2 cents from hunter

Our little charmer.....where to even begin with this one....

Well, I have decided that the boy has some skills....professionally....in being a charmer....I am trying to envision what this holds for him in the future....salesman?.... lawyer?....professional ladies man...wait wait... not the last one... LAWYER.... yep we'll stick with that one.

It all started one morning when I dropped him off at school. Nothing imparticular was special about this day....I took him inside, took off his coat, and we went on our way to class.

His teacher smiled at me wishing me a good morning as I did the same. Then she got out a book and said, "Oh before I forget, when is hunter's birthday?" Being that he has been at this school since he was 3 months old and had many birthdays there before I confusingly say January 8th? She then starts laughing so so loud and looks at hunter (who is grinning ear to ear, blushing and smiling) and she says to him, "You tricked me?!" even more confused I say "Huh?"

Apparently, our lil charmer decided he needed a party so he, a 3 year old, CONVINCED his teacher's that the previous day was his birthday and they threw a party for him!!! Seriously! He had a birthday hat, treats, they sang songs, THE WORKS. She was asking me so she could update their books!

I got back in the car, called daddy and quickly said, "YOUR SON!" to which daddy quickly answered "Uuuh-oh"....I told him what happened and after he picked himself up off the ground from laughing...well wait.... he never actually recovered...:)

Our son... the little charmer...

SO NOW when I drop him off at school I have to say "Have a great day baby and DO NOT THROW YOURSELF A PARTY TODAY HUNTER!! Understand?! NO.. PARTIES.. TODAY!"

Oooh sigh.... Lawyer... yes for now we will stick with that.. :)

Something Wicked This Way Comes...

HALLOWEEN!! ITS HERE! ITS HERE!

We had the OFFICIAL Halloween kick off in the Stinson Casa this past weekend!!! The countdown has been ON since September 1st! To top it off, the weather was cold and rainy all weekend! It was perfect for a Halloween atmosphere! We had halloween music or halloween movies playing all weekend.....absolute awesomeness.... yes... I repeat, awesomeness..... Where to even start!

We kicked off Friday night by having a family date night with some friends at a Ranger's game! It was hunter's first baseball game and the poor boy was going NUTSO all afternoon with "Is it time for baseball? Can we go baseball? Time for my shirt and baseball".. (he got a new Rangers shirt for the game)... I wasn't sure if he was going to be able to NOT explode until we got there!

He had soooo much fun and we all had way to much junk food! Hunter put a away a small pizza, potato chips, a pretzel, cotton candy, and some peanuts! He is turning into a bottomless pit I tell ya! My tummy hurt everytime he said "Momma, I'm hungry!"... I would say "BUT YOU JUST ATE! LET'S LET YOUR FOOD REST" to which he would reply "BUT YOU HAAAAAVE TOOO!"....oooh my.

We did have the HARDEST time explaining that we WATCH baseball not help them play it.........yet... :)..

I thought we might have to tackle him from charging the field because he was DETERMINED that he wanted to play with them!

We got home and snuggled in for the night...it was time to get some rest... we had a SPOOKY day ahead of decorating!!

So we all know how much we hate halloween....I use that term very loosely here :) ...... so you know what a BURDEN it was to spend the weekend setting it all up! Nearly had to twist my arm to get me to do it!.... ummm ya right Shae.

I started painting some pumpkins and doing some crafts in the morning and as soon as hunter went down for his nap, the hubby and I busted it all out!

We started with the fireplace.... I painted some pumpkins white and attached the black birds on top! I saw something similar on pinterest to which I am a new addict. So much so that I have not had an original thought in months! just kidding....I see tons I like and adjust to fit what I am wanting.....

The banner says Trick or Treat and is hung with beads. I'm going to have to do something about the photos behind the black birds though... It is a black and white picture so the bird gets lost in it.... I still have a few things to add buuuut its definitely a start!

Then I printed out some halloween labels that I found online and "laminated" them using packing tape! that way they last a bit longer and are more resilient to water. I placed the plaster fingers we made last year inside a glass jar with a fun glittery spider! If you look in the fireplace pic above you can see that poor Duke is quite unsure of it! Remember Duke is still somewhat new and doesn't know how crazy his mommy is yet!

Then came the table. I wanted to have it all set up for when hunter woke up so we could get started making our Halloween inspired dinner!

I put a special little pumpkin on his plate that had a spider ring and eyeball inside. He loved those things last year.... The milk jars are one of my favorites though! I found these online and am UTTERLY OBSESSED with them. I dyed his milk green for a "Brew Ha Ha" drink with dinner and topped it off with a label and fun stripey straw. We may have to keep the milk jars out year round. They are just too much fun!

I started dinner just as Hunter woke up. Daddy went and got him from his room and the first thing he saw was the cute Frankenstein hung on his door....(this was a clue for our dinner treat).....I hear this "HUUUUUUHHHH!!!"  and "WOOOW" followed by both hands slapped up on his cheeks and him screaming "THIS IS SO BOOTIFUL!!!" as he walked down the hall into the living room. Then he takes off running "WHERES MOMMA!!" and dives into my arms saying "MOMMA ITS JUST SO BOOTIFUL!!!" ...................let me just say that this has been the BEST reaction I have ever got out of him and it absolutely made my day. It looks like he may have inherited the love of holidays gene that his daddy and I share....I just melted....

So after the melting ..:)..  it was time for dinner. We took the family pizza making night and added some halloween style to it! We made a Frankenstein pizza!!! It looked similar to the one hanging on hunters door! (Well besides one being pizza and one being a stuffed animal).. It was SO much fun!

And for dessert we made boo krispies! These things flew off the shelf!... literally :)!!!

With our tummies full and eyes twinkling with Halloween cheer we settled in for the night....We were a little pooped.....ok..... I.... I was a little pooped...

After some much needed rest we woke up and made a family boo breakfast with some GHOSTLY pancakes!! (I thought about a jack-o-lantern but my drawing abilities aren't the best with pancake batter so ghosts with blueberries it is!....daddy took over and made the best ghosts and H's ever!...he even spelled out my name for my breakfast... :))

Hunter DOVE into them...

 

I got a start on the entry but still have a ways to go....Not quite sure what i want yet...

and last but not least and my new favorites this year are the shadow puppets we made! I cut out some halloween figures and sealed the paper with modge podge..(easy trick... if you don't have modge podge handy its the same as equal parts elmers glue and water :) )...... then I glittered them and used a spray sealer to seal in the glitter from flaking everywhere... this also made them water resistant!  I glued sticks on the back and put tea candle lights behind them to cast shadows on the wall!! I LOVE these guys! Hunter was walking around with them up to his face like a mask! It was a hoot.

Well that sums up the Halloween kick off!! More Halloween weekends to come!!!

Sending you all of our love from Texas!

~Us Stinsons

Making it work...

You know you are on the go... a lot... when the following happens....


We have started having pizza party nights....Hunter's latest and most favorite thing! We get lots of toppings, cheese, sauce, and pre-made dough (for quickness in the crazy week nights) and set it all up..assembly line style. We make silly faces with the pizza or just load it up with the works....Hunter's pizza usually has enough cheese to start his own cheese shop.

We had some canadian bacon left over so I put it in the freezer thinking it would work great for next week. Well, Saturday morning I got up to get breakfast and out the door. I grabbed my english muffin, egg, and.........DANG, it hit me..... that canadian bacon would be great on my breakfast sandwich.....

I run to the freezer.....grab it......yep.... the freezer did its job (dangit) and froze it good.....no time to defrost....hmmm no worries, I have a good hour drive before I get where I need to go.....(side note: I have this REALLY BAD personality trait that when I get my mind on something....it's going to happen whether it's meant to or not...)

I assemble my sandwich (minus the canadian bacon) in my tupperware... grab a towel, coffee, purse, and head out the door. What I do next, I have no idea where it came from....it just did.

I wrap the towel around the canadian bacon, turn my seat warmer on high, and set my purse on top of the frozen wrapped canadian bacon so the weight will force it down into the warm, toasty seat....

An hour I drove....... singing to my radio like I own those songs...got to my destination and just enough was thawed that I could assemble and microwave the rest of my sandwich.........Mmmmmm... yep, I'm calling it "mom on the go" breakfast..... Anybody have any hollandaise sauce? I know a great warmer :)

Other than that it has been wonderfully productive and fun weekends in the Stinson Casa. We have been booked out the Wazoo lately but finding time here and there to continue  "year of the house!!" (I am ABOUT burned out on that by the way....phew...exhausted, is this house finished yet?)

We have been looking at bedroom furniture for upteen years now and have yet to find something that we both agree on..... Sooooo... I decided to make one based on ideas that we both like.

It all started from this.....

to this....

and finally sanding and staining..

 

to bolting...

 

and last but not least... FINISHING!!

We are very excited how it turned out! Now for the footboard and armoire....but before that...I got a wild hair on what I wanted to do for the entry...

We had it the basic entry way for FOREVER... mirror, side table,...done..... but it just didn't seem to fit. We always needed a place for wet coats, boots,...WHATEVER it was, our coat closet always seemed to be low on space..sooo we went from this...

 

to building this..

 

We are in loooooove with it! I am going to frame more "hunter art" of all sizes and our favorites as well to put on the ledge.. I got a small start on it...

 

the art is this...

 

and then we will add grown up art too...(a fine eclectic mix is always nice ;)

 

Our bathroom got a minor face lift also....so we have one of those big frameless mirrors in the bathroom...drives me nuts...but I like the big area sooo..

 

it works...adds a layer to the flatness.. I will probably still build a frame for this but for now...it works..

 

 

There have been a few other house updates too...duke and watson (our 4-legged babies) got new food bins that have their names on it...

 

 

and then it has just been all fun with play and baking...i made scones for breakfast this week which hunter calls "cones"..well he took a bite and now calls them cookies...maybe i should make a healthier breakfast...

 

 

Orange cranberry scones with a fresh orange glaze...my favorite...

 

We did have a VERY important military "drill" in the house this weekend. It was all very Covert Ops type stuff...

 

 



 

 Good thing hunter is always there to protect his mommy while we seek / hunt out daddy!!

Sending all of our love from Texas!

~Stinson's

My Soap Box.....its nuts up in here!

The term foodie...is an understatement.

foodie: a person that not only likes to consume all food in sight  but is also interested in knowing everything there is to know on any and all subjects applicable. Such a person might also undertake the study of the process of food and how it becomes what it is.....aka......Shae. (if you believe this is an official definition from any other book than that from the book of bull......come sit by me. we could be great friends :) )

Well, we finally started a "small" garden! kind of... we have blueberries, a peach tree, tomatoes, and an herb garden on steroids...trust me....this is from one picking just to get some of it out and stored...

(cilantro, basil, and spearmint so far)

but i have to tell you that there is nothing like picking herbs from our backyard for dinner or even for lunch...

(this has been my summer favorite for lunch...garden tomatoes, fresh basil, mozzerella, olive oil, and balsemic vinegar.....it's tough but someone has GOT to eat it....)

Now if only i could figure out where to do a raised garden i might never need to buy produce from the store again! :)

So no secret if you know me, i am a little bit of a healthy eater....an even bigger pigger outer...and have one fierce sweet tooth....put them all together and whattya get.....a really confused foodie thats what.

I eat what i want when i want but i am ALWAYS trying to either make something myself (to get all the "extra" stuff out that you find in packaged food) or find ways to make what i want on a healthier scale. (don't get me wrong...nothing is coming between me and my pizza, and ice cream...or cake...and cheese!!!  when i want it but i try to even it out as much as possible...)

(see.... I can hang with the best of 'em.....This philly cheese steak got nothin' on me!)

The latest healthy thang in our home is almond milk.

So after my surgery, coffee really hurt my stomach so i went without drinking it for about 6 months.  (now i know just heard a shock of "huuuh" around the world because spend any time with me and you will find...i am never without my coffee...in my own cup....from my own thermos...brewed at home.)

Finally i came in one morning from walking duke, smelled it, and for the first time really wanted it again.

I couldn't drink it black (the usual) so i added milk. Well, the milk is still in there EVERY morning and i am trying to find something a little healthier. I've read almond milk adds some yummy flavor and healthy fat so i switched. It's actually really really good!

Of course there are all of these artificial sweetners, preservatives, etc in it when you buy from the store and i never use an entire carton before it sours so i decided to see what it takes to make it........why not???:)...and turns out its a sinch!! AND i use the almond "mush" left over to make almond flour to substitute for breading on chicken, fish, etc..!

I told you its nuts up in here! (pun intended.......hee hee)

(almonds soaking before blending...blend with fresh water not soaking water...bleck)

(strained almond "mush" from milk to dry out in oven)

(finished almond milk and almond flour!)

With all the butter making, jam brewing, almond "milkin" (so funny), flour bakin, garden growin n' stowin....I have decided to give them our own "in-house" labels. Relating it to my professional career...they are loving labeled ..."from the kitchen of the food architect."....logo pending and forthcoming... :) (yes yes i am WELL aware i am a crazy)

Our grocery list keeps getting smaller and smaller! whoo hoo! which brings me to the Soap Box....

Ooooh wait, you thought the healthy eating blurb WAS my soap box.......hahahahahaha...nope....i actually have......... a Soap.......box.

So again with all the making stuff my own....i have heard tons o'stuff about this subject so i decided to try it...

I made......Laundry detergant......(insert bad thoughts... i did too at first)

IT WAS SO EASY! i found a site where they did comparisons with mustard stains on 2 shirts etc and washed them individually with commercial grade vs homemade and the results they posted where exactly the same!!!

My first batch...... (umm batch is understatement...lets try 3 gallons...) looks identical. I'm going to experiment later on with scents if this works....

(This stuff smells amazing...i can't wait to use it..)

i'm going to do my own "tests" before i run out of my "all natural commercial stuff".. if it works i plan to switch! (so if i start stinkin' let me know...............................:)  )  Plus the jar i'm putting it in is so fun....almost makes you look forward to doin some laundry.............almost.

This new found discovery led to the thought process of making my own all natural housecleaners....Chemical free.....

I have already begun the labeling and packaging / testing.................our "in house" cleaning line is called....can you guess?....... The Soap Box.......(i think i have now reached certifiable crazy........no shame....)

Now to just find the right packaging...ya know for the shelves in my house that no one ever sees.......I see glass jars in their future too.....hmmmm

Hubby continues to verify with me that i realize we don't live in a cabin in the middle of nowhere surviving off the land.......yes baby....I may be crazy but not delusional.......yet :)

oh well, its all in good fun......

Sending all our love from Texas,

crazy-lady stinson (the non-delusional kind :) )

2 cents from hunter...

Hunter is officially a "big potty trained boy" now... well, has been for awhile but ma' here is slackin on her bloggin :)

He is so sweet in his little routine and saying everything as he does it...."pull up underwear....then britches (ya know, southern for PANTS)....wash my hands..... dry... light (turn off light)"

Well dad and I still tend to "chaperone" the event so we take turns who stops what they are doing and goes with him. (when we don't, entire rolls of toilet paper end up in the potty...)

Sometimes we high five and say "tag your it" or just "Your up, I got the last"...

So hunter was pulling on his "britches" one day and I think just decided that he was tired. He pulled them off (had them halfway on)... walked over, handed them to me and said "your up, I got the last one".....

It would be much easier to convince a toddler you mean business if their side of the conversation did not make you laugh....

Year of the house....

Phew where does the year go! I can almost start my count down to halloween! (or should i say the countdown to start decorating for halloween!!...(in case you don't know, fall goes up on Sept. 1st...Halloween goes up on Oct. 1st!.......and christmas, well THAT goes up thanksgiving NIGHT!!!! it's a whole party thang..)

This year the family is coming to our house for christmas....so besides a countdown for the holidays, a countdown for "get yo' booty in gear woman and get some stuff done to your house that you have been putting off forever" list(s) kick in too... and um.....it is a LOOOONG list... there is NO WAY it is going to be all done before they get here but I will give it my all... and all that my wallet will give :) :)

First thang is first. We start with the floors and baseboards.

So we bought our home 3 years ago...and as it usually does, life happens and besides painting and refinishing our cabinets, not a lot has happened.

The floors were neutral color and in fairly good shape when we moved in so we had them in mind to do but not immediate. Well, 3 years later, dr's tell us carpet needs to go when possible as bad as hunter's asthma is and with a 3 year old, sippy cups of juice, and just a plain ol' busy life...thats just what they did....they "got gone" fast!
Here's the tile scheme:

Before/demo picture....(didn't take a whole bunch....nothing NEEDS to be remembered... :)

after.....

(picture frames are now symmetric on both sides adding a 4th incase this bugs anyone else :) ..maybe just me...and family pics inserted so the "rent-a-fam pics" that came with frames are gone)

hunters little art corner.....it gets used.. A LOT

(office fixture...still unpacking this room :( ...)

aaand we mounted the TV above fireplace...hubby has decided we now need a bigger tv...shrug...

loving the after shots... is it REALLY necessary to have to live through the "during". Can we just skip to the end......

We still have the bedrooms and baths to do.... now we just need the time...

In all the "rearranging" commotion in this process i discovered a wall that none of our current art pieces look "right" on. (uum the office looks like the art slots at stores....just flip through the twenty or so not hung and find what you need...I am officially out of walls... what can i say...i heart my art....)

so what do i do....see something on pinterest that sparks an idea and there I go...making something that does work!!

May I introduce our GINORMOUS menu board...

(still working on the frame.... i have to find someone that has a miter saw or just bite the bullet and buy one... i still have my headboard and dining table to make so I know it will get used TONS...)
I ended up making two because someone else was having way to much fun on the first one....

so now the first one is in his toy room. (the "toy" room is the future room of baby number 2...WHENEVER they decide to come along....when this happens....lets just say it will become the year of hunter's room....building stuff that will fit what we need in his room to fit a baby in the other)

then came hunters bathroom....

it has been painted, fixture changed, mirror changed, and finally accessories switched out...flooring is in its future...and tiling on the wall..42" up on the wall to be exact but who's thinking that far ahead. :)

(still have some spackling to do where the old fixture was but you get the idea)

Now its time for our bedroom. No pics yet because it has not been started but it's "a-comin". Paint, flooring, baseboards, fixtures, headboard (building because i cannot find one i like)...like i said...may i skip the "during" and just see the finished? :)

and the WONDERFUL hubby gave me my birthday present early....6 months early! (to some this is no shock...hubby and i have this thang that we are always way too excited about each others gifts so the minute we get em....we usually give them to the other.....no matta how early....eh whattya do...we love it!)

I got my farmer's sink for the kitchen!!!! this gives me time to get it installed and find a fixture we can both agree on! whoooo hoooo!!! I hated to give you a picture of a box so i will give you one from the store...

needless to say I....am.....excited.

and last but not least we bought a refridgerator for the garage....I'd say we are definitely "gearing" up for christmas....(see why we are calling it "year of the house")

So that about wraps up the last month in the Stinson household. It has been a hot mess here let me tell you but it's getting there!

Sending all our love from texas!!