Friday, February 29, 2008

today

Happy leap day!
to celebrate I let my kids have lucky charms for breakfast.
now that is something you don't see around here every day!

Thursday, February 28, 2008

thirteen thoughts


1. Sadie in her easter dress. almost done Maggies- it just needs a button. if you have a 3 year old that needs a dress just like this- check my Etsy shop- there is one there- just waiting to be worn. it is a super cute dress. really
2. I had a bit of a job interview today. the family who I might be babysitting for came over so their dad could meet me, and we could talk. I think it went well.
3. and boy is my house clean right now. too bad I know it won't stay this way for long. but I am enjoying it right now!
4. I am still working on my quilt for the quilt along. 43o squares are taking me a real long time to sew. and the pressing. must press each square. I'm getting there. slowly but surely.
5. could spring be here? the snow is melting and dripping, and slushy everywhere. but I don't think this is it. I am no weatherman, but I am betting it will get cold again. I would be happy to be wrong, but, well, this is Canada. and it is only February.
6.I was looking back at my blog, trying to see when the basement removations were first started- it was a year ago. wow. a year. time to get it done.
7. the carpet guy came and measured our basement, and we picked out the carpet. and by we, I mean Cory. but I think he chose well, except he picked one with a pattern on it, and I wanted the no pattern one. nice.
8. so, looking back at my blog was fun. fun to see what was going on in my life, the little things, the big things, my thoughts.
9. I love blogging- for the people I have 'met' through it. for instance- I came across this blog. I think because her name is Kristi, that I clicked on someones link to her blog, but ends up she lives near Washington DC, and had blogged about a ribbon outlet store, that I told my sister about -who also lives in that area, and now my sister went there,and loved it- all because of blogging. love it.
10. so, checking my junk mail, it looks like I am the lucky winner of the 2008 irish lottery! how exciting. must be urgent, since I had 3 emails from them. funny because I never bought a ticket. amazing.
11. Maggie is big on singing the abc song- but when she sings it, it is abpd. so funny. and t u b. she is close though. so close. and so smart! now I know my a b p's next time won't you sing with me.
12. the cookie from the last post is long gone. in case you were wondering. and it was delicious.
13. speaking of cookies, my cookie jar is empty. and we can't have that! I think that needs to be fixed ASAP. I know what I am doing this afternoon! yum.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

a cookie, and soup


hey, Shelley, look what I found- those delicious sugar cookies at my grocery store- and chocolate to boot! so delish. that one is sitting there, taunting me. we will see how long it will last! not too much longer, I am sure!
I had big plans yesterday, to make Baked Potato Soup- and take pictures all along the way- the way Pioneer Woman does- so fun, but it didn't happen. I did make it, and it was so good- so I will just share the recipe with you, and if you so desire, make it, and try it, you just might love it! I know I do!
first I will give you the recipe the way it is- then I will tell you what I do differently- okay, here it is-
2 large baking potatoes
3 tbsp thinly sliced green onion
1/3 c margarine
1/3 c flour
2 tsp fresh dill or 1/4 tsp dried
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
4 c milk
3/4 c cheddar cheese shredded
4 sliced bacon, cooked and crumbled
bake potatoes. cool, scoop out insides. In large saucepan cook onion in margarine until tender. stir in flour, dill, salt and pepper. add milk. cook and stir til thickened and bubbly. Add potato and half of cheese. stir until cheese melts. garnish with cheese, more green onion and bacon. serves 6.
okay- I bake about 6 potatoes- I guess I like it more chunky. I never have dill, so I skip that, I usually try to use powdered milk in baking- gotta use it somehow! I guess that is about all I do differently.
but I also save the skins from the potatoes, put cheese, green onion and bacon on those, broil them, then we have them with sour cream. yum. it is a pretty economical meal- and delicious to boot! love it! and if you go to Red Robins you can get some there too- you could probably make a whole pot at home for what a bowl will cost you there, but it will still taste good, and you won't have to wash the dishes!

Friday, February 22, 2008

sweet sisters


so, for the last couple of weeks, Maggie has been sleeping in Sadie's bed with her.
so sweet.
I am thinking we should just get them a double bed, so they don't have to be so squished. but it is quite cozy.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

It's thursday..

and you know what that means!
13 things.
hmm. lets get started.

1. Maggie just came up to me and said- "it's dripping all over me." let me just share that she has a very runny nose today. nice.

2. did you see the eclipse last night? amazing stuff.

3. babysitting. makes me feel like the queen ant in bugs life when she says- It's our lot in life- its not a lot, but it's our life.
okay, that doesn't sound right. maybe I better watch it again, but babysitting seems to be my lot in life right now. I just got another possibel babysitting job. could turn it down. I haven't said yes, or no yet. still thinking.

4. that book club book I said was good- I take it back. well, it is good, in a disturbing kind of way. so if you like weird, slightly disturbing books, then feel free, but I am no longer recommending it to all. take that as you will.

5. went to a pampered chef party last night and had my first taste of brie. mmm. yummy.

6. I was looking through some pictures on the computer, and thought I would post some of my favorites.
here's sweet Maggie

7. I love this one of Jack. If I made it big, where could I hang it? it is so him.


8. and my sweet Sadie.
9. I really need to get my December kids to pose for their annual photo shoots! new photo's needed.
10. we ran out of primer for the basement. Cory is picking some up today. then we can continue in the basement. oh so close.
11. I went out for dinner with a friend a bit ago, and we both ordered baked potato soup- it was yummy, and ends up, I have a recipe that is almost exactly the same. so good- I just made it last week, but tempted to make it again.
12. I am ready for spring. and the snow to melt and be gone, and the leaves to be back, and the grass to be green. anyone else with me?
13. Ben informed me this morning that he is out of clean boxers- and I said- in my best wonderpets song voice- this is serious. then I heard maggie in the dining room saying- we have to help him- in her best wonderpets song voice. if you haven't seen the show, this will all mean nothing, but if you know what I mean- it was pretty funny.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

seeing red

I thought it might be fun to go around my house and take some pictures of the things that make me happy.

today you get to see the red things!
I have had this berry heart wreath for a while, and one day Cory just hung it up over the stove. I love it there!
and it goes great with my salt and pepper shakers I found at a garage sale. I think I paid $.25 for the two. love them too!

then there are my red work snowmen. they really do make me smile!

and then my red heart. I forgot to flip this picture. it is in my bedroom bathroom. love it!





and just because I need to write it somewhere- my to do list for today-
walk on the treadmill (so glad to have it back!)
clean my bathroom
get Maggie dressed- eventually
make dinner- I really do this everyday, but today we have the missionaries coming, so it better be good! haha
read the book for book club- book club is tomorrow, and I got the book yesterday. it is really interesting though, so it shouldn't be too hard- it is called The Book of Lost Things.
sew some more of the 400+ squares I cut out yesterday.
take pictures of the dress and post it on etsy- if you have a 3 year old girl and need a cute dress- here it is! well- it will be there- hopefully today
alright, I am sure there is a ton more I should do, but I will go get started. treadmill, here I come!

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

a couple of things

so, for the quilt-a -long on crazymomquilts blog, here is my quilt so far. I guess I need to cut out about 400 and something squares for the border. I don't think I have that much fabric left, but we shall see. so far so good.

and then, for the doll clothes exchange over on sugarcityjournal, here is my doll dress. well, it is a slip, and I did make little bloomers to go along with it, but I only had enough lace for 3 sets, and I mailed them out before I took the pictures.

I think they turned out pretty cute.
and, We are now in the process of priming our basement walls. yay!

Friday, February 15, 2008

the day of love

here's maggie, all dolled up in her heart shirt, and her pants- you can't really tell, but down the leg are hearts that have the letters LOVE in them. sweet.





I decided to go with the black forest cake. yum. some of the kids said they didn't want to, but by the time the ones that did want it were eating, they came around.

enough left overs for tonight too! yay.



so, today is not a day of love. 5 kids running amok. not good. they are being sent outside right now, and I think I will lock all the doors. crazy.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

happy Valentines day.







I thought I would share some things I love with you all!










1. this picture of Jed being smooched by two of my sisters. it was a while ago, he was so little! and cute! I love it.






2. a page I did a while ago, with a picture from a long time ago- back when I had only 4 kids. love those little guys. now they are big and sassy, but I still love them!
3. Maggie and Cory. so fun. she is such a happy little thing. love it.










4. still adoring this blog. her quilts are so great. my sister and I talked on the phone for some time, while perusing her quilts, and we oohed, and ahhed, and desperately want to go get some cute fabric, and get quilting! right, Shelley?










5. I picked up this book at the library- The Best Life, after seeing a bit about it on Rachel Rays show, and flipping throught it at Superstore. I love it. I think I might have to go buy one to keep- it has three phases you should go through to lose weight- and it makes so much sense. I love it!


6. I love chocolate, of course. usually on Valentines day I make a heart shaped black forest cake, but right now I am waffling between making that, and doing a chocolate fondue. I bought the mini cream puffs to dip in already. or should I save that for another day? maybe I should then I could enjoy the black forest cake now, then the fondue later, because, it's not every day you can have a heart shaped black forest cake, but I could probably find a good excuse for a fondue on another day. hmm.






7. love these guys. love that jack is so sweet with Maggie- most of the time. all the kids are very good with her. she is definitely the spoiled youngest! haha.





8. I love that our basement is getting done.




9. I love that we might be painting on Saturday.




10. I love that Cory says he wants to do the decorating down there, but that it is all subject to my final approval.


11. I love that we are going to have a whole wall of book shelves- maybe with my globes on top- maybe. if Cory approves!, and a nice big food storage room, and the boys all will have their own rooms, and they all say that they will be clean. I don't really believe that, but I love that they think that anyways.




12. I love that it is supposed to be +3 degrees tomorrow. and it is a day off school, so we can sleep in. then I can send everyone outside to shovel the driveway of all the snow that is coming down today.




13. last but not least, I love my family. the fun and the challenges, the growing and the love. together, forever.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

sugar lips

since valentines day is very soon, and I will use any excuse to make sugar cookies, that is what we did yesterday.
well, Maggie tried to help stir the icing-
but the sugar exploded all over her face.
then being the helpful girl she is, she helped lick the beaters clean- and her face too.




then we iced- using the handy dandy squeezy icing thingies from pampered chef,
and whala,
valentine's day cookies.
but I am pretty sure they will be gone before then.

Monday, February 11, 2008

what a day

so far it has been one of those days, and it isn't yet 9:30.
before school there was a big juice box incident.
one boy says it was taken out of his lunch box, one boy said he got it from the fridge. both won't back down. I told them that one of them was lying and I hope the guilt eats at them all day.
I am a good mom like that.

then I told them they would all be in bed by 7:30. sounds good to me.



so, this is a sign Sadie made for her door. I love it! it says-Pleas and thank you no boys' allowd only dad. with a picture of a boy in the middle. so cute. love the lettering and the coloring. great art, right there! and the manners. so nice.


and this is a fuzzy shot of the magster in all her joy. good times.
well, I hear that my washer has stopped, it needs to be reloaded, so I can conquer the mountian of dirty clothes that is half of my bedroom.

oh, and there is some mud on my walls downstairs. this is a good thing!

Thursday, February 07, 2008

a glimpse of my today

1. no school today and tomorrow. yay for sleeping in. boo for keeping 5 kids happy.

2. made some sugar cookie dough- it is chilling in the fridge, so later we can make some valentines day cookies. yum.

3. Ben cleaned the living room, and cleaned it good- like vacuuming under the couch cushions and everything. nice.

4. got some more butter softening in the mixer, ready to make some chocolate chip cookies later. yum.

5. really need to get sewing on my dresses for this. she is mailing her package. I thought we had 2 more weeks. better get busy.
eta- apparently I have until the 20th, but I should still get moving. I do have one done, just need to serge some seams.

6. also need to get working on my last square for this. then the next step- putting it all together. fun.

7. I almost finished the girls easter dresses- tried Maggies on her, and it was quite a bit too big. ended up I had enough fabric left to cut out a bit smaller version for her. need to get the serger back- I loaned it out, -so I can finish them, and the doll dresses. I see a lot of sewing in my future.

8. Jack is heading out to a sleepover birthday party tonight. fun for him. sleepovers are not my favorite thing. staying up late, getting up too early, and grumpy kids the next day- well, what's not to like? haha.

9. Cory will be busy tonight and tomorrow finishing up the drywall for the taper guy to come on Saturday. yay. I am so excited to have a basement. the end is in sight. far away yet- really, painting, carpet, etc- it will be a while yet, but it is coming.

10. laundry today, of course. most everyday has some laundry involved. washing, drying , folding, putting away. I really need to do it all in one day- and not leave the clean stuff in a basket for a few days, and not piles of folded stuff on my bed, which then goes back into a basket at bed time- well, you get the picture.

11. I think it is quilting night at the church. I like going there and working on stuff. gets me out of the house. I think they are trying to do quilts for the young women who are turning 18. I am not sure how I feel about it. I guess I am just being selfish- want to get some of my own millions of projects done. I guess it would have been nice to have a quilt from my relief society when I turned 18. although I was gone and moving on with life.

12. I am almost done the first sleeve for jack's sweater that has been in progress for just over a year. the sleeve has gone quickly- it is when I read the instructions on how to put it all together that I get nervous. It really makes no sense to me. I think I might have to get some help from someone who has made a big sweater before. I am hoping to be done by Christmas. haha.

13. my kids are all pestering me for their turn on the computer, so I guess I should get off and start working on my big list of stuff!

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

super tuesday


okay, I really have no idea what 'Super Tuesday' is really about, except apparently it is a big deal to the future president of the united States, and it sounded like a fun title.
so, all seven of us headed downtown to the dentist yesterday afternoon, and there was only one cavity amongst us. and it was Ben, and apparently that tooth will fall out soon, so no fillings! yay. I was amazed!
on Saturday I got to go to a crop at a scrapbook store- spent 6+ hours, got about 20 pages done, ate chocolate and pizza and had pop. good times. it would have only been better if I had actually known someone else who was there to chat with, but maybe it was better, I could focus more, with no distractions! I think I would do it again- so if anyone wants to come with me, let me know! we can book a spot!
the weekend is over, the nephews back home, their parents home to chilly weather! tip to Kaylani- don't make corn chowder- your boys think it is "gross"! haha.
oh, and on a very happy, super Tuesday note, the mudder and taper guy is coming on Saturday! no, the drywall is not up yet, but Cory is certain he will have it all up by then! yay!

Saturday, February 02, 2008

crazy boy

do you notice anything a bit "off" in these pictures?


I was sitting next to Jed last week in church and I looked over at him, then had to do a double take. the little turkey cut his eyelashes. at first he denied it. like all my kids do. they never do wrong. or at least never admit to doing wrong. anyways, later on, I found out he cut them with the scissors in his little army knife thingy. nice. eyelashes grow, right?

Friday, February 01, 2008

look what I made!


yep, cinnamon buns.
definitely not my speciality,
but with Pioneer Woman's great pictures and instructions, I would say they are a success. good thing I halved the recipe.
and I had no maple flavoring or coffee around, so the glaze is just vanilla flavored, yet still quite yummy.