Random...

After the BIG Halloween Feast I was too tired to bring in all the chairs, blankets, and tables right away.  However, my procrastination paid off because I finally waited long enough that my sweet hubby and little munchkins helped me bring all the stuff in- Plus- they helped me rake leaves and sweep off the drive and porch (which were getting out of hand just so you know!).

We awarded Little Mr. and Miss Sassy with being thrown jumping into the leaves.  It was a pretty wild time had by all, and while jumping into the leaves was great fun they weren't quite as excited about all the crunchy leaves down their pants afterwards. 

We just can't have it all ya know?!

Did I mention that I love these faces?...



Little Miss started pre-school yesterday.  She'll be going 3 days a week.  She was so worried that she wouldn't know anyone and that no one would want to be her friend :(  . 

I assured her that she was totally awesome and that people would have to be crazy not to want to be her friends!

So what a relief when I picked her up and she said, "I made like hundreds of friends!  I love school, and I want to go every day!"

She's a rock star!

I'm so ready for Thanksgiving!

I have so many things to be thankful for!

My Savior- who died on the Christ for my sins so that I can meet him in heaven someday
The Hubby
The Kiddos
The sweet baby in my belly
The Health of me and my family
Awesome parents and in-laws
The list could go on and on!

While I'm really thankful for all the blessings in my life there's also this really hungry shallow excited place inside of me that is totally pumped about the hubster's grandmother's homemade macaroni and cheese, and all the pie I can fill up on. 

Is that sad? 

I mean I really enjoy visiting with all of our family while I'm eating those four different types of pie.  That counts for something right?  It's always really amazing pie and you should taste this macaroni!  It's worth the year long wait every time!!!

I've been working on making some jewelry.  I plan on blogging about it.  I'm also going to make a few aprons, re-do some furniture, and make a baby blanket for the baby.  When I get them done I'll show them to you and see what you think.

Have I mentioned that I'm 28 weeks along and we still haven't named the baby yet?  We can't seem to agree on any names.  The only things we do agree on concerning names is to talk about it later.  That's something I guess.

Have a good day!  I'm off to work at the school for a little while.  Bye!

Afternoon Play Date...

Yesterday Little Miss and I had so much fun!  A friend from high school and her sweet little girl drove over to spend the afternoon with us. 

We ate lunch at my favorite little breakfast/lunch spot, did a little shopping at some of the fun little shops here in town, and then headed over to the park.

While we were out shopping the sweet lady at one of the shops offered to put a glitter tattoo on the girls faces.  The Ruth-i-nator was so excited, she even got to pick her own glitter colors for the star tattoo- pink, blue, and purple.  It was beautiful!

She sat so still and was such a big girl!

Then they had these fun masks, so of course we had to try some of them on (check out her outfit- she's sporting quite the colorful mix of things, and of course no outfit is complete without every beaded necklace in one's jewelry box)...

 

They were soooooo cute together, and had the best time!

 

 

Oh!  I almost forgot- isn't Little Miss Sassy Pant's haircut the cutest!  I broke out the ole' scissors the other night and cut it in this cute, little bob, and then debated for the longest time on giving her bangs.  I finally just went for it, and I am so glad I did!  Isn't she the cutest thing ever!!!

 

 

Have a Happy, Warm, Wonderful, Fall Day!

HaLLoWeeN...OOOhhhHH...

For Halloween this year I decided to ask Little Man what he wanted for dinner before the big Trick-or-Treating festivities began. 

Normally we eat pretty healthy around here and try to keep the processed, sugar-filled, non-veggie oriented items away from this dwelling, but I figured in honor of this holiday that is already pretty twisted anyway we might as well go all out and eat all of the above and then some. 

I mean why not, right?!

So, we invited some friends over and I set up some tables in the yard and we partied it up with the following on our plates:

Chili, Cheese nachos- I even bought Velveeta- which as far as I'm concerned is like a 4 letter word around here.  I wasn't joking when I implied that we got WILD around here.

Homemade Apple Pie w/ ice cream- YUM!

Homemade Hot Chocolate w/ Homemade Marshmallows- and for the record- I might not EVER eat another store bought marshmallow again!  I am officially spoiled and my taste buds are officially snobbed out!

After we stuffed ourselves silly the munchkins got dressed up and we headed to this really fun street here in town that looks like a Halloween Explosion took place- all the houses hand out sinful amounts of candy and basically try to make all the local children (and their mothers) wake up the next day with sugar-hangovers (which I did btw).

 

It was a rockin' fun day- however I was a little bummed when Little Man's original costume idea was a wash and we had to fall back on the ole' stand by BatMan.

Awww...Ole trusty Batman- he's a good one, he's a good one (*sigh*).

Here are the Apple Pie, Hot Chocolate, and Marshmallow recipes that I followed:




Hot Chocolate from the blog Honey and Fitz - My sexy, stud of a husband said it was the BEST he'd ever had, and he doesn't throw around words like "Best ever" very often- so I guess that's really saying something.

Marshmallows are Alton Brown's at the Food Network site - I don't know if they will roast up like store bought ones, but I can't wait to test it out.  I'll keep you posted, because I mean really?!  Who doesn't want to know all about my marshmallow adventures?!?!..it's exciting stuff.

and Grandma Ople's apple pie at All Recipes.

I've done the apple pie a few times and it's good one, and I most certainly will be doing the hot chocolate and marshmallows again at Christmas- the extended fam is in for a treat!

We hope you had a Wonderful and Happy HaLLoWeen!!!

Confession...

Okay- so I have a Confession.

 

I'm a Twi-hard.  Or at least I was.

 

However, now that I've seen all the movies- I can't just not go and see the last one.

 

So, I've got my tickets and I'm ready.  Ok, I'm excited.  And yes- I know that the Proverbs 31 Woman would probably not be a Twilight movie/book person, but I do think that she would approve of the best part of why I love going to these opening night midnight movies...

 

...My niece and my sweet sister-in-law always go as my dates.  We go get yummy food, coffee, dress warm, and head to the movie theater about 4 hours early and veg-out, visit, laugh, and have the best time!  I love these girls!

 

They are fun.

Beautiful- inside and out.

Smart.

Funny.

And best of all- They are great girls!

 

I'm thankful for Twilight Movie night- It's gonna be AWESOME!!!

 

I leave you with this:

 

Have a Happy Day!



Favorite Creative Inspirations...

Today I thought I would share with you some of my favorite online places to visit for inspiration when I'm feeling crafty-artsy or just want to look at pretty things.

Miss Lovie @ www.missloviecreations.blogspot.com is upbelievable at just about most crafts, but she rocks it out when it comes to jewelry.

www.cottonandcurls.blogspot.com has some super cute stuff!

www.cluckclucksew.com is an amazing quilter and I love some of her sewing projects.  She's even inspired me to try one of her quilts that she assures is simple (we'll see I guess).

http://www.stitchedincolor.com/ -Sews like a dream, and while I could never make the quilts she makes- it still inspires me to break out the sewing machine to create something- even if my projects are smaller and simpler!

My all time favorite spot to sit down with my hot tea and warm blanket and veg out for a while is Meg's site @ www.megduerksen.typepad.com - This lady Loves Christ and is so talented it is crazy!

Of course- I also love Pinterest- but really- who doesn't?!

Well, I'm off to my Mom's Pray Group!

Have a Blessed Day!

Shoes!

Today when I was actually getting dressed in something that wasn't sweats I thought to myself- "Self, you should dress up more."- and I love shoes!  They can make or break an outfit.  Here are some that I'm loving:

So cute with skinny jeans or a cute dress and a fun scarf!

 

Would love these with a short dress and some fun tights.

 

 

Love!

 

Can't you see my big, pregnant body rockin' these out in a way cute black #!

 

Ha,ha!!!!  These I just couldn't believe.

 

Happy Friday!

Healthy, Yummy, Goodness...

For those of you that don't know this about me- I'm a healthy food-a-holic,, hard-core label reader, and a Vegetarian.

 

I like to make all of our snacks from scratch- that way I know what is going into them, and I like to keep lots of veggies and fruit on hand. 

 

Confession- I start to get a little freaked out when the fridge starts to run low.

 

I thought I would share one of our favorite recipes for pancakes with you.  I usually double this recipe and cook all of it and then freeze the leftovers so the kiddos (and myself) can have homemade pancakes on the fly on school mornings.  When you want them you just pop them in the toaster for a bit and WA-LA- hot, healthy, yummy goodness on the fly, on a school morning. 

 

The Best part- your kids will think you're the Bomb-digity!!!

 

Whole-Grain-Gluten Free-Yummy Pancakes

 

1/4 Cup Whole Flaxseeds- ground*

1/2 Cup Rolled Oats- ground* (Old-Fashion- not instant or quick cooking)

1/2 Cup Brown Rice Flour*

1/2 Cup Fava/Garbonzo Bean Flour

2 TBSP Tapioca Flour

3/4 tsp Xanthan Gum

1/4 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

2 tsp Baking Powder

1 TBSP Cinnamon

2 large eggs (or an egg replacer equalling 2 eggs)

1 Cup Nonfat Plain Yogurt or Plain Soy Yogurt or 1 Cup Milk w/ 1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar mixed and set aside for 5 minutes before use

1/4 Cup Apple sauce

1 TBSP canola or oive oil

1 Cup Water (or to the consistency you prefer)

 

*Note: I grind my own flaxseeds and oats in my coffee grinder.  Your body will digest the flaxseeds them better ground- they just run straight through if you eat them whole- so grinding is a must.  You can buy it pre-ground but I think they retain their freshness and are healthiest if grind right before use.

 

*Note: If you aren't worried about making these Gluten-Free you can replace the 1/2 cup Brown Rice Flour and 2 TBSP Tapioca Flour, and 3/4 tsp xanthan gum with 1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour

 

Mix together Dry ingredients

 

Mix together wet ingredients

 

Make a well in center of Dry ingredients and pour wet ingredients into well and stir until just combined (be sure not to over mix or stir).

 

If you have time I find that it is best to let the batter sit for about 10 minutes or so- Go make coffee and set the table or something while you wait.

 

I use a griddle on 325 degrees so that I can cook more at one time, but you can use a skillet too if that is what you have on hand.  Spray a little non-stick spray or butter or non-hydrogenated spread on the skillet so they don't stick, then using a 1/4 cup measuring cup ladle the batter onto the skillet and allow to cook until golden brown, flip and cook until golden brown on second side.  Serve nice and warm w/ pure maple syrup and fresh berries or sliced banana, roasted walnuts, and pure maple syrup.

 

-If there are ingredients that you've never heard of and your store doesn't carry them then you can more than likely get those things at the Health food store.  Just ask they'll help you find what you need.

 

Enjoy!

 

Here are a couple of my favorite Vegetarian/Vegan/Gluten-Free Cookbooks- I got all of mine on-line:

 

 

 

 

 

All Fabulous- And All full of wonderful- Tasty- Healthy Goodness!