Happy Halloween

We carved pumpkins today, we let Maddy decide what she wanted on hers. She chose Minnie Mouse, it only took mom 2 hours to make it happen. We also chose the letter "M" for the McCord family.

Pictures of our little Trick or Treater to follow soon!



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Pumpkin Patch 2011

Fun, fun, fun!!! Can't wait to carve our pumpkins on Sunday!




































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Ready, Set, GOOOO!!!!!

You can see the original Pinterest Challenge here!

Allison and I both have a "healthy" addiction to Pinterest, but lets be real, you couldn't really make everything you "pin".  I mean that would be way more then a full time job!  So when we saw the opportunity to participate in the Pinterest Challenge, we figured what better way to motivate us to do something from our pin boards.

BUT...we want you to participate too!!!!  So we are asking our fellow DIY'ers to get your thinking caps on and creative juices flowing.  Here's the plan, pick an inspiration from Pinterest and re-create it with your own twist.  Then, next Wednesday the 2nd we will have a show & tell party here and here.  Just hop on over to YHL & Bower Power and share your love!

Allison and I are both on our way to Michaels today to pick up our goodies. We can't wait to see what everyone comes up with on the 2nd!

~SCS~


*We are not sponsored by Michaels and do not receive benefits from mentioning them in this post.*

A Bridal Shower Success Story

So it seems that lately my life has been consumed with weddings, bridal showers and baby showers (which I can't say I'm upset about being an event planner and all). Just last week myself and a co worker of mine hosted a cooking themed shower for our co worker who is getting married next month.  We hosted a cooking class where all of the guests were taught how to make their own pizza dough and then got to create their own pizzas.  The shower was a huge hit, especially for the Bride-to-Be who is quite the foodie!



The favor that we created to give to all of the guests was a wooden spoon with a packet of spice. They were really easy to put together and we felt that it was something that peeople would actually use.  We "spiced" it up a bit and put a cute tag on it with the ingredients listed as well (just incase anyone was allergic). 



Our spice of choice was Paula Deen's House Seasoning (a personal favorite of mine).

This is definitely an idea I would use again and hope that you may tuck the idea away for that next bridal shower you get to host!

 ~SCS

Pumpkin...YUM!

I LOVE anything pumpkin, which is part of the reason fall is my favorite time of year. Seriously, you could put pumpkin on about anything and I will eat it. I LOVE IT!   So, when I saw a recipe the other day for Pumpkin Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls, I knew I would be making them in the near future.  I did alter the recipe a bit to make it my own and highlight the fall flavors.

I decided to make them this week and try them out on my co-workers, they were a hit!  Here is my recipe breakdown:

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Rolls

2 cans Pillsbury Crescent Rolls

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Unroll crescent rolls leaving them in the 4 rectangles, you will then pinch the pre-cut seams together to keep the rolls in the rectangle from.  Place the cream cheese, brown sugar, pumpkin, and spice together in mixer, beat until well combined.  Spread mixture over crescents, leave a  small border around the edges. Starting at the long end, roll up and cut into 1 inch pieces. Place in pan that is sprayed with cooking spray.

2. Bake for 25-28 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove and let cool for 5-10 minutes.  Frost the rolls when they are still warm to touch with the recipe below.

Frosting

4 oz cream cheese

3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon pumpkin

1. Mix all ingredients together until smooth, spread over warm rolls.

Sorry for the bad pictures, I took all of these with my phone and it was night time.

Pinch the seams together so you have one rectangle,
 you should end up with 4 of these

Golden brown, let cool for a few mins before icing

Yummy goodness!!

So, what is your favorite fall, comfort food?

ENJOY!

~SCS~

Wall Gallery

I finally get to start my Wall Gallery!! This is a huge accomplishment for the Sparks household. Let me give you a little bit of background on the living room, you see my husband is a hunter and my living room looked a little bit (a lot) like a hunting lodge, and we're not talking like Bass Pro Shop hunting lodge, we're talking 3 guys-used-to-live -here bachelor pad hunting lodge. So it took a little bit of persuasion and batting of the eyes to get the deer heads off of the walls (I spared you from the before pictures) in the living room.


Here is the look I am hoping for but maybe with a little bit more color.

Pinterest

Below is the start of my gallery,  it's a SLOW start but atleast it's a start.  I am contstantly looking for things to add and will hang stuff as I find it.  For right now I have the lyrics to a song that was played at our wedding, the number 13 which is the day we were married and the letter "S" for our last name. The thing I love about the wall gallery is you can change out the items in the frames and get a whole new look anytime you want! I really didn't measure things out or do anything technical, I just hung the stuff up how I thought it looked best and will continue to add to it. (I'll keep you updated as I add stuff).


At least it's a start!

**UPDATE** Below is the picture I promised of the silverware art I did for our living room, I'm pretty pleased with the turnout.





Finished and framed silverware art!



First Bee Sting

Madelyn had the horrible experience of her 1st bee sting last week.

It was scary for mom and dad as we realized she had sat on a brick landscape paver that had a nest under it. Almost immediately they were swarming her, luckily Adam stayed calm and called her over to him. I feel fortunate that she only got one sting.

It wasn't long after the sting that she was back to normal and giving me this face, you can see where the bee got her cheek.



Needless to say, we no longer have a bees nest. Daddy took care of that!

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