homemade cinnamon rolls

This morning I made homemade (yes, from scratch) cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  Actually the process began last night.  I knew it was going to take a while to let the dough rise (over an hour), roll it out, spoon on the filling, roll up, cut into 1" slices and arrange.  Then I put them in the fridge overnight and in the morning took them out to rise once more and then bake.  The result??  These wonderfully delicous, homemade sweet rolls!

They were topped with a yummy buttery frosting .... soooo good!  The recipe made about 18 rolls (there was another pan!), so I will probably end up freezing some of them (unless Chris gets to them first ... which is ok too:)  The best part about these rolls (besides being super tasty) is that they were really cheap to make and better for you than the store bought kind with all the preservatives and extra sugar. 

In an effort to save money, I'm venturing into making more food from scratch.  It's much cheaper, easier than you would think, and like I said before, much healthier.  So far I have recipes for Bisquick, breads, granola bars, cream of mushroom soup (who knew you could make that??), chocolate syrup and more!  I'll post more about our money saving tips as they come up.  It's kind of a process and a bit more work, but its worth it because it saves us money which allows me to stay home with Brooks!

Week 1 - done

Well, I've survived my first week as a full time mom.  (p.s. I've stopped saying "stay at home mom" because far too many people asked me with all seriousness "won't you be bored staying at home all day?"  sheesh.  I do leave the house ya know.  Anyway, I've switched to saying "full time mom".  Sounds nicer I think)  Anyway, it took a little more adjusting than I first realized.  I suppose it's like starting any new job ... you have to learn the ropes.  Brooks adjusted better than I thought.  He had a few sad moments, but other than that I think he's gonna love being home with mommy.  I love being with him.  And I love being active all day instead of sitting in an office chair.  Here's a few things we did this week.

...went to district lunch  (mmm, Famous Dave's)
...went for a walk
...grocery shopping
...laundry
...cleaned floors, bathroom and dishes (multiple times)
...trip to Hobby Lobby
...had lunch with Daddy
...visited Grandma Gale (while mom went to doctor)
...shopped at Once Upon a Child - bought new pajamas and toys!
...did some reading
...took Charlie to dog park
...played with friend Oliver at the dog park
...suprised Dad at work with a Cherry Limeade
...played with new toys
...story time at the Library
...went to doctor again - Brooks came along this time

I'd say it was a pretty productive week.  And I can't even remember everything we did.  Here's a picture I have to share from the week.  Brooks has been ALL ABOUT eating table foods these days.  He really prefers it over baby food - he's becoming so independent!  So we've been giving him what we have for supper to see what he'll eat and what he won't.  Well, so far, he'll eat anything.  Wednesday night we had lasagna.  And you can imagine how that went. 

Yep .... a mess!!!  Good thing it was a bath night!  It took a lot of scrubbin' to get all that tomato sauce out.  But he sure seemed to like it!

All Done

It's usually a phrase we use when Brooks has finished eating, or taking a bath, or when a diaper change is complete.  But today, "all done" is for me.  I'm all done working full-time.  I'm all done paying for daycare.  I'm all done working around someone else's schedule.  Today begins my new adventure as a full time mom!  I'm excited and a touch nervous too.  I'm not sure why.  Perhaps I'm afraid I won't know what to do with myself (and a 10 month old) all day long.  And of course I'm nervous about making the budget work.  But we've never gone without in the past and I know my God is just as faithful to us now as he was then.  I'm excited to invest my time and energy into my son and my family.  I'm excited to know that I am the one teaching Brooks about the things of God.  I'm excited to go swimming this summer!

Please don't misunderstand me.  My job was great.  Brooks' daycare was wonderful.  But being a full time mom is a calling that I can no longer ignore!  So although one chapter of my life is "all done", the new one is just beginning and I can't wait!!

Brooks' last day at daycare.  These wonderful ladies took such good care of him for the last 8 months!  Thanks for everything!!  (And Brooks was obviously more interested in whatever was going on on the floor than looking at the camera :)

animals on parade

So the other day I was browsing through Dollar Tree and came across these!

They're those decorative wall stickers!  I looked everywhere for them before Brooks was born, but never found them.  Then I find them at the dollar store of all places.  And I was so excited that they had jungle animals ... perfect for his room.  So for a whole $2.00 I turned this ...

into this ...

Cute, huh?  I decided that the top of his closet was the best place for a parade of jungle animals.  And the best part is that they peel right off the wall without causing any damage, which is nice since we're renting and all.  Gotta love that dollar store!

clothes and more clothes!!!

On Saturday I pulled out all of Brooks' 12-18 month clothes.  Everything we had was generously handed down to us from friends and family ... and most of it was given to us before he was born.  So I decided to sort through things (b/c after 9 months I completely forgot what was in those boxes), see what we had, and see what I still needed to buy.

First I started by pulling out all of his clothes that were too small ...

Umm, that's a lot of clothes (and please don't look at the big ol' diaper pail in the middle of them).  Then I re-organized the clothes that still fit.

I found stuff tucked away in drawers that he could have been wearing even now that I totally forgot about.  Oops.  Next I washed and folded all his summer clothes.  And then it hit me.  This kid has SO MANY CLOTHES!!! 

There was this drawer with shorts, t-shirts, a few long sleeve shirts, one piece shorts outfits, pajamas, and swim shorts (he has FIVE pairs of swim trunks)

Then there was this pile of hang-up shirts (church clothes), jackets and bibs.

And don't forget this pile.  These are his jeans and other long pants as well as several pairs of shoes.  Most of the shoes won't fit him until the fall.  But that will work out great, since he'll hopefully be walking by then.

So, I think we're pretty set for the summer.  Guess I won't have to do any shopping after all.  And unless I change Brook's outfit four times a day, I don't think he'll even get to wear all these clothes!  So I may be looking to give some of them away if anyone is interested.  All I can say is we have been SO blessed!!

Happy Easter

We had a great day celebrating at church, then enjoying a meal with our good friends.  We spent the evening relaxing and playing games together.

My handsome boy in his Easter outfit.  I'm not sure why, but I was convinced he needed shoes for church.  He doesn't wear shoes otherwise, but I figured they were in order for the big day.  Isn't he just the CUTEST???

Opening his first Easter basket.  What does the bunny bring for a 9 month old?  Well, some fig newtons and an apple of course.  Along with a stuffed "Jesus loves me" bunny and a new Easter story book.

And a new ball to play with!

This was mommy's Easter present ... some snuggle time with my baby (a rarity in our house, for sure!)