Fairy Cake & Great Deals

Saturday my love took me out shopping. We got CJ a really cute July 4th tee-shirt from Target's dollar section. I found a nice small coliander and cutting board at Ross for $1.99 each.
I also got 2 metal rings from Lowe's for 96cents each to make a ring sling to carry CJ in.

But my favorite deals of the day were the Baby Einstein globe rattle for $1.99 ($5 at Target & Wal-Mart, I checked. lol) and a plush animal ring stacking toy for $1.49 from Ross. He smiled and cooed at that rattle for the whole 45 minute drive home! Well worth the $1.99 even if he never plays with it again.

Yesterday my mom made a yummy cake for Midsummer's Day. It was a not too sweet, light cake that is perfect for the hot hot days of summer!

Fairy Cake

2/3 cup soft butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup milk

3 eggs

2 1/8 cups white flour

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice (or vanilla if you don't like lemon)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. butter and flour two 8" baking pans. Cream butter and sugar; add eggs. In separate bowl combine dry ingredients. Add alternately with milk to butter/sugar/egg mixture. Add vanilla. Pour into pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Drizzle with light frosting (see recipe below).

Light Frosting

2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Mix sugar with milk, adding a small amount at a time until the frosting is able to drizzle off spoon.

Also yesterday I heard about a "huge" yard sale where a lady was selling a ton of baby boy clothes and toys cheap. So Sis & I ran out to see what it was all about. What we found was a small yard sale with a small box full of baby clothes for 50cents each. Well the lad ywas ready to clean up so she gave me a bag and said fill it up for a dollar. I was able to find 13 onesies in CJ's size and 2 burb clothes. yay! Also I got one of those little neck support things for a carseat for 50cents, a stroller for $4 it needs a good cleaning and its kinda hard to fold (you need both hands) but I couldn't refuse it for that price. lol Also I got this Fisher Price pillow with hanging toys that helps the baby sit up for $2.

And this Evenflo Exersaucer for $10. WooHoo!! Turned to be a successful trip out. :-) Also the lady offered to take my number and call when she had more clothes. yay!

Show & Tell Friday

Its Friday! Yay!!! I love fridays! It means 2 days of having my love at home. AND it means its Show & Tell at Kelli's! My show & tell for today is a picture of the mimosa tree that sits on the left side of our house (there's one on the right side too!). This is the view from my living room window that I see everytime I look out. Its also CJ's favorite view of the yard. He can stand (supported by me of course) on the couch and look out at our mimosa all day it seems like!

Peggy over at Homemade Simplicity is playing Peggy's Kitchen Bingo! Check it out and join in the fun!!

3 months old

I can hardly believe that today my baby is 3 months old!!! He is growing so fast! He had his first taste of rice cereal Tuesday night but he didn't seem to care for it much. lol This is him today.

We had a well-baby visit to the dr yesterday and my little man is 14lbs 15oz and 24 inches long!!! Wow! We're already in size 2 diapers!

He also had his pictures taken "professionally" at Wal-Mart yesterday for the first time. They were running a special of 35 pictures for $7.88 plus I had a coupon for a free 8x10. They turned out really good even though he wouldn't smile for the camera. He smiled while they were changing the background and stuff but once it was time to take the picture, no way! lol He is JUST like his daddy!

Works for me Wednesday

Its Wednesday! And that means WFMW over at Rocks in my Dryer.

My WFMW tip is about changing pads for your little ones. :-) My diaper bag came with a really nice changing pad. But its vinyl and takes up almost half of the diaper bag. So I took a set of curtains that I had made for the nursery but were way to short for the windows and threw one in the diaper bag. It takes up about as much space in the bag as a recieving blanket and can be thrown right in the washer with the rest of baby's clothes. Its the perfect changing pad and can double as a spit cloth (which I have done! LOL)

So there's my WFMW tip! Check out Rocks in my Dryer for more great tips and to add your own.

Interesting Weekend

Well this weekend proved to be very interesting! LOL Saturday we had a family yard sale (at a location about 10 minutes from my house). My love and I went to the gas station when we left and my sister and brother headed to the next town over to go to a different gas station. Well she took a different way than usual, which is the same way we had to go to get home. Anyway. we turned on to the first road and I see what looks like my sister's vechile sitting on the side of the road. So I say to my love "That looks like J's car. What is she doing sitting on the side of the road?" and he says "She in the field!" So we turn around and I see a truck sitting on the side of the road near her's and J's windsheild looked busted up. So I jump out of the car and go running to her to see if she was ok. Thank God both J and my brother were ok. Turns out this 70 year old man didn't stop at the stop sign and pulled out in front of her. To avoid hitting him she slammed on brakes and hit the ditch. She ended up in a cow pasture with her car tangled up in the electric fence. Thankfully they didn't hit each other and no one was hurt. My sister was so scared and upset. I'm so glad that God put me and my love where we were so that we were there to help her b/c the man didn't act like he was going to call the law or the man that owned the fence or anything. Anyway, I just praise the Lord that no one was hurt!! The farmer was really nice about the whole thing and my brother got a bunch of stickers from the Highway Patrolman (who btw was driving a gorgegous Dodge Charger! lol)

So later that day I made my love his Father's Day dinner. I made Shrimp Scampi, Shrimp Cocktail, Parmesean rice and Garlic Cheese biscuits. I also got a bottle of Welch's Grape juice in the glass bottle that looks like a wine bottle and fixed a cheesecake. Everything turned out so great! I wish I hadn't fixed the rice though b/c with the noodles in the Shrimp Scampi and the biscuits it was really too much.

Then after we ate my sister and brother came over (they live next door) to make my step-dad's Father's Day Candy Bouquet. It turned out SOOOOO awesome!!! I think its the best one I've done so far. (maybe it was the great help that I had.) We used 4 8-packs of snack size candy bars, a bag of Hershey Nuggets and a 1/2 pound Hershey's Milk Chocolate bar. Talk about some serious candy!!!

Here's my love's Father's Day presents, a tin of cookies that he *loves*, a bag of Cheese straws (another of of his faves) and a figurine of a man and woman holding a baby.

And here's CJ on Father's Day. Does it really get any cuter??

Apparently so......

Show & Tell and Father's Day

Its that time again! Its Show & Tell Friday over at Kelli's. Run on over to see more great Show & Tell's and to add your own.

My Show & Tell for today is the pride of my garden. :-) Its my first Calla Lily to bloom from my 2 Calla plants. Isn't she a beauty?

Sunday is Father's Day. :-) I made this onesie for CJ to wear from a onesie he already had and some blue fabric paint. It was so fun and easy! I can't wait to make more.

Our plans for the weekend include seeing my dad today since he has to work on Sunday. Saturday I have a special dinner planned for my DH of Boiled Shrimp with Cocktail Sauce, Shrimp Scampi, Rice (can't remember what kind I got), Garlic Cheese Biscuits and Cheesecake. Sunday CJ will go with his daddy to have lunch with his family while I stay home for some quiet mommy time. :-) And then we'll have dinner with my family. The picture below is the candy bouquet I made for my dad for Father's Day. My sister and I are making a big one for my step-dad. I hope everyone has a great weekend and a Happy Father's Day!

More to Come,

MrsB

House to Home Makeover continues

If you may recall, I talked about on the old blog about doing a "House to Home Makeover" decluttering and making my house more homey. Well Sunday my DH was home and he helped me rearrange our living room and declutter it. I think it looks SO much better!! You can see the before pictures here and here.

This is the bar that separates the kitchen and living room. There was a microwave sitting against the wall. We rarely use it though. So I moved it to under the sink. If we can go a couple of weeks without missing it then I'll be removing it from the house permently.

This is the section in front of the tv. The basket holds a few diapers and diaper rash cream, the wipes are slid under the couch. I keep some in the living room so I don't have to go to the nursery every time I need to change CJ. The basket off the right side of the picture is CJ's toys.

These are my Willow Tree Angels and a candle my momma gave me. The first Willow Tree is a woman holding a baby that I got for Mother's Day. The second is an angel holding a seashell up to her ear that my best friend gave me while I was pregnant and really sick in the hospital. The last is a pregnant woman. I love Willow Tree Angels.

This is the top of our stereo. The flower arrangement is one I made for our reception.

This is my basket that I keep next to the recliner. It holds my crochet and the books I'm reading.

Finally this is the top of our fridge.

More to come,

MrsB

Works for me Wednesday

It's that time again! Time for WFMW! Hop on over to Rocks in my Dryer for more great tips!!

My tip for today is for getting up all that dust and hair that collects on the floor in the bathroom and then is a pain to sweep up. Sunday my DH helped me do some spring cleaning so when it came time to do the bathroom I dreaded sweeping the floor b/c a ton of dust had collected under the rolley cart I use to keep our toilteries on *blush* plus I have kinda long, really thick hair that sheds worse than a dog. LOL Before I swept with the broom I took a dry sponge mop and went over the floor. All of the dust and hair collected onto the mop and was a snap to clean off and then I was able to sweep up with no problems!

More to come,
MrsB

No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

These cookies are soooo yummy!! I got the recipe off of a message board I visit.

2 cup sugar

1/2c milk

1/2c cocoa

one stick of butter

1/2c Peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla

3 cups of oats

Put the first four ingredients in a pot, bring to a boil add the pb and vanilla, let boil one minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the oats. Spoon onto a cookie sheet adn let cool (or eat hot out of bowl if you are impatient like me ) I know that you can make them without PB but would have to tweak it. I usually use less sugar ( 1 cup or so) and sub some of the butter for coconut oil but not all or it is too overpowering. I have tried all sorts of different ratios just to find what I like and to try and reduce the sugar. You can also sub some butter for extra PB if you want. If you like them soft just leave them out or put them in the fridge to make them a bit harder! I like that I can get all of the ingredients oganic and they are so fast to make so if I have a sweet craving I don't have to give in to the temptation of peanut M&M's

*MrsB's Notes: I added a dash of cinnamon and spread it out in a pan to make bar cookies instead of dropping them on the pan.

This is a bouquet of day lillies and a pretty purple flower that my sister and I picked up off the side of the road. :-) Aren't they pretty?

More to come,

MrsB

Show & Tell

Its Show & Tell Friday over at There's no place like home.

This is my Show & Tell for today. Its probably one of my favorite pictures of CJ. :-) My mom took this picture of CJ's feet in my hands when he was only a couple weeks old. Isn't it adorable? Its amazing to see the difference in the size of his feet already!

More to come,

MrsB

Keeping a House Cool without A/C

As the temps rise to 90+ I've been searching for ways to keep our house cool without using the A/C as much. Right now I have the thermometer set to 77* and a box fan set to low in the living room to keep the air circulating. So far its been keeping the house pretty cool. Here are some of the tips I found on a message board today.

1. If you cook, bake and can in the house rather than in an outdoor summer kitchen or campfire, do it in the evening so the house will have all night to cool off. But minimize cooking by serving salads, raw fruit, cool herb teas, and grilled or quickly heated foods.

2. Get cool air indoors. After the sun goes down and the outside air becomes cool, open all your windows and get as much of that good cool air inside as possible. Using fans, especially an attic fan, will help accomplish that quickly. (A fan doesn't need as much energy as does air conditioning, and it doesn't use chemical refrigerants!) In the morning, close all your windows to keep in the wonderful cool night air you collected.

3. Ceiling fans are inexpensive to operate and can help keep rooms cooler.

4. Hang heavy insulating blankets in all south- and west-facing windows, at least while the sun is shining on them. The more you can prevent summer sun from directly shining into your house's rooms, the cooler they will be.

5. A cool shower before the afternoon nap or bedtime helps keep both grown-ups and children cool.

6. Drink lots of pure water or water with a little fruit juice added.

7. Arrange your work schedule as they do in hot desert countries: Take a siesta or stay inside quietly in your coolest rrom during the hottest afternoon hours. Make up for it by working in the evening, when the temperatures are comfortable, doing what in winter you would have done in the afternoon. Plan to do hard mental jobs in the morning and expect to have brain meltdown during the hot hours, compensated for by that nap or undermanding time. It's a simple shysiological fact that we don't think and function as well under extreme heat.

Also there's an awesome post about getting your house in order over at Homemaker in Training.

Menus and Show & Tell

My Show & Tell for today is a dresser that we re-did for CJ's nursery.

Here's before:

And here's after:

Visit Kelli @ There's no place like home for more great show & tells.

Menu 5/21-5/29
Monday 5/21 Swiss Steak
Tues. 5/22 Maple-glazed Chicken & Skinny Mashed Potatoes
Wed. 5/23 birthday party
Thurs. 5/24 Beef & Broccoli
Fri. 5/25 Pizza
Sat. 5/26 BBQ Chicken from freezer & Mac and cheese
Sun. 5/27 Cheeseburgers on the grill, fries, & baked beans
Mon. 5/28 Crockpot pizza & salad
Tues 5/29 Oven-fried Chicken, Au gratin potatoes, salad

Menu Plan 5/30-6/10
Wed. 5/30 Baked Tilapia, Stewed potatoes
Thurs 5/31 Tacos
Fri. 6/1 Pork Loin, BBQ potatoes, cornbread
Sat. 6/2 Leftover night
Sun 6/3 birthday party
Mon 6/4 Maple-glazed Chicken, candied yams
Tues 6/5 Baked Potatoes, Salad
Wed 6/6 Pork Chops in cream gravy, ??
Thurs 6/7 Sloppy joes, fries or chips
Fri 6/8 Breakfast
Sat 6/9 Grilled Shrimp, Corn, Salad **Plan to cook hamburgers on the grill for later meals since the grill will be going anyway**
Sun 6/10 Hamburger steak, mashed potatoes, biscuits

Maple-glazed Chicken
1/4 cup maple syrup
4 tsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp butter
salt & pepper to taste
4 pieces chicken
Preheat oven to 450*. Mix maple syrup, lemon juice and butter together in small saucepan. Simmer for 5 minutes. Spray a baking dish and place chicken in it. Salt & pepper the chicken. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and pour on glaze. Bake until done.
Source: Not Just Beans cookbook

Skinny Mashed Potatoes
5 large potatoes, cut into 1" pieces
3 1/2 cups chicken broth, divided
1/2 tsp pepper
Boil potatoes in 2 1/4 cup of broths. Cover, cook until done. Drain, but reserve broth. Mash potatoes with 1 1/4 cups of broth and pepper until desired consistency is reached. Add more broth if needed.
**These were ok, but not as good as regular mashed potatoes with butter and milk. They'd work in a pinch or if someone is watching their weight though**

Beef & Broccoli

Crockpot Pizza

You take a 28oz can of pizza sauce (I used pasta sauce) add to it ground beef or sausage, onion and green pepper. Put a little bit in the bottom of your crockpot. Then add a 12oz bag of egg noddles and then the rest of the sauce. Top with shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheese. Cook on low or 3 or 4 hours. yummy!!!!

Oven fried chicken
equal parts of bread crumbs and flour
seasoning (optional) I used Cajun seasoning
Chicken breasts
Oil *you need enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan and fry the chicken in, but don't cover the chicken completely, I think I used about 1 cup.
Put oil in an oven safe pan and heat in oven. Mix flour, bread crumbs, and seasoning. Coat chicken. Take oil out of oven and add chicken. Cook until done. Don't flip the chicken or the coating will stick to the pan. If when the chicken is done there is still raw flour on top spoon a tiny bit of oil from the pan on to the chicken.
**My mom told me about this new way she read about to fry chicken in the oven and it is SOOO delicious! The breading was so crispy and the chicken was so tender and juicy!**