Meaningful Monday

Right now I am really enjoying blogging and it's been working out that I can post fairly frequently, but that's not always the case. I'd like to start a new standard weekly post- Meaningful Mondays- that will at least be something to plan on even when I can't do any more! Each Monday I'll post something that has caused me to think or that I've picked up on or enjoyed recently.

I've always loved quotes and this past week or so I picked up these ones from the movies we watched with friends or that I turned on for Cooper.

No, they can't get any cuter... and yes, his hair is green :)

So, will anyone join me? What has been meaningful to you lately? Leave me a quick comment or a link if you like :) And have a meaningful Monday...



Ruffles!

I live in a boy's world.. and do love it! Heavenly Father absolutely knew what He was doing in sending me boys! But, I am  a girl! So I'm drawn to girly types of ideas, with no one to make them for or try them on! That's where my little neices come in- I love making them ruffly, flowery things when I get the chance.

Isn't this little apron so stinkin' cute!?! I followed this tutorial from Skip to My Lou to sew it for Quincy for Valentines Day :) My ruffle edge is far from perfect, obviously... but at least I didn't get too far and realize it should be sewed to the inside or something! ;)  I liked that this was one she'd probably be able to put on by herself since it velcros on one side!
And Coop was super thrilled to be my model for a pic... boy's world, remember? ;)

And speaking of ruffles- I LOVE this headband I made just before we left for Utah last week! I had read through this tutorial from Homestitched a while back and was able to put this together without even having to re-visit the instrictions! Will absolutely be making more of these... very comfortable and cute!

Warmth for a Snowy Evening

First off, just because I can't resist...

And second, I thought I might share a recipe. Haven't put one on here in awhile. Right now it's snowing beautifully outside and this seems like something that makes me think of warmth... would be a yummy treat for a blustery weekend!

Buttery Corn Bread

2/3 cup butter or marg, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 2/3 cups milk
2 1/3 cups flour
1 cup cornmeal
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Cream butter and sugar in a mixing bowl.
Combine eggs and milk in seperate bowl.
Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt in another bowl; add alternately to creamed mixture with egg mixture.
Pour into 9x13 greased pan. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes. Serve warm with honey butter- YUM!

Sky Trials and the News

 This last weekend we loaded up and traveled south for Stephen to compete in the Utah Sky Trials. Falconers bring their birds to see whose flies the highest. It's actually a fun time that we get to see friends we don't usually see any other time of the year. It was pretty exciting to hope Stephen's bird, Chloe, flew well!

Ryder was so happy to be outside so much, even though it was quite cold! 

Walking out with Taron to compete. Cooper and Ryder both starting toddling right behind them, just like they do when we go flying with Stephen here at home. Stephen could only have one person out with him and they just couldn't understand why they couldn't go too!

Ended up being a fun trip- Chloe did really well, though not in the top three. Lots of birds didn't fly at all so his was great! He actually had someone walk directly up to him just after the flight and ask him if she was for sale! :) We are proud of you, Stephen! Your first place with us ;) Not too many more flights and the birds will be done flying for the season- and that's another day to cheer for in my book!

And in other news.... As soon as we got home, I turned around and did my first interview and article as a news correspondent for our local newpaper, the Times News! I'm now writing from home when the paper has stories that they can't cover with staff reporters. About the most ideal job ever for me right now! I admit it was pretty fun to see my first story on the front page yesterday...

Fun Awards

I was excited last week when I received thes fun blog awards from the talented Tim at La-de-la-de-da! It was fun to scroll through her blog and the other blogs she chose for the awards too!

Here's how the awards works:

Thank and link back to the person(s) who bestowed the awards

Share 7 random things about yourself

Nominate 15 other awesome bloggers

Contact those bloggers and inform them about the award

So here's seven random things about me:

1) If I could have a genie grant me even just one wish, without a doubt I would wish that I no longer required sleep!
2) I have Type One diabetes and have had for 23 years now
3) Sonic Happy Hour makes me happy! My current favs: Cranberry vanilla Coke Zero or Lime Slush with Grape :)
4) Confession: I actually don't care for honey. Or cream soda.
5) If I had to choose just one item out of my makeup bag to grab and go, it would be mascara.
6) I'm quite sure I'll go to my grave with long hair.
7) I love fonts! Favs right now: Susie's Hand, Cicle, MA Sexy, Romance Fatal Serif, Orial... and so it goes!


And 15 awesome blogs I'm passing this award on to:
 
1) I've just smiled and enjoyed whenever I visit Heather at Dragonfly Designs

2) Lettie, Nicole and Rachel at Heaps of Laundry- Love their blog description in the sidebar
3) I just get pulled in by Kyla at Funky Polkadot Giraffe!
4) Love the personality and realism of Mariesa at Ten Cow Chick 
5) B-E-A-U-tiful ideas for Relief Society or Primary by Jenn at Ambrosia Girl
6) Helena- really great photography and warmth at Life on Jefferson Lane
7) Fellow boy Mom, Heather, at Mommy's Little Helper
8) Yummy recipes and organization from Jo at Frosted Happy Cupcakes!
9) Wow! I am in awe of 365 Days in the Life by Rachel at Idaho Cheneys
10) Ideas galore from Becca at Naptime Journal
11) Some of my fav tutorials have come from Skip to My Lou
12) AWESOME digital kits from Summer at Summertime Designs- I LOVE this site!
13) My Montessori Journey- simply a GREAT place for kids ideas
14) I totally enjoy Anna's blog A Million Little Things
15) And I never fail to be inspired by Alison at Oopsey Daisy
 
Phew! There you have it... I hope these bloggers know they are appreciated and enjoyed! And thanks again Tim! Have a great day all :)

Why It Was Fantastic

Before it's old news, I thought I'd share a peek into what made our Valentines Day so "fantastic" (according to Cooper)!

Stephen got "showered with love" Valentines morning! I cut hearts out of newsprint and wrote on each one a special note or compliment. Then strung them down several strands of raffia and attached them to our showerhead.

I was feeling bad the night before that I had nothing for him and remembered how the first Valentines Day we were married I decorated his truck with similar heart notes. It was time to re-visit the concept since our life has been added to and changed quite a lot since then! Every now and then I actually do have an original idea. ;)

You know what- this guy still makes me happy! I LOVE YOU, Stephen! 

Cooper and Ryder woke up Valentines morning to these fun little knapsacks! I had so much fun sewing them and think they turned out adorable! I followed this tutorial. Coop got some brush paints inside his and Ryder got a big, fun balloon- how I appreciate their simple desires!

I totally love making things for my boys no matter what, but I have to admit it does me good when they actually like what I make! So this...

 

 ... puts a big 'ole smile on this Mommy's face! :) And Ryder... well, I didn't expect him to like his too much. :) Look at that happy face- gosh I am a BLESSED Mom! Melts my heart- he is mine!

We didn't get to see Taron and Keaton Valentines Day, but gave them their treats last weekend. These were the toppers for their goodie bags!

Certainly the favorite part of the day was getting not one but TWO packages in the mail from Grandparents, both Grammie Colleen and Gpa Dale, and Great Gma and Gpa Waddoups. I have no doubt that my love for Valentines comes from my Grandma Karen. We are BLESSED to still have this amazing, thoughtful lady in our lives and I pray my boys can fathom how special it really is to get a package from her! Candy bracelets, Reese's hearts, vibrating ladybugs, and more- fantastic indeed.

 THANK YOU to my parents and Grandparents for adding so much to their day! They LOVE you and know that you love them!

Then we spent the day making, decorating and delivering cupcakes to our friends, neighbors and Kevin the postmaster. :)

I noticed as I scrolled down through facebook posts earlier today how so many people actually dislike Valentines and complained of how commercial it is. Made me sad for them. Yes, I love these same people everyday, but I enjoy a special time that gives me reason to share that even more. Also made me grateful that I got a crafty streak from my Mom (and Dad too ;), that I enjoy making things to show my love. I am so grateful for the simple goodness of our life and the awesome, selfless people who make it that way!

What's In a Name?

In case it's not blaringly obvious enough ;) just thought I'd say that I've changed the name of our blog! The address and everything else is the same, just the title you see when you first get here will be different. Capital B... Buffat Family, Boys, Blessed. Just adding some personality :)

And could you die over the pic of Coop and Ry looking into the mixer... a new fav :)

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day from the Buffat Family! If your day is off to the same kind of start as ours, then it's "fantastic!" Cooper was eating breakfast just a bit ago and said happily, "This is a fantastic morning!" Indeed... :) I'm excited to share some of what has made our morning and day so fun later this week!

For now, here's a few of the fun suprises Cooper and Ryder have been finding in thier mailboxes over the past couple of weeks...

 And yes, I know, I am the best paper airplane folder ever! ;)

 Fun shaving cream coloring- a neat novelty if nothing else! Shaving cream is one of my favorite entertainment tools right now. :)

Cooper and Ryder colored some homemade hearts and put them in a bag with a few almond kisses for their Dad this morning. I made this cute graphic for the topper!  He is loved :). And so are they!

Happy Valentines Day to anyone reading! (That's the last time... I promise ;)

Never Bored

One of my favorite projects we've done around here lately has been "melty crayons". I had the griddle out after making pancakes one morning and remembered this idea I had seen awhile back. So we tried it out! And LOVED the results...

I turned the griddle on quite low, but not too low (kinda had to keep adjusting slightly up and down), and put a cookie sheet right on the surface. Then I put a piece of normal printer paper on the cookie sheet. We got out Cooper's wax crayons (normal crayons would work too), peeled the wrappers off and started drawing. It worked best when we held the crayon down for a sec before starting to move it around. Using lots of colors on one sheet and smearing them together made for some neat effects! Super fun- one Cooper has asked for many times since! Perfect for our Art Gallery:

I love this thing by the way... It's a long, narrow sheet of wood, mod podged or painted, with clothespins across the bottom for hanging kids' artwork (or whatever). Coop loves having his creations displayed! If you're interested, I do have a couple left from our craft fair last fall. :)

Another fun thing has been window painting! Cooper loves to paint and loves washing the windows, so I thought this would work great for us! Ryder was able to join in as long as he wanted on this one too. See how the cat is wondering what on earth?! Get the recipe for these paints HERE.

And a parting shot: two happy little dudes... we love them!

And if you need a yummy idea for Valentine's morning breakfast... click HERE for this awesome recipe! As I was editing this pic to put it on here, Coop came up beside me and asked if I would "go make us some of those!" You think Ryder agrees? :)

Sweet Heart Treats

I've been missing my friend Monica! Not too long ago she made the awesome decision to homeschool her boys and, while it was the best decision ever (and I am so proud of her!), we simply can't get together or even talk as much as we used to. But if there is anything that we will make work, it is getting together to be crafty with our boys! Last week we finally had some together time and made the cutest Valentine treats EVER!...

The cool lady who thought of this idea was thinkin' indeed! Awhile back Stephen happened upon this ginormous Christmas clearance sale and bought up about 100 boxes of fruity candy canes for 19cents each... (not really but you get the idea...) sooooo, I remembered this fun idea and broke off the ends to try it out! As far as taste goes, these are what they are, but they sure win when it comes to cute! Coop loved sharing with Taron and Keaton when they were here last weekend!

Aren't these lovely?! And I must admit, I could eat about ten of them in a day! They are really yummy! Made famous by Bakerella and adorable by us! The boys' favorite part of the whole afternoon was mushing up the cake and frosting mixture, then making cool shapes and hearts to dip. Really we made the hearts while they crafted rockets, blobs, SpongeBob, snakes, etc. :) Gosh, we love having boys! Anyhow, if you haven't ever made cake pops, you really must! ;) Happy Valentines all!