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
Showing posts with label blogger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blogger. Show all posts
Monday, February 25, 2013
Friday, February 15, 2013
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.
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.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Our cloth diaper journey: Types and our decision
It was definitely easier to decide to cloth diaper in the past because you didn't have near as many options as you have today. It's easy to get overwhelmed in a sea of different options. Snaps, velcro, and prefolds, oh my! There are three main decisions that you will eventually make as a cloth diapering parent: 1) Do I want my diapers to close via snaps or velcro? 2) Do I want my diapers by size or one-sized diapers? and 3) What type of diapers do I want to use? - prefolds & covers, AIO, AI2's, pockets, etc. I will cover a brief overview below of each question and our decision about each.
Do I want my diapers to close via snaps or velcro?
Ok, so in cloth diaper world it's called aplix or hook and loop, but it's velcro to the rest of the world. I know that at first glance the lazy person in me was like 'Sign me up for the velcro, duh!' strictly because of perceived ease of use. However, after a bit of reading I found mixed reviews and saw a lot of questionable pictures of the aplix after a certain amount of time and it looked seriously janky. There were several instructional videos on how to replace the aplix but I knew that I wouldn't be interested in doing that. There were a lot of good reviews on the snaps from any company that we researched and from what I read and saw on YouTube it looked easy to replace a snap should it break off or come loose. We decided to go with a majority snaps and a few aplix diapers for when my parents watched Isabella or when we were feeling lazy at night times or something like that. The picture at left is a BumGenius aplix diaper from http://www.fullcirclebaby.com . I would have used one of our diapers as a model but we don't currently own any aplix diapers. The diaper to the right is a Kawaii from http://theluvyourbaby.com - at any time at least a third of our stash has been a Kawaii diaper.
Do I want my diapers by size or one-sized diapers?
This one seemed like a 'duh' moment as well! Why would I choose to re-purchase my entire cloth diaper stash three or four times throughout my child's diaper years? One sized diapers typically have two to three rows of snaps where you can control how tall/long the rise is, along with one or two rows of hip snaps. They are usually advertised by the community as 'from birth to potty training'. I have an issue with both ends of that spectrum because my kids have both had less chunkier thighs and just didn't work as a newborn in one sized diapers. Also, the other day we tried to put a one size diaper on Isabella and at approximately 31lbs she had exhausted the limits of that diaper. You can see how big the Kawaii goes in the picture above when none of the rise snaps are being used and this is the same diaper snapped all the way down:
I am going to spend a sentence or two (or ten) on FuzziBunz in this section because I have some familiarity with their system. FuzziBunz offers a unique (I don't know of many other systems that offer this - but I'm certainly not a cloth expert!) system in that instead of rise snaps they offer the user the ability to size the diaper by moving stationary buttons into different button holes on an elastic band placed inside of the diaper. At first glance this seems daunting. The elastic band has numbers on it near the holes and you have to get them sized correctly for your child in order for the fit to be correct and for the diaper to not leak. The good news is that your child only has to sit still for this process one time and then you should be able to size your diapers the same as that one. Once Silas gets too big for that one size I go in and just move the buttons up one hole and it seems to work out well. In the pictures, the back elastic is being sized, but there are also elastic bands along the leg holes as well. One sized FuzziBunz diapers seem trim to me on our son - these are my favorite diapers.
Conversely, sized diapers are usually more trim than one sized diapers and offer some babies a better fit because they are based on weight. You will also have to take into account though your babies thighs and waist to ensure that you are getting the proper fit. Even though we were originally against a sized diaper we now have more than 5 of these in our stash. They are convenient if you want to avoid the 'fluffy butt' that some diapers give the babies or if you need a more trim fit for something. I like them but they definitely come in second to one sized diapers for me because you don't get as close of a fit with sized diapers, at least with my children. You can see in the diaper below that there is no insert so the diaper is shaped a bit funny but a sized diaper only has the hip and waist snap rows and not the rise snaps. This is a FuzziBunz size small. My 23lb son can still wear this diaper comfortably.
What type of diapers do I want to use?
Next: Cloth diaper accessories and the continuation of our story.
Ok, so in cloth diaper world it's called aplix or hook and loop, but it's velcro to the rest of the world. I know that at first glance the lazy person in me was like 'Sign me up for the velcro, duh!' strictly because of perceived ease of use. However, after a bit of reading I found mixed reviews and saw a lot of questionable pictures of the aplix after a certain amount of time and it looked seriously janky. There were several instructional videos on how to replace the aplix but I knew that I wouldn't be interested in doing that. There were a lot of good reviews on the snaps from any company that we researched and from what I read and saw on YouTube it looked easy to replace a snap should it break off or come loose. We decided to go with a majority snaps and a few aplix diapers for when my parents watched Isabella or when we were feeling lazy at night times or something like that. The picture at left is a BumGenius aplix diaper from http://www.fullcirclebaby.com . I would have used one of our diapers as a model but we don't currently own any aplix diapers. The diaper to the right is a Kawaii from http://theluvyourbaby.com - at any time at least a third of our stash has been a Kawaii diaper.
Do I want my diapers by size or one-sized diapers?
This one seemed like a 'duh' moment as well! Why would I choose to re-purchase my entire cloth diaper stash three or four times throughout my child's diaper years? One sized diapers typically have two to three rows of snaps where you can control how tall/long the rise is, along with one or two rows of hip snaps. They are usually advertised by the community as 'from birth to potty training'. I have an issue with both ends of that spectrum because my kids have both had less chunkier thighs and just didn't work as a newborn in one sized diapers. Also, the other day we tried to put a one size diaper on Isabella and at approximately 31lbs she had exhausted the limits of that diaper. You can see how big the Kawaii goes in the picture above when none of the rise snaps are being used and this is the same diaper snapped all the way down:
You can also look for some brands (not sure of the brand on this diaper or the site that we bought it from) that offer the cross over snaps to make the waist even smaller:
I am going to spend a sentence or two (or ten) on FuzziBunz in this section because I have some familiarity with their system. FuzziBunz offers a unique (I don't know of many other systems that offer this - but I'm certainly not a cloth expert!) system in that instead of rise snaps they offer the user the ability to size the diaper by moving stationary buttons into different button holes on an elastic band placed inside of the diaper. At first glance this seems daunting. The elastic band has numbers on it near the holes and you have to get them sized correctly for your child in order for the fit to be correct and for the diaper to not leak. The good news is that your child only has to sit still for this process one time and then you should be able to size your diapers the same as that one. Once Silas gets too big for that one size I go in and just move the buttons up one hole and it seems to work out well. In the pictures, the back elastic is being sized, but there are also elastic bands along the leg holes as well. One sized FuzziBunz diapers seem trim to me on our son - these are my favorite diapers.
Conversely, sized diapers are usually more trim than one sized diapers and offer some babies a better fit because they are based on weight. You will also have to take into account though your babies thighs and waist to ensure that you are getting the proper fit. Even though we were originally against a sized diaper we now have more than 5 of these in our stash. They are convenient if you want to avoid the 'fluffy butt' that some diapers give the babies or if you need a more trim fit for something. I like them but they definitely come in second to one sized diapers for me because you don't get as close of a fit with sized diapers, at least with my children. You can see in the diaper below that there is no insert so the diaper is shaped a bit funny but a sized diaper only has the hip and waist snap rows and not the rise snaps. This is a FuzziBunz size small. My 23lb son can still wear this diaper comfortably.
What type of diapers do I want to use?
- Prefolds are the typical cloth diaper that any lay person knows as a cloth diaper. Most everyone has seen a prefold if you have seen those Gerber diapers. These are usually flat white square pieces of material that you fold differently against your baby's skin depending on their age, gender and fit. You put these on your child, fix with a pin or Snappi and cover with some type of outer layer. I know that some people don't use a pin or a Snappi but I don't know that I would feel comfortable with that unless the cover was tight. This outer layer can be lanolized wool or a PUL cover. There are other options I am sure, but I am most familiar with those two.
- Pocket diapers are the most popular type of diaper, in my opinion. They are in the same shape as a disposable diaper. They have a microfiber, hemp, or other type of insert that fits inside of a pocket that opens in either the front or the back of the diaper. These are easy to use and you can usually surprise a cloth diaper naysayer with one of these to show how easy a cloth diaper really is to use! Our entire stash currently is pocket diapers with microfiber inserts.
- AIO diapers have the insert built into the 'pocket' part of the diaper. These are the easiest to use but take FOREVER to dry, especially if you are line drying. We have had some of these in the past and the extra dry time wasn't worth the ease of use.
- AI2 diapers are a similar system in that they have an insert and a cover, however, different in that the insert actually touches your baby's skin instead of being in a pocket. You can re-use the cover, provided that it doesn't get soiled for multiple inserts. You can change out the insert when you change your baby's diaper.
- 13 Kawaii one size
- 8 One Size FuzziBunz
- 3 one size BumGenius with snaps
- 3 'no name' one size diapers
- 4 Medium Perfect Sized FuzziBunz
- 3 Small Perfect Sized FuzziBunz
Next: Cloth diaper accessories and the continuation of our story.
Monday, January 14, 2013
I'm a TV addict, I think
When I was growing up at my parent's house, I never really cared that much about TV. We never had cable. I 'missed' it growing up because all my friends had cable. It seemed, at the time, like everyone else in the world had cable. And we didn't. Cue the sad teenage violins. Even though we didn't have cable, television was always on but mainly just as background noise. I rarely remember watching any specific shows or series programs or anything like that. If you ask my parents today, they are strictly devoted to several shows about celebrities dancing or singing or ice skating or something else ridiculous.
Throughout my younger 20's and up until just a few months ago I have done that same thing, except with cable. Once I got my first apartment, I got cable. Rebellion from your parents: party of one! Rarely though did I get involved in any one TV show especially a current show because I can't ever remember what channel or what time it's on. I would get involved in the Food Network any time of day or night and could always get sucked into those marathons of Law and Order: SVU. Who doesn't love 19 straight hours of Benson and Stabler?
Corry and I have always had cable since we moved in to our first apartment together. However, since having kids, I have now become more aware of the shows that my children watch on television. Before we go any further, I will say that my children watch television and they have learned an exponential amount of awesome things from educational television. I am not a follower of the 'no TV before age 2 or your baby's brain will rot and fall out' mindset, nor do I believe that exposure to violent or sexual behavior on television shapes the way that we grow up. I love SVU, but that doesn't mean that I am going to go out and assault someone. I digress..
Before we moved into this newer house, in an effort to save money, we talked about getting rid of cable. We didn't have that much spectacular stuff with our current cable package and it was well over $100 a month including taxes and fees. Ridiculous. And what's even worse is that we watched like 5 channels on a regular basis. Even more ridiculous.
My husband couldn't have been happier when he saw a NeoTV box on the Black Friday deals in our area. I, of course, didn't know anything about it but was quickly schooled that it could stream Netflix and Hulu. Sold. I originally missed live television, but now I can't even tell you that I notice it. Plus, I get to become involved in shows that I never watched before, like Survivor. I have become a Survivor crazy person. How did I never watch any of the first like 24 seasons of this show?
I would like for one of the positives of this year with my new exercise resolution to be that I get more exercise, yes but possibly less television. I want to not be one of those parents that entertains my children with television. I want them to remember that we went to the park, and out to the zoo, and that we played games, and not that they knew which channel Cailou was on everyday. I'm working on it... as soon as Survivor is over!
Throughout my younger 20's and up until just a few months ago I have done that same thing, except with cable. Once I got my first apartment, I got cable. Rebellion from your parents: party of one! Rarely though did I get involved in any one TV show especially a current show because I can't ever remember what channel or what time it's on. I would get involved in the Food Network any time of day or night and could always get sucked into those marathons of Law and Order: SVU. Who doesn't love 19 straight hours of Benson and Stabler?
Corry and I have always had cable since we moved in to our first apartment together. However, since having kids, I have now become more aware of the shows that my children watch on television. Before we go any further, I will say that my children watch television and they have learned an exponential amount of awesome things from educational television. I am not a follower of the 'no TV before age 2 or your baby's brain will rot and fall out' mindset, nor do I believe that exposure to violent or sexual behavior on television shapes the way that we grow up. I love SVU, but that doesn't mean that I am going to go out and assault someone. I digress..
Before we moved into this newer house, in an effort to save money, we talked about getting rid of cable. We didn't have that much spectacular stuff with our current cable package and it was well over $100 a month including taxes and fees. Ridiculous. And what's even worse is that we watched like 5 channels on a regular basis. Even more ridiculous.
My husband couldn't have been happier when he saw a NeoTV box on the Black Friday deals in our area. I, of course, didn't know anything about it but was quickly schooled that it could stream Netflix and Hulu. Sold. I originally missed live television, but now I can't even tell you that I notice it. Plus, I get to become involved in shows that I never watched before, like Survivor. I have become a Survivor crazy person. How did I never watch any of the first like 24 seasons of this show?
I would like for one of the positives of this year with my new exercise resolution to be that I get more exercise, yes but possibly less television. I want to not be one of those parents that entertains my children with television. I want them to remember that we went to the park, and out to the zoo, and that we played games, and not that they knew which channel Cailou was on everyday. I'm working on it... as soon as Survivor is over!
Friday, January 11, 2013
My husband is a genius
My husband has some questionable ideas. Let's face it - if you are married, there are sometimes that you're husband comes to you with this idea and on the outside you look like you think it's a good idea and on the inside you are wondering how he manages to get out of bed on his own everyday. And don't even get me started on how many ideas he will have that end with some type of sexual overtone. Luckily for me, since the beginning of the year, my husband has had some legitimately awesome ideas.
The most recent idea being that he would try to investigate what happened to our broken washer prior to buying another one. Let me preface by saying that our washer would fill, drain and spin but not agitate. A simple review on google yielded a million different options of how to fix this issue but none that seemed to be applicable for our washer. When you included our model of washer, zero decent suggestions.
Of course, when our washer decided to stop agitating it was at the beginning of a wash cycle and so there were dirty clothes in the washer that had just been hanging around for a few days and were now just starting to take on this weird smell. Last night after our trip to the Sears Outlet, we decided to at least run those clothes through a cycle with detergent to rid the house of the smell. Let me say first that I remember various other times throughout my life that I have been in that place and seen better prices. I don't know if now is the time of the year when washers and dryers start to break but they did not seem as reasonably priced as I remember. The focus of our conversation then turned to how we could live with a temporary washer until tax returns came back. While washing that load of clothes, he was letting me hear the noise that it was making and had an "Aha!" moment and said "I think that the coupler is bad!" Possibly a washing machine fix it man in a past life?
Excellent! Verdict: Bad coupler. Cost of the part: $7.50. Prior to deciding to buy a new one I looked up and it would have cost $75.00 just to have someone come out and try to tell us what the problem was. I am obviously in the wrong business - you would imagine that we would have paid more than $100 to have someone fix that washer for a $7.50 part. The markup on that is insane. Nevertheless, I am excited by my husband for figuring this out and taking less than an hour to replace the part and get the washer going again.
I am confident that sometime in 2013, we will again return to the ideas that culminate with a sexual overtone or ideas where I wonder if he has a monkey's brain, but it's nice to start off the year on the right foot!
-Sara
The most recent idea being that he would try to investigate what happened to our broken washer prior to buying another one. Let me preface by saying that our washer would fill, drain and spin but not agitate. A simple review on google yielded a million different options of how to fix this issue but none that seemed to be applicable for our washer. When you included our model of washer, zero decent suggestions.
Of course, when our washer decided to stop agitating it was at the beginning of a wash cycle and so there were dirty clothes in the washer that had just been hanging around for a few days and were now just starting to take on this weird smell. Last night after our trip to the Sears Outlet, we decided to at least run those clothes through a cycle with detergent to rid the house of the smell. Let me say first that I remember various other times throughout my life that I have been in that place and seen better prices. I don't know if now is the time of the year when washers and dryers start to break but they did not seem as reasonably priced as I remember. The focus of our conversation then turned to how we could live with a temporary washer until tax returns came back. While washing that load of clothes, he was letting me hear the noise that it was making and had an "Aha!" moment and said "I think that the coupler is bad!" Possibly a washing machine fix it man in a past life?
Excellent! Verdict: Bad coupler. Cost of the part: $7.50. Prior to deciding to buy a new one I looked up and it would have cost $75.00 just to have someone come out and try to tell us what the problem was. I am obviously in the wrong business - you would imagine that we would have paid more than $100 to have someone fix that washer for a $7.50 part. The markup on that is insane. Nevertheless, I am excited by my husband for figuring this out and taking less than an hour to replace the part and get the washer going again.
I am confident that sometime in 2013, we will again return to the ideas that culminate with a sexual overtone or ideas where I wonder if he has a monkey's brain, but it's nice to start off the year on the right foot!
-Sara
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Successful items from Silas's first birthday party
So let me start this post off on the right foot - I am not a chef by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, for anyone who knew me about five years ago you would swear that I could NEVER learn how to cook. Everything that I used to cook was a failure - even if I followed the recipe word for word.
Once I got married and had children I started to become more aware of my need to provide sustenance for my family. It seemed like an almost overnight switch where this light came on in my brain and I began to be able to differentiate recipes that I could be successful with and recipes that maybe were not the best fit. I started small and have worked my way up to a small repertoire of recipes that have numerous lovers - because anyone can like their own cooking.
I now begin my search on Pinterest, of course. In my opinion, if your recipe has numerous people that have pinned it, it must at least sound good. I knew that I wanted to make most of the food for Silas's party myself. Normally for my children's parties I use this awesome cake woman near my house. Heather from http://www.asweetfix4u.com has made several cakes for us in the past. She is inexpensive for the quality of cakes that she provides and they have always been a hit. She has always been able to take my crazy spaced out ideas and turn them into an awesome masterpiece that was exactly what I wanted. Unfortunately, Silas's party snuck up on me and I was too embarrassed to call the week before and ask her to squeeze us in.
So began the search for a cake pan to match his star theme http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?sku=2105-2512 and a recipe deserving of the party. Now I have made several cakes before from scratch and countless cakes from a box mix - not nearly as awesome and/or brag worthy. However, none seemed to be awesome enough worth repeating. Luckily I found an awesome sounding chocolate cake: http://fabulesslyfrugal.com/2012/04/easy-made-from-scratch-you-cant-stop-eating-it-chocolate-cake.html that turned out to be AMAZING. Unfortunately, when the back of the star cake pan said it took a normal cake recipe to fill it, it meant that a normal cake recipe was going to overflow and be way too much in the pan. Luckily, this did not alter the taste nor the texture. I decided that I wanted Silas's smash cake to be vanilla and so another recipe had to be found. After about an hour reviewing recipes that contained either items that we didn't have or didn't sound like the taste that I was looking for, I resorted to a vanilla boxed cake and it turned out fine. I did make two full recipes of vanilla buttercream frosting as well: http://savorysweetlife.com/2010/03/buttercream-frosting/ This is the standard recipe for vanilla buttercream that I have always seen but I wanted to give credit to the source that I used. It was awesome and had many compliments.
We also had "copycat" Pizza Hut pizza sauce for dipping with two pepperoni pizza rolls made with Rhodes bread dough, pepperoni, mozzarella, olive oil and spices. Both are always a hit and super easy to make. I also made cake balls which is a super braindead item but it takes SO much work. I don't like them but I always make them for other people and it really is too much work. I have always told people that I could train a monkey to do it, but people love them.
The good news: We all survived the party. Silas had an awesome time with his family and friends. We ate some awesome food.
The bad news: We all have super bad allergies today and have been in general the mopiest family this side of Texas.
Until tomorrow:
-Sara
Once I got married and had children I started to become more aware of my need to provide sustenance for my family. It seemed like an almost overnight switch where this light came on in my brain and I began to be able to differentiate recipes that I could be successful with and recipes that maybe were not the best fit. I started small and have worked my way up to a small repertoire of recipes that have numerous lovers - because anyone can like their own cooking.
I now begin my search on Pinterest, of course. In my opinion, if your recipe has numerous people that have pinned it, it must at least sound good. I knew that I wanted to make most of the food for Silas's party myself. Normally for my children's parties I use this awesome cake woman near my house. Heather from http://www.asweetfix4u.com has made several cakes for us in the past. She is inexpensive for the quality of cakes that she provides and they have always been a hit. She has always been able to take my crazy spaced out ideas and turn them into an awesome masterpiece that was exactly what I wanted. Unfortunately, Silas's party snuck up on me and I was too embarrassed to call the week before and ask her to squeeze us in.
So began the search for a cake pan to match his star theme http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?sku=2105-2512 and a recipe deserving of the party. Now I have made several cakes before from scratch and countless cakes from a box mix - not nearly as awesome and/or brag worthy. However, none seemed to be awesome enough worth repeating. Luckily I found an awesome sounding chocolate cake: http://fabulesslyfrugal.com/2012/04/easy-made-from-scratch-you-cant-stop-eating-it-chocolate-cake.html that turned out to be AMAZING. Unfortunately, when the back of the star cake pan said it took a normal cake recipe to fill it, it meant that a normal cake recipe was going to overflow and be way too much in the pan. Luckily, this did not alter the taste nor the texture. I decided that I wanted Silas's smash cake to be vanilla and so another recipe had to be found. After about an hour reviewing recipes that contained either items that we didn't have or didn't sound like the taste that I was looking for, I resorted to a vanilla boxed cake and it turned out fine. I did make two full recipes of vanilla buttercream frosting as well: http://savorysweetlife.com/2010/03/buttercream-frosting/ This is the standard recipe for vanilla buttercream that I have always seen but I wanted to give credit to the source that I used. It was awesome and had many compliments.
We also had "copycat" Pizza Hut pizza sauce for dipping with two pepperoni pizza rolls made with Rhodes bread dough, pepperoni, mozzarella, olive oil and spices. Both are always a hit and super easy to make. I also made cake balls which is a super braindead item but it takes SO much work. I don't like them but I always make them for other people and it really is too much work. I have always told people that I could train a monkey to do it, but people love them.
The good news: We all survived the party. Silas had an awesome time with his family and friends. We ate some awesome food.
The bad news: We all have super bad allergies today and have been in general the mopiest family this side of Texas.
Until tomorrow:
-Sara
Friday, January 4, 2013
Teething baby + Sick Toddler = awesome day
Silas turned 1 on December 31st. He is my last baby. We will cover the sadness around that subject sometime in the future. For now, let's just say that he is enduring the worst part of baby/toddlerhood - teething. Specifically cutting molars. I have always told someone that if it was possible for babies to cut all of their teeth in like two days, I would much rather that happen. Unfortunately it does not.
We are currently on day 5ish of molars coming in. Let's regress a second and relive our lives months ago when Silas cut his other eight teeth in like two weeks. He gets a fever, is up ALL NIGHT, and just generally a ridiculously cranky baby for days. Isabella was never a problem with teething. No fighting, no crying, no whining or anything. We always attributed it to the amber teething necklace that she wore. I have told my husband that we should have Silas look like Mr. T with so many amber necklaces to combat his teething. We have one on him that he has worn solid since he was about 2 months. Please don't judge - I am the worst amber owner ever. I don't take it off of them ever... I don't wash it... I don't sun it... he just wears it. I am currently researching how I should go about washing it but I am kind of afraid to remove it because of how he will react. Currently he doesn't even seem to notice it and I don't want to draw attention to it in any form or fashion.
So, we are on about 5 days of not sleeping for Silas, me and my husband. Needless to say our house is in an awesome mood. Because the universe sometimes likes to throw all kinds of fun at you at the same time, Isabella woke up this morning and said that her ear was hurting. I got instantly anxious because she has had HORRIBLE double ear infections before and not said anything about pain. After a doctor appointment for the both of them it is determined to be nothing serious except teething for cranky baby, ear infection for Isabella and totally shot day for mommy.
Today is the day before Silas's first birthday party. I have a million and one things to do. I am finally getting a second to breathe after making a cake from scratch, cake balls, prepped fruit salad, prepper the dip for tomorrow, cleaned the kitchen, made the banners and got as much prepped as possible for the food tomorrow. I hope to be able to take some pictures and post them tomorrow. For now, I am going to pass out while the second cake cooks.
-Sara
We are currently on day 5ish of molars coming in. Let's regress a second and relive our lives months ago when Silas cut his other eight teeth in like two weeks. He gets a fever, is up ALL NIGHT, and just generally a ridiculously cranky baby for days. Isabella was never a problem with teething. No fighting, no crying, no whining or anything. We always attributed it to the amber teething necklace that she wore. I have told my husband that we should have Silas look like Mr. T with so many amber necklaces to combat his teething. We have one on him that he has worn solid since he was about 2 months. Please don't judge - I am the worst amber owner ever. I don't take it off of them ever... I don't wash it... I don't sun it... he just wears it. I am currently researching how I should go about washing it but I am kind of afraid to remove it because of how he will react. Currently he doesn't even seem to notice it and I don't want to draw attention to it in any form or fashion.
So, we are on about 5 days of not sleeping for Silas, me and my husband. Needless to say our house is in an awesome mood. Because the universe sometimes likes to throw all kinds of fun at you at the same time, Isabella woke up this morning and said that her ear was hurting. I got instantly anxious because she has had HORRIBLE double ear infections before and not said anything about pain. After a doctor appointment for the both of them it is determined to be nothing serious except teething for cranky baby, ear infection for Isabella and totally shot day for mommy.
Today is the day before Silas's first birthday party. I have a million and one things to do. I am finally getting a second to breathe after making a cake from scratch, cake balls, prepped fruit salad, prepper the dip for tomorrow, cleaned the kitchen, made the banners and got as much prepped as possible for the food tomorrow. I hope to be able to take some pictures and post them tomorrow. For now, I am going to pass out while the second cake cooks.
-Sara
Thursday, January 3, 2013
52 in 52 Pinterest Project #1 - Overnight Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal
Pinterest project - 1
Pinterest projects to go - 51
I am always on the look for a breakfast recipe that I can "cook" overnight. This has been my second failure so perhaps the universe is trying to tell me something.
I was perusing Pinterest the other day and came across this pin for overnight apple cinnamon Oatmeal - original website/recipe found here: http://bestfoodpins.com/archives/7022
Several things immediately struck me with this pin:
1. I LOVE using the crock pot. I had never cooked anything overnight in it, but I figured that there has to be a first time for everything.
2. I LOVE apple cinnamon oatmeal.
3. I had all the ingredients on hand and none of them were "weird" or seemed like they needed to be babysat. I'm not sure if anyone else does this but anytime I read the ingredients to a recipe I always skip over it if it has an odd ingredient or requires too much attention, like stirring constantly for over 10 minutes - who has time for that?
So we begin our journey. I pull out my trusty crock pot, assemble ingredients exactly as stated except that I used steel cut oats - what I had on hand. After an hour I put Saran Wrap over my crockpot under the lid because my pot doesn't seal as well as I would appreciate.
Our one year old crying woke my husband and I up approximately eight and a half hours into cooking time, which should have been fine. Upon opening the lid, the most amazing aroma was released. It smelled like a hot apple pie... *drool*. I spooned it into a container to take to work and my husband took a bite. At this point, even though we have been married 4 years, I wasn't totally sure how he felt about oatmeal, but he didn't seem impressed. He said it needed sugar, which I thought was odd because it seemed like enough while I was putting it together and I used a sweeter apple. I figured that it was just his lack of appreciation for oatmeal and went on to work.
Opening the container while at work, I noticed that the aroma did not travel with me to work, which was disappointing. First bite - it's glue-y. And tasteless. And like wallpaper paste with chunks of apples in it.
I want to cry. My first Pinterest project is a failure! I have had such success with different pins in the past and the first one that I am going to document is a miserable failure. Normally I would try to make it again to see if I could tweak the recipe to obtain a better outcome, but this one seems so hopeless that I don't want to waste the ingredients trying it again. Let's hope that the next 51 have a better outcome.
- Sara
Pinterest projects to go - 51
I am always on the look for a breakfast recipe that I can "cook" overnight. This has been my second failure so perhaps the universe is trying to tell me something.
I was perusing Pinterest the other day and came across this pin for overnight apple cinnamon Oatmeal - original website/recipe found here: http://bestfoodpins.com/archives/7022
Several things immediately struck me with this pin:
1. I LOVE using the crock pot. I had never cooked anything overnight in it, but I figured that there has to be a first time for everything.
2. I LOVE apple cinnamon oatmeal.
3. I had all the ingredients on hand and none of them were "weird" or seemed like they needed to be babysat. I'm not sure if anyone else does this but anytime I read the ingredients to a recipe I always skip over it if it has an odd ingredient or requires too much attention, like stirring constantly for over 10 minutes - who has time for that?
So we begin our journey. I pull out my trusty crock pot, assemble ingredients exactly as stated except that I used steel cut oats - what I had on hand. After an hour I put Saran Wrap over my crockpot under the lid because my pot doesn't seal as well as I would appreciate.
Our one year old crying woke my husband and I up approximately eight and a half hours into cooking time, which should have been fine. Upon opening the lid, the most amazing aroma was released. It smelled like a hot apple pie... *drool*. I spooned it into a container to take to work and my husband took a bite. At this point, even though we have been married 4 years, I wasn't totally sure how he felt about oatmeal, but he didn't seem impressed. He said it needed sugar, which I thought was odd because it seemed like enough while I was putting it together and I used a sweeter apple. I figured that it was just his lack of appreciation for oatmeal and went on to work.
Opening the container while at work, I noticed that the aroma did not travel with me to work, which was disappointing. First bite - it's glue-y. And tasteless. And like wallpaper paste with chunks of apples in it.
I want to cry. My first Pinterest project is a failure! I have had such success with different pins in the past and the first one that I am going to document is a miserable failure. Normally I would try to make it again to see if I could tweak the recipe to obtain a better outcome, but this one seems so hopeless that I don't want to waste the ingredients trying it again. Let's hope that the next 51 have a better outcome.
- Sara
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
52 in 52
Pinterest. Simultaneously upon hearing that word most men groan and roll their eyes and most women get instantly antsy wanting to tell you about something awesome that they say on that website the other day. I have to admit that the months following my discovering this site my mother and my sisters could be heard uttering the words 'I saw the coolest thing the other day on Pinterest'. Who am I kidding - we still do this...
I am a self proclaimed Pinterest lover. It really is addicting and, at times, overwhelming. It's easy to get into the black hole of pinning a ton of awesome projects, yummy recipes and cute ideas and never doing anything about it. I actually do what I can "Pinterest projects" right now, whether that be crafts or recipes, but one of my resolutions is to do that more.
I was inspired by Youtube mommy vlogger dreamflight6000 Amy. She is an awesome mom to two young children who has made a few videos where she details making and reviewing a recipe that she has found to be popular from Pinterest. It has been informative, inspirational, at times hilarious, and definitely amusing
My first pin project has already happened and I am going to spoil it and tell you that it turns out horrible. The idea was so awesome, but the end result was something that I wouldn't even feed to the dogs. More details tomorrow...
I am a self proclaimed Pinterest lover. It really is addicting and, at times, overwhelming. It's easy to get into the black hole of pinning a ton of awesome projects, yummy recipes and cute ideas and never doing anything about it. I actually do what I can "Pinterest projects" right now, whether that be crafts or recipes, but one of my resolutions is to do that more.
I was inspired by Youtube mommy vlogger dreamflight6000 Amy. She is an awesome mom to two young children who has made a few videos where she details making and reviewing a recipe that she has found to be popular from Pinterest. It has been informative, inspirational, at times hilarious, and definitely amusing
My first pin project has already happened and I am going to spoil it and tell you that it turns out horrible. The idea was so awesome, but the end result was something that I wouldn't even feed to the dogs. More details tomorrow...
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