Furniture makeover

My good friend moved to South Africa last week and she sold a lot of her stuff to accomodate the move. I was able to buy this piece for $25.00! I had some paint in my garage and decided to give it a little change. This and a couple of other pieces have sparked quite a few changes at our home, if I ever finish I will post some more pictures.

Before:

After:

Valentine

My Valentine.

I made this shirt for him. Well, actually for me but I thought he would like it. When he saw it he couldn't stop laughing. I guess than means he liked it (?)

Part of our day:
No holiday would be complete without our menu, right?
Click here for the white pizza recipe, here for the pasta carbonara and here for the salad.

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope yours was great.

That boy of mine

He turned 9 today

Nine things I love about James :

1. He loves sports and is pretty darn good at them.

2. He loves to read and he is very smart. He has read at least 5 big chapter books since Christmas.

3. He is very sweet and kind. Several of his friend's moms have told me that he is always nice to their little brothers and sisters and includes them when he is at their houses to play.

5. He is appreciative. For example - two weeks ago I brought the 5th LIGHTNING THIEF book home from the library for him to read (simple gesture on my part). He hugged me over and over and kept saying, "Wow, thanks mom! Thank you SO much!" Made my whole week, his appreciation for that small thing.

6. He is very helpful.

7. He isn't afraid to blow me kisses in the middle of his basketball game or give me hugs in front of other people.

8. He is a great brother. When James is involved, all four kids play without conflict together for hours. He doesn't tease and he loves all of his sisters.

9. He is well behaved and responsible. His teachers, both school and church, have always told us how obedient he is. Even when all the kids are acting up together, he seems to remember the rules.

He got to design his perfect day today, so--we had cinnamon rolls for breakfast, played at the park all morning long, went to see THE LIGHTNING THIEF with a few friends, opened presents, had dinner at In-N-Out, and watched the slam dunk competition with his dad.

More Valentine's

Today we decorated cookies. Click here for my very favorite recipe, it is my mom's. Another mom in Julia's kindergarten class gave me the best tip for decorating cookies with kids. I used to dirty a million little bowls, spoons and knives so they could go to town decorating. Not any more. I bought a box of disposable pastry bags. I bought a box of 100 at the craft store (bring a half off coupon - they were priced over 20 bucks) And now when we are done there are NO dishes to wash!!! I just throw it all away.
One more thing - I saw this here and knew I had to do it. There is still plenty of time to make your own. I thought this would be a fun thing to do each year and see how they grow. Another reason I love this blog, Thanks again Lorie for the fun ideas!

Recipe Organizing

For years organizing recipes has been on my list of things to do. I decided the easiest way for me to organize them would be to start a blog and one at a time, type them up. After a while, I will have all my favorites orgainzed and easy for me to find. I thought I would tell my friends so they can have access to our family favorites.cjaneinthekitchen.blogspot.com

Valentine treats and a fun blog

What do you do when you have a lazy Sunday afternoon at home? Gather the kids, melt some chocolate and go to town. These are all easy, fun ideas I have seen all over the place. Dipped Oreos, Marshmallows and heart suckers made from two mini candy canes. I don't know who to give credit to since I see them everywhere and only have them bookmarked in my head.

My mom made these last year, I think she saw the idea here. This year I added the chocolate and a gumball cherry. These look cute in a celephane bag tied with a cute ribbon.Finally, we made our Preschool Valentines. Just take cardstock and vinyl, cut hearts, punch holes and lace ribbon through it and stuff it with candy! This was in my family fun magazine a few years ago. This was especially fun since all four of my kids like to sew and lace.

Speaking of ideas, if you don't already check out BeDifferentActNormal, you should! She posts several times daily all the cute crafts, holiday decor, recipes, etc., etc. Plus, she happens to be my brother in law's cousin and I hear she is super nice.

A good book

We had a couple of extra Books of Mormon laying around the house so we gave one to each of the twins. I never expected that it would become their most played with item. I must hear the words "Book of Mormon" twenty times a day. Every Monday they want to bring them to school for show and tell.

I did not set up any of these situations, these were all taken within a few days.

When they colored, they asked their big sis to write one on the page When they read, it is always in the pile of books:
Everytime I start the car and back out of the driveway, I look back to make sure they have their seatbelts on and without fail, they each have a Book of Mormon in their lap. One time I was unloading the car and they had positioned their three bears in the seat to read:

They showed up as I took a bath and ran on the treadmill:

It is most often the first thing they pick up in the morning:

They ask me if they can take it on every errand we run:

I think that they are so excited about it so they can teach their mom a thing or two. Thanks to them and their constant reminders, I am slowly getting better at pulling my copy out and reading it more often, Heaven knows I have some improving to do.

If you want one click here - it's free)

New Recipe Sunday, Super Bowl Style

So this is what our Super Bowl looked like:

Potato Skins - these I changed a bit.

I omitted the paprika and added seasoned salt instead.

I also cut the skins in half then in half again)

Ultimate Spicy Beef Nachos from Cooks Country

White Chocolate Carmel snack mix

Creamy Carmel Toffe Dip

All of these recipes were SO good! Our only problem today was too much food. We should have invited about 15 more people to join us. Oh well, at least my famiy is fed for the next few days!