Happy New Year

2009 is going to be the year of change for me! Monday I signed my divorce papers and Tuesday I signed the lease on my new house. Last night my friend H came over and helped me move some boxes. I am off tomorrow and the kids are with their dad so I will spend the day packing and moving boxes. Saturday the movers and my paretns are coming over to move the furniture and such.

I am looking forward to moving on from the upheval of the last year. I have some short and long term goals in mind for the next year and beyond. I'm not going to make resolutions this year, just set some goals for myself and then strive to meet those targets.

My #1 goal for this year is to have a fully funded emergency fund. Now that I am a single parent this is something that I feel is of utmost importance for me and my kids. My other goal for this year is to go back to school, but since I have already submitted my application there is not much else I can do to work towards that goal.

I'll post pictures of the new house soon.

Christmas

I hope that everyone had a nice Christmas. Things were nice around here. The kids were with their Father on Christmas Eve so my parents came to my neck of the woods to have dinner with me and go to church. Then on Christmas morning the kids and I went to my sister's house for lunch. The kids had a fun and busy day. Alex's favorite toy was a small electric train and Abbie's is a baby stroller.

Doria needs a quilt

Abbie got a Doria (Dora the explorer) doll for Christmas. Yesterday morning she was playing with it and another doll and I went to leave the house to run some errands. Apparently the dolls needed a blanket to go to bed and Abbie had appropriated my fleece jacket as a blanket. So, while the kids were out yesterday afternoon I quickly put together a quilt for Abbie's dolls.

The pannels are 4 1/2" x 10 1/2" string pieced units that I have been using as leader/enders, the borders are 2 1/2" black strips from my precut strips drawer and the binding and backing are a cute jungle fabric of H's that I had.

This weekend

The 18th was my mother's birthday so on Saturday the kids and I went up to my parents house for her birthday dinner. On the way home we stopped at Bass Pro Shops so that the kids could visit Santa. Last year it was Alex crying but this year Alex happily saw Santa but Abbie was unhappy. My pictures aren't great but hopefully the one that Bass Pro took will be better. Check out this picture of Alex, he has been having a feeding frenzy (means a growth spurt is comming) lately and now I am really noticing some chages to his face. He looks like such a boy now.

Sunday H, L and I had our annual gift exchange. Fun was had by all and some great gifts were exchanged.

The real story

As many of you might have noticed my posts over the last 6 months have been very sparse. The reason for this is that I have been going thorugh a divorce and other things have been taking priority over posting on my blog. Now the divorce is nearly final and I hope to be able to get back to posting on this blog.

Here are some of the things that have been going on in my life lately:

I started a new full time job in June. This has been an adjustment for the kids and I but I am enjoying the job and my coworkers.

I started going back to church in May and have found this to be a great source of peace and encouragement.

I put my application in for grad school this week and if all goes well I should start next fall.

I will soon be moving into a place of my own. This has been a challenge but I have been lucky to have a very patient real estate agent to help me.

I am sure there are other things that I am leaving out, but these are the things I coud think of right now. I hope you all are having a very happy and safe holidays.

Totally Cute Bow Holder

How's that for a title.

I promise to get back to blogging soon, but in the meantime go check out this giveaway for a totally cute bow holder. Now if I could just get my daughter to leave the bows in her hair!

Haloween

The kids had a great time trick or treating last night. We were able to go over to H's house and hang out and trick or treat with H's family. Alex was Optimus Prime from transformers and Abbie was a yellow duck. Now I am overrun with candy and will probably bring some to work or church to get rid of it. (Sorry for the blurry picture, hopefully H got a better one she can send to me.)

Wow I haven't posted in a while...

Life has gotten in the way. I am working full time and taking care of the kids and the house in the evening and it just doesn't leave much time for anything else.

Last month for Abbie and P's 2nd birthdays (they are 26 hours apart) my friend H and I took the kids to get pictures done. The pictures turned out totally cute and the portrait place even had us sign releases so that they could put the picture up on the wall. (Click here to see how much they've changed)

Abbie is growing up so fast and has turned out to be quite the talker. My favortie Abbieism right now is "Bye Bye shut the door, OK". Abbie it turns out likes a bit of privacy in the bathroom and will not go until you shut and latch the door :)

I got pictures taken for Alex's 4th birthday last weekend and will post them here as soon as they email them to me.

Busy Busy

Last Friday was Abbie's 2nd birthday and last Thursday was her friend P's birthday. Needless to say we had a busy busy weekend. Friday morning I didn't have to be at work until 9:30 so I took both kids to Chick-fil-A for breakfast and H and P were able to join us. The people at Chick-fil-A were nice enough to give both Abbie and P ballons and a small stuffed cow.

Saturday the kids and I went to P and A's birthday party and then the kids spent the afternoon with their father. Sunday the kids spent the morning with their father and then I had a birthday party for Abbie at the house. It was nice with family, close friends and even two kids from Abbie's gym class.

Needless to say by bedtime on Sunday the kids were exhausted. Abbie was so tired I had her in bed by 7 (an hour early).

Pictures (top to bottom): Becky and Abbie at Abbie's Party, Abbie enjoying birthday cake, Abbie and Alex in the bounce house I bought as a present for them both, Abbie at Chick-fil-A on Friday in her birthday dress (I feel a tradition in the making)

Need Opinion

I have started making Abbie's birthday dress but I need your opinion. Most of the dress will be the yellow carebears fabric but I think that I want a different color for the crisscross straps in the back and some sort of ruffle at the bottom. I am making view C of the dress. My question is: Does the pink look OK or should I use a different accent color? Let me know ASAP since I have to have this done by Sunday.

Update: I decided to go with teal accents instead and it turned out great!

Update

This was a busy busy weekend, and next weekend is not going to be any better. Saturday I worked from 7am to 3:30pm then I went home got the kids and went to church. After church the kids and I ran a few errands and got home in time to have a little snack and then into bed. Sunday Alex's friend B (and my friend L) came over for a playdate. In the afternoon the kids and I went to a birthday party for one of her friends from her gym class. The party was great fun and there was even a pony that Abbie got to ride twice and Alex got to brush. Unfortunatly I don't have pictures of the pony ride because I forgot my camera. By the time we got home both kids were exhausted and went to bed without a fuss. I even got some sewing time in after the kids went to bed. Here are a couple more cute pictures of the kids. The first one is from Church on August 31st, the other two are from the Riparian Preserve on September 11th.

The Dogma acording to Alex

The kids and I have been attending Sun Valley Community church for the last several months. The other day while the kids and I were at the park Alex sat down with me and told me that he wanted to tell me a story. His story: Jesus died and was eaten by a dragon. I could only giggle and say ok Alex.

A Quote

I saw this quote today and it made me giggle so I had to share:

If there were no schools to take the children away from home part of the time, the insane asylums would be filled with mothers.— Edgar W. Howe

More Abbie Hair

I liked this one so much I did it two days in a row. The pictures are from right before church on Sunday.

Papa Joe

My Papa Joe has been given a terminal diagnosis from some heart trouble that he has been having. I don't think that it really has set in yet that soon I won't be able to see him anymore. My grandparents have been part of my life for as long as I can remember. When I was a kid they took me on a 6 week RV trip across the country. We got to see Yellowstone, Mt Rushmore and even went into Canada. Actually I was at Yellowstone with my grandparents when the fire started.

Since we don't know how much time we will have left with him I took the kids and went over for a visit for most of Sunday. It was nice to get to spend time with my grandparents and other relatives that were there today. I feel very grateful that I was able to get a nice picture of the kids with Papa Joe. Hopefully there will be many more opportunities for pictures, but if that does not come to pass at least I will have these pictures to show my kids when I tell them about their Papa Joe.

Abbie's Hair

Abbie's hair has been getting longer lately and I have come to the realization that I need to DO something with it rather than just let it hang in her face. I found a cute blog that is all about little girl hairstyles and it has helped me with a few tips to make it easier to work with Abbie's hair. It has also inspired me to be creative rather than always just putting it in a ponytail. I have started taking pictures of the cute styles, but it is a bit difficult because Abbie sees the camera and will keep trying to get in front of it so she can look at the pictures.
This is my version of butterfly hair. I need to get some more bows made since Abbie likes to take them out and loose them and we are down to just a few now.

So I was sitting on the couch this morning reading my email while the kids played in the other room. Then I hear Alex calling to me for help. Since he didn't seem injured I ignored him for a few moments to see if he could figure it out for himself. When he started calling that he needed help to get out I decided that I indeed had to go investigate. Alex had taken most of the toys out of the boon bag and had managed to zip himself inside and couldn't get out. Since the boon bag is well ventilated I decided that I had a moment to grab my camera and record the moment for posterity.

Cheesy Chicken and Rice

Costco sells a chicken and rice casserole by Milton's and it is very good but a bit greasy. Since I liked it so much I set out to make my own version at home. I did some searching on the internet and found a recipe online that was close, but of course I have changed it a bit.

Cheesy Chicken and Rice

1 12oz can evaporated skimmed milk
1 5oz can evaporated milk
4oz cream cheese softened
1 10 3/4 oz can cream of chicken soup
1/2 tsp garlic powder
10oz frozen peas
2 cups cubed cooked chicken
1 1/2 cups instant brown rice
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I use Walmart Mexican blend)


Preheat oven to 350 deg. grease 9x13 baking dish
Combine everything but shredded cheddar cheese in baking dish(make sure to mix the cream cheese in well or you will have lumps of cream cheese after the dish is cooked)
Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes, remove cover and top with cheese (I like to give everything a good stir before putting the cheese on). Continue baking uncovered for 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted and mixture is bubbly. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

This makes a pretty good sized pan but the leftovers are usually pretty good. Next time I think I might split it into two smaller pans and freeze one. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Mystery Solved

I finally figured out where the mystery tote bag full of goodies came from. It was the Oprah Spring Ahead Sweeps. I had totally forgotten that I entered.

Alex

Alex is becoming such a big kid now. I was just realizing the other day that he has gotten big enough that I no longer have to lift him up to wash his hands in the sink. I also had to move up to the boys section in the store when I bought him some new underpants the other day.

Tonight as I was getting Abbie ready for bed he sat down in the glider, pulled up his shirt and asked to feed Abbie. I suggested that he go downstairs and get a baby doll and feed that. In the end he settled on his blue "care bear". I thought it was totally cute, and no I did not set this up just for the photo op :)

Alex has also really been bonding with our male golden Zed lately. Often when he takes his afternoon nap he will call Zed into his bedroom and shut the door to keep him in there. Tonight I went to check on him and he and Zed were happily sleeping together in Alex's closet. I am so glad that Alex and Zed are getting close. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of my dog Candy who used to sleep in my bed almost every night.

I got a present

And I don't even know where it's from. I signed up for several freebee sample things online but am not sure which one this came from. I suspect it is g-dots.com. I signed up for them a while ago and never really expected to get anything. The items I am most excited about are the full sized bottle of Italian dressing, full sized bottle of dove body wash and the two bags. BTW the green bag had a coupon for a free contessa frozen dinner, score! I tried the perfume but just had to go was it off since I am pretty sensitive to smells. Oh and there is a sample for a body lotion with SPF 15. I was just thinking that I needed to go get some to wear on a daily basis.

I made a skirt

Quite a while back I got a bag of clothes off Freecycle that included a pair of jeans that fit fine but were very bell bottomed. I threw them in the closet and didn't think about them again until a few days ago. S mentioned that she was reading online about "recycled" fashion where you take clothes and make them into something new (I do this all the time for kids clothes). She specifically mentioned making a skirt out of a pair of jeans. The conversation reminded me of this tutorial that I found a while ago and bookmarked. I quickly went to the closet and dragged out the ugly jeans and the next day I made myself a new skirt. It didn't take long at all to make and the bell bottoms were a benefit because it allowed me to make the skirt long enough to go just below the knee. I was a bit apprehensive about it looking homemade and cheesy, but once I wore it I really liked it. Ironically enough, the next day at church there was someone wearing a skirt just like the one I had made.

What can you get for under $9

I did a little shopping today and this is what I got:

3 bottles of Shampoo - Loreal Pro Vive
3 bottles of Conditioner - Loreal Pro Vive
4 Sure Deodorant
2 buddies bars
2 pk kids toothbrush
2 5 packs of tampons
1 small bag bite sized nutter butters
1 pkg crayola markers
2 pk gel pens
1 gourmet chocolate bar

I should also get back over $4 on a Walgreens gift card for the markers, gel pens and candy bar. The rest of the stuff was bought at CVS and I got nearly $11 in ECB back for my next purchase.

A Cute picture of the kids

One of the first times that I took the kids to church with H and P we lined the kids up against the wall and took a group picture. Now every time we go to church Alex wants his picture taken.

Do you want a few extra dollars every month?

I just learned about a new site called Cash Crate. You fill out surveys and register for things online and such and they give you cash money. I am usually pretty leery about this kind of thing, but since I fill out so many online forms and such to get free samples I figured why not. I did open a separate email account for this though so that I don't have all of that in my mail email account. Also I have only been doing the 100% free offers, the trial things that I have to cancel seem too risky to me. I'll keep you posted about how much money I make doing this and how I feel about it over time. For now if you want to try it out please follow one of my links because I referral income too.

A couple new recipes to share

I have been craving Pad Thai lately, so I got online and found a recipe for Pad Thai with chicken and shrimp. On the 4th I thought about going out and getting the stuff to make it, but I procrastinated long enough that I ended up just going to Walmart to buy the ingredients to make a Vietnamese Sandwich. I got to tell you that both recipes are seriously delicious. Both recipes call for chili garlic sauce, but I used two different kinds. For the sandwich I used sweet chili garlic sauce and for the pad thai I used a savory chili garlic sauce. One change that I made to the Pad Thai recipe was that I used way less meat than called for. I used one thinly sliced chicken breast and 1/3 lb of shrimp that I cut in half. This was plenty of meat. The Pad Thai was not cheap to make (approx $17) but it made a huge batch and the two most expensive ingredients I have enough left over to make several more batches.

An Evening out with Friends

Today I worked from 7am to 3:30 pm then I came home and took the kids to church. After church I dropped the kids off with J and went out to an enjoyable dinner with a few friends. We were celebrating one friend's 32nd birthday and there was much laughter and girl talk.

A Post with pictures even!

Please forgive my absence lately but I have been dealing with some things in my private life. My friend S reminded me the other day that I enjoy blogging and just because there are things going on doesn't mean that I shouldn't do something that I enjoy.

So on to the post. I sewed today! I've noticed that my son's shorts have been getting smaller and smaller so today while the kids were at there grandparents with their father I made my son two new pairs of shorts. The tan pair is from a old pair of pants and the blue pair is from some leftover fabric from making this jacket for Alex. I've noticed that lately Alex checks for the tag on his shorts so to help him out I sewed a small ribbon tag to the back side of the shorts waistband seam. These shorts are so quick and easy to make especially with the serger. It is this pattern that I have used over and over again.

Got my car back

You never realize how much you are used to and depend on your vehicle until you get into an accident and it gets towed away. My friend H was kind enough to loan me a vehicle for a few days and then after that I rented a car for about a week. I got my car back last Friday and it has been so nice to be back in my own car. The whole time we had the rental Alex kept asking me when we were getting our big truck back. I guess he is a bit attached to it too.

Blessing in disguise

I got into a car accident tonight and while I could moan and say woe is me I am choosing to look at all the small blessings that are going to add up and make this less of a horrible thing than it could have been. First small blessing, the last time the car insurance was up for renewal I kept the full coverage on my vehicle which I was considering changing to liability only. Second small blessing, a month or two ago my friend H spotted a car seat inspection station and we both took our vehicles in to have them look at the seats. The seats were both fine, but they did convince me to turn Abbie back to rear facing even though she met the age and weight requirements to be forward facing. I think that Abbie would have been fine even if she was forward facing, but it does ease a mother's mind to know that in a situation like this I did everything possible to ensure the safety of my child. Third blessing, last weekend the brakes in my car started to go out. It would have been easy to have put it off especially considering the other things going on in my life right now, but I chose to have it taken care of. Lastly I am grateful for my friends and the kindness of strangers. Every day H teaches me what it means to be a good friend and tonight was no different. She and R made a bad situation so much easier to deal with along with the help of a new friend P who happens to be an ER nurse. Also, this accident took place in front of a church right after the Saturday service so the people there were so kind and helpful. So all in all I am choosing to be positive, my children and I are fine, I believe that the people in the other care are going to be alright also and that is all that truly matters in this life.

Sassy Apron Swap, summer edition

I signed up for the Sassy Apron Swap a while back and now the apron is due in less than two weeks. I thought that I would make the Emmeline apron for my swap partner, but it takes nearly 4 yards of fabric and I didn't have that much in my stash. I found a Simplicity pattern (actually H did) at Jo-Ann that I thought was cute and since the theme is summer I had some cute sandals and flip flop fabric that I am using. This swap calls for an embellishment so I found a pair of cute flip flop buttons that I will use. My partner is in Italy this time which should be neat, but unfortunately blog is in Italian and I couldn't really get a feel for what she likes.

So here's my question to you... what small items should I include with this package to Italy that are very American and would be nice for someone in another county to get? They need to be small so it doesn't cost me a fortune to ship.

Happy Mother's Day!

To all the mom's out there I hope you have a wonderful mother's day.

House of Mouse

I'm off to the house of Mouse this morning. I will not be bringing my laptop with me so I'll post pictures and stories when I get back in town.

Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

My friend S blogged about recipezaar the other day and it made me browse their site. Since the spinach was doing so well I decided to make a spinach salad. It turned out very yummy! I unfortunately didn't take a picture of the spinach before we inhaled it. The kids love spinach, I know how good it's for the kids so that makes me happy.

Check out what I found today

Lately I have been seeing a hummingbird in our backyard alot, now I know why. While walking around the backyard today checking out the fruit on our trees and noticed a tiny bird nest in our lemon tree. There were two tiny eggs in it, they were just slightly bigger than a jelly belly. What surprised me was that the nest appeared to be very soft (I didn't touch it). Joe was patient enough to sit down and wait for the mother hummingbird to come back. Go here for the pictures.

I got a box of Chocolate in the mail today

I signed up for the Hershey's Bliss Chocolate party at www.houseparty.com and was selected as a party hostess. Today I got a box in the mail with 9 bags of chocolate, YUM! I have decided to have a Momitinis and Movies party for my girlfriends. Should be fun.

Carolina Crossroads Part 4 and 5

I have finally finished part 4 and 5 of Carolina Crossroads. Now I have finished all of the small blocks and the next step is to combine the components into larger blocks.

Alex loves Papa

My kids are so lucky to have a great relationship with my parents. Alex especially loves his Papa Ron and often will ask when he can see him. I look forward to them getting closer as Alex gets older.

Sunday Savings

My husbands friends do not believe that I have been getting such good deals at CVS. To start go here and read this post that I wrote, it has links to where I find deals. I need to preface this post by saying that this takes time and effort, you don't just pick up a Sunday paper, clip a few coupons, and then walk into CVS and get free stuff. The way to get free stuff is to roll extra care bucks (ECB's) earned from one item to another item that gives ECB's. You do even better when you can combine coupon savings to net more ECB's than you spend.

Another note that goes against most peoples ideas of thriftiness is that you need to be willing to stockpile when the deals are good and sometimes be willing to buy something you don't need (with ECB's of course) if it gives more ECB's than it costs so that you can roll those earnings to get items you need for free.

Today I went to two different CVS stores, here is what I bought:

Transaction #1

Schick Quatro Razor 9.49
4 count Schick Quatro refill blades 10.99
2 Adidas deodorant 1.94 each

I used a $4 off $20 CVS coupon (find it here)
I had a coupon to buy a Schick Quatro Razor get a 4 count refill blade free
I had 2 coupons for a free Adidas Deodorant
I also used $3 in ECB's

My total after coupons $3.84 which I used a CVS giftcard for (from getting a prescription filled)
I got $3 in ECB's back. This is not a great deal but even if you hadn't had the ECB's you would have spent $6.84 for a razor, a pack of refill blades and 2 deodorants.

Transaction #2

2 softsoap body washes 4.99 each
2 Benefiber chewables 36 count 6.79 each

I used a $4 off $20 CVS coupon
2 $2 off Benefiber coupons
1 $1 off Soft Soap Coupon
I also used $13 in ECB's that I had.

My total $2.07 that I put on a gift card that I had. (If you only had the ECB's from the earlier deal you would have spent $12.07). I got back $19.98 in ECB's.

I have one more deal that I think I will work this week. I currently have $32.98 in ECB's that I will use to pay for future deals. The ECB deals this week aren't great but if you are just starting there are a few monthly free after ECB deals that you can use to get some ECB's to start working with.

My husband mentioned that some of his friends would add in the cost of the paper and feel it was just not that great of a deal. In my area I can get a Sunday only Subscription for $1 a week, I have two subscriptions for a total cost of $3 a week. I feel that the savings that I get from the coupons and the true volume of items I have managed to get for free makes up for the cost of the paper. Also I have been able purchase items with ECB's and send away for rebate checks that help to offset the cost of the papers.

With that said, if you don't feel that it is worth your time or money than so be it but personally I'm having a blast. I love getting a good deal.

Our Little Garden, part 4

Well it's been about a month since I updated you on the progress of our little garden. Things are growing nicely and we have even been able to eat a little of the spinach in salads with dinner. I can't wait until the other plants are producing.

The fruit trees are doing nicely also there are fruit on all of the trees (apple, lemon, orange, peach and grape). Hopefully we will be able to get a good harvest before the birds this year.

A Family Trip to the Zoo

This week my cousin S is in town with her family. They live back east so I don't get to see her often (actually this is the first time I met her daughter). A bunch of us got together to go to the zoo today and a great time was had by all. We couldn't have asked for nicer weather, it was a bit cool in the morning but by lunch time it was just right. Soon it is going to be too hot to go anymore (it is supposed to be 95 by Sunday).

The Cardboard Box

I think it is a classic question of parenthood, but here I'll ask it again. Why, when my kids have more toys than they even play with do they find a cardboard box so thrilling?

Be sure to notice the PILES of toys behind Alex. I think he played in here for at least a half an hour before his sister climbed in the box with him, took off her diaper and peed. Alex was very upset that we had to retire the box before he was ready.

Drafting a block

Ever since my good friend S made my son a taggie blanket as a baby shower gift I have adapted the idea and make mini quilt taggies to give as shower gifts. I have two showers coming up in the next couple of weeks so I decided it was time to get a start on the gifts. The babies are boys so I didn't get to have as much fun with the pretty fabrics but I am pleased with how the quilt block for the front side turned out.

I found this block today on the crazy mom quilts blog. There were not construction instructions so I decided to draft it myself. Let me tell you this is not a beginner block! There are a heck of alot of quarter square triangles to deal with. I must have unsewn a half a dozen seams before I got it together. The taggie for the second shower this month will be identical to the first. I put minkie on the backside so it will be nice and soft. All the fabric and trims for this will come out of my stash.

Alex

It is becoming more and more obvious lately that Alex is growing up. He has started to have a grasp of time, and he has also started wanting to read to his dad and I. As a consequence of this growing up it has also become clear that it is time for him to go to preschool, often asking to go play with his friends. Because he was late to potty train I really haven't seriously looked into it before this point but now that I am I am having trouble finding one that fits our needs and out budget. I am sure that the right preschool will be found sooner or later. A few of the quirks that Alex has developed lately are wanting to wear his Spiderman snow boots everywhere (they are from out trip to Wyoming) and wanting to pee in the backyard like the dogs. The boots I haven't really minded, but the peeing in the backyard has become a problem because he does it no matter if we have company or not (in fact my mom snapped a picture of him doing just that on Easter Sunday, I'm keeping it for blackmail later).