I jumped on the bandwagon

For years I have collected tidbits from here and there. I keep my tags from Hello Kitty purchases, cards, gift wrap, stickers and what not. All of these unique treasures have been glued and taped into little journals over time.

Then, recently I saw these awesome books at the craft store. That was created for basically the same idea. I told Old Man I HAD to have one.... And of course I got the " yea yea more scrap book junk" face. But, oh no I explained this was more of an instant gratification process and he was more then welcomed to help me. I have only completed a few pages as of now but I'm so excited to smash 2012 into this little treasure book.

It's been forever

I haven't blogged in awhile. Not because I haven't wanted to it just seemed like there are never enough hours in the day. So much has happened yet, at the same time not really.

Here's a quick run down on what has happened since I last blogged:

1. Bubba turned 5 !!
2. I turned 21 again
3. Old Man is now a proud employee of a local hospital
4. Old Man planted a garden out front of our apartment for me
5. I have chronic bronchitis
6. Work is booming
7. Old Man re-finished a tricycle for Little Miss
8. We finally have pictures up on our wall
9. We established a weekly "date night"
10. We went to a beautiful beach wedding

5 little monkeys jumping on the bed

I figured since I live with a bunch of monkey's I would bake some Yummy monkey bread....yep any excuse for sugar and butter

So, if you love yummy gooey goodness as much as I do run to the kitchen and make your own. It's easy  enough to make even the tadpoles can help.

Ingredients

• 4 cans Buttermilk Biscuits (the Non-flaky Ones 7.5 oz)
• 1 cup Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Cinnamon
• 1/2 Butter Melted
• 1/2 cup Brown Sugar

Instructions 

Grease bundt pan

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Mix sugar (white) and cinnamon in ziplock bag 

Open up all four cans of biscuits and cut each biscuit into quarters 

Drop quarters into sugar mixture bag and shake to coat ( I did just a few at time )

After coated spread the quarters out evenly in the bundt pan

Now melt the butter and mix with the brown sugar 

Pour this mixture over quarter pieces

BAKE at 350 for 40-45 minutes 

Let cool for 5-10 minutes and flip over onto plate

ENJOY!

 

Back Away From The Glue Gun

This what happens when I get the glue gun out and I have an extra few minutes in my day. I make Little Miss bows with whatever ribbon and scrap trinkets I find around the house. The cupcake on the pink bow is ring off a cupcake I ate at work.

I like it a lot!

Our move went well!  We have all adjusted to the new area fairly well. The weather is amazing  it's least 10 degrees warmer than where we lived before! The neighborhood is quiet,clean and the people are friendly. Most of the residents have lived her for 10+ years.

The actual apartment its self is much bigger than our last one and it feels homey and cheerful.

We even have a little lizard that likes to hang out on our patio, the tadpoles named him ED.

What I love the most about our move is we now have a dining room table and can have family meals.

 We just finished our first meal. Mini meatloaves ( I have the best meatloaf in town) and salad and for dessert bite size mint brownies!


Here is the recipe I use for regular brownies. To make the mint brownies I just add Andes Chocolate Mints to the bottom of the pan. For the bite size I use a Wilton silicone mold

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powde

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350
2.  Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan
3. In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter in pan.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes  

If using the bite size mold it only takes about minutes.

                                                                                                                                

A dumpster diving we a go ....

Before

One man's trash is our weekend project;  I found a sad little desk alone on the corner by the dumpster and it was crying out for me to bring it home and give it some special TLC. After debating with my inner craft demon (I have pnumonia and should be on bedrest) I decided to get the old man and lug it to our dungeon. I immediately knew I wanted to refashion the desk into something awesome for big brother. With a quick family collaboration of ideas we decided on checkerdboard print.

We loaded up in the car and headed out to Home Depot where we purchased our supplies:

• Sand Paper 120 grit
• Rustoleum Spray Paint (Flat White, Flat Black,Matte Finish)
• Painters Tape
• Exacto Knife
• Cheap Playing Cards



All of the drawers have cards lined on the bottom

• ModPodge Matte
• Sponge Brush

After

I wish I was able to take step by step pictures but Old Man has already packed up all of my stuff :(

“A doctor is the only man without a guaranteed cure for the cold" - Dominic Cleary

Yep, It's true I finally broke down and went to the doctor today after being sick for THREE months. Now I know that sounds crazy but, I just thought my cold never completely went away. I have downed so much over the counter medication I am sure the cashiers thought I was a junkie.

So, today I trekked my snotty nose, achy bones to the Naval Hospital and got checked out. I wasn't expecting anything more than being prescribed Motrin and Guaifenesin and being sent on my snotty way. But OH BOY was I wrong.


A 20 min appointment turned into a 2.5 hour visit. I was diagnosed with pneumonia .....
I left the hospital with a sore butt from a shot and a grocery bag of antibiotics and other medication to aid my recovery.

Oddly enough, if any of the tadpoles feel the slightest bit sick I'm ready to doctor them up.

Tadpoles Turned Super Heros

Over the weekend I was feeling pretty crafty. I busted out my sewing machine blew off the dust and got to work.

I made capes for the tadpoles. Big brother insisted I make him one too but, unfortunately for him I didn't. I also made P-to the Wee some little scarves out of scrap fabric.

To make Big brother feel a little better we made friendship bracelets and by WE I mean me.

Adios Dungeon Into The Light

 Ok so where we currently live is dark,damp and moldy! Very unhealthy environment for the tadpoles to live in. Not to mention tiny! The biggest complaint we have is our neighborhood is NOT kid friendly by any means.  So, we are moving on ............ now time for my rant;

 I HATE moving because you have to pack.

Yet, I love moving because you get to clean out the junk and donate.

But, the best part of moving is re-decorating!! Oh yea pics soon to be posted of our new place.

I have so many new craft and decor ideas it's redonkulous ( Big Brother's term). OHHH I'm a itching for a craft a fixin'

Out with the old

Big Brother lost a tooth yesterday and although he doesn't believe in the tooth fairy anymore I think, he was secretly a little sad to see it go. This tooth was one of the very few baby teeth he has left and marks the end of  getting a special surprise under your pillow. For the sake of the other two tadpoles we still left his gift under his pillow ( Jamba Juice money ). The youngest two haven't reached the tooth fairy milestone but are soon approaching the exciting years of jack-o-lantern smiles and secret treasures under their pillows. I can't wait!

P.S.
There are so many wonderful sites that let you print off Tooth Fairy Certificates for free!
Here is one of my favorite sites for children's printable templates and crafts :
http://www.dltk-teach.com/books/mtoothcertificate.html

Dollar Store Fun Day

I've been wanting to have a fun activity day with the tadpoles that would keep them outside and was something everyone would enjoy.

So, I picked up a few things at one of my favorite stores the Dollar Tree! Yep, that's right I would drop everything to go splurge at the dollar store.


My limit I set for myself $20
Which was more than enough












My shopping list:


Water Balloons
Snacks
Bouncy Ball
Playdough
Rubber Balloons

For about $15 we had a day full of fun and sunshine 

Brain Eating Midgets

 Can you guess what Saturday morning fun at our shoebox castle could be....?
 
Yep practicing survival skills for a zombie apocalypse. What ever happened to Saturday morning cartoons???? ( the tadpoles don't like TV )

In the minds of the tadpoles our shoebox turned into some vast waste land infested with zombies that they needed to fight off and evade to find shelter. It was fairly interesting listening to the dialogue of this adventure and hearing their strategy plans. Oh the mind of a 3,4 and 11 year old! 

P.S. I was going to add a picture of the tadpoles but they were all in their undies and I didn't feel comfortable with that. I hope you understand.

Professional Worm Drowners

We recently took our first family fishing trip. I just new this would be a great way to bond with the tadpoles and enjoy nature big disaster. The day started out perfect the weather was amazing we hit the road on time and the lake wasn't too crowded.

Before we loaded onto the boat I marched all the tadpoles into the restrooms where I threatened them that if they didn't go now I would toss them overboard as bait. Everyone went even yours truly.... all was well.

We head out onto the water puttering along looking for the "perfect spot". We settled in a little cove and cast our lines out and then things took a turn for the worse. One by one the tadpoles started to complain about being hot and hungry and thirsty. Being a super mom I came prepared with  snacks for everyone already prepared in individual baggies...( no fussing aloud ).

With bellies full Old Man and I thought we were surely going to get to relax and catch some fish. But OH NO those little tadpoles would have none of that." Little" BIG brother and Bubba started fighting over nonsense. Little Miss was tired and wanted to sit on my lap and then ALL THREE tadpoles had to pee.

So, Old man started to pack up everything and I hauled up the anchor somewhere in the mix Bubba and Little Miss got a hold of the worms and were slowly torturing them. Giving up we just let them play with the worms since we obviously wouldn't be catching any fish with them. As we were puttering back to the dock Little Miss announces screams she needs to potty. We finally make it back to the dock and I dashed to grab Little Miss but just hung my head in shame instead as a puddle formed around her ladybug rain boots.