Please help me be the coolest mom!

I entered a recipe contest (Jose Ole Coolest Mom Recipe Challenge) and mine was chosen as one of the top 20 for the category! If you would please click HERE and vote for me I would love you forever! It's a good one, I recommend you try it. You can only vote once (in each category) per e-mail address for the whole contest period, ending Septmber 15th and all you need is your e-mail address. 10 seconds of your time. If I win the cash grand prize I will do a really good giveaway on my blog, and since I have like 10 readers, that would mean a good chance for you to win too- so tell your friends to vote for me pretty please! Here is the link: http://www.joseole.com/contest/recipes/parties/66/ Thank YOU!

Simple Supper

Melanie asked for this recipe so I thought maybe some other people might want it too- Linguine with Brown Butter, Feta and Artichokes. It was in the food section of the paper some time ago. I keep a Costco jar of artichoke hearts and large container of Feta in the fridge at all times, it's a simple stand-by that everyone loves around here.

6oz Linguine Pasta

2 TB butter

1/2 cup crumbled feta

6oz jar artichoke hearts (6-7 large pieces from the Costco jar)

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Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, chop and drain artichokes.

Drain pasta and set aside in strainer. Return empty pasta pot to med/high heat and melt butter until it starts to brown, a couple of minutes.

Add drained pasta, artichokes and feta; toss over heat for 1 minute.

Serves 4

DIY Mercury Glass

I've been trying to just toss those catalogs before I even bring them in my house but I had to sneak a peak at the latest Ballard Designs catalog and completely fell in love with these mercury glass tealight holders:

And then I had to do some searching online for other new mercury glass items out there and found these gorgeous pumpkins from Pottery Barn:And these folksy looking hurricanes:

and finally I zoomed back to reality that I don't have money to be buying anything mercury glass, I started to wonder if there was a cheaper way to make my own out of glass things I already have so I found this great post on Wedding Bee Pro- she made 35 different center pieces for a wedding using Looking Glass paint and silver leafing sheets- isn't it pretty?? Click the picture to go to her instructions.

I've earned some credit on Amazon (through a focus group I joined via Survey Savvy) and they didn't have any Looking Glass Paint but I ordered some silver metallic paint and we'll see how that turns out- I'll keep you posted. Let me know if you make something, I'm curious how hard it really is to make it look nice!

My challenges to myself...

Only 1 of these a week. You thought I'd give it up completetly? (Image borrowed from Flickr HERE- making me thirsty!)

And no more new clothes in 2009- not one thing for me or Sam or any of the kids- not even that cute shirt on the clearance rack at Target for $3, or that super sale at Old Navy... the kids all got some new stuff for back to school and there is NO reason for me to buy another piece of clothing this year. The only exception is Santa may bring the girls a new Sunday dress- and maybe a nice outfit for Charlie, we'll see, but that's Santa you know, not me. So you think I can do it?

Pica again...

I remember reading in my pregnancy book the first time about Pica- a weird condition where pregnant women crave non-food items like sand and rocks etc and thinking that is C-R-A-Z-Y! But with this pregnancy and the last one, I get it! I don't want rocks and sand though, I want gritty detergent. Last time it was mostly Ajax, this time it's more laundry detergent and Cascade that that occupy my thoughts. Weird? Yes. I went to the grocery store this week hungry, walked around the frozen food, produce department and snack isle, but my mouth didn't start watering until I went down the detergent isle and smelled all those cleaners. Don't worry, I'm not going to eat the stuff, I just find it fascinating that some strange part of my brain thinks brushing my teeth with bleach would be nice- GROSS! (do any of you feel less crazy now? When I told my husband about it he said "don't tell anyone else." HA!) Thank goodness it goes away when the baby comes!

My baby girl is 4!

And she started preschool today.Miss E has waited a loooooong time for preschool- She only got to go for a few weeks last year before I realized it wasn't a good environment and I never got her back into anything so she was SO ready and SO excited! She got to take these (super cute!) Hello Kitty cupcakes in to share. (copied some found on Flickr HERE.) We decided to skip the party (due to no money, and no energy for a super cheap home-made birthday party) and just try and make the day special for her- she wanted to go to the "Dinosaur Museum" so that's what we did! We finished the day with presents and Chips Ahoy ice cream cake at home and I think she had a good day!
She has suddenly grown up and along with the bossy-sassy side of her personality, we've seen a really fun, organized, hard working girl come out- she must get that from her dad. I have caught her cleaning her room late at night when she's supposed to be in bed sleeping, one day I took a nap and woke up to find she had been cleaning the house- really. She had organized messes that were in a couple rooms, wiped down the kitchen table, and the counter, sink and toilet in her bathroom. (possibly with the same rag, I re-cleaned the kitchen table promptly.) Happy birthday sweetie!!

A card- CPS Sketch 129

August and September are busy birthday months and I don't have many good cards so I'm trying to get busy making some. I used the CPS Sketch this week for this card and I liked how it turned out. The papers, carstock stickers and Celebrate rub on are all Basic Grey Cupcake, and the black flourish is a Glitz rub on.

Personalizing with Shrinky Dinks

DesignMom featured a shop that sold cute custom name tags for kids to put on their lunchboxes and backpacks etc. and I got a little obsessed with the idea of making my own for the girls. I decided to make them out of inkjet printable shrinky dink plastic- (from Michaels) I made these shapes then typed on the names and printed them, punched a hole, and shrunk them in the toaster oven! (my kids think it's a "shrinky dinker" because I never cook with it) After you shrink them, it's necessary to spray them with a clear coat of paint to seal it or the minute a drop of water hits them they are ruined. Anyways, if you want to make some too, you can download my shapes pages below, click on the image to get the free download.Also fun would be to print a picture of your kid and shrink it- you just have to make sure you lighten them up enough, I tried it and didn't lighten them up much and when they shrunk it was too dark to see anything and I didn't want to use any more of my plastic! Another fun way to personalize stuff is with scrapbook stickers- everywhere we went they had the same plastic pencil box so we used these "Glitzers" stickers to personalize Miss B's. She requested I put her in the picture on my blog.

Simple Pretty Initials

Today was a bit of a lazy day for me- we were babysitting some of my nieces and nephew's tonight (started another babysitting exchange!) so I couldn't make myself do much cleaning. Mr. C was coming down with a cold and needed lots of sitting on my lap (trying to push my belly out of the way) and I got some magazine reading done! Family Fun had this really cute project from Lauren Brandy's blog, Goody Goody.
And now I have another blog that I need to keep up with- she has a lot of cute ideas!

Back to School...

I can't think those words without hearing them in Adam Sandler's goofy voice- what is that from? The girls started back today, I think I'm totally ready for it but every year when they walk away I feel the tears come. They came home today full of smiles and excited about their teachers and friends so hooray! It was Miss G's first full day of school, and Miss B's first day at this school so I had some anxiety but it's gone now. When I asked them their favorite part of the day, Miss B said "my teacher gave us 2 Oreos!" and Miss G said "lunch." Ah, children after my own heart!

I haven't blogged about back to school shopping- Miss B has a strong sense of personal style, and it isn't exactly my style, but I was proud of myself for letting her get a little crazy with some Justice coupons from grandma Mimi- I had to draw the line at the shirts that had detached sleeves, and I just can't do "vests" yet.

I ♥ Etsy: part 2- general cool stuff

Did you notice I learned how to make hearts in HTML code? I ♥ hearts, and need to think of more reasons to use them! Anyways, here's a few other really cool things I stumbled on when I got side tracked from my etsy toy searching! Click pictures below to go to the seller's shop.
Yava Glass takes used glass bottles and "up-cycles" them into new things, like these cute drinking glasses:I really think my new baby will need these ingenious stickers from "PickyStickie"
They are printed on clear sticker paper, and sized just right to fit on the tummy of a white onesie for you to photograph your baby each month- smart! They have even cuter ones for girls.LoranScruggs shop takes old tin and turns it into really cool things, like this whistle and the Almond Roca bunny below:This Princess Leia knit hat is awesome- Becky, I know Jeramy wants you to get it, she's currently sold out but it looks like a big seller, I'll bet she gets some more in there soon!

Scary Mary Poppins

My sister sent this to me- enjoy.

Get ready for some good deals

Back to school time is a big grocery event for some reason, and now is a good time to start checking those "deal" websites so you don't miss any! This past week there was a $10 rebate on Kelloggs cereal in the paper, (you can get it on their website HERE) and starting this Friday, (Aug 7) Kraft is doing a promotion where you buy $25 of participating items, and right at the register a coupon for $5 off your next purchase, and a $20 rebate form prints out! For details and a list of participating items, click HERE. You will probably be able to find coupons on a lot of these things in the paper or online too to make it an even better deal. I had cereal coupons and got some for $.50 a box after rebate with the Kellogg's one. It's a good time to stock up on cereals and snacks, and lunch box type items like peanut butter etc. Some good "super shopper" blogs to check out:
Money Saving Mom
Saving Cents with Sense
Good Deal Gal
Let me know if you have a good one you go to.

I ♥ Etsy! Toy edition

I stayed up way too late last night exploring Etsy- I have a ton of things and sellers saved in my favorites, but I've actually only bought a couple things there. Miss E has a birthday coming up this month and I decided to try and find her presents there, support hand-made! I found a few sellers that make cute Barbie dresses that remind me of being a kid: and I was planning to buy this pancake set but it sold since last night dang it! and a bunch of cute things more for boys, including this stick horse: I absolutely adore these sock babies but I think she may be a little old for them:The seller makes smaller ones with bells sewn inside as rattles and they are SO cute! Have you found any great toys on etsy? I already have a dress for her, and I think I want to find one more thing... (and some new felt food since I missed out on the pancakes!)