So here I am again not sticking with my blog. Life is so busy, what can I say? I am taking 9 hours this semester including my library media practicum, working at least 3 days a week, and trying to keep up with two little boys. Those things by themselves is enough, but of course I had to go and add more to the mix. ;)

Darren and I are pursuing adopting a girl from foster care. We have completed our 10 week PS-MAPP courses, filled out 3 rounds of paperwork, passed all our background checks, and are now ready to get the home study completed so we can finally pursue the little girl we want to adopt. We found her on the adoptkskids.org website. Even though we have never met her, and don't know more than what her profile says, we know she is meant to be part of our family. We were told from the beginning of the process not to focus on her, as she may not be available still at the point we are approved. However, here we are 7 months later and she is STILL available. Of course it would have been wonderful for her to have found a loving family already, however for some reason she hasn't. I take it as a sign that she was meant for us. :)Of course, we still have at least a month or two before we can officially inquire about her, so we have to sit and wait some more. I hate all this waiting. I hope in a few months I can look back and say, "I can't believe we were talking about how much we wanted you a few months ago, and here you are." Wouldn't that be pretty amazing? I hope it all works out. In the meantime I will cross my fingers, and wait(impatiently) some more.

It's been a while!

Well, I have been super bad updating this thing. Life got busy, that's all I can say. I was just reflecting back to my 12 Goals and 20 books sidebar. I did accomplish quite a bit off that list. But now it's a new year and time for a new list! I am going to up my goals to 13, and make my books lists a little more ambitious, since reading 20 books is nothing to me! I am going to try and read 20 juvenile fiction/nonfiction books. These will be chapter books and at least 5 have to be award winners. So here is my new list which I will add to my sidebar.

13 Goals and 20 Juvenile Fiction/Nonfiction Books(5 Award Winners)

1. Adoption Placement (Summer 2013)
(Actual adoption finalization takes 6-12 months, so a finalized adoption probably won't happen before 2013 is over)
a. Get paperwork mailed(waiting on Darren's health form)
b. Get bedroom set up(generic)- Clean out,organize, purchase bed, and refinish armoire& end table
c. Complete Home Study
d. Identify a child to be placed
e. Start initial visits with child
f. Placement of child in our home
g. Shop with child to decorate bedroom how she wants it

2. Complete my Library Media Specialist Endorsement(Summer 2013)
a. Finish Spring classes/Practicum
b. Submit paperwork for endorsement
c. Receive endorsement
d. Finish out Master's courses(Goal: Receive Master's by Winter 2014)

3. Get a Library Media Job (Fall 2013)
a. Finish endorsement requirements
b. Receive endorsement
c. Send in relicensure paperwork
d. Apply for jobs
e. Interview for jobs
f. Be offered a job
g. Find full time daycare/preschool for boys

4.Lose 30 pounds
a. 15 pounds by end of June
b. 15 pounds by end of December
c. Eating healthy
d. Drinking more water and less caffeine
e. Walking/Exercising

5. Finish my craft projects started in 2012
a. Finish Oliver's stocking
b. Finish Evan's stocking
c. Finish Oliver's scrapbook
d. Finish Family scrapbook for adoption placement

6. Travel (Summer 2013)
a. Mt. Rushmore (didn't make it there yet.)
b. Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin (Mom's condo)

7. Recipe File
a. Get recipes typed/scanned into a database.
b. Find an app that I can upload them to (?)
c. Find a recipe app to add to my tablet.

8. Get Evan out of pull-ups and Start pottytraining Oliver(Summer 2013)
a. Evan:No pull-ups during day
b. Evan:No pull-ups at night
c. Buy new potty chair for Oliver
d. Get Oliver out of diapers and into pull-ups
e. Begin trying to potty on toilet

9. New Hobby: Work on my photography skills with my new camera
a. Explore photoshop
b. Learn a new photo trick
c. Work on zoom features
d. Do a photo shoot somewhere
e. Find a show/contest to enter a photo (?)

10. Get rest of house clean and organized
a. Garage cleanout
b. Second bedroom cleanout
c. All trash and donation items in basement gone
d. Hall closet reorganized
e. Spring Cleaning items
-Bathroom cabinets/drawers cleaned out
-Wash kitchen and bathroom cabinets
-Wipe down blinds in whole house
-Clean windows
-Clean oven
-Clean grout on tile in bathrooms
-Dust vents and fans
-Wash top of kitchen cabinets
-Wipe down walls
-Clean out washer

11. Home Improvement Items
a. Fix holes/nicks in walls
b. Touch up paint in areas needed
c. Trim outside bushes
d. Get a gate for the deck
e. Replace insulation in certain spots in basement
f. Buy one new item to replace an old one that is worn out/needs replaced
g. Focus on sprucing up kid's bathroom- purchase hook for towels, toilet cover, rug, toothbrush holder, stool,new shower curtain, trash can, etc.
h. Make blind covers with material bought for living room

12. Start Preschool with Evan at home (Summer 2013)
a. Make Tuesday/Wednesday bins with educational activities for Evan to work on.
b. Plan out summer curriculum
c. Set up a daily schedule
c. Start pulling together materials for summer curriculum

13. Expand my crocheting skills
a. Take a crochet class
b. Crochet something new

Oliver Turns 1!

My baby turned 1 on Saturday May 26. He had a Winnie-The-Pooh Bee themed party. It was very laid back and we enjoyed watching the kids play together. Here are some photos from the event. Again many ideas were inspired from Pinterest, but also many came from my own ideas as well.

Here is the table all set up.

The Menu

Close-up of the Beehive cake and Bee Cupcakes. The beehive cake was made using a mold bought from Williams and Sonoma.

Mini Berry Yogurt Parfaits. These strawberries were massive!!

Tree Ring Roll-Ups (Turkey, Ham, Various Cheeses, Chive and Onion Cream Cheese, Tortillas, Green Onions and Pimentos) & Garden Veggies and Dip in background.

Trail Mix. One of the easiest things to make! And it was good.

Eeyore's Corner. All of the characters had quotes from the books/movies.

Winnie The Pooh and Tigger too!

Piglet is being carried away by red balloons.

Left side of mantle

Right side of mantle

Birthday Boy waiting to eat his cupcake.

He didn't like it!!

Getting help opening his presents!

Iced Coffee

With two busy little boys and early mornings, I absolutely can't survive without my coffee. I have become horribly addicted to Mocha and Caramel Frappes. The problem is that they are quite expensive to buy, so I came up with a solution. I made my very own iced coffee. The recipe comes straight from The Pioneer Woman's website(Love her recipes!!). She mentions she adds half and half to hers. I add whatever fabulous coffee creamer I happen to be trying that week.(Really there are so many flavors, you have to try them all.)This week the featured creamer is one of my favorites:Skinny Caramel Macchiatto

Here is the link to her blog and below are the pictures of my own iced coffee.
The Pioneer Woman

One pound of dark coffee with 8 gallons of water steeping for eight hours. Wow! That is a lot of coffee.

Now to get the grounds separated from the delicious liquid. I was able to fill up 3 1/2 pitchers this size with the coffee liquid!

The leftover grounds. I recommend you use a container to steep in that can be thrown afterwards or cleaned easily. It is quite messy.
I forgot to take a picture of the finished product in a glass. Will do and post that soon.

April Party Extravaganza

Anyone who knows me well, knows I LOVE to throw parties. Well April came along and I somehow talked myself into hosting three, yes three, parties!

The first was our family Easter gathering. I made chicken salad sandwiches, marbled deviled eggs, and cupcakes.Everyone else chipped in and brought something as well. The chicken salad recipe is a long-time favorite. See the recipe below.

Easy Chicken Salad
Makes about 6 (1/2 cup)servings.
Ingredients:
1lb Cooked Shredded Chicken Breasts (About 4 chicken breasts)
1/2 Cup Craisins
1 Small Package Slivered Almonds
1 Cup Mayo
2 Celery Stalks Sliced
1 tsp Lemon Juice
1/2 Cup Chopped Onions
6 Croissants or Buns of your choice
Directions:
1. Cook the chicken and shred. (I like to boil it in a large pan for 20 minutes with a little bit of Lemon Pepper and the leaves from the celery)
2. Combine all ingredients with the chicken in a large bowl and spread onto bread. Enjoy.

Here are some pictures from our Easter Celebration.

The yummy spread. Brooklynn is ready to eat!

Close-up of the Cupcakes. They were topped with bunny marshmallows and sprinkles.

My Pinterest inspired Centerpiece.

Evan and Noa are on the hunt for eggs.

Oliver found one!

Cousins! (Brooklynn and Evan)

The next party I hosted came about from an invitation from Silk Milk Company. Evan has a slight intolerance to dairy, so he started drinking Silk Soymilk when he was old enough to move on from formula. Anyways, we had signed up months ago on their website to get coupons and such and then this invitation came to host a Silk Party. I signed up, was chosen to host, and a few weeks later my party package arrived. There were tons of coupons to pass out, magnets, curly straws, cups, napkins, plates, a carafe, and an awesome insulated cup with lid and straw which I gave away as a prize! I made lots of yummy brunch food- everything that needed milk I substituted with Silk Milk. We also had a tasting party with Silk Milk and their new Silk Fruit and Protein Drinks. Here are a few pictures from the party. You can find tons of recipes using Silk Milk on their website: SilkSoyMilk.com

Yummy brunch food and Silk.

Quiz Time

Anna enjoying the fruit pizza.

Evan getting a pre-birthday song and cupcake.


The last party of the month was Evan's 3rd Birthday Party. The theme this year was Mickey mouse! I was inspired by many ideas on Pinterest and many things I made came from there. Fun was had by all, and Evan got lots of wonderful presents! Here are some pics of the event and creations I made.

The fireplace display. Banner says, "Happy Birthday Evan!" The buckets on the mantle have pinwheels in blue, red, and yellow, along with tissue paper in the same colors. I wrapped tissue paper around the cans and used a red ribbon with yellow and blue polka dots and Mickey Mouse stickers. Two of the buckets have mickey mouse styrofoam heads I spraypainted black and assembled with toothpicks and a wooden rod.

Door Wreath to welcome everyone inside.

Dessert and Cake Table set up for kids.

Close-up of the Cake I made. Not very fancy, but it worked.

First activity:We went outside to hunt for Mickey Mouse heads with candy taped to them.

The food- all Mickey Mouse Themed: Mickey Mouse Club House Sandwiches, Pluto's Hot Diggety Dogs, Minnie Mouse's Bowtique Pasta Salad, Goofy's Mixed up Fruit, and Donald and Daisy's Delectable Dipped Desserts(on the dessert table)

Relaxing on the deck.

The second activity:Digging for Pluto's Bones(Dog bones buried in Evan's new sandbox).

Noa got a lot.

So did Evan!

But Dalton found the most!

Third Activity: Pin the bow on Minnie Mouse

Then Evan opened his presents. He got an awesome ride on Bulldozer!

But his favorite present was his Thomas the Train Ride on Toy!
We had cake afterwards!(A video was taken)Overall it was a wonderful party and the kids had a lot of fun.