Summer photo fun

5 Minutes for Mom is having a summer photo contest and I thought I'd play along. I just love this picture of Kaylin!!! She was so confused about why water was shooting up out of the ground at her...

Learn more about the contest here. If you win the $500 prize and found out because of ME, you have to buy me lunch, deal?

An easy trip to the dentist

Technically, this wasn't Kaylin's first dental visit. It was her third. But her first two were to repair, then check on, her chipped tooth last year. So this was her first "check up" and she did SO well!!! When she had her tooth fixed, she screamed bloody murder. I braced myself for a similar experience today, but she was a perfect angel. I don't think she would have been more well behaved if she were 10 years old.

Ryan did everything first (x-rays, sitting still like a statue, sitting in the big chair, leaning back in the big chair, opening wide...) and I think seeing him do each step just before she did it really eased her into the process. He may have been blowing smoke, but the dentist said (twice) that she wins the "under 2" category for most compliant patient. (And BTW, if you're local, this dental office is amazing...check out their website: Wee Care Dental.)

Piggy backing on this whole concept of being thrilled with Kaylin's behavior today, I had a wonderfully long, 2 hour phone call with my friend DutchMac last night. (she returned home to Europe today...gotta take advantage of not paying international rates!) One of the things we discussed was current frustrations with our stubborn strong willed 3-4 year old boys. She recently had someone wise and knowledgable observe her son and the feedback she gave was enlightening, even for me. DutchMac and I are both only children and we matured pretty early in life. Much was expected of us in our homes and it was suggested that DutchMac was, in turn, expecting a higher maturity level from her son than he's capable of. (and I was hit between the eyes that I do the same with Ryan) A pet peeve of hers (again, that I agree with) is the simple command of "put on your shoes." Why does this request need to be repeated? How is this suggestion ignored again and again and again??? When I ask Ryan to do something, if I know he heard me, I expect him to DO what I asked him to do. "Clean the playroom" is a big task, but "put on your shoes" is NOT. It's the everyday things like this that frustrate me. Bigger events (such as visits to the dentist today and for DutchMac, traveling 21 hours from the states to London to Holland) get much more patience and grace. WHY do I have so much trouble with being patient in the repetitive daily tasks like "put on your PJs" and "don't squeeze your sister that hard." Repeating myself drives...me...nuts. Especially on the items that occur daily.

I've figured out that when I ask Ryan to LOOK at me when I make a request, he definitely responds faster. But remembering to say, "Ryan, look at my eyes, please" before everything I say is exhausting.

All of this babbling can be summed up in this one thought: I can't expect my kids to be robots. They're kids. And 2 and 4 year old kids, at that, not 8 and 10 year olds. I'm blogging this to keep myself in check. Am I the only one out there who thinks this way?? Or just the only one who's willing to admit it?

Easy Crock Pot Chicken Burritos

Two words: Dee. Lish.

Serves: 8-10
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 6-8 hours in crock pot on low

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
1 jar salsa
½ cup water
1-15oz can of black beans (drain and rinse)
1-11oz or 15oz can corn (drain and rinse)
½ packet taco seasoning
-------------------
1 cup uncooked brown rice
8 oz brick cream cheese (low fat works well)
-------------------
Tortillas

Directions:
- Combine first 6 ingredients in crock pot. Cook on low 6-8 hours.
- One hour before you're ready to serve, add 1 cup uncooked brown rice.
- Half hour later, add 1 brick of cream cheese. Shred chicken and scoop into tortillas to make burritos.

Check out Life as Mom for more great crock pot recipes and WFMW for more summer recipes!

Need help saving money?

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Click here to read more about this huge sale. Hurry, though, the price goes up $3 on Thursday and another $3 on Friday, then the sale is over.

Caterpillar craft idea

I'm trying to do more crafts with the kids as the summer comes to a close. Somewhere along the way, I got out of the habit and both of them really enjoy doing hands-on projects.

While Mike took Ryan on errands on Saturday, I let Kaylin paint at the easel for the first time. It seems like I do things with her much later than I did with Ryan because she always seems so young. But she's not...she's growing up quickly and is much more able than I give her credit for sometimes.

And yesterday, we recreated a little craft project Ryan did at VBS last week. I cut a cardboard egg carton in 1/2, let the kids go to town painting it green, poked holes to put the pipe cleaner anttenae through and glued on some leftover eyes we had and a little mouth. They're both so proud that they have them on their dressers. Too cute.

10,000 hits

I missed my 10,000 hit mark! I purposely checked my blog this morning (knowing that I was nearing 10,000...I know, I'm a dork) and my counter said 10,008. *sigh* SO I missed it. But happy 10,000 hits to ME!!! I read a few blogs who get 10,000 hits per day, but this is a huge milestone for my insignificant little blog. What's crazy is that I just celebrated 2,000 hits in March, but then again, I didn't add the counter until sometime in January, I think. I currently get anywhere from 50-100 individual visitors a day, which still blows my mind. (If you just did the math on that and don't get it, the number of "hits" is so high because every time someone clicks on a post within my blog that refreshes their screen, it's recognized as a seperate "hit." But my Cluster Map only accounts for each person who arrived on the site once per day, that's how I get the 50-100 number. 110 is by far my highest day. 50-75 is much more typical.)

The other day, I was still a little "high" from efficiently doing a 14 day meal plan using only food we have in the house (most of which will be fresh) and I starting thinking about how glad I am that I have a blog. Not because I need to share my accomplishment or even the great recipes I'm finding, but as a reference for myself. I love my blog. I love what I've chosen to include, I love the stories I've told, I love the pictures I've included, I don't feel like I've embarrassed anyone (or myself) with things I've shared, overall, I'm proud of my blog. Every few weeks, I'll get a whiff of nostalgia and click back a few months to see what kinds of things the kids were up to or what random things were on my mind at the time. And I always think to myself, "I'm so glad I posted about that," or "Look how little Ryan was," or "I forgot how quickly Kaylin's hair has been growing lately."

I love my blog. Thank you for caring enough to read about my world.

The secret to keeping a "clean" house

I was just thinking about posting about the topic of keeping a clean house and Simple Mom beat me to it. I am often told, "Your house always seems so clean..." but I never really know how to answer that because I don't spend much time cleaning. Really, I'm not neurotic. I'm not one of THOSE moms. But this post is the reason my house appears clean. (I'm not going to re-cap it, please go read it...it's worth your time!) Yes, I like a clean tidy house, but I don't like to clean, that's why I do things quickly to get them over with. I like the result, not the process. Believe me, I have piles of junk just like everyone else. Some of my piles just happened to be tucked away in drawers dedicated to piles of junk that need to be put away!

The reason I was going to post on this was because on Monday, I went to a neighbor's house who was not expecting me. She invited me in, but immediately said, "Sorry for the mess, I've been swamped with work." No need to apologize...you don't need to impress lil' old me! The house was pretty messy, but I didn't judge. What I did, however, was notice things that didn't need to be there. For instance, it was 8:15am and there were crumpled McDonald's bags and leftover food wrappers on the kitchen table. (I'm assuming from dinner the night before) There were empty containers of granola bars on the counter. And as she ran upstairs, she bent over to clear a path for herself by picking up scattered toys and stuffed animals and moving them to the side of the stairs.

In my mind, if you can pick it up to move it out of the way, why not continue holding it until you get to where it needs to go? Even by quickly tossing it onto her daughter's bedroom floor, she's up there anyway and at least the item is close(r) to it's "home." I was also confused about why, after dinner, the take-out-trash didn't make it into the garbage. What's a little sad to me is that she is (obviously) so overwhelmed with work and life, that the simplest of things (throwing a Big Mac wrapper into the trash bin 2 feet away) didn't seem possible. Or I suppose it just wasn't a priority for her. She is creating so much more work for herself by not taking the 25 seconds to do the "quick things" along the way. With her hectic schedule, she's now going to take a huge chunk of time this weekend to do a thorough pick-up job in her house when it wouldn't be that way in the first place if she would have done a few simple things along the way.

Great, now I sound like I'm judging. I don't feel judgemental, I just see an easier way and wish I knew her well enough to share my thoughts. I've been that busy. In fact, in a few weeks, I will be there again. I posted about "her side" of this issue a few months back (click here to peek at it) and on that day, I remember being furious with myself that I had lived among a pigsty for a week that was easily cleaned up one afternoon when the kids overslept from their nap by 30 minutes. I worked against the clock, knowing they'd wake up any minute, and everything was neat and back where it belonged in less than an hour.

It's all about priorities. For some, fresh flowers from the garden on the counter are a priority. Not for me. For others, finishing touches at dinner like a dollop of whipped cream or a sprinkle of fresh basil leaves make all the difference. That's not me, either. I even know people who iron their pillow cases. Not in a million years. As it is, I don't even iron my cloth napkins for fancy dinner parties.

I'm all about simplicity and efficiency. Lately, I've developed a "touch it once" rule. If I take time to read an email (or snail mail, for that matter), I do my best to "touch it" once. Read it and either file it, respond or delete it immediately. As it is, my emails pile up like crazy, I don't need to be reading and re-reading the same emails repeatedly. And the mail that Mike brings home after work gets sorted within minutes. Coupons are put with coupons (even if they need to sorted and put in proper envelopes later), magazines have a home, junk mail is put in the recycle bin, bills go in a pile to be brought upstairs to the office. Done. Things that make it to the abyss of the junk pile usually aren't seen for a month or two, so if it's important, needs to be paid or is going to expire, it needs to be handled right away.

One tip that I love is that I have baskets for stray toys in a few key places. The play room has open bins that the kids can toss their toys when they're picking up, both kids' rooms have a basket, and there's one in the family room. This is a huge time saver and makes each room FEEL clean because the smaller items are all containerized in a nice(ish) basket. Before I added a few baskets to the house, there were constantly toys sprinkled in the most random places. Now, if I see one lying on the floor, I throw it in a basket.

Wow - this was supposed to be a quick reference to Simple Mom's post about keeping a clean home! I just went off on a huge rant about me, me, me. Sorry about that. I hope something I've said will inspire you to simplify and declutter something this weekend. Don't we all need a little simplicity in our lives???

Day out with my favorite girl

As it turns out, I've really enjoyed having so much time alone with Kaylin this week. She's so low-maintenance and agreeable when it's just the two of us! My high school friend, Jaime, is in town this weekend to see her sister, so Kaylin and I went to visit her at the resort where her parents are staying. This place is amazing and I've been dying to go there. The pools are great, plus there's a waterslide and a lazy river. Arizona resorts can't be beat. But WOW - it's been a long time since I've been to one...I could get used to that life! Stacks of fresh beach towels, stations with ice cold water, empty rafts awaiting us in the pool, a little bakery with individual breakfast items for sale...I wanted to move in. It was almost worth the $10 I paid to valet the car. A pregnant friend and a toddler with a diaper bag + pool toys would not have done well on the long haul from the parking lot. I just thought of it like paying for a cheap water park.

This is us in the lazy river...

my cutie enjoying a snack...

Jaime and me (the valet guy clearly thought I wanted a picture of the scenery, not of my dear bridesmaid)...

and Jaime's adorable bump...

Kaylin on the drive home (she couldn't hang)...

It was a really nice morning...I almost feel guilty not telling Ryan that we went without him, but he wouldn't understand and he had a blast on his last day of VBS. (my neighbor even bought the kids Happy Meals for lunch which we never do) He'll miss a lot of fun stuff like this once school starts, I suppose, so I need to let go of that guilt!

Mandatory Meal Plan

I've never participated in Org Junkie's Menu Planning Monday, but this week, I planned so well that I had to brag blog about it. I've been meal planning since March and it's significantly helped eliminate my late-afternoon stress while reducing our food waste and saving us money. I haven't thrown away spoiled food in months!!! Actually, when produce is overripe, I'll steam and puree it to freeze and "sneak" into meals later.

Since participating in the produce co-op last weekend, I have both drawers of both fridges OVERFLOWING with fresh food and because most of it is organic, if I don't plan my menus accordingly, I'll be wasting a ton of great food.

First, I took inventory of what I have on hand and prioritized my meals based on the foods that are going to spoil first. This meant pulling out my new, handy recipe binder and flipping pages like crazy. The good news for you is that most of my recipes will have links to them! In my boredom, I've been watching A LOT of Food Network and have been dying to try some of these new dishes, plus I have a few that I've found on other blogs.

Here's what I have on hand that's perishable...this quantity is excessive for our household plus we have a ton of stuff that I don't know what to do with don't normally use in my cooking (radishes, yams, eggplant, green onions):
Vegetables
zucchini
eggplant
tomatoes (at least a dozen!)
yams

red potatoes
radishes
corn on the cob
yellow squash
green leaf lettuce
1/2 a head of iceberg leftover from tacos last night
Fruit (every day's snacks will have to be fruit salad if we're going to go through all of this fruit!)
bags upon bags of peaches
plums

grapes

apples

mangos

cantaloupe

blueberries

strawberries

limes

a lemon

Herbs, aromatics, and other flavorings
white onions
red onions
green onions
jalapeno peppers
celery
cilantro
homemade salsa
shredded Parmesan cheese
shredded mozzarella cheese
shredded Mexican cheese blend

feta
Other perishable items
Chicken Mango sausage from Trader Joe's (YUM)
Turkey bacon
Tortilla
Taco Shells
Deli turkey
Bread

Cheese sticks

So here's what I came up with (and I'm starting this today, not Monday, because some of this stuff is on it's way out and can't wait until next week) and I planned our meals for 14 days. I just bought milk, bread and eggs today at Trader Joe's, so I won't need to go to the store for a single thing until August 7th. I literally have every ingredient I need and am on CLOUD 9 about the efficiency of it all!!!

Thursday
Dinner: Tomato & Spinach Pasta Toss (added eggplant and replaced canned tomato with fresh because I have SO many!)

Friday
Breakfast: Oatmeal with raisins (I double the serving size for the 4 of us to share and add 2 egg whites at the end of the cooking time - I also cook it on the stove. A great way to sneak in protein with breakfast and if you whip the egg white in with a fork, you can't even tell it's in there!)
Lunch: Salad for me, turkey sandwiches with cheese sticks and fruit for the kids, Mike has a lunch appointment
Dinner: Crock Pot Salsa Chicken Burritos

Saturday
Breakfast: Chocolate Cinnamon Swirl Bread Pudding (There's bread, eggs and milk - like French toast, right??? Okay, so there's chocolate...I don't care - it just looks too good not to try.)
Lunch: leftover Vegan Shepherd's Pie
Dinner: Crockpot White Chicken Chili with cornbread

Sunday
Breakfast: Whole Wheat Pancakes with fruit salsa
Lunch: Quesadillas
Dinner: Baked Chicken (from this Chicken Parmesan recipe) with Emily's Zucchini Cornbread Casserole and sauteed radishes (we're not into radishes, so we'll see about this one!)

Monday
Breakfast: Oatmeal
Lunch: Salad for me, turkey sandwiches and fruit for Mike and the kids
Dinner: Healthy Corn Soup with homemade bread

Tuesday
Breakfast: cereal and fruit
Lunch: Salad for me, turkey sandwiches and fruit for Mike and the kids
Dinner: Chicken on the grill with corn on the cob and Black Bean & Couscous Salad

Wednesday
Dinner: Rice, Bean & Cheese Casserole with leftover grilled chicken from Tuesday night, using remaining iceberg lettuce and tomatoes to top in the taco shells + the rest of Mike's salsa for him.

Thursday
Dinner: Spaghetti Carbonara with salad

I hope you get some good ideas from these recipes...I'm excited to try the new ones! What's really exciting is that I'll be using ALL of the listed perishable items except the red potatoes (which will keep for after the 2 weeks), yams and squash, which I'll puree this weekend since I know we're not going to eat them. WOO HOO! Have I mentioned that I love being efficient???

Wordless Wednesday - Sassy little thing

(I could never be completely wordless)

What you can't see is that it says, "sassy" under her folded arms.

Food follow up

FYI: that Shepherd's Pie recipe from my last post was good. Really good, considering how natural and packed with veggies it is. (don't be scared off by the lentils...you can buy a bag of dry lentils for under $1 and constitute them in simmering water on the stove for 15 minutes - they're packed with protein and fiber) I didn't read in the post that the recipe serves 8, so next time I'll cut the recipe in 1/2. When I saw how much it made, I poured the filling into 2 pie pans and froze one (without the potatoes on top - I don't think potatoes freeze well) and we ate the other for dinner tonight.

While the oven was on, I also made peach crisp with the MASS of peaches that I bought at Sprouts this weekend. I'm going back tomorrow to buy more - they were SO sweet and 39 cents/pound! I'm going to peel and freeze them...gotta stock up while the prices are good. Quick tip: my mom has an easy way to peel peaches: cut a small X into the bottom of each peach and submerge them in boiling water for 1 minute. The peel will come right off. It's even easier if you use a slotted spoon to peel them, as I learned from my bloggy friend Emily today! (the timing of her post couldn't have been better!!) If you're local, the sale is only through tomorrow, so hurry.

OH - and I tried the "chewing gum while chopping onions" kitchen trick today and it totally worked! What's funny is that when I stopped chewing, my eyes would sting, and as soon as I started chewing again, they didn't bother me. It was some weird, magical mint thing. Like the mint overtook my senses or something.

Also, I just read that July 30th is National Cheesecake Day and The Cheesecake Factory's 30th anniversary. So they're offering $1.50 slices of cheesecake, limit 1 per person. Personally, I'm not a cheesecake fan, but I have to share the good deals with my loyal readers!!!

What to do?

I've had way too much time to think lately. Life just seems sloooooooooow. Part of me is thankful that I'm not overwhelmed and the other part of me has moments of (dare I say it?) boredom. I should be finalizing everything for the mom's group that I run for church, but that would mean crossing the final things off of my to-do list and where's the fun in that? An empty to-do list bugs me. That's why I always come up with projects...I need something to do!!!

Ryan's at VBS this week and the house is really quiet. My neighbor is volunteering in her daughter's class, so she offered to take Ryan AND bring him home all week. That will save me tons of time, gas and coordination with errands. I walk him next door at 8:30 and he rings our doorbell at 12:30. I could get used to this carpooling thing!!!

Yesterday, Kaylin woke up from a 4 hour nap with a raging 103+ degree fever. She also woke up at 2:30am crying and in a pool of sweat, but woke up this morning cool as a cucumber, so the fever must have broken sometime last night. Ryan had a sore throat on Sunday, but it seems to be doing better since he's been gargling with salt water. He also an unusually nap yesterday, though.

All that said, I didn't know if Kaylin was feeling 100% this morning, so I decided we should stay home while Ryan was at VBS. That's when the boredom began. She mostly laid on the couch which gave me time to relax and browse my blogs. I found this recipe** for vegan shepherd's pie and happened to have all of the ingredients (plus I added some ground turkey), so I ended up spending the next hour chopping, dicing and preparing for dinner tonight. Dinner was made and all of the prep dishes were washed by hand by 10am. Now what? Ugh...it's going to be a long day. (**Update...the pie was great!!! I will be making it again for sure.)

This concept has had me thinking a lot in the last few weeks...how bored am I going to be when Ryan goes to Kindergarten next year? (FYI, yes - I'm still considering homeschooling, but not right away. If I do, I'll probably get into it about 3rd-4th grade) The pathetic thing is that I never know what to do when I just have Kaylin. She's either perfectly content just tagging along with me or bored and missing her playmate brother. What did I do with Ryan when he was this age? Oh yeah, I was 6 months pregnant and had just moved into a new house. I had plenty to do. Plus, I distinctly remember Ryan being higher maintenance. He needed more attention than Kaylin. I think I may have done lots more play dates back then, too.

SO this all brings me to my point. (sorry if these thoughts seem random) I came to a conclusion today: I think I'm ready for a third baby. Unfortunately, we have a rental house open (with no hope of selling it in this market) which stresses out my financially-stable husband, so this isn't something I can bring up to him right now. Anything that costs anything is a "no." And that includes babies with their diapers and future college educations. No, I'm not kidding. The potential of paying 2 mortgages until we find the right renter has completely consumed Mike. I'll wait to bring up baby #3 until after a lease is signed. So now that I've thrown that out there, you can revel in your privy knowledge, but have to promise not to ask me if I'm pregnant. I hate the stress of wanting to be pregnant and watching the calendar go by month after month with no positive EPT test to show for. So please, no interrogations! Don't worry, I'll let you know. I have a hard time keeping fun secrets like that all to myself!

Real quick: here's a funny story from lunchtime, involving my not-always-helpful interpreter...

Kaylin kept repeating, "Toggle," and I couldn't figure out what she meant, so I asked Ryan. He said, "What are you saying, Kaylin?" She repeated herself.

Ryan thought for a minute and said, "Dog wall?" Kaylin said, "Yeah." Um, I doubt she was saying "dog wall" so I gave up. A few minutes later, Ryan had a light bulb moment and said, "Kaylin, did you mean gargle?" and he gargled his water. Her face lit up and she shouted, "YEAH!!!" She's heard Ryan gargling this week and thought that would help her feel better? Who knows. I would have never guessed that she was saying gargle.

Apparently she WASN'T taking a picture!

So this is me striking a pose for the camera at casino night this weekend...no one told me she was TAPING IT!!! (for those who have asked, I only had water to drink all night) Yeah, I felt as stupid as I looked...

Healthy Blueberry Coffee Cake

I was a baking fool this morning. For breakfast, I celebrated the kids being at their grandparents' house with a huge, beautiful fruit salad, eggs and this blueberry coffee cake that I saw on "Healthy Appetite" the other day. There's only 2 T. of butter and the moisture comes from yogurt instead of sour cream...so good for you! While the oven was on and I had spotting bananas, I made banana bread, too. I posted that recipe because it's a must-have.

2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup plain nonfat yogurt

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup fresh blueberries, or frozen and thawed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8-inch square cake pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, beat the brown sugar, butter and oil until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until fully combined. Beat in the vanilla and yogurt.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the all-purpose and whole-wheat flours, the baking soda and salt. Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture, in 2 batches, stirring until just combined. (do not overmix or your coffee cake will be tough)

In a separate small bowl, stir together the granulated sugar, cinnamon and walnuts.

Spread half of the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle half of the nut mixture over the batter and top with the blueberries, gently pressing them into the batter. Spoon the rest of the batter into the pan, smoothing the top. Sprinkle the remaining nut mixture over the cake, pressing gently. Bake until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool slightly and cut the cake into 2-inch squares.

Per Serving: (serving size, 1 piece) Calories 210; Total Fat 8.5 g; (Sat Fat 2 g, Mono Fat 2.5 g, Poly Fat 3 g) ; Protein 5 g; Carb 30 g; Fiber 2 g; Cholesterol 41 mg; Sodium 230 mg

THE BEST Banana Bread Recipe EVER

I alternate between about 4 banana bread recipes and EVERY time I make this one, I ask myself why I keep the other recipes. This is the moistest, most amazing banana bread you'll ever eat. I think it's because there's about twice as many bananas as the standard recipe. And there's hardly any sugar, yet they're perfectly sweet. Give it a try and you be the judge!

Combine:
4 very ripe bananas
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 c. melted, salted butter (cooled)
1 egg
1 t. salt
1 t. baking soda

Gradually add: 1.5 cup flour

Optional: Add 1/2 cup chopped walnuts and/or 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Pour batter into lightly greased loaf pan and bake at 325 degrees (F) for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center clean.

What happens in Vegas...

For our friend, Erik's, 30th birthday, his amazing wife threw him a casino night party. And it was a costume party, to boot. I squeezed into my wedding dress (I couldn't breathe or eat, but 8 years later...I fit in it!) and Mike (who detests dressing up) sported a lovely black bow tie with a white t-shirt. (we were Vegas newlyweds.) There was another shotgun wedding couple, a late 70s (read: old, fat) Elvis, lots of unshaven, drunk gamblers, a cowboy, a pimp, a gold digger, a prostitute, and a king and queen of spades. Jessica cleared out her furniture and rented a poker table, roulette and black jack, complete with chips, dealers and prizes for the winners and best costume. (that went to Elvis)

In Love with Co-Ops!

I participated in my first produce co-op this morning. I got a huge box full of organic fruits and veggies from Boutiful Baskets for $25. The frustration is that you don't know what you're getting until you get there and you can't order specific foods. Today, I got:

10 plums

1 bunch grapes

1 pkg strawberries

1 bunch green onions

1 head green leaf lettuce

6 tomatoes

10 huge red potatoes
4 yams

1 bunch celery

2 bunches radishes (what am I supposed to do with these? Suggestions? Ideas?)

I went to Sprouts last night and bought a gazillion peaches for 39 cents/lb to freeze and some zucchini to make these this weekend. I also bought wheat germ and pumpkin seeds that I was missing to make these pancakes for breakfast. Mike wasn't as fond of the nutty topping (he suggested I add pecans next time) but the whole wheat pancakes were awesome. The best recipe I've found for homemade pancakes yet, so that will be my standard recipe that I use from now on. Plus, when I saw Ellie Krieger make them (on her show Healthy Appetite on Food Network), she said not to over mix the batter or try to get the lumps out because it will make tough pancakes. Really??? I love the tips I learn from cooking shows. These pancakes were super fluffy and had just enough sweetness from the honey. And I'll definitely add apples again...they were soft and warm and the perfect touch. Delish.

The other co-op I'm in love with is my babysitting co-op. I wish I could get more people on board with starting a babysitting co-op with friends or neighbors. I'm saving so much money (and stress!) and Ryan is making great little friends. We exchange carnival tickets as "payment" and everything's even and fair. I've done all of the research and created all of the forms needed, and I'm happy to share everything for free. Just email me at ktksu(at)yahoo(dot)com and put "Babysitting Co-Op" in the subject line.

Canvas Art Ideas

Mike and Ryan are having a sleep-over in his bunk beds tonight, so I've wasted spent the last 2 hours surfing the blogosphere.

I got this idea from Simple Mom (from July 15th) who credited this post with the details of how she came up with the idea. I am SO doing this from my list of 100 things that make me happy list. I want to hang it in my craft room. I'm itchin' to go buy the supplies, but really should wait to see what sales come out in Sunday's paper. The biggest issue is that I don't like my handwriting and I consistently mess up words when I think too hard about what I'm writing...I guess I could paint over it if I mess up.

Then I noticed that Simple Mom was inspired to do this...

from Mt. Hope Chronicles who made this project...

I was all on board to do something similar to put above my bed (the blank wall has been bugging me lately) until I saw THIS on Nesting Place!!!! I think this will be cheapest and easiest of all with even better artistic impact. The circles are a little too modern for me anyway. Thoughts? Ideas??? I'll post pictures of the finished product when I get around to doing it.

New Signature

For those looking for new blog addition ideas, this is for you. I knew I'd forget where I found the site to do my new signature, so I have to post it right away! Click here if you want to bloglift this from me. (Has that phrase been coined yet or did I just make it up???) After looking through all of the fonts and staring at my name long enough over and over again...it became one of those words that looked really weird. Does that ever happen to you? I began scanning my desk for something with my name on it because I had convinced myself that I spelled it wrong. (that could be a "you know you're tired when..." joke)

If you're on blogger, go into "settings" then "formatting" - then paste the html code after scrolling down to the "post template" area. Can't wait to see your new signatures! I've LOVED all the new looks from those who bloglifted the TheCutestBlogOnTheBlock idea!!!

Tag - I'm it!

I think these are the final installments of blog-tag that I'll participate in. My newest bloggy friend from Mississippi (I love typing that word!) - Heathahlee - tagged me and it reminded me that I never responded to Lisa who tagged me last month. So here goes...

For HeathahLee (assuming that's Heather Lee with a southern drawwwwwwwwl)
SIX unimportant things about me:
1. We're going to Outback Steakhouse for dinner tonight with a gift card.
2. I am near-obsessed with the tv show The Office.
3. Watching kid shows with my children doesn't bother me. (I watched cartoons well into college...has anyone else seen Recess??? Seriously takes me back to 4th grade.)
4. It feels like I need much more sleep than the rest of the world.
5. If we won the lottery (which we wouldn't because we don't play...and you can't win if you don't play!), we wouldn't live life much differently than we do now. Mike would still work for the church, but he wouldn't take a paycheck, I'd still be home with the kids, we might move into a custom home but it wouldn't be much bigger than what we have now, we'd probably travel more, I'd go back to getting my hair highlighted...uh oh, now I'm dreaming...
6. Kaylin's taking an extra long nap today, which hopefully means that our afternoon will be better than our morning was!

For Lisa (a real life friend)
3 JOYS:
- My husband
- My kids
- Traditions

3 FEARS:
- My kids falling and getting severely hurt (primarily down the stairs)
- Someone I love coming down with a terminal illness
- Mike getting altzheimer's disease later in life (has anyone seen The Notebook?!??!)

3 GOALS:
- To get back into the habit of daily quiet times with God (more than just prayer...I need to get back into reading and learning)
- To have a healthy body image and to be so comfortable in my own skin that I'm not as concerned when I eat garbage
- To raise kind, loving, giving kids who are contributing members to society and desire to further God's kingdom

3 CURRENT OBSESSIONS:
- Um, blogging - duh!
- Checking my email a million times a day
- Baking (do you realize how skinny I'd be if I didn't bake all the time? Uh oh, see goal #2 above...)

3 RANDOM FACTS:
- Every time I swallow down the "wrong pipe" and choke, I sneeze. 100% of the time.
- My mind never...shuts...off. It takes me forever to fall asleep at night because I can't stop thinking.
- I'm very influenced by other people's music choices. In the late 80s, it was heavy metal and big-hair-bands like Motley Crue and Skid Row. Then I dated a guy who was into rap and that became my 5 year obsession. Then in college, my friends all listened to Dave Matthews and Phil Collins and Indigo Girls so I was into that. And when I started dating Mike, all I heard was Christian radio and I've never turned back. You all thought I grew up loving Debbie Gibson, didn't you?? Yeah, I get that a lot.

More Ryanisms and Kaylin-speak

My kids say the funniest things in the car...usually when it's too dangerous to grab a pen, search for paper and write down the comment! But I've remembered a few choice words this week...

KAYLIN:

Everyday, Ryan asks for gum in the car. And everyday, Kaylin repeats him.

Ryan: "Mommy, can I have gum, please?"

Kaylin: "Mommy, I hoff gum, peas?"

And everyday, I respond the same way, "Gum is not for babies. Only for little boys." Or sometimes I shorten it to, "No gum for babies" and she'll finish with, "Oh-lly lil' boys." Well, on Monday, after 2 naps and 2 nights in her big girl bed, when I said, "Babies don't get gum, you can have it when you get bigger," she rambled on (and there were a lot of words that I couldn't understand in this sentence) about something or other for a good 20 seconds, ending with the words, "bid bad." Hmmm...time for a little Mommy-interpretation. I went for "bad" first. "Bag?" "No." "Beg?" "Noo." "Bed?" "YEAH!" "OHHHH - you think you should get gum now because you sleep in a big bed?" (note to self: bid bad = big bed) She got all excited and her face lit up and she shouted, "YEAH!" I burst out laughing. Maybe I shouldn't laugh AT my kids, but I couldn't help it. Her reasoning skills are kicking in!?!?!?? Before the age of TWO??? I couldn't stop laughing. I looked at her in the rearview mirror and she went from an excited face (hoping to get gum), to a shy grin, to hiding her face (not out of shame, it was more of a playful "I'm being so silly" type of hiding) and peeking at me from the corner of her eye. I wished I could have rewarded her cuteness with gum, but it's just too early!

RYAN:

Last night, we were singing, "Little Bunny Foo Foo." You know the line where it says, "Scooping up the field mice and bopping them on the head." Well, after I finished leading the song, I overheard Ryan singing to Kaylin and saying, "Scooping up the mield fice and bopping them on the head." It's a testiment to the fact that these kids don't listen to and comprehend the words, they mostly just try to repeat the sounds. I love it: "Mield Fice."

KAYLIN:

The other day, Kaylin was walking around with her eyes covered, counting. (I think she was playing hide and seek with herself?) All of a sudden, I heard a huge THUD. She walked right into the wall at full speed. I'm laughing out loud even thinking about it now! I comforted her, of course, but again, I could NOT stop laughing. She was pretty shaken up, but it was hilarious to me. (I'm realizing how often I laugh at my kids...this can't be good...)

RYAN:

Today we met friends at the mall for lunch. Kaylin was not having a good day. From the get-go, it was obvious it would be one of those days. She wasn't listening, refused to stay put in time out, once she was finally in time out, she took her diaper off, when she didn't get her way throughout the morning, she'd throw a fit, she insisted on having the toy or book that Ryan was holding in the backseat and when he wouldn't hand it over, she melted down, it was a loud morning. And the accoustics in the mall food court are AMAZING. I'd know...I let her scream bloody murder in her stroller while sitting in "time out" for 10 minutes. I intended on starting the 2-minute time out after she calmed down, but she got herself so worked up, I had to pick her up to get her to stop hyperventalating. (sorry fellow lunchtime patrons...)

On the way home, Ryan asked for Cheerios, then Kaylin repeated that she wanted Cheerios. (she's often a parrot and says whatever he says) I gave the box to Ryan, knowing that he would share with her. She started to freak out, saying that she wanted to hold the box of Cheerios. Ryan tried giving her a handful and she pushed his hand away. When I didn't tell Ryan to give her the box, Kaylin lost it. Full screaming-at-the-top-of-her-lungs tantrum. About halfway home, Ryan said loudly, "It looks like someone needs to go night-night." Yup! I think the issue today can be attributed to being overtired. At one point on the drive home, I looked in the backseat and she was sobbing with her eyes completely closed. As soon as we got home, she was fine, but I still put her right to bed. I hope she wakes up happier!!!

REAGAN: this is not my child, but I thought it was too cute...after lunch today, my friend's daughter said, "Mommy, can I go on the alligator?" After racking her brain to figure out what she was referring to, she said, "OH - the elevator?" "YEAH!" Sure - one alligator, coming up.

This is God

A personal message from God to YOU:

This is God.

Today I will be handling all of your problems for you.
I do not need your help.

Have a nice day!

Can I get an "Amen?" My grandmother had this up on her fridge for the longest time. Too true! God doesn't need MY help. Isn't that refreshing?

I'm not above hand-me-downs

I've always been a little scared to get started buying little girl clothes. When I go into the girls department of any store, the level of cuteness is through the roof! There are significantly more options for girls than there are for boys. Thankfully, from day 1, we've dressed Kaylin with gifts and hand-me-downs. I have purchased very little for our princess and I feel so blessed to have been given so many "previously loved" items from friends. I also recently purchased a ton of clothes for $1 each from another friend. We've been well taken care of!

The gap in age between Kaylin and our hand-me-down regulars is starting to get closer, so the hand-me-downs have been fewer and farther between. All of a sudden, Kaylin's feet have grown a ton, and she complains that the 3 pair of size 5 shoes I bought at the beginning of the summer "hurt." (*sigh*) But God is good! Just about the time I was realizing that she is down to ONE pair of shoes that fit well, I was sent a group email about a friend getting rid of all of her kids clothes and baby stuff. We received a huge storage bin full of 2T-4T clothes and another bin full of shoes. And when I say, "shoes" - I really mean SHOES! Check this out...

I spent about an hour separating out the shoes into sizes, so on the far left are size 3 shoes (that I'll pass on to someone else), then size 5 (some actually still fit Kaylin), 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11. There were even a few boys shoes tossed in there, one that fit Ryan perfectly.

I bagged up each size and put them with the larger sizes of clothes. This friend has 2 girls, so some of these shoes are VERY loved on and worn, but I really don't care about that. I hate sending the kids to play outside in new shoes...I'm so much more relaxed when the clothes aren't pristine!

Must-Have Kitchen Tricks and Tips

I was just told about a great blog and am completely in love. It's called SimpleMom.net and this lady is right up my ally. I fully credit her and her readers for the following kitchen tips and tricks. I'm going to print them out and tape them to the inside of one of my kitchen cabinets. These tips are ones that I don't want to forget and HAVE to share with my "people." I'm categorizing everything from her post so it's not just lumped together. (Gotta organize where I can...what? Don't look at me like that!)

Baking:

• To make buttermilk, add 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice per 1 cup of regular milk.
• To make self-rising flour, mix together 1 cup of all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, an 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda.
• Before putting sticky ingredients in a measuring cup, give it a quick rinse with hot water. The ingredient will then slide right out.
• If your brown sugar is hard, try microwaving it for 10 seconds to soften. Or better yet, if you have a few hours, put a piece of bread in the bag and it will be just like new.
• To wake up to a loaf of fresh baked bread, put the mix in your bread maker before you go to bed and set the timer for the appropriate number of hours.
• Coat blueberries (or any other berries) lightly with flour before baking them in muffins or cakes. This helps prevents them from staining the surrounding dough and will help keep them suspended in the batter rather than just sinking to the bottom.

Cooking:

• Here is the best recipe ever for roasted chicken. I’m shocked with how easy it is. You can eat it as the main feature of your meal, or as I mentioned earlier, you can dice it, fill ziploc baggies with one cup of chicken, and freeze it for future meals like casseroles, enchiladas, etc. You can then use the juice for homemade chicken stock.
• Speaking of which, here is a fabulous recipe for homemade cream of chicken soup, which is used in tons of recipes. It’s very easy and much lower in sodium than the canned variety.
• If you accidentally put too much salt in a recipe, sometimes putting a slice of raw, peeled potato will soak up excess salt.
• For most recipes, it doesn’t take much more work to double it. Then you can freeze a second portion, and when you’re busier than normal, you can reheat it and have a homemade meal.

Food Prep:

• To hull a strawberry while still leaving most of the fruit, push a drinking straw through the bottom of the berry and push it through the top. Apple corers also work.
• Pre-package dry ingredients for recipe mixes that you use often. Put in ziplocks and label with instructions including what additional ingredients to add. This makes morning pancakes and waffles quick and easy without buying the overpriced, overprocessed, store-bought mixes.
• To minimize the tears when chopping onions, put them in the freezer for about 15 minutes before chopping. Don’t forget about them, though!
• To get the onion smell off of your hands, I rinse them with a bit of lemon juice after chopping the onion. It doesn’t even have to be fresh lemon juice. The store-bottled stuff works too.
• When you’re forming hamburger patties, rinse your hands with cold water, but do not dry them. The cold water prevents the fat in the burgers from sticking to your hands. Be sure and thoroughly wash with warm soapy when you’re finished.
• Here is how to cook beans: Soak beans over night (1 lb beans in 6 cups water). The next morning rinse beans and add to 8 cups of boiling water. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 1 to 3 hours depending on the beans. Don’t ever boil your beans you just want them to simmer. Once beans are cooked they should be soft. Put about 2 cups in a bag which is about the amount in a can. Then you can pull them out and throw them in your soups or add them to salads.
• Overnight beans: Put dry beans in your crockpot on low all night with enough water to cover them. They’ll be soft by morning.
• Keep a garbage bowl on your counter for your food scraps while you’re cooking. It’s amazing how much more efficient this is than going back and forth to the trash can, and it’s such a simple idea.
• To get the most juice out of a lemon or lime, zap it in the microwave for 20 seconds or so, let it sit for a minute, and then roll it around on the counter a few times.

Food Storage:

• Store onions and potatoes separately. They both make each other go bad faster.
• Separate your bananas as soon as you return from the store. They’ll stay fresh longer.
• Put a piece of bread in your cookie jar. It keeps homemade cookies fresh and soft for days!
• Store nuts in the freezer and they will last much longer.

Reheating:

• When reheating bread goods (such as muffins, pancakes, and the like), put a cup of water in the microwave with it. It adds moisture to the air and keeps the bread soft.
• To peel a whole garlic clove, place the flat side of a knife on top of the clove and give it a good whack. The skin should fall right off.
• Get the smell of garlic or onions off your hands by “washing” them with water and baking soda. The odor slides right off when you rinse. I’ve also heard you can rub them on a stainless steel spoon under running water, but I haven’t tried it yet.
• To double the amount of your butter used for spreading, simply whip it with a small amount of warm water until it’s light and fluffy. This isn’t ideal for baking recipes that need a specific fat amount, but it’s great for spreading on your bread or corn-on-the-cob. Just keep it in the refrigerator, and it should stay light.

Cliff's Notes version of "Have a New Kid by Friday" book

Disclaimer: buy this book! I promised I'd re-cap the highlights, but this is going to be really tough. There is SO MUCH I'm not including here. There's just too much to re-type, so I'm going to whet your pallet a little to try to convince you that this book could help you. Each "step" goes on for pages and pages about how to institute things in your family, examples by age group and for-instances to aide in the process. It's not easy to condense a 300 page book into one blog post!

Introduction

* "It isn't always the big things that wear you down. It's the constant battles." (Can I get an amen?)
* "Homes should be based on the cornerstone of mutual respect, love and accountability." If you end up with kids who think they're in the driver's seat in life, they'll think their happiness is what's most important and that they are entitled to what they want, when they want it.
* "If you want your child to emerge as a healthy, contributing member of your family and society, [this book] is a game plan guaranteed to work. Every time."


Day 1 - "Why do your kids do what they do...and continue to do it? Your response has a lot to do with it."


What to do on Day 1:
1. Observe what's going on in the house. What areas in your relationship with your child really bother you?
2. Think about how you'd like things to change.
3. Decide to take the bull by the horns.
4. Expect great things to happen.


* "Kids do what they do because they've gotten away with it."
* "All children are attention getters. If they can't get your attention in a positive way, they'll go after it in a negative way."
* Power Struggles - "When you choose to do battle with your children, you'll never win. You have much more to lose than they do. Your teenage daughter couldn't care less if her shirt is too tight, but you care and she knows it. "
* If you want your child to take you seriously, say what you need to say (calmly) once and only once. Turn your back and walk away. If they don't do what is asked of them, there will be consequences. (B doesn't happen until A is completed - specifically discussed in the book)


Day 2 - Disarming the attitude

What to do on Day 2. Ask yourself:
1. Why is your child doing what he's doing? (is it for attention, etc.)
2. How do you, as the parent, feel in this situation?
3. Is this a mountain or a molehill? (there are examples of what to make a big deal of and what to let slide)

* "Attitudes are caught, not taught...The key to changing your child is changing your attitude."
* "If you have a 'This is what's best for you, and this is what you're going to do - and God help you if you don't' attitude, you're just asking to butt heads with any child who has a strong temperament."
* Sometimes parents make too big of a deal out of every little thing. Decide what's worth correcting (disrespectful attitudes and behavior) and what's potentially just a phase.

If you want your child to have a respectful, kind attitude, to have behavior that you'll be proud of and to have character that reveals itself even when you aren't watching, do 3 things:
1. Let reality be the teacher. Basically, don't "save" or overprotect your kids from life's consequences. (ex: staying up until midnight helping them finish a huge project because they procrastinated)
2. Learn to respond rather than react.
3. B doesn't happen until A is complete. If the child doesn't do what was asked of them, nothing else happens. No matter what the event is.


Day 3 - It's All In Perspective. Take a look down the road a few years. Who do you want your family to be?


What to do on Day 3:
1. What kind of parenting style do you have? (permissive, authoritarian or authoritative/responsible)
2. How does your child respond to this parenting style?
3. How can you adapt your parenting style to be more balanced?
4. In what ways can you emphasize relationship in your home?

* "What's Important to you? What 3 qualities do you want your children to have? What steps can you take now to encourage these qualities in them?"
* "If you are calm, you are consistent and you always do what you say you're going to, you will earn that respect and trust."
* "Your child wants to please you...They want to know you are a team...So much has to do with you and how you treat your children."
* "What kind of legacy are you going to leave your children? If you want them to be healthy, independent thinkers who are kind and giving to others, now is the time to start."

Day 4 - Your job as a parent isn't to make your child happy.

How to respect your children:
- Never do for them what they can and should do for themselves.
- Don't repeat your instructions.
- Expect the best of them.
- Don't praise them, encourage them. (he goes into a lot of detail about praising your kids vs. encouraging them and increasing their self-worth. Praise links a child's worth to what he does, encouragement emphasizes the act.)

The 3 pillars of self worth are:
1. Acceptance - your children deserve your unconditional love
2. Belonging - every child longs to belong somewhere. Will it be in your family or in a peer group?
3. Competence - empowering your children requires giving them responsibility. When they take initiative to get a job done, say, "Good job - I bet that made you feel good inside." That feel-good feeling will end up being the motivation for them to do something again, not their desire to please their parents.

Day 5 - Time to make some changes

Top 10 list of what to do to get ready for the big day...

10. Be 100% consistent with your behavior.
9. Always follow through on what you say you will do.
8. Respond, don't react.
7. Count to ten and ask yourself, "What would my old self do? What should the new me do?"
6. Never threaten your kids.
5. Never get angry.
4. Don't give any warnings.
3. Ask yourself, "Whose problem is this?"
2. Don't think the misbehavior will go away.
1. Keep a happy face, even if you don't want to. Go do something else.

Ask Dr. Leman - there are about 200 pages of situations and advice covering 100 hot topics parents face for kids of all ages.

I haven't read all of the situational stuff yet, but I wanted to get my notes to you before I forgot some of these highlights. I hope this was helpful for you in some way!!!

Mrs. Fields Chocolate Chip Bars

In my Mrs. Fields Cookie Favorites cookbook, these are called, "Chocolate Chip Butterscotch Bars." But they have no butterscotch in them and they don't even taste like butterscotch. So I'm renaming them because, well, I can.

I have eaten could eat the whole pan of these bad boys. They are SO moist...really just a bunch of butter, some flour and sugar with a few chocolate chips thrown in. A warm heart attack with a fork. Delish.

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar (light works, too)
2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter, softened
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 oz. chopped pecans (about 1 cup) - optional
9 oz. semisweet chocolate chips (about 1.5 cups)

- Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spray an 8x8 inch baking pan with non-stick spray.

- Combine flour and soda in a medium bowl. Whisk together and set aside.

- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to blend the sugar and softened butter. Add egg and vanilla, and beat at medium speed until light and smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the flour mixture, pecans and chocolate chips. Blend at low speed until just combined. Do not overmix. (does that sentence ever stress anyone else out?!?)

- Transfer batter into prepared pan, level top with rubber spatula. Bake in center of oven for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean but the center is still soft.

- Once cooled, cut with a sharp knife into 1x2 inch bars.

Makes 16 bars (or one PMS serving)

I made the mistake of sticking these in the oven with dinner, which was baking at 425 degrees. OOPS! They are not supposed to be this dark brown color but still tasted good. The edges were too crispy...such a waste of ingredients. It kills me that they have the same calories as the golden brown, gooey bars that I usually make.

I would like to thank the Academy...

I've been nominated for a Blog Award by my newest Australian bloggy friend, Rachel. ME! Wha...well, I...I just don't know what to say. I'd like to thank the Academy, but I doubt they have the Academy Awards in Australia, so Rachel probably won't even get my clever (yet un-original) humor.

What's that, you say? Speech? Oh, okay. THANK YOU to Rachel for deeming my blog to be award-worthy. Thank you to my husband for putting up with all of the time I spend on the computer. Thank you to Microsoft Word for that squiggly little red line under misspelled words...I went years and years thinking I was spelling things correctly until I found you! And thank you to my Comp 101 instructor at Johnson County Community College for letting me edit and re-edit my papers a million times until I figured out how to write a proper paper.

I've mentioned this about a dozen times, but I started blogging to have somewhere to journal my thoughts and my kids' accomplishments, but it's turned into somewhat of an addiction inspiration to some. (you know who you are...the ones who harass me when I skip a day of posting) Lil' ol' me! Plus, it's a great place to brain-dump. I have so much to say and I think those who know me just might get sick of hearing all that I have to say.

Before I reveal the 7 lucky bloggers to receive the award from me - here are the rules:

- Put the logo on your blog.

- Put a link to me (who awarded it to you) on your blog also.

- You need to nominate 7 other bloggers for the award and put links to them also on your blog.

- Finally, leave a comment for those you've nominated - so they know they've received a special award.

You will notice that there are 20+ links under "My Blogging Friends" in the sidebar. These are not bloggy friends...these are people that I know personally and love to death. So if you are not on the following list, please know that I read your blog often and love, too. It was difficult to trim my list to a mere SEVEN.

Without further adieu (sp?), the award goes to...

* Dutch Mac - my American friend who married a Brit and moved to the Netherlands to have themselves a tri-citizenship Ameri-Brit-Dutch little boy. If you want to wish you lived across the pond, visit her blog. She's back in the states as we speak, but I won't get the chance to travel 3 hours to visit her!!! So close, yet so far away...

* J Dubb - my BFF. She disagrees that she "dumbs it down" for the rest of us, but her passion for reading, fashion, pop culture and politics will have you up out of your seat on her blog.

* Brenda - this lovely lady is one of the instrumental reasons that I'm a Christian today. Need a mommy reality check and a nice laugh? She's your gal.

* April - one of the funniest people I know. Her posts will have you laughing out loud and nodding in agreement. If you visit aprilsreign.com, you'll arrive at a porn site, so you always need to be sure to correctly type in aprilsreign.blogspot.com. Leave it to April to mess that one up and not figure it out until it was too late!

* Jenn - my favorite former co-worker from my pre-SAHM days. She has the happiest little family that I know and is an amazing photographer. We live in the same city and haven't seen each other in over two years...yet blogging allows us to keep in touch.

* Lisa - one of the kindest, most humble people you will ever meet. With three kids under 3, she's the little engine that could.

* Becky - expecting her 8th child, I wonder when this mama finds time to post. She must be the multi-task queen or an inspirational time manager. Another funny blogger who makes delicious catered desserts. My mouth is watering just thinking about them.

* And because it's my blog and I CAN... Chandra gets honorable mention. If I could pick 8, you'd be the final blog to round out my list, girl! Chandra always ties scripture to her personal blogging stories. Another inspiration!

Thank you, ladies, for all that you contribute to my "blog life."

New Beds for all!

Last night, we went out to a child-free dinner with the Fredericks. (I promised to shamelessly plug Nick's handcrafted pen business. Please click here to check out his website...these things are really beautiful!) My mom took the kids overnight and Mike and I enjoyed a 3+ hour dinner and talk-fest with our long lost friends.

This morning (after sleeping in until 8:30 - woohoo!) we took advantage of the free time and did some bedroom renovations. We were recently given some bunk beds from friends who are moving out of state, so we decided to move Kaylin into a big girl bed (Ryan's old bed) and assembled the bunk beds in Ryan's room. It went so quickly without kids underfoot! I still need to get bedding for Kaylin and some matress covers to protect the matresses from nighttime accidents, but that didn't stop the kids from begging to sleep in their new beds when Grandma brought them home at naptime.

Kaylin's room before














Kaylin's room after (can you see the passed out princess?)














Ryan's room before














Ryan's room after













I took one last picture of Ryan jumping on enjoying his old bed last week and climbing up the ladder today:











Both kids were SO excited about their new rooms. As soon as Ryan climbed onto his top bunk, he said, "Hey guys - I'm as tall as the FAN!!!" And even though they were exhausted after an eventful sleepover at my mom's house, it took them quite a while to fall asleep at naptime. I could hear Ryan going up and down from one bunk to the other and Kaylin was singing, "Happy Birthday, dear bed" over and over again at the top of her lungs.