Housewifed

Closing & Painting

noreply@blogger.com (HOUSEWIFED) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 12:55:00 +0000

Woohoo! We ended up closing on the house over a week early!

This whole week has been a crazy whirlwind of packing, moving,shopping, deciding....and the kids have been troopers through the whole process so far! I have set them up (in our future reading nook) with some little projects & movies to keep them busy while I clean :)

So, as exciting as it all is, we are in a bit of a limbo situation since we already scheduled a lot of things with the original closing date in mind. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty to keep us busy, but we cannot get ahead of the game with the moving situation since we are waiting for the carpets to be cleaned in the upstairs rooms and 4 rooms overall need to be painted so we are just moving little things here and there.

The whole downstairs is a blank canvas at this point, every room is either white or a light cream color (as well as our bedroom) so we were excited to pick out some colors to liven things up a bit. The decision over colors was not as painful as I thought it would be, we were pretty much on the same page with everything...I did have to sell him a bit on the yellow in the dining room though :)

Here are the colors we have chosen...all Vaspar paint at Lowe's, but they were nice enough to mix up a shade of my favorite color from Sherwin-Williams ♥

Mink (Family Room)

Bell Tower Stone (Living Room)

Maple Cream (Dining Room)

Sherwin-Williams - Pavillion Beige (Bedroom)

As you can see, we are a big fan of greige colors :) The Maple Cream looks a bit peachy on my computer screen but it's actually a nice shade of yellow and I think it will be a nice accent color to the grey that's in the living room (which is right off of the dining room).

I used the Valspar's Virtual Painter to choose most all of the colors in the house, I highly recommend this if you have digital photos of the rooms you want to paint ...and a little bit of patience! It can be a bit tedious since you need to use the virtual painters tape to tape off what you don't want painted.

We have painters coming to paint our living room and bedroom on Wednesday and we will be tackling the dining room and family room that day as well....I will post some before and after pics when we are done!

Moving On!

noreply@blogger.com (HOUSEWIFED) — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 14:21:00 +0000

So much has happened since my last post...I don't even know where to begin! Long story short....we bought a house!!!!! It has been an amazing (&interesting) journey for the Hubs and I since we wanted 2 very different homes. He is more of a city boy and really wanted a town home and I of course wanted a house with a big yard for the kids to play outside. We looked at A LOT of houses and town homes but actually ended up going with the very first house we looked at. At the end of the day it's the only one that really felt like "home" to us and could picture our family living in. We have a few things that we'd like to update but it gives us a chance to really make it our own so it's all very exciting. Our closing is in about 10 days and then we have about a week to get some painting done before the movers come. It will be so nice to finally be in a place that is all ours and not have to worry about landlords and whether or not we can hang up a picture on the wall. I will post pics once it is officially ours!

As far as everything else goes, I have been busy running kids around to school and their other activities and doing the day to day stuff. For the last month though, my life has been these brown boxes....a never ending sea of boxes >.< I have really missed my blogging though and would like to get back to it, slowly but surely! I know this is a crazy time to come back as we are in the middle of packing and moving our whole life of the past 3 years in this house but at the same time I will have a lot more to share :) I am really going to try my best and hopefully not let my followers down! 2013 is going to be filled with a lot of new experiences for our family and I am looking forward to sharing them, so please hold me to it ♥

On another note, I hope everyone had a very happy Easter! The twinkies did an Easter egg hunt in the midst of the packing chaos...but it gave me a lot more hiding places, so it was a real big hit! I'm pretty sure we found all the ones that I hid, and if not...it will be an interesting surprise come unpacking time,lol!

I'm Still Here-ish!

noreply@blogger.com (HOUSEWIFED) — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 17:35:00 +0000

Hey everyone! So sorry for my lack of posts and updates >.< Things have been a bit of a whirlwind since we went on vacation, got back, and the kids started school & activities! I thought I would have more time to myself and to blog but it has been quite the opposite....and when I DO get a few mins to myself I am ready to sleep or zone out,lol. I am sure most of you can relate???? So, with that being said....I hope you all can forgive me and I promise I will be back to posting regularly again soon. I just gotta get my sea legs so to speak with having all my kids in school and activities.

I hope you all are doing well! I will leave you with a few of my fave pics from my Maine trip with the kids this summer (more to come!) ♥

Counting Down!

noreply@blogger.com (HOUSEWIFED) — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 01:24:00 +0000

I am official counting down to m BIG summer trip to my hometown on the coast of Maine! I am so excited & anxious all at once >.< I am soooooo happy to be going to see my family & friends but I'm always a bit anxious when I am away from the Hubs. He is definitely the glue that keeps our family together and I'm not gonna lie...the kids really only listen to him,lol! This will be our 3rd summer trip there without him though so hopefully things will go smoothly now that the kids are another year older. I do get to see him on the ride up there though as he is dropping us off ^^ My brother in-law is flying in first thing tomorrow morning and he will be going with us on our road trip as well! Fun times!

I can't believe it myself but I have the kids all packed....that like, never ever happens this far in advance. I'd like to give a shout out to space bags to-go cause they were a life saver in this process. I packed 7 outfits each since I will have access to washer & dryer and I don't want to bring a million things like I normally do. I think I brought their whole closet last year...no kidding! We will be there a couple of weeks (or possibly even a month!?) so I think we will be OK with the clothes situation...and I have been told not to being any toys or activities as my Mom and Grandma have some waiting...yay, less to pack! My personal packing is another story....such a nightmare! I think that won't be all packed until the night we leave ^^

Anyways, I just wanted to give a quick update and let you know I am still here! I will be busy until we leave on Saturday night so I probably won't be updating until next week once we get settled into my Mom's place. I hope you all enjoy the rest of your week and your weekends. Sending lots of love and hugs to you all ❤

p.s., I have lost another 5 lbs this past week and i am so excited! I am down over 40lbs since last year (33.3 lbs since April). I am not getting too attached to the recent 5lb loss since I am going on vacation and I will not have my treadmill...but I will do my best not to go too crazy *crossing fingers*

{Recipe} 계란말이 Gaeran Mari - Korean Stuffed Omelette

noreply@blogger.com (HOUSEWIFED) — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 17:18:00 +0000

One of our favorite side dishes is Gaeran Mari (계란말이), which is a Korean stuffed omelette. It is very similar to Tamagoyaki, which is a sweet Japanese rolled omelette but ingredients and technique is just a little bit different...both are perfect in any Bento though! We do love them both but I usually make this one more often as the kids love the gim (seaweed/nori) and veggies.

The ingredients are very simple and you probably have everything you need right in your cupboards (ok, maybe not the seaweed ^^). With Gaeran Mari you can make it without the seaweed and also add any veggies you like...you even add a little bit of diced ham if you'd like!

Today, these are the ingredients I used:

3 eggs
1/2 cup frozen veggies
1 sheet of gim (seaweed)
1/2 tsp of minced onion
1 teaspoon of lite soy sauce
olive oil to grease the pan (you can also use cooking spray)

Preparation:

Whisk your egg, then add the soy sauce, onion and veggies until well combined. (I cook and slightly mash the frozen veggies ahead of time).
In a lightly greased saute pan, pour egg mixture and heat slowly over low heat.
Wait until the egg is almost cooked through, then place seaweed sheet on top of the omelette.
Roll the omelette gradually into a tight roll by lifting side with spatula or chopsticks. Let it cook a few seconds longer after the omellete is rolled to seal it up good.
Transfer your omelette carefully onto a plate then let it rest for a few minutes to cool. I usually tightly wrap a paper towel around it to soak up any excess oil and to firmly hold it's shape while it's cooling.
Once the omelette is firm and cool, slice into 1/2-1 inch pieces depending on your preference (you don't want to slice too thinly or it will fall apart when slicing).

We usually serve our Gaeran Mari with rice but today the kids had theirs with some noodles! Yummy :)

Confessions of a Drama Queen

noreply@blogger.com (HOUSEWIFED) — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 21:19:00 +0000

We got a mini-van! I am uber excited because we will be taking it on our big road trip to Maine in a couple of weeks and now we can ride comfortably instead of squeezing into our car (my brother in law is coming too!). Aside from the horror ride coming back from picking it up, I am really happy about it...and they kids are too as you can see ^^

Now, I will let you in on a little secret that only my close friends know about me. I am afraid of driving....like REALLY really afraid. I didn't get my license until I was 27 and after that I only drove around our little island in Maine and surrounding towns. If I did drive on road trips I was with girl friends and it was way less frightening. Since I have moved from my hometown about 5 years ago, I have only driven a 4-6 mile radius from my house...luckily we are close by to malls and shops. So anyways, yesterday my Hubs called me and told me we would be driving to Virginia to pick up the new van and that I had to drive our car home....alone. I immediately felt nauseous. I was even more nervous at the fact that I would be driving so far through big cities at night since I am supposed to wear glasses due to my night blindness and I lost those years ago. On the way out there I guilted my Hubs into stopping to buy me an XL Hazelnut coffee for my ride back....I knew I probably would not have made it without my DD super powers of course! So with my ipod playlist loaded with Kpop & Jeff Buckley and with my coffee in hand I was off! All I remember is the van tail lights as I followed the Hubs and the ride taking FOR.EV.ER @.@ (and by forever I mean a little over an hour), the rest of it is just a big blur.We drove through Fairfax, D.C., and into Maryland off the highway cause the 6 lanes would've given me a sure heart attack. Looking back on it though, it probably would've been the smarter and quicker choice. I did learn something about myself from this venture though and that is, I will NEVER be a city girl. I will enjoy my new mini-van while driving it around my comfort zone in my area or on our family road trips with the Hubs driving and I am 100% OK with that :)

Just Dance

noreply@blogger.com (HOUSEWIFED) — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 12:27:00 +0000

This is what we have been up to these past few days....

We got Just Dance Kids 2 for the Wii and it has been a bit of an obsession for all of us :) I love watching the kids getting into the songs and dances ♥ This is the perfect thing for the kiddo's on days it's either too hot or too rainy to go outside and they can use up some of that energy! I also love that they include songs from kids shows that they recognize as well as some classics like Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes and The Hokey Pokey ....I could do without Justin Bieber though >.<

You can find Just Dance Kids 2 at your local Best Buy store or online at Amazon.com
(it's also available for Playstation 3 & Xbox)!

Here is the full song list::

Accidentally in Love - Counting Crows
Alright - David Choi
Are You Sleeping - The Just Dance Kids
Barbara Ann - The Beach Boys
Burning Up - Jonas Brothers
Crocodile Rock - Elton John featuring Nelly Furtado
Despicable Me - Pharrell Williams
Dumb Love - Sean Kingston
Itsy Bitsy Spider - The Just Dance Kids
Feeling Good - Michael Bublé
Five Little Monkeys - The Just Dance Kids
Follow The Leader - The Wiggles
Girls Can Too - The Just Dance Kids
On Our Way - The Just Dance Kids
Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes - Nadia Gifford
Hold Still - Yo Gabba Gabba!
I’m A Gummy Bear (The Gummy Bear Song) - Gummibär
I’m Gonna Catch You - Laurie Berkner
Intuition - Selena Gomez & the Scene
Istanbul - The Four Lads
Jingle Bells - The Just Dance Kids
Jump Up! - Imagination Movers
Just The Way You Are - Bruno Mars
Lollipop - The Chordettes
Love Me - Justin Bieber
Mah Nà Mah Nà - The Just Dance Kids
Party Goes Down - The Just Dance Kids
Positivity - Ashley Tisdale
Rocketeer - Far East Movement
Shake Your Groove Thing - Peaches & Herb
Something That I Want - Grace Potter
Song 2 - Blur
Start All Over - Miley Cyrus
Summer School - Twirl
The Hokey Pokey - The Just Dance Kids
The Lion Sleeps - Tonight The Evening Birds
The Robot Song - Yo Gabba Gabba!
The Shimmie Shake! - The Wiggles
Hand In Hand - The Just Dance Kids
Whip My Hair – Willow Smith

Pantry Cleaning Day! ....Woo....Hoo

noreply@blogger.com (HOUSEWIFED) — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 17:47:00 +0000

Today on my "to do" list was cleaning out & organizing our teeny tiny little kitchen pantry...ahhh, who am I kidding, it's BEEN on my to do list for weeks >.<

Our previous rental had a full on walk-in pantry, so adjusting to life with this little closet was/is pretty difficult. We found it more important to store the cleaning supplies then food in this pantry as a safety precaution for the kids....but it quickly turned into that closet you just keep stuffing things into and then can't find what you're looking for.

Now, I did "kinda sorta" plan ahead and saved a bunch of our baby spinach containers from Sam's Club...you know the ones I'm talking about (see below)

img via http://itzlinz.com

These containers were perfect for storing the sponges, cleaners, flashlights and batteries in so they weren't just falling all over the place on the wire shelves...I can't tell you how many times a cleaning bottle or flashlight would jump out at me on a daily basis. The best part about them is they are free and recycled, so think twice next time you go to throw out your spinach containers!

Here are my before and after pics of my pantry....nothing super fancy but I am happy with it! Now, I wonder how long it will stay this way??? ^^

Summer Freebies @ Budget Savvy Diva

noreply@blogger.com (HOUSEWIFED) — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 15:04:00 +0000

I wanted to take a minute to share one of my favorite sites, Budget Savvy Diva ♥. This site has the most up to date list of really fab freebies and you can easily follow her updates on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter to make sure that you never miss out on a great deal. She also features recipes, crafts, coupons, and other easy ways to save! You can find Budget Savvy Diva's website @ http://www.budgetsavvydiva.com .

Here are just some of the awesome freebies I have been able to snag so far this summer (some are not pictured because I already used them ^^). My faves thus far have to be the Target Beauty Bag, the Keurig tumbler for Iced Coffee and the free K-cups from Tully's ♥ ...my Hubs fave would probably be the Breathe Right strips for me >.<

While most of these freebies are no longer live, there are still plenty of great freebies posted daily, so don't miss out!

Summer Chaos

noreply@blogger.com (HOUSEWIFED) — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 19:17:00 +0000

Summer is getting the best of me these days and my poor blog has been suffering ....so sorry for the lack of updates >.< We have been really busy these days and it will only get busier as our big Maine trip is coming up! I am so excited to go back home and spend some quality time with family & friends though ♥. I've already decided I will not be going on hiatus, just posting here and there when I get a chance....hopefully over coffee...on the deck...looking out over the beautiful ocean ^^

So in the meantime, please forgive me...I promise I am not abandoning my blog, I am just REALLY bad at multi-tasking (gotta work on that).

As for our weekend, we were busy being lazy and recovering from our trip last weekend and our day of house hunting on Wednesday...although we did manage to get out for dinner last night to Joe's Crab Shack at Washingtonian Center ^^

How was your weekend????

High 5 for Friday 7/13

noreply@blogger.com (HOUSEWIFED) — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 17:04:00 +0000

1} My son told me that I'm gorgeous ♥ ...even if he is the only boy in the world that thinks so, that's enough for me ^^

2} I lost 5 more lbs! I am down to over 30 lbs lost now, I am so excited!

3} I Do I Do Kdrama.... Hwang Ji An FINALLY tells Park Tae Kang that he is the father of her baby!

4} We went house hunting!!!!

5} Hazelnut Coffee from DD ....w/ extra EVERYTHING ♥

All I can say is TGIF...even though it's the 13th as well @.@ I hope you all have a happy and safe weekend everyone! ♥♥♥

Weekend Wedding

noreply@blogger.com (HOUSEWIFED) — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 19:32:00 +0000

I'm so sorry it took me so long to make this post about our weekend in Chesapeake and Peanut's Flower Girl venture...it's been a bit busy on the home front as well as me nursing a pretty bad burn on my back. All in all it was nice to get out of town for a bit and escape the craziness of the week before.

Our first stop after our 4 hour car trip was to Virginia Beach. We had to kill some time before we could check in to the hotel so we knew the kids would enjoy cooling off in the water a bit. This beach was not like the one I am used to in Wilmington and was way too sandy for my liking, but the kids enjoyed it so it made all the sand (that I'm still washing out of clothes, hair, ears, etc) all worth it.

After about an hour of the hot sun and surf we decided to make our way to the hotel and see if we could get an early check-in since we still had a rehearsal dinner to attend and we were in serious need of a nap. I was pleasantly surprised to see that our hotel was right next door to the Dollar Tree factory....it's one of my favorite stores when it comes to home organization....man, I'd love to take a tour of that place ( & some inventory!).

We stayed at the Hyatt and our room was AMAZING, probably one of my favorite hotel rooms of all time...and we have stayed in many. I was a little sad we would only be staying one night here, but we will definitely be keeping this hotel in mind for future reference. This room was any parents dream who is traveling with kids...without a doubt ♥

The Rehearsal dinner was lovely and it was so great to see my friend from back home and honored that Peanut was able to be apart of her wedding. Some might find it odd that I went considering she was one of my brother's ex girlfriends, but she was like a little sister to me and so helpful when the twins were born, I couldn't say no. Peanut was given the most adorable bracelet with her name on it as her flower girl gift and has yet to take it off. I think she will keep it on until she grows out of it :)

Bella & the Bride @ Rehearsal Dinner

The morning of the wedding we ate some yummy breakfast at the hotel and I spent the next hour curling Peanut's hair...only for it to fall out completely by the time we reached the wedding hall! Oh humidity, we are not friends @.@ So I had to re-curl her hair in the bathroom and coat her with more hairspray then I would wear on a normal day in the 80's. So sorry ozone >.<

The wedding was beautiful (& pink, wiiiii!) and Peanut did her job perfectly despite our reservations...not that we didn't have faith in her, but as I've said before, 4 year old are unpredictable. You really never know what to expect, especially in a situation such as this. I am happy she got to have this experience though because what little girl doesn't want to put on a pretty dress & be a flower girl??? I am also hoping that it helped a bit with her shyness since she will be starting school in a couple of months.

I must note that Bobo was a super trooper during this whole thing... thank you little man ♥

The rest of the day was great, until we left to go home and were stuck in traffic for 6 hours on the way back @.@ We treated ourselves to some yummy Indo food and went to bed early...although I think I am still in recovery mode from the whole weekend,lol. TGI almost F!

Wordless Wednesday: House Hunting

noreply@blogger.com (HOUSEWIFED) — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 23:36:00 +0000

So much for blogging today ... my Hubs surprised me with him having a day off and us house hunting allllllllll day! So many nice places, but this model home with the game room in the basement was my fave...the kids too obvi ^^

Tonight's MyPlate Dinner 7/10

noreply@blogger.com (HOUSEWIFED) — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 22:07:00 +0000

Hi everyone, I am finally back from my weekend away and ready to get back in the swing of things...ish ^^

We recently ordered these wonderful MyPlate's for the kids (as well as a set for ourselves). I think it really helps to ensure the kids get well balanced meals everyday. The kids plate portions have dividers while the adult plates just have a basic map of what goes where as a healthy portion size.... both are equally fabulous although I am partial to the cartoon characters on the kids plates ♥

For tonight's dinner the kids had Ayam Panggang Kecap (Indonesian BBQ chicken in sweet soy sauce), Brown Rice, Gaeran Mari w/ veggies (Korean rolled egg), and Watermelon. These are some of their faves, so dinner went fast!

If you want to learn more about MyPlates, please visit http://www.healthykidsplate.com! If you'd like to order your own, you can do so at the aforementioned site or you can order via amazon.com.

....I still owe you a post about my weekend & Peanut as a flower girl, so stay tuned! Maybe in the morning, it's been a rough day (today is my Monday >.<).

I hope you enjoy the rest of your day ♥

Flower Power

noreply@blogger.com (HOUSEWIFED) — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 13:30:00 +0000

Today Peanut is rehearsing for her role as flower girl for our friends wedding this weekend. With a 4 year old, anything can happen....so we are getting in as much practice as possible. To help her get ready, I took an Easter basket and crumpled up some pieces of newspaper to pose as flowers. She has been walking up and down the hallway all morning practicing :)

Oh.... and we have power back! It was a long few days but we made it through OK...sadly our food did not. BUT, we are all safe & healthy and that's what matters most so I will try not to dwell on it. There are still thousands without power, and as the days get hotter, my heart goes out to them. You all are in my thoughts, please stay safe & cool ♥.

We are preparing to leave for the wedding so I will not be back to blogging until after the weekend. Lots of pics to come, so stay tuned :) I hope you all have a great weekend! xoxo

Mini-Hiatus

noreply@blogger.com (HOUSEWIFED) — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 16:28:00 +0000

Due to the unforeseen weather & power outage, I will not be able to blog for the next week or so. The power company says we won't have power until at least next Friday, then I will be going to a wedding out of state over the weekend. I will probably be back the second week in July...but not sure yet. I will have to play it by ear for now. In the meantime we will be living in hotels & friends houses, so I'm not sure how much access I will have to the internet.

I hope everyone has a great couple of weeks, and I will see you again soon *crossing fingers*. For those of you in the same situation as me, please be safe & try to stay cool and hydrated! My thoughts are with you & your families ♥

Digging for Dino's!

noreply@blogger.com (HOUSEWIFED) — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 00:05:00 +0000

After seeing the forecast for the next week, I realized our outside fun was over...for awhile anyways. 90-100 degree temps are here, and that equals some pretty antsy kiddo's! I searched Pinterest for some fun inside activities & I think I found the perfect one as it involves something that will keeping them cool...ice!

This activity involves digging in a big block of ice for Dinosaurs...and of course we have plenty of those on hand.(I also threw in a couple of zoo animals too...why not?!) ^^

Once Bobo found out what our activity was for the day, he got out one of his Dinosaur books that was about digging for dinosaur bones and started studying...I really ♥ my little "Ross" ^^

I knew yesterday that we would be working on this project, so I started preparing it last night since it involves layering the dinosaurs in ice. If you put everything in at once, then the dino's would sink all the way to the bottom and what fun is that?! I started off with a big freezer safe food container (Rubbermaid) and added about an inch of water and let that freeze before putting in any of the dino's. Once the first layer was frozen, I added 3 dino's and then another layer of water and let it sit overnight. First thing this morning I added 3 more dino's with another layer of water, and then a couple hours later, one more layer of everything. It's now 3:30 in the afternoon and 103 degrees out, so this is a perfect time for them to start digging! The last layer wasn't 100% frozen but it was close enough, so I set the container into a bowl of cold water so I'd be able to get the big ice cube out easily and then put it into another large container to catch all the water and ice chips...because let's face it, this is going to get messy! So once everything was ready,I put on their craft aprons, gave them some spoons and let them have at it!

They spent a couple of hours on this project and we still didn't get all the dino's & animals out before dinner, so we put the rest back in the freezer so they can finish it up tomorrow. We will definitely be doing this activity again, the kids both said that this was their most favorite thing in the whole world! That right there makes this a total success ^^

**Some additional suggestions that I have gotten from friends was to add sand so they can't see what they are digging out, and also keeping some salt handy to help loosen the ice. These are both great ideas I will try next time we do this outside!

I hope you all have a great weekend! Stay cool ♥

High 5 for Friday

noreply@blogger.com (HOUSEWIFED) — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 18:14:00 +0000

1} The Bachelorette was super fantastic on Monday...although I really wish that Emily would just ditch those guys and run away with Chris Harrison already! I did feel a little bad for Doug & that awkward kiss before she sent him on his way...seriously dude, wth was that?!

img via glamour.com

2} THIS!

Marty, where is MY hover board?! I have been waiting!

3} My Hubs got his 2nd Master's Degree! Congrats babe!

4} Korean Buffet ....so fabulous! This is what my plate looked like with a couple of other things thrown in. I ♥ Japchae

img via maangchi.com

5} TGIF!!!! I am soooo ready for the weekend!

How was your week?! Link up at frommygreydeskblog.com!

Tech Probs: Commenting

noreply@blogger.com (HOUSEWIFED) — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 16:50:00 +0000

I have had a few problems over the past couple of months with my commenting system. I am not a huge fan of the generic system provided by blogger so I wanted to use something with more options. Usually Disqus is my go-to commenting system but it was crashing my site when people tried to comment on my blog, so I tried out Intense Debate....and once again it was crashing my site although not EVERY time. I am sad that I have lost all of my previous comments on this site but have decided to go back to the generic commenting system until I figure out why I am having so many probs with these other ones. Has anyone else encountered this problem with Intense Debate or Disqus??? If so, i'd love to hear about it and any fixes or alternatives you might know of!

For those of who had left comments before, I promise I didn't delete them on purpose and I appreciate the time you took to write them (I did read them all!). You should no longer encounter any problems leaving comments and I always look forward to reading them...so please, comment away! Even if it's just a "Hello, I was here!" ^^

Hello Kitty Eggs

noreply@blogger.com (HOUSEWIFED) — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 16:41:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago I was able to snag a free Hello Kitty Silicone Ice Tray from BizarkDeal.com. It arrived yesterday and I couldn't be more excited! I am not only impressed with the speedy delivery (from China!) but also the quality. I love it so much I may have to order a couple more of them since they can be used as more then just an ice tray. Because it is made out of silicone, it can withstand temps up to 500F, so I can also use it for baking...whether it be muffins or crayons!

This morning I was already boiling some eggs for egg salad, so I threw in a couple of extra eggs to try them out in our new ice tray! After the eggs were done boiling, I let them cool down just a bit before peeling them. I took 2 of the peeled eggs and promptly put them into the ice try molds while they were still very warm so they would be easier to shape. Since we always buy large eggs, I knew they wouldn't fit all the way into the mold, so I stuffed in what I could and placed a heavy bowl on top of the tray to hold them firmly in place and let them set for about 10-15 minutes.

I was really happy with the way they came out! The detail in the face and bow are pretty good considering this is not an actual egg mold. Next I took just a tiny dab of red food coloring and painted the bow with it using a Q-tip, and then did the same with the yellow food coloring for the nose. As you can see, the kids were pretty excited about their Hello Kitty eggs, so I will definitely be incorporating this in future Bento lunches for them :)

**please note: when you are using any kind of mold for your eggs, make sure the eggs are cooked so that the yolk stays in the middle, otherwise you will get some breakage when you try to fit your eggs into the molds. You can keep the yolks in the center by turning your eggs every few minutes -very carefully- with a spoon while they are cooking.

7 Questions {2}

noreply@blogger.com (HOUSEWIFED) — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 19:47:00 +0000

Funny Photo

Bobo used to do this a lot (age 1 1/2)

1. If you could be any princess- which would you be and why?
I have to go with a real one & say Princess Kate! She is so classy & beautiful, and I love that she is not afraid to wear the same dress twice to public events.

2. Do you have any odd habits? (do things in order, words that you say too often, etc)
I'm sure I do but I am drawing a total blank at the moment...I definitely have odd phobias though. For example, I'm afraid of non domestic animals...especially deer. No, sadly, I am not joking,lol

[EDIT] I just thought of one of my odd habits! I have to watch The King of Queens before I go to sleep every night...for realz @.@

3. What's your "go to" outfit?
these days I'd have to say my Old Navy kimono shirt and blue jeans. it can be casual or dressy depending on shoes and accessories and it's super comfy.

4. Do you have any siblings? What are their genders, ages, order of age, names, etc?
4 brothers (i know *sigh*) ages 36, 28, 25, 23 ...i think??? I would post their names but they would probably whine about it, so...lol

5. What's your favorite precious stone?
my birthstone, a sapphire

6. If you had a check in your hand for 1 million dollars, what would you do with it?
the very first thing I would do is go on a honeymoon with my hubs...we have never had one and I could really use a vacation at this point! After that, donate some money to a charitable cause & put some money away for my kids for their future.

7. What do you love most about yourself- physically (eyes, smile, hair, etc. I don't know a good way to word that question...)
I always hated my eyes (they are blue) and really wanted brown eyes instead. So...I got some brown contacts, and then promptly realized I really loved my own eyes after all! So my answer would be my eyes ^^

**if you want to link up your 7 questions, visit http://gentrilee.blogspot.com!

Getting There

noreply@blogger.com (HOUSEWIFED) — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 20:19:00 +0000

About 2 weeks ago I reached a milestone in my weight loss venture....I've lost a total of 20lbs!!!! I was actually a bit surprised to reach this already as I was unable to walk for about half of the time since I started this process 2 months ago.

This weight loss is so much more meaningful to me then the few times before when I have lost weight because this is the first time I have not tried out any fad diets, diet pills, diet shakes... I could go on. I have honestly worked hard for every one of these lbs lost by working out & watching what I eat. If you know me at all, you know that I LOVE food, so this was the hardest part for me...even more then the working out. BUT, I hope that this will be the time that it stays off since every other time I have put it right back. I am just going to keep doing what I have been doing and hopefully I will reach my goal and be able to stay there by eating healthy and indulging only once in awhile instead of everyday.

I really owe so much to Becky at Organizing Made Fun because her blog post on her weight loss journey is where I got inspired to finally take my own journey & I also heard about the wonderful site i'm using to track my daily food & exercise called Lose It. Thanks so much Becky, you continue to inspire me everyday with your wonderful blog & creative ideas ♥

It hasn't been easy but it's definitely worth it...especially when you can fit into your old "skinny clothes" again or those things you have bought that you hope to fit into one day (yay'z!).

Now if only I can get the rest of me straightened out!!!! .... baby steps ^^

p.s., this blog post comes to you from my lawn (what a gorgeous day! ♥)

Peanut Adventures: Washingtonian Center

noreply@blogger.com (HOUSEWIFED) — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 20:18:00 +0000

Today was my day out with Peanut, so I took her to one of my favorite places in the area, Washingtonian Center! I think I am so fond of this place because I grew up by the water and this is the closest thing we have to it here. That & it's just a fun place to walk around for awhile, or sit and watch the birds...and there are a lot of great shops here as well! We started our day off at Barnes & Noble for their Saturday morning Story Time. They have it on Wednesdays too, but on Saturday our favorite lady is there reading books. She always interacts with the kids while she is reading them stories and she is just really fun and expressive. After that we walked around the Boardwalk for a bit, watched the ducks & geese swim around, and had a snack under the Gazebo. We didn't get to stay outside too long since it turned out to be a hotter day then I had originally thought it would be, so we ended our little adventure with some shopping at Target ♥

This is where they hold concerts in the Spring/Summer! She looks like she is ready for a show ^^

This is the Gazebo we always sit in to have a snack...sometimes the geese will come up and try to steal our food!

Uhhhh....Mom, are you SURE this thing isn't real?!?!

I hope you enjoy your weekend everyone!

Friday I'm in Love ♥

noreply@blogger.com (HOUSEWIFED) — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 17:52:00 +0000

We don't have much on the docket today as it's another skorcha outside...so I broke out the play-doh!

Could they BE anymore excited???

It's been a super long & hot week and I am just really happy for the weekend to be here....so happy in fact that I may just print this out and wear it :) TGIF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What do you all have planned for the weekend??? I plan on eating some yummy food, enjoying the cooler weather outside with the kiddo's, curling up with A Gentlemen's Dignity, painting my nails, and counting down til the return on Army Wives on Sunday! ♥

High Five for Friday

noreply@blogger.com (HOUSEWIFED) — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 14:53:00 +0000

This is my first High Five for Friday which is hosted by Lauren@frommygreydeskblog.com!

My 5 favorite things of this week....

1} BIG ep. 5

Lots of fun stuff in this ep including a fake wedding photo shoot, a Kill Bill-esque scene with a Mom wielding a mop at her daughter for breaking off her engagement, & a surprising time jump! ...seriously can't wait to see how this drama unfolds ♥

2} My friend was on Bold & the Beautiful this week!

3} I found out one of my favorite movies is releasing a prequel!

4} Johnny Depp is SINGLE!!!!!!!!!

5} I REALLY needed this today @.@