Silver Street

2012-08-14T18:50:00.000-07:00

That is all for now.

Can't find curtains you like?

2012-08-05T23:25:00.001-07:00

Curtains can be expensive. Not only can they be expensive, it can be hard to find curtains in the exact color or a pattern you would like. At least that is my issue. So, I am going to share a secret with you.

Most of my curtains are cloth tablecloths. I've been doing it for years. Tablecloths, rectangular ones, are not that expensive and you can find them in a variety of patterns and colors. I am into more vintage, colorful decor, so they have been a perfect fit.

Rectangular tablecloths come in a variety of sizes, which make it easy to fit most windows for a price that is cheaper than buying large curtain panels. Most come in a size of 60"x84" which is what most long curtain panels measure.

I will look online for ideas of what I would like, then browse local stores or Amazon.com. I've had a lot of luck at Target. Look for ones that are only fabric and no plastic backing.

Here are my dining room "curtains" I found at Target. They cost me 15 bucks a piece. They fit in perfectly with my dining room.

All you need are these, (drapery clip rings) and voila, instant curtains. Just space the rings evenly on the top of the tablecloth and hang on the curtain rod. Easy peasy. You can find the drapery rings at a store that sell home decoration items. Walmart, Target, K-Mart, etc. They will run you $4-10.

You can buy new long paneled "curtains" for $30-40 bucks. A fabric shower curtain will also work for small windows or if you do not want your curtains to touch the floor.

- Gail

Gail is Boring.

2012-08-04T15:45:00.002-07:00

We were talking over some wine, of course. The subject came up about extra money. Not a huge amount, but a few hundred bucks a month. What would we do with it?

A few ideas were tossed around.. save it for travel, clothes, more wine, etc.

Gail pipes in saying she would use the money and double up her car payments. Exciting, right?

Nope. Boring.

Gail hates debt. With a capital H.

Gail's theory is the less debt you have, the more money you'll have later to spend on what you want. Guilt Free.

Makes sense, right? Although is not nearly as fun as purchasing new shoes, when you want...

HAha!

2012-08-03T02:03:00.003-07:00

Sad, but true. A recent quote from Nicole.

Easy Beans.

2012-08-02T00:02:00.001-07:00

Gail here, with another crockpot recipe.

This is a healthy, cheap, and easy recipe. It's one of my personal favorites and I grew up eating this at my grandparent's home.

You need
1 - bag of large limas, small limas, any white bean of your choice.
1 - yellow or white onion, chopped or pureed
Salt and pepper

Soak the dry beans over night in a bowl of water. It helps release the gas in the beans. In the morning, rinse the beans and place in the crockpot. Place onion and cover with the beans and onion mixture with water. Salt and pepper to taste. Cook on low for 7-8 hours.

To give the beans more flavor you add some country ham, a piece of salt pork, or bacon. I've fixed it all three way and it has come out delicious with the all of them, but I prefer ham or bacon.

This is my actual pot of beans that I made today. YUM. I used Canadian Bacon today and it was delicious.

Let's DeClutter!

2012-08-01T03:09:00.000-07:00

When I typed the post about decluttering your children's artwork, I wanted to share another idea that I've recently started doing.

These days it is hard to remember to print our your photos. Everything is digital. Even when you do remember to print them, you have to them put them in a photo album while keeping them all in order.
It takes me forever to get it all done. It takes hours, not to mention it can be expensive if you have to print 500 photos at once.

So I would suggest that throughout the year, set aside your favorite photos that you would print and put them in a special file on your computer. Or even put them on a photo publisher's website in a private album. (Example: Snapfish or walmart.com)

I personally prefer to keep them on my computer. I have two, and put our pictures on each computer. A little annoying, but I want to keep those special memories.

Once a year, search for a coupon code or groupons for a good deal on a photo book. Then take a couple of days and personalize a book that suits your families personality. You can make all sorts of layouts and choose different sizes. It is a lot of fun to do.

The best part is you can save the work you did and not have to worry about the mess on your table. Or your child destroying all your hard work.

This would be great for your baby's birth, an informal wedding album, or a special birthday party.

Over the years it will save paper, time, money. It will create less clutter in your home, while being able to keep your memories saved in a special way.

Fashion Statement.

2012-07-31T21:24:00.002-07:00

We will not name the one guilty of this fashion faux paux. Just know, she does this often. We love her in spite of it.

Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner.

2012-07-30T00:36:00.002-07:00

My mom used to make this recipe as a child. It is one of the simplest, yet tastiest dinners. I recently found out Brooke uses the same recipe. Crockpots are so easy to use and you can cook a variety of foods, so give it a try.

CrockPot BBQ Chicken

All you need is

1 - crockpot

3-4 thawed boneless chicken breasts

1 - bottle of your favorite Barbeque Sauce

3-4 Sliced Potatoes (optional)

In the morning place chicken in crock pot and pour BBQ sauce on top of chicken. Set the crock pot on low and let it cook for 7-8 hours. The chicken comes out tender and will shred easily.

If you would like to add potatoes, put in a cup of water or so to help the potatoes cook (just make sure the BBQ sauce/water combo covers everything) and cook the same as above.

Serve on a bun with the sides of your choice, coleslaw, chips, baked beans..

Hello.

2012-07-30T00:18:00.002-07:00

We are the gals of Silver Street and we are addicted to Pinterest.

Pinned from Pinterest. Who would have thought?!

Now if we actually did a quarter of the pins we pinned, we would be one of those bitches you love to hate. Especially is we did it perfectly, every time.

Yeah, right.

What to do with all that paper.

2012-07-29T02:41:00.001-07:00

I despise clutter. And being a military family, we move quite a bit. We try not to hang on to things since it creates hardships while moving. As a relatively new parent, I am slowly beginning to realize all of the paper a kid accumulates from doing crafts, doodles, and projects. My children are only two and four and I had to come up with something.

One idea that popped in my head is to take a picture of your child's projects and put it in a special file. Whether you keep it on a flash drive or a private photo album online, devote that file to pictures of your children's creations.

While this is adorable, what am I going to do with it after we switch out artwork?

Keep a file or flash drive for each child.

Periodically, over the years take a picture of each creation. Put it in the place you have set aside for those pictures. Only keep the creations that are special, and throw the rest of art work away. You could even put those special pieces in a box such as this one: Papercoterie.

(This idea might also work for trophies, and medals that the kids have received. I don't know what I would do, since my kids are not old enough to have participated in anything to receive medals/trophies. I do know that I hate clutter. I hate dusting. So I do not want to dust all that useless clutter. Most people end up throwing them in boxes anyway.

yay! You played soccer!!

Most likely, I would keep a first place one or so, but a participation one or something would go to Goodwill or something. I don't know.)

Moving on.

When it feels to be an appropriate time, take all those pictures and make a photobook of your children's art (or achievements). Make a copy for you and your child. Give them a copy of the book and the keepsakes in the memory box. I think it would make a perfect graduation or wedding gift for your child.

This could also work for cards that have a special meaning or all the cards from a baby shower or wedding?

- Gail.

Crescent Rolls!

2012-07-28T19:31:00.000-07:00

Why I am in Awe of Crescent Roll Dough.

This is the most versatile type of dough. It can be paired with dinner and a meal, and it can be baked with something sweet and be a fluffy warm gooey delight. It has the potential to be any type of food, if you are creative enough to put it to good use.

Did you know you can take:

-Nutella

-Mini Marshmellows

Spread the Nutella on the open , un-wrapped crescent roll dough

Layer the mini-marshmallows on top of the Nutella

Fold over the crescent in half

Take a fork and seal the ends together

Brush a bit of melted butter on top

Sprinkle on Cinnamon and Sugar

Bake as directed on the crescent roll can

*This is a gluten-free, paleo friendly, low-carb, non-fat, food. (As Seen On: "Dr. Oz" on NBC)

Bless his heart!

2012-07-28T19:17:00.004-07:00

As we were having a conversation with Brooke, she states the description of a man...

LOVE it.

Not One Ounce of It.

Hot Crotch

2012-07-28T19:15:00.000-07:00

As seen at a local family attraction by Brooke:

♫ "Hot Crotch of the Summertime"♫

as sung by Nicole

Wow. Just Wow.

Kristen Stewart

2012-07-28T19:14:00.005-07:00

Thoughts On Kristen Stewart ...

My Mom, die hard "Twilight" and # 1 "Robsten" fan, threw away all of her DVD's containing....you guessed it, Kristen Stewart. Among the large collection of movies she owns that feature either Rob or Kristen, the list of trashed items are as follows: "The Cake Eaters", "Into the wild", "Speak", "On the Road", "Welcome to the Riley's", "Adventure Land", and "The Yellow Handkerchief" .

Why?

Because Kristen Stewart cheated on Robert Pattinson.
That Bitch.

No doubt.

2012-07-27T13:52:00.000-07:00

Stereotyping and Brainwashing

2012-07-26T22:35:00.001-07:00

Nick Jr. Could You Be Any More Stereotypical?

Hey kids, Dora is on an adventure to meet all her friends of different cultures, hooray! Dora meets Jay. Jay is from Australia, his favorite food is.....shrimp on the barbecue. Jay's mom is a wild life specialist, she works with kangaroos.

They are so bad ass! Maybe?

2012-07-26T16:02:00.001-07:00

I recently took the kids to a pet store. I had promised my four year old that she could get a fish. As we were getting out of the car, two motorcyclists pull up beside me.

They looked scary as shit. I'm not one to get intimidated easily, but they freaked me out a little. Imagine big dudes with tattoos all over them. Not only on their bodies, but all over their shaved heads and faces. They have a vest on that represents a motorcycle gang, one that involves criminal activities. (I googled that shit when I got home.) I had a reason to be a little skeeved out.

While I am getting the stroller out, to contain my crazy 2 year old, a friend of theirs pulls up in a car in the handicapped spot. As they are walking in to the store, one of them purposely bumps into a woman coming out. Then proceeded to check her ass out as she pushed by them.

We all go in the store. I am trying to find fish, which they don't sell. (Yay for loading the kids in and out of the car. Again). I notice these big, bad biker dudes are carrying small bags of dog food. You know, the ones for miniature breeds. 3lbs, maybe 5?

So these huge, scary biker dudes are buying dog food for miniature breed dogs? I know they have a motorcycle, and you can't fit much behind them or in a saddle bag, but they had a car to load them up the dog food. They each could have bought a huge ass bag of dog food and loaded it up in their friends trunk.

As I walk out, they are talking about donating the food to a pet shelter and having to bath the dogs there. All while cursing heavily. You know, you have to sound badass while you are talking about bathing shelter dogs.

I am slightly amused. I guess criminal bikers can have a soft spot for animals. Even the itty bitty yorkshire terriers and chihuahuas. But they still scare me and I would not want to meet them in a dark parking lot. haha

It's hotter than...

2012-07-26T02:18:00.000-07:00

A recent quote from Brooke's husband:

The Roach Story.

2012-07-25T10:00:00.000-07:00

This is about my son, who is 2.5 years old. It happened a couple of weeks ago. He had asked me for a snack, so I got a bowl and poured some raisins in and went back to whatever I was doing. Probably browsing Pinterest or something.

An hour later it was dinner time. My son gets excited and runs towards me, and proceeds to fall.

He starts screaming his lungs out, because he has rug burn. As I go to comfort him I notice this thing popping out of his nose.

Holy Shit. It's a roach! My son has an effin' roach. IN HIS NOSE!

I tell my daughter to grab the tweezers out of the end table drawer.

The roach keeps popping in and out of his nose as he is crying. I am trying to grab it with my fingers, but I am freaking out. Every time I almost grab it, he sucks it back up his nose.

My daughter is nearly in tears because she is unable to find the tweezers, and I am yelling at her that her brother has a bug in his nose.

My husband, of course, was at work.

So I run over, grab the tweezers out of the drawer and notice my son has stopped crying. I look up his nose and see nothing. I then become a little worried because there is nothing in his nose. What if the roach is loose in my kitchen?

Then I notice a small raisin, on my brown rug. Thank you god. No roach.

Just a raisin.

Thanks for scaring the crap out of me kid. I pray you never stick anything up your nose. Ever again.

Recent One-Liners

2012-07-24T12:30:00.000-07:00

These are some of the things that come out of our mouths while drinking a few glasses of wine.

It can be........ interesting.

Gail, did you know there was an old weave in your yard?

"I am a very serious person inside. Today though, I don't feel serious inside. I feel casual." - Nicole

There was a woman running very awkwardly on the side of the road and Gail pointed her out.
Brooke says "She's flogging" while Nicole gave us a much more detailed explanation "She's hitting her nipples to stimulate herself to keep running"

"We're going to be chased by some homeless guy with his pants down because he was wanking off" - Nicole (We were walking through the dark near a parking garage)

Nicole on waking up - "I need an hour to defrost in the morning, you know, a moment of silence"

"Remember sweetie, it is about upper and downers. Take a sleeping pill to go to sleep, then you know, take something to give you energy. Uppers and Downers" - Nicole

Cheating on my husband

2012-07-23T22:49:00.001-07:00

Gail here.

I just woke up from an incredibly long dream. In this dream, I was single, I was in charge of throwing a church concert on an airplane. In front of a small town.

I had a huge crush on the guitar player. I wanted to date him. He was a Ryan Gosling look a like, or maybe it was him. I mean. I was throwing a church concert. In an airplane. In addition, I wasn't scared out of my mind to sing and talk before a huge crowd.

I woke up feeling incredibly guilty. Like I purposely wanted to cheat on my husband. Or maybe it was guilt that when I woke up I did not feel incredibly guilty that I would like to have sex with the guy, if given an opportunity.

I mean. Ryan Gosling? Singing well, while playing a guitar?!

According to my impeccable calculations, I have a one in a billion chance of meeting Ryan Gosling and us screwing our brains out. So why feel guilty on those kind of odds?

Look! A penis.

2012-07-22T17:09:00.002-07:00

We were walking the other day and Nicole pointed out how pretty the sky was, but noticed one thing. There was a phallic shaped cloud.

This cloud:

She was inspired to make a beautiful poem.

Enjoy.
During my walk, I looked at the sky
Gazing above, above so high
To watch the penis fly on by.
And now I am not quite so dry.

You are my bitch?

2012-07-22T17:00:00.001-07:00

I like how the USB device...when taken out, rather than ejected, will piss off the computer and cause an “error” window, stating the card was ejected improperly and to not do it again. However ,you can continue to do this , repeatedly, AND the computer continues to take it like a bitch. One day the computer is going to say EFF you and shut down on purpose because of that shit.

Yes, I like random thoughts.
Love,
Nicole