All the Whatnots

Cake Decorating MNI

2010-05-01T05:01:00.000-04:00

I love having friends over especially for crafty endeavors. This past Thursday I hosted a mom's night in for cake decorating. A friend in my mom's group, Kelly, taught Wilton Cake Decorating classes for years and still makes cakes for clients. Kelly made the Mario themed cupcakes pictured for the birthday party of another friend. In addition to the adorable cupcakes, she also made a cake for the adults with Mario. Anyways, back to Thursday. Everyone brought plain cupcakes to decorate. Kelly brought her entire kit and everything needed for icing. We learned about the tools, techniques (tort, level, crumb layer, starts, shells, writing, piping), and some tricks. My favorite tips were: cook the cupcakes a couple days before you need them, you can freeze icing, and parchment/wax paper is your friend. We had a ton of fun. I never understood how someone would willingly cover a cake with little stars. Now I get it. I'll probably stick with cupcakes, but I get it.

I can't wait to try my own recipe for icing using organic shortening. I'm almost out of the Jungle Organic Shortening no longer carried at Whole Foods. I'm going to try Spectrum Naturals since I've always had great experiences with their other products.

I also want to try India Tree Natural Decorating Colors Set. I've been eying them for over a year. The reviews I've read have stated that there are no odd tastes with these colors. I bought a "red" natural coloring at Whole Foods for my daughters birthday. I was shooting for a pastel pink and it came out a kind of a dirty pink with a tart flavor. It was good, just not fabulous.

Major changes

2010-04-15T06:59:00.004-04:00

Lots of changes around here in the past almost year. April 1 was my last day in the corporate world. It's been 2 weeks and I couldn't be more excited about my decision to make my 3 wonderful children my #1 focus. My first week was spring break for the kids. We started off with Easter weekend at Nana's and Pop Pop's in NC. When we returned home, we went to the fountains, a farm tour, lunch with the nanny (Bud didn't get to see her the last 2 days), Half Pints at Whole Foods, park play dates, play dates at friends, neighborhood walks, walks to the store, and more. I've done a little nap time crafting, a lot of cooking, a lot of cleaning/organizing, and quite a few orders. We are having so much fun!

With the Bud and Sissy back in school, I'm trying to turn the house around and get more nap time crafting done! I have a few completed projects to share and more projects to come. One of my recent projects was to make some pink chaps for my friend's daughter. I sketched out the design and used a pair of Sissy's outgrown pants to get the right size. They came together pretty easily. They would be fun for dress up for boys or girls.My friend is quite the party planner and always comes up with awesome ideas. She was throwing a Cowgirl party for her daughter's birthday complete with a hayride! How gorgeous is her daughter?! My friend is in the beginning stages of starting her own party planning business. I'll link up when she gets her website/blog up and running.

Homemade Magic Shell

2009-07-27T08:56:00.000-04:00

Here's one I've been wanting to try for over a year. I was trying to find the old bookmark and wouldn't you I ran across someone else who just tried it? Here's the recipe on Alpha Mom. Thanks to Skip to My Lou for linking to it. I asked Mark to try it. Super quick, super easy, and super tasty without mystery ingredients. All you need is coconut oil and chocolate chips.

Still here

2009-07-26T08:35:00.006-04:00

It's been almost 5 months. Wow. Work got crazy. Lots of stuff going on, but no posting. I'm a week out from a major implementation at work. I hope that means I have more time for fun stuff.

On to more exciting news, Awesome turned 1 a few weeks ago. He thoroughly enjoyed his cupcake. I went with an owl theme. ("Who's turning one?") Here are the owls. Inspired by these Owl Cupcakes at Ezra Poundcake. I made the cupcakes from scratch. I used Trader Joes Vanilla Joe Joe's for the eyes and ears, chocolate chips for the eyes, and m&m's for the beaks. I tried to feather at the ears with piped frosting. I didn't love that so I left most of them plain. I love the cupcake tower I picked up at Michaels for Sissy's birthday. I got it for $4.99 since it was in holiday packaging. Funny thing, when I got home and slipped off the holiday sleeve, it was the same packaging as one they had on the shelf for $14.99. Love a deal.

Homemade

2009-03-02T20:37:00.001-05:00

I've been fascinated with making things at home that I grew up buying at the grocery store. We ran out of ketchup last weekend and Mark pulled up a recipe online. We reused the bottle from the organic ketchup we normally buy. This is some good stuff. A little runnier than store bought, but tasty.
While Mark worked on the ketchup, I tried out a cracker recipe from The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion: The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook. It's a basic recipe where you add your own extra ingredients. The first out of the oven were very similar to plain pita chips. I added garlic powder to the dough, then onion and then garlic salt. Sissy could not get enough of them. They were great for dipping in hummus. I'll have to work on this recipe.

We made our own tortillas a week ago. So easy and so good. I need to track down the picture for those.The other homemade treat was naan. I prepared the dough in the breadmaker. Mark and I worked together to cook them. One of us rolled them out and the other cooked them on the skillet. They look similar to the tortillas in this picture. I like this naan recipe better than the first one I tried. The kids kept asking for more. I really want to learn how to make dosas. A friend's mom is visiting from India and prepared some fresh dosas the other week. So delcious.

Meal Plan Monday

2009-02-16T23:21:00.000-05:00

Monday- Rice cooker mac n cheese
Tuesday- Cici's for the RM Fundraiser
Wednesday- Hamburgers/Veggie Burgers
Thursday- Burritos/Burrito casserole
Friday- Homemade Pizza night (we might get crazy and do calzones)
Saturday- Adventure Night- Japan- Pork terriyaki for the family tofu terriyaki for me

Form more Menu Plan Monday, head over to I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Adventure Night

2009-02-15T18:34:00.004-05:00

We alternate pizza night and adventure night every Friday and Saturday. This past Saturday adventure night was fondue. We started with a mozarella and cheddar fondue with homemade bread, apple, and carrot dippers. The kids were very into the forks and dippers. They weren't terribly excited about the cheese fondue. Mark and I thought it rocked. What the kids really liked was the chocolate fondue. Imagine that! We had apples, pineapple, and pears to dip. Sissy even tried bread and carrots in the chocolate.

Mark made the fondue, I prepared the dippers. It was mess to make and a mess to clean up, but we'll still do it again some time.

Sissy Style

2009-02-11T00:23:00.003-05:00

Yes, I let her wear this to school minus dad's Oakleys. I at least convinced her to wear her black maryjanes instead of her pink and grey tennis shoes. When she gets older, she's going to think we were nuts letting her leave the house dressed like this.

Menu Plan Monday

2009-02-08T09:07:00.007-05:00

Mark and I have been menu planning together for a few weeks. We haven't followed everything exactly. Even if we do not cook what was scheduled every night, it helps to have the ideas on paper. Menu planning is much more effective when we are both involved.

Last night while he fixed the kids dinner, I started 3 dinners for this week. In 2 hours, we had 4 meals completed and I had cleaned the kitchen. When he was getting lunch ready, Mark also started marinating pork for another meal. Most of what I needed to cook was already in the freezer or pantry. I only had to pick up a couple items to make the meals.

Sunday: shepherds pie *done
Monday:Pork terriyaki *done
Tuesday: Baked Ziti *done
Wednesday: Hamburgers/Veggie Burgers on Homemade buns
Thursday: Pot pie *done
Friday: Pizza night
Saturday: Adventure night, Fondue

When the rest of the family eats meat, I just eat the sides and sub veggie protein.

I think we are getting the hang of this.

Form more Menu Plan Monday, head over to I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Hamburger rolls and cheese crackers

2009-01-24T21:09:00.005-05:00

I've wanted to make hamburger and hot dog rolls forever. I finally did it today. A friend highly recommended The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook. Mark gave it to me for Christmas. Every recipe we've used has turned out excellent. Today was no exception. It is the perfect cookbook companion to my beloved Zojirushi Bread Machine. These rolls are so soft, fluffy, and tasty. I fixed Bud and Sissy natural hot dogs on the hot dog buns I made. They LOVED the rolls. I enjoyed an Amy's Cheddar Veggie Burger on hamburger roll. I really had no idea how good a home made sandwich roll could be. For dinner I fixed the kids Trader Joe's meatballs with TJ's Kansas Barbecue Sauce and a side of TJ's sweet potato fries. I made a veggie "meatball" sub for myself on one of the hot dog buns. Mark fixed "hot diggity dogs" on a roll for his dinner. He was quite impressed as well. The recipe says they can be frozen. I wrapped 6 sliced buns in press and seal, labeled with contents and date, and popped them in the chest freezer. I hope they freeze well. If they do, I can't imagine ever buying rolls again. I kept a few buns for us to enjoy the next couple of days. I don't think the picture does them justice. Did I mention how fluffy these are? Wow.

If home made rolls aren't enough, I made these cheese crackers again. I used mini cookie cutters that I picked up on sale at Crate and Barrel and Michael's. These are savory little crackers that cook quickly and slide right off the pan. The recipe says they store for up to a week in a well sealed container. They've never lasted that long in our house.

Vote for White House Farmer

2009-01-23T14:37:00.002-05:00

Charlie Collins and his wife Gina Collins run Victory Farms CSA in Hanover, VA. This year will be our second year buying a share. We enjoyed fabulous produce April through November last year. Charlie has been nominated as the White House Farmer. There are quite a few that have been nominated. If you could take a minute to go and vote for Charlie, that would be great! http://whitehousefarmer.com/?page_id=33 Just go to and cast your vote before January 31st.
Victory Farms, Inc.

I like bananas..

2009-01-18T20:49:00.000-05:00

...coconuts and grapes. That's why they call me Tarzan of the Apes! Awesome hit the six month mark a week ago. We started with Avocado. Mark was at work so I didn't get pictures. Oh, the faces he made. I don't know that he loved the avacado, but he kept grabbing for the spoon. Four days of avacado and we were on to bananas. I intended to go to peas next. The peas involved cooking and pureeing. Banana just required mashing. We enjoyed more funny faces. He was definitely into the banana. He finished a third of the banana by himself. He felt he really didn't need any help as you can see here.

Sandwich bread success

2008-12-05T06:50:00.000-05:00

I've been on a quest for a great sandwich bread recipe for my Zojirushi. Mark and I love our Zojirushi. It was totally worth the investment. He's usually the bread baker in the house. We(he) regularly make(s) dough for dinner rolls and pizza dough. We've made naan, cinnamon rolls, sandwich bread, jam, pretzels, and more. Our issues with sandwhich bread include over-baked, too-dense, and sometimes even bland loaves. I prefer wheat bread which is more challenging in the breadmaker. Before picking up Sissy from school and Bud from the bustop, I started a loaf in the breadmaker. It was a white bread using a recipe from Annie's Eats and a custom bread cycle recommended by Berlin's Whimsy. Wow, these recommendations really delivered. My mother enjoyed the bread with butter and strawberry preserves. Sissy devoured it with butter. Bud enjoyed it plain. They couldn't get enough. I finally had to cut them off.

With a successful loaf under my belt, I'm on a mission to make a good loaf of wheat sandwich bread. I have vital wheat gluten to try, but dough enhancer has been more elusive. I checked Whole Foods, Ellwood Thompson's, and Good Foods Grocery. Good Foods used to carry it. Used to. Bah. A little research online and I was ready to fork over the money to have some shipped. Then, I stumbled across a recipe for Ellen's Bread Dough Enhancer. I think I've found the ingredients locally. I need to double check the diastatic malt powder. I'll leave out the gelatin for sure. More on this one later...

Under Pressure

2008-12-04T06:19:00.004-05:00

Years ago, a friend originally from France cooked dinner for us one evening in a pressure cooker. I was intrigued at how quick and tasty the meal was. A also have a friend from India who extolled the efficiency and effectiveness of the pressure cooker (this is the same friend who sold me on the rice cooker). I've read about them ever since.

I went into Macy's on Black Friday with Mark with the intention of picking up some work shirts for him using the $10 off $25 purchase. We picked up the shirts and walked through housewares. There it sat in a green box. A shiny, basic pressure cooker for $20. It was mine. This past week, I've been searching online for pressure cooking recipes. I found Miss Vickie's. A treasure trove of information about pressure cooking.

Two nights ago I soaked a pound of black beans overnight. Yesterday, I sauteed some chopped onion in the bottom of the pressure cooker, tossed in the beans, and poured in six cups of water. After heating up on the burner for a few minutes, steam started to stream out. I set a timer for 12 minutes. I pulled the cooker to a cool burner after the timer went off, choosing the "natural release" option. When I opened the cooker, I had 6 cups of tasty, cooked black beans in approximately 20 minutes instead of 2 hours. The beans were well cooked and did not get mushy. My mom was over so she taste tested for me. Two thumbs up. Sissy asked for some, too. "Yum." I transferred them over to fridge and freezer storage. I now have fresh cooked black beans at the ready. I think I'll try chick peas today. I'm working my way through the bean category before I attempt a meal.

Awesome

2008-12-02T08:00:00.000-05:00

Little man has a nickname. Our oldest is Bud. We started using "Bud" when he was itty bitty. Sissy was "Sissy" before she came home from the hospital. Little man's name came a little later. Sure we called him Little Man, but it wasn't until last week that his the new nickname stuck. The Sunday before Thanksgiving, we had Family Dedication at church. A gentleman from church came to find us after the service and asked how we chose Little Man's name. He had a friend who had passed 30 years earlier with the same name who went by "Butch". My husband explained that the middle name was my maiden name and that all of our children share the same middle name. It was very interesting. Just the name of our son triggered fond memories for this man. I thought, "hmmm... Butch..." I pondered it for a day or two. No, I wasn't feeling it. But, Mark started calling Little Man "Awesome". Yes, a la Captain Awesome on "Chuck". And it's sticking. So now our entourage is Bud, Sissy, and Awesome. For now anyways.

Upside Down Pizza Pie

2008-12-01T20:19:00.004-05:00

Bud liked it and asked to have leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Sissy wouldn't try it. I thought it was great. Mark is working late so we'll get his verdict later.

Upside-Down Pizza Pie

1 bag of crumbles
15 oz of Newman's Own Tomato and Basil Sauce
1 1/2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
drop biscuits

Recipe for drop biscuits:
1 cup white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons butter -- softened
1/4 cup milk -- or more if needed
Measure flour and baking powder into a bowl. Add butter to bowl and rub butter into flour with a fork or pastry blender. Add milk to make a thick batter, stirring only until dough sticks together.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat up the crumbles with the sauce in a skillet. If you prefer ground beef, brown 1 1/2 lbs of ground beef then add sauce and heat through. Pour crumbles and sauce mixture into the bottom of a 9" x 13" casserole. Spread cheese evenly across the mixture. Evenly space the drop biscuits over the mixture and cheese. Bake, uncovered for about 20 minutes or until biscuits are golden.

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Biggest Book of Casseroles.

Menu Plan Monday

2008-12-01T08:33:00.006-05:00

Mark and I sat down last night and talked about the meals for the week. We've been threatening to do this for a long time and finally followed through. I have an overwhelming need to bring order to our home before I go back to work this January. And yes, a household planner is in the works.

Sunday		mac n cheese
Monday		upside down pizza pie
Tuesday		quesadillas
Wednesday		wild card
Thursday		spaghetti and "meat"balls
Friday		corn bread casserole
Saturday		Pizza

I play volleyball on Tuesdays so it was suggested that dinner be an easy one since Mark will be alone with all three kids. The mac n cheese is a favorite around here and goes together quick in the rice cooker. Wednesday is church night so we generally do something quick and just me and the kids. The pizza is Mark's specialty. We are all very spoiled by his home made pizza. Pizza almost any where else is just disappointing. Thanks to Trader Joe's, the kids have discovered meatballs. Lucky for me, they like the veggie meatballs just as well as the others. I use crumbles for anything that calls for ground beef. Thursday, Mark is alone with the 2 older children. I will be headed over to my friend's house for some amazing Indian food with other friends. Awesome will be with me.

Head on over to Org Junkie for more of Menu Plan Monday.

Huge sale at Polkatots and Whatnots extended through Cyber Monday

2008-11-26T16:41:00.004-05:00

This sale like no other we've done. Our largest sale ever will start Thanksgiving morning and run through **Monday** night or until supplies last whichever comes first. All sale items have limited quantities. We will be doing everything can we can to update inventory as things sell. If an item is oversold, we will alert you as soon as possible to give you the opportunity to change your order. Free shipping on orders of $100 or more using "freeship100". Feel free to share the sale info and free shipping code with friends and family

Check it out at www.polkatotsandwhatnots.com.

I Love Chocolate

2008-10-29T12:43:00.000-04:00

Oh, my!

Magic in the Middles from the King Arthur Flour Blog. These are on the to do list.

Once a month isn't so bad...

2008-10-28T10:49:00.006-04:00

Time flies doesn't it? September and October were a wild ride. State Fair, National Alpaca Day, Apple Festival, birthday parties, birthdays, choir and mission friends in full swing, volleyball, ballet, and I could go on. And then there's Facebook. Thanks, hubby.

Little man is 3 1/2 months old and getting so big.

Sissy loves ballet class. Bud is reading (If You Give a Moose a Muffin...).

Reading is Fun!

2008-09-20T09:22:00.001-04:00

Bud is really great with numbers. He can add and subtract quite well. He'll read some things, but doesn't realize he's reading. Until now. He's been in school just over 2 weeks and it clicked. We've been sounding out words and reading together forever. He was reading some, but didn't have any confidence that he was actually reading. Well, this morning, he picked up DVD case and sounded out a phrase on the case. It's not a common movie, much less a common phase, but he sounded it out and read it. I'm so excited for him!

The tooth fairy came to visit last night

2008-08-24T06:54:00.007-04:00

Bud has been wiggling a front bottom tooth for over a month. Yesterday, it finally came out. He came running up to show it to me. Daddy and I have had to chuckle since Bud hasn't figured out how to talk without a lisp with the tooth gone. I can still clearly remember having the same struggle when I was his age. We went into the sewing room last night and he picked out a tooth fairy pillow.

He starts Kindergarten next week. Two milestones right in a row.

Tigress

2008-08-24T06:34:00.003-04:00

I think she has seen a little too much Kung Fu Panda and Kung Fu Skunk. We don't even have cable (and no antennae) so she's only seen Kung Fu Skunk at her Nana's and Pop Pop's. I was upstairs nursing the baby when Bud came upstairs to report that Sissy had given herself stripes. I asked him to send her up. He responded, "she's already coming up." He turned his back to me as Sissy breached the steps to my room crawling and growling. That's when I realized why he hadn't come sooner. He didn't notice that she was striping herself with a black Sharpie until she went to work on him. The back of his neck had stripes on it. Oh, and a spot on his ear, too. I think that happened when he turned his head to see what she was up to. So, I asked Sissy about her stripes. She quickly explained, "I'm a white tiger." She brought me the marker and said she understood she wasn't to draw on anything other than paper. We'll see...

Best label supplier

2008-08-18T16:49:00.002-04:00

We love www.onlinelabels.com for our shipping labels. No more cutting paper and taping! They also have great circle labels to make your own stickers for promotions,too.

Give away at Old Red Barn Company

2008-07-20T12:31:00.002-04:00

Another blog I frequent, Old Red Barn Company, is hosting a giveaway through Wednesday, July 23.

The quilt is absolutely beautiful! I also have to say that the playlist on her blog is fabulous. I left her blog open in a tab while I was online for some background music. Head on over and check it out.

The little man is here

2008-07-19T18:44:00.005-04:00

I went to the OB last Friday and ended up in Labor and Delivery for observation again. After 4 hours, my doctor decided I should have the baby. My blood pressure was staying high. I called D at 2p and told him we were shooting for 4:30p. Little man arrived at 5:35p. He spent 4hrs 15 min in the NICU due to fluid in his lungs he was having difficulty clearing. He was off the oxygen pretty quickly. It was heart wrenching not to hold him on the way back to L&D from the OR. At 10p, he was finally brought to me. He latched on and nursed for the first time. He's been going strong since.

July 11, 2008, 5:35p
6lbs 12.7oz 21 1/4" long

Bed Rest Stinks

2008-07-06T18:10:00.003-04:00

I've been on bed rest since last Thursday. My blood pressure is up. Not as bad as I've seen it, but it does spike up every so often. I spent a few hours in the hospital on Thursday while they monitored me. I was discharged with clear orders from the doctor, "BED REST". The nurse who cared for me suggested I go home and get everything done this weekend. Or more specifically, "tell everyone that is going to help you what you need done this weekend". I asked if she could write that on the discharge papers. Pretty good advice considering there was a chance they were going to deliver the baby that day.

I can work as long as I'm on my left side in bed. With only 4 days left until my official transition out of work, I think work is in good shape. I'm shadowing the person taking over for me during my leave these 4 days. I go back to the doctor tomorrow afternoon. We'll see where we go from there. As of now, I'm scheduled for July 25.

I have watched more t.v. online and more movies than I have in the past year. I've caught up on all of the magazines that have been piling up around here. I feel like I've surfed to the end of the internet. I'm posting away on my forums. I've even asked for the shredder to be brought up so I can shred some junk mail. (I'll have to remind Daddy about that!) I've pinned some burps for the baby. I pulled out all the burps I used for Bud and Sissy. Any burps not previously embellished are getting a little spiffing up. I will say that I don't enjoy cutting with scissors. I prefer my rotary cutter and ruler at my cutting table. Ah, my sewing machine... I do miss you. Yes, I realize it's only been 3 days.

Daddy made the weekly pilgrimage yesterday to the Farmer's Market for our CSA share. I was so excited they had watermelons! Man, that watermelon is tasty! The cabbage is slowing down (his favorite) as are the salad greens. The new potatoes and red skin potatoes are in. Tonight D is making roasted new potatoes. He got there around 10a so I'm sure he missed some goodies. I got an email today saying that green beans, butter beans, and edamame are coming soon. Woo hoo! Can't wait. I wonder if I can get D to the market on Thursday. My one Thursday trip really rocked. It helped that I got there when they opened.

I'm a guest blogger over at http://www.checkoutchicks.com/blog/ today. Check it out.

Oh, and if you have any ideas for entertainment during bed rest, I'm open to ideas.

Ice Cream Social Frock Giveaway!!!!

2008-07-05T21:44:00.001-04:00

I'm not quite sure how I landed on this blog, but oh what beautiful dresses! Grosgrain has bi-weekly giveaways. Sissy would flip over this dress. Polkadots!

Ice Cream Social Frock Giveaway!!!!

Win a Babywearing Stash

2008-06-27T15:02:00.003-04:00

Along for the Ride is based out of Charlottesville, VA. We (Polkatots and Whatnots) were a couple booths down from them at a Baby Expo in Richmond a couple years ago. They had a great selection of babywearing options. With Bud, I used a Snugli. With Sissy, I learned the wonders of the fleece pouch (www.kanagarookorner.com). With the little man on the way, I'm going to start with a hand made wrap. I'm sure we'll use the pouch as the weather begins to cool, but we are months away from cooler weather here. My sister and G-man are currently loving the Hotsling. I'm a big fan of babywearing. A friend on my mom's network alerted me to this awesome giveaway that Along for the Ride is running and I had to share.

Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride (one Beco Butterfly, one Hotsling baby pouch, one BabyHawk Mei Tai, one Zolowear Ring Sling, and one Gypsy Mama Wrap)

Goodies for the G-man

2008-06-22T20:50:00.007-04:00

Things have been crazy busy around here and are only going to get busier. My sister had a little boy over a month ago- G-man. Oh, he's a cutie!

It will be a a while before we get to see him in person. I'm just about a month away from my scheduled date. I'm not taking off any time from work to save up for my maternity leave. Work is very busy as my transition date approaches. I've managed to squeeze in some time to sew for G-man and my little man on the way. I made G-man booties, matching pants, a matching appliquéd one-piece, two oversized flannel receiving blankets, and monogrammed wall art to match his nursery. I can't wait to see him decked out. Here are some of the goodies:

I can finally post this since my sister received the package! Now, I just need a pic of the little guy all decked out!

What we did in May

2008-06-22T20:17:00.000-04:00

Bud and Sissy both played soccer this spring season. Ever Saturday, we got up bright and early to head out to the soccer fields. Bud's game was first and if we were lucky, Sissy's game didn't start until after Bud's was finished. Bud had fun and enjoyed himself from the get go. He always had a smile on his face.

Sissy was a bit more reserved. The first day she would only kick the ball on the sidelines with daddy. The next couple weeks were mostly more of the same. Her coaches were great and talked to her and even got her to get on the field for a short while. Then, one day she said, "I'm going to play soccer with my friends." That was all she wrote. Sissy turned out to be quite the little soccer player. (And, yes she did cut her hair again!)

Yummy cheddar crackers!

2008-04-20T21:01:00.003-04:00

I ran across this blog today that has awesome cookie and snack recipes. I thought this one would be fun and easy with the kids:

http://www.snackordie.com/2008/01/cheddar_pacman_crackers.html

It was simple to throw in the food processor. I measured, Bud dumped the ingredients into the bowl. Bud and Sissy took turns pulsing the mix. After chilling, I rolled out the dough. They took turns picking a cookie cutter shape and pressing into the dough. Once the cookies cooled down, I gave them each a carrot shaped cracker, Daddy tried one and quickly snatched a second before I could stop him. Two thumbs up all around. I'll be sending them to school for snack or lunch. The only change I made was bread flour instead of all purpose. I can't wait to try more recipes from this blog!

Spring Sale at Polkatots and Whatnots

2008-04-18T07:41:00.002-04:00

Polkatots and Whatnots is having a first ever Puddle Jumper Shoes Sale! All Puddle Jumpers are 25% off or more. Hurry and save on the adorable shoes. Limited sizes and quantities available. Also on the Sales page, there are some new items listed- bags galore!

Clothing swap and pants for the little man...

2008-04-14T06:40:00.000-04:00

I participated in a clothing swap this past Saturday. My closet was getting harder and harder to fit things in when I was trying to put clothes away. I knew there were some great pieces that someone would really enjoy. I pulled out quite a few items and managed to overflow a XL laundry basket. I had a large shopping bag full of shoes and purses as well. I headed to my friends house where I added my goodies to a large walk-in closet full of clothes arranged by size. Another friend who couldn't make it dropped off some maternity pants and shorts and the hostess had 2 huge tubs of maternity that I was welcome to borrow. With the clothes from my previous pregnancies and these new to me items, I certainly won't need to buy any maternity clothes! I've only bought 1 top this go round and I still manage to look stylish (enough!). Fortunately, I can mix and match some maternity and non-maternity in my wardrobe.
When everyone had finished their shopping, I headed into the closet to see what was left. I pulled out some of my items remaining and started "selling". Sometimes it's hard to picture something on when you see it on the hanger. I pulled items out and targeted them based on fit/size/style to the other ladies. I only came home with 5 pieces!

At the end, we still had a bunch in the closet. Everyone was going to stuff a few bags each to cart off to Goodwill. That's when I put on another lens. I spotted some long corduroy skirts and asked if anyone would be upset if they were refashioned. I could get a pair of pants or 2 out of the fabric for my little man on the way. I ended up with 3 long skirts to refashion. I'm going to go through my Burda magazines and Ottobre magazine and find some patterns. Then, I spotted some well worn t-shirts. I saw comfy knit pants. Someone else pulled out a halter top. I told my friend Tiffany that she should shirr the back and make it into a top for her 4 year old daughter. She laughed and said she'd take it back home (it was hers) and try it out. I found a couple more t-shirts to make into pants. I double-checked that it was okay to refashion. Everyone seemed fine with the idea, so I added them to my basket of goodies.

Sunday afternoon after church, lunch, and a nap, I slipped down to my sewing room and made these:

I took advantage of the hem that already existed which made these super speedy to put together.

The black and white stripe are supposed to be 6m and the red and navy are supposed to be 3m. Since I serged them, I probably didn't remove all of the seam allowance. I also left extra length since I didn't use the facing for the cuff. I wanted to be a little generous in the seat to accommodate a cloth diaper. I have a feeling these are more like 12m and 6m. I went ahead and put the elastic in keeping it and just sewed it to my estimated length. I will adjust when they are ready to be worn if need be. I have 2 more t-shirts to refashion. One shirt has great slits on the side that I want to preserve for the outside of the leg. The other has sleeves. I think I'll get a pair of pants and a pair of pj bottoms out of that one! Can't wait.

It's been a while

2008-04-08T13:06:00.002-04:00

I've said it before, and I will say it again- time flies. It's been busy around here! I feel terrible when this much time passes without a post. I finally get to pick up my completed business taxes today when Daddy goes to get his business taxes done. You would think after 3 years of last minute tax prep, I'd have followed through on my desire to finish it up early. I could provide a litany of really good reasons, but it doesn't take away the stress! I will say that I have everything up to date in our accounting system for this year so far. Once I finalized tax prep, I was motivated to get a jump start for 2008. You gotta work it when you can!

Besides tax prep, the children, the full-time job, and orders for the business, I have managed to do a little sewing for the family. I completed a couple projects that had been sitting on my sewing table for an embarrassingly long time. First up, a shirred waist skirt for Sissy.

She has worn this little skirt so many times already. She does wear it out with more than this little t-shirt. Ignore the scrap paper on the floor and our Roomba in the background! She wouldn't pose for a picture until Daddy tempted her with a photo shoot. Then, she twirled, posed, and did a little strut.

I finished a pair of boxers, but have to find my other camera to post that picture. I started them for Bud, but it took so long for me to finish them they don't fit him. Sissy can wear them and posed for a picture. Our little guy on the way this summer will get to wear them eventually. They are made out of a vintage looking cowboy print.

I have also finally started some sewing for our new little guy. So far, I've managed to make some cloth wipes and hemp fleece pre-folds to add to our cloth diaper stash. Here's a sample:

And a little something else I accomplished, comfy knit pants:

Sugar Rush

2008-03-01T00:14:00.000-05:00

Today is NaNa's in NC's birthday. Daddy has been itching to make a cake (woo hoo!) and thought it an appropriate occasion to do so. Unfortunately for NaNa, she will only get to enjoy the pictures. Any guesses on who "cleaned" up the edges of the plate? After we ate dinner, we first took turns taking swipes at the spatula covered with chocolate icing. When that was gone, there was a little on the rim of the plate...

It was really too late to be feeding the kids chocolate cake with chocolate icing. At least it's the weekend.

Hilarity ensued. Sissy was laughing like Beavis. Daddy alluded to this. Bud didn't understand the reference. Luckily, I caught Daddy before he mentioned the actual name of the show "Beavis and Butthead". You can't say "butt" around here if you know what I mean. We have a "no potty talk" rule.

Notice Sissy dancing around in the background of Bud's picture?

And yes, the cake rocked!

The scissors fasincation and the mullet

2008-02-29T21:29:00.005-05:00

Sissy has a fascination with scissors. She actually snuck a pair in her bag from preschool the other day. She showed them to me on Wednesday before dinner. She had taken them on Tuesday. But that's not when it happened. Yesterday, yesterday around 6p. That's when it happened. Sissy had been watching Signing Times on the Tivo while I took a call for work. She paused the show and wandered off. After about 15 minutes, I headed down to find her. She came running up to me. It was a bit dark in the kitchen. Her hair was all matted against her head. "Sissy, have you been playing in water?" "No..." she said as she put her hands to her head and took off running. "Sissy, come here!" She ran off and walked back to me and presented me with a pair of my scissors. Scissors that had been in a drawer in my sewing room. "I did this", she said as she handed me the scissors. I flipped the light switch on. "Oh, my heavens!" She was covered with hair. Long beautiful strands of hair. She took the scissors to her hair. It was chopped short in the back. Three bald spots. I was so upset. I cried and cried. I called Daddy who was on his way home. Thankfully, he didn't laugh. She said she didn't know why she did it. I know why. She loves how scissors work. I let her use her scissors on my fabric and ribbon scraps while I sew. She loves picking out scraps, cutting them, and pasting them. I'm surprised I didn't find her with the glue stick decorating paper with her hair, quite frankly.

After Daddy arrived, I composed myself and headed to a meeting for my mommies group. I was late and red eyed from crying. I shared the horror I had experienced and cried once again. Everyone was so sweet. I've laughed a little about it today and cried a little more. Bad mommy. My scissors. I wasn't with her. I could go on. But I remind myself, it will grow back.

Here's the picture I snapped of the mullet she styled herself. We had just arrived at the salon. Holly was assessing the situation.

Holly was so sweet. I told her to try to "stack" it in the back and do a bob. The ladies in the salon all gathered around to see. Miss Yu even interrupted her standing Friday appointment to come assess the situation. Celestine's jaw dropped. (I've know Miss Yu for almost 30 years and Celestine a good 20.)Holly worked hard. Fine, thin hair is not terribly easy to layer. But Holly managed to create a style.

Here's Sissy's first sassy haircut.

Miss Yu's client shared a story of how her 3 year old and 5 year old grandchildren had cut each other's hair. Another woman shared a story of how she'd smeared lipstick all of the wall and her mother never stopped telling the story. Everyone was so supportive. Sissy says she understands that she is never to use scissors without Mommy or Daddy around (or Nana or her teachers). She also said she won't cut her own hair again. I can only hope...

Tatoo removal success

2008-02-29T21:18:00.003-05:00

I successfully removed Gracie's head tattoo! There is still a very faint mark, but I figure we can do another "facial" later. Here's what I did, I applied the Acne Free and left it over night under a small lamp. The next morning, Daddy asked if Gracie was at the spa. Then, he noticed that the pen was almost gone. He was amazed. Since the stuff I had was a bit runny, I thought I'd try something a little more pasty. I remember having some Cascade plastic cleaner and applied that. After the second treatment that only lasted 2 hours, I wiped away the cleaner and the pen was almost completely gone. Daddy barely noticed it. Yay! I'll have to add a pic later.

Gracie's tattoo removal

2008-02-25T17:46:00.003-05:00

I finally Goodsearched the right phrase and found a suggestion to use 10% benzoil peroxide to remove ink from a doll. Turns out, it's a fairly common occurence. I had some Acne Free with 3.75% benzoil peroxide, so we are giving it a go. Gracie is now under a lamp with her head slathered in acne treatment. Here's hoping...

Gracie gets a dress

2008-02-24T13:02:00.007-05:00

I have a dress I've been wanting to make Sissy from a Japanese book on Girl's clothes. I decided to do a sample and sketched out a smaller version for her Corolle Doll Gracie. It's not perfect by any means, but I definitely have some ideas on the best way to construct the dress for Sissy. Now to choose the fabric! I'm still not sure if I'm going to try to do it reversible like Gracie's dress. I don't love the fabric for Gracie's dress. I have a few bolts of quilting cotton I bought cheaper than muslin. I think it does look cute on.

Sissy isn't a huge fan of pictures. After she saw a couple she was willing to pose one more time.

Yes, Gracie has a lazy eye and a pen tatoo on her head. The lazy eye comes from Sissy smearing Boudreaux's Butt Paste all over her head one day. I cleaned Gracie up with q-tips and washcloths. The pen was actually from 2 different days. Gracie really needs a trip though the spin cycle. Did you know that Corolle dolls can be washed on the gentle cycle in a washing machine? I don't know if this will get the pen off. Anyone know any ideas on what will take pen off a doll? No magic erasers though, I don't want to damage her skin!

Cinna-who?

2008-02-10T14:58:00.000-05:00

After breaking out the bread machine this summer, we began to rely on the humble little machine for making dough for bread. Daddy is pretty famous in our family for making some fabulous pizza dough. The problem was that it was a long, arduous process until we realized we could use the bread maker. Daddy quickly became the bread machine expert. However, he could not attain the perfect sliceable bread. After much research online, I determined the only way we were (he was) going to attain the perfect sliceable bread was to upgrade our vertical loaf bread machine. I had read about the Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme Bread Maker and even heard glowing reviews of the machine by a couple of moms on my mom's network. So, we invested. With 20% Bed Bath & Beyond coupon in hand, we loaded the kids and took a trip over to the store. They didn't have them in stock, but offered to order it for us. No instant gratification. I did save 20% off of the hefty $199.99 price tag. However, I had to pay for shipping. The Zojirushi arrived by the end of the week. I opened the package to take a peek and left it for Daddy to pull it all out.

He had the "Z" running almost as soon as he got it out of the box. We had homemade pizza that night. The next day, he made soft pretzels and SLICEABLE bread! The features on the "Z" are amazing. We didn't know what we were missing out on before. He runs it during the week and overtime on the weekends. This morning I told my son to run downstairs and tell Daddy to make cinnamon buns in the breadmaker. He was reading on Starfall.com and didn't want to budge. But, in a very short while, I heard the mixer running. Daddy came upstairs carrying 2 beaters covered in sugary goodness giving one to Bud and one to me. My telepathy skills are improving! This is what he made:

Oh my! The picture does not do these justice. Moist, sweet, delectable... These are the best cinnamon buns I've ever had.

So, yes, the Zojirushi was a fabulous investment!

The Budding Fashionista

2008-02-10T14:43:00.001-05:00

Sissy aka "Little Miss Independence" has always been a "I do it myself" kinda girl. Lately, that has involved dressing herself more and more. Here's a little number she pulled together herself. You can't tell from the picture, but the shirt is on backwards. It has blue studs all down the front (or back if you put it on like Sissy). Daddy caught her as she was running out the back door to go play in 45 degree weather! He got quite the chuckle and had to snap a picture. To honor her independence, I suggested that she simply pull on a pair of leggings under her skirt, add socks and shoes, and a winter coat. Meltdown averted!

Bud and George

2008-02-10T14:15:00.000-05:00

Bud is in pre-k this year. He made the cut off to go to Kindergarden this year, but we decided on pre-k. Last year when we were making the decision, he told us that he was not ready for Kindergarden and wanted to go to pre-K. That cinched it for us. He's had such a great time with his pre-K "All stars" group. Several of his classmates he's been with for years now. Sissy loves that he is in pre-k, too. She gets to go to the same school and see him when they are out on the playgrounds.

Each week there is a new "All Star", the child is featured on the bulletin board, has a parent come in to read a book to the class, and at the end of the week, bring home Curious George. When the all-star returns to George to school on Monday, they send in a story and a picture. Curious George has been making these trips for at least 5 years now. His book is quite impressive.

Here's Ian's story. These are his own words. I was merely the typist.

"George and I went on a big adventure, a long, long way away. While we were on our adventure, we watched “Shrek the Third” on the way and “Babe” on the way home. We also got snacks and balloons at Trader Joe’s on our adventure after eating dinner at Ruby Tuesday‘s. We got home very late and he was asleep. I didn’t want to wake him up.

On Saturday, he sat at the table and ate breakfast with me. He ate a pretend banana. He wanted more and more. He ate all the pretend bananas I had! He was still hungry and tried to eat a banana pillow. Then, George got to meet Triceratops. George was scared of Triceratops. He thought Triceratops was going to growl at him. George and I played all kinds of games including video games. He had a hard time because he couldn’t move the controller very well. My daddy helped us build a HUGE tower with my magnetic toys. We had so much fun. We were very tired at the end of the day and snoozed all night.

Sunday we played with my transformer in mommy’s room. We went outside and played. We got on the swings. My sissy pushed George around in her stroller. George rode in my Jeep with me. We rode in the back yard and even went in the front yard! We had so much fun."

Our long, long way away was about 2 1/2 hours up and 2 1/2 hours back. But it was definitely an adventure.

Another review at Pink with Sparkles

2008-02-10T12:21:00.000-05:00

I'm a little late mentioning this, but Dawn over a Pink with Sparkles did another review of Polkatots and Whatnots recently. She featured our matching hairbows and belts in "Perfectly Preppy for the Resort". It is so hard to find belts for children smaller than a size 4. Our small hairbows coordinate with the ribbons we offer as well. Even little girls with peach fuzz can coordinate! While she just mentioned the girly girl stuff, we have ribbon belts for boys ,too! Here's Bud sporting one of his ribbon belts, monogrammed shirt, and monogrammed back pack from a photo shoot we did this past summer. This is my favorite picture of Bud. It truely captures his essence.

And the Winner is...

2008-02-02T08:33:00.000-05:00

In the wee hours of the morning, I headed over to Random.org to generate the winning number for the Polkatots and Whatnots Giveaway. The tool quickly spit back "50". Lesha was the 50th comment and is the winner of the bag. The bag will be on its way later today. I wasn't the only one awake in the wee hours this morning! Congratulations, Lesha! I hope you enjoy your bag.

Thanks to everyone who participated. It was fun to read all of the comments about everyone's favorite products. Keep checking back here and at Polkatots and Whatnots, as we will be adding new products. Just a little preview, we are adding a a line of great artwork, some new bags for mom and kids, a monogrammed straw cup, and even monogrammed coffee mugs for mom. On the cloth diaper front we are adding pre-fold diapers, diaper fluff pail deodorizer, and more. We'll try to add to the website as the stock arrives.

Polkatots and Whatnots Giveaway

2008-01-28T15:08:00.001-05:00

Shannon over at Bloggy Giveaways is hosting a Bloggy Giveaway Carnival! How fun! We at Polkatots and Whatnots thought it was so great we've are participating.

The giveaway:

Enter to win this fun animal print bag. It can be used as a diaper bag, an everday bag, or even to carry a laptop!

How to enter:

Take a visit over to http://www.polkatotsandwhatnots.com/ and look around. Return to this blog and comment on this post telling me what you would buy if you had $50 to spend any way you want on the site. Please follow the guidelines as comments not following the guidelines will be deleted. One comment entry per person. Duplicate comments will be deleted.

Winner:

On Friday, February 1st at 11:59 PM EST 2008, comments will close and a winner will be selected using a random number generator. The winner will be posted on Saturday, February 2nd.

Details:

This giveaway is open to bloggers and non bloggers for US shipping addresses only. The winner will be notified on Saturday, February 2nd via email. The winner will have 4 days to respond with a shipping address. (Don't forget to check your Spam/Bulk folders.) If I don't receive the information within the time frame, another winner will be chosen by random number.

Privacy:

I will not use your or share your email information in any way. You will not be added to any mailing list or anything of the sort. **Edited to add: Please don't include your email as part of your comments. I can't control the privacy in that instance.

Good luck and thanks for participating!

Want more?

You can save 20% now on select bags (animal print bag, black with white polkadot bag, polkadot bag, or basic bag) using code bd-10pdb during checkout. Hurry, this offer is only good while supplies last!

Free Colgate Travel Bag

2008-01-24T07:03:00.000-05:00

When I was clipping coupons a couple weekends ago, I noticed a url at the bottom of the Colgate insert for a Free Colgate Travel Bag. I finally went to the website to print out my form.

"Spend $15.00 on any of these participating Colgate-Palmolive products and you can get a FREE carry bag worth $25.00. Inside you will find sample size products and valuable coupons. All you have to do is complete the form below and click Submit. After you have submitted your information you will be able to print and mail in your form. Please allow 4 to 6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid while supplies last. "

This looks like a great freebie. Enjoy!

Pink with Sparkles

2008-01-23T16:05:00.000-05:00

Dawn over at Pink with Sparkles reviews "exlusively girl products and ideas". She contacted us recently about featuring our Monogrammed Towel Wraps for Girls. Check out her post for January 9th to read more. She mentions the ladies towel wraps, too.

We even have this style in girl's sizes! While your there, be sure to check out all of the wonderful girly stuff she has reviewed!

For those of you thinking, "That's great, but I have a boy." Don't worry, we have monogrammed towel wraps for boys, too! We offer boys towel wraps trimmed in white. We'll have a new picture up soon. Bud loves his towel wrap. I love that it keeps his "bits" covered when he gets out of the shower!

Online printables

2008-01-18T20:07:00.000-05:00

I just checked my email account I use for special offers and promotions. I received a link to a $2.00 printable for Post Honey Bunches of Oats Cereal Chocolate Clusters. From this page, scroll down and you will see the button to click to print your own. You do need the coupon printer installed, but it takes just a couple minutes. Not sure what to think about this flavor yet, but I will be checking it out in the store. As long as there's no HFCS, we'll likely give it a try.

Freebies online

2008-01-17T19:43:00.000-05:00

I'm a deal hunter and I love freebies. I remember the early days Fat Cat Cafe, Voilition(still there), and more. Even when I was much, much younger before the personal computer (I'm not a youngin'), I saved my money to buy a book at B. Dalton "1001 Freebies for Kids." I remember sending a lot of SASEs!

These days, freebies are a lot easier to come by. Like today, I was reading a story on MSNBC and decided to watch a clip from the Today Show. There was an ad for Dunkin' Donuts coffee with "Free Sample" emblazoned across the logo. Head over and pick up your Dunkin' Donuts Free Sample of Coffee. Freebies can pop up when you least expect it. Enjoy!

How I earn free gift certificates and money back

2008-01-13T13:53:00.000-05:00

I've been using MyPoints.com for about 10 years now. In the early days, you could log on and just click away daily on point opportunities. I was earning points towards gift certificates pretty often. About the time of the dot.com crashes, things got a little dodgy for a while. They couldn't meet customer demand, they were taking forever to ship gift certificates, and advertisers began to drop. It was really rough. I remember receiving a letter in the mail apologizing for their inability to fulfill a redemption request, but they committed to making it happen. I had also participated in a bunch of similar websites, many of which went under.

MyPoints came through with flying colors. They delivered on requests and revamped their program and website. I stuck with them. Over the years, I've earned countless gift certificates. I bought Bud's travel system before he was born with Babies R Us gift certificates I earned from MyPoints. In more recent years, I've tapped into my balance to order gift certificates for thank you gifts, birthday gifts, and Christmas presents. It's nice to have these budget savers. I haven't been as diligent these past few years so I've missed out on some opportunity. But, after ordering some Christmas gifts using my points balance, I was re-inspired to click away.

You can set your preferences regarding frequency of emails (if any) you receive with point offers. I've received as many as 5-8 a day. I don't usually do the point offer, but just click through for 5 points credit. It's amazing how quickly 5 points ad up. You can complete other point offers for a lot more points if it's something you need. I haven't in a while. I do complete surveys that come my way. It's easy to earn 50 points by telling a little about your preferences. As you may or may not be able to tell, I definitely have strong preferences. If you are interested in joining, click through my link to MyPoints.

I used to shop through MyPoints to earn points per dollar. Most of the time now, I shop through Ebates.com. Using Ebates, I earn a percentage of my online purchases back in cash. They send a quarterly check for my earnings (minimum $ amount required to send out check). What's great is, that I can use store coupons AND get a rebate from Ebates. There are rebates on average between 2%-5%. Gap/Old Navy rebates are 3%, Barnes and Noble 4%, and even 3% for Apple iTunes. If you have purchases to make online and are interested in saving, head on over to Ebates to sign up for your account. It's free and it's definitely worth the effort.

I do get credit for referrals as will you once you get started!

How do I unplug?

2008-01-08T12:37:00.000-05:00

I was taking a mental break from work while eating lunch and read a couple blogs that I've found inspiring. A few minutes ago I read Self Made Chick's post "5 Things I had to Unlearn to Become Self Made." Here's an excerpt that really spoke to me:

"Making the shift from the corporate world to working for myself was a lot like unplugging from the Matrix. There is a completely different world all around us, but we are unable to truly understand it unless we live it. This, I believe, is why I had been unsuccessful for years trying to start my own businesses part time while still working full-time for someone else. Self sufficiency is a completely different mindset.... If you don’t have the energy or time for new things to come into your life, they won’t."

Why is it when someone points something like this out, I think, "YES! I know!" How do you make the leap from doing what you want with every moment of the day instead of what someone else wants you to? Let me rephrase that, how do I make the leap from doing what I want with ever moment of the day instead of what someone else wants me to? I don't know, but I want to find out. I'm totally open to insights here.

What I got for Christmas

2008-01-07T19:29:00.000-05:00

I got wonderful, thoughtful gifts for Christmas. I got two big gifts that I was so excited about. One, was a Roomba from my in-laws. Roomba makes almost daily trips through the dining room and kitchen. The first day we used him (yes, it's a him) we all stood and watched a while. He's not quiet, but it's a sweet sound. He came with 2 virtual walls. I think I'm going to ask for the home base for my birthday. Did you know that you can schedule these things? Oohh aahh...

The other big gift was from my parents. I asked for a chest freezer and got it. My dad was so excited to take me out to the shed to unveil it Christmas day! I think he was just as excited as I was. Now I can stock up on good buys and get back into once-a-month cooking. We have a pretty good size freezer. But after a day of pre-cooking, the freezer was jam-packed. I had to rearrange every time I pulled something out. This isn't a problem anymore! I also took advantage of a sale on Breyer's. Yum!

I'm getting older. It's obvious when I get excited about appliances, right? I'm always interested to here what other people's favorite gifts were/are.

How I'm spending (or saving)

2008-01-06T05:35:00.000-05:00

Growing up, I used to love clipping and organizing coupons with my mother. I'll never forget the day that my younger sister opened up a box of Honey Nut Cheerios (they were pretty new on the market)and it had more Honey Nut coupons than Cheerios. They kept coming, and coming. There had to have been at least 100 all with no expiration date. I would bet there are still a couple of those in my mom's coupon tin. Good memories...

As an adult, I have been on again off again with coupons. I've had organizers and methods. I remember introducing my husband to them when we were first married. It was the one way I could send him to the store and not have him call to ask which brand of sour cream to buy. But then I was off again.

In the past few years, I've been focused on eliminating debt including our mortgage. I found a seminar with a County Adult Education program that both my husband and I attended. To me a lot of the principles were no brainers and something I already knew, but it was a great eye opener to my husband. It was like we were finally getting on the same financial page. I was introduced to the concept of an "accelerator". At the time, we had 2 car payments and a mortgage. The SUV and mini-van were both free financing for 5 years. Great, huh? Well, only partly. I had quite a bit of money saved that was earning next to nothing in the bank. I also had a year end bonus coming in a few months. I took some of the money I had in savings and payed off the SUV. Wow, it was an amazing feeling not to have to a required $400+ monthly payment. The coolest thing was that I know had $400+ to accelerate the mini-van payment. In 4 more months with the accelerator and bonus money, I had paid off the mini-van almost 4 years early. I was amazed at the sense of freedom it gave me. I then started working on the mortgage.

While we have certainly accelerated our mortgage, we've encountered some speed bumps along the way. Daddy became a contractor and later started his own business. Those of you who run businesses know a little about net 30 and net 45. Unfortunately, you probably also know a little bit about chasing down those payments well after there due. As you can imagine, you have to learn to operate a monthly budget on what you know will be there. We've also set a very aggressive savings goal over the next year. There is a grand plan you see. So, I've become even more focused on stretching our funds.

You guessed it, I'm back to couponing. I'd actually missed it. I've always enjoyed working with numbers and couponing is such a numbers game. I match the coupons to the sales. I scour the weekly ads to see what I can buy that we need for the least amount out of pocket. The past few weeks have been very good. Daddy is stocked on deodorant, manly bathwash, fancy shaving gel, and razor blades all for pennies on the dollar.

As for groceries, I typically save 30-40% on my grocery bill. We don't do a lot of convenience foods and eat out rarely.

Sunday, I really scored at Kroger. I had 2 prescriptions to fill and a coupon I had received in the mail a couple months ago (fill a prescription get $20 in groceries for up to 3 prescriptions). I did my grocery shopping and returned to the pharmacy. The pharmacist rang up my prescription and loaded $40 on my Kroger card. I went to the register to check out.

I bought:
4 12 packs of Charmin
4 Method Hand soaps
1 8lb bag of baking potatoes
2 packages of frozen mixed vegetables
1 bag of frozen broccoli
1 bag of frozen peas
3 boxes of Chex cereal
2 blocks of sharp cheddar
1 tub of pampers wipes (for Sissy's preschool class)
1 4 lb Beef shoulder roast
8 lbs of pork tenderloin
1 vitamin water (I was thirsty)
1 large bottle of whole dill pickles (Daddy's favorite snack)

My total savings was $88.58 or 71% (Kroger plus and coupons). I got $125.11 worth of groceries for $36.53 out of pocket.

I showed DH the receipt when I got home. He wanted to scan it and send to his mother. He was that impressed.

A great resource you may or may not be aware of is e-Savers. You can load Proctor and Gamble coupons directly to your Kroger card. It's a nice accompaniment to your paper coupons. My good friend Sharon, of The Domestic Betty's called one day so tickled to tell me that she had discovered e-Savers. We have quite the list of printable coupon sites and this was such a great add!

Cloth Diapering

2008-01-05T08:57:00.001-05:00

Before Bud was born, I scoured the internet to learn more about cloth diapering. I really wanted to do it, but I was so confused. I never did it, but read anything and everything I could get my hands on. When Sissy came along, I researched again. AIOs, AI2s, fitteds, prefolds, contours, covers, fleece, wool shorties and longies, pockets, inserts, hemp, terry, flannel... It was all too much. So, Sissy was in sposies, too. Sissy learned the potty pretty early. Yay! But, she still needed pull ups over night.

There were quite a few women on my mommies network that cloth diapered. They used all different types. That's when I began to discern the possibilities. Did it make sense to start cloth diapering a 2 year old? I'd always wanted to cloth diaper. I could try a few. Then, I got pregnant! I thought, now's the time. I'll check out the one-size pockets. Oh, and might as well get some neutral large-sized pockets. I'll get to use them again, too.

That's when my little obsession began. Sissy really liked the cloth diapers. She said they were "soft". I also noticed that she was less "fragrant" in the morning (if you know what I mean). It took a few days of trial and error to figure out the best load for the pockets. We use a insert wrapped with a microfiber towel (from the automotive section). It's the perfect absorbancy for overnight for her. Unfortunately, the pregnancy ended just shy of my 2nd trimester, but we kept the cloth going. We've already realized savings even with just Sissy in cloth at night. I also don't have to worry about running out!

We have a variety that we like, but we definitely have our favorites. I liked these so much, I wanted to carry them on our website:

Happy Heiny's One Size Diaper

The snaps and aplix on these allow you to adjust from size small to size large. They are pocket diapers so they are easy to wash and dry quickly. They come with a small insert and a large insert. You can preload these so they are as simple as disposables for Daddy or the sitter.

Since Sissy uses the potty when she's awake, I looked at training pants, too. While the cloth diapers are easy, it's a little tiresome to take the diaper off and put it back on when Sissy has to go potty. Enter in Daddy's favorite:

Happy Heiny's Pocket Trainer

It's a pocket, too. We use the same stuffing on this one. Sissy can pull it up or down easily by herself. Daddy LOVES that! We have one just like the picture and others with snaps. The snaps make it easier to load, but it is still easy to pull up or down. You can get no snaps, snaps on one side, or snaps on both.

Feeling the rush of the deal...

2007-12-29T18:15:00.001-05:00

In the past week or so, I have bought 6 packs of batteries (4pack Cs, Ds, 8 packs AAs) and a caramello bar for total of out of pocket $2.31 plus received $10 Extra care bucks; 4 Neutrogena shaving creams (and 2 caramello bars) for $0 plus $5 extra care bucks; a fusion razor (with 2 blades), a 4 pack of blades for $0 plus $10 ECB.

Yes, my total out of pocket was $2.31 for the following:
6 packs of batteries
3 caramello bars
4 Neutrogena Shaving creams
1 fusion razor plus 2 blades
1 4 pack of fusion blades

And, I still have $10 ECB in my wallet to spend. As you can see, I'm working on a stockpile so I am not forced to buy something that isn't on sale with coupons or on just a plain ridiculous low sale price. Daddy and I were out with the kids one day and I had him run in to CVS for me one trip. I handed him my Extra Care Card and coupons. He was grinning ear to ear when he walked out. He felt the rush of the deal! When I tell him I'm running errands, he doesn't say a word about bringing one of the kids. He's just excited to see the receipt when I get home.

More to come on my couponing adventures...

No, she really didn't dress herself...

2007-12-27T09:24:00.000-05:00

Nana and Grandaddy stayed with us for Christmas after we returned fom our NYC trip. Grandaddy was very helpful one morning and decided to help get Sissy dressed. She has on a short-sleeved pink shirt with cherries, denim carpis with pink gingham cuffs, hot-pink socks pulled all of the way up, and her crocs. She was ready to go somewhere so she put on her coat and grabbed her tote bag.

Marsh-a-mallows!

2007-12-26T09:20:00.000-05:00

I don't think I've seen a child this excited about a Christmas gift. Santa brought the marshmallows. One package of small, one of large, and one small multi-colored. She couldn't even wait to get her hairbrushed!

All She Wants for Christmas

2007-12-24T10:16:00.000-05:00

We started asking Sissy after Thanksgiving what she wanted for Christmas. She responded, "Marshmallows". It's the only the she's said. Over and over. On Friday, we went to the Radio City Christmas show. Sissy was entranced. When she saw Santa come on stage she said, "I want to tell Santa that I want marshmallows. After the show, she was upset that we couldn't go down to tell him. We finally get through to her that we were going to see Santa at Macy's Santaland after lunch. We stood in line for quite a while and she decided that she had to pee right before we got there. I ran her downstairs and just made it to the potty. We ran back upstairs when DH called to let me know that he'd convinced the elves to let him stand to the side and let me rejoin them. They don't let anyone do that. Whew! We get back in line and are routed to 1 of the 6 santas (so smart). Sissy walked up to him holding her brother's hand and said, "Santa bring me marshmallows for Christmas." The Santa was so good and talked to the kids more than any Santa we've ever been to in Richmond. It really helps when you are in a separate room with no one staring. It took a bit of convincing, but we got Sissy up on Santa's knee. We managed two pictures, one without a scowl. We thanked Santa and the Elves and went around to view the pictures. As we are choosing a picture package, Sissy pronounced to the cashier, "Santa bring me marshmallows for Christmas." The manager and cashier got a chuckle. BTW, did you know that Santa is from Brooklyn?

On the train ride home, we had our own Christmas miracle. After moving forward because they were dropping the last 3 cars in DC, we ended up sitting by a young woman that was a Nanny. The kids were sitting together and she was getting a kick out of them. Sissy turned to her and said, "Santa bring me marshmallows for Christmas." For those of you who know her, you know Sissy doesn't talk to just anyone much less start a conversation with someone she doesn't know. They proceeded to have a great conversation where Sissy explained that she wanted pink and white marshmallows. She told the girl about her whole trip. Sissy walked over to me and said, "Say hi mommy. She's a girl." Bud who will talk to the wall joined in. She managed to get the kids to take turns talking without arguing. The last 2 hours of the train ride were so easy thanks to our Christmas angel, Chelsea.

Well, I'm off to buy some marsmallows. Big ones, small ones, and hopefully some pink ones.

Pictures of the trip to come...

It's almost been a month

2007-12-24T10:14:00.001-05:00

It's been a crazy few weeks. Lots of new. Hopefully I'm back for more than a handful of posts.

NYC, a blueberry, and an averted ER trip

2007-12-20T20:44:00.000-05:00

Bud NEVER stuck anything up his nose (except his finger). Sissy decided that tonight she'd give it a shot. For those of you that don't know, we are in NYC until Sunday with the kids and the in-laws. Without going through the horrid detail, I ended up back at the hotel room with Sissy instead at dinner at Ruby Foo's with the rest of the family. Everything was okay, we were watching a movie and I was working. After the 4th trip to go potty, she ran out of the bathroom while I was going. I found her with the container of dried blueberries I packed for snack. After bringing her back to the bathroom to wash her hands, I really didn't mind her snacking. That was until she informed me that she stuck one up her nose and it wouldn't come out. I tried holding the other nostril and her blowing. Nope. She's now really upset. I call Daddt and told him to get back quickly. I called the front desk for the nearest hospital. Then, I remembered I knew someone with a little experience in this territory. I called my mommy friend, Tiffany, to have her explain the technique for extracating foreign objects from toddler noses. Thank heavens she answered.

Sissy was being a terror at this point. "Stay away. I don't want you." I called Daddy and told him he better get back quick. I told him the technique that Tiffany explained. He at first refused. But when he got back, he'd thought about it. I held her down, put my finger over the opposite nostril, and he put his mouth over hers and blew. Out fell the whole blueberry covered with mucus. I can kind of chuckle about it now, but man I was not laughing then. I did not want to have to go to the ER in New York. Thanks, Tiffany. I just wanted you to know that something positive has come out of your experience!

Works for Me Wednesday

2007-11-28T06:13:00.000-05:00

Works for Me Wednesday is a "blog carnival" that I've been following for a while that is hosted on Rocks in My Dryer. I love sharing tips with friends and family as well as getting tips from others. So, why not share what works for me?

1) Meal planning with an almost empty pantry

I'm sure many people have already found this site, but I still had to share. How cool is Left Over Chef? There's another site I need to dig up that lets you choose ingredients you have and it produces recipe options. I find it hard not to have preconceived ideas when I start clicking ingredients. It almost makes it easier when the pantry is almost bare!

2)Use your tools. Many people have collected appliances over the years that sit around and collect dust. Pull out the rice maker, crock pot, bread maker, mixer, and food processor. The rice maker and crock pot are excellent for easy meals. Prepare, start, and go take care of other things around the house or for work. Use the bread maker to prepare your dough. Most recipes come together in 5 minutes. It's amazing what you can get done in the 1 1/2 hours while the dough is being made. Use your food processor to chop in bulk. Use what you need now and freeze the rest. It's such a timesaver to be able to pull out a cup of diced onions out of the freezer and toss into your recipe.

Back to the grind

2007-11-27T05:23:00.000-05:00

After a week of vacation over Thanksgiving, I headed back to work on Monday. This is the first Thanksgiving in 3 years that I haven't worked through the holiday (and vacations) due to major projects. Vacations are essential for recharging. I did stay pretty busy with orders from the business, but it was nothing considering I usually have to fulfill orders at night, early in the morning, or on the weekends. Bud and Sissy had school on Monday and Tuesday, but their afterschool care provider was on vacation. Monday we had a play date after school. Tuesday, Bud had a play date at a friend's house. Sissy and I ran some errands. Black Friday, I managed to finish all but one Christmas gift. But that was last week, I'm back at work now.

Menu Plan Monday

2007-11-26T06:00:00.000-05:00

I'm trying to better organize life right now. I've always loved the idea of meal planning, but never made it happen. After reading a lot about it, I have finally decided to make the official plunge. Org Junkie hosts "Menu Plan Monday" each Monday. You can visit Org Junkie on Mondays to check out the bloggers who are participating. Lots of inspiration. I'm a vegetarian (22+ years) and get very excited when I see someone post a vegetarian meal plan. Even if it's not veggie, I still get some great ideas. So, today, I'm going to post my first Menu Plan Monday. I'm not going to post my link on the MPM post on the site, but do go check it out. It's so worth your time! I'm still a little shy about the blog (don't laugh!). Here goes...

Monday- Veggie Beef, Cheese, and Noodle Bake
Tuesday- Veggie Meatloaf
Wednesday- Slow Cooker Sesame Chicken (I'll eat leftovers)
Thursday- Grilled Cheese
Friday- Home-made Pizza
Saturday- Slow cooker veggie taco bake
Sunday- Baked Ziti (my sister's recipe)

Cooking at Home

2007-11-25T21:09:00.000-05:00

In the past few months, we have been cutting down on going out to eat. We have been cooking and baking at home. I don't know that I would have ever thought that cooking a full meal for the family and cleaning up would be less stressful than going out, but it is. At home, there is less distraction for the kids and we don't have to worry about any potential mood swings. Those of you who have experienced 2-3 year old children know what I'm talking about! Not spending the money on dining out is less stressful, too.

Here are few handy tools I like to use to make things as easy as possible.

1. Rice cooker- a good friend, who is Indian, graciously offered to teach some tricks and tips for Indian food (30 minutes or less)for me and another friend of ours. I learned a lot and we had an amazing feast. This was the first time I was exposed to a rice cooker. Wow! It was love at first site. I queried my Mommies network and got some recommendations. I asked for one for my birthday. I was so excited when DH brought home my Aroma rice cooker from Costco. The one I got was silver and black. It was inexpensive, but works perfectly. Perfect rice and wonderful steamed veggies.

2. Breadmaker- I bought a breadmaker about 5 years ago. I tried a loaf and failed miserably. I was devastated. When we moved into our current house, I stored it in the closet. I was so bummed that it didn't work out. This summer I was inspired by several blogs. There were so many people that made all of their bread. Surely, I could do this! I asked the fellow mommies on my Mommies Network about their experiences. They shared recipes and tips. I pulled out the bread machine and sat it on the counter. It sat a couple weeks while I reviewed the manual over and over. I tried a load, it was a brick. I asked DH to try a loaf and it was the first survivable loaf produced in the machine. Then I decided that the dough making cycle would probably best suit our needs. Pizza dough! DH was just as excited as I was. Next, we tried pretzel dough. Amazing and perfect for to pack in the kids' lunches. Last weekend, we made dough for dinner rolls. They were fantastic. We repeated for Thanksgiving and they were quite the hit. The breadmaker has officially earned it's place on the counter. This weekend we made naan in the breadmaker. Best of all we are using whole foods- no High Fructose Corn Syrup!

3. Toaster oven- perfect for heating up naan or cooking quick meals.

4. Small stoneware bar pan- This stoneware is made my Pampered Chef. It fits toaster ovens perfectly. The little scrapers that come with it are wonderful, too. We use those every day.

5. Crock pot- We have an on again, off again relationship. I'm hoping it's on again soon. I broke my old one that I got as a wedding gift last year. I wasn't upset because it didn't have a separate insert you could pull out to wash. I got a new one for Christmas. It has timers, multiple settings, and you can pull the insert out to wash it easily. I've got a couple recipes planned for this week. It really is less muss and fuss.

6. The Sneaky Chef Cookbook- I love this book. It's been great to bring more nutrition into foods that the kids already like to eat. Many of my friends know I have a slight obsession with this book. I'll have to give reviews of the recipes we've tried. the rice cooker has been a perfect partner to this book.

7. The Magic Bullet- Talk about less muss and fuss, this little powerhouse is the real deal. I was dragging out my huge Cuisinart food processor to make purees and grind oats for The Sneaky Chef recipes. Oh, the mess and the cleanup! One day it hit me, I need to pull out the bullet. It was perfect when I was making Sissy's baby food. It is just the right size for making the purees.

Those are my favorite tools of the trade right now. I'm always interested in hearing about other's preferred cooking tools are.

Getting the hang of it

2007-11-25T20:20:00.000-05:00

It's been a while. I'm hoping to get the hang of blogging. I read so many wonderful blogs daily and have been exposed to so much. It's nice to know there are other people out there with similar interests and even those with different interests I can learn from. I think that blogging will give me the opportunity to better organize my thoughts and my life.

NYC, Lots of fun and a Tour de Toilets

2007-07-08T21:25:00.000-04:00

Bud, Sissy, Daddy, and I took the train up to New York for the weekend. We left Richmond at 6a. The kids were fascinated by the train despite being woken up at 5a. Every time the whistled blew, they would chime in, "Toot, toot!"

Having keen mommy insight, I made sure we sat at the back of the car near the restrooms. I knew this was a smart move, but I really didn't know how smart. Shortly after the train left the station, the tour began...

Sissy had to go potty. I broke out the trusty potty seat and we headed off to the handicapped potty. Over the next 6 hours, Sissy went 5 more times. She even got lucky when Daddy took her once. The "big" potty was occupied. So, she got to tour the other. Upon arriving at Penn Station, we snuck into a potty at a Restaurant in the subway.

The kids were very excited to ride the subway for the first time. Bud was equally excited having spotted a rat in the subway station. He spotted an even bigger one at the next station. We arrived at the station close to our hotel. We stepped out on to the street. Daddy said, "What do you think of all the tall buildings?" Bud responded promptly, "Look there's a birdie!"

We arrived at the hotel and checked our luggage. One more trip to the potty for Sissy and we were on our way. We went for pizza at a Ray's (not sure if it was the Famous, the Original, or the Original Famous- ay!) and Sissy made sure to visit the potty there as well. We headed to Times Square. We rode the ferris wheel in TRU. A ferris wheel in a toy store. Could it get any better than this?

After we left TRU, we passed by the Naked Cowboy. DS had a tatoo on his arm that said something like "Jesus Rocks" from VBS the day before. Naked Cowboy told Bud how he liked Bud's tattoo and showed him his own tattoo of Jesus on his arm. Bud's eyes got real wide and he proceeded to chat up the Naked Cowboy. Sorry, no picture for that one. That would have been creepy.

After naptime at the hotel, we took another subway ride and hit a few more stops. In Herald Square, Sissy and I ran into H&M where she decided she need to potty. No mercy from the staff for a mommy and a 2 year old. We left and walked next door to Victoria's Secret as they were closing. The female security guard did take mercy on us and let us sneak in to use the potty (bless you, VS security guard). Sissy and I would give the VS potty zero stars. Luckily we had the trusty potty seat and some tissues in our tote. We headed back to the hotel for some shut eye.

We were up bright and early Saturday. We headed down to breakfast. You gotta love the Hampton Inn- super friendly for families. Certainly not an organic breakfast, but the kids did enjoy their first (and only) experience with Apple Jacks. They must think it's a NY food. We swung by the Today Show. Ian pronounced it boring. We walked over to Rockefeller Central (very clean potties in the concourse, btw). The kids really enjoyed the fountains and little gardens. It's amazing how they see the wonder in things that adults just gloss over. We headed up to Central Park Zoo after Rockefeller.

We really enjoyed the Sea Lions. It's hard to see, but the sea lion is in right behind Bud's and Sissy's reflection.

After we visited all of the animals, we headed over to the Children's Zoo. Sissy is usually not that excited about getting pictures taken, but she loved the photo ops here.

We headed over to FAO Schwarz. This place is just as amazing to me as the first time I set foot inside over 20 years ago. Sissy and I oogled the Corolle doll area while Daddy and Bud checked out the Hot Wheels Garage. After visiting the potty, Sissy spotted the Alex art center. She painted a couple pictures. She did not want to leave. We finally left and hit a deli around the corner. Then we made our way back to the hotel for naptime. Daddy took a nap with the kids while mommy slipped out to shop in SoHo. After naptime, we ate dinner at a little mexican restaurant. The staff was fascinated with Sissy and Bud. Bud is quite the conversationalist. Sissy just looks on shyly.

Day 3 of our adventure, we headed down to catch the Staten Island Ferry. This a great, free, family activity. The potties are very clean, too. We arrived back to the dock and headed to Little Italy for lunch. I love Sundays in the summer, when Mulberry Street is closed and all the tables are lined up on the sidewalk. While Daddy, Bud, and Sissy waited for our lunch specials to arrive, I ran up to Ferrara's to grab cannolis. Lunch was tasty. The potty was tiny but clean.

It was time to head to the train station. We took a cab to the hotel I was staying at for work the next few days. I checked in and then walked Daddy, Bud, and Sissy to Penn Station. Daddy was a little nervous having to get the kids on the train by himself. I took Sissy to the potty (not bad). I grabbed pretzels for the kids to snack on. I found a porter and asked if he could tell us the platform for the train. He escorted us to the train. What a kind man. I was able to help Daddy get the kids on the train and settled well before they announced the platform for departure.

It was a wonderful trip. We can't wait to go back.

Super Ninja Bug Catcher

2007-07-04T15:05:00.001-04:00

Our little girl, Sissy, is quite obsessed with bugs. If there is a bug within 50 feet of her, she will zero in and find it. Usually that consists of her squatting over it yelling, "Dis a bug! Dis a bug!" My son will often come to the rescue, mommy's croc in hand, to give it a good whack. Not so bad, right? Well, it wouldn't be if he would get something to clean it up and dispose of it properly. It's taken a little while, but I've figured out if one croc isn't where I left it, beware when I pick it up.. But, I digress.

As always, Sissy want to be just like her big brother, Bud. Though she doesn't it have it in her to smack the bugs, yet. I was working from home yesterday as I usually do, but today both kids were home. Daddy stayed home as well to care for the kids while I worked. After they had lunch, Daddy came bounding up the stares smiling from ear to ear. "Our daughter took a plastic cup and caught a fly on the back door. She has ninja like reflexes, honey, she caught a fly!" He was truly proud. It was sweet. He went on with the story. "I got rid of the fly. But Bud was very upset, he and Sissy had wanted to keep it as a pet."

Life Alert

2007-07-04T15:05:00.000-04:00

Recently, Daddy was in the back yard taking the opportunity to teach my son not to do what he himself was doing. I won't go into those specifics, but let's just say HE shouldn't have been doing it.

"Bud, if there is ever a fire, make sure you tell an adult..." The conversation went on a bit and ended up with, "If mommy and daddy are ever hurt and can't get up, do you know what to do?." As Daddy was telling me this story, I thought, "Oh good, he knows about 911." Daddy procceeded on with the story. Our son said, "Push the button on the life alert! It will call the Life Alert Center and send help your way." No, really...

Ah, the joys of a preschooler with the brain of a sponge.