Thoughts from Tiffani

Unjoined

2012-02-20T23:05:00.000-06:00

I just weeded through the blogs I follow, and unjoined 20+ blogs. I know that sounds crazy right? But these blogs have not been posted on in 2+ months. I get tired of searching through bloggers that are not posting anything to figure out who is posting and what they are saying. I feel better and like I decluttered a little.

Now if those dinner dishes would just do themselves ;)

Good day Sunday

2012-02-19T22:43:00.000-06:00

I had a fabulous Sunday!

How about you??

Even though it started off way too early (Brayden never sleeps in when I want/get to), I managed to make the most of it!

I woke my hubby up early (even though he had a late night at the restaurant and early for him is 10:15 btw) and he took me and Brayden out to breakfast at Denny's. Brayden's naptime is anywhere from 10:45 to 11, so I wasn't sure how he would do. When we got there, the front door was packed. Luckily there was only a 15 minute wait, because Brayden became restless very fast. Once we were seated, he was easily entertained by the colors and kids menu. He did pretty good considering he was tired. He loved trying to throw things off the table, make lots of noise by banging on the table/plate and yelling at the top of his lungs, and didn't really eat much. The girls were at church with my mom and it is times like this that I really miss having them around to distract him. He is lucky he is so darn cute, because it is hard to stay mad at him, especially when he throws in "momma" and "dadda" while yelling and then blows us air kisses. He is just too much sometimes!!

Apparently, Denny's was too much for me to handle, because once I got Brayden laid down for his nap, I had a massive headache creep up on me. Since Marco is working the night shift tonight, I was able to lay down and rest till he left.

Once naptime was over and the girls were home, we hit the ground running. We had to go to Office Depot to get a copy made of Ella's birth certificate (for soccer), we had to go get Ella some new tennis shoes (for soccer), we had to eat lunch, and we had to meet at a tennis court (for Ella's soccer practice) since the field was too wet.

Ella was amazing at soccer! She worked hard, and did exceptionally well when it came time to scrimmage with the other little girls. I know that the season will be great, especially since her Daddy and her best friend's Daddy are her coaches!

After soccer practice, we had to make a grocery run for dinner, snacks, and Maddi's lunch stuff. I spent way too much, but I did find a cute shirt on clearance (I hope it fits because I sure wasn't going to try it on with all 3 kids hungry and tired). When we got home, the girls were super helpful putting away the groceries and getting dinner started. We made baked ziti and it was yummy and simple!! I used the Kraft mozzarella cheese that is now made with Philly Cream cheese, and it was wonderful (and only a few cents more than the store brand, score!)!! It was so creamy and melty (yes that is a word), I loved every bite of my 2 helpings!!

The kids are in bed, and I am enjoying some quiet time blogging and pinning!!

I hope you had a great day as well, and I hope we all have great weeks!!

Please keep my family in your prayers! My hubby is going to see a neurologist tomorrow! The story leading up to tomorrow will come soon, I just haven't had the strength to write it!!

Happy Love Day!!

2012-02-14T14:34:00.000-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Do you have any big plans?

A romantic evening with candles, wine, dining out or chocolate??

Nothing like that here ;)

My hubby (being a restaurant manager) will be at work, making sure everyone else's night out is perfect.

Don't feel bad for me though, I never see him on holidays that are big for going out to eat (ex: Valentine's, Mother's Day, Father's Day, etc.) so I am used to it.

Plus, we got to enjoy a great date night this past weekend, and he brought me home wine and chocolate last night, so I am more than ok!!

The kids and I had fun yesterday making a Pinterest inspired yummy snack to send to my hubby's work for his staff.

Taking care of couples and the occasional family on a holiday such as today can be draining, so I hope they enjoy the little pick-me-up!!

We started with waffle pretzels, Hershey's hugs, and Valentine's M&Ms.

We preheated the oven to 200 degrees, and used parchment paper on the cookie sheet.

I let the girls unwrap the the hugs, and put them onto the waffle pretzels.

Cook time is 3-5 minutes.

You want the hugs to be shiny and soft, not melted.

Pull cookie sheet out of oven and carefully place the M&M on top and gently press down.

Let them cool off in the fridge, then enjoy!!

The bite is so yummy since it is salty and sweet!!

The girls loved them, and Brayden loved sneaking our M&Ms!

I did send a lot to my hubby's work, but I of course left some here so the kids can enjoy them later!

I hope everyone has a fantastic Valentine's no matter how you are celebrating!!

300th post!!

2012-02-11T09:17:00.000-06:00

I can't believe it!!

This is my 300th post!

Where has the time gone??

To honor my 300th post, I would just like to recap a few blasts from the past!

I hope you enjoy :)

Of course, there has to be my very first blog ever written :)
Way back on 8-13-09!!
My First Blog

I always need a reminder to be thankful,
here is my Top Ten Thankfuls from a few years ago.
Top Ten Thankfuls

My very first A&A post! I miss doing those!
Awkward and Awesome Thursday

My first post in the A to Z Challenge
All About Me

Of course, there has to be a pinterest post, since it has taken over my world :)
Oh How Pinteresting

These are just a few of my favorite posts!

It was so hard to narrow down to just a couple.

I hope you enjoy reading, and I look forward to my next 300 posts!!

Sassy Pins

2012-02-10T09:27:00.000-06:00

I love Pinterest! I am obsessed, actually! After cruising through Pinterest while my kiddos watched cartoons this morning (Mom of the Year right here!!) and laughing hysterically, I decided I want to share with you some of my favorites from my Sassy board!!

These are just a few of my favorite sassy pins!!

To check out the rest head on over to my pinterest page!!

Then head back here and let me know your favorite one!!

Old Spice and Bounce Commercial

2012-02-08T09:08:00.000-06:00

I saw an Old Spice commercial last night watching Ink Masters with my hubby, and not only did it make me laugh out loud, it had me laughing several minutes after!!

I think Old Spice has some of the best commercials out there, and they just continue to get better and better!

I hope you that this video makes you laugh and helps you have a great day!!

Just a reminder that Old Spice is so good, it sells itself in other people's commercials!! LMAO!!!

Stencil Painting

2012-02-06T12:00:00.000-06:00

Did everyone have a great time watching the big game??

We went over to some friends house and laughed, ate, the kiddos played, and mainly watched the commercials and not the game. We had a blast, and it was awesome to get out of our house!!

Maddi was out of school on Friday, so I thought it would be fun to do a craft with all the kiddos. I had seen a stencil painting pin on pinterest, and I knew the girls would love it. I also thought Brayden would love to play in the paint as well.

I set up our area with the paper, paint, and cookie cutters to start. I wanted all the kids to have enough room, so we used our big roll of paper and painted on the back of the girls' hopscotch mat.

The girls' loved every minute of it, and decided to use paint brushes as well as the cookie cutters. Since Brayden wasn't really into the cookie cutters, I stuck his hand in the paint and helped him finger paint. Then I painted his feet. I know he enjoyed being messy! He tried to run off before I could hose him off ;)

The finished painting complete with the words Happy Vday! We used heart cookie cutters and the letters for the word love! I cannot wait to let the kids do this again!!

Here is the pin that inspired our creation:

Random Thoughts

2012-02-04T12:58:00.000-06:00

*I don't mind sorting, washing and drying my family's clothes, but I despise putting it all away!

*I never do dishes the day/night that I use them. I normally do dishes right before I cook dinner which means my kitchen stays dirty 99% of the time.

*I am working on getting myself normal again. I fell into a major funk right before we moved and the first few weeks we were here, but I am slowly getting back to myself.

*I did not like myself when I was in my funk. I constantly yelled at the kids, I was very disengaged with the older two, I had no energy, I had no desire to keep my house clean, and I was always snapping at my husband. It was very hard for me from day to day, and I am glad to be getting back to normal.

*I have relearned what I already knew, my husband is an amazingly patient, loving partner. I know most days he was exhausted from work, but he still put up with my crazy mood swings and lack of motivation.

*I have a sick obsession with sweets. I could eat cookies, candies, brownies, cakes (the list could go on) all day long. Most people have a sweet tooth, I feel I have a sweet pallet. My problem is I feel like I have no off switch and that my sweet cravings are never fulfilled. *That probably means I should lay off of the sweet stuff for awhile, but I am not sure I would make it!

*After learning the McDonald's has now stop using pink slime in their food, I don't know when I will eat fast food again!! If you have not heard about pink slime, then you need to you tube Jamie Oliver's video about the disgusting stuff! It is seriously nasty!!!! I could not believe the USDA allowed that in our food, and I can not believe how much I probably ate of it!

*I am not really into the Super Bowl, but I love the commercials!

Those are my Random Thoughts for today!

What are your Random Thoughts??

Creative Corner

2012-02-03T11:45:00.000-06:00

Wow! I just found this post that I started many months ago!! I had all the pictures uploaded, but never went back in and added the captions.

Silly forgetful me!!

This is a board that I made to go above my kids craft corner, and I absolutely love it!

I started with a small oval board that I painted yellow.

While the paint dried, I used magazines to cut out the letters I was going to use.

Once the paint was dry, I put a layer of mod podge on the board,

then I stuck on my letters,

and finally added another layer of mod podge on top to seal it all in.

For the final touches, I hot glued a small red ribbon on the back,

so I could hang it up.

It is so cute, and perfect for our craft corner!

Please excuse the mess of our craft area.

It stayed crazy cluttered most of the time!

This post was started before we moved!

I haven't found a spot for our creative corner in the new house yet.

Hopefully soon!!

What do you think about my little Creative Corner sign??

Indoor Bowling

2012-02-02T13:42:00.000-06:00

One of our favorite tv channels to watch in our house is Sprout. Brayden loves Chica the chicken on the Good Morning Show and Ella loves that cartoons still come on. One week they were talking about fun activities to do indoors, and we decided to try out one of their suggestions. So we played indoor bowling! It was a blast!!

All you need is some water bottles and a small plastic ball of some sort. We used 10 water bottles because Ella thought we needed to have the exact number of pins. Honestly less would have been better. It took more time to set up the 10 water bottles, and most of the time Brayden would knock them over before I had them all set up. We also used a whiffle ball.

Then the goal is to have fun!! We didn't keep up with score or even how many tries it took to knock them all over. We just played and had a great time! I even got in on the fun while Ella took a picture.

Brayden loved knocking over the bottles, and giggled the whole time we were playing!!

Here are some photos from our morning of indoor bowling:

Brayden spent lots of time knocking over the water bottles and trying to drink the teeny bit of water left in them.

After we were threw bowling, Ella and I sat across from each other and hit the ball back and forth with the water bottles, almost like air hockey!!

This game is a must for rainy or cold weather days!!

New Layout

2012-01-30T09:10:00.000-06:00

What do you think of my new layout?

I weeded out some of the clutter on the sides, does it look better??

I also updated one of my pages, 30 While I am 30.

Please check it out!

I have no idea what I am doing when it comes to updating this old blog of mine, so all I really can use is use free templates, but I really love this template though, because I am SO glad that

"You Picked Me"!!

I hope you love to read my blog as much as I love to update it, when I can.

I am also very excited because I signed up again for the A to Z challenge today!! I am number 104!! For more information on the April challenge, check out Arlee over at Tossing it Out!!

Thank you so much for being here!!

Girls Nite Out with My 2 Princesses

2012-01-19T12:30:00.000-06:00

Yesterday my hubby was off, so I took full advantage and wanted to have a girls nite out with my daughters. (Actually it was my hubby's idea, but I was overly excited to take advantage) I knew it was going to be hard to do a whole lot being a school night and trying to fit in our activity, dinner, and showers, but I was determined to get out with them.

The girls and I headed to the movie theater just a few blocks away at 4:45, the exact time that Beauty and the Beast 3D was starting. I wasn't worried about missing one minute, because I knew there was going to be a TON of previews. We paid (an OUTRAGEOUS amount), got some popcorn and a drink to share (sweet tea since it was a special nite out), and made our way to the theater.

We made it just in time to see the preview for Finding Nemo 3D, and then the movie started!! Perfect timing! The girls ooohed and ahhhed as they really felt they were in the movie. Maddi loved how pretty the flowers looked, but at the end was frustrated by the rain scene where the beast and Gaston fight. She said it was too much rain and it made it hard to see what was really going on, silly girl! Ella jumped any time the wolves were chasing after a character. They both really enjoyed the 3D element.

I really did too. It added so many layers to the movie, and really made you feel as if you were there with Beauty and the Beast as they danced around the ballroom or fought off the wolves.

The only thing I did not like was how expensive it was!! But was it worth it?? For a girls nite out with my 2 special princesses? ABSOLUTELY!!!

Wordless Wednesday *The girls fun with friends and Coloring with a 1 year old

2012-01-19T11:54:00.000-06:00

Maddi is loving her new school, no uniforms

The girls playing trouble with 2 of their best friends

Emmy and Tyler :)

My sweet Ella

I stole this idea from a friend, but this is the best way to color with a 1 year old!!

We both loved it!! I wasn't worried about him coloring on everything,
and he sat and colored for 30+ minutes!! That is a win-win!!

Awesome Weekend

2012-01-14T23:32:00.000-06:00

What started out as a lazy Saturday, slowly turned out to be a well deserved night out of the house with one of my best friends.

I started out the afternoon by super cleaning and organizing the kitchen/dining room and the living room, which truthfully felt like it took forever!

My reward to myself? Shopping at TJ Maxx and dinner at the besties house!! I came out with 3 new shirts and some much needed grown up time! My kids were with me, but they were able to play the night away with one of their best friends.

All 3 fell asleep on the way home, and are now sleeping peacefully in their beds!

What a great Saturday!!

Tomorrow my dad and step mom are coming over!

Looks like it is turning out to be an awesome weekend!!!

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-11T07:35:00.001-06:00

It has been so long since I have posted pictures, and what better way than Wordless Wednesday!!

This round of pictures is the cutest baby helping daddy load the Uhaul!!

Enjoy!!

And the cutest one of all: Pasta night at the new house :)

I am back...finally!

2012-01-10T11:18:00.000-06:00

HALLELUJAH!!!! We have internet again! Thank you so much for hanging in with me, and please bear with me as I try to get back into a normal blogging routine!

We are finally completely moved, but not even close to being unpacked. It was a rough move, the worst move actually, but we are slowly settling in.

We had no help packing (normally my mom comes and helps and she just couldn't this time) and no help loading, and very little help unloading the first day (thank God for my dad and one of our oldest friends). And yes I did say first day. It took multiple trips (3 to be exact!!) to get everything packed up and loaded and moved to the new house! We have a crazy amount of stuff!!!

Since we were majorly downsizing, it was a great time to go through our stuff and figure out what was no longer needed. Since we had a full truck and no time to donate our unwanted items, a good deal of stuff was left on the curb. I really hope some of our neighbors scoured through our pile and found some things to take home, because I will feel really horrible if what we left on the curb was completely contributed to the landfill. We also left a load of 3 boxes we were going to put into a garage sell, but we had no room in the truck for that either, so it was just left in the house.

To make things even worse, there was still work that had to be done in my mom's house, so we moved into a house that wasn't even fully functional. The worst part had to be not being able to shower. Don't get me wrong, I love a good bath, but I don't enjoy getting myself clean in only a bath!! Thankfully, my dad lives close and had us over for dinner and showers one night while we waited on our showers to be fixed!!

This has been quite a stressful adventure that I do not want to ever go through again!

We are starting to settle in and unpack boxes slowly, which I cannot stand but it has been out of my control. I am a person that likes to be completely unpacked and pictures and stuff on the walls within a few days of moving, and this has been completely opposite.

But the great news is, we have internet again, and I can get back to blogging more :)

Christmas Catch Up and Happy New Year

2011-12-28T17:16:00.000-06:00

I am really sorry for my lack of posting, things have just been crazy around here. We are packing up to move this Friday, and for some reason I thought it would be a great idea to have family over both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!! Packing went to the wayside, as I cleaned and organized for family. I am really glad we had everyone over, because we had an awesome time together.

Christmas Eve we had my dad and stepmom, my brother Doug, his girl friend Melissa and her daughter, Tori, and my brother Aron. I cooked a 24 pound turkey that my hubby brined the night before and it came out so juicy and tender, it was amazing, slap yo momma good!!! My kids opened the billions of presents brought over by the grandparents, and then we all sat around and enjoyed each other's company.

Christmas Day my hubby got up at 5 am to put in the brisket in the oven, that he had marinating in a dry rub and injected with apple juice from the night before. The brisket was amazing!! The secret truly is the apple juice to making tender and juicy meat!! We saw that on a grilling cook off show, and it really makes all the difference (that you cannot taste, in case you were wondering). Christmas Day my mom and grandpa came by and my brother Aron came back over.

With all the grandparents and uncles that came by, some how we still managed to have a visit from Santa and we even opened up gifts from each other. It was a long 2 days, with an abundance of presents, but we had such a great time.

I am not sure with the move this weekend when I will be able to get back on the computer to update, so I want to wish each one of you a very Happy New Year!!! Make sure to eat your black eyed peas and cabbage!!! I know we will!!

The day has arrived...

2011-12-16T12:35:00.000-06:00

I guess I am officially a grown up!!

At least that is how I look at it, since I am 30!!

The past few days have really been hard, but I am ready for a new me, a new year and a fresh start.

29 wasn't the best year for me, but I am ready to learn from it, and move on! Here's to finishing my 30 while I am 30 list (aka: My 30 before 30 list)!

I hope everyone has a great day!

Only 9 days left till Christmas!!

Have you finished your shopping??

I have barely started!!

EEK!!

Prayers Please

2011-12-13T12:32:00.000-06:00

We are officially 4 days away from my 30th birthday, and I am in a huge funk!! I am not sure if it is the looming birthday or just bigger stresses that I have been on my mind, but so far it has been a pretty rough week. I am officially stressed in almost every aspect of my life, and I am not sure how to get out of this funk any more. I am on the verge of tears all the time, and it has become hard to just put everything into God's hands. There are so many things that I am worried about, and I am having a real hard time with them. Please keep me in your prayers this week, and I hope to post something more positive soon!!

Christmas Traditions: Decorating

2011-12-07T11:47:00.000-06:00

Good morning everyone! I hope your days have been filled with hot chocolates, fires, Christmas lights, and of course the holiday music!! The countdown has officially begun in my house, and the race is once again on to get everything done in time. I have started shopping, and I have even purchased some gifts, mainly on Black Friday, but nothing has been wrapped and I am only about 15% done. Money makes it really hard to buy gifts for everyone on your list, well it does when you have none!

My sweet, little blog blessed me a lot over the summer, and it sure was nice to pay for some Christmas stuff with that money! Thank you guys for understanding my need to do sponsored posts every once in a while, because every little bit helps in my family!

I want to know more about you guys, yes each one of you that reads this, and I think a great way to do this is by sharing some of our favorite Christmas traditions. Today I want to know about your decorations! When do you put them up? Do you buy new ones every year or just stick with the old? Do you decorate the outside of your house as well?

I will go first! I LOVE decorating for Christmas. I have 5 totes plus a few smaller boxes that are filled with our decorations. One of my favorite traditions is that my girls' have their own tree, it is a small purple tree that they LOVE! I have built up a collection of small ornaments and they get to decorate their tree with those however they want! We also love decorating the big tree together while listening to Christmas music. Both girls get to take turns putting on the star and next year we will be Brayden's first time to help!

The girls' purple tree :)

My gorgeous girls

Ella putting on the star

Maddi's turn

The finished tree

My handsome boy, that helped decorate by taking off the ornaments :)

We usually use our old decorations but I may add in a few new pieces if I can find a good deal on them. Plus I get a lot of decorations and ornaments passed down to me from my stepmom, so that is really nice!

We normally decorate the outside of the house as well, but since we will be moving this year around Christmas, we haven't bothered with it. I also haven't decorated as much as I usually do, since pulling out all my decorations doesn't make sense when I am packing up every thing else.

What are you traditions with decorating?? I really want to know!!

Picture Frustrations

2011-11-29T23:53:00.001-06:00

I was really hoping to get on tonight and upload and show off my new pictures of the kiddos and our Christmas tree, since I finally got a new camera card, BUT my computer is being dumb and not letting me!! I am so frustrated that I can not upload pictures, and my frustration grows every day since this has been happening for months now!!

On a lighter note, Brayden grabbed my camera today and said "cheese!!" Well as best as a 15 month old can, it was precious!!

I hope everyone is having a great week! I can't believe December is almost here!! That means my 30th birthday is 17 days away, not sure whether I should celebrate or cry!

Thanksgiving

2011-11-26T18:10:00.002-06:00

Sorry my posts have been few and far between, school is kicking my little bootay!! Any time I get on my computer from home, I am doing school work. That is why I am loving coming to my dad's a lot more, I can use his computer without feeling guilty!! I promise to post more when I can!!

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving and Black Friday! I know we did. We went to my Aunt's house for Thanksgiving lunch, and had a fabulous time hanging out with family! Marco and I braved the crowds at Wal-Mart for the 10 pm sale, and I must say it was a success!! Besides the time we spent there waiting for the sale to start, we were in and out with what we wanted pretty quickly and home by 10:31!! My mom and I went out again later to Target and Kohls for their midnight sales. Kohls was HORRIBLE!!!! The lines were so long and very slow moving! Target was great and their staff was very courteous! I was very impressed with the way they handled the whole situation.

We spent yesterday trying to make decisions for my mom's house, paint colors, flooring, lights, and the list goes on and on!! The countdown is on for our move, T minus 30 days!

I hope everyone had a fantastic week and a great weekend! I am already in the Christmas spirit and loving Christmas music being played everywhere and I am so ready to get our tree! We get a real tree, and I love the smell!

Happy Holidays!

The smell of sausage in the morning

2011-11-20T09:27:00.001-06:00

Nothing beats the smell of sausage cooking on an early Sunday morning!! We are at my dad's house for the 3rd weekend in a row, and I can honestly say, I am loving the time the kids and I are getting to spend with him and my stepmom. I am really getting excited to move closer to family and friends, and I know that day cannot come soon enough!! There is still a mass amount of work to be done on my mom's house, and the idea of packing up our house again is dreadful to think about.

My stepmom has decorated the house for Christmas already and the house looks so festive and really puts me in the holiday spirit! All that is missing is Christmas music playing, some hot chocolate with marshmallows, and a fire. I guess the MAIN thing missing for the fire to work is colder weather! We got up to 78 degrees yesterday! Someone needs to remind Mother Nature, that we like fall temperatures here in Texas too!!

I am just sitting at the kitchen table, drinking coffee, listening to Maddi ring jingle bells while trying to find a movie with her Pappy and listening to my baby boy crack himself up in his high chair!! I am missing my Ella Bella though, she spent the night with a friend. I think it will be a great day!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving week!!!

Family Cookbook Project!!

2011-11-16T11:32:00.001-06:00

How awesome is this deal??

Too good to pass up, that is how awesome it is!!!

Pinteresting Friday

2011-11-11T12:47:00.001-06:00

Happy Friday and 11-11-11 to you all!! I could not be more excited that tomorrow is the weekend! My hubby and I will be going in to work on my mom's house again all weekend. My kiddos are excited because they get to play with some of their best friends Saturday, and then hang out with my dad and step mom Sunday!! *Speaking of step mom, have you checked out her website yet?? Cake Art by Sandie!! Please let her know I sent you :)*

This week has been full of stress for me, so I am lightening up the mood by doing a Pinterest post!! Here are some of my favorite things I have found lately!!

I need these since there is no counter top space at my mom's

Ideas for wiggly kiddos

I want to do this at my mom's house..
Peel and stick tile under the sinks

Everyone needs a reminder why you love them :)

Even in the worst of times, I still need to be thankful!!

So funny!!!!

Do you pinterest??

Be sure to follow my boards!!

What have you found lately?

You can also find me on twitter @MamaVsqz

and on facebook, Thoughts from Tiffani