Potato Head Quiet Book

While I was exploring the internet for different ideas for quiet books, I came across a felt Mr Potato Head called My Spud Bud advertised on Etsy.  It looked super cute and I thought to myself... "I can do that!"  Most of Olivia's and Alle's toys beep, talk, or make some kind of noise and I though this would be a fun and quiet thing to play with.  My best friend moved to Japan last week and she has a little girl who just turned two so I decided to make this for 'baby Daisy' as a birthday present thinking it will be fun for her to play with on the plane ride as well.  For some reason I always like to try out new things on other people... new brownie recipe, cooking macaroni and cheese in milk (did not turn out very good!)... so why not this too!

It took a lot longer than I had planned but I think it turned out pretty good!

It opens and there is a pocket on the left hand side with all of the pieces in it.  The body of the potato head is hand sewn on the right side.  There are eyes, mouths, teeth, noses, mustache, glasses, ears, and shoes.

I sewed on Velcro to keep the book closes and also to close the pocket

Olivia wanted to slow off the book by holding in front of her face!

I think it turned out pretty good.  Olivia wanted me to make her one so I did but it is a little bit different.  I sewed her potato head onto felt but then put that onto regular fabric for the cover and handles.

Here is the center and the pieces that I made for hers

Having fun with making some potatoes.

God is with you!

Olivia came to me one day and asked "Can I watch this movie?"  Pointing to the movie case she said "that is the mean guy...  I like that part."  "you do?" I asked her.  She said "I'm not afraid of it anymore."  "Why not" I asked.  And she said "Because God is with me!"  After a a minute she said "You can watch it with me... but don't be afraid because God is with you"

I lover her little heart.  She has been saying these kinds of things a lot lately.  I think she first started when she participated in some vacation bible school activities and she learned that God is with you.

One time she even ran out of the room during a 'scary' part of veggie tales then stopped and said "Oh yeah... God is with me, I don't have to be afraid" and ran back to finish her movie.

Here is a video of her explaining to me why she isn't afraid anymore and why I don't have to be afraid either.

After our bible study on September 30, I was telling Clint we should have praise report/ prayer request time during the first part of our meeting time and Olivia called out "I want to do it!"  So i asked her if she had any prayer requests: anything she wanted us to pray for.  She said Jesus... She wants Jesus in her heart.  So I took her and baby sister over to Clint and we all sat on the couch.  Clint told her that she can pray.  At first she didn't want to but I told her that she can pray and Jesus likes it when little girls talk to him.  Clint told her to repeat what he was saying.  This is the prayer that she whispered:

~

Dear Jesus. Please come into my heart, and be with me always. Amen.

~

Routine

It's Tuesday, October 2nd, and Olivia had her ear tube surgery scheduled for today but instead of doing that she went to pre-school, played outside with her daddy for a LONG time, and watched The Andy Griffith Show with me.  After dealing with Olivia's ear infection and pain for four weeks, I am so thankful that her ear healed up properly and for a doctor who took over thirty minutes in a consultation discussing the decision with me and advising us to wait.  I'm not fearful of her getting tubes- if she needs them later on then we will definitely get them. But I know there are risks with everything (even the routine things) and I don't want her to go though it unless she needs them.


My dad recently had back surgery and even though that isn't necessarily routine, the anesthesia was.  However the anesthesia put his intestines to sleep and it took them a week to start working again and he is still having stomach issues two weeks after the surgery.

I had a routine surgery when I was about five years old.  I had Tonsillitis and was struggling to breath at night so I had my adenoids and tonsils taken out. Having a Tonsillectomy at that time was one of the first things they doctors went for and was extremely routine and safe.  However, mine resulted in being sent home in tears with a visible hole in the corner on my mouth.  I have had several reconstructive surgeries over the years but now you can't even tell which side the hole was on.  I am very grateful to have parents who were able to research and find out what was the best route to have this problems fixed even though it cost them so much at the time.

So routine or not, God is untimely in control and I am glad he chose to heal Olivia's ear naturally for now.

A look back at 2011

I love taking pictures and scrapbooking them but lately I haven't had much time to get out a lot of non-baby stuff and scrapbook .  So instead, I have made a 'Family Yearbook' for the last few years.  Every few months or so, shutterfly will have a code for a free photobook and you only pay the shipping cost.

A couple of days ago I made a yearbook for 2011 and realized that so much has changed since the beginning of last year.  Olivia was a little baby still wearing diapers; Alle wasn't even a thought yet; Clint was working a different job;  I was working a job; We were attending a different church; Olivia was still in day care; She had just started Gymnastics; Cousin Asher was just one month old.... So many changes in the 20 months or so.  Olivia stopped looking so much like a baby and more like the little girl she is now a month or two after her birthday... which is when I found out I was pregnant with Alle.  Even though I have loved my family and cherished our time during 2011, it is hard to imagine my life now without little Alle bug added to it.  I am so thankful for our blessings, hardships, provisions, and additions to our family from God.

Click here to view this photo book larger

By the way... If there are any mistakes in the photo book, please don't tell me.  I have already ordered the book!

Chocolate Chip cookie mix

I have been making my own mixes!  Brownie mix, cookie mix, muffin mix, baking mix, pancake and waffle mix.  I cut the recipes in half because I want to try them first to see if I like them before having to use them for months.  

Two days ago I made and cooked some fake Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip cookie mixes.  There are also recipes for other Betty Crocker cookie mixes in this post on a website called Fake-it-frugal.  They also have recipes for Betty Crocker brownies and fake Clorox clean up.  

Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix:

1 Cup Flour
1/4 Cup White Sugar
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
3/4 Cup Chocolate Chips

Mix together and store in a quart size ziplock bag.  Write instructions on the bag to add:  1 Stick Softened Butter, 1 Large Egg, 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract.  Mix & Bake at 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes.

These were very tasty.  They did turn out a little thin though.  I'm not sure if it is because I didn't measure my flour and sugar properly, or because I used some butter and some margarine from two different things and added too much, or because I had the cookie sheet on the stove while the oven was warming and the cookies started melting before they started cooking.  Either way they were still scrumptious but not thick!  

What I do is bake what we want for that day with a few extra and then I freeze the rest of the dough.  I put cookie size balls of the dough onto some freezer paper on an extra cookie sheet and put it in the freezer.  When they freeze I put them in a baggie and just right the correct temperature and time for baking.  Then I can just take out how many I want for the next time I want some cookies.

I made an extra of the cookie mix and some brownie mixes, muffin mix, and some pancake and waffle mix.  I put them all in baggies and wrote on the bag what they are and how much I need to use and what I need to add for when I use the mix.  I put the pancake/waffle mix in an old formula container wrapped in paper.

I put my mixes standing in a tupperware container with my other muffin mixes in my pantry.  When I use my other mixes I will post on how they turned out as well.  I like making cookies and such from scratch and this makes it easier to do so without making as big of a mess because now all I have to do is add the wet ingredients!

Making some bug food

I made my own baby food yesterday... well not for me but for our little Alle bug!  She has been eating baby food for about 6 to 8 weeks now but I wanted to her to eat the store bought at first because the consistency tends to be smoother than when I make it.  But now that she is almost seven months old she can handle some texture in her foods if I don't make it as smooth.

Some of the baby foods that she has been eating are things such as bananas, pears, peaches, sweet potatoes, and butternut squash.  So I went to Packer Produce to get some veggies for us (it is a great farmers market!) and they have a a 1/2 off table in the back.  On the table was a butternut squash with a tinny brown spot on the end.  I paid about $1.50 for it and brought it home to cook it up for Alle bug.

First I peeled it with a vegetable peeler and sliced it long ways and then in about one inch cubes.  There are several different ways you can cook a butternut squash but I choose to put the pieces on the stove to steam.

I let them cook for about 10 minutes until they were soft with a fork.  Then I put them in my food processor. I had to add a little bit of the liquid from my steamer pot to get them to puree properly but you don't want them to be too runny if you are going to freeze them.  I used my ice cube trays and spooned my squash into them.

I was able to fill two ice cube trays!  I put them into our deep freezer and when they were solid I popped them out and but them into a freezer bag with a description and the date.

I have already used three servings and still have a full bag in the freezer.  To thaw you can either put it in the refrigerator for few hours, leave some in a container on the counter for about an hour, or add a small amount of water and microwave if you need to use it immediately (you will have to be careful of hot spots and let it cool before serving).  Once thawed you can adjust the consistency by adding water or adding some baby oatmeal or rice cereal to thicken.

A jar of stage 2 baby food is about $.89 depending on what brand you buy.  I made the entire baggie of squash in about 20 minutes and $1.50.  I think the savings are definitely worth it and I will continue to make this and other kinds of baby food as well.

I hope this encourages someone else to do this too.  Even if you only have time once or twice a month to make and freeze one batch, you will still be saving money and feel good about doing it yourself to feed your baby some healthy foods!

And by the way... She loved it!

2012 Olympic Gymnastics...

Olivia has been taking gymnastics lessons for a year and a half.  They had an end-of-the-year program where her class demonstrated what they learned this past year.  Olivia's class ages ranged from 2 years old to 4 years old.  They are all so cute doing flips, running, jumping on the trampoline, and walking on the balance beam.  Their big ending was them jumping on a trampoline then doing a jump flip.  The first few times Olivia did this trick she did a superman dive!  She finally got the hang of it and did a great job.

Watch the video below... it is super cute!