You + Me

I'm back... I know life is crazy!! I usually put up a few things for Valentines but nothing huge.  This year taking down Christmas just didn't jive so I decided to make myself feel better by doing more Valentines!! :)
I saw this craft on Pintrest and loved it so here is my recreation of it.  And I will give you instructions on how to do it :)

Step 1: Use painters tape to add your stripes. I used 1.5 inch  tape so I spaced them 1.5 inches.

 All done.

Step 2: The pics are in the wrong order...  Work with me here :)  Paint your canvas in the color you chose.  While your paint is drying I traced this heart onto my felt and cut it out.

 Step 3: Glue your buttons on your heart.  I used Elmers clear glue.  I forgot to take a picture of mine while I was working so this is my friend Melanie's.  I would highly recommend gluing/attaching your heart before you do your buttons it will make the process easier. Lesson learned.

 Step 4: If you haven't already attached you heart to the canvas do so now.

Step 5: I used my cricut to cut the letters out in cardstock. I used my Xyron sticker maker to turn them into permanent sticker.  You could use stamps, stickers or vinyl to do these. I used what I had.  Happy Crafting!!

Chore Charts

So I have recently seen and been asked about kids and chores.  We are by no means perfect at this and my kids still fight us once in a while but for the most part this is a system that we have figured out and works for us.  We have 3 kids that are old enough to do chores. So we have a 3 day room rotation. The calender is labeled a,b or c each day.  They also have after dinner chore that goes with the same rotation.

Example:
A- Lainey: Bathroom
     Lilly: Piano room
     Gordon: Family room
B- Lainey: Piano Room
     Lilly: Family Room
     Gordon: Bathroom
C- Lainey: Family Room
     Lilly: Bathroom
     Gordon: Piano Room
Our kids are helped with the things they can't do by themselves.  I also went through and made lists of what is expected for each room.  We have a child that is very literal so having it written out for her and it doesn't change makes a big difference for her. When you first look at the list it may seem like a lot but with it being done everyday it makes things go quickly and they can get it done in about 5-10 minutes.  Here is an example of what is expected in a room.

Family Room:
Everyday:
Pick up floor
dust off surfaces
take out garbage if needed
Tuesdays and Thursdays:
Vacuum
Saturdays:
Vacuum
Wipe down dirty spots on walls
Wipe down baseboards

Our kids are paid for their chores with dimes.  Seems like not much but if they make their beds and do a few other things along with what is listed here they can earn about 3.50 a week. For a young kid that isn't bad.
Hope this gives you some ideas on how to get your kids to do their chores.

So Sweet!!! and Sour

So my hubby and I worked in a restaurant when we were teenagers. It was kinda like an old fashion American food. Chicken Fried Stake, Liver and Onions sorta place.  Years and years ago it was a Chinese food place and their sweet and sour sauce hung around.  It was so good to dip chicken fingers in!!  Tonight I made baked wontons.  I wanted something to dip them in. In the past I have continually made the ketchup, pineapple juice version in variation hoping to get a sauce I liked but to no avail. Tonight I started thinking about the sauce that we had at the Emerald.  My hubby was a cook so I asked him if he remember it. Nope. Sad face :(.... So I got on pintrest and searched most of what came up was the previously mentioned stuff.  I saw 1 recipe that looked different but I didn't have all the ingredients.  I found another that was promising but had a lot of ketchup.   I took the 2 and picked the parts I thought I would like and this is what was born!!

Sweet and Sour Sauce

1/4-1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup white vinegar or rice wine

1/2 cup water

1 tbsp ketchup

1 tbsp cornstarch 

1/4 tsp garlic powder

put pepper flakes in the bottom of the pan and heat till they become fragrant. Add sugar, vinegar, garlic and ketchup. Bring to boil. Mix cornstarch and water together and stir it in. Bring to a boil.  If it doesn't thicken add a little more cornstarch and water.

This almost seemed like a mix of the sweet chili sauce at Iggy's and a sweet and sour!!  I LOVE IT!!!  This is not my picture mine is lighter in color. I should be packing for our trip not blogging so.....

Faux.......

So our major trip for the summer is over and the kids start school in less than 2 weeks.  I am in the middle of a major hutch redo for my brother in law and his new bride. I have kinda run into a little problem and I am trying to figure that out.  So in the mean time I was going nuts without a project and reading way to many books.  I needed something to do big time!!  I have a whole bunch of antique windows that I have collected and they are just sitting around collecting all sorts of dust.  When I had the idea of turning one into a faux stained glass window.  I had this idea that I was going to use beach glass from the dollar store to do it.  Alas there was now beach glass at the dollar store so I picked up 4 bags of the round pebblish looking ones.  As I was driving home from the store I started thinking about it and wondering if I should try something else.  So after looking at a whole bunch of ideas now I can't decide what I want to do.  I always like feedback and opinions so I thought I would throw this up here.  I have at least narrowed down my ideas, I think....  Here are a few things I was thinking about doing.  Please feel free to leave a comment and tell me what you think.  I am pretty sure the window has lead paint on it so I will be dawning a mask and gloves and giving them a sanding on Monday and then I can't wait to get started.


Here was kinda the original idea, but I was thinking of doing some sort of pattern

But then as I looked at a few other ideas I kinda liked some of these.

A camping we will go...

My my my, it has been a LONG TIME!!!  I have had the blog on my mind a lot lately and have actually wanted to post! Live has been crazy busy!   The hubs and I each have a brother getting married. Today My M-I-L and Sister in laws did a shower for Rashelle.  I was in charge of the food and the decorations and providing the space.  Since we were doing a camping shower I decided to do dutch oven desserts.  It was raining and the oven had some issues but in the end we ended up with some scrumptious treats!  I was asked for the recipes for all 3 so I am gonna share them all here with you!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

	Topping		Cake Batter
4	Tbs. butter	1	yellow cake mix
1	cup brown sugar	1	cup pineapple juice
8	pineapple rings	1/3	cup water
8	maraschino cherries	3	eggs
		1/3	cup oil

Prepare Cake Topping: Melt butter in bottom of a 12" Dutch oven. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over butter being careful not to touch the sugar once it has begun to dissolve into the butter. Carefully place pineapple rings on top of the brown sugar, 7 around the outside and 1 in the center. Place a maraschino cherry in the center of each pineapple ring. Prepare Cake Batter: In a mixing bowl combine cake mix, pineapple juice, water, eggs and oil; mix well. Spoon cake batter carefully over the top of pineapple rings. Spread batter evenly to edges. Bake: Cover Dutch oven and bake using 10-12 briquettes bottom and 14-16 briquettes top for 45 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes or so in the oven with the lid cracked. Next run a rubber spatula around the inside edge of the oven to loosen the cake. To turn the cake out, first lay a piece of parchment paper across the top of the oven so it lays flat and replace the lid so that it holds the paper in place. Make sure you have an available lid stand resting on your table for the next step. Using gloved hands place one hand on the lid and the other hand under the oven and carefully lift and flip the oven over so the cake falls onto the lid. Rest the oven upside down on the lid stand and tap the bottom and sides of the oven lightly with your hand to make sure the cake didn't stick. Then lift the oven off the lid. The cake will be resting on the parchment lined lid and can be cooled this way or slid off the lid using the parchment paper. Allow cake to cool slightly before service. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream as topping. Serves: 8-10 Chocolate Lovers Delight 1 1/2 cup water 1 (10 oz.) bag miniature marshmallows 1/4 cup cocoa powder 1 chocolate cake mix; prepared as directed 1 cup light brown sugar 6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips Line the bottom and sides of a 12" Dutch oven with heavy foil. Mix the water, cocoa powder, and brown sugar together and pour into the Dutch oven. Add marshmallows and spread them out evenly. Pour prepared chocolate cake mix over marshmallows. Sprinkle chocolate chips over cake batter. Cover oven and bake using 8-10 briquettes bottom and 14-16 briquettes top for 60 minutes. Serve warm with whipped cream. Serves: 10-12 Raspberry Cobbler 1 cake mix yellow, white or vanilla 1 cup melted butter 2 boxes Danish Dessert 1 bag frozen or fresh raspberries Cook Danish Dessert according to filling directions and put in the bottom of a lined dutch oven. Sprinkle cake mix over top of the filling. Pour melted butter on top and bake in at 350 for about 40 minutes until top is golden and bubbly. I was going to post but my computer is apparently out of memory and won't let me load the pics off the camera.  Happy Dutch Ovening :)

Vomit.......

Warning this post may contain to much information of a vomitus nature. Yes I know that vomitus isn't a real word but I like it and it is my blog :). Consider yourself warned!! Also this post will contain no pictures as no one wants to see this!
So my eldest daughter who is 8 1/2 vomits a lot.  In the last 3 weeks or so we have had 3 episodes of her vomiting.  Let me just say that she is the worst when it comes to keeping it contained.  I have been projectile vomited on multiple times.  I do not handle this well. I do hope that she never takes up drinking because she doesn't handle puking to well.  If the Hubby is home it is his job, mostly because he would rather clean up 1 pile of puke rather than 2!  We are trying to figure out what causes this.  We usually lean towards dehydration which she seems to get dehydrated at the drop of a hat.  I am also wondering if emotion plays into her vomiting incidences.  School started 2 days ago and we are still in the thrill stage.  She seems to also have issues with eating to much junk.

So here is the point of this post.... Do you have any children that do this?  She is a very healthy child otherwise.  Any tips or advice would be great. We are starting a food journal for her, and we are going to start monitoring how much water she is drinking.

When Life gives you lemons, make Lemonade... No really

See that thing on the side bar that says "Tip of the Week"?  Yes you mean that tip that has changed oh 1 in the entire time?  Yep that's the one!!  Well this post was going to be a little tidbit for there but the more I thought about it the more I had to say.  Lemons!!  Lemons are great little buggers and are really pretty useful.  If you are anything like me I run across recipes that call for fresh lemon juice or lemon zest and I don't have any.  La sigh :(.  So usually the next trip to the store I end up picking some up and then they sit because I can't remember what I was going to use them for.  So then after about a week or so the skins start to look a little sad.....

This is where the tips come in.  My husbands grandfather is a chef.  He has studied all over the world and has won some pretty major competitions, (at least that is my guess his trophies/plates are all in French).  He gave me this fantastic idea to do with the lemons before they go bad.  Start by juicing them, then you freeze the juice.  I suppose you could even zest them and put the zest in with the juice if you desire.  Grandpa Hans puts his juice in ice cube trays and then when he wants a glass of lemonade one cube and couple spoonfuls of sugar and water, and TA DA you have a single size serving of fresh lemonade.

I put the juice in freezer bags and toss them in the freezer.  Then when I need it I thaw off as much as I need and away I go.  This can be done with all citrus juice!

Another thing that you could do with the leftover peel is to stick them in a bottle or jar and fill the jar with vinegar.  Wait one week and you have a completely green, chemical free, super cleaner that combines the power of citrus and vinegar.  Remove the lemon peels and  mix 1 part cleaner to 1 part water and use anywhere!  This could also be done with limes, oranges, or even grapefruit.

Garbage disposal a little stinky??  Next citrus fruit you peel stick the peels down the disposal and run.  Then your drain will smell much better!

Hope you find at least one of these tips helpful!

Calling all Moms

I need some opinions if you please....  I am scheduled to be induced 3 weeks from tomorrow if he doesn't decide to make his appearance sooner.  I bet you can all guess which one I am voting for!  Our infant carrier has expired and I am looking for a new one.  Since this is most likely our last baby, I am not wanting to spend a grundle of money but I also want style and safety.  So here is where I need your input, please.  Which style handle was your favorite??  I am open to suggestions.

For the other kids we used a Baby Trend car seat because we liked this handle.

These are a few of the other options out there.  Tell me what you liked and didn't like and why.  Thanks

Bed Head

Lainey lately has been waking up with lots of bed head.  Her hair seems to be in an awkward stage anyway as she is growing it back out.  I just took her in for a trim I was hoping that would help.  Not so much.  It seems like even after a shampoo and condition we still have the tangles.  And even with a leave in conditioner it still seems to be stringy and dry through out the day.  So I have been looking into some solutions.  I remembered as a child I had this same problem only my hair was very thin.  Lainey has thick hair.  I remembered that my mom used to have me sleep on a silky pillowcase.  These help to reduce the friction when we rub our heads against our pillows in our sleep.  I also learned that braiding hair before bed can lessen the friction and damage from rubbing our heads in our sleep.  A detangler can also help get the knots out before combing so we lessen the damage caused but combing it out.  I also read about hair conditions in children especially little blond children.  You can read about it here. If you have a child that has this problem or you do hopefully this helps :)

Nope I am not dead, and a great recipe.

So it has been months since I have posted.  This pregnancy at least in the  later stages has been extremely hard on me.  I am experiencing things that I have never had to in my previous pregnancies.  I basically have barely enough energy to make sure that my family is: fed, alive and the house not completely destroyed.  While it is driving me bonkers I have had no projects going just because I......  I am not really sure how to finish that sentence.  Anywho, I have absolutely no desire to cook whatsoever, so meals around here have been a lot lacking.  I went to the grocery store the other night without a meal plan in mind but we were out of the basics and so I had no choice but to go.  So I bought a lot of really random things hoping to be able to come up with some sort of meal out of them.  One of the things I bought was a turkey Kielbasa (Polish Sausage), I grew up eating these and like them.  My mom would just slice them into 1 inch hunks and make some bbq sauce.  This just didn't sound good at the moment and so I googled recipes for Kielbasa.  I found this one, Kielbasa and Potato Skillet.

Recipe:

• 5 large potatoes , cut in bite sized chunks
• 1 lb kielbasa , sliced
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped green pepper
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups shredded American cheese

Directions:

1. 1
   In dutch oven, brown potatoes, kielbasa, onion and peppers in oil.
2. 2
   Add seasonings and water.
3. 3
   Bring to a boil.
4. 4
   Cover tightly and cook for 20 minutes on low, stirring occasionally.
5. 5
   Uncover and put cheese on top.
6. 6
   Simmer until cheese is melted.

I changed a few things, I don't have an indoor dutch oven or a skillet big enough to handle this recipe so I used a pot.  Second it is really hard to brown raw potatoes but I tried anyway.  Nothing turned brown.  I didn't have a green bell pepper so I used 1/2 a pablano pepper (cross between a jalapeno and a green bell).  After simmering it for the 20 minutes I drained most of the water off. Then added Cheddar cheese.  It was really good!!!!  The potatoes got a cheesy and almost creamy like texture.  Lance ate 3 helpings!  It was also really easy.  I will be making this again and loved how it smelled while it was cooking.

A bedroom makeover? Sure!!

So I have been really trying hard to get the girls to keep their room clean.  Which is somewhat hypocritical considering what my room looks like.  So I am making an effort to clean (gut the crap) up my room.  I have been making the bed every day etc.  Lance comes home the other day and says we need to paint our room :) WOOOHOOOO!!  PERMISSION to redecorate.  I kinda went through a phase of wanting to change up the colors a couple of years ago.  Didn't end up doing it.  Our bedspread is really stained, the dust ruffle was colored on with pen, and it needs to go.  I did beige as a neutral before but this time I am thinking white.  I want a down comforter with a duvet cover that can be taken off and washed/bleached.  Our bedroom is quite small so I want to do something that will open it up and give it a bigger feel.  I think the stark white with some splashes of color will accomplish this.  However I have the hardest time choosing colors ACK!!  So here are a few things that I am liking, tell me which one is your fave.  You will see a reoccurring color that I am quite fond of right now.

 I like the middle three.

 The coral and the gray.

 This one is a little more orange than coral but I love the blue and dark grey with it.

I think this is my favorite with the coral the dark gray and the white.

Tell me what you think!!

In a Rut

So I have become a addict victim of Pinterest.  I have to admit that I spend more than my fair share of time sitting at the computer lately browsing through the glorious world of Pinterest.  I think you probably know what I am talking about and if you don't....  Get over there right now!!!  So I have been going a little stir crazy without any projects going on because the weather turned to cold to spray paint.  The bathroom is inches from being complete but I am waiting for some vinyl I ordered.  I digress.  So today I told the hubby I need to do something or I might just go crazy (well crazier than usual).  So I saw this shirt on Pinterest and knew I had to make it for the girls.  I was thinking that they would wear it on Thanksgiving but I don't think I can wait that long for them to wear it.  Click on this link for the tutorial.  I should have waited to take the pictures with them on the girls but they are asleep and I couldn't wait!!!

 Lainey loves giraffes so hers has a giraffe print.

 Lilly loves baby jaguars so hers has a jaguar print.

Another recipe, OK??

So lately I have posted a lot of recipes.  I am pregnant and food is playing a big roll in my world right now.  I am happy to admit that as of my last appointment I had only gained 1 pound.  Not bad for being 20 weeks along.  I however am a week out from my next appointment so we will see how much Halloween weight I have gained.  With that in mind here goes....  I mentioned pumpkin before.  I love it this time of year and try to cook with it as much as possible.  I have been craving a pumpkin spice steamer for weeks now.  I can't bring myself to buy one at Starbucks for 3.50.  Nor can I bring myself to buy a bottle of the flavoring.  I'm cheap I know, but groceries are expensive these days.  4.00 is almost 2 gallons of milk.  In a random search for something to make for dinner tonight I stumbled across a recipe to make your own pumpkin spice syrup.  Here is the recipe I found.  I was like I can do that, and I did only differently :)
So here is what I did, and we had it on our pancakes for dinner and it was delish.

3/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups brown sugar (you could use white)
1 tsp pumpkin spice mix
1 tsp cinnamon
3 tbsp pumpkin puree
Boil you water and add sugar.  Stir till disolved.  Add seasonings and pumpkin puree and cook for 5 minutes. Mine got rather thick and gooey.  Store in fridge.  Now you can have your own homemade pumpkin spice steamer, latte or whatever you choose to do with it.

Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater.....

It is October, that glorious time of year when apples are being harvested and pressed into cider and pumpkins have ripened on the vine, and Halloween.  Have I ever mentioned how much I adore Halloween?  I will shortly be taking pictures of the glory that is Halloween in my house :)  The other night I was craving something warm and fallish (I know it isn't a word), but you know what I am talking about right?  Something warm and filled with fragrant spices.  So I whipped up some pumpkin cookies cause they are fast and easy.  They were good but I left the chocolate chips out for my crazy family.  For the most part they like chocolate they just don't seem to like it in baked goods.  I was missing them however.  Plus the can of pumpkin I used was huge and I only needed 1 cup for my recipe.  So over the last week we have had pumpkin fest at our house so that we don't waste what was left of the can.  Pumpkin can be kinda expensive these days.  So here is what we have had.

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes, Pumpkin Pie French Toast, and Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Carmel Glaze, all have turned out amazing.

Not the best pictures I know, but I have already explained that one :)

Soup Season

I have been so excited for things to cool down a bit so we can get to those yummy delish soups and other comfort foods.  I am also excited to go into the kitchen to cook and have it warm me up instead of roasting me to death.  My sister Melissa made this for Thanksgiving a couple of years ago as a appetizer and I must admit I have never liked tomato soup.  I loved this and have also come to realize that tomato soup when it doesn't come from a can is fantastic!!!  Especially when paired with a grilled cheese sandwich.

Smoky Bacon and Tomato soup
Smoky Bacon and Tomato Soup Ingredients
• smoked bacon, chopped  (about 1 lb)
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• stalk of celery, chopped
• 6-8 carrots, peeled and chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 – 2 quarts chicken stock, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon dry oregano
• 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup heavy cream (optional)
Preparation
Heat a large soup pot over medium-high heat with the chopped bacon, cook until crisp. Remove the crispy bacon from the pot and drain most of the grease.
To the soup pot, add the garlic, onion, celery, carrots and some salt and pepper. Cook, until they start to get tender
Remove the tender veggies from the pot to a blender, add ½ of the bacon, throw in a big splash of the chicken stock, the oregano and the tomatoes and puree until smooth. I usually have to blend half and then the other half.
Return to the pot, place back over medium-high heat and add the remaining chicken stock, sugar, and heavy cream, if you are using it. Bring up to a bubble and simmer
Serve the Smokey Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Sandwiches alongside.

Sit a spell.

About a month ago our church sponsored the annual Father and Sons camp out.  I love that weekend because Lance takes the little man out for an over nighter and I get to spend time with my girls.  We started our evening with dinner at Old Spaghetti Factory, which the girls have now dubbed their favorite restaurant.  On the way home I just had a feeling.  I knew if I stopped at the DI (Utah's version of Good Will), I would find something magical.  I was right, I scored an awesome chair and a small lamp that I actually had to dig for it was all tangled  up with parts from a ceiling fan.  Fast forward to today and I have finished the chair's makeover.  So do you want to see??

This chair is up for sale for 30.00
I had acutally decided to leave this lamp its origional color, until I realized that someone had replaced the top electical part with silver and the rest of the lamp was antique brass :(

So it got a coat of Krylon Ivory and a good dose of glaze :)  So this done I had to figure out where to put this little cutie.  The lighting in the living rooms isn't great so I put it on the piano, perfect little piano lamp.

Home Run!

WOW, I hadn't realized it had been this long since I posted.  A very big sorry.  Right now "dinner" is a dirty word around here.  I make a meal plan, buy the groceries and then can't make myself make the stuff I planned.  Really bizzarre I know but I am pregnant.  Tonight was no exception.  I googled simple dinner meals.  It pulled up a site called Moms Who Think.  They have 8 weeks of simple meal plans all layed out for you.  I surfed around their site for a few minutes when I came upon this recipe  Parmesan Dijon Chicken.  It was super fast and simple to put together and I had all the ingredients.  With the chicken in the oven I was trying to figure out what to serve with it (besides the broccoli, which ended up being slimy so I couldn't use it).
I had made Rice and Mulligan for breakfast and had some left over rice.  So I put on my experiment hat and went to work.
 Garlic Dijon Rice Pilaf
2-3 tbsp  Olive oil
1/3 cup diced onion
2 cloves minced garlic
2 cups cooked rice
1-2 tsp dijon mustard
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste.
Put oil in 10 inch skillet to heat up, add onions and saute for 4-5 minutes.  Add garlic and saute for about 30 seconds (garlic burns fast).  Add rice and stir around for about 5-7 minutes until it is all heated through.  Add dijon mustard and salt'n'pepper stir it all in.  Remove from heat and sprinkle the parmesan cheese on top.  Cover and let the cheese melt on top.

This picture was snapped quickly before the last piece disappeared!!!

 (Yep that is today's mail sitting on the counter while we ate, don't judge please :) )

Both items were a complete hit!  The kids ate without complaining and Lance ate 2 1/2 pieces.  The 3 piece he had to split in half with Lainey.  Lilly loved the rice and ate everything without a fight.  All in all it was a home run!!  Both items have been requested to appear on the table again.  Best part was that it was on the table start to finish in 40 minutes!

Being a Mom

Sometimes life of a mom is hard.  Very rewarding but hard.  So I have a 5 year old who doesn't like to go to bed.  She gets that from her dad's side of the family.  She started Kindergarten today and is so excited to go back tomorrow.  She often has a hard time falling asleep.  Sound familiar???  I have recently been through a 2+ year illness that turned me towards homeopathic remedies.  5 Doctors and no results, whats a girl to do?  I love essential oils.  I am building a collection of them 1 or 2 at a time because they are expensive.  I have recently purchased lavender oil.  HOLY COW, I love that stuff.  Here enters the first part of this post.  Above 5 year old has a hard time falling asleep.  Mix 1 drop in with some coconut oil or unscented lotion and give them a foot rub.  I have done this 3 times in the last 2 weeks and within 10 minutes of each foot rub I have a sleeping 5 year old. 
I use doTerra, I know there are several reputable brands out there of oils, but this is what I use.  Miracle in a bottle.  Give it a try and see who falls asleep faster the parent with it on their hands or the kid with it on their feet.

MMM..... Zucchini Bread

Its that time of year when all of us who planted a garden are harvesting zucchini the size of baseball bats, well assuming the gophers didn't eat your whole garden.  That is a story for another day.  If you didn't plant any I am sure those that planted some are trying to pawn some off on you.  I would suggest locking your car doors at church to prevent such items being left in your car.  I have my grandparents supplying me right now.  You will notice in the picture that some of this is in muffin pans.  After my EUREKA moment that you can read about here.  I have been trying to come up with breakfast items I can stick in the freezer for later breakfasts when cereal won't do.  So I have been doing half in a loaf and 1/2 in muffins that I am freezing. (Thanks for the idea Kristen)
I am sure everybody has the perfect recipe, I am here to tell you, YOU DON"T!! 

I have tried multiple recipes in the past until I found this one.  It is so moist and the perfect amount of sweet.  I LOVE cinnamon.  Like I want to marry it, okay I don't but you get the idea.  This recipe calls for a lot of cinnamon.  I got the original recipe here at allrecipes.com.  Make it her way or try my slightly more nutritious version.
Zucchini Bread

3 eggs
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1-1 1/4 cups white sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
2 tsps vanilla
3 cups flour
3 tsp ground cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 325.  Grease 2 8x4 inch loaf pans.  In a large bowl beat eggs until light an frothy.  Mix in oil, applesauce, and sugar.  Stir in zucchini and vanilla.  Combine all dry ingredients in a separate bowl.  Mix into egg mixture and stir until combined.  Divide batter into prepared pans and bake for 60-70 minutes.

Gotta love a great idea!!

The bathroom makeover is going great.  I want to show you parts right now but I am going to wait till it is all done before you get any pictures.  
So I have had a lot more nausea this pregnancy than any of my others.  Cold cereal makes me want to vomit these days which is totally weird because I love cereal!!!  I knew this morning I wouldn't be able to handle it, so I decided to make french toast instead.  I was getting everything ready when a thought struck me.  French toast sticks.  If your house is anything like my house when we do any sort of any cooking we end up cutting everything for 2-3 kids.  I somehow end up all sticky and don't get to eat any hot food because I am cutting.  So before I cooked the bread I took a stack and sliced them into about 1 inch pieces.  Dipped and threw them on the griddle.  I poured them each a little syrup in a small bowl.  And let them go.  I got a hot breakfast and the kids loved them!!  Sometimes I wonder to myself "Why haven't I done this before?"  Maybe you had this idea a long time ago.

Okay, 1 pic of the bathroom and that is only cause my little guy is so cute