pinkcherrymama's daily tidbits and nibbles

pure and simple honesty....

this was me yesterday...

i have to be absolutely honest. i am having a BAD day.

3am: hubby is up taking ibuprofen for that nagging tooth ache he's had for a month..."what's wrong",says mama, "my tooth hurts so bad...mumble, mumble", says big daddy...and back to sleep for a couple of hours....

6:30am: up and at em' to make hubby's 4 sammy's for lunch....lovely stack of dishes waiting for me in the sink...must be those pesky trolls that sneak into my kitchen in the middle of the night for a midnight snack....

7:30 am: answer etsy emails, orders, etc. new listings...

12:40 pm: "oh ya, i forgot to fold the laundry i put in the dryer last night", says mama to herself....as mama opens the door to her prized front loading dryer, "!?#$?!?!$&, what the heck! thanks big daddy for forgetting to take that ENTIRE pack of strawberry trident gum out of your pocket before putting your jeans into the laundry basket...i REALLY appreciate it!"

12:42-2:00 pm: iPod in ears, drown out everything else and scrape away! oh the joys of being a homemaker!

1:45 pm: first born child enters laundry room with a frightened/cautious look on her face. "what's wrong", says mama. "um, well little buddy just wet his pants...BUT i took care of it already!" thankful mama breathes a sigh of relief that first born child has saved the day...or maybe mama was just taking a breath of fresh air after being inside the dryer for an hour...could be either....

2:10 pm: "i should blog", mama says to herself in a state of half dilerium, half drunken stupor brought on by the lemon scented fumes of lysol and the grotesque picture of mayonnaise, still etched in her head, used to clean her lovely dryer to prior sparkling condition... 

and guess what? mama is absolutely, positively in a GREAT mood! ahhh, the power of music and blogging....mama's world is as it should be...
2 girls in their room with friend, hanging out...little buddy playing quietly {for the moment} in his room...first born listening contently to her iPod and texting away....
spoke too soon....small child screaming....be right back....

2:25 pm: another crisis defeated by....MAMA, domestic -wonder worker!

4:55: oh crap! i forgot to mail the  christmas cards again...yes, i said "christmas cards"...better late than never!

12:45 am: went to bed after playing "rock band" with my girls for a few hours! very fun...mama's got skills...not really, but it's fun to pretend :)

ok, all joking and sarcasm aside, yes today has been yesterday was quite...eventful. but as usual, when all is said and done, i wouldn't have it any other way...."lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, love-ly day..." iPod on head, remember?

♫♪ ♫♪ ♫♪ ♫♪ ♫♪ ♫♪ ♫♪ ♫♪ ♫♪ ♫♪ ♫♪ ♫♪ ♫♪ ♫♪ ♫♪ ♫♪ ♫♪ ♫♪ ♫

now for some nice stuff...

i promised a friend i would post pictures of my christmas decorations so here we go...

this is going to come as a complete shock to anyone who knows me, but this year, not only did i skip the over 7 foot tall tree, but, {drum roll, please} i put up a "faux" tree! yes, believe it. i did the unthinkable. and just for your information, calling it a "faux" tree does make me feel better. little buddy helped of course...

 

yet another shocker....i actually did not color coordinate the tree....this may be too much for some of you to handle...but i have to tell the truth...

  
  

my quaint, little,{ lop-sided} "faux" tree atop my favorite vintage metal desk and me behind the camera being blinded by the light from my humungous {is that even how you spell that?} windows...

another one of the 4 christmas trees i put up this year...oops, did i forget to mention that? well, yep, i put up 4... this one happens to be the "disney" tree, which little buddy seems to be rearranging every 5 minutes...

this year, we also managed to make a "shortbread" house, i don't like gingerbread, decorated by my daughter with the help of a friend,

 

and this one, REAL gingerbread, was made by my soon-to-be pastry chef, daughter, in culinary arts class...

   
 

my little "jengo phet" and no, he is not throwing up gang signs...he calls this his "jengo pose",

 

over the past year there have been lots of changes. some i am ready for, others, i am not. little buddy finally got potty trained...very ready for that one! for christmas, "santa" brought him a "big boy bed", the kind you put the crib mattress into. you know, the kind some smart person made up just for moms like me who are not willing to realize that their baby is really not a baby anymore, but if i don't actually put him in a regular size bed, i can pretend just a little bit longer...yep, you know the kind of bed i'm talking about... my etsy business has taken off beyond anything i ever imagined... the kids have had triumphs and failures in school and in life, but all for a greater purpose and with lessons learned.

there have been trials {raising 2 teenage girls has it's ups and downs} and there have been blessings... and trials WITH blessings! there has also been an abundance of joy. i am looking forward to this new year with excitement, wonder and a little bit of anxiety, to be honest...i can't wait to see what GOD has in store for me and my family. i am ready to take on whatever comes my way with an open heart and mind and to, most of all,

"find joy in the trials AND blessings of life!"

thank you so much for hanging in there with me and my random posts, regular posts, late posts, no posts....let's just say, erratic posting habits! i hope this year brings me a plethora {he, he, i like that word} of inspiration that i can pass on to you through my blog.

*** random picture of my mama and my "little sis". just brings a giggle, so i thought i'd share!*** 

have a Sparklie, Happy New Year and God Bless!!

~r

~my favorite time of year~

catching....

snowflakes....

on my tongue....

   simple joys of childhood....

it always amazes me how God's timing is so perfect. the holidays come at just the right time to satisfy my cravings to bake, re-decorate and snuggle by the fire. every year, around october, i start to settle in and prepare for the chilly weather to come. my internal "clock" starts to tell me it's time for baking and cooking meals that take all day to prepare. the kids comment on how they "love this time of year because the house always smells like something yummy is cooking in the kitchen". as a family, we all gravitate to the living room and the warm fire; the girls doing homework or watching holiday specials on t.v., crocheting (not big daddy, of course!), playing games or legos with little buddy or just chatting about how our days went. it is such a wonderful time of year that God has given us. it's like His way of telling us to slow down a bit and enjoy each other and the blessings He has given.

during the past thanksgiving week, i have been very blessed  with visits from great friends, family and a wonderful step-daughter.

 

one of our traditions at thanksgiving is to make paper bag turkey! my secret to a perfect turkey...learned from my ex-mother-in-law {is that even a word?} anyway, paper bags, that's the secret!

yep, wrap that puppy up and let er' bake for a bit and voile....

the perfect turkey! no basting no nuthin' !  be sure to allow your teenage daughter to suck out all the juices for the gravy so that, you too, can have a beautiful shot like this one, of the lovely faces made while sucking said juices from the bird ;)

this year we also made our own centerpieces out of hominy cans { i made a TON of pozole for a church function a week before} we crammed 17 people into our little dining room. not too bad, huh?

 

i had some time to add new designs to my etsy shop as well, so here are a few peeks at what's in the shop:

  
 

i hope you all have a wonderful weekend and stay healthy throughout this wonderful season!

God bless :)

~r 

cool contest and a random creation by "little buddy" :)

UPDATE: LADIES!!! WHERE ARE YOUR ANSWERS!?!?! I WANT TO KNOW WHAT Y'ALL DO FOR THE HOLIDAYS :) JUST COPY AND PASTE THE QUESTIONS AND EITHER POST IT ON YOUR BLOG,  EMAIL ME OR WRITE A NOTE IN FACEBOOK.

good morning! 

i found this cool contest in my inbox this morning and i thought i'd share:

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme
TodaysMama and Provo Craft are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What 5 items are on your holiday wish list this year? well, honestly, if i could have anything and it didn't have to be for myself, i would like to open a full-time "soup kitchen" in my town with a place for kids and adults to have a hot meal anytime of day, free of charge. i would also like to build a home where i could take in special needs foster children. i'd also like to have college funds for all of my children to go to whichever school they chose, and i'd like to take the entire family to kenya to help build a school and learn about another culture.... o.k., this is a completely unrealistic list, but if the gifts had to be for me and they could be over-the-top...Tamron B003 lens, CS4, Apple computer, a European tour, a kitchen remodel, a spiffy celebrity trainer who could kick my butt into shape!
2. What is your favorite handmade gift you have received? pretty much anything my kids have ever made me, my husbands homemade cakes and cards 
3. What handmade gift have you always wanted to tackle? a complete quilt, a complete afghan, 
4. What was the best Christmas gift you received as a child? Barbie Dream House!!! and Easy-Bake Oven.
5. What items are on your kid’s wish list this year? boy= legos, spider man knee pads, spiderman scooter...girls= clothes, makeup, gift cards (who knows what they really want?!?!)
6. What is your favorite holiday food? cornbread stuffing, tamales, lace cookies
7. What will you be hand-crafting for the holidays? Christmas cards, placecards, gingerbread house/cake, cookie ornaments
8. What is your favorite holiday movie? all of the stop-motion animation movies like Rudolph and Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Elf, and the original Grinch cartoon.
9. Favorite holiday song? much too difficult to choose, but i LOVE all of the 40's and 50's recordings of classic Christmas songs the best, and that paul mccartney song about "siiimply haaaving, a wonderful Christmas time!"
10. Favorite holiday pastime? baking, crafting, baking, crafting, listening to Christmas music, baking, crafting, decorating

if you'd like to participate, click on the TodaysMama link above for details.

please leave a comment with a link to your answers as well. i love to see how different 
 all of our answers are.

**********************************************************************

on friday, little buddy made me a very special lego creation. he wanted to name it and made me write down the name. so here it is, the burrito-slicker-balinter-tekker-burner!

i am gearing up to start all of the holiday decorating, creating, generally -making -myself- crazy- with unrealistic -expectations- of- what- i- want -to- accomplish- during -the -holidays and driving my family crazy with 40's and 50's Christmas carols every waking hour!!!! ooooooh, i am soooooooo EXCITED!!!!

somewhere in the midst of all of the holiday mahem, i still need to find time to keep my etsy shop stocked and updated with new and exciting holiday designs....wish me luck ;)

sparkles and smiles to all of you!

~r

exciting news!

i have some exciting news to share! some of my work has been selected to be published in a beautiful magazine called boho, as well as a wonderful online magazine called Ready, Set, Create! i believe my work will be in this coming issue of boho and the january issue of RSC. check out their websites if you get a chance. i am so excited!!! both of these publications found me on etsy. etsy has been such a blessing. if any of you have been wanting to get your work seen, you should definitely try it!

 
 

as usual, i am running behind with my new christmas items. the new alice in wonderland designs are going to be sooooo wonderful! i can't wait to get them finished and posted. unfortunately, i have had some family issues to tend to before i can finish up. 

family is always my priority and sometimes, they need a bit more of my time ans energy than others. but i wouldn't have it any other way! even through all of the rough patches, i am so blessed to be a mama. the trials and bumps and bruises {physical and mental} of everyday life with children are sometimes scary and overwhelming, but in the end, i am stronger, my faith is stronger and our family is stronger because of them.

little buddy's crochet project of the day...

last week, i was busy finishing a beanie order and the little guy decided he wanted to "help" by making his own "power wangers singy". this is what he came up with...

 

don't let big daddy see this one!

ok, gotta go see if i can sneek in some time to finish up my alice stuff! have a great day!

~r

~saturday late giveaway winner...new etsy items...~

last week's winner was...

mandysea

she also happens to be the only one who entered! what is up with that?

so, i will not be doing a "friday giveaway" this week due to low {or no} participation :( thank you to those of you who did participate!

i have one new item up on etsy to show you and more to come next week.

you can find these personalized placecards and much more at my shop. click HERE!

it is amazing the new friends i have made from all around the world just by opening my etsy shop. i am honestly so THANKFUL for these people and the support they have given me during my first year on etsy. thank you all :)

i had to include this photo of my daughter and her team mates. they are on the "worship dance team" at our church and performed on halloween night for the harvest bash. they did awesome! they are great kids who love God and want to glorify Him through dance. {the "L" is mine } i had so much fun making the costumes for them and hunting for cheap items to use as makeshift super hero outfits.
red t-shirts = $4.50
pillow cases for capes = $4.50
felt sheets for letters = .34 cents each
black yoga pants = $13.00
glitter and glue from my stash = FREE!
facepaint = $5.00
watching the kids as they out performed everyone's {including their own} expectations = PRICELESS!

 something else priceless? this photo of little buddy "helping" big daddy shave. seriously, it's the little things!

well, gotta go for now..i've got many, many new designs to finish and get posted for the holidays and many orders to finish as well! 

have a bright, sparkley, blessing filled weekend!!!

~r

simple things...

i love watching elijah as he learns new things everyday. the other day he told me that a stop sign is an octagon and that it has 8 sides! it is so awesome to see and hear the things that he learns just from being involved in our everyday activities. it also keeps me very aware of my actions and things that i say... last week he learned how to change the break pads on grampa's car!

 

*overheard while taking pictures*

"grampa, out of my way...i have to screw!"

the weather has been a teensy weensy bit cooler lately, so we went to the park to feed the ducks...

another lesson learned:

don't tease the ducks or they will take your finger along with the bread!

i'm going to take a half-day off and finish up the "spring break" album that i started a few weeks ago....i had said that i would have pictures up " tomorrow or the next day". that was like 3 weeks ago! you know how the Bible says that to God, a thousand years is but a day...well, to roberta, a day seems to mean a few weeks! i know, bad comparison...ok, gotta run!

have a most sparkly and fantastic day!

~r

so thankful for the opportunity to have a day like this...

my friend ian ~amazingly, talented photographer and kind soul~ posted a blog recently that i just had to share... please read both of these posts and you will understand what i mean later in my post.

ian ruhter-downtown l.a. project #9

ian ruhter-downtown l.a. project #11

it really makes me thankful for having the opportunity to have such a busy life, to have clothes to wash, dinner to cook, television to turn on for my sick child to watch while he rests, an oven to bake my friends cake in, books to read, a HOUSE to feel safe and comfortable in, a husband to make lunches for because he has a job to go to, a computer to write this blog from and to promote my business, bathrooms to clean, beds to make, a car to drive my kids to dance class in, a kitchen to cook dinner in,  beds to tuck my kids into at night

that being said, i am sooo thankful for my busy, busy life...this is what my day looked like...

bake princess cake for friend's daughter...

decorate tomorrow...

time out for a "mr. frog" break...

look at those eyes!

sick boy...

he'll be better tomorow..i hope...

got about 500 tags and bags dyed and dried, ready to finish...

should have most of them finished by tomorrow evening...

laundry, laundry, laundry...

did i say laundry?

~mac and cheese break~

back to creating...

still to go before bed:

1. k to dance class

2. dinner

3. laundry

4. give e a bath

5. dishes

6. bedtime stories with e (one of my favorite times of the day!)

7. Bible time with jimmie

8. sleep....

i think today was a pretty productive day!

i thank God for all of the comforts and "stuff" that we have, that so many here in our own country do not... i am trying hard not to take anything for granted...

 have an extra sparkly and happy evening!

~r

yay! i am featured in a treasury on etsy :O

i am so challenged when it comes to all this html, coding, blah, blah, so i couldn't get the picture any bigger, but go check out this link to the tic toc treasury right here. my tags are toward the bottom on the right. and thanks to the inspiration of my sparkly friend, kandee the make-up artist, i will be working on a yummy, pink, sparkly cake video! i am such a copy-cat!

new tags coming soon, i got all of my images, now just waiting for my super cool scissors to finish them off.

speaking of scissors, i NEED these for my bushy brows!

definitely on my wish list :D

and that, my friends, was my random thought for the day...

have a great day and take some time to listen to some good ol' cheezy pop music! it'll put some pep in your step and a smile on your face....and probably give someone else a much needed giggle too!

hug, hug, smooch ;)

~r

batman has an obsession with moon boots!

WARNING: IF YOU'RE JUST HERE FOR THE CREATIVE STUFF, SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OR YOU WILL BE BORED TO TEARS!

yes, it's true...batman/spiderman/peter parker, has an obsession with moon boots. he has been wearing them for 3 days straight and i am scared that this may continue for awhile.

today is the first day of school for my girls! my baby girl brittany is at her very first day of high school, yikes! i couldn't help myself and subjected my poor teenage daughters to the grueling task of "1st day of school" pictures...

 

and then, just to prove i have a serious problem, i had to snap this one undercover from the truck after i dropped them off at the bus stop...

and, i can't forget, my youngest daughter got baptised yesterday in lake tahoe...

ok, enough of my kids...or maybe not...

the girls and i drove to L.A. last week and, of course, half the fun is getting there...we encountered 2 herds of elk on our journey... if you look closely, you can see a big buck leaping over the fence...

i then conveniently got us lost in the barrio, somewhere near hollywood...

...and ended up at the "great wall of los angeles", for real, i am not joking....

...but the girls wouldn't let me get out to take pictures...totally bummed :(...

before finally making it back to camarillo where we stayed with my awesome friend, nicole and her family.

 our beach day at carpinteria was a bit chilly, but i was at the ocean and that makes me HAPPY! 

we did the tourist thing and walked down hollywood blvd. something i probably will NEVER do again, but i am glad i did it once. we got to look at the ground at the stars and foot prints, while walking forever in excruciatingly hot and humid weather, all the while toting our cranky boys and better- behaved- than- i- expected girls around and dodging rude tourists and even ruder tour hustlers shoving pamphlets in our face.  seriously, i really did have fun though!

my girls in front of marilyn and janes foot and hand prints from gentlemen prefer blondes...

brittany was content after being able to see MJ's star...

and mr. E.J.O. representing la raza...

and then we were off to simi valley for my sister-in-laws wedding...

i did the flowers and helped decorate. britt helped decorate the tables and kalie had elijah duty for the weekend...

the kids were all in the wedding as well, but i failed to get any good pictures of elijah in his tux...he was too busy having tantrums to allow for it...

after we got back, i was so excited to have my friend come and visit from seattle. we went to russia together as teenagers and have been friends ever since...

here is us then... (she is in the front and i am on the right, 1990)

and now...

now for my creative endeavor for the month; just before i left to L.A., i did a really fun wedding cake. i posted pics of the prep for it, but here is the final product...

the "sand" is made of super-fine sugar, everything else is gum-paste or royal icing...

i decided to write their names in the "sand" at the last minute...

well, that's about it for now. i've got some projects started, as usual, and i'll be posting what i get done this week. i also will be adding more to etsy, so check it out when you get a chance.

have a great day!

~r

more photos....

just some more photos of summer......and some new rings for etsy. i have not posted all of them yet, but if you are interested, just send me a message or email and let me know which one you would like. i will be sure to save it for you!

more rings will be posted tomorrow :)

i love my yard, so sorry if i bore you with the pictures...i just can't help myself!

I will give thanks to Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Wonderful are Thy works,

And my soul knows it very well.

Psalm 139:14

sleep well....

~r