Shutting off the electronics

Today I was introduced to a new blog.  http://www.handsfreemama.com/ I fell in love with it after reading the most recent post she wrote.  And then I wanted to shut down my computer and race to school to pick my kids up and play with them.  I so easily forget how important those small little things that happen each day, those little things that they do, how much they really matter.  I put my cell phone down tonight.  I only glanced at it once when I was working on our taxes.  It felt good to not have it in my hand all night looking at pinterest and facebook.  I wasn't texting all night, I had 5 of them once I finally picked it up.  Looking at her blog, I read some older posts she had written.  One of them was about "finding the heartbeat".  I did that on Cody tonight.  I asked him if I could listen to his heart beating and then he asked if he could hear mine.  We talked about what makes it go faster and what slows it down.  Then we found each other's pulse, both in the wrist and neck.  He thought that was so cool to feel my pulse on my wrist.

Sunday was the day I decided to take the Xbox away for the week.  Brady has become such a zombie playing that.  I know it's fun, I get it.  He can log on and all of his friends have head sets.  They play for hours and giggle constantly.  I want him to have fun with his friends and I understand this time of year in Minnesota when it's so cold out, there isn't a lot to do.  The kids in our cul-de-sac are more Cody's age and a lot of times Brady doesn't want to play with them.  He was mad that I took the Xbox away but by doing that, I have seen the most of him in these last two days that I have in the last two weeks.  He goes right downstairs and logs into that game.  He comes up to eat dinner and do his homework and then back down he goes.  It's my fault.  It's Dane's fault.  We are so busy with our tv, phones, and internet that we don't even think about it.  It's become a habit that so many of us fall into.

Tonight I was filling out Brady's form so he could get a yearbook this year.  It's his last year of Elementary school and I told him years ago that he could get one in 5th grade, 8th, and his senior year.  Those are the years that will be most important to him, the years that he is oldest and "rules the school".  As we were talking about it I told him I still had my yearbooks from junior high and high school.  I don't think they made them when I was in Elementary.  He wanted to see them.  We headed downstairs and pulled out the keepsake tote and found them.  In that tote, I showed both of them the outfits they came home from the hospital in, their first picture outfits, socks, blankets, hospital bracelets, even the clips their little belly buttons were attached to.  In no time all four of us were sitting down in the craft room looking at the year books and talking about little baby hats and how small they were.  Tonight was one of the funnest nights I have had in a long time with those boys.  No tv, no radio or cell phones, no video games.  Just chatting and remembering.  Check the blog out some time.  It's really neat and I've saved it in my favorites.  It will be a good one to look at when I am having a bad day, or when my time is all used up on things that aren't as important as my kids.  Thank you Jessie for posting about it today.

I made breakfast burritos this last weekend.  They were so easy to make and so quick.  You can put anything in your burritos you want.  I did mine kind of plain, kid friendly of course.  I ended up with 12 good sized burritos.  I suppose it would depend how much filling you put in or the size of your burrito shell.  I used the 10 inch size burritos.

I started with browning 1lb sausage.  I used the mild sausage but you could go spicier if you wanted to.  I added a little cayenne pepper to my sausage to give it a little kick.  It wasn't enough to make a huge difference though.

Once the sausage was cooked, I drained the grease and added in 1 1/2 cups of frozen hash brown potatoes.  I cooked those until they were nice and soft.

  
In a separate pan I scrambled some eggs.  I used 10 eggs and 3/4 cup of milk.  Once the eggs were just about done I added them to the sausage/potato mixture.  I cooked them for a couple of minutes longer and they were done.

Lay out your burrito.  I took 12 burritos and layered them on a big cookie sheet, covered them with foil and put them in the oven at 400 degrees for about 8 minutes first.  This warmed and softened them up to make them easier to roll.

Put the amount of egg mixture you want on the burrito.

Sprinkle a little cheese of your choice on the mixture.  I chose taco cheese.

Roll up that cute little burrito!

Cut that baby in half so it's easier to handle, plop a little sour cream and salsa on the plate next to it, grab a napkin and smile!  What a yummy breakfast on a Saturday morning before all the running began.

We ate a few and the rest I wrapped individually in saran wrap and threw them all into a zip lock bag in the freezer.  They were so good the next day heated up, again what a yummy breakfast on a Sunday morning before all the running began.  Anyone that likes breakfast food would enjoy these.  You could add tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, more cheese, bacon, whatever you want...I will for sure make these again, maybe even double my batch next time because I know how well they freeze.

I got a lot of cooking done this weekend.  A lot of cooking comes with a lot of clean up.  What I wouldn't give for a Mary-Poppins-fingers-snapping-magic on those days.

Thank goodness for dish washers...I guess I could name that Mary Poppins!?

Nite Pin It

A Valentine's craft

Valentine's Day is tomorrow.  We're going to have to celebrate our love day on Friday night.  With work, school, and a tutor session tomorrow night, there just won't be enough time.  While Cody is at his tutor session, I will run to the store with my small list for our special dinner Friday night.  Because it is the start of lent, we won't be able to eat meat so I am probably going with a shrimp pasta dish and a yummy little dessert.

This is the holiday that I have the least amount of decorations for.  I don't know why, maybe it's because this time of year is my least favorite.  I am tired of the cold and wet and all the bundling up that still needs to be done.  I have the spring fever so badly I can hardly stand it.  But, to celebrate this sweet little love day, I made a craft to hang in our dining room.

I started with a heart.  I cut the heart from my cricut machine to the size I wanted.

Next I took some burlap and cut it into pennants.  My plan was to make a banner.  I also had some interfacing I picked up from the fabric store.  Interfacing is a white backing that you iron on your fabric to make it stiff.  One side is soft and the other is kind of scratchy.  The scratchy side goes against the back of your fabric.  I used a kitchen cloth to cover it so I didn't iron directly on the burlap.

See how I painted the little heart onto the fabric?  Cute right?  I tried to get a good picture of the interfacing but it's hard.  If you go into the fabric store, just ask for it.  It's very inexpensive.  This works great for any fabric banner you would want to make.  I made one for my sister-in-law's baby shower this last fall.

Next I took some brown chalk that I use for making cards and rubbed it on the edges for a little more character.

See how that softens the edges a little bit?  You can get it in all sorts of colors.  This is the one I used.

Because I wanted to hang my cute project, I needed some string and a way to attach my pennants to the string.  I had some thick cream colored yarn so I used that and then some adorable little clothes pins.

I decided on 4 pennants.

How do you get that glare out of your pictures?  Does anyone know?  If you can help me, please send me a comment!

Isn't it cute?  It was so easy to make and just adds a little bit of love to our dining room now.

Have a lovey dovey day tomorrow!  I hope you have a sweetie to smooch.  I have 3!

Nite! Pin It

Those growing boys

Here we are, close to the middle of February already.  I don't know about you but I am more than ready for Spring.  I am ready for the little green grass pieces to start poking through the ground and for my perennials to start popping up.  I am ready to open the windows and let fresh air in our house.

Cody is doing well in hockey again this year.  He lives for that sport.  By the time he is done, he looks like he just stepped out of the shower.  Head to toe soaked with sweat.  The car ride home is awesome of course with his beautiful odor.  Now that he's getting older, that hockey bag now lives in the garage when not in use.

There he is, with the black hood sticking out of the back of his jersey.  They had their outdoor game a couple of weeks ago.  He looks forward to this one more than any of them.  They bring in a dj to play music, concession stands, and fire pits to keep warm.  

Wake up little goalie, Cody is about to score on you!  We actually stayed pretty warm this year.  The temperature wasn't nearly as bad as last year.  Of course I bundled up like I was going to sit outside for two days.  I absolutely hate to be cold.

Did you do anything fun for the super bowl this year?  We stayed home this year.  I made a nice dinner and some fun cupcakes to have as a treat.  Instead of red velvet, I did green velvet.  I added some fun colored sprinkles.

I think Cody ate more cupcakes than anyone.  That boy is going through a growth spurt right now.  I don't know where he puts it.  Last week I ordered a large pepperoni pizza with a thick crust.  Dane was gone so it was just me and the boys.  I took two smaller pieces and was beyond full.  I left the table to go put clothes away in my bedroom while the boys finished eating.  I came back to find an empty box with not even a crumb left.  I could not believe it.  I thought for sure one of them would get sick from eating that much pizza but they didn't.  They are seriously starting to eat me out of my house and they are only 11 and 7.  

Do you have anything fun planned for Valentine's day?  I don't think we do.  Cody meets with his reading tutor that night and I think Dane might have committed to a side job.  Maybe we'll be able to celebrate it Friday night instead.  I love doing something special for the holidays, even if I have three boys in the house that could really care less.

I'll post tomorrow about a little Valentine's craft I made this week.  I had everything I needed for it at home and it turned out adorable!

Nite!

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I'm coming back!

Hello Friends!

I'm coming back to the blog world. After taking some time off the last couple of months trying to decide if I should keep going on my blog, I've decided to come back. I had to make some changes with the blogger site and took some time to decide if it was something I wanted to do.

Thank you to all of you that still check daily to see if I've posted. It makes me feel good to know you all thought my blog was fun and interesting, and then it makes me feel bad that I just left you all hanging thinking, "where did she go?" I'll see you soon!

Kelly

Ps: If you forgot what we all look like, here's a picture of us from right before Christmas.

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Halloweenie

Happy Halloweenie!  Is it just me or do these little holidays fly right by?  What a nice night we had to trick-or-treat.  The boys came home with big pillow cases full of candy.  They hardly pick at it anymore...even to them maybe it's too much.  I have Cody brainwashed that sugar is no good for him.  Ha!  Is that bad?  I have had to talk to him about eating sugar.  He even tells the moms at birthday parties that he goes to that he can't have the cake because the sugar makes him too hyper.  Funny!  So we talk about that before he goes to the party on how it's ok to have the cake with his friends.  Honestly I don't know how much he likes cake.  Me?  I could eat a piece of cake every day.  I don't, but I could.

With help from his mom, Brady turned into the Joker for Halloween.  We didn't even need a wig!

And then we had a ninja.  I think the only reason Cody wanted to be a ninja was because he got to carry a new sword.  The thing with dress up clothes and Cody, he will wear them until they no longer fit or they rip.  You will find him out in the yard playing in his costumes.  He for sure gets my moneys worth out of them.

Getting ready to trick-or-treat with friends.  Look at Brady's pose.  Makes me giggle.  Don't look at the dead plant.  I pulled that out this weekend.  I thought it gave the house a "scary" look.

Here we have the retired North Star player walking with the retired cheer leader.  Funny!

Peter is getting bigger and cuter by the day.  Do you think Danelle would notice if I quickly put him in my car and drove away?

Cody is in love with his new little cousin.  He did such a good job holding him.  He wouldn't give him back to me and I was going through withdrawals!

Sleeping with his mouth open.  He looks like his momma....I wonder if she sleeps with her mouth open too?

Gotta get the funny pictures while you can.  Before you know it, they won't let you do these silly things to them!  Oh I could just eat this little boy up!!  I can't wait to see him again.  This weekend didn't work out with our boys not feeling so hot.  We had to stay away.  We'll see him soon enough though.

Brady went to the eye doctor today.  Thankfully, he does not need glasses at this time.  He will in the future though the doctor said.  Glasses wouldn't be the end of the world I know but for him, he didn't want them.  I suppose you get used to them on your face, I have no idea.  My eyes are pretty close to perfect, Dane's are as well.  We are very lucky and very thankful.

Have a great night! Pin It

We've got a baby!

We've got a new baby!  He's here!  Peter Damian was born Sunday evening, October 21st.  Over 3 weeks early, he gave us all a little scare.  He's beautiful, he's perfect, I am in love and I want to steal him.

We went to the hospital to see him tonight.  It was so hard not to get to hold him.  He has a little feeding tube and is in the special baby unit getting extra special attention.  He's adorable.  His new Aunt is going to spoil him like crazy...all 7lbs, 1oz of him.  He's got some dark hair and cute little fingers.  I'll be checking him all over when he comes home.  Mom and dad will get dismissed from the hospital tomorrow but little Peter will have to stay a bit to make sure he can eat.  Mom will be staying to keep feeding him.  His little punkin hat is a tad big but just perfect on him.  Brady and Cody are so excited to finally have a cousin.  We've got a cute one!

Football season is now over.  We are waiting...well relaxing before hockey starts in a couple of weeks.  We get one full weekend off from sports and the next one starts.

I am undecided if I should save the football pants or toss them.  What do you think?

I think we are on the same page....toss I'd say.  Those boys played hard.  They were full of bruises, Brady more than Cody, and thought they were the coolest things ever.  I've got a picture of Cody holding his medal on my phone.  I'll try to get that downloaded soon.  He's informed us that he's not playing football next year. He didn't care for it too much and would like to just stick with hockey and possibly baseball.  I'm glad our boys are interested in trying different sports.  They are really important to me, they get great exercise, they learn to follow rules and direction, and they make great friends.

Hard to believe this is my baby.  Isn't he the cutest when he sleeps?  I love that he lays on his hands like that.  I do the same thing.

Sorry for the delay in updates....with football practice, homework, dinners, housework and working 40 hours a week, it can be a tricky challenge to find computer time.

Nite! Pin It

Sweet Sunday

How do these weekends go by so fast?  We stayed home all day today, a perfect Sunday.  It felt so good to have no plans and to stay in our house where it was nice and warm.  The boys, however, did not stay in the house.  They were begging to go outside at 7:30 this morning.  They love being outside.  They are still adjusting to the fact that they can't wear shorts every day anymore.  They were outside in jeans and sweatshirts today.

Crazy Cody.  I told him he had to wear a hat outside and this is how he came out.  Brady always has to make some weird face in the background of a picture.  Silly boys!

Down in the woods right off of our backyard.  Brady with the toy gun, Cody with the broom.  Usually this would be the other way around but for some reason, Cody wanted to be the cleaner.  It didn't take long though after I took this picture for Cody to take over the gun and for Brady to start organizing their fort.   I love that they have this little area behind our house...and I love that I can open my deck door and hear their funny little conversations.

Leaves are changing.  Lots of trees are already bright orange, red, and yellow.  Our big trees in our backyard are barely half way there.  I love the fall but am so not ready for the cold winter.  Yesterday was a nice taste of the freezing cold.  It was just under 50 degrees at the football fields and I felt like my whole body was going to have frost bite.  I had to go to the van with 6 minutes remaining in Brady's game.  I just couldn't take it anymore.  I gave up my blanket to a little boy on Cody's team that was crying because he was so cold.  He sat out and couldn't play because he was just too cold.  His parents weren't there and he didn't even have a jacket with him.  I couldn't sit there and watch him cry.  He stayed wrapped in that blanket until the end of the game.  Poor guy!

The trees in the woods are the first to have their leaves in the spring and the first to lose them in the fall.  It won't be long and there will be little icicles dripping from the branches.

Brady made cookies today all by himself.  I didn't touch a single thing.  He measured and poured everything himself.  The only things he did wrong, he put two tablespoons of vanilla instead of two teaspoons...and instead of spooning the flour into the measuring cup, he dipped the measuring cup into the flour causing it to be too compacted...too much flour.  Still I stayed back, let him do his thing.  I figured I would educate after he tasted his cookies.

A little on the fluffy side.  They still taste pretty good.  He added white and chocolate chips.  They were just a little on the dry side but still totally edible.  Great job Brady!  Not many 10-year old boys can bake cookies from start to finish and have them be something someone can eat.  I love that he loves to bake.  Cody is still only interested in eating batter and licking beaters.

We did lego night in Cody's room tonight.

Cody's car.

Mom's car.

Brady's car.

Nite! Pin It

A little baby shower

The baby shower was a success.  We had great company, great food, and adorable decorations.  This hostess is one tired cookie.  Danelle got so many nice things today for her new baby boy.  The little outfits, the cute little socks, the baby shampoo, and the tiny diapers...I was jealous.  I wanted to be sitting in that chair opening those gifts, preparing for a new little one.  I'll get over it in a couple of days, don't worry Mom.  I've got too much homework to help with now and too many practices to run to, I don't have the time I would need to take care of a newborn.  Danelle had a great day.

There was the front step, all decorated for fall.  A little FYI if you're looking to buy a straw bail for you front step- do not, I repeat, DO NOT put this in the back of your minivan without a tarp or garbage bag.  I was in the back seat of my minivan, my knees on the seat, leaf blower in hand, full blast I was blowing straw out of my van.  Two hours it took me to get all of the straw out.  I was blowing it out, vacuuming like crazy, then later in the evening taking it for a drive with all of the windows down watching it fly out all four windows.  Not cool.

There was a homemade wreath on the door.  Thank you Shelby for your idea and assistance.  Very easy to make folks.  All you need are a few fun supplies and a hot glue gun. 

There was a baby banner.  A pennant made out of burlap, painted and stenciled, hung from some thick wool yarn held by baby clothes pins.

There was a diaper cake.  Little tiny diapers wrapped in ribbon.  Baby teething rings, little socks, and yummy smelling lotions and soaps.

There was garland.  Leaf shaped felt garland, sewn together with a thin cream colored yarn.

There was an appetizer table.  Plates and bowls in the coordinating colors anxiously waiting for food to be placed.  Around them stood the favors.

Pretzels and peanuts coated with chocolate.  So yummy, so addicting.  Thank you to Pete's mom for making these amazing treats.  It's always nice to send guests home with a little "thanks for coming" gift.

I wasn't quite fast enough to get a picture of the food before it was dipped into.  We had bruschetta, artichoke dip, a fiesta chicken dip, cordon blue melts, and those irresistible melt in your mouth holiday wrappings that I brought to my Mom's last year for Christmas.  For dessert we had apple cheesecake bars and brownies. 

There were gifts.  Lots and lots of neat little things for baby boy.

Then there was the Momma.  Isn't she cute?  She's got 52 days to her due date..she's counting down.

Danelle and her Grandma Maggie.  Look at that baby bump.  I wonder if he's going to be a big boy.  What a great party, I just love playing hostess! Pin It