WEEELLLL

Its been far too long. I know I should be updating more frequently however life is certainly busy. Baby #2 is here in like 5 weeks or so. I'm starting to get nervous because we aren't ready. With Violet everything was set when I was 5 months pregnant. This time we are flying by the seat of our pants. We still don't even have a name for him yet. And I'm not naming him Walker Texas Ranger...but I digress.

Violet has gotten much bigger since the last picture. I mean she's 20 months old now. She's saying more words every day and starting to put 2 words together. She's doing great otherwise.

Nick is busy as always. With September starting back up and people not on vacations so much he's busy most nights and on the nights he's home I'm working. That will all change very soon.

Once again with another baby I'm on the cloth diapering mission so to speak. We did it part time with Violet when she was small and I wasn't working. We didn't have a lot for a stash so it was something we only did when we were at home. Then she got too big for the diaper covers and we just never bought any more. There are so many options out there for cloth diapering and its not like how it used to be when my mom did it with pins and those rubber pants and what not. It saved us a lot of money and stretched out the diaper supply we had. I never felt like we had to have piles and piles of diapers incase we got close or even ran out because we had a back up plan. I went to a cloth diapering party (its sort of like pampered chef) and got to see up close and personal some of these diapers. I got a few more and I think we are on our way for this time around. Violet is very interested in them and loves to put them on herself over her clothes. She just thinks she's so funny.

OOps

Well life is busy here. Sorry to have neglected our blog but Violet keeps me busy and we are expecting baby #2 in Dec. Stay tuned for further updates!

Owie

Well, not much is new here. We had a great Easter. Violet had her 1st steak. That was awesome. We are going to be settling into a summer routine. Bowling is almost over for Nick, choir is almost over for me, and soon it will be summer and We'll have 2 nights free unless I pick up hours at work. We'll see.

Its getting warmer here and Violet needs weather appropriate PJs. We have some nice flannely ones but they are too warm for the apt at night. So we went and couldn't find any that were decently priced. I've even checked the salvation army store. I think everyone is looking for jammies.

Violet took her first spill the other day. It has healed nicely but here's the damage.

It may be the first but won't be the last. Its already healed. She didn't pick at it at all. I was surprised.

Things got a little busy

That is an understatement. My last update was December??!! Gosh who's running this thing?

I guess it makes sense. December is when I switched stores. I'm back working at Starbucks and I was working at a store downtown. That didn't work at all. So in December I switched to the store that is not even 1 mile from our house. Its been nice because I don't spend so much time in traveling...but instead now I can spend that time working. I work many more hours than I did before which is nice but makes life hectic. January came and went so fast. Then February flew by! Violet's birthday was amazing. Everyone had fun even though we were in the middle of a snowstorm. From Thursday (her actual birthday) to Saturday (her party) we ended up with a total of 15inches of snow. GAH!!! But we still went all out and people braved the weather and had a great time. There's some more pictures on flickr but enjoy the one's at the bottom!

The birthday girl in her dress!

Yes I made the cakes. It took for ever but I LOVE them.

I think it was pretty good.

See Violet on Santa's List

Ok well the original link didn't work so here lets try this again.

Violet made Santa's list. See for your self HERE.

Making Things From Scratch

I'm not quite sure how I got onto this search today but go ahead click here or just google "making things from scratch." Go for it, I'll wait.

Did you notice all the information out there. I saw at least 30 pages of stuff to make from scratch. Thinking about it I guess at one point these store bought items weren't available. People only ever made cakes from scratch and then box mixes came out and I'm sure there were people who thought it was just wrong and would never take off.

I'm not sure where I found it but someone mentioned making vanilla extract from scratch for some handmade Christmas presents and I looked up many other recipes of things to make from scratch. Its inspired me to try out some things.

I've always wanted to try making a cake from scratch. I've only ever done it from a boxed mix but perhaps I'll get up enough courage to try. After all I make my own Lemon Loaf from scratch how hard can it be?

For some reason I've been on this kick of making things on my own. Since making my own salsa ever since we were first married I realized that first of all its really cheap (I can make 12 jars for around $5.) and also I can control the hotness level because I'm not into the spicy foods. So why couldn't I do that with other things? I know that somethings are just worth the money spent on the store bought for your time but I've wondered what I'd do if I didn't have certain items that I've gotten so used to buying. So I'll give some things a try. I'll let you know how it goes.

Show Christ's love at Christmas!

This is a great idea to spread some Christmas cheer.

Early MPM

So I realize that its Sunday but I have to get a jump start on this because I work late tonight and I have to go to the store tomorrow. Last week planning ahead really saved me time. In 3 meals I made enough food for the whole week with some still left over. I think we'll only have enough leftovers for monday, and with thanksgiving coming I got to figure out how what to do with all those leftovers. So onto it...

Monday- Leftovers of Hot dish

Tuesday- Spaghetti

Wednesday- Leftover spaghetti

Thursday- Thanksgiving

Friday- Thanksgiving part deux

Saturday- Turkey Chili

Sunday- ???

We've got a lot going on this week but I'm really looking forward to Thanksgiving.

One Small Purse

I'm not sure how many people out there read my blog but I want to help out Mocha Momma and her school. This purse drive is an easy way for me to get rid of some purses that I've hardly used and then give them to some high schoolers who need them. So, just click on the pink purse on the right of the page to find out more.

Menu Plan Monday

In order to try and get more organized and perhaps to save more money, I read a lot of different blogs and recently I've been reading orgjunkie.com. She plans her meals for each week on Sunday nights. So I thought I'd give it a shot. She is all fancy and has links to her recipes. A lot of times I just make them up as I go but I'll do the best I can.

This week seems like its going to be busy. I'm making meals that will make a lot of food so we can have leftovers a lot. Its ambitious but we'll give it a try.

Monday- Sesame Noodle Stir Fry (basic recipe here adding chicken and veggies to stretch it out)

Tuesday- Hot Dish (its pretty much what I call a generic cassarole. I take egg noodles, some sort of ground meat, some sort of veggie, and then a sauce or cream of something soup i have on hand. A true pantry meal and its never the same.)

Wednesday- Slow Cooker Chili (This recipe isn't made for the crockpot. I'm trying it out.)

Thursday- Leftovers

Friday- Leftovers or eatout?

Saturday- Spaghetti and Meatballs

Sunday- If any left leftovers or soup and sandwiches.

Happy Reformation Day!!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Happy Reformation Day!

My little punkin
Originally uploaded by SpamanthaB

In honor of Reformation day here's Violet standing by the pumpkin we picked out to carve this year. This pumpkin is giant.

Today we leave for Kalahari in Sandusky, OH. Its really not just for fun (although its going to be super fun) its for the Ohio District's Pastor's Conference. Good times will be had by all.

I'm the tax maaan....

Interesting tax information...for what its worth I guess, for more info check out this site.

New found interest

So after stumbling on some different blogs, I came across this one. This mom lives in Australia and it looks like does some homeschooling and makes a lot of homemade items. She has inspired me to make a felt board for Violet. I have the cardboard, I'm going to make it 3 sided so I can have different backgrounds. Next item on my wish list...

All this making homemade ideas I would love to have a sewing machine that is simple so I can make an occasional stuffed animal, cute outfit, or perhaps even a halloween costume. The last time I used a sewing machine I think I was in 8th grade. Should be a good time.

Update

Things are just non-stop around here! So I had gall bladder surgery almost 3 weeks ago now! I'm back at work and feeling pretty good...minus the cold I have but thats ok. It could be worse. So since the last post I finished Course 1 of the Wilton Cake Decorating class at Michael's. I've gone on to course two but this was my "final project" for the class. It was kinda hurried but I learned how to make the "wilton rose" while I was supposed to do "drop flowers" I didn't make them early enough and they all broke on me. I also didn't want to make green icing for the like 5 or 6 leaves so they were chocolate leaves. It could have looked much better but I think I did a great job anyway.

Violet is doing pretty good. She still isn't crawling but she's rolling all over the place. She discovered that she can get to anything by rolling and doesn't really feel like crawling. Right now she has another ear infection and an eye infection. Poor baby.

Nick is good. He gave blood last week and his arm is still bruised. It looks horrible. He started confirmation class and is enjoying that. He's also joined a bowling league and if I knew anything about bowling I could tell you about his average or something like that. But I have no clue.

That's what's going on in Ohio right now. Baby is awake now and needs a new diaper I'm sure!

If I knew you were coming I'd a baked a cake...

I just started taking a cake decorating class through Michael's. Its the Wilton Method of cake decorating which I'm sure that isn't super fancy but its been a lot of fun. Our first class we talked about making icing and then also discussed how you ice a cake. So the picture quality isn't great but this is my first cake that I made for class. We learned how to do borders using the star tip and also writing on the cake. I didn't write on the cake but I did practice writing. I'm not super good at that yet. I'm really looking forward to the last 2 classes and then I think I'm going to try the other courses.

Violet is 6 months

family1
Originally uploaded by SpamanthaB

I don't have a lot of time with work to update as much as I'd like but here's a picture of our family!

Mom is a crazy hippie

So I know I mentioned switching to cloth diapers and well I haven't fully switched but we've done some part time cloth diapers.  Its going pretty good.  I do like the cloth better than the disposable.  The washing isn't bad as everyone had said it was going to be. I don't have a ton of diapers and we usually use like 3 a day so i am washing like once every 2 days.  But its not so bad. And since its been so nice out I can let them dry on my porch.  The cloth really help if Violet has a rash or a little redness.  It usually goes away pretty quick with the cloth.  Cloth diapers have come a long way since they were used on me.  

This is the first ones we got.  They are Kushies brand, all in ones.  So there is no diaper cover the cloth is all built right in.  The only bad thing about t

hese is that they take forever to dry.  They also velcro shut but there isn't velcro on the other side of the tab so you have to position them just right. 

Here's the happy girl in her Kushies diaper.  She's a little on the small side here but she now fits in them a little better now that she put on some weight.

This diaper is more like the old school diapers.  They call them prefolds and they can either be put on with diaper pins or a fancy tool called a Snappi.  Its a rubbery y shaped thing that has teeth on the 3 ends and grips the diaper on with out having to use the pins.  Or depending on the type of diaper cover you can just fold them and insert them into the pocket.  Both ways work really well and these I like the best.  They absorb more and don't leak ever.  

This is a close up of the diaper cover.  We only have two covers this one with the cute flowers and then one with frogs on it.  I forgot to take pictures of that one.  

I'm so happy in my cute diaper

best picture ever

Violet7
Originally uploaded by SpamanthaB

3 Month Pictures

Today Violet got her 3 month pictures taken at Target.  She's such a cutie.