Ten on Thursday.

1. Sewing-- i really want a 60's dress.  i bought this pattern, and some fabric, and now i need to sew it.  i could buy a dress that i would love from Shabby Apple, if i wanted to spend $100.  But, I'm making it... for $15 of fabric.

It may not be great when i'm finished.  But... i'm learning a skill, i'm using my resources.  i HOPE that the more i practice the more i will be able to sew cute trendy things that i can't afford to buy, for me and for my kids.  i don't know.  sewing is something that i go back and forth on... is it worth it???  i hope sew.  :)

2. Laundry-- this whole summer i have rocked at laundry.  {prior to this summer, laundry was the bane of my existence.}

what's the trick??  my friend corrie told me she does laundry on Monday and Thursday, and that it's not a big deal... she just does it and is done with it.  so, that's what i've done... Monday and Thursday, it's a priority, and i finish.  it's FREEDOM from the angry laundry Gods that haunt my dreams with visions of unfolded laundry baskets.  except this week.  i have baskets of unfolded laundry.  and, i'm haunted. today.  today.  OH-- and want your laundry to smell LOVELY??  Try Arm and Hammer Linen and Lavender flavor drier sheets {i found them at Target}.  Heavenly.

  3.  Bleach-- One more laundry tip... bleach without a front loader washing machine.  Todd's grammy told me this tip and i especially use it on my kitchen towels and washcloths.  Pick HOT and SMALL load... Dump in detergent and bleach, let the water fill to the small load capacity and agitate for a little while, then add your whites and turn your load capacity to large.  It works wonderfully.  I actually love bleach now. 

4. Houses-- i went to my friend's house for a birthday party.  she lives 40 minutes outside town.  in a house that cost around $100,000.  the outside is not anything wonderful, and it's old... but the yard is dreamy and they have decorated the inside so adorably... i think i could live in a house like that.  we've always lived in new houses, in nice neighborhoods... i THINK i could live in a smaller, older house in a less than desirable neighborhood, IF i had a large yard and decorated the inside charmingly.  the professor isn't so sure.  i did break my own rule about no realtor.com before an offer.  it seams like i can find houses i love for around  $400,000 $225,000 most places.  But, i really want to buy a house for $140,000...  i just do, i think.  {the house we live in now cost $140 and it is great... if only it had a basement and a bigger back yard.}  i want to get out of debt fast-- student loans.  and pay off our house-- and be one of the "millionaires next door".  i wonder how long this ideal will last??...

5.  Style-- i'm plain.  mom-cute.  sometimes i see people with style and courage and i wish i had what they have.
i wish i could paint my girls room funky like this room.  i wish i would EVER wear something fun like this.  and, i wish there was a bone in my body that would let me pick GREEN counter tops.  (aren't they fun?)  see how cute and trendy that mom is... someday?!

6.  Green Chicken Enchiladas--  want a great recipe??  i got this recipe from my latino, adorable neighbor, deborah, who caters.  i've brought it to many people for dinner, and served it to 100 teenagers... everyone ALWAYS asks for the recipe.  and, it's EASY.  very easy.  so, i share.

Chicken Enchiladas.
1 big can of GREEN enchiladas sauce.
1 small can of cream of chicken soup
cheese
corn tortillas
2 cans of canned chicken.
(yes, use canned... the first few times i shredded my own chicken, and it's good if you want to take the time... but no one can tell the difference if you use canned chicken and it's so easy.  my latino friend, she uses canned.)

mix enchilada sauce and cream of chicken... put a little on the bottom of your 9x13 then dip your tortillas in it (like french toast) and lay them out on the bottom of the pan (think tortilla lasagna).  continue to layer saucy tortillas, chicken, cheese, tortillas, chicken, cheese...  bake at 350* for about an hour.  serve with sour cream.  mmmm.

7.  CUPCAKES-- i made perfect, adorable cupcakes {for 100!} and they weren't even hard.  actually, i had a friend bake them... using a BOX red velvet cake mix.  Then, i made
Cream Cheese Icing
(one recipe will ice 50 cupcakes with leftover--really, icing goes far.  i think 6x the recipe and now i have icing in my freezer for the next 20 years.)
1 8oz. cream cheese
1/2c. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
3 c. powder sugar
1 Tb. milk.**  do not add more milk, even if you think it's too thick.  this is PERFECT.  just keep mixing.
(you can make this the day before and just wait till right before your event to frost.)
Frosting is EASY and fast.  just use a disposable frosting bag and cut the tip off.  don't frost all the way on the edges, and just swirl it in a circle, like you're spraying whipped cream on top of it.
i topped my cupcakes with purple m&m's from walmart... they have tons of fun colors you could match any party decor.
i'm definitely doing this again.  this was my inspiration cupcakes from chubbyhubby... i was so worried that mine would look homemade, but they were fancy.  you can do cute cupcakes.  really.

8.  MOVIES-- i really love old-fashioned love stories. i really like netflixs at night when the kids are in bed.  i really like BBC.  especially Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Daniel Deronda, etc.  but, i HATED Mansfield Park.  it was dumb.  because of the bbc actress, she was not lovable.  and i love Lie to Me, Dirty Jobs, and Brady Bunch.  I'm obsessed with their cute clothes and Alice.  if The Brady's were real, i'd want to be just like them.

9. PLAY-- i don't play with my kids.  i supervise.  i teach.  i talk.  i bathe.  i cleanse.  i organize their play.  i craft with them. i work with them.  i tell them stories and read them books. and i watch.  sometimes i play games with them and sometimes i do puzzles with them..  but mostly i cook or clean or take care of babies while they play.  the professor plays... he wrestles, he rides bikes, he arranges great wars with nerf guns, he is the king of TIGER on the trampoline.  and, i'm ok with this.  i actually really like my place in the family.  is that bad?
{note- i USED to play.  when i only had jakob, i couldn't clean ever because i played and entertained all day long.  when drew came 16 months later, i had a break down.  i could not play with jakob all day and take care of my life... so i became the manager instead of the play-mate.  i learned to get out a box of toys, set my boys in front of them, and walk away to cook dinner while they played.  it was a HARD learning process, but i do believe that is one of the reasons why i can handle so many kids.  i hope my kids won't be scarred for life because they had a mother that never played barbies with them...}

10.  Barbies-- And, that leads me to my number 10.  i bought a new ken doll this week.  because, on the way to the store, i asked my girls about their Barbie games.  I was really curious what they played.  (When i was little, we were really weird with our Barbies- like i remember our Barbie getting raped?! how did i even know what that was?!  so now i ask.)  The girls started off... well, we only have Edward, because the other ken's head fell off and you threw him away, so we had to pretend that Edward was married to both of us.  HA!!!  I just laughed and told them NEVER to tell our christian friends about this... us Mormon's have a hard time living down the polygamy thing.  we bought a new ken.  :)

11. Oh, i had one more.  Know what i did?  Cause I'm a dork...  I took pictures of myself in a swimsuit, in the bathroom mirror, because i can't figure out my body type.  This blog talks about what clothes you should buy to fit your body.  I can't tell if I'm and A figure- Pear (i am small chested and bummy), an I figure- Celery (i'm not super large anywhere), or an H figure- Apple (because my tummy is my most embarrassing place).  Even after i took the pictures, i still can't tell.   I know, silly but frustrating none-the-less.