Two DIY Christmas Gifts

'Tis the season of over-spending, falalalaaalalalalaaa!

Well at least that's usually how it goes in our house every November through December.  Despite me buying Christmas gifts early (seriously I start over the summer) somehow we always spend more than I intended.  This year I tried to be a little smarter and I decided that for some of my colleagues I would try a make-at-home gift.  The nice thing about this is that even though you don't spend as much, the gift hopefully means a little more because you put some time and thought into it.  So this year I made Lemon Sugar body scrub and Caramel Cheesecake dip. 

I got the basis for the scrub from here.  Now I don't know how she got her scrub to be bright yellow like that.  Maybe it was because she used olive oil as her base.  I had a whole big container of coconut oil already on hand and I've read how amazing coconut oil is for your skin so I used that as my base.  It is in solid form in the container so I scooped out roughly a cup and nuked it in the microwave for 30 sec. to liquify it.  Then I added my sugar and lemon juice and mixed it up.  I ended up adding a little more sugar than the recipe called for because I didn't want the scrub to be liquidy.  Then I scooped it into these cute jars I got at Hobby Lobby (50% off!) and tied a cute ribbon around them.  I printed out a label at school that listed what it was and what the ingredients are.  I do think next time I will add a few drops of essential oil to make it more scented.  Maybe lavender....

Cost:
Coconut oil: $6.99 (and I barely used half the container for 4 large jars of scrub)
4 glass jars: (4X $1.14) $4.56
Lemon juice: free as we already had some
Sugar: approx $2-$3. (I don't remember how much a 5 lb bag of sugar costs at Aldi's but it's not much)
Ribbon: free (leftover from different project)

And then I also made a caramel cheesecake dip which I found here.   Now I didn't do the graham cracker crumbs because I couldn't think of a cute way to package them with the dip and the apple. 
I found 2 small jars at Hobby Lobby (again 50% off!) and bought some holiday cellophane treat bags.  I put the dip in the jars, placed that at the bottom of the bag, placed a granny smith apple on top and tied it shut with a ribbon.  And of course I put a label on the outside of the bag so that my recipients would know what it was.  The bonus part was I had leftover dip since I only made 2 jars worth.

Cost:Jars: (2X $0.80) $1.60
Low fat cream cheese: $1.39 (I feel strongly this is the price of cream cheese at Aldi's; we buy it a lot)
Caramel sauce: $2-$3 (can't remember what it was at Aldi's)
Cellophane treat bags: $1.00 for 20 of them
Ribbon: free (already had some)

So there you have 2 cheap but thoughtful gifts perfect for Christmas or whenever.  If you're looking for more ideas like this, just search on Pinterest: there are more than you can imagine.  :)

Halloween Run-Down

Well everyone else is blogging about what they did over Halloween so I guess I should share our festivities.
This year, the girls went as butterflies.  I'm sure most almost-3 year olds can tell you what they want to be for Halloween but Taylor doesn't seem to get it.  And as smart as Lucy is, I'm not sure she got it either, so I chose their costumes for them.  It all stemmed from over the summer when I saw Halo Heaven had butterfly wings for $1.00 a piece.  I was already placing a big order so I added those, got free shipping, and a costume idea was born.  As soon as Target had their winter "basics" wear out, I bought the girls black tops and black leggings.  All I needed was the tutus.  I was going to have a friend show me how to make them but we're both busy gals so I found some tutorials online and spent a few nights putting them together.  I'm not really happy with how they turned out but I probably didn't put as much effort into it as I could have.  I'm not Emily (LOL just kidding Em!  You know I'm green with envy over here every time you show off a new project!).

 Okay enough with costumes.  Our first event was Boo at the Zoo at Scovill Zoo in Decatur.  This was our 2nd year doing it.  Last year we went later at night and it was COLD!  So this year we met some friends a little earlier (at least during daylight hours) and I think a much better time was had by all.  We even spent a little extra to ride the train.

Ready to ride the train!

aww so cute!

On Monday night we went to the Trick or Treat event at the Savoy Rec Center.  I'm sure we would have enjoyed it more if we had not had to chase Taylor everywhere.  And then Lucy insisted on being carried because she was a little overwhelmed by all the people there.  We didn't get to stay long and I definitely didn't get to take any pictures.

On Halloween we were going to try and do some actual trick or treating but Walker's dad invited us to attend the Halloween party held in his neighborhood for the kids.  They had a really nice set up in the clubhouse- there were games, snacks, and even a little haunted house in one of the rooms.  The girls loved playing the games (especially the fishing one!).  However, the girls didn't get to eat a good dinner before the party so we were only able to stay for about 45 minutes before they started to lose it.  At that point, we knew we just needed to skip the trick or treating and go home.  They still got a lot of treats from the party and with all the goodies they got from Miss Monica at daycare, they're set for a while.  I wish I could have gotten them to sit together for a picture but we're at the precious toddler stage so that makes posed pictures a nightmare challenge.

playing the game

picking out her prize

nom nom nom!  this is a good dinner substitute

frosting face!

it was almost impossible to pull them away from the fishing game!

Lucy is, no, was 18 months

Oh behind once again....Lucy turned 18 months on Sept. 7th...almost a month ago but that's okay.  I wanted to get her stats before I posted and I was late in scheduling her check up, and then last week happened....
Anyway, Lucy is 22 lbs 15 oz but that is with a cloth diaper on (I think it's weird our ped. office doesn't weigh them naked anymore) so I'm guessing she's more around 22 lbs.  She is also 31 inches tall.  I was not expecting that quite honestly; she still seems so little!  Comparatively this puts her around the 20th percentile on both charts.

Developmentally, I'm pretty sure Lucy is on track with her gross/fine motor skills.  She can walk and run, hold a crayon (no toddler crayons over here!), feed herself, use a spoon, etc.  She tries to jump but can't figure out how to get her feet to leave the ground so mostly she just bounces.  Oh and Lucy loves to dance and has mastered several dance moves like stomping, swaying, turning in circles, etc.

As far as her language goes....okay I guess I need to just insert a warning here that extreme bragging is coming.
So I think an average 18 month old has around a dozen words (at least according to babycenter.com).  Lucy has more like 6 dozen words.  That is not an exaggeration!  She repeats everything we say (yes even the f-bomb which I accidentally let loose when we were lost in Milwaukee).  And not only does she repeat it, she will store it in her brain to practice later.  I've been telling everyone lately about when Lucy and I were at the store and she all of a sudden started saying "I said no!  I said no!"  Ummmm gee I wonder who she heard that from?? 
And not only does this girl have a large vocabulary already but she is quite adept at stringing those words together.  Lucy speaks mostly in 2-3 word phrases and quite often throws 4-5 word sentences in there.  Those usually tend to be ones she has heard us or her sister say though.  I don't think she has come up with her own 4-5 word sentence yet, but I gave up trying to track all the things she says long ago.
And if I could just brag a bit more....Lucy knows most, if not all, her uppercase and lowercase letters.  I didn't explicitly teach them.  She just picked them up from watching Superwhy, Sesame Street, and reading alphabet books with us.  Lucy also can identify 0-10 and she can count up to 13 (and then jumps to 16; I don't know where 14 and 15 went).
And as far as colors go....well Lucy knows all the color names.  Sometimes she'll still mix them up.  It's so weird; one day she'll identify all of them perfectly and the next day she gets them confused.  That is happening less but sometimes I do still have to remind her that the frog is green, not red.  I was starting to get worried and then I was like "duh, she's only 18 months...I'll worry if she doesn't know them solid by 3 years."

Okay end of bragging.....

Health-wise Lucy is okay.  Still allergic to peanuts (and has now been exposed to them 3 times accidentally) and her eczema is really bad.  It was getting better over the summer but the past 2 weeks she has been covered in splotches and her skins is sooo dry.  We've gone back to coating her with straight vasoline several times a day.  We are out of her prescription cream so that could be part of the problem.  Our ped. suggested eliminating dairy since that also came up as an allergen for her but honestly I haven't seen an improvement, if anything she has gotten worse since we took it out of her diet.
And Lucy finally has more than 6 teeth!  Just in the past few days 2 more have broken through.  Her ped. also said her gums were swollen so maybe some molars will finally be on the way.  I know that will make eating so much easier for her. 

I wish I had some nice pictures to share but I've been so busy taking pictures for other people lately I haven't had hardly any time (or motivation) to take pictures of the girls.  I think I'm going to have to take a step back from doing sessions for other people for a bit but that might be a post for another time.

One Week Down

I did it!  One week: no chips.  I even managed to do that with half a bag of tortilla chips sitting in our cabinet (it's still there).  I'm going to keep going with this streak.  Now I am not going to pretend I made wonderful food choices all week; I did not.  But at least I didn't eat any chips! 

Hi I'm Joanna and I'm a Chip-a-holic

It's true...chips are a huge downfall for me when it comes to dieting maintaining a healthy lifestyle.  I am one of those persons who could sit on the couch and easily polish off a half a bag in one sitting.  Obviously this does not bode well when I'm still trying to shed 20 lbs of baby weight (and yes that "baby" is turning three in November).  I started thinking today about those "small steps to weight loss" that many articles have talked about: things like cutting out pop (I rarely drink pop anyway), drink more water (um that's pretty much all I drink), work out (check), etc.  The problem is I already do all those things and have been doing them for around 5-6 years now so those won't help me lose weight.  So what other change could I make?  Cut out chips.  Completely.  I won't even eat the baked chips or other supposed "healthier" chips.  I'm going cold turkey (God I can feel the withdrawal coming already).  I'm going to start with a small goal: go one week.  One week, no chips.  If I do it, then I'll try and go another week.  I'd like to see how long I can keep this going.  My hope is that I'll go SO long without them that I'll lose my taste for them.  Oh sorry, I just fell out of my chair laughing.  But seriously, I know that can happen...I'm just not sure I'll ever go long enough to lose my taste for them (they're SO good!).  Okay blog readers (all 11 of you), help me out.  You need to hold me accountable.  I will check back in next Sun.  One week.  No chips. 

Another Trip to the ER

Wednesday morning began like any other morning.  I got up and ran as usual.  Walker got the girls dressed and fed as I showered.  I was putting on make up Actually, I was about to put on make up but my contact was bothering me so I was cleaning it when I heard a thump and a loud wail.  I knew Taylor had done something but figured it wasn't a big deal until I heard Walker yelling, "there's blood!"  So I go running out into the kitchen to find Taylor sitting on the edge of the sink while Walker was pressing a paper towel to her forehead.  I grabbed an old bath towel for him to use since the paper towel was already saturated.  Taylor was crying and was not at all happy with us trying to clean the blood from her face.  Walker moved the towel away from her head and I got a good look at the wound: about an inch long cut slice (I think that's a much more accurate word) on her forehead that looked pretty deep.  I actually got a little sick to my stomach looking at it so I turned away (FYI: I don't do well with open wounds).  How did she do this?  Well we have one of those rolly chairs for our desk and Taylor loves to stand on it and lean against the desk.  We also have a drawer on the bottom of the desk that does not like to close all the way.  Put them together and what do you get?  The chair rolls from under Taylor's feet and she catches the drawer face first.  We decided Taylor needed to go to the ER so Walker called in to work and I finished getting ready.  Lucy was quite perplexed by all the chaos.  We got the bleeding to slow down enough to put a couple of bandaids on Taylor's head so she wouldn't bleed all over her carseat.  I also took her shirt off and gave her one of her many "loveys" to hold.  Walker and Taylor went to Provena, while Lucy and I headed off to work. 
At the ER Taylor quickly started acting like herself: running around and climbing everything.  She seriously does not learn.  Luckily the doctor said since it was a clean, straight cut, stitches weren't necessary.  The cut was repaired with Dermabond (glue) and Walker was given the instructions to keep Taylor's head out of direct sunlight for at least 3 months (to minimize scarring).  No concussion or other head injuries...thank goodness!
I have to admit, I wasn't completely freaked out by it.  Call it mommy gut or whatever, but I knew Taylor was going to be just fine.  I think a part of me is becoming a little too used to her bumps and bruises but also, me panicking and driving myself crazy with worry isn't going to help these situations.  I have a feeling we will have many more to come.  Oh and the rolly chair is gone: today I brought home my wood desk chair I had at school that does NOT have wheels.

All "glued" up and ready to go

Nothing a little donut can't make better

Visit with the Nutritionist

Since Taylor is receiving speech services through EI, we apparently qualify for other perks (unfortunately, one of those is NOT free health insurance).  A few weeks ago we had a nutritionist come to our house to discuss Taylor's eating habits and her overall health.  Now you all know how much I've stressed about how little she is for...well ever since she was born!  Even though her pediatrician reassured us over and over that Taylor was just fine, I still felt like there was something wrong.  I even had her go gluten-free for one every expensive week!  So I went into this appointment with apprehension.  I was positive that Taylor's diet of fish sticks and chicken nuggets would not be up to par and we were in for a lecture on feeding Taylor "convenience" foods.
Okay this is terrible, but I'm not entirely sure of the nutritionist's name.  I think her name was Sue.  So that's what I'm calling her.  Anyway, Sue showed up at our house and she was one of the most personable ladies I have ever met.  I mean she's the kind of lady who you would want to be your 2nd mom.  Since Taylor was sleeping when Sue came, the three of us chatted a bit about what Taylor eats and the concerns I had.  I right away admitted to feeding Taylor the chicken nuggets and fish sticks and Sue didn't bat an eye.  Actually what Sue focused more on was the fact that I try to sneak veggies into Taylor's diet by pureeing them.  She loved (no seriously, LOVED) that we had made pancakes with pureed beets and that Taylor had actually eaten them.  Sue also really liked that we gave Taylor the fruit/veggie pouches.  I kept telling her, "I'm doing the best I can!" and Sue was just so nice and supportive.  By this point, Taylor had woken up from her nap and Sue weighed and measured her.  Buck naked, Taylor weighed 23 pounds, 11 oz.  Yeah most 1 year olds weigh that!   Ah, what else is new?  And I think she was just shy of 34 inches.  She is still on the growth charts.  Barely but she's there!  However, despite her size Sue said Taylor was really healthy.  She has good muscle tone and her body looks good (that sounds weird but you know what I mean).
Sue encouraged us to keep doing what we were doing and to keep offering the veggies.  She also gave us some suggestions of new things to try (like crushing cheerios and coating very thin apple slices in them).  She also gave us a bottle of a multi-vitamin and a DHA supplement.  The DHA supplement was a huge blessing; I don't know if you've noticed but DHA supplements for kids are kinda expensive. 
So after that wonderful visit with Sue, I can finally say, I am no longer worried about Taylor's size!  And I'm not stressing about what she's eating either!  It is a huge relief to not have that underlying stressor.
And hopefully I will have an update on her speech soon.  I'm waiting for her therapist to do another full evaluation before I post anything.

Tuesday Temptations....cutting back

So I start school in a week.  Actually, now it's less than a week.  I started the Tuesday Temptations so I'd have more of an excuse to post (b/c clearly having 2 kids is not a good enough reason ::eye roll at myself::) and it was summer so I was trying to fill the time.  But now that school is starting up again and I started yet another blog (Mrs. Willis' First Grade) I feel Tuesday Temptations might become more of an every other week thing.  I do want to continue sharing recipes but if I find them online,  I might just post a link and a quick review. 

So this week I bring you 2 of my favorite recipes from Six Sister's Stuff:

Baked Chicken Ranch Taquitos

These are AWESOME.  No seriously, they are SO delicious!  I made these for my dear friend Emily after she had her baby and I can say confidently that she and her husband William loved them (I can't remember if her little guy Owen liked them or not....).  I have made them for staff lunch days at school and they got gobbled up.  They are incredibly easy and I have a feeling you could even make a batch and freeze half of them to save for another day. 

Baked Chimichangas with Green Sauce

Okay yes it's another "Mexican" dish but it is so good!  What I love about Six Sister's recipes is that most of them are pretty easy to execute.  Oh and they taste yummy.  This might not be the best weeknight meal if you're someone who likes to get dinner on the table fast.  They don't cook long but the prep is a little more intensive because you have to stuff the chimichangas.  However, I promise they are worth the work!

Tuesday Temptations

Sheesh, I almost forgot again!  Well unfortunately I do not have a picture to go with my recipe because it's one we have not made recently.  However, it is one of my favorite recipes and my family has been making it for....years.  I seriously cannot even remember how many years.  It is a really delicious and easy recipe!

Peachy Pork Picante

Prep Time: 5 min.    Cook Time: 20-30 min.    Servings: 4

Ingredients:
1 lb. boneless pork, cut into cubes
1 tbs. taco seasoning mix (we actually use the whole packet most of the time)
2 tsp. vegetable oil

1 8 oz bottle chunky-style salsa
1/3 cup peach preserves

 

Directions:

 Coat pork cubes with taco seasoning by placing cubes and taco seasoning in a large ziploc bag and shaking until all pieces are coated. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; add pork and cook to brown, stirring occasionally.

Add salsa and preserves to pan, lower heat; cover and simmer for 15-20 min.
Serve over rice or quinoa.

 

Review:

Well I think I basically reviewed it above.  You can see how easy this dish is and it is so good!  If you do use the whole packet of taco seasoning the meat will have a little bit more of a kick, but we like spicy food so that's not an issue for us.  Another fun option is to throw in some pineapple chunks the last few minutes of the simmer.  You could also throw in extra bell peppers if you wanted to add more vegetables.

Tuesday Temptations (late again!)

Ugh I'm late with this again.  But in my defense, on Sunday we had a cookout and on Monday, we went out to dinner for my birthday, and then all day yesterday I was at IKEA.  I was completely exhausted when I got home so writing a post was not a priority.
I'll make up for it with two recipes today.

Brown Sugar Carrots

Prep Time: 10 min.      Cook Time: 40 min.     Servings: 4

Ingredients:
4 carrots, peeled and sliced thinly
1-2 TB olive oil
2 TB brown sugar
salt to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place carrots in a mixing bowl and drizzle with olive oil.  Toss well to coat.  Sprinkle brown sugar over carrots and toss again to coat.  Line a cookie sheet with tin foil (for easy clean up) and spray with olive oil spray.  Spread carrot slices out in a single layer.  Sprinkle salt over the top, if desired.  Place in oven and bake for 20 min.  Stir and flip carrots.  Bake for 20 more minutes or until carrots start to brown.

Review:
So I kinda made this recipe up.  I saw a recipe online for carrot fries.  They were pretty good; tasted like sweet potato fries, but they were kind of mushy.  So the next night, I busted out my mandolin (which if you don't own one, go get one!  You can get one at Bed, Bath, & Beyond for a total of $15 if you have a 20% off coupon) and sliced the carrots very thin.  I used brown sugar because I know that's something people will often put on their sweet potatoes so I figured they would go well with carrots.  And even though I made these more for the girls, Walker and I ended up eating them!  The girls turned their noses up at them (go figure) but Walker and I thought they were really, really good.  I liked the addition of the salt, especially.

Lemon Chicken with Spinach Pasta

Prep Time: 15 min. (+30 min. to 8 hours for marinading)   Cook Time: 30 min.    Servings: 4

Ingredients:
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 small onion, sliced thin
1 lemon, zested and juiced
3 TB white wine vinegar or rice-wine vinegar
1 TB olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white or black pepper
8 oz whole-wheat penne
4 cups spinach, washed and trimmed

Directions:
Prepare a glass baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.  Trim the chicken of any remaining fat.  Place chicken between two sheets of plastic wrap or parchment paper and use a meat mallet, rolling pin, or the bottom of a heavy pan to pound the meat until it is 1/2- to 3/4- inch thick.  Slice each breast into four strips and place into the prepared baking dish.  Sprinkle the sliced onions over the chicken.
Prepare the marinade.  In a mixing bowl, whisk together the lemon zest, lemon juice, vinegar, oil, salt, and pepper.  Pour half the mixture over the chicken and onions and reserve the second half for the sauce.  Marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or up to 8 hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cover chicken and onions with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
While the chicken is cooking, cook the pasta according to package directions until al dente.  Reserve 1/4 cup of the pasta water before draining the pasta.  Return the pasta and the reserved pasta water to the pan.  Add the spinach, cooking until it wilts.  Add the reserved marinade mixture and heat just until warm.  Serve with cooked chicken.

Nutrition:
Calories: 353.6
Fat: 6 g
Carbs: 47 g*
Fiber: 8.1 g
Protein: 34.4 g

Review:
This recipe comes from my new SparkPeople Cookbook.  I don't know if you've heard of SparkPeople but it is a free website that lets you track calories (and fat, protein, carbs, fiber, etc.) along with your workouts, weight, water intake...basically anything you can think of.  It really is a wonderful community for people focusing on making healthier choices.  Anyway, I ordered the cookbook last week and this is the 2nd recipe we tried.  I must say, it was pretty tasty.  I know it looks like I put a pound of Parmesan on it but I swear I didn't put that much.  And truthfully, this dish doesn't really need the Parmesan cheese on it.  I just like cheese. :) Sometimes pasta dishes can leave you feeling like a complete blob, but this dish was really light and refreshing in taste.  One serving was perfectly satisfying without making me feel like I overate.  It is a perfect pasta dish for summer!

*There is a brand of pasta (cannot remember the name but I know Meijer sells it and it comes in a black box) that only has 5 g net carbs per serving.  We use that kind because it is better for Walker.  The nutritional information above is right from the cookbook, so it should be accurate if you use a regular whole-wheat pasta.

Tuesday Temptations

My life is so exciting that I forgot it was Tuesday.  Okay, not really.
Only one recipe for you this week, but I think you'll like it.

Mexican Chicken

Prep Time: 5 min.         Cook Time: 20-30 min.       Servings: 4

Ingredients:
1 pound chicken breast, cubed
1 packet taco seasoning
1/2 cup enchilada sauce
4 oz shredded cheddar cheese
green onions to garnish

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place chicken pieces into plastic bag with taco seasoning.  Toss to coat.  Saute chicken until  mostly done.  Place chicken in greased 8x8 casserole dish.  Add the enchilada sauce and toss to coat the chicken.  Sprinkle cheese evenly over the top.  Bake for 10-20 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.  Sprinkle with green onions.

Review:
Now I modified this recipe slightly from the original.  The original recipe calls for only 1 tsp. of taco seasoning.  Also, it says to saute the chicken before you cut it up.  However, I highly disagree with only 1 tsp of taco seasoning.  I mean, if I'm going to open a packet of seasoning, I will use the whole packet thank you very much.  Also, by cutting up the chicken before sauteing it (and using a plastic bag to shake it all up) you are ensuring more surface area of chicken gets coated with taco seasoning, resulting in higher flavor.
 In terms of ease, it doesn't get much simpler than this recipe.  The prep work is minimal and you don't have to keep a close eye on it once it's baking. 
I served this over black bean quinoa and it was delicious.  If you haven't tried using quinoa as a rice substitute yet, I highly recommend it.  It is expensive (expect to pay almost $5 for a 1 lb bag at Meijer) but it is incredibly good for you and I really like the taste and texture of it. 

Also just wanted to add, if you're not growing your own green onions on the window sill yet, do it!  I saw it on Pinterest when I first joined and I was skeptical, but it really does work.  When you get a bunch of green onions, chop them up but save the bulbs/roots.  Plunk them in a glass of water and keep it in a place that gets lots of light.  Then, whenever you need some green onions, just snip some of the shoots off.  As long as you don't destroy the bulbs, the shoots will keep regenerating and you'll never have to buy green onions again!

Tuesday Temptations

Time for another edition of Tuesday Temptations (and it's still Tuesday!!)!  I feel like a theme song should be playing. 

This week I bring you Easy Garlic Chicken and Zucchini Fries.  Both recipes come courtesy of Pinterest.

Easy Garlic Chicken:

haha...you can see my feet

Prep Time: 10 min.          Cook Time: 20 min.     Servings: 4

Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 Tbs. brown sugar
3 tsp. olive oil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 500 degrees.  Lightly grease a casserole dish.  In a small saute pan, saute the garlic in the oil until tender.  Remove from heat and stir in brown sugar.  Place chicken in casserole dish and cover with the garlic and brown sugar mixture.  Add salt and pepper if desired.  Bake uncovered for 15-30 min. (we baked ours for 20).

Nutrition:
Calories: 221
Fat: 6.4 g
Carbohydrates: 14.5 g
Fiber: 0 g
Protein: 25 g

Review:
Well the chicken was very easy to make and I love that we really didn't even have to buy anything for this recipe considering we keep all 4 ingredients on hand at our house.  However, it was lacking in flavor a bit for me.  The chicken was juicy enough but it was kind of bland.  I'm pretty sure when we eat the leftovers tonight I will be adding some BBQ sauce to mine.  I'm not sure we will be making this again, unless we are in a bind or need a really cheap meal.

Zucchini Fries

Prep Time: 20-30 min.          Cook Time: 18-20 min.     Servings: 4

Ingredients:
1/4 cup Progresso® panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup Progresso seasoned whole wheat bread crumbs
1/4 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1 tablespoon basil, thyme and rosemary
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 egg whites, beaten
1 1/2 lb zucchini
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup salsa

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F and spray a baking sheet with canola oil.  Cut zucchini into fry size strips.  Mix together Panko, bread crumbs, herbs, salts and pepper. In another bowl beat the egg whites and place the flour in a third bowl. Line them up flour, eggs and crumb mixture.  Roll the zucchini and the snap peas in the flour, dip in the eggs and roll in the crumb mixture. Place on baking sheet. Sprinkle with the melted butter.  Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until brown. Serve with salsa.

Review:
I had made these in the hopes I could trick the girls into eating some vegetables.  That totally failed.  They saw right through that breading to the zucchini underneath.  However, I thought these were great!  I'm not a huge fan of zucchini honestly but these were really tasty.  I would not recommend making these during the week if you work as the prep work takes a long time.  Make these when you have more time to spend on the dipping and coating of each fry.
Dipping them in salsa wasn't bad but I actually liked dipping them in Six Sister's recipe for Utah's Pink Fry Sauce better.  

Tuesday Temptations (a day late)

I know what you're thinking..."sheesh Joanna, you're only a week into this new weekly feature and you're already late??"  Yesterday ended up being a rather busy day once we saw the sign outside our neighborhood saying there was going to be a neighborhood-wide garage sale on Saturday (and this is the 2nd year in a row we had not been notified but that vent is for another time).  Anyway, I did not forget and I knew what 2 recipes I would be reviewing for a few days now.
First up, another recipe from Pinterest.  I'll link to the actual blog, not the pin itself in case someone out there still isn't on Pinterest (and seriously why aren't you?). 
So I know what you're thinking...Kale chips?  Really?  Those were my thoughts but all the comments under the pin swayed me to try them.  And anyone who knows me, should know that I love chips.  Like seriously love, would eat them every single day of my life if I could, love.  So I thought, why not try to make a healthy alternative. 

Kale Chips (no picture for this one as I forgot to take one)

Prep Time: 5 min.    Cook Time: 12-15 min.    Servings: Variable

Ingredients:
kale
1-4 Tbs. olive oil
sea salt (or other spices)

Directions:
 Preheat oven to 375 degrees.   Wash and THOROUGHLY dry your kale.  Tear pieces of kale off the bunch, discarding the hard ribs in the middle.  Line a cookie pan with tinfoil and spread your kale leaves out on top.  Drizzle olive oil over leaves and lightly toss with your fingers for even distribution.  Bake in oven 12-15 min. or until leaves are crispy (mine took 14 min.).  Remove cooked leaves from oven and sprinkle with sea salt or other seasonings.  Enjoy!

Nutrition:
I didn't bother calculating this one

Review:
So like I said earlier, I was pretty skeptical.  However when I tried the first one fresh out of the oven, it was actually pretty good!  So then I ate more and more and then actually felt sick from eating them.  haha!  I think I used too much olive oil.  I used 2 Tbs. which coated the leaves really well.   I think next time I might try just using an olive oil spray to see if they come out a bit lighter tasting.
Also, I could definitely tell which of the leaves were not all the way dry when I put them in the oven because those did not crisp up at all; ick.  And definitely make sure none of the stem is on the leaf because that part is like chewing grass; double ick.  So all in all, will these replace the salty goodness of regular potato chips?  um no of course not, nothing can.  BUT these will do to satisfy that crispy salty craving you might have late at night.  (and bonus, I got my kale for $1.29 and only used half of it to make one batch so it seems pretty economical too)

And recipe 2 is Quick Chicken Lasagna from the Trim and Terrific Cookbook by Holly Clegg.

mmmm looks good doesn't it?

Prep Time: 10 min.    Cook Time: 55 min.    Servings: 8

Ingredients:
3 cups cooked, chopped chicken (or 2 large cans of chicken)
2 (26 oz) jars red pasta sauce
1 (8 oz) package no-boil lasagna noodles (also called oven-ready lasagna noodles)
2 cups shredded part-skim Mozzarella cheese
2 (10 oz) packages chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 (4 oz) package crumbled goat cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine chicken with both jars of pasta sauce.  In an oblong baking dish, spread a thin layer of the chicken sauce.  Top with a layer of noodles, one-third of the chicken sauce, Mozzarella cheese, half the spinach, and one-third of the goat cheese.  Continue with the remaining noodles, chicken sauce, Mozzarella, and goat cheese.  Bake, covered, for 50 minutes.  Uncover and bake 5 minutes longer, or until bubbly.  Serve immediately.

Nutrition:
Calories: 462
Fat: 16
Carbs: 42
Fiber: 7
Protein: 36

Review:
I must say this recipe was really really good.  I mean you can't go wrong with goat cheese!  If you really don't like goat cheese, you could probably use feta or just leave it out completely but I think it added a nice flavor.  Another plus was how easy this was to put together.  The only reason it took me 10 minutes was because I had to keep checking the recipe to make sure I was getting the layers right.  If you need more proof of the deliciousness of this recipe.....

Yes, that would be my 2 1/2 year old, a hater of all things vegetables and pasta, chowing down her lasagna.  I was shocked.  And I figured in true toddler form, she'd eat it the first night and refuse it the next.  Not this one!  Taylor gobbled up her leftovers the second night we had it as well.  Now that's a good review!

What Are You Doing on Saturday?

I'll tell you what you're doing! (or could be doing...I can't force you to do anything).  This Saturday, July 14th, from 4-7 PM, our church will be hosting a FREE Family Day.  What?  Free?  Family? Free? YES!  There will be food, games, prizes, and inflatables.  It's going to be held at Wiley Elementary School in Urbana.  The idea of this is to reach out to the neighborhood surrounding Wiley and the families of Wiley students.  But even if you don't attend Wiley, live in that neighborhood, or attend our church, you can still come.  Believe me, we're not checking IDs at the door.  ;)

So to recap:

What: Trinity Lutheran Family Day
When: July 14th, 4-7 PM (rain date scheduled for July 15th, same time)
Where: Wiley School Elementary in Urbana
Who: You and your family
Cost: FREE FREE FREE!

Walker, the girls, and I hope to see many of our friends there!

Tuesday Temptations

I've mentioned in other posts how much I love Pinterest and one of the main reasons is all the great recipes I find.  I think my recipes board is one of my biggest boards!  We usually end up trying at least 1 new recipe every week and I thought I would share the results with my readers.  Not all of the recipes will be directly from Pinterest.  We do have many cookbooks in the house and sometimes we will try recipes from those that we have never had.  Anyway, the point is I am going to try (providing I remember) to post a new recipe every Tuesday.  Nothing special about Tuesdays; it just kind of worked for a clever title.  As soon as our desktop computer is up and running again I will probably come up with some cute graphic for my "Tuesday Temptations" but until then, just imagine a pretty title at the top.

So for my first edition, I bring to you a recipe for Skinny Pool-Side Dip:

This is how mine turned out

Prep Time: 5-10 min.        Cook Time: 0 min.     Servings: Approx. 16 (2 tbs. each)

Ingredients:
16 oz fat-free or reduced-fat cream cheese, softened (obviously fat-free would be less calories but it is more expensive)
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 jalepenos, unseeded and chopped (I just used a can of diced jalepeno; worked great!)
1 can of corn, drained
1/2 can diced black olives
1 packet ranch dressing mix

Directions:
 Using a hand mixer, blend the cream cheese with the ranch dressing mix.  Stir in pepper, jalepenos, corn, and olives.  Serve with crackers.

Nutrition Info:  (calculated using SparkPeople's Recipe Calculator...take it as an estimate)
Calories: 94.5
Fat: 5.8 (I used reduced fat-cream cheese, not fat-free)
Carbs: 7.8
Fiber: .8
Protein: 3.9

Review
This dip is super easy to make and very tasty.  Honestly I'm not sure how accurate the nutritional information is; I guesstimated on how many servings it actually makes.  I figured there's 16 tablespoons in 8 oz and I used 16 oz of cream cheese; but obviously the vegetables create more volume.  So it's entirely possible that there's 20+ servings in this dip (assuming each serving is 2 tbs.).  So if anything, there are actually less calories per serving than what I calculated.  Hope you enjoy the dip!

Holy Crap, It Worked!

All those who love cleaning their shower, raise your hand!  I'm assuming none of you shot your hand enthusiastically into the air which means you're like me.  Cleaning the shower is not a task you enjoy.  And when I don't enjoy something, guess what?  I don't do it that often (big surprise).  Therefore, our shower does not get cleaned all that often which leads to this:

I know...so gross.  And believe me, I have tried everything to get rid of that nasty ring around the shower.  The scrubbing bubbles I had clearly did not actually scrub like their animated counterparts on TV.  Ka-boom was more like a Ka-blah.  Tilex, Pinesol, Comet...nothing worked! 
Then last week I saw this pin that claimed with some vingar and some Dawn, your soap scum would be gone! (haha I totally rhymed and I didn't mean to).  Yes the blogger had before and after pictures but I still was kinda skeptical.  I've had other pins disappoint me.  But today I thought I'd give it a try.  Now the blogger wasn't very specific in her directions so I just kinda eyeballed how much to use of each.  I liberally  sprayed it on all the gunky spots  in the shower, set the timer and waited.  I was so excited to see if this worked that I actually cleaned other parts of my house while I was waiting (did I just say I was excited about cleaning?  what is wrong with me?!?)
While I was waiting I did look at the post again and realized she did link to the original blog post she had gotten the idea from (you do see what we're doing here.....creating a blog post link chain of the same idea) so I went to that blog that had more specific directions.  The girl on there heated her vinegar first.  Well, crap I didn't do that.  She also left it on for 2 hours, not one.  Well I wasn't going to do that either.  So when the timer went off, I was quite worried that maybe it wouldn't work after all since I had not followed the original directions.  Well here is the after:

Oh yes, I supersized that picture so you could see that all the nastiness is gone!  There are a few specks that are still kinda stuck and a spot on one of the shelves that needs some tougher elbow grease but for the most part, all of the grime wiped away easily with a wet rag.  Then I ran the shower on super hot for a few minutes to wash down all of the vinegar/Dawn solution. 
So how can you make this magic happen in your house?

What you'll need:
one spray bottle
vinegar (apparently there is cleaning vinegar at Wal-mart near the multipurpose cleaners, I just used regular distilled white vinegar)
Dawn (original blue bottle)

What you do:
You'll want to mix equal parts vinegar and Dawn, so that's a 1 to 1 ratio.  If you're bad with ratios, that means if you use 1 cup of Dawn, use 1 cup of vinegar.  But, before you mix them heat the vinegar first. I honestly don't know if you absolutely have to do this (as it worked for me when I didn't heat it) but it might be more powerful if you do (again, I don't know.  I'm not a chemistry person).  Put your vinegar and Dawn in a spray bottle and shake gently to mix them.
Spray whatever you want to get clean.  I used a LOT (as in almost the whole spray bottle) to do the shower but mine was pretty grimy (remember?  Scroll up if you don't). Set your timer for an hour.  If you think your tub/shower is worse than mine then maybe set your timer for 2 hours.
When the timer goes off, use a wet rag to wipe (and scrub a bit) the grime away.  Rinse area with hot water.  Stand back and admire your clean tub! (and then vow to never let it get that dirty again)
I will warn you that you will probably want to stay out of the bathroom while you're letting the solution soak because it stinks to high heaven.  But once you rinse all of the solution away, the smell will disappear too.

Father's Day

So I totally meant to post this on Sunday and now it's Wednesday.  Better late than never, I suppose.  I just wanted to share what the girls and I made for Walker for Father's Day.
Of course my idea came from Pinterest. 






This is the picture I pinned about 1 month ago (so cute right?) and unfortunately, about 2 weeks ago when I actually clicked on the pin itself it took me to a different pin on Pinterest by some girl that I don't even know and I'm pretty sure was not the original pinner of this.  Clearly there are people out there who still don't understand how to correctly pin things on Pinterest.  So I was pretty bummed because I didn't know where to find the original site.  I figured I could make something in photoshop but I wasn't sure how it would turn out.
Then, about a week before Father's Day, I was randomly looking through pins (not of people I follow) and I found it again!  And it linked to the correct site!  Eureka!  This is the blog that has not only the "how-to" but also ALL sorts of free files to customize your own Father's Day collage (seriously, any name you have for a male father-figure in your life, this lady has it). 
So I had the correct site, now I needed the pictures.  This was interesting.  Taylor was a challenge because when I put the chalkboard next to her she just wanted to name all the letters on it.  I actually managed to get a few good ones of her though.  I quickly checked the photos on my camera and realized that stupidly I had paid so much attention to Taylor through the lens that I forgot to look at the chalkboard.  And there was a nice ray of sunlight hitting the chalkboard that obscured part of a few words.  D'oh!  So I repositioned Taylor (checked the chalkboard through the lens) and tried to get a few more but by this point, Taylor was done.  So I stupidly thought "well I can somehow merge the good chalkboard image onto one with a bad chalkboard image."  I continued on with Lucy's pictures; she did great of course (and no random sunlight glares either!). 
So I opened the images in Lightroom and fixed some basic things and then I sent them over to Photoshop to try and place the "good" chalkboard over the "bad chalkboard.  Ummmmm yeah that didn't happen.  ::sigh::  So I hauled Taylor outside and sat her on the porch and thankfully she hammed it up and I got some good shots to choose from.  The anal side of me was irritated that the background of the pictures wouldn't be the same but oh well. 

So, with pictures edited and ready, it was time to make a collage with the file I got from the site.  Now I had another problem....the file says "Daddy, we love you because...." and on the chalkboard I wrote "he" instead of "you."  UGH!  I was not about to reshoot the pictures!  So I opened Photoshop again and luckily was able to copy and paste and make my own file (and yes I totally color-coordinated it with the girls' outfits).  Phew!  So after all that (are you bored yet?  Sorry...) here is the final product:

I actually like my version better because it uses hot pink ;)

Happy (late) Father's Day to all the dads out there! 

15 Months for Lucy

I guess being 15 months old isn't as major as turning 1 but I feel the need to write a post because she did have a doctor's appointment (I guess in my mind well check=blog post).

Weight: 19 lbs, 6.5 oz (she's only gained 5.5 oz in 3 months??)
Height: 29.25 inches (ah but she grew almost 2 inches)

As the pediatrician said today "well someone has to be at the bottom of the charts."  And it's not like Lucy is at the very bottom, 6th percentile for weight and 17th for height.  We're not really worried because she is pretty steady in her growth curve (although I have noticed her thighs have lost a bit of their chunk...::sniff sniff::)

As for physical milestones, well she obviously is walking now and like I predicted she's getting quite good at it.  It's funny to watch her try and actually go faster.  I think she's trying to run like Taylor does.  That's just what I need...another kid running away from me.
Lucy has been experimenting with using a spoon to eat.  She definitely gets the concept; it's just getting her hands to do the right thing in a coordinated way that doesn't end with mash potato in the hair (and on the face, highchair, clothes, dog, etc.)
Coloring is another activity that has sparked her interest lately that also requires a little refinement on the coordination.  Again, Lucy understands what she is supposed to do with the crayon (other than nibble on it), she just needs to adjust her pencil grip.

Language-wise I am not worried about this girl at all!  I'm not sure I could even list all of the words she says on her own in context.  And then there's all the words she repeats!  We definitely have to watch what we say around her.  I'm so relieved that Lucy is not having the same speech delays that Taylor has.
And let me tell you, this little one is a smart cookie.  Lucy sings the ABC's (minus a few letters), she can count (again, minus a few numbers- she's better at providing the next number if someone else is counting) and she is starting to recognize and name some letters, colors, and shapes.  And she'll say words sometimes and I just look at her and think "where in the world did you pick up on that?"  I tell you, Lucy is a little sponge- she just soaks it all in.  And I couldn't be prouder.
Not to say Taylor isn't smart; clearly she is a genius as well but this post is all about Lucy.....

Normally I end these posts with some pictures....but I haven't taken any "good" pictures of her lately.  I do have some black and white ones posted on Facebook from last week.  Hopefully this weekend I can get her outside to do more 'formal' pictures

Keep it in the Bathroom, Please!

*WARNING* This post might offend, annoy, hurt, etc. some people but I have just GOT to say this!
We all know it's a magical time when your toddler is potty training. However, posting Facebook statuses (statii?) about how many times your little angel peed or pooped in the potty that day is completely unnecessary.  Yes, I understand it is terribly exciting and how proud you are (believe me, when Taylor decides to go in the potty I will probably cry tears of joy, but I think that has more to do with the fact that diapers will be vacating our house) but simply said, I don't care.  I really don't!  And I don't care to read about it either.  I certainly don't have a problem with posts like "_____ can now use the potty!" or "____ spent all day in big girl undies!"  or even "no accidents today!" but posts like "5 pees and 2 poops in the potty today!" are just too much.  And yes I will admit, I have even removed certain people from my news feed because of their need to provide such detailed and constant updates.  Do you post updates on how much you've gone to the bathroom?  Hopefully, not.  So don't put your kid through that.  Yay for potty training, but please, keep it in the bathroom.  :)

PS- don't worry- when Taylor (and eventually Lucy) are potty trained, the most you will hear from me is that they are potty trained.  I promise no details will be shared (not even on here).  :)

Sing, Sing, Sing!

I think most of you saw the video of  Taylor singing along to "We Are Young" by Fun on Facebook (I'll post it below in case you didn't) but that is not the only song in Taylor's repertoire.  Apparently, Taylor pays much more attention to the radio than I thought.  And it's just random parts too.  For example, Rihanna's "We Fell in Love" (or whatever it's called) was playing and after the main chorus, the music picks up and has a repetitive beat that builds and builds (and makes me want to lace up my running shoes).  Well all of a sudden from the backseat, I hear a "dah, dah, dah, dah, dah" in perfect time to the music. I thought I was the only one who sang along to the instrumental parts!  And then last week, Christina Perry's "One Thousand Years" came on and Taylor started singing "one step cloooser."  The best was last night when "Moves like Jagger" came on and Taylor, while not able to nail the words of the chorus down, was able to provide the background "uh" at the exact right moments.  I see many Willis sing-a-longs in the future!!

We Have Take-Off!

Lucy took her first steps a few weeks ago.  Getting her to repeat them has been a huge challenge.  Most of the time she'll just stand there and look at us.  Or she'll sink down to her knees to crawl.  Or she'll just whine and fuss until we pick her up or hold out our hand for her to hold. 
Or I should say that's what she used to do.  The other night we were eating dinner and Lucy was crawling around on the floor.  Then all of a sudden she put her hands down, and pushed herself up to standing. She took a few steps, fell down, but promptly pushed herself up again.  She did this over and over.  And yesterday I believe Lucy walked more than she crawled.  Now she walks verrrry slowly still but I bet in a few weeks she will be quite speedy.  Here is a video of her pokey walking.

Body by Vi

Okay so if you're friends with me on Facebook you probably know that 2 weeks ago I started the 90 Day Challenge from Body by Vi.
When I first looked into it, I was a little skeptical.  To me it seemed like another program that promises a quick fix but doesn't deliver.  But I decided to go to my friend's shake tasting party anyway.  I do admit that hearing about my cousin-in-law's success with it did encourage me a little- at least I knew someone in real life that it's working for.
At the party I was convinced to give it a try.  After all, I can do anything for 90 days right?  I placed my order and got my first shipment 2 weeks ago.  I was actually pretty excited when it came.  I weighed and measured myself and took my "before" picture (yikes).
The program itself is easy: replace 2 meals a day with a shake, eat a sensible 3rd meal, and healthy snacks in between.  For women you're supposed to aim for 1200-1400 cals a day.  This sounds exactly Slimfast doesn't it?  Well it's very similar but the Body by Vi shakes are nutritionally better for you and there are SO many different kinds you can make.  I literally have over 100 recipes and often I just make up my own.  Last night for dinner I had a "Cinnamon Bun" shake.  It tasted just like a cinnamon bun!  
I'm happy to report that in 2 weeks I have lost 4.5 pounds which doesn't sound like a ton right?  Especially when my other cousin-in-law (who started the same time I did) has already lost 9 pounds.  But I have to remind myself that experts say normal weight loss is about 1-2 pounds a week.  And I did "cheat" on one or 2 days with my 3rd meal.  So I guess I could have potentially lost more but at the same time having a little "cheat" meal helps satisfy my cravings.
But I also have lost a total of 3.5 inches from all over.  That is exciting as well.  Interestingly almost half of that has come from my chest which just goes to show where women lose weight first (rather unfortunate if you ask me...haha!).
So maybe by now you're thinking "hmm I'd like to try that....how much does it cost?"  I know, I know there's always a catch right?  Well I'm not going to lie- it's $99 a month.  Sounds like a lot right but I think of it as $25 a week and considering I'm not buying food for breakfast and lunches I really don't feel that we're spending that much more money for me to be doing this program.  But here's the best part (do I sound like an infomercial yet?):  you can get it for free.  Yep, FREE.  You will have to pay for your 1st month but if you can get 3 people to sign up "underneath" you then your next shipment is free.  And it will keep being free as long as there are 3 people ordering every month from underneath you (can be the same 3 or different 3).
And now we've reached the real reason I've blogged about this- sign up under me!  LOL!  No, that's not the real reason.  I seriously am very excited about this program and I already have one person at school trying it with me (along with my cousins-in-law) and I think the more people doing something together, the more support you have and then you will be more successful.
So here is the website where you can get more info and sign up if you want.  And if you're interested in those recipes I have, let me know and I can email them to you (well you have to give me your email address if I don't already have it).  C'mon people- you can do ANYTHING for 90 days!  What do you have to lose?  (except weight?)

[/end of annoying cheerleader-like infomercial blog :P)]

Update to Allergies

So I finally have an update to what's going on with Miss Lucy and her allergies.  Oh yes, allergiesssss....plural...as in more than one.
Okay so after Lucy had that reaction I called the allergy department first.  They weren't interested in talking to me.  Okay fine.  So I called our pediatrician's office.  Can I say I love my pediatrician's nurse?  I don't think I've ever met her in person (a different nurse always gets the girls' measurements and I know it's a different person than the one on the phone b/c she's a parent of 2 former students of mine) but whenever I call on the phone she is SO nice and SO helpful.  Anyway, she said to bring Lucy in for bloodwork and they would test for allergies that way.  That is a LOT easier than what I had been imagining.  So I made Walker take her (hey, I had to deal with the blood draw at her 1 year check up).  That was 2 weeks ago.  The nurse called me the next Wednesday and told me what came up.  Are you ready?
walnuts? check
egg whites? check
mold? check
peanuts? check
milk? check
wheat? check
cat and dog dander? check and check

That is quite a list.  I was floored.  Walker and I do not have allergies other than seasonal ones which are usually very mild.  Walker is actually allergic to cats and dogs but somehow he's kind of grown out of it and if he's around the animal for long enough, he gets kind of immune.
So based on all of that the nurse said they were faxing her labs to the pediatric allergist at Carle and they were giving us a prescription for epi pens (one for us, one for daycare).  I didn't understand the wheat and milk allergies at. all.  Lucy has been drinking milk since February and eating cheerios like they were going out of style.  The nurse did say those were low to moderate allergies so we didn't need to do anything drastic until we met with the allergist. 
Cut to the next day when the nurse calls me again to say the allergist doesn't want to see Lucy because she is so young and most of her allergies were not that severe.  Our pediatrician recommended we "feed through" the food allergies and she will most likely outgrow them.  I agreed with the nurse on that except for the peanuts.  I told the nurse I didn't feel comfortable doing peanuts given the reaction she had (even though the peanut allergy only came up as moderate).  The nurse agreed with me.  She also said our pediatrician wanted us to see a dermatologist to see if there was a connection between Lucy's allergies and her eczema.  And the allergies that came up high were cat and dog dander.  Well where does Lucy spend most of her time?  Crawling on the floor amidst all the invisible hair we can't seem to control.  So could this be why her eczema has never gone away?  I didn't know but I wanted to see what the dermatologist thought.  So we went in last week and he said it could be causing it but he's not sure.  And really the only way to know for sure is to get rid of the animals and do a massive cleaning job.  But he didn't want us to go to that step yet.  First he gave us a stronger prescription cream.  We are to try it for a month and then we go back to see him and decide if it's working.  If it's not, more drastic measures may have to be taken such as becoming a pet-free house.  I have to be honest, this would make me pretty sad.  I've always had animals in my house (seriously the only time I did not have an animal living with me was when I lived in the dorms) and I can't imagine not having a furry friend to cuddle up to (and no, Walker does not count.  I said furry, not hairy).  And then there's the issue of where would our pets go?  I can NOT send them to the animal shelter.  I just can't.  My sister has volunteered to take the cat which is great.  But I'm not as worried about her as I am the dog.  Sadie needs a very particular type of house to live in.  And I'd want her to go to someone I know or someone my brother knows since she is his dog.  But you know we have another month before we have to make a decision like that.  I'm really hoping this cream will make a difference. 
So that is my rather lengthy update on the allergies.  And just for being so nice to read all of that here is a picture you've probably already seen on Facebook  :P

Goodbye Peanut Butter (maybe)

So tonight I encountered another first in mommy-hood: first allergic reaction to food.

Neither of the girls were interested in the baked chimichangas I made for dinner (which were amazing by the way- I can't believe they didn't like them) so I told Walker to spread some peanut butter on some bread for both of them.  I didn't think twice about this as Taylor has been eating peanut butter for over a year and food allergies do not run in our families.  Well Lucy barely touched her bread and peanut butter but it must have been just enough.  Less than 30 minutes later, Walker comes out from changing her and said "um what's up with her lip?"  Lucy's upper lip was puffy on the right side.  I looked at her and said "um what's up with her FACE?"  She had blotchy red patches all over her face and there were little bumps around the perimeter.   And her right eye was all red like it was irritated.  I immediately called my sister because I wasn't sure what to do as clearly Lucy was having an allergic reaction but it was obviously not life threatening (she was acting totally fine; just a little fussy but she was tired from no afternoon nap).  Jen (on the consult of her husband, a doctor) said to give her children's Benadryl and keep an eye on her and make an appointment with  a pediatric allergist pronto.  So tomorrow morning I will definitely be doing so.  I didn't realize that ENT doctors are the ones who treat allergies (at least they are the ones who do so at Christie Clinic) so I'm hoping we get to see Dr. Lipps again as he was the one who we saw when Taylor needed tubes put in her ears.  (and random sidenote but I love that an ENT doctor has the name Dr. Lipps!)
And now I probably will need to start preparing myself for all the precautions we'll have to start taking.  Oy......

Lucy's Party

Even though not many were in attendance (I really stink at picking good days for parties!) Lucy had a very nice birthday party.  My father-in-law was nice enough to lend us his house for the afternoon since our house is not nearly big enough for any party with more than 6 people. ;)  I really put a lot of work into the party so I wanted to share it with everyone...maybe I'll inspire someone to do their own owl-themed party.

So yes the theme was owls and the colors were purple and green.  I even made Taylor wear a purple shirt to match (and of course I wore one too!) because I am that much of a dork. :)

It's hard to see but that's the banner I made.  I just took a bunch of scrapbook paper to school and used our die-cut machine to cut the letters and then I used my circle cutter to make a bunch of circles to glue the letters on to.  Of course all the paper I used was different patterns of purple and green.

I made four of these adorable owls using those paper lanterns you can get at party stores.  You can see the tutorial here. I did not use foam or buttons like she did; paper was easier for me to work with.  I love these owls so much that I'm taking them to school and hanging them in my classroom.  No way am I throwing these away!

I wanted to display Lucy's scrapbook at her party but when I got it out I saw I had exactly one month scrapbooked.  So I could either cram 11 months worth of scrapbooking into a day (um, NO) or I could just snag her first year picture frame off the wall and bring that.  So that's what I did.  You can get those at Hobby Lobby if you're interested.  And here's the sign I made for the corner of it:

 

 Nothing too exciting about the tableware.  For the silverware holders, I just bought 2 cheap vases at Walmart and wrapped ribbon around them.  I was going to do this thing I saw on Pinterest that uses old soup cans but we have not used any cans in the past 2 weeks and I wasn't about to open any just so I could have the empty ones!  Besides I like how pretty the vases turned out.

 This is the favor basket.  It's kind of hard to see what's inside.  It's these:

So I saw these adorable bottles on Etsy.  Basically this lady took the PocketBac bottles from Bath&Body Works and made a label for them.  I thought it was really cute but I didn't want to pay $1.45 per bottle for something I know I could make myself.  So I opened up Photoshop, copied the owl from Lucy's invitations and made a label.  I printed them out and made a template for the right shape by peeling a label off the bottle and glueing it on cardstock and cutting it out.  Then I just traced the template over each label, cut them out, and voila! 

 

Some of the goodies that were served.  If you have not made Funfetti Cake Batter Buddies, do it soon!!  They are SOO good (and SO addicting!).   You can't tell but I did tint the almond bark before coating the cereal in it.  But of course once I added the cake mix and powdered sugar, you couldn't even tell.  Oh well.  I bought those bowls from the Target $1 section a few weeks back knowing I wanted to use them for the party but not knowing what I could do with them.  They were the perfect size for holding the snacks!  We also served buffalo chicken dip which is another one of my favorites. 

We also served these:

Owl cupcakes!  Yep I made those from scratch.  Well okay I used box cake mix and a tub of frosting but I did color the frosting myself.  I found these on Pinterest but they used brown M&M's for the pupils.  I used Junior Mints because I thought it looked better (and cuter!) to have bigger pupils.  The nose is an orange M&M.  And no I did not pick out all the orange ones from a bag (which is what Walker thought I was going to do).  Meijer sells M&M's (well generic version) in all different colors in their bulk foods aisle so I just got a scoop from there.

This is the cupcake holder I bought last year when it was on clearance after Easter.  So yep, I knew Lucy would have green as one of the party colors for a long time ;).   Hey, my fellow frugal moms know when you see a deal you gotta snag it!

And now the piece de resistance: Lucy's smash cake.

Yes I made that cake all by myself.  I have to admit I'm pretty proud.  :D  I got the recipe from here.  I did not use a starburst for the bow because they don't make green or purple starburst (well maybe they do actually but there weren't any in the bag I bought to get the orange nose!).  So I just took 3 white chocolate chips to make the bow.  And I don't know how the lady made the "ears" but I just took 2 broken oreos, stuck them in the cake and then frosted over them.  To be honest I almost didn't want Lucy to eat the cake!

Okay now some pictures from the party:

Lucy mostly got clothes and books.  Even though I said "no gifts" on the invitation (I guess people really don't pay attention to that!) people still asked what Lucy would like and I said, NO TOYS!  I'm sorry but we just have too many as it is.  I'm actually in the process of getting rid of some because they just take up a lot of room!  I did get her an adorable felt sandwich set from Melissa&Doug but that's more because I'm trying to replace the cheap plastic food the girls have.  

"Enough with the singing, I want to eat my cake!"

Alright cake, it's me vs. you and I plan on winning.

I should have taken a picture of the cake afterwards but Lucy barely made a dent in it.  Basically she ate a lot of the frosting.  So in the end, maybe the cake won.

So it was a great day for our little girl.  And now I need to start working on Taylor's 3 year bash (ha! just kidding!).