A Family

I have found pinterest, and I really love it. You can find all sorts of stuff there. I really love the different quotes, etc that I have found.

I recently found this one:

"Being a family means you are a part of something very wonderful. It means you will love and be loved for the rest of your life. No matter what."

It might not have anything to do with adoption, and I have no idea who even wrote it. But, I love it and I think it describes us, and my family. Sounds so silly - but I cry every time I read it.

We are getting close, I know we will be done by the end of the year. We don't have an actual date yet. But, every step is a step forward.

Oh, and if you are wondering what pinterest is - here is a response I wrote on a crafty message board.

What is Pinterest, and how does it work?
It is kinda like all of your favorite links in one picture space.

I know for me, when I like something I find online, I save it to my favorites, or bookmarks.

But, when you do that (for me) when I am looking for something again, I sometimes have to click on many links because I can't remember which link corresponds to what items.

So, pinterest allows you to do that same thing, but in PICTURE form. So, just like your bookmarks, you can have folders. Each "pin" is a picture of something you like - but, the picture is actually a LINK to the original item.

So, instead of clicking on links in your favorites, you have an entire folder of pictures. Then you can see everything in one spot, and click on the pic for more info if needed.

But, what is also great about it is the search. Think about it this way - sometimes when I am searching for something on google, I will do an image search instead (I am a visual person). But - - sometimes I don't find what I am looking for pages!

Since people are only "pinning" things that they love, it is much easier to find great things. Not page after page of google images that have nothing to do with what I searched for.

Once you sign up, you install their "pin tool" which allows you to add items that YOU love to your boards. Things that you find on blogs, your favorite websites, etc.

It IS a sharing site, so once you pin it, it will be shared with your followers and everyone else on pinterest. You can connect with your facebook friends. This way you see their pins, they will see yours, etc.

You can have several boards...clothes, recipes, crafty items, quotes, party ideas, etc, etc.

Just a warning - once you get on it, it is so addicting LOL.

RIght now, it is an invite thing - you can post your e-mail and I can send you an invite.

I love it, I have gotten so many ideas for my girls' birthday party.

Shaving Cream and Listerine

Shaving cream and listerine - odd combo, right?  Well, that is the combo for a foot soak for cracked heels.

I love pinterest, and found this "recipe" for getting rid of dead skin on your feet.  I have horrible feet, which is why there will be no before/after pics lol

I as with most things on pinterest, I just HAD to try it.  And, you know what - I think I got pretty good results.  It might be fair to say that I MAY have gotten the same results if I just wrapped my feet in a warm wet towel.  But, my feet really did tingle, so I think it did something more than just water.

I used gerenic listerine in the original kind, the yellow/gold one.  I used cheap shaving cream, barbasol, because I sure as hell was not gonnna use the expensive stuff lol.

I will probably do it again :)

Smores Pops

We are having a BBQ for Memorial Day, and I wanted to make a simple "summer" type of snack.  Smores scream summer :)

I did not make up this treat, but rather saw it on pinterest.  Ah, pinterest, what would I do without you??

Smores Pops are a chocolate coated marshmallow covered in graham cracker cumbles.  And, yes - it is as easy as it sounds.  But, of course I have provided a picture tutorial.

I made 35 pops.  But, not because I ran out of ingredients, but rather, I only had 35 pop sticks.  I crushed 1/2 a box of graham crackers, but only used less than half of that.  I used about 3/4 a bag of chocolate.

Here are all my supplies - graham crackers, chocolate melts, marshmallows, pop sticks, wax paper, and my beating spoon lol.

Melt a small amount of chocolate.  I melt mine in the microwave using the defrost setting.  I stop it after 1 minute, and stir.  If needed, I put back in for about 20 seconds or so.

Pour the melted chocolate on to a piece of wax paper.  I like this method a lot since it allows a nice even coating.  I use the same method for my chocolate covered pretzels.

Put a pop stick in a marshmallow, and roll it in the melted chocolate.  Don't forget to put some on the top of the marshmallow. :)

Roll this your crushed graham crackers.  I had mine on a paper plate.

You are done!  I placed mine in a piece of styrofoam that I had from another project.

Looking yummy!

My husband did a little tasting, and he said they were so good.  I will wait until tomorrow to eat mine.

So, there you go - a super easy, super yummy summer treat

Cleaning a Microfiber Couch

When we bought our couches, we didn't have kids yet (well, we had Colin - but he was 11).  We heard that micro fiber was the way to go since it really didn't stain.  Well, when I find that person that said that - remind me to smack them upside the head.

Since having the little kids, our beige microfiber couches are gross!  Disgusting.  The worst is that if we do spill something, and then wipe it even with a baby wipe - we are left with a water stain.  It really looks so so bad.

We can't afford new couches right now, so I needed to find a way to clean them.  Off to pinterest I go lol.

I found a tutorial using rubbing alcohol.  You basically put rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle and spray on to the couch and then just rub like crazy to clean the couch.  The rubbing alcohol evaporates differently than water so it does not leave the water stain.

Well, I must say - my couches look awesome!

Here is a little before and after.

Snow Ice Cream

Ice Cream made from snow!

This winter has been rough.  A combination of multiple heavy snow storms and frigid temps has made this winter the harshest I can remember. And, it is far from over.

The other day I saw someone post that they made ice-cream from snow.  Well, with almost a foot of freshly fallen snow, I figured I would give it a shot.  Off to pinterest I went.

I found several links to different ways to make it.  Most called for milk, sugar, salt, vanilla, and of course snow.  Well, I didn't have enough milk, so basically clicked on several links looking for an alternate recipe.  I found the EASIEST one, and it did not need milk.  Instead it needed sweetened condensed milk, which oddly I had in the house lol.

You only need the following:

about 10 cups of clean snow

1 can of sweetened condensed milk

vanilla - I like a lot of vanilla, but generally never measure it

Mix is all together and viola - ice cream.  It was really good.

I really think that the condensed milk could really make a big difference in the texture of the ice cream.  If you see in the pictures, it really does look like mashed potatoes.  Which when I added caramel on top - it REALLY looked like mashed potatoes.  I'm sure the consistency of your snow will totally alter the texture of your ice-cream.  Mine the 2x I made it was the texture/consistency of homemade ice-cream.  I think if I used the milk recipe, it would have been like italian ice.

See looks like mashed potatoes, especially with the carrots next to it lol.

Cost wise, honestly - not really a big cost savings using this method.  Using the recipes using milk and sugar is probably a *free* way to make this since most people will have that in the house.  But, even though I had the condensed milk in the house, for the second batch - I had to buy a can.

I got a can on sale for $1.65.  The next highest price (which was not on sale) was $2.29.  You can get a regular container of ice cream on sale for $2.99.  That container would last a lot longer than snow ice cream.  But, we all had ice cream (5 of us), and still stashed a bit in the freezer.  But - obviously a fun thing to do to make the best of the snow.

Oh, and it is super cold!