CLUTTER

Clutter clutter everywhere Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!! Not sure if it's the same situation in your house but I'll get the house all clean from top to bottom, everything is in it's location.  The weekend comes & goes and by Monday it's chaos all over again.  Or  last week it was four out of five of us sick for almost a week so everything really added up.  I guess it's not the everyday stuff driving me nuts today though {laundry, vacuuming, cleaning bathrooms etc} more the clutter of stuff.  Like the piles of papers/mail etc that were on our dining room table but really we don't use it as a dining room table cause we eat in the kitchen so that table is like the office table {or better known as everything that doesn't have a home paper wise just piles up there.  Come on you're telling me you don't have a place like that in your house!!  Well yesterday I was sick of it and organized it all up, tossed half of it then moved the table to the wall & set it up more as a desk till we can sell that set to actually turn our dining room into an office area.  My husband started back to college :) so I was trying to make it more cozy & less craziness.  He said it looked awesome.   Also the junk drawer please tell me you have one or two of those in your house.  We have two smaller drawers in our kitchen one tends to be more the grown up one {with phone chargers, pens, sticky note paper etc} and one is the kids {pencils, erasers, tiny little trinkets, silly bands etc} well they were both a disaster yet again so earlier today I dug at them.  What is so amazing is once I was done and re-opened them up I felt ten times better, like two simple small drawers that once were chaotic are now nicely organized.... I could breathe again.  

It's nice to know something free, sometimes stressful, may or may not be time consuming like de cluttering areas in your house cause make you feel so wonder.  Who needs shopping & spending money after all!! Wait did I just say that, well yes shopping is awesome but then I have the quilt of spending the money.

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.