Final Photo Shoot B4 Baby

This awesome family goes to my church and they hired me to do a family photo shoot before their oldest daughter leaves for University next week. My kids call their house, "The Chicken House" and they want to live there. The Penrose family has chickens and roosters and dogs and bunnies and tire swings and ALL things fun. It's like Uncle Zuckerman's Farm from Charlotte's Web.

I loved taking their photos. They were laid back, easy to photograph and tons of fun!

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This & That Thur...errr...Friday

My kids' elementary school offer insurance
just in case my child is horribly dismembered while at school.
That's comforting.

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Eva: "Easy-peasy triple cheesy".
Apparently she knows what tastes better
in the battle between lemons and lots of cheese.

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I'm working on the perfect, healthy,
homemade granola bar recipe.
I'll keep you updated.

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After seeing a photo of myself from this week
I came to the sad realization
that I can no longer get away with NOT wearing make up.

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This book.
Holy amazing.

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The girls had a Sneak Peek at
their school yesterday afternoon
where they found their rooms and met their teachers.
It was fan-tastic!
I am so excited for the school year to begin!

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Watch this.
Then get ready to cry your face off.

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Little Artists

In this last week of Summer the constant hum of the television has been driving me crazy.  Today I declared it a NO TV day.  So, the girls have been sitting at the kitchen table with stacks and stacks of blank paper and new boxes of crayons.  Heaven.

Bianca (age 34 months) drew this picture...

"It's a big, purple, Mommy!" she declared.

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Evangeline (age 6) drew this picture...

"It's a girl in Hollywood and she's having her picture taken by the water fountain." she explained.

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Ella (age 8) drew this picture...

She said, "It's a little girl outside with a bunch of buildings in the background and she's walking on the sidewalk."

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I love my little artists.

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Recipe: Salisbury Steak

My kids were very perplexed by the word "steak" in the name, but everyone, including my semi-picky eater Evangeline, ate it up and then some. Rave reviews!

I made the recipe by combining two or three different online recipes together.  It was divine.  This was no yucky frozen dinner style, but also not too fancy-shmancy...it was perfectly in the middle.

Obviously if you hate mushrooms and/or onions you can omit them, although my kids hate onions and they didn't notice them here, despite the fact that they were sliced and not finely diced.

EMILIE'S SALISBURY STEAK

Makes 6

Ingredients:

1 large onion cut into thin slices

8 oz. sliced mushrooms

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef

1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon ketchup

2 tsp. A-1 sauce

2 tsp. dry mustard

1 cube beef bouillon, crumbled

1 clove garlic finely minced

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 Tb. butter

1 Tb. olive oil

1 pkg dried French onion soup mix

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 Tb. A-1 sauce

1 tsp. seasoning sauce (Kitchen Bouquet, optional)

3/4 cup water

Directions:

1. Sauté onions and mushrooms in large pan until browned. Set aside.

2. Combine the ground beef, breadcrumbs, ketchup, dry mustard, A-1 sauce, bouillon and some salt and pepper. Knead until all combined. Form 6 oval patties about 1/2" thick (around 4 oz each).

3. Fry the patties in a skillet with the butter and oil over medium-high heat on both sides until well browned.

4. In a small bowl blend water, mushroom soup, dried soup mix, 1 T. A-1 sauce, and seasoning sauce. Add onions. Pour over steaks in pan. Cover and simmer on low for 10 minutes or until steaks are done in the middle.

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An Aqua Traincar?!

This morning the kids and I spent a fun few hours at our friend's house. They live about 40 minutes South of us in an area we don't often visit.  There was bracelet making, trampoline jumping and delicious lunch.  We headed home tired and happy. 

On the way home we passed a small train station and THIS was sitting on the tracks.  An aqua train car. An AQUA train car!

I mean, I think I squealed my mini-van tires turning into the gravel lot next to it.  Bianca and I headed straight for it and an impromptu photo shoot (as if I don't have enough photos of her).

Hello. Cutest. Ever.

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Review: Plastic Bracelet Looms | Cra-Z-Loom vs. Rainbow Loom

Remember yesterday's post about our bracelet-making adventures?  I have received a lot of questions about the products we use, etc.  So here's my full review.

After the free demo I purchased the CRA-Z-ART loom from our local Toys R Us (pictured above). It's awful. It's hard to navigate. Hard to hook the bands over the posts because they have such a prominent hook on the tops. And the instructions are dreadful. The first, and easiest, bracelet option has full instructions and is easy to follow. The others have instructions that are vague, misleading and, in some cases, completely unfinished. They just stop...mid-bracelet.

I returned the first loom and went out and bought the original RAINBOW LOOM (found on Amazon here: Twistz Bandz Rainbow Loom). It has instructions for just the most basic bracelet, however, it is far superior. The posts are much easier to get the elastics on and off. The elastic are much easier to see since the loom is clear (and not hot pink/dark purple like the Cra-Z-Loom) in color. It also has a removable center section so you have many more options for designs.

I found the far best way to get patterns for different bracelets is via YouTube by searching "Rainbow Loom Tutorial". Obviously not all tutorials are created equal, so you may have to weed through a few duds to find a quality video.

This product is really best for 8 to 9+ if you want kids to be able to do this without adult assistance. My 6 year old has excellent fine motor skills, but she still needed my help. But my 8.5 year old seems to be the perfect age to be able to learn the basic stitch on her own and then build on that skill.

After replacing our old loom with the Rainbow Loom and watching YouTube we are happily making bracelets.

They sell tiny little tackle-box sort of organizers for your elastics, but I found a much better solution at our local Joann Fabrics.  This organizer is large, but also holds the loom, hook and instruction manual.  It's better for us to keep everything in one place. Otherwise we would lose that hook in a hot second!

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Awesome Saturday!

This past weekend we had the best Saturday ever.

We started out going to our local Toys R Us where they were holding a FREE make and take of Rainbow Loom Bracelets, which are currently sweeping our area.  Are they taking over in your area too?

 

This is the loom where you put the elastics and then weave them with a funny crochet hook thingy.  It was actually pretty fun.

 

Sucker that I am, we DID buy a loom so we could make more at home.  It was only $15 and I figure it can get us through the last week of Summer.  And at least it's a craft and not endless TV watching, right?

Next we headed to the local library.  We participated in the Summer Reading Program and we went to turn in our filled out reading charts.  I had no idea what the prizes were.  Well, the librarian had the girls stand in front of her desk and then pushed a button on her computer.  The Olympic theme started to play. She said, "Oh! Do you know what song that is?  It's the song of champions!"  She then placed a medal around Ella's neck and said, "You are a Silver Medalist in Summer reading!"  Then she placed a medal around Evangeline's neck and said, "You are a Silver Medalist in Summer reading!"  At this point Bianca was jumping up and down in place and clapping and squealing uncontrollably.  She knew what was coming.  The librarian placed a medal around Bianca's neck and said, "You are a Silver Medalist in Summer reading!"

My kids were ecstatic.  Beaming!  They were so proud.  And let me add, these were no crappy plastic medals. They are legit metal-based medals with imprinting.

This was SO much better than last year's trinket box filled with high bouncy balls and fake vampire teeth.  They wore their medals all day and Ella tried to wear hers to church on Sunday.

We ran some grocery errands and then came home and made bracelets galore!

 

This rainbow bracelet almost took my life and sanity.  I made it 5 times before I got it right. Turns out the directions were missing a few steps at the end.  Lame.

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Life Lesson #14: Baked Potatoes 101

To my kids,

I know. It seems like a no-brainer, but it isn't. I can't tell you how many awful, over-cooked, under-cooked, shriveled baked potatoes you will have in your life.  it will be a lot.

Here's the 101 on making a perfect baked potato.

First, let's talk potatoes.   

Can you eat potatoes with eyes?  Sure, just cut them out before cooking.  

Can you eat potatoes with brown/black spots? Sure, just cut them out before cooking.   

Can you eat potatoes with green under the skin? NO! Solanine can occur when potatoes are exposed to too much light.  The green color just under the skin strongly suggests that toxic build-up may have occurred.  Sometimes people just cut it away, but you're risking a lot of pretty un-fun health issues like headache, nausea, fatigue and GI issues.  No bueno.

1 large russet potato (If it looks like Mr. Potato Head, you've got the right one.)
Canola oil (or Olive oil or Veg oil) to coat
Kosher salt

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees and position racks in middle of ovens. 

2. Wash potato (or potatoes) thoroughly with a stiff brush and cold running water. Dry, then using a standard fork poke 8 to 12 deep holes all over the spud so that moisture can escape during cooking. 

3. Place in a bowl and coat lightly with oil. Sprinkle with kosher salt and place potato directly on rack in middle of oven. Place a baking sheet on the lower rack to catch any drippings.
4. Bake 1 hour or until skin feels crisp but flesh beneath feels soft.   When you slide a sharp knife into the thickest part it should glide easily, with no resistance.

Serve by creating a dotted line from end to end with your fork, then crack the spud open by squeezing the ends towards one another. It will pop right open. But watch out, there will be some steam.

NOTE: If you're cooking more than 4 potatoes, you'll need to extend the cooking time by up to 15 minutes.  If you have smaller potatoes, start checking them for doneness at 45 minutes.

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This & That Thursday

I just realized there are two

Bianca videos I never shared here.

Please to enjoy...

If you have trouble viewing click here.

If you have trouble viewing click here.

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We dropped our van off to the shop today.

Every. Single. Time. I wanted to start it

I had to jump the car.

I am excited to get it fixed,

but please let it only cost $12....

I think we could swing $12.

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I got the bestest church calling ever.

Relief Society Publicity Specialist.

I get to make posters, handouts, and run our RS blog.

Welcome to my wheel house.

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School starts in two weeks.

It can not come fast enough.

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I was going to try and potty train Bianca this week,

but then I realized it would be SO much easier for

everyone if I waited until the other girls are in school.

Duh.

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Ella has decided she's too old for

Disney Channel, coloring with crayons and animated films.

Ummm...you've still got 5 years until you're a teen.

Slow down there.

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Bianca has turned into a hellish demon

over the last three days.

I really hope it's molars or something

and not a shift in general disposition

over to the dark side.

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Antoinette Tuff is freaking amazing!

My new hero!

Did you hear that 911 tape?!!

Matt and I listened to it in rapt amazement.

And cheered (and I cried) at the end.

"I love you and I'm proud of you, it's a good thing you are giving up."

THIS is Christ-like love personified.

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Back 2 School 2013: Clothes Shopping

I realized I wanted to more fully document our Back 2 School prep this year. So I took my camera as we shopped for school clothes.  I am SO grateful to say that $ from my Etsy shop sales completely outfitted Ella and Evangeline for the coming school year. We have been very blessed!

We mostly shopped at H&M, Old Navy and The Children's Place this year.  My kids love this part, it's ALL about the fashion.

After our shopping was completed I came home and hung a bar in their room (since it doesn't have a closet) and hung their hanging clothes up. Then I went through every, crazy, drawer of their shared dresser. Oh my. It was disastrous! I weeded out all of the torn, overly faded and out grown clothes, set some good things aside that were Ella's for Eva to wear in the future, made a bag for Goodwill, and reorganized every drawer.  I need to re-label their drawers in the (vain) hope that they will keep it more organized during the school year. Delusional, I know.

The girls know they are NOT allowed wear their new clothes until school starts, but they still ask me every day!

And because she can't be left out of the action, Bianca tried on a crazy sparkle hat, thumbed through the t-shirts and tried on shoes 5 sizes too large for her feet.

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