Jessica's shower

Saturday afternoon, I helped host a shower for my sister in law; Jessica. Here's a virtual look into her shower!

First, I took a plain pink bag like this...

And made it like this...

Some cute onesies hung by clothes pins, that Macy made...

The entry way...

The table, minus the food!

My paint can with clothespins in it (for a game), & Macy's picture frame that she made

The cutest cookies EVER! I knew there was a reason to register for this serving tier...

YUM! I was even able to sneak one home to bring to my kids! 

CAKE! My mother in law had this cake made to match the invitations I bought

Macy's diaper cake. AMAZING!

Yes, let's open all those pink presents!

Brooke and Keira helping Jessica with the presents (yes; Brooke and Keira had been playing dress up and barber shop)

Everybody decorated a plain white onsie. How cute is that?!

Here's Keira's onsie. I should have taken a picture of the other side!

Keira kept coming downstairs in different costumes

The Prego girl and I

All the hostesses 

We cant wait to meet you Quinn! I"m going to steal you all the time (I'm family; I can do that)

Printable Coupons

I'm coupon happy today. Here are some coupons I found on the internet! Click on the bold words to view and print the coupons.

10% off Barnes and Nobles

Buy one Entree, get one free at TGI FRIDAYS- (expires march 1st!) 

25% off Borders (expires march 1st!) 

30% off Gap Stores

15% off Kohl's (Saturday ONLY!) 

Check out MommySavesBig to see if there are other coupons that interest you. If you use a different site and find good coupons, let me know!

Things I"m lovin list

Just for fun, here is a list of some things I"m loving, wishing for, or dreaming of! 

Loving these inspirational laundry rooms!

This one is small, but perfectly organized.

And this one is bold and clean!

Ah; loving the yellow and white.

I love to look at cookbooks and design magazines! Why do some of them have to be $10 an issue?! I spent some time in Borders yesterday reading through a lot!

I"m loving these vases. I have some large ones from Pottery Barn, but I love the idea of these smaller ones with lids! Perfect for the bathtub! I found some at Michael's that are reasonably priced. 

Just a Girl

And these for Easter!

Just a Girl

Homemade sugar scrub! I LOVE bath stuff. I recently told Edwin I was going to buy some sugar scrub or bath salts, but he could get them for me as a surprise and get the credit! Here is a homemade recipe courtesy of What's Shakin.

Recipe

I love this lampshade light from Pottery Barn kids. Don't you think someone could make it? I really like this rug and storage unit with baskets. If we were staying in this house, I would "overhaul" our playroom, but Edwin doesn't think its a good idea to spend a lot of money for it, when we don't think we'll have another playroom in the new house! I agree, but I still like this playroom...

Ah; this table is great. I especially love the chalkboard bins underneath! 

And this Pottery Barn Kids rug is perfect for Keira's room! Maybe one day...

I love beautiful and colorful flats at DSW!

I"m loving this round crib! It's pink and brown; ready to match Keira's room...

or this larger round crib

Last but not least, I'm lovin my family!

Menu Plan Monday

Baseball season has begun and our crazy spring is in full affect! For the next 2 weeks or so, Kade has both basketball and baseball, but we're so thankful he has a coach that is only making them practice baseball once a week, until basketball season is over! yeah! I'm really looking forward to both boy's teams, and we're anticipating a great season! I"m planning on ordering a "Kai's Mom" shirt and a "Kade's Mom" shirt for each team! That's right; THAT's what i'm excited about too.  (Maybe people will read the shirt, and actually believe I'm the mom and not the young nanny). 

 Kai's baseball practice starts at 5:30, so its a challenge to have dinner ready and everybody finished, so he can get to practice on time.  Our menu was all mumbled jumbled last week, and one night we just ordered pizza, because I couldn't get it all done on time! Thank you Pizza Hut. 

Here's what the Twitty's have cookin this week: As always, check out Orgjunkie for more menu's and recipes!

Monday- Italian Chicken with corn and peas (Kade baseball; 5:30)

Tuesday- Potato Soup (Kai baseball; 5:30 Kade basketball; 6:30)

Wednesday- Good ole spaghetti (Kai baseball; 5:30)

Thursday- Pork Chops (with a "secret rub" that was made by Edwin's friend, Mikey!) green beans, and mashed potatoes (or crescent rolls if I dont get the mashed potatoes done!) Kai baseball; 5:30 Kade basketball; 7:30)

Friday- Messy Tacos

Saturday- I'll be helping to host my sister in law's baby shower, so I'm leaving Edwin and the kiddo's with hot dogs, and might get some yummy Chickfila for our dinner. 

Dessert- Homemade Pumpkin Bread

Tearing our fence down

We finally get a new fence on Tuesday! I"m really excited about it, because it's the first step in our house getting fixed from lovely Ike; and, the first step in our house getting ready to sell. We still don't have a contractor to fix everything else; roof, chimney, exterior siding and paint, and all our interior. With all the rain, we've been getting further interior damage. The other day it actually started raining through our skylight in our family room and we had to put a pot under it! Edwin's duct tape obviously isn't a permanent solution! Thankfully, it just dripped a little and hasn't proved to be a big problem. 

Back to the fence; we had a little section of the fence still up, so Edwin wanted to knock it down before the work began on the new fence. Here's a quick snapshot of all the kids trying to tear the fence down. Kai started climbing the fence and when Edwin kicked it, Kai got knocked off! He was fine though; no worries. 

Not keeping house

Yesterday I dabbled into craftiness, instead of keeping house. Of course I have 4 loads of laundry I'm currently doing, because of that! I had a fun day though, and here are some pictures of my efforts! Visit the Nesting Place, for other quick design ideas! She's hosting a 10 minute re design party. 

This is the top of Keira's dresser.  I re covered the lamp and made the picture frames yesterday. A while ago, I hung this mirror and added the pink candle in the Pottery Barn vase. Lamp and picture frame re-do's- all for $5! I would actually LOVE to purchase a really nice pink and brown lamp from pottery barn, but its just not what I want to spend the money on! Feel free to put that on your gift list for me, though...ha!

Here's a close up of one of the picture frames. This is Keira and her cousin, Zane, about 2 years ago. I'll probably think the decor is ghetto and not like it in a few months, but I like it for now! Plus, I had all the materials already, so it didnt really cost me anything to change it!  Besides, I'm a woman and its my prerogative to change my mind! 

Isn't this pretty?! I think so

The pink fringe fabric that's on the lamp and picture frames, was on sale at Hobby Lobby for $2/yard. That's all I needed. I purchased some rolls of ribbon at Hobby Lobby; they were on sale too.

This is a paint can for Jessica's shower. I got the inspiration HERE. I love it! I'm going to make one for Easter and place Easter eggs inside. Edwin asked, "for what"? For decor!

The paint can is under $3 at Home Depot. The paper is from Michaels (some are $.50 a sheet and some are $.80 a sheet). The ribbon was from Hobby Lobby. I think its cute for a nursery, to put baby wipes or something like that inside. For now, it will just be used as decor for a baby shower. Jessica, if you want to take it with you after the shower, it will cost you $15. ha

And now I must do Laundry. 

Menu Plan Monday

Keira and I are about to leave and go to our local Pottery Barn kids store. The Cat in the Hat is doing an appearance and reading, and Keira is super excited! There are stores participating all over the country; all from 10-12 today! I'll post pictures afterwards!

"Hey good looking. Whatcha got cookin?! How bout cookin something good tonight?!"Need some more cooking inspiration? Go where I go! Look at Orgjunkie for menu help!

Monday- Grilled chicken, broccoli, and corn on the cob. (Didn't have chicken last week!)

Tuesday- Cheeseburger casserole

Wednesday- Eddie's Enchiladas (new recipe from my father in law!)

Thursday- Chicken Tortilla Soup

Friday- Kid's choice

Recipes 

(I decided to go ahead and write down some of these, if you're interested)

Cheeseburger Casserole

Brown 1 lb. hamberburger, add diced tomatoes or 1 small can tomatoe sauce. Simmer. Add a little bit of ketchup if dry. Add 1-1/2 cups macaroni already cooked. Top with velvetta and let melt.  

Chicken Tortilla Soup (Given by Jessica. so yummy!)

1/2 chopped onion

1 clove minced garlic

1 sm bunch cilantro-chopped

2 cans Fat Free Chicken broth

1 sm can tomato sauce

1/2 package of Taco Seasoning

1-16 oz can Mexican style Tomatoes

1 can Corn Drained

1 Tbs Worchestire sauce

3 whole boneless skinless chicken breasts

salt & pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a crock pot on low all day. Break up the chicken into small pieces (chunks or shredded; you're preference!). Serve with tortilla chips, cheese, and sour cream (we just use cheese and break up tortilla chips in the soup!) yum

Chocolate Play-do

I found this recipe for chocolate play- do HERE; at Just For Fun.  It's not edible, but smells oh so yummy! I actually tasted it while I was making it; it looked like cake mix and I couldn't resist. DONT taste it! It's gross. How could something with so much chocolate, taste so bad?! Well, it has provided ALL three kids hours of fun today. 

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup salt

1/2 Tablespoon cream of Tartar

1/2 Tablespoon oil

1 1/2 cups water

Mix dry ingredients in a medium size saucepan. Add wet ingredients and stir together over low heat until a ball of dough forms. Remove playdough from the saucepan and knead by hand until dough is smooth and evenly colored. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until chilled a little bit. 

Them Sick Twitty's

Today has been a "crazy mom day"; as I like to call it. Let's start with last week, which leads up to today. 

Poor Kai was home with a fever last Thursday and Friday, but started to feel better over the weekend. He went to school Monday, but apparently it wore him out because he got a 101 fever that night and is home again today. Kade stayed home from school yesterday, and all the coughing sparked his asthma and had to do some breathing treatments last night. Keira lost her voice on Sunday, but said she didnt feel bad; thats weird. TODAY, I took Keira to the dentist while my father in law sat with Kai at the house (thank you family!) She's appears to have a little fever and definitely doesnt feel good.  I was naively hoping Kade and Keira wouldnt get sick too! Edwin wasn't feeling great over the weekend, but I think his back pain is keeping him from thinking about it. He's going to a chiropractor which is great, because he's getting the treatment needed for his back pain! The bills; not so great. 

Back to the kids, I just picked up Kade from school during his lunch break, so he could do another breathing treatment for his asthma. All three kids have a dr.'s appointment today at 3:15, so I'll be taking Kade back to school in a minute, then picking him up earlier AGAIN. Why not just let him stay home, ya say?! Well for one; he doesnt feel bad enough to stay home. And two; he left his backpack and everything at school! On my way to pick up Kade earlier, I drove thru McDonalds to get everybody lunch to eat at home. NONE of the kids took more than one bite! what?! Seriously. None of them are hungry; even for their favorite thing on this planet! If I wasn't convinced they were sick, I am Now! I took some pictures of Them Sick Twitty's. Poor kiddos. 

I'll be honest, its days like these when I feel like I need a supermom cape or something, to get through! But there is no supermom cape; just the grace bestowed from God and the support of our families. A special thanks to my husband for allowing me to email and text him a zillion times before noon! (and he responded each time). My husband rocks. 

Here's Kade doing his breathing treatment

Kai in the chair

Sweet little Keira on the couch

Menu Plan Monday- Valentine addition!

Here's what the Twitty's are cookin up this week! I haven't been posting the recipes, because it just takes too long to write all the recipes, but I'll send you the recipe if you want it for something! Click here for more menu planning and recipes. 

Monday- Lemon chicken piccata served over rice, and corn on the cob

Tuesday- Breakfast for dinner; eggs, bacon, crescent rolls 

Wednesday-Grilled Chicken, green beans, and steamed broccoli   

Thursday- Hungry Boy Casserole

Friday- Kid's choice 

Saturday- Valentine's Day

Breakfast- heart pancakes (courtesy of Edwin)

lunch-heart grilled cheese sandwiches 

dinner-Valentine heart pasta (courtesy of World Market) 

dessert- peppermint heart cookies 

Muffin Tin Crayons

I got this idea from this site, a while back and wanted to make them with Keira! We just followed these instructions below. Keira LOVED peeling the crayons and sorting them in the muffin tin. Aren't they fun?! Yes, I used somebody else's pictures of their kids. Kinda weird, but I didnt take pictures with Keira. 

and then:

Set your oven to 350 and:Keep an eye on them though, take them out as soon as they melt!

Then, let them cool and:

Aren't they pretty?

And then of course,