It's a blueberry Muffin kind of day!

Today is a weird kind of day. One minute it's sunny, and the next it's snowing. The girls and I were going to work on some Valentine's Day crafts today, but when I opened up the fridge for SweetPea's morning snack, the blueberries were calling out to me.  Since we are trying to use everything, and waste much less food, I decided that they just needed to be baked into my favorite-Blueberry Muffins!

Now, I know that the great bloggers such as Pioneer Woman post pictures like this when she cooks, but I couldn't figure out another way to do it. I will say, I suck at photography, and my pictures are terrible. These are pretty good for me though.

First of all, you need the ingredients.


[caption id="attachment_21" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Melt half a cup of margarine."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_22" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Add 1 cup of Sugar, and 2 eggs, & a splash of vanilla extract to the margarine. Combine well."][/caption]

In the meantime, combine 2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 tsp. baking powder, and 1/2 tsp. of salt.

[caption id="attachment_23" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Combine wet and dry ingredients, then fold in 1 cup of blueberries. "][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_24" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Fill muffin tin 2/3 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 18 minutes. "][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_38" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="18 minutes is a long time to wait for little helpers, so they decided to relax and watch a movie."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_29" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Remove from tin, cool, & enjoy!"][/caption]

Tiny Dancer has been really picky when it comes to fruit lately. Normally, she won't go near blueberries. She was more interested in them now because she was able to help me turn them into a delicious treat!

Pajama Tuesday

Tuesdays are our favorite day during the week. Noone has school, there is not dance, and I try my best not to book any appointments. It's a nice easy day for us to relax around the house, snuggle on the couch and watch a movie, play games, work on projects, and make a nice lunch together. It's a favorite with the girls because they can wear their pajama's all day! Sometime's Tiny Dancer likes to change it up a bit and do a fashion show in her different pajamas. We always have breakfast for lunch, either making pancakes (although, I'm constantly told that daddy's pancakes are better), muffins, waffles, or eggs.

While the girls were enjoying some Sesame Street, I decided to head upstairs and clear out SweetPea's dresser. A task that pulls at my heart and I have been putting off for a few months. Still a peanut, she's finally outgrown most of her 3-6 month onesies, and I needed to replace them with a more appropriate fitting size. Feeling nostalgic, and I tiny bit sad at the reality that these clothes may never make an appearance in our home again, I heard a yell from downstairs. Just then, Tiny Dancer appeared at the doorway saying "Mom, i have to show you something! Follow me!", I knew it was good, because she was tugging my arm while holding my hand; something this little princess does not do often.

I had to chuckle at the mess that was in the livingroom. My pretty little SweetPea, covered in hotchocolate! She looked really pleased with herself, as she was licking her fingers, nodding her head yes, and smiling. This would be her first taste of hotchocolate-and hopefully her last for a while. The third ingredient is creamer, which contains both Caseinate (a milk protein) and soy. A beautiful combination for a bad night in our house.

I quickly snapped a picture, then put her in the bath. Tiny Dancer, always loving to help, went to the kitchen and got a cloth and wiped up the floor, while I stripped her messy sister and ran the bath water. Of course, it had to become a pool party, so both sisters were enjoying splashing in the tub. Getting out, they both got right into new jammies, ready for pajama tuesday to continue.




*The picture is from my cellphone's camera, so the quality is less than impressive. Sorry!

The rest of our day is going to be easy. Breakfast sandwiches for lunch, maybe make some muffins. Naps will come soon enough, and that's when I'll start tonight's dinner, along with the cleaning for the day. But now, I'm going to snuggle with my two princesses and watch "UP"!

What's for Dinner?

I'm definately a creature of habit. I love things to be organized. Organization make me happy. When I'm happy, I smile. And, who doesn't love a smiling face? ;)

One of the best things that I have taught myself is to have a plan. The plan can always get interupted, but if there is a plan in order, than things will go much more smoothly. I like to plan ahead for almost everything. Meals, clothes, chores. I find that planning ahead tends to save quite a bit of money too!



On Sunday evenings, I like to sit at the table with a cup of hot tea, a few of my favorite cookbooks, and my Meal Organization book (You'll come to find I love Target bargains...and was this ever a target bargain! $3!). Of course, you could use any old calendar. I like to write down on each day what meal we will have. The cookbooks are great to get new ideas from, and while I'm looking at the recipe, can jot down (again, in the great meal org. book) the ingredients that I need to buy for the recipe. I'll also write down the book and page that the recipe can be found on; which in turn, saves time too!

Our meals are organized even further than that. I try to follow a simple rule, that way meals aren't repeated too often. On mondays, we have soup and sandwiches. Soup is 90% of the time homemade. Tuesdays are Italian night. I'll bake a loaf of homemade bread to go with dinner. Wednesdays we either have some sort of Mexican food, or try something new. Thursdays are Crockpot nights, and fridays are always Pizza. We tend to wing it on the weekends, eating lunch out once in a while, or having a FFYS (Fend for YourSelf), or eating leftovers.

I *LOVE* to cook. It excites me. Knowing that my family is eating something wholesome and nutritious, that I have prepared for them is a priority to me. Sure there are days that I just don't feel like cooking, but when Stash or Tiny Dancer say "Dullicioussss!", I know I did a great job. Or, when SweetPea says"more please", I know I can put it on the repeat list.

And, little miss SweetPea has food allergies. She's such a petite little thing, but has such a huge appetite! Having a child with an allergy to dairy and soy hasn't hindered my cooking experience at all. It makes it more exciting to make sure that I am able to cook for my baby the proper foods to get the calories that she needs. I have to be creative when it comes to things like lasgana, but even stash is enjoying the vegan version that I've been making!

I'd like to know. Do you like to cook? Is there any dietary restrictions holding you back? Maybe together we could Make It Happen!

My dreams are coming true!

Welcome to my blog!

I'm excited to start this new adventure. My dear friends Lauren & Jessica have been asking me to start a blog for some time now. Staying home with my two girls has been such a blessing, and sometime's I think I take it (and my poor husband!) for granted. I have been home for almost 4 years now, and can't believe how quickly time has passed. When I was a new mom, I remember my friend Emily telling me that her mother always said "The days are long, but the weeks are short". Isn't that the truth?

When I was in second grade, we had to write a paragraph on what we wanted to bewhen we grew up. I was so excited to write about how I dreamed to be a mom, and stay home with my babies. The teacher called me up to the front of the class, and asked if I was sure I didn't want to be a lawyer, doctor, or the President. No. Even at eight years old, I knew I wanted to be a stay at home mom. Fate was on my side, when eleven years later, I met the man who would be my husband. Before we were married, we talked about our future and our children. He had hoped to have a wife that was willing to stay at home and raise the children! Can you believe it? Now, after six and a half years of marriage, I am able to stay home. People often ask us how we can afford to live off of one income. Our answer is always the same. "We make it happen".

I feel like it was just yesterday that we found out that we were (finally) pregnant with our first baby. Now, she's dancing her little heart thru her journey of life, taking 2 tap classes, jazz, and ballet. She's also in a preschool program. Everyday she's learning and growing so much. Just today, she spelled MOM for me. She'll always be my Tiny Dancer.

Stash and his siblings are 2 years apart evenly. My sisters and I have 8 years between each of us, so, while we were still siblings, it was almost like we were only children as well. Seeing the strong bond between Stash and his brother, I knew I wanted my children to be close in age. We were fortunate enough to get pregnant with our second baby and learned that they would be just shy of 2 years apart. We were so excited when we learned baby #2 was a girl. Now, at almost 2 years old, she is best friends with her older sissy, and the happiest little girl. She's my little Sweet Pea.

I invite you to follow me along. I'll be showing how we live our lives thru our passions (Cooking, sewing, dancing, fishing, etc.), and how we have made our house a home. . I hope that I am able to inspire someone, anyone, to go forth with their dream. Because anything is possible, and you can just Make It Happen!