Duck Hunting {she ain't no yuppie girl}

It's Duck Season.  Did you know that?  Well...me neither...till now!

This weekend on a whim Lance and I got a quiet afternoon to ourselves.

So what did we do?  Well.  Duck Hunting of course.

 

I swear, it's all this man thinks about right now.

Last night there might have been a minor case of the sads when he realized there is

only.5.more.weekends.left to hunt.

 

The shame.

 

Either way, last weekend I got to experience part of duck hunting, minus the 4am wake up call and the freezing temps.

I might still be a bit yuppie for that.  Momma likes her sleep.

 

And let me tell you, it's really a lot of work!

We back the Jon boat (named Peter by Easton) into the lake.

I hold the boat by the dock.  Lance parks the truck.

I don't do trucks with trailers.  It's embarassing how bad I am at that. That's a lesson for another day.

We then take a short 10 minuts boat ride to their spot.

At this point, we climb some stairs (on the side of the lake) Lance gets a dolly, removes his motor and gas tank from his boat, to put on Boat B that stays at the lake.

We walk across a small strip of land where Boat B is waiting.

We then load up Boat B, attach the motor and gas tank, and cross the flooded corn field.

 

We boated up and down this stream (channel, canal, river???) Lance showed me a few other blinds on the lake and we tried to find some ducks...

 

Their blind is a nice little set up.

It has a garage of sorts on the back to pull your boat in and camo it so they ducks don't see you.

 

That picture right there on the left is their 'blind'.

And all those ducks in the water are decoys.

Windy days are good for duck hunting...it makes the ducks appear like they're moving.

I learned a lot while on this little trip.  I'm just imparting some of my knowledge upon you.

You're welcome.

 

Then here on the right is the man bag.  It's a camo brief case of sorts.  Full of all sorts of things.

This part tickled me...toilet paper, shotgun shells, beef jerkey, pistichios, a warm hat.

You know.  The necessities. 

I hope this isn't like telling the contents of a womans purse.

Or going through your dads wallet. 

 

Anyways.  We stopped in at a popular location.

Where he'd seen some ducks hanging out before.

He checked.  I stayed in the boat.  He's got waders.  I don't. 

{I do now...he surprised me with some on Tuesday!  Roses?  Jewlery? Chocolates?  Nope.  Camo.}

 

Then we headed to his blind.

To wait and see what we'd find.

You do a lot of waiting in duck hunting.  And eating.  And resting. 

After a few minutes, he decided to see if I could shoot the shotgun.

He went first.  I wanted to watch him to see the kick back.  The force.  The noise.

It's loud!

My turn.  I'm pretty sure I might have just closed my eyes and pulled.

And I missed the coke can he'd thrown in as my target {that we also went and got once we got back in the boat...we didn't litter}.

But now that I know what to expect, I could probably hit a stationary object.

Flying duck?  Probably not. 

 

Hunting time is over at 3pm, and wouldn't you know at 3:10 we saw about 12 ducks.

Lance said they know what time it is.  When it's safe to fly freely.

Mother Nature.  She's a beautiful thing.

 

After this, we began the journey back to the dock. Jon Boat B across the flooded corn field. Remove motor. Remove gas tank. Prop boat up so it doesn't fill with water. Dolly across field. Put motor and tank on Jon Boat Peter. Back to the dock. Lance back the trailer down. I hold the boat. Load 'er up. 

 

Also, a few minor rules I learned on this trip.  Because we all know I'm a sucker for some rules:

Rule #1:  Don't LAY a gun down.  You prop it up.  Barrel Up.  If it misfires, at least it goes into the sky.

Rule #2: Always hold onto the gun in the boat.  At one point we hit something and I let the gun slip out of my hand...big no-no.

Rule #3: The person not responsible for getting the boat back on the trailer, is responsible for unloading the boat.   

 

Hunting Etiquette if you will. 

 

Would it have been my choice for a toddler-free Sunday afternoon?

Not likely.

But.  I'll do whatever it takes when it comes to being with my man.

And you know what?  It was pretty fun!  Relaxing.  So quiet and peaceful.  I kindly enjoyed myself.

 

 

DIY Freezer Paper Stenciling

I don't know what it is about December, but I have busted out some crazy crafting skills.

I have a running list on the fridge of things I want to do!

 

The other night after making the glitter deer head you're seeing all over pinterest, I had an idea to put that same deer head on a shirt.

 

A trip to Publix and Joann's and we were well on our way!

 

Supplies:

Pre Washed Shirt

Stencil of choice.  Here's mine.

Freezer Paper (I found mine at Publix)

Fabric Paint

Paint 'dobber'

Pencil

Exacto Knife

Directions:

1.  Trace silhouette onto freezer paper

2. On a hard surface (card board, old magazine, etc) use your exacto knife to cut out around pattern

{for mine, I even cut out the little white pieces in the antlers...as shown}

3. Remove silhouette from freezer paper, being very careful at the corners not to tear.

4.  Place a piece of freezer paper/wax paper/shirt board between shirt (so paint doesn't stick) and put your freezer paper SHINY SIDE DOWN onto t-shirt and iron.

5. After ironining, begin dobbing paint onto shirt. Edges are important.

Let dry and add another coat.  Glitter takes more coats than regular but it doesn't have to be solid.

6. WAIT UNTIL ITS DRY to peel off freezer paper.

I know you're going to want to peel it off and see those nice crisp lines, but I ASSURE you, you want to wait until it's dry!  And I also assure you, those lines ARE crisp!

Trust me here.  Just wait.  Unless you want to be tweezer-ing around the edges of your wet glitter deer head. 

 

Once dried, carefully remove freezer paper from shirt.

Wait 72 hours to wash.

Wash inside out.

I don't dry mine...but it's up to you!

 

And there you have it!

DIY Freezer Paper Stencil Shirt!

The possibilities are endless!

My Little Donkey

At church every year, the childrens ministry puts on a live nativity during the Christmas season. 

 

It was this weekend.  Easton was a donkey.

 

I wasn't sure how it would go.  Sometimes he's shy, sometimes he's a ham.  They were putting it on between services and we all gathered around to watch our little kiddos and pray that they would cooperate.

 

And as in true Easton form, he went right with the flow.  He wore his grey sashed drape and held his donkey face right up like he'd done this before. 

 

I am constantly amazed by him.  So many times I wonder what's going to send him in a tail spin, or make him clam up and be shy, or when he won't cooperate, but most of the times, he does what's expected of him. 

 

I'm so thankful God chose us to be his momma and daddy!

 

 

Duck Dynasty @ Bass Pro!!! {Embrace the Camera}

Last Sunday was no different from the rest.  We went to church then headed to Bass Pro to run off some steam, look at Duck Hunting gear, play on the boats and possibly get a picture with Santa...They have the best Santa and winter set up in town.  The whole right side of the store is set up for the kiddos.  Easton LOVES it.

Anyways, we pulled up and there were cars...everywhere!  I ran in and let the boys go park.  I headed to the Customer Service desk for a return and struck up conversation with the gal behind the counter.

 

'I can't believe the store is this packed!  I thought we'd be ahead of the game for Santa pictures, but this IS the best place for Santa so they've come to the right place!'

 

'Aw, thanks hun, but this ain't for Santa.  This is for Duck Dynasty.  They're here.  400 people been camped out overnight for tickets.  Tickets were gone by 9am!'

 

SAY WHAT????  Duck Dynasty at Bass Pro?  Are you kidding me!?  Well we've just died and gone to Heaven.

 

They were going to be signing their book from 12-2.  Of course, all tickets were sold out, but you can bet your biscuits we'd find away to sneak a peek of Willi and Kori!  We're huge fans!  We've been watching Duck Dyansty since before it was the cool thing to do.  We're ahead of the game like that. 

 

So, we hunkered down.  For an hour.  In the same spot.  With a 2 year old who just wanted to 'go look at the boats'.  Which is outside.

 

So, we sat.  In the Home Decor section of Bass Pro by the door where we knew {Because Lance gets the inside scoop} they'd be coming out of.  And yes...Bass Pro does sell home decor.  Curtains, rugs, shower curtains, switch plates.  All camo.  I suppose this isn't for your tricked out deer stand or duck blind either, some folks really do put this in their homes.  That's where I draw the line.  I'm all for a man in camo, or even my boy, but my home.  Nope.  Off limits.  However, when the day does come, I'll proudly hang a deer head or antlers on the wall...but THAT is really where I draw the line. 

 

Anyways.  40 minutes we waited.  And of course, I didn't have my big camera...someone who parked the truck forgot to bring it in...so grainy cell pictures will have to do. 

 

And the time finally came!  Out comes Willie and Kori!  To say we were excited is an understatment.  Of course, Lance is always calm, cool and collected, but I tend to get a little overly excited.  That's why I'm on camera duty...that way I don't act a fool. 

 

Lance got a high five right out of the gate from Willie.  Super nice guy!  And Kori, she's just as beautiful in person as she in on the show.  We didn't stick around to try to get a formal picture, but we did hear a little of his talk befor we left.  And he's just as real and kind and normal as I'd hoped. I love that they are a family of faith and they are open about it.  They are influecing so many in such a positive way!    

If you don't watch Duck Dynasty, you're missing out!

 

 

 Head on over to Emilys blog for the scoop on Embracing the Camera!
She's got lots of great bloggers linking up!

 

  Happy Thursday!

A Charlie Brown Christmas Tree & Ruffle Tree Skirt Tutorial {Hey, that's Pin-tastic!}

I had big visions for this Christmas Season.

Hoping and praying we'd be in the new house by now.  What?  You didn't know we're building a house?  Well...we are.  Maybe one day I can get those pictures posted so we can have some progress pictures.  But it's all good.  For now, just take my word for it.  Okay?

But.  We aren't in the new house.  We're in the apartment.  The 1100 square feet apartment.  They say 1100, but I don't know where the other 800 is, because right now, it feels TINY.  Teeny.  Tiny. 

Nevertheless, Thanskgiving weekend came and almost went and we had no tree up.  I scored a new skinny 7 foot tree from Tar-Jay, because let's be honest, we left The Big Massive Tree at the old house for the new owner to have.  You had to put it in, branch by branch.  Fluff it out.  And it was huge.  Beautiful, but huge.  So, we thought it best to stay at the old house.  I hope she likes it. 

Last Sunday night, after Lance had been Duck Hunting {all.weekend.long}, we decided to get the tree up.  We all bundled up, walked across the parking lot to our 2 storage closets to find the Rubbermaid Tubs {in the very back of the closet} that housed all of our treasures.  Such a cozy image right?

We located the tubs and headed back inside.  I had made a pot of chili so we decided to have a bowl of that first.  Easton doesn't like chili so he had ham and mandarin oranges and fritos. 

After getting supper out of the way and somewhat cleaned up, we continued on with the tree.  Mind you, we had to rearrange the living room because there is not a spare inch.  Anywhere.  But I actually like the new set up.  Maybe we'll leave it this way until we move up.  Tree included.  {Kidding.  Sort of.}

Typically we watch Christmas Vacation while we put up the tree.  That's one of Lance's childhood traditions, and it goes better as a family movie than Steel Magnolias.  That, of course, would be my choice.

 

Nevertheless, we got the tree up.  Got the limbs fluffed out, lights strung and ornaments hung.  It's not perfect, but it's ours.  This year, at least.  And, it gives quite a cozy glow at night time.  That's my favorite part. 

Two boys fizzled out about 10 minutes in to the big tree, but we were all together.  That's what matters.  Lance keeps calling it a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree, but I kind a think it's cute.  It'll work for now. 

It was so fun watching Easton this year.  We set up a little tree in his room and he took great pride in picking out ornaments to go on his tree.  He placed each one with care and thought. 

 

I finally got him the Little People Nativity, that I'd been wanting to get and we put that under the tree.  We've already had quite a few discussions about Baby Jesus.  We talked about Baby Jesus' mom and dad being Mary and Joseph.  He prefers to call them "Mary & JoJo".  He has a Joseph in his class as school that they call JoJo so Joseph, Jesus' daddy is now JoJo.  It's got a nice ring to it. 

 

Each year, we have our favorites that we can't wait to see.  For me, it's the quilted ball on the left.  I LOVE THIS ORNAMENT.  I made it years ago at church.  Had to be 15 years ago.  Lance thinks its the ugliest thing ever, but I love it.  His favorite ornament is that snowman in the middle.  It's actually a set of 3 sashes, but we only have 2.  His mom had these on their tree gowing up.  They are from Avon I believe.  They smell like pine.  However, this year, they are a little less fragrant than I remember.  Anyways, Cindy found the exact ones at the Goodwill and gave them to us.  They're a nice reminder of his childhood I think.  And that last one.  I pulled it out this year and just boo-hoo'd.  Look at that little bitty hand.  Each year, I make his handprint on an ornament.  I just can't believe how tiny it was, and now how grown up he's getting.  They really do grow too fast. 

 

And, since it's Monday, and I'm showing you our tree, I thought I'd show you the tree skirt too.

Remember, last years tree was MASSIVE, this years, not so much.  However, with some tucking and folding, I managed to get the tree skirt in the little corner that we do have.  Because, lets face it.  This sucker is way too fabulous to remain on the hanger in my closet through Christmas.

 

For this tree skirt, you'll need:

2 Yards of Felt- match it to whatever your top color is.

{to decide how big you need your material, determine the width of the base of the tree as well.  ex. if you want it to stick out 3 feet around the tree, double that for a 72 inch square, to trim down to circle.}

Then you'll need 2 Yards of material.  I used linen.  It tears nicely.

Glue Gun.

Bags and bags and bags of glue sticks.

PATIENCE.

 

To start:  Fold your bottom material in half, then half again.

Cut a circle out of the center folds of your felt.

Round the outer edges of your felt. 

Mine is more like a rounded square instead of a circle, but just go with it. 

Then, tear your strips of linen.  Tear and tear and tear.

Begin on the inside of the tree skirt.

Glue the short end of your long strip of fabric and begin pleating.

I worked in about 18 inch sections.  I'd run a strip of glue then I'd pleat my fabric as I went.

It doesn't have to be perfect.  Once I got to the end of my glue line, I'd go back in and glue at the top of most pleats so it would lay flat.  Continue this all the way around.

For the second row, do the same thing except have it overlapping slightly. 

You need a big surface to work on, I used the living room floor.  Every night.

 

This does take quite some time, but you can make this on a much smaller scale.

 

Last year, it was perfect under our tree...this year, it's not perfect, but it works!

 

So, what are some of your favorite ornaments?  Do you have a tradition while putting up the tree?  I'd love to hear some of your family traditions as well.  I'm a sucker for tradition. 

 

 Head on over to Ashley's blog for more fabulous baking, crafting, decorating ideas!

 

 

Thanksgiving 2012

This Thanksgiving might go down as one of my favorites.

It was a warm day, beautiful and sunny, but crisp.

My Nana's is always at noon on Thursday.

The food was AMAZING!

The hostess is AMAZING!

She deserves a whole post on her own.

She is my soul sista!  FOR SURE! 

 

In all my years I've never been up to this particular spot on her land.

Typically there was an electric fence in this corner of the land that had donkey(s) so I'm sure that had something to do with it.

Just a few of us walked up there first, but then we convinced most of the rest of the group to come up too.

It was so nice to just be outside.  Free room to run and play.  Warm sunshine on our faces after our bellys were ful. 

Truly a day to be thankful for.

After Nana's we headed home for naptime, only to find Kirby had eaten the very last ra-ra.

We wrestled on the couch for about 45 minutes before Easton fell asleep, but he finally did.

 

After nap, we headed to Grandmomma's.

Still stuffed from Nana's but we enjoyed some yummy food and desserts again.

 

At Grandmomma's each year, we make a craft.  I love this tradition.

This year was modge podging a piece of cardboard with old hymns then stenciling your favorite holiday saying on top and painting.

Below is the example.

Then once dry, you put it in a festive frame and you have a new Christmas decoration!

So easy, and so cute!!!

We truly have SO MUCH to be thankful for!

 

 

The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie {Hey! That's Pintastic!}

Hey, hey!  Happy Monday after a long 4 day weekend!  I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  We did!  I'll fill you in on that later this week.  For today, I'm linking up with my friend Ashley, for Hey! That's Pin-tastic!

This weekend, when deciding what 'sweet' I'd take to Thanksgiving, I got the hankering for a Chocolate Chip Cookie.  Pretty simple, right? 

I always use the recipe on the back of the Toll House Morsles bag, but I thought I'd try something different. 

I went to Pinterest to find this recipe. 

Once I figured out I had all the ingredients on hand, I went to town.  I did do a few things differently than the original recipe, so I'll add my changes to this recipe.

Ingredients:
2 Cups PLUS 2 TBSP All Purpose Flour
1/2 TSP Baking Soda
1/2 TSP Salt
1 1/2 Sticks of Butter (**Called for unsalted, I used salted...instructions says melted then cooled, I did room temp...or 30 seconds in microwave)
1 Cup Brown Sugar (Packed)
1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
1 Egg PLUS 1 Egg Yolk
2 TSP Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 Cup Semi Sweet Chocolate Chip Morsels (1 Bag)

Instructions: (**My version)
Combine Flour, Salt, Soda in small bowl.  Wisk together to combine.

In larger bowl, add butter and sugars.  Mix on low until combined.  Add in eggs and vanilla.  Once combined, slowly add in flour mixture.  After combined, stir in chocolate chips. 

Using your small cookie scoop or a tsp, spoon onto cookie sheets.  I only did 10-12 at a time because I didn't know how they would spread.  Good news...they don't spread!  Hooray for thick, consistently sized cookies!  That makes my perfectionist heart happy. 

Place cookie sheet into a pre-heated (350 degrees) oven. 

Now, this is what worked for me.  Every oven differs...but here's what I did.

Scoop cookies onto cookie sheet.  Place in the oven.  Set your timer for 4 minutes.  Rotate pan when the timer goes off.  Set timer for 4 1/2 more minutes.  Remove from oven after 8 1/2 minutes total (top right picture).  They will look golden but fluffy.  Let cool for 4 minutes (bottom left) Remove from pan to wire rack for final cool. 

Repeat.  Eat a spoon full of cookie dough every chance you get.  It's good. 

I suggest having 2 cookie sheets going, I just had one and it took forever.  But they were PERFECT.

 For half my batch when I rotated the cookies, I placed a few M&M's in the top of each cookie.  Lance likes M&M's in his cookies.  I like to make him happy. 

 

Now, take a look at those cookies!

Are they not the prettiest cookie you've ever seen?

 

Thick and chewy. 

Golden brown. 

Perfect amount of chocolate chips in each cookie.

 

How about packaging up a few for your teachers?

Take these to a Pot Luck and you'll be the star of the show!

Leave some out for Santa too.  You'll be sure to get more than a lump of coal in your stocking!

 

Happy Baking!

 

Report back if you make these!  I promise, you won't be sorry!

 

Head on over to Ashley's blog for more fabulous baking, crafting, decorating ideas!