Cookies!-Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip

One thing Lanie loves to do is make cookies. I'm not talented enough to make them from scratch and she doesn't seem to mind that we use the boxed kind! We always do a twist with them, and this time was no exception. We made peanut butter cookies and added some sugar and chocolate chips.

My little taste-tester

She loved dipping them in her milk

Pretty AND tasty :)

Homemade Sushi & Layering

We love some sushi...so why not try to make it? We didn't try the raw stuff (I don't eat that kind anyways.) We sauteed the shrimp and added carrots, cucumber, avocado, cream cheese and a special homemade sauce.

Justin is the master at seasonings and sauces so he made what looks like shrimp sauce. But it's far from it, it was a little sweet but it had a hot flare at the end.

We made the Sushi rice and cooked the shrimp
Sushi rice can be found at most grocery stores, it's very sticky. You also need Rice Vinegar to mix in

This is the seaweed paper, found at Bilo

:) the experimentors

It takes more rice than you think, spread the rice evenly across the whole sheet

There are 2 ways to make a roll, rice in or rice out. This is the 'rice out' method
Put whatever ingredients you want and start rolling the paper, I should have put the ingredients a little more towards the middle of this particular roll. Use wax paper so the rice doesn't stick to your hands. Compress it as your roll.

This is the rice in method. It's easier to do it this way b/c you don't have to worry about rice sticking to everything.

Cut into slices

This is the easiest kind to make and eat, everything is contained :)

 

It was really really good and the sauce Justin made just topped it off.

We will definitely be making this again!

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Lanie is getting to where she wants to pick out her clothes :( *wahhhh* So I'm taking this new step and teaching her some fashion 'do's and don'ts' ;)

She picked out her skirt that was a clearanced MJ skirt btw, $8.00 or something. And I had picked up this Gap collared striped shirt from Switcharoos Consignment. She fought me on it but once she had it on and I curled her hair she "felt beautiful" , she is so grown up!

It's hard to tell but she's also wearing a green "tank". While i'm teary-eyed that she is so big, I am LOVING every minute of her interest in 'big girl' things :) I think something that helps is knowing I have Addison who is still a baby, and I know she's always a few stages behind Lanie!

Hedgehog Shirt, Halloween Costume and Target

Hedgehog Shirt and Halloween Costume

Justin is away on business until tomorrow night, so I had the urge to 'make something!'

Well, it wasn't dinner so this is what Addy and I had:

I had decided a while back that Addison would be an owl and I found a cute homemade picture of an owl costume...why not? :)

 I also have fell in love with applique shirts like the ones from Mini Boden. I found an awesome tutorial and decided to give it a shot.

This is inspired by "THE Hedgehog Shirt" from Mini Boden

My sewing skills need some major improvement, but overall it looks like a hedgehog and if you aren't close to the shirt you shouldn't notice how uneven it is :) Or how I should have blanket-stitched it by hand or how crooked the entire straight stitch is. Oh well ;)

My Little Helper

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Hedgehog Applique Shirt

Supplies:

I didn't take a picture of the beige fabric for the body of the hedgehog, b/c I forgot to buy it and ended up using the leftovers from the owl project :)

Trace the figures onto Heat N Bond

Bond to fabric and cut out

Place on shirt and then iron on so they are set

Stitch away, Again...I should have done this different!

Embroider Smile and Eyelashes, add button nose and button red cheek

Trim the one billion loose strings

Boden's Version

Original Tutorial - Izzy and Ivy Designs

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Project #2

Owl Costume

One t-shirt and a 1/2 yard each of 2 different fabric choices

Cut the 'feathers'

Arrange the pattern

Start sewing from the bottom of the hem and up , overlapping as you go

Not the best picture, I'll try it on her tonight :)

Addison will wear a black or brown turtleneck with matching leggings as well as her crocheted hat from Etsy that has the owl eyes!

Ready for a STEAL!?

I had to go to Target to pick up the shirt for the project and I ran across some super clearance.

 Head to target ASAP if you need cheap shoes, clothes or bedding.

Addy Dress, $3.46 and Skirts for both girls $2.98

Converse for Lanie $12.50 (normally $24.99)

Fieldcrest Duvet with 2 Shams $24.98 (Normally 99.99)

Fieldcrest matching Euro Shams $8.24/pc (Normally 32.99/pc)

RUN!!

Addison was tired and grumpy...sorry no pictures of the new projects in action tonight!

time with the girls

I love having the same day off as Justin. Normally we just relax at home but we decided to go eat sushi (turned out just eating hibachi) and took the girls to a park in the neighborhood I grew up in. It was so great to get outside. I was hoping for a little cooler weather, but it was nice anyways.

Before we left, this is what happened:

1/2 a gallon of milk---*tear* It even made it's way all the way over to the sink/dishwasher!

Lanie was so hot so we let her enjoy some sprinkler time

Lanie has been begging to pick some roses off of our rose bushes in the front yard, so I let her and she trimmed off the leaves and arranged them, how sweet and smart is she! I think she even shaved off some of the thorns, haha.

My Roses

Moving Along...

One more thing "OFF THE LIST" Horray!

Let's just say that going back and forth between Lowes and H.H. Gregg was beneficial!

 I love a good deal AND clean dishes

School & Kids Books

Sometimes I wonder how boring my blog gets. I'm sure a lot of you don't care to know about this subject, but maybe someone does out there! I am still so excited about school! I am taking Sociology online and I love logging in and checking everything out. We have to post once weekly on the 'message board', it's totally up my alley. I'm a forum-nerd ANYWAYS, now I "have" to do it! My first test has to be done by tonight and I'm so nervous!

On another note, Amazon has some really great book deals right now! They have a 4-for-3 promo going on and if you have prime, they all have free 2 day shipping.

$5.88

This book is so pretty, it's watercolor style but it's a big book and great quality.

You really need to watch the books, this one is now up to $8.45, but I got it for $3.47 on Tuesday (delivered Thursday!) This is a big book too and very nice!

Lanie is in love with Veggie Tales - $4.99

Just thought I'd give you an idea of a good way to search..

Choose books, then children's books, choose prime eligible (free shipping)...From there it doesn't always work to choose lowest price to highest so you just have to sift through. But when you find deals like books for 1.00-5.00 and free shipping it is worth it!

Also, prime is good for everything on the site so if you want a free prime membership you can sign up under "amazon mom" and you get it free for 3 months, for each 25.00 you spend you can extend it 1 months (up to a year.) Anything like diapers and household items also get an additional 15% off and another 15% off if you do the subscribe and save, you can find awesome deals. Even on laundry detergent, AND it's delivered to your doorsteps!

 I now have student prime which is the same benefits but it's 6 months free, you have to have an .edu email address.

Once your amazon mom membership is up you can just use a different email and re-sign up. It's GREAT for Christmas - time. Also, if you add stuff in your cart , each time you log in it will tell you whether the price went up or down.