Good Eats...

We have had some really good food around here lately, if i say so myself:) i really like the site Our Best Bites they have easy to follow directions and i like the pictures too:)

we made their pizza last night, this post gives the rundown on pizza, since i am revisiting yeast bread making in general lately, that was good to read. i used their favorite bread stick (and pizza) recipe for the dough and the only modification i made was to use about half wheat flour because along with a goal of wanting to relearn yeast breads, i also want to use more wheat this year. i used their sauce recipe as well. i was very happy with how the pizza crust turned out, very crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, very tasty and everyone liked it. in fact i have no pictures of it because it was gone before i could think of taking the picture:) the recipe would probably make 2 larger pizzas, i made one large one and two small (personal) size ones. just 'cuz....

i also tried their cinnamon roll recipe (again about half wheat flour) and those turned out tasty as well!

some good yeast bread experiences/experiments...gives me a bit of confidence that i can continue to do that:)

freezer paper stenciling...

i love freezer paper stenciling! it's so fun! i got the kids shirts from walmart ($3.50 each!) and stenciled on them for a valentine present. there are tons of tutorials out in blogland for this technique, i liked this one and there was another one that i can't find right now...if i find it i'll post it...

i was originally going to to do valentine themed shirts...but couldn't think of something clever enough for all three kids, so i opted for things i thought they would like instead and then did a valentiney one for blake.

it is such a simple process and i really enjoy the results! i was also surprised how the details came through really well...it is a quick process too...as long as you don't spend an hour, like me, trying to finalize the design...then it will take longer:)

(i didn't get great pictures of the shirts themselves because shortly after i took these initial photos there was an unfortunate incident with mud pies and LOTS of red clay mud...it was extremely unfortunate!)

i just printed out the images i wanted to use, i found the simplest hello kitty and the simplest transformer autobot symbol i could. then you trace it onto your freezer paper, cut it out with an exacto knife...

the only tricky part for me was realizing that since i wanted the outline of the pictures on the shirts then i had to cut out the positive parts of the image and keep the negative parts to put on the shirt...does that make any sense? i kept thinking, okay, i want this line to be on the shirt so i need to cut around it so i can paint the line with the brush...it just takes some "fourth dimensional" thinking (if you are a Back to The Future fan)

totally worth it, totally fun! i recommend trying it! so many possibilities too....

happy love day!

hope you all have a great one!

sickies...

we've had sickness over here...for the last week or so. turns out ethan had the actual influenza-take-tamiflu-sickness along with a nasty cough. blake had bronchitis (and still sounds yucky) and avery just developed a cough...we'll see if hers turns into anything.

i was able to finish that heart garland i wanted to make...being inside all day for days in row helps i guess. i enlisted the kids to help me, i'd cut all the hearts out already and just had them hand me in no particular order to sew and i think they turned out very cute:)

ethan decided he wanted to make round crayons for his classmates for valentine's day so we did that the other day as well...i used this tutorial from Make and Takes and it was very easy and fun. i had the kids take the papers off the crayons and they enjoyed it quite a bit! then we broke them into pieces and in the case of some of the really large crayons, cut them with a knife into smaller pieces. but i think i would cut them even smaller next time because they took longer to melt than she indicated in the tutorial...i think just because they were so thick and chunky to begin with....

in pieces ready to melt...

excited...

cooling...

avery using them!

front of valentine bags

back of valentine bags

seriously...

it's been a while since i posted and i always feel like i am doing well but the days just slip by so fast, it's amazing! i feel like we are on fast forward! my kids are getting older and bigger too fast and i inch closer to thirty everyday...but i am going to welcome 30 with open arms i tell you! i am just glad to make it that far!

last week blake was banging on the wall...as he is want to do sometimes and a picture frame fell off and clocked him on the forehead! it swelled up so fast! none of the other kids really ever had an injury like that...i was amazing how fast it swelled up and how nasty it looked! my mother in law (blessed woman) came to help me out with the other kids and with a Baby Einstein, a sucker and a pretzel (one in each hand) then we finally got some ice (read: frozen peas) on the owie and after about 15 minutes it looked much better...the next day it was way better...whew! i couldn't ever get a great picture of it...this is the day after....

blake and avery laying on the pillow from the futon..."snuggling" together

we've had some valentine decorations up for a little while now...i still have a heart garland i want to make but every time i go upstairs to do it during the day the kids knock over stuff...today's strategy was to give them felt they could cut themselves (ethan and avery..not blake), which they always like, and that worked for a while until blake started throwing safety pins and trying to grab my gingher scissors...hands off bubs!

(need to find something for that third hook....)

so we'll see if i can get it done....