Announcements of all kinds

Announcement #1:

We are having another baby!!! Yippee and wahoo and all those other excited phrases.

Announcement #2: My family just found out last week that my dad's cancer is back...with a vengeance.  Currently it has consumed the lower part of his body (groin and down).  It is aggressive they say.  The two treatment options are a stem cell transplant (which they will not consider for him since he is turning 80 and they don't do them for anyone over 65) or intense chemotherapy which they say would probably kill him.  They are giving him oral chemo which is basically to maintain quality of life.  There is nothing they can do to treat it.  They said he has months...not years left.  That pretty much means that I have to take the chance to spend as much quality time with him as I possibly can (which involves me packing up my girls to Canada for as many more times as I can).  This leads to announcement #3.

Announcement #3: I had already thought of this prior to the news about my dad but that news only solidified for me the decision.  Because of my first two announcements this blog will officially come to an end after my last giveaway has closed.  I am averaging 2 comments a post and working my tail off to try and post helpful and noteworthy ideas (I know I am not always successful).  But with the nausea of pregnancy and the exhaustion, the desire to spend more quality time with my girls and now the urgent need of being with my dad I cannot do it any more.  Maybe it will be my time again down the road and I will pick it back up and maybe not.  It has kept my creative juices flowing for 3 years, but it just not the right season of life right now.  Thanks to everyone who has been a follower.  My goal when I started was to have 1000 followers.  Now I am just 8 followers away from 800 and I think that is pretty darn fabulous too.  Thank you to my few loyal commenters and to everyone who has been a reader (whether you want to admit it or not).  I hope you have benefited from Small Fry and Co.  I know I surely have.

One more Pellon Giveaway

I have one more Pellon giveaway to announce:

A 5 pack of machine embroidery products.  The giveaway includes:

1 pack Stitch and Tear lite

1 pack Fuse and Tear

1 pack Stick and Tear

1 pack Soft N Stay

1 Pack Sol-U-Film Lite

These products are part of a new line that will be available at JoAnns.  It is the perfect prize pack for anyone that does machine embroidery or hand embroidery too.  The giveaway will run all week and the winner will be announced on Sat Feb 18th.
To enter:
1. Leave a comment and AN E-MAIL to get ahold of you (please make it easy on me).

I tried it and... I love it and I made it even easier

The original idea for this comes from Make it and Love it (which I love almost everything she makes).  She made a cell phone charger from an old lotion bottle.  That got me thinking "I bet I could use any plastic bottle and make millions of these."  Well it is a bit harder to come by millions of plastic bottles than I thought it would be but as one empties I snatch it up and get creating.  She made hers with Mod Podged fabric.  I made a couple that way and they work great.  But the other day I was wanting to make one that could be used ASAP.  So I tried spraying the entire thing with spray adhesive and sticking my fabric on.  The verdict... 

FABULOUS and fast.  From beginning to end this project took 10 minutes.  I used a dish soap bottle.  I cut the shape free hand but if you check out Make it and Love it she shows you the general idea of how to cut one.  I sprayed on the glue, stuck on my fabric (smoothing as I went), cut an oval to cover the bottom (attached with the spray glue), punched a hole in the back with my hole punch (probably the hardest part) and done.  Here are some things I have learned from making these:
#1.  If using a clear bottle like a dish soap one then don't draw your outline with a dark marker or something that will show through (since you don't cover the inside with fabric.
#2.  If making this for a cell phone charging station before cutting out the opening in the back measure the size of your plug on your cord because you want the opening to match the size of the plug otherwise they don't always work.
That's it.  I think the idea if brilliant.  I love the spray glue method and I am rapidly trying to use up all the bits of soap and lotion in a bunch of different bottles so I can create a whole set for my craft room for pens, markers, sewing tools etc.

Busy Bag Day

Since Pinterest and I have developed a loving relationship I have noticed tons of links to busy bags (among other wonderful things to keep toddlers learning and occupied...it is saving my life might I just add).  I have wanted to make a bunch of busy bags for my girls but the thought of making them all on my own was very overwhelming.  So I sent a message out on Facebook to a bunch of moms with young kids here in town and got a group of 9 women together to have a busy bags day.  Each mom picked one or two ideas to make and brought enough supplies for the whole group.  We had about a month to get ready since we all live in the middle of no where and had to have time to gather supplies.  We met at our church where the kids could run around while we assembled.  Everyone brought their own gallon sized ziplock bags to take home all the new activities in.  Some games required some assembly which was done at the church while others were ready to go.  We were there for an hour and a half and each mom went home with 18 different things to do.  It was so worth it.  Even if you had to pay a dollar a piece for the items for your bags you were getting 16 more bags at no cost so the cost was well worth the final outcome.  At first I thought we should each do 3 bags but actually doing 2 was the perfect number for each mom.

Here are some of the bags set out ready to go.

A second table of bags.

Table #3 of bag items.

Some of the lovely ladies who participated.  We did it on a morning when not everyone could attend so those who couldn't make it sent their stuff and some of us assembled bags for them.  So it works out even if everyone can't be there.

This is my loot.  Some of the things I got are: a Popsicle matching game, fishing game, pom pom shooters (fun for dads and kids), alphabet clothes pin game, stringing beads, file folder games, tongue depressor puzzles, alpha beans and more.

 My plan for using the busy bags is that we will do them Monday, Wednesday and Friday because we have preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  We are doing them right after breakfast after we clean off the table.  I picked out two bags for each girl and they did them and then switched.  Their attention spans are still not that long so it was the perfect amount of time. 

Want to do a busy bag day of your own?  Here is the list of links I sent all the ladies.  Each one is a link to a specific idea or a blog or website that has lots of ideas.  After I sent the link I had the ladies write back to say what they were doing to avoid repeating any of the activities. 

http://www.walkingbytheway.com/blog/?p=298
http://www.mydeliciousambiguity.com/2010/09/toddler-busy-bag-activities-month-3.html   #'s 1 & 4
http://rootsandwingsco.blogspot.com/2010/06/summer-popsicle-activity.html
http://servingpinklemonade.blogspot.com/2010/07/marble-travel-game.html
http://myplumpudding.blogspot.com/2008/10/cereal-box-matching-game.html
http://moneysavingmom.com/2011/05/free-cothesline-busy-bag-instructions-and-pattern-download.html
http://totschool.shannons.org/?p=1690
http://printableparenting.com/files/documents/BusyBags/pompompatterns.pdf
http://www.mynameissnickerdoodle.com/2010/02/colors.html Could be done with different sizes of pasta (just a bag of colored pasta and some string.
http://moneysavingmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/cupcake-busy-bag-final.pdf
http://unsolicitedadvice-n-such.blogspot.com/2011/06/easy-felt-fish.html
http://moneysavingmom.com/2011/08/busy-bag-idea-pom-pom-stuff-it-in.html i have found packages of mini cups with lids at the dollar store they come in like 5 or 6 a package.
http://www.chinacat.org/roller/sunfrog/entry/pasta_dyeing_beading_and_sorting
http://www.cometogetherkids.com/2011/09/mini-marshmallow-shooters-or-pom-pom.html
http://www.activity-mom.com/2010/03/lima-bean-letters.html could be put with a bunch of cards that spell words and the child has to match up the beans
http://www.activity-mom.com/2010/02/letter-matching.html   You could make a bunch of cards with letters on them and then add in a couple of sheets of stickers.  Once used up the mom can replace them
http://www.activity-mom.com/2010/01/beware-of-crocodiles-game.html I think this would be cute but I would use fun foam to make the crocodiles and you could put numbers or shapes or colors for the kids to find.
http://moneysavingmom.com/2011/10/busy-bag-idea-pinchers-pom-poms.html
http://www.imperfecthomemaking.com/2011/11/while-backi-whipped-up-little-game-for.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ImperfectHomemaking+%28The+Complete+Guide+to+Imperfect+Homemaking%29&utm_content=Google+Reader
http://theprincessandthetot.blogspot.com/search/label/Tot%20Trays There are tons of ideas here that could be turned into busy bags.  I like sort the foods (you could do this with picture cards), the nuts and bolts-that would be super fun, egg carton button sort, happy sad sorting (click older enteries to get here), draw a mouth, lacing foam beads onto a stick (could be done with fun foam with a hole punched in it and a meat skewer),
http://www.kindergartenkindergarten.com/file-folder-games.html this site has some cute and free printable file folder games that could be put in a bag.

I tried it and...

It worked but not on what I thought it would work on.

I found this idea on Pinterest from the blog One Good Thing by Jillee.  She showed how she cleaned her cookie sheets by using a mixture of baking soda and peroxide.  Her results were amazing.  I have well used cookie sheets and thought they might like a little sprucing up.  So I tried it and it worked kind of but not like her results did.  I abandoned the project after two cookie sheets and decided the well used look works for me.  She didn't say how long she let it sit so perhaps had I left it for longer it would have worked better.  But I was determined to have it work on something so I decided to try it out on my stove top burner pans (please don't judge-cleaning these is not my favorite thing at all).  This is the before:

 And this is the after.  And by after I mean after I let it sit for about 5 minutes and then  washed and scrubbed off with a scouring pad.  It was much easier to clean than any other method I have tried before.  With the first swipe with a rag a bunch of the grime came off.  I did have to scrub because these were pretty bad but I didn't have to work harder than I have had to previously so I think it was a big success.

 On two of my burner pans I got them clean except for the stains.  This isn't grease or food, it is like a stain from water or heat or a combination of both.  I am not sure.  It doesn't come out so I thought I would show you this in case you have this problem too and are thinking this will miraculously take care of that.  It helps get off grime and grease though.

Now for a side note about cleaning with baking soda:
Beware of the gritty film that will be left all over everything if you decide to rub this on all your surfaces.  I didn't purposely do that but I was careless in the whole process so I ended up with baking soda on parts of my counters and I had the darndest time getting them clean.  I had to pour vinegar on them to finally get the baking soda off so beware.

Easy Paper Bag Valentine Pennant Banner

I wanted to create something new and "fancy" for Valentines Day.  I played around with a few different ideas and finally decided on this:

 I am not doing a tutorial because it is really easy and straight forward. 
-The pennants are cut out of paper bags (another reason to skip the plastic at the grocery store...there are crafts to be made with the brown bags)
-The hearts are cut from book pages
-The letters I painted on free hand
-The red hearts are cut from scrapbook paper
-Everything is attached with double sided tape
-The pennants are attached together with a piece of lace that I sewed across the top (another reason to not let your mom throw out all that outdated lace...trust me I almost did let my mom throw it all out).

Easy and pretty.  A fun and fancy Valentines idea.

Oh the Sensitive Child: A real mommy moment

I know that I have it easy compared to the mothers out there that have to take care of children with birth defects, long term illnesses and mental disabilities.  I don't envy them in the slightest but have such a sense of awe towards them for what they do on a daily basis.  I do however have my own set of challenges (as we each do) and though it probably seems insignificant to many it is very exhausting and frustrating to me.  It is my little sensitive souls that I am raising.  And I am not talking about sensitive as in emotions.  I am talking about having a child that no longer wants to wear pants that have seams in them because they itch (if someone has a solution to that problem please let me know), who won't even step foot into something if she sees that it has a tag, that has to have on an undershirt under every top that has a button, seam, decoration or ruffle and who sometimes won't even try it on even if there is an undershirt because it looks like there is a button, seam, decoration or ruffle.  The child that doesn't want you to touch her with wet hands or hands that have lotion or smell like they might have had lotion, who won't always give you a kiss because you "smell", who does not want to wash her hands and if you can convince her too she refuses to use soap (try explaining that to teachers), the child that doesn't like cheese but likes grated up cheese, but doesn't like the rice kind of grated up cheese (which has somehow turned into every kind of grated up cheese though she still insists you buy the right kind only you have no idea what the right kind is cause you don't have a clue what "rice" kind of grated up cheese is).  She has a meltdown if she gets a drop of water on her because she doesn't like to be wet.  She won't even spit in the sink if there is a spot of water on the side by her.  She doesn't like it when my hair is wet and might touch her and she doesn't like it when it is dry and smells like something.  She is the child that prior to my own child raising years I would have labeled as a big brat.  Now I am dumbfounded as to how this even happened and what I am to do about it.  Plus she is influencing her little sister and now I have two little "tag Nazis" who have to have the tags cut off of everything.  I hate getting dressed time because I don't know what to pick and I hate getting something half way on only to have a meltdown and a complete switch to something new.  I used to feel some sort of doom that my child would be the one wearing sweat pants until she was 10 but now I am just grateful there is a type of pants that she does want to put on.  Is it giving in every time?  I have found it near to impossible to do anything else.  I don't find it necessary to have a battle for her to wash her hands with soap.  Antibacterial wipes seem to be a good substitution thus far.  If I do say "you are putting this on no matter what" she sometimes will, only to fall down and scream because it is itching her.  That is not helpful when you are trying to get out the door.  Like I said I know it is so insignificant in the grand scheme of things but it is so frustrating and sometimes a bit hurtful raising one of these sensitive little souls.  How do I manage?  At some point she is going to have to do things even if she doesn't like them just because that is how it is.  Should I be pushing it more right now?  Am I raising a big brat?  If so I never in a million years meant to do it.

Make Ahead Monday: Chicken Stock

I always feel a little guilty throwing away my chicken bones/turkey bones.  Seems like the "pioneerish" side of me should be putting those things to better use.  Perhaps some of you have never had a second thought about tossing chicken bones into the garbage.  Well maybe this will peak your interest.  You know how when you are at the grocery store or Sams Club and they have those divine smelling rotisserie chickens or the grocery store has whole chickens on sale for a smokin deal and you can't resist?  Well I think I am the number one fan of roast chicken.  It has been my favorite food since I was a kid.  One thing that I am not so fond of is carving said bird.  I am a terrible chicken carver/turkey carver.  Because of that I always end up with lots of bits and pieces left on the bone.  Since discovering/reinventing this way to make chicken stock I no longer feel like that is a problem.  I look at it like extra flavor for a super batch of chicken stock.  The original recipe for this comes from the America's Test Kitchen Cookbook (don't you just love them).  I revised the recipe since the original calls for raw chicken parts and I am never going to be buying raw chicken parts just to make stock.  So this recipe is made with leftovers from that big chicken dinner you had.  The smell and flavor are excellent.  Did I mention it can be frozen for later use?

The recipe:

2 chicken carcasses (sorry to use that word but you know what I mean-the whole body, and any extra bones, meat, skin etc.)

1 medium onion

2 bay leaves or 1 tbsp of crushed bay

2 quarts water

1 tbsp oil

dash of salt and pepper if desired.

Begin by chopping your onion (doesn't have to be minced-it is just for flavor)

Heat oil in a large stock pot.  Add onion and saute until translucent.

Add all chicken parts and cover with a lid.  Reduce heat to medium low and cook for 20-30 minutes.  If it seems like the chicken is burning rather than slowly browning reduce your heat.  You basically are sweating it out.  After your 20 minutes increase heat to medium high, add 2 quarts of warm water, the bay and the salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil, then cover, and reduce heat to medium to simmer for another 20 minutes.  When the time is up, remove from heat and cool.  Once cool place a large measuring cup or bowl under a sieve and pour stock through to strain off the onion and all the chicken meat and parts.  Now you can throw them away feeling like you got everything out of them.  Refrigerate the stock in order for the fat to rise to the surface.  Skim off fat.  You should have about 6 cups of stock.  I pour mine into baggies in 2 cup proportions.  I do this by putting a bag in a 2 cup measuring cup like this: 

 I fill it up to the 2 cup mark plus a bit more to make up for any wrinkles in the bag.  Place bags in a shallow dish and freeze until firm.  Having them lay flat like this makes them easier to store in your freezer in most cases.

That is it.  Really not complicated and so delicious.  And can I just say the smell of your house while making this is heavenly.

Repurposed OJ Bottle for Craft Storage

Doesn't everyone need more storage containers in their craft room?  I am in desperate need.  I guess that is why this:

 Caught my eye and got me thinking-that would be a prime storage container.  The idea was inspired by this tutorial over at Make it and Love it.  I basically followed her same technique only on a bigger container and then I added my label to the front.  The inside is painted with craft paint.  I tried spray painting it but it did not cover well at all.  The craft paint went on really nice.  I am saving orange juice containers so I can make a couple more to match. 

A work out I like and things I don't like about January

Let's just talk about the month of January for a moment shall we?  I know it is the month of the "new you" and new years resolutions and all that jazz but something just erks me about the plastering and advertising of nothing but weight loss, workout, get slim fast products that we are bombarded with during this month.  Is that all anyone has to make a resolution about?  I mean you walk into these big box stores and the front isles are filled with workout videos, yoga mats, vitamins, slim fast products and workout equipment.  I looked at the Walmart add on line a few weeks ago and all it was all 4 pages was weight loss/healthy lifestyle products.  I don't have a problem with new goals for a healthier you but all the focus on "looks" and being "buff" and "skinny" make me sick.  You don't see the front shelves stocked with childrens books on sale to encourage parents to read more to their kids in the new year, or board games to encourage families to spend more time together.  You don't see a major sale on fruits and vegetables to encourage families to set a goal to eat more produce and feed more to their children.  You don't see advertisements about discovering new talents, or getting out of debt or getting your house in order.  Just weight loss, weight loss, weight loss.  I think it is a bit much world.  Healthy living is important, but so are a lot of other things. 

With that being said, having absolutely nothing to do with the fad of getting slim in the month of January I was looking for a new exercise video.  I new it would be a good time to find one because there would be lots on sale with the big focus on "getting slim" in the new year so I decided to browse the selection for something new to use at my house.  I had been doing a Jillian Michaels 30 day shred video.  I don't know if I shredded anything during the time I did the video.  I am pretty sure she assumes you will follow her diet plan as you are working out and that probably really helps with the shredding part.  I was pretty sure cookies were not on her plan so I didn't bother to check it out.  Here is what I liked about the video: it was 20 minutes and there were 3 levels.  I knew it would all be over in 20 minutes and if I was feeling ambitious I did the more advanced option and if I was feeling not so ambitious I did the "less advanced" option.  So I had been working out with Jillian for a while but felt like it was not pushing me at all (there wasn't enough sweating happening and I think the basis of working out is that there should be some sweat involved).  So during the month of January sales on work out videos I picked up this:

And I LOVE IT!!!!!  My body and bed still have a daily battle as to who will win in the morning but when I do get up and do this video I feel so great.  Here is what I love about it:
#1. You can make it as long or as short as you want because you choose what you want to do. You can choose between a warm up, level 1 (which is 20 mins), level 2 (10 mins), level 3 (10 mins) and a cool down.  You can select any combination of those levels.
#2. The people in the video are real contestants from the Biggest Loser and are therefore not a skinny stick in a sports bra telling you that if you want to have a flat butt like the girl on the video you need to do the exercise a certain way.
#3. The people in the video are at different levels of "fit" and therefore it is not like watching a little army of stick people are marching at exactly the same pace.  If I can't get up from the burpees that fast I know I can look up and find one of my workout partners on the video lagging behind as well.
#4.  The instructors are encouraging without being annoying.
#5. It makes you sweat-a lot.
#6.  And this kind of goes along with #2 but the people are all wearing a full set of clothing.   When I used to do the shred my girls would come in and take off all their cloths besides panties because that is what the workout ladies looked like to them. 
I am not recommending this video to the skinny minnies out there that are already in good shape.  You go ladies and more power to you.  I am recommending this video to the women (and men) like me that are not fans of a workout but know we need to do it, who have a slight addiction to cookies and don't have all the time in the world to devote to fitness. 
I am super happy with this purchase.  It was a great way to spend my $10.00 on fitness for the year.