Friday, January 30, 2009

Playground fun


The weather here has been so nice in the afternoons!

We like to drive around and find new playgrounds (our town is full of parks and "secret" playgrounds!) and yesterday when we went, I remembered to take along the camera!




My philosophy: No need to fix a little boys hair when he is just going to be playing outside!








I've always thought Zachary has such pretty eyes!

I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend with the kids!

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Free mom to good home




My cousin, Stephanie, wrote a great post today about motherhood. It came at the perfect time for me. Today has been "one of those days" for me. I seriously thought about posting an ad in the paper . "Free mom to good home" it would read. Sounds like a good idea after a day like this, but I'm actually afraid no one would inquire.
Lucas sat across the dining table "shooting" me with his chicken strip. We are working on table manners and he's already showing improvement. It was just last night, when at our favorite Mexican restaurant, I caught him licking Guacamole off his menu.
BTW, am I the only mom that feels the need to lecture my children about gun safety every time a gun comes up in play or conversation? It just seems like I must.
"Boys, you know never to play with a REAL gun, right"
"Do you know what to do if you are ever at a friend's house and you find a gun?"
"Do you know how to distinguish a toy gun from a real one?"
On and on and on it goes. I can't make it stop....
Zachary's learning how to manipualate, a skill that will be very handy when he is about 16 years old. I guess he is getting tired of taking baths, because he informed me a few days ago that he is now allergic to water.
I'm sick and all I really want to do is take some medicine and go to bed.
At 6:55 pm.
Sounds like a dream come true to me.
But since that is out of the question,
I decided to take a hot shower instead. I ended up curled up in the fetal position on the floor of the bathtub half asleep. (Not a pretty picture, I know) The thought of Lucas running around the house with ketchup all over his hands was enough to jolt me back into reality, though.
Now I am just counting down the minutes, until the boy's bedtime when I can finally get my work done and then head to bed.
Here's hoping for a better (and healthier) day tomorrow. Or at least that I will be the winner of the HGTV dream house giveaway! :)

Saturday, January 17, 2009

My new favorite card embellishment


Yesterday, Zachary and I made cute tags from shrink plastic. It was so much fun to color, stamp and draw images and then watch them curl up and shrink in the oven. And it was inexpensive too! (only $6 for 10 sheets at Hobby Lobby). Soon I want to make some magnets and some buttons to use on future cards.




This is Zachary's favorite (before and after):









This is a card that I will be listing on Etsy soon. The tag was made from shrink plastic that was stamped and colored with map pencils.



Sunday, January 11, 2009

Another giveaway





Thanks so much to TagsAndButtons for hosting this giveaway of 2 of my reusable snack bags! Head over to her blog for a chance to win one of 7 prizes! Then head over to her store and shop away!

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Giveaway link

Just found out about this great blog giveaway....hop over and try to win . But I must tell you...I'm hoping it's me and not you! :)

Monday, January 5, 2009

Chicken Tortilla Soup....

...in the crock pot, of course!

1 lb shredded, cooked chicken
14 oz can crushed tomatoes
10 oz can enchilada sauce
4 oz chopped green chilis
2 cloves minced garlic
2 cups water
14 oz can chicken broth
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
10 oz pkg frozen corn
1 Tbsp chopped cilantro
1 can pinto beans
flour tortillas, sliced
veg oil

Cook all ingredients (except tortillas and oil) in crock pot on low 6-8 hrs or high 3-4 hrs. Just before serving, brush tortilla slices with veg.oil and bake 10-15 minutes at 375. Serve tortillas with soup.

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Random Ramblings



The boys are at the age where they are picking out their own clothes.




At times, this can be sheer torture for me ....










Speaking of lovely pictures....look what I found on Etsy...



From Kimwestad ~



From Revisions ~


From Lawatson ~