the baby's room :)

a gallon of paint.

3 white frames.

a dowel rod.

some things we had.

some things we made with what we had.

a very talented husband who loves me a lot.

the new baby's room :)

 love love love love love.

hair feather

i read somewhere once...

that it is good to let your kids participate in fads. and trends.

even if you think they are ridulous.

(as long as they are safe of course...)

the leather jacket. the silk shirt. pegging the jeans. an ID bracelet. permed hair.

i could go on. i got to do them.

(my parents probably thought those were ridiculous.)

lilly hasnt run into too many trends yet.

(that she's expressed interest in anyway.)

beyond the silly bands.  which is now over.

but then came...

 the feather in the hair.

(which i find a tad silly.)

(which proves just how uncool and unstylish i am.)

she really doesnt beg or whine to get anything.

she really is content with what she does have.

for that we are so grateful and proud.

im not about to spend $10 to have a feather put in her hair.

but lucky for lilly...

daddy is a fly fisherman.

and he ties his own flies.

and he just so happens to have a case full of feathery things.

so maybe the feather thing isnt so bad afterall...

especially when daddy is your beautician :)

reading

i cannot stand sitting still.
it is really hard for me to do.
yes, i sit a relax and watch TV at night...
but i get up during the commercials.
to do something.
there is always something to be done.
or too much on my mind.

but this baby has other ideas.
this baby is making me sit down a lot more.
and put my feet up. and really rest.

i'm not a big reader.

but ive been reading.

ive read 4 books in the past two months.

it usually takes me 4 years to read 2 books.

i get books at garage sales. surprise.

yes, i know i could get them at the library too... but i dont love deadlines.
(and most of you who know me know that a nook or other electronic reader is definitely not a part of my world at the time being)

so here is a stack of books i've read more recently.
and they are looking for new readers.

if you want one (or two or three). they are yours...

for real, ill get them to you by hand or mail.

i'm on the lookout for more good ones to read.

and i'd gladly accept any good handme downs :)

next up.  the last 'new' book in my pile...

the lovely bones.

which i may or may not be able to read.

we will see if i can handle it without any creepy dreams.

date night

'how about a date night tonight?' dave emailed me friday morning.

i'm always up for one of our date nights.
not sure i ever turned one down.
our date nights are simple.
and we don't mind at all.

a movie.
and some type of junk food.

last night...

a free redbox movie, thanks to a code in dave's email folder.

and chocolate covered frozen bananas, thanks to what we had on hand.

a totally free date night.

being at home with my best friend is really all i wanted :)

see... we started dating at 17.  pizza and a movie were our dates.

and a few number of years later... it's still our favorite date.

i'd choose this over going out any day.

tonight?

catching up on the bachelorette, big brother and friday night lights.

i can't wait :)

and the bananas...

frozen bananas are the big rage all over blogland right now.

these? oh yum.

slice a banana (or 2) into inch-ish slices.  whatever size you like really.

cover in melted dipping chocolate. (i used part chocolate/part white ghirardelli scraps for this batch... though adding some peanut butter sounds amazing.)
put on a wax paper lined tray, and put in the freezer.

i think ours were in about 3 hours.

take out just before eating.

delicious. tastes like ice cream :)

oh and the movie?
the adjustment bureau.
(pretty good one.)

2011 garden!

the 2011 garden :)

 how sweet is it to have fresh home grown
no pesticide added food growing in your own backyard?

pretty darn sweet.

 and our little city farmers make it even better :)

special thanks to my awesome husband who makes this garden possible!

(i pretty much just pick, prepare, serve, and eat what he grows ;)

"wholly cow! look how big already!!"

and here is what our gardens grow...

zucchini

strawberries

tomatoes (of a billion varietes)

snap peas

snow peas

green peppers

red peppers

jalepeno peppers

banana peppers

garlic

watermelon

honeydo

acorn squash

chives

basil

oregano

cilantro
(oh and forgot these ones too...)
raspberries
(and our fruit trees :)
apples
pears
peaches

and how does our garden grow?

good top soil, manure, lots of sun, water.

good plants from whole foods and cooley's greenhouse.

and a really good farmer.

$16.75

we found a few garage sales while out running errands this morning.

garage sale season has begun.

oh i love garage sales. for so many reasons.

here is $16.75 worth of reasons.

 brand new unopened rockem sockem robots.

chutes and ladders.

2 DVDs (disney's eight below, and dodge ball).

3 hardback kids books.

3 coloring books (2 brand new).

1 long sleeve shirt for lilly (children's place).

2 short sleeve shirts for lilly.

1 tank top for lilly.

2 pairs of girl boxers for lilly.

1 justice outfit for lilly. (shirt and capris)

3 long sleeve shirts for cohen.

1 set of PJs for cohen.

2 short sleeve shirts for cohen.

1 pair of sport shorts for cohen.

1 GAP windbreaker/jacket for cohen.

golf tie for cohen.

2 pairs of build-a-bear boxers.

1 pair of build-a-bear unders.

and here are my happy little helpers with all the loot :)

homemade frapuccino

so, i love a certain chain's frappuccino.

but caffeine and i are not friends.

nor is my wallet friendly with buying things i dont need.

especially from companies who already make billions of dollars.

they don't need my money, that's for sure.

so i hit the world wide web for some recipe inspiration.

man, i love the world wide web.

looky what i found.

jen's decaf frappuccino remix

http://itsmejen.blogspot.com/

3/4 cup cold water

2 spoons of instant decaf coffee granules

3 TBS sugar

1 cup skim milk

2 cups ice

Add 2 spoonfulls of instant decaf coffee to cold water and stir to dissolve. (Add more or less granules to taste.)  Add coffee, sugar (more or less to taste), milk, and 2 cups of ice to blender and blend on high until ice is nice and crushed.  Pour into 2 big glasses to share (or one glass and refill till you can't drink anymore.)  No need for whipped cream... check out this froth.  oh yum. 

A decaf treat, which is good on my skittery heart.

And easy on my spending :)

Any time I want.

yay.

deal blogs

here are few blogs i follow with lots of deals. and coupons.

so many deals and coupons that they flood my google reader.

(lots of coupons for lots of junk that we just dont eat... or just dont need)

i am almost tempted to take them off my blog reading list

because of all the coupons i won't use.

(and a lot of them are redundant...)

but then i might miss that one deal that i want.

like return labels shipped for $3.95.

or 2 pairs of boots for $16.00 shipped.

or a cute pink land's end rain jacket for $14.93 shipped. 

(i think it was originally $50ish)

or free redbox codes. yay!

so for now. they will stay on my blogroll.

http://hip2save.com/

http://www.couponingfor4.net/

http://thekrazycouponlady.com/

http://mojosavings.com/

have fun couponing :)
(and let me know if you every score anything great from one of them!!)

ruffle me up

inspired here.

packing lunch

we've been recycling for about 3 years now.

like really recycling.

we have about 2 bags of recycling to every 1 bag of trash.

when lilly started 1st grade, that meant packing lunch for school.

i cringed at how many plastic zip bags i was using and tossing.

so a quick search to the internet found some great ideas!

how to make sandwich wraps and dry snack bags.

my feeble attempt to save the world.

a no waste packed lunch.

here's how to wrap the sandwich.
(i typically send half a sandwich, as its made with thick homemade bread, but a whole sandwich and a sandwich on a bun fit also.  tortilla wraps too...)

tada!

(and... the wrap can be used as a placemat on the school lunch table :)

ETA: i am not sure why i didn't post these originally (duh!) but here are the links to the tutorials i used for the snack bag and the sandwich wrap.   that should answer a few questions.  i just used cotton frabric.  my wrap was 10"x10" and i used a cut ziplock bag as the liner.  that was the safest material for food, in my opinion.  dont limit yourself to just these tutorials though.  there are tons all over the web. find what you like :) hth!

happy fondue year!

$2.99 and $4.99 fondue sets found yesterday at goodwill.

that calls for an impromptu fondue New Years Eve dinner!

And a new tradition is born.

because who doesn't love dipping food in cheese and chocolate?

Wishing you all a wonderfully happy 2011.

2010 Christmas card

merry christmas from our family to yours.

(last name has been changed to try to protect the innocent.)

(the funny thing? we dont even watch spongebob.)
(but we do own 1 book.  spongebob plays hockey.)

wishing all of you all that you have wished for.

may your home be filled with happiness and joy this Season.

(this blog will resume once the festivites have slowed...)

hugs to you all.

hello fiesta.

those of you who really know me...

know that i don't treat myself very much.

(aka: i am extremely frugal.)

(or aka: i have a hard time spending money. period.)

whatever you want to call it.

call it.

well.

i treated myself.

 never has my dishwasher made me smile.

 then.

 now!

the pfaltzgraffs were wedding dishes.

so we've had them almost 10 years.

that's a good life for dishes.

don't you think?

they were good dishes.
and i wish i could say i will miss them.

but i don't think i will.

and just to clear the air ;)

i'm a big girl now and i have a kohl's card.
the sets were marked 40% off.
then buy 5 sets get one free.

and i had an additional 30% off coupon.

which is why i got new dishes.

and because i am allowed to treat myself.
even if i do it frugally :)