Merry Christmas!!

From our family to yours! Oooh, I forgot how long it's been since I've posted a picture of the kids. Mr. Peanut had to get glasses! Funny enough, he could have gotten a monacle (just like the actual Mr. Peanut), considering he has Anisometropic Amblyopia, which means he has diminished vision in one eye. Funny that I've never thought of that before! He does excellent with them. Most of the time...

Circus Birthday Party Overview

Presenting--the greatest show on Earth--Midget & Peanut's Circus Birthday Party!!I had so much fun planning this party! I searched all over the web for ideas that I could incorporate on a small-ish budget, even though I knew the party was going to be the largest I'd thrown since our wedding.

The first thing I did was create a board on Pinterest, just to keep my visual ideas in one place. I resisted Pinterest for a while because I really didn't want another thing that I had to feel guilty about not keeping up with, but once I got in there and started working with it, it became a great tool that I've used for several other things. I set up a non-personal account, so I can share eye-candy with y'all, but I just set it up, so it's completely blank right now. However, you are welcome to follow me if you'd like! Just click here to get to my Pinterest page.


The next thing I did was to search out a printable party pack that would work for both the turdlets in both graphics and color scheme. I searched on Etsy and found an affordable and, most importantly, ADORABLE pack from Dimpleprints. They were super fast and awesome to work with, plus the pack I received included SO much stuff! Invitation, thank you, party hats, cupcake toppers, every sign imagineable (and some I hadn't thought of), and so much more! Be on the lookout for all the matching goodies throughout the pictures in this series.

So as not to overwhelm you with pictures and information, I'll be doing three more posts about the Circus Birthday Party. Look for posts on Activities, Food, and Sweets & Favors. Better yet, subscribe or sign up for emails (to the left of this post) and get updates right in your feeder or inbox!!

For now, I'll leave you with two pictures of my adorable munchkins. I sure do have cute kids!!

Happy Birthday Midget and Peanut!!!

I am just so amazed at how quickly this year has flown by! My baby girl turns 4 in just a few days and my baby boy turned one a few days ago.















J-dub the hub and I took the turdlets to a small circus a few months ago and Midget was enthralled with the whole experience! She laughed at the clown, ooooooed over the lions and tigers, squealed with excitement to get her face painted, and almost peed herself when she got to ride an elephant!! So, we are having a circus birthday party this weekend and I decided to do their birthday pictures in the same theme.















For the tutu, I followed the directions here and it turned out beautiful! It's so simple if you get the tulle spools. They can be found for less than $2 per spool on ebay. I cut the tulle in about 30 minutes and tied the tutu while I was catching up on some Dexter. Oh, I love that show...















The tie was made using this tutorial, although I made the tie pattern quite a bit skinnier.














The diaper cover was made using the tutorial and pattern found here. Just a piece of advice--do NOT sew the waist and legs up until you try them on your little one. I had to rip out the waist AND one of the legs. Because I was being impatient and wanted to finish. That's why...

I made the suspenders from ribbon and mitten clip clips (does that make any sense?). I thought I had four clips so I would've just made the traditional X in the back, but it turned out I only had three, so I had to improvise. I used an orange hair band and looped it.... I can't really explain it, so here's a picture of it.














I think my two clowns are the cutest!! Stay tuned for Birthday Party Pictures!!

Has it been that long??

Wow, this summer has gone by SO fast thus far! We spent the beginning of June in Wisconsin and then my sister flew me and the turdlets out to Montana to spend almost a month. We got back last Friday and then left on Tuesday to go to North Dakota and Montana (again). I'm exhausted and am missing my garden, but it has been so much fun!!

Here's a smattering of the fun we've had so far!

Midget and Peanut

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!! Can someone please slow time down a little bit for me? These kids are growing too, too fast!! Here's a few pictures from a recent photoshoot. I know everyone thinks their kids are cute, and I'm no exception! I think Peanut looks especially dapper in his little old man hat... Love that sweet boy!

Midget's New Haircut

Midget got a sassy new haircut! She was twirling her hair so hard she was yanking chunks out of it on a daily basis. I'd go into her room and find perfect little circles of hair laying by her bed. So we took a few last pictures of the ponies and went to chop it off. She had fun doing some silly faces, but she was all business when she was modeling her new haircut for me.

Birthday Beer Can Chicken

There's something decidedly obscene about Beer Can Chicken. I can't help but guffaw every time I look at that poor chicken with a beer can shoved up its hoohah... *snort*

However, the moist deliciousness of the chicken is enough to overlook how weird it looks to have a chicken sitting straight up in your oven.

Today is Jdub-the-hub's birthday. He had to be out of town for work today, so we celebrated this weekend. The menu was fantastically trailer-trash, if I do say so myself. Yuengling Chicken, Dijon Roasted Potatoes, Peas, homemade vanilla ice cream, and.....

wait for it....

TWINKIES! Yes, my husband requeted Twinkies instead of birthday cake. The ease factor of making the cake for him--rip open box, rip open plastic, set twinkies on plate, and insert candles--was fantastic.










Beer Can Chicken

4 lb Chicken, washed and thoroughly dried
1 Tbs Kosher Salt
1 Tbs Dark Brown Sugar
1 Tbs Smoked Paprika
2 tsp Black Pepper
1 can of Beer

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Make rub by mixing salt, brown sugar, paprika, and pepper together in a small bowl and set aside. Be sure chicken is completely dry on the outside or your rub won't stick to the chicken. Sprinkle about 1/3 of the rub inside the chicken and then cover the rest of the bird with the rub.

Open your beer can and drink about 1/3 of it. Yummmmmmy. We used Yuengling and it was AMAZING!!

Now comes the fun part. Stick that chicken on top of the beer can with the legs and the beer can acting as a tripod. Giggle a little, then bend the wings back so it looks like the chicken is crossing its arms behind it's non-existent head.

Roast for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until a thermometer stuck into the chicken's thigh reads 165.

Go turn on some Nascar (just kidding hubby), cut your hair into a mullet, and ENJOY!

Midge sure loves her Daddy. And so do I.

Gingerbread Midge

Have I mentioned that Midget started preschool? She goes two days a week for two and a half hours and let me just tell you--we BOTH love it! She is really enjoying the constant stimulation and I am reeeeeeeeeeeeally enjoying not having to be the one stimulating her little brain for a few hours!! She is such a vivacious and curious little girl, but if she doesn't have something that is keeping her attention, she sure can be a naughty little terd.

In November, we purchased a new book from Scholastic through school--"The Gingerbread Man." In the middle of the month, she did a wishbone with her Daddy and her wish was for Gingerbread (so sweet). Midget's Auntie bought her a HUGE gingerbread man pan for Christmas last year, so after she won, I pulled out the pan and made the gingerbread recipe on the back of the book. She thought it was pretty neat that we decorated it like the gingerbread man in the book!

Her preschool had a Gingerbread House float in our town's Holiday Parade this year and all the kids were encouraged to dress as an elf or a gingerbread man. I knew right away that I could make a Gingerbread Girl costume pretty easily, but wasn't quite sure how to do it. I just made her lay down on a piece of 72" brown felt and traced around her with chalk. Then I put a GIANT bowl over where her head was and traced... that (so it would be cartoon-ish) and free handed the rest. I sewed the bow first all by itself, then sewed the details on the front piece of the costume, attached the bow to the front piece, and then sewed the front and back piece together--leaving the armpit area unsewn. If I'd had more time, I would have just measured out two 3-4 inch strips to sew under the arms and along the skirt area so there would be room for movement. I also ended up sewing a little dart under the chin so I could make sure the head stood up on its own.

It's a bit rough, but I learned some good lessons, like you need to leave room for the arms to move (imagine that) and don't cut the giant rick-rack because it frays like crazy.

It took about three hours from start to finish and the materials were less than ten dollars. I used one yard of 72" brown felt, two yards of white giant rick-rack, one sheet of hot pink felt, one sheet of yellow felt, and one sheet of light pink felt.

People at the parade loved it, but more importantly, Midget adored it! Can't you just see the excitement in her eyes??

Turkey Day Fun!

I'm finally starting to feel human again! Now that Peanut is on a schedule, I have a little bit of time every now and then. Midget is at such a fun age. She loves reading and doing crafts and is very into imaginative play. I've had fun the last few days looking for fun ideas for Thanksgiving.

When I saw this in Family Fun Magazine, I knew I had to do it. Theirs looks a little bit cuter, but it calls for stuffing and hand-stitching. I took the easy way out and didn't stuff it and machine-sewed it. I still think my finished set below is pretty cute and will be a fun way to teach about a few less common vegetables in play sets like turnips and acorn squash. It was super easy to do! I made it in about two hours.
Want to make your own? Templates for the cornucopia and veggies are available on Family Fun's website at the link above.








We took a quick food craft over to a friend's house this weekend. Midget was much more interested in eating the cookies and candy than making anything with it, but she finally took a few seconds off of her own gobbling to make a cute little gobbler. You'll need golden oreos, rolo candies, chocolate chips, and candy corn to make these. You may want to swap out a little bit of white frosting tinted red for the red decorator's gel that I used to avoid looking like your turkey's head was already cut off and reattached...






















Thankfully, her little buddy let me take a picture of his turkey cookie when it was done, because Midge tossed hers in her mouth the second it was completed.

Happy 3rd Birthday Midget!

Since Mister Peanut arrived only two weeks prior to Midget's birthday (and was actually due only a week before), we decided to have a very low-key celebration for her birthday. No guests, one present, and just a boxed cake mix. But you know me, I can't control my insanity, so I had to do at least one crazy thing!

Midget has been very into Yo Gabba Gabba lately, and since she had asked for a blue cake, I decided to make her a Toodee Cake. I figured I could freehand it simply on a round cake. It wasn't my finest piece of work, but it still turned out pretty cute. As you can see from her reaction, Midget thought it was pretty cool!









Here's a little eye candy of Mister Peanut. I can't believe how fast he's growing! I swear his little fingers fattened up during the day yesterday. He woke up with skinny fingers and went to bed with little chubby nubs!!

Welcome Peanut

Isn't he the cutest little Peanut you've ever seen??

I have to admit--boys are harder. Not just in the "peeing on Mommy is fun every time she opens my diaper" way, but also in the non-froofy non-flowery newborn picture ideas that aren't sports-related sort of way. I had the photo session all planned out for our second little girl that I was convinced we were having, but when little "Mister" Peanut entered the world, I was stumped! I decided to hop on to Etsy to try to get some inspiration. After lots of searching, I ran across what are called baby cocoons. PERFECT!! If I could find one I liked in a tan sort of color, it would look like Peanut was a little peanut!

I finally found the perfect one at Becky's Baby Crochet and decided to email her on Labor Day to see if it was going to be possible to get the cocoon in time for the appointment I'd already set up for Friday. She was quick to respond, was SUPER nice, and told me it would be no problem to get it to me on time, even with the holiday! To my photographer friends, you MUST go look at her adorable photography props!! I was more than pleased with my purchase and stunned at the amazing service she delivered!

Now, on to the birth story! I had a follow-up appointment with my OB on Friday morning, August 27th, to once again check my blood pressure and to see if I had progressed at all. I had been checking it at home and I knew they weren't going to like it, but I wasn't sure what my Doc would want to do. My OB practice is made up of seven doctors and you choose a primary, but you see all the other docs throughout your pregnancy because whoever is on call at the hospital when you deliver is who delivers your baby. I love all the doctors in the practice and the way it works is really nice, but you do get differing opinions from different doctors sometimes.

My bp was pretty high when the nurse took it and I went in to change and wait for my primary OB. When he checked, I hadn't made much progress from when I was discharged on Tuesday, but I asked him to strip my membranes and he agreed it would be good to try to move things along. He decided to set up my induction for a week later, my due date, just in case I didn't deliver before then. He left the room and I could hear him on the phone, calling the hospital to schedule the induction. He stopped right in the middle of his sentence and said, "Is this her blood pressure TODAY???" The nurse said yes and I heard him say, "Never mind," to the person he was speaking to on the phone. The door opened and he told me to go to the hospital because I needed to have the baby soon. It wasn't an emergency, but there was no sense it waiting until it became an emergency.

We took our time getting to the hospital, as I already know that induction is not usually a zip-a-dee-doo-dah super-fast process. Around 1 p.m., I asked the hubby to drop me off at the hospital and spend the day with Midget and take her to our neighbor's house around 7 p.m. and then I'd let him know what he needed to do once I had a better handle on what was going on.

They decided to use a Foley Bulb Catheter to help me dilate. I'd never heard of it, but they insert the catheter behind the cervix wall and then use saline to inflate it. When it has done its job, it simply comes out. They inflated it and hoped that it would get me to 4 cm in about nine hours. At the three hour mark, they checked and I was at my goal mark, all with relatively little pain. At one point, I even began to have regular contractions at about 5-6 minutes apart. I told my husband to stay at home, but to remain on standby.

Unfortunately, they didn't establish well, so the docs went back to the drawing board and decided that I needed to start pitocin. I'd heard such awful things about pitocin, so I was hoping to avoid it, but that wasn't going to be the case. At 11:30 p.m., they started the pitocin and I expected things to just happen instantly, but they didn't. I told hubby to catch some sleep and that I'd call him again when things looked like they were going to start moving along.

I was still sleeping quite well and they were increasing up the pitocin about every 30 minutes, but I wasn't really getting much further along. At 3 a.m., they decided to break my bag of waters and continue increasing the pitocin. About two hours later, things really started moving along. I called my husband and asked him to head down.

At about 5:30 a.m., I was at 6 cm and was finally beginning to have some fairly painful contractions, but they were manageable. An hour later, that all changed, when I began to have some weird kind of nerve pain that felt like FIRE shooting down the front of my right leg. I could handle the contractions, but the nerve pain was unbearable!! I tried every position and birthing prop in the known universe, but wasn't getting any relief. The doctor said most likely, the baby was somehow pushing on a nerve. Around 7:30, I asked for an epidural.

Thankfully, the anesthesiologist was in the next room and came over within a few minutes. They decided on an Intrathecal epidural (sort of a combination spinal tap/epidural), since I was already at 8 cm. It was unbelievable how fast it worked and how WELL it worked! Within seconds, the nerve pain was starting to fade. At this point, all I wanted to do was sleep, but the baby had other plans.

The doctor checked me right after the epidural and said, "WOW! You are fully dilated and ready to push!" I barely heard this between my snores, but I was glad the last two cm went in just a few minutes.

Less than thirty minutes later, they were all yelling out, "It's a boy!!" and my first response was, "Are you sure??" When they turned him around, sure enough, there were his little baby bits!!



Speaking of baby bits, Peanut was getting his first bath at the hospital when Midget walked in to meet him for the first time. She asked Daddy to pick her up and right away said, "LOOK!! He has a BIG pee-pee and I have a LITTLE pee-pee!" Silly girl!





Midget is completely enamored with her baby brother! She can't quit smooching on him and even three weeks later, asks to hold him at least 9 million times a day! She's relatively gentle and has only attempted to throw him once. She was holding him when her favorite tv show (Phineas and Ferb--yes, she's a strange 3 year old girl) ended and she was displeased so she literally started to "throw" a tantrum. Thankfully, we were sitting on the bed and I was right next to her, so Peanut was fine.




Peanut is doing really well. He is nursing like a champ and is the NOISIEST eater I've ever heard. The little porkpie has already gained over a pound from his birthweight and he's only three weeks old. He's a pretty good sleeper, usually going from 11:30-ish to 5:00-ish at night, so I don't feel like a total zombie. This kid is also a champion pooper! I can't believe how many diapers he goes through in a day. Every time I change him, he poops again thirty seconds later... *le sigh*

My Little "Helper"

Midget loves to help in the kitchen.  I can't say that she's always truly helpful, but she sure does have fun when she's there!  Here's a picture taken after making some cupcakes.  Her major contribution to the cupcakes was licking the batter off the beater.  Love those big blue eyes!!

Let it GROW!!

We worked furiously last week to get things growing at our house. It's a little bit early to be planting in Michigan, as the last frost date has yet to come, but we wanted an early start this year. We got a late start on our garden last year, thanks to Burpee and their not-so-phenominal customer service. We placed our order in mid-January and it was supposed to be sent mid-May and after several phone calls where I was told not to worry, our plants didn't arrive until almost mid-June. Needless to say, we did not order from them again this year.

The garden looks so sparse right now, but it is full to the brim! We planted TWELVE tomato plants to keep up with Midget's tomato addiction, four bell peppers, four banana peppers, four jalapeno peppers, two four feet rows of bush style green beans, four cucumber plants, two zucchini squashes, and two straightneck squashes. I'll post pics of the garden next week, as I missed my opportunity to take pictures and now it's super crummy rainy outside.

Here's the non-vegetable portion of our planting.

I have a container on my deck for the herbs I utilize the most for cooking. The Sage from last year survived, so I added Rosemary, Thyme, and Oregano.

I planted seeds in a deck railing planter of half Flat-leaf Parsley and half Cilantro.

Here's what I'm most excited about!! My Mother's Day present of a Perennial Herb Garden! We started with Lemon Balm, Bee Balm (a.k.a. Bergamot), Lavendar, Tarragon, Chives, Peppermint, Spearmint, and Chocolate Mint. We also added in a few Pansies for color and because the flowers are edible and look beautiful sugared on cakes and cupcakes.

Midget loves being outside and had a ton of fun with her little garden tools moving soil from one place to another. I love it when something so simple can keep her occupied for HOURS! " )

URF...

I have nothing to post about. I have no energy for crafts, no stomach for cooking, and no brain to think of anything witty or funny to say.

I made dinner on Saturday night for the first time in nearly a month (chicken, rice, and steamed veggies--it doesn't get any more boring than that) and spent the remainder of the evening laying on the couch, trying not to vomit. GAH. It's a GOOD thing I did the pantry challenge in January because I've blown all my savings from January this month on pre-made food...

Midget and I did have a great time at my service club's Valentine's Day Dance. As expected, I had to drag her off the dance floor when it was time for us to go. I enjoyed having a reason to pretty myself up and wear the gorgeous dress I bought from Bettie Page Clothing for my Stepson's wedding. Thanks to my nausea, the dress fit even better than it did in November, and I actually felt like a million bucks that evening!

Challenge Check-in and My Amazing Hubby

Well, week one of the Eat From the Pantry Challenge is over and I'm pretty proud of the progress I made. I took a trip to the grocery store and spent $20 and a few cents. I completely underestimated just how much dairy I'm going to need to eat while pregnant--the equivalent of one whole QUART of milk per day! I'm going to keep my budget at $65 right now, but I will mostly likely go over on dairy.

This week, I will have to purchase at least one staple--flour. I used the last of my flour last night making bread, and the flour is much cheaper than buying the bread itself. I can buy one loaf of bread or an entire bag of flour, which will make 12 loaves of bread using my recipe. Hmmmm, that's not a difficult choice.

Here's where I'm at on my meal list. I added two meals from my backup list because my husband asked for them.
Broccoli & Ham Quiche (mix is already in the freezer), salad
Homemade Veggie Pizza & Salad
Chicken Pot Pie & Cut veggies
Chalupa (pork and pinto beans already in freezer) served over shredded lettuce with tomatoes, avocado and Spanish Rice
Turkey Sausage & Eggs Florentine scramble
Spaghetti & Turkey Meatballs, Salad
Italian Wedding Soup, Homemade Bread
Turkey Tacos, corn
Crockpot Beef Roast and Veggies
Shepherd's Pie, salad
North Carolina BBQ Pork, Homemade Coleslaw, served on Buns
Spicy Pork, Vegetable Gumbo Soup served with Rice
Turkey Burgers, Oven Fries, Green Beans
Philly Cheesesteaks, Sweet Potato Fries
Hoisin Pork Stirfry (includes veggies), Rice
Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole, Peas
Turkey Chili, Green Beans

Speaking of my awesome husband, look at what he made for Midget!

It's a learning tower! She can use it to wash dishes, help Mama cook, make cookies--all kinds of fun stuff that I used to put her on a chair to do! These sell for nearly $200 and he was able to make it for about $60 in materials. It could be done even cheaper, but he wanted to use oak to match our cabinets. Midget loves it so much and put it right to work washing dishes!






Speaking of Midget, I've barely put any Midget pictures on here lately. Here's an adorable picture of her while she was washing dishes.

Merry Christmas!

Happy Halloween

Hope you had a great one! Ours was a bit chilly, but we just put our costumes on over our coats and looked like puffy Raggedy Ann Dolls.

Witches' Tea Party

When I saw these invitations on Living Locurto, I was dying for an excuse to do a Witches' Tea Party. Thank goodness one of my friends was looking for someone to watch her kids!! I thought it would be a fun way to have a little bitty Halloween party, something I've loved to host since I was a little girl. I printed out the invitations, rolled them up, tied them with a little string, and delivered them to their mailboxes.

When the kids arrived, we read a short Halloween book from the library and quickly got to decorating the kids' witch hats. I found the hats, the foam stickers, and the cookies at the dollar store. Since it was a kid party, I made Russian Tea, which is Tang and Instant Tea simmered with whole cloves and cinnamon sticks. I spent about $15 in total on all the supplies. Not bad for a whole lot of fun! Even Lucy Wiener Witch enjoyed herself!

This post is linked up to Amy's Finer Things Friday