Energy Bites

I am ADDICTED to this yummy little things!

I can't get enough of them. No one else will eat them in my house (it's a texture thing). I've now made them twice and when they are all gone I dream about making more.

They make up super fast and you may just have all the ingredients on hand right now.

Energy Bites

Adapted from: Sweet Anna's

 

Ingredients:

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup sweetened or unsweetened coconut flakes

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/4 cup honey

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. 

• Roll them into little balls (1-2 inches in size) and put them into a dish. 

• Chill in the fridge for 30-60 minutes (the colder they are the better they taste).

After they are chilled they are ready to be eaten. I literally survived on these yummy little things for days. I just would pop one in mouth for breakfast, snack or lunch. I need to go make some more!!!

Menu Monday

Adalyn was sick all weekend and now I feel myself starting to get sick. We'll see how the menu holds up for the week. I need to get to the grocery store to make most of these meals happen. 

Monday --  Pasta Salad  (I'll make a revised version of this one)

Tuesday -- leftovers

Wednesday -- Broccoli Cheese Soup

Thursday -- leftovers (I hope to have dinner out with my Mom's Group).

Friday -- Creamy Tortellini Soup

Saturday -- leftovers

Sunday -- White Chicken Enchiladas

The Uglies

It feels like we have an infant in the house right now. I am getting about as much sleep as I did when Adalyn was 1-4 months old. She is teething yet again and this round is NOT going well. She isn't eating or sleeping well during the day or at night. Last night she was up every half an hour until midnight. Then again at 3am and refused to go back to sleep around 4:30.

I am so tired my mind won't think straight and it gets easily overwhelmed.

My email account was hacked into yesterday and then my email was taken over by hotmail due to said hacker. In a normal mind set that may not be a big deal, but right now I just want to scream.

We have a babysitter for tonight. Shane is going to be in Sequim for the weekend. We made plans with another couple to go to the movies. It was difficult but we settled on a movie and a time. This morning the time had been changed. Really....not want I needed to deal with today. I am just plain to tired.

Sleep....more sleep would make this all go a lot more smoothly. I know Addie doesn't feel well and that she is uncomfortable. I feel bad for her. I feel bad for all of us. Please, God, can my 15 month old pop these teeth through ASAP and start sleeping through the night for all of our sakes!

Phases

Phases....I go through a lot of phases in my life and right now I am on a Close To My Heart Challenge phase. I am determined to "win" a get-away weekend. In this phase I am creating, scrapbooking, organizing and connecting/contacting with my CTMH customers.

I go through phases where all I want to do is bake or cook, read a book, sew something, clean or organize, blog. Sometimes I even have a phase when I don't want to do anything.

My current phase isn't leaving much time for anything else beyond "normal" life of kids/family/house. The blog seems to be taking the biggest hit of all. Stick with me through this phase. I have a long list of things I'd love to post about....I just need to find myself more time to do so.

Wordless Wednesday -- Obssessed with Brushing

 

Handmade Valentines

Shane and I made some valentine's together this past week to send out to a handful of friends and family.

First we made these cute Valentine Hugs that we sent to the Grandparents. I was even able to get Adalyn to sit still so I could paint her hands.

Then we used 3 12x12 pieces of cardstock and put a bunch of paint in the middle and folded the paper over. When we unfolded the paper we got cool designs (I know this technique has a name, but I can't think of it).

Then I cut the paper out into heart shapes. Shane has been working on writing his name, so this gave him good practice on signing it on the back of each one. 

Quick, easy, cheap and cute = the perfect preschooler/toddler activity.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Menu Monday

I am hoping to not have to go to the grocery store this week, which means I really have to work out of the freezer and pantry and make it all work with what we have on hand. Our meals won't be very creative, but we'll still eat. 

Monday -- Chicken Teriyaki and rice

Tuesday --Valentine's Day will be our 3rd annual pink pancake dinner! + strawberries

Wednesday -- Chili from the freezer

Thursday -- leftovers

Friday -- Halibut and tater tots

Saturday -- Meatloaf and mashed potatoes

Sunday -- leftovers

Lovin' Studio J

With the Five For Free special that Close To My Heart in February. I sat down and knocked out some layouts using Studio J this week. I had forgotten how much I love scrapbooking with Studio J and how accomplished I feel afterwards.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

hugs

My Close To My Heart team is having a little challenge the next two months. If we earn enough points we get a mini-retreat to Leavenworth. My eyes are very much set on that prize.

One of our tasks this week was to create a card using new paper from the Spring/Summer Idea Book. I was inspired by this card.

Supplies:

Stella Paper Packet
Bakers Twine in Neutral
Just Blooms Paradise Paper Flowers

A Lot of Love and a Little Bit of Luck

I had a friend ask me if I could show her how to make the blocks like the JOY ones I did for Christmas. It was a fantastic excuse to make some LOVE blocks for Valentine's Day.

I used Close To My Heart retired paper called Sweetheart. I cut the letters out from my CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut Cartiridge and embellished using random items I had laying around from CTMH. The black ribbon is from Micheal's. My wonderful Husband cut out the blocks for this project (6, 7, 8 and 9 inches).

These blocks have a little twist to them though.....

Flip them around and now you have:

As soon as Valentine's Day is over, I'll be all ready for St. Patrick's Day.

This paper is not from CTMH, but all the embellishments are.

Wordless Wednesday -- Buddies

Five For Free

Are you behind on your scrapbooking?

Have you been wanting to try digital scrapbooking?

Have you already fallen in love with Studio J?

If you answered yes to any of those questions then this month's CTMH special is just for you. For each Studio J 5-pack you purchase in February you'll get one FREE 5-pack. That means you get 10 layouts for just $55...just $2.75 per page. You even get FREE shipping!

Even if you are already a Studio J member, you'll save even more when you take advantage of this months deal.

Visit my MyCTMH to contact me or place your order.

Menu Monday

I am pretty sure that I can blame the extra pounds I gained last week to Pinterest. We ate some yummy, yummy food last week thanks to Pinterest. Then I went and got us a bread machine over the weekend. That just screams a few extra pound,s too. But at least those pounds will be warm and homemade!

Monday -- Steak Sandwiches and salad

Tuesday -- Spaghetti and Bread sticks

Wednesday -- leftovers

Thursday -- Macaroni and Ground Turkey with Cheese

Friday -- leftovers

Saturday -- Valentine's Dinner Date Night (Thanks, Shonda for watching the kiddos!)

Sunday -- Raid the Frig Night

It Has Arrived!

The new Close To My Heart Spring/Summer Idea Book is here! Full of awesome new products and cute paper packets.

These are my top two favorite paper packets:

Pemberley

Stella

You can view all of the wonderful new items that CTMH has to offer online here.

Attend one of my workshops and take and new Idea Book home with you for FREE. That way you can drool all over the pages and make your wish list all cozy on your couch.

True...Oh So True.