Pinterest 10/28

I don't know if you have heard of Pinterest, but for me, it is one of the coolest places to find crafts, pictures and recipes. It is so much fun to look through when you want to relax for a few minutes (or hours). And you even get to see what your friends "pin" too!

I see all kinds of things on Pinterest that sparks my interest, but I selected only a few to talk about here. It is fun to share ideas and lots of pretty things.

#1: Passageway to the sea: Isle of Crete, Greece

Link to Post

I love this view. It makes the feel like the sea is a secret to be shared with others who appreciate it. There is something so majestic about the seas that is captured in this shot. It would be a beautiful place to visit one day. I'll put it on my world tour wish list. 

#2 Crock-pot Mexican Dinner: Bag of frozen chicken in the crock pot. Put the cream cheese, corn, rotel and black beans on top and let it go for 6-8 hours on low. You can shred when done or leave the chicken whole.

The Larson Lingo

This is such a delicious and easy recipe. To get the whole recipe follow the link under the photo. I am on a Mexican food kick and this is making me hungry right now. It is also great for those days you are busy, just put it all together in the morning and dinner is waiting for you when it's time to eat. How much better can it be?

#3: Math Activity

Pre-K Pages

This idea is really cool, to use dice to learn numbers. The gingerman would be pretty cool around Christmas/Winter time, but I would like to take it even a step further. I think playing bingo with the same idea would be a good way to learn numbers. There would have to be some modifications because you need more than just six numbers. But that could be as simple as using two (or three) dice or using the same numbers over and over again with the rule you can only count it once. I would have to try that to see if it would actually work like I see it in my head, but it is a the dice and marker idea is still a great one.

#4 Egg Carton Bats (And Leaf Ghosts)

Happy Clippings

In the spirit of Halloween, I've enjoyed all of the great craft ideas. This one in particular really stood out to me because it is so easy and so cute. It takes nothing for us to go through a carton of egg and, as a crafter, paint, ribbon and googly eyes are things that are always lying around. I love the ghost leaves too. The leaves are starting to fall and leaf crafts are some of my favorite. This is a new take that I haven't thought of before. There might just be leaf ghosts around this house through Christmas. Maybe then we can make leaf elves. Hmmmm.....

#5 Polka Dot Pumpkin: use a drill to make a polka dotted carved pumpkin

Strawberry Chic

I love Halloween and the idea of carving pumpkins; however, I will be the first to say that I am NO good at it. I love to scoop out all the guts, but getting through the skin to make pretty faces just gives me a headache and a sprained wrist. So this idea really appeals to me. I can use a drill fairly well and the finished product is really pretty. Won't that look lovely on our front stairs this weekend?

So there you have it. That is only a few things that are awesome in Pinterest. There are plenty more where that came from. If you need an invite let me know, it's so easy to get started. And to be honest, it is so much looking at all the wonderful ideas, who knows, you might even use a couple :)

Love Is...

Love IS patient and kind. Love is NOT jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does NOT demand its own way. It is NOT irritable, and it keeps NO record of being wronged. It does NOT rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love NEVER gives up, NEVER loses faith, IS always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages[b] and special knowledge will become useless. But LOVE will last forever! Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! But when full understanding comes, these partial things will become useless.

When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

Three things will last forever—

Faith, Hope, and Love

—and the greatest of these is LOVE.

1 Corinthians 13:4-13

Toys, Toys, Toys

It is amazing how fast kids collect toys. I don't even know how they add up so fast. Zoey has a lot of toys. The cool part is that she plays with almost all of them. Not at the same time, but every couple of weeks she naturally cycles through each toy being her favorite. When she gets new toys, they go right into the mix. So, I don't feel the need to consolidate any of her toys. And with the exception of her "baby" toys, which are already put up, she hasn't outgrown any of them either.

Zoey playing with her Little People. They are all grouped together so she
can pretend with them all. In fact, this is how she learned her animal sounds.

What this means is, I have given myself the challenge to organize her toys. *deep breath* Every house is different and every kid is different, but for us there is a particular way we (mostly meaning me the mommy) organizes the toys. I generally shy away from getting a big box to throw everything in. I don't condemn this method and I know it is a popular one, but it isn't for us. Don't get me wrong, we do have "catch all" bins, but for the most part Zoey's toys stay grouped together.

This comes up because that is what we did this morning. We cleaned and organized her toys. The past few weeks have been very busy so we have been slacking on picking up the clutter. Add that with the coming and goings of multiple children through the house and basically it means we have a mess.

It happens, I know it does, but it was starting to stress me out. We couldn't play tea party because the tea set was scattered about her room. We couldn't build with her blocks because they were strung about several buckets. I have found that she just doesn't play with toys as well when they are not grouped together. Little People just aren't as fun to play with if there are no animals to put with the farm or no people to put in the house. So I spend a great effort to help her keep her toys grouped together in their own bins. I feel like this is well worth the effort. Not only does she enjoy playing with them more and more often, but the toys also are less likely to get broken or lost.

So this morning Zoey had a blast as she helped me dump out all of her toys in the middle of the floor. We got all of our containers together to separate the different types of toys. She helped me throw all her cars into a bucket, but all of her little people in their basket and all of the blocks in their own container. And yes, that "catch all" bin got it's fill as well.

The cool part was even as we finished up she was already playing with her toys in their group. She gave all of her cars their turn to go down the ramp, we had a tea party after lunch and she even read off her deck of cards.

We even managed to get her room straightened up and she was real excited to be able to run around in it again. Most of her toys are either on one side of the living room or in her room. For the longest time, she brought toys from her room to play with in the living room, but lately that pattern flipped. Now she tends to take toys from the living room to play with by herself in her room. This has made her room more hectic than it previously was. After this morning, it is set right again.

And with the organization comes an easier way to clean up too. Zoey is getting better and better about putting things away. Granted it comes and goes, but with a little reminder she gets it. After this morning's efforts, I think she understands (at least to some extent) why keeping her toys cleaned up matters. It's simply more fun to play with a collection of things than mix and matched pieces.

The crazy part is that it didn't even take us that long to get all most of her toys together. In my opinion it is worth the effort to keep all of her toys picked up and grouped together. Besides, it is so much more fun to drag everything out and you can't do that if you are already stepping over it or have it piled in unorganized bunches.

So a morning well worth it. However, we'll see if Stephen can tell we did anything this morning by the time he gets home from work. Did I mention dragging the toys out was the most fun?

Just Because

After finding the "Getting Dressed" challenged, I realized that getting dressed is only one thing to get motivated. There are many things to do to get motivated, be joyful and make the day fun. As I explore these ideas I'm labeling them as "Live Laugh Love." It is an old quotation, but it is so true.

Zoey watching a movie on our portable DVD player..."Just Because."

Today I realize sometimes the way to make the most of a day is to do something "just because." As a stay-at-home mom, as well as in any profession, the days begin to blend together. It is easy to let your routine control you. I am in no way debating the necessity of a routine and I abide by one myself. But some times I feel most alive when I do something "Just Because." Like postpone nap time to play longer outside, go to the park after dinner, eat ice cream at snack time. These aren't things I would do everyday, but to make a day feel special sometimes all you need is to do something out of the ordinary "just because."

The older I get the more I realize life is all about the little moments. You can do all the BIG things that you want and those are always precious memories. But it is all the little moments that aren't planned, which make you feel special. With kids this is even more important. Kids thrive on routine, but those little moments you share the special snack, the extra storybook or even the unexpected adventure. Those are the moments that I remember most as a kid and I want to create those special memories for my daughter.

I try to do something to make the day special at least several times a week if not everyday. The idea goes beyond kids too. It's fun to surprise your husband/wife, a neighbor or a friend. The best part is, by making something small feel big and cheering up someone else's day, it makes me feel better about my day too. So do something "Just Because" and smile about it all day long!

Get Dressed!

I came across this challenge introduced by Sarah Mae that basically involves getting dressed everyday. I know to some, especially working folks, that the idea of not getting dressed everyday is outrageous. However, I am a stay at home mom and there are weeks where I literally do not leave my house (or at least my property) at all. Other stay at home moms, I'm sure understand...or you have it all together and I congratulate you.

I confess I do not get dressed everyday. I generally change clothes everyday, but I have a nice collection of yoga pants and t-shirts that make up the majority of my laundry. I do this for several reasons, the forefront being that I run after a toddler all day and ultimately I just want to be comfortable. I don't see anything inherently wrong with this, but I do notice after a while that I get less and less motivated to do things.

It came to a head this week actually (which means this is the perfect time to find a wake up call like this challenge.) It was yesterday, a Thursday (I could never get the hang of Thursdays), I just put Zoey down for her nap. I sat down on the couch and realized I didn't want to do anything. I didn't want to scrapbook (my current project), I didn't want to read or write, I didn't want to watch TV, heck I didn't even want to sleep. It was the strangest feeling. I literally could have sat on the couch and done nothing for Zoey's entire nap and been completely content.

For the record, I did make myself do something. I poured myself a warm cup of coffee and listened to music for a bit and then I wrote on my novel. But I also realized something...I need to do something!

So today while I'm checking facebook, I found this question..."Are you dressed right now?" Well, no, no I wasn't. I had taken a shower, but I was still wearing my trusty black yoga pants with a T-shirt and a sweatshirt (because it finally decided to become fall). I know where this is going because it is on the "Raising Homemakers" website, a wonderful site that is inspiring and filled with stay at home moms, like myself.

After that incredibly long introduction, here is the Get Dressed challenge that I found...

I needed this wake up call. But I probably won't get too involved in the challenge because I know that I don't do well with them. I do think this is a great reminder and Sarah Mae doesn't have some cool insights in her motivotionals. This last week has been rough in the motivation department, so I'm not going to be too hard on myself. Instead, I'm going to take this reminder to heart and get up, get dressed (in real clothes) and do something everyday. 

To note...Sarah Mae is also the author of the book "31 Days to Clean" which included Mary/Martha and cleaning challenges. You can find her and her beautiful inspiration at Like a Warm Cup of Coffee.

Teriyaki Sauce

This is more a reminder to myself than anything, but this is an amazing and easy Teriyaki sauce:


Joe Seppi's Teriyaki sauce

1/2 ounce shredded ginger, fresh chunked or powdered
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup peach nectar
1/4 cup pineapple juice (or just all pineapple)
1/2 cup soy sauce
Combine and fridge overnight.  Strain.  Throw meat in overnight to marinade.