It always feels like...

...somebody's watchin' me!

Pinterest Inspiration: Week 2

Week 2 Project: "Toddler Busy Bag/Book"  

AKA: Crap that can keep my 2 year old entertained for a 6 hour flight.

We went on a trip in January. It was the trip from H-E-double hockey sticks, but that is another post completely. My son is 4 1/2 and pretty well versed in technology. You could park him in front of of a TV or video game, or smart phone for that matter for hours on end. I don't allow this, but long flights are where I give up all rules and use whatever I can to retain my sanity. Needless to say, I wasn't worried about keeping him quiet on the flight. My daughter couldn't care less about TV. She will watch half an episode of Caillou and then wander off from lack of interest...or desire to upend something then walk away. I was most concerned about her on this trip.

A few of my friends had pinned "Busy Bag" ideas so I did more searching and found an Etsy store that makes "Quiet books". I started to work on the different pages with the grand plan of having it all neatly bound in a book by the time we left. These pages are time consuming! All made from felt and, while not difficult, just require a fair amount of time. Needless to say I didn't get them all into a book, but I did bring a clipboard with us and we played with one page at a time. 

I got 6 pages done: 2 pages of counting beads, 1 textures page with all kinds of fun embellishments on it, a color wheel page where the pie pieces are attached with Velcro for matching, a tic-tac-toe page, and a lift the flap button counting page. (All inspiration pins are listed at the bottom of the post)

 I also glued a ton of stuff to magnets and had a magnet board for her to play with. I used a small cookie sheet and a bunch of felt stickers, colored pom poms, some googly eyes and made a couple felt mouth options to make faces. This was also a big hit. Arielle loved playing with the "mag-a-nets" (as she called them) on the plane and while we were out West for the trip.

I made a few other things for the trip, but I will save them for another post. And let me just say, those busy books cost $70 on Etsy and are worth EVERY FREAKING PENNY! They take so much time to make that it justifies the amount they charge! Trust! Time is money people.

Number bead inspiration: Sweet Dreams Shop

Color Wheel, Tic-tac-toe page and lift the flap numbers inspiration: Sunset Blue Gifts

The textures page I thought of myself while wandering through the trim aisle at Jo-Ann fabric. I've always wanted a use for pom pom trim, and white fur!

Magnet board inspiration: Life: Styled

 

Menu Planning...now on Sunday

I always like to include our Sunday meal in the weekly plan, so I think it makes more sense to post on Sunday. That way I can start the week with a more fun, rather than utilitarian post like what we're eating for dinner!

Sunday lunch: Mini corn dog muffins with grapes and Stonyfield tube yogurts on the side. I just had to include lunch since it was something new and fun...and delicious! I am totally making these  again for a party!
Sunday dinner:Spinach stuffed shells and Caesar salad. I decided to do just a marinara instead of the turkey meat sauce since we'll be having turkey burgers later in the week.
Monday: Turkey burgers and baked zucchini fries.
Tuesday: Chicken taquitos with black beans and rice (my sil's recipe) and my guacamole.
Wednesday:  Beef Stew. Hubby's recipe, he's making it. In the pressure cooker. It is delicious, but I will never get him to write down a recipe for me.
Thursday: Marinated broiled (can't wait until we can get grilling again!) lemon herb chicken breast and asparagus orzo salad.
Friday: Pizza movie night! I think we'll make our pizza this week. It will help me stay on track with my eating. I am going to make a fresh motz margarita pizza on wheat crust (from our local bakery) for the grown ups and some cheese and olive pizza for the kidlets.


Notes on last week's dinners:
The Mexican lasagna was a huge hit all around, so I will post a recipe this week with pictures.
The Hamburger buddy was devoured as well. Delicious, quick and sneaky with its shredded carrots and mushrooms mixed in.
The puffed pastry chicken was a flop. No one liked it...not even me. It's a shame because it looked so good.

When you don't

Thank you, honey, for bringing in the garbage cans before I got home on Tuesday.

...because I usually notice when you don't.

Thank you, my sweet little girl, for giving me a full night's rest every day for the last week.

...because I often complain about it when you don't.

Thank you, my feisty boy, for getting ready this morning with a cheerful attitude.

...because I usually stress out when you don't.

Thank you heavy can of garbanzo beans, that fell out of the cupboard, for just missing cracking me in the head.

...because I always scream expletives when you don't.

Thank you, best friend, for knowing I need a night out and giving me something to look forward to after a crazy week.

...because I miss you when you don't.

Just a little reminder to myself to catalog the random, good things that happen to me and not just dwell on the bad. Hopefully, if I do it more, I can change my point of view just a little every day towards the positive.

Be my Valentine!

I don't care how many times I have seen this on the Internet, I still love the idea of it! I took his picture, fancied it up in Photoshop and printed them at Walgreens. Easy and so cute. Of course, picture it with a lollipop in his hand. I tried to take a picture of it with the lollipop, but it blocked the words and, my procrastinating self waited until it got dark to try to get a pic of the completed card, so it looked like poo anyway. OK fine, it was bugging me not to put in the final...



 Arielle is still going to a home daycare (For a couple more months...more on that later...sniff) so I attempted to make her caregiver a cute card. I was ill prepared since I got the idea to do more than just a Hallmark yesterday. I love the picture of Arielle though. She did that to herself because she wanted to be a princess. I think she looks every bit the part...long underwear jammies and all.

Arielle helped make the cards for the 3 kids she is with every day. She wanted to show me where each button and pom pom should go....except she kept trying to cover the holes I had punched for the lollipops. I think they turned out exactly how she wanted. ;)

Last but not least on this day filled with hearts, a little Valentine's Day breakfast...actually made on Sunday since I have zero desire to attempt this on a school day!

Menu Planning Monday

Since I am jumping back on the blogging wagon, a few other things need attention too...like meal planning. I try to do it every week and then go to the market on Sundays. If that doesn't happen we end up with at least 3 nights of takeout. That isn't good for the wallet or the waistline. I am going to try to pick recipes all during the week so I don't have to do it all on Saturday or Sunday morning.  If you want to put a link in the comments of a favorite recipe I would love you forever! I hate getting bored with dinner. I have been trying some recipes I find on Pinterest, so I will link to them if you want to try them out too!
I am adding Sunday even though I'm starting on Monday so I can remember what I made!

Sunday: Whole roasted chicken, *scalloped potatoes, and **beets.
Monday: Hamburger Buddy
Tuesday: Stuffed chicken breast wrapped in puffed pastry, roasted carrots and butternut squash.
Wednesday: Mexican lasagna (I got this recipe from a friend & will post it if we like it.)
Thursday: Farfalle pasta with chicken, asparagus, pine nuts, black olives and caramelized onion. (My own recipe. I will do a step by step of this one. It is delicious!)
Friday: Pizza movie night!
Saturday: Dinner at the in-laws

*The scalloped potatoes were DELICIOUS! OMG, I could eat them all day. I substituted 50% reduced fat cheese since you use a cup and a half of cheese. I also used Yukon gold potatoes and left the skin on.

**The beets...I thought they were delicious. My hubby thought they were ok. Then again, he likes them with just vinegar on them. He does this to his broccoli too, so I think I won't count his vote. Both kids ate them all up! Yes, my 2 and 4.5 year olds chowed down some beets. I call that a big win. The recipe called for something called Golden syrup. I couldn't find it at Whole Food or my regular market so I substituted equal parts honey and pure maple syrup.

Pinterest Inspiration: Week 1

I love me some Pinterest. Before this lovely site, I would bookmark the crap out of things and they would get lost in the reaches of my favorites, never to be seen again. Now all of my inspiration is organized so neatly onto boards. I know a lot of people just sit and pin their time away, but I actually make many of the things I pin or at least use them for inspiration for something else I want to make. I thought it would be nice to do a weekly post of my completed projects or recipes that I found on Pinterest. I actually finished this one in time for the first week of January, but as my lack of posting shows, life just got in the way!
Necklace Organizer: pinned from here

I found a towel bar that I liked. I wanted one that didn't scream, "I'm a towel bar" and that went with the decor in our room. I also bought some double sided shower curtain hooks. I love the way that it turned out and now all of my necklaces are hanging neatly instead of being on top of my dresser or hanging from the side of my earring organizer in 2 big clumps!

Swap-a Roo!

I am excited to be back! I have been swamped with work and life, but I feel like I am not whole without my blog. I am jumping back in with a swap. What better way to get back into the bloggy spirit than to send and recieve a box full of surprises in the mail!

Arielle waddles into 2!!

Some beautious girl went and turned 2! I'm not sure what makes her think she can just keep growing when I clearly wish to freeze her in the uber cuteness that she is right at this moment. Oh well, that's what blogging is for, right??

Lil' Miss Arielle has a penchant for penguins, so I thought I'd take remove the Christmasy vibe and go with a cute purple, black and white theme for her party. I made the invites in Photoshop and then ran from there with the color scheme.

I wanted it to be cute without looking too grown up. She is only two, you know. I was thrilled with how everything came out. We decided to make it easy on ourselves and do catered sandwiches and picnic salads instead of trying to make food. This was the best idea ever. I can't tell you how many parties we have had at our house when people are arriving and I am still not even dressed because I am still cooking or putting things together. Shut up. I am not a procrastinator. Ok, maybe a little. Anyway, it was a life saver! I made cake pops, candy dipped pretzel sticks and had fresh fruit, dark chocolate kisses and oreos. My amazing Sister-in-law owns a bakery in Boston called Treats on Washington. Her bakery made Arielle's cake and it was amazing!

Without further ado, here are the pictures from the party!

 It was an amazing 60 degrees on the day of her party, so all of the kids were running around outside...minus the time they were destroying my family room. For party favors, I got the super cute penguin boxes on Etsy and I made felt penguin masks for the kiddos and then gave them little sticker books. I made Arielle's party shirt and I'm glad I took a few pictures before she proceeded to ruin it with Oreos and all kinds of other mess! The penguin clip came from another Etsy shop. (I love supporting handmade when I can!) I made the table surround out of 2 pieces of fabric that I simply pinned together. The best part is, I can reuse the fabric...I see a purple dress in Arielle's future.

Overall, it has to be the most relaxed party I have thrown to date. We kept it small and I did as much as I could in advance. I had a couple other projects that I didn't get to, and I didn't let it bother me. This is big for me. Overachievers have a hard time admitting defeat!

 It was a bittersweet moment watching my baby turn 2. She'll be the last and I don't want the baby to fade into childhood too quickly. Happy birthday Puddin Pie!