On my list for the weekend:

1. Finish the sash and post pics of the adorable dress I made Amelia.
2. Cook something new and bake something new.  I am undecided about the treat, but leaning towards this BBQ chicken braid
3. Wash both our cars and SCRUB my nasty house.  Seriously I would be ashamed if anyone came inside.
4. Finish up my bookkeeping job.
5. Make some shirts for the kids for our trip to Disneyland next week.  Yep, last minute going to Disneyland with my brother.  I'll post about it on my other blog. But I am giddier than I should be.
6. Play tennis or go on a walk.
7. Buy a swimsuit so I can stop obsessing and wasting my time when I could be crossing off my list!!
8. Try and get Ben to poop on the toilet.  (I hate potty training him.  It was too easy with Amelia)

I could keep going, but I think this will be a reasonable list to tackle along with all the other day to day stuff  like feeding my family, a million trips to the potty, laundry and trying to have a little fun so I am not the task master all weekend. I am posting this so maybe I will have more accountability to actually finish this list. 

Gearing up for summer

I am coveting a new swimsuit. This is why. I hate my butt in swimsuits, so I always wear shorts over them.  The pair of shorts I wear now have been with me when I was a size 10, thru the Marshall Islands and thru 2 pregnancies.  Needless to say they are shabby and stretched out and can fall off if I move in the wrong way.  That proves to be a problem since last year my swimsuit bottoms got thrown away when the elastic dried out and cracked.  That tells you how old those were too. If I want to go swimming, I have to go commando, and with kids climbing on you, not such a good idea.  Luckily my pool last year was fairly private and I found myself alone most of the time, so crisis avoided.  Oh, and I don't get in the ocean no matter what, so no need to worry about that at the beach. My swimsuit top accommodated breastfeeding chest, and those who have experienced that know when you're done, they are no where near the same size, so if I move the wrong way, you may get to see more than you bargained for, or maybe just what you are hoping for!!!  So I think this year it is time to invest in a sensible, classic, yet flattering swimsuit.  I replace them every 3-5 years but I wear them almost every day in the summer.  I am a total beach girl. My sis came for a visit a few years ago and had a cute one that she got on Lands End.  I decided to go into Sears and try one on to see about size and fit and fell in love.  Hugged everywhere perfectly, covered everything perfectly, and just made me feel good.  NEVER have I said that about a swimsuit.  I came home to look on their website in hopes to find a good deal on last years, but I am just in love with the one I tried on, I don't want to be disappointed with getting something different that I didn't try on. So, long story short, I want the one I tried on, but it is $114 for the 2 pieces!!!! So is spending that on one swimsuit too ridiculous???  I guess I just need to hear from someone (other than Phil who just tells me what he thinks I want to hear) that it's worth it.  I can get a gift card with my credit card points, so that will take it down $25, and that makes me feel a little better about bringing it under $100.   Here is a pic on someone.  I like the top and print of the first girl on the left and the skirt and color of the second girl on the left.  Cute huh!!  Ok, a little mommy, but I like these girls don't seem that old. right!!!

When you get a bag of oranges......

...make orange rolls!!!!
I got a bag of these and they were too ripe to peel and eat.  So I used them up in my favorite way.  Is it bad that I see fresh fruit as a delicious dessert, never just to eat fresh???  I also made a pitcher of fresh orange juice, nothing added and it was delicious.  Kids can't get enough.

I decided to try this recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe blog because I love her recipes and I have to agree with her that I prefer an orange roll to a cinnamon roll any day.  I even thought I would try the figure 8 shape twist she does.  Since I had to make it dairy free, I made a few adjustments and the dairy free margarine just was too runny and oozed everywhere.  This is what I end up with in my oven.  But they looked cute, just not full of ooey gooey orange stuff. So the second pan I made traditional cinnamon roll style and that was a little better.  Note for next time.

Since no one in my family thinks orange rolls are as good as I do, I have managed to eat most of them.  I think the key to the perfect citrus anything is the zest. I zested 4 oranges instead of 2 because mine were home grown and had a lot of spots on them.  But I also like it really zesty.  Can't you just smell that??? mmm.

Luckily this made only a rather small batch (unlike the cinnamon roll recipe I normally make which I only make if I can give half away it is so much) and we had some visitors for dinner last night who took a few off my hands.  This is all that's left, but not for long!!!! Try not to lick your screen.

Got to be a good sign

I found $5 in a pair of capris I haven't worn since last summer.  I am hoping that means this is going to be a good day!!  If only they were interest accruing pants.

So excited

I just got this and can't wait to get it and make some shoes.  I have wanted to new shoes for a while and just hate everything I see or how much it is, so I am hoping I can customize some shoes just to my liking.  Keep you posted.

If you had.....

So I like playing this game sometimes.  If you had a choice between this or that, what would you choose.  Well, if you magically had just enough money to pay for something extra every month what would it be?  Big or small, whatever.  Mine, a personal chef.  Yep.  Someone to come and cook healthy meals that are safe for Amelia and that tastes good and I don't have to figure it out.  I just don't want to make it and plan it and be at the grocery store every 2 days buying fresh ingredients.   I want to eat healthy and I like the idea of home cooked fresh ingredients, I just don't like figuring it out and shopping for it. And, maybe if Amelia grew out of her allergy I might like it much better, because that's really the big hurdle for me.  But Philip and I reflect to a pre-Amelia cooking life of fettuccine alfredo and white pizza's and ridiculously decadent desserts all the time and we were our heaviest.  We have now referred to that time period (or those clothes we still have from them) as our fettuccine alfredo bodies.  Not interested in going that direction either. I love cleaning and I love laundry, so having someone clean my house feels kind of like taking away my fun of housekeeping.  We have yet to be responsible for a garden, so maybe that might be something I change my mind about someday, but I did love doing yard work as a child and teen, so I can imagine that I would still love that.  Plus, since I cook a hot meal 2 times a day at least 5 days a week, sometimes more, I think that would give me so much more free time.  It feels like I get dressed, clean up breakfast and then it's time to start making lunch and then when that's done, I better make sure I have stuff for dinner, clean it all up, defrost for tomorrow, and it just feels like it never ends and someone is always hungry for something I don't have.  Cooking.  Blah.  Maybe we should become one of those raw vegans who don't eat anything cooked, then I would never have to prepare a meal.  Just wash and serve.  Ok, cooking sounds better.   So what's yours??

argg

Projects without pics, I hate that.  But you get the joys of hearing about what I have crossed off my list without the proof.  I re-purposed a pair of Phil's jeans into some for Ben.  I did take pics, but I did not finish yet so I am saving them for a real post. The reason I didn't finish, I made them while my kids were napping (Amelia fell asleep reading a book behind our chair in a corner.  It was kind of cute and unexpected but nice) When I tried them on for Ben they were huge on him.  It was frustrating, but I knew I should have tried them on before I finished but I thought since I used a pair of his jeans as a pattern they would fit.  Lesson to learn, always try them on before I finish.  So I have unpick all the waistband and side seams to take it in and I was just burnt out of the mess of sewing at that point.  But, they are soo cute.  Can't wait for the final result. 
I also made some baby gifts for a friend of my sister's.  A really cute bib and a teething block and crocheted teething rings. Kind of a teething gift set.  They were all pretty cute, so I hope she likes them and the baby too. I was attempting to make a fabric ring stacker without a pattern, but could not figure out how to make it work without tons of hand stitching and my hand stitching never holds up, so I abandoned that idea at like 10pm and did the teething rings instead and was really glad.  I haven't completely given up on the ring stacker.  Just need a pattern or hours of trial and error. 
I also made a new bed for Amelia's dollhouse since attempt #1 was horrid.  I got a saw for my birthday, so it was fun to use.  The bed needs another coat of paint and lacquer today before I can take a pic of the final product.  I also made it a lot smaller so it fits in the house much better than the first and thicker wood so it's sturdier.  But I couldn't get the legs in with nails or the wood will just split, so I need to get some itty bitty screws.  But for now, it's more of a sleigh bed that sits on the floor.  Amelia likes it, and that's all that matters. So I may just leave it.
I also attempted a few new recipes and no one in family cared about it or liked it and this is why I hate cooking.  If they like chicken nuggets, pbj's, taquitos and potstickers better than fresh asparagus and provolone stuffed chicken breasts (yes I made that and it was delicious to me so I guess it wasn't a total waste) then why bother??  And that is also why I bake.  No one turns down fresh rolls, muffins, cookies or my attempts at new recipes of pistachio chocolate cake or chocolate marshmallow cookies. Nope, just the healthy fresh stuff.   This leads me to my next post I think.