Target

Why does America love Target so much?  I don't know of any other country that has a store that they love more than Americans love Target.  Why do we, as a culture, keep subjecting ourselves to a store where we consistently buy $50 - $100 more stuff than we need literally every time we walk through the door?

 I am a self-admitted Target addict.  I love Target.  We buy Isabella's disposable diapers from Target so we have to make the trip once every two weeks or so and it never fails that we come out of there with an $80 - $100 bill and nothing really important in our cart except diapers.   

Maybe it is the overly bright fluorescent lights. Maybe it is the stimulating site of the 'clearance' and 'sale' signs and items on every aisle. Who doesn't love those little red clearance tags?  They are designed to make you think that you might need a 4 pack of the same deodorant for $.80 less than it was originally priced.   Maybe it is the fact that you can get anything that you want or need in the same store at the same time. With the invention of the 'Super Target' my life got a lot more expensive.

 We have found a lot of interesting food items that are at Target that they don't have other places.  We consistently buy flavored pancake mix here, different flavors of yogurt, and drinks that they don't seem to regularly carry at other stores.  I don't think that it matters what it is - just that something about Target makes a grand scale amount of consumers go there regularly and spend money like it grows on trees. 

My absolute favorite part of Target is the $1 clearance section in the front of the store.  There are three things that we absolutely love to buy from that section:

1. Kid dishes.  They have these super cute colorful character plates, bowls, cups and sometimes silverware for children.  For some reason you can't put this stuff in the dishwasher but it is really convenient for the kid's meals and easy to portion out their food.  Plus it seems fun for the kids to eat off of these colorful animal plates.  They normally have different ones for each season and/or holiday. 
2. Children's books.  We have purchased some super cute cardboard Sesame Street books that are great for the kids.  They are short, very educational and very colorful.  The kids can relate to them because they are regular characters that they know from Sesame Street like Elmo, Grover, Oscar the Grouch, etc.  They are durable and easy for small babies and kids to manipulate. 
3. Educational materials.  They regularly stock items like flash cards, handwriting books, educational games, etc that you can use with any age group.  They have flash cards for letters, numbers, words for beginning readers, and more challenging cards for older kids. 

There are too many other things to name that we love to buy from Target.  Just shopping there is a like a drug to me and many others that I know.  Their maternity section is impressive.  Their baby area is usually well stocked and neatly organized.  Their stores are easy to navigate in and usually there are an appropriate number of cashiers to people waiting in line. 

All in all maybe those pluses are what we pay for with the extra items that they sucker us into buying.  Like maybe the extra money is a surcharge to get into the Target club and the extra clearance items are just bonuses for shopping there.  Whatever it may be we might complain about the extra money that we spend but we are too consumed with it now to ever stop.

-Sara


  

My 2 year old needs help

So over a year ago, before my daughter was a year old, she learned how to unlock an iPhone.  We thought it was funny and super neat... kind of like a cool party trick.  We took videos of this and encouraged her to do it.  If we would have known then what we know now, we might have thought different about teaching her that. 

She started off just wanting to just look at different things on your phone... pictures, videos, your text messages... nothing really big.  She would call random people (ask Lake Worth 911) and sometimes send crazy text messages but on the whole she just wanted to hold the phone.  Then she started wanting to play games and actually do things with your apps.  We started downloading 'baby apps' on our phones to keep her interested.  My mom downloaded this awesome app on her phone (my favorite apps for toddlers is an upcoming blog post) and she loved watching that app.  This was like a gateway drug - she wanted more and more time with your phone and would throw fits if you took it away and didn't distract her.   

When Corry and I got upgrades on our iPhones last year, we decided that we should give Isabella Corry's old iPhone to be 'Isabella's phone'.  It effectively works as an iPod Touch.  She can do all of the normal functions on her phone that you and I can do but she can't make phone calls or send text messages.  We downloaded a bunch of toddler apps, removed all of the important information (in case she lost it) and put a cover on it to make it harder for her to break it or damage it in water.   

A 2 year old with an iPhone... is this the best idea?  Definitely not.  Do I regret it?  Sometimes... there are some days when it is super helpful to have a way to distract her when we are on long car rides, or when she is acting up.  There are other days when I get tired of hearing "where's my shone (phone)?" 

As much as I regret giving her their own phone, there are a lot of pluses that have come from our decision.  We download mostly educational apps on her phone, so while she is playing she is actually learning.  She has apps that reinforce the ABC's, animals, colors, shapes, etc.  She does have a few apps that will stream cartoon shows from Disney Jr, or PBS but the majority of those teach good lessons for children so I don't feel as bad about them - it's not like Spongebob or anything like that. 

She uses her phone, I think, more than I use my phone.  And probably better than I use my phone.  She can put the phone in Airplane mode, she can change the ring tone and turn the sound up or down in settings.  She can change the background picture of the phone, take pictures and videos, play pictures and videos, lock the phone and shut it down.  She tells you when her phone is dead, that it needs to be charged and she can plug it in (supervised). 

Some people are upset by this because she is too involved with electronics.  Most people are amused by it because she is so little and such a good user of a phone.  I think that it's still cute and funny.  We use it as a learning tool now for her.  It has helped her in more ways than hurt her so we are willing to continue to let her have it.  If you think that it's bad just take a look at the cutest picture ever taken by my sister Jessica at our most recent Creecy Christmas - Isabella and her cousins Raquel (left) and Addison (right) and tell me it isn't the cutest thing you have ever seen. 

 

 

- Sara

Inspiration

How is it that I am so uninspired to write some blog posts?

Writing every day (almost every day) is MUCH more difficult than I ever thought that it would be.  There are only so many interesting things that happen in my life.  About once per week I will have a day like today where I have ZERO idea what I am going to write about.  My husband would argue that it was more like one day a week where I do know what I am going to write about.  I will start about 5 different blogs and just leave them pending because I can't figure out how I am going to fill an entire blog post about how my children love milk. 

When I first started this blog I had a million different ideas.  Actually, I had a list of about 30 different ideas for posts that I could actually write about.  I had dreams of sitting down to write inspired blog posts and the words just flowing freely onto the page.  This has rarely happened for me.  I will admit that it is getting easy with the more posts that I write. 

I still don't have a super clean vision of where I want this blog to go.  I would love for this blog to turn into a place to share ideas, recipes, and interesting pages from the web.  I love the things that I have been able to document so far, the experiences that I have had and I appreciate the feedback, comments and love that has been shown so far from this blog. 

Thank you to everyone who reads so far!  Some interesting posts are coming up!!

-Sara

Backyard Garden: Building Raised Beds

So the day is finally here ... drum roll please...

Raised bed building day!! 

My mother definitely deserves much more credit than she gets for helping me bring to life all my crazy ideas.  Mid-afternoon today we left the brats with my father and sister and took off to Lowe's.  With Ana White's blog post in mind about how to cheaply and quickly make a raised bed, we took off towards the cedar fence pickets. 

We found them just as she mentioned for $1.59 a piece which was nice since we knew that we needed 24 of them for the amount of beds that we were looking for.  Without thinking about the exact dimensions of the beds we spoke about wanting to make four raised beds to handle all of the plants that we wanted to experiment with this year.  We found the 1'' and 2'' screws as well and we were on the way. 

Ripping the fence pickets down to 1x2's was a scary time with a table saw.  Too many stories about people with now missing limbs have made me weary of that tool.  I wish that we would have figured out before ripping them that we were going to greatly differ from the plan. 

Her idea of how to make raised beds is a good idea.  Her subsequent blog post and description leave something to be desired.  And her photo of how to put the boards together is sub par at best.  I am going to show an equally lacking photo but I am not expecting anyone to follow my directions to reconstruct these beds. 

We put almost the entire bed together before we realized that her idea works in theory but in practice it probably was best if built another way.  Corry showed up and saved the day.  We ended up removing the braces that she calls for on the outside of the boards and went a new direction using scrap wood that was originally in 2x4 form and ripped it down to 2x2x11. 

This is the basics of how our beds look right now. 

All sides are two fence pickets stacked on top of one another and screwed in with 2'' screws.  It's certainly not the most pretty looking thing but it will definitely be more than functional.  These are the dimensions on the first one.  The two others will be half as wide at 1x6x17.5 which were the original dimensions from Ana's blog post.  I am experimenting with both and will decide which one I like better. 

I haven't been this excited about a household project in awhile.  I don't know what will succeed and what will fail miserably, but I am definitely psyched to try it out.  We are currently growing onions, two different kinds of tomatoes, jalapenos, oregano and parsley in our kitchen window that were already potted.  The oregano so far is the only thing that is just looking sad.  The tomatoes, onions and parsley have taken off and are growing insanely fast.  We also got a seed starter container today so I can start my seeds that we bought a few weeks ago - I am super excited about that part for some reason.  The only item left is a second blueberry bush since we need the cross pollination from two different types of blueberries. 

We are currently building the beds at mom's house since the table saw is there, but my next post will include pictures of the installation of the beds and later the planting. 

-Sara

Surprise date night tonight

Today my mother and my younger sister decided to take the three munchkins to Ikea in Frisco while the rest of us were at work.  Taking three children under 2.5 out in public for several hours is an undertaking and I don't recommend it to the faint of heart.  There are guaranteed meltdowns, countless diaper changes and not enough goldfish crackers in the universe to keep everyone satisfied. 

Luckily it all went well.  Items that were needed from Ikea were purchased and no one had a thermal meltdown in the store.  Naps were had by a few on the way home.  It turned out to be a decent day and an super decent trip outside of the house with the kids. 

Unfortunately, since Frisco is more than an hour away and they are tearing up and working on every freeway in between the two locations it becomes impossible to get over there and get back in a timely fashion.  Mom decided while stuck in traffic that she would take the kids and the Armada over to her house, Corry and I could go to dinner and then later on this evening when we were done she and dad would bring them back.  I like for my father to see the kids at least once every two weeks without intruding too much since mom gets more than her fair share of them during the week. 

Corry and I always have a 'discussion' about what we are going to eat which sounds a lot like this ecard that I read the other day (on the right)and we finally decided upon Torchy's Tacos and a cupcake from Red Jett Sweets.  We then just came home and chilled out - talking and being together until the kids came home.

I am so tired that I am falling asleep while trying to write this blog - not a good idea.  I am going to go to bed and hopefully will have something more interesting to write about tomorrow. 

- Sara

Going to bed angry is ok

So I love my husband all of the time.  100% of the time.  However, there are snippets of time that I want to punch my husband in the face.  There are probably more times than that where he feels the same way about me.  I know that I am a difficult spouse.  I still love him during those times but I might not like him very much.  I think that happens with any marriage, right?  Hopefully, you're saying yes, or else I seem like a jerk. 

Last night was one of those nights.  I will admit that I tend to get crankier and crankier as the week goes on because of lack of sleep and stress of my job.  I won't get into what specifically happened last night because I don't generally like to talk about my marriage problems publicly and partially because it was a stupid fight that didn't  mean anything.  It isn't an ongoing thing and it wasn't major. 

Common marriage advice from a long time ago was to never go to bed angry.  I don't know the exact justification behind this advice but I tend to follow exactly the opposite.  I would rather just go to bed and chill out and talk about it the next day then fight it out while it is happening.  Perhaps you aren't supposed to go to bed angry because you will forget about what happened or have a tendency to bury your emotions or something like that.  I think that you talk the next day or the next few days about the real issues and don't bring dumb emotions into the picture.  Chances are good that by the time that you talk to your partner about the fight that you are done with the initial anger/hurt/etc and you are able to just talk about the issues.  At least, this is what happens with me and Corry. 

Compared to the "average" couple, Corry and I rarely fight.  We have stupid arguments but in general we never fight.  Usually the next day one or both of us are over it and able to move on.  There are things that we both do that agitate the other one but we are able to talk through some of those issues like adults.  I still think that every so often we should be able to use those Sock 'em Bopper toys on each other to resolve fights.   There could be something said for that kind of physical release. 


If I had to give newlyweds one piece of advice it would be to not try to force other couple's relationship advice work for you.  Some couples remain together by being together all the time like these couples from my job.  They drive back and forth to work together, go to lunch together and work in similar departments.  I need a separation from my spouse in order to maintain that closeness.  I don't know if that makes sense but it makes sense to me.  I need a separate work life from my home life.  It's the same logic for why I think that I could never work from home full time.  What works for other couples doesn't have to work for you.  Make your own love rules. 

-Sara

Backyard Gardening: The Real Plan

So a few weeks ago I wrote a blog about my plans for my backyard garden.  At that time we had plans to order a dozen or so varieties of seeds and plant them in one long garden bed.  After a bit of research a few things have changed. 

Our plan to make one long bed has changed to make three small planters.  My mom found this woman's website that has fairly explicit instructions on how people can make $10 raised beds.  We liked the look of these smaller beds and it seemed easier and not nearly as expensive as we originally thought.  Ideally it should be around the same total size but will just be split up. 

I ordered seeds from http://www.seedsnow.com .  I already had two different varieties of tomatoes, jalapeno, oregano, parsley and a blackberry bush from Lowes.  I loved the idea of seedsnow.com because I could get relatively inexpensive non-GMO seeds.  I bought bush beans, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, zucchini, sweet peppers, ancho grande hot peppers, romaine lettuce, cucumber, cauliflower, basil, spinach, and carrots.  We received the seeds within a week.  They arrived in a padded envelope with the seeds in individual little baggies.  They wrote a note that they didn't have the cucumbers that I ordered so they exchanged them for another variety and gave us a second order of romaine and zucchini and an extra order of tomatoes.  I was pleased with that customer service! 

Our plants are all indoors right now, we are starting seeds this weekend and our garden is being built this weekend as well. 

Next: Building the beds

Something I'm too old for...

Sunday night I had to work a partial overnight shift in order to test an upgrade that was being performed on our system at work.  I have done many of these and rarely do they take so long and/or go so late into the night.  Because of the high profile nature of this upgrade, we agreed to perform the tasks from inside the office also instead of staying at home which meant that I had the commute of a normal work day after my shift.  The hour that it took me to drive home left me with some time to think.  I couldn't help but realize that it was only 3am and just a few short years ago I had voluntarily stayed up this late to party, drink, etc.  Now I was having difficulty keeping my eyes open. 

Thinking about this difference led me to realize that there is now a list of things that I am too old for. Shortly behind staying up late on the list is a spot for 'understanding teenagers'.  Granted I haven't been a teenager for more than 10 years but I don't remember being nearly as ridiculous back then.  I remember thinking that I was probably annoying to older people, but nothing like today.     

I am a stepmother to a 13 year old girl and a 15 year old boy from my husband's previous marriage.  Having teenagers allows me an unrestricted view of the weirdest world ever.  A world that includes descriptive words like 'scene',hair that I think is too long and pants that are too tight. 

When I was a teenager, boys wore pants that were loose.  I distinctly remember my vice principal at school taking rope and tying pants up of boys who decided to wear them too low during the school day.  Sometimes they were admittedly too loose or too low but that seems to now pale in comparison to what is happening now.   These days it has become cool for boys to wear pants that are SO tight that you can't help but think that they must be uncomfortable.  And apparently it's also cool, according to Target, for boys to wear bright neon colored skinny pants as well.  I don't think that seeing your chicken legs is cute in any stretch of the imagination.  I am too old to get that.   

Teenage females seem to have received the message that boys have the skinny pants thing down so they don't need to wear pants anymore.  Corry and I have been to the mall numerous times in the last few months and every time we go I am shocked and amazed at the amount of young girls wearing SHORT skirts, tights in lieu of pants, stripper high heels, or shorts that look like underwear.  Where are their parents?  I know that there is probably some of the 'I am going to change clothes at the mall' type of thing happening, but it seems too prevalent for that to be 100% what is going on here.  I don't think that young girls need to wear a burkah or anything like that but perhaps we, as a society, should educate our daughters that you can still wear clothes and be attractive.  Have we lost all need to preach some type of modesty to our kids?  This kind of behavior though is drilled into our heads since our children are babies.  We spent a few minutes today looking for a bathing suit top for Isabella today at Target.  We bought her a swim diaper there a few weeks ago so we just needed a swim shirt to go with it.  We are very picky about bathing suits.  I'm not a believer that you need a modesty suit or anything like that but I am not down with a string bikini (or a bikini at all for that matter) for a toddler.  Why does that need to happen?  Why does a toddler need a string bikini?  If you don't believe me that it happens, check out any baby section of any store.  I will save the over-sexualization rant of our children in this day and age for another day...

Next - I don't know what 'scene' is.  I don't know if it's describing a person's personality or their manner of dress.  I tried googling and got lost in a world of brightly colored hair and people who wear too many bracelets so I gave up.  I don't know when this word came about but I know that I am too old to understand what it means.  Based on how my teenager uses the word, I would imagine that it has something to do with a style of dress and keeping of your hair, etc.  He had hot pink hair when he was calling himself 'scene' . 

I want people to cut their hair.  This doesn't just apply to guys.  I don't have a lot of room to talk right now because Corry is currently trying to talk me into cutting like a foot off of my hair, but I digress...  There is nothing more agitating than trying to have a conversation with someone and they can't talk to you because they are too busy pushing their bangs out of their face or flicking their long unkempt hair around.  If that was my kids, I would shave part of their head in the middle of the night.  I am too old to think that is cool. 

I never would have thought that I would write anything like this.  As a young adult you have this view of the world and your impending aging like you are going to be 'cool' forever and that you are not going to age like your parents or other older people in your life.  I have come to the realization over the last year or so that I am more like my parents than I ever thought that I would be, and I appreciate them much more now than I ever have before.  I am a grown up and I would rather be the person that I am today, even if that is boring, than understand anything on this page. 

-Sara

52 in 52 #5 - No-Bake Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Cookies

52 in 52 #5 – No- Bake Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Cookies

Pinterest project – 5
Pinterest projects to go – 47

This weekend I have to work an overnight shift to test a system upgrade at my job. Insert happiness and joy here. I knew that I would need something with sugar in it in order to keep myself awake for the multiple hours that I would be there. My boss would be there as well and I knew that she recently gave up chocolate and marshmallows for Lent, so this instantly became a challenge to find something that looked delicious and didn’t include those two ingredients.

Insert a pin that I saved MONTHS ago and never did – Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Cookies. Original pin: http://www.marthastewart.com/343255/no-bake-peanut-butter-rice-krispies-cook . This definitely fits all three requirements of looking delicious, not including chocolate or marshmallows and including enough sugar to keep myself awake.



On my last visit to the store I bought an enormous box of Rice Krispies and decided to make a double batch so we would have some for the house as well. This made two 13x9 pans of treats – I cut one batch into the stated 16 squares and they seemed a bit large so I cut the next batch into 20 and they were definitely a more appropriate size.

Original recipe:
Ingredients
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups salted peanut butter
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 4 cups Rice Krispies
Directions
1. Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with wax paper or baking parchment. Place the corn syrup and sugars in a large saucepan over medium heat and stir to combine. Bring to a boil. Remove from the heat.
2. Stir in the peanut butter and mix well to combine. Quickly stir in the vanilla and Rice Krispies. Spread into the lined baking pan. Cool and slice into squares.

A few important things to mention:
1. This mixture needs more cereal than it calls for – the texture is completely different than a normal Rice Krispie treat. It is a lot more dense than normal and adopts a slightly sticky texture on the bottom of the bars even after they are refrigerated.
2. Remember to spray your wax paper or parchment liberally. These are very sticky and will stick without being sprayed with cooking spray or buttered. I used aluminum foil and sprayed heavily with cooking spray.
With that being said, this recipe is amazing! It has a strong peanut butter flavor and is a good texture, even though different from ‘normal’ Rice Krispie treats. The instructions are easy to follow and the recipe takes about 10 minutes total to make. This was a hit!

Silas's First Haircut

So today was the day.  Silas's first haircut day.  Be still my heart and my tears.  My mother has trimmed the kids hair before but there has never been like a full blown haircut for either of my kids.  His hair has been growing out of control the last few months and it became obvious recently that he needed a haircut and not just a trim.  We are talking full on mullet here people. 

We found a cute little salon named Pigtails and Crewcuts in Southlake.  They specialize in children's haircuts and have several locations around the United States.  When you first walk into the salon they have several chairs shaped like taxi cabs and fire trucks that are awesome for kids.  They also have a waiting area with a television, a train table, and a play kitchen.  Both of the kids immediately took to playing with all of their toys that they offered.   

I honestly expected this to be like a hellish torture for everyone involved.  Silas likes people in general and he is a shameless flirt, but when people get too close to him he has a tendency to freak out.  He did excellent though!  He looked mildly scared while it was happening but he didn't cry or fuss at all.  Tara was our stylist and she did an amazing job with him.  She was very friendly and helped Silas feel at ease while she was cutting his hair.

I would definitely recommend trying to make an appointment because they were busy today around lunch time and Silas sat down for his cut about 30 minutes after our scheduled appointment time.  Other than that, we were extremely pleased with our visit.  We got the first haircut package which included a lock of his hair and a photo in a commemorative booklet.  We will definitely recommend this salon to our friends with children. 

-Sara

Bonus day

So, my department at work participates in an annual bonus plan.  Today was payout day for that bonus!  And it was payday so it was like a double bonus.  I am grateful to work for such an amazing company that allows me to do something that I like to do and pays me for it even though I have very little past experience doing anything like this.  In this time of job uncertainty and very little job security, you will never catch me speaking ill of the company that I work for.   

This is the time of year that Corry and I evaluate what we have and what we need and/or want for the upcoming year that we might not be able to afford.  We also look at what we might want to do now that we have some spare cash laying around since we also just got our tax return back.  It seems like now that we have two kids there is always something on that list that is bigger and better than last year.  This year there are several new items on the list including gun(s) and ammo, car parts, etc.  One item missing from the list so far: something for me.

Corry explicitly told me this year to buy me something for myself.  I have the hardest time with this.  Why is it that, as parents, when we have children we develop this need to only buy things for our children?  When does that stop?  Or does it ever stop?  I know that I am not the only mother in the universe that buys things for my children instead of buying things for myself.  I am, of course, not talking about food, water, shelter, necessities, etc.  I can go to Target or to the mall with the intention to buy myself something and I will come out later with toys and clothes for both kids and nothing for me.  I don't intentionally not buy things for myself; it just seems more fun to buy stuff for my kids, I guess. 

Corry and I are very lucky that we make enough money between our two jobs to not only pay our bills and provide us the stuff that we need to survive but also keep us well stocked with items that we want.  Rarely do I have to think about a list of things that I want, and when I do I always end up drawing a blank.  This year we are blessed enough to get to do a lot of different new things: garden, join a camping group, etc.  I would like to round out this year and those items by re-learning how to buy things for myself and develop a healthy list of wants.  I think that it seems like the right thing to do to help me get back to feeling like "me" instead of feeling like just some one's mother.  Just typing that makes me feel selfish and judgmental, by the way. 

I know that I am not the only relatively new mother who has a hard time coming to terms with this new person that I have become after having kids.  Before I had my first child, I envisioned that I would stay like Me but I would just have a child.  That didn't happen.  The second that she was born I was a changed person.  I can't explain it really well, but everything was different.  I transitioned immediately into this new person whose every waking moment was consumed by this other living, breathing human and it was difficult to turn that part of my brain off enough to even sleep.  I went back to work after three-ish months of being home and a new transition began to the 'working mom' which is the person that I have been ever since.

 I have only recently determined that I really miss the person that I used to be.  I love my kids and I wouldn't change them for the world, but I wish that I would have known how to keep more of me along with this mother title that I adopted.  It seems like a lot harder to figure out how to get her back, but I would like to try and I feel like at least figuring out a list of things that I want for myself might help me to get part of the way there.  I am going to update a blog in about a month from now (hopefully) with a list of items that I would like for myself. 

Valentine's Dinner at Torchy's Tacos

I'm eating something called a Trashy Trailer Park, sitting under a small red devil character, and drinking a soda made from certified organic fair trade cane juice.  If you are even remotely familiar with Ft Worth, Texas and local awesome eateries then you know that I am at a place called Torchy's Tacos http://torchystacos.com/.



Torchy's Tacos is awesome!  It was started in Austin by a fellow named Michael Rypka as a taco truck and has expanded into locations in Austin, DFW, and Houston.  We go to the one in Ft Worth. They offer tacos, chips, salsas, amazing queso, drinks and desserts.  Parking is daunting because they share parking with a bank and a busy hotel but there is a parking garage onsite that I believe is free.  Also, be advised that you will probably have to wait in a line to order, but it is completely worth it so don't be discouraged.  They have a cool outdoor setup that allows you to enjoy their patio if you are into that sort of thing. 

 

The queso is definitely one of the food highlights.  They describe it as a green chile queso with queso fresco, cilantro and diablo sauce.  This diablo sauce alone is HOT; definitely too hot for me.  My husband eats it on his tacos.  It comes with a generous helping of chips.  The servers bring your chips and queso to you almost before you are able to get your drink and pick a seat which is helpful if you are hungry. 







They have creative names for their food, like the Trailer Park (left) which comes on either corn or flour tortillas, with chicken, pico de gallo, green chiles, lettuce and shredded cheese.  Your friendly cashier will ask you if you want it trashy and if you say no then you should be committed to a mental hospital.  Getting it trashy means that they remove the lettuce and add their outstanding queso.  It's cheesey and spicy but not overwhelmingly hot. 







My husband's favorite is called the Brushfire, which comes on your choice of tortilla and has jerk chicken, sour cream, mango, grilled jalapenos, and cilantro.  On the side is a spicy sauce that my husband loves but I find a bit too much for me.   He normally has it on flour tortillas but had corn tonight and definitely prefers it that way. 






They have a children's menu available on their website or in person that has a number of different menu items including a breakfast sounding quesadilla with banana and peanut butter.  Our kids have eaten a chicken quesadilla, which is just their grilled chicken and cheese - always a crowd pleaser for young children.  Today they also had a bean and cheese burrito.  Their beans are vegetarian which is cool for kids because you feel like you are feeding them something good but they still taste like good old refried beans. 

Torchy's has an excellent atmosphere.  We have always had great service from everyone that works there.  They are wildly busy on Saturdays and Sundays so we definitely recommend visiting on a week night.  My husband has been for lunch and says that there is usually always a crowd during the day.  We went tonight and while we still had to wait in line for a short time to order, we were able to sit down easily and not feel rushed by people waiting for seats or having to sit elbow to elbow with someone else.  They do have a bar that serves both beer and mixed drinks, I believe.  I think that I saw a mention tonight of a margarita of sorts, but I have never ordered an adult beverage from Torchy's so I can't say for sure. 

We would definitely give Torchy's two thumbs up!! 

- Sara

Freezer Meal: Baked Ziti

On tap for dinner tonight is one of my favorite freezer meals - baked ziti.  I always wanted a good baked pasta recipe and looked far and wide on the Internet for something that wasn't gross and didn't require an Italian grandmother.  We didn't make a lot of complicated Italian dishes growing up so I had no knowledge base to build upon for this genre of food. 

When I was pregnant with Isabella, I heard that it was helpful to have some meals already pre-made in the freezer.  During those trying newborn days, apparently it is amazing to just have a few (dozen) meals left to your disposal in the freezer that you can just defrost and cook in the oven.  Armed with this knowledge I scoured the Internet in search of recipes that I could try.  My husband and I tend to eat the same types of food and so a lot of the recipes that I found were quickly dismissed into the "not willing to try" pile, but I did find a few recipes that sounded interesting. 

I made them all one week day with my mother's help and lo and behold: amazing!  The meals were made for us and only required a few tweaks which was another helpful thing.  I adapted this recipe from this blogger and have made a version of it like 900 times more simple if you aren't totally in love with the idea of making your own sauce.  Don't get me wrong, I love making my own spaghetti sauce.  It's SO much better than anything that you can buy in the jar and relatively easy depending upon the recipe that you are using.  However, there are times when I just want to be able to cook and be done in less than 2 hours, which is when this recipe comes in handy. 

This recipe will make two 8x8 or 9x9 pans.  I usually make one for dinner (with leftovers for tomorrow's lunch) and freeze one before baking.  I simply line the pan with aluminum foil, pour in the ingredients, and freeze.  Once the casserole is frozen solid you can remove the foil from the pan.  I always wrap at least one more layer of foil around the food and label with the food, the date, and heating instructions that way I don't have to search the archives to find out how to reheat. 

Baked Ziti
1/2lb cottage cheese
8-10 ozs ricotta cheese
2 eggs
2 cups Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup onion, grated
28oz spaghetti sauce
1lb ziti or penne rigate
8oz mozzarella, shredded
1 1/2 lbs mild Italian sausage and ground beef
5 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup milk
1 tsp cornstarch
salt & pepper to taste

 Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Bring water to boil and cook pasta until al dente - about 7 minutes.  Drain the pasta and set aside.  Mix cottage cheese, beaten eggs, & 1 cup Parmesan cheese together in a bowl and set aside.
Cook meat until brown and add in the onion and garlic.  Continue to cook until the onion is translucent and softened. Add in your favorite spaghetti sauce and heat through.  Season with salt and pepper, if necessary.

In a separate bowl, combine the cornstarch and milk.  Pour it into the now-empty stockpot over medium heat. Simmer and cook until thickened - about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the cottage cheese, egg and Parmesan mixture, 2 cups of the spaghetti sauce and 3/4 cup mozzarella. Combine. Add all of the pasta and stir to combine.

Split the pasta into 2 dishes and spread the remaining spaghetti sauce over the top. Sprinkle the remaining Mozzarella and Parmesan over the top of the dishes.

Bake covered with foil for 30 minutes and then uncovered for another 30 minutes.  If frozen, thaw completely and follow normal cooking instructions. 

This is my favorite baked pasta dish and surprisingly easy.  It also reheats really well.  You can substitute whatever ground meat you feel like for the sausage and the ground beef.  We have used all sausage, all ground beef and a mixture of the two.  I like the mixture because it yields different flavors.  I also buy a spaghetti sauce with extra basil in it but you can definitely use your favorite one. 

I hope you enjoy!!

-Sara

Fort Worth Food Truck Park

Rewind to about five years ago... if someone asked if you wanted to go eat at a food truck you would probably have looked at them like they were crazy.  At that time you might have only seen food trucks on construction sites and random seedy corners near bars.  You would have never seen gourmet food being served in food trucks and definitely wouldn't have considered them popular.  These days you can find amazing food trucks of pretty much any genre of food in any major city.  Fort Worth, Texas is lucky enough to be blessed with a number of different food truck parks and several other stations for stand alone food trucks. 

One such food truck park is the Fort Worth Food Truck Park http://www.fwfoodpark.com/index.php.  It is effectively hidden from the public unless you know what you are looking for.  It is near 7th St and University Dr near downtown Ft Worth.  On the closest major road near the park is a small sign about the size of a garage sale sign directing you to the correct location.  There are usually six food trucks parked here surrounding a small seating area.  The environment is always fun and upbeat and there is even live music on the weekends.  Pets are welcome on a leash and they are definitely kid friendly, but you will need to come prepared with a way for your children to eat because there are no high chairs or anything like that.  There is a bar in the back but I have never had a drink from there so I won't be able to testify to it's awesome-ness. 

My favorite food truck that is usually present is Red Jett Sweets (http://www.redjettsweets.com) which is the most awesome cupcake food truck that ever existed.  The partners have been competitors on the Cupcake Wars show on the Food Network.  They make an amazing cupcake called Nuts for Kentucky which they describe as a bourbon cake with caramel buttercream rolled in candied pecans.  Wipe the drool off your mouth.  This is honestly the best cupcake.  Just imagine the best cupcake that you have ever had and multiply that by ten.  We have also had the Coconut Comet which is absolutely amazing, but we definitely keep going back to the Nuts for Kentucky. They have a number of other awesome cupcakes and the always have the friendliest staff. 

My husband loves a truck called Salsa Limon.  He normally gets the El Capitan taco plus avocado.  You get a generous selection of salsas with your tacos.  If you are interested in a super spicy salsa, he would recommend the pink/orange colored one.  They also have rice and beans for $1.50 which my daughter appreciates.  They have a friendly staff and a wide variety of items available on their menu. 

There is a rotating schedule of trucks from pizza to tacos to Italian food to hot dogs.  You can find their schedule here:  http://www.fwfoodpark.com/calendar.php  including days that will have live music and brief descriptions of the trucks that could be present.  If you have never been to a food truck, I would totally recommend trying it!  With six different varieties of food normally available every weekend you are sure to find something for everyone!  

-Sara

I love my husband

Up until I met Corry I never wanted to get married.  I wasn't sure how my future was going to turn out but I knew that it didn't include children or a husband.  I wasn't happy with how my relationships with men were going at that time but I was at a loss as to what I really wanted.  Then I started talking with Corry...

We met online in December 2006.  We began talking right before I went to Florida to be in Jennifer's wedding.  Unfortunately, the night before the wedding I ended up falling and shattering my ankle.  I flew back to Texas and had surgery to reconstruct three bones in my ankle.  I couldn't walk for six weeks and had to wear a boot for the next few months.  I never thought that I would say this but I am grateful for breaking my ankle because even though it has set me back physically, I wouldn't be a wife or a mother today if it wouldn't have happened. 

We spoke over the phone everyday numerous times a day for a few weeks and then I finally went to meet him.  We drove around in Arlington for over an hour and just talked about everything.  Once I dropped him off, I kept thinking how much I liked him and how different I felt about him and our situation than I had with any other boy prior to him.  Once I went back to work I moved back to my apartment in Dallas and shortly after that he moved in.  We always joke that he moved in one backpack at a time. 

I'm not going to say that I easily decided that I wanted to get married.  I have had my fair share of panic attacks about the whole situation.  Up until Corry came along my longest relationship was like a month.  That isn't something to be proud of, but it's the truth.  I will admit that it still shocks me that he has been able to put up with me this long.  It just became easier and easier to see myself spending time with Corry on a long term basis.   

We talked about getting married long before we got engaged.  We bought our rings before he asked me to marry him.  He proposed in Lake Tahoe in 2008 when I was in Carson City on business and we were married April 2, 2009.  I love him more today than I could have even dreamed about that day. 

I say all of that to bring you the top 10 things that I love about my husband:

1. I love that he is an amazing provider who works all hours of the day and night to ensure that we have the things that we need and also the things that we want.
2. I love that he is an amazing father to all four of his children.
3. I love that he makes me laugh even when I don't want him to.
4. I love that he goes out of his way to make me feel special.
5. I love that he tells me I am beautiful.
6. I love that he tells our daughter everyday that she is beautiful.
7. I love that he teaches me new things about love, relationships and life in general everyday. 
8. I love that he sacrifices to make our family happy.
9. I love that he knows just how to make me happy and does whatever it takes to make me happy. 
10. I love that he loves my family.

To use a line that is sometimes overused - I love him to the moon and back. 

-Sara

52 in 52 #4 - Baked Tacos

Pinterest project - 4                                                                   
Pinterest projects to go - 48



Inspiration:  http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/11/how-to-make-hard-taco-shells-in-your-ovenplus-a-recipe-for-baked-tacos.html

I love this woman.  Well, I love her recipes.  She is all the brain behind the taco seasoning that we have been using and that I have been craving for weeks.  It's amazing!  I love finding people like this 1) who cook, 2) who post their recipes online, and 3) who actually make GOOD food because I then feel like I can trust other recipes that she has posted on her blog.  I feel this way also about my husband's girlfriend aka The Pioneer Woman.  I have been burned by many people who post recipes on their blogs and obviously either don't cook or don't test the recipe and it turns out HORRIBLE.

Back to the recipe - it was awesome!  I really liked the tacos better that didn't get overly full because then the shell stayed crispy in the oven but that's just a personal preference.  I will admit that we did something with this recipe that I absolutely hate that people do and we changed it before we even made it once the correct way.  We ONLY did this because we didn't have the proper amount of tomato sauce and there was no way that either one of us were leaving the house for 7 more ounces of tomato sauce.  Instead we substituted a small can of enchilada sauce and it was awesome.  I don't feel like it changed the integrity of the dish at all so I still will credit this woman for her amazing recipe. 

Baked Tacos

Ingredients:

12 taco shells
1 can refried beans
2 lbs ground beef
15 ounces tomato sauce
2 - 3 tablespoons taco seasoning (Her homemade Taco Seasoning)
2 cups shredded Colby Jack cheese



Instructions:

 

Brown 2lbs ground beef over medium heat. 

 





 

 

Once your meat is browned, add 15 ounces tomato sauce, taco seasoning, and refried beans.  I had to substitute a small can of enchilada sauce because I didn't have enough tomato sauce.  Cook until completely heated through.   

 

 

Arrange taco shells in an oven safe dish.  I used a 13x9 glass Pyrex dish. 

 

 

Fill your taco shells with your meat mixture until they are about halfway full.  We only used 12 taco shells since we are a small family and had about half of the meat leftover to freeze for a second meal.    

 

 

Top with cheese and bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes until the cheese is melted.  You should have something that looks like this:  

 

This recipe received the stamp of approval from my husband and our two children.  Her taco seasoning is very flavorful but not overly spicy and is easily tolerated by my two small children. 

Backyard Gardening: The Plan

For years I have wanted to have a garden.  Like a real garden that would actually grow and put off fruits and vegetables. I would have even settled for plants that didn't bear any food.  However, it is a well-known fact that in the past I have had a brown thumb.  There are even arguments that could be made to say that I had a black thumb.  I have been HORRIBLE at growing both indoor and outdoor plants.  I have only kept one plant alive in my entire life, not including the plants that we have in our front yard right now that my mom takes care of during the day.

I am, historically, a difficult plant owner.  I either forget to water them, or I don't pay attention to which plants need sun, which plants need shade, etc.  I can blame some of it on the Texas climate, because for months during the summer the ground in Texas feels like it's on the face of the Sun, but that's only a little piece of it.  Other people can keep plants and gardens alive in Texas.  I should be able to do this. 

I have decided to take a stand this year.  No more procrastinating.  This is going to be the year.  I am going to build raised beds in my backyard and plant a garden.  I have decided that I am going to plant a little bit of a lot of different items that way we can see what is successful in the area that we are in and what we would potentially like to do next year.  This is a learning garden for all of us.

We don't have an ideal set up in our backyard for a garden because about 4-5 feet out from our front porch starts this fairly steep slope all the way down to our fence at the end of our property line.  I read on some one's website re: raised beds that, ideally, you would want the long sides of your beds to face north and south, which would mean that we would need to build the beds on the slope.  I am not sure of the logistics of this plan, but since I am doing the actual marking out of the beds tomorrow and hopefully the building this weekend, I will let you know when I know. 

My mother and I were running some errands today with the kids and ended up at Lowe's in the garden section.  I went ahead and bought some plants that I would like to plant that can grow in pots indoors until the beds are built and the temperatures have leveled out more.  I bought jalapenos, two different varieties of tomatoes, oregano, flat leaf parsley, onion bulbs and a small blueberry bush.  I need to do some further research because there is a sign on the blueberry bush that says that it requires a pollinator and I have NO idea what that means.

Eventually, I would like to have the following items in my garden:

• at least one variety of lettuce (Lowe's had a salad mix which I thought looked neat)  
• onions
• potatoes
• tomatoes
• cucumber
• zucchini
• oregano
• parsley
• mint
• blueberries
• jalapenos
• bell peppers
• carrots

I have that one bush of blueberries that will be external to the beds but everything else will go within the beds.  I am thinking that I would like to build two raised beds.  Anything else and I think that it would require more work than I would be in for at this time. 

Next up: building the raised beds

An open letter to weirdos

Dear strange people,

Hey you!  Yes, you.  The creepy guy who just approached me in the Target parking lot and asked how we were enjoying the weather.  And you - the old lady who just put your finger in my child's mouth in Walmart.  And finally you - the insane waitress at Red Hot and Blue who took my child's photo to show her boyfriend what she wanted her kids to look like.  Yes, all of you.  This is a letter to you. 

I know my children are 100% adorable.  They are (mostly) well behaved in public places.  My daughter eats with utensils like a pro, uses a napkin, says please, thank you and excuse me when appropriate and says bye to people leaving by our table.  She can walk in stores without being a pest and can be calmed down with any distraction.  My son is a shameless flirt with anyone and everyone with a heartbeat who will show him any bit of attention.  He is a good eater, even in public and can be quieted down with a pacifier. 

I say all of that to let you know that just because they don't throw constant tantrums, are cute, and look in your direction doesn't mean that you should be a complete and total weirdo.  Based on your recent behavior, it has become obviously apparent to me that I need to address some 'to do's' and 'don'ts' when it comes to your behavior and other people's children.  (None of this applies to your own children.  Feel free to act totally like a weirdo around them.) 

To Do:

1. Do ASK before getting anywhere near my children.  I never really understood this before having children but since my kids were born I now understand the 'momma bear' mentality and I do not want strangers near my children or near me when I have my children.  I don't want you approaching us when I am getting them into or out of the car for any reason.  I don't want you to distract me for any reason while I am alone with my children because even though you might be totally innocent, in my head I am replaying all the news stories that I have heard recently about children being kidnapped or trying to memorize your facial features while you talk to be able to describe you to police later.  Also, especially during the cold and flu season, I don't want you or your gross germs in my family's air space.  Back up.  I was never a person who spoke to strangers before I was married and had kids and certainly am not willing to start that now.   
2. Do act like a goof.  I don't care if you smile, wave, make a dumb face, tell a story, dance like a monkey, whatever you want to do to entertain my child or get them to look at you, so long as it's from a distance.  My son will put on a show and do every 'trick' that he knows in the book to get attention from strangers and I appreciate the older people who indulge him in restaurants and in stores.  Even tonight, he waved at other patrons, servers and the cleaning crew at the restaurant like he was an air traffic controller bringing down a plane.  He has a good time and you can have a good time without me feeling uncomfortable.       
3. Do understand that sometimes kids don't want attention and that's OK.  Sometimes my kids are in what I call the "stranger danger zone" and they don't want you to talk to them or try to get their attention.  If that is the case, please don't try to convince them otherwise.  Just accept like kids aren't going to be "on" 24 hours a day.  They just wake up from naps... their favorite cartoon wasn't on TV today... they didn't get to watch the movie that they wanted to in the car.  You continuing the try to engage them is tiring for them and for me.  Please don't force them to try to interact with you.  That just makes my life suck for the next ten minutes trying to get them to calm down and not be freaked out that you are going to come by and try to talk to them again. 

Don't:

1. Don't ever touch my child... ever.  I swear, when my children were infants, anytime I took my them out people felt the need to touch them.  It didn't matter if we were in the grocery store, restaurants, public bathrooms, etc. there was always someone trying to touch them.  I finally started wearing my daughter in a Moby wrap after an elderly woman put her fingers in my daughter's mouth for her to use a chew toy.  I never thought about touching anyone else's children so I never understood this.  Whatever germs you have are now transferred to my child and I would prefer that to not happen again in the future.  I should have had one of those signs about not touching my kid on their stroller.  This is a cute one from http://happysignsurprise.com     
2. Don't be afraid to look at them but don't be creepy.  I like when people compliment my children.  They like when you compliment them.  I was fine with you walking by like 19 extra times since you were our server and I need extra things since I have two small children.  But when you came up to us and asked if you could take a picture of our child because you wanted your boyfriend to see what you wanted your children to look like.. that was a bit strange. 
3. This should go without saying, but don't be gross.  Don't try to get anything off of my child with your spit.  Don't try to stick your fingers in my child's mouth so they can use them as a chew toy.  Don't offer to share your food and drink with my child because they won't know any better.  

In closing, please just use your brain around any children that aren't yours. 

Sincerely,

me and any other parent

- by the way -
this is based on actual events over the last two years 

Parenting advice

If I could go back and do it all again with my first child I definitely would. There are things that I regret.  There are things that I missed that I wish that I could recapture.  There are things that I know now that I wish someone would have told me before I wanted to even get pregnant.  Wouldn't it be nice if constructive and helpful advice were easy to come by? 

 

When you first find out that you are pregnant, a million different questions come to mind: Will I be a good parent? How am I going to afford this? What is my child going to look like? If you are like me, then you begin an insane amount of research on how to be pregnant, how to be a good parent, how to handle labor, etc. And then it happens… the unwanted advice. 

 

It's gradual... First it’s your grandmother telling you the best position to get babies to sleep. Then it’s your aunt telling you the best nursery colors to use to enhance your baby’s intelligence. Then it’s the woman scanning your groceries at the grocery store telling you that formula will cause your baby to have cancer and has rocket fuel in it.  The advice and personal experiences seem to get more and more outlandish as time goes on. Some of the advice is potentially useful, while other pieces make you wonder how this person got through adulthood without being committed to an insane asylum.

This post is going to be an explanation of three statements that should help you through most decisions that will affect both you and your impending baby.

 

Trust your instincts 

 

You remember you instincts, right?  It's that little voice that tells you that something bad is about to happen in movies... and not to touch hot stoves... and gives you general little "feelings" about events that happen in your life.  We all have them.  And we used to use them.  Well, not we... but we as a people.  A thousand years ago women used to give birth just fine without doctors telling them when to push and nurses telling them to lay back so they could be checked for the 9th time in 2 hours.  I'm not suggesting that people should stop going to doctors and have all their babies unassisted at home because that's how they did it in the past.  However, I am saying that perhaps we should learn how to listen to our inner voice a little bit more and men in white coats a little bit less. 

 

Perhaps if we paid more attention to our instincts and less attention to what a stranger over the internet says to do with our children to make them smarter then we could lean at the same time.  If we sat down and played with our children instead of buying them games teaching them how to play then we could be better parents.  Don't you remember when you were a child there was this newfangled idea called 'playing outside'?  You just were outdoors playing with your friends, or by yourself and no one had to teach you how to do it; you just knew how to do it.  You played with rocks and sticks and dirt and trees.  I'm not judging this one at all because my two young children have iPhones.  It's a learning process. 

 

Do your own research

 

I remember a time, when I was a child, when I had this insatiable desire to learn.  Some people have that need to learn languages; others feel that way about cars.  Why doesn't anyone feel this way about anything important anymore?  Shouldn't we feel like, as a parent, that we should be insatiable learners about vaccines that we give to our children?  Or car seat safety?  Or the lasting effects of high fructose corn syrup on our bodies?  Why do we want to take someone else's word when it comes to our legacy?  We should care to know what's going into their body and what they are exposed to.  If you find out that what the "experts" say is, in fact, the case for your family and situation, then good.  Don't you imagine that you would feel a sense of accomplishment knowing that if someone asked you a question about your choice that you would be able to answer and not just say "oh, well, the almighty Google said so".   

 

Truthfully, this might sound completely opposite to my first piece of advice, but it doesn't have to be.  You aren't going to be able to live completely 100% free from the outside world.  Eventually you are going to need a doctor for a high fever, and you will definitely need a car seat if you are going to go anywhere.  Do some research for your family.  The most important thing is not necessarily that you made the best choice, but that YOU made the best, most well-researched choice for your family. 

 

Be flexible  

This piece of advice is usually used annoyingly and condescendingly by a lot of women to talk you through a labor and delivery that you don’t want or to get you to give in to something that you don’t want for your baby. “Oh you want a natural birth – be flexible because you will change your mind!” “Oh you want to cloth diaper your children –be flexible because you will do it one day and be tired of it!” I am not using it in that way. I am saying that if you decide that you want to co-sleep with your baby before he is born because you like the idea of the bonding and closeness that comes from this sleeping arrangement, don’t get all bent out of shape if your child needs his sleeping space. Just alter a different part of your life to get that bond from some other part. Learn that being flexible doesn’t mean giving in on items that are important to you, it simply means opening your mind to alternate solutions.

My husband and I swore up and down that we would NEVER bedshare with our kids. His eldest children were bed-sharers and it was torture to get them eventually into their own sleeping areas and routines. Corry and I love our sleep and are both cranky without proper amounts of rest. We felt that it would be in everyone’s best interest if our children had their own beds. We knew that we would co-sleep for the first year at least, because our baby room was upstairs and I didn’t feel comfortable being that far away from our daughter. We had her crib all set up in our room for months before she was born with the intention of bringing her home and her settling right into it. Until she was born… and it was quickly discovered that she wouldn’t sleep longer than 15ish minutes unless she was being held. She wouldn’t sleep at all at night unless she had her head on my arm and was clinging to my side like a monkey. I’m not talking that she whined if she didn’t sleep like this – NO ONE was getting sleep unless she was in this exact position. She slept this way until she was exactly 16 weeks old and then one night decided that she could sleep in her own bed. I was prepared for this same fate with my son and he HATED to sleep next to anyone. He will forcibly roll himself around until he gets away from any other person sleeping in his same area. He slept in his own bed from day one. We have learned to be flexible to our children’s needs and desires, while still keeping with our family values and morals. 

 

Remember that it's going to get better.  Eventually people will stop givng you constant advice.  

 

- Sara   

Review: A Sweet Fix cakes

So, back up to my daughter's first months of life... stress had already set in about her first birthday party.  I knew already from television, my friends and the Internet that one of the single most important things you can do for your child revolves around their first birthday party.  I am kidding... I think... but the first birthday party is huge to some people.  With that information logged securely in my brain, I set out to find a place to purchase an awesome cake. 

We live in the DFW area of Texas and I knew that, ideally, I wanted to stay local to the Ft Worth area since I didn't want to drive all over creation to get a cake.  I had a cake made from another local bakery the year before for my baby shower and it was expensive and not really worth it.  I wanted a better experience.  I began looking for local bakers with decent pricing.  I will say that even though a person doesn't seem to have their ducks in a row on their website or in person they sometimes want to charge an arm and a leg for their cakes and I wasn't down for that either.  I do understand the cost difference between a grocery store bakery and a baker making us a custom cake and am definitely willing to pay more for the craftsmanship and quality. 

Mission: Find a local bakery who provided consistently good cakes, good flavors and decent pricing.  Who would have guessed this would be so difficult to find?  Most wanted to offer a single layer cake or cupcakes for the price that I wanted to pay for everything.  Or their cake flavors were sub par.  Also, I look a lot at online reviews.  I always figure that if you are upset enough to go online and write a poor review then you must have a had a bad experience. 

Then I found Heather from A Sweet Fix on Facebook.  *angels singing and a harp playing* 

 

She offered numerous pictures of her cakes, from all angles and multiple different categories, like birthday, adult themed, etc.  Her website included flavor lists, what she normally offers for cakes and it's obvious that she does custom work.  I really enjoyed looking through the pictures of the cakes that she has made in the past for inspiration and was glad that I got to take full advantage of that before I called her so I was semi-prepared.


 I called and spoke to her right away.  She was so friendly!  We talked about what I wanted (hot pink, black and white Minnie Mouse for Isabella's first birthday party) but other than that I was open.  I knew that I wanted a layer cake, 2 smash cakes (one for pictures and one for the actual party) and some cupcakes.  I was open to flavors and decorations on the cake.  We decided on a layer cake with vanilla cake and vanilla buttercream for her bigger cake, chocolate cake and vanilla buttercream for her cupcakes and vanilla cake and vanilla buttercream for her smash cakes.  Other than that, I left the decorations up to her.  She quoted me a price well under what I was expecting and I almost fell out of my chair!  Based on what we had seen from other bakeries this seemed too good to be true!!

This is what she came up with!!  We thought it was amazing.  I will admit that we did leave the cake out in the hot for a bit too long and so it slid a bit but the taste was AWESOME!  As you can see Isabella loved it as well!  The cake was so moist and delicious!  The buttercream was sweet but not overly sweet, which is a delicate balance that not many people can get correct.  The chocolate cupcakes were great!  I was completely happy with our order. 

 

Of course, I was so pleased with our first order that we went back to her on Isabella's second birthday and this was the result.  Again I left it open to her creativity and I was super pleased.  Forgive the nameplate - she made an error but fixed it ASAP!

Again, it was delicious!!  This time we decided on vanilla cake on one layer and strawberry cake on the other.  This tasted like actual strawberries and not some fake strawberry gross flavoring.  It was AMAZING!  We had a relatively small party and managed to have less cake leftover than the last party where we had one of her cakes.  It was a hit! 

 

I will say that normally she works with fondant on cakes but we don't usually care for it so she makes our cakes with buttercream.  Even though she doesn't normally make them that way, I think that she does an amazing job.  I have recommended Heather to all of my friends, family and anyone that I know from Ft Worth who is looking for a cake.  She does awesome work and you really feel like you are getting a fair price considering all of the detail work that she puts into her cakes.  You can tell from the pictures above that she attended to all the little details, like even the little hot pink bows on the Minnie Mouse heads were perfectly shaped.  It's the attention to those kind of details that really make her cakes stand out.  I envision that we will be ordering cakes from Heather for years!! 

 

For more information and details you can visit Heather on her website http://asweetfix4u.com  or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/asweetfix .

Resolution Update: Part II

So it's been more than a month since I started blogging everyday and since I made these resolutions; perhaps I should check in and report on how it's going. 

Personal
1. Be more "girl"y, i.e. wear makeup, do my hair, etc. - I am still fighting the sickness of 2013.  I have worn makeup more than this year already than I have since my daughter was born, but I could still do better.  This is a daily struggle since putting on makeup sometimes is a fight in my head because ultimately you just wash it off at the end of the day. 
2. Blog everyday. - I am now in a pattern with this.  It's no longer a struggle of *if* I should write, but more *what* I should write which is a good switch. 
3. Go on more dates with my husband. - I have some things planned, but no updates as of yet.

Home
1. Do 52 "Pinterest" projects for the year. -No new Pinterest projects since the last update.  I have done 3 out of 52.  This needs work.   
2. Stock freezer with prepared meals once per month. - We cooked a chicken spaghetti that was added to the fridge and my husband charred some chiles that we use all throughout the year.  I really need to work on this.   
3. Create a monthly budget and stick to it. -  Judge all you want, but we are one of those families that would rather have less money throughout the year to get a bigger tax return in February.  I get my work bonus at the same time and it seems like we accomplish more this way than little bits throughout the year.  I am hoping that this will push us back into a good money zone.  We aren't struggling right now or anything but we are not doing awesome. 
4. Save more money every month. - See above. I moved money into our savings this month. Was it as much as I would have liked? no.
5. Do 52 acts of preparedness. - I have not purchased anything from the list or done anything on this list.  This is horrible and I resolve to work on this. 

Health
1. Stop drinking sodas.  Since December 31, 2012, I have had the equivalent of less than one soda.  I have had sips here or there with awful headaches but nothing except diet and probably less than half of a can.   
2. Do some form of exercise 5 days per week. - Let's not speak about the fact that I have failed completely on this one. I will get better. 

Overall this is NOT a good update.  Except for the blogging and the soda it has been awful.  It has to get better. 

-Sara

Our Cloth Diaper Journey: Our Experience(s)

We had the best of intentions.  That should count for something, right?  I know that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, but this should be different... well perhaps not. 

We talked over cloth diapering everyday for months.  We discussed what kinds of diapers, what kinds of diaper pails, what we would do with Isabella as a newborn in diapers, etc.  We thought that we had all of our bases covered.  I was prepared with different websites with advice about leaking, smell, and broken diapers.  I logged countless nights on different sites researching the best places to go for troubleshooting our issues and local stores or support groups that might offer help.  I watched HOURS of YouTube videos on how to get the best fit around the legs, how to tell when the diaper was sized correctly, advice on wash routines, etc.  I was prepared.  Until I wasn't...

We decided before Isabella was born that based on what we read online about newborn poop that we were not going to use cloth diapers during the "newborn" phase.  Plus, when we got home from the hospital we tried one of our diapers on Isabella and it was obvious that they were too big for her.  She was 7lbs 6ozs when born and right at 7lbs when we left the hospital.  We re-tried the diapers again in about two weeks and they fit a bit better.  Be advised that one sized diapers are still going to look ENORMOUS on a newborn until they are about 10-11lbs. 

Day number one went fine, but we noticed a bit of a leaking issue around the legs.  Chalking it up to a fit issue, we decided to tighten the fit next time and moved on.  The next day it got worse and worse.  It seemed like every time that she peed she leaked out of her diaper and had to have a different change of clothes.  I knew something wasn't right.  I immediately logged on to a number of different websites.  I decided to strip our diapers, even though we had washed them like 3-4 times after we purchased them new.  We stripped them fully.  Same issue.  We did the "water droplet" test to check for repelling issues - that didn't appear to be the case.  We checked the fit around the legs - that didn't appear to be the case.  We did everything that we could think of.  Nothing seemed to work.  I was distraught.  I wanted this to work so bad.  I wanted to prove the naysayers wrong.  I was defeated.  My mother had started back to the disposable diapers during the days because she was exhausted with the different changes in clothes and constant wet spots. 

Every so often I would go back and try them again and it seemed like we never fully got rid of the leaking issues.  When we talked through it with some people they told us that it could just be that she pees too fast for the diapers to be able to absorb.  Now that she is a toddler, I know that it won't get any better because she holds it for so long. 

When Silas came along we wanted to give it another go.  This time we had a new plan.  We would get newborn cloth diapers and just start fresh.  We bought newborn BumGenius diapers and they worked awesome.  Even though he was almost 10lbs at birth they still fit snug and almost completely leak proof.  We used them until we could no longer squeeze his chunkiness into them.  We started using our cloth diapers that we used with Isabella and they worked with Silas, but no one was really committed to them.  We were already buying disposable diapers for Isabella so it didn't seem like that much trouble to be buying disposable diapers for Silas either. 

Until about 3 months ago ... Silas got this rash on his waist line.  It started looking like he just scratched himself with something.  I was thinking that perhaps he had something in the waistband of his pants that was scratchy.  So we washed it well and made sure to wash those clothes well that he had on.  I forgot about it because he didn't seem to be scratching it through his clothes.  Then about four days later I was dressing him after he had a warm bath and the rash looked AWFUL.  It looked huge and red and like enormous welts.  I immediately freaked out, but Corry talked me down off the ledge and told me that it was probably just the heat from the bath and that we should wait until it was a bit cooler before we did anything crazy. 

I checked him again before bed and it seemed better but it still looked like something.  I thought I would just have to take him into the doctor the next day.  About two hours after he went to bed he woke up screaming and when I went to get him he was burning up.  My kids don't regularly get fevers so I knew that something had to be wrong.  I took his temperature at 103.5 degrees.  Of course, by this point the only places open were emergency rooms because all of the minor medical places were closed.  We went and they said latex allergy for the rash and the fever was unrelated, but unalarming unless it continued for multiple days, got worse, or came with anymore symptoms but they felt that they two were unrelated. 

Latex allergy - less than cool.  However, lucky for us, we had the solution.  Cloth diapers.  We started using them that night and have been using them ever since.  The rash healed and hasn't returned.  We have had some small issues but we have learned a lot.  We have noticed that we have to be more diligent with checking his diaper than we ever did before in order to avoid leaks, but we haven't had near the leaks that we did with Isabella.  I can proudly say that we are cloth diapering parents.