Alien Abduction

I know there's a lot of speculation as to whether or not there is life on other planets and whether or not aliens come down to visit earth, well after this morning I am here to tell you it is very, very real.

Reagan and I were in the living room doing some of her Scratch Art (very fun) once we were done I asked her if she'd like a snack and that's when the alien abduction happened, the child in front of me said " Yes, once I vacuum up these small pieces." 'Scuse me ? my child does not like the vacuum and she especially doesn't like to clean up, confused I said "Have at it" and I went to prepare the snack. Whilst doing that the Reagan lookalike went and got the vacuum plugged it in and proceeded to pick up every single speck of paper and then she caught me taking her picture and that's when it almost got ugly, do you see that face ?

I retreated back to the kitchen as the Reagan lookalike continued cleaning and as quick as the abduction happened my sweet child reappeared, ate a brownie downed a glass of milk and left the cup and plate on the table for me to clean up. I was kind of hoping the alien Reagan would hang around for a while and clean up the whole house, but alas no such luck.

You know it's time for a haircut when.....

The wind is blowing 90 miles an hour, you start to cough, the wind blows your hair into your mouth and down your throat, whence making you cough, gag and choke all at the same time, once you have recovered from all of that you jump into the van to take a child to school, you slam the door, get yourself situated only to get a raging pain go through your head, yes, the wind blew your hair back outside of the van without you noticing and you have just slammed a whole pony tails worth in the door. And that boys and girls is why I get my hair cut shoulder length in the Winter, my appointment is next week, until then it will be tied up and under a hat.

Pure genius

My children are not the best milk drinkers in the world, Reagan would prefer to down a gallon of water before she drank a glass of milk but she knows she doesn't get any flavored drinks until at least 1 glass of milk has been consumed, Ben would rather walk on hot coals than to have to drink white milk but he will happily down a glass of chocolate milk, the only problem is that he'll empty 1/2 a bottle of syrup into the glass or a cup full of powder, so all the nutritional benefits of the milk has just been depleted. He's old enough to make his own drinks mommy shouldn't and won't make them for him. The other night he asked if I'd buy some Ovaltine, I'm ok with that, it  has added vitamins and minerals and he needs all he can get right now at 13. My issue was how much he puts in the glass, yesterday I picked up a canister and had a pure genius moment. I went over to the craft aisle and picked up some small baggies that are generally used to keep beads in, you can buy 100 for $1, came home and filled up 30 bags w/ Ovaltine and put them back in the canister, now every time one of the kids wants chocolate milk all they need to do is take one of the premeasured baggies pour it into their glass, add milk, stir and voila, chocolate milk made to a Mother's liking. The kids don't throw the bags away instead we have a bag hanging in the pantry for them to put the empties in until they get refilled the next time. Another bonus ? Doing it this way actually gives you about twice the amount of servings than is specified on the jar, I'm sorry but 4 tablespoons of mix to 1 glass of milk is a bit excessive don't you think ? The only downside to this ? The kids are drinking more milk now than they ever have and I'm having to buy 2 gallons of milk a week instead of 1 :)

So, do you wanna knit but don't know how ?

I do desperately and so does Reagan. I've looked on YouTube, I've read the books but I'm too much of a hands on learner, reading a book and trying to figure it out makes me feel stupid, watching a Youtube video I always forget that maybe I'm looking in mirror image and well it's just not pretty. The last time I tried to learn anything via YouTube was how to crochet... FAIL !! and it didn't help that Marc walked by and told me I looked like a monkey trying to do a math problem. I have no clue what that looks like and I'd like to know how he does but from his tone it wasn't complimentry.
When Reagan told me at Christmas that she wanted to learn how to knit my heart sank a little, it was one of the few things she's wanted to  learn how to do that I couldn't help her with.... "mommy fail'  then I saw an advertisemnet for Michaels Daily special, it was one of these http://www.createforless.com/Provo+Knifty+Knitter+Loom+with+Hook+1+set/pid76932.aspx and it was only $7.99 so I picked it up along with a ball of yarn. Since Christmas it has sat in a corner of her room, yesterday was one of those days where it was cold outside and I just wanted to snuggle up on the couch watch the football and craft, so I asked Rea if I could try figuring out her knitting loom, the wonderful child that she is she gladly obliged, so I opened up the package raring to go and saw that the directions were for a hat... SERIOUSLY ????? Could we not start out with a scarf ?  Directions for a hat were all I had to go by so what could I do but 'knit' a hat and that's what I did. Now I'll admit that casting on the first time for me was tricky, remember I'm a hands on learner, reading the directions made little to no sense to me and I felt like a total moron when I saw that on my first attempt I'd done it backwards, but I persevered and 3hrs later a hat fit for a 7 y/o was completed and the 7 y/o was thrilled and we all lived happily ever after.

I feel like using a loom is somehow cheating a little, it seems so easy but looking on various websites you can make some pretty neat things, and the fact that it's so easy means my 7 y/o can use it hassle free and she is and loving it and is making a hat for a friend. Sooo if you want to learn to knit but are totally clueless then I absolutely recommend going out and purchasing the Knifty Knitter, then you brag to your local friends about it and one of them will announce that she knits and will give you knitting lessons. I'm so psyched, I'm going to go buy my first pair of knitting needles tomorrow :)

Spaghetti Carbonara the healthier way

So it's that time of year again when many of us are trying to shed those extra holiday pounds, but it's also that time of year where many of us are still enduring the colder winter temps and are still craving comfort foods, which if you're anything like me tend to pack on even more pounds, (I call it my "Polar Bear Season" ) and then come Spring I go into panic mode about the extra poundage and how those cute little Summer outfits just aren't going to look as cute as they once did, so I'm always excited when I come across a favorite that someone has taken the time to revamp and come up with a new and improved reduced fat version and it's always an added bonus when you can't tell the difference, or hey, it might actually surprise you and taste better than the fat laden one and that's what I came across the other day while reading the November issue of Redbook. They took the Cheesecake Factory's 2,200 calorie , 83g saturated fat  packed Spaghetti Carbonara and turned it into a 450 calorie, 7g saturated fat delight. I made it Friday night and every single family member loved it and asked that it become a regular dish. When my kids and husband all eat the same thing and all go on and on about how good it was, believe me that makes for one happy me.
So without further ado here is the new and improved (IMO) Spaghetti Carbonara... I did make a couple of subtle changes to what was in Redbook but nothing that is going to add to the fat content or take away from the taste.

Serves 6, Calories: 449, Total fat 17g (saturated 7g), Protein 18g, Carbs 54g

1Lb Spaghetti
3 Large eggs
1/4 C chopped parsley
1/4 tsp each hot red pepper flakes and salt
5 strips of bacon
1Tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/3 C frozen peas, thawed
1/2 C grated Parmesean cheese

1. Cook noodles. Drain , reserving 1Cup of pasta water
2. Meanwhile whisk together eggs, parsley, pepper flakes, and salt
3. Crisp up bacon, chop into small pieces and set aside
4. In bacon drippings add garlic and black pepper and cook 1 minute more, reduce heat to medium low.
5. Add pasta, egg mixture, peas, bacon and 1/2 C of pasta water, stir and cook 1 to 2 mins add more pasta water if necessary ( I added an extra 1/4 C ) until sauce has a creamy consistency. Mix in cheese and serve immediately

Returning to the land of Blog

WOW !! That was a long break. The creative juices ran out, sickness set in and I just didn't have it in me creatively or physically to sit down and blog, but I feel my creativity returning along with my energy (thankgoodness) .

Christmas came and went, it was nice, it was quiet, the kids claimed it was the best ever, therefore I declare it a success.

The New Year came in and along with it came hope for the future, 2010 will not be going down as one of the best years ever, but I have the optimism that 2011 will.

Resolutions weren't made only to be broken days/weeks/ later, though goals were set. Goals to spend more quality time with the kids and less time wasted at the computer, to move Reagan into Victoria's old room and turn Reagan's room into a sewing studio in order to give Reagan a much needed bigger room and to free up the den and turn it into a game room, and for me to have a place that I can call my own, to be able to close the door  when I need the quiet  or to protect friends and family from the odd stray pin or needle that's waiting to embed itself into unsuspecting feet. 

To create something daily, whether it be a sewn item for my store , gift or maybe even myself, a healthy meal for the family or a handwritten letter ( gasp at the thought). Creating takes me to my happy place and I want to spend a lot of time there this year, it makes me a better wife, mother and friend. Last but not least I have a goal to expand my business, I don't know what that's going to entail yet but I've been spending a lot of time praying and meditating on it, just waiting for that God breeze to come through and send me in the right direction.

So far I've done pretty well, I've made something for the shop every day, I'm ahead of schedule and have started working on my niece's gifts for her 1st Birthday. I handwrote a letter to my MIL, she'll be shocked, I've made lots of new tastey meals for my family, I've spent more time with the kids when they're around and no longer hear myself say "In a minute" 1,000 times a day. I used to hate that about myself, now if I can, I stop what I'm doing and give them my full attention and only once have I asked Reagan to wait a minute while I finish playing "Penny's Diner" on Y8.com.

So here's wishing you all a Happy, healthy and more prosperous 2011 and a small look into what's been going on around here since Thanksgiving.

Christmas came and went

We had a huge snow storm the day after Christmas, giving us all a good excuse to stay in the warm and enjoy each other's company for an extra day.

We went on long walks once the roads were cleared so we could finally get out of the neighborhood

Late night snacks

Snuggling with furry friends

And lots and lots of sewing