Happy Saturday everybody! I hope everyone is enjoying there weekend! I know there are lots of Harvest Fests going on and trunk or treats which by the way is what I am doing tonight. Well I'm not exactly doing it but I am taking my grandson and daughter and meeting up with the rest of the family there. We usually have a nice time and the kids really score without having to ring all the doorbells. I don't know if they have trunk or treats everywhere? Well if your not familiar with it what people do is park in a row or in a huge circle. With everyone's trunk facing you. They decorate the trunks with lights and decorations and fill it with candy. Then the kids are usually given a bag at the beginning and they walk along the cars and receive their treats. The kids love it! Anyway I had seen a few weeks back someone took a divided craft box and filled it with snacks. Well I decided to make one for roadtrips. One of the things I was concerned about though was having anything sticky in it with the Florida heat. Well I think I lucked out when I was adding in the snacks because it has been in the car now in 95 + degrees for a week now and everything is still crunchy and nothing is sticky. Yay! I have to say Ryan absolutely loves it! In fact as soon as we get in the car he starts looking around for it! So I am showing you how you can make your own. Enjoy! Till we meet again..Mama Carol Start with a clear plastic craft box whatever size you choose... I made my template on the computer. You can do what you wish. Use scrapbook paper, have your child draw or color ect.. I just traced around the bottom of the craft box to give me where to cut to fit the template into the lid. Tape your photo into the top and start filling. If you are going to have the box in the heat be careful with any sugary snacks. I tried to use non-sugared snacks as shown. The finished product! Voila! Enjoy!
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It's that time! PUMPKIN CARVING! In my house we enjoy playing with the slimy seeds and guts more then the carving and If you know anything about our family, it's that we are Big into Disney (some more then others!-Not going to mention any names...) So what better way to celebrate freebie Friday then with 13 of our favorite Disney character pumpkin stencils. These could also be used for watermelons for birthday parties!
I am so happy to finally be feeling some o those cooler temperatures! A low of 64 on Friday Woo Hoo! I have been going a little crazy with my cookie cutters. First it was pink ribbons, now it is ghosts, acorns and leaves. Hmmm what next? But whereas I bought the hummus dip to go with with the ribbon chips I actually made this pumpkin dip and it is good! Too good actually! I was looking around for more chips! So I hope you can make this for your next get together your guests will be asking you for the recipe for sure! Sorry I forgot to take the pictures as I was going along. But I think you get the just of things. Till we meet again...Mama Carol Package of tortillas Cut shapes out from cookie cutters. I had ghosts, acorns, leaves and pumpkins. Place on cookie sheet. I put a piece of foil down first. Ungreased. Melt 1/ cup butter. Using a brush spread butter over your tortilla creations. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes. Pumpkin Dip 8 oz container of fat free whipped topping. I used great value brand. 3 oz box instant french vanilla pudding Half a can of solid packed pumpkin (you can add more if you want a rich pumpkin flavor) 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice ENJOY!!!! Did you know you can find this recipe & more on our Youtube Channel? So this morning I decided to be adventurous and make a pinterest inspired breakfast. I saw this really cool idea to use cookie cutters to shape pancakes as they cook. It worked out pretty well, however I was a bit impatient and just couldn't stand waiting to cook small pancakes 2 at a time so I just cooked the rest of the pancakes as normal and used the cookie cutters to cut them out into the leaf shapes.
Then my Daughter had no idea we made reservations at the Bibbity Boppity Boutique. So we drove over to Magic Kingdom, and I had made her a tutu,and Mom had bought her a Cinderella shirt So, we went to the back & got her changed she still had no clue what was going on. They called her name, and she went back with the Fairy Godmother in training, and she got to pick out her make up colors,her hair style, and her own special crown and Mickey barrette. It took about 30 min to transform this cute little girl to a beautiful princess. She enjoyed the attention and the experience. After she was done, we went off to the Magic Kingdom for some more fun.Everyone was stopping her telling her how pretty she looked. Every cast member greeted her as Princess. Plus it was her Birthday, and she had her Birthday button on. Every 5 seconds was Happy Birthday Princess. She loved it. We went on a lot of rides, and ended the night with the Wishes fireworks. "Sigh" Anyway, Back to the hotel for some much needed rest because the next day was Mom and Dads day at Epcot, our favorite park.Not to mention it was the start of the Food and Wine festival. We enjoyed just a few bites, and were ready to go, we never expected it to be so busy so we left and went back to Downtown Disney for dinner. We ate at the House of Blues. It was really good and the helpings they gave you were enormous ! We left, and came back home. Luckily we are only about 1 1/2 drive from our home away from home. Last week, we as a family went back to Epcot for the day and got to enjoy walking on all the rides and enjoying much more of the food and wine as it was not nearly as busy! We have gone the past 3 years, but this year I only got what we have not tried yet. My favorite was the Cheddar soup from Canada, hubby's favorite was the lamb from Australia. We had a much nicer time with less crowds.Though by the time we went to Animal Kingdom then Epcot the walking got the best of me. I think I am actually getting too old for 12-14 hrs Disney days..I am pushing 40,but I will get me a Segway, skateboard. lol or whatever it takes to get me around my second home. Will be back to tell you more of our many adventures! As they say in Disney "Have a Magical Day" If anyone would like any tips,tricks, info, whatever, I am your girl to go to:O)
I was going back and fourth on what or who to write about as today was the last day of our Breast Cancer Awareness focus. Monday we start celebrating Fall. So after reading many inspiration stories I decided to do one of my own. I truly hope you find inspiration in the following writing. Nobody knows more about what somebody goes through and the feelings they have more then I do. You see back on April 21st 1988 I was diagnosed with a stage 3 on the cusp of a 4 breast cancer. I was 27 years old. I was at the time the youngest person on the hospital floor with breast cancer. One thing I would definitely tell people, you know your body when you believe something is wrong don't give up until you have an answer you are looking for. As I say you know in your knower when something isn't right. I had felt a lump when taking a shower, I immediately called my Doctor and set up an appointment. She told me don't worry it was a pulled chest muscle. Handed me 2 bottles of Tylenol and told me if it still bothered me in a week or so call her. I did..She said if I felt so strongly about it she would send me to another Dr to set up a mammogram. He said I normally don't do one on someone so young however if you insist. I insisted. The results would be in within 3-5 days..(Not like they are today) I got the call it was negative. (Later I found out they got my mammogram mixed up with someone else's. Imagine how the person felt who got the news from mine) I still was not at ease. Now a friend of mine had just gone through breast cancer a few months before so I was familiar with Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. I decided to call them and see if I could get an appointment. I was told I needed a referral. After pleading with them to please let me see them and what I have already gone through with 2 previous Doctors they decided to let me see one of the Physicians there. Upon my first visit I was greeted by a wonderful team of Doctors and nurses. They did the mammogram and had my results almost immediately. The Doctor was 95% sure it was cancer because of a grouping of calcification but couldn't be 100% without a biopsy. 3 days later I was in the operating room for the biopsy. I will never forget the look on the surgeons face as he walked in. He never looked up from his clipboard but said Umm Carolyn it's not good. There was not just one mass there were actually five and one was on the bone so they were concerned the cancer may have infiltrated there as well. I don't think I spoke for a few minutes. I really didn't know what to say. I think shock was the word. The only thoughts going through my mind was what is going to happen next? What is going to happen to me? What is going to happen to my kids? They were 5 & 12. What is my husband going to do if something happens to me? How will he raise them alone? A myriad of questions and emotions took over. A radical mastectomy was schedules for 4 days later. Surgery went well but 2 days later the doctor walked in my hospital room with such not good news again. They removed 27 lymph nodes. 21 were cancerous. The next course of action was 6 months of chemo and 3 months of radiation. Now with a lymph node count that high life expectancy is not the greatest. 50/50 chance actually of 5 years. Especially 25 years ago. They did not have all of the technology they do today. I remember sitting in my Doctors office when he told me what the procedures were they were going to do. He asked me if I had anymore questions and I said no but in my mind there was one. As he walked out of his office he looked at me and said, Carolyn I can't answer the question you want to ask. Only one person knows. And he told me it is about faith and hope. Well hope, faith and the Lord above has seen me through. It is now 25 years later and I am still here. Yes, there have been scares , bone scans, more mammograms, biopsies but everything from that point on has been negative! It's been a long hard road my life has been a whirlwind at times, however I thank God everyday for it! You know I sometimes tell people cancer was a gift and they look at me strange. However it totally changed my life. I was what you might say a workaholic. I didn't have time for much that included my family. I was always busy. I suddenly realized how important that bedtime story was. I taught my girls not to be afraid of a thunderstorm and not to look at a snowfall as a nuisance but as beautiful as no two snowflakes are alike neither are you :) The smell of falling rain and to hear the crunching of leaves under your feet. That is Life! My family suddenly became preference over everything. Since that time 5 grandchildren have entered the mix along with two son-in-laws. I have added some of my favorite pictures to show just how important and beautiful my life is. Be sure to click on any of them for my comments. Well I think I shall end my story here so In the words of Louis Armstrong and my theme song for life. And I think To Myself What A Wonderful World..Till we meet again..Mama Carol So now you see my reasons for living...Live each day as if it's your last...
Kiss Breast Cancer Goodbye, Because A Cure Would Be Sweet! Use these nifty little .75 inch stickers stuck to the bottom of Hershey Kisses in favor bags for Breast Cancer Awareness Events, or survivor parties. Would also make great little self breast exam reminder stickers for your calender! You can print on sticker paper or cardstock and stick on anything with gluedots! Once printed simply cut by hand or with a .75 inch circle cutter, and apply to whatever you desire! Click below to download your free BCA Sticker Template.
Early detection is key to catching breast cancer early & giving you the best fighting chance! It may be a bit awkward to ask friends and family if they have felt up their boobies this month, but it could save their life! Offer up a little humor and show your breast friends you care with these adorable Mustache Breast Exam Cards! Hand them out to friends and family or even complete strangers, cause big or small we should save them all!!! -MaMa April Click Below to download your free "Mustache Breast Exam Cards"
Happy Tuesday everybody! In keeping with our theme for this week I made some tortilla chips and hummus. What a better to serve at a survivor party or a get together to celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness month! I found my Pink Ribbon cookie cutter so cut out the tortilla with that. Then got my red food coloring and dyed my hummus pink. All it takes is one drop. You will notice a card in the picture that says Look Whoo's A Survivor! That would be ME! This was my 25 year anniversary of being cancer free! My Daughters threw a surprise party for me and that was the invitations they sent out . Yes I was very surprised! So I hope these are the hit of your next party! By the way the cookie cutter can be found at Micheal's I believe for .99. I did add some spices to the chips before baking recipe can be found below. Till we meet again...Mama Carol Start out with some store bought hummus unless you are crafty enough to make your own :) Add 1 drop of food coloring. If it's not pink enough add another Cut Out Your Ribbons out of Tortillas. I used the 8 inch size. Melt 1/4 cup of butter or margarine, add 1/8 tsp paprika and 1/8 tsp chili powder. This coated 15 ribbons and I still had enough left for probably 15-20 more. Paint butter and spices on your ribbons.(I use these foam brushes for everything, watch Micheal's for a sale usually 20 for 1.00) Coat your ribbons and place in a preheated 350 degree oven for 5 minutes. Sometimes they may need a minute or 2 more but be sure to check on them within 5 minutes at least. They are super crunchy and awesome!
Hi everybody! We are having a little contest for the next 6 days Oct 7-12th. We are giving away a pair of homemade Relay for Life earrings. We are wondering what the cure means to you? If you could leave us a comment on the bottom of our page along with your name and e-mail we will contact you if you are the winner. I may even have to throw in a special little surprise along with the Relay earrings. Looking forward to hearing some really good stories! I have one of my own. I am a 25 year survivor! Till we meet again..Mama Carol |
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Photos used under Creative Commons from clkohan, Dyanna Hyde, Michael's Cookie Jar, B*2, ohsarahrose, HannahWebb, rocknroll_guitar, bochalla, ccharmon, Ashley Coombs, Ava R., swambo