Boo!

Is this the sweetest ghost you've ever seen?

I know ghosts are supposed to be scary,

but this little ghost made me the happiest mother ever!

You see, it is my first ever craft project made by Walter.

Isn't it adorable?

It's his little footprint in white paint upside down

and I absolutely LOVE it!

I also love his daycare provider immensely for helping him make it.

It was such a fun surprise.

I took it home and promptly hung it on my fridge

(where I'm sure it will stay until at least Christmas).

Hope everyone has a Happy Halloween!

A Little Privacy Please

My living room windows have been naked since we moved in.

But recently my view has changed -

 

Yep, we've got neighbors building on the lot next door.

 With construction guys working
right outside my windows every morning,

 it seemed about time to put up some curtains. 

 I had tried to find a curtain rod to fit our bay window a few times,

but it was frustrating and I never found anything I really liked.

But a recent trip to

solved that problem.

I found a nice oil rubbed bronze rod

with these pretty orange glass balls at the end

that I thought would go perfect in our living room.

I had to buy 2 short rods and 1 long rod,

as well as 2 elbow brackets to make joints to fit the bay window.

Thank goodness for all those 20% off coupons

we always get in the mail!

I found some curtains I liked at IKEA and

then enlisted the help of these 3 tough guys

to get my curtain rod put up.

Stay tuned for the reveal -

I've just got one or two more things to do

before you can see them hanging in all their curtain glory.

Time Crunch

I'll tell you what people -

posting 5 days a week has become a little too much for me.

Maybe you've noticed.

I got a new job and I therefore get up earlier, get home later and

have less time to hang out with this monkey.

Once I get him fed, into the tub and off to bed,

I don't have much time until I'm heading to bed myself.
I am growing a human you know, so that makes me tired early!
So I'm doing my best -
I've got a few projects almost finished up that
I can't wait to show you,
but you'll have to be a little patient with me
while I adjust to my new schedule.

Maybe I'll have more free time once Walt starts using a fork.

Pizza, Pizza!

Happy Monday everyone!

How about homemade pizza for tonight's meal plan?

Here's a look at the ingredients:

First, get a pound of pork sausage frying,

while you mix up your pizza crust

according to the directions on the package.

Then, cover your dough and let it rise while you make your pizza sauce.

Put some olive oil, a can of tomato paste,

 and a can of water in a saucepan,

and then add all of your spices.

Slice up some onion,

and fry it in a pan with mushrooms and garlic.

Then flatten out your pizza crust

 until it covers the bottom of your pan.

Grab your garlic, mushrooms and onion,

as well as your simmering pizza sauce,

and your crust,

and start assembling your pizza.

Once your sauce is spread over the crust,

 toss your sauteed mushrooms, onions and garlic on top.

Then, take cheese and pepperoni,

and spread them out on top.

Last, grab your cooked sausage off the stove,

 and spread it out over top of the pepperoni.

 Sprinkle a little more cheese on top

and then toss that baby in the oven,

following the baking instructions on the crust package.

Since everything is pre-cooked,

it doesn't take long before you're ready to eat.

Mmmmmmm, tell me you don't want a slice!

Below is our pizza sauce recipe in full.

Since we put onions and mushrooms right on our pizza,

we didn't put any onions in the pizza sauce.

Pizza Sauce

1 Tbls vegetable oil

1/2 c. chopped onion

1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste

6 oz. water

1/2 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. dried basil

1/4 tsp. dried marjoram

1/4 tsp. dried cumin

1/4 tsp. chili powder

1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Saute onion until tender. Stir in tomato paste and water. Add sugar and all seasonings. Simmer 15 to 20 minutes.

Love me some MEAH!

Look who's back!

My pal Amanda,

 whose jewelry business - MEAH by Amanda,

has wowed my readers for some time.

She's been working feverishly and has quite an inventory of finished necklaces.

So guess what fun we've teamed up to create -

a MEAH by Amanda Open House and
another chance for one of my readers to win a necklace!
Earlier this summer, Amanda generously donated a necklace

for my first ever reader giveaway.
Here is just a taste of some of her work -

Not to mention a few of her custom

photo necklaces -

Stay tuned for more details!

Sneak Preview

I had an early ultrasound last week when my doctor

couldn't pick up the baby's heartbeat at my regular appointment.

No one was really worried -

we'd heard it before and had a hard time locating it the first time,

so she just had me pop over for an ultrasound

to make sure all was well.

Sure enough -

This little peanut was doing great.

Had a strong heartbeat that was nice to hear and

kept moving those little hands and feet for me to see.

Just wanted to let you know that Baby G #2 is

growing strong at 15 weeks!

Who Doesn't Love Meatloaf?

Not only is meatloaf one of Woody's favorite singers,

it's also a great dinner idea.

We spent the weekend in Long Prairie visiting Grandpa & Grandma.

While we were there, I learned how to make Woody's meatloaf.

So, of course, it's today's Meal Plan Monday!

Here are the ingredients -

Stick the hamburger, oatmeal, and onion in a large bowl.

Add ketchup, milk,

and eggs.

Then throw in some salt and pepper,

and mix everything together,

until it looks like this:

Dump the mixture into a loaf pan,

and pat it until it's level.

Now just bake it at 350 for an hour.

After an hour, pull it out and spread this sauce on top.

 It's made up of brown sugar, ketchup, and mustard.

Then pop the meatloaf back in for another 15 minutes,

until it looks like this:

Here's a slice of Woody's meatloaf.

I learned that it has to be served with a baked potato and peas,

to round out one of Adam's favorite meals growing up.

Here's Adam -

 happy to be eating meatloaf made by Dad once again.

Woody's Meatloaf

1 1/2 lb. hamburger

half a chopped onion

3/4 c. oatmeal

1/2 c. ketchup

1/4 c. milk

2 eggs

salt & pepper

Mix ingredients and bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Add topping and bake for another 15 minutes.

Topping:

1/2 c. ketchup

2 tsp. mustard

3 Tblsp. brown sugar