Eat!

I have empty space between my cabinets in the kitchen. It's right above the sink and this space is very annoying. I've never been sure what to put there. Over at Craftomaniac she created a burlap EAT sign. I loved it so I made my own recently.

I don't have the fancy Silhouette vinyl machine so I had to do it the ghetto way! I bought three 4 x 6 frames from the Dollar Tree and spray painted them flat black. At Hobby Lobby I found burlap scrapbook paper and cut it to fit the frame. In Microsoft Word I found the font I liked and printed out the letters. Very carefully I cut each letter out and glued them on the paper. Easy! Then, I was finally able to find the right color of burlap at Hobby Lobby after Christmas and cut out the straps to hang the frames with. I looked for a fancy rod like in the original picture but I couldn't find one so I had to settle for a small $5 curtain rod from Target. It works I guess. So there it is!

Let's eat!

A Valentine's quickie

I don't decorate for Valentine's Day. I've just never really been into it. Maybe as our kids get older I will do a little more here and there. But I decided I would copy Melissa and make this cute little diddy. It took about 10 minutes and cost me $1. My kind of price.

Making money

I have been a stay at home mom for 2 1/2 years now. I have loved every minute of it. I've said it a million times and will probably say it 1 million more. Oh well! Before I left my job I was the bread winner for the family while putting Matt through school. I have tried to look for things that I can do at home to make extra money and there are just so many scams out there. It is so difficult to know which one is legit and which one is going to rob you blind. And then a friend told us about product studies. The light bulb went off!

We have found so many different research companies to sign up with. We have used our product study money to make updates to our house, to go on vacation, buy presents for the kids and us too and so much more! Plus, you get to learn about and try new products before they hit the market. We put crown moulding in our bedroom and it was free from product study money. All last year every product study I did I used that money to pay our insurance deductible from having Jaxon. Wow! If you live in a big city or around a big city more than likely there is a research company near you. Do a Google search for "market research companies in ___"(insert your city) and see what pops up. Here is a list and links to the companies that we are currently signed up for.

Bryles Research
Murray Hill Center-I don't see the link to sign up with them but you can probably call the office in your area and ask how to sign up
Plaza Research
Schlesinger Associates
Fieldwork Dallas-click on "join our database" on the left hand side of screen
Savitz
Delve-click on "consumer sign up" in the middle of the page
Market Research Dallas
Opinions-Unlimited
Focus Pointe Global

Have fun!

The results

I received a call yesterday from the elementary school where Levi had his speech evaluation. When the lady said who she was on the phone my heart instantly started pounding and my hands started sweating.

Rewind...The evaluation went horribly wrong. Looking back on the evaluation and the timing of it I should have rescheduled it. Levi got 2 shots just 3 days prior to this evaluation and had been running a fever since. Then he started getting sick and sneezing. So on Friday there was snot everywhere. I had to keep wiping his nose and he seriously could not stop sneezing. He would sneeze about every 5-10 minutes. They wanted to check his eye sight and hearing but he wanted nothing to do with that. They tried to get him to count and he wouldn't even though he can count to 15. They tried to get him to name the characters of his favorite movie Cars but he wouldn't. It's like he just froze up. He suddenly forgot how to speak. The words he did say were not clear b/c he was coughing and congested. Jax was with us so I had to deal with him getting upset on top of Levi not focusing on what they needed him to do. I finally just broke down in tears. I told you I would. I walked out of the school so mad, frustrated, and feeling even more like a failure as a mom to Levi. I cried all day! I was expecting the worst report ever and they would tell me that Levi was so far behind. I didn't want to reschedule due to the fact that who knows when they would be able to get him in again. They told me initially that it could be a month for them to see him. So I left the school just broken.

Fast forward to yesterday and the call. I'm not sure if they are supposed to give the results over the phone. The lady didn't really sound like she wanted to tell me the results. They told me when I left last Friday they would just mail me a report. So the call surprised me but I guess it is law that they have to offer you a meeting with the Speech Therapist to discuss the findings. I can't remember how it came out but she told me that Levi didn't qualify for therapy. That's right!! My child's speech is NORMAL!! I just about jumped out of my skin! That made me so happy. I'm not one of those parents that wants something to be wrong with my child or wants him to get therapy just to get it. If any of our kids have issues we will get them fixed as best we can. She told us that the sounds/words that Levi currently says are normal for his age and the sounds/words that Levi doesn't say are normal for his age. We are still going in to the therapist to discuss the report though. Just to get ideas and tips on how to improve his speaking. I personally do feel like Levi is a little behind with his speech but it is our fault. We've let him get away with saying words like "bippy" instead of sippy or "ya ya" instead of yogurt. Things like that we are correcting now but we just never noticed them before. But I don't think that he is far enough behind to need intensive speech therapy for it.

I can't tell you how powerful prayer is. This is an answer to our prayers for sure. I am going to continue to work with Levi each day and get his sounds better. We've been doing our "school" for 3 weeks now and I can see a little improvement. But we have nothing but time on our side. He will be ok!

Yesterday was a great day!

And the truth shall set me free....

Let me start off by saying I'm sorry to my mother for what she is about to see. She taught me better and she knows it and so do I. I have failed but I do the best I can. I'm sorry mom! I will try harder I promise.

The other day a friend said to me that my house was clean. I do try to keep it as clean as possible but the fact of the matter is....I HAVE BOYS!! 3 boys! You clean up after 3 boys and see how well you do on a daily basis. It's tough to keep this house clean or even have the energy to keep the house clean. I show you this not to make you think I am a slob b/c I'm really not. But it's just life. My life! Normal everyday living at our house. So here it is folks. The truth!

The laundry I did yesterday. This is what I like to call Mt. Clothes. I hate this horrible mountain. Laundry and dishes are the 2 things I hate most. But they have to be done. As of now this mountain has been conquered. So my love seat is clean. But at any given point you can usually find an article of clothing on there.

Proof that I cleaned up Mt. Clothes. Those are Matt's clothes in his laundry basket and the kids clothes on top. They are napping so I can't put those away yet.

This is my kitchen at the end of the day. Stuff just everywhere. Baby food jars on the counter and the pumpkin with crayons in it. Dirty dishes in the sink. Clean dishes in the dishwasher. If I would just learn to put the dishes away that are clean then I could put the dirty ones in the dishwasher. But I would rather watch Parenthood instead. Don't hate...I love Parenthood!

Ahhh....my beautiful dining room. How I love thee with all thine toys! This is actually pretty clean. By the end of the day this room is more than likely a mess. Again...the boys! Lord help me if I have any more boys!

So you see...my house is messy. Nothing will make you clean your house faster than when someone is coming over in 10 minutes or my husband is coming home and he needs to think I have done something today. So this is my confession. My everyday life.

As frustrating as Mt. Clothes, the laundry, and the dishes are I wouldn't trade it. I'm grateful for it and the kids that keep me busy.

What does your house look like??

Sorry Mom!

Orange Chicken

Credit: Full Bellies, Happy Kids

Printable Version

3 lbs. Chicken, cut into bite size pieces
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 cup of flour
1/2 cup of cornstarch
4 beaten eggs with a little milk
oil

Sauce:
1 1/4 cups of sugar
1/2 cup of ketchup
1/2 cup of water
2 tablespoons of soy sauce

Beat 4 eggs together and add a little milk. Mix cornstarch, flour and garlic powder together. Dip chicken pieces in the flour then egg. Fry in hot oil until golden brown.

Place chicken in casserole dish.

Sauce:
Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil over medium-low heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved and ingredients are blended.

Pour sauce over chicken

Bake at 350 F, for 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked thoroughly.

Cheesy Beef & Bacon Meatloaf

Credit: Gooseberry Patch Cookbook

Printable Version

1 lb. bacon, crisply cooked, crumbled and divided
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef sirloin
1 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup dry bread crumbs
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 Tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup catsup
1/4 tsp hot pepper sauce
3 Tsp Dijon mustard

Set aside 1/2 cup bacon for topping. In a large bowl, combine remaining bacon and other ingredients except catsup, hot sauce and mustard; mix well and set aside. Mix together catsup, hot sauce and mustard; set aside 3 tablespoons of mixture. Add remaining catsup mixture to beef mixture; blend well. Press into an ungreased 9"x5" loaf pan; spread reserved catsup mixture over top and sprinkle with reserved bacon. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees or 50 to 60 minutes. Remove from oven; let stand 5 to 6 minutes before slicing. Serves 6 to 8