life in full speed

EVERYONE says the same thing.  Enjoy the moments with your kids, cuz they grow quick and life moves at lightning speed.  Everyone is right.
Dustin has been helping complete a home that will be in the Parade of Homes, MN this march, so we have been like two ships sailing past in the night. He is getting up at 4 am to be to work by 5 and he is exhausted by 8pm.  Now add the crazy, fun life I am living.  I started watching my nephews on Mondays and Wednesdays.  They are two adorable gems who make the days fly by filled with lots of giggles. Kyla has now gotten to "the age of activities".  While I am all for kids getting involved in activities to grow their skills and expand their horizons, I really keep it in check.  Kyla has been averaging about every other week riding lessons on Mondays at Pine Lake Pastures and every Wednesday night is AWANA.
  So, you can see that the first three days of the week are an absolute blur! And I have been struggling with forethought on dinners.  That's where Google calender, Pinterest and the wonderful world of blogging has been helping me tame the wild beast of dinner prep!

 

I go to Google calender and print off the month that I am planning meals for and print off a blank copy.

Then I took one evening at caribou with a decaf Vanilla latte and a pencil( you may notice that the one above is written in pen and it looks all kinds of messed up!) and wrote out a list of all the meals that my family loves to eat.  From that list I also made a list of what are quick and easy.  Examples:  soup and sammies, pancakes or waffles, tacos , any crock pot meal.  You get the picture. EASY!!  

Those easy meals are what I then plan to make for those crazy busy Monday and Wednesdays.

Now on paper that looks awesome but real life happens!  I have a knack for forgetting to take out meat to thaw or I am not in the mood for what I wrote down.  

Enter Pinterest and the blog world!  

I pinned a link to this blog and was so excited to implement what she does!

aturtleslifeforme

Here is another link to

 savingyoudinero . 

There are some great crock pot meals that are easy to put together 

and throw in the freezer for future dinners.

 

   Kyla helping me make twice baked potatoes.

 

 Kyla showing off the end product. YUM!

I spent about 4 hours in the kitchen this Tuesday and I have about twenty "meals" ready to just whip out of the freezer (avg cost per meal $2.50! that is .63 per person to eat!).  So, now of those days when I am not feeling what I wrote down  was a great meal, I have some different yummy meals to choose from. 

So now, life may be moving, but I am able to enjoy the ride a bit more. 

Balto

One of my last posts I tried to recap last year to the best of  my ability without being too long winded.  Of all the things we did last year I forgot one of the biggest things we decided to do!   WE expanded our family.
Introducing our newest family member. Balto.

This Picture was from his 3rd birthday in November 2012.  He was very patient and waiting very nicely for his puppy cupcakes I made for him.

He is a German Shepard /Border Collie and he has brought a lot of joy to the family.  The kids love him to pieces and he has found a way to sucker a whole lot out of Dustin with his expressive eyes.  I love to take him on walks since he listens pretty well, unless there is an unleashed dog wandering.  Lucky for me he is only about 45 lbs, cuz he would squish me if he were any bigger.  He seems to think he is a lap dog and if the whole family is sitting on the couch he thinks that he needs to sit with us too.  

                                                                  Those eyes!!!

We got Balto in July 2012.  After Kyla praying and begging and pleading for a a dog, her dad finally said we could start looking.  After scouring shelters and websites galore we knew a couple things.  We did not want a puppy. We did not want a small dog or an  ubber large dog.  We wanted a mix and we wanted to find a well behaved dog that liked kids and had some personality.  After much searching I found a re-homing site through craigslist and emailed Balto's previous family.  They lived about thirty minutes away and were willing to bring him our way to see what we thought of him.  WE knew we hit the dog jack pot with him. :)

Balto is :

• Great on a leash
• amazing with the kids
• plays and enjoys the cat
• the biggest snuggle bug
• eager to please
• good with other dogs as long as he is NOT on a leash.
• great in the van. loves rides. 
• wary of strangers(questionable ones) when I am walking alone with him. 

He is still working on:

• Mouthing( his previous family let him gnaw on their arms! and he mostly does it to me)
• Jumping on people.(this has been curbed by never letting him greet people entering the house first)
• Running around the neighborhood if someone leaves the gate open.(this one is mostly our fault, who can blame a dog for wanting to see the world if he has open access to it! and to his credit he RUNS back to us the moment we call him.)
• Barking and jumping on our picture window when other dogs pass by( hey, he is a dog and barking is how they communicate, but the jumping on the window makes me freak!)
• Balto hates it when we leave.  He will run past the kids and sits by the van begging to go with. 

            Kyla thought he might be cold outside. So she insisted he needed a scarf. 

I never thought twice about pet adoption.  There are so many animals in the world would need a loving home and we are grateful for this great dog who is now apart of ours.

Kyla and Balto "Thunder Paws"

Valentines Lunch

 Today is Valentines day!  The day set apart to tell those around you, I love you.  I had planned all week before the love fest day to do PB&J heart sandwiches.  And with all my enthusiasm I could not win over my darling children to the idea.  Kyla particularly asked for meat, cheese and crackers.   

 So that is where I am praising the Lord above that I happened to have a mini heart cookie cutter!  I was able to cut out bologna, salami and cheese into these adorable hearts.My kids were happy.  That means this mama was happy too! Happy Valentines day! 

long time no postings!

Wow, I am in awe at how long it has been since my last post.  Almost a year!  Uffda!

Well, I can say that my year has been a blur and it really is true.  I can't say that I remember every detail of 2012, but there are a couple highlights!

• We were blessed to celebrate the wedding of Britta(Dustin's sister) and John Cusick.  I was one of three photographers for the big day and what a great time that was.  
• We spent a weekend in Milwaukee visiting family and celebrating Dustin's cousins graduation.
• I was asked to photograph the wedding of one of Dustin's uncles.  (that was crazy! hottest day of the year!  talk about melting!)
• My dad had a great 60th birthday party and we were so happy to see the Pearson side of the family all come to celebrate. 
• Kyla started to slowly take a couple riding lessons, which only increased her love of horses and her deep desire to learn how to ride them.
• Isaac is obsessed with all things Disney Cars/Mater.  He was also out little outdoor boy.  Lots of time was spent outside enjoying the backyard adventures.
• Dustin's business has been steadily growing, which is a HUGE blessing.  We still know many people in the home construction business who never recovered from the years of slow business.  Dustin has been blessed to NOT be one of them. This fall was not the greatest year for hunting.  He only got one doe, but I was so happy that I was with him!

• For me, it was a year of really learning to let go. I had a pretty traumatic experience with two abscessed teeth in the spring.  Having to remove them really stretched me and my faith.  God honored me and kept me healthy through the whole ordeal.  I finally gave up scrap booking too.  Not that I was EVER as good or as thorough as my mom, but I just stopped focusing on trying to scrapbook my memories and instead just focus on enjoying the memories.I also found an amazing company and products that have helped transform my life and health( more of that in another post!)

I am still attempting to be crafty, although that has been something through the holidays that I have not focused on so much. I have been pretty focused on my husband, kids, cooking and homeschooling.  So that sums up my weeks in a nutshell.

In this past week God has really been stretching me and opening my eyes to see some areas of my life that really needed to be reigned in.  I love social media, but God revealed how deeply I was using it to fill unmet needs that He himself wanted to fill in my life.  So this month will be a no Facebook month. (it may turn into more, we will see!)  There may be more posts about that in the coming days too!

I am reading an amazing book right now called Made to Crave by Lysa Terkeurst. She is filled with some amazing insight and wisdom.

This saying spoke to me. Lysa repeats it three times so its hard not to hear it! LOVE LOVE LOVE her God centered focus on being healthy and fit!

bad hair day.....

I don't know about you, but about every other haircut just doesn't seem to work out. I have the same stylist and she does a great job. I always leave feeling like I got a great cut and I have! The only difference is me!

I have been keeping my hair pretty short these days. I have an inverted bob and I love it for all its sass. But for some reason this time around my hair is really bothering me. To the point that I want to CHOP it extra short and have a pixie cut. Something I can honestly say I have NEVER done nor ever really thought about doing before.

So this morning I woke to a mass of nothing to brag about and was in just a tizzy on how to do my hair. I had no desire to stick my head under the faucet to re-wet my hair so I could blow dry and straighten my hair into submission.

SO I decided to try a scarf. I have had this scarf forever! Got it at a thrift shop and then never wore it. It just never seemed to fit my mood. But it seemed to fit my mood today! I don't usually wear scarves on my head either. Well, my hair is covered, no one can see the mess and I think it turned out alright....might see me in them more often.

my sunshine

You are my sunshine. my only sunshine.....

We all know the words. We all have probably sung it to our children. The song holds a special place in my heart since I do sing it every night to my kids before I kiss them goodnight. The soothing song lulls them into dream world and I leave them both in their beds with a smile on my lips and love in my heart.

SO, when I saw a gorgeous metal pendant on craftgawker that was adorn with a lovely sun surrounded by the words "you are my sunshine" I dreamed of a day I would own one for myself. My dilemma was that I had no clue who could make me such a precious jewel.

That was until this fall. I went to the annual craft show in New Richmond, WI and met Brittany Martell. What a gem!!! She is amazing and so are her amazing pieces. Don't believe me? Check her out for yourself here

My mom had gotten for my birthday two disks with each of the kids name on it. When my mom had accidentally misspelled Isaac's name I got in contact with Brittany. She was able to help me get that mix up fixed and I happened to mention to her the pendant I saw. She saw it and told me it would be simple for her to whip up. Ah heaven! So I just have to brag about her great work and also about how much I truly love it!

Homemade crackers

I found this yummy recipe in an old Mary Jane Farms Magazine and had to try it. I have never made crackers before so this was a major adventure! Kyla and Isaac loved to help pour in the ingredients. Kyla was also my cracker cutter. :) I think they turned out pretty tasty!

Kyla showing off her cutting skills

ready for the oven

YUM!

Here's the recipe: Makes about 3-5 dozen depending on size

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup oil( i used Olive oil, the recipe said they used grapeseed)
1/2 cup water
1 medium egg
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup sesame seeds(toasted) I did not have any, nor did I want them. Tasted fine without!

Preheat oven 350 degrees.
lightly grease cookie sheet

Combine first 4 ingredients in a medium bowl. slowly add oil, mix til looks like coarse crumbs. Slowly add water until dough forms ( I didn't use a full 1/2 cup)
Turn dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out very thin.
Mix egg sugar and vinegar.
Now I cut out my crackers and brushed the egg mixture on top of each.
Bake for 15-20 minutes depending on thickness. Transfer to a cooling rack.

Store crackers in an air tight container. IF they pick up moisture you can put them in a 250 degree oven for a few minutes!

green thumb.....we will see...

I can't lie. I am no green thumb. But I do love to get my hands dirty every spring and plant my pots and my veggie garden. Two years ago I even convinced Dustin to take out the dying evergreen bushes so I could plant a lovely perennial garden. So every year, my garden gets lusher and my thumbs get greener.

Its January people. IN WISCONSIN!!! Right now it is sub zero, dead and barren. I have been craving something green. SO I finally bit the bullet and bought a little 4 inch potted plant. It didn't come with the little stick thing that tells you what it is, so I have no friggin clue what it is. All I know is it is green and it is alive. I just hope I can keep it that way!

Date Night In

I don't know about you, but with two little ones, date night out is a thing of rarity. Kyla is just shy of four and we just found a lovely teenager who lives four blocks away! We are lucky enough to have Dustin's younger sisters who can watch the kids, but the two hours of driving to pick up and drop off makes that not the most appealing option.

So, date night out is a huge treat for us! Date night in, now that is a whole different thing. Dustin and I have been making huge efforts to have a date night at home at least once a week. So it made me think, " I bet there are more people out there that would really get encouraged if I put together a list of ideas for a date night in! So here goes!

First off. We put the kiddos to bed by eight! That is our rule for date night.

Watch a movie or TV show that you enjoy
Play a game (our favorites: Cribbage, Rummy, Checkers, Chess, Scrabble, Swap, Phase Ten, Skipo)
Play a Video Game( My hubby and I don't have video games, but I BET that if my Hubby were a gamer he would love it if I played a game with him!)

Buy a simple appetizer( we like fries) and share them
Read a book together
Candle light picnic on the floor.
( MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE!!) wake up early and have breakfast together and watch the sun rise. ( we do this in the summer almost 2-3 days a week!)
take your laptop into the car and have a drive in movie in your driveway!
Lay a blanket outside and star gaze
Dress up and have a late night dinner
Wine tasting night, Find a 3 or 4 wines you have never tried
Make or buy a sexy dessert and enjoy it together.( maybe even feed it to each other)
Do a Crossword together
Listen to podcast and discuss after
Send the kids to the grandparents! Then you have the whole house to yourself
Get on the roof with a blanket, radio and snack and enjoy the night sky
Get out the photo albums and reminisce about the great memories

Ok, so that is about all my brain can come up with for now. I may have to make a part 2 if I think of more! But you now have quite a few ideas for a cheap fun date night in!

All photos were found in Microsoft clipart

same style different dress

I have been sewing again.... I don't know if I mentioned it on Facebook or my blog that I have been wanting to make another strapless creation once I made my first one. It was such an easy pattern and the dress fits me so well I bought enough fabric to make two more dresses. I think my second dress came out very nicely!

I have got to take some time and cut out the next one. This dress is a New Look pattern and I am not kidding, it took me maybe an hour and a half after the cloth was cut!

YUMMY!!!

For Dustin's birthday he wanted something different. SO with a deep sigh we went through our cookbooks and all the different ideas that we have either tried once or never tried before. Gratefully it didn't take us too long to come up with his yum dish.
Muffaletta!

Its a southern sandwich that is filled with a lot of cheese and meat.


On our muffaletta: Mozzarella, smoked ham, hard salami, provolone, prosciutto, black and green olives, olive oil and the secret indgredient!!!!! Olive salad. ( you can buy it premade, but there are some websites that have the recipe for it) All this was placed in between the most delish bread, foccocia. I made this three hours before eating, since you want the juices to saturate throughout the whole sandwich!

The day after is even better!!!

Playtime with Daddy

Finally a post that has nothing to do with me or crafting or fashion!! I bet thats what you said! And if you are bummed, then I promise to post something soon.

There is not much in the world that tickles my heart as much as watching my kids love on their big strong daddy. They tackle and tickle. They giggle and scream with glee. Spending time with daddy has got to my kids top favorite thing to do. I don't mind either. I spend every day with them! So when Dustin gets home they stand at the window stomping their feet and screaming "DADDY'S home! " at him. Isaac cries if he has to go back outside to get something from his truck. Dustin is really loved! I encourage it too. I want my kids to make daddy coming home a big deal. I imagine that it won't be that way forever.

Dustin's attention and love is so important to those kiddos. Thinking back to my growing up days, I really see how the love and care my dad showed me, is why I can look at God as my loving daddy so easily.

SO, play away kids, play away!

felt and cloth transformed

When my creativity is flowing I get all kinds of ideas. This is my latest. My poor bible! Its a hard cover that is just in tatters. When I look at it I usually stick out my bottom lip and think that It looks so dilapidated. Sadly, its from me being a picker! I pick at the clear plastic top and then and edge appears and I just don't stop picking.( i have the same problem when it comes to my cuticles..hence I chew them to pieces! )

So I had an idea to cover all my rapidly breaking down cover. Here is where felt and cloth combine to create... MY BIBLE COVER!!! yeah me! Just measured it up to see how much I would need then got out the handy dandy sewing machine and wa la!!!!

TKO -todays kickin outfit

I was pretty excited when I put this outfit together. I had been wearing my new dress that I just made when Kyla went into my closet and started pulling stuff out asking me to put it on. The skirt was the one item I stopped on. I have had this skirt for over 3 years! I got it at a thrift store after I had kyla cuz it was heading into summer and I just wanted to feel pretty post pregnancy. Well, this skirt needs to be taken in now, its just too big, but I was able to whip up a whole new outfit that I have never worn. Again found a treasure in my closet!Thank you God!

wearing: cardigan, belt, tight:Target, blue beaded braclet(actually a necklace): Amazima Ministry, Necklace: Serindipity Thrift Store, shoes: Thrifted, Skirt and tank: mine

I was drinking out of this cup and had to smile at what it said. I hope that I can live up to this lofty verse!

seeing red....

I really enjoy changing my look daily. And there is one way I really enjoy changing my look with MAKEUP!. This sassy rouge is what I am wearing today!

I am wearing Cover Girl Euphoria
Just remember this rule! If you want to wear something this bold everything else should stay neutral. Or you may look like a circus performer!

reflecting moment

My daughter Kyla is precious to me. I love my little girl to pieces. So when my little princess asked if I wanted to play dolls with her, I was all for it. Well, that lasted about 5 minutes, then she decided she wanted to play fix mommys hair. What fun we had! I had to take a picture with my hairstylist too.

Later on that night, as I was tucking her into bed, Kyla pulled me down and whispered into my ear. " Mommy, tomorrow morning lets play dolls again and I will fix your hair."

In that moment, I realized yet again how important spending time with my children is. I will be the first to admit that I am easily distracted by technology. Music, phones, internet, my camera. They all pull my attention and I think to myself its ok, the kids are playing just fine without me. But!!!! How much more fine are they when I am playing with them!

I prayed about it last night and as I did, I heard the Lord say to me. You devote yourself to me first, Dustin second, kids third. " Well, ok God, but what about me and the things I want to do?"

"You are last Sue."

Ouch!!!!!! With tears in my eyes I repented of how often I have been putting me before them.
The verse : But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first. ( matt 19: 30 and mark 10:31)came to my mind. It was a lighting bolt of revelation for me. I am to lovingly serve my family, with no hopes of anything in return. That is my mission field for this season in my life. I am to put God and my families needs above my own. The Bible also says, there is no greater love, than a person laying down their lives for another.

So, what does that mean? Well, I guess for starters, I am going to have to place some boundries on technology. Its is such a distraction to me and I need( with Christ) to get control over it. I am praying about anything else..( i sure hope there is nothing else!)
In the end, I hope that my husband and two kiddos know they are my greatest earthly treasure and I am grateful everyday for them.

Sitchin some sassy

There is something about creating that brings you a little closer to understanding why GOd always said it was good every day of creation.

Now I am NOT GOd and I did not create this amazing universe and our planets and all that inhabit it. But I did create this lovely strapless dress. AHHHH was it fun!!! Just like my cooking, it only turns out great when you follow directions. SO I am not one of those cool fashion people who can litteretly sew something just from their own drawings. I followed a pattern that I got years ago! I wish I would have really looked at how easy it was,I may have made one of these sooner! My only problem was that by following the measurements on the back I made this dres WAY TOO big. SO I had to take it in, but luckily that was all my issues!

I bought this fabric on my birthday and I was excited to make something sweet and dainty. I think that I did a pretty good job.