Saturday, February 26, 2011

Crash My House

Woke up this morning to a very wet outside view which made for a great morning!  No Soccerfest for Colby, cancelled due to overly wet fields.  We didn’t have anywhere we had to head out the door to so I cuddled up on the couch with the cat and turned on HGTV.
The show House Crashers was on.  I don’t know if you have ever seen this show, but a host scours home improvement stores asking people if he can go home with them and help them with home improvement projects.  Most people look at him like he is crazy and walk away…but there is always one family that says, “Ok, come home with us”.  The best part is that he then brings the whole HGTV crew over and they re-do a part of their house…total awesome, right?!
When I turned that on this morning, I quickly pulled both of my kids in and showed them the host.  I then said, “If we are ever in Lowes or Home Depot and you see this guy run quick and tell me so he can come home with us and re-do our kitchen”.  My son was all for it; after I promised he would get to swing the sledge hammer and demolish our kitchen cabinets.  My daughter wasn’t too interested, so we will have to have a refresher course on spotting the host.
I already have my kitchen re-designed (in my head) so it would be very easy for HGTV to do…maybe I need to spend a little more time in those stores in the future, anything is possible, right?!

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Beautiful Day

Today reminded me of some old pictures I took back in 2009.  We have had a couple days of rain, but today we had a beautiful break with sun and clouds.  It reminded me of how beautiful Southern California can be with just a touch of water.
The pics below are of a road just a couple of blocks from my house.  It is my favorite to drive down, either to my house, or on my way to run errands in town.  The kids call it “the animal way” since there are 2 pieces of property with petting zoo animals that we feed once in a while.  There is also a beautiful heard of cattle (yes, I think cows are beautiful) across the road from the petting zoo animals. 
Some days I go out of my way to drive down this road, it always makes me smile at the beautiful landscape God has created!

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Bling Bling

My daughter wants everything totally blinged out!  She believes everything should have glitter and rhinestones.  She doesn’t get this from me, but her Nana likes everything sparkly…it must be genetic!  We went shopping for some new shoes and due to her very narrow feet, anything with sparkle was too wide and she walked right out of.  My daughter was very sad and hung her head as all the other girls in the Target shoe department walked out with sparkle flats that fit.
We finally found a pair with a strap across the top that stayed on her feet.  Oh, NO, there was not one ounce of sparkle on these shoes…so all my art degree skills kicked in and I figured for a couple of bucks I could bling them myself.
I pulled out my Michael’s craft coupon and bought up some rhinestones for $2.50…enough to do a dozen pairs of shoes.  At home I uncovered my hot glue gun and started adding sparkle to her shoes (found out that Professional Welder glue from the home improvement store works better).  It took me less than 5 minutes a pair to add the rhinestones!
As you can see from the picture it worked, she is happy, and they do hold up to kindergarten activities (notice the wood chip in her shoe, tried and true).  Don’t spend a bunch for blinged out stuff when with a couple of dollars you can do it yourself!

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Happy Valentine's Weekend!

Happy Valentine’s Weekend!  I hope you are all our spreading love to those around you.  I love to celebrate the holidays and decorate for each one.  It is so fun to make handmade decorations and gifts.  I found a design in the February edition of Better Homes and Gardens Magazine for a heart garland craft.  The instructions used scrapbook paper, but I had some extra felt lying around so I decided to use that.  My daughter loves to craft and so I drew the hearts and she cut them out.  We used a little valentine ribbon and wa-la…adorable Valentine decoration we can use for years to come!

Enjoy your weekend, I can’t wait to celebrate with my kids and hubby on Monday…we don’t have school, Thank you President Lincoln!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Batch Cooking

I love to cook!  Not cook like Julia Child or Martha Stewart, I mean who has 10 hours to make a cake. I love to cook in large quantities and really accomplish a bunch of meals in one day.  Some people call it Batch Cooking, others call it Freezer Meals…either way, it is cooking that I love to do.
I may not be able to balance a check book, my husband does that, actually it was part of our marriage agreement.  I said, “Will you balance my check book for the rest of my life?” he said, “No, I will balance it for the rest of MY life” I said, “I do” and the rest is history.  I can’t balance a check book, but I can make 10 dinners in one morning!  I feel a great sense of accomplishment when this is done and I can look in my freezer with a big beautiful smile and a sigh at the glorious packed shelves holding casserole dishes and Ziploc Freezer bags filled with meals!
I will share a recipe that I made today.  It is a family recipe from my mom-in-law.  She is a great cook and always shares recipes with me.  This is great to make because it is easy and you can make 1 or 5 very easily.  When I make it I always make at least 2, one for dinner and one to freeze.
Chicken Enchilada Casserole
2 cups chopped cooked chicken (whatever you have around works)
12 corn tortillas
1 can green chilies diced
1 can cream of chicken soup
½ can milk
Shredded Mexican style cheese
In a large saucepan mix the soup, milk, chilies, and chicken together over medium heat.  Tear the tortillas into pieces and mix into the soup mixture until well blended.  Layer in a 9x9 pan: tortilla mixture, shredded cheese, tortilla mixture, shredded cheese.  Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes uncovered.
This is also a great recipe to make with leftover turkey from Thanksgiving!

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Baby Shower

My mom, sis, and I gave a baby shower for our friend Jess today.  It was so much fun!  There is nothing like a day for the ladies and little girls to have lunch and celebrate the coming of a new baby.
Since Jess and her husband want to be surprised at the birth, I decided to theme the shower around the mom to be.  She likes flowers, purples, and chocolates.  I made the invitations first, using Brittish Designs digital kit, Itty Bitty. 


Then I based the flower arrangements and favors (a cello bag with different chocolates in it) around the colors of the invitation. Budget tip, buy your glass vases for arrangements at a thrift store, you will even pay less than the dollar stores.  At the end of the shower I send the arrangements home with the mom to be and her relatives.  It was 76 and sunny, we all had lunch outside!



My Mom found these adorable cupcakes at a local bakery, French's Pastry.

It was a fun and fabulous day!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

In Love

I love my dishwasher!  It is a little wacky to be in love with your dishwasher, but mine is brand new and really cleans!  Our old dishwasher was a lemon, it just didn’t get the dishes really clean and I had to hand dry ALL of the dishes when I unloaded the dishwasher.  It was 8 years old and just wasn’t cutting it.  I did a ton of research on line and shopped 4 different stores before I decided I wanted to go with a Bosch.  My sis has one and loves it, she didn’t do any research, just a “hey, that looks nice, does it work, is it quiet?”…sold.
I found the best deal at Best Buy and they installed it for FREE..the best 4 letter word ever!  I love that it has a stainless steel interior, so shiny and clean.  My daughter stood there staring at it and said, “Oh, mommy, it is so pretty and shiny and sparkly…”  I did inform her she couldn’t wear it around her neck or on her wrist!  I love how well it cleans, but my favorite feature is the delay start.  I can set it to run on a 3, 6, or 9 hour delay so that it will start whenever it is convenient.  It is also VERY quiet; something the Bosch line is known for.  The dishwasher is literally “wrapped” in what looks like a wetsuit neoprene material.  It makes a difference when you are trying to watch TV.  Our old one sounded like a jet plane taking off, you could even hear it 2 rooms over.
I am in love with my dishwasher!  Silly, but our husbands are in love with their Smart Phones (they just won’t admit it) and kitchen appliances are part of our office in the way we run the house.  I am telling myself that it is alright to be infatuated with my dishwasher…don’t worry; I am going on a date with my husband tonight, not the dishwasher (it would be too hard to take to dinner).

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Kids

“Mom is it bomb fire or bon fire?” asks son. “Bon fire is the only one we attend”
Daughter is learning the books of the New Testament.  She recites, “Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Washington...”
Finished my transaction at Target and looked around to see where my kids have wandered off to…daughter is standing in the middle of the foyer dancing wildly flailing arms in the air in front of the security camera so she can watch herself in the TV monitor.  It was quite a show; she was entertaining about 15 people who stopped to watch!
How was your Tuesday?  Were you entertained by your kids or some you know?  They keep us smiling!