Monday, January 31, 2011

Snow Buddy

The minute I heard that Pix-O-Sphere was having an animal photo contest, I knew immediately which photo I was going to enter.

Snow Buddy by kristink, on Pix-O-Sphere

It's perfect, is it not?

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Sunday, January 30, 2011

Rainbow Cupcakes

We had Luke's 7th birthday celebration with his friends yesterday. There are only so many places we can have a fun birthday party in the middle of winter. So, we splurged and took him and ten of his friends to an indoor water park. They had a blast!

Last week, when we were talking about birthday cakes, he said he wanted rainbow cupcakes. I can do that! When I mentioned that I was going to make them, I had a lot of people asking how. So, without further ado, here's how.

You need: a white cake mix (or make your own if you're adventurous), any type of frosting (Luke chose white with funfetti sprinkles), food coloring, one bowl for each color you're going to make. Or course, you'll need a mixing bowl, several spoons, a cupcake tin, cupcake liners, and whatever else you need to make any kind of cupcake, too.

First, mix the cake as directed on the box. I like to use a whisk to mix because it breaks up all of the clumpies easier. (Side note: I use a whisk to mix everything... cake mixes, sauces, and even to mix my flour, salt, & baking powder for not-boxed things. Love my whisks!)

Next, divide up the cake batter into as many bowls as colors you want in your cake. I used six colors- red, orange, yellow, green, blue & purple. If I had thought about it before separating, I would have added turquoise to the mix, since it's Luke's favorite color.

Mix in the food coloring to desired brightness. (The yellow was NOT my desired brightness... however, that's how it turned out. So be it. It was a nasty, nasty yellow, though. Think Spongebob.)

Take a spoon and spoon one color at a time into a lined cupcake tin. The amount of each spoonful is dependent on how many colors you have. You will still want to have your liner about 2/3 of the way full when it's all said and done.

Once each cupcake tin is filled, I "stomp" it on the counter a bit to get out all of the air bubbles. I don't know if it's necessary, but it's kind of fun.

Bake according to the directions on the box.

Let cool completely before frosting.

Decorate to your liking. As noted above, we opted for white frosting & funfetti sprinkles. I think it was a nice touch. Good choice, Luke!

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Friday, January 28, 2011

Show & tell time.

Oh my word! My designers have been CRAZY busy this week! They kept me on my toes, but check out all of the yummies that release tomorrow at Sweet Shoppe Designs!

Live in the Moment
Credits: Be Blessed by Libby Pritchett


Key to Change
Credits: Glass Half Full by Meghan Mullens & Eva Kipler


Adorable You
Credits: 12 Months: Mega Kit by Penny Springmann


I love you.
Credits: Love Letters by Heather Roselli

Up North, Down South
Credits: 12 Months: January by Penny Springmann & 12 Months: January Templates by Penny Springmann

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Thursday, January 27, 2011

Check out my new look!

So do you like it? I won a giveaway at Tucker's Take Tennessee a week or two ago from Little Bitty Design Studio. Tracey rocked it. I said mod, gray & yellow & simple. This is what I got. It's like she read my mind. Isn't it fabulous? I love changing my blog up... it's kind of like spring cleaning. And I am so ready for spring. Like so ready.

And since I'm here, I might as well update you on my goal progression.

Be a healthier me.
I've lost a total of 7.5 pounds as of last Saturday. It's getting a million times easier to eat within my calorie range... actually it's hard- hard to get to my bottom range number!! I'm never that hungry anymore! I try to get the gym every night but Wednesday & Sunday. Last week was major fail, though- I skipped Wednesday through Sunday. It was such a busy week! I still managed to lose 3.5 pounds, though!

Be encouraging.
Big. Fat. Fail. This one is probably the trickiest goal of all for me. I'm not an encouraging person. That sounds really bad. But words are definitely NOT my love language. They may even be below physical touch, which is low. So I struggle to compliment & encourage people... probably because I hate it when people compliment & encourage me. I never know what to say. How bad is that? So I guess I need to make this a way bigger priority.

Live frugally.
Except for the birthday things I have purchased for Luke, I've been doing well. I still have $100 of my Christmas money, too... which I want to save for that one special thing. I don't know what that is yet, but I know it's out there. Somewhere.

Mmmm kay... what else? Oh right. Random ramblings.

Luke's 7th birthday is coming up. Gosh, seven? Really? Anyway, we're having his "friend" party at Splash Universe, an indoor water park about 30 minutes away. He is stoked. Things like this stress me out. I hate paying for spots that may or may not be filled by people who haven't RSVP'd. Fortunately, we over-invited by two. So all but one spot is filled. Whew! Oh and Luke wants rainbow cupcakes. I'll post pictures when they're done.

We ordered Dutch Maid cookies for Luke's school birthday celebration. They are ADORABLE. Little doggie faces. He had to get dog napkins to go along with them. He's celebrating at school on Tuesday, his actual birthday. That night we'll celebrate as a little family. We'll let him choose where we eat & then have a little cake of some kind. Or leftover rainbow cupcakes. And then he gets to open his presents, which I'm uber excited about.

He'll celebrate with his grandparents, great grandparents, cousins & aunt/uncle the following Sunday after church. He opted for Spongebob decor and a from-scratch Lemonade Layer Cake made by yours truly. I cannot wait for that cake.

We'll hopefully get to celebrate with his other grandparents in Ohio over Presidents' Day weekend. I'm still waiting for the Mister to see if he can take that Monday off. What company takes MLK, Jr. Day off but not Presidents' Day? So odd.

It's almost Friday!!!!
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Saturday, January 8, 2011

Weekend Update

Well, today is Day One of the family weight-loss challenge. Woooooooo-doggy am I hungry today! Saturday is not a good day to start. If it were a weekday, at least I'd have school to distract me. But here I sit with my bag of baby carrots (heh, heh... the ingredients are actually listed on the outside of the bag. It says, "Ingredients: Carrots") & 3rd refill on my 24-oz water bottle. I think I'm going to float away.

So my goals... how'm I doin'?

Be a healthier me.
1. I weighed in today. I gained 15 of the 40 pounds I lost last year at this time. I'm glad I'm jumping back on the wagon right now. Better late than never, no?

2. As dinner cooks, I'm still a good 700 calories below my range. And dinner smells soooooooo good right now.

3. I went to the gym this morning. They got four new elliptical machines. They are fancy-schmancy. (Note to self: Find those headphones! That was a looooong 30 minutes without them!)

Be encouraging.
This one has been EXTREMELY hard for me lately. I try. I really do. But I feel like I'm on a team by myself this week. It was hard to be encouraging. Oh and I was sick.

Live frugally.
I didn't spend much money at all this week, except for groceries. And I spent a lot on groceries. It's expensive to eat healthy! That said, I didn't waste money. So that's good. Right?

So that's my goal update. In other news, we had a dumping of snow last night. I totally was not expecting it. Like at all. It's pretty, though, in all of its deepness. We probably got a foot here.

And now it's time to take my buffalo chicken sandwich and watch the Colts beat the Jets.

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Kristin
I'm Kristin. Married since 2002 to a super cool guy named Joel. We have a super amazing boy named Luke and a super cuddly pup named McCarthy. I'm not a very consistent blogger (at all) but I do go in spurts. I like to keep people on their edge of their seats. Ha!
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