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Monday, February 28, 2011

Shopping for a Mixer

This is one of the most
exciting
purchases I am about
to
embark on.


A dream come true of sorts!
My very own
big
girl mixer!

It will sit on my counter top
in all its glory.


First off I need
to select the right one.
I think I am pretty much set on
a Kitchen Aid.
They have a few different versions
out there and I am not
sure what one to get.

Then once I get that figured out
I will need to
pick a
COLOR!
Seriously!
A color is a HUGE commitment!
We have tossed around the idea
of moving.
One day we will need to.
When we do I
want the kitchen to match
the mixer.
Ugg!

Platinum.
Red.
Black.

The choices!





Saturday, February 26, 2011

Great Clothes Deals!!

Hubby and I try to decide how or what we are going to do
on Saturday to make the best of our time.
The weekend goes by so quick.

We love love love to go out
to breakfast.
Our favorite place is
Bob Evans.
I think that if they didn't see us for an
extended period of time they
would be worried.
As a matter of fact there was a time I wasn't feeling
well while I was pregnant.
Hubby went to pick up breakfast for us and they thought
we had Miss J.

Anyways. Once we are done eating we then ran to the mall.
I returned this back the mall.
Yes, tis a shame. But I had found a better deal at Kohls. 
While I was there I was looking for clothes for my
stepson.
I found some jeans that were $8.
Hope they fit.

Once we left the mall we headed to Kohls.  

A few weeks ago I had found a coat/snow pant set for
the girls at Kohl's
that was by Carter, which were
originally $85. I had turned down buying that in the fall
because of the price.
On sale they were about $25.

Hubby needed some
new shoes. Oh did he ever!
He had an every were pair.
Every were we/he went he wore them.
Parting will be such sweet sweet sorrow!
They are being replaced with
2 new pairs - dress pair for work
and
more casual every day shoes.

Then we headed over to the kids section.
Oh my!

$1.20


Matching. Well there are slight difference.

$4.00 and $4.80

I normally wouldn't buy this at regular price. Even on sale this was expensive - $8.00.
I thought it was too cute to pass up though.



PJ's marked down to $6.


Holiday dress marked down from $40 to $8.

I would like to say that overall this morning was a huge accomplishment
considering how much we
will save once next year comes.
I love to hit up year end sales to stock up
for next years sizes.

And we ended up saving more than we spent.
Crazy!!






Friday, February 25, 2011

Huge Accomplishments

So hubby has put in
a ton of hours
this week
at work.
Most of it has been on the road.

While he was busy so was I.
The girls were not
feeling too hot this week.


And I have been putting some work
into my shop.
I am loving it more and more.
I made this!!
A new banner.
I had thought about having a contest
to come up with a new design (maybe another time),
but this one just happened.
Check it out here.

And I made a template for matching cards
to attach my bows/accessories
to as well!
Im way excited about it!
Can you tell?


Squeaky Shoes


These shoes are super wonderful! I'm not sure how I came
across these, but they are
super adorable.
Everywhere we go we get comments
on them too.

Shoes. Big deal. Oh no! They squeak too.
You can keep track of your little one.
These have been great when we have gone out of
town on trips with hubby.

We get so many comments/compliments on these.
Some people say those are SOO cute!
Others,
well
say the squeaking would drive them nuts.

To the neigh sayers
I say its no different
than all the other
noises, playing and
other things that accompany having a little one.

Really ...
when its quite something is not right.
Mom's are you with me on that?

My youngest is the one that is on the constant go.
When she is quite I am alarmed.

You can find them here and here.

They have adorable shoes for boys as well.

I have video of them squeaking, but I don't know how to transfer
the video onto here. :(
Once I figure that out I will get it up to show you how they
work.


Thursday, February 24, 2011

In The Making


One of the gifts my girls
got from Santa
was a musical set
that included a tamborine,
song flute,
and
something else that
I don't know the name of.


Hubby and I were both in band. I think
Miss J is getting a head start.
She is just shy of 1. Oh my!
The big 1!
That gets me a little choked up.


Little G insisted on having her picture
taken too.
She loves her little sister to peices!


I took this picture a few weeks ago.
It is the cutest thing though.
Those little footed pj's.
The diapered butt.
Trying to master walking.
By the time I post this she probably will be.
She is so close to just taking off
its not funny.

She does this little hobble thing.
While on one hip she scootes
using her arm to pull her
forward.
She went from army crawl to her little
hobbling scoot.

Love those baby moments!

Project 52: Glimpse Into Motherhood

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Its A Jungle


Today I made a decision to spend some time with my girls.
That meant my time on here was
very limited.
The amount of time I spend on here is
ridiculous. It's terrible.

Both of them have not been feeling very well.
It all started Friday night after they went
to bed.
That is when the coughing began.

As our day had begun it dawned on me that I had told my
oldest that we would need to replace batteries in
some toys.
What was I thinking!
With dead batteries it was a bit more
quite.

It began with the Lion. When he rolls he makes a noise.
Well, I found that changing the batteries did not solve that.


Next was Tiger.
I told her we needed to fix his belly.
Check that off the list.


My trustworthy assistant hard at work!



Next!
Oh her.
She has been so quite.


I do not recall seeing instructions for
open and close on the real ones.
If there are then I am missing something.

I got her back on the road.
It did not take long for me to want to
pop out a battery or two from her.
I quickly switched her to
'try' mode.
That setting she at least took a break from crying.

While I was crossing stuff off my to do list I had a
spot on the carpet.
I had contemplated cutting the spot off.
Thought that it would probably be best to
try to get it off/out with a little effort
first before doing something drastic.


It had a cherry smell to it. Candy? Cough drop?
It was coming out.
Surely I wasn't going to suck on it
until it dissolved. UCK!


Next best thing was a wet paper towel with
hot/warm water.
For back up I used a hair dryer.
I got most of it out until my youngest
became curious as to what
I was doing.

In between all the fussing, meals and checking off a few
minor things we got to play a little bit and read.


Project 52: Glimpse Into Motherhood

Friday, February 18, 2011

Cleaning the Fridge

It was time for me to clean this.
I should have done this last month when
there were challenges at A Bowl Full of Lemons.


It was just time. Past time!
Do you know that with two little ones
it is difficult to clean the
entire refridgerator?

Just to get this clean was a huge accomplishment.
Perhaps I should have done this when my
smallest one was down for a nap.
I squeezed it in when I could though.
We get busy running around
doing things that are more
fun than me cleaning the fridge.

While cleaning I found out what to do with some chicken for dinner.
I made chicken terriaki. One more thing I could use and it
would help in my mission to reduce some of
what was in the door.

I had found the chicken on sale. The only thing was that it was bone it breast.
Normally I would shy away from that, but this time I didnt.
They took longer than expected to cook in the oven.
When they were done they were so moist!
The marinade time was just right. I had added some
pinneapple juice as well from a fresh
pineapple I had cut up that morning.



Thursday, February 17, 2011

Shopping for Next Winter


We had a playdate at the mall. Afterwards I went to
JCP to see if they had any good deals. Did they ever!!
I got this sweet little coat for $9.97.

Actually I got two of them. One for
little G and one for Miss J.
This was the only style they had left.

I didn't want to do this to them, but its gonna happen.
Yep, they are gonna be dressed the same.
With a deal that good I would be a
bad mom not to do it.

I think they may enjoy it. Well little G will anyways.
She is the best big sister ever!! She gushes
over her little sister.

Every so often she will go to Miss J in the morning
and give her a kiss.
Just the sweatest thing ever.
She was made to be a big sister!

Oh, I also got a spring coat for Miss J this past weekend.
A little yellow coat for her from
Goodwill. I got it half off better yet.

I love deals! Seriously it is a dangerous
thing for me.
My eyes get all glassy
I get a shopping rush.
It's terrible.

Project 52: Glimpse Into Motherhood

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Chocolate for Valentine's Day


Every evening hubby and I like to have something sweet
once the kids are in bed. We don't do a very
good job of planning what we
want though.

Sunday I had mentioned something about
 making blondies for us. He said that sounded really good.
We had Christmas M & M's still. He had
gotten them for free. Note that we
don't eat much candy. I had him sort out
the red from the green M & M's so
I could use them for the blondies
recipe.



Monday I changed my mind.
I had found something that looked
far more appealing than blondies for a
Valentine's treat.
I had to make a run to pick up a prescription
and while doing so I picked up some baker's
chocolate.
That was the only missing ingredient.

Once I got home I began working on our
dessert. It didn't take long to put together, but I needed
time to get dinner ready for us as well.
Ok I have left you in suspence for long enough.
Here goes.

Chocolate Molten Cakes


 6 oz bittersweet baking chocolate
10 T unsalted butter
1 1/2 c powdered sugar
1/2 c flour
3 whole eggs
3 egg yolks
1 t vanilla
1 t espresso powder
 (optional)

  1. Preheat oven to 425*. Grease 6 - 6oz custard/ramakin dishes and dust with cocoa powder. Place them on a baking sheet.
  2. Melt chocolate and butter being careful not to burn the chocolate. If microwaving be sure to only place it in for a few seconds and to throughly stir, making sure all the chocolate is melted.
  3. Add vanilla and mix. Add powered sugar, flour and optional espresso powder (I used a tsp of coffee liquor in mine in place of espresso). Mix until well blended.
  4. Add 3 whole eggs and 3 egg yolks, beating well until blended with chocolate mixture.
  5. Divide batter evenly among cups. There is aproximately 24 oz of batter, which means each cup would have 4 oz of batter in it. I had 4-7oz ramakins and filled each with 6 oz of batter.
  6. Bake for 14 to 15 minutes or until edges of cake are firm, but still soft in the center. Let stand 1 minute and run a knife along the edge of the cup to loosen cake. Invert cake carefully onto a plate. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and raspberries or banana slices or sprigs of mint. Serve along with whipped cream or ice cream.
Makes 12 servings - 1/2 cake each if using 6 cups or 1/4 cup if using 4 cups.


Seriouly? I ate the whole thing by myself! I loved every last bit of that bad boy too! Hubby said it was
too much for him. He couldn't handle it.

The M&M's are still waiting to be made into something delicious.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Top Ten On Tuesday

Photobucket


1. Valentine's Day - Friday hubby scattered notes all over the house for me. He was going to tie each of the notes to a rose, but I was up before he got back from the store with them. It was still a great suprise.

2. Wamer tempatures. That means we are closer to being able to visit the zoo and parks to play. Im so excited about it because little G loves being a big sister to Miss J. She often teaches her things and it is the cutest thing. I think they will both like the zoo and know that little G will do her sisterly duty of filling in Miss J on animals.

3. Not having a boss. Well, I do have a boss or bosses in a sense. But we blew bubbles last week and that would have been frowned upon at a regular job. We have playdates, which too would be frowned upon.

4. A fixed drain. The drain in our tub had been slow for some time. V-E-R-Y slow! Sunday it was resolved. Ahhh!!

5. A budget challenge I set for myself for groceries for one week. I was a bit scared terrified at the thought of limiting myself to $50 for a week. But after sitting down and making out the week of meals I think I have done it. Holy smokes! Well, it was done on about $52. That includes diapers for two.

6. Who says being a stay at home mom is boring, uneventful or not work?! Hubby asked me Sunday night how I managed to stay sane. I dont and am not.

7. Love seeing my 2 yr old learning to count. Last week she took some cheerios into the living room (which I don't typically let her do) and proceed to try to count them. She is showing me how she learns best. That means I need to get on the ball and get more visual aides for her.

8. Chocolate! I made the one of the best chocolate recipes last night for hubby and I. Shortly after he ate it he was asleep on the couch. Coincidence? I think so. I will post more about the recipe later.

9. When my 11 month old sleeps through the night it is absolute heaven for me. She didn't begin sleeping through the night until she was about 10 months old. Last night she was up twice. Uggg. I have a feeling she is going to be cutting her upper teeth very soon.

10. Looks like today might be my Monday. Both of my girls were up at 6am. That is way way too early!

Monday, February 14, 2011

Early Monday's

Like my layout?
Err...I don't.
Im trying to figure out how to remove
the red and blue with wording.
I try and try and try.

Earlier today I was making something and wanted
ramakins. I have 4 and could only find 3 of them.
I said something to hubby when he
got home.
Low and behold he found it -
in the dishwasher!
Crazy right.

I think Im am loosing it.
For the meantime my
blog is going to look
like a hot mess.

Speaking of hot mess.
I look like exactly that today.
My two little ones decided that 7am
was a good time to get up.
As my day got later I began to show it.
While making supper my shirt had
evidence of my work.
I then realized why it was that housewives in
the 60's were in the practice of changing before their husbands came home.
I later noticed that I had chocolate on my sleeve.
MMMMmmm...
That was from desert.
I will post that later for you!



Friday, February 11, 2011

Baked French Toast with Praline Topping


This is so yummy!
It came from hubby. He
doesn't like to cook. I had found it
odd that he would have such a recipe.
We had this last Friday for supper to
change things up a bit.


Baked French Toast
1 large loaf French bread
8 large eggs
2 cup half and half
1/2 cup milk
3 T sugar
1 t vanilla
1/4 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg

Slice bread into 1" slices and place upright in a buttered 9x13 pan.
Combine all other ingredients and beat until blended but not bubbly.
Pour over bread, making sure liquid gets between slices.
Cover and refrigerate overnight. In AM drain excess liquid.

* I didn't drain excess and it
turned out fine.

Praline Topping

1 c butter, softened
1 c brown sugar
1 c chopped pecans
1 T light corn syrup
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg

Mix together. Spread evenly over bread. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes
or until center pieces are done. If top gets too dark cover with foil.

Enjoy!


Thursday, February 10, 2011

Winter Bubbles


One of the cartoons had bubbles on.
Ding!
I remembered something.
One of the hairdressers on Saturday
had said if you blow bubbles in
negative degree weather that
bubbles crystallize.
I HAD to try it!

I hopped onto a local channel's website
to check the tempature to see if
conditions were ripe.

Current Conditions


South Bend Regional Airport, IN (KSBN)

Last Updated on Feb 10, 9:54 am EST



Weather: Clear

Temperature: -3 F (-19 C)

Relative Humidity: 77%

Wind: From the South-southwest at 12 MPH

Barometric Pressure: 30.16" (1021.33 mb)

Dewpoint: -8 F (-22 C)

Heat Index: NA

Windchill: -21 F (-29.44 C)

Visibility: 10 miles


Well I just wanted to know the temp. I dont know how relevant
the rest of it is.
It was amazing. Something that would seem so obvious though.
Water would freeze at such a tempature.
With that small amount of water it would
freeze quickly.
It was - cool!



They seemed to linger in the air longer than they would in warmer
weather.



The bubbles seemed to float forever. They have went across the street
and floated above some neighbors homes.


There are some there. You can BARELY see them, but they are
there.

I went back to our local channel. They were talking about keeping bundled
up in this weather. And there is a wind advisory until noon.
This had taken place out my side door.
No shoes.
No coat.
Toddler holding door open for me.
Im such a good example!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Cabin Fever!


I came to the conclusion that we have cabin fever.
It may...
just may have something to do with
all that white stuff in the
picture.
I don't mind it.
I'm not going to complain about it.
And yes, that pile of snow is taller than my little G.

Today we had a playdate for groundhog day. A belated
play date. Monday we had a play date as well.
It takes some work to get them out the door to do things when it is cold.
More so when there is a minus 3 (that is with the wind chill).
I planned for us to leave earlier than the planned
play date so we could get some library books.
I try to get to the library every
2 weeks or so. 
This happened to be prefect timing for us. It was a great opportunity for her
to run off some energy.
Afterwards we went to Chic-Fil-A to get some chic chic.
The mose awesome (that's right, I said awesome) part
is that she has been down for a nap for
about 2 1/2 hours. She did that often before she shared a
room with her sister. Hopefully she
will be well rested.

While little G was sleeping Miss J had the run of the place. Yesterday
she was very. unhappy. I took a little time to work
on my Home Organizing notebook. (I will post more about 
that later).
Then it was quite. 
When you have kids you know quite equals not good. I took a peak 
to where Miss J was. I seen her put something in her mouth 
as she usually does. Something did not 
add up though. It didn't look 
right. Oh - well thats because it
was poop!! EWW!!!
It came out the back of her diaper. 
Apparently she did some investigation work. LOL 
I took her to the kitchen where there are hard surfaces 
that clean easy. I had to strip her down.
Prior to doing so I had to clean her hands. 
Then I moved to her back. 
It was on her and me at this point. It
was u-g-l-y. 
By the time it was all cleaned up she was in a new diaper and slippers.
Bunny slippers to be exact.

Today is their laundry day. It happened to be sitting in the hall so it
can go to get washed. She is in her pj's from this morning. 
Let's say she is in a much better mood. 
Perhaps I should have given - 
No ...second thought prunes would have been
way way bad! 


She was cranky on Tuesday, so apparently
that fixed her issue.
I was blessed to have her fall asleep in my
arms!
Isn't that the best part of
being a mom!

Project 52: Glimpse Into Motherhood

Check out how we made the best of a ever
so cold winter day here.

Give Away at Thrifty 101

Do you guys remember when I told you about these?

I admit that I never did a follow up post about them.
*Note to self*
Over at Thrifty 101 they are celebrating
100 followers.
Enter for you chance to win a free set of
these for yourself.
When you enter be sure to include my name
Mindy H in your comment
so she knows
I sent you.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Top Ten on Tuesday

How have I missed this
before??

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1. Anxiously waiting for the weather to warm up. I can honestly say I don't mind the snow
but it is bundleing everyone up in order to go some where that
is such a chore. Am I alone in this?

2. The economy has finally his us. Blech! Slow market has forced hubby's work to make some
changes. We are fortunate enough for him to have a job though.

3. How to be more creative with our grocery budget because of #2.

4. I miss wine tasting with hubby. Prior to have kids we would take a short
drive to Michigan. It is about a 45 minute drive. We would
go to about 4 wineries to do tasting. Come home with our favorites.


5. It seems that I have been tapped of creativity lately. In less .... it
involves food. That is dangerous.

6. Monday nights hubby has a bible study group. It is nice to have some me time
but it goes so quickly.

7. I am pretty good about planning meals out for the week. It saves a ton of hassel.
I have to admit something. Yesterday I had hubby do it.
Maybe it is a lack of creativity.
Or laziness?

8. Ugg...my house does not seem to organize itself. When I purchased it several
years ago I should have looked into that.

9. Back to #8 - a maid would have been nice too. Ahhh ... a maid.

10. Shopping for clothes is not as easy as it use to be. It is not
the physical aspect that is difficult since that has always
 been thecase prior to kids. It is the time that it takes to
find something.

Valentine's Decoration

Valentine's Day is near.
Have you decorated?
Little G and I put window clings up.
We had bought them at Target in the
dollar section.
Love that little area.
She go to put them up with some
assistance.

Do you need a little something
to decorate with?

I made this to be printed as a 5x7.

OR

These are avaliable here.
First time customers use NEWCUST to
get 20 percent off.