Monday, February 28, 2011

Follow Me, Chickadee Tuesday's 3/1

Well, since I missed out on my Mom's Monday Blog Hop due to dental appts and celebrating Swagbucks Third Birthday cash I'm joining in the Follow Me, Chickadee Tuesday


Sippy Cup Mom

5 lovely ladies are hosting this blog hop.
Wanna join? Click on the picture above and link up!!





Friday, February 25, 2011

Five Question Friday



Okay....Let's get Five Question Friday on the road!!


1. Can you drive a stick shift?
Yes I can 8) After I learned to drive a car, my dad taught me how to drive his VW Fox which was a stick shift. Am I the best at it? No, I learned in Arizona...it's pretty flat there, so I do have some trouble with going on hills/inclines. I either roll back, or a gun it and squeal out LOL. But give me a flat surface and I am good to go! Hubby as a stick now, I don't drive it, but if I had to I would be able to.
2. What are two foods you just can't eat?
Hmm so many to choose from LOL I'll go with Liver and beets tho. You know beets are nasty when even your dog won't eat them! None of the dogs I had while growing up would ever eat the beets I would try to sneak to them. My mom wound up with a stain on her carpet from the dogs not eating those nasty things. But then I got smart and figuered out how to sneak them back into the serving dish when no one was at the table.

3. Do you buy Girl Scout Cookies? What is your favorite kind?
Yes every year!! I always spend $20 lol. 3 boxes of Tag-A-Longs and 2 boxes of Thin Mints. I love freezing my tag-a-longs and then eating them, they are chocolately peanut buttery goodness!

4. How do you pamper yourself?
Pamper myself? What's that? Not really...I would like to do the occasional pedicure, but every time I have extra money for it I wind up spending it on the kids *sigh* lol

5. What is your nickname and how did you get it?
I'm mommy, or mom. My kids gave me the nickname 8) Then there's also Lia...a lot of my online gaming friends still call me that even tho I retired from EQ 3 years ago and from WoW about a year and a half ago. My character's name in both games was Lianye, but everyone called me Lia. And then finally..there is Nerdlips *sigh* a nickname that my best friend gave me back in High School and she still use's to this day LOL. Can't really remember how it came to be, but I am Nerdlips and she is Dorkfish 8) Of course right now, she is Fat Bastard because she is pregnant with Twins ♥


Wanna join in? Click the picture and link up!





Kellywels.com BumGenius 4.0 Sweepstakes!!

Kellywels.com is holding a BumGenius 4.0 Sweepstakes!! 1 lucky winner will win a BumGenius One-Size Cloth Diaper Kit valued at $370!! (U.S. Residents only)

The kit includes the following:
  • 18 BumGenius One-Size Diapers with inserts
  • 1 BumGenius Sprayer
  • 1 BumGenius Pail Liner
To enter, you need to 'like' Kelly Wels on Facebook and then enter the Sweepstakes.

For official rules visit her Facebook page. To learn how to get more entries through facebook, twitter, and your blog visit her website.

Sweepstakes ends March 11th at 10am EST.

Good Luck!!

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Mexican Chicken Casserole

This is a recipe I saw in the Feb. issue of All You Magazine. It looked really good, it's a dinner for under $10, and it seems pretty healthy too! Everyone liked it, even the kids. So here ya go, I hope you like it too!

Mexican Chicken Casserole

Ingredients
  • 12oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces.
  • 1tsp taco seasoning
  • 1 red or green pepper, seeded and chopped
  • 1 1/2 cups prepared salsa*
  • 2ozs cream cheese
  • 1 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 tomato chopped
  • 2 6-inch whole-wheat tortillas
  • 1/2 cup shredded mexican cheese
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 375*F. Warm a large nonstick skillet over medium heat; mist with cooking spray. Add chicken and taco seasoning and cook, stirring for 2 minutes.

Add bell peppers and cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in salsa; cook for 2 minutes.


Add cream cheese; cook, stirring constantly, until melted and blended, about 2 minutes. Stir in beans and tomato.

2. Spoon 1/3 of chicken mixture into an 8-inch square baking dish. **





Cover with 1 tortilla, then spoon in 1/2 of cheese. Top with remaining tortilla and chicken mixture.

3. Cover and bake until heated through, about 20 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, until cheese has melted, about 5 minutes longer. Serve hot.



* 1 16oz jar when poured into my measuring cup measured out to 1 1/2 cups.
** I didn't have a square, so I used a rectangle baking dish, because of this, I used 1 1/2 tortilla's for each layer. Next time I think I will try my round one.

I'm not really a fan of green peppers, and neither are the kids. Hubby doesn't like tomatoes. So next time I will leave both of those out, since they are basically covered with the salsa.

Enjoy ~





Type A Thursday (Blog Hop) 2/24

Welcome to Type A Thursday!
Two Type A's have teamed up to bring you this blog hop!
The Type A Housewife and
Texas Type A Mom!



Type A Thursday

This is one of only 2 blog hops I do every week 8) So click on the button and join me 8)

Blog Signatures

Ok...I'm not the most computer savvy person (that's what my brother is for). How can I make myself a Signature for my blog? I have absolutely no clue where to look or how to start, but I want one please! Any help is appreciated 8)


Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Cuties with Cloth Booties...

So...after much consideration I am thinking about joining the world of Cuties with Cloth Booties.

We had looked into it before when I was pregnant with Riley. At the time I had just learned about G Diapers. I really liked the idea of the G Diapers, but when we looked at the price of the inserts versus the price of disposable diapers it was more expensive to buy the inserts. I recently did the math again when I saw that Babies R Us now carries G Diapers. For a 40 pack of the small inserts it comes out to .36 per insert. For a box of 84 Newborn diapers....or for a pack of 60 newborn diapers it comes out to .30 per diaper. This is before you add in the $27 for 2 G diaper covers.

I am totally clueless when it comes to cloth, so I have a LOT of research laying ahead of me. This is where you all come in! I know a lot of you are cloth diapering momma's. Can you help me to join the world of Cuties with Cloth Booties? Do you have any websites that will tell me the difference between prefolds and pocket diapers? (are they different? or is that the same kind just with a different name? LOL) I want something that's easy to read and to understand that won't confuse me more then I already am. I know there is the bum genius brand, but I don't know anything about them. What about my daughter's weight? Will that effect whether or not we can even use cloth diapers yet? She's not quite 8lbs yet. I have so many questions, and I know that if I go to my good friend Google that I'm going to have a lot of links to wade my way through. Some helpful, some a complete waste of my time. So I am coming to you all to see if anyone has any great websites I can visit before I turn to Google.

I promise to update once I figure out what we decide to do!!

I ♥ Khols!!

Truly I do! I went there today to get some new pants for the kids. Austin has put holes in the knees of all his jeans....yet again. How he manages to do this consistently is beyond me, but he does. Jaidan on the other hand decided to shoot up like 4 inches in the last 2 months! Crazy! But on the bright side she finally hit (and now passed) the 48" mark. Can you say Hello Disneyland?!?! I know I can!!

So today I bought Austin 2 pairs of jeans and a shirt and I bought Jaidan 2 pairs of jeans and a shirt also. I had a 30% off if you use your Kohl's card coupon. We always use our Kohl's card, it's silly to not take advantage of the extra 10, 15, 20, or 30% off that they usually offer you if you use your card and coupon. Plus, they don't keep the coupon! You can use it until the expiration date!! I saved more then I spent!!! How AWESOME is that?!?! Did I mention that I ♥ Kohl's?! Well I do!! I spent $63.89 and I saved $80.24! Woo hoo!!

Monday, February 21, 2011

3 months old already?!

Wow....has it really been 3 months already? It's hard to believe that my baby girl is 3 months old today. It feels like just yesterday we were bringing her home from the birthing center.

They really do grow up so fast. I always try to cherish every moment, but even more so with Aislinn since she is my last baby. There will be no more after her. All of her first's are also a last. Despite our issues with the doctors and her weight she is a happy, healthy baby girl. She smiles and coo's, screeches, and is on the verge of laughing. You can tell she's trying to laugh when she does it...but it's not quite there yet. She has already rolled over from her tummy to her back several times for me, but she has yet to do it for daddy LOL. She is my first baby to be a thumb sucker. As much as I hate thumb sucking...I must say she looks pretty cute doing it. I just hope it is something that we can easily break as she get's older. We got her ears pierced on Friday. They are a cute little butterfly in Topaz, her birthstone.

Aislinn has been sleeping through the night now for probably close to 8 weeks. She started very early, which is kind of nice considering Riley was 14 months old before he slept through the night every night. Because of this we are moving Aislinn to her crib in her own room today. We kept Riley in our room in his bassinet until he was 6 months old. There's really no need to keep her in our room with her sleeping through the night consistently. The whole point of that was to make breastfeeding easier on all of us. So this weekend Josh and I finally finished putting up the last of her wall decorations. Her room is all ready for her, we just need to move our angel care monitor to her crib tonight. Below are the pictures of her decorations and a picture of my sweet baby girl at 3 months old.

Here is the wall over her crib and next to it



That's right..the butterfly is a nightlight!! Thank you Aunt Mel!


This is the wall over the changing table



A close up of the tea set...It was all hand stitched for us by someone Josh works with


My sweet baby girl, sucking her thumb while she sleeps


Swagbucks Birthday Celebration!!!

Search & Win

Swagbucks is about to celebrate their 3rd birthday on Monday, Feb 28th. To get ready for the celebration they are doing a bunch of awesome things. 1 of the great things they are doing is for new members!!! You already get 30 swagbucks JUST for signing up.....but if you sign up between today and Monday, Feb 28th you can get an extra 25 swagbucks, bringing your starting total to 55 swagbucks just for singing up!! How do you get the extra 25 swagbucks? It's easy! Once you sign up look on the right hand side of your homepage. There should be a box that lists how many swagbucks you have. In the box there should be a spot that says "Enter your Swag Code" with a box and a Gimmie button. Enter the code BirthdayFun exactly like that (code's are case sensitive..make sure there are no spaces in front or behind the code either) and then click Gimmie. Viola 25 extra swagbucks!

Want to get started? Just click the banner above, or click HERE.

In just over a month I have already earned $30 in Amazon gift cards!! You can too!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

This is a great recipe I got from my dear friend Jaye. I had been looking online for a good recipe for it. Yet all the recipes I was finding only used chicken and salsa with some chicken broth and the cheese and chips. I had had this soup at restaurants before and it always had beans and or corn too. I wanted a recipe like that, I wanted a hearty filling soup. So I asked Jaye if she had a recipe for it, not only did she have one, it had all the things in it I wanted! I am sharing this recipe with Jaye's permission. This soup is "Nummy" as my 2 year old said when he was eating it lol.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients

  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced, less if it's too much
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
  • 1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed chicken broth, or 2 chicken bullion cubes, which is what I use because I prefer the flavor
  • 1 1/4 cups water
  • 1 cup whole corn kernels, cooked
  • 1 cup white hominy**
  • 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green Chile peppers if you want to add them
  • 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained, I actually like to use a half can of black and a half can of light red or pinto beans
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 2 to 3 boneless chicken breast halves, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces if you prefer the white meat, which for this soup its preferred

  • crushed tortilla chips
  • shredded Monterey Jack cheese
  • chopped green onions, if you like

Directions

1. In a medium stock pot, heat oil over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic in oil until soft.

Stir in chili powder, oregano, tomatoes, broth, and water. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.

2. Stir in corn, hominy, chilies, beans, cilantro, and chicken. Simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Ladle soup into individual serving bowls, and top with crushed tortilla chips, cheese, and chopped green onion.

** That is Jaye's recipe as she gave it to me. I left out the hominy, because we're not fans of it. So instead I used 1 whole can of Black Beans and 1 whole can of Pinto beans, instead of a half can of each. We also didn't top with green onions, since my husband is the only fan of green onions...but he thinks they would be awesome on top 8)

Enjoy ~




Mom Blog Monday 2/21

Are you a Mommy blogger? Do you blog about your kids? Do you blog about great things for Mommies?
Do you wanna meet other Mom Bloggers?

Come on over!


The Not-So-Secret Confessions of a First Time Mom



Sunday, February 20, 2011

Coupons for the Military!!

Did you know that military members overseas can use your expired coupons up to 6 months after they expire?! Well they can, and in case you didn't know, now you do! How awesome is that? I found out this wonderful news from The Krazy Coupon Lady. If you click on the link you can find out all the details there!

I'm currently putting together my group of expired coupons to send off. While I was doing it I figured I should share it with others. It's really a great program. Why throw away your coupons if someone else can use them too? I hope others join me in sending their expired coupons to our military members overseas.

As a side note, they have to be manufacturer coupons, not store coupons.

Random Ramblings

Just an update on things that have been going on in my life. I've uploaded some pictures to the Baked Pork Chops recipe. As I make the dishes I already have posted I will take pictures to add to them. I have a few more recipes I plan on adding in this week. They are recent recipes I made, so I made sure to take some pictures. Even tho I just recently started to blog, it has easily become a new addiction for me. I love blogging and I love reading what all my new blogging friends are writing. I may not always comment, but I am reading 8)

Riley and I have been invited to a Pull Up Potty Dance Party on March 5th. I'm super excited to take him to this. I will definitely be posting a blog and pictures about that after it happens. I can't wait. We are semi potty training with Riley at the moment. It's so frustrating because once he gets in the bathroom, he doesn't want to leave....ever. We have literally spent over an hour in the bathroom before we finally make him leave, which of course involves him screaming and crying because he doesn't want to put his pants back on, or leave the bathroom. None of my other kids did this, so this is all new to me. Maybe we can get some useful tips at the party.

Jaidan had her awards ceremony for making it to the district science fair on Weds. Then on Friday she brought home her 2nd place ribbon from the school science fair. She's spent all weekend in he room tho, since she can't ever seem to pick it up. One day she'll get her room clean and keep it that way.

Austin has been learning about the Revolutionary War in school. So on Friday he went on a field trip to Riley's Farm. He had a blast. He got to see a blacksmith making items, which was something he had already shown some interest in. He was explaining to me how the blacksmith was making the different items, he didn't really talk about much else, I think it was his favorite part lol. They are also an apple orchard and always have different things going on. I'd like to take a trip there this summer with all the kids. Austin was caught stealing my fudge that was hidden in my bedroom, so he's grounded now.

The kids have the ENTIRE week off of school next week. That's right the entire week, and no, it's not for spring break. Instead of getting President's day off, they get Presidents week. Then they still get spring break off at the end of march. The schools reason for giving them the week off? Because they start school early (in mid August) but they go until June (usually the 2nd week). Umm...ok, then why don't you skip Presidents week and let them out of school earlier for the year? It's bad enough that my kids already have a half day every single Weds. Ok, enough on my rant about the kids school.

Aislinn....well, we had a weight check for her on Friday. She's only 7lbs 12ozs. While it was a 4oz gain, they still don't like how little she weighs. We jumped through all these hoops and had 14 vials of blood drawn from Riley because of his weight. Now here we are going through it all over again with Aislinn. Same shit, different drs and different child. Her dr says they like to see a pound a month. Well, Riley only weighed 16lbs 4ozs at a YEAR old. Yes, I have friends who had babies the same time I had Aislinn who's babies now already weigh more then Riley did at a year old. What can I say? I have small babies. Look at their parents....at 20 I was 92lbs. I had to get a weight waiver to join the Navy because I was under weight. My husband was a scrawny little kid too in High School. He didn't start to 'fill out' until later in High School. My mom...she was 83lbs at age 30 when she married my dad! My Mother In Law...she's a small lady too...as is her mom. Who cares about your stupid charts...I know I don't. It's called genetics, they do play a part in your child's size. But because I breastfeed and she's not on their charts they are freaking out. We have an appointment with a GI specialist on March 1st. Her dr said she wouldn't do any testing and would leave it all up to the GI dr. If he wants to do testing, he'll explain to use why and we go from there. If he doesn't, then her dr won't either. If the GI dr comes back and says she is just a small baby, then her dr won't bug us about her weight anymore. So that is where we are with Aislinn. We won't see her pediatrician again until her 4 month well baby check.

Well, that's it for now 8) I have to run out to Wal-mart for a few things. Trying a new recipe tonight for Chicken Tortilla Soup! Mmm Mmm good!

Coupon Solution Give-Away!!

There is a coupon Solution Give-Away hosted by Madame Deals

To find out all the details and to enter it just click here

This give-away ends on Feb 27th at 10pm. The winner will be selected randomly. There are several different ways to get entries.

The coupon solution is a great way to keep all your coupons organized. It has a retail value of $34.99. There is a video on her blog explaining all about it.

Good Luck!!

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Slow Cooker Scrumptiousness Link up

Slow Cooker Scrumptiousness

Hosted by: Mrs. H at My Happily Ever After



My Happily Ever After

Share your favorite or easy slow cooker recipes with others and maybe find a new one for your family to try 8)

I'm sharing my Red Beans and Rice

She's hosting this all weekend, so what are you waiting for?

Friday, February 18, 2011

Red Beans and Rice

This is a great slow cooker recipe I got from my mom. My mom is so awesome...I requested several of my favorite recipes she made when I was growing up, so she made me a cookbook of her recipes. She made one for my brother too and my friends Kris and Terri.

Red Beans and Rice

Ingredients
  • 1-2lbs smoked sausage (I use hot links for extra kick)
  • 1 med. onion, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, chopped
  • 1/4 c. chopped green peppers (optional)
  • 1 can (28oz) crushed tomatoes
  • 2 cans (15 oz) red kidney beans (I use 1 light and 1 dark for presentation)
  • 1-2 (15oz) cans tomato sauce
  • 2-3 Tbsp chili powder
  • 2-3 Tbsp cajun seasoning
  • salt and pepper to taste
Directions

Slice sausage and place in slow cooker together with onion, garlic and green pepper (optional). Cook until meat starts to brown. Drain grease from pot. Return slow cooker to base. Add all other ingredients and stir until blended. Cook on medium until done (2-3 hours). Serve over rice.

Notes

Season with chili powder and cajun seasoning to your own personal taste. I personally only use 1 tbsp of each because I use hot links.

Enjoy ~

Fill in the Blank Friday


Fill in the Blank Friday with Jillian at Iron & Sunshine.
I got this from Kim at Life of a Navy Wife.

1. I am a Mother, Wife, Daughter, Sister, and a Navy Veteran. I love my life as a mommy and a wife. I never thought I would enjoy being a Stay at home mom, but I actually love it. Having been a working mom, I am enjoying all the little things I missed out on before.

2. The bravest thing I've ever done was Attend my dad's funeral. I've had loved ones die in the past, but I never knew how much my world would shatter if one of my parents died. My father's death was unexpected and I took it very hard. My 3rd child was only 7 weeks old when he died.

3. I feel prettiest when my husband tells me I'm beautiful 8)

4. Something that keeps me awake at night is worrying about my kids. Especially my oldest and youngest. My oldest has ADHD and Tourette's Syndrome, so we have a lot of struggles with him, and he deals with a lot at school from other kids. My youngest doesn't weigh as much as the dr's would like, so now we are going through the same thing we did with my 2 year old.

5. My favorite meal in the entire world is Rouladen! Mmm I love that stuff. Followed closely by Olive Garden's Zuppa Tuscana soup!

6. The way to my heart is Loving me for me, which is exactly what my husband does. He knows my faults, he knows my torrid past (HAHA) and he still loves me regardless.

7. I would like to Buy a house and make it a home for my family.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Science Fair Success!

Being in 5th grade, it was required for Austin to have a science fair project. It basically decided his science grade for this Trimester. But for Jaidan, being in 3rd grade it was optional. She asked if she could do one, and of course we said yes! We are all about helping furthering their education, and with a momma who is a bit of a science geek herself, I want to encourage it in my children.

We learned a few things after seeing other kids science fair projects. We should make the heading for each section separate from the topic, rather then putting it all together like we did. We should also use a bigger font so it takes up more room on the board, so the board doesn't look as empty. So those are things for us to remember for next year. But I am proud to say that every single word that was put on their boards were my children's own words....not ours.


Austin's is the one on the left, Jaidan's on the right. With every single person in his class submitting a science fair project (and we all know there are some parents out there that do the projects for their kids...) competition was stiff. Austin's was not one of the one's chosen from his classroom to compete in the school science fair. Regardless, I am still very proud of him. He thought of everything on his own, and he did it all on his own, despite his moanings and mumblings about having to do it LOL. He was very frustrated that I had him write everything out on paper before he typed it on the computer.

Jaidan's story is a bit different. Because it was only voluntary, only 2 other children besides her submitted a science fair project in her classrooom. Jaidan's project was one of the two selected from her classroom to go on to the school science fair. I don't know how many 3rd grade projects there were total for her school, but Jaidan wound up getting 2nd place!! Because of this, Jaidan's project was selected to go on to the district science fair! We are so proud of her!

Yesterday afternoon I got a call that there would be an awards ceremony for the district science fair. So we changed our plans for the evening, I packed up all 4 kids and headed to the science fair. They had a viewing time before they announced the participants in each grade level and then announced the winners. They also announced the 9 representatives going on to the county science fair. My husband met us there, he had to go there straight from work. Jaidan was 1 of 9 3rd graders at the district science fair. They had a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, and then Honorable Mention. Jaidan got Honorable Mention, and she is SO proud of her ribbon, as are we!
Here she is with her project at the district science fair

Her Honorable Mention Ribbon

I'm very proud of Austin and Jaidan for the time and effort that they put into their science fair projects. I look forward to next year...even if it did get a bit hectic there at the end!

Type A Thursday (Blog Hop)

Type A Thursday

Welcome to Type A Thursday!
Two Type A's have teamed up to bring you this blog hop -
The Type A Housewife and
Texas Type A Mom!

  • Follow the hosts (spots 1 and 2) via Google Friend Connect and leave a comment letting us know you followed so we can follow you back!
  • Also, follow the person above you. Then follow as many people as you want!
  • If you'd like, you can grab our button and help us spread the word. The more people that know about this, the more people will get involved!
  • Remember when following blogs to leave a comment to the blogger knows that you stopped by and so they can follow you back! Leave the link to your homepage - not your giveaway or another blog hop.
  • This is primarily to meet new friends and gain new GFC followers, however, you're encouraged to also follow via Twitter and Facebook. Just let the person know what methods you're using to follow them!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Adventure's in Cakeland

I've decorated cakes before, but nothing fancy. I buy the Wilton icing and I buy the colorings so I can color all my icing, but I never really do anything too fancy. Icing one color, piping another, maybe some dots or sprinkles. But with my daughter's 9th birthday fast approaching next month, I knew I was going to have to do more then that. She wants an ICarly theme. So I decided it was finally time for me to try my hand at using the star tip to decorate a cake.

What better excuse to bake a cake then Valentine's day? I bought a red velvet cake mix to bake. If anyone has a homemade recipe they'd like to share, please do! I baked the cake yesterday morning so it would have plenty of time to cool so I could frost it. Here's the cake after it was done cooling.


Next I colored just over half of my frosting with the red coloring. What better design then a pretty red heart for Valentine's Day? Let me tell you....it takes a LOT of the red to get it a decent shade of red! Not like the other colors where a little bit goes a long way. Here's a picture of the red frosting...I think I should have taken the picture without the flash, I'll remember that for next time! As you can see, it looks pink in the picture...but I promise you it was red.


I'm not much of an artist, so my heart is a tad bit lopsided LOL, but it was all done free hand, and I didn't draw a heart on the cake before I began. I debated doing that, and I think I might next time. It took a lot longer then I thought it would, and man did my hand hurt! But here is what my heart looked like 8)



See, I told you the icing was red!! As you can see it's not perfect, but I was pretty happy with it considering my artistic abilities. I need to work on my spacing some, but now I know for next time. After I finished the heart I mixed some pink frosting with the last of my frosting. I took a picture of it, but it was just way to bright with the flash you couldn't even tell that it was pink. I was running a bit low on frosting at this point. I had made too much red. But it's better to make too much then not enough, because if you have to mix another batch it's very difficult to match the colors again. Because of this I decided to just frost the sides like a regular cake. Once I got the pink icing around the sides I used some water and my finger tip to smooth the icing. Then I filled the rest of the top with pink stars. Like I said earlier...I need to work on my spacing some, but I'm pretty darn proud of my first attempt at using the star tip! I hope you like it!!



The Versatile Blogger

The Versatile Blogger Award!!

[Versatile: having great diversity or variety]

So, here are the rules:
- Thank the person who gave you the award!
- Share 7 things about yourself.
- Pass the award on to 10 other versatile bloggers.
- Let those other bloggers know that you gave them the award.

Thank you Kim, from Life of a Navy Wife for the Award 8)

7 things about myself:
1. I never thought I could be a SAHM
2. I like to spin glowsticks and want to learn how to spin a fire staff
3. I never thought I would have 4 kids, when I was younger I only wanted 2, I wouldn't mind another, but my hubby said we're done.
4. I want to be a Marine Biologist, I love marine life and the ocean
5. I was an electrician in the Navy, I didn't think I would like it when I picked it, but I loved it
6. I have a glow in the dark tattoo that I got in Singapore
7. My oldest son has ADHD, OCD, Anxiety, and Tourette's Syndrome

Monday, February 14, 2011

America's Game

Yesterday I spent 4.5 hours trying to audition to be on The Wheel of Fortune. It was in Ontario at the Mathis Brothers Furniture Store, about a 45 minute drive for me.

I got there around noon. The Mathis Brother's is HUGE...bigger then Costco huge. The parking lot was already full, so the security guy was giving directions to an Arena for parking. Considering where he was telling me to drive, I was really worried I was going to have a long walk ahead of me. Even tho it was a good distance drive wise, it wound up circling around and the arena was located at the back of the Mathis Brothers. I think I actually wound up walking less, the line was at the back corner of Mathis Brothers! As I got in line and felt the sun beating down on me, I realized that maybe I should have brought something to drink while I waited in line.

The lady in front of me struck up a conversation with me and it helped to pass the time. She had driven two and a half hours to get there! We were in line for an HOUR before we even got inside. this is what we saw once we got into the air conditioning.
At this point, I was just excited to have made it inside! While we were milling around in line talking about all the different furniture they started to pass out the applications!


I started to fill it out....then I remembered I should take a picture of it LOL. So please excuse the black boxes 8) Shortly after filling out the application the line started to move. When we reached the escalator I was super excited. Then I realized how much more walking would be involved. They had use weaving around the store. A lot of people were commenting on how they wanted us to see as much furniture as was possible. As we got closer to the audition area you could hear them starting to work up the crowd, and let me tell you, it was a huge crowd!

This was my original view of the stage. Those are the traveling host's. I can't remember his name...I think it's Ken, but her name was Heidi. They put all the applications into a gold drum and then the contestants were drawn from there. They did 5 at a time and it was played like the speed round. They had 3 seconds to pick a letter, and then if their letter was on the board they had 3 seconds to solve before it was the next person's turn.

The lady on the stage in that picture is the lady I stood in line with the whole time. 2 rounds after her someone else I was by got called up. I thought it was going to be me for a second because of how they drew the name out when they called it. Her name was Norriss, mine is Nora, so you can see why I got excited for a minute lol.

I wound up not being one of the lucky few to get called up. I even stayed and did the audition after the one I did. I had to go back through the line, but at that point the line was already upstairs, so i figured it was worth another shot. There is still a chance that they will pick my application for me to come to the final auditions. If it is picked, I'll get a letter or an email within the next month, so I am keeping my fingers crossed. Here's a few more pictures for you to enjoy.

Better view of the stage. You can see the orange applications in the golden drum.



Me in front of the Wheel Mobile


The other part of the Wheel Mobile

And then, one last picture just for fun 8)



Riley, my 2 year old watching The Wheel of Fortune, trying to do Vanna White's job. She had just turned over the H lol.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Mom Blog Monday

The Not-So-Secret Confessions of a First Time Mom





This blog hop is hosted by Sippy Cups and Cloth Bums, The Not-So-Secret Confessions of a First Time Mom , and Luxury Living Frugal Style!

Rules?

All we ask is that you follow Sippy Cups and Cloth Bums, The Not- So- Secret Confessions of a First Time Mom, and Luxury Living Frugal Style.We are the first three on the linky!Then follow spot #4 which is the featured blog! Be sure to leave us a comment so we can follow you back!

We would LOVE it if you'd grab our button and put it somewhere on your blog or in a blog post! This would help us spread the word. However, you aren't required to.


Each week we will randomly select one blog to be the featured blog and to take the #4 spot!

Today's Featured Blog Is....


This week's featured blogger is:
Jaime from Triple Duty Momma.