Mommy MacGyver

Just call me Mommy MacGyver.....
........we have all had those moments where we suddenly need to create something out of nothing! That would be dinner last night!!! Remember I was on my way out for errands when the Princess lost her cookies in the back seat! I didn't realize until moments before the hubby came home that I had nothing, I repeat nothing for dinner in the house. I scanned, slash that - searched the cabinets for some form of food.... Here is what I came up with....

Vegetable broth
canned of diced tomatoes
can of white beans
1/4 bag of little ring pasta
some onions

and I found some frozen vegetables in the freezer - bonus!

So, what did we come up with???

Hearty Minestrone Soup!! Yeah Mommy MacGyver! And it was Delicious!!!! I even found some croutons...dropped them on top for an added little treat. (We don't normally have them - they are empty carbs so I am thinking that hubby bought them and hid them in the cabinet. He acts the most deprived about our carb controlled environment!)

I will be working on my menu planning tomorrow morning. ....

MMMMMM Chalk-yette

Do you like "Chalk-yette"????? I bet you do!!! I know a little Princess who LOVES it!!! Loves it with CAPITAL letters!!! I have my very own little sugar baby!! As much limitation as we put on sugar in my house, this Princess finds a way to make the most of it!

We made cupcakes recently and I made this homemade chocolate icing to go with them. At first glance the Princess snubbed her nose at it, .....she actually said..."ewww"...then as if she realized what she had just said, she looked at me and said. "Chalk-yette??? I yike Chalk-yette!!!"

It was all I could do at that point to finish mixing it and put a blob on the cupcakes!!! Clean-up process was a breeze!! She looks like she is in a Chocolate coma!!!

ALL GONE!!!

New meaning to an old saying

So, "Creating Life" and "Creating in this crazy place called Life" has taken on a new meaning for me in my new circle of what "everyday" life is!!! No more are my daily options about being able to "make stuff" and create new fun things. Now my days are about creating our life in my crazy days of life!! (AND NO, it doesn't mean that I am going to be adding any NEW LIVES to our family!!)

With that being said, today not much of anything useful created. lol! I swear this entire day just FLEW by!! I got up - got the one beauty off to school, got the two gents out of the house and then the princess and I went about a few little errands before going to the shop. Even got to attend story time. The Princess looked around at the other kids like "what are you doing here??"

The shop was BUSY today!! And the Princess was on a roll - she was a terror in a crown! Man, I don't know what to do with her!! She refuses to go to "Playschool" AKA - daycare or pre-school. None of my kids have ever gone to daycare before and I hate to start now, but she won't use the potty so NO pre-school! She is however a good warning bell for when a customer is at the window or about to come in the shop. She is so stinkin' cute, she says in her softest little voice - NOT, as LOUD as she can..."MOM...CUT-A-MER". That translates to "mom, customer".

Before I knew it it was time to get back to the house and collect my little people. Make dinner - get some off to practice and then get them to bed. I don't know how in the heck working moms do this everyday! But, now that I am doing it seven days a week I am sure that I will get the hang of it superfast!

The Superman is getting nightly feeds through an NG tube so that is always a pressure to get it set up early enough....if not it starts the whole day off on the wrong foot. He is such a trooper. Speaking of foot, I think that tomorrow when I get my cast off we are going to need to have his cast looked at because he feels like their is a blister in there. Ouch...

OK, that is all the daily nonsense for today....However, I will leave you with this little tidbit...I am thinking about becoming a vegetarian and changing religions. What do you think?? My mother thinks I am CRAZY!! Whatever!

PS: I was happy to read that Stephanie of NieNie made it through her surgeries today. What an unbelievable event this family is going through!

No shop pictures for you today, just this little Princess....

Hey there stranger!

Oh...My....Goodness!!! It is now the 12th of September and I just realized that my last post was in April...exactly 2 days before we opened the doors to our very own Coffee Shop & "store"....it has been a complete roller coaster and seems like years since May 1st! Let me give you a brief re-cap!!
1. I haven't done one complete "craft" project since April!!
2. My daughter has 6 unfinished "spring" outfits....good thing that Fall is just beginning, guess I have a jump start on next spring!!
3. 3 - yes 3 members of my family have broken bones! All one week apart we have broken two left wrists, and one left foot. Thank you very much, I will be seeking damages from the moo-cows!
4. Our shop is super cute and growing every single day! We started off with the notion of having an antique consignment and vintage boutique "store" and have since decided to have a retail gift/home decor & accessories store. It is so much more fun!! We have several lines that are made right here in the U.S.A - Love that!!

5. The list goes on and on!! But, I am going to make sure that I keep up with my blog and my crafts. I hate that some days I am so tired my poor little brain can't be creative!!

I have once again discovered that the only form of sanity in a family with kids/school/jobs, etc is ORGANIZATION and PLANNING!! There is going to be time spent this weekend planning dinners & lunches for the next two weeks. The farmers market only has a few more weeks left so I need to stock up on all our fresh homegrown produce. The squash is starting to become more plentiful, apples are ready to be made into applesauce, and the potatoes are HUGE this year!! Because working 80+ hours a week is just not enough to keep me busy, I have it set in my mind to make applesauce and sweet potatoes to be canned and saved for Thanksgiving and other dinners this fall/winter.

OK, off to try and get some sleep - that darn coffee doesn't make itself!!

All the little PEEP's...

are tucked in and waiting for the morning egg hunt! Who doesn't love a big scavenger hunt first thing in the morning to get your day started off with a kick!! However....there might be a mist of disappointment in the air, cause Mama forgot to get "filler" candy! OOOOPS!!!! With the Sugar-ban in full effect, I forgot about filling the eggs! So with minimal coins lying around and a small bag of sugar free chocolate eggs and a few left over gold coins from the Lucky Leprechaun...we made do :)

My last post was a little "deep" compared to my normal posts, it must have been the full moon that made me so inclined to share.....

Today the house was FILLED with activities; egg dying, garden building, Babka bread making and furniture moving, and more cupcake experimenting!! It was busy and tons of fun!! + add one extra to the mix and we had a house full of "crazy" going on!! Here is a quick run-down of how "it" all worked out for us today!!

• Garden building....need more dirt, the girl shovels more than the boys...
• Furniture moving....went really well, and I am almost GIDDY about working in my new space!!
• Babka Bread...not so good, that was the husbands mission to bring his Ukrainian heritage to the table.....it was not a success! I am going to try and sneak a picture in when he isn't looking!
• Egg dying....was hysterical...we have never had so many smashed dyed eggs!! Miss L had a unique style, I will be posting on this soon - Quote of the evening; "MOMMMMMMM - there is an egg in the toilet!!!!"
• Cupcakes....success! Sugar-less to boot!!

And I signed up for this very cool "swap"...I love this concept, and I totally love the inspiration for the project from one of my favorites... Amy Karol!!

OK, that is it for tonight! Have a beautiful EASTER!!! ~ Heather

You thought I ran away didn't you???

....You thought I ran away??....I am sorry...as much as I would like to someday it just too crazy around here for that to happen!!

I have lots of catching up to do! I have been "making" all sorts of crafty creations recently, Nice change from the past month! Have you ever crafted out of desperation??? Any good crafter has! So here is my "desperation" craft AKA my brothers Birthday Gift! LOL. It was his 21st birthday (yes, there is a BIG age difference between us) and I am sure he would have loved some cold hard CASH, but so would I....so he is going to have to get a job, OOPS, I mean be happy with my craftiness!! This is not an original idea, I actually give him a picture of my kids for every holiday :) He loves his Nieces and Nephews so I am sure that he enjoys and appreciates it.

My craft desperation, I mean my lovely thoughtful gift, took about 30 minutes - yes I knew his birthday was coming...I was just procrastinating!! And I already had supplies on hand as any good hoarder, again I mean good crafter, does. I grabbed a few photos from my files, printed them in the 3x5 size, got a few pieces of paper, and a scrapbook size (12x12) frame that I actually had on hand. You could also do it with an 8x11. I didn't even have time to clear off my work desk, so I sat down on the ground and had a little "circle time" with my materials.

TA-DA!!!

I thought it turned out really cute!! Not a masterpiece, but for a 30 Minute project, not too shabby!

Then....on another crafty little adventure we decorated these cute little "Piggies" for our church. Our church is participating in the Heifer Project so the kiddies each decorated their very own piggie that we are planning on "fattening" up and then donating the money at the end of the Sunday School year. After the piggies are emptied, they are going to auction them to other church members, or if you can't bear to part with your piggie - take pictures of them to make into note cards also available for auction. I plan to get involved in the picture taking, can't you imagine how fun it would be to take the piggies "on location" and put them in a fun setting that matches their personality!! Fun, and charitable!! Love it!! I think they came out pretty cute! There are only 3 of them here, the other little piggie has gone missing! He is actually hiding from the big Big Bad Wolf...otherwise known as Miss Lil' who is in love with the Piggies! Oink, Oink...she loves to talk to them and oink at them. It is too cute! Anyway, I am rambling...

And on more for today's post...we made these yummy cupcakes last night...which you will be shocked to know are not only VERY YUMMY, but they contain a spinach/blueberry puree and are basically SUGAR FREE!! Which I PROMISE you - you can't even taste!! One of my guy's can't have sugar & carbs in the "simple" form so I am always looking for yummy treats that are sugar free or darn close. You can find the recipe for these little yummies here. My daughter made the cute little cupcake toppers and picked out the icing color.

There you have it...all the cards on the table! I am on a mission to finish the cutest little apron set for the me and the kids. I will show em' off as soon as they are done!