New Members of the Family & a few things I whipped up this weekend with a tutorial!

I am apologizing to the Title Police because I have the need for long titles lately.

Here are the new members of our family...Mr. & Mrs. Duck.

I really shouldn't call them family because we don't feed them. I think we all know what happens when you feed things that come to your house unexpectedly...They Come Back! And, since I do not like animal poop in my yard (#45 on the 5000 reasons we do not have a dog), I am choosing not to feed these guys. But, they have been here every morning since Saturday.
I guess they like to be ignored.

Kind of like old boyfriends...they keep coming back even when you ignore them.

Not that I have old boyfriends hanging around. I just remember those days.

Let's move on.

Here's something yummy for you!
A while back when I did the Sausage Gravy Tutorial, I mentioned that I make Chocolate Gravy when I don't have sausage handy.
WB LOVES chocolate gravy! He will get a plate and stick 1 biscuit in the middle of the plate and then cover the whole plate in gravy. All you see is the white plate edge with brown all the way around and a big brown hump in the middle. He wouldn't let me take a picture of it because he thinks this whole blogging thing is silly. Probably because it's not about tractors.

On to the tutorial~
You will need:

1 cup sugar
4 Tablespoons of cocoa
1/3 cup plus 2 Tablespoons of flour
2 cups of HOT water (hottest you can get from your tap is fine)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 Tablespoons butter

First, pour sugar, cocoa, flour and about 3/4 cup of water in a saucepan. Whisk it together to incorporate. Your eye should be on MED-HIGH or 7-8 if you have numbers.


Then, add the rest of the water. It will look like photo above. Cook it on MED or MED-HIGH Whisking occasionally at first. Once it starts to thicken, whisk it more often so it doesn't get lumpy. When it gets to the desired consistency, add the vanilla and butter.


You are looking for the consistency above...kind of like a thick soup mixture. It should coat your spoon, but pour smoothly.
Serve it over your biscuits! This would probably be good over ice cream too! You could cut back on the water to make it more thick and fudgy.
Let me know if you make it!

On to the other things I whipped up this weekend.
My sweet friend Brooke is having baby girl #3! We can't wait for Charlotte Blake to get here! When Brooke was pregnant with Lucy (#2) I made her a diaper bag...and she liked it. So, she wanted me to make her another one for Baby C. She has a Vera that she likes, so I just took some measurements off of it and started drawing and cutting and sewing.
Here is how it turned out...


On the front is a small pocket with Charlotte's initials.


There are 4 pockets on the inside...


The back has a long pocket the width of the bag with ricrac trim. And the bag can fasten with an elastic button closure.


I also made a matching changing pad with flannel and a zippered pouch (in the pic above).

It is more "free-standing" because I used Pellon 71 (I think) which is an interfacing that is super thick and almost too hard to fold. She kept saying that she liked to throw things in her bag and then has to dig them out. So, I made it more open so that it would be easier to look for things. I know I have that problem too. And, with a baby, 2 year old and 4 year old...I don't think she will have time to search for her keys!

Are you still with me?
It has almost been a year since I started blogging! I can't believe it! Anyway, I am wanting to revamp my blog because I feel the need to decorate something. And, since there are lots of free things out there now, it fits into my budget of $0!
So, I am wanting to get away from the Bees...do you think I should go to the trouble of changing my whole blog name and everything or can I still stay with the Honea Bee title but not have bees on the background???
I look forward to your thoughts!

At Long Last...The Marshmallow Pop Tutorial

These are THE easiest things to make. Extremely fast-I made 50 in an hour including clean up! And everyone loves them. There are so many possibilities!


You will need:
Big fat marshmallows (I used a bag and a half...I think there were 32 in the bag)
Almond bark (vanilla or chocolate, depending on the color you want)
Food coloring (if you are using vanilla)
Lollipop sticks - on the Wilton aisle
Sprinkles
something to stand them up in to dry

First, you put the marshmallows on sticks.

Then, you melt the bark in the microwave per the directions.
1 square yields 10 pops

Let it sit for maybe a minute if it's real hot.
Add your desired color to the slightly cooled bark. (This will keep the color from separating)
**The color will get darker when it dries, so make it a little bit lighter than you want.


Set up your work station as so to make it faster.
Then, dip the marshmallow in the bark and sprinkle the sprinkles on it.
I found that it was easier to sprinkle the sprinkles than dip the marshmallow in the sprinkles. I think it made it look better too.


Stand them up to dry. I had to stand mine up in playdoh because that's all I could come up with. It works, but they started falling over when they were dry. You can get Styrofoam squares for pretty cheap...that would work better.


Or, you can get out your flower frog and mini vases that you just remembered you had.
It may take 10 minutes for them to dry-it's fast!


Then, put them out at the party and watch them be gobbled up by kids and adults!
They would also be cute in the mini vases with a ribbon tied around them.

There are so many different ways to do these pops! I am going to make them for Sister's class for Valentine's Day. You could even make red, white, and blue ones for your 4th cookout! Or orange ones with Halloween sprinkles! Or...well you get the idea.

Bugs, Nap Woes, and Skating Mamas

A and I took the kids to see the Bugs at the Botanical Gardens last week and play in the water. And it was hot. We went as soon as they opened. And it was hot. And we only stayed about 1 1/2 hours. And it was hot.

The kids with the ladybug...Sister loves ladybugs.


And a big giant ant.

Can I tell y'all how much I despise ants? Any of you who have lived in Auburn know why I am saying this. I think Auburn was built on top of a big, giant ant hill. There was no way you were going to get rid of them. Even people who lived in the top floor of an apartment had 'an ant problem.' I feel that 4 years of living with ants is plenty. And those giant flying roaches that were the size of my child's foot. Please tell me there will be none in Heaven.

Of course Bubba found a puppy dog. And crawled on over to pet him and "Uh, Uh" at him and pulled his tail.


And because it was hot, we didn't do the walking around thing long. And since the children't area doesn't have a speck of shade, we went back to the bubbly rocks at the front.
Here is Sister standing around looking at them.


While Bubba jumped right on in and played.


She finally said "Mommy, did you say that we could get wet?" And, I said "Yes, because it's hot" And here she is getting wet.

She poked her belly out and put some water on it.

And then, there was the hug train on the rock.

And we had fun and it was hot and if we go back, we will hang at the bubbly rocks at the front again.

~

Sister has been in this "I don't want to take a nap." phase. And, this does not go well with the nap nazi (me.) So, we are having a few small little issues.
Last Saturday, she decided to play in her room instead of sleep. I did not know this was happening because I was sewing upstairs and wasn't paying attention to the monitor.
Then I hear what sounded like someone calling Mommy, so I glanced at the monitor and didn't see her in her bed. So, I turn up the volume and hear "Mommy, Mommy. I can't believe it. I need more wipes please!"
This is what I found...

Evidently, all of the 25 babies she sleeps with had pee-pee'd in her bed and they all needed their diapers and clothes changed.

And, speaking of 25 babies...
Last night, I caught a few parts here and there of the Duggars on TLC. Now, I don't normally watch this show because 1)I think they come on when my kids are still up, 2)I don't have a DVR and have to watch shows in 'real time', and 3) I don't like to watch TLC because of the whole Jon & Kate drama. BUT, I was able to catch a few glimpses here and there to get the gist of what was happening.
Here's what I saw...it was one of the kid's birthdays and they were going roller skating for his party. And, evidently Mama Dugger was at one time a roller skating champion. WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT?!
So, they are loading up the van and she is walking around with the latest baby-NURSING HER! Y'all, do you know how hard it is to walk around nursing a baby much less stay covered up? And the baby was even on some kind of pillow under that coverlet. And she was being filmed for national television. ALL AT THE SAME TIME! Give her an award someone.
I had a hard time sitting down nursing my kids covered up so that no one would know what I was doing. So, needless to say, walking around nursing was not a site for national television around here. Unless you are on National Geographic. And live in Africa.
So, with all of that, I was impressed beyond measure and didn't even get to see the part where she showed her killer skating moves. Someone please tell me that she was nursing that baby while skating to "Funky Town."

Why I have been breaking out in uncontrollable fits of laughter all day

Do you see it?


Let me give you a close up...


We think Bubba got a mosquito bite last night while we were rounding out the Father's Day festivities on the trampoline. This morning, he woke up with this big red ear. I thought, that ear looks rather large and red, but maybe it's just because he had been sleeping on it. Then, it did not get smaller, nor did it turn back flesh color and it started entering the room before he did. So, I got a little concerned.
WB is "off" of the public job today, so I called him and asked him to stop by and check out the big, honkin' ear Bubba was wearing. He has a little 'keeto' bite on his face right beside his ear, so we came to that conclusion. And the nurse at TwickPeds said that as long as he isn't swelling anywhere else, just watch him and it should go away. She said that if he laid on his ear all night that it would make it worse.
While at 8am this was not in the least bit funny...by noon, it was the most hilarious thing ever. Ok, I will admit, at 8am it WAS funny, but by noon I no longer felt bad about laughing. Anytime you say the word 'ear' Bubba starts flicking the thing and it looks like it is about to fly off.
It has kind of caught me off guard a few times today, too. I will see him come through the room pushing the farm truck and then he will turn and I'll think "WHAT IS THAT?!" And then I remember it is just his ear.
Maybe you just have to be here. Or maybe being here is what is making me so silly.

**********
Enough of that, on to Father's day.
Our festivities started on Friday night with an extremely impromptu trip with WB to pick up some landscaping materials. He came in to get some water and I said do you care if we ride and he said you have 5 minutes to be loaded because they are about to close. So, I dropped everything, told Sis to get on the potty and ran around grabbing things and forgot the camera. I didn't forget Bubba though.
We had fun getting to see the fish, birds, and iguana while WB picked out rock. (I will be showing you the finished project soon. It is awesome, but sadly, not in my backyard.) Then we stopped to grab some dinner and headed home.

Sunday, we went out to Mimae and Papa's for lunch and fun. And I only took 2 pictures of the day.
Number 1. Why is WB never ready?

And number 2. My mom thought it was a good idea for them to take a nap together in the same pack-n-play. Y'all can guess how long that lasted.

After nap, we came home and played outside while WB and Sister put the new top on the fort. And it was a good day for WB because he got a nap. That was my gift to him :)
EAR's to you WB and Papa! We love you~y'all are the best!!

Guess Who Won!!

Stacy is the winner!
And, no, the comment from Player #2 is not the reason we will not be going to the restaurant again. It was just the best part of our experience that night. If you can call that good.

I will bring your jewelry bag to church tomorrow!
Thanks to everyone who played along! I will have other giveaways soon, so look for them.

Coming soon will be:
Father's Day Recap
A couple of new sewing projects
Marshmallow Pop Tutorial
Review of Bugs at the Botanical Garden

Hope you can stay cool this weekend!

Final Birthday Recap & giveaway...and a winner

I know you are so glad to see the word Final in the title to the birthday posts! I had to space it out or it would have been a "big ol' one" as Sissy would say. And since we love the number 3 these days, we must be consistent!

On Saturday, the 6th, we had our Family Fun Party. There was more playing and jumping and eating. This time we grilled hotdogs and hamburgers.


This is Sissy with her cousins from the Honea side. My bro's fam didn't make it because it was my nephew's last ball game of the season. But, Sister keeps reminding me that we will have another party next time they come up here.

There was also more marshmallow pops, which were again a big hit.

Even to great grandmothers.

And this is what it looks like when you put a whole pop in your mouth.

And I served the cupcakes again...and my kids enjoyed them again.


And went back for seconds when he thought no one was looking.

And then Sister got the only thing she wanted for her birthday-A WATER GUN!

Which led to this...


Yes, that is a GROWN MAN shooting the kids with a water gun. It's my Uncle Kenny. He was always like a big brother to us when we were little. I was no way surprised when he was the first to pick up the water guns and start filling them up. He is really good at teaching kids things their parents might not want them to know. And, we love him!
So, the birthdays were fun and I am so glad they are over for a while!!!
Oh, 1 more thing...I don't think I said anything about this when it was Bubba's birthday, but I tried to come up with some sort of memento for the kids to have from their birthday each year. So, they have this book...

And every year, I pick a page somewhere in the book and write a little note to them on their birthday. WB does the same. Do y'all have a birthday tradition?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That following Monday was our 7th wedding anniversary. So, we all went out to eat a lot later than we expected because WB was held over at work (happens every time!!) So, we spent some time trying on our "guy-gles."

We went to a local restaurant because Sister wanted to "ride the rhinosaurus"

and decided it would be the last time we would visit that establishment. I will not go into great detail, but we were paid the following compliment by our waiter who we will kindly refer to as Player #2.
"Your son is so cute. He is a boy, right? He's gonna make y'all early grandparents."
Nice.
So, as some of you know that only leaves us with mexican, chinese, mexican, mexican, and chinese to eat if we want to go out close. And since WB will not eat 'nese, you see why we eat at home a lot.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now, the winner of the Handmade Giveaway #2- the wallet is
#3
Hillary!!!

Email me sisterbug@bellsouth(dot)net and send me your address! I will mail it on over to ya!

Now for the FINAL Handmade Giveaway #3-
Do you know what this is??


It's a jewelry pouch-

It has 4 small pockets for rings & earrings and 2 large pockets for those cute chunky necklaces everyone wears.

There is more room on top of the pockets to pile in whatever jewelry you might need to take on your little trip. Just pull the strings and tie it up!

You have until Friday at 10 PM to comment...

Birthday Review and Giveaway #2...and a winner and something else

First things first- here is the long awaited family picture that came in last week. We love both of these so much!
Before you look::I will remind you that this is a scan of the picture and WB looks that he might not be of the same nationality as me, but I assure you that he is.





Now, on to the reason you are here:
The winner of the handmade kitchen towel is-
BECKY!!
Email me your address and I will send it on over.

Please remember that I made all of these things with LOVE for my friends who wade through this blog weekly. Don't look too close because they are not perfect and don't show them to anyone who does sew because they will certainly find fault.

Thanks for participating! The next giveaway is at the bottom of the post.

On to Sister's Friends Birthday Party-

On the Friday after her birthday, we had all of her friends over that she plays with. It turned out to be kind of chilly that day, so it was a nice day for a party in the backyard.
These flowers I picked from my friend Katherine's yard. I have been eyeing these Snowball bushes every year and finally knew her well enough to ask to pick them (instead of stealing them while she was at work). She never picks them for herself. She should. When WB has a minute, I want flower beds along the back of the fence with some of these in there. But, since I am not a paying customer, I am at the bottom of the long list. Maybe 2015.

Our theme this year was polka dots. I thought that would be pretty easy to find. (not unless you want blue and brown) But, it was a lot easier than the Sister's first request-A White Barn Party- and her second? Gorillas. Yes, I know.
Anyway, the kids played and we opened gifts while waiting on the pizza-pepperoni of course to go with the theme. And we ate. I do not have pictures of any of this. I think I was just running around like a chicken. I don't even recall having a conversation with any of the adults at the party either.

Well ok, I remember 1 conversation and it went like this:
Marie- "Did you put Bubba on the table for a reason?"
Me, turning around to see my son sitting on top of the picnic table trying to eat food from the plates left by the other children- "Um, no, I didn't." Or something like that. I am sure it was more like "What are you doing on the table child?!" But, the first one sounded nicer.

Sister wanted cupcakes with sprinkles-which was perfect for the theme (can you imagine what gorillas would look like?)-so I bought 3 different sizes of round sprinkles and made white cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. My cupcakes this year were a 4. I usually pride myself with making great cakes, but this year, I was very disappointed in my ability. The main reason is I went with a different icing-I usually go with buttercream. This icing wasn't creamy or cheesy. But, I don't think the kids cared and maybe the mommys will cut me a little slack.
The marshmallow pops were a hit (they are in the little polka dot buckets that I got at the Hob.) I stuck them down in skittles and M&Ms-I will do something different next time. They didn't stay as straight as I wanted. I will do a marshmallow pop tutorial soon-they are so easy!

The little round things said 3 and Happy Birthday. I made them from this tutorial and used my Martha Stewart circle cutter to cut them out and glue dotted them on a piece of polka dot paper. Then I glued them on a tooth pick. Quick. Sister even helped with the gluing.

Blowing out the candles wasn't that hard since it was windy. I guess I was assisting in the blowing? not sure.


And, of course my children were the messiest ones because we Honeas know how to enjoy some sweets!



And then there was more jumping...


And order taking at the pretend restaurant...


And a final group picture! (without the 2 boys, mine and Allyson's-they did not want their picture made) Do y'all know that most of my friends have multiple girls and no boys? Lucky for Bubba I guess.

They all left with 3 lolipops and a polka dot pinwheel-and a sugar high.

Now on to the next giveaway...

Handmade Giveaway #2- A little wallet



This can be a "binnie" card holder, a quick run out to the Walmart cash and license holder, a credit card holder. Whatever you like. It is constructed with 3 different turquoise and green fabrics and will close with a sparklie button.
I love mine.

Like last time, leave me a comment if you are interested. You have until Wednesday night at 10:00 PM. I will post the winner with the final giveaway and b-day review on Thursday.