Inflatable Fun

We took the girls to Inflatable Wonderland last week so they could burn some energy! They had a great time and it worked...they were worn out!

Shimmer Sister and Inbox Dollars

I received an out of town order on the Shimmer Sister blog this weekend and realized that I needed to add a "better" way for customers to order and pay. So, I have added a checkout button through PayPal. This should help expedite the ordering process! Thank you to everyone who shared the link with friends and family! I really appreciate it. 

I noticed that a couple of people have signed up for Inbox Dollars as well. It is anonymous. All I see is that I have referred people. So, THANK YOU! I failed to mention in my last post about Inbox Dollars that you get $5.00 just for signing up! Then you will want to refer friends and family as well so you can begin earning referral $$$. Once you have $30.00 in your account, you can request your first payment. It takes about 30 days to process your first payment and you must remain in good standing during those 30 days, (i.e. keep reading paid emails) but after you've received your first payment, you become a Gold Member and get checks the Wednesday after you request them. You also get additional offers and bonuses. So sign up through the banner on this blog! Isn't it always fun to get a little check in the mail?

Farewell

Today has been a crazy day in entertainment news. This morning I got an e-mail from US Weekly reporting that Farrah Fawcett had died. I have been checking my e-mails and news websites daily since Farrah's Story aired last month. I knew she was in bad shape and just wanted to follow her last days. I think her fight against cancer was courageous and heroic. Her documentary was an inspiration for cancer survivors and their families everywhere.  I am sad for Ryan O'Neal, Redmond, and her entire family. As they have said all over the news, she was an "angel" on earth and now an angel in Heaven. 

After hearing about Farrah, I took a nap and woke up to the news that Michael Jackson had suffered a heart attack. Not too long after that, the news came that Michael had passed. 

I know Michael Jackson has been controversial in past years, but I don't think his greatness as a musician can be argued. I will never forget getting my first MJ album when I was in elementary school. It was a record (I am old) and I danced my heart out to Thriller! His music and appearance changed so much over the years, not always for the better... but as news of his death circulated I couldn't think of anything but:

I'm Starting With The Man In
The Mirror
I'm Asking Him To Change
His Ways
And No Message Could Have
Been Any Clearer
If You Wanna Make The World
A Better Place
Take A Look At Yourself, And
Then Make A Change

Michael Jackson was certainly not a role model. He had his share of demons, but he also had a great message through his music. He was, as the news has said over and over again tonight, an American Icon. 

Amanda's New Favorite Place to Hang Out

The high chair practically swallows Amanda up, but she is tired of sitting in the swing. She squeals and kicks in the swing. In the high chair, she will sit quietly for long periods of time and just "chillax." She is not eating rice cereal yet, but she is getting some good practice sitting there for when she starts the solids! 

A Relaxed Little Girl and Dad's Day Treats

Amanda was completely relaxed while watching the news with me a few nights ago! She even fell asleep with her hands behind her head. Andy (the cat) was babysitting!

AND...

Liv and I made Adam baked goods for Father's Day. The original plan was to make only cupcakes, but our oven is on the fritz and it took almost 45 minutes on 375 degrees to get 1 dozen, so I let the other dozen cook "just enough" and we made cake balls! So good to eat, but so BAD on the mid-section! Luckily, Elissa, Steve, and Reagan got here just in time to share in the calories!

Liv did the sprinkles!

YUMMY!

Happy Father's Day To The 2 Best Dad's I Know!

Click here to view these pictures larger

My First Order and Inbox Dollars

I am excited to report that I received my VERY FIRST order from the Shimmer Sister blog spot today! I will be doing a diaper cake and a couple of college football onesie outfits. I am so excited! Keep 'em coming! 

I also wanted to note my side bar banner for Inbox Dollars. I don't remember how I heard about Inbox Dollars, but I joined around Christmas and received my first $30.00 check June 1st. I just requested my second check today for over $50.00. Inbox Dollars sends you a couple of e-mails a day to read (mainly ads) and you get paid between .3 and .10 cents for each one read. That is okay, but the real way to earn $$$ is to go through Inbox Dollars when you shop online. I always look to see if the store I am going to is on Inbox Dollars, if so you just link to that store from the Inbox Dollars site and earn a percentage back on your purchase. Ebay, Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Overstock, and 1800FLOWERS are a few of my favorites. With Inbox Dollars, I get paid back when I shop there! Incentive! 

Even if you don't shop online much, I recommend you join! Just go to my side bar and click on the link to get started. You won't regret it! 

Thank you to everyone who shared the Shimmer Sister link or told someone about it! I appreciate it!!!

Introducing Shimmer Sister

As I mentioned in a post several weeks ago, I am trying to put together a blog spot with some of my projects. I would love to have people share it by passing it on to friends. Being that I am a SAHM (stay-at-home-mom) now, I feel that I need a little "business" project to keep me sane! Not to keep my busy, I am busy...it's my sanity!! HAHA! So, here is what I have so far on Shimmer Sister.

***Check it out people!!! I figured out how to add the link! YAY! 

Abby's Party at Chuck E Cheese

I took Olivia to her friend Abby's birthday party on Sunday. The party was at Chuck E Cheese. Olivia talked about the party all week and was so excited to get there until she remembered:



Yes folks, my daughter is deathly afraid of the large talking mouse. She didn't want to play games, said she was going to vomit, and begged me to leave early. She finally calmed down a bit and finally played some games and rode some rides. When it was time for Chuck E. to come out and wish Abby a happy birthday, you would have thought Chuck E. was actually:


Chuckie!

She started whimpering, hid behind me in a booth, and held onto my hand so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Luckily Chuck E. only stays out of his "mouse house" for about 5 minutes. Once he was gone, she was free to have a good time.

Makeover

My blog got a little makeover tonight! I think La La's Land was feeling a little drab and now she is FAB!!! Check out The Lindsey's (still can't get those links to work) blog too! They had a little makeover tonight as well.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

We did!

Daddy/Daughter Date

Adam took Olivia to the Round Rock Express baseball game on Friday night since she has been such a good girl all week. I decided that she needed a "fashionable" outfit to wear on her date so we went to Target and Hobby Lobby to put together the perfect Express Fan attire! Here is what we came up with:

Their team colors are red, white, and blue!




Of course, if you or anyone you know needs any type of "fan" outfit...let me know!

**This took about 1 hour shopping prep time and 30-45 minutes total time to make! I can whip something up very quickly!

Tornados and Enchiladas

Last night we had several tornado's touch down in the Georgetown, Round Rock, Cedar Park, and Austin areas. Adam studied meteorology in school and loves to watch the weather. I completely trust him when he says we do or don't need to take shelter in a closet. At about 8:45-ish, the news person said a tornado had been spotted just a few miles from where we live at a major intersection. Between the lightening and thunder and Olivia FREAKING out, we decided to get in the closet. I took some pictures, but Adam threatened me about putting his photo on the blog or on Face Book, so these are just of the girls.




Luckily, there was no tornado at our house and no major damage. We got quite a bit of hail and our patio is covered in leaves, but nothing more than that. Thank Goodness!

*****

On another note, I have to share the most amazing recipe. We had an big tub of mushrooms that we needed to use and Adam suggested Spinach and Mushroom Enchiladas. I went through quite a few recipes on the internet until I came across the one that I am about to share. It is from RecipeBazaar.com, but I so wish it was from me! These are so wonderful and probably better than any that I have had in a restaurant. If you try these, you will not be disappointed. ***I substituted the white wine with vinegar and used low fat sour cream and low fat margarine and these were still excellent!



Ingredients
12 corn tortillas or flour tortillas
1 1/2 cups Monterrey jack cheese, shredded
1 tablespoon butter
1 small onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb mushroom, chopped
1/4 cup white wine
12 ounces fresh spinach, washed, drained and coarsely chopped

SAUCE
1/4 cup lime juice or wine
3/4 cup water
season salt, to taste (reduced to 1 t from 1 T and it was still considered salty please adjust to your taste or leave out a) (optional)
1 tablespoon chicken bouillon granule
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped, use the amount that suits your taste
1 cup sour cream

Directions
1. Filling: Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat and saute onions, garlic and mushrooms until soft and liquid has evaporated, about 5 to 7 minutes.
2. Remove half of the mushroom mixture and set aside, reserving for the sauce.
3. Add wine and cook for 2 minutes more.
4. Add spinach and cook until spinach is wilted and liquid has evaporated. Taste and add salt or season salt to taste IF NEEDED.
5. Sauce: In a small sauce pan combine water, wine/juice, seasoned salt, chicken bouillon and garlic powder. Stir to dissolve before adding reserved mushroom mixture, sour cream and cilantro. Reduce heat to simmer until sauce just begins to thicken.
6. Preheat oven to 350°F
7. Wrap tortillas in paper towels and heat in microwave for a minute or so just to soften them.
8. Divide filling evenly among the warm tortillas, fill and roll and place them seam side down in a greased 9x13 pan.
9. Pour sauce over enchiladas, top with shredded cheese and bake 10-15 minutes- just until cheese is melted- browned if you like- and the entire dish has heated through.

**If you decide to try these, leave me a comment and let me know what you thought. Enjoy!

Ugh!

I have been sick all week. I have officially been without a voice (or hoarse) for 1 week. Olivia's daycare was closed this week so she has been home with me all week (she is usually at school 2 full days a week) and I know she must be bored! We have found Sprout on TV on Demand. I figured that if she saw any more Dora, Diego, or Sponge Bob that her brain was going to melt. We have made 2 short trips to H-E-B and 1 trip to Sonic. Other than that, we have been grounded. I let her set up her tent in our bedroom to try and make being "laid up" a little more fun, but that too has become B-O-R-I-N-G! So, my question is...does anyone have any ideas for things to do at home with your little people when you are sick?

First T-ball Game

Along with all of the other firsts of last weekend, Amanda also went to her first T-ball game. My brother (her uncle), Pierce played on Saturday. They don't keep score but it was fun to watch.

Meeting Grandma "Grape"

Olivia misunderstood the name Grandma Great and calls my grandma, Grandma Grape. Amanda got to meet Grandma Grape for the first time this past weekend. They immediately loved one another!






On another note:

We saw a commercial today for some herbal diet pill that claims to work "miracles." Olivia looked over at me and said, "Mommy, you need to order those pills so you can lose weight!" Ugh! I have so many paybacks coming at me!

Meeting Cousin Dane

Amanda met her cousin Dane for the first time over this past weekend. We actually had a lot of first meetings, so this week will probably be a week of "firsts" posts. Dane's daddy is my cousin, Justin. Justin and I were born 3 days apart and Amanda and Dane were born 9 days apart. Both are our second children. Here are the pics of Amanda meeting Dane. I think she likes him!





By the way:

These pics were taken within the first minute or so of their meeting. We put them on the couch together and Amanda immediately reached out for him and smiled! So sweet!

And, I don't know why every pic has red eye. I remove it on my computer and then when I post to blogger...IT'S BACK! Any ideas or suggestions for fixing this?

My Lil' Hunters...Or So "Someone" Wishes!

I can't remember if I've mentioned it on the blog before, but I am working on little projects (mainly tutu's) and putting together a project blog to maybe get some business and sell a few of my creations. I haven't posted my project pictures on this blog because I was trying to get a good sampling of products for the new blog and then plan to share the new blog all at once, but...

I finished a project tonight that I just have to share. Adam's idea...I will give credit where credit is due! (And if you are my friend on Facebook too, I am sorry that you are seeing these twice.) Anyway, these are the "camo" tutu's and my little "never gonna be" hunters look so cute in them!

Grown Up Party

We went to our friend Shanna's 31st birthday party on Saturday night. The girls stayed with a babysitter. It was nice to have some mommy/daddy time!

Wildlife Park

We took the girls to the Natural Bridge Wildlife Park last week. Adam and I have had so much fun touring animal parks over the past few years. I don't know why it is, but having a wild animal walk up to your car and eat out of your hand makes me laugh so hard. The ostrichs and emus have no shame. We had an ostrich pecking at our windshield in an attempt to get some more snacks. It was funny and somewhat scary all at once. Below is a small sampling of our photos, the zebras were my favorite!