Zumba!!!

Ok, I am one that needs motivation to workout...I just don't like it enough to make time for it. So every once in a while I have to buy myself a workout video to give myself something new to do! And I do the video thing because it only makes it harder to workout if I have to leave the house.

I get sucked into the whole info-mercial thing and I saw one for Zumba and it looked like my thing...seems fun...and hello I will look like all the people they showed if I do it right??? :) ha ha jk I know its not that easy I have to give up my peach cobbler and ice cream for lunch first...baby steps.

So instead of investing in the kit over the phone at 3 am (I have a life Hinkley had a tummy ache so we were hiding downstairs so I would stay awake and not wake daddy) I looked around and happened to find one on KSL classifieds! Sweet. A pretty good deal came with the fancy weights and all...so I will be trying it and letting you know!!!

DIY onesie upcycle

My little Hinkley was so much smaller than my first that I wasn't prepared with cute little outfits for her that were that small! I had one to bring her home in but that was about it. Even jammies she only had one thing that didn't drown her. For some reason it was so important to me to have her in cute things that fit and when I couldn't find any little outfits to buy I decided to make some...Onesies were my best bet since my kids are long and skinny and I had some hand-me-downs from my cousin so up-cyling was the perfect solution! 

For the owl I took random fabric scraps and just cut them until I liked the shape, used fabric glue to attach on roughly then my sweet mommy helped me stitch around the edges to hold and define!!! And you can do fabric or googly eyes whatever you have! Easy peasy.

The ruffle onesie was even easier! I cut ruffles off of a pair of pants I wasn't going to put her in and started attaching with fabric glue! Just make sure you have something in-between the front and back of the onesie so you don't leak and glue them together! Then to secure for sure for sure just add a few stitches but your glue should work just fine!  FUN HUH!? Free, and they have ended up being my favorite things for her!

CHALK!!!

Today I have been looking for fun summery things to do with my babies because I know the nice weather will be gone soon and I will be missing it! And now is a better time than ever because it is warm but not scorching! YAY! So this is what I will be doing in days to come: 

• Playing with some classic sidewalk chalk. Maybe drawing a target somewhere and throwing sponges at it til it disappears...so fun especially for my little man that LOVES throwing anything!

• I will make sidewalk chalk paint...and let my kids make a beautiful glorious mess! Thank you ohdeedoh!

• And I WILL be making HUGE homemade sidewalk chalk using this tutorial from oh my handmade! Seriously people are so cute and creative...thanks for being that way so I can have fun!

I love things like this because they are so simple and can make such fun times and good memories for you and your babies!!! So chalk it up!

Banana Bread Pancakes!!!

Ok...Wow. I found this recipe a while ago and yesterday while looking at rotten banana's on my counter not wanting to throw them away because that would be wasteful I remembered! I always love to try new things so it was perfect!

I did it I followed the recipe from how sweet it is right on down to the maple glaze. Delish. However I could have done without because the pancakes were so yummy they would have been tasty with just some sugar...or PEANUT BUTTER!!! Yum. They were just a fun tasty new idea and easier (and faster) that baking banana bread but equally as delicious! I must say try them, try them, try them! Thank you to other people who come up with fantastic recipes so I can try them and feel like an amazingly fancy cook!

Whole Wheat Brown Sugar Banana Bread Pancakes

makes 12 pancakes

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

2/3 cup milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3 large ripe bananas, mashed

2 tablespoons butter, melted

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Measure out the milk and add the vanilla extract to it. Whisk together the dry ingredients and add in milk and vanilla, stirring to combine. The mixture will still be dry. Add in mashed bananas and mix. Add in melted butter and stir until batter is somewhat smooth.

Heat a skillet or grilled on medium heat. Using a 1/3 cup measure, spoon batter into rounds and cook until bubbles form on top – about 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook for a minute or two more. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve hot with butter and syrup, or the vanilla maple glaze.

Note: if you don’t have/can’t find whole wheat pastry flour, use 1 cup of regular whole wheat and 1 cup of all purpose. Or 2 cups of all purpose.

Vanilla Maple Glaze

1/2 cup maple syrup

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir until smooth. Pour over pancakes.

The 100 workout

Ok...I wont even lie...I had cookies (those that I didn't devour last night during Big Bang and the Office) for breakfast. But one thing that I have slowly started this week is exercise. I figure its a good thing to work myself into since its been almost four weeks since I had Hinkley. so Fitness is For You Fridays focus this week. I also found this "100 workout" on Tumblr that I will try. I need easy stuff to exercise because if its too complicated I wont do it...But people raved about it and I like that I don't have to remember a lot and can do it while eating cookies watching the Office or while Curious George in on in the morning!

The 100 Workout

100: Jumping Jacks

90: Crunches

80: Lunges

70: Leg Lifts

60: Jumping Jacks

50: Crunches

40: Squats

30: Leg Lifts

20: Jumping Jacks

Run for 1 mile

Easy peasy right? Ok not easy to do but easy to try to do :) However I am NOT A RUNNER so running a mile would litteraly kill me and I don't have a jogging stroller so if I had my kiddo's I wouldn't even be able to try...darn. So I am replacing the running with 10 min of Cardio. And that is still right on theme with the count down! Let me know if anyone does it and how you liked it!!!

Up-cycled Key Holder...

I call this a 'key holder' for lack of better name...if you have one let me know...but remember my chair? I had extra fabric and this ugly thing as well as the key word hanger and thought hey why not? I'm hoping it will keep me from loosing my keys so much. So do do something like this you will need:

• A framed mirror and/or cork board 
• Cute Fabric
• twine(I used this around my edges because I couldn't take the cork board out to wrap fabric around)
• And last but not least hooks, I probably would have used some fun drawer pulls even if I didn't already have the 'keys' thing
• paint 
• stain 
• wood glue
• hot glue

Here is a photo representation of my efforts

Before...nothing exciting 

Rough it up, paint, stain, let dry

Find your fabric for cork part

I traced size of fabric, cut, hot glued then stapled for good measure

looks like this at this stage

To cover staples and uneven edges I added twine using hot glue

When you like how it looks, cut and push in tight, secure with hot glue

I used wood glue cause I figured it would hold better

Whala! Better right? Now it matches my chair.

So functional! 

Fair fun!

I love the Fair! And I love even more now that I have children because it not only gives me a better excuse to go but it makes it so much more fun! I always try to take advantage of the things going on locally that we can go to because they are a great way to change up the routine or give us something different to do!

Flint loved looking at all the animals and he was always quick to take the opportunity for a closer look when they had animals out for people to pet. He even stole a quick hug from a goat...I did in a little bit of worry get him moving from there I was worried that his fearless approach would leave him without an ear or something :) But it was great for the low price of my entrance we were able to see a sea lion show, all the farm animals big and small a heart could desire, and if you really want a fun treat you could try any variety of deep fried food. Oh yeah now you'll pay a pretty penny for that but hey, once a year a deep fried cheesecake has to be worth the price, and the calories right? 

I would also recommend taking grandparents or great grandparents like we did. I had just as much fun watching my Grandpa with Flint as I did watching Flint alone. So not only was it helpful but just so neat. 

Getting back on Track!!!

OK!!! I am BACK! I had my little girl and she is just perfect! She is so sweet Hinkley Ann Campbell came to us August 29 @ 2:50 pm and life as been just so crazy and wonderful and busy and did I say wonderful? Delivery was great (way better than my first) but she was only 7lbs 6oz so compared to her big brother who was over 9lbs...it was bound to be better. We are just so grateful and blessed that she is here and healthy. And our new little family is just perfect, and big brother is adjusting so well! (He might love her too much sometimes but that's OK!)

One thing I am struggling with however is getting anything done...so I am ready to get back blogging and I feel like giving myself structure will help me get everything done. We'll see, now don't worry I am not striving for perfection because I know that us just not me...I will never have an immaculate house with bread baking in the oven and sewing my children's clothes but I do want to do more than sit on the couch wondering what to do or where to start...so I think if I give myself certain things to do it will help and I can do it all: snuggle on the couch, tidy up enough to not be embarrassed, and continue all of my projects and journaling while taking care of myself as well. That is what I am striving for anyway...we'll see how I do.

But I am going to go for this as my new blog 'schedule' :)

Mondays: Mommy Monday
I will come up with something fun to do with my kiddo's maybe a DIY sorta thing, a craft, or just a visit to the park. But while I don't care about being that mom that can do it all I do want to always do fun fulfilling things with my kids. I never want to miss out on one fun stage of their life. So...mommy Monday.

Wednesday: Wow Wednesday
This will be my crafts and projects day...It will be a WOW because I actually finished a project to blog about or I will show off someone else's project that totally wow's me and I wish I came up with :) Also if I find a project and can do it I will try my own version and show that too. This one might be a little harder. Because sometimes I can't keep up with all the projects I find or think up but I'll do my best!

Friday: For You Friday
This will be my day where I blog about ways that mommies can take care of themselves because lets face it sometimes all we do is take care of our kids and our house. I think I might be able to do all that better if I take care of myself a little too...So I will blog about fitness, fashion (because I am so fashionable ha ha), and beauty. Just quick things that every mom can do and hopefully have time for and the budget for! This is how I will get to that place of being a mommy but not looking like one...best of both worlds.