Magnets...

These days, malia has taken a liking to magnets. Seeing where they stick, where they don't. Such an amazing thing these magnets! Well, today on my way out to get Barkley, I noticed these magnets (her favorite ones) sticking all together to this one little nail! I was impressed that she found and figured  this out! She's a smart little booger!

Something's off....

Can you spot what is off in this picture? Probably so, but if you can't I'll give you a hint...it's round, and blue and most certainly doesn't belong in the tree!..........

if you hadn't guessed, it's mr. Barkleys beloved ball. Little miss malia thought it would be funny to put it on the tree. She puts it on there and then laughs at Barkley while he stands at attention waiting for someone to get his ball. He knows better than to mess in the tree! I think I need to start having bullying conversations with malia! She's been trying to play with him a lot more lately...it is quite entertaining!

Ant bites

          Last week at our thanksgiving get together, David had taken malia outside for a little play time. Now a days, she enjoys playing in dirt. Only thing is, this time the dirt ended up being a red ant hill! Once she started playing, they started biting :( David quickly picked her up and dusted those mean ol ants off. She ended up with a few bites in the end. Now over a week her little toes are swollen and red. The ones on her hands are just about gone...not sure why her little tootsies  are taking so long.

      In these pictures, I had applied a little homemade remedy made by grammy Anderson that is quickly taking the swelling and redness away. (this stuff really works on mosquito bits too!!)

  Being the tough Anderson female she is, while mommy is concerned with her tootsies, all she cares about is sucking down her appagash! I don't think she even knows they are there! That's my little tough girl! 

A naked turkey

This turkey looks delicious! The skin so perfectly seasoned, crisp to perfection. Oh I couldn't wait for a little piece! The culprit: violet. She goes to Nate begging for a little taste of the skin to which he gives a stern "NO". But violet wasn't going to give up so easy..after a lot more begging, Nate mistakenly says "ask holly". Now, I know holly, the queen of all pickers. This was an obvious answer now...it was like flys on poop. They all huddled over that turkey like it was their last meal.

I turn around and that once beautiful bird had been striped of all it's skin. Not even a moral left. This poor bird was just sitting there naked. What a shame. I was really looking forward to some of it. 

Well, at least we had a bunch of other delicious food that hadn't been picked upon. Skin or no skin, the meal was oh so delicious.i stuffed myself silly. We all had a good time hanging with each other and giving thanks. We missed you Woody, Doug, Ria, Levi, and Audrey! I hope halls was just. Good :) 

And now, the Christmas season has begun!!

A gift for the host and hostess!

Well, it's turkey day! Gobble gobble! Last night I stayed up a little later than normal to make a nice wine bag to accompany a nice bottle of wine for Holly and Nate for hosting thanksgiving dinner! It's not much, but it was fun to make. My original plan was to make it reversible like my purse (I used leftover cloth from it!) but I managed to really mess up the reverse side. The instructions were not very descriptive on how to square the bottom. I did what it said, they left out a small detail that ultimately made the mistake. But no worries! Got it done and I think it turned out nice! Happy thanksgiving!!

Tasty twist

I saw this little tip in an article, can't remember where...but its cucumber and lemon in water. It's pretty good if you like the flavors! You taste the lemon right off, then after you swallow you get the nice flavor of the cucumber! Yumm!!

Lost motivation: please call mandy if found

This happens to me every single year. For some reason when the cooler weather hits, and that need for comfort food comes back, I loose my motivation to exercise. I haven't ran in 3 weeks. That is soooo bad! I want to hibernate. I think it's going to take some work to just force myself to feel motivated. Especially with all the good food in my future...I'm just going to have to suck it up, and "fake it till I make it"!

Ps: this app is awesome!!

She hates it!!

Three times a day on average, malia has to endure this aggravating task. Let me just tell you....she HATES it. Need I say more? Well today, the second time around, I had pushed her away from the table to wipe her up, went to the kitchen to get the cloth, turned around to find her hiding behind the curtain. My little malia, you can run but you can't hide!! And thank you for wiping your dirty hands on my white curtains ;) I successfully wiped her up, much to her disapproval! Sorry malia, until you learn to eat cleanly, you will be dealing with this for some time. It's for your own good....and ours!

2nd times a charm...?

Well, here we are again. What you don't know is that I've been dying to blog from this fancy new iPad. The problem is, it's hard to do it from the web sight because you can't upload pics, change font etc...so we bought an app for $3. Turns out they haven't released the update to make it work on the new iOS5 on the new iPad. When you try to blog, it crashes....waste of $3. So I sucked it up, searched around and found blogsyapp. $5. So far, so good. It hasn't crashed yet! Heres to hoping. SO, this will be marked as MY first official blog from our iPad! Yay!!

An artist in the making

Its my day off! yay! I was supposed to go with David to get my concealed weapons permit, but with ridiculous work scheduling for him, we both couldn't go :( I opted to stay behind with the little one. Hes the one going to get the rent most of the time anyways! I WILL get mine in the future! So, it was Just little Malia and I today.  

I decided she needed a little art outlet, so I pulled out the freezer paper since one side is good paper, the tape and Markers. I taped the paper to the coffee table, pulled the top off the markers and gave Malia the green light! She looked at me a little funny since shes not to have markers, and momma and daddy take them from her if shes seen with them! Off she went! she loved every last minute of it. of course I dont know a kid who wouldnt!! She started trying to draw on her hand. not to fear! these are non toxic markers. although, I didnt let her go crazy! it all wiped right off her little hands. Her brother Barkley is keeping a close eye on her. (so am I! I dont think those non toxic markers are non staining!)

She made some Beautiful art! we will be doing this more often!

butternut squash pasta

I meant to blog on this a week ago! oh well! Winter squash was on sale last week so i picked up a few! I love Butternut squash! mmmm. its so sweet and delicious! I wanted to do something different with it so I looked up some recipes and found this one on www.thekitchn.com
Its Sage butternut squash pasta. It was SOOOOO yummy!! very savory and sweet. and really easy to make...time consuming though :) I suggest this recipe if you are looking to cook up some winter squash! http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/main-dish/recipe-pasta-with-butternut-squash-sage-and-pine-nuts-064966
Happy cooking!

I didnt have bowtie pasta so I sued penne instead!

EXTREEM COUPONING

Listen...I get that everyone wants to save money when they shop, and coupons help you do just that. Thats great, good for you blah blah blah. I just have to wonder, and I know I ask this question quite a bit, just HOW much money are you saving IF you are buying  things you wouldnt normally buy had you not had that coupon in the first place? yes, i work in a grocery store, and yes we have these rediculous weeks of crazy coupon deals, BUT I cant wrap my head around these crazy, YES crazy coupon people. They come in with their baseball card BOOK of coupons and go nutz!! They get SO mad when you dont have more product. DONT you realize that YOU are not the only one doing this coupon thing?? I dont mean to complain, but really, its getting out of hand. Its turning people into horders! (just my opinion) not only that, but its rare for their to be a coupon on ANYTHING healthy, unless its a vitamin. Its greedy to come in to the store and buy 12 febreez cans when you dont need 12 of them and then the person who comes behind you just wanted one and cant get one because you just bought a year supply for no reason..it really makes my head hurt! It brings out the worst in people! myself included :) In case you were wondering, its one of those coupon weeks...thanks for letting me get that off my chest ;)

Basket Case!

Yep! shes a basket case! I was folding the laundry the other day, and if i dont put the basket of clothes on the couch, Malia will either throw all the clothes everywhere, or just get in it and set up camp! When I was done, i was putting the laundry away and walked in on this little moment. what a silly girl!

A hobby=Therapy!

The other day David had to make a quick trip to Harbor Freight to get some type of tool, or supply or....something, I cant really remember! I decided Malia and I would ride along so I could stop in Hancocks to check out fabric, ya know, see if anything caught my eye! They were having a 50% off sale! SO i picked up some fabric! I had seen this bag pattern online a while back and had been wanting to make it! SO, with my new fabric, I did just that! I LOVE this bag! its a "metro bag" AND best of all, its reversible so its like two bags in one. I have had the same purse for about 3 or 4 years now, it was time for a new one! yay! My fun hobby doubles as shopping therapy! It was pretty easy to make! even better right?! Below is just a pic of a little mess up :( I thought i got all the seems in there tight. turns out i didnt. no worries though. you cant even see it unless i point it out. gives it character! On to the next project!

winter clothes.....extravaganza?

With the weather getting cooler, it was time for me to pull out my bin of warm clothes. We have just started this trend. We have a small house with small closets and just not enough room for everything. So, I got out my bin and set it in the house so i could go through it and wash them so they are fresh and ready to go...

I leave for 2 seconds, i think to start dinner. It seems Malia really needed this bin the create a fort for herself. In the pic below you can barely spot her little leg amongst the mess of clothes.
Here is a peak inside her new found "fort" of sorts. She didn't want me intruding on her. but I snuck a pic real quick ;) It is a mess, but I don't mind too much. There is no harm in her having a little fun!

Apples, apples and MORE apples!

 On my way home from work the other day, I stopped in at my favorite little farm store (Im really going to miss stopping in there often when I move stores) to get Malia some milk. I asked if they had apple sauce there and the lady said No, but it was really easy to make. I told her about how it is Malias favorite desert! She then told me that they were selling BOXES of apples for $20! and, like the tomatoes I bought earlier, the box is PACKED! so, I got a box. It is a mix of golden delicious and golden ginger apples. I have never made apple sauce before, but to my surprise it was VERY easy to make. Its almost a shame I haven't done it sooner. Just peel, chop, simmer, smash, EAT! I added a little cinnamon because I love cinnamon with apples. David said it tastes like apple pie! Malia enjoyed it! she said " OOOOOOOh, WOW! APPA GASH!" like she always does when she gets it! With a whole box of apples on hand, there will be lots of apple sauce made in the weeks to come!

Momma

I love this picture! Yesterday David was doing some yard work and Malia and I were outside taking in the beautiful day. That was, until Daddy brought out the leaf blower! when Malia heard it fire up she ran to momma for cover! with momma, she is safe!

warm tootsies

Its getting chilly out again! I love it!! With that in mind, and Malia being a walker this year, it was time to get her some warm slippers! We need to shield those tender toes from the cool wood floors in the winter! You can see here she quite likes them!

and here is a closer look. They are sock-like so's not to fall off easily with nice grippers on the bottom. Shes armed and ready for the cold!

a rare event...

Sunday, October 2nd. 2011.......Wait, did I say Sunday? David and I, off? together? on a SUNDAY??? with no big plans?? what?

You see, we work in retail. A business where weekends do not exist. But today was a rare moment of time! Knowing this, I splurged on some yummy doughnuts to enjoy together with our morning coffee! yum! unfortunately, I do have to work third tonight for a big store walk tomorrow morning. eh, oh well! gotta take the good with the bad :)

Shes a tough one!

Malia went outside with her daddy the other day and fell and skinned her knee. She got right up, without a fuss, and continued on with her business. Yep, shes an Anderson. Tough girls are made in this family!! No time for tears, shes got stuff to do!!

Battle of the Bottle

There comes a time in every young child's life when they have to give up something they love dearly. Right now, for my little Malia, its the bottle. As she nears the ripe age of 2 in what seems faster than the speed of light (for mom and dad anyway) better to do it now, rather than later. I have read from many different sources, that the younger you do certain things, the easier it is. When you wait, they become more resilient and it becomes more of a challenge for you. Malia has been drinking from a cup with no problem for quite some time now. I believe I started with her around 8 or 9 months old. again, the earlier, the easier. So this is not a challenge in learning to use the cup, its phasing out the bottle that, at times, is a bit hard. we are down to one a day. just after nap time. Shes doing well with it really, but their are times, like this morning, that she has, I guess you could call them withdraws. But, my little Malia, this is what

we call "tough love." You can see from the pictures, she starts out just fine. drinking like a pro. until she decides she wants this milk from a BOTTLE. WAAAHHHH! but momma stays strong, lets her cry it out, and she moves on. Don't feed into the tantrums and they end a lot quicker than if you try to please right away. The bottle is no longer a necessity for her. It hasn't been for a while actually. So its time for her to grow up just a little bit more. As hard as it is, its the right thing to do. Don't baby them, you are only hurting them in the long run!! I'm starting to wonder if the next step for her is potty training? :) I think I will like that one!

A bag for bags!

 I had a friend at work ask me if I knew how to make plastic bag holders, to which I replied "no, but Ill figure it out!". Kinda funny how people snub their nose to my hobby of sewing, until they need something, then its the coolest thing ever.
anyway, she said shed pay me, to which I laughed. Im no professional, I said, I would feel guilty taking money from you. I told her to find some fabric she liked

and buy me some elastic and Id make it for her.
when I got home, I saw my pile of scrap fabric and thought Id just go ahead and make her one from what I had. She is always getting Malia little things here and there, I figured Id show my appreciation and just make her one.
They are a lot easier to make than I thought. These pics are from a second one I made for Holly. I like the alternating patterns. I got the pattern from the websight www.makeit-loveit.com

These are nice and big to hold a lot of bags too! and of course pleasing to the eye!

Time to make a trip?

I need a fix.
With the holidays coming, i have lots of ideas for home made things!!

Changes a brewin

Change. verb (used with object)

1.

to make the form, nature, content, future course, etc., of (something) different from what it is or from what it would be if left alone: to change one's name; to change one's opinion; to change the course of history.

2.

to transform or convert (usually followed by into ): The witch changed the prince into a toad.

3.

to substitute another or others for; exchange for something else, usually of the same kind: She changed her shoes when she got home from the office.

4.

to give and take reciprocally; interchange: to change places with someone.

5.

to transfer from one (conveyance) to another: You'll have to change planes in Chicago.

 

Change for me is usually a bit scary. Not extremely, but it just makes me hesitant. I guess its more the fear of the unknown. even when its for the better.

Last Wednesday David called me from work very excited, shooting out a bunch of sentences all at once as i was trying to wake up. I didn't know WHAT he was trying to say here. You know how it is when you were in a dead sleep, it take you a few seconds to come to, and process...

 

Turns out, The store that David works at had my position open up. Now, I know Im notorious for complaining about my job, my store, the lazy people etc... but I really love the store i work at. (its a love hate thing i guess you could say). I have been there since it opened. My department has been "mine" from the start. no one to mess it up. The thing with my store is, its a 30 minute drive at 3:30 am with no traffic, and 45 min. in the afternoon with buses and slow drivers. (dont get me started on the slow drivers!!)

It makes since for me to go to Davids store with gas being sky high and no real end in sight, I spend on average $200 a month just to get there.

After much thought, weighing the pros and cons, Davids store won out. So, I got to work, broke the news to my bosses (they were not too happy) and posted. Then the waiting game began. My biggest hurdle was weather or not they wanted David and I at the same store. Turns out they could care less. I got the job. YAY! but i am truly sad. I will miss my Davidson location. Im nervous about starting somewhere new. maybe it sounds silly, its just a grocery store. Im a creature of routine. I have had the same steady routine for 5 years.

But, its time to mix it up a bit! no more getting up at 2:30 am. it will take me no more than 10 minutes to get to work. THAT I AM excited about! I will also have SUNDAYS off! I have NEVER had Sundays off for a regular schedule. EVER! its exciting.

 

So, Cheers to change...

Lazy

My apologies to my few readers for the lack in blogging...I have no excuse. Sometimes the evenings get the better of me and I like to veg out on the couch and just relax. I need a laptop so I can veg AND blog :) maybe one day...

Kale Chips

 Kale. Known as a super food by some. I never really tried it until I heard of this super simple recipe that, in my opinion is simply delicious.
All you do is wash your kale, remove the stalk, chop it up, throw it in the oven until its crisp (about 15 minutes). season with what you like, but I find salt to do the trick.

And here is the result...
Deliciously crisp, flavorful, HEALTHY kale! YUM! :)

For years ago today

4 years ago today David and I were in beautiful Hawaii enjoying the tropics, and best of all, getting married! Its hard to believe its been 4 years! But then again it feels like we have always been together! and I mean that in the best of ways! David and I are so blessed to have each other! we get along so well, never fight, hardly argue. Its a good feeling knowing I have him by my side! He is a wonderful Husband and dad! Cheers to 4 years my love! and many, many more to come!!





Never forget

10 years ago on this day I was in my senior year of High school, sitting in, of all classes, US history. We were in the middle of a lecture of sorts when the principal came over the intercom saying that their had been a terrible accident in NY, that a plane had hit the world trade center. He instructed the teachers to turn the TV on in all classes. So we as a class sat and watched the coverage. That's when we saw the second plane hit. It was like watching a movie. so surreal. about an hour or so later the principal came back on the intercom saying that this was a terrorist attack and they were letting school out early in fear of more attacks. I will never forget that day.

Its hard to believe its been 10 years...



hand-me-downs

Here you can see Malia inspecting her new collection of shoes sent from her Gramma in Ohio. Turns out my mom came across a steal of a deal and got us a LARGE box PACKED with clothes and shoes for the little one all for ONLY $5!! AWESOME!!! most of these shoes will be worn during the winter. she has a little growing to do yet. She approves of the collection.  Shes already starting a love for shoes at such a young age! she brings them to me and says "shio momma". Maybe shes been hanging out with her aunt Holly too much ;)