Today we are launching with our own design group ODOD (Original Designs by Original Designers) and Amy has a secret to share! You’ll have to read the auction to find out her secret.

This two piece set is made from a soft and comfy cotton knit. It is offered on Ebay in custom size 2 to 8. Only one set is availible so if you like it don’t let it get away!

Fruitiliscious Knit Dress Set

I was invited to be part of an eBay launch from the Roxy and Roco design group this week. The theme was “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” and I was assigned to make an outfit that fit the song “Santa Baby.” Hopefully this fits, it has fur on it right? I had this darling group of coordinating fabrics left over from a few years ago and it was just enough to make this fun twirly stripwork skirt. I just loved how it turned out.

You can check out my listing on ebay right here:

Retro Christmas Stripwork Twirl Set

Our neighbor went gathering last weekend and gave us a pound of Chanterelle Msuhrooms!

I knew they are considered a delicacy b/c my grandparents always used to pick them when I was young. I was totally stumped with what to do with them. Usually we only use fresh mushrooms in spaghetti and stroganoff and then it’s just the plain white whatever mushrooms you get at the grocery store.

So I did a google search and I came across this recipie. Chicken Saute with Chanterelle Mushrooms.

OMG this was so to die for! The kids ate up the chicken… I did this with tenderloins and picked out pieces of chicken for the kiddos and served with buttered pasta. For dh and I WE got extra mushrooms (who wastes those on picky tots???) and put our chicken w/ sauce ON the pasta.

It was so good I was grabbing bites cold today. I noticed that Chanterelle mushrooms are $15 a lbs at the grocery store. So I need to take a mushroom picking class or go make goody with my neighbors.

Go Kyle rope that steer!

Kyle’s school (my big boy kindergartner!) has a Carnival fund raiser every fall to raise money for the school. I have to give big kudos to all the parent volunteers in the booster club who make this event happen. It seems like most of the school fundraisers have gone the way of Sally Foster and Magazine sales and it’s impressive the amount of money Kyle’s school’s booster club raises from this event. I really respect that we DON’T do Sally Foster, IMHO Sally Foster is like sleeping with the devil. YES your school gets money but you are sending out your kids to pimp a product that very few people want so the school can get just under 50% of the revenue (less the very expensive prize packages you have to buy). Pat and I decided last year we’d rather just make a tax deductible donation to the school than buy stuff we don’t want or need!

Pat and I also got a good walk down memory lane. The school carnival has fallen by the wayside in a lot of places, but I remember being so excited to go to the carnival when I was a child. Kyle could barely stand himself for 2 days he was so excited about all the activities.

We had a really great time as a family, and were more than happy to contribute to the school in such an interactive way. The cupcake walk was a hit with our kids. We spent a good deal of time and tickets there. Thankfully Amy finally got lucky and won us a box of cupcakes!

Evan even got in on the action throwing bean bags and trying to rope the steer… it was really cute to see my shy boy who usually won’t do anything get excited to do something. And Kyle was thrilled to throw a “cow pie” in the school counselor’s face. He doesn’t know the counselor, only being there a few weeks, but the idea of throwing a pie in the face of someone with authority… he was so excited. I guess he hit the poor gal straight on… I missed it as I was buying more tickets at the time!

“roping” a steer… Kyle and Amy were both very successful!

I’m cute… yahahaha….

I couldn’t get Kyle or Amy to step into the “wanted” booth to save my life and I barely caught Evan in there

Face painting… what princess wouldn’t want a rhinestone encrusted unicorn on her face???? Let me tell you the “wash off” the next morning to remove the blurr of paint from sleeping was not fun.

Cup Cake Walk…. going for lucky number 8!

Score… 4 cupcakes, one for me, 2 for brothers, one for daddy!… All good!

I’m so happy to announce that we now have Dura-bibs back in stock. These really are the best baby bib’s ever. They are durable, snap in back so baby can’t yank it off, and the pocket catches all the droppings! Best of all the pocket unsnaps for easy cleaning and you can throw them either in the washing machine or dishwasher. I loved that they fold up so easily to fit in the diaper bag too. We can’t seem to keep these in stock so be sure to get them while you can!

I have been a very happy camper. Our local network moved Rachael from the late afternoon to a morning show. I always loved her last year but I’d have to leave 1/2 way through to pick Amy up from school. So this new AM thing is perfect background noise for my life! Rachael always cooks dinner on the second half so I always missed it last year.

Today I was sucking air on the eliptical machine when Rachael did her daily dinner and today it was Thai It You’ll Like It A Thai Restaurant take for home cooking. I could tell just watching her make it, it’d be GOOD… Way good. She suggested chicken tenders as an alternate to shrimp if you were a seafood-a-phobe. Which we are not, but I was hoping to avoid the grocery store so I thawed out some tenders. It was all good until I realized we didn’t have any fresh basil, so then I made the grocery run and bought some shrimp too. I think we will be doing a chicken/shrimp combo for awhile b/c the kiddos are all shrimp wary. WTH…. Some day you’ll see the light picky little children!

The fresh basil… I’ve wanted to have it for awhile…I think I”m going to try and soak and grow shoots on the one stalk that is left over. from today’s meal. The only reason we aren’t growing it is b/c the seedlings got fried in the sun and we couldn’t find any good starters.

Anyways… This recipe was TDF! There is an error in it, the ingredients say garlic but there is no mention of it in the directions. I threw it in with the meat, and it worked great. And the fishsauce and lime… Pat was asking what I did to make it taste like Thai. Between the coconut, the lime, and fish sauce… it was all good! Dh is a picky picky eater and he LIKED this. The kids did too. I served it with fresh corn cut off the cob and steamed Zuccini (Corn from the vegitable stand around the corner… Zucchini home grown :-)).

Fall is here, hear the yell
Back to school, ring the bell
Brand new shoes, walking blues
Climb the fence, books and pens
I can tell that we are going to be friends
- Jack Johnson

I love this song “We’re going to be friends” from the Sing-a-Longs and Lullabies (Curious George) soundtrack. It always makes me think of the first day of school!

Here is Miss Amy Belle ready to go to PreK

Amy and her dear friend Sophia, so happy to be together in the same class!

Amy and her teacher Mrs. E, who she knows quite well since Kyle was in the same class last year.

And Mr. Kyle. I was so worried about how he’d take going to a new school for kindergarten, he was annoyed I even wanted to take his picture! As you can see the tooth fairy has been visiting our house quite a bit lately!

It’s that time of year where the garden is abundant and the Zucchini are coming out our ears… literally. I am giving them away hand over fist and putting Zucchini in every food possible. And of course, we are making LOTS and LOTS of Zucchini bread. The kids just love it, and if you go to some one’s house for a play date… what a nice treat to bring. We do the big loaves, and the small loaves… it’s all yummy.

I thank my friend Colleen for this recipe, I tried many before she shared hers and I think it’s the best!

Zucchini Bread

Blend in bowl:

3 eggs
1 1/4 coil
1 1/2 cup sugar
3 tsp vanilla

Add

3 cup flour
3 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

Mix it all together.

Grate aprox 2 cups shredded Zuccini

Blend on high.

Optional Add
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips (my fav!)
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Pour into 2 greased standard loaf pans or 1 standard and 4 mini. (1 standard= 4 mini)

Bake 350 for 45 min (mini loaves will bake much faster)

Bread is done when tooth pick comes out clean, watch over baking, it turns dry quickly.

We took these pictures a couple weeks ago at the Coos County Fair. Pat grew up in Coos Bay, so visiting the Coos County Fair was a flash to the past for him. I have to admit it was a very cute and small fair in a grassy field. We enjoyed watching the rodeo and for $20 a head it was all the rides you could take. This is a much better deal than what we usually pay at our Douglas County Fair. (I will say I wouldn’t have minded seeing Brett Michaels…. he is so cute on that VH-1 Show Rock of Love!) Good times were had by all. Evan wanted nothing to do with any rides until he saw the huge slide, and unfortunately it had been shut down by the time we got there so he didn’t get a trip. BUT he loved the cotton candy.

I used to be an avid reader. As a child I consumed books, as an adult I was an active reader. Motherhood and having my own little home based business seemed to get in the way of this habit. I had belonged to book groups for years, but when we moved back to Southern Oregon I ended up in a group I didn’t gel with, I didn’t like their choices, there wasn’t a lot of flexibility and I found myself off the reading circuit. So I have Harry Potter to thank for getting me back to reading. I preordered the last Harry Potter and promptly finished it within a week. (that is ONE great series of books!) and it ignited in me the reading spark. Kyle is reading now and I think it’s good for him to see me reading too. I have read two full books since Harry and am working on my third. I’ve been shameless in my selections, going to the book store and picking reading group fodder that catches my eye. The current read is very intriguing. The Time Travelers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger…. I could barely put it down today. I can’t wait to read more!