Simple Girl

Arielle the Artist. The school art room is her happy place. I'll be sharing this photo over at the I Heart Faces Community challenge. You can also find it on my personal 365 Photo project HERE !

This is why I haven't posted anything in the last week: My Cousin Tena flew in from Canada on her way to Florida and we spent 20 glorious layover hours together. I'm still trying to find all the stuff that I stashed off the kitchen counters in an attempt to impress her with my fabulous housekeeping. The kids were off of school on Monday. My husband went out of town on Tuesday. I've spent approximately 27 hours in the car trying to single handedly shuttle four kids to 198 different activities this week. We're re-siding our house. I have a 20 yard bright orange dumpster in my driveway. I have made multiple trips to the paint store and have thus far bought six different quarts of sample paint trying to determine the new right shade of brown for our shutters. I'm attempting to purge our basement in time for the upcoming school garage sale. I'm not very good at purging. I am really good at getting sidetracked when I find old pictures of my sweet li

I just love the annual father-daughter dance, when my husband dons his best suit and polishes his shoes, knowing full well that by the end of the night, the shoes will be scuffed with the marks of princess slippers and his suit might not survive the anticipated chocolate fountain.  This is what real men do.  They set the prince charming bar so high that, someday, only the worthy few can reach it.

This month's Martha Stewart Cupcakes Club selection was Raspberry Marble Cheesecakes.  These beautiful little classic cheesecake "cupcakes" turned out to be the perfect Valentine's dessert, but they were so delicious, you should make them any time any time of year. The cheesecakes had three basic components:  The graham cracker crust, the cheesecake filling and the raspberry swirl topping.  The delicious graham cracker crust is made from melted butter, sugar and crushed graham crackers. Mix the crust together, put about 1 tablespoon crust mixture in the bottom of a lined muffin tin and bake until set. Now FYI, these little cheesecakes will turn out just fine if you forget to pre-bake the crust. Don't ask me how I know this.  Just go with me on this one.  Next mix together the cream cheese, eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt. You probably didn't need to see a picture of this, but I thought that yellow egg was so pretty! Scoop three ta

They are and ever will be.  Sisters.  Friends.

I was sitting and waiting at the orthodontist last week (one of the many places at which I seem to sit and wait these days) when I discovered a surprisingly great selection of current magazines!  Inside this month's Country Living I found these adorable paper airplane valentines.  It included a template and instructions on how to fold them.  I decided to make some for my kids -  especially the 8th grade boy.  He needs to know I still love him, even though he's almost six feet tall and wears a size 14 shoe.  Maybe I'll even put it in his lunchbox :-) You can embarrass your own teenager or delight your younger ones by printing out this free PDF HERE , on the Country Living website. After you have folded the airplane, a simple paperclip placed below the wings will hold the plane together nicely. THIS POST MAY BE LINKED TO:  MONDAYS :  MOUTHWATERING MONDAYS ,  MADE BY YOU MONDAY , MINGLE MONDAY  ,  HOME SAVVY A TO Z ,  BEDAZZLE ME MONDAY ,  FLOUR ME WITH LOVE