A LITTLE BIT OF SUNSHINE

SHE SMILES ALL THE TIME. Here is a little grin caught on camera.

IT SNOWED

PRINCESS

I firmly believe that Jewel is a princess. A good one, not a spoiled brat one.

 She loves dressing in girly clothes and playing with her jewelry and make-up. And she loves playing Princess.

For her birthday this year Nana got her the perfect gift (no help from me). And Jewel LOVES it!

Now Jewel can not only feel like a princess, but she can wear her Cinderella Princess outfit (complete with light up high heels) while playing with her Cinderella barbie!

As Jewel would say, "Great job, Nana!"

Happy Birthday!

Yesterday was Jewels birthday. It looked something like this...

A morning celebration at home.

Seeing Uncle Allen off at the airport. (So long to Gramps' plane until Uncle Allen comes back again in December)

A birthday dinner and cake at Gramps and GG's house. Minney Mouse was waiting on the steps when we got there... Jewel loved her. 

Happy 2 Years Jewel!

A Closer Up

Here is a closer up picture of the baby doll carrier.

Straps, and it velcros around the tummy.

And the seat. it velcros onto the shoulder straps and the tummy strap.


*I only wish i had made the matching part the outside of the seat, even with the weird seams*

DIY Baby Doll Bjorn

As it happens, I have more recently been carrying the babe around in the Baby Bjorn so that I can get things done around the house. Things like, cook, clean, clean again and follow Jewel around so we can play in rooms other than the living room. Tonight right before the hubs and Jewel went out to run some errands, she was trying desperately to get our Baby Bjorn on correctly. So, while they were gone, after Rose finished nursing, I whipped up a play baby doll Bjorn carrier for miss Jewel. Let me tell you, she LOVES it! And I am glad! Now she can carry her baby around while I have to carry Rose around.

Oh the fun we will have!

Becoming My Budget's Friend

I am really trying to be better about our food budget and how I use it. We are saving up for a house, and I can easily have food money left over at the end of the month to put towards the house if I just plan a little and spend some time cooking. I would say that I have normally been "money conscious" with my food budget. Much because it was SO easy considering all the really great, inexpensive options we had in our old town. But after moving out here to this one-horse-town.... I pretty much only have one option for grocery shopping. And it is Safeway. That, or sending the Hubs by Walmart,Target, or Costco on the way home from work. I am sure the are other options out there (we do have a Dollar General and a Discount Grocery Store), but I have yet to have time to explore them. All that to say--- Both of those reasons (saving for a house and Safeway, which I think is expensive) encourage and challenge me to get more creative, stretch our foods, and not waste. 

Today I made corn chowder for lunch, as opposed to yesterdays PBJ's. And surprise surprise, we will be having it for dinner, as well. 

I took this recipe from Near to Nothing's blog and revamped it using what we had and made it so that I could eat it. 

I used leftover ham rather than chicken, and 3c. almond milk/ 3c. water. It turned out very tasty, but really runny. So, I added probably 1/4c corn starch and let it simmer for a few more minutes. After it thickened, it was PERFECT!! 

And for dessert tonight, we had a bag of marshmallows that needed to be used up, so I stove-popped some popcorn and made a pan (rather than balls) of marshmallow popcorn. YUM! 

And the best part? I had all the ingredients to both= free meal. Well, kind of. If you ignore the fact that I bought them to begin with... but I was using leftovers completely to make the meal. So, again- Hurrah!

Fridge Busting Dinner

You know when you make a meal that you are just oh-so proud-of? Well, tonight was one of those nights. We didn't have anything extaordinary, just Taco Salad. But for some reason I was very proud of myself for concocting it. As I sat eating, I figured out why. I only bought 1 ingredient towards the salad from my last grocery shopping trip! The rest was from the fridge or pantry! Here is how our salad came together.

Lettuce- from two different types and heads of lettuce, on its last leg. If it wasn't used fast, it would be put in the trash.
Green onion- had some left over from a Chinese Cabbage Salad I had made.
Tomato- had one in the fridge from who knows what, but it probably also needed to be used.
Corn- had a can in the pantry, lovely!
Black beans- soaked and cooked from dry beans.
Taco seasoning- Mixed from scratch, with Jewel's help
Salsa- half a can in the fridge
Tortilla chips- left over from our Mexican take-out the other night... Don't throw those chips away!
AND THEN...
Ground turkey- my on grocery shopping item


Oh the bliss of using up food so that it doesn't go to waste! By budget thanks me.

Last Night: Triumphs and Fallbacks

Last night was quite interesting for us.

 First off--- the triumph--- Rose slept SIX hours!!!! SIIIIIX!!!!! It was amazing! That is the second time within this last week.

But we also had an interesting twist. Jewel woke up about 4 times! She was not cranky, just very VERY awake. The first time was around 1:30. She just started calling and calling for us. Again, not crying or very upset, just awake. So I decided that I was going to go in there and tell her that it wasn't morning time. She took it very well, layed back down and told me night night. So I left. About 5 minutes later she was calling specifically for daddy (he gets her up in the morning.... she no longer even calls my name in the morning). So he went in there, told her the same thing and she went back to sleep. She again called around 3:30 and 4:30. One of those times I went in because she was calling "Mommy! Awake! Jewel Awake! Mommy!!!!" (This is what I have taught her to do when she wakes up from a nap). She was FULLY awake and I had to convince her it was still night time by explaining that it was dark and dark means night night. So she caught on and told me "bye bye. night night. dark.". So I left. But again at 6:30 she started calling, so Robert went in. She was pretty fussy, so he told her that she needed more sleep. And he successfully got her to sleep with him in the rocking chair in her room for about an hour more.

What is causing Jewel's crazy waking up? WHO KNOWS!!! I think she may be teething, getting her 2 year old molars. She also is growing. So I figure either one of those could be the culprit. But- either way... kind of crazy during the night, but pretty funny to look back at later. She was pretty funny with all her callings.

I sure hope tonight is the same where Rose is concerned, but that Jewel actually sleeps through the night.... never really saw that one coming.

Big Sister

Jewel loves being a big sister, and showing Baby Rose all the cool things in life---like her music drum.

One Horse Town

That is what I lovingly refer to my new town as.

 It cracks me up, and scares me just a bit, that I live here now. It seemed much easier to imagine the hubs growing up here, when I wasn't trying to call it my home as well. Now it seems so much harder to imagine an even less expanded area. The hubs was here when the first stop light went up (he was like 16) and when Taco Bell came to town (he was in 5th grade and a horse went through the drive through and made the front page of the paper).

He was telling me the other day that their mall (which is a half hour away in the next town, mind you) consisted of JcPenney and Sears and like 4 other tiny stores. Currently, Walmart is occupying that same building space!!! I have also seen Gap and Old Navy pass through the town, but not stay over the past few years of visiting.... So pretty much my clothing shopping will be at Target, JcPenney, Sears, Dillard's, Foot Fetish and some random other stores. That is, unless I make the trip to Phoenix for a mall or outlets.

I am in slight shock, but I'm sure it will set in eventually and I will learn how to live in a small small town. I do love the peace and quiet, the nice neighbors and family barber, and the fact that the front page of the paper (which only comes out once a week) the other day was a picture of a car smashed by a tree with the title "Car VS Tree". Yes, that was the BIG news that week!

I didn't quite realize the difference in population until I looked it up. The 2010 census showed the population of the town I went to school in (growing up) to be 167,815 and the town I lived in to be 40,971. Whereas the population of the town I now live in is 11, 182. And the population of the "tri city area" is over 95,600. What a difference!

 I always wanted to live in a small town..... now I am. I hope I like it as much as I thought I would!

Human Milk Cow

Nursing, Nursing, Nursing....

I hear it's a full time job. And I'm starting to believe it. With Jewel I went the way of scheduled feedings.... it didn't work out well. About 5 months in she was completely on the bottle. So this time I decided to do some hard core on demand nursing. And hard core it is! I feel like little Rose is just hungry all the time! Such a difference! But I can already tell its working better this time around. Which I am praising God about! 

And everyone says nursing is such a sweet time.... but it comes with its struggles for me. I am a "get it done" kinda person. I love projects and I love completing them! So when I have a baby who is forcing me to sit constantly, not letting me do projects, and eat more than I want, I feel that I'm not getting much accomplished! Butas my wise mother said, the key is adjusting my expectations. I have to find other ways to accomplish things.

 And thus- my accomplishment list looks more like this right now:

* Make sure I'm in the WORD every day... I have no more excuses as I'm stuck here, sitting down. 

* Figure out how to play with Jewel while stuck on the couch

* Meal plan easy meals for when I can cook again

* Find as many freebees online as I can and sign up for them. 

* Learn to crochet and make Christmas gifts

* Read a bunch of FlyLady and understand how her "15 minutes a day" system works and how it will make my house less cluttered

* Organize the house in my head so when the time comes, I will know what to do.

Different than my normal list, but effective none the less in it's own way.

So here's to being a Human Milk Cow! May my sitting be prosperous and may my little Rose get fat! 

Surviving

That about sums up my last few weeks. Rose is now 2 days shy of 3 weeks old. And it has been a tough few weeks. The Lord has been testing me time and time again to trust Him, let go of my expectations, and rely upon His strength and wisdom.

In my mind, any 1 of the 8 major events of my life that have happened over the past two months would have been enough. Living away from the hubs for a month, birthing a child, moving states, moving houses, learning how to juggle two kiddos showing both love and attention, having a trip to the ER in the middle of the night, or the hubs starting a new job. But the Lord must think the hubs and I very strong, because all has happened in a matter of less than two months.

It's been extremely testing for me. I keep on thinking back to 1 Cor 10:13 that says, "No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to man. And God is faithful, He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way of escape so that you can bear it". And even as I've failed time and time again in my thinking and attitude and actions, I keep on being reminded of 2 Cor 12:9, which says: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness"...  And that is my daily, hourly, minute by minute prayer. For the Lord only knows how weak I feel and how weak I truly am. And boy, if His grace isn't sufficient--- I'm in one SAD SAD place. So praise God that it IS sufficient!!!! Praise God that there is hope during this still crazy time. Hope that I might still exemplify Christ in my life and actions, that He will receive honor and that I will survive!

Sunday Mutterings

Today we hopefully finish packing up the whoooooole house. BUT We are taking a break in a few hours to go get some pictures done of the fam.... of the belly, before we split ways on Tuesday. I'm thankful for that. I can't wait to see them after they are done....

Seeing our whole house packed is kind of crazy------oh how I miss my sewing machine!!!

Moving

We are moving. It's INSANE around here. I have less than a week to pack up our house....... God give me mercy and grace.

signed,
frazzled

A New Shirt Duo for Jewel

I have been storing up ideas of clothing to make for Jewel. Since I finally attempted and conquered the shirt sleeve a few days ago, a whole new world has been opened to me. No longer is it only skirts, shorts, leggings, and pants that she gets. But now, shirts have entered the picture!!! Today I made a shirt that a saw on Me Sew Crazy. She has a lovely tutorial, if you are interested in making one of these yourself. I believe I read the tutorial when I first saw it, but being as I work best without instructions to confuse me... I just sat down and got started. I did a few things differently, such as the sleeves. And I love the outcome. 

OH, and yesterday I made a sweater vest upcycled from an old Express sweater vest that my mom gave me to get creative with. It had a hole, hence the flower. And it was the inspiration to make the grey button down shirt. 

What a lovely pair they make!

Play Makeup

Jewel loves to play with makeup. But sometimes her plastic play make-up is not "cool" enough. And she insists on playing with mine. I saw a tutorial a little bit ago on how to make play make-up that is a bit more like grown up make-up. So this past weekend I gave it a try.

I started by going through my make-up stash and nail polish stash. I found containers and colors of both that I didn't want anymore. So I cleaned out the eye shadow pallets with soap and water, and let them dry. Then I filled the now empty slots with the colors of nail polish. Mixing colors to get more options for miss Jewel to play with. And after I had been around the fumes as much as I could (with the window open, of course) I carefully carried them outside to dry. And dry. And dry some more. They were used for the first time today (almost a week later of drying and de-fuming) and are a HUGE hit!!! Even the other girls in the apartment complex had a ball playing make-up.

What a fun, free way to liven up her play stash!!!

What is fuzzy and white with green spots?

Jewel's new sweatshirt, that's what!!! Today I used an old, half cut up sweatshirt of mine to create a "new" sweatshirt for Jewel. It was quite an accomplishment for me, because I have been absolutely terrified of making anything with sleeves... not to mention I had to make a hood too. But, it was a great success! With no pattern, it was left up to my "creativity". =) Jewel was very good at self-entertaining while I was sewing her sweatshirt. I am convinced it's because she knew it was something for her. She was super excited to try it on. So cute! THAT makes sewing even more fun for me!!!! The "ruffles" took the longest, its not that easy to gather them with sweatshirt strips. But they were necessary to cover up some stains and holes. Haha. And even with the added time, they look adorable, if I do say so myself. No one would ever know that they truly HAVE to be there.

Ok- after all my blabbering, here are two pictures. Taken with the handy dandy cell phone, of course.

I HAVE FALLEN IN LOVE....

...with crock pot oat groats!

I made them for the first time the other day. I was trying to find a solution to the fact that neither the hubby nor I were wanting to make a hot breakfast in the morning. Which left him without nourishment and starving by lunch. Well, it is a solution I LOVE!!!!

All you have to do is pull out the old crock pot. Put 6 1/2 cups of water, 1 1/2 cup oat groats (the least processed human-edible form of oats), and a cinnamon stick. Then turn that pot on low for 6-7 hours. In the morning you have delish oats to eat! I added some brown sugar and broken up walnuts in. YUM! They also reheat wonderfully! We don't have a microwave (yes, by choice) and they heat up great on the stove with a little water added.

You really should give it a try.... my life just got so much easier!

[snot] noun.

. Nasal mucus or discharge.


YEP- that is what I found all down my shirt this afternoon. J had been hurt herself and been crying, and I guess decided to leave me a present for a little while later. Unfortunately it was not my favorite present. I much prefer kisses......


The hidden joys of being a mama.

Almond Love

I was pleasantly surprised when my husband came back from the store last week with 3 boxes of Almond milk. Three, I tell you. THREE!!! He proceeded to tell me that they were on sale, 3 for $5. WHAT A STEAL! They are usually $3 per box.  AND, I looked at my coupons and realized that I had a few coupons for $1.50 off of the milk, if buying 3. So, I did my math, and thought, "I need to go back to the store". 3 boxes of Almond milk for $3.50!  That was just about $1.15 a  box! GREAT! So I went to the store and what did I discover? After I bought the milk, I got the same exact catalina coupons reprinted!!!!! A NEVER ENDING SUPPLY OF CHEAP MILK!!!!   Needless to say, last week I spent many days going to Ralphs and getting milk. Haha. We have drank some, and stocked up. I currently have 13 boxes in my pantry. HURRAH! Assuming I got 15 boxes, I spent $17.50 as opposed to $45. Sounds good to me!

I love me some Almond milk.

A Living Room Revamped

I had already recovered the piano bench and an automan. But the room has been totally rearranged. AND over the last few days I have recovered and added padding to my sewing stool. (It looks rediculous, but is SO very nice for my toosh!!! It was the first project, and I'm sure helped in the swiftness of the rest of the projects) I have made three pillows, a large table cloth and two small ones, recovered another pillow-type automan, modge podged some fabric onto some cardboard boxes for cute storage, and recovered the bulletin/picture board.  All of this has been done since Sunday, and I am quite pleased with the outcome. (Excuse me while I pat myself on the back... haha) Now I feel like I can finally rest in the living room. In the next week I plan to tackle the walls and painting. Can't wait to have it all together! AH! YAY! Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I do. 

OH, and the pictures were all taken with my phone. Ha. Sorry about that. 

Old:

Bla with the previously recovered automan.

More bla, but with an adorable blonde

My happy sewing corner of the LR

View to the kitchen

Toy Story anyone?

New:

Prettier

Little table compliments of Take Two Thrift store,  $2.  With glass top. LOVELY

Redone Picture Bulletin Board

Sigh, my corner

One of the pretty little fabric covered boxes

My insanely huge sewing stool cushion

Beautiful table cloth!

View next to the tv piano now

Pretty little red table cloth makes me happy. This  is the exact same table as the other, from a garage sale. $1. 

Happy arrangement on top of the bookshelf

In front of the window. 

Recovered automan

Such happy pillows!

Toy box