Super Yummy, Easy, Fast Potato Soup

(pic from kitchenscoop.com)

Ingredients:

1 large potato, per person
1/4 cup chopped celery, per person (you can use carrots if you like)
1/4 cup chopped onion, per person
1/4-1/2 cup milk or half-and-half or cream
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Peel and cube potatoes.

2. Put in large pan with onions and celery.

3. Add water, but don't quite cover the veggies.

4. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover and simmer for
20 minutes...OR until the veggies are tender...
(careful not to scorch your potatoes like I did the first time)

5. Crush potatoes, but don't mash them too much...chunks are good.

6. Add enough milk or cream to thin to desired thickness and add salt & pepper to taste.

We topped our soup with bacon and cheddar cheese....
green onions would be yummy too!

Enjoy with warm fresh bread!

Perfect on a snowy winter day.

So Bright & Fun

These things make me smile...

happy fabric from the fabric shoppe

a fun print from dazey chic

a mason jar soap dispenser from midwest finds

I really think I need to own these items soon...
don't you?

Peasant Dress

Such a fast and fun little peasant dress.

Truly...one yard of fabric & some quarter inch elastic, &
you could wipe this puppy out in a nap time.

Check out Prudent Baby for a fabulous tutorial!

Valentine's Day Decorations

So after the whole chocolate chip/dog fiasco,
I did get to do a little crafting.

I am not usually a big Valentine's Day decorator...

but I thought
what the heck...

The dog is going to live...
let's decorate for Valentine's Day.

I already had all the stuff and the time.

It was free. Why not?

Let's welcome Latte home with some festive lovey dovey pink decor.

My Snow Day

Due to the extreme temperatures, I was blessed with a snow day Tuesday.

It started out normal...
sleeping in late...
a plan to stay in PJ's all day...
maybe do some crafting.

Then I came downstairs
to find
an empty chocolate chip bag,
a very happy dog,
and a guilty looking two year old.

12oz of semi-sweet chocolate
25 pound dog
not. good.
people.
not. good.

It did not take long before a very happy dog became a very ill dog.

I had the pleasure to clean up A LOT of doggy vomit.

One call to the vet sent my happy-g0-lucky PJ day of crafting into
a frenzied day of saving the family dog.

Vet said...with tone of urgency in her voice, "Bring him in right away."

Right away is not in a mother of two small children's vocabulary.

I frantically dressed two small children and myself in many layers,
as it was negative 7 out.
Covered the entire car in towels.
Loaded a very sick dog in the car.
And drove to the pet hospital.

They kept Latte at the pet hospital to
induce more vomiting,
give an IV,
monitor for seizures...high heart rate and
the possibility of his entire digestive system shutting down.
Great.

We returned home where I reassured AJ multiple times that Latte was not going to die
and continued to clean up chocolate vomit.

I may never eat chocolate again,
whereas AJ requested a cup of hot chocolate as soon as we got in the door.

$260 later...
Latte is home.
The pantry door now has a childproof lock.
And this previous chocoholic nearly vomits at the sight of a chocolate bar.

How Blue Came To Life

AJ thought that Abby should get a Build-A-Bear for her birthday.

This worked out great since I was kinda at a loss for gift ideas
as they were only recently spoiled with Christmas.

Taking these two anywhere is always entertaining.

First, there was a serious selection process.

We all weighed in our opinions heavily,
but Girlfriend is one independent chick & had nothing to do with our desires.

She looked at each animal with an over-stimulated gleam in her eye...

Upon where an immediate connection was formed...

with bright blue bear donned with multi-colored peace signs all over its body.
The most spastic animal there.
(But...somehow this bear just fits her personality perfectly,
so I just smiled & went with it.)

The choice was made.

Girlfriend had made up her mind.

There really was no going back.

The kids eagerly awaited the stuffing stage of Blue's creation...

with a slight hint of fear and concern in their eyes.

Abby clung to Blue, tightly reassuring him...her...it...that everything would be alright.

She reached in the bucket and grabbed a heart...
still not exactly sure what was going on with the loud machine...

AJ stepped on the pedal, thus giving Blue flesh...stuffing...fullness...
whatever...

Girlfriend gave the lady her nastiest sink face when she told her to kiss the heart (seriously...you would have thought the lady just took food away from her or something severe).

So mommy kissed Blue's heart.

Blue was stitched together.

And naturally Girlfriend had to get her new BFF some sequence shoes before we left...

no dress...no shirt...no skirt...just shoes...
just how Abby likes to roll.

(Let's not talk about how Girlfriend likes the shoes more than the bear.
I am sure over time a bond will be rediscovered, and they will be inseparable.)

Scrappy Flower Pincushion

Such a happy little addition to my favorite room.

I love learning to make something new in the company of good friends.

We used Fig Tree Threads Scrappy Flower Pincushion pattern
if you would like to make one of these happy little guys too.

(This innocent little cutie requires a bit of hand sewing...
so if you are not a fan of hand sewing...
you might say a couple choice words in the process of its creation, but
don't say I didn't warn you.)