What's For Dinner?

Tee Shirt Maxi Dress

2011-10-26T13:41:00.001-05:00

While I was running the other day I had a moment of inspiration. I have been buying 'rag bags' from Goodwill for $4.99, which are basically bags of tee shirts that they couldn't sell. I have made a couple of things out of them like Yoga Pants. Also I made Leggings for both the girls using mens extra large shirts. I have been itching to make a maxi dress for myself and even bought the fabric to make this one. But i am kind of chicken about cutting into a big piece of fabric and having it turn out too clingy or something. So this is what I came up with:

First I went through all my shirts and found the colors that I wanted. I had considered adding another color but when laid out all my shirts, I picked the 4 that were all the same width(except the white strip was about an inch smaller). I basically cut the 4 mens large or extra large tee shirts in strips, about 5 1/2 inches long. The width of the shirts was about 24 inches across. I ended up with 8 large loops of fabric. With right sides together, I used the zig zag stitch and sewed them together. When I got to the white strip I held it up to see how long it was. It ended up being perfect, if you are shorter you can just make your strips a little shorter. I attached the white strip and then used elatic thread and went around 6 or 7 times to make my waist. I used the top of a mens large brown shirt for the top. I used one of my shirts as a pattern and cut it down to fit. Then I just sewed the two pieces together. And I did almost the whole thing while William took a nap. It probably took me 2 1/2 hours total.

A well laid plan.

2011-07-16T17:52:00.002-05:00

Several months ago my Mom shared with me a plan to surprise my Dad. My youngest brother Sam was going to be receiving his Eagle Scout award at the end of June. My dad had expressed to her how great he thought it would be if he could get all 3 of his Eagle Scout sons together in their scout uniforms. My brother, Ted was already going to be in town at the end of June but Mark lives in England and it seemed like an impossible plan. So, Mom and I started hatching. We were the only people who knew about the plan. I contacted Mark and it turned out that he would be able to take work off and come. Also the whole family was planning a trip to McCall the following week and he was able to stay long enough to join us there too. We flew him into Seattle the night before the Court of Honor and I picked him up. I was SO excited!!! For many days before that I got through my daily run imagining the look on my Dad's face when we showed up.

Anyway, the next morning we headed down to Oregon. We went through many different plans of how to 'show up' and actually it ended up being totally different. As we were driving up to the house i could see that everybody was out in the front yard... so much for sneaking in! I let Mark out before i got all the way to the house and we tried to be as sneaky as possible. Then, I was so discombobbled by every one being outside that i almost forgot to video tape it. Here is how it went down (sorry it got a little shaky in the middle)

Then, a couple of hours later, Annabelle and Dave showed up and we had a fun surprise all over again. I didn't get any video of that one though.

Here they are, the Eagle Scouts in all their glory.

Lemon Chex mix

2011-05-03T11:36:00.003-05:00

I came across this when i was looking for teacher appreciation gifts and i had to try it. I love chex muddie buddies and these are like a lighter version of those.

Lemon Chex Mix

9 cups Rice Chex
1 1/4 cups white chocolate chips (i used almond bark)
1/4 cup butter
4 tsp grated lemon peel (i didnt have any so i just left it out)
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 cups powdered sugar

Melt chocolate and butter together, than add lemon peel and juice to pan; stir altogether. Put cereal in big bowl using a soft spatula mix lemon mixture with cereal gently. Place half of mixture and powdered sugar in paper bag and shake, do the same for other half. Lay out on wax paper to cool before storing in air tight container. Since i didn't have any lemon peel i sprinkled some True Lemon powder over it at the end to give it an extra lemony kick.

Go and make some RIGHT NOW! you'll thank me later.

source

5 More down

2011-03-09T23:57:00.002-06:00

I know, I know... the 5 of you who read my blog are all wondering what happened to my winter reading. I had big plans and long lists of books but I barely made a dent. I did manage to finish 5 more books and the program ends tuesday, so I got 2 entries into the grand prize drawing(cross your fingers for me)

Long Live the Queen by Ellen Emerson White : I really enjoyed this one, the 3rd in the series. Meg is kidnapped. She overcomes.

A View From Saturday By E.L. Konigsburg : How did I ever miss this one when i was younger?? I think it came out when I was in high school, I must have not noticed. I loved The Mixed up files by the same author, and this one did not disappoint. I loved the themes and the unity of the characters.

Maisie Dobbs By Jaqueline Winspear : My mom and sister have been recommending this series for quite some time. The book takes place in England during and following WWI. Maisie Dobbs is a investigator who really captured my interest and made the book(s) very addicting.

Birds of a Feather By Jacqueline Winspear : The second book about Maisie Dobbs. She is investigating the deaths of 3 young women, seemingly unrelated, and the disappearance of another young women. This book seemed a little more daring than the first, maybe it was just the character growing.

Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear : Book three about Maisie Dobbs. This one was even more intriguing. The great thing, for me, about these books is that there are enough obvious clues that I can figure out parts of the mystery and feel smart but not so many clues that I have the whole thing figured out by the end. She always sneaks in a surprise at the end.

I started the books by Marcus Zuzak but didn't care for them. I returned them to the library with out reading them. I still have What the Dog Saw, after renewing it twice, and I hope to read it before I have to take it back to the library. I just got the last Ellen Emerson White book yesterday and if I can tear myself away from Maisie Dobbs, I plan to read that one next.

So, thats that. I managed to read 10 books in 10 weeks. Come to think of it, thats not too bad. I was kind of feeling bad because i had hoped to read more but now that I look back and realize that it breaks down to a book a week I feel like I accomplished more.

The First 5

2011-01-29T15:51:00.002-06:00

I finally finished 5 books for my first entry into the winter reading program at our local library. It took me WAY longer than it used to! I really thought i could read 5 books in a week. It ended up taking 2 weeks, which isn't too shabby but is pretty slow for me. So here is what I read:

The Life of Pi by Yan Martel : I ended up loving this book and finishing it in about a day. I started it about 2 years ago and couldn't get into it. But once you get past all the exposition about swimming pools it gets really interesting.

The Road Home by Ellen Emerson White : Really, really, REALLY loved this book. It is about an Army nurse in Vietnam so parts of it were like watching an episode of M.A.S.H. but it was so well written and easy to read. I read it pretty fast too.

The Presidents Daughter by Ellen Emerson White : I had high hopes for this one, I really did. But by the end I just wanted to punch the main character in the mouth. AND it is the first in a series of 4 books (blegh). It is about a 16 year old girl whose mother runs for and becomes the President of the United States. I kept waiting for something exciting to happen. It never did.

White House Autumn by Ellen Emerson White : Sequel to The Presidents Daughter. I actually enjoyed this one more than the first, the plot was better developed but i still wanted to punch Meg, the main character. I plan to read the last 2 in the series, after a little break.

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan : I patiently waited for this one to come out in paperback because i am cheap. LOVE the Percy Jackson books. Hated the movie, BTW, don't waste your time. This one didn't disappoint. It was as well developed and exciting as the first 4. Read this one in a day.

So I have 5 more ready and waiting. They include the 3rd in the Ellen Emerson White series, What the Dog Saw, and a couple by Marcus Zuzak

Something Fantastic.

2011-01-14T12:47:00.003-06:00

I just discovered something fantastic!

Our local library is having a Winter Reading Program for Adults. And the prizes are really fantastic! All you have to do is read 5 books for one entry into the prize drawing. Considering that i can read 5 books in about a week if i put my mind to it, I may have a pretty good chance at a prize. The program ends on March 15th which is about 8 weeks from now. So I am off to the library while the girls are at school (and hopefully William will be asleep in my arms) to get 4 books to complete my first entry. I already read THe Life of Pi, in about one day. I'll take recommendations although i tend to rely on Janssen's blog for good books. I am not a reviewer like she is though so don't expect me to review any of the books i read, However i will let you all know when i win a fabulous prize.

Happy Reading!!!

Grace is 5!!

2010-11-16T17:34:00.004-06:00

I got the idea for her cake from I Am Baker. Her cakes are fantastic! They seem to be as fun on the inside as they are on the outside. You should check out her jack-o-lantern cake and her heart cake. Ohhhh and her Easter cake. She is AWESOME!

My colors were not as vibrant as hers, she must have used gel food colors. I just used a white cake mix and separated it into smaller bowls and colored them with regular liquid food color. Grace loved it.

So many Months.....

2010-11-10T12:41:00.003-06:00

So many months have gone by since my last post! I kind of let it get away from me, didn't I. SO in lieu of a lengthy post(s) about the last several months here are some bullet points.

-April: Tim was offered a job in Olympia Washington in the beginning of April. So we quickly listed our house for sale and it sold in 4 days. And they buyer wanted to close exactly when we were needing to head north. It really worked out perfectly.

-May: Tim was training in California for the first 3 weeks of May. I was doing the single parent thing but thankfully since the house was under contract I didn't have to worry about showings etc. We survived. Then on the 24th we closed an the house and drove out of town the same day. It was sad to leave our friends and we miss them a lot.

-June: After driving through Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Washington we made it to our new (rented) house. We spent June visiting family in Oregon and getting acclimated to our new town. Towards the end of the month we went to Oregon for Tim's family reunion. Eleanor turned 3 at the end of the month. She had a little b day party at grandmas house.

-July: My sister Abi got married. I made the wedding cake. Spent a fair amount of july in oregon.

-August: The kids and i made a trip to Idaho to visit my extended family. Loads of fun! Swimming, marshmallow roasting, and sleeping in the camper. The 9 hour(one way) drive with all 4 kids by myself wasn't particularly fun so next year maybe we will convince daddy to go with us.

-September: School started. I am sure my rejoicing could be heard for miles. Eddie and Grace are at the same school now, which is nice. We live close enough that i walk them to and from school. Some time in August, with Tim's encouragement I signed up for the 5k at Oktoberfest in Mt Angel. I had been running some since we moved but hadn't gotten serious about it till then. We went to Oktoberfest the 2nd weekend and i ran the race. Since then i have continued my running and am running at least 3 miles every day in preparation for a 4 miler on thanksgiving.

-October: Eddie turned 7 in October! It is so hard to believe that he is that old. He is really a great kid. For Halloween Eddie was a jedi, Grace was a Doctor, and Eleanor was a giraffe. William wore a festive sweater( after making costumes for the other 3 he kind of got left out. Next year...)

Now it is November. Grace turns 5 on Friday. She is coming along, although her teachers are concerned that she may have other delays besides speech so we are looking into that.

William is getting so big. He cruises around the furniture and is starting to stand on his own too. He is a really happy baby and if I could just get him to consistently sleep through the night I would be one happy Momma!

One last update about myself. All this running has been beneficial to my figure. I happened to come across a paper where i wrote down my weight and measurements when i started back to the gym after having William. I have lost 35 pounds and MANY inches(i haven't actually measured recently). Also, I am down 4 pants sizes! YAY ME!

A grocery deal too good to pass up.

2010-03-10T11:45:00.008-06:00

On Krazycouponlady today she detailed a grocery deal that i could not pass up. I rarely pay more than $1 for a box of cereal and my supply was getting low. I am going to try to break this down but explaining is not my strong suit so here we go.

I bought 10 boxes of cereal and 10 boxes of fruit roll ups/fruit by the foot, 3 doughnuts, and one softsoap all for $14.87. I think the most expensive thing was the doughnuts.

For the soap I used a $.50 off coupon, which doubles to become $1, and the soap was on sale 10 for $10 making it free.

This is the portion of the receipt that was the cereal and fruit snacks. If I were to averege the cost between the 20 items it would come out to $.65 per item.
This is the portion of the receipt with my coupons. On the Krazycouponlady she posts links to all kinds of printable coupons and e coupons. I had a couple of extra higher $ off coupons from various mailers.

Annnnd.... this is the savings portion of my receipt. I pretty much rock.

But to top all that off I got 2 catalina coupons(the ones that print out at the register) totaling $7.50 which i used to by 4 movies that were on clearance.

I paid $3.78 out of pocket for the movies.

Girls Dresses

2010-02-21T16:41:00.003-06:00

My friend Jennie posted about some sewing goals she had for the new year. I decided to take her lead and start some projects of my own. On of her projects was making a little girls dress from a mens shirt. I went to good will and got 2 shirts for $5 each. I used the link jennie provided for the Red dress but i wasnt rally satisfied so i hunted around for a different one. the turtorial found HERE is what i used for the green dress.
This is what i started with.

My finished product

.
Eleanor wore hers to church today. I am going to alter grace's a little bit and then she can wear hers too.

Grandpa

2010-01-10T11:11:00.002-06:00

My grandfather passed away this morning after being ill for some time. He was a wonderful man. I had the privilege of living with my grandparents fro 2 summers while i was in college. I was able to form a wonderful relationship with both my grandparents. I remember Sunday mornings, when it was almost time for church, he would play the piano and it was kind of a signal that it was time to be ready for church.

the kids an i were able to go to McCall in 2008 for his 80th birthday. I am so glad most of my kids were able to meet this amazing man. We saw him again in April for Ada's wedding and i was able to speak to him on the phone earlier this week. He was such a wonderful grandpa, and i will miss him dearly.

So blessed in 2009

2010-01-01T12:03:00.003-06:00

The blessings dont get much better than this...Happy New Year!!

Baby William

2009-12-22T06:59:00.002-06:00

Born December 21, 3 51 pm. 7 lbs 8 oz.

Big enough??------->

2009-12-18T09:00:00.001-06:00

Dont you think that baby looks big enough to come out??? I sure do!!

Happy Holidays Everybody!!!

Pear's are my favorite

2009-09-29T18:28:00.002-05:00

I got this in an e mail from Grace's teacher today.

" I had people come observe my class today and Grace really shined! She was such a great talker, singing along, answering questions, etc. It was JUST what I wanted them to see from our class! :) "

I am so proud of Grace. I can almost have a conversation with her now!! Granted if you dont know her lingo, you probably dont get much but it has helped me alot!

Top 10

2009-08-31T12:30:00.002-05:00

10 things I learned the first week of school.

1. I am positively giddy when the school bus rolls away at 9 05.

2. I can bake 3 times as much in 3 hours while Grace is at school than i can in the same 3 hours when she is home.

3. Eddie makes friends fast ( I actually already knew that.)

4. Eleanor will watch Dora and Diego the whole 3 hours that Grace is at school if i let her.

5. Eddie's room CAN stay clean for longer than 8 hours at a time.

6. Eddie will not eat breakfast at home but he will eat breakfast at school.

7. By the time Grace gets home from school i can have all my chores/errands done and can sit on the couch until it is time to get Eddie.

8. Going to the grocery store is a million times easier.

9. Grace and Eleanor home together is a way different dynamic than last year when Eddie and Eleanor were home together 3 days a week.

10. Grace is going to learn WAY more in the PEAR program than she ever did in PPCD, i am already happier with her class than i ever was last year.

HORRAY FOR SCHOOL!!!!!!!

FIrst Day of school

2009-08-27T13:27:00.003-05:00

Tuesday was the first day of school. Eddie started Kindergarten, which he loves. I think he was made for school.

Grace started her new speech program. She is so excited to get on the bus every morning and they have been learning abut Dinosaurs this week. She is gone for about 3 hours every day.

So that leaves Eleanor home with me until little brother gets here in December. We have had alot of baking to do this week but she is a great helper and when she gets tired of helping she watches Dora. So nice and quiet...

------------------------>

2009-08-11T07:43:00.002-05:00

Look at my little widget!!! 140 days down, 140 days to go. I am half way there!!!

Happy 4th of July.

2009-07-04T11:47:00.000-05:00

I saw this on another blog that i read...Have a happy 4th.

Announcement

2009-05-30T13:13:00.002-05:00

Well if the little widget at the right isn't a big enough clue.... We are having a baby!! I am due December 29th and am still in the midst of major morning sickness (curse all of you who don't get morning sickness). I figure in 9 more weeks or so i might actually start to get excited about being pregnant!

Poor Blogger

2009-05-12T13:25:00.003-05:00

Hi I am a poor random blogger. Sorry i don't update very often, i find reading about other peoples lives is more fun than writing about mine. BTW, The cakes in the previous post were not very well labeled. The wedding cake was for my sister Ada's wedding reception in April. The Boobie/Belly cake was for a lady who we made the grooms cake for her wedding, back when i was pregnant with Grace, and now she is having her first baby.

I have been selling bread at the Pflugerville farmers market. It has been exhausting, but well worth it. Standing out in the 90+ degree heat for 4 hours is not pleasant, but at least i get out of the house for a couple of hours.

Now that you are all sufficiently updated...... The next post will be more exciting, I promise.

Latest cakes

2009-04-24T16:51:00.003-05:00

Here are my latest cakes. Wedding cake and Boobie cake.

My first 5k.

2009-04-10T12:32:00.002-05:00

Last saturday i ran my first 5k. It was alot more fun than i expected, considering how much i dislike running. I actually ran the whole way, which is a first too, even in training i only ran 2 miles with out stopping. Part of that was me trying to keep up with Cynthia. We finished in 23 minutes and 43 seconds.

eleanor makes bread.

2009-04-07T19:39:00.004-05:00

Don't get too excited.... It's just water so far.

How does it taste???

Time to clean up.

What a storm!!!

2009-03-25T18:14:00.004-05:00

We just had a doozie!!! I managed to shoot a little video for those of you reading from out of town.

I also went out and collected some hail... it's the biggest i've seen since we moved here. Thank goodness Tim cleaned out the garage and the car is parked inside!! His car, however, is parked at the Salt Lick..... It looked worse up there on the radar.

As we were watching the storm i though i saw a golf ball sized one out in the yard. i was so excited to go collect it and it turned out to actually be a golf ball!

I love it when...

2009-03-17T23:13:00.001-05:00

i click on a blog that google reader suggests, and find a total gem. This one is a little irreverent, but i laughed my but off.

http://sweetenedtaters.blogspot.com/

Free movie monday

2009-03-09T13:45:00.000-05:00

Today's free Redbox code is F3T9L6. This code can be used all day until midnight at any Redbox location.

You can't beat a free movie rental so schedule some fun family nights and check out what Family Films are available.

Side Notes:

- If you want to rent more than one movie for free, bring more than one credit/debit card. You can use the same promotional code, you just will need different cards to charge it to. The charge will be zero as long as you return your movie on time for the next day.

- When entering in your free movie code, you need to enter it FIRST before picking the movie. On the very first screen, click the, "Rent with Promo." Enter in the above code and then make your selection- the amount should then total zero.

Free Movie wednesdays in march.

2009-03-04T08:53:00.001-06:00

Redbox is giving bonus free movies in march. go to their blog http://blog.redbox.com/redblog/ on wednesdays for the code. Same rules apply as monday free movies(see my previous post)

Free Movie Monday

2009-03-02T13:58:00.002-06:00

This is my favorite new tradition, since Tim is only home on monday night....

Today's free Redbox code is MS72K3. This code can be used all day until midnight at any Redbox location.

Side Notes:

- If you want to rent more than one movie for free, bring more than one credit/debit card. You can use the same promotional code, you just will need different cards to charge it to. The charge will be zero as long as you return your movie on time for the next day.

- When entering in your free movie code, you need to enter it FIRST before picking the movie. On the very first screen, click the, "Rent with Promo." Enter in the above code and then make your selection- the amount should then total zero.

How was your day???

2009-02-24T19:21:00.004-06:00

this is posted on my fridge... 'nuff said.

href="http://www.babyblues.com/archive/index.php?formname=getstrip&GoToDay=09/21/2008">

The Housework Experiment.

2009-01-02T17:59:00.002-06:00

In our house there are two very diferent opinions on how housework should be done. I have been experimenting with the two viewpoints over the past week and have made some interesting discoveries.

Tim's Way: Start with a very clean house. one would venture to say spotless. Then through out the day be constantly cleaning, picking up and only stop briefly in the mid afternoon. This is a good system although you end up feeling like kind of a slave to your house and kids(at least i do). Also, schedule more intensive cleaning for certain days of the week. Like clean the bathrooms on thurdays etc. Be sure to schedule these on your ical so that the computer will remind you what chore you are supposed to be doing instead of blogging.

Alison's Way: Start with a house that is as clean as you felt like making it before you went to bed the night before. If it was a bread baking night, dont expect the kitchen part of the house to be very clean. Then just let your kids do what ever they want all day, drag any toys out to the living room, scatter cereal all over the kitchen floor, and cause general mayhem while I am reading blogs or surfing the internet. Then, after the kids go to bed at 8 pm, spend about an hour getting the house close to its almost clean status. Do the daily chores if you feel like it.

I have come up with a modified way, kind of a hybrid of the two. Start with a really clean house because tim was home the night before and he cleaned it up while I was putting the kids to bed. Clean as you go until lunch time. then give up and sit on the couch the rest of the day. what a loser.

maybe someday i'll get it together...for now i guess i just have to be satisfied with letting tim clean the house once and a while so it doesnt become a complete pig sty.

this one's for you Ada!!

2008-12-27T18:15:00.001-06:00

Congratulations!!! Best wishes on your Wedding Day!!

Life List

2008-12-14T10:14:00.002-06:00

This was on my friend Dawn's website and I thought it cute. The bold are the things I have done...the non bolded (is that a word?) are the things I would like to do.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (does school band count?)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train-
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Happy Birthday Grace

2008-11-12T21:19:00.003-06:00

Today is gracies 3rd birthday...Happy birthday to you!!!

Gracie's first Haircut.

2008-11-04T13:16:00.003-06:00

I took grace for her first hair cut today. She was just so scraggily i couldent stand it any more. Also she is starting school next week so i figured she needed to be presentable.

BEFORE

Sitting so still... I am going to start telling her she is getting a haircut when i want her to sit still.

AFTER

That's no moon.....

2008-10-20T18:47:00.004-05:00

It's a space station!!!

Eddie's 5th birthday cake

Dough Boy (or Girl)

2008-10-02T23:11:00.001-05:00

On any given day, if you stop by my house unannounced, you will probably notice that it looks like the Pillsbury Doughboy exploded in my kitchen. People walk in to my house and say "oh it smells so good in here". Honestly i dont really notice unless i go away for a while. I almost always have something baking, it kind of drives my kids crazy because they can never have any of the yummy stuff i make. But any way i digress...back to the Doughboy.....actually Doughgirl....

This is what happens in our house when it gets quiet an i look around and think..'where is Grace?'

Vacation Blog Part 1

2008-10-01T14:35:00.006-05:00

I have been real busy since we got home about a week and a half ago so i haven't posted anything about vacation. I am going to post mostly pictures because i am not much for typing/storytelling. Needless to say we had a great time, but it is great to be home.
At the lake in McCall.

Eleanor being a monkey in the car.

At the Oregon Coast.

One of the 4 cakes i did while i was there

Grandpa Bob and the kids, ready for October fest.

On our way home

2008-09-17T19:11:00.002-05:00

We are on our way home to Texas. I am looking forward to getting back to real life, believe it or not. On our trip back we decided to spend an extra day in Salt Lake City. Tim and the kids have never been to Temple Square and I haven't been since i was a kid. We really enjoyed it. The 'new' conference center is impressive. I took some pictures and will post those on another day.

We sure have enjoyed this extended vacation. The kids have been as good as can be expected in the car. Jody did a vacation by the numbers a while back and i may copy her when we finally get home.

Modern Day cattle Rustler

2008-09-01T15:40:00.004-05:00

One of the fun things we have done on our vacation is drive up to Little lake outside McCall, ID. We drove up and had a weenie roast with the fam and on the way home..... we drove through some forested area, where there were cattle grazing. Some of the heard strayed on to the road. My brother Mark, when we wouldn't let him get out of the van to chase them, resorted to his own methods.

Missing me yet???

2008-08-19T11:39:00.002-05:00

Hi rabid readers!!! I have been and still am out of town having a wonderful time in the great northwest. My internet usage has been intermitant so i just thought a brief update would be good. I am almost exatly half way through my LONG vacation. We are really looking forward to daddy comming in 3 weeks and were really surprized to hear the news from the Round Rock Ward. Things are going to be so different when i get back!

I hope to post some pictures next week, my parents internet is down until the 26th so i cant really upload very well.

Because i like to read.....

2008-07-22T08:12:00.003-05:00

I found this on another blog that i read and thought it was cool..

Here's how it works:

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Underline (or mark in a different color) the books you LOVE - mine are with astricks
4) Reprint this list in your blog so we can try and track down these people who’ve read 6 and force books upon them ;-)

The premise of this exercise is that the National Endowment for the Arts apparently believes that the average American has only read 6 books from the list below.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
*2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
*4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
*8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
*11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
*16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
**33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
*39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
*42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
*58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
*73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
*99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Probably a couple more of those should be in italics, I wont commit to reading anything right now. I have a hard enough time finishing one book for book club every month.

More grocery cart woes

2008-07-14T12:01:00.002-05:00

(i should rename my blog 'Alison's Complaints')

Today is Monday so the kids and I went grocery shopping. Some people think I am crazy for taking all three of my kids to the store with me and think I should go when my hubby is home. Since those times are now few and far between, I feel even more justified in taking my kids with me. Any way, they go with me because it is what we do on Monday mornings and I figure if they cant sit still and behave them selves while we shop they will never make it through kindergarten. I hit a record low today, spending only $30 because we are using up the stuff we have before vacation.

After HEB, which was pretty uneventful, we headed to Randalls. In the past couple of weeks I have had to look for the Blue 3 seater carts to put my kids in. for whatever reason they always seem to be parked on the other side from where I come in. So I went hunting today, assuming that I would find one on the other side. Alas, no blue carts or car carts. I don't like the car carts anyway because grace climbs out of them and/or hangs her head out the side making it impossible to drive. Today I would have put up with that because the alternative is exactly what i had to do today. I put Eleanor in the seat, Grace in the basket, and Eddie walks. It's a good thing I want getting my usual haul ( I only ended up spending $4.xx).

We started around the store, Eddie running ahead, Grace trying to climb out, and Eleanor trying to do whatever Grace was doing. I rounded a corner and right in front of me was a woman with a blue cart. I wanted to ram her with my cart full of kids. There in her 3 seater cart was one chubby 7 YEAR OLD girl. Come on now, seriously?????? I was practically wrestling an octopus so that this big kid could relax while they walked through the store. I was so angry that I got all distracted and couldn't find anything.

As we were checking out Grace happened to grab a comment card. You better believe they are getting a comment from me about not having enough kid carts.

(If you were the lady with the blue cart and you happen to be reading this, or if you are guilty of this yourself, I apologize.....wait, no LEAVE THE BLUE CARTS FOR THE POOR SOULS WHO NEED THEM!!)

Free meal with a side of fat lip

2008-07-09T19:28:00.002-05:00

We went to Ikea tonight for Kids eat free night. I dropped Eddie off in the Smaland at 4 05 and wandered around for a while. When i went back to pick Eddie up about 40 minutes later the attendant said "Eddie fell on the stairs a few minutes ago and cut his lip. It bled kind of alot at first but stopped quickly and he said he was okay" Aright.... he is the kind of kid that would have them call his mom if he was really hurt so i figured he was okay. While he was getting his shoes on i took a look. YIKES!! I checked his teeth to see if any of them were loose and he said his teeth didn't hurt. He was able to eat a whole bowl of mac and cheese. he had some trouble drinking out of a cup, his top lip is pretty bruised, I can only imagine what it is going to look like tomorrow. I took some pictures, mostly because Tim is working in the evenings so it will probably be healed by the time Tim sees him on Saturday.

On a side note... I never thought i would say this but... I love The Wiggles. They used to really bother me but one of their tapes is a great work out :)

Kids eat free...

2008-07-08T08:46:00.002-05:00

on Wednesday nights at Ikea! Now that the hubby is going to be working on Wednesday nights we are going to get some free meals.

Here are the details. From 3 to 8 pm on Wednesday nights in the restaurant, not the cafe by the check out, kids 12 and under eat free. They have a little area with a movie playing too so after the kids scarf down their food you can finish your meal while they enjoy the movie. We went pretty early last week, i think we got there around 3 30 and Eddie played in the smaland while the girls and i did a lap around the store. Then we picked Eddie up and headed for the restaurant. there wasn't even a line to get food. so for about $8 (i had the salmon and it was pretty good) we got 4 meals. I even ordered mac and cheese for the baby.

Maybe we'll see you there!

2008-07-03T14:08:00.002-05:00

Grace is learning to talk. She has started to string some things together but i cant get her to talk to Gandma or anyone else on skype, so here is a little example for everyone.

Happy 1st birthday Eleanor

2008-06-29T18:53:00.003-05:00

Cakes

2008-06-29T18:44:00.003-05:00

Here are a couple more cakes...It has been a busy month.
Parker lives across the street from us and he turned 3 the other day.
Kim lives next door. She turned 7(I think) and requested a cake with pink and orange.
This one is Eleanors Birthday cake. It is iced in Raspberry Whipped cream.

Summer fun

2008-06-17T16:28:00.005-05:00

It is like 100 degrees here every day so we have been getting some use out of the slip and slide. Eddie is almost even brave enough to actually slide.

Black and white wedding and baby boy shower

2008-06-17T16:22:00.005-05:00

Here are a couple of cakes i did in the last two weeks. I have two more coming up this weekend that i will post next week.

A to Z

2008-06-08T15:28:00.003-05:00

I've been tagged for the first time ever. Thanks Robin!!!

A- Attached or Single: Attached
B- Best friend: Tim
C- Cake or Pie: i make cakes but i prefer pie
D- Day of choice: Monday
E- Essential item: Coupons
F- Favorite Color: Red
G- Gummy bears or worms: Sour Worms
H- Hometown: Salem, Or
I- Indulgence: Dark Chocolate
J- January or July: January
K- Kids: Eddie (4), Grace (2), and Eleanor (1 on the 29th)
L- Life is incomplete without: Food
M- Marriage Date: June 16, 2000
N- Number of siblings: 7
O- Oranges or Apples: Both
P- Phobias or fears: Scary movies scare me
Q- Quotes: "A life lived in fear is a life half lived
R- Reason to smile: Getting a good deal.
S- Season of choice: Spring
T- Tag 3 times: Juliana, Ted, and Mark
U- Unknown fact about me: I have never been out of this country unless you count Canada a couple of times.
V- Very favorite store: HEB and Randalls. Really any place I can score a deal.
W- Worst habit: Dr pepper
X- X-ray or Ultrasound: Ultrasound
Y- Your favorite food: Dr. Pepper
Z- Zodiac Sign: Taurus

Going Tube-ing

2008-05-29T22:33:00.002-05:00

Grace had tubes put in her ears today. The procedure was really quick, she was only away from us for about 20 minutes. Also, we had it done at Tim's hospital so we got some special treatment. I am really glad it is over and hopefully this will be all we have to do. I plan to have her hearing tested again after the post op visit, mostly for my own peace of mind. She is back to her old self, Crazy as ever.

Finding the Joy

2008-05-21T08:06:00.002-05:00

Recently I was having a hard time finding joy in my life. I am sure most every one has been there at one time or another. I let my self get so far removed from the joy that the things i really do love actually started to be annoying. So i just wanted to point out a couple of things i have re-discovered in the last week that bring joy into my life.

Eddie- I am sure most 4 year olds have minds like a steel trap and hearing like an owl. His attentiveness and negotiation tactics crack me up. The other night he was refusing to eat his dinner and he kept saying ' I want another meal!' (he ended up going hungry, in our house we eat what is on our plate) He is great most of the time about playing with his sisters.

Grace- Maybe the sweetest and brightest girl i know. Since she is having trouble communicating we have had a rough time lately. The doctor says we can resolve her hearing problem next week and then she should be able to speak soon after that. She doesn't miss a trick though. I could be talking about babies in the other room and she will bring me her dolly. I suspect that when she is able to talk she wont stop. Ever.

Eleanor- or nee-nor as she is more affectionately called. She is at that age where babies start to be more independent but they still need their mommies. She crawls off to play by her self and can be totally happy for minuets at a time.

Garage Sales- I have had some good finds in the past couple of weeks, I'll post more on that later.

Vacation- 9 weeks till a nice 6 week long vacation. Unfortunately my biggest joy wont be able to be there for most of it.

Tim- My hubby is the biggest joy in my life. I cant believe i forgot for any amount of time how incredible he is. Seriously, my day gets better when i know it is almost time for him to come home, and not just because i want a break from my kids anymore. He is a wonderful daddy and husband and we are really going to miss him when we are gone this summer.

BTW Thanks to my sister Annabelle for her visit. It was WAY fun!!!

Seriously?!?!?

2008-05-12T07:06:00.002-05:00

So i remember hearing about this woman in Arkansas who had her 17th child just after i had Eleanor. Here is her big announcement on the today show this week.

I no longer feel overwhelmed with my 3. Pregnant with #18 can you imagine??

6 Week Follow Up

2008-05-06T19:32:00.004-05:00

We went back to the audiologist today to have Graces hearing retested. She has been on Zertec and Nasonex for the last 6 weeks in an effort to clear the fluid out of her ears so they can test her hearing.

The first thing the audiologist does is a tympanometry If that is not normal than they dont even proceed with the hearing test. The test showed that Grace was flat line in the right ear and a mole hill in the left ear. A normal ear has peaks.

The next step in our hearing adventure is going to the Ear Nose and Throat doctor. I asked a lot of questions today. The audiologist was very helpful and said that the ENT doctor is pretty conservitive and may try something else before putting tubes in her ears. We will be seeing him on monday and hopefully we can make some more progress.

When i think about this whole expirence I reflect on the fact that if i had just accepted that she didn't talk and never called the ECI we never would have thought to have her hearing tested and never would have discovered the fluid. At the same time I am tired of going to the doctors office.

2008-04-26T18:32:00.004-05:00

You know when you sit down to type a blog because there have been ideas bouncing around in your head??? And then you sit down and ....... nothing. So a funny picture for all of you to enjoy.

Grace is in that transition period where she really kind of needs a nap but if i make her take one she wont go to bed at night. She ends up falling asleep in strange places...like the baby's seat.

Busy day chicken

2008-04-22T11:24:00.002-05:00

This is one of my own creations and since it turned out so well the other day i thought i would share. You may need to adjust if you have a smaller crock pot than mine.

potatoes, peeled if you prefer, and cut into chunks
carrots
onion, cut up
chicken pieces, i use a whole chicken cut up.

put the vegetables in the bottom of your crock pot and place all the chicken pieces on top. Sprinkle garlic salt, pepper, and oregano over all of it. Add i can of diced tomatoes and about 1/2 can of water. Cook on high for 4 hours. If you want a thicker sauce when you pull the chicken out mix a little cornstarch with water and mix it in. then let it cook a little longer. the great thing about this recipe is 1) it cooks while you are at church and 2) you can adjust the amount very easily by adding more chicken and vegetables if you have a bigger family.

thanks Meleah!!!

2008-04-18T06:06:00.005-05:00

Some of you may know the Super Talented Meleah. She took some family photos of us about a week ago and here is the result.

Thanks Meleah...you are awesome!!!

Extreme Home Makeover: Our House!

2008-04-15T10:08:00.003-05:00

So far only paint but new floors coming soon!!!

Grace and the Marker

2008-04-15T09:05:00.010-05:00

this morning i was sitting on the couch holding a sleeping baby and i thought to myself....'Grace is being really quiet, i should go check on her'. I ignored the thought because i wanted the baby to sleep a little bit longer. Big Mistake. A few minutes later Grace came back into the room and i noticed she had blue marker on her hands.

So i started looking for the evidence.

Clearly this wasn't hanging on the wall and hasn't been for many years. I found this in my room. I still haden't located the marker.

next in the baby's room, a dvd case. i happen to know hairspray will take permanant marker off plastic so no big deal.

I found this in Eddies room, next to the marker. This also was not a terribly big deal because there wasn't a pillow case on it. Also it belongs to the kids and they dont care, right?

on my way back to my room i discovered this in the hallway. Again i thought i had dodged a bullet since tomorrow night we are pulling up the carpet in the hallway and the living room and putting down laminate. Then i walked back into my room.....

thank goodness for the Magic eraser!!!

another wonderful time waster

2008-04-14T15:50:00.002-05:00

here is another way to waste time online, as if we needed another one. it's a site called netwinner. You play games for points and then cash in your points for gift cards when you earn enough. I have been playing for a week and have earned 3000 points.

All you do is play games like Banko, which is like Bingo, and they also have Money Wheel. They are so easy that you can actually have them running in the background while you are doing other things. You can play 10 Banko cards a day and get 100 spins on the money wheel per day.

When you sign up for Netwinner, make sure you verify your email address with them or you won't be able to cash out and get your gift cards! Verifying your email with them also will enable you to be alerted if they have special double point days. These will make great Christmas gifts.

To verify your email with them, log in then go to the "my account" tab. Once there you will see your address information and to the right a "verify email" tab. Just click the link and follow directions to verify.

To sign up click here.

Magic Bean update

2008-04-09T10:47:00.005-05:00

I think they are coming along rather nicely. Pretty soon we will have some green beans to eat. they started out like this on march 25th

do i have something on my face???

2008-04-09T10:32:00.005-05:00

After dinner of sloppy joes for grace and sweet potatoes for eleanor it was just too cute. to me they really look nothing alike.....

bread how to

2008-04-02T21:08:00.014-05:00

I have been surfing other food related blogs and I have been inspired to do a how to. Since bread is my forte.... here we go. Feel free to use your favorite bread recipe with my steps.

Step one: Mix warm water with yeast and sugar. Allow to ferment and 'bloom'. It will become very frothy.

While your yeast is blooming, place all your dry ingretients in a bowl. Pour you oil/butter in and then pour your dry ingredients in all at once.

Make sure the salt doesn't hit the yeast mixture directly, it will kill the yeast. Just give the dry ingredients a quick stir before you pour them in.

Start to mix with a wooden spoon, adding more flour as you need it.

Turn the dough out onto the counter and kneed until it forms a nice smooth ball. It should take about 5 minutes.

Place dough in a lightly greased bowl and grease the top. I use pan spray and just spray it all over the top.

Let rise until double in size.

Shape into a loaf and place in a greased loaf pan.

let rise until double.

bake.

Baby Shower and first birthday.

2008-03-29T11:49:00.000-05:00

Last week i did a first birthday cake that turned out pretty nice. I just winged it from a discription of the invitation.

this week i did one for a baby shower. I got the inspiration for this one by doing a google image search for 'pink and brown baby shower cake'.

Curse you, Sitemeter!!

2008-03-28T08:59:00.000-05:00

Kristi posted the other day about some one in England reading her blog. So i got the idea to install the nifty little sitemeter on my blog. Bad idea. Now not only do i check Google reader several times a day to see if any one has posted, i am also checking sitemeter to see who has visited. Most of the locations i recognize as people i know.......but there are a few, nothing as exotic as England this week, that i have no idea who they could be.

Holly, I saw your comment on Kristi's blog. all you have to do, if you have sitemeter at least, is click on the location option on the left side of the sitemeter screen.

No more anonymity for you!!!(sort of)

It's potty time!!!!

2008-03-28T08:45:00.000-05:00

Grace is at the age where she really should be able to go pee pee in the potty. I have been encouraging her but but not pushing because of her speech delays. So last night before her bath i sat her on the little potty and said "go pee pee' and walked away. Why did I walk away???????? I didn't really believe she would go. I came back about a minute later and there was pee in the little potty. The first thing i thought was that Eddie had done it. he denied it an as i was asking him grace was franticly pointing to herself and saying 'me me'. AH HA she can be taught! thankfully i had just scored a bunch of cheap easter candy earlier in the day so we had plenty of potty treats.

Great job Gracie!!!

Magic Beans

2008-03-25T20:39:00.000-05:00

When my mom was here last july she brought some magic beans for the kids to plant and watch them grow. She planted them with the kids and the rabbits ate them. So i waited to plant some more in a pot and the bugs ate them. At that point i decided to wait till spring.

Last sunday after church the kids and i went out to plant them again. Yesterday when we watered them this is what we found.

Now if i can just keep the bugs off them...

Can you hear me now???

2008-03-24T21:56:00.000-05:00

Those of you that know Grace at all know that she has some speech delays. I tell people some times that she doesn't talk but she does talk a little bit. A couple of weeks ago i got in touch with Early childhood intervention and had her evaluated. They rated her speech level at 20 months. That is almost 9 months behind. I was somewhat relieved to hear this because i was sure that it was just me being impatient with her.

We have been working with the ECI program doing some therapy with her over the last two weeks. One of the things that was so hard for me was that she was not putting two words together. I have talked to other kids her age who talk in full and complete sentences. Eddie spoke very well at that age(although i try really hard not to compare my kids). I would really like to potty train her and she seems like she could be ready but she cant yet tell me when she has to go. On Saturday she said 'bye bye ma ma'. I was thrilled.

One of the suggestions of the ECI program was to have Grace's hearing tested. We went to the Audiologist on Wednesday last week. One of the first thing they discovered was that she had fluid in her ears, therefore the test would not be accurate. They went ahead and did the test anyway and in showed mild hearing loss in both ears, probably due to the fluid. This is weird because she hasn't had nearly as many ear infections as Eddie had. So we went back to her pediatrician today and got a perscription for some allergy medicine and nasal spray. All i have to say is this had better be effective because the nasal spray was expensive. it must be made of gold or something.

In 6 weeks we will go back to the audiologist and hopefully she will walk in there and say..."hi doctor, my name is Grace"

Wouldn't it be Cool if.....

2008-03-19T15:42:00.000-05:00

Wouldn't it be cool if there was a machiene that could record your thoughts??? Not is a 'Big Brother' sort of way but like a dictation machiene for yourself. I find myself thinking up whole blog posts while i am driving or taking a shower and then when I sit down at the computer I draw a blank.

Wouldn't it be cool to be a radio DJ. I listen a morning radio show sometimes and just think about how much fun they seem to be having. How fun would it be to get paid to talk and listen to music?

Wouldn't it be cool if there was a service just for moms that you could call at 4:40 in the afternoon and they would bring you a home cooked meal and take away all the evidence so your husband thinks you made it?(I should start that one;)

Oh, what do you do in the summer time???

2008-03-14T16:22:00.000-05:00

It is currently 94 degrees here. I took advantage of the winter dryness and the summer type heat and rented a rug doctor. Eleanor cant stand the sound of the vacuum much less the noisy rug doctor. So today in my effort to get my carpets clean i discovered that you CAN use a rug doctor if you only have one hand/arm. I did pretty much the entire house while holding eleanor. But i feel pretty satisfied with myself.

my personal best

2008-03-10T12:09:00.000-05:00

I know you are all sick of hearing about my trips to the grocery store but i went above and beyond today. I will spare you all the details but the long and the short of it is......I saved $95 at Randall's. Before my store card and coupons my total was $128. I was a little nervous seeing that because i knew that i only has $32 left to spend after HEB. So i scanned my card and handed over my coupons. My final total was $31.91. That was with out any $20 or $10 off coupons. But i did buy 10 boxes of cereal, 5 cheerios and 5 total raisin bran. the deal with those is select cereals are 5 for $5 when you buy 5. I also had a couple of coupons for those select cereals so i got them for about $.50 a box. Also Wholly Guacamole was on sale 10 for $10 and i had enough coupons to get 11 for free. And 2 free bottles of windex.

If any one is interested in learning how to do the grocery game i would be happy to sit down and show you how.

eye see you

2008-03-05T12:34:00.001-06:00

Mom, What's Voting??

2008-03-04T21:16:00.000-06:00

We were out delivering bread today and drove past the fellowship which is where i am supposed to vote. I was kind of thinking out loud and i said 'oh i need to go vote' well of course from the back of the car comes the inevitable question.

Eddie: "mom what's voting??"
Me: "well, we get to choose who we want to be president of our country. Who would you choose to be the president Eddie?"
pause....
Eddie: "Joseph Smith"
I was trying really hard to keep a straight face.
Me: "Really?? I don't think that he can"
Eddie: "Is he dead??"
Me: "Yes, Who would be your second choice?"
pause.....
Eddie: "President Hinkley"
Me: "Hmmmm I don't think that would work either, he's dead too"
We talked for a minute longer about what being dead means, going back to live with Heavenly Father. Then...
Eddie: "Mom, I think Heavenly father would make a good president"
Me: "Yep Eddie, i bet he would"

Counting.....

2008-03-02T10:06:00.000-06:00

Janssen's recent blog has inspired me to count my weekend blessings.

1. All my laundry is folded, well almost. But at least it is all clean.

2. Tax Return.... need I say more?

3. The Sunday newspaper with all it's coupons.

4. Thank goodness for high powered antibiotics. Eddie was complaining that his throat hurt and then he broke out in a rash. Our first experience with strep throat. So now he is on Antibiotics and we are all crossing out fingers that the other two don't get it. Since Grace and Eddie sleep in the same bed now we may be making another trip to the Dr. this week(cross your fingers for me).

5. Sick kids kept me home from church which isn't a blessing itself but i did just reorganize my pantry and that is good.

6. 'Ticket to Ride'. I played this game over at Robin's house Friday night. Way fun.

7. Papa Murphy's. instant Saturday night dinner.

8. My neighbor and i are resuming our morning walks starting monday. i am actually excited to get up at 5 30.

that's all for now.

This weeks Haul

2008-02-27T14:42:00.000-06:00

Someone suggested that i post a photo of how much i can buy with $60. I went a little over this week I spent $30 at HEB and $50 at randalls. I had already put a couple of things in the freezer but you get the idea.

posting for validation

2008-02-27T14:38:00.000-06:00

DO you blog for validation??? Do you find yourself looking for something to blog about that will cause people to comment on what you have to say??? I find that some times i just post things so that people will tell me my kids are cute even though i already know that. What is even funnier about this is i rarely comment on other peoples blogs but i expect people to comment on mine. How backwards is that??

my girls

2008-02-20T12:02:00.000-06:00

A video of the girls. It is a little stuttery because the computer was having some issues but it is cute none the less.

A sad day

2008-02-14T15:15:00.000-06:00

The day i have been fearing has finally come. With eddie it happened a lot sooner, but it didn't bother me as much.

Grace learned how to climb out of her bed.

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

2008-02-10T16:51:00.000-06:00

I just love those sunday afternoons that you can just sit and enjoy life. Dinner is in the oven, the kids are playing, and the husband is asleep on the couch.....

My new favorite

2008-02-05T18:42:00.000-06:00

I made crock pot lasagna tonight for dinner. I wasn't all that excited about the recipe and it turned out fine. more like a lasagna stew. Any way that wasn't the new favorite thing. I tried Renyolds crock pot liners and i dont know how or why i ever lived with out them. when dinner was over i just scooped out the leftovers and threw away the bag. It was AWESOME! no soaking no scrubbing... I am in Love!!!

Cranberry Sauce

2008-02-05T07:53:00.000-06:00

So what is cranberry sauce good for anyway?? I know it is good with turkey but buying a whole can of it and using 3 spoonfulls just doesn't seem very cost effective. There must be some other use for it. Every time i clean out my fridge i come across this container of cranberry sauce and i always put it back in there. I haven't yet opened it to see if it is good or not but how could it go bad??? it is like jello or jam i am sure it will be good for months. Then what am i supposed to use it for??

An unfortunate side effect

2008-01-31T14:04:00.000-06:00

I think it is an unfortunate side effect of being a stay at home mom that my self worth is directly connected to the amount of house work i get done in a day. I was just mopping my kitchen floor, something that has needed to be done for at least a week, and i was contemplating wether, by doing this chore that i don't really care for, I would be left with a sense of satisfaction. And strangely enough i don't really feel satisfied. Sitting on the couch and reading a novel probably gives me more satisfaction. But then the house is a mess and i feel guilty for not doing anything about it. My husband rarely gives me a hard time for the condition of the house so he isn't the one making me feel unworthy and the kids don't care if the house is clean or not.... I guess i kind of miss the days where i would go to work and have some one say 'Decorate this many cakes today'. It is so straight forward. I have made an attempt to create this sort of system for my housework but not having to answer to anyone kind of makes it feel pointless.

If anyone has any solutions for this, please share.

currently....

2008-01-30T12:50:00.000-06:00

This is my current favorite song....every time we hear it in the car we crank it up!! enjoy!

down for the count

2008-01-24T10:43:00.000-06:00

I'm sick...... i dont get very sick very often. It has been a long time since i have been so sick that i cant function. Even sitting here typing this my head feels like a brick. what's even worse is that Eleanor and Eddie are sick too. yesterday eddie wasnt sick yet and he was so helpful. now he's just laying on the couch, which is pretty much all i can do since i have to hold the baby. Therefore Grace the destroyer is loose in the house. She had a concussion on monday night but that hasnt slowed her down...

Grocery Goddess

2008-01-21T11:22:00.000-06:00

I know you are all really tired of hearing about my trips to the grocery store but lets face it... I have no life!

Today i went to Randall's after a so so trip to HEB( I only spent $17). But i was optimistic because Randall's has some great deals this week. I got my cart load to the registers and of course they only have the express lanes open. I cant remember the last time i had less than 15 items at Randall's. The baby was screaming but i was ultra organized so i just held her while we checked out. Because of that i was a little slow with my card and coupons. I glanced at the screen and it said $72.xx. YIKES. I had a bunch of coupons, like 20 or so. I also knew that i was getting $10 off for the breakfast deal. Then after i gave her my card and coupons.... $23.xx. Yippee!!!

For those of you who think maybe i am having a hard time making meals out of what i am buying, here are some of the things i bought today.

1 dozen eggs( i had coupons for 3 dozen but they only had one out there. with all three kids i don't usually hunt down an employee unless it is something i really need)
2 boxes of cereal
2 boxes of granola bars
3 cans of soup
3 pkgs of frozen potatoes(these were free)
lettuce
bananas
cantaloupe
Mustard
That's all i can remember right now..... anyway it was GREAT!!!

Baby Laughing

2008-01-19T15:31:00.000-06:00

Here is another video clip for all you family members, Grace and Eleanor were laughing at each other after dinner last night so i used the laptop to record some of it. Of course as soon as i got the computer close to them they were to interested in the computer and i had to do a little bit of coaxing.

Blow out!!

2008-01-13T14:05:00.000-06:00

(this poop related blog is for you Kristi )

I have never been very good at bringing extra outfits for my baby's when we go places like church, i guess i don't have the boy scout mentality. i can remember carrying around clothes for both the other kids until the clothes in my diaper bag no longer matched up with the size of the kid because i never had the occasion to use them. So i have been lucky till now, i can remember the other kids having blow outs but it was usually while they were in their car seat on the way home from some where.

Before church today (did i mention that i LOVE going to church at 9, I'm serious) I was contemplating the fact that Eleanor hadn't pooped in 3 days. I actually had been thinking about this fact since last night. I just knew that she was waiting for church. Right in the middle of the prayer or something. So as we were getting ready this morning i grabbed her other pink dress, she has 2 that are really similar and a clean onesie. Sure enough, mid way through Sacrament meeting Tim hands her to me and says 'she just pooped' I was like saying, 'the sky is blue'. I could see the poop spreading up her back. So i wrapped her up in the blanket and headed out. I stripped her down to the skin in the mothers lounge and i think i used 5 wipes to get it all off.

Thank Goodness for Mothers intuition.

What exactly is the point??

2008-01-09T12:39:00.000-06:00

We were at Target today(where i did get a killer deal) and i was loading my 3 kids under 4 into one of those carts with the red plastic extra seats. You know the ones where the kids sit right there eating the handle of the cart. Well anyway since Grace cannot be trusted to walk in any store and I needed room to put things in the basket we had to have some additional seating. Now my question to the powers that be is... why have kids carts if none of them have working buckles??? I had to McGyver the buckle on Grace's seat so that she wouldn't escape. On the regular carts the buckles look like they are pretty easy to replace but i suppose the 5 point harness style on the bigger carts isnt as simple. Maybe i could make millions designing a better cart...oh wait some one already came up with the yellow bench style that they have at the HEB on Louis Henna.

Speaking of HEB, I noticed that at the new HEB on Gattis had a totally different style of kid carts in addition to the Racecarts. But alas when i went to put my 3 kids in that cart that is designed for 3 children the buckles were already broken. This was when the store had been open about 2 weeks.

political 2 cents

2008-01-04T10:47:00.000-06:00

I don't usually talk politics because it usually causes disagreements. But this is my blog so i can say what i want right???

There was a caucus in Iowa yesterday where Obama and Huckabee were the winners. If that decided the candidates for the November election, which would win i wonder??? If the choice were a southern baptist or a black man which would our country elect?

What do you think??? Who is more likely to be elected? A woman, a Mormon, a black man or a white christian??? Now i am not asking who YOU are voting for i am just asking what you think will be the outcome of a national vote.

Testing 1...2...3....

2007-12-31T15:15:00.000-06:00

We did a test run of our video capabilities the other day using the webcam on our laptop. This is mostly for the benefit of far away family members but those of you who enjoy my kids antics n a regular basis are welcome to enjoy as well.

Hi, my name is Alison and I'm a shopaholic

2007-12-24T11:55:00.000-06:00

I am pretty sure i am addicted to grocery shopping. I didn't need to go to the store today, it is Christmas eve and i even stopped and got milk and eggs on Saturday night. I had enough food for Christmas dinner, although i did want to get a couple things for side dishes. But i went any way to 2 stores and spent $50. I cant bring my self to buy a new pair of shoes which i really need but i don't mind spending money on food. It is like the only justifiable expense. I am completely obsessed.

cute picture

2007-12-21T10:43:00.000-06:00

At first i thought....Cindy Lou Who,but then we were watching Monsters Inc and Boo's personality just reminded me of Grace. You know that part where they are throwing fruit loops into her mouth, that is just like grace.

this week's grocery totals

2007-12-17T11:57:00.000-06:00

So just to give you all a taste of my grocery game success I thought i would post how i did at the grocery store today. Not one of my best weeks but i am going to try to not go next Monday because it is Christmas eve. So HEB was a little higher that i had hoped with a total of $46.65. I was a little bummed because i always end up spending more than $20 at Randalls. But i would like to point out that my coupon savings at HEB were $12.18. I also bought Drano, which is a household item so it doesn't really count towards my $60 grocery budget.

On to Randalls. As i pulled in i remembered that i had a $4 off coupon from last week and that Tim had brought home some $10 off $50 that i could use. so i went a head and got what i wanted(i say wanted because i don't need caffeine free Dr.pepper) As she is ringing up my order i am trying not to look at the screen. Keeping in mind that i spent $12 on pull ups I handed her my coupons and peaked at the total.....$72.xx Yikes. So she starts scanning the coupons and all the card savings come of and my total was $39.80!!!!! the great thing about Randalls is they put your total savings at the bottom of the receipt. So i Saved $74.35 at Randall's. $86.45 was my grand total. 'But wait' I can here you saying ' I thought your budget was $60' your right it is $60 for food. If you take off the pull ups and the Drano it comes to $70.45. Not so bad for a family of 4.

And you should see how much food i bought......

2007-12-15T16:29:00.000-06:00

If a man speaks in the woods, and a woman is not there to hear him, is he still wrong???

reflections

2007-12-14T14:46:00.000-06:00

I find myself reflecting a lot when i send out Christmas cards. We have moved quite a bit in our 7 years of marriage. As i collect my list each year i think about the people we know and have known. I find myself wondering about them especially the ones we haven't seen in quite a few years. I think sending and receiving Christmas cards may be my favorite part of Christmas. Now if i could just get my kids to sit still long enough to take a decent picture for the card......

My little secret

2007-12-11T14:11:00.000-06:00

I think it is time to let you all in on my little money saving secret. I recently discovered, through my neighbor Kari, something called The Grocery Game. Basically it is coupon clipping to the extreme. The idea is to clip coupons and hang on to them until you can use them to your advantage. Then when the coupon is 'played' you get grocery's at rock bottom prices. The website posts lists of the sales and matches them up with the coupons that are currently available. For instance, this week i got 2 packages of Wholly Guacamole for free. The coupons were in the Sunday paper about 3 weeks ago i think. Alot of the things on the list, like the guacamole, you can freeze. One of the principals they talk about is stockpiling. Some of you might call it food storage. I haven't thus far been very good at having any food storage. but now i am getting close to having a 3 month supply of food and other household goods.

I have a grocery budget of $60 per week. Pre grocery game i was spending my $60, sometimes a little more, but by the end of my week i was stretching my limits as far as having things for dinner. We would often end up getting a pizza on Saturday because i didn't quite have enough food to make meals for both Saturday and Sunday. Now i spend my $60 and come home with so much more food. Also i have been able to get some of the things that i wasn't able to afford before, like organic milk. I also had been avoiding things that i like, such as crackers, but now if i play the coupons right i can get them(I currently have 11 boxes of assorted crackers in my pantry, I think i have that many boxes of cereal too.) This week i spent $63 and i saved $51. that is a 45% savings.

Unfortunately there is no such thing as a free lunch. You can get a 4 week trial membership to the site for $1. After that it is $10 every 2 months for one store list and $5 every two months per each additional store. I have 4 stores on my list right now but i am going to drop down to only HEB soon(I'll explain why in a minute). The best thing to to if you are considering starting the game is to collect coupons for a couple of weeks before stating the trial. All the coupons come from the Sunday paper. The way o figure it the money i spend on the membership and the newspaper, i save each week.

Now the icing on the cake.......There is a free version of this site. It is called Coupon Mom . But coupon mom is not specific to the Austin area, it is out of Atlanta. It also does not have HEB but it does have Target and wal mart. It does have Randall's, specific to Texas. here is a video clip that should explain things much better than i can.

I would recommend any one who is interested in cutting their weekly food budget to at least check out the websites.

P.S. if you decide to subscribe to the Grocery Game let me know so you can put my e mail in the recommendation section.

Let them eat Cake!!!

2007-12-08T16:42:00.000-06:00

So here are some more details about the cake i did this week. I realized that i didn't give any information in the previous post.

The 5 tier(+2 side cakes) was for a Quinceañera ( i had to look up the spelling for that, what a gringo i am) I the hall was beautifully decorated with her colors turquoise, chocolate, and silver. The cake was 3 tiers yellow cake with raspberry whip cream filling and 2 tiers white with pineapple filling. the 2 12 inch cakes on the side were one of each flavor.

I really did enjoy making it. i used fondant for the bows and the stripes. I haven't had a lot of experience working with fondant but i used my pasta roller and pizza cutter and things went pretty smoothly. I was up till 1 last night though, finishing it up. Also you cant really tell but each of the dots is chocolate with a silver dragee on each one. Each dragee has to be put on with tweezers(another reason i was up till 1) and the boarders are chocolate with dragees on them too.

Some of you may be wondering how a person would transport a cake like that from my house in Round Rock all the way out to Taylor??? In pieces. I stacked it on site and put the borders on when i got there. That took me about an hour. it is always a relief to be done with a project like that. I was finally able to get my kitchen all the way clean. it doesn't help that Tim has been working until at least 9 every night this week.

this is what I do with my time....

2007-12-08T12:20:00.000-06:00

this is what i have been doing all week. i think it turned out okay.

Why don't they put seat belts on potty's?

2007-11-30T21:22:00.000-06:00

I have been flirting with the idea of potty training Grace. She doesn't have a whole lot of language skills but she is getting more every day. I have always felt that one of the biggest parts of potty training was the kid being able to verbalize the need to go. I decided to give it a try any way. So i put a potty out in the living room on Thursday. It wasn't long before i discovered that grace has a bigger obstacle than words. She wont sit for longer than 2 seconds. She certainly isn't willing to hold still long enough to do what needs to be done. But on the bright side... I put some panties on her and she stayed dry all afternoon. She finally wet her pants when she was sitting in her high chair(probably because she was sitting still) at dinner.

Any one who has potty trained a Tasmanian devil, please share your technique. Any advice is welcome!!!