Yay!  Pallet table complete!  A couple years ago I had found a scorpion in our house.  Well, it turns out that the scorpion was from one of these pallets that I had my husband take from a construction site. (We had permission, of course!)  Now, a little while later, I finally talked my hubby into giving this another shot.  We had tried one as a patio table and it was a great disaster.  We put saw horses on it for legs, as we had some extra just sitting in the garage, and it looked horrible.  So it was with great relief that all of this work paid off, because I'm pretty happy with it.  

Our pallets were VERY rough.  I've noticed that when you see these pallet table instructions the pallets are in perfect condition.  Jason says that he believes they actually build the pallet, and then go from there.  You don't notice it until you start working with them.  It's very difficult.  But it works, and I like the roughness of the tables.  I think it adds something to them.

And check out those two little stools beside the table!  We are so lucky to have great, great neighbors who made these for the girls, and they love their chairs!  Our neighbor is a sanitation worker, and he gets these cores for free, which the stools are made of.  I customized them a bit with some fabric I've been working with in other parts of the house.  LOVE them.  So fun for the girls.  

  

What's for dinner?

So I was very excited about this meal board, thinking I wouldn't have to hear the dreaded question, "What's for dinner?"  So what does my hubby ask me, standing right by this board when he gets home from work?  You guessed it, "So what's for dinner?"

Ugh... 

And here is another Pinterest recipe I made, that I have been wanting to try for a while.  

I absolutely love "skinnyms." recipes.  Plus, I adore Thai food.  So when I see a healthy recipe for anything curry, I'm there!  My favorite Thai dish is massaman curry but I can only imagine the calories that are in it!

So I figured this might be a good substitute.  I thought it was a bit heavy, but the cilantro and lime juice I squeezed on it definitely helped.

My hubby absolutely loved it and told me several times.  Surprisingly, my 8-year-old daughter loved it, also!  And asked me if we could have it again, which is pretty much shocking.

My 3-year-old?  Well, never mind that because she eats about three different dishes.  We're working on it, though!  

Here's the link for the recipe.  

http://skinnyms.com/slow-cooker-beef-curry/

What's for dinner?!

Here is my first real woodworking project!  Granted, I don't know what I would've ended up with had it not been for my dad there helping me, but still.

This is a great recipe I made tonight off of Pinterest.  It's called Creamy Taco Soup with homemade corn tortilla chips.  Both were so good.  The chips did not need to cook the full 10 minutes, more like 7.  And when they start burning, it goes quick!

I didn't have any dry cilantro, so omitted that and added some extra Mrs. Dash.  We are a family of four and there were quite a bit of leftovers.  My hubby has a huge appetite and had two huge bowls.  I had two small bowls and my daughters also had small bowls.  

With the leftovers, I think I'll mix the chicken mix with some refried beans and do chicken burritos.  A very good deal for two dinners!

The whole family really enjoyed this dinner, which is not the norm in this house due to a very picky 3-year-old!

Here are the links to the recipes:

http://www.muscleandfitnesshers.com/recipes/creamy-taco-soup

http://cindyriddle.blogspot.com/2012/08/baked-corn-chips.html

Here Comes Peter Cottontail!

Easter 2013 - Reagan was a bit nervous about the Easter Bunny and made Riley hold her hand.  

Riley at 8!

Favorite Color - Green!  Can you believe this?  Just goes to show, you don't need to worry of their love of pink at a baby/toddler stage, because they most definitely grow out of it, and likely before you're ready for it!  So enjoy their love of pink!  (There was a love of purple before the love of green!)

Favorite dish - By far, Eggs Benedict!  Kind of an odd dish for a girl of that age, but she takes after her mommy in this category!

Favorite toy:  American Girl doll.  Who would've thought?  Not me!  Riley has always been a bit of a Tom boy, so the fact that she loves her doll so much is surprising!

Favorite school subject:  Math

Favorite book series:  Magic Tree House

Favorite Movie:  Wreck it Ralph

Favorite singer:  Taylor Swift

Favorite recess activity:  Jump rope and four square

Favorite clothing:  Riley is so done with dresses.  She is very fond of simple clothing such as shorts and t-shirts, much to her mom's dislike!

Favorite after-school activity:  Rollerblading and bike riding

Oh, my girl is growing so fast.  Hard to believe she is already 8 years old.  She had what she called "The best birthday ever," which is always nice to hear as a parent.  We had a simple birthday party with family, then were off to Carson City for a night.  She loves staying in Carson at a pet-friendly motel (Nala loves this also!), and heading off to her favorite restaurant, Reds Old 395 Grill, followed by an evening in the pool!  We also saw the movie The Great and Powerful Oz.  A very good birthday weekend.

Happy 8th birthday, Riley Roo!

 Daddy and Poppa made Riley this beautiful bed for her American Girl doll.  The bedding came from Urban Dreamz.  I absolutely love Urban Dreamz and can't wait to order a few more things from them.  Beautiful!

This year Riley chose a St. Patrick's Day theme!

 Daddy surprised Riley by showing up at her school for lunchtime and presenting her with a rose.  She felt very special...

 Make a wish!

 American Girl Doll clothes (or Journey girls clothes!  Not quite as expensive...)

I think Reagan may need one of these doll beds herself!

And our birthday wish for you:  May you always be happy, healthy and wealthy... so that you can take care of us when we are old :)  (Daddy and I know you already understand our warped sense of humor!)

Trouble!

In going through some old pics, I came across this one that had me laughing NOW, but most definitely not THEN!  We were in a huge hurry to get to the water park, as we were meeting some friends there.  I anxiously told the girls to go get some sun screen on.  I finally got all my stuff together, ran in to get the girls so I could hurriedly put them in the car, and THIS is what I come up on:  two girls with sun screen ALL over.  Some on the carpet, Reagan's face was pure white, and Riley innocently holding up her hands.  Oh... Needless to say, I was late meeting friends, but still had a great time with them, with a silly little memory!

First date for girls...

11 Things A Girl Should Know

Before Her First Date

 

1.  Always have an out plan. Use your parents if you need to. Have a certain thing you text mom or dad and we will call and get you home.

 

2.  You are NEVER helpless. SAY NO and then fight HARD if you have to.

Be yourself, not what you think he wants you to be.

 

3.  Have a couple of topics to talk about in case the conversation stalls. First dates can be awkward for both of you. Topics can be something going on at school, something you are interested in or something you know he is. 

 

4.  If there is a little voice inside your head telling you something? LISTEN.

 

5.  Don't post your date on Facebook before it happens. And? Don't talk about it on Facebook after. Good or bad. Too much pressure and too personal.

 

6. If it doesn’t feel right, it isn’t. Go home.

 

7.  Stay in public or around other people.

 

8.  A boy should knock on your front door and introduce himself to your parents. He should walk you to your door at the end of your date and say goodnight to them too.

 

9.  If he isn’t a gentleman on your first date, he never will be.

 

10.  Don’t overdress or wear too much makeup. Just wear what you feel comfortable in. He asked you out because he likes you the way you are.

Riley – When I was in third grade, there was a little boy in my class named Adam.

Adam looked a little different and he wore funny clothes and sometimes he even smelled a little bit. Adam didn’t smile. He hung his head low and he never looked at anyone at all. Adam never did his homework. I don’t think his parents reminded him like yours do. The other kids teased Adam a lot. Whenever they did, his head hung lower and lower and lower. I never teased him, but I never told the other kids to stop, either.

And I never talked to Adam, not once. I never invited him to sit next to me at lunch, or to play with me at recess. Instead, he sat and played by himself. He must have been very lonely.

I still think about Adam every day. I wonder if Adam remembers me? Probably not. I bet if I’d asked him to play, just once, he’d still remember me.

I think that God puts people in our lives as gifts to us. The children in your class this year, they are some of God’s gifts to you.

So please treat each one like a gift from God. Every single one.

Baby, if you see a child being left out, or hurt, or teased, a part of your heart will hurt a little. Your daddy and I want you to trust that heart- ache. Your whole life, we want you to notice and trust your heart-ache. That heart ache is called compassion, and it is God’s signal to you to do something. It is God saying, Riley! Wake up! One of my babies is hurting! Do something to help! Whenever you feel compassion – be thrilled! It means God is speaking to you, and that is magic. It means He trusts you and needs you.

Sometimes the magic of compassion will make you step into the middle of a bad situation right away.

Compassion might lead you to tell a teaser to stop it and then ask the teased kid to play. You might invite a left-out kid to sit next to you at lunch. You might choose a kid for your team first who usually gets chosen last. These things will be hard to do, but you can do hard things.

Sometimes you will feel compassion but you won’t step in right away. That’s okay, too. You might choose instead to tell your teacher and then tell us. We are on your team – we are on your whole class’s team. Asking for help for someone who is hurting is not tattling, it is doing the right thing. If someone in your class needs help, please tell me, baby. We will make a plan to help together.

When God speaks to you by making your heart hurt for another, by giving you compassion, just do something. Please do not ignore God whispering to you. I so wish I had not ignored God when He spoke to me about Adam. I remember Him trying, I remember feeling compassion, but I chose fear over compassion. I wish I hadn’t. Adam could have used a friend and I could have, too.

Chase – We do not care if you are the smartest or fastest or coolest or funniest. There will be lots of contests at school, and we don’t care if you win a single one of them. We don’t care if you get straight As. We don’t care if the girls think you’re cute or whether you’re picked first or last for kickball at recess. We don’t care if you are your teacher’s favorite or not. We don’t care if you have the best clothes or most Pokemon cards or coolest gadgets. We just don’t care.

We don’t send you to school to become the best at anything at all. We already love you as much as we possibly could. You do not have to earn our love or pride and you can’t lose it. That’s done.

We send you to school to practice being brave and kind.

Kind people are brave people. Brave is not a feeling that you should wait for. It is a decision. It is a decision that compassion is more important than fear, than fitting in, than following the crowd.

Trust me, baby, it is. It is more important.

Don’t try to be the best this year, honey.

Just be grateful and kind and brave. That’s all you ever need to be.

Take care of those classmates of yours, and your teacher, too. You Belong to Each Other. You are one lucky girl . . . with all of these new gifts to unwrap this year.

I love you so much that my heart might explode.

Enjoy and cherish your gifts.

And thank you for being my favorite gift of all time.

Love,

Mama

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