Winning Ryan

A few weeks ago, I got into a giant debate with my dear, dear friend Kara about who would get Ryan Gosling if we ever met him. I won, obviously. Well, not really "obviously" because she had some valid reasons to win, but I trumped her because I remembered he was on Kid's Incorporated and she did not. She got bucky and was all like, "Well, this is all hypothetical anyway. It is not like we are actually going to ever meet him or have a chance." That right that secured my win. There is a chance. There is ALWAYS a chance. I mean, I could probably 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon his ass and find him. And then get past his security. And past the throngs of younger, hotter, and bustier girls. And then, if I could even muster up the courage to speak, I could  TOTALLY have a chance. Basically, we could even be so bold as to say that Ryan Gosling and I are dating. That is how much of a chance there is.

So, Ryan, to answer your question, there is literally no silly face you could make that would make not want to make out with you. Ever. None. You so fine.

There was really no point to this. I just wanted to post another picture of Ryan Gosling and talk about him a little bit.

Good day. Cheerio. Adios.

Picture courtesy of:
http://fuckyeahryangosling.tumblr.com/

(sorry for the fulgarity...but that is what it is called. and it is a glorious site!)

Winter Entertainment

Today I was going to share a delicious brinner recipe with you folks. In case you are new around here, brinner is like brunch. But instead, you eat breakfast at...you guessed it! Dinner! Pretty intense concept, huh? I know. Anyway. I was going to but then I ran out of steam. See, this is how this week has gone. Sunday a part on our furnace broke. That was fun. And a little chilly. Then yesterday, eczema reared its ugly head on my littlest lady's legs. Long story short, she must have organic diapers for thigh breakouts. Well, to keep another long story short, we had to travel to lands far, far away to find organic diapers. It was fun. But they did the trick and her eczema went away. Thennnnnnn, my oldest lady woke up mighty sick this morning. Poor girl's head was so stuffy, her eyes were watery and she tore through Kleenexes.

Fast forward to now. REAW REAW REAW. <--- That was my fast forward noise. Well, now, I sit here broken hearted because it is Tuesday and that means The New Girl should be on at 8:00 but it is not. Due to this startling fact, I intend on getting my rear to bed early. Waaaay early. Like 8:15. So, instead of a delicious brinner recipe, you are getting all the ways in which I kept two little girls occupied this fine Tuesday. FYI, all of these fine photographs were taken with my phone so the are a little foggy. Enjoy!

First, I told Avery she could paint her sister's toenails. It was with kiddy polish. You know, the kind that washes off? Anyway. That was hilarious to listen to.

Then we watched Aladdin for a bit. And by a bit, I mean approximately 10 minutes. Then all bets were off. Kendall had work to do. She had clients to email, proposals to type up, and a pair of heels to break in. Where does this girl work? Pants aren't mandatory? Count. Me. In.

While the girls napped, I taped a hopscotch on our kitchen floor. It is fun. Between this and Just Dance Kids for the Wii, they are getting all wore out. And to honest, it is pretty entertaining to watch both.

It was a pajamas are mandatory but pants are optional kind of day.

And after bath/shower time, I discovered a sweet way to use a giant roll of paper. See that top cabinet? Well, it slides. So I opened it, slide the roll behind the door and in the gap, closed the door, and pulled the paper down. Did you enjoy the very detailed instructions? I thought you would. So, now we can draw at will. Koda (the dog) is like, "Woah. My food is behind that bottom door. How the H. E. Double hockey sticks are you people going to get that out for me?" Don't fret precious. We can just lift the paper up. Really, that was Avery's concern. She actually wondered if we would ever be able to feed him again since the paper was there. I assured her it would all turn alright in the end.

Well, I know that was a very tantalizing post. But if your kids are getting stir-crazy like mine are, notice how far some masking tape, white paper of any variety, and pedicures can go.

I must say good-night now. It is two minutes until 8:15 and I don't want to miss my bed time.

Sleep tight everyone!

Homemade Dishwasher Soap

Have you ever made the mistake of saying, "Hey, what could be the difference between the name brand this or that and the cheaper store brand? Probably nothing...might as well try it." And then you walk away thinking you just stuck it to the man. You leave the store totally stoked that you saved a few bucks. So you stop at McDonald's and spring for a large fry with bar-be-que sauce and a delicious fountain Coke all the while telling yourself that this time will be different...this time you will have ACTUALLY found a winner winner chicken dinner.

This is exactly what happened the first time I decided that the $4.00 store brand dishwasher soap would work the same as the $7.00 name brand dishwasher soap. When you wash at least a load of dishes a day, that crap adds up fast. And let’s face it, anytime I can eat more McDonald's French fries, which I do any and every single time I am by myself in a car and pass a Mickey D's, I totally seize the opportunity to save a buck.

But, what ultimately happens is the dishes have to be rewashed. Which results in the use of more water and more soap. That is when I reach for the remainder of the good soap and curse myself for being sucked into shame. Then I hop into Vinnie the Minivan the following day and go spend the $7.00 I should have spent in the first place. I don't get french fries because now I just spend $12.00 on dishwasher soap and I am sulking.

Needless to say, I was pulled right into the spider's web when I saw a recipe for homemade dishwasher soap. I would not have been and would have zipped right past it if I hadn't been turned onto homemade laundry detergent by my Mom. She bought all the goods for the laundry detergent and we split it in half. My first go at that was vomit sheets (sorry if that is T.M.I. but that is what kids do) and it worked like a charm. I was sold. And I love it. I will share that recipe with you shortly...I need to get the recipe from my Mom. Stay tuned, folks. Stuffs 'bout to get crazy up in here.

So, anyway. I saw the homemade dishwasher soap recipe on Pinterest, obviously. There are oodles and oodles of recipes. I found the recipe I used here:
http://ladywiththeredrocker.wordpress.com/2011/09/02/diy-dishwasher-detergent/

I went to Wal-Mart to buy the goods. All in all, I think all four items cost about $12-13. I also bought an air-tight container to store it in. I mixed it and tried it. And guess what?!?! IT WORKED BETTER THAN ANY EXPENSIVE NAME BRAND DISHWASHER SOAP EVER. EVER! That is the best part about it. The second best part about it is it made a lot. I only made enough to fit my container and am storing the rest for the next batch.

This is how we do iiiiit...all hands are in the air...And wave them from here to there...If you’re an o.g. Mack or a wanna-be player.
Sorry. I am really sorry but I had Montell Jordan in my head for days. Weeks maybe and I can't get it out.

Side note: I am a big, BIG fan of store brand/generic label good but you learn your lessons (usually the hard way...and by hard I mean by wasting money) and figure out what works and what doesn't and when to splurge and when to go cheaper. Plastic baggies, paper towel, body wash, and butter are great examples. Go the cheap route. Razors, feminine hygiene products, toilet paper, and ketchup are things I have found to be not so great the cheap route. You live and learn, right?

Back to the dishwasher soap.
Here is how to make it if you are willing to give it a try:

Homemade Dishwasher Soap

1 cup Borax
1 cup Arm and Hammer Washing Soda
1/2 cup salt---regular, old table salt
1/2 cup citric acid---or LemiShine (you can find it at Wal-Mart by the JetDry)

Mix everything all together. Store in an air-tight container. Use 1-2 tablespoons per load.

Just a few notes:

1. According to the blog I got the recipe from, you could put some rice in cheesecloth tied tight and set it in the container to reduce clumping. I did not because mine seems to be doing fine.

2.  Use plain 'ole simple white vinegar in the rinse aid plug thingy where you usually put JetDry and save yourself a ton of cash and get the same results.

Happy dish washing!!!!!

Just a Few Random Thoughts...Randomly

1. I can't stop playing New Mario Bros. on the Wii. Like, literally, CAN. NOT. STOP. I am addicted. But the thing is, I am really bad at it. Like, literally, REALLY. BAD. AT. IT. And I'm not just saying that. I can not get past the second castle on world 1. WORLD 1!! For real. When I was in middle school, I dominated the crap out of Super Mario Bros. Bowser had nothing on my skillz. But now, now I can not get past the first freaking world. So that is what I do when my kids are sleeping. I try and try and try. There are a few problems with this. One is that I get mad. It makes me grumpy. And sweaty. I get a little hot and sweaty because I am frustrated. So I have to give myself a time limit of a half an hour. Then I am done...until the next nap time or bedtime.

Secondly, I turn into a teenage boy when I play the Wii. I drink soda like it is water and eat jalapeno cheddar dip and chips. But since I am not a teenage boy, I get heartburn. Playing the stinking Mario game give me heartburn. Damn Mario. It is all his fault. So I have resorted to looking up cheat routes and such online. I learned how to warp to world 5. But I can't even do that! I die before I get to the spot! I. Am. AWESOME!

OK. I just needed to get that out there. I feel better now. I will try again. Thanks for your support. My name is Stacy and I am a Mario Bros. junky. Hi Stacy, welcome.

2.  The girls' birthdays are in August. In November, Avery already told me she thought they should have a Tangled themed birthday party. Yup, she is just as neurotic as I am. Already planning her birthday....9 months in advance. But I bit. And I feed into it because I think it is a great idea. In fact, there is no turning back now because I already started buying and gathering supplies. Hey, it's not crazy. It is actually very smart, you see. I was instructed that there should be a lot of braids...braids on the invitations, braids to wear, braids here, braids there. So, I figured since it is cold out, I could start braiding things. I made braids for the girls' to wear as a test run for the big day. Here is what we got:

This is Kendall's hair. Her hair ended up being a little shorter than I had anticipated but that turned out to be OK because home girl struggled with this much hair behind her! And yeah, she is naked. She hates to wear clothes. I digress...

Here is Avery's much longer and more Rapunzel-esque hair. Her hair goes almost to her knees. The only thing they are missing is flowers. The girls love these. Each one is just an entire ball of yellow yarn, cut into the same length portions. Then I divided those into three piles, braided them, and put a pony-tail holder on each end. I then put the hair around their heads and used another pony-tail holder to make a circle of hair. I am really good at explaining things, aren't I? Well, even though you TOTALLY got that, here is a picture of the hair:

So there it is.

And that is that. We are having a Tangled birthday. I will keep you posted on the doings of this partay because I know you are sitting on the edge of your seat just waiting for more!!!

3.  I started a Line-a-Day Journal. It is pretty sweet and uber fun way to journal. The basic concept is, you have a journal where every page is a day of the year. On that day, every year for 5 years usually, you write a line about your day/random thought/idea/whatnot and continue going on and on and around and around.

The concept is to see what you write year after year, how you change/grow, and to remember what you might have forgotten over the years. It is easy to commit to since it is only one sentence a day...but I have found myself writing some pretty long run-on sentences on some days! 

You can buy a journal on amazon.com:

                                          

I bought a 400 page journal and just filled in the days myself. It is way prettier than the ones you can buy on Amazon. I was turned off by the gold foil edges. They reminded me too much of girlish diaries from the olden days. But it is really fun. I can't wait to make it back around and see what I wrote the year before.

4.  I received my very first piece of pottery from Miss Avery yesterday. She brought it home all wrapped up in tissue paper and insisted I could not see it. Then her and Daddy wrapped it in real wrapping paper and I got to open it. And I love it! It is so very functional. It can hold bobby pins, a tube of Burt's Bees, and in the summer, flower buds.

Isn't it pretty? So cute. And it weighs a TON! I could also use it as a paper weight, if I ever needed to weigh down paper. Oh, and I have no idea why the grey bar is on the bottom of this picture. No matter how many times I downloaded it, it never went away. Odd. Those gosh darn computers.

5. Just because...for no reason at all:

You are welcome.

Have a great day, one and alllll!

FireCrackers

Remember Chicken in a Biskit crackers? When I was in middle school, those crackers were the bomb. Those crackers and cinnamon hearts were basically my food groups back then. And peanut M&Ms. Back to Chicken in a Biskit. I grew up and started questioning what they actually were. Like, for real. What are they? Chicken flavored crackers? That is odd. And what is a biskit? A limp bizkit? Too many questions and no answers. So I guess Chicken in a Biskit crackers just fell by the wayside for this chick.

Fast forward to present day. While perusing Pinterest one fine fall day, I came across a pin for, and I quote, "The BEST crackers you will ever eat." Now, who can pass by that?! I obviously clicked on that sucker and found the recipe for FireCrackers. They said they were some spicy yet tasty crunchy nuggets and, being a spice lovin' girl who has a spice lovin' boy, I had to make them.

They are super simple to put together but require a days worth of patience. The crackers need to sit together in a bag and spend some time getting to know the seasonings. But trust me when I say this, they are worth the wait.

And I bet you are wondering what all the talk about Chicken in a Biskit has to do with FireCrackers, huh? Well, they taste like spicy Chicken in a Biskit crackers. If you left out the crushed red pepper flakes and cayenne pepper, you would have a homemade version of Chicken in a Biskit. But don't do it. Put the spice in. It makes them much, much better. Mucho better-o.

I know the suspense is KILLING you so I will not wait any longer.

FireCrackers

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
2 (1 ounce) envelopes ranch dressing mix
3 tablespoons crushed red pepper flakes
1 box saltine crackers or Ritz crackers 

*note* I have used both types of crackers but Ritz have seemed to be our house favorite.

Put all the ingredients in a large freezer-size Ziploc bag. Seal the bag and flip it around and around a few times until all the crackers are coated with the seasoning mixture. Set on the counter. Flip the bag every hour or so for 8 hours. Store in an air-tight container.

I do not have a picture of the FireCrackers, but just imagine them to look like crackers...with seasoning on them.

Also, I snapped a photo of the recipe with my phone so I can not give credit where credit is due because I have no idea where it came from. I sincerely apologize to the creator of such goodness.

And also, one may uncontrollably sing Katy Perry while making and eating these crackers. There's just something about eating FireCrackers and singing, "BABY YOU'RE A FIRRRRREWOOOORK! COME ON LET YOUR COOOOLORS BUUUURST!" Sorry you had to see that. But you have been warned.

Hey ya'll...Long Time No See

So, it has been 5 months and 6 days since my last blog post. I never intended on not blogging anymore...it just sort of happened. As the days passed, I would say, "Tomorrow. Tomorrow I will blog again." And then it never happened. As the summer progressed and school started I thought I would have plenty of time to start again. But then I just didn't. I just wasn't feelin' it.

One of the reasons was because people are mean. And say mean things. And sometimes those mean things sting so hard that even twice as much praise can balance it all out.  I'm totally one for constructive criticism but not for blatant cruelty. And let me tell you, other mothers can be MEEEEEEEEEAAAAN. They make you feel bad for doing too much with your kids or doing too little and for cooking at home or for eating out. After a while, it starts to get daunting...like nothing you do is good or right. My intentions with this blog were to show what we were doing and making for no other reasons than as an outlet for myself. And maybe to spark inspiration in the people who read it. So, what I guess I am trying to say is that I let my spirit be broken by petty nonsense. But, after a few months of wallowing in self-pity, I have decided not to let the opinions of those few stop me from doing something that brings me a lot of happiness. So...I'mmmm baaaaaaaaaaack! And I have a lot of goodies saved up from the past few months to share.

Since I gave the mean girls an entire paragraph of attention, I feel it is only necessary to thank those who have been questioning where I have been, asked me to come back, and supported me before I disappeared....and for, hopefully, continued support now that I am back. I really appreciate it, fo sho.