Way Better Than Play Dough

So thanks to an instagram friend, I became introduced to homemade goo. It is seriously the coolest thing. It's a liquid solid. I don't know how else to describe it. Try it though, I'm willing to bet you have all the ingredients in your kitchen. It will keep your child busy long enough for you to clean the kitchen or do some laundry.

1 cup of corn starch

1/3 to 1/2 cup of water

food coloring of your choice

Just mix (it's not easy to mix, so you'll want to do it yourself)

And there you have it. Homemade goo.

My Favorites at the Moment

Beautiful blog about a sweet family of seven children. Moments with Love.

My absolute favorite recipe website. Everything I've ever tried is amazing! Skinny Taste.

Favorite piece of jewelry. Garet bought me two so I have each of my little boy's fingerprints frozen in time. Tina Steinberg.

Favorite (and cheapest!) place to buy cloth diapers. Alva Baby.

My favorite website in general. Pinterest! I have so many things organized thanks to that lovely website. Recipes, crafts, decorating, style, travel, etc. Check it out if you haven't!

A New Year!

Wow, 2011 is gone and 2012 is here. Crazy how fast that year went by.

About a year and a half ago, I wrote down a list of things I wanted to do before I turn 35. While I was contemplating this new year I thought I would journey back to this post and see how I'm doing.

All in all, not bad.

I got a pixie hair cut.

I had another beautiful child.

And we are planning to move to California by October of this year.

Now, as far as the rest, well, I still have 4 years and 3 months. The tattoo will take money (and more courage), the guitar playing will take money and time (haha, time with little ones?), one more child (garet said I have to wait 3 years), surfing will require water and a surfboard (maybe when we move to California), getting fit (i'll start tomorrow...), transitioning from a night to morning person (this is going to take a miracle!), learning how to grill (i'm not interested in that goal anymore. that's why garet is around, right?), and mastering hair accessories is a work in progress.

I hope I accomplish these goals, but the more important goals I try to think about on a daily basis.

*Is my relationship with Christ deepening and my understanding of the truth increasing

*Am I a good mother, not without fault, but trying to be patient, show self control and love

*Am I being a good wife, as hard as this season of life is with little sleep and two other people to give myself to

*Am I showing grace and forgiveness to others the way Christ so perfectly does so to me

Happy New Year to you all! It feels good, kind of like a clean slate. A clean slate full of adventures and possibilities.

Canvas + Toddler = A work of Art

It's been a long week. Some days great, other days I had to remind myself God knows the way. For me, it's when I feel most helpless that God seems the biggest. This of course is only my perception, because indeed God is strong, ever present, and in control at ALL times.

I love being a stay at home mom. One of my favorite parts would be the crafts. The one I did with Thor this week was painting. I picked out a great quote by Oscar Wilde and used letter stickers to spell it out on a canvas. Then I painted two coats of red acrylic on top. Next came the fun part. I let Thor paint on it however he wanted. He told me what color he wanted to use and if he needed a paintbrush or was going to use his finger. After it dried, I pulled the stickers off and my quote was in white. I also, given the idea by my genius husband, put his little hand print on the bottom so I can treasure it for years to come. I LOVED the finished product. It is in fact, hanging proudly on our living room wall.

"With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy?" -Oscar Wilde

Calzone Night

So last night was calzone night in the Pahl household. I wasn't sure how things would go letting Thor make his own, but it was surprisingly not that messy! And he LOVED it. I'd say he spent 5-10 minutes making sure he had the right amount of peppers, 2 sauces, steak, chicken, bacon and cheese. I thought he would pick a few of the ingredients but he wanted all of them except for the mushrooms. He even folded it himself which was so cute (even though I had to fix it a little). I was impressed that he ate almost the entire thing too! Great healthy meal, and a fun activity.

Yummy!

Easy Quick Breakfast

I usually don't eat breakfast. All through high school I would rather sleep an extra 10 or 15 minutes than get up and make breakfast. That routine kind of stuck with me. I'm not a morning person, so cooking when I get up is not something I want to do. But I'm trying to change things.

I made 12 eggs in advance so all I have to do is put my whole wheat bread in the toaster and the egg in the microwave for 30 seconds. Easy, quick, and a healthy breakfast.

I whisked 9 eggs and poured them in a greased muffin tin. The other 3 I just cracked and put in for Garet. I added pieces of turkey bacon to mine and a little salt. Baked for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Then after they cooled placed them in a bag and put in the refrigerator. I have to say they aren't as great as scrambled eggs right out of the pan but if it allows me to eat a good breakfast then so be it. I got this idea from another guy's blog, he makes a whole sandwich and freezes them. If you want to see how he does it go here.

Who knew?

Who knew foil and marker could be so much fun?

And so messy.

And who knew making octopus for lunch could be so easy?

Have a happy Monday!