real life photos

for the past couple of weeks i have been trying to take pictures that tell a story. pictures that will remind me of the little things that happen around my home. i have really enjoyed this and i wanted to share some of the pictures. i typically only take pictures when my kids are all dressed and have clean faces. i decided since 90% of the time my kids aren't dressed in clothes that they can leave the house in, i should take pictures of how it really is.

howie and scarlett love paying with jude. they always are on either side of him fighting for his attention. too bad it literally is a fight most of the time!

 they were so excited that a friend brought them bubbles a couple weeks ago. it didn't take scarlett long to catch on. i'm sure it will be funner when they don't have to have winter coats on!

 my kids really love each other, most of the time, anyway. they always push their chairs or stools together when they are eating so they can be right beside each other.

 last week i ran to walmart one evening. 30 minutes later i returned home to this. clearly, neither of them needed any coaxing to go to sleep. when andy woke up in the morning he asked me if he was awake when i got home and what jude was doing when i got home. should i be trusting my over worked husband with a baby?? 

 this is the scene of my bedroom every morning. my kids always watch a show while i get myself awake enough to get out of bed. i love tv sometimes.

 jude is just starting to enjoy the bumbo. i had him sitting in it beside me while making our meal plan for the week.

 i bet if howie could pick anything to do in the whole world it would be to watch his dad play angry birds.

 scarlett will put pink and purple beads on this square for quite a long time all just to dump them back into the container at the end. who knew a 2 year old could love this craft so much!?

that's it. i am definitely going to keep this up!

i made THIS tuesday! #24

welcome to i made THIS! tuesday. i hope you all had a fabulous easter weekend!

join this weeks linky party:

1. if you've made something and you have posted it on your blog, then link to it using the linky tool below (link to a specific blog post not your home page) it can be something you sewed, crafted, baked or anything else you've made.

2. grab my i made THIS! button on the sidebar and post it in your post or your sidebar to let others know you are participating.

i made THIS tuesday! #23

last week ashley from simply design submitted some of the creative things she has done with peeps this year. i love all of her idea's. here are a couple:

peep push-up pops.

peep pops

(take a featured button from the sidebar if you were featured)

 join this weeks linky party:

1. if you've made something and you have posted it on your blog, then link to it using the linky tool below (link to a specific blog post not your home page) it can be something you sewed, crafted, baked or anything else you've made.
2. grab my i made THIS! button on the sidebar and post it in your post or your sidebar to let others know you are participating.

mac and cheese

my kids love mac and cheese, as most kids do. i really don't like that is is so unhealthy for them. i don't know what at least half the ingredients are on the box which makes me think is even more unhealthy. but they will both eat it, so i make it.

happy kids = happy mama.

i do, however, make it a little bit healthier when i make it with a little tip i learned from the book deceptively delicious. jessica seinfeld makes her own homemade mac and cheese and adds the cauliflower in. literally my kids won't touch homemade. i've tried quite a few times. talk about p.i.c.k.y.

they have NO idea that they are eating cauliflower when i add in in. all i do is, cook the noodles, drain, and add 1/2 cup pureed cauliflower and the cheese pouch. (omit the milk and butter)

i keep little snack sized ziplock bags filled with 1/2 cup cauliflower in my freezer at all times. when i start to boil water for the macaroni, i simple place 1 frozen bag of cauliflower in a bowl of hot water in the sink. by the time the noodles are done, the bag is defrosted.

do you have any tricks to make your kids eat veggies??

a little book shelf

do you have a place or item in your home that makes you happy every time you see it? i have a few.

one of them is this little bookshelf. it was originally a shelf made to hold hymn books at an  lds church. but, luckily for me, someone dropped it and smashed the corner of it. my dad who worked for the church at the time, took it home and plastered the corner and gave it to me, being a newly wed at the time, he knew any piece of furniture would be appreciated and used.

i painted it black first. i was a beginner in the whole painting world i just went and picked up some paint. 2 years later, when i decided to paint brown over the black, i learned that the black paint was oil based. and still being a beginner in the painting world, didn't think it would cause too much problem. fast forward 3 years, the bookshelf had brown paint peeling off of it, i chose to ignore it for sometime and put it is howie's room. (pictured below)

so once the peeling got out of control i stuck the ugly peeling shelf in the garage and left it there with an undetermined coarse of action. last summer i decided to tackle it before the baby was born. i sanded ALL the paint AND the original stain off of it. a horrible horrible job. i painted it a clean crisp white and put some sticky drawer liner on the back of it.

it now sits in our upstairs hallway between howie and scarlett's rooms. and i love it there. it is the perfect little shelf in the perfect spot. i am so happy i went to the work of sanding all the many finishes off so i could end up with this little gem.