Category — Creative Juices

Today  Will and I had a great time at Playcation today! It was a packed day full of games, crafts and music. Will’s teachers said that he was a good boy and he even ate all of the food I packed in his pink lunch box.

This is how Will posed this morning for his first day of camp.

At Playcation he went on a scavenger hunt and found grass, flowers, rocks & sticks.

He made a belt because he learned about David & Jonathan and their special friendship.

A close up of his belt – he has been wearing it ever since we got home.

He also made a “friendship mix” snack one to eat and one to share with a friend.

Have you missed me bloggy world? The past few days I have been super busy preparing and throwing a surprise 50th birthday party for my Mom! It was SO great and she was SO surprised! My Dad, Dana and I started planning in February and we were pretty proud of ourselves for keeping a secret for so long.

We went to Chattanooga late Thursday night in order to get ready for the party on Saturday. My Mom had no idea we were in town! We spent Friday doing this:

We also bought all the party supplies and stayed up until 3 am baking cookies and cakes. I am really too old to be staying up that late Here we are pretending to bake (we forgot to take pictures of us actually working):

We had the party at my parent’s house so it was my sister’s job to get my Mom cleaned up and out of the house for a couple of hours. They went by boat to Steve’s Landing Restaurant and the everyone was outside or on dock waiting for them to get back.

Dana, Mom & Me

The whole family!

Bill took a lot of pictures so I will put them in a slide show later this week. Thank you to everyone who helped and came out to celebrate. Mom was truly surprised – she has planned a vacation on her actual birthday so that we couldn’t throw her a party But we are sneakier than she anticipated.

When we moved into our house (2 years ago!) we knew that we had to find some large artwork for our living room walls. Our living room has a very, very high ceiling (2 floors high) so we wanted things to scale with the room. But, art is EXPENSIVE so we decided to make our own (and by “we” I mean Bill.) Bill got some large canvases on sale at Michael’s, some paint from Wal-Mart and we already owned paint brushes. It was the perfect solution for our living room – and it’s fun to tell your friends that your artwork is original.

Two years later we were not loving one of the pieces any more and we discovered the best part about painting your own artwork – you can paint over it! I had an image in my head of what I wanted to do – so I tackled the artwork this time! It turned out great, if I do say so myself!

This is the “before” painting.

And this is the “after” painting. I just love it!

(Sorry about the bad lighting and angle.)

I used the paint we already had from the first round of painting – so this project was free!

I made a “stencil” for the bird shape by finding a silhouette I liked online, printing it and cutting it out.

Then, I created the swirls using a disposable frosting bag and a tiny round tip.

Now I’m looking around the house wondering what else I can re-purpose

It has been raining today. No, that is a vast understatement. We have had torrential downpours today (8-12 inches in 24 hours) – it seems like most of Nashville is flooded and there have been tornado warnings in parts of Middle Tennessee! I was so glad when Bill got home around 2 this afternoon – some roads were already flooded and he had to take several different routes to find a way home. Thank you Jesus for his protection! Say a prayer for people who are in danger – in their homes or cars (even the interstate is flooded).

This is the interstate at our exit, Bell Road. The portable building has washed away from somewhere and is floating down the interstate.

This is the best picture I could get – I wasn’t willing to get wet! Notice the gushing water behind the grill.

Since it was so nasty I decided to try to make homemade pizza (another cooking first)! Notice I had to take the pizza stone out of the box

Will had an appetizer of  peas and water while I made the pizza. I’ve never seen a kid so happy about peas!

Here it is about to go in the oven. My toppings were pepperonis, green peppers and black olives. I accidentally bought chopped olives instead of sliced – I think they either look like caviar or bird droppings in this picture.

Twenty minutes later we had a yummy pizza!

For some reason the edge of the pizza wouldn’t come up (easily) – I think the cheese baked over the edge sealing it to the stone.

Will and I were very happy the pizza turned out because the alternative was bologna sandwiches!

Stay safe!

Tonight we headed out to Barnes & Noble at Opry Mills Mall for the Tim McGraw book signing. I have been looking forward to this for a week!! First things first – we had to buy his new book. Will and I got to B&N about 10:30 am and only had to wait in line about 30 minutes to buy the book. Yay! Each person could get 2 books signed so I got one for me and one for my sister, Dana.

“Love Your Heart” By Tim McGraw & Tom Douglas

The actual book signing was from 6-8 pm so we headed back out to Opry Mills when Bill got home from work. We got there a few minutes early and they had already started lining up. I was so excited – this was my first “high profile” book signing. A few years ago Bill went to Al Gore’s book signing at Green Hills.

Will and I getting excited for the book signing! The stage is behind us.

I got in line while Bill entertained Will out in the crowd. Thank you Bill! When Tim McGraw walked in everyone started screaming These two girls near me where hysterical – I thought they might faint! They even had on Tim McGraw t-shirts. When Tim & Tom first came out they did a short interview with the news cameras and then got busy signing books!

Tim & Tom posing for the cameras.

Finally our turn!

Both Tim McGraw and Tom Douglas were nice and friendly. Tim waved and said “Hey Buddy” to Will and Will reciprocated by blowing him a kiss. So cute!

Our signed copy

“Love Your Heart” is a cute book and the second book co-authored by Tim McGraw. It is perfect for daddy’s to read to their little girls. Or it’s perfect if you’re just a fan of children’s books of the signed variety

Back in January, Jennifer from The Francis Family, posted a recipe for Chocolate Chip Scones. They looked so yummy – that I bought the ingredients that week to make them! And of course, I am just now getting around to actually trying them! Bill woke up this morning and said ” I wish we had some cinnamon rolls.” So, I hopped in the kitchen and replied “I can make some chocolate chip scones.”  (Bold statement before I have even attempted to make a scone!) Ok, yall this is the first thing I have EVER baked from scratch!

Chocolate Chip Scones RECIPE

The mess aka “proof I didn’t pop these out of a can”

The finished product – yummy!

The men trying them out – so far, so good!

I think Will really enjoyed them – look at that chocolate face

This week I have been trying several new recipes from the Pioneer Woman. I don’t know why I haven’t tried any of her recipes before now – they are delicious!! Tonight was BBQ meatballs with mashed potatoes. I will put up some links to the recipes of hers that I have tried (not tonight too tired!)

But, I have a hard time keeping up with recipes. I either write them down or print them off then lose them after using them one time (Bill is usually grateful). I also have several cookbooks that have been given to me over the years. I wanted 1 place where I can store all of the recipes that we like and I actually cook. So, tonight I have been working on making my own “Amber’s Recipes” book.

I used some free digital scrapbooking paper that I found on the Shabby Princess. I love all of their designs and especially that there are a lot of free downloads for your personal use.  Now I just have to type up my recipes and I am good to go!  I also think this will make my grocery shopping list making much more efficient.

In other news, today was a LONG day. Will was up last night from 3am-5am and when he finally fell back asleep it was in our bed so there was really no sleeping for Bill and I. I did get to take a short nap from about 11-12 today but it really didn’t help any. Amazingly Will was in good mood despite the lack of sleep so we went out for about an hour to pick up Greyson’s birthday present. He is already 1 year old – time flies!

Now I am off to the shower – since bathing has thus far eluded me today

Holly, over at Homebody Holly, is hosting a Pottery Barn Knock-Off party today. I am looking forward to getting some good ideas from other bloggers! Here are a few things in the Dixon house that are PB Knock-Offs. Unlike, some of the other bloggers I didn’t make any of these things. But, I did see things I liked at Pottery Barn and was able to find look alikes at more reasonably priced stores.

Jar filled with lemons & limes. I actually DID get the jar from the Pottery Barn outlet But, I got the fruit from Target.

Two “knock-offs” in this picture: bed side lamps (Target) and vase with tall flowers (Hobby Lobby)

Also, the vase (Target) & flowers that are in our bathroom.

I am still in love with these type of “ball” lamps! We got this one from Target and the ‘PB” clock from Hobby Lobby.

I am most proud about this telephone! They retail at PB for almost $100 but I remembered seeing one in my in-laws basement and asked if we could have it – FREE!