He told me....

I was vacuuming this morning, and as I finished, my 2 year old said to me

"Be quiet Mom, I'm trying to listen!

Well, excuse me!

30 meals...

I just came across this idea for 30 meals. I think that it is well thought out and I love the idea of having your most frequently requested meals on hand to make planning dinner a little easier. I also love the idea of the recipe box for the fridge so that you know what you are making each week. So I have been working on compiling my 30 recipes, but so far I only have 20 (does cereal count for one of your 30 meals?!). So I thought that it would be fun to share recipes with any of you who may wish to play along. If you have a favorite family recipe or two, just post it in my comment section and then we can all have some new ideas to feed our families.

*Just a side note, once you have your master list compiled, when you go to the store, by 3 of all your ingredients (especially when they are on sale) and soon enough you will have built up a 3 month supply for your food storage. Love that idea! Here are the links for the 3 step 30 meal dinner plan

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

I will start by sharing one of our favorite recipes:

Lime Chicken Soft Tacos (from Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast meat - cubed
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 lime, juiced
1 teaspoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
10 (6 inch) flour tortillas
1 tomato, diced
1/4 cup shredded lettuce
1/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 cup salsa

DIRECTIONS
Saute chicken in a medium saucepan over medium high heat for about 20 minutes. Add vinegar, lime juice, sugar, salt, pepper, green onion, garlic and oregano. Simmer for an extra 10 minutes.
Heat an iron skillet over medium heat. Place a tortilla in the pan, warm, and turn over to heat the other side. Repeat with remaining tortillas. Serve lime chicken mixture in warm tortillas topped with tomato, lettuce, cheese and salsa.

**Try it in the crockpot. Just throw all your ingredients in the crockpot and let it cook until the chicken is done. Then shred the chicken and build your tacos. Doesn't get any easier than that!

A little bit of good news...

They caught the guy who robbed our house! A police officer stopped by our home to let us know that they had the guy in custody. He actually showed remorse and broke down as he was showing the officer all the homes that he had robbed and also telling him how he had broken into them. He confessed to robbing our home and about 12 in all in our neighborhood. While I am sure that they will not recover any more of our stolen property, I am relieved and happy to know that he is not out there doing more harm to anyone else. I really hope for this kids sake that he takes this as an opportunity to change his life. I can definitely find some closure in this and it feels good!

Another project complete....

Remember my frames from IKEA?


Well now they are.....




Dry erase boards for the boys playroom.

I found the idea to use a frame somewhere on the internet, but I can't find it now. Anyway, here is my version. All you do is find a large frame and some cute fabric. Frame the fabric and then you can write directly on the glass or in my case the plexiglass and it wipes right off, just like a dry erase board (only cuter). I wanted to jazz up my frames and make them look a little better, so to hang my boards, I used eye hooks on the top of each frame and made ragamuffin garlands to hang them from a nail. A great way to use up old scraps of fabric. Now my kids can write and draw to their little hearts content.

I got a visit from....

This amazingly cute, super strong and powerful SUPERHERO!


Who knew that a book cover could also be a very cool, superhero hat?!



Then just like that he was gone.

And as if that wasn't awesome enough, I also got a visit from this handsome, rugged, adventurous EXPLORER!



Must be my lucky day!

Today....

I will make time to work on a little project. I bought these frames at IKEA (love that store) and I plan to make something fun and cute for the boys to use in their playroom. You'll have to check back to see how it turned out. But before the fun begins, I have a few rollover chores from yesterday. How'd I do yesterday?

1. Fold laundry and put away 3 loads washed and put away!

2. Wash sheets all clean and beds were made, Brett finished up our bed (I told you he's the best)

3. Begin to clean and organize the office that may become a kids room (where are we going to put a 4th child?!) I'm not wanting to face this, but today I will.
4. Pull out the baby clothes and start more laundry I better hurry with this one or baby C will not have anything to wear. I also want to make him a cute pants and shirt outfit and a cute freezer paper stenciled onesie and a quilt.....

5. Do something fun with my kids (Cameron just asked if we could have a picnic, maybe an indoor under the AC picnic) We're going to Jamba Juice today!

6. Try to stay cool. Darn heat wave. If it doesn't go away, I am going to finish out my pregnancy in Utah! Way too hot yesterday...today is looking much better!

7. Work on a fun project for the kids play room (probably won't happen today, but I can dream.) Todays the day!

8. Fix the date on my camera. Done!

A few chores completed not on my list: cleaned the kitchen about 300 times (OK, so it wasn't 300, but it felt like it.), payed the bills, held my little guy who has been running a fever the last few days (poor kid), put my kids to work cleaning their playroom and bedroom.

So I didn't accomplish it all, but overall it was a productive day.

Some random thoughts for today...

(I just noticed that the date on my camera is wrong.)

First off,It was Brett's birthday yesterday! So happy birthday to the greatest father and husband around! We love you!

Second, why in the world is it so hot! It is making this pregnant lady a little irritable! I thought that I had timed this pregnancy just right this time to have this baby before it got too hot. Wouldn't you know that this would be the year for record breaking highs in April! In case you haven't noticed, I don't handle the heat well.

Third, I am having a tough time getting back into my usual schedule. Being on vacation always has this effect on me. I have managed to unpack and I've washed the laundry, now I need to fold it and put it away. I cleaned my kitchen and mopped my floors and things are generally tidy, but there is more that needs to be done (isn't that always the case?). So in an effort to motivate myself, here is my checklist of chores that I would like to accomplish (or at least begin) for today.

1. Fold laundry and put away
2. Wash sheets
3. Begin to clean and organize the office that may become a kids room (where are we going to put a 4th child?!)
4. Pull out the baby clothes and start more laundry
5. Do something fun with my kids (Cameron just asked if we could have a picnic, maybe an indoor under the AC picnic)
6. Try to stay cool. Darn heat wave. If it doesn't go away, I am going to finish out my pregnancy in Utah!
7. Work on a fun project for the kids play room (probably won't happen today, but I can dream.)
8. Fix the date on my camera.

Finally, my boys are crafting! I love to see them hard at work creating something they can be proud of. Looks like fun doesn't it?!



Now I'm off to tackle this list of chores!

We're back....

From our much needed vacation. How can 16 days go by so quickly?!!! What did we do? We went to Legoland and Brett and I turned into lobsters (darn sunburns),









We got to spend the day at the Santa Monica beach with Monique (Thanks Mo, we had a great time), We spent a night in Vegas, then finished up the week in Utah.

In Utah we played with cousins, went to see Monsters vs. Aliens, went to Sundance and played in the snow,



dyed Easter eggs




and even got a visit from the Easter Bunny. We ate way too much junk, stayed up late and slept in, and of course I shopped and crafted and Brett got to pick up his new toy (pics to come). Brett and I also celebrated our 12th anniversary and I must say that I am the luckiest girl around (and not just because of the jewelry).





And after all that, I am not entirely sure that we were ready to come home (especially to 90+ degree weather, bleh!). But here we are, so, let the un-packing/cleaning/laundry begin.

This kid never ceases to amaze me or crack me up for that matter. For instance on Sunday we are sitting in church getting ready to take the sacrament and I am turning every 3 seconds to the 3 rowdy boys sitting with us and shushing them (just a typical Sunday for us). Anyway, at one point I hear lots of hushed giggles, and I look over and Austin (2) has Cameron (6) pinned down on the bench and he has his little finger in Cam's ear. What?!!! I say "Austin, get off your brother" to which he replies in an annoyed tone "Mom, I'm getting the wax out!" Now Mom and Dad burst into hushed giggles. How do you respond to that one? We love this kid!