Meal Plan Week #2

Well, it's that day again, time to put together our meal plan for the week, pick up the few things we need until shopping day and organize my shopping list. Since I posted a couple weeks ago about my meal planning I thought I would update with this weeks entrees for week night meal ideas.

This week we will be having:
 Baked Mac & Cheese with a panko crust and some broccoli
Loaded Nachos. (not very healthy but you can add any ingredients you want to healthify it)
Corn Chowder and breadsticks. (Pillsbury now sells breadsticks in a can.)
Homemade Pizza/Calzone
Homemade Chicken Finger with a Panko crust, peas and fries
Burgers on the George Foreman and Oven fries
Panini's with leftover chowder
Chicken Caesar salad with homemade dressing (Here is the pin. This stuff is amazing!)

Some staples your will need for this plan is your standard chicken, hamburger, oil and sauce but don't forget to pick up some pizza crusts (tip: spaghetti sauce works just as good as pizza sauce and doesn't go bad as fast.) You will also need some block cheese, panko and maybe some fancy bread for the paninis. You know, if your feeling especially adventurous.

Well, off I go to check out some sales. Good luck and happy shopping.

Snack Mix For All

Warning: My daughter has no known food allergies so I have included peanuts in the recipe. If your child is allergic to nuts please don't attempt to feed some to them.

Earlier I posted my snack pack ideas here and mentioned my snack mix. This stuff is magic to kids. Have you even been ready do give your little one a snack and they can't decide what they want or won't eat what you gave them. Fret no more fellow mommies! Seriously, it's as simple as throwing all kinds of  similar ingredients into a container and going on about your day.

This bad boy is filled with pretzles, goldfish, raisins, honey roasted peanuts and cheerios. Really anything can be used in these. I have mine in an air tight storage container but mason jars work great too. You can always add things like dried fruit, different nuts, seeds and even those yogurt dipped snacks.

Be creative and if your kids are old enough this could be a great activity for them to do during the week. One less thing you have to do and we all know... there is too much to do.

Good Luck!

Lazy Sundays

 

Some times Sundays are the tiny vacation we all need. After all the moving and cleaning, packing and unpacking day after day we needed a break.
We spent Valentines Day cleaning out the old house and getting it ready to be shown and followed that up with a yummy Roasted Chicken dinner and Tequila shots. As I'm sure you can imagine we had high hopes of putting away the last few pieces of the old house today, however, that doesn't appear to be the case. I'm okay with that. We worked very hard to get here and we have busted our butts making this place look like our home and not the 70's nightmare of wood paneling and textured wallpaper. (I mean we are talking rose colored, matted, shag carpet.) We deserve to sit on our butts and give it a rest.

I feel like there is something cathartic about doing nothing. As Americans we live by our schedules, our phones, our timed coffee makers and constant reminders about this bill and that event and this chore. We all need at least one day we can throw on our giant fuzzy sweaters, grab your warm blanket and have a snuggle. This gives me inspiration. Why not have a vacation day?

Perhaps paint my nails, have a dance party with my daughter, make a fun dinner, something elaborate and yummy. Sadly, it is far too cold to go out today and my husband and I are supposed to go out for dinner but we will see if we get that far today. No worries we have tomorrow night too. Oh we could do a dinner and a movie and maybe introduce a movie from when my husband and I were kids to our little one. Ugh wait, that means I have to clean the kitchen and I really don't think that is going to happen. (I didn't do the dishes for one day and it looks like I hosted a mess hall dinner.) So I guess I will have to wait for my husband to get it together. Ah yes, all the pressing matters of the day. To paint my toenails or to make dinner?

These are wonderful days and ones that I am thankful for. The cold wind is blowing outside making the fine snow blow up and down the road. We are curled up nice and warm on the couch. I have my coffee and my laptop while my daughter dances around the living room to a song, I assume, only she can hear. This is bliss and days like today can really put in connection with your own family and give a real feeling of stability, you feel grounded and it is a wonderful feeling.

Feel free to let us know how you like to spend your Sundays but commenting and sharing away. Thank you for reading as always!

Not Your Average Mom

The more I build my blog the more it becomes apparent that I should find a style that suits me and portrays the type of woman, wife, and mom that I am. And I can assure you I'm not you average mom.

The basics, I mean, sure, I make meal plans and grocery shop. I'm a stay at home mom that nannies on the side. I'm a home owner and an Aunt. But what people don't see in the endless stream of Facebook posts and mommy blogs is that we don't all start out as Mom's, wives etc. I like rock music and horror movies. I have gauged ears and tattoos. Don't bother asking the internet for they will tell you that I am teaching my daughter all the wrong things by having a tongue piercing or letting her stand on the couch.

To that I say, shut it! No one asked your opinion. I say this half kidding because when I was pregnant I joined a very popular mommy thread for new moms. While the information I could get was very relevant and eased a lot of fears I had about starting this new type of life there were so many women looking for real help and real advise that were torn down by other moms. By people who, for all intents and purposes, were supposed to be there to support each other in a very challenging and scary time in life. And that just sucks.

That all being said I am going to celebrate being different, being an alternative mom. I believe instead of focusing on how we can be more like other mothers we should focus more on being ourselves, something so easy to lose when you have children. Are we withholding vaccines because we believe they cause Autism or are we doing it because it is the new fad these days? What do you really think? Yet, no matter what you choose people on either side will give you a hard time with it.

I received almost hate mail when I mentioned in a post that I was thinking of getting my daughters ears pierced at three months. I can guarantee someone you know had their ears pierced as a baby and they didn't explode into flames or spend their whole lives believing they were mutilated as a baby. Still, this is how we think. Am I doing things right? What will the other moms think? How will society view me if I make this decision? These are things that we shouldn't care about. Our children are ours and no one else's, (assuming your children are safe and not being intentionally placed in danger.) So if you think earrings are a good idea then do it and stand up for yourself. If you want to dye your hair blue and wear shit kicker boots everyday and no one can stop you. Certainly if you believe that a drug of vaccine is unsafe then don't give it to your child. But please, as responsible adults, make sure your getting real information because your FB news feed is not real news.... please remember this. (Always do your research first!)

I say we take back a Mom's real power. We are responsible for our children and we alone get to make these decisions. If my four year old wants a mohawk then so be it and if my daughter wants to wear a hoodie with a skull on it then I am not going to teach her that self expression is unacceptable.

Besides, what is the point of having children if we turn them all into little adults. I guess we might as well just clone people. Have some fun.

If any of you have advise (positive) for other readers about parenting, kids or just being a Mom these days please post it in the comments. Any questions you have for me go ahead and post them or send me a message and I will get back to you as soon as I get it.

Thank you all for reading my blog and I will have much more to come as this parenting thing is just starting. (My husband mentioned having another baby soon YIKES!)

We Made It! Mostly.

Well, I have been away for just over a month now but I proudly return with wonderful news. My husband and I bought our first home! I report that we are happily terrified home owners. Mostly because it's all on us now, although, we weren't really the, 'call the landlord for everything' types but still it's a lot especially for a couple kids. (I know we are definitely not kids anymore but we forget that sometimes.)

A little background on our little slice of freaky luck. We looked all over the state looking for a place that was close enough to my husbands work and populated enough that finding nanny work would be easier. our budget was very tight but we had a little cash for renovations and restorations on the new place so a fixer upper was perfect. We saw the most bizarre looking homes. An old camp cottage that had a couple additions but they were never insulated so they were unlivable rooms and the only access to the water heater and the basement was a creepy floor panel crammed awkwardly in a corner that was only big enough for a smaller person to drop straight down. Then the old place by the hospital with the exposed hot water pipes along the walls, built in everything and strangely disjointed rooms. Oh not to mention the only bathroom was upstairs by the bedrooms and the stairs were cut in too close to the slope of the roof so you have to sort of duck under the roof at the top of the stairs. Yeah, I saw that going bad fast.

So after all these crazy things we found a two bathroom three bedroom mobile home that was set over a basement. Boom, I'm in, the price was right and it was in the same town we live in and we can make it our own. We discover the front wall is rotted so we were forced to walk away.
About two weeks later I get an email from the realtor selling the mobile home saying the bank is willing to fix the front wall, (new windows new dry wall, better flashing on the front porch and resided the area.) We are in. For those of you who have ever bought a home I'm sure you can imagine what the next month was like for us awaiting approval and sending in last minute paperwork etc. Nightmare! We got it and we moved in and started tearing the place apart. It was AWESOME! We painted everything, got brand new floors, which we are still in the process of putting it in.

It is a wonder my husband and I have not had strokes over the whole process. I swear my house was built by college students. Most of the trim isn't nailed down properly, the new wall is currently leaking again, the previous owners decided to try to heat the uninsulated basement by cutting large holes in the air duct so the heat is just dumping into the basement. This goes on and on.

Yet through all that I have to find a reason to smile. My husband and I bought our first leaky, drafty house together. We have an adult refrigerator and oven now, my daughter is comfortable here and is sleeping through the night again with very little bedtime fuss lately. Not to mention her hair is just barely long enough to do something with and that is very exciting.

 These are the new floors. Not bad for 99 cents a square foot. All of the renovations, and there will be a before and after post, cost us a little over two thousand dollars. As long as you have a plan in mind and the patience to bargain shop you can reno even a disgusting old trailer into a beautiful modern home.

She clearly has no problem with the move. She loves the sound of her boots on the hard floors. 

Hooray, no more gross carpet!

Well, now that we are back into somewhat of a normal routine I can come back and snuggle with the blog again I don't know how many of my little projects I will get done with so much needing to be done on the house but I did get a dremel tool for Christmas from my step father and it is definitely bad ass little machine. I'm pushing for a kraig jig for Mothers Day but we will see. Now I'm off to make a broquet for my husband for Valentines day. 

Another day. 

Another chance.

Another smile.

Today's Win

 I awoke this morning, late for work, to discover I now have the day off. This is wonderful because I spent the weekend with my family and for the love of god I need a rest. Green Tea a hot shower and ghost TV and, of course, napping. I have been fiddling around on my computer, looking for a free or cheap photo editor. Everything I found was way too... cartoony or had so many buttons and options for things I would never use that I couldn't figure out how to use it. Then.. I found it!

DARKROOM! really cheap for some reason so I download it click start and I am on the move again. This is the program I used when I worked at the Portrait studio and I trained the new staff on how to use it and make it efficient. So off I go. I find some old photos that a photographer friend of mine had done of my daughter and added my little yweak to them. Yup I haven't lost it.

This is my rugrat having her cake at her first birthday.

So granted I don't have a great camera but where my camera lacks I can make up with proper editing equipment. So off I go to kill some time waiting for the house closing and practice with my own little munchkin. Very exciting, wish me luck!

Handmade Gifts For Boys

So I was given an impromptu vacation. This happens sometimes with child care, the family takes a vacation and you are workless until they return. Fortunately I still get paid when they take time off so I still get a little money. Fortunately, this gives me some time to finish up some gift wrapping and getting a few of my little DIY gifts complete so I am excited about that. Not to mention all this one on one time I get with the little one, (she spends most of her time playing with the boy I nanny and rarely has time for mommy.)

Now that my scarves are done, (check my last post for more on that,) I have time to get the boys fort kit done. These clever little things go for anywhere between 30 and 40 bucks. I'm not terribly certain its worth all that so on Black Friday we went out and got just the pieces. I have two nephews so everything is doubled.

I grabbed:

• Two flat sheets. (I got twin sized just because of limited space and I know their families will have old sheets that can also be used. 
• Clothes Pins (You can get a ton for very little money)
• A mini child's flashlight
• Last but not least a book to curl up with in there. (The boys are pretty big on books so we play that up where we can.)

All you really need to do is cut a piece of burlap about double the width and length of the bags the sheets came in. You just want to make sure everything is going to fit inside. Fold over the long sheet of burlap and sew the sides. Turn it right side out and there is your bag. I took another strip of burlap very narrow and pretty long. Putting slits in the top of the burlap bag to weave your 'ribbon' through as a sort of tie.

These are the pieces all pulled together.

This is the final product. I'm going to embelish the front with some paint so it says Fort Kit and tie the top again to make it look a little more polished. I will update as it becomes completed.
I hope the boys like love them and have lots of fun.

If you liked these projects follow me for more great DIY on a budget.
See you soon.

DIY's This Summer

One sick baby, two sick babies.... Thank the universe we did not decide to have a second sooner because I am already elbow deep in snot and poop.

We are enjoying our first year as a family and trying to get in all those story book times together such as apple picking, pumpkin picking and of course the local favorite, one of the many fairs that hit the area in the fall. This year we got an extra treat! The stomach flu... let me tell you how terrifying that is with kids all over the country getting sick and getting hospitalized. Fortunately, it hit us one at a time starting with my husband. He was down and out for two days, the poor guy, but once a year he always gets very sick then bounces right back. Then our daughter got it. No puking, (that's my girl) but definitely uncomfortable and lots of dirty diapers.

This was followed up by a seasonal cold and lord there are boogers... EVERYWHERE. Granted this is gross but it doesn't bother me so much. It bothers me more that my poor little one is feeling so crummy and anything I can do to help ie. aspirator and tissues just pisses her off more.

During the day I watch a little boy around my daughters age and they are the best of friends. In fact, they share binkies... This morning I started sneezing etc. I am so glad my husband is taking his vacation next week because one sick baby is enough for me, two, however, as well as being sick myself, is just far too much. So tonight it's a hot bath and fuzzy pj's, some Chicken noodle soup and an early bed time. I'm already exhausted.

This leads up to the fact that I have little time for projects left not to mention that I am currently looking for a house and we are slightly broke so it occupies a lot of my time. However, as promised, I have other little fun things I have done this summer. Such as,

Mission Impossible for Toddlers!

My niece and nephew are three and five years old and smart! Well, I like to have activities planned for them while they are here. A couple times in the summer my mom has Grandkids weekend. We go to grammy and papa's house and go camping.
 All this required was some bright red yarn. (I know it's a little difficult to see but it's there.) and you zig zag from tree to tree, high and low and cris-crossing every which way.

In this case I was not able to gather all the materials so I didn't use the bells but when tied to the yarn the bells will jingle when the "lazer" it touched letting them know they lost. On the other side of the obstacle is a small path leading them right back to the starting line. Not everyone has this kind of land especially when you live in the city so this can easily be done indoors. A long hallway can do the trick with some scotch tape (don't ruin your paint job.) and the yarn and bells if you want.

You can do this with older kids and toddlers alike. I am thinking we can do the spy theme when my daughter is a little older and set this up at her birthday party. The kids can win little prizes is they get through. (You can use the same toys as you have in the goody bags for the kids so that everyone gets a fun toy.

I did one other project for them with the help of my brother.
Sone day I'm driving down the road and I see the frame for a papasan chair on the side of the road. (I am a big fan of free or cheap.) So my husband picks it up for me and it is brought to my parents where the base was promptly shattered. Sad but hopeful I assure them I am going to make a swing out of it so please don't burn it. My mother rolled her eyes so hard she may have sprained one but the chair went unburned. Finally, the last big camping trip I have got to do something with it or it goes in the bon fire. Got some big fat rope, the kids and went hunting for a tree.

With the help of my monkey brother we got it hung and the kids loved it. It was like a carnival ride and strong enough to hold my brother and I.

Assuming the wood holds out through the winter I will be using a very large cushion I made to cover it but an old comforter will do just fine. I don't have a photo yet of the kids up high but that swing hums and the rungs of the chair serve as handles and foot wedges without the threat of tiny busted fingers. They had such a blast that they wanted to keep it up after the rain started. Until, of course, there was talk of s'mores and fire. 

Sadly, the camp is now closed but we certainly enjoyed it while it lasted.

Upcoming Projects

Ah Mondays, that oh so wonderful day that reminds us just how short the weekend is. Mondays are also my two job day and both of my morning kids are teething. Hooray! They also have discovered that they prefer solid food so I share every meal I make. All these things are manageable but my daughter has suddenly decided she doesn't like her crib anymore so when we try to put her to bed she screams bloody murder. I am hoping this is simply a phase but I will tell you, we are exhausted.

The joys of parenthood. This all being said we did have a very fun weekend at the Fair on Saturday. Daddy and the boys heard the call of the man and had to show off the tractor pull to his little girl. The sound of engines is the male mating call I think as every time you heard one in the distance the boys noses went up in the air trying to locate that particular truck like dogs trying to catch a scent. Quite comical actually.

 Me, personally, I am a bigger fan of the rides. I was a bit of a thrill seeker before  children so when my husband and best friend declined climbing into one of these rides by informing me, "These were built three days ago, I'm not climbing into that death trap." This made me think a second but decided.. Well that's part of the thrill right? All in all it was a lovely trip to the fair. Over priced food and all.

This week I have a few new projects to get working on. One of which is to look for a local Realtor. That's right! We were prequalified for a loan and we are ready to start house shopping! I am so excited I'm ready to start packing but I am aware of the home buying struggle so I am attempting to keep my radical impulses to a minimum. That I believe will be mostly e-mails and phone calls so I have room for a few more projects on my agenda. 

I found a perfect recipe for french toast sticks that are freezable so I'll be making some more of those for a quick breakfast. 

My landscaper friend gave me some tips on my little indoor garden and offered to help me build the greenhouse by the porch so looks like I'm going to have to be a little crafty. We have one of those screen tents and we never use it so I was thinking I can cut out the mesh and replace it with clear plastic sheeting. Maybe remove some squares in the roof and reinforce the plastic to prevent collapse in the event of heavy snow or rain. (Don't really need to shock the warmer plants by snow leaking in.

I have a bunch of pallets and boxes that are begging to have something built out of them. Sadly, I don't have any power tools at home so I have to wait for my husband to get home, at which point it's time for dinner and to give our daughter a bath and boom... It's our bed time. So who knows when I will get to that.

I also a few pieces of furniture that I will be sanding and re-staining, (super excited to turn an old hand me down armoir we have had for year into something modern and beautiful.) So I think this will be one of my first to begin. This project will be something I can do when the babies are sleeping. Photos and results to come.

I feel the more active I am, the more productive I am and the happier life feels.   

Life Is Full Of Firsts

First kiss, first job, first apartment, first house.

Me, I'm in the middle of a bunch of firsts, My husband and I got married about a month ago, our daughter just took her first steps and we are all embarking on the nightmare that house buying can be when you have crappy credit. I am insanely grateful for the life my husband and I have together and our beautiful little girl Neviah Rae. Whom, I might add, has just started taking her first steps, terrifying and very exciting.

Forgive the bragging but I happen to be super excited my little rugrat is growing up. Being a stay at home mom is harder than it looks especially when there are a couple other children in the mix. Now, my husband and I are talking about having another next year. Not sure how I am going to manage that but I will figure it out, I always do.

Sometimes, I think we forget to simply look back into our own lives to see what truly makes us happy. Sorry to get mushy on you but I'm kind of on a cloud of happiness and caffeine.
I watch my husband play with our daughter and get her laughing and it melts my heart every time. When that happens our cell phone bill or data usage is not so pressing. Suddenly my credit score means nothing at the moment. Some times I use yoga or gardening to sort of center myself but nothing works better than genuinely appreciating what I have instead of wishing my way into the future.

And now that I have successfully talked my family up like crazy, my daughter is getting into everything and my husband is calling for the 5th time. Time to put on mommy hat today. Perhaps later we will put the chef's hat back on.