Eli's No Mulch Muncher!

Little man loves the outside. It was pretty enough a few days ago to play outside at the park. Eli played with everything, saw all the sights, ran like a wild man, and came home for a very long nap.

Here's my happy boy standing in the mulch he enjoyed carrying in his hand while he explored. By some miracle, he never tried to taste it!
Eli considered climbing a just his size tree. There was a little guy rock climbing wall that was pretty cool. It won't be long, buddy.
Isn't this the cutest little seat? I know it's really a climbing step, but it made the perfect little spot for my little man to plop down and kick his feet.
Eli tried out the slide. Not the whole thing, of course. It was pretty fun!

There was a little music maker in the land of the little bitty kids. We have quite the musical genius on our hands. ;)
This is how Eli spent the bulk of his park time--just hanging out and exploring.

Eli was not a fan of the swings. We even tried putting him on a lap and swinging on the big kid swings. He wasn't having it. This was his swing happy face...

Cute little doorway, cute little boy.
We had a great time at the park. I cannot wait for summer break!

Lingering thought of the day: Eli loves his Uncle Kent!

Nervous Energy

Those who read my blog will know far too much about me before all is said and done. When I get nervous, scared, mad, upset, hurt feelinged, ecstatic, or feel any strong feelings at all, I become very productive. Last week, I was a bit nervous. So, I started getting things done.

I baked. The top pictures are chocolate surprise cookies. They were a lot prettier in the cookbook, and the recipe was supposed to make 2 1/2 dozen. The cookies on the platter are the entire batch, which leads me to believe I made them just a bit too large. They are on the platter that my mom sent my birthday cake on. She taught me that when someone sends you something on/in a dish, you are to return the dish with something scrumptious for them. So, she gets these ginormous chocolate cakey cookies.



These are snickerdoodles. I love snickerdoodles. Both batches were made Sunday morning before church.

My dad requested that we bring him a picture of Eli to put in his room while he recovers, so I made him this collage. Isn't that little man adorable?

While Eli was home sick & napping, I made dad a card and totebag. I've been playing with lots of different hand-written designs and fonts on paper products. These totebags are so easy to make. I've done them two different ways. Option one: take the tote bag apart, trace on the back, machine stitch it, cut the felt, and reassemble the tote. Option two: pin on the felt, hand-stitch freehanded, cut the felt along the stitching, and call it a day. For this bag, I used option two. If you're going to use writing, use option one.

Eli made PawPaw Keith a card. Inside there was artwork by Eli. He's quite the artist, but he had more marker on himself than he did the card. His little hands looked like they belonged to a Smurf. Thank goodness for washable markers!

If you only have an ounce of creativity, a little bit of free time, and some nervous energy to drive you along, it's quite simple to make some creatively frugal gifts!

Lingering thought of the day: It frustrates me when I can't get my pictures and words lined up just how I want them to be!

Real lingering thought of the day: In precisely six days, dad will be out of surgery now and my hubby will know whether or not he matched. It'll be one major Monday.

Keep on Talkin'

Until about my junior year of high school, I was painfully shy. I'm talking blushed any time anyone acknowledged my presence shy. Then I got a job where I had to talk to strangers, greet them, be friendly, and come out of my shell. It helped a lot. I grew quite a personality in that phase of my life.

That's when things changed. I now have the "gift of gab." I can usually talk to anyone. Talking to total strangers doesn't bother me much at all. Sometimes, if I really get going, I have trouble stopping (talking that is).

This past week, talking has saved a bundle of money. With a little encouragement and guidance from my father-in-law and my dad, I've wiggled a few prices down. The following are some good tips for frugalistas like me:

#1--Be accepting of open box items (aka display models of products). My camera pooped out on me on Saturday, so it was time to find a new one. We found an open box camera that had many, many features for the price of a camera with far less. Since I've been blogging, I've been in the market for a little laptop to call my own. I found an open box HP mini for less than store cost. My teensy snowflake (that's her name) is adorable and meets all of my needs for half of what we wanted to spend.

#2--Ask if they'll take less. We found both aforementioned items at Best Buy. We asked if they would take less money for the camera since we were purchasing the laptop too. They lowered the already clearanced camera by 10%, saving us $15.00. We would have bought it anyway, but by asking we saved a decent amount.

#3--Keep on talking. My mom & dad wanted to stay in a hotel the night before dad's surgery--which was moved to next Monday. My hubby and I were in St. Louis a day or two before anyway, so I went in to the location and started talking to the desk clerk. They wanted a King bedroom (internet price $119.) and a King suite that was adjoining to the King room. I asked questions and asked for deals. Both rooms were reduced to $75.00 per night--even the suite. I'm sure it cost more than the regular room. So the minimum savings were $90.00, though most likely the savings were probably more.

Talking to the employees of these businesses was not embarassing, nor did it give my pride a ding. I was friendly, matter of fact, and upbeat. The employees didn't seem to mind my asking these things. In fact, they seemed glad to help.

Lingering thought of the day: Dad's surgery was moved to next Monday due to an emergency that came in. Please keep on praying!

Coffee Drinking Baby

This morning my hubby, Eli, and I went to B&B Bagels for breakfast. It was scrumptious. AND we had a buy one, get one coupon, so we all ate for under $7.00. I love bargains. Anyway, breakfast was really good. We all enjoyed it. However, for my little man it simply wasn't enough. He wanted whatever was in dad's "cup." So his dad let him try his first drinks (yes, plural) of coffee.

At first he seemed a bit unsure...
Bottoms up! He drank and drank the coffee and fell in love with it, I'm afraid. Then he decided enough is enough and gave it up. Apparently Daddy had enough too, because Eli took off with it!
Then he went back to his breakfast. Yummy!

Here's my happy little man enjoying his breakfast.

AND he's spent. Eli decided this photo shoot was over. Not that he calls the shots...
Lingering thought of the day: I love getting to spend time hanging out with my boys!

Love of Rump (Roast, That Is)

I've already discussed my love of crockpots and the mandatory use of crockpot liners, so I'll skip all of that today and get into one of my favorite crockpot recipes. However, I will give a little disclaimer first. I am a dump cook. Rarely is anthing ever done exactly the same way twice in my kitchen. Therefore, I have no specific measurements for this. I put in what sounds good in an amount that feels right. That helps a lot, huh?

This time I used:
*Roast--I asked for the smallest rump roast they had at HyVee. Otherwise we end up with about 25 lbs. of meat in our crockpot. That's a little much.
*Baby carrots--washed, uncut
*Little red potatoes--Some days I use yellow, but red sounded better.
*Yellow onion
*Beef broth--about 3/4 of a can
*2 Bay leaves
*Beef buillon cube
*Salt & peppa
*Onion powder
*Thyme
*Oregano
*Basil
*That's all I can remember. I think that's it...

After cooking for many moons in the crockpot, the roast looked like this:
Here's the plated version. I make a really mean gravy with the juices, but there was not time in the day this time--unfortunately. I love gravy. The lack of made me a bit sad.
Even without gravy, the meal was good. It was an easy one-pot meal plus a whole wheat roll. Yum!

Lingering thought of the day: Pray for my dad and his surgeons. He's having a valve replaced on Monday. We're ready for him to be all better!

Snickers--The New Rose?

Being a fan of all that is sweet (and crafty), I've always wanted to create a candy bouquet. After taking a floral design class in college, I was totally confident in my abilities. If I can arrange flowers, I can arrange candy... Let me fill you in on a little secret. I get ideas for projects all the time. "It will be so easy. Here's how I'll do it..." Most of the time, these things don't turn out exactly as I expect. So, today while I was home with a sick, napping baby, I decided to bite the bullet and give this idea a try. It was so much easier than I anticipated!

I started by gathering my supplies: Snickers, sundae dish, foam disk, craft shreds, ribbon (x2), and straight pins. These items are not all pictured. Sorry for the fuzzy picture...it kind of makes me sea sick. Once my supplies were gathered, I tied the bow around the bottom of the dish. I took a few Snickers and layered them in the sundae dish. I put a little layer of shreds on top of that, then put the foam disk in. Once these items were situated, I started sticking the Snickers into the foam using the straight pins. From this point on, it moves pretty quickly. Just layer and layer Snickers until no more green foam can be seen.

A few different views:

Once the bouquet was finished and the pictures were taken, I added a few Snickers to a few bald spots. I didn't notice the bald spots until I looked at the pictures. They're fixed now. This is a very fun easy treat. It's quick and not too costly.

Lingering thought of the day: Eli's doctor appointment today went well. I was told to just wait it out; he'll be better soon! I'll be glad to have my happy baby back to normal.

Popcorn Palooza

I was invited to a bridal shower that occurred this past weekend. Although unable to attend, I wanted to send a gift. This shower had a fun and different (at least it was new to me) idea behind it. Each guest was given an hour of the day--mine was 7pm--and was asked to bring a gift the couple could use in that time frame.

This required some thought. Being a foodie, I thought dinner time would be fun. However, 7pm is a little after the dinner hour. SO, I thought about a movie and popcorn. I checked their registry and found a game. Bananagrams. I've never played it, but it looks like fun. Anyway... I bought the game and stuck to the popcorn idea. Let me explain.

I bought three little glass containers and to fill with popcorn toppings. I made a Southern Mix, Chili Cheese Mix, and Chocolate Mix. Each little container held a different mix. Here's an example: Then I assembled the seasonings in a big popcorn bowl full of popcorn (rather than some silly filler that doesn't follow the theme and is basically just a waste). I added a few packs of unseasoned popcorn, and put the game front and center.
I bought a roll of shrink wrap to cover the gift--so none of it would jump ship on the car ride. Not that I'm a wild driver...it was just piled a little high. :) The shrink wrap was really fun to put on, but my first attempt was far from beautiful. This will require a bit of practice. In the process of wrapping the gift, I knocked over some of the toppings and things shifted a bit. Now I know some handy pointers for next time.
I had a lot of fun putting this gift together. I like to buy from registries, so that I'm sure what I'm getting is something they want/need. However, I like to add a personal touch to gifts. I think both goals were accomplished here. Woohoo for presents!

Lingering thought of the day: My little man has had a fever & cough for four days now. Pray that he feels better soon!