The First Of The Stitchin' Stories!

So, as I have been spending many hours stalking adorable crafting/decor/mommy blogs on the "interweb", I have had the strong urge to try my hand at applique-ing (is that a word?).

I picked up a few cutely colored baby onesies, found some scrap fabric loners from the Bebe-Leche stock, and bought some "Steam a Seam" web fusing whatchamacallit (don't you just love my ironing board! I do! Thank you TJMaxx!)

Thinking of what random shapes and images to applique onto these darn cute onesies was somewhat difficult. Figuring out how to draw them was even harder! Needless to say, I came up with a simple birdie, a "W" (friends soon-to-arrive baby's initial), and a simple star. Check out the cute little Bebe-Leche booty labels! Too cute.

The wild zig-zagging stitching was a little more difficult than I expected, but by the time the 3rd onesie was complete, I started to get the hang of it. The Steam a Seam stuff was relatively easy
to use. Trace, cut, peel, iron!

And here we have it......

Splish Splash

Liam and his friend, Lila, have had the pleasure of taking a shrimp/kipper swim class at the YMCA. Sadly, the lessons are coming to a close as his last day is Saturday. We've had fun singing songs, kicking our feet, and doing "jumps" off of the pool ledge.
Liam has grown quite fond of the lukewarm pool water.....in fact....he nearly falls asleep at every lesson. Luckily, he wakes up really quickly every time I accidentally dip his face in the water when singing "Do you know the popcorn man?".

We're looking forward to May when the KROC center in town opens up and we can get in to some more fun swimming classes!

Chalkboard Pantry

I thought this was such a cute idea, I had to share it!

This lady painted the inside of her pantry door with chalkboard paint! It would be awesome to use for am ongoing grocery list--just open the pantry.....see what's missing....write it down! Even the men could handle that! Anywho, I thought it was cute, and now I wanna do it. Check it out!

Potty Paraphernalia

Is it ever too early to start potty training?

Lately Liam has been making quite a scene when he is attempting at a #2. The world stops as he clenches on to the couch, the door jam, a chair, a wall, whatever is nearby really. Seeing this has made me want to catch it and introduce the potty. I am not a big fan of potty chairs, but I found a cute little tiny cushioned toilet seat that goes directly on the big potty (less yucky clean up for me!). So far he thinks it is pretty cool and he managed to be "successful" once so far. When I catch him doing his business, I run over, pick him up and rush off to the bathroom. But, I've been noticing his posture change when I pick him up. He becomes as stiff as a board, with his legs tightly pinched together and his toes pointed. It's hilarious!


Daddy captured this hilarious picture of him last night.....he was enjoying his book.

This morning I attempted again. This time I tried to introduce the potty before he had actually began to progress in his attempts. He sat there willfully with his little ankles crossed and read his book, messed with the toilet paper, and attempted to flush. After so long, I let him get off. He ran off diaper-less (I let him do that every now and then.....he's never had a problem). Well, just as I was done disassembling the toilet seat....I look out the bathroom door to see Liam standing in the dining room.....peeing on the hardwood floor (at least it wasn't carpet, and at least it wasn't poop!) He thought this was funny and started to run from me as I tried to catch him to put a diaper back on his bare bottom! While I won in the end, it wasn't 30 seconds after his new fresh diaper was now neatly on that he turned the corner and grabbed the wall....yes, you know what that means!!!! AHHHH. He pooped. At this point I was just gonna wait til he finished his number and call it a day. :)

Masterful Mac n' Cheese

Ok, so, I typically don't post recipes, but this one is so cool that I just had to share! I was watching Rachel Ray (she totally drives me nuts, but she has some good recipes) and she made a spinach artichoke mac n cheese! What's not to love about the sound of that!!!? She took almost every females favorite appetizer and created a scrumptious and somewhat healthy entree out of it! Sounds fabulous to me.

I made it last night, and it was a hit! Here it is:
(NOTE: I actually just used an Italian cheese blend-which was smoked provolone, mozzarella & parmesan. The fontina & reggiano were WAY to pricey for me! :) But, I saw that some one else online added cream cheese to it too, sounds good to me!)

Salt
1 pound regular or whole wheat penne
2 tablespoons EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
3 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup white wine
2 cups milk
A few grates fresh nutmeg
1 10-ounce box frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and wrung dry in a kitchen towel
1 10-ounce box frozen chopped artichokes, defrosted and wrung dry in a kitchen towel
Ground black pepper
1 1/4 cups shredded Italian Fontina cheese, plus additional for sprinkling on top
1 1/4 cups grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, plus additional for sprinkling on top

Yields: 4 servings

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Place a large pot of water over high heat to cook the pasta. When the water is boiling, salt it well and drop the pasta in. Cook to al dente according to package directions. Drain the pasta and reserve.

While the pasta is cooking, place a medium pot over medium-low heat with 2 turns of the pan of EVOO, about 2 tablespoons, and the butter. Add the onion and garlic to the pan and cook the veggies until very soft, about 10 minutes.

Turn the heat up to medium-high and sprinkle the flour into the pan. Cook for about 1 minute then whisk the wine into the pan, cooking for another minute to burn off the alcohol. Whisk the milk into the pan and bring up to a bubble. Add the nutmeg, veggies, some salt and pepper to the sauce, and simmer until thickened, 2-3 minutes. Add the cheeses to the sauce and stir until melted.

Toss the prepared sauce with the cooked pasta and transfer to a casserole dish. Sprinkle some more Fontina and Parmigiano over the top and bake until the cheese has melted and the top is golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Toss the prepared sauce with the cooked pasta and transfer to a casserole dish. Sprinkle some more Fontina and Parmigiano over the top and bake until the cheese has melted and the top is golden brown, about 30 minutes.