Hello friends! Yes, I'm still around! It's just that between all that I'm trying to do something had to give, and it was my blog! My intention is to post occasionally, so here I am! So much going on, but one of my favorite activies is to.... BE GRANDMA HEIDI!

Summer in Oregon begins, oh, say....around August 1 and ends...oh...say about September 1. Just kidding! But summer on the southwestern coast of Oregon DOES get off to a slow start! I had the grandkids here for a few hours yesterday and though I wanted to have them slide down the slip-&-slide like this time last year...

(last year)

..it was chilly out so I built a little fire in our outdoor fire pit and had them roast marshmallows.

Mark made this heavy metal fire pit for me last year. He cut and welded all the pieces, making it the exact height I asked for, welding on "legs, then painting it black. I think he used 1/2" metal, because this fire pit is h*e*a*v*y--luckily my brother was here the day Mark moved it out of the shop!

(last year)

Ellie's marshmallows immediately caught fire...

But she ate them anyway! She had melted marshmallow all in her hair and on her clothes, but I knew I was sending them home soon...that's how Grandmas are, you know!

Claira just sat in a chair watching...and eating...it wasn't necessary to toast her's!

John Mark ever so patiently barely toasted his, he was so careful to NOT have any charred marshmallow.

We also played around with the sidewalk chalk:

 So what else?  I continue to spend moments on Pinterest (while on HOLD on the phone, as I'm working! I can PIN a LOT while on hold!!! LOL)...

        Here's just a sampling of a few Pins I actually did:

(filled strawberries...a sweeten creamcheese filling!)

(banana white chocolate chip biscotti -- these are SO GOOD!)

(homemade Ritz crackers... again SO good!)

Time to get some work done! 

Thanks for visiting and blessings to you!

   ~Heidi





No Rhyme or Reason--Review of the Season!

Just some photo reviews of the past month or two!   Life was moving at a fast pace-->
Grandchildren; cookies; Thanksgiving; gratitude; family; friends; Bible; outdoor adventures; food; chocolate; meals; gifts; creating; painting; cutting and pasting (my favorite!); photography; warm fires in the wood stove; gingerbread house making party; and SO MUCH MORE!

Mark has been cutting little wood crafts for the children's church. 

These were wood star ornaments the kids decorated with a verse and  glitter.

Mark and I spent many evenings trying to photograph the moon.  It was a ton of fun wandering out in the dark nights!  This is what the front of our home looked like dressed in the Christmas lights Mark put out.  He loves doing this, and I so enjoy the lights. 

My cookie angel watching over the making of Russian Tea Cakes.

She (my cookie angel) reminded me to roll the cookies in powdered sugar!  I made so many cookies this year, for various events, etc.  I loved and sampled every single one.  I need to run...I slacked on that durring the freeze, and need to not let this rain stop me now!

The Christmas dish is from a set my mother-in-law gave me the first year we were marred (31 years ago this year!  I'm always on the lookout for these at the thrift stores, to increase my set from a set for 4 to a set for 10 or 12, to fit our family now!  I have found 3 plates so far, and a few bowls!)

For the last two years I've held a Gingerbread House Decorating party here at our home.  I invite our grandchildren, of course!, and other children with their moms.  This year our daughter, Melissa, did the same at her house with friends and family from her town.  I went over early to help her finish up her assembly of 21 houses!  Can you imagine how much work she put into making that many gingerbread houses from scratch?  It's a labor of love.   The photo above are a collection of just some of the houses they decorated.  I held my party here the next week.  I'll post photos of that soon.

Melissa and I, after the gingerbread decorating party.  The moms/children bring all the candy, sharing everything they bring.  Melissa made all the frosting tubes for them to use to attach and decorate the gingerbread houses.  She made all the houses with a pattern I drew out a few years ago.

I have a real estate salesperson friend who, every time she closes on a home sale, orders a custom sign for her client!  How cool is that?  The date of the "est." is the date of the home closing.  This is just one of the many signs I've painted.

Guess that's enough photos for this round...more soon,  hope!

May you have 2012 reasons this year to be thankful!

Hugs, Heidi

Another Really Good Cookie and Another Really Fun Sign

"Another really good cookie" means trouble here.  It means Mark and I can't stop eating them!  I do love to share cookies, but sometimes I'm not fast enough to get them out of the house.  A couple days ago I made the "Spiced Apple Cookie", which I found via Pinterest.  I loved them. 

Then Mark said, could you make an Oatmeal Raisin Cookie but replace the raisins with diced apples? Sure can!

Here's the cookie recipe. I don't give instructions on how to actually "mix the ingredients", such as the order, you can follow any cookie recipe or just start mixing as the ingredients are listed:

HEIDI'S SPICED APPLE OATMEAL COOKIE
1 cup butter (2 cubes)
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla flavoring (or extract)
2 large eggs
2 cups quick cook oatmeal (uncooked)
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup diced apples (peeled, cored first)
*if desired: 1 cup chopped walnuts

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.   Mix the ingredients as a cookie dough.  Drop by rounded tablespoons, spacing evenly.   (On Silpat matt, or greased cookie sheet.)  Bake for 10-13 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool cookies,  then enjoy!

I use a Silpat baking matt--you must get!  I have four, so I can make lots of cookies quickly, if I need to.  Also, when I make gingerbread houses for a Gingerbread House Making Party here, the Silpat matts make the baking so much easier.  I bought mine at our local Fred Meyer store, when they had a BOGOF (buy one get one free) sale.  You can find them online as well, such as here at Amazon.

We've working on making rustic layered board signs.  Here's a couple examples. 

"GRATITUDE:  turns what we have into enough."

"House Rules: 1. Be KIND 2. Always follow rule #1."

These are listed in my Etsy shop here (GRATITUDE) and here (House Rules).

Today I'm going to make and can applesauce and apple butter. I'm still all about apples right now!

Don't forget to change your clocks tomorrow night:  Fall Back! 

Have a blessed weekend,
      Hugs, Heidi

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(Linked to Blissful and Domestic Feature Friday Link Up Party here,  Cindy's Romantic Home Show and Tell Friday here, Whipperberry Friday Link Party here, Simply Sweet Home Friday link party here, and Nifty Thrifty Sunday here.)

C-ing things: Claira, Cranberry COOKIES, Cheeseburgers & Chalkboards

In my cake picture (in my last post) I see my photograph of Ellie, Claira and I was when Claira was in the middle of a outfit change!  I wanted you to see her in her pretty party clothes.  Here she is (held by Jessica):

Notice the cookies she's reaching for, which we didn't let her have!  These are such yummy cookies, I'll share my recipe with you.  When I made these, or regular chocolate chip cookies, I can't eat more than 3 even if I want to.  If I do, I wake up with a bad headache, from the sugar I guess.  Does that happen to any of you?  

Here's the recipe:

Heidi’s Cranberry Oatmeal White Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup butter -- softened
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs -- beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups quick cooking oat meal
1 cup craisins
1 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375°. Blend together butter, sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Mix in 2 beaten eggs. Gradually add all remaining ingredients. Drop by rounded teaspoon 2" apart on to ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.   Makes about 5 dozen cookies.
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Our two girls planned the party, Melissa was in charge of grilling the cheeseburgers:
  They were so good, in fact, so good I ate two!  And I never eat more than one! Jessica made sweet potato oven french fries, and there was a macaroni salad.  (Check out Allrecipes.com for sweet potato french fries.)

A few more things to say about chalkboards:  Did you know you can make your own chalkboard paint?  Neither did I until recently.  One of my daily stops if CresendoH, and today one of the blogs Jenny Doh pointed out was  The Idea Room Blog, which pointed me to Martha Stewarts craft website which told how to make homemade chalkboard paint! (Did you follow all that?)

Looks simple to me, watch for what I come up with!  You know I love painting chalkboards, walls, tables, frames, menu boards, and anything that doesn't move!  Here's a set I hung on our guest room wall:

(Still one more to add, I like sets of 3 or 5 better!)

Blessings, Heidi

(Linked to Today's Creative Blog's "Get Your Craft On",  Sugar & Dot's "What I Whipped Up Wednesday, and Someday Craf's Whatever Goes Wednesday",