What's the worse that could happen?

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

2012-02-14T11:31:00.001-07:00

Valentine's Day has come upon us! I know some of you out there don't observe Valentine's Day, it's just another day. I agree, we don't need a specific day once a year to tell those around you that you love them.... you should be doing that all year around. For us, Valentine's Day is a special day that we can make pretty things, I can hang up pink things and hearts all around the apartment and no one can complain because it's Valentine's Day!

Below are pictures to give you an idea of SOME of the things we've been up to this morning. I'd say this shows about 40% of the things we have done today.

These's are Emma's cards she started making, we've barely started Jared's so I didn't post a picture of them.

After spending most of the morning painting and making red hearts with our hands.... it was bath time. All that red paint made the bath water pink! How perfect for Valentine's Day?

This was the first crafty thing we did this morning, and the kids helped me every step of the way.

Well, I guess I should get back to the fun! Just wanted to share with you guys what we are up to today and we hope each and every one of you has a fantastic day!

Foodie Friday - Busy Morning

2012-02-10T11:02:00.002-07:00

This morning has been a busy one! I decided this week to start restocking our freezer with meals that can either be thrown in the slow cooker or the oven, for ease of cooking during the week while we are in school and doing so much more! Here are some of the meals I put together this morning:

Best Beef Dip Ever

I did alter it a little, I used Bragg's Liquid Aminos as a gluten-free alternative to the soy sauce called in the recipe. I made this once before and the Hubby loved it, so I thought it would be nice to make it again since it's been a couple of months, this is what's in the slow cooker now and we'll be having it for dinner tonight, there's enough that it will last a few meals, so the plan is to eat some tonight and freeze the rest and reheat later on.

Pesto Spinach Lasagna

This one, we haven't had before, but sounded good and I knew I could adapt it to be dairy and gluten free. For the ricotta, I made a tofu ricotta and I am using pasta that is gluten free. Instead of putting it in the slow cooker, I decided to put them in casserole tins and freeze them so I can put them in the oven at a later date. I made three of them and there's usually leftovers for lunch for the next day.

Curried Sweet Potato and Lentil Stew

I got this recipe from my Easy Everyday Vegetarian Cookbook. It's already a slow cooker recipe, but I adapted it to be freezer friendly. I forgot to add a few things in the picture, but oh well.

Some other slow cooker and freezer meals I have planned for this month are:

Taco Chicken Bowls

A BIG batch of Black Bean Chili from my Vegan Planet Cookbook. I'm making a triple batch so we everyone but me, can have chili cheese dogs one night and freeze the rest of the chili portioned out so I can make a version of Shepard's Pie with the black bean chili and a sweet potato mash on top and then we'll have another portion of chili to do whatever we want with.

Last night I made a big batch of Ratatouille and after we had our dinner I froze the other half so we can have that in the near future as well.

I already have a portion of Shredded Chicken in the freezer with seasonings to make Chicken Taquitos.

I also have some other extra proteins in the freezer that are portioned and not seasoned, so they are there for whatever meal we might be in the mood for.

I'm also planning on making a big batch of Falafel this next week and freezing some of it so I can have yummy falafel whenever I want!

So, those are the meals that I have planned for the couple of weeks, when next week's sale menu comes out I'll look at what's on sale and see what else inspires me and go from there.

I wanted to make sure that we have a variety of things, but I also didn't want to overwhelm myself with feeling like I have to cook everything in one day, so I feel pretty good about my plan and I'm looking forward to some fuss free dinners in my near future!

I hope everyone has an awesome Friday and weekend!

Foodie Friday - A Journal

2012-02-03T21:37:00.001-07:00

I just thought I'd share the beginnings of my current diet. In my last post I mentioned how I am doing a "diet overhaul". There's not much to say about my diet before this, I think I would characterize it pretty closely with the Standard American Diet. I have tried to eat "right", but it seems I always go back to what I think tastes good, but isn't good for me. Right now I am at a very basic diet, incorporating as many whole foods as possible. It's a version of a cleanse in one of my books, that's designed to help with GI problems, like what I am experiencing.

Okay, kind of a serious note, I just want to remind everyone that I am not a medical professional, but I am being seen by one and this is just a documentation of my personal experiences and hopefully a regain of my health. Please see a medical professional before drastically changing your diet.

Now, onto what I have been eating since the first of this month:

Wens. 2/1/2012

- Hot grain cereal with Almond milk
- 1 quart of juice (romaine, cucumber, celery, apple, lemon)
- Harvest Soup

- 2 Cups of Carrot-Orange Juice
- Another bowl of Harvest Soup

Thurs. 2/2/2012

- Hot grain cereal with almond milk, cinnamon, maple syrup
- 3 Cups of juice (kale, parsley, ginger, carrot, orange)
- Harvest Soup (leftovers from the day before)
- Green Smoothie, I actually was only able to take two sips of this smoothie before wanting to gag, just turned out really bad.... (avocado, apple, asian pear, ice, water, spinach) I thought I would taste more like apples and pears, but it tasted more like a weird avocado and spinach combo that just didn't taste right, not sure why...
- Banana Almond milk shake with nutmeg and cinnamon.
- Energy Soup

Fri. 2/3/2012

- Soaked oats, I soaked organic, gluten free, old-fashioned oats in almond milk over night with chia seed, lemon zest, and cinnamon. While I liked the flavor combo... it just tasted like soggy cold cereal to me, next time I think I might put it through the blender for more of a creamy shake.
- 1 bowl of Energy Soup, after a couple bites of cereal, I was still hungry and couldn't push through the texture so I opted for a bowl of soup. I'm not really a breakfast in the morning kind of person anyway...
- 1 pint of juice (carrot, apple, lemon)
- 1- little package (Maybe 2 Tablespoons worth) of Jason's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter, I was craving chocolate today and went to the store and could not find anything that is gluten free AND dairy free, so in a bit of frustration I opted for Jason's, its not exactly what I wanted but it did satisfy my chocolate craving a little.
- 1 pint of green smoothie (ice, orange juice, banana, spinach, water)
- Another bowl of Energy Soup. The recipe made 10 servings and I'm the only one eating it, I like it, but I'm worried I might get tired of it after tomorrow...

So, that's what I've eaten so far! It is a basic liquid diet, so my soups and cereals are usually pureed or thinned out with Almond Milk. So far, I know I'm not back to health yet, but I feel like I am on my way, since starting this a couple of days ago, I haven't had any major stomach cramps or other GI problems that I was experiencing from my last "flare up". I've committed to this diet for the next two weeks, so I'm excited to see how this goes!

My Guts Says...

2012-01-31T21:51:00.001-07:00

Owwww....

All the fresh fruits and veggies I got from Bountiful Baskets this last weekend.

Okay, so let me clarify.... I have had "gut problems" (like irritable bowel syndrome) for a little over a decade, I started treating it, about 6 years ago, with the realization that I am lactose intolerant and dairy products not only give my severe stomach cramps, but other unpleasant issues that I'm not gonna go into. I felt pretty good for a while and then recently, like in the last year or two, I've started having problems again. Not sure why, I've concluded to eliminate gluten from my diet a few months ago and felt great for a while, then about a month ago I had another (really bad) "flare up" and consulted with several doctors and while I could pay hundreds of dollars to get a bunch of tests done and then MAYBE know what it is, these GI problems are very similar and apparently hard to definitively diagnose.... I've been reassessing my diet and I know my diet has gotten "lazy" and started slipping back into the world of processed foods and it has taken a serious toll on my body and I am now paying the price for my "laziness". So, after a lot of research and medical recommendations, I am going on a serious diet overhaul. My body needs its time to heal and recover... so, it has been decided that I am going to do a detox type diet. It'll be mainly liquid, fresh juices from my juicer, smoothies, raw or lightly cooked soups, etc. That way I am getting the vitamins, minerals, enzymes, etc that my body needs to heal itself, without the hard work to get it. I am also going to be on several supplements to help with my diet, many of them I am already on for my lack of dairy and other things in my current diet, so it'll only be the addition of one or two extras. I am also going to start dry brushing before showering each day and I am going to make sure I have about 20 minutes or so to do yoga at least 5 times a week, if not everyday.

I've made an easy plan that is simple to stick to and I feel confident that this will help my body heal, especially when it needs it most coming off of a pretty serious "flare up". I know this diet may seem extreme to many out there, but I also want to remind that I have consulted several health professionals and will be closely monitored throughout this process, so no worries there!

I plan on doing a weekly update for those interested in what I will be eating and such. I hope everyone had a good start to their week and a great rest of the week!

Thrilling Thursday... Finally Finished!

2012-01-12T18:21:00.001-07:00

I finally finished the baby carrier for my friend! If you don't remember (you probably don't since it was SO long ago) the post I did a while back about fabric I scored... I got that fabric for a surprise for my friend that was expecting at the time (now her baby is a couple weeks old!).

It's taken me a while to get it done, if I had the time I could have gotten it all done in a day, but most of you out there know how it is with kids and how busy you get and how fast time flies. Jared thought it would be fun if we modeled it for you before we send it off to my friend.

Jared seriously loves this thing! Since he was born I have tried three other carriers (all different) and he hated all of them, which was challenging, especially since he was a VERY colic-y baby when he was itty-bitty. Too bad I couldn't have made it sooner.

Jared doesn't look too happy in this one, but I wanted to show another angle..

This last picture is to show that I made it reversible, since there were too fabrics she liked so much I thought I could make each side different.

Just as an FYI for everyone, I am doing a semester at BYU-Idaho right now and one of the classes I'm working on it a business class and the main project for the semester is to create a small scale business that offers a product or service and the goal is to make at least $100. I have decided that I will be making more of these baby carriers and selling them. I haven't figured out fabric yet, we're still in the planning stages of the project, but I will keep everyone updated as I am so excited!

Hello 2012!

2011-12-31T21:00:00.002-07:00

There is a lot that happened in our family this past year. Some of the things I remember the most about this past year are...

At the beginning of this year we got a gift (for the family, but it's turned more into my thing)... a nice camera. Chris, the deal finder, found one at a great price. I used to do photography years ago, when I had my own camera, but sadly that camera was stolen from me and never recovered :( So! I got to pick it up again, after some practice I having a blast!

We celebrated Jared's First Birthday! It was a blast; a friend of mine and I created these awesome dinosaur cupcakes for my little boy who says "RAWR!"

He enjoyed the cupcakes, which is the most important part!

Emma also turned THREE this year, but we were busy moving into our new apartment in Idaho that I didn't really get any pictures. I made her a basic cake and spent the evening with some friends and family. She still had a blast!

We spent the summer in Colorado! Chris got a summer job with a pest control company. While it was a very stressful summer, we found ways to still enjoy it!

This is us at Boulder Falls, when Chris' parents and younger sister were able to stop by and hang out with us for a day while passing through.

The Butterfly Pavilion!

While spending the summer in Colorado, I made a friend there and she just happened to have a pass for The Butterfly Pavilion and took us, while Chris was out working. We had a blast. I got tons of cute pictures of the kids and lots of butterflies too! This picture was one of the first pictures I took, literally within less than a minute of walking into the Pavilion, a butterfly landed on Jared's face! They really liked him while we were there, they kept trying to land on him!

I made the kid's Halloween costumes this year! I wanted to last year, but we just got busy and I couldn't decide on what to have the kids be. BUT this year, Emma was at a point where she could communicate well with me and tell me what she wanted, which was Rapunzel! I heard a lot of girls were Rapunzel for Halloween this year, but I still think Emma was the cutest by far. I love how she wielded that frying pan! And Jared was a DINOSAUR! In the words of Jared: "RAWR!" While he knows some words, communication is still somewhat frustrating with him, but we had an understanding that he like dinosaurs. When I asked him if he wanted to dress up like one, he got VERY excited.

(P.S. "mylittletestkitchen.blogspot.com" was a food journal blog that I no longer have up, it was becoming too much work to maintain more than one blog)

Dietary Changes, I have been a long time "sufferer" of (possibly) IBS (irritable bowel syndrome). So far all we know is I have serious GI upsets on a regular basis, I was able to have them under control for a long time, through staying away from all dairy products, but shortly after giving birth to Jared I started having problems again in spite of staying away from dairy, so I did another exclusion diet to discover that gluten is another cause to my stomach upset. It's been a difficult transition, mainly from gluten products since I have serious love for bread, but I am getting along... I started it out trying to find a substitute for everything I ate, but it's just not possible to find a substitute for everything and most of the time it doesn't even resemble what you're trying to replace in taste and sometimes in appearance as well. Now, I am just focusing on integrating things in my diet that are naturally gluten free and that has made it all the easier and exciting in some cases. I am the only one eating like this... The Hubby and children are still eating their dairy and gluten diets, while I keep a close eye on the kids and their reactions to food in case they have similar issues that I do.

I am looking forward to this new year. I don't have any resolutions (I find that I don't keep them if I do make them), but I know this year will be exciting and sometimes stressful as certain things come to fruition.

Welcome 2012!

I hope everyone has an enjoyable and safe New Years and I also hope that your 2012 will be filled with awesomeness!

Those who live in graham cracker houses...

2011-12-26T09:31:00.000-07:00

Last night, we made "gingerbread" houses! We used graham crackers instead of actual gingerbread... I think if we do this again next year I'll try my hand in making gingerbread and use a different royal icing recipe.... As my first time ever making these things, I think it all turned out pretty good!

Here's Emma's little house that Grandma helped her make.

(Jared didn't make one this year, but he really enjoyed eating all the broken graham crackers and taste testing all the candy!)

Christopher's graham cracker train engine.

(As you can see in the background... all Emma wanted to do was eat her creation)

And.... here's mine! I was going to do more, but while making it, it wasn't very stable and kept falling apart, so I kept it simple.

Now, Jared is enjoying mine, one m&m shingle at a time.

Holiday Swap

2011-12-23T13:46:00.002-07:00

Whitney decided to host a Holiday Swap on her blog this year and I thought it would be fun to join in! My partner for the swap was Erica. I was super excited when I checked my mailbox today and there was actually something inside it! (We don't get much mail these days)

I loved the handwritten letter and the cozy socks.

I'm definitely enjoying the warm and cozy socks and will be this long winter that just started.

Thank you Erica and I'm glad you enjoyed the gift I sent you!

It's been fun sharing our Christmas traditions and learning about other's traditions a well.

Fabric - A Sneak Peak!

2011-11-23T18:20:00.003-07:00

I just discovered a new website! Possibly my new favorite website...

fabric.com

It's nice to have a website that not only has lots of awesome fabric selections and constant sales on most of those fabrics, but they are also prompt in shipping everything out!

Here's a picture of the stack of fabric I got.

Emma decided she wanted to pose with the fabric which makes this picture a thousand times cuter! Maybe more...

It's not a lot, I'm doing a special order for a friend and for the baby she's expecting!

I'm hoping in the next week or two I'll have it finished and ready for showing off!

Holiday Tradition Swap!

2011-11-17T17:27:00.004-07:00

My friend, Whitney, is having some Holiday fun over at her blog!

I've always wanted to be part of a package swap and this is the best one I've seen!

We get to send someone one of our Holiday traditions WITH a fun story/memory of our holidays! I cannot wait til I find out who I get and start creating!

If I remember right, this is from 1989 (when I was three years old) and I think this is sometime around Christmas.... How cute am I?

I know, so cute.... what happened right? (j/k.... j/k)

Anywho.... December 20th is when I'll blog all about the gift swap.

If you want to join in don't hesitate to head over to Whitney's blog and learn all about it.

Leg Warmers - A Tutorial

2011-11-15T21:05:00.006-07:00

This is the first time I went out of my way to take a picture of myself for my blog. I'm so used to being behind the camera, it's a weird feeling to be in front of it. (In an oddly liberating way...)

(Top: A Kohl's dress I turned into a top, Pants: Hand-me-downs, Shoes: Maurices, Headband (that you probably can't see): taken from the Kohl's dress and Legwarmers: Made by me from a sweater, tutorial below).

First things first, make sure you have a large sweater in your possession. I got this one from the DI.

It also doesn't hurt to have a couple of adorable little helpers.

Next, remove the sleeves to the length you prefer. I used the entire length of the sleeve so they could peek out of the top of tall boots or be scrunched up or... your imagination is the limit. After you have removed the sleeves draw a sewing guide line. I wanted to have them as even as possible, so I made some measurements and made a straight line. At this point I also pinned along the line so I could make sure that the layers don't shift much while sewing.

I guess I'm weird, but I don't like sewing on the line, so my guide line is a quarter of an inch to the left so I can match it up with with presser foot. You can mark your line however you prefer to sew. Once your sleeves are sewn and they look like a tube... cut the excess fabric off to about a half an inch from the sewn edge and serge the edge to prevent fraying. If you don't have a serger, you can do a zig-zag stitch on the edge. I highly recommend doing this since the knit tends to fray... A LOT.

After that, You will want to take some of the ribbed edging off the bottom of the sweater and use the serger (or zig-zag) to sew it into a small tube. I measured the sleeve cuff so I could match it as closely as possible. Then fit it on the body of leg warmer with right sides together and use the serger (or zig-zag) again to sew it together.

There you have it! It's a nice and easy thing to sew and your creativity can make it fun in embellishments or what have you.

I hope my instructions are clear enough for you to follow.

They also look really cute with boots, which I'm sure you've seen tons of if you are ever on pinterest.

Cardi Love

2011-11-12T14:30:00.003-07:00

I love to sew and I'm a SUPER picky shopper. Put those two together and it explains the reason why majority of my wardrobe is created by me or refashioned by me. It's hard, a few months ago I did a large purge of my closet and I literally have 10 things hanging in there and that's it. Seriously, now it's driving me crazy that I have nothing to wear. I did these pull overs into cardi's a few weeks ago, but never got around to blogging it. Today, it's snowing and cold and thought it would be a perfect time to post!

There are a ton of tutorials out there in the blogsphere for this and this is a great one to check out.

There are very few pull over sweaters I like. I own one that I haven't gotten rid of or turned into something else. The one above was too small, always has been. I tried wearing it a number of times, but after a few minutes of feeling claustrophobic in my clothes... off it went to live another day in my closet. So, it seemed logical to turn it into something I could wear. I really like how it turned out and now I wear it all the time.

Here is a sneak peek at the other sweater I turned into a cardi. It was too large and baggy and I had thought of just taking it in and keeping it as a pull over, but I really wanted a peach cardi for a couple of outfits I had in mind.... so I took in the sleeves and the sides and took some out of the center front and now it's a beautiful cardi I love!

I'm working on a few other projects that I hope to post in the next couple of weeks... as long as my camera cooperates with me.

Emma's First Violin

2011-11-03T09:07:00.003-06:00

Yesterday, we took Emma into a music shop to get her sized for her first violin. She's been asking for months and months for a violin. We were going to just buy one, but the music shop has this great program for renting violins and trading them up as she grows. All the "rent" goes towards us buying our own for her. So, we don't lose any money or anything. Pretty awesome huh?

Chris is working with her until we can find a violin teacher. We're not working on her learning music or playing notes just yet. We're focusing on stance and technique and practicing that. I think she's doing well, for a three year old.

This morning before I pulled out the camera she was a lot less "goofy" while playing. It's kind of funny/cute how serious she really gets while playing. I haven't told her that she has to practice. She always asks if she can practice. Last night she asked to practice and I thought she'd lose interest after a few minutes, but after 15-20 minutes she still wanted to practice.

This morning after breakfast she asked if she could practice again, so we took the violin out again and I was surprised at how well she remembered how to hold the violin from last night!

Best Day EVER!

2011-10-31T21:44:00.002-06:00

We watched this awesome princess movie a while back about this girl with really long hair...

From the first time we saw that movie to the 100th, it's still Emma's favorite movie that she asks to see 5 times a day.

With her running around the apartment exclaiming "Best day EVER!" There was no contest on what she wanted to be for Halloween.

Here's Emma wielding her frying pan. I just pulled the smallest one out of the cupboard, but after a short bit she complained that it was too heavy, so it didn't get carried around much.

The wind was blowing so hard it was whipping her hair around so for a while, she carried it around in her arms.

With Emma's we knew for MONTHS what she wanted to be for Halloween and I was able to put in some quality time to get this costume made I made the dress from an old dress up dress that she had worn to shreds. With that idea in mind, it was pretty simple to get the dress put together. I made the wig from yarn in a similar way you would make yarn hair for a doll.

It was a lot of fun to make and it always warms my heart a little bit when I hear her sweet voice say "Best day EVER!" over and over again.

"RAWR" Means "I love you"

2011-10-31T21:37:00.004-06:00

For Halloween this year, Jared was a Dinosaur!

In the beginning, he didn't care for his tail and didn't want to wear it. But over time it grew on him and he hardly noticed it anymore as he went on in his daily endeavors.

He's a VERY curious dinosaur, always exploring and trying to see what's hidden in places, like this carved pumpkin!

I had a hard time deciding on what Jared should be for Halloween and once I did decide, I didn't have much time to create. Hence the tail plus dinosaur shirt. It was still cute and he still had an awesome time!

P.S. I got the basic sewing pattern for the tail here. I did change a few things. I shortened the straps so they'd fit my little man better and I chose to add a little stuffing to the spikes on the tail to help make them stand up better.

My Art Wall

2011-10-21T17:13:00.002-06:00

We have some very special artists! I have a wall in the living room dedicated to their precious art. The kids enjoy getting messy and creating something that we can keep. I was keeping their art on the refridgerator, but Jared or Emma would take it off the fridge and then it would get destroyed. So, I saw this idea nearly a year ago when I was blog hopping, unfortunately I didn't save the URL then, so unfortunately can't give credit where it's due. I guess the nice thing about this is no one really know who the first one to do this was, it's not the most unique idea, but the kids love having the artwork displayed so everyone can enjoy it!

Here's Emma standing in front of their artwork.

Here's a picture of the wall. It feels like something is missing, but I can't think of a good phrase or word or what to put above. (So, if anyone has any suggestions...) Other than that I really like it and so far the kids haven't tried to pull it off the wall, thankfully.

A Stitch in Time

2011-10-21T16:44:00.006-06:00

Emma thought it was fun coming up with her own poses for the camera. She is way cute. So, many of you are unaware, Emma has been battling many various skin conditions which are brought on by her eczema. This time, the dermatologist is unsure what to do. He believes these bumps are a skin condition that he normally sees in adults. To confirm diagnosis, before we put Emma through a treatment that may not work, he decided that the best option was to biopsy one of the bumps. Unfortunately that caused her to get her first TWO stitches. It was a scary time for her and her being a drama queen... She screamed through the whole procedure. Once we were out of the room and she got to pick out a stuffed animal prize and candy and she was fine, happy as can be. In about a week we'll hear back from the doctor and hopefully we'll have a better idea of what's going on.

I love her sweet smile.

And what's up with Jared? He's just chilling, eating a banana.

He's starting to become more vocal and acquiring many words, it seems almost every day this week he's learned a new word or made a word grouping we had not heard from him before. He is also going to be starting nursery soon. It's crazy to think for two hours of church I won't have a child with me! Emma and Jared are 19 months apart, so that means once Emma was settled in her nursery... I had Jared. It's been a good three years since I've been able to sit in RS and Sunday School without interruption. I know Jared will have a blast in nursery, but will I be able to handle it? Only time will tell.

Jared's 1st Hair Cut

2011-10-10T16:51:00.002-06:00

I've gone and tried to cut Jared's hair a few times over the summer, but just couldn't bring myself to cutting his hair off... I know "he's a boy and isn't supposed to have long hair" WHATEVER. It was soft and I liked it.

It was getting fairly long and in his eyes and about a week ago I thought I could TRIM it so it's not in his eyes, but he decided that at the precise moment I went to take a clip of his hair he would become the biggest wiggle worm ever. Needless to say it got hacked and I needed to pull out the electric clippers to get the job done and looking good.

Before:

After:

I didn't like it when it was first cut. I thought it was too short and no longer soft. It's been growing the past week or so and it does look so much better. The only thing I don't like about it is that he now looks like a little boy. My baby is growing up! ::tear::

SNOW!

2011-10-07T21:26:00.003-06:00

It had been raining for most of this week... I didn't think much of it until yesterday when the day started out raining, then turned to hail and then snow. It continued to snow for the duration of the day and through some of the night. So, this morning, there was some (about an inch) of snow for the kids to play with.

Emma had fun building a snow man with our neighbors and we ended up having a small snowball fight. I wish I had gotten pictures of it, but got carried up in the moment of having fun with my kids. I love taking pictures, especially of people, but I also don't want to be one of those Moms that spends all of the time behind the camera and doesn't part take in the fun.

Here's a picture of Jared, happy to be out in the snow, but the smile did wear off rather quickly when he realized that snow is really cold and doesn't taste all that great.

We had a blast with the first snow fall of the season and I know it won't be the last!

Next time, I think we'll have to have a snow cone party. :D

Special Request

2011-09-20T14:55:00.003-06:00

If you know my husband, then you will understand why this was a request of his...

I guess, on Facebook, they have a whole photo album dedicated to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle pictures and one picture that was in said album was of a Ninja Turtle Burger.

After Chris saw the picture he turned to ask me what's for dinner. I asked him what he had in mind and he asked for a burger, that looks like a Ninja Turtle. Making it on the fly, I didn't have any white colored cheese in the fridge and felt weird using our yellow cheese for the eyes and the mouth. Next time I'll be more prepared so it looks better than my free hand miracle whip smile.

A is for Apple

2011-09-20T14:49:00.003-06:00

Now that Emma is getting older, I've been coming up with ways for her to have fun, but also learn new things as well. Right now, I've decide to focus on recognizing letters and numbers, not only by sight, but by sound as well. This week we are learning about the letter "A". We learned that Apple starts with the letter "A" and what sound "A" usually makes.

After that we did a fun activity with an apple. Apple printing!

Emma enjoyed painting the apple with different colors...

...And putting the painted apple on paper to make an apple stamp!

While Jared thought it was interesting too, he just wanted to eat the apple. Don't worry, I gave him a clean apple to eat, after he took a bite out of the paint-y apple first.

Family Approved

2011-09-20T14:15:00.007-06:00

If your family is anything like mine (and asks for cookies ALL THE TIME), then a tub o' cookie dough in your freezer is just what you need!

*Fun Fact: Emma's first word was "cookie"

What I love about this recipe is that the dough doesn't get super hard in the freezer, it actually stays fairly soft, so all I need to do when hubby and the kids are ~~begging~~ asking for cookies is preheat the oven, pull out the cookie dough, plop some on the sheet and bake away! What could be easier?

FYI - I've already doubled the recipe, so the recipe below will pretty much fill an empty ice cream tub that you can keep in your freezer until you're ready for some cookies OR cookie dough.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 Cups of Butter Flavored Shortening (Crisco brand works best)

12 teaspoons of Cold Water

1 1/2 Cups of Brown Sugar, firmly packed

1 1/2 Cups of Granulated Sugar

2 teaspoons of Vanilla Extract

4 Eggs

4 1/2 Cups of All-Purpose Flour

2 teaspoons of Salt

2 teaspoons of Baking Soda

2 (12 oz) bags of Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

If you have a stand mixer (like our Kitchen Aide or something similar), then use it. If you don't have a stand mixer and handheld electric mixer would work otherwise you can use your buff muscles to mix it all up!

Mix together the shortening, water, both sugars and vanilla until smooth, then add one egg at a time, making sure it's completely incorporated before adding the next one in. Then mix in the flour, salt and baking soda until smooth. Lastly, add in the chocolate chips.

When you're ready to bake some, preheat the oven to 375 degrees, Fahrenheit. Place Tablespoons of dough on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes, depending on your oven. I found out that the oven in our new place runs a little hot so I pull the cookies out after about 7 minutes in the oven.

I hope you enjoy the cookies as much as my family does!

Est. 2007

2011-09-16T13:21:00.007-06:00

My Mother In-law was amazing to have me in mind and something I really wanted as decoration for our new apartment.

I was telling her about this and how easy it would be to make.

While my MIL was at her parents house she nailed pieces from a wood palate together and brought it home. She told me she had a surprise for me and I of course went over there as soon I possibly could!

She helped me white wash the wood and create the paper stencils for the letters/number.

This picture really doesn't do it justice!

It really is a beautiful work of art. Our 4th anniversary is actually coming up in a little over a week and I thought it would be fun to finish this wall with some of our wedding photos. I've been editing them in photoshop the last couple of day (since we didn't exactly hire a professional photographer for our big day), just a quick color balance, sharpening and re sizing so they'll look nice when printed in a 4x6 size. I also have plans for this week to find some old wood frames at the thrift store and refinish them. I'm so excited! I've NEVER decorated a place we've lived in yet so this is our first decorator piece!

Boulder Falls

2011-08-19T12:31:00.005-06:00

My in-laws came into town to visit us for a day and yesterday we went and did a lot things and saw some pretty cool stuff. It was crazy and we didn't really take very many pictures. Mainly because I forgot ours and relied on them to take pictures for us.

One of the places we went to were Boulder Falls! It was a little bit of a hike, but it was nice and cool. I could totally of stayed there all day since it was like 100 degrees F everywhere else we went. It was a really pretty.

Since it's been a while (since Jared was born and we were in the hospital) since we had a family photo, I couldn't resist getting our picture taken by the Falls.

The Butterfly Pavilion

2011-08-19T12:23:00.002-06:00

Last Wednesday we went to the Butterfly Pavilion with some of our friends!

Emma's Awesome Learning Experience

2011-08-19T12:02:00.003-06:00

The first thing we did at the Butterfly Pavilion was go visit Roise. Surprisingly enough, Emma didn't freak out about holding a fuzzy spider!

They're renovating the fish area so the only fishy kinda thing we got to see was a horseshoe crab (or stingray). Emma got to touch that one too an she didn't freak out either.

While we were in the pavilion, Emma had a blast running around and pointing to all the butterflies and flowers.

Inside there was an exhibit that was interactive so we got to learn about spiders and climb a rope web and there was a bean bag toss that talked about the processes of Caterpillars turning into butterflies.

Jared With The Butterfies

2011-08-19T11:29:00.005-06:00

Right after we walked in the Pavilion I took a picture of a butterfly and then turn around to see Jared sitting there with a butterfly on his face! I was only able to snap one picture before it flew off because he tried to grab it off his face.

The butterflies actually were really attracted to Jared and tried to land on him throughout the day.

He had a blast walking around and exploring everything!

There were quite a few puddles since they had to make it mist/"rain" often to keep a rain forest like atmosphere for the butterflies and moths. Jared learned how much fun it is to splash around in puddles and we would walk around and he would come back to this exact puddle.

At one point he got so excited he could hardly walk and resorted to crawling.

Had A Blast!

2011-08-19T11:25:00.001-06:00

It was a great day, I am so glad the kids really enjoyed themselves.

Emma the Flower Picker

2011-08-13T14:34:00.002-06:00

Every time we go to a park (or anywhere really) that has a grassy area that has flowers growing in the grass Emma has to stop and pick the flowers, she's that cute.

This time however... she was picking as many flowers as she could find... and shoving them into her pocket.

Jared the Cutie!

2011-08-13T14:31:00.004-06:00

I love his smiles.

Our New Dishcloths!

2011-08-13T14:13:00.002-06:00

For those of you who do not know... we are getting ready to move into our brand new apartment before Chris starts school this September. I have been spending this past month looking for decorating ideas. I finally decided on a color palette a couple of weeks ago and spent a couple of days playing with a pattern and knitting up these lovely dishcloths!

Just as a disclaimer... I'm fairly new to the knitting world and I don't think I'm the best knitting pattern maker, so bare with me... I hope I don't confuse you!

I used US size 7 knitting needles with peaches'n cream 100% cotton yarn.

CO 3 stitches.

Increase.
Row 1: Purl across.
Row 2: 1 Knit Front and Back (KF&B), Knit across and 1 KF&B with the last stitch (So, you'll have 5 stitches).
Row 3: Knit across.
Row 4: 1 Purl Front and Back (PF&B), Purl across and 1 PF&B with the last stitch (Now, you'll have 7 stitches on your needle).

I repeated Rows 1-4 until my dishcloth measured about 10 inches which was 57 or 59 stitches on my needle... which ever one finished on a knit row so I could start my decrease on a purl row...

Decrease.
Row 1: Purl 2 Together (P2T), purl across and with the last two stitches, P2T.
Row 2: Purl across.
Row 3: Knit 2 Together (K2T), knit across and with the last two stitches, K2T.
Row 4: Knit across.

I repeated Rows 1-4 until I had 3 stitches left on my needles and then cast off.

BUBBLES!

2011-07-20T16:59:00.004-06:00

I think this is my favorite picture of Emma getting ready to blow some bubbles.

When Emma and I were blowing bubbles, Jared was copying us, but when we tried to get Jared to blow some actual bubbles he just wanted see if the bubbles tasted good.

This is a cute one of Emma blowing bubbles.

Triangle Curls

2011-06-08T14:30:00.003-06:00

Saw a link on my Facebook about triangle curls, it looked so cute I had to try it out!

Someone Must Have Left the Closet Door Open...

2011-06-08T14:26:00.002-06:00

"Look what I found!"

Emma: "I want to go walk!"

Jared: "No prob. sis, I'll push you around!"

Vacuum!

2011-06-08T14:23:00.002-06:00

"Don't worry Mom, I'll save you!"

Lil' Mama

2011-05-22T12:29:00.002-06:00

At our friend's house, they have a couple of little doll strollers for their girls and one evening Jared was sitting in the stroller and Emma was pretending he was her baby.

It was close to bed time and I was brushing teeth and Emma wanted to help so she would tell Jared to say "Ahhhhh" and help brush his teeth.

She'll make a good Mommy one day.

Box Fort!

2011-05-22T11:55:00.004-06:00

We had a great time in Utah and are very grateful for the friends we were able to see. When we first got to our friends house this is what their living room looked like:

It got left up a couple of extra days to see if Emma and Jared would like to play in it.

And did they ever!

It took them a little bit and a mommy and daddy climbing in first to get them to want to play with it, but once they got it, they had so much fun!

That Face

2011-05-22T06:58:00.000-06:00

That Smile

2011-05-22T06:55:00.000-06:00

Jared

2011-05-22T06:53:00.001-06:00

After the normal touch ups in Photoshop and I had some fun with it!

Before having some fun in Photoshop to after the normal touch ups. The photo was originally WAY over exposed and very white, I was able to pull the natural colors out of the photo and make them more defined.

Pink Shirt

2011-05-21T21:28:00.000-06:00

Sleeping Beauty

2011-05-21T21:27:00.004-06:00

I can't believe it!

2011-05-11T14:29:00.002-06:00

My little man is a whole year old!

This year has gone by so fast and my little man is SO big!

Since we were leaving town before his first Birthday we decided to have an early party for him so Chris' family could celebrate it with us. I made some manly "mud" cakes for the party and it looks like he enjoy it!

We are finally getting settled in our new apartment for the summer, so hopefully this week or next week I will be able to update all the awesome pictures we have.

Happy Birthday Little Man!

2011-05-11T14:24:00.003-06:00

Jared is one lucky little one year old! He got TWO Birthday parties!

This one I was feeling very brave to take on fondant again since I attempted to create a tiger Birthday cake for Emma's last party. So, on Jared's Birthday my friend Mysti and I created these super cute dinosaur cupcakes!

"Hi Mr. Rex, I'm going to eat you."

Miss Emma

2011-03-29T13:48:00.004-06:00

Photography has been a hobby of mine for quite a while, but I never really exercised it and I figured since I have two very cute subjects... I might as well play around with it more.

This is a picture I took earlier today and I like how it turned out.

Here's my attempt at Photoshop. Practice makes perfect!

Two-fer

2011-03-29T13:44:00.002-06:00

My Mr. Jared is growing so big! He now has two little teeth on the bottom. We were finally able to get a picture of them! You might need to click on the picture to make it bigger, but they are there. His new nickname we've been calling my since his second tooth is "two-fer." Before that it was "toothless."

Tyler's Going on a Mission...

2010-12-17T07:44:00.002-07:00

We've been teasing him about how he's going somewhere cold (he's the guy that walks around in the snow in shorts). So I thought he was joking with us when he announced where he's going.

I'm so excited for him!

Emma's Favorite Pastime

2010-12-17T07:39:00.003-07:00

Grandma left her laundry basket down stairs and thought it would be fun to push it around the room... After seeing this I asked her if she wanted to go for a ride. "Yeah!" She said in her exciting little voice. Do you want brother to right with you? "Yeah! Baby ride."

HAHAHAHA. Okay, so I was trying to get them both to smile, but the flash kept freaking Jared out. So, I have a picture of Emma cracking up and Jared looking terrified!

Standing Man

2010-12-10T09:13:00.003-07:00

Last Sunday as I was getting ready for Church, Jared was hanging out in his bed... When I come into our room and find this:

Hey Mom, how's it going?

"Wow! So exciting!" I thought, so I ran to get Chris.

"Chris, Chris!" I say, "Come and check this out!"

He takes a look inside our room...

"Oh, yeah, he's been doing that all morning..."

Needless to say we have lowered the pack n' play for his sleeping safety.

Crawling Update!

2010-12-10T09:06:00.002-07:00

Ruth (my Mother in-law) suggested that we need to put up a new crawling video of Jared... So here are two!

The second one, was more for illustrating that he likes to climb and stand now as well!

Oh the Wonderfully COLD Snow!

2010-12-10T08:57:00.002-07:00

No matter how cold it is outside, if Emma see Daddy shoveling snow outside, she wants to be out there too!

After a while of trying to convince her that it is WAY too cold, I decided to let her see for herself, since she doesn't really believe me.

Emma, super excited to be going outside!

Jared, not too sure about the whole thing, but at least he's bundled up and in the carrier inside my jacket...

I was unable to get pictures of Emma outside on this excursion because we didn't get off the porch and within 5 minutes we were back inside!

Black Sheep

2010-12-10T08:33:00.002-07:00

Emma got this cute little toy manger scene and she was holding up the different animals and I was telling her what they were and what sound they make and we got to the black sheep and I tell her that the sheep says "baaaaa" and some how I was inspired to sing "bah bah black sheep".

And it wasn't until half way through that I realized, I don't remember the whole song! So, I made it up as we went and so, this is my version:

Bah, bah black sheep have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.
One for the little boy who lives down the lane.
One for the mishuginah who has half a brain.
Bah, bah black sheep have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.

Crawling???

2010-11-15T08:54:00.002-07:00

Looks like I'm going to be in trouble!

In other news, at his six moth check up he weighed 13.3 lbs and was 25 inches long!

He is turning into a little chatterbox and says mamamamamamama and dadadadada indiscriminately.

We've also started him on solids, he hates the rice cereal, but doesn't mind the fruits and veggies and baby animal cracker crumbs.

Mr. Curls

2010-11-15T08:49:00.004-07:00

Grandma gave Jared a mohawk, but....

It curled over.

Looks like Jared has some curly hair.

The Hat Stealer

2010-11-15T08:48:00.003-07:00

Emma's a crazy kid that gets into everything!

At her two year check up she weighed 24.5 lbs and was 33 inches long!

She's learning new words and sounds each day.

She loves to play and discover.

And she's almost figured out the door knob!

My Busy Book!

2010-11-06T13:51:00.002-06:00

It's finally here! Miranda and I decided to make busy books almost a year ago! And it has taken me THIS long to get around to posting it.

Here's the front cover (the back looks exactly the same).

The First Page!

2010-11-06T13:49:00.001-06:00

Who's hiding under the blanket?

Peek-a-boo! It's a baby!

Pages 2 & 3

2010-11-06T13:46:00.002-06:00

It's a beehive! I wonder what's inside!

Unzip the beehive to see the bees working hard inside!

Page 3 is the pretty flowers page. You can take the flowers on and off the buttons!

Pages 4 & 5

2010-11-06T13:42:00.002-06:00

These are what I call the kitchen pages!

You can bake the muffins in the oven! When they're done make sure you use the pot holder so you don't burn your hand!

After you take the muffins out of the oven you can place them on the baking sheet. Let's count each one!

Pages 6 & 7

2010-11-06T13:40:00.002-06:00

Braid my hair! You can practice braiding the girls' hair.

Tick-tock, tick=tock... Move the arms and learn how to tell time!

Pages 8 & 9

2010-11-06T13:38:00.000-06:00

With these pages you can race your car along the road!

Pages 10 & 11

2010-11-06T13:35:00.002-06:00

These are what I call the backyard pages.

Flying a kite! You can practice tying the bows on the kite's tail.

A doggy finger puppet! You can stick your finger in the puppet and make the dogs head move.

Pages 12 & 13

2010-11-06T13:31:00.002-06:00

These are the laundry and mitten pages!

With the laundry page there are clothes in the basket that you can practice hanging on a line.

What do you do with a mitten?

It goes on your hand! You can practice slipping your hand into the mitten.

Pages 14 & 15

2010-11-06T13:27:00.004-06:00

These two pages are the rocket ship that moves along the red ribbon and shapes and colors.

3,2,1... BLAST OFF! The rocket ship moves from the bottom right corner to the upper left corner into the stars!

Shapes and colors. There are four shapes on the page that can be covered with the matching colored shapes!

Page 16 and Inside Back Cover

2010-11-06T13:22:00.002-06:00

Veggie Patch and Zipper Compartment

The inside back cover is a zipper compartment to keep all the loose items of the busy book in hopes that it'll keep them from getting lost.

The Veggie Patch currently showcases two items, the carrots and the strawberries. I hope as time goes on I will add a larger variety for fruits and veggies.

Yesterday Evening

2010-11-01T08:46:00.002-06:00

Yesterday it was rainy, cold and gloomy... when all of a sudden the sun burst through the clouds and lit up the whole sky!

A beautiful rainbow in our backyard!

What a beautiful sight out our back door!

Emma this Morning

2010-11-01T08:43:00.003-06:00

I figured since I was doing a post on Jared this morning I could get an up to date picture of Emma as well....

But sadly she did not want her picture taken this morning...

Jared's New Play Station!

2010-11-01T08:35:00.004-06:00

When Emma was a baby like Jared, this was her FAVORITE toy... now it's Jared's!

I can REACH for the sun!

I can look at pictures!

I can make things rattle and roll!

That's right, I'm the boss and I'm LOVING it!

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-01T08:12:00.002-06:00

Here are the Halloween costumes this year:

Emma the Butterfly

Grandma found Emma's costume for us and I decided that since it fit Jared, we'd use the costume Emma wore for her first Halloween that Auntie Danielle got her.

Jared the Tiger

The were an adorable bunch this Halloween! We ended up not going trick or treating this year. We had more fun helping out at Grandpa's Haunted House!

Emma's 2nd Birthday!

2010-09-14T21:47:00.002-06:00

This year I decided to make Emma's birthday cake and here favorite animal right now is the Tiger so I thought: how hard can it be?

Well, if you use WAY too soft of a cake, it can just crumble while you try to carve and shape it and then you just have a pile of delicious crumbs on your hands. Which is basically what happened to me and I ended up trying to handle it as little as possible and decided it'll be what it'll be and Emma will still eat it.

I also didn't make enough cake so my tiger's body looks a little scrawny...

After I took a couple of hours of break and took Emma to the local "zoo" with Chris I think I was able to calm down from the frustration of carving and frosting the darn thing that I think I was able to make it turn out pretty good!

Emma likes it! Mission accomplished!

Happy Birthday my little angel! For the rest of last week after her birthday she walked around the house singing "happy two" to the tune of "happy birthday"

My Cute Little Man

2010-09-14T21:40:00.001-06:00

2010-09-14T21:39:00.000-06:00

2010-09-14T21:37:00.000-06:00

Puppy Love

2010-08-09T08:15:00.003-06:00

Jared has turned into quite the grabby-grabber-son.

I was prancing this stuffed dog up and down his chest and he wrapped his arms around it and started "nom"ing it.

I think he likes it... what do you think?

Rocking Chair

2010-08-09T08:12:00.003-06:00

At their 50th wedding anniversary, Grandma Janet surprised the younger great/grandchildren with lovely rocking chairs. They're not finished that way we can finish it the way we want!

Emma loves hers! At the party she rocked in it for a very long time.

Tricycle

2010-08-06T12:22:00.005-06:00

Emma enjoyed scooting around in this tricycle.

Her legs are a little short to get a full rotation of the petals, but I'm sure that won't be a problem in a month or two. :)

Turtle

2010-08-06T12:22:00.001-06:00

Flowers

2010-08-06T12:21:00.002-06:00

Raspberries

2010-08-06T12:18:00.003-06:00

Emma can't get enough of these!

Fun in the Sun

2010-08-06T12:16:00.001-06:00

Emma's 1st Haircut!

2010-07-23T07:39:00.005-06:00

BEFORE

Front Mullet

Back Mullet

It was party in the front, party in the back and business in the middle... Basically she had a mullet sandwich...

Good-bye Mullet!

Good-bye front mullet!

AFTER

I was sad to see her hair chop chop chopped, but it need to happen. I was long on the top and getting in her eyes and long in the back like a mullet and for whatever reason, short on the sides. It's cute and now she has bangs!

I said...

2010-07-23T07:18:00.002-06:00

(I'm eating cereal and Emma has finished her breakfast)

Emma: (Opening her mouth) Ahhhhhh....

Me: Emma, this is Mommy's breakfast, you already had yours.

Emma: I SAID AHHHHHHHH.

When You Fall Asleep...

2010-07-11T16:24:00.003-06:00

...You might wake up to this:

Balls!

2010-07-11T16:22:00.001-06:00

Painting

2010-07-11T16:21:00.001-06:00

Volcano!

2010-07-11T16:14:00.002-06:00

We were at our friends house and they thought it would be fun to introduce Emma into the world of volcano fun.

This is my attempt at succession shots without the rapid shot feature on my camera...

This is my favorite shot, I love the look of excitement on her face!

I Pretty

2010-07-08T09:08:00.003-06:00

Emma's getting to that age where what she says is more understandable and what comes out of her mouth is cute/funny. Here's a couple of things she said this morning:

Emma: You pretty.

Me: YOU'RE pretty.

Emma: I pretty... I pretty.

Emma: Apple, apple apple... APPLE!

Me: It's not an apple, it's a peach.

Emma: Pear?

The Boy Loves His Sister

2010-07-01T11:50:00.001-06:00

Jared kept smiling at Emma today when she'd play with him. By playing I mean she tries to put socks and shoes on him and she puts finger puppets on her hands and waves them in front of his face.

I love seeing siblings loving each other.

When Emma's Older...

2010-07-01T11:46:00.002-06:00

... We'll be in trouble.

She loves playing with the phone and pretending to talk on it. If she's this crazy about playing with it, just you wait til she older and has friends that call her... Or worse... BOYS. Eek, I'm thinking of installing that tower and growing her hair long.

We'll call that plan B.

Not a Happy Camper...

2010-07-01T08:38:00.002-06:00

Jared had his two month check up yesterday... He's doing great developmentally. He's about 9 lbs 7 oz. now (My tiny baby is growing SO big!) and 21.75 inches long. BUT he got quite a few vaccines as well (3 shots and 1 oral) so he was not very happy at all about that. On the bright side the injection sites never got red or swollen so I guess not too much to cry about...

And Emma is Just as Cute as Ever

2010-07-01T08:36:00.002-06:00

What? I'm not doing anything...

CHEESE! See? I just so cute, how can you be mad at me?

A Jared and His Daddy

2010-07-01T08:35:00.002-06:00

Emma's mini photo shoot

2010-06-28T15:57:00.003-06:00

Emma was being so cute after her nap today that I had to snap a few pictures:

She's turned into such a ham these days. I love taking pictures of the faces she makes!

Tummy Time

2010-06-28T15:54:00.003-06:00

Hello.

Why am I not going anywhere?!

Ah, that's much better... Thanks for flipping me over Mommy.

Baby doll

2010-06-28T15:18:00.001-06:00

He looks so peaceful, that he looks like a doll.

Jared's mini photo shoot

2010-06-28T15:16:00.001-06:00

Jared was napping and I thought it would be a perfect time to get a few shots of my little guy.

I'm ready for my closeup

2010-06-28T15:15:00.000-06:00

Hat

2010-06-25T08:28:00.001-06:00

I'm starting to think that Emma's love for hats has possibly turned into an obsession.

Emma and Jared

2010-06-24T14:38:00.001-06:00

Emma loves her brother

There's no doubt about that.

Another One of Emma's Hats

2010-06-24T14:35:00.003-06:00

Remember in the 90's when it was the fad to have clear/see through backpacks and purses?

Well, Emma's taken it a step further to see through hats.