Mama's Little Loves

Anyone else ever find strange items in their children's belly buttons?

Labels: Piper pics, Wordless Wednesday

Anyone want to venture a guess as to what Ambry put in her hair? I took this picture in the bathroom but she was watching tv when she did it. Go ahead and try to guess what it is. I'll give you a hint. It smelled up my whole room like coconut and verbenna.

Labels: Wordless Wednesday

These are pics from when we went up north. Kasey found these glasses and wanted her pic with them. Of course, Ambry also wanted hers. Aren't they hillarious?!?

Labels: Wordless Wednesday

WORKS FOR ME WEDNESDAY

I hang out my girls clothes to dry when I wash them. Even in the winter. I just think it preserves them a little longer and doesn't put as much wear on them. But I run into the problem of still having to drythe panties and socks. So instead of running the dryer for a very small load of socks and panties, I started hanging them up like this. It works great! No longer do I have lost socks or random missing ones. No more tales of the dryer eating the socks. Not to mention I can just match them up right when they come out of the washer. And since my daughter likes to help with the laundry, she gets to pull them off the hooks and put them away and they are already paired up for her.

This is what works for me! For more great tips go to Rocks in my Dryer.

Labels: Wordless Wednesday

WORKS FOR ME WEDNESDAY...

I found this in the Press and thought that this is a good reminder for those of us who have small children continually spilling things or I suppose even the adult who continually spills things.

For a wine spill, --or for me, it is juice...you would think I should know by now to buy something with no color in it!--soak it up with liberal amounts of salt. When the salt turns red, vacuum it up. Then pour club soda, and blot the area where it was spilled with a towel or a rag.

For white rings left on tables, put a small amount of mayo onto rings and cover with plastic wrap. Let it sit for 30 min. then lightly rub with nylon scouring pad. Make sure to work in the direction of the grain of wood.

For dented carpet, iron a damp cloth over affected areas for 30 seconds, then rub fingers through fiber of the carpet.

I thought these ideas always bear reminding. The Press in my area had some other great hints also, but I thought I would just put these in. This is what works for me, for more tips go to Rocks in my Dryer.

The ideas for this was found in the Press in my area and the writer was Jose Massady. He had a couple of other ideas but I didn't include all of them.

Labels: Wordless Wednesday

Photo boxes are a great way to store things. I use them to put my daughters 'firsts' in, for example, her first pipe, first pair of socks, first picture, birth announcement, and so on. But my favorite use for them is sorting my bills. I don't like to put them in the on-the-counter-organizer because I only like to file once. To me, that would be filing twice if I first put them in the organizer on the counter, then try to find them to pay them, and then bring them to my filing cabinet which I have in my basement. So for me, I bought four photo boxes at Michael's for $1.50 each--they are on sale there about every other week and they have some fun designs--and labeled them 'Bills', 'Pd. Bills', 'Misc.', and 'Receipts'. (This also keeps everything nice and organized since I do all my bills by my computer and my computer desk has no drawers. So this would also be a good idea for others who have no storage available on their computer desk.) So when it is time to pay the bills I grab the 'Bills' box pull them right out of there and I am good to go. My 'Misc.' box has coupons, blank cds, and other random stuff. The other boxes are self-explanatory. The nice thing is when I am ready to file the bills away, I grab the 'Pd. Bills' box, head downstairs and file away. This is what works for me. For more tips go to Rocks in My Dryer.

Labels: Wordless Wednesday

1. 1. Boil some chicken, I usually do about a pound or so. Then shred it when fully cooked.


2. 2. Drain a can of pineapple, either the chunks or the shredded pineapple.


3. 3. Dice some celery.

4. Salt and Pepper, and mayo(You can use the lowest fat one there is, because with the fruit in it, you won't even be able to tell...or at least I can't)

5. Optional--cut up some grapes, or some diced walnuts.

Mix everything together in a bowl. The salt and pepper, add however much you like to it. For the mayo, you basically add just enough to get everything to stick together. Remember that this is where the most calories are, so don't put too much in. That is it. Very easy and makes for a low cal sandwich or a great topping for a salad.

Go to Rocks in my Dryer for more great recipe ideas!

Labels: Wordless Wednesday

Labels: Wordless Wednesday

Ambry came into our room at about 4:15 this morning all excited because she found her tweety bird pajama top. Then she wanted to sleep with us. She proceeded to climb up into our bed and try to lay next to me. Well, mind you, Piper was already sleeping next to me! So she told me that she would just sleep on my legs to keep me warm. What?! So with Piper laying on my arm, which had long ago fallen asleep and was even past that tingly, funny feeling, Ambry layed down on my legs just to make sure I couldn't move at all. Oh well. At least I stayed warm. It is at times like those where you just have to smile and know that someday you will treasure those moments of snuggling with your little ones.

Labels: Wordless Wednesday

WORKS FOR ME WEDNESDAY...

Since we don't celebrate anything Christmas, it makes it hard when I receive things but don't give. Last night my neighbour brought over some bonket(sp?) that she made. Sooo, I broke out the baking supplies also and made my candy and fudge that I normally make. It is the easiest thing in the world to do and really doesn't take all that much time. Here are some recipes:

FUDGE
2 1/2 cups sugar
5 oz. evaporated milk
3/4 tsp. salt
7 oz. jar of marshamallow creme
1/4 cup butter
Mix these ingredients all together in a nice big mixing pan on the stove and bring to a rolling boil. When I say that...this stuff must be HOT! It should be boiling and popping every which way. Also, CONTINUE to stir the entire time or else your sugar will burn and stick to the bottom of the pan. I use a wooden spoon. When that has all come to a boil, 1 tsp. vanilla and 12 oz of chocolate. Stir together until everything is well blended and pour into a greased 12X9 pan. (Or 13X9...whatever that common size of pan is) :) Then throw it outside or if you live somewhere warm, your fridge. This can make about 88 pieces. Some variations you can do are: 6 oz. of choc. chips and about 1 cup of peanut butter. You could put almond extract in, or raspberry, or mint also. You could also use butterscotch chips instead of choc. or peanut butter chips to make just peanut butter fudge. There are so many different things you can do with this stuff. Have fun with it!

PEPPERMINT CANDY
1 pkg. almond bark-either choc. or white choc.
Peppermint candy canes-as many as you want depending on how chunky and sweet you like
I put the candy canes in a freezer storage bag, then take a hammer and beat them on my cutting board until they are all completely broken up and there are no big chunks left. Then melt your choc. and dump in your candy canes. Pour this on a huge cookie sheet that has been layered with wax paper and smooth it all out so it is nice and thin. Again, throw it outside to cool or put it in the fridge. When it is completely cooled down, simply break it into pieces and you are all done. Very easy!

BULLSEYES(or whatever you want to call them--there are so many names for these)
There are no basic measurements for these. Just take a huge scoop of peanut butter and mix it together with powdered sugar until it is no longer sticky. Form them into balls and cool them. Melt almond bark choc. and then take the balls and roll them in. Put them on a cookie tray that has been layered with wax paper and cool them. All done. Even easier.

PEPPERMINT PATTIES
Melt almond bark choc. and add a splash of peppermint extract. Take Ritz crackers(or whatever is on sale-think cheap) and dip them into the choc. mixture. Put them on a wax papered layered cookie tray and cool. All done. Again, super easy.

Once I have all of my candy done, I put it all into a tin, with a variety of everything and hand them out. Fairly cheap, and afterall, it isn't how much you spend but how much thought and effort you put into your gifts. I will usually put the candy in a tin that I get from the dollar store. So now I have something nice that I can give in return when I get things from my neighbours.

This is what Works for Me. To see more great ideas, go to Rocks in My Dryer.

Labels: Wordless Wednesday

Go to Rocks in My Dryer for more great ideas.

Labels: Wordless Wednesday