Silhoutte Giveaway!!

http://www.bystephanielynn.com/


Check out her amazing blog with some awesome crafts!! I am totally jealous of her playroom and her craft room!! But this week she is nice enough to be hosting a giveaway for a Silhouette, something I have been drooling over!!

NNNNNNoooOOOOooo {as Annaliese says snow}

So last Friday we were blessed with yet another big snow ;-) And as many of you know Annaliese HATES snow. (Hate is a strong word, but I mean it very much) She really doesn't like to be in or close to the snow! Of course, Josh loves the snow and wants to play in it. So this is what you have to do to be able to help build a snowman:

Then when you do try to put her in the snow you get this:

Then she yells "holdju dada holdju":

It's cute and funny! (Is it bad that I find my child screaming wildly funny?)

Just in case your wondering (I;m sure you really care), *We* (read Josh) got the snowman up and this what he looks like, We named him Stewart Oliver Schader {SOS}

(Future boy name??)LOL JK:

Thankfully it's all almost melted now but wait, "oh no! what did Garrett Lewis (the weatherman) say? More snow possible this week? NNNNNNoooOOOOooo!!!!!"

More Shirts...

I've been making these shirts and I think they are so fun! I mad another for me, one for Annaliese, and couple for some friends :-) If you would like one, just let me know size, color, and any specific things you would "on" them! Kids shirts $10 Adults $15

My faves so far:

Project Time!

I needed to use my pent up creative energy lately. I have so many ideas running around in my head. So Sunday afternoon while putting up Christmas decorations, I ran across our can of chalkboard paint. I had been wanting to put up a chalkboard somewhere in our house ever since we moved in. We had one in our old house and loved it. So I decided to do it on the inside of our pantry door. It took 3 coats but it looks great and Annaliese has a new place to draw instead of on the front of the pantry door with a blue crayon (Ahem).

Prayer

Dear Lord,
My baby girl is sick. I don't know exactly what's wrong with her, but I know you do. Please touch her little body. Take away the fever and the cough. You see how bad she feels and I know that you will take care of her. Thank You Lord for watching over us everyday.
Amen

Just felt like I should put that prayer out there today. Annaliese has had a little cough since Friday afternoon. Then Saturday she started getting a low fever. Today (Sunday) she has been running a pretty high fever almost all day.

As a parent it is THE hardest thing I've ever gone through to see my little baby so sick. (So sick she didn't want to eat cottage cheese OR chips & salsa) And if you know Annaliese she does not ever turn down those two things.

I sometimes feel like it's gonna cause me to have a nervous breakdown with worrying over her. But I just keep remembering that God has His hand on her, and is taking care of her, even when I don't exactly know how to. Today the song "Great & Mighty is our God" keeps coming to mind, and I know that my God is Great and Mighty and can do all things. Even take care of my little girl.

Catching up

Haven't blogged since September... WOW!!! I want to try and blog at least once a week this year. I love reading other people's blogs but I'm horrible at keeping up with my own. Anyways, short run through of the last 3 months:

October:

For my birthday hubby bought me cake decorating classes. A major love of mine. If you only knew how much I watched Food network. These are just a few of my faves that I've done.





Annaliese also went Trick or Treating for the first time. She's the one in all the pink fluff... Can you find her?



November:

We had Thanksgiving in the deer woods as always. And did nothing but eat and ride four wheelers :-)




December:

This was a crazy month full of Christmas parties and family, but I loved every minute of it! Except for that it snowed and I couldn't go home Christmas day :-(



So that is just a brief look into what has been going on lately. I will be better at keeping up with this.... maybe :-0 LOL

Baby Shoes Giveaway!!

Go over to passionatehomemaking.com and enter to win some ADORABLE Bugaloo baby shoes! They are hand made leather shoes.
Even if you don't win check out the shoes because at $15 a pair they are too cute to pass up! You can't even buy Payless shoes for that much!
Shoes on the market comparable to these cost upwards from $30 - $50.
Beleive me, I know I have such a hard time finding shoes for Annaliese and have checked out every childrens shoe store I can find!
So got check them out and you might just win!

Cornstarch Bay-Bay

I just wish you could have seen the absolute mess!! There was cornstarch EVERYWHERE!! Luckily, I was already planning on washing her cover on her changing pad.

Those of you who don't understand why she has cornstarch. We use it for diaper rashes. It is all natural and cheap! Plus it works like 10 times better than any store bought cream. I promise I used to buy "Butt Paste", one of the most expensive creams and it just didn't cut it.

House Renovations

(Annaliese and Caddie watching us lay tile)


We had a place in our kitchen floor that was getting soft and not to mention the UG-LAY laminate that was in our kitchen, so we redid our floor. We fixed the spot and layed some beautiful tile! Now we are carrying it on into the office. Here are some before pics and some of the work being done.
(Fixing the hole... Se the ugly laminate)

(Dad & I laying the tile)

(Finished Product)(More After)

Cinnamon Cucumbers

Yes I said cinnamon cucumbers. I know what your thinking... "What in the world?" I thought the same thing too when my sister brought some to me last summer. But I promise when you try them you will be amazed. They taste like cinnamon candy! Our garden has been producing lots of cucumbers this year so even after making a big jug of pickles I still had left overs. Therefore, I canned 4 pint jars of these.

Here is the recipe, I however cut it in half since I did not have 7 lbs of cucumbers.

Check out my sister's blogs for more money saving and canning tips:
http://tangibleresults4u.blogspot.com/ & http://canninandjammin.blogspot.com/

Red Cinnamon Sticks
7 pounds peeled, seeded cucumbers in strips

1 cup lime

1 gallon water

1 cup vinegar

1 bottle red food coloring

1 tablespoon alum

Enough water to cover pickles

3 cups vinegar

2 cups water

10 cups granulated sugar

8 to 10 ounce package of Red Hots cinnamon candies

8 sticks cinnamon

Soak cucumbers, lime and 1 gallon water for 24 hours.

Wash cucumbers. Soak in ice water for 3 hours.

Mix 1 cup vinegar, food coloring, alum and enough water to cover pickles. Simmer in this mixture 2 hours. Pour off liquid from cucumbers and throw away.

Boil 3 cups vinegar, 2 cups water, sugar, candies and cinnamon. Pour over cucumbers. Let stand 24 hours. Drain liquid and bring to boil.

Put cucumbers into jars with 1 to 2 sticks cinnamon in each jar. Pour hot liquid over jars leaving 1/2 inch head space. wipe rims, lids and rings on, then place in boil bath for 15 minutes.

Meatless Monday - Black Bean Burger

Black Bean Burger

We try to at least once a week eat a meatless meal. This is healthier and saves SO much money every month! This week we had Black Bean burgers. A very easy and inexpensive recipe and I love the texture and flavor that they have!! I love them almost (ALMOST) as much as beef burgers.

• 1/2 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained, divided
• 2 teaspoons dried parsley
  
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• Salt &black pepper
• 4 hamburger rolls
  

In blender, put in onion, garlic, 1 can beans, parsley, egg, red pepper flakes, and pulse to combine. Put into a large bowl and add the other can of beans and bread crumbs, salt & pepper, and mix until well combined.

Divide into patties and cook on hot oiled grill or pan over meduim low heat and cook about 5 minutes on each side or until they are heated all the way through. We buy fresh hamburger buns from our local grocer. And top just like you would any other burger with your favorite toppings. Yummy!!

Annaliese's Favorite Toy is....

Her Swing!!

She has always loved to swing at the park or at friend's houses so for her birthday we bought her a little swing. We put it up about 3 weeks ago and we have been enjoying it often since then! In the mornings when it is still cool me and her will go out there and sit. I will sit and read while pushing her. Several times she has fallen asleep while swinging. When we go to take her out of the seat she will grab the ropes and yell "NONONONONO" It is so cute!!

mmmm... Fresh Baked Bread

You can smell that scent around the Schader Household often. We have stopped buying store breads. They are filled with preservatives to have a longer shelf life. Plus they cost anywhere from $2.50- $5.00 a loaf. We started making our own bread in the bread machine to save money and not eat as much "pre-prepared" foods. Of course Homemade bread tastes SO much better than store bought as well.

Try making your own bread, It doesn't take long to throw some ingredients into a bread machine and turn it on. A couple of hours later you have warm bread. Our machine even has a timer setting so I can put the ingredients in in the morning and set it to start 2 hours before dinner is ready so if I'm not home it will start itself.

I just follow the recipe that came in the booklet of my breadmachine, plus I add 4 tsp. of Wheat Gluten to the recipe to make my bread softer and not as heavy and dense.

Smooth as a Baby's Bottom

As with any baby you will always have the inevitable diaper rash. We were buying expensive tubes of name brand baby rash ointment that were $4.00 plus a little tube. And they weren't always working or were taking several days to clear up my baby's bottom. Well, we were at my mom's house and had forgotten the rash ointment and Annaliese was getting a bad rash. My sister recommended Cornstarch. We used it then and by the next morning her rash was all gone!! We have never used anything since. It works fast and is not a bunch of chemicals, it's an natural diaper rash fix. Plus it's cheaper at 2 boxes for $3.00 its a steal. I keep a little bowl of it on the changing table at all times.

What's for breakfast?

I was at my mother's house a few weeks ago and looking through her magazines. I found a recipe for Swedish Pancakes. I made a copy and forgot about it. Well, I found it a week later and decided to try them. We fell in love with them. I like them because they are quick and don't have much sugar in them. They are not normal pancakes they are thin and light and you don't put syrup on them you put your favorite jam or jelly. Here is the recipe:

2 cups milk
4 eggs
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
dash of vanilla

Combine in blender
Heat a lightly greased 8 in nonstick skillet
Pour 1/4 cup of batter into the center of the skillet
Lift and tilt pan to evenly coat the bottom
Cook until the top appears dry
Turn and cook 15-20 seconds longer

Fold pancakes into quarters and serve with your favorite Jam, Jelly, or Preserves on top and Enjoy :-)

Continually working on the house

Sorry this was the best "BEFORE" pic I had

This past week I decided to do a little project during the day while Josh was at work. We have a built in cabinet in our hallway that we used for towels, linens and to hide all that stuff you don't know where to put (you know you have that place in your house :-) hehe) Well, it had not yet been painted from when we moved in so I finally got around to painting it. It was hard work but fun. However, during the painting I decided the bottom cabinet would be a good toy nook, as Annaliese's toys were in the floor behind the couch. So I left the doors off of it and made her little place to put her toys.

Are you on the Up&Up on diapers??

As a mom I am always on the search for good cheap diapers. I think every mom understands this. Well, as much as I would like to cloth diaper it was just not possible to do with Annaliese, maybe with the next one. Well, for a long while we were able to use diapers that were given to us as shower gifts and/or buy diapers with gift cards given as shower gifts. The last several months however we have had to buy our own. Even after using coupons and searching out the cheapest stores we were spending $30-$40 a month on diapers, and diapers come out of our grocery budget.

We were in target this past month because they were having a sale on a name brand that I had a coupon for, however, my husband happened to look over at the Target Brand "Up&UP" diapers and for a box of 96 size 3 diapers it is $13.49. This is around $4.00 cheaper than the next leading brand. So, we bought a small bag to try. I didn't wanna end up with a box of bad leaky diapers. I found that they are AWESOME!!!!

They work just as well as any leading brand I have ever used and I have used them all. I also like that they don't have cartoon characters on them. They have a cute dot print.

The pictures show a Target size 3 diaper compared to a Huggies size 4 (some that were gifts but she isn't in size 4 yet). As you can see, they are made basically the same. They are the same thickness and of basically the same quality.

I just wanted to share this so even if you don't have little ones in diapers you can pass this on to others you may now. It has been a great savings tip for our family!!

1st Birthday Fun

Playing her Piano on her birthdayOpening Gifts

GOOD CAKE!!

Birthday "Smash" Cake I made for her

Here around our house we have recently been running around like crazy with the 1st birthday fun!! Annaliese turned one on July 6th. We had her party at the church on the 5th. She had alot of fun, received a bunch of VERY nice gifts (Thank You Everyone!), and ate a big cake :-) I thought it turned out very nice and though she won't remember it, it was a very big deal. Anyways, All in All it was a great day. The next day (on her birthday) we went to the doctor for her check up. She is a very tall and skinny baby girl! She only weighed 18 lbs. 3 oz., but she is a very healthy happy girl. The doctor was impressed for her vocabulary at 1 year old. She says and recognizes mama, dada, Amy, Josh (our names), dog, duck, ball, bye bye, nay nay (nursing), and others that I can't think of at the moment ;-) She also sings the Bible Book Bop song. We are very excited to have had 1 year with our wonderful little girl who is the light in our life.