pinterest

I have just discovered pinterest and I am in love!!! So many neat crafty ideas, recipes, funny quotes, you name it it's on there. Follow me if you dare.

I have been cooking and crafting a lot of different things lately and I thought I'd share some of them.

Mini Pizzas



The photo is terrible but they taste so good. Roll out grands biscuts, sauce and cheese them, and bake them according to the time and temp on the biscuts. I found an awesome recipe for pizza sauce here. We just like cheese, but you can put what ever you want on top. Easy and delish!


Rolo Cookies

Super yummy & super easy to make. Just make sure you follow the recipe for the cookies, not the directions on the back of the cake mix. Best if served warm but good either way. You can pop them in the microwave for a sec and they will taste like just from the oven.

Sticky Bun Breakfast Ring

I've made this twice and it is sooooooooooooo good! The only change I make is I use the 2 tubes of buttermilk biscuts (per the directions) but I coat both sides of the biscuts in the brown sugar/cinnimon mixture before putting them in the pan. Super easy and delish. I see a trend of not-so-healthy foods here, but sometimes you just have to live!


Weekly Family Planner

I started with this $10 frame from WalMart, scrapbook paper, and stamps for the days. Openings are 4x6 and I thought that would be too small, but it works out well for us.

I stamped the days of the week onto the paper. If I want to change out the paper, I can just stamp on the new ones. That and I couldn't find days of the week stickers and don't have any scrapbook supplies (letters, stickers) so this route was cheaper.

Here is the final product sans Wednesday. Someone accidentally broke the glass trying to get the back off so we had to go back to WalMart to get a 4x6 frame for the glass. Good times. You write on the glass with a dry erase marker and it wipes right off. Turned out good and works well so far.



Seasons Frames

Dollar store frames, scrapbook paper, and however you can do the letters. I got 6 different (ugly) frames at the dollar store and spray painted them black. Cut scrapbook paper to fit. Sidenote: did you know all the seasons have six letters? So you will always have enough frames when it comes time for a new season. Just swap out the paper (and letters, of course).

If you own a Cricut, the cutting out of the letters would be super easy. I do not own a Cricut (oh, how nice one would be =) ) so I printed out the letters from the computer and used a projecta scope I had from college to project the immage on the wall. I traced the letters and cut them out with a scissors. Did I mention how nice a Cricut would be? Adhere the letters to the paper, put the backs on, and voila! All or $7 or $8 (including spray paint).

You could also do this with the letters in your last name.

alex is 5!

Big Al is now 5 years old. I can't believe it, although he's looked like a 5 year old for probably 2 years =)  A few things about Alex right now:

• He is in Learn to Play Hockey (after 6 weeks of Learn to Skate) and LOVES IT! We got him a hockey stick and are supposed to cut it off right to the players nose without skates on but we left his in tact so he can use it for more than one year. He is so tall!
• Alex is off the charts in height and weight and what I assume, head circumference. 48" tall and 63 lbs.
• He is really liking school. He goes 2 full days a week which is different from what Jack did.  He is sure pooped after his school days. He rides the big bus to school with his brother and it's so weird to see the two of them at the end of the driveway!  From the house, they look like twins.
• He is in love with video games. Loves his DS and Wii. We are trying to limit his usage but he'd play them all day if you'd let him.
• He always says I love you. He's the only one of my kids who does that. I guess Ben says is it every once and a while too.
• He gives great hugs and loves to cuddle.
• He's a talker like his mother. Comes by it honest.
• He is my fearless boy, willing to make new friends wherever he goes. Willing to try anything and quite the ladies man. Still lovin' the ladies.

 Since Mom and Dave couldn't make his party, they came up the weekend after and we all went bowling.



Now, I feel like I need to explain some things. First, this was my first attempt and Windows Movie Maker and as you can see I'm still figuring things out. I really should delete this video and try to edit it again but I'm too lazy.

Second, the lanes really were that non-slippery. They weren't sticky per se but you couldn't slide at all. Even watch the people who bowled next to us hopping because they couldn't slide. Just had to put that out there.

Now that I can upload and (somewhat) edit videos, I hope to keep putting more up.

Here are some pictures from his party the weekend before...

 My Grandma played the accordion. All the kids just sat quietly and watched. Even my brother in law said it is a lost art =)

DQ cake, of course.

I know, flash photos are horrible but there is no natural light in this house! I wouldn't have gotten a single usable shot if I didn't have my flash.

baby fight club

alex on ice

Here's just a snipit from Alex's Learn to Skate from a few weeks ago.  When he first started, he couldn't stand up on the ice alone.  Now he can go the full length of the ice.  He even won the race all the kids had on the last day!  I think this is his thing (of course it has to be the most expensive sport there is here).  =)



The very loud gentleman is none other than my dad, of course.

today

Today I didn't take a shower.
Today I strung colored lights on the tree when I wanted white (per Alex's request).
Today I organized the Christmas decorations and found the boys Baby's First Christmas ornaments. I filled in the info on the back (name, weight, length) and had to double check the stats in their baby books. I noticed that I stopped filling in Ben's at three months and almost cried. I feel so so so horrible that I didn't keep up with it. I'm hoping I can find things on here to fill in the pieces. That's the thing about blogs that even if no one reads one word, it's there for you to look back on.

Today I was elbow deep in the toilet fishing out a small cup that Ben flushed down the toilet, but only after he peed in there.
Today I finally got the house decorated for Christmas and it looks fabulous!
Today Ben went to sleep at 8 o'clock without a fight. WIN!

I did take a photo of our pretty much decorated tree. Alex wants to put some of Gram's snowflakes on so we might do that later. I know the photo is a little blurry, but a flash just washes it all out.

We will see what tomorrow brings.

lucky

I just came across this AMAZING singer/songwriter on YouTube and am downloading her album on iTunes immediately. Her name is Danna Richards and she is uber talented. She was/is writing one original song every day for a year (had to take a break so she could work extra shifts to afford to move to LA).  If you haven't already, check her out here and here.

This song isn't available on iTunes yet, but I enjoy it on the YouTube for now.





This song, Where You Are, is avalible here on iTunes.  Perfection.

homemade laundry soap

For quite a while now, we've been using homemade laundry soap.  It has been a HUGE money saver since I was kind of a Tide snob. I would only buy it on sale with a coupon but still, it gets pricey.  When you are doing laundry for a family of five, plus all the farm clothes and Chad's work clothes, it adds up.

Anywho, I came across the Duggar family recipe for laundry soap.  I had actually found it years ago but it wasn't until I saw a how-to video on YouTube that I tried it.  Her recipe halves the duggars, so instead of 5 gallons of concentrated soap, it only makes 2 1/2 gallons.  I never had a place to store five gallons of soap, but half was doable.

I don't know if the people that read this blog are really going to want to try this, but I figure I'll post the recipe just in case!  Now keep in mind, this makes 2 1/2 gallons of concentrated soap so it will yield 5 gallons of actual laundry soap.

(She's kind of rambly in the beginning--skip to 2:37 to see the process)

2 cups water

1/2 bar Fells Naptha soap-grated

1/2 cup Super Washing Soda

1/4 cup Borax
2 gallons and 1/2 gallon hot water

Boil 2 cups water. Add grated Fells Naptha soap slowly. Stir until melted.  Fill bucket with 2 gallons hot water and add the melted soap.  Add the Washing Soda and Borax and mix until dissolved.  Add 1/2 gallon hot water.  Add essential oil (optional).  Cover and let sit for 24 hours.  Fill your laundry soap container half full of the soap and the rest of the way with water.  Shake before each use.

*A couple of tips: Fells Naptha can be found in your grocery store or in WalMart by the fabric softeners. Grate the soap as fine as you can.  Add in slowly to boiling water or it will clump up and take longer to melt.  I have never used any essential oils.  If you use as-is, your laundry won't have a smell which is fine.  Chad just so happened to have a 2 1/2 gallon jug with a lid, so that's where I store my concentrated soap.  I use a 2 Quart Rubbermaid container as my soap jug which works great for measuring half soap, half water to fill.  You could also use an empty Tide container or whatever you use.

I have found washing my clothes in warm water works best with this soap.  I tried using cold, but I don't think the soap works as good.  My clothes were coming out dingy.  I also use OxyClean in every load.

I love it and it has saved us a ton of money on laundry soap.  With me not earning a paycheck, I have to make our money stretch.