Crazy what some paint & wall decor can do

We moved here {SEVEN} months ago & it's just crazy it's been that long already yet it feels like we have lived here forever.  Not sure how that makes sense but it does lol.  Buying a house is amazing & wonderful, stressful & frustrating but the positives totally out number the stress factors and such.  We had a lot of those in the beginning.  We are slowly making the house our home cause well money don't grow on trees and re-doing anything even just painting a room can add up.   I have personally {on my own yes just me} painted the three rooms in the house that have gotten a paint job and I just love the changed.  Our entire house is the same color {except both bathroom had wallpaper Yuck!!} granted it's better then staring at white walls all day but the brownish color can get to you after awhile. To me it's dark & makes the rooms look so much smaller.  Plus I like each room to have it's own personal character if possible. 

So the laundry room, the boys bathroom/guest bath, and my older boys room {they share} got a paint job.  Both bathrooms in the house had wallpaper which I truly disliked {my husband thought there was nothing wrong with it}, I first ripped off the wallpaper in the boys which was so simple & easy.  Thanks to the advice from a friend it was smooth sailing & I thought "why do people complain about removing wallpaper it was nothing".  Then a few months later while my husband was away for a few days with work I decided to do our bathroom which is much bigger & surprise him.  Definitely was not as simple & took me practically all day but now it sits wallpaper list waiting for us to pick a color & make it beautiful.  Yes I know I totally jinx myself with the comment of it's nothing to do.

Boys/Guest Bathroom Before & After



Apparently me thinking I took a picture of the bathroom before I ripped the wallpaper off was a bad assumption cause the only picture I have is when me & my husband came to look at houses {I promise you he is not peeing loll} the before picture is their stuff before we even got it.  They did leave the mirror which I spray painted black & we need to get a new light fixture or spray paint that also i dont like gold & there is a lot of that in the house.  The wall color looks white but it's more blue-ish in color and we got a new shower curtain & rod.  Since it's my boys bathroom but also our guest bathroom I didn't want it to scream kids .  Plus our oldest son & youngest are 5 years apart so while a cute-ish bathroom set may work for a 3 year old it's totally not as cool for an 8 year old.  For now it's just simple with some color, I made the splatter paint on a canvas for some color & when I find the right wall art for the room I'll know it.  I just wasn't sure what exactly I was looking for at the time & didn't want to waste money till I was.

 Bigger Boys Room Before & After

{Easy} Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Are so flippin amazing that you can't eat just one & you must share them with friends/neighbors otherwise your will eat them all yourself lol I laugh but I'm dead serious they are that good.  I found this recipe on {Pinterest} of course & what totally caught my attention was the ingredients or should I say the little ingredients it called for.  When being a mom to three wild hyper crazy{I mean cute & adorable} boys sometimes making time to bake {which I love to do, I could bake all day but cook.. not so much} isn't as often as I like cause I do love to bake from scratch when I can & with that comes more time needed.  So this huge shortcut is perfect.


Until last year I would never try anything pumpkin when I was a kid I just thought eat pumpkin {pie, muffin, etc} was ill gross & it stuck with me forever finally at {twenty eight} I tried a pumpkin spice muffin from Dunkin Donuts but not by choice.  They had messed up the order and when my husband got home I was like what the heck "where is my coffee cake muffin" that I was so craving.  So I was stuck with  the decision throw away a perfectly yummy looking muffin & waste the money or just try it, I did and it was AMAZING.  So flash foward a year later I look forward to fall time coming to get the pumpkin spice muffin from DD {which I did two weeks ago btw} but then I thought well maybe I could just make some & I bet the kids would like it {well secretly hoped}.  So I looked on pinterest & my eyes were fixed on a picture of some yummy muffins which said "easy pumpkin chocolate chip muffins' only THREE ingredients needed, Say what?? 3 ingredients no way.  So I got all the ingredients & baked away.  My house smelled amazing & fallish which went perfect with the cool temperatures we were having.   My boys {even our oldest who can be super picky}, the husband, and my neighbors loved them.  They taste even better the next day & the day after.  

See I used the pumpkin pie mix the first time

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins:

• 2 Spice Cake Mixes {the blog I got the recipe said the Duncan Hines Spice Cake is the best for this recipe}
• 1  30-oz can of Pumpkin
• 1  12-oz bag of Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips {I used 3/4 of the bag}

Preheat Oven to 350.  Now for the hard part, mix both cake mixes and the can of pumpkin together.  Next add chocolate chips.  Spoon mixture into lined muffin tins & fill those bad boys up.  The muffins don't rise that much so I filled mine almost full and using an icecream scooper to me works well.

Bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of one of the muffins comes out clean. 

I made 30 muffins & they taste even better the second day {my older two even took one to school as a snack} You could even freeze the extra and put them in your lunch bags in the morning or if you can't wait that long warm it up in the microwave & Enjoy.

Now don't forget to share or even make for a party cause I'm telling you everyone will be asking you how you made them and want the recipe.  :)

{we were on our way to drop these off at our friends house when i realized i never took a picture so i had my oldest run inside & grab my ipod so this was taken in my driveway lol}

**A few people said they make them as cookies, drop tablespoons on a baking sheet & bake at 300 for 18-22 minutes,  I plan on trying that next time {well any day now as I did run back to the store a few days ago & got everything I need to make another batch}

67 = Chili

This past weekend came with amazing cool temperatures {we went from 94 degree high temp to a whopping 67 degree high temp over night} and seriously I was loving every single minute of it.  We rocked hoodies with jeans & flip flops {my boys love rockin that outfit}, open the windows and the A/C didn't run once for three days straight {finger crossed it help our electric bill out some}.  Our middle son {the big 5 yr old} had his first ever soccer game on Saturday & he was so excited.  Granted it was drizzling out which had our youngest freezing even though he was bundled up.  Wanted me to hold him the entire time to cuddle but I was attempting to capture the first soccer game which made me feel torn {note to self when having more then one child at times you will feel torn between them & trying to comfort one while doing something for another isn't always stress free simple}.   Halfway through my camera battery died go figure {always have a fully charged camera battery not one that is only 25% charged cause it will not last}.  My husband wasn't able to be there since he was in a class all day long otherwise the hold me while trying to capture the game would have been stressful with other hands there to do one or the other.   

I decided that we needed to make a trip to the grocery store cause it just felt like the perfect day to make chili & let it cook all afternoon long.  So once the game was over & we went home to change into dry clothes, the boys had a snack then we were off.  We got everything we needed to cook & to bake but first we stopped at the local bakery right next store {when we lived in VA there wasn't a local bakery around beside one you may find at a grocery store which I don't consider a "bakery" I was going to say real bakery but that sounds harsh I mean yes it a bakery but the ones we grew up with in NY were an actually store that was just that a 'bakery' nothing else}.  The older two had never been there before so when I opened the door their eyes lit up, like a kid in a candy store {another thing my boys have never been into}.  After five minutes of going back & forth on what they wanted we got 3 big circle cookies with sprinkles & I decided to get two apple turnovers for me & my husband to enjoy later once the kids were in bed {which were so amazing that I am now craving for another one}.  Once we got home I started cooking the chili {I make turkey chili & its amazing, it wasn't till about 2 years ago when a really good friend told me how she cooks with ground turkey never ground beef.  That you really can't tell the difference so I tried it & in the past two years I have bought ground beef maybe 5 times total we use ground turkey for everything} & decided to make Spice Pumpkin Chocolate Chip muffins {I'll post the recipe tomorrow} which only call for 4 ingredients.  


Turkey Chili:

1 lb of turkey {browned & drained}
1/2 a green pepper {cut up}
1/4 of a onion {cut up}
1/2 can of corn {drained}
1/2 light kidney beans {drained & washed}
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
chili powder {i just sprinkle till it taste the way we like it lol}

sour cream
shredded cheddar cheese
tostitos chips {the scoops are perfect}

Brown the ground turkey & while that is cooking cut up the peppers and onions, drain & wash the kidney beans, drain the corn.   In a large pot add the peppers & onion cook on medium.  Once the ground turkey is fully cooked drain you can add that to the peppers & onions. Then add the kidney beans, corn, died tomatoes, sauce and stir it all up.  Add the chili powder {I don't measure I just shake till it's perfect}. Let it cook on low {stir here & there} till you are ready to eat {I like to let it cook for a few hours}.  When your ready to eat pour into a bowl top with cheddar cheese and sour cream {if you like} now the best part take tostitos scoops chips & scoop away {that is my boys favorite part of chili}. 
Now this is how I make chili & there are so many way to do it, things to add and not add.  I started making it 3ish years ago at first it scared me cause I'm not the best cook.  I like to say I'm a cook in training {many many years of training lol} so going out of my comfort zone to make something new freaks me out.  I used to make it with ground beef & when we made the switch 2 years ago to ground turkey it still tasted great.   But it's seriously one of the best things about fall time & it taste great as leftovers.

Baked Broccoli

I never thought to bake BROCCOLI before.  We have boiled it & my husband has been wanting to get a steamer so we can "cook it the right way" but while on pinterest I saw a recipe for baked broccoli & all the comments that followed said how amazing it was & it's the best tasting broccoli ever.  So I tried it out last week & it was A M A Z I N G.  Our two younger ones love broccoli to begin with so they kept eating it up.  I made it last night & gave it to all our boys, even my oldest {who is anti fruit/veggie kid} said it was really good & he liked the brown spots the best {the semi burnt spots} & he is so right cause those are the best parts.

So if you have never had baked broccoli it's a must try & so easy. 

• Broccoli
• Olive Oil
• Kosher Salt {I'm sure you can use regular salt but we recently became friends with kosher salt & it's what we use when we bake or grill veggies}

Set the oven to 350 & put the broccoli on a cookie sheet covered with tin foil {for easy clean up afterwards} then pour some Olive Oil {I don't measure I just pour to our liking} over the broccoli & mix it up so they are all coated then sprinkle the Kosher salt {or whatever salt} you are using & mix it up again.  Put in the oven for 20 mins and check, you want brownness on the broccoli then they are more crisp & that is wonderful.  I read others squeeze lemon juice over them once they come out of the oven but this simple way is what we love so maybe one day we'll try other variations.

{not the best picture off my ipod}

Giveaway for those with Boys

Yaya so excited normally giveaways are more geared towards girls {totally get why there is way more out there for girls} but in a house full of {THREE} boys I'm so excited about this one.  You don't just win one or two but THREE amazing prizes!!!!!   Now I have entered contest before & I never do win yet I still keep entering them.  Thinking maybe this time will be it.  LOL  {which I'm sure it won't be but still I will keep trying} 

So for those with boys I pass this along & if you win just remember who sent you the link.  :)   These shoes are flippin adorable & they are so calling my youngest name, at {3} years old he already has his own fashion sense when it comes to shoes.  The past month he has been wearing two totally different flip flops or a croc & a flip flip, when you ask him why he says "cause I like it" and out the door we go.  At church a few weeks ago I was asked if he was missing some shoes to which I replied "No he just likes to wear them like that" {& yes I do allow him to}

http://www.choozeshoes.com

So go there & enter it ends Sunday night....

http://zozobugbabyblog.com/2011/09/08/its-all-about-the-boys-giveaway-1/

Randomness

Here is {FIVE} random things in no particular order from the past week:

• I've learned that whenever I eat watermelon {which I love by the way} I burp A LOT afterwards I have no clue why & yet I still keep eating it especially for a night time snack {I try not to eat after 7pm but that doesn't always stick so having watermelon makes me feel not as guilty when I do}
• I wore my nickers inside out all night/morning today {yes I totally put them on inside out & I can't even blame being rushed by the kids since I shower at night when they are in bed lol} & finally realized it around noon, I kept wondering why my tag was sticking out of my jeans in the back, way to go genius!!!  They are still like that btw!!
• While on my nightly walk {with my neighbor-we are trying to walk to feel great (& if we lose lbs while doing it that's a bonus)} last night a nat {those tiny bugs that love to be all in your face}flew into my eye & if you would have seen it in action I'm sure it was funny.  Can I just say if you never had a nat in your eye I don't recommend it, it actually burns like a {female dog} {I never knew that then again why the heck would I know that} thankfully my neighbor is a nat removal pro & got it out in a few minutes.  Thank you again L you totally saved my walk!!!
• Apparently it's okay to smoke a cigarette outside while your newborn is in the car seat on the floor right next to you, cause that's the normal things parents do right?  I saw that while driving out of a parking lot the other day & I truly wanted to stop the car to say something.  I do judge people that smoke around children it just drives me nuts & I think it's so selfish & cruel/wrong. 
• My {THREE} year old showed me today that you can totally make a birthday cake out of the boxes & things in your shopping cart {while at target} & then sing {loudly} Happy Birthday to Mommy {even though her birthday already past} for the world to hear.  Priceless moment that is for sure :)

Yaya for September but I'll admit it's seems so different now, my older two have been in school for a few weeks now so for most it's the start of school for us it's not but it is my oldest {EIGHT} birthday next week which doesn't seem possible.  It's also the day a friend lost her husband 4 years ago in Iraq {he is a hero & so is she, we will never forget}.  So I'm excited & count down for that day, the day I became a mom/mommy/mama & my world changed forever but I'm also sad for that day to come cause it was the day her life changed forever in a way no wife should have to experience.