Tuesday, February 28, 2012

My yummy dinner!!

Monday, February 27, 2012

This is what Bella thinks of her McDonald's chicken nuggets and chocolate milk!

5 months!

15.1 lbs
26 inches long
Size 2 diapers
3-6mo clothes and even some 6 mo clothes!
And she just rolled from back to tummy for the 1st time yesterday!

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Whole Wheat Banana Muffins

I decided to play around with my favorite banana muffin recipe today! I substituted Splenda for the sugar and whole wheat flour for the white flour. I also substituted Stevia to sprinkle on top of the muffins at the end, instead of powdered sugar. I haven't tasted one yet because I am still on my HCG diet AND I have a major head cold and can't really taste anyways! I will have to have my husband be my guinea pig when he gets home! I do think that next time I may not put the whole 1 3/4 cup of flour in....maybe wheat flour is bulkier??


Ingredients

1
cup splenda no-calorie sweetener
1
cup Margarine or butter
1
egg (Large)(I used a brown egg from my co-worker's chicken!!!)
1.5
cups, mashed bananas
1
teaspoon baking soda
1
teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4
cup wholewheat flour
1/2
cup white flour
1
tablespoon water
1
teaspoon Mixed Spice (it calls for nutmeg...I had pumpkin pie spice!)


1 mix splenda and margarine
2 add egg and mix well
3 add bananas
4 dissolve baking soda in water
5 add vanilla to batter
6 add baking soda/water to batter
7 sift dry ingredients together
8 gradually add dry ingredients to batter
9 mix well
10 spoon into muffin tin
11 bake at 350 degrees for 20 min
12 when cool, sprinkle with Stevia in the raw if you'd like!

Update....
Definitely need to tweak these some! My husband said the 1st batch was very dry! I am going to make a 2nd batch tonight with maybe 2 cups bananas, an extra egg and only 1 cup wheat flour.... I will have to play around with it!

2/23
ok, so I made a 2nd batch and they are much better! I am going to change the ingedients list above!!!

Pillow Case Dress

My latest obsession....pillow case dresses! So far, I have made 2 for Bella and 1 for Olivia! The one pictured is Olivia's and I made the exact same one for Bella as well!
Here is one I made for Bella...

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Spring cleaning.....

So, spring is in the air...ok, so it has been all winter really....but, I have lately gotten the urge to clean, renew and redecorate the house! I have so many ideas swirling in my head! I once read that you should re-paint, redecorate your house every 5 years to keep it fresh and updated! Well, we have been here 5 1/2 yrs...so it's time! We actually already have tentative plans to do three of the upstairs bedrooms once our tax refund arrives....we want to re-paint them, tear up the old carpet and lay laminate floors. We are also doing some bedroom swapping....my oldest daughter is in college and getting an apartment...so her old bedroom will become my 13 year old's room. My 13 year old's room will become a playroom and my son's room, well he will keep it, just with new paint and floors! I am also getting inspired to re-paint our upstairs loft and hallway...a pretty big area actually....kind of like an upstairs living room! I painted it a green color not too long after we moved in, but am just ready for a change now. I am drawn lately back to beiges and tans and neutrals. I am thinking a light tan color. That will also open it up and lighten it up more, as the back of our house faces north and so it doesn't get a lot of direct sunlight during the day & there is only one window in the area that is giving natural light to the area. We have a big couch & recliner up there (which I would prefer to just sell & turn this area into a playroom) but hubby doesn't want to try to move that furniture downstairs....sigh! So, I will compromise....re-paint, keep it a "family room" add a TV (which we used to have in there but removed when it finally gave out on us about a year or two ago.)


Our hallway is wide and I am thinking of adding a frames out chalkboard wall to it....a great place for the little ones to draw and play....especially since the hall is right outside our bedroom and my son's bedroom. I am thinking of doing an area of maybe 6 feet by 4 feet and framing it with moulding. I also have plans to re-do the bathroom in the hall. I painted it light blue about 4 yrs ago, a kind of beachy theme....not sure exactly what I want to do in there, but it definitely needs some refreshing! I also have big plans to re-paint the formal living room downstairs...but more on that later. One area at a time!! I think today, I will get some paint samples for upstairs.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

2/7/2012

14.1 lbs

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Thursday, February 2, 2012

2/2/2012

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

I am full of creative thoughts today. I was up early and was able to have a few hours free of fussy babies and whiny toddlers (don't get me wrong, I LOVE my babies, but sometimes I do need peace & quiet ME time!!) I spent some time on Pinterest and pinned away all sorts of ideas for the soon-to-be playroom! I would ideally like to turn the upstairs loft into the playroom...it's the ideal location and size, but right now, we have an oversized sofa & a big recliner in there, so that doesn't leave much room for toys.....sigh! And hubby won't admit it, but I think he is just emotionally attached to that furniture because it was his FIRST! And I do like it, but am ready to part with it! Its probably 12 years old. Still in good shape, we could probably sell it on Craigslist for a couple hundred...maybe....but he says "no, it stays! It is too big and there is no way I am trying to carry that down the stairs!" I guess I could sweet talk him and hire professional movers to carry it down to the garage...

So, for now that room stays as is...)-: However, we have been dying to tear up the carpet in three of our bedrooms and put laminate flooring in. How hard can it be???? So, one bedroom is my son's, one bedroom is my 13 year old daughter's and the 3rd room will become a playroom. I cannot wait to get started!
I tentatively did our taxes online yesterday & although we are still waiting for one more W2, this year looks like it will be a fantastic year refund-wise! Last year, we got NADA!!! I am so happy about that & it will allow us to get our emergency fund replenished. We plan to get back into the whole Dave Ramsey way of handling the finances. And now that my minivan is paid off (and I have title in hand!!!), we can concentrate on paying off hubby's car! As it stands, we have 2 more years to pay on it.... So, of course here are a few shots of the girls, they are growing so quickly, I don't want to miss a day....so I have to photograph them all the time!!!
January 31st, 2012
February 1st, 2012
February 1, 2012

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