Vote for me @ Top Mommy Blogs - Mom Blog Directory

Friday, December 23, 2011

Coming and Going

I’m sure y’all are wondering on what is going to be moved over to the new blog and what isn’t. So today I am going to give an idea of what is switching over.

Of course the following are moving with me:
pregnancytag
scrapbookingtag
kiddostag

And I’ll be introducing a new category:
diariestag

Saturday Snapshots will not be moving over. Saturdays have just gotten too hectic to guarantee a post. However, I will be doing this:
wordlesstag

I’ll still be posting other things like rants, holiday recaps, and cooking stuff, but they aren’t getting their own fancy category tag (these listed can all be easily found under the “Found on the Blog” section of my new blog). I’m actually not too sure if I will post as many recipes anymore though. At the beginning of the year we’ll be starting a 6 week meal plan that we will rotate through the year, and most of the recipes on it aren’t of my own making.

I’ll be back later with a little on the whys of the move.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

*coming soon*

coming soon

ooooh….
someone will be moving to a new blog.

*gasp*

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Sunday Scrapbooking (12/11)

Just one today. It never fails, I get sick – I don’t go near Photoshop. So this is a page I actually got done today.

saturdaymorningmade with Sweet Shoppe's 2011 Cookies 4 Kids Templates, Julie Billingsley's Brighten the Day, and Heather Hess' The Blockhead font

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Saturday Snapshots (12/10)

What? You think I forgot?

Pfft. I never really forget… sometimes I just don’t ever get around to posting it.

20111207-DSCN7288

And these… I didn’t forget, I’ve been battling the cold from hell all week… oh and I lost my voice too. And Bella has been battling the same hellish cold all week.

Anyway…
Here is prompt #4.

12DaysFOUR

Monday, December 5, 2011

Decorating the tree

Rule number one for Christmas tree decorating…

If you are big and pregnant – don’t sit on the floor and help your kids decorate the tree if your husband is taking pictures, you’ll end up mostly just looking fat in all of them.

Rule number two for Christmas tree decorating…

Even if they were just washed, if someone is taking pictures of the tree decorating for your December Daily pages, don’t wear a pair of pajama bottoms you wore once that week already.

20111204-DSCN7197


20111204-DSCN7223 

12DaysTHREEday3

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Sunday Scrapbooking (12/4)

Well, let’s just get right to it!

pleaseremember-SS1129-TRISHmade for the November 29th Speed Scrap over at The Lilypad; made with Things That Matter Most a Lilypad Collab and the Candy Corn preset from Sabrina Dupre's Halloween Treats Presets

surprisesnowfall-SOSN1130-TRISHmade with Garland Templates v3 by Amy Martin (50% off SOSN 11/30), Peace On Earth by CD Muckosky (50% off SOSN 11/30), and Star On Top Collab by Amy Martin and One Little Bird

…and now… my list for yesterday’s prompt:

day2

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Saturday Snapshots (12/3)

20111202-DSCN7115

I meant to post yesterday, but for once I actually had plans and a life outside of the kids, so I never got a chance to. Sorry. lol



I’ll have mine for you tomorrow. lol I’ve gotten to #8 and am so beyond stuck.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

December 1st

I absolutely can not believe that it is already December. There should be some way of not getting shocked every year when this month starts, but it never fails, the start of this month always takes me completely unaware. I mean seriously, how is another year almost gone?? I swear it seems like just a few days ago we were having our 10 PM New Year launch with the kids to welcome in 2011. Just whoa.

On another note… look who showed up at my house last night:
20111201-DSCN7091

Yup, that creepy elf is back for another year. I do not see how some parents get super creative with him every single blessed night, we have trouble just finding somewhere new to hide him every night for the kids. This year we are going a little different and he’ll be bringing the kids part of the Nativity story each night. I figure this way we’re teaching the kiddos while they have some fun. Unfortunately, we were all running so late this morning that we completely forgot to have the boys look for him before leaving for school. Ooops.

12Daysof12
This month I decided to try something a little different. I’m sharing these prompts over on the Digital Scrapbooking board on Justmommies, and over on The Lilypad forums too, so I figured hey, I’m already thinking them up, sharing them, and having to actually hunt the stuff up for them, I might as well share on the blog too! What this basically is an every other day prompt that will carry through until Christmas – though not all will be Christmas themed, some will be year end wrap up types too. There are twelve prompts total, and each one asks for a list of twelve.12DaysONE
day1

day1b

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Just keep calm…

close your eyes, turn around, and run far, far away from the scale.

20111130-DSCN7081

I know this weight was done at the end of the day – which as my exercise fanatic husband will tell you is a no-no – BUT that doesn’t change the fact that I know it’s not that far off, meaning…

I have already gained more pounds than I am weeks pregnant.

I don’t want to hear any “Oh, I weigh that much not pregnant!” or similar. The actual number isn’t the focus here, the amount of weight that I have gained is.

I went into this pregnancy with only one thing that I was dead set on; not gaining 40 pounds again like I did when pregnant with Bella. At the rate I’m going now, I’m not going to have to worry about gaining 40 pounds, I’m going to have to worry about gaining more than 40 pounds.

Ugh, ugh, ugh.

I think I could go cry now.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

We got snow yesterday.

And you didn’t.

You can blame it on global warming if you like. That’s what I’m blaming.

20111128-DSCN7026
20111128-DSCN7033
20111128-DSCN7052

Monday, November 28, 2011

Getting ready for baby… 4 months in advance.

DSCN9864I am not a very neat or organized person. I’ve never even really wanted to be one. My mom…. she is very neat and organized. Like obsessively so. (Though she will deny it – trust me – I’m the one who had to live with her.) My penchant for “piles-o-crap” (as she calls them) drives her crazy. If I can’t find a spot for something, or I plan to get to it at a later time, I organize it into a pile with similar stuff. Like in the hall in front of our bedrooms… there is a pile-o-crap for every room next to the door. There are also piles on either end of my couch…. and in the kitchen under the coat rack… under the coffee table (though this one is really John’s fault)… and lets not even touch on my room at this time. (And John would probably say that I should add in that my bookcases are just really tall piles-o-crap…)

I also really, really, really hate to fold clothes. I put it off until there is no more sitting room on my couch. My couch is big enough to handle me, the boys, and Belly all at one time – more often than not we’re lucky to have room for just two of us.

So see…. I’m not a messy person… I’m really not. I pick up and clean every day. But all these piles-o-crap and the mountain of laundry kind of ruin the effects of cleaning. 

Wondering what this has to do with getting ready for Mason?

Ever since I got pregnant my energy has taken a hit. I mean it does every time, but this time it’s been even harder. No, as some will point out, it’s not because I’m home all day with a 2 1/2 year old. Ryan was about the same age when I was pregnant with Belly, and as I tell everyone, if I can keep up with toddler-Ryan while pregnant, toddler-Belly should be no problem. I think, that it’s partially because we have so much to do now. There are now two older kids to get to activities – and to get through homework. I cook more. There’s like double the laundry. More commitments to the boys’ school. I acted as my mom’s chauffer for most of this pregnancy as well. Plus, John actually expects more out of me now since I am a stay-at-home mom, and no longer a full-time college student.

Oh, and a 2 1/2 year old and a large idiot dog. (That’s said with love by the way…)

And another oh, we also have these very distracting things known as cable and internet at our house too. It used to be I could only get online while I was at school… now I can get on whenever I want.

What all this comes down to is that the condition of the inside of my house isn’t exactly, um, nice at the moment. I consider it a good day if Belly and I don’t spend the day on the couch watching Netflix, HGTV, or Nick Jr.

This is where my obsessively organized mother steps in.

My mother has offered to come in on her days off work and to help me get my house into a manageable level of clean. Right now, I look around, see all I need to do, and I just give up before I even start. It’s just so much and no one in the house has been willing to help. And I know if I don’t do something now, before Mason is born, it’s only going to get worse and worse after he’s born. So, she’s going to help me deep clean, de-clutter, and organize. In return I have to come up with a house-work schedule and stick to it.

And it all starts this week.

I’m kind of scared. 

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Sunday Scrapbooking (11/27)

Preparing for Thanksgiving and The Lilypad’s release of their Document Your December (TLP’s version of December Daily/25 Days of Christmas) products has made this past week beyond crazy. Oh and lets not forget to add in stuff from Amy, Karah, and Kaye that they were releasing. Oh and the boys… we can not forget that the boys were home all week. (Trust me I tried, forgetting was impossible.) Surprisingly… I actually got pages done.

First let’s talk Document Your December. I’ve tried this before… shared it on here before… and failed with glorious results. I figured that the stress of building a page at the end of every day was just too much. Yeah, I tried doing templates, I tried sticking with just one kit. I tried editing my pictures and coming up with the journaling the night of, and scrapping the next day. None of these worked for me. I always ended up getting so behind and just giving up. This year I decided to build up some really simple 8.5x11 templates and then using 3-4 different sets of products and building myself quickpages (completely premade pages that have blank spots for photos and journaling) with them. I still haven’t finished them all, just the first two sets.

Here’s my cover for it, and two sets of example pages.0cover
made with No Peeking Papers, Pocket Stuffers, and Little Pockets No. 3 by Valorie Wibbens; Tape and Stitches Christmas by Fruit Loop Sally, and Daily Party Flags by Amy Martin

set2fullpreviewTRISH
made with A Christmas Collab by Michelle Martin and Fruit Loop Sally, December Doovers by Kaye Winiecki, Word Bits: Clustered by Tickled Pink, Daily Party Flags by Amy Martin, and Winter Wonderland by Michelle Martin

set1fullpreviewTRISH
made with No Peeking Papers, Pocket Stuffers, and Little Pockets No. 3 by Valorie Wibbens; Tape and Stitches Christmas by Fruit Loop Sally, and Roundabouts by Amy Martin

Now on to the other pages from this week…

nuthinbutbad-FF1125-TRISH
made with December Doovers and Dear Santa by Kaye Winiecki; and Sketches: Spacey Mega Goodies Bundle by Amy Martin

christmas2007-FF1125-TRISH
made with Star On Top by Amy Martin and One Little Bird, and Tag-a-long Element Pack by Karah Fredricks

And lastly… TLP’s 3Ks have released the most adorable collab ever. It’s just perfect for those Elf on the Shelf pictures you might be planning to take, but even if you don’t rock pictures of the creepy little dude, it’s still perfectly cute for pages about if your kiddo is on the naughty or nice list.

ourelf-FF1125_TRISH
made with Santa's Little Helper by Karah Fredricks, Kate Hadfield, and Kaye Winiecki; and The Stuffed Font Box by Heather Hess

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Today I am thankful for…

Today I am thankful for my ever-growing family.

20111124-DSCN6994

Even if most of them are on the crazy side.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Oh yeah… THIS is why I hate being pregnant.

54254370480515358_5LlZRdLj_c None of my kids wrote that.

Though with Zach’s habit of writing me angry notes I’m really surprised he hasn’t written me a similar one yet.

That note is from here. I found it on Pinterest and it seemed pretty dang appropriate so I figured I needed it today too.

Over the past few days I have been reminded why I don’t like getting all pregnified and stuff. Yeah… there’s the whole puking, exhaustion, migraines, and pains… but now I remember those aren’t on the top of the “Why I Hate Being Pregnant” list.

This would be why I tend to do stupid things when pregnant, for example, dumping John when pregnant with Zach – that was definitely caused by this current situation. Oh and yelling and cussing at my art theory professor in college… that was caused by this too.

It’s these stupid hormones.

I am just not built to handle all these crazy hormones that go through me. I turn into a monster that resembles Trish. I yell… I yell a lot. Oh and scream too. And cuss even more than normal (which is already a ton). And that filter that doesn’t work 100% of the time anyway, you know the one in my brain that says “DON’T SAY THIS OUT LOUD!” yeah it’s just gone. Factor in some bipolar-esque mood swings, and crying that starts over being out of something like eggs and you get me. I hate feeling like this. I’m a happy person dang it!

Now lets add in the boys who are home from school for Thanksgiving for the entire freaking week.

Oh and all those new chores and rules John implemented for said boys. You know, those ones that they don’t want to do, and that John isn’t here to enforce.

Lets also have Zach channel his inner prepubescent 12 year old girl angst and anger.

And we can’t forget Miss I’m-testing-you-and-your-boundaries Belly.

I hate school breaks.

And I hate pregnancy hormones too.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Crock-pot Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

20111121-DSCN0269 copy

Tonight I promise you easy… easy like a sunshiney day easy.
((you know… I’ve never really understood that phrase… but I digress…))

Crock-Pot Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
serves: um… at least 6 lol
cook time: 6 hours total

Ingredients: 

4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts 2 Cans Cream of Chicken Soup
2 1/2 Cups Chicken Broth 1 Can Mixed Veggies
Noodles (amount/type of your choosing) 1 1/2 Cups Water
2 Tbsp Thyme 1 Tbsp Parsley

Directions:
     1. In an at least 4.5 Qt crock-pot mix in the two cans of cream of chicken soup with one and a half cups of the chicken broth and the spices. Stick in the four whole uncooked breasts. Let cook for about four hours on high.

     2. Remove chicken from crock-pot and roughly cut it up. You don’t have to be all fancy like.

     3. Before replacing the chicken add in your water and and the rest of the chicken broth. Mix it up well. Add your noodles in too. And you can put that chicken back in now as well.

     4. Cook on high for 30 minutes (or until noodles are al dente). Then turn your heat to low. Let cook for an additional hour and a half, adding maybe a 1/4 cup water if it seems needed.

      5. About 30 minutes before serving add in your undrained can of mixed veggies.

Voila!

Easy and yummy and perfect for rainy, foggy days.

Sunday Scrapbooking (11/20)

I have actually gotten a TON ((like loads)) of scrapbooking done, but it’s almost all December Daily base pages…. so you don’t get to see those yet. lol

Here are the few you actually DO get to see.

christmascard2012made with: Sketches: Spacey Mega Bundle by Amy Martin, Beary Christmas Digital Stamp by Kaye Winiecki, Christmas Is Here by Kitty Designs
For information on how to digitally color in stamps and doodles see this thread in The Lilypad Forums

autumnrainmade with: It Is Paint v2 by Amy Martin, My Yesterday {Kit} by FruitLoop Sally, various Finishing Touches brushes by Karah Fredricks (photo mask), and the Candy Corn Preset from Lightroom Presets : Halloween Treats by Sabrina Dupre

lookgoodmade with: Sketches: Spacey Mega Bundle by Amy Martin and Nutter by Kaye Winiecki

And doesn’t that picture of Ryan in the last page just scream Mario to you? lol

Saturday Snapshots (11/19)

Yeah, yeah, I know I’m late.

327011_10150935992555046_895285045_21532318_16515143_o copy

Fourth place out of his whole den baby.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Yesterday and Today

Yesterday I spend a good chunk of my time working on this:

masonframe

It’s going to hang in a frame over one end of Mason’s crib. I love how it turned out, but I won’t lie, it took a nice long while to get it all looking exactly the way I wanted.

Today I’ve been trying to keep up with Belly, do some very minimal cleaning, and I had to get out in a freaking storm to go to my mom’s, pick up a permission form for my sister, and then take it to her school. ((Ugh I hate driving in the rain.)) Since my little sister is as nitpicky about my clothes as Zach is ((they both think I have no sense at all on dressing myself presentably)) I decided to let Belly dress herself for the visit to the school. ((lol)) She picked out black leggings with thin metallic stripes, a hot pink tutu, a blue skateboarding shirt, and an old dinosaur sweater of Ryan’s. I love how Belly never lets me down when it comes to outrageous outfits.

20111115-DSCN0246

She also needed to play in the rain some too.

20111115-DSCN0260

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Sunday Scrapbooking (11/13)

It’s a good thing I didn’t post this last week since I didn’t really do any actual scrapbooking this week…

 made with Sketches: Spacey v11 by Amy Martin, Miles by Kitty Chen, Magical Splatter 3 by Kitty Chen, also made with the following alphas by CD Muckosky: Markerific (Peek-A-Boo) and Teeny Type Too (I feel you)

made with 7:00 PM Paper Pack by Amy Wolff, Hodgity Podgity Mega Bundle 2 by Amy Martin, Expecting by Valorie Wibbens, You're Moody by Lauren Reid; alphas by CD Muckosky: Markerific (Mason Spencer) and Free Spirit (boy). font: LD Telegram

 made for the November 2 Speed Scrap @ The Lily Pad (free template by Amy Martin as part of the speed scrap) made with: A Hopping Halloween Collab (The Lily Pad+Oscraps)
(witch feet from Valorie Wibbens' Hocus Pocus)

Vote for me @ Top Mommy Blogs - Mom Blog Directory