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!