Small projects around the house

I like doing small projects around the house.  So today I organized a linen closet.  I have stuffed it full and never really took time to organize things.  Plus, the kids are in there pulling old sheets and such to build forts so it is a mess. Today was the day to purge, fold, wash and put it all back nice and neat.  Oh it feels so great.  I bought the kids a new shower curtain that is not so "little kid" looking since my son is getting older and let's face it the other curtain was five years old so it's done it's time.   It's a bunch of letters that look kinda like graffiti..  Anyhooo, it was on clearance at Target for like $3.00.  Side note:  My entire house is taupe brownish so I wanted to put some color at least in the kids space.  I bought some sample paints at Lowe's last night and painted some stripes where the toilet is.  Then because we have a boy and a girl I added some sticky butterflies I have had on hand from IKEA to add some girlishness to it.

Not sure if anyone else has painted stripes on their walls.. We have an orange peel texture on our walls so the tape does not get in every nook and cranny and the paint bleeds a bit.  Does anyone have any tips on that?

                                         Bathroom Wall

Shower Curtain.. Target $3.00 bargain

Behind the toilet with the butterflies.  Oh, the basket was painted also with left over paint.  

Get your workout on!

Real quick... YouTube has some good workouts and they are free so you can mix up your workouts as you feel the need to.

I found one that is 10 minutes focused on the abs.  This is a major problem area for me.  I carry all my weight in my stomach and to make matters worse; I have had three major surgeries that have cut open my abdomen so it's hard find workouts that are gentle enough but also work those muscles.   Click the link below if you are interested.  Good thing it's 10 minutes so it doesn't take up much time.  I even used my smart phone, set it the couch and was able to follow the workout.

10 min. Booty Shaking Waist Workout

Best meatballs I have ever made...

Happy Memorial Weekend... Thank you to all who have served to protect our GREAT country...

Now on to food, my favorite topic.  I found this great blog with many exciting recipes,   http://www.kayotic.nl/blog/.  More specifically I found a recipe for Mahogany Meatballs.  I followed the recipe loosely by using all the same ingredients but I put the sauce in the crock pot with the uncooked meatballs and set on low for two hours.  They were perfect.  I personally I am not a huge fan of cooking my meatballs first then adding them to the sauce.  To me the meatballs absorb the flavor of the sauce a bit more if they cook in the sauce.  Also, this recipe calls for a small amount of apple cider vinegar.  I seem to think this is the key for juicy and tender meat.  (Maybe some of you more experienced cooks have already noticed this)...

While you are relaxing in the sun with a cocktail, please take a moment to visit http://instacanv.as/desert_oasis on Instagram and enjoy his beautiful desert photos.

So Clean

I swear the floor to my shower seems like it is cleanser resistant. Nothing has been working to clean my shower as I like it.  Thanks to an idea on Pinterest I mixed equal parts Dawn dish soap and Heinz white vinegar and watched the magic happen. Soap scum melted away and the floor looks brand spankin' new.  I am not sure why I never thought of the idea myself. I use vinegar to clean my floors and use it in my dishwasher in place of Jet Dry. The floors are a lot cleaner.  Your feet literally squeak on the floor.  It also makes the glasses come out clearer and same with my Tupperware.

Tomorrow is Monday. Make it a successful week!

Simple Home Updates

Just a quick update...  If you are looking to do something to spruce up the house but not spend alot of money.  Think about changing out your current door knobs.  We had these brass looking door knobs in our house and we changed them out with "aged bronze" door knobs by Gate House.  You can buy them at Lowes for under $15.00, about fifty percent cheaper than Kwikset.  I figured since they are indoor door knobs I can go cheaper.  They update the look of the door and kind of looks like we repainted the doors too.

Looking forward to Friday to get the weekend started.  Hope it's a good one for everyone!

• Before

•  After

What to say?

Last night after dropping her cousin off at home my daughter asks me "what do our souls look like?" I did a double take and asked "Huh?"  She asked again, mama "what do our souls look like?"  I felt like I had to be quick in my response, I didn't want to keep her hanging.  I said that our souls are round like the sun and are bright like the sun.  She accepted that.  Then she followed with, mama "why does God take our souls to Heaven?"  I again feeling like I needed to give her an answer said, "because God turns our souls into angels.  I explained we are humans here on earth and we are turned into
angels in Heaven to spend eternity with our loved ones who are also angels."  It was a pretty intense conversation for a 6 year old.  Who am I kidding, it was an intense conversation for a 38 year old.

Anyone else have had their kids ask them similar questions??  How do you answer them?

Happy St. Patty's Day!

We started the day off with Keith and kids riding on the levy and I walked it.  I completed 3 1/2 miles and I would have kept going but the arch of my foot was hurting.  Guess I need another pair of shoes.  It was pretty amazing though... the longer I went the faster I was walking and even ran 1/4 of a mile.  Not long for some but it is for me.  Even better news my stomach didn't hurt after working out.  I am still avoiding bread and now dairy and not really missing it.  YEAH!!!  Another thing, it is so great for the kids to be out getting exercise with us.   Hopefully since they are still young we would have instilled a healthy life style for them so they won't go down the road we have.

As I was walking the wind was blowing on my face and I could smell the sweet smell of orange blossoms in the air.  It's my favorite thing... When I was a child I would spend the night at my grandmother's house and she would leave the window open and all you could smell was the orange blossoms from her massive orange tree.  Great memories...

The peach and nectarine trees are starting to grow fruit.  Their beautiful blossoms have fallen off and now we just wait for the fruit to grow.. YUM!  The orange trees are just growing their blossoms and same with the tomatoes.  Hopefully we can keep the squirrels away and enjoy our fruit this season.

We went an entire seven days without going out to eat that's money in our pocket.  I have been finding many one pot recipes that are quick to put together and the entire family loves them.  One hit this week was chicken, tater tot, bacon, cheese in a crock pot.   The recipe calls for bacon bits but I am fundamentally against them, so I fried some real bacon and chopped it up for this dish.  I also got the tater tots from Walmart.. Almost $1.00 cheaper than the name brand tater tots.  I have pasted the link to food.com for this recipe.

 http://www.food.com/recipe/cheesy-chicken-bacon-tater-tot-crock-pot-bake-403520

Wind Caves Anza Borrego National Park

Warner Springs on our drive to Anza Borrego

Life Style Changes

My last post I talked about cravings and not thinking about them as a sign of failure.  For the past nine days I have been acknowledging the cravings and not feeling like a failure.  Kind of exciting.  I noticed for the past couple months especially when I eat bread I tend to get very sick to my stomach.  I also noticed when I drink beer the same thing happens.  I had violent stomach ache again about two weeks ago and I thought "that's it, I can't live this way anymore".  I started doing my own research and found out I might have a gluten intolerance.  I haven't seen a doctor yet but all blogs and medical sites indicate my symptoms are just that, a gluten intolerance.  So I have been staying away from bread, cereals and beer :-(...  I have cravings for them but so far I have not given into them.. I do feel better in general and not so bloated.

So far no weight loss.. definitely picking better foods than the ones high in carbs. so I am sure weight loss will start to come.

Another thing I realized... People like me that have made a life style of unhealthy eating habits need to make this change in phases.  To go cold turkey is kind of unreasonable.  I don't want this to be diet, it needs to be a lifestyle change and that doesn't happen overnight, unless you have Jillian Michaels living in your house barking at you 24/7.   I started with just not going out to eat like I used to.  I would stop for breakfast on the way to work, at lunch, and most times my husband would get fast food for us for dinner.   So during 2012, there is no fast food for dinner whatsoever.  All dinners are homemade regardless of the ingredients.  Second half of the year we also began making breakfast and lunch at home too.  If we go out to eat it is maybe on Friday night and that because frankly after working, cooking, cleaning, etc. all week, we both need a break.  Now that we are used to eating at home and have made it part of our routine and a habit we can really move on to clean eating.

Keep you all posted on the progress...

Dieting ADD

I think I have dieting ADD.  I get started on a good roll then.... well.... ummmm.... donuts, cookies, pizza, oh how 'bout that greasy bacon cheeseburger cravings come my way...  Suddenly it hit me driving to my a friends house on Saturday.. I am not a failure if I crave the bad food that I love and have become addicted to.  Somewhere in my 38 3/4 years of life I have translated cravings into failure and then I just give in to it.  As you know my husband and I quit smoking one year ago... (hold the applause please :-) )... but I had cravings to smoke and bad.  I wanted to chase a woman down the street at one point as she drove past me with her cigarette hanging out the window just to get a whiff of that nasty cigarette.  You know what though... I didn't have one slip up this entire year, not one I say.  And I never thought of myself as a failure because from time to time I had the cravings for one.

I have fallen off this dieters wagon so many times I am worried at some point I won't get back on.  So I start my healthy endeavor yet again.  I am going to let myself crave the food, acknowledge the cravings, remind myself to stay strong and see what happens.

Keep ya'll posted on this adventure.

I'm tryin'

I sigh as my son cleans his room... UGGGGGG  Sometimes these kids really challenge us and I am sure we will continue to be challenged by them throughout the years.  Sometimes dealing with my kids is an absolute joy but sometimes I feel like I was just tied behind a pick up truck and drug through the mud.  Sometimes my husband and I succeed and sometimes we fail.  And when we fail, that is a shot to the gut, for me at least.  However, we don't give up and we keep working at this parenting thing.  So many stories on the news and just everywhere of bad parents.  I need to hear some good parent stories.  I want to hear how some parents step right up to the challange and hit it like a punching bag everyday.  Not being scared their children will be mad at them because they are doing right by their kids.  How do they rebound from a parenting failure?  How do they celebrate in their successes?  Any suggestions?? I need a little pick me up tonight.

Thanks!

Paper or Plastic... I Choose Plastic

So, today I am at the grocery store and the checker asks me if I would like paper or plastic.  I always choose plastic because let's face it the paper bags always tear at the bottom and they don't have handles so I can carry multiple bags at one time.  The girl bagging the groceries gives me a dirty look as if I committed a crime.  I guess we are supposed to choose paper now or buy a reusable bag that has plastic coating on it for $1.00 or more???  The plastic bags that the store provides are reusable to me anyway.  I use them as a lunch bag for myself, trash can liners, to hold items that are muddy/dirty, the list goes on and on.  I am a responsible citizen and recycle and reuse probably more than a lot of people.  We water the plants and the lawn only when we absolutely have too, time the kids showers.... well you get the picture.   We use all the energy saver light bulbs in the house and guess what they don't last as long as they advertise.  Over the years my energy bills have not gone down.  The energy companies have only found ways to raise their rates so I pay the same but use less product.  So YES, little bagger girl I will use the plastic bags ALL DAY LONG.  I refuse to completely buy into the Green Machine as I call it.  Global warming fear tactics to get us to conform to a certain way of life but still gouge us in the pocket book is on my last nerve today.

Thanks for reading my rant.....

In a previous post I talked about saving money instead of going out to eat.  My husband was craving dinner from one of our favorite Italian restaurants but instead we ate a home and I will move $40.00 to the savings account.  Each time we have a craving to eat out we will move the money we would have spent to savings.  I can't wait to see what we end up with at the end of the year.

Kids go back to school this week after being off for three weeks and I go back to work.  It's funny, work is just work for me know.   I always wanted to raise to the top at the company I work for.  My priorities have completely changed.  I still enjoy doing what I do but my personal life I enjoy so much more.

An Entire Week of NO Work

I had a full week off work this week.  I decided we are not going anywhere.   (I am in traffic on my way to work and my way home five days a week.)  I never let the kids eat anywhere in the house except the kitchen table but this week was an exception. This week the kids ate breakfast on the family room floor while watching cartoons.  Then proceeded to spill orange juice all over the floor.  I sat in my son's bedroom to find out about his Lego creations.  There was a story behind each Lego car, truck, and army looking thingy.  I sat with my daughter to create her Barbie outfits.  I listened to them fight with each other which is actually quite hilarious.  Just this morning I could hear the two of them arguing and I like to let them try to work it out before I intervene.  Then I heard the real cry like my daughter was really upset.  I went down stairs and she was upset because my son told her we were going to Costco and when she asked why, he would only say "because".  She said the word because was making her cry.  I could only laugh historically.  I actually got to see my husband for more than an hour a day :-).  We ate dinner at the dinner table as a family each night.  Everything was calm, no rush to be anywhere.
We had a car issue but it was fixed.  I get so nervous with car repairs because it generally costs a lot to repair vehicles.  You know what...  it cost some money but we will get through this and I need to move on from this anxiety.  Life is going to happen, stuff breaks, things get dirty and it all can be fixed and cleaned.  Most importantly it was fun to let the kids break from the normal house rules this week.  I want them to look back and have stories about "remember when mom did... remember when mom let us..."  This week not one dollar was spent on dining out, buying new clothes, buying things that we don't really need, or going to an amusement park... It was filled with happy greetings each morning, hugs all day, kisses constantly, dancing at times- The stuff money cannot buy.

I decided each time we want to go out to eat at a restaurant I am going to move that money to savings and we will see where we are in 2014.  It is so expensive to eat out for just a family of four.

I hope everyone is having a great start to this year.  If you aren't it will get better I promise.  Next week is back to work, back to the grind but I am armed with a some new organization tools that should keep working and getting kids ready for school each day that should help out.  After I put them to the test I will share with you.

HUMMM, Another Year.-

So I am not normally into the New Years Resolution thing.  Normally, it's just the beginning of a new year, big deal.  Maybe because I am getting closer to 40 and my views on life are changing.  I was kind of excited this new year to think of 2013 as a restart of projects and ideas I had started in 2012 and didn't finish or lost interest.
I am tossing around the idea of going back to church, say I, the self proclaimed atheist.  It would be nice once a week to have a place to be lifted up, motivated and a place to give back.  I have struggled with organized religion, even as a child.  I was raised Catholic and can honestly say I never believed in anything the church taught.  I only went because I would get in trouble if I didn't.  My views are slowly changing as I age.
There are many projects around the house and yard of ours to be started and completed.  Many things to work on with the kids.  My son is in the 4th grade and was invited to take the GATE test the end of this month.  If he passes the test and is accepted into the GATE program I think it's another way to teach him about hard work and knowledge.  Knowledge is POWER.  Our parenting style is not that you have to come home with straight A's, however, at the end of the day you have to be able to say that you worked hard.  It is a fight most nights to get him to complete his homework, so if gets in to GATE it will be even harder.
I want to reconnect with my girl friends.  Like really connect.. start doing things again with them.  Just having dinner or going to the park with the kids.  Sharing laughs, sharing some tears, or sharing whatever...
Make time for my husband.  You know how busy life gets and our husband's patiently sit on the back burner waiting for us women to pay attention to them.  I need to stop doing that, IMMEDIATELY!
Last but not least, take time for myself.  Ensure I am eating right and exercising for my health.  If I don't have my health I have nothing else.

I am not going to call any of these "resolutions" just some fun, interesting, educational, spiritual additions to my life.
As the days and months progress I will be sure to update my blog.

Lake Elsinore-- New boat launch at the La Laguna Resort.  Pretty!