The Rachel Berry Blog

{ Moms & Muffins ~ Activity Days }

2012-05-18T12:20:00.007-07:00

Here are a few pictures from our Moms & Muffins Brunch we did for Activity Day's.

Everyone seemed to have a great time, and it all ran pretty smooth. We had about 15 show up. We were missing a few girls and their moms. Maybe next year.

I have to thank all my friends who helped set up and also stayed after it was over to clean up.

You guys are awesome!!

I didn't take all the pictures that I wanted, aka more of the decor

(I was busy) but here are the few that I did get.

We had the following:

Muffins; Banana nut, Lemon Poppy seed, Blueberry &

Pumpkin Cinnamon Streusel.

Fruit kabobs with grapes, pineapple,strawberries, honeydew melon

Fruit dip

Chocolate eclairs

Cream puffs

Citrus water

This was probably our biggest activity that we have ever done.

All our other activities that we have planned weren't nearly as "decorated".

But it sure was nice to have something pretty for all us

moms &amp our daughters.

Each of the girls gave their moms felt flowers that we made a few weeks back and a hand written note telling their mom's how much they appreciate them.

All in all it was a great little activity.

Hope you all have a Fabulous Weekend!!

{ TGIF }

2012-05-11T10:21:00.004-07:00

Long blogging nightmare of a story coming soon,

But until then....

All I can say is Thank goodness it's Friday!

Which means, it's one day closer to the weekend.

Which means, that the Mother's Day Brunch I am working on for Activity Day's is almost done.

I have some Muffins to make and an entire primary room to set up, but thanks to my friends and their many hands, it will get done this afternoon.
All I can say is, I'm so glad I get to work with 3 other friends with this calling. :)

Photo via Android

Have a fabulous Mother's Day Weekend!

{ Freak Out! }

2012-05-03T22:39:00.000-07:00

Please bear with me as I try and figure out what is going on with my blog pictures.

A lot of my photos have an exclamation point where the picture is supposed to be.

Just like this bugger......

I'm a little bit sick about it....

Is anyone else seeing this on their blog?
Or am I the lucky one?

{ Birthday Recap x2 }

2012-05-02T10:55:00.010-07:00

Recap 1- So, I survived my birthday 10 days ago.

Here's how my day unfolded:

Our well pump and pipes all got replaced.

My VT's brought flowers and a huge hunk o' chocolate cake.

I received phone calls from friends and some family.

Loads of Facebook happy birthday's.

My sweet friend made & delivered dinner and dessert for our fam.
AND THEN:

I spent my evening at Bubbles Laundromat washing/folding 4 loads of much needed clothing.

I have to say the weekend/week of my b-day started off not so great, but a HUGE thanks to my friends and family for making it a bit better.

I REALLY appreciate it.

Recap 2 - I realized a while back that I completely forgot to post pics of Brinley's 10th B-day way back in January.
So, here you go, I can't believe I forgot about it!

I. Am. Slacker. Mom.

My mother of the year award is in the mail

I just know it. :)

The Invitations

Girly Owl Cupcakes

Happy 10th Birthday Brinley Boo!

Sour Cream containers filled with candy, made my your's truly.

Goodie bags for the party goers.

EDITED: I used THIS tutorial for making the sour cream containers.

We also hung paper lanterns and tissue pom poms from the ceiling.
I had to make my own streamers this year as this town I live in has NOTHING. So I bought a few plastic table covers and cut them into strips then, sewed them together with a gathering stitch.
Turned out cute!

{ Happy Birthday To Me! }

2012-04-23T09:16:00.002-07:00

Yup, sadly it's that time of year again.

It's my birthday today....

This year has been a real treat,

we've been without water for almost 3 days.

Right now the "Domestic Pump Service Guy"
(really his business card calls him that-I joke not)

is here trying to pull our pump out of the ground.

Poor guy... It's only 180 feet down there, so he's here for awhile.

photo via web
Also I decided to start getting more healthy, so I started walking/jogging while Addison was at pre-school.

Well, Thursday I obviously over did it.

Photo via web- we all know this is SO NOT ME!
I screwed up my knee big time and have been in bed since Friday night in P.A.I.N. I'm happy to say that, today I'm feeling a bit better. I can walk on it without cringing or crying.

Now if only I could take a shower, do laundry, dishes, or heck flush the toilet like normal instead of pouring water into the bowl to "flush" it out.

On the up side, my birthday gift this year is a new well pump hidden 180+ feet in the ground.

Yeah turning 37 this year freaking rocks.

{ He Loves Me }

2012-03-16T16:13:00.003-07:00

My hubby is the best!

If you haven't watched this, you really need to start!

{ Shamrock Banner }

2012-03-02T15:36:00.004-08:00

Made 2 of these the other day with my friend Nan while the girls were at pre-school.

Super simple and totally on the cheap.

Items Needed:

Glittered Shamrocks- Dollar Tree

Book- Thrift store (used same book HERE)

Buttons- My own stash

Jute rope- Wal-Mart

Paper Cutter or just use Scissors.

Hot Glue Gun

Stapler- I used my Tim Hotz Tiny Attacher (seriously my favorite craft stapler)

I cut our Pennants 8.75 x 4.5, also we threaded our buttons.

Glue the shamrocks to your pennants, then glue on the button.
Fold the top edge over the Jute rope and staple. Easy Peasy.

Complete inspired from THIS blog.

Have a fabulous weekend!!

{ A Valentine's Rewind }

2012-02-29T00:00:00.006-08:00

Here's a little bit of what we've been up to over the month of February, brace yourself for picture overload.

I love Pinterest... Sometimes too much. :)

I took 3 of my favorite Pinterest Valentine's Day finds and combined them into one Love Day banner.

All 3 of the above crafts can be found on my Pinterest Happy Heart Day Board.
You can find my Pinterest over on the right hand side of my blog above ABOUT ME.
I went to the thrift store and bought a 50 cent book, as well as some 25 cent sewing patterns.

Used the book for the pennants and hearts, stapled those together.

Used my Sizzix Big Shot to cut out the flowers from the sewing patterns & some red tissue paper.

Used washi tape on the hearts, punched a hole.

Strung it all on Bakers Twine. Done!

I made one for me, my mom and Addison's awesome Pre-School Teacher.

Then I helped Brinley with her Valentine's Mail Box for School.

Ipad printable was free and the link is on my Pinterest Happy Heart Day Board.

We made 32 Sour Cream Containers filled with treats for her classmates & teachers.

I also made 8 for Addison's pre-school class as well.

Instead of taking candy, Corbin took these awesome little treats.

I bought 5 dollars worth of glow sticks from Dollar Tree, and the

Star War's printable were FREE

(The link to the Star Wars Valentines can be found in my Happy Heart day File on Pinterest).

Then on Single Awareness Day aka Valentines Day,

I made Cookies.

Phew, am I glad Valentines day is over....

Oh, did I mention that we made benches for our dining room table right before Valentines day?

Can I just say FINALLY! I've been wanting benches for so long.

Pictures coming soon. I need to paint the hummers first.

Here's a sneak peek at the picture we based our plans on:

Have a FABULOUS Leap Day!

{ Yup }

2012-02-27T12:24:00.001-08:00

Yup,

we are that kind of family! :)

2.25.12

{ Oregon Ducks Birthday }

2012-02-23T22:35:00.003-08:00

It's me! Were you beginning to think I lost my blogger password?

Me too! :)

My oldest (Jentry) turned 14 back in January and he LOVES the Oregon Ducks & wanted the DUCKS to be his birthday theme so we did the following.

I bought some Oregon Duck, Duct Tape and put it around my 3 tier server. Worked great and peeled off like a charm.

I happened upon some free Football printables the day before his birthday that were the perfect color combo. SCORE!

I used that kit for the cupcake toppers as well as 1 sad cupcake wrapper (ran out of time) and the football guys on the table.

I had my boyfriend (aka husband) bring home some outdoor carpet from work and we stapled it to the bottom of our dining room table.

I bought some first aid tape & used that for the yard lines.

If I had more time I would have cut out some numbers for the yard lines on my Cricut. Oh well, next time.

I also found some sports themed stuff from the $ tree and hung those up as well.

Did I get a picture of any of it?

Nope.

Blurry picture, but you have to love the 14 candles ablaze on a tiny cupcake.

He had a great birthday with several of his friends.

The boys all went and played laser tag, then we had pizza for dinner, opened gifts, then it was time for cake & ice cream.

All the boys hunkered down outside in the camper for the night where they played PS3 till the wee hours in the morning.

Then they all went to a combined Stake youth activity the next morning.

He's going to hate this picture but it's the only smile I got on film.

He usually hides from the camera.

All in all, it's the birthday he wanted.

Low key and with very few pictures taken.

Have a fabulous Friday!

FREE FOOTBALL PRINTABLES FOUND

HERE

{ I Think It Might Be Snowing! }

2012-01-18T10:17:00.001-08:00

I think we might have a little bit of snow!

We woke up to more this morning.

Kids thought they would get a snow day, but nope, just a 2 hr delay.

Bummer is tomorrow we are supposed to get rain showers mixed with snow. Yuck!
This post is technically for my hubby who is enjoying humid Houston Texas weather...

{ A Double Digit Birthday! }

2012-01-16T16:36:00.001-08:00

She's officially 10 today!

We're having a Owl Themed Party and she has a few friends over.

Right now they are watching Ella Enchanted.

Can't believe how fast this girlie is growing up.

Happy 10th Birthday Miss Brinley Boo,

We Love You!

{ Birthday #14 }

2012-01-13T08:16:00.001-08:00

Yup, it's that time of year again, it's birthday week at our house starting today!

Happy Birthday to my first born, hard to believe he's 14!

Today will be filled with friends, laser tag, football cupcakes, movies and I'm sure loads of games on the PS3.

Happy 14th Birthday Jentry, we love you!

{ Happy 2012 }

2011-12-31T22:03:00.001-08:00

Remember me?

Yes, I'm still alive.

Hopefully I can get back into the blogging swing of things with this new year coming up.

We've just had SO MUCH GOING ON, it's been a wee bit crazy.

Here is a few snapshots of some Holiday scenes around our house.

Here's wishing all of you a Fabulous New Year!

See you soon!

{ Thankful Banner }

2011-11-11T20:41:00.001-08:00

I made this cute little Damask Lettered Banner today, I do love it, and think I might be making many more for a couple Christmas bazaars.

I've been going non stop lately - hence my lack of blogging.

With 2 kids birthday's, Halloween, running kids to and from school, errands, church stuff, wrestling (my son, not me :) & the everyday life of being a mom of 5 it's been a bit nuts.

I feel like I'm running a race where I'm falling further and further behind everyone else. So I took a little time out today for me, to make this thankful banner.

I needed it.

It also gave me time to think about all the things I am thankful for.

My thanks to Nanette for pushing me to craft.

Everyone needs a Nanette in their life I tell ya.

Have a Fabulous Weekend.

{ 4th Birthday BOO! }

2011-10-31T16:47:00.002-07:00

Happy Birthday to my Halloween Baby

who turned 4 today!

Here's one from her first Birthday.

Oh how we love this girl!

She gets to have her first ever friend party on Friday, trying to have one today is just oh-too-crazy.

Well I better go get some presents wrapped.

Happy Halloween everyone!

{ Happy 17 Years To Us! }

2011-10-14T09:14:00.001-07:00

Happy 17th Anniversary to us!

I can't believe it's already been 17 years.

In some way's it seems so long and in other ways so quick.

It's not always been easy, we've had our share of good times and bad. But you are the only person I want to be on this journey to Forever with, I love you babe!

{ Now Taking Christmas Family Stitchery Orders!!! }

2011-10-10T15:55:00.001-07:00

It's that time of year again!

Order your Custom Family Stitchery's soon, the deadline to order for Christmas delivery is 11.6.11.

These make fabulous Christmas gifts for the "Hard to Buy For" and are completely customize-able. :) Be sure to order one soon, I only offer a limited number of these each year.
Here is the link to my Etsy Shop.

If you have any ?'s about these just shoot me an email and I'll get back to you asap.

{ Happy 7 }

2011-10-06T11:33:00.001-07:00

My boy is turning 7 today.

His request was for all his friends to come over and party.

But big parties are reserved for every other year.

Next year he can have a big ol' bash.

So Tomorrow, he has invited 2 of his best buddies to come over and enlist in the Army for a couple hours, should be fun!

Tonight we are having his favorite dinner - PIZZA!

Happy 7th Birthday Corbin we love you!

{ TGIF }

2011-09-30T11:31:00.003-07:00

Can I just say I'm so ready for this weekend.

The menfolk in my house will be leaving this afternoon to go Deer Hunting, they already set up camp last night and will be going up after school gets out.

(Shh, don't tell but I pray they don't get anything, oh wait did I say that out loud?)

So while the men are away, we girlies & our friends will be staying home where we will be watching movies and eating unhealthy amounts of caramel popcorn, all while making some cute new crafts.

Now to choose what to make.

Well, at least a version of it that is. And thanks to Pinterest I've got way too many choices. Here's what I'm trying to decide between.

Such cute stuff which ='s decisions, decisions, decisions...

Have a Fabulous Weekend.

{ Remember Me? }

2011-09-17T21:12:00.001-07:00

It's me Rachel Berry, long time no see!

Yes I know I've been gone a while, too long in fact.

Let me start off by saying that I'm under the influence so if this post doesn't make sense I'm blaming it on my current state of health.

Okay, I know I say it all the time, but we have been busy.

Like back to school busy with 2 boys in football everyday after school until 7:30. So I spend lots of time in my car, I do believe my Excursion and I are now dating. Yeah, it's a real treat and to top it off right now

I am S.I.C.K.

Yup, the flu came to our house & most un-welcomed might I add.

So I'm on day 2 of being totally worthless. And while feeling like complete crap yesterday I got to take Mr. Parker to the Dr.'s to have his knee checked. You see while at foos-ball practice he got plowed into by another boy who ironically is named Parker as well.

Needless to say my Parker came limping off the field.

So I took him in and he got 2 sets of X-rays and since they couldn't see all they needed too the DR. sent us up to the Hospital for a super inexpensive MRI. Luckily the MRI came back clean. Now he get's to walk around like this for a while until his knee heals from all the extensive bruising.

I tell ya, Foosball it's the devils game (name that movie).

I've never been a huge fan of football and having one of my own get injured doesn't help my love toward the game.

I do have to say I am grateful his injuries weren't any worse & that I didn't have to use the zip-lock bag I had stowed away in my purse in case of emergency.

Well I'm going to grab my bowl and go back to bed.

Yes, I know, I lead such a glamorous life.....

{ Back To School }

2011-09-06T21:54:00.001-07:00

I finally clicked my annual Kids/Bus picture, school started last week but today was the first day all 4 went together.

I sure do love these guys!

{ Sweet Zucchini Relish ~ The Recipe }

2011-08-18T20:50:00.003-07:00

I made more of this incredibly yummy relish today.

I mean I had to, I only had 3 pints left in our food storage.

This relish is so stinking Go-oD!

I've had several people tell me that they don't like relish.

But I being the amazing food preserver that I am, persuade them to try just a teensy tiny bit and guess what?

They...are... hooked...

Yup, it IS that good.

It's seriously easy to make here is the recipe.

Zucchini Relish

12 cups grated zucchini

4 cups grated or chopped onion

¼ cup salt

3 red peppers shredded

1 green pepper shredded

***Mix & let sit in fridge overnight***

Next day rinse and drain.

In a big pot mix the cold vegetables with:

2 ½ cups vinegar

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp turmeric

2 tsp cornstarch

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp celery seed

4 ½ cups sugar

Cook on med high heat for 30 minutes

Water bath for 10 minutes
Makes 6 pints

BBQ tomorrow night?

Why yes, I think we will, this is so good on Hamburgers and Hotdogs!

My thanks to Nan for the fresh zucchini & Carol for the recipe.

{ The Summer Blur... }

2011-08-05T13:26:00.002-07:00

Okay, I have to admit that when school got out for the kids I actually thought that things would slow down (enter laughter here).

I had big plans to do outings with the kids every other week.

I thought I would be able to get together with my girls and we could bang out some amazing summer crafts.

I also had the insane thought that we might be able to finish our office and laundry room, which have been torn apart for months.

Boy was I wrong!

I've decided that Summer Break with 5 kids is like giving birth. You know that's it's going to be hard work & painful, but you forget about the work and pain after your sweet baby is in your arms.

Or in our case, when summer ends and the new school year begins.

Enter the Summer Blur. One of the main culprits this year is soccer.

We have 4 kids playing this year (all on different teams) yeah, yeah I know.
What were we thinking?

I'm a terrible parent, I never clicked any pictures of Jentry playing.... Sham on me, I think he's forgiven me though.

And the real kicker is when Addison is old enough she wants to play too.

5 playing soccer?!?

The thought alone makes me want to curl up in the fetal position in the shower and rock back & forth mumbling to myself. Oh wait, I already do that.

So instead what I though would get done,

here is what we've been up to:

Running to 9 games, 4 days a week.
3 kids with soccer practice in between games.

Eating dinner @ 9pm instead of our regular 6 pm.

The 2 older boys had a substitute paper route for a couple weeks (never again).

Building Cluckinton Palace

She still needs: paint, doors, more roofing and a run. Please don't mind the construction mess.

I've started canning (again)

Super Saturday craft samples are being finished after changing my 2nd craft five times. Yes I have 2 crafts to teach.

My little Daycare peanut Kendall comes M-F.

My husband is never home.

My house seems to always have some horrible hangover aka;
I have 6 kids everyday so my house is dirty syndrome.

Can you tell I'm ready for school to start?
I need to get back to our regularly scheduled program.

Don't get me wrong I love being with my kids but after the umpteenth fight/argument between the oldest 3.
I'm ready for the sweet bliss of school filled days and homework nights.
(remind me of that last sentance when I'm yelling at my kids to get their homework done)

2010-2011 school morning picture from last year.
School starts in 24 days, not that I'm counting or anything.

If you made it through this long winded post, I'll bring you a jar of freshly made raspberry jam.

{ Stepping Away.... }

2011-07-13T13:02:00.001-07:00

From the Coupon Binder that is....

I've been couponing....

There, I said it.

But lately I have found that couponing is a job and seeing as I already have several jobs, coupons are one thing that I need to let go of.

I personally feel like it's taking up too much of my time.

Having to:
hunt down the best coupons,

print & cut them out,

match them up

and then go to several different stores.

It's just too much for me.

With 5 kids & 1 daycare child everyday along with all the things I have to do daily

I just do not have the time or the energy for it anymore.

I have several friends who coupon, and they leave me in awe of the deals they can get. I think it's fabulous that they have such a knack at this craft.

I guess it's just not one of my natural talents and ya know what?
I'm okay with it.

I did a major purge of my coupon binder last week and I have to say, I felt relief after emptying out most of it's contents.

I still love Coupons and will use them to stock up when my favorite items (Dishwasher soap & Laundry soap) go on sale. But I think that's where I will leave my friendship with coupons.

On isle 10, the soap isle.