The Rachel Berry Blog

{ I Think It Might Be Snowing! }

2012-01-18T10:17:00.000-08:00

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! }

2012-01-16T16:36:00.000-08:00

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 }

2012-01-13T08:16:00.000-08:00

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 }

2011-12-31T22:03:00.000-08:00

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 }

2011-11-11T20:41:00.000-08:00

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! }

2011-10-31T16:47:00.000-07:00

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! }

2011-10-14T09:14:00.000-07:00

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!!! }

2011-10-10T15:55:00.000-07:00

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 }

2011-10-06T11:33:00.000-07:00

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 }

2011-09-30T11:31:00.000-07:00

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? }

2011-09-17T21:12:00.000-07:00

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.

Photo from Droid....

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 }

2011-09-06T21:54:00.000-07:00

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 }

2011-08-18T20:50:00.000-07:00

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... }

2011-08-05T13:26:00.000-07:00

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.

It actually is a bit more finished then what you see here.

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)

School starts in 24 days, not that I'm counting or anything.

2010-2011

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

{ Bloggy Love }

2011-07-28T16:03:00.000-07:00

Okay who doesn't love free downloads??

I have been following Kiki Creates for a while now and this Gal has the BEST downloads. This week she has been kind enough to give all her followers 2 fabulous downloads for
FREE!

Source

Want them too?

1. Head on over to her BLOG
2. Become a follower
3. Then download her amazing printables
4. Leave her a little comment love!
The ones above are only available for a limited time.

She has more free downloads, just wander around her Fabulous Blog, I promise you won't be disappointed. :)

Source

{ Stepping Away.... }

2011-07-13T13:02:00.000-07:00

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.

{ Cluckington Palace Part 1 }

2011-07-08T22:25:00.000-07:00

We have officially started yet ANOTHER project.

Are my other projects done yet?

NO.....

But the girls need a bigger house!

So this is what we did over our 4th of July weekend.

I fell in love with this Chicken Coop that I found online

I love everything about it, especially that cute white picket fence!

So I asked my hubby to draw up some plans and off we went. I'm excited to see it finished, and hopefully it will be soon.

We have a laundry list of things to get done tomorrow and one of them is working on this project.

Hopefully we can get loads done.

Have a Fabulous Weekend!

{ Happy 4th!! }

2011-07-04T19:10:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone is having a Fabulous & Safe

4th of July!

{ New Chickens...}

2011-06-26T19:16:00.000-07:00

Last night we got 4 one year old chickens..

These girls are awesome, they already have layed 4 eggs!

sadly one got dropped by a little person....

We are super excited about having new chickens and my Parker is sleeping in the Camp Trailer in case our predators come back. Which they did this morning around 5 am, and yes the dogs belong to our neighbors. There are large teeth marks on the chickens house as the dogs were biting the roof of the nesting box.

So we get to go and have a little chat with our neighbors.

Should be fun.

But for now we are going to enjoy our new girls & home grown eggs...

Oh and the kids have affectionately named these chickens after the ones we lost on the 17th.

{ Our Chickens.... }

2011-06-17T14:17:00.000-07:00

Way back in April we purchased some Baby Chicks that were about a week old.

and last night an animal (we don't know what kind) came and tore the bottom of the nesting box off and killed them.
Why do chickens have to be so delicious?

It's been a sad day at our house.

Don't mind the chicken poop.....

Some of the kids are taking it harder then others.

They've all decided that we need to get more chickens and hopefully we will someday soon.

Rest in peace Shelly, Yoko, Penny, & Eggbert.

The kids miss you already......

{ Maybe It's The Weather..... }

2011-06-08T14:22:00.000-07:00

Source

Do you ever feel like the above photo?

I feel this way today, are you sure it isn't Monday?

So far today I've had 1 continuous whiny 3.5 yr old that speaks Whinese fluently, if only I did.

1 sweet 8 month old baby who's diaper decided not to hold and got all over my left leg and all over the baby. This same baby is also not feeling so hot as she is teething and is letting me know about it.

I ran outside for a minute and lucky us, we've had a mama bird nesting right on our porch and she is making a MESS! And when I say mess I mean poop, yes more poop and it's everywhere. If she and her 2 babies don't get a move on quick they will be getting evicted.

Yup, I'm to that point.

Then I made lunch for the kiddos

my 6 yr old ate all of his, my 3.5 yr old decided she didn't like anything I made her even though it was what she wanted. And yes she spoke Whinese the entire meal.

So I clean up lunch and go grab the little bowl of ranch and guess what? It slips from my fingers and goes all down my right leg and clean jeans mind you, right along with the kitchen floor & rug.

Okay this is the point in the program where I stop and count to 168.......

I tell the kids it's time for naps, then my 3.5 yr old tells me over & over that she isn't happy and that she doesn't like me anymore.

FINE BY ME!

Yes this is how I said it in my head.

I manage to get 2 kids down for naps, I called in the other babysitter I like to call her Sony, she is entertaining the 6 yr old with Star Wars episode II and I finally got to take a much needed shower even if it was after 1:00 pm.

I was going to get dressed but decided what's the point. So I've crawled into a clean pair of PJ's instead.

I don't plan on going anywhere today.

I'm afraid if I do something else will go wrong.

There is hope on the horizon, I have the day off tomorrow and I know that for the rest of the week things have to get better and....

Source

Edited: I know it's stupid to complain about little things like this when there are so many other people going through so much worse. But sometimes you just have to get it off your chest and say it.

And you know what... I'm feeling better already.

{ Feeling Crafty }

2011-06-03T12:12:00.000-07:00

I'm still here!!

Sorry it's been so long since my last post, I've just been busy.

School is about to end for my kids and everyone has something going on. We are also in the middle of remodeling a couple rooms in our house and one is the office/craft room.

So needless to say all my supplies are in boxes.

I did managed to get a few things out and make this cute Summer Banner.

Inspiration from here..

I have a Thankful Banner I hope to have finished here shortly and then BOTH will be going into my Etsy Shop.

I am also on a board through our church and am in charge of 2 Super Saturday classes and here is one of the crafts I hope we will be making come October.

Inspiration from....

I think it turned out pretty cute.

Now to find out if I can order bulk frames!

I've had so much fun seeing everyone on Pinterest, if you sent me your email and I some how missed sending you an invite, just leave a comment on this post with your email again and I'll get you an invite sent.

Have a fabulous weekend & happy pinning!

ps. sorry about the cruddy pictures, it's constantly raining & grey here. We've actually had lots of homes in our town that have suffered from flooding. I hope to see some sun soon.

{ Pinterest Interest }

2011-05-20T12:10:00.000-07:00

I have had a few emails and been asked where to find me on Pinterest.

So here ya go!

http://pinterest.com/rachelberry/

Well I better get back to work, the boys are heading up to the woods for a Father & Son Campout and they need all the help they can get.....

Have a Fabulous Weekend!

{ Pinterest Video Tutorial }

2011-05-18T19:41:00.000-07:00

Here is a Video Tutorial from the fabulous

Stories from A to Z blog on how to use Pinterest.

I'm a visual learner so I thought this would help!

{ Are You Pinning? }

2011-05-18T18:04:00.000-07:00

Okay, I know I'm not the first to post about this and I will not be the last but ladies.......

I LOVE PINTEREST!

click image to enlarge a little

This site is awesome!

This is where I keep all the things I want to make (tutorials etc.)

That's right, I no longer have to copy and save tutorials on my computer I just pin them!

Then when I want to make that item, I just go to Pinterest and click on the link and it takes me straight to the tutorials website.

Pure Genius!!

This is also the place where I keep pictures I find all over the web of things I just love.
You can organize your boards to be anything you want.

If you aren't pinning yet but would like to, leave me your email address and I'll send you an invite.
Trust me you are going to LOVE IT!

Happy Pinning!