Time is flying by!

I can't believe that in a couple of weeks my little boy will be one.  Time sure flew by on this one because it sure feels like it was yesterday when we went to the hospital.  Why is it that when children enter in your life that time flies by?  I remember when I was a kid, all I wanted was time to fly by because I wanted to be an adult and not have to answer to my mother or father.  But now that I am an adult and a parent, time is flying by again and all I want is for it to slow down so I can enjoy my children while they are still little and innocent.

My husband has been doing something with the water heater in the house lately.  I don't know exactly what he's doing.  All I know is he bought some tools to do the project and bought some parts to do what he needs to do.  But I'm glad I married a man that knows what he's doing when it comes to home repairs and maintenance.  Not only is he talented in that department, he's also talented in the baking department.  I got lucky with this guy!  He is one of a kind and I am forever grateful he is mine.

I have been working for the past few days on potty training my daughter.  It is seriously the most time consuming, exhausting, emotionally draining, and frustrating experience I have ever had to go through in my whole life.  I hope potty training my son will be easier, but they say boys are tougher to potty train.  But I'm hoping my daughter will help me out when it's time to potty train him.  I think potty training a child is the hardest thing a parent deals with when it comes to parenting.  Parenting never came with a manual, it's just all trial and error and you see what works for you and go with it.

Apple Crisp Cups

Here is an amazing snack my husband made today.  They are apple crisp cups.  It is seriously so delicious!  The only thing I would say is I think it would taste even better with some vanilla ice cream and caramel.  Here is the recipe.

Apple Crisp Cup

3 MacIntosh apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
1/4 cup water
2 tbs. white sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 cups flour
2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg (optional)
1 1/2 cups butter

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease four-12 cup mini muffin tins.  Mix the apples, water, sugar, and cinnamon together in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat; stirring occasionally.  Simmer until apples are partially cooked, about five minutes.  Remove from the heat.  Combine flour, oats, brown sugar, one teaspoon of cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg in a large bowl; cut the butter into the flour mixture with a pasty cutter until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.  Place a heaping tablespoon of the crust mixture into a mini muffin cup, and press it into the cup so that it covers the bottom and pushes up the sides of the cup.  Make the crust go all the way to the top of the little mini muffin cup, and patch any holes with more crust mixture.  There will be crust mixture leftover.  Place about two teaspoons of apple filling in the crust.  Sprinkle about one teaspoon of the remaining crust mixture on the filling.  Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown for fifteen to twenty minutes.

Crafting like a busy bee

Last night I went and started working on A's project some more.  She wants 20 surprise boxes, and she wants them in a pastel color.  So I made the box white with pink papers.  On one side of the box on the outside there will be an image of a teapot cut out and on dimensionals to give it a little pop.  On the other side of the box on the outside will be a teacup that I cut out and it will also be up on dimensionals.  In the inside of the box on one side will be a yellow flower that I used to cut out using my Stampin' Up Pansy Punch.  On the other side on the inside will be a green flower, cut out using the same punch.  I will definitely post pictures when I'm done.

I like doing projects like these.  It makes for a fun day.  I hope and pray I can get more people interested in buying them soon.

Today we are going out to dinner at a friend's house.  It should be fun.  I hope the kids behave.  

Last night my husband and I started watching a new show called Secrets and Lies.  I'm recording the whole season on the DVR so we can watch it together when we have a moment to do so.  We watched the first two episodes so far.  It's pretty good.  I can't wait to watch more!

Potty training is so not fun!

I have to say that potty training my daughter is proving to be difficult.  This is by far the hardest experience I have had to deal with as far as being a parent.  I thought when she was teething it was tough because she was crying and screaming hysterically because she was in pain.  But potty training takes on a whole new level.

But the good news is that today I had her sit on her potty.  I gave her some milk to help speed up the process and gave her some dry cereal to eat as well.  Well, two hours of her sitting and getting up from the potty, she finally tinkled just a little.  My husband and I cheered for her and made it seem like the best thing ever for her.  Then after he walked away, she peed the rest of her pee on my lap.  So, I had to change her outfit and my pants.  When I got back, she started to tinkle on the floor a little bit but since I was watching her I quickly picked her up and plopped her back on the toilet.  And she peed again, but this time a lot more than I expected.  I can't wait until she is fully potty trained. I am seriously so physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted from trying to potty training her.

I hope and pray potty training my son will be easier.  

Friday is Fun Day!

It is Friday, it is Friday, it is Friday!  Can you tell how excited I am that it is Friday?  I absolutely love Fridays!  Fridays mean that my husband will be home at 4:30pm and then he is off work for the weekend!  The kids and I love when he's home because he's so fun to be around.  And next week is Spring Break so he'll be home for the whole week with us next week.  Double jackpot for me!

I have been busy, somewhat busy, with A's project.  I say somewhat busy because I have been working on it here and there when the kids are pleasant and when I don't have anything else to do around the house, like cooking or cleaning or anything.  Last night for dinner I made this dish called Corny Chicken Bake.  It was really good, just had chicken, corn bread stuffing, creamed corn, celery, and onion.  The first time I made it, I cooked the chicken before putting it in the oven.  Yesterday I actually didn't cook the chicken ahead of time, and my husband actually said he loved the way it turned out yesterday compared to the first time I made it.  Note to self: when making Corny Chicken Bake again, don't cook chicken ahead of time.

Today for the first time in a very long, long time, both of my kids took a nap at the same time and my daughter ended up napping for two hours!  Two hours!  I think I might regret that later on tonight when bedtime comes around because my husband will be struggling to get her to bed at 7:30pm.  But I think today after dinner, I'll give my daughter a nice relaxing bath and use some lavender lotion on her to help relax her and help him get her to bed easier.  I hope it works.  Last night we both had a hard time getting her to fall asleep.  She has been pretty easy to get to sleep lately, up until last night when it took a bit longer than usual.  My son fell asleep early last night so that was easy for me, but hearing my husband and daughter in the other room while he was trying to get her to sleep was breaking my heart so I helped him out to get her asleep.

Haven't really crafted much

I haven't made a card in so long.  I thought about making one but the motivation is not there.  I have the stuff cut out to just adhere and put on a card, but I just haven't done that yet.  I have just been working on A's stuff though.  However, I haven't really done much other than cut the papers I need and soon I will need to cut out the 20 teacups and 20 teapots that will be going on the boxes.  But I will probably work on those this weekend.  

My husband is off next week!  Yay!  I love Spring Break.  I would love for a day to just sleep in as long as I want to and not worry about anything.  But that is just not going to happen.  Last year we went on vacation to visit my husband's family.  When we were there one day, he told me he was going to take a quick one hour nap.  So I said go ahead and I would watch the kids.  Well, his one hour nap lasted like for fifteen hours!  I wish I could sleep that long.

My son has been crawling all over the place lately.  He gets into everything and even when I have the gate up to block him from it, he somehow still manages to get in where he shouldn't be.  He's becoming quite sneaky.  He briefly stood up last night, nearly gave me a heart attack as I was not expecting to see that.  My daughter's been obsessed with my phone lately.  I downloaded a few games for her to play and now that's all she wants to do is play games on my phone.  But her attention span is so short that I end up changing the game for her every five minutes and she says no to each one and I'm running out of games for her to play because she is saying no to everything and then she runs away upset cause I can't get her a game she wants and I don't know which one she wants since she is saying no to everything.

My daughter amuses me everyday

I can't believe in two and a half months my daughter will be three years old!  Time definitely flew by because it seems just like yesterday she was born.  I still remember the day we went to the hospital to get induced like it was yesterday.  I have decided that when my daughter turns three in a couple of months that I am going to write her a letter everyday until she turns 18 and give them all to her on her 18th birthday.  I plan to write about things she did, things she said, things that happened in the world, etc.; it will be like a journal in a way for me.

It's amazing to see how far she has come in the two and a half years.  I remember the day at work my husband texted me a video of her crawling for the first time, he texted me a video of her walking for the first time, and now it's my turn to be able to take videos of our children for him to see while he is at work.

There is an app I downloaded on my phone for my daughter and when she wins the game, she earns a "sticker".  It's funny watching her pick the stickers because she likes to pick the same ones she has and places them together and groups them together.  She is so orderly just like me that I just laugh in my head.  My daughter acts like me in so many ways, but she looks just like my husband.  And my son acts like my husband (for now, it's hard to say what his true personality will be like when he gets a little older) and looks just like me.  

Being a mother has truly been such a blessing for me.  It's something that I never thought I would become but I am so grateful for having a wonderful husband who treats me better than he treats himself, two beautiful and healthy children, and a house above my head every night.  It's truly a blessing indeed.

Some days I just want to cry

I think I am at my breaking point some days.  There are days, like today, where neither of my kids are listening to me, they're not napping when they should, they're demanding my every attention and if I pay attention to one the other is getting upset, they are not sharing their toys.. it is all just too much sometimes.  I keep looking at the clock and it seems time just is going by so slowly and 5:00pm is never going to get here.

I don't think exhausted is even remotely close to how I feel right now.  I wish I could get both kids to nap willingly and easily, I wish I could get everything done, I wish I could sleep easily, I wish my daughter would sleep through the night.  She slept through the night the last two nights, and then last night she woke up twice.  And my son woke up once.  Luckily, when my son wakes up in the middle of the night, my husband gets him for me.. but still, there are nights I just wish both of them would sleep straight through the night.  But I guess I'm asking too much.

Last night for dinner, I used the Casserole Cookbook again.  I've been using this book a lot lately as far as cooking meals goes.  I made a Curried Chicken with Asparagus.  Except, I didn't have any curry powder and so I left it out.  I just didn't see the point of going to the store to buy curry powder when the recipe calls for only half of a teaspoon, and I didn't know if we would like the recipe or not.

Curried Chicken with Asparagus

1 (10 3/4 oz.) can condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1 tsp. lemon juice

1/2 tsp. curry powder

1/8 tsp. pepper

1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen asparagus spears, thawed

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

2 tbs. canola oil

1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

In a large bowl, combine the soup, mayonnaise, lemon juice, curry powder, and pepper; set aside.  Place half of the asparagus in a greased 8-inch square baking dish.  Spread with half of the soup mixture.  In a large skillet, saute chicken in oil until no longer pink.  Place chicken over soup mixture.  Top with remaining asparagus and soup mixture.  Cover and bakme at 375 for 20 minutes.  Uncover; sprinkle with cheese.  Bake 5-8 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

Makes 4 servings.

My husband said the sauce was too liquidy and I agreed.  So I think the next time I make this, I'll put it on a bed of rice.  But the sauce was indeed pretty good.  The meal was good though.  I didn't use the curry powder because we didn't have any at home so I think next time if curry powder is on sale, I'll go try it that way next. 

One more week..

In just one week will be Spring Break!  I absolutely can not wait until Spring Break.  That means I will have more help with the kids, I'll get some much needed laundry and cleaning done uninterrupted, I'll get to do some organizing in the office that we are going to convert to our son's room soon, and I'll get to work on T's project for A.  I gave my husband the sample box to give to T so she can give it to A to show her this is how it will look when all complete.  

Right now my son is crawling everywhere.  And I mean, everywhere!  He goes all over the place in the house and if I'm not paying attention, he crawls behind the television and plays with the wires and I don't want that and I also don't want him to chew on the wires either.  He's been biting and chewing on everything.  When we hold him, he likes to bite on our shoulders, or if we are sitting down he likes to crawl up to us and bite our legs.  

Nap time today for my daughter wasn't exactly as easy as I was hoping.  She was doing good all morning and hoped and prayed nap time would be simple.  But for the past few nights, bedtime has been relatively easy for my husband.  And she actually woke up this morning at 4:50am!  She slept straight through the night!  She woke up the other morning at 4:00am, but she slept through the night!  I can only hope and pray that she will keep sleeping through the night and wake up around 5:00am.

Lazy Sunday = Fun Day

Today has been such a relaxing day.  We didn't do much today really.  We grilled up some burgers in the backyard, our daughter played on the swings, our son was playing in his exersaucer, and our dog was relaxing in the sun.  I also gave both kids a bath and changed their outfits.  

I have been working on A's order lately too.  I can't wait til it's finished.  T said she wanted to give A a sample of the goodie box that I am making for A so she could see what it would look like in the end.  So I made one sample box to give to T to give to A.  I also did some prepping for the two things I need to make for A as well.  A wants me to make 20 goodie boxes and 20 teabag holder boxes.  It should be fun.  I can't wait to start diving into it.  But I probably won't start until this weekend.  I have until the end of next month to finish.  For some reason, long deadlines like these just make me want to just get it all done so I can get it out of the way and focus on other things.

I need to finish doing laundry.  I started a few days ago but I didn't get a chance to finish.  I hope I can get it done this week.  I love putting the clothes and the laundry detergent in the washing machine.  But I don't like putting the clothes in the dryer and then putting it away.  I think I have issues because I feel like I am the only one that feels this way.

I love the weekends!

I absolutely love the weekends.  For me, it means my husband is home for two days in a row.   And I can get so much done around the house.  Today the weather is absolutely gorgeous.  But we are going to get our taxes done, then go to Target to get diapers and baby food, and then come home so my husband can watch more of March Madness.  Later on the day we are going to a fund raiser at my husband's work.  It should be fun, I guess, even though the circumstances that are bringing us all together for the event is rather tragic.  One of my husband's coworker's husband passed away.  He got hit by a drunk driver.  Sad.

I have been making this cute little brag wallet thing for T.  I wanted to make her something to say thank you as she has been helping me get my name (Serendipity Kisses) out there and helping me get business.  So I made her a simple thing.  Lately I haven't had the desire or willpower to finish any household duties that needs to be done.  I'd rather craft and make cards and stuff.  But today I am going to just finish laundry and do some cleaning tomorrow.

Here is a card I made a few months ago.  I don't know why, but I love the simplicity of this card and how cute this turkey looks.  I mean, look at that guy.. he's just so freaking adorable!  

I feel like a prisoner..

Most days I feel like a prisoner in my daughter's room.  She's the warden and I'm the prisoner trapped in her room, waiting and waiting and waiting for her to fall asleep.  Some days she drinks her milk and when she finishes, she hands me her sippy cup and then turns over and falls asleep.  Easy peasey lemon squeezey.  But most days she drinks her milk and I am sitting on the floor, waiting for her to fall asleep.  After she drinks her milk, most days she tosses and turns in her bed and sometimes gets out of her bed to run around in her room.  Sometimes she plays this game of I want the comforter.. I don't want the comforter.  Repeatedly.  It gets to the point of pure exhaustion and most of the time I just take it away and not give in.  Once she's asleep I will cover her up and walk away.  But I feel trapped in her room waiting for her to fall asleep while I hear her brother in the background cooing away or babbling away.  I know I should just walk out of her room and let her fall asleep on her own but it doesn't work that way.  It hasn't worked that way in a long time and the only way she falls asleep now is when myself or my husband are in the room with her.  In fact, if we leave, she'll cry and letting her cry it out never works cause we tried it before and she never fell back asleep.  So, I'm trapped every day in her room waiting and waiting and waiting for her to fall asleep.

My project I did for a customer

Here is the project I did for T, my husband's coworker.  I did these a couple of weeks ago.  She wanted 36 of these whale boxes for her daughter's baby shower.  The theme was whales, obviously.  She also wanted 36 whale cut outs to incorporate them with the pacifiers that she was giving out at the baby shower also.  But the way she wanted to incorporate them with the pacifier, I ended up making 72 whale cut outs; 36 whales in green and grey and 36 whales in dark blue and medium blue.  I also made 36 boxes, 72 green and grey whales, 72 dark blue and blue whales, and 36 grey belly bands with a green flower on top embellished with a rhinestone in the center.  

Here is a view of the box when you open it, it was green and grey on one side, and blue and dark blue on the other side.  I think if I had more time, I would have definitely loved to have put a rhinestone in the center of the whale spout.  But I digress.

Here is a slightly up close look at the whale.  On the bottom of the whale is a wave that T had wanted to add on the box as well.  My lighting was terrible when I took these pictures, the color of the wave doesn't look like that really.

And here is the look with the box closed up and the belly band on with the green flower and the rhinestone in the middle.

I think these turned out super cute and T was pleasantly happy with the way they turned out.  I am very proud of myself for finishing these on time when I had such a short time to finish them for her.  Luckily I had everything I needed to get these done.  Good news though; she told me one of her family members loved the box so much that she, A, wanted 20 of the boxes for a Mommy and Me Tea Time party theme that she is planning to have for Mother's Day.  She wants 20 boxes by the end of April.  Unfortunately, she wants teacups and teapots on the boxes and since I don't have a Cricut cartridge for it I had to order it.  But thank goodness I have plenty of time to do it since I had to order something in order for me to do it.  T also told me that her family member wants 20 of these teabag holder boxes that I made after watching a YouTube video that this one girl made.  So I will be making those for her as well.  It looks like I'll be busy once again, but I won't be too busy.

Now time for me to finish doing laundry and start prepping for tonight's dinner.  Tonight on the menu is my Veggie Stew which really has no recipe.  I just throw in some veggies that we have a lot of that I don't want to go bad and throw them in a pot, top it off with some veggie stock, and let it simmer away for a few hours until my husband comes home and everything should be good, soft, and delicious.

I am going to be busy again

My husband's coworker, T, asked me to make her 36 goodie boxes for her daughter's baby shower.  It was such a big hit that one of T's family members wants me to make 20 of the same goodie boxes for a Mother's Day Mommy and Me theme.  It will be a bit different than the last one I made but the box will still be the same.  I can't wait to make them.  This time I have until the end of next month to make them so I have plenty of time.  I hope I can keep doing them and have lots of customers because honestly, crafting relaxes me.

I haven't really crafted anything lately but I do plan to make two Father's Day cards this weekend.  But other than those two things, I'll be busy planning on making T's family member those 20 boxes.  I know I have to make baby shower invites for my husband's coworker L, for her sister who is having a baby shower in several months.  Being busy is good though, but I don't want to be too overwhelmingly busy where I don't have time for my family or household things that needs to be taken care of.

Tonight for dinner is going to be my husband's favorite meal.  I am making pasta and red sauce.  I honestly don't like the meal cause we had it so much when we first moved in and now I am quite sick of it.  But in my day planner I wrote down leftovers for tonight's meal, but we don't have enough leftovers so I'm resorting to pasta and red sauce.

I can't wait for the weekend to get here.  So tired already and just need a moment to relax.  My son fell asleep in my arms today for two hours so I couldn't get up or he would wake up.  But moments like these don't last forever because soon he will be up and walking and probably won't want me to hold him as he sleeps.

I feel awful

I was going to take a picture of last night's dinner, but by the time I got my phone out to take a picture my husband had already put some of the yummy food in his bowl and started eating dinner.  When I looked in the bowl it was half empty and it would not have looked all that pretty to post.  But I will post the recipe and the next time I make it, I will post the picture!  I promise.  But I make this recipe quite often so it won't be too long before I will be posting the picture.

Chicken Veggie Casserole

3 cups cubed cooked chicken

4 medium carrots, cut into chunks

3 medium red potatoes, cut into chunks

3 celery ribs, sliced

1 (10 3/4 oz.) can condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted

2/3 cup water

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

Place chicken in a greased shallow 2 quart baking dish.  Top with the carrots, potatoes, and celery.  Combine the soup, water, salt, and pepper; pour over the vegetables.  Cover and bake at 350 for 60-75 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

The only things I change on this recipe is I add slightly more carrots and celery and I don't use red potatoes.  I use regular russet potatoes.  This is a delicious recipe that I have made over and over.  During Lent, I usually omit the chicken and we have a veggie stew instead.  It tastes like a stew and not what a casserole is like.  My husband said last night that this recipe would probably go well for when someone is sick.  Kind of like an upgraded version of the chicken noodle soup, minus the noodles.

Now I know my ABC's...

I think I'm starting to dream of the alphabet in front of me.  I have been singing the alphabet to my daughter pretty much nonstop it seems.  I downloaded a few apps on my iPhone for my daughter and now whenever she plays the alphabet song and the lady is singing it, my daughter looks at me and says "sing, sing".  Then after I'm done, she plays it again and looks at me and says "sing, sing".  It's neverending and it's quite exhausting.  Sometimes she follows me to the bathroom with my phone in her hand and says "sing, sing".  I think it's even funnier that when she has a moment where she is not on my phone and she's watching Nick Jr. she asks me to sing her songs that are on there even though I don't know the words to the songs, she still wants me to sing to her.  I hope this little innocence of hers lasts forever.  

A while back ago we (my husband and I) have been having issues with our daughter's sleeping.  She would need one of us in the room with her when it was time for naptime and bedtime.  I used to put her down for her naps and bedtime.  But lately my husband has been putting her to bed for me which is a nice break because it gets exhausting putting her to sleep.  I mean, I am stuck in her room watching her drink her milk to fall asleep and then when she's done, she is tossing and turning to fall asleep and kicking the covers off and then wanting them back.  It gets exhausting!  My daughter used to also wake up around 11pm, 2am, 4am, then 5am and cry hysterically.  So, since my husband has to get his sleep to go to work the next day, I get up to put her back to sleep.  Coffee was my best friend.  But for the past few days, she has been waking up at 4:00-4:30am, which is not bad; but still, I would rather she wake up between 5:00-5:30am when my husband wakes up.  I guess, I should be grateful she's not waking up in the middle of the night anymore.  Let's hope it continues and she wakes up at a better time.  Baby steps.  

Next step is getting her to bed without me or my husband being in there.  My sister-in-law suggested putting music on, but I don't know what's wrong with us.  We can't seem to commit to a routine.  We used to give her a bath, let her play in there, then I would put lavender lotion on her body, put the music on, give her her milk, and she would fall asleep.  Now, my husband puts her to bed at 7:30pm, and by 8:00-8:15pm, he's back in our room and she's asleep, and we failed to play soothing music and giving her a bath and putting lavender lotion on.  I think once Spring Break gets here I will start that routine up again because it is getting very exhausting staying in her room waiting for her to fall asleep.

Please don't suggest letting her cry it out.  It doesn't work for her.  We tried once and she ended up crying for two and a half hours straight and it was the worst moment of my life.  I know I should have got her after ten minutes of her crying but my husband said she'd fall back asleep and to let her be.  So, I did, but she didn't fall back asleep and now my husband agrees to just get her when she cries.  But I do wait five to ten minutes before I get her when she's crying.  I don't want her to think that if she cries, I will go to her automatically.

That's it for now.  I will post a picture and the recipe for today's dinner tomorrow.  Tonight for dinner I am making a Chicken Vegetable Bake.  I have made it before, and it's more like a stew than anything really.  But I will post a picture and the recipe and any alterations I do to it.

Some days I feel like...

There are seriously not enough hours in the day for me to get everything I want done.  Some days I feel so overwhelmed with everything I need to do that I just want to scream and pull out my hair.  Kind of like the picture of the woman on top.  That's exactly how I feel seven days a week, twenty four hours a day.  When did my life suddenly get so chaotic that I can't get anything done?  Monday through Friday my days are filled with taking care of my kids, changing their diapers, making sure they are fed, making sure they take a nap, cleaning up the house, work on my blog, doing laundry, making sure my dog doesn't feel neglected, and cooking dinner.  On the weekends I don't have to worry about taking care of the kids constantly since my husband is home to help me watch them and take care of them, but I still feel overwhelmed with things I need to finish and/or start on that I put off during the weekday.  Right now my main thing I need to work on is making more cards for my etsy shop (www.etsy.com/shop/SerendipityKisses) because I want to add more cards on there.  I also want to do other stuff that I want to add to my etsy shop, but I haven't had the time to start.  I'm sort of at a stand still and don't know what kind of cards I should make that I would like to sell.  I don't struggle on what to make for meals anymore now that I have started menu planning every two to three weeks.  It's actually working out well and I am proud of myself for sticking to it.  But at the end of the day I do have to realize that I am just one person and that everything will be done.  Eventually.

Ordering Goodie Boxes

If you or you know of someone who have an event coming up that they are hosting like a wedding, graduation, birthday, tea parties, or an upcoming holiday party, I can make your guests these goodie boxes.  What can you put in them?  You can fill them with candy if you wish or you can put little gifts inside the boxes.  The sky is the limit pretty much with what can be put inside these wonderful goodie boxes.  If you or you know of someone who is interested in them, you can contact me and let me know and we can work together to make the boxes to fit to your theme of the event.  Here is a guide to show you how to order them.

How to Place an Order for a Goodie Box

     
First pick a color for the box you want.  You have a choice between a white box or a black box. (See above.)

     
Next, pick a color for the colored square on the box.  For example, in the pictures above they are black and white, but you can pick a color of your choice.  Please be as specific as possible when you choose a color, such as light green, dark green, lime green, etc.  You have a choice of two colors for the square.  One set of colors will be on the outside of the box, the other set of colors will be on the inside.  Or you can just pick one color for all four of the squares.  

     
Next, pick a color for the outside strips of the box that are on the sides of the box and the top of the box.  For example, the strips in the pictures above are black and white.  Again, be as specific as possible with the color you prefer.

     
Next, pick a color for the belly band around the box.  For example, in the pictures above it is black and white.  Please specify what color belly band you want for your box.

     
You also have an option if you want your belly band to have it look like a cross or if you want a single belly band.  Again, please specify what color(s) you want the belly band to be for your box.

     
Then decide if you want a flower on top of the box or not.  If you decide to have a flower on top of the box, please specify what color you want the flower to be.

     
Here is a look what the box looks like when opened.

     
Here is another look of how the box looks like when opened.

One more thing, you can pick an image you want on your box.  I will e-mail you a list of images you can choose from.  You can pick up to four images.  If you pick one image, it will be on all four squares.  If you pick two images, one set of image will be on the outside and the other set will be on the inside, unless you prefer one of each image on the outside and inside.  If you pick three images, you will need to tell me which image you want two of, and if you the want the two same images on the inside and two different ones on the outside or if you want the two different images on the inside and the two same images on the outside.  If you pick four images, one of each image will be on each square.

The cost of each box is $2.00 per box with one image.  Each additional image is $0.50.  The cost of shipping is as follows:

1 - 50 boxes = $10.00
51 - 100 boxes = $20.00
101 - 250 boxes = $40.00
250 - 1000 boxes = free shipping

Last of all, please let me know how many boxes you need, when you need them by, and where you want them to be sent at.  You can contact me at serendipitykisses@yahoo.com 

My dinner last night

Last year for Christmas I got my husband two cookbooks, one of them was a casserole cookbook.  We both love casseroles cause they make great leftovers.  Yesterday for dinner was Tater Taco Casserole.  We both thought it was a little like the Mexican version of the Tatertot Casserole.  

Here is the recipe and on the bottom of the recipe will have what we want changed differently next time.

Tater Taco Casserole

2 lbs. ground beef

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 envelope taco seasoning

2/3 cup water

1 (11 oz.) can whole kernel corn, drained

1 (11 oz.) fiesta nacho cheese soup, undiluted

1 (32 oz.) pkg. frozen tatertots

In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.  Stir in taco seasoning and water.  Simmer, uncovered, for five minutes.  Stir in corn and soup.  Transfer to a greased 13" x 9" baking dish.  Arrange tatertots in a single layer over the top.  Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until the potatoes are crispy and golden brown.

Makes 8 servings.

The dish was really good, except we don't eat beef so I substituted that with ground turkey.  And the other thing I am going to do differently is instead of using tatertots, I am going to use hashbrowns that have been thawed a bit so I can spread it out on the top instead of the tatertots.  Most likely I will make this dish again because there isn't a lot of ingredients needed and it was really good.  I added some mango peach salsa on top of mine and my husband added some sour cream.  Both ways tasted good.  This recipe is a keeper in my family.

Long overdue

It sure as been a long time since I really posted in here.  I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things and I can write on here more often.  My son is now almost a year old and my daughter is almost three.  I can't believe it.  My little babies are growing up faster than I want them to.  I want them to stay little forever.  But I know that is not going to happen.

Lately, parenting has been quite challenging.  As I am typing this, my daughter is sitting on my lap and trying to type over me.  I have been trying to handle motherhood with household duties with crafting stuff.  Feels like I need my mind on vacation sometimes cause I have a million things going through my mind all the time.

Last week I had to do a crafty project for one of my husband's coworkers who needed help with her daughter's baby shower that was coming up rather quickly.  And now I have another project that my husband's coworker wants me to do for her sister's baby shower.  Hmm, I'm beginning to see a pattern here.  Maybe I should look into doing stuff like this for baby showers rather than making homemade cards.  I still have my etsy shop up and running but I want to branch out and try other things as well.