Mad

I am so mad right now! I walked into our laundry room that we share with our neighbors to do laundry. I open our cupboard and my fabric softener is gone! Like the whole bottle! It was halffull last time I used it, so there is no way I threw it out. I called Russ and he said he hadn't moved and suggested talking to the neighbors. Right! Timid old me?! He said he would go get me some more on his lunch. Love you honey!

I decide right after that to go check our mail. I walk out into a entryway and what do I see? A cigarette butt, still smoking! I about had a conniption then and there. They are NOT supposed to be smoking in doors, it says so in our contract! I should have known they were doing this, because every time I went into the entryway it smelled like smoke. But I was trying to think the best of people and thought that maybe they left the door open when they smoked. NOPE!

Last night the neighbor had a whole bunch of people over. I think they stayed the night too. Well apparently they though it would be a good idea to park in the driveway...OUR driveway. Poor Russ almost backed into them when going to work this morning. He had to go wake them up and get them to move. At least they did it without being grumpy!

Ugh! I thought with a new neighbor things would be better. It was for awhile, but I think things are going to just keep getting worse! I just gotta breathe, and take a chill pill. Writing this out has already helped me calmed down. Phew!

Sledding

Every year for Christmas, I "help" the girls pick out a present to give to Russell. It usually is some type of toy that he play with them with. This year I got him a nice adult sized tube. Before Saturday Russ had been so busy with his thesis he hadn't been able to take the girls sledding. On Friday we got a NICE snowstorm. Saturday it kept snowing, and it was the perfect snow to go outside and do fun stuff in.

Russ and I decided we would take the girls sledding right after we got Allie's pictures taken at JCPenny's. Everything went well at JCPenny's, so on the way home we stopped at a local park that has a large hill as part of it. What great fun we had! Here is Russ giving Lily a push down the hill. It looks like he is going after her!

Lots of trekking up the hill!

Umm...Allie wasn't too excited about the snow. I think it is because it was snowing HARD when we were out there. She didn't like the snow hitting her face. But she did like when I was walking around with her in the kelty backpack some nice random people gave us!

Lily and Russ sledding!

This first one is of Lily going down the hill by herself. I thought that this was the one that showed her totally knocking some girl down. The stupid girl, who was atleast 16, walked right in front of Lily when she was going down. It was hilarious! Lily was laughing her head off afterwards. But sadly I guess I only took a picture BEFORE she hit the girl.

This one was hilarious. Lily all of sudden got impatient with waiting, so she tried to slide down on her bum. Didn't work so well!

Of course Russ had to go done a couple times by himself. At the very end he stopped because his knees dragged across the blacktop walking path under the snow. Ouch!

After about 30 minutes, Allie had had enough. So we convinced Lily to come home by telling her that Russ would help her build a "snow dog". I don't know where she got this idea from, but she insisted on having a snow dog.

Here are Russ and Lily packing snow in preparation of building the dog.

The dog turned out great! It was hard to get a good picture of it.

When the dog wa done Lily wanted to build some snowmen. Russ helped her build two before it was time to go in. One is a Russell and one is a Lily.

I had to zoom in and get a good picture of the smile! Russ said that they are VERY realistic because both snowman have HUGE CHUBBY cheeks, just like him and Lily! Hahaha!

Good thing I took these pictures! I looked out the window yesterday and noticed that both had fallen over. Russ forgot to "cement" their heads on! He just stacked them! That is what you get when you let a Californian build a snowman!

Allie turns seven months

January 20, 2009 you turned 7 months old!

• This a classic face of your. Pure confusion.
• You had two teeth pop up in the last month! At last! You are less fussy because of this. (If you zoom in on the picture you can see one of her teeth)
  

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• You've been sitting up for over a month. You now sit clear forward and rock back in forth. I know you are trying to crawl, but just can't figure out how!
• Sleeping is still an issue for you. In fact it is worse than ever! You can't sleep for more than a couple hours at time. Every two hours you sleep for two hours and then are ready to play. Not good when mommy, daddy, and Lily want to sleep at night!
  

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• You love to raise your eyebrows. Usually it is only one, but I caught you questioning me with both in this photo!
• On January 6th your were in the 40% for height and weight! Who knew that you were so little!
  

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• I love that you can sit still for hours and play with your toys. Some of your favorites are duck(of course!), rattle doll, phone, and mommy's watch!
• You have grown a bunch in the last month! All your clothes are getting tight and short again! Maybe you aren't "small" anymore!
  

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• You currently hate being on your tummy. I think that is because we try and make you crawl while you are on it.
  

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• You have so many funny faces that really keep us entertained.
  

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• You are quite happy most of the time. Especially when Lily plays with you. You really love your sister.
  
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• So silly!
  

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• We love the light and laughter you bring into our life Allie. We can't wait to see you grow into a beautiful young woman.
  

Lots of pictures

Wow! I have taken so many pictures this month and have forgotten to post most of them! Now I know you aren't interested in all my pictures. But I am! I like putting a lot of pictures and writing little captions with them because when I go back and scrapbook...presto, bammo...my journaling is already done for me. So, let the picture fest begin!

Yet again, I had my back turned and heard Lily talking to Allie. Her rambling was a little different this time. It seemed to have a point to it, and it seemed familiar. I turned and looked to find Lily reading Allie the "Cars" book my mom had given her. Allie was quite captivated with it. Lily did a great job "reading" it until Allie started wanting to hold the book. Lily got a little upset.

Random pretty picture of Allie.

Ever since writing her letter to Santa Lily has been OBSESSED with writing letters. Every day lately she has plunked herself down at the kitchen table and dictates letters outloud. Here is what one looked like when it was finished.

Lily loves to excercise with me. She uses her big bouncy ball and my 1 lb weights. She really motivates me, when I am not laughing too hard at her.

Robe buddies.

One day Allie was crying and throughing a fit. I was frustrated with her because I couldn't figure out what was wrong. Finally, I scooped her up and put her in the Lego Box. She gave me a very confused expression as if to say,"Why did you put me in here?" Then she began to have some fun. Picture #1 is that confused look!

Lily is loves money. Whenever we are at the store and I get change she asks for a penny. When we get home she runs and puts it in our crayon bank.

Lily has completely surprised me lately with how much she knows. One day out of the blue she said, "Mommy your name starts with a J!" How did she know that?! I mean she hardly even knows that my name is Jewelle! Soon after she had me come look at something she had written on her art easel. Lo and behold she had wrote, "mom" and told me that was my name.

I decided I must be slacking in the education I was giving my daughter. For heaven's sake I am a certified teacher, I should be teaching her SOMETHING! So I went to the dollar store and bought some AMAZING workbooks. They weren't el-cheapo ones either. They were name brand ones! So three days this week we practiced writting the letter A, learning upercase and lowercase, and doing some "math" activities. Lily is in HEAVEN! She asks everyday if she can do her schoolwork. She is doing really good too!

This is one reason why I want to move! My shower is disgusting! When we moved in two years ago our faucet was covered in hardwater. I never really did anything about because of some health problems. Anyway, I've been feeling better lately so I decided to really tackle my bathroom and see if I could improve it. After 30 minutes of scrubbing this thing with lime away, this is the best I got. GRRRR! Gotta try again sometime soon.

This is grandpa. We call it grandpa because it is one of the flowers someone gave to our family for my grandpa's funeral. I am very proud of it because I haven't killed it. I tend to kill house plants. Outdoor plants, no problem. House plants....not so good!

Grandma La-La bought them matching towels...accidentally!

This was the first time this year Lily got to play in the snow. Russ had to push the sidewalks before school and Lily was done eating breakfast. I hurried and got her in her new snow clothes and sent her out. She had a blast following behind Russell. She kept making snow angels or just jumping head first into the snow banks.

Phew! Made it through that section! I have more to come. Hope you are enjoying this peek into our humble little life.

Lots of Layouts

I forgot to do this on Monday. (By the way, you can always check these out on my other blog too. Check in the upper corner of my sidebar for that link if you missed it before!) Since I forgot to do it on Monday I have a LOT of layouts. Hope you enjoy them

Amber at Stolen Moments has created a kit that will truly make your heart melt. This is an adoption kit. Kathy, one of the CT's at Stolen Moments, suggested to Amber to make an adoption kit. Apparently there isn't really many out there. Amber took the challenge and came up with a stunning kit! I haven't ever adopted a child, nor do I have friends who have adopted a child. So, I took a different approach to this kit. I decided to use it for the first page of my Project 365 (Check that out on my other blog!) As you can see, it turned out wonderful. So even if you don't have a connection to adoption, you should go grab this kit at Stolen Moments while it is free! I don't think that will be much longer considering this kit came out LAST WEEK!

Full Kit Preview. Stunning huh?!

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This is such a cool kit! What kit you ask?! Why Pirate Princess create by Digi Designs by Nicole. We were told by Nicole that the idea for this kit came from a sweatshirt she bought at DisneyWorld. How cool is that?! That lady gets inspiration from everywhere! Well, I didn't have any cute pictures of my princess's running around as pirates. What to do! I nixed the pirate stuff and used the rest. I came up with this layout for my Project 365 book. So mateys, jump ship and go download this kit for free at this site! Oh, and you should check out Nicole's forum here! It is a lot of fun!

Paper preview

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Over at Digi Designs by Nicole Forum I am in charge of the Word Challenge. It is SOOOO much fun. I give everyone a word, and they have a week to make a layout that revolves around that word. The word for this week was UNBELIEVABLE. This is the layout I came up with for the word!

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This next layout comes from Speed Scrap #2 at Nicole's Forum (See above for link) I love doing these! I really should stop doing them though. My heart about pounds out of my chest when time starts getting short. I don't know how many more of these my heart can take! LOL! I wasn't particularly pleased with the way the photo of Lily turned out. What do you all think? Here are the rules and my layout.

Step 1 - pick 3 pictures, only 1 of the 3 can have people in it.

Step 2 - pick any 7 papers; use 1 for your background and the others however you wish

Step 3 - Colorize your pictures; black/white, color overlay, etc...

Step 4 - Frame all your pictures

Step 5 - Use as many flowers and greenery as you wish. make a small cluster

Step 6 - Using only alpha make a BIG title for your layout

Step 7 - put a tab on your layout with the date on it. add any drop shadows and finish your layout. upload to a gallery or photobucket and then post your layout in the forum. you have 1 hour left to complete it.

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This layout was for a Template Challenge at Nicole's Forum. All the challenges I participate in have really got a lot of layouts done for me! YEAH!

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This layout was speed scrap #3 at the forum. This is one of my favorite layouts I have ever done.

Step 1. Choose 1 picture… have it take up ¾ of the page. You can place it anywhere.

Step 2. Choose 4 papers… 1 worn or torn, 2 patterned and 1 notebook.

Step 3. Tear or cut a piece of paper into a strip of any size and shape.

Step 4. Hang something in your layout. It can be a tag, string, picture, etc.

Step 5. Use a glitter swirl somewhere in the layout.

Step 6. Use a minimum of 3 of the following in your layout: ribbon, hearts, staples, flowers and leaves. You can use all if you want.

Step 7. Add a line of journaling and date. Save your layout, upload it to the gallery and link it back here. You have one hour, plus 15 minutes grace to upload.

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Another word challenge I moderated for. This time the word was GOOFBALL.

Well, there you have it! If you want credits for them you can go to my other blog. I should have all the layouts up soon! (Hopefully tonight!)

Great moments!

A few great moments have happened in our lives recently. Here the are in no particular order!

1. Russ has finished writing his thesis for the second time. I get to read it tonight. Tomorrow he gives it back to his advisers to read. One step closer to being done! Yeah!
2. Allie has learned how to play patty-cake and clap. I couldn't believe the other day when I started singing the song Allie started to "pat it". I've also noticed that when she is excited she will clap as well. She has reached this milestone about 2 months earlier than Lily did! I guess it is because I started singing it to Allie when she was younger.
3. Lily is completely potty trained. YES, that does include night time! About two weeks ago we bit the bullet and just tried putting her to bed with no diaper. We took extra precautions by putting a dollar store shower curtain under her sheet. In those two weeks she has wet the bed twice. It has been a WEEK since the last one. I am jumping for joy. We still have accidents, but they are few and far between. Wonderful, joyous day!
4. Allie has been sleeping a little bit longer at night. We've still been up until 1:00 a few nights. But once we finally get her to sleep she sleeps for quite a few hours. There has been a few nights where we put her down at 8:00 and she doesn't wake up until 3 or 4! Wonderful!
5. LOST premiers tonight! Bet you know what I will be doing instead of putting my kids to bad! LOL!
   

Try-It-Tuesday

Try-it-Tuesday failed miserably this week. How was I supposed to know that I was making a meal that Russell hated? He didn't tell me he hated this meal until after I saw him gagging while trying to eat it. Don't I have a nice husband?! He tried to eat so I wouldn't feel bad. I didn't mind the meal, but honestly I don't think it is one worth passing on.

So I dug into my recipe stash and came up with this one. I actually tried it out for the first time two weeks ago. Russell couldn't stop raving about how good it was. Oh, and get this! Lily who doesn't really like to eat hamburgers ate HALF of hers before she got full. You really got to try this recipe. I know it sounds a little weird at first, but give it a try!

Burgers 1
Deceptively Delicious Cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld

Ingredients:
1/2 pound lean ground turkey or sirloin (I used regular hamburger.)
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup cauliflower or carrot puree (I used carrot)
1/4 cup nonfat (skim) milk
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Nonstick cooking spray
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 small whole-grain dinner rolls or whole-grain bread slices, for serving (I used small hamburger buns instead of the large ones. The patties fit on their perfectly!)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 F
2. In a large bowl, stir together the meat, breadcrumbs, vegetable puree, milk, soy sauce, garlic, and pepper with a wooden spoon; the mixture will be moist. Form it into 8 small patties and place them on a sheet of waxed paper or aluminum foil.
3. Coat a large nonstick ovenproof skillet with cooking spray and set i over medium-high heat. When the skillet is hot, add the oil. Add the burgers and cook until nicely browned on one side, 4 to 5 minutes. Turn the burgers, then slide the skillet into the oven and bake for 4 to 5 minutes longer, until the burgers are no longer pink in the center. Serve each burger on a split roll.

***Note: I didn't have a skillet that I could put in the oven so I lined a baking sheet with tinfoil and kept it in the oven until I needed it. That way it was still hot like the skillet. Does that make sense?! Hope so!***

Don't Eat Peanut Butter

I know a lot of people don't watch the news, but I do! It really keeps me in touch with the world outside of my living room! :) On Saturday we watched the news and heard a somewhat scary thing. I thought I would pass this along on the blog, so that those of you who DON'T watch the news on a regular basis will know.

There has been a nation wide recall of peanut butter, due to the fact that at least one person in Idaho has died from it. Apparently that person got salmonella from the peanut butter. The people who track where the peanut butter comes from hasn't been able to determine the source yet. So, they are suggesting to everyone NOT to eat anything with peanut butter in it. Scary huh?! Why is it that all the recalls come from someone dying in Idaho. Hmmm...something to think about.

As far as I know this recall hasn't been lifted yet. So if your kids eat a pbj on a regular basis like mine do, find them something else to eat for awhile.


UPDATE:
My friend Stevie just sent me this update on the pb thing. Thanks for the information Stevie! Glad I can again make pbj for Lily, but those crackers I got gotta go!

The outbreak was traced to the Peanut Corp. plant in Georgia. Peanut Corp. ONLY distributes commercially, meaning your Jiffy or Peter Pan peanut butter is totally fine (according to the FDA). What they are asking people to avoid is products with peanut butter in them such as peanut butter crackers, cookies, or ice cream. The vast majority (if not all) of companies that purchased Peanut Corp. pb have voluntarily pulled and recalled their products.

I just wanted people to know that their jarred pb has been declared safe and you only have to avoid it if it really worries you.

This was the most recent article I could find

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,480788,00.html

Two teefies!

Today while wondering around Michaels I was letting Allie chew on my finger. She was so happy about! She kept saying, "Mamamama" Then she would smile at me. As I turned the corner to go look at something else Allie bit down on my finger and let a ear splitting howl. She wouldn't stop crying after that. I opened her mouth looked in and....her second tooth had popped through! It took quite awhile to get her calmed down. Poor thing doesn't like when they pop through. At least we are over with the tooth drama...for now! :oD

My blog template

I forgot to tell everyone why I am keeping my blog tempalte white. Not that you particularly care! Anyway, I am leaving it white to symbolize that it is a new year. I am starting a new year fresh and clean. Just like white..fresh and clean! Hope that makes sense to more people than just me!

A love hate relationship

I hate....

• a three letter acronym that Russell work's at.
• money
• showers that make you feel like you are getting shrink wrapped each time you take one
• trains
• my house
• the cold
• not knowing our future
• dry weather
• batteries
• being exhausted all the time
• being asked "what's that by her eye?" a million times
• sugar and anything related including carbs
• programs that don't do what they are supposed to do

These are just a few frustrating things in our life right now. But....

I love...

• that Russell has a job
• that we can survive(most the time) on the money Russ does make
• that my shower has hot water
• that Lily gets incredibly excited every time she sees a train
• that my house is huge!
• the four seasons
• that we will soon not be unsure of where we will be living
  
• something about dry air....just not sure what right now :o)
• that when we have a fresh set of batteries in something it works!
• that Allie gives me excuses to take naps
• that Allie's birthmark is getting smaller
• sugar and carbs...who am I kidding when I say I hate them!
• that Russ's program got fixed and he can finish his thesis

This is me trying to be positive about the things I hate. It is kinda working......okay not so much. But....BIG BUT....most of these things will resolve themselves soon. I just need to remind myself of that again....and again....and again....and again....

Try-It-Tuesday

I'm back to doing Try-it-Tuesdays! Yeah! I tried this recipe out last week and loved it! Sadly though I am not sure where I got it from. I think I might know, but well I can't be 100%. Sorry Stevie or Elena if this is your recipe that you have already posted!

Bruschetta Chicken Bake

Ingredients:
1 can (14 ½ oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 pkg. (6 oz.) STOVE TOP Stuffing Mix for Chicken
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tsp. dried basil leaves
1 cup KRAFT Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place tomatoes with their liquid in a medium bowl. Add stuffing mix, ½ cup hot water and the garlic; stir just until stuffing mix is moistened. Set aside.
2. Place chicken in a 9x13-inch baking dish; sprinkle with the basil and cheese. Top with the stuffing mixture.
3. Bake for 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Makes 6 servings

***Just a little tip. This did come out a little dry. Next time I make this I am going to try adding a can of cream of chicken and little milk to the chicken. It should moisten it up a bit!***

Layouts for the week!

I am back and scrapping my little heart out! I have a few layouts to show this week, so bare with me!

This first kit is Amber's new kit called Big Top! I am little behind on this blog, so she has released most of the parts to this kit. If you still want to get it for FREE you gotta get over there now! Remember to leave her a comment so she will keep doing these great kits. Click here to be taken to Stolen Moments Designs.

Just a bit about this kit. It is totally different than what she normally does, but great non the less. It is circus themed. Now don't let that discourage you if you or your kids haven't gone to a circus lately. The colors and most of the elements work with other types of pictures too. Just look at my layouts below!

I also did a layout for Nicole over at Digi Designs by Nicole. Her new kit is called Love Notes. Now this wasn't intended to be a Valentine's Kit, but you certainly could use it for that if you wanted. The hues of this color are GORGEOUS. They matched Allie's new sweater so she was the chosen topic for this layout. I decided to heed to the title and write some Love Notes to Allie. I even got Russ to participate! This kit started to get released yesterday, you can still get it for free for awhile. But remember, it comes in pieces, so you have to go back each day to pick up all the loot! Click here to be taken to her site! Don't forget to leave some nice happy thoughts for her!