March Madness

  I think March is going to be one of my busiest months for the next 9 years or so.  Payton came for spring break, and we also celebrated Mary-Kate's 1st birthday.  I know that may not sound like a lot happening, but with Brandon's mom and Payton here for spring break and my parents here for MK's birthday, we have had quite a few people coming and going.  I've been on the computer very little and have made very few things.
  Here's a quick recap:  Spring break was good and looking forward to the summer with Payton, and MK's birthday was a success.  We even went the zoo for both occasions.  Here are some pictures. 
  Spring break:

 
 MK's birthday:

Allison got to ride a horse at the zoo.  She loved it!

A Ho-Hum Day

The girls and I have a cough, and they are in no mood to do anything. MK has slept a lot, and Allison only wants to watch movies. I could only fight her so long. I don't really feel like doing anything either. See, I do have days where we don't do anything.

Finally

I finally downloaded the blogger app on my phone. Get prepared for more randomness!

Trying Some New Things

  Last week a friend posted on her Facebook that she made powdered sugar.  I had to try it!  Now, I'm very picky about my powdered sugar especially when it comes to cake decorating.  I only buy Domino 10x powdered sugar, so I know even though knowing how to make powdered sugar I won't do it too often.  It is nice to know how in a pinch and can save a lot of money especially if you get granulated sugar on sale.
  All you have to do is put a cup of sugar in the blender (I knew I was keeping that thing around for a reason) and turn it on for a few minutes.

Before:

 After:

  I know hard to tell the difference in the pictures, but now I have cheap powdered sugar for French toast, keeping fondant from sticking, and making marshmallows!  Yes, I made those too.  They are so good, and I even forgot the vanilla extract.  It's like eating a Peep without the sugar coating.  Here is the recipe: marshmallows.

The goo:

 Let it set:

 Dredge it with the powdered sugar:

 Final product!

 I used fondant cutters to make flower and heart marshmallows, but it left a lot of scraps.  You can't reroll marshmallows. ;)  But, it make a lot!  30 oz!  That's almost enough to make 2 batches of marshmallow fondant, and that's a lot of fondant.  I have not tried to make fondant out of it yet.  I need to do more research b/c I think I could skip a step or two. 
  In other news, today I made English muffins, cinnamon rolls, laundry detergent, dishwasher detergent, and liquid dish soap.  The verdict is still out on the liquid dish soap.

Getting Nutty!

  A few weeks ago Allison started eating almonds and really enjoying them, so I stocked up on them and decided to experiment with them.  I made almond butter, extract, and milk.  The butter turned out well, and everyone enjoyed it (I made cashew butter tonight).  The extract has a few more weeks before I'll know how it turned out.  The milk, well, I won't be making that again.
  Here's how to make the butter:

Add 8-10 oz nuts in food processor

Turn processor on and scrape sides as needed.

 Run processor until smooth.  May take anywhere from a few minutes up to 15 mins.

 Final product!



  Here's the extract:

  Just add 6 almonds to 8 oz vodka or rum, store in a dark place, and wait 6 weeks.  That simple!

And the milk...

  I'm not wasting people's time by posting pictures.  You basically soak almonds for 12 hours, grind them up in the blender with water, strain through cheesecloth, then blend again with vanilla bean and dates.  For all the work, it only makes about 10 oz of milk.  Super easy to make but not worth my time.  I'll just buy almond milk on sale with coupons.

In 7 Minutes or Less

  Yesterday I had 7 minutes to spare.  Mary-Kate was napping, and Allison was content eating a snack at the table (very rare).  I decided to do a few things that I've been wanting to try for awhile.  I decided to make body scrub and blowing bubbles.
  The body scrub:
       1 Cup sugar
       Slightly more than a 1/3 Cup olive oil
      10-15 drop essential oil
    Mix all ingredients and store in a jar.
  The results were great!  I made 2 kinds, lavendar for nighttime and orange mint for morning.  My skin is so soft.  I will definitely be making this for gifts.  I just need to learn to make cute labels.

  Blowing bubbles:
    3/4 Cup water
    1/4 Cup Dish soap
    1/2 Tbs glycerin or corn syrup
   Mix ingredients and leave in an open container (left mine in the mixing cup) overnight.  It was super windy today, and the bubbles worked great.  The glycerin made the bubbles super strong and wind resistant.  Once we get done with the gallon of milk in the fridge, I'll be making a gallon of the solution to have on hand.  Plus, I'm trying to use the dish soap so that I can make my own dish soap. 
  There you have it, you can make simple things in very little time.  The only reason I know how long it took was because I was talking to my husband on the phone while doing all of it. :)

How I Spend Most of My Time

  If you look at my blog lately, you think I have all the time in the world to do all this stuff.  You couldn't be more wrong.  I have 10 mins here, 30 mins there.  I spend most of my time with my girls and taking care of them.  Here is a typical day with a 2.5 yr old and 10 month old:
   5/5:30--Allison wakes up and gets to watch tv while I get up and get ready, start laundry, make Brandon's lunch if he's home, clean, make breakfast, and whatever else I can think of
  7/7:30--MK wakes up, and Allison stops watching tv. I nurse her and when finished and if it's MWF, I vacuum and steam mop afterwards
  8--breakfast (usually Allison's snack by this point)
  9-11--MK naps.  Allison and I go outside and play or play inside depending on the weather, but we play the WHOLE 2 hours
 11--nurse MK again and then get lunch ready
 11:30/11:45--lunch
 Depending what time we get done with lunch, we will run a quick errand, but we have to be back before 1:30 for MK's afternoon nap.
  1:30/2--MK naps.  Allison gets to watch a movie on my bed, rest, and eat a snack (usually almonds).  During this time, I prep dinner, eat my lunch or juice, pay bills, return phone calls and e-mails, finish up laundry, and do whatever else I can think of
 3:00/3:30--MK wakes up, and I nurse again.  We then run errands but hurry back b/c the girls are ready for dinner between 4:30 and 5.
 5:30--bathtime
 6:30--girls go to bed.  I then eat dinner if I didn't have time to feed myself, clean the house, do any little DIY things, get my juicer ready for in the morning, stuff diapers if it's MWF, and then maybe get on the computer. 
  I try to get to bed between 8:30 and 9.  I'm goal is to get used to going to bed early so that I can get up before 5 and have some alone time when I have energy (I'm a big morning person).  It has yet to happen.  I guess my body needs all the sleep. 
  One thing I've decided to start doing during the day once a week with Allison is a craft, something more than coloring, painting, and play dough.  Those are daily things.  I am not a crafty person, but I'm ready to have some fun with my baby and watch her imagination explode.  Here is our 1st craft (stole the idea from MOPS):

  She liked it for a minute.  I did most of it.  Even though I would like to do this once a week, I know reality will hit.  I won't always make it to the store every week, but I'm looking forward to the projects we might potentially do.
  Man, I need to go to bed.  I can't focus.  Time for bed.  I'm up late.  It's 9:15. ;)