Necklace Organizer Craft

I have some long necklaces that I just didn't know how to organize.  They would just lay out on my dresser and I didn't like that.  I found an idea here that I really liked.

 

 

 

So, I got started with a piece of 2X4 that I had laying around.  I painted the board, sanded the edges and modge podged cute scrapbook paper onto it.  I then found some cute drawer knobs at Hobby Lobby and had hubby's help to screw them into the board.

 

 

 

I really like how it turned out and it solved my problem about what to do with my long necklaces!

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Mother's Day Weekend

I had a really nice Mother's Day yesterday.  I love Mother's Day because my kids really try to be nice and kind.  They were all really sweet and we enjoyed the day together.  I was also able to talk to my mom and mother-in-law.

 



It began super early with Monkey #3 waking up the neighborhood by setting off our two car alarms.  He has been waking up with the sun lately, which is about 5:30/6:00 am.  He'll climb out of his crib and go downstairs.  He'll scoot a kitchen chair to the counter and go snooping around looking for gum and such.  We need to figure out some sort of remedy to this issue....

 

        Since we were up so bright and early :), Hubby made me a nice breakfast in bed.  (I always love that!).  We spent the morning hanging out together and then headed off to church.  I was asked to give the lesson in Relief Society.  I have never taught in RS before, but I think it went well.  A lot of people made comments which really helped the time go by.

 

After church, Hubby made dinner for us.  He made: Pesto Chicken, a Tomato & Mozarella side dish, ceasar salad and carrots.  It was all very delicious!  We then had a Caramel Apple Pie with icecream for dessert. 

 

It was a nice day and I'm grateful for my husband and kids and the happiness and joy they bring me!  Here are the recipes for the Pesto Chicken and Caramel Apple Pie.

 

 

This is a pic. from the website he got the recipe from:  Kalyn's Kitchen

 



Baked Pesto Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt and fresh ground black pepper for seasoning chicken
1/2 cup basil pesto (I used my homemade Basil Pesto with Lemon, but you can use purchased pesto.)
2 oz. (1/2 cup) grated low-fat mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 375F/190C. Trim all visible fat and tendons from chicken pieces, then cut each chicken breast lengthwise into 2 or 3 pieces. (I cut the larger ones into 3 strips and the smaller ones into 2 strips.)

Spray a 9" x 12" (or 8.5" X 12.5") baking dish with non-stick spray, then spread 1/4 cup basil pesto over the bottom of the dish. Lay chicken strips over the pesto, then spread 1/4 cup more basil pesto over the chicken.

Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil (or use a baking dish with a tight-fitting lid) and bake the chicken for 25-30 minutes, just until chicken is barely firm and cooked through. (Don't cook too much at this point, or the chicken will be overcooked by the time the cheese is melted and browned.)

When chicken is barely cooked through, remove foil and sprinkle chicken with 1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese. Put dish back into the oven without foil and cook 5 minutes more, just until cheese is melted. (If your broiler is separate from the oven, start preheating it when you take the chicken out.) After I melted the cheese for 5 minutes I switched my oven to broil and broiled for 5 minutes more, just long enough to get the cheese lightly browned.

Serve hot. There will be some flavorful juice in the bottom of the dish when this is done, so you may want to serve with rice, couscous, or quinoa to soak up the juice, but if you're eating this for phase one, just spoon the juice over the chicken.

 

**Hubby actually doubled the recipe for our family

 

 

 

Yummy Crunchy Caramel Apple Pie from the site Blogark

Ingredients:
pastry for single-crust pie  (I got my recipe from here)
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 cups thinly sliced peeled apples

Crumb Topping
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
1/2 cup butter

Final Topping
1/4 cup caramel ice cream topping
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions:
1 Prepare pastry for single-crust pie, being careful not to stretch dough too much.
2 Place in pie plate and trim and crimp the edge.
3 In a large mixing bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt.
4 Add apple slices and gently toss until they are coated well.
5 Transfer mixture to pie.
6 FOR CRUMB TOPPING: Stir together brown sugar, flour, and oats.
7 Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until topping resembles coarse crumbs.
8 Sprinkle over apple mixture in pie.
9 To prevent over-browning while baking, cover edge of pie with foil.
10 Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes.
11 Remove foil and bake 25 to 30 minutes more, or until top is golden.
12 Remove from oven.
13 Drizzle top with caramel topping; sprinkle with pecans.
14 Cool on wire rack and serve!

 

 

I hope you had a nice weekend!

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Happy Mother's Day

As Mother's Day is approaching us, I have a few thoughts I wanted to share.  I guess Motherhood has been on my mind a lot lately with the birth of my 4th baby coming in a few months.  I've done a lot of pondering on who I am as a mother and if I am doing the right things for my kids.  I think a lot about homeschool, having a newborn baby and my sanity.  My sanity has for sure gone out the window and I don't know if I will ever get it back :)  

I've seen this quote and really loved it:

It has been on my mind and appreciate the profound words of Elder Anderson.  This is so true!  I don't have children because I love their little clothes or because it sounds like a "fun" idea.  I believe motherhood is my calling here upon the earth.  It is a lot of work raising sons and daughters of God, making sure they stay on the right path to return faithfully to our Father in Heaven.

I'm amazed at the number of people who make comments to me while I'm out with my 3 little ones.  I only have 3 and they sometimes think that is so much.  Sometimes I feel like a circus act trying to juggle them all being crazy in the store and I have another baby on the way!  I feel like such a spectacle sometimes and I can feel people's eyes on me....but, oh well.  Such is my life and I wouldn't have it any other way :)  I text my friend one day after I had been out with my kids ( and I Really despise shopping with them).  She has 6 kids and I can only imagine the stares and comments she must get!  People are generally really kind, it just feels awkward sometimes.

I also love this quote

It is a good reminder to spend time with my kids and not worry about cleaning and other unnecessary things.  

I want them to remember the time I spent with them and the things we did.  Not about me always doing laundry....

I've read two great articles that I really liked and found inspiring-

Having Babies {In Opposite World}

Motherhood Is A Calling

Read them and let me know what you think!  I hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day!!

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Minute Mug Dessert Recipes

Mmmm, how does this look??

I think it is Divine!  It's One Minute Coffee Cake in a Mug.   I saw this on Pinterest and I knew I had to make me some.  I was having one of those days with an adamant 2 year old who was driving me crazy all day!!  It turned out so good!  Here is the link for the recipe at Prudent Baby.

It's great because you can make a quick treat for yourself when your getting that sweet tooth.  If your into these type of treats  here are two more that I have made and loved:

Chocolate Chip Cookie In A Mug

Chocolate Cake In A Mug

Try them out - their delish!  Have a great weekend!

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A Boy And His Soccer Ball...

We put Monkey #1 in soccer this year.  He is loving it!  His team has a lot of practicing to do and they seem like they are afraid of the ball most of the time :)  But, they are all great team mates to eachother and enjoy playing as friends. 

I have a hard time not just running out there myself and kicking the ball in the goal.   It's sometimes frustrating sitting on the sidelines and wishing I could run in and help them.  



I'm glad he enjoys it and gets some exercise.  Have a good Tuesday :)

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Earth Day Activities

If you weren't aware, Earth Day this year is on Monday the 22nd.  We have this "holiday" to celebrate our earth and the ways we can help take care of it. 

 

For cub scouts yesterday, I taught the boys about our Living World.  We talked about recycling and ways that we can contribute to making our planet a more beautiful place to live.  For an activity we made Tissue Paper Earths.  I had some stuff left over, so my boys each made one today.  We read a book about recycling and talked about doing our part to keep the earth clean.

 



 





I found this cute art project at Connecting Family & Seoul.  They actually covered their earths in contact paper and added a magnet on the back to hang on the fridge.  I liked that idea too, I just don't have contact paper laying around.

 

While I was searching for ideas on crafts for Earth Day, I came across a few that I really liked:

 

 

Use pasta shells and paint to create an earth from Putti's World

 

 

 

Create an earth with shaving cream and paint idea from Teaching With TLC

 

 



 

These cupcakes are so adorable from Sugar And Dots

 



There are also many great books to be found at your local library or by googling about Earth Day.  

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Thoughts On Motherhood & Life

I have some good uplifting quotes pinned on Pinterest.  I love "feel good" quotes.  They inspire me and make me feel like everything is going to be okay.  I especially enjoy this one and think it has a great message:

 

Life is messy.

Life is full of defiant kids, spilled coffee, nothing for dinner, math pages not done, lots of noise, messy counters. It is full of late nights, relationship struggles, bills to be paid, and unrealistic expectations. But let me remind you - life is also full of sweet moments that are often forgotten when those you're a terrible mother moments fill our heads. Moments like the time you rocked the baby to sleep, prepared Food Network quality great dinners, got math pages and extra credit done, little I love you's, books read, hand in hand walks through the store, the time that you said yes to the little thing, sunsets and sunrises, laundry baskets that are completely empty, toys that are sorted, and sweet moments of peace.

Remember those in those terrible feeling motherhood moments. Remember.

 

 

This last little while, I've been struggling with motherhood, the kind of mother I am and the choices I make for my kids.  I feel like I often go in cycles like this.  Where I go along doing great and then grumpy feelings set in.  I start to wonder why I homeschool and why I drive myself nuts each day.   I wonder how much more my brain can take the "Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom...", the whining little voices, the fighting.  My brain can only take so much and I don't have time to think for myself.  I know I am not alone and I know I'll soon feel better about things.   It's just difficult sometimes :)

 

I know I want to homeschool and I know it's what's best for my kids right now.  Some days are just so tough to be around my kids all the time.  I was talking with a family friend the other day who is going through a hard time.  This person is not a member of the LDS church and is struggling with a life changing event right now.  As they were talking through their struggle and  not knowing what to do and if it's the right thing, I kept thinking how grateful I am for the gospel and to have prayer.  My life has such purpose with it and I would be lost without it.   I don't know what I would do if I didn't have the knowledge that I can pray to our Heavenly Father anytime, anywhere.  He has given me direction and comfort in times of need. 

 

 

 

 

Anyways, where am I going with all this??  I am grateful for the sweet little moments in life and for each and every day I get to spend with my children.  It is difficult, but it is the most important thing I can be doing with my life.  I can't imaging sending them away each day, not knowing what they are doing.  I get to be with them and help shape their little souls.  They are what I was sent here to do.  I would be so sad if I couldn't be with them and share in the little things of each day. 

 

 

 

 

During General Conference a week ago, Boyd K. Packer gave a talk titled These Things I Know.  He talked about how our "nests" are under attack.  We need to protect our "nestlings".  I loved this so much and it had a great impact on me.  I encourage you to click on the link and read his talk.  The world out there is a scary place and we need to make sure we are teaching our children, giving them direction and making our homes a safe haven. 

 

 

 

I am so grateful for the sweet little spirit that will join our family in a couple months.   Even though days are tough, this is what life is all about.  This is Heavenly Father's plan and I'm grateful to be a mother and to be raising these kids, to be apart of this great work.  I'm excited to meet my baby and have her join our family.

Happy Monday everyone and I hope you have a great week!!



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Homeade Bisquick Mix Recipe

Each weekend, I usually end up making pancakes or waffles at least once.  They are quick and easy and my kids gobble them up.  Well, I came across a recipe on Pinterest from

 Life, Family, Love



The recipe makes a huge batch and it doesn't take long to put together.  The pancakes I made turned out great.  They were fluffy and delicious!  This mix is a lot cheaper than buying a box of Bisquick.  I don't think I've ever used the stuff, I like to make my pancakes/waffles from scratch.

I found a gallon container at Walmart and put my mix in it.  I printed off the recipe instructions and taped them on the container for a quick reference. Now, it's ready for a quick breakfast on the weekends!

This is a pic. from the website I got the recipe from, just to show you how yummy the pancakes are:



Have a great weekend!

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Fun General Conference Ideas for Kids

I wanted to share a cute craft that I made at Relief Society Enrichment last night.  I have 3 small children, so General Conference time is not usually quiet!  The kids are all making noise and it's hard for them to sit still and listen for a few hours at a time.   

We made these cute little buckets that have 5 categories.  Every time your child hears the speaker talk about that subject, they get to pick a treat.  This picture is not the one I made, but it looks just like it.

Someone found the buckets in the $1.00 section at Target for 50 cents.  So, they were very inexpensive to make.  The website where this idea came from is Simply Kierste.

They were very fun and easy to make and I know my kids are going to love them!

Someone also suggested (maybe for older kids) that they used to have to write a report at the end of conference.  Depending on how great a report it was, they would earn anywhere from $1 to $5 for it.  I love that!  Or you could also put coins like pennies or nickels in the buckets above for a different prize. Just some  suggestions....

Here are also some printables you can use to take notes during General Conference.  My kids have always loved working on these.

*Here are some links to printable packets*:

Idea #1

Idea #2

Idea #3

Nursery Packet

Bingo Page

I hope these ideas help and I hope you have a great weekend relaxing with your families and enjoying the words of our church leaders!!

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It's A.......

We found out yesterday that.....

I am SO excited!!  It's such a surreal feeling.  I can't believe we are finally having a little girl.  We are all so excited (although I think hubby is a little nervous!).  Big brothers are thrilled, especially my oldest.  He has always wanted a little sister and I know he will be such a big help to me.

I am so excited for pink and purple and bows and sparkles and fun little things like that.  I can't wait to start making and buying stuff :)  I had a hard time sleeping last night because I was so excited (and I had some indigestion...)

It's funny because I know so many women that have had 3 boys followed by a little girl.  Now I'm one of those and I'm such a lucky mama!

I feel so blessed with all that we have and for the tender mercies of our Heavenly Father.  He has truly given us much.

Happy Friday Everyone!

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Blueberry Coffee Cake Recipe

This past weekend, I made this yummy dish for breakfast.  The whole family loved it.  It has cream cheese in it, so it makes it creamy.  I found the recipe on Taste Of Home.  The only problem was that I wish I had doubled it!  I also used frozen blueberries and they worked just fine.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
• 1 package (3 ounces) cream cheese, cubed
• TOPPING:
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon cold butter

Directions

• For batter, in a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg. Combine 1 cup flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture alternately with milk.
• Toss blueberries with remaining flour. Stir blueberries and cream cheese into creamed mixture (batter will be thick). Transfer to a greased 8-in. square baking dish.
• For topping, in a small bowl, combine flour and sugar. Cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over batter. Bake at 375° for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Yield: 6-8 servings.

Editor's Note: If using frozen blueberries, use without thawing to avoid discoloring the batter.

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A Visit to the Ranch



I am in Cub Scouts now and our cubmaster owns a ranch.  He invited the boys and their families to come one night for an activity.  I brought my boys and they loved it!  There were so many quirky little things to look at and a lot of fun animals. 

 

There were roosters and chickens everywhere.  Monkey #3 had a blast chasing them.

 

 

There was a funny horse that kept sticking his tongue out at us:

 

 

A really neat Clydesdale horse:

 

 

 

The older two boys loved playing on this thing (I can't think of what it's called, but it spins) with the other kids:

 

 

 

This was the coolest sign they had there.  I love Monkey #3's cheesy smile:

 

 

We had a lot of fun and my kids got to get a lot of energy out! 

 

 I find out next week what I'm having and I can't stand it!  I'm so excited! 

 

Hope your having a great week!

 

 



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St. Patrick's Day Activities for the Kids

This week the kids made some fun St. Patrick's Day crafts.  They had a ball.  I found both of the ideas from Pinterest. 

 

This first one is making a rainbow out of colored Cheerios or Froot Loops.  We used Froot Loops.  I was watching my friends girls and while the little ones were napping, the kids had fun making these.

 



Here is the original picture from the website Hands On As We Grow

 



Another craft we did was to make four leaf clover paintings from green bell peppers.

 

 

 

 



The key is to find good shaped peppers that actually look like clovers.  Here is the original picture from the site Train Up A Child

 

 



We had a lot of fun and my kids are ready for the big "green" day!

 



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A Puzzle Solution & A Recipe

 

We LOVE puzzles at our house.  We have a gazillion of them!  But that's great, because my kids love them and they are a great learning tool.

So, I haven't found a great way to store them without losing the pieces all over.  I came up with the idea to put all the pieces in their each individual bag and then put them in a container.  I stack the puzzle backs up in the kids closets next to the green containers.  When it is quiet time or they would like something do, I just pull the right bag out of the box!

 

 



Also, I came across a recipe on Pinterest for Eggless Cookie Dough.  I LOVE me some cookie dough!  I mean, I really do.... 

So, now that I am pregnant (and really before I shouldn't have) I can't eat raw cookie dough.  I love to just eat the dough.  I like to keep it in the fridge or freezer and sneak me a piece when I get the urge :)  This recipe is great because it tastes just like normal dough without the egg in it.  Perfect!

 

 



 

Eggless Cookie Dough:

 

 3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/4 tsp. vanilla

1/4 cup milk

1 cup flour

Pinch salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips

 

Yummy in my tummy!  Give it a try!

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California Pizza Kitchen - Kids Tour



Recently, we met some new friends through a homeschool group in our area.  It has been great getting to know others that homeschool and a support to me.  They do activities once in awhile and this one happened to be a tour for California Pizza Kitchen. 

 

I had no idea that the restaurant offered that.  It is even free, an added bonus!  They take you on a tour of their kitchen.  Then they sit all the kids down and have them make their own pizza.  Our tour guide even offered all of the moms and  kids a drink.

 

At the end, they give the kids a coloring book, pencil and a coupon for a free kids meal on your next visit. 

 

 

 

 

 

We loved it!  I'm sure we will do it again sometime in the future.  If you are interested in taking your kids, here is a link to their website:  CPK Kid's Tour.

 

 



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