WooHoo!

So I sold more stuff! Two table runners and one tag around blanket, in addition to the apron that I sold. That's four items in one month, I started my online store on September 3rd. I'm not doing too bad! I'm sharing a booth with Shawn's mom for a craft fair in Clarkston, the first weekend in November, I'm hoping that I'll do well.

Slow Cooking Thursday!

Well it's that time again...Slow Cooking Thursday! Check out Sandra's Blog Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for more great slow cooker recipes. I have to mention that I may be running out of slow cooker recipes. The one for this week is another one that I haven't tried yet. Here's mine:

Chicken Parmigiana

1 egg
1 cup dried bread crumbs
6 chicken breasts, skinless
1 jar (10.5 oz) pizza sauce
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
6 slices mozzarella cheese

1. Beat egg in a shallow bowl. Place bread crumbs in another shallow bowl. Dip chicken breasts into egg, then dip into bread crumbs, using spoon to coat meat on all sides.

2. Saute chicken in large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray.

3. Arrange one layer of chicken in slow cooker. Pour 1/2 of the pizza sauce on top. Add second layer of chicken. Pour remaining sauce over top. Cover.

4. Cook on low 6 to 8 hours, or until chicken is tender but not dry. Just before done, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and add mozzarella on top, cover, and cook 15 more minutes.

Makes 6 servings.

Wordless Wednesday!

He's been a Busy Bee

Maddox wasn't feeling that great today so we stayed home. Awhile back I

bought a Busy Bee Bag for when I needed something new to do with Maddox.

Here's one of the activities out of his bag, Flower Fun, and it was FUN!
It came with some florist foam and a bunch of
silk flowers for arranging into a
center piece.

Here's Maddox's first centerpiece!

He was so proud of it I threw it into a clay pot that I had

but it didn't quite fit. I was thinking that I could paint up a couple of these clay pots

and have Maddox make a flower arrangement in it for a Christmas present

for his Great Grandma's, just from him.

I don't know, just a thought.

Maddox just kept saying "Oooohhhh, Oooohhhh".

He had me take the flowers out so he could do it again.

He's really concentrating.

He'd pick the flower that he wanted and then

find just the right spot for it in the foam.

Every once in a while he stopped and smell one of the flowers.

Here's Maddox's 2nd flower arrangement.

After this one I stopped taking pictures, we did this for a while.

He just LOVED it!

The Busy Bee Bags come with 10 activities in each bag. Each activity is in it's own gallon Ziploc with everything you need. I got Maddox the "Little Bees" bag for 2-3 year olds. So far he's really liked it.

Soccer Tots!

Soccer Tots started yesterday and Maddox LOVED it! The above picture

isn't very good but this is Maddox as soon as we walked out onto the turf and he

saw all the soccer balls. He started running!

Here he is kicking, and getting distracted. He's one of the youngest.

They didn't have enough interest in the youngest class so they put him in the older class.

Most of the kids are 2 1/2, and Maddox kicks better than quite a few of them.

He doesn't follow directions near as well.

He loved to pick up and bring it to "coach".

He was tired of me taking pictures but I wanted to capture his soccer outfit.
Notice that his shirt says "Soccer Champions".

All in all we had a great time. Great exercise for me because "coach" kept us running the whole 45 minutes. Half the class was for fun and geared toward the kids with songs and games. During the other half you could tell that they were training them to be soccer players. I talked to "coach" afterwards about Maddox being so young, since yesterday was kind of like a trial run. He said that getting them to have fun is half the battle and Maddox had NO problem having fun. A couple of the little girls didn't want to participate and their Moms had to carry them running for some of the activities. And I COULD NOT believe this one family. Their son was 18 months, so even younger than Maddox. After a few minutes the Mom told the Dad that it wasn't working out so he took over. This is a quote overheard from this dad "You're going to do this, you don't see any of the other kids crying!" Holy shit! The kid was only 18 months, and honestly he was following directions better than Maddox, what did that guy expect?!
So other than the psycho dad we're looking forward to next week!

Another Yucky House Update

More progress is being made, but I still hate this house. It will continue to rule our lives probably until Spring. This is the kitchen after it's been gutted.
This is the basement. We'll be putting in an egress window in two weeks
and pouring a concrete floor the end of October/beginning of November.
When finished it will be the 3rd bedroom and a big family room.


Here's me operating the backhoe. (Horrible pic of me!)
I didn't actually do anything important, just moved some dirt around.

Here's Maddox driving the backhoe with Grandpa.

He liked the cause and effect of the levers.

He was really working hard.

Is it any wonder that he's obsessed with construction and trucks right now?!

We're using the backhoe to level out and shape the landscaping.

We're loading the excess dirt into the dump truck.
It's great that all we have to pay for is the gas to run these machines

because someone in the family owns them.

Here's Maddox heading off in the dump truck to dump the load.

Maddox loved to watch the dump truck in action.

Yucky House Update

The new estimate is that the house will be done by Spring. I want to point out that spring is still months away. The new roof is finally on and now we're starting on the landscaping.

Here's the back yard minus all the trees and the crappy fence. The new fence should be up by the end of next weekend...maybe.

Maddox is such a helper! Here he is hammering a rock.

Here he is digging. This is the pile of dirt that's ready to be loaded onto the dump truck.

Maddox helps by shoveling it back into the wheel barrow.

Here is the once empty wheel barrow when Maddox is "done".

That's actually quite a bit of dirt he moved.

Helping Grandpa drive the tractor.

Here is the hole we dug for the egress window,

this is the project for the weekend after the fence.

Here is Maddox in the hole with Grandpa re-measuring the window.

He doesn't trust Grandpa's measurements.