beside the wuggle pets crisis i got a new camera and i'm totally digging it. it's purple and 14 mega pixels. l.o.v.e.i.t. the birthday party pics should be fabulous.


masey is at the vet right now getting spayed. it's so quiet here, yes even with the boys. i miss her. it isn't the same. she did great and surgery is over and we can pick her up in a few hours. she will get to wear an awesome cone around her neck.


random pic time.

blake laughing at bed time

sawyer being cute

masey smiling

liam flying superman around

liam with the worms he dug lol

having snacks with the worms

reading

don't touch my book baby brother

crisis!!

i'm having a serious mom crisis. blake's party is in 2 days. this is the largest party he has ever had. the big event is making wuggle pets. every kiddo gets to make and take home one. they are like a build-a-bear.


so. i ordered two party packs 2 week ago with 2 day shipping. the order wasn't even processed until tuesday and the estimated shipping date is next tuesday!!!!!!!!!!! this means now i get to go all over town tonight and tomorrow searching for wuggle pets which are $10 each in the stores. i am so pissed. normally i would say let's just do something else but in this case they are the game, the prize and take home goody bag all in one. so the whole party.


i hope they are quicker about returning my money than they were processing my order :(

spaghetti

my kids are down with spaghetti. that's dinner tonight and here is how i make it.


i use angel hair pasta and a lot of it. sawyer loves the noodles plain with no sauce and leftover pasta is yummy the next day with tuna and mayo for tuna salad. 


instead of just hamburger i use equal amounts of mild italian sausage and brown those with some diced onion. just like my mom i use bottled sauce, again a huge bottle but i add a small can of diced tomatoes. to that lots of garlic, italian seasoning and a little sugar. sugar seems to cut the acid taste. dried or fresh basil is also yummy. spaghetti is like the cheapest and easiest meal for me to make :)
--it's not complete without garlic bread. frozen texas toast is easiest but the bakery section of the grocery store always has huge loaves of garlic french bread and it tastes SO good, much better than frozen, it's cheaper and you get way more.


speaking of the grocery store, i use the salad bar to cheat a lot ;) if i need to make deviled eggs and i'm not into it, or i don't have the time, i buy their eggs already boiled and chilled. on taco night i'm the only one who likes jalapenos and olives so it's cheaper to get a handful at the bar. and it can't be beat for just making meals pretty. if i'm taking a salad to a dinner a few cherry tomatoes and olives from it are just a few cents. i think every cook should cheat from their salad bar lol. 

the duty of shopping

i was reading some blogs tonight and wow, they are so funny and well written. sadly you will most likely not find that here lol.

anyhoo onto my topic of shopping.  so as you know i have 3 boys and boy can they put away some milk. i spend most of my grocery fund on milk. about 5 or 6 gallons.

so my life saver is costco. i won't say everything is a good deal there but i have many and i stick to them every month. i save several hundred dollars shopping there and make back my executive membership fee every year.

here are a few of my must haves:

meat
any fresh meat they carry. i can get a fabulous pot roast twice the size and half the cost of my grocery store. 
their ribs are to die for.
the ground beef tastes amazing and there is so little fat i have to add water to the pan when browning. i could go on and on here. try anything and you'll like it.


frozen stuff
chicken nuggets. a toddler's staple. here's the thing, though. costco carries mickey mouse all  white meat organic chicken nuggets. nuff said. 
pasta prima spinach & mozzarella ravioli with italian herb cheese packets. that's the entire fancy name. here's what it is. it comes in a green bag and it is the most amazing ravioli you will ever taste. you cook it as you normally would but what makes it so special is the packets of herbs and cheeses that come with it. after cooked you add olive oil and these packets and you have a meal that looks like you ordered out for and your kids will eat it up. you can add italian sausage if you want, or even pasta sauce but i'm telling you i add neither and everyone tears it up. this is my favorite dinner. cooks in one pot, done in 15 minutes, kids love it and it's even company worthy.


fresh foods
string cheese. price can't be beat for how much you get.
eggs. 4 dozen eggs for under 2 bucks!
sliced cheese. the yummy kraft brand.
butter, yogurt and cottage cheese
bread--2 loaves are sold together for the price of 1 in my grocery store. yummy brands like sarah lee :)
milk!!!!!! you will die when you see how cheap it is. i won't tell you so you can be surprised lol. 


misc.
if you're a soda drinker you need to buy it here. cascade packs are awesome on the price and i love not running out for about 3 months. yes, 3 months. gain laundry detergent and downy fabric softener.


let me say a couple of special things about cleaning products. i buy windex there. it comes in a regular size bottle and then a huge gallon refill. here's what i do. the bottle that comes with it goes under my kitchen sink. i buy pretty spray bottles at target and fill them. 1 for each bathroom i have. then i have windex at every mirror and sink in my home. i also should mention i buy my paper towels at costco so there is always a roll of towels to go with that windex.


clorox wipes are a love of mine. they are thick, they smell great and hardly leave streaks. they come in a package of 3 but let me tell you the canisters are huge. so here again one canister goes under the kitchen sink and then every other sink has a canister also.


every morning when i wake up i can super fast and very easily windex my mirrors and use the clorox wipes on my sinks, countertops, stove top, toilets and if needed event he tubs or showers. in a manner of 5 minutes my home is company ready  and costco helps me for sure with that. 


if you've never been to costco you should give it a try, you can visit for free. i buy way more things than i've listed here. go through the aisles, take some notes and see if the shopping there can save you money the way it does for me :)

bedtime stories

i still remember sitting on the top bunk listening to my mom read a story to me at bedtime. while i love my nook, you still gotta have some 'real books' around for your kiddos :) by my rocking chair in the living room i keep a few books on a fabulous stool i got at pottery barn. i switch the books out every couple of weeks or so. i also write little notes to the boys throughout the pages with the date just for cutes. i hope my boys have the same memories i do of a mommy reading a great book when it's time for nanite :)

some things are so frustrating to me. i don't know. i just think if there is a person in your life that brings you more bad than good, then maybe it's not the best idea to put so much effort or time into them period. and have you noticed that the people who seem to want little to do with us are the ones we put so much effort into? 


so what do you do? cut them out completely? put boundaries up? what if they are a relative? someone you can't avoid?


i am witness to this happening to someone all the time. and honestly i don't know what to say anymore. i'm out of advice. the toxic person doesn't seem to be too interested in fixing things, or even hearing they might be a part of the problem. what do you do with a person like that? a person who thinks they can't possibly be doing any wrong? is there hope with a person like this or a situation like this?


i guess what i'm asking is what the heck do you or have you done? or better yet how can you let go of the person? stop reaching out to them? how do you make peace with yourself if you let them go from your life? or if they have to remain in it how the heck do you deal with it?


does any of this even make sense? 

my mom's lasagna

i made this for dinner last night. it's amazing, so company worthy and kids eat it up. the  recipe isn't perfect with measurements.

1lb. of ground beef and 1lb. of mild italian sausage, browned with a little onion and drained.
to that add a large large jar of spaghetti sauce and 2 jars of pizza sauce. a little sugar and italian seasoning. simmer till hot.
in a mixing bowl mix a large container of ricotta cheese with 1 egg.
have a lot mozarella cheese. the good stuff from the deli. about a pound sliced.
a package of pepperoni, the trick is to put it on a plate with a paper towel under it ad over it and microwave just about 20 seconds. soak up the grease with the paper towels. this will keep the grease out of your lasagna.
a box of lasagna noodles. i like the oven ready so there's no boiling needed.
shredded mozarella for the top.

in a well greased 13x9 lasagna dish start with a small layer of sauce on the bottom. noodles always go on the sauce. a thin layer of ricotta, a layer of sliced mozarella, & a layer of pepperoni. repeat ending with sauce on top and sprinkle with you shredded mozarella. if you have pepperoni left put those on top of cheese to look pretty.

cover with foil, but make a little tent with it so it doesn't stick to your cheese. bake at 350 about 30 minutes. remove the foil for about 15 minutes more so that the cheese can brown. you want the dish to be bubbly hot. if your cheese is browning too fast turn the oven down to 300.

when you take it out of the oven let it sit about 20 minutes. doing this makes it cut pretty and all your layers will stay in place.

i've bought those metal pans and made 2 and froze one and it came out beautiful.

if someone has a baby or has a sick relative, death in the family etc. this is the dish to make and take.

more pics of masey's  (our golden retriever) stuff. i posted earlier this week her poster we have on the fridge of basic rules we follow. here is her toy basket, she's learning to only take toys from this basket. also another small poster we have on the fridge of human food she can and cannot eat. (also good for visitors) and her canisters in the kitchen where the kids know they can give her treats from.

i'm a huge fan of target and a big hater of wal-mart. (will blog about that another day) anyhoo this has to be the coolest thing i have found at target. this is a super huge tablet, with 2 huge magnets on the back to hold it securely on the fridge or what have you. you rip a page off and put it where you want it. it breaks down weekly things you have going on for your family. the coolest thing though is when you turn it over it has a menu planner and shopping list! your family can add things that are needed and write their own crap on the front :)

this is the actual table and you can see where i was writing ahead for this week. and next weeks:

kitchen organization:  i live in an apartment so i don't have a lot of drawer space. i bought a towel rack at nebraska furniture mart and this is where my dish rags and towels go not to mention pot holders.

the 12 month calendar for writing dates ahead of time:

the calendar where all the action is. i have a pic of when i first bought it and a pic of how it looks today lol. each kid has a cubby underneath and their robes hang on the hooks.

so pretty and new right?

actually in use haha. the pencil holder is from pottery barn kids along with the canister of chalk. the calendar is from pottery barn and comes in 2 colors of wood.

random organization:


you know the crap in your hands when you walk in the door that ends up places it shouldn't only for you to have to pick it up later? i do this instead:

now let me tell you about my favorite piece of furniture. this table i bought at pottery barn. i heart it so much. when i put things on it the kids know not to touch, it's off limits. it has drawers and that's where all my important papers go instead of on the kitchen table etc. under the table i have baskets, most with lids for random things i don't want you to see lol but also for things like blankets to cuddle with on the couch.

almost a tween

this is blake's room. he is turning 10. not quite a tween yet, but getting too old for little stuff. his room has things from both pottery barn kids and pottery barn teen. his furniture is from pottery barn teen. the unit we have his tv on are stack-able pieces so more can be added. his nightstand is also part of the same. the unite his tv is on has locker bins. they are made of real metal just like the real thing. also from pbteen. he can label the front and we can always buy more bins or baskets. his bed is high enough off the ground so that the same bins can go underneath to store things.


the mural on his wall is also from pbteen. his bedding is star wars and he has a star wars mobile hanging from the ceiling from pbkids. most of his toys are stored in his closet so that there is lots of room for playing his wii when friends are over. he doesn't know it yet but for his birthday he will be getting a gaming chair.

the little one's room. i bought liam's bed and bookcase at potter barn kids. the bed is also a playhouse that keeps him and his friends entertained. under the bed you'll see a red bookshelf also pbkids. my kids own a lot of books and i rotate them out to this shelf so we only have a few out at a time. on the bookshelf you'll see two blue bins. they hold whatever but the cool thing is that the outside of the bins is a chalkboard so they can write on them/label things with chalk if they want. they have a toybox in their room and i also rotate the toys in and out from it so they don't get bored. i don't think an over abundance of toys because they don't play with them and it's super hard to keep clean. 

the only plans i have to change things in the near future is to mount their tv on the wall so that i can put a lamp on the top shelf. i love how tall the shelf is, they can't reach the top and mounting hardware is included so it can't be tipped over.

pics of organization. here is the art table for the kids, purchased at pottery barn kids. instead of chairs i bought storage cubes that they can sit on and store things inside. every art supply has a home and if you want to draw or color you have to be here.

i love a clean home. i have to have it or i get super anxious. it's my one big hangup. so i've accepted it and learned to go with the flow. i've learned a few things over the years that make it easier.


...the less crap and clutter you have the less there is to clean. i don't mean decorating stuff, i love that sort of thing and don't mind dusting. i mean things that pile up or an over abundance of toys for your kids. throw papers and mail out that you don't need. go through every room and decide if you really need it. the issue with kids is a whole nother post about organizing their toys. 
...if you start with clean it's easier to just tidy every day. i do a serious deep clean every other month or so.this means that each day it's a short process of using a clorox wipe on the bathrooms. doing dishes and sweeping every day, that sorta thing. 
...everything has a home and every family member knows where that home is. the toys that are in the living room all fit in a basket and are picked up every night. the dog has her own toy basket. there is a place to put coupons, school papers etc. this eliminates clutter and it's nice to know where everything is all the time.

even the dog can be organized

we are now dog owners of a golden retriever puppy named masey. we love her but she is a LOT of work. the first thing i made was a list of rules we are using to potty train her. not only good for the kids but good for anyone who might be over. the poster is on the fridge and looks like this:

so far this is working well and keeping everyone on the same page.