Thursday, June 25, 2015

DIY Workout Tanks

This week while Callie was roller skating in the basement and reading stories to her "class", I decided to work on a little project of my own!

A fews ago Brien and I bought new Bedroom furniture at Ikea (on a date night, no less) After we put everything together and transferred our clothes from the old dresser (which I am currently refinishing, more about that later) I realized that I am a hoarder. Of the worst kind. I have been hoarding giant t-shirts!

Not cute little tees that I would throw on in the summer. T-shirts that really should not be worn in public unless you are making an emergency Home Depot run in the middle of a project. In the process of cleaning I must have found like 40 of these shirts! The sad part is that I really had a hard time trying to get rid of them for 3 reasons.

1. They are handy to throw on if you are doing housework, yard work etc. Sometimes I even wear to them bed. I know. Yikes. My poor husband.

2. I wear them on our morning runs. Again I know I should not be wearing these in public, but I figure, Hey, I am running, they only see me for a second and then I am gone!  A down side is that they are huge, uncomfortable and too hot!

3. They hold some sentimental value. Like remember when I wore this school shirt on Fridays to show my spirit and from that time I did a 10k.

I found a way to keep my tees and jazz them up a little and make them a little more functional. Thanks again Pinterest!
Here is the original pin, it has a pretty good tutorial

All you need is some good sewing scissors and an old tee.

My first attempt at this went horribly awry because someone stole my sewing scissors! Either that or I lost them in the shuffle of redoing our bedroom. But either way, they are gone forever. I had to resort to using kitchen scissors and that did not go well! I ended up having to scrap the whole thing, buy a new pair of scissors and start over.

Here goes:
First lay out the tee nice and flat.
Old college dorm tee
Next cut off the neck, arms and bottom seams as close to the stitching as you can
Then go back and cut the shoulders, so the straps are a size that you want and curve out your cut the edge of the arm holes. In retrospect I would have made the straps much thinner and I will make sure to do that on my next t-shirt makeover.
Next flip the shirt over and make a deep "V" in the back. I drew mine on with chalk and see now that it is horribly crooked. Don't do this, make sure it's straight.

While I was busy chopping away, my happy helper stretched out the fabric that I cut off the bottom. You are going to need that in just a minute.
The next part in the tutorial pin is kind of confusing so I tried to do a better job of showing this. Wrap the fabric from the bottom through the arm holes and line them up where you want the back to start. I started mine at the top of the "V" I would probably put it down lower next time, as I feel a little like this shirt is strangling me, now that I have worn it.
After you have the fabric strip where you want it, tie a tight double knot. Then flip over the shirt to the front side to make sure everything is even. I should have done this, but did not. Now my tank is pretty crooked.
Next, start wrapping the fabric strip around in circles to tighten up the back.
When you are done wrapping or have run out of fabric, tie another tight double knot and trim off the extra fabric. Done! Now try that new tank on!

Now my morning runs are much cooler and more comfortable! 
(PS. This was another shirt I did and it came out much better than my first 2!)










Wednesday, June 24, 2015

What's Cookin' Wednesday: Pinned it did it Wendy's Frosty

For What's Cookin Wednesday this week we decided to bust out the old ice cream maker and try this copy-cat Wendy's Frosty that is all over Pinterest.

It is seriously like the REAL thing. And it's super easy to make.

You need:
Sweet and condensed milk
1/2 gallon of chocolate milk
1 tub of CoolWhip

All the players....
Next mix up all of the ingredient in the ice cream mixer container.
Yummy!
He had no idea what was going on, but our excitement was apparently contagious!

After everything is mixed, pop on the lid. Fill the mixer's outside container with ice and salt. We used Kosher salt 'cause it's what I could find.
Pop on the mixer top and let the machine do it's thing for about 30 minutes. We checked it obsessively to see if it was ready! 
The texture should be like this. It was milk shake-y perfection!
Pour into some fun glasses (Daddy's beer mugs) and enjoy!!!
They were AWESOME and tasted just like the real thing! The perfect treat for a super hot day! 







Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Father's Day weekend

This weekend was oh-so-fun! We stayed up way too late, but we finally got some time in to relax and enjoy the warm weather! Friday night it was pizza and playing the backyard until way past bed time!
It is really hard to get an action shot of two kids on a swing. Really. Hard.
This is the face Kellen makes when you say "Cheese" and point the phone at him. So stinkin' cute!

Saturday I had a blast with my family and sweet friends for a Pampered Chef Party. Which is open on facebook if you want to order something!

We made some delicious recipes and they really have some fun things for your kitchen. I am all about gadgets and tools to make cooking quick and easy.

Here's what we made:

                                             

       
Everything was super yummy, we had a wonderful time talking and laughing! Thanks for all of your hard work Becca! I can't wait to order some new fun tools!

After the party we headed to my parents house to celebrate my dad! I know everything one thinks their dad is best. But mine REALLY is! There is nothing that he wouldn't do for me or for our family. He is epitome of everything a dad should be; Smart, hardworking, a total worrier (like myself) full of wisdom and common sense, he can fix anything and not just "fix" it, like, make it work!, he is funny, caring and such a great grandpa to my babies. I love you daddy!
Oh the 80's!

On Sunday we spent the day in Platteville with Brien's family celebrating all the dads out there. The boys cleaned out the garage, we had brunch, went swimming, ate dinner and the kids played and played, all with no A/C it's like we were pioneers!

Sun's out Guns out!
These little critters had so much fun!
He looovvveeeddd the pool!
Let's compare and contrast, shall we? Andrew did not want to be photographed, but they were so little! I can't believe how much our family has changed!


Here is another picture of my beautiful family! And another picture that is an epitome of what a dad should be. I know people say that sometimes girls marry guys just like their dads, well in my case, that is especially true. Brien is such a great dad, first by choice (Callie) and then by chance (Kellen).
He makes parenthood fun and he serious about our kids turning out to be good people! I am so thankful the kids and I have him in our lives, everyday!
Happy Father's day to all the dads out there! 





Monday, June 22, 2015

Make Something Monday: Squirt gun art

Well we can finally breathe! VBS is over and it was so much fun! It is a tough road getting to it because there is not too much that you can do way in advance. I can get volunteers and gather supplies, order things and decorate, but until the week it starts you don't really know what will crop up! The kiddos had a blast, but I am a lot glad to have my life back!

The kiddos...

The kiddos and all my helpers! There is so many people who love these children an awful lot to be able to take a week out of there lives to teach them and take care of them!

For make something Monday this week we tried squirt gun painting (here is the pin that we used). For some reason abstract art has taken over the summer! It was pretty fun but a rain storm put a little bit of a damper on making millions of pictures.
You need:
Squirt guns (ours were from the dollar section at Target)
Paint (the website suggested liquid water color, but we didn't have that, sooo left over birthday washable tempera paint it was. That stuff has come in handy this summer!)
cups to mix the water and paint in
heavy grade paper (we used cardstock, again. Another handy purchase!)
a big scary dog watching to make sure you don't mess up his yard (optional)


Next we mixed up the paint. I just put a blob in the cup and mixed it with about 1/2 a cup of water.
Then we pinned up the paper on Callies easel...
I just hosed it down that evening!

The first batch was a little watery and it just made a huge wet mess.

So back to drawing board... For the next batch I mixed a little more paint (I didn't want it to be so thick it would clog up the squirt gun!) and that worked MUCH better!
Girlfriend got some target practice in!
Once we got the water:paint ratio right, we came out with some pretty pictures!
Give this little project a try to beat that summer boredom!





Thursday, June 18, 2015

What's cookin' Thursday(??) Chocolate Croissants

This week had been just CRAZY! We are almost  done with VBS and I am thankful that despite a flood, being a little short handed, and rampant sickness running amuk, it has been amazing! Callie was a sleep over on Wednesday with her bestie, so we had Thursday cooking school.

We made the easiest little treat, Chocolate Croissant. Easy to make, hard to spell! They are only 3 ingredients and they are pretty yummy!
 You need:
Crescent rolls
Mini Chocolate chips or Hersey Kisses (we used semi sweet, I would suggest milk chocolate because they melt easier)
Powdered sugar to dust on after they cook

First pre-heat the oven to 350 and lay out the crescents on a foiled cookie sheet.
Next, place the chocolate chips right on the rolled out crescent.

Then roll those puppies up!

Pop in the oven for 12-15 minutes
Dust with powdered sugar as soon as they come out.


Then wait a few minutes for them to cool. We ate them fresh out the over and scorched our tongues on the melty chocolate.

They were the perfect "light" dessert!

Monday, June 15, 2015

Make something Monday: Rain splatter art and fizzy paint

We are in full summer mode now! Our make something Monday did not actually occur on a Monday because, well, it was raining and we seized an opportunity! Last Friday it was pouring rain and we were a little bored (I know, already?!) So in the middle of the storm I sent Callie down to the basement for cardstock and I ran for the food coloring and we headed out onto the patio...

What ensued was way fun! All you need is: food coloring and some heavy paper, we used some card stock left over from birthday invitations.

First, we laid out the paper on the deck we grabbed the food coloring and sporadically dotted it all over the papers. Then we ran inside and watched the rain do it's thing!




We left our paper to be rained on for about 5 minutes before I realized that if we left it out there too much longer, it would wash all of the color away.

Then we transferred the papers to cookie sheets and plastic cutting board and brought them inside to dry.

The result was just beautiful! This project was a success!
Our next art project was kind of a bust...I do not recommend this, as it is far more work and clean up than it's worth!
My kids are fascinated by all things that erupt via baking soda and vinegar so this sounded like a fun time!

You need: 
Thick paper (again we used card stock)
Washable paint (we used some left over tempera paint from Callie's art party)
Baking soda
Paint brushes
Cups to mix the paint 
Vinegar
Eye droppers

First we assembled our arsenal of supplies...
We added 1/4 cup of baking soda to each cup, then we added the paint little by little. If you add too much the baking soda dissolves and the paint won't "fizz" correctly. The paint is actually kind of grainy, blobby and a little hard to paint with!
After her "art" was completed with added the vinegar with an eye dropped. It was fun to watch the fizzle! After 2 pictures she lost interest and then we had a huge mess to clean up!
Not the best craft ever, but it staved off the boredom for about an hour! More to come next week!






Wednesday, June 10, 2015

What's Cookin' Wednesday: Lemon Cookies and crockpot dinners

Last week for "What's Cookin' Wednesday we had a blast one rainy night making lemon cookies! They were delicious and pretty easy! Then my brilliant and thoughtful, Callie suggested we deliver our cookies to our new next door neighbors for "Thoughtful Thursday". I love that girl and her sweet heart! On to the cookies!

Here is the original recipe...Of course we changed it up a little!

For the cookie you need:
1 box of lemon cake mix
1/2 cup of oil
2 eggs
1 lemon, juiced OR we used 3 tablespoons of lemon juice
1/2 tsp of lemon extract
1 cup of powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350.
Mix up all of the ingredients for the cookie until everything is smooth. We used a good old fashioned spoon this time!
After the cookies were mixed we measured them onto an oiled pan using this handy dandy cookie scooper...
Best thing ever for scooping perfect size and shaped cookies! Thanks Pamper Chef!
Pop the cookies in the oven for 12-15 minutes. These measurements made 20 large cookies. The cookies by themselves are super sweet, but of course they need some frosting! 

You need:
1 8 oz package of cream cheese, room temperature (we used 1/3 fat)
2-3 cups of powdered sugar (the original called for 1 1/2 cups, but it was not sweet or thick enough for us)
1 lemon, juiced or 3 tablespoons of lemon juice
1/2 tsp of lemon extract

First whip up the cream cheese, we did this in the mixer. Then gradually add in the powdered sugar until it reaches the consistency and sweetness that you like. Next add in the lemon juice and extract. Once everything is combined, scoop the frosting into a ziplock bag, cut off the corner and pipe onto the cooled cookies


This was our finished product and it was YUMMY! We of course ate a few before sending them to the neighbors! They are great summer flavored cookie!

For dinners this summer I have vowed to use the crockpot at least once a week. I rarely use it during the school year because most recipes call for cooking on low for 8 hours and we are at work and school for almost 10, so we have had many a burnt dinners this year! Last week it was the epic whole chicken episode. This week it was another yummy dish! Crockpot sausage, potatoes and green beans. 


My crockpot runs a little hot so I reduced the cook time to about 4 hours on low. It was too easy to throw together on a busy night and everyone really liked it, which is rare at the Wood House!