Thank You, God!

Okay, so long story short.  Everything is perfect with our little one who just also happens to be our fourth girl!  Can you believe it?!  I am so thankful for everyone's thoughts and prayers.

The Great Unknown...

Well, I have been MIA as far as my blog is concerned.  I have blog posts waiting to be written, just not inspired to do so.  We wend for our ultrasound last week and we left feeling horrible.  I felt like someone knocked the wind out of me.  The doctor was unable to see the parts of the baby's brain and referred me to a specialist.  Of course I came home and looked up what it could be.  I found the worst of the worst things and the not bad at all.  My appointment with the specialist is on Halloween of all days.  This is seriously gonna be the longest two weeks ever. 

Thanks, Steve.

Source.

Well, yesterday Steve Jobs passed away...in case you haven't heard.   I lied in bed last night thinking about Mr. Jobs.  It was mind-blowing, just how influential he was during his short time on this earth.  I started to think about my first experience with a computer.  It was, if you haven't guessed, a Apple computer.  A Mac.  My brother was and is a huge fan of Apple products.  I dare you to find a computer that he purchased that wasn't a Mac.  When he was in college he had one of these beauties pictured above.  I remembering going to his apartment and gazing at that tiny little screen.  My parents were so nervous about me handling it, but my brother insisted that I would be okay.  He let me try almost everything on it.  He insisted that my parents buy a personal computer for our home.  It was gonna be the wave of the future. 
 

My dad did eventually buy a Mac for our home.  It was also one of the earlier models.  A dinosaur compared to what is out now.  Pretty sure my phone has more memory and a faster processor than that one did.  Years later my brother convinced my dad to buy the newest and hottest PC from Apple.  The iMac.  The internet was the newest thing and once again my brother insisted that we need to hop on board.  This computer was going to make it so much easier.  So off we went and my dad bought one of these.  

Source

I LOVED that computer.  It was pretty, but it all(the whole comupter) fit inside the monitor.  It had USB ports which were quite a new concept.  That iMac sits somewhere in my garage.  Doesn't work, but it's there.
 

Years later iPods and iTouches came out.  My husband and I also jumped on that trend.  I sit and look at my iTouch and now more than ever, I am totally amazed.  It's a computer in the purest sense of the word.  It's a computer that sits in the palm of my hand.  With it I can contact old friends, store more songs than I own, hold pictures, play games, watch movies, look-up information.  It's a long, long way from that clunky thing in the first picture.  It's amazing.

My grandfather was born in 1901 and died in 1997.  In his lifetime he saw the first car and the first plane.  The first TV, the phone and computer.  Because of Steve Jobs I got to witness human innovation.  Years from now I will tell my grandkids about this beige block of plastic with a small black and white screen that started a revolution.

Pinterest Find: Bacon Wrapped Green Beans

Like many bloggers and crafters out there, Pinterest has become my new obsession.  I love pinning and browsing.  Lately, I have been trying to actually DO some of the pins I find.  When I saw this one for Bacon Wrapped Green Beans, I knew I had to try it.  It sounded simple and they look sooo pretty.  Here are my results:

Aren't they gorgeous?!  They were very tasty, too!  I am already planning on adding them to Thanksgiving and my husband was trying to figure out how he could grill them!  Bacon just makes everything better! Ha, ha, ha!

Music makes me happy!

Well, once again my sweet little blog has been placed on the back burner. We have been so busy with school starting again and trying to fall back into a schedule. I also just found out I am expecting my fourth child. With this pregnancy fatigue has hit me hard and I am having a small bout with morning sickness which I have never really experienced before.
I have several post on some ideas and crafts I have done lately all set up in my head. I got to get to it and get them all typed out. Until then I thought I would post about the concerts we have been to in the last couple of months.  It has been really awesome to get to see all of these shows.  I think this is the most shows we have ever seen in such a short time.
First, there was Katy Perry in July. She had such a great show and it was so colorful. She sang all her hits and she is so sweet and funny!

Then this month we went to see Sublime with Rome and 311. It was a great show, too. I was so excited for my husband who has been such a big fan of Sublime ever since I met him. 311 was a great addition to the show. I knew a few of their songs, but we left loving them. Especially this song, which I have made my official theme song for this past summer.

This last weekend we were blessed by my brother with tickets to an event honoring everyone who ever worked with the NASA Space Shuttle program.  It was festival style with food, drinks and ice cream.  Astronauts were on hand giving autographs.  It was so neat and my kids had a blast.  It was also the hottest day of the year!  Yikes!  We all had fun.  It was bittersweet, too.  A lot of these people have been working on shuttles for the whole 30 years.  It's gonna be a transition for them, but pray they all get to go on to bigger and better things.  The special treat of the night was a private concert from Five for Fighting, which is a one man band.  I knew a few of his songs going in, but once again left a bigger fan.  He is very talented and did his whole show with just a piano and guitar.  He opened with this song which is so beautiful.

Next month we get to go see Train and Maroon 5. I was lucky enough to win some tickets on my local radio station. I probably wouldn't have ever bought these tickets on my own despite the fact of how many of their songs I enjoy. I am really looking forward to hearing this song live.

My New Trip "Must Haves"

Here's the next of my blog installments on our vacation. What was completely unique about this trip (at least for us) is that we planned it with a few money-saving (and some time-saving)ideas. Some of the greatest things we used on our trip were these four things:

Zipper-seal bags (in three sizes), a roll of TP, a roll of paper towels and small organizational trays from the dollar store.  I will tell you why each one of these things is on my new must have list for trips.
1.  The Zipper-seal bags-  I got these at the dollar store (Didn't want to get name brands, just simple ones).  I used the larger ones for dirty, wet clothes, for larger snack bags that opened and spilled and to organize in the car (i.e. all the snacks in this bag, all the lunch meats in this one, etc.).  I also read somewhere that they are good for any upset tummies when you need somewhere to throw-up fast.  Thankfully, I didn't have to use it for that.  The snack size are great for pouring single-servings of snacks into or saving leftovers.
2.  A Roll of TP:  With little ones in the car, it's hard to get them to hold it until the next rest stop.  We keep a small bowl style potty chair (think Baby Bjorn) under our seats with a bottle of water.  We can pull over anywhere and they have enough room in the van to "go".  We use the water to rinse out the bowl.
3.  A Roll of Paper Towels:  This one is a no-brainer.  It's good for messes!  Plus, since we did not stop to eat during our drive from Texas to Florida, we ate in the car.  I had an ice chest full of cold-cuts, cut up fruit and veggies and drinks.  We didn't have a lot of spills, but the roll was there when we did.
4.  Organizational Trays from Dollar Tree (Two Trays for a Dollar):  This one by far is my favorite.  I came up with this idea because my toddler has trouble trying to hold everything she is trying to eat in the car.  Actually, we all do.  With the trays I was able to place their sandwiches, chips and veggies in and it was easy to hold on to or place on your lap.  We didn't have a single spilled meal!  You can line it with a paper towel and clean-up was so easy.  Plus they all stack neatly on to each other.

Thank You/Hostess Gift

So, we have all seen the Sand and Surf Solar Light, but I thought I would share what else we gave our hosts.  I wanted to take some stuff for the kids to enjoy.  I added a s'mores making kit (chocolate, marshmallows and graham crackers), telescoping camping forks to roast the marshmallows on, glow bracelets, hair bows and a t-shirt for their daughter, some Lighting McQueen cups for the boys and of course the solar light.  I put it all in a cute tote from the dollar section at Target.

I'M BACK!!

So we are back from our week long vacation in Florida.  It was completely fabulous and everything went really well.  I have all these great blog ideas streaming through my head and hopefully I will be able to get them all down for you. 

I did however want to give you a little preview of where my cute Sand and Surf Solar light went.  Check out it's new home.  Not too shabby, huh?

Please, seriously someone stop me!

OMGosh! I can not believe it...our vacation is here. Tomorrow Today, we leave for Florida. As I said before, first we will be spending time with some old friends who have graciously opened-up their home to us. We hope to spend a lot of time on the beach and fishing. It's gonna be great. I picture it much like this Travelocity commercial which cracks me up every time it comes on.  I think it's her laugh/scream that always does it for me...I tend to laugh like that.

After a few days on the beach we will then travel to Orlando.  Then we drop the news on them and whisk them into the park.  Seriously, someone has to stop me from watching this commercial over and over.  I still sob every time it comes on.

So, I won't be blogging much next week, but I am sure I will when I get back.  Everyone have have a great week!

Next on TMZ(The Mommy Zone)!

Some days (I know all moms have had them), my kids drive me bonkers.  On those days I picture them the night before holding a meeting.  The meeting looks much like the TV version of TMZ.  The youngest is standing before their chalk/dry erase board taking notes like Harvey.  The other two are sitting in the little tykes chairs pitching ideas on how to make me crazy.  They pitch the ideas and the one-year old nods, chuckles while she sips from her sippy cup instead of Harvey's insulated coffee mug.  That idea totally amuses me. 

"Sand and Surf" Solar Light

Well, our Florida/Surprise Disney vacation is fast approaching.  For the first part of our trip we will be visiting some old friends of ours and their children who live on the west coast of Florida.  We will be staying there for a few days to enjoy the sand, surf and sun.  I have been making a little gift bag of goodies to take them as a small token of our thanks for letting us stay there.  One of the items I am adding is this cute little solar lamp to place outside for some ambiance lighting.

Isn't cute?!  I almost don't want to give it away.

So here's is what I did to make this "beach in a jar".  First, I went and got these one of those cute patriotic solar light stakes from Wal-Mart.  It is smaller than most solar lights and it's only $1.50!  I then went to my local Dollar Tree and found small, but wide-mouthed jar that had a clear glass lid, a bottle of crafting sand, a basket of shells and the decorative blue stones.

I chose picked those pretty blue stones because they reminded me of the ocean.

I then add some shells to the bottom of the jar.  I tried to stand some up against the glass so you could see them.  I also added one on the bottom to kinda hold my solar light in place (in this case I only had to remove the "pole" and stake part of the solar light, leaving only the clear housing and the actual light).  I had to measure to make sure my light fit standing up in the jar.

The large upside down shell acted as a stand for the light.  You could hot glue it to the bottom of the jar and to the light.

I then put the light in place and while holding it, started to pour sand all around the light as evenly as possible.

I just love that I found sand at the dollar store!

Next was the cool looking stones that surrounded the actual light part of the solar light.  It's such a pretty color of stone....just like Florida waters.

Next I added some more shells on top, making sure not to cover the solar panel.  Next, I sealed up the jar and made sure the solar panel was close-up to the top so it can charge-up during the day.

Ta-da!  Project done.  I might add a cute little ribbon or tag or not.  It will be a great addition to some cute soft lighting at night on a balcony.  The best part is that it looks like the coast...a great reminder of summer all year round!

Look at how cool the light looks under the stones!

UPDATE 7/24: Check out this cutie's new home!










Homemaker in Heels

Organize and Decorate Everything

Making Memories

When I got married the priest that married us said that no matter how much you planned, something will go wrong or not quite as planned.  He said that as long as we,the couple, and he was there to marry us, then nothing else mattered.  Not the flowers, the music nor missing relatives.  He also said that things not going as planned sometimes made the best memories (more on that in a bit).
As I mentioned before, this last weekend my niece got married in the Texas Hill Country.  The backdrop was very picturesque.  However, when I saw my brother and sister-in-law(who was crying) come down the aisle, I started to cry sob.  I think I was just thinking that one day I would be the mother-of-the-bride and would have to see my daughter get married.  Either way, the waterworks began and the more I tried to stifle my sobs, the more they got louder.  After the ceremony my family poked fun at my sobbing.  It was quite funny in retrospect.
Anyway, I thought I would share some of my favorite pictures that I took that afternoon.
Now, going back to making memories part.  My niece's flower girl was so cute in her little dress. However, about 15 minutes into the ceremony she decided that she was tired.  She sat down and then ended up laying down in the grass.  It was a nice day...don't blame her at all!

So cute.

My nephew (the bride's cousin) then did a not-so-traditional reading.  He explained how at almost every wedding someone reads the same passage.  (Come on, we all know it..."Love is patient. Love is kind", etc.)  He then said that he would not be reading that passage and went on to read a different one.  His change-up was good and I think it made people pay attention just a bit more. 

The sun was setting behind him and made a great silhouette.

My niece and her now husband got married under this pretty gazebo.  The pink-ish salmon color really popped against the hill country behind them.

Pretty color, huh?

My husband and I decided to buy the newlyweds the most absurdly huge and heavy gift.  My family suggested that we not take the gift to the wedding and just drop it off at her apartment.  However, we thought it would be soooo much funnier if we just took it to the reception.  What wasn't funny was trying to wrap that sucker in the parking lot of the hotel, at 3PM, in triple digit weather.  Sadly, I was told that the paper tore on the way to her apartment.  Oh, well.

Took three rolls of 15 sq. foot paper!

Here's to a life full of blessings for the new couple!

On a side note...I forgot to take the sign I made my niece.  I will just give it to her next time I see her.

 UPDATE 7/12/11:  The happy couple came home from their honeymoon and opened their gifts.  Turns out someone did get to enjoy the torture I endured wrapping.

Look, there is my wrapping paper!

My Squeeky Clean Post!

So, I ran into this great blog over at Fresh Cut just the other day.  The wheels in my head started spinning and I did the math.  My middle child has eczema and I use a detergent I buy at a club store.  The price for the big bottle is really good, but this worked out to be a better deal, is a greener product AND will not make my kid's eczema flare up.  Sounded like a win, win, win.

So I got to work and bought all of the items I needed. 

Fresh Cut used the pink Zote and I went with the white one.  I just liked the way it smelled.

I then cut-up my soap.  I ended cutting it up into about six slices and then quartering the slices.

I then grated my soap using my cheese grater since I didn't have a box grater or a larger food processor.

I thought it looked like coconut...which instantly made me crave something with coconut.

Since I needed actual granules of soap for the recipe, I then put the coconut soap into my little food processor.  Please excuse my food processor...it's old and needs a bath.

Oh, the irony.  I made such a mess making something to get stuff clean.

After I sent all the soap through the food processor, I mixed it all up in an air tight container.  I have already washed a couple of loads.  The towels came out pretty soft and do not have a scent.

If you want a scent in your soap the Fresh Cut blog post has suggestions and you can also refer to it for more instructions and tips.

Task #1: Established Family Sign

Well, I am not crossing off things from my list like I would like to.  My time is running out seeing as I am now on day 8.  Blah!  But, I am getting some some stuff done.  The first, semi-completed task is a family sign for my niece's upcoming wedding.  She is getting married this weekend and I wanted to make her a sign for their new life as a couple.  I had intended to have it simply read, "The Soto Family, Est. July 2, 2011".  However, a cute play on math had me go another direction.  See the thing is, she is marrying a guy with the same last name.  Yup, lucky her....no annoying paperwork to fill-out!  The other thing is she is a math teacher.  So, I took the sign in another direction and decided to have it read, "(soto)^2=7.2/2011".  Okay, okay, I know...it's not a real mathematical equation and it's probably makes no sense at all mathematically, but I thought it would be a cute way to use their wedding date.

I started out with wood from an old IKEA bed we used to have.  When we moved two years ago, the bed frame broke and we saved these slats of wood from the bed base.  I just knew we would use them eventually for something.  They were connected with a fabric cord/ribbon that I just cut off.  (I left the small piece of cord between the two staples to use as part of my ribbon hanger...keep reading!)

Next, I painted this turquoise as my first coat of paint (Got all of the paints at Micheal's.  Pretty inexpensive, too).  My origianl intent was to paint it this color then black over that.  I was then going to sand the edges to distress it.  However, the sander my mom let me borrow was way to powerful and I didn't like the it came out on my practice sign.  So, I ended up using another technique (keep reading).

 Once the turquoise was dry, it was time for the black paint.  I didn't worry too much about getting all the corners perfectly painted since I was going to distress the edges.

 I did a little practicing on a sign for our family before I did my niece's.  I didn't like the first flat paint brush I used on this sign and ended up using a smaller pointy one that gave me better lines.

For a distressed look, I used a small paint brush (not a art brush, but one you would use to paint house trim) and ever so lightly dipped it in some turquoise paint.  I brushed it over the edges very lightly and then wiped away with a paper towel.

I found some great ribbon with thin wire in the edges at the Micheal's dollar ribbon bin (Score!).  It was actually the reason I chose turquoise as my highlighting color.  I attached the ribbon to the back using the staples and cord that were left over from the wood's bed days.  After I cut off the cord it left a piece of cord that made a loop in between two staples, so it worked out great.  You could also use picture frame wall hanging hardware.

Here is the finished product.

From another angle.  The 7.2/2011 was the most "mathematical" way I could think of writing the date without it looking too much like a date.  

 

I figure the sign could be a good conversation starter too. I thought it came out good.  I really hope they like it!  May God bless their marriage and can't wait til' they multiply! (Silly pun, but I couldn't help it!)

10 Things in 10 Days!

Well, as previously mentioned, I am addicted to blogs.  I love seeing other people's creativity and just overall wealth of information.  Well, while clicking away at one blog link after another I came upon this post from Cha Cha at Sit, Relax and Read.  She recently inherited a yearly blog post called "10 Things in 10 Days" from another blog owner.  Her challenge is to come up with 20 tasks and to do at least 10 of those in 10 days.  They need to be things that you keep putting off or never get around to doing.  They could be easy or hard as you wanted, but the point is to get-up and FINALLY get to at least 10 of them.  I decided to really commit to this one.  I am such a procrastinator and there are quite a few things I need to get to this summer, especially before our big secret family vacation.  So, here is my list to share.  At the half way point I will post an update.  Here we go!!

My 20 Things for 10 Tasks in 10 Days
1. Make "Established" Family Signs for my niece's wedding present and one for us.
2. Go to the church where we held our Girl Scout meetings, drop off key and pick-up our stuff.
3. Set-up Build-A-Bear Party
4. Donate Hotel Toiletries to Church
5. Refinish Table
6. Sign-up for Baptism classes
7. Take magazines and plastic bags to recycle.
8. What are in those boxes in the corner of the dining room?
9. Clean out hall closet.
10. Clean out baby's closet.
11. Put away clothes that don't fit baby.
12. Find charger for baby monitor.
13. Clean out under bar.
14. Clean out China cabinet.
15. Clean out clutter basket in kitchen.
16. Take cookies to USO.
17. Mail book log for oldest to receive free t-shirt.
18. Make an itinerary for Florida Trip and find out about discounts.
19. Make packing list for trip.
20. Clean out and organize my own closet.

Blog Crack!

Okay, not the most creative of titles, but it's true!  Ha!  Here's the thing with being a writer of a blog (at least for me)...it is so hard for me to post because I get so caught up in other people's blogs.  Michelle over at Faith, Trust and a Little Pixie Dust has been having linky parties every Friday which has only helped feed my addiction of blogs.  This last Friday Lauren at West Furniture Revival posted a couple of her awesome restored furniture.  Check out her beauty, Miss Helix!

The lovely Miss Helix!

Miss Helix and her wonderful furniture siblings have inspired me!  I have this cute little antique pedestal table that I got a garage sale for $5 a couple of months ago. I have decided that I want to give it a makeover now that I have been so inspired by all of Lauren's awesome furniture.  Once I do it I will post pics!  Wish me luck!

Shhh, it's a surprise!

So, my husband and I are brewing up quite a plan.  We were inspired by the new Disney Parks commercials showing actual videos of families surprising their kids with trips to Disney.  It turned out that we had some hotel points and card card points and decided to use them towards a vacation in Florida which ends in Orlando.  Our kids do not know where we are ending up and just think we are going to visit friends.  My eldest even asked if we could go to Disney World, but I explained that we couldn't because it was expensive and on the other side of the state.  She was sad, but understood.  I can't wait to see their faces!

p.s. This commercial that I posted is my favorite.  I cry every single time I see it.  As cliche as it sounds, they do grow-up too fast.  We wanted to go to Disney while their imaginations are still so big.

Franklin's Flying Circus

This last spring break we went to visit some family in Brownsville, Tx, my hometown.  During our visit, the Brownsville Air Fiesta was going on.  We had drove-by and admired the planes that flew over us.  We went back to my mother-in-law's home (which is about 2 miles from the airport) and about 45 minutes later we heard the sirens.  Then more sirens and then more.  We knew something had happened.  It wasn't long before my friend's status updates from the air show let us know exactly what happened.  A husband and wife wing-walking team's plane had crash landed after the engine failed.  Amanda Franklin, who was the actual wing walker (her husband Kyle is the pilot) had managed in their quick decent to get off of the planes wings and into the plane.  However, upon impact flames consumed the front end of the plane where Amanda sat.  Her husband tried to get her out and he was burned badly on his arms.  Amanda suffered burns over more than 70% of her body and was air lifted to a burn unit in San Antonio.  She fought through multiple infections and surgeries.  Sadly, last week her husband made what is hands down one of the toughest decisions anyone has to make.  He put her on comfort care and she passed away last Friday.  I started to follow this couple of Facebook after the accident.  Kyle wrote such touching updates about his wife.  It is quite a love story.  I just wanted to share their story because the RGV Chapter of the Confederate Air Force (the organization that puts Air Fiesta together) will be holding a great fundraiser for the Franklin's this weekend.  They have multiple items in a silent auction.  The best part is you can bid online through their Facebook page HERE.  Make sure and "like" their page for more details.

Thankful Thursday....OUCH!

Well, sometimes you should take your own advice.  If you read the post below this one I talked about how important it is to take care of your skin.  Well, apparently that advice went in one ear and out the other.   Today I was helping out at my daughter's school.  They spent most of the day outside enjoying awesome water activities and huge water slides.  I was in the shade for the most part, but I did take few minutes to walk around to check on some stuff and even told some kids to put on a shirt or some more sunscreen.  Well, that is enough to get a small sunburn on my shoulders.  Thankfully, it is small and thankfully I bought some aloe vera gel this past weekend.  I had placed it in the fridge and have been enjoying that awesomeness since I got home.

Don't Fry Day!

Okay, tomorrow, Friday, May 26th is Don't Fry Day.  In honor of it and of the upcoming holiday weekend, I am going to post two websites.  Please take care of your skin! 

Click here for an article about Don't Fry Day


Click here for EWG's Site on Sunscreens-  Please check this site out.  You might think you are getting the best sunscreen, but there is a lot of chemicals in some of them that harm you skin. 

Foodie Friday: "Chinese" Chicken

Well, I have a new recipe to share today!! Yay! Actually, it's a pretty easy recipe that I have used for years. It's simple and cooks up fairly quick. I was originally inspired by this recipe from Campbell's called, Sweet and Tangy Chicken.  Over the years however, I have kinda tinkered with the recipe and made a few changes.

  First of all, this time I used about two pounds of chicken breast tenderloins (use less chicken if you want it to be more saucy). They are smaller kid friendly pieces and they cook-up faster. I didn't get to defrost all the way so my pieces were still stuck together. Always, make sure you cook your food to the correct internal temperature to avoid any possibility of bacteria being left behind. If you don't own a food thermometer, it's a great investment. Click here to find out more about safe internal cooking temperatures.
  After the chicken was fully-cooked and browned, I added the ingredients (water, tomato soup, brown sugar, vinegar). However, instead of one tablespoon of brown sugar and vinegar, I had three of each. I know, I know. But it does taste yummy and not too over powering. Also, instead of white vinegar I use red wine vinegar. Just adds that little something. Feel free to tinker with if you like one or three tablespoons of each.  Everyone has different tastes. Once it's all mixed in, I lower the temperature and let it simmer to help reduce and thicken the sauce. 
  When it's done I usually serve with a boxed rice mix from the store that has an Asian flavor to it. You can add a frozen Oriental-inspired veggie mix to the rice too.  My family calls it Chinese Chicken because the sauce almost has the same sweet and tangy flavor as sweet and sour chicken.  If you wanted to make it even more like Sweet N' Sour chicken you could add some green bell pepper, onion and pineapple to the chicken towards the end while the sauce is simmering.

1 tablespoon butter

2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast tenderloins

1 can (10 3/4 ounces)Condensed Tomato Soup

1/4 cup water

1-3 tablespoon packed brown sugar

1-3 tablespoon red wine vinegar

• Heat the butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the chicken and cook for 10 minutes or until well browned.
• Stir the soup, water, brown sugar and vinegar in the skillet and heat to a boil.  Reduce the heat to low.  Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.  

ENJOY!