Living My Life On Purpose

Project Life: Week 6

2012-02-13T06:47:00.000-06:00

February 5-11, 2012

The girls decluttered their rooms... starting with the pet nets! Don't worry, they are space bagged just until we move!

J and Taylor got invited to a birthday party at Bounce Mania! It was a lot of fun!

They both LOVED this slide!

Annie was there! They were so excited to see her outside of daycare :o)

We're ALMOST there!

Gramma J and Gramma Pat got the girls beads for Valentine's Day necklaces!

Project Life: Week 5

2012-02-12T19:50:00.000-06:00

Some people complained about my month in review Project Life post... Here you go, Mom and Mike! Mike: Be sure to use the last photo as your desktop background ;o)

January 29-February 4, 2012

They LOVE dressing alike... especially when princesses are involved!

T got all her magnets! Happy Dance time :o)

Taylor signed all of her valentines for her friends at Annie's.

The girls filled the fuzz ball jar up, earning a trip to YoYo!
Taylor loves Oreo frozen yogurt with M&M minis, sprinkles,a nd Fruit Loops on it...

J just likes plain chocolate :o) They are about as opposite as they come!

I'm so tired of carrying my team... ;o)

New Life

2012-02-09T07:07:00.000-06:00

The Middle

2012-02-07T06:51:00.000-06:00

I'm waiting.

For the past week, I've had my phone glued to my side.

As I anticipate one call from my sweet cousin who will soon be bringing new life into this world, I dread another call from my husband with news of a wonderful person leaving this world.

Is it ok to be excited for one person when I only have a few moments left with the other?

How did I find myself here?

I walked through the wildwood, and what did I see
But a unicorn with his horn stuck in a tree,
Cryin’, “Someone please help me before it‘s too late.”
I hollered, “I’ll free you.” He hollered back, “Wait--
How much will it hurt? How long will it take?
Are you sure that my horn will not scratch, bend, or break?
How hard will you pull? How much must I pay?
Must you do it right now or is Wednesday okay?
Have you done this before? Do you have the right tools?
Have you graduated from horn-savin’ school?
Will I owe you a favor? And what will it be?
Do you promise that you will not damage the tree?
Should I close my eyes? Should I sit down or stand?
Do you have insurance? Have you washed your hands?
And after you free me--tell me what then?
Can you guarantee I won’t get stuck again?
Tell me when. Tell me how.
Tell me why. Tell me where….”

I guess that he’s still sittin’ there.

"Help!" by Shel Silverstein

Project Life: January 2012

2012-02-06T07:06:00.000-06:00

Instead of doing weekly photo posts, I've decided to lump them all together into one monthly post! Here's the best of the best of our January!

Shanterest: Valentine's Day Edition

2012-02-01T09:41:00.000-06:00

Because the good 'ol people I work for resemble the front side of a horse walking backwards, I no longer get to browse through Pinterest on my breaks. I have every intention of getting on in the evenings, but I am the busiest person in Indiana these days. No sarcasm in that last statement at all. You'll be glad to know that I pulled every last piece of ~~crap~~ useful, totally worth saving, treasure out from underneath the basement steps and am now in the process of organizing said ~~crap~~ treasure. I'll post on that later. Right now, we have some business to tend to. It's what I like to call Shanterest! If I was able to pin, this is what would be hitting my boards for Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day Edition

BOARD: For the Kiddos

Printable Valentine Crown from Skip to my Lou

BOARD: Gifts

Oven Mitt Treat Gift from The East Carolinian

I originally got this idea from my friend, Melissa. Thanks for such a neat idea, Melissa!!

BOARD: Holidays

Butterfly Card from Disney FamilyFun

BOARD: Food to Try

Cupid's Cupcakes from Disney FamilyFun

BOARD: Fashion

scarlet by htotheb featuring a heart necklace

Scarlet from htotheb via Polyvore

Book vs. Movie: One for the Money

2012-01-30T09:31:00.001-06:00

Close race... I'm giving it a TIE SCORE! And that's big coming from this book worm!

One of my all time favorite book series is Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. I love love LOVE these books! When I found out that they were finally making a movie for the first book, I was pumped! I knew it would be great!

I was not disappointed! The movie was pretty much spot on. From the Burg neighborhood to Stephanie's apartment... and everything in between! I loved it :o)

The Cast

Katherine Heigl as Stephanie Plum

The characters were cast perfectly. Katherine Heigl played Stephanie Plum. I was worried about whether or not she could pull off a character like Stephanie. In the book, she is portrayed as this go-getter Jersey girl. She isn't the toughest or the smartest, but she knows how to get what she wants. Katherine Heigl played the role perfectly!

Jason O'Mara as Joe Morelli

Jason O'Mara was great as Joe Morelli. He had the perfect combination of sass and charm. I'm excited for him to step into his cop roll in later films.

Daniel Sunjata as Ranger

Ah... Ranger :o) When you read the books, you picture a big, hugely built, brown man. Kind of like a mixture of The Rock and Vin Diesel. Daniel Sunjata was great for the roll. My only beef with him as Ranger is that he doesn't quite have the "bad boy" look to him that Janet Evanovich portrays in the books.

Sherri Shepherd as Lula

Nobody more perfect than Sherri Shepherd could have been cast as Lula! She was awesome! I so look forward to her in future movies, scrambling for some cluck in a bucket :o)

Patrick Fischler as Vinnie and Ana Reeder as Connie

Then, there is Vinnie and Connie. They run the bond office. Patrick Fischler was the perfect little weasel for Vinnie and Ana Reeder was just right for Connie.

Debbie Reynolds as Grandma Mazur

If you've read the books, you know Grandma Mazur! Debbie Reynolds did awesome as Gram. Again, she really comes into character later in the series. She did do a great job at shooting the pot roast, though! :o)

Other cast members include Debra Monk as Mrs. Plum and Louis Mustillo as Mr. Plum. They both seem like the right people to be cast as Stephanie's parents.

Overall, the movie was great. Mike and I double dated with my parents to go see it. Mom and Dad have both read the book but Mike hasn't (still trying to convince him!) Mike still enjoyed it and was able to "get it" even without already knowing the story line and the characters. It was awesome! Go see it :o)

Project Life: Week 4

2012-01-29T19:52:00.001-06:00

January 22-28, 2012

My girls LOVE to color! They are serious artists.

Taylor is such a goober.

T helped me count my bows for the H&G Show.

They definitely take after their mama :o)

My little Valentines <3

Taylor got these fun little color tablets that change the bath water colors. The girls love them!

J worked hard on the valentines for her classmates!

"Where did Mommy go?"

2012-01-26T07:35:00.000-06:00

People, people... Let me tell you, this momma is one busy woman! Remember how I said that it was our goal to have our house up for sale by April 1st? Well, apparently that is the magic date for home sellers. Everyone wants to put their house on the market by April 1st. Our realtor has convinced us that it would be best to put it up now because of the low inventory of houses for sale. Now. As in, "Hey, our house is for sale!" Sure, we tackled the major problem in the family room, but we are nowhere near ready to show! We compromised and told our realtor that we would need a month to make it show-ready. One month. The same time as the Home & Garden Show. So, if I'm going to have a large enough inventory of goodies to sell at H&G and have my house ready to put on the market, all in a month, I'm gonna have to do some serious steppin' in tall cotton!

The family room is done. It has been decluttered and repainted. Now I'm tackling the kitchen. I'm pulling crap out of the cabinets and putting it in big boxes labeled, "GARAGE SALE." I'm leaving only the essentials. I'm boxing most of the decor with the exception of a few things. I'm going to have to touch up/repaint the trim (and then make the girls wear gloves all day, everyday). Some major organizing is going down, people! My only problem is that our storage room is FULL. I'm talking Hoarders full. It's somewhat pathetic. I have boxes to the ceiling.

After the kitchen/dining room is finished, I'm moving on to our bedroom. It's tiny. I need to find a way to maximize every inch of that room. I've "researched" via Pinterest and other awesome sites for organizing and home decorating ideas (I'm not naming them for fear they will become so popular, I'll be forbidden to look at them). I think I've found a solution. Now, I just need to repaint three of the four walls, do a little rearranging, and get some curtains hung. It's such a challenge working with a small space. Any advice on how to make it seem bigger?

The living room is pretty good to go. I need to do some touching up on the trim. Other than that, I think we're set.

The girls' rooms are packed. I tried to pull out old toys over Christmas break, but they are still full. I need to get stuffed animals into the space bags and out of the pet nets. Don't get me wrong, I love the pet nets and those girls LOVE their "friends," but when you walk into their rooms and are immediately face-to-face with a 3-foot tall stuffed snowman, it's sort of unbecoming. I also need to put J's blinds and old curtains up to lighten up the space.

Bathroom needs repainted.

The basement. Ugh. I don't even know where to start! Like I said, the storage room is full. I have things stored under the steps and behind the bar. I want potential buyers to see all of the available storage space our home has. I don't want them to see how we are taking advantage of every square inch of it and are busting at the seams. What to do, what to do. The plan is to have the cold weather stop for a while so it's not a pain to park outside. That way I can move all of our packed boxes to the garage in order to free up the storage space! Then, it just looks like we are ready to move!

But I have only a month to do this all. Crap.

Adoily-able Valentine's Day T-shirt

2012-01-24T07:38:00.000-06:00

We got our February issue of Disney FamilyFun in the mail last week. As soon as I saw the cover, I knew I would have to make these shirts for the girls! The instructions I used, provided by Disney FamilyFun, are available on their website.

I added an additional step to Taylor's shirt. I couldn't find a pink long-sleeve T in her size, so I had to get a short-sleeve shirt for her. No prob! I just added some sleeves!

Waffle-Sleeve Layered T-Shirt

Supplies

Child's T-shirt

Adult Waffle T

Paper Doily

T-shirt Paint

Sponge Brush

Stick with me on this one... I kind of did it as I went with no instructions. First, measure the sleeves of a shirt that fits your child well. Then, subtract the length of the sleeve on the t-shirt. This is how long you want your waffle sleeves.

Don't worry about cutting extra length. You'll have enough with this next step. I forgot to subtract the length of the t-shirt sleeve at first so Taylor's sleeves were about 3-4 inches too long. If you forget, no biggie. You can trim them later.

Next, you'll need to cut the back of the cuff off. We are going to make a smaller cuff and only want one layer of fabric to work with. Does that make sense? You know how a cuff is folded over? Cut the back part off.

Next, lay a child-size sleeve on top of the waffle sleeve. Cut the seam off of the waffle sleeve. Leave about a quarter-inch for your new seam.

Now, open the sleeve to the back (inside) side. Turn the cuff up and pin.

Sew in place, creating a new, shorter cuff.

Next, fold the sleeve with the inside facing out. Match up the cut sides and pin in place.

Sew the sides together, about ¼ inch from the edge.

Then, serge if you have one. If not, just zig-zag!

Trim the extra off, as close to the zig-zag as you can.

Turn the sleeves right-side out and attach them to the t-shirt sleeves, trimming off any extra.

Now, on to the fun part :o)

Be sure to put a layer of wax paper or shiny newspaper inside your shirt. Using regular newsprint will cause it to stick to your shirt... not that I would know or anything...

Get a couple of paper doilies and lay them onto the t-shirt. Disney FamilyFun suggests putting a little glue (glue stick or spray adhesive) on the back. I didn't. I was just extra careful not to move them.

Then, very carefully dab the paint onto the doily in an up-down motion. DO NOT brush the paint.

Use a light touch. You can always go back over the pattern. Be careful not to get too much paint on your sponge because it will seep under the doily.

Lift the doily and admire your work!

Because my pattern left space for it, I added i [love] u and be mine.

Since my shirt was longer, I put three hearts on it.

Cutie patooties!!

This took me about an hour. The stencil part was fast... about 10 minutes per shirt. I got my doilies at Kroger. Jaden's and my shirt came from Target and Taylor's is from Hobby Lobby. The waffle T came from Mike's closet :o)

I'm sharing the love with my favorite linky parties!

Badges of Fun: Start a New Tradition

2012-01-23T07:33:00.001-06:00

With the help of Mike and myself, the girls earned badge number six in Disney Family Fun's Badges of Fun challenge! The theme of this badge was Start a New Tradition. As always, FamilyFun offered a bunch of fun ideas. The only problem was, their tradition ideas were annual traditions. We LOVE traditions! I think it is a great way to celebrate with family and carry on my own childhood memories into my own family. We pick out and buy new ornaments for our tree every year at Christmas. We have our favorite meal on our birthdays. We (well, mostly just me) eat sauerkraut and pork on New Year's Day. We wear green on St. Patrick's Day. We eat heart-shaped pizza on Valentine's Day. Our year is FULL of traditions! For this badge, I wanted to start a monthly tradition. We decided that the first Saturday of every month is now

FAMILY GAME NIGHT!

The girls have lots of fun games, including a few new ones they got for Christmas! The one main rule is that everyone must participate. It is another way for our family to do something together! Our first family game night was a huge success!!

Playing Trouble

Playing the Cupcake Memory game

The girls had a lot of fun, as did Mike and I! We don't "let them win" so it is a great way for them to learn how to be a good loser and not a boastful winner. They learn fairness, patience, and how to take turns. Also, it has be a big help in teaching Taylor numbers! Jaden and Taylor both earned their sixth badge!

Great job, girls!!

To earn their next badge, the girls will get to have a little winter fun! We are excited to get outside for that badge!

Aside from my wedding and the births of my girls... BEST day(s) of my LIFE!

2012-01-19T07:51:00.000-06:00

Story time! Long, long ago, I started blogging. I had no idea what I was doing or how to get a following... or even what a following was! I didn't read other blogs and the only person that read my blog was my mom. But then one day, I got a follower! A random person all the way out in Seattle started reading MY blog! I was so excited! So, being the nice blogger I am, I started reading her blog, too! She was quirky and funny and serious all in one.

Then, something really weird and happy happened. I was in the midst of Jaden's 2nd birthday party when I overheard some of my friends talking about one of their friends who was out in California and was the victim of a random attack. I stopped what I was doing and interrupted their conversation because it sounded so familiar. Then it clicked. My new blog follower had posted that exact story. The very next day (April 21, 2009) I left a comment on her blog, "Ok, this is SO strange... such a small world! I had my daughter's b-day party this weekend and I overheard my friend and sis-in-law (to-be) talking about a guy they knew that was in a hospital in CA. I had a complete feeling of de ja vu and asked who they were talking about... turns out, they both know you and your boyfriend! I remembered reading your blog about this same thing and told them about it. Are you originally from Ft. Wayne? Kalie K----- is my friend and Kelly H---- is my sis-in-law. She is engaged to my husband's brother, M--- M------, a FW fireman. Sound familiar? Small, small world!!" Needless to say, we have been blog friends since then!

Life kept on moving for both of us but we still read each others' blogs and occasionally emailed each other. We developed a sort of friendship that people would envy... even though we had never met in real life. She sent J big sister presents when Taylor was born, and J and I made and sent her crafty gifts from time to time. I don't know if it was the small town roots or what, but we clicked, my friend Lala and me :o)

Now, something I envy about Lala is that she is a traveler! This girl bops around the world like it's no one's business. Whenever she would blog about her next excursion, I would comment about how wonderful and exotic Fort Wayne, Indiana is! Apparently Hawaii and New York and Germany and Iceland and California and all the rest are way better...

But then, I got a very vague email from her one day over the summer, saying that she couldn't tell me when, but she was going to come visit me!!! I pictured her showing up at my doorstep, Ty Pennington style, and being all like, "How did I go through life before I met you?!" Yeah, I pretty much had a dumb hopeful grin on my face every single day, in anticipation for the day Lala came to visit! I talked to Mike about it all the time. I just knew in my heart that she was going to come at the end of September for the Johnny Appleseed Festival. September came and went.

But then it happened. The stars aligned and WE MET!!!

Painting pottery with my internet bestie

It was immediate smiles and hugs like we'd known each other forever! We talked and painted and drank wine and talked and ate sushi and talked and talked and talked until late into the evening. It was wonderful :o)

The next night, she and I got together with the two mutual friends we had and rocked. it. out! We started with Mexican food and margs...

Kelly and Ang

Kalie and Me

Then, we showed FW what it was about! We karaoke'd all freaking night and I can't even sing!

And nobody at all thought it was incredibly weird or awkward when I announced to the entire bar that I was there with my internet friend, Lala! "We met on the internet! This is the first time we are meeting in real life and she isn't even a stalker or a serial killer!" cricket cricket

That girl can sing, and sing, she did!

Rawr!

"Go Grease Lightning!"

Obviously there were more drinks...

*Ang, if you hate me for the pictures, just be thankful that the videos are still tucked safely away on my hard drive!*

It was the best night ever :o)

Thanks for such a fun night, Ang! Skip Hawaii... the Fort's the place to be! Love you!! xoxo

HAIR!

2012-01-12T07:17:00.000-06:00

Jaden's hair is gorgeous! She has thick, naturally curly hair that is the perfect shade of strawberry-blond. I would give ANYTHING for her hair. I would shave my head bald if I was guaranteed to have her hair when it grew back. When the movie Tangled came out, Jaden decided that she wanted to have hair as long as Rapunzel's!

She was determined to grow her hair to the floor. There was just one teensy problem. Girlfriend HATES getting her hair washed! It was so long and thick that she had to lay back under the faucet for me to get all of the shampoo out. She would get water in her eyes, and I don't care how big they put "No More Tears!" on the label, there were still tears. Her silly little head is also so sensitive to every little pull so brushing her hair in the mornings was such a chore. I put her hair in braids every single day because the dry weather had made it a static mess!

I started talking to J about getting her hair cut. No way, now how. She wasn't going to do it. Every time I brought up the idea, she cut me off and was dead set on having long, beautiful hair forever and ever! Why? Her reason for not getting her hair cut was, "I don't want it to turn black!"

If you've seen the movie, you know that in the end, Flynn Rider cuts Rapunzel's hair and it turns brown because the magic is gone. Jaden did not want her hair to turn black so, she wasn't going to get it cut! Well, it just so happened that Taylor was in need of a trim on her bangs. It was the perfect opportunity to show Jaden that I could cut Taylor's hair and it would not turn black! After seeing that and having me explain to her that she wouldn't have to lay under the faucet to get her hair washed, she gave in and let me make an appointment. This decision was made after weeks and weeks of me begging and pleading!

She loves it! I love it! I can't get over how stinking cute that cut is on her! Also, she got tinsel in her new do! You can kind of see a little blue streak on top. She was so cute on Saturday. She was constantly walking by the mirror and catching a glance. I asked her if she liked her new hair cut. She replied, "Yes! I keep checking to make sure it doesn't grow back before my friends can see it!" I love that kid.

Eh... It Ain't So Bad

2012-01-11T08:30:00.002-06:00

Hello, my name is Shannon and I am THIRTY YEARS OLD.

:-/ It still doesn't sound right.

I had a great birthday (despite the fact that I am no longer in my twenties.) I took the afternoon off work and met Mike for lunch at Bandido's. Then, we went shopping! Mike and I really don't get each other birthday gifts since our birthdays are both so close to Christmas. Instead, we take each other shopping! I got some pretty awesome deals and some super sweet new duds (am I too old to say that now?) I even had time for a little snooze before picking the girls up from daycare!

In our house, it is a tradition that I fix your favorite meal on your birthday. In keeping with tradition, Mike decided that he would fix dinner for me! Mike doesn't cook so this was HUGE! I was so excited to not have to do anything! He fixed a chicken dish with green beans and pears... YUM-A-LICIOUS.

Click here for Mike's Italian Chicken printable recipe page!

I didn't even have to clean up after dinner! Instead, I went downstairs with the girls and put puzzles together and made awesome castles with blocks! Jaden asked me who was on my shirt so obviously I had to introduce the girls to a little Brit-Brit. We partied like it was 1999 (and I was turning 17 years old)!

Taylor got me mini Reese's PB cups and Jaden got me a "coffee card" to Starbucks! They definitely know their mama! Mike found one of my favorite infomercial products that I drooled over once. He remembered how obsessed I was and surprised me with it! I loved it :o)

On Tuesday, Mom (Dad was at work... Missed you, Dad!) treated Mike, the girls, and I to dinner at Casa! Jaden kept forgetting what the restaurant was called.

J: "What's it called again?"

Me: "Casa"

J: "I keep saying 'Chinese.' Can I just call it Chinese?"

So at daycare she talked all day about going to "eat at Chinese." J is super picky so when Annie asked her what she ate at Chinese, she replied, "spaghetti!" Duh.

It was a great SHANuary celebration :o) Thanks to everyone that sent cards, commented on my blog, wrote emails, posted on my FB wall, texted, and called me on my special day! It meant so much to me and left me with a huge, stupid, 30-year-old grin on my face all day long :o)

Seriously.

2012-01-10T14:23:00.000-06:00

Yes, I believe this is IN error.

Just so you know, I found this devastating news out only when I tried to access the site for a work-related search. Love it.

Hit Me Baby, One More Time!

2012-01-09T07:08:00.000-06:00

I got fresh highlights.

I got my eyebrows did.

I have Starbucks in hand.

I'm working the Britney shirt & ball scarf.

Bring it on, 30!

Also, happy birthday to Dave Matthews because I know he reads my blog :o)

The One With All The Resolutions

2012-01-06T07:22:00.000-06:00

Season 5 - Episode 11

The One With All The Resolutions

Air Date: 1/7/1999

The best Friends episode, hands down, has to be The One with All the Resolutions.

Everyone made a resolution for the new year. Ross's resolution was to try something new every day. One of those days involved wearing a pair of leather pants... that got really hot... on a date...

Rachel resolved to not gossiping as much. She found out about Monica and Chandler and had to tell someone...

Have you seen that episode? I can't get enough of it. I laugh every time I watch it!

Happy Friday, friends :o)

Badges of Fun: Preserve Family Memories

2012-01-04T06:58:00.001-06:00

The girls earned their fifth badge in Disney Family Fun's Badges of Fun challenge! The theme of this badge was Preserve Family Memories. Disney Family Fun offered many great ideas on how the girls could earn their badge, but like always, we decided to make up our own activity to go with the theme!

To earn their badge, the girls put together a Family Tree Book. I created pages for each of our family members to fill out.

Then, we took their picture to place on their page.

When we got the photos printed, the girls matched up the photo with that person's page!

They had a lot of fun putting their book together and we will always have it to treasure. The best part about this book is that we can add to it and keep building our family tree!

UPDATE: These pages (38-page printable PDF) have been added to my Etsy store!

The girls successfully earned their badges and we continue to add family members to our book!

The next badge in the Badges of Fun challenge is Start a New Tradition. We are excited to start a new tradition with the new year!

Resolutions for the New Year

2012-01-03T08:43:00.001-06:00

Speaking of perfection, let's take a look at those 2011 New Years Resolutions, shall we?

Cross something off of my Life List - DONE! Actually, I crossed two things (#30 and #14) off my list this year and added two more people to #23!
Lose 5-7 pounds - Yeah... Not even close. I unfortunately weighed in at 6½ lbs. heavier than January 1, 2011... ugh.
Get my freakin' family room ceiling fixed! - DONE! See the renovation here!
Read 40 books - I was SO close! I finished book #33 on December 30.
Complete my 2010 Project Life album - Hahaha!! Yeah right! Hahahaha!!!

Because I enjoy setting ~~myself up for failure~~ goals for myself, I've compiled a nice, organized list of resolutions for the new year. I present to you:

My Resolutions for 2012

Cross something else off of my Life List
Reach my goal weight and maintain it (within 2½ lbs.) throughout the year
Sell my house and move into our dream home
Read 40 books... including a re-read from high school!
Get caught up on the girls' birthday scrapbooks and our wedding scrapbook (finally!)
Live one day at a time
Don't sweat the small stuff
Make someone's day :o)
Do what I love!
Draw something again.

I know, I know... Not much change. But, considering how badly I failed last year, I believe these are very good resolutions! - UPDATE: I added 6-10 later after thinking that I need to set goals to make me a better me! Sometimes I get too caught up in life and everything involved in it. I need to learn to live in the moment more. Now, let's see how successful I can be at that!

So, what is your number one resolution for 2012? If you need help setting goals for yourself, check out this site: http://moninavelarde.com/newyears/ It's pretty cool :o)

Happy New Year!

Project Life: Week 52

2012-01-02T08:00:00.000-06:00

December 25-31

Jaden's first reaction to all of the presents from Santa under the tree!

Taylor digs through her stocking.

Jaden got the pink princess Doodle Bear she asked Santa for!

Taylor helped me open the gift she got me.

BARNEY!

The girls were surprised to find the Disney Princess Ultimate Dream Castle in the living room!

Taylor hiding from Uncle Shane during one of many games of Hide 'n Seek.

Shane had a good hiding spot!

The girls LOVE their new bath toys from Santa!

Jaden hosted her first sleepover during Christmas break!

J was excited to get to sleep in her new sleeping bag in the basement.

746 Days of Christmas

2011-12-30T10:35:00.001-06:00

Seven-hundred and forty-six.
I took 746 photos this Christmas season. Ridiculous. I know you don't want to look through a huge long post with all of these photos, so here is a shortened version.

Our 2011 Christmas... in 4:26!

Have a happy new year!

Project Life: Week 51

2011-12-26T11:03:00.000-06:00

December 18-24

The girls love their matching PJs and friends that they got from Mary and Jerry.

Taylor bummed up her eye last Saturday :o(

On Tuesday, we went to see Jaden perform in her preschool Christmas program.

Jackie came to visit and brought the girls a little gift!

We were happy to have Grandma Ina home for Christmas :o)

The girls sprinkled their magic reindeer food on the lawn to guide Santa to our house!

Jaden and Taylor watched a video message from Santa! They were both happy to learn that they were on the nice list this year :o)

We listened to Frosty the Snowman and The Night Before Christmas before bed on Christmas Eve.

Project Life: Week 50

2011-12-20T11:02:00.003-06:00

December 11-17

The girls made stepping stones for Grandma Pat and Grandpa Wayne for Christmas!

The girls and I surprised Mike with a birthday breakfast!

We visited Grandma Ina on Mike's birthday. He was surprised to have the nursing staff sing him Happy Birthday :o)

J and I made frosted sugar cookies for our family Christmas on Saturday. She was in charge of the sprinkling!

Gram and Gramps loved the soup bowls the girls painted them for their birthdays!

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

2011-12-19T09:47:00.001-06:00

With only SIX shopping days left, I thought I'd give you a few ideas of what to get for your favoritest BFF :o)

My number one must-have this time of the year is coffee! I can't get enough of waking up to the smell of my coffee already brewed for me. I drag myself out of my bed just for that first sip. I love, love, love it and can't get enough of it! My coffee maker is like a third child to me. She's fabulous!

Obviously you need a super cute mug to drink your cup 'o joe, right? Why buy any mug when you can paint a beautiful one yourself? I painted mine at Bisque It Pottery Painting Studio.

My coffee of choice is from the good people at Kroger. I actually put the Private Selection Gourmet Chocolate Raspberry coffee on my Christmas list this year! SO good!

Because I sip on my coffee all day long, I like to bring it to work in my Stanley Thermos. This puppy keeps it hot all day long!

Even though I don't think I'll reach my goal of 40 books read this year, I haven't stopped reading! For the bookworm on your list, you can NOT go wrong with Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. I may or may not have number 17 under my tree :o)

Another great series is James Patterson's Alex Cross series. I'm working my way through number nine right now and can't wait to read the rest!

I remember in eighth grade my friend and I would wear the same sweatshirt every single Thursday! I SO wish I had that sweatshirt still... It was white with a photo of the cast of Friends on it. That show was the best on TV from 1994 to 2004. I never missed an episode! I love that they are now playing reruns on Nick :o) Obviously I own all of the seasons on DVD! Any season would make a great gift for your friend!

Number one on my CD list this year is Train's Save Me San Francisco, but you can't go wrong with any of Train's CDs or another favorite, Colbie Caillat. Also a new favorite, Bruno Mars... *sigh*

If it is jewelry you are looking for, the Add-A-Pearl necklace is the neatest thing! You start with a single pearl on a chain. Then, you can give the gift of a single pearl at any occasion! Mike got me a starter necklace on our wedding day and has been adding a pearl for each anniversary. I love it!

Now, for the kiddos! You all know that my kids adore the Disney Princesses. Right now, their favorite in the princess department are the My First Disney Princess dolls. J totes Tiana around with her while Taylor loves on Ariel.

As for movie recommendations from the girls, we are all about the prehistoric creatures in our house! Jaden loves The Land Before Time: The Great Longneck Migration and Taylor, well, she has a slight obsession with a certain purple dinosaur.

My kiddos are almost as obsessed with reading as I am. Jaden is deep into the Magic Tree House chapter books. She loves having them read to her and she even understands and remembers them! But, one book that will always have a special place on our shelf is Hallmark's recordable story, All the Ways I Love You. This book is special to us because it is read to the girls by Grandma Ina. They will be able to have her read to them whenever they want!

Now, I haven't talked to him about his, but if I were to guess what would be at the top of Mike's favorite things, I would say a Blue-ray player. This boy is obsessed with movies! Right now we are working our way through True Blood season one. He also likes a good action or horror movie.

Another great gift for your man is the Xbox 360 with Kinect. Mike has one and loves it! I think it's pretty cool, too ;o) Creepy, but cool.

There you have it! Our favorite things :o) Hopefully this will help you buy for even the hardest person on your list!

This post also marks my 700th post!

Because it is the season of giving, I'm giving away one (actually a bunch) of my favorite things... not listed in this post! It's a super secret surprise though because one or two people that may or may not read my blog may or may not be getting one for Christmas!

To enter my giveaway, just comment below, telling me what is tops on your list for Santa this year! Be sure to leave your email address so I can contact you if you win!!

Giveaway ends on Christmas Eve. Winner will be announced sometime after Christmas :o)

Have a Merry Christmas!!

Thanks for reading :o)

Turkey Day!

2011-12-16T07:23:00.001-06:00

Yeah, I know Christmas is just NINE DAYS AWAY (?!?!) but I am so far behind on blogging, I'm just now getting to Thanksgiving!

Little did we know, we had a very special Thanksgiving this year. It was one to always remember because it was normal. You see, we received some awful news this week. Grandma Ina is very sick. It's not fair and it just sucks. We are furious and devastated... but we are also thankful in a way. We are thankful for the time we have left to spend with her. We are thankful for Thanksgiving; our last moments together of normalcy. Our last time we were together as a family without the knowledge of that awful news.

Mike LOVES Thanksgiving. He literally lives every day in the weeks before in anticipation of his grandma's dumplings. This year, he helped her make them!

Matt couldn't join us for dinner but he stopped by for a visit... He has a pretty awesome truck ;o)

Oh, how I wish we could go back to that day.

We colored a bunch of Thanksgiving pictures!

Love you, Grandma Ina!

Aunt Nancy (Ina's sister) was here, visiting from California!

After naps, we headed to Garrett to visit with my side of the family.

The girls were so excited to play with their baby cousin, Raegan!

Shane-O and Gram

Gramps had to bribe J to sit on his lap for a little bit :o)

More coloring pages!

My mom... hmm...

Then, mom wanted a picture of Mike, Shane, and me...

This happened last year, too... remember?

More love for the baby! Pretty soon there will be another baby girl in the family to love on!!

Then, we made our pilgrim Plutos!

Taylor's Pluto

Perfect Thanksgiving decor!

Now, I need to get my butt in gear... NINE DAYS?!?! Seriously??

Taco Pizza Squares

2011-12-12T07:50:00.000-06:00

Ingredients:

2 tubes (13.8 oz. each) refrigerated pizza crust
1 can (8 oz.) pizza sauce
2 c. seasoned taco meat
2 med. tomatoes, seeded and chopped
2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
Shredded lettuce
Sour cream

Unroll pizza dough and place in a 15"x9"x1" baking pan.
Spread with pizza sauce; top with taco meat, tomatoes, and cheese.
Bake at 400°F for 15-20 minutes or until crust is golden brown.
Top with shredded lettuce and sour cream, if desired.

Makes 8-10 servings.

NOTE: I halved this recipe, using one crust in a 9"x13" baking pan. It turned out great and was perfect for a family of four (we had leftovers because half of our family of four prefers mac 'n cheese!) ¡Delicioso!

I'm sharing this with my favorite linky parties!

---

Last week, I teamed up with Cutting Edge Stencils and offered one lucky reader a stencil of her choice, valued up to $50. Random.org helped me out and out of the 24 readers to enter the contest, the winner is...

Congratulations!!

Project Life: Week 49

2011-12-11T20:08:00.001-06:00

The girls had a Christmas ornament painting, cookie decorating party for their friends. It was so much fun!

Taylor and Jaden put together their family tree book.

Oh, Miss... :o)

Enjoying a little ice cream before visiting Santa!

The girls told Santa everything they wanted for Christmas... Good thing they've been good girls!!

The girls love to play "sleep-over" now. They lay in the dark with flashlights and read books :o)

A Visit with Santa!

2011-12-09T07:03:00.000-06:00

On Tuesday, we took the girls to the mall to see Santa! But before we chatted with the big guy, we did a little shopping. Jaden has her Christmas program at preschool in a couple of weeks so we stopped to get her a new outfit. She wanted to leave the store and go play with Dad and Sis, but Mom and I made her stay with us in case she had to try anything on.

Wishing she was out with Dad and Taylor. I am forever telling this child to,
"Pull up your pants!" :o)

Then we stopped at the food court for some supper and ice cream!

Off to see St. Nick!

Taylor definitely takes after her Uncle Shane-O! I pull out my camera and the silly faces come out automatically!

Jaden made a hand for Santa :o)

Technically, we weren't allowed to take our own pictures. It's a good thing I have a super sneaky mom!

There were no tears this year! It was a great visit! Taylor asked for a baby. Jaden asked for the "big princess castle." :o)

Merry Christmas!

Why Disney and their Princesses are now on my naughty list - UPDATED WITH LONGER VIDEO

2011-12-08T07:20:00.001-06:00

Oh Disney... I hate to break it to you, but you've really burned a bridge with me. I thought we were BFFs! What you have done has not only disappointed me, but will most definitely disappoint my girls, especially Jaden.

You see, Jaden has asked Santa for a TON of princess toys for Christmas. I had a little chat with the big guy and he tells me that she will be making out rather well. But, after his elves had already finished their toy making, you decided to put a new commercial on TV.

UPDATE: CLICK HERE for the longer video. (Will open in new window)

(Actually, even though the new commercial is aired during every single break on Disney Junior and Nick, I can't find it online. It shows each princess in her room, not just three of them. Here is the shorter version.)

So, you can see why I'm stuck. Jaden really wants this stupid castle! It was the very first thing she asked Santa for when we visited him at the mall. But, like I said, the elves are already done making her toys and probably already spent too much elf money as it is. I'm pretty sure they can't afford the extra 150 elf dollars that is needed to make this castle. How do I break it to J on Christmas morning because I'm sure she will be disappointed... Santa always leaves them a letter next to his empty cookie plate. Should he explain his lack of a castle? I'm pretty sure she'll notice an almost 4' tall castle is not in her house. Thanks so much Disney. If you would have put that commercial on in say, like maybe August, the elves would probably have taken advantage of north pole layaway and not gotten some of the other gifts. On the other hand, should Santa pull some strings and try to get the elves to return some already made presents and try to find time to make this castle? Time's a tickin', people! What's a mom to do?

Watching Santa Get Lit!

2011-12-07T07:18:00.000-06:00

Ever since Jaden was an itty bitty thing, it's been a tradition to go downtown with Mom and Dad for the annual Holiday Fest!

My Mom and Dad

We bundled the girls into strollers to keep them warm. It was also easier to navigate our way through the crowds with strollers.

We waited patiently...

We counted down...

10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1!

So magical :o)

Happy Holidays!

Festive Fiesta Dip

2011-12-06T07:35:00.000-06:00

Ingredients:

2 pkg. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened

1 pkg. taco seasoning mix

1 c. Mexican style shredded cheese, divided

¾ c. sour cream

½ c. chopped avocado

2 T. sliced black olives

1 T. chopped red bell pepper

Crackers

Mix cream cheese, seasoning mix, and ½ cup shredded cheese; spread into Christmas tree shape on large plate or platter.
Top with sour cream to within ¼ inch of edges.
Sprinkle edges with remaining shredded cheese. Refrigerate at least one hour.
Remove from refrigerator about 15 minutes before serving. Top with avocados, olives, and peppers.
Place square cracker at the bottom for the trunk. Top with a star, cut from the red pepper.
Serve with crackers.

Makes about 3½ cups of spread; approximately 28 servings.

I'm linking this to my favorite linky parties! Enjoy!

Family Room Renovation!

2011-12-05T07:28:00.000-06:00

Well, I crossed a biggie off of my New Years Resolution List: #3: Get my freakin' family room ceiling fixed! Not only did we fix the ceiling, we completely redid the entire room! As you know, we are looking to put our house on the market this spring. Our family room was in need of a major face lift!

You've heard the story before... We had skylights, they leaked (in 18 different spots), we had them removed (5½ years ago), and have been not looking up since. Take a look for yourself:

Not only did we have a leaky ceiling, we also have had some settling issues. The family room in an addition to the house (that was added prior to us buying it). Before it existed, there was a window on the wall that now showcases the fireplace. The window was filled, but with years of settling, the cracks started to appear.

Also, we had about a half inch gap between the baseboards and the floor.

It was also a clutter zone! Our family room was our main room. We all lived in it! The girls had their toys, we had our crap... we loved the heck out of that room!

It was time for a change. Obviously, my source for inspiration came from none other than Pinterest!

So, we packed up our crap and lived like hoarders for a weekend.

Our precious space was ready for her makeover!

Our handyman came bright and early one Saturday morning and answered our prayers :o)

Dad and Gramps helped my with the new paint job...

...And then came the fun!

I teamed up with Cutting Edge Stencils to create a dynamite focal wall! They provided me with the Rose Damask stencil, along with all of the tools and instructions I would need.

The instructions were super clear and left no room for error. The stencil pattern was cut so it was easy to line up and create an amazing design. It came with a clip-on level so I didn't have to mess with eyeballing or having someone else hold a level to the wall.

If you are looking to create a focal wall, or even a statement throughout the entire room, I highly recommend Cutting Edge Stencils! They shipped my stencil to me incredibly fast, too! I even went online and watched a couple of tutorial videos so I was more familiar with the process.

Seriously, so easy! My only beef was that it took a lot of time. Because of the drastic color difference, I wanted to make sure I had a good solid color. I had to give each stencil two coats. It took me an average of seven minutes to do one section. As you will see in my "after" pics, I had a LOT of sections! If you can afford it, I highly recommend buying two of the same stencil so you can move a little faster. Also, the clean up was simple but a pain in the butt. If I didn't clean the stencil off every so often, it would start to stick to the wall, leaving behind chunks. Like I said though, cleaning the stencil was easy. If I was going to clean it and use it immediately afterwards, I just rinsed it off, dried it, and went on with my stenciling. If I was done for the night, I let the paint dry on the stencil and just peeled it off the next day. Easy, but a pain.

So, what do you think of the finished product?

We are so happy with our new room! I couldn't love it more :o) I had originally planned on doing a wood slat design over the fireplace but decided against it after the stenciled wall was done.

I want to thank Kerry at Cutting Edge Stencils for providing me with the stencil used for my wall. I will definitely be purchasing another one when we move to our new home because not only was it super easy to do, it looks amazing!

Guess what?! Cutting Edge Stencils has offered to give away one stencil of any value up to $50 to one of my readers! You can choose your favorite from their site and they will ship it to you for free! How awesome is that? All you have to do to win is visit http://www.cuttingedgestencils.com/ and comment below, telling me which stencil is your favorite! I'll pick a random winner on Friday, Dec. 9th. Be sure to leave your email address in the comments too! You can earn extra entries by blogging about this giveaway and posting it to Facebook. Just leave separate comments telling me you did so! Facebook friends: You don't need a Blogger ID to comment. Just comment as anonymous and leave me your name and email address in the comment.

Project Life: Week 48

2011-12-04T20:47:00.000-06:00

Goldfish, blankie, and Jingle All the Way... Does it get any better than this?

The girls are reading about our shelf elf, Buddy!

These kids are ready for Christmas!

I love that my girls LOVE creating art in so many different ways!

So sweet :o)

Taylor showing Daddy how to take her picture.

Loving our Christmas advent calendar!

Teaching her how to fix dinner at an early age!

Project Life: Week 47

2011-11-27T20:11:00.000-06:00

The girls got to help out with the demonstration at my Pampered Chef party!

My family is weird and gross ;o)

Taylor was ready to do some Christmas painting at Bisque It!

This week, Taylor decided she wanted to start using the potty!

Holy crap! Is that who I think it is?!?!

My parents, my role models, my friends. Love you guys!

Jaden waited so patiently for the Christmas lighting downtown.

Love this.

Bloggers unite!! I <3 Lala!!

Mike's Grandma Ina taught him how to make his favorite meal: DUMPLINGS!

My Stink :o)

Shane and Gram

Badges of Fun: Family Night Fun

2011-11-22T07:18:00.000-06:00

The girls earned their fourth badge in Disney Family Fun's Badges of Fun challenge! The theme for this badge was Family Night Fun. To earn their badge, the girls, along with Mike and I, made magnetic frames for our refrigerator!

They all looked great!

We all had a lot of fun making our magnets! The girls successfully earned their fourth badge! Great job, girls!

For the next badge, the girls will be preserving family memories. To earn their badges, they need to complete an activity in one of the following categories:

Organize Your Mementos
Collect Family Stories
Display Treasured Photos

With Thanksgiving being this week, it is the perfect time for the girls to combine the second and third category and create a family tree book!

Project Life: Week 46

2011-11-20T19:55:00.001-06:00

Taylor painted a gift for someone special... Could it be you?

Jaden did too! I wonder who they are for...?

Daddy wasn't feeling well so Jaden made him a "Get Well Soon" card...
She is so thoughtful!

Taylor loves Play-Doh. She HAS to have purple!

Jaden could play with this stuff all day, every day... Pink, of course!

I love my crafty kids :o)

I can't help laughing every time I see this picture! The girls surprised Mike and I by
switching bottoms! Jaden is wearing Taylor's size 2 sweat pants and Taylor is wearing
Jaden's size 6 jean skirt. Someday they will have screaming matches because of this very thing :o)

Dogs Can Dance?

2011-11-16T06:56:00.000-06:00

Once upon a time...

In response to that, my wonderful friend made a video for Jaden. She watched it last night...

If you want to see Lala's video, check it out here:

See you soon, friend!

Thanksgiving Activities for the Kiddos!

2011-11-15T07:34:00.000-06:00

Not that I'm counting down or anything, but be ready because in exactly one week from today, the world as you know it will be changed forever. I'm not even joking. Stay tuned!

Thanksgiving is also only a week away! Where did October go? Now we are already halfway through November? Time is seriously flying by. If you are hosting Thanksgiving this year and find yourself in a stressed out fog, Disney Family.com is here to help!

They have a fun, free printable to help you get organized. We don't host a feast at our house, but we do travel to a couple different houses. This cute printable will help get me organized with what I need to make and bring to each place! Plus, it has Mickey and the gang on it... a super huge bonus in our house! You can download the free printable here.

Whenever we go to family gatherings, I want my girls to behave. I cross my fingers and toes and bribe them with fuzz balls (more on that later!) to make sure there will be no fighting, arguing, bickering, whining... When I saw all of the fun printables and crafts for kids at Disney Family.com, I immediately put together a little activity pack for them! When they get bored or irritable, I can pull out a number of different projects to get them smiling again! Obviously I printed out two of each because everything has to be the same! :o)

activity pages, coloring page, butternut Pluto

activity placemat, Mickey pilgrim hat, Belle's Thanksgiving crown

I love Disney Family.com! I can always find super fun crafts and recipes for the girls and I. Thanksgiving will be even more fun and entertaining this year because of all of these fun activities!

Speaking of Disney... Disney Family Fun magazine gave me a one-year subscription to give away to one of my readers! It was a tough decision. I went back and forth on a couple of entries. I finally decided that the winner of the one-year subscription to Disney Family Fun magazine is BIZ!! Biz is a mommy to two super sweet girls. I know that the magazine will be used and loved from cover to cover in that house. Biz is also a teacher at an elementary school. I have no doubt that she will find some awesome ideas in the magazine to use in her classroom! Congrats, Biz!!

I was not compensated for this post. This post is simply because I love Disney Family.com and Disney Family Fun magazine. I saw this fun stuff and couldn't NOT share it with all of you!

Have a wonderful Turkey Day!!

Project Life: Week 45

2011-11-14T07:47:00.004-06:00

Taylor loves making lunch for her "friends"

The girls colored some fun winter masks!

"All the babies"

Family room re-do... Your sneak peek!

Jaden went to her first birthday slumber party!

Jaden and the birthday girl... her red-headed twin!

Project Life: Week 44

2011-11-06T22:04:00.000-06:00

Taylor was ready to get the trick-or-treating party started!

JUNIOR MINTS!

My two little fairies :o)

Taylor LOVES her baby cousin, Raegan!

The girls were checking out the Toys R Us book for some ideas for Santa!

I truly felt like I was on an episode of Hoarders for a full weekend!

Killing Me Softly - 5 Months

2011-11-04T09:27:00.000-05:00

Remember back when Mike and I met with our realtor about putting our house up for sale? Well, we didn't list it. Five and a half years ago we paid $100,000 for our home. Over the span of four years (when we met with Jane) we had only paid off a teensy bit of our mortgage. We went to the bank and got an amortization schedule. It showed us how much of our monthly mortgage payment was going toward the principle and how much was ~~being donated~~ going toward the interest. Basically, with how the economy and housing market is today, we wanted to get at least $90,000 for our home. To walk away from a sale with money for a down payment on a new home (instead of literally paying someone to buy it), we obviously needed to owe less than $90,000. According to our amortization schedule, we would be at that point by November 1st of this year. So, last February we decided to tough it out for one more year, make the necessary improvements, and get our house on the market by April 1, 2012. We have 5 months left.

First up on the schedule is the dreaded family room. This has been an unending room of problems since 2007. It's a great room! Lots of natural lighting, laminate wood floors, gas fireplace, outside patio access, you name it! We spend the majority of our time in that room. BUT, in 2007 (shortly after Jaden was born), we experienced a crisis. Apparently the roof leaked when we bought the house and the seller lied about knowing it did. According to our neighbors, he was on the roof with tar after it rained every time. You see, he had installed skylights in that room. Skylights for a pitched roof. On a flat roof. We could never make plans when there was rain in the forecast because we had to make sure we were home to strategically place buckets all over. My grandpa tried to help us out by tarring around the skylights. He even put a new roof over that room (it's an addition). During his re-roofing, we discovered that because of the moisture, we had rotted wood and a carpenter ant problem! Unfortunately, re-roofing only made the problem worse. We woke up one rainy morning to 18 different leaks in one room. We had to move everything out. We had couches in our dining room and the rest of the stuff in our living room. It was awful. I cried every single day of my life for a very long time because of the stress that room caused us. We depleted our savings account and borrowed money from our parents and hired a crew to come in and rip out the skylights and replace the roof on the entire house. We didn't bother having them fix the ceiling from the inside. We just wanted the leaks to stop. Since then, we have not had one single leak! Now, we just have two gaping holes where skylights used to be. You can literally see the plywood that is under our shingles. In addition, we have the water damage to the ceiling from the 18 leaks. It's a mess.

Fortunately, I have an awesome friend that hooked us up with a great guy that is coming over bright and early tomorrow morning to renovate that room at a very reasonable price! Not only is he fixing the ceiling, he is also repairing cracks that we caused by the settling of the room. I'm taking Monday off work to repaint and put the room back together. I'm thrilled to have this project upon us! This was the one major thing that needed to be done. Everything else (pretty much) is just icing on the cake!

Now, I need your expert advice. I have only a couple of days to decide on a color to paint! Right now, the room is yellow with a green accent wall. There are a ton of windows, too. You can see a lot of the room here and here. It is connected to our dining room that is painted a terra cotta orange color. Oh, and we have a red chair and an off-white couch that will be staying in there. Help me out!

Have you entered my giveaway yet for a free one-year subscription (or extension) to Disney Family Fun magazine? Such an awesome giveaway with absolutely no obligation to buy future subscriptions at all!

Louisiana Style Taco Soup

2011-11-03T07:11:00.000-05:00

Yes, another soup. I can't get enough soup this time of year! Love it. This one is awesome! It takes the entire stove top to make it, but it is well worth it. It's simple but it doesn't seem like it because there is so much in it!

Ingredients

1 package (8 oz.) red beans and rice mix

1 package (9 oz.) tortilla soup mix

1 lb. ground beef

1 c. salsa

Prepare mixes as according to package.

Meanwhile, brown the ground beef; drain.

Add salsa to ground beef; stir.

When mixes are done, combine all in a large pot.

Cook, uncovered, for 5 minutes until heated through.

That's it, Charlie! With the mixes, you get so much stuff in your soup without really having to do anything!

Try it. You'll be glad you did!

If you live in Fort Wayne and shop at Kroger Marketplace, the only tortilla soup mix they carry is in the natural food section.

I'm linking this to my parties next week!

Have you entered my giveaway yet for a free one-year subscription (or extension) to Disney Family Fun magazine? Such an awesome giveaway with absolutely no obligation to buy future subscriptions at all!

Badges of Fun: Learn Something New & A GIVEAWAY!

2011-11-01T17:52:00.001-05:00

The girls earned their third badge in Disney Family Fun's Badges of Fun challenge! The theme for the third badge was Learn Something New. To earn their badge, the girls started a scavenger hunt. I created exploration guides for them to fill out to earn their badge.

On each page of the guide, I read them a riddle and they (Jaden) had to try and guess the correct answer. After that, they had to draw a picture of that object and then find it.

Once we found it, I took their picture to put in their guide!

This has been a fun, ongoing project for both girls and myself! We aren't completely finished with our guides yet, but I feel that they have completed enough to earn a badge :o)

Great job girls!

For the next badge, we all get to participate in some Family Night Fun! To earn the badges, the girls must complete an activity in one of the following categories:

Play Table Sports
Make Some Custom Crafts
Hone Your Skills

As always, I like to choose an activity that is fit for the girls' age level (4 and 2) and the second category has the perfect activity for us! As you can see, we love to display photos and artwork on our refrigerator.

I think the girls would really enjoy making frames to hold their own coloring pictures and the photos of our friends! I have two creative kiddos so I'm sure the frames will be awesome! Like always, we'll put our own creative twist on our project.

I can not say enough good things about Disney Family Fun magazine! We all love it at our house! Jaden loves to grab the magazine when it comes in the mail and look through it to find her favorite characters. You can only imagine her surprise when she came across these cuties on page 11:

She couldn't believe she was in the same magazine as Tinkerbell and Duck Tales!

I want to thank Faye and everyone else at the magazine for featuring my girls and their hard work! Disney has agreed to give one of my readers a ONE-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION to Disney Family Fun! How awesome is that?! If you already have a subscription, they will extend your current subscription for one year at no cost to you!

This is not a random giveaway. Please leave a comment below telling my why you want this subscription. Have you ever purchased a copy of the magazine before? What is it about Disney Family Fun that you absolutely can not get enough of? Who would you share your subscription with?

Be sure to leave your email address in the comment!! I will pick the commenter that I feel is most deserving of this awesome prize. You must comment BEFORE November 13 to be considered. I will pick and announce the winner on Monday, November 14.

Facebook friends: You do not have to have a Blogger ID to comment! If you would like the subscription, leave a comment as anonymous, but be sure to leave your name and email address in the comment!

Also, I have listed the Exploration Guides I created in my Etsy shop. They come as a printable PDF for you to make yourself! Check out my shop if you are interested.

Good luck!

Frightfully cute kids, costumes, and food!

2011-10-31T08:06:00.002-05:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays! It falls during the perfect time of the year... I get to create awesome costumes for my whole family... The food is delicious and SUPER cute... I love it!

On Friday, we carved our first ever jack-o-lantern!

Jaden managed to pick the HARDEST pumpkin ever!

When we managed to get the top off, she was not impressed with what she saw inside.

I showed her how to scoop out all of the seeds.

Then, she drew a face on the pumpkin for me to cut out.

Taylor found the seeds and guts pretty entertaining!

When we were all done, we put a candle inside and watched him glow!

I blew the candle out and that made J sad...

I made a tasty treat out of the pumpkin seeds! Here is the recipe I used:

Ingredients

pumpkin seeds

4 T. butter, melted

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. ground ginger

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. ground allspice

First, wash the pumpkin seeds. Next, lay them on a cookie sheet to dry. You can speed the process up by using a hair dryer or by putting them in a warm oven (120-150°F) and stirring often. I just let ours sit overnight. Then, mix all of the ingredients together and spread out onto a cookie sheet. Finally, bake at 275°F for 20-30 minutes, stirring about every 5 minutes. They are delish!!

On Saturday, Mike and I went to a costume party with some friends. He went as an old classic - Waldo!

I made myself a sushi costume. Kani, to be exact! Complete with the ginger, wasabi, and fake grass!

Here was my inspiration picture:

Here, maybe this will help you visualise it:

We had a lot of fun!

On Sunday, the girls got a Halloween surprise from Mike and me.

Then, we made treats to take to daycare!

Aren't they cute?!

They are just sugar cookies, frosted with chocolate frosting. We used white chocolate covered pretzels for the skeleton body. Then, I piped the head and body. To get the eyes and mouth, I dipped a toothpick in black food coloring and poked it into the frosting, moving in a circular motion to create the face. Jaden requested pink bows... heart sprinkles did the trick!

Then, the girls got all decked out in their fary costumes and we headed to Gramma Karen's for some tricks and treats!

Have you ever seen two people more excited about Junior Mints in your life??

Love it.

To finish the night, I made Mike some deviled eggs to take to work for a Halloween carry-in!

Ingredients

1 dozen hard boiled eggs

½ c. mayo plus a little more

1 tsp. ground mustard

1 tsp. white vinegar

¼ tsp. salt

½ tsp. ground black pepper

sliced black olives

food coloring

Slice eggs in half and scoop out yolks. Mash in a small bowl.

Add mayo to the egg yolks and mix until completely blended. Add the ground mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper. Stir well. To make the eyes green, and green food coloring (a couple drops at a time) until you have the desired color.

With a toothpick, draw the red bloodshot lines on the eggs.

Put the egg yolk mixture into a plastic bag, snip the corner off, and fill each egg half.

Place a sliced olive on each egg and fill the center with a dab of mayo.

Enjoy!

Have a Happy Halloween! Be safe trick-or-treating tonight!

Project Life: Week 43

2011-10-30T21:59:00.002-05:00

She still has some of those baby features :o)

Ferdelicious

That's my Stink!

Mama got a new toy!

Dress up for her school Halloween parade!

Concentrating so hard!

Jaden got to carve her very first jack-o-lantern this year!

Mike and I went to a Halloween party with some friends. I was sushi and he went as Waldo!

The girls had fun helping me make Halloween treats to take to daycare!

Costumes & Pumpkins... Halloween is Here!

2011-10-28T08:30:00.000-05:00

Let the celebrations begin! Halloween is on full force in the McClure household!

Yesterday Jaden had her costume parade at preschool. Mom and I went to see her in all her glory!

Yes, she is the same age as the rest of those kids. The pediatrician predicted 5'11"-6' tall :o)

J and her preschool BFF

The boys in her class.

When we got home it was PUMPKIN PAINTING TIME!

The festivities continue tonight when we carve our first ever jack-o-lantern! Then, Mike and I have a costume party to go to on Saturday. The girls get to trick-or-treat at Gramma Karen's house on Sunday and then in Garrett on Monday. It's almost as busy as Christmas time!

Have a happy and safe Halloween weekend!!

Just TRY and squash this preschool mom's dreams!

2011-10-27T06:51:00.000-05:00

Tuesday was Jaden's treat day at preschool. Preschool treat days were something I looked forward to since Jaden was conceived (maybe a slight exaggeration). I couldn't wait to send my girlie to school with a tray full of perfectly baked goodies! You can only imagine my disappointment when I read the handbook and saw that snacks brought in for treat day must be store-bought, pre-packaged, not full of sugar, and from two different food groups.

Huh? Are you serious? This must just be for the non-creative moms, right?

"No, Shannon. This means you!" <-- It really said that!

Well, you can take this dog out of the fight, but you can't take the fight out of this dog! Or something like that.

We got our treats from *technically* three food groups: strawberry applesauce and cheese with cracker sticks. Before you get all judgy on me, let me tell you that most kids come with Goldfish and water. I know that processed cheese probably shouldn't be in the healthy or dairy category, but it is a heck of a lot better than Goldfish and water. It also satisfies my extremely picky child. Please try to refrain from the organic/fresh veggie/whatever comments. Gracias :o)

THEN, we got super cute Halloween bags to put them in! The school also has a no witch/devil/skeleton policy. It's a good thing candy corn was the only design left!

Jaden was thrilled! PLUS, we got a jug of apple juice to take too! Those kids are going to be looking forward to J's treat day every month! Goldfish and water...psshh.

We are going to completely forget about the fact that some of the kids may or may not have gotten into trouble because they blew air into their candy corn bags and popped them. Also, When we picked J up, she told me that they just had water to drink! I stopped at the preschool on the way home and asked them about it. They said that sometimes teachers would rather just do water because kids will make a mess trying to pour from a jug. You better believe I went to the classroom and got my juice back! Yep, I'm THAT mom.

Pumpkins, Monkeys, and Zebras, OH MY!

2011-10-26T06:46:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, the girls and I met Mom and Dad at Schmucker's Farm to pick out the perfect pumpkins! J had seen that other people had pumpkins sitting outside and wondered why we didn't have any.

First, the girls each got to pick out a tiny pumpkin to sit in their rooms.

Taylor was a little grumpy, but cute nonetheless!

J and I loved the little white pumpkins! Seriously, I wanted to buy like 10 or 20 of those cute little things!

Then, they each got to pick out a small pumpkin to paint!

Jaden picked out the perfect pumpkin to paint!

Gramma J helped Taylor find one perfect for her!

Jaden has a new fascination with gourds, so she got to pick out a few to take home.

Jaden picked out some gourds to add to our fall decor at home.

Taylor even found one that she liked!

We also got one big pumpkin to carve into a Jack-O-Lantern! Before we left, Gramma J and Gramps treated the girls to a little snack :o)

It's amazing how giant Smarties can make a girl smile!

It was a fun time! Then, as we were getting ready to leave, Mom remembered that she had some hats for me that I had ordered for the girls! A friend of mine whom I went to high school with made these cute animal hats for them!

You can see the mane on J's zebra hat better in this picture.

I got an ear warmer headband and LOVE it!

I'm almost looking forward to the colder weather so we can wear these! They are so warm and CUTE!

If you would like LeeAnne to make a hat for you, you can email her at
lmwoodward3{at}gmail{dot}com

She is seriously one talented mama! Thanks, LeeAnne!!

Project Life: Week 42

2011-10-25T06:49:00.002-05:00

Short & sweet... Gosh, I'm such a slacker.

When Taylor plays with her babies, she plays with ALL of her babies.

Why wouldn't you sit on the coffee table?? It's not like there is a comfy couch close by...

Jaden is all about "doing crafts" in her room now.

Mike and I had a relaxing night away in Indy on Saturday.

Stay tuned for a huge, awesome giveaway this week!! Also, see the fame of J and T :o)

Vegetable-Cheese Soup

2011-10-21T07:00:00.002-05:00

Ingredients:

1 pkg. (16 oz.) frozen broccoli, cauliflower, carrot blend

2 cans (14 oz. each) chicken broth

¾ lb. (12 oz.) Velveeta cheese, cut into ½ inch cubes

Let me first start by saying I do not like Velveeta. I can not stand processed cheese. For some reason, this recipe just sounded good so I gave it a shot! It was amazingly good! Mike and I killed the entire pot.

First, bring combined vegetables and broth to boil in large, covered saucepan on medium-high heat. Simmer on low heat 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Next, stir in Velveeta; cook 5 minutes or until cheese is completely melted and soup is heated through, stirring frequently.

Yummy creamy, fake-cheesy goodness!

I'm not even joking. Mike doesn't like cooked carrots or cauliflower and I don't like Velveeta. We could probably eat this soup every night, it was that good!

TIP: For a smoother consistency, soup can be puréed in a blender.

I'm giving this recipe some love at the web's best linky parties next week :o)

If you love, love, LOVE this recipe like I do, vote for me at Top Mommy Blogs by clicking this button!

Project Life: Week 41

2011-10-20T07:11:00.000-05:00

Contrary to popular belief, I am still alive. A little thing called LIFE got in the way. I had a sick kid that got well and then sick again. Then, when she got well, the other one got sick and then well, then sick again. On top of that, I've been running all over creation like a chicken with it's head cut off! BUT, trust me when I say that I've got some good stuff coming shortly! Now, who's up for some photos from my week (last week)? cricket... cricket... Whatever.

The girls made some cute Halloween necklaces!

Jaden was home sick one day when she came up to me and said that she saw a bug on the window and didn't know
what kind it was, so was it ok for her to get the dictionary so she could look it up...

This kid has a big, strong love for a certain purple dinosaur!

Jaden helped make a pizza for dinner one night (when she was well!)

hmmm...

Mom, Dad, and I went to Schmucker's Farm to pick out some pumpkins. Jaden had asked me why everyone else
had pumpkins and we didn't... Time to buy some pumpkins!

Have a great rest of the week!

Chop Chop?

2011-10-13T07:00:00.004-05:00

I'm feeling the urge...

Lately I have felt super shaggy. I remember when I had super long hair in high school. I got it chopped off and looked back at pictures of it long. I was so embarrassed and wondered why on earth nobody ever told me to get it cut! It was a mess. I'm there again.

I want it choppy like this:

With this length:

And these bangs...

So, should I do it? Hmmm.....

Project Life: Week 40

2011-10-11T07:00:00.000-05:00

There is a shortage of photos this week. It was another hectic one... Enjoy!

Mike and the girls brought me flowers, "So you'll stay happy!" (Jaden)

Taylor immediately goes for the high heels as soon as we are home every day!

Her foot was actually touching the floor in this one :o)

It was my co-worker's last day. We shared a smooch with our office boyfriend :o)

Here is a video from this week...

Guess Who Just Earned Another Big-Girl Point!?

2011-10-10T08:50:00.000-05:00

Remember when I showed you this picture of Taylor?

A couple of days later, I took this one...

Do you notice anything different? Well, besides the PJs?

Here, have a closer look at this one that I took this morning:

Do you see it? No! Because it is not there!

Taylor Max is officially paci-free!

Taylor had two pacifiers left; one in the diaper bag to take to the babysitters for nap time, and one at home for bedtime. She was only allowed to have them when she was going to sleep. Well, last week Mike went to pick up the girls and was told that Taylor lost her paci. It wasn't a huge deal because we knew, 1) We had another one at home; and 2) It would turn up eventually!

Bedtime came and I suggested to Mike that maybe this was the perfect time to take it away for good. She asked for it and I told her it was lost. We talked about how she lost it at Annie's. She answered, "Paci all gone!" We put her to bed without it. The first night, she cried a little bit. It took her a little longer to fall asleep than it usually does but she did eventually.

The next night, she didn't even ask for it!

We are a paci-free house! Now we just need to ditch the diapers...

Dippity-Do!

2011-10-07T09:17:00.000-05:00

I was so excited to share a new chili recipe but considering that the temps here are in the 80s (?!) still, I'm giving you a couple of awesome new dip recipes! I'm warning you now... I got a new cookbook with TONS of simple recipes in it. Be prepared to see your waistline expand significantly. Just sayin...

This first one was named 2-Minute Philly Dip. Boring. I'm gonna call it

Olive You, Too!

Ingredients

1 bar (8 oz.) cream cheese

¼ c. French dressing

1 small can (2.25 oz.) sliced black olives

Mix until well blended.

Serve with crackers!

---

Cucumber Herb Dip

Ingredients

1 bar (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1 c. finely shredded cucumber, drained well
I just shredded onto a paper towel and let it soak up the juices.

½ c. shredded Swiss cheese

½ tsp. dill weed

½ tsp. lemon juice

¼ tsp. minced fresh garlic (one small clove)

¼ tsp. salt

Mix all ingredients until well blended.

Refrigerate at least one hour before serving.

Serve with crackers or fresh veggies.

Both are super scrumptious! My fav of the two is the cucumber one :o)

In case you are wondering about the try it is served on, I got it through Pampered Chef. It is called the Cool & Serve Square Tray and it has changed my life! You put the green ice packs into the freezer and then place them under the trays to keep your dips cold for 4-6 hours... even outside! Genius, I tell ya! If that isn't enough to make you want to buy one or ten, the flip side of the inserts hold deviled eggs! I'm going to host a Pampered party in November so wait until then... but THEN, buy it! Summer cookouts will never be the same!

Have a great weekend! I'm linking this grub up to a bunch of awesome parties next week!