Tessa's new jeans

Just wanted to show off some cute pants I made for Tess the other day. My kids hate jeans. Millie hates them because anything other than stretchy pants drive her crazy. Tess really likes stretchy pants too, so she only really hates jeans when they're too long. Tess is mostly a size 5 but the size 5 jeans she has from Old Navy are a bit too long. And Lila, well, cloth diapers and jeans don't really go together (that was the case until I found Made by Rae's Big Butt Baby Pants pattern).

In steps me with my sewing machine.

I've had this slightly stretchy denim laying around for a while. I used some of it to make Lila some Big Butt Baby Pants a while back and the material is pretty soft and comfy. I knew it would be perfect for Tessa. I used a general pants pattern I had drafted a while back, added a few inches of ruffle on the bottom and...voila! Nothing special, but they're oh, so cute!

Merry Christmas!

Happy Halloween

Love,

The Cat in the Hat, Yertle the Turtle, and Sam I Am

Let's decorate

I've wanted to write this post for a while, hoping to write it once these decorations were hanging. It seems as though that's never going to happen so I went outside and snapped some pictures against a brick wall. If, by chance, they ever do make onto the wall I'll post again!

We recently moved the big girls into a room together and I wanted something to help personalize their spaces. They have cute, matching, picket fence looking beds that will soon (soon, really?) have cute, matching, quilts (made by yours truly). I took them to pick their own sheets and Millie chose blue and Tessa chose pink. Here's what I came up with to match...

The first frame is one I had stored out in the garage for years. It used to be dark brown but with a little sandpaper and spray paint I fixed that right up. After painting I took my sanding block and messed up the edges a bit (some people call it distressed. I call it beating on it till it looked good!) and then sanded enough on the front so that it wasn't glossy anymore. The mirror in the second picture is one I picked up at the Salvation Army for $2.50. Once again, sandpaper and spray paint came in handy. I couldn't decide if I wanted it light pink or bright pink. The light was too light and the bright was too bright. First I did bright, then a few coats of light. Then I sprayed lightly with bright again and started sanding. I love the way it turned out!

Then I etched the letters...my first experience with etching cream. The "M"turned out great! The "T" looks okay but it was hard to make the etching even on such a thick letter. The other letters are cut out of vinyl. I hand cut them because I didn't have a font for my Cricut that I liked for this.

So, there you have it! A few decorations that I'd REALLY like to hang in the girls' room sometime soon.

Better than a Hallelujah

I just love this song!



God loves a lullaby
In a mothers tears in the dead of night
Better than a Hallelujah sometimes.
God loves the drunkards cry,
The soldiers plea not to let him die
Better than a Hallelujah sometimes.

We pour out our miseries
God just hears a melody
Beautiful the mess we are
The honest cries of breaking hearts
Are better than a Hallelujah.

The woman holding on for life,
The dying man giving up the fight
Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes
The tears of shame for what's been done,
The silence when the words won't come
Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes.

We pour out our miseries
God just hears a melody
Beautiful the mess we are
The honest cries of breaking hearts
Are better than a Hallelujah
Better than a church bell ringing,
Better than a choir singing out,singing out.

We pour out our miseries
God just hears a melody
Beautiful the mess we are
The honest cries of breaking hearts
Are better than a Hallelujah

Better than a church bell ringing
better than a choir singin' loud
singin' loud
Repeat Chorus

In honor of May 5th

I wanted to pop by for a minute to leave you with a delicious margarita recipe in honor Cinco de Mayo.

You can find the original here but I'll post the way we do it. You're welcome.

4 oz. amaretto liqueur
6 oz. frozen limeade concentrate
6 oz. tequila
1/2 c. orange juice
4 c. ice

Pour in blender and puree till smooth.

The only changes I made to the original recipes were:
1. I didn't put sugar on the rims of the glasses...too sweet!
2. I use less ice
3. After mixing I pour it into a container and put it in the freezer for a while to harden. Yum!

Hope you had a great Cinco de Mayo!

Yummy Chicken Marinade

Kevin loves how I label my recipes (insert sarcasm here). This is one of his favorites. So descriptive, isn't it.

It's grilling season and we plan to cook out a lot. Like, every day. Today we're having a cookout and I'm using my usual chicken marinade, which is totally delicious. We rarely grill chicken any other way. Want to learn how to grill the best chicken ever? Here you go...

Yummy Chicken Marinade

1/3 c. olive oil
1/3 c. soy sauce
1/8 c. lemon juice
1 T. liquid smoke
1 T. spicy brown mustard
1 t. pepper
1 t. garlic powder

Mix together, marinate chicken for a few hours, and grill. Yum!

I think I found this recipe on one of the usual internet recipe sites (allrecipes.com, recipezaar.com, etc.) but I can't remember which one or what it was called. I do know that I only make half of what the original recipe calls for. What I wrote above is already halved and I use it for 6 pieces of chicken.

Enjoy :)

The chicken nugget or the egg?

My Millie, she's a hoot. Just for fun, here's a little recap of a conversation we had yesterday.

Many of you may know that Millie is a self-taught vegetarian. Even when she was a baby she would never eat baby food with meat in it. Introduce: the chicken nugget. And she ate it. But not just any chicken nugget. A Tyson chicken nugget. Yes, she eats Tyson chicken nuggets. Wendy's? Yes. Burger King? Maybe on a a good day. McDonald's? NO WAY! Chick-fil-a? this one phases in and out but she'll normally eat them when bribed. Any other restaurant? Nope. How about a chicken tender? She'd rather you cut off her arm. Those Mickey Mouse shaped ones? Poison. She WILL NOT EAT any other piece of meat. I've heard all of the, "she'll eat if she's hungry enough," "she won't go hungry," etc. It's not true. Or maybe it is true but I wouldn't know because after about the third time that she threw up when I forced her to eat meat, I stopped.

So, I've always wondered why she'll eat (some) chicken nuggets and no other meat. Yesterday I think I got my answer. Well, it still doesn't explain why she didn't eat it when she was younger but it makes sense for why she doesn't eat it now.

She's been talking about farms in school. She was swinging last night and Kevin asked, "Millie, where does bacon come from?" "A pig, yuck " she answered. "What about hamburger?" "A cow, yuck." And so on. Steak, pork chops, sausage, etc. So then I asked her where eggs come from. "A chicken." "And what about chicken nuggets?" "An egg." I asked again, and again she told me that they come from eggs. I didn't push further because I NEED her to eat chicken nuggets. But at least I might have a little glimpse into why she'll eat them. It isn't made out of an animal, after all :)