Easy Teacher Gift

I used this gift as a First Day of School gift but it can be used anytime through out the year!!!

I bought a $2 container and filled it with candy!  Then used my Cricut and cut out the apple!  Added some cute paper which I wrote on and then added a bow!!!!

YUMMMY and TOO CUTE!!!

Slowly getting back into the groove!!  ;)

Back to School PARRRRTAY!!!!!

I was going to sit down and write a post about why I have been MIA, but then I decided that I didn't want to bore you with the details!!  LOL!!

This year I had a lot of fun decorating for our annual BACK TO SCHOOL BASH!!!  I came up with some pretty cute decorations and VERY CHEAP!!!!  Here are the pics!!

Everything I used, I either had or bought on the $1 aisle at Walmart!!!  SOOOO FUN!!!

 Just books I had at home wrapped with twine!!

 I made individual place cards!!!  TOOO SWEET and the kids loved that they were just for them!

 The table runner was made from a paper pad that I found for a dollar glued together and then rick rack!

MC had a bag of goodies for the 1st day!  The place mats were made from foam board and scrap booking paper!

LOVE THEM!!

My sweet 2nd grader!!  Growing way too fast!!

Hope you enjoyed and will forgive me for being MIA!!!

Toot Your Own Horn Thursday...Natural-Nesters

Hello Everyone!
We are so excited to be here at Toot Your  Own Horn Thursday guest posting. It is so fun to get to share our story with other people and make new bloggy friends!


So first....

A little bit about the Natural-Nesters:

 We are two sisters that love family, taking care of our homes, kids projects, DIY projects, cooking, and more. We live states apart, but we share life together through our blog! 

So to introduce the both of us, around the blog we are known as Big Sis & Little Sis.  


Big Sis

Hi, My Name is Cassey!

I am a wife and a mother. I have been married eight years to a military firefighter. I have taught school for the past five years but since returning back to the states last year, I run my own daycare so that I can be at home with our only son. I adore my family. I love being the caretaker of my home, exploring new and healthy recipes to cook for my family, developing fun activities as I teach in my daycare, learning to stay fit in a busy life, and being creative throughout my home.

Normally Cassey is the blogger behind a lot of our children's games and interactive ideas, such as....

A JAR+WHITE BEANS+COTTON BALLS=FUN

Where kids in her at home day care put their own beans in a jar and watched them grow into plants. 
&
WE LOVE SLIME

Where she made homemade, kid-safe slime for the kids to play with. 

She is also the genius behind our gardening blogs, such as...

GARDEN MARKERS

Where she came up with a clever way to make garden markers for her planter boxers. 

& 

RAISED GARDEN

Where her and her husband made homemade garden boxes to plant their own veggies in.

Or usually behind a lot of the recipe posts we put up, such as...

HOMEMADE CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

Where she made her first homemade noodles and created a wonderful soup with them! 

Then there is-

Little Sis

Hi, My Name is Brittany!

 I am a wife who works full-time, goes to graduate school at night, and is taking care of three Asian exchange students! My entire life is an adventure being lived for the Lord and I love it! I love my husband, and I love taking care of our home, which involves, cleaning, organizing, fitness, crafting, creating and planning! I have a passion for each of these things because of the gift the Lord has given me as a Natural Nester!

Brittany is the mastermind behind a lot of the DIY home projects, such as...

OLD FENCED TURNED RUSTIC WOODEN BOX

Where her and her husband took old wood and created a patio box to hold pillows or double as a seat

&

PALLET SWING

Where she took an old pallet and created a back porch swing out of it.  

She is also big on home improvement & crafty things, such as...

SWIFFER SWEEPER

Where she used an old rag to create a homemade dry cloth. 

Then there are a few occasions when she adds a party planning idea in the mix, such as...

VINTAGE WEDDING SHOWER DECOR

Where she co-hosted decorating for a very trendy wedding shower. 

But both of us take part in the fitness part of our blog.  Each Wednesday we share our stories and our journeys towards weight loss and good health in our series Weight Loss Wednesdays. 

And we also both love to party! Each week we host a Naturally-Nifty Linky Party where we invite other bloggers to come and brag about their current projects and successes.  We love meeting new friends and visiting their blogs to see what they are up to.  Plus we feature some of our favs at each party! 

Needless to say, we Natural-Nesters know how to have some fun!! 

So we hope that you will stop by to join us in our little adventure of blog life, we would love to meet you! 

Follow on Twitter | Like on Facebook | Follow on Pinterest

-Natural Nesters

Grilled Chicken Tortas

YUUUUMY!!  Look what I made!!  This is an AWESOME 

Grilled Chicken Torta with Chipolte Crema

Todd and I were in HEAVEN!!!  The kids...not so much!!  lol!!

INGREDIENTS

2 oz achiote paste

2 cloves garlic minced

2 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp lime juice

1 Tbsp paprika

1 tsp ground cumin

4 chicken breasts halves

1 recipe chipolte crema

4 ciabatta rolls, slpit

tomatoes, sliced

sweet onion, sliced

lettuce

avocado

crumpled Cotija cheese

DIRECTIONS

Break up achiote and combine with garlic, 1 Tbsp lime juice, paprika, cumin, pinch of cayenne pepper and kosher salt.  Thinly slice chicken horizontally.  Mix with garlic-lime juice mixture to coat!  Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes!

Make the Chipolte crema...mix 1/4 cup sour cream, 1 Tbsp sauce from container of chipolte's in adobe sauce, 1 tsp lime juice and 1/2 tsp honey!  Season with kosher salt!

Heat grill to high.  Grill chicken, when cooked place on plate and drizzle with lime juice!  Grill the buns for about a minute!  Slather the buns with the crema sauce.  Then layer the chicken. tomato, onion, lettuce avocado,cheese and bun top!! 

ENJOY!!!!  ;)

As you can tell by the pic, we paired ours with baked cheeto's!!  ;0

Hefty To Hottie WEEK 1

WOOO HOOO!!!  I dropped 4 lbs in a week!!  I am pretty sure it would have been a few more but I am having some hormonal issues that are making my chocolate cravings OUT OF CONTROL!!!  ;)

After I get the weight off, I may not ever eat chicken again!!  :o

I will have to say that this is the HARDEST thing I have ever done!!  I hate dieting and I hate anything healthy...IJS!!!  I want the cheese sauce and pasta!! I am not only a sweet-a-holic, I LOVE carbs!!  It is INSANE!!!  

I am still loving Fit with Brit and I am finding that I actually look forward to her videos!!  CRAZY, huh!!  I am mainly focusing on my arms since I am running and to me, that takes care of my legs!!  LOL!!  

I did come across an awesome recipe that seems to be helping my sweet addiction!!  It is made from ONE ingredient and is AWWWWWWSOME!!! 

Banana Ice Cream!

Take several banana's and slice them up!  Place in baggie and put in freezer for a couple of hours!  I have even left them overnight!  Take them out, when frozen, and pop them in the blender!  At first they will look like fine, course meal but give it a few seconds and it will turn into this wonderful, smooth, creamy ice cream!!  I have even added a couple of spoonfuls of peanut butter to make PB ice cream and then I tried cocoa and splenda to make chocolate!!  It all tastes like a banana split!!

  

ENJOY!!!

Toot Your Own Horn Thursday...Sweet Bella Roos

Today's guest on

TOOT YOUR OWN HORN THURSDAY

is a Texas girl that shares a TON of the same interests as me!!  The main thing that caught my eye, was her LOVE for animals!!  Now everyone knows how much I love my animals!!  ;)

The other thing is that I am in shear AWE over anyone who can work with graphic design.....just WAYYY over my head!!!  

Hop on over and take a look!!  ;)

 Hey Y’all!  My name is Emily and I blog over at Sweet Bella Roos.  I mostly blog about baking, with some life stories sprinkled in.  If you follow me on Twitter you will see my tagline says: I am a proud mama, firefighter's wife, wannabe baker, & blogger. Lover of all things vintage, turquoise, & handmade. Hater of veggies, sushi, & waking up early. 

I found Randee through a group called Texas Bloggers and have loved reading her blog.  Her claim to “organized chaos” makes me laugh because I claim to “plan spontaneity” ha-ha.  I think having these things in common make us instant friends, not to mention she posts about yummy things like these Texas Cheese Fries… I mean who doesn’t want to be friends with someone like that??

Recently I have started dabbling in design—and by dabble I mean still clinging to the side of the pool, wearing my floaties, and not yet ready to get my hair wet—but it has been a fun start!  To ease my way in I have been posting {Freebie Friday} where I offer a free printable, which is what I would like to share with you today:

Free Printable Menu Planner

You can download this printable here.

To see another menu planner I created visit my {Freebie Friday} post here.

Now all you have to do is decide what day you are going to make cheese fries!  To find more recipe ideas (because we can’t have cheese fries every day… can we?), you can always visit my blog at Sweet Bella Roos.  Thanks for letting me stop by, you may now return to your previously scheduled organized chaos :)

Monday's HEFTY to HOTTIE Menu

Breakfast:

2 egg whites

1/2 grapefruit

Mid Morning Snack

1/2 Chicken Breast

2 Cups Green Veggies

Lunch

1/2 Chicken Breast

1/2 Cups Beans

2 Cups Veggies

Mid Afternoon Snack

1/2 Chicken Breast

1 Small Grapefruit

Dinner

Small Steak

2 Cups Veggies

PM Snack

1/2 Chicken Breast

1/2 Grapefruit

SOOOOO appetizing....NOT!!!  BUT, I  can do this!!!  HEFTY TO HOTTIE!!!!

My Journey from HEFTY to HOTTIE!!!

I am opening up today about my weight gain since taking the 2 rounds of steroids!!  I am MISERABLE!!  I weigh 160 lbs and I feel every EXTRA pound!!  I normally weigh around 145!  I needed to lose about 5 lbs before the steroids and now I am beyond RIDICULOUS!! I am going to weigh myself every Monday and let you know my weight loss for the week!  

I have NEVER had to watch one thing that went into my mouth!  I eat cookies, cake, candy and my major weakness is snowballs!!  I can eat a whole pack walking around Wal-mart!!  This is going to be really hard and that is why I am putting it out there for all of you to see!!  You guys can hold me accountable!!

I already run but I have not been running lately!  The whole thing that started this whole downward spiral was 2 bulging discs in my lower back!!  If you were following me when I was doing the exercises that I found on Pinterest, then you saw where I just dropped off with the posts about it!  Well, I had back pain and 2 MRI's!  Then I had the Bell's Palsy!!  Hence, 2 rounds of steroids and here I am 15 lbs over weight!!!

Here is my plan....I am following Michael Hammond's 6 Week Body Makeover for food!  Then I am running 3 times a week and getting my upper body workout from Fit With Brit!  She is an AWESOME inspiration!!  She has MS and looks great!!  I love the site and all the options and variety she offers in her workouts!!  Most workouts are 20 minutes but I swear I can barely lift my arms when I am done!!!  Also, she is so sweet that she emails me and checks on me!!  She answers all of my questions and has been a tremendous support as far as the steroid weight!!  She has been through steroids, too!!  If you are looking for 1 on 1 support and fun workouts, check her out!!!  

So, as of this am, I weigh 160lbs!!!  INSANE...

I can not believe that I am telling everyone my weight BUT there it is!!!  We shall see how this week goes on my journey from 

HEFTY TO HOTTIE!!!! ;)

I will post a menu of what I am eating for the next 5 days!!! :)

20 Bags in 20 Days...again!

On August 28, 2011 I posted my first post and it was called 

"20 Bags in 20 Days!"

Well...I am repeating my series except I am downsizing it to 10 bags in 10 days!!!  I will clean out 10 bags of CRAP from my house one bag at a time!!!  How in the world I accumulate all this stuff is beyond me!!!  I am also challenging myself to stay within a budget for the rest of the summer!!!  Now this, I KNOW, is very humorous for some of you that personally know me BUT hey...I am going to TRY!!!  ;)

Now back to the 

10 Bags in 10 Days!!!  

Here are my rooms!  I will focus on them one room a day!

1. Guest Bedroom Closet

2. Guest Bedroom Dresser

3. Laundry Room Cabinets

4. Gameroom Closet

5. Master Closet

6. Pantry

7. Garage

8. Bookshelves in Study

9. My dresser...:o

10. Armoire

Jump on board and let me know what all you get rid of!!  It is so refreshing and cleansing to get rid of a bunch of junk!!!  ;)

Quaker Soft Baked Bars

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Quaker Oats for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Quaker Soft Baked Bar

 

Today I am telling you guys about a new breakfast bar by Quaker!!  I have been eating Quaker oatmeal since I was a little girl!!  I LOVE the apple cinnamon flavored oatmeal!  It is funny how certain tastes from your childhood stick in your head!!!  So I have gotten both of my kiddos stuck on it too and they are VERY picky eaters!!

The new breakfast bar is called Quaker Soft Baked Bar!  They are a very wholesome food that is a great breakfast snack!  They will provide you with flavors you'll love and nutrients to help fuel you, you'll be a morning person in one delicious bite. Try the two flavors...Banana Nut Bread and Cinnamon Roll.

I always feel good about feeding my kids things made by Quaker!  I trust that they are healthy and not high in sugars!  The Quaker Soft Baked Bars have 6 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber for each bar!  They only have 140 calories and are an excellent source of 5 B-Vitamins!  Can't beat that!!

I know that my kids will love these and I can just smell and taste them when I pop them in the microwave and warm them up!!  Can't wait to try these and I know the banana nut bread will be our favorite!!

 

 

Toot Your Own Horn Thursday! Galoobzzz

Today I am featuring Jade on 
TOOT YOUR OWN HORN THURSDAY!!


She has a really neat blog that is eclectic and a lot like mine!  She is featuring a great project today so be sure to pop over and leave her a comment telling her where you saw her!!  ;)




Hi every one! 

My name is Jade and I am the sweat equity behind Galoobzzz. I first discovered Randee's Organized Chaos when I was looking for some fun DIY projects. She has some amazing ideas that keep me coming back for more. 

Galoobzzz in a nutshell is a collection of awesomeness. I enjoy reading, crafting, cooking, baking and I love animals. Sometimes I even throw in a bit of politics. My blog is a bit of everything that I deem to be awesome. 

For today's post I decided to show how to make a super easy jewelry holder. 

To learn how to make one of your very own, all you have to do is click here.

If you like what you see then you can subscribe to my blog or follow me on Pinterest or Twitter.

Have a Happy Day! And remember everyone needs some organized chaos in their lives.


Remember to email me if you would like to be featured!!!
bclynx1@aol.com

Picture Collage with Journaling

I came across this really large frame at Hobby Lobby that was on sale but missing the glass!  I think I got it for around $10!  When I bought it, I had no idea what I was going to do with it!!  So it sat around in a closet for a while!  

I saw it one day and decided to make a large collage of pictures and journal around them!  Here is the final result....I LOVE it!! 

Please excuse the missing spindle.....kids!  What can you do??  I have no idea what they did with it!!! :)

I just randomly journaled different things about the photos and things that I never wanted to forget!!  I love to go up there and read what all I wrote!  Very bittersweet!!

This project makes me SMILE!!!!  ;)

I am feeling much better!  Still at around 90% but I have my smile back!!  :)

Thank you for all of the thoughts and prayers!!

Summertime Gifts!!!

Lots of parties coming this summer!  Here are a few things I have given already!!  

Target has these really fun, bright water shooters for $2.50!  Add a tag and cute bow...awesomeness!!

I also wrapped some gift cards with burlap and added a cute flower!!!  Cheap but 

OHHHH SOOO CUTE!!!

Also, found a bunch of $1 items at Target and filled little boxes (also a $1) and stuffed with tissue paper!!!  ;)

CUTE but CHEAP!!!!  ;)