Preserving Life's Moments

LOVE

2012-02-02T05:30:00.000-08:00

I had these 2x2 blocks hanging out in my never used craft supply box. One night in bed I had a vision of decorating them for Valentine's Day. I used an older paper packet from CTMH called Sweetheart, along with some left over chipboard letters. The whole project didn't take long to make. The hardest part was sitting down and ordering pictures and picking them up.

Happy Birthday, Sadie Rose

2012-02-01T20:00:00.000-08:00

Our first "kid" turned 8 today. Just about 7 years ago after talking and talking about getting a dog and jumping through hoops to rescue a dog, Sadie Rose came home with us.

Her spot in the family hierarchy has fallen over the years. But she'll always been the first kiddo, even if she is furry.

Shane was quite concerned about Sadie and what was going to happen on her birthday today. He really thought she should have cake. He said she could have the cake part and he'd eat the frosting part since that was bad for her. What a thoughtful guy! He kept asking me who was going to come to the party and if she was going to get presents.

Instead we made these Peanut Butter Dog Cookies for her. He could barely wait to have them cool before giving one to her. She went on a car ride to pick up Shane from preschool and we even took her on a walk. I'd say overall it was a pretty good birthday for Old Lady Sadie.

Wordless Wednesday -- Milk Lovers

2012-02-01T07:08:00.000-08:00

Oatmeal Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

2012-01-31T11:58:00.000-08:00

That title is a mouth full, but these little bite sized muffins will fit just right in your mouth. And they are oh, so yummy. Kinda like having a bowl of oatmeal in a muffin form. I made them for a play date we had at out house last week. They were a hit (except by Shane...he didn't like the texture of them). I couldn't stop eating them all day long.

Adapted from Green Lite Bites

Oatmeal Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients:

2-3 large mashed RIPE bananas
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
3 cups Old Fashion Oats
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp mini chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix all ingredients together.

I made 24 mini muffins (baked 12-15 minutes) and 6 regular sized muffins (baked 18-20 minutes)

Menu Monday

2012-01-30T09:34:00.000-08:00

Monday -- Chicken Noddle Casserole

We didn't have this last week. I bought a whole cooked chicken at Costco yesterday. That will make this recipe a whole lot easier. I'd love to make the creamed soups from scratch, too.

Tuesday -- leftovers (I'm out with the girls from MOPS for dinner.)

Wednesday -- Cheesy Vegetable Chowder

I LOVE soup/chowder. I don't make them much because my family doesn't really enjoy ingredients all mixed together. I am hoping that I can make it chunky enough that I can serve it to the kiddos in separate parts.

Thursday -- leftovers

Friday -- Baked Apple Spiced Oatmeal

We had baked oatmeal a few weeks ago for dinner and it was a huge hit. Very warm and comforting.

Saturday -- Pizza and Salad

Sunday -- Raid the Frig Night

Thanks Pinterest for all your inspiration this week!

The Weekend

2012-01-29T20:16:00.000-08:00

We had a fun weekend, full of things we don't normally do. It's nice to have that sometimes.

Shane had his first basketball practice. As expected he was very overwhelmed with a loud gym full of people. But we promised we would stay with him as long as he wanted (which was the whole time). He loosened up towards the end and even told us he really liked it.

Doing some stretching.

Listening to the coach.

Learning how to dribble (that is a tough skill to teach a kid).

More dribbling practice.

Adalyn had fun running around in an open gym and climbing the bleachers.

Mema got in town on Wednesday so she could watch the kiddos while Kenny and I went to a cocktail party on Saturday night. We were blessed with going out to dinner with just Shane Friday night. When we returned him home, Mema put both kiddos to bed while Kenny and I made a Home Depot run. I know, not very exciting, but really so much easier with out kids.

Shane all dressed up for his popcorn party with Mema on Saturday night.

Kenny and I ready for our big night out.

We had a wonderful evening hanging out with adults,

eating yummy food and enjoying a drink, or two.

Thanks Mema for hanging out with us and helping so much while you were here! And to Papa for managing with out her for 4 days.

Best Fishes

2012-01-27T13:27:00.000-08:00

This is the card I made for my monthly Close To My Heart swap. I used paper from the new Idea Book called Stella. It's one of my favorites.

Check out the other cards made by other fellow Consultants:

Made by: Carla

Aren't the butterflies beautiful!?

This is CTMH's new paper packet called Pemberley.

My other favorite.

Made By: Michele

Sweet little birdie.

Made By: Lalia

I love this card design.

Made By: Jayma
This flower stamp set is going to be one of the most popular from the new idea book.

Made By: Tracie

What a fun way to fold a card!

You may see this card at an upcoming workshop.

Made By: Cindy

Look at how she made this cut envelope out of a letter sized envelope.

The flower stamp is one of my new favorite from the Spring/Summer Idea Book.

The new Idea Book goes "live" February 1st! Contact me at jessicadbooth @ hotmail .com to get your hands on one.

Blueberry Muffins

2012-01-25T10:18:00.000-08:00

I have a thing for muffins. I really like them, but I am picky about my muffins. They have to have just the right amount of flavor and the perfect soft moist texture.

This week I made blueberry muffins (blueberries were buy 1 get 2 free at the store...hard to pass up).

I adapted this recipe from a Lemon-BlueberryYogurt Loaf. I skipped the glazed she made, but I am sure that would be fabulous on top of them as well.

Blueberry Muffins

1 1/2 cups flour (I did 1 cup white flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 container lemon yogurt
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups blueberries (mine were fresh, but you could use frozen)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degree.
Mix together four, baking powder and salt.
Whisk together the yogurt, sugar, eggs, vanilla and oil.
Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
Pour the batter into muffin cups. I made 12 large muffins (bake for 15-18 minutes) and 6 mini muffins (bake 12-15 minutes)

These muffins were delicious. They had just the right amount of flavor and sweetness and were spongy and moist!

January Workshop Rescheduled to February.

2012-01-25T05:30:00.000-08:00

Each month I hold a workshop at my house using Close To My Heart products.

This month we'll be making a set of 5 cards using the Wonderland paper packet. Here is a peek at the cards that we'll be making.

When: ~~Friday, January 20th~~ Wednesday, February 29th at 7pm

Cost: $8 for all 5 cards including envelopes.

I have 3 spots left!

Mark your calendar for Thursday, February 2nd at 7pm. We'll be making a set of 10 3x3 Valentine Day Cards!

If you are local to the Seattle/Eastside area and would like to know more about my workshops, please leave me a comment with your email address and I will get in touch with you.

Quick and Easy Valentine Kid Crafts

2012-01-24T08:52:00.000-08:00

Painting with Cookie Cutters

I cut out different sized hearts using my Cricut machine and Art Philosophy Cartridge (but you can cut them out any way that works for you). Then I gave Shane a heart shaped cookie cutter and some paint. He stamped/painted away with the cookie cutter. The end result were these super cute hearts that we hung up on the windows.

Tissue Paper Hearts

Also, using my ART Cricut cartridge I cut these heart outlines out in different sizes. Then I put contact paper on one side of the heart and had Shane ripe tissue paper and stick it to the contact paper. When he was done filling it up I covered the other side with contact paper. I had intented to hang these from some where, but instead I put them up on the windows, too.

We are getting all decorated up for Valentines Day!

Menu Monday

2012-01-23T09:55:00.000-08:00

Monday -- Nachos

Tuesday -- Baked Pototoes

Wednesday -- Crock Pot Chicken Tacos

Thursday -- leftovers

Friday -- Chicken Noodle Casserole (with some revisions)

Saturday -- leftovers

Sunday -- It's a Free For All Dinner Kind of Night!

Weeks 2 and 3 of our 31 Day Food Challenge

2012-01-23T05:30:00.000-08:00

Since I was in San Diego last weekend I didn't get our progress report up on our 31 day eating challenge.

Enjoy a Meal Together -- That was an easy one! The 4 of us eat dinner together most nights. The kids and I eat lunch together most days, too.

Add Something New to Your Meal Plan -- I am always trying new recipes...maybe to much...haha!

Eat More Apples -- Oddly enough this is one of Shane's favorite new foods. He is in love with apples and cheese. Adalyn loves warm apples with cinnamon on them .

Examine Your Kids Drinking Habits -- I must say we've always been controlling over the juice flow in our household. Shane didn't taste juice until he was at least 2 years old. We always have 100% juice in the house. Shane gets 1-2 cups of juice a day, but we still dilute it with half water. When he has had his juice fill for the day he then gets"cold water", which most of the time he drink very happily. Adalyn still only gets milk or water for her liquids.

Use Books to Encourage Good Eating Habits -- I don't think we have many books that fit this category in our home library. It's a great idea and I'll be looking to add some to our collection.

Build a Better Pantry -- I keep healthy snacks in reach of Mr. Shane and the cookies and candy go in a special cabinet that only Daddy and Mommy know about.

High Protein, Low Sugar Breakfasts -- Just a couple months ago I thought to myself one morning that cereal just wasn't a good breakfast for Shane. He didn't eat it every day, but when he did he got hungry a lot sooner and his behavior crashed a lot earlier in the day, too. When he gets a healthy breakfast he just behaves so much better during the whole day.

Cook or Bake With Your Kids -- Shane bakes with me probably at least once a week. And he often joins me in the kitchen while I make dinner. He LOVES to cut things up and make his own "food" while I make dinner. I'll give him veggie scrapes, etc and he cuts them up and puts them in a bowl. Adalyn is in my arms or in the backpack when I am in the kitchen. She loves watching me make things.

Serve a Muffin Tin Meal -- Most of the meals I give Shane are similar to muffin tin meals, but minus the muffin tin. I have been meaning to pick myself up some tins for this though.

Try Something You've Been Avoiding -- I have an acorn danish squash sitting on my counter (it's been there for at least a month now) and I just can't seem to get it cooked. This week I am going to serve it at lunch or dinner...finally.

Teaching Balanced Eating -- I think in the next week or so I'll use the "report card" and try it out with Shane for a couple days. See if he understands at all and then go from there.

Commit To Whole Grains -- We do pretty good with whole grains on and off. Pasta is a pretty easy one for us to do. Rice and bread are okay sometimes. I falter more on this since I buy the groceries and I just sometimes don't buy whole grains. I think we could pretty easily do a week of it though (at least pasta, rice and bread). I bake with whole wheat sometimes, too or I half it.

Let Your Kids Play with Their Food -- We've been telling Shane lately that if it's something he doesn't want to eat he can touch it or play with it. He looks at us like we are from another planet and then laughs. He really is becoming a better eater, so if playing with his food helps, I am all for it. Adalyn has playing with her food down!

Snack Wisely -- I realized a few months back that Shane was snacking to much. When I cut down on that he ate during meal times....imagine that. Now snacking is more "schedule" between meals and much more purposeful.

We have one more week to go!!

Conversatons With Shane

2012-01-22T11:55:00.000-08:00

Shane spent a fair amount of time playing in his room one morning while holding Dodger hostage in there with him. I had been checking on them on and off just to make sure poor Boy Dog wasn't being tortured to badly.

Shane came running out of his room to tell me this:

Shane: Mommy, when you cut Dodger's hair with real scissors he likes it!!!

Me: What?!?!

Shane: Dodger likes it when I cut his hair with scissors.

Me: Well, Dodger might like it, but scissors are only used for paper. Show me what you did. ( I found a clump of hair cut from Dodgers back).

Shane: (In a super super upset and confused voice) But he likes it!! He really likes it!

Me: Sorry kiddo, you aren't giving Dodger a hair cut, no matter how much he "likes" it.

Project 52 {3:52}

2012-01-21T05:30:00.000-08:00

We were out sledding this week when I realized that my theme for week three was cold or snow. Wow! What perfect timing. I saw these bright red berries among all the white and knew I needed to attempt to get a picture. I only had a quick minute at it before I was going to get run over by sledders and then my camera lens was so wet I couldn't take any more pictures.

More Snow

2012-01-20T06:47:00.000-08:00

We've been snowed in for days now! Schools have been canceled all week. The weatherman keeps promising that it is going to let up and it will melt, but so far nothing but more snow and cold temperatures. Shane has loved spending time out in the white stuff sledding and romping around. The dogs even love going out and playing in the snow.

Shane and Adalyn getting ready for a sled ride. Little Girl hates getting dressed for the snow, so she has only made it out a couple times. Shane is a pro by now and has been outside to play in it 2-3 times every day.

Walking up the hill for a sled right with Daddy. Addie did best in the snow when she finally kept her mittens on. The two times before this she wouldn't wear them and got very upset when we came inside because her hands were so cold. She did not enjoy the "dethawing" of them.

Snow videos:

1. Adalyn and Shane out in the backyard. Her first time walking around back there.

2. Kenny, Shane and Adalyn sledding down the "horse hill". Both kids loved sledding.

Valentine's Day Workshop

2012-01-19T09:41:00.000-08:00

For February's workshop we are going to be making 12 adorable 3x3 Valentine's Day cards (2 of each design). They are perfect for your kiddos to take to school or for you to send out to your family and friends. They also are just the right size to stick a lollipop, pencil or a piece of candy inside.

Cost: $5 a set (you can make more then one set, just let me know.) (no envelopes for these little guys).

Please bring your own adhesive (tombow, double sided tape, glue pen etc). A "tombow" like adhesive would work best for this project.

I have 3 spots left for this workshop, if you are in the Greater Seattle area and would like more information about this just leave me a comment.

Project 52 {2:52}

2012-01-19T05:30:00.000-08:00

I honestly can't tell you why I picked "blanket" as a theme all those weeks ago. But I did. We aren't short on blankets around this house that is for sure. Shane is always toting one around with him and I still have a blanket that I sleep with at night. It's not my original blanket. I've loved my way through a handful of them since I was little. Adalyn has chosen "bunny" as her special lovely instead of following in the tradition of blankets. Guess she didn't get the memo.

I walked into the bathroom one afternoon and there was Shane's blanket just sitting on the counter. Made me chuckle at the places that thing ends up. I imagine that kid will have a special blanket for the rest of his life. I wonder where he got that from?

Wordless Wednesday -- Snow

2012-01-18T05:30:00.000-08:00

San Diego and Snow

2012-01-17T12:05:00.000-08:00

I had a wonderful weekend away all by myself in San Diego visiting friends. Sadly through the sun didn't shine while I was down there and the whole weekend I was just plain cold. I would have been even colder though if I was at home because it snowed all weekend while I was gone.

It was an odd feeling to be away with out kiddos or a Husband. It felt weird to sit on an airplane all by myself and do whatever I wanted. It felt weird to be able to wake up in the morning when ever I wanted (though it was super difficult to actually sleep-in) and to be able to lay down and nap/rest if I felt the urge.

I did very much enjoy my time away. Visiting with friends, eating out (In-N-Out was a highlight!), reading, surfing the web, sitting around and watching television. Just doing nothing of much felt good. Coming home and being greeted with hugs and loves felt really good, too.

Absence really does make the heart grown fonder or maybe it just reminds the heart how much love there is. Being away for a couple days is refreshing and renewing. It makes those days that can become dull and boring exciting and fun again.

Shane and Kenny had a fabulous weekend together hanging out. The snow did kinda change up their plans, but was fun in its own right. Adalyn, Mema and Papa had a wonderful weekend spending time together, too. She did fabulous on her first visit to their house all by herself.

All around it was a great weekend for the whole family. Now it looks like we will have a few more fun snow days ahead of us.

Close To My Heart January Updates

2012-01-13T06:30:00.000-08:00

Here is what is happening in the world of Close To My Heart:

Rock the Block
January Constant Campaign

When you place a minimum order of $25 from the Autumn/Winter 2011 Idea Book, you can get two valuable new products for just $15: the My Creations Collage Cubes (a Spring/Summer 2012 sneak-peek product!) and the exclusive My Acrylix Rock the Block E-size stamp set (available only during this promotion). This Rock the Block promotion represents a retail savings of almost $30! You're going to love the collage cubes and the Rock the Block stamp set, which work together for interactive, fashionable fun! This offer is ends January 31st.

There are SO many ways to use this cute set. Check out this blog hop for some great ideas.

A Perfect 10!
January Studio J Members-Only Constant Campaign

January is free layout month for Studio J members! For every 9 custom-printed Studio J layouts you buy, you’ll receive the 10th layout free. To receive the discount, just add 10 or more layouts to your cart. You’ll see a discount reflected in your order total. And you can totally take advantage of this promotion by ordering in multiples of 10. Buy 9, get 1 free. Buy 18, get 2 free. Buy 27, get 3 free. And so on! If you’re not a member yet, now’s a great time to join! This offer ends January 31st

Visit here to get more information on becoming a Studio J memeber.

January Stamp of the Month
Little Reminder
When you spend $50 on any CTMH products you can purchase the Stamp of the Month for just $5!

The Spring/Summer Idea Book arrives February 1st! There are 8 new paper packets and I am in love with just about every single one of them. Place an order of $50 or more and you get one for FREE.

Activities for Younger Toddlers

2012-01-12T05:30:00.000-08:00

It hit me the other day that we no longer have a baby in the house....we have a full on toddler. She was pushing boundaries the other day and doing all kinds of climbing.

She still pretty much just wants to run around the house tearing things up though and it is starting to drive me crazy. The amount of picking up I do during the day is amazing. Little Miss Almost 14 months old won't return to play with any overturned items/messy toys. I have to pick it back up for her to play with them more.

The other hard part has been finding activities that Shane and Adalyn can happily do together. One of my goals for this year is to make sure I have prepared activities for both kiddos on a regular basis. This helps to pass the time for me and helps add some excitement to our days. Productive Parenting has a lot of great ideas including the younger set.

These are two games we played yesterday.

Toss The Sock:
I found two containers (medium and small) and grabbed the balled up socks from Adalyn's drawer. I put the containers in the middle of the floor and put the socks around the room. Then the kiddos "tossed the socks" into the bins. Pretty darn simple, but they both had fun and could play together! I had Shane toss from further away. Adalyn loved tossing and then dumping.

Adalyn and Shane playing.

They were into it for about 15+ minutes,

which I thought was great for such a simple game.

Shane and Arli playing.

Arli gave it about 1 round and then moved onto other things.

Find the Animal:
I had Shane line up a bunch of stuff animals. Then with a flash light he pointed to one and asked Adalyn to "find the bear" or "find the baby", etc. She loved finding the baby and then kissing it. But she wasn't so into finding any of the other animals. Shane loved telling his Sister what to do.

Both of these activities target:

following directions
large gross motor skills
eye and hand coordination
cooperation
simple fun!

Candy Cane Hearts

2012-01-11T09:59:00.000-08:00

I had a box of candy canes left over from Christmas and after seeing some hearts made out of candy canes filled with chocolate on Pinterest, I knew we needed to make a revised version for Valentines Day.

Aren't they cute?! I hung them from the chandelier in our dining room. Shane supervised the project and put the candy canes on the plate for me to hot glue. Then I strung ribbon through them. It took longer to get the hot glue gun warmed up then it did to make these.

Got any left over candy canes laying around in your house?

2012 Goals

2012-01-10T08:59:00.000-08:00

I have had some goals for the new year wondering around in my head the last couple weeks. I wasn't sure if I was going to share them, but I decided getting them down here is the best place to keep my goals and it removes them from taking up space in my mind.

Crafting:

Make a list of the events that need to get scrapbooked.
Get pictures backed up on CDs from the last couple years.
Put completed pages into their proper scrapbook home by year.
Complete my monthly craft project.
Complete Project 52

Kiddos:

Continue to rotate toys weekly (by theme if possible: animals, transportation, instruments, etc).
Each week provide Shane with new activities to work on (mostly for Tuesday and Thursdays).
Have a new activity for Adalyn (and Arli) to do at least 3x's a week.
Work on Shane's speech activities 3x's a week (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday).

Household:

Deep clean and reorganize a room as needed. (Just last week I did both kid bedrooms).
Continue to meal plan weekly, potentially adding a lunch plan to each week.

Close To My Heart:

Plan and prep monthly Close To My Heart workshops.
Send monthly newsletter by the 3rd of each month.

Blog:

Consider ways of adding revenue through the blog.

Personal:

Monthly date night using a babysitter (this is the scariest one of all of them because of the babysitter part).

Menu Monday

2012-01-09T05:30:00.000-08:00

Monday -- Left over Lasagna from last night (sadly it wasn't fabulous, but there was a lot of it, so half went in the freezer for another time and we'll have plenty for tonight's dinner)

Tuesday -- Halibut and rice (I'll bake it with a little layer of mayo and dill on the top...yummy!)

Wednesday -- Baked Oatmeal

Thursday -- Crepes (as requested by Kenny)

Friday -- Hold on to your seat....I'll be out of town for the weekend! Yep, just me all by myself in the awesome town of San Diego. Where I'll get to visit my friend Michelle and soak up a few rays of sun!! I CAN'T wait to sit on an airplane all by myself for hours!! And not get woken up by a 14 month old who is still not sleeping through the night.

A gigantic thanks to Kenny for letting me go on this adventure. And to Mema and Papa for taking Adalyn for the weekend, so Kenny can enjoy some one-on-one time with Shane.

Saturday and Sunday -- It's up to the boys to fend for themselves. I think they'll manage just fine.

31 Day Food Challenge

2012-01-08T20:07:00.000-08:00

Teaching "Good" Eaters is hosting a 31 Day Food Challenge in January. We recently realized with Shane how much food plays a part in his daily behavior. We hit rock bottom about a month ago with our wonderful active 4.5 year old and were seeking anything that would help us get out a a terrible behavior rut. Food became one of the major answers.

He is a picky eater (like most preschoolers out there). When I stepped up and took some time to really figure out what I could get him to eat AND stopped pushing him on eating, we saw a 180 degree turn in his behavior.

Just last week at my MOPS group we had a guest speaker on picky eaters. She was AMAZING. I mean truly amazing. The top three things I took away from her talk were:

Our job as a parent is to provide healthy nutritional choices. It's the kiddos job to get it into their mouths. Bargaining, bribing, counting bits, etc does no good at all. Allowing them to decide what they want to eat and when is the health way to feed a kid.

Let all the walls go around eating. Don't be a wall that your kiddo can push against. Put all the power in their hands. Which means here is dinner, Kiddo, eat what you would like, try what you would like, or don't eat anything. It's all in your hands.

By always having a "safe" food choice at meal time, your kid will eat. Yes, that may be bread or green beans, or olives. What ever a "safe" food is for your child. But, as they learn to take the power of eating into their hands, they will begin to want to try other things and you'll most likely see your child start to eat what is on the table all on their own free will.

Back to the food challenge. Here is what we accomplished this week:

Day 1: Establish Accountability -- We eat made a list of our favorite foods. Over the week we have been adding to it.

Day 2: One Family, One Meal -- We generally ate one family meal at dinner time, but had gotten a little off track. This week I've focused on having a "safe" food each night for Shane, as well as making sure we are at the table together and eating (or sitting nicely) for about 15 minutes every night. Dinners this week have been a lot less hectic!

Day 3: Try a New Food Tuesday -- This was a success after Shane cried for about 5 minutes. But I really wanted him to try a half of a garbanzo bean. When he did it, he discovered it was just fine and life went one. Since then he has been super open to at least taking a bite of something new.

Day 4: Eat a Fun Lunch -- This isn't the funniest looking lunch, but Shane really gets into having things in small sizes, toothpicks and fun plates. He ate this all up. That is all that matters to me! A happy eater equals a happy kid.

Day 5: Read Labels -- I happened to buy Adalyn some Gerber Puffs and she was eating them for a snack. I normally just feed them Pirates Booty. I read the Gerber Puff label and it had a handful of off items in it. I headed over to the Pirates Booty bag and it just had a couple ingredients. No point in buying the expensive baby puffs!I'll be sticking to Costco sized Pirate Booty bags.

Day 6: Plan a Food Adventure -- Still working on this one....

Day 7: One Small Change -- We needed new ketchup and I bought the new kind by Heinz that has no corn syrup in it!

Cinnamon and Apple Sauce Hearts

2012-01-07T05:30:00.000-08:00

We actually made these cute and wonderfully smelling Cinnamon and Apple Sauce hearts during the holidays. I was thinking ahead though and had Shane use heart shape cutters. Then I strung some pretty red string through them. Now they are hanging around our house making it smell yummy and festive for Valentine's Day.

Wanna make some of your own! Here's how what you will need:

2 cups of apple sauce
2 cups of cinnamon
Straw (to make a hole in the top for the string)
Cookie Cutters
Ribbon

Mix together cinnamon and apple sauce. If the mixture is too saucy add more cinnamon. Or if it is to hard add more apple sauce. It will be messy!

Sprinkle cinnamon on your counter tops to prevent them from sticking.

Knead "dough" until you have a firm, pasty consistency.

Roll dough out to 3/4-1 inch thick. From my past experience thicker is better. It may take longer to dry, but when it is to thin they crack and crumble and don't turn out well.

Cut out shapes with cookie cutters.

With a straw, poke a hole at the top of each shape, so you can string it with ribbon later.

Bake on a baking sheet at 175 to 200 degree oven for a LONG time. Some where between 3-6 hours depending on the thickness of your shapes. Flipping them every hour or so will help with the drying.

I turned my oven off when I went to bed (after about 4 hours of baking) and let them sit in there over night. Then I pulled them out and let them sit on the counter in the sun for most of the day. You can tell they are dry when they are hard and change color from dark (moist) to light (dry).

They truly smell so good, especially while baking!

Learning is Fun.

2012-01-06T05:30:00.000-08:00

Meet Z.Z., the newest member of our family.

Z.Z. is a zebra and she eats carrot letters and cabbage numbers.

Shane loves her and asks to feed her every day.

He is getting so good at feeding her basic letters and numbers,

I need to come up with some new food for Z.Z. to eat.

I am thinking tomorrow she may need to eat some math facts.

Our zebra friend is made out of a tissue box, white and black paper and some wiggly eyes.

Shane keeps asking for a tail for Z.Z. and I keep forgetting to make one.

I love when we can have so much fun together laughing and learning.

Project 52 {1:52}

2012-01-05T05:30:00.000-08:00

This year I am going to take a little photography challenge in the form of Project 52. I have created a list of 52 themes (one for each week of the year). Then each week I will take a picture with that theme in mind.

My theme for the first week of the year was {time}.

When I went to check out my list for this week I knew just what I was going to do. Shane has been obsessed with his practice time clock and "matching" it with our clock. He even woke up at 3:30am one morning to tell me his clock wasn't "on point". I reassured him we could deal with it in the morning.

Now this picture was quite challenging for me to take in a photography kind of way. It possessed problems to me that make me want to take more and more photography classes. I couldn't use my flash because it created a terrible glare on the glass. BUT the lighting inside was low on top of it being dark and gray outside. I did the best I could with my very small amount of knowledge regarding lighting and pictures.

I've never played with editing on my pictures before, but I did a little on this one. I don't know that it helped much though. It's not a good picture in the photography sense, but it fits the theme really well.

If you'd like to participate in Project 52 here are the next 4 weeks of themes:

Blanket
Snow/Cold
Cup
Hearts/Love

Wordless Wednesday -- Odd Choice

2012-01-04T06:38:00.000-08:00

12 Projects for 2012

2012-01-03T05:30:00.000-08:00

My mind in constantly whirling and swirling with ideas. Projects for me, projects for the kids, things to do around the house, stuff I want to make in the kitchen, etc. Sometimes these ideas get completed and sometimes they get swallowed up by more ideas. I thought it would be a good way to start out the new year with a month by month list of projects I would like to complete this year.

January: Family Photo Wreath -- This will go in my new laundry room, so it won't be Valentine themed.

February: Treat Stands -- I saw something like this on Rachel Ray and was dying to make them.

March: Hand Print Canvas Art -- This will also go into my laundry room, also

April: Yarn Wreath with Felt Flowers -- A friend of mine made one of these for our Craft Club Christmas Exchange Party. I just LOVED it. There are tons of examples of them on Pinterest.

May: Felt Flower Barrettes -- Adalyn really needs these.

June: Pillowcase Dress -- Now that Addie is walking she can wear dresses and this will be perfect for the summer.

July: Toilet Paper Tube Wreath or Star Wreath I am hosting Craft Club at my house in July. I really want to do a Christmas in July theme. Since last year I felt like I didn't have enough time to make all the things I wanted to. This may change but right now these are the two ideas in my head.

August: Homemade Vanilla Extract -- I use vanilla all the time. I can't wait to make this!

September: Homemade Apple Butter -- I love Apple Butter, but I think it's hard to find good stuff at the store.

October: Peacock Tutu -- This just has to be Adalyn's Halloween costume this year.

November: Homemade Shaped Crayons and Soap Crayons -- Shane will love these.

December: Button Christmas Tree Ornaments -- Just to cute!

Man, this was a hard list to complete because there are just so many cool things out there to make. Hopefully this will keep my wondering mind focused and I can at least get these done and maybe more!

I'll keep you up-to-date on my progress. Have you been motivated to try any new projects this year??

Menu Monday

2012-01-02T05:30:00.000-08:00

After not eating at on all Friday I seem to be making up for it now. All I seem to think about is food and what I am going to eat next. I am very much looking forward to making some yummy dinners this week.

Monday -- Salad and Salmon (as requested by Kenny...have I mentioned how much I LOVE when family members request dinner meals!?! It makes my life just that much easier.)

Tuesday -- Tacos and Spanish Rice

Wednesday -- Steak, Potatoes and Corn in the Crock-Pot (I am going to make a revised version of this)

Thursday -- leftovers

Friday -- Lasagna (requested by Shane after we watched an episode of The Chew. He loves watching cooking shows and I like to encouraged any thing that has to do with eating)

Saturday -- leftovers

Sunday -- Really, no matter what I plan this day is just generally a fend for yourself, whatever is quick/easy or left in the refrigerator kind of dinner.

Happy Birthday?!?

2012-01-01T20:08:00.000-08:00

This post was suppose to go up on Friday, December 30th....my 35th birthday. I was so looking forward to waking up to a bunch of exciting birthday plans: going shopping (all by myself), hanging with the family, eating cake and spending the night out with 5 fabulous girlfriends having dinner and watching the show at a local piano bar.

Instead I was woken up at 1am by my dear Daughter (a very normal event in my life) to discover that I felt quite nauseous. Adalyn then spent the next 2 hours waking up every 20 minutes or so (also very normal) and I spent those 2 hours in and out of bed making my rounds from her room, the bathroom and my bed. All the while praying that this 1. was just a dream or 2. I would feel magically better come the morning.

Morning rolled around and I came to terms with the fact it was NOT a dream and I was NOT feeling any better. It seemed that my birthday plans were also NOT going to be what I had in mind. I certainly got a lot of Me-Time on my birthday, but it was by being banished to the bedroom (so that I wouldn't infect any other family members with my stomach bug), where we have no TV and spotty internet connection. Where I was unable to sleep because my body hurt so bad and I had no attention span to focus on a book or anything that required mind power.

Around 4pm I was allowed out of the bedroom and access to the couch, TV, internet and family. The worst had come and gone by that point, but I was weak and tired. My evening plans had been canceled and I had no interest in eating the cake I made from scratch.

The cake that just a day before I had been so excited to make. For Christmas I had received a bunch of decorating supplies (tips, pastry bags, cake pans, etc) and I was dying to try them out. I made a very basic yellow cake, but fancied it up by cutting it in half and put strawberry jam in the middle of it. Then I went to town decorating. I really just wanted to try as many tips as I could. Hence the "sampler" cake look.

Shane and Kenny had some on my birthday after singing me the sweetest "Happy Birthday". Shane said it was the "best cake ever".

A birthday come and gone. Certainly now how I had pictured or planned my big 35th birthday to be, but I am oh so happy to be back on my toes feeling better and able to wish you all a Happy New Year. Here's to a healthy 2012.

Christmas Day Wrap Up

2011-12-28T06:30:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas weekend. The highlight of my Christmas was that we did not go any where...no traveling for us. We were blessed to have my family (Mom, Dad, Brother and SIL) come to us!! We ate, went to church on Christmas Eve, played a game or two, watched Polar Express, ate some more, opened presents and just hung out and had fun.

Shane put out cookies, a carrot (his idea), milk and a thank you note for Santa Christmas Eve night. The thank you note said "Thank you Santa for letting me have a camera." I asked him how he knew Santa was leaving him a camera. He said, "I asked Santa for one and he said okay." There ya have it folks, as simple as that. Good thing "Santa" had a camera all wrapped and ready to "leave" for Shane.

Shane woke up at 5:30am and we got him back to bed until 6am. Not bad I'd say. His Sister on the other hand had one of her worse nights she has had in months. She was basically up until 3am and then awake for the morning at 6:30am. This was a tired Mommy on Christmas day.

Shane opening up his present from Santa.

Santa wraps his presents in pretty red wrapping paper.

Yep, it was a camera.

Adalyn checking out her loot from her stocking.

Making a start at opening her present from Santa.

Oh so quickly we get distracted when we are 13 months old.

Yay! Santa brought me a box!!

Wow...there is actually stuff inside the box...bonus!

Don't you just wish you could squat while you did stuff!

Man, this is a heavy present. Someone want to help me out over here.

That girl is busy. She didn't take a nap until 11am on Christmas Day.

After not sleeping most of the night because she is teething.

Shane checking out his train whistle.

Also, pictured with him is his new blanket.

None of us would have guessed,

but his old blanket has been tossed aside for this new special one

given to him by his Great Grandma.

His whistle went with his train conductor overalls that he was dying for!!

This is one happy kid.

He wore them over his zip-up jammies (his first love) for two days straight.

Thanks Aunt Claire, Uncle Joe, Carolyn and Meredith!!

Adalyn got some new wheels for Christmas from Mommy and Daddy.

The kids were blessed by all their wonderful family members that gave them gifts generously.

We had a wonderful Christmas season and look forward to a fresh new year of 2012.

Speech Update

2011-12-27T20:39:00.000-08:00

Shane started receiving speech services in February of 2010. When he turned 3 in June of that year he was transferred from the non-profit organization we were working with to the local public school system.

This first video was taken in September of 2010 when he started with his speech teacher at an elementary school near our house.

This video was taken in May of 2011 when he ended that school year with Ms. Amber, who was also leaving the school district and moving to San Fransisco. I took that opportunity to request that Shane see the speech teacher at our neighborhood elementary school. Our request was granted!!! Which meant that we could walk to speech instead of a driving 20 minutes to and from speech.

He made huge improvements during his year with Ms. Amber and continues to make more now this school year with Ms. Dana. I took this video of him "reading" Snowman, Snowman What Do You See. We made this book together and he was so proud of himself while "reading" it. It is also a great example of how far he has come in his speech over the last almost 2 years.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T05:30:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas....

From our wiggly family

to yours!!

Cookies, Cookies and More Cookies

2011-12-24T05:30:00.000-08:00

We did our fair share of baking last week. Here are the cookies we made this year.

Peppermint Chocolate Cookies

I wish you could smell these even days later they still smell so yummy.

Sugar Cookies

This is my FAVORITE sugar cookie recipe.

This recipe makes 60 cookies, so cutting it in half works, too.

2 cups of softened butter
2 cups of sugar
2 eggs
4 tsp vanilla
4 tsp baking powder
6 cups of flour

Preheat oven to 375.

In a bowl mix together flour and baking powder and set aside.

In another bowl blend together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

Gradually blend in dry ingredients.

Divide dough into two halves, cover with plastic wrap, flatten with your hand, and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Roll out 1/4 of an inch thick and cut with cookie cutters.

Bake 7-9 minutes

Gingerbread Cookies

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light (mild) molasses
2 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter cut into chunks
1 egg, beaten
3 1/2 flour

Preheat oven to 325.

In a large pot heat sugar, molasses and spices to boiling over medium heat. Stir occasinally.

Remove from heat and stir in baking soda (mixture will foam), stir in butter chunks until melted.With fork stir in egg then flour.

Knead until thoroughly mixed. Roll dough just thinner then 1/4 inch.

Bake 10-12 minutes (don't over bake!!).

Scotch Shortbread Cookies

Next time I want to try dipping them in chocolate.

Last Minute Quick and Easy Christmas Crafts

2011-12-23T05:30:00.000-08:00

Here are a few cute, simple, quick and easy Christmas crafts.

If you need the kiddos to do something with those last few hours before the big day.

Hand print Christmas Wreath

Trace kiddos hands. Double up the paper and cut the hands out. You'll need about 15-20 hands (it depends on the size of the hand). Cut the inside circle out of a paper plate. Glue the hands to the front and back of the paper plate outer circle. You can decorate the wreath hands with stickers, buttons, sparkles, etc.

Paper Snowman

I gave Shane various sized circles and asked him to make a snowman. He picked the circles and put them in place. Then added googly eyes, buttons, arms and some snowflakes.

Craft Stick Snowman

Paint a craft stick white. Use felt or paper to make a hat and scarf. Then embellish him as you would like.

Thanks Gia and Misty for hosting a fun day of crafts!!

The Liebster Blog Award

2011-12-22T05:30:00.000-08:00

I was awarded the Liebster Blog award this week by Katie at Playing With Words 365. Thanks Katie for the award. It means a lot to me!

You ask what is the Liebster Blog Award? It's basically like a chain letter, but for blogs. The idea is to spread the love from one small blog (under 200 followers) to other small blogs. This helps to build community and readership. And really....who doesn't love winning an award?!?

The origins of the award are hard to find. But I did find out that "liebster" in German means "dearest". As part of the Liebster award tradition, I am going to award 5 small blogs that are near and dear to my hear this award as well.

The rules are quite simple:
1. Show your thanks to the blogger who nominated you by linking back to their blog (If I hadn't been awarded this by Katie, she would for sure be on my top 5 list!!)
2. Nominate five other happy little blogs by posting a comment on their blogs.
3. Post the award on your blog.
4. Now you get to stop by and see what these up and coming blogs have to offer.

And the award goes to:

Sweet Anna's -- My favorite place to get recipes. I love that Annalise's recipes are user friendly and great for families. If I need an idea for a dessert, dinner or an appetizer this is where I go. Throw in some stories about being a Mommy and you have one of my favorite daily reads.

Teaching Good Eaters -- I stumbled onto this blog recently. We struggle daily with my 4 year old and food. I instantly got a ton of ideas after browsing this blog. I fell in love with the Food Adventure ideas, along with all the great advice on working with kiddos to be good eaters.

He Sows, She Sews -- I first visited this blog because of Gretchen's I'm blessed series. I fell in love with her stories and pictures from there.

Life as This Mommy knows It -- It's not hard for me to love your blog if you have anything to do with photography. I just read a post by Brenna about editing and it blew my mind away.

My Home School Tale -- I'm always on the look out for fun, crafty and educational things to do at home with Shane (and eventually Adalyn). Andrea has lots of fun post covering all those topics.

Guest Post

2011-12-21T20:06:00.000-08:00

Swing on over to Money Saving Mom and check out my guest post today. If you need a last minute gift for a neighbor or a friend. Maybe a stocking stuffer or you just want to be crafty. This hot chocolate card kit might just do the trick.

Handmade Ornaments

2011-12-21T16:14:00.000-08:00

I am in LOVE with these quick and adorable Christmas ornaments. I found them here and just knew we needed to make them.

All you need is:

craft sticks
paint
glue
embellishments (jewels, puffs balls, sparkles, pipe cleaners, wiggly eyes, buttons, glitter, etc).

Those reindeer just make me smile.

Wordless Wednesday -- Lego Fun

2011-12-21T08:58:00.000-08:00

Felt Christmas Tree

2011-12-20T05:30:00.000-08:00

After making my felt snowman kit, I felt inspired to make a felt Christmas tree kit.

I saw a Christmas tree busy bag that had the buttons on it, so I started there.

Then I added some extras for decorating.

Shane really enjoyed decorating his tree.

I discovered this afterward, which would be a great addition to the felt tree kit, too.

Menu Monday

2011-12-19T09:22:00.000-08:00

Monday -- Cheesy Chicken Tortellini Bake (we didn't have this last week)

Tuesday -- leftovers

Wednesday -- Tacos

Thursday -- leftovers

Friday -- Nachos

Saturday -- Christmas Eve dinner will be party style. We'll have veggies/dip, cheese/meats/crackers, olives, etc for us to nibble through out the evening. Along with all the millions of cookies we baked last week. Plus, hot chocolate, apple cider and may be a few surprises, too.

Sunday -- Christmas Dinner! Ham, mashed potatoes/gravy, broccoli and bread

Wishing you a fabulous week before Christmas!!

Christmas Performance 2011

2011-12-19T05:30:00.000-08:00

Shane had his Preschool Christmas Performance Friday morning. He was all decked out in his Christmas outfit (which he would wear every day if he could). He had been practicing his songs and "moves", but was super anxious about the "changes" to the day. We went over so many times what was going to happen and he still cried until he saw us sitting in the church waiting for him. His Teachers are so kind and caring with him. Two of them came up to him after the performance and told him how great he did and encouraged him. He doesn't mind the performing part, it the it's different then a normal day and there are lots of people part. But as soon as his eyes saw us he was all good.

My attempt at getting a picture of Adalyn.

She was overdue for a nap. May just be my favorite picture of the day.

My handsome boys.

Video from the performance, too.

Linking up to:

Happy Holiday Cards

2011-12-18T05:30:00.000-08:00

We made these cards for my Christmas Card Workshop this year.

For some reason I think these cards are just striking.

We used Holiday Cheer and A Holiday for the two stamps sets.

Plus a little ribbon, bitty sparkles and card stock.

The Art Philospophy Cricut Cartridge from Close To My Heart helped a lot, too.

It cut the holly leaves, holly berries and happy holiday shape out.

I just love that cartridge!!!

I won + Review

2011-12-17T05:30:00.001-08:00

Recently Along for the Ride hosted a huge giveaway day. I was one of the lucky winners! It's so fun to win. I got a $20 gift certificate to Sweet November's Shop. What fun I had loading up on all of her cute stuff. Sara was so sweet and sent me some of her new products, too.

I was super excited to receive these cute hair clips. Adalyn has crazy hair that is in her eyes if I don't pull it back. I am always on the hunt for clips that stay in her hair and these TOTALLY fit the bill.

I didn't have to fix constantly like I do with lots of her other barrettes. These stayed put!

I think the sparkly silver clip is my favorite. It goes with everything and just adds a little bling.

We also got this super sweet onesie with a heart sew on the front.

I love it under this sweater she got for her birthday.

I want to find this sweater in MY size.

Sara's Sweet November shop has necklaces, hair accessories, earrings and more.

New Front Door

2011-12-16T11:46:00.000-08:00

At some point during the summer (yes, summer) we planned on getting new front doors. After many, many very unexpected bumps in the road (an odd sized door and a small entry way) we finally got new doors this week! Sadly, they weren't even close to what we had originally visioned. Before we knew that we would be confined to a very small option of doors, we had picked out these gorgeous craftsman style doors with windows. We were both sad to let those go, but happy to still have new much prettier ones.

Old doors from the inside.

New doors from the inside.

Old doors from the outside.

New doors from the outside.

They will look even better when we paint them black.

Hopefully this summer the whole house will get a new coat of paint as well.

They had so much fun watching the door being put in.

Sewing Kit for Kids

2011-12-16T05:30:00.000-08:00

I made these sewing kits for our two nieces (ages 5 and 7) for Christmas this year. I wanted to come up something different and special for them that was craft related. I stumbled upon these on Etsy and knew I had a winner.

These bags were the perfect size to fit all their sewing goodies in. Including a big bag of stuffing to complete their projects with.

I made 7 different sewing projects for each kiddo using felt. Each project was put into a baggie along with any additional items like buttons. The projects included: bird, flower, circle, butterfly, star, heart and cupcake.

I also included this little note in each one:

Sewing Kit

Supplies:

2 dull tip needles
2 spools of thread
Various colors of needle point thread
7 projects
Large bag of stuffing
Measuring tape
Scissors

Each project bag has a cut out felt item to make. Somehave buttons to sew on and some have additional felt pieces to attach.

Instructions:

Use either a backstitch or a whipstitch to sew your items.
Sew on buttons on additional felt pieces first.
Then sew most of the felt piece together, leaving room to add the stuffing.
Finally, sew up the last hole from where you put the stuffing in.

Yay!!!You are learning how to sew!!!

I hope the girls have a blast with their very own sewing kits!!!

Linking up to:

Santa Visit 2011

2011-12-15T05:30:00.000-08:00

Shane was SO excited to see Santa this year. He was going to ask for an airplane, but at the last minute changed it to a camera. We had "coached" him the few weeks prior in order to make sure he asked for one of the items we had already purchased him. So far at this house "Santa" brings you what you ask for. We had both items on hand, so no harm done with the last minute change.

Adalyn was kinda 50/50 on the whole Santa thing. The first two pictures she was crying then the last one she was okay. I purchased the none crying one for her future sake as an adult looking back on these pictures.

Isn't he the BEST Santa ever.

Santa Visit 2010

Santa Visit 2009

Wordless Wednesday -- Blueberries

2011-12-14T05:30:00.000-08:00

Linking up to:

Play-dough Fun + Recipes

2011-12-13T05:30:00.000-08:00

I made play-dough from scratch for the first time ever a couple weeks ago. I needed to make a double batch of green playdough for Shane's preschool. They gave me this recipe and I really liked how there was vanilla in it.

Play-dough Recipe

2 cups flour

1 cup salt

2 cups water

2 tablespoons oil

2 teaspoons of cream of tartar

2 teaspoons of imitation vanilla

food coloring (optional)

Combine flour, salt and cream of tartar in a saucepan.

Add water, oil and food coloring and stir until smooth.

Cook over medium heat until play-dough is nearly set and starting to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Add vanilla and stir until blended.

Remove from heat and knead until the stickiness is gone. (That was my favorite part...warm play-dough was so fun to play with!)

I thought it was funny because I had just purchased a brand new set of stainless steel cookware and this was the very first thing I "cooked" in it. I was cringing the whole time wondering if I would ever get the play-dough off my new pot. It came perfectly clean and no harm was done to my brand new pot. Phew!!

Last week I made Gingerbread Play-dough for Shane. I really liked this recipe, too. It smells fabulous! I printed him out these gingerbread house play-dough mats and he had lots of fun putting "candy" on the houses and making cookies with his play-dough. We've never used play-dough mats before. I thought they were a great resource to add to the fun of play-dough play.

I had planned on letting Adalyn in on the play-dough fun. She really didn't want anything to do with it. I'll try again soon and see if she is interested then.

Menu Monday + Linky Party!!

2011-12-12T12:25:00.000-08:00

Monday -- leftovers (odd for us on Monday, but that is the way we are going to roll this week)

Tuesday -- Salmon and rice

Wednesday -- Kenny's Work Holiday Bowling Party

Thursday -- Cheesy Chicken Tortellini Bake

Friday -- leftovers

Saturday -- Baked Penne and Turkey Meatballs

Sunday -- leftovers

I'd love it if you would link up your menu plans for the week here. Then we can all get inspiration for next week's menu.

Wonderland Swap + Holiday Party

2011-12-11T08:37:00.000-08:00

I recently attended my 1st holiday party of the season with my CTMH team members. We each brought a homemade gift to exchange white elephant style, a treat to share and a Wonderland paper item to swap.

I brought Pumpkin Cookies with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting.

The cookies were good, but man I just LOVE that frosting.

My gift that I brought to exchange were these JOY blocks.

They were "exchanged" a handful of times.

Always feels nice when people are "fighting" over what you brought.

You can check out my NOEL blocks and my BOO blocks, too.

And finally here are the awesome swaps people brought:

Isn't he adorable?! By Tracie

I love how the wreath is wrapped on this card. By Carla

Christmas Popper By Cindy

This is a brilliant gift card holder. By Michele
You can find directions here.

My snowflake card.

Snowflake card cut out using the AP cricut cartridge. By Lalia

O Christmas Tree

2011-12-10T05:30:00.000-08:00

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree you were decorated twice this year.

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree you really weren't the problem.

What are you talking about you ask?! Our Christmas tree has been through a lot this year and I am hoping he can hold it together and make it until Christmas for us.

He joined our family on Sunday, November 26th. He was adorned with lights and decoration that very same day. Shane started to get horse and sick that day as well. By Wednesday Shane was coughing and not feeling good at all. We decided he was allergic to the Christmas tree (we had had this issue before a couple years ago, so the timing made sense to us).

We undecorated the tree and stuck him outside hoping that we could come up with a solution and be able to bring him back in. Kenny washed the tree off and then applied a vegetable wash to him (after doing research online about mold/Christmas trees/allergies). He came back in to rejoin the family a week later. Five days later he is FINALLY completely decorated AGAIN.

During this past week Shane got better and Adalyn got worse. She was (and still is) working on 3 molars and she is the worst teether ever. Her symptoms seemed to point to teething. She started to get horse....weird that was what Shane did, too. It can't be the Christmas tree now, right?!?! We were SO confused. She started coughing and Wednesday night she did not sleep well at all. She appeared to be waking up and not breathing well.

I heard her cough Thursday morning...it sounded like a barking seal. I ran to the computer searching Croup. I quickly realized that she just might have Croup. That afternoon I took her to the Doctor. Yep, Croup it is. Where did she get it from?? Her Big Brother, who also had Croup and WAS NOT allergic to the Christmas tree.

The Doctor gave her a liquid dose of steroids because she most likely had one more bad night to go through the cycle of Croup. She slept quite well Thursday night and woke up sounding and breathing a lot better. She is quite behind on sleep and is still pretty crabby but she is on the mend.

What a couple interesting weeks we've had. I hope that things will settle back to "normal" for the rest of the holiday season.

I've linked up at Life as this Mom knows It.

Fleece Scarf

2011-12-09T08:29:00.000-08:00

Our local elementary school had a craft fair recently. I had some shopping in mind to do. When we got inside we were surprised to find out it was a kid make your own craft "fair". They had about 10 different booths set up where kids could go and make crafts as holidays gifts or just for fun. They were super organized. You purchased punch cards ($2 per craft) and got your card punched when you picked your craft to make. We let Shane pick to crafts.

After walking around seeing his choices he knew right away he wanted to make the fleece scarf (and we thought it was the best choice out of them, too). He picked a nice pattern and then I helped him put beads on the end. (If you are making this on your own, make sure to get beads with big holes and you can use a skewer to help push the fabric through.) We did very simple beads on his, but you could embellish it so much more.

It was seriously so darn easy to make and he is in LOVE, I mean in LOVE with his scarf. He gets compliments on it where ever we go. Which makes him like it even more.

What a perfect inexpensive, easy gift for your kids to make for their friends, right?!?!

Christmas Tags

2011-12-08T07:52:00.000-08:00

One of my November workshops was Tags and Bags. We made 10 Christmas tags and 3 bags using the Close To My Heart Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge. We mostly we used the December 25th stamp set.

Everyone had their own favorite of the night. I didn't get around to taking pictures of the bags before they got used. But that amazing Art Philosophy Cartridge did all the work for us. We just had to adhere them together.

If you are interested in owning your very own CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge visit my website.

Felt Snowman Kit

2011-12-07T18:00:00.000-08:00

My newest craft love is felt. My head is full of felt ideas. This love all began with a snowman kit that I saw on a blog. It is hit or miss what Shane will enjoy, but I thought this would be fun. I purchased some felt (which runs .29-.34 cents a piece....not bad for a quick craft project).

Isn't he just so cute. I used the template to cut most of my pieces. I also added a few things to allow for more options and more time spent making different snowmen.

I am in the process of working on a felt Christmas tree kit and this snowflake busy bag using felt.

I brought it out for him tonight after dinner. He really had fun using it. Which made the time I spent cutting out all those little pieces all worth it.

Wordless Wednesday -- New Favorite Toy

2011-12-07T09:36:00.001-08:00

Christmas Countdown Chain

2011-12-07T07:18:00.000-08:00

We've been on a countdown chain kick (Halloween, Thanksgiving and now Christmas) around here. I had plans on doing a Christmas chain countdown for Shane at the beginning of the month. It helps for the million times he asks how many days until Christmas. I can say go count your chain. Which generally ends the conversation at that point since he won't walk into his room and count them.

Anyways....I stumbled upon the idea of adding prayers to the tradition. Shane prays at school before snack, but we don't do any praying at home. Neither Kenny or I grew up praying at meal time or bed time, so I think we just don't even think about doing it. I thought this would be a helpful way to get us started.

I cut out strips of 12x2 inch CTMH Believe paper. Then I asked Shane to tell me people he would like to pray for at bed time. I wrote a name on the back of each slip of paper and then stapled the loops together. You can download the star top at here.

Christmas (and Thanksgiving) Blessing Mix

2011-12-06T06:54:00.000-08:00

I am again late in posting this for Thanksgiving, but right on time for you to make some for Christmas.

The adults played a game at Adalyn's recent 1st birthday party. I wanted to reward the winners with something special. I stumbled upon this Thanksgiving Blessing Mix and knew I had just the right prize. I also used it as a neighbor gift.

I made it with one cup of each of the items below. It was VERY difficult to find bugles. When my Mom finally found some at Walmart they didn't have plain ones, just fancy flavored kinds. Which ended up working fine in this mix. I had enough for 3 large take-out containers.

Thanksgiving Blessing Mix

Bugles: Shaped like a cornucopia or Horn of Plenty, asymbol of our nation's abundance.

Pretzels: Arms folded in prayer, a freedom sought by thosewho founded our country.
Candy corn: Sacrifices. Food was so scarce that settlerssurvived on just a few kernels of corn a day.
Marshmallows: The Pilgrim's first winter brought cold and snowto the Pilgrims.
Nuts: Promise of a future harvest, one we will reap only ifseeds are planted and tended with diligence.

Pumpkins: Representing a bounteous harvest.
Dried fruits: Thanksgiving is the celebration of the fruits of theharvest.

M&Ms: Memories ofthose who came before us to guide us to a blessed future.

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone, but guess what....you can make a Christmas Blessing Mix as well. Here is the cute little poem to go with it. I think these are just perfect and unique (as well as yummy) for teacher gifts, neighbor gifts, friends gifts, etc. Or just as a yummy snack on Christmas day.

Christmas Blessing Mix

Bugles: Bring usthe joyful message of the Heavenly Host, announcing peace on earth, good willto men.
Pretzels: Symbol of a mother's loving arms;as Mary wrapped her Son in swaddling clothes and laid him in the manger.
Red Hots: Red berries that decorate theholly plant, a reminder of eternal life and Christ's redemption.
Nuts or Seeds: Promise of a future harvest, onewe will reap only if seeds are planted and tended with diligence.
Dried fruits: Remind usof the rich gifts brought by the Wise Men.
M&Ms: Memories of those who came beforeus to guide us to a blessed future.
Hershey's Kiss: The love of family and friendsthat sweetens our lives.

Candy Canes:Represents the shape of the shepherd's crook, used to bring lost lambs back tothe fold.

Menu Monday

2011-12-05T09:20:00.001-08:00

Kenny has some suggestions for dinner this week, which helps me so much!!

Monday -- Mac and Cheese from Jessica Seinfeld's book Deceptively Delicious. It's one of my top favorite Mac and Cheese recipes. It has cream cheese in it and it's so creamy and flavorful.

Tuesday -- leftovers (I have my MOPS holiday party. I'll leave room for all the yummy treats there)

Wednesday -- Tortilla Pizza's (these are quick, easy and yummy)

Flour Tortilla's with pizza sauce and cheese (plus what ever other toppings you would like).
Bake in the oven at 325 degrees until the cheese is bubbly (5-8 minutes or so).

Thursday -- Baked Cheesy Chicken

Friday -- leftovers

Saturday -- Baked Burrittos (another insanely quick and easy meal)

Mix a large can of re-fried beans with a jar of salsa and a 1.5 cups of cooked chicken.
Wrap the mixture in flour tortillas and bake them at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

These are perfect to make a double batch and freeze the extras for an easy meal out of the freezer.

Sunday -- I have my Craft Club Holiday party. Kenny and the kiddos are on their own. I'm sure there will be plenty of leftovers for everyone to survive on.

Flashback Friday

2011-12-02T12:41:00.001-08:00

I meant to get this posted last Friday.

A week late, but this is what was happening in our lives just a little more then a year ago around this time.

I was overdue by 1 week and SO ready for our little one to arrive.

Finally, she did on November 18th, 2010

A week later we were celebrating Thanksgiving

with two kiddos in the house.

And there was snow out already!

Making Adalyn's 1st week home very interesting.

It is so amazing how much happens in the 1st year of a new life.

Adalyn is a busy walking 1 year old now.

Snowman Sandwich

2011-12-01T05:30:00.000-08:00

I asked Shane this morning what he wanted for breakfast. He said a snowman sandwich like the turkey one I made him. I said...for breakfast??? Yep. Ummmm....okay....let me see what I can whip up.

About 7 minutes later, we have a snowman sandwich.

Shane wanted to eat him really bad, so I just got a quick picture of him.

Overall the body took 2.5 sandwiches. I might have been able to do it in 2 in hindsight.

I used 3 different sized glasses to cut the circle shape out with.

I meant to grab the mini-chocolate chips for his eyes and buttons, but realized after I handed it to him they were regular sized.

The nose is a tiny piece of cheese.

His mouth really made me ponder for awhile. I ended up using tiny pieces of a hot dog.

Finally, I really thought he needed a scarf so I cut a slice of lunch meat and wrapped it around his neck. I wish though that I had a roll up fruit snack. That would have worked perfect and added some color to him.

Yes, he ate this for breakfast. At this point with this kiddo, if he eats anything it's better then nothing. Actually, he ate all "extras" and then the head circle. I saved the other two circles and I ended up eating them for lunch. I just really like watching him be excited about his food. Since most of the time he wants nothing to do with it.

Wordless Wednesday -- A Ride

2011-11-30T05:30:00.000-08:00

Colored Rice

2011-11-29T13:00:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago we made colored rice for our water table turned sensory table. I took a peek at some recipes online, but they all asked for rubbing alcohol or vinegar. I knew that Miss. Adalyn would take to eating the rice so no rubbing alcohol and I really hate the smell of vinegar, so I decided to give it a shot with out using either of those. Plus, I was in a hurry and really didn't want to do an extra step.

We made 3 different colors.

One reason you use rubbing alcohol or vinegar is to get a more intense color.

I actually really like the mixed colors we got with out using it.

I didn't let Adalyn into the rice until a few days ago when I found her quietly playing in it.

She had found an open door into the off limits of Big Brothers bedroom.

For some reason she was leaning against it like this. I found it so funny!

This is reason #2 that you use rubbing alcohol or vinegar.

The food coloring doesn't stay on the rice.

When it is eaten it gets all over your mouth,

or on your hands.

But for our purposes, I really don't mind. Maybe next time I'll try vinegar though.

Menu Monday

2011-11-28T20:06:00.001-08:00

I pulled out my Jessica Seinfeld: Double Delicious! cookbook this morning. I pulled most of our meals for this week out of there.

Monday -- Tuna Casserole

Tuesday -- left overs

Wednesday -- Creamy Beef over Noodles (in the crock pot and I hope to get this YUMMY recipe posted soon)

Thursday -- leftovers

Friday -- Orange Beef with broccoli and rice

Saturday -- Date Night!! Whohoo!

Sunday -- Lo Mein

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-23T10:38:00.001-08:00

He was watching TV...I tried to sneak a picture, but he caught me.

Then he pushed the ottoman out of the way so I could get a picture.

He says he isn't handsome....but pretty.

He picked this outfit out all on his own this morning.

Bunny

2011-11-22T06:45:00.000-08:00

Meet Bunny....Adalyn's lovey.
Bunny is needed when Adalyn is tired, in the car or going to sleep.

This is Bunny before she took a bath.

Which easily needs to happen daily, but realistically happens once a week.

This is Bunny after her bath.

Just barely better...for minutes...until Adalyn gets a hold of her.

This is Bunny II (Her sister Bunny III still resides in the Amazon box).

Bunny II and Bunny III were purchased to help take some pressure off Bunny.
She really needs a day off now and then for some serious spa time.
But Adalyn REFUSES to have anything to do with Bunny II.

Hence Bunny III is still in the box to be returned.

My little Stinker takes one look at Bunny II and tosses her aside.

Recently Adalyn broke up with Bunny.
Bunny had just returned from her trip to the washing machine/dryer.
Adalyn wanted NOTHING to do with her.
Three days went by with no love for Bunny.
We thought Bunny's days had come to an end.
While this break up was happening though Adalyn won't sleep.
On day four Adalyn forgave Bunny and all was well once again.

Do You Know?

2011-11-21T06:00:00.000-08:00

We played a game called "All About Adalyn" this weekend at her 1st birthday party. I "stole" the idea from Arli's birthday party that we went to a couple weeks ago. These are the questions our guests answered. Even if you didn't know the answers it was fun to learn about Miss. Adalyn.

All About Adalyn

What is Adalyn’s birth date? (11/18/10)

What did she weigh at birth? (7lbs 11ozs)

What are her top CURRENT 5 favorite foods?(strawberries, eggs, apples, peas and olives)

Who saw her take her first steps? (Mema)

Where were Kenny, Jessica and Shane when she took these steps? (Hawaii)

How many teeth does she currently have? (9)

What was she for Halloween this year? (Fairy)

Who do we visit on our daily walks? (Lucky the Goat)

Name one of her MANY nicknames. (Addie, Pumpkin, Battie Boo, Baby, 'umpkins)

10. Whodoes the A-Team consist of? (Arli and Adalyn + Sidekick Shane)

The Party

2011-11-20T13:50:00.001-08:00

Adalyn had her Harvest/Pumpkin themed 1st birthday party yesterday afternoon. We enjoyed having family and friends over to celebrate Adalyn's first year of life. The kids played "Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin" game. The adults played the game "All About Adalyn". They had 10 questions about Adalyn they had to answer (I'll post the questions later).

Great Penny Grandma and Adalyn

Mema, Shane and Adalyn

A family picture...always hard to get 4 happy family members.

Adalyn's birthday cupcakes were Chocolate Pumpkin with Cream Cheese Frosting.

The frosting was SO good. I just wanted to eat it out of the bowl.
I have TONS of left overs, so I'm going to make the pumpkin bars to go with it this week.

The cupcakes didn't have enough pumpkin taste for me.

Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispy Treats were a hit!

I saw a cute idea in my Martha Stewart Living November issue where they put veggies in glasses and wrapped cabbage leaves around the outside and tied it with twine.

My attempt didn't go so well. This is what I ended up with...still cute.

Mini Corndog Muffins

Baked Carmel Corn

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins (My Son would eat these all day!)

Checking out her cupcake. She went straight for it. Who wouldn't...that frosting was seriously good!

Gift opening was mayhem,

but I really wanted the kiddos who brought Adalyn presents to see her "open" them.

Some of the guests hanging out, eating and chatting.

Shane, Adalyn, Dahlia and Opal

Cousins: Brooke, Anna, Adalyn and Shane

Papa with a SUPER tired Birthday Party Girl.

Video of us singing Happy Birthday to Adalyn and of cupcake eating.

Adalyn's 1st Birthday Interview

2011-11-19T08:01:00.001-08:00

This is what I think Adalyn would say if she could tell us all about herself.

Adalyn’s 1st Birthday Interview

What is your favorite color?

purple

What are your favorite foods?

Strawberries, eggs, peas and olives

Who are your best friends?

Arli and Shane

What are your favorite books?

Zoo Crew

Mimi Sees

What does Mommy do the best?

Carrying me around while she is in the kitchen. She can make dinner almost one handed. I love watching what she is doing.

What does Daddy do the best?

Take me on a run with him. I love the wind blowing in my hair.

What is your favorite kind of animal?

Doggies

What do you like to do with your Brother?

Run up and down the hallway with him.

Where is your favorite place to go?

I just love going out any where so that I can watch people. The grocery store is a good place to hang out and see lots of people.

She is one!

2011-11-18T12:30:00.001-08:00

Baby Girl is officially not a baby any more. I think we must resign to the fact that Adalyn is all toddler now. Walking and with her 1st birthday today we have moved into the world of toddler-hood yet again. Luckily, I think the toddler phase is my favorite!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Adalyn!

Ribbon is fun!!

Our walking paper eating one year old.

A Flop

2011-11-17T15:50:00.001-08:00

I set out the other afternoon to complete a gumdrop turkey project with Shane.

This is what I was aiming for.

This is what we ended up with.

A mess! And frustration from Shane and myself.

The silly things kept falling over and just weren't working for us AT ALL.

We walked away from the project with hopes of returning, but we never did go back to it.

We had lost interest after all the frustration.

Sometimes it just doesn't work out.

Good lesson in life though.

Even if we don't have any cute gumdrop turkey's to decorate with.

But we do have some gumdrops now for Christmas decorations.

Wordless Wednesday -- A Box

2011-11-16T10:50:00.001-08:00

Turkey Crazy

2011-11-15T08:04:00.001-08:00

I think we are a little turkey crazy over here. There seem to be turkey projects coming out of our ears.

There is a fun turkey sandwich all over the crafty/mommy blogs that I've seen over and over again. It seemed like a quick and easy thing I could do for Shane at lunch time. There is a huge trend in crafting cool images with food these days. I haven't jumped on that band wagon just because I don't want to spend even more time making Shane food that he turns his nose up at.

BUT after our experience yesterday afternoon I may be rethinking that thought!!

I made his sandwich into a turkey. Ok...so the other turkey sandwiches out there look a little more turkey like. I am new to this whole food image thing.

His face light up when he saw Mr. Turkey Sandwich. He instantly started eating his feathers. (NOTE: peppers are one of the few veggies he does currently eat and he loves olives). Within a minute of eating his lunch he said "Can you make me this again tomorrow!?". This is huge for my none eating child. He would prefer to play then sit down to eat. He plain isn't interested in most food right now. For him to sit down and eat EVERY bite of this lunch is HUGE. His plate was 100% empty after lunch.

I may just be making more lunch images after this very successful lunch.

Menu Monday

2011-11-14T06:00:00.000-08:00

Monday -- Chicken Broccoli Braid (I found this a couple weeks ago and can't stop thinking about it...must make!!)

Tuesday -- leftovers

Wednesday -- Turkey and Parmesan Pasta (had this on the menu, but still haven't made it)

Thursday -- leftovers...if Mema is up for that??

Friday -- Adalyn's Birthday Dinner!!! I wonder what she would ask for if she could talk....I think she would say she wants Scrambled Eggs! That is what we are going to have for dinner in honor of the newly 1 year old.

Saturday and Sunday -- It's going to be a busy weekend with the big birthday party on Saturday. We also have Santa pictures AND holiday/1 year pictures on Sunday. I may pull from my freezer stash I've been creating the past couple weeks.

Handprint Turkey

2011-11-13T20:03:00.001-08:00

I found this idea a couple weeks ago when I was searching for Thanksgiving activities. I totally apologize, because I can't find where I found it at any more. I wish you could see the turkey they made! Shane enjoyed it, but didn't really spend much time overall putting stuff on his turkey. I encouraged more saying that his turkey was cold and naked and needed more clothes. He added a little more after that, but truly he was more into playing with the beans and noodles. I put them in his room for his quiet time and he had a blast.

I pulled stuff from our pantry and poured them into a muffin tine. Then I drew his hand print on a paper plate. Then I spread a layer of glue all over the hand portion. From there he was free to decorate as he wished.

One to live by...

2011-11-12T20:46:00.001-08:00

“If I had my child to raise all over again, I’d build self-esteem first, and the house later. I’d finger-paint more, and point the finger less. I would do less correcting and more connecting. I’d take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes. I’d take more hikes and fly more kites. I’d stop playing serious, and seriously play. I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars. I’d do more hugging and less tugging.“ -Diane Loomans

I don't want to look back and think this when my kids are grown. Every day I attempt to do more with them and less with the stuff on the to do list. Sometimes the list wins because really there just isn't enough time in the day. But I'd like to hope that I can strike a balance and know that I've spent lots of quality time with them as well as kept an organized life.

On a Walk

2011-11-11T05:00:00.000-08:00

I attempt to get us out on a walk every day during the week. I'd say 4 out of 5 days we make it happen. This fall I haven't even let the rain get in our way. I love summer, but a sunny fall day is pretty nice, too. We have some great loops we do in our neighborhood, but this one by far is the kiddos favorite. I mean, how can you beat jumping in huge piles of leaves, feeding a goat and splashing in a stream?!

Leaf jumping and playing.

And yes, my child is wearing his "zip-up jammies" under his jacket.

He would truly where them ALL day long and EVERY day if we would let him.

Cousin Arli and Adalyn watching the attention.

Lucky the Goat.

I still can't figure out if Lucky is a boy or a girl, but that goat LOVES it when we visit.

And if you don't bring a treat, Lucky turns his/her back on you.

After it rains this stream has water in it and it's perfect for splashing.

On a perfect walking day there is a horse that we feed as well.

This afternoon though the horse was in a pasture that he couldn't get to us.

Feeding the horse is my favorite part of the walk. He often whinnies after we feed him.

No matter how the day is going, when we get out into the fresh air we all feel just a little better.

Ready to concur the rest of the day together.

New Laundry Room

2011-11-10T05:36:00.000-08:00

Over the past couple weekends we have remodeled our (my) laundry room.

It started out like this:

That is the scary "water monster" aka: water heater that I wanted covered up the moment I saw the laundry room over a 1.5 years ago when we bought the house.

And I wanted some storage/cabinets.
Not really a lot to ask for, I don't think.

And here it is all done!!

We painted it Wildflower Honey (aka: yellow). I had envisioned this room yellow for a long time.

I made a "curtain" for the water monster.
We put in new flooring, which wasn't originally part of the plan, but I am SO happy we (Kenny) did it.

Added a shelf for the laundry detergent and what ever else.

And we put in 3 cabinets!

Giving us so much more storage and making the laundry room all organized and pretty.

Now I just need to put up some art work and it will be perfect.

If you can't find me...check the laundry room.

Guest Post

2011-11-09T13:28:00.000-08:00

I am honored to be a have guest post up at Money Saving Mom today. Swing by and take a peek at my Noel Blocks.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-09T05:41:00.000-08:00

Baby Book

2011-11-08T04:58:00.000-08:00

I completed the last 3 months for Adalyn's baby book last night. It makes me insanely happy to use Studio J and be almost completed with her baby book (she just needs to turn one for me to finish the last page!).

(click on each image to see it larger)

Thankful Chain

2011-11-07T08:17:00.000-08:00

Shane and I worked on this thankful chain last week. We counted the days until Thanksgiving (which at the time was 21). I then had him come up with 21 things he was thankful for. I wrote each one on a slip of paper and stapled them together. Each morning he rips one of and we read what he is thankful for and we have a count down until the big Turkey Day Dinner at Mema and Papa's house.

What you'll need:

*Stapler
*Markers
*Paper cut into sizes of 2x10-12 inches
(I used some of my pretty coordinating Close To My Heart Dreamin' scrapbooking paper)
*Thankful thoughts

If you wanted you could hang it like a garland.

OR use it as a countdown chain like we are.

Some of the things Shane is thankful for (he came up with all of them on his own):

*I am thankful for snow.
*I am thankful for fireman that can come and rescue me from a fire.
*I am thankful for Mema and Papa letting us go to their house for Thanksgiving.
*I am thankful for God making me.
*I am thankful for my toys.
*I am thankful for pumpkin pie.
*I am thankful for being a big boy.
*I am thankful for new cabinets.
*I am thankful for our house.
*I am thankful for God loving us forever.

Leaf Sensory Table

2011-11-03T19:53:00.000-07:00

During the winter I bring in our water table and turn it into a sensory table. Last year I kept a mixture of rice and beans in it during the cold months. This year I am trying to spice it up. After taking a walk earlier this week where there are leaves every where I thought...Heck, why not bring the leaves inside. It was a hit!

Shane (4 years old) and our Cousin Arli (1 yr) checking out the leaves.

Shane enjoyed having containers to put the leaves in. He also spent some time sorting by color and size.

Adalyn (11 months) watching the other two kiddos playing.

Earlier this month I had pumpkin seeds in the table, which was a huge hit during our Halloween party. I did have to keep the pumpkin seeds away from Little Sister though...to much of a choking hazard. She took a few bites out of the leaves, but I was able to keep an eye on her while she played with them.

Do you have any fun items to put into a sensory table??

I've Been Featured!

2011-11-03T08:05:00.000-07:00

It's a big deal in the blog world to be featured. I am so excited to say that I was featured over on Close To My Heart's Studio J Blog.

Check out the post on how I used Stuido J to scrapbook Adalyn's baby book. I guess if any one is famous now it's Adalyn...that is okay with me...she is the cuter one.

November's Workshop: 5 Fall Cards

2011-11-02T10:43:00.000-07:00

For this months workshop we'll be making fall themed cards using the new

Dreamin' paper packet from Close To My Heart.

We'll also be using shapes cut from the new Art Philosophy CTMH Cricut Cartridge.

You'll make 1 of each of these 5 designs.

Photo Credit and Template Design By: Nona's Pearls Of Wisdom

Cost: $7 for 5 cards including envelopes

Tuesday, November 8th at 7pm
Greater Seattle Area

There are currently TWO open spots left.
Email me to reserve your place at this workshop.
(jessicadbooth@hotmail.com)

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T11:34:00.000-07:00

This was Adalyn's first Halloween, though I swore last year she did her best to scare me and act like she was going to arrive on Halloween. I DID NOT want a Halloween baby. After the 31st she quieted down and then ended up arriving a week late.

She also had a pretty lame costume this year. She was a fairy. When I got it for her she was crawling and I figured at the time it would be simple and easy and doable for this wiggly kiddo. Which it was.

I also realized that I don't take many pictures of her as of late. She is on the move so much and fast that getting a good picture of her is just about IMPOSSIBLE. This is pretty normal for Miss. Adalyn...to have multiple things in her hand and often those things are also in her mouth, too.

This is what it looked like when I attempted to get their pictures together.

I had to be in these pictures, just to get the little girl to hold still. She was checking something out in the street that had her smiling.

Shane the turtle.

I took Adalyn trick-or-treating at a retirement community Halloween morning. She had a great time walking the hallways, seeing the kids dressed up and grabbing candy.

Shane went trick-or-treating in the old cul-de-sac neighborhood with the gang Halloween night. He started out with me walking him to the doors, then I slowly moved back and by house #7 or so he was all on his own (well besides the gang of kids we were with). It was HUGE to have him run around with everyone and go to the doors by himself. I mean HUGE!!! I was so happy and proud of him.

Menu Monday -- Halloween Style

2011-10-31T08:11:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween! Shane has been bubbling over with excitement for the past week for this trick-or-treating day to come.

Monday -- Halloween Spaghetti and Eyeballs (a revised version of this)

I am going to make him Tuna Spook Sandwiches for lunch.

Tuesday -- leftovers

Wednesday -- Turkey & Parmesan Pasta

Thursday -- leftovers

Friday -- Crock pot Chili and cornbread

Saturday -- leftovers

Sunday -- Pizza Night

My FAVORITE Pumpkin Muffin Recipe (repost)

2011-10-30T19:29:00.000-07:00

I posted this recipe last year, but since then I've made a few changes to it (I cut down on some of the oil and sugar). It's such a hit when ever I make them I thought I'd share it again.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

4 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar
1 (30 oz) can pumpkin pie filling (or just plain pumpkin, but they aren't as flavorful with that)
1 cup oil
3 cups flour (whole wheat works, too)
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 package chocolate chips (OPTIONAL: I usually don't add the chocolate chips).

Turn oven to 400 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin, andoil until smooth.

Add in dry ingredients and mix well.

Fold in chocolate chips.

Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake 16-20 minutes for full size muffins and 10 minutes for mini muffins. Makes 24-30 muffins or 75+ mini muffins.

I also got to use my Beater Blade that I won a couple weeks ago from Sweet Anna's Blog. It worked really well. I must say before the Beater Blade arrived I wasn't even sure where my Kitchen Aid mixer was. But the new fun tool made me locate it and now my beautiful mixer has a place up on the counter. I promise I won't lose her again!

Found

2011-10-29T05:53:00.000-07:00

Sunday afternoon we ended up with a lost Black Lab in our backyard. A neighbor had found her and just wasn't sure what to do, so I offered to take her and figure something out. She didn't have a collar on making it SO hard to figure out how to get her back home. We took her to our Emergency Vet office where they were able to scan for a microchip. She had one, but it was registered to the Human Society where she had been adopted out of and they couldn't find any information on the people who had adopted her. The Vet offered to keep her in one of their runs for the night. Which was very nice since she was going to have to hang out in our garage because Dodger is dog aggressive. I called on Tuesday to check and see if they had found her family, but they hadn't and Animal Control had come and taken her.

All week Kenny and I were so bothered by this sweet dog not going home to her family. You could tell she was loved, but we were so confused on why no one had claimed her or was looking for her.

On Thursday morning Kenny saw a Lost Dog poster on our mailbox. It was her!!! They drove down to Animal Control in Kent (about 1 hour away) and picked her up safe and sound.

You ask why am I telling you this random story?! Well...there a couple lessons to learn here if you are a pet owner.

1. Please, make sure your pets have collars and that they wear them at all times. We take our dogs collars off at night and have gotten really lazy about putting them back on during the day. You just never know when something weird will happen and a dog will get lost. Zilly's Dad said they had just given her a bath and put her out in the backyard to play. Their gate had accidentally been left open and off Zilly went.

2. You MUST update your pets microchip. The microchip is automatically registered to the place that put it in (Human Society, Rescue, Vet, etc). You have to call the microchip's company and have them update it. This may or may not cost you a few dollars. But really, what is the point in a microchip if it can't help your pet get back home.

3. If you move, remember to update the microchip as well. This was a reminder to us that we need to update Sadie and Dodgers information.

It was just heartbreaking to us to not be able to find this dogs family. She appeared to be a loved pet and was just so sweet. No matter how much you love your animals you never know when something may happen. Take a moment today and make sure your pets information is updated so if they ever get lost they can be returned home quickly.

Field Trip

2011-10-28T13:42:00.000-07:00

Shane had a field trip to "The Farm" (aka: the pumpkin patch) with his preschool class today. It was a very cold morning, but NO rain which I was super thankful for.

Bundled up Shane on some hay bales.

Adalyn joined us on the field trip. She did very well hanging out in the backpack and watching the action.

Riding on the bull swing.

Playing in a HUGE container of corn. I had to get in with him, because he refused to go in alone. I thought it looked so fun I didn't want him to miss out on the experience. (NOTE: I was the ONLY parent in the corn pit!) On the way home he told me the corn was the best part.

These are the kinds of friends Shane does best with...the animal kind. There is a picture just like this of me on my way to my preschool graduation...making friends with a random cat. Man, that kid is JUST like me. The good, the bad and the ugly. No wonder he pushes my buttons so well.

He found his pumpkin. He said it looked just right for carving.

And why not finish off a freezing morning at the pumpkin patch with a creamsicle?? I didn't hear any complaints from the kids, but the parents shook their heads a few times.

Halloween Party

2011-10-26T10:01:00.000-07:00

We hosted a Halloween Party at our house yesterday through my Moms Group. It was an intense and fun couple of hours with 10 Mommas here plus their kiddos all dressed in costumes. Everyone brought yummy snacks to eat and we made a scary ghost craft project. Shane spent the first hour in his room overwhelmed by all the peeps in his house. (NOTE: he was warned and was super excited until everyone arrived.) Adalyn napped during most of it, but while she was awake she sat and watched everyone. Arli was here and got right in the middle of the chaos and played, happy as can be.

I made these super yummy No Bake Cookies. They were a big hit (if you like coconut).

Adalyn the Fairy who really didn't like her tutu.

What my living room looks like with 10 Moms and their kiddos. After everyone got settled in we moved into the kitchen and downstairs, helping slightly with the chaos.

Arli making herself comfortable with another ladybug Mommy.

Arli not concerned with the dinosaur stepping over her.

This little guy, Owen was dressed as Elvis. Shane asked me who Elvis was. Making me laugh even more.

Pumpkin seeds make a great item for the water table turned sensory table.

The ghost we made. He was easy, fun and cute.
All you need is paper plate, paper for eyes, arms, etc and tissue paper.

Mr. Shane the Turtle. He came out for the craft, but I couldn't move more then a step away from him. Just in case you are wondering....I was a cat. But by this point most of my whiskers had been rubbed off and I had to shed my cat tail because it kept getting caught or pulled on.

Lobster Elliot and Monkey Griffin...Sibling love.

Some of the kids on the couch for a picture.

This is my FAVORITE picture of the party. I like to call it Arli + Pig Friend Suri. I just love how Arli is peeking around Suri's ear to get a good look!?!

Wishing Arli a big FIRST birthday today! Happy Birthday, Arli!!

She is a walkin'

2011-10-24T09:41:00.000-07:00

I'd say we have an official walker on our hands. I haven't seen her crawl in over 5 days now (could be longer, but that was when I noticed it and started paying attention). She is a persistent bugger. She still falls down, but gets right back up again. When she gets tired she falls a lot more and gets a little frustrated, but other then that she is walking and even at times is getting really fast, too. I've noticed during the day she literally does circles around the house. (practicing, maybe?) She grabs a toy and just keeps going around the kitchen, into the living room, through the dining room and back around again.

Here she is on the move. This is 2.5 weeks after she took her first steps.

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-21T13:08:00.000-07:00

A visit to the pumpkin patch is one of my favorite fall activities. We got lucky and were able to go on a beautiful sunny almost 70 degree afternoon. It was a perfect fall day.

This poor little girl needs some shoes!! I had a bunch saved for her that I thought would fit when she started walking. Turns out they are all to small. And when I looked at the store I just couldn't believe that a size 4 was right, so I bought a size 3. Nope...to small. Yep....she needs a 4!

Adalyn started pointing to things this last week. Then she say "ohhhhhh" while she is pointing. So fun and cute. She was telling Kenny about the birds in the sky.

Big Brother very over the pictures and having to let his Sister sit with him.

We got our biggest pumpkin ever this year. I can't wait to carve him this weekend.

An Old Window

2011-10-20T14:31:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago I picked up an old window at a garage sale for $2. I just knew that it had potential. We then moved a couple times and have now settled into this house where I knew just where and what I wanted to do with it.

Over the summer I sanded it and painted it white.

Then it sat in the garage for a couple more months until we got the wire and hooks put into the back and Kenny hung it up on the wall for me.

I do really love it, but it is not quite complete yet in my mind...it's missing something. I am not totally sure what it needs. I may have to spend some time on Pinterest and see what I can come up with. Maybe pictures or vinyl. I'd love to hear any ideas you have!

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Quiet Time Bins

2011-10-19T10:08:00.000-07:00

I saw this blog post the other day and instantly knew I needed to implement this idea immediately! I've tried quiet time on and off with Shane, but it has always been a struggle or he just plan isn't quiet, so the idea of it kinda fell by the wayside. But for him and myself I think that quiet time is so important. He rests his body and I get a break from the million questions and "watch this" he says all day long. That was why I knew the quiet bins would help solve this problem.

I made 7 bins, one for each day of the week. I averaged about 6+ activities in each bin. Right now I aim for 1 hour in his room for quiet time. He can play with his quiet bin, read books or rest on his bed. All other toys are off limits during quiet time. I also often give him his afternoon snack during this time as well. And at the end of quiet time he must clean up the bin.

Below are the bins I made and what I have in each one. Note that we are super blessed to have a Grandma that just retired from being a 1st grade teacher. We were showered with all kinds of awesome things from Grandma Booth's classroom (Thanks, Jeni!!). Many of them ended up working perfect in the quiet time bin. Plus, I have lots of other things I can rotate into the bins in a month or so when he gets bored of the activities. I also pulled from his busy bag stash that I made a couple years ago.

The only money I spent was to buy the bins. A $1.25 each for 5 of the bins and $4.99 each for 2 of the bins (I wanted a size that would hold a couple larger items like puzzles and geo boards). It took me about 1 hour to complete this project. And so far the last 4 days of quiet time has gone great!!! I have found it very interesting what he actually does with the stuff in the bin. It's not always what it was intended for, but he is a happy kid playing in there with his quiet time bins.Today he actually BEGGED for his quiet time bin!

This bin has: lace up trucks, magnetic boy/clothes, alphabet busy bag, small car, geography flashcards, animal/word matching cards, and a cup/clothes pins.

This bin has: animal flash cards, coloring book/markers, sorting busy bag, magnetic/magnetic balls and paper clips, shapes/color flash cards, puzzle and dominoes.

This bin has: play money, National Geographic Little Kids magazines, his rock collection, laminated butterfly mazes/dry erase marker, magnetic alphabet set, puzzle and color/word recognition game.

This bin has: dinosaur flash cards, coloring paper/crayons, puzzle, opposite match-up game, barrel of monkeys and a collection of stamps.

This bin has: farm stickers/farm sheet, doodle book/fun color pin, bag of colored people/dinosaurs, pad of paper, matching game from a busy bag and puzzle.

This bin has: geo board/rubber bands, sticker book/stickers, picture boards/shapes, buttons with a string and scoops.

This bin has: tangrams, sorting busy bag, space flashcards, pad of paper/markers, full size puzzle, clock, car and number game.

Here they are all labeled and stacked in his closet. Ah....looking at them just makes me happy.

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11 Months

2011-10-18T08:39:00.000-07:00

Little Adalyn is 11 months old today. Just one month short of a year!

Adalyn and Bunny

Here are a few of her likes and don't likes these days:

Likes -- Her Bunny...that should actually say Love. She Loves her Bunny.

Doesn't Like -- Getting her face and hands wiped off after eating....that should say Hate, because she HATES that. Or her nose wiped...another HATE.

Likes -- Her big Brother Shane. Where he goes, she wants to go. What he does, she wants to do.

Doesn't Like -- Getting her diaper changed or putting on clothes. It's like wrestling with a stallion when you have to do either of these tasks.

Likes -- Drinking water. She really likes to drink from her water cup at meal or snack times.

Doesn't Like -- When someone goes downstairs with out her. She does not like that gate shut with her on the other side of it. That just means she is missing out on something!

Likes -- Being in the backpack. As long as you keep moving she'll hang out in there all day long and watch all the stuff going on. Or if you hold her. She is just as happy being held and watching the action.

Doesn't Like -- Baked goods...pancakes, muffins, bread, etc. She just isn't into those kinds of foods right now. They generally are gluten free, so maybe she is protesting because of that.

Like -- Being outside. She loves going for walks or runs in the stroller or hanging out on the deck or swinging.

Brotherly and Sisterly Love

"Frankenstein" -- That is what we call her now that she is walking...'cause she walks like Frankenstein.

Menu Monday

2011-10-17T09:47:00.000-07:00

Last week was the first time I tried a new recipe and had to scrap the whole thing. It was oh so very, very sad! I spent all that time making dinner and then when I tried it....icky...it tasted so bad. For some reason the Italian Sausage I used just tasted gross and that taste was spread through the whole dish. It was even more sad because if it wasn't for that or if I had just used regular ground turkey, I think it would have been really good.

Meatless Monday -- Ziti in the Crock pot and garlic bread (maybe a salad...if I can get to the store)

Tuesday -- leftovers

Wednesday -- Crock pot Chicken and Rice (I've had this one on my menu before, but I don't think I've made it)

Thursday -- leftovers

Friday -- Taco Pasta Toss

Saturday -- leftovers

Sunday -- ??

Leaf Painting

2011-10-15T20:19:00.000-07:00

I had read about an idea for leaf painting on the Productive Parenting website. In the back of my mind I knew it would be a great activity for Shane. But I need to remember to gather leaves for this project. One day while we were on a walk I had him collect leaves for a surprise project when we got home. That kept him super happy and engaged on the walk.

The original idea said just to use water. But I didn't think it was going to hold his interest long enough because there just wasn't enough change in the appearance of the leaves. So I got out his water color paints. He was so into it. I'd say he painted for at least 30 minutes.

We did this a couple months ago before fall had arrived. Now there are even better leaves to collect and paint. We'll be doing this project again soon for sure. He wanted to save all of his completed leaves. This is what they look like a couple months later (on their way to the garbage can).

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