NONIE AND PACA'S HOUSE.

We're here! We're in Pennsylvania! We drove into Williamsport last night and we're still trying to figure out where we're going to live... ahhh the hotel life- not as fun as you'd think. ha.ha. I am very grateful for the company Dave is working for. They are really taking care of us (or trying to). There have been a few kinks, but overall I don't have much to complain about. Ethum and Avre did way better than I thought they would (yay for that!). The poor little guys both have a cold now. womp wooomp.

On the drive up, the boys and I stayed at my in-laws house, in Oklahoma City, for two days while Dave finished packing our house in Houston. Here's a few pretty pictures I managed to shoot while we were there...

-Amanda

A PEEK - The Boys Room.

Hey everyone! Yesterday, I drove to Oklahoma City all by myself with the littles in tow. It actually wasn't too bad, but an eight hour drive is never fun.  Dave will be here tomorrow. He had to stay back to finish packing up the house. He has worked so hard... I feel so bad that he had to do it alone. Friday, we'll begin our journey to Pennsylvania. Day one, our destination will be St. Louis, Missouri, day two will be Columbus, Ohio and day three will be Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Monday, we'll be finding out were exactly we'll be moving. My husband's company has rented a fully furnished home for us, but I have yet to see what it looks like, nor have I seen the town. This will be interesting...
Anywho, I told you all I would share some photos of the boys room, and even though we are no longer living there, here they are...

I'm too frazzled to go into a lot of detail about the rooms at this point, but I hope enjoyed the peek!

-Amanda

FIG + OLIVE TAPENADE. // (and the winner is...)

My friend, Abi, and I have recently started a little pen pal recipe swap. This is the first recipe she sent and I just had to let you guys in on the link so here it is. I followed the recipe exactly, except I left off the walnuts due to a certain nut hater around here. I really didn't have a special occasion to make it for so I had a little more than we could eat. I sent a good chunk of it on my in-laws trip back to OKC but we still had a lot...



I have been trying to use up everything we have in the fridge and freezer before the move so I came up with this tasty spin on a BLT. I will admit that I'm pretty proud of myself for putting it together. Dave said it was the best BLT he had ever had and if you know Dave, you know he doesn't say those things lightly (not even to me). ha. ha.

( oh wonderful... I had a pretty picture of the sandwich saved here and now it is gone. go figure...)

and without further adieu, the winner of the MijuAndYou giveaway is... Faye!!!
Please email me at simplemittens AT gmail DOT com .

Thank you to everyone who participated !!!

-Amanda

ps. the winner was selected randomly using random.org.

TIDBITS.

1. the last of the etsy wrapping paper shipments.. 2. homemade sweet potato and banana baby food.

3. rides to the laundry room. 4. almost roasted veggies.  5. nom nom.

-Amanda

ps. don't forget to enter the giveaway!!!

TEA SANDWICHES TWO WAYS- A Recipe.

I have made these tea sandwiches every year for Ethum's birthday parties. My mother-in-law was teasing me because I always make a different dessert but these sandwiches always make it to the menu. I say they are fit for pretty much any occasion- especially a picnic!

Turkey-Chive Tea Sandwiches:
1 package cream cheese
1/4 chives, thinly sliced
3/4 lb sliced turkey
1 loaf 'extra thin' whole wheat bread (I used pepper ridge farm)

Using an hand held mixer, combine cream cheese and chives. Spread on two slices of bread. top with a piece or two of turkey. Serve.

Cucumber-Dill Tea Sandwiches-
1 package cream cheese
1/4 cup dill, chopped
1 1/2 cucumbers, sliced
1 loaf 'extra thin' whole wheat bread (I used pepper ridge farm)

Using a hand held mixer, combine cream cheese and dill. Spread onto two pieces of bread. Top with four slices of cucumber. Serve.


-Amanda

Don't forget to enter the giveaway !!!

VANILLA MILK- A Recipe.

Ingredients:
1 gallon organic whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
3 T. pure vanilla extract

Whisk or blend all ingredients together. Serve or keep refrigerated.
(this recipe could easily be halved.)

So easy, right? As I was planning Ethum's birthday party I was trying to come up with a fun drink. Last year, I made fresh-squeezed lemonade but I didn't feel like it quite paired with chocolate whoopie pies. Then, I thought about chocolate milk but I didn't want to mix chocolate with chocolate. It seems like every time you serve chocolate with chocolate, the sweeter one stands out and other one becomes not so tasty. Then, I remembered how much Ethum loves Horizon's vanilla milk, so I browsed a few recipes online and this is what I came up with.

-Amanda

TIDBITS.

1) birthday banner. 2) play 3) someone labeled our dresser..

4) apples and nutella 5) candid composition

-Amanda

A NON-RESOLUTION- Letting Myself Off the Hook.

Most people make New Year's resolutions and we hardly expect anyone to keep them after February 1st. Thus, I have a bit of angst with the term. Every year after Christmas is over and the decorations have been taken down, I feel a since of newness. The house looks clean and simple. I feel like I have clean slate in terms of my projects list. It feels like a fresh start, new year or not, which forces me to reflect a bit on what I would like work on.

Last year, I told myself that I was going to start saying "no" more. The previous year had left me with a pile of half finished projects and I desperately needed something to keep me on task. I decided I wasn't going to commit to everything others asked me to do. This didn't mean I was going  turn everything down, just be a little more realistic about what I'm capable of. I had started making clothing to sell on Etsy, started a bible study that I could hardly make it to with sharing a car with my husband, moved into a new house, and became pregnant with our second. In the end, I quit making clothes and quit the bible study.

After last year's reflection I feel I was pretty successful in my new goal. I didn't start any project I couldn't finish and didn't commit to anything I couldn't follow through on. It feels awesome!

Here are a few things I had to tell myself  "no" about just in this month alone!

First of all I will tell you that we will be moving across the country in about 2 1/2 weeks.. For Ethum's 3rd birthday party, next weekend, I wanted to make party hats, sew twenty or so napkins (both of which he would never know the difference, much less care that Mommy had made them herself) and I said I would not start packing until after the party. I said "NO" to all of those things and what a relief to myself! Also, I had planned to stock-up my Etsy shop with new vintage goods but instead I closed my shop until after the move. What is the deal with this self-imposed stress?? I'm so glad that I have found the value of letting myself off the hook. (the photo above is an afghan that will be in my shop this spring.)

This New Year's non-resolution is sort of an extension of last year's. I want to work on being realistic about my time. At the end of the day, I often feel that my to-do list is only half finished. I attribute this to planning far too much in one day. I need to re-evaluate my time and only plan a day's worth of work per day, which will in turn make me feel a lot better about my productivity. The other thing I want to work on is making more plans with friends. I can be pretty terrible about making the initiative. I guess this goal will take on a whole new form since we are moving to a state where I know not a soul. And the last thing is to stop worrying about the house being immaculate anytime we have a visitor- it just isn't realistic.

SO, as you are reflecting and re-evaluating your goals, be realistic.

-Amanda



Happy Weekend!

Leland Avre

Ethum Asher

How could I resist?

Happy Weekend!
-Amanda

DIY/// A Party Garland Thats Fit for a Boy



You need:

 Fabric (size depends on how much garland you want)

 Yarn

 Rotary cutter

 Rotary mat

Instructions:

Cut your fabric into strips approx. 1-2 in. x 10-12 in. (You don't need to worry about them being perfect.) Next, take one strip and fold it over the yarn as shown in photo 3. Tie a knot. Repeat in 6 in. intervals.

I'm making several garlands like this with assorted solids and prints and stringing them with crepe paper streamer. I'll share photos after Ethum's party next weekend!

I've made a tradition of making handmade decorations for each of his birthday parties.

Here's bad photo  year one + two:

felt circle garland.

      

vintage upholstery sample bunting.



-Amanda

LIFE SAVER.

                       
The past few day have been kind of crazy. Avre is teething and hasn't been wanting to nap on his own for two days now and I'm guessing its because of the discomfort he is in. I resorted to rocking him to sleep. I have resorted to this for every nap and bed time for two days and I'm now worried that if this goes on much longer, I will have ruined all my efforts at sleep training! Agh! I am a firm believer in giving my children 'the gift' of falling asleep on their own and I start this training at a very young age. I was always aloud to sleep in my parents bed when ever I wanted as a child and shared a bedroom with a sibling or two my whole life until I was married and guess what... I'm 22 and I'm afraid of the dark- still!! Some friends have given me the name an all natural teething pain reliever, so I'll be looking for that first thing tomorrow.
Needless to say, my house work (and everything else work) has been terrible with carrying around a 6 month old all day. I stopped using our baby sling when he decided he didn't like to lie down when held and haven't used it since. Last night, an image popped into my head of a woman carrying around her toddler in a sling and then a light bulb turned on- bing! I broke out the sling and adjusted it so that he could sit with his legs wrapped around me. What a life saver! Dinner still took me almost half as long but hey- we didn't have to order pizza and he didn't make a peep!

                

We purchased this sling since it was the best looking, for $30.

-Amanda

THIS WEEK...

1) Byyyye Byyye Biiiirdieee. We took the tree down a little earlier this year since we're moving in 3 weeks!

2) Invitation doodles. 3) Coffee snobs. 4) Rearranged wall art. 5) Late night crepes.

-Amanda

FISH TACOS - A Recipe.

Ingredients:
A handful each of panko, corn flour, and corn meal
2 T. flax meal
1/4 t. turmeric
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. dried lemon grass
1/2 t. dried coriander
1 t. paprika
1 1/2 t. cumin
salt + pepper
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
about 1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 tilapia fillets, cut in half, long-ways
sour cream
salsa
tortillas
cilantro, avocado, mango (optional)

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk egg and milk together in a medium bowl or pie plate. Cover bottom of skillet with vege oil and bring to medium to medium-high heat. Dip fish in egg mixture and then toss in dry mixture. Fry each side for 3-5 minutes or until golden.

To make the sauce, whisk together equal parts sour cream and salsa.

I like to set out the tortillas, fish, and topping and let everyone build their own.

In the same fashion that most of my "i basically made this up without a guide" recipes come about was the question, "why the heck would I pay 3 dollars for a tiny bag of fish fry that is probably loaded with sodium?". One day, I just threw some things in a bowl and this was the outcome (and I say its pretty good). I highly encourage you to add or subtract any ingredients that you see fit - make it your own! :)

-Amanda

ps. I realize grilled fish might seem healthier but with a nice dose a flax meal for fiber, and cancer-fighting turmeric, I just prefer fried when making them at home.

NANCY'S MAGICAL CHRISTMAS DECOR.

My mother-in-law has some pretty adorable vintage Christmas decor, and lots of it! I couldn't resist sharing more than you probably care to see some photos of it all. It's okay, I totally understand if you think I need to let go of Christmas already. But hey, its the most wonderful tiiiiiime of the year!!!

The rest of the week will be filled with "normal" posts like 'LAST WEEK', a recipe, and maybe even a DIY. Ta-Ta!
-Amanda