Summer Fun!!!

So I have had this idea percolating in my head for about a month now. Fluffy just finished preschool last week and Nay Nay will be out for the summer a week from Friday. So normally we only have 3-6 week summers because we are on year round school. However next year we are switching to traditional so we have a whole summer. For those of you unfamiliar with year round you do 45 school days on and 15 school days off. So I now have to entertain a 7, 5 and almost 3 year old through the end of August. Whats a mother to do??

I have mentioned that I am a clutter person. I passed that trait on to my daughters not so cool. So here is the deal I am creating a summer fun jar. In order to pick a activity from said jar their room has to be clean. I am hoping there is enough encentive to keep their room clean (hopefully while teaching them a good habit at the same time :)). So here are some of the ideas that I have to go into my jar but I need some help. Give me your ideas too.

Go to a park not in our neighborhood
Go ride the ponies at Gardner Village
Make homemade taffy
Make popcicles
Get out the slip and slide
Go to This is the Place Park
Make some cookies
Do a craft
Scrapbook
Go get an ice cream
Paint a picture
Make a new piece of jewelry
Paint our nails
Pick a toy in the dollar section
Get out the pool
run through the sprinklers
Make some play/salt dough
Play Charades
Play Snorta

That's what I got so far. Help me with some ideas to add to my jar :)

Follower Folly.

So Blogger seems to be having issues with the follower stuff. Never fear, click it anyway and I can see who is there from my dashboard. Please keep leaving comments, I love it!!!!

Thanks
Cari

Its a MAJOR AWARD!!!

Can you name that movie??? So I made it to the 26 followers and beyond :) Thanks to all of you, you sure know how to make a girl feel special. So I have the piece!! I just picked it up today. I am very excited to do this. I really LOVE to give gifts, and I REALLY LOVE personalizing a gift. I love to take the time and think about the person and give them something that suits their personality and traits. So because of that I want to give you the perfect piece. So I am going to give the Winner a few choices. Yep that's right!! I have 3 different pieces for you to choose from. Then you get to choose how I finish it just for you. Everything I have done up to this point has been with spray paint and I would like to stick with that if you please. Here are your choices :)

Small Hutch

Nightstand
I started this piece for a Christmas gift and wasn't feeling it so it go abandoned. Then my 2 year old decided he needed to glaze it white on top of what I had done.
Console/sofa table

Here are a few ideas of what I can do.

The first 2 images came from here. I did not paint these nor build them they are just for paint/stain ideas :)




So how do I win you ask??? Well first you have to be a follower. Then you have to comment on this post. Tell me what piece you like best and where you would put it. It is that simple :) You have 1 week!

As mentioned before if you aren't local I can't afford to ship you a piece of furniture but you still have a chance to win. I will make a quilt or some other item for you. Because I love you even if you live far away :)

Tidy Vs Messy

This is not my kitchen, just so we are clear :)

I feel the need by starting with the fact that I am a cluttery person. I know this, I try really hard not to be and I am continually working on it. Thanks for not judging me :) Any who.... What really started this blog post in my head, I was wondering what appliances you keep on your counter? Do you keep jars of your flour, sugar, salt etc???? As I was cleaning up my kitchen this morning and hitting some areas that needed attention, I get really frustrated by the messiness of the cords and getting everything to line up. That lead to making a spot in the cupboard for the crock pot (which incedently is supposed to live downstairs but I use it so often it rarely gets taken back down there). I keep looking at the clutter and I don't like it but I am not sure what to do with some of it. So tell me some of your tricks at keeping your kitchen and other rooms clutter free?
PS, I have made it to 26 followers!! Yay Me!!! I am working on finding an amazing piece of furniture to give away. Hopefully I will have one in a day or 2.....

Its a Jungle in here???

So NayNay and Sissy want to redecorate their room. They both want some say in how it is decorated. Last time I railroaded them into what I wanted :) Besides they were to young to make such important decisions. So Nay Nay really like giraffes, and Lilly loves baby jaguars. So I am thinking that I should try to incorprate both into their bedroom. When I asked them both separately, if they could decorate their room any way that they wanted they both said "Blue" and both included "Butterflies". So here is my dilema, I am all about the blue but I hesitate on the butterflies because I am afraid they will out grow it really quickly. Neither of them has really shown any interest in butterflies before either.

I don't want hot pink jungle love going on in their room either. I found this bed set that I think I could recreate using the animal print of their choice and a cute blue.
Or go a route something like this.

8 to Go!!

We only have 8 more followers to go until...... Come on folks, I know you are stalking. Just become a follower and you could WIN!!! Look at the potential for this table. I wanna see a before and after just for you!!

Double

Here's the DEALIO!!! I would love to double my followers :) I think in order to accomplish this I need to do a give away.... Something big, like maybe a piece of furniture......... Or if you live far away maybe a quilt or a baby towel? So here is the deal when I make it to 26 followers (I know random number) I will do a give away. I will let you pick the color but I will provide the piece. In order to win you must be a follower :) Good Luck!!

First Harvest

I bought some hanging strawberry baskets, we are trying to maximize our garden space and get as much crop as we can. Here are the first 2 berries we picked :)

Recipe Review: Savory Spiral Stuffed Rolls

I have been excited to try this recipe, it has been on the radar for the last week and a half. It takes some time so I was waiting for the right day and today was the day. I found the recipe on Mel's Kitchen Cafe. It was really good, the Hubbster and I really liked it my 7 year old was undecided but ate her whole roll. The 2 1/2 year old and 5 year old wouldn't even try it. That is not saying much because the 5 year old doesn't eat anything right now. I was a little worried about the lack of seasonings added to it. I was proven wrong it was really flavorful and blended well together. I didn't use the roll recipe recommended, I used an adapted version of the chewy soft pretzel dough. It was a faster rise :). It took about 1 1/2 hour to make from start to finish. I will be making these again.

Ambrosia!!!

I was looking for a simple caramel sauce for a while. My mother has a fabulous recipe for caramel but it takes a long time to make and lets face it sometimes I am lazy :). So I googled and tried a few until I found this recipe. It is so easy!! And super fast. The flavor is amazing and it just SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good!!!!!!! I can't get enough!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (yes I am using a lot of exclamation points) I want a bowl of ice cream just so I can have some. So have I made your mouth water, are you just dying to try this? Go and make some cause I am definitely not sharing :)

Kittencal's Easy Caramel Sauce or Ice Cream topping
1/2 cup butter (no substitution)
1 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream (unwhipped) the first time I made this I used half & half
1 tsp vanilla
In a small saucepan melt the butter, whisk in brown sugar until it is well blended(about 2 minutes). Whisk in whipping cream and cook for about another 2 minutes. Then add vanilla. This will thicken in the fridge.

(this photo is from the website, I couldn't seem to get a decent picture)

I end up cooking it for about 10 minutes total stirring almost constantly. Hope you enjoy:)

A quick Birthday gift.

So today is my wonderful, fabulous, amazing neighbor Jane's birthday. She makes the best treats and then shares the recipes (check her out here) I had been trying to come up with the perfect gift idea for her when I thought of this :) It turned out just how I had it pictured in my mind!

Happy Birthday Jane I think you are amazing and so glad to get to be your friend.

1.00 DI Frame



White Krylon


Grosgrain rosettes


a free printable (click here)

Maybe if you are nice to me I will make you one for your birthday :)