What We've Been Up To

Wednesday we took Savy to Kim's Martial Arts to participate in a class. She had her own personal instructor, and she did pretty good. She loved it, of course, and said "I want to do it every day, forever."





We decided not to enroll her just yet for several reasons. Jon's not sure how much she'll actually get out of it (other than exercise) at her age. He thinks she'll do better if we wait a year or two. Also, the cost is twice what we thought it would be, and we'd have to sign a one year contract. Since we have to pay her tuition for Fayette Academy in March and we just started her college savings plan, we don't want to add another large monthly payment just yet. And she's starting kindergarten this fall...I'm sure there will be some sort of extracurricular activity she'll want to do because all her new friends will be doing it. Also, it'll be very hard to make it to the class she needs to be in when she starts kindergarten. So we're going to wait on martial arts for now.

Last night we attended open house at Fayette Academy where Savy will be going this fall. We went ahead and signed Scarlett up for pre-K...yes it's three years away, but those spots fill up very fast. Savy met a lot of kids that will be in her class.

Today was beautiful! The girls played inside for a little while this morning. Savy has been putting "casts" on all her stuffed animals (and Daddy too) with her Barbie Vet Clinic...see the cast on Marie's tail?



After lunch we headed outside to enjoy the nice weather. The girls and Vita played in the yard while I set up my compost bin. Savy and Scarlett "helped" by digging soil out of one of my pots and putting it in a bucket.




Then Savannah rode her bike while I pushed Scarlett in the stroller. Scarlett loved the walk around the neighborhood...she laughed and "talked" the whole time.





I can't wait for Spring!

Raw Dessert

I've been anxious to try out a raw dessert, so I made a trip to Whole Foods today for some ingredients. These are called Fudge Babies, and I thought they were great.




These are another variation...also very good. These remind me of a Payday candybar.



Savy was very interested in helping make them, but she didn't like them once they were finished. I think I should have made them while she was at school, put them in some sort of package, and pretended they came from the market. Oh, and I should have also acted as if I didn't want her to have them...THEN she would have loved them. I don't know what I'm going to do with that girl.

Jon didn't like them either. It's a shame, because the main reason I made these was for Jon and Savy...they are the ones with the sweet tooth in this family.

Scarlett LOVED these. She even chose the "babies" over some real candy that Jon brought home tonight. That's my girl :)))))

Both recipes (and lots more) can be found on Chocolate-Covered Katie.


Savannah has been saying she wanted to study martial arts for a long time...almost since she learned to talk. Jon set up an appointment for us to visit Kim's Martial Arts Academy on Wednesday. She'll be able to participate in a class to see how she likes it. If she likes it (and I KNOW she will), we'll probably work out a schedule and sign her up. I asked her today if she would rather be in a class with kids smaller than she is or bigger than she is. She said she'd rather be in a class with kids bigger than she is. When I asked why, she said "I don't want to fight kids littler than me...I might hurt them." Yeah, I think she'll do just fine.

Punk Rock Girl...

That song has been stuck in my head all day. Savannah's friend Maeson turned 5 this week, and she had a "rock star" party today. I took Savy shopping last night so she could pick out her outfit for the party...I think she did a pretty good job.






She looks like a mini Avril Lavigne.

The girls all had a blast dancing and singing on stage.




And there were special guests - Hannah Montana and Justin Bieber showed up to perform and sign autographs.





Savannah had a great time and really enjoyed seeing her friends again. Now she wants to have her own Rock Star party...

More Snow

It snowed again today...a lot. Savy got out of school at noon because of the weather. We are officially stir crazy around here. Savy constantly rides her plasma car around and around the kitchen island. It's like a race track.





Scarlett is climbing on everything - I can't take my eyes off her for one minute. I caught her on top of the breakfast table earlier this week.




Today she's been climbing on this horse...she finally made it to the top tonight.




Look at that tooth shining!




Dinner tonight was black beans and pinto beans with sauteed onions and garlic. Served on brown rice, topped with fresh avacado and drizzled with fresh lime juice. It's seasoned with a homemade taco seasoning recipe I found online. Unfortunately, those convenient packs of taco seasoning are full of stuff I'm trying to avoid, but it was easy to mix up my own.



This is Jon's with the sour cream...I used a spoonful of Fage Greek yogurt on mine. Scarlett LOVED this and ate evey bite. As usual, I nearly had to force Savannah to eat, but she did finally finish her small portion. Jon and I both liked it...although Jon did make a comment about the avacado.

I've been so tired today. Jon and I stayed up late setting up my new table saw last night. It's all ready to go! Now I just need to find time to get out there and start building.

Wonders of Benadryl

Scarlett had to go to the pediatrician yesterday because she's had a terrible cough. For three nights she's been coughing all night long, which means no sleep for any of us. She's still too young for cough medicine, but Dr Higginbotham did give the go-ahead for her to have a half teaspoon of children's benadryl. I gave her a dose before bed last night, and she slept! She slept so soundly, Jon actually went in to check on her.

Jon and I were trying to set up my new table saw the other night, but one of the parts was broken. Last night he took it back and exchanged it for an even better one, so I hope we can set it up tonight. I had a great idea for something I want to build today, and I can't wait to get started on it! Hint (to myself in case I forget), it's a version of a riddling rack. I forgot to mention that we cleaned out the small garage bay - it's now all mine to use as a workshop. Jon and I are both parking in the big bay now.

Dinner last night

Portabella mushrooms stuffed with spinach artichoke filling. These were vegan, and I used Dayia instead of cheese for the topping. They were pretty good. This was my first time ever cooking with tofu.



I made a different version for Savy since she hates mushrooms. I put a little of the filling in a mini casserole dish and topped it with cheddar cheese. She ate it like dip with triscuits.




And tomato basil soup....not vegan because it's made with chicken broth.

The Bed Post

I know I promised to post this a long time ago (right after I finished building the bed), but it took a little longer than I expected to finish the rest of the room. Since the bed looked kinda rustic, I decided to go with a "rustic" theme.

Some time ago, I came across the site Knock-Off Wood (now Ana-White.com). If you haven't visited Ana's site yet, you really should. I have a stack of plans printed out and ready to build. In fact, just today I got the wood I need for my next project...a gift for my sister-in-law Lesa.

The toddler bed for Scarlett was my first big project, and I was so proud of myself for building it. Here is a link to the plans I used. I modified plans for the farmhouse bed canopy (also found on Ana's site) to fit the toddler size bed - the posts are 2x2 turning posts from Lowe's. I also made some fixed siderails that can be taken off later. It was surprisingly easy to build...the hardest part was getting the canopy just right.



A few of shots with Scarlett and Savannah just so you can get an idea of the size.




Scarlett is still sleeping in her crib (which is pushed to the side for the photo shoot), because she hasn't shown any signs of trying to climb out of it yet. As soon as she does, we'll switch to the toddler bed.




I made the nightstand from these plans. It reminds me of an old wooden ladder, and it's the perfect size for a toddler nightstand.



I found this nightlight/lamp at Land of Nod. It looks like an old vintage lantern, but it uses a 15 watt bulb and has a two-way switch. It's perfect for a night light on the lower setting, and the higher setting is perfect for reading bedtime stories.



Between the closet and the bookcase, I made a littel pretend clothesline for hanging coats. The "post" is a thin piece of craft wood from Lowe's that I stained and nailed to the wall. I made the "line" with white paint. The "clothespins" are just plain wood cabinet pulls from Lowe's...I drilled sheetrock wall anchors into the wall and then screwed the pulls in using anchor bolts.




I found a real scrub-board at Ace Hardware, and the little washtub came from Target.



These cute little fabric birds are roosting above the closet doors. This is why I was so long posting about the room...it took me forever to sew and stuff all these little birds. I grabbed a couple of limbs from Mom's backyard, hot-glued the birds to the branches, and hung the whole thing from the ceiling with thread....I should have used fishing line so it wouldn't be visible, but I didn't have any on hand and I was ready to get it done.




The pattern for the birds can be found here at Spool.

Changing table and Savannah's old mini rocking chair.




On the ceiling above the bed are lots of glow-in-the-dark stars. You may have to click to enlarge the second photo to see them in the dark...they show up much better in person than on camera.




I love that Scarlett can lie in bed and look at the stars before she falls asleep.

I was tempted to go all-out with theme...old fashioned toys, ragdolls, etc. But I know it won't be long until Scarlett has her own opinions about her room decor, so I kept it simple. So, that's it...Scarlett's room revealed. What do you guys think?

First Snow

Savy was thrilled when it started snowing last night. She wanted to go outside and play first thing this morning. We had a quick breakfast, bundled the girls up, and headed outside. Jon managed to get a shot of the yard and house before we messed it up.




They both have on three layers of clothing. Scarlett didn't like being bundled up at all and just wanted to be held. Vita loved the snow and was racing in circles around us as I was trying to take pictures.




Our yard is flat, so we joined the party a few houses down at Allan's...he has a big hill. There are LOTS of kids who live on our street, and I think most of them were in his yard today.

Savy couldn't wait to try out the "Dora" sliding disc that Mimi bought her a few weeks ago...it was really fast.





They actually packed the snow at the side of the yard into a ramp, and all the kids LOVED that. Savy went down it a few times...here she is just before she went airborne.



Scarlett and I even took a couple of trips down the slope.



Savy wasn't happy when we had to come inside to warm up. Jon went back out with her before dark so they could get in a little more sledding and make a snowman.





They stayed out quite a while. I think Savannah was actually ready to come back in this time....doesn't she look pitiful?



I wasn't too happy about being snowed in on my first day off - I've been cooped up in this house for seven days, and I'm ready for a change of scenery! I'm glad it did snow, though, because Savy had so much fun.

As for my Copaxone injections... so far, so good. I gave them myself the first two times, and both times it stung like crazy for about 15 minutes or so. Jon has given me the last two injections (I can't reach certain sites very well), and those didn't sting much at all. We got a microfridge for the bedroom to keep the syringes in, and we're going to put a lock on it to keep the girls from getting into it. Now if this residual cough from that cold would go away, I could start going to the gym again!