I absolutely hate to cook. It isn't that I can't; actually, I'm quite a good cook. I just hate it. But there are several people in my house who have somehow gotten it into their heads that I'm the person who provides the meals. As if I'm the mom or something.
Oh...wait...I am the mom.
Okay, then! Since people around here insist on eating, and hubby can't cook and the Free Spirit is on a special diet and therefore we have to avoid a lot of pre-packaged junk, I have to suck it up and cook. Which brings us to the next step: deciding what to cook. I hate that too. For a while, I subscribed to a menu service for $5 a month. They sent me five meals a week, complete with recipes and shopping lists (awesome, since I also hate compiling those). The only problem was that half the stuff my family wouldn't eat. Plus I'm cheap and wanted to keep my five bucks. So, my solution: I gritted my teeth and created my own set of rotating menus. I hated every minute of it. But now they're done and I never have to do it again.
It was a tough and boring job, but somebody had to do it. I used a really cool template from Busy Bee Lifestyle to plan these blasted menus. I liked their template because it had separate meals for the kids. Clearly the person who created that template understands kids. Or at least my kids. Of course, I like things with color, so I made a Publisher document and copied the style of their template and added illustrations.
Hopefully, my family won't get tired of the same 16 menus, because I have no intention of ever doing that again. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to print my shopping list.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
The Perfect Combo
I have two addictions. Well, okay, three, if you count cappuccino. But I digress. As I was saying, I have at least two addictions: bacon and chocolate. Until today, I never thought the two would meet. But then, lo and behold, my friend brought me...wait for it...bacon chocolate bars.
Ohhhh Yeah. As I've long suspected, bacon tastes good with everything. And the irony here is that it comes from the health food store.
Life is good.
Ohhhh Yeah. As I've long suspected, bacon tastes good with everything. And the irony here is that it comes from the health food store.
Life is good.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
The Book Nook
So I decided to make The Free Spirit a reading nook. She reads constantly, and loves to curl up in small places and go off into her own world. I'm sure she's always wanted a reading nook. Well...I've always wanted one, anyway. (For more on living out my childhood dreams vicariously through the Free Spirit, go here.)
Now, if you google "reading nook", you will find all sorts of wonderful photos and articles. People are apparently always turning closets into reading nooks. Here is a neat one. It would appear that this woman built a bench, added shelves, a reading lamp with dimmer switch, blah, blah, blah.
This lady was pretty handy, and thrifty as well. Well, while I am thrifty, I'm not as handy (translation: broke, cheap and really bad with power tools), so I didn't get nearly as extensive. I used items I had around the house already (with the exception of the pink curtains--Dollar General, $5 each), had the Preacher Man build the shelves, and went to work. Here is what we began with.
Yes, it's her closet. Her clothes are never in there, so we might as well do something with it. First I covered the wall:
It's a sheet set given to me by a friend for Cheeks' room. We never did use it, so...now we are.
Here are the shelves her dad built:
A cozy place to sit:
Yeah, I know the chair is ratty, but it's her favorite. She's had it since she was three.
Once I created a place to sit, I moved on to hanging curtains. The power tools actually did have to come out for that one, and I was on my own, since Preacher Man and Free Spirit were out for the day.
And here they are with a pretty tie-back:
Next, I made some tinfoil stars. If you can't see the pattern on the sheet, uh, wall covering, it's stars.
And, the finished product:
It's not as sophisticated as some reading nooks you'll see online, but it was the best I could do without building, painting or sewing anything, so let's cut the Hippie Chick a little bit of slack, hm? And the most important thing is that my 8 year old will love it.
In case you're wondering, yes, I have already been in it.
And here is the princess enjoying it.
Now, if you google "reading nook", you will find all sorts of wonderful photos and articles. People are apparently always turning closets into reading nooks. Here is a neat one. It would appear that this woman built a bench, added shelves, a reading lamp with dimmer switch, blah, blah, blah.
This lady was pretty handy, and thrifty as well. Well, while I am thrifty, I'm not as handy (translation: broke, cheap and really bad with power tools), so I didn't get nearly as extensive. I used items I had around the house already (with the exception of the pink curtains--Dollar General, $5 each), had the Preacher Man build the shelves, and went to work. Here is what we began with.
Yes, it's her closet. Her clothes are never in there, so we might as well do something with it. First I covered the wall:
It's a sheet set given to me by a friend for Cheeks' room. We never did use it, so...now we are.
Here are the shelves her dad built:
A cozy place to sit:
Yeah, I know the chair is ratty, but it's her favorite. She's had it since she was three.
Once I created a place to sit, I moved on to hanging curtains. The power tools actually did have to come out for that one, and I was on my own, since Preacher Man and Free Spirit were out for the day.
And here they are with a pretty tie-back:
Next, I made some tinfoil stars. If you can't see the pattern on the sheet, uh, wall covering, it's stars.
And, the finished product:
It's not as sophisticated as some reading nooks you'll see online, but it was the best I could do without building, painting or sewing anything, so let's cut the Hippie Chick a little bit of slack, hm? And the most important thing is that my 8 year old will love it.
In case you're wondering, yes, I have already been in it.
And here is the princess enjoying it.
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