Giveaway at the Pleated Poppy

It's lindsey's birthday and she's doing a great giveaway of one of her cute little pouches!! She's so creative...you have to check out her blog!

Isn't this the cutest?? below is her website!

http://lindseycheney.blogspot.com/2009/05/31.html

More yoga!!

My friend Jill bought this dvd and since she's a beginner, we traded and she used my beginner one and i tried this more advanced one out...wow...was i feeling it!! so sore! i highly recommend it...definately different than my other two which are more calm and works more on meditation, breathing, stretching. this one is more Cardio and i love it!!!! give it a shot! Also, i have a subscription to Shape Magazine and the March issue has a great article with Jaime Pressly and her yoga workouts! it's a fun little workout if you are pressed on time. i sure hope the yoga does magic and makes my body look like hers! eh, who am i kidding?! :)

Classroom Rules

I wanted to do this project for our "family rules" but i thought i should wait til Carson is older and actually "gets" the rules we set...but i was dying to do it! In comes Nikki's graduation gift...i racked my brain for something creative to do for her when this project popped in my head. Classroom Rules! I got this idea from here: http://lindseycheney.blogspot.com/2009/05/my-view.html her blog is so creative...just love her and her guest blogger Nicole! Anyway, i wanted rules that would define character and not your typical "no running, hitting etc.." i wanted rules that i would want my own son to follow. So, these are the ones i came up with! I loved how it turned out and nikki loved it too!



First...i went to Hobby lobby when they were having a great sale on scrapbook paper. I picked out all my favorite sheets...it was so fun!

then went to Michael's with my 40% off coupon and got a large canvas. I painted the edges a pretty green color because you will be able to see the sides of the canvas once you are done with putting the rules on. then we cut into that beautiful paper! My wonderful husband helped me a ton with this! We cut the paper into strips and mod podged it onto the canvas. I varied the width of each paper to give it a different look.then once we were done with putting all the paper on, i took a black paint pen and wrote all my different rules on each strip of paper. I downloaded free fonts and wrote out all of my rules by hand. it was tricky and took the most time but it was so worth it! I can't wait to do this for our home too!

Fettuccine and Chicken Asiago

This is another dish i made for nikki's graduation party and it was a hit! There is a very well known area in St. Louis called "The Hill" and it has all the best Italian restaurants right in one location! There is a contest called "The pasta bowl" given by Lorusso's restaurant and this recipe was the winner in 2005. it is so very good!!

1 lb of grilled chicken breast (sliced bite size)

1 lb fresh asparagus cut in half inch pieces

8 oz pancetta (italian bacon) diced

1/2 pound of fresh mushrooms sliced

2 oz extra virgin olive oil

1/3 stick of butter

8 cloves of sliced garlic

salt and pepper to taste

1 lb fettuccine cooked al dente

freshly grated asiago cheese

Over medium heat lightly brown the pancetta in a saucepan with 1 tbsp of olive oil, drain half the rendered fat.

Add the remaining oil, asparaus and garlic and saute for 4 minutes until the garlic is lightly browned.

Add the mushroom to soften and add the salt and pepper. Add the butter and hot pasta and toss.

Top with plenty of asiago cheese and serve immediately!

When cooking pasta, do not rinse, try to cook it so it is ready when sauce is finished. if the dish needs more moisture, add a spoon or two of the pasta cooking water.

Loving Blue and Orange

We have a guest bedroom/office that i want to turn into a sort of playroom that can also be an adult room :) I usually go the neutral route in our room...tans/creams/green...but for the playroom i want it to be fun and more bold!

or this... (Centsational Girl)

i'm gravitating toward blues and oranges. So, now i know what i'm going to do with this cabinet: which has been sitting in my dining room for months b/ci don't know what to do with it! this baby is going to get a transformation!
hey carson!! i didn't even know you got in the picture til now! haha

Bacon Appetizers

I got this recipe from Pioneer Woman's website(this is her picture too). Haven't visited her? Do so...she is awesome! and so are these little bacon things!

Club Crackers
Thin sliced bacon
Grated parmesan cheese

lay crackers (as many as you want) face up on a cookie sheet. Scoop about 1 tsp of grated parmesan cheese onto each cracker. Cut your package of bacon in half and carefully so the cheese doesn't fall off, wrap each cheese covered cracker in one half piece of bacon, completely covering the cracker. It should fit snugly around the cracker.
Place the bacon wrapped crackers onto a baking sheet that has a rack on it. Place in a 250 degree oven for about 2 hrs.
so good...

A graduation party!

Nikki got her master's in education from McKendree last week. Even though she didn't walk, we wanted to throw her a good party...and a good party it was! The food was incredible...thanks to all who pitched in!! i will post the recipes to some of these tomorrow but here's a peak....oh! and i will share my special gift that daniel and imade for nikki's classroom! she loved it!

love her!

carson enjoyed straddling and dancing on this pole. haha
my cute grandparents!
here is the spread...see those bacon things to the left? those were some apps i made from a recipe on PW website. yum.

and this was a hit! i mad this...chicken and linguini pasta! so good!

My momma's day!

What a nice day! :) My second mommy's day...and look what my little one made me....


He filled it with dirt and put the stickers on by himself! He is the reason i can celebrate this day and my heart could just burst with how much i love him!

Yard sale find II

This is the riding car i was talking about....although, this is what he would rather do than ride in it.

I have a special project coming up! i've been working on it since sunday...i'm so excited! it's a great craft project! stay tuned!