Playgroup Party

Our playgroup party, last weekend.

I promise to be more interesting in January. For now, I'm busy with Christmas plans, house renovations, a toddler, and a baby that still won't sleep through the night!

Burger & Fries, Hold the Cheese & Mayo

A couple of months ago, we were excited to find another place that we could all eat as a family - yeah!!! So we've been going with some regularity, which I've loved because - FINALLY - a break from all the cooking from scratch. So every time, we order E. the burger & fries - "No Cheese, No Seasoning. And For the Record, we have Food Allergies, so write it down on that little pad of yours & tell your friends back in the kitchen." So again last night we ordered our meal, and when it arrived, Lance noticed there were bitty bits of cheese all over the burger and a dollop of mayonnaise in the ketchup. Ahh! Both of these were not totally obvious, but he fortunately had looked over the meal when it arrived. E could have totally eaten these things had we been a bit less observant. We talked with our server and he said the spatula dropped cheese onto the burger. Hello! Food allergies! Can you use a spatula without cheese all over it?!?! This is such a pain. As careful as we are, I don't know if I can ever trust a dining experience. Will I ever get a real break from cooking? (pictured: not from our restaurant.)

Quilting

Last night I started a quilt. Why? I'm completely crazy. I completely don't have time, but couldn't find what I wanted for Ethan's room to match his new sheets. I fell in love with this quilt. But just wasn't in the mood to spend $800. Go figure. Here I go! I'm almost done with the top, but plan to do the quilting by hand. I've heard to expect that it will take me 6 months. I'm hoping I can make better time than that!

Sarah & Jake!

We had a wonderful whirlwind time in Chicago for Sarah's wedding! Sarah was a beautiful bride. The babies all did great. Congratulations Sarah & Jake!The babies preferred this portion of the wedding the best.
Here's how things went with Lizzie & Katie Belle. Lizzie would grab Katie Belle's hand (or try to eat her face). Katie Belle would squeal in delight. Lizzie would shriek in horror. We separate them. Repeat, Repeat, Repeat.
Heather, Matthew, Cash, Jake, Sarah, Us, Jen & Mason.

Craigslist

I've been spending a lot of time on Craigslist lately. I got E. a 5-piece wooden kitchen, plus wooden playfood -all for $100. What an awesome deal. (Wooden Kitchens are expensive. This set, 3-pieces, from Pottery Barn is $700!) Shhh! Don't tell Ethan!! It's his Christmas gift.

Anyway, someone should own this couch & chair. How awesome is this? Completely not the style of our house, but if it was, I would be all over it. Only $750, OBO.

Economy Got You Down?

Check out You Tube's Depression Cooking with Clara. 93-year old Clara shared cooking tips from her youth. There are several episodes. They seem to be mostly centered around pastas, potatoes, and very very little meat. I'm inspired! What do you think?

Ups & Downs

A piece of advice: If you are doing renovations to your house, hire a contractor you really trust, not the one who is the cheapest. We were locked into a decision, since the insurance company would only approve the estimate of the guys who worked super-cheap. It was a bad place to be in. Fortunately, Lance is also an architect, so he was able to spot some things that didn't meet codes. But Lance fired the contractor, so things will hopefully be looking up. We'll either hire a new one (if we can afford it at this point) or Lance will serve as general contractor from here on out.

It has now been over 2 months since the repairs got started, and we're really ready to get this whole big mess behind us. It has been a frustrating 2 months, and I'm sure it would bore you to tears for me to tell you all the details.

We've also decided to do some serious upgrades & other renovations. We decided since our whole family was being booted from our home, we'd go ahead and replace windows, the roof & other stuff while we were at it.

So in my spare time (which there is very little of) I'm daydreaming on sites like: Remodelista, Apartment Therapy, Domino, Shelterrific, among others.

Has it been 4 Months?

I can't believe 4 months have gone by so quickly!

My New Blog

After much hesitation, I've decided to start a new blog, AllergySupport.blogspot.com. This will be a format to discuss products, recipes, and issues relating to food allergies. I know that many people frequently look at my past posts about food allergies, so I thought it might be good to have a place to put information just related to that topic.

I would love to have it be a blog which has 3-4 contributors, so the information is posted more often. I know I won't have tons of time to devote to it. If you would like to be a contributor, please let me know! I'd love to have some help with it to keep it going strong!

I will continue to occasionally post food allergy info here, but the new blog."> will be completely devoted to it.

Baby Shoes

I've been completely unprepared for all the stuff a little baby girl needs for cold Sunday mornings. Dress, Tights, Bloomers, Sweater, Shoes. Ahh! But you're now looking at the proud owner of baby shoes from etsy seller, LilCubby. These are not the ones I purchased, but these cuties are still for sale!

Thinkin' About Cars

I'm thinking about Christmas, and Ethan's birthday, coming up soon. Plus, the move back into our house, which will come...Someday. So I've been scouring the internet to find some of the best car-related gifts & room decor.

I typed in "Car" on etsy, and have just finished scouring the 356 pages of results. Here are just a few of my favorites: Car Activity Table
Wooden Cars
Car Mug
Cruisin' Cars Announcement
Pillow with Chalkboard
Light Switch Cover
Pillow
Red Truck Pillow
Bucket Toy Organizer
Gift Tags
Car Stationary
Hanging Magnetic Board
Car Painting
Cars on Vacation Bowl
Race Car Switchplate
And if I had a car-obsessed girl, she'd for sure get this little car coin purse.

Playgroup, 2nd Generation

The second round of our playgroup is underway! I'm so glad for the friendships with these girls & their kids. Here is Cash, with his little girl friends, Mary Michael & Katie Belle.

More Cousins

More fun with cousins last week.

StickerHead

When you let your child go to bed with stickers, he might just wake up like this:

Fall

We enjoyed hanging out yesterday underneath the most beautiful tree on the planet. I love fall!

My Husband

He's taken, Ladies. And if you've wondered - yes, that's a photo of him gracing the walls of our airport as well.

The 7 Things Thing

I've been tagged to do the whole 7 Things Thing. But I've been putting it off. 7 things is much harder than 100 Things was. But - finally - here it is.

1. I'm frugal but have several weaknesses...scarves & vintage table linens in particular.
2. The best way to get me to ignore you is to start talking numbers.
3. I've moved 9 times in 6 years of marriage.
4. I hate having people stick their finger in my belly button.
5. I can't stand spending money on things that get used one time. (Halloween Costumes are fresh on the mind.)
6. I cannot resist stopping at a lemonade stand.
7. I love love love to dance. But Ethan is the only person I can get to dance with me around here.

I'm supposed to tag some others. But right now I'm typing one-handed & can't bother with it. If you're reading, just do it too!

Note: I changed out the photo, because I was told the other was "not super-becoming." I don't know if this is any better, but I don't have any of just me!

Cookbook Winner!

As tempting as it was to rig this thing, I did it the old-fashioned-drawing way. I thought maybe I could rig it to let an old friend win. Or maybe a new friend, to let them know that I'm glad they like my blog. With a twist of irony, Courtney was the winner!!! You might remember that a few months ago, I won a drawing for her jewelry! I thought about redrawing, because surely no one would believe that this was completely random. But it is. Crazy.

If you are interested in buying a cookbook anyway, I'll let you know in the next few weeks where to pick one up. We'll either sell them through the gym or our church. All proceeds go to help children in Nairobi, Kenya. Watch a mini-documentary here. Lance & I were fortunate to go several years ago. It's life changing.

Salmon Fingers

I want to give myself a high five for finding a recipe that makes my child love salmon. Here's the original recipe. I've marked my changes to replace the egg. Sure, boxed stuffing isn't that great for you. But hey, my kid's eating salmon!

How to: Combine 1 can or sealed pouch of salmon, 3⁄4 cup stuffing mix [making sure it's free of allergens], 5 Tbs mayo [I used Follow Your Heart Grapeseed Oil Vegenaise], 1 egg (lightly beaten) [I used this flax egg replacement], and 2 tsp lemon juice. Shape into 6 "fingers" and chill for 15 minutes. Cook with oil in a skillet over medium heat until brown on all sides.

Click here for more ways to use your stuffing.

Learning to Wink

A special moment caught on camera.

Giveaway drawing is Monday. Be sure to enter!