A great new blog - check it out!

Check out Katie's new blog about the upcoming August wedding! http://katieericwedding.blogspot.com

Yippee!

Fresh, Modern Photo Cards, Announcements and Invitations!

Oh I just had to post a quick link to this site - I stumbled across it through another great site (http://thecutestblogontheblock.com) site. I was just beginning to think about those great photo Christmas cards and just love the options on this site! Here is the link: http://tinyprints.com. Enjoy!

Blog Backgrounds

Considering starting your own blog? Not sure where to start? First decide what you want to blog about. I decided to blog about my current interests which include food, family and crafting.

Next decide if you want to host your own blog or if you want to use a free service. I chose a free service through Google called Blogger. I found it very easy and simple to set up and use. There are other hosts such as Wordpress so you will want to investigate a little to find out what best meets your needs.

Now that you have selected a hosting service let the fun begin! Choosing a unique blogger name, background and layout allows you to show your own style. Blogger offers free templates for your background (how the blog looks). They are OK but if you search the web a little you can find some free, more creative, backgrounds that might suit your style better. Here are two that I found: http://thecutestblogontheblock.com, http://giselejaquenod.com.ar/blog/.


After you have finished tweaking your blog layout and look you are ready to start posting. Post whatever you want however often you want to post! It is a great way to communicate with friends and family or even customers! Good luck and please send me links to your blog so I can check out what you have created.

Girls Weekend 2008

10 year Anniversary

2008 was the 10th anniversary of Girls Weekend! Hard to believe this once little idea years ago has become such a wonderful tradition. This year the annual event was held in Fremont (at Dianne's house). This year there were 17 of us including three generations of girls, the farthest of our group coming from Tennessee. For many years the main "events" for this weekend have included food (of course - with chocolate!!), a craft and an outing. Most of the gang arrived on Friday evening and after a yummy pasta dinner we kicked off the weekend with a bonfire, marshmallows and camper pies. Saturday morning rise and shine came earlier than expected due to the noise generated from the MILLIONS of squawking ducks and GUN SHOTS from the duck hunters (apparently duck season is in October). The morning also consisted of more delicious homemade treats to get us ready for our outing to the Heritage Farm for some fall festivities. At Heritage Farm the group successfully navigated through the corn made by correctly answering American President Trivia at each turn. Emma was a real pro - showing off her knowledge of Presidential facts by correctly answering the question "who resided at Monticello?" - of course that Jeff Tom guy (Thomas Jefferson) was her reply! The little ones picked out a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch and we all took turns posing for silly pictures in the field.







Later in the afternoon (once the kiddos were down for a nap) we started on our craft. This years craft was sock and glove animals, instructions courtesy of the book Sock and Glove by Miyako Kanamori. Since the weather was so nice we did the craft on mom (dianne's) porch under the beautiful fall colors of a big maple tree looking out over the lake. Once the creative juices began flowing there was no stopping these girls from creating some of the cutest little animals out of recycled gloves and socks! All this crafting makes a girl hungry! Dinner at Spanky's for the world's best bread sticks and pizza helped us refuel for some a little more crafting to put the finishing touches on the animals. The gang crashed after a long busy and FUN filled day!




Sunday morning started off with the duck and hunter wake up calls as well as a nice spread of breakfast treats. Some of the group had to get back home and get ready for school or work on Monday morning. The rest of us took a road trip to Whitehall to visit Cara's studio. Her latest creation, Uncomfortable Animals, was a hit with the girls! If you missed the studio trip check out her wares on Etsy. We also cruised over to the studio where Chester works to watch him create some pottery. Sunday evening we carved pumpkins down by the lake with the kids, had a bonfire, roasted marshmallows and told stories.




Monday morning the Tennessee girls and the Evans' clan packed into the car and headed back to Grand Rapids to the airport. It was sad to see the weekend come to a close but the memories of our time spent together will last forever. We are so blessed to have people in our lives who love us and so blessed to have such a wonderful family!

See You All Next Year!

(thanks Katie for letting me use some of your great pictures!)

Quilt Give Away From Pigtails and Snails

With the weather getting cooler thoughts of digging out the warmer clothes and adding a blanket or two to the bed at night to keep warm is becoming more common. I ran across this great quilt give-away at Pigtailsandsnails.blogspot.com. Follow the link and add a comment in order to enter the give-away contest. Hurry the contest ends Friday Oct 17. Below are some pics of the quilt. Boy do I wish I knew how to make something like this!

Apple Streusel Cake

Here is a great recipe for an apple streusel cake. This is an easy recipe! It not only goes great with your coffee (or hot chocolate) in the morning it can also be served as a dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

FOR THE STREUSEL:

1 c. light brown sugar

1 c. chopped apples (peeled or unpeeled - it is your preference)

1 c. sliced almonds, pecans or walnuts (optional)

1/3 c. all purpose flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

3 Tbsp. butter, melted

FOR THE CAKE:

2 c. all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 c. butter (1 stick) softened

1/2 c. granulated sugar

3 large eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 c. orange juice

FOR THE GLAZE: (optional)

1/2 c. confectioners' sugar

2 1/2 tsp. orange juice

1. Making the Streusel - Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Grease a 9 or 10 inch tube pan. To prepare streusel, in a medium bowl, combine brown sugar, apples, almonds, flour and cinnamon. Stir in melted butter.

2. Making the Cake - In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and baking soda; mix well. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer set on medium speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time; beat well after each addition. Add vanilla.

3. Set mixer to low; alternately beat four mixture and orange juice into egg mixture. Spoon half of batter into tube pan. Sprinkle with half of streusel. Spoon the remaining batter over the streusel, spreading to make an even layer. Swirl batter with a knife to create a marble pattern.

4. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove cake from oven; sprinkle with remaining streusel. Return cake to the oven; bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 35-40 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

5. Making the Glaze - combine confectioners' sugar and orange juice. Mix well. Turn cake out onto a serving plate; invert so streusel is on top. Drizzle glaze over cake; serve!

Look Who Turned 2 !!

Rian had been looking forward to her birthday for quite some time. She kept telling everyone "my birthday coming up". We had two parties for her, one with the Evans side and the other with the O'Brien side. For the Evans' side party Rian had picked out a Cinderella & Prince cake. She enjoyed the presents and I can honestly say she has worn her new fairy costume every day since her birthday!

Her party with the O'Brien side of the family was the day after her actual birthday. Kami and I decorated a ton of cupcakes with fancy flowers just for little sis. Again Rian loved her presents and has been sporting her new duds and playing with her new toys daily! Thanks to all who helped us celebrate!!

making cupcakes

Yummy!

Treats for the party

Birthday Fairy w/ Boots

Cara helping with presents

Ballet Lessons

Today was Kami and her good friend Reese's first ballet lesson. The lessons are held on Tuesday mornings from 11-11:30 at the Grand Rapids School of Ballet located at 341 Ellsworth, Grand Rapids MI 49503. Miss Jennifer is the instructor of the 12 little ballerinas. Here are some photos and video clips for you to enjoy. I'll try to point out which one is Kami. Kami's good friend Reese is also in the pics and videos since they are taking the class together.

Kami is the second ballerina from the left. Reese is the ballerina between the girl in black and the other girl in dark pink. Here they are doing some barr work (waving at themselves at the big mirror across the room). There is no sound since I shot this through the glass door/windows in the hallway.

This video shows up as a black screen - just press play and the video will begin. Kami and Reese are next to each other (to the left of the girl in dark pink). The group is learning the "first position" with their feet - heels together with toes separated to form a "v" shape.

The class allows for family/visitors to watch the girls during class on the 3rd (Oct 7) and 6th (Oct 28) class. Please feel free to come watch our little ballerina learn ballet.

PATIO!

Before
During
After
The girls hand prints in the wet concrete

For years our heavily shaded back yard has been somewhat of an eyesore due to its inability to grow grass resulting in a lot of dirt and mud. After having a small stump ground out a few months ago we finally decided to add-on to our small brick patio with a concrete patio. The girls and I had an absolute blast watching the concrete guy dig out the area for the patio, pour and spread the concrete and then add our own personal "touch" to the almost completed patio. Here are some before and after pics.

Family Face Painting

Our summer has been full of various activities, including picnics and festivals. One of the most popular things to do at these fun events that our girls just love is face painting. Tonight we decided that grilling out at home with friends was a perfect excuse to try some homemade face painting. I pulled out the WASHABLE Crayola paints, brushes and spread newspaper over the kitchen floor and let the fun begin. Rian loves to have butterflies painted on her and she does a great job sitting still. Kami did a great job painting balloons on her daddy's face! After Rian was done getting painted on she wanted to try painting on someone. I was her first victim! After wiping globs of paint off my eye lashes, Kami declared that Rian had painted fireworks on my left cheek. Daddy also got some "fireworks" painted on his cheek. Both girls became adorable kittens (or lions) after a few whiskers were added to their cheeks. We had a lot of fun doing this as a family and it washed off easily in the tub!