10 More Minutes...

Last week when Nester hosted the 10 Mins. to a Room You Love party, I submitted my kitchen window mistreatment because that took me about 10 mins. Well that FINALLY motivated me to decorate my kitchen window, so I thought I would share my progress and get some feedback.

Here is the before:

As you can tell, it is made for a window garden, but right now I do not have anything to plant there. The Chia Pets lived and died there, and now it is just a barren box. I spend a ridiculous amount of time at this window everyday. Cooking, washing dishes, washing hands, etc. I have big plans for this window in the Spring and Summer, but it finally ocurred to me that I had no reason to waste any more time looking at this blank box. SO, in about another 10 mins. I took out the adjustable shelf, added a lamp and some accessories. As Connor would say TA-DAAA... The lamp makes a huge difference, and so do all of the little accessories. It is all stuff I had around the house and I just put it together. The crazy little clay lady with the tacky earrings is from my Dad. I have decided to name her Bon Qui Qui.I love that wacky little woman and smile every time I look at her because my Mom told him it was tacky and I would never use it. Well, she is tacky, but I love her.
This is a sign my sister got me. Does anyone else have this problem?

And this is my reminder to keep up the hard work on the Weight Watchers.


Okay back to business, what do you think of the stuff in the window? And don't bother saying anything bad about Bon Qui Qui ( my little clay friend), or I will CUT YOU! ( If this made no sense to you then you need to follow this link and get in on the joke because Bon Qui Qui is some funny stuff!)

Weight Watchers Wednesday, Week 7

It is Weight Watchers Wednesday Week 7, and I have lost 1.6 lbs. for a running total of 17.4 lbs. to date, and yes those oz. matter when you are trying this hard!

It was a pretty good week and I have been enjoying my progress in the exercise arena. I have stopped working out with Lon at night, it makes me too wired to sleep well. Instead I have been exercising during the day, which is a little more challenging. When I am in the floor doing exercises, Connor wants to ride on my back and says "bronco ride" over and over. Walker enjoys watching and tells me I am dancing. If I miss a step or don't get up or down fast enough, Walker a.k.a "Coach" is sure to tell me. I can tell a big difference in my energy level and I hope that continues. The one change I should make is I need to start pressing myself a little harder. Without Lon to keep up with, I tend to fall into my comfort zone and I don't sweat nearly as much. I'm gonna work on that this week.

For this week's recipe, I am gonna give you a little spread I have been using.

Cream Cheese Chicken Spread:

8 oz. fat free cream cheese

1 cup shredded chicken

1/2 tsp. garlic salt (to taste, some people like more and some less)

1/2 tsp. onion powder (to taste)

1/2 cup shredded carrots

Mix all ingredients. Makes 4 servings at 2 pts. each. You can use the canned shredded chicken, but I just made my own. If you use the canned chicken you may need to recalculate the points because I don't have one handy.

I was gonna add other diced veggies, but carrots was all I had. Sometimes I only eat 1/2 of a serving because that will be enough to fill 1 celery stick. When you eat it that way, it is only 1 pt., including the celery, and is very filling. It was delish. I also spread it on a whole wheat low carb tortilla (2 pts.) for lunch one day. Add some Baked Lay's, and fruit on the side and you have a feast for one. YUM!

One last thing. As I have shared time and time again, I have a SERIOUS SWEET TOOTH! When I am in the mood for chocolate or cake, daily, this is my "go to" dessert. I have tried every lowfat cupcake/ muffin/cookie on the market, and this one is hands down the best. They taste like the real deal and are only 1 pt. for a pack of 3. Yes I said 1 pt.! They are moist and satisfying. I would probably be 17.4 lbs. heavier without them.

How did all my WWW's buddies do this week?

Real Progress...

Connor is making real progress (Yeah RIGHT!)in the area of the binky. He only gets it at bedtime, well usually, and they are all cut, well most of them are cut. He seems to keep pulling binkies out of hidey holes I did not know he had. Those would be the ones I have not got to cut yet. He and Nonnie had a binky party Saturday night. Thought I would share some pictures from it. This is a prime example of why grandparents are the "favorites". I would NEVER give him this many binkies, but Pop would, and did in a heartbeat.

He was all smiles as they made binky necklaces... And stacked them in piles...
And tried to see how many he could fit in his mouth...

He was so proud of all those binks.

He carried them around in his little bowl.
And even wore them as earrings.
Pop also did this...
Yes he gave them all of that candy. At one time.
I sometimes wonder if these are really the people that were my parents. They have been forever changed since they had grandchildren, but I LOVE IT! And so do the boys. Mom keeps reminding me "they are only little once", and I am trying to have that attitude and just enjoy all these moments a little more and stress about the little things a lot less.

More Monkey Business...

I have been up to some more monkey business lately, and thought I would introduce you to the latest little critters before they get shipped off to their new homes.

First up, there is Fifi. She is sassy and thinks she is all that. A little on the preppy side with her argyle tail, she still keeps it fresh and fun. Fifi is going to live with my "Little Sister" from my sorority days. She has a little girl named Olivia that is just gonna love her. I have had Olivia's original baby gift for months now, but never mailed it and since she is growing so fast the clothes probably won't fit anymore. I decided to make her this as a replacement.

Next up is Hank. Hank is a bit of a hand full and is going to live with Bryce (the winner of my 100th post giveaway.) Bryce's Momma said Bryce's room is western themed with primary colors. Well I hope Hank fits that bill. He was really popular with the ladies, hopefully he will be with Bryce too. He is a rowdy cowboy, but I bet Bryce can handle him.

Finally, there is Sweetie. She is just a loveable little bunny. Sweet as she can be and is extra special because she is the first rabbit I have made. She is going to live with my Aunt in TN. She had a baby recently and her son got a sock monkey for Christmas, so baby sister needs one too.

There you have it. The results of my rainy day at home.

By the way, I just found out that I was featured as a Top 10 Crafty Blog on Crafty Homemaker. I had to do a double take! Did she really mean me? Maybe she meant another Mandi? Nope. I'm the one. Thanks Tiffany! I really appreciate it and hope I keep making crafts you love to look at!

Applique Tutorial...

My gal pal Amanda @ Imperfectly Beautiful, has been asking me to do a tutorial on the baby onesies I applique as gifts. I am not a good tutorial writer. I always seem to forget to take pictures until whatever I am working on is done. SO, I am gonna show you the onesies I made last week, and give you a link to the tutorial I followed when I first started making these.

On this one I made a little yo-yo and used wonder under on the back of it on and then stitched around it.

This one is some fabric strips with a yo-yo. I like to give little hair clips with these too.

This one is one of my favorites with its little ribbon petals. Super cute.

As promised. Follow this link to Little Birdie Secrets, where they will give a wonderful tutorial on how to do this. Let me know if you give these a try. The sky is the limit and I would love to see what you come up with!

Best of the Week...

1. Watching the boys chase the sheep all over the farm. They were really good at herding them and it was HILARIOUS.

2. Seeing Playhouse Disney in Charleston with Nonnie and Pop.

3. Having Nonnie and Pop here for the weekend, even though they make the boys ROTTEN!

4. Losing .8 lbs. on WW.

5. Having my 100th post Giveaway, man I LOVE giveaways!

6. Watching the boys play together, and actually ENJOY IT!

7. Walker trying to teach Connor how to squirt water from his mouth in the tub.

8. Lon going grocery shopping for me, and getting every.single.item. on the list. Am I lucky or what?

9. Trying to teach Walker how to do a jumping jack.

10. Walker informed me there are "No cats in China." Evidently Papa says they eat them, and Walker believes him.

11. Getting an anatomy lesson from Walker that goes like this, "Boys have Peepees." Nana then says, "Well what do girls have?" Walker responds, "Girls have big boobies." Am I a good Mom or what? My children are so informed! :)

Hope you had a wonderful week too!

Redecorranging...

As Edie over at Life in Grace would say, I have been doing lots of "redecorranging". I haven't bought anything new, just rearranged and redecorated a little with what I had. I love the changes and thought I would share some of my progress. Here is the only before shot I have. It wasn't bad, but we have only been in this house about 7 mos., so I kind of threw stuff on the walls when we first moved in order to get on to bigger projects.

This is my formal living/dining area. I moved around some pictures:

I'm sure you remember I made new window mistreatments a couple weeks ago. Well I also made a couple new striped pillows out of some fabric I had:

I have had this we moved in, and have not changed it. I love it. (I'm talking about the huge frame and pictures, not the toddler in jammies, but I love the toddler too!)

Here is the armoire in the corner that holds my tv. Is the top too busy? I think I like it, but the jury is still out.

I hung some more plates that I have had for a while, and put some old yard sale frames around them like pictures:

Don't look too close. You will see all of the holes that I have not patched or painted over. I want to make sure I like this and am not gonna change it some more, hence making new holes, before I repaint.

I have been crafting a lot lately, so my dining room has been A MESS! We usually eat dinner there every night as a family, but we have been having "picnics" in the family room instead. Lon never complains, but he was so glad to come home and see the mess gone yesterday.I made this new table runner...

Okay, so what is the verdict? Like the frames around the plates or hate it? I'm still trying to decide. I tend to think things have to be VERY UNIFORM. I'm a bit OCD and boring that way. Having the one big frame on the right will probably drive me crazy, but we will see how I feel after I live with it.