This is what college does to you

As stated in my last post I have recently started back to college (FINALLY!!!). I am SO excited to finally be finishing up yet when you get into your homework and have to focus all your attention on a certain subject it can mess with your head.

Case in point: I am driving in the truck (by myself - rare occasion) and on the regular christian station that I listen to, KSBJ, was a talk show. They have talk shows every Sunday night and I will listen to some of them but this one was of NO interest to me. So I flipped the station to some country music and was enjoying hearing some old favorites and a few newer ones I wasn't familiar with yet. The radio switched songs to "You're Gonna Miss This" by Trace Adkins. I really begin listening to the words, you know listening, not just hearing and before I can catch up with my own thoughts I realize that I am comparing the similarities between this country song and Robert Frost's poem, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening".

Okay I mean come on! Seriously brain! Although to give my brain credit they really are similar in theme and I could probably write a whole other paper on comparing the two...but still.

This is what college does to you.

(Click on the link to hear the poet, Robert Frost, recite this poem)

To Do List #5, Check!

I know it has again been a long time but just get used to it. I have just in the last two weeks - got a new job, started back to college, and signed my son up for his first team sport ever! Phew - it exhausts me just listing all those newbies! HOWEVER - I still plan on popping in to update with some fun and exciting things. First on the list was a thing that has been on my "To-Do" list for forever! I did a post this early spring of what were your spring cleaning goals. Mine didn't ALL involve cleaning, although I got a LOT of cleaning and organizing done, they also involved projects. So I went from Spring cleaning to Summer Projects just like that. And this one was a ton of fun!

It was mainly fun because I absolutely LOVE to create things and I also LOVE bold beautiful colors. Since I was a child I always remember walking into THOSE houses and thinking, "Wow how brave and yet SO beautiful for someone to paint their kitchen this color!" Or "Ooh that is SO different!" I always remembered them and so since I own my very own home now I wanted to BE that bold beautiful home that most people not DARE try to put on their walls! Hehe - can you tell I like to be BOLD?

So here was my order that I made from the paint counter:

I first did a test square with the small tester containers. I left it up for about a month so I could stare at it and make sure I liked it! I highly recommend the "test paint containers" before any major painting job. They are super cheap and you can look at a color in different lighting's before making the big decision and the big payment!)

And after cranking tunes and having to sing along to "I feel like a woman" we got the job done!

Don't you just love paint??!!

The return of the infamous Ivy!!!

I needed a break.

I didn't have time.

This summer has been a whirlwind.

Take any of the above three facts to answer the question of: "Where have you been?" Did I forget about my blog? No. I actually had SO many ideas for great awesome posts throughout the entire summer but it just never happened. I would go almost a week without even checking my emails it got so bad. So after a few weeks of wanting to blog and never finding time or when I did I was way too tired I decided I would just accept reality and take a well-needed break.

BUT - my kids are off with their grandparents staying with them for a couple weeks to give my husband and I a "oh-so-needed" break and thus...I have returned to my blog! Yay! I know I can hear the shouts of praise from here. Yes all 24 of my faithful followers and maybe a straggler that accidentally stumbled onto here by accident.

Anyways, so you ask what is my first post back going to be about? Well....how about a little bit of this and a little extra of that? I figure I owe you one.

First off is another "Spring Cleaning" idea. That WAS what my last post was about and I'm proud to report that I have come a LONG way in my cleaning and organizing this summer! My house hasn't been this organized in quite awhile. One particular day of organization I found myself in my craft closet. Although honestly I'm not sure I could define it that way because it holds quite a few other things but they are all holiday/craft related. Back to the point. In the top of this closet was my kids Easter baskets along with a couple other cute baskets I had received at one point or another and I never could find myself throwing them out. They were good baskets. I had become tired of trying to get them not to fall every time I rooted around up there so my ingenious idea was to use the clothes bar in that closet which was currently not being used for clothes. I really liked the result and it cleared up SO much room! What do you think?

Next up on my list is an idea for someones birthday. Or anniversary. Or Christmas. You get the point. It's multi-functional. Have you seen those window markers that teens love to "tag" other teens vehicles with? Or the occasional adult too :) ? Well it says on there you can use it on windows OR MIRRORS. You there with me yet? If your husband is like mine and doesn't eat breakfast (I know - it's a crime) then breakfast in bed for his special day isn't really gonna work. So instead I surprised him with a fun birthday greeting on our bathroom mirror!

It still was a surprise and made him smile just the same! It's cheap, and washes off pretty easy, I mean why NOT do it?!

Speaking of my husband, he took some of the cutest pictures of our daughter this one summer morning right after she had woken up. She wasn't hungry quite yet so instead she crawled up in this chair I have that sits right by the bookshelf and I always stack our latest checked out library books on it (so as not to be mixed with our books and impossible to find when they are due). She sat there so quietly and went through book after book.

It was so adorable and heartwarming to know that my kids are developing a love for books! It did this mother's heart good. Summer is a great time to encourage your kids to read because:
1. They have TONS of downtime that will at some point be vocalized with an "I'm bored".
2. Your local bookstores and libraries give great incentives to get your kids reading!

My kids did the BORDERS Bookstore Summer Reading Dare! If they read 10 books they got one free! They have specific books you may select from and yes my kids are toddlers and no the selection is not toddlers books but we got them anyways to keep for when they are older and to reward them so they felt happy about it I bought them a book each from the discount shelf! So they were happy and I was happy! AND I got two free books that are both excellent reads for when they grow up.

Also if you have a child between about ages 6-10 my Summer Reading Recommendation is the Magic Tree House Series!! I have already started reading one or two chapters a night to my son and he LOVES them! they teach about all kinds of places and people in history and with my son LOVING locations and where everything is he is IN to these books! And for my princess toddler well you just can't beat a good Fancy Nancy book!

Okay last thing has to do with school since yes it is already fast approaching. If you happen to be a scrapbooker or at least a mom who likes to record your child's events in some way this idea is for you. I myself am an avid scrapbooker and HATE to throw anything away. I want it all as memorabilia for my albums but some things are just too big or too bulky or the pile can just become ridiculous. So as my son would create the COOLEST things at school I had to come up with some way to scrapbook them without actually scrapbooking ALL of them, ya know? So is what I did was I hung up a cork bulletin board in his room to display all his school art work and projects. It would hold one month's worth of stuff (STUFFED full...but it did) and then at the end of the month I would take a picture of the bulletin board.

So instead of having a year's worth of art (I did save I think two of my favorite's though) to scrapbook I now have 9 pictures of that month's school projects! Cool huh?

I thought so at least. Well hopefully this will make up for being gone so long. And I promise another post to come SOON! Until then, thanks for allowing me my break (although you technically had no choice) and see ya next time!

Spring Cleaning

It is Spring. Which by social commonality means you should be doing all those cleaning jobs that you only are required to do once a year. Such as clean out your closet, or organize your cupboards, or move your stove and suck up all the dust bunnies underneath! EEK!
However there was a pressing matter this year that desperately needed my attention and it became one of my many Spring Cleaning projects.

Okay do you see this filing organizer?

It wouldn't close. Not because I wasn't strong enough to force it together but literally it COULDN'T close. Why you may ask? Because this is holding three years of my paperwork! I know. That's bad. So I set out to make this right again.

Fresh file organizer - ONLY holding 2010 papers! YAY!! Which by the way - writing your own names for the tabs really helps cut down confusion between husband and wife of where something goes or is located. I highly recommend it!

And here is my big finale! After about an hour and a half I finally had them sorted out year by year. and yet what are those extra papers on the floor? Believe it or not they are from 2007-2005. How they got out of their proper filing and ended up in my current one is beyond me. But then again, these things happen when you commence Spring Cleaning.

AH. Feels good. So how bout you? What are you tackling this season??

1 Free Month Trial of Netflix

My husband and I really enjoy our Netflix. Being pastors we don't make bu-cu money and so we have to plan our date nights sparingly. However Netflix does give us the chance and excuse to set aside a night or two a week where we pop some popcorn or scoop some Blue Bell and sit and cuddle together while enjoying a movie together. And for your sake I hope your relationship is like ours in the sense that afterwards we always start some conversation from the movie. Sometimes that conversation can be deep and lengthy while other times it is left at "wow that was a horrible movie. Score it a 1!"

If you have never tried Netflix before you choose your movies and also have the chance to rate your movies after watching them and from these ratings Netflix will recommend movies you should like. I say SHOULD because occasionally they are wrong, HOWEVER I can vouch that we watched some movies we absolutely LOVED and had never heard of nor would have ever watched. So it's not pointless.

Okay now to the point. Right now until June 15th Netflix is offering a one month free trial (and yes you can cancel AS SOON as the trial is up and pay nothing! So thought I'd let you in on that deal. I of course got a thing in the mail with this offer to share with friends - so I shared it with you. It comes with cards and Priority code numbers so I'm just going to share them with you on here in case they actually mean anything, lol. (Please check comments to see which ones have already been used)

Priority Code #1: M833284220105
Priority Code #2: M853214220045
Priority Code #3: M823254220025
Priority Code #4: M863224220035

This is what I'm asking you do IF YOU USE A CODE:

Please leave a comment telling us which priority code you have used. (this way people won't try entering it after it's already been used)

So what are you waiting for? It's a little less than $8 a month!!! To me that is far worth some relaxation time to enjoy a good movie!

Or some much needed cuddle time with my honey!
(and no, I'm not being paid to say this or endorse Netflix, lol. And no
that is NOT me and my honey pictured above.)

I just enjoy it and wanted to share that with you!

Cracker Chicken

I finally cooked one of my husband's absolutely favorite meals again the other day. And half way through making it realized I wanted to blog the recipe so I captured a few pictures! The recipe is for Cracker Chicken and is family-friendly! (No really, it is!) Here is how simple it is:

CRACKER CHICKEN

4 breasts of cooked chicken, diced
Can of Cream of Chicken
1/2 Tub of Sour Cream (about a cup, or cup and a half)
1 package of Ritz Crackers
1 stick of butter

Combine cooked diced chicken in bowl with sour cream and cream of chicken. Pour into 8x8 (or 9 x 13 if you double the recipe - serves 4 to 5).

Melt stick of butter completely. Place Ritz crackers in gallon size Ziploc bag and seal. Beat the crackers in the bag until they are completely crushed into crumbs. Pour crumbs into melted butter and mix.

Then sprinkle the butter/cracker mixture over top of chicken.

Use all of it, coating well. Then pop in 35o degree oven for 1 hour.

It will be nice and bubbly when done! ENJOY!!

It has come at last...

About 38 minutes ago I had the first "I want to cut my own hair" experience with one of my children. It skipped by my first child thankfully but sure enough it had to happen. Here is the 3 year old culprit:

She is showing you the hair that she cut (thankfully that was it!!) and her look explains the talkin-to she got before the photo op. And here is the beautiful lock forever lost.

And where did this thought come from? Who is to blame?? THIS FOUL CREATURE:

Yes. Who knew a Chia Pet could be so dangerous! Seriously why don't they put THAT on the warning label? (I'm not serious, in case you are wondering.)

So I warn you: BEWARE THE EFFECTS OF A CHIA PET!!

Teacher Appreciation Week Idea

It is Teacher Appreciation Week! In case you didn't know. Teacher Appreciation Week is from May 3rd-7th this year and as the school year is coming to a close is a wonderful time to show your gratitude for all the blood, sweat and tears your kid's teacher poured into their classrooms and students this year! I found this awesome idea I believe over at Skip To My Lou (it was either there or it was a link from there!) But either way Skip to my Lou has some good ideas!

So anyways here is what I did for my son's WONDERFUL teacher Ms. Lisa at Methodist Day School in Conroe, TX. (By the way if you live around here and want an incredible Pre-K teacher I HIGHLY recommend her!! And I should know good teachers - my parents were both teachers themselves *wink* *wink*)

We decorated her door as a huge thank you card-type thing! Since it is beautiful outside her door might as well reflect it too right?

Then bottom part was the "Blooms" and each flower has a kids name on it. Then the parents over the next couple days sign each flower (or by it, since some are small) so that it becomes a life-size thank you card!

You can also do a Hot Air Balloon and say "Ms. Lisa, you've made us soar!" and each patch on the hot air balloon can be a kid's name. Or a simple one (for the less-creative ones out there) Just make jagged circles and say "Ms. Lisa you ROCK!" And each rock is a kid's name! The ideas are endless! And you only have one day left - EEK! So show your appreciation this week, SOMEHOW!

Cuz they deserve it.

Finer Things Friday

Found a new blog. Had a cool "theme day". Had to participate. Nuff said.

What was my Finer Thing this week? That I have curious kids interested and intrigued by nature, bugs, flowers, birds. And that I get moments as a mom to capture photos such as this:

Snapily 3-D Flat Card!!

Want to order a FREE 3-D Flat Card for your mom for Mother's Day?? Is all you pay is shipping which comes to $2.23 which hello is cheaper than regular Hallmark cards at the store! And this one you order from the comfort of your home and it is personalized with a photo of you or your kids or whatever you want to choose!

Where can you get this? At Snapily.com that's where! (I have to add here that I now feel like a T.V. commercial) However I did recently order from them and in my confirmation e-mail it had this great offer:

Let your friend get a FREE Flat Card so they can try Snapily.com too! Just enter coupon code LetMyFriendTry at checkout to receive the discount!! So hurry up Mother's Day is SOON!!

Pancake Topping Recipe

OK if that picture makes your mouth water then your taste buds are in TUNE! Because this Pear Topping is DEE-LISH! And here's the best part they are SO easy!! Doesn't look like it right? Oh but it is!

Here's the secret: Use CANNED pears! GASP! I know. Canned pears. Okay now that we are past that. Pour a little bit of REAL Maple Syrup in a frying pan and cook the pears just until well coated and heated. Also sprinkle a little bit of cinnamon on them right before you are done. Then slap em on your favorite pancake recipe and you are headed for taste bud heaven!
(Also if you don't happen to have real maple syrup in your cupboards you can substitute molasses just as easily and they both taste great!)

No I can't leave so soon because I HAVE to share with you this COMPLETELY HEALTHY Anti-Inflammatory Pancake recipe of mine that truly tastes delicious! I know completely healthy and delicious don't go together in most people's minds but these are truly good. (If you don't agree apparently we have opposite tastes!)

Almond Flour Pancakes

2/3 Cup whole-curd cottage cheese
3 large eggs
1/2 Cup Bob Red Mill's Almond Flour
1/8 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
1/8 Tsp. Ground Cinnamon
2 TBLS Oat Bran

1. In a large mixing bowl combine all ingredients except oat bran. Beat until smooth.
2.Heat a nonstick griddle or large nonstick skillet.
3. For each pancake, pour about 3 TBLS of batter onto the griddle or skillet.
4. Sprinkle each pancake with oat bran (I sprinkle the batter side as the first side cooks - and go LIGHTLY or you will end up tasting it)
5. Cook pancakes 1 to 2 minutes until puffed and dry around edges. Turn and cook other side until golden brown.

Box of Chocolates Cupcakes

I promised pictures of my latest Cupcake Creations: Box of Chocolates*... and here they are!! First I have to show you my "Sprinkle Station".

You see first I made a whole batch of mini cupcakes. Then you frost about 2/3 of them and roll the edges in various sprinkles or jimmies. The remaining 1/3 you heat the frosting up until it is liquid and dip the tops of them into it to give it a shiny glazed look!

Do you see the shiny ones?? The ones in the back are the regular frosted ones.

Then to make half of them look like actual chocolates you cut marshmallows in half and dip in the same heated frosting (by the way the heated chocolate I used was DARK chocolate - which gives it the rich dark color) Once they are all dipped you place them in the fridge for about 10-15 minutes to allow the chocolate to set.

Then carefully place the marshmallow piece on a cupcake and to add to the look you pipe the milk chocolate frosting design on top. *Marshmallows cut horizontally you make swirly designs on. Marshmallows cut vertically have drizzle designs.

Here is the finished product - you can see the drizzle vs. swirly. The rest of the cupcakes you decorate with various candies in coordinating colors. These were for an Acts of Grace** Retreat so the theme was PINK! Can you tell? Oh and there is no picture but once you are all done you fill in the in-between space with (again color-coordinating) skittles!

And no I did not put this in crooked on purpose. I reloaded this picture and it shows everything is right and turned the right direction but WILL NOT load the right way! So sorry - you get to turn your head and observe my beautiful cupcakes crooked!

*These cupcake creations were made from "Hello Cupcake" by Karen Tack

**Acts of Grace is a ministry to Post-Abortive and Sexually-Abused Women (and Men) For more info please click on the link above!

Quick hello and PRIZE WINNER!

I feel a little alienated from my blog recently. But one thing I strive for is keeping balance in my life and for this past week I really needed to tend to my family and my home and NOT put it off so I could blog! So I don't apologize - I'm a mom and wife first and blogging is my hobby so for weeks like this past one I'm sure you can busy yourself until a wonderful new post on "A Walk in My Shoes" DOES finally come out! hehe. How's that for an introduction?

Okay but on with some business. First of all I want to CONGRATULATE the winner of my Creative Memories Mini PicFolio Boxed Set........Comment #1120 Gina!!! I'm SO glad you joined in on the Ultimate Blog Party fun and I'm so happy to bless you with this prize! I hope you enjoy it! (I haven't received your info from 5minutesformom.com yet but as SOON as I do I will get it mailed out to you! - and for the chance that you follow my blog or pop back by go ahead and let me know so i can get you it even sooner!)

Also since I don't have time to post my OH SO CUTE and YUMMY "Box of Chocolates" Cupcake creation today I did want to leave you with a cool project to help restore women enslaved in the red light district in India.

The project is called "Princess International" and you can read their STORY HERE.

They sell pajamas HAND-MADE by these women to help support them and give them a life of freedom out of and away from the Red Light District. It's such a simple way to help. And the jammies are SO adorable and beautiful! Browse through several here. Oh did I mention they have a cute name too? Punjammies! Isn't that adorable! Love it. Here is the Balamani Dawn p.j. pants. Beautiful right?!

Just wanted to quickly share that with you - since Mother's Day IS coming up...just sayin'.

Ultimate Blog Party Post!

So leave it to me to join something last minute and not understand the directions fully! I went BACK to the site and now know I need an OFFICIAL blog party post! hehe so here it is! For everyone new to my blog disregard the first two sentences!

SO HI!! Welcome to "A Walk in My Shoes..." I am a wife of 5 years to a wonderful man of God (see the picture of him kissing me? hehe, isn't he cute?!), and mother to 2 toddlers: a boy, 4 yrs old (almost 5) and a girl, 3 yrs. old. My husband and I are youth pastors at a fairly large Cowboy Church in Montgomery, TX and if you are stopping to ask what the heck is a cowboy church just click here and find out! Besides that FULL time job I am an avid scrapbooker and photographer! I am very outgoing and love going new places, meeting new people and just exploring period. I blog about things that intrigue me - books I've read, what my four year old asked his daddy last night, the BEST toilet cleaner in the world! (yes that post DOES exist). I also typically post yummy recipes, complete with photos, at LEAST once a month but can be four a week! You just never know. And thus my life - you just never know! Want to see some pictures of recipes I've posted??? Okay you twisted my arm:

I said I'd never live in Texas but after being here 5 years am finally thinking it WOULD be cute to take pictures of my kids in the Bluebonnets and I DO enjoy Moolenium Crunch Blue Bell Ice Cream...so I will survive here.

This is my first year at The Ultimate Blog Party hosted by 5 Minutes for Mom and if you've never heard of it or are not in on the action you MUST go check it out! Just click on the button above. If a MASSIVE blog party doesn't already peak your interest then how about fabulous PRIZES! And LOTS OF THEM! That's better huh? Here is what I would like if I win:

1. USC#8 = $55 e-gift card to Amazon.com given by Kelly's Lucky You

2. US#75 = $100 Gift Card to SummitCampingGear.com given by Stompermom

3. US#112 = $50 gift card to Amazon.com given by Our Homeschool Home

Besides those top 3 picks (can you tell I have books to buy at Amazon.com???) here is the other great gifts I'd like IN THE ORDER I list them in!

US#11, US#95, US#96, #USC15, #USC27, #US56, #USC30, #USC53, #USC43, #USC13, #USC3, US#4, US#16, US#20, USC#57, USC#19, US#84, US#107, US#70, US#32, US#50, US#52, US#61, US#102, US#76, US#31, US#14, US#35, US#69, US#8, US#47

Yes I looked through EVERY single prize post! But you couldn't tell I know! But hey it allowed me to visit most of their blogs too so yay for them!

I'm also giving away a prize! It's a Creative Memories Mini PicFolio Gift Boxed Set. It includes 2 albums - red and blue and comes in an adorable little display box with a drawer for each album! Just go on over to 5 Minutes for Mom and get in on the prizes and making new blog friends during the Ultimate Blog Party 2010!