MMMMMMMMMMMM Muffins

100_5974, originally uploaded by angelvanilla2008.

my kids are always bugging me to make muffins and it's not like they are hard to do ... I just don't always do it. Yesterday's concoction was a big hit so I thought I'd share! (I didn't add the topping but I'm sure it's good!)

BANANA PUMPKIN MUFFINS

1/2 c. pureed banana
1/2 c. canned pumpkin
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. milk
1/4 c. vegetable oil (I use applesauce)
1 egg
1 3/4 c. flour (1/2 of it was whole wheat flour for us)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp. salt

TOPPING:

1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
1/2 c. chopped nuts or oats
1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Puree banana in blender to make 1/2 cup. Mix pureed banana, pumpkin, sugar, milk, oil and egg until well blended. Combine flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Spoon into greased muffin tins.

Top each with 1 tablespoon of the sugar-spice mixture. Bake in
preheated 375 degree oven for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted
into muffin comes out clean.

Makes 12. (made 9 bigger ones for me)

Enjoy!!!!

Martinis and Sex and the City Movie

In honour of my good friend Judy's birthday - I picked up some yummy sushi and new martini glasses. We ate sushi and drank some wine... and then for the entertainment... we made martinis (with cranberry juice the first time and mango juice the second time)... and watched the Sex and the City movie.

SATC (the movie) - was a good chick flick movie. I quite enjoyed it! I didn't like the clothes as much as I usually do in the tv series... I didn't watch the series when it was on tv but I did watch the whole series over the summer back to back ... and I was hooked!

If I had to pick one character I think I'm most like - I'd like to think maybe a mixture of them all... but mostly Carrie Bradshaw (minus the fashion sense LOL!)

I heart bluebelle

I haven't told you about Bluebelle!

My 40th birthday in July sucked. Luckily enough I celebrated a few weeks before with some great girlfriends in Michigan (complete with an impromtu lapdance from some stranger at our restaurant)... but I digress.

The big day came and went with no hoopla - 40 should have hoopla I think. Anyhow I did have a great lunch with my friend Steph who also got me amazing sunflowers (my fav flower)... but after that... nuttin.

At the time of my bday I was reading The Beach House by Jane Green - if you haven't read it - READ IT! It's an awesome book and the main character ... Nan - has a beach cruiser type bike in Nantucket. Well I wanted a beach cruiser type bike in Nantucket too... or at least the bike. So I got Bluebelle - and I picked out a great basket for her for my kids to buy me too!

She's a supercycle one speed from Canadian Tire. And that same great friend Steph made me awesome stickers for her in an array of colours to fit my hippie chick personality - and some of them went on Bluebelle to make her unique. (thanks Steph!)

Here's more pics of her!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mamabluebelle/sets/72157607289310798/

Sometimes they like eachother

I love this pic - shot it with my blackberry while at the mall. Jessie was supposed to go skating but I signed her up for the wrong level.

She was all bummed out because she wanted to learn to skate so badly but her brother helped cheer her up. They really do have moments when they can tolerate eachother LOL!

Finally some big tv coming up for me - Season Premieres of Grey's Anatomy and Ugly Betty. Although this year I'm not as geared up for Grey's. The whole Meredith and Derick thing is getting old for me.

Mom on strike

The mornings have been awful this week! They cannot look at eachother without picking at eachother ... without Jess bursting into tears because AJ breathed wrong or looked at her wrong. They know how to push eachother's buttons and love doing it!!

So I told John to please take them to daycare today - that I was at my wits end and it was his turn to deal with it. Of course nothing was learned because he's a) more patient than me b) the kids were MUCH better for him and c) I was still there to help if needed...

But ... I did have time to get my Starbucks on the way ... and take some stuff back to Zehrs - and I'm not nearly as stressed this morning ... will tomorrow be better?? Who knows... but today was good! Thanks John!

Do you see this sweet girl

she is the reason I want to sew... I want to make her dollie dresses and yummy outfits and pj's. I want to make her quilts and aprons and everything!

I bought a new machine - and never used it. After meeting my friend Steph - I dusted it off and thought I'd give it a go. I asked the sewing mamas (sewingmamas.com) for help and guidance and tried making simplicity 5118. Everyone said it was simple - for me - not so much. But I muddled thru it and finished it up - only to find it was too small for my princess to wear. I was heartbroken.

I was frustrated but did try to make a three tiered skirt for Canada Day... it turned out "ok" - my gathering was wonky at best but she wore it ... so in my mind - success!

But now I'm stumped - I want to make more - I have lots of fabric... but I'm scared! I want to find flannel monkey fabric and make pj's.... I want to buy a charm pack and follow Devida's tutorial... (a cool sewing mama) http://www.bubbachic.typepad.com/

What do you do when you lose your mojo? How do I get back on the horse??? Help?! (and do you know where some yummy flannel monkey fabric might be?!)

100_5973

100_5973, originally uploaded by angelvanilla2008.

it amazes me how much yummy wool I can find in my room when I decide to clean - remind me I don't need any new stuff for a while yet .. (maybe)

Very cool and talented women!!

http://weewonderfuls.typepad.com/

so many great fun things to do and sew ... paper dolls, etc.
freebies and things to buy - I LOVE LOVE LOVE this site!

her dollies are simply amazing!!
http://flickr.com/photos/hillarylang/sets/463804/



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and http://www.gorjuss.co.uk/


this artist is amazing! Her name is Suzanne Woolcott!

Our beloved kitty is missing

please say a prayer - I have two very sad children (and 2 sad parents) in our house!

(update - silly bugger was hiding in the garage the entire time while we all went to bed scared out of our wits!) Crazy cat - we love you!

My package came today - new planner/agenda

from a great lady on etsy! http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=36307 (Mrs. Kwitty's Cottage)

It's sooooooooooooooo pretty and so me!!

Hungry?

well I know I was after reading this blog... check out the recipe for homemade pop-tarts - or the banana cookies look delish too - always looking for recipes to use up my brown bananas!

http://asweetfantasy.blogspot.com/

Cool digital scrapbooking site!

http://www.scrapblog.com/
You HAVE to check it out! It's like doodling and stickers and photo fun ALL online!! And you can link it to your facebook, myspace, photobucket, flickr, etc. It's SUPER fun!!!

oh the weather outside is frightful

and comfort food is delightful...

and my morning didn't quite start out so great... but I thought I'd turn it around and have something warm that sticks to my bones - yup - oatmeal. I LOVE oatmeal - esp. on cold grey days... and I know my neighbourhood Starbucks is serving some and even though it's pricey - it's darn good! And you can get dried fruit, nuts and brown sugar to put on it. http://www.starbucks.com/retail/nutrition_freshfood.asp
I think I'm going to make an effort to make my own in my crockpot this week - and see if I can get the kids to eat it - would be so good for them to have something that sticks to their bones!
http://healthycooking.suite101.com/article.cfm/crockpot_oatmeal_recipe
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pumpkin-Oatmeal/Detail.aspx

Blythe dolls - creepy or cool?

who can teach me about Blythe Dolls? I became hooked on them from etsy.com (one of my fav sites)... with all their handmade dresses for these big head/eye dolls...
The dolls are SO expensive ... and at first I found them creepy but now they have grown on me - and I want one!! I looked on ebay and they are very expensive but I don't know where to begin.
http://www.thisisblythe.com/
http://flickr.com/photos/carolichan/466476504/

so after church on Sunday- I trekked over to the next city to go to Bath and Body Works. As a Canadian I am THRILLED that we are getting a sprinkling of these stores in Ontario. One not far from me - even better! Sadly - even though I did read this and it didn't register with me ... it opens Monday LOL! Oh well - that's ok too.

So since we were there - me and my mini-me went to Starbucks to get a coffee for me and a hot chocolate for her... and share a pumpkin scone (MMM)... we admired the school supplies that are all over Chapters... journals with covers as beautiful as fabric ... pens... funky paper clips - you name it!

And of course Jessie cannot walk by the stuffed animals without falling in love with them all - telling me how they should join our family of stuffed animals (which is HUGE by the way). Well I am a big kid - I love stuffies just as much - I have a bunny from Build a Bear and whole other collections of bunnies (my fav). Jess's 6 cabbage patch dolls, who knows how many care bears, and 23 webkinz are mostly because of me I'm sure.

So two things caught my eye - one was a stuffed hedgehog - I really liked him and then there was a bunny in a dress. She reminded me of a bunny I have had since I was little - in a dress my grandma made - baby and twobaby (a bear) sit proudly on top of Jess's shelves ... lovingly worn out - by years and years of adoration.

I talked myself out of the stuffies and walked to get my coffee but couldn't get my mind of the bunny. So after our treats we walked back to the stuffed animals and saw her there - different from all the others and upon closer inspection - saw that she was 50% off (meant to be?). So we happily bought her and Jess named her Bunnalina - the newest addition to our family.