Taking Advantage of Fashion . . .

Look at me - I'm serious and all artsy in this photo. Ha!! Really though, I'm actually sick of deleting pictures of myself grinning like an idiot straight into the camera. When you're taking a picture with the self timer, all by your lonesome, smiling like that always looks fake and super cheesy. Then again, look what you got instead.

Anyhoo . . . today I am happily posting about something new to me this baby-go-round: the joyous fact that there are A LOT of clothes out in the market right now that are NOT maternity wear but are ample enough in fabric, forgiving enough in cut, and frankly cost less than maternity clothes - because hey, the woman's having a baby, so let's charge her $20 more a shirt for the extra fabric it will take to cover that gut!

The shirt in yesterday's post is actually one I had in my regular old wardrobe and was bought at Target two years ago. It actually looks better on me pregnant because I have a chest to fill it - but that's another post entirely.

The shirt in today's post is from Kohl's "Elle" line and you can go buy it there right now (if you aren't embarrassed to because now you've seen a pregnant lady wearing it.) I'm sure it will be on sale, because everything at Kohl's is ALWAYS on sale. I really wanted it in this super cool black & white leopard print, but it had sold out.

Why does this shirt work for a prego mama? First, it is made of a good amount of really soft, lightweight jersey - totally comfy. Second, it's got this great band at the bottom, which is really chic right now and just happens to sit below "the belly". And last, if you click on the picture and look at the neckline, it has a really intricate woven detail. You may be wondering why this is helpful to a pregnant woman. It's called a diversion tactic people! Anything that gets people to look up and toward the face (aka away from "the belly") is a real, real good thing! I can already tell that this shirt is going to be a favorite post-baby because it will do a great job of hiding that ever troublesome midsection. Lovely.

So, I've been scouring my favorite cheap-o stores (Target, Kohls, Gap Outlet, H&M) for a non-maternity maternity wardrobe and I'll stick a picture up every now and again of a winner.

You all had great guesses for what today's post would be about. There were actually three possible posts in the picture. You'll see them all sooner or later!

A Family Picture . . . Of Sorts

I didn't manage to get a picture with the Hubby and kids last night, but did sneak a quick picture of myself with a family member from my past. This is me with Laurie Pratt Terry - who for all intents and purposes was my surrogate sister during high school. She even reminded me last night that she spent so many nights at our house we had a toothbrush for her residing permanently in our bathroom!

It was such a fun night of reuniting, reminiscing and getting to know her husband Jeremy. My parents and brother's family came over for dessert and we all thoroughly enjoyed being with Laurie. I went to bed late last night, complaining of a headache from laughing so hard. I love you Laurie! Thanks for stopping in for a visit.

ps. There is a clue in this picture for tomorrow's post. Any guesses?

It's Friday, I Feel Like Playing . . .

Tag, that is. Kasey, over at Beautiful Mess, tagged me to share with you the sixth picture in my picture files on my computer. It just happens to be a photo of these happy people - my in-laws. Believe it or not, they are actually even nicer and friendlier than this picture suggests. I heart them very, very much.

And it just so happens, that one week from today, I will be in California at their house for an inaugural event - the first ever Lee Family Sister's Reunion. Yep, me, one other sis-in-law and the five Lee girls chillaxing at home in sunny, warm CA with the mom and pops. Eating recklessly (and me for two!). Watching chick flix (Twilight again, anyone?). Getting our piggies painted (which is good, because I can't reach my own anymore.) All this combined with earth shatteringly deep conversation, rowdy laughter, and not a child in sight who needs their bum wiped, nose blown or homework finished.

Just what this prego-emotional momma needs.

Now I tag the following people to go look in your photos on your computer and post picture #6:

Sue @ Um Thanks for Sharing
Christy @ Kansas Sweet Kansas
Audrey @ Mom on the Go
The Kernal @ From Ranger to Leatherneck
Jennie @ Doezieland

Thanks Kasey!

A Sit Down Interview . . .

While in a bit of a funk and feeling somewhat blue about several situations going on right now, I decided I'd ask RedDog for a one on one interview. He gladly agreed and his answers made my morning more cheerful, even though it is raining and gray outside. One thing I know - my boy loves me!

What is something your mom always says to you?
Put your laundry away.

What makes your mom happy?
Snuggling and hugging her. That's all I can think of.

What makes your mom sad?
When I get hurt.

How does your mom make you laugh?
Tell me jokes and tickling me.

What was your mom like when she was a kid?
I wasn't even alive when you were a kid, so I don't even know that.

How old is your mom?
I guess 25.

How tall is your mom?
Two RedDogs tall.

What is your mom's favorite thing to do?
Kissing me on my soft cheeks and blogging.

What does your mom do when you are not around?
Shop for food.

If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Being a rock star.

What is your mom really good at?
Brushing her teeth.

What is your mom not really good at?
Gymnastics.

What does your mom do for a job?
Vacuum.

What is your mom's favorite food?
Lettuce in salads.

What makes you proud of your mom?
That she helps me.

If your mom was a cartoon, who would she be?
Calvin and Hobbes mom.

What do you and your mom do together?
Snuggle, play on the computer, read books and clean up.

How are you and your mom the same?
We have the same color of hair.

How are you and your mom different?
She's a girl and I'm a boy.

How do you know that your mom loves you?
Because she tells me.

What does your mom like best about your dad?
Kissing him.

Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Target.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow . . .

Another year of crazy hair day come and gone. It took all my will power to drag my pregnant self out of bed and try to create something on each kid's head that would make them feel super crazy and special all day long.

Big C wanted the faux hawk again this year. We worked in gel, hairspray and a little spit (no, not really) to get it standing tall. He kept saying, "More product Mom, more product!"

Hannie B wanted to do something natural this year. We plaited her hair after her shower last night, which gave us a nice wavy starting point. Then I totally bit off an idea I saw on this talented gal's blog and fixed up a nest, some branches, a few berries, and what else, but a dragonfly! A bird was requested, but I couldn't bear to dig my little birdie out from the Thanksgiving decorations. Hannie's comment: "It's okay Mom. Dragonflies are cool." Yes, they are sweet girl.

Red Dog wanted to look like Jimmy Neutron. We did our best. It's not easy working with hair that has multiple cowlicks in front. I just stuck him on the bus a few minutes ago and two little girls in the front row gasped when the bus doors opened and they saw RedDog's hair. That's all he and I both needed.

Now it's time for me to go and try to do something with my hair, which for some reason, always manages to be crazy on its own without any work at all. Happy day to you!

What Not To Wear . . . (and recipes!)

Normally little Miss Hannie B has some serious fashion moxy. She throws together outfits that are so cute and coordinated it makes me a little jealous. But yesterday I let her go to school looking like this:

It was "Mismatched Day" at school, part of a spirit week that gets the kids pumped up for the Teacher vs. Fifth Grade parents basketball game - the same game the Hubby will participate in, in a desperate attempt to redeem the parents, who have lost for the past three years straight. Even though Hannie was mismatched, I still thought she looked totally sassy and cute. My girl loves her some pattern.

This kid, on the other hand, really just looked like a complete geek - and I love him for it.

Big C was way to cool to go mismatched, but I did convince him to wear two different colored socks. Today is hat day and tomorrow is crazy hair day (my personal fave). Stay tuned for some awesome locks tomorrow! And now, here are two tried and true recipes that won big money at the dessert auction:

Hand Dipped Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls:

1 stick margarine
2 cups creamy peanut butter
1 lb powdered sugar
3 cups rice crispies cereal
2 bags semi-sweet chocolate chips
paraffin wax

1. Combine margarine and peanut butter in microwave safe bowl and heat for one minute in microwave until margarine is melted. Stir well to combine.

2. In large bowl combine peanut butter mixture, powdered sugar and cereal, stirring until all ingredients are incorporated. Mixture will be a little bit crumbly.

3. Shape tablespoon sized amounts of mixture firmly into balls by hand and place on cookie sheet.

4. On stove top over a double boiler, melt chocolate chips adding paraffin wax sparingly until you get a smooth, glossy chocolate with a consistency like syrup. Once chocolate is at right consistency, turn double boiler to low, just to keep chocolate melted, but to prevent it from drying out.

5. Drop balls three or four at a time into chocolate. Use a toothpick or small wooden skewer to roll balls in chocolate. Remove balls from chocolate by gently spearing with a toothpick. Place balls on wax paper to cool by carefully rotating toothpick in a clockwise motion until ball slide off.
6. Cool completely before eating or gifting.

Luscious Orange Cake

Cake:

1 pkg yellow cake mix (I always use Duncan Hines)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 (11oz) can mandarin oranges, drained
1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp orange juice
1 tsp vanilla

Frosting:

2 (8 oz) cans crushed pineapple with juice
1 pkg vanilla instant pudding mix
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 (8 oz) tub Cool Whip

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour three round 9 inch cake pans. Combine cake ingredients in bowl and mix with hand mixer for one minute on low and then three minutes on medium. Mixture should be smooth with small bits of mandarin orange. Pour equally into three pans. Bake for 25 minutes until cake is spongy to the touch or a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes IN PANS on wire rack. Then remove from pans and cool completely on wire rack.
While cake is cooling, make frosting. Drain pineapple juice, adding it to pudding mix and combining well. Add pineapple, powdered sugar and vanilla. Fold in cool whip.

To assemble cake, frost between each layer, then outside of cake. I added toasted coconut and a sugared orange slice to the top of my cake for display purposes only.

Luscious . . .

I am really bad at remembering to take a picture of my family on Sunday. Especially the day after a huge event when I feel like I've been run over by a bus. We haven't captured our brood for two weeks now, and by the time we do, I will have increased in girth by at least three inches!

Part of that is due to the fact that we bid on a chocolate truffle pecan pie at the dessert auction and it was delicious. With ice cream. And a cookie on the side. We also won a plate of soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies made by one of the Young Women and my children were foolish enough to bid $30 on a basket filled with candy. It's their teeth that will rot, and the money was for a good cause, so the Hubby let them.

My "Luscious Orange Cake" (pictured) was the first item up for bid in the live auction and went for a sweet $45. Of course the lovely family that bought it let me have a bite. Now I might have to make this as a companion to the homemade samoas I'm planning on crafting this week. Or maybe I will wait until I've seen my doctor one week from today - where he just might tell me to slow down on the baking and eating of the baking.

Recipe for peanut butter balls coming tomorrow. They went for $60 in the live auction because someone in my ward is totally crazy. (anyone want the cake recipe?)

You Can Stop Drooling Now . . .

Every day this week I have been in the kitchen, apron wrapped tightly around my burgeoning belly, crafting delicious baked goods for a great cause.

Tomorrow night I will head up a Spaghetti Dinner and Dessert Auction at our church with the sole purpose of raising money for our Young Women to go to a week long Girl's Camp this summer. We're expecting close to 200 people! We always get such fantastic array of desserts and sweet delectable, so this year I'm taking my camera.

My addition to the dessert auction comes in the form of two dozen hand-dipped chocolate covered peanut butter balls and a delicious three layered cake I'm calling "Luscious Orange Cake". It's a recipe from the Queen that contains a can of mandarin oranges in the cake mix and a can of crushed pineapple in the frosting - moist, delicious and dreamy!

The rest of my baking has been focused on a table of $1 bagged goodies that the little kids love to spend their money on. I've made some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, Snickerdoodles, and with the leftover chocolate from my peanut butter balls I dipped rice crispy treats and added sprinkles and a lollipop stick. Why are kids such suckers for sprinkles?

Of course I have been a very good girl and have only sampled my creations for quality control purposes. They weren't very good at all (excuse me while I lick my chocolaty fingers.)

Have a great weekend!

Three Days . . .

A flower can endure a day of end-of-winter weather,
for a day of warming sunshine
leading up to a day of rain to show its full glory.

A mom can do 12 breakfasts, 12 lunches, 3 dinners,
1 baseball practice, 6 piano practices and homework
and only miss a traveling Hubby 3,829 times.

A trusted and true friend can come for a visit,
a dragonfly can become a part-time baker
and a teenager can make a girl's night out possible.

A developing baby can cause multiple trips to the loo
and render calves useless with multiple Charley Horses,
all while multiplying the joy of one little family.

In three days time . . .

How To Access My Links . . .

For Christy (and all who need to know):

You can always click on anything in GREEN WRITING on my blog posts and it will automatically take you directly to a link . . . in this case, the link for the SAMOAS is below in green!

I Surrender . . .

(photo courtesy of Baking Bites)

I'm afraid to say that my goal of gaining only 25-30 pounds during this pregnancy has just jumped out the window. Of a twenty story building. And is now kersplat! in a messy pile on the sidewalk below.

Because I just came across this recipe for HOMEMADE SAMOAS (are you reading this Christy?) and I am going to make them, lick the bowl, eat them all by myself and then roll around in the crumbs while giggling like a small child (or a woman with a serious Samoa addiction).

Afterwards, I'm going to drink a large glass of milk. Cuz I'm all about being healthy for my baby.

PS. Another Charlie Horse in the middle of the night - after bananas and stretching! Will try for pickle juice and flexing mid-attack tonight. Thanks for all the great advice (and funny stories - Audrey)

A Nighttime Visitor . . .

One of those great pregnancy bonuses came to visit in the middle of the night - my good old friend, the Charlie Horse.

Who doesn't love that involuntary seizing up of the muscles in the lower calf that goes on for a never ending amount of time, interrupting what might have been an otherwise peaceful night with one or two bathroom breaks? Joy of joys!

Usually the Hubby will help me out of bed to walk it off while I whine and whimper like a true sissy. But he is currently enjoying his family in sunny Phoenix while it rains here. And I had a certain RedDog in my bed last night, so I couldn't scream out in pain for fear of waking him. I did try, but couldn't even move to get out of the bed, the pain was so paralyzing!

Instead, I sat in the dark, quietly but forcefully pounding on my leg, wondering if I would have bruises this morning. When I did wake up this morning, my calf felt like it had been trampled on - by a horse . . . finally, the name makes total sense.

Anyone else get Charlie Horses? Pregnant or not, let me know what you do to help. (I'm on my way to buy bananas today!)

A Monday Morning Pleasure . . .

This ceiling and these chandeliers are bringing me a little joy on a gloomy, raining Monday morning. They hang in a most treasured and favorite store in the historic downtown area of my little Leesburg called Ekster. (click on the link to learn about the touching story behind this store's name.) For a time this store moved to another town, but it's now back in it's rightful home and the Queen and I couldn't be happier!

A while back I asked the very talented owner, Caroline Verschoor, if I could photograph her store for my blog. She and her crew have done an amazing job of turning a drab, narrow space in an old building into a feast for the discriminating eye with it's soothing neutral color palette, 20 foot ceilings and inventory composed of antiques and uniques from Europe and America.

A completely neutral palette could be completely boring and flat, but Caroline has managed to use some of decorating's biggest tools to lift her store to amazing levels . . . she has mastered the art of both DISPLAY and use of TEXTURE. Take a look at the following pictures and you'll see exactly what I mean.

It's obvious that the use of natural elements has provided layers of delicious texture in this store. It is a joyous place to visit - a mixture of beautiful music, sights and smells that take me to a very happy place. Oh, and the merchandise ROCKS! So, the next time you're in Leesburg, give me a call - we can stop by together for a Monday morning pleasure!

Listen Up!

Forgot to mention one last physical attribute our new baby boy is sure to have when talking to the RedDog the other day:

Awesome Ears!

(Thanks to Grammy and Great Grandpas.)

Let The Questions Begin . . .

It has started.

Yesterday the RedDog asked me the first of what I'm sure is going to be a long list of questions before Bambino #4 joins us. He climbed up onto my ever shrinking lap and said, "Momma, what is our baby going to look like?"

I replied with, "Well, he'll be totally cute, fair skinned, have blue or green eyes, light hair, rosy cheeks and lots and lots of freckles!"

RedDog looked at me in wonder and finished off with one more question: "Wow, momma, how did you know that?"

Umm . . . You tell me.

Heart To The Very End . . .

I think the look on his face says it all: very tired and a little disappointed.

The team with the big heart lost the championship game by three points. As Big C sat on the floor at the moment this picture was taken, his coach was telling the team, "You may not have the championship trophy, but you have something no other team had this year. You have heart." Some boys cried, but my boy gladly accepted his shiny plastic hardware, congratulated the other team and moved on to baseball.

Disney movie material.

About That Talent . . .

Had to show off a new necklace I received last week as a better-late-than-never birthday gift. My fab sis-in-law Mindy, who lives and creates beautiful things in Denver, sent it my way. Isn't it AWESOME??? She has pounded my signature line by hand onto the necklace and the little dragonfly charm makes a sweet chiming sound as it hits the disc when I walk. It's a happy sound!

She's become an adept jewelry maker and I now own several of her hand crafted creations. I think this one might be my favorite though! It is so personal.

Mindy is contemplating starting up her own little business making these necklaces and other jewelry to sell. Won't you sound off in my comments section and let her know that she's got some serious skilz? Thanks! (And thanks Mindy . . . you rock my world.)

An Accidental Fun Friday . . .

Traditionally I torture my children with after school snacks of the healthy variety. They request candy, I counter with carrots. They ask for chips, I offer string cheese. They're looking for cookies, and I bust out the apple slices. It's all part of my scheme to maintain the title of Meanest Mom on the Planet.

Last Friday was different though, and my kids couldn't have been happier. I took on the mundane task of cleaning out our very minuscule and always overflowing pantry to make room for a few new purchases from the grocery store. What I found in the pantry were several boxes of almost gone snacks that were probably two days past being stale. As I started to empty the meager remains of the boxes into small bowls on the counter, an idea pretty much formed itself: an after school snack bar! (and of the variety my kids actually enjoy!)

The leftovers of Costco trail mix and a box of Honey Nut Cheerios.

Cheez-its, Nilla Wafers, and the world's oldest mini-marshmallows (which were devoured in seconds, much to the chagrin of poor teeth).

And at the end, some popcorn and OH-MY-GOODNESS-HAS-SHE-LOST-HER-MIND? - the last four Samoas. (It's okay people, I've finished off three whole boxes all by my little ol' self.)

Go check out your pantry and clear out the dregs. You might just make some one's day after school.

Ps. Yes, I wiped down my counters just for this photo shoot.