Guest blogger!

Yep! That's me! A guest blogger. I was asked about 2 months ago to review some products and write up an article for the Intimates Guide blog. Yep, that means that I got to review lingerie! Curvy girl lingerie to be exact. It was really fun. I got 4 items to try out and tell everyone what I think of them. I don't know when my reviews will be posted, sometime in October. 4 spread out over the month I think, so if you want to read them, you'll just have to keep checking out: Intimates Guide Blog. It is a great blog with TONS of information about bra fittings, yoga, wellness, fun and of course, lingerie! Have fun and let me know what you think.

Hello Muddah Crop Camp Menu

I'm posting the menu for the weekend crop that I'm hosting in January in north Florida. If this menu prompts anyone to sign up for the crop, just so you know...I am down to just a few seats left. You can read more about it in older posts under the title "Hello Muddah". It's gonna be a lot of fun and all the food will be home cooked! Yum-O!

Thursday
Lunch: Chicken Salad Sandwich, Chips, Sliced pears, Cookie
Mocktail Hour: Snowbird “Mocktail’, "TBA" Appetizers
Dinner: Dangerously Cheesy Baked Ziti, Cesar Salad, Garlic Bread & Apple Cobbler with Ice Cream

Friday
Breakfast: Oatmeal with Topping Bar & Assorted Danish
Lunch: Moroccan Pitas, Pumpkin Bisque, Cucumber Salad & Lemon Palmiers
Snack: Cheesy Popcorn & Brownie Bites with Marshmallow Frosting “Shooters”
Dinner: BBQ Chicken, Macaroni & Cheese, Green Peas, Dinner Roll & Sticky Banana Bread Pudding with Whipped Cream

Saturday
Breakfast: Yogurt, Granola and Fresh Fruit
Lunch: Meatball Subs, Cole Slaw, Chips & Rice Krispy Treats
Snack: Homemade Pita Chips with Salsa & Hummus
Dinner: Veggie Chili, Cornbread & Texas Sheet Cake
Late Night Snack: S’mores Kit

Sunday
Breakfast: Biscuits & Sausage Gravy with Hash Browns
Lunch: Mushroom Quiche & Garden Salad & Derby Day Strawberries

Project Life, et al

Just because I have a lot on my "To Do List" these are in totally random order. Don't have the time to put them in consecutive order for 'ya!
Stacey, the boys and I pose at the Pennsylvania Welcome Center. Henry learns how to churn butter at Troy's Heritage Festival. Nico, Ginger and Aunt Cissy rest on one of the walls of a switch back path at Pennsylvania's Grand Canyon. Mansfield is getting a Lowe's! Yippee. It even has a stop light which will make us a "three-stoplight town"! I love "junk-tique" stores and I especially love the one nearest to my house, The Treasure Chest. Nothing is marked which I love because it promotes negotiation. This place is kind-of junkey looking and there are literally holes in the floor that are patched with giant metal sheets riveted down. It is dark and filled to the brim. Heaven! My thoughts on this is when I need something, I'll hit my favorite "stores" before I go for new. I have gotten a $3 crock pot, a $5 bench, a $15 desk and more there. I always use what I buy. Charles always thinks that I've found some real "treasures" and wants me to put them away for the magical day we will re-sell them and become millionaires! Well, today was the very first day that I thought "I have something here" when I came home with this bowl. I saw it on a heap of suitcases and a potty chair. It looked really unique with the feet, and it had a "burned" name in the bottom. Well, I offered $5 and once I came home and looked up the name on the bottom found out that I had actually "picked" a find! The bowl was manufactured between 1920 and 1930 by a company that is now out of business, but was very popular back then. This bowl by my best guess is worth around $55! Not a huge amount, but I like the bowl and contrary to what Charles says, we ARE gonna be using it! Frank and Jackie pose with my "Big Oil Executive" disguise mustache lollipops at the gas well tour & potluck at our house. It's the little things that make me happy. This is a handle that Target puts on the bulky items when you don't want a bag. So cool! Nico and Henry look to Dixie to help guide us out of our "tricky" corn maze. The boys really loved it! Henry on the Tioga Train ride. It was a beautiful day, we had a blast and saw two bald eagles. Fall Still Life with Kitty. (That's a growing and HUGE "Kitten Jack"!!) Getting ready for winter with a great sale at the Agaway. This is a pallet of pellets. Since we are going on a "mostly" pellet-heat winter, we guess-timate that we'll need about 5 pallets! One down... Johnnie says 'bye to Lucky at the little pond next door. My first gift of homemade preserves. (Blueberry Butter) Luna and Matilda will come and go, but Jack waits. He knows that he has it too good in the house. He'll wait at the door, greet us and the other cats, but he'll NEVER go out. Smart dude! Fall decorations look great with the curtains that Linda from Bearly Enough made for the house. Henry & Nico really loved the tour we took of a working dairy farm. We got to go into the milking room, which was NOTHING like what I expected! The smell. The poop trough. The robotic milking machines. The darkness. The one, very happy bull among all the cows. The need for quiet around the cows. Very interesting. Matilda goes on an evening walk with the dogs and us. It is pretty cute 'cause both Matilda and Luna follow us. Nico helps Aunt Cissy around the house. He was working on a special reward from the House Rules Chart. Charles takes the boys across the little lake and teaches them to skip rocks. Pretty cool. I never knew that Charles was such an expert at rock skipping! Niagara Falls was just amazing! Two books that are teaching me loads about homesteading and sustainable living. Nico gets to pick a pumpkin from the patch at the fellowship. On the Sunday that they left, only Nico and I had it in is to go to church. I had a RE class to teach and Nico wanted to a) see what church was about and b) get McDonald's for breakfast! He really was good and loved church! Stacey and me at the Iron Kettle Farm. When we went on the tour of the dairy farm I took a shine to the farmer. He was a really sweet man and when his son hooked up a wagon to a tractor for a ride around the farm, I decided to hang around and chat. Mr. Wolf was kind enough to answer all my questions about his garden AND give me some veggies to take home. He also gave Charles a beer and a mini tour of his workshop. And that is where I spied this beauty! An actual surrey with the fringe on top! I was shocked to see that sitting in the back of his workshop! I think I was way more thrilled with that and his garden than the dairy. Minnie Mae makes friends with GL, a self-purported non-fan of cats! (Who is he kidding?!)

Hobby Lobby Demo and Classes!

OK! I'm excited to announce my first demo and first two classes at Hobby Lobby. I went there thinking that I'd do a scrapbook layout first, but I decided to do two home decor projects instead. These two particular projects are VERY popular in the Florida store that I work at and we cannot keep frames and clothespins on the shelf. The Hobby Lobby clothespin is actually MUCH larger than the ones we had at Whim So Doodle. So if you live in the PA or NY area and would like to come out and make these, just give me a holler and I'll get you registered. These projects take NO PRIOR CRAFTING SKILLS to create and include almost everything you'll need to create them in your class kit!

I've got lots more up my sleeve...some fun Halloween projects, a really (REALLY) awesome Christmas project, some layouts and a new beginner class for anyone interested in learning about scrapbooking. Oh! And crops at the store too!






And PLEASE don't forget that if you are in Florida and wanna take the annual CHRISTAMS CARD CAMP with me and Stacey, registration has started on that. To register for this class, please call Whim So Doodle at: (727) 827-4911.


Christmas Card Camp
Thursday October 21st 6-9 pm

This super popular card camp is in its fifth year at The Doodle! If you have not made it to one yet, don’t miss this year’s! In our “camp-style” class you’ll be making 8 different seasonal cards that range from traditional to unique. These cards are made to teach you 8 different card layouts that are easy to duplicate for those on your own personal card list-we even include a “recipe” for each card! Most of the materials are pre-cut before you arrive, so creating these cards are quick, easy and so fun!

Fee: $30
Level: Beginner to Advanced
Instructor: Jen & Stacey

Proud moments!

OK, y'all know that Stacey and the boys came for a week long visit up here and if you've been following our activites on Facebook, you know that we've been really busy. In fact I think I might still be recovering from all the fun. But before I share all the fun, I have to share this story. I was cleaning up today from the visit. Cleaning sheets, vacumming, cleaning the bathroom, etc. As I was taking down the chart that I made especially for thier visit it hit me. This thing actually worked! Lemme give you the details.

Long before the visit I decided that I needed to set some "Aunt Cissy's House Rules" and go over them with the boys once they arrived. I knew that there might be some rules that I would have and enforce that Stacey might not have set up in their house, so I put together the chart. I get comments all the time like, "You don't have kids, you don't know what it's really like." Maybe not, but I do know one thing...Jo Frost. AKA-The Super Nanny! I love that show and think that she has no-nonsense advise and tips. I know that she is always talking about "Reward Charts". So I added rewards to my House Rules list and this is what I got: Pretty good kids. Perfect kids? Nah! Didn't think that would happen, but the rules stuck while they were here. That is all an Aunt Cissy can ask for!

Two of my big things were no screaming in the house and always do good towards the animals. In fact, screaming, for me, was an automatic time out. The first time Nicholas screamed just to scream Aunt Cissy said, "1-2-3, Time Out!" and pointed to the pre-determined mat. No fussing, Nico sat down and waited for his "release". Henry, got one too shortly after that. And if memory serves, I think Nico had zero more (in the house) and Henry only one more (in the house).
The rewards I set up were either very low or NO cost rewards like: help Uncle Charles with the burning barrel, help Aunt Cissy decorate the house for Halloween, take a hike to the wind turbines, star watching with Uncle Charles, make ice cream with Aunt Cissy, game night, you-pick-dinner night or the very popular cash to spend at the candy store. Actually the most popular reward was the burning barrel. Charles didn't believe me beforehand, but I was right! They both picked that one first! Too funny!
So the rewards were for excellent behavior and/or extra help around the house. Nico figured this out right away and whenever I called out, "Who wants to help Aunt Cissy?" he was right there saying, "ME!" Every time I loaded or unloaded the dishwasher he was there. Whenever I had stuff to put away he was there. Whenever I had a house chore to do he was there. So he earned more rewards than Henry who was way more interested in video games or cartoons than helping out! But Nico sure "got it"!
On outings they were reminded about earning rewards and mostly would modify behavior to work on those rewards. Both of them lost and then re-earned a reward when they were pretty bad on an outing, but all-in-all, I am pretty proud to say that it worked!

What I learned: House Rules are very important, but consistency and follow through are key. Reward Charts are very useful tools. But, note to self, make sure that you create and set up "Car Rules". D'oh!

Important News on Women's Health Issues

* Do you have feelings of inadequacy?
* Do you suffer from shyness?
* Do you sometimes wish you were more assertive?
* Do you suffer exhaustion from the day to day grind?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, ask your doctor or pharmacist about Margaritas.

Margaritas are the safe, natural way to feel better and more confident about yourself and your actions. Margaritas can help ease you out of your shyness and let you tell the world that you're ready and willing to do just about anything. You will notice the benefits of Margaritas almost immediately and with a regiment of regular doses you can overcome any obstacles that prevent you from living the life you want to live. Shyness and awkwardness will be a thing of the past and you will discover many talents you never knew you had.

Stop hiding and start living, with Margaritas.

Margaritas may not be right for everyone. Women who are pregnant or nursing should not use Margaritas. However, women who wouldn't mind nursing or becoming pregnant are encouraged to try it.

Side effects may include:
- Dizziness
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Incarceration
- Erotic lustfulness
- Loss of motor control
- Loss of clothing
- Loss of money
- Table dancing
- Headache
- Dehydration
- Dry mouth
- And a desire to sing Karaoke

WARNINGS:
* The consumption of Margaritas may make you think you are whispering when you are not.
* The consumption of Margaritas may cause you to tell your friends over and over again that you love them.
* The consumption of Margaritas may cause you to think you can sing.
* The consumption of Margaritas may make you think you can logically converse with members of the opposite sex without spitting.

Please share this with other women who may need Margaritas.