Rain, Rain Go Away!

Today is a rainy, dreary Monday.  So I thought I would do something productive.  I finally got around to hanging those spiders on my front porch.  They are SO stinking cute!  I love them! 

Next up is making some chicken noodle soup for dinner.  I have some leftover chicken from a dinner last week to use up and I love making chicken noodle soup.  It is a comfort food for me.  So, in honor of my comfort food day here is the recipe that I am going to be using for our dinner tonight.  :)

Reames Classic Chicken Noodle Soup

1 pkg (24oz) Reames frozen noodles

4 cups slice carrots

2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced (cooked)

8 cups chicken broth

4 tsp. dried parsley

2 tsp. dried thyme, crushed

1/2 tsp. pepper

2 cups sliced celery

2 bay leaves

2 cups chopped onion

1/2 cup flour

4 cups milk, divided

Preparation:

In a large pot, add chicken, chicken broth, parsley, thyme, pepper, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
Add noodles, carrots, celery and onion; return to a boil. Reduce heat and cover; simmer 20 to 30 minutes or until done.
Meanwhile, in a liquid-tight container, combine 1 cup of milk and flour; shake well until smooth. Add to noodle mixture with remaining 3 cups milk. Continue cooking over medium heat until thickened and heated through. 

I hope that you enjoy this recipe as much as my family does.  I have made a couple of changes but if you want the original recipe you can check it out here.
<3 Alison

Back to normal...for a day.

This week has been CRAZY!  On Saturday Bubby was diagnosed with Pertussis (whooping cough).  So from then on we have been in isolation.  Hubby and the kids all had symptoms, while I, on the other hand, did not.  So I was the only one allowed to leave the house.  We had 5 days of very close family time.  I never knew our house could be so small.  LOL!  None of them were REALLY sick, though.  We all were put on a round of antibiotics to make sure if we were carrying the bacteria that we would kill it and not spread it further. 

Since pertussis is a communicable disease we were contacted by the health department.  I had to tell them everywhere we went, why were were there, how long we were there and if Bubby came into contact with anyone.  Talk about a long phone call.  The week prior to his diagnosis was the busiest week of the school year so far.  Oy!

At any rate, today was the first day we were all allowed to leave the house.  So the kids and I did errands and Butterfly was finally able to return to preschool.  She missed it so much!  I cannot even TELL you how many times she said, "Mommy, today is a school day.  But I can't go because I have the bugs."  Poor thing was so sad.  When I dropped her off at school today she was THRILLED and went right in to her class...no problem. 

I must sign off now, time to get up Bubby and Bee so we can go get Butterfly from school.  Hope you all have a fantastic weekend.  We are going apple picking so I should have good pics and some fun stories to tell by next week.

<3 Alison

Meet my Creepy Crawly Friend!

Being stuck at home this week with my kiddos I have had more time to cruise some new blogs to me.  I found this fabulous blog via my friend Samantha.  I found this adorable little guy in one of her older posts and HAD to make him.  I made one change that makes this a bit less messy and I LOVE how they turned out.  :)  Here are the original instructions if you would like them.

Here are mine:

Creepy Crawly Spider

Supplies:
black yarn (I used Red Heart)
black pipe cleaners (4 per spider)
googly eyes
pink felt (1 sheet)

fishing line
hot glue

1.  Wrap yarn around 3 fingers.  Get a good amount (about 2 inches) worth on your fingers.

2.  Take yarn off of your fingers and wrap yarn around the center of the 2" section...like so...

3.  Keep wrapping yarn until you have a "ball" type shape.  It might be flat, it might be round, it might be oval...all of which are o.k.  :)  DO NOT CUT THE TAIL!

4. Take 4 pipe cleaners and place them under the "ball" of yarn.  Continue wrapping yarn around the "ball" of yarn and the four pipe cleaners until the pipe cleaners are secure on the bottom of the "ball".

5.  Snip the yarn and tuck it into the bottom of the "ball" of yarn.

6.  Bend the pipe cleaners so they look like spiders legs.

7.  Using your hot glue gun place two small dots of glue on the front of the spider and place googly eyes on top of the glue dots.  Remember, the glue WILL be HOT!

8.  Cut a small smile shape out of the pink felt.

9.  Using your hot glue gun place a small line of glue where the mouth should be on your spider.  Then place the smile-y on your spider.

10. Take the fishing line and tie it to the top of a couple pieces of the yarn on the top of the spider.  Cut it at the length you want the spider to hang.

11.  ENJOY!  :D

Hope you like how these little guys turn out.  My kids LOVE them!
<3 Alison

Just call me the NOT stay at home mom

Last week was FULL of stuff for us to do.  Too full if you ask me.  Every day I thought I had planned less but more and more got put into each day.  I filled the tank of my mini van on Monday night/Tuesday morning (can't remember, go figure!) and by Saturday my low fuel light was back on.  When I normally only use 1 tank every week and half to two weeks, this was a MAJOR week of driving to and fro. 

At the end of our week we took the kids to the zoo to enjoy the fall weather and see some fun animals.  We had some kettle corn and caramel apples too.  It was a fun afternoon.  We then headed to Kroger to get some food for dinner and pick up a few other things.  While we were there I got a phone call from our pediatrician.  Now let me tell you, when you get a phone call from your pediatrician on a Saturday, it is NEVER good news.  I thought she was just checking to see how Bubby's ears and nose seemed to be, since we had been in just the day before that and we were waiting to see if we needed to fill a prescription.  But no.  We had also had a culture taken to test him for pertussis (whooping cough).  And guess what, it came back positive.  So as I stand there frozen in my steps trying to listen to what she is telling me I am racking my brain trying to figure out where Bubby could have picked this up.  We have been EVERYWHERE this week. 

Butterfly, Bee, Bubby, myself and Hubby are all on antibiotics now.  I have upped our vitamin intake and added probiotics in again.  Yesterday the girls and Hubby started feelling icky.  Coughing, sneezing, and just feeling run down.  I held off til last night.  And now today I feel as if a truck has run over me.  I am just feeling run down at this point with a little tickle in my throat.  But man.  This is NO fun.  Thankfully, we did catch this early and we have NOT had to endure the horrendous coughing that normally comes with this awful bug.  But we are keeping a close ear out for it as it can sneak up on you.

So how was your weekend?  Do anything fun?  Let me live vicariously through you!  :D

Lots of New's...

Life has gotten me busy again.  It is amazing how we can get so busy so fast.  But the kind of busy I am doing now I feel good about.  It is my busy, and it really doesn't affect the kids that much.  I am doing lots of bows as of late.  That is so fun for me. 

We are also starting BSF.  For those who don't know BSF is Bible Study Fellowship.  This year the study is on Isaiah and it is brand new to everyone.  I am SO excited.  Each of the kids has a class they are going to be in and they will get to learn a Bible lesson as well!  I am SO happy about that! 

We have also started attending AWANA (Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed) at my best friend's church.  Every Wednesday night I tote the girls to their church and they get to learn about the Bible and have fun with other kids their age.  They LOVE it.  Big bonus is each week they are to memorize a Bible verse.  I get to memorize it too because as I am teaching it to them I learn it as well!  I love it!

Another new adventure for me is working out.  I am not a huge fan of working out.  I actualy don't like it at all.  But I have come to a point where I know I need to do it.  I am young, I am able and I NEED to do it.  There are a whole laundry list of medical problems that are known in my genetics and I want to put them off for as long as I can.  So with the help of my best friend I am going to be losing this weight and getting healthy!  So, hopefully by the time summer rolls around again (yes, I am already starting to look forward to summer) I will have a new wardrobe and a new healthier me.  :)

So how did you do?

Our last challenge was to take time for yourself.  Did you get a chance to take time for yourself?  I did!  I got to go out and do some shopping!  I went a few places and did a few things...all...by...my...self.  :)

One of my favorite things to do is find a deal.  I loove shopping the clearance aisles and sale racks.  My mother in law has shown me an art of doing it.  When she and I get together we have a GREAT time and find TONS of deals. 

When I went shopping this time I went to Kohl's.  I found they had a 60-80% off rack.  That is like a dream to me!  And to top it off I had a 15% off everything coupon...including sales/clearance!  So I was in hog heaven.  Now just because it is a sale and I have a coupon doesn't mean I buy everything in sight.  I am very selective.  I found three tops that I loved!  They are, of course, the same style but in different colors, because once I find something I like and looks good on me (yes I tried them on) I buy in multiple colors.  At any rate I walked out of Kohl's with three new tops (in brown, green and purple) for 3.33 a piece!!!  I spent $10!!!  That was it!  I love it when I find deals like that. 

And now if I can find a cardigan that I love to go with them I can extend their life through the beginning of winter.  YAY! 

So what did you do for you?  Do tell!
<3 Alison

New Adventure! and a second Challenge

Hubby's car was broken.  It ate 2 quarts of oil in one week, last week.  So a problem that we were planning to face a little later down the road, faced us this weekend.  All day Saturday Hubby worked on getting the thing apart.  Saturday night he took a break and we got to go out on a date.  Sunday he worked all day on it again.  By Sunday evening I was done.  I wanted to spend some time with my hubby.  But knowing that he had to get his car fixed, I went out to the garage and asked him if there was anything I could help him with.  I expected him to say no and politely (or not so politely) ask me to go away.  But, to my surprise, he did not.  He said, well SURE!

So for the next few hours I stood next to the work bench.  I cleaned and scraped parts clean and my hands looked like I was a grease monkey.  For a while I even crawled under the car to clean...well, something.  It was big and oily and over my head. 

This was a world I have not stepped into before.  But for the pure fact I wanted to spend time with my hubby, I chose to leap out of my comfort zone and try something new.  Now, I don't want to go and spend every weekend in the garage cleaning parts and smelling of oil and grease.  But I do want my hubby to know that if he needs me I am here.  I can do the work and I can do a pretty good job of it.  :)

I think it is important for us to remember that we need to give and take a little.  I know there are so many times that I want to do what I want to do and my family comes along for the ride.  Let's go to the mall.  Let's go to Target.  Let's go to the bookstore.  It was a very refreshing moment to step into Hubby's world and try it out for a while.  It was a great place to visit and I think I will visit again.  I just don't want to visit it every weekend.  :)

This weeks challenge...I want you guys to do something that you normally wouldn't do.  Maybe it is doing something with your hubby that is out of your comfort zone.  Maybe it is talking to a stranger.  Maybe it is getting up an hour early to do a bit of quiet time.  Whatever it is, just try it.  See if you like it, you never know, you just might.

When you do your challenge, post here!  I want to hear all about it.  :)
<3 Alison

My oh my!

How long it has been!  I have been a busy momma setting up my new esty.com shop.  I have been making bows like a crazy woman!  With the Labor Day weekend upon us it seems like the time is already slipping away.   It is already 1:30 on the first day of the weekend, where did the time go??? 

Butterfly has already completed her second week of pre-school and both she and Bee have attended their first week at AWANA.  Bubby is doing great as well.  Walking and jabbering away.  Someday he will talk and we won't be able to keep him quiet. 

Today Hubby is working on his car.  Sadly, this poor car is not going to make it too much longer.  We have had this car since he went to college (a '97 Grand Prix GT) and it has been through a lot.  This week Hubby had to put 2 quarts of oil in it...sigh.  He is trying to put a fix on it so we can limp it along until we can get Bubby off of his formula and onto something else.  Wish us luck!

At any rate that is us right now.  Hopefully I will find time this week to do another update.  For now go check out my Babes in Bows and Beyond blog and etsy site!