Off to Branson!

Gretchen and I are off to Branson this weekend for a fun filled time of shopping, show watching, and girl time with the family!!!! We hope you all have a great weekend!

Enjoy your Black Friday!

Happy Turkey Day!

Honey Pie Accessories wishes you a Happy Thanksgiving day! May you feel truely blessed, eat until you're stuffed, and remember all of the things you have to be thankful for!

Enjoy your day!

Be a Giver: Celebrating Home

I wanted to continue my Holiday gift guide with a wonderful Christian based company, Celebrating Home! My husband's aunt Gina is a designer, team leader, trainer, and Executive Director for Celebrating Home. Celebrating Home (CH) is formally known as Home and Garden Party and Home Interiors.


Gina began selling CH 8 1/2 years ago (will be 9 years this April!) She is a very busy woman as a single mother of two adorable and busy children! But, she loves selling these products. Gina wanted to find a way to earn extra money as a stay at home mom, and first started to help pay for the home projects that she and her at-the-time husband were completing without running up credit card debt.


Gina says that she loves this company because it is a Christian company, and she see's herself as "helping God's people". Gina goes an extra mile by taking care of her customers an doing everything she can to make them happy.


Celebrating Home offers high quality home items with low prices and they ship directly to you! They have a high customer satisfaction, and you can shop online or with a catalog. They have a 1 year guarantee on all of their pottery, and a 3 year guarantee on their baking stones. I used to have a baking stone and I loved that thing!


On Black Friday CH is offering items as much as 50% off beginning at midnight November 26th!


Here are just a few of their wonderful items!

Above: The Veranda Oval Bean Pot. Gina says that their bean pots are their best seller! The Veranda style is a french, white piece perfect for beans, soups, and stews. Their bean pots are oven, dishwasher, and microwave safe! (A blessing for any modern woman!) If you love the Veranda style, you'll have to check out their other Veranda products.

This bean pot comes from their Welcome Home collection.I love this hand painted stoneware casserole dish! Green (parsley) is one of my favorite colors! I think as you get older, you need a great casserole dish for potlucks and carry-ins at work, church, friends houses, etc. This one is the perfect size at 16x 10x 2 1/2. This dish comes from their Venetian collection, which is probably one of my favorite collections! This serving bowl is made of hammered bubble glass with fluted edges. Best of all, it's dishwasher safe!!!!

If you're in love with the Tuscan style, then you need this serving bowl with stand. The bowl features a hand painted braided trim and fluted edges set atop a curved stand.

CH not only sells wonderful pieces for your home, but they also offer amazing dips, desserts, and other gourmet food. The dip shown above is their lucious crab dip- yummy!

What home would be complete with out art work? CH features picture frames and beautiful art pieces for your home. Above is their Moments of your Life picture frame.

This stunning piece comes from their Venetian collection. I love the colors in the artwork; it could definitely go in any room of your home!

Their Crown of Thorns picture is by artist Mark Cannon. It is frammed in ornate gold molding and matted with summac and smooth gold.

And, getting into the spirit of the holidays; above is their peppermint twist bean pot with lovely snowflakes!

And, an adorable snowman salt and pepper shaker with a spoon rest. This set would make an adorable Christmas gift and can be used throughout January as well! And, it's only $14.50! These snowman mugs sell for $20.00 and could easily be divided between two people with a gourmet cocoa mix for a great gift! And finally, we have this cute snowman tray.

Okay, I've overwhelmed with a ton of gorgeous products! As Gina says, WANT A LITTLE? Place an order ..... WANT A LOT? Hold a show ..... WANT IT ALL? Join my team!!

You may place an order by going here. If you order by December 14th you will receive it in time for Christmas! If you are ordering something as a gift, don't forget that they ship directly- so save money by shipping directly to the recipient!

You may also book a party by contacting Gina at http://www.hgpgina.com/ . CH offers wonderful hostess benefits and can do parties in your home, online, or can offer a book party. Gina will email you a personalized code and evite to send to all of your friends! Hostess benefits include: a 1/2 price item for ever $100.00 in sales and 20% of your total sales in free products! And, there is no S&H for hostesses! If you have 2 bookings at your party, you can earn free gifts or spend another $18.00 in their catalog!

CH offers so many great options for your home, the holidays, and throughout the year. I hope you take some time to look through their products and place an order as part of your giving for the holiday season! Whether you are ordering something for yourself or for someone else you are sure to love what Celebrating Home has to offer!

Thankfulness and a few extra pics!

It's been a few days since I've posted and I'm dying to post about Christmas; but my rule is that I have to wait until after Thanksgiving to get into all of the decorations and fun stuff! But, I wanted to take some time and post a few recent pictures and to talk about all of the things I'm thankful for!

I've had friends post their "thankful fors" everyday on facebook, but there's no way that I could keep up with all of mine! So, here are just a few....

1. I'm thankful for my husband. He makes me laugh and he loves me unconditionally. I'm thankful that he helps around the house (he put away most of the laundry this weekend!). I'm thankful that he wakes up even on the days that he can sleep late and fixes breakfast for our daughter. ........... This one is big, especially if you are a bit close to us- I'm thankful that football season is almost over and I'll have my husband home more!!!! Our last game is Tuesday night (on ESPN-U), and I'm thankful that our loosing season (okay, we've won 1 game) is almost to an end!

2. Of course, I'm thankful for our daughter. Even when she makes messes like this. I can go on and on about her, but she makes me smile, she tests my patience, she loves me, she gives the best kisses. She's just downright wonderful!

So, there you have it- just a bit of what I'm thankful for, but there is so much more! Onto some recent pictures, that were too cute to not share!

Look at all of her hair! This was taken a week or two ago, and just shows how much hair she has.

And, this is her new favorite toy! Forget toys from Santa; she's getting a new laundry basket under the tree! (just kidding), but every Sunday while we get ready for church, she's playing in an empty laundry basket. She'll sit in it and watch t.v., or she'll push it around the house, she also puts her toys in the basket and loves to climb in and out of it.

So, there you have it! I hope that over this week you'll reflect on the things that you are truely thankful for and leave me a comment letting me know!

I have a button!!!!

It's official! After trying for weeks to create a blog button I finally have one! You can't imagine how hard this process was for me! First, I contacted a web designer "friend" of mine on Myspace and she didn't get back w/ me. Then, I contacted a high school friend of mine who is totally into computers, but he didn't really know what I was wanting and then didn't get back with me. I've googled it a million times, and after browsing through blogs yesterday and again googling it and posing my questions on a Cafemom forum- I found it! Directions on how to make a button!

And, yes, I'm going to share them with you! No one should have to have as difficult a time as I had creating a button for their blog! If you use these directions, do me a favor, and grab my button for your page as a thank you.

I have tested my button, and it has worked for me, but please let me know if it does not work for you in some way.

Okay, here are the instructions: Just go here and make sure you have a picture and photobucket account!

Good luck and let me know when your button is created!

Turkey Day! Hostess with the Mostest!

Thanksgiving is officially a week away! If you plan on hosting a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner at your house- hats off to you! I'm not the best cook and I can't even imagine how to begin to make a turkey. Although, I should just ask the kindergarteners at my school; they've just written an adorable recipe book! Anyway, I have found some adorable items on Etsy that would add that extra touch to your house as you host this Turkey day!
Turkey soap! I'm not sure how they made this, but it's so cute I wouldn't even want to use it! It would look great in a guest bathroom though!Pot holder and towel set. These towel has been embellished with a leaf fabric and ric-rac. After finding these, I've realized that I could expand my line of products and offer tea towels for mom and burpies for babies! I love the matching pot holder!

If you're doing all of the cooking, you'll look great in these two aprons! The above apron is full covering, while the bottom covers the waist. I love the ruffles on the bottom apron!

Last, but not least are these adorable turkey earrings! I'm not quite sure that I'd wear them, but if you pair these with the apron you would definitely be the hostess with the mostest this Thanksgiving!!!!

Vote for Gretchen

I've entered Gretchen into a photo contest on What to Expect. If she wins, then I'll get a prize ;) Thankfully, this contest is FREE!

If you have a moment, please go here and place your vote.

The contest runs daily. There is one daily winner. If Gretchen makes it into the Winner's Circle, then she will compete for the "grand prize."

Thanks!

Be a Giver: Preschool Girl Toys for under $20.00

If you haven't started your Christmas shopping yet, you have less than 6 weeks! I throughly enjoy playing Santa to Gretchen and browsing through all of the fabulous toys at the store. I wanted to showcase some of my favorite toddler girl toys for under $20.00! All of these toys are from Target and can be found on their website. If you have a little girl to buy for, and you're not sure what to get her, bath toys are always perfect! Gretchen loves playing in the tub, there are many evenings where she splashes away and refuses to get out of the tub! She doesn't have this tub set, but she has the ABC's and #'s that stick to the bath wall. I love those because they're educational, but these adorable flower stick ons allow a little girls creativity to run wild! These are $11.99

Leap Frog has some wonderful fridge magnets! Gretchen has the animal sounds one, but I'd love to get her this one as well! The fridge talk is for ages 3 and older and has 3 learning modes: questions, songs, and free play. This is currently out of stock on Target's website, but you can always purchase it directly from Leap Frog.
I also think play-doh is a fabulous toy! Sadly, Gretchen still eats it, but she can spend hours sitting in her high chair playing with play-doh and cookie cutters.

I love this babydoll! She is just gorgeous!!! This doll has received the 2006 National Parenting Center Seal of Approval. She is more expensive, at 19.99, but she comes with bunny slippers, a silk pillow, and accessories to help her get ready in the morning (brush, toothbrush, etc.). I'm really wanting to get Gretchen babydolls this year, and we may have to get her!This is another great fridge toy from Leap Frog! And, it's only $16.99. The Fridge DJ teaches numbers, counting (1-20), uppercase and lower case letters. I love having fridge toys that Gretchen can play with while I'm cooking, and again, this is something that I'd love to add to our collection.

If you have not played Elefun you're missing out! I think that all little kids love to watch the butterflies fly out of the elephants trunk. It can be a little difficult for little ones to catch the butterflies in the net and the batteries seem to need replacing often. But, I've always enjoyed this game! Elefun is only $13.99, but Target has already been marking down their games in the store!

If you're little girl has a kitchen set, or if Santa is bringing her one, then she needs these adorable pastel pots and pans to cook with! This is a 27 piece set and sells for only $10.99! It's modeled in durable plastic and comes in pastel colors of pink, buttercup, sky blue, and white. It features a frying pan, pot with lid, 4 cups, 4 bowls, 4 plates, and 4 sets of silverware! Make sure that you also get her a tupperware or other storage container to hold all of the pieces though! I really want to get Gretchen a babydoll that actually does something! This one actually crawls! I can just imagine Gretchen's face when she discovers this babydoll crawling toward her! This little baby is only $14.99. Santa hasn't purchased her yet, but she's on our list!

I wanted to feature this book for toddlers. Gretchen has the v-tech version, but she loves it! The batteries need to be replaced often, but only because she plays with it so much! This Fisher Price book is only $9.99

I'm all for educational/learning toys and if it's extra-girly then we want it! Gretchen has a Disney teaset, but I love that this one teaches shapes, and is puzzle-like- the little cakes are different shapes (circle, square, and triangle) and must be placed correctly on the plate, so it's great for fine motor skills!

Hopefully these will inspire you to get your Christmas shopping started or finished! Again, they can all be purchased at Target and they're all under $20.00; great finds if you are on a budget this year!

Graffiti you want to have!

We've been in our new house for a little over 2 months and I finally convinced DJ to complete this one last project! As he said- it's our graffiti- but as I say, "it's graffiti you want to have!"

My mom has word art in her kitchen and I love it. I knew that when we had a new home of our own that I would want to word art too. I purchased this from Hobby Lobby (1/2 off!) but you can also purchase custom word art on Etsy. Here's one shop on Etsy if you're interested in purchasing hand made.

We placed our word art in the living room above our t.v. stand. The wall was so large, that I didn't want to put another large piece of art there, so this was perfect. I choose a Bible verse that I think speaks a lot about God, and where your heart should be, but it also speaks to home and family.

check it out below:

And, a larger picture of the wall. This wall even has a vaulted ceiling making it feel much larger. Wall art is a great way to add a personalized touch to your home and lets you show others what your home is really about; whether on Earth or in Heaven.

White Chicken Chili

I made this White Chicken Chili Saturday evening. It was already on the menu, and then we decided that we needed to have our friends Mark and Melissa (and their two little cuties) over for dinner. I was a little intimidated because I first had this soup at a coaches dinner and Melissa had made a delicious bowl of it! I was glad to find an easy recipe in one of my cookbooks, and thought I'd share it with you all!

1. Saute a bit of olive oil, onions (I used 1/2 of a large one), and chicken in a large pot for about 10 minutes or until chicken is done.

2. Add 2 cans of chicken broth (14 oz each or 1 3/4 c).

3. Add 1 can green chili's. I used rotel instead.

4. Add in your spices. Salt/pepper, red pepper, chili powder, cumin, and oregano.

5. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 30 minutes.

That's it! Isn't that easy?!

I served this with tortilla chips, shredded mexican cheese and corn bread as a 2nd option.

Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

Well, not yet, I know it's a little early! Although, I do plan on starting to decorate for Christmas this weekend! (Only because I'll be gone the weekend after Thanksgiving, and if I don't start now it will not be done!)

As, my Christmas gift to you, if you place an order with Honey Pie Accessories, you will receive a FREE hair clippie!

You can also purchase a variety of lined hair clippies 3 for $1.00, and receive 1 FREE!

Clippies make great stocking stuffers!

So, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, etc.!!!!!!!!!

Pumpkin Bars

I've been waiting for the perfect time to post the recipe for these pumpkin bars! I love anything pumpkin, especially this time of year!

I made these a few weeks ago for one of our dinner with the coaching staff. I needed something that would be quick, and to use ingredients that I already had on hand, as we've been on a tighter budget lately. These were perfect and turned out sooooo good! Ingredients:
4 eggs
1 c. oil
2 c. sugar
1 15 oz. can pumpkin
2 c flour
2 tsp baking bowder
1tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger- I didn't have any, so I left it out
1/2 tsp ground cloves- again, I left these out
1/2 tsp nutmeg

This is super easy: Mix eggs, oil, sugar and pumpkin together. Add all of the dry ingredients and mix well. As I mentioned above, there were some ingredients that I didn't have. I used cinnamon and nutmeg and a dash of pumpkin pie spice instead.

Place in a 15x10x1 baking dish and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Allow to cool.

Finally, you can make cream cheese icing for the top! I attempted this, but it did not turn out well. If you're not a pro at making icing, I would just top it with store bought. But, here's the recipe for the icing anyway!

Cream Cheese Icing:
1 8 oz pkg softened cream cheese
3/4 c stick butter, softened
1 T milk
1 tsp vanilla
4 c. powdered sugar

Once cool and iced, keep refrigerated.

These pumpkin bars would be a great addition to a Thanksgiving dessert spread, dinner with friends, or could serve as a yummy breakfast! Enjoy!

And the turkey clip winner is.......

#4- Erica and Nate!!!!

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 4 Powered by RANDOM

It just so happens that Erica has a beautiful baby girl and we go to church together! Erica- I'll bring your turkey clippie to church on Sunday- Congratulations!!!!!

Freebies!

I thought I'd take this evening and share with you all some great money-saving tips! If you're like most people, you're saving your money and watching what you spend. One way that I've found to help is to sign up for freebies.

There are several websites that you can use, but there are also some that are a little fishy. Of course, you're giving out personal information, since your freebies will arrive in the mail. I'll share with you my favorite freebie sites and some tips.

Tips:
1. Don't give out your real phone number. I don't think that I've had any excess calls from giving out my number, but if you're concerned, fudge your number by 1 digit.
2. You often have to give your email address, so you'll need to set up a 2nd address to use. Just go to it every once in a while and delete the emails.
3. Don't try to sign up more than once, unless of course you are using family names, addresses, etc. But, get their permission first and make sure they'll hand over the freebie!
4. Tip your mailman around the Holidays. If you're making them do a little more work, then show them that you appreciate them. Last year, I gave our postwoman a little Christmas container that I bought on sale the year before! You can always fix a goodybag of your freebies for the postman!
5. I save all of my favorite freebie sites in my internet favorites folder for easy access.
6. Spend one evening signing up for freebies, go to each site and complete all of the information.

Favorite Sites:
1. If you're a member of Cafemom then you'll need to sign up for the Deals & Steals group. This group has daily posts on freebies, give aways, and tips.
2. Baby Cheapskate is also another great site, especially for moms!
3. Freebies4mom spoils you with the greatest freebies!
4. Become a member of Right@Home, and you'll receive valuable coupons. Okay, coupons aren't freebies per say, but in my opinion, coupons are free money!
5. StartSampling lists freebies. You get points everytime you sign in, but i'll be perfectly honest saying that I'm not sure what these points are for. But, you can often get some free magazines through this site.
6. My favorite freebie site is Wal-Mart. I love their toiletry items. I've received shower gels, toothpaste samples, and yes- free tampons. There was one month, where I had so many samples, that I didn't have to purchase any from the store. Plus, many of Wal-Mart's samples will send a coupon with their freebie.
7. Target also offers grocery coupons. My favorite trick is to pair these coupons with manufacturer coupons- they'll give you double the savings!

I hope these tips and sites help you. Treat yourself and save money!

Indianapolis Children's Museum

DJ had Saturday off for the first time since July! (Thank goodness football season is almost over! And, I'm actually relieved that we won't have a bowl game to prepare for as we have the last two years.) So, we decided that since the weather was beautiful (in the high 60s) that we'd spend the day outdoors as a family. If you know my husband, you know that he's not a "sit at home" kind of guy. If he's off, he still has to be busy. There have been many occasions where he'll go to work on his day off!

As we were planning our family day earlier in the week, DJ stated that he'd like to go to Ohio. I wasn't so much up for the drive and a full weekend away from home, since there's always so much catching up to do.

We settled for going to Conner's Praire, which is a restoration park, where all of the employees dress in 1800s attire and are in character the entire time. I looked everything up online, and decided that it would be perfect for our family day outdoors. We managed to make it in the car (even with one child, it's always a feat) Oh, and let me add, that even on his day off, he ran into work for about an hour in the morning. We head down to Fishers (right outside of Indianapolis) and pull up to Conner's Prairie. We arrive inside, and stand in line to purchase our tickets. Only to find, that the outdoor park is closed for the season, and that there were only a few exhibits inside and a play area. We decided that this wasn't really what we wanted to do, so we left.

DJ hasn't been to the Children's Museum, so we decided that despite the probability of germs, and the fact that it was inside we would spend our day there.

Here are a few pictures from our day: Gretchen was able to create a dinosaur using a computer program. Let's just say, she's not that good at it. After you build your dinosaur, you can test it- their's fell over.

Gretchen enjoyed climbing to the top of the tree house.

And, she beat me at a game of tic-tac-toe. Seriously.

Then, we played with Mr. Potato head characters. I'm glad she enjoyed this because she's getting one from Santa! She also played in this playhouse with daddy. This has always been one of her favorites at the museum. She enjoyed trying out the chair on the front porch.

So, even though our plans were changed a bit, we had a great day. It wasn't outdoors, but it was wonderful to spend a stress free day with the two that I love most!

I hope you all had a great weekend as well!