Looks like Narnia

There were loads of cool and strange icy pictures to be taken over the last two days, but I could only choose one for the day...This is our giant weeping cherry. Seeing the trees and bushes all covered in ice makes it hard to believe they will recover and look so green and lovely just a few short months from now. We are truly in a winter wonderland! Despite the ice, there is a warm, loving feeling around our house. Today, I made Valentine's for my dance students. A lot of them! I just have to add lollipops and they will be ready for next week. My daughter is having a party next weekend so she painted cardboard and cut out 90! hearts and hand stamped "LOVE" on all of them to make decorations. I also printed out an adorable sweetie book from House of 3 that I am making into a gift for my hubby. After printing out this above photo, my Project Life book will also be up to date for the week as well. We are enjoying all the crafting time being out of school has given us!

I Won!!! Thank you, Heidi Swapp!

I am as overjoyed as a person can be right now! I won a contest for a prize and I didn't even know I had entered it! LOL! A few nights ago, Heidi Swapp had posted some awesome links to video tutorials for some of the great Valentine's day stuff House of 3 was offering. That same night, my daughter and I had worked on one of her banners-you might recall this post a few days ago. At any rate, that night was the first time I had ever recalled seeing an open comments section on her site and I just felt so inspired by her enthusiasm in general that I just had to take a moment to thank her! You might also recall one of my early posts way back in January mentioning the book 5 that I had picked up per her suggestion and just devoured. Well, I know I am gushing but as I said-I am completely overjoyed that I won something. This is what I won! Please take a moment and check out the artist's, Liz Eaton's lovely stuff on etsy and to also visit one of my favorite artists and idols, Heidi! Just so you know, House of 3 is doing Friday sale, $5.00 off a purchase of $9.99 or more so go get the stuff to make all those Valentine cards you need to have ready by next week!

Thanks so much...what a bright spot in this otherwise gray day in the winter wonderland that is western North Carolina!

Hanging with the Boys

I love this picture of my son and a few of his school chums. My children are privileged enough to attend a very small K-8 charter school, The Mountain Community School, here in NC. They are a close-knit family of kids. The middle school contains a total of 60 kids. Tripp, my son, the 3rd from the left in the above photo, is in the 6th grade. Every 2 weeks each grade "collects" points from their teachers by doing things like being on time, turning in homework assignments on time, etc. and the winning class goes out to lunch to a restaurant, Janitzio's. (Sort of our school restaurant-we all go there so often). Since I served on the board for the last 6 years, I have been going out to lunch with the teachers and principal long before my kids ever moved into the middle school. Now I am off the board and I still go just because I love to...difference is that now both of my kids are in middle school, so that means I also get to enjoy a lunch date with them! These boys bought mustaches from the gumball machine and here they are proudly modeling them for me!

Now, as a side note-Remeber, we had that big snow last Friday so there was no school on Monday or Tuesday of this week. More ice and snow on the way (I had to cancel my last class of the night and barely made it home safely) so it looks like no school tomorrow either!

L-O-V-E

It's February, so naturally we're all feeling the LOVE and thinking about Valentine's Day. My daughter, Libby and I made this adorable banner this evening after I got home from work. This is super fun and easy to do. You can make it as elaborate as you'd like, but we kept it very simple. The banner itself is a printable available to purchase at House of 3. We didn't print it on cardstock, so our first step was to adhere it to some, then we painted ours with Mod-Podge. (Speaking of which, visit one of my favorite blogs...www.modpodgerocks.blogspot.com). Next, we stapled the pennant pieces to some curling ribbon. Last, Libby cut a heart from some matching cardstock and glued on some chipboard letters I had in my scrapbooking stash. As I said, this was a quick little craft project for some mother-daughter bonding time. I am also making one and will probably do a few as gifts! Enjoy!

Project Life slideshow

http://www.flickr.com/photos/47041488@N05/show/

Icy Perch

One more snow day for us...

but the birds didn't let the ice and rain stop them from scavenging for food. We have thrown out tons of birdseed on top of the snow this weekend and even did the special treat of eggshells. It was a beautifully frosty morning for birdwatching. The photo of this female cardinal was actually taken through the window but still turned out very well, I thought.

Instead of composting our eggshells we rinse and drain them, place them on a baking sheet and dry in a 200 degree oven (does anyone know how to make the degree symbol with your keyboard?) for about 10 minutes. When they are finished you simply mash them into small pieces and put them out in a shallow dish or millworm feeder. This is a great treat to put out before spring nesting season. The shells help the mother bird replace the calcium lost during the last egg-laying season.

Lemon Poppyseed muffins

Happy February-this marks one month of blogging for me!
No school today so that meant I had time to make a more labor-intensive breakfast. My son loves lemon poppyseed muffins but I had never attempted to make them at home. The recipe below is definitely a keeper!

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

The only change I made was to use confectioner's sugar instead
of granulated for the glaze.

They were delish with a cup of this tea!