Favorite Friday

Today I am featuring one of my very favorite rings.....my real life friend Joy, from Joybeadworks sells them in her etsy shop....Check it out HERE These are custom, one of a kind, handmade, glass beads in a sterling silver ring. The beads are interchangeable! She has many colors in stock, including pinks, blues, greens, amber brown, turquoise and reds. SHe gladly accepts and encourages custom colors and combinations. Start your collection of handmade beads...you'll want to have lots of options!
You can also read about them on her blog HERE .

Last year for my birthday she even had her husband handcraft my my very own cupcake ring too!! Click HERE to see for yourself how adorable it is :)



Here is the little box that my friend Jennifer Juniper made for me to hold all of my handcrafted beads for my ring. It sits right on top of my jewelry box so all of my beads are kept handy. What are you waiting for?????? Get one for yourself and tell Joy I sent you!

I Swore I Would NEVER Do This AGAIN!

Here is Cindylou 13 years ago with her very first goldfish..."Goldie"...one of countless many to follow. We've won them at carnivals as far away as Buffalo and brought them home from science class. Was I the only mom that agreed to that?? After the last one was finally flushed a few years ago I gave the bowl to my Goodwill and said NEVER AGAIN!



Well, I guess I was smoking crack because she talked me into it AGAIN!!! It all started last weekend when my dad was down and he was taking the kiddos for chinese and to the festival at the church in our town. They called to ask if they could try and win a goldfish. I was out to dinner and had a few cocktails and said sure.....not thinking they would win one.



Well, they didn't. The game this year gave away a stuffed animal and not a fish. Well, Cubby was sooooooo upset, because he's never had a fish. After church the next morning Cindylou conned Chip into stopping at Petco and getting a full blown aquarium, complete with pebbles, a filter and bamboo!! I intercepted them in the garage before it actually came in the house and worked out a plea deal that they could each get a bowl with a fish.



So later in the day I took them up to the store and they tried talking me into three fish each...but I bargained them down to two....not easy....and it was really exhausting!



So here is Cubby's bowl, which I actually had to exchange the next day because he couldn't see his fish in it because of the rounded sides. He kept dragging the stool over and peering in the top.



And Cindylou got hers all settled in.



They talked me into keeping them in their rooms instead of the kitchen where they had always been parked in previous years....




Cub named his Leo, which is a girl???? And Steeler which it the yellow and black one. So far so good....but I'm digging my heels in for the guinea pig debate!!

My Baby is a Brave This Year!

I can't believe Cub is playing football!!! Our season actually started three weeks ago...he's the littlest one on his team...but he doesn't mind. There are three teams in our league...the 7 and 8 year olds are on the Braves...the 9 and 10 year olds are on the Warriors and the 11 and 12 year olds are the Chiefs...T played his last year for the Chiefs last season and they won the Superbowl. Now I'm starting all over again with Cub....he isn't even actually 7 yet...but they let him slip in, so he's also the youngest on the team. But he's taking it very seriously and is trying his very best. He's keeping up and doing great! The weight limit is 95lbs. There are a few players who are struggling to make weight so they can play...but Cub had no problem weighing in at a whopping 45lbs!



We had our first game today and here's Cub lined up ready to have his name announced so they can bust through the banner the cheerleaders hold up for them. He's number 31.



Heading over to the bench ready to start the game.



The coaches even invented a special play for him this week during practice. They taught him to line up right across from the center on all fours and when they snap the ball he just bear crawls through the other teams legs to get to the ball or quarterback. I know it sounds crazy....but it really works!! And it's the most adorable thing to watch :) We were all saying how they even named the play for just for him...the Bear Crawl for Cub!




The other team didn't quite know what to make of it, he took two players out once and even sacked the quarterback!!!!! At the little meeting at the end of the game the coach pulled him up in front of everyone and made a big deal out of it. I was busting with pride for my little Cub!!! Go Braves!!!!!! Good luck this season!

Favorite Friday

This week I am featuring my outdoor dishware. My mother in law treated me to them for my birthday a few years ago and I just love them! I adore the combination of aqua and red and also that the little sandwich plates are in the shape of a strawberry :) We like to eat outside on our deck whenever we can and the red gingham tray is great to carry everything. Click HERE to get the recipe for my favorite Strawberry Salad.....you will love it!

Peaches

Peaches are in season here and they are ripe and juicy...there is an area in Pennsylvania where the best ones come from called Chambersburg. I just can't seem to get enough of them. And I'm also in love with a Tangerine Peach candle that keeps my whole kitchen smelling of fragrant peaches too! I'm anxious to make a peach crisp.....can you tell I can't get enough??? I have peaches on the brain!

Scrapbook Sunday

What a wonderful treat I found on my doorstep yesterday!! A box full of scrapbooking goodies from my real life friend Joy Beadworks. I am so excited!!!!



I've not had any scrapbooking time this summer....but when the kiddies head back to school in September I plan on spending a lot of hours in my craft room being creative :) Thanks again Joy!!!

Favorite Friday

This week I'm featuring CANDY on my Favorite Friday post. I've been trying to be good and not eat any and I've been doing great for a while now....until this week. Our candy stash has dwindeled since there hasn't been a candy holiday in a long time...and I hit a weak spot when I dropped my kiddos off at the airport on Monday when they went to visit my sister in Vail. 6 days with no kiddos!! Amidst blurry eyes from crying I drove right to the Dollar Tree by the airport and bought a bunch! I don't know what came over me...but I felt much better once I sat in my mom van and busted into the Milk Duds. And how 'bout those foot long vanilla Tootie Rolls?....I squeezed them and they are FRESH. My SIL called to see if the kids got off okay and I told her all about the candy I just bought, cause she's a candy addict too......and can you believe she bought THE SAME vanilla Tootsie Rolls the same day??? And we both freaked when we found out we found out we both squeezed them to see if they were fresh????

A little candy can make the Treatgirl feel better in almost any situation...is there something that picks you up when you're feeling down??? Let me know.....

Slip and Slide Fun

We had so much fun at my real life friend Jennifer Junipers the other day on her gigantic slip and slide....that Cubby wanted to get ours out too...I don't totally rock like my friend Jennifer Juniper....check out her amazing slip and slide tutorial HERE ...but we have two that we hooked together on the slope on the side of our house.



He's got the attitude goin' on here..



And decided getting the sled out was worth a try to see if he went any faster.



But in the end, going down on your belly is the BEST :)

Summer Corn Salad

Here is that recipe I promised you for the corn salad I made for our Soul Sisters get together last week. Super. EASY!!!!!

6 ears raw corn, kernels cut from cobs
1 cup diced celery
1 diced red bell pepper
1 small sweet onion, diced
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
cilantro....chopped...I love it...so I put a bunch in :)
Italian dressing with cheese...I used Ken's Steak House Three Cheese Italian

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Toss to combine. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. Makes about 8 cups.

I told you it was really easy!!!!

Soul Sisters Summer Luncheon

Some of the Soul Sisters got together last week at Ms. Juniper's house...we were all in need of a little "sister time". Jennifer was kind enough to put it together and throw out her massive slip and slide for the kiddos to have fun on a sweltering 90 degree day.



Cubby had a blast and declared Ms. Jen "THE BEST!!!!"



We had salads.....Jennifer made a delicious tortellini, artichoke, chicken salad which I'm hoping she will post about soon so I can snag the recipe off of her...HINT*HINT!!
And I brought along a new corn salad which is a keeper!!! Super EAAASSSY!!! Check back here tomorrow for the how-to on that one.



And what is a Soul Sister get together without a yummy something from Marzipan?!! It was her daughters birthday and E. requested a Boston Cream Pie. Can you believe the Treatgirl NEVER had Boston Cream Pie????! I was soooooo confused, because actually...it's not pie, it's CAKE!



She assembled it on location, for obvious reasons and it was YUM.MY YUM YUM!!! Click HERE to see her post on it and to get the recipe.



We had a lot of laughs, got caught up on our summers, made a few plans for when the kiddos go back to school, and the whole gang also helped me with a few things that needed to be tweaked on my itty, bitty blog...



Voila!! A new summer look just for you! As always.....thank you so much Sisters...I soooooooo needed a little girlie time.