It's Snowing?!?!

In Texas? In October?

What it's not snowing in your house?

Be very jealous because my boys are making it snow here!

1st mistake: Went to the bathroom and didn't bring the boys with me. Was gone 2 minutes or less.

2nd mistake: Left styrafoam to close to the edge of the counter.

Lesson Learned: Take boys with me to the bathroom and push everything to the back of the counter.

If you have toddlers you know how true this statement is.

Then the very next day it snowed again...

This time in the bathroom with toilet paper while I was making their lunch.

Lesson Learned: Buy covers for the door knobs so the boys can't get in.

Silver Lining: They didn't put the toilet paper in the toilet which would have made a bigger mess...yet.

It's a good thing I have the best clean-up crew around ;)

Hope your week wasn't as "snow" filled as mine was!

Outdoor Fall Decor

I was going to wait to post this until it was complete but what the hay(and this post does involve some hay).

Because my husband didn't want to put a hole in the door, we he screwed a nail on the top edge and we tied fishing line around the screw and then around the wreath.

Closeup of the wreath.

This is the part that I am not finished with. When the pumpkin patch opens we will be getting some pumpkins to put out here. Here is my little words of wisdom for the day: Use a truck when hauling hay bales. JUST TRUST ME! I am still finding hay a month later in the back of my expedition.

Want to know where I got this stuff?

wreath: Kirkland's

doormat: Kirkland's

lanterns: Lowe's

scarecrows: JoAnn's

hay bale: Ellis Pottery

Linking up to these fabulous parties:
Thrifty Decor Chick
Lil Luna
Organize and Decorate Everything
Crystal and Co.
House of Hepworths
Delightful Order
Gluesticks
Tatertots and Jello
Be Different Act Normal
I Heart Naptime
Tip Junkie
A Bowl Full of Lemons
Let Birds Fly
Somewhat Simple
Fingerprints on the Fridge
Tidy Mom

No Shoes

We are a no shoe household and what I mean by that is if you live in our house you take off your shoes before you come in the house. So I by no means expect a guest in my home to take off their shoes (unless they have been playing in the mud). I am mainly just trying to cut down on the dirt that comes in our home by us not wearing shoes.

For the boys, the shoes they wear the most stay in the car or diaper bag so  we take their shoes off before we get them out of the carseat and usually don't put them on until we get to destination because we will have to put them on again anyways. So we do it for them so they don't need a reminder and hopefully it will just become a habit for them when they get older. I don't need a reminder because mopping as often as I do is reminder enough. My husband is a different story, as soon as he opens the door I am saying "take your shoes off". So I felt he needed a sign to remind him so I made this sign for the entrance to our home from the garage.

I had all the stuff that I need for this project on hand.

Supplies:

wooden plaque from Hobby Lobby

spraypaint- I used Black Satin finish

vinyl cut by my Silhouette for the letters

photo of my sweet boys feet at 2 months old

photo corners that I had from my scrapbooking days

Mod Podge

picture hanger

ribbon

3m hook(you can obviously use a nail though I just didn't want to put a hole in my door)

-Spraypaint the wooden plaque.

- Apply the vinyl lettering.

- Mod Podge the picture on to the board.

- Stick in the picture hanger to the back and tie on ribbon.

- Hang on the door.

Easy right?

Want to see some other creative sayings to remind your family to remove their shoes?

Tip Junkie did a post on the subject.

Some of my favorites were:

If you're not God or George Strait, take off your boots.

Life is full of choice, take off your shoes or scrub the floor.

Please remove your shoes and don't take better ones on the way out.

The fabulous parties I am linking up to:

Lil Luna
Organize and Decorate Everything
Crystal and Co.
House of Hepworths
Delightful Order
Gluesticks
Tatertots and Jello
Be Different Act Normal
I Heart Naptime
Tip Junkie
A Bowl Full of Lemons
Let Birds Fly
Somewhat Simple
Fingerprints on the Fridge
Tidy Mom
320 Sycamore

Glazed Pork Chops

I found this recipe on Budget Bytes. Go check her out...She has step by step pictures and her picture of the finished product looks way better than the one I snapped real quick while my children were waiting oh so unpatiently. Before I give you the recipe to this can I just say that I LOVE when I happen to find a recipe that I want to cook and I have all the ingredients for it. It rarely happens! I bet you have all the ingredients for this in your kitchen too.

4 thick cut pork chops (bone-in or boneless)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cayenne powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

STEP 1: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl combine the brown sugar and spices (salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika and garlic powder or whatever spice blend you like).

STEP 2: Remove the pork chops from their package and rub the brown sugar/spice mix all over both sides. Use all of the spice mix.

STEP 3: Heat 2 Tbsp of olive oil in a skillet over medium/high heat. When the oil is nice and hot (it will look wavy in the pan), add the pork chops. Cook the chops for about 5 minutes on each side or until they are nicely browned.

STEP 4: If you are using an oven safe skillet, place the skillet in the oven for an additional 5 minutes to make sure they are cooked through. If your skillet is not oven safe (most plastic handled skillets and teflon are not safe in the oven), transfer the chops to a baking sheet lined with foil then place in the oven.

STEP 5: Remove the chops from the oven and drag each side around in the thick glaze that has formed around the chops in the pan prior to serving.

Keeping Us On Our Toes

Just when we think we have it all figured out these boys add something new to the mix to keep us on our toes. Remember my  post a couple weeks ago where we figured out how to keep them out of the dishwasher and oven? Well not even a week goes by and they learn to do this...

Happy to report, after several time-outs and me camping out in the kitchen so I could catch them in the act and they are no longer that interested in doing their new trick.

They are now on to tearing doors off of our built in cabinets in the living room while Mommy is cooking dinner.

Anyone have a application for the World's Strongest Baby contest? Or possibly the World's Most Destructive Baby Contest?

There is never a dull moment here but I wouldn't have it any other way!

Totally Organized Tuesday: Pantry Chalkboard

Out of all the projects I have done so far in my new house, this is probably my favorite. Granted we have only been here a little over a month so I am sure there will be many more favorites to come. It all started with me wanting a convenient place for me to store my grocery list. I first though I would hang a clipboard on the door but then I got the idea to paint chalkboard paint on the doors. Problem was...I didn't want it to be permanent in case I didn't like it. Then I saw a blog post where someone was using chalkboard contact  paper on their walls and BINGO that was just what I needed. It is easy to apply and if I get tired of it(which I don't think I ever will) I can easily remove it with no harm done to the doors.

Here is the finished product. All I needed to apply the chalkboard contact paper is a exacto knife to make it fit in the panels, a credit card to smooth out the lumps, and chalk to "cure" the chalkboard so that chalk will adhere to it better.  To cure the chalkboard, you take the side of a piece of chalk and color the whole chalkboard then erase and your writing will show up better. Easy Peasy! I cut the letters with my Silhouette but those could have easily been written with chalk also.

On the left side I put my menu for the week. This is mainly for me, so I remember what I bought the groceries to make.  On the bottom I put one of my favorite quotes "I can do ANYTHING but I can't do EVERYTHING."

On the right side I have my grocery list. I really only needed to do two panels one for the menu and one for my grocery list but when my boys are old enough to not dump all the cheerios out everytime the pantry is opened draw I will let them use the two bottom chalkboards.

If you have been following my blog for  awhile you probably recognize these bins from my pantry at my old house.

I made the labels with the help of my silhouette, some scrapbook paper and ribbon.

Hope this gives you some inspiration to get your pantry organized. It will make grocery shopping and meal planning a little easier because you can easily see what you have and what you need. No more wasting money on things you already have.

Links to the fabulous parties I am linking up to:
Lil Luna
Organize and Decorate Everything
Crystal and Co.
House of Hepworths
Delightful Order
Gluesticks
Tatertots and Jello
Be Different Act Normal
I Heart Naptime
Tip Junkie
A Bowl Full of Lemons
Let Birds Fly
Somewhat Simple
Fingerprints on the Fridge
Tidy Mom
Spring Into Organization Link Party

School of the Momma: Operation Orange

Now we are on to the color Orange. Orange will play a very important role when the boys get into school because it is the school colors, so we better learn it early.

For our muffin tin meal we used foods that we already had on hand but here are some other ideas you could use:

-tangerines

-cheddar cheese

-pumpkin

-cantaloupes

-mangoes

-yams

-cheetos

-butternut squash

Wondering how you eat a muffin tin meal? Probably not, but the babies will show you anyways ;)

First you dig in and grab as much as your chubby little hands can hold.

Then you stuff it all in your mouth at once and tell your mommy "nom nom"

We sing this color song while we hunt the house for orange stuff:

(Tune: THE WHEELS ON THE BUS)

 

O-R-A-N-G-E,

O-R-A-N-G-E,

O-R-A-N-G-E

ORANGE IS WHAT THAT SPELLS

 

JACK-O-LANTERNS ARE ALWAYS ORANGE

CARROTS ARE ALWAYS ORANGE

ORANGES ARE ALWAYS ORANGE

O-R-A-N-G-------E!

Fortunately Unfortunately these songs have been stuck in my head since I taught pre-school. The song is by Frog Street Press.

Look what we found on our Orange Hunt: pumpkins and trucks and Tiggers, oh my!

The boys favorite orange activity was the pumpkin pie playdough. The recipe is from Family Fun magazine.

Warning: This is edible in the sense that it will not harm you child if they happen to take a bite out of it but it is not edible in the sense that you will want to eat it. Although it does smell very good, it is very salty.

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
2 teaspoons cream of tarter
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon veg oil
1 cup water
6 drops red food coloring
15 drops of yellow food coloring
Combine dry ingredients in a non-stick pan
Add oil, water, food coloring and whisk until smooth
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it forms a ball
Turn onto counter, let cool slightly, knead until smooth
Dough will keep in a plastic bag for about a week

We were pretending to bake cookies for Daddy using cookie cutters.

We also sang "patty cake".

Next time we will show all of our favorite fall activities.

Linking up to these parties:

Hands On As We Grow
No Time For Flash Cards