Work In Progress

Another year, new goals

2012-01-13T10:55:00.000-08:00

2011 was a busy and fun year. Matt worked for Sony on the Green Lantern until the end of May then he had a break until September when he started back at Sony this time working on the new Spider-man movie. We spent six weeks of his break in Seattle with family. It was wonderful to be able to spend so much concentrated time with them since we live so far away. In October we bought a house! We've been doing lots of projects with that- mostly painting and then unpacking. I hope to do some decorating now that we own our own house! Pinterest is my new best friend. I've always been good at finding projects I just need to complete some now.
I have actually been doing some things that I would like to share on here...
My tree! Our is dark and was covered in dark wood paneling. No more! We have painted the family room a light tan color called Desert Fortress by Valspar. I taped off one section to leave a tree in the paneling. Here are the photos on progress.

The original room paint swatches in progress

All taped up and with paint covering the limbs

The tree in all its glory. I did then outline it in a dark chocolate brown to cover up paint leakages under the tape. It's not something that you can see unless you are up close though.

The tree with frames on the wall. Now I just need to add family photos! Love it! Love my house and all our many projects!

Here's my word for 2012: Move! It's all about action. I tend to sit a lot and go off in my own world in my head. So for 2012 my goal is to get up and move... I want to make my house our home, I want to spend quality action time with my boys, I want to become physically fit, I want to be spiritually inspired. So I need to move on my goals and just do it! So far this year I have been doing well. I have been keeping my house generally tidy- now I need to get into the deeper projects- finish cleaning, painting, and decorating. I have started exercising 5 days a week. I am sleeping more because my 17 month old is sleeping more. I am reading scriptures everyday- now I need to start studying deeper. So my husband and I have agreed to choose one goal a month to be our focus. This month mine was scripture reading on my own and with my boys. His was to start using the treadmill we got at a yardsale. So far so good...

Goal updates, a cute necklace

2011-01-30T18:07:00.000-08:00

I took a shower every day. :)
I tried to put Silas in his crib a few times... new goal there...every time he falls asleep I will put him in his crib
I didn't always get up at 7:30 but I think I was usually up by 8 so not too far off.
Pretty good on the food thing and making progress on cleaning every time.

So for next week... Get it more perfect. And we have friends coming over to play...so
Cleaning schedule- Mon- playroom and entryway
                              Tues- Bathroom and Hallway
                               Wed- front room and kitchen
                               Thurs- bedrooms and extra pick ups wherever needed
                                Fri- bedrooms and extra pick up wherever needed
Kaden was invited to a b-day party for a girl in his preschool. here's the cute little necklace I made here from an old T-shirt and ribbon and beads I already had on hand. :) I got the basic idea from this site - which got it from Anthropologie. :)

haha forgot the goals

2011-01-26T09:00:00.000-08:00

I have so many! So I need to focus on just a few and hopefully they will help other goals fall in place.

First- I need to put in place a routine. It will help me get things done and help Silas sleep.
Mini goals for this goal

1. Get up at 7:30 everyday
2. Take a shower every morning before Matt leaves (getting trickier since he is now working longer hours)
3. Make Silas take a nap in his crib between 9-10. Have to wait for him to get better from his current cold but then it will be tough love time.
4. Make boys pick up playroom twice a day- once before lunch and once before dinner. They can put ongoing projects/games on the shelf to continue to play with them.
5. eat meals/snacks at regular times and clean up right after

Craft Goals to go with this goal

Make a chore chart with my Silhouette that I got for Christmas! Woohoo!

Overall goal
I really like V&Co's choice of the word Healthy. So here's to a Healthy routine with more sleep, more cleanliness, more sanity, and less yelling! I've already accomplished part of my goal by making some doc appts that I needed to make in order to get me physically healthier. Yay! Here's to progress- slow but sure!

Our busy summer and some new goals

2010-10-04T10:00:00.000-07:00

SO .....yeah......

We moved to a new state and then I had a cute baby boy- Silas Malakai.

We think the little man is pretty amazing. We are also loving our bigger place. We have about 500 more sq ft which means that all the rooms are a little bigger and now we have a playroom/craftroom and a tiny office. YAY! Here's a little look at our main rooms...

Some thank you gifts

2010-08-14T06:55:00.000-07:00

I love the assymetrical necklaces! So I made some as thank you gifts for some wonderful ladies that I miss in SoCal.

Silhouette digital cutting machinegiveaway!!!

2010-07-08T15:04:00.000-07:00

Oooooh I hope I get picked! I can think of sooooo many projects to do with this machine! Check it out!!!

Little Birdie Secrets Giveaway

Baby Shower present

2010-02-06T21:27:00.000-08:00

Right now the internet is awash with boy projects and I am loving it!!! Specifcially Made By Rae and Made are having Celebrate the Boy at their blogs. A wonderful lady in my ward is pregnant with twin boys and I had the pleasure of attending her baby shower tonight. It was sooooo nice to have a night out especially after this week of colds. So I made some tie onesies based on this tutorial- Crap I've Made. Mine did not turn out quite as nice. It was fraying around the edges more than i would have liked. The fabric was super cute though and made up a little for my flaws. If/when I do it again I will cut two tie pieces sew it together and then sew it on the onesie. Then there will be nothing to fray and I might leave the bottom half free for baby to chew on. :)

Inspiration! Birthday present...

2010-01-30T22:15:00.000-08:00

My awesome Great-Aunt Sheila turned 70 this last week. We surprised her with a party on Friday night. It was awesome! She was totally surprised by both the party and her brother and sister-in-law. It was one of the first parties I've gone to with the boys and I didn't have to worry about them the whole time! I checked on them periodically, of course, but they played happily upstairs with the other kids and there were enough big kids(several over 12) keeping an eye on the little ones that I didn't have to worry at all. I loved it. I'll miss it when our next little peeber comes along in July and I have one that I have to keep a constant eye on again. At least they are cute so they are fun to watch. :) Anyway I wanted to make something special for my Great- Aunt because she truly is great. They are our closest family here and they have adopted us and made us feel totally welcome. I've been loving the look of all the ruffles and flowers and vintagey stuff I've been seeing on the internet in clothing and decor and accessories. So I decided to see if I could imitate something. I got my inspiration from this wonderful Etsy seller, You are my Sunshine. Here's an example of my inspiration- That 70's necklace. I love everything about that necklace, brightness and all. For my Aunt I went with her favorite color- pink. I actually don't have a photo of the one that I made for her but I made another for a Mom in my mom's group who is having a birthday party in two weeks. I made hers in purple since that's her fave color. It was fun to experiment with jewelry making and I feel like I was pretty successful.

I learned how to make the flowers on Little Birdie Secrets. I think I need to make one for myself now. :)

Christmas present projects

2010-01-17T19:12:00.000-08:00

Here they are. It seems like I did so much more! I certainly was strained for time at the end. I think it seemed like so much because of the repetition. For example I did four of the nephew presents and have two more under way for my own sons that didn't get done by Christmas.

Nephew present is a smaller variation of this:
JCaroline
I got some micro machines to go with it since the roads are small.

It rolls up and ties so it can be taken with to church or wherever little hands might need some entertainment.

Niece present:
I was going to do this with a few changes and peg people to go with it:
http://www.cookiemag.com/magazine/blogs/nesting/2008/02/diy-dollhouse.html
but I decided to do that for next year so I can take more time with it and deck it out nice.
And I made them this this year:
Little Birdie Secrets
my frames aren't as cute but they'll work...

and for my littlest niece:
I followed this idea: Smashed Peas and Carrots

Flannel on one side and minky on the other. It is supposed to be a giraffe but it came out more of an indeterminate animal.
For My Mom-in-law I bought this pattern on Etsy and made her this bag:
Ali Foster
Great easy to follow pattern. I think next time I make it I will make the handle longer- but that's just personal preference. I like cross body bags.

For my mom and sister I made tree pendants... I just kind of winged it though I'm sure I was inspired by wire wrap pendants I've seen before...

I was pleased with the way it turned out.

I made a couple other things but I didn't take photos of them so... they'll just be left out.

Currently I am working on a present for my niece Makayla for her B-day and then I will be working on a present for my niece Cheyenne. Sadly they will be very late b-day presents but hopefully they will make up for it in their coolness. :)

Progress

2010-01-15T11:44:00.000-08:00

So the week started off slowly due to the Stomach flu hitting Asher and I over the weekend. Even so I managed to start to put a daily routine in place. My kitchen has been clean more this week than in a long time. As the week ends I feel myself losing momentum and motivation. Matt will have this weekend off but then he may be working 7 day weeks for the next three weeks. This will be a true test of my endurance with my goals.

To keep me on track I need to:
Make a checklist of chores for the week.
Go to bed earlier
Catch up on my laundry

I am pregnant with our third. :) Which means I have less energy... which also means it's important that I concentrate that energy wisely. If I keep up this mild routine I will have more energy to focus on having fun with the kids and I will be able to take a day here or there to relax without the whole house falling into disaster. I have definitely seen the benefits of the routine over the last week. Just gotta keep that momentum going!

New Year's Resolutions

2010-01-09T18:35:00.001-08:00

So obviously I tapered off in my posts last year. I just didn't make things simple enough I guess. And I am lazy. I did continue throughout the year to work at my goals and they were not an entire failure but I certainly wasn't consistent. So this year I thought I would build some consistency. Here is the basic routine so that I will get some basics done around here!

Morning routine
Make bed
Shower
Matt: sweep floors, empty dishwasher, take out trash/recycling
D: make breakfast, wipe counters and table, fill up dishwasher, clean bathroom, prepare for dinner

Afternoon routine (or midday more like- during Asher's nap most likely)
Do a weekly chore(ie laundry, menu planning, etc...)
Do a monthly chore( ie clean out the fridge, clean the baseboards, vacuum under the couches)
Declutter monthly focus area
Evening routine:
An hour before Matt gets home pick up all toys, then boys can watch one show- every other day it should be a shorter show and they will take a bath(while I clean the bathroom).
Matt: put food away, sweep, make lunch
D: do dishes, wipe counters and table

So I think this is a reasonable routine. Once we get the hang of it I won't feel like I am cleaning all day long(I have a lot of catching up to do!) and I will enjoy Matt's participation. His responsibilities have not increased too much but it will be of great help to me to have us cleaning together. We've been kind of easing into it and I think it will work. Tomorrow will be the first full day of trying it fully. It will have to adjust depending on Matt's hours but this should work for the job he has starting tomorrow. I will have to adjust and pick up when he can't due to long hours. Hopefully I can overcome my rebellious attitude toward cleaning and make a nice home for us.

My other goal is to do more projects and preschool time with the boys as well as at least one play date a week.

My plan and routine is inspired by this site: Just Mommies

There are days on her monthly calendar that are catch up days. If I am all caught up then I will reward myself by doing a craft on those days. :) Now there's motivation for me to stay caught up, right? I have a huge list of crafts I need to do!

Penultimate Page and Dark Faerie tales and The Dark Divine

2009-11-11T08:17:00.000-08:00

Penultimate Pag e is a blog by a 16 year old girl about YA ficition and cupcakes! Does it get better than that? Yummy! Currently she is holding a contest for The Dark Divine which as you know by now was written by a former roommate of mine, Bree Despain. I would love to read this book before it comes out! It would just be too cool! So go become a follower of Penultimate Page and comment I referred you on the contest page. Penultimate Page is doing the NaNoWriMo challenge. The goal is to write a novel (approximately 50,000 words) in 30 days. I am impressed and tempted to try it next year.

Dark Faerie Tales has an awesome interview with Bree and also a giveaway of an ARC. Dark Faerie Tales has great interviews with other YA authors as well and a great review of Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick. Check it out!

switch to cloth?

2009-11-10T08:59:00.000-08:00

My little Asher Basher has eczema. It seems to flare up with various foods he eats and maybe because of his diapers. I switched him to some huggies pure and naturals for a month and his eczema started clearing up. He went back to the normal huggies and his eczema started acting up again. I did my best to not change other things (I lotioned him the same, didn't change his diet). We have switched back to the pure and naturals again to test the theory some more. My guess it is a fragrance or something that is causing the eczema to act up. Or maybe I did change more things than I realized... we'll see. The Pure and Naturals cost twice as much as our other diapers so I am thinking maybe we will switch to cloth? It sounds like a huge expensive pain but cloth diapering has come a long way in the last 30 years so it is easier than it used to be. It will definitely be motivation to potty train! And may even help with potty training. And it's good for the environment. And in the long run it is cheaper so if I get the hang of it I can do it with the next baby.

So now the trick is... what system do I get/try? I like the idea of the gdiapers or the Grobaby diaper systems that are hybrid. They offer both flushable inserts and cloth inserts. I've read that the gdiapers have a harder learning curve and are leakier until you get the hang of it. The grobaby version seems newer and more popular but I think they are pricier too. I've also read that the flushable inserts are more gross to deal with than the cloth but the cloth aren't absorbent enough for night time. I've read where people use the gdiaper cover with bumgenius microfiber inserts and a layer of fleece over that (microfiber is too absorbent and will suck needed moisture off of the skin too but the fleece protects from that). I'd like something not too bulky since he is a toddler and moving around a ton. Any recommendations? So many decisions!

So the very day I thought about switching to cloth Little Birdie Secrets offered a Cloth diaper giveaway! A gift certificate to Great Lakes Diaper Company. Woohoo! This would be a great opportunity for me to get some Grobaby or Fuzzibuns to try! Go check out the options at Great Lakes Diaper company- as I said- Cloth diapers have come a long way.

The Top Half of the Costume!

2009-11-01T22:54:00.000-08:00

I finished it on time! :) It really is not a hard costume to make. I was a little worried about Asher wearing it but he had no problems with it! He didn't really wear the hood up but I wasn't really expecting that anyway.

Like the sweatpants I started with a hoodie I got from a second hand store for 3 bucks:

I drew scallops on the felt using the same cup for a template. Cut them out and glued them on.

After about this point I couldn't glue it along the whole hoodie anymore. I did short separate pieces in just the front on either side of the zipper and on the back. Then I cut out individual colored scales like I did for the back and glued those randomly- or where I need to hid imperfections. I also cut out eyes and eyelids and glued those on the hood. Oh and I lined the front of the hood with white triangles for teeth.

The finished hood... and now for the final project on the little boy who wouldn't stay still and liked to stomp in his costume.

Stomp Stomp Stomp!!!

I really think felt and hot glue guns are really cool inventions. :) Hope you had a happy Halloween!

Dragon Costume continued

2009-11-01T22:37:00.000-08:00

Let's start with the Wings:

I started with your basic dollar store fairy wings(You could also bend a metal hanger to the shape you want). Definitely too girly for my boy dragon but they have a nice wire frame to work with. I noticed that the red fabric that was covering the wings looked a lot like nylons so I checked the Dollar store for nylons without gold glitter flowers on them. I found these silver ones.

So I cut off all of the red and recovered my fairy wigs in Silver shimmer.

Basically I just tied them on- nice and easy. And yet... they still look too much like fairy wings. So I looked up some dragon wings on-line and I realized that I should get rid of the bottom wings and make the top wings more jagged.

There's a sneak peek at the pants. :) So you see I have bent the wire to be more angular and gotten rid of the bottom wings. Since this is a costume for an 18 month old the size of the wings should be perfect. Next I used embroidery floss to accentuate the sharpness of the angles and keep the nylons from being too loosy goosy.

Hopefully if you click on the photos you can see it better... I pinned the wings on the back of the costume.

Dragon Costume... Pants

2009-10-26T20:36:00.001-07:00

Begin with sweat pants. I found these for 3.50 at Target.

I used a 16 oz red plastic cup to trace around and make the scallops for my dragon scales. Don't worry about them being exactly the same size since you want some variety. Then I hot glue gunned the scallops on- wrapping them around the leg as I went.

After I had wrapped the scalloped felt around all of the pants I added in contrasting scales in neon green, blue, and purple. I just cut out random scale like shapes and glued them in as randomly as possible- I put same colors next to each other on purpose so it would look more random. Ironic isn't it?

fun, right? Next for the tail! I forgot to take pictures of this process but here's a basic description.

I cut out three triangles. I angled it so the part of the triangle that was at the top of the pants is longer so the tail angles downward. I machine sewed the triangles together. I put beans in the bottom to weigh it down but I don't think it needed it. I stuffed the rest with polyfil and handsewed it on to the pants.

The back view of the pants and here's my little guy wearing them! I'm so excited! Now I just need to do the top! Stay tuned!

Two more months!

2009-10-23T16:19:00.000-07:00

And then Bree's book comes out. I am drooling in anticipation. You can read the first chapter of The Dark Divine here. And you really must check out her current contest for a name for The Dark Divine sequel. She is giving away wonderful new signed YA books in exchange for comments, suggestions, and publicity. She is also looking for street team members! So read her first chapter, comment on her blog and join her street team 'cause her book is going to be AWESOME just like she is. (And yes, I know her personally so I can say that truthfully)
I should scan in some photos of us from college for you to see. LOL. :)

Asher's Dragon costume!

2009-10-18T19:10:00.000-07:00

I found a cool knight costume for Kaden at Costco. It was 20 bucks but it was so cool and came with so many parts I decided to get it anyway. I am hoping that it will be a dress up costume that the boys wear for play. Kaden loves the idea of it and wore it when we first brought it home... now though he refuses to wear it and I am wondering if I will be lucky enough to get him in it for Halloween. I think he will get the 20 bucks of use out of the sword and hopefully Asher will be more willing to wear the costume when he is big enough. And who knows, there is enough length in the knight costume that Kaden can have the opportunity to wear it for the next two years. :)

Isn't it awesome?! I hope he starts to wear it... Anyway. I decided to make a costume for Asher. He is going to be a dragon to go with Kaden's Knight. I am just in the beginning stages of this project so I thought I would document the journey. This is my first time trying to make an elaborate costume.
So first here is my inspiration for the dragon.

I saw this amazing costume on Little Birdie Secrets and thought that the felt feathers would make great Dragon scales!
Etsy Owl Costume by Lollapanoplies
Isn't that and amazing costume!

I searched Etsy for dragon tails and wings. I found lots of tails and this dino hoodie.
Dragon Tail and Wings by Contrive
Monster zip Hoodie by LittleAngelsJewelry

Yesterday I went in search of supplies to help me create this costume.

I found a hoodie at a second hand shop for 3 bucks.
I will use hand me down sweats we already have on hand.
I found fairy wings at the dollar store with a good metal frame that I will recover to make Dragon wings.
I found silver nylons to recover the fairy wings and the dollar store too.
Felt (eco felt- so it's made from recycled bottles) 1 yard in green and 6 9x12 sheets in neon green, blue, and purple (for accents)
I already have fiber fill to fill the tail and I think I will fill the end of the tail with beans to weight it down (this I will have to experiment with and tweak)

So after all the time and effort and supplies I buy it will be at least 20 bucks but it is oh so fun to be crafty and try to figure all of this out. I am hopeful that it will be a pretty cool costume too! :) Pictures to come as I start putting stuff together!

Kaden is obsessed with Super Mario

2009-10-16T18:32:00.000-07:00

Smash brothers to be exact. He carries the game around with him everywhere (even sleeps with it at night). He "reads" the booklet that came with the game over and over. This mostly consists of him repeating the names of the characters over and over or him asking the names of the characters. He is now pretend friends with all of the video game guys. They ride in his carseat with him and help him fight bad guys and save people everywhere. They are even willing to get Mommy for putting him in time out(I'm not so happy about this one). He has quite the imagination now and it is fun to hear him tell the story of the Super Smash Brother's game. The other day he begged me to play the game with him. I told him he had to wait for Dada because I don't know how to play(sad I know). He told me, "It's easy. You just walk and fight bad guys." I replied, "I don't know which buttons to push." He replied, "You press A." LOL Crazy kid just might know how to play! Every time we go anywhere Kaden asks me if there are Super Mario Smash Brothers Video Game Guys where we are going. It doesn't matter where we are going- the library, a friends' house, the park, Target....I always tell him no. He always replies, "I think they do, Mama." Sweet boy. So after hearing this everyday all day long I decided he needed some Super Smash Brother's Video Game Guys to play with. So I drew Mario and Princess Peach (yeah, I know they are amazing!)

Then Kaden drew some of his own. Up until now his drawings have mostly been scribbles. Once or twice he has drawn something that looked like what it was but generally scribbles and the occasional misshapen circle. Now he can make people!!! :) I am so excited for him to enter this stage of drawing and so is he. He made himself Wario and Pit, complete with wings. Diddy Kong, Wacario, and Princess Zelda on the bottom left. Donkey Kong on the bottom right. I'm so impressed with my new little artist!

Choice Humanitarian

2009-10-11T14:14:00.000-07:00

About nine and a half years ago I began one of the hardest and best journeys of my life. I served an eighteen month long mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Houston, TX. I spent the first 9 weeks of that journey learning Spanish and studying the most basic beliefs (and really the most important i.e. the Atonement) at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, UT. Then I was sent to Houston where I met my Training Companion and my Mission President. It was a wonderful time of study and prayer and focus and a difficult time of study and prayer and focus. It was a roller coaster of rejection and acceptance. I am forever grateful for my time serving as a missionary. My testimony of the Love our Heavenly Father and Savior have for us increased exponentially. My Mission President was Dr James B. Mayfield. He is a truly remarkable man. He inspired us as missionaries to set goals, to achieve goals, to work hard, to study hard, and be faithful. Long before he was my Mission President, he helped to start a non profit group focused on ending poverty by providing people with tools/skills and resources and leadership. That group is Choice Humanitarian. They have chosen to honor him for his dedication with a Fundraising Gala in November. He has asked all of his missionaries to attend. I'm not sure if that will work for my family at this time (we just found out today and haven't had time to discuss it yet) but I will be working to donate to his organization. From what I have read on their website I believe that Choice Humanitarian is educating and empowering people and I want to be a part of that. Please check out their website and see if it is a charity that you would also like to support. If you will be in Salt Lake City on November 14th consider buying a ticket to the Gala. For more info go to Choice Humanitarian. and the Gala/donating site.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs After Party

2009-10-06T12:41:00.000-07:00

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs party! Look for my husband's name(Matt Wheeler) in the credits under lighters and Compositers. :) I totally recommend seeing the movie in 3D- it's amazing! Here's what we did:

Decor
I kept it pretty simple. I got blue plastic table cloths and white plates so they kind of looked like a sky with clouds.

Matt got some stuffed animals from the premiere- a rat bird and a Steve. And we had two toys from a trip to Burger King.

We gave my Dad a framed Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs poster for his Media Room for his b-day so we used that too.
Menu
Main dish
Italian meatballs (with spaghetti (or shapes pasta for the kids) or dinner rolls and mozzarella for mini subs) LOVE blog chef for recipes- always simple and yummy
Sweet and Sour Meatballs (with rice) LOVE My Kitchen Cafe- also always simple and yummy. I made LOTS of extra sauce for these
Swedish meatballs (from Ikea with their special gravy :) )

sides
Salad
French fries
Fruit (current favorites- nectarines, grapes, apples...)
Ruffles chips with french onion dip
Plus rice and pasta and rolls as mentioned above

Dessert
Brownies (Matt's fave for his b-day)
And Jello done in a jello mold like the hotel in the movie (forgot to get this out of the fridge)
assorted candies including Gummi Bears- (when you see the movie you'll see why)

Activities:
I totally wussed out on these! I am so disappointed in myself since really this is what a party should be about (for the kids anyway). We did a few things but not food oriented like I had originally planned.

Finger painting

playing with toys downstairs (we made a slide out of our old Quadro set- some day when I have a house I want one of these! Even though it is now 25 years old everything came apart and went together really easily.)

This photo was taken earlier in the day but you get the point- kids love it!
Coloring Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs coloring pages (Matt got a book from the premiere)
played a few games outside (classics like Chase the Uncle and duck duck goose (which turned into Chase the Aunt since they didn't get that only one person was supposed to chase when she said goose. :) )

Family photos to spell out We Love You Grandma!

We used the activities to send a care package to Matt's Grandma Wheeler. We sent her photos of family groups holding the signs We Love You Grandma! and I cut up a section of the fingerpainting to make a large card- everyone wrote a short message on the back of it. We also sent her some Cloudy Coloring pages and some crayons.

I had wanted to have the kids paint with apples, oranges, and potatoes. But I was a slacker about it. I also wanted to do a pin the meatball on the city game but I never made the game. See total slacker! Well it did take me awhile to put the slide together- even though it was easy it was a long process.

Party favors for the kids
Punch Balloons- these are the coolest things ever! Last a lot longer than balloons- you can blow them up several times and kids LOVE them!
Water bombs from the dollar spot at Target
Felt Apples that I hand-sewed (I was too ambitious and didn't quite finish these but they are still cute) pattern from Umecrafts on Etsy

Smocks for painting (I made these from pillowcases- you can see them on the kids in the fingerpainting photos)
A toy dinosaur from the dollar spot at Target for the baby cousin

It was great fun! Everyone there was family so everyone was happy to just hang out or to help out. Now I know for the next party- don't procrastinate! HaHa I guess I already knew that. I found and had lots of great ideas that I didn't get to do because I waited too long. This year for Kaden's birthday I think we are going to give him a real party so I am starting to gather ideas now(His b-day is in Feb). :) Maybe then I will get all my ideas done!

Check out Read Bree and a few photos

2009-09-23T09:00:00.000-07:00

Bree is giving away autographed books(including some Shannon Hale- I just read ummm... 5 of her books- totally awesome!) plus she has links to other sites who are giving away her book! Go to Read Bree now! Asher wants to read all the books!

So we've been out of town and out of it for awhile now. Here are some photos of my cute boys having fun in WA. It's gorgeous up here and having family close by is amazing and we wish we could stay but that doesn't seem to be where we are supposed to be right now. We'll be back in CA very soon.
Oh and I did a Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs party for Matt's birthday. We went and saw it in 3D- including his name in the credits under Lighting and Compositing(Matthew Thomas Wheeler). Then we had the party which was great fun! Matt went to the premiere in CA and brought back a few cool goodies. I'll post pics soon.

once again awesomeness!

2009-08-26T08:40:00.001-07:00

Bree has an amazing giveaway on her blog Read Bree. You really must go and CHECK it out! To go along with her book she now has nail polish! Nail Polish to go along with her book! That is so awesome. You can read the first chapter of her book on her site too. You simply must go and see and sign up! Only 4 months left until it comes out!

Menu plan Monday

2009-06-08T15:50:00.000-07:00

Monday- bbq at the park- I will bring this Chinese Chicken Salad
Tuesday- Bourbon Chicken
Wednesday- probably mac n cheese with the boys - if I get fancy I'll make this delish version
I just got called to work with the young women in my church and we have our first activity on Wed.
Thurs- Raclette skillet (chicken marinated in italian dressing and cooked with green peppers and monterey jack cheese- served over rice)
Fri- steak in the crockpot- probably the basic cream of mushroom or onion soup variety- though maybe I will switch this with Wed....
Sat- eat out
Sun- Baked Ziti- as long as it is not too hot

Featuring the Letter I

2009-05-25T00:20:00.000-07:00

So this week we will feature the letter I in our activities. I words that I came up with to highlight this letter were : Imagine, Ice, Ice cream, Ironman, Imitate, and I like...

Here are the activities that we will do to go along with each of these words:

Ice Cream: Make homemade ice cream with this recipe. Make this I from this post.

Imagine: Tell stories with Kaden. Every night he tells his Dad a story that usually goes something like this: "Once upon a time there was a boy named Kaden. He liked to play with his Dada. They went to Target to look at Toys. They saw a dinosaur, some cars, and helicopters, and Ninja Turtles." So we will expand on this. I'll introduce some new half sentences to him and have him fill in the blanks.

Ironman: So this reminded me of an ironman marathon that my BIL was in a few years ago. I think I will make an obstacle course for Kaden to go through. Maybe I will have Matt hose off the plastic pool so I can use that as part of it too. :)

Imitate: So we might try some Simon Says- though I am not sure if he will get it. We will do some pretend you are this or that animal. That he gets and enjoys. We have some animal cards so I will use those to pick the animal at random.

I like: I will interview Kaden about things he likes and scrapbook the list for posterity. :)

Ice: This activity or this one or both...

I will take suggestions... any other I words you can think of? Any activities to teach the phonics of the letter I? He recognizes the letter fine and connects some words with it but he doesn't know sounds yet.

Bree's got more Awesomeness on her site

2009-05-23T00:21:00.000-07:00

My former roomate is publishing her first book in 8 months!!!! wow! To celebrate she is hosting giveaways on the 22nd of every month until then. woohoo! The first one started today(I guess technically yesterday). Go check it out and sign up to follow her blog. Then leave a comment saying that I sent you so I get more entries in her contest. Her current give away is for YA fiction and I think I went to London with one of the Authors of one of the books she is giving away. It’s a small BYU world. And I was an English major (not that you can tell based on this blog).

Also, you should read Bree’s blog ‘cause her kids are hilarious(or her writing about her kids is hilarious… I think it’s a combo of both). If she has half the imagination that her kids do- well let’s just say her book is going to be Fantabulous! Read Bree!

Boys rule!

2009-05-22T15:22:00.000-07:00

Fabulous Fun Finds is having All Boy giveaways next week!!! Woohoo! Fabulous Fun finds is so much fun. Every day I go there to see what new giveaways they have or if I am a winner. There are no strings attached. You won't get tons of e-mails (unless you choose to sign up for every newsletter of all of the products- but then it's your choice whether it is worth an extra entry for you or not). The products that are highlighted are all drool worthy. Frequently the vendors give coupon codes for their wares as well so if you aren't lucky enough to win you can still get a discount. Check it out!

Goal Check in

2009-05-19T10:40:00.001-07:00

Budget- We go up and down with this one but I am doing better at not shopping for random stuff. I am doing better at cooking from the pantry and using up ingredients. Our biggest weakness is eating out but we are meeting our savings goals(mainly because of all the OT Matt is working). WOOHOO!

Kaden is potty trained so I will change this goal to sleep training Asher. The kid still wakes up every two to four hours. It's driving me batty and makes me grumpy. I am not getting enough sleep and then I use it as an excuse to stay home and watch tv or be on the computer all day. NOT GOOD! This weekend- hopefully he is done with his cold- will be tough love weekend. He can cry cry cry or Matt will pat him on the back but no more mommy milk and snuggles in the middle of the night.

Spiritual- I need to plan my lessons earlier in the week. I have started reading the daily sunday school lesson scriptures again. I rarely stop praying during the day-I always need something(patience and calm!) or I am thankful the boys are asleep, or playing nicely, or asleep. :) I do need to make time for some more thoughtful prayers(ones where I sit and listen too) though instead of all the in the moment ones.

No TV and getting out more with the boys- We tend to get out of the house 4-6 days aweek. So that's pretty good. The Mom's club I joined is wonderful! We love our first five classes! Kaden is doing really well participating in circle time. He still has his freak out moments but they are lessening(at least when it comes to preschool time). Now I need to do more with the boys at home. I think I will plan 4 activities for the boys each day (each activity lasting about 15 minutes each) So between that and us getting out to the park or class we should be doing good. So starting next week I will plan activities and post links here. Check in on me and make sure I follow through!

Cleaning house- man I suck at this one. I have made progress but I still need lots of work. Since Matt is working 6 days a week right now I have hired my cousin's 11 year old daughter as my mother's helper once a week. She comes for two hours and plays with the boys (no tv :) ) while I clean house. Sadly so far I have had to use this time to get my kitchen under control and laundry and so far I have not been able to do further deep cleaning like I had hoped. Today I have made the goal that I will have the dishes and basics done before she gets here so that I can clean out my fridge and mop my floor. I accidentally dumped a bunch of kool aid in my fridge last night so, yeah, it's time for the sticky nasty deep cleaning. And Asher had a blast splashing his juice on the floor on Sunday so it's mop time too. Hiring a mother's helper was the best decision I have made in a long time. She's great with the imaginative play with my boys. I love hearing it as I rush around trying to get everything done. :)

Searching for Summer recipes

2009-05-18T15:47:00.000-07:00

My husband isn't a huge fan of Veggies or Fruit or sandwiches or salads.... So what's good in the summertime? Most people grill but we just have a little tabletop camping grill. I guess I should learn how to use that- it just makes me nervous with my little boys running around. Send me your suggestions for things that don't use the oven and are simple and easy. Here are my ideas that I know my hubby will eat and I can add all the veggies I want to my portion and not his...

Chinese Chicken Salad(with or without potstickers)
Nachos
Tacos
Tostadas
Cafe Rio knock off salad (though I need to learn how to do this in smaller quantities because some always goes to waste)
Sloppy Joes
mac and cheese
bourbon chicken
sweet and sour (hubby will eat carrots and pineapple with this)
Italian chicken

OK that's all I can think of for right now... give me ideas!

Menu Plan Monday

2009-05-18T13:01:00.000-07:00

I better do it or I know we will eat pizza or tacos every day this week. I am getting over a cold and it is crazy hot outside (o.k. so it is normal hot outside- I still don't have to like it) and it's Monday so I have no motivation to do anything! :) I here by make Monday my official down/planning/pick up the weekend disaster slowly day. I give myself permission to be anti-social and stay in my PJs all day. But I do have to spend some of the day planning the rest of the week and cleaning up as payment. So anyway- here's my planning part...

Dinner this week in no particular order:

Curry Chicken Casserole- I keep seeing this one posted on various people's sites with and without the curry- it is a classic. I may have to skip it this week because it is HOT and this requires the oven. But I am craving it....so we'll see... This is the most recent version of it I've seen - it is different than the way I make it but it has basically the same ingredients.

Sweet and sour chicken- I just remembered this one requires the oven too :( Time to figure out my summer menu plan... - I'll probably make the Bourbon Chicken from that same site nstead if I manage to get some apple Juice...

Sloppy Joes and fries

Chinese Chicken Salad using this dressing- phew! this is a good summer one.

Skillet Macaroni and Cheese- this is a new recipe to try for us but it looks yummy and is one the boys will eat too.

Beef Stroganoff- basically hamburger, cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, Montreal Steak seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, and a packet of Taco bell hot sauce mixed together and serve over rice.

So there's seven...

Jpanese fabric giveaway

2009-05-18T08:22:00.000-07:00

I love Crafty Crow for all of their wonderful Kid's Craft Tutorials. Today there is another reason to stop by- Japanese fabric Giveway! Yummy! I love all the funky little characters. So cool and cute! Check it out at Crafty Crow.

Bree has a new website!

2009-04-26T09:35:00.000-07:00

Photo by Chauntelle Janzer of OpieFoto
Go check out her cool new Author website including links to Amazon to preorder her book! Go find out more about her book. Currently she has a Treasure hunt giveaway going on. Today is the last day so hurry over there. She also has awesome tips for aspiring authors. Congrats Bree!

Hi! Miss me?

2009-04-14T15:21:00.000-07:00

I am thinking about what to make for my giveaway winners. Even though there are 6 comments on the post there are actually only 4 takers on the challenge so if you want in on it scroll down and comment. :) There's room for one more but you have to be willing to do it too. Steph, Lisa, Chela, and Melissa will receive something from me sometime in the next year. :) Actually I hope to do them this month. I have ideas for Lisa and Melissa that I just need to follow through on. Steph and Chela give me some hints - colors you love and crafty things you drool over. I will decide from there and hopefully you will like it. And Lisa, I would love to do an exchange with you.

I made this doll a couple of weekends ago when I should have been cleaning house instead. :) We had a birthday party for one of the girls in our playgroup. Then I got my dates mixed up and we missed the party. So what should I do with her? My boys aren't really into stuffed animals or dolls except to chew on their limbs (Asher). Her legs are not quite centered- oops. But otherwise she is pretty cute, if I do say so myself. Does she need a nose?

And I just found out about this awesome giveaway site from one of my old roomates. Enter for the giveaways or if you sell your craftiness giveaways like this one is a great way to promote your shop. Check it out at Fabulous Fun Finds.

Meet the Wonderful, Talented, and Beautiful Bree Despain

2009-03-30T20:56:00.000-07:00

Back in the day, I attended BYU. I lived in the same area (ward) for most of my time there. It was a blast. I love the memories I have of my time there and I love the people I met. I currently love Facebook for reconnecting me with many of those friends. It's so cool to see pictures of their kids and hear what they are doing now.
Bree was one of my roomates. We enjoyed many a Quantum Leap rerun while she taught me to appreciate pasta from a box and real fresh grated Mozzarella. I also enjoyed hearing her tell me about a Young Adult fiction book she was writing.
Fast forward about 10 years and we reconnect on Facebook just in time for me to hear her most AWESOME news! She sold her first book and an option for a second yet unwritten book! Here's her BIO and a synopsis of her book The Dark Divine . It's not the same book she told me about when we were students but it sounds incredible! She is extremely creative and talented and I can't wait to read it. I'm going to suggest it for my book club. :) Her book will come out about this time next year (which is fast in the publishing world).
While we wait for her wonderful book we can read her blog. Her current post is an amazing giveaway especially if you are a YA fiction lover like I am. Go check it out at Confessions of a Mere Mortal . Enter her giveaway and be sure to let her know that you found her through me so that I can get more entries. :)
Woohoo! Congrats Bree! I am so excited for you! You deserve a following. :)

Lime Ricki and 30 days Giveaway

2009-03-24T18:35:00.000-07:00

Lime Ricki is an awesome swimsuit shop with cute MODEST swimsuits. It is nearly impossible to find that combo Cute and Modest. After having two kids I definitely need both to convince myself to appear in a swimsuit in public. And the heat here in So Cal sees us at the beach or the pool as much as possible in the summer. I need to win the giveaway at 30 days! Go check out the giveaway and the swimsuits! They are awesome! Make sure you say I referred you because then I get more entries!!!!

My friend is published on All Recipes!

2009-03-09T20:43:00.000-07:00

HeeHee. My good friend Jess and her husband posted this recipe for Graham Crusted Pork Chops on All Recipes. I haven't tried it yet, I need to get some Graham Crackers. It is going on the menu plan very soon. If you try it before me be sure to post your review at All Recipes too. It needs some reviews so more people will try it. :) I trust Jess and the ingredients look good. Go try it!!!

Giveaway from ME and a twist

2009-02-26T13:00:00.000-08:00

The first five people...
to leave a comment on this blog will receive something made by me.
However there are some limitations:

1. I make no guarantee that you will like what I make :)
2. What I create will be just for you
3. It will be done within a year (might take a while)
4. You have no clue what it is going to be
5. I reserve the right to do something really fun

Here the catch: if you choose to do this, you must post this on your blog and be ready to make something for five people too. This will be fun! When you receive the fabulous item I make you, you must post a picture of it on your blog.

I signed up on Sarah's blog. So I get something too!

Kaden is 3!

2009-02-23T22:28:00.000-08:00

I know you are waiting with baited breath to discover if I managed to potty train him! :) LOL! The answer would be yes and no.
Some days are perfect, some nights too, and some are not. Yesterday, his third birthday was perfect- no accidents. Last night, one accident. Today, 4 accidents (one during naptime). So..... I thought he was trained. I still think he is trained. He's just lazy some days or distracted. Right?

Happy Valentine's day!

2009-02-13T11:42:00.001-08:00

Got the idea from Odd Girl Out? Used photos that my Mom and I took on trips to the LA and Seattle zoos. K is obsessed with animals so I thought this was perfect for him. Hope you have a Happy V-day! We are going out!!!!! Without the kids!!!! :)

posted my super bowl menu

2009-02-13T09:12:00.000-08:00

find it here.

Giveaway!

2009-02-12T14:33:00.000-08:00

I love giveaways! I was recently a winner for the first time ever! I won a FQ pack from Sewmamasew that I can't wait to receive! They are doing FQ giveaways every week over there so check them out. Even better they are posting a whole month of Tutorials of what to do with your FQs. I think I may need to make myself a purse and a wallet and maybe some slippers... so maybe I'll have to buy some more FQS to supplement the 6 they are sending me. :) I am VERY excited! Check out SewMamaSew and see what they are making.

But that's not all folks! I am trying my luck in another giveaway at Domestic Anarchy . Her family could use some positive thoughts and prayers too. She's got some really cool felt cell kits that would be great for a summer project with the kids or for homeschoolers. Check her out and leave a comment to win a mini jelly roll of Red, Pink, and White fabric. Tell her I sent you and she'll enter my name twice! So many fun projects to do!

Update on Goals

2009-02-09T21:43:00.000-08:00

Scrapbook page made with Karla Marano's February 365 kit available at KKD or Divine Digital- both are in my sidebar.

Goals...
Budget- we are still spending too much on food but we are meeting our savings goals as of January.
Menu planning- I have done it I just forgot to post.
Not watching TV and doing other activities- We are still watching too much TV but we are watching less. We are doing lots of activities! Park, Kids club at the mall, Chuck E Cheese, Farmer's Market, letter craft projects, dancing/jumping on an extra crib mattress, playing with cars and animal figurines, flashcards....
Cleaning house- Still need tons of work here. I am doing better at getting the front room tidier each night. Not perfect but better. I give myself this week of focusing on just that and then I will add the bathroom next week. I think there will always be some toys out in the front room - at least until Asher starts going to bed earlier. But at least I am vacuuming regularly and cleaning out extra toys regularly. That counts as clean right? I do have some more photos. I tend to do better at the beginning of the week and terrible on the weekends. I always think I will do better on the weekends since Matt is home to help... yeah... not so much...

Upshot... We are making progress.

Any Quilters reading my blog ever?

2009-02-06T19:37:00.000-08:00

Or if you aren't a quilter you can donate fabric or money to this cause. American Hero Quilts gives quilts to wounded American soldiers at Fort Lewis' Madigan Hospital. According to their site an average of 10 wounded soldiers arrive there each week. American Hero Quilts has the goal to welcome each of them with a "hug" in the form of a patriotic quilt. Check out their website and how you can help to honor the soldiers who are protecting our freedom.

American Hero Quilts

And if you live in Washington:

Feed the Hungry

2009-02-05T17:02:00.000-08:00

Go to Ohana Mama and find out how you can help feed the hungry by simply taking a photo and commenting. Also check out Quaker Oats Facebook page- enter a upc code from one of their products on the page and help feed the hungry that way. (They also have a valid code on the page you can enter if you don't have any of their products.)

super bowl menu

2009-02-04T23:44:00.000-08:00

So you want to know what we finally decided to eat?

steak bites
buffalo chicken bites- basically marinated chicken in butter aand hot sauce- yummy
potato skins
mozzarella sticks- used string cheese sticks - dipped in egg mixture then flour then egg then breadcrumbs.

Meat/cheese/crackers
chips and french onion dip
A&W Root Beer (our current family addiction)

It was yummylicious! For the first time we ate nothing frozen (well, the chicken and steak were frozen but we bought them fresh) . For the first time we didn't overbuy. We focused on what we really wanted and made just that. Truly excellent.

Lessons in Diligence, Patience, and Consistency

2009-02-02T15:34:00.000-08:00

Potty training is the most intense lesson I have ever had in my life when it comes to diligence, patience, and consistency. If I fail in those three things then I have a big mess to clean up. More and more this life with kids is pushing me toward a life with a schedule and a structure in order to make life easier. I resist mainly because I am lazy. I don't have a vendetta against structure or think it destroys creativity. I think that if it is done right it will encourage creativity (not crazy no flexibility schedule) . It doesn't come to me naturally. Naturally I am lazy. Kids are designed for a schedule. They need to be fed every blah blah blah; they need to be changed every blah blah blah;they need to be cleaned up after every meal; they need to sleep such and such hours broken into blocks throughout the day and night. They do well with a schedule. That doesn't mean we have to do the same thing every day- there should be blocks of free play time and days where the schedule just doesn't fit (Sunday Kaden doesn't get a nap because of church). I need to conform to their schedule in general because then I will take better care of all of us.

So By the end of last week I had Kaden going #2 in the potty. I brought his potty chair in the front room in the morning until he goes #2 and then it goes back in the bathroom for the rest of the day. The weekend totally threw us off so we started over again today. He is beginning to resist going to the potty again even though he can. (On Friday we went out and he stayed dry the whole three hours we were gone or he told the sitter to take him not sure which) He went #2 on the potty fine this morning and then later I had to carry him kicking and screaming to the potty later. He lied to me about going in the potty and wet his pants about 5 minutes later. I can't let this become a power struggle. So I have to be patient. And diligent. And clean up messes. I have to be consistent. He can't wear pull ups except for sleeping or going out. He is good at keeping them dry and will ask to go to the potty while wearing them but he slowly becomes too comfortable in them and will use them for #2. He knows they are almost a diaper. So they have to be limited and eventually eliminated. soon.

So much to learn...

Craving the fabric in this giveaway!

2009-01-28T15:58:00.000-08:00

Check out Crafty Crow for the details! It's for a gift card to this Etsy shop ThisandThatFromJapan.
I love the colorful Robots, and Spacewalk, and so many more of the awesome fabric in this shop. Want to get me a valentine's gift? Mother's day gift? Birthday gift? A gift certificate to this shop would be great!

The other fabric I really want? Twiggy forest sky by Sanae at Sew Mama Sew. I think it needs to be part of a duvet I want to make for our bedroom someday...

Scrapbook pages! and New Year's Goals!

2009-01-27T14:45:00.000-08:00

All scrapbook pages made using Karla Marano's January 365 kit
Currently selling for $2.00 at Divine Digital

Bet you thought I forgot about my goals and taking pictures of my messy house, right? Nope. I just thought I'd post them a week at a time. I have even decided to scrap my journey. Gotta give myself lots of accountability. I have also decided to do one room at a time and add a new rom to focus om every two weeks. building habits is the goal. I am starting with the front room. This room gathers toys, clothes, trash, ellectronics... So the goal is to have kaden help pock up betwee toy choices and do one final clean up as part of the bedtime or DH coming home routine. This room should be emptied out and vaccumed each night. I need to find a place for blankets. As you can see my progress is the front room has been middling so far. I cleaned it up really well for the first photo shoot day. Then the next day I did laundry all day and ended up with some not put away at the end of the day. But most of the laundry was gone by the next day so I consider that a success. :)

What should I consider cheating for my goals? LOL! As long as I am actually cleaning then it's not cheating. I can't just move things out of the way and take the picture. I have to put it in its proper room. Sometimes just getting it in the correct room is all I can handle right now. But that is ok for now. Once I've added the proper room to my list of "to dos" those piles will show up and I will find new homes for them. For example, I am discovering that I have too many blankets in my front room. Only two are ever in use at once- so I need to find a place for the rest so they can rotate in when the others go out for laundry. :)

SoCal Photographer giveaway

2009-01-27T13:22:00.000-08:00

Go to Thirty Handmade Days for all of the details. If you win and can't use it, I'll take it!

Why I don't trust the media

2009-01-22T20:48:00.000-08:00

"The entertainment industry is facing challenges from declining DVD sales and box office attendance and the digital transformation of broadcast television.

Yearly box office ticket sales fell 0.4 percent in 2008 to $9.6 billion from $9.7 billion, while the number of tickets sold fell 4.8 percent, according to industry tracker Box Office Mojo.

Harold Vogel, an analyst with Vogel Capital Management, said the long-held view that entertainment is recession-proof no longer holds true." By Sue Zeidler "Oscar nominations come in tough week for Hollywood" Reuters

So read all the hype and then read the numbers and you will see what is wrong. The money earned fell by .4% Ooooooh scary massive downturn! The number of tickets sold fell by significantly more- 4.8%...Why the big difference? They RAISED prices. They raised them so much that it almost made up for the downturn in attendance. Hmmmm... so did the recession cause the lower attendance or did the higher prices? Seriously, I think they are overreacting. Actually, I read an article a couple weeks ago that used the same percentages to say that the Entertainment industry is pretty recession proof. Check it out I found the other article written on Jan 4th, 2009 - "Box Office Resists Recession" . Don't you love spin? I am so sick of the doom and gloom because, really, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Keep going to the movies, folks. My DH works in the Entertainment industry and we like him employed. :)

Project 365

2009-01-22T19:27:00.000-08:00

This was my house on Jan 20th. A mess. There's folded clean laundry on the couch. And piles of clutter on every surface. Not keeping my New Year's resolution to keep the house cleaner so well... In my defense we were without a dishwasher for over a week and then after that kids and I got sick and DH has been working late so.... But enough with the excuses it's time to resolve again...
In scrapbooking they are doing project 365 where you take a photo a day and scrapbook the week. So I have decided to take a photo a day of my new year's resolutions and scrapbook my progress throughout the year. Talk about accountability!!! Should really motivate me. I hope that by the end of the year I will be able to take a photo of any corner of my house without cringing. Baby steps by baby steps.
So I will start with the main living areas of the house- the parts that people see when they come over- that's three rooms- the front room, kitchen, and guest bath. My goal is to have them presentable and find better organizational systems for them/get rid of extra stuff.

In my entryway it is time for the changing table to leave- we bought a toy chest at good will that I will refinish and we will put that there. It should be great storage...I just need to decide what will go in it. :) And then not overfill it...

I have two desks one built in and one that is my sewing desk. I don't plan on combining them but I need to utilize them better. So I need to decide on storage solutions for them...

I will keep up on the dishes! I need to catch up first... but then I will keep up!

I will clean my bathroom whenever I give the kids a bath.

Toys will get picked up before Kaden can watch a show while waiting for Dad to come home.

So the bottom three I will do everyday and the top two are weekend projects. Yesterday I charged my battery on my camera...I will post photos from today... a little later. :) I will throw in photos of other resolutions occasionally too.

super bowl menu

2009-01-20T13:35:00.000-08:00

We aren't huge superbowl fans but we love the commercials and the FOOD! In the past e have spent way too much money on appetizers that look better on the box and cause lots of indigestion. So I've been trying to find homemade recipes that will be cheaper and yummier. DH and I don't necessarily agree on what that means but we are working on it...

DH has decided that the most important foods to him are:
sausage and cheese slices
chips and french onion dip
buffalo chicken strips- I've tried making these and the frozen ones are better so far...

He usually likes:
taquitos
sweet and sour meatballs
cocktail weiners

I like:
mozzerella cheese sticks
twice baked potatoes
jalapeno poppers
crackers with fancy cheese spreads
devilled eggs

so I like cheesy and he likes beefy/meaty.

So here are the recipes I want to try:
BLT wraps I will love these. My DH- not so much he won't like anything but the bacon and cheese salsa- he's not a veggie man
steak bites
pineapple meatballs
potato skins
mozzarella sticks
I want to make some jalapeno popper wontons too...

I'll let you know what we pick for sure... and what was delicious!

Potty Training SUCCESS!!!

2009-01-15T17:50:00.000-08:00

Yesterday and today we have stayed home and Kaden's been running around half naked. Every hour I make Kaden sit on his potty and every hour he has peed. At naptime and at night he wears a pull up because I just don't have the energy to deal with sleep time accidents. Kaden has only had one accident and blessedly it was in the kitchen on our linoleum floor. Easy peasy clean up. The real success has been that he has pooped in his potty twice now- once yesterday and once today. And he has been the one to recognize and signal that he needed to go on the potty both of those times. He has headed to the potty on his own without prompting three times now. Woohoo Progress!!!

This weekend we plan to have him clothed and continue the potty training so hopefully we will be diaper free by Monday! I am worried about public restrooms and all that good stuff... any suggestions? I think I may bring his potty with us and have him go in the van unless we are somewhere with a kid friendly toilet? Do places have those? Many of the parks we go to don't have restrooms so... Eventually he won't have to go every hour right? He can hold it longer now but he tends to have an accident if I don't make him go every hour. When do you taper off and just let them go when they feel like it- except for before bed or trips and such? What's my next step beyond clothes? :)

Menu planning

2009-01-11T21:39:00.000-08:00

It's the best! Last week was full of yummy dinners and less stress because of it. I'm not sure why it's such huge relief but it is. I went grocery shopping on Fri. so that we would have less errands to run on Sat. But I didn't meal plan before I went- not smart. I stuck to staples for the most part and I brought coupons so I didn't go overbudget but I could have done a lot better if I had had a list and a plan. I think I threw a few too many - "oh, let's try that" things in the cart. SO this week in no particular order we will have...

lasagna- thought I would try Pioneer Woman's version(her site is in my sidebar)
enchilada pie (didn't make it last week and I bought some Queso Fresco)
leftovers
Ham and cheese and broccoli (at least in mine) oh what are they called... basically pizza pockets but there is a fancier name... can't think of it... Calzones
Sweet and Sour Chicken(I'll try My Kitchen Cafe's version)
Chicken over rice
Curry chicken casserole

May change it as the week goes on... we'll see...

And about last weeks new recipes- Delicious. Thoroughly enjoyed both the Meatballs and the Bourbon chicken. Matt said that we could have the Bourbon Chicken ANYTIME. That's high praise from him. :)

Menu Plan Monday

2009-01-05T14:13:00.000-08:00

So this week I will plan on Monday because I have been a slacker!

Tonight- Italian Chicken (chicken marinated in italian dressing) with Mozzerella and red and green peppers and bacon wrapped sausage- served over rice, green salad, and french bread and cheese.

Tuesday- Nachos

Wednesday- Bourbon Chicken from My Kitchen Cafe (no bourbon in the recipe though)

Thursday- Leftovers

Friday- Meatballs w/cream sauce from My Kitchen Cafe- I think I may replace chicken broth with beef broth in the sauce- this is an experiment soooo... I will let you know if it works :)

Sat- Homemade Pizza

Sun- Enchilada Casserole (enchilada ingredients but layered in a 9x13 pan instead of rolled)

This strikes me as a very doable list for this week. And I don't need to buy any ingredients. :) Woohoo!

Food storage

2009-01-05T12:36:00.000-08:00

I guess I forgot to mention this goal but it goes along with budgeting and Meal planning. I am not ready for the whole year's supply I don't think but I definitely want a 72 hour kit in place and a rotating 3 month supply. So this website is coming in very handy for those goals. They can be overwhelming but it is worth it. Menu planning has taken a huge stress off of my shoulders. I need to start posting them again. I use my groceries better when I have a plan and then I don't waste money on food that goes bad before we eat it. Anyway check out this new resource- launching today- click on the invite to go to the site:

Update on Goals

2009-01-01T23:30:00.003-08:00

Appropriate for January 1st right?

So I am sticking with my goals that I started, oh a month or so ago...

Potty Train Kaden- I think I have made this a much longer process than it needs to be... Current status- if I leave him half naked and make him go to the bathroom every half hour to an hour he stays dry but eventually poops on the floor (or goes in the diaper or pullup during naptime) . If I put underwear on him and make him go the bathroom every half hour to hour he has an accident. It seems like anything on the bottom half of his body signals diaper to him. Any suggestions? Books or routines that worked miracles for you? Getting him trained and fully clothed again would be a huge blessing.
Goal: Have him trained by his third b-day(feb 22). I know he can do it...it's just convincing him that he wants to do it...

Improve my Clean House routines- Status- My house is overwhelmingly, depressingly messy. Asher is crawling all over and getting into everything. My house feels small and cluttered. It stresses me out and it's cramping my creativity. So it's gotten to intervention status. I need an action plan here. I will probably try and pick up Fly Lady since logically I know that's what I need to do. Our dishwasher just broke so I need to have the landlord over- that's motivation to clean. :) They love us though cause we pay the rent on time and don't ask them to fix anything very often.
Goal: 15 min out of every waking hour are spent cleaning- even if it's just helping my son pick up the legos so he can play the next game. (so that won't take 15 min... but you get my drift) I will set the alarm on the stove and tackle something for fifteen minutes every hour. :) Maybe it's a bit unrealistic but hey I can try. And I should have success even if I fail to do it EVERY hour.

NO TV/Preschool/park- Current status- This week we've been home. Kaden actually told me, "I need to get out of the house, Mama." We did do well on the no tv front. And the goal isn't actually no tv it's tv only twice a day. I did join a playgroup so we have been going to the park recently. (just not this week) Kaden got a bike for Christmas that he needs to learn how to ride. We did some letter B activities this week.

Goal: TV only in the morning when he first gets up and at night- the last hour before Daddy gets home. Video/computer games cannot replace TV- some are allowed but within reason. Go to the park at least once a week. Do an activity with Kaden once a day.

Read scriptures every day- I joined this blog Grasping at Rods to discuss the sunday school reading. I teach a children's sunday school class during the adult sunday school class at church. It will be nice to have an adult discussion about the scriptures and accountability for my reading. I need the extra push right now. There was a quote from one of my sunday school lessons to the 10 year olds that said, essentially, that you can gauge your spiritual growth by how you are treating other people. I found that interesting. I've been in a spiritual lull for awhile(oh the excuses I could give you but I won't)and I don't think I have been a very fun person to live with either. So this seems like just the push I need to get back in the right direction.

Budget: We are going to the envelope method for our food budget. It's just to help us really see where our money is going. We want to save as much as possible this year. First we are saving our emergency fund. Since Matt is freelance we would like to have 6-12 months in living expenses in our emergency fund. Wish us luck and send us gift cards. LOL J/k

Wanna See What I Made?

2008-12-31T16:00:00.001-08:00

Here are the ties that I freezer stenciled for my Father in Law. These were my "official" Wheeler family homemade gift. My family just makes gifts for each other anyway but in Matt's family there is a separate homemade gift and bought gift pool. I made gifts for the nephews and nieces anyway... They aren't part of the pool. Freezer paper is AWESOME! I bought some shirts on clearance to decorate...plus I may dress up some of my drab Ts. :)

Bears have special signifigance as my FIL Inked drawings of bears to represent each of his kids. He's the Papa Bear and protector of the family.

This is Kaden's reversible cape. He wouldn't wear it at first. Now he loves to run "fast" in it. I'm glad he got over his dislike of it so fast. I was worried for a bit... I think it turned out pretty dang cool. Excellent tutorial here: Puking Pastilles.

Here's what I made for the babies of the family. I made one for Asher and one for my nephew Austin.

More to come but right now I need a nap while both of my boys are napping too. One of Asher's top teeth FINALLY broke through this morning and the other is not far behind (his gums are all swollen and white with the impending tooth). I'm hoping for more sleep tonight- he's been waking up every hour or less for the last three nights in a row.

Butternut Squash Soup

2008-12-19T14:08:00.000-08:00

My friend April introduced this soup to me and I crave it often. We've had some cold days recently so I bought the ingredients at the store and I can't wait to make it. The original recipe can be found here at Allrecipes.com
I am the only one in my little fam (my DH doesn't do veggies and my toddler won't even try most things and the seasoning is a little much for the baby though it is mild) who will eat this and so I do over a few days. It is heavenly. It also freezes well so you can make it and save some for later.
And here it is copied and pasted in my blog! Notes in parentheses are from me.

Ingredients

6 tablespoons chopped onion
4 tablespoons margarine
6 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash ( I buy it frozen or this time of year you can buy it chopped in a baggy (Costco has had it for the last two years) to save timeOR others recommend cutting the squash in half and baking it at 350 for 40 minutes and then just scoop it out. It's a really hard squash. )
3 cups water
4 cubes chicken bouillon (OR instead of water and boullion use 3 cups of chicken broth (about one and a half cans))
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram (OR use italian seasoning which has marjoram in it- I like it better)
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese (I think I use all of the cream cheese... I can't remember...makes it nice and thick and creamy - not brothy at all)

DIRECTIONS

In a large saucepan, saute onions in margarine until tender. Add squash, water, bouillon, marjoram, black pepper and cayenne pepper. Bring to boil; cook 20 minutes, or until squash is tender.
Puree squash and cream cheese in a blender or food processor in batches until smooth. Return to saucepan, and heat through. Do not allow to boil.

Too neon?

2008-12-17T14:46:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Thirty Handmade Days (see sidebar) I got a cool background. She is giving away a Blog fairy makeover. She's got some great free backgrounds too! Check her out! So what do you think? Can you read the writing well enough? Is it too bright? Should I tone it down some? Let me know...

Pity Party and the clean up

2008-12-10T14:21:00.000-08:00

Today has been a failure. I have been on the computer too much, had the tv on too much, yelled at Kaden too much, ignored cleaning too much, been impatient and unreasonable too much. The clincher was when I laid down for a short nap and Asher woke up. I cried. He's been keeping me up a lot lately and I am fighting a cold so it was pity party time. I whined and complained in my head for a few minutes. Then I stuck Asher in the exersaucer(serves him right for waking up- take that! play with some toys while I make faces at you and scare you with the vaccum cleaner!) and cleaned the living room. I needed a space of sanity. I needed to accomplish something. It feels good to have the floor clear even for a few minutes. I will enjoy sitting on it and typing for a few more minutes and then I will throw some toys out and let Asher play. I realized that I believe in a few cleaning myths...

a) That cleanliness will radiate out from one clean room and soon the whole house will be clean. I keep thinking that if I have the main two rooms clean then we can get to the rest of the house and clean it really well. Somehow I am always spending my time cleaning the main two rooms (and bathroom) and the rest of the house ... well let's just say I am thankful for closed doors and few visitors.

b) That I can get cleaning done when Matt is home over the weekend. Nope, House always looks worse on Monday...

c) That Matt understands my cleaning thought processes and will just magically do jobs (since he must enjoy cleaning more than I do. :) ). I left boxes by the front door to go in the garage just assuming he will do it( because he won't have to carry the baby and the boxes). I get annoyed when I see them still there but I don't think I ever told him to put them away. Or... I empty the dishwasher and think " good now we can put dishes in here instead of the sink. I leave an unwashed dinner pot in the sink (since it can't go in the dishwasher) and so Matt doesn't even think to check if the dishwasher is empty or not because of the dish in the sink and just adds his to the new pile. arghhh...

d) It's ok for me to make a mess and leave it out for days... but not anyone else. Yeah... I'm a punk.

O.k. now I need to get back to work restoring sanity to my house. Time to clean up the pity party and bash some myths out of my brain.

Family photos and crafting

2008-12-07T09:17:00.000-08:00

Family photos! My cousin, Karalee, has an awesome camera, an eye for shots, and a lightening fast trigger finger. We actually got some photos with everyone smiling and looking at the camera! This is truly a miracle since we have an almost 3 year old and a 7 month old. Here's some of my faves...

I have been craftin up a storm but I can't post anything because they are all Christmas gifts and I am not sure who in the family checks out this blog. :) Mainly I am crafting for nieces and nephews and my own kids. I will say that Freezer paper is my new best friend!!!! I want to stencil everything! I wish I had known about it last year. There are tons of tutorials on-line and even instructions on the box of freezer paper. I think in Jan I should decide what I am making people next year and do a project a month. I left way too many projects to the end of the year and hopefully I will get the ones for my own kids done! I plan to have all of the projects I need to mail out done by next sat. so we can mail them. Then I will make Kaden's presents. These are the tutorials/inspirations I will be following for him...

Reversible Superhero cape

Felt jungle

Hobby horse

For Asher I made a:

Ribbon blanket- hopefully he hasn't already outgrown it.

Christmas Giveaway

2008-12-07T08:43:00.000-08:00

It ends today!!! 6 amazing gifts including and Ergo! I love my Ergo that I found used and the new ones have even better features so I really want to upgrade. Plus then we would have one for both Matt and I. That would make life easier! Check it out... Click the ad in the sidebar- Ohana Mama Christmas Giveaway.

What a nice long vacation!

2008-12-04T16:11:00.000-08:00

Matt just had a week and a half of of work. It was heavenly! I had all kinds of plans...potty train Kaden, reorganize the house, do preschool activities with Kaden, get Kaden to sleep in his big boy bed, sleep in, complete crafts for presents, go to Chuck E Cheese, go to the park, and lots of general playing....
It was a very successful vacation though not quite as successful as that huge list.

success #1
We locked Kaden in his room and now he sleeps in his big boy bed!!! Woohoo. We put a cover on the inside doorknob to his room. The outside doorknob is free so we could get into him quickly he just can't get out. Pretty soon we will take it off too since he seems to be adjusting the bed well. Next step...Asher in his crib in the same room as him.

success #2 Lots of playing
We had great fun on Thanksgiving, and going to Chuck E Cheese, and playing with our main Christmas gift ( a Wii). Yes, we spoiled ourselves and opened the Wii when it came in the mail the day after Thanksgiving. We got Outdoor Challenge from Costco and it is a blast. Kaden loves the jumping games and Matt and I are getting a good workout. This will be the last year we can open presents early since Kaden will know the differencenext year...

success #3 Sleep in
Well we took turns and also took naps. Sleeping in wasn't always possible but we gave each other lots of turns to sleep. We also stayed up too late watching lame movies(all of the funny parts from the Adam Sandler move about Zohan were in the previews) and fun tv shows.

Partial success #1 Reorganize the house
I sorted through most of the boys clothes and got the right sizes in the right places. We cleaned the main living areas and put up Christmas decorations. We still have a lot of organizing to do. I think it will have to wait until our Christmas projects are done since we make a huge mess with those every day.

Partial success #2 Do Preschool activities with Kaden.
We went to our classes and did lots of coloring. He definitely watched less tv. When I had him tell me what shapes to cut out of the snowflake I was making he busted out with "a hexagon." I think that means he is a genius. :) I need to work with him on recognizing letters. I need to do preschool time with him everyday and keep the tv off.

Partial success #3 Complete Christmas crafts
3 down lots more to go. Many are in progress. My goal is to finish and mail them all by the tenth. That will give them more than enough time to get to their destinations.

Failure #1 Potty training Kaden
He is still not really interested. He'll do it if we force it but doesn't come up with it on his own.

So life continues and hopefully I will maintain the cleaning and deepen it a little more each day

Parenting Rant

2008-11-29T15:14:00.001-08:00

That's why I have a blog, right? So I can rant and vent a little. I have not been a parent very long so... maybe I am missing something here, but when did being a child become getting everything you want and more? I read this article and about freaked out with my self-righteousness. :)

Basically some parents have written letters to toy companies asking them to not advertise to kids but instead advertise to parents because it is just sooooo hard to say no to your kids.

a) How do you make a TOY commercial not for kids? Just having the toy in the commercial will make it of interest to kids. I mean, I guess they can focus on all of the educational benefits of the toy and that might be boring for kids?

b) Get a Tivo/DVR or turn your TV off more or both! We just watch DVDs of TV shows or movies. No commercials. That doesn't stop my son from falling in love with everything Cars or Elmo. He is perfectly willing to buy the popcorn with Incredibles on the box over whatever other popcorn is at the store regardless of sizing or price. So, we have the opportunity of teaching him when we go to the store. He's only 2 so he's still learning to deal with the answer no but he hears it a lot. It's good for him.

c) Kids should not get EVERYTHING on their list for Christmas. That's why it's a list of wishes/wants and then Mom and Dad get to SURPRISE you with what you do or don't get.

d) Parents- grow up! You are parents. Christmas is about giving not getting. Christmas is about life lessons- hard ones as well as beautiful ones. Christmas is about Love not money. You teach kids their attitudes about all of these things. You teach them what kind of consumer they will be - smart or stupid.

I am a sucker for toys for my kids. Our house is full to the brim with them. I love buying them new toys. So I get it. But this is real life, folks. Even for Christmas you don't get everything you want. And it isn't the end of the world. I choose to parent my child and I won't go into debt ( or prostitute myself as one parent in the article seemed set on doing) for Christmas because I hope to retire someday and not be a burden on my kids. Maybe we'll even pay for some of their college education. I think eventually they will appreciate that MUCH more. Actually I know they will.

Commissioned Watercolor Portrait GIVEAWAY!!!!

2008-11-23T15:12:00.000-08:00

Commissioned Watercolor Portrait GIVEAWAY!!!!

Wow! How cool would it be to have a portrait of my kids! So cool! The giveaway goes through Tuesday check it out!

Menu Review and Meal plan

2008-11-23T09:04:00.000-08:00

Loved the Mexican pizzas, Chiang Mai Noodles, and Cashew Chicken. Yummylicious. My one note for the cashew chicken- next time I will not bread it. I do not have amazing breading skills and I prefer my cashew chicken to taste lighter. I used to think that it was too hard to make asian food at home- mostly because of strange ingredients needed. However these recipes were simple and the ingredients were easy to find. We will be eating Asian food at home more often now. :) Yummy!

We will be having...

Hawaiian pizza- pizza dough, spaghetti sauce, mozzerella, deli ham, pineapple chunks.

Chicken Tikka Masala

Dinner out! Date night! We have a coupon for a local Teppan Yaki restaurant

Thanksgiving- I will make a Sweet potato souffle(my favorite side- no marshmellows but lots of butter, brown sugar, and pecans) and Jello salad (Matt's favorite side)

enchilada casserole

Broccoli Beef - since we didn't have it last week.

Leftovers!

This takes us through to next Monday. :) So I'm a little off in the planning and reviewing...I'm still doing it at least...

Sunday Insights

2008-11-23T08:46:00.000-08:00

My Husband is on vacation this week! Woohoo! I get to appreciate and learn from all of his wonderfulness all week! I am going to put him to work... LOL!

Our goals this week:
Potty Train Kaden (He went pee on his potty 28 times last week and earned 5 matchbox toys)
Get Kaden to sleep in his big boy bed (He took three naps and slept most of one night in his bed last week)

Declutter the house- Even though we moved here a year and a half ago we are not utilizing our space to it's best advantage. And we need to get rid of some stuff. My goal is for each of us to work for an hour a day minimum on the house. Should be able to make inroads into the clutter this way. I cleaned the boys room on Sat. And Matt cleaned in the kitchen. I still need to sort through the boys clothes some more- both of them are changing sizes. Gotta love those neverending chores.

Play lots- Chuck E Cheese, Dinner and a movie, the park, Thanksgiving at my cousins...these are a few things on our list...

Preschool/craft activities with Kaden- coming this week the letter A

Get Family photos taken...Grandparents have requested these. I am hoping my cousin can take some for us.

Finish Christmas presents and shopping- hopefully I can get at least on hour a day in on this one too.

Sleep in! Ok, Matt and I will have to take turns with this one...

Wish me luck! It will be a busy week! But a very fun one!

Sunday Insights and Monday Mommy craft

2008-11-16T22:22:00.000-08:00

My husband is the best! We have had a crazy few months with sickness, financial stress, job changes... all of the changes have resolved for the best so far. I guess we just needed a little push outside of our comfort zone. We have been seriously blessed over the last few months. I have grown to appreciate my DH even more for the strength that he is to our family. We are his first priority and he makes sure we know it. He has two Daddy's boys on his hands. The first thing Kaden asks for in the morning is to see his Daddy. After a long hard commute and full day at work DH is always ready to play with his boys and do their bedtime routine. He is always ready to give me a break and take over. He also makes time to make sure that I know he loves me. He doesn't complain when I nag him or get grumpy. He does his best to knock me out of my bad mood (and he's not a wuss about it- he will tell me to knock it off when appropriate). He does his best to alleviate my stress and appreciates the work I do in our home. We get better at communicating every day. Recent stresses have helped that too. I am so thankful that his priority is to care for and be with us. I hope that I can be the same example of strength and encouragement for him that he is for me.

I want to be more like my DH:

I want to complain less
I want to play more- this I have been making progress on- Kaden and I have done more craft projects lately and I have been getting on the floor more to play(which gives me more motivation to vacuum and sweep)
I want to do things that I don't want to do without complaining because of my love for my family- (which for me includes much of my responsibilities, well, at least, the house cleaning and diaper changing and potty training half(sometimes these responsibilities seem like more than half)- the playing and making a mess and even cooking dinner half is pretty fun)
I want to work hard at my job- I escape to the internet or watch a show a little toooo often
I want to be creative- this I do pretty well...sometimes too well as my messy house will attest

So I will think twice before I say things.
I will remind myself daily of all of the wonderful things my DH does for our family. It is easy to forget that he is working all day when he is not with us and then I want him to be superman(do the dishes, take out the trash, watch the boys and all at the same time because that's what I think I should be doing all day) in the few hours that he is home. That isn't fair to either of us ( I don't live up to those expectations either). He really is being superman and I need to remember that all the time.
I will keep playing and doing crafts. I started doing "preschool" time with Kaden on Friday. We learned about all things A.
I will start structuring our day more so that there are more routine times(flexibility is still important) for me to get my chores done. If I plan for it, I will do it, and then I will be working harder.
I will keep playing and doing crafts. Creativity makes me happy! I want to create more decorative/functional spaces in our house. This will be a monthly goal and my weekly goal within that monthly goal is: Clean and organize my craft space in the kitchen.

So here is my Mommy Craft! I scrapped a page! I used Pencil Lines sketch 111 to guide me. I Love that site! Excellent inspiration! Mainly, I used A Boy's Playground by Karla Marano. The SHER and the Date circles are from the CT appreciation Kit that numerous CT's recieved. The A is from Karla's Road Rulez alpha.

More Meal reviews and menu plan

2008-11-14T08:41:00.000-08:00

We had the Apple and Onion Roast Beef on Wed. and Orange Chicken on Thurs. Both were fabulous. My one recommendation for the Orange Chicken would be to butter the top of the chicken half way through baking. I maybe needed to cook it a little longer too because I used a glass pan... The sauce is delicious and would be great on chicken that was grilled or sauted in a skillet without the breading too. We have been eating very well at my house. If it weren't for all of the dishes I wouldn't miss eating out at all since we are getting a good variety of foods in our rotation.

Menu Plan
Fri: Hamburger Helper- Sometimes you just need a mindless cooking night. It's all my DH will cook too so I have them for emergencies. We stocked up the last time that they were a dollar each so dinner tonight cost us all of 2.00 a person (including the beef). Not bad, eh?

Sat: Mexican pizzas
This looks wonderful and easy, of course!

Sun: Chiang Mai Noodles Another new recipe for us but from my new favorite recipe site. :)

Mon: Leftovers or eat out or? My DH is having minor surgery so.... we won't be home all day.

Tues: Cashew Chicken
I love cashew Chicken and from the photos this recipe looks perfect...we'll see. :)

Wed: Oregon Rub Tri-tip We tried this a couple weeks ago and it was yummilicious.

Thurs: Black bean and Chicken Nachos

Fri: Broccoli Beef Guess it is mostly asian week at our house...well we love it so it will work

Tuesday Menu Review

2008-11-11T17:16:00.000-08:00

Thursday- the Thai Peanut chicken wasn't peanut enough for us. It was ok- had a nice kick to it but the spices were too subtle. If you know of a good Pad Thai or Mussaman Curry recipe - let me know!

Friday- I forgot to post a meal! I was tempted to have Matt pick up Pizza or burgers because it had been a long hard week with everybody sick. But I resisted and threw something quick and easy together. Creamy Chicken Chili Quesadillas. I mixed 1 can each of chicken, mild roasted green chilis, and cream of chicken soup together. I added a dash of Cajun seasoning. I may have added a little sour cream too... I warmed them up on the stove together. I grated cheese onto a tortilla and melted it in the toaster oven. Then I topped it with the chicken mixture and folded it into a quesadilla. It was yummy. Great for the Can Plan method of short term food storage.

Sat-Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas- yummy!!!! Very different from the enchiladas we normally eat. These were a great blend of sweet and spicy. Also they were easy to prepare and didn't have any weird inredients. I don't usually have cream on hand but otherwise I had everything to make these. I used canned chicken for these too. You couldn't tell it was canned at all. (I used two cans and doubled the marinade) I totally recommend this website for finding delicious spicy meals that are super easy to make and use normal ingredients. I feel like a chef after trying two recipes from this site.

Sun- Brown Sugar Pork Tenderloin Wow! You have to love garlic but these also are wonderfully spicy and sweet. Only 25 minutes in the oven too! This is easily made in 45 min or less from beginning to end. It's fabulous! Once again the ingredients are ones you are likely to have on hand. SO simple and yet it tastes so fancy!

Monday-Chicken Tikka Masala New favorite for me! Matt worked late so he didn't get any and I have been slowly eating the leftovers all day so I don't think he will get any. This recipe comes the closest to the restaurant version. It is a thousand times better than the canned sauce version. If you crave it like I do try this recipe. It also uses normal ingredients and is very easy to make. I have two other recipes bookmarked to try at this site and I am sure if I keep looking I will find more.

I moved leftover night to tonight. Yay! I am excited for more leftovers! That's always a good sign, right?

Sunday Insights

2008-11-09T20:10:00.000-08:00

I feel like I need to write a little something about why I voted yes on Prop 8. Here is a quote from another blog that I felt expressed the main issue well:
"In California "Domestic partners" have the same rights and privileges as married couples already. So to say that a couple in a same sex relationship is missing out on the rights that a married couple has is simply not true. They have the same rights to property, visitation and other considerations that are legally given to married couples. So why are they fighting for the right to be married in the public eye?

The only reason I can think of is to be able to force the world to have a legal obligation to accept it as moral behavior. We have seen the ramifications of it in Massachusetts as churches that refuse to give marriage ceremonies to gay couples have lost tax exemption status and the right to be a church when they were sued. etc... Parents have gone to jail for refusing to allow schools to just send home information for kindergartners about what constitutes a family. The story of a king and a king getting married is shared with young children because it is now asked to be acceptable and moral to all of us regardless of our deep religious beliefs.

This is war and now I am in danger of being called a bigot by my friends an family that are fighting for the right for same sex marriage. I love you my friends. I love the good that many of you have and put out there for the world. many of my good friends are highly educated, kind-hearted, service oriented and wonderful human beings that just have a lifestyle I cannot accept as something I want to have to teach my children about as okay and moral."-Ennis crew: we are at war...

I voted yes to keep a separation of Church and State and to preserve my right to discriminate between Marriage and Same Sex Partnerships. Not discriminate against- I believe they should have legal rights- but discriminate meaning differentiate. Yes, I believe Homosexuality to be a sin. Yes, I will teach my children that it is a sin. No, I do not believe that Homosexuals are bad people. No, I do not believe they should be punished by the law or prejudice for their choice.

I am not sure if same sex attraction is a choice or a gene but I do believe that acting on that attraction is a choice. They can remain chaste. It is not an enviable position to be in and I am thankful it has not been my struggle. I cannot fully understand it because of that. I struggle between my wish to respect the commitment and relationship that same sex couples have and my moral opposition to homosexuality. I struggle between my wish to respect and love the person and not condone the homosexual lifestyle. I feel that a differentiation between Marriage and Same Sex Partnerships is a line that has to be drawn in order to keep the law from dictating to me my beliefs. I hope that a balance of respect and love can be found.

Saturday Family Crafts

2008-11-08T10:25:00.000-08:00

We did two crafts yesterday! Each only took about ten minutes(or less) which was the extent of Kaden's attention span anyway. He enjoyed doing them and enjoys even more seeing his artwork decorating the wall. :)

First we did Salad Spinner art. I've seen this on a few blogs and have been so excited to try it. As long as you use non-toxic, water-soluable paint (your typical crayola), you will not damage your salad spinner. I knew that Kaden would love the spinning. First I traced the shape of the bottom of the inner bowl on a piece of paper and cut it out. I mixed a little poster point with water and helped Kaden use a plastic spork to pout paint on the paper. I didn't get pictures of that part since Kaden needed my help to do it. I was right- he loved spinning and then seeing the image he created.

Spinning as fast as he can get it to go....

The in progress result

I love the final result. I just need to decide how to frame them and where to hang them. :)
Maybe I will make this Mobile with them.

And here is the Turkey that we made. I got the idea and the tutorial at No Time for Flashcards
Kaden enjoyed coloring the plate and gluing on the feathers. It was really simple and fun. I hung it on the wall as part of our fall decorations. :) Such fun!

Angel Friday

2008-11-07T23:57:00.000-08:00

I saw this Blog Carnival on my friends blog and decided to join in. Go here to read about Angel Friday.
Basically you write about Random Acts of Kindness (and the angels who performed them) that you have seen in your life.

Since becoming a Mom I think at least one person a day performs a RAOK for me. For example, one time I was in Target and my son was being particularly fussy. We were in the check out line, so, we didn't have too much longer in the store, but it was one of those "hurry up and wait" life moments where everything takes longer than it should. The lady behind me took out one of those bubble blowers like they give out at weddings and started blowing bubbles for my son. Then she gave me the bubbles to keep as something that I could use to help entertain him in "emergencies" like this one. Something simple, small, useful, and easily portable. It was wonderful and made my day much easier.

Friday Review

2008-11-07T10:52:00.000-08:00

It has definitely been an up and down week. Tuesday and Thursday were pretty terrible. But Wednesday was great and today is ok...

Tuesday, Kaden was in full rebellion mode. We went to his class in the morning. I had to take him out of the classroom twice because he wasn't sharing and was throwing a tantrum. He was fine at the rice table and if he could play with toys by himself but he was not into social interaction at all. After class he played on the playground for an hour before we went home. He was great as soon as he got outside and was able to run around. No toys to fight over out there either. He and some other boys were really cute chasing each other around. I bribed him with french fries to leave. So since he was so good at the playground I thought he would be better the rest of the day. He took a nice long nap after his lunch too. But the rest of the afternoon and evening he kept doing the same things over and over that he knows he is not supposed to do- he kept trying to go behind the media center and taking the cushions off of the couch to jump/slide on them. I repeatedly separated him from these activities and he repeatedly went back to doing them. He also tried to sit on Asher a few times. Now, this really wasn't bad behavior on his part- he was really just trying to play with him and he doesn't get that he can't ride Asher's back like he can Mommy and Daddy's. It still scared me though and I probably yelled a few too many times. I needed to distract him more with other activities but Asher had just come down with a cold and was really needy. So I had my hands full and that just made Kaden more jealous and more rambunctious.

Wednesday was MUCH better. I prepared Kaden for Music class by telling him he would be sitting in a circle with other kids and singing. I almost didn't go based on his previous behavior but he wanted to go and I knew we needed the time out of the house. He tried to get into the toys when we first got there and laid on the floor and complained (not a full on tantrum but still annoying) when we told him no. Thankfully by the time everyone got there and class started Kaden settled down and participated. He really seemed to enjoy it. At one point he went up and sat next to the teacher but that was fine because he sat down next to her so everyone else could still see and he was still a part of the circle. I think part of what made a big difference for this class was that Asher was in his car seat instead of the baby carrier. I think that helped him feel like he had me more to himself. He did really well the rest of the day too. He and Asher both took long naps at the same time so I was able to take a nap and do the dishes. It was wonderful. Kaden also volunteered that he needed to go on the potty a few times too. I've laid off on potty training because he just doesn't seem interested in doing it enough... So it was nice to have him decide to do it few times. He earned Candy Corn and a plastic lizard.

Thursday, I was sick all day so we watched movies and played on the laptop all day long. Kaden had a terrible nap- he woke up twice crying- and seems to be coming down with this cold too. It seems to be a short one with only one really bad day. So that helps any way. I was so glad that I had done all of my dishes on Wednesday because I didn't have to worry about them at all yesterday and I don't have a big mess to clean up today. Yay! My plan to do dishes paid off with a day of mostly rest!

Today we are still getting over colds so the TV is on too much. I picked up my cousin's son from school (not feeling good and his family is all at the temple for a cousin's sealing). He took Kaden outside for a bit and I plan to do salad spinner art with them just as soon as I get off of this dang computer. That's next week's goal- limited computer time for me... :)

Thanks for the encouragement and my weekly menu

2008-11-06T17:12:00.001-08:00

Thank you so much for the encouragement and the suggestions. That's why I started this blog- to get encouragement and to hold myself accountable for my goals in a realistic way. I really want this to be a positive place where I can help myself build the home environment that I want. Some days and weeks will be better than others but the important part is to keep trying and to try new things when others aren't working. So thank you for reading and taking the time to comment and give me encouragement. I appreciate it greatly!

Menu review:
The rio pork and bean burritos were excellent as always. I love that cilantro lime dressing!

Dead Man over Worms was the best Halloween dinner! It was so fun and even Kaden would eat it (well the noodles anyway). I made my sister-in-laws recipe for Meatloaf because I didn't have all of the ingredients for Nan's. I would trust Nan's to be delicious too.I made sweet and sour chicken instead of Thai peanut chicken. This is one of our family faves-recipe to follow.

The Tri-tip rub was fantastic! I let it sit in the fridge all morning and cooked it in the crockpot with 1 cup of water for 4 hrs on high. It may have been for 3.5 hours. Anyway it was delish! We will make it again.

Leftovers were yummy

We had Chicken over Rice finally. Yummy. Basically it is 2 cans of cream of Chicken soup, one can of chicken, a little milk and sour cream heated up and poured over rice. (Add sour cream last after the rest has cooked a little. Don't boil it after you add the sour cream- just warm it up). This is wonderful comfort food. Fast and easy too. You can add whatever spices you think your family would like- salt, pepper, season salt, parsley, curry...

Last night we had Potstickers and rice. We get the frozen Ling Ling potstickers(or Gyoza) from Costco.

Tonight we are having the Thai Peanut Chicken from a seasoning package.
Friday:
Sat: Brown Sugar Pork Tenderloin
Sun: Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas
Mon: Leftovers
Tues: Chicken Tikka Masala
Wed: Apple and Onion Beef Pot Roast

The Apple and Onion Beef Pot Roast recipe from my Aunt Mary Lee

makes 8 to 10 servings ideal slow cooker: 4- or 5-quart

...".....................................................................

3-lb. boneless beef roast, cut in half Oil

1 cup water

1 tsp. seasoning salt

1f2 tsp. soy sauce

V2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

% tsp. garlic powder

1 large tart apple, quartered

1 large onion, sliced

2 Tbsp. cornst_rch

2 Tbsp. water

1. Brown roast on all sides in oil in skillet. Place in slow cooker.

2. Add 1 cup water to skillet to loosen browned bits. Pour over roast. 3. Sprinkle with seasoning salt, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic powder.

4. Top with apple' and onion.

5. Cover and cook on low 5 to 6 hours. 6. Remove roast and onion. Discard apple. Let stand 15 minutes.

7. To make gravy, pour juices from roast into saucepan and simmer until reduced to 2 cups. Combine cornstarch and 2 Tbsp, water until . smooth in small bowl. Stir into beef broth. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir 2 minutes until thickened.

8. Slice pot roast and serve with gravy.

So we are trying mostly new to us recipes this week...

I am really excited to try the Tikka Masala recipe. I love Indian and that is my favorite dish. If you are ever in Provo or Salt Lake be sure to check out Bombay House.

Here's my Sweet and Sour recipe
> Sweet and Sour Chicken as made by Danielle
> I made it for dinner tonight and it is still good. I got the original
> recipe from a book called "Help, My Apartment has a Kitchen!" but I switched
> it to Chicken from pork and quadrupled the sauce. I usually cook for two- this
> makes enough for probably 4?
>
>
> 2 Chicken breast- cut into pieces
> Baby carrots
> Onion (or onion powder)
> Green pepper (optional)
> Pineapple chunks(optional)
> Vegetable oil
> 1 cup water
> 1 cup apple cider vinegar
> 2 TBS and 2tsp teriyaki sauce
> Â½ C and 2 TBS Da rk brown sugar
> 1 tsp hot sauce
> 4 TBS Cornstarch
> 1 C cold water
>
> First cook carrots, green pepper, and onion in oil for about 5 minutes. Take
> out and set aside. You'll want to use a deep sided skillet since you will be
> making a sauce.
> Cook chicken.
> Add the veggies back and all ingredients except the cornstarch and water at the
> end of the list. Stir it up and then let it simmer covered on Medium low for 30
> min. Check periodically to make sure there is enough juice- don't take the lid off. Medium low is key
> for this.
>
> Stir cornstarch and remaining C of water together- add to pan. Stir while it
> thickens.
>
> Serve over rice.
>

Sunday Insights

2008-11-03T14:35:00.000-08:00

I am running a day late... gotta work on that.

So my biggest thing that I want to work on this week is playing with my sons and not yelling as much. I have a bit of a temper. It rarely comes out in public. I tend to take it out on my family. Especially when I am tired or hungry or one of any number of excuses. I've been working on it for a long time and I need to continue to work on it/focus on it. My goal is to only yell when I am cheering/happy or in shock or in an emergency or maybe to get my DH to get me a new toilet paper roll. Basically I don't want to yell in anger. There may be times when I need a little scream but there is a way to do it appropriately. I need to take a deep breath when stressed or hurried and not snap. I know I won't be perfect at it- probably ever- but I can be better.

These are the things I need to do to help me:

I need to clean more often so that the mess and clutter don't overwhelm me or make me angry.

I need to plan more activities to do with my sons so they will behave better and we can have more fun together.

I need to go to bed earlier.

I need to turn my computer and the tv off during the day. Well, maybe I can use the computer once or twice but not for more than half an hour at a time.

I need to declutter my house.

So my baby step goals for this week are:

do dishes
have the front room clean when Matt gets home from work
organize the boys room

Use http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/ to do preschool time each day. A craft, A song, An activity- spread throughout the day.
Get down on the floor and play animals or cars.
Singing time with Asher each day.
I signed up for two free classes through First Five to do with Kaden. One on Tues and one on Wednesday.
Set up a play date at the park.

Be in bed by 10:30

One movie a day for Kaden.

Declutter 15 minutes everyday in Kitchen and front room.

Ok.... Ready, Set, Go...

Friday Review

2008-11-01T08:59:00.000-07:00

I made my goals for the week in this post.

Potty Training: Still struggling. I am running out of diapers! I try to only use them during naps and at night. I have pull ups for when I don't want to or can't clean up accidents (i.e. at the store). We pretty much stayed home all week so we could train. Kaden wasn't buying it. He used his potty several times about 15 times this week. Which is great but not nearly enough. He has to be half naked for him to realize he needs to go on the potty. Any clothing item on the bottom half and he wets it. So the pull ups really just act as diapers for him. He refuses to do number 2 on the potty. SO the saga continues. He is more motivated to go on the potty when he gets prizes but it doesn't work quite the way I want it to work. And stickers don't work as well. He wants the toys every time or he doesn't really make an effort to go on the potty. Yesterday he just refused so I had him in diaper most of the day. BLAH! Suggestions welcome...

Kids: Kaden went outside for a bit everyday. This was excellent. I didn't stick to the time of my goal but I did get him outside for a little bit everyday. He needs it. I will continue it...

House Cleaning: I think I did dishes everyday at least once. Problem is I probably need to do them at least twice a day now that I am cooking every night. I dislike neverending chores...oh wait...they all are...

Budget: Little did I know we would have huge reasons for this to become a major priority. DH is switching to freelance work so we are going to have to be DILIGENT in keeping to our budget. We have been living without much debt (our car payment is all) but not saving much in the past. Now we will have to save like crazy to make sure we can meet our bills all year long. He has his first freelance position lined up to start the day after his current job ends. That feels good and hopeful for a successful freelance career. He would go back to full time if the right position opens up. If you know of any companies looking for Maya generalists with and emphasis in lighting tell them to check out his site. He has done visual effects for lots of cool commercial and a couple movies. Oh yeah- we did well with this goal. No eating out. No buying toys. We did a little grocery shopping but that's it. Gotta keep it up. I have plans to make Kaden's christmas presents mostly from things we already have - presents I think he will love and will encourage his imagination. :)

Spiritual: Definitely prayed a lot this week. Gotta work on reading.

Creative: No projects for myself but I did a couple with Kaden. We made toilet paper shakers and carved pumpkins.

Tuesday's review and Wednesday meal plan and Thursday recipe

2008-10-30T08:52:00.001-07:00

Playing catch up, sorry. We've had a crazy few days. My Husband is switching to freelance from his full time position next week. It's a little scary and a little exciting. Our biggest concern is health insurance. There are a lot of freelancers here so there are options- it's just a matter o picking the right one and budgeting for it. This will be an adjustment but I think it is the right direction for now. If you know of anyone in the Visual Effects industry he can connect with- let us know. His portfolio and Resume can be found at ww

Menu Review:

The chili was excellent and even won a prize at our Trunk or Treat/Chili cook off. It is a barebones basic chili which is exactly how DH likes it. He doesn't like kidney beans either so the red beans in this recipe were perfect or his kind of chili.

I made the Pumpkin Gorgonzola pasta. Sadly it was too sophisticated for our tastebuds. I did like it better the second day. I LOVED the mushrooms and onions. I think I will make those more often just because I like them. I am the only one who will eat them but I had no problems eating them all. :) I made some italian sausage on the side to go with this and that went over well. I might be willing to try the pumkin sauce again with a milder cheese like Gouda or Mozzerella. The gorgonzola had to much bite and the pumpkin was too sweet in combo with it. But as I said I liked it better the second day. So maybe I just needed to give it time to blend better. Or maybe I didn't quite follow the recipe right? Anyway. I'm glad we tried it. We needed a fall experiment meal. :) I have tried other recipes from this site, Pots and Pins, that we LOVE. So I will continue trying her recipes and we will sophisticate our palate some more. :)

I forgot to put the pork in the crockpot before we left for church on Sunday so we had a letover night early. We needed it anyway...

Still love the Cafe Rio Pork and Lime Cilantro salad dressing. I have been using the leftover dressing on everything! I put it on angel hair pasta with spinach, grape tomatoes, and parmesan. SOOOO yummy! Love it!

I won hot wing sauce with my chili so I decided to put it to use last night and make Oven Fried chicken. I tried mixing the sauce in with the egg but it didn't flavor the chicken at all. I don't know if I didn't make enough or what... Suggestions? The chicken was good dipped in the wing sauce and cilantro lime dressing. We had salad too.

Meal plan:

Just a few changes to use up leftovers, celebrate halloween... that kind of thing.

Today: rio pork and black bean burritos
Fri: Dead Man on Worms- Pots and Pins winner! She was on Emeril for this recipe. So much fun! She has a photo up on her Halloween party post. Awesome party too!
Sat: Thai Peanut Chicken from Package
Sun: Tri- tip
Mon: Leftovers
Tuesday: Sweet and Sour Chicken

Recipe:

Oven Fried Chicken

2 tbs butter- melt and put in bottom of 9x13 pan
2 large eggs
2 TBS milk
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 tsp seasoning of choice- I used Creole seasoning- I will probably use more next time- maybe two tsp?
Chicken- I used two large chicken breasts cut into strips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

mix eggs and milk together.

mix flour, cornmeal, and seasoning.

Dip chicken into egg mixture and then into flour mixture then put in the prepared pan.

Halfway through cooking, brush juices from the bottom of the pan on the top of the chicken. Total cooking time 45-50 minutes.

This is the first time I've gotten my chicken to stay breaded! Love it! I would recommend more seasoning as it is very mild.

Monday Mommy craft

2008-10-27T16:04:00.000-07:00

So today is my opportunity to show off the crafts that I have been working on. I did finish a scrapbook page and a halloween costume this past week.
Obviously I just did the pants soooo they don't quite match the shirt. I still like them though and they are glow in the dark. :)

I used a template which I think I love! It is Yin Designs template 62. I'm guessing I found it through Ikea Goddess. The kit which I also LOVE is by Karla Marano. Her link is in my sidebar. The kit is called A Boy's Playground. It is great fun! She has a new kit out right now that is all helicopters and airplanes. Another of her recent kits is all about bumps and bruises! So cool!

Sunday Insights

2008-10-26T18:03:00.000-07:00

My Plan is to review my week on Friday. I will be going over the things I did during the week that worked and those that didn't. I have various goals for myself and habits I want to create. On Fridays I will just lay out there what happened and then I will take two days to think about it. On Sunday I will make new specific goals for the week ahead.

This last week was rough. It started off poorly with a sleepless Asher night and just never righted itself. This is of course my own fault. I let it stay a down week. I have plenty of excuses for why I let it stay that way but the reality is I don't want this next week to be the same. So I will set some goals to change this week. They say writing goals down helps them to happen. My mission president was a firm believer in writing down goals and I trust him. I know it helps me to sort out my thoughts and focus my energies. I tend to get overwhelmed by my messy house so this helps me to refocus my stressed out energy and get the work done that I need to get done.

My Goals for this week:

Potty Training: Institute a potty chart and prizes. Kaden will get a sticker on his chart every time he uses his potty. After 5 times going "#1" he can pick out a prize. After going "#2" once he will get a prize. I will encourage him to use the potty every half hour. He will wear underpants except during his nap and at night. I will not buy anymore diapers!
Exception: Tuesday morning will be off because of a doctor appt. for my DH

Kids: Kaden needs to be outside or do a physical activity everyday. It helps him behave and sleep better. My goal is to have him play in the backyard or at a park every day- weather permitting. Since we are potty training this week we will stick close to home. So this week the goal is to have him outside in the backyard (at the very least) every day from 9-10 am. If we can't go outside then I need to set up a physical activity for him in the house i.e. an obstacle course, jumping on the mattress, dancing, rolling balls (or bowling)...

House Cleaning: I will do dishes every day.

Budget: I will not spend any money this week except on neccesities like Milk. No justifications! We don't need it!

Spiritual: Read scriptures and say prayers everyday.

Creative: I will finish one of my christmas projects and do one Digiscrapping Blog header.

So hear goes... A new week....

Ghost feet

2008-10-25T22:58:00.000-07:00

So it turns out that 1 lb. of baking soda is how much comes in one box. So I did have enough. :) I got this idea from www.susiej.com and it is going to be a new family tradition. Yay! Her instructions are awesome. It was very easy to make the dough and we even have some left for more fun play! Here's a photo journal of the creation process.

Kaden helped me roll out the dough. Make sure you leave it a little on the thicker side so that they can leave a good imprint.

Also wash your kids feet before putting them on the nice white dough. :) I realized how desperately my floor needs to be swept and mopped during this procedure too. yikes!

Such a cute little footprint! After this I used a butter knife to cut out around the foot just like the instructions say. And now it's time for the face.
Kaden would have jabbed the ghosts over and over again I think. So he needed a little guidance to make a face.
The finished product! Ta-da! I added holes at the top because I think I will make a garland or ornaments for a halloween tree of sorts out of them. We did one of Kaden's feet twice - oops! We did do his other foot too, but just once. Asher did it too. This was a lot of fun and I am excited to make it a tradition.

My plans for this site

2008-10-24T10:54:00.000-07:00

So I kind of want more readers on this site... but that means I need to do the work to get you here and keep you here. I haven't done that. I think I will change the title. I haven't been doing too much digiscrapping lately. I need to do some. I will still post scrap pages when I do them... I have been learning to use my sewing machine lately though. Hmmm... I like to do everything. So I will post a little of everything here. Toddler activities (we're going to make those ghost footprints tomorrow :)), recipes we like, menu plans, crafts, scrapbooking... just whatever we do that is fun and creative. I'll menu plan on Tuesday after we get our store ads. So that will probably be a wednesday post. Maybe I will make something up for each day of the week to post about... Monday Mommy Craft day, Tuesday menu plan review day, Wednesday menu plan, Thursday Recipe day, Friday Week in Review day, Saturday Family Craft or Activity, and Sunday Insight day. They don't rhyme or have assonance or whatever... but they will get us by. Anything you would rather read about? I'll take suggestions... I'll start tomorrow with a play by play of Family craft day. Well and I will post my menu plan now so I have it in my head too...
So this is extra long menu planning because I made a big shopping trip this week and I can't go shopping for another two weeks except for milk and fresh veggies.

Menu Plan
Fri.- Flatlander chili from allrecipes.com - I am leaving out the green pepper and celery and substituting onion powder because hubby is picky
Sat.- Pumpkin Gorgonzola pasta from Pots and Pins ...something with hamburger for lunch- tacos or mac n cheese
Sun.- Cafe Rio Pork salad well I will use this dressing recipe but for the pork I will just stick it in the crockpot with one cup of salsa and one cup of brown sugar. YUMMY!
Mon.- Tri Tip with this seasoning - maybe in the crockpot?
Tues.- Leftovers
Wednesday- Thai peanut chicken with rice noodles- using packet seasoning and instructions
Thursday- Quesadillas
Friday- Bacon hamburger roll-up- hamburger(seasoned with montreal steak seasoning and worcestshire sauce), bacon, and velveeta spread out on pizza dough and then rolled up so the dough swirls through the hamburger and bacon. Cook in the oven at 400 degrees for 25 minutes. Get the dough as thin as possible so it cooks in the middle.
Sat- Sweet and Sour Chicken
Sun. - Chicken over rice(DH's recipe- he will make this)
Mon.- Leftovers
Tues.- find a tri tip recipe
Wednesday- find a pork recipe
Thursday- Mac n Cheese
Friday- Curry Chicken and Broccoli casserole- basically this recipe except I cook it in the oven at 350 for 45 min. and I use more cheese and I might use more curry?

Ok..two weeks of planning- I will update as things may change (especially if I get lazy or we need to have more leftover days.) Suggestions for pork tenderloin and tri-tip recipes are welcome. I got some on sale this week and have frozen a lot. Thanks! Hope you enjoy my blog makeover. I hope to use it to make me more accountable for some goals that I have. So at least it will serve my own purposes even if no one else looks at it. :)

Halloween Quilt giveaway!

2008-10-24T09:41:00.000-07:00

I am lucky enough to know Nan of Pots and Pins personally. She is just as much fun in person as she is on her blog. For her one year blogaversary she is giving away this gorgeous circle quilt. It's pretty much Awesome. Go leave a comment for a chance. While you are there check out her recipes. Her Chinese Chicken Salad dressing is our favorite and a regular meal at our house. I even made it for my Mom-in-law when she came to visit. I just bought the supplies to make her Pumpkin Gorgonzola pasta this weekend. I am very much looking forward to it.

Fun toddler activities

2008-10-23T12:24:00.000-07:00

I am having soooo much fun looking at various activities to do with my toddler for Halloween. I think they will be a great resource after Halloween based on what I have seen on their sites. Now I just need to do more of the activities instead of just look at them. Here's one that I think would be fun to do every Halloween and if I had 1 lb of baking soda I would do it today.... found at www.susiej.com

Peaceful Protest

2008-10-18T09:37:00.000-07:00

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSLI497299._CH_.2400

This is amazing! This is a sign of freedom at work. Many will read it and see only the Anti- American sentiment but really it means that we have done our job right. They are learning to be free. They have learned to express their views without forcing their views. They are taking charge of their nation!

Quilt giveaway

2008-10-14T12:02:00.000-07:00

Check out this GORGEOUS quilt by Pigtails and Snails. I am sooooo jealous of her talent! Wow! Wow! Wow!

Sorry, I have just been posting about these amazing giveaways. I am drooling over them all though. Everyone is so amazingly talented. It is so inspiring to me. No worries I will be posting some of my own creations again soon. Maybe I will even have my own giveaway. What would you want me to give? let me know...

Thirty Handmade Days

2008-10-10T18:21:00.000-07:00

Check out Thirty Handmade Days for the best giveaways! Today she is spotlighting Everyday Celebrations who has the coolest quiet books and advent calendars! Everyday Celebrations is giving away a Halloween quiet book that I know my boys would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. We are always looking for more things to keep Kaden quiet in church. Plus he just plain love books. Wish me luck in winning the giveaway!

Little Ant Design

2008-10-06T09:28:00.000-07:00

Little Ant Design is highlighting Halloween this month. Check out the site for fun ideas. The site is also having an awesome giveaway of one of Tim Turner's Ghoulish gallery art. Those are the cool changing pictures that show a respectable ancestor at one angle and a grotesque creature at another angle. My Husband LOVES this pictures and would hang them year round at our house if we weren't worried about the two year old. :) Matt bought the supplies to make his own last year. He made one for his brother for his homemade present (One of their family traditions is a homemade gift exchange). The brothers all made a feature length comedy, western, horror movie a few years back. He took some stills from that and made a movie poster with changing faces for the four brothers that starred in the movie. It was pretty fun and NOT easy to do. I think once our kids are older he will have to make one of the family to hang during the month of October. Eventually I think we will decorate for Halloween like most people do christmas- a month in advance. I'm partially excited to start that tradition and partially creeped out. :) Hopefully we won't scar, I mean, scare our boys too bad. :)

I added to the doll

2008-10-04T20:15:00.000-07:00

I decided she looked a little drab so I added a felt collar, buttons, and pockets. They are all made of felt so they shouldn't be aa choking hazard right? My niece is 2 so I'm not really worried about her but she does have a newborn brother. :) I handsewed everything on and I think I did it pretty securely if not so neatly... She definitely has a handmade look to her. Hopefully she will be well loved.

pretty dang proud

2008-10-03T13:34:00.000-07:00

So I LOVE the fabrics I found for this blanket. Since I don't quilt it- it's not a quilt- I haven't gotten that far in my skill set yet. But I do piece together the top. I got this "pattern" from a Joann's kit and I have used it many times now. It is the best for me since I don't have to match any corners. I haven't figured out how to cut or sew straight yet either. :) I made this for my nephew Nathan. I have enough fabric to make one for Asher too :) Sorry the photos aren't better- one more thing to work on... :) The blanket is 30x36 and I will "stitch in the ditch" to help it keep it's shape. The circle fabric is on the back. Kaden loves to name the colors of the different "ants" on the alien fabric. I just love it...

Fun projects and SYTYCD Tour

2008-09-29T11:54:00.000-07:00

Love SYTYCD! The tour was a lot of fun. The stage was not as far away as it seems. We sent down on Saturday and caught them at the Honda Center. We stayed at the Ayres hotel right cross the street so we didn't have to deal with parking or the crowds as much. It was a very nice hotel and a wonderful almost 24 hours kidless! My cousin watched the boys for me and Asher took the bottle (I pumped breast milk for him) just fine so they were great for her. That was a huge relief. Anyway- back to the show. It was so much fun to see them dance in person! They are amazing! We got to see tons of Katie and Joshua dancing. They are so amazing. My only disappointment was not seeing more of Chelsie Hightower and Mark's dances. Bleeding Love was awesome in person though so I'm still pretty happy. Chelsea T and Thayne were both their as alternates so they danced their latin dance and in all of the group numbers. Just a warning- the script for the show is ULTRA- cheesy. But hey, we were there to see the dances not see the dancers MC. Twitch talked about VI Real and how it is for everyone and it's about living your dreams. That was cool. Mark is truly an amazing performer. Will was awesome too. He is also a very good MC. He got cut out of too many clips on the TV show. Jessica took up too much camera so he was not allowed to show his personality. It wasn't really Jessica's fault either. I liked the Adam and Eve dance better in person. Maybe just because they've been able to practice it more now- it seemed a lot more fluid and less posed. Anyway! I loved it!

I have a new nephew!!! No photos yet but his name is Austin Joseph and he was 8 lbs 9 oz. We are still waiting to hear more and see pictures. :) I sent him this onesie plus two plain long sleeve ones for wearing under things...
I made these ones for fellow blogger Lil Bucks Creations (see side bar):

And I just finished a package for my SIL and the new baby and for the twins b-day. I bought Ethan's present- Fisher price stackable bowls that also fit together to make balls. For Addison I made a "Black Apple" doll as shown on Martha Stewart. She has a link from her blog. And I made some diaper/wipes cases based on this tutorial. I recommend increasing the length to 10.5 or even 11 inches to fit longer diapers.Maybe I should embellish her outfit some more.... She looks plainer in these photos... Kaden loves her. He's huggged her a lot and says "I love her" every time. He decided her name is Her. He was saying "I love him" so I told him to say her and now he thinks Her is her name. :) LOL!

Giveaway!

2008-09-19T10:44:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite websites right now is Thirty Handmade days. She is now hosting giveaways every week! Woohoo! Her first is a gift certificate to Beaucoup an awesome party favor store.

Thirty Handmade days is full of links to tutorials of tons of fun DIY projects. Anything you want to make- check out her links. the site is full of inspiration!

roller coaster and projects!

2008-08-18T16:13:00.000-07:00

So not long after I wrote my last post I got terrible news. My cousin, David "Jeff" Smith, died in a work accident. We grew up together in Michigan and I will miss him terribly. He knew how to live. He was a hard worker; he actively volunteered himself to help out with anything that needed to be done; he smiled constantly and made others smile; and most importantly he loved unconditionally. He was amazing and I know that he continues to be amazing. I look forward to the eventual day when we will be reunited. I was able to go out to Michigan for his funeral. It was beautiful, and painful, and emotionally draining. On a positive note Asher was a bright spot for everyone and got to meet many important family members. Above is Asher with his second cousin Jonathan.

Since I've gotten home I have completed two projects! My house is a mess! And my Mom-in-law gets here on Thursday! I am happy to have finished my projects though. :) First I finished this messenger bag for Kaden to take his toys to church with him. I am hoping it will work as a scripture bag when he is older too. He always wants a purse and a ht when he goes out so I thought this would be the more manly way to accomodate that. Plus it frees up space in my diaper bag and makes him more responsible right? :) I found the tutorial through Thirty Handmade Days. The tutorial is under July, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Kiddie Messenger bag from jeans.

I sent my 50 day package home with my bro-in-law to give to our Sis-in-law. I made a large (41x41) flannel receiving blanket from the two fabrics pictured above. I have never done top stitching before and I quickly discovered that straight lines are not for me...so I decided to go even more decorative and made it curvy. Too bad I decided that after I finished one side. Well it looked pretty curvy too just not on purpose. When Kaden first saw me get out this fabric he said,"Kaden want it. Oh, thanks , Mama. Kaden want it." Silly boy... Besides the cutting and the topstitching it is a very easy project- all straight lines. Too bad I am not so good at those. These big blankets are super useful and wonderful though so hopefully she will still get some nice use out of it even with its "character."

I am so excited!

2008-08-04T10:21:00.000-07:00

What a good weekend this has been! Breaking Dawn came out and So You Think You Can Dance Live tour 2008 tickets went on sale! I haven't gotten my hands on a copy of Breaking Dawn yet but I will soon. I bought my christmas present today and got two tickets to SYTYCD (see above for translation). My DH is excited to go on a nice date with me at the end of September. :) He's not a huge dance fan but he enjoys it and more than that enjoys how much I enjoy it. He even let me get the most expensive good seats. :) I am soooo excited! I am disappointed with the top 4 this season- well half of it anyway- but I love the top 11!

So in the 80 day package to my sis-in-law I sent a handmade sock monkey and cards with info about animals of the world. My dh didn't really get how the monkey was part of around the world in 80 day but to me since we don't have them here naturally they are world animals...so anyway it doesn't really make sense but it works right? I forgot to take photos. My sis-in-law says her twins liked the monkey and the cards. I hope so... Kaden and Asher like their sock monster and Kaden likes the US animal cards I got him (He's learned to identify an Orca) sooo... it's possible.

For 70 days I made her a nursing necklace. I used nylon coated stainless steel for the circle of beads. All of the beads are stone or metal so they shouldn't break. The cord is leather and the circle of beads can slide along it. Sorry for the poor picture - my camera was running out of batteries and I couldn't find the charger. So this necklace is not meant to be a teething toy or to be played with by itself. It is meant to be played with while Mom is wearing it and baby is nursing. It gives baby something to play with besides Mom's hair or clothing so that hopefully Mom can nurse in peace. :) I got the idea from this site which has a link to a tutorial on how to make your own. I did mine a little differently but the idea is the same. I thought it turned out pretty cool... but I'm a little biased. :)

Sent two more packages

2008-07-20T20:39:00.000-07:00

So I sent off the package to mark 90 days left for my sis-in-laws pregnancy and she recieved it exactly on time! I timed it perfectly! Woohoo! For 90 days I gave her a box with trial/travel sized items in it i.e. vaseline, baby shampoo, disinfectant spray and wipes, baby powder. Did you know that baby powder is good for getting sand off of your legs. It is truly a must have in the beach bag. It's amazing!

80 days should arrive by Tuesday. The theme was Around the World in 80 days. For 70 I am thinking the theme should be items to help her relax or rest... Because on the 7th day even God rested. I may do the same theme for 60 days because we are human and need more rest.

Suggestions on items for these themes and for some themes to go with 50-10 would be wonderful!
Thanks!

Wow! check out the Old Red Barn giveaway!

2008-07-16T18:27:00.001-07:00

So I am coveting this quilt and since it doesn't really belong to anyone at the moment, that's o.k., right? Click on the photo to learn more, or don't and give me a chance to win it. :) You can still check out her store and blog and not sign up. :) Oh and family of mine if you want to enter on my behalf I won't discourage it- as long as you send ME the quilt. :)

Sorry I'm a slacker

2008-07-11T09:29:00.000-07:00

I just haven't had much time for posting or crafting lately. We're surviving well, adjusting well to 2 kids. I can often get them to nap at the same time so I can take a nap too. Asher is a long napper not a cat napper which gives me much needed one on one time with Kaden too. I have been working on one big ongoing project. My sister-in-law is pregnant and has been terribly sick the whole time. She has toddler boy/girl twins to take care of too so it has been a really hard pregnancy for her. She hit her 100 days left until due date 10 days ago. So I decided to send her a little package every ten days to help her count it down. So for 100 days I sent her 100 alcohol wipes. I've sent her her 90 day package (today is 90 days left). But I don't want to write about it until I'm sure she has gotten it. I would love your suggestions for what to get her. She is having a boy. What themes can I do to go with the packages and the numbers? Thanks!

I learned how to make a sock monkey- well I made a sock monster to start with. :) I used this tutorial.

I took the photo for my announcement

2008-05-22T12:36:00.000-07:00

Now I just have to decide if it is too late to send any out. It's been 5 and a half weeks... That's not too bad is it? I will probably only send it to select people that I know would appreciate the announcement i.e. great-grandparents. Everyone else already got an e-mail. Great-grandparents got a phone call already. :) Anyway- isn't it a cool photo!

Check out My Wooden Spoon!

2008-05-12T10:04:00.000-07:00

She is having a give-away! A Kitchen Aid stand mixer. Giveaway ends on June 17th. Gotta love a giveaway! Check out My Wooden Spoon.
Be sure to check out her recipes and such too while you are there.