WFMW: Safe Stocking Holders

I absolutley love all of the cute stocking holders that are out right now...EXCEPT for the fact that they all weigh a TON and would absolutely crush my sweet little Bean if he were to toddle over and yank a stocking down. Call me a paranoid Momma, but seriously, is it worth risking? So I have been trying to figure out something to use to hang up our stockings. My mom uses straight pins, but again, I am a paranoid Momma and I worry about him picking one up and eating it if it falls....

Here is what I have come up with: plastic outdoor light clips! You know the ones you can hook onto your gutter to hold up your outdoor lights!?!?! They work great to clip onto your mantle and then you even have a plastic hook to use for your stockings! And if Bean does yank it off, the clips are large and plastic and I don't think he could swallow one if he tried! Works for me! Head over to Rocks In My Dryer to find some other helpful hints!

Photo Meme!

Anna over at Sincerely Anna tagged all of her readers for really cool meme. If you want to play, just answer the question in your head, google an image of it, then choose one of the pics from the first page of results. Let me know if you decide to play along and I will come check it out! ENJOY!

1. Age at next birthday (on Thursday!!!)

2. Place I’d like to travel:

3. Favorite place:

4. Favorite objects:

5. Favorite food:

6. Favorite color:

7. Nickname:

8. Place you were born:

Our Thanksgiving Extravagnaza!

I realize that this post is about 3 days late, but I figured that y'all needed to hear how the BIG day went!

7:00am~ "MA MA!" Bean is awake and ready for breakfast...right on time!

7:10-8am~ Bean eats breakfast, I grab a quick shower, Hubs gets up to wipe out the oven from the oven cleaner that was left in overnight.

8am~ Hubs & I realize that "wiping" out the oven is no small task and that the "cleaner" is in fact not helping anything...grrrrr...

8:10~ Hubs is still wiping and I have moved on to making the dough for the rolls (it has to rise for 4 hours!)

8:20~ Dough made! Hubs is still working on cleaning the oven out for me.

8:30~I decide to start making the pie filling for the pumpkin pie.

8:32~ I realize I should probably roll out my pie crust before making the pie filling (which is already half made).

8:45~ I have successfully managed to roll out 1 pie crust (my crust dough is not cooperating)

8:55~ I give up on the dough I made ahead to "save time" and make a new batch for pie #2.

9:05~ Ahhh 2 pie crusts have been made...back to the pie filling.

9:07~ I go to use the microwave to soften up some butter and it.is.not.working!!!!

9:09~ Hubs runs in to rescue me...

9:15~...and fixes the microwave!

9:20-10:00~ The pies are baking!! HOORAY! I missed my goal of having the pies done by an hour...oh well! I decide that we will eat at 2 instead of 1 and we all will live!

10:00~ TURKEY IN THE OVEN!!!!

10:11~ I start working on side dishes....and after peeling a few potatoes I decide to run the garbage disposal (which is a great GREAT disposal)

10:13~ The water in the sink is swirling and bubbling...not draining and NOT disposing of the egg shells, potato peels and other various items like it should be...

10:15~ "HUBS!!!"

10:18~ Hubs messes with the disposal and unclogs it...and sprays potato-peely gross water all over the underneath of the kitchen sink and the kitchen floor....

10:40~ Kitchen is cleaned and I am back to making sides...stuffing, sweet potato casserole, macaroni & cheese, green bean casserole....

11:10~Time to flip the turkey. This task sounded easy enough when my Mom-in-law told me to do it...but now that the time has arrived I was less than confident in my turkey-flipping abilities...."HUBS!"

11:20~Turkey flipped! YAY!

***This is where I make all of the "stuff" and things bake and I run around doing last minute stuff***

1:45~ The turkey comes out! Yippeeee!! Looks great...smells great....and now it is time for the gravy (the one thing I was dreading making the most)

1:52~I have made the roux and it looks pretty darn good....I am trying to figure out how to get the fat off of the top of the turkey drippings and make my 3rd or 4th call to my Mom-in-law in less than 10 minutes...

1:58~ Gravy is done but there doesn't seem to be too much of it...Hubs glances over and thinks it looks too thin...I agree (and since this is his momma's recipe I take his word for it!) Soooo I add more flour-BIG mistake! My gravy is now the consistency of Cream of Wheat.

2:02~We sit down to eat. Bean is in his high chair. All is well...

2:05~Bean gets his first bite of "real" turkey. He puts it in his mouth, makes the sour face, take the turkey out and yells "Yuck!" and throws it on the floor! He proceeds to do this with every single thing I cooked!

2:10~Squirmy Bean (who ate his lunch an hour and half ago) wants out of the high chair.

2:13~ A Baby Einstein video is in....Bean is captivated...and I am enjoying my Thanksgiving meal!

2:45~ Meal is over....

2:50~ Bean is napping....

2:52~ ...and I am napping while me awesome Husband and bro & sis-in-law are doing the dishes!

Gobble Gobble

Well tomorrow is the BIG day! I will be hostess-ing my first Thanksgiving in MY house! It is a huge rite of passage for me and I am excited and slightly nervous about the whole ordeal. The good part is that the only guests we are having are my brother-in-law and his wife...and maybe my brother too. I'm not too worried about the "eaters" being too judgemental...it will mostly be self-imposed! I have spent the last 3 days cleaning my house like crazy. And not just cleaning but cuh-leeeeening...almost like a pregnant woman who is in the beginning stages of psycho nesting :-) . Besides cleaning the house I have tried to plan tomorrows meal down to the minute. I started working on some stuff today but on my refrigerator is a time-table of tomorrows dishes and what I need to be doing when. One thing I am very thankful for is that my neighbors are going out of town so we get to use their oven! That will be a huge help!

I went ahead and set the table today. After I had all of our China & Crystal in place I realized the center looked a little empty. I tried candle sticks...better...then I started to get creative with different bowls and such from around the house. I finally decided that the turkey would serve as the perfect centerpiece. I was on the phone with my mom explaining this when the doorbell rang. There was a man there holding this beautiful arrangement for ME! It was from my mom & dad. They are so good to me and know how to make my day!! I am so thankful for both of them and I will miss them dearly tomorrow!

One Nap!?!?!?

Oh boy...here we go! Bean has been hinting that he would really like to only take 1 nap a day. And I have been avoiding his hints like the plague! But today I was faced with the reality that this just might be happening. He would NOT take a morning nap today. He played in his crib and babbled on and on and on...then he started with the Mama's..."Mama? Mama? Mama?". He must know that is my weakness because I can not resist it when he so sweetly calls my name. I go in to rescue him and he is sitting in his crib, hugging his pillow and beams with joy when he sees me....no nap for him! He's pretty crabby about losing the pacie (which is a sleepy-time only thing!) and about getting a new diaper and clothes. So I do what every good Mom does, I get him all ready, take him downstairs and put on a Baby Einstein video while I deal with the shock that I am not going to get my usual morning break/shower/nap. 30 minutes later, Bean is standing and applauding Baby Van Gogh and asking "Moh?". Nope, no "moh" today...1 is plenty. It is now 11ish and poor Bean doesn't know what to do with himself...he's sleepy, but giddy and most of all HUNGRY! So an early lunch it is! I am about half way done with his lunch when the amazing Daddy walks in and is home for his lunch. I have to insert here that the Bean is in LOOOOVE with Daddy right now. He is by far Daddy's biggest fan and wants to be with Daddy all.of.the.time. So after lunch, a yawning and bleary eyed Bean staggers in to play with his Daddy. Meanwhile, I'm looking at the clock and panicking because my baby has been up for 5 hours and I'm afraid we are going to miss the sleepy zone and go straight to the too-tired-to-sleep zone. I did manage to get Hubs some lunch, take care of the dog and pry Bean away from his favorite person AND get Bean down for a nap! That little boy was asleep before his head hit the pillow....and he slept for 2 hours (which is a typical nap for him and he usually does this twice a day!).

There are 2 things about this that sadden me:
1) I got 1/2 of my usual "Mommy" time today.
2) My baby is growing into being a little boy...not a baby

Who knows how many naps he will take tomorrow....

What Am I Doing!?!?!? or not doing...

We have company coming this weekend and then we have company for Thanksgiving next week. I have a list a mile long of things to do before this weekend/next Thursday and you know what I'm doing??? I'm cleaning out the closet in the current guest room/ soon-to-be nursery!! What is wrong with me!?!? That definitely is NOT a priority right now, but for some reason I feel like I HAVE to get it done. Nesting?

My Lizard

So, he knows how to quack like a duck, hiss like a snake and bark like a dog....what's left?? Well let me tell you! My little boy can stick his tongue out like a lizard!! :-) I'm sure we will regret teaching him this (and then laughing uproariously when he does it) but it is oh so funny right now!

WFMW: Tub Paint Recipe

Thanks to my dear friend Brooke (also the master-maker of the diaper cake!) I now have an awesome "recipe" for bathtub paint! It is super simple to make, although a few of the ingredients may not be in your cupboard and require a special trip to the store. Bean (1 year) had a FANTASTIC time painting in the tub. Plus, with Christmas right around the corner, it makes a great gift (ahem, Learning Patience, no need to make this...it's "taken care of"!) Happy Tub Painting!!!

Bathtub Finger Paint

1 envelope unflavored instant gelatin
1/4 cup hot water
1/2 cup cornstarch
3 Tbsp sugar
1 3/4 cups cold water
1/4 mild liquid dishwashing soap (I used clear)
food coloring

Dissolve one envelope of unflavored instant gelatin in 1/4 cup hot water and let it sit for 10 minutes. Combine 1/2 cup cornstarch, 3 tablespoons sugar and 1 3/4 cups cold water in a saucepan, and stir until cloudy and smooth. Cook the cornstarch mixture over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until thick. Reduce heat, add the gelatin mixture and 1/4 cup mild, liquid dishwashing soap, and stir until smooth. Let cool. Divide into smaller, airtight containers and add 1 drop of food coloring to each. Stir and head to the tub!

My Tips:
*The gelatin mixture will get goopy, it's okay, just scrape it out of the bowl
*I used a wire whisk for all of the mixing involved...worked better than a spoon!
*Baby food jars work great for storage
*We used a silicone pastry brush in the tub. It is easy to clean out after the bath is over, plus it doesn't hold moisture-no mildew!
*Bean did a taste test and survived...so I'm guessing it won't really do any damage if consumed in small quantities!
*It washes off tub walls BEAUTIFULLY! I even tested it and left it on overnight....washed right off! I have not tried it on tile...not sure how it will do on grout.

Ooops! I almost forgot...head over to Rocks In My Dryer for some more awesome tips!!

Diaper Cake!

My good friend Brooke made a diaper cake for Bean for his 1/2 birthday last year. It was the cuuuutest thing in the entire world!! Did you catch the part that she made it!?!?! Bean had a terrific time tearing it apart after it served as our centerpiece in the dining room for at least a month. But finally I decided that I needed to actually use the diapers in the cake before he outgrew them.

Well my neighbor friend is going to have her baby tomorrow (oh the joy of a planned C-section)!!! I can't even imagine knowing the day ahead of time...I must admit that me and my plan-ahead-attitude are a teensy bit jealous. That aside, I decided to try and conquer making a diaper cake for her. After many attempts on the bottom layer (by far the most challenging) here is what I ended up with. If nothing else, it's a free stack o' diapers!

My New Best Friend!

Taaaah Daaaah! Yesterday our new dishwasher was installed! Yippeeeee! I was so thrilled to get the call at 12:30pm that they were "on their way" with our new dishwasher (plus, Bean had just woken up from his nap so the timing was perfect!). They arrived and started working on taking the old one out...Bean was captivated! He sat on my lap in the middle of our kitchen floor the entire time watching their every move. I am confident that he could now install a dishwasher on his own! ;-)

After the new one was all ready to go we put every dirty dish we could find straight in the dishwasher! No pre-washing needed!!!! While I was loading our nasty dishes, Bean decided it was his job to immediately remove the dirty dishes from the dishwasher and put them on the floor. After I convinced him that was not how it worked he wandered off and left me and my new friend alone to get better acquainted. A few minutes later he toddled back over to us with an arm load of his plastic stacking cups. He proceeded to place them one at a time into the dishwasher!!!! I was so proud of him (and so was he!). I did agree with him that those cups needed a good run through the dishwasher so we loaded them in too. And guess what....EVERYTHING CAME OUT CLEAN!! I was and still am amazed!!

UPDATED ON BEAN: The diaper situation is improving...not all better yet, but getting there! I had to go buy more bananas yesterday because that is one of the only foods in the BRAT diet he will really eat! Bananas, applesauce, crackers & bread....that's about it.

Poor Bean

Today has been an un-eventful, yet interesting, day. Poor Bean has had "dirty diapers" ALL DAY today! His little bum is so red and it makes us both cry during a diaper change (which has been necessary at least 10 times today!). My heart breaks for him and I wish I could just make it all better. Ugh. I did find out a "cure" from my Grandma today for such problems. She said that back-in-the-day she had the same problem with her youngest son. Her pediatrician told her to spread blackberry jam on crackers for him and that would take care of the problem. AND IT DID! Grandma did say that she's not sure if it really worked or if the timing was just right.

Today my pediatrician told me to feed Bean the following: bananas, rice, applesauce, bread/crackers and to only let him drink water and Pedialite. So far nothing has changed...I think we might have to try the blackberry jam on crackers ;-)

The Letter "D"

Our day today seems to have revolved around things begining with the letter "D" .....

Dump truck, Ducks & Dogs: The 3 things that Bean is obsessed with right now. We had our first day of Mommy & Me time at the library today (we did this last Feb. when Bean was little). So we arrive and Bean immediately pulls out a touch and feel book about dogs (a book we happen to have at home too!). We spent a good 5 minutes reading and re-reading this book. THEN he finds a book about dump trucks, even better! After story time, the group sings interactive songs with the kiddos. The leader does not have a kiddo so she uses a stuffed-animal duck. Ohhhh my goodness! Bean eyed that duck like you would believe!! After song time the kids get to play with a basket of toys. As soon as I freed Bean from my grip, he made a beeline for that duck. I sat there and watched my little boy wander around the room in a state of bliss clutching the duck in one arm and the dump truck book in the other (all the time making quacking noises and zooming noises)!

Dishwasher: We went to Lowe's tonight and picked out our new dishwasher! YAY!!! Our current "dishwasher" (I use the term loosely) is horrible! We have to wash everything before we put it in and then the so-called "dishwasher" basically sanitizes them. Within 72 hours we will have a newly installed dishwasher in our kitchen!! YIPEEEE!

Daddy: Daddy (aka Hubs) got a last minute offer to head over the Illlini game tonight with some friends. We then rushed home from Lowes and got Daddy out the door and off to go cheer on his team! (Which means Mommy is home alone!! *insert big BIG grin from Mommy*)

Dirty Diapers: Gross I know, but when you have 6+ dirty diapers in one day, it is worth mentioning.

DONE: I am done doing the laundry from our trip. If you read that statement carefully you will notice that there is no mention of the baskets of clean laundry being folded and/or put away, simply done. I am also done cleaning our kitchen and family room (the 2 areas that the Tornado of Bean sweeps through daily leaving me with a disaster area by 7pm). I am also done with this post and done with my day....off to bed I go!

Home!

We are finally back home from a family vacation. We left last Saturday morning and drove down to spend the day and night with my folks. It was great to spend a bit of time with them before we hopped on a plane Sunday morning and flew out to upstate New York with Bean.

How did he do on the plane you ask? He did GREAT! We had a 90 minute flight to Detroit then another 90 minute flight to our final destination. He was completely entertained for the entire first flight. He spent the first 10 minutes "zooming" as we taxied and took off (he says "mmmmmmm" when he zooms his cars around). Then he slept the ENTIRE next flight. It was fantastic!

We spent all of last week with Hubs's entire family. We stayed out in a BEAUTIFUL house on Lake Seneca. It was so gorgeous. We had a great time visiting with Hubs's extended family too! Bean even met his Great Great Grandma for the first time! It was very special.

After a week of fun we flew back to my spend the night with my parents before driving home this afternoon. I have sorted the laundry and threw together a chicken casserole for dinner (not nearly as impressive as it sounds). I am done with unpacking and cleaning...tomorrow will be here soon enough...I'm off to bed for now!