Friday, May 30, 2008

Gosh!

I walked in on the kids while they were playing with blocks today. They were building homes and shops in a little village created for their ponies and dolls. It was a marvelous "project" that they were working on. I stumbled in on their conversation just in time to hear the Littlest Pet Shop Pony a.k.a "The Shopkeeper" trying to woo Barbie into a purchase, "You're going to love this one! It's Versace!!!"
I almost snorted H2O out of my nose! I don't really own anything designer, I don't watch anything where I think they would have heard of any designers but apparently it's a great tag line to cinch up a sale. Hey, if I was Barbie, I'd be LOVING Versace. :)

I've GOT to get outside!

Oh, so little Sugar Plum Girl woke up in just a diaper but was in a great mood so I popped her in the mei tai and snapped a couple photos in the bathroom mirror--please excuse the Aztec themed shower curtain (not my style but I still haven't really found my style in bathroom decor yet--it's a journey to get away from the land of hand-me-downs aka my home) and the grainy photos but here we are! I'll try to see if I can get some nice, outdoors action shots! Oh, and as a PS, I know that the one shot is really off center, but I didn't mind because you're getting a preview of a dried floral-esque arrangement I made for a whopping $8! I got this fabulous vase on sale and went from there... I'll probably show you more of that when I find a good place in my apartment for the poor fella to live.

Until then, HAPPY FRIDAY!

Dottie or Flossie?

Ok, so I've been on a kick naming things in my kitchen lately... and now my new apron needs a name. I've been considering Dottie, but do you think that's too generic? I mean, with the polka dots and all? I kind of wanted an old fashioned name, maybe something from the 30's to 50's time frame. I'm stuck. What's your input? Oh, and by the way, forgive the less than stellar photos but isn't this apron from Jen absolutely DARLING? I love, love, love it!! I forgot to take a photo of the detailing on the pocket so when Little One is done spunking I'll try and snap another photo. Hopefully I can get a picture of the Mei Tai too--hubby didn't get home till after 9 last night and baby carrier photos with no baby are hard (Little One was snug as a bug in a rug, off in dreamy land). Stay tuned...

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Note to Self:

Yesterday I finished up the Mei Tai early enough that I was able to wear it on my way to pick up #1 from school... on my way out the door I discovered a package in the mail that came from Jen in Michigan--it was a fantastic apron from the swap I'm in! I was thrilled!

So the Mei Tai was MUCH more comfy than the other baby carriers I've ever used and Hailey seemed to enjoy it. I'm making a note to myself to try and snap some photos today, of the baby carrier and the apron, to share with you all... stay tuned!

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Courtesy a la Christine

A very good friend of mine shared with me her love of fresh cilantro 3 or 4 years years ago. She told me how she loved the extra flavor it added to salad and went on for a few minutes as she picked leaves off of the stems of a fresh bunch of cilantro. She griped about the exhorbitant cost of the herb in our small, out-of-the-way town, reminisced about working at Taco Bell in her youth and then we went on to talk about husbands, children and well,you know... life.
That conversation, years ago, spurned me to make some homemade salsa for a picnic yesterday. I was at the market and saw some ridiculously overpriced cilantro (you see, I live in another small town now while she has moved on to bigger and better cities) next to some very reasonably priced tomatoes and VOILA! The idea was born.
Hubbie loved the salsa. I got a few recipe requests. No pictures... I left my camera in the car and was kicking myself for not taking pictures at the picnic. Well, I'll share my recipe with you at least. It was a spur of the moment, throw it together kind of thing but I'm sure that you can play with the measurements and make it work for you.
Keep in mind, I made this for a potluck, so the recipe yielded quite a bit--probably 8 cups or so.

Ingredients:
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
1 small onion, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
3 cups frozen corn, cooked
1 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
5 tomatoes, diced
2 small jalepenos, seeded and finely diced
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

I mixed the garlic, cilantro, salt, cumin and pepper well then added in everything else and chilled for a couple hours to let the flavors blend. Enjoy!

Sunday, May 25, 2008

WIP

I started on a Scandinavian style Mei Tai carrier Friday evening but Little One decided to wake up every half hour until about 4 in the morning so I abandoned the project and pulled her into bed with me. Desperate times = Desperate measures.
It's pretty fun and I've got some mods in mind. I'll post a link to the fabulous tute when I finish and snap a couple photos for ya'll. :)

Friday, May 23, 2008

Where does the time go?





Look at my little girls... growing up!

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Holla!!

Hey all! I am gearing up for the long weekend with the kiddos... I know that we have some random plans here and there, the culmination of which will be a picnic on Monday at a local park. Anyone else have any plans that they'd like to share?
I've honestly been looking to start some family traditions for some of the less celebrated holidays--do you have any ideas or things that your family does to celebrate any of the upcoming "summer" holidays that you care to let me (few but) faithful readers in on?
And what about those of you in the Capital Region that stop on by every now and again? Anything happening locally that you want to clue me in on? Parades? Anybody know of any fireworks or festivities that the kids would enjoy?? Come on now, DISH!

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Better Late than Never

Yesterday was so cold, today I was itching for something warm and summery so I thought I'd share with you the dishes that DH and the little ones picked out for me on Mothers' Day. I've been meaning to show them to you anyhow so this was a good motivator for me to snap a couple shots of them. :) I absolutely love the splash of color that they add to the kitchen. I cleared off my bakers rack to use for storing them when they're not in use because it just didn't seem right to hide them behind a cupboard door!


I'm still pining for my KA but I'm so stingy that I'm waiting to get a great deal... good things come to those who wait, right?

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Fabulous New Find


I just saw that Coldstone started serving up some Lo-Cal smoothies this week--they're big on flavor, but starting at 160 calories they're not big on your waistline! You can get their NRGize smoothie and add in an energy, anti-stress, protein or antioxidant supplement to give yourself a little boost... I dunno, the Berry Lemony smoothie is calling my name... but every last one of them sounds good to me!
Check out your local Coldstone and pick up a smoothie--in honor of me! ;)

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Diligence

I am trying to be diligent now that I've shared my wight loss success with you. You see, after I posted that up here, I went to a banquet where I was encouraged to gorge myself with all sorts of tasty foods. And cake. The next morning I took the kids to a fundraiser where I was encouraged to buy at the bake sale, have a hot dog and enjoy a free ice cream cone... I declined on the ice cream. I then went to a great birthday party where I was greeted with barbecued pork and more FANTASTIC food! Including the cake with light and fluffy whipped frosting. After THAT party I had to go to my SIL's greaduation party. More grilled food. More baked beans. More cake. And to top it all off, I got home and now I'm starving!! I had a small bowl of rice chex and a tall glass of water. I'm waiting for the water to kick in.
Today I learned a great lesson in self control: I lack it. I did indeed hold myself back, but not as much as I would have liked to. Well, there's always tomorrow. I have a rigorous power-walk scheduled... ;)

Friday, May 16, 2008

2 in 1 day!


I know, 2 posts in one day but I forgot some happy news for me. For the first time in more than 7 years, I'm under 130!! It's been 3 days now so I'm finally making it official!! Never fear-oh, come winter time I'll be packin' it back on. :)

Get my hustle on

Today I have to hustle bustle... many things to do this afternoon before I take my two older girls to a mother/daughter banquet this evening. Took #1 to school this morning, dropped off a few things at a friend's house and went on a scavenger hunt looking for some rocks to use as props for a skit I'm in this evening.
#2 is watching a cartoon, Little One is nursing and I'm gearing up for a run to the store. I've got to get a few items for the skit I'm in tonight (wish me luck), grab a few ingredients for a pot of bacon corn chowder that I'm slated to make for this evening's potluck, pick up a couple gifts for various parties we're attending this weekend and, if time allows, peruse some fabrics for an apron swap I'm in on. After that, we'll head home, throw a load of wash in at the laundromat, make a science project, whip up a batch of white chocolate macadamia nut cookies that I've been craving and then pick Micaela up from school. Next we'll pick up the washing, run home and let the kids play in the yard (hopefully it's not raining yet) while I check on the seedling they've started for their little container garden--we started beans, peas, radishes (radishes because they're great for instant gratification: you can harvest them in just 3 weeks) and some flowers for, you guessed it, #2!!
Now we've got the chowder to make, need to get everybody bathed and fresh, hopefully I can get us all in matching clothing but I wouldn't count on it--I just haven't the drive to get that stuff done lately. Desire, yes... drive, no. Finally, ooh and coo with the baby while I pack her bag because she's going SOLO to the babysitter for the first time ever. So I'll run her to the sitter's, run to this banquet, feed the kids, smile and chortle a few times while letting my soup get cold but making sure my girls "eat up". Put on a skit, watch my girls sing a heart-warming "I love my mom" song, see if I can sneak out early to get Little One from the sitters, then run home and get everyone pajammied and off to sleepy land. I'm sure I'll be sleeping loooong before DH gets back from movie nite with the guyz!

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Puddin' Pops!

So today we made some Jell-O pudding pops for a nice snack. #2 helped me and was absolutely thrilled to be "cooking" with Mommy. DH has told me several times of fond memories from his childhood of pudding pops and I was a little aloof because I'd never experienced the creamy goodness of such a wonder.

This afternoon with my trusty Google search engine at my side I decided to venture into my pantry and conquer the creamy popsicle known as The Jell-O Pudding Pop. While our recipe said to use 5 oz cups, popsicle sticks and straight up pudding made just like the package says, I got a little adventerous and used 9 oz. cups with fruit in the bottom and some super cute animal shaped plasticware from Dixie. The forks actually worked great because they stood up well in the fruit and they provided a nice big, textured surface for the little hands to grip (the Dixie forks are wide and flat and are kind of similar to toddler forks in that they are easy to hold). We just made vanilla pudding, stirred it into the fruit, stuck in a fork and froze them. The kids LOVED them! This time we used raspberries but I think I'm going to try some peaches next time. I can see raspberries or strawberries being good with chocolate pudding... I also wondered how things would go if you folded a little cool whip into the pudding before re-freezing it. I'll let you know how it goes if we try it.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Lovely Day

Today was a superb day! This morning we got a start on our spring cleaning and then the kids looked out the window and clued us in to what a lovely day it was outside. We went out pretty early and the kids had a blast playing outside.

#1 is obsessed with "working" and being super productive; she wanted us to find some sort of yard work to do for her. We don't really do yard work ourselves as our landlord (who is a great guy--you're tops, John!) does all of the outside maintenance during the summer months. Micaela wanted to do SOMETHING so we put her to work gathering all of the sticks and twigs that had fallen off of the neighbors' trees and into our lawn. She actually made a sizable pile of twigs, branches and a few unidentifiable objects--I was impressed by her determination. She ran back and forth across the lawn, spurring her father and I to join her little cause, "So Titus' daddy can mow the lawn--Let's make it easy for him!!"

Yeah. #2 was happy laying in the grass, gazing at her little bundle of dandelions and listening to the birds. She's our little ballerina/hippie/princess. She's so moody and passionate, she's the ultimate love child! It's really rather amusing to me to watch her grow; I just never know what she will say or do next.
Ah, and #3! She was napping when we went out to enjoy the beautiful weather. That was very short-lived though. When we brought her out she sat in the grass with a volleyball between her legs and didn't budge. She refused the let her hands touch the grass. If you stood her up she would walk around and join in whatever we were doing but if she fell down she wouldn't even try to get up; she just didn't want her little hands to make contact with the prickly green blades of sweet smelling grass. That was entertaining. :)

For Mothers' Day I requested a grandiose KA mixer. It's been one of my top wants for a while now but I've always put it off because they are a little spendy and you know how we mothers always think about family first, "Oh, I don't really need that, let's get school shoes for the kids..." Well this year I decided that I'll be putting that rebate check from Grand Ol' Uncle Sam to good use and I'll be getting that KA I've so longed for. I am going to demonstrate some patience though and wait to have the money in my hot little hand before I go ahead and do my duty as a responsible citizen by stimulating the economy with my purchase.

So, enough for now, sleep is beckoning!

Friday, May 9, 2008

On short order

Well, I had just about an hour this morning and here's what I whipped up for tonight: a set of coasters (using a great tutorial from AllSorts) that I think I'm going to have make again because I like them so very much...


And a tissue holder that's decided to cozy up to very pink headband...

Each of them will go to a separate home but I hope they will all live equally happy lives! The more I think about it, I'm definitely going to have to make a set of those coasters for home. I don't have a coffee table but we'll use them at the dinner table, by golly!!

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Ladies' Nite!

So tomorrow night promises to be a fun evening; DH has volunteered to play the role of an oversized child and stay at home with the children while I go out with some friends to see Made of Honor at the movies. I think I might even head to the mall a few minutes early to check out a sale--can you blame me though? How often is it that a girl gets an evening to herself? In my case, not often enough. :)

Anyhow, I've been putting together some goodie bags for the ladies that'll be enjoying their evening out. I was thinking of something to make and toss into the bags but I'm still undecided. Then I thought of putting a little something special into just one of the bags as a little "prize" of sorts and we'll have a little drawing to see who gets what bag.

Does anyone have any clever ideas? I've got a nice little fabric stash here and tons of yummy scrappies that I could use but only a couple of crafting hours between now and then... any clever crafter want to offer a suggestion??





Saturday, May 3, 2008

Another Happy Day!

Micaela turned 6 yesterday! It was a wonderful day filled with special birthday snacks at school, a birthday girl crown to wear all day, a trip to the credit union to make a deposit into her account, etc. Lara helped me to bake the birthday cake and Micaela got to put her #6 candle in, all by herself! This week we had our intimate family celebration but next week we're having the big "All my family" party and I'll be sure to post pictures so you can all enjoy the party hats and such!

I'm off to make a special birthday breakfast as Micaela just wanted her usual morning cereal before school... you can't mess with the weekday morning routine or she gets thrown off all day but weekends are fair game for anything!

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Chow Time!

Tonight we had a great time-crunch friendly meal that left me wanting oodles more. Not particularly healthy, not particularly unhealthy but somewhere in the middle. We had some lovely jasmine rice, steamed snow peas with julienned carrots, diced onion and sliced mushrooms and a very tasty batch of Chinese sausage. It left me wanting some wonton dumplings--in a serious sort of way!

Anyhow, on our way home from school this afternoon we took a few random photos of whatever the kids desired.







And this really adorable house that I love:


And then we ran into this cute little crew:


And then we finished our trip home...

Pay It Forward "Swap"

Stumbled across this on a crafty blog that I saw this morning:

The Pay it Forward pledge:
"I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 6 months, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog."


I watched the movie Pay It Forward a few years ago on the recommendation of a couple of friends of ours. It truly was a life changing film for us. The whole idea of doing "random acts of kindness" for others and touching, literally, the world was huge. I think that quite often we feel that what we say or do stops with us but we truly can change things around the entire globe.

For that reason, this swap made my heart flutter a little faster. It's something that you will get a feel good vibe from, it'll make you really think about the person whose life you want to touch and whose day you want to brighten. It's about personal reflection, searching the heart of others and giving back to your community in a special way with a selfless attitude.

Sooo... who's up for participating? As the pledge states, I'll be sending something to the first 3 people who comment and say that they want to be included in the PIF exchange. All you have to do is post the pledge on your blog and vow to pay it forward. For those of you who don't have a blog and would like to participate I would just ask that you make a sincere effort to "pay it forward" by making a gift for at least 3 people and blessing them with no thought of receiving anything in return. And finally, you can expect to receive something in the mail from me... within the next six months!

Update

After our visit to the kiddie doctor we have learned that: Lara hears well in her left ear. Lara's hearing was less than perfect in her right ear. She's coming off a cold though and Dr. Nice Guy (as the kids called him) thinks she's just a little stuffed up. We'll be back in 5 weeks!