Almost TWO?

Wow,

so it's really hard to believe it's almost Gracelynn's second birthday. It really has Heath and me just reeling that a year could have flown by so fast!

Life has been really full here at the Kelley house lately (as if it ever slows down anyway). Clayton is growing like a weed, Gracelynn still eats me out of house and home, and Heath is finishing up for the semester. Me? I just finished up a craft show this past weekend and had a blast!

Here's a few pictures to catch you all up to speed:

Daddy's Boy

An early Christmas gift! 

Gracelynn couldn't handle waiting for Daddy to open the box...so she started it herself!

Very determined...

It took us over two hours to put her little kitchenette together, but it was worth in when the next morning she came walking down the stairs, stopped, "Whoa!", and speedy little feet across the living room floor. How fun. :) 

Holding "Pay-pet" is one of her favorite things to do. 

Hugging is a close second. ;)

Play-Dough is still an elusive concept. She pulls it apart into tiny little pieces, but never seems to put it back together - much to my dismay. Oh well.

Daddy with two of his biggest fans. :)

Gracelynn LOVES sleeping in our ottoman. And laundry baskets. And Aldi grocery boxes. You name it - she sleeps in it. :S

My two precious babes just couldn't stay awake any longer. ;)

My two precious GUYS just couldn't stay awake any longer this afternoon...not even for football!

Well, that's all I have for now. I'm putting up a Christmas wreath tutorial on Home Life As Mom for tomorrow morning, so I need to get that up, and then it's on to some cowl orders that I need to finish. 

Good night all!

Kelley Colds and Mr. Smiles

I have to admit, 

I am sick sick sick of colds! 

We just can't seem to shake this latest cold and it has made the rounds all the way down to poor Clayton.  Still...he is still his charming old self: Mr. Smiles. 

Here he is after falling asleep while Gracelynn played in the toyroom. ;)

Gracelynn has been eating me out of house and home lately. Everything reminds her of food! And now that Heath has been taking advantage of the new weight room at the school (since it's finally all finished), he comes home ravenous and raids whatever hasn't been touched by Gracelynn. 

I just can't keep up!

On a fun note, I finally finished the new "design" on my blog. I don't want to see any HTML for the rest of the month, but I did get it fixed up. I'm so excited with all the ideas I have swirling around in my head for Christmas gifts...family beware! :D

Uncle Ann-doo

It's been a busy week here in the Kelley house. It's been just warm enough to go on some long walks, so Gracelynn, Clayton, and I just gear up, troop out, and walk. 

That and my cupboard basically ran out of everything this week...definitely makes the week so crazier when I can't figure out what to cook because I have no food. Although...note to self: never attempt grocery shopping on the weekends until the holiday season is over. I went on Saturday and came home absolutely exhausted. People were EVERYwhere. Bumping, grumbling about lines, fast walking...it was a rat race (and it's not even Black Friday).

I made a trip to the thrift store today for fun and Gracelynn found a new tractor/wagon/animal set and they gave it to me for .50 cents! Lol...they even held back a huge bag of yarn knowing I'd be in sooner or later. :) What nice folks.

Since coming home and washing the new toys, Gracelynn has been driving her tractor around the house and telling me how Uncle "Ann-doo" (Andrew) is the farmer and he drives the "tractor". Funny, the little toy looks nothing like my brother...but who can argue with an almost two year old? :)

(sorry about the pink line...uploading went awry and I couldn't fix it)

Clayton, on the other hand, will not stop growing, moving, and talking. :) He is just the happiest baby...that is, unless he's hungry. Nine hour night lately, which I am loving, but we're having a bit of trouble keeping him dry in the night. Guess that's a boy for you. Oh well. 

He's not overly fond of tummy-time because he can't always see what's going on. I fixed that by putting him on the boppi - it helps for a little bit anyway. 

That's all for now. It's quiet in the house. Gracelynn is asleep for the night, Clayton is sleeping, and Heath is reading...best enjoy this while I can! :) Oh! Made a really neat wreath today - check it out here tomorrow morning if you don't get the email updates. 

Blessings and love,

the Kelleys

Part of Our Blog is MOVING

Hi Everyone!

It's been awhile, I know. We just kept catching cold after cold and feeling rugged. Everyone but me is healthy now. :( But! There are a few new updates for you all...

1) My dear husband tilled up the entire front yard and I planted about 200 flower bulbs!

2) The craft/recipe/DIY section of this blog is MOVING! 

When I first started this blog, it was about our family...especially with the addition of Gracelynn and Clayton, I want to be able to keep it mainly about our family. :) So, I've created a website where I can totally unleash my "creative energy" and get my "mom-therapy" (which, by my definition is my creativity-fix) online. It will also be linked to my Etsy site.

www.homelifeasmom.com

Same rules apply: enter your email address in the subscription box on the right side, verify your subscription by opening the email that will arrive in your inbox immediately after you sign up. Click on the link and you'll receive updates every time I post. 

As an early perk for family and friends, via my facebook page/website, the first 50 subscribers to the new blog will be entered in a gift giveaway. :) This won't be public on facebook until this weekend. 

And for fun...here is what Gracelynn was up to today:

(Yes, that's leftover cookie on her face!)

Much love and blessings to you all!

Boogers

I will never, to this day, forget my father's solution to his kids sticking their fingers up their nose:

"If you stick your finger in your nose, a great big snail will bite it off!" After this rather frightening revelation, he put his own finger in his nose and (pretended) yowled in pain as this (imaginary) snail bit the end of his finger. 

I have never, to this day, picked my nose!

Although I will not be using this method with my daughter, I am dealing with the finger-in-nose syndrome. After futilely telling her it was "yucky", I discovered a way to redirect her and so far, it has been successful! I started pushing the tips of my index fingers together and encouraging her to try it...which she loved! Now she's showing her daddy how to do it. Lol...the power of distraction...

Here's little scooter enjoying an episode of Winnie the Pooh...in the laundry basket??

Can you see the streak of mischief/naughtiness?

Here's the sweet streak. :)

I've been experimenting with some crochet designs/projects and discovered how to "crochet" a rope! Kind of nifty. Took me a bit to master it with three crochet hooks, but after a bit, I got to cranking out quite a bit of nice crochet rope. :)

And Mr. Smiles himself. :)

Clayton had his 2mo. checkup this Wednesday and is growing very well. :) He's 12.6 lbs and just over 23.5" - in other words - growing too fast!

Last night he slept almost 7 hours in a row and then another 4...Gracelynn slept until 8:15! We let her play in her room for another 15 minutes before we got up.

We have not slept that late in the morning without interruption for over a year!

I guess it'll be short-lived though - Mr. Smiles below will be doing his own share of waking us up early soon too.

Enjoy this beautiful fall weekend!

New Family

It's an exciting day for the Kelley family...

Melaney Rose Burt

was born this afternoon to Heath's sister and brother-in-law. It's hard to believe our family is expanding as fast as it is. :)

On another bright note, Heath is finally on the mend. Not 100%, but at least feeling better. The 8th grade football season is almost over, so we'll be (hopefully) slowing down for a bit before the holiday season hits us. 

Gracelynn has been extra clingy lately. It turns into a meltdown if Mommy goes anywhere without her and heaven help the person who takes little Clayton out of my arms in front of her. She is very protective/possessive of her little brother...who, by the way, is really starting to "talk". :)

Never far from him...

It's city-wide garage sales this weekend in De Witt (which means there are maniac-crazy women driving all over town) and I managed to take the kids with me to find some deals. Somehow I got conned into picking up some "horseys" - complete with Barbie dolls. However, Gracelynn wanted nothing to do with the dolls and went to bed with her new plastic horses. :) Here she is eating her chili only inches away from them. 

Her best neighbor buddy, Kwinn, was over tonight for a few hours and insisted I take a photo of her as well. :)

Time for bed! Only someone isn't ready...

Well, garage-sales start up again at 7:00 in the morning..which means people will be lined up outside the garages at 6AM. If I decide to brave the traffic and the half-crazed moms (of which I am one!) I'd better shut the computer down and get Clayton fed. 

Blessings and love from the Kelley family. :)

Are You Ready For Some Football?

Yes, we do have a few football fans in the family...

here is the newest, initiated member wearing his new "Kelley paraphernalia" aka miscellaneous things Mamma Kelley makes. :) 

BTW (by the way), I've had so many moms at the park, in the grocery store, etc. ask me where they could purchase a hat like this and several blog readers encourage me to try selling my hats - so...

coming soon will be a link where you can view what I've been working on. :)

Meanwhile, here is Gracelynn enjoying her "big girl bed". I still need to find myself a piece of canvas to paint a bright blue flower on and hang it above her bed...that might be a while!

And last, and yes, least...I fooled Gracelynn into eating well this week. She's been boycotting her meats and beans (who knows why) and so I snuck tofu and spinach into her pasta and she loved it. Plus, it's an amazing freezer food (which means I can make dozens of them, freeze them, and then pop them into the oven/microwave whenever we need easy foods).

Here's a photo from Monday, yummy! We couldn't even taste the tofu - of course - Heath asked me what was in his supper. "Why?" I asked. "Because it tastes...healthy". :)

P.S.

I added some garlic cloves and used cottage cheese instead of ricotta. Next time, I'll put in some bell peppers. :)

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) package uncooked lasagna noodles
• 1 pound mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1 (15 ounce) container ricotta cheese
• 1 pound firm tofu
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach - thawed, drained and squeezed dry
• 2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 (28 ounce) jar pasta sauce

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles for 5 to 8 minutes, or until just slightly underdone; drain and rinse.
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together grated cheese, ricotta cheese, tofu, frozen spinach, and 1 cup Parmesan cheese.
3. Lay out a noodle. Spread a layer of the cheese mixture on the noodle, then add a thin layer of sauce. Roll the noodle up, and place seam side down in a 13x9 pan. Repeat for other noodles. Top with remaining sauce and Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F (175 degree C) oven for 30 min, or until hot and bubbly.

Hugs

Though it doesn't happen very often, I got a picture with my two kiddos. :)

(Forgive the bags under my eyes - I just finished scrubbing the bathroom and getting the dirty laundry downstairs...so I earned them!)

Germs Germs Go Away

Honestly. Did we not just get the sick bugs out of the house?

Heath was home sick yesterday with some sort of stomach bug, I slept on the couch, Clayton slept on the floor...and Gracelynn, oblivious to everything else, actually slept in until 7:15 this morning!

Quick trip to the dollar store and I came home loaded with some new toothbrushes (which we've needed anyway), reloads for my hand soap, another spray bottle of Lysol, and...hand sanitizer.

Thanks to a kind hearted friend, I had fresh homemade soup tonight instead of my fall-to frozen burrito! (Which I've had several of in the last 24 hrs for the lack of energy and motivation to make myself anything)

In another few minutes, Gracelynn will be headed to bed and then it will be date-night for me and the kitchen. :P Oh well. On that note, I have another recipe to share with you all! I found this new soup recipe (oh so delicious!) and it's going to be a staple for us now.  

Italian Pasta & Bean Soup. 

Recipe Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp plus 2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 Tbsp minced garlic
• 6 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 1⁄2 cups farfallini (small bowtie pasta), tubettini or other small pasta
• 2 cans (about 15 oz each) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes in juice
• 1⁄2 cup chopped parsley
• 1⁄4 cup grated Parmesan

Recipe Preparation

1. Heat 1 Tbsp of the oil in a 3-qt saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté 5 minutes or until light golden. Add garlic and cook, stirring for 1 minute.
2. Add broth and bring to a boil. Add pasta and cook 5 minutes.
3. Stir in beans and tomatoes; cook 4 minutes or until pasta is tender. Remove from heat.

Enjoy the new recipe!

Oh, and P.S.

couldn't help but add this crafty blog post...look out! You just might get it for Christmas! :)

Cookie Craze

Gracelynn and I were busy girls today! We took Clayton on a walk, went to "Mother Goose" time at the library and then decided it was time to make cookies. (I'm on sweets duty for bible study tomorrow night)

I know it's backwards to try new recipes out on non family members, but for some reason, that's always when I tend to make something new. This time...I tried my hand at Royal Icing for sugar cookies. I'm a self-proclaimed cook, but a self-condemned baker, so I had no business baking for unsuspecting eaters. However! The sugar cookies came out quite well, if I do say so myself. :)

Here's a step-by-step look at the afternoon:

1: Totally cover the kitchen in flour, cookie dough, and powered sugar. Bake cookies at 350 degrees. Put Gracelynn down for a nap before they come out!

2: Whip up some Royal Icing (this is super stiff stuff! Only 1 egg white, 1/2 tsp. lemon juice, and about 1-lb powdered sugar)

3: Color the frosting orange and pipe the pumpkin cookies. (I learned that "piping" is outlining the cookies so that when you "flood" it, everything stays on the cookie)

4: Flood the cookies! (Which means, taking my super-ultra stiff frosting, adding water, and then pouring over the cookies. They said to use a toothpick to spread it all, but I found that a baby spoon worked so much better)

5: Take a breather....

6: Get Gracelynn up from her nap, change diaper, return to cookies. The frosting has to "set" and get hard before I can do any detailing.

7: Survey the disaster I (and Gracelynn) created in the kitchen...make mental note to ask husband to HELP!

8: Detail pumpkin cookies!

9: Using a "kid" paintbrush, brush details with corn syrup.

 

10: Using favorite sprinkles/crystals! (They didn't have orange crystals at the grocery store...so we had to settle for sprinkles)

Whew! It was a fun day...but I'm worn out. Somehow, the three of us managed to get to the park too.

Three more weeks left of Heath's 8th grade football season. Gracelynn will enjoy it so much more when he's home. She's always asking for "Daddy". What? Am I really that boring??

Here she is only a 1/2 hour ago reading a book about yawns. Yawwwwwn.

And Mr. Smiley-Pants on his sister's towel...not very manly, I know.

There! Mr. I'm-Still-Hungry on a "manly" blanket. :)

Okay, definitely tired now. Good night readers!