What I did today...

I made a sock monkey!! He turned out so cute!!! Especially for my first shot at it!! It was a lot more tedious than I thought, and I remembered how much I hate hand sewing, but it still was only an afternoon project! Definetly smile-worthy too! Ashlee and McKenna love him--even Braydon likes it! Now, I just need to make 3 more for christmas presents!!

Craft fair goodies!

We went to the Fall Craft Show this weekend, and got a few good things!!

Pressed flower artwork, honey, candles made from honeycomb, homemade honey and almond soap, homemade peanut butter (yummy!), salsa, and chokecherry jelly (for my dad!). I also got a new spoon rack (for collector spoons), and a cute birdie cutout for Dustin's grandma.

It was a fun afternoon. The kids were happy w/ the homemade lollies they got!

I miss my hubby...

I really miss him. He just called and said he won't make it home tomorrow. He'll catch a flight Saturday morning, but won't be home until late afternoon. Then, Monday morning he flies out to Pennsylvania. I can't stop crying right now. I just want him to come home soo badly. This house feels soo empty without him.

Teething Bisquits

I made McKenna some teething cookies this morning, and thought I would share the recipe.

Baby Cereal Cookies

2 T. Shortening

1/2 C. Sugar

1 Egg

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. water

1 1/2 c. Baby cereal (I used oatmeal)

Heat oven to 300 degrees. Cream shortening and sugar. Add egg, baking powder, salt, vanilla, and water. Mix until well blended. Gradually stir in cereal. Knead until smooth. Pat into rectangle. Cut into 12 1" bars. smooth edges so they will not be sharp. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 20-30 min. or until dry. Store in UNCOVERED container overnight. **freezes well**

Like I don't have enough to do...

I already have tons of projects I want to complete, and now I can just add some more to the pile!

I got these patterns in the mail today! I really only wanted the coat pattern, but they came together. The P.J.'s are from 1980, and the coat is 1972!! Soo cute!! I am totally in love w/ the coat!!

Now I just have find the right fabric! I want to make a spring/fall jacket for Ashlee, and one for McKenna for next spring/fall.

And if that's not enough to keep me busy, I found these cute fabric flower tut's!
Check out here, here, and here!

What a day!

Whew! Am I glad it's almost bedtime! Today seems to have taken a lifetime!! Braydon had preschool this morning, which is always an event-getting 3 kids fed, dressed, and into the van, and to the school by 8:20am. Thank goodness the school is only a couple blocks away! Ashlee has started this insane bit of dressing herself--which means something that used to take 5 minutes, now takes a half hour. I've given up on trying for matching outfits even. Today, we left for school in blue fleece pants, a tutu, and her jammie shirt. At least she doesn't get out of the van. If we are actually going out in public, than I have final say! But, at 8:00 this morning, I just didn't feel like arguing!

It was another rainy day here. And while I love rain, and we desperately need it, it's not the ideal situation for a new puppy!! My entry way is filled w/ muddy doggy prints. But that wasn't even the worst of it. I think Sadie must have had at least 20 "accidents" in the house today. One even on my BRAND NEW carpet!! This happened after she had JUST come in from outside, where I had watched her go potty TWICE!! She came straight in and peed on the floor. She has now been banned from the carpet. I've kept her gated up in the entry way, which works well. She has plenty of space, but it's 50 percent linoleum. I'm not sure why today was such a bad day for her. She's been doing so good, but today, it seemed like every 5 minutes she was peeing. She'd come in from outside, and five minutes later there would be a puddle. I keep telling myself, "she's still a pup." But boy, after cleaning up pee all day, I'm starting to regret this whole dog thing. It makes in worse that Dustin's not even home to help out.

Since it was raining today, the kids spent most of the day coloring. Braydon's new thing is coloring the ENTIRE page in a rainbow of colors. The "puppy"(or whatever he may be coloring..) cannot just be brown--he must be red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, and all colors in between! My fridge is covered in artwork that looks like a hippie's tee shirt! I'm all for color though, so I love it!
Ashlee loves to color too. She's just getting into it. Before she would just eat the crayons, now at least some of it end up on the paper (i still catch her taking a nibble every now and then though...)! Her newest thing is "TA-DA!" She brings me her paper and says it, just beaming! It's so cute!

The forecast calls for rain tomorrow too, so I think we'll make some homemade clay, and make some Christmas ornaments. I'll dig out the recipe and post it tomorrow. I also found a yummy recipe for chocolate cake that I might try out too!! We'll see!!

My first applique!!

I think it turned out pretty well for my first try!! I can't take full credit for the design--I saw a shirt like it somewhere, and tryed to "recreate" it. I drew out the template myself, and I think it turned out pretty good. Ashlee likes it--so that's what matters I guess! He still needs some nostrils--but I'm not quite sure how to do it yet....

My hubby left me this morning.

Well, he WILL be back on Friday though! He left this morning for Salt Lake City for work. Blah! A whole week w/o my hubby! Two years ago, I might have been pouting, and while I will miss him, it's nice to have a whole week to MYSELF!!!! No pressure--all week! As long as the kids are fed, they're happy--they don't care about dirty dishes, or a massive stack of laundry! When Dustin goes out of town, it's like a mini-vacation around here. I have plans to drag out all my sewing stuff, and hopefully get caught up on some stuff--like diapers for McKenna that I REALLY need, and runners for my coffee and end tables.

Sadie seems to be adjusting really well to our family! She's had a few accidents in the house, which is to be expected, but overall, she's doing great!! She's such a hyper pup though. And tends to bowl over McKenna if given the chance! I think she's going to be a great addition to our family.

I think I'm going to seriously start looking into homeschooling the kids. I'm very much on the fence on this subject. I KNOW public school systems are flawed. I know that. But I also know how much I enjoyed school. Up until about 8th grade--and then I hated it until we moved to South Dakota my Jr. year. My four year old is in preschool right now, which I'm OK with. But I need to make a decision before he starts Kindergarten next year. I know I am capable of teaching the kids, but it's such a commitment. Am I ready to make it??? I love my kiddos, and most of my reasons for wanting to homeschool are based on fear. Teenage pregnancy, drugs, shootings...the news is FULL of horrible things happening to our kids these days. And I'm not sure I'm willing to take the chance of sending them to public school. It seems like a gamble anymore. But I want my children to have friends. That's the biggest thing. I'm not sure how many people homeschool around here, but I'm betting it's only a small handful of kids. And there probably isn't any homeschooling groups that meet up in my area. So what do I do about friends, sports, etc.?? There are a lot of questions I need answers too, and a lot of research I need to do regarding this, I guess. I've got a little bit of time at least...

And, to end on a postitive note, the gals at 5 Minutes for Mom are at it again!! This time they are giving away a Casio Pink EX-Z75 digital camera!! So head on over, and check it out!!!

What's for supper??

Made this last night, and it was FANTASTIC!!! I got the recipe from a girl on Diaper Sewing Diva's, so I can't even take credit for it!!
I also made cajun seasoned chicken breasts w/ it, and used the soup as sort of a dipping sauce for the chicken. YUMMY!!!! This will definetly be a do-over!!!!

Enjoy!

Hard Rock Cafe Baked Potato Soup

8 Bacon slices - fried & crumbled
1 cup Yellow onions - diced
2/3 cups Flour
6 cups Chicken stock - hot
4 cups Potatoes - baked, diced & Peeled
2 cups Heavy cream
¼ cup Parsley - chopped
1½ tsp Granulated garlic
1½ tsp Salt 1½ tsp Red pepper sauce
1½ tsp Coarse black pepper
1 cup Cheddar cheese - grated
¼ cup Green onions - diced

Chop bacon; reserve. Cook onions in remaining drippingsover medium high heat until transparent, about 3 minutes.
Add flour, stirring to prevent lumps; cook for 3-5 minutes, until mixture just begins to turn golden.
Add chicken stockgrdually, whisking to prevent lumps until liquid thickens.
Reduce heat to simmer and add potatoes, cream, chopped bacon,parsley, garlic, basil, salt, pepper sauce and plack pepper.Simmer for 10 minutes; do not allow to boil.
Add grated cheeseand green onions, heat until cheese melts smoothly.

Garnish each serving as desired with chopped bacon, grated cheese andchopped parsley.

Makes 8 Servings.

Puppy love...

We added a new member to our already large sized family~~a 10 week old chocolate lab named Sadie!

We got her off Freecycle of all places!!! Gotta love freecycle!!! The kids (and DH) are in love already!!! So far, she's done great!! She went potty outside right away, so hopefully that's a good sign!! She will be an indoor/outdoor dog, but hopefully she can be inside more than out....

Here's a quick pic!! She won't sit still long enough for be to get a better pic!!

It's been awhile....

It's been a few days since I last posted, so I figured I'd better catch up!! We had a pretty uneventful weekend--mother in law came on Saturday to watch the kids so hubby and I could have dinner by ourselves--and by ourselves, I mean w/ McKenna!! LOL! She is having severe seperation anxiety right now, and would have gone to pieces had I left her w/ MIL.

Hunting season starts soon. And this year, I'm actually looking forward to it. Having hubby gone, just means I can spend my weekend mornings sewing, instead of the usual cooking/cleaning routine. Plus, this coming weekend is opening pheasant season, which means craft fair time!! (Don't ask me why, but there is always a craft show pheasant opening weekend).

I managed to get a few things done this weekend. A couple of surprise Birthday gifts, 3 Large diapers for McKenna, a cloth doll and dress for Ashlee (which is only partly done-she still needs hair and a face, but Ashlee loves her as is...) I'll post pics soon!

Yesterday was McKenna's 7 month birthday!! I can't believe she's 7 months already!! Where o where has time gone!!! She may very well be our last baby, and it makes me sad that she's growing up so quickly. She's already eating solids, sitting up, and trying to crawl!! I'm so proud of her, yet so sad at the same time. I was to remember every smile, every coo. If I could capture her sweet baby scent, and bottle it, I would. It's bittersweet.....

Christmas presents!!!!

McKenna decided to make it a late night, so I've been browsing for Christmas present ideas--and I found some great ones!! I really want to make Ashlee and McKenna a couple of nice cloth dolls, (knockoff Waldorf syle!) and I found some great sites!!

Mothering
Dolly Hugs

Then, how about a puppet theatre!!??

And lastly, this cute cloth book is a huge inspiration!

I'm going to be one busy mama!!!

But my goal is totally handmade this Christmas. Even hubby is joining in! He's making the kids a wooden play kitchen!! I know they will love it!!

Channeling my domestic goddess

I hate housework. I mean really truly hate it. But I really like a clean house. Do you see the problem here?

I seem to be stuck in a rut. I just have no ambition to do anything. Really, it's been that way since I was pregnant w/ McKenna. I chalked it up to pregnancy, and kept telling myself (and my husband!) that it would get better once the baby came. Then I blamed it on having 2 kids and a newborn. I've run out of excuses now, so something has to change.

My biggest problem isn't cleanliness, it's clutter. It's totally overtaking my house--the entryway, the dining room, the kids' rooms, the closets, even my room. It's just EVERYWHERE, and I'm not sure what to do w/ it. Even our garage is cluttered. It's so overwhelming, and I am at a loss on how to get a handle on things.

So, my goal--one room a day. Tomorrow will be a new day, a new start. Hopefully by writing it down, I'll be able to stick to it.

On a positive note, my 2 year old, Ashlee, is finally starting to talk in sentences!!! It's been a long road w/ her, verbally. She is a smart girl, but didn't really start talking until she turned 2, and now, at 27 months, she is finally stringing words together. Today, she told me, "I did it, Mommy!" and "No, it's not." It might not sound like much, but for her it's a HUGE accomplishment. Her brother started talking almost instantly, so this was a change of pace for us. Instead of words, she was grunting and pointing for the first two years, but now it seems to be coming together. I asked her pediatrician at her 2 year checkup, but since she was progressing, he didn't seem too concerned about it. Now, w/ all the recent toy recalls having to do w/ lead paint, I can't help but have that in the back of my mind. She's ALWAYS chewing on things. Since she could sit up, we've had to keep everything away from her--even still today, I find her digging in the trash eating old mashed potatoes, or her brother's crayons. Once, I changed her diaper, only to reveal "treasure"--colored buttons and field corn from our trip to the zoo the day before. God only know's what else she's eaten that we haven't caught. So it makes me wonder if I shouldn't take her in to have her lead levels tested. What if? But other than delayed speech, I really have no other concerns w/ her. She can count to ten, she know's her ABC's and most of her colors. She can get dressed (for the most part), she can brush her teeth, and attempt to comb her hair. She's outgoing, loves her dolls, and playing dress-up. She's just like any other 2 year old. But that "What if" keeps hanging in the back of my head.

Moving on...I attempted to make the little one some homemade baby food today. I bought some papaya, mango, peaches, and apples today, and had high hopes to get some stored away.
I started by steaming the fruit--which I've never done, and found requires a steamer--of course, which I don't have. So, I improvise, and used the metal basket that we use for the fry daddy. It seemed to work well--I got the papaya and the mango nicely steamed and ready to go. Ok--onto step two. I dumped my nicely steamed chunks of papaya into the blender, and hit "Puree." One. Two. Three.Four.Five. Stop. Look in blender--and find nasty orangey grayish mess. Hmmmm....so, I think, maybe I left a couple of the seeds??? I didnt see them, but maybe, right?? Rinse blender, repeat w/ mango. One.Two.Three.Four.Five. Stop. Open blender. This time it's a yellowy gray mess. Throw out papaya and mango. Obviously something going on w/ the blender, but for the life of me, I can't figure it out. So, tonight McKenna will be dining on Gerber Organic Pears and Sweet Peas.
Tomorrow I'll have a go at the peaches and apples. These I've done before, so I know what to expect at least!

I won!

Horray!! I won the Barefoot Books giveaway over at Opinionrated!!!!! Soon my kiddos will have their hands on "Elephant Dance: A Journey to India!" Thanks Catherine!!!!

What's for supper?

Tonight-Dustin's Chili--only I'm making it b/c he's working! We love this stuff! So, I thought I would post the recipe for everyone!

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 lbs ground beef

2 cans tomato soup

1 can of red kidney beans

1 can Mexican style diced tomatoes

1 medium onion

1 T. Chili powder (or more if you like it!)

salt and pepper to taste

Season ground beef and onion w/ salt and pepper, and brown. Drain fat. Add remaining ingredients, and bring to boil. Then simmer for at least a half hour--the longer you simmer, the more the flavor intensifies.

Serve w/ crackers or our fav. Frito Lay chips!

Lions, and Tigers, and...Kangaroo's????

Wow. It's Wednesday already! October 3rd. The days are ticking down to Halloween now, which means I really need to figure out this whole costume situation!! I really want a theme this year. So far, I have McKenna figured out--she and I will be a mama and baby kangaroo! I have brown cords and a brown shirt I can wear, and I got McKenna a brown onesie, and whipped up some brown striped faux babylegs for her to wear. Then, my big accomplishment....I made a pouch sling!

I wish I would have known how easy that was going to be before forking over $60 + on two Peanut Shells.

Seriously--this lovely brown pouch sling cost me about $3.50, and took up maybe 20 minutes of my time. And, I have enough to make ANOTHER brown pouch sling! I definitely see more pouch slings in my future!!

Back to Halloween costumes. I really need to figure out Braydon and Ashlee. I want some kind of "jungle" animals. Braydon was a lion when he was 2, and we still have that costume--but I washed it, and his poly synthetic lion's mane melted into one big dread. So, that costume won't be having an encore appearance. Braydon has also decided that he wants to be a Tiger this year, which isn't an easy costume to find!

So, I've been scouring over websites, but I must have unrealistic expectations. All the animal costumes I've found are ugly! Especially the Tom Arma ones! Not only are they ridiculous looking, they are ridiculously priced! (Ok, not all of them are goofy looking--but most of them!!! I do like the rabbit....)They are all the rage on the mommy boards I'm on though, so I guess I'm just missing something....

Hopefully I'll find something I like soon.

I do this every year. I have high hopes for these ultra fabulous Halloween costumes, then I end up running to Target the day before and picking up whatever's left that fits.

This year WILL be different!

So, other plans for today....I REALLY need to get some diapers done. I got 7 outer layers of PUL and 7 suede cloth inners cut out last night. So today I will hopefully get them sewn up. I'm making pockets, so they tend to go together fairly quick.

I'd also like to take the kids on a walk today. It's gorgeous outside today. High 60's, a slight breeze, Autumn is definitely upon us. Our leaves are finally starting to turn, and the kids are just in awe of finding red, orange, and yellow leaves all around.

So, it's off to work I go!! Need to get crankin' on those diapers!!

Oh, and if you get a chance today, stop by Opinionrated, and sign up for a chance to win a copy of the chilren's book, "Elephant Dance." But hurry!! Deadline ends today!!

Amy Butler Nappy Bag

I finished!! Yippee!! I'm really proud of how this turned out. I haven't been sewing for long, and most of what I've done lately is diapers for McKenna. This is the first thing I've made w/ "designer" fabric (Amy Butler, Lotus series), so I was a little nervous, but all in all it turned out well!! Very functional, and stylish, if you ask me!! LOL! I also made the changing pad, which is what's poking out in the picture there, but gave up on the changing pad storage case when saw it called for buttonholes. For some reason, my machine and I don't see eye to eye when doing them, and I didn't feel like engaging in an hour or two battle, that I would eventually lose. Instead, I walked away from my sewing maching happy! Dustin seems to have a knack for the buttonholes, so maybe I can con him into doing them for me later tonight!

So, here's my new bag, in all it's glory!!!

R.I.P.

We have a a 75 gallon saltwater aquarium. It is totally Dustin's pride and joy, but I really love it too. I've always loved the ocean, and this is about as close as I'm going to get for awhile!! LOL!
Anyways, today I discovered that we have some murderous tankmates.....

A few weeks ago, we added a new memeber to our tank, an Orange spotted watchman goby. He disappeared a few days ago, and we chalked it up to natural causes.

Well, I think I've changed my mind. We also have a sally lightfoot crab, and a serpant sea star. We feed the sea star occassioal chunks of raw shrimp, but nothing daily. I guess we need to start. Today, I found the crab happily munching away at the remains of a snail, and the sea star had his tentacles wrapped around the snail shell. Looks like we have a serial killer team on the loose. A couple days ago there were the remains of hermit crab (just legs left...) in the sand; couple that w/ the disappearing Goby, and now the snail, it's not hard to figure out what's happening.

Now we just have to figure how to solve the problem......

So, this one goes out to "Goldie" the goby, the un-named snail, and the un-named hermit crab...You'll be missed my friends!

Just another manic monday.....

In the middle of all my Monday morning hustle and bustle, I rounded the corner into our living room to find this. How could you not be anything but happy after seeing her!? And, as an added bonus, I finally got a shot of those bottom teeth!!! Anyway, more to come later, but McKenna reminded me to tell everyone, "Happy Monday!!"