Welcome Little One!

Ambria is here! She arrived 5 weeks early on July 23, 2009 at 2:02am. She was 18.75 inches long and weighed in at 5lbs 5oz. We are all home and though there are no major health problems, Ambria does have a diaper rash and a yeast infection which as of yet, we have not been able to conquer. She has quite a pair of lungs on her (must have gotten them from Mommy) and doesn't sleep well at night like her big brother did. She does eat very well and is already up to 6lbs and almost fits in her newborn size clothing.

Meal Plan Monday

Due to certain financial set backs, my normal way of life had been temporarily set off course. We are still playing catch-up (with a lot of catching up to do) but I can finally put together a small meal plan. I was able to buy a few weeks of groceries for $100 so now time to post the planned meals :) Meat was decently priced at the store when I went shopping so I bought sweet sausage, ground beef, chicken, pork, and a roast. Produce was also reasonable so I loaded up on spinach, mushrooms, grapes, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, a few ears of corn, and bell peppers. Thinking back, I wish I would have remembered to buy apples and bananas.

For the past few weeks I have had my youngest sister staying with me to help me out with my son, Aiden. She was very good about getting him up in the morning so I could sleep in for an extra hour or two. Last night, however, she had to return home to clean and pack for a trip to Colorado. Last Tuesday, Ian finally started working again so that means today, I will officially be alone again with the baby. I have so much to do! I have loaves of bread to bake, cleaning to catch up on, and well... you know how it goes. So that's what I'll be doing today.

Tomorrow we'll do some deep cleaning!

Sunday the Fun Day.

For some reason I was compelled to glance back at my previous blogs to recap what I've blogged about and to see how far off on a tangent I had strayed to. I noticed that the amount of pictures I included with each of my blogs has severely declined and how saddening that is! I love pictures. After sorting through my dozens of pictures of dinner (to find the best ones) I realized why this has picture-dwindling has happened. Over half of the pictures I take with my camera turn out slightly blurry.

I currently use a Fujifilm FinePix A500, which I thought to be a decent camera. Perhaps it was at one point (when I first received it 3 years ago) but the quality in it has worn thin. Hopefully Santa will bring me a nice new camera this year. I'll ask the hubby to remind him for me. *wink*

I have a stack of magazines and TONS of homemaking webpages that I've saved/added to favorites that I am going to shuffle through today in hopes of updating and filling out my HMB. It's already in pretty good shape but there is no such thing as too much information. I'm not all about borrowing ideas though, and will also print out some of the things that have worked best for me.

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In other news, Aiden's existing 2 teeth are gaining a 3rd companion. His top left is coming in which is good news for someone, I'm sure. This new delighful addition caused my darling son to wake up screaming his head off at 2am, also making him nearly inconsolable. I gave him a dose of Children's Tylenol and 5oz of cold milk to help with the pain and Ian and I took turns rocking the poor guy. He finally fell back to sleep around 3:30am. Whew! I have $30 to use towards groceries that need to last us for the next 2 weeks so once I get my necessities purchased and if there is any money left over, I will buy an infant toothbrush in hopes of teaching him decent hygene at a young age.

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To draw our day to a close, we will be driving out to Desert Hills to celebrate my father-in-law's birthday. Happy Birthday Thom!

Eating Healthy

Upon organizing a stack of "needs to be organized" I came across my HMB (Home Management Binder) which I diligently spent many hours on while I was pregnant with Aiden. I included a section for a comprehensive year long calendar, schedules for each family member (which also had daily to-do's), a menu section, a children section compromised of many different informational magazine clippings and ideas on raising children of all ages (organized by age), budget to help organize home finances, an "Other" section, contacts, and finally an unlabeled section. I was flipping through the pages and when I reached the unlabelled portion I got caught up reading some of the info I had there. The very first few pages discussed "Super Foods" that everyone should include in their diet. When I found this article the first time it had encouraged me to buy barley (one of the super foods) and I learned that I actually love barley! I decided to add it to tonights dinner which was Bean Casserole - here is the recipe - because this article said this about Barley:

This filling grain stacks up favorably to rice and potatoes. It has 170 calories per cooked cup, respectable levels of protein and fiber and relatively low fat... Studies show that barley efectively lowers cholesterol by up to 15% and has powerful anti-cancer agents. Scientists say it cures constipation better than laxatives - and that can promote weight loss, too.

Excitingly enough, beans were also on this list of foods to eat being sited because,

"Beans are one of the best sources of plant protein. They have the most protein with the least fat of any food ad they're high in potassium but low in sodium."

So tonight's dinner was quite pleasing both because of the immense flavor but also because of the internal satisfaction that it merited. I served some of my homemade bread (sprinkled with garlic powder) on the side and the whole meal really hit the spot. The next time I go grocery shopping I am going to try to buy most of the ingredients on that list and incorporate them into meals as often as possible.

I really would like to go back to following my HMB as closely as possible so throughout the week I think I'll set some time aside to update it and slowly work it back into my schedule. So check back for updates!

Lean, Clean, Earth-friendly Green Floors!

Although the idea of Eco-friendly or "green" lifestyles has become significantly more popular in the last few years, it has been the way of life for many people for generations past. The best part? Living green is surprisingly kind on the wallet! Not only are household cleaners competitively priced with non-green cleaners but there are other alternatives to explore for those of you who are looking to leave the smallest stamp on the planet: reducing wasteful packaging, and using materials that are gentler.
Here are some of the cool products I've found and the categories I've separated them into:

::Cleaners::
For greasy, no-wax floors:
1 cup vinegar
1/4 cup washing soda
1 tablespoon vegetable oil-based liquid soap
2 gallons hot water
Combine all ingredients, stirring well to dissolve the washing soda. Mop as usual.(From Clean and Green)

All-purpose floor cleaner I:
1/8 cup vegetable-oil-based liquid soap (usually coconut oil-based, found in health food stores and called all-purpose or dish washing soap)
1/2 cup vinegar
2 gallons warm water
Put soap and vinegar in the bottom of a bucket. Fill the bucket with warm water, swishing the ingredients around a bit to activate the soap. Wash the floor as you normally would.

All-purpose floor cleaner II
1 cup vinegar
1 pail water
Wash the floor as you normally would.(From Bastyr Center for Natural Health)

::Floor Tools::
For mopping, there has always been the never failing bucket and wash rag on your hands and knees method, but these days who really has the back for that? Especially when science has discovered how to attach that rag to a stick? Recently, we have implemented the same idea for sweeping to help reduce the fly-away dust and hair and heaven knows what else that gets propelled into the air while using a broom. The cloth-on-a-stick method clings to the normally airborne debris far better than a conventional broom which inevitably reduces the frequency of dusting and improves air quality. (Yay!) We've all seen the Swiffer Sweeper and Swiffer Mop. You can make your own washable cloths for these tools at home, which means nothing to throw away. There are TONS of great sites that teach you how to make these, however my favorite site happens to be a fellow blogspot site run by Karin who came here 16 years ago from Germany. Here's how she makes them:

1.Get a package of microfiber towels. You can find these in the automotive section of most stores. They are made of 80% Polyester and 20% Polyamide.
2. If you are using a green Swiffer (dry) all you have to do is trim the towels to fit your swiffer and stick the ends into the holes on top. You can serge it if you like but microfiber generally does not fray.
3. If you are using the purple Swiffer (wet) all you have to do is tri-fold the towels and sew a few lines across to turn the towel into a pad. I do two rows lengthwise and 3 across.
You won't need many rows - just enough to keep the pad stable once it gets wet.The purple Swiffers have Velcro on the bottom that sticks perfectly to your microfiber pad and will hold it in place without you having to sew Velcro to your pad itself.

It takes less than a minute to make the wet pads and will be a big money saver if you have laminate or tile floors and swiffer a lot. The microfiber attracts dust and hair when dry and when wet mopping is very absorbent. It also is easy to wash and quick to dry. A very economical solution to reduce waste and save money!
Depending on your floor it may take a little more 'push' to wet mop with this pad. I have found no difference on my ceramic tile floor but I have to push a little harder on my laminate floor. On the plus side though the disposables never got my laminate clean. As soon as it dried I could see little greasy hand prints again! With the microfiber pads I get it clean in one swoop. :)The pads can then go in the washer and dryer to be used again.
Karin

For something that might be far easier can be found on the ehow.com site and implements using pieces of felt! Click here to see it.

Tipnut.com also has a bunch (15!) different ways to make reusable swiffer cloths and you can find them here.

Let's get to work on our floors today! For those of you with kids, I know this can be a never-ending journey but sweeping and mopping on a daily basis will sure help to reduce the grime and slime that comes with having young ones around the house. Good Luck!

Ambria and Misc.

*IN THE NEWS*: I had my OB visit today and amongst the madness, I've learned that our baby girl is coming early! 6 weeks or less. I can't wait to see her. My iron count is still horribly low which leaves me fatigued 24/7 but hopefully it will level out after Ambria is born.

I've done some digging and found a bunch of frugal-based sites and options for homemakers and also found some great links to sites that can help you keep your home in tip-top shape. I know I've gone off on a more personal tangent with this blog so I intend on getting it back to the homekeepers guide to sanity that it once was. For starters I will separate topics by green or non green since I have followers of both varieties. I'll also have homework (housework) projects that will be due on a daily or weekly basis. Sometimes things are just easier to maintain if a deadline is implemented. So lets start at the beginning.

My family is in a financial crunch right now which means discounts, sales, and bargains of all shapes and sizes (along with sparing) goes a long way.

If you haven't yet looked into a great resource for saving money on groceries, please check out:
www.couponsense.com

I save SO much money with this website because it pulls ALL of the grocery items on sale at all of your local stores and posts them. It also helps you organize coupons for those stores to maximize on the sale by getting more money off of the already on sale item.

I do not subscribe to the newspaper (yet) so instead I write down my grocery list and find as many of the things on my list as possible and then go to my local Wal-Mart to do my shopping. Wal-Mart will price match their competitors prices. All you have to remember to do is take in the weekly grocery ads that come in the mail. My main rule of thumb is to NEVER purchase any meat products (ground beef, chicken, pork, etc) unless I can get it for under $1.99 per pound. This is a great deal since I ONLY buy extra lean meats which are usually $4.99 per pound. When meat is on sale I stock up and usually buy around 25-30lbs. Assuming I am paying $1.99 (even though it is sometimes less) this means I am spending $50-60 bucks a month for meat which is outstanding!
Another great money saving tip is pasta. You can buy 6-8 servings of pasta for under a dollar. If you buy the premade sauce this is also usually only $1-2, however if you make your own you can do it for about 60 cents. That's a full meal for a family of 4 (including leftovers) for super cheap! If you add meat, it only raises the cost of the entire family's meal by less than $2.

More to come!

When life throws you lemons....

I'm sick of lemons! Unless you put them in a wonderful Lemon Meringue, I'm not interested! Our family is going through an extremely trying time right now. All I can do is pray that we will find our way. I love my husband and support him and pray that he can find work in this economic travesty.

Aiden is healthy (and quite the eater!) however he has a weird bump that appeared on his outer thigh. I'm going to continue watching it for a few more days and if it doesn't clear up we'll be headed to his pediatrician to identify it.

Ambria's arrival is also nearing and I couldn't be more excited. She is still small though and my iron and protein levels are horrifyingly low. Tomorrow is my doctor's appointment with the OB to see how things are going. Although I love my family and the new life we have brought into this world, Ian and I are DONE adding to the population for a few more years. I need a break from being pregnant and time to rough house with the kids. Perhaps enjoy time riding the horses, or relaxing in a hot tub - things you can't do while pregnant. I mostly want to have more energy. Growing humans takes a lot out of you. In 2011 (unless i'm lucky enough to get the opportunity to go sooner) I will also be able to finish school. I know I could still do this if I were pregnant but this way it will just be easier. I'll try to post on the findings of the doctor's evaluation. Have a great Wednesday night!

Back to Reality

Well guys.. my blogging vacation has come to an end. It's been a very weird few weeks for me, but enjoyable all the same. I have been able to spend every minute of every day with my husband and our son doing the things we enjoy. We even got the kids' rooms painted! Aiden's room was repainted with a light cream color (Behr's Artist's Canvas) with a blue accent wall. Ambria's room was done the same except her accent wall is a beautiful lavendar color (Behr's Purple Pansies) I was able to organize my scrapbooking room, the upstairs entertainment room, and even go through and sort more of Aiden's clothes. The time hubby and I have spent together has been priceless. We have been staying up until 3am nearly every night this week either watching a movie, things recorded on our DVR, or playing on our computers together. Needless to say I was drained when I dragged myself out of bed at 6:45am to collect and feed my crying child. Astonishingly, Ian got up shortly after and migrated to the couch to lay down in our presence. I continued my morning routine while leaving the boys in the living room. When Aiden started getting fussy, Ian jumped to the occassion and took care of him, and got him off to bed for a nap. Exhausted, I laid down and within minutes, I was out.
When I came to, it was nearly 10am!! I felt like such a slacker, but I was well rested and in good spirits. The house was quiet. Very quiet and I slinked out of bed and into the living room just to find that it was empty. I rounded the corner into the kitchen and stopped dead in my tracks. My jaw dropped and I was rendered immobile. There in my kitchen was my husband Ian. Dishes (from the past few days that had piled up) all washed and put away. Counters and sink scrubbed. The kitchen was sparkling and he was to thank. I asked if he was ok, if he had done anything wrong, if he wanted something, and if he was ill. His answers were Yes, No, No, and No. His head revealed no fever. I was dumbfounded. Ever since we first met he had never offered to clean anything and here we were, almost 3 years later and he was cleaning my kitchen. I was so greatful. His act of kindness has put me in the best mood I have felt in a long long time. To top it off, he even bought me The Sims 3! He can be such a sweetheart when he actually tries.
Sadly, all good things must come to an end. Tomorrow he will be returning to work and my days of constant, never-ending housework and cheerio duty will continue. I have also picked up more work with my Mary Kay business and will be working more often than just Saturdays. Hard work pays off though and our goal is to have our monthly expenses down close to $2,000 per month. Here's hoping :)

On leave...

So as you may have noticed, I have taken a week off of my blogging. I will be absent a few days more and will update everyone on my adventures!

Vacation Shmaycation

Today I was supposed to go out of town with my mom for the weekend. She needed a break from work, and family things and I simply needed a break. Unfortunately this beautiful (seriously) weather we've been having has dampened (no pun intended) our plans. We had originally decided to go to Roosevelt, AZ and spend the weekend on the lake. Big body of water + thunderstorms = bad idea. So now I'm not sure what she has in store as far as a reprieve.

The weather forecast for the day predicts a high of 83 degrees and thunderstorms throughout the day so I'm shutting off the A/C and opening the doors and windows to try and take in as much of this weather as I possibly can before it slips away. To set the mood I'll make some homemade egg flower soup and toasted sandwiches for lunch and perhaps even watch a good movie on TV.

Have a great rainy friday everyone!

Recap of Swimming

So Aiden (and cousin Kaylee) went to their first swimming lesson last night and we had a ton of fun! We practiced kicking and dunking under water. Neither of them shed a single tear. Hopefully he'll be doggy-paddling by the end of summer! No rush though, he's got the rest of his life to learn to swim. I was really happy that Ian decided (with some minor brute force) to come along to the lesson. I think it was a confidence boost for Aiden since he seems to favor his daddy's presence over mine most of the time.

We ended up leaving kind of late so we did not get to our spaghetti dinner. Instead, we stopped at Wienerschnitzel (we have never eaten there before) to grab something quick and easy. The food was ok, nothing spectacular but it was so steeply priced for the amount you are given that I don't believe I will ever eat there again.

Today I'll just do some light cleaning and maybe even some baking. It's beautiful outside right now (with a chance of Thunderstorms) so I may even go pick up the cigarette butts our neighbors toss into our front yard and kindly leave them in a pile on their doorstep. We'll see what I get around to.

Timeline Tuesday

Wow! I am so exhausted! I spent over 4 hours with my grandmother working on my family tree. I finally have nearly 400 people in it and that's just on my side of the family. Of course I have more to add, but I needed a break from all of the records and paperwork. I hope to add some of Ian's family ancestry to the tree later tonight.

Aiden has swimming lessons at 6:30 tonight and I am so stoked! I hope he has fun! I'll try to get pictures :)

Ian stayed home again today and babysat for the day for me. I was pleased to see my house still intact and my son still living (and even fed) when I returned home. I guess men aren't completely incapable of nurturing. Perhaps he just got lucky and any disasters are either well hidden or took care of themselves. Either way, it was a good day today. Time to change into our bathing suits and head to swimming lessons!

PS - Spaghetti & Meatballs for dinner!

Tardy Sunday Show & Tell

Due to a very busy day yesterday, I was unable to get my show and tell sunday blog up. I'll post it here now. Saturday night Ian stayed up until 2am installing and programing our new surround sound in the living room. It sounds great!
As you can see from the pictures; we now have 3 new JBL front speakers, a new Yamaha receiver, a 10" JBL subwoofer (far right of bottom pic) and not pictured are our 2 in-ceiling rear speakers. We are totally rocking! The great sound really compliments our 61" flat screen. So let's have a movie night! Bring over your favorite flick (no chick flicks please) and I'll pop some popcorn. That pretty much wraps up my show and tell for the week and/or month. Please leave comments to talk about something new and exciting for you!

Simply Saturday

I've finished my morning routine and done a few things around the house. Now it's time to pack up and drive to Phoenix. I'll be spending the day with my family creating a memorial mural for my late Great Grandmother. Those of you who wish to keep in the swing of things can focus on the Master Bedroom. Pick everything up clean the floors, dust the blinds, organize the closet, wipe down baseboards and light switches, and (if applicable) dust the fan.

I need to try to remember to call APS and inquire why they are charging me twice in the same month. Hopefully this little memo in my blog will help... Probably not.

Also, an update on my goals...

1) Anemia - I've been doing great with this one (so I think) and have been drinking 2-3 slimfast replacement meals every day between meals. They have 15% of my daily iron which is great! I've also been sharing lentils with Aiden and keeping my focus on beans and meats (red meat is best for iron.) During my next check up I'll find out what my levels are.

2) Teeth - This is going great as well. I'm still only brushing twice a day (that third time is so hard to get to during the hustle and bustle) but I'm using Crest Whitening Strips which are working great.

3) Thighs - This one is a bit harder to see instant results since it can take a while to firm legs. It may just be my natural happy high from doing so well on my other goals but I don't hate my legs nearly as much. I wore shorts out on the town yesterday while I ran errands in Phoenix, Glendale, and Cave Creek. I know they aren't down an inch, but at least I feel better about them and that is improvement already.

Tomorrow will be my Show & Tell Sunday. Once it's posted, leave comments to show and tell something new that you have gotten or learned this past week.

Also, in case you haven't noticed I have added a new section to the right hand side of my blog. It will show what Aiden is eating for the day. Enjoy!

Talk about Tuesday!

Happy Tuesday everyone! I've decided to work on a few of my personal goals and I'm blogging about it to try and keep myself motivated. I would like you to know that I in no way consider myself vain but the goals I intend to work on focus on my physical appearance. I'm not trying to catch attention. I just want to feel better about myself and be healthier. Everyone is looking for that fountain of youth, right? So here are my goals for this month:

1) Reduce Anemia by bringing iron levels from 9.5 to at least 11 or 12.
2) Visibly whiten teeth without dental bleaching.
3) Slim thighs by 1 inch.

So now lets visit each of my goals so I can explain them further. Goal number 1 is clearly a health risk to both me and my baby. Both my radiologist and my OB doctor have agreed that Ambria is in the bottom 10th percentile for growth and it can be a cause for concern. They said she could possibly not be getting enough nutrients so I'm going to do my best to fatten her up and keep myself healthy. For those of you who may not know, Anemia is a medical condition in which the limits the bloods ability to transport oxygen to the tissues, either because of too few red blood cells, or because of too little hemoglobin. This can be caused by too little iron or an inability to process iron; which happens to be my problem. Anemia causes a colorful array of symptoms such as:

-Fatigue and loss of energy
-Unusually rapid heart beat
-Shortness of breath
-Headache
-Difficulty concentrating
-Dizziness
-Pale skin
-Leg cramps
-Insomnia
-Hunger for strange substances such as paper, ice, or dirt (a condition called pica).
-Upward curvature of the nails referred to as koilonychias.
-Soreness of the mouth with cracks at the corners.
-Loss of sense of touch.
-A wobbly gait and difficulty walking.
-Clumsiness and stiffness of the arms and legs.
-Dementia
-Hallucinations, paranoia and schizophrenia.

Obviously, some of these symptoms are more severe than the others and really only occur with chronic anemia. I only have a few of the preceding symptoms and I'd like to work to make myself feel better; thus, my first goal. I am taking a vitamin B12 supplement and loading up on beans and meat to help but so far that has only kept me lingering at 9.5 on the scale. I recently bought a whole bunch of the oh-so-delicious (seriously!) Slim Fast. No I'm not trying to lose 20lbs while I'm pregnant, but Slim Fast happens to have 15% of my needed daily intake of Iron (according to the can) so maybe it will help? Time to do some research so I wont have to get weekly injections!
Goal number 2 I have decided to employ because of television. Yes, television. I was watching an episode of house when something caught my attention - the actors' teeth! They were all remarkably white! I realize they get invasive whitening on a regular basis and tv can make anything look white (or yellow) but I would like whiter teeth. Something about it just seems refreshing. Not to say mine are brown or yellow. I'd just like mine to be above the standard. I plan to do this by increasing my brushing to 3 times a day (when able) and using whitening strips. We'll see how they look in 2 weeks :)
Goal number 3 is purely for my own satisfaction. I have never liked my thighs, ever and I have finally decided to start doing something about it. I understand I'll never have super model legs, but I can settle for some that are just a little less jiggly. Perhaps some leg exercises are in order?

I better get to my cleaning! Have a great day everyone!

Sad Ending on a Great Day.

Did everyone have a Happy Mother's Day? Yesterday we learned the true meaning of recognizing your loving mother more often than just one day a year. My dear Great Grandmother, Myrtle Krogh, is over a century (that's 100 years) old. Yesterday, on Mother's Day, she went into the hospital with heart problems among others and a call went out to her family members that it was time to come in and say goodbye. We made the drive out there and were greeted by at least 30 other family members who had all gathered in sadness. This woman is a huge part of history. Because of her, so many people have come into this world and done great things for our family and society. Myrtle married Eldor Krogh and together they had two daughters, the start of a snowball effect that would leave Myrtle with seven grandchildren (all married), nineteen great grandchildren, and five (at the time of this blog) great great grandchildren. That's five generations and 33 people (not counting spouses or step-children) all because of one woman. We stayed at the hospital for a few hours and prayed when the chaplain came; after which, many of the family members decided to stay through the night with her while some left because of unavoidable schedules.

Myrtle Krogh breathed her last breath this morning, so it is today we join hands in sorrow and say goodbye to a truly amazing legend.

Happy Mother's Day

I'd like to wish all of the hard-working mothers out there a Happy Mother's Day! Take the day off and enjoy yourself!

Errand Wednesday

Good afternoon everyone. Today was supposed to be my errand running day, however since Ian was not able to get the day off, I am limited in the number of things I can do. I'll re-write my wednesday to-dos and figure something else out. My family has spent the better part of this month at their summer house in Colorado and are coming home tonight. This means we can all enjoy a "Welcome Home" dinner at some last minute choice restaurant. This is alway exciting. I've updated the menu for the next few days to reflect tonight's and future plans. My new business cards are in too. If any fellow stay-at-home/work-from-home mom's would like to join me at the mall either for some good time away from home or to promote their work, just let me know!

Last night dinner was a hit! I was really tired and not feeling particularily well so instead of a homemade chutney, I used a canned substitute. Lazy, I know. For the side I cut up some carrots and added parsley and garlic. The parsley really adds to the sweetness of the carrots when cooked together. For dessert we indulged in some oreo cookie ice cream. On tonight's menu: Salisbury Steak! Yum!

Today, I will spend the day cleaning. There isn't anything major, just minor maintaining things that need to be done. Such as wiping down counters and mirrors and dusting. I've done a fair job at sweeping, vacuuming, and mopping daily so my floors are in good shape.

Sunday - The Day of Rest

Well my floors are shimmering and clean! As is the rest of my house... for now. I guess today I'll just relax and enjoy myself. Last night's chili was good but hubby didn't make it home until 10:30pm so we were too tired to savor it. Tonight we will be feasting on Chicken Parmagiana; which is a swiss and mozz stuffed chicken smothered in thick tomato chutney (or sauce depending on preference) and will be served over a parmesan pasta! Yummy! I'll make an attempt to post pics later.

F.F.F! Saturdays!

Bright and early Good Morning to you! Ian and I woke up at 4:30am today so we got showered and brushed. Ian started doing his paper work for work and I got my morning routine underway.
As of last night, we are back on track with our dinners. I made sausage and potatoes with some beautiful green bell peppers tossed in. The whole meal from start to finish only took me about 20 minutes and it was quite yummy! We skipped dessert last night, which I suppose is for the best.
On the menu for tonight is my zesty 3-pepper chili! I love the heartiness of homemade chili and nothing compliments it better than a melty grilled cheese sandwich. So needless to say, I am stoked about eating dinner tonight. Actually, I love eating in general.

In other news, Aiden is amazing me every day! He's 7 months old now and he's already taken his first steps (without any support) and I was lucky enough to get pictures! He took 3 steps unassisted so gracefully, but as you can see, his fourth step led to tragedy. Don't worry, we caught him in time. He walks along furniture flawlessly. With a little more practice, our big man will be running in no time!

Every first and third Saturday of the month I will be treating my clients to a day of free food, fun and facials (F.F.F) at the Mary Kay Studio in Mesa! It's absolutely free for you and there are lots of prizes to win. In addition I also conduct skin care classes (also free) and give free facials to anyone interested. Go ahead, invite a few friends for a ladies day out.

My new shipment of invetory is almost finished. It's a tedious task to count each item individually to verify receipt. Luckily I have experience doing inventory for Verizon Wireless so I know a few tricks that helped to speed up the process a bit. So once I get these last few things counted and put away I'll be all set for my next 3 classes. Then time to order more and do it all over again.

Join me in the fight to have clean dishes!

Clean out the food trap in your dishwasher.

There. Doesn't that feel better? I thought so. Last night I ended up frying up some chicken, bell peppers, onions, and pineapple and tossing it all with some sweet and sour sauce over long grain rice. So the menu will all be adjusted accordingly. We did consume our remaining pudding for dessert though.
Inventory took me hours last night and I'm still not finished. I should be able to get it all done by this afternoon... I hope. I didn't have to do it but I'd like it all neat and organized instead of piled in boxes. Tidiness looks better for business anyway.

April 30, 2009

I've updated my "What's For Dinner" section throughout May 5th (cinco de mayo) and my daily to-dos. Today is shopping day for me. I spent almost 3 full hours at Walmart! It was so worth it though. Thanks to taking my time to search for the best deals at other stores, I got 2 entire carts full of groceries (so full I had to walk slowly so things wouldn't fall from the carts) and I only spent $167. Now that is budgeting! Woohoo! Deals were so good that I stocked up on things that I don't normally buy. Might as well while it's dirt cheap.
Today was Ian's day off so to thank him for watching Aiden while I enjoyed taking my time to shop (for once) I came home and cooked up some chicken, shredded it, added miracle whip and cheese and slapped it all on some bread with pesto for some tasty lunch sandwiches. Afterwards we enjoyed a little bit of pudding. Aiden ate green beans blended with carrots and baby cereal, 4 oz of cow's milk, and 8 oz of 100% mixed fruit juice. He usually doesn't get 2 bottles of tasty fluids with his day time meals. Normally he only gets juice or water but he only had 3oz of milk for breakfast so I figured if he was still hungry, he could have more.

I've started organizing my home office for my skin care business. There is so much to do! I have a whole living room full of inventory that I need to organize and get put away until I hold my next skin care class or make over. I love treating other women to a spa-like day and making them feel pretty. I'm glad I got into this business.

It's not on my to-do list for today but I think if I have time I am going to wash all of the base boards in the house. It's best to stay on top of it so you don't end up renting a power chisel to get the grime off.

Recipes to come for meals on the list, so stay tuned!

On Track Tuesday

Good morning everyone! Feel like you've kind of fallen off track with your house work? Me too. I have had so much going on lately that I just feel like I've letting my poor house go and gain a few pounds. (yes my house is a female) Today, once my errands are finished, I'm going to play catch-up. Normally you read that I am cleaning the master bath. Since Aiden isn't old enough to use his for anything other than bath time, our upstairs bathroom is fairly unused and doesn't require much/any cleaning... or so I thought. I went up to give him a bath after one of his "I-like-to-suck-on-cereal-until-it-becomes-a-sticky-pile-of-goo-and-then-smear-it-everywhere-i-can-reach" ordeals and I was horrified at the condition of his bathroom. The tub has the ever-dreaded ring, the toilet is getting one too somehow, and there is... stuff on everything. What kind of stuff? I can't even identify it. We had our air ducts cleaned last week and apperently when they pull off the vents to clean them out, "stuff" goes everywhere and the man who was kind enough to clean ours was not kind enough to clean up after himself. That bathroom is top cleaning priority today. As is sweeping which I am cursed to do twice a day until I can get my hands on some sort of area rug.
So grab your cleaners and buckets and lets kill this filthy enemy once and for all (or at least for today.)

Cheers.

Welcome to a New Week!

Good morning everyone! I hope you all had a fun weekend. Hubby is fried from a day out in the sun and burned pretty badly so he decided to stay home today. I surprised him with homemade french toast, eggs, and sausage for breakfast. Now time to get some cleaning done!

All About Aiden... and Other Things

Yesterday Ian, Aiden, and I spent a few hours outside landscaping our back yard. Aiden and I sunburned. Even Ian got a bit pink. Our retaining wall is coming along nicely though. We even went on a happy family outing to Home Depot (which we love) to shop for future investments and little things that we could use now. Home Depot is our sweet spot. I do feel bad about Aiden's sunburn though. It isn't bad; he's just a bit pink, but normally I do my best to shield him from anything that could be bad for him. I guess it'll build character like so many other things often do. I've even taken him completely off formula and I am so glad I did. For some reason, when he had formula he was always hungry. Now that I've switched him to only solids and 2 daily bottles of cows milk, he is only wanting 3 to 4 meals a day. And he seems happier, more playful, and just better off in general. He even takes fewer naps which is nice because now I can spend more time with him.
His vocabulary has expanded exponentially this month too. He can say "baba" "dada" and "feet" (mama is a work in progress) as well as wave hello and bye-bye. He enjoys watching tv with us and is even learning to feed himself off of a "big boy" (toddler) spoon. He seems to be growing up so fast.

Today I have an 11am business meeting. I'm excited about it because I have already been mentioned at the Mary Kay Texas Conference (which is a huge honor) and I am really going places with this company. I wish I would have tried something like this before. The secret is to sell what there will always be a demand for. The good thing about selling beauty products is even if the economy crashes and burns, women and teens everywhere will still want to look beautiful so they will never stop buying. It's become a necessity, like food.

Well, I had better get my morning routine finished. Have a great day everyone!

A Quick Blog Before Work...

My homemade pizza turned out quite tasty! It was a fun lunch to make for Aiden and myself. Ian got home at 5pm yesterday so I gave him what was left; much to his approval. Last night for dinner we finally did get to our Chicken Alfredo, but I didn't post a recipe since it is similar to spaghetti in the fact that everyone surely already has a recipe for it that they love. If you "need" the recipe from me, just ask. There is a recipe posted for tonight's dinner.

I noticed I have been slacking off a little bit when it comes to crossing out the things I've done throughout the day so I'll have to work on that. Today, my house will be left alone for a majority of the day since I'll be working in Phoenix. Saturdays are my big work days (not that I'm complaining) and I generally leave early in the morning and don't get back until dusk or later.

I think I'm going to start a show & tell day for my readers. One of the other bloggers that I follow has a sort of show and tell on Fridays to show what cool antique she has obtained that week. I do love antiques, however I don't always aquire new things on a weekly basis. So I may hold mine only once a month. I'll think about it and let you know. Have a great day readers!

House Hunting?

Hello everyone! Has the economy got you down? Well what better time to celebrate? Buy a house! Houses will never be this easily attained ever again.

The house you see pictured here is in my neighborhood and is going for $89,000. It's fairly turn-key which means it doesn't need any major work and is move-in ready. The kitchen is gorgeous and the rooms are huge; but this is common for all the houses like this in our neighborhood.

This second house is only $64k!

Anyone considering buying a house should seriously check out El Mirage. The realtor we used even offers a bonus program for new buyers. Just let me know if you would like his number. Happy house hunting!

Good morning everyone. Yesterday I kind of did a little bit of slacking off as far as housework is concerned; however, I replaced it with something much more important - quality family time. Ian, Aiden, and I spent the whole day together just enjoying the day. Also, whatever ailment plagued Aiden is now residing within me somewhere and I am miserably sick. I didn't even make our chicken alfredo for dinner.
"Oh my goodness, you ate fast food?!"
Heavens no. We had leftover sweet sausage white chili. I may not have revealed this about myself but when cooking for Ian and myself, I generally cook enough for six people. Many times we have leftovers which make a great breakfast or packable lunch for Ian.

I am still sick today but I will do my best to catch up. No, the house does not look like a disaster zone. It could use a light sweep, vacuum, and mop. I also have quite a bit of laundry folding to do.

So I'm off to play catch-up!

Wake Up & Smell Your House

...only take the time to enjoy it! I was recently asked about non-chemical ways to freshen the air in rooms that weren't close enough for heavenly kitchen aromas to reach. There are so many natural tricks to try. Here are just a few ideas for you:


Simmer your Way to Freshness
You can use a simmering potpourri crock that is available at craft stores, and even Wal-Mart! Fill it half-full with water and add a few cloves, a couple dashes of cinnamon, and a few drops of extract (vanilla, orange, lemon, etc). Citrus peels are another great ingredient. You could also use a sliced apple with a few cinnamon sticks to create an apple pie scent. Plug in the crock and you have a warm comfortable smell drifting throughout your home that isn't overly pungent like some of those expensive wall-outlet units. (Just be careful to watch your water level of your crockpot as the heat will cause evaporation. You don't want this to run dry.) If you don't have a potpourri crock, any crockpot will do. You may also simmer homemade scents in a small saucepan on the stove. However, a crockpot you can plug into any outlet in any room of the house.
To quickly get rid of odors (especially fish), simply heat some white vinegar on the stove (DON'T boil!), and after about 30 minutes, remove it. The slight vinegar smell dissipates quickly and takes any odors with it.

Homemade Sprays & Tricks
Mix 1/4 cup baking soda with water in a spray bottle. Shake well and spray. The baking soda absorbs the odor. You can also add a little scent if you want. (vanilla extract. It smells great and drives men wild for some reason)
Spray undiluted white vinegar in the air. The vinegar smell evaporates very quickly taking odors with it.
Place a bowl of vinegar on the counter and let it sit for a few hours.
Dampen a towel with vinegar and wave it through the air
Fill a parmesan cheese shaker with baking soda. (spray it with a little of your favorite purfume.) Sprinkle over carpets and let it sit as long as possible (Overnight is best). Vacuum. Add table salt to the baking soda, but it is not necessary. The salt absorbs moisture and acts as an abrasive. It really makes the carpet look better than vacuuming without it.

Dryer Sheets
If you use dryer sheets, you could put them in the vents, in drawers, or other unseen areas. They will freshen the air as it comes into the room. You can put them in fresh or after they've been through the dryer.

Candles
If you burn scented candles, save any wax bits left over and add them to a wax potpourri burner. If you mix scented and unscented, they will last longer.

Other Ideas
-You can put fancy soaps in your drawers to freshen your clothes. You can also do this with the
scented perfume ads from magazines.
-Open a window as air inside is usually more polluted than air outside.
-Put essential oils in a light bulb ring. You could also add them to a vaporizer.
-Dilute your essential oils (or old perfumes) in a spray bottle, put on the finest setting, and mist your rooms with it. This also works on sheets, pillowcases, and towels.
-Put a drop of a very inexpensive "perfume" on a light bulb in each room. Jasmine-scented is a personal fave.
-Also, if there is an "odor" I want to remove, I pour a little white vinegar on an old washrag and wipe the walls down lightly with it. As soon as it's dry, the place smells clean and "sweet" without the perfume.
-For the bathroom, dampen a cotton swab with your favorite perfume or cologne and swab the inside of a toilet paper roll. Each time the toilet paper is rolled, a fresh scent will fill the room.
-Another way to purify the air is to dampen a cotton ball with pure vanilla extract, place in a dish and set in odorous area of the house. A dish with three cotton balls is great for the living room. A room in which heavy smoking occurs might require another dish.

Make Scented Rocks
Scented rocks make a great air freshener. Mix 1/2 cup salt and 1/2 cup flour in a bowl. Add 1/4 teaspoon of a favorite essential oil and 2/3 cup boiling water and a few drops of a food coloring to create a desired shade. Blend all ingredients, form into balls, and allow to dry.

Scented Rocks Revisited
Here's an easy recipe. (It's also a fun craft for kids!) Make a small amount of Plaster of Paris, but use liquid potpourri instead of water. You can buy inexpensive candy molds at many stores. Pour the liquid POP into the molds and let it dry completely. Pop them out and you have scented rocks of a sort.

The "Smelly Jelly" Answer
Smelly Jelly
2 cups Concentrated Potpourri Liquid
4 envelops Knox gelatin
1 tablespoon salt (to deter molding)
Heat 1 cup potpourri until almost boiling. Remove from heat. Add 4 envelopes Knox Gelatin and 1 tablespoon salt. Stir until dissolved. Add remaining 1 cup potpourri. Pour into clean jars and allow to set. If in a hurry, lightly cover and refrigerate them to speed the process.
I add food coloring if I don't like the color. This can be put in a vase, and as it starts to set, place artificial flowers in the vase. The flowers seem to be real because they have a smell.


Give one or more of these a try and let me know how you like them!

My hearth bread loaves turned out perfect yesterday! What's best is for a few hours after I had finished my baking, my whole house smelled like warm baked bread! Today is going to be a laid back day for me. Cleaning never gets a break because it's counterpart - getting dirty - never takes a break. Today I'll clean the bathrooms, dust, and clean the fridge.

I also need to call DES today about my insurance. It seems they only decided to cover me through May which is not sufficient since Ambria is due in August. Hopefully they will approve the extention. Have a great day everyone!

Tuesday's Troubles

Tonight on the menu is meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and cauliflower. Unfortunately, due to a horrible miscalculation (on my part) my potatoes have expired. I usually buy baby golden potatoes from the store when I go shopping. They are cleaner and generally keep in the pantry longer than russets. During my last shopping endeavor, the only potatoes available were 5-10lb bags of russet potatoes so that is what I got stuck with. I was not about to change my whole menu around just because my favorites were not in stock. Well that was a week ago. Today when I pulled out the potatoes to prewash them, I noticed fat roots on them. No biggie? Just cut them off? Ok... well the first one I pulled out was soft, so I threw it away. The next potato was actually oozing. That killed it for me. I threw out the whole bag. Sadly, now I have to used boxed potatoes for tonights meal.

No! It does NOT taste the same!

Granted, I can improve the bland flavor with spices and cream and butter, but it just wont be as good as the homemade stuff. I wish I had time to just make a quick stop at the store to buy new potatoes, but my day is packed. I'll have to go get more by tomorrow though so I can make a stop while on my other errands.

I'm sure you may have noticed that I've changed my morning to-do list. I've made it a list as a morning routine. I've also included any daily to-do's that will change from day-to-day. The day-to-day things will be crossed out as I complete them, however the morning routine will remain uncrossed since I do these things every morning.

What do you do as part of your morning routine?

Home Improvement

Now that all of our credit cards are paid off, our home improvement has begun! We went out and bought 6 brand new ceiling fans from Home Depot today. The mattress we wanted was $3000 so we are going to wait and buy that last just to make sure we can afford all of the other upgrades we want. Next comes the home theater with surround sound and recessed lighting throughout the house! We will be installing it this week. How exciting!

I spent 3 hours at the doctor's office with Aiden today and 4 hours shopping for fans and flat screens and wasn't able to get to my floors today. :( That's ok, I'll give them an extra special treatment tomorrow. Tonight for dinner is Pizzawiches! Yummy! Look for the recipe link in the "What's For Dinner" section of my blog!

"M" is for Monday, Mary Kay, & most importantly: MONEY

What a slow paced, lazy Monday. Ian was "given" the day off since he was late (again) for work. So he is still sleeping. It's 8:20 am as I type this out (since I am adding this first paragraph to what I had posted earlier this morning) and even Aiden is still asleep. He never sleeps past 7 so I had to go upstairs just to make sure he was still breathing. He was. Poor little guy is still sick so maybe that's why he's so tired lately. I really don't know what to do with myself since I can't get my day going as usual. Ian has a sore throat so he didn't want coffee. Everyone is asleep so I can't make breakfast. My dishes and laundry are all done from yesterday. All I have left is to spend time on the computer for now and for some reason it feels wrong. I feel like I should be doing something more important. I guess I'll printout some fliers to promote my new business.

I have to admit, I was terrified to my bones about working out in society again. What if I don't make any money working for myself? What if I don't reach my goals and ultimately let myself down? Will I still have time for my most important job: my family?

I had so many concerns and was starting to feel like I had made the wrong decision. I know there are a lot of work from home jobs out there. Some of them are successful - but most fail. I didn't want to be a part of the negative statistics. Yesterday I sat down during Aiden's first nap and organized everything I had been given as part of my starter kit and then I practiced my presentation. I was exceptional as a public speaker at my last job so that was not an issue for me. A little more confident, I called my sister and asked if she would like to host a party for me to practice. Mary Kay provided me with tons of samples and a whole kit for giving free facials so I had the means, just not the experience. She agreed and I drove to Phoenix (again) to practice.

*On a side note: MK enables me to be my own business so I can write off gas, business dinners, cell phone bill, office supplies, any work clothes I purchase, and my expenses to buy my products.

I ran my whole presentation and tried all of my products on her and she was in love. My step sister Sammie was there too, with her friend Lilia, as was my mom and grandmother. All-in-all... I made $200 on my first day as a Mary Kay consultant! The best part? It only took me an hour for the free facials and my presentation. $200 per hour is great in my book. So, with a little new-found confidence under my belt, I decided to be bold and see who else would be interested in hostessing a Mary Kay party (if you hostess it, I can give out $25 worth of free product to you) and just like that - I have 2 appointments set for May. Each girl who is hostessing is going to be bringing 3-4 friends along so my potential income is great! I am so excited about this opportunity. We don't need the extra money but I think it will be nice to buy Ian his birthday and Christmas presents with my own earned money; not his.

Onto my usual blog stuff:

Last night we were invited to stay at my Mom's house for Steak and Au Gratin Potatoes so needless to say, I once again did not get to make dinner. I know most people would love that but I enjoy cooking. It's somewhat of an outlet for me. I can disappear into my kitchen and dissolve into my own little world of cookware and spices. I truly love it. "Well why don't you become a Chef?" Simple. If I HAVE to cook (things I am forced to cook vs. the things I like to cook) I'm afraid I would eventually come to resent cooking. As it stands now, I don't have to cook; I get to cook. I can choose my favorite ingredients, spices, consistencies. All of that freedom would potentially be taken away from me if I choose to become a chef.
Tonight I will be cooking though. I am determined! So to anyone wanting to make dinner plans with us: unless you will be dining at our house, it will have to wait. On the menu: Pizzawiches! I'll post a link with the recipe before tonight!

Have a great Monday today!

Mary Kay - Let's Play!

Unfortunately I did not get to all of my to-do's yesterday. I spent all day (9am-10:30pm) in Phoenix. 9am-1pm I spent getting everything ready for the Mary Kay party that I was hostessing. 1:30pm-5ish was the party; and 5:30-9:30pm we were at Brix Wine Spot to support my father-in-law, Thom. He was playing live with the band. Afterwards we went and picked up our son at my mother's house and headed home. We didn't get in the door until a little after 11pm so I didn't get to making my apricot kielbasa. :( I think I'll rearrange the menu a bit today. Don't worry, I'll keep all the same meals on there; I'll just put them in a differen't order. What can I say? I'm unpredictable.

During the party yesterday I made the decision to sell Mary Kay products part time. I love their line and even if I don't sell anything, I can't be fired. Either way, I win! So if anyone is interested in hostessing a party and inviting a couple friends over for me to practice playing with free make-up and beauty products, just let me know! It'll be good experience for me and you will be able to hang out with your lady friends, kids, and in some cases - even a few guy friends. My start up fee was only $100 so there's no major loss if everything falls through. If anything it will give me more incentive to spend quality time with my friends and make new friends. Help me make this a fun learning experience for everyone!

My morning started around 4am today so I'll finish my morning to-do's early and bake some bread pudding. Hubby is addicted to that stuff! With him around, a whole batch only lasts a day or two, at most.

For today, once to-do's are done, go to church; out to breakfast; bake something that makes the house smell great - Just enjoy your morning. Afterwards, let's spend the day cleaning out our vehicle. I'm not talking about a full on overhaul. Simply throw out the trash, bring in any belongings and give it the once-over with a vacuum. If you are really feeling up to it, you can wipe your car down with your favorite interior polish or even just a damp cloth; but, this isn't necessary.

Have a great Sunday!

Girl's Day Out

Today I will be hosting a Mary Kay Make-up Party in Phoenix. If you need the address, just let me know. A consultant will be bringing products for us all to play with and if you like anything, you are welcome to buy it. It all takes place at 1:30pm sharp and I will be providing snacks and drinks.

I know I'm not hosting it at my house, but there is still so much to do! Unfortunately I won't be able to finish my morning to-do's at my house because I need to make sure the party location is in great shape and stocked up with munchies for us. I did some laundry today already so that is out of the way at least. I update my checklist every single day so you are able to see the things I get to, and the things I don't.

I better get some things done! Hope to see you there!

Spaghetti Dinner

So I didn't post a link for my spaghetti meal tonight. I did this mostly because spaghetti is so universal that everyone generally has a recipe that they like. I will post a few step by step pictures just to give you something to look at. :)

The first picture is what the end product was; spaghetti with meatballs, steamed vegetables and a spicy chipotle cheesy garlic bread. I went a little nuts with the bread. I guess I just couldn't contain myself when I got ahold of my spices. Fret not, though. Your mouth won't complain, it'll enjoy the party.

On to the spaghetti! I always start with the meatballs because they take the longest. Of course I bake mine (you can even microwave most recipes) and I just used my simple meal maker meatball recipe. Once the meatballs finished, I set them aside and boiled some water to which I added garlic, extra virgin olive oil, and salt. Thus, enter my pasta. For spaghetti sauce you can use a store-bought can which is on sale this week at wal-mart for $1.08 for a large 6 serving can, or you can make your own which is what I tend to do since I am so picky about my sauces. You can use tomato puree or tomato sauce and simply season to taste. As a rule of thumb the first 2 spices I always add to homemade spaghetti sauce are 1) Italian Seasoning and 2) Garlic Powder.

Once the pasta noodles finished I strained them and quickly added a splash of extra virgin olive oil to keep the noodles from sticking together and a touch of spices. While my sauce simmered, I steamed up some veggies in butter and added rosemary. Usually I use garlic instead but with garlic bread and garlic powder in my pasta water, I didn't want to over-do it. Either way, the aromatics were amazing. For the garlic bread I cut a loaf of french bread in half and buttered it with a mix of melted butter, garlic, and cayenne pepper. Then I topped it with mozzarella cheese and toasted it in the oven. Bon Apetit! A lovely meal for you and your family at an unbeatable price!

Even with this full plate, hubby enjoyed it so much he finished off everything that was left on the stove. So needless to say, we have no leftovers. Which is fine. The more dinner he eats, the more I know he enjoyed it. It's weird, as easy as spaghetti is, we don't eat it often. I think I'll start cooking it twice a month (since it's cheap) instead of once every 4 months.

Anyway, on to dessert. Like I mentioned in my previous post, we finished off the rest of the cake so I was at a loss for tonights tasty delight. I purchased 5lbs of red delicious apples to make baby food with 2 weeks ago and never used them all and decided not to let them go to waste. I ended up making homemade apple crisp. It turned out ok. I've never made it before. Here is the result:

I may have cut my apples a little on the thin side but all in all, it was a great first attempt. And as an added bonus, my whole house now smells like apple crisp! (free air freshener!)

I better get back to TV time with hubby. This is really our only quality alone time since he works long hours. I'll post again tomorrow. Goodnight everyone!

T.G.I.F!

Dinner was decent last night. I couldn't decide on a dressing so I scrapped the tossed veggie salad for a convenient can of mixed vegetables. I decided to do some dinner rolls too. For dessert, we finished off the last of our Ginger-Spice Cake and a scoop of ice cream. I guess that means I'll being doing a bit of baking either today or tomorrow. Here is our meal (without the dessert pictured) from last night:

TGIF has a dual meaning today:

1) Thank God It's Friday
2) Totally Going In Fashion

Where are we going? Anywhere! Make sure to finish your morning to-do's and then bundle the kids up (and dogs, depending on where you choose to go) and enjoy the late morning/afternoon. Just make sure to pamper yourself a little before you leave the house. Take a few extra minutes to do your hair and slap on some mascara. Change out of those pajamas and find a good looking pair of jeans. You'll feel so much better about yourself.
"But I don't know where to go"
-It doesn't matter! Go anywhere. If you have a pet with you, try just taking a nice long walk around the neighborhood and enjoying the view or go to the park (or even a dog park since they are usually on a regular park.) If you don't have pets with you, there are so many places to go! Go to the mall (one of my favorites since I can walk all day and just window shop,) or an outdoor gallery/artshow/festival, the zoo, a photo studio to update pictures, fair, or even just a walk around your neighborhood Target or Wal-Mart! In any case, make sure to pack plenty of food and snacks. I always pack cheerios, crackers, juice, and water along with my son's normal food. (Sometimes I'll even pack a nutrigrain bar for myself!) To make it more enjoyable, invite a fellow mom and her pack of young ones to come along for a few hours.

After your fun outing make it a point to make sure your floors are in tip top shape! If your morning routine doesn't include sweeping/vacuuming and mopping. Do so now. Also take 5 minutes to speed dust the house (just the visible stuff!) Then enjoy an activity of your choice!

Have fun!

For SAHMs Everywhere

I was browsing the internet (since my house is clean and dinner is still 30 minutes off) and I came across this little clip from another woman's blog. I loved it and decided to share it with all of you.....



"You are so lucky you get to take rest, sleep, eat or watch tv all day" or "You're so lucky!" or "You can do whatever you want all day." Rest? Man, I can't remember when I could use a bathroom with the door closed. Keeping a pair ofeyes everywhere while you clean, cook, entertain and get no bonus,raise, time-off or rewards is a bit of a tricky and consuming task. Apparently some spouses are guilty of this too. I still remember being asked a few years ago, just after I resigned to take care of Jia, "How was my vacation?" Grrrr.... Yes, that person is still alive and I hope reading this.
"I could never JUST be a stay-at-home-mom, how do you do it?"Mmm,.. I don't know, I guess you would have to be crazy or maybe JUST a supermom/superdad. It takes a lot of strength to swap financial autonomy and adult conversations for being a prime caretaker 24/7 and still make dopey faces as needed.
"I work AND take care of my children." Yes, of course you do, with a lil help from your childcare option.
"Oh!"This is the response to being asked what I do and responding SAHM. It is always a total conversation ender with eyes already scanning around for someone more interesting to talk to.
"You are so lucky you can afford to stay at home." aka "You must be rich if you can stay home."Lucky, are you kidding? We constantly keep re-juggling figures to try and make it work and debate about having two incomes. Very often sacrificing little pleasures and on the constant lookout for bargains. Honest truth is now that I am trying to re-enter the job field and arranging care and all other sundries, I cannot believe how expensive the work I do is. According to Salary.com, if paid, Stay at Home Moms would earn $134,121 annually.
"What do you do all day?" or "What do you do with him/her all day?" or "What do you do with all that time?" or "Don't you get bored?"Oh, nothing. We place them in front of the tv and let them eat cheetos and wash it down with sodawhile we catch up on the latest gossip with the other SAHMs or watchsoaps on tv with the kids. Don't worry, we make sure to clean up in time at end of day so as not to leave evidence behind.
"I'll bet your house is really clean."What are you smoking? Your socks? Ever tried to clean a home with toddlers underfoot?
"You stay at home because you are lazy." That's right because I guess the children get dressed, fed, cleaned,entertained, carried, disciplined, etc all by themselves, right?
"You are sponging off your husband!" Totally, and Man what a wonderful sponge my husband makes.
"You are teaching your kids that a woman's place is at home."No, I am teaching my child that a woman has a right to do what she wants, irrespective of the pressure she gets from society.
"Women should have lives of their own"You didn't really think I was living your life, right? Whose life is it anyway?
"You're a SAHM? Good for you!" (Said in a condescending tone.)Why is it that comment "Good for you." always gives me the creepies? Maybe if people just said "Good" or "Great" it would be fine, but somehow the "for you" part kind of sounds like it is just good for you but not me.
"Oh, so you don't work" Ok, the next time I hear that someone is going to get hurt. Enough said!

This is not a reflection of attitudes of Working Moms (WOHMs) but of the few ignorant or careless individuals who give a bad reputation to all hardworking moms, whether inside the home or out. I invite comments, whether you agree or not.

Finally on track..

All of our April bills are just about paid. Just three to go. I really am proud of the excel sheet I've put together to manage my bills. It's been so helpful for me and has enabled me to save more than we ever would have been able to. If you'd like a copy, just let me know and I'll help you sort your finances too! Who would have known that just by keeping track of everything, you'd save time, money, and confusion! I've incorporated a few money saving techniques from some of the professionals to help me get a better grip on things. Hopefully it can help you as much as it's helped me.

Tonight for dinner, the Casey family is having unstuffed bell pepper soup (I've already posted the recipe) with a nice hearty side of tossed veggies. They will be chilled and served as a salad (without the lettuce part) with a tasty dressing to top it off. I'm not sure which I'll try. I only have italian; ranch; and a sweet, fruity salad dressing. For dessert I have some leftover Ginger-Spice Cake that I made earlier this week. Yum!

Home Again

Just incase you have not yet noticed, each main course that I have planned in the "What's For Dinner" list on the left side of my blog I will try to always post my personal recipe for the food. If there is no link, that probably means it's something I haven't made before and don't want to endorse something that turns out to be a complete disaster. I will only post a link for the meal that is being served that night. Not for any meals that are later in the week/month. If you absolutely need one then just email me and I'll send it to you.

Dinner turned out so delicious last night! The chicken could not have been more perfect! None of the cheese leaked out (like it usually does) and the ends of the chicken stayed together exactly the way I had hoped. My pasta was good too. I decided to add garlic into my cream sauce instead of my usual parmesan cream. I think it was a wise choice. I ended up adding some tomato sauce to the squash and zucchini. my s/z mix was so tender and well seasoned. I really couldn't be more pleased with how everything turned out. Unless it was able to cook itself. :)

In other news, our ultra sound went great and we got some wonderful pictures to brag about! Now time to catch up on my to-dos for the day!

New Microwave!

My chicken cordon bleu is baking, zucchini/squash is cut and marinating (i'll fry it up a few minutes before the chicken is done,) my sauce to top the chicken is simmering, and my pasta is boiling. I thought about using asparagus instead of the squash and zucchini but this was easier and I truly detest the smell of asparagus.

In other news: I am so excited! I finally got a microwave! Now I can cut some of my cooking time in half (during lunch time.) All dinner meals are cooked exclusively on the stove or in the oven. Breakfast is 50/50. Hubby got home early tonight so we went shopping at Home Depot to get estimates on prices for our new granite countertops. Looks like we can get exactly what we want for around $3,500. This is great news! There are just so many projects we'd like to work on; we need to prioritize. That way we don't leave anything only partly finished.

Wednesday Workout

Sorry there was no post for yesterday. I spent all day running errands and visiting the doctor's office. I am happy to report that I did at least get my morning routine and tidying up done. I'm running a little behind today, though. It's 8:15am and here's what I've completed so far:

Brew Coffee, Make Breakfast, Change and Feed Baby, Feed Dogs, Get Hubby off to Work, Sweep, Vacuum, and Tidy Office.

I've made progress but I still need to do a load of dishes, brush teeth and hair, fold some laundry, tidy the living room, tidy the kitchen, make the bed, and mop.

Today is also a day to focus on bedding. Time to go through the whole house, gather up all of the bedding and send it to the laundry room for a nice fluffy clean. This is also when I'll be flipping the mattress. I'm making it a priority to completely dust the entire house as well. Once that's finished, I'll be enjoying a wonderful clean home until about 1pm when I have to drive to Phoenix for another doctor's appointment.

Goodluck with your day!

Break Time

After so much deep cleaning and a holiday weekend, I'm feeling a little burnt out. Today I think I'll take a short nap and enjoy a little television. Hubby has class tonight so I'm on my own until 10:30 tonight which means I'll be looking forward to making something for dinner that doesn't take too long. Tonight's meal is Fiery Dragon Soup and Whole Wheat Rolls! There are some great discounts on groceries this week, too! I only spent $260 and I was able to buy enough to get us through a whole month of meals. This only goes to show that careful planning and budgeting really can pay off! Enjoy the rest of your day!

Welcome to a New Week

I hope everyone had a happy and safe Easter Weekend. Unless you had company over, your house should still be looking mighty divine. If you did have guests, don't worry. Spend 5 minutes in each room tidying up and all will be well again. Sweep/vacuum and mop the floors along with any daily chores such as laundry or dishes. Mondays and Tuesdays are the best days to get groceries so sit down, plan your meals for the week (or the next few weeks if you're feeling fiesty) and write out a detailed grocery list. http://www.couponsense.com/ can show you which stores in your neighborhood have the lowest prices this week on your everyday shopping needs. Make sure you write down the best price and the store offering it next to the item on your grocery list! Most of the ads come in my mailbox and I save them in a drawer (and throw them away after shopping.) You can also purchase a newspaper which has most of the deals and coupons in there as well. Doing this can save you 50-75% on your grocery bill! So don't blow it off.

Today is forcasted to be 61-82 degrees throughout the day so I think I'll spend some time doing a bit of light yardwork. Clean up after the dogs, water the grass and all the plants out front, clean the patios, etc... join me!

Day 4 - The Chambers...

Spring Cleaning Day 4 is all about bedrooms. Start by picking up and tidying. Clean fans and light fixtures, floor boards, wipe down walls, clean doors and knobs, clean light switches, and make the bed. Thoroughly clean both sides of windows and clean the mirror(s) if there are any in the room. Clean the carpets. Finally, vacuum and dust. For a little added something, try plugging in a great smelling air freshener or febreeze the upholstry. Do this in every bedroom. Then put your feet up and bask in your near-finished house!

Keep On Truckin!

Welcome to Spring Cleaning Day 3! How do you feel? Unaccomplished so far? Well today will definately have you feeling like it's all going to be worth it! Today we are cleaning living room and family room upholstry; which means we'll also be cleaning beneath the furniture. You know, that dark abyss which is never seen by human eyes unless you are moving to a new residence? Yeah. We're going there. While you're at it, you might as well sweep/vacuum/mop the whole room. It will only take an extra minute or two. Make sure to do the floors AFTER you've cleaned the upholstry because sometimes the cleaning solutions can make quite a mess. Once these things are done, wipe down any furniture, dust, and do the necessary cleaning. Remember to only work on your living room and family room today! If you only have one of these rooms in your house, you're in luck! You are getting off easy!

*Be sure to check out the what's for dinner section if you need any dinner ideas for tonight!

Has Your Spring Sprung?

How is the spring cleaning going? Hopefully you haven't lost all of your energy just yet! Today we are working on bathrooms, closets, and hallways!! Good luck everyone!

Spring... to Spring Cleaning!

Spring time is here and what better time to get that house deep cleaned. I'm not talking about making sure baseboards are clean and beneath the couch has been vacuumed. I'm talking about the furthest reaches, the darkest, grimiest corners in your house! So lets get to it!

It's easiest if you only do one room at a time to be sure you never get ahead of yourself. Also, make sure you don't begin spring cleaning until your usual cleaning routine has been completed.

Start in the kitchen.
-Clean out and organize all drawers and cupboards.
-Clean the fridge and freezer (don't foget to sweep and mop underneath the refrigerator)
-Clean the stove burners and oven
-Organize all cleaners beneath the sink
-Clean out/organize pantry items
-Thoroughly clean out the microwave with a vinegar solution
-Take down and clean light fixtures
-If applicable, clean the fan.


Good luck! More to come for Castle Spring Cleaning tomorrow!

Happy Tuesday!

Hello everyone! The new website is well into its development and shouldn't take too much longer. Make sure your morning routine is done by now (11am) and you are taking time to relax or work on a fun project. Midday routine starts between noon and 1pm.

Today lets focus on bathrooms. Here are your objectives:
-Wash down counters and mirrors
-Sweep/Mop
-Clean baseboards
-Wipe down switchplates
-Clean toilet
-Empty Trash

Now if you have been diligently spraying the tub/shower after each use, it should be clean and only need a quick wash where the soaps and shampoos sit.

You are done! Take another break.

Food For Thought...

Love is giving someone the ability to destroy you, but trusting them enough to not to. So where do you stand if you love someone and they destroy you anyway?

Upgrade, Upgrade, Upgrade!

As you all know, we live in a world of change and I must say, I thrive on it. I started an account on blogger.com to help others organize at least some of the chaos that is life and while setting everything up, I discovered that this web host limits me and the things I want to share with you all. With that said, after only a day of having this account, I am purchasing my own domain name with more customization. I hope to have my site up and running before next week. I can't wait!

Welcome!

Welcome to my newest endeavor, the blog! I intend on sharing my life with all of you and bringing you a little insight on the Casey Castle (my home,) the residents, and how it all stays afloat.

At some point in time, I plan on including schedules, menus, recipes, money saving tips, and activites somewhere on this website, so keep your eyes peeled!

The Family:
My husband Ian is self employed as a QC Supervisor for a subcontractor of DirecTV. The job is demanding but it provides us the means to pay bills and have fun.

Our son, Aiden, was born 09/17/2008 and never ceases to amaze us.

We are expecting our second child, a daughter, who is due to arrive in August 2009. We plan to name her Ambria.

Our family also includes our pets. We have 3 dogs (Maya, Jade, and Llama) and a cat (Tripper) who demand a lot of attention.

The Home:
In February 2009, we purchased our first house in El Mirage. It's a great starter home with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms where we plan on living and raising our children for the next few years. It was built in 2002 and is in great condition but it still has so much potential. We have plans to redesign the landscape in the back yard and add a garden, remodel our master bathroom, repaint all the upstairs bedrooms, build a new office upstairs, and install surround sound downstairs. We hope to get our work started sometime this summer.

How I Stay Sane:

Most of my sanity I comes from an unnatural amount of organization. From bills to menus to daily schedules (which vary by day) everything is generally pre-planned in my household. I will do my best to share with you the things I do to keep everything running smoothly.