Kiwi Crate- crafts delivered to your door

http://www.kiwicrate.com/

This is such a great idea! Instead of going overboard buying the Christmas gifts this year we simplified. The kids got a pair of shoes, books, and one dress-up outfit each.

Then we decided to get the Kiwi Crate - craft projects delivered to your door each month. We have received two months and the kids have loved them! Both boxes come with enough supplies for both kids (an option we added on) and each box has two projects. Last months theme was "Family Game Night' with a board game, they colored and put together (we weren't very good at playing, but had fun creating!) The second was ring toss- That was a BIG winner! This month is "Playful Pets". Create a "pompom" pet (they loved this) then build a playground for it - we haven't done this part yet. So far the projects have needed a lot of parent help, (cutting, gluing or taping things together so that they stay and work) but I love helping and watching them be creative! And they LOVE doing the projects, too!

It's a little expensive upfront, but we used Christmas gift money to help pay for it and love that we don't have to hunt around the house or at a store for all the pieces needed to do the crafts. 

She's Crafty!

http://seevanessacraft.com/2011/02/diy-tutorial-felt-ruffle-wreath-2/

So I stumbled upon a SUPER cute wreath on Pinterest in Sept or so, site crashed, couldn't pin it. No biggie, I thought, I can find it again- WRONG! I still haven't found it, but I found one close. The wreath in the pic above is made with 3 inch circles which makes for a tighter more ruffled look. I wanted the smushed together calla lily look. So I bought all the stuff (way too much) and got started...in Nov. Today I busted out the supplies and knocked out the remaining majority in 30 min- seriously! I used 5 1/2 in circles and think it turned out really cute!

Baked Chile Relleno

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/08/baked-chile-rellenos-with-corn-crema-recipe.html

SO SO GOOD!!!! Chile Rellenos are my go to dish (like enchiladas are for some people) to really test out how good a Mexican food place is, so I'm a sucker for trying out new relleno recipes.

I have made this three time now and mine have never looked as pretty as the one pictured, but they taste SO good!!! I seems to always make more filling than needed, so I heat the filling up as a side dish/ extra. Serve with some cilantro lime rice, black beans and Corona- YUM!!!

Twice as Nice!

http://fey-next2heaven.blogspot.com/2011/10/homemade-pumpkin-coffee-creamer.html

I love all things pumpkin in the fall oh it's just so good, so when I saw this Homemade PUMPKIN 
Coffee Creamer- I had to make it, glad I did it's YUM! 

I made mine with half and half and 2% b/c that's what I had, but so good- in coffee & in pumpkin pie martinis (pictured below)!!- 


http://www.celebrations.com/content/perfect-slice-of-pumpkin-pie-cocktail
So I had all this creamer made (because I made a LOT) I went on the hunt for a fun adult fall/ Halloween beverage. I found several and tried several but this one, Perfect Slice of Pumpkin Pie Cocktail, was the big winner!!!

 I made it with Grand Marnier and instead of cream I used my Homemade Pumpkin Creamer - OH SO GOOD!!!

22 Toddler hairstyles

This blog was life changing for me- ok I've exaggerated, but it's still AWESOME!
NEVER before have I fixed C-baby's hair wet/ damp- never considered it!!! It is the only way I do her hair now!!! The mom who wrote this has some mad hair-styling skills. I will never attempt or accomplish most of what she has done, however, she has some great cute ideas vs. my 4 styles for C (one pony, two side ponies, one half pony, two half ponies). I didn't post a pic because she's not my kid, but here is the link.

http://www.simplysadiejane.com/search?q=hair&x=0&y=0

Raw cookie dough bites

http://www.adashofcompassion.com/2011/01/raw-cookie-dough-bites/

My intentions were to make these as birthday treats for K (our anaphylaxis peanut allergy kid) since buying treats isn't an option and I wanted to do something different. Thankfully for hubs and I the kids didn't like them! WE LOVE these- keep them in the freezer for a perfect little sweet treat (although not so "healthy")

I made these almost exactly to her recipe, but I didn't make mine "raw". I just used rolled oats and I used dark chocolate chips instead of cacao or carob nibs, so here is my slightly varied recipe.

Raw cookie dough bites

Ingredients

2/3 cup raw almonds

2/3 cup raw walnuts

2/3 cup raw rolled oats

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp sea salt

1/4 cup raw agave nectar

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

3 tbsp dark chocolate chips

Instructions

In a food processor, process the almonds, walnuts, oats, cinnamon and salt to a fine meal.

Add the agave nectar and vanilla and process to combine.

Next, add the chocolate chips and pulse just to combine.

Roll the cookie dough into balls (about 1 tbsp each) and place them on a cookie pan lined with parchment paper. Place the pan in the freezer for about an hour to firm up. Store balls in a tightly covered container in the freezer.

Makes 18-20 – about 85 calories per bite

Miracle Laundry Cleaner

http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2011/11/goodbye-to-yellow-armpit-stains.html

I tried this months ago on the hubs under shirts, after trying Oxy Clean and even bleach (EEK!) on the underarms of the shirts and nothing worked, this did!!!

I mixed the cleaner just like suggested (1 part blue dawn to 2 parts Hydrogen peroxide) in a spray bottle. For the hubs shirts:
1- sprayed the cleaner on
2- sprinkled on a little baking soda, and scrub, scrub, scrubbed with a short bristled laundry brush
3- walked away and let it sit (about an hour),
4- laundered as usual
RESULT:  AMAZING- they weren't 100% white, but they were close enough!!!

***WARNING*** this cleaner does have a strong smell and caused me to get a little dry cough in the back of my throat. However, I love it anyway! I keep some made up to spray on stains on anyone's clothes that need it! I have used it on a ton of my kids clothes (light and dark colors) and have not seen any bleaching or fading, but I can't promise that it won't discolor or bleach- you have been forewarned :)

For the kids clothes I just spray on the stain give it a little scrub then wash. I do check the stain before drying to see if it needs another round, but it usually doesn't.

Cleaning Machine- glass cleaner

http://www.crunchybetty.com/battle-of-the-homemade-glass-cleaners

Alvin Corn Homemade Glass Cleaner

• 1/4 c. rubbing alcohol
• 1/4 c. white vinegar
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch
• 2 c. warm water

All I have to say it watch out for the glass doors at our house! They are so clean you'll walk right into them!!! Smells clean and fresh. It cut through the sticky hand-prints and whatever goop two little toddlers leave behind.

First night in a hotel... as a family of four!!!

We dared to be adventurous this Christmas break.... we took a mini-vaca to visit family outside of Austin. We also decided to go down a night early and stay in Fredericksburg, all FOUR of us, in ONE hotel room, result.... it wasn't that bad!

C-baby (2 yrs)  K-Man (3 1/2 yrs)

 New books and hat provided a lot of entertainment- no iPhone, no DVD, not much else required!!!

 Only potty stop needed (yep we travel with a port-a-potty, most brilliant idea ever!!!)

 Fredericksburg had a very pretty little Christmas light area to play around in- kiddos loved it!

 

 The "new" thing lately is T-Rex arms, they are hilarious- this is jammie breakfast at the hotel the morning after everyone slept super well in the hotel together... except momma! We were right next to the stairwell on the 2nd floor (of 3) from 9:45p-12:30a all I heard were the elephants that paraded up and down the stairs and over head, anticipating our light sleepers to wake up - no one did. I got three hours of sleep. :)

 We let the kids watch cartoons while we got ready- this was the host of one of the shows.. could this be Josh Hamilton and Will Ferrell's love child? We think so!

 The cousins!

 K taking C for a ride in the barbie jeep -they had so much fun with the cousins, jumping on the trampoline, playing games and running around. The big girls are so great at playing with the little kids which allows the adults to have conversations!!!

It was such a great trip, the kids did just as well driving the 5 hours home as they did on the way down - the first movie request came an hour from the house! This has released us to be able to travel more now and I couldn't be more excited. Although a second hotel room for myself would be nice...

No-Knead Bread

http://www.frugallivingnw.com/frugal-homemaking/amazing-no-knead-bread-step-by-step-recipe/

Following her directions step-by-step yielded the best bread!!! It is a little time consuming and does require planning ahead (12-18 hours rise time), but the results are so good! 

New Direction

2013 New Direction- I'm going to try to start writing about my "pin" experiences along with any other random musings I feel inspired to write about! :)

"Homemade" Microwave Popcorn

http://www.squawkfox.com/2010/07/27/popcorn-recipe-gourmet-popcorn/

I followed this to the "T" (I did read somewhere that microwaving water first helps, but I haven't found that it makes a difference)- WE GET AWESOME TASTING AND GOOD FOR YOU popcorn everytime! WE no longer have store bought microwave popcorn in our house!!!