It's spelled Maguire

Pineapple Onion Pork Chops

2011-03-27T10:58:00.000-05:00

Since I haven't given you a recipe in a while, and I had this one in my editor from May 2010, I thought I would share one.

Pineapple Onion Pork Chops

Ingredients:

6 boneless pork chops

1/4 cup all purpose flour (I just eyeball it)

1/2 teaspoon salt (I just eyeball it)

1/4 teaspoon pepper (I just eyeball it)

3 tablespoons butter or margarine

1/2 cup water

1 medium onion thinly sliced

1 1/2 cups pineapple juice

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons honey mustard (I used regular mustard and added honey)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*. Combine flour, salt and pepper. Coat pork chops with flour mixture. In a skillet, heat butter and brown pork chops on both sides. Transfer to a baking dish and add water. Place onions over chops. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.

While chops are in the oven, combine pineapple juice, brown sugar, and mustard in saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Pour over pork and bake uncovered for 5-10 minutes more.

It seems a little time intensive but it really isn't and they tasted really well.

Two Months

2011-03-25T10:48:00.000-05:00

Sweet baby boy,

You are two months old now and growing super fast. You are 12 pounds 7 ounces now and keep getting bigger each and every day. You have started to smile this month and when you do, it melts my heart. You are really attentive to people and things when you are awake, but you really like your sleep. You are sleeping through the night and like to nap most of the day. You have laughed a few times and it is the sweetest sound ever. You are adorable and we love you more and more each day!

Entering a new phase

2011-03-05T20:51:00.000-06:00

Remember this post? Well, I am back to talk about my newly found extra free time. Well, I guess not free time, but more time at home.

Before Kevin and I got married almost 9 years ago, we had some long serious talks about what we wanted for our family when we had one. We both really wanted me to be able to stay home with our children and me to raise them. Unfortunately things haven't worked out that way until now. As of March 11, 2011 I am officially a stay at home mom. Not that I won't be working here because believe me, I think being home and taking care of the house and the kids is MUCH harder than going to work each and every day.

With the rising costs of child care and me being a state employee, it isn't financially beneficial for me to continue outside employment. It really was a no brain-er for us and I am very fortunate that my husband is a hard worker and we are both willing to make the sacrifices for me to be able to stay home with our children.

The girls have been out of daycare for about 3 weeks now and we are slowly finding a routine. I must admit, I like having all my laundry done and piles of it not sitting around until the weekend!

Do any of you moms have any tips to help make the transition easier? Any money saving tips? I have just started clipping coupons and I have to admit, I am liking the savings.

Getting crafty

2011-03-03T13:09:00.000-06:00

While the temps have been unseasonably warm the last few weeks, we have been spending a lot more time out doors. The sun is shining, the birds are singing and there has been no lack of wanting to be out of this house!

I have been noticing that the birds are coming around more. We love watching the little ones and the big ones and I can't wait until these little visitors return. Hopefully they will bring some friends with them.

Since the birds are out, I decided to let the kids do a craft. Remember the pine cone bird feeders you made in elementary school? We made those!

The girls had so much fun making these but who wouldn't when you are given a plastic knife and a huge jar of creamy peanut butter! I think more pb got in their mouths than on the pine cones!

Korbin however did not have a good time!

They were so proud of the finished products! I must admit it was really fun and I kind of enjoyed myself.

We have been watching out the kitchen window to see if any birds were eating form the pine cones. Sure enough they were. You can kind of see the bird on the pine cone on the left side of the picture. I went out to get a better look and there was no bird seed left on the pine cones. I guess the little birds really liked our bird feeder!

One month

2011-02-24T10:59:00.002-06:00

I admit I am a little behind but hopefully I will be able to blog more since I will have more time on my hands. More about that later. Lets get to the fun stuff.

Baby Korbin is a month old! How is that possible you ask? I really can't tell you except that it has gone by fast! He is super adorable and we are totally in love with this little guy! After the girls were born, I would constantly tell Kevin that I couldn't believe that we had a child, or that we had two after Audrey was born. I haven't really said this much to him since Korbin has been born because he just fits so well into our family and it feels like he has always been here.

Anyway, on to his adorableness.

I won't say that I am a photographer. Not anywhere close by any means, but it was kind of fun to get him naked and prop him up and take some pictures. It is pretty easy to do when he can't run from me!

Korbin-you are growing so fast. We are finally getting your reflux under control as long as you don't keep gaining weight at a rapid pace. You are a big boy and mommy has a hard time carrying you for long periods of time. Having a big baby boy is much different than having your tiny little sisters. You sleep well and are getting up twice a night to get a dipaer change and nurse. You are getting pretty fast at nursing and can fill your belly in about 10 minutes. You are still a champion diaper filler and I sometimes wonder how you can gain as much weight as you do when you fill your pants as often as you do.

We are so much in love with you and your sisters adore you. I can't wait to see the changes that the next month brings.

Only in Oklahoma....

2011-02-23T22:57:00.000-06:00

Will you find this weather and the following week have this

Mother Nature decided to dump 4-5 inches of snow on us. I think it was officially declared a blizzard with 40-50 mph winds that caused 3-4 foot snow drifts. They might have been deeper than that!

The temps were bitterly cold so we were only able to play out in the snow for a short amount of time however we took advantage of the indoor family time to do a little bit of cuddling on the couch

and a little bit of baking

We made snow ice cream which I suggest you should try if you never have. The kids enjoyed it and I did too!

(Please don't take too much notice in my facial expression. Having a newborn in the house has made me tired and silly!)

Korbin got to experience his first snow. Well it was actually his second since there were snow flurries while we were in the hospital but they never stuck to the ground so I can't count it as his first snow.

Just as all of this was about melted, we got pelted again. A week later, we got another 4-5 inches of snow. The temps weren't as bitter so we enjoyed this snow a little more!

Abby did some snow diving. She really had fun and thinks that everyone should try it. She even suggested that I do it but I politely declined.

Audrey found a new friend and was saddened when the sun took him away.

What fun day in the snow wouldn't be complete without a few tears?

AS much fun as the snow was, I am definitely glad to see it gone and don't want anymore until next year. It is hard being stuck in the house for days at a time. We aren't equipped with snow boots and suits to be able to get out of the house. I will take my cold without the snow please!

Playing at the Park

2011-01-31T10:56:00.000-06:00

This past weekend we took advantage on the unseasonably warm weather and took the kids to the park for a picnic. We don't get 70 degree weather at the end of January here in Oklahoma very often so we took full advantage of it. It was also Korbin's first trip to the park. Not that he did anything but sit in his carseat but it was a first!

Korbin's 2 week pictures

2011-01-29T23:23:00.000-06:00

So my very talented best friend Amanda is back at it taking the most adorable pictures ever. It probably helps that she has the cutest subjects. Not that I am bragging about the adorableness that I gave her to take pictures of or anything. ;)

Presenting Korbin's 2 week pictures to you.

He is pretty cute. I mean I am a little biased.

Introducing Korbin Blake

2011-01-27T13:49:00.000-06:00

Korbin Blake was born January 7, 2011 at 12:08 pm weighing a whopping 8 lbs 10 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. We were certainly surprised at how large he was. I felt completely validated in the complaints I had that I was in so much pain. He was a big boy! My Obstetrician was even surprised at how large he was.

He is waiting on his bath.

Hospitals aren't too fun for kids.

They are so overjoyed that he is finally here!

First family picture.

He is a pretty good baby. He nurses well, sleeps pretty well and is pretty content. He only really cries when he needs a diaper, is hungry, or if Abby is in his face too much.

Hopefully now that this pregnancy is over and I am feeling rather well, I will be back to blogging.

You have got to be kidding me

2010-12-30T15:11:00.000-06:00

It seriously has been 3 months since my last post???? Wow. I guess it has been. Over 3 months if you want to get technical but I'm not into technicalities and all so we will just say it has been three months.

To catch you all up to date as best I can, here is what we have been doing.

Sept-moved the girls into the same bedroom in bunk beds and suffered many nights of Audrey staying up until 11:30 because she thought she could play all night.
Watched some OU football and ended up having a decent season. Not perfect by any means but not too bad!

Spent Abby's 6th birthday with a Barbie party complete with a Barbie cake made by yours truly.

The girls and I spent Halloween by ourselves since Kevin was on his third, and final, work related trip to Maryland.

Audrey was Ariel from The Little Mermaid and Abby was a fairy. You can see that I have a pretty large baby belly there and I can tell you that it hasn't quite shrunk much!

I had a first experience as a parent in November. I have been proud to say that I have not had to take either of my children to the ER for a visit. At least until November 10th. Audrey lost her balance at daycare while on the playground and fell and hit her head on the screw that holds together a basketball goal post. She had a nice circular cut on her head that would not stop bleeding. She got one staple in her head and said, "OUCH!" in a very monotone voice. It was pretty funny the way it came out.

We had a great Thanksgiving with both sides of our family. We rented the church youth building and had an inflatable and lots of food. It worked out really well and we are considering doing it again next year!
We did a little bit of remodel on our living room. It has needed a new coat of paint for a while now and we had a hand crafted built in entertainment center installed. A dear friend of ours made it for us and we are really loving it. Kevin wants a bigger TV now, but we are going to have to wait on that for a little while. :)
Christmas was such a blessing as it always is. My children are blessed by so many people each and every year and it warms my heart to know how well they are loved. We got to see many family and friends and participate in several holiday parties. (Which was not good for my waistline but WHATEVER! It is Christmas!) Abby is understanding more about Jesus and that we celebrate Christmas because it is his birth. I love that she is starting to comprehend more about God and Jesus even though sometimes she asks some tough questions.
All our holiday decorations are already down which kind of makes me sad. Our house looked so nice and pretty with the sparkling tree up and now it just looks blah.

We are very close to meeting our baby boy Korbin. He is scheduled to arrive on January 7th around noon (central time). This pregnancy has been by far the hardest on my body out of all three children. I have been pretty sick with one thing or the other and am going this afternoon to pick up my 6th round of antibiotics that I have been on this pregnancy. Nothing serious, just one thing after another. I have had sciatic nerve pain, severe hip pain where I can't walk, pregnancy induced carpal tunnel syndrome, and severe tailbone pain as he is positioned very far back in my uterus. I don't know if being in my 30's has much to do with it or what, but I am ready for him to get here so I can get back to normal. He is a blessing and we can't wait to meet him. Audrey and Abby are ready to spoil their baby "budder" as Audrey calls him.

I will make a better attempt to blog more as I hope some of you still read this. I can't PROMISE you anything but I will make a better attempt.

Really?

2010-09-24T21:54:00.000-05:00

Today I had to make a stop at our credit union and saw something that kind of disturbed me. It was a sign for a fund raising event for the American Diabetes Association.

The item being sold was candy bars!

Um, HELLO people. Isn't sugar consumption one of the leading causes of diabetes and the candy bars are being sold to help raise funds to educate people on how sugar is a cause in diabetes. Does anyone else see what is wrong with this?

I wonder if the American Diabetes Associations realize this.

Oh Boy

2010-09-24T21:48:00.000-05:00

Did you get the hint in the title? Baby Maguire #3 is going to be a little BOY! We are super excited Korbin will be the newest member of our family.

For his privacy, I have opted to not post any pictures of the goods. There are boy parts there though. I promise.

Bad Bad Heather

2010-09-23T15:07:00.000-05:00

I have been such a bad bad blogger lately. I have been stalking, um, I mean reading and even making some comments but I haven't been taking the time to update my blog. Many of you are my facebook friends and have been keeping up with me and I greatly appreciate that. I do have some people that still read this thing and have no idea what we have been up to. Here is a short little recap:

Abby started all day Kindergarten
Audrey is fully potty trained other than a few accidents every now and then
Kevin is working in Maryland. Again.
I think I am finally over the morning sickness after about 16 weeks. That was one tough time for us since mommy's don't get sick days however my family was nice enough to let me lay on the couch most evenings.
We know the gender of the baby but that news needs it's own post so stay tuned.
We have been spending a lot of time with our friends and family.
We have tackled some big home projects. Well I haven't but Kevin has.
We are gearing up for birthday party #6 for Abby.
We have certainly enjoyed the football season and the wonderful fall weather that has finally come with it. Highs in the 70's this week. I am super excited about it.

I guess that is about it. I have some pictures that need to make it into posts and hopefully I can get that done soon. Being a single mom and pregnant at the same time is VERY tiring. Stay tuned for some more updates.

Earth Day

2010-08-18T09:00:00.002-05:00

This post has been in my editor since April and the pictures are too cute to not share with you.

Around Earth Day we were at Lowes and they had a kids demo where the kids were supplied with things to make a little planter box. Abby and Audrey had such a good time making the planter and picking out seeds.

They got little aprons and a certificate when they were done with their box. We planted seeds which did sprout but they didn't get replanted in time to live. The girls had a lot of fun though and we had fun helping them make their boxes and plant their seeds.

Notice Abby's snaggle tooth on the bottom. It has been fully grown in for quite a while now. That is how old these pictures are. :)

Why does it matter?

2010-08-16T19:42:00.001-05:00

I have had something on my heart for several weeks and just can't seem to let it go. I am not sure why, probably because it was very hurtful and I am still quite upset about it.

A few weeks ago, I was told by a family member to stop having kids. It really upset me and I tried to laugh it off and said that Kevin and I have always said we wanted 2-3 kids.

My question is why should it matter if we wanted to have 2 or 3 or15? It shouldn't matter to anyone but us. It's not like we want 15 kids but if we did, why should it matter to anyone besides us. Kevin and I are good parents, you can ask any of our friends, family, or church family and they will tell you we are good parents. We never ask anyone for anything for our kids. Our children are well taken care of, could never want for much and even if they did, would that be bad? I will admit that having another child will mean that we won't be able to go out to eat as often or have movie dates as much, but that is a sacrifice that we were willing to make and knew that we would have to cut back on our frivolous spending more which we really don't do a whole lot of that to begin with. We are really responsible people and always have been.

Back to the original topic and to answer some questions that we have be asked. Yes, this child was planned and very much wanted. Yes we are excited and can't wait for it to get here. My momma always taught me that if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all.

What is your take on it? Is 3 kids too many? I know if we were only allowed to have 2 kids per family, I wouldn't have been born and neither would many people I know.

Randomness

2010-07-26T21:19:00.000-05:00

So did you see my cute little picture here? Did you get it? We are happy to announce that baby#3 is on its way! I am 13 weeks 6 days as of today. Our new little one is due January 25, 2011 which happens to be my best friend's birthday! What a great present that would be for her but since it will be my third c-section, the little one will be born early to mid January.

I have been pretty sick with this one and was not with the girls. Hence the reason why the blog has been neglected. I have had a lot to say, but have not wanted to do anything but lay on the couch or in bed for the past several weeks. Fortunately for my family, I have started to feel better and fortunately for you, I hope to be blogging more frequently.

Little miss Audrey has decided that she is ready to be a big girl and wear big girl panties now. She has been wearing them since Saturday monring. We were gone most of the day on Saturday and she only had 2 accidents all day long. Sunday we were gone to church, a family wedding reception, and had a trip to visit Kevin's grandparents. She only had 1 accident on Sunday. What a big girl she is!

We are going to start school supply shopping soon. Abby starts Kindergarten in less than a month. She goes to school all day long and is very excited to eat in the cafeteria.

I am not liking being a single mom. Kevin has been working in Maryland since last Monday and won't be home until August 6th. Then he returns there for another 3 weeks the end of September. I am super tired and already ready for him to come home.

We had a fun evening filled with dinner, slip-n-slide, and homemade ice cream at my adopted parents house. My best friend and I have known each other since we were 5 so they consider me family as I do them. Those people are the nicest people ever and I am so happy to have them in my life.

Two weeks ago we got some very unexpected news that my aunt had passed away. My mom, brother, and myself made the 1,000 mile roundtip journey to Mississippi for her services. They were beautiful but pretty hard at the same time. My aunt was less than a month away from turning 50.

Our garden has done quite well for us. With the temps getting into the low 100's and the heat index being even higher, I think our poor plants are on their last leg of the journey. We have had many nice veggies from our little garden but the heat is doing them in. Once Kevin gets home, we will probably be tilling the garden down and getting ready for next year. Well, once we plant Abby's pumpkin seeds that she is adamant about planting. I am sure they won't grow or if they do, not well, but she is so excited to plant them and I am too just to see the look on her face.

Now I will leave you with a happy moment. I felt our little one for the first time yesterday. It is such an amazing experience. I know I probably won't feel anything else for a few more weeks but that just made me smile all day long

Marvelous Monday

2010-07-19T20:43:00.000-05:00

Did You Miss Me?

2010-07-01T22:11:00.000-05:00

First off I would like to apologize for my month long hiatus from my blog. We have been enjoying our time this summer by spending it outside. A LOT! Quite frankly, I have missed my bloggy friends and will attempt to get you more updates.

So here is what we have been up to in the last month or so.

*May 4th, Kevin and I celebrated our 8th anniversary. The following weekend we went to eat dinner at a Japanese Steakhouse. Those chefs are amazing. It was a little odd that our chef was a caucasion guy but he was a pretty good chef. Then we spent the night in a wonderful bed and breakfast and enjoyed being able to sleep in.

*Abby and Kevin went to the Daddy/Daughter dance for the second year. I spent some time making her a obnoxiously large green flower clip and matching flip flops.

*The end of May we had the one year anniversary of my granny making her way into the pearly gates of Heaven. She was the rock in our family and is missed by all of us. Love you lady more than you will ever know.

*We went camping 3 weekends in a row. Makes for a very tired mommy but the kids had a lot of fun. My girls are little swimmers and like to be in deep water. Of course they had their life jackets on!

*Our garden is rapidly growing. The girls are enjoying picking veggies from it and eating them for dinner. This has been such a great project for them to learn where food comes from. I am so thankful to Kim at The Inadvertant Farmer for hosting KinderGardens. This has been a whole lot of fun for not just the kids, but Kevin and I.

(this was one day's worth of picking)

*I created a dragon for a very special little guy.

*We went on our annual family camping trip and the dads and kids caught about 60 sand bass. Audrey didn't quite know what to think about the fish but after much coaxing from her older cousin, Abby decided that holding one that "wasn't blooding" wasn't too bad.

*We are headed up to see Kevin's brother and his family for the weekend. I imagine we will be swimming a lot, eating too much, and having loads of fun!

*Of course you didn't think that I would tell you EVERYTHING that we have been doing, now do you? Stay tuned for more of our events that we have been up to.

We have success-KinderGardens Week 8

2010-06-02T22:02:00.003-05:00

UPDATED: Tonight we were out in the garden and what did we find? Two tiny little zucchini squash!

ORIGINAL POST:

Kim over at The Inadvertant Farmer has a great contest going on called KinderGARDENS to get kids involved in farming. I can say that I have some very fond memories of gardening with my my grandparents. At the time I didn't like it because it is hard work, but it taught me that food doesn't come from a store and that someone put some hard work into getting it to me. I want to teach my kids the same thing. Anyway, if you are interested, go check her blog out.

So I honestly didn't think that this gardening thing would be this easy. I say that it is easy because I really haven't had to do a whole lot since I take care of most of the inside of the house and Kevin takes care of the outside, but I don't think he has had to do a lot of upkeep on our garden either. I know the initialy tilling of the garden took a lot of effort on his part and I am truely grateful to him for that.

Anyway, here is some of the fruits of our work. I can't wait to cook with these in the next few weeks.

Our baby yellow squash that is about 1.5 inches long

Our cherry tomatos-we also have a few hot house tomatos too

Our little blooms on our green bean plants

The kids have been super excited to help check on the garden each day. I think that they like being able to see that we have veggies growing from things that we planted.

Apparently I am not very observant

2010-05-25T10:42:00.000-05:00

You see a few weeks ago, I sent my husband Kevin an email to become a contributor to our blog. He accepted my request without my knowledge, went in an changed his name to AA Dad.

I went back in under his account and changed it to his name.

Why, you might ask.

Well first off, I thought it might have been something that blogger did when he went in and it automatically assigned him a name. Secondly my first thought when I read that was AA as in Alcoholics Anonymous Dad.

So I called him at work and told him that I had logged into his email account to accept the request to become a contributor on my blog. He then informed me that he had already done that. I asked him why it said AA Dad on there and he then proceeded to tell me that he set it up like that. I questioned him as to why he would give himself the name Alcoholics Anonymous Dad. He cracked up laughing and said it was for Abby and Audrey Dad.

Oh. My mistake, but we agreed to keep it his name for the simple fact that if I read it like that I am sure others did too!

KinderGARDENS update Week 6

2010-05-25T10:21:00.001-05:00

No pictures to post but I will tell you that our little garden is coming along. Each of our 3 tomato plants have tiny yellow flowers on them that hopefully will produce some juicy tomatos in the next few months. They all got cages around them last night.

We have thinned out our green beans which was really hard for me to do since our plants were so pretty. I ended up giving about 10 nice plants to my best friend's dad. I hope they grow for him.

Speaking of flowers, we also have a nice big orange/yellow bloom on our zuchinni plant. Super excited about that.

We have lost yet another cucumber plant thanks to my husband. He went to pick the leave up and it snapped in two. Not sure if I am willing to plant another since this will make #3 but I really want some cucumbers!

Anyway that is it. Still trucking along and enjoying my girls checking out the plants. I think this is a little slow going for them but they like to go see how the garden is doing each night.

What are your thoughts on fertilizers and pesticides? We are having some problems with things eating our leaves and I don't think is it Devil Rabbit that is doing it.

Still here

2010-05-25T10:06:00.000-05:00

Yes, I am still here. It has been a rollercoster of emotions the last fews weeks. We have had joyful and tearful moments. I will try and catch you up on a few things that have been happening in our house but until then know that yes, we are still alive.

Dinner guests

2010-05-06T14:45:00.000-05:00

Since the weather has been so nice lately, we have been enyoing our evenings in the front yard and eating dinner on the front porch most nights. For about the past week we have had two TINY little dinner guests each evening while we eat. I was able to capture a picture of them.

Aren't they the cutest little hummingbirds?

Hurry up ham carbonara

2010-05-04T22:14:00.000-05:00

Let me preface this by saying I have never made carbonara before this and was a little concerned that my family, particularly the little ones, wouldn't enjoy it. It got a thumbs up from all of us. It was super good and very easy to make.

Ingredients:
8 oz angel hair pasta
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
2-3 tbsp garlic salt (or fresh)
1 cup cooked ham cubed or chopped
3 tbsp butter
2 egg yolks beaten
2-3 tbsp parsley (I used dried)
1/2 cups grated parmesan cheese

Directions:
Cook past according to directions. Meanwhile in a large skillet, saute onion in oil. Add ham, water, and garlic (or garlic salt), and butter and heat through. Drain pasta, add to ham mixture. Add egg yolks and cook until egg is completely set. Sprinkle with parsley and parmesan cheese and toss. Enjoy.

We have a problem-KinderGardens Week 3

2010-05-03T23:13:00.001-05:00

I am super excited to share with you our KinderGardens update. If you aren't participating in KinderGardens. you should go check out all the blogs of the people that are.

The last week we had a few losses but made some big gains. We lost both our okra plants, a cucumber, and a tomato plant. The cucmber and tomato plants were stepped on by a little platinum blode who shall remain nameless.

We got plants to replaced the ones that went to plant heaven and picked up two strawberry plants, just for the simple fact that they were pretty.

Here is the big gains that our little garden has made this week. We have green beans! Well at least we have a row of plants but it is something right? I was shocked at how fast these came up. We have 23 groups of plants. Each group has at least 1 plant but most of them have 2. The girls were so excited to see the little bit of green poking through the ground. They were so excited and started jumping up and down.

So this post was supposed to be all happy and exciting about our green bean plants and our new veggies that we bought, but my gardening friends, we have a problem.

Meet Devil Rabbit, more affectionally named Mr. Cotton Tail He is very fond of our garden too. A little too fond since we have found some leaves that have been nibbled on.

So my dear gardening friends, what would you suggest to keep Devil Rabbit, ahem, Mr. Cotton Tail out of my garden? Any plant suggestions that are a natural deterrant?

Looking out the back

2010-05-03T22:45:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, we were getting ready for work and I noticed my husband was staring out the south window of our house. There was a herd of deer out in the pasture. I quickly grabbed my camera and ran out to take some pictures of them. There were 5 in the pasture. So beautiful.

Homemade Croutons

2010-04-30T14:46:00.000-05:00

Remember the post where I made this awesome cake? Yep, I thought you did. Well we had HUGE sub sandwiches from Wal * Mart. If you haven't had their subs from the deli, you should try them. They are pretty good. Anyway, back to my topic. After eating subs for two days, my family was kind of tired eating the same thing. Well, my husband wasn't, but I certainly was.

So I decided to be creative and take the veggies that they gave us for the sandwiches and chop them up for a big salad. Then I took the meat and cheese off of the sandwiches and cut that up and tossed with the veggies for a chef salad. What to do with the leftover bread? Make croutons of course!

One memory I have of my granny is that she used to make croutons. This lady could cook. She had 8 kids, after all, so had to get creative with her food.

These were super easy and fast to make.

Ingredients:
any kind of loaf bread
any seasonings you like (I used garlic salt and Italian seasonings)
olive oil

Directions:
preheat oven to 500* (or as high as it will go)
tear up bread into bite size chunks and place on rimmed baking pan
sprinkle with as much seasoning as you like
drizzle with olive oil and stir (I used my hands to make sure that each piece was well coated)
bake until crunchy*

These were so good I made them twice in one week. *The first time I made them, I put them in the oven before it was totally heated and was taking them out at the same time my oven beeped that it was up to 500*. They crunch up pretty fast.

My little pioneer

2010-04-24T21:03:00.001-05:00

April 22nd is a famous day in Oklahoma. It was the day when the Boomers and the Sooners took a stake and hammered it into the ground to "stake" their claim to a piece of land.

Each year the kids dress up a pioneers and have a "land run". Along with the land run comes some very frantic parents scrambling to find a costume. I was not the exception. With all of the gardening and cake making that took place this past weekend, I totally forgot about "Okie Dokie" day until Tuesday. Oh yes, mom had 2 days to come up with something cute and creative.

I have to admit, I think I out did myself this time.

I went to the Goodwill store in town and found a women's shirt that was tan with little red and navy flowers on it. It was half price so I got it for $1.63.

Then I went to another thrift store in hopes of finding a kitchen apron that I could cut to make it smaller to fit her. What I found was WAY better. I got two panel curtains that were navy with little white flowers and a ruffle border. Those were $2.99. I took one panel and cut a ruffle side off of it and hemmed both sides. Then I took the other panel and cut a little square out of it and hemmed up the sides. I then sewed the two of them together, added a ribbon to each side and a loop of ribbon around the neck and she had a cute little bib apron.

Then I took her shirt and cut off the bottom to make it shorter for her. I cut the sleeves off and sewed some of the curtain ruffle around the sleeve.

To top it all off, I made her a little bonnet. I found a tan baby hat for $1.99. I cut 1/4 of the back off of the hat and put some of the blue ruffle around the front of the hat and added ribbon for strings. I had to get a roll of ribbon at Wal-Mart for $1.97.

Isn't she the cutest little pioneer girl? It only cost me $9.15 and took about 1 1/2 hours.

I've been baking again....

2010-04-23T21:27:00.001-05:00

So this past weekend, Brandi and I hosted a shower for Amanda. She had her 5th precious child a month ago and since these little ones go through diapers fast, we decided to throw her a diaper and wipe shower.
I being the ~~most talented cake decorator~~ person who can make icing the way she likes it, made her a cake that turned out AWESOME!

Her husband was a little disappointed when we cut into it. He told me that he thought there would be a river of flowing chocolate in it. I will get to work on coming up with that for you soon KB.

Our garden and a challenge

2010-04-21T22:31:00.002-05:00

As a family, we have decided that we were going to attempt to grow our own vegetables this year. With a little encouragement from Kim and her new family friendly contest called KinderGARDENS, we are getting the kids involved. Kevin and I both agree that our kids need to understand were food comes from. Planting a seed or plant, giving it food, water, and sunlight and watching it grow is one of the most amazing experiences a child can see. Then to get the eat the produt of your hard work and effort, is such a rewarding experience.

I hvae fond memories with my granparents picking cherry tomatos off the vine and popping them in my mouth. Getting up at 6 am and going to pick beans and snap them for canning is a very engrained memory. At the time, I did not like getting up that early for that much hard work, but as an adult, I cherish those memories and want my kids to have the same.

This weekend, we went as a family and purchased our vegetables and flowers. Due to all of the rain we had this weekend, we had to postpone planting until yesterday.

Our garden was so muddy from all the rain but we had a great time getting our veggies in the ground. The kids had fun digging in the dirt also and Abby insited on digging the majority of the holes.

We planted a row and a half of onions(these were planted a month ago), yellow squash, zuchinni, cucumber, three tomato plants, two okra plants, jalapeno and green bell pepper plants, and a row of green beans. Abby really wanted to plant some watermelon but we just ran out of room. Maybe next year.

If you would like to get involved in Kindergardens, please check out Kim's blog and join the fun in getting your kids helping in the garden. Trust me, even if you don't want to participate, go check out her blog. She has a pet camel.

We had company

2010-04-18T00:22:00.000-05:00

Remember this post where I said we had a 4 legged visitor spend a few days with us? Well get ready to feast your eyes on Max, ahem, Banjo.

The Tuesday morning before Easter, Abby was sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast. All of a sudden she got really excited and said, "Mom, there is a dog outside." I looked out the window and didn't see a dog. I thought she was doing one of her corny April Fool's jokes, but sure enough, she said it again and I saw the beautiful dog outside. We were getting ready to leave for work, so Kevin put him in our fenced back yard so we could try and track down his parents.

We were totally surprised to see he was still in the back yard when we came home from work. I knew our plans of not being a dog owner again were falling through. FAST. This guy, who was named Max by the other members of my family, was such a great dog. By great dog, I mean, GREAT dog. The first night of his vacation was spent sitting, laying down, and staying all on command, laying down patiently in the kitchen while we ate dinner not once thinking to beg for people food, not once being snippy to either of the girls eventhough Audrey did get a little rough with him, sleeping in our bedroom floor (much to my chagrin), and not ONCE making any kind of mess in our house.

Oh yes, he was a GREAT dog. At least for the few days he spent at our house. You see his mommy came looking for Thursday night and was going door to door (yes, out in the country mind you) giving people her name and phone number in case anyone had seen him.

You see his mommy and daddy had moved into the area a few months ago. They had a phone number on his collar with the prefix of a neighboring town. There was no area code and when we called, the number was disconnected. We tried looking at the white pages and even listed an add at a local animal sanctuary. We thought he was going to have a permenant home with us. Then his mommy came and took him home. The phone number turned out to be a cell phone number with a different area code than we are in.

So Banjo, if you ever need a vacation again, you are more than welcome to come stay at Hotel Maguire.

The last week (and a half)

2010-04-15T17:11:00.000-05:00

Be prepared: THIS IS GOING TO BE LONG!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry I have been missing. I have had a lot to say but have been super busy since Audrey's surgery and haven't had time to update.

The day after Audrey's surgery, we braved the Oklahoma winds to attend the local Easter candy grab at the high shool. It is an event that is held each year by a local church where they sing songs, play games, tell the Easter story, and give away candy. LOTS of candy.

Each of the girls ended up with prize candies and got to pick a toy. Abby got a kite and Audrey picked a bouncy ball. As we were getting ready to leave, some friend's of ours said that they had called Audrey's name for an Easter basket. She won a basket with another ball in it and some snacks.

Later that night we colored Easter eggs in plastic cups.

Abby had fun but...

Audrey wasn't too impressed.

The following morning the girls woke up to eggs all over the living room. It was quite a challenge to have Abby leave some for her sister to find. Again, Audrey wasn't too impressed with the eggs once she knew that there was candy inside them.

We took some great pictures after attending a wonderful church service.

Our attempt at a good picture of the girls.

Audrey clearly is done with pictures.

At least Abby was cooperative.

We hunted LOTS of eggs.

We finally got a good picture of Audrey.

We had a friend of the 4 legged variety take a vacation at our house for a few days.

Got a sneak peak of some sisterly love. Audrey usually doesn't get to swing unless she is in her infant swing but the other day I saw Abby help her on the hosre swing and they enjoyed the evening together.

Then Audrey "Did it!" Yep, she picked all the petals off of two of my tulips. She had climbed onto of the table and picked off all the petals on the tulip stems and lined them up in a line and yelled, "I DID IT!"

Whew! That was a lot and made me tired! That just about sums up the last week and a half.

Update

2010-04-04T21:33:00.002-05:00

Audrey' surgery went really well. She is the proud owner of a squeaky voice that will last a few weeks. It is so cute to hear her talk. She has done remarkably well and has not needed much pain medicine. We give her small doses before she takes a nap and her full dose when she goes to bed. She is eating normally and playing normally. We will go back to see her ENT in a few weeks for a recheck of her hearing.

I am tired from all of the Easter activites today. We had a great time with family and had an awesome church service this morning.

Thanks you all for your prayers and thoughts during Audrey's surgery.

I would like to also wish Jen a very Happy Birthday today.

Toying with the idea

2010-03-30T20:55:00.001-05:00

So I have been toying with the idea of setting up a business creating hair bows. I have been making them for my girls for a while now and have had several people lately ask me to make some for them. Here are some pictures of my bows. Tell me what you think.

lined clips with or without mini bows

small two loop bow

3" bow

infant head band with bow

flower bow with jewel

large loopy bow

large loopy bow with spikes

corker bows

Come back Sammy, We miss you

2010-03-30T16:50:00.000-05:00

Okay so many of you might not know that I am the football lover in the family. Sure, Kevin likes it, but I LOVE it. Especially OU Sooner football. While our last season was a little rough when our quarterback Sam Bradford hurt his shoulder and was out for the season, I must say that I still stuck by and supported our team. Sam is such an exceptional person to stick with the team through the season even though he was really leaning towards going into the pro draft this year. It has been a long few months not seeing him throw a football, but my eyes got a little treat last night. Seeing him on the news yesterday throwing passes, was pleasing to this Sooner fans eyes. It looks like his shoulder has healed well from the surgery with a completion of 49 out of 50 passes. The one pass missed was due to the receiver dropping the ball. As much as I would like him to come back to play another year for us, I totally understand wanting to play pro for a few years but would like to make my plea to him.

Dearest Sammy-

You look good in crimson and cream. It really goes well with your complexion. We miss you and want you to come back. PLEASE? Can't us OU fans persuade you to come back. Oh well, enjoy your draft to the NFL.

Sincerely,

A sadden OU footbal fan

Surgery

2010-03-30T10:38:00.006-05:00

Poor little lady got to celebrate turning 2 with a round of strep throat following her birthday bash. Wednedsay morning, her daycare called and said that she was throwing up. I left work to spend the day with my newly-turned-2-year old who was not feeling very well. Poor girl wouldn't eat anything and didn't want to get out of my lap. Not that I minded that one bit! She did take a 3 1/2 hour nap and proceed to go to bed early that night. Thursday morning, we decided that she needed to stay home another day, but that afternoon, she spiked a 103.1 fever. Daddy took her to the doctor and she had strep. Her surgery had to be postponed until this coming Friday because of the fever. Poor little lady. She is doing better now that she is on an antibiotic. Well other than the fact that the medicine is causing her to have a LOT of poopy diapers.

Congratulations

2010-03-29T22:46:00.003-05:00

Congratulations to my best friend Amanda on the birth of her baby boy. Krews Bishop was born March 24th weighing 8 lbs 12 oz.

He is a welcomed addition to a beautiful family.

Happy Birthday Audrey

2010-03-29T22:38:00.002-05:00

So I have to apologize for not posting anything the last two weeks. They have been spent being pretty busy gearing up for a birthday party, planning for a surgery, and an tending to an very unwanted and unexpected illness. Anyway, I hope to play catch up soon.

Last weekend our little girl Audrey turned 2! Where has the time gone? We had a great party for her with a special appearance from

ELMO

and COOKIE MONSTER

actually a whole lot of ELMOs and COOKIE MONSTERs.

There was a sesame street cake

with icing

and some more icing

and even more icing.

Then we had some laughs with a hat

and read a few books

and did some exercising to get to the m&ms.

We are so thankful to our wonderful family and friends who came to celebrate Audrey's birthday with us.

Surgery

2010-03-13T16:25:00.002-06:00

About a month ago I talked about a little tiny blue thing that I would miss. Well it seems like will be getting a new set of tubes the end of this month.

This past Thursday, Audrey had a follow up appointment with her ENT (ear, nose, and throat) doctor. He wanted her to get a hearing test to see if she was having decreased hearing due to the loss of her right tube and the fluid buildup in the left. She did very well on her hearing test but it did show that her levels of hearing have decreased since her last test which was in Jan 2009.

At her previous appointment, we had discussed waiting until her left tube fell out for a replacement set. The left tube is not in place properly and has fluid building up behind it. The left tube isn't functioning properly and since her hearing levels have dropped, we decided that it was best to go ahead and get a replacement set now instead of waiting. Her language is very good now and we would not want that to suffer any due to fluid build up in her ears causing her to have a hard time hearing.

She will also have her adenoids removed at the same time. The adenoids are small glands in the back of the throat that help fight of bacteria. With repeat infections, like Audrey has had, they tend to swell and can cause increased mucus production.

Her surgery is scheduled at 7:30 am on Friday March 26th. She will be under local anethesia, have her left tube removed, a new set of tubes replaced in both ears, and her adenoids out.

Practice Makes Perfect

2010-03-11T18:02:00.002-06:00

UPDATE* How on earth did I forget to give a shout out to my best friend and awesome photographer Amanda, I don't know. She hasn't updated her photography blog in a while. Maybe that is because she is VERY pregnant with baby #5. Amanda, please forgive me and thank you so much for all that you do for us.

Original post:

WARNING* Post VERY heavy with pictures.

Remeber this post where Audrey was practicing for her next photo shoot? I may be a little biased but I think she succeeded. Tell me what you think.

My poor little Kitchen Aid Mixer

2010-03-07T07:14:00.002-06:00

My poor Kitchen Aid mixer has been working double time. I have been making a lot of cakes and cookie cakes lately. This first one was for a baby shower at church. I really liked the way the cake looked when it was cut.

Cookie cake for my best friend's daughter.

My nephew's birthday cake.

I made this cake for a baby shower Brandi was hosting. This one was so cute and a lot of fun to do!

I'm not very vain

2010-03-06T21:47:00.000-06:00

A little fact about me: I HATE eyeballs. They disgust me. Gross, gross, gross. I have a pretty strong stomach and things don't bother me much but to watch someone put a contact in their eye, is VERY disturbing to me. My sister always pesters me with taking her finger and putting it on her eyeball. GROSS!

Let me back track a little. When I got an office job 8 years ago, I had horrible headaches from staring at a computer screen all day. I went to the optometrist and left swearing that I would never go back. I explained to them that I had an irrational fear of eyeballs. I endured all the procedures, left there with dilated eyes and was told I could drive home. I couldn't even see well enough to make it out of the parking lot much less be able to drive 15 miles home so I ended up wandering around the shopping center for 3 hours until I was able to see to drive home.
After I had Audrey, my vision started getting worse. Not so bad that I coudn't see anything but I would have to squint to make out street signs and things like that. So I reluctantly made an appointment to get my eyes checked.

Thank heavens for technology. You no longer have to have your eyes dilated. They can use a computer instead of drops to see what they need. No fear of the optomitrist anymore! After a much more pleasant experience I was told that sure enough I needed glasses. I have some co-workers who laugh at me because my RX is like 0.25 or something like that. I really don't know. Anyway, these co-workers think it is funny because they would be considered legally blind with an RX of -5.75 or something like that. This whole having-to-wear-glasses-because-you-can't-see thing is new to me.

So last night while driving home from work. Abby asked me a question so I moved the rear view mirror down to see her. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and noticed something about my glasses.

THEY WERE CROOKED!

How long have I been walking around wearing crooked glasses? Seriously, I have been wearing crooked glasses for who knows how long? Well at least I know that I am not very vain since I haven't notice this!

Heavy Heart

2010-03-03T14:46:00.000-06:00

I wanted to write a blog this afternoon about my "wonderful" night last night, but that will have to wait. I have something more pressing on my heart right now and I would like you to help me.

Jen from Our Journey With Micro Preemie Twins has had some unexpected news regarding the health of her precoius daughters Grace and Faith. They have numerous appointments with several doctors today and over the last few days regarding various health related issues. Jen has not had a lot of time to update her blog regarding the health issues so I have nothing specific to tell you.

If you are a praying person or a positive thoughts person, will you keep this family in your hearts today and for the next few days to come as the world as they know it is about to change.

Jen-I am praying hard for your family that God holds you close to him as you recieve the new updates on your girls.

Bath colors

2010-03-02T16:39:00.000-06:00

My kids love to take baths. I mean LOVE it! It is super cute to hear Audrey say "BAFF" when we are done eating dinner.

For Christmas she got some of these in her stocking.

They have been a great enjoyment and change from our regular baths. At first I was kind of skeptical as far as if they really would work well and if they wouldn't stain the bath tub. They are AWESOME and don't stain.

Just to prove that they provide a really great color, I took some pictures of them in a blue bath. Just look at that color.

Isn't that the prettiest blue that you have seen? The blue water makes for a great backdrop to that sweet face don't you think? Anyway, back to the bath colors. We like to mix and match the colors to get purple and orange.

*I wasn't compensated for this, I just thought you might like to see some of the things that I like.*

Dare devil

2010-02-20T10:02:00.000-06:00

"Clubhouses" are a really big deal at our house right now. There is one built each weekend and many times throughout the week. This particular clubhouse caused quit a hair raising experience for mommy one day this past week.

As I was in the kitchen cooking dinner, I heard Abby start laughing and saying something to Audrey about that she couldn't get up there. Well you know how you kind of tune your kids out sometimes. That is what I did when I heard Abby say that. Then the gut busting laughter started and I KNEW there was something wrong.

As I rounded the corner into the dining room/playroom this is what I saw.

Abby was using Audrey's rocking horse as an anchor for her clubhouse. Audrey wanted to rock on her horse that was strategically placed on top of the table.

Later that same night, the above mentioned dare devil decided that she did not want to sleep in her crib anymore. Kevin and I went into her room to discover she had scaled the side of the crib and was sitting on the railing with her feet dangling outside of the crib. It looks like we will be moving her to a big girl bed soon.

teeth

2010-02-18T20:53:00.000-06:00

It happened a little sooner than I thought it would. Abby had her first wiggle tooth. It had been pretty wiggly for a few months. The dentist even gave her a star shaped pillow to put it in when it came out.

It was so wiggly that daddy even tried to pull it out but that didn't work.

This past Saturday night, Abby spent the night with one of her friends C. Once everyone was asleep, Abby decided that it was time for the tooth to come out. She pulled it herself and didn't tell anyone. She ended up dropping it and the "tooth" was found in the carpet. The reason the word tooth is in quotes is because the real tooth was not found but something that resembled a tooth was. We are thinking that it was probably some sort of nut. The "tooth" was then placed in the pillow the following night. Abby was super excited to get $5 in her little star pillow the next morning when she woke up.

So far I have resisted the urge to call her snagletooth but I don't know how much longer I can resist!

practicing

2010-02-13T08:05:00.000-06:00

I love photographs. I REALLY do. You should see my house. My best friend Amanda, has taken most of our pictures for the last few years. She does a really great job, but of course even great photographers can get less than ideal photos if the subjects don't cooperate.

Sometimes, there are down right fits.

Or maybe a tongue hanging out or a little lady who really doesn't want the camera anywhere near her.

With her second birthday approaching, we have been practicing on saying "CHEESE" when the camera comes out. He is what we have so far.

I think these will make some FABULOUS pictures don't you?

Happy Dance

2010-02-12T13:14:00.001-06:00

Do you remember this post? You know. The one where I told you to not attempt to get my indoor electric super pot and grill.

Yep, you all had your great listening ears because Jen at Our Journey With Micro Preemie Twin's just informed me that I WON IT!

I never win anything and am so excited. I have been wanting a grill pan for indoor cooking but have not wanted to spend the money to purchase it for myself. Now I don't have to.

Thank you Jen and CSN for hosting the giveaway. Look forward to many cooking related posts with my new indoor electric pot and grill.

little blue thing oh how I will miss you

2010-02-09T21:22:00.000-06:00

In late 2008, after numerous ear infections that would not go away, the decision was made to have tubes placed in Audrey's ears. They were really wonderful until a few days ago. When they were placed, we were told that the longevity of them was anywhere from 6-12 months. Since she was so young at the time, we would more than likely have the need for a second set. Last week Audrey became pretty fussy. I thought it was because she was cutting teeth. I do think that part of the fussiness was because her mouth hurt, but the main cause of the crankiness was this little thing.

That tiny little blue thing you see is the tube that was in her right ear. Sunday as we were coming home from church, she started whining and said "Ear!" When we got home all she could say was ear over and over again. Knowing that I should have gone to medical school, I took my trusty flashlight to take a look in her ear. Sure enough, she had a HUGE glob of snot/wax in her ear. Now if you know anything about tubes, the tube should help drain any fluid that gets built up in the ear. If the tube is working properly, the fluid will drain out of the ear not stay in like it was doing with hers.

This small little thing has been our life saver for the last 13 1/2 months but it use has come to an end as of this afternoon. It decided that it was time to come out of her little ear canal. Her regular ENT apt to check tube placement that was scheduled over 3 months ago, was today. I was so thankful that it was today and not another day. Her ENT is a new one, not the one who placed her tubes. I was quite pleased with him and his bedside manner. He pulled a chair right up next to us and started talking to Audrey.

Anyway, he checked her ears and cleaned them out which she absolutly hated. Who knew a tiny 20 pound girl could put up such a fight that her mommy had to lay on top of her. Her ENT wants to see her back in 3 weeks and she will eventually need another set of tubes. Her adnoids will more than likely come out at that time too.

I leave you with thanks tonight. Thank you little blue rubbery tube that is still lodged nicely in the left ear. I thank you for providing my sweet little baby with a little bit of relief from the green boogy monsters that invade her little body.

Beauty and the Ice

2010-02-06T14:30:00.003-06:00

*This post is very heavy with pictures because I couldn't pick just a few that I liked so I am sharing most of them.*

Living in Oklahoma, we have the weirdest weather. It is known to start the day in the 70's and by lunchtime you are in the 30's. I don't ever remember being hit by an ice/snow storm two times in a period of a month until now. Christmas eve we ended up getting a huge ice and snow storm that finally melted 3 weeks later.

Last week came round two. We lost power for 26 hours and then again for a few hours a couple of days later. My father in law has been out for almost a whole week.

The good thing about the mess outside is I was able to take some awesome pictures.

We lost a cedar tree that will have to come down along with a red bud tree that was so pretty outside my kitchen window.

This icicle was about 3 feet long.

The leaning tower of chicken coop. I said coop, not POOP.

After all the beautiful snow and ice and the subsequent damage to our trees I noticed this little guy. He didn't seem to mind the cold ice and snow. Here he is sitting in the loft of the old red barn.

Again on the icicle covered gate.

In the bushes.

Or up in the air. He didn't seem to mind the weather at all.

Frugal Friday

2010-02-06T01:00:00.001-06:00

I am going to join Brandi from My Kitchen To Yours for Frugal Friday even though technically it is Saturday but since I haven't gone to bed, it is still Friday to me. The challenge is to feed a family of four an entree, side dish and dessert for less than $10. I went inexpensive and easy this week becaue I had a lot of stuff to do, but I hope that you still like it.

Main Dish: Pizza Rolls

Ingredients:

1 can cresent rolls

40 pepperoni slices (1/2 package) I used turkey pepperoni-it was good and a lot less calories

1/4 cup shredded mozarella cheese

italian seasoning (maybe 1/4 teaspoon or so)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375*. Unroll cresent rolls onto a baking sheet and seperate into individual triangles. Place 4-5 pieces of pepperoni on top of each triangle. Top with a small amount of cheese. Starting with the wider side of the triangle, roll up like you would if you were making a normal cresent roll. Sprinkle a small amount of Italian seasoning on top of each roll. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve with marinara sauce or ranch dressing.

Cost:

cresent rolls $1.59

pepperoni $1.25

mozarella cheese $0.47

Italian seasoning $0.03

Total: $3.34

Marinara Sauce: There is a LOT left over so I save it and use it in my spaghetti sauce.

1 can diced tomatos

1 small can tomato sauce

garlic salt

italian seasonings

Cost:

tomatos $0.50

tomato sauce $0.38

garlic salt $0.10

italian seasoning $0.10

Total: $1.08

Side item: Steam bag of cheesy vegetables

Cost: $1.50

Dessert: Valentines Smore's Sandwiches

Ingredients:

3 whole graham crackers

3 tablespoons marshmallow cream

1/2 cup chocolate chips

sprinkes for garnish

Directions:

Break each graham cracker into 4 squares. Spread some marshmallow cream onto a top of graham cracker square. Top with another cracker to make a sandwich.

Melt chocolate in microwave for 30 second increments until melted. Stir until smooth. Using a spoon coat one end of sandwich to make a seal using the chocolate. Garnish with sprinkles if you like and set in freezer until chocolate hardens.

Cost:

graham crackers $0.15

marshmallow cream $0.15

chocolate chips $0.25

sprinkles $0.02

Total: $0.57

Pizza rolls $3.34

Marinara sauce $1.08

Steam veggies $1.50

Smores $0.57

Total Meal Cost: $6.49

Awesome giveaway

2010-02-01T15:54:00.000-06:00

Go check out the cool piece of cookware Jen over at Our Journey with Micro-Premiee Twins has. It is awesome.

While you are there trying to win MY indoor electric super pot and grill, read her story. She has such an inspiring and heart warming story. Her darling little babes are adorable too!

Oh better yet, don't try and win it, it is mine. :)

No power

2010-01-29T21:57:00.000-06:00

We lost power Thursday at 4:45 pm and after debating on wether or not to head to my mom's, we finally packed up and headed to her house. After being here for 2 hours, our power was back on. I have so much to say about this week so when I have some time, I will update. As for now, I have two cranky kids to get to sleep. Until later.

Crazy Hair

2010-01-24T09:41:00.000-06:00

This is the fabulous hair style I get when I remove her pony tail.

Don't mind her mean look on her face. That is her normal perpertually perterbed look that she was born with. Seriously she was born with the scowl on her face that you are seeing. She kept telling me no but being the mean mommy that I am, it didn't stop me from taking her picture.

Pretty Little Princess

2010-01-23T10:00:00.005-06:00

W played dress up last weekend. She sure did have fun. She thought she was cute and I have to agree.

Frugal Friday-crockpot chicken

2010-01-22T11:22:00.001-06:00

This week I am participating in Frugal Friday sponored by Brandie at From My Kitchen To Yours. The task on hand is to feed your family a main dish, side dish, and dessert for under $10.

Main Dish: Crokpot Chicken

Ingredients: 1 whole chicken approx 3.5 lbs

1/2 stick real butter

Seasonings of your choice-I used Mrs. Dash Grilling Blends for Chicken

Directions:Remove thawed chicken from package and rinse with water. Pat dry with a paper towel. Very gently using your fingers, losen up the skin covering the chicken breasts. Cut your butter into small pieces and place some under the skin and on top of the chicken. Sprinkle with seasonings. I used probably about 3 tablespoons. Cook on high for about 4-5 hours or on low all day.

Cost:

whole chicken $3.69

butter $0.25

seasonings $0.20

TOTAL: 4.05

Side dish: Baked potatos

Ingredients:

3 medium potatos

1/2 stick real butter

Directions: Wash potatos well with water scrubbing any excess dirt. Pierce both sides with a fork. Place in microwave and cook for about 7-8 minutes or until easily pierced with a fork. Serve hot with butter or your choice of toppings.

Cost:

potatos $0.60

butter $0.25

TOTAL:$0.85

Dessert: Chocolate Banana Smoothies

Ingredients:

2 cups yogurt

3 chilled bananas cut into chunks

3 cups milk

3/4 cups Nesquick powdered chocolate

chocolate syrup

Directions:

Combine yogurt, bananas, milk and chocolate powder in blender and mix. Pour into glasses and top with a little chocolate syrup.

Cost:

yogurt $1.04

milk $0.60

bananas $0.60

chocolate powder $0.54

chocolate syrup $0.03

TOTAL:$2.81

chicken $4.05

potatos $0.85

smoothies $2.81

Total meal cost: $7.71

As you can see, I am well under budget. You could add sour cream and shredded cheese to your potatos which is what we did. I just didn't portion out how much of that we used so I didn't calculate it into my meal cost.

I also used plain yogurt for the smoothies and I think the next time I make these, I will use vanilla. They were good, just not real sweet. They are also pretty low cal which is a bonus.

I made this meal this past Friday so we have already had leftovers.We ended up getting three meals out of our little chicken. After we were done eating, I de-boned it and shredded some for burritos Saturday night that I put with rice, beans, and cheese. Those were yummy. Then on Sunday, I boiled the bones and reamining chicken and made soup. Very good. So in all actuality, I had way more of a bargain than what is shown here.

what a mess

2010-01-21T08:00:00.001-06:00

I think children who take part in household chores have a great respect for their things. Abby has to pick up her bedroom every night plus various other chores such as making sure her dirty clothes are in the laundry room, helping empty the dishwasher, things like that. We are a family of 4 so each one of us has to do our share to keep the house clean. Even Audrey is learning to put things that we ask her to in the trash and put dirty laundry in the laundry room. This week, she has been keeping me on my toes. I know it is just her age and the fact that she is very onery, but I just had to take pictures of the extra fun things she has done.

She took all of the tissues out of a brand new box.

In an attempt to make "juice"-AKA chocolate milk, she dropped the container. This one was funny because once she dropped it, she kept saying, "uh, oh!" yep, UH OH sister.

pink eye, why do you haunt us?

2010-01-20T20:39:00.001-06:00

If you have known me for a long time or if you haven't, a little known fact about me is that I have a horrible tendency to attract pink eye. I could be within 5 miles of a person that has it and 9 out of 10 times I will get it. It really stinks and don't know what to do to about it.

Apparently my oldest inherited the pink eye gene so to speak. She gets it quite often too. Poor girl and it makes me feel bad when she gets it.

Abby's daycare called last night at about 4:30 and said that her eye was really red and had green goop coming out of it. When I got home last night, sure enough it was pink eye. Thank goodness our pediatrician knows that we have a problem keeping pink eye away from our family and called us in a RX with two bottles the last time she had it. She was excited that she didn't have to go to school today, but she will be back tomorrow.

Frugal Friday-Hearty Chicken and Pasta Soup

2010-01-15T15:12:00.003-06:00

This week I am participating in Frugal Friday sponored by Brandie at From My Kitchen To Yours. The task on hand is to feed your family a main dish, side dish, and dessert for under $10. At first I thought that I would have a hard time at this. It was really easy and yummy too.

Main Dish: Hearty Chicken and Pasta Soup

Ingredients:

2 large cans chicken and vegetable soup

2 cans diced tomatos

2 cans pinto beans-drained and rinsed

1/2 lb dried small shells pasta (you could use elbow noodles too)

2 chicken bullion cubes

Directions:

Bring water to boil and drop in bullion cubes. Cook pasta until al dente (firm but cooked) and reserve 2 cups of cooking liquid. Place soup, tomatos, beans, cooked pasta and reserved cooking liquid into pot and heat through.

Cost:

2 cans of soup $3.00

2 cans of pinto beans $1.36

2 cans of tomatos $1.00

1/2 lb pasta $0.50

2 bullion cubes $.18

TOTAL $6.04

Side Dish:Cornbread

Cost:
2 packages cornbread mix $.76
2 eggs $.24
1 1/3 milk $0.35
spray of PAM $0.20
TOTAL $1.55

Dessert: Chocolate Pudding with Chocolate Chips
I just made a package of pudding, put it in cute cups and topped it with a few mini chocolate chips.

Cost:
pudding mix $0.50
milk $0.40
mini chocolate chips $0.10
TOTAL: $1.00

Soup $6.04

Cornbread $1.55

Dessert $1.00

Total Meal Cost $8.59

AWESOME Giveaway

2010-01-14T09:11:00.000-06:00

I know I have introduced many of you to my friend Brandie who has an AWESOME cooking blog. She is a stay at home mom to three adorable children. Her husband is a fireman. She has got some awesome recipies on her cooking blog. You can see what scrumptious things she is making right here.

She is having a giveaway for a print of Your Name in Pictures. Have you seen these things? They are too cool. I really want one (hence this posting) and have for a while. You can meet the artist, Patty on her photography website. She is a fellow Okie, just like me.

The Sweetest Words

2010-01-13T10:30:00.000-06:00

The sweetest words I have ever heard were spoken by my husband the day after Thanksgiving.

"Honey, I wanted to see what you wanted for Christmas. I had an idea but I am not sure you really want it."

"Well what was your idea and I will tell you if I would like it," I responded while attempting to keep shampoo out of my eyes while taking my shower.

"How about a new dishwasher" he replied.

Then there were no words. Those few words took the breath out of me. Seriously, I know he is a great guy, but those words just made me fall in love with him again.

You see, the house we live in belonged to my grandparents. They purchased the old farm house and 20 acres in 1979, I think. When my granny would update the house, she would start with one room and work her way around the house until it was done. The kitchen was remodeled when I was about 8 I think. That was over 20 years ago so the dishwasher is over 20 years old. It still worked if you washed your dishes before you put them in the dishwasher to be washed. It got used as a drying rack more than anything.

So off to Lowe's we went. We looked and debated but he ultimately let me pick the one I wanted. This beautiful piece of work has been my best friend for almost 2 months.

I know, isn't she just plain beautiful. She can clean a whole truckload of dishes in 90 minutes or so. They are so clean that they sparkle and are dry when they come out of the dishwasher. I can honestly say that she has been a lifesaver in my house. I hated to do dishes, but don't mind doing them now. She is super quite too which is nice when you are watching tv or entertain guests.

I just didn't know that getting her was going to cost me a Playstation 3.

A Steal

2010-01-12T20:38:00.001-06:00

Friday night as I was out doing our normal monthly shopping, I went to the dollar store to get Audrey's diapers. Hopefully the child will be potty trained before she goes to kindergarten but since she is not yet 2, I am not pushing the issue.

Anyway, back to my great finds. At the dollar store they had a rack of Christmas items that were on sale. I am not a nick nack person, but I LOVE Christmas things. I found this cute little Santa for $1.50.

These oh so cute little ceramic canisters were a very inexpensinve $0.45.

The best steal of them all was I got the girl's Christmas dresses for next year for $7 each. Both of them together were less and one was original price. Plus they are super cute. Audrey's is black velvet with trim that matches Abby's. Now lets just hope they fit!

What a Week

2010-01-08T22:51:00.001-06:00

UPDATE* As of 10:56 pm on Friay night we had water. Kevin and his dad got the water running uinsg a blow torch that Kevin had.

ORIGINAL POST:
Okay, so here is what our Friday night contained. Well, mine didn't contain this, I just went outside to take the pictures.I just feel so bad for my husband. He has been feeling pretty bad with a horrible cold. I mean how could you not get a cold with the -15* wind chill we are having.

After our little experience on Tuesday, Kevin came home to find that we had absolutely NO water. None. Not a single drop came out of any of our faucets. Great. Just lovely. How on earth are we going to get the water running again. Oh, I know. Lets try the blow dryer.

We have a well and water will come out of the well house but no water is making it to the house. After digging a little trench, my father in law and I started filling up pots from the well house and boiling it on the stove. Then we would take the water outside to the little trench that they had dug and fiilled it with hot water. When that wasn't working real well, Kevin and my father in law decided to get the blow dryer out and start thawing the pipe from the outside. They have been trying to unthaw the pipes for over 3 hours now.

The high tomorrow is supposed to be 18* with a wind chill of 0. Yep our pipes probably won't be unfrozen until Sunday at the earliest.

I guess all I have to say is, you might want to stay away from us until our pipes are unfrozen because I am sure we will be stinking in a few days with the lack of being able to shower.

Hay Bales and Mailboxes Don't Mix

2010-01-08T22:13:00.000-06:00

Oh what an eventful week we have had. Tuesday morning, as I was coming toward the end of the driveway I saw a bunch of dried cut grass. I thought that was a little weird. As I pulled to the end of the driveway, I looked to my left and saw some more dried cut grass. Then I looked to my right towards our mailbox and this is what I* saw.

Yep, you guessed it. Someone tried to put a bale of hay in our mailbox. While I would like to think that the person was just trying to be generous, they really did cause us more work than the nice thought that they were trying to do. I mean, we don't have the need for any hay. Our only animal is a 15 lb fat cat who probably could care less about hay.

Luckily for us the mailbox was not hurt and can still serve its purpose. The mailbox post, however, came to a very horrific and untimeley death. Poor little wooden post and poor Kevin who will have to get out and put up a new mailbox post in freeezing weather.

So if you are needing hay, I can tell you where you can get some for free.

*I did not take this picture. My husband did.

To Party or To Not Party, That is the Question

2010-01-05T09:14:00.000-06:00

Okay so I have a very limited amount of time left in my twenties. To be honest, less than 2 weeks. I will be 30 in 13 short days. There, I said it. I will be turning 30 on the 18th. For some reason, I am having a hard time with this. Not that I think being 30 is horrible or anything, it is just a number after all. I hope it isn't like last year when I had a mini break down that resulted in this post. Not that it was a bad thing after all, I mean I did lose 15 pounds and then turned around and gain it back plus probably a little more.

But, it just seemed like I turned 29. I mean, really, it did just seem like that and now we have to celebrate another birthday. UGH! I mean seriously when can I stop having them. Oh wait, maybe I don't want that. I am starting to sound like Bella in the Twilight series only she is complaining about turning 19. Oh to be 19 again.
Okay, so sorry about the tangent.

So here is my delima. Tell me what you think about it.

My husband keeps asking if I want a party but states that he doesn't like surprise parties, therefore it wouldn't be a surprise. Okay I get that HE doesn't like surprise parties. Not that I really want a surprise party or anything, because I don't care if it is a surprise or not. I just feel like if I have a party, then I will end up having to plan it. Like for instance, yesterday at lunch we were discussing the idea of a party and he said that if I had a party, he wouldn't know who to invite. Okay, I am already planning the list for who to invite.

Secondly, if we have a party, we would probably do it at a resturant. We can't pay for everyone's dinner so would the invited be offended if they were to pay for their dinner for MY birthday party. Then who do you invite. My friends, our mutual friends, close friends and family. Someone will surely feel left out anyway we do it.

Or we could find a place to rent and then bring in food but that can get expensive and we are trying to save more and fix a few things around the house.

Another alternative is a shopping trip for me or maybe a trip to go see a good friend in another state.

Okay, so what are your suggestions and/or opinions. Am I making a big deal out of nothing. I mean, you only turn 30 once.

Not Me Monday-late night edition

2010-01-04T22:05:00.001-06:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I most certainly did NOT dress my child in a Halloween sweatshirt to go outside to play even though we have already passed Christmas. I would NOT be that careless to allow my child to wear an article of clothing that did not coordinate with the appropriate holiday.

I did NOT leave 3 laundry baskets that were full of clean clothes in my bedroom for our New Year's Eve party. Who would not be so ~~lazy~~ busy to NOT put away clean clothes in a timely manner.

I did NOT take care of an unsightly blemish that was trying to ruin my ever-so-perfect skin while driving 50 miles per hour down the highway on my way home from work today. Who would be so vain as to do that? NOT ME!

I most certainly did NOT squeal like a little girl when I opened my email this morning to see an reply from MckMama. Who would get so excited over an email? NOT ME!

There, I feel better already. If you would like to join in all the hilarious antics of the NOT ME MONDAY and get a little bit off of your chest, click here to read more NOT ME posts.

Shout Out

2009-12-30T20:44:00.002-06:00

So Kevin's 80 year old grandma informed me that she is a faithful blog reader. I knew that she had read some of my blogs but I didn't knew that she read every single one of the. I just wanted to give a shout out to GG Mary. Leave a comment and give a shout out to her. It will make her day!

Torture Devices

2009-12-29T21:02:00.001-06:00

This post was originally going to be titiled "You Would Think I Was Pulling Her Toe Nails Out" but that would have been entirely too long.

So ever since the Little Miss had this nasty thing, she has not been able to get rid of her cough. She coughs all night long and wakes up coughing. Frustrating to the parent who can't do a whole lot for her. I have put a humidifier in her room with a menthol liquid to help her congestion, but nothing is helping.

So I did it. I broke out the torture device. AKA the nebulizer.

She has had breathing treatments before and never really liked them. She would always fuss but I would just follow her around the room so she could get a little bit of the albuterol in her lungs.

But tonight was different. She wasn't having ANYTHING to do with it. Nope, not a thing and she kept telling me "STOP!" Well being the ever so persistant mommy that I am, once she had walked into the corner, I kept her there. Oh, yes. I am so mean. I kept the kid cornered while she screamed and cried at me. At the end of the treatment, she finally just sat down and finished her treatment in defeat because she knew I wasn't going to give up.

It has been and hour and there has been minnimal coughing coming from her room so it has helped. I just don't think that in her little 21 month old mind, she understands that the 5 minutes of torture help her so much.

Hopefully she learned that Mommy wins. At least most of the time.

Now I am off to go get my hiney on the Wii Fit. I have to work off the 3 chocolate chip cookies I just ate.

Latest Craft Creation

2009-12-24T00:20:00.005-06:00

I am so excited about this I can hardly type. Oh wait, I have to tyoe because I can't "tell" you about it. Okay here goes.

This past summer before we went camping I wanted to get a cover up to wear while walking to the water and back. So I went to the Wally World and paid my $10 for a cute cover up. Being the very practical person that I am, I thought that it could serve the purpose of wearing it after I get out of the shower. It was the BEST thing ever. I usually wear it while I am getting ready.

Abby has been begging for one for a while now and to be honest, I didn't really look at getting her one. Her persisent begging for a bath wrap paid off and mommy told her that I would attempt to make one and see how it turned out. So the day after Thanksgiving, Wally World had their true colors bath towels on sale for $2 each. You know, the pretty nice ones in a lot of colors. I got 5 of them, orange, green, purple, light pink, and dark pink. The pink ones are for the girls for Chirstmas, the purple for my niece, and the other two are for Abby's little friends.

The middle one is Audrey's.

The first one I made took about two hours. The last one which was Audrey's that I had to make two hems on took about 30 minutes. They turned out so cute and I can't wait for Abby to see hers. She is going to be so surprised because she only knew that I was making the other three, not one for her a sister too.

Anyway, here is the final product. Tell me what you think about them. Would you buy them if I were to sell them and how much would you pay? I am kind of toying with the idea of opening an online craft store for my hairbows and other things like tutus.

This a picture of Audrey's bath cover up.

A Whole Lot Of Randomness

2009-12-23T11:57:00.000-06:00

Update on Miss Audrey: Tamiflu works wonders. She was almost back to her normal (mean ol' bossy)* self Friday night. She has been more tired than normal and taking LONG naps anywhere from 2-4 hours and sleeping all night. I do think that she is on the mend and will be 100% back to her normal* self by Christmas.

Me, on the other hand, more than likey will not be. It seems that my allergies are mad at me for something. I have been sneezing and coughing like nothing else. I almost thought that I had the pig flu that baby girl had but I haven't had a real high fever. Good old Mucinex and some Suedafed to help me out though.

I would like to welcome all of my new blog readers. I know that I am not terribly interesting and don't blog a lot but am so thankful that you actually found something on here that might make you want to come back and read more. Thank you so much for taking the time to read and comment. I kind of get a little excited when I see a new comment on a blog post. I would also like to say thanks to those of you who just stop by for a visit.

Yesterday my sister watching baby girl while Abby and I went and had a girls day. We went and saw Disney's new movie The Princess and The Frog. It was a cute movie but I just wish that I would have read up a little more about it. It takes place in Louisiana and has a very high theme regarding voodoo. Some of the scenes scared Abby so much that she had to hide her eyes. I don't really like to think that I shelter my kids, maybe some think that I do, I just don't want her to be scared needlessly and I didn't think it would happen at a kid;s movie. At the end of the movie, one of the final scenes was the Shadow Man gets swallowed by some dark shadows. She is pretty smart, but I don't think she caught on to the whole voodoo issue. Other than that, it was a cute movie, I just wish that one of the main part wasn't about voodoo. If you have seen it, what is your impression?

I have been really crafty lately and you all will be so excited to see what I have made now. I will have a whole blog post about it when I find time and take pics of the finished product but for now I am going to keep you in suspense. Lets just say, my daughter has been begging me to make her one for a while now and it is bath related. Any guesses? She is going to be so excited on Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas, are you ready? All my shopping is done, all but a few are wrapped and I have to finish up Audrey's of the above mentioned craft and a craft I am making for my mom and then I am DONE.
Whew! That was a lot to even think about. Plus I am having a house guest tonight. My father-in-law is coming to spend the night which means him and my DH (dear husband) will be up until an odd hour of the night watching re-runs of Seinfeld episodes. Oh the joy to have the bed to myself. Oh wait, I will be up finishing crafts. DARN!

Okay, so how was that for a bunch of randomness for you?

Flying Pigs

2009-12-18T15:04:00.002-06:00

Poor little Audrey has the Swine Flu. Wednesday night we went to our church Christmas party. She was playing and eating like normal. At 1 am Thursday morning she woke up crying. I let her cry/fuss at night so she can try and get herself back to sleep. She fussed for about 10 minutes and then got quiet. I thought she had gone back to sleep. About 10 minutes later she started up so I went in there to check on her. Poor little baby had thrown up all over herself and her crib. She was just sitting in her bed sayinG, "Uh-Oh!" Daddy and I got her and the bed cleaned up but when I picked her up, her body was on FIRE!

I had a training class on Thursday so daddy stayed home with her. When I got home her fever was up to 104.7. She was so sick. I gave her some Tylenol and it went down some but I knew something was wrong. She slept all night long last night without waking up and this morning her temp was 100.5 without meds. She didn't drink or eat anything yesterday because whatever went down came right back up.

I took her to the dr today and they tested her for the flu and strep throat. Sure enough she has swine flu. We got the liquid gold AKA Tamiflu and hopefully she will be feeling better soon.

Banana Cream Pie

2009-12-18T14:57:00.001-06:00

I found this recipie in a Taste of Home's Quick Cooking cookbook several years ago and made it. We really liked the way it turned out then but I have not made it since. I decided a few weeks ago to find it and make it. I forgot how good it is. I have made it twice since Thanksgiving. Plan ahead because it needs to chill.

Ingredients:

Crust:

1/3 cups butter

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

3 tablespoons sugar

Filling:

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 1/4 cups milk

3 egg yolks lightly beaten

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 medium firm bananas-cut into 1/4 inch slices

Cool whip and additional banana slices are optional.

Directions:

Place butter in a greased 9 in. microwave-safe pie plate. Heat uncovered on high until melted. Stir in graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Mix well. Press into bottom and sides of pie plate. Microwave on high for 1 1/2-2 mintues or until crust is firm and holds together. Cool completely.

To make the filling, in a large microwave safe bowl, combine sugar, flour, and cornstarch. Gradually whisk in milk until smooth. Microwave uncovered 9-10 minutes or until thickened stirring every 2-3 minutes. Stir a small amount of heated mixture into eggs. Gradually return egg mixture to bowl stirring constantly. Cook 1-2 minutes longer or until bubbly stirring every 30 seconds. Stir in remaining butter, vanilla, and salt until butter is melted. Cool for 20 minutes stirring frequently.

Arrange bananas in crust. Top with filling. Cover and chill 8 hours or overnight. Top with cool whip and additional bananas if desired.

Leslie's Chocolate Peanut Candy

2009-12-16T09:01:00.000-06:00

Kevin's mom used to make this candy every Christmas. She heard the recipie on the radio and decided to give it a try. It has been a Christmas tradition since. She is no longer with us so I have taken on the task of making it each year.

Ingredients:

about 3 cups unsalted peanuts

3 cups peanut butter cereal*

1 24 oz package chocolate almond bark

Directions:

In a heavy duty pan, melt almond bark until completely melted stirring often. Add cereal and peanuts and mix until coated. Drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper and let the candy sit until hardened.

*The first time my mother in law made this she used peanut butter Cinnamon Toast Crunch. We liked this version better but I have not been able to find this kind of cereal again. I have been using peanut butter Captain Crunch instead. They both taste the same but the texture is different.

Do You Have One of These?

2009-12-10T21:48:00.002-06:00

So do you have one of these? Do you even know what it is? If you have never heard of it, let me be the first to introduce you to Scentsy. I had heard of it, but had never purchased anything until a few weeks ago. I finally decided to order one of these little plug in warmers and some scents.

I got Autumn Sunset, Vanilla Cream, and Cinnamon Cider. Oh these things smell so good. They have around 60 different scents. They are a little pricey, this plug in warmer and 3 bars was $25.00 but I have used 1/4 of a square (I have 6 squares in each bar) for the last week and it still smells so good.

Now don't worry, I am not trying to sell you anything and I am not becoming a consultant and in the future try and sell you anything, I just wanted you to know how excited I am about these.

Last Night

2009-12-10T21:39:00.001-06:00

So this is what I found last night when I went into Abby's bedroom to put some laundry away. I knew that she had asked her daddy to watch a movie with her but I didn't know that they were both watching the back of their eyelids.

Heartwarming Chili

2009-12-10T21:27:00.000-06:00

The weather has been so cold here the last few days so I decided that some chili was in order. I don't really have a particular recipie that I use so I will tell you how I made this batch. My oldest daughter has been asking for chili for dinner ever since we had it. She was so upset tonight when I told her that we didn't have any more.

Ingredients:

1 lb hamburger meat

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 can pinto beans drained and rinsed well

1 can black beans drained and rinsed well

2 cans diced tomatos

chili powder

garlic salt

salt

black pepper

Directions:

In a large skillet brown hamburger meat and drain off grease. Add chopped onion, tomatoes, and beans. Season with chili power, garlic salt, salt and pepper to your liking and simmer for 10 minutes.

You can use a packet of chili seasoning instead of the above. I just didn't have a pre made packet so this is what I used.

Enjoy!

I Won An Award!

2009-12-10T14:26:00.000-06:00

I won an award. Thank you Brandie for my award! Brandie is a fabulous cook and mom to three adorable little kids. Go visit her at http://brandicastlecooking.blogspot.com/ for some great recipies. Thanks again Brandie for the Lemonade Stand Award, my very first!

There are rules attatched to getting the Lemondae Stand Award. I must pick 10 fellow bloggers and leave them a comment that I have picked them. Then I then need to leave a link to the blog that I recieved the award from. Thanks again Brandie at http://brandicastlecooking.blogspot.com/ for my very first blogging award.

1.Our Journey With Micro Preemies

2.You And Me Plus Three

3.Morgan Kate

4.the inadvertant farmer

5.Surprised by Hope

6.The Cox Quads

7.For This Little One We Prayed

8.For The Mini-McKinney

9.Dreaming of Angels

10.Women's Marriage Ministry

Christmas Parade

2009-12-09T20:55:00.000-06:00

Last week I braved the cold and took the girls to the Christmas parade. Audrey had never been to a parade and I thought it would be a lot of fun. We were running a little late so when we got there I noticed a little hole where I could sneak the stroller in. To my surprise, we were right next to Audrey's daycare teacher and her family. She wa so excited to see her "Tassie" (her name is Kassie) that she didn't even want Mommy to hold her. It made mommy a little sad.

Kassie's little boy R waving his flag. The theme for the parade was patriotic so they handed out little flags.

Abby was so excited. Her favorite part of the parade was the candy of course.

No small town parade can be without Santa on the firetruck.

Giraffes, Zebras, and Alligators OH MY!

2009-12-09T20:46:00.003-06:00

A few weeks ago we had unseasonalby warm weather so

I decided to take the girls and Abby's friend K to the zoo.

We had so much fun and I got some good pictures!

Abby and K being silly. They are great friends.

Don't be jealous of her eyelashes. Well, okay. If you have too.

Abby, Audrey and K sitting on an elephant.

We saw a rhino

and some bears

and some Zebras that were K's favorite

some alligators, okay maybe 7 or so,

and some giraffe.

But the best part of the day was mommy did it all by herself!

Cowboy Boot Cake

2009-11-15T18:07:00.000-06:00

You remeber this post where I talked about the BEST BIRTHDAY CAKE EVER? Well, this happens to be the Best Baby Shower Cake Ever. Or at least the best one that I have made so far. When I was asked to do this, I hesitated a little just because I make my cakes for fun and that is the only reason. I have never made a cake for someone to profit from, I usually make them for my friend's children's birthdays and my own kids. Honestly, I don't see how people could profit from making cakes. I mean the supplies are about $18 once you make homemade buttercream icing, and they take about 6 hours. You sell the cake for $30 and that means that you worked for $2 an hour. Not really profitable if you ask me. Probably not even really worth it, but that is not the reason why I do it. I do it for fun.

Anyway, I digress. Back to why I hesitated.

You see, when they offered to pay me for the cake, that is the reason why I hesitatied. If I mess up my own kids cakes, that is fine because it is my own kids. If I mess up my friend's kids cakes, then that is a little less acceptable, but they really don't care what the cake looks like, they just want to eat it.

This cake, this one was different.

You see to me, first baby shower cakes are kind of like your wedding cake. It is the first one you are going to have. If you are lucky to have another baby shower, you might get another cake, but more than likely you will only get one baby shower.

So that is why I hesitated.

Not because I didn't think I could do it, but because I was scard of messing it up. I have learned that 90% of my cake making is mental. I have to really think about it before I decide to make a cake for someone else. I have to say that this one was really fun and turned out pretty cute. Now just as a disclaimer I am not a professional, nor have I had any kind of formal training. Yet. I am just a mom who likes to mamke her kid's birthday cakes who happened to be asked to make some for other people. Now without further wait, I present you the BEST BABY SHOWER CAKE EVER! (Or to date at least.)

Shameless Plug for a Chunky Charmed

2009-11-12T10:50:00.000-06:00

My friend Tanya is very creative and is selling necklaces, bracelets, and keychains as a side business. Go check out her website Chunky Charmed and leave her some comments. Better yet order something from her!

Pumpkin Patch and new experiences

2009-11-11T22:12:00.000-06:00

Each year we take the kids to the pumpkin patch. A lady that Kevin and I used to work with has a greenhouse and garden where she grows her own vegetables and sells them. It is kind of like a roadside vegetable stand. Each year she gets pumpkins and brings them in to sell. She doesn't grow her own because they don't grow real well here in Oklahoma. Anyway, each year we take the kids to this pumpkin patch. She always has decorated backgrounds set up so you can take pictures with. This year was particularlly fun since Audrey was walking and could say "pu kin".

Audrey really like the "pu kins". She kept trying to pick them up and carry them around. Some of the pumpkins were as big as she was!

Abby found a HUGE one and really thought she could pick it up. Yep, that didn't happen.

Each year we have either painted our pumpkins or did nothing to them. This year Kevin decided that he wanted to carve them. I am not a fan of carved pumpkins unless you are a professional, but decided to go ahead and give it a try. The girls were pretty funny. Abby was a little leary of the strigny stuff. She really didn't know what to expect when her daddy told her to reach in and grab a handful.

The look on her face was priceless!

Little sister Audrey really enjoyed the pumpkins. She was not the least bit afraid of reaching in for a big handful. She also thought that the pumpkin had to be mighty tasty and grabbed the big serving spoon and went after eating the inside of the pumpkin. She went back for more several times.

The outcome was not that great. The pumpkins had crooked noses, offset eyes and lopsided mouths but it was a fun experience. If we carve them again next year, we will definatly be getting a carving kit and not using kitchen knives. Way too dangerous. My vote for next year is painting or nothing at all. They were rotted within a week. Pretty disappointing.

Christmas Card Request for Noah

2009-11-06T22:31:00.001-06:00

A blog friend, Jen, came across a very special little project for a little 5 year old boy. Noah Biorkman who is in the last stages of a 2 year battle with Neuroblastoma Cancer, is going to celebrate Christmas early this year. His one wish is to get lots of Christmas cards. Let's make this little boy's wish come true. Please send all Christmas cards to him at his home address.

Noah Biorkman

1141 Fountain View Circle

South Lyon, Mi 48178

Lets see how many cards can get to this little boy. I will be checking my card stash and seeing what I have that can get in the mail in the morning. I might even make him a card. All it takes is a little time and a $0.44 stamp to make a little boy's wish come true.

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/medical/biorkman.asp

Not Me Monday

2009-10-26T08:48:00.010-05:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I most certainly did not stay up until 2 a.m. in the pursuit of The Best Birthday Cake ever. I mean who really can keep their eyes open enough at 2 a.m. to make sure you are using the size 32 open star tip or the size 23 open star tip?

Who really cares if you were to use the 23 instead of the 32? I mean it really shouldn't be that big of deal should it. I mean I am not that obsessive about my cakes that it should really matter.

I most certainly did not place an extremely-stuffed-spilling over the top laundry laundry basket into my husbands closet and locked the door just because I was so tired of cleaning and doing laundry that I did not want to put it away. I would never hide clean laundry in a laundry basket in a locked room. That would be absoulutely unfathomable.

I was not the first person to comment on MckMama's Not Me Monday post. Who has the best timing ever that they would be able to do that? NOT ME!

Party Time

2009-10-25T21:59:00.005-05:00

Yep, I did it again. I stayed up until the early hours of the morning making a birthday cake. Not just any old birthday cake, but the BEST EVER birthday cake. Oh yes, this one was my best ever. Not that I say that each time I make a cake, because who would get so overly excited that each cake they make gets better and better. NOT ME! (oh wait, this isn't a Not Me Monday post).

The cake:

The cupcakes:

The silliness:

The cuteness:

The sweetest:

The cheesiest: (not it's not Kraft)

The bossiest:

The messiest:

Okay, so now that my hilarious titles are over, let me tell you the fun and excitement we had. Hot dogs, princess castle jump house, ice cream, and lots of hot pink and orange icing make for a SMASHING fun birthday party. Abby had a great time, got lots of great gifts, including money that is burning a hole in her pocket, and really enjoyed her birthday party. Thanks to everyone that came. We truly have great family and friends.

Chicken Divan

2009-10-23T22:20:00.004-05:00

This is my mother-in-law's recipe that she gave to me. It is so tasty and there are usually no leftovers.

Ingredients:

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts or 1/2 of a chicken already cooked
1 head of broccoli cut into spears steamed and drained
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 c. real mayo (do not substitue fat free or Miracle Whip)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 c. canned bread crumbs
1/2 c. shredded cheddar or monteray jack cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350

Cut cooked chicken into bite size pieces and layer in casserole dish. Place steamed broccoli on top of chicken. Mix all remaining ingredients, except bread crumbs and cheese, together and pour over chicken and broccoli. Sprinkle bread crumbs and top with the cheese. Bake for 30 minutes.

12:32 pm

2009-10-22T19:45:00.015-05:00

*Forwaring- this is really long*

Today is a very special and exciting day in our house. We are celebrating! At 12:32 pm, 5 years ago today, Abbygail Maguire was born. She has changed Kevin and I's life as we knew it. Here is her story...

The Pregnancy:

It went pretty smooth until I was about 26 weeks. At my 26 week apt my doctor started to notice protein in my urine. I had another apt two weeks later and there was more protein and I had gained 7 pounds. My blood pressure was starting to rise and I was starting to swell. At 34 weeks I was put on bed rest for high blood pressure and began bi-weekly non-stress tests to make sure she was alright. Thursday Oct 21st, I had my second non-stress test and Dr. apt. We were scheduled to be induced the following week so she could be born on her daddy's birthday. Kevin asked the question that would change our lives. "How much do you think she weighs?" Our OB said that he thought she was about 6 1/2-7 pounds and sent us for another ultrasound. To everyone's surprise, she was only 5 lbs 3 oz. She was breech and I had VERY little amniotic fluid. Her umbilical cord was extremely small and she wasn't getting very much nutrients from it. Our OB scheduled a c-section the next morning because she needed to be out sooner rather than later.

The Delivery:
We were so excited to meet you that I really wasn't scared about the c-section. It hurt, I was out of it for a long time, but so happy that you were here. My bllod pressure was still high, so I was put on some medicine that made you feel really sick. I didn't care what I felt like as long as you were alright. You were a whopping 4 lbs 15 oz and 16 1/2 inches long. You weren't breathing at first but perked right up soon after.

The hospital pictures:

The First Year:
Wow did this go by fast or what. You have learned to eat, crawl, and play but most importantly you made an attempt to walk. Not real well yet but you were trying. You said your first word which was dad, then you said dog, then finally you said mom. We battled colic, the occasional ear infection, and the horrible thing called teething. You had your first Christmas, first snowfall, and first camping trip. We looked forward to the next years to come.

Your first birthday pictures

The Second Year:

This year went by so fast. You learned to walk, talk, and showed us your personality. You were a very independent little lady and have quite a funny personality. You loved hugs and kisses, playing with dad, and of course eating. At your second birthday party, you were tired and didn't want to open any more presents so you threw yourself down on the floor and pitched a huge fit. Of course everyone thought it was funny and about 2 minutes you were done and ready to open more presents. You have mastered the potty and sleep in your big girl bed all night by yourself.

2 year picture

The Third Year:

You were a very sweet young lady. You were independent but like to spend time with mom and dad. You had your first sleepover this year, started a new daycare, and you love to play with your baby dolls. You saw Disney Princesses on Ice this year and went to the state fair. You made the announcement to our family that you were going to be a big sister.

3rd birthday picture

The Fourth Year:

Wow, I am shocked that we are here already. Four years have passed since you were born. You became a big sister this year, and are a great one at that. You love your sister and are very proud to show her off. This year, you have learned more words and talk a LOT more now. Sometimes your dad wishes that you hadn't started talking but I remind him that he couldn't wait for you to start. You know what you want and when you want it and aren't afraid to let anyone know. You are strong willed but can go with the flow when you need to. You started Pre-K this year and love school.

4th birthday picture

The Fifth Year:

5 year old pictures

Dear Abby:

It just seems like yesterday I saw you for the first time. You filled my heart with so much love that I had never felt before. You made me a better person. The feelings I had when you were born are still fresh in my mind. The sleepless nights, the constant crying, the tiny little baby who could only sleep in the crook of my arm, were all worth it. It seems like yesterday that I held all night long because you had colic and cried each night. Then we would sleep the day away, you wrapped up in my arms. I hated those nights but miss them so much. What seemed like eternity at the time was a blink and then it was gone. You were and still are a funny little thing and you make me so proud of you. You are a bright shining star in my life and I am proud to be your mommy. The last 5 years have gone by so fast. If I could find a way to slow down time, I would baby girl because you are a young lady now. I know that I still call you baby girl sometimes, but you will always be my baby.

You are a warm hearted soul, creative, funny, and inspire me to be a better person. You are compassionate, loving and lively. You light up a room with your personality and everyone likes you. You are a very sweet and caring young lady and I can't wait to see the young woman that you grow up to be.

Happy Birthday to my Baby girl Abby. These years have gone by too fast but I have cherished them. I thank God everyday for giving me you to raise. You are such a blessing.

I Love you so very much,

Mommy

Blog Stalking

2009-10-22T14:24:00.002-05:00

Yep, I have been at it again. I "ran" (as you tend to do when you blog stalk) into the funniest blog that I have read in a while. Meet Heather at Our Incredible Journey. She is a mother of two and the mother of special needs. I have just read the last few posts that she has made about her sweet little boy Jack but then I came across this one and am still laughing about it. If you need a good laugh go check out Heather and her new love for the television.

Oh and this isn't the exciting thing that I was talking about earlier, I just thought that you might like a laugh today.

She Finally Said It

2009-10-22T10:43:00.004-05:00

Every morning when I buckle Audrey into her car seat, I tell her that I love her not expecting her to say it back. This morning I buckled her in and said my I love you to her and she said, "wuvooo!" I was so happy as it was the most precious thing to hear. She said it again when I dropped her off at daycare. It has made my day.

More to come later as we are having a very exciting thing happen in our house. Can you guess what it is?

Yet Another One

2009-10-19T14:40:00.000-05:00

This morning, my dear sweet soon-to-be 5 year old came into my bedroon and proudly announced that she had something to tell me.

Me: "What would that be?"

Abby: "How do you get a tissue to dance?"

Me: "I don't know. How?"

Abby: "You put some boogie on it."

Oh, yes. Compliments of daycare.

Not Me Monday

2009-10-19T09:27:00.006-05:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I finally have something to share that I did not do this past week. Better yet, I have something that I remembered. :)

I most certainly did not have a horrible sore in my mouth causing so much pain that I couldn't eat. Who would ever have something as gross as that?

I most certainly did not use my toddlers teething tablets in an attempt to rid myself of the tormenting pain in my mouth.

I was absolutely not releived when they worked. No, not me. Who would get that much joy from being pain free enough to eat?

Kevin and I did not go into check on Audrey before going to bed and discover an skinny little naked girl asleep in her bed. Whose child strips totally naked while trying to go to sleep? Certainly not ours.

A few nights later, we did not go into her room to see the above situation repeat itself.

Another chance for you

2009-10-15T15:27:00.004-05:00

Angie, the author of Bring the Rain, was the proud recipient to try out a new washer and dryer from Samsung. Her blog about the washer and dryer is too funny plus she is giving you a chance to win a $200 gift card to Best Buy to purchase a new appliance for your self. Anyway hope on over to Angie's giveaway blog to read her hilarious post about her new appliances and get ready for your chance to win some free money!

http://angiesgiveawaysandreviews.blogspot.com/2009/10/unbelievable.html?showComment=1255638437408#c4300705771873300562

Awesome giveaway to Best Buy

2009-10-15T15:21:00.003-05:00

I like new things. Unfortunately new things cost money and free things are even better. I have recently found a few blogs that are giving away items. The first blog I found is giving away a $200 gift card to Best Buy for some new appliances. Who couldn't use a new appliance. I would certainly like a new dishwasher since mine is probably 15-20 years old. It is ancient and in need of replacement but it works enough for us to not shell out the money for a new one.

Go check it out.

http://shopwithalanna.blogspot.com/2009/10/samsung-makes-cooking-look-easy.html#comment-form

Down on the Farm

2009-10-13T20:49:00.002-05:00

Down on the farm you will find many interesting things. Such as waking up to Abby and daddy in the front yard with the neighbor cows. Ever since Abby was walking she has taken an interest in the cows. Each year, she makes at least one attempt at getting to pet a cow but has never succeeded. That was until a few weeks ago. Abby and her daddy were outside one early morning and the cows were right up next to the fence. Abby asked to go down to them and I told her that she could as long as she was careful. Daddy met her over at the gate and a big momma cow came up and stuck her head up to the gate.
Big momma let Abby pet her for a really long time. This cow was huge but really sweet to Abby. Abby got to pet her for about 10 minutes or so.

At the time we did not know that momma cow really was a new momma until her little baby cow decided to make its appearance. The baby was a very new baby. It still had it's umbilical cord attached. Momma cow let the baby get within a foot of Abby before she turned her head at the baby and snorted. It scared the little calf and the calf took a few steps back. It was almost like the momma cow didn't want Abby to give the baby attention because she wasn't done having Abby pet her.

Out of the mouth of babes

2009-10-06T09:26:00.003-05:00

Last night Abby and I were watching Dancing With The Stars and one of the contestants had made the comment about him being Vito Suave (his last name is Vito). Abby laughed and said, "Mom he said rico, slaw-bay." A huge laugh escaped my lips. It was so funny. Of course then she had to keep repeating it.

Rico slaw-bay.

Ah, this kid just keeps on keeping me entertained.

Christmas Bunny

2009-09-30T10:40:00.004-05:00

Did you know there was such a thing as a Christmas bunny? I didn't until this morning.

The proceeding story is brought to you by my very funny and creative 4, soon-to-be, 5 year old.

Abby was getting ready for school and picked up some Hello Kitty socks that she got in her Easter basket this past Easter.

She then proceeds to say, "Mom, I got these from the Christmas bunny" in her I'm so smart tone of voice. She was so proud of herself that she remembered where she got them from.

I just laughed and said, "I didn't know there was a Christmas bunny. I just thought there was an Easter bunny."

She sheepishly replied, "Oh maybe I got them in my Easter basket!" and then laughed like she knew she was wrong.

This kid cracks me up!

Thank You God

2009-09-29T15:28:00.004-05:00

Last Monday ended our hiatus of rain that we had been experiencing for over a week. Don’t get me wrong, I like the rain, in small amounts, especially when I don't have to be out in it, but I was starting to think that I lived in Seattle.

Not that Seattle is a bad place or anything, but this is Oklahoma and over 7 days of rain in a row is pretty ridiculous if you ask me. Not that Mother Nature or God asked me or anything, but enough is enough.

Sorry, I digress.

So I am leaving work and get to the daycare to pick up Abby and it starts to sprinkle. I made a mad dash to get to Audrey’s daycare and get her when it starts. Yep, you guessed it, more rain.
Only this wasn’t just plain old rain. Oh no, the storms had to go out with a bang. And a bang it did. I have never heard thunder so loud that it rattled the windows in my vehicle before. The lightening was so bright that the whole sky was white for about 2 seconds.

Now I don’t normally have a real hard time driving in the rain, but I seriously contemplated the need to pull over to the side of the road, it was raining that hard. It let up enough to I could make it to the road we live on without having to pull over. As soon as I turned on to our road, you will never believe what I saw.

Yep, the most beautiful rainbow. It was actually a double rainbow but you can’t see the second one in the picture.

The last time I saw a rainbow was the day of my granny’s funeral. It was hot that day and started to rain on our way home that afternoon and then the rainbow appeared. It was like a sign from Heaven that Granny was alright.

This got me thinking a lot about my feelings the previous week about how upset I was when I woke up in the morning and it was raining. Again.

I think that even one day I prayed to God that the rain would stop. I was so tired of it. It didn't stop until God was ready for it to stop. I guess it proved that things work on His time and not mine. Not an easy concept to get as I have been trying my whole life to make things work on my time and not His.

So today I give thanks to God for rain and rainbows and would like to leave you thinking about this: There wouldn’t be any rainbows without the rain.

Some thoughts on CPSIA (Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act)

2009-09-15T15:48:00.003-05:00

For several months now I have thought about opening a store on etsy or shophandmade to sell my bows and possible other items. I had asked several friends, in real life and online, their thoughts and opinions. I came to a decision that it was a good idea and that I should go for it. My online friend Julia, who is VERY crafty, has plans that are in the works to open up an online store to sell her creations. Fortunately for her, the majority of the things she makes are made of products not on the CPSIA list that would need testing. Unfortunately for me, any hair bow that I make using a clip would have to be tested. If I were to make bow holders, they would have to be tested also. Button bracelets would have to be tested also. All of the items that I had thought about making would have to be tested. Can I afford that? No. Will I continue to make items for my family and friends? If the CPSIA has anything to say about that, no I wouldn't. The following excerpt is from my friend Julia at http://www.madeinthemountins.blogspot.com/. She has provided a link for more information regarding the rules and regulations at the bottom of her post. A simple solution would be for any manufacturer that sells more than an x amount of dollars a month must follow these guidelines. My thoughts about this are the same as Julia's so she said I could repost it on my blog.

The CPSIA (Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act) is so redunk... While the basis for it is great, it has the potential to put alot of small businesses and home crafters out of business. It states that any manufacturer (and it defines a manufacturer as any person or business who makes products for sale or even donation, so under the CPSIA I am a "manufacturer") who manufactures products intended for use by children under the age of 12 to have their products tested for lead, pthalates, and "other harmful chemicals" by independent lab testing facilities, at the expense of the manufacturer. And not just one of each type of product you make, but one of each type, from each BATCH of that product you make. There are exceptions, and thank goodness so far all my baby stuff falls under the exception category (anything made of yarns or fabrics, so long as they do not include any metallic threads, or things like buttons, snaps, clasps, zippers, etc), but man... The law apparently is in effect now, but won't be enforced until February 2010, but manufacturers are expected to be or to become compliant now... While I am ALL for safety and regulation of children's products, this goes a wee bit overboard. It is also unclear whether you are exempt if your products are made from ingredients or parts bought from compliant manufacturers... If that were the case, it would be great, but unfortunately I'm not sure it is the case... The Batch thing is pretty redunk too... and I'm not sure how they classify a 'batch', if it's the number of the same product you can make in one sitting, or the number made from the same batch of ingredients (so say you made shirts with snaps on them from one bolt of fabric and one box of snaps- is it how many shirts you can make in one sitting, or how many you can make from that bolt and box?) For a home crafter like me, this law would be devastating. Testing of products could cost hundreds or thousands of dollars, per test. This law is clearly designed for big time manufacturers where quality and safety can get lost amidst the mass, but unfortunately the wording of the law is very broad, and in being broad, encompasses 'manufacturers' like me. Don't get me wrong, I would NEVER make or sell a product that was harmful to it's target user. And regardless of this law, I would take whatever steps to ensure that all ingredients or parts were sourced from compliant manufacturers and were of the highest quality and safety. But really? Must I send one of everything to a lab to be tested? Even if I made a hat and put a cute little butterfly button on it or something like that... And I could even state that the hat is not intended for an infant (so they wouldn't be sucking on the button)... An 11 year old knows better than to suck on the button on her hat... I don't know... It just seems redunk to me... It will be very interesting (and sad) to see what happens to sites like Etsy.com once this law is actually in effect and being enforced. Will the CPSC bother with small time crafters like me? I'd hope they'd focus their enforcing efforts on big manufacturers, which are typically the ones needing the most enforcing... but who knows... we could all be vulnerable...

*Edit* -Here is a great article about the CPSIA, with several good links within the article as well. It also has more of the exempt materials listed on page 2 of the article. http://womeninbusiness.about.com/od/lawsaffectingwib/a/CPSIA-aboutact.htm

What are your thoughts on this?

In a funk

2009-09-09T08:29:00.003-05:00

I guess that I have been in a funk the last few weeks. I haven't been blogging much which is nothing out of the ordinary. I have been reading and commenting some but sorry I have not been updating much.

I really haven't had a whole lot to talk about but the conversation with Abby this morning was pretty funny.

We were waiting in line at her school for drop off and she saw a little boy a few years older than her walking into school. This particular little boy goes to daycare with her.

Abby: "There goes the Brycenator!"

Me: "Who?"

Abby: "You know mom, the Brycenator."

Me: "Bryce from daycare."

Abby: "Yes mom. Bryce. His name sounds like spice."

Then she proceedes to start rubbing her belly and says, "Spice cake. Yum. I could eat him up!"

Okay, now seriously where does this kid get this stuff from?

First Day of School

2009-08-26T08:00:00.001-05:00

Abby's first day of Pre-K was August 13th. She was so excited to go. We went to the store the weekend before and picked out her backpack and the few school supplies that were on her list. The first backpack that she wanted was a very cute hot pink and lime green polka dot one that was $30.00 Sorry, I love her dearly but I was not about to spend that kind of money on something that she will carry one piece of paper home in every day. I gave her the choice of a princess, Ni Ho Ki Lan, or Hello Kitty one. She of course wanted the princess one. When we got home and she put it on, it was so big it looked like a shield on her little back. We won't have to worry about any armor clad men trying to hurt her with that thing on!

She waited very patiently in front of the school doors until they opened.

Her new back to school outfit that she picked out topped off with a hair bow made by mommy.

She was so excited to hang up her backpack. Her teachers had put a picture of her with her name on it in her cubby so she would know which one was hers and where she needed to hang her backpack.

Many people have asked if I cried when we took her to school. The answer was no. At least not until her teacher had us take a little baggie on our way out the door that contained a note and a few items. After reading the note, I got teary eyed. My baby girl is a big girl now.