Decorator Help

Over Memorial Day Weekend, we got a super deal on a 32” flat screen TV at Best Buy. I had Christian hang it up in the kids’ playroom high enough so little fingers would have trouble reaching it. The room is “red” with cream carpet and white trim. We have an entertainment center for the components, two book cases, a love seat and a corner end table. Okay, this is where I need some help. The TV looks lost on that big wall. What would curtains look like around the TV? What color? What kind of fabric? Or I am up for any other suggestions.

Year End Teacher Gifts

This year, I made all ten of the kids’ teachers a Word Cloud or a Wordle. Here is an example of the one I made for HHE using all the teachers/administrators names and school words.

I emailed each teacher the following letter:
Hi
I am going to make your year end gift and I need your help to make it better. Please provide me with the following information to make your gift more special. Just skip any areas that don't apply. The more info you provide me the better.
What color tones do you like (Greens, Blues, Maroons, Other):
Names (your name, spouse, children & their spouse, grandchildren):
Nicknames (if any):
Names of your pets (if any):
If you have grandchildren, what do they call you and your husband?
Places or words that have meaning to you (college, favorite team, hobby, pets, nicknames, etc.): The more words the better!

Then you take the list of words and type them up in a word document. I added the following words deleting the ones that did not apply: fortunate happy kin loving parents offspring relatives wonderful hope love blessed faith son daughter sister brother daughter-in-law son-in-law trust wish dream ancestors joy mother father mom dad Hidden~Hollow elementary school educator Family Family Family

The words you want to appear larger you will need to list more times. I did last names and the word Family three times, first names twice and the remainder of the words just once. If you have two words that you want to appear together, you will need to us a ~ in place of the space.

Once you have your list of words, go to

http://www.wordle.net/create. Copy and paste your list of words into the “Create” box and press “Go”. The next screen will allow you to pick your colors, fonts and layout. My personal preference is “Heat” for the Color, “Mostly Horizontal” for the Layout and “Loved by the King” for the Font. Once you are happy with your settings you can “Re-layout with current settings” or “Recolor” until you are happy with the finished product. Once I was happy with the look, I printed them on an 8.5 x 11 piece of photo paper and place them in a document frame. Here is an example of how they turned out.

We got the nicest thank you notes from all the recipients. These also make great Mother's Day Gifts!

White Chocolate Popcorn

Today is the last day of my 08-09 school year at WLC and, for the office staff, I made White Chocolate Popcorn. I got this recipe from a parent of a student I had a couple of years ago and have been making it ever since!

White Chocolate Popcorn
1 1/2 lbs of white almond bark
1 bag almond slivers (I usually just do popcorn)
3 bags fat free popcorn (reg works but is more yellow)
Confectioners sugar
Pop popcorn in microwave and place in large bowl. I use the top to my cake taker. Melt almond bark in microwave according to the package’s directions. Mix over popcorn and almond slivers unit well coated. Sprinkle confectioners sugar over all and mix until the sheen is gone from chocolate. Add more sugar as needed.

This is a great combination of salty and sweet and it only takes a few minutes to put together.

Wordless Wednesday

Belly Up to the Bar

It’s hot. I’m parched. I need to quench my thirst. I have been filling my humming bird feeders more and more lately and this is why. This squirrel is using my bird feeder as his on personal drinking fountain.

Red White & Blue Decor

Memorial Weekend is here and we are all decked out in the red, white and blue. I used my Southern Living At Home upside down cake plate, a few strands of red, white and blue star necklaces, and my AMERICA sign for my table center piece. The front door is a circle of stars wreath to welcome you. In the foyer, I have a patriotic birdhouse and flag plate. And to top it off, a Longaberger 2005 Inauguration Basket that my great aunt found at a thrift store for 50 cents! Gotta love a bargain!

Have a GREAT Memorial Day Weekend!

Tracy's Egg McMuffin

Have you ever cooked eggs in the microwave?

If you haven’t, you are missing the boat!

This Egg McMuffin is a great hot breakfast that you can whip up in no time.

Tracy's Egg McMuffin
1 Egg
1 Tbsp Milk
1 Tbsp Shredded Cheese
1 tsp Real Bacon Bits
Spray a small bowl with Pam. Scramble one egg. Add milk, cheese, and real bacon bits. Cook in microwave on high for 30 seconds and stir. Cook for 30 more seconds. Place cooked eggs on a toasted English Muffin and ENJOY!

Speical Olympics

Jack and his class at HHE got an opportunity to participate in the Special Olympics put on by the kids at Kingwood Park High School. Everyone had a great time. What a fun field trip!

Tiffany's Birthday Lunch

Yesterday, we celebrated Tiffany’s birthday at Chimichurri's in Kingwood. Pictured top row is Stefanie, Tiffany, Laurie, Caroline. Sitting is me, Tracy, and Brenda. We all ordered the executive lunch. It included salad or soup, choice of main dish and a dessert or coffee. Wonderful meal! Gorgeous weather! Great friends!

The Barger Zoo

For SPICE, Bailey is doing an animal study. She has been working on the Study of “ologies” over the last three months. They have a notebook with pages such as zoology and they have to pick an animal, write a sentence or two about it, then draw a picture. For the year end project, she has picked an African Elephant. Here is the elephant mask that she made.

Not to be out done by his sister, here is Jack's mask.Now I can really say "This place is a zoo!"..... LOL ;~)

Fun in the Sun

Bailey, Christian and Jack enjoy some fun in sun! I just love how the pool tags work in our neighborhood. Our pool had swim team this past week and we were able to go to another Kingwood pool. How great is that?!?

Old Lady

Here she comes, slowly, with her hunched back, babushka and cane. Bailey is always playing make believe and this time she is playing old lady. She put together this getup on her own and then asked me to take a picture. I only hope that I age this well ;~)

New Kitchen Facet

One of my Mother's Day gifts was a new kitchen facet. Here are Christian and his helper, Jack, installing it for me. Even cuter than the picture, is Christian calling me to take it. Here is the finished product. Great job to both of my handymen!

Fish Food Solution

I know people who take pictures when their kids do things that make them upset. I am just not there yet. The other day, Jack dumped the entire container of fish food into his tank. Bailey came to tattle and the fish lived. It was a BIG mess! This was just not a Kodak moment for me and I didn’t get any pictures.
Here is what I have come up with for the solution. I bought 7-day pill organizers for both kids and loaded with a daily amounts of fish food. This way we know which fish has been fed and that they got just a small amount. It seems to be working. Have your kids ever done something crazy and you took a picture?

Poker Chili

Once a month, we host a Hold’em tournament for the Kingwood Poker Club. And every month I make a big pot of “Poker Chili” for the players. I have even had some of the guys ask for the recipe. So, here it is!

Poker Chili
2-3 lbs ground beef (80/20 works best)
1 small Chopped onion
salt/pepper
3 cans Kidney Beans
2 cans chopped tomatoes with chilies
1 can tomato sauce
1 lg can tomato paste
½ cup Chili Powder
In a large pot, brown the ground beef. Add onion and salt/pepper to taste. Then add all the canned ingredients and Chili Powder. Simmer over low heat for approximately 45-60 minutes and serve.

We have a great group of guys that come to play. If you are interested in joining the fun, just let me know!

How do you do that?!?

Have you ever wondered “How do they do that?” when looking at other peoples blogs? I have been blogging for almost a year now and I often wondered how some of my fellow bloggers come up with the neat little gadgets, buttons, headers, backgrounds, etc. that they include on their site. Here are some links to some great ideas and how to’s:

For Free Blog Backgrounds The Cutest Blog on the Block has so really good one and instructions on how to uses them. The also have a tab for Blog Secrets which include how to customize your banner, change the 'comments' line and 'posted by' at the bottom of each and much more.

Aqua Poppy Designs and Shabby Blogs also offers free backgrounds.

If you want to add a signature to your blog post, there are some great tips on Moms Who Blog or you can go to My Live Signature.

Blog Buttons was my biggest challenge. Heather over at Five Makes A Family was a huge help (Thanks!). First you need to build the graphic. You can always create your own button using Photoshop or other image editing software. Second, save this graphic and upload your picture to the web. I use Picasa (a Google Pack Software) to host my pics online. To find your picture location, just right click and select properties. Here is were I had trouble...the code. It will not let me post it, but leave me a comment and I'll email it to you. Add a gadget to your sidebar and paste in your code.

Good Luck and Happy Blogging!

Pony Rides

Here are Jack and Bailey riding ponies at Old MacDonald's Farm.

Mother's Day Weekend

I've had the most wonderful Mother's Day weekend. Bailey and Jack both made me a large paper flower.

Here we are on the train at Old MacDonald's Farm.

The kids made me pancakes.

We went to Los Cucos for a wonderful Mexican meal.
We also got donuts, went to the pool and had a delicious grill steak and baked potato dinner.
Christian and Jack need a rest after such a great time!I am blessed to have such a wonderful family!