Making A Gift for Pawpaw

It has been a hectic last few days around here and no time to sit down to write a blog.  We have had birthday parties, a consignment sale, and tomorrow my first 5k.  Today also just happens to be my dad's birthday.  I decided that the kids and I would make a handmade gift for him by the kids.  Alex has been to the workshops at Lowe's for kids.  He really enjoyed building the craft that day and while there my husband saw that they sell other kits, most under $10.  I decided to pick up one of these and help Alex build it and he and Amelia decorate it for Pawpaw.  We chose a race car because my dad collects small cars and this would be perfect.  The kits are simple and made for kids to put together with some parental help.

Alex and I put most of the car together and needed a little help getting the wheels on from daddy when he got home from work.  Alex really enjoyed hammering the nails in and seeing the car come together.

After is was put together, I got the paints out for Alex and Amelia to decorate it.  We used watercolors just because they offer less mess and are easy to clean up when using with a preschooler and infant.  Alex loves to paint and used lots of colors all over the car.  Amelia was more amused with chewing the end of the paintbrush than painting.  We had a lot of fun!  The kits available at Lowe's are great!  They have several options and offer some great fun with your older preschooler.  I highly recommend the kits and the workshops.  They are offered here on the second Saturday of the month and are free.  Not much better than free!  It is a great way for daddy and Alex to get some one on one time without the baby. Just look online and see when the next workshop is near you!

Mommy Groups

Today we had the opportunity to go to the park with a mommy group that a girl I went to high school with started.  It was a beautiful day to be outside spending time with friends old and new.  A week ago my friend decided that she wanted to start a group of mommies with kids around the same age so that we adults could have adult conversation and the kids could start having other babies to grow up with.  I have to say that it was so nice to talk with other mommies my age with babies.  I love my children but there is only so much four year old conversation that you can take.
We met up at a local park so that those of us with older kids could make sure that they were occupied as we walked.  Our park has a track around the park so that you can always see your kids play as you walk.  It was nice to spend time talking with other mommies, whether newbie moms or us with a little more experience.  We can all learn from each other since our kids are within weeks of each other.  We talked and talked for what seemed just a few minutes although after all was said and done an hour and a half had passed.
As a stay at home, you are spending the time at home with your kid or kids because you see the importance of spending that time at home and can afford to do it.  After our first, staying home was not an option financially like it is now.  But it is also important to have some adult time for your own sanity.  If you are a stay at home mom, I highly recommend trying to find a mommy group or start one yourself.  We had the best time today and we just talked and walked.  What a better way to help your sanity and waistline at the same time?

Homemade Cherry Cobbler

I was looking through our sauce packet drawer yesterday and came across a recipe for cherry cobbler that had gotten misplaced.  It looked good so I decided to try to make it.  It is a recipe that my mother in law gave us among many others.  She is a great baker so we figured this would be no different.  It is so good!

Here is the recipe.

Cherry Cobbler
1 stick of butter - melt in  9 x 13 pan (I put it in the oven as it heated up to 325 degrees)

Batter recipe
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups sugar

Pour the batter over the melted butter in the pan.  Top with one can of cherry pie filling.  She says that you can sprinkle sugar or cinnamon sugar.  I did not do this step.  I completely forgot.

Bake at 325 degrees for about 30 minutes or till done.

I followed her directions and the cobbler was fine other than it was not nearly done after 30 minutes.  I completely forgot to take into account that she is cooking in high altitude where as I am not.

Next time I think that I will try cooking it at 350 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes.  I think that will work much better.  At 325 degrees, it took almost an hour for it to cook through in the middle.

It turned out so tasty and will be great served with a side of Turkey Hill Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream.

Saving Money and Stocking Up

Today was spent running errands.  Tuesday is always library day so that is where we started our day.  Alex and Amelia loved storytime and Alex loved getting new books to bring home to read.  We then moved onto CVS.  Now this is a place to get great deals.  Today was stock up on laundry detergent day.  They have a great deal right now with Purex detergent.  It is B1G2 free.  This can also be paired with three $1.50 off 2 coupons to make it an even better deal.  I was able to pair it with 2 coupons and got six bottles of Purex detergent for $10 including tax.  As a mom, this is a great deal.  We are always washing clothes and are always in need of detergent.  My favorite one right now is the Purex with Zout.  It is awesome and takes out a lot of stains.  This was just one deal that I could not pass up.  I saved just under $30 with this deal.

We then moved onto Target to price out diapers as Amelia moves into size 4.  We usually buy Up and Up brand and just wanted to make sure that they are the best deal.  While there I was able to pick up a pack of Bic disposable razors for free. They are regularly $2.99 and there was a coupon in the SmartSource coupons from 3/6/14 for $3 off a pack of any disposable Bic razors.  This made them free.  It is very exciting when you get anything for free even razors.

Finally, I had to get some fabric for a project that I found on Pinterest.  My cousin's daughter is turning four this weekend and I need to make her gift.  I searched Pinterest for some inspiration and found a cool guitar pillow that I am going to make tomorrow.  I will take pictures as I work and post the results in tomorrow's blog.  I am using pink fabric because that is her favorite color and I know the guitar will be a big hit since her dad plays in a local rock band.  Here's to a successful project. And a tasty cherry cobbler that is begging to be made tomorrow.

St. Patrick's Day Activities for Preschoolers

Today was a very fun day filled with St. Patrick's Day activities with Alexander.  We started our activities by making a rainbow and talking about the pot of gold that can be found under the rainbow.  Alex loves making crafts and cannot wait for activities like this.  I used card stock, cotton balls, strips of construction paper, and glue.  I cut out a cloud shape from the card stock for Alex to glue the cotton balls to make a fluffy cloud.  We then turned it over and glued the strips of paper in order of the colors of the rainbow - ROYGBIV - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo (we skipped this one), and violet.  Once this is completed you have a really cool rainbow craft.  It was very simple and took very little time to prep and complete.

We then moved onto baking.  I had planned on making green cupcakes for today but Alex decided that he wanted to make cookies instead.  So I went through my pantry and found a bag of Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix.  We followed the instructions on the back of the package to create the cookies.  We then added the
green food coloring to make them an awesome shade of green.  I did not measure how much we added.  I just added the food coloring until we got to the shade of green that we liked.  We then baked the cookies at 425 degrees for 10 minutes.  They turned out very tasty and very green!


Lastly, that mischievous leprechaun helped with dinner.  I decided to make spaghetti for dinner. That naughty leprechaun added some green food coloring to the pasta water and dyed the noodles green. Alex really got a kick out of this.  He ate his enter bowl of green pasta!

It was a great day do all of the activities that I was not always able to do with my kids when I was working as a teacher.  I love being able to make all of the memories with them and hope they will do some of these things with their future kids!

Volunteering at the Consignment Sale

Today I spent most of my day volunteering at our local Just Between Friends consignment sale.  I really enjoy being able to spend the time helping others find what they need for their children as I get rid of a lot of things that my kids cannot use anymore.  I was able to help other moms find strollers and bicycles for their kids while I found clothes for mine.  Consignment sales are a great way to make money of the things that your kids cannot use anymore and make a little extra money for yourself.  By volunteering my time I am able to get more of my money back and not have to pay the consignment fee.  Just by consigning your clothes, you will get 65% of what you make back plus you have to pay a $10 fee.  Because I am able to give of my time, 24 hours in my case, I am able to make 75% of my money back and I do not have to pay the fee.  I was able to shop early and find some great deals for my kids.  My best score was an Easter dress for Amelia for $1.  It is a cute little dress with some tulle underneath and pink and orange flowers on the outside.  I was so excited to find this and not have to go to a store and spend at least $20 on a dress that she will maybe wear once.  I was also able to get Alex 6 pairs of very nice shorts (Gymboree) with the adjustable waist (a must with a tall skinny boy) for $2 a pair.  I got lots of t-shirts for both kids, shorts, dresses, rompers, and onesies and spent under $40 for everything that I bought.  I will shop again on the 50% off day which I will be able to shop early because I am volunteering so many hours.  If you are looking for a great way to make a little extra money, get rid of some of your kid's things, and have some time with other moms, I highly recommend looking into your local consignment sale.  I love Just Between Friends which is national franchise but look for one that you love and volunteer to make the most of your time and money!

My Running Shoes Died!

I am in the process of training for a 5k.  I run three nights a week for at least 30 minutes, usually more.  I went Wednesday to run so I grabbed my running shoes and slipped them on as usual.  I got the first one tied and started on the second.  That is when I felt it.  My shoes felt wobbly, kinda funny.  I take it off to examine it and there it is...the bottom of my running shoe is half off.  The bottom of my shoes was almost completely off!  I thought that I was going to cry.  I have had those since I was in college and I love them so much.  I had them broken in.  They were cushy in just the right spot.

Unfortunately, I do not have a huge amount of time to get a new pair and break  them in before my 5k.  I had to go out and find a pair that will work for now.  I did not want to spend a lot on them because there is a good chance that they will never come clean because I am running in the Color Me Rad race where they color bomb you as you run 3.1 miles.  I ended up finding a great pair at Target for under $20 on clearance.  They are pretty comfy and will not be a big deal if they never come clean again.  I have already decided to wear white clothing for the day so that I can come across the finish line as colorful as possible and not to worry about coming clean as it will be a thing of pride for completing my first 5k.  I am very excited to run this race and maybe another one soon. I am really enjoying running and it is helping get some of the baby weight off of me.  I only have 2 more weeks until my race and cannot wait for it to get here.  When I first started this endeavor I was not sure that I would ever be able to run 3 miles but now I am wondering if I will be able to do a 10k by the end of the year or early next year!  I love setting goals for myself and seeing them come to fruition.

A Warm and Sunny Day

Today was a perfect day in the south to get outside and enjoy the weather.  It was unseasonably warm today at 78 degrees.  Not a day that you want to be inside if possible.  We started off our day with our usual Tuesday activity of going to the library where today's theme was green.  A perfect topic for a day that already feels so spring like.  After Amelia's nap we spent a good afternoon at the park running out some energy.  Alex loves to run and run fast.  His favorite thing to do it to find a spot and have me say, "Ready, Set, Go!" so that he can run fast.  He would much rather run around the playground than actually play on the equipment.  I cannot wait for the weather to start getting more consistent in temperature so that we are able to enjoy the outdoors more.  Tomorrow comes the rain along with high winds and colder temperatures for a day or two before rebounding back into the 60's.  I cannot wait for it to be just warm enough for us to take our family hikes and picnics.  I love spending time outdoors!  I think that I am just over this winter and am so ready for it to be spring and summer to enjoy all of the wonderful things that this time of year brings.  I am ready for all of the farmer's markets to open with all of the season's wonderful bounty.  I am ready to play in the yard with the kids.  I am ready to explore all the wonderful festivals such as the annual art festival.  Oh well, it will eventually get here and then I will be ready to get inside from all of the 100 degree plus weather!  It is such a vicious cycle!

Consignment Sales

My day has been spent getting all of the clothes ready for one of the biggest consignment sales in Chattanooga.  I have been gathering all of the outgrown spring and summer clothes for a few months now but true to fashion I waited until the week of the sale to start tagging all of the clothes. Consignment sales are a great way to get rid of all your good condition, outgrown kids clothes and make some money, too.  As a SAHM, it is important to me to find all the little ways that I can to help my family our.  I love to coupon and save a lot on the things that we buy.  I also love participating in our local consignment sale.  It takes me a lot of time to prepare everything but I love seeing the extra money come in and all of the deals that I get for my kids.

Last year I decide to also become a volunteer at the Just Between Friends consignment sale.  I only volunteered 8 hours, just enough to let me shop a little early.  This year, I am going to be volunteering 24 hours.  It was so much fun!  I stayed busy the whole time that was there and was able to shop early and get some great deals.  When volunteering this many hours, I am able to shop the night before everyone else, even other volunteers.  It is also a great way to meet other moms, some that are SAHM and others that are working moms.  Last year, I was one of those working moms.  As a SAHM, I love finding new ways to have any adult time that I can get.  This is a great way to meet new people and who knows, maybe make a new friend or two while making a few extra dollars for your family.

If you are looking for a way to get rid of some of your kids clothes and toys, maybe look into your local consignment sale.  You will definitely make more here that at a yard sale.  The one that I consign and volunteer at even has the option to donate anything that you do not sale at the end to a local charity.  What a great way to get out socialize, make some money, and get some great deals for your children.  I think of it as recycling my kids things.  Much better than just packing away or throwing away things that are in good condition.  You don't always have to volunteer to consign (JBF does not require you to volunteer).  You could just drop your stuff off and make a few dollars just while doing what you do everyday.

Reorganizing with DIY projects

My husband and I have begun our spring cleaning a little early this year.  We have been working on reorganizing our living room the last few days.  We for some reason have a lot of scarves even though we live in the south where it rarely gets cold enough for us to even where one.  We have had them piled together in a box near the front door for a while now and we wanted to box/shelf so that we can repurpose it into our pantry.  I went through Pinterest (my fav!) to see what I could find to help me out with this task.
As I was perusing the site I came across where someone used a yard stick and clothes pins to create a scarf holder.  I started by dying my clothes pins.  In my pantry I had red and blue food coloring so that is what I used.  I filled three glasses with very hot water and added the food coloring along with a tablespoon of white vinegar.  I did red, blue, and purple.  I submerged the pins into the colored water and placed them outside so that they would not get accidentally spilled in the house.  ( I know, how could that happen with a very active 4 year old and me, who is extremely clumsy.)  I left them the glasses outside for over an hour just because I got busy inside with the kids.  The red and purple did a great job but the blue had not changed the color of the pins at all.  I decided to just do red and purple and moved the blue pins into those glasses to sit for at least an hour.  After the hour was up, I took all of the pins out and let them dry in the sun. After they were dry I used wood glue to glue the clothes pins to the yard stick.  I let it dry for at least an hour if not longer.  My husband was kind enough to hang it for me so that it would be straight on the wall and not lopsided.  It turned out really cool and it is a great place to hang our many scarves! I can't wait until my next Pinterest project!

DIY Projects and Saving Money when Shopping

As I have been trying to reorganize the house, I have been perusing Pinterest to get inspiration. Today, I made an art wall for Alex.  When he does an art project we usually hang it up on the front door or refrigerator.  I found a way to display his art on Pinterest so that it would more of a focal point.  I took some twine and fancy push pins and created a clothes line like art wall.  I found some fancy clothes pins on clearance today at Target that were meant for scrapbooking but I knew that they would be perfect for this project.  I love finding different uses for items!  I followed the handrail up the stairs with the twine and pinned it up tight so that when the art was hanging it would not sag too much.  Alex helped me find some of his artwork and it is now proudly on display up the stairway.


Also, I was able to stock up on a lot of cleaning supplies at Target today.  I saw a coupon in the Sunday flyer for $20 off $50 worth of cleaning supplies.  I did not think much about it because I could not imagine spending that much on cleaning supplies.  I am a serious bargain shopper and love to coupon!  I am a follower of Southern Savers (www.southernsavers.com) and her daily updates on great ways to save money.  I was able to attend one of her workshops in January and have been seriously hooked since then.  I have always couponed but now I am really starting to see all of the savings.  One of her posts this week was about the coupon that I saw in the Sunday flyer.  It was amazing!  Today I was able to by the following for $19 with a savings of $46.48!

Glade Started kit
3 cans of Scrubbing Bubbles bathroom cleaner
Swiffer Duster starter kit
Swiffer WetJet refill
Palmolive dish soap
2 Down Unstoppables (This was awesome!  I love these!)
a bunch of bananas
a pack of cardstock (for tagging my consignment items)
a pack of fancy scrapbooking clothes pins
2 boxes of Ziploc baggies
2 boxes of 50 ct Ibuprofen
Pledge Floor Care


All of this for $19!!!!  Plus I still have to take a picture of my receipt for Ibotta and that will add another $3.75 to my account. I was so excited!  It is amazing when the highlight of your day is a great deal on cleaning supplies!

What great deal have you been excited about lately?  Leave me a comment below!

Chicken Pot Pie, Caterpillars and Home Organization

When Alex got up this morning he told me that he wanted chicken and rice for dinner.  He said that his daddy thinks chicken is great so that is what he wanted.  I really did not want to just bake or roast some chicken so I went on a quest for a good chicken recipe.  I kept coming across recipes for chicken pot pie in the crockpot.  I could not find a recipe that I really liked so this is what I came up with.  Sorry there are not any picture of this.  When I went to get my camera it was dead.

Chicken Pot Pie in the crockpot.
3 Leg quarter pieces frozen (this is just what I had in the freezer)
4 potatoes, chopped
1 onion chopped
1 large back of carrots and peas (what I had on hand - you could use corn or green beans or whatever you have in your freezer)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
salt
pepper
garlic powder

I cooked on high for most of the day because of the frozen chicken.  If you do not use frozen chicken then I would cook on low all day.

The rest of my day was pondering ways to reorganize our house.  With two small kids things can get out of hand quickly. I am in need of new cool organization tips.  I love DIY so I have been searching through Pinterest and have found some great ideas.  I will be implementing several of these in the coming days and will post as I do the project.

Alex and I are working on the letter C this week.  Today we made a caterpillar out of pompoms, googly eyes, glue, pipe cleaners, and a clothes pin.  It turned out so cute although we had a hard time getting the pompoms to stick.  It just took a little extra time to dry.  He has really enjoyed playing with his new insect pal!

What are some fun and cheap ways that you have found to organize your house?  Leave me some comments with your ideas below!

Awesome Buttermilk Pancakes!

Today is National Pancake today.  Instead of going to IHOP to celebrate one of our favorite foods we decided to make breakfast for dinner.  My husband Tim grew up on really good diner pancakes.  Me, being a southerner growing up where diners are few and far between did not understand what it meant to have a diner pancake.  A few years ago, we finally came across a recipe from Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives cookbook that has become a staple when we make pancakes.

Here is our go to recipe.  It is the best that we have found so far.  This recipe does make a lot of pancakes so you may have leftovers.  You can freeze the leftovers for a quick breakfast (or lunch or dinner) another day.

Buttermilk Pancakes

3 cups All Purpose Flour (we use unbleached flour)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 quart buttermillk
2 eggs, beaten
6 tablespoons butter (3/4 of a stick) (unsalted), melted
Butter for the griddle or pan

You can also add blueberries if you would like.

Whisk the dry ingredients together in a bowl.  In a bigger bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and eggs.  Next, add the dry ingredients to the buttermilk and eggs.  Now whisk in the melted butter.  This is where you would want to stir in your blueberries if you are using them.

2.  Heat the pan or griddle to a medium heat.  Add butter and melt.  I use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to pour in the batter.  When you see bubbles forming on the top, it is time to flip over the pancakes.  If you want to keep them warm as you make the others you can place them as you make them into an oven heated to 200 degrees F.


These are so easy to make. We always use this recipe when we want to make pancakes.

Teething Babies and Read Across America

Today was a fun day!  We got to spend an extra day at the library this week for Read Across America.  This year the focus was on Mo Willem.  He is one of my favorite authors and I love reading his books to Alex and Amelia.  For those of you that are not familiar with his work, he writes and illustrates children's books.  Here are just a few: Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late, Knuffle Bunny, The Elephant and Peggie books, and many more.  His books have great illustrations and the writing is so funny and entertaining for the young and old.

Today at the library several of the librarians took turns reading some of his books to the kids there for Read Across America.  Amelia and Alex loved every minute of the books.  It was great when they showed the video of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus because it brought to life a book that Alex and I have read many times.  While I love to create the voices of the characters as I read, it is just not the same as seeing it.

After reading the books, the kids where shown how to make a pigeon for there craft today to be used in a surprise at the end of the class.

Finally after everyone complete their pigeons all of the kids were lined up against the wall.  For the big surprise the librarians had created a bus out of a very large cardboard box.  All of the kids were invited in so that their pigeon could ride the bus but not let the pigeon drive the bus!  The kids are parents alike had a great time during this special event.


Also, in the last few days we have had the fun of a teething almost 8 month old in our house.  She has had no teeth up until last Friday and now she has two.  Amelia is not a fan of teething rings although she will chew on just about anything else.  She has become extra attached to her pacifier although up until now she really just has wanted it for sleeping.  Oh the joys of a teething baby! Last night was awful.  We somehow managed to loose all of her pacifiers so out of desperation Tim made a quick run to Target to pick up a new pack.  Yesterday, she was clingy and moody.  Today, she has been feeling much better at least until the ugly teething monster shows up again. (We all know that it will return soon to bring more teeth!)

What are some of your tricks to dealing with a teething baby?

Family Day

Today was spent having fun with the family.  My oldest nephew turned five earlier this week and we went to his birthday party today.  This gave Alex his first opportunity to go bowling.  He really enjoyed the bowling but really hated how loud the bowling alley was with all the arcade activities going on around us.  Alex had a lot of ear infections as a baby that eventually led to tubes.  He has not had an ear infection since but has always been sensitive to noise since the ear infections started.  His hearing is fine just a little extra sensitive.  He even managed to get a spare!  He had a great time with his cousins and seeing all his old friends from daycare that he has not seen since I became a stay at home mom.

The rest of the day was spent at the new playground near our townhouse and watching movies.  It is a Redbox kind of weekend at our house.  Last night we rented Monsters University and Wolverine. Monsters University was really cute.  I enjoyed watching it with Alex last night.  Tim watched Wolverine while I wrote my blog today and browsed Pinterest.  I love Pinterest.  So many projects so little time!  I am always finding recipes to try, sewing projects to complete, and things to try with the kids.  Maybe one day I will get to do at least half of the things that I have pinned to try.  There are so many people out there with so many great ideas.  Later we will be picking up Thor and The Internship both of which I am excited to see.

Tomorrow will be hopefully be a beautiful day at 70 degrees so that we can spend the afternoon after church at the park.  I really love having lazy weekends.  They do not happen often enough.