Hello Sunshine!

Finally, sunshine!

See my "snaggle tooth?" - I have 3 teeth & 2 on the way!

Justice, my buddy, she lets me pet her sometimes. I LOVE her!

GOTTCHA!

I'm trying to learn to crawl...but I don't love it.
This is a rare shot of me smiling while giving it a try.

Come Play With Me...

Baby K says come play with me & my friend Bren...and lots of other fun kids! If you live in the area we would love for you to join us for Wiggly Wednesdays! It's not every Wednesday, but at least once a month (and if you're lucky, sometimes twice a month).
This Wed we will be at the T.East Mall play area - playing indoors because the rain won't go away and has already made a muddy mess out of the outdoor playground we had originally thought we would be playing at.
Leave me a comment with your email address if you want/need more info. My friend Jess and I will get back to ya!

Oh...Baby K wants me to tell you that she will change out of her PJ's and into her play clothes before Wednesday's Play Date. :) See ya There!

Bow Give AWAY...and sweet orphans who need some lovin'

If you have seen pictures of Baby K you know she usually has a bow on her head. And almost every bow you see on her head is a bow from
www.sugarplumorphans.com
All proceeds go to help orphans.

Sugarplum is having a give away and you only have until 7pm tonight(central time) to enter!
All you have to do is leave a comment - how easy is that?!
There are other ways you can get your name entered to win more than just once...
check it out!
(honestly, if it wasn't for the orphans I wouldn't have posted this...I want to WIN and don't want to stack the odds against me - LOL)
Here is a link to some of the bows and barrettes she has made.
http://picasaweb.google.com/kendraneill/OnlineStoreKindOf#

Thanks Kendra for sharing your talent with us and for doing it for such a good cause!
Even if I don't win, I need to order a 4th of July bow - Baby K has the cutest outfit and needs a firecracker of a bow to go with it! :)

Look what I did!

My silly girl. She was playing on the couch next to me this morning while I checked my email. She started wiggling around and tugging on her shirt and then...pop she pulled her arm out. Eight months old and she can already undress herself - LOL.
She thought she was pretty funny.

Postponed

Well, it's raining and has been for days. The park is going to be a mess!
We will postpone the playgroup for a week.
So
Eastbrough Park
on May 6th
at 10am

Hoping for warm sunshine next week so we can play!

Baby K Easter Pictures

Honestly, these pictures were not taken on Easter day because it was such a rainy dark yucky day. She did wear this dress on Easter, although she also wore a white sweater and white socks with pretty ruffles on them instead of sandals.







It was sunny but very windy when I took these pictures. Here is a slide show of Baby K's Marilyn Monroe photo shoot. :)

Memories

I learned something wonderful this weekend. Well...it's wonderful to me.
I'm not a scrapbook person, they are great, but I don't want to spend my time cutting and glueing and journaling...I still have photos in a box from years ago because I'm too lazy or too busy to put them in a photo ablum.
Anyway, I learned that a gal at church publishes her blog each year into a hard back book! What a great idea, it has pictures - their whole year of activities, family outings, first things her kids have done, etc.
She uses a site called blurb.com
here is a link to the specific page that will give you details on publishing your blog
http://www.blurb.com/create/book/blogbook

When you make your blogbook you can add more pictures or delete posts you don't want in your book. Change slide shows to just pictures - or pictures in place of videos you published.

I am going to do this. This is great for people like me who love to blog but don't want to spend the time scrapbooking or digital scrapbooking - I love the result of those things but don't have the desire to put the time into them.
Anyway, I thought you might enjoy knowing about this resource as well.
Finally, I promise to post some new pictures of Baby K. I'm really behind in doing that.

Easter Baking

I have spent the past week preparing for Easter Morning Children's Church. We had an egg hunt today, read the Easter Story (about Jesus not the Easter Bunny, of course) from a sweet children's book, decorated bags for the eggs, watched the Veggie Tale Easter Carol, etc. Last week I baked cross sugar cookies and then put each cookie in a clear plastic bag and tied them with a white ribbon and gave them to the children this morning. It was fun.

The other baking I did for Easter was bake Easter Bread. I found this recipe via Foodgawker and I am so glad I tried it. It will now become a family tradition for us! I wondered why it is called "Easter" bread, other than the fact that there is a dyed egg in the middle of it. Easter Bread is an Italian and Greek tradition because Bread means Life. Which we know because of the Bible and it's many references to bread and life. I read that there is an old peasant proverb "He who has bread has life" interesting since Jesus said the same thing when he was referring to Himself as the Bread of Life (John 6:48). Imagine what that phrase means to a peasant, how deeply they who have little long for the necessities of life.
I decided that the egg can represent the New Life Jesus offers us - Eternal life with Him! And the Easter bread is sweet - because love is sweet. Maybe that is getting too cheesy for you, but I love the symbolism.
So I made the bread, with Baby K on my hip as I scooped out flour and other ingredients. She likes to "cook" with me. I enjoyed waiting for the dough to rise, growth takes patience. Then you have to punch the dough down, sometimes life bumps you around & can knock you down. Then you separate the dough into 12 small balls (Hey, Jesus had 12 disciples!). Next you roll the balls out into long ropes. Twist two ropes together and bring ends together to make round "nests." Place on a baking sheet and let rise. So you wait, and wait and after being patient again they double in size - again growth and more beautiful than before. Now, brush them with egg wash, sprinkle with brightly colored sprinkles, and nestle an Easter egg in the middle (no need to boil the egg before dying it, the egg will cook w/ the bread!). Bake in the oven for a bit and you will have beautiful Easter Bread. And the best part, aside from eating it....the aroma!!! Our house smelled of the wonderful sweet bread for hours! The bread was finished by 1pm and after returning home from a birthday party at 8pm our home still smelled amazing!
Huh...the aroma of Christ, I hope our family is the aroma of Christ to others. See, more symbolism!

Anyway, I hope to some how type this up more concise and purposeful, like in an activity format, with Bible verses for the different symbols, for our family to pull out and do together each year.

We wrapped each bread up in clear cellophane and tied with ribbon and gave them to neighbors and friends the day before Easter. Next year I would love to attach a card with the verse "I am the Bread of Life." John 6:48 and invite them to Easter Sunday Church with us. What a great way to be reminded of the real reason we celebrate Easter.

Girl Time...no...Escape Time

I need some girl time. Make that Woman time.
No, what I really want is Escape Time.
I'm not looking for deep conversation. In fact, I would like to turn my brain OFF for a little while. No thinking,"What's for dinner?" or "Let's see I have 'X' amount of time until...baby needs food or nap or diaper change, etc." or "What can I learn from my Bible study today" or "What do I have to offer to this conversation?"

I'm realizing this because my husband is enjoying a weekend with the guys and I'm home caring for our sweet baby (who really has been sweet) and wondering when the last time was I had a really good laugh (that was not related to something my child was doing). Adam called last night to say good night and he and his buddy were cracking up - I'm jealous.

Anyway, I saw a trailer for a Movie coming out May 1st called Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, staring Matthew McConaugh*ey and Jennifer Gar*ner. Looks like a total chick flick and a great way to just eat junk food and turn my mind off for 2 hours. I know it's a month away, but seriously, anyone else want to make a date of it? Any other mommies want to check out for 2 hours and eat buttery popcorn with me? I'm totally serious!

Who's in?

While I wait for May 1st, I am calling to make an appt to get a massage next week. I have a gift certificate from Valentine's Day and I'm cashing it in! :)

Tiny Friends

Baby AJ came to play today. We are having lots of fun with her. Everyone is napping now so I thought I would share some pictures from our day.

Half way and frustrated...

I have been cleaning and organizing today. I use to be a very clean neat person...everyone told me this would be hard after having a baby, i didn't believe them. I mean, really, how do you take the neatness out of a neat freak?
I'm frustrated because I realized that I seem to only get things half done these days. For example, Baby K's nursery feels half done - still have two pictures and her name letters to hang on the wall - but they just sit there waiting for me. I finally cleaned the master shower the other day (after like a month) but never got around to cleaning the sinks or the counter top. I vacuumed about 2 weeks ago but never got to the dusting then I dusted a week later but will I ever be in a house that is both vacuumed and dusted on the same day and with bathrooms all shiny with the smell of lemon all at the same time? Will my sock drawer ever be organized again, or my pj drawer?
I started a Beth Moore Bible study this Spring. Our group took a week off for spring break - but I am so behind I am afraid to pick up my book and see how far behind I am...but I want to catch up before Wed or at least get close...see another 1/2 done project around here.
We bought new furniture for upstairs when we finished our basement. I need to accessorize and make the upstairs look "complete" and cozy again, instead it all looks one color and needs some personality - see 1/2 done. grrrr....
So this is my rant. Thanks to a snow day we have been staying in. My husband helped with the vacuumming and I have cleaned the bathroom, done dishes, put laundry away, started more laundry, feed and changed the baby I don't know how many times, and all I need to do is dust. Some day I may get to organize a few things but for now I'll take a clean house.

More new favorites!

Ok, LOVE our new highchair - it's great, it is washable, it takes up little space and we can easily take it to grandma's in a little bag that came with it - perfection.

I happened to actually pay attention to the links on Simple Mom's blog and found this great site for baby food info...LOVE IT!
NurtureBaby
it is a great resource and such a cute blog/website.

Finally, I SO SO SO Love a new bakery find - a friend suggested them to me for some cookies for a baby shower - while I was there I looked at cakes they had out on display - amazing cakes for birthdays, weddings, showers, etc. They make beautiful (and soft & Yummy) cookies and I wanted to know if their cakes taste good or just look amazing so I bought a cupcake (I had to take one for the team, right?)
Anyway, I got a chocolate cupcake with mint creamcheese frosting - AMAZING! I think it will be a little pricey but I really want them to make Baby K's 1st Birthday cake - we'll see.
Check out Cheri's Bakery and know that the pictures on their site don't even do justice to what I saw in their shop today. YUM!

Drool Dialed?

Did you get drool dialed? I never thought that Baby K would be able to hold the unlock key down long enough to get the phone active and then actually call people. Oppps - if you got a mysterious call from me yesterday you were drool dialed by the baby. :)

More on Coupons...

Ok - I have more to share about these coupons and organization, now that my baby is sleeping I have time to write a few more thoughts.

Back to the coupon lady on Dr. P - in addition to her extensive coupon collection she takes to the store she also takes a binder, what's in the binder you ask? Well, W-Mart will honor ads from other stores - so she 3-hole punches the ads and organizes them in this binder then in addition to using coupons at the register she also shows the cashier ads from other stores and has the prices adjusted to reflect the cheapest price. WHO HAS THIS KIND OF TIME! The time to organize it all - and then the time to stand in line (and drive those in line behind you CRAZY MAD!) while they change all your prices and ring up your coupons. I guess you try to go early in the morning on a weekday when the lines are short and the cashiers are excited to get workin'. :)

As for the organization tools I shared in my previous post, so the 1st picture, the one I called THE ULTIMATE - I guess you can't use that if you have a baby in the cart - the binder takes up the passenger seat of your cart. This means the money I save will be spent on a babysitter so I can go to the store in the wee hours of the morning so no one is waiting on me to hurry up and get through the line. Or, I can wait until my husband is home to watch the baby and go to the store at the end of the day when I am tired and everyone else at the store is too and we can all be annoyed at all the time I am hogging in the lane - but when I'm done I can shout to those behind me, "Hey Everybody! I just spent $14 on $75 worth of groceries! AWESOME!" Maybe they'll forgive me, maybe they'll be jealous, maybe they'll just want me to get my money saving butt out of the line!
LOL!!!

Ok, enough of my coupon posting - More baby pics to come...I know that's why you really read this (well and for recipes and chocolate stuff).

Can I do this?

I cut coupons. Then I usually end up forgetting them at home or I actually get them in my wallet only to forget using them at the register. What is wrong with me? A few weeks ago I watched an episode of Dr. Ph*l and he was giving $$ saving tips to some crazies. There was a lady who thought coupons were a waste of time (I did not agree with her). Phil sent her to the store with her usual weekly grocery list and a lady who is like a coupon queen. The bill was $75, the coupons saved them $50 some dollars and the total amount due was like $14 - AWESOME! Wouldn't my husband love to see a grocery bill like this? I would too!

I started thinking today I should look for a way to organize coupons, maybe this would motivate me. Here is what I found...

I WISH I was this lady...
The ULTIMATE COUPON ORGANIZER
This next one is pretty good - except if you look at the link the binder is white on the front w/ silly watermelon slices - what?
Pretty dang good organizer
I'm pretty sure this next one is who I am, at least for now.... it's a good place to start I guess.
Lazy Woman's Organizer

2 Teeth!

For over a month now I have been trying to take a picture of Baby K's first two teeth - she ALWAYS has her tongue out and I can never get the picture. This morning just before eating her breakfast I was being silly with her and she was laughing and showing off her teeth and as luck would have it the camera was right on the counter! So here ya go...Baby K's two bottom teeth!
Her 1st tooth came through on Feb. 6th and the 2nd tooth came through on Feb. 12th.



She is in bed for the night and these pictures are making me miss her already! I can't wait to see this smile in the morning.

New FAVORITE!

Just found this website
Nutrition Data Know What You Eat

If you are making your own baby food and want to know what nutrients you are feeding your kid, this is great!
If you have questions about your own eating habits or nutritional value of your own foods, again - this is great!

If you create a user login on this site (free) then you can compare foods. For example, tonight I wanted to know the difference in nutrition between an acorn squash and a butternut squash because out grocery store was out of butternut and I wanted to know what nutritional value the acorn squash would give Baby K. So I was able to choose both and compare on this site - it gave me graphs and everything! Then I discovered it would also compare w/ the values of Gerber baby foods! AWESOME!

You should check this out.

PS - I haven't gone totally green (although we do recycle a ton of stuff). No cloth diapers around here - I'm too lazy. I'm not a health nut either (I made a huge chocolate chip cookie in an iron skillet for dessert tonight, which we topped w/ ice cream - thanks G for the inspiration for this yumminess!) But yes, I do confess to being slightly obsessed with making nutritional foods for Baby K.

Baby Food...

I've been wanting to post this for several days but life has been busy. Baby K is a pro at eating baby food these days. She is learning how to use a sippy cup (although she is a long way from being able to do it all by herself, she tries). I have been hunting down baby food recipes and trying some things out.

I have a Baby's 1st Recipe Book that a friend made for me - Stac, it's wonderful!!! Thank you!
Also I have been looking at a few websites but my favorite so far is www.wholesomebabyfood.com (thanks to Ging & Stac for recommending it)

So far more than anything Baby K has had (even more than fruit!) she loves loves loves Avocado mixed with squash! I saw a recipe to mix the two together and it is a big hit! She will eat them separate from each other but you should see her go when they are mixed - it's so funny! (it's like baby crack! good thing it's healthy - lol)

This post is getting long and baby will be awake soon. She here is my tip for the day (not an original idea - so don't think I'm taking credit - just passing on the info)

I was worried the avocado would turn brown and look yucky and I didn't want to have to prepare it just in time to serve it to Baby K.
Best way - and they are still green when served - is to cut the avocado into slices - about 8. Put the slices in a water/lime juice bath (a drop or two of lime juice is plenty and won't hurt baby). Lay the slices on wax paper and freeze. When they are rock hard, remove from freezer, let stand for a min or two and remove from wax paper and place rock hard slices into a freezer storage bag. 2 slices is more than enough for Baby K to eat in one sitting - so one avocado can be 4 meals! I bought the small avocado for $1 and got 4 meals out of it - that is half the cost of 4 jars of baby food.
To serve I just take the number of slices I need and let rest for several min (maybe 10-15) on the counter while I cook dinner for the adults. They thaw out and I mash them and add a little breast milk or water (we have reverse osmosis water) to thin it out. You can also add rice cereal, apples, pears or squash.

I did make applesauce - not pictured. 2 apples cored and peeled, boiled and simmered in 2/3 cup water for 15min. then pureed and froze in ice cube trays. Yummy & not brown - no artificial sugars added.

Could it be...

Baby K may grow up to be ambidextrous. She seems to change almost weekly the hand she favors most. Last week her right hand seemed to grab more things and reach out for me...this week, the left hand. My mother-in-law is ambidextrous and my brother-in-law is left handed when he writes and does everything else right handed (eating, baseball bat, pitching, etc.).

I am always thinking about what Baby K will be like when she grows up. Things I know for sure are she will be well loved and cute! Possibly left handed or even ambidextrous. I can't wait to find out all the different ways God has made and will make our little girl special!

Beth...

Some day when you get married, please don't have this for your wedding cake!
Because of your childhood fondness for TMNT this made me think of you and I had to laugh. Man, you loved those turtles!


Many of you already enjoy the blog Cakewrecks, but if you haven't discovered it yet - it is a must for a weekly laugh. Where do people come up with these things? This particular cake is actually done well, it is just strange - other cakes are more of a "wreck"

Slide Show

Here is a new slide show. Pictures are from Feb 15th - March 1.

Doctor's Report

Baby K was again such a trooper for her shots. She had 2 shots today & a "drink" for immunizations.
At 6 months of age here are her stats:
Weight: 16 lbs Percentile: 52%
Height 26 1/2 inches Percentile: 78%
Head Circumference 16 1/2 inches Percentile: 35%

I forgot to mention in my last post that in addition to sitting up, Baby K also has 2 teeth now! Also, she loves to stick her tongue out. :p

It's time to get Baby K ready for bed...hopefully tonight before I go to bed I'll have time to post a recent picture of her - in a cute outfit, a hat, and sitting in her big girl stroller! It's a pic I took last week at the Zoo - while we waited on my father-in-law to tell us if my car was dead or not! Anyway, it's a hoot and I hope to share it with you soon!

P.S. due to questions - "Harry" was at Chester's Chophouse (home of the most amazing red wine reduction sauce I have ever savored in my mouth! YUMMY) - if he's in town it's most likely he is having his private jet worked on or just really misses us - other sightings have been at Cibolas, and N&J's and I'm sure many other places.

P.S.S. I think my new background is funny & kind of strange

What happened?

I want to post, I really do...but I have nothing to post about. So here are a few things going on with us...
In the morning Baby K will have her 6mo doctors appt. I'm not sure how that got here so fast, but we are having fun watching her grow. She can sit up for several min at a time now, all by herself. So Sweet!

Last night we had a wonderful dinner with friends to celebrate their engagement & also it just happened to be the 3yr anniversary of my husband & I's 1st date. It was a wonderful dinner, great time with friends and also Harrison Ford was sitting at the table right next to us! SO cool! We did not speak to him b/c hey, they guy's just trying to eat - but so far in life this is the best star sighting I've had - although having Bill Snyder literally bump into me at a store is still my favorite moment. Yep, Bill is cooler than Indiana Jones (i keep writing these things to see if he will ever want to meet me...HA)

My car broke down a week ago this Wed. I'm currently driving my in-laws mini van. THANK YOU!!! They have been so kind to let me borrow it. My brother-in-law is working on my car and hopefully it won't be too much longer until we are on the road again.

I am learning about making baby food. I really want to do this. I'm researching the best way to prepare the food and how I want to go about it. I figure I'll give it a try and if it becomes a pain then I'll buy it - but I really want to make it.

I entered a contest on Pioneer Woman's blog today, winner gets to go to her ranch & cook/bake with her and bakerella - Oh my goodness this would be AWESOME! But it's past 10:30pm and I still have no email saying I've won...so better luck next time I guess - dang it! Honestly I don't remember the last time I won anything. My husband won the iron we currently use - it's really nice and can disconnect from the cord and be used cordless!

Please Pray...

Our friends' little boy, I call him "Little T", is in the hospital for a virus and dr.'s are having a care conference for him today, where a group of doctors and his parents will talk about his care. He has been in the hospital for weeks now and is currently in PICU.
Be praying for T's health and for his mommy & daddy as they care for Little T & help the doctors care for him. They are all very tired and frustrated. Pray for healing, rest, wisdom, good communication with & between the doctors, and that they will be home soon.
We love you Little T!

Old People

I haven't blogged in awhile because I haven't had much to blog about. Today my sister sent me a facebook message telling me I should check out this blog about Clara, a 93 year old woman who cooks meals she ate during the depression. Clara is a gem! So sweet and she's funny too.
I am fond of older people and thought I just had to pass sweet Clara's blog on to you...
Clara's Blog
There are links there for her yout*be videos check 'em out.

Family Photos

We had family photos taken to celebrate my In-Laws 44th wedding anniversary. Congrats you two! The top photo is obviously our little family and below is everyone.
Mom, dad, 2 brothers, 1 sister, 2 spouses and 3 grand kids.

2 New Fav's

I have two new favorite things....

First Up...

Lay It On Thick body cream lotion from Bath and Bo.dy work.s as well as the shower cream!

I have dry skin and the winter is no friend of mine! I usually use Cur.el lotion for xtreme dry skin and it works ok - but for Christmas my brother in law gave me a gift certificate to the above named store and I came upon the Spa collection they have and these two products caught my eye. I'm tellin you I love them! I don't feel greasy but when I use the lotion I still have soft legs at the end of the day and rarely need to put the lotion on more than once a day - this is a miracle people! The shower cream is great but smells like Pina Coldas and makes me crave them! One of these days I hope my husband will bring me one to enjoy after my shower. (I'm sure it will never happen, but I can dream, right?) Ok, TMI I'm sure!

On to the next favorite thing...

You should know that I HATE oatmeal! Well, hot oatmeal that is. I don't care how you doctor the stuff up, I can't get past the texture to enjoy it - I gag every time. It's really sad because it's pretty affordable, easy, hot breakfast, good for you and it smells delightful - but alas - I gag. :(

While picking up a box of oatmeal for my hubby, I see this: Oatmeal To Go...looks like a cookie to me! I LOVE cookies and they don't make me gag - so I bought a box.

LOVE LOVE LOVE these things, even better they sell them at Sams for cheap and you get multiple flavors. One "cookie" is equal to one bowl of hot oatmeal - you can heat the "cookie" for a yum breakfast treat - no dishes involved and it has lots of vitamins. It has lots of calories (hello - it is replacing a hearty bowl of oatmeal!) so one is plenty and sticks with you until lunch time for sure, at least for me it does.

Be Mine?

Baby K's 1st Valentine....FROM A BOY!

Yesterday, Baby K got her 1st Valentine in the mail and it was not from mommy & daddy. It was from a boy. ;) Our friends have a little boy who is 2weeks younger than Baby K and he is a sweetheart. I am hoping one of these days we get to go see them. Baby K sent James a Christmas present because mommy found a cute sleeper that was too sweet to pass up. James sent the cutest bib ever to Baby K and it was made by his grandma. Very sweet. Thanks M&Em.

And for all of you who have been asking about the new furniture upstairs, I took some pics. The green wall is going to be painted another color soon, so just block that out. :) Also the flash made the color of the furniture look odd, so I took pics w/o the flash, so now they are a little out of focus.
Because things got moved around I need to find some accent pieces/colors to add upstairs now b/c it's a little monochromatic and blah, but it is restful and I really love our new chair.

Thanks Keely

Thanks Say family for the cute shirt - it finally fits and I think Baby K looks especially cute in it!
Miss you lots!

Basement pics!!!!

Well the walls need some personal touches, pictures and decoration, but as far as function - the basement is done!

A special thanks to our small group from church for helping move furniture around.

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog address....
Same Blog - Same Sweet Stuff - Just a new address

I'm Bummed because for some reason my sidebar of Favorite Blogs is now empty and I will have to link to all of my favorites all over again! Dang it!

If I didn't link to your blog & you know I stalk you...please let me know via a comment and then I can find you - I don't have addresses memorized or saved anywhere else - what a mess, I look forward to keeping up with you when I have your blog address again. :)

Question...

I need to hire someone/company to steam clean our upstairs carpet.
The problem is how do you choose who to hire. I am NOT going to have 3-4 different companies to give me an estimate - I'll spend all my time waiting for cleaning guys to stop in my house.

I do plan on getting 2 estimates unless I just get overwhelming recommendations for a certain company.

I looked in the phone book and there are so many companies listed - argh!

Anyway - I need to have it steam cleaned - not shampoo - any suggestions? If you live in my area and have had a good experience with a company let me know.
Thanks

Old Bay Seasoning

In my last post I said I used Old Bay Spice in a recipe- it's actually called Old Bay Seasoning -opps. Here is their website: Old Bay Seasoning I'd never been there before today...

As for where you can get this stuff - well I found it on a little shelf back by the seafood counter in my local grocery store. Otherwise I would check in the spice aisle around other things to season fish with maybe near the cornmeal? If you ask someone at the seafood counter they should be able to help you find it.

As for what's in this stuff - here is what the label says: "Celery salt, spices (including mustard, red pepper, black pepper, bay leaves, cloves, allspice (pimento), ginger, mace, cardamom, cinnamon), and paprika." Seriously I never would have guessed half of this stuff is in here - anyway, it good and not spicy. Is it safe to eat something with mace in it? :)

Christy, if you can't find it I will mail you some - really I will!

Keely - No it is not with the deodorant, but I cracked up when I read that - witty! :)

Baby K Helps...& a new recipe

Above is what it looks like when Baby K helps mommy wash dishes - she sits next to me while I work and last week discovered she can reach the paper towels and if she pulls they just keep coming! She loves it - it's cute for now. ;)
Dinner:

So here is the salad I made for dinner the other night - YUMMY! and Healthy!!!
It is a bed of baby spinach topped with craisins, red onion, mushrooms, almonds, feta crumbles and salmon - the best part was the salmon! Oh and I used Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing (from Kraft).

This is how I cooked the Salmon:
2/3 c apple juice
2 tsp Old Bay spice

in a non stick pan I brought the juice and spice to a simmer at med-high heat.
I placed the salmon (which I got in 4 oz servings vacuum sealed at Dillons) in the skillet and put the lid on the skillet for 4 min.

After 4 min I turned the salmon over meat down on the heat - skin side up facing the lid and cooked it for 3 more min.
It was beautifully caramelized! And SO flavorful and took less than 10 min!

I let the salmon rest then cut the skin off and cut fish into strips to place on the salad.

I will make the salmon this way again and think I may serve it with a side of salad and a potato rather than as a topping to the salad.
Enjoy!

Memories that Still make you laugh out loud

Don't you just love it when a memory from several years back can randomly come to mind and make you laugh out loud?! I do...
Today, while filling out the Facebook "25 random things about me" thing, I was reminded of a memory I share with my dear friend "Joy" and honestly I have laughed out loud several times this morning because of it.
We were out to eat one day at a local restaurant and on their menu they had an advertisement for an offer called "Make it a Platter!"
The offer was for $1.99 you could add two sides and a drink to any sandwich order.
J asked the waitress if she could "Just make it a platter" after explaining herself a few times, she had stumped the waitress. Yep, J wanted to order two sides and a drink for $1.99 no sandwich. I still laugh at the look on the waitresses face when she realized what J was asking - finally deciding she didn't know the answer and would have to ask her manager.
In the end the answer was no. No you can not JUST make it a platter!

Why this is so funny I'm not totally sure but I think it was the looks on everyones's faces, my face, J's face, the waitress and I can only imagine her manager's face.

So Funny! Honestly, usually when J tries to work something like this...it works. She gets great deals and sometimes even free stuff because of her boldness to ask. I love her (for many more reasons than just this).

Swimming..

Baby K LOVES the bathtub! I think she is ready to try swimming. I want to take her to the YMCA and try it out and then last night at Targ*t they had swimming suits! Here she is modeling...

Serving

My wonderful husband was helping me in the preschool children's church class a few Sunday's ago. We have a toy workbench and some toy tools down there and he found that our drill was broken - not only was it broken, someone must have stepped on it and we were worried that small pieces may fall out of it! After both agreeing the toy was now dangerous, I said we should throw it away - he thought he could fix it.
Ok, so my idea of "fixing" it would be take out the small electrical pieces inside, throw them away, glue the plastic thing back together again and call it good.
My husband's idea of fixing it...is seen below in the slide show - he got out the superglue, the special small screwdrivers, and the soldering iron & wire. Not only did he put it back together but he was able to repair the electrical part of the toy so it completely works again - and it is almost as loud as a real drill which I'm sure the kids will love - but the volunteers may not! HA!

The adventures of a 4month old...

Baby K is days away from being 5 months old. This past month she has had 3 more shots, started trying rice cereal and other baby foods, ROLLED OVER from tummy to back, taken a few naps (and I mean few), enjoys her excersaucer with the help of a blanket (she's so long and lean that the seat is too big w/o the blanket), watched history in the making yesterday although she won't remember it, oh and many things I'm sure I've forgotten at the moment.
We have been so busy - the basement is almost finished - all we need is carpet I can't believe it! Children's church is now planned for the next two months, my bow party is over, my house is clean w/ the exception of laundry and holiday decorations have been put away, OH And I finally mailed all 140 Happy New Year Cards yesterday - what in the world!
Here are some pictures of our sweet Baby K

Justice gets a hair cut...

So I take our dog to the same wonderful groomer every time, I always pick her up to find our cocker shaved down to look like some kind of lab puppy - that's how I ask them to cut her. Sometimes they give her a more traditional cocker shave and leave some curls on her ears but no matter how they cut her hair she always has a bandanna around her neck when I pick her up.
Today was different. Today she had no bandanna, she looked like a princess dog, she looked like this:

Kiss

My cousin, Beth, and I are good friends even though we live miles apart and are years apart in age. In a lot of ways Beth is my personality clone. We talk often on the phone. When my husband and i were dating Beth would call and he would see her name on the caller id, and then proceed to sing the Kiss song "Beth I hear you calling." When his birthday rolled around Beth and I ordered a kiss doll off the internet, then purchased a build-a-bear voice box, recorded the song and put it inside the doll. When you would push his belly he would sing. Later when it was Beth's birthday we rerecorded on the voice box, Happy birthday and had her mom put the doll in her locker to surprise her. So the plan was made...the doll must continue to be passed around as our little family inside joke...well...Beth keeps forgetting to give the doll up and it's been 2 years people! So I have decided that I will just keep pranking her until she passes the doll back.

I've put the craziest looking stuffed Troll doll in her duffel bag with a note, and twice now I have changed the header on her blog (girl needs to change her password) and this last one was pretty funny, I crack myself up! :) She posted some pictures of the troll doll on her blog several weeks back, check my favorite blogs for "Fingerprints" you can visit her there.
Here is the header I posted last night...

My favorite part is I put her photo on the screen of the cell phones, oh and the gross chest hair is pretty funny too. You'll have to see the header on her actual blog to see how well it blends in. What a hoot.

Baby K & Daddy...

This is Baby K at 4mo old...
The previous post (Guess Who) is her daddy at 5 1/2 months old...

I think they look similar only their noses are different and of course Baby K looks like a girl and not a boy. :)

Guess Who...

Look at this cute kid!

An EASY meal

Want to make something tasty, healthy, easy and beautiful?
Here's a delightful meal.
Main Dish: Honey Orange Glazed Chicken (quick prep but cooks 45 min in oven, make sure to allow for cooking time)
Sides: Fresh Spinach Salad, greenbeans, potatoes (boiled new potatoes red or white are wonderful!)

Fresh Spinach Salad:
prewashed baby spinach leaves
dried cranberries
drained light mandarin oranges
toasted almond slices
feta cheese crumbled
store bought Balsamic Vinegrette Dressing

Greenbeans:
Just from the can but if you have a little bacon fat (I know not the healthiest ingred but just use a tiny bit and it will go a long way to add flavor)
add a few toasted almond slices for easy added flare!

Ok the Chicken:
4 Chicken Breasts
1 Tb Olive Oil
4 green onions, chopped
1 Garlic clove, minced
3Tb honey
4 Tb Orange Juice
1 Orange peeled and segmented
2 Tb light soy sauce

Preheat oven to 375
place chicken in a shallow pan, I use a 9x9 pan the chicken should just fit and not touch each other.
Heat oil in a small saucepan. Fry onions & garlic until soft. Add honey, OJ, orange segments, and soy sauce. heat until honey is dissolved.
Pour sauce over chicken & bake uncovered for 45min.
Remove from oven and cover dish tightly with foil and let set for 5-10min. This will lock in the juices of the chicken. Plus it will be too hot to eat right away.
Serve with sauce.

I'm Offically Crazy...or Stupid!

I love foodgawker (see my fav blogs) and I saw these really cute cookies I thought I would give a try. Now making sugar cookie dough, chilling it, rolling it, cooking it, making frosting, and then frosting them is quite a challenge with my non napping baby and the fact I keep forgetting about finishing my project in the evenings. Well today I finished what became a 2 week process, only to yield a minor 13 cookies! Really, that's all I was able to make with the dough recipe! Disappointing! In the end the cookies are cute and they taste good but the effort required did not win me over. Oh, I forgot to add that I bought fondant and colored it and made balls to make snowmen heads and "carrot" noses. After all this complaining here are the results...

Picture of the cookie I found on the internet:

Pictures of my final result:

Christmas

Here are some pictures of our Christmas so far. We still have Christmas with extended family to celebrate on Jan 1 and Jan 3!
Funny story - my family always tells the story of my first Christmas Eve service at church. I was 4 mo old and sucking on a pacifier or a bottle - anyway they were having prayer and it was very quiet. I started making loud funny sucking noises so my grandma pulled the pacifier out of my mouth so I wouldn't be loud during prayer - my response.....SCREAMING! So much for being quiet. :)
So my husband and I take our little angel to our Christmas Eve service. There was a group of gals doing special music - they are awesome. Baby K is sitting on her daddy's lap enjoying the music and movement on the stage. I guess she started dozing off, but we hadn't noticed. The gals hit a loud high note and baby K threw her hands up in the air and started SCREAMING her head off! I guess they startled her. It was hilarious. Daddy put her up over his shoulder and she went to sleep quickly so we made it until the end of church.
Like mother like daughter I guess.
Baby K and I got daddy a low profile floor jack he has been wanting. He was surprised and it looking forward to working on his 1974 GTO without worrying about hurting the cross something underneath it - I can't remember what he called it but he has scratched it up before with a jack that wasn't low enough. I had the jack delivered UPS to the house and then had to call a neighbor to help me get it in the house - I had no idea the thing would weigh 98 lbs!
We are loving our extra family time together this week and have had many chances to stop and reflect on how thankful we are for God's special gift of Grace and Love to His people and to be thankful for each other and the wonderful family he has given us. We are SO BLESSED!

The dreaded day has come...

What day is that? The day my child has her first fever! Ok, so it's not too serious, her fever was 100.1 when taken from her armpit. But still I have been hoping it would be a long time before our little girl was sick, really sick and now at just 15 weeks, she's sick. Poor baby!
She has been congested for over 2 wks now. The past 7 days she has been sleeping in her carseat in our room. Ever since she has been congested she has been sleeping with a humidifier on (in addition to the whole house humidifier we have. We have been giving her saline nasal drops and suctioning out her nose often. And then.....last night she got a fever, just when I thought we were about to kick this thing. I called the dr. he said we could give her some tyl*nol. I just couldn't sit and do nothing so I decided to give her a bath.
I drew her a bath of luke warm water and kept luke warm washcloths on her so she wouldn't get chilled. She relaxed in the tub for 30 min just as calm and happy as could be. By the time she was out of the bath and dressed again her temp was back to normal. She made it all night with no meds and no fever and then at 8am she had a fever again.
She is being such a trooper, still managing a smile and a laugh here and there but her eyes are a little glazed over and she cries like she is uncomfortable at times and she is napping more during the day. Luckily we don't need to leave the house for a few days so we can stay home and rest and get healthy. We may go to the dr tomorrow to rule out an ear infection.
My grandma said that 2 of her children started teething at 4mo old so maybe there are teeth on the way??? I hope not, I'm so not ready for teething yet! :)

Look alikes?

We think Baby K looks like her Grandma Susan. Baby K looks like her daddy and some say she has mommy's eyes but she does look some like grandma too! They even hold their hands the same. :)

SO Sweet!

Cinnadoodles!

I found this recipe via Foodgawker.

After weeks of searching for Cinnamon Chips I finally found some at the Niffty Nut House. My husband said last night, "These are the best snickerdoodles ever!" Then I learned that he doesn't even like snickerdoodles but he loves these.

(Pet Peeve! When Blogger changes the direction of my photo - Grrrrrrr!)

Cinnadoodles

Adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies

2 3/4 c flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1 c(2 sticks)unsalted butter, softened 1 1/2c sugar 2 large eggs At least 1c of cinnamon chips 3 Tb sugar 3tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. Put butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture. Add in cinnamon chips.

2. Stir together cinnamon and remaining 3 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl. Shape dough into round balls; roll in cinnamon sugar. Space 3 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper or a Silpat.

3. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are golden, 12 to 14 minutes. Don't overbake. Let cool on cookie sheet for a minute or two, then transfer to a cooling rack.

Gift Update & our Big Girl!

Ok - well my scrapblog turn traveling coffee mug worked! It would take a little explaining that I am too lazy to type but basically I exported my scrapblog as a .jpg and then plopped it into photoshop. In photo shop I changed my image size to fit the mug template and then made the canvas size 8x10 and had the 8x10 image printed at Walgre*ns then traced the template that came with the mug and inserted it! GG likes to buy coffee at McD*nalds when she travels so I am going to put a McD gift card inside - what a fun gift for the woman who has everything but who also loves her great granddaughter! I can't wait to see her open this gift! No one show GG this blog entry until after Christmas you hear! :)

Finally,
Until reading M&Em's connection I had kind of forgotten we had a Bumbo - so I pulled it out and Baby K had a great time hanging out in it for a while. I can't believe she is 14 weeks Big! We sure love our happy girl.

Gift Idea

I made this on Scrapblog.com and I am hoping to print it off and fit it in a travel coffee mug for Great Grandma and it will be what Baby K gives her GG for Christmas. GG loves to travel and usually keeps a small McDonald's coffee cup with her b/c it has a lid. I'm thinking this will make a cute upgrade from her McDonald's cup.

I found an 8oz travel tumbler on Bodum.com however it is out of stock and I'm not sure how long it will be until they have them. I can order a 16oz tumbler but GG likes small cups...but in the end all GG's like to show off pictures of their grandkids so maybe size doesn't matter.

Christmas is so close...maybe I'll just order the 16oz mug and call it good.

Help

So we took some pictures that I plan to use for a "Happy New Year" card
Some are really sweet, some are so-so...I can't decide for sure which are my absolute favorites so I thought maybe you could vote.
I need one of the family and one of Baby K by herself.
There are a few candid shots of the family so I could use more than 2, maybe 3-5 pictures total...can you tell I am undecided? I will need to crop some of the photos as well.
I tried to add captions to most of them so you can vote via the caption name. I would love some input.



**If you drag your mouse over the slide show you will see the Picasa tool bar, click on the album name or the multicolored circle and it will take you to a website for easier viewing of the pictures.

Thanksgiving & Dedication

Here are a few pics of our family with Baby K and pictures from her baby dedication.
So many friends and family came to be with us as we dedicated ourselves to teaching K about Jesus and are committed to praying she grow up to be a woman of God. Such a special day!

As we thought about what we would name our baby it was important that her name have special meaning. The meanings of her first and middle name mean
From the earth (created)
Forgiveness
and God is gracious

We found the perfect Bible verses to sum up the meanings of her name and our heart for her to know God.

Ephesians 2:8-10
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

We do believe that God has created baby K and pray that she will do good works for His kingdom, that she will know Jesus is her Savior and the forgiveness of God her Father. We pray she has a kind heart and loves others with the grace and forgiveness that God offers her.

Will Post...

Hopefully tomorrow I will post baby dedication pictures of Baby K.
We had a wonderful time spending the past few days with family and topped off our time with baby K's dedication. Several family and friends joined us today and we loved that you were all there to share this special day with Baby K.
Thank you for your support and love; we are SO blessed to have you in our lives!
Can't wait to share pictures of our little princess with you.

Merry Christmas from a Crazy Fan!

Ok, if you know me, you KNEW this post was coming! I'm not sure what I am fomore fond of; K-State football or Coach Snyder. It's strange, I am aware of this but for whatever reasons I am so fond of Coach, his integrity, his leadership, the way he seems to "father" the young men on his team. I actually had a dream after Prince was fired that Bill was rehired and I was appointed his administrative assistant. In my dream he pretty much thought I was awesome and although stressed I was learning to do my new job and be a great mommy too. Like I said - it was a dream and a crazy one at that!
I am totally going to a game in 2009 and dream of having season tickets once again... Bill if you are reading this I would love to have you and Sharon over for dinner.
Merry Christmas and GO CATS! Redemption is on the horizon! To the neh sayers I say - oh, it's not that bad and it's not that crazy that Coach is back - watch and see, we'll get some good coaches in there and restore some confidence to the players and off we'll go...winning seasons here we come.
As a disclaimer to those of you who don't know me, I still believe that Jesus is #1, the real gift of Christmas and spiritual truth is more important than football and that Coach Snyder is an imperfect human like the rest of us.
K-state football is my not so guilty pleasure and probably always will be. :)