Sewing and Cooking

Today makes day 18 our school system has missed for snow. We received five inches of new snow over the past 24 hours. This has been the prettiest snow as it was fluffy, heavy flakes that stuck to everything.
I used this time off to do some crafting. I made this Carolina bag. (By the way, congratulations Tarheels on your win over Miami last night!) Notice it has one of my new labels "Gayleblee Designs".

I am very excited about my new labels. I ordered them from Jennifer's Jewels on Etsy. Thanks Jennifer they are great.


I also made some delicious blueberry muffins. This is the best recipe ever, and so easy. I will be putting the recipe on my pages so look for it. I promise you will love it too.!




I have included a picture of my snowman collection. This is a tribute to all the snow we have been having. The snowman on the far left is a creation that Em made a couple years ago in art class.
I hope you enjoy your visit. I will respond to all email and comments.

Happy Crafting, Sewing, Cooking, Living!!!

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New Granny Square Pattern

As the snow continues and we now miss our 16th day of school, I continue crocheting, knitting, cooking and washing dishes. Above is picture of the "Solid Granny Square" that I am hoping to work into a pillow cover. The pattern came from Heather's blog The Little Tin Bird @ www.thelittletinbird.uk.co. Thanks Heather.
A big "yum yum" goes out the Lucinda Scala Quinn for her "Honey Mustard Chicken" recipe from her latest cookbook "Mad Hungry Feeding Men and Boys." It has become my new go to cookbook.

A Little Ray of Sunshine...

This past weekend was absolutely beautiful. The sun was shinging, the birds were singing, and the temperature was in the 50s. It makes you long for the lazy days of summer. But today we are home again for snow. Because our school district has now missed 15 days for snow we will be going to school on Saturday:( . I am posting some pictures of the sun shine on Saturday and the melting snow. I am so over snow for this year.
You can barely make out the remains of our last snowman.
You can almost see our sidewalk.


I would like to try my hand at selling some of my crafts. I am looking for some local show where I can set up and hopefully make a little proffit. I welcome all advice and tips anyone would want to share on this subject. Thanks in advance!


This is a picture of Em's crafting. She has decided she wants to make some money crafting too. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree does it? I have been busy crafting away and now she has caught the bug.

Scrap Scarf

I finished this scarf today. This is one of my personal favorite scarf designs. I love all the colors. This I knitted.

This blanket I am making I am using the "baby ripple" blanket posted on Attic24. Thanks again Lucy!!!

This ripple blaket was inspired by Lucy's beautiful creations at Attic24, but for some reason I used a different pattern than the one she has posted to create this blanket.


This snowflake pattern I got from the Martha Stewart website. I used a larger needle and yarn and I guess that is why it is so large. It is about an 8" diameter. I placed a tape dispenser beside it so you could see how large it is. I thought it would be pretty on a large tree or haning in your windows. I also glittered my snowflakes when I starched them.

Winter Weather Busy Body

We have missed the entire week of school due to snow. So.... I have been very busy with one of my favorite hobbies, crocheting. I have become obessed with some really beatuiful blogs that show case crocheting. My very favorite is Attic24. Lucy you are great. I am posting pictures of some things I have made from patterns on your blog. Thank you. Your patterns are soooooo easy to follow. Your color choices are always beautiful. Your site always makes me feel happy and warm.

Will It Ever End????

We finally went back to school today on a delay schedule. We missed two full days for snow. The forcast is for more snow and ice coming in on Thursday night with as much as 4 inches of ice and then snow on top of that. With another wintery blast expected for Tuesday. I feel like all I have done is cook and wash dishes. My children get up from one meal asking what we will be having at the next meal and what time it will be served. Thank you Lucinda Scala Quinn for your new Mad Hungry Cookbook. It has saved my family from the rut of eating what from my repitore of recipes. I have tried many of her recipes and have been very pleased with the results. They have been easy to follow with fairly simple ingredients and things that teenagers will eat. Kudos!
I am posting a picture of my oldest K. who enjoyed the last snow we had, he couldn't resist taking a dive in the powdery snow that piled up on our back deck.

Feeding my man, boys and girl.

I have embarked on a journey. I am working through a new cookbook. "Mad Hungry: Feeding Men and Boys" by Lucinda Scala Quinn. I used a recipe she published in the Everyday Food Magazine that came from this cookbook. Then a week or so later I saw her on the Martha Stewart Show promoting this book. Well the quest was on, I had to have it. I found it last weekend and the week has been filled with planning for the big cook this weekend. So far I have made: Breakfast burritos pg. 23, Spainish frittata pg. 27, Aunt Patty's coffee cake pg. 46, chicken enchiladas salsa verde pg. 133, Basic beef stew pg. 152, and Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies pg. 252. My children have liked the recipes. Their favorite was the cookies of course. It was the one recipe they all liked. My oldest is the pickiest eater in the bunch. He is a processed food junkie. He didn't like the breakfast burritos because he didn't like the chizoro sausage, so next time I will probably use a good American sausage. He also didn't like the frittata this morning because it was cold. The recipe said it was good hot or cold. He slept too late and that is his problem. None of them where especially crazy about the Green enchilladas. My middle child said "I don't like my main course concealed in a green sauce." For those of you who watch the Andy Griffith Show know where that line comes from. Tonight we will have the Basic Beef Stew. I will let you know how that goes over.

Here we go again....

More snow, go figure. Well this wasn't the "big" snow that was predicted. We got about six inches, not the 12+ that the weather man was saying. Em and I got out in the snow for a little while on Saturday. It made me kind of sad because neither of the boys wanted to get out in the snow and play this time. They said it was too cold. I know they are growing up and playing in the snow doesn't appeal to teenagers like it once did. Em and I tried to build a snowman, but the snow was too powdery and didn't stick very well, so we ended up making a snowmoundman. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

January

Wow, what a beginning to 2010. So much snow and I am now the mother of two teenagers. We have missed so much school due to the snow and bad weather. The boys have been busy playing basketball. Gray tried to cut his finger off. Em's basketball team is undefeated. They will begin tournament play soon. Kaleb's team won last week's tounament in Elizabethton. I have been spending many hours crocheting. We will call it hooking. Today we are home from school because of snow. The weather man is giving more snow for this weekend. This is suppose to be "sugnificant" snow.

Container Gardening

While in NY we enjoyed the old houses and the beautiful flowers. I would love to know how they make their baskets, and pots so beautiful. My containers look really sad right now. Please if anyone out there reads this and has some suggestions on how I can achieve the look of the flowers in the pictures I have added to this post, PLEASE let me know!!!!!!!!!!!!

Long time no see....

Wow, it has been a long time since I have been able to update. I guess that I am living up to my blog title. School is finally out and we have been on the move. Gray played in Cooperstown, NY. He did incredibily well, he hit two home runs. We fell in love with Cooperstown. It is an incredible town. We loved Schnider's Bakery and Double Day Cafe. Triple Play Cafe is very good as well. Our favorite place we ate was actually in Oneata, a place called Pondo's II. The best food and the portions where huge! Anyone visiting upstate NY must vist Pondo's II.

It has been awhile!

Boy has it been busy around here. Baseball, softball, life, it is all great. Em played in her first tournament of the year this weekend. They did pretty good. They were third. She turned her first double play! We were all very excited.
School is winding down. Four weeks left. But what a busy summer. Gray is going to Cooperstown, NY to play at the Field of Dreams the week of the fourth. Then the following week the boys will be playing in the Tennessee World Series. Then add in all the baseball and basketball camps in and sprinkle the Coach's Clinic and CTE Summer Conference. It will be a summer packed from beginning to end.

Juggling it all!

What a day. Today EmmaLee had an eye appointment, I had a dentist appointment, the boys had open gym, and Em had softball practice. Ken and I are like ships passing in the night, but we often swap cargo (children). He is a great help with the children. I don't know how single parents get it all done.

Good Job Guys

I would like to send out a big congratulations to both of my boys. Kaleb for winning "All Conference" and "All Tournment" for his performance in his middle school baseball season. He was the only player to receive both honors in the entire conference.

Gray played travel ball this weekend with the Carolina Cougars. His team was undefeated. They had to call each game because of the mercy rule.

Great Job guys. Mom is proud of you!

Can you believe it!

The calandar may say spring, but Mother Nature says it is still winter. We had 70 degree weather over the weekend, but the past two days we have had snow. We have missed a day of school and may miss today as well. I know the schood administrators are going crazy. It was nice to have the day off. Spring break is coming up next week and we are planning our annual trek to the beach with my entire family, thirteen of us. The children look so forward to it. It is the only time they get to spend a significant amount of time with their cousins. We are hoping that all the nasty weather will be over and we will have a week full of sunshine.

BASEBALL

What fun. Today will make the sixth baseball game I have attended in a week. On Monday Kaleb hit a homerun out of the park, 315'. His team made it to the semis in his middle school baseball tourney. He received an all conference pick and an all tournament pick.
Gray plays today, but Ken's mom and dad are taking him so that we can go with Kaleb when he receives his plaques for the tourney. Em finally got to practice softball this week. Between schedules and the weather they have had a hard time getting to practice.
Kaleb came down with strep earlies this week, but is making a nice recovery. I will post some pictures of him in a later post. He has had an incredible year.
The family is heading to the beach during spring break so there will be much packing to do. I love going, but I dread the packing and unpacking. But all the sunshine and the wonderful time spent with family makes it worth every bit of it!

Why am I the Busiest Mom?

I guess I need to explain why I am so busy. I am the mother of three children who don't say no to anything. They play rec ball, school ball, travel ball, (in two sports), music, attend church, and then add the friend factor. My husband is the head football and basketball coach at the middle school where he teaches, as well as the athletic director. Then there is me. I am an early childhood education teacher at a high school. I teach 11th and 12th graders how to work in the child care industry. I am also the director of the onsite preschool. This is the learning lab for my high school students. I am the county program contact for More at Four, a state wide program that targets at risk preschoolers. I am the contact for a grant our county received called a "Ready Schools Grant" that is working to make sure all schools are ready for all children. It works to make sure the school meets the child where they are, a kind of closing the gap you could say. I also am a co-advisor for a student organization called FCCLA (Family, Community, and Career Leaders of America.).
These things keep us very busy, but...we always make time for family each and every day!

Weekend Gone Bust!

Well, this weekend was designated as my big cooking weekend for OAMC. Well...I started feeling bad on Saturday and just couldn't get motivated to get all of it done. At 3:00am on Sunday I woke up deathly sick. I can't think about even smelling food now let alone eating what few meals I did get prepared on Saturday.
I have been knitting. I watched Martha Stewart's knitting program and they had a blanket made from knitted squares. I decided that would be a great idea. You could always take it with you and you can mix and match the squares like a quilt so you could be working on many different projects at one time. You have to remember to use similar sized yarns, the same size needles, count your rows, and always cast on the same number of stitches. This is a great project for novice knitters like me!

What's for Lunch

I am always looking for easy, but wholesome ideas for my kids lunches. They also need to to be economical. They love snack cakes such as Little Debbie, but they are expensive and are full of perservatives. I found a great recipe for brownies that is easy, makes a huge pan, and freezes well. Here is the recipe:
Brownies
2c plain flour
2 1/4 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 sticks margarine
1/3 cup cocoa
1c chopped nuts (optional)
Mix flour, sugar and eggs together. Melt margarine and cocoa. Add the first mixture. Add nuts if desired. Pour into a greased 9x13" pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Do not over bake.
Your kids will love these!

Delicious Orange Ginger Chicken

Last night's meal was wonderful. We enjoyed orange ginger chicken that I marinated and froze the first part of the month. I placed it in the fridge the night before to defrost. All I had to do was cook the chicken and add a couple of sides. I have included some pictures for you to see how simple, but nutritious and attrative this meal was.