I ♥ Noodles. Do You?

For the first time last night, I tried making Japanese noodles. Not from scratch. From the Asian aisle (which shares retail space with the Hispanic aisle) at the grocery store.

I made Sweet & Sour pork (with green peppers and pineapple chunks) to go along with the noodles.

I found those cute yellow lunch trays from a thrift store. They were a quarter a piece. I picked up 12. I thought they would be fun to pull out and use for our little meal. The kids didn't like the fact that they had once been used. Drama*Peeps.

I added a little salt, ginger and garlic to the noodle water and the noodles came out delish. This is definitely a meal I will be making again. Took no time at all and it was GOOD!

Time to Ban Bob?!

A few nights ago, on the way up to bed, I made a stop in the loft to chat with Alex & Nic. Nic had THAT face. And there was a purple crayon on the floor.

I sighed, loudly. (did you hear it from your neck of the woods?!)

That is my couch, peeps. And apparently there was a yellow-green crayon floating around, too. You have to admit... the kid does have some talent. Even if his brain cannot distinguish between canvas and microfiber.

That little censor up there... I am sure was completely innocent. I hope. If you feel like you can't handle the truth, cast your eyes away! Otherwise, here is the uncensored version:

Good news, he had that bad boy cleaned up and sparkling before I woke up the next morning. [Which is the order I barked as my bedroom door slammed. Best parenting moment, ever. So far.]

Dinnertime Chores [Free Printable]

As you may have heard, my dear niece, Abby, has left the coop. This means that we are down one helper in the kitchen. [Actually, with the help that Abby provided, we are down more like 2 helpers! /sigh]

I found the cutest dinnertime chores chart on ARMOMMY. I thought the idea was darling... but the page not really my style. It was soft and perfect. I am loud and imperfect. On this we can agree, right? So, I decided to make my own version.

I have plans to print it off and either put it in a 8x10 frame and set it on the kitchen counter... or laminate (ooo! aahhh!) and hang it on the fridge. Either way, dry erase markers will help me fill in the names.

I was thinking about the ways my littlest dude can help out in the kitchen. I started to think - not so much. But then, I remembered he IS five and I HAVE caught him making his own PB&Js a few times. He can totally help a madre out.

The husband helps out with the cooking on Thursdays and Fridays (his days off), so I created a space for who the hefe will be and will update it accordingly.

If all goes as planned, my plan for total house domination is well under way! One printable at a time.

P.S. I love sharing! You can download the file from here. If you'd like it customized...consider visiting Blueprints by QOTC.



P.S.S. Go visit ARMOMMY's site. It's super cute with a ton of great products and even a meal planning service!

And the Painting Continues

I added a quick first coat of Phoenix Swiss to the formal dining room last night.

Lighting was HORRIBLE, sorry about that. Only one wall in this room will have Board & Batten... and I cannot wait to get the wood cut and installed so I can get my formal dining table out of my formal living room! ;)

We are painting fools, I tell ya!

Plan B

I woke up EARLY Monday morning, before the alarm was set to go off. We were leaving for Vegas. Or so I thought.

I am not sure if it was a 24-hour bug, food poisoning or Armageddon; nevertheless, we never made our reservation to Sin City. All on account of me, Sickie McSickster.

I was so disappointed and the kids were so bummed. Nic kept asking when were going on vacation. I had to tell him that we weren’t going to Vegas, but that we would try for a day-trip to Sedona and Slide Rock. And tried we did, this time succeeding. We left Tuesday morning at 7am and made the 2.5 hour drive to artsy-fartsy, yet super beautiful Sedona. To make a long story short, I’ve provided our trip in pictures.

The above picture CRACKS me up. Not sure what they were doing, posing like that. lol...

  Uhem. Isa read the sign AFTER she picked an apple. Tsk Tsk.

All of these pictures are unedited, I simply threw them into a collage. I was feeling a bit lazy today. Especially since we've been painting the house (various rooms) since we got back from Sedona, including the night of.

This was not our first time to Sedona; we took Alex and Isabel when they were 8 and 5. We weren't sure how Nic was going to handle it, but he loved it! It's fun to think about the fact that Slide Rock has been a tourist attraction since the 30s. Think of how many people have gone down the "slide" since then.

While this wasn't a walk down the strip, we got to picnic out in the woods next to a creek - a picnic area called Banjo Bill (first few sets of pictures), and then spent the rest of the afternoon laying on the rocks and playing in the water. The sun felt SOOO good; I was toasty. Until the car ride home. I was the only idiot person to NOT change into dry clothes - "I'm dry enough!" - that with the a/c blowing at full blast for everyone else in the van, I was a Jaimesicle. The moment we pulled into the driveway, I ran upstairs and started a hot bath. And just about died when my new sunburnt parts hit the scalding water. But at least I was thawed out.

We still owe Nic a trip to the M&M Factory, but I think we all enjoyed staying a little closer to home - outside.

Now if I can just get them to agree to let me pick out their clothes for future trips, so that we somewhat match?!?! -- that would be great.

Nic's Room: Take 2

Oh lordy - he did it AGAIN. Maybe we call him Britney Jr? Nic cannot make up his mind about his room (who can blame him, though? When you're five, everything is cool!).

So I decided to take matters into my own hands. And after watching an episode of Junk Gypsies on HGTV, I was inspired by their Boy Scout room.

I want Nic to be a boy scout - in all definitions of the term. He is so curious, loves everything having to do with the outdoors - so I am going to encourage that.

Nic is moving into Isabel's old room... which was Swiss Cheese at its finest. We were up all night last night filling holes and painting. Oddly, the paint color I chose, Cabo by Behr, looks pretty similar to to the original builder color, it has a more gray undertone. And BONUS, now it's WASHABLE and not flat.

I am working on a new moodboard, but in the mean time I wanted to share some before and after pics of the paint.

The walls went from a lilac purple to a khaki beige... The beige will set the tone for Nic's new room! We will be pulling in some fun outdoorsy-type stuff, including some cool rocks we found on our "vacation."

Here are the four corners of Nic's room, a little tug at my heart strings:

More to come...

Chalky, yet Sticky.

I am so excited about an upcoming project.
Need a clue (besides my oh-so-clever title)?

How's that?!

Want to know which space?!

Bye, bye stripes... hello something FUN!!