Circle Journal: Listening and Dancing

This month's circle journal from Gauche Alchemy was Heather's who chose a "Listening and Dancing" theme. At first I wasn't sure what direction I wanted to go in but luckily inspiration hit me like a truck and I whipped it together like that*! *(picture me snapping)

Anyhoo, here is my entry in Heather's journal:



I used a vintage image and colored parts of her outfit in Platinum and Copper Stickles. I added some pieces from Gauche Alchemy's (It's All) Gravy, Baby! mixed media color kit and a couple of crochet flowers I received from Y at Do More With Less. Some feathers here, some buttons there, a little lacy ribbon, a piece of dress pattern, a key brad, some haphazard acrylic painting, sequins and pom poms and last but not least, words from a magnetic poetry set.



Here's hoping Heather likes it as much as I do (why come all the good things I make are to be sent off to other people?! lol ;P)!

Happy Monday everyone! :D

A Love Story

Please press play before enjoying this intimate love story...

What Is Love?

During their honeymoon at Disney World, this moment finds our young lovers enjoying the view of the water while in Epcot Germany...

Me: *sigh* Isn't it beautiful here?

Husband: (leans to the side, screws up his face and proceeds to fart for the first time in front of his bride)

Me: What the? Did you just fart in Disney's Epcot World Showcase?!

Husband: Listen, we're married now. The gloves are off...

Is it the meeting of eyes across a crowded room?

Me: (attempting to foster open communication rather than answering all of his questions with "Nothing") You see honey, during that time of the month, I just don't feel like myself. I feel fat, ugly and blah and I just need a little extra encouragement. I know you don't fully understand since you don't have to go through this every month.

Husband: Well, we've been married for two years. That's kinda like being on your period, right?

The brush of a hand across the nape of your neck?

Me: (jokingly) No, I'm angry at you. Can't you see the steam coming out of my ears?

Husband: No, but I can see the hot air coming out of your mouth...

Sweet words whispered in your ear?

Ahhhh...sweet love...

Husband: "Hey honey, look!"



I asked my husband's permission before writing this post because I wanted to make sure he knew that I loved his being able to call me on my crap and his witty sense of humor. Thank you Honey for being a good sport and for making me laugh more than any man I've ever known! (Except maybe Will Ferrell. That man is hilarious!)

Love means never having to say you're not funny...

Friday Night Fab Five: Thankful For The Toot Things In Life

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving (or Thursday as the case may be :D). We had a great day but unfortunately Toot got sick along the way so today we're fighting off a cold. Bleeck. So I thought it might make Toot feel better to know that this week's Fab Five is Toot-centric. That would make me feel better anyway. :P

Anyhoo, Toot is at that age where her biggest joy comes from the simple things in life and I really hope that never changes. I could have saved a lot of money had I known that instead of buying toys I could've just given her trash to play with...

1. Wrappers and Bowls



Toot loves a good biter biscuit or Mum-Mum but she likes the wrappers even better. She also loves digging through my plastic containers to seek out new treasures...

2. Boxes



In a stage where she loves taking things out and putting them back in, boxes are one of Toot's newest favorite things...

3. Tissues When My Back Is Turned



This picture is from today. Since Toot's nose (not to mention teething mouth) is running like a faucet, I had the tissues handy. Until I turn around to find her whipping them all out of the box. Which I can't really blame her for, that is fun to do...

4. Play Pen Netting



This was a new one to me! I had Toot in her play pen so I could get some things done and as I walked by noticed her presumably trying to eat her way out of the play pen. That can't taste good, right?

5. The Basket I Put Her Toys In



Forget the toys I put in there, she'd rather empty it, turn it upside down and use it as a drum. I've been trying to teach her "Babaloo"...

And the Creepiest Toy Award goes to...suicidal doll!



I honestly don't know how this happened. I was starting to clean up the toys one night when I noticed that this doll had apparently had enough and was trying to take the easy way out by ending it all in a Wiggles block. I don't know if Toot put her there or she just kinda ended up like this but it really creeped me out. LOL

And there you have it, another Friday Night Fab Five comes to an end...how sad! :D Do you like the simple things in life?

Have a great weekend!

Giving Thanks and Eating Everything In Sight

Yesterday Toot and I took a little road trip to pick up my mom who is staying with us during the Thanksgiving holiday and today is all about cleaning, prepping and crafting for the big day tomorrow! Woo hoo, Thanksgiving is H-E-R-E!



What Am I Thankful For?

My family, friends and all of you fabulous bloggers for making me laugh, cry and drool over your creations and vintage goodness!

I hope you all have a fabulous Thanksgiving or if you're outside of the States, have a great Thursday! lol

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Friday Night Fab Five from Family Album Six

Hello everyone and welcome to another Friday Night Fab Five where I list 5 things that are super groovy. Actually this week I was going to post these family pictures in a separate post but I could only get 5 picture safely out of the sixth album (freakishly strong picture eating glue for jerks) so I figured, Friday Night Fab Five family style, why not?

So time once again for some pictures from our Family Vault (i.e. the box in our den) and if you're just joining us you can read about these albums and see the first one HERE, the second one is HERE, the third album is HERE, the fourth album is HERE and the fifth is HERE.

And as always: I'm sure it goes without saying that these pictures are not to be posted anywhere or used in any way without express permission from me. Period. I can be contacted at katamommy at gmail.com. I promise I don't bite! :D











Have a great weekend everyone!

This Is The Post That Never Ends...

Hmmmm...I think I've used this title before...

Anyhoo, y'all just strap yourselves in cause this post is going to be all over the place! I'm tired and getting a little loopy so there's no telling what will happen in the next few paragraphs. You've been warned...

Tis the Season to Gain Weight! Fa la la la la, la la la la!

Oh my goodness y'all, Thanksgiving is NEXT WEEK! Holy smokes this is so exciting! This time last year, Toot was just over a month old and no fun at all. ;) j/k lol But this year she'll be able to eat with us and then pass out with us! Yes!

Here's Toot during last year's Thanksgiving:



I love trying out new recipes anytime but around the holidays is when I do my major recipe hunts. I'm usually glued to Food Network in an attempt to find new things to try and I'm still captivated by the same holiday specials that they repeat year after year after year, most especially Sandra Lee's Thanksgiving one where she make those onion tartlet things and Paula Deen's Thanksgiving where they make that turkducken and that yuck looking oyster dressing. lol she also makes Sweet Potato Balls which I tried one year, I always try a new sweet potato recipe for Thanksgiving day (I haven't found the perfect one!)

So what was saying? Sheesh I even lose my train of thought when I blog...uh...

Oh right! So anyway my point is that I love finding new recipes, I love this time of year and I L-O-V-E that I can save money on cookbooks by trying out recipes y'all are kind enough to post on your blogs! lol So thank you! :D I thought I'd share a couple of the ones that I have tried and love love love!

Thanks to Joanna at The Fifty Factor, I found the perfect recipe for Hard Boiled Eggs at Jane at the Garden Gate.

Thanks to Traci at Her Hillbilly Highness, I have a recipe for a fabulous Corn Casserole and trust me, this one is super quick and tastes awesome!

Thanks to Julie at A Vintage Chic, I now have something to serve for Thanksgiving breakfast: Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes and they are amazing!

And this one is a "thanks in advance" for just this morning I found a recipe for Pumpkin Swirl Brownies from Sassy Radish which I haven't tried out yet but believe me, I will make these A.S.A.P.!

And just for fun, once I get control of the Sewing Machine That Hates Me and Refuses to Let Me Sew On It, I am going to sew me up some felt goodies like this lunch set from Skip To My Lou.



So I have to ask: who out there has the perfect sweet potato recipe? It could be traditional with marshmallows or totally different or whatever, I just need a new recipe to try this Thanksgiving, help! lol :D

Friday Night Fab Five: My Blog Is Alive...With The Sound of Music

Hi everyone and welcome to another Friday Night Fab Five! I felt a little guilty bumming y'all out last week so this week is all about making you smile on this Friday the 13th...

:) <-----See? When I was a kid, I got into musicals in a major way. Which my mom started to hate because I would walk around singing the songs for days after watching one of them. (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was banned from our house for about 2 years because of my incessant singing. :D) I was watching a special on the history of musicals and I got that feeling again: the musical number chills. You know when a song or dance number is special because you get those "chills" and you can't quit smiling for a week. Anytime I'm down, I know I can turn to musicals which funny enough, is a large reason how they came to be in the first place: to give Americans a way to temporarily escape from The Depression. I'm lucky enough to be going with a friend to the theater this Sunday to see a matinee of "South Pacific" and I can't wait! I've only seen two musicals in person: "Guys and Dolls" and "Mama Mia" (Please please please see Mama Mia on the stage and NOT the movie version! *shudder*) Anyhoo, these Five hold a special place in my heart because they were a big part of my childhood, even if I wasn't around when they first came out. I could have named this post the "Friday Night Fab 100" but I tried to keep myself to only choosing those songs I remember specifically driving my folks nuts with singing around the house. :D 1. "America" - West Side Story West Side Story was HUGE for me. I knew every song, every dance, every line, every THING about this musical. I watched this number over and over so many times I would dance it in my living room and to this day it gets me tapping my toes. We used one of the songs for our wedding, I still sing "I Feel Pretty" whenever I have a good hair day and I don't care what you say...dancing gangs are awesome.

2. "Singin' In The Rain" - Singin' In The Rain

Oh boy, another big one. The whole movie is enchanting but this number in particular never fails to inspire me. I love this movie so much and I always sing "Good Morning" to Toot every morning when I go in to get her. :D



3. "On the Street Where You Live" - My Fair Lady

I never understood why Eliza would go for Higgins when she could have had this pretty boy. lol I remember watching this movie and thinking how romantic it would be if someone sang this song about me. lol And I totally wanted to wear Hepburn's ball gown as my wedding dress (but I hated her hair in that scene as a kid for some reason, lol).



4. "Pure Imagination" - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

They made us watch this movie in school every year and I would be glued to the TV if I knew it was on (much to my mother's consternation). This song and Gene Wilder's performance of it will be magical to me until the day I die. I worshiped this movie as a kid, lol. Maybe that's why I never got into Burton's version...



5. "The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing" - White Christmas

Christmas time or no, my best friend and I wore this video tape O-U-T. (Yes children, there weren't always DVDs. lol) The musical numbers in this movie are out of this world and the whole thing just works. I always loved the thought of letting the music carry you away...



And because I can't stand not including this one too, my Fab Five honorable mention:

"I've Got a Golden Ticket" - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

I know I'm doubling up here on this movie but this song is so fun and inspiring to me. Anytime you're having a great day (especially after having a crappy day), it just feels like you've won the best prize and this song embodies that feeling for me.



Well, there you have it! Another Friday Night Fab Five has come to a close. *sniff* Like I said, I could have mentioned SO many more musicals that mean so much to me...Oklahoma, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, State Fair, Showboat...Do you enjoy musicals? What are your favorites?

Have a great weekend everyone! :D

Yesterday, All My Projects Seemed So Far Away...

So much happened yesterday that I had to wait a whole day before telling you about any of it! lol

First of all, yesterday was Sesame Street's 40th anniversary. Holy cow, this show has been going strong for 40 years!

I loved watching Grover teach about near and far:



And I L-O-V-E-D the skits where Grover was a waiter:



Toot turned 13 months old yesterday and she is now officially over the one year mark, yikes! Speaking of which, when do you stop counting months and just say "one year old"? This extra months + 12 months thing is confusing...lol.

Yesterday I watched "The Edge of Love" with Keira Knightly and is was...eh. But it took place during WWII which leads me to say....

Thank you to all veterans every where for your invaluable service and sacrifice! I appreciate you keeping me free! :D

Also yesterday I finished my Christmas tree skirt! This pattern was actually pretty easy and luckily I was able to crochet on auto-pilot for a good while which is always appreciated (you can't really do that in amigurumi! lol). It was raining here yesterday so the pics aren't great but here it is, with and without the flash (I'm sure you will all notice the sneaky arm in the bottom right corner. Mommy's little shadow! lol):





Now on to the next project! Happy Veteran's Day everyone!

Family Pictures: Album Five

First of all, concerning my last post that included some Renaissance Festival pictures...did anyone else notice (besides Carmen lol) that Twig the Fairy HERSELF commented on my post?!?! HOLY SMOKES! Coolest thing ever! lol Thanks for your comment Miss Twig! :D

So it is time once again for some pictures from our Family Vault (i.e. the box in our den) and if you're just joining us you can read about these albums and see the first one HERE, the second one is HERE, the third album is HERE and the fourth album is HERE.

Album Five is a little sad. Not because the pictures are not as fabulous as the others but 90% of the pictures are so stuck to the pages due to the evil picture eating glue in these types of albums that I couldn't safely get a lot of them out. Thus, there aren't as many pictures to share with you today unfortunately! :( That being said, this album was so delightful and full of treasures, I hope you enjoy them!

And as always: I'm sure it goes without saying that these pictures are not to be posted anywhere or used in any way without express permission from me. Period. I can be contacted at katamommy at gmail.com. I promise I don't bite! :D

















Have a fabulous week everyone! :D

Some Random Huzzahs!

Welcome to Ye Old Post of Random Yore!

First things first, for all of you scrappers out there:

Vicki is holding a HUGE giveaway over at her blog: Texas Scrap Addict and like I said, it...is...HUGE! So get on over there and enter for your chance to win, tell her Maggi sent ya! :D Click HERE to see her giveaway post!

Don't believe me? Check out the grand prize:



Told you so! Click to make it bigger, you'll pee yourself when you see everything up for grabs! lol

I've already watched "A Christmas Story" about 10 times and it's not even Christmas yet. Well I can't help it! I love it! lol PLUS some of the local radio stations are playing Christmas music this weekend, yay! lol

Anyhoo, last weekend we made another trip to the Renaissance Festival and had a blast! Here are some random pics for your looking pleasure...

We saw the Green Man:



And Twig the Fairy:



A glass blowing demonstration:



And then we saw The Cheerio With A Strong Will To Live:



Here's some randomies:







Plus, a friend we were with got hypnotized and it was A-W-E-S-O-M-E! lol

I hope y'all are all having a fabulous weekend! :D

Friday Night Fab Five: Bummer

Thank you for all of the compliments on my bird mobile, they are so appreciated! Someone pointed out that it was a Twitter mobile and the more I thought about it, the more I realized they were right! lol

Anyhoo, welcome to another Friday Night Fab Five where I list Five things I am into, at least for this week. Now this Friday Night Fab Five is going to be quite different from previous Fives because I'm going to focus on movies that are total bummers.

Maggi, I'm bummed just reading this post, what is going on?

Well, give me a minute and I'll tell you!

First off, you need to know this about me: 1. I hate spoilers and try to avoid them at all costs. I like to be totally surprised by everything, good or bad, a movie may offer me. And 2. I HAVE to have a happy ending. None of this dead person, unrequited crap. I want happy, I need happy. (I'm still mad at "Mrs. Doubtfire" for not getting the parents back together in the end and I've never forgiven Cameron for killing off Jack in "Titanic". I mean come on, take turns on the door or grab some dead persons raft or SOMETHING Leonardo, sheesh! Yes yes, I know that this is not realistic or "real life" but I don't care...

Okay, so we have Netflix and I started just throwing a bunch of stuff in our queue that looked interesting or that I hadn't seen yet. I started getting a little depressed and it was about my third movie in that I realized that everything I had watched either had a sad ending, was totally depressing or just plain sucked. It was then that I knew I was destined to highlight the best of the saddest for you, my fine readers.

A little note: 1. Just because I was bummed by these movies does NOT mean they aren't worth watching. I thought they were all good. 2. Yes, this may make me an awful person but if a movie or documentary is super sad, I LOVE showing it to friends and family without telling them anything about it ahead of time or what's going to happen. Don't ask me why I think it's fun to bum the people I love out but there it is...

So do you have your tissues? Great, on we go! (Feel free to click the movie titles to go to their Wikipedia page, just be aware of spoilers if you've not seen them yet!)

1. Phoebe in Wonderland



Ah yes, the first in a long list of sad and/or upsetting movies that I accidently watched all in a row. First of all, there is the word "Wonderland" in the title, how can that be bad? Then the opening sequence has these seemingly cool parents giving their daughter this mixed media hand made Wonderland thing-a-ma-jig. Then the movie makes this weird turn and the delightful Wonderland movie I was expecting turns into something completely different.

2. How Green Was My Valley



I had recently finished Maureen O'Hara's autobiography and she spoke often of this movie so I decided to check it out. This is a black and white drama about a Welsh family of coalminers and it is a bummer. People dying or leaving or doing goodness knows what else.

3. Revolutionary Road



Ahhh finally! A movie set in the 50s could never betray me right? RIGHT?! Holy smokes talk about a train wreck of a marriage suffocating the life out of it's occupants and the innocent people (i.e.-ME) watching them! Mother of pearl, this was a sad piece from one end to the other. But it was nice seeing DiCaprio and Winslet together again!

4. Atonement



For the love of...Are you kidding me?! This movie about A Girl Who Sees Something is an excellent movie. That being said, come on! Seriously? What a downer! Plus, the ending you don't see coming?! Double Downer! Sidenote: I am admittedly not a huge fan of Keira Knightly but she is quite good in this movie.

And finally....the Queen of All That is Depressing *drum roll*

5. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father



This one is worse because it's true. This is actually a documentary and it will rip the heart out of your chest. A film maker is told that a childhood friend is killed and so he decides to travel around the country, interviewing family and friends to create a movie of sorts for his friend's son so that he may know something of his father. What results is mind boggling and I wholeheartedly suggest you watch this movie ASAP.

And on that note, here passes another Friday Night Fab Five! :D If you've seen any of these, I would love to hear your thoughts! (Just no spoilers please, just in case others want to watch them. :) Have a sad movie you want me to check out? Just leave it in your comment!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Of Birds and Birthdays...

Today is a VERY special day because:

1. It is Callista's birthday! Woooooo hoooooo! I met Callista through her blog, Down the Rabbit Hole and have only known her a short while through posts and e-mails but I consider her a very great friend and want to wish her the best of birthdays today!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CALLISTA!

And 2. I'm finally getting around to showing you my fully completed amigurumi bird mobile! I got the pattern from the book Amigurumi Two! by Ana Paula Rimoli. The patterns are a little more advanced than her first book but there are so many cute things to make from this book.

If you're new to crochet or know a stitch or two but would like to get into amigurumi, I wholeheartedly suggest getting Ana's first book Amigurumi World: Seriously Cute Crochet. She has good illustrations and explanations of stitches and I've found her patterns to be the easiest to understand if you're just starting out.

Anyhoo, here's my finished mobile and I apologize for the pictures. I made this for Chris' aunt's birthday and didn't take pictures of it until I got ready to pack it up in the middle of the night to ship to her the next day. By the way: really enjoy these pictures because I will NEVER make this project again, it took F-O-R-E-V-E-R! lol Lots of pieces, sewing together and what not...

So yes, this thing is huge and it took forever, lol. But I am quite pleased with the result and I hope his aunt likes it! :D

Have a great day everyone!