wow, I'm so behind!

I have a TON of posts to do! I'm so behind!  lol 

Let's get caught up, the house updating is basically done.. for now at least.  There's still two rooms that need floors but we're not worrying about them right now.  The kitchen still needs cabinets redone and new counter tops but that will probably be our project when we get our taxes back next year. 

I'm officially licensed and open for daycare!  Been done for about a month and had kids for most of it! :D  Yay!  Exciting!  It was perfect to start over summer vacation because it's like a play date every day for my boys.  Quite a few of the kids that come are from his class so he loves it! 

We've been going to the park a TON!  We're always either in our pool or at the park.  Keeps the kids busy! :D 

I'm excited to hopefully get more full time kids soon!  Although it is nice having part time kids cause there's days we have no kids and it's just us and we can still go do other stuff (sea world, water park, etc...).

My little man turned 6!  AHHHH!  He's a 1st grader.  To know how he came into this world (born in a garage, birth mother used drugs and had no prenatal care), and to see where he is now (absolutely no struggles, you wouldn't know he had a rougher start than any other child around....  He just makes me smile! :D  And he has such an amazing little personality. 

My baby boy, he's about to turn 5 in... 17 days!!!!  (we're not counting or anything, lol) and he's super excited about that!  He's going into Kindergarten in a few weeks, and they have full days this year so I am very excited about that!  lol!  He's not a happy boy when he's home before his brother and has to wait for him.

I just totally wiped out my computer.. saved everything on my backup drive and deleted it!  It was so full I couldn't put another thing on it. 

Well, I have one munchkin eating breakfast in the high chair and the big munchkins are paying house right outside the back door and I'm sitting in between so I can watch both.  lol  So I'll leave you with some pictures of my munchkins and the daycare munchkins from june! :D 

I'm so lucky I have such an amazing group of munchkins to hang out with! :D  Love them!

Ice Cream or cupcakes??? little bit of BOTH!!!

So, I'm just finally getting some time to breath.  All the floors are done.... Correction...  All the floors we're doing for right NOW are done..  The painting's done, although I want to paint something on the boys wall.. a tree with an owl specifically.

So, I'm taking a minute to show you what I made for Aiden's class the last day before spring break.

Please don't mind my HORRIBLE icing job.  This is what happens when I use store bought icing instead of making my own!  lol  BUT, it was a must because at the time the flooring guys were working on the living room floors and I had no floors in the kitchen AND I had to not only make these cupcakes, but muffins for Nolyn's class and, AND paint the doors, door frames & bathroom ceiling and walls because the floor guys came the next day.  So, to say the least they were a rushed treat!

But, turned out super cute and the class loved them!  I just put the cupcake mix right into the cones and cooked them like that in the oven.  Came out great!  Frosted them after they cooled and added some sprinklers.  Will definitely be doing these again. 

DONE!!!!

I've officially completed my 15 training hours I needed for child care.... 

EMSA approved:
CPR
First Aid
Preventative Health Practices

I think I actually learned something in each class, even being super basic.  I had taken CPR a million times but never had to be EMSA approved, so this time I did it on the Dummies and it definitely made me 100% more confident in my skills :D

And first Aid had good tips.  Can't think of anything spectacular off the top of my head.

Preventative health was good, boring, but good.  It basically went over sanitizing, cleaning, and the common sicknesses day care kids will bring into our home.  That part actually scared me to be honest... worms in kids butts, lice, scabies... AHHH!  oh my gosh, I couldn't stop itching!  lol

But, glad to have that done.  I'm going to call our Analyst and leave her a message today to get our inspection scheduled.  Hopefully for about 2 weeks away from now :D

I'm so excited to almost be DONE with this process.  The thought of having no income come June is KILLING my stress level. 

So, that's the major good news I have for the moment :D

We have a busy weekend of a wedding shower, and a TON of church because my munchkin will be in the Kids Choir for every service (that's 4 times!  lol).  And we have random people and family coming to different services. :D 

Oh, and I'm currently making Cheesecake pops for the wedding shower I'm heading to tomorrow! :D

awesome, amazing, fabulous, delightful weekend!

Had a great weekend.  Totally killed my diet (part of the reason why my weekend was so great probably!  lol), but I will overcome this week. 

I'm honestly so tired from the weekend, I'm coming here to try and get motivation to get on all my projects for today. 

So, on Friday I installed the wood floor in the kids room 100% BY MYSEFL!  AHHHHH!  insane.  I've never used a saw before, but I feel totally inspired and I'm ready to... pretty much build a house!  lol  Pictures to come soon! 

I have some revamping to do on a free bunk bed we got from our friend Alex (thank you thank you thank you!).  The kids have been in toddler beds STILL cause every time we think about buying them new beds some money issue arises.  :(  So, she was going to burn hers and I said WHAT???  I'll take them.  So I'm going to make the side guard rail and the latter and rig them together.  Oh and sand and paint them.  ALL the kids furniture is currently different colors.  Their dresser is white, the beds are a light wood, their train table is a black/espresso.  Since the train table is the newest thing and easiest to match everything else too, I'm gonna paint the dresser and beds to match it. 

The kids room still needs the molding done, but I'm gonna wait 'til I do the floors in the other bedroom and then do the molding at the same time.  BUT, today I need to move everything from the kids temporary room, back to their room so I can scrape the ceilings in there, spray texture, paint the ceiling white, paint the walls (who knows what color yet), install the floor, install the molding... insert nap here!

And pretty much all that stuff needs to be done this week!  And that's with a sea world trip thrown in the mix on wednesday.  ahhhhhhhhh! 

So, that's why I'm missing!  lol!  I hope to be back soon... VERY soon!  I have so many pictures that need entries to go with them. 

Oh, and update, had to take my cpr/first aid class on saturday.  While there, BORED, I got a facebook message....  if you remember this entry "How are your relationships?" you'll remember my struggle with a friend, I said things I shouldn't and never gave her the chance she deserved.  I was a HORRIBLE friend.  So, I sent her a message about 2 weeks ago and hadn't heard anything back.  So I got a message back during my class and it was GREAT!  We actually went to dinner with them saturday night after my class and they came over and BBQed with us Sunday.  I'm VERY happy with my decisions and I'm so glad that they are part of our life again.  I couldn't have asked for a better outcome and I'm working on being an amazing friend!

I'm gonna stop here because my children are running around the house like little maniacs and screaming for breakfast and hopefully if I go make it I'll get motivated to wash their bright outfit for kids choir (they have to wear the same one like 5 days this week, lol), move their room back and scrape ceilings..... uuuuuuuuuuugh. 

Yum Yum Cheesecake!

So, I know a TON of people that wanted my cheesecake recipe that I used of my cheesecake pops.  So, I'm gonna post it here :D

Ingredients

• 15 graham crackers, crushed
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

• 4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 3/4 cup milk
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch springform pan.
2. In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter. Press onto bottom of springform pan.
3. In a large bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Blend in milk, and then mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate. Mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until smooth. Pour filling into prepared crust.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Turn the oven off, and let cake cool in oven with the door closed for 5 to 6 hours; this prevents cracking. Chill in refrigerator until serving.

Now this is what I use to make a cheesecake.  BUT, remember, I'm posting this for use with my cheesecake pops, in which case you don't have to worry about it cracking.  Once you make the cheesecake and it's all done, just throw it in the mixer.  I throw mine in the kitchen aid for a few minutes (yes, graham cracker crust and all).  If it's still really gooey, I add more graham cracker crumbs.  

Once I feel like it looks good, I pull out a spoon full and drop it into a tray full of graham cracker crumbs.  Get the whole thing a nice coat, THEN you can roll them into nice balls!  

Once they're in the balls you freeze them for a few hours then they're ready to make into pops!

 

Just heat chocolate candy melts in the micro at 30 second intervals, stirring in between EVERY time.

Once it's ready, take your lollipop sticks and dip the end into the chocolate, then stick that end into the cheesecake ball.  Give it time to harden before actually dipping the WHOLE thing into chocolate.  

 I like to do mine in two batches.  So I usually have two pans of balls and if one pan is out, the other is in the freezer.  So I get the sticks in all the balls on one tray and put it in the freezer, then do the other tray and put those in the freezer and take the other tray out to dip in chocolate.... kinda confusing, you get it?  lol

 

Anyway, you can find my post on my Cheesecake pops here...

 My Cheesecake is cool, My cheesecake is Poppin'! 

 

And REMEMBER, just like I said in the post I link too.. if you can't make a good tasting cheesecake for nothin, DON'T!  Go buy one!  lol  Or if you're running short on time and don't have HOURS to let a cheesecake cook and cool and this and that....  Just go buy one and throw it in the mixer.  Honestly, it's not a big deal and a nice time saver tip.  Especially if you're making these last minute for a big event... you don't want to show up with funky tasting cheesecake!  lol  And that lesson does go for ALL cake pops.  You could literally go buy almost any cake from the store, mix it up and turn it to cake balls.  You may have to add more frosting or graham cracker... things along those lines, but for the most part you should be safe that way.  And that's AWESOME if you're not a good baker.  The chocolate dipping part is easy!  

 

 

Are we done yet???

I swear, the world of home remodeling & fixing up is NEVER ending!  I can't WAIT for 5 more years when our house is paid off and we have more money to fix more of the big things that need to be done.  'Til then of course, little by little, we're getting there.

So, after a week of madness.....  demo, painting, ceiling scraping... and worstly, LIVING on plywood floors with a house covered in dust from removing the tile glue and crap... ugh...  FINALLY on thursday our flooring was started and all put in (well, now ALL put in, but all the rooms they were hired to do) by Friday night!  :D 

Since my child care inspection will be here way too soon, there's no way we had time to lay 1400 sq. ft. of flooring in the main living areas (living room, hallway & entryway - 1168 sq. ft, bathroom - 65 sq. ft, kitchen - 122 sq. ft.) so we paid for that to be done.  Plus those are areas our guests really see and have a TON of angles not to mention the rock fire place to go around.. gosh.. they spent almost ALL of friday just on our little kitchen alone because the angles were so hard.  So, we wanted those areas to be done right and look the best.   Money well spent.

So now we have the flooring for the two bedrooms, one being the kids sleeping room, the other will be set up with more baby toys for the younger child care children. 

Anyway, I haven't uploaded all my pictures from my nice camera, BUT I do have a sneak peek cell phone pic I can share 'til I do...

 

Can't even tell you how much I LOVE it!  My parents had installed the carpet when I was in 5th grade.  that carpet was going on 17 years old.  And I can't tell you how many dogs my family used to have.  Actually right after the carpet was installer, our family dog had puppies... yeah... 6 puppies NOT potty trained.  Ugh.. and when we took over the house 2 years ago, my childhood dog was still around but on her last leg.  In her prime of course she would never pee in the house, but when she was practically blind and barely walking, pretty much all she did was pee and poop in the house.  So the carpet was hammered, to say the least.  Not to mention the fact that we live on 3 acres of DIRT!  Let me tell you when we ripped that carpet up, there was literally PILES of dirt!  PILES!!!!!!  Like little mountains.  It was gross.  I will NEVER get carpet again.  NEVER.  with dirt, kids and dogs, carpet just does not work.  I don't care if I have to sweep and mop everyday the rest of my life...  

So, I need to get back to cleaning the layers of dust off everything and getting my construction zone back to home condition, so I can move onto the next project..... :D  Can't wait to share pics of all we've done though!

How are your relationships?

So, church service this morning was amazing as usual.  It was all about relationships. 

Since the very first day I started attending church, every service I've been to has related to something going on in my life.  I supposed that would be god answering my prayers?  Whether it's been about cancer the weekend after my husbands Grandmother passed away from cancer.  Or about education as I was struggling with issues for my kids education as well as what I was going to do with my life and education. 

So, all week something has been bothering me.  I had a little fight (on facebook, ugh) with a friend of ours.  Well, she was really the girlfriend (at the time, but now fiance) of one of my husbands close friends (a groomsmen in our wedding).  My husband went to school with her but they weren't really close friends.  So, she had send me a long facebook message that really upset me just days before our wedding.  About how figuring out where my guests were staying and how they were getting home from our wedding was MY problem.  Which yes, for out of state guests it was.  But they lived like 30 minutes away from our wedding venue, so in my opinion they could get a hotel room, take a taxi, or one of them could stay sober enough to drive home (crazy idea, I know!).  Anyway, I sent my husband the message and he promptly handled the problem.

So, after the wedding was over she made a comment about thursday dinner night which is a night we get together with another couple for dinner at our house or the other couples house...  long story short it turned into a blow out.  A blow out where I said many many many hurtful things to her.  Things that I really hadn't seen first hand, I had heard through other people mainly.  I called her a bad mom, I told her to spend more time with her kid instead of causing drama on facebook.  She has custody of her child every other week.  To me, that's crazy.  I could NEVER be without my kids every other week.  And from what I'd heard from their previous roommates, they would stay in their room all day, having sex and whatever else they do in there and leave their at the time kindergartener to fend for herself.  Not even coming out to feed her.  Now, I did notice small things like other people feeding her child at a party why she was busy with her boyfriend... but, I do understand new love and... well, I honestly shouldn't have worried about it.  Her daughter is in good health, she's not physically abused, and besides them not making her a plate at a party, I've seen NOTHING with my own eyes that was abuse. 

Basically, what I'm getting at is no matter what she did or said, I should have never said the things that I said.  I should have just ignored it.  The Pastor brought up a good point.  It's not just about what you GET from the relationship, but what you GIVE TO the relationship.  So, this brings me to my though... maybe God had brought us together for what I could give and not so much what I could get.  At the time these issues happened I was very focused on myself.  Our issues happened to take place around one of the biggest days of MY life, MY wedding.  I was completely focused on my life and not others.  Is this why I wasn't as accepting of her. 

So, all week I had been thinking I should contact her, I should apologize.  I was very upset at the way I handled the whole situation and the fact that this couple was now having ill feelings towards me because of this fight was just starting to really get to me. 

I'm typically a very funny person.  I get along with most people, it's actually RARE that I don't get along with someone.  Even if they have some traits that bother me, we still don't have problems.  Sure I might get annoyed by something they say or do, but not to the point that it's an issue.

So after thinking about this issue all week, I show up to church today and the service is about none other than relationships.

Answer to my prayers?  Yes.  It confirmed that my thoughts are correct and I should make some effort and apologize.  Even if nothing comes out of it, it will set better in my head, and my heart. 

This couple happened to have quite a few life changing events since this blow out occurred which i believe was in September 2010.  They became engaged, they got pregnant, they found out the baby is a boy, they moved.  quite a bit in such a short time.  I know about all this stuff of course because we still have a TON of mutual friends.  I think this is another reason why this whole issue has just bothered me.

So, just another reason why I know that God is showing me I'm doing the right thing, that going to church is the answer for me and my family....  God is good :D

Now if only I could get my diet back on track tomorrow.  We'll see.  Maybe I should pray about THAT! ;) 

I did get the ceilings textured this weekend by the way, and mostly painted.  Finished off 5 gallons of primer and STILL need more.  That just confirms our living room is too big for sure.

If anyone's been looking for me...

don't worry, I've just been in ceiling scraping H E L L!

I must say, our house is 2500 square feet.  We are completely blessed to have a house this size, on 3 acres, and lucky in this economy to have a Mortgage that's only $1000 in San Diego.  BUT, it was an OLD house.  Almost as only as I am... well, 1-2 years younger cause my parents built it when I was a baby.  When we moved into this house we were left with everything exactly the way it was when it was build....  popcorn ceilings, blue/gray walls, PINK walls (yes, PINK walls), PINK tile, grey marble, grey with brown dirt stained carpet, barely working and broken appliances, leaks, ugh... the list goes on.  When I wasn't working it wasn't bad.  For one I was BARELY home.  I was working from like 6:30am-5:30pm.  it was crazy.. I was home long enough to make dinner, do laundry and sleep.  And I was making a ton of cash so I knew once our wedding was paid off I'd be putting all the money into the house.  Well, of course my boss had a meltdown and demolished the office with me in it, putting my safety in danger and his crazyness had already killed my mental health.  I was over it.  So, he fired me and I pretty much never looked back besides going to take pictures for evidence.

So, what's a unemployed girl to do besides get a measly $1000/month from the the state and depend on her husband?  I decided to jump on the home child care train!  Choo Choo!!!!

So, sounds easy right?  Yeah, until you go to orientation and they tell you no dirty carpet, must be cleaned monthly, home in good repair.  HA!  Yeah, no problem.  NOT!  When you make enough to get by, you do just that, get by.. and your happy that you get enough to get by. 

So, then there's hope (a.k.a. Tax return!)....

So, we had already planned to use our tax return on new laminate flooring in the living room, hallway, entryway.  And we were going to do the bedrooms also, but we can do those ourself.  Our living room is 1000 square feet.  Yes, that's right, bigger than most one bedroom apartments.  I love our big living room... until it comes to home updating.  Scraping the ceiling in the kids bedroom (168 sq. ft.) took me a measly 2 hours.  But this living room... ugh...  4 different days I spend hours and section by section..  oh my gosh. 

Then Thursday I got the call from my child care analyst.  The 20 inspections in front of me, basically mean nothing to her and she was to get it done soon.  AHHHH!  Insert panic here.

Then Friday, I check our bank account and BAM, our tax return went in.  AHHHHHHH!

That means its floor time.. BUT, before we can install the floor I had to finish scraping ceilings, respray them, paint them, and paint the walls, at least anywhere they NEED painting.  We painted when we moved in 2 years ago and we're keeping the colors the same, so that part of the living room won't be bad. 

So, to say the least, I told my dad to get ready to spray!  I told him I'd scrap but he had to spray!  He kept telling me we'd notice mistakes more in the living room since it's so big, and I didn't want it to be my fault... must always have someone else to blame!  lol

So, yesterday with one big section left, I got my scrape on and got it done....

Here's some pictures throughout the process...

This area up to in between the two fans was about what was left for me to do last night...

I HATE how dirty popcorn ceilings look!

from the entry way...

Yes, this is how I suit up when I scrape!  lol

DONE!!!

Pardon the mess, stuff is always EVERYWHERE cause I have to move everything around.

I had to move everything from the mantle and fire place to the pool table...

And as I type my dad just came in... back from home depot with the ceiling stuff!  I only had enough to spray the one room we did before and he didn't like the stuff I bought last time so he got his own stuff..  Love that guy!  I guess I better go patch the messed up spots and get things ready to spray today!  I'm sure I'll be painting it ALLLLLLLLL day tomorrow!  It's so hard to paint ceilings as it is, but 1000 sq. ft. of ceilings... uuuuuuuuugh.  Not looking forward to it but so glad it will be done soon.

My Cheesecake is Cool, my cheesecake is poppin'! {CHEESECAKE POPS}

So, it came time for me to bring a nice little creation to the M.O.P.S. (Mothers Of Pre-Schoolers) meeting this week.  As always I literally spend two weeks going crazy deciding what to make.  I think I'm always at a loss of ideas because it's more geared toward breakfast stuff.  So, I made muffins last time.  Lately I had been in the mood to make cake pops.  Like literally every time I went to starbucks (which was A LOT the past two weeks) I was having a stare down with the new cake pops on the menu.  I did finally order one yesterday when I got coffee too, just to see how theirs ranked...  I wasn't impressed I must say.  I tried the birthday cake one and the tiramisu, and really... not into them. 

So, I was browsing blogs and recipe sites for days..  Finally I found it... the Pop idea I'd been dreaming of.

CHEESECAKE POPS! 

Yeah, you can say it... just sounds like words from an angels mouth, right?  AMAZING!

So, that's what I made.....

These things turned out AMAZING!

Now I'm gonna be honest with you guys cause I'm all about being real, and I'm not always the best cook or baker.  I've had my fair share of screw ups.

So, there is no right or wrong cheesecake for these pops.  If you have an amazing cheesecake recipe then use it!  If you suck at making cheesecake then just go BUY a cheesecake.  Once you make or buy the cheesecake, just put it all in your mixer.... crust and all.  I had see these done without any graham crust and in my opinion it would be WAY harder.  The Graham give the filling a good texture and make them easier to roll into a ball.  I mixed all mine and then I used some blended graham crackers and put them on a sheet pan.  Once I plopped out the cheesecake and crust mixture I rolled it around in the graham crackers I had blended.  This gave them a nice coating on the inside so they didn't stick to everything.  Then I rolled them into balls.  I put these balls on wax paper on a cookie sheet and stuck them in the freezer for about 30 minutes.

I then melted my chocolate candy melts.  Just like I said in my last post, put them in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time ONLY!  You WILL burn the chocolate if you do more.  And stir between EVERY heating interval.  Even if they don't LOOK melted, STILL stir them.  The head doesn't always transfer evenly and if you leave them in the same spot, your gonna burn them more than likely.

So, then I took my sticks, dunked them about an inch into the melted chocolate, then stuck them into the balls.  Now I found if you let them set like this for a minute and let the chocolate that's on the stick harden, you're much less likely to to loose a ball in the chocolate. 

So then I simply dunked the balls on the sticks into the chocolates, let the excess fall off by tapping the stick on the side of the bowl.  Then added sprinklers and stuck them in the foam to dry.  

I stored mine overnight in the fridge cause my tall rottweiller would LOVE these pops.

They were a HIT!  Got everyone's approval! :D

Lucky Treats!

So, of course every time a holiday or gathering comes around it's a great excuse for me to do some creative cooking/baking.... and St. Patrick's day isn't any different. 

I'd been contemplating what to make for days.  I had a VERY busy week and really didn't have time to be doing anything.  Also, since Nolyn started Preschool, that's 24 MORE kids I have to make treats for on top of the 18 in Aiden's class I already had... and I absolutely can't leave either child's class out cause they would be super disappointed. 

I REALLY wanted to make Cake Pops for their class but I thought I'd go a little simpler since I really didn't have a ton of time.  I was literally browsing blogs for WEEKS!

I had seen similar recipes on a few blogs... well, at least the pictures I didn't pay much attention to the recipe.   I'm ALL for customizing your home made treats....

Use your favorite brownie recipe for the bottom later.  If your favorite is a box of brownie mix from walmart or vons..... USE IT!  I don't expect anyone to become Betty Crocker or Martha Stewart overnight.  Some people are just NOT good at recipes.  I swear, some recipes I've tried and followed EVERY step, word for word of it and it STILL doesn't turn out right.  It is very frustrating so I say just do what you know works and what you know you like.....

So, you've got your favorite box of brownies, now grab your favorite thick frosting.  Add a few drops of green food coloring (or other holiday associated color) and a TINY bit of Mint extract.  I can't stress TINY enough.  I barely put any in mine and they were SUPER minty.  So make sure you just add a tiny bit, like one teaspoon-ish.... or a "dash" lol.  You can always do a taste test and add more if you think it needs it.

So, now you've got all but the last part.  CHOCOLATE!!!!

Grab AT LEAST two bags of the chocolate chips of your choice.  I always get a semi-sweet, milk chocolate based chocolate chip.  I say get AT LEAST two bags why???  Because if you're anything like me, you'll burn the chocolate and be glad that you got a back up and didn't have to run to the store.  I can't tell you how many times I've needed TWO bags and burnt one.  ugh.  Not fun.  And my recommendation is warm in the micro at 30 second intervals and stir them EVERY time in between.  I always get antsy and jump the gun and just throw those suckers in for 1 minute right off and BAM... throws the rest of them off.  ugh.  horrible.  As soon at the chocolate's nice and creamy just poor it over.  I kept mine in the fridge overnight but I'd probably suggest you don't do anything fridge 'til they're CUT.  cause they're HARD to cut once they're cold and they turn our a little ugly like mine! ;) lol 

So yeah, that's the low down.  Enjoy these Minty treats! :D