Independently Happy

CVS Good Deal of the Week

2009-07-20T02:34:00.003-04:00

I went a little off plan this week on my CVS trip. As always, my first stop is that magical little coupon printer/price checker thingy. I got a $10/$50 coupon (Woot!), a $1 off CVS brand water coupon and a $2/2 any CVS brand nuts coupon. So I had to incorporate those into my shopping today.

My haul:

(2) 1” Vinyl Binders
(2) Packs Filler Paper
(2) Paper-Mate Pens
(2) Small note-pads
(2) CVS brand cashews
(1) CVS brand Pantiliners
(1) Gallon T.G. Lee milk
(4) Izze carbonated fruit drinks (I drank one already - YUMMY!) - BOGO this week
(1) Case CVS brand bottled water

Coupons used:
(1) $1/1 any T.G. Lee product (printable available HERE)
(1) $2/2 any CVS brand nuts
(1) $1/1 CVS brand water

I had to trek to 4 different CVS’s (and still didn’t get everything I wanted); used a total of $16.84 in ECBs and paid a total of $3.19 OOP. Got back $15.85 in ECBs to spend next week!

For the $5 Challenge (starting with $0 ECBs):

Scenario 1
(2) Speed Stick Pro - $2.99ea - $5.98
- (2) $1.50/1 Printable coupon available HERE (coupon only available in select Zip codes)
Total OOP: $2.98
ECBs Earned: $4 from Speed Stick

Scenario 2
(1) 24-ct Pencils - $1.99
(1) Paper-Mate Pens - $.99
(1) Filler Paper - $2.00
- $4.00 ECB from Scenario 1
Total OOP: $.98
ECBs Earned: $1.99 from Pencils, $.99 from Pens, $2 from Paper

Scenario 3
(1) Filler Paper - $2.00
(1) 1” Vinyl Binder - $3.00
- $4.98 ECB from Scenario 2
Total OOP: $.02
ECBs Earned: $2 from Paper, $3 from Binder

Scenario 4
(1) 24-ct Pencils - $1.99
(1) Paper-Mate Pens - $.99
(1) 1” Vinyl Binder - $3.00
- $5.00 ECB from Scenario 3
Total OOP: $.98
ECBs Earned: $1.99 from Pencils, $.99 from Pens, $3 from Binder

TOTAL OOP: $4.96
and you'll still have $5.98 ECBs to spend another day!

Check out Alyssa's $5 CVS Challenge at Keeping The Kingdom First for more ideas on how to maximize your dollar at CVS.

Wordless Wednesday - Views from a drive - Put into words

2009-07-19T23:52:00.004-04:00

So, last week sucked. I'm finally feeling more like myself although my voice is still stuck in mouse mode.

Last week, I posted pictures from our drive for Wordless Wednesday, but I wanted to give the story behind them.

Last Sunday, Hubbster and I participated in a mileage test drive with the Audi Club of Florida. We are geeks like that and do love our Audi's. Most of the other cars were newer, but we represented with our 2001 A6 2.7T. I do love my car, but those Q7 TDi's make me want. 40-something MPG! And soo pretty.

Some other Audi's that were driving with us:

Another Q7 TDi:

View of down-town Tampa from I-4 (or maybe this was on I-275?):

We all stopped at this AMAZING German bakery in this teeny little town called Yalaha. The bakery is called (appropriately) Yalaha Bakery. I had potato pancakes and they made me remember eating them when we lived in Germany - got the applesauce to go with, of course.
Anywho - while waiting outside for our group to re-hit the road, I was following this beautiful butterfly around. He posed for me:

And I'm not sure where this was exactly, but somewhere on our way from Yalaha to Altamonte Springs we crossed this bridge and it was just purty:

It's not often Hubbster and I get to go out and just take a drive anymore. The kids get bored in the car (which leads to annoying us), gas prices are crazy, just trying to find the time. But this is something that we have always enjoyed, so it was great being out, windows down, no rush, just enjoying the ride and the scenery.

Wordless Wednesday - Views from a drive

2009-07-15T11:53:00.009-04:00

For more Wordless Wednesdays, visit HERE.

Tuesday Heads or Tails

2009-07-14T14:03:00.005-04:00

The theme/prompt for THIS week, July 14, is:

HEADS - "Pile"

Make any kind of post using any version of the word "Pile" as your theme/prompt.

The first thing that comes to mind are the piles of laundry waiting to be cleaned that I have absolutely *no* energy to do. I've been sick for the last 2 days and I think today is the peak, hopefully tomorrow will be better. I hate having to do household chores when I'm not feeling well.

Visit the Heads or Tails blog for more!

Menu Plan Monday

2009-07-13T11:40:00.004-04:00

Forgot to put the chicken out in enough time to defrost completely yesterday, so we ended up eating out. :( Other than that, menu went pretty well last week.

Monday: Baked chicken with roasted new potatoes and fresh green beans (from last week).

Tuesday: Chicken & Veggie kabobs served with rice and BAS (using left-over chicken from Monday).

Wednesday: Grilled cheese sandwiches with fruit smoothies. Girls asked for this to be added every week, it's quick and easy - all depends on what fruit is in season.

Thursday: The girls have a bowling league in the late afternoon. We will either have dinner at my moms or Stuffed Shells left-overs from the freezer. This is a quick, easy recipe that makes more than enough for freezable left-overs.

Friday: Cheesy Baked Ziti with BAS. This recipe is so easy, quick and yummy. And there's always enough for left-overs.

Saturday: Free Night! No plans.

Sunday: Burgers (beef for hubbster, veggie for the girls & I) and corn on the cob on the grill with BAS and some type of beans.

Check out Organizing Junkie for more menu ideas!

CVS Good Deal of the Week

2009-07-12T17:20:00.006-04:00

Not bad for $1.16 OOP, huh? Pretty sure this is a personal best for me.

(2) 5-subject Notebooks
(2) 1-subject Notebooks
(2) Rulers
(2) pairs Scissors
(2) bottles school Glue
(3) packs Paper-Mate Pens
(1) Gallon T. G. Lee Milk
(1) Gillette Fusion Razor
(3) bottles Tylenol Arthritis

Coupons used:
(1) $4/1 Gillette Fusion from 7/5 P&G
(3) $2/1 Tylenol Arthritis from 5/17 RP
(1) $1/1 any T.G. Lee product (printable available HERE)

I had $22.99 in ECB that I used towards this and split it into 2 transactions. Spent $1.16 OOP and got back $23.95 ECBs!

I plan on going back this week for the free 6 x 8 Photo Book and possibly the Benefiber/Maalox deal.

I brought me sister with me this week to CVS. She's never done the "whole coupon thing" (her words), so we planned out a few scenarios for her to get all the free after ECBs items with $5 or less OOP.

Scenario 1
(1) Tylenol Arthritis - $3.99
(2) 1-subject Notebooks - $.99ea - $1.98
- $2/1 Tylenol coupon from 5/17 RP
Total OOP: $3.97
ECBs Earned: $1.98 from Notebooks, $3 from Tylenol

Scenario 2
(1) Tylenol Arthritis - $3.99
(1) pair Scissors - $2.99
- $2/1 Tylenol coupon from 5/17 RP
- $4.98 ECB from Scenario 1
Total OOP: $0
ECBs Earned: $2.99 from Scissors, $3 from Tylenol

Scenario 3
(1) Tylenol Arthritis - $3.99
(2) bottles school Glue - $.99ea - $1.98
(3) packs Paper-Mate Pens - $.99ea - $2.97
- $2/1 Tylenol coupon from 5/17 RP
- $5.99 ECB from Scenario 2
Total OOP: $.95
ECBs Earned: $2.97 from Pens, $1.98 from Glue, $3 from Tylenol

Scenario 4
(1) Ruler - $.99
(1) pair Scissors - $2.99
(1) Gillette Fusion Razor - $7.99
- $4/1 Gillette Fusion from 7/5 P&G
- $7.95 ECB from Scenario 3
Total OOP: $.02
ECBs Earned: $.99 from Ruler, $2.99 from Scissors, $4 from Gillette

Scenario 5
(2) 5-subject Notebooks - $3.99ea - $7.98
-$7.98 ECBs from Scenario 4
Total OOP: $0
ECBs Earned: $6 from Notebooks

TOTAL OOP: $4.94
and you'll still have $6 ECBs to spend another day!

Check out Alyssa's $5 CVS Challenge at Keeping The Kingdom First for more ideas on how to maximize your dollar at CVS.

2009-07-11T12:11:00.002-04:00

Update number 1: We're doing really good with the making of beds. I've even got the girls in on it and they are making their beds everyday as well.

Update 2: Not so much. Haven't even started with the daily exercises. Ugh - I am in total fail mode. Maybe I'll just start the 30 day for this challenge tomorrow. (How's that for procrastination?)

Any one wanna join on the Bed Making 30 Day Challenge?

Finally home...

2009-07-10T00:20:00.003-04:00

Guess who finally made her way home today? Kaitlyn has spent the last 2.5 weeks up in TN visiting her aunt, uncle and cousins and while I know she had fun; we are soo happy to have her home! The girls had fun watching the airplanes take off and land as we waited for Kait's plane, wondering which one was hers. As soon as Camille spotted her in the crowd, she took off, with Celeste not far behind. I barely had a chance to get the camera out. lol

Needless to say, the girls have been snuggly and spending lots of time with big-sister today catching up. And I'll admit it, I've been extra snuggly too. It's so good to have my big girl home.

Wordless Wednesday - Cousin T comes to visit!

2009-07-08T20:10:00.006-04:00

For more Wordless Wednesdays, visit HERE.

Another great day at CVS...

2009-07-08T18:38:00.006-04:00

15 32oz. bottles of Powerade
2 Fabreeze Noticables Starter-kits
1 Bayer Countor Meter (will be donated)
3 boxes Post Trail Mix Crunch cereal

Manufacturer coupons:
- (1) Buy 10, Get 5 Free Powerade (hang-tag on product)
- (3) $.75/2 Powerade (wish I had more of these - tear-pad at gas station)
- (2) $4/1 Fabreeze from 7/5 P&G
- (3) $2/1 Post printable coupon available HERE
- (1) FREE Bayer Contour Meter from 3/22 SS or 2/1 RP
CVS coupons:
- $15 ECBs

Total OOP: $3.12
Earned back: $15.00 ECBs ($5 for Post Cereal, $5 for Fabreeze, $5 for Contour meter)

This could have been a major money maker for me, but my kids drink Powerade almost as much as they drink water, so this was a good time to stock up for me.

CVS Good Deal of the Week

2009-07-08T01:09:00.005-04:00

Alright, consider yourselves forewarned - this is a LONG post!

Yesterday, I went to CVS – got all of this for $2.47 out of pocket (OOP) and got $11 back to spend another day. That’s right, all this for less than the price of 1 gallon of milk!

Here’s the run-down:
2 Gallons T.G. Lee Milk
4 Head & Shoulders shampoo/conditioners
2 Dawn dish soap
1 CVS brand panty-liners
1 CVS brand pencil sharpener
1 Lady Speed Stick trial size deodorant
1 Colgate toothpaste

Manufacturer coupons:
- (2) $1/1 T.G. Lee printable coupon available HERE (if your CVS carries T.G. Lee)
- (2) B1G1 Free Head & Shoulders coupons from 7/5 P&G
- (1) $2/2 Head & Shoulders from 6/7 P&G
- (1) $.50/1 Dawn dish soap (home mailer from Home Made Simple)
- (1) $.25/1 Dawn dish soap from 7/5 P&G
- (1) $1/1 Colgate toothpaste printable coupon available HERE

CVS coupons:
- $1/1 any Lady Speed Stick printed from kiosk at front door
- $3.49 E(xtra) C(are) B(uck)s for Free Gallon Milk (CVS promotion running through 7/26 – details HERE)
- $12.00 ECBs from Soy-Joy deal 2 weeks ago

I was a little disappointed that they were out of the Post Trail Mix Crunch cereal. I will be checking the other stores in my area for this for sure. Deal is: Cereal is 3 for $10. $2/1 Printable coupon available HERE (will let you print 2 per computer). You get $5 ECB back when you buy 3 boxes. The math: $4 OOP, get $5 ECB back - a $1 money maker!

If you don’t have any existing ECBs, you could always split this up into multiple transactions to minimize your OOP. Example:

Transaction 1:
2 Dawn dish soap
1 CVS brand panty-liners
2 CVS brand pencils or pencil sharpener
Manufacturer coupons:
- (2) $.25/1 Dawn dish soap from 7/5 P&G
Total OOP: $4.37
ECBs Earned: $1 from Dawn, $.89 from panty-liners, $1.98 from pencils/sharpeners

Transaction 2:
3 Post Trail Mix Crunch Cereals
Manufacturer coupons:
- (3) $2/1 Printable coupon available HERE
CVS coupons:
- $3.87 ECBs from previous transaction
Total OOP: $.13
ECBs Earned: $5 from Post

Transaction 3:
2 Head & Shoulders shampoo/conditioners
Manufacturer Coupons:
- (1) B1G1 Free Head & Shoulders coupons from 7/5 P&G
CVS Coupons:
- $5 ECBs from previous transaction (they'll have to round it down to $4.99)
Total OOP: $0
ECBs Earned: $4 from H&S

TOTAL OOP: $4.50 plus you’ll have $4 in ECBs to spend another day.

It’s generally best to save your ECBs to spend on other items that earn ECBs, but sometimes you just need to spend it on milk. We always seem to need milk and CVS generally has the cheapest prices (go figure!). And the Buy 5, Get 1 Free deal definitely sweetens the deal.

Don't have a CVS Extra Care card? Get to it! and check out Alyssa's $5 CVS Challenge at Keeping The Kingdom First for more ideas on how to maximize your dollar at CVS.

New challenge for me!

2009-07-07T13:39:00.005-04:00

I've decided to give myself a 30 Day Challenge. Well, actually 2.

1st challenge - To make the beds every day. No matter how messy my house is, I always feel better about my day when the beds are made. This is something that takes 2 minutes or less every day, yet always gets pushed to the side. No more. I will have my tranquility in the bedroom. I will have my little piece of peace in a normally hectic household. I will make the bed. Every day, for at least 30 days. My hope is that we will fall into the routine and continue making our beds daily even after my challenge.

2nd challenge - Not really to lose weight, but in order to get more physically active, I want to do some sort of physical exercise every day for 30 days. I have the Leslie Sansone Walk Diet DVD. I also checked out some Yoga books/DVDs from the library. And there's always taking a walk around the neighborhood with the kids, although it's a bit HOT outside for that.

I don't plan to post updates every day, but I will post updates at least twice a week. Wish me luck and anyone who wants to join is welcome!

Tuesday Heads or Tails

2009-07-07T01:27:00.004-04:00

The theme/prompt for THIS week, July 7, is:

HEADS - "Spin"

Make any kind of post using any version of the word "Spin" as your theme/prompt.

Remember these:

Ahhh, childhood memories. I used to play with my sit 'n spin for hours. Looking back, I'm trying to remember what the appeal was, it's just a boring piece of plastic that you sit on and go round and round. No lights, no noises, no plug-ins - oh wait, that's probably what was so great about it. Powered buy imagination engineering.

Visit the Heads or Tails blog for more!

Menu Plan Monday

2009-07-06T22:47:00.005-04:00

Had to take a little mini-break here last week. I really don't realize just how much Kaitlyn helps around the house until she's not here for a while. I'm so happy that she'll be home this week - and not just for the extra hands, but I've really missed her.

Before we get to the menu; check out this cute little note pad I found at Michael's for $1.00. It's a weekly menu plan with space for the menu on the left and a grocery list on the right. It's not quite perfect (menu plan spaces are kind of small and weekend is lumped together), but it was only $1.00 and it's magnetic so it goes on the fridge just right!

Another easy menu week here, it's just too hot to do much cooking.

Monday: We had Chinese take-out, per Hubbster's request.

Tuesday: Grilled cheese sandwiches and fruit smoothies.

Wednesday: Baked mac-n-cheese with Veggie-dogs. BAS on the side.

Thursday: Kaitlyn is finally home!!! Yay! No plans for this night. We'll either go out to dinner, or I will let her pick what we have.

Friday: Veggie burgers with oven fries and BAS.

Saturday: My sister and I will be attending a Slumber Parties party. Baby-sitter Kaitlyn will be serving either pizza, or something simple that she can cook.

Sunday: Baked chicken with roasted new potatoes and fresh green beans.

I'm kind of nervous about the Slumber Parties thing. It looks like it'll be fun, but still, it's an *adult* party. This sounds kind of silly, but I've been working on getting myself more "out there" and trying to make friends. I've had the same friend (singular) for about 20 years and a few acquaintances from my old work, but no one that lives near us. One of Celeste's friend's mom is hosting this party and she is nice, so I am trying to be more friendly and not so
on my own." Anyone out there ever been to one of these parties? Give me some details.

Alright, enough about me. For more menu plans, head on over to the Organizing Junkie site!

R.I.P. Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett

2009-06-25T21:24:00.003-04:00

What a sad day.

Although I do know who Farrah Fawcett was, she was kind of before my time. Any kid raised in the eighties though, like me, knows Michael Jackson. I remember being spooked out by the Thriller video, the one white glove, the shiny red jacket, that black fedora hat pushed forward, the flashing lights on the floor from the Billie Jean video, the white socks with the high-water pants and soo much more. I will always remember watching on TV the Motown 25 performance of Billie Jean, where the moon walk was first performed. Amazing doesn't even begin to cover it. I never was able to copy that move.

Regardless of his questionable mentality and charges of child abuse/pedophilia, one cannot argue that the man was a musical genius. So, rest in peace Michael.

Summer reading

2009-06-24T17:37:00.002-04:00

One of my most favorite things about summer is that we go to the library more often. Since I'm not working this summer, we have even more time to spend at the library. We have been going once or twice a week and I have been utilizing the interlibrary loan program to get some decent crochet pattern books and vegetarian cookbooks.

Our library also offers a summer program for kids where have a fun kid friendly activity or performance. So, once a week we go to the library and the kids get treated to anything from a One Man Circus to an Australian Themed Musical Performance. So much fun!

The only bad thing about the library is the A/C. Don't get me wrong, here in FL air conditioning is practically mandatory. But when it's 98 degrees outside, sometimes it feels like it's 68 degrees inside. My poor tank-topped shoulders get cold. What's a girl to do? Dig through her yarn stash and work up a little shrug, of course. Didn't follow a pattern on this one, just worked in a rectangle until it was the right length and seamed up the sides to make arm holes. It's a little snugger than I intended, but fits well and looks soo cute over a tank top (or a button down!).

So what's on your reading list right now? I currently have in my possession the Super Natural Cooking and Quick Vegetarian Pleasures cookbooks, Tasty Crochet (which I am loving - will have to actually buy this one!) and Adorable Crochet for Babies and Toddlers. I also picked up and can't wait to start reading The Alchemyst but Michael Scott. This is book one in The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series. Now anyone who know Potter, knows who Nicholas Flamel is, so I feel compelled to point out that this is *not* a book set in the Potter-verse. Click the book for a link to the official web-site.

Tuesday (er, Wednesday) Heads or Tails

2009-06-24T16:25:00.006-04:00

So, I'm a bit late this week. Oops.

This week's theme is:

TAILS - "Summertime memory"

So we are supposed to share a memory related to summer. I think the memory that I will share is from our first summer here in Florida. I was 9.5 when we moved from Augsburg, Germany to Palm Bay, Florida. What a shocking difference! I mean, sure it got hot over there but NOTHING like the FL heat.
When we first moved back, we lived on base housing right on the beach, so we spent a good deal of time on the beach, playing, swimming, sun-burning. We learned that summer about tide pools and currents and low-tides and high-tides and sand dunes and sand in your toes and salt-water in your eyes. My oldest sister had to save me and my younger sister one day when the tide came in and we got stuck.
We also visited the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex for the first time that summer. Gawd I was in awe! For a kid whose childhood hero was Neil Armstrong, this place was heaven. We walked around and I stared at the rockets. I remember walking around the museum type area and gawking at the space-suits and other gear that was used. I also remember being soo sun-burned that it hurt to walk, but I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else.

I have a picture (or rather my mom does) of me sun-burned at Kennedy that summer. I'm hoping she's able to find it and email it to me. If she does, I'll update this post with the picture.

Visit the Heads or Tails blog to see some other summer memories!

Menu Plan Monday

2009-06-22T16:54:00.003-04:00

Pretty laid back week here for us. Just put my oldest on a plane to TN this morning (*sniff, sniff - where's those damned tissues*) and with Hubbster at work Tuesday - Saturday evenings, it's just me and the littles. So, no elaborate dinners planned this week.

Monday: Grilled ham steaks with homemade mashed taters and corn.

Tuesday: Grilled cheese sandwiches with fresh fruit.

Wednesday: Veggie-burgers with Baked Purple Hedgehog Potatoes from the Super Natural Cooking cookbook.

Thursday: Broccoli and 2 Cheese Mini Quiches and Fruit Smoothies.

Friday: Tortellini Salad with Pesto from the Quick Vegetarian Pleasures cookbook (can't find a link to the recipe).

Saturday: FREE NIGHT! No plans.

Sunday: Jamaican Curry Chicken with Rice and Peas. Served with BAS. If anyone has a good *authentic* Jamaican recipe for this, please let me know. Every recipe I've found Hubbster says isn't quite right.

I also plan on baking up some of these yummy looking Banana Crumb Muffins with some naners that we've got that are turning brown.

Have a great week! Check out the Organizing Junkie blog for more menu ideas!

More Crochet Updates (Photos Galore)

2009-06-19T22:12:00.002-04:00

Ok, so in this post I set a rule for myself that I wasn't allowed to start any new projects until I completed at least 2 of my WIPs. Already showed off the Cow Potholder - that my mom LOVES, by the way. Finally finished the Acorn Bag, so I'm free to start new projects! Yay! I kind of cheated and started these before actually finishing the Acorn, but I just needed buttons! Honest. I've been on a play-foods kick lately and the kids are loving it! Some pictures to share:

And the finished Acorn Bag. It's soo stinkin' cute! I'm glad I finished it.

Wordless Wednesday - The Perfect Snack

2009-06-17T12:35:00.002-04:00

For more Wordless Wednesdays, go here. :)

Tuesday Heads or Tails

2009-06-16T22:21:00.004-04:00

This week's theme is:
HEADS - Lost
*OR*
TAILS - Found

First thing that came to mind was the TV show "Lost." I figured, though, that since I have only ever seen one episode of the show, it would be better to find a different topic.

So, instead I will go with Lost AND Found and share a poem by Cummings that I happen to like. By the way, have you ever noticed that all Cummings poetry (that I've read anyway) is always in all lowercase. Why is that, do you think?

maggie and milly and molly and may by e e cummings

maggie and milly and molly and may
went down to the beach (to play one day)

and maggie discovered a shell that sang
so sweetly she couldn’t remember her troubles,and

milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were;

and molly was chased by a horrible thing
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:and

may came home with a smooth round stone
as small as a world and as large as alone.

for whatever we lose (like a you or a me)
it’s always ourselves we find in the sea

Visit the Heads or Tails Blog to read other people's interpretation of the words!

Menu Plan Monday

2009-06-15T00:07:00.005-04:00

Monday already??? At least I'm somewhat prepared this week. I went ahead and planned my week out on Saturday so that I could get my grocery shopping done on Sunday and be prepared for the week come Monday/today. We are totally in a "use what's already in the pantry and buy as little as possible" week here. Hubbster goes back to work on Tuesday, so we'll be back to primarily veggie after that.

Monday: Easy Grilled Shrimp on a Stick with steamed rice and green beans.

Tuesday: Parmesan Chicken with angel hair pasta, broccoli and garlic bread.

Wednesday: Stuffed Shells with steamed broccoli and a BAS.

Thursday: Hot Dogs (veggie) with baked beans, BAS and fresh fruit.

Friday: Make Your Own Pizza Night with yummy fruit smoothies.

Saturday: Free Night, no plans.

Sunday: Pork chops with mashed potatoes and peas, or go out to dinner since it's Father's Day.

Check out this YUMMY looking dessert recipe - When is a watermelon, not a watermelon? We might be adding that in sometime in the week. I love raspberry sorbet!

Check out Organizing Junkie for more menu ideas.

Awesome Giveaways

2009-06-14T22:18:00.004-04:00

A few Giveaways that I found thanks to the DealSeekingMom site.

8 Muddy Boots is hosting a giveaway for a free Lauren Nicole Gifts Mother's Necklace - it's soo pretty. You should definitely check it out! Or better yet, don't... that way I have a better chance of winning.

"Cents"able Momma, Thrifty & Chic Mom, BargainBriana, PennyPinchingDiva and STL Mommy are all hosting a $100 Home Depot Gift Card giveaway. Check out the Home Depot Garden Club for some great DIY projects - there's tips for everything from Starting Veggies from Seeds Indoors to Pruning a Rosebush. Or go to their main site where you can find anything from Power-tools to Patio Pavers (how's that for alliteration)!

Catch the Drift with Momma Snow is hosting a giveaway for a pair of Fairy Wings from Tiara's Boutique! O.M.G - Celeste would LOVE these. I love Etsy, you can find just about anything there.

And last on my list - Contest Corner is hosting a giveaway for paperback copies of The Alchemyst and The Magician, as well as a special-edition Challenges of the Elder mug! The books are the 1st and 2nd in the six-book series The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel. What are the books about? From the official Secrets of the Immortal website:

"A world where immortal alchemists battle undying magicians, where creatures from myth still survive and the characters from legends are alive.

More than half a millenia ago, Nicholas Flamel, a poor French bookseller, came across the Book of Abraham the Mage. Written in an ever-changing language was the entire knowledge of humanity. The book told of an ancient race that predated mankind, the Elders, and contained within it and extraordinary prophecy: that one day a pair of twins would come, either to save the world or destroy it. "

These look like books that my 15 year old daughter (and myself!) would really enjoy. We will definitely be on the look out for these.

Such great giveaways to be found out there!

Happy 8th Grade Graduation

2009-06-10T12:46:00.002-04:00

Kaitlyn is officially a High Schooler! Eek! Her school had their 8th Grade graduation on the 2nd. She is soo grown up and I'm soo proud of her. Here's a picture of the graduate receiving her President's Award. Such a schmarty-pants!

Wordless Wednesday - Play Time

2009-06-10T11:45:00.005-04:00

Check out more Wordless Wednesdays here!

Tuesday Heads or Tails

2009-06-09T20:54:00.007-04:00

Just found this Blog Meme called Heads or Tails that looks pretty cool. If I'm getting the directions right, you're given a word and are to write a post based on that word. Sounds easy enough, right. Today's word is TUNE. Now, I can't carry a tune to save my life, but I do love music. Pretty much any kind of music, but I mostly listen to punk, pop punk, indie alternative, etc.
My all-time, absolute favoritest (yeah, I made that up - so what?) band is Green Day. They just came out with a new CD last month called 21st Century Breakdown and it is freakin' awesome. Sometimes when I'm listening to it, it reminds me of Dookie, sometimes Warning, but at all times I am just in awe - because it is awesome.
My favorite song on the album is ~~probably~~ definitely 21 Guns. Billie Joe's voice on this song is just...GUH. Love. Feel free to sing along - I will be.

What's your favorite song, favorite band? Leave a comment and let me know. And check out the Heads or Tails blog for more interpretations of the word TUNE.

Oh and just a little "YAY ME!" - for my 100th Blog Post. Okay, end dorky moment.

Menu Plan Monday

2009-06-08T23:26:00.004-04:00

Hey, technically it's still Monday. I mean for at least 10 more minutes. This past few days has been relatively insane in our house and I can't figure out a specific reason. Not a lot actually going on, but I feel like I've been run ragged.

Last week's menu plan didn't go perfectly. It's going to take us some time getting back in the habit of following a menu and *gasp* cooking dinner nightly. The hubbster is officially on vacation for the next week, so there will be less vegetarian meals planned. Here's our plan for this week. Hopefully we'll do better.

Monday: We had make your own pizza night again. We had extra pizza crust to use up.

Tuesday: Italian chicken with black beans and rice and a BAS.

Wednesday: Vegetable Lasagna (never got around to making this last week) with crusty garlic bread and a BAS.

Thursday: BBQ Chicken (left-overs from the freezer) with baked potatoes and steamed broccoli.

Friday: Breakfast for Dinner night - French Toast with this Strawberry Topping that I found on Everything's Coming Up Daisies blog. Served with scrambled eggs and (vege) sausage.

Saturday: Free Night, no plans.

Sunday: Roasted chicken with homemade mashed potatoes and snap beans. I think I might also make some yummy glazed carrots, I keep thinking about them so I think I need to add them in the menu otherwise their going to get cooked in place of something else. lol

Visit Organizing Junkie's site for more menu plans.

Some Crochet Updates

2009-06-03T14:41:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I spent a good chunk of time sorting through and reorganizing my yarn and unfinished object/WIPs box. I had a lot more WIPs/abandoned projects than I realized.

I found a bunch of hats and scarves that I made when I first started crocheting that have just been sitting in a box for 2+ years, so I bagged those up and they will be sent to Goodwill with our next donation. I organized all of the unfinished projects and bagged them with tags stating what the pattern is, hook size being used, yarn, and how much has been completed/what’s left to be completed. I’ve decided that I will NOT be starting any new projects until I finish at least 2 of the WIPs-in-bags.

In that box of WIPs, I found the Cow Potholder that I was making for my mom for Christmas… 2 years ago. I thought I had finished it. I thought I had already given it to her. Yeah, I thought wrong. All that was left to finish was the ears and horns! So I finished that up in about 15 minutes, and then decided it looked better without the horns so took them back off. Now it’s ready to go to mom’s house! Yay!

I also took a few new pictures of Milly’s Round Ripple Blanket. I’m so stinkin’ happy with this blanket. It’s no longer wonky, it no longer smells, I no longer hate it. And even better, Camille LOVES it. This is EXACTLY what I wanted when I started making it.

Now let’s just see if I can keep myself to my “no more new projects until 2 are complete” rule. Hey, I finished the cow, that means only one more!

Tuesday To Do List

2009-06-02T10:51:00.003-04:00

Soo much to do today, so little time. This is the last week of school for the girls, and they are on half days.

1. Clean out the bathrooms, really good.

2. Return movies to the library. Maybe check out some new ones as well.

3. Check Jo-Ann's and Michael's for a specific yarn type. Also, need to pick up some crafty supplies for summer.

4. Find a dress for Kaitlyn to wear to her 8th Grade Graduation.

5. Wash the sheets on the girls' beds and the towels.

6. And I almost forgot, I have to come up with some sort of snack for Celeste's Daisy troop meeting tonight. They are having their annual year end tea party.

Guess I should get off the computer and get my ass in gear, huh?

Official New Moon Trailer

2009-06-01T23:18:00.005-04:00

So, who's seen it??? I missed the MTV Awards last night, but found the trailer online today. Looks like it will be just as cheestastic as Twilight was. Pretty disappointed with the birthday scene clips shown. When I read that scene, I'm picturing in my head that scene from Finding Nemo where Bruce the shark smells Dory's blood and goes apeshit and everyone has to hold him back. Not Jasper taking a running start like he's in a race or something, everyone else just standing around like nothing is happening and Edward-o bouncing people around like they're strapped to harnesses (oh wait...). And I know I'll get crap for this, but WHY does Rob always look confused. I think he's going for tense/angsty, but I'm seeing constipated and confused. lol

However, I was happy with the Jake/wolf explosion. Me likey.

Menu Plan Monday

2009-06-01T11:35:00.002-04:00

I'm seriously in need of getting back into the habit of planning and following a weekly menu plan. We've gotten really bad at eating on the fly and just grabbing whatever, or take-out which is far too costly for our one-income household. So, since I'm back to blogging, I'll get back to participating in the Menu Plan Mondays from Organizing Junkie.

My oldest has decided to throw me a curve ball and announced last week that she was now going to be a vegetarian. Should be no problem, right? After all, I am vegetarian about 90% of the time. Not so easy with her though, she is such a picky eater - I'm pretty sure she'd be ok with eating nothing but vege-burgers and cheese pizza. We've already discussed that we will support her choice entirely however, she will need to broaden her food horizons and make sure that she is getting enough protein through other sources.

The hubbster is at work during dinner-time 5 days out of the week, so our menu plan will be predominately vegetarian. Without further ado:

Monday: Grilled Chicken with baked beans and steamed broccoli.

Tuesday: Steaks with cheesy twice-baked potatoes and green beans. Vege-burgers for Kaitlyn and me.

Wednesday: Cheese quesadillas with fruit smoothies.

Thursday: Easy peasy make your own Pizza night with fresh fruit.

Friday: Vegetable Lasagna with garlic crusty bread.

Saturday: Free Night, no plans.

Sunday: Outside cooking day - BBQ burgers and dogs (vege for Kait and I), grilled roasted potatoes, corn on the cob.

We'll have a Big Ass Salad with available with dinner every night as well.

Check out more menu plans at Organizing Junkie's site!

Friday 5

2009-05-29T12:41:00.004-04:00

1. What is the longest you’ve gone between haircuts?
2-3 years. I'm very bad at keeping up with that kind of stuff. I usually wait until it's soo long that it's annoyed me for months and then chop it all off and donate.

2. What is the shortest hour of the day?
Uhm, technically all hours are the same time frame. Perspective: any hour that I'm sleeping - I just about always feel like I need more sleep.

3. What is the longest line you’ve ever stood in?
Probably for some line at Disney before they came up with the FastPass system. Nothing I can remember specifically.

4. Who’s your shortest adult friend?
My friend Wendy, she is maybe 5'2" and shorter than Kaitlyn.

5. Who among your current friends have you known the longest?
That would be my friend J, whom I have known for 23 years. I'm not very good at keeping in touch with long-distance friends though, so I haven't seen her in years. My closest friend that I see on a regular basis would be M, whom I have known for almost 18 years.

Visit the Friday 5 main page to see other's answers. :)

Rock the Space

2009-05-28T16:33:00.003-04:00

MySpace Records is giving out a recording contract to some lucky unsigned band/solo artist. Please check out one of my favorite local bands - One Night Crush. They are awesome! Personally, the song attached to the widget isn't my fav - I much prefer the non-remixed version. Check out their MySpace page and listen to their other songs - I love Maniac.

What's your Super Hero Alter Ego?

2009-05-27T09:06:00.003-04:00

I saw a picture on one of my friends Flickr pages of her as a Super Hero and thought it was the coolest. Here's Super Me:

Create your own Super Hero here. Let me know if you do, I'd love to see what you come up with. :)

Holy Time Warp, Batman!

2009-05-26T13:14:00.003-04:00

Man, it's been a while. If I waited just two more months, it will have been a full year since I last blogged. Bad blogger, bad! Alright, so let's skip the public flogging and move straight on to the updates. What has happened in the ever exciting and fast paced, thrilling life of Kelly in the last 10 months. HA! You really didn't think I was serious there, did you?

First and most life altering, after almost 5 wonderful years at my employer, the crappy housing economy forced several budget cuts, leading to me being laid off last September. It really sucks. There are some days when I really, REALLY miss working there and others when I happy and content staying home with the kids. We decided to allow me the opportunity to be the stay-at-home parent I always wanted to be and most days it is truly full-filling and I enjoy every moment. Other days, I just miss my friends from work, my boss (who I would probably count into the friends category), I miss the repetition of having a reason to get up and dressed and out the door looking presentable, social interaction with adults. But then, my little one runs full-out into my arms and just yells MOMMY! like it's the best word in the world, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Camille is now 2(!) and into everything she can get her hands on. One of her current favorite activities includes stealing toilet paper (issue in Milly speak) and wiping down all reachable surfaces. She loves bubble baths and berries (strawberry, blueberry, you name it), although not together.

Celeste just turned 7 earlier this month and is still all princess. She had her first sleep-over at a friends house and had soo much fun, she and her friend have had several more sleep-overs. She is finishing up first grade next week and is such a good reader now, I'm so proud of her. Celeste is still involved in Girl Scouts and has a blast with her troop. They have volunteered twice at our local SPCA and were supposed to volunteer at a local big cat rescue center, but had to cancel due to inclement weather.

We are currently in the early planning phase for Kaitlyn's Sweet 16 birthday party. I can't believe my baby is going to be 16 in 7 months. We've had the thrill of first boyfriends and heart-ache of first break-ups this year. She's been asking about getting her driver's permit and a job over the summer! Eek! She'll be heading to High School next year and is a proud member of the marching band. They've already started practice sessions for next year's routine and there will be Saturday practices as well as a 2 week camp to look forward to this summer. She has a close group of great friends that will luckily be attending the same high school, so she is definitely looking forward to this.

I'm really going to try harder at blogging. If anyone can explain to me how being unemployed has interfered with my online time, I'd appreciate it. I barely have time lately to check out my favorite Twilight fanfics (newest guilty obsession), check my email and that's about it. I really need to learn to manage my time better. I'm looking for some daily reasons to blog. So far, I've got the Menu Plan Mondays (which I really need to get back into) and there's always Wordless Wednesdays. Got any suggestions for me???

Been gone and Twilight.

2008-07-23T21:57:00.003-04:00

So, I've gone and done it again. Been a while since I've last posted, sorry about that. Kaitlyn just got back today from her 2 week vacation to visit her aunt in TN. Made me realize that I take for granted just how much she helps out around the house, and just how much I miss her when she's not here. I'm glad that she's home now, and not just because she sweeps the floors. lol

Work has also been surprisingly busy. The housing market is definitely not a stable environment, so I'm happy that we're busy, but (and I'll never admit this to my boss!) work is where I type up most of my blog posts so that's been slacking.

Oh, and I think I'm in love with another man. Maybe you've heard of him? His name is Edward Cullen - and btw, Robert Pattison is *NOT* the Edward Cullen I imagine (he better be good in the movie!). Oh, it's not like I'm going to leave my husband or anything, he is a fictional character after-all. But, I am embarrassingly admitting that I am ass-over-tea-kettle obsessed with the Twilight Saga. I bought the first book last Thursday, started reading it on Friday and finished the 3rd book yesterday. That's three 500+ page books in 5 days - I wasn't even able to get through the Harry Potter books that quickly. Embarrassed why? These books are aimed at the young adult section, that's why. Whatever.
Now I find myself wondering what I am supposed to do with myself until August 2nd, when Breaking Dawn comes out. As long as Stephanie Meyer (the author) doesn't pull a Christopher Pike and make it all have been a dream sequence, I think I'll be ok with however it ends. Who will Bella choose? Oh, please, we know the answer to that one - don't we? What will Jacob do? Will Alice go overboard on the wedding? - I think we know the answer to that one too. Should I re-read the first three? I suppose I should clean my house, or maybe pay attention to my husband. Eh. Shhh, I'm just kidding!

So will anyone else out there be at a bookstore at 12:01am August 2nd? I'm pretty sure I will be.

CVS Good Deal of the Week

2008-07-09T08:14:00.007-04:00

Here's my haul for this week:

2 Febreze Air Fresheners

2 Febreze Air Effects

2 Olay Daily Regenerating Cleansers

2 Olay Regenerist Micro-Exfoliating Wet Cleansing Cloths

2 Pert Plus Shampoo/Conditioners

4 packages Always pads

1 package CVS brand pantyliners

1 package Pampers diapers

8 32oz bottles of Powerade (these are B1G1 Free this week)

1 case CVS brand bottled water

2 packs Juicy Fruit gum

2 Reese's Whipps candy bars

(what? the girls were well behaved and I had B1G1 Free coupons for each)

Total before coupons: $77.71

Coupons Used:
$3/$15 CVS Face Care CRT
2x Febreze B1G1 Free coupons
4x $3/1 Olay Regenerist coupons
2x $2/1 Pert Plus coupons
2x Always B1G1 Free coupons
$1/1 Pampers coupons
8x $.75/1 Powerade coupons
B1G1 Free coupon for the Juicy Fruit
B1G1 Free coupon for the Reese's Whipps
$28.99 ECBs
and the Water was free with a $20 P&G purchase

Total out of pocket after coupons: $7.66

That's more than a 90% savings! All of that for less than the price of one package of diapers. Woohoo!

I split this up into 2 transactions so that I could use the ECBs earned on the first transaction toward the next one. Best way to maximize your money - and I still have $9.99 in ECBs to use another day.

For more ideas on how to maximize your dollar at CVS, check out Alyssa's $5 CVS Challenge at Keeping The Kingdom First.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

2008-07-08T11:21:00.016-04:00

I'll have to spell it out for you because it's raining so hard, you can't really see past the rain drops. (Don't worry, I pulled over to take this picture.)

Everyday, on my way home from work, I pass by a new middle school being built. Everyday, without fail, they have the stinking sprinklers on. 4 out of 5 sprinkler heads are not properly aligned so the street and passing cars get more of the water than the grass it's intended for. Obviously, or maybe not soo much from this picture, this grass is not lacking water. How, you might ask? Becasue we live in FL. Ask any Floridian - summer afternoons = rain showers.
We aren't called the Lightning Capitol of North America (used to be of the world, but now that title goes to Rwanda) for nothing.

So why, I ask, is it necessary to water the street near a lawn that is already watered everyday!?! A few lawn maintainance tips:

Don't overwater your yard - overwatered grass develops weak, shallow roots which can lead to brown patches in the lawn (commonly a fungal infection).

Linked to #1, if rain is forecasted, turn off your sprinkler system. Even a light rain will provide enough water for your lawn.

Water early in the day/morning - watering early in the day will give the grass time to absorb the water needed before the day sun will evaporate the un-needed water. Excess water on the grass blades can also lead to fungal infections.

Regularly check your sprinkler system for broken or mis-aligned heads causing an excess of wasted water.

Another water-saving tip: Did you realize that if you cut your shower time by just 1 minute, you could save an average of 1,000 gallons per year - per showering person in your household! If everyone reading cut their shower time by just 1 minute, think of the amount of water that could be saved!

And my final word of the day: PLEASE, please be careful when driving in the rain and cautious of other drivers. I had the misfortune of passing by this accident on my way home yesterday and it really hit me right in the gut. I felt sick all evening, thinking of the drivers of the car and the driver of the truck that hit them.

I am...

2008-07-07T12:51:00.003-04:00

I'm not really a flowery type of person, but this is pretty accurate:

I am a
Canna

What Flower
Are You?

"You stand up for what you believe in, even if it gets in the way of what other people think. You are proud of yourself and your accomplishments and you enjoy letting people know that."

And this is also accurate:

You Are An ISFJ

The Nurturer

You have a strong need to belong, and you are very loyal.
A good listener, you excel at helping others in practical ways.
In your spare time, you enjoy engaging your senses through art, cooking, and music.
You find it easy to be devoted to one person, who you do special things for.

In love, you express your emotions through actions.
Taking care of someone is how you love them. And you do it well!

At work, you do well in a structured environment. You complete tasks well and on time.
You would make a good interior designer, chef, or child psychologist.

How you see yourself: Competent, dependable, and detail oriented

When other people don't get you, they see you as: Boring, dominant, and stuck in a rut

What's Your Personality Type?

Happy Independence Day!

2008-07-06T20:21:00.004-04:00

I hope everyone had a fun and safe Independence Day! We've had such a full weekend.

My mom picked up the older girls on Thursday for a sleep-over - what a treat to have just the baby at home! Friday, we went over to her house and BBQ'd and then went over to the county fairgrounds for their Sparklebration celebration and to watch fireworks. Unfortunately, less than 30 minutes after getting there, the skies let loose and it ~~rained~~ poured. Once it let up enough, we left and drove home, upset about not getting to see fireworks. We ended up driving over to Weeki Wachee and watched the fireworks that they set off from the side of the road, along with half of the city. Happy that we got to see fireworks and tired from a long day, we all crashed as soon as we got home.

We all slept in a little later than usual on Saturday and then the girls and I went and did our weekly shopping. We picked up some water squirters from Target and the girls played in the sprinklers with those for a while. We had an amazing dinner, complete with our own watermelon eating contest (Celeste won!), and then played Scrabble together.

Today has been a nice relaxing day. We took the girls to see Wall-E. Such a good movie and I love the message - we have to take care of our Earth. It was neat to see the realization on Celeste's face that the longer people were lazy, the bigger they would get and the harder it was for them to not be lazy. We played some hide and seek and now the kids are getting in bed.

I hope everyone has had as good a weekend as we've had. I love family weekends.

Wooty, woot, woot!

2008-07-03T00:02:00.002-04:00

FINALLY!!!

I can't begin to tell you how much of a geek I am when it comes to this show. After NBC canned Surface after just one season on me, I was afraid Heroes was facing the same doom. But, apparently I am not the only one in love with this show.

Yarny Goodness

2008-07-01T21:44:00.004-04:00

I finally decided on a pattern for the Cascade 220 that I had. I was planning on making the Cupcake pattern from the Stitch 'n Bitch: Happy Hooker book. Unfortunately, I have only one skein. I know Cascade 220 is a ~~fairly~~ very common yarn, so I figured it would be no problem to find more. I started on the pattern and worked through the entire skein in one day.

I headed over to my favorite LYS today - which is Fibert Art in Odessa, FL btw. I'd link you, but they don't have a website - however, if you're in the Tampa area, they are on Gunn Hwy in the Citrus Park area and they are the bestest.

Where was I? Oh yeah, trek to the LYS to buy more Cascade 220 in Lavender, color # 2422. Seems like a fairly simple task, yes? No. :( Color has been discontinued. Boo. Soooo, that project has been placed to the side for now, until I can either find more Lavender, or work up the courage to frog it and start over with a new yarn.

I didn't leave the LYS empty-handed though, oh no. I got the new Crochet Today magazine. Loving the Lacy Baby Frock - too cute. Also got some Debbie Bliss that was on clearance - no clue what I'm going to do with it, but it was too good a deal to pass. Some Mirasol Cotanani in a pretty teal green color. And the most gorgeous yarn I have purchased to date, a beautiful lace weight Malabrigo in Indigo colorway - so soft, so smooshy, so perfect I'm almost afraid to make anything with it. But I will, just gotta find the right pattern.

Re-Inspired

2008-06-26T11:22:00.004-04:00

It's been soo long since I've crocheted anything. Pretty much nil since Camille started walking and nothing finished all year. :::sigh:::

Last night, I decided I needed to make something. So I searched through the project pages on Ravelry to find something cute and easy and fast. And I found this pattern, it took me less than 1 hour total crochet time. I think it took me more time to pick out the buttons than it did to make the cuff.

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary. How Does Your Garden Grow?

2008-06-22T20:53:00.007-04:00

With silver bells, and cockle shells,
And marigolds all in a row.

Well, we don’t have marigolds or silver bells, but we do have pumpkins, cucumbers, tomatoes and more!

We (read – hubby) finally got the outside planter boxes built for our garden. Unfortunately, the seedlings we had growing inside were not able to handle the heat after being inside and all died, so we had to start over. So we had some dirt delivered and got to work.

My friend, Deva, introduced us to the idea of Square-Footing and we both thought it was a great idea. We modified it a bit and just did rows, but having the dividers definitely makes it much neater.

We planted carrots, cucumbers, snap peas, green beans, lettuce, pumpkin and grape tomatoes. I’m hoping that we didn’t plant too late and they will survive and produce. I’m really looking forward to being able to eat our own vegetables - chemical-free, pesticide-free, home-grown vegetables.

And look! Most of the seedlings have already sprouted! Yay! Sorry this pictures sucks so badly, it was dark outside when I took the photo.

Take 5 Friday

2008-06-20T23:26:00.006-04:00

Christine, over at Organizational Enlightenment is taking a break from the Take 5 Friday, but I decided to go ahead and participate this week. The idea is to share an organizational tip or project that can be completed in about 5 minutes.

More than organizing, my Take 5 is more like Loonette's 10 Second Tidy from the Big Comfy Couch. Only, I didn't stuff everything under the couch cushions like she does.

Before:

and After:

Gosh, that's better.

The Game

2008-06-20T12:58:00.007-04:00

I found this meme on BitterSweet's blog a while ago and created the photo montage on Flickr. I thought it would be fun to share with everyone else.

1. Grevillea Ned Kelly with native bee 2. My first strawberries of the season… 3. This is a bell tower… 4. Make a … wish 5. Billie Joe 6. When waves collide 7. Austrian Mountain Walk 8. Strawberry Shortcake 9. Don’t Worry, Be Happy… 10. laughing 11. Mama Cat 12. Milly’s Round Ripple Blanket

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

The concept:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd's mosaic maker.

The Questions:

1. What is your first name? Kelly - aren't those some pretty flowers!?!
2. What is your favorite food? Strawberries, anything with strawberries.
3. What high school did you go to? Hillsborough Senior High School.
4. What is your favorite color? Purple.
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Billie Joe Armstrong. *sigh*
6. Favorite drink? Water, plain - no lemon please.
7. Dream vacation? Austrian Mountains, really anywhere Eauropean, but I love the Alps and surrounding areas.
8. Favorite dessert? Strawberry Shortcake, naturally.
9. What you want to be when you grow up? Happy
10. What do you love most in life? My children naturally, but I really love the sound of children laughing.
11. One Word to describe you? Mama.
12. Your flickr name? ykelly1 - this was the only pricture that came up in Flickr when I searched for my name. lol

Wanna play along? Let me know so I can check out your photo montages! :)

Blog Contests

2008-06-17T11:59:00.004-04:00

Mom's Crafty Life is having a give-a-way over at her site for a $25 Amazon gift card. There's some books I've been eyeing that I could sure use that for...hmmm, as of right now, I am the only contestant. Ok, that's it, no one read further, do not enter the above linked contest, I will be the WINNER! lol

Also, found on her blog was a link to John Chow's website/blog, where he is having a give-a-way for a Market Leverage Nike bag full of goodies. Goodies like a t-shirt, golf shirt, jacket, cap, as well as some really cool goodies like a flip video camera, $200 Market Leverage Amex Rewards card, USB drive that is also a pen, and an engraved iPod Nano. How cool would that be!?!

And last, but not least, Laura over at Organizing Junkie is (was) having a give-a-way for all of the people who participate in the Menu Plan Mondays! The give-a-way is for a Meal-Planning Notebook Planner. It allows you to list and track your grocery list and dinner menus for each week of the year all in one convenient location - not just main dishes, but side items and desserts as well.

Take 5 Tuesday

2008-06-17T09:40:00.003-04:00

I came across this blog and thought that it would be cool to have a weekly meme to post each Tuesday. However, it doesn't look like it's been updated in a few weeks, so I'm posting my own 5's that I stole from a meme on someone else's blog. If the Take 5 Tuesday blog starts updating again, then I'll start participating there.

5 things on my "to do" list today:
1. Clean off my desk at home.
2. Go through the girls clothes and sort by keep, toss and donate.
3. Go grocery shopping.
4. Finish laundry.
5. Pay some bills.

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
1. Build a bigger home for us.
2. Pay off my mom’s house and all debt (I guess hubby’s mom too)
3. Set up college trust funds for the girls.
4. Donate.
5. Invest.

5 Bad Habits:
1. Constant worrier, borderline paranoid.
2. Eat too much, especially when nervous or bored.
3. I have a short temper.
4. Dawdle at work, not focused (for example: posting this on my blog instead of working).
5. Don’t exercise regularly.

5 Places that I've lived:
1. Fort Stewart, Georgia
2. Augsburg, Germany
3. Palm Bay, Florida
4. Tampa, Florida
5. Spring Hill, Florida

5 Jobs that I've had:
1. Cashier at Publix (that lasted about 3 months in HS).
2. Do everything girl at Hell (AKA – Office Depot).
3. Sales Admin at Pulte Homes
4. Wife
5. Most important job e-vah - Mommy

Menu Plan Monday

2008-06-16T13:02:00.003-04:00

I've decided that I need to get back into Meal Planning - the last few months that I've been away from blogging/meal planning have been chocked full of eating out, fast-food and random dinners eaten at 8pm because I just started thinking about dinner at 7pm. So, here's our plan for this week.

My hubby is in training again for work for the next few weeks, so our menu will probably be mostly vegetarian throughout the week, with our "meat meals" only on weekends.

Monday: Cheese Ravioli with marinara sauce, whole wheat rolls and a Big Ass Salad.

Tuesday: Morningstar Farms Corn "Dogs" with homemade mac-n-cheese and green beans.

Wednesday: Loaded baked potatoes with a BAS.

Thursday: Breakfast For Dinner! Homemade banana pancakes, scrambled eggs and Morningstar Farms breakfast patties.

Friday: Cheese Quesadillas and fruit smoothies.

Saturday: Parmesan crusted Tilapia, steamed brown rice with beans.

Sunday: Either Roast Beef or Roast Chicken with potatoes and carrots and a nice BAS.

For more menu ideas, check our Organizing Junkie.

Apparantly, I really am a goody-goody

2008-06-16T08:18:00.002-04:00

You Are 14% Evil

You are good. So good, that you make evil people squirm.
Just remember, you may need to turn to the dark side to get what you want!

How Evil Are You?

I'm going to try and start posting our weekly menus again. Hopefully later today, I will get one posted.

Chocolate S'mores Cupcakes Part Two

2008-06-11T08:50:00.002-04:00

This time, I used the same cupcake but topped with a Mashmallow Frosting, some graham cracker cumbs, a small graham cracker square and a small piece of Hershey's chocolate.

The frosting was a bit runny. I think that the next time I make these, I will try to make it a bit thicker by using less butter and maybe more of the powdered sugar. We'll see.

So - which do you think look better? These or the original? I am baking these for my company's annual family picnic - there is a baking contest. The picnic is this Friday, so I've been testing these out.

My trip to Phoenix

2008-06-10T09:41:00.004-04:00

Many people are already aware of this, but for those that aren’t – Green Day has had, over the years, many side projects: Pinhead Gunpowder, The Frustrators, The Network, as well as other business ventures. Their newest side band is Foxboro Hot Tubs. I’ve not had the chance to hear most of the other side bands, so I cannot compare which is better, but I do love Foxboro Hot Tubs. They have a raw, garage, 60ish, fresh punk sound.

Early-to-mid May they announced a mini tour – in clubs. Clubs that hold maybe 400-500 people. In comparison, the last time I saw Green Day in concert was in a venue that held more than 20,000 people. Of course, there were no dates scheduled near me. However, there was one date scheduled for Memorial Day weekend. But it was in Phoenix, AZ. I live in Florida. I don’t know how, but I managed to talk my hubby into letting us spend the money so that I could go. I’ve never done something so impulsive, frivolous or irrational in my life, but I’m oh-so glad I did. I met up with some people from the Green Day Authority forums, some people that I never knew before that weekend, but I now consider friends. I only stayed for 1 day, but we all clicked so easily. I guess when you’re stuck in line for hours on end, you get to know people.

I arrived in Phoenix about 1:30pm and was anxious as I stepped off the plane. This was a buy your ticket at the door (availability limited due to venue size, of course) type of thing. I knew that people had been lining up since 9am and I was nervous that I had just flown across the country without guarantee of entry. I tried to rush through checking in at my hotel, but there were key issues. Once we finally got the key issue fixed, I mad-dash changed my clothes, brushed my hair and tried to make myself look like I hadn’t been sitting on a plane for the last 6 hours.

By this time it's about 2:30 and I am in panic mode about getting a spot in line, even though the wonderful friends I mentioned above had already said I was ok to join their group. I get to the elevator and there's another gentleman there already. I'm on the 18th floor, we get down to about the 15th floor and the door opens and in walks Tre Cool. My heart skipped more than a few beats and I think my eyes almost fell out of their sockets. Managed to keep my mouth shut and not drool, we get down to about the 3rd-4th floor and finally my brain kicks in that if I don't say something RIGHT NOW, I'm not going to get this chance again, so I stammered out "ummm, before I have a heart attack, can I please get an autograph or a picture?" He kind of half chuckled and said "sure, just don't have a heart attack." We're at the lobby level by now, so as we walk out of the elevator, I ask the other gentleman to take our picture and after the picture, Tre gives me a little hug and says "man, you're shaking!" I think that I was soo nervous because he was “off the clock” so to speak, he could have said no or ignored me or been rude. But he wasn’t rude and he didn’t say no.

We sat/stood in line until 7pm when we were allowed in the venue. Once inside we waited for another hour-hour and a half for the opening band. Girls with Guns. They sucked. Granted they had sound issues, and maybe without the vocals they would have sounded better. But, let’s just say that I wasn’t a fan.

Once the main act came out on stage, the already packed crowd rushed the stage. Billie Joe kept telling everyone to “come closer to me!” and boy did they try. I managed to keep my spot, got the bruises to prove it too. The show was phenomenal, soo intense and the band was very interactive with the crowd. Billie Joe did not play guitar at all, they had a guest guitarist for that and he was soo cute, really seemed to be having a blast up on stage with them. Billie Joe and Mike Dirnt both crowd surfed, Billie more than a few times. Billie Joe also kept leaning over into the crowd, right by where I was, and we were all just reaching up touching him – his hair, face, arms and I know a few girls who got a bit more *ahem* personal. There were people from the crowd up on stage for just about every song and the guys seemed to welcome them. At one point, I believe, Billie Joe was asking for more people to get up there.

After the show, our group kind of hung around talking, waiting to see if any of the guys would come out. I saw Jason Freese (touring sax/flute/keyboard/etc player) and Jason White (touring guitarist), but didn’t get a chance to talk to either of them. I then saw Mike Dirnt and went over to where he was. I got a hug from him and after a few different people asked, he autographed stuff for people. I had bought a vinyl of the Mother Mary single, so I asked him to sign that. After that, we tried to hang around to see if Billie Joe would come out but security was practically pushing us out the door.

Last minute airfare to Phoenix: $400
Hotel: $100
Misc. Incidentals: $200
Getting up close and personal with my favorite band: PRICELESS
I'm soo glad I went.

They were very strict about the “no photos” rule, so I wasn’t able to get any pictures of the show itself. It was soo crazy packed, I wouldn’t have been able to even if I wanted though. The only decent picture that I have from that weekend was of our group waiting in line, so I’ll share that with you:

All the way from Ireland (!!!), Oklahoma, Florida, NYC, Washington (state, not DC), Missouri (??), New Mexico (x2), and Minnesota!

Chocolate S'mores Cupcakes

2008-06-09T12:23:00.003-04:00

Alright, so they're totally not healthy, or even home-made (I used a box mix and pre-made frosting), but they were oh-so-tastey!

I used a box of Pillsbury chocolate cake mix, prepared per directions. Celeste dropped 8-9 mini-marshmallows into each cupcake liner, and then we filled with cupcake mix. Bake as directed. Once cooled, frosted with Pillsbury chocolate frosting. Tip - if you whip the frosting in the mixer for a minute or so, it makes the frosting fluffier and you can use less frosting, without losing taste. We then sprinkled with graham cracker crumbs, topped with a few mini-marshmaalows and a small square of graham cracker. YUM!

The tast verdicts:

Kaitlyn - moist, tastey and marshmallowey. Celeste - ewey, gooey and delicious!

I'd say they were a hit. :)

Slow Typer

2008-06-07T16:41:00.005-04:00

Well, I used to think I was a speedy typer. I mean I knew I wasn't fast, but I didn't realize I was this slow.

52 words

Speedtest

How fast are you?

CVS Good Deal of the day

2008-06-07T10:02:00.004-04:00

I've mentioned before just how much I love CVS. Here's my latest testament to the goodness that is CVS.

3 packages of Pampers diapers
6 bags Chex Mix
2 packages of cotton swabs
4 bottles of dish-soap
2 bottles of kid's mouth wash
7 small packages of batteries
2 boxes of band-aids
and 1 bag of gummy worms

Sub-total before coupons: $73.23

Total out of pocket spent: $15.22

Would have been less out of pocket, but I was low on Extra Care Bucks to start with. I split this up into a few transactions, so that I could use the ECB s I earned for each transaction on the next transaction. Oh, and I earned back $15.00 in ECBs to spend another day.

Update on Milly's surgery

2008-06-06T20:49:00.003-04:00

Today was Camille's post-op appointment with the surgeon, so I thought I'd share some info about her surgery.

We had surgery last Friday to remove a dermoid cyst that was on her forehead. We noticed the bump when she was about 3-4 months old, and asked about it at her 4 month check-up. After that, we did an MRI and met with 2 specialists to determine what we were doing. The 2nd specialist, a plastic surgeon, recommended that we wait until she was at least 1 year old before proceeding with surgery. So we waited for what felt like forever, but once it came up on us, felt like it was very rushed. I know that's contradictory, but I'm sure any parent whose been in a similar situation knows exactly what I mean.

The surgery went well, but took a little bit longer than expected. Turned out the cyst was much bigger than they thought it was, it had embedded itself pretty deep into her skull and what was visible was only the tip of it. The surgeon said that it was roughly the size of a marble, whereas we originally thought it was about the size of a small pea. I know we did the right thing by going ahead with the surgery, if it had gotten any bigger it would have worked it's way through her skull.

All of the nurses, the anesthesiologist, the surgeon - they were all wonderful. kept us in the loop on everything, they all appropriately loved on Camille, just plain friendly and nice. It made the whole ordeal much easier.

They were also very pro-breastfeeding and were happy to hear that we were still nursing past one year. Each time I had talked to someone regarding the surgery, I was told that she wasn't going to be allowed to eat or drink anything after midnight the night before. Her surgery was scheduled for 10am! When I finally talked to the anesthesiologist, I asked again if she would be allowed to nurse any time after midnight. She asked "breast-milk, or formula?" When I replied breast-milk, she said that I could nurse her up to 4 hours before surgery because breast-milk was soo much easier for babies to digest. This was a huge relief to me, as Milly has a huge nursing session everyday about 5am, so the timing was perfect.

They also encouraged me to breastfeed Camille as soon as she wanted after the surgery because she would be hungry and "she's going to want that comfort from her mama." It was very nice to hear someone (or in this case, multiple someones) in the medical field so supportive of breastfeeding, even past one year.

Before surgery:

And immediately after:

24 hours later, you can see how swollen and bruised her eye is:

And today, 1 week later:

A new kind of game

2008-06-06T01:34:00.004-04:00

So, I found this meme on BitterSweet's blog and thought it was really cool. I wasn't tagged or anything, just wanted to play along. Click on the mosaic, check out the notes and description, and create your own. It's fun and it doesn't hurt a bit, I promise.

I'mmm baaacckk!

2008-06-05T22:31:00.002-04:00

Holy time-warp Batman! I cannot believe it's been 3 months since I've last posted. What a slacker! So much has happened in that time that's blog worthy: Camille had her surgery, Celeste graduated from Kindergarten, last day of school for Kait and Celeste is tomorrow, I flew to Phoenix!, by myself!, to see a band! I'll create a blog post for each, but for now; just a quick note to say I'm still alive and I'm back.

Seven Things Meme

2008-02-29T09:32:00.002-05:00

I've been tagged for a meme by Dani over at InsaKnity!

The rules...
1) Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2) Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3) Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4) Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

7 Things about Me
1.) I still get carded to buy lottery tickets.

2.) I can handle rats, mice, lizards, frogs, spiders, just about any type of bug - but roaches send me screaming.

3.) I LOVE going to Disney World and am really looking forward to our trip next weekend.

4.) I collect carousel horses.

5.) I love to read, but am very picky about who I will read - Stephen King, Dean Koontz and Christopher Pike are my 3 favorite authors.

6.) I am NOT looking forward to working this weekend.

7.) I have a really bad habit of finding a new hobby, getting totally sucked into it and forgetting everything else, including past hobbies. It's almost like I cannot concentrate on more than one hobby at a time.

I don't know a lot of bloggers, so I'm just going to leave this open and anyone who wants to blog is hereby tagged.

Going Green

2008-02-28T21:53:00.003-05:00

With the ever-raising prices of groceries lately, and just our desire to grow our own veggies, the girls and I planted some seeds and are starting a vegetable garden. Since it's still somewhat cold outside (although not too cold, we do live in FL after all), we have them in small pots in the house for now. Once it's warmer, we'll plant them outside in the space Craig is preparing to be our garden.

Here's some pictures of the girls planting the seeds:

One week later:

Two weeks after planting: They're growing like, dare I say it, weeds!

There I go, slacking in the posting department

2008-02-12T21:49:00.004-05:00

But to make up for it, I'm sharing a video of my littlest's newest feat. :)

Fancy editing, complete with typos, by the hubby. lol

ALSO - GreenStyleMom is hosting another giveaway. This time for a mom & kid set of earth-friendly water bottles from SIGG to celebrate SIGG's 100th anniversary. There's also a link in her post to enter for a chance to win a trip to Hawaii to see Jack Johnson. (But, you can't enter because we don't want the competition!)

Menu Plan Monday

2008-01-28T20:18:00.000-05:00

Damnit! Blogger ate my post. I will try to get my Menu Plan re-typed up later.

Menu Plan Monday

2008-01-21T19:23:00.001-05:00

Dh starts his new shift at work today, so we've had to re-arrange our child-care situation. On one hand, his shift is now 10am-7pm, so he is home in time to help with bed-time, we all get to see him more and he's not soo tired all the time. On the other hand, with this shift, we have no choice but to enroll Camille in a daycare. Today was her first day. The teacher in her class wrote me a little note to let me know what a sweet, snuggly little love my Milly-bear is. Ha - as if I didn't know this already.

Here's our menu plan for the week.

Monday: Parmasean crusted chicken fingers, steamed rice, broccoli.

Tuesday: Pan-seared strip steak, buttered egg noodles, sweet corn.

Wednesday: Vege-tacos with all the fixin's.

Thursday: Oven-baked jumbo shrimp, homemade mac'n'cheese, broccoli.

Friday: Breakfast for dinner.

Saturday: Free Night, no plans.

Sunday: BBQ Chicken drumsticks, garlic-buttered new potatoes, corn on the cob.

Check out Organizing Junkie's site for more menu ideas.

Menu Plan Monday (er... Tuesday)

2008-01-15T17:14:00.000-05:00

So, I'm a day late on this, but here's our menu for the week.

Monday: Cheesy Turkey Meatloaf, mashed potaoes and green beans.

Tuesday: Lemon Garlic Talapia, steamed rice and broccoli.

Wednesday: Vege-spaghetti with a big salad and crusty bread.

Thursday: Roasted chicken, garlic buttered new potatoes and corn.

Friday: Italian tukey sausages with pasta and green beans.

Saturday: Free Night, no plans.

Sunday: BBQ Chicken, baked potatoes and corn on the cob.

CVS Good Deal of the Day

2008-01-09T10:53:00.000-05:00

I've recently become hooked on shopping at CVS and am AMAZED at how much money I'm saving! I know what you're thinking, CVS jacks up the prices on everything they sell. Yes, they do, but they also offer these nifty things they call Extra Care Bucks that you earn on stuff you buy that you can use for future purchases. It's almost like spending the same dollar over and over again.

Kaitlyn is sick and we're also out of Tylenol, so I head over to CVS (coupons in hand). I bought 2 bottles of Robotussin, Tylenol, Children's Motrin and Sudafed. I also added in some Palmolive dish soap. I did 2 transactions.

1st transaction: 2 bottles of Robotussin, 3 bottles of Palmolive dish soap. Total out of pocket: $1.06
Robotussin $5.99 each (on sale Buy 1, Get 1 Free)
Palmolive $1.49 each (x3) (added to bring total up to over $10)
Sub-total $10.46
$2 off $10 purchase CVS coupon -$2.00
Robotussin Manufacturer coupon -$3.00 (x2)
Palmolive manufacturer coupon -$.25 (x2 - I was short one coupon)
Sub-total after coupons $1.96
Paid with $1.00 ECB, cash (change) for the remainder/tax.
Oh, and I earned $3.00 ECB back for the Palmolive!

2nd transaction: Tylenol, Sudafed and Children's Motrin. Total out of pocket: $.97 that's right Nintey-seven cents.
Tylenol $9.99
Motrin $5.99
Sudafed $4.99
Sub-total $20.97
$4 of $20 purchase CVS coupon -$4.00
Tylenol manufacturer coupon -$1.00
Motrin manufacturer coupon -$1.00
Sudafed manufacturer coupon -$1.00
Sub-total after coupons $13.97
Even that would be a good deal, but, I paid for the $13 with ECB and just paid the change.
Oh, and I earned $10.00 ECB back to use another day.

So, I spent $2.03 out of pocket and earned back $13.00 to spend another day. Works for me!

New Year's Resolutions

2008-01-08T23:16:00.000-05:00

Yeah, yeah, I know - it's the 8th already, but I wanted to share my resolutions with the blogging world to keep myself in check.

Resolution # 1 - Lose 45 pounds. I know it's a cliche resolution, but I am putting it out there anyway. I am working on cutting out sodas and junk food from my diet completely. I am also working on upping my veggies intake, and lean towards more whole foods.

Resolution # 2 - Continue to crochet. I really enjoy this avenue of creativity, and keeping my hands busy with this hobby definitely helps with resolution # 1. I would also like to get a sewing machine and learn that as well, just crafty-creativity in general really.

Resolution # 3 - Set aside a weekly time for "Family Time." We sort of slipped out of this habit when the baby was born, but we used to play board games or hide & seek together as a family before bed-time every night. I loved that time together, no TV, no video games, no homework, no internet, no cell phone texting - just us together, having fun.

So there you have it. Any one feel like sharing their resolutions?

Menu Plan Monday

2008-01-07T11:12:00.000-05:00

What a terrible blogger I've been! Man, the last few weeks have just been a whirl-wind and I've had a hard time jsut keeping my head on straight! I need to get back into a routine, online and in real life as well.

Getting right back into things, here's my menu for the week. We have got to start eating better and having a menu always helps.

Monday: Grilled Chicken with yellow rice and black beans. Big yummy salad on the side for me.

Tuesday: Vege Tacos with all the fixin's.

Wednesday: Steaks with mashed tater's and breen beans.

Thursday: Parmasean Chicken with angel hair pasta, broccoli and garlic bread.

Friday: Grilled Cheese sandwhiches and chicken noodle soup for the girls, Panera Broccoli Cheese Soup for me.

Saturday: Left-overs.

Sunday: No plans, probably grab take-out Chinese.

For more menu plans, visit Organizing Junkie!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2007-12-31T23:05:00.001-05:00

I hope everyone out there has a safe and happy new year's. We are having a nice, quiet evening at home. Camille has conked out already, but Celeste and Kait are staying up with us to ring in the new year.

What a year this has been! We've had soo many good things happen this year. We finally got good news from USCIS (formally INS) for Craig, we welcomed our baby Camille to our family, Celeste started Kindergarten, Kaitlyn continues to do well in school and was invited to join the Tri-M Music Honor Society for band and more recently, we've gone from a one-income family to two incomes.

I am looking forward to the new year, the new challenges and happy things that will come with it. Happy New Year everyone!

And THIS is why I hate living in Florida...

2007-12-18T16:33:00.000-05:00

Saturday, it's 80+ degrees outside. We're wearing shorts, short sleeve shirts and flip flops. Washing the car, riding bikes, playing outside. It all sounds lovely, yes? NO! It's December, it's supposed to be cold!

Yeah, well fast forward to Monday - it's 34 degrees outside in the morning. Sigh. This is why people get sick, the constant up and down with the temps wreak havok on a body's immune system.

Holiday Traditions Festival - Week 3

2007-12-17T11:36:00.001-05:00

Christmas Cookie Baking ensued this weekend at our household. We made lots of yummylicious (that's a Celeste word, btw) goodies. We also made some banana bread that made our whole house smell delicious. They should make a candle that smells that good, maybe then I'd actually light candles.

Tada! Our finished cookies:

Another holiday tradition in our family is the countdown. We make a paper link chain and take one chain off each night before bed. Some years, I fancy it up and put little activities for us to enjoy together on the back of some of the rings. Not this year, though. It seems there's not enough time to breath, let alone be creative.

And last, but certainly not least - thanks to a suggestion from Shannon at Gabi's World, I was able to get a picture of our outside lights. :) Thanks, Shannon.

The countdown is offically on - only 8 days until Christmas! Anyone else out there totally and completely unprepared? We have hardly anything purchased as far as presents go, I'm way behind on my holiday crocheting, nothing is wrapped. At the rate I'm going, I might be ready by the time NEXT Christmas rolls around. At least the decorations and baking are done. :)

Head over to Melissa's blog for more Holiday Traditions!

Menu Plan Monday

2007-12-17T08:47:00.000-05:00

Can you believe that it's almost Christmas, that this year is nearly over!?! It seems silly to say "where does the time go?", but really, where does it go? How is it possible that just yesterday, I was complaining about still being pregnant and now my baby is almost 8 months old? How is it possible that just last week, I was watching my little girl take her first steps and now she is 5 years old? How is it possible that just last month, I was watching my big girl walk into Kindergarten for the very first time and now she is 2 weeks away from 14?

Sigh.

Onto the weekly menu-

Monday: Kaitlyn has a concert for band tonight, so we will be having something quick and easy - either frozen dinners or we'll order a pizza.

Tuesday: Ham Steaks with buttered egg noddles and corn on the cob.

Wednesday: Roasted Chicken with mashed potatoes and glazed carrots.

Thursday: Vege-Spaghetti with salad and garlic bread.

Friday: Chicken (left-overs) with steamed rice and black beans.

Saturday: Free Night - no plans. Hubby and I will probably be shopping this weekend.

Sunday: Dinner at mom's house. We usually do our Christmas at mom's on Christmas Eve, buy hubby has to work, so we are going Sunday and the kids are sleeping over so that we can finish wrapping and preparing for Christmas.

Have a great week, everyone! Check out Organizing Junkie for more menu ideas.

In keeping with the "Goin' Old School" theme here...

2007-12-14T11:58:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd share a story with you from when my oldest (now 13) was almost 8.

I was newly pregnant with Celeste and we had recently had "THE" talk with Kaitlyn about where babies come from and how they get there, etc, etc. She and I were driving in the car one day and she made an off-handed comment about wishing she never had twins. When I questioned why, she replied that she wouldn't be able to feed them both. I assured her that yes, if she had twins, she would be able to feed them, that is after-all why we have TWO breasts. She sat quietly in the car for a moment and then quipped "well, then I hope I never have triplets!" lol

I've been reminiscing a LOT lately. My oldest will be 14 next month. Fourteen. I realized this morning that I could potentially be a grandmother in 10 years time. Eeek!

Wordless Wednesday - Goin' Old School

2007-12-12T11:45:00.001-05:00

Taken May 2002, look at how teeny, tiny my girls were.

For more, visit the Wordless Wednesday Headquarters.

Happy Day!

2007-12-11T09:36:00.000-05:00

Happy birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday toooooo meeeeeeee, Happy Birthday to me!

OK, now that I got that out of my system, in case you didn't know - today is my birfday. And to celebrate I went yarn shopping the other day. I got some yummy fingering weight yarn in a pastel purple that will go towards something for Camille, a worsted weight pastel purple that will go towards something for Celeste and a gorgeous teal colored aran weight yarn that I'm not sure what I'm going to do with.

And then, as an added bonus, I got a package in the mail yesterday from a yarn exchange that I was taking part of and I got THIS yummylicious sock yarn from ShiBui Knits. *drool*

Holiday Traditions Festival - Week 2

2007-12-10T15:25:00.000-05:00

We got our outside lights up over the weekend. The baby was napping and the two older girls were playing together (and *not* fighting - !!!), so hubby and had a nice chance to catch up from the week and just talk and relax together. We tried to get pictures, but it was way too dark when the pictures were taken, so all you can see is the outline of the lights! lol

Every year, I love to bake, bake, bake and bake some more. I always make way too much sweet stuff and end up bringing a bunch to work. Hey, they’re not complaining so why change. Here’s a few of the tasty treats I make each year.

Pecan Tassies - These were always my grandma’s favorite and are a favorite of my dad as well.

Peanut Butter Cookies - Just the recipe off of the PB jar.

Banana Bread - I add a splash of vanilla to this recipe and it is so yummy.

Oatmeal Cookies - Craig and Celeste both LOVE these, especially when I add raisins.

For some reason, I can NEVER get sugar cookies just right, so this year we’re going to try a new recipe from Pioneer Woman - Fingers crossed that they come out well.

I think I’m going to try these this year as well. They look scrumptious!

And I really want to try making gingerbread cookies, but I haven’t found a recipe yet and I think I’ve got enough going on, so that will get pushed to the back-burner.

I will be sure to post some pictures once all of our delectable treats are complete.

Head on over to Melissa's blog to see more Holiday traditions and ideas, or to join in and share your holiday traditions!

Menu Plan Monday

2007-12-10T11:34:00.000-05:00

Going with a pretty easy week here. Still trying to get used to hubby not being here in the evenings, luckily littlest one takes a nap right about 5:30 every day, so I have time to prepare dinner.

This week we'll be starting Holiday baking. Will post more details on that later.

Monday: Vege-tacos with all the fixin’s.

Tuesday: Italian style sausage with steamed rice and broccoli.

Wednesday: WW Spaghetti with crusty bread and salad.

Thursday: Strip steaks with baked taters and green beans.

Friday: Homemade vege-chili over rice for me and grilled cheese with fruit for the girls.

Saturday: BBQ chicken with garlic roasted potatoes and corn on the cob.

Sunday: Free Night!

For more menu ideas, head on over to Organizing Junkie.

Blog Reviews

2007-12-08T01:09:00.000-05:00

I haven't ever taken the time to make a linked-list of blogs I visit regularly, so I'm just going to share a few with you here.

Melissa at Banana Migraine and I met through an AP message board that we are both still a part of. It's amazing how much has changed in the years that I've been posting there and how close I feel to all of these wonderful mamas that I haven't had the pleasure to meet in real life yet. Plus she's got the Holiday Traditions Festival going on right now, and I love reading about other people's holiday traditions. But the real reason I stalk her blog is to catch new pictures of her A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E children. Seriously.

InsaKnity is a blog for the knitters from the above mentioned AP message board. Although I don't knit, I appreciate the time, care and effort that goes into their works and I love looking at their beautiful finished works of art.

Another Melissa at Inner Child Crochet was soo helpful to me when I first started crocheting again. I was having a serious brain-fart moment and did a search for crochet help. Her blog came up and I sent her a random email asking for help about a hat, she was soo kind and helpful and responded to my many, many questions. She is an amazingly talented crocheter and has several patterns on her site.

I first came upon Green Style Mom's blog through the Menu Plan Mondays. I love reading her product reviews, as I am always on th elookout for more "green" products, toys, etc. Plus she lives in a co-housing community and I've always thought that would be neat.

And, last but not least, I found Bitter Sweet's blog through a pattern from Ravelry. She takes amazing photograghs, is a crazy talented crocheter/knitter and writes the funniest, wittiest blog posts.

Care to share your favorite blogs?

Wordless Wednesday - Camille's New Trick. Eeeek!

2007-12-05T08:56:00.000-05:00

For more, visit the Wordless Wednesday Headquarters.

Holiday Traditions Festival

2007-12-03T22:59:00.000-05:00

Melissa over at Banana Migraine is hosting the Holiday Traditions Festival, a fun way for everyone to share their family's holiday traditions. Head on over to her blog to see more traditions and ideas, or to join in and share your holiday traditions!

Every year, one of the first things we do to get in the holiday spirit is to decorate the tree and house, while listening to Christmas music. I always like to try and do this the first weekend in December.

So, this past weekend we dusted off the A Pooh Christmas CD and put up the tree while listening to Pooh and friend's version of The Twelve Days of Chirstmas. We weren't able to get the outside lights up yet, so we'll do that this weekend coming up. I think next year, I'll be asking Santa for some new ornaments and tree decorations. We've had the same decorations and tree since our first Christmas together, in 1998. We will be keeping our angel though. She's always the last thing that Craig adds to the tree. The girls and I sit on the couch and ooh and ahh over the lights while Craig reaches up on tippy toes to position her just right. I can't imagine a different tree topper for our family tree.

Here is a picture of our table decoration. I love snowmen and have collected several different ones. The teddy bears music box is from my childhood - it still works! Celeste loves to listen to it. And an added bonus - in the backround is a photo from our wedding. :)

Menu Plan Monday

2007-12-03T12:53:00.001-05:00

This week's menu will mostly be items we already have on hand. Trying to watch the budget. Since Craig's new job will have him away from home at dinner-time, I'll be able to make more vegetarian meals throughout the week.

Monday: Vege-Spaghettti with salad and bread.

Tuesday: Seasoned chicken, steamed rice and green beans.

Wednesday: Stuffed baked potatoes with steamed broccoli.

Thursday: Oven-fried chicken srumsticks with mashed taters and corn on the cob.

Friday: Left-overs.

Saturday: Home-made pizzas, using this recipe for the dough. So easy and tasty.

Sunday: Free night.

I've started getting into my holiday baking mode. Yesterday, I made home-made bread for the girls' sandwiches for lunch and it is delicious, if I do say so. I plan on making some more bread, some of my favorite mini-quiches and probably some rice-krispy treat for the girls.

For more menu ideas, head on over to Organizing Junkie!

It is complete...

2007-12-01T22:53:00.000-05:00

And I am going to go cry now. I wish I had taken before pictures, it was beautiful. Gorgeous, soft, even stitches, just a few ruffly edges. I thought, no big, it's made from 100% wool yarn, I'll block it to get the edges flat. Biggest mistake ever. Getting maried at 17 to the biggest ass-wipe in the world was a good idea in comparison.

It is now all stretched out, completely lost it's shape and, the kicker, it stinks. Horribly. Like one of those non-shaving hair removal products bad, Veet or Nair I think it's called. It's RANK.

My darling husband, being the ever so NOT understanding gentleman that he is, scolded me for about 5 minutes on how unbelievably emotional I was acting over something so trivial. I think he lost a few fingers in the act, but he helped me squish it back into a remotely similar shape, we sprayed it thoroughly with Fabreeze and threw a towel over it to dry.

I am HOPING and praying that when it is dry, it will once again resemble the blanket I loved before blocking.

Family Updates

2007-11-29T17:26:00.001-05:00

The time has finally come where our family isn't able to survive on my income alone anymore; our savings that we had put aside for my maternity leave are depleted. Craig was offered a job, a good job, in an industry that he loves, and he has accepted. He starts next Monday.

Good thing is the hours are 4pm to 1am for the first 6 weeks (training), so that means only 1-2 hours that we'll need a babysitter. Even better is that since it's such a short time-frame, Kaitlyn will be the baby-sitter. She is looking forward to the experience and earning money and we are both relieved that we will not need to put Camille in a daycare setting just yet. I know that daycare is not the worst thing in the world; it's just not mommy or daddy. Or in this case, sister.

Wish us luck. To say that next week will be an adjustment for us, is an understatement.

And just because I love sharing photos:

A'hoy Matey!

2007-11-29T09:17:00.000-05:00

I needed a break from the tediousness of THE blanket, and wanted something that would give me instant gratification. This was the perfect project. Super cute, super quick little Pirate Pal from the Lion Brand website. I worked on this during my pump breaks at work, and it took only two days to complete. Will be a gift for Kaitlyn, since she is in love with anything pirates.

My Girly's a Daisy!

2007-11-28T09:52:00.000-05:00

Celeste joined Girl Scouts and is now officially a Daisy! She is soo excited about this! She had her second meeting last night and they had their Investiture Ceremony, where the girls are formally welcomed into the world of Girl Scouts. They learned the Girl Scout promise and then had an ice cream party! It was so much fun to watch her participate and make new friends.

My blog is worth what!?

2007-11-26T14:42:00.000-05:00

I always wonder where they come up with these type of things? And how they figure the calculations? What makes a blog worth more? But according to this site, my measley little blog is worth a measly little $1129.08.

I entered the URL of some of my favorite blogs and there's some money-makers out there! Don't know where to cash in on these, but I sure could use an extra $1000.

My blog is worth $1,129.08.
How much is your blog worth?

How much is your blog worth?

Menu Plan Monday

2007-11-26T14:09:00.000-05:00

Can you believe that November is almost over? We are in the last week of November! Where did this year go?

Pretty easy week here for our menu plan, still recouping from last week!

Monday: Lemon Pepper Chicken with steamed rice and broccoli.

Tuesday: Vege tacos with refried beans and all the trimmings. Fruit on the side.

Wednesday: Oven-BBQ chicken legs with baked potatoes and corn on the cob.

Thursday: Cheesy Baked Ziti with a big salad and crusty garlic bread. So, so very yummy and makes a BIG pan, so there's enough to freeze for left-overs.

Friday: BFD! Either french toast or pancakes, eggs, and fruit.

Saturday: Free Night!

Sunday: Grilled Cheese sandwiches with Panera Broccoli Cheese Soup.

Head over to Laura's site to see more meal plans.

Also - Check out the contest that Green Style Mom is hosting for some cool baking gear! I absolutely love baking at this time of year and how cool would some star shaped breads be?!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-22T22:40:00.000-05:00

Not a lot to say, just wanted to share some photos. I hope everyone had a wonderful day, full of family and food. I made dinner this year, and it was soo yummy. And the best part is, I get all the left-overs!

My mom ate dinner with us, here we all are sitting down to eat. Like the girls' turkey wreath hanging in the backround?

Even Camille had some Thanksgiving day dinner. She loved feeding herself the green beans! She also gnawed on a carrot (but didn't eat any of it) and had some mashed sweet potatoes.

After dinner, some of Craig's famile came over to visit. Here's our family, with my mom, his mom, her boyfriend, his two sons and Craig's sister. I love having family together at holidays.

Thankful

2007-11-22T11:37:00.000-05:00

Melissa at Banana Migraine has tagged everyone to share what they are thankful for this Thanksgiving, and everyday. We all have soo very much to be thankful for.

I am thankful for Camille. Before I got pregnant with her, I was going through some serious depression, and when I found out that I was pregnant I wasn't exactly happy. I didn't think I would be able to handle another child emotionally, and had finally come to accept that we were going to have two and only two children. The moment I held her for the first time, and every day since, I can't imagine my life without her. Our family wouldn't be complete without her.

I am thankful for Kaitlyn. She is such a cool, wonderful, beautiful girl. She is a great help in the house, and especially with her younger sisters.

I am thankful for Celeste. My princess. She is such a fun kid. I love seeing her learn everyday.

I am thankful for my best friend, my husband, Craig. Without him in my life, I would be an emotional basketcase. To quote a Blue October song - he "gives me a quiet mind."

I am thankful for our home, my job, our continues good health and our many friends and family that we love soo much.

There are soo many more things that I am grateful for in life, much to much to list in one blog post. I tag any and everyone who feels blessed in life to share what they are thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Crochet Updates

2007-11-21T23:01:00.000-05:00

I've been slacking in the updates department, sorry. I have been getting stuff worked on, just not updating. I've updated my Christmas list a bit. I'm not going to stress myself, I will get done what I can get done. It's not like anyone is expecting homemade gifts. For now though, here's what I've been working on.

1. Milly's Round Ripple Baby Balnket

I'm actually a bit more finished since taking this picture. I've started the pink rounds, so just about 8 more rounds to go until I am done. I keep seeing blogs/posts where people talk about what a quick project this is. I must be the slowest crocheter in the world, because this feels like it is takign for-evah. But I still love the way it looks and the yarn is super soft. It's going to be soo cozy and warm and gorgeous when it's finally done. I really want this to the blanket that Camille drags along with her everywhere as a child, takes with her when she leaves for college and someday passes it on to her own kids.

2. In the meantime, I whipped up these fingerless gloves for my oldest. She asked me to make her two things for Christmas: fingerless gloves and socks. I think I can oblige. I made these using a heavily modified version of this pattern from Inner Child Crochet. Obvioulsy, I didn't include the tops to the mittens/thumbs and they are bigger. I used the same cheapy yarn that I had left over from her hat, so at least they will match!

3. I am still stuck on these damned cute birdies. All I need to do is add the beaks and eyes. All I've needed to do for the last 3 weeks is add the beaks and eyes, I just can't motivate myself to do it. Maybe tpying out my laziness will be the motivation I need to get these done. They really are cute!

4. And last, but certainly not least, the Soft as a Cloud dress for Camille from the book Simple Crochet for Cherished Babies. The pattern calls for a fingering weight yarn. I started this with a worsted weight yarn. Yes, I really can be that dumb sometimes. Of course, it's already way to big, the picture is just one of the sleeves, so I am shelving this for now and will start it again when I get the right yarn. I might also continue with this yarn and she'll have it for when she's an older toddler. lol

I'm also just starting a new project. This shrug/bolero for my 5 year old. In a beautiful deep red Borroco Touche yarn. No prictures yet, so far just the 1st row done. I am attempting to modify the pattern since it's written for an adult, hopefully I don't screw it up too badly. If the finished product looks half as good as the pattern photos, she will love it.

Blue October in Concert

2007-11-20T12:55:00.000-05:00

As I posted in this blog post, a few weeks ago I was lucky enough to get to see Blue October in concert not once, but twice.

Thursday night's show was in St. Pete at Jannus Landing, which is a fabulous little outdoor venue. It was nice and cool outside, so there was minimal sweatiness. lol The show itself was great! I missed the first opening band, Love Drug, but was able to catch Shiny Toy Guns set. They are great! Should have bought their CD at the show, but I will definitely be getting soon. Met up with one of my good friends after their set and we stayed together for the rest of the show. Up next was Yellowcard. Not really my bag, but they were ok. Very energetic, good musicians and performers, I just didn't kow the music well enough to enjoy them. There were a lot of people there specifically for them, though, which was good for me because once their set was over a lot of people cleared out. Leaving us plenty of room to get up closer.

Kate, one of our local DJs from 97x (the reason the Tampa area even knows about Blue), came up on stage to introduce Blue October. It was wonderful seeing her up there, Kate has been stationed in Iraq for the last 6 months or so and just got back a couple of weeks ago.

Once Blue took the stage I was lost in the show. They are a phenomenal band and never, ever fail to awe and amaze me. Justin was full of smiles and was interacting with the crowd throughout the show. Ryan was just on fire, he is such a talented musician.

All of my pictures are from a crappy disposable camera, so they kind of suck, but here are the best of the bunch:

Will post a review of the Orlando show later. :)

Menu Plan Monday

2007-11-19T11:25:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving is this week, and I absolutely can't wait. I will be hosting this year and am really looking forward to it. I love playing hostess and cooking/baking. It will just be us and my mom, unless my hubby's mom decides to show up. But even if she does, Craig doesn't think she will be eating with us.

Here's our plan for the week:

Monday: Oven BBQ chicken drumsticks, fried taters, and corn on the cob.

Tuesday: Chicken Parm with angel hair pasta, broccoli and garlic bread.

Wednesday: Grilled Cheese sandwiches with chicken noodle soup for the girls.

Thursday: Turkey Day! We'll be having all the traditional sides with our turkey: mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potato cassarole, green beans, corn, cranberries, corn-bread stuffing, and fresh baked bread. For dessert, I will be making pumpkin and apple pies and Celeste wants me to make rice krispie treats.

Friday: Mom and I will probably go shopping, and then we'll just stuff ourselves on left-overs for lunch and dinner.

Saturday: Free Night for me. Whatever Craig plans on making for dinner tonight is what will be served

Sunday: Chinese take-out and popcorn with a movie.

Hope everyone has a FABULOUS week and holiday! Click the link above for more menu plans.

AHA Heart Walk

2007-11-18T00:26:00.000-05:00

Today was the day for our local Heart Walk. It was a beautiful day, perfect for being outside. The morning started out a bit cold, but by mid-walk, we were peeling off our sweaters and enjoying the sunshine.

They started off with a pep-rally (basically) and a warm-up. We then we walked through Safety Town, or as Celeste called it Little Town, a miniature-size city that is designed to help teach kids about safety. Celeste loved this part and we quickly ended up at the back of the pack because she wanted to stop and look at each little building.

The track & fielder in Craig started coming out at that point, and he urged (read "come on, come on!") us on to walk a bit faster, so that we weren't dead last to finish.

Camille slept through most of the walk, but when she woke up, she wanted out of the sling so that she could play!

After the walk, they had lunch provided for the walkers from Subway and lots of fresh fruits to snack on. Jarod (the Subway guy) was even there, he did the walk and then some meet-and-greet type stuff afterwards. They also had a bounce house for the kids to play in - Celeste had fun with that!

We also got to say hi to the horseys (and their mounted officers) from the Pasco County Sherriff's Office. But, of course, the batteries on the camera died before we could take a pic. It was a wonderful morning, we all had lots of fun, and it was all for a great cause. This will definitely be an annual thing for us.

Blogging Slump

2007-11-16T15:31:00.000-05:00

I've been in a bit of a slump lately when it comes to blogging, just realized that it's been over a week since my last post. Been very busy though. Lots of crocheting going on, and of course, having three kids, I don't have much free time as is.

Most of my posting usually occurs at work, and we've been very busy lately. One of my close co-workers, and friend, just gave her two weeks notice. I know that this is an excellent opportunity for her, and as a friend, I am happy for her. On the other hand though, this means that until we hire a replacement, I will be taking on much more work. And then, I will have to train and get to know a new person, all over again. We've been working with the same tight group for 3+ years, it will be a tough adjustment.

Camille is getting soo big, almost 7 months already! We started solids a few weeks ago. Our first attempt was a hilarious failure - she absolutely wanted nothing to do with it and looked at us like "WTF are you putting in my mouth!" lol We backed off, but she was still very interested in everything we ate and was reaching for foods, so we tried again. I guess she just needed that extra week or so, because now she loves it! She has tried banana, avacado and applesauce. She doesn't eat much, just a dozen or so bites before she turns away, but it's a fun adventure for her.

And now for your viewing pleasure, some pictures. First, Camille's first thoughts on foods:

Now, she eagerly awaits each bite and tried to feed herself:

And just because these are cute pictures, Camille and the giant Care Bears (they're not really giant, but they sure do look like it next to her!)

And, Celeste always loves to listen to Kaitlyn practice her trumpet. The other day, Kaitlyn let Celeste play it. She was actually able to get a few notes out!

Will have more to post later - crochet updates and tomorrow is our Heart Walk.

Heart Walk

2007-11-06T15:53:00.000-05:00

This year, the family and I will be participating in our local American Heart Association Heart Walk. We will be walking for and raising money in our dear friend's daughter's name. Miss M is the sweetest, silliest, cutest little 4 year old I have met. She was born with VSD and underwent open-heart surgery in June to correct.

If you'd like to donate, please see my page:

Menu Plan Monday

2007-11-05T16:42:00.000-05:00

We had such a lovely weekend! We rented Surf's Up, Transformers and Spider Man 3. And that's about all we did all weekend. The big Sunday dinner we had was a hit, the girls and hubby all loved the roasted chicken I made. And there's plenty of chicken left-over for dinner tonight! I wish I had thought ahead and kept the bones to make chicken stock for a soup. Oh well, next time.

Monday: Shredded Chicken (left-overs) with Black Beans and Rice. Big salad and crusty bread on the side.

Tuesday: Cheesy Baked Ziti. Again, big salad and galric bread on the side.

Wednesday: Oven-fried chicken drumsticks, mashed potatoes and corn on the cob.

Thursday: Hubby is on his own with the kids tonight. I am going to see Blue October! Will definitely post more about that.

Friday: Make Your Own Pizza Night. This recipe was soo easy, and the girls LOVED being able to help soo much and getting to play in the flour!

Saturday: Hubby is on his own with the kids again. I am going to see Blue October, again! Yes, you read that right, twice in one week. Thursday is St. Pete, Saturday is in Orlando. They are soooo worth the drive.

Sunday: Kid Kabobs with buttered egg noodles and green beans. This is subject to (and most likely will) change. Everyone loved the big Sunday dinner idea and my mom is coming over for dinner, so I'll have to come up with something great. If this does get shelved, it will definitely be on next week's menu, the kids will love this.

Happy Halloween!

2007-11-01T22:21:00.000-04:00

Ahh, it's finally over! And there WAY too much candy left-over. The last two years in a row, we've ran out of candy, and had to start giving out some of the girls' candy. This year we have gobs of it left. Time to take some of it to work, and get it out of the house!

This year was a bit weird for me. For the first time, Kaitlyn went trick-or-treating with friends, instead of with us. Camille fell asleep before the festivities began, so it was just Celeste and I. We had fun, she tried to be brave, but there were afew house that I was instructed to excort her all the way to the door, not just the walkway. lol

Here are the girls in costume. Celeste is still on a Disney princess love-fest, so she was TinkerBell this year. Kaitlyn is dressed up as Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Great movie, btw.

As I mentioned earlier, Camille fell asleep before Trick-or-Treating began. I asked Craig to put her in her costume if she woke up, so that I could get some pictures. Unfortunately, she wanted nothing to do with her costume when she woke up, so I got no pictures of her from last night.

Fortunately, I did happen to get this one a few weeks ago, when we bough the costume. my little love bug, she's soo snuggly!

Menu Plan Monday

2007-10-29T08:31:00.000-04:00

This week is a bit crazy. Kait has a football game to attend tonight (the last of the season for band) and then Halloween on Wednesday. Luckily for me, I don't have to work on Wednesday. Yay! We had a huge sale last weekend, everyone had to work (even us normal M-Fers) and to make up for it, they've closed up shop for the day.

Monday: I have on the plan home-made pizzas (that we didn't make last week), but we'll probably end up getting something to eat at Kait's game.

Tuesday: Vege Tacos with Spanish rice and refried beans, Cheese Quesadillas.

Wednesday: Chicken Parmasean with angel hair pasta and garlic bread.

Thursday: Cheese & broccoli stuffed shells with a big salad and crusty bread.

Friday: Curry chicken & potatoes, rice, corn and a big salad.

Saturday: Free Night, no plans.

Sunday: Roasted chicken, garlic butter, roasted new potatoes and green beans.

Getting ready for Halloween!

2007-10-28T22:34:00.000-04:00

Today was one of the most beautiful days, ever! The temps stayed in the low 70's all day, there was a nice breeze, made two loaves of banana bread, Camille was in a good mood all day, no fighting from the older two. We decorated the front porch and carved our pumpkins. And had a blast. Just a great day overall.

Here's some pictures of the girls and I cleaning out the pumpkins. Notice how Celeste is trying her hardest to keep herself clean, while Kait and I are up to our elbows in pumpkin guts. lol

And our Master Carver, daddy taking care of those pumpkins once we had them all cleaned out.

TADA! One of our finished pumpkins (this one was Celeste's design).

And lastly, some of our front-porch decorations. The funniest thing - those Jesse pajamas fit Celeste last year. Now, the look tiny.

Birdies!

2007-10-27T00:28:00.000-04:00

Well, for now it's just one birdie. But there will be more! I found this pattern on Ravelry, and it is oh so cute! Quick and easy to make, also. I started this one this morning and am already more than half way through a second one.

Anywhoosle, I plan on making a small flock of these, a little birdie family if you will, to be a Christmas present for Camille. She will love them. They are just the right size, and the wings and tail will be perfect for gnawing on. lol I'm not to keen on the eyes, but I didn't want to use buttons or anything, same goes for the beak. I'm afraid she might yank/gnaw those off and choke on them.

Menu Plan Monday

2007-10-22T13:38:00.000-04:00

I never got around to posting a menu plan last week, and we definitely suffered for it. By the time I got home from work each night, I was too tired to come up with a dinner plan. Luckily, my wonderful hubby made dinner most nights last week. On the flip side though, my wonderful hubby made dinner most nights, which meant frozen chicken nuggets, mac-n-cheese and the like. So, this week will have a plan.

I plan on making some Banana Bread this week and some of those yummy quiches I posted about yesterday for breakfasts/snacks/lunches.

Monday: Hawaiian Chicken with rice and broccoli.

Tuesday: WW Spaghetti and homemade sauce with boca crumbles, diced zuchinni and broccoli. Crusty french bread and a big salad on the side.

Wednesday: Oven-baked BBQ Chicken with Paprika Oven Fries (thanks to GreenStyleMom for the idea/recipe) and green beans.

Thursday: Breakfast for Dinner! Scrambled Eggs, French Toast, fried taters and fruit.

Friday: Turkey-dogs with baked beans and corn on the cob.

Saturday: Semi-homemade pizza. I'll probably buy a pre-made pizza crust, but if I'm feeling creative I might try this recipe that was linked on the Oganizing Junkie blog.

Sunday: Free night, no plans.

And even bigger news - my little Milly-bear is 6 months old today! I can't believe that six months has gone by soo fast. I'm proud to say that she has not received a drop of anything other than breastmilk to date, but in celebration of her six month birthday, we might give some nice mushy bananas a taste. I'll be sure to take pictures.