Denver Zoo

 

 Its a tradition every year Caleb and I head to the Zoo in Denver for mothers day, so we did it again. A bit more people there than the last few years, chalked it up to it being just beautiful weather. FINALLY we are seeing some Spring weather. I "think" the snow is done?

 

We had a great time and took plenty of pictures, Caleb's favorite animals are the penguins. Mine personally were the peacocks that walk around in the Zoo.

 

Fathers Day SALE 15% off

 

15% off fathers day sale!

Nows the time to order

Rustic hand stamped personalized jewelry and assesories for men.

 

yourcharmedlife

 

 

I love you moon necklace {GIVEAWAY}

 

Hand stamped personalized sterling silver necklace, made by me Yourcharmedlife.

Win this beauty via simply entry below.

Such a popular and sweet saying!

 

contest open to US residents only

 

I have more "I love you" moon necklaces found in my shop, yourcharmedlife

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

new bikes & biking adventure

Every year around this time, I say "I'm going to get a bike". So finally after all these years, I did. I got a Trek Green bike and LOVE it. Its fits me like a glove. Caleb also got a Trek bike, in Blue. We have gone twice since we purchased and plan on doing it 3-4 times a week, hoping to let go and release some tension.

We went to a reservoir here in the city and it had a awesome bike trail, was 7 miles long. We completed it, was way to long for Caleb. I felt so bad and guilty for making him do it. Won't be doing that much for him again, he had a hard time and no wonder it was a long trail! We did see some pretty cool wildlife, a huge hawk that was trying to eat a turtle. I saved the turtle and ran him across the road to the pond. HA! Reminded me of the old days, my mom and I would stop the car for a turtle trying to cross the road and help him across. My mom still does this, shes awesome like that.

So the plan is to shape up and loose 15 pounds and to let go of some stress, sound good?

 

goodbye to old friends and hello to new

Caleb's a social bug, hes always in the "thick" of it. The first teacher conference I had, I was informed that he was socially doing great and that's no surprise. My kiddo will make friends with anyone as long as they listen and can talk back! I have to stop him from going up to groups of giggling 12 year old girls all the time!

So, our old place we moved from had two other little boys around his age that were his "first friends" ever. He had to say his goodbyes and went out with a bang with some chalk on the street for ole' good times sake. My heart breaks for Caleb, I know that's got to be ruff. New home, new people and soon to be a new school for 1st grade. I know he'll adapt well, its in his DNA.

So here at the new place, second day here my mom {who flew in for the inital move, God bless her} took him up the playground in the apartment and Caleb meet all kinds of kids! I hope he can pick a few that will be good with him and make new friends.

we moved.

we did it. The eagle has landed. Can I tell you how much I do not like to move? Its hard work! Toss in a squirmy 6 year old high energy boy and its total madness. I'm barely keeping it together over here. {Thank goodness for wine, let me tell you..} Let me start off with a short story of how it all went down 48 hours into the thick of it all.

So the day before the big move and my mother and I decide to go and pre-clean the apartment out. We are germ-a-phobes and need to know its clean before making a nest. So we have all our cleaning supplies and vacuums etc. ready to go and we get to the apartments and get the keys and head over to the place. I open the door and WHAM! A wall of super funk from a chain smokers smelly home hits my nose. My eyes were burning and watering {moms as well}. No thank you. I would stay and try and mask things over and air it out and shampoo and pray that the smell would go away with time...But...my son has Asama, this is a deal breaker. So, I march myself to the office and get another apartment, I go there and ahhh new carpet no smells at all and its clean. Great in all, but it just occurs to me that the old place has lights on water on and address changed to that etc. etc. So long story shorter..I changed all the items over to new place, another address form filled out {this makes my third} and I'm good to go. Or one would think right? Nope, as of this isn't enough. So moving day arrives, it gos smooth the bill is around 200$ higher than I was calculating {shows you how good I am at math}, get all my things there and realize I have WAY TOO MUCH CRAP. I don't have room for a kitchen table, a bakers rack, a recliner, a dresser and the lit gos on...Its all piled on my porch and in my living space now {I look like a hoarder and if you know me, I'm the opposite so this is driving me nuts}. I craigslist everything and move on to the next best thing.

So I have a online business and right now its BOOMING with mothers day orders. By the way BIG THANK YOU if you ordered with me this holiday {your awesome}. Its been a challenge to try and get things on track again with finding my tools, supplies, a space to stamp and wait for it......my computer dies. I'm off line for days and days with over 4 pages of messages on etsy with customs. Turns out my graphics card went out and 2 sticks of ram. YAY! more madness. Its fixed now and I'm officially working again. My place is a nightmare for those of us who like clean and organized. Days pass by me and I don't even know it, cant keep up with life in general and hoping there is some normality over the horizon....I could use some of that.

snow sleding

 

 so apparently Spring doesn't exist in this part of the state, it just passes us by. Here in CO we have 4 months of summer and the rest is either cool, cold or freezing. I'm born and raised down in the deep south and prefer warm weather over cold, I still can't adapt and its been six years since I moved here to the mountains.

 

It snowed, again. This time something good came of it, Caleb and I went sledding. I have been wanting to do this all year, but it seemed most of the winter either one of was sick and couldn't make it when it snowed. We are both well so we headed out for a little fun, man that look on this kids face was enough to fill my cup. His laughter is contagious and touches my heart. I wish I could be a kid again, to feel no pressure of the world and just have fun.

 

Well, we did today anyways.....we always have today.

 

 

 

15$ Gift Card Giveaway

XmarX, is a new Etsy Shop,  where you can find fun trinkets and jewelry!
 

She was kind enough too supply you with a awesome 15$ gift card to shop in her Etsy store!

Find more from XmarX here and show some love!!

Enter to win below, USA residents only please
 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

we cleaned up your trash.

may not have been yours personally, but we cleaned it up. In honor of earth day, Caleb and I picked up a part of mother earth and made her clean again. On the way to Calebs school is a long stretch of area that is over run with trash, it looks horrible. So that's where we decided to start, we only did about a half mile strip but did manage to almost fill up a entire 30 gallon trash bag.

Granola Bars ($0.11 each)

 

I'm still snacking on these a week later, they are so yummy. Another find that saves money! SCORE. I have been packing these into Caleb's lunch and having them myself for lunch. I already went out and bought all the ingredients for the next batch! Not to sweet not too dull, just right in flavor. A little tip, I did put mine in the fridge to set them

*Makes 28 bars

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup packed brown sugar 
1/4 cup peanut butter (crunchy)
1/4 cup unsalted butter
4 cups Quick Oats (not rolled oats)
2 cups crispy rice cereal
3 teaspoons vanilla

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, stir crispy rice cereal, quick oats together.

In a medium saucepan, combine honey, butter, peanut butter, and brown sugar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat then bring the temperature down to low, and simmer till sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Pour in vanilla and stir.

Pour the hot mixture over dry ingredients. Stir until all ingredients are moistened. Press into a parchment-lined jelly roll pan.
Pack the granola bar mixture as closely and as tightly together as you possibly can into one end of the pan at about 1/2-3/4 inch thickness.Any thinner, and the bars will not hold together. Let cool on the counter till they reach room temperature.

Cut into bars (I did 4 X 7). Wrap in plastic or store in a ziplock bag.

~ Savings ~

*Updated on 1/8/13 from $0.08 ea. to $0.11 ea.

Cost Breakdown:
16 oz. clover honey - $3.78 = 22 T = $0.172/T = $1.376
7 lb brown sugar - $5.05 = 264 T = $0.019/T = $0.114
40 oz. crunchy peanut butter - $5.24 = 70 T = $0.075/T = $0.299
4 lb unsalted butter - $7.99 = 128 T = $0.0625/T = $0.250
42 oz. quick oats - $3.18 = 15 C = $0.212/C = $0.848
36 oz. crispy rice cereal - $4.88 = 37.5 C = $0.130/C = $0.260
8 fl. oz. imitation vanilla - $0.98 = 48 tsp = $0.0204/tsp = $0.061
Total Recipe Cost: $3.21
Per Granola bar: $0.11
The Contender:
Nature Valley Oats and Honey Granola Bars (12 pk.) = $2.68
Per Granola Bar: $0.22
Savings: 50%

"Over a year" scenario:
Make "Food Storage" Granola Bars recipe 15 times = $47.55
Buy equivalent Nature Valley Oats and Honey Granola Bars = $93.80

*Money Saved: $46.25

I found this AWESOME DIY here on penniesandpancakes, thank you

 

LARGE kids consignment sale SCORES

Every year I do this kids consignment sale, called "just between friends". Its held here in Denver and its MASSIVE, filled with anything you could need/want for a baby/child. I went in with a list of things I was looking for and scored some awesome finds at fantastic prices. I paid 100$ for everything pictured and going back again tomorrow for half price day.

 

what did I get for 100$?

 

black dress shoes, pedi ped sandles, stride rite sandles

Gymboree golf tee and shorts, gap shorts

boden fish shirt, hanna Anderson striped shirt

Gymboree shirt, popup book

4 sets of lego bionicles, imaginext boat set

bag of cars, jewelry bead case

and........I went back today for HALF PRICE day, scored again and this time only spent 43$! would have been near 90$ without the half off day, love this sale.

 

 

what I got with round 2:

 

keen sandles, gap shorts, gap shirt, gap long sleeve shirt, Gymboree shorts, connect 4x4 game, bag of cars, mummy book, two bags of containers for lunch boxes, Janie and jack tee and matching socks

not bad huh?

 

Slow Cooker Ribs

O M G. Wow yea...These were tasty, tender and feel right off of the bone. They stood no chance and even Caleb devoured every last bite right down to the bone.  You gotta try this if you have a slow cooker, its a must. Trust me you'll thank me later.

Found here.

 

Ingredients
Baby back pork ribs – about 2.75 pounds
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
All-purpose steak seasoning or salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups of BBQ sauce of choice

Directions
Season ribs and place in slow cooker with meaty part facing wall of slow cooker.
Pour BBQ sauce over ribs and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
Serve warm with additional BBQ sauce.
Optional step: Broil ribs, in oven, on high for about 5 minutes after removing from slow cooker.
Recipe notes: Some bottled BBQ sauces can be very high in sodium, so take that into account when seasoning the ribs and adjust salt accordingly. This recipe is easily doubled to two racks.

 

then.....paired it with some tasty asparagus, found here

 

1 lb. Asparagus, washed
1 Cup Water
1/2 to 1 Tbs. Land O Lakes Butter
(Tip: Land O Lakes now has Half Sticks which help to keep your butter fresher longer when using smaller amounts)
1/4 tsp. Garlic Salt
1/4 tsp. Fresh Ground Black Pepper
2 Tbs. Grated Parmesan Cheese
A Handful of Shredded Parmesan Cheese

First, chop the woody bottoms off of your Asparagus.

Put asparagus in a pan wide enough to hold them without bending their heads. They can overlap each other if they need to. Add 1 cup of water and place on high heat on the stove.

Cook, covered, on high for 4-6 minutes, depending on the thickness, until asparagus is tender, yet still nice and firm. When your Asparagus is finished cooking, discard remaining liquid.

Place butter, garlic salt, pepper, and grated Parmesan over your spears, and begin to saute them over medium high heat until butter is melted and the Parmesan begins to get gooey and lightly browned, but not burned.

Remove from heat and place on a pretty plate. Sprinkle with a handful of shredded Parmesan.