cheater dinner!

I like cooking for my family.
Especially when the boys are quietly playing together and singing Kum By Yah.

Umm. Yeah, that never happens.

Around here, dinner makes it to the table because I have planned a meal in advance, maybe offered up precious nap time moments to prepare it, or stirred a pot while simultaneously holding a screamer and building duplos with the three year old.

Some days, I am way too exhausted to prepare a real meal for my family.
That's where "Cheater Meals" come into play.

I have a handful of general meal items in the pantry/freezer/fridge and I can put a really quick meal together with them.

Last night I had two kids that desperately needed to play in the backyard (and they must be supervised). Good thing I also had these ingredients on hand:

more sodium than we usually eat...but way less than a drive-thru meal!

Box o'rice meal

Package of chicken sausage

Stocked veggie drawer

I quickly diced up my veggies - this time it was carrots, green peppers, zucchini, and onion.

Followed the directions on the box for water (2.5 cups), put it in a big pot to boil and then mixed in the box o'rice and my diced veggies.

Returned the pot to a boil, popped on a lid, lowered the temp to a simmer, set the timer for 25 min. and took the heathens dear sweet boys out for some fresh air.

lots of veggies!

I served it with strawberries on the side and everyone was happy!

 Even this guy, who is currently cutting his four canines at the exact same time. Poor bebes :(

nom nom nom

What's your favorite "go to" meal?

 Joing Family Friendly Food Week at Serenity Now!

random bits

Because preschool drop off is at 8AM, I shopped Missoni for Target right when the store opened.

I got some stuffs :)

Missoni...made in China

8 AM preschool drop off is not my favorite thing. Getting my kids out the door that early is ridiculous.

Baby-man is absolutely obsessed with orange, flower-shaped post it notes. I keep finding crumpled and chewed on wads of orange paper around the house.

On Friday I'm taking Mr. Three to see Yo Gabba Gabba Live. I'm actually putting some effort into my outfit...is that sad?

I totally killed the pretty plants on my front porch. Time for some fake ones!

I successfully made no-bake cookies. This is the first time they have turned out...and I cannot figure out what I did differently.

I had the windows open this morning. Then, I realized I could smell smoke, I looked outside and I could see a smokey haze; I assumed someone was burning leaves (although there aren't many leaves to burn right now, and I'm sure it's illegal in  my area). I shut the windows and moved on.

Tonight Hubs and I were watching the news and the smoke I could smell and see? It's from forest fires in Northern Minnesota, almost 500 miles away.

Crazy.

A new season of Parenthood started tonight. Yay!

Share some randomness with me :)

i made a wreath!

Sometimes the stars align and I actually make something out of the 8.3 million craft supplies I buy every year.

Last night was one of those rare occasions!
Yippee!

I made this fluffy wreath for our front door.

i like it!

Tutorial coming soon!

Not because you are all dying to know how I made this amazing piece of, highly flammable awesomeness, but because I took pictures.
And made a half-hearted attempt at editting those pictures.
And I can make you look at them!

Woohoo internetz. Woohoo. I'm so proud of my Orange Wreath, I'm linking it up to the CSI Project, Orange Linky Party!

ten years

Ten years ago I was a junior in college. Tan and skinny (for me) from my summer job as a Girl Scout camp counselor. Living at the sorority house, pretty sure I was dating the love of my life (I married him almost exactly two years later).

Life was good.
Care free.
Figuring out what I was wearing to the bar was my biggest concern.

On the second Tuesday of school, another student arrived a few minutes late to our 9 AM journalism class. He looked at our professor and and said "A plane just hit the World Trade Center."

There were no iPhones, and the tv in our room was just for videos. So as a class we walked across campus to find a television. We tuned in just as the first tower fell.

We watched.
We cried.
Class was dismissed early, so I walked up the hill to my boyfriend's house.

There were no tears in the Delta Sig house, at least not from the boys. But it was eerily quiet and somber. Everyone was glued to their tvs. No one knew what would happen. We all felt a little secure, we were stuck at the tip of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, after all.
In God's Country...we were safe there, right?

I wasn't so sure. I remember being so very very worried about my family in Detroit. I was worried about rioting, or another attack.

I remember everything felt really surreal, like the only thing really happening was on CNN. I know I called my mom, I went back to my house and we watched the coverage some more. I can't remember when we turned off the coverage and turned on the Lifetime movies, but I know we did.

We all needed a break.

That evening we headed to church to pray the Rosary.
It was so calming.

Ten years later we were in church again.
This morning's readings were all about forgiveness. Our Priest reminded us that the readings are a set rotation, not picked especially for this anniversary.

How powerful.
And challenging.

May we remember. May we forgive.

eight glorious years

I know I've been MIA, last week was hectic...things are much better now.

Yesterday we celebrated our eighth anniversary.

Hubs came home with flowers, a card, and five pages of bronze chandeliers...apparently the traditional gift for anniversary number eight is bronze.

And I now have carte blanche to pick out chandies for the entire house...not exactly what he said, but that's how I'm interpreting it!

I'm guessing that, trying to entertain two little monkeys throughout a meal at UNO and then taking a family outing to the Home Depot, might not be everyone's idea of a romantic anniversary.

But it works for us.

And that's what matters, right?

Happy Anniversary to my sweet Hubs!

I wouldn't be happy sharing my life with anyone else!

do you have days like this?

I swear that as son as I hit "publish" I am going to put the iPad away.

Pinky swear.

Maybe...

It's nearly 9:30AM and I have yet to tie on my apron and get to work. We are all dressed, but it's gross out and totally non-motivating.

I think it will rain soon.

The grill is uncovered on the deck...I should probably cover it.
Then clean up last night's dishes.
Make the beds.
Play with bebes.
Turn. Off. The. Tv.

I would rather be a sloth today.

Blahhhhhh!

what i wore

This post was supposed to go up yesterday. A little bit of loving encouragement for my sweet bloggy friend Laura. And heeeyyy...I've really been meaning to do a What I Wore Wednesday post to link up at the Pleated Poppy, so this works!

I got up and did my hair, dressed cute (cuter than the other moms at Target!) and snapped some pics.

lipstick and mascara!

WIWW had a challenge theme of stripes and florals...sorry no stripes! But I have flowery pink shoes...these are the bebes favorite shoes to walk around the house in (don't tell his Daddy!).

cute shoes!

Full length pics are tough y'all...I'll try to find a better mirror for next time.

white pin tuck tunic from Lands End, black capris, pink shoes from Report, jewelry from Stella and Dot

I was totally set to post this on time...
Then the boys refused to coordinate their naps.

So glad I had stuck a pork shoulder in the crockpot! Otherwise I would have been a frazzled mess.

I still feel like nothing was accomplished yesterday, but the boys were read to, and we played choo choos and batman, acted like bumble bees and sang some silly songs...

I can write "nourish souls" on my to do list.
Maybe we should all do that.

hair in pony...post non-napping fiasco

I guess I did accomplish a lot yesterday!

And I looked cute doing it :)

thanks!

Thanks for all of the comments on my last post :)
I wanted to message all of you individually, but most of you don't have email enabled for your comments...you should! It's super fun to get email from bloggers :)

I was also busy with this...

Oh Mr. Turtle, so much fun!

I made the mistake of telling 3 that we had to put the lid on the sandbox so that cats wouldn't make poo poos in it.

Now he is obsessed with cats using his sandbox as a litter box.

He stands in the kitchen window and growls.

Says he's scaring away the bad kitties...

Speaking of my kitchen window...I think I have brainstormed a new treatment solution!

Cross your fingers, I'm going to start cutting and sewing (probably cursing a little) tonight.

Ahhhh....let the creative stress eating begin.

a reasonably clean entry...getting settled, day 5

Welcome to my new home...

I put the flowers out right away, the front door needs a little updating, but it'll do for now.

Come on in!

pretty empty

Look right

cringe!

Look left

ugh.

I wish you could stick a "recently moved in" sign on the lawn.

So the UPS guy doesn't think he needs to call CPS.

A little cleaning, some expert mashing of craft supplies into the craft closet and the living room is tidy.

the blonde children blend in well

The dining room is getting there. It's the one place we've been stashing art and miscellaneous stuff as we get settled. But it's nice to have the table and buffet tidy.

must. iron. table scarf.

 

 

 

 

 

Grandma <3

The actual entryway is still empty. We're starting the "real" decorating here (different from the moving-in-and-getting-used-to-the-spaces decorating that is happening all over our house). I've been collecting ideas for a little while. The loose theme is honeysuckle and grey. A little girly, but I decided that I needed one little space of pretty in this house boys.


The starting list of changes:
Wall paint - grey
Paint antique vanity (and unearth the mirror) - honeysuckle
Hang art - LOTS!
Find a rug - something to bridge the reddish tones of the floor and the pink of my accents
New light fixture - maybe hack something from the Restore?

Thanks for touring with me :)

Linking my "Reasonable Clean Entry" at Like Mother, Like Daughter. (isn't that the best description?!)

Outtake pic from the after shots...

this little guy kept getting in front of the camera and saying "tee!" (cheese!)

simple sunday

dinner in the crock pot

lunch on a tray

boy in a puddle

Happy Sunday!

completely void of nutrients...what we ate at the state fair

A catalog of food eaten by my family...

maple cotton candy
fried pickles
chocolate covered cranberries on a stick - did you know cranberries are the largest fruit crop in WI?
root beer
giant brat on a pretzel roll with peppers and onions
one hot dog
chocolate milk and white milk - only 50 cents! gotta love WI!
string cheese - handed out for free after the milking demo
giant cream puff - these are serious business, there is a whole pavilion dedicated to cream puffs, and it was excellent. also, we kept seeing people walking around the fair with special carryout boxes of a dozen cream puffs.
a lemon slushy

and the kids played in corn bins and I am pretty sure the bebe ate a dried corn kernel.

Here is some eye candy for you ;)

Let me preface this by saying that while Hubs is awesome and amazing, he has never once taken a flattering picture of me...not once in our 11 year history.

me with cream puff

And I didn't feel at all guilty eating fair food...because I have continued to run/jog/move faster than normal.

Yippee!

tidbits and a ridiculously easy and delicious salad

* The house is a mess. I can't get control of anything...never buy a house with 4 toilets...no one needs to clean 4 toilets.

* Lately, I've been making a lot of ice cream. Inspired by Wisconsin? I don't know...but I am having fun!

* We went to the county fair on Sat. Tons of fun. Fried Oreos. Sno-cones. Noms.

* Ate at Five Guys for dinner on Sat. Have you been? Good greasy burger, a zillion french fries and peanuts! Plus, the line cooks were singing along with piped-in 80's music; I'm not sure if that's the norm, but we thought it was great.

* The furniture store is stalking me. I guess they really don't like holding our guest bed while we wait for our couches to arrive. I keep telling them if they waive one of the delivery fees, that I would be happy to accept the bed. No dice ;)

* Speaking of the furniture store; received a thank you note (sort of) from the salesman. "Thanks for your recent purchase. Roy" I threw away his business cards.

* Bought a bunch of costume hats for the boys. Bebe keeps running around in the pig hat and snorting. He thinks it's hilarious!

* Low key Sun, complete with splashing pool and wiggly-caterpillar sprinkler. And we finally ate on the deck. I threw together this salad, and I will totally make it again.

Summer Salad

equal parts:

fresh mozzarella, cubed

cucumber, chunked up

grape tomatoes, halved

Newsman's Own Light Cesar dressing and fresh pepper to taste

mix it up and enjoy!

I ate the leftovers for lunch on Mon, just on a bed of lettuce, so delicious!

a few milestones

Mark this on your calendar...I went running this morning.

When I say "running" you need to interpret that as mostly walking, with short periods of rapid leg movement thrown in.

I am slow.

The double jogging stroller is heavy.

My subdivision is really hilly.

But, I am happy I did it. Now I need to do it again tomorrow, and the next day. This really needs to become a habit.

Other little milestones around here:

* I took the rails of off Mr. Three's bed a few weeks ago...he hasn't fallen out and it is much easier to make the bed.

* On Sat we took a big step and cut the tip off of his binky. Nap time was full of tears. Bedtime was a little easier. The next day was easy. He still talks about his binky, he likes to remind us that the binky fairy came and took it away, but he knows he's fine without it. Life is good!

* The baby man has graduated from the high chair to a booster seat. I pushed it because he kept crawling out of his seat and standing on the high chair tray (scary!), and I felt like he wanted to be at the table with us.

* Baby also went to bed just fine for Daddy on Tues night, which means more freedom in the evenings for me! Now I just need to get some friends...

Exciting post about my laundry room later today!

I know you are on pins and needles ;)

hitting the (kitchen) wall...getting settled, day 4

After finding a little bit of inspiration for the kitchen, I was super excited to get started.

So I sat at the kitchen table for a minute and then looked to my right.



AAAAAHHHHH!

Vile vertical blinds. Almost enough to distract you from the intensely ugly light fixture.

Almost.

In case you missed the amazing pattern, here it is:



Awsomesauce. For real.

So, I really want to rip them down but I am unsure of what to hang in their place.

Normally I would just pick out a rod and hang some drapes, but there is very little space (maybe 4 inches) between the right side of the sliding glass door and the kitchen cabinets...so the drapes all need to stack on the left side in order for the door to be functional. And it must be functional, it leads to the deck, which leahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifds to the hot tub (and the swing set, which is not as important because I don't drink margaritas on the swings).

So help me out! Do you know of any curtain rods that don't need a center support? Or a super awesome idea which doesn't include vertical blinds?

How about some other ideas for my kitchen? I'm all ears!

Thanks!

I'm linking up at Amanda's Weekend Bloggy Reading Party!

a real mall!...getting settled, day 3

In case you haven't noticed, it's terribly hot out.

Too hot for me to play outside. Sorry kids, enjoy the AC and TV.

I decided to throw the giant double stroller into the Jeep and head to the nearest mall.

Reasons I was excited:
a) Hello. Getting out of the house.
b) 20 min car ride = 20 min where a child is not attached to me (remember, it's hot
c) PB, C&B, and RH under one, glorious, air conditioned roof. Thank you Baby Jesus.*
d) The anchor stores at the mall in Ohio were Best Buy and Dunhams...for real.
e) High potential for an Orange Julius.

I found some inspiration in C&B.

Meet my kitchen...in dishtowel form.

source

It's good to have a starting point, right?

I skipped the Orange Julius. Next time it will be mine!

Are you guys on Pinterest? Come and join me, it will be fun! You will be addicted!

Seriously, it's a really fun way to organize all of the stuffs you find online that you just can't live without. Instead of in a mile long list of bookmarks...you can have tidy little thumbnails with a personal description. Like the dishtowel up there? Totally pinned it. Ahhh...happy place. Join me!

If you'd like an invite to Pinterest just let me know, I'm happy to send you one :) And no, I'm not being paid to talk about Pinterest, I just want a few more friends to stalk.

*Most evenings, Mr. Three says grace at the dinner table. Some days it is the sweetest thing ever, and some days it goes like this "Father, Son, Holy Ghost, I love Jesus, Hiya! Hiya! Ninjas. Amen."

a new couch...getting settled, day 2

My couch is plaid.

It has also been peed on, puked on, slept on, and moved 4 times.

So naturally I am excited to replace it!

Also - we really need something to sit on in the basement...and the plaid will work great in the dungeon playroom. (and I am totally having it steam cleaned next week)

We've been stalking couches since we moved in, and decided this was the week to buy (sale!).

These were the swatches...

solids for couches and patterns for pillows
p.s.- the geometric is totally named "Takin it to the Streets"

We wanted to make sure the furniture would fit, so we mapped it out on the floor with painters tape.

I have given up on trying to keep the kids away while I take pics...
get used to seeing tiny men in my photos

And the kids quickly ripped it up ;)

I'm going to pretend he didn't walk around with tape stuck to his foot for most of the day

Tonight we ordered it!

I decided to go with the dove grey instead of the darker grey (coincidentally both swatched were labeled "charcoal" but in different patterns), and the geometric for the accent pillows.

By the middle of September we will have a new sectional and love seat! I am so EXCITED!

Also - I keep singing this song. Thank you Michael McDonald.

half bath love...getting settled, day 1

I spent last weekend sewing, and because I thought it would be a quick project, I only set my trusty Husky Star up on the kitchen island.

It's totally still sitting there...

At any rate, I needed to carve out a teeny little spot in this house that felt like me. Mr. Three is newly potty trained, so we spend a fair amount of time in the half bath, plus it's a little space and didn't require new paint.

I decided it was a good place to start.

Here's the before...



The biggest problem (besides the fact that this is my only before pic) was the window treatments. The ugly brown valance needed to come down and unfortunately the wooden blinds were broken (permanently in the "up" position), offering no privacy. I don't think you could actually see into the bathroom, but it felt really open...so I wanted something that would offer privacy, yet let in the light.

I hit up a flea market right after we moved here and I picked up a chunk of old lace, I immediately knew I wanted to use it in the bath and that gave me my direction.

Here's the after...I call it the Granny Bath ;)




I've been wanting to do hoops with fabric for awhile so that was a no brainer for art. I had the basket and flowers, and they seemed to work well so I tossed them in.

I used an old sheet to make the curtain...and I used the same material to add a ruffle to the towels.

It's far from truly done, and not really exciting, but it feels nice to be able to say a room is done for now.

Tomorrow...we order new couches for the family room.

introducing...

My new house :)

It's been whirl-windy.
And happy.
Sometimes frustrating...mostly just plain BUSY!

I need to get back into this blogging thing. I'm thinking 30 days of projects from the new house...let's start tonight.

Be there or be square.
Yep, I totally just said that.

heading back to target

Last night I spent 45 glorious minutes unaccompanied in Target.

It was so blissful that I completely forgot that I was going to buy a baby gate. So I'm sure that's why my parents gave me such odd looks when I showed them the contents of my shopping bag:
pull ups
sunglasses
a sing a ma jig (he sings yankee doodle!)

So we are headed back today.

OK, now it's later...

Got the baby gate.

And we stopped in TJ Maxx super fast...so I picked up a few pairs of shoes and a super cute Calvin Klein dress :)

And I would totally share some pics but, well...I still can't figure out my parent's computer. Sorry!

Happy Day!

hanging out in troy

So...I've been a little lax in updating since the movers arrived, in fact I just realized that instead of publishing a post about moving I was just saving it...so um, sorry about that.

Anyway, we arrived in Troy last Fri and have been hanging out with my parents. I took the boys and my mom and sister to the Detroit Zoo on Wed, it was great! The weather was perfect, not too hot so most of the animals were really active.

On Thurs I took the boys downtown to swim at Allison's apartment. We had fun and I am completely envious of her view of the Detroit River. And I keep redecorating her place in my head...so Al, be forewarned, I might have a few ideas heading your way ;)

J came home to Troy for this weekend, so we have been enjoying his company and we even went out for a little date last night :) we saw the Hangover 2 and I'm pretty sure that movie makes the Baby Jesus cry, but it was incredibly funny. And when we got into the theater we realized AJ and JR were also there :D

I've been slowly redecorating half of my parents house, and taking pics of course, but I can't figure out how to upload pics to the computer here...so I probably wont have any to share until July. But then I will have lots of pics and plans for my new house!! I am excited!!!!

That's it, we are in town until June 30, and spending next weekend in Muskegon, so if you'd like to get together give me a call or send me an email.