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.