3EuPewykfaCCWgThFAy_HN5fODR1E4mrC65qFOuoT8-8uEhJZWJygFN1grzHR-cNMn7xlME_o2JGuUWv3kmxGk/s200/IMG_6338.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In posing for the picture, All Star went to rest her elbow on the ninja, but bumped it on a corner of one of the LEGO brick edges. As Johnny snapped the picture, she yelled, "Hey! The ninja poked me!" Much to the amusement of the adults around her, I'm sure.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6MeSLOoroUIGBjd4d7qYS6LtI1NSMX4ff77fjQxaKrF1xlDafQuHEPL2D2j2RqGjoMTN4RlkmKpX2eAPV6XJp5aIJm67vsIadhdb9pKoPX6boj0fDq0G71RqIn1c2401tZiFpCdY6DBU/s1600/IMG_6342.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6MeSLOoroUIGBjd4d7qYS6LtI1NSMX4ff77fjQxaKrF1xlDafQuHEPL2D2j2RqGjoMTN4RlkmKpX2eAPV6XJp5aIJm67vsIadhdb9pKoPX6boj0fDq0G71RqIn1c2401tZiFpCdY6DBU/s200/IMG_6342.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lightening McQueen. I love the lady behind M checking the undercarriage. As if she doesn't have faith that it really is ALL LEGOs. But then again, she is also wearing a Steelers t-shirt.</td></tr>
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Fun facts from the lanyard each attendee received (too funny not to share):<br />
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"With a production of about 306 million tires produced every year, the LEGO Group is the world's largest producer of tires."<br />
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"The LEGO minifigure represents the world's largest population of people! Over 4 billion minifigures have been produced in the last 30 years. This is almost 12 times the population of the United States."<br />
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"There are 915 million ways to combine six eight-stud LEGO bricks." WOW!<br />
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LEGO KidsFest is in a league of its own and we sure hope they return to Cleveland next year! <br />
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Kuparstwnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11534948159755570099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7171581024262033908.post-82345967129054521022011-10-04T15:46:00.000-07:002017-10-28T11:10:39.695-07:00Recipe: Croissant French ToastI have wanted to try this recipe for awhile. Like pretty much all my fabulous ideas of late, I found it on <a href="http://pinterest.com/kuparstwn/">Pinterest</a>. We tried it out this weekend. Original recipe is from <a href="http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/croissant-french-toast-with-fresh-strawberry-syrup-10000001057279/">My Recipes</a>. I tweaked a little because I didn't have or want to make Strawberry Syrup.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Or5-HA_t8gVx6oRm6VLE-WYTvVK1TJ0f6koU_SDpRvCUFB68WTErvoEof6hwpUb-GxOm83L-tSVUqi1uEE5Z3z2KK13TPpoZMCjAPsmWxkoxrw0YhextceGkTnw7ZRk8l3hJ_6bGoPE/s1600/IMG_6100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Or5-HA_t8gVx6oRm6VLE-WYTvVK1TJ0f6koU_SDpRvCUFB68WTErvoEof6hwpUb-GxOm83L-tSVUqi1uEE5Z3z2KK13TPpoZMCjAPsmWxkoxrw0YhextceGkTnw7ZRk8l3hJ_6bGoPE/s320/IMG_6100.jpg" width="315" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ingredients: milk, eggs, butter, croissants and vanilla extract</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As with all French Toast, this is super healthy! I kid.<br />
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Use day-old croissants. Whisk up the eggs, milk, and vanilla. Half the croissants then dredge them in the egg mixture. Melt some butter in your skillet or griddle. Cook croissants about 2 minutes on each side. I needed less time as the pan got hotter and hotter.<br />
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Plate up, cover with butter, syrup, whipped cream, fresh fruit, whatever your fancy. We used butter, syrup, and/or whipped cream. They were tasty.<br />
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We rarely have French Toast because I won't eat it if it's made with your everyday sandwich bread. And I don't like that I would have buy special bread, so this was an easy alternative. Flavor-wise, it's not any different!<br />
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Recipe:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Croissant French Toast</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<h3>
Ingredients</h3>
<ul>
<li itemprop="ingredient" itemscope="" itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/RecipeIngredient"> <span itemprop="amount">4 </span> <span itemprop="name"> large day-old croissants</span> <span itemprop="preparation"> </span> </li>
<li itemprop="ingredient" itemscope="" itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/RecipeIngredient"> <span itemprop="amount">3/4 cup</span> <span itemprop="name"> milk</span> <span itemprop="preparation"> </span> </li>
<li itemprop="ingredient" itemscope="" itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/RecipeIngredient"> <span itemprop="amount">2 </span> <span itemprop="name"> large eggs</span> <span itemprop="preparation"> </span> </li>
<li itemprop="ingredient" itemscope="" itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/RecipeIngredient"> <span itemprop="amount">1 teaspoon</span> <span itemprop="name"> vanilla extract</span> <span itemprop="preparation"> </span> </li>
<li itemprop="ingredient" itemscope="" itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/RecipeIngredient"> <span itemprop="amount">2 tablespoons</span> <span itemprop="name"> butter</span> <span itemprop="preparation"> </span> </li>
<li itemprop="ingredient" itemscope="" itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/RecipeIngredient"> <span itemprop="amount">3 tablespoons</span> <span itemprop="name"> powdered sugar</span> <span itemprop="preparation"> </span> </li>
<li itemprop="ingredient" itemscope="" itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/RecipeIngredient"> <span itemprop="amount"> </span> <span itemprop="name"> Whipped Cream (optional)</span> <span itemprop="preparation"> </span> </li>
<li class="subheading">Syrup (optional)</li>
</ul>
<h3>
Preparation</h3>
<ul itemprop="instructions">
<li>Slice croissants in half lengthwise.</li>
<li>Whisk together milk, eggs, and vanilla. Pour into a shallow dish. Dip croissant halves into egg mixture, coating well.</li>
<li>Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add four croissant halves, and cook about 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Repeat procedure with remaining butter and croissant halves. Sprinkle with powdered sugar; top with Whipped Cream, if desired, and Syrup.</li>
</ul>
Yield: 4 Servings <br />
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Kuparstwnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11534948159755570099noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7171581024262033908.post-34743495656470966272011-09-29T09:49:00.000-07:002017-10-28T11:10:53.191-07:00Recipe: One-Ingredient Banana "Ice Cream"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ44th0R5T3jhUUpj42MlVwKTpr4E7n6-oig99VhXFgwpBtM0qiOQDix_xfLBO1PjgqTHB541UpTO0L6T_dzwjl1vjNLl2aEoBtEHPqUpCT1yn5SycjZEakNn7U5bx98eeibOcXkDsWZo/s1600/IMG_6097.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ44th0R5T3jhUUpj42MlVwKTpr4E7n6-oig99VhXFgwpBtM0qiOQDix_xfLBO1PjgqTHB541UpTO0L6T_dzwjl1vjNLl2aEoBtEHPqUpCT1yn5SycjZEakNn7U5bx98eeibOcXkDsWZo/s320/IMG_6097.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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You read that correctly. There is only one ingredient in this yummy treat. It is very easy and obviously healthy compared to the Moose Tracks in your freezer. I originally found something similar on <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/96394223/">Pinterest</a>, but didn't want to use cocoa powder, so I did a little Googling which turned up this <a href="http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/stay-cool/how-to-make-creamy-ice-cream-with-just-one-ingredient-093414">recipe and excellent step by step instructions</a>. </div>
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First, take your bananas and slice them about 3/4 inch thick and place on a freezer safe dish. I used 3 extra ripe bananas which provided 2 1/2 servings. Place the dish in the freezer for at least one hour. You want the bananas to be fully frozen. Mine were in for about 3 hours.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpUxe4LiDpAD-5_-wqmcuyorUIhmKpZZdDLeQ1Xq_n_IfyvbrKu4LGBoCCh6fMKdRkOQU7lOoR5s-FSLOmq2OC1J3IZprOxwSqgaBr7LGYCUzvVJ4BXgjNrF64fUu7J7oZz1_UQQoWiAo/s1600/IMG_6095.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpUxe4LiDpAD-5_-wqmcuyorUIhmKpZZdDLeQ1Xq_n_IfyvbrKu4LGBoCCh6fMKdRkOQU7lOoR5s-FSLOmq2OC1J3IZprOxwSqgaBr7LGYCUzvVJ4BXgjNrF64fUu7J7oZz1_UQQoWiAo/s320/IMG_6095.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Place frozen bananas in your choice of small appliance. I used my blender, but next time I think I'm going to try the food processor. The first pulse with the frozen bananas is loud! Warn the children in the room it's coming. Also, if you are a fan of <a href="http://www.dippindots.com/home.html">Dippin' Dots</a>, you can just stop right here and dish the bananas up. It looks just like that!<br />
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If Dippin' Dots aren't your thing, keep going! The remaining process takes awhile, but you will be rewarded. Puree, scrape sides, puree, scrape sides, puree, etc. You have to do the steps over and over. Don't give up! Keep at it. The first time we tried this, I almost stopped because I thought I must be doing it wrong. Just keep scraping the sides down. It will eventually turn into a creamy, cold, banana "ice cream" with soft-serve consistency. Yum!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9_EcEQ9GMPVUB6ZGs_cdwlM6A-r1nnVPkBXtCddUoVVmVqbYFT3jNmRhVB112lzfPQ0c_DL_qPgve-BD04IQhXtr28OmK-GFbZfv75GcPdv66UvHILr9kEyqtsabAIbcVaC8rQ-gn3sM/s1600/IMG_6096.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9_EcEQ9GMPVUB6ZGs_cdwlM6A-r1nnVPkBXtCddUoVVmVqbYFT3jNmRhVB112lzfPQ0c_DL_qPgve-BD04IQhXtr28OmK-GFbZfv75GcPdv66UvHILr9kEyqtsabAIbcVaC8rQ-gn3sM/s320/IMG_6096.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I forgot to take progress pics. It wasn't quite this melty when we dished it out.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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All Star #1, what do you think??<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYeMjKLNxNkox3lO2RyEYRzC0QOuf8CKUkqv5qy7O-tu37MjMT-9iODg-8Y55XhUocHIPbhyphenhyphenhCpSn0DYOv-mWREhAeSLQvUzUkrGqOwxlL-tCl4KYArrf90MYr9WB-Hy8ZU6lUlwQyZK4/s1600/IMG_6098.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYeMjKLNxNkox3lO2RyEYRzC0QOuf8CKUkqv5qy7O-tu37MjMT-9iODg-8Y55XhUocHIPbhyphenhyphenhCpSn0DYOv-mWREhAeSLQvUzUkrGqOwxlL-tCl4KYArrf90MYr9WB-Hy8ZU6lUlwQyZK4/s320/IMG_6098.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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We preferred the ice cream plain, but you could add cocoa powder, peanut butter, Nutella, Biscoff, or top with chocolate sauce. Go crazy and enjoy!<br />
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Kuparstwnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11534948159755570099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7171581024262033908.post-54968295821833020772011-09-20T20:38:00.000-07:002017-10-28T11:11:08.914-07:00Recipe: Christmas French ToastThis is one of my favorite recipes to make and to eat! It's called Christmas French Toast only because the woman who passed the recipe to me served it for her family only one day a year - Christmas morning.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Christmas French Toast</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">1 loaf French bread</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">6 eggs</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">1 ½ cups milk</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">1 ½ cups half/half</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">1 tsp. vanilla</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">1/8 tsp. cinnamon</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">1/8 tsp. nutmeg</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">1 stick of butter, softened</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">¾ cup brown sugar</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">2 Tbsp. dark Karo syrup</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">1) Night before:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Cut bread into 1 inch thick slices. Lay in bottom of well-greased 9x13 pan. (Squish them down in there, fit as many as you can.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Mix eggs, milk, half/half, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix well until frothy. Pour over bread. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Refrigerate overnight.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">2) Day of:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Preheat oven to 345 degrees.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Mix softened butter, brown sugar and Karo syrup. Spread over bread. Bake 40 min or until golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes.</span></div>
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Kuparstwnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11534948159755570099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7171581024262033908.post-62574701540738250182011-09-13T10:50:00.000-07:002017-10-28T11:11:37.785-07:00Recipe: Sausage Stew (Crockpot)<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>* Recipe from my cousin.</i><i> </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>* Hope to edit with pictures soon.</i></span> <span style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">Sausage Stew</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">1 16 oz. smoked sausage, sliced</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">1/3 cup diced onion</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">2 15 oz. cans kidney beans, undrained</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">1 15 oz. can pinto beans, undrained</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">1 10 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">1 10 ¾ oz. can minestrone soup</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">1 Tbsp. Creole seasoning*</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Combine all ingredients in crockpot. Cook on low for 6 -8 hours.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">*You can buy Creole Seasoning premade, but I found a website that has a recipe to <a href="http://www.damngoodrecipes.com/substituti_66.php">make your own</a>. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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For 1 tablespoon Creole seasoning:<br />
<br />
3/4 teaspoon paprika<br />
1/4 teaspoon salt<br />
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder<br />
1/4 teaspoon basil<br />
1/4 teaspoon oregano<br />
1/8 teaspoon black pepper<br />
1/8 teaspoon thyme<br />
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper<br />
1/8 teaspoon white pepper<br />
1/4 teaspoon onion powder</div>
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Kuparstwnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11534948159755570099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7171581024262033908.post-78077722878270045402011-09-11T17:39:00.000-07:002017-10-28T11:11:50.737-07:009/11/11I don't know what to say today. I've struggled with Facebook, Twitter, and general conversations with family. 9/11 brings me such a crushing sadness that sometimes I don't even want to talk about it. I just prefer to sit alone and take in as many 9/11 TV specials as I can.<br />
<br />
The worst part is, I didn't know a single person killed or injured that day. I feel like beyond the patriotic duty of being saddened, I have no right to feel this way. Then, I had discussions with some ladies on my local message board for moms. Turns out a lot of people feel this way. Or at least, a lot of those moms anyway. Women my age, some a little younger, some older all talked of feelings bigger then them. Feelings they couldn't understand. I was comforted to know that I was not alone.<br />
<br />
Ten years ago, I was recently graduated from college, living with my parents. My only sibling was away at his first year of college. And my parents were leaving for a small mid-week trip to a bed and breakfast. My aunt called asking us to turn on the TV. I was glued to it for the rest of the day. She must have called early because I saw everything (the second plane, the towers falling, the Pentagon, Shanksville) happen live. I didn't move from the TV for hours. I spent much of the morning (from the chair in front of the TV of course) trying to reach my brother and updating my parents. I didn't leave the house until the reporters started speculating about gas gouging. I drove my car, then my dad's (a manual when I didn't know how to drive stick) to a nearby station to fill up. Then chatted with my college friends for most of the night. Just trying to talk out what was happening.<br />
<br />
I am 32 years old. Our generation had no idea what a national crisis looked like. Yes, we'd seen things like devastating hurricanes and the OKC bombing. We'd all been taught in school about Pearl Harbor. However, nothing could have prepared me for that day ten years ago. Maybe that's where the confusing and and weighted feelings come from. I know only one thing. I will never forget.<br />
<br />
Taken from a friend's Facebook status (and edited for grammar):<br />
<h6 class="uiStreamMessage" data-ft="{"type":1}" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}">For the husband who told his wife I love you one last time before his plane went down in a field. For the wife who stopped in the stairs to call her husband to say I will love you forever. For the mothers and fathers who kissed their kids goodbye the morning they died. For the police and firefighters who rushed in and got others out only to die themselves. For the soldiers who fought back for ALL of US and lost their lives. For everyone who died on 9/11... I will remember you...</span></h6>
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Kuparstwnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11534948159755570099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7171581024262033908.post-3934781474502382312011-08-30T07:45:00.000-07:002017-10-28T11:12:05.372-07:00Recipe: Crockpot Cream Cheese Chicken<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">* Recipe introduced to me by a friend. </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">* Hope to update with photos... </span></i><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Crockpot Cream Cheese Chicken</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">4 boneless chicken breasts</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">1 stick butter (*I use 1/2 or 1/4 stick and it tastes just fine!)</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">1 package Good Seasonings Italian Salad Dressing mix</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">1 can cream of chicken soup (*I buy one of the healthy versions)</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">1 bar of cream cheese, softened</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">3/4 cup white wine</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">4 cloves garlic</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">1 small onion, chopped (optional)</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">fresh black pepper</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">prepared pasta or rice</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">In crockpot, place chicken, butter, garlic, onion (optional), a shake of pepper, and package of Italian dressing mix. Cook on low for five hours.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">After four hours, add white wine. </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">After five hours </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">remove chicken and shred</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">. Add soup and cream cheese and stir. Return shredded chicken to crockpot. Stir to combine. Cook on low one hour more.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">Serve over pasta or rice. </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Total cooking time: 6 hours. Serves 6. </span></i> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </span></div>
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Kuparstwnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11534948159755570099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7171581024262033908.post-76504629200839243432011-08-25T11:13:00.000-07:002017-10-28T11:16:38.938-07:00First Baseball GameMy post where I published the <a href="http://aleagueofherown.blogspot.com/2011/04/letter-for-my-all-stars.html">letter for my girls</a> earned me an e-mail from the social media rep from the <a href="http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=cle">Cleveland Indians</a>. He invited my family down to watch a game in the social media suite at Progressive Field. A mix up in scheduling meant we didn't get to sit in the social media suite for that game, but the rep gave us tickets to attend the game anyway. We are rescheduled for the social suite in July. I am very excited to attend a Tribe game in the suite!<br />
<br />
We had fun at the game we did go to. It was AS2's first game. The Indians played the <a href="http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=cin">Cincinnati Reds</a> and won 12-4!<br />
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Kuparstwnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11534948159755570099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7171581024262033908.post-55324315562965865062011-07-01T08:41:00.000-07:002017-10-28T11:14:16.638-07:00Pink Themed Birthday Party<span style="background-color: #a64d79;"><span style="background-color: white;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #a64d79;">The All Star had one request for her birthday party. She wanted pink. In fact she told me everything should be pink. Pink decorations, pink clothes, pink cake, pink food. We did our best to grant her request. Literally. Everything was pink.</span></span><br />
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<u>Menu</u></div>
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Hot Dogs (boiled or grilled)</div>
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Ambrosia Salad</div>
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Potato Salad (dyed pink)</div>
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Macaroni Salad (dyed pink)</div>
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Watermelon</div>
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Jello Jigglers (they don't really make a "pink" flavor. Boo.) </div>
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Pink Party Punch </div>
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Birthday Cake (cake and frosting dyed pink)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7WIxDUM4BG6S9VyHNoyxSB4DVP4f5J4OERcD2AK67vl18HUYkE0jyddNIkuI2pLTqQi16rdcMw57etf5eTnHw6VwlBt1dmWHKqs_GWKJMGiR8TfN_Iod2dOFLLqHLXkhKJ8rH3W9k200/s1600/IMG_4616.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7WIxDUM4BG6S9VyHNoyxSB4DVP4f5J4OERcD2AK67vl18HUYkE0jyddNIkuI2pLTqQi16rdcMw57etf5eTnHw6VwlBt1dmWHKqs_GWKJMGiR8TfN_Iod2dOFLLqHLXkhKJ8rH3W9k200/s320/IMG_4616.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFWgNEcaPISaNlIltVcqFveFKJrpAOV2Xyr-EVSjgaN4GHkk2ESMs-pJCAQkeKZc_ZvC_ORpbLLQXFdyuW7oZ_yR2GVdGLQf1ltudgwcUPROuO8YmYIR_4r3lhgIIcr_lC1uSx8RLPcV4/s1600/IMG_4617.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFWgNEcaPISaNlIltVcqFveFKJrpAOV2Xyr-EVSjgaN4GHkk2ESMs-pJCAQkeKZc_ZvC_ORpbLLQXFdyuW7oZ_yR2GVdGLQf1ltudgwcUPROuO8YmYIR_4r3lhgIIcr_lC1uSx8RLPcV4/s320/IMG_4617.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Hot dog toppings</div>
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ketchup, yellow mustard, ball park mustard, sweet relish, dill relish, onion, cheddar cheese, chili, Frank's Red Hot, sauteed peppers and onions, sauerkraut, salsa, and cole slaw</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihYs8NvVJo9kN_VAXf-5QBA0796dKsYPdeTiHNwtdmgPIRDZAe_3uvEkceGvI4VEXYh3unge99CWCDxH4ca8MVb6BzjN4w-Cjx1LouqZ_qItqkhLLDmuRZdKctPv_e2anCANxXMcoOXEA/s1600/IMG_4612.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihYs8NvVJo9kN_VAXf-5QBA0796dKsYPdeTiHNwtdmgPIRDZAe_3uvEkceGvI4VEXYh3unge99CWCDxH4ca8MVb6BzjN4w-Cjx1LouqZ_qItqkhLLDmuRZdKctPv_e2anCANxXMcoOXEA/s320/IMG_4612.jpg" width="320" /></a> </div>
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If you are here for pink party ideas we also entertained doing ham and mashed potatoes (dyed pink) but our All Star has a spring birthday so we wanted more summery foods!</div>
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Invitations: I used <a href="http://www.socializr.com/designs/birthday">Socializr.com</a> and we tweaked the "Birthday Star" invitation a little to be more personalized.</div>
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Decorations: I made tissue poms in varying shades of pink. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1rmRhyphenhyphen_o-Rb4ETQAjrk70QdMrlsrjOjWel-e0EmHA2cn2mphGInQSBObXWUytOzL3iUZFrjfwXFPk75Gcj2LPQPZ5XA7kvVxHYElFJcsjK6ltVJFi4dr1nXDZb80S9F9eGjZjY_FAwy4/s1600/IMG_4626.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="73" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1rmRhyphenhyphen_o-Rb4ETQAjrk70QdMrlsrjOjWel-e0EmHA2cn2mphGInQSBObXWUytOzL3iUZFrjfwXFPk75Gcj2LPQPZ5XA7kvVxHYElFJcsjK6ltVJFi4dr1nXDZb80S9F9eGjZjY_FAwy4/s320/IMG_4626.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="color: #a64d79;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The pic was pretty bad, so just giving an idea of pom poms.</i></td></tr>
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I had a great plan to do different sizes and shades and decorate our porch, but we didn't have <a href="http://aleagueofherown.blogspot.com/2011/01/polka-dot-birthday.html">wonderful weather like last year</a>. It rained all day so we were stuck inside. Other pink decorations - serving bowls, tins for hot dog toppings, tableclothes, plates, napkins, and cups - all pink!</div>
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<span style="color: #a64d79;">Everyone in our family wore pink. I didn't ask guests to wear pink, but many of them showed up in pink anyway. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9yC8RKyIcKcWqJyWGL8EUQef1Ql8GIF5CoUoIt19rpyDl2gf27-5Fm1R5Kus3SnXYSszGS6sloJXl1gXTa0hMxJSUAV7uKQgRR1SmyxH-V9Q2egV9eH7D3r6rOJRLDjtOpS7QOIUZaOM/s1600/IMG_4659.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9yC8RKyIcKcWqJyWGL8EUQef1Ql8GIF5CoUoIt19rpyDl2gf27-5Fm1R5Kus3SnXYSszGS6sloJXl1gXTa0hMxJSUAV7uKQgRR1SmyxH-V9Q2egV9eH7D3r6rOJRLDjtOpS7QOIUZaOM/s320/IMG_4659.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="color: #a64d79;">Another bad pic, but we all wore shades of pink!</i></td></tr>
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A Pinkalicious time was had by all!</div>
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Kuparstwnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11534948159755570099noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7171581024262033908.post-80895897423494614112011-04-10T09:08:00.000-07:002017-10-28T11:17:03.401-07:00A Letter for My All StarsOur local newspaper, <a href="http://www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/">The Plain Dealer</a>, along with <a href="http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=cle">The Cleveland Indians</a> recently held a contest for Indians fans. You were to write a short essay about your most memorable game. They received over 600 submissions. Originally they were awarding one grand prize winner a ball signed by Indians greats, 4 tickets to a game, and the chance to throw out the first pitch at a game. Four additional finalists would win 4 tickets to a game. Apparently they were so surprised at the number and sincerity of the entries they decided to award 162 (one for each game of the season) extra winners a 4 ticket prize. All 167 winning essays were or will be published in the paper. My essay was not chosen as a winner. I'm still not sure how since my children are named after Indians, but in any case, that doesn't mean it can't be published in some capacity.<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">I have been an Indians fan as long as I remember. Indians players are household names for us. Literally. My oldest daughter, Maris, is named for Roger Maris. Her sister, Paige, born in January, is named after Satchel Paige. I drove a car for 10 years with the license plate O MY OMR. I own enough Indians apparel to clothe the team itself. There is an authentic Indians jersey with my maiden name on the back framed and hanging in our Indians themed basement family room. I even wrote my 8<sup>th</sup> grade “how to” speech about how Indians pitchers pitch.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So, each and every Tribe game I have been to holds a special memory. I saw my first games at Municipal Stadium when I was a child. I’ve attended playoff games that were so exciting you can’t sleep when you get home. My husband and I have traveled to Detroit, NYC, and San Francisco to watch the Indians play ball. I even got to watch my dad don an Indians uniform and play a game at the Jake – albeit a fantasy camp reunion game.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">However, there is one game that stands out. July 29, 2008. The Tigers were in town and beat us 8-5. By comparison, it was probably a pretty boring game. That didn’t matter. I had my little girl, just over two months old, in her tiny little Indians onesie, at her first game. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Maris won’t remember it. But I will. And my mom and dad will. Three generations of Indians fans enjoying a game on hot summer night in July. A wonderful Indians customer service representative saw us and offered a certificate to commemorate her first game. I think he was just as enamored with the fact we named our daughter Maris as we were with his stories of his parents actually befriending her namesake many years ago. We ended the night with a group photo at the front gates with the field behind us. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">My parents taught me to love Indians baseball. Being able to share my daughter’s first game with them was something I’ll never forget. All of us look forward to a similar memory when we take Paige to her first game this summer. The only thing that could make it better? Writing in her baby book that she helped us throw out the first pitch!</span></div>
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Kuparstwnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11534948159755570099noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7171581024262033908.post-86125730235469031322011-01-22T11:43:00.000-08:002017-10-28T11:17:33.003-07:00Polka Dot BirthdayWhen we switched my daughter from Pampers to Target diapers, she was quite pleased. She'd run around yelling "Polka dot diapy!" So we figured that would be a fun (and easy!) birthday party theme. It was!<br />
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We started with the invitations. I love Evite. It is free, saves on postage, allows immediate RSVP options, and even lets the sender know when guests have viewed the invitation. Even better they had a birthday invite with a polka dot background! We thought up a fantastically literary poem about birthdays and polka dots and sent the invitation out.<br />
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Decorations were easy too. I bought $5 worth of poster board, found four dishes in different sized circles and started tracing. Cutting turned out to be the hard part. I had almost 100 circles when all was said and done and my hand was significantly cramped/blistered to prove it. We found perfect polka dot table clothes at Old Navy during their 30% weekend and my mom bought 3 dozen daisies in beautiful bright colors. We slipped the "1st" off her birthday banner from last year (which was conveniently dot shaped) and hung that up. Decorations were done! We actually found polka dot latex balloons on Ebay for a great price, but didn't order them in time. The party store near us sold them for much more than we wanted to spend. It turned out not to be necessary. The table clothes, poster dots, and flowers were lovely all by themselves.<br />
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<img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF_GpT2FB_qIhAs85aYvga5QDPpxi52o9MMXwWktYEyzxRksYooXndfsJhfYG6IctFZ33JeqG2BRkegqufb9Lqnk1NA48tn8BF3fE9IJtIK7DYkif05jLDOvNc2OO9RzWTNYPL-E0LeQs/s320/dotbday03.jpg" width="320" /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfm5uqJPR6xt5I7qnjfDHkj3cisOgvG0m8m6o6hoOiLGxvIhm5GuokNxXPjYGYZ_p82YUzw0AM-3qf0JZkrlXkH59WUTp0Ig_5Lh2Hv6qGrsiq3upaN-S7R8x6YgYCBvuGcXstCAnF-54/s1600/dotbday02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfm5uqJPR6xt5I7qnjfDHkj3cisOgvG0m8m6o6hoOiLGxvIhm5GuokNxXPjYGYZ_p82YUzw0AM-3qf0JZkrlXkH59WUTp0Ig_5Lh2Hv6qGrsiq3upaN-S7R8x6YgYCBvuGcXstCAnF-54/s320/dotbday02.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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We incorporated polka dots everywhere we could. The cake had dots on it and I made jello jigglers in rainbow colors, cut with a biscuit cutter.<br />
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Lastly of course, we were all dressed in polka dots. Even the guests (using hints from the aformentioned literary masterpiece, I'm sure) brought gifts wrapped in polka dot paper or bags and some even dressed in polka dots themselves.<br />
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Thanks to everyone who helped make the All Star's Polkadot Pallooza birthday party a hit!<br />
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Kuparstwnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11534948159755570099noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7171581024262033908.post-39487164238996319022010-04-28T10:28:00.000-07:002017-10-28T11:18:01.714-07:00Blog Redesign {Lucky Girl Design Studio - Review}When I launched my blog in January, I never thought that just one short month later, I would win a valuable blog redesign package. <a href="http://www.luckygirldesignstudio.com/">Lucky Girl Design Studios</a> was giving away their highest package on <a href="http://www.todaysgiveaway.net/">Today's Giveaway</a>. I entered. I won!<br />
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Tonya from <a href="http://www.luckygirldesignstudio.com/">Lucky Girl</a> was fabulous to work with. She has a great design questionnaire that really helps get the ball rolling. She asked questions that I didn't even think of. It helped to focus me and allowed me to think more broadly about not only how I wanted my blog to look but what I wanted it to be used for. Direction I definitely needed!<br />
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Even though I took my good sweet time in deciding what I wanted, Tonya was timely and kept in constant contact with me. I was able to view my design before it went live and make any changes I felt necessary.<br />
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From sidebar titles ($2.00/ea) to the Fabulous Bundle ($100), <a href="http://www.luckygirldesignstudio.com/">Lucky Girl Design Studio</a> has something for your website design needs. Please check them out. I highly recommend.<br />
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Without a doubt, <a href="http://www.luckygirldesignstudio.com/">Lucky Girl Design Studio</a> is in <span style="color: rgb(0 , 0 , 153); font-family: "verdana"; font-weight: bold;">A League of its Own</span>!!<br />
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What do you think of my new design?<br />
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Kuparstwnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11534948159755570099noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7171581024262033908.post-59653531916678047952010-02-16T20:30:00.001-08:002010-02-16T21:21:01.789-08:00How To: Make Any Children's Pants AdjustableGot a skinny kid? Me too!<br /><br />My go-to stores for pants used to be Old Navy and Gap. Then for some God only knows reason, they stopped putting adjustable waistbands in 99% of their pants in sizes smaller than 2T. I was on the hunt for other stores that sold adjustable waist pants when some of the girls from my mom board suggested just doing it myself to all the pants she has or ones I like and buy.<br /><br />After a little on line research, I set to it. And good news - it was easy!! It would have been even easier with my sewing machine but sadly, it's stuck behind a giant pile of boxes and junk. (We're reorganizing our attic crawl space - whole other post!)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Before<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW3NtVqJady2MddBqv83GjRTWeqlmn4gLybIB1YCnI44SA5ePN4osBfGDHjbQsIj7V5I9PE_Z2kyWe6KL50SiU03mrqH2mB8uhN2CJfLGjYz27bVQyQQopyQir7QJ5ZMsSsAHFVdQUZk4/s1600-h/01.25.10.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 115px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW3NtVqJady2MddBqv83GjRTWeqlmn4gLybIB1YCnI44SA5ePN4osBfGDHjbQsIj7V5I9PE_Z2kyWe6KL50SiU03mrqH2mB8uhN2CJfLGjYz27bVQyQQopyQir7QJ5ZMsSsAHFVdQUZk4/s200/01.25.10.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439066504526346210" border="0" /></a><br />After<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtWkmEu_X03G8ULPJJMThrQUPqfjdXCLB4QSIvxo8Zrh65EQ-U8g5izIY8qgz5Y_Fd8stVNqX9jw9LpJxffSDuee91Nmucr_gnxpNZ2nRU43jhcFq02QuT2msupL0e_dcSbuE9ZFhMmIM/s1600-h/02.16.10.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 138px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtWkmEu_X03G8ULPJJMThrQUPqfjdXCLB4QSIvxo8Zrh65EQ-U8g5izIY8qgz5Y_Fd8stVNqX9jw9LpJxffSDuee91Nmucr_gnxpNZ2nRU43jhcFq02QuT2msupL0e_dcSbuE9ZFhMmIM/s200/02.16.10.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439066640884005458" border="0" /></a><div style="text-align: left;">And here's how I did it!<br /><br />Materials:<br /><br />buttons<br />buttonhole elastic<br />seam ripper<br />scissors<br />safety pin<br />needle/thread and/or sewing machine<br /><br />Procedure:<br /><br />1) Use a seam ripper or very sharp scissors to cut two vertical lines on the front panel. I didn't measure. I eye-balled it and used the most space possible (she's <span style="font-style: italic;">really</span> skinny), while still leaving room for the button (which I put at the sides, not the front, but you could do it either way). Make sure your ripped openings are long enough for the elastic to go through.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbcNQL9Fvdo3FkdVzhnzoKH80uqhg3ureuIqguidsAdaNC7fNU33CdUKw5AeDYUP5cJ5DA7AfGL8J_d9KcUnagY1-gK_AHjdt291lW9w5707OPaKzpnD7jVYEPmbzjbsLUz_F4t4LJzNM/s1600-h/awpstep1a.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 75px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbcNQL9Fvdo3FkdVzhnzoKH80uqhg3ureuIqguidsAdaNC7fNU33CdUKw5AeDYUP5cJ5DA7AfGL8J_d9KcUnagY1-gK_AHjdt291lW9w5707OPaKzpnD7jVYEPmbzjbsLUz_F4t4LJzNM/s200/awpstep1a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439075588121597394" border="0" /></a><br />2) Cut a length of buttonhole elastic. Again, I didn't measure. I just held it up to the lines I had cut. You can see that I have it sticking out a bit on the non-button end. I wanted some security with the overlap. On the other end, I made sure that once I sewed on the button, there would be enough elastic to hook the button and leave the waistband in it's original size. You know in case she wakes up a chunky monkey tomorrow.<br /><br />3) Secure the safety pin on one end of your cut elastic and thread it through the holes. (The safety pin is only used to pull the elastic through, so you can remove it when you're done.)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit__-W2Llqn5Zouwa2-T3QYy4Sv-1ma1C-DmJJbdPYkdVpewSBhMJovB-OYs-OiR9f5q2lpQtcT_LkfVzw4bUIpMR0gXOYpABvDBFHlcqR4l5ljxmdbWlt5lzbrF25OGX0kZOJ-cpGZmE/s1600-h/awpstep3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 62px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit__-W2Llqn5Zouwa2-T3QYy4Sv-1ma1C-DmJJbdPYkdVpewSBhMJovB-OYs-OiR9f5q2lpQtcT_LkfVzw4bUIpMR0gXOYpABvDBFHlcqR4l5ljxmdbWlt5lzbrF25OGX0kZOJ-cpGZmE/s200/awpstep3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439075592294593234" border="0" /></a><br />4) Hand or machine stitch the non-button end closed.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXTNhl5LU8h1cKFluQo_Txly6_65ipDKSXpCrB22uv90U_W72rMPut22j8ExMzyFC79SJPaWEriT37Av61-0psX9vik-pY5Z_XVLx8O2RiXHtomXXt05_1IaJVA5N0H4gvikL9umuGKXo/s1600-h/awpstep4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 82px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXTNhl5LU8h1cKFluQo_Txly6_65ipDKSXpCrB22uv90U_W72rMPut22j8ExMzyFC79SJPaWEriT37Av61-0psX9vik-pY5Z_XVLx8O2RiXHtomXXt05_1IaJVA5N0H4gvikL9umuGKXo/s200/awpstep4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439075603639543442" border="0" /></a><br />5) Sew your on button.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLubYcTzXH3_Q2JMNKNrfHWJOEKOs1awJ0_IxWHO1CQavb3cJ5w7q_FBLBUN8rGH2tQbez9cs2lHrzSD305gnjGDG9dGI2XS3gmv4JXoY_RPp7aJNLambGTjx9uRTzqi-ZZ7OiUzPAEbo/s1600-h/awpstep5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 94px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLubYcTzXH3_Q2JMNKNrfHWJOEKOs1awJ0_IxWHO1CQavb3cJ5w7q_FBLBUN8rGH2tQbez9cs2lHrzSD305gnjGDG9dGI2XS3gmv4JXoY_RPp7aJNLambGTjx9uRTzqi-ZZ7OiUzPAEbo/s200/awpstep5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439077141848562770" border="0" /></a><br />6) Repeat on other side of pants.<br /><br />7) Wrestle or bribe your toddler into numerous pairs of pants so you can secure them at the appropriate size and Voila! You're done!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpEEsBdlHOHmXs2KSldrdhyH8sBloffav2saDcVBJg69-48TxHSLa8KpXQvgKmd85c1UY72-4aSYePEsJXApRmal6rU-LvVqu2y7FK_Akfwa_QUk4FceZ-C8FDzuL_5U9vHDoTSJWIbZM/s1600-h/awpstep6.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 102px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpEEsBdlHOHmXs2KSldrdhyH8sBloffav2saDcVBJg69-48TxHSLa8KpXQvgKmd85c1UY72-4aSYePEsJXApRmal6rU-LvVqu2y7FK_Akfwa_QUk4FceZ-C8FDzuL_5U9vHDoTSJWIbZM/s200/awpstep6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439075611802573074" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div><br /></div>Kuparstwnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11534948159755570099noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7171581024262033908.post-49012464769725086692010-02-12T11:19:00.000-08:002010-02-12T11:30:25.349-08:00Aloha Friday<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://islandlife808.com"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 225px; height: 158px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikTBwcJSZmLmjVk-hg3tg0zPByZUHZ-YPaeKk_JQvLnTAbKPkRF86bV89rT6Q7xEuQgkjwA4oafJEV0MZnbu8MFr2s19QFu1U4VzXBpjnAwdDFz8jhssCUp4uY2_q_Xj4cSHLe9NIMsJg/s320/alohafriday5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437439747677582930" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: left;">I often answer <a href="http://islandlife808.com">An Island Life's</a> Aloha Friday question but haven't ever posted one of my own. Thought it might be fun. If you want to participate as well, head to <a href="http://islandlife808.com">An Island Life</a> to add yourself to her Linky Widget.<br /><br />So, I wonder:<span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Are you doing something special to honor Canada while you<br />watch the Opening Ceremonies tonight?</span></span><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">We haven't come up with anything creative yet. Everyone I know (us included) ate Chinese food for the Opening Ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. I suppose we could eat a pile of Canadian Bacon for dinner and spend the rest of the day saying, "Eh?"<br /></div></div></div><br /></div>Kuparstwnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11534948159755570099noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7171581024262033908.post-56292253659489476042010-02-03T11:26:00.000-08:002010-02-03T12:16:14.748-08:00Channeling Your Parents' ParentingWelcome to the weekly Blog Hop! Anyone is free to join in. Simply enter your information in the MckLinky at the bottom of this post, repost the MckLinky code in your own post on the topic, and enjoy your fellow bloggers' posts. Remember to leave some Comment Love!<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); font-family: courier new;"></span><blockquote><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); font-family: courier new;">This week's topic: What aspects of your parents' parenting do you want to continue in parenting your own kid(s)? </span></blockquote>If my home were hit by some Freaky Friday type twister-oo and my mom and I were swapped 29 years, she'd be my age and mothering my daughter. I'd be 30 and mothering well, myself. And you wouldn't.be.able.to.tell.us.apart. I completely and totally model my parenting by what my mom and dad did. I figure they raised two smart, strong, successful kids (toot, toot), so if I do exactly what they did, I will end up with the same results.<br /><br />I am so grateful to have a set of parents that I want to model after. I know many are not as lucky. As a I learn and grow as a mom, I hope that I will be able to add in my own twist to the methods. Some things will absolutely remain the same. Here is a list:<br /><ol><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">Bedtime</span>. I had a bedtime until literally 11th grade. <span style="font-style: italic;">Eleventh grade</span>. And it was embarrassingly early. Like 9pm. But I did well in school, I can't remember ever falling asleep in class, and I was a relatively well rested, pleasant teenager to be around. Perhaps it wasn't the sleep that caused all this. However, there are a "couple" articles/research studies/experiments that document the benefits of a good night's sleep.</li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">NOT grounding</span>. I was never once grounded. My parents didn't believe in it. I don't know why. I've never asked. (We are having dinner there tonight. Hello, dinner conversation.) It sure seemed to work though! The bro (he needs a baseball related nn) and I were never arrested, suspended, or otherwise in serious trouble.<br /></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">Teaching financial freedom</span>. I had to take classes in school. I had to save a percentage of all gift money. I did not receive an allowance. I may handle this differently than my parents, but it is so important to teach children how to manage money!</li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">Be a parent</span>. I feel it <span style="font-style: italic;">now</span>, but I never once recall feeling like my parents were my friends. I felt loved, appreciated, valued. But I had rules, restrictions, privileges, and consequences. </li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">Brag</span>. Just enough. Just within earshot. Just the truth.</li></ol>With all that being said:<br /><br />I wonder a) how my husband would respond to the same question. He and I had very different childhoods. His mom and dad used different methods and also raised smart, strong, successful children. b) how he'd respond to my answers. I don't agree with a lot of methods his parents used and I am sure he's not in love with all of my parents' ideas either. I am a stay at home mom, so I spend the majority of the time with the All Star. I need to do a better job of making sure the Head Coach and I are on the same page. His ideas are important too.<br /><br /><!-- Begin Blog Hop --><br /><a href="http://www.mcklinky.com/blog_hop.asp" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.mcklinky.com/images/MckLinkyBlogHop160.jpg" alt="MckLinky Blog Hop" width="160" height="52" border="0" longdesc="http://www.brentriggs.com" /></a><br /><script src="http://www.mcklinky.com/linky_include_bloghop_public.asp?id=16632" type="text/javascript"></script>Kuparstwnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11534948159755570099noreply@blogger.com2