Friday, February 27, 2009

I'M SO EGG-CITED THIS PINK SATURDAY!

THERE ARE NATURE'S BEAUTIFUL EGGS...
Photobucket
AND THERE'S DEVILED EGG RECIPES FROM PAULA DEEN
Photobucket
AND ALSO PRETTY PARTY DECORATED EGGS...
Photobucket
AND YOU CAN MAKE YOUR OWN SPARKLY EGGS WITH DUDLEY!
Photobucket
AND DON'T WE ALL LOVE THE SUGAR EGGS?!! I DO!
Photobucket
HERE'S SOME BORING PLASTIC EGGS, BUT A MUST HAVE FOR EASTER HUNTS!
Photobucket
AND AN EXPENSIVE LIMOGES EGG BY FABERGE! OOOHH-LA-LA!!
Photobucket
HERE'S AN EGG THE KIDS CAN COLOR OR DECORATE AND HANG ON THE FRIDGE...
Photobucket
SOME EGGS ARE CRACKIN' OPEN WITH NEW LIFE...
Photobucket
AND HERE'S A VIDEO ON MAKING EGGS INTO AN ARTSY SCENE!

AND THEN THERE'S SUZIE BUTTON'S EGGS THAT SHE MADE JUST SO YOU'D HAVE A CHANCE TO ADD SPARKLE TO YOUR EASTER DECOR! YOU CAN WIN THESE GORGEOUS EGGS JUST BY LEAVING A COMMENT BELOW OR IN THE POST BELOW THAT!
Photobucket


HAPPY PINK SATURDAY! SUZIE

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

An Easter Giveaway..

Photobucket
I feel Easter and Spring coming, so I thought I'd share a few of my wooden eggs I make with a lucky winner! Plus they're deliciously glittery! Just leave a comment (make sure I will have a way to contact you)and I will draw a lucky name on Sunday at 8 a.m. central! Have a Happy week! Suzie

Sunday, February 22, 2009

One of my favorite pictures of Katie and Cody...

Photobucket
Just thought I'd share a picture of my daughter Katie and our Springer Spaniel Cody. This is Cody's favorite spot in the house, on the couch looking out the window (can you say obsessively!) for the squirrels in the backyard. Katie thought she'd mimic him. I just love this!
Happy Sunday! Suzie

Friday, February 20, 2009

Happy Pink Saturday!

Photobucket
Meet Miss Kitty, my daughter Megan's cat. She took an interest in Megan's Valentine Azalea plant on the table and not only sniffed but had a nibble too!
She's one of the lucky cats, my daughter Katie found her as a kitten in a gas station parking lot, and Megan and her husband Oliver took her in and now she lives the spoiled good life here in Texas.
Happy Pink Saturday! Suzie

My Giveaway... well, kind of!!

Photobucket
I had promised this adorable bear as a giveaway prize from my posting the other day on my Suzie Button Weekly Side Dish, but after Linnea, who was the subject of my post, mentioned she had a bear collection, I just knew that the bear belongs with her! So, I'm sorry to change my prize here, but I'm sure you'd agree too that this sweet bear already has his heart set to live with Linnea!
I will still have a giveaway, but I need to choose something else, so give me to Monday, and come back and I'll find an even better sweet prize for those who would like to win a prize! Blessings! Suzie

Thursday, February 19, 2009

I couldn't resist...

joining this sweet easter egg swap...
Photobucket
and what a cute blog over at Artrageous Afternoon with Jennifer
Come on, Spring, hurry up! Suzie

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Life with a hearing loss...

Photobucket
Hi, friends! Suzie here. I thought this week to share with you a story of a dear blogger friend of mine, Linnea, who I met through my blog, well, actually she found me because she noticed that I was a broadcast captioner for television programming, and she's a consumer of captioning due to her hearing loss. Here's Linnea...
Photobucket
I asked Linnea if she would share with everyone a bit about her personal experience living with a hearing loss and some day to day thoughts on the subject and here's her story... (both Linnea and I hope that bloggers will learn more about hearing loss in the process!)
Linnea was born hard of hearing and also her next brother down was found to have a hearing loss also at around 2 1/2 years old. Nowadays, newborns are tested for hearing loss before they leave the hospital, but in Linnea's case her hearing loss wasn't confirmed until she was also around 2 1/2 years old. She said when she was an infant she didn't learn to crawl and would cry unless she could see her mother. Things improved once she was able to walk though. She also had trouble understanding sounds that are made in the back of your throat, such as she didn't say "green beans" correctly, she couldn't see or hear the "g" so it was "bean beans" to her. Here are some signs to look for in your children for hearing loss...
1.] does not turn to the source of a sound by 3 to 4 months of age
2.} pays attention to vibrating noises or noises that can be felt, rather than heard
3} does not say single words, such as "dada" or "mama" by 1 year of age
4} turns head when he or she sees you but not if you only call out his or her name: this usually is mistaken for not paying attention or just ignoring, but could be the result of a partial hearing loss
5} hears some sounds but not others.
Linnea got her first hearing aid the summer before she started kindergarten.
I asked Linnea about her schooling and what methods of communication she learned in school...
Linnea shared that there were no special Deaf Education Programs in her area when she was growing up, so she attended regular school and learned oral speaking and to read lips. It wasn't until she attended college that she took her first sign language classes. She had speech therapy from Kindergarten through 9th grade and that helped a lot to correct her speech and improve her skills in lipreading.
Linnea shared how difficult classes could be if the teacher walked around the room a lot, as she couldn't see his/her face to lipread, and also if she wasn't in the front of the room it was very difficult to follow what was being said. Even today in her job in a medical facility she encounters issues because people may have on surgical masks in her job, thus you can't lipread, and also there's a lot of accents out there that are difficult to lipread such as European, Filipino, Oriental...she's not alone there, even in captioning accents can trick you up! She shared how draining it is to lipread all day, and I imagine it is! Here are tips if you are having a conversation with someone with a hearing loss, and it's not to shout at them either :>) ...
1] Talk while facing the person.
2] Don’t speak too fast.
3] Don’t mumble.
4] Don’t hide your mouth, chew gum, or eat while speaking.
5] Be expressive--hand gestures and facial expressions can help give clues about what you're saying.
6] If asked to repeat yourself, try using different words than the first time.
7] Reduce or eliminate background noises, like a radio or television.
8] Don’t speak for or answer for a hearing impaired person when talking with others. Give him or her time to respond.
9] Don’t shout – it distorts your words.
10] Relax, be patient, and have a good sense of humor.
11] Ask how else you can help.
Photobucket
I asked Linnea about when she first discovered captioning...
At first Linnea didn't purchase a captioning box because they were expensive. It was during the summer Olympics in 1984 while visiting a deaf couple that were friends that she began to watch the Olympic captions that were on the TV and realized, actually in Linnea's words she was "stunned" with how much she had been missing without realizing it while reading the commentary on the TV. It was then that she decided to buy the equipment. Later on the CC chip was installed into televisions and helped eliminate that extra cost to receive closed captions.
While Linnea appreciates closed captions, there are still irritations, such as not everything is captioned. On DVD's, bonus features aren't captioned, and also there are times that cable companies don't have captions appearing when they should. Can you imagine 9/11 without the ability to have had captions? Or how about weather emergency alerts? Captioning is essential and needs to be available on EVERYTHING at all times, there are a lot of loopholes and poor standards in the market these days, and the economy isn't helping! Oh, that last comment is my point of view!
I appreciate Linnea sharing her story with me and I hope in a few weeks to share more with you on this topic, as it's near and dear to me as I am blessed to work in an industry that provides captions for not only the "gym" crowd walking on the treadmill and reading captions, but for those with hearing losses who count on captions to "hear" what we often take for granted every day! Thanks, Linnea, you're a sweetheart! Suzie
Photobucket
Oh, come back on Saturday, and you can have a chance to win this cute bear! I won him while providing CART/captioning at a conference years ago, and he has little hearing aids in his ears, and I am trying to redecorate my office, so I think it's time he moved to a new home, maybe yours! You can put in your name to win beginning Saturday!

Have you met Linnea?

Photobucket
Linnea is a sweet blogger with lots of great postings, and is very crafty. She made this PLARN bag after reading my Suzie Button Weekly Side Dish (further down this page) posting on PLARN! How great!
Linnea is also going to be the topic of this week's "Suzie Button Weekly Side Dish."
I will post this week's entry later this evening or tomorrow, so please come back!
In the meantime, you might want to also attempt crafting with PLARN!
Blessings, Suzie

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Happy belated Valentine's Day...

I meant to share just a few pictures of my Valentine's Day dining with you, but I had to wait to get hold of my daughter's camera to download the pictures since I left mine home...
We went to Mangos Thai restaurant and enjoyed some yummy dinners...

Don't you just love the heart-shaped rice?
Photobucket

What is Valentine's Day without a sweet dessert?
Photobucket

And a few roses to grace the table at home too...
Photobucket
I hope your Valentine's Day was wonderful also! Suzie

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Friday, February 13, 2009

Happy Pink Saturday AND Valentine's Day to YOU!

I've been very busy stitching for my first Granddaughter, Madison coming in April..
Photobucket
On washcloths...
Photobucket
And burp cloths...
Photobucket
And on hoodie towels...
Photobucket
AND I'm making the "designer" baby bedding, here's a peek at the unfinished quilt...
Photobucket
I made a sheet out of the soft, soft pink that is in the quilt and have the bumper and the skirt to go, plus curtains, a diaper stacker and pillows would be nice too!
I need to take a vacation to beat the baby getting here in order to finish in time I think! But what fun preparing for a grandbaby is!
Happy Pink Valentine's Day! Suzie

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Another fun Swap!

Photobucket
I'm excited to participate in a fun swap, this one is all about kitchen items!
It's hosted by our lovely host Heidi at Foxgloves Fabric & Folly, and I already have a few cute crafty items brewing! Heidi has the best swaps, I love it! Suzie

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Sign, Baby, Sign -- Suzie Button's Side Dish...

And also, here's my alternative header for my Suzie Button Side Dish, isn't this cute?!!
Photobucket
Today's a story about sign language...for Babies! I think it's an interesting topic since my first Grandaughter, Madison, is set to be born in April. When I had children no one would have thought, oh, let's teach baby sign language!!
Going a bit off topic here, before I worked as a broadcast captioner, I worked as a CART provider. What's that, you say? Well, it's an acronym for Communication Access Real-time Translation. I used my skills to provide the words in classrooms in middle school, high school and college courses for Deaf and HOH (hard-of-hearing) individuals. These students would read off of a laptop on their desks what the teachers and students were saying in the classroom setting instead of having a sign language interpreter. Because at that time I worked in the public school system in the Deaf Education Program, I had the opportunity to take SEE (Sign exact English) sign language courses for FREE! I wanted to be able to communicate with all the kids in the program, and I saw it as a wonderful bonus of the job, so I took classes for a couple of years. So, thus, I became interested in Sign language and I learned of its value.
What are the arguments for teaching babies sign language though? Here's some thoughts...
>> Children with baby sign language seem to get a head start on communication.
>> Reciprocal communication between parent and infant through sign language relieves frustrations for both.
>> Babies or toddlers who learn sign language seem to have more words at their command than other children--even through the age of three.
>> Your baby or toddler can communicate with other babies who sign -- it's incredible to see two toddlers signing.
Photobucket
I'm all for reducing frustration in babies, but could using sign language delay babies learning to speak? Or is it just making them bilingual?
Have you had an experience in baby sign language? I'd love to hear about it!
In the coming weeks I hope to share more personal stories related to hearing loss, and introduce you to some really interesting people I've met because of my wonderful career as a communication provider in both CART and captioning! So please come back!
In the meantime Suzie says...
Photobucket
I know you understand this sign! It's universal! Happy Side Dish! Suzie

A Prom to remember....

And YOU could help make dreams come true!
Photobucket
This dress was from a homecoming my daughter went to several years ago, not the long formal dress, but adorable!
I came upon Sew Cute Babe and read about a friend of hers that works in the Delta and is trying to help the girls come up with prom dresses to make their prom memorable and she needs donations!! Here's what the request said...
My name is Suzette Matthews and I recently graduated from Texas Tech University and moved to the Mississippi Delta in an effort to help poverty stricken schools with Teach for America. For those of you who are not familiar with TFA, it is a program for "recent college graduates of all majors and career interests and working professionals to commit two years to teach in urban and rural school.in our highest-poverty communities" (www.teachforamerica.org). Upon moving to the Delta, I have experienced a number of unimaginable challenges in the classroom and outside of it. My students are exceptionally poor and very much behind academically and socially. Although my students suffer horrible injustices everyday, I feel as if they should have somewhat of a normal high school education, academically and in extra-curriculars. With this being said, my students would like to put on a prom this year and have been saving their money to have the best prom in high school history. This is a great feat for them, since their families do not have money to buy them clothes to wear to school, much less for prom. The school district has been kind enough to give the Junior class money to host the prom, but by no means is it going to make ends meet. The girls cannot afford dresses and the boys cannot afford tuxes. I know that what a person wears to prom shouldn't really matter, but when you think back to your own high school days, you would have been mortified if you did not have a dress to wear to prom, only your school uniform. I am forever grateful that I grew up in the community that I did and never had to worry about this. I know that after I wore my dresses once, I never wore them again; they just hung in my closet. So, with help from surrounding communities and you, I know that I can find enough dresses for my students to have the prom they've always dreamt of. What I am asking is that you look through your daughter's old formal dresses and perhaps yours and donate them to the students at Ruleville Central High School. This would be a great donation for a tax write-off and would also help you get a jump start on your spring cleaning. If you can participate in anyway possible it would mean the world to my students. The deadline to donate will be 2/25 (Wednesday).

We plan to have a fun bazaar for the girls and help them choose a wonderful dress.

I would also like to thank all of you who donated books and money for my classroom. We now have a great lending library that I run right out of my classroom. I know that these books are making a difference for my students.



With heartfelt gratitude,

Suzette Matthews

I'm going to dryclean this cute little dress and send it off, please visit Sarah at
Sew Cute Babe to read more details!
Blessings! Suzie

Friday, February 6, 2009

Sprinkle a little cupcake on this Pink Saturday!

My very pregnant daughter said the other day, Mom, have you heard of Sprinkles cupcakes? No, I say. She says, oh, the women on my soon-to-be moms' chatroom say they have the BEST cupcakes ever! And look, I found one in Dallas!
Photobucket
Oh, let's go on Friday when you're off, she says. Well, who can say no to that?! So off we went to scour the city for Sprinkles!
Oh, how cute is this store?!!
Cute graphics on the window, a sweet hug and kiss for cupcake lovers!
Photobucket
And the flavors!
Oh, This red velvet cupcake with coconut icing was YUMMY! This one was for me today!
Photobucket
I think this pink one is Strawberry!
Photobucket
And even some DELISH chocolate cupcakes! Look at the shine on that ganache!
Photobucket
Happy Pink Saturday, friends! Suzie

Thursday, February 5, 2009

It just feels like a Martha Friday to me...

Photobucket
We all need a creative day learning beautiful crafts and having a sweet treat!
Photobucket
Find the directions for these adorable Bonbon hearts on Martha Stewart's website
HERE
Photobucket
Or how about these easy-peasy Heart Doilies
I want to find a sliver of free time to make these!
Try Martha Stewart's Valentine's Day Trivia to test your knowledge on the History of Valentine's Day!
Photobucket
You could also make this adorable POP UP VALENTINE
Photobucket
And end up, of course, with a sweet treat for you and your favorite Valentine with
Brownie Heart Cupcake
Make it a Martha Friday, everyone! Suzie

Mammalicious contines with yummy giveaways!

Photobucket
You MUST pop over and see what's afoot! Click on the Mammalicious icon on my sidebar! Suzie

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

OH, MY! A SLIMY HUGE SNAKE STORY!!!

Photobucket
RUN!! That's what I'd do, can you outrun snakes?!! I hate snakes, I believe more than any other scary reptile out there, oh, ok, really I don't like reptiles, rodents, slimy, big teethed anything type of animals!
Look at this artist's rendition...
Photobucket
This HUGE fella's name is Titanoba, and he was 13 meters or that's 42 feet long!
Well, he lived in what I imagine to be a beautiful rainforest in Colombia... 50 or 60
MILLION years ago! AND he weighed they estimate a TON!!
Just to give you a visual, one quote said "At its greatest width, the snake would have come up to about your hips. The size is pretty amazing."
Photobucket
This fossil picture is comparing the size of a vertebra from and Anaconda on the LEFT to our cute fella Titanoboa on the RIGHT!
Now, I know, this doesn't seem so sweet as Suzie Button usually is, but it IS interesting, right?!!
If you want to hear the FULL story, click on the
SNAKE NEWS STORY HERE and be prepared to be amazed and glad you didn't live 50 or 60 million years ago! Ha! Happy Side Dish! Suzie

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Win this cute cupcake candle and more!

Photobucket
Just visit Mammalicious
PLUS...Visit Sweet Cottage Dreams to take part in her very GENEROUS Giveaway! Have a wonderful evening! Suzie

Monday, February 2, 2009

How to make an American Quilt...

I rise early on Sunday mornings and had a chance to watch this movie on cable...
Photobucket
I'm not sure how I never saw it before now! It came out in 1995. It was perfect for a Sunday movie, with the setting of the story being several women and their stories as they are in a quilting bee to construct a wedding quilt as a gift for a Granddaughter (Winona Ryder). My mother used to be part of a quilting bee with our church when I was growing up, I wish I had the time to also pursue such endeavors!
Please enjoy the YouTube video of music from the movie...

And you can watch the Trailer clip from the movie, enjoy!
How to make an American Quilt
Happy Monday! Suzie