Monday, September 17, 2012

Menu Plan Monday.

Org Junkie's Menu Plan Monday

So guess which meals still didn't get cooked last week?  If you guessed Fried Rice (we had left overs instead), Pineapple Chicken (my brother cooked us dinner) & Burgers (a gal in my mommy group brought us dinner), you win the big prize!

So guess which meals are just scrapped and won't be coming back?  If you guessed Fried Rice, Pineapple Chicken & Burgers, you are on a roll!  ;)

Monday: Burritos with Spanish Rice
Tuesday: Honey Sesame Chicken with Rice
Wednesday: Breakfast Burritos (scrambled egg, ground breakfast sausage, hash browns & cheese)
Thursday: BBQ Cowboy Beans with biscuits & corn
Friday: Chicken Enchiladas
Saturday: Pioneer Woman's Pasta Carbonara
Sunday: BBQ with the mommy group.  I need to decide what to bring - I'm thinking about these super yummy scalloped potatoes

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Scrappin' Saturday.


A simple thank you that took me about 20 minutes to do (I made 4, otherwise it probably would have taken closer to 5ish total).  A 4x6 card with a chalkboard label & a cute flower - the labels are actually ones I had ordered from a GroopDealz a long time ago and never used.  I thought this would be a perfect and easy embellishment for the card. 

 
I used my Simply Sweet cartridge to cut the dark pink flower at 2" and then the shadow feature for the light pink at 1", layering the middle of the dark pink flower on top and then a big fat glue dot to raise it slightly.


This is (clearly) another thank you card I sent out (we've been getting a lot of meal deliveries from my mommy group since Matthew arrived - lots of little thank you's to send out!).  This is another 4x6" card.  The interior scallops are cut using the Storybrook cartridge.  The brown is cut at 5" and the white is 4 & 1/2".  The "thanks" is from my SCAL using font Digs My Hart (free to download here). 

I love the glitter detail on this plaid paper!
This one took longer to make (I made 6 + there's a ton of cutting for the card, the white mat, the plaid mat, the brown scallop & the white scallop, so it uses a lot of paper, too), maybe an hour or two.

This is the kind of thing I'm considering making to sell on Etsy.  Embellishments, cards, premade scrapbook layouts, etc.  I know there's a lot of shops with this kind of stuff already out there, which is one of the reasons I haven't moved on this idea yet....

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Completely Random Rant.

I started to type this three different times as a status on Facebook and decided it was too long for a status and should be a mini blog rant instead.

I have a love/hate with gmail.  Here's one of the reasons for the hate.

Last night I listed an item on Freecycle.  I got a few replies last night and a few more this morning.  In the end, a couple came and picked up my item this afternoon around 4:30ish.

Then, I'm at the library with Ben & Matthew and I get this scathing email from another lady, confused as to why I'd lead her to believe she was first in line for my item and wanting to know why she saw another couple loading up the item she came to get as she pulled in my cul de sac.

I frantically scroll through the message that I thought I was sending to one lady.  It turns out I was emailing FOUR DIFFERENT PEOPLE in ONE email thread because gmail combined all the messages into one, since they all shared the same subject line. 

Between quickly replying on my phone or doing a fast reply from my computer while Ben screeched at me to come play with him, I never noticed the different names on the email.  It all made sense in the stream of the conversations, so I was completely clueless that I was replying to so many people.

Not to mention, I felt awful.  I never meant to give two people permission to come get the same item (it's not like they were paying me for it and I was hoping to give it to the highest bidder - it was FREE).  I apologized all over myself to the lady who called me on it but I'm sure she thinks I'm just making crap up.

I just had to share my random gmail rant.

The end.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Preschool!

Ben started preschool this morning!  I was nervous he wouldn't be able to go - he spent most of Sunday saying he didn't feel well.  I don't know how much if it was truly not feeling well (he had some tummy troubles through out the day and a low fever that evening) and how much of it was being nervous about today.  We even went and had a picnic lunch that day and he spent more time voluntarily laying down on the blanket than playing at the park. 

But up and off we went this morning.  He was a little unsure at first, I could tell he wasn't that interested in going but I got him excited to wear his back pack and showed him the sign (free printable from I Heart Nap Time) I printed off for him and he was excited to run out and take pictures before we left.


I was afraid one or both of us would cry when it was time for mommy to leave (he had said "I want mommy to go" before we left the house), but he did great.  We found his cubby and put his backpack away and then the teacher led him outside where they were playing while they waited for the rest of the class to show up.  I barely got a hug out of him before he was off and playing - which is great!

They have cameras in the room and I peeked in a few times.  I grabbed a screen shot of him having snack - it's not the best quality so I circled him in red.  I'm so weird, I know.  The other times I looked in, he was playing and then they were having story time while another teacher set out lunch.


The teacher told me what a good boy he was - no potty accidents (YAY!) and she was impressed by how polite he was, how well he listened, how well he took turns & shared and how smart he was.  I'm so proud of my little boy (and us!  we worked hard to get him to have good manners and good listening).

He's excited to go back on Wednesday and I'm excited for him!  What fun this will be!!


Menu Plan Monday!

It's Menu Plan Monday again at Org Junkie!
So there are three meals we just aren't making.  I moved them to this week again (Pineapple Chicken Bites & burgers & the fried rice) and if another week comes and goes where we haven't yet made them, they won't be back again.  We're out of propane for our grill, which is why I haven't done these yet.  I could do them on our George in the kitchen, but I really prefer the outdoor grill.

Nick's out of town a few nights this week, so quick & easy is the name of the game for Ben & I.  Of course, buying two packages of hamburger buns when you really needed 1 burger and 1 hot dog doesn't work out so great... but...  oh well.

Monday: Chicken Fajitas with corn bread & spanish rice
Tuesday: Hot Dogs with peas & mac & cheese
Wednesday:  Ravioli with green beans & rolls
Thursday: Fried Rice with steamed veggies
Friday: Creamy Baked Ziti with green beans
Saturday: Burgers with Mac & Cheese and steamed carrots
Sunday: Pineapple Chicken Bites with mashed sweet potatoes & rolls

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Scrappin' Saturday.

Here's another layout from the mini book I'm making for Ben.  This book is 8.5" by 8.5" which is some times a challenge to fill up each page - there's often more I want to do but I don't have space for.


Some times, though, it works out just perfect.  I had a few pictures from fall that I wanted to share - I only ended up taking one photo of Ben's first Thanksgiving and I wish I'd had more - I didn't realize at the time it would be the only Thanksgiving Ben would get to celebrate with my mom (she passed the following January).

I love those pictures of Ben crawling through the leaves in our front yard.  I remember that day - he soon lost interest in the leaves and started to try to crawl away.  He made it all the way down the driveway 3 times (after being picked up and set back on the grass) before we finally went back inside.  :)



I had the basket of leaves forEVER without knowing what to do with it.  I found it online last year (here) and pretty much copied it, step by step as a card.  I didn't want to part with it because I put so much work into it and I loved the way it turned out.  When I was searching for some way to make that one Thanksgiving photo pop out, I remembered that card.  I separated the pieces making it a card and just mounted the photo on front (I actually hand cut the photo into that shape - I just traced the shape onto the back of the photo and then cut with scissors).


Looking at this page in the book makes me incredibly happy every time.  And makes me wish for fall!

(Cartridges used in this layout: Designers Calendar for the "give thanks" cut on the left side and Doodlecharms for the basket & leaves on the right side)

Friday, September 7, 2012

Random Friday.

Ben starts preschool on Monday and I'm so excited for him to go!  It's a little on the spendy side for an optional thing, so I hope we can keep affording to send him.  They bill weekly but I went ahead and paid for the rest of September.  I chose the preschool he's attending simply for these reasons:
  • I know where it was & I know the owner (sort of)
  • When I called, they were friendly, spoke good English (I tried a daycare with in walking distance of our house to see about just a few days a week, a few hours a day and the lady who answered didn't understand what I was asking and gave me an answer that made absolutely no sense) and had the flexibility in the hours I wanted
  • They're reasonably priced
He'll go 3 days a week for a few hours a day - his schedule is Monday, Wednesday & Friday.  I can drop him off any time after 7 am (but class curriculum starts at 9, so he needs to be there no later than 9) and have to pick him up no later than 12:15.  They'll serve him a snack and lunch - he'll get to play, to learn and to grow.  I'm so excited even if I feel a little silly sending him.  It's not a "needs" to go thing - I'm a stay at home mom and am completely able of helping him with all the things he'll learn at preschool - it's the experience I think he needs, rather than the actual learning, if you get what I'm saying.

This means no more Tumble Time, which bums me out.  He really loved going to Tumble Time and I liked taking him.  He's been in some sort of gymnastics program (either at the Little Gym or TT) since he was 5 months old.  It feels odd not to go each week and I'll miss our friends there.  I considered moving him from his Wednesday class to either Tuesday or Thursday but my pocketbook just doesn't stretch that far.

Toddler Fashion: flap cap & rain boots
In other Ben news, I fear he is giving up his naps.  He didn't nap at all yesterday (even though he was in his crib for a good 3 & 1/2 hours) and hasn't yet fallen asleep today.  I told him today he didn't have to nap if he didn't want to (read that as: I wish you would nap, but I cannot force you to sleep) but he did have to stay in his crib until I said it was time to get out and at least rest.  I guess if he gives up the nap, there's no reason to keep the crib.  If he can just have quiet time in his room for a few hours, we can convert him to a toddler bed sooner rather than later (and talk about making the move from diapers at sleep time to completely diaper free).

***

I've never shared pictures of Matthew's room because it's still not done (picture me shooting darts at Nick with my eyes right now), but here's a small sneak peek with a project I did last night.  I followed (sort of) a tutorial I found at one of my most favorite blogs ever, A Pretty Cool Life, and made some corresponding buntings for his room.  It looks a little plain/silly now because I still need to get some more pictures & art work up to fill up the space (and maybe make another bunting - I cut way more flags but ran out of binding).

Please ignore the trim that still needs painted...


Here's how my process differed than the one Cheryl provided: my flags aren't double sided, since mine was just going to be hung on the wall & I used store bought bias tape rather than twine.

***
I've been giving a lot of thought to opening up an Etsy store but I'm not sure.  I have some ideas for some hand crafted Cricut goodies I could sell but I'm not sure how successful I'd be and I'm terrified of failure (plus, this would be failure I'd have to PAY for...) so I don't know.  There's a completely random thought for you.  Ha!

***
That's all.  Happy Friday!

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Gallery Wall.

Last weekend I revamped the one big wall in our living room/great room.  For the longest time ever, three things graced this wall: a stick broom thingie, a big picture of Ben & a brown barn star.

That.  Was.  It.

Since the arrival of Matthew, we had some beautiful photos done by Kim Valadez Photography and then I bought a great canvas deal from Canvas People through Plum District.  Once that bad boy showed up, I got busy redoing that wall.

I laid everything out on the floor in a nice, tidy, square pattern and made Nick hang it up.  I immediately hated it.  It didn't look good at all.  After he & Ben left for the evening, I start playing around with the arrangement.  I didn't think to take a picture of the wall before or during, so I search through a zillion photos on my computer and this is the best "before" I could come up with:

So, in addition to the boring, mostly bare wall, we had a lovely toddler sized kitchen to deal with + a toy box.  A few days prior to the gallery wall change up, I moved the kitchen out to our front room (it's gradually coming together as a play/craft space for the boys & I to share). 

With out further ado, the new wall:


Awhile back, I pinned this idea from 365 Days of Pinterest Creations (original idea found here) where she showed a simple art project using important dates in your family.  I recreated that for our wall to balance out the light colored sign on the left:

I love our new gallery wall.  It makes me smile every time I see it.  :)

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

2 Months!

Matthew,

You turned 2 months old this weekend - holy cow, little boy!  Time is flying by!



I cannot be more thankful of how easy and wonderful you are.  You're really helping me have more time to spend with your big brother.  He's not having a super great time adjusting to you - he loves you a lot but sharing his mommy & daddy's attention with you is hard for him.  He's having quite a few tantrums and yucky moments, so I'm always so grateful how easy you are that gives me the time to help Ben through his bad moments.

You eat about every 2 hours during the day.  A normal feeding session for you is anything longer than 15 minutes.  Some times you're done right at 15 minutes, some times you go a half hour, but usually it's some where in the 15 to 20 minute time frame.  Then you're good to go til the next time.  You have two big sleeps each day, I'm so blessed that you & Ben nap at the same time.  I get Ben down for his nap at about 12:30, then I nurse you and get you down for your nap at about 1:00.  The both of you usually sleep til 3:00 or 4:00.  Your next big sleep comes some time in the 9:00 hour.  I nurse you, you are wide awake to play & play and play and then daddy puts you to bed where you sleep at least 4 hours.  Some times you go longer (one night you did 8 & 1/2 hours and on Monday night you slept 9 & 1/2 hours!), but we can usually count on 4-5 hours at night.



Tuesday morning we had your 2 month check up.  You didn't enjoy your appointment - you were hungry when we got there, then we made you get on the scale and you didn't like that... poor guy!  You aren't as big as I thought, but I think you've grown more than we can prove.  I'm almost 100% positive they measured you wrong at the hospital - you've only grown an inch since you were born and I know that's wrong.  You've grown at least 2, if not 3 inches but no way to know for sure.  Your height and weight are pretty average but your head is some what big.  Did you get the Beesley Bean from your cousin Shea?  ;)  I think you & Ben did...

You love to smile and you're starting to coo more.  I'm so excited to see what the next month brings!

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Labor Day.

Labor Day Weekend: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.


The Spirit of Boise Nite Glow Spectacular.  And spectacular it was.  We went once before, the year before last (we missed it last year as we were in Chicago).  I was a little nervous about how it would go - Ben stayed up late the night before (he & daddy enjoyed a boys night out at Eric's house to watch the BSU game) and his mood was a little yuck Saturday.  I was also nervous that he wouldn't be interested in staying where our blanket was - that he'd want to get up and wander around.  Nope, he did great.  He loved the balloons, loved dancing to the music, loved shouting "THREE, TWO, ONE - BURN!!!!" with the crowd when it was time to light up the balloons.  So much fun - I'm excited to go again!

1 - Matthew, Nick & Ben waiting for the show | 2 - Spirit of Boise balloon! | 3 - Mickey Mouse! | 4 - POW * MIA Balloon | 5 - Matthew, all bundled up | 6 - Ben & his mad dance moves | 7 - all lit up! | 8 - pretty :)

We had intended to get up early and go see the morning launch and then drive up to Cascade where my brother & the kids rented a cabin for the weekend (we were going to stay for lunch and then head home).  Saturday evening, during the balloon glow, I started to not feel good.  As the evening wore on, I began to feel worse & worse.  We got home and I threw up for several hours and didn't fall asleep til after 2:00.  Clearly, dragging my butt out of bed at 6:30 in the morning was no longer appealing.  So we did not.

Instead, we headed up after Ben's nap.  We got a late start and didn't end up in Cascade til nearly 7:00.  We ate dinner, Ben "fished", we had s'mores, played games and attempted to stay the night.  Ben wasn't having it.  First he told me he wanted to go home.  Then he refused to lay down unless I laid with him.  Then he refused to sleep unless he had a binkie (we were completely unprepared for an overnight trip and had no pacifier for him - yes, my 2 & 1/2 year old still uses a binkie for sleeping - this kid is having a lot of changes with the arrival of his little brother - I'm not interested in taking away his binkie yet and upsetting his life even more.  It'll go away eventually - I'm not stressed out about it).  So at 11:00 that night, we packed ourselves back in the car and made the trip back home.  Wahoo.  :)

1 - fishing with uncle | 2 - fam on the doc | 3 - Nick & the girls roasting mallows | 4 - Connor & Ben on the dock

1 - Emma & Matthew | Ben taking over Connor's iPhone | 3 - Ben scaring Hannah | 4 - Matthew... could this child be more beautiful?  :)

Monday we had a lazy day, just worked around the house & played.  The fam came over for yummy pulled pork dinner and that was that.


Monday, September 3, 2012

Menu Plan Monday!

Happy Labor Day!

We had a crrrr-azy weekend that involved Ben staying up waaaaay past his bed time 3 nights in a row.  Thus, a very late Menu Plan Monday is going up.  Some repeats from the last two weeks are on here - we had a last minute meal delivery from my mommy group one night, left overs another night and dinner with the fam yet another.  So meals planned for and purchased last week have been shifted to this week - hey, works for me!  Makes for a lighter grocery bill.  ;)

Menu Plan Monday's over at Org Junkie!


Here's the dinners for this week:
Monday: Southern Style Vinegar-Based Pork BBQ
Tuesday: Fried Rice with steamed veggies
Wednesday:  Pineapple Chicken Bites with cinnamon yam mash 
Thursday: Spaghetti with garlic toast & green beans
Friday: Pulled Chicken Sammies with corn
Saturday: Burgers with mac & cheese & carrots
Sunday: Quick & Easy Pasta Primavera with garlic toast

Happy short work week every one!

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Scrappin' Saturday

I'm nearly finished with the mini album I'm making of Ben's first year.  Mainly I'm doing one 2-page layout per month of his first year.  There are a few extra pages for specials events.

Here's one of my very favorite pages from this book - it's one showing a few images of spring and I just adore it.

I  made the "spring" banner from my April Showers cartridge and the flowers on each side are from Cindy Loo.  I love Cindy Loo but I find I don't use it that much - it's a tad feminine for my all boy.



I love how different he looks in that picture on the bottom right - he looks like a completely different kid than the rest - he looks like a tiny tubbo even though he totally wasn't!