Beach Fire Pit. Nailed It.

Pinterest idea (here):

Nailed it:

I suppose I'll have to tell the store about the burning chair tomorrow...

Screw the Mantel, I Don't Even Have A Dining Room Floor Right Now.

Remember to enter for the double book giveaway here.

The Navigator is still in the shop.

On Friday I drove the monster truck.

On Saturday I drove the monster truck.

On Sunday I drove the monster truck.

Do you know what it's like to scrape snow off of windows that are above your head while wearing a skirt and heels?

The Man needed the monster truck today so I'm on my own.  Actually, I was pretty okay with that.  I had some time off saved up at work and I thought, "I can clean up all the messes that have accumulated during the construction of our house and wrap some presents."

So I emailed my boss and told him I still didn't have a car and I would just take a personal day and stay home.

He responded with, "you shouldn't waste your personal days.  You need to use it closer to the holiday when you can be with your kids and be doing Christmas things.  I can send an agent to come and get you."

And I shrugged my shoulders.

Whatever.

I didn't really want to clean anyway.  More dust will be made.

Over the weekend we crossed off two of my December bucket list items (here).  We watched The Muppets Christmas Carol and had a hot chocolate bar.

The pinterest picture I was taking the idea from was this:

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Let's be real.

My hot chocolate bar was by no means this cute.

And I'm okay with that.  I think we, as mothers, put way too much pressure on ourselves to make the things we do over the top presentable.

I sat the bags and boxes of goodies on the counter and told the kids to have it.

Where they disappointed that it wasn't in individually labeled cups?

No.

And neither was I.

We seriously need to give ourselves a break.  We can't get caught up in the little stuff that doesn't even matter.

My kitchen was full of giggling and excitement as the kids threw all sorts of goodies into their mugs.

This December is starting out on a good foot for me. We only have a Christmas tree up, no other decorations of any kind.  I don't have lights on the outside of my house, I don't even have stockings hung, and I certainly don't have my mantel decorated.

Screw the mantel, I don't even have a dining room floor right now.  (Which is the room where the fire place is).

And yet there is still magic in the air.

The kids laugh together and whisper around the tree.

They randomly break out into Christmas songs at the top of their lungs, or hum them while doing their chores and homework.

They curl up together on the couch while we watch Christmas shows on TV.

They secretly whisper to me about the plans they have for the sibling whose name they've drawn this year.

And it isn't about the decorations.

It's about the feeling.

The feeling of doing things for other people.

The feeling of knowing that we have a Savior.

The feeling that we're a family and we're creating these memories.

*Remember that year when we had to eat Christmas dinner on the office floor around the Christmas tree because we didn't have a dining room floor?*

And we'll giggle because it was the best Christmas ever.

As long as Santa doesn't fall in the holes when he comes down the chimney.

(Also this weekend we tried hot chocolate in the crockpot, another December bucket list item and oh. so. good.  Do it now.  Find the pin here).

(Also, we made these mini peach cobblers.  Like a snickerdoodle with peaches. Do it now. Find the pin here).

December Bucket List. And Easy Christmas Cards

Hi.

My name is Stephanie...

and I'm Pinterest-aholic. (Follow me here).

My issue with this stuff is that I pin it, and then it taunts me. 

You know you actually want to try and recreate this.

You know it's not good enough to just let the idea sit here.

Yesterday I was collecting Christmas craft ideas off pinterest for my boss who claims that every year his family Christmas party is dry, boring, and lame.

So this year he's in charge of it and this year it's going to fun.

So... would I be willing to give him ideas for a craft for the kids?  One that doesn't involve any baking.

While I was looking at my Christmas board I realized there were a few things on there that I really wanted to do this December, so I made a December bucket list.

I tried to keep it small so I don't overwhelm myself.

This December we are going to 

Watch The Muppets Christmas Carol 

Watch Mickey Mouse's Christmas Carol 

Try peppermint popcorn

Have a hot chocolate bar

Egg nog french toast for breakfast

Make hot chocolate in the crockpot

Watch the Grinch and make Grinch Punch

Cut out fancy snowflakes and hang them on the mantel

Use tickets to surprise the kids and drive to see lights

Decorate sugar cookies for Santa

Send out a few Christmas cards (it's been years since I've done Christmas cards)

Do the 12 days of scriptures with my church going kids

Also, if you want a crazy easy way to send cards that's crazy cheap.  Like, so cheap it's wrong, then you need to check out Send Out Cards.  They're advertising on my sidebar also.  

Guys, just for Christmas they had 58 pages of possible card choices.  And I added a family picture to it.  The hardest part was entering my addresses, but now that the address are in there... from now on I can send a card with our family picture in literally minutes and dimes.

So give yourself a gift this season and do cards the easy way.  They're high quality and so fun to make.

And I didn't even get anything for saying that.  I just really feel that way.

Phineas and Ferb Sums Up Motherhood. And Pinterest Recipe Reviews.

Last night we were watching Phineas and Ferb on Netflix.

I love that cartoon.

That and Wizards of Waverly Place.

That's pure entertainment right there.

Anyway, Phineas and Ferb.  This scene happened and I cracked up.  As in giggled myself silly because this scene right here explains exactly what it feels like to be a mom.  Watch how Baljeet reacts to Buford:



I died.

Not 15 minutes after watching that show I was in the kitchen with The Circus talking about "The Muppets Christmas Carol" when someone asked Tayler if she even knew what we were talking about and she replied, "Ihop."

Baljeet ran through my mind.

I feel that way much too often.

Today we wanted to tell you about some more pinterest recipes we've tried out in our home.
There's some seriously good stuff on that website.

Forgotten Chicken
pinterest link here  original link here

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This recipe was easy with a capitol E.

I also heard once that if you want to switch your family over to brown rice instead of white, you should use brown rice in new recipes, not established recipes, because then they don't notice a taste difference.  So I tried that with this recipe.  I used instant brown rice instead of white rice.

I don't think my family has a clue.

Out of 9  votes (Papa Mike at it with us once too) it got...

all 9.

We've eaten it two Sundays in the last month.  It's already become a regular dinner at our house.

Go pin it.  Go make it.

Baked Penne
pinterest link here  original link here

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I usually avoid baked pastas.

As much as I love them, The Man needs meat.  And baked pastas are usually just pasta and cheese, and sometimes veggies.  So when I saw that this baked pasta called for meat I sang with the hallelujah choir in my head.

Out of 8 votes it got...

all 8.

Again we've made this twice in a month's time and then a third time on left over night.  When The Circus found out I was making if for a second time they got excited.

Huge hit.

I skipped the green peppers in it and used regular ground hamburger.

Amazing Crockpot Chicken Taco Chili
pinterest link here  original link here

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We didn't cover ours with Fritos.

I can't say enough about finding really good recipes for the crockpot, especially as a working mom.

Out of 8 votes it got...

7

Sort of.  The first time I made it Tayler claimed it to be too "spicy" but she ate it perfectly fine the next time I made it.

And The Man said it was "okay," but when I told him it a healthier recipe he said in that case it was really good.  He likes it when eating healthier tastes good.

I've made this repeatedly and there haven't been any other comments "against" it.

I'm also planning on making for my work party coming up in a couple of weeks.  I think it's good enough to share.

Baked Spaghetti
pinterest link here  original link here

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Spaghetti has been a fall back out our house for years because I'm lame and use jarred sauce.  It doesn't get any easier than boiling noodles and opening a jar.

Needless to say The Man is sick of spaghetti.

I decided to try this and see if I couldn't change it up a little bit.

Only 6 of us were home that night and out of 6 votes it got...

5

The Man is still sick of spaghetti.  So I don't really think that counts against this recipe.  It was super fun to present spaghetti in a different way like this.  I found it a little dry when I ate it so I just poured a little extra sauce on the plate and dipped.

Also, when I do this again (after a few months.  Let The Man get his spaghetti vibe back) I'd like to make it more garlicky.

Lime Chicken Tacos
pinterest link here  original link here

{source}

This recipe was for the crockpot, but I just did it one night in a pan.

Out of 6 votes it got...

5

The Man had an aversion, for some reason, to the smell of it as it was cooking and thus refused to even taste it.

I wonder if I did it in the crockpot if it would smell better to him?  Because the rest of us thought it was fantastic.

This weekend I get to take The Man on an adventure for his birthday.  Which is still two weeks away but I'm working with an expiration date here, what do you do?  You do it early, that's what.

I can not wait.

Also, I read this article and fell in love with it.

“Let us ask ourselves the questions,” he (Pres. Thomas S. Monson) has said, “‘Have I done any good in the world today? Have I helped anyone in need?’ What a formula for happiness! What a prescription for contentment, for inner peace. … There are hearts to gladden. There are kind words to say. There are gifts to be given. There are deeds to be done. There are souls to be saved.”


“The prayers of people are almost always answered by the actions of others.”

And this one too.  (Thanks Evonne).

For that, good intentions are not enough. We must do.

Let us resolve to cherish those we love by spending meaningful time with them, doing things together, and cultivating treasured memories.

Sometimes you just can't win. And then sometimes you can.

Last night I pulled out some frozen roll dough and heated up some oil. 
I had a hankering for Navajo Tacos.

I thawed the dough in the microwave and Tayler helped me roll the balls out flat. 

When the oil became hot enough I dropped the first one in and it started to bubble and pop.

And then the power went out. 

So we loaded up all the dough, the hot oil, and grabbed the chili and headed out to the trailer in a long line.  If we can't have power in the house to cook dinner at least we can have propane in the trailer to do it.  Just as we unloaded our arms of our supplies, the power flipped back on.

I sighed.

And then we loaded up all our supplies and tromped back into the house.

We're trying to sell the trailer and The Man has been scrubbing that thing to shining.  I didn't want to make a mess on the stove.

So we filed back into the house, unloaded our arms of our supplies, put the pot of oil, which still held the half cooked scone (or fry bread if you're not from Utah) in it, back on the stove when...

the power went back out.

The Man began to laugh.

I resolved myself to the inevitable.

Alright kids, peanut butter or tuna fish?

I suppose we'll tackle Navajo Tacos again tonight.

Last night at the church, which had power thank you very much, we made these scarves out of t-shirts.  A pinterest project, of course (here).

The only bad news about these scarves is when Cas and I came home with them, all excited because it was fun and super easy, now all the girls want to make one.

Which is totally fine and do-able except they think they get to cut up all their nice shirts to do it.

Yeah, I don't think so ladies. 

But I know what we'll be doing with the next clothes clean out. 

Sorry D.I., you won't be getting many shirts from us.

Black Eyes and Breaking and Killing Potatoes (also, recipe reviews from the circus)

We're full swing into spirit week at school.  Yesterday was pajama day, today is fake an injury day.

No blood allowed.

So we settled for black eyes.

That's much more fun than sticking fake bandaids and wraps.

I've been trying new recipes this week, mostly off of pinterest so I thought I'd let you know what we think of the food pins that are floating around on that site.

(My food board is here if you want to follow it.)

Last night I asked to Brynn to help me with the potatoes and handed her the bag.

She asks, "do you want me to break them?"

"Do I what?"

"I mean, should I kill them?"

"You want to break and kill the potatoes?"

Turns out she was asking if she should grate and peel them.

I think it's going to stick around though.  "Hey, will you break and kill the potatoes for me?" 

Here are the three food pins that we've tried out within this last week:

Chile Colorado Burritos
Pinterest link     original link

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This is by far one of the easiest things I have ever made.

Seriously. 

Dump three things into a crockpot and walk away.  Come back at dinner, wrap it all up in a tortilla and do a quick broil to melt the cheese.

Papa Mike joined us for dinner that night so with nine people having dinner that night it has a possible of nine votes.

How many votes did it get?

Nine.

We loved it.  It was easy and had great flavor

This will be a frequent repeat recipe at our house.

Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti
 original link

{source}

A fairly simple crockpot recipe.  I didn't end up doing it in the crockpot because it calls for you to precook the chicken and then put it in the crockpot for only a couple of hours, and being at work that day, that wasn't going to happen.  So I just precooked the chicken and then threw it all in a regular pot to simmer together while I boiled the noodles.

6 of us were home for dinner that night and out of 6 votes it got...

only one.

I couldn't bring myself to eat this.  Tayler loved it, but she was on her own in that.  Maybe it was the fact that it just had an overwhelming taste of Velveeta.  And nothing else. No other flavors stood out in this recipe.

I had a big pot of it and ended up just throwing it all out. 

I'll be deleting this from my pinterest board.

Ranch Crock Pot Pork Chops with Parmesan Mashed Potatoes
Pinterest link    Original link

This recipe was also a crockpot recipe, but I did it in a regular pan after I got home from work. 
I ended up mixing the gravy into a smaller pan and adding water to thin the consistency and the flavor out.

This is the recipe we made last night where Brynn helped me break and kill the potatoes.

6 of us ate dinner last night.  This recipe got...

6 votes.

The flavor was delicious.  It took a little effort with the potatoes but it was so worth it.

We'll be eating this again soon.

Trick or Treat 2011

We love Halloween at our house. I mean L.O.V.E. Or at least I do. And of course, my enthusiasm spreads to the circus. This year I stole an idea from pinterest.com and made... wait for it... WITCH CURTAINS! I think next year I might double layer them, but I am so happy with how they turned out! And they were easy too.Making magic. Making monsters. On Halloween it's all the same thing, right?We hit a trunk or treat a few days before Halloween and Cas won a prize.And we got to hang out with neighbors and friends.And Sean got to show off his Grim Reaper mask, since it wouldn't be allowed at the parade for school.And with that we were ready for THE day.

Sean the Grim Reaper (sans mask for school):Tayler the Cheshire Cat:

Cas the dead skateboarder:

Cali the Vampire:Brynn, half devil half angel:Jayme the pirate:And I love that my new boss let me go to the school parade to watch the circus. In his words, "Well, you have to go that!" And he was funny excited about it too. Yup, still loving the new job.Happy Halloween from our circus to yours. (Trick or treating with friends and neighbors).