Sisters

This saying is so true!! We have definitely had those moments!

~Karen & Sarah

Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches

I am an ice cream addict and I have been looking for an option to make my own homemade ice cream treats. While browsing pinterest I found this quick and easy recipe for homemade ice cream sandwiches.

Ingredients
-Graham Crackers (I used low fat)
-Cool Whip (I used fat free)
-Fruit (I used Strawberries)

Step 1: Mix your fruit and cool whip together.

Step 2: Put a heaping spoonful of the cool whip/fruit mixture on half of a graham cracker. Then use the other half to make your sandwich. After you have all of your sandwiches made up put them in the freezer to harden. This will take about 4 hours.

Step 3: ENJOY!!

I hope that you enjoy this low calorie dessert that is extremely easy to make!!

~Sarah

Two Books and a Tick

Today was Memorial Day and it's a tradition in my family to go to the stock yards (our local flea market, it's called the stock market because they also sell animals there). Sarah and my mom found lots of flowers. Sarah also found a dresser that she is going to refinish. I left the stock yards with two books and a tick. Yes, you read that right, a tick. When we got home I was carrying my 7 week old daughter in and saw something black in her ear. I lifted her out of her car seat, and to my complete shock and surprise I saw a bug in her ear! I told my husband "there is a bug in Emma's ear" and I started to panic. I frantically started to search through the diaper bag for the nose sucker to try to get the bug. That didn't work so my husband went in search of tweezers. I used the tweezers to try to get the bug out; but it wouldn't come out. At that point we realized it was attached to her ear and my husband said that it was a tick. I was panicking and ran outside to get my mom! She came in and looked at it and said we needed to go to the ER. So we searched the car seat to make sure there were no more ticks in there. My mom called the ER to see what they recommended and they said to come in. Sarah stripped down her little man and checked him for ticks and thankfully there were none! So off we go to the hospital. The whole ride there I was thinking how in the world would a tick get on her.  We had Emma in her car seat in her stroller covered the whole time. How on earth did it get in there and in her ear!!! We were very thankful it was in the crease of her ear and not in her ear canal. Once we got to the hospital they took alcohol swabs and held it over the tick. They said when ticks attach they breath through slits on the side of their body. They said they can't breath the alcohol and they will release. So after the alcohol had been applied they used tweezers and pulled the tick off. The doctor checked the tick and said that all of it was there, so none was left in her ear. Thank God!!! The doctor checked Emma's ear and said that the skin wasn't broken. He then applied antibiotic ointment to her ear and told us to keep her ear clean and if we see any redness to call our doctor. The nurse at the ER put the tick in a specimen cup and was trying to send it home with us. There was no way I was taking that tick with us. That tick just gives me the creeps! Emma was such a good girl through all of this she didn't cry once!!! So needless to say it was and scary and emotional morning for this mommy! So to all the mommies out there make sure to check your little ones over if they have been outside near the woods at all!

Airplanes

We say this on Pinterest and thought it was funny!


~Karen & Sarah

To the mom.....

My mom posted this on facebook tonight and I love it. Everything in it is so true! So here is to all of the great moms out there!!!



I wish I knew who originally wrote this. I can't find a source. Do you know? It's a great reminder that we're all doing the best we can, so let's lay off the judgement and criticism.

To the mom who's breastfeeding: Way to go! It really is an amazing gift to give your baby, for any amount of time that you can manage! You're a good mom.

To the mom who's formula feeding: Isn't science amazing? To think there was a time when a baby with a mother who couldn't produce enough would suffer, but now? Better living through chemistry! You're a good mom.

To the cloth diapering mom: Fluffy bums are the cutest, and so friendly on the bank account. You're a good mom.

To the disposable diapering mom: Damn those things hold a lot, and it's excellent to not worry about leakage and laundry! You're a good mom.

To the mom who stays home: I can imagine it isn't easy doing what you do, but to spend those precious years with your babies must be amazing. You're a good mom.

To the mom who works: It's wonderful that you're sticking to your career, you're a positive role model for your children in so many ways, it's fantastic. You're a good mom.

To the mom who had to feed her kids from the drive thru all week because you're too worn out to cook or go grocery shopping: You're feeding your kids, and hey, I bet they aren't complaining! Sometimes sanity can indeed be found in a red box with a big yellow M on it. You're a good mom.

To the mom who gave her kids a home cooked breakfast lunch and dinner for the past week: Excellent! Good nutrition is important, and they're learning to enjoy healthy foods at an early age, a boon for the rest of their lives. You're a good mom.

To the mom with the kids who are sitting quietly and using their manners in the fancy restaurant: Kudos, it takes a lot to maintain order with children in a place where they can't run around. You're a good mom.

To the mom with the toddler having a meltdown in the cereal aisle: they always seem to pick the most embarrassing places to lose their minds don't they? We've all been through it. You're a good mom.

To the moms who judge other moms for ANY of the above? Glass houses, friend. Glass houses. - Author Unknown


I hope you enjoyed reading this.

~Sarah

Buffalo Chicken Ring

I am always looking for new recipes and I found this recipe on Pinterest from http://jayesel.net/. I have made it many times and my husband and I love it! I am not a huge fan of spicy food; but, my husband really likes spicy food. So I don't make this too spicy and my husband adds more buffalo wing sauce to his.

Ingredients
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 packet ranch powder mix
Diced celery to taste
Buffalo wing sauce to taste
Diced/shredded chicken, cooked (2-3 chicken breasts worth, or 1-2 cans of canned chicken)
2 packages crescent rolls
Ranch dressing for dipping (optional)

Preparation
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix soften cream cheese and 1/2 packet of ranch powder mix together. Microwaving cream cheese for about 30 seconds makes mixing easier. Set aside. 

 Cook chicken and put in food processor to shred the chicken. 

Cut celery into pieces then put in food processor. Set aside.

  Mix chicken and buffalo sauce to taste and add in celery.

 Mix chicken mixture and cream cheese mixture together.

Take the crescent rolls and lay them on a greased pan in a circle. Then place the mixture on the crescent rolls. Fold the crescents over the mixture to make a circle.

 

 Bake for 15 minutes.

 

Serve with ranch dressing and extra hot sauce for dipping. Enjoy!

~Karen

Baby Lock vs. Mom

So we have the Safety 1st Magnet Locking System for our cabinets (http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4449506) and I absolutely love them! For those of you that have never heard of them, they are locks that you put on your cabinets so your children can't get in them and then you have to use a special magnet to open them. I like them because your kids can't get their little fingers in the cabinet to push down the lock to open it like they can with the common plastic ones. Well shortly after we got the locks my husband went to get a garbage bag out from under the kitchen sink. All the sudden I hear, "Where is the magnet at?" I of course proceed to tell him that it is on the side of the fridge like always. Well of course it wasn't. I assumed that it must have just got knocked down on the floor. We searched our whole entire kitchen. No magnet. We even pulled out the fridge to see if it went behind it. Still nothing. I then thought maybe our little guy got it and it got mixed in with his toys. We looked, no magnet. At this point it was going on 11 pm and of course we only had one magnet key to get the cabinets open and we had to take our trash out for pick up in the morning so we really needed to get the bags. I then thought that I could just use any old magnet to get it open and grabbed one from the fridge. Can you guess the outcome? Yup, didn't work! So after trying every magnet on the fridge I was sitting on the floor stumped. Where the heck could the magnet go?! I then remembered that we have this little spot right under the sink above the doors that kind of flips open to hold our kitchen scrubbies. There is a little tray on the part that flips down to hold everything but it doesn't go the whole length of the cabinet so there is a space at each end when you have it open. AH HA I could fit my had in that spot and unlock the lock!! So we got the lock open and got the garbage bag but we were STILL missing the key! I then got thinking that earlier in the day I had been organizing stuff under the sink and putting the plastic bags away. I had my husband check and sure enough in the middle of all the plastic bags was the key!!! So after about 45 minutes of searching and wondering how we were ever going to get our cabinets open again I figured it out! The final score Baby Lock : 0 Mom : 1 !!!!

~Sarah

Bubble Pizza

Looking for a good meal that you can whip up fast? If so, bubble pizza is for you! I found the original recipe on www.tasteofhome.com but I did change it a little bit. This turned out so good and our one year old even liked it!!

        Ingredients

• 1 pound of hamburger
• 1 14 oz can of pizza sauce
• 1 can of Grands Biscuits 
• Mozzerela Cheese
• Pizza toppings of your choice

 Step 1: Brown and drain ground beef.

Step 2: Add pizza sauce to beef and mix well.

Step 3: Cut each biscuit into four pieces.

Step 4: Line the bottom of a lightly greased 9x13 pan with the biscuit pieces.

Step 5: Pour your beef mixture over the biscuits and then add your favorite pizza toppings. I only had pepperoni on hand so that is the only topping I used.

Step 6: Bake uncovered at 400 for 20 minutes. Take it out and add your mozzarella cheese  on top.

Step 7: After topping with cheese, bake again for another 10 minutes. 

I hope you enjoy "Bubble Pizza" as much as our family did!!

~Sarah

Sea Horse

We grew up with horses so this picture really made us laugh! Wanted to share it with everyone! Hope you enjoy it!

 
  ~Karen & Sarah

Broccoli Salad

When ever we have a family get-togethers my family always ask me to bring this Broccoli Salad. The recipe came from our church cookbook by Pastor Don. I hope you will enjoy it as much as my family does!

Ingerdients

• 3-4 Bunches of Broccoli
• 1/2 Red Onion 
• 1lb of Crisp Bacon or 5.6 oz of Real Bacon Pieces
• 1 1/2 cup Miracle Whip
•  1/3 cup Sugar
• 1 1/2 tbs White Vinegar
• 1 cup Colby Cheese (I didn't have Colby so I used Mild Cheddar)
• 1 cup Mozzarella Cheese

Chop broccoli into bit size pieces and chop the onion. Set aside.

 Mix Miracle Whip, sugar, and vinegar.

Add dressing one hour before serving.

Add cheese and bacon just before serving.

Enjoy!

~Karen

Acid Reflux in Babies

My 5 week old daughter is breastfed and hasn't had problems spitting up until this past week. She has started to spit up after each feeding and has been very fussy after each feeding. My daughter is fed breast milk by bottle; I have been using Breast Flow bottles by The First Years. I decided to try different bottles to see if that would help I tried Mam and Dr. Brown; but, changing bottles didn't make a difference.  I started to get worried and wondered if she had acid reflex. I have suffered from acid reflux for years and have to take medication daily. Today was Emma's one month check so I talked to my doctor about my concerns. My doctor said that children under one often spit up a lot because the muscle at the top of the esophagus has not totally developed. My doctor recommended Zantac twice a day. So we will be starting this today. When I got home I decided to research acid reflux in babies and here is some of the information I found.

http://kellymom.com/health/baby-health/reflux/

Following are symptoms of GERD — there are varying degrees and need your doctor’s involvement to diagnose:

• Frequent spitting up or vomiting; discomfort when spitting up. Some babies with GERD do not spit up – silent reflux occurs when the stomach contents only go as far as the esophagus and are then re-swallowed, causing pain but no spitting up.
• Gagging, choking, frequent burping or hiccoughing, bad breath.
• Baby may be fussy and sleep less due to discomfort.

Warning signs of severe reflux:

• Inconsolable or severe fussiness or crying associated with feedings.
• Poor weight gain, weight loss, or failure to thrive. Difficulty eating. Breast/food refusal.
• Difficulty swallowing, sore throat, hoarseness, chronic nasal/sinus congestion, chronic sinus/ear infections.
• Spitting up blood or green/yellow fluid.
• Sandifer’s syndrome: Baby may ‘posture’ and arch the neck & back to relieve reflux pain–this lengthens the esophagus and reduces discomfort.
• Breathing problems: bronchitis, wheezing, chronic cough, pneumonia, asthma, aspiration, apnea, cyanosis.

After reading this I recognized some of the symptoms in my daughter. After each feeding she has severe fussiness, hoarseness, and Sandifer's syndrome. I hadn't head of Sandifer syndrome; but, after reading this it describes what Emma does when I burp her.

I'm praying that the Zantac will help. I feel so bad when she cries and nothing I do helps her.  I will keep you posted as to how she does and any more tips I find that help with Baby Acid Reflex. 

~Karen

Canvas Art

I wanted to do a cute project for my mom for Mother's Day that was from my little man and after thinking of what project a 1 year old could do, I came up with the idea of "Canvas Art".

Supplies:

Paint tape
Kids washable paint
Canvas


Step 1: Take your blank canvas and tape off whatever saying/design that you want to be left white on your finished art project.

Step 2: Add your paint colors that you would like to the canvas and let your kids go wild spreading the paint around!!! This will get messy!! At one point my little man was sitting, yes sitting, on the canvas! Be prepared to put them in the bath immediately following unless you are doing this with an older child!

Step 4: Remove your paint tape while the paint is still wet. This will prevent any paint from peeling off.

Step 5: Let your paint dry and enjoy your art!!

~Sarah

Glitter Shoes

For my wedding I really wanted a pair of teal shoes. I looked every where and couldn't find any. I saw on www.weddingbee.com DIY glitter shoes. So I thought I would give it a try I first found a pair of comfortable shoes that I could wear all day.

Here is a list of supplies.

• Mod Podge Gloss Luster
• Mod Podge Clear Sealer Spray Gloss
• Glitter! Martha Stewart's has been recommended, and that's what I used! 
• Foam brush
• Shoes

Instructions

1. Mix 2 oz of Mod Podge with 1 oz of glitter and mix well!
2. Cover shoes evenly using the foam paintbrush. Use Q-tip to clean sides.
3. Let dry for 25 minutes. It won't look great at first. 
4. Re-apply same mixture after first coat has dried, covering over holes and spots you missed the first time. 
5. Let dry for 25 minutes.
6. Spray with Mod Podge Clear Sealer Spray Gloss (I recommend doing this step outside because of the odor).

Before

After

I loved these shoes and did a pair for my flower girl also!

Before

After

~Karen

Pop Cake

If you are looking for an easy way to make a cake I have the perfect recipe for you! All you need to make this cake is your favorite cake mix, a 12 oz. can of your favorite pop and frosting. Yes, that is really all you need!!! This cake was super easy to make and it tasted really good too!!

I only had a 20 oz bottle of pop so I went ahead and measured out my 12 oz. of pop before I started.

Your first and only step before you bake your cake is to mix one box of cake and 12 oz. of pop. That is it, no other ingredients are needed.

After you mix well, put it into the pan size you would like and bake according to the directions on the box.

Let your cake cool completely and then frost and enjoy!!

~Sarah

Silly Baby

Found this picture on Pinterest and it made us laugh! We wanted to share it with all of you!






~Karen & Sarah

Improving my breast milk supply

I started taking Fenugreek to help increase my milk supply. I have been pumping four times a day and was getting about 4.5 to 5 oz a day. I'm taking 3 tablets 3 times a day. I've been taking Fenugreek for 4 days now and am getting about 6 oz now. I will keep you updated as to how much the Fenugreek has helped with my supply. I've included the site where I found out about the Fenugreek. www.medelabreastfeedingus.com/tips-and-solutions/116/fenugreek---an-herb-to-increase-milk-supply

~Karen

DIY Door Stop

While browsing Pinterest I found a really cool idea on how to make a door stop out of a pool noodle. I immediately wanted to give it a try because my little man LOVES playing with his door and I am always worried that he will pinch his fingers. All you will need for this project is a pool noodle and a sharp knife.


1. Start with a pool noodle (I got mine at Walmart for $1.88)

2. Cut a piece off of the end of the noodle about 8" - 12". I used a sharp knife to cut it off.

3. Use the knife to slit one side of the noodle to the open hole in the middle.

3. Slip it onto the top of the door and there you have your door stop! I was worried that this would just squish when my little man pushed on the door so I pulled on it hard and it didn't squish at all! Now I don't have to worry about him getting his fingers pinched!!

~Sarah