Monday, March 30, 2009

Jenster76

I now have a fanpage for my shop on facebook. Search for it...and become a fan...then tell everyone you know to be my fan too.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Oh Happy Day...

Well, It's been some time I post again...so here I go.

Toddler Moment:

Okay, so some of you might remember my post on my myspace blog relating to the embarrassment and eyebrowraising that went on when little man invented the "F" word. If you didn't read and aren't quite familiar...here is an excerpt:

Friday, June 06, 2008
the F word
So..on with my story. My 17 month old, is learning to talk...so cute, he repeats every thing he hears. But this is not a story about him repeating a word he has heard. This is about him creating his own word (albeit a word already created in the "real" word) and using it to his heart's content...and his mommy, not so sure how to approach this one. (if at all)
I was grocery shopping with my two babes today. Gonna make Mexican food tonight so hubby said to grab some Dos Equis. So that is in the bottom of the basket. Josh starts saying "Foo fa" which in my previous post is his word for the moon in spanish. Then he starts saying, "Uck" because the shopping cart had some blackish smudge on the handle. I acknowledge both and pick up a bag of blue corn chips. (I'm no dummy, I used to watch Sesame Street with the two headed monster that puts two sounds together to make one word...I can see where this COULD go.) Then he goes, "Ho ho ho" which is my cue for singing the Ho ho ho hosanna, Ha ha hallelujah song...so I start singing away...(quite oblivious to the fact that I am in the grocery store until much later, I might add) All the while the little two headed monster is working on Foo fa and Uck in my little boy's head. I'm finishing the song off with "I've got the joy of the Lord..." ready to repeat the ho ho ho part when the tiniest voice in front of me starts saying....yup...you guessed it. F*** F*** F*** F***.
I'm standing in front of the ground beef...staring at my little man who is as proud as a peacock to have invented such an intriguing word, and yes, I am getting stares. I know I must look like a wreck on wheels...Two babies under two years old, singing about getting saved, with a six pack of beer in the cart and my boy practically shouting the F bomb. I may have had the "what? this isn't normal?" look on my face, but I was smiling on the inside. Oh how sweet is that innocence...


Well, that was then, and this is now...and we *think* he is using the word "Forgot" in front of almost EVERYTHING...like when I say, "Hey, where is your sippy?" He says "Oh I forget sippy." HOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWeeeeeeeever, it doesn't in the least bit sound like "Forget" it sounds like "EFFit" but not even effet...like full on...well you get the idea. So we are going through that again. And it's funny!! I mean...Hubby and I keep straight faces in front of little man, but we turn our heads and give the side glance to each other like, "Did you just hear that??"

Little ladybug is doing just fabulous!! She has an amazing vocab for just being one. I credit it to the fact that she has a Bubba that is constantly talking to her...and her momma won't shut up...and well, she's just brilliant. :) She learned "NO" waaayyyy earlier than sonny boy did...but that is to be expected if she wants to have any peace while playing with her toys. Her newest is "I love you." She says, "I uuuuv oooooo" presh.

Spring keeps having false starts over here. I just want Spring to "Bring it.." and bump out winter. We are going to dust off our bikes...buy a bike trailer, and hit the trails soon. I cannot wait to tow those two happy babes around on my bike!! It has been over two years since I have put the pedal to the metal on my Kona. Soon enough. In the meantime, a bunch of March Mommas and I are doing the Jillian Michaels 30 day Shred. Killllla!! Wow. that thing is brutal...when you haven't used your muscles in a while that is... *ahem.* I am going on day 7 today. I have been having trouble with my feet hurting while doing jumping jacks and jumprope...I thought it was my shoes so I bought new ones...and they hurt worse. I think I will continue to do the workout barefoot?? I had to quit midway yesterday because my feet hurt so bad. I was encouraged, however, because I took measurements yesterday and in 5 days of shredding, I have lost 2 1/2 inches!! that's pretty exciting!!

Watched the Changeling Friday night. Wow. That was a bit darker than we expected...but very good...just left ya kinda emptyish. It's long too. like 3 1/2 hours. I think we finished around 11:30 pm and the hubby pops in Cars...I was sooo tired, but he said he couldn't go to sleep on "that note"...

I have the cutest baby washcloths for sale in my shop right now...and I made a PRECIOUS preemie hat for Brooklyn Lorenz (check out her blog in my profile). I'm just waiting for her daddy to send me his addy!! I've never attempted one before, but I just had to...and it's adorable...will be even cuter atop her sweet little noggin.

I will post pics soon...sorry this got so long. Have a wonderful week!!

Monday, March 23, 2009

In my previous life

I was an elementary teacher. My greatest influence in this career move was my 4th grade teacher, Ms. Boyd. She was absolutely amazing, and of course worked so hard for her students to come out of elementary school absolutely in love with school, and her!

I remember a lot of things about my fourth grade year and as a fourth grade teacher, I really tried to implement some of those things into my classroom as well. We played bingo with spelling words and the winners got great prizes, we baked an old fashioned spice cake with the same ingredients used in the spice cake made in Johnny Tremain, we made our own books of poetry including all types of poems we learned about. It was a lot of fun. It was a lot of work.

I had the honor of completing a questionaire this morning for one of my former students. She is in high school now, and has made the decision to become a fourth grade teacher...because of me. There is something so humbling about it. I am deeply moved by the fact that because of my influence in her life, she would, like me, strive to be like the teacher that meant so much to her.
Rarely in life is a person allowed to know who they have influenced. This is one of those rare moments I will treasure.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Tea for Two...

Ever have those absolutely perfect moments in life? The ones you didn't plan too hard for, but just sort of happen for you? Kind of like a little gift, wrapped in a pretty little bow, from God...with love.

I had one of those moments, just yesterday, with a very dear friend. She and I go back longer than any friend I know, so much so, that we practically are family. I recall it fondly...our first meeting. It was a warm summer evening...she was walking down the street in my neighborhood...I was riding my tricycle on my driveway...the tender age of 3. I said, "Hi girl." She said hello back. Thirty minutes later, walking by again, I say, "Hi, Girl." She says, "I already said hi to you." Thus begun our 30 yr friendship.

We can never quite get our birthdays right. She knows mine is in May...I know hers is sometime in February. We don't get together as often as we should, but when we do, we just pick up where we left off. It really is an easy, wonderful friendship.

I've been wanting to do something nice for her/with her for a long time. Like over a year ago, I mentioned we should go for tea. We were both thrilled with the idea...but it slowly moved to the back burner. Until yesterday.

We walked into the creaky old house that had been converted into a Victorian style tea house. The foyer being a sweet little tea, princess, girly shop, and the next few rooms being disected into mini tearooms, each with its own theme.

(Now don't mind the flash in these pictures...it was very dark and to get any decent picture worth sharing, I did have to use flash)

Apparantly, ours was the cowboy room.




Okay, so maybe not cowboy, but horse related. We sat down opposite each other on roomy leather sofas. Then the wonderful tea was served. Our first tea was an English breakfast tea, blended from three of the teahouse's black teas.





It's so nice to just sit back and sip on a delicious cup of tea with a good friend. Then came the savories and sweets.


Each plate was served with its own complementing tea. English breakfast for the savories which included a corned beef and cucumber sandwich, a mini shepherd's pie in a puff pastry, quiche, and this beautiful cabbage, green apple, and parsley coleslaw. Our second plate was the bread course, with two different type scones and green apple curd and clotted creme. It was served with a creamy pomegranate tea. I am not one for fruity tea, but this was actually very nice. Lastly was the sweet course. There was a chocolate truffle cake, a bailey's irish creme cheesecake, and a pistachio petite something or another. It was served with a ginger peach white tea.
We were in our own little world for two hours. It was complete bliss!! At the end, our hostess brought us each a warm lavender scented hand cloth...

I highly recommend...if there is a teahouse in your neck of the woods that serves an English high tea, to DO IT!! Take your mom for Mother's Day, treat a yourself and a friend, take your daughter out to tea...or better yet, do it at home. Make a new tradition, to set aside some time for yourself to stop...and smell the savories!!

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Cookie Favors


Have you ever done research into these??? Like checked out pricing on cookie bouquets?? I kinda feel baddish for not appreciating how much $$$ some of my parents had spent on me as a teacher...I had received a few cookie bouquets in my 8 1/2 year teaching career..

Well, got me to thinking, heck, I can do this!!! (Well that and another momma I know made some gorgeous butterflies and flowers for her babe's 1st bday!!)

So I found this recipe from Allrecipe.com for sugar cookies.http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/The-Best-Rolled-Sugar-Cookies/Detail.aspx Don't get me wrong, I have an amazing sugar cookie recipe, but it tastes like Christmas. They seriously were a dream to roll out and to cut. I do recommend only putting a few on your tray, especially if you are making them big.

After they were baked and cooled, I piped an icing border on them with a store bought Wilton's icing. It looked like a bottle of elmer's glue, but I know you can do royal icing if you are soooo inclined..(I'm not.)

After that dried and hardened, I made this glaze http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Sugar-Cookie-Glaze/Detail.aspx and tinted it pink. I poured it into the center of the cookies and hubby and I spread it out to be flush with the border. They dried like a dream and are absolutely beautiful!!


I packaged them in clear baggies and set them in a basket on the gift table for my little lady's bday party!! They were absolutely a success!!

What's for dinner??

I had been toying with the idea of doing a weekly dinner post...to share some of my dinner ideas, then the whole family got sick and threw a wrench in my bloggin plans!!

So I just have a couple ideas this week for ya. After I hit up the grocery store and plan some more, I should have some more next week!!

First off, how about some down home barbeque??

Our local grocery store sells beef ribs at a great price, so I picked up a package, threw them in a glass container, seasoned, and let them bake at like 350 for an hour or so...maybe more...(This is not a cooking how to blog!!) After they were almost done, I poured on our favorite bbq sauce. Yummo

Now for sides...Try this: Buy a bag of shredded coleslaw mix, a bottle of coleslaw dressing (we like the refrigerated kind in the produce section) and season your coleslaw to taste. Oh it is soooo good. Crunchy, not soggy.

I found in the freezer section, frozen unbaked bread. It came in a three pack, so I thawed one loaf all day in a bread pan, and baked it before baking the ribs...fresh baked bread!!

And, lastly, in the freezer, had some mixed veggies...boiled them up. We enjoyed our dinner!!


Secondly, What about Chicken??


I love to buy bone in skin on breasts and simply season with salt and pepper. I bake them at 350 for about an hour or an hour and a half. The skin gets super crunchy...(and you can totally peel it off like me) and the breast is so juicy!!!

I picked up some asparagus from costco, trimmed it up, and sauteed them in a saucepan with olive oil and minced garlic. When they had softened a bit, I tossed with parmesan cheese. Yummy.

I served with mashed potatoes as well. I used instant. I know I know...but the secret is to find a good instant...I buy a big box of pouches from costco...they don't taste cardboardish because they are not in a cardboard box.

Lastly, try a casserole!! I actually made a lasagna casserole and an enchilada casserole in the last two weeks. Great for the hubby to take to work...The key is to package it in the plastic containers (so he actually will take it to work) when you put it away. I do have a teensy secret to share which made both my casseroles delish...Make sure you have enough sauce!!! The recipe I used for the lasagna only called for one can of spaghetti type sauce...I ended up using two...and it wasn't dry like in the past!!

Here's my super quick and really easy enchilada recipe:
In a 9x13 dish, pour in a thin layer of red enchilada sauce. (I like Las Palmas)
layer in your corn tortillas, diced onions (if desired), shredded cooked chicken (I love to buy a rotisserie chicken and pull it apart for this), and cheddar cheese. Repeat until you have a top layer of corn tortillas. Cover with sauce and cheddar. Bake at 350 until cheese is melted and enchilada is bubbly. Serve with a dollop of sour cream!!

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Busy Busy

Hello Folks!! Sorry I haven't posted in a while. My babe turned one on Tuesday and her big ol' honkin' party will be Saturday. Totally stoked. Gonna order a 6 foot sub for the occasion. Note to self: order sub.

I couldn't think of party favors that anyone would actually like...uh who really enjoys bringing home a bag of plastic toys??? No offense...I actually have enjoyed the bouncy rubber balls my son has received...and the bubbles, loved the bubbles...I digress. What I am trying to say is, I am copying someone on my birthboard and making huge cookie favors. I found a recipe on allrecipes.com...put 'er to the test last night...and made a huge mess. The instructions said to place one inch apart...welllll...let's just say I squeezed about ten huge cookies on the tray and we pretty much had one huge cookie in the end. Today I did better and only put four at a time on the tray...and o. my. golly. They are absolutely beautiful. Like cookie bouquet style. except without the stick. I still must ice on barriers and then flood them with glaze. OOOoooh I forsee hours of uninterupted cookie bliss in my future. Will post pics.

In regards to etsy...I have broken thru the 20 sales mark thanks to 23 wonderful buyers who found my products worthy of buyership...Is that even a word?? Anyhoo...sometimes you feel a little lost on Etsy...just one of a gazillion stay at home moms who crochet. Well, yesterday, I found that somebody featured me in their treasury... (Basically it takes a lot of effort to even get a treasury slot, and when you do, you start placing items from the zillions there are on etsy into your treasury.)And to top that, her treasury made it to the front page of etsy today!!! My humble little cotton washcloths were on the front page of etsy.com!!!!! I want to scream it makes me so happy!!

In other etsy related news, there is quite some buzz over my market bag...I sold two this week and am working on a very pretty sage and tan one now. I have three more lined up after this one, and some interest in a custom colored one as well. Now if only I could grow one more set of arms and hands....wonder if they sell them on etsy..oh wait I think they might.

If you are the praying kind, my little man and I both have a serious head cold...I'm starting to wonder if he's got the flu..dang play dates...and mom's who don't tell you that their kids are snotty and sick before you get to their house. Not. happy. But if you could say a little prayer for my boybug I would really appreciate it. oh. And also for his sissy that she stays well for her super sweet 1st birthday extraaaaaaaavaaaaaganza.

tootles

Friday, March 6, 2009

Thursday, March 5, 2009

So ya..

I've got an idea for my blog. I wanna start a weekly post...What's For Dinner? I think that if I post my dinner ideas for the week, I will hopefully, give you guys some dinner ideas, and I maybe will get some from your comments!! Sometimes it is just really hard to pull it all together and get a healthy balanced meal on the table for a family with two of the harshest critics being 2 and under. I will start this next week...or maybe tomorrow, who knows.

In other news, my baby girl will be one on Tuesday. Time has passed so fast, and I have been in such denial all year. I think it has something to do with her being kinda smallish and dainty...when I nurse her, she still curls into this little newborn ball of love...and she still wears little clothes. Like size 3-6, or 6-9. So in my head I place the size as her age and there you have it...I am certifiable!!

She is just a sweet little thing. Loves babies, loves to eat, loves her momma, loooooves her daddy and her bubba. She tries to mimic almost everything I say to her...so I spend a lot of time repeating myself...just to hear her try to say things like, "Hippopautomus" Just kidding...but she tries to say things like "right there" "that one" "banana" "agua." She is so attuned to me, as I am on the phone throughout the day, she knows when I am going to hang up and she says, "Byee." even before I do or right as I do. funny.

Her party is coming up in a couple Saturdays!! I need to look into prices for a sub sandwich. I have determined to make this easy on me. I want a sandwich premade and chips and veggies. I am making cupcakes, and I haven't found the recipe for frosting that I want yet. I did, however, find the cutest little candy ladybugs at HobbyLobby to top the cupcakes...aww. Of course, I can't wait to take pics of them when they are done.

Etsy seems to be alive and kicking for me. I have had two order this month...and that's good because I hadn't had any orders since December. I am really on my way to 20 sales!! Woo hoo. Kind of exciting for a girl who had no idea this would be something I would be doing in September of last year!!

We've been sick over here...seems like lots of folks have. My son had it first, then my daughter, then of course I start to feel it coming on...and my hubby tells me he does too. Who gets to lay around and mope...for two days...and not take care of the kids...and send the other to the store with the kids while moping in bed...while the other is just as sick...OH, that would not be me. I think that guys just automatically think that because you are up and running that you must be better, or at least feel waaayyyy better than they do. Uh sorry bub. I was running a fever, running errands, and it took me twice as long to recover...in fact today I feel completely normal again. He did on Tuesday. Must. be. nice.

Well, I am pressing my luck this morning...the kids are both still asleep and I want to get going with my day.

Lovies to all,
Me