Boss Lady Blog

Am I Being Helpful?

sabrina — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 04:40:57 +0400

This is what happens when the baby is screaming (which has become his favorite pastime) and your are FOCUSED and hurrying to make dinner AND your 2 year old decides to help unpack the groceries.

As I turned around I thought, how did I not hear or notice this?! Sleep deprivation? lol

“What’s that mom? You said I could put the spaghetti away in the drawer…if you didn’t want the spaghetti out of the box next time you need to be more specific.”

Luke’s 2nd Birthday

sabrina — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 12:12:59 +0400

Luke is turning 2…

possibly before or maybe after his new baby brother arrives…these things are hard to calculate. His birthday is on the 26th and since the new baby’s due date is on the 29th we decided we should hurry up and have a little party for him.

So I busted out a Thomas the Train cake for him…and by busted I mean 1/2 of the cake literally fell onto the floor. I contemplated throwing a fit and just going to the grocery store and buying a cake last minute, but I decided that since I wasn’t 2 years old and it wasn’t MY birthday that I’d not do that and just attempt to be “creative.” And thus I used the non-floor cake to make a tunnel for a train instead of just setting the train on top of the 2 layer “simple” cake I had been planning.

Ah well, everyone said they thought it turned out good…and Luke really enjoyed attempting to run the train into the tunnel.

He also REALLY enjoyed the Happy Birthday Song and even sang along, so cute.

And he did a great job blowing out the candles on his cake all by himself.

I thought it might be fun to play some sort of water balloon game. So I put some bowling pins and some water bottles on a table and gave the kids a couple hundred water balloons to throw at them…

Luke thought it was really fun at first…

although in the end we ended up making the birthday boy cry. He didn’t think getting splashed in the face with a near by water balloon was very funny.

So then we moved onto presents. He thought that was much more fun and for the first time was able to open his presents all by himself. What fun to be 2 years old!

Special thanks to Grandma V. for his new lawn mower…too bad it’s not real as ours just broke! So an extra special thanks to our neighbors who let us borrow theirs to mow our lawn that day!

Happy (early) 2nd Birthday Luke!

Birthday Obsessed

sabrina — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 07:13:34 +0400

It’s not a secret. Alyssa is completely obsessed with all things birthday’s…as in she talks and plans them years in advanced. But lately her obsession has turned into all things Chipmunks…as in Alvin and the Chipmunks and the Chipettes.

So of course when her birthday came around it had to be Chipmunk themed. With a little scrounging of McDonald’s toys and my amazing friends Jenny Yoshida Park’s artistic talent and Melissa Peterson’s crafty pom poms, we came up with some decorations for her party. (She now has the poster and flower pom poms in her room.)

We also purposely had her open a few gifts from the family before the party so we’d have a few more things to use as decorations.

She was beyond stoked to open an entire set of Chipmunk beanie babies (from her Grandmas) and a Chipettes shirt. And then really excited when she got a real camera (from her Aunt Cindy) and was able to take pictures of her Chipmunks.

It kinda threw me off having to make a Chipmunk cake for her birthday since she had been planning this birthday since last year and it was supposed to be Snow White themed. But ever since her Aunt Angie took her to see the Chipmunk movie it’s all she can talk about. So I began to research Chipmunk cakes…which took all of 5 minutes since it’s not the most popular birthday themed cake. But I did find one that was super cute and so I intended on making a cake similar to this one:

It seemed so perfect and this little girl turning 5 years old was also named Alyssa…how ironic! When I showed Alyssa this cake she loved it and so did I (minus the fondant, I really do not like the taste/texture of fondant). But then she decided she wanted her beach themed McDonald’s Chipmunk characters on the cake…which really didn’t go with this stage cake.

I didn’t even know where to start and ended up getting a late start. But a couple of days before the party Pinterest helped me find some cute beach themed cakes that looked easy enough to duplicate. So I began with a vague idea and just sort of went with it.

This cake and I were not friends at first. I made the bottom 2 cakes into a swirl cake which only look cool in this picture. lol When it was cut into pieces you couldn’t really see the cool swirls, especially since there were 2 chocolate cakes on top and they kinda squished down the white cakes. I would have rather put the chocolate cakes on the bottom, but these white ones crumbled coming out of the pan and so they had to go on the bottom. I ended up making 3 chocolate cakes since I accidentally burned one…which I have never done in my entire life…I blame tiredness since I was up until 3am making them.

Then there was the whole ordeal with putting the “sand” on the cake. (Of course my Cuisinart Food Processor broke and thankfully I had a smaller one I used back up to crush the graham crackers…thanks grandma). I couldn’t find an explanation of what order to put the “sand” on the cake. I ended up frosting the water first…and I have no idea why I am squatting on the floor and using 1/16th of my counter space to frost this cake.

Oh wait now I remember…it’s because I created a tornado of baking dishes and this was the only open space left. So thankful my mom suggested using a trash bag to catch the falling “sand” as I attempted to sprinkle it on the cake…that was an interesting step to this cake.

Then because I had a few moments to spare, I made pretzel lounge chairs for Brittany and Eleanor.

Here’s a final picture of Alyssa with her Alvin and the Chipmunks AND Chipettes Cake.

She LOVED the umbrellas and we put them in the cupcakes too. I was a little hesitant about serving the “sand” section to her party guests, so I started with the water first. It worked out perfectly so that most everyone got the water icing, but I did try the sand section of cake and it wasn’t as strange as I thought it might be.

Egg Hunt

All of the kids were super excited about the egg hunt…this year we had 2 heats. I “hid” 200 eggs and as it turns out there isn’t really room to “hide” 200 eggs in our yard, but I don’t think the kids cared that they were just spread all over the grass.

We let all the little kids go first and then….

Unleashed the older kids…..

Oh wait…how did that picture get in there? :)

Happy 5th Birthday Alyssa!

Are you impressed with the Happy Birthday Banner Luke through together for her really quick 10 minutes before the party? I was!

Growing Boys and Bellies

sabrina — Fri, 25 May 2012 04:02:10 +0400

Evan

As you all have noticed, Evan wears glasses now. I’ll have to admit that I was not super excited about this new phase and it has been quite challenging, but we’re all adjusting quite nicely. He seems to have quite the celebrity look with his glasses on. His first pair made him a Harry Potter look-alike. His second pair…well we lost those quite quickly….if anyone sees them let me know!! And his third pair, made out of the most amazing material straight from Italy that are virtually indestructible (a necessity for 3 year olds), make him look like Ben Folds.

Little Harry Potter

Little Ben Folds

Luke

I keep forgetting that Luke isn’t a baby anymore. My realization came about 2 months ago when he started walking down the stairs holding onto the railing like a “big boy.”

And now even more so today after we took the rails off of his crib last night.

He’d taken the plunge out of his crib a couple of times with the urging/help of Alyssa in the mornings before I could get up to his room. So we decided it was about time for him to be promoted to a big boy bed.

He thinks it’s the greatest thing.

He had no issues going to bed last night. I figured if there was going to be a challenge it would be during nap time and I was right.

All ready for bed with his blankets and books.

This morning posing on his bed

Jumping on his bed

Ready for nap time this afternoon with his books

(And Yes I know it’s sad that I don’t change his clothes until they get messy or we’re going somewhere…I think it’s just a boy thing, I never did that with Alyssa. lol)

With Evan it was an epic challenge…there were many many days of crying and putting him back in his bed. With Luke I put him down for his nap like normal and closed the door and it was quite. And hour and a half later I walk up stairs to hear his tiny voice talking. When I looked in he had piled his bed with toys and books. I unloaded his bed and told him to lay down and go to sleep, but this time I came back to check on him after 2 minutes.

And right as I’m about to open the door I hear

“CLICK.”

I don’t know why I found this so funny, but I did. Yes, he locked me out of his room. But that’s what the paper clip is for that I keep at the top of his door frame. After that I put him back in bed and waited outside the door with the door cracked until he fell asleep. So not bad for his first day in his big boy bed. So thankful he is more compliant than Evan in these situations.

On a sort of related note. I took the kids to see Elmo Live last week.

As I was sitting with Luke watching him grin ear to ear I had to blink a lot to keep the tears from pooling in my eyes. So fun to watch them experience new things, but I’m sort of annoyed with this whole emotional thing I have going on while being pregnant. Crying at Elmo Live, really?! That’s just silly.

And speaking of pregnant. I like to eat desserts when I’m pregnant, yes strange I know, but very true. Last week Luke brought home a white bakery box and told me that I’d never guess what was inside. I guessed “Donuts?” And when I opened the box I was right and wrong all in one instant. It was ONE GIGANTIC DONUT!

AND it was the most amazingly wonderful donut I have ever had in my entire life. True story.

(Luke can vouch for this one because I did kindly share it with him.)

You’ve got to try it…Duvall Farmer’s Marked Thursdays from 3-7pm. Be there or be skinny.

P.S. Do you like my new blog background? I think it’s refreshing and much less pink. hehe

It’s Just Not Right

sabrina — Sun, 06 May 2012 09:59:36 +0400

1. We went to a Cinco De Mayo themed dinner where guacamole wasn’t present and most everything was from pre-packaged food purchased at Costco. AND it seemed no one else noticed that it was strange except me.

No + = ?!

2. During the party 2 non related friends of mine at the SAME TIME made a reference to “May the force be with you” WHILE holding up their hands and making the Vulcan Hand Sign. I about died and might have to disown them as friends.

3. All the men there decided to go see the Avengers and leave the wives home with the kids.

So is it just me or is that just not right?! What a strange evening…it must be the huge moon making things a bit wacky tonight. lol

Don’t Be Ridiculous

sabrina — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 01:47:45 +0400

I’ve been trying new things with Alyssa’s crazy hair lately. The other evening when she got out of the bath I put her hair up in a few sock buns. She thought I was braiding and putting clips in it.

After I was finished she walked past a mirror and with a shocked voice said “That looks ridiculous! Why did you put socks in my hair?! That is so ridiculous!”

It took a little while for Luke and I to convince her to keep them in and that the next day it would make her hair look pretty.

Here she is slightly embarrassed about her hair. I think it’s cute even with the socks.

I didn’t get a picture of her in the morning, but here are a couple from the afternoon.

It turned out pretty cute I think.

A Come Back from Sloppy Joes

sabrina — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 02:19:07 +0400

My husband is not a fan of Sloppy Joes and I am well aware of this fact, but I can only go so long without serving them up for dinner. And when I do, I feel kinda guilty for making something I know he doesn’t like. He’s a good sport about it and attempts to play it up for my kids who are also weary. He even added grilled onions to his this last time in attempts to make it more appetizing to him. But when I asked how it was I could tell it didn’t help much. Seriously after this 4th kid arrives I’d really really hope to turn at least one of my family members to my side.

So in attempts to make a come back from Sloppy Joes…this is for you Luke. I think I’ll get lots of points for this one.

I made a 1/2 gallon of Iced Coffee from this blog I found via Pinterest. Here’s my attempt to recreate her Iced Coffee blog. She made it sound so easy, but here’s my experience.

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First of all the recipe was for a gallon which made me hesitant to make it. But then a friend who had made it suggested that I just make a half gallon…great idea Laurie!

So I took a 1/2 a bag of my favorite coffee combined with a 1/2 gallon of water to soak for 12 hours…that was the easiest part.

Then comes what I thought was also a no brainer. Use some coffee filters to strain the coffee into a pitcher…

The first pour went fabulous…

But then everything went crazy. My coffee filters would sometimes fall into the pitcher…so I used smaller measuring cups…so 1 day, 10 coffee filters and a coffee ring counter top later…I finally had my 1/2 gallon of coffee concentrate. Whew…that was a challenge.

After that part it was super easy…Evaporated Milk + Sweetened Condensed Milk = Sweet Cream Awesomeness.

Fill your cup up with ice, 3/4 full of coffee and top it off with the sweet cream.

Add a pink straw…get your kids some CapriSuns so they won’t be jealous….

And wha la…Happy Family. Tastes like a bottled Starbucks Frappacino!

Cheers!!

Oh yes…you must always use a fancy cup…it just tastes better that way.

Here’s our typical dinner cups. Can you tell whose is whose? Luke makes fun of me but I don’t care, “I like me a fancy cup.” hehe

Moment of Fame

sabrina — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 03:07:01 +0400

I was interviewed by Michelle Crouch, freelance writer for Parent magazine, about a year ago. She found me through what she called my mommy blog. Which reminds me that I’ve been thinking about renaming my blog and giving it a new look…I’ll put that on the to do list. Anyway. She called and talked to me for about 20 minutes and asked me to give her some unique ideas for we how calmed one of our babies. All the good/normal-ish ideas were already taken so I reached for kind of a strange one that we used to do with Alyssa and she loved it.

So now about a year later, here I am with my name published in Parent Magazine. Kind of exciting to be a magazine junkie and then all of a sudden get to be in one!

My friend Ann Yen asked me to post a picture of my fame. I think it’s not as cool as reading it in a real life magazine, but alright…for those of you who don’t subscribe to Parent Magazine (haha- most of my friends/family) here you go. :)

Here is a picture of the front of the March issue of Parent Magazine. Mine came wet and ripped…lovely right?! Of course it did. The one time I get a moment of fame. But thank you to my facebook friend Kelly Miller for offering me to send her nice copy to me!

And here is page 84. That’s my quote circled (by me) and published in big red letters!

And for those of you actually interested in my crazy quote.

Alyssa’s Room–Part 1

sabrina — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:37:30 +0400

I decided to finally paint Alyssa’s room. I had wanted to do it as soon as we moved in (3 years ago), but it didn’t seem a priority at the time. And then I procrastinated. But it’s finally done…well almost. I have some leaves to paint and some branches to hot glue and well…well is any room every completely done?

I suppose it took me so long to paint her room because I couldn’t decide on the color…yellow…green…pink…white…green…pink… Well the pink won out. But I was nervous about pink. I like pink, but frankly pink walls scare me because I feel like they can go from cute on paper to tacky on walls. So I started out light. I stayed up all night painting light pink on the walls and I received the below responses.

This is how you know you’ve messed up royally.

Husband: Hmmm maybe we should paint the baseboards purple?

Alyssa: That is NOT pink…it’s like white pink.

Alright fine. I’ll get a darker pink, but I still couldn’t see myself painting the entire room a bright pink. So I kept 2 walls light pink and I thought about a 1/2 wall of pink…which turned into more of a pink mountain. It was supposed to be more of a canopy of pink flowing around her bed…kind of like one of those mosquito nets (princess flowy thingies?) little girls have around their beds…just a painted version. But it was confirmed by my husband that it is definitely a mountain…especially since there are birds painted on the walls. Apparently the birds confirm the presence of a mountain…ah well. Well there’s that and the fact that I painted the peaks wrong, so yes it does look like a mountain and I’m okay with that.

I also added in a tree….I’ve always wanted to paint a tree on her wall and so I finally did it and it looks super cute I think…well at least it will when I finish the leaves. I also added in a few love birds.

This little love bird below is all by himself on a different wall that you see when you walk in. I found some really cute white branches for him to sit on, but they keep falling onto the floor…so I need to use a little hot glue maybe? or super glue? I haven’t figured that part out yet. I’ll let you know how it went in part 2.

Here’s a little preview of her room…almost finished. She seems to like it much better with the bright pink. She wasn't so sure about the blue, but I convinced her that it was like the sky. She also wasn’t thrilled about the tree ESPECIALLY Since it was BROWN…apparently she thought it should be pink…but there was no way I was painting a pink tree. The lid is firmly on that pink paint and available for anyone to borrow!

Stay tuned for part 2…which might be a while so don’t hold your breath! hehe

All Things Spider Man

sabrina — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 10:40:06 +0400

Our entire family (including our car) dressed up in Spider Man attire and sported our spidery-selves to the Trunk ‘N Treat at our church. It was kind of a bummer that it was on a Monday night because Luke is usually in charge of remembering all the techy stuff and he met us there right after work. I had so much to bring that I forgot our camera! Of all things right?! But there were plenty of picture takers at the party!

(Oh yeah we did also feature iron man and the Hulk at our car too…because they were big and cool looking…thanks Hensley’s for letting us borrow them!)

Okay so now that we are on the topic of Spider Man I need to go backwards in time for a few moments to Evan’s Birthday…which was also Spider Man themed!

Here he is…our 3 year old (well in July he turned 3) and I say this in the kindest motherly way…we love our 3 year old Evan much more than our 2 year old Evan.

Wow what a difference a year makes….seriously. He went from our “Who wants to deal with Evan? NOT IT – rock. paper. scissors?!” to back in the running for favorite kid.

We had originally ordered the shirt I was wearing for Evan…Luke ordered it and thought it would be a child’s large and just a tad big…well it turned out to be a youth large and it fit me, so I wore it to the party. The week before Evan’s party I found a spider girl costume at the party sale on clearance which Alyssa thought was awesome.

They had lots of fun attempting to do “spider moves” – they never quite got the whole spider web spraying hand move down, but they didn’t care.

Alyssa felt she needed to practice in the mirror…they both practiced their moves all day long in preparation for the party.

Since my mom and grandma flew in for Evan’s birthday I decided to have my mouth surgery the day before Evan’s party. I think it worked out okay, I wasn’t that swollen yet so I didn’t look THAT strange to everyone at the party, but I did carry around my Spider Man ice pack…people said it looked like I was talking on my spidey phone.

And I still managed to make Evan a Spider Man cake.

Well so after Evan blew out his candles I wanted to get a family picture with us and his cake. As we were preparing for the picture he took a candle out of the cake. I thought he would lick off the icing like kids generally do, but he had never done it before. He had only watched others do it because I had always said, “no you can’t lick other kid’s cake candles.”

So this was his BIG MOMENT…and instead of licking the candle he took a big BITE out of it…thinking it was edible. Watch the reaction on his face that the camera caught…so funny. And yes, little Luke, watch and learn so you don’t do the same when your turn comes around! lol

Poor guy!

The family picture thing didn’t work out so well so I just took one with just him. Which turned out MUCH cuter and MUCH happier!

And then we let him eat the icing off of the Spider Man instead of the candle.

That night he changed into his new Batman Jammies and said “Next year I’m going to have a Batman Party!!”

Happy (belated) 3rd Birthday Evan!