Steptember Week2-Whats For Dinner

Sorry this one is a little late but nothing to exciting either

Mon-Pot Pies [Marie Calender SO good!]
Tues-French Bread Pizza
Wed-Salsa Chicken
Thurs-Friends Cooking
Fri-Chili and Corn Bread
Sat-Tacos
Sun-Box Dinner

Next week will be so much more exciting as it starts the 13 days of Halloween!

♥ Sarah

Summer

Dear Summer,
You were so Handsome this year, bringing lots of fun warm times to our family. We are so thankful of all the joy you brought us these past few months that we definitely couldn't let you go with out a bang.

So First we took Squirmy to the State Fair so he could see the COWS

Then We Set up Camp in the living room

Made a Construction paper fire

Ate Many things on Sicks

And Spent Precious time as a Family

Pretty Awesome Right Come Back Again Really SOON!
PS. DUDE FALL WE NEED TO TALK YOUR STINKIN COLD

♥ The Mayberrys

Week1 October-Whats For Dinner

This week is a week to use up some left over supplies so nothing to exciting but it is important to use that left over stuff as each reaches its life span other wise its just like throwing your money in the trash

Mon-Pot Pies
Tues-Sandwiches
Wed-Cheesy Broccoli Chicken Soup
Thurs- Meat Ball Muffins
Fri-Sandwiches
Sat-Chicken Spaghetti
Sun-Tacos

* Also These weeks Snack and Desert*
Snack-Ants on a Log
Dessert -Chocolate banana Pops

&heats; Sarah

September Week4-Whats For Dinner

The Last Meal Plan of the Month !

Mon-Spicy Chicken Stromboli
Tues-Pizza
Wed-Pot Pies
Thurs-{Friends Cooking}
Fri-Sloppy Joe's
Sat-Tacos
Sun-Box Dinner

*Recipe*
Spicy Chicken Stromboli

10 oz pizza dough
1/2 cup of broccoli
1/4 cup of chuncky salsa
1/2 cup Montary jack
10 0z of chicken [cooked]

1. spread the pizza dough out into a 10X15 circle
2. Mix the remaining ingredients in a medium bowl
3. place bowl ingredients on to pizza dough
4. Roll pizza dough jelly roll style
5. place in oven @ 400 for 15 min
*serve in thin slices with salsa dipping sauce*

♥Sarah

Steptember Week3-Whats For Dinner

Its that time again our nightly activity schedule changed so you will see the change in easier meals being pushed to other days

Mon-Sandwiches
Tues-Pizza Muffins
Wed-Broccoli Chicken
Thurs- Chili Muffins
Friday-Sandwiches
Sat-Tacos
Sun-Box Dinner

* A Great Budget Helper is to plan on having one meal that is the same each week that way you can buy the supplies in bulk and utilize leftovers*

♥Sarah

September Week 2-Whats for Dinner

Its that time of the week again Meal Planning time!

Mon-Tamales

Tues-Pizza

Wed-Rotisserie Chicken

Thurs-Pot Pies

Fri -Stuffed Peppers

Sat-Tortellini Teasers

Sunday-Leftovers

*Recipe *

Tortellini Teasers

1pkg of Tortellini

1pkg of mushrooms

1pkg of little tomatoes

2 carrots

1 zucchini

Place each of the ingredients on a skewer and the grill for 10 mins or if you like raw veggies and the tortellini is pre-cooked eat as is *tomato sauce is a great dipping sauce for these*

♥Sarah

Through the Eyes of a 1 year old

As parents we get this great blessing to experience everything about life for the first time through Our children.
Squirmy's latest discovery is dipping, he loves to dip fries in ketchup and bread sticks in sauce and chips and dip and most recently (recent being last night at the dinner table) he discovered dipping things in milk, well at first he was drinking the milk but you know how as a parent you always make that fatal mistake of doing something in front of them that sparks their need to also do it... my crime I dipped a cookie in his milk (Hey I had already finished my Dinner...kinda) and so it was that Squirmy then dipped his turkey sandwich and cantaloupe in milk he ate the whole plate so I guess in the eyes of a one year old everything taste better when its soaked in milk
♥Sarah

September Week 1-Whats for dinner

So summer totally took me away from the computer but as it winds down and fall starts to settle in there is more time to catch up so what is for dinner?

Mon-labor day BBQ

Tues-Mushroom meat balls

Wed-PIZZA

Thur-Pot pies

Fri-Sandwhiches

Sat-Leftovers

Sun-Box Dinner

Mushroom Meat ball Recipe

8oz fresh whole mushrooms

2 cans of Cream of mushroom soup

2 cups egg noodles

1lb of ground beef

steps

1 roll ground beef into desired meat ball size

2 dump all ingrediants in crockpot

3 cook on low go to work come home serve dinner :)

this was a great meal week our grocery total was only 57 bucks and that included odds and ends and lunchs for both my hubby and I so if your on a tight budget this might be a good one to go with :D

♥Sarah

Great Amazon Sale!

We needed some new towels to match our newly done up bathroom
Wow towels are expensive
but after a month or so of waiting and looking around I found these little beauties
Here
We Bought two sets the cream and the pale green so we also got free shipping
Yay For Amazon Sales!
♥Sarah

Monkey Man

Little Squirmy at his My Gym Class
Look at him go!

Find of the Week

Awesome find

Constellation Projecting Turtle Night Light


It illuminates different constellations on the celling and walls in really soothing colors

you can read more about it here the price on that site is a little to much for my liking so I headed of to the good ole eBay I found one there for 12.28 and free shipping so a little turtle friend is on his way home to squirmy as you read

There are several out there on eBay for about the same price go get yours QUICK!

Quiet Book Tutorial [Girl Addition]

Many of you may have been wondering what this little button has been doing on my sidebar for the last month

its a little badge of honor; an indication of burnt fingers from hot glue guns, strained eyes from the attachment of tiny little buttons, creative juices tapped
it is the badge of a quiet book maker!

I have completed the first of 2 quiet books I will make this year just in time for baby A's first birthday! This one is a"Girls" Quiet Book geared towards a 1 year old, although there are several pages that will not reach their full potential till she is 3 or 4 [Room to Grow]
*Look back in November-December for a boys version*

**Please feel free to use any of my pages and if you would like send me pictures of the finished product and all attach them to the end of each pages tutorial for inspiration to others**

The hardest part of completing the task of making a quiet book is time constraints; pages can just consume you! So I have created a little scale that will let you pick a page to work on with the time you have so you don't feel over whelmed when you don't know where to start.
*on skill level of sewing I would say I was right in the middle so if you are an expert or a beginner it might take a little less or longer time to complete the pages*

The Quiet Book Scale
*easy 15-30 minutes
**fair 30-60 minutes
***medium 1hr-1.5hr
****hard 1.5hr-2hr
*****difficult 2hr-1day

The Quiet Book Pages




Cover *
Title Page*
Braid My Hair***
Look In The Mirror**
Look In The Purse**
Shapes*
Snap Your Shoe**
Put Your Hand In The Mitten*
Garden Page1 and Page 2**
Flap Match***
Letters***
Assembling The Book **



The Quiet Book List of Inspiration

Each page in this book was change to be my own although some stemmed from other talented ladies! *If you see a page I claim to be original just leave a comment and I will add you to the list of inspiration; Remember Great Minds think alike and it would never be an intentional act* Also each page will a credit its original maker specifically in its tutorial!

1. Ana from howtomakeaquietbook.blogspot.com
2. Jill from homemadebyjill.blogspot.com
3. itybtyfrogcreation.blogspot.com

Now with that all out of the way lets begin
*you can either scroll all the way threw each page or click on the linked pages above*

Happy Crafting
♥ Sarah

Cover

The Cover

Materials Needed

1. 24x24 piece of Fabric of your choosing
2. Iron on letters [making up child's name]
3. Fill
4. 1 12in x1/4 in piece
5. 2 6in x 1/4in piece
6. Iron
7. Thread
8. Sewing machine or hand needle

Instructions

1. Iron the letter for the child's name any where you like keeping in mind this fabric will fashion a book cover


2. With the right sides facing in of the 24in fabric sew along the edges of the fabric joining them together keep a small hole open on an edge so that you put the fill in
   


3. Flip the fabric right side


4. Fill to you desired fluffyness


5. Hand sew the hole closed


6. Now we will make a binding I sewed two straight lines about 10 inches from each side giving a 4 inch bind


7. Attach the 12 inch piece of fabric to the top and bottom of the bind making a little handle to hold the book by


8. Attach the 6 in pieces of fabric to the edges of the top book cover and the back book cover so that the book can be tied shut
   

* here are some pictures of mine hopefully it will help clarify what I did if not fill free to ask*

Next Page

Title Page

Title Page

Materials

1. 10x10 page material "What ever material you will use to make each of the pages
2. print on fabric
3. thread
4. sewing machine

Instructions

1. leave the page material unsewn but fold it in half to make a front and back page
2. on the computer create a special message/picture for you little one
3. print this message/picture out on printable fabric
4. cut it out
5. Sew onto the front page

Mine is a flower and has the text "to the sweetest girl I know"

Next Page

Braid My Hair

Braid My Hair

Materials

1. the other side of you 10x10 page
   
2. yarn
   
3. printable fabric
   
4. ribbon
   
5. Fabric paint or pen
   
6. Buttons
   
7. Hot Glue

Instructions

1. Find a photo of a girl (it could be your child) and print it out on the printable fabric
2. Cut out the photo
3. Sew it on to the page
4. Sew the buttons on to the face
5. Hot glue the yarn onto the girls face as hair
6. Add bows to tie the yarn into braids

I used this photo for the girls face

Next Page

Look in the Mirror

Look in the Mirror

Materials

1. 10x10 page material
2. Circle Sequins
3. Scrap of fabric for mirror
4. Ric Rac

Instructions

1. Draw a mirror template that you like on the scrap fabric (it could be round like mine or square or really any shape you would like)
2. Cut out the mirror shape
3. Sew the mirror on to the page
4. sew the ric rac onto the edge of the page
5. glue the sequins to the center of the mirror

Next Page

Look in the Purse

Look in the Purse

Materials

1. 10x10 page fabric (back of mirror page)
2. Big bright button
3. scrap fabric for the purse
4. bracelets and necklaces and other things to put in a purse

Instructions

1. Draw the shape of a purse on the scrap material
2. Cut out the purse
3. Sew the big button on to the purse so the flap can be buttoned shut
4. Sew the purse onto the page
5. Fill the purse with all the little bracelets and necklaces

Next Page

SHAPES

Shapes

Materials

1. 10x10 page fabric
2. scap fabric of different textures

Intructions

1. On the scrap fabric trace a circle, square, rectangle and triangle
2. sew each of the pieace on to the page

Next Page

Snap you Shoe

Snap your Shoe

Materials

1. 10x10 page material (back of shape page)
2. scrap material for shoe
3. snaps
4. Ribbion

Instructions

1. draw a Mary jane type shoe on the scrap fabric
2. cut out the shoe
3. cut a piece of ribbion 2inches long
4. Attatch it to the shoe
5. Sew one side of the snap to the ribbion and the other half to the shoe
6. Sew the shoe onto the page

Next Page

Put your hand in the mitten

Put you Hand in the Mitten

Materials

1. 10x10 page material
2. 1 piece of scrap felt

Instructions

1. trace a mitten on the felt
2. cut the mitten out
3. Sew the mitten onto the page making sure to leave the bottom open so that you can slip your hand in and out

Next Page

The Garden

The Garden

Materials

1. 2 10x10 pages fabric
2. 2 pages printable fabric
3. assortment of animal (embroidered iron on ones work great)
4. stick on Velcro

Instructions

1. On the computer draw a two page garden in any paint program you have
2. Print the garden out on the printable fabric
3. Sew the garden pages onto the page fabric
4. apply the stick Velcro to the page and the animals
5. Stick animals to Velcro on the page

NEXT PAGE

Flap Match

Flap Match

Materials

1. 10x10 page fabric
2. felt
3. 12 buttons

Instructions

1. Cute 12 1x1 squares out of the fabric
2. sew the 12 buttons onto page in a skewed order
3. sew a square over each button to create a flap

NEXT PAGE

LETTERS

Letters

Materials

1. 10x10 page fabric
2. felt
3. scrap fabric
4. Velcro
5. Iron on letters

Instructions

1. cut a 4x8 square from the scrap fabric
2. cut to slits in the middle for the zipper
3. sew the zipper onto the square
4. sew the square to the page creating a pouch
5. attach rows of the bristle side of the Velcro to the page
6. iron the iron on letters to the felt and cut them out
7. attach the soft side of the Velcro to the letters

Next Page

Assemble the Book

Assembling the book

• Stuff each book with as much fill as you like (i cut up some grocery bags and stuffed them in each page to make them crunchy)
• Then use some quilt binding to close off each hold and add an edge to the page
• Finally sew each page into the binding section of the book

Then Thats it the book is finished!

Sunday Meal Plan

With a Full time job and a Full time family life can be a bit crazy some times

but the one thing I never have to worry about is whats for dinner.

When the hubby and I got married we started a budget and "meal planning" neither of us had ever shared a bank account and we needed some help so each sunday we write out a meal plan and a grocery list and then hit the store. We have two sets of criteria

1. Each meal must cost less then 12 dollars

2. Each meal must be able to be cooked in 30 mins or less

So in hopes of writing all the meal plans down to use later and sharing them with you Sunday will now be the "Meal Plan"

Monday -Salsa Chicken

Tuesday -Pizza

Wedesday-Tacos

Thursday-Pot Pies

Friday-Hamburgers

Saturday-Lasungua

Sunday-Box Dinner

Grocery list

-pkg 3 chicken breast

-pkg 4 cup shredded cheese

-1 can of mild salsa

-1 pepperoni pizza

-1pkg of tortillas

-1pkg taco casarole

-2 pot pies

-1pkg of hamburgers

-1pkg of bread

-1pkg lasungua noodles

-1can prego sauce

-1pkg 8 cup mozerrela cheese

-1pkg pepperoni

-1lb ground beef

-1 box dinner

Happy Eating

♥Sarah

House Warming Party

We are l-O-V-E ing the new house
Thanks to all who came!!
(one day we will get you to sing Jenna ;) )

♥Sarah

Movin On Up!

Were have we been these last two weeks?
MOVING
it was a battle it in its self between the underwriter, a broken into car, a broken hot water heater, and a very unhelpful lady at the gas company!
But we made it
can we have a drum roll dadadadadadad
La Case de Mayberry
Virtual tour style!

I would like to thank the makers of the video
Narrator -The hubby
Narrators Helper- The Squirmy

♥ Sarah

Squirmy's Birthday Blanket

I finished my third quilt about three weeks ago and it is definately getting better!

for this blanket I chose to use fleece and flannel and some of that bumpy fleece.

fleece and flannel where a little bit harder to work with and I learned very quickly if you iron the bumpy fleece you get non bumpy fleece.

Happy Crafting ♥Sarah

2 Tutus

Every little girl needs a Tutu!

There are some really great tutorials out there for making our own tutu like 

here

I made two of them in the last week 

for two very special girls !

They turned out great and I would suggest trying this tutorial 

*Tip buy by the roll not off a bolt it goes much faster*

Happy Crafting ♥Sarah

American Idol YAY

Are you and American Idol Groupie?
I am [a loud and proud one at that]
Tonight is the face down of the final two
Chris & Adam
I really like both of them but tonight I will be voting for Chris.
His style of music fits my style of music :)
Lets have our own vote
Who do you like best and Why?
see the poll in the top corner!
♥Sarah

Tutorial: Baby E's Booties

New babies are such a blessing here is a baby set I made for my coworkers new baby boy

The booties are my favorite part of this set so here are the instructions to make your own :)

BOOTY

rnd1= ch14; 3sc in 2nd ch from hook; 5 sc, 6 dc, 7 dc in last loop (repeat the above for other side); 2sc join

rnd2= ch3, 2dc in sp, dc in next st; 2dc in next st; 11 dc; 3 dc 1dc (toe); dc 11; 2dc ;1dc join

rnd3-4= ch3; dc 45TOErnd1=9 dc; 4decrease; 9dcrnd2=8dc;3decrease; 8 dcrnd3=join

The ediging is the best part its a rib stitching :)

EDGINGrnd1=chain 10 turn sc in top loop only for 10; 1 sc in base turn*repeat the entire length of booty top* on the last stitch slip stich to join to the sides then fold bootytop down once and then thats it!

Happy Crafting

♥ Sarah

Tutorial: Cup Cake Stand

When planing an event like a birthday or a wedding the cake is always the main attraction. I knew when I was planning my wedding that I wanted a cupcakes instead for two reasons one they are cheaper and two who eats a whole piece of cake. I looked and looked for a stand to buy but couldn't find one that was exactly what I wanted so I just made my own.

[my wedding cake]

[Squirmy's First Birthday]

They are perfect because you can make specific for each events theme .

The supplies you will need are
-are 3 card board cake circles [10 inch 8 inch 6 inch]

-theme cordinating fabric of wrapping paper [enough to cover the tops of the circles]

-three cylinders [these can be cans or i use flower arangement foam]

-cordinating ribbion[enough to go around the edges and to go around the cylinders I usually use 4 rolls]

-hot glue & Gun 

The Steps to follow are

Step 1. 

Place a thin circle of hot glue down on your circle and place the paper/fabirc down 

Trim the paper/fabric flush with the circle's edge *Repeat this step with all three circles* 

See Images 1&2 for reference 

[Image 1]

[Image 2]

Step 2 

cover the cylenders with the ribbion. 

Place a dot of hot glue on the cylinder and place the ribbion firmly on the dot apply pressure till dry. wrap the ribbion around the cylinder and then secure at top by placing a dot of hot glue on the cylinder and placing the ribbion firmly on the dot apply pressure till dry. *Repeat this for all 3 cylinders*

see image 3 for reference

[image 3]

Step3 

Attatch the ribbion to the circles edges. 

Place a dot of glue on the circles edge place ribbion on dot and press firmly till dry. Spread about one inch of glue then ribbion pressing firmly till dry till you reach the starting point. *repeat for all 3 circles*

Step 4 

attach one cylinder to the bottom of 10inch circle by placing a layer of hotgule on the cylinder then placing it firmly in the center of the cicle hole till dry. 

Step 5 

attach one cylinder to the top of 10inch circle by placing a layer of hotgule on the cylinder then placing it firmly in the center of the cicle hole till dry. 

Step 6 

attatch the 8 inch circle to the top of the cylinder that is attached to the top of the 10inch

by placing a layer of hotgule on the cylinder then placing it firmly in the center of the cicle hole till dry.

Step 7 

attach one cylinder to the top of 8inch circle by placing a layer of hotgule on the cylinder then placing it firmly in the center of the cicle hole till dry. 

Step 8

attatch the 6 inch circle to the top of the cylinder that is attached to the top of the 8inch

by placing a layer of hotgule on the cylinder then placing it firmly in the center of the cicle hole till dry.

And thats it your done this cake stand easly holds 50 cupcakes and one 6 inch cake on the top 

Happy Crafting

♥Sarah

Kids Say the Funniest Things

We have the privilege of living amongst the funniest group of children I have ever met. They share every bit of personal information they have with you as soon as you walk out the door and you must also share with them interesting tidbits of you life. Usually we come in through the back door and can make it inside the house before they catch us but as the weather is warmer we take nightly walks and aren't so lucky. Our walk Sunday Evening....
Neighbor Girl 1 : Wow your baby is getting big my aunt had a baby and its ten days old
Hubby and I : O thats nice
Neighbor Girl 2: My mom had Five kids I am the oldest thats my brother and my sister and she has twins. She wanted to have six but after the twins she decided she could handle any more.
Hubby and I: o thats nice [trying our very hardest not to laugh]

To Every Momma

Giggles and mama dadads is what I woke up to with one eye open I saw squirmy crawling full speed ahead to my room dad in tow of coarse. As I came down the stairs he threw a card my way I opened that card addressed "MOMMY" of coarse and a sheet of paper slipped out in to my lap, daddy said squirmy came up with it he just fixed the spelling errors and I thought I should share it with you because its sort of perfect and will surely touch every mothers heart out there because I know it touched mine (espicially coming from my 1 year old )

"Dear Mama,
I know that this is the day that is celebrated for doing what you do . I wanted you to know that i appreciate you not just today but everyday that end with y. I love you so much mama. You're my favorite person in the whole wide world. You have the undeniable power to make me better when the world is crashing down around me. You instantly can make anything better. I appreciate all the time you spend rocking with me at night when I am having a hard time. I also appreciate all the times you change me, or all the times that you lose at that game you and dad play. "Not It". You're an amazing mother and I am grateful that your mine. I couldn't have asked for a better one not would I want one. You're the one person that I know will never give up on me and will spend their life encouraging me to be the best I can be. I know I have been growing right before your eyes, learning new things and becoming more and more independent. That is because you give me the power and strength to feel comfortable on my own. I know that you will be there whenever I need you no matter what.
Mama I Love you!!"

*Tears*
So I hope each of you mothers out there had a wonderful day !
Happy Mothers Day

My list Just keeps Growing

I know there hasn't been A weekend craft post in what seems like forever
Im sorry but I have been a busy little crafting bee that can't seem to complete a project!

But projects and tutorials I can promise to you in the next week starting tonight

-Make Your own Cup Cake Stand
-Baby E's baby set with a new booty tutorial
-Squirmy's B-Day Quilt with flannel & Fleece tips
-Tutus for special little girls
-quiet book
-Fathers Day Awesomeness

Stay tuned a crafting wave is heading your way!

♥Sarah

1 Amazing Year

Dear Squirmy, Today you are the big ONE! We woke up and went and had a special birthday day. Both mommy and daddy took the day off of work. We went to Toys R Us and you got the special birthday treatment. Then we went to build a bear to build you a special birthday bear....Then we went to the doctor but try not to remember that part. Wow how you have grown

-you drink real milk
-you can walk
-you can say bye bye and wave
-you know how to blow a whistle
-you love to play cars
-you had a super fun birthday party
-you eat grown up food
-you are 22.4 lbs
-you are 28.5 inches tall
-you wear 12 months clothes
-you are in a size 4 diaper

-you had you first real taste of cake [No turning back now]

And we love you so so so much! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET BOY!!!

♥ Mom

Find of The Day

Design Mom one of my favorite blogs to read Just made this
post

And boy do I want one!
if I had one
I would sew in it
Clean the house in it
Fold laundry in it
Cock much better dinners in it [I am sure it has magic powers]
I would be o so crafty in it
I would bake chocolate chip pumpkin cookies in it
and you better believe I would give Squirmy bubble baths in it!
I would feel so 50's Sassy in it
but I have already been so spoiled for mothers day ... Maybe I can make one of my own
or maybe I need more spoiling ...HONEY [the hubby is my blogs #1 fan besides maybe Sanja]
If you could have one which one would you pick? I would get Lola
♥ Sarah

Step Right Up

With only Seven Days before his first birthday Squiry Takes his first steps!

♥ Sarah

Party Planning-location location

With such a wide varity of ages attending Squirmys birthday we needed a place that would be fun for childern under to ten years old .... So why not go to a place that specializes in entiretaining groups of exactly that range? Squirmy's birthday party will be held at our local Mygym. Not only is this a place that he is both loves and is very familiar with but they do everything for you no joking. They put up the decorations plan the adventures for the kids which entertains them for an entire hour plus they do all the clean up what could get better then that! 

While researching the best places we also looked at 

-jungle jims 

-the children's museum 

-the little gym 

Essentially the two things we learned while picking a location is 

1) we need a place that Squirmy is both comfortable and familiar with 

2) something that would be fun for adults, and children from 10years-6 months old

My gym just did the trick!

YAY next stop invitations 

♥Sarah

Here Comes Peter Cotton Tail

For Easter we did the most exciting thing

We drove all the way down to New Mexico to Suprise Squirmy's Grandma Mayberry

[we caught here while she was dieing her hair :P she had no idea we were coming!]

we died eggs, hunted them and had so much fun with family!

[meeting the bunny he didn't like it so much]

[daddy and Squirmy]

[our eggs squirmy was a good egg helper although all the ones he died were cracked because he threw them into the cups as hard as he could LOL ]

[then squirmy was a bunny]

[and then I was a bunny]

[then Squirmy found all the eggs]

What a Great First Easter

and here are his professional pictures for 11 months

[our little easter bunny]

[such a big boy]

[so silly]

[more bunny action]

hope you had a hoppin time too!

♥Sarah