Daylight Savings With Kids

This new daylight savings is killing me! I'm pretty used to it now, except for the mornings. Man, I just cannot get my butt into gear as early as I used to. I guess the trick is just to make myself do it so my body fully adjusts. But, I'm still resisting! Ha ha

We did something fun this year on our last night of it getting dark early. We played flashlight hide and seek! It was SO fun and our kids had a blast! Oh, and we had lots of fun too. We invited my sister over with our nephew and teamed up in pairs with an adult in each group to be in charge of the flashlight. Then we ventured outside.


I had Carter and Baby Zachary on my team and we had lots of fun when someone would shine their flashlight in our direction yet still didn't see us! It definitely was cause for LOTS of giggles! The last hiding spot we had, we had flashlights shining in our direction multiple times but we still were too sneaky! Finally, fussing from an unhappy baby gave away our location ;)



It will have to be something we do camping during the summer or something because we had a great time! Definitely something to look forward to on the difficult "spring forward" transition!

Ipod Arm Band

After I had my cute princess, I started running to lose weight, and I started running again after our last little munchkin was born. But to get me through those long miles I HAVE to listen to my music. And I don't know about you, but this is when I realized the serious lack of pockets on workout pants! I have nowhere to put my ipod except tucked in with the "twins" upstairs, and that becomes much too dark & sweaty for my poor ipod. So, I created an armband for myself out of some scrap fabric I had. I am not claiming to have invented this, I've seen them before. But if you have moderate sewing skills, this is how I made one!

I first laid out my ipod on a double layer of the fabric I wanted to use. I then cut with about 3/4" allowances on the sides and then measured 2X the length of the ipod plus approximately 1.5 inches. You will also need to cut an additional set of rectangles about 2.5 inches wide. For the length, measure the circumference of your biceps and subtract 2 inches. Now you are ready for sewing!

Start by putting your two larger rectangles, the pocket, right side together and sew all the way around the edge, leaving a one inch gap for turning. (I used 3/8" seam allowance). Then turn it right side out and press. Do the same with your band pieces.

Then do a top stitch 1/4" all the way around to give a nice uniform look and seal the openings.

Next, pin your arm band piece to the pocket piece starting about 1.5" from the top, centered in the middle. Sew a square with an X through it in the middle (not all the way to the edges of the pocket) to secure it to your "pocket" piece.

Now take your ipod and fold it in the "pocket" by folding your rectangle in half over it. Take two pins and mark on either side of where the headphones plug in at the bottom fold. Remove your ipod, open the fold and sew a button hole where you marked. Use a seam ripper to gently open the hole.

Next, you need a wide piece of ribbon, about two inches in length and secure it to the back, above where you just sewed the arm band. Now you will sew on your velcro. One piece to the end of your ribbon, the other to the "front" part of your pocket rectangle (the same side as the arm band, but the opposite end). This is also where I attached a bow, because I'm girly like that. But do as you wish!

Now you will actually create the pocket by folding your piece in half and sewing the sides closed. Be sure to leave your arm band free!

And for the finishing touch, take a 2" piece of elastic and attach it at either end of your arm band and VOILA! You are set for running in style with your music!

I hope that made sense! I love my arm band and if you decide to make one, I'm sure you'll love it too! Happy sewing!

My current love affair...

It's with Greek yogurt! Ha ha... love affair may sound a little extreme, but let me tell you, I'm obsessed. My sister will keel over when she reads this because she first urged me to try it. When I first tried it, I bought a HUGE Costco size tub thinking, "My sister loves it, it will taste awesome with my granola and fruit." Boy was I mistaken. It was so disgusting, I wasted the entire tub! Thinking back on that now, I could almost shed a tear for all that awesomeness I wasted!

Now, let me explain how my mind got changed. First of all, I used it all wrong when I first tried it (at least for my taste buds). I bought the plain yogurt, which is super grody if you're taking a huge spoonful expecting it to be the sweet yogurt you typically eat with breakfast. (Which is what I did). The plain kind I would compare to sour cream. I have now discovered how awesome this is, though. I buy the fat-free plain greek yogurt and have found so many uses for it. We have literally used it in place of sour cream on tacos, I use it to make my own virtually fat free ranch and I made a new tasty recipe earlier today.

Creamy Guacamole

1 avocado, peeled and pitted
2 Tbsp plain non-fat greek yogurt
seasoned salt to taste

Mush these babies together with a fork, serve it up with some tortilla chips and voila! A healthy after school snack for the kiddos (and me).

And the VANILLA flavored tastes awesome with cut up fruit and granola (my favorite breakfast). My sweet baby even loves it! (I mix his with pureed fruit). And it still has a rich, creamy texture while being fat free. Plus it serves up more protein and less sugar! LOVE IT!

About Me

Here I am, starting a new blog! Why, you may ask? My family blog was fabulous and all, but let's be honest, I haven't posted in FOREVER and I wanted to create a more "public" blog. This lady over here (me) has way too many crazy ideas floating around in this head and I need a spot to organize them! So, here I am...

For starters, I am a mom of 3 and married to my very best friend, whom I try to devote as much of my spare time to as possible (and with 3 little monkeys hanging on me all day, our time is often cut short, dang it!). So, with that being said, with every OTHER spare second I can possibly find, I really enjoy crafting, exercising, cooking, DIY home projects and spending time with friends. WHEW! You know that phrase, "I Don't Know How She Does It?" Well, I don't know how she does it either. I'm still trying to figure that out. But in the mean time, I am somehow able to eventually find time for my hobbies. My laundry pile may look like Mt. Everest while I'm sewing my little monkeys matching outfits, but, hey, who's complaining? My kids seem oblivious and hubby is understanding of my need for crafting, so I roll with it!

What my life all boils down to is making good memories, trying to make good choices for me and my family, and just sitting back and enjoying the ride. So, I hope that I can keep this going and share my ideas and experiences with others! Thanks for reading!