I got caught...

I was suppose to cleaning/sorting my stuff in our storage room.

But I came across this.

And ended up doing this.

When Chris came to check up on how far I had gotten with sorting (pitching stuff), I had all kinds of craft supplies spread out all over making an even BIGGER mess. Oops.

I believe she just might need to take up residence in my future craft room.


I wonder what other treasures I might find in my storage room?

White Chicken Chili & Happy Josie is Back!

This recipe is based on a favorite dish that Chris and I like to order at a local restaurant. I have no idea how close this is to the actual recipe, but it tastes yummy. To save time, I'll often buy a rotisserie chicken and use that meat for our chili.

White Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 (4 ounce) cans chopped green chile peppers
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 can chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
3 cups chopped cooked chicken breast
2 (15 ounce) cans white beans
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Slowly cook and stir the onion until tender. Mix in the garlic, green chile peppers, cumin, and oregano. Continue to cook and stir the mixture until tender, about 3 minutes. Mix in the chicken broth, cream of chicken soup, cooked chicken and white beans. Simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Remove the mixture from heat. Slowly stir in the cheese until melted. Serve warm.

3. Optional toppings include sour cream and jalapeno peppers.

PS. I think our "happy" Josie might be back again. No screaming tantrums last night or this morning. This is HUGE progress. We found out that she's been refusing her naps at daycare which could also explain some of her over-tired nasty behavior that's carried over from the weekend away.

Bring my Josie back...

The last 4 days have been brutal. I want my happy Josie back. I haven't posted about night terrors or attachment issues in a long time, but it's rearing its ugly head again. I want THIS Josie back in my house.



We've had non-stop tantrums and crying fits that could wake the dead. It feels like our China experience all over again. We were out of town this weekend for my work and Josie never does well in hotel rooms. She was up each night crying out and screaming in her sleep. This morning, back in our own house, getting ready for daycare was just brutal. Picture screaming fits, rolling around on the floor, flying objects (shoes, sippy cups, toys..etc) and lots of slobbery tears and nose "stuff". It lasted for at least 30 minutes (which always scares me with her repaired heart). The same thing happened again this evening while driving Emma to religious education class. Something is up again. Sickness...maybe? Residual attachment stuff...maybe?

Josie, we love you. Come back.

Sunday Snapshots

Ok. I'm either being very brave or I'm totally embarrassing myself, but here's a couple of pictures of what our current storage room looks like. This room holds a large portion of my holiday and crafting supplies, as well as all our Halloween decorations/creatures.

This is why I'm excited about finally getting my very own crafting room. No more working on the kitchen island and shifting through boxes bins to find my supplies!!

Our builder can start the end of February on all our various home improvement projects (new entrance off the garage, mudroom and 2 finished rooms in the basement). I guess this gives me time to sort, organize, donate and pitch! Game on!!

Heart French Toast & Craft Room Update

Check out this easy way to dress-up your french toast for Valentine's. But you don't have to save this trick just for February 14th. In my world, just getting to Saturday deserves a celebration!! I'm also including a recipe for apple-stuffed french toast. It's out of this world!! The pictures below were taken with a traditional french toast recipe.

Cut out a heart from a piece of paper. Set the heart aside and use the heart outline to form a stencil. Place the stencil on top of your french toast and sprinkle powdered sugar in the stencil.

Remove stencil and shake excess powdered sugar into the sink. Repeat with additional pieces of french toast. Enjoy!

Although I have to work this weekend, I'm mixing in a little pleasure too. We're getting bids back from our builder on our home renovation projects. I have a few books I'm looking forward to pondering as I design my new craft room. I'm actually going to get brave in a few days and show you pictures of our current storage room. It's scary and I can't wait to start the transformation.

Have a super weekend!