A chance for some free stuff

And it's really cute!

OK, so I have several blogs that I read that give away stuff on a regular basis. Usually I don't even bother to enter because, let's face it, I never win anything. Well, that's not really true. I can think of exactly two times that I have ever won a random drawing/raffle of some sort in my entire 31 (and 1/2) years. But this stuff is too darn adorable to pass up, so I entered. And if I tell you all about the contest, I get another entry, so that's what I'm doing. They are giving away an absolutely beautiful little dress, a play tea set, and a fun cookie set. Man - that's Christmas for Danielle all in one shabang! Here's the link to kiddo.org so you can check out the goodies - go look, and enter - if you don't want them you can send them to me after you win:)
And even though you might think from your first glance that all Kiddio does is give stuff away (hey - it's free!), they also have really cool crafts, DIY stuff, etc... They even have a whole boycraft area.

OK, nothing else real exciting to update you on. I spent most of the day working on presents, but of course I can't show you anything yet, sorry. And I really should be working on a few last papers and projects I have due this week (finals - yah and yuck and the same time). So I guess I'll get to it. 'Night.

Pumpkin Ravioli Retold...at last

I heard that my dear Auntie has the gunk, so for her sake I figured I'd better write something for her to read, and I might as well get on with the pumpkin ravioli story. Though at this point, the stories you all have come up with sound a lot better than the real deal, and I'm not so sure that I want to relive it. I really wish these ravioli had been some deliciously lovely yumminess that involved cheesecake and graham cracker crumbs as suggested by my friend Liz. But alas, they were not. So here we go:

Whatever night it was.... Tuesday, so Monday I decide to do something I never do, try a new, exotic, yummy sounding recipe that I know no one else in the family would appreciate but me. I really thought it was a good idea. In my useless blog wanderings for the day, I had run across a recipe for pumpkin ravioli with brown butter sage sauce - doesn't that sound good to you? I thought it sounded divine. So I went about purchasing the needed items for the meal and talked it up all afternoon. (Though Cameron really thought I was joking when I told him.) I set about to make them, only to find that I had purchased pumpkin pie mix (you know, the pre-sweetened stuff), not plain pumpkin. So sad - though I did make that pumpkin pie mix in to absolutely fabulous pumpkin bread the other day:) Cameron thought he was in the in clear and would no longer have to force his happy face though dinner, but I was smarter than he - I managed to pick up a can of pumpkin while finishing up my Christmas shopping the very next day - haha! So Tuesday night the ravioli were unveiled.

Now I have to be fair here - the reciped did call for fresh pumpkin (which I just don't have the time for) and fresh sage (which my store was all out of), but I really don't think it would have made that much of a difference. And my first bite was WAY too hot, in my haste to get to hula class on time and to taste my divine dish, so I totally burned my tongue. But even after I got dressed for class and actually used a fork to try it, I was sorely disappointed. Pumpkin ravioli were just not meant to be. What cruel person persuaded me to give them a shot? I don't recall, but they liked them. I remember, even their child liked them. Not mine. Cameron either (but we all know that already). It was a bust. Oh well. And at the time of the original post I had a whole plate full in the fridge waiting for some hungry person to give in and try - but I threw them out today. I couldn't stand to look at them any longer, they were just sitting there, teasing me, shaming me, bringing to rememberance my sad experimental cooking. I'm not a cook - baking I can do, but I'm not a cook.

So anyho0 - there you have it. A good home is no longer needed, but if you really feel the urge to try pumpkin ravioli, I think I still have the recipe somewhere in the kitchen....

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just wanted to get on and quickly tell you all HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Though it does seem a little silly since it's no longer Thanksgiving for some of you already, and the rest of you probably won't read this today. Oh well. But I am thankful for many things this year. Here a (very) short list:

Loving Husband
Energetic Children
Chubby Babies
Reynolds Turkey Bags
Plenty to eat
A warm, soft bed
Family all over the world (I'm not thankful that they are spread all over - they just happen to be:)
Friends that don't just leave a mark, but continually shape me for the better
Christmas trips made possible by generous parents
My creativity
That I can actually see the light at the end of my schooling tunnel (June 2010, baby!)

Really, I could go on forever, but I have kiddos being rowdy when they are supposed to be "trying" to sleep. Needless to say, I'm very grateful for the many blessings that I have in my life. And I'm sure there are things that I am blessed with that I'm not even aware of. I hope that you, too, are feeling grateful for the many good things in your life, whatever they may be.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Wanted: Good Home for Pumpkin Ravioli

Don't you love it when you spend time writing a great blog entry and then seconds before you hit the publish button is just disappears? I don't know why this happens to me - this is the third time. And in my complete astonishment that all my painstaking writing is gone, the autosave takes that moment to save a completely blank post, so I can't even go back and work on the last part that was saved. At least the title is still there...

That's what has happened tonight. And frankly, I don't care to write it all again at the moment. I'm tired. I want to do a crossword, have some cocoa, and go to bed. So for now you'll all just have to wonder what I wrote about. Hope I don't keep any of you up with all that wondering. Maybe I'll tell you tomorrow.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

It's been pretty rainy here the last few days. In fact, that's all it did on Saturday - I wish I had taken a picture of it, it was so gloomy and gray all day, I don't think the sun even peeked through once. And although it was a little chilly (I'm sure it was like 65 or something) and the kiddos had to stay inside all day, it also made for a perfect crafting day! I feel like I've been neglecting my craftiness lately, so this was a nice break from the norm. And it was handy since I have a ton of crafty things to get done.


First up on the list, there's a craft fair at the elementary school on Nov 29th that I decided to sign up for - hoping to drum up some scrapbooking business, I would REALLY like to get back into the CTMH groove. So I've been working on a few things for that, mostly gift card cards (they hold the gift card inside them) and scrapbook page kits. Plus I cleaned out and organized all my old displays and will be selling those items that I won't be using again because either the stamp set or the paper has been retired. It's a pretty good assortment of stuff. And the table was only $25, so I figure I can't lose out. So if you're in Laie on the 29th, come check it out. It's in the elementary cafe from 9am-2pm.
**Edit: I received a call this afternoon (11/24) that the craft fair was cancelled due to lack of interest. However in talking to my friend Ashley I found out that there is another crafty-type dealy in Kahuku, that I'm now delighted I can attend (it sounded cooler anyway). So that's a few things I can cross off my list for now!**


On top of that little project, this year I decided that I would try to make our Christmas gifts. Not to save money (as one my think, because really, I think it will be a wash) but mostly as a good excuse to make stuff. And it's working. I have figured out gifts for all but 2 people on my list (ahem, Mike and Eric), but I'm working on ideas for them - guys are a little harder, the gals were all super easy. And while I don't want to give away too much I did take a few sneak peek photos to share what I've been up to the last couple of weeks whenever I have a few minutes to spare.


You'll just have to guess which things are for which person and what they may end up being.....


I know you're all looking forward to lentils in your stockings:)








Now I'm off to prowl the web for some cute Christmas flannel for PJs....

I've Been Tagged

So my friend Liz decided to tag me (again). But this time I broke the rules. She tagged me for the 6 interesting things about yourself thingy, but since I did that not too long ago, I decided to copy another post of hers. And it was a lot of fun. So fun in fact that I'm going to break my usual rule of not passing on tags and actually pass this one on. So here it is:

Concept:

1. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search. http://www.flickr.com/search/

2. Using only the first page, pick an image.

3. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker. http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php (choose four columns and three rows, also choose individual URL's)

Questions:

1. What is your first name?

2. What is your favorite food?

3. What school did you go to?

4. What is your favorite color?

5. Who is your celebrity crush?

6. Favorite drink?

7. Dream vacation?

8. Favorite dessert?

9. What you want to be when you grow up?

10. What do you love most in life?

11. One word to describe you.

12. Your nickname.

So, I'm tagging Elise, Tonia, Ami, Kerry, Aunt Lynn, and Larisa (who doesn't post often enough, so I'm giving you a reason to).

Photo Credits:
1. Lisa Original, 2. I love cherrios....., 3. 39 more days, 4. Green velvet, 5. Orlando Bloom, 6. Sweet as cinnamon, 7. Designed by shadow, 8. cheesecake for Lianna!, 9. ..Precious Things.., 10. 2 months + 26 days, 11. 54/365 - Pick Your Battles, 12. Babe

HELP - Stephenie, are you out there?

OK, I have a TON of things to blog about this week, but I don't have time! I will try to get on this weekend for full updates. But in the mean time, I promised my hubby that I would post this plea on my blog for him:

In an effort to get his 13-14 yr. old Sunday School students more involved in reading their Book of Mormon he made a promise to them, that he may not be able to keep. For this reason, he is asking for help. You see, at the time of said promise the final book in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series has just come out. I'm sure you've heard of it, a little book called, Breaking Dawn. Cameron was very frustrated by the fact that most of these teenagers could manage to read the 750 pages of Breaking Dawn in about 4 days, but they couldn't manage to read the few pages of chapters in the Book of Mormon that were assigned for the week. In an instant he had an epiphany and told his class that if they would read the Book of Mormon, in its entirety before Christmas, he would give them a copy of Breaking Dawn. Not just any copy, but a signed copy. And not just any signature, Stephenie Meyer's. Now this is a great thought and has been an excellent motivator for at least one student, but unfortunately Cameron didn't do any research before this moment of "inspiration" and it turns out there were very few book signings for this book. So a signed copy of Breaking Dawn is VERY hard to come by. In fact they are going for about $200 on Ebay. So this is where the plea for help comes in - if anyone knows Stephenie (or anyone close to her) and could somehow help us get into contact with her, that would be fabulous. We're willing to do whatever it takes (even if we do end up buying one online) to fulfill his promise, but we're really hoping that we can plead our case and Stephenie will take mercy on us.

So, long story short:

Know a vampire author? Save us a buck!