Back to School Outfit

I'm in my second week of the new semester and so far, I'm pretty much loving my classes. 

But, I have been busy.  I feel like that's all I say these days.  It's true, though.

So, that's my excuse for only having one picture this week.

Jeans, tank and shoes-Target

Cardigan- Ross

Sunglasses- Old Navy

You might notice the paint all over my hands, it was after my 3D design class where I was painting my sculpture in progress for three hours.  I'm pretty happy with it so far.  I also did an emotive line painting in my color/design class, and I was so disappointed with it and stressed about getting it critiqued tonight that I had a dream where I fixed it.  I survived the critique, and I actually received a lot of really positive feedback.  So, that was a relief.

 And, just because I can, I snapped a photo of my husband.  This is one of his school outfits, too.  I love going to school with him.  It is seriously such a gift.  He makes my heart smile.

Shirt- Target

Jeans-Lucky

Shoes- Converse

Cap- Scala Classico

As for the future of my weekly link-up, "That Kind of Beautiful", I don't really know what I want to do with it.  I've felt great about the participation and the support has been so wonderful.  But, I'm still kind of thinking about it and where I want it to go. Anyway...

Has the whole back to school thing affected your family at all?  Or your wardrobe? 

I'm linking up with The Pleated Poppy

Oven Roasted Carnitas Tacos

Carnitas are usually chucks of pork that are fried- and they're delicious.  But, I didn't want to fry them, since we have an unofficial rule of only eating something fried every 2 weeks or so.  So, I made them by browning them on the stove them letting them roast in the oven for about three hours.  They were melt in your mouth tender and crispy around the edges.  So delicious, without all that oil.

I paired the carnitas with a recipe I created- Mexican coleslaw.  It is a take on the cabbage that is used in Baja fish tacos and it is perfect for almost any traditional-style taco.  I also served the tacos with tomato slices and beans and rice with onions and chicken broth.

You'll need: 

For the carnitas:

1 pork butt (it's not actually the butt, it's the shoulder, if you were wondering!) Mine was around 3 1/2 pounds and it fed 5 people with leftovers.

1 Large bell pepper, roughly chopped

1 Large yellow onion, roughly chopped

3 tablespoons Orange Marmalade

2 tablespoons canola oil (I love olive oil, but I like to turn the heat up pretty high to brown the meat, and I canola or vegetable oil has a much high burning temperature than olive oil)

For the coleslaw:

1 package of coleslaw mix, or one green cabbage.

1/4 cup sour cream (I used light) or plain Greek yogurt

1/4 Cup Mayonaise (I used light)

1/4 cup salsa (mine was my mom's homemade...yum!)

approx. 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, removed from stems

The juice of one lime

Also:

Corn Tortillas, we used the Handmade ones from Trader Joe's and they were a-mazing!

You could make my vegetable rice to go along with this, it would be perfect!



Roughly chop up the pork butt.  I know it looks kind of gross, but all of this melts down into totally smooth, tender chunks of yummy meat. 



I added the oil to a deep cast iron pot, and put in on medium-high heat.  I added the pork, onions and peppers and browned them. I also added salt and pepper.  Right before putting it in the oven, I added the marmalade to the top.  This helped to add a little sweetness and to create some crispyness.

After three hours at 300 degrees, the carnitas looked like this.  Simple, right?  I checked on them every 1/2 hour and stirred and basted as needed.

I basically just added all the ingredients together and stirred. The measurements are in the list above, but feel free to adjust anything to your taste!  Make the coleslaw as close to serving time as possible, so it keeps its crunch! 

Yum!  This stuff has all my favorite Mexican flavors and is now part of my weekly menu.  It is so tasty and useful for all types of tacos and other Mexican dishes.

Warm up the tortillas for a minute or so on each side and store in a tortilla warmer or between towels.  Assemble your tacos with as much meat and slaw as you like!  We added fresh tomato slices to ours and they were perfect.  I'd plan for each person to eat 2-4...as I eat 2 and Mark eats 4, haha.

Tell me if you try these out, I would love to hear what you think!

Next time, I'll share the other taco recipe that I love to serve this slaw with- my favorite meal, Baja Fish Tacos.  They're easier than you'd think, and I'll also share my recipe for homemade pineapple salsa to go with it!

Rainbow Fruit Kabobs

Today, Maggie was allowed to bring a treat to preschool to celebrate her birthday.  The school has some rules about what treats you bring, namely no cupcakes.  I could have brought cookies or rice krispy treats, but I found an awesome picture of some rainbow fruit kabobs on Pinterest that totally caught my attention.  This idea was originally posted on Quick Dish, and she used them as toppers to a stack of rainbow pancakes!
 I put my own spin on them and switched up some of the fruits.  I also cut large marshmallows in half and put one of those on each kabob.  I used cookie sticks that I found from the craft store for a few dollars.  They were a little big, but they worked.

I learned halfway through that scoring the fruit with a sharp paring knife before trying to put them on the stick helped a lot.  In case you can't tell, there are marshmallow halves, blueberries, purple grapes, fresh pineapple, Mandarin orange wedges (from the can, they worked great!), strawberry halves, raspberries and great apples.

It took me about 40 minutes, start to finish, to slice the fruit and assemble them.  The teachers at school seemed so excited to see them, and I hope the kids like them, too. It makes me feel happy just to look at these bright, colorful treats, I am so glad I tried them.

And, by the way, I am officially all birthday-ed out.  I love celebrating Magdalena, but I am tired.  Maggie's birthday is the unofficial start of our holiday season, especially with weddings in September and October that we are going to.  I keep thinking maybe we'll settle into some sort of routine, but I am starting to see how your oldest child entering school is a big change for a family. Suddenly, we are struggling to coordinate schedules, and when people want to get together with me, it is almost impossible to arrange anything. 
So, I am a bit relieved that I can cross the birthday madness off the list.  Now onto making Halloween costumes...

Happy 4th Birthday, Magdalena!

My sweet, smart, beautiful girl turned four years old yesterday.  We celebrated with a Fairy party, like she has been requesting for months.  It took a little bit of mommy magic to pull off a birthday party after a such a crazy week at school, but I managed.  I even managed to make her a homemade birthday cake, like I have done every year for her birthday ...although it did look a little cake wreck-y.  I am a perfectionist with my cakes, and this one started off with a HUGE crack down the middle and looking like poo. I only had frosting from the tub, and it was too soft and everything was a little drippy.  But, I pulled it together!

We swam, we ate pizza, we had a pinata, and we ate cake.  The kids put on homemade fairy wings and ran around with wands.  It was perfect and I am so happy I was able to make her feel totally special for one whole day.

The fairy wings (I bought plain white paper wings at Michael's for $2.99 for a 6 pack) doubled as decorations, too!

 Liam loved the bubbles!

Maggie loved the bug glasses I got for her.  Her alter ego is named Mabel. She loves soup, her cats and crosswords.

Back to School Randomness

Today is my first day of school!  I'm actually in the student center right now, waiting for Mark to finish up his last class.  I am happy to be back and as lame as this sounds, I am so excited about all the new things I'm going to learn.
I am so frustrated an annoyed about the Internet not working at home.  I would understand if it was our fault and didn't pay our bill or something, but it was totally in error that it was turned off. So annoyed and so ready to have it back.  Considering we don't have TV, the Internet is pretty much our only source of entertainment/time wasting.  I have read 3 books since Thursday, when it was turned off.  That's a good thing, but after 10 hours of class today, I am dreading coming home to a technological dead zone.
Anyway, "busy" is the theme of our family right now.  I am hoping things get into a rhythm and calm down a bit, but I somehow doubt it.
I'm super bummed that I won't be able to host "That Kind of Beautiful" tomorrow!  Please come back next week and I'll be sure to dazzle you with my amazing style! Or something. 
I hate not blogging and being connected. I swear I've developed a tic over this.  Sigh.
I've had 6 hours of classes so far, and as soon as Mark shows up (where is he?) we're heading to pick up the kids. Then, I head back for anther three hour art class (2D design and color) that starts at 6:30.  All I can say is that I am so happy that I am getting a degree in Fine Arts, because school is exhausting enough when you're doing something you love. 
I had a slice of pizza and iced tea for lunch. I am going to bring my lunch most days, but I just couldn't even think about making anything this morning.
I miss the kids and I only get to see them for an hour in between classes.  I think I'll sneak in and give them kisses after they fall asleep.
Maggie's 4 birthday and Fairy birthday party is on Saturday.  I am so excited for her.
Have I mentioned that I am exhausted?!
Oh, Mark is here!  Time to get out of here and see the kids for a bit!

Internet Withdrawls

Our Internet is down, and has been for four days.  I am going crazy, and I have so much great stuff to post.  We're also busy, busy, busy so I haven't had time to pull a Perez Hilton and blog from a coffee shop. I will definitely take time tomorrow at school to let you guys in on what's been happening for me!  Have a great Monday, everyone!

That Kind of Beautiful- Week 5

 It's Wednesday, which means I'm linking up with The Pleated Poppy for another week of What I Wore Wednesday.  It also means another week of That Kind of Beautiful, a little project I started after I decided to stop caring what people think and start living my life (and dressing) the way I wanted.  If you're a curvy/plus size/full-figured woman or if you're more of a "average' sized gal who supports the idea that everyone is their own kind of beautiful, link up with us!  Thank you so much to those of you who did link up, your support is much appreciated!

I took pictures of two outfits this week, and one is super casual.  I've had a tremendously busy week (my daughter's first day of pre-school is tomorrow, and my semester starts on Tuesday) so I'm glad I managed to get the ones I did.

All clothing: Target, gold jelly sandals and sunnies: Old Navy

Cookin' in my mom's kitchen..tons of new recipes coming in the next 2 weeks!

Shirt- Target, Jeans-Old Navy Plus, Sandals-Forever 21, Apron-Woof & Poof

Rules for Linking Up:

1. Create a post with a picture of yourself, a favorite outfit or whatever makes you feel beautiful.

2. Link up with me using the Linky Tools below.

3. Include a link back to me or grab one of my buttons.  They work this week. Sorry that they were broken last week!

4. Please consider visiting everyone else's site so we can spread the love!

Deliciousness

 Just some pictures of some delicious food I've been cooking/eating lately.

The view from my BBQ- Ribs, Corn, Asparagus and Garlic Mushrooms

Totally American- meatloaf (I totally added ketchup), peas and mashed potatoes and gravy

BBQ at my dad's- BBQ chicken w/ a spicy rub, baked beans and loaded potato salad

Roasted chicken w/potatoes and lots of veggies

Lemon Bars!

One of Maggie's favorite meals- Cheese Quesadilla, grapes, refried beans, fresh zuchinni, tomato and bell peppers.

I have been cooking a lot lately, taking tons of pictures while I cook, and I have some great recipes to share with you.  Over the next week or two, I'll post recipes for:

Baja fish tacos (one of my favorite meals!)

Oven roasted carnitas tacos

Super easy strawberry lemonade cake

Mark's favorite Asian chicken over rice (can you tell I just made that name up?)

The best M&M cookies

Are you suddenly as hungry as I am?

And don't forget to take a picture of your gorgeous self and link up with me on Wednesday for That Kind Of Beautiful to support me and the idea that everyone has their own kind of beautiful!

Doing It All (Kinda)

With school starting, I am suddenly faced once again with the reality of my life.  I returned to college last fall, and I am a full-time student majoring in Fine Arts.  My dream is to both sell my artwork and run a small, drop-in art school for families and children locally. I have always loved art and creating, and as my thirtieth birthday is approaching, I am becoming more and more aware of my mortality. I only have one chance at this life, and if there are goals I want to reach, there is no more time to waste being afraid or lacking confidence.

I want to be able to tell my children that I lived my life with no regrets.  I want my kids to witness passion and beautiful, thought-provoking things in their lives.  I want them to see me challenging myself and I want them to join in my successes.

But, I don't want to ever put my life before theirs. I don't want to miss out on their discoveries and passions and successes.I want to continue to make them cookies from scratch and dinner almost every night. I want to make their Halloween costumes, and their birthday cakes and be there to drop them off and pick them up from school.

And therein lies the age old conflict of staying home with the kids, and pursuing a career outside of the home.  I am only gone for two days a week for school, and the kids stay with Grandma, but sometimes it seems like too much. It hurts to be away from them sometimes- and sometimes I am overwhelmingly relieved to have a day of intellectual conversation and time alone.

As my blog grows-which is amazing and wonderful-there is a new sense of pressure to change and improve this space, too.  I love this blog.  It is truly a passion of mine now, and I want to continue to challenge myself in terms of growing relationships and figuring out exactly what my goals are. 

I know one goal is go to the BlogHer 2012 conference next August in New York City.  Like, all the way across the country.  But, it's time for me to go.  This year wasn't right (unfortunately because it was in San Diego!) but I need to be at then next one!  I would love to use this blog as a showcase for more of art one day, but beyond that, I'm a little clueless.

We're also looking into moving soon.  We live in an apartment right now, and we need a better neighborhood and least a little more outside space. We are so cramped that we have spent tons of time at my mom's house this summer.  She has enough bedrooms for all of us to sleepover, and Mark's work is five minutes away.  So, we have spent at least 3 days/nights a week there lately.  It would be nice to have a place that we felt a little more comfortable in.  Wherever we move, I plan on spending a lot more time designing our living spaces.  Everything in our apartment is plain.  It totally does not reflect us at all.

So, I'm balancing a lot.  My anxiety starts to creep up when I think too much about how busy I'm about to get, but I can usually talk myself down.  I'm still on anti-anxiety meds (is that an overshare?) to hopefully keep myself from becoming almost paralyzingly overwhelmed, which is what happened last May.  I've talked to a therapist, and combined with the medication, I have become much better at dealing with anxious thoughts and feelings.  I have also been reaching out to more of my friends in real life and have developed more meaningful and honest relationships with them.  I have opened up, and allowed people to help me.  What a change.

I have a full, busy life. I think every Mom is busy, regardless of her "work status".  I was a full-time stay at home mom for three years and I was stressed out and exhausted, then. I was un satisified at times, to be honest.  I was searching for something. But, at least, I didn't deal with guilty feelings and waking up at 4:00 AM, panicked over my upcoming day away from my kids.

I love my life.  I love how it changes every day.  I love that I am chasing my dreams, and living a passionate, fulfilling life.  I love my husband and my kids, and I love filling our home with wonderful memories.

Do I feel like I have it all?  Not really.  I don't know if I ever will.  I think my life will continue to be a balancing act, and sometimes I'll probably fall off.  But, at the very least, I don't have to question myself as to why I was too afraid to try.  And for that small peace, I am infinitely thankful.

Almost Time For School

Our summer is quickly (very quickly) coming to a close.  Like last year, this means starting a new semester of classes for Mark and I.  Unlike last year, we have three students in our family.  Magdalena is turning four in two weeks, and right before that, she will attend her first day of pre-school.  I cannot believe that she will start Kindergarten in a year.

Maggie had her Preschool open house yesterday morning, and she spent a (too quick for her liking) half an hour playing and meeting her classmates and her teachers.  Her Pre-school is awesome and is connected to a great charter school that we are just hoping that Maggie will get into for Kindergarten (there is a lottery to get in and very few spaces each year).

I am so excited for her.  She is so social, and totally in love with the idea of school.  She is going two days a week, for three hours a day, so it's not an overwhelming schedule change.  I just want her to be prepared for kindergarten and going to school five days a week.

As for my school schedule, I am uber excited about this upcoming semester.  I am taking two studio art classes- Design and Color, and 3D Design.  I'm also taking Biology and Logic.  One of the best parts...Mark and I are taking the Biology class together.  He is a super smarty when it comes to science, so I have the best tutor ever to get through this class.  I'll be at school from 9 AM to 9:30 PM two days a week, plus my Logic class is online, so that will be done in my free (???) time.

I've missed going to school and being with new people, learning new things.  It gets overwhelming come mid-terms and finals, but it has been such a cool journey so far.  I can't wait what kind of projects I'll be doing in my art classes.  After last semester and no studio classes, I am so looking forward to spending half of my school day creating.

How is Back to school affecting you or your family?

More Polyvore Love

Untitled by thatkindofmom featuring cotton skirts

My Happiness- A Walk On A Summer Evening

I am linking up with I should be Folding Laundry for "You Capture"

That Kind of Beautiful- Week 4

Do you like my new snazzy banner just for Wednesdays?  I also have a new button over to the left that you grab if you're linking up with us!

I started That Kind of Beautiful as a place for curvy/plus-size/big girls to link up and share pictures of their outfits- and their beautiful selves.  I began linking up with The Pleated Poppy for What I Wore Wednesday about six months ago, and it has done wonders for my self confidence.  I spend more time planning my outfits, and I feel better because of it. I've noticed that there are far fewer plus size gals sharing their outfits, and I would love to help change that. It has been so wonderful to see others link up, even non-plus size girls have joined to support the idea that everyone has their own kind of beauty.

If you've ever visited That Kind Of Mom before, you know that I love to have fun with my pictures.  I figure, why not put myself out there and do something a little different.  Don't forget, I'm currently a full-time art student.  I don't really do simple, if you know what I mean.

 

Speaking of doing things different...I wore a scarf as a headwrap for the first time. Mama likes!

Skirt, tank and belt- Target, White button down-Kohl's, Sandals-Forever 21

The scarf is special to me- My dad brought it back from a trip to France.

I don't mean to look angry in this picture- the camera was dying and we were eager to get to dinner on our date night. 

I went a little crazy and mixed stripes and prints, and topped it off with a belt.  Cause that's what I do.

The skirt is actually a dress from Forever 21.  Striped top and over shirt- Target, belt-Forever 21, heels-vintage

 Linking Up:

1. Write a post featuring a picture of you, your outfits or whatever makes you feel beautiful.

2. You don't have to be plus-size to participate, just be supportive of the idea that everyone is their own kind of beautiful.

3. Link up using the Linky Tools below

4. Include a link back to www.thatkindofmom.com in your post or grab one of my buttons

Thank you so much for checking out my pictures and a HUGE thank you to those linking up.

15 Totally Random Things About Me

1. I am a huge nerd.  I love reading, sci-fi, fantasy, animated series like the Last Airbender, and classic nerdy fare like video games, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and Twilight.  I have even been known to play Dungeons & Dragons from time to time. I just might have met my husband when he came over to my house to play D&D with my twin brother.

2. Oh yeah, I have a twin brother.  He's awesome. He's known as "Unc" (short for uncle) these days.

3. I'm like a hoarder with my friends.  If I love you, you're never finding your way out of my life.  I have friends from as far back as kindergarten and second grade. Our close-knit group of friends that we do almost everything with have been around since high school. Mark and I even graduated from the same class.

4. I'm super close with my family, and with Mark's. We spend lots of time with our parents and siblings.  Like, lots.  It's one of my favorite parts of my life!

5. If I could have any job in the world, I would become the fourth permanent member of The Lonely Island.

6. I could eat Baja fish tacos every day.

7. I really, really, really want to go to BlogHer12. I'm also terrified of going to New York by myself and seriously doubtful that I could afford it.  The terror I could get over, the price...well, I better start saving now.  Seriously.

8. My drink at starbucks: venti iced caramel machiatto, skim milk with half the normal amount of caramel.  Try it, it's so tasty and much, much better nutrition-wise than a Frappuccino or mocha.  Especially if you don't get a venti.  Ahem.

9.  My favorite cocktails are margaritas on the rocks-no salt (my God, NO salt!) and vodka lemonades. One (of each...?) sounds great right about now.

10. If Liam had been a girl, we would have named her Addalee Joanne, after Mark's mom, Nancy Jo.  And we were going to call her Addy Jo.

11. I love to dance.  I love to dance like Sarah Jessica Parker loves to dance in Girls Just Want To Have Fun.

12. I'm happiest in the water. Or by the ocean.  But, not, oddly enough, in the ocean.  I like it, but I'm a little too paranoid to totally enjoy it.

13. I think about Christmas at least once a week, all year long.  My family thought this was both ridiculous and kind of amazing.

14. I was a really daring child- fashion wise.  I wore all kinds of hats, glasses and weird oufits to Elementary school.  I remember wearing a tie one day.  I even went as Charlie Chaplin for Halloween when I was 10 years old.  Junior High sufficiently crushed my spirit enough to have me wearing outfits entirely from GAP soon enough.

15. If I could have two dream jobs, not only would I be the fourth member of the Lonely Island, I would also have my own comic strip.

Polyvore

So, I have officially fallen in love with Polyvore.com.  I love creating outfits and dreaming of owning such cool (and often expensive) clothing.  Well, for now I shop mainly at stores like Target or Old Navy Plus.  I was messing around on Polyvore and I put together these outfits all from clothes from Old Navy Plus.  I am definitely ordering a few of these outfits soon- they each cost under a $100!

Oh, and this post isn't sponsored in any way- I just wanted to make some outfits that I could actually wear and actually afford.   Expect more outfit posts in the future- I am addicted!

Old Navy Plus by thatkindofmom featuring old navy shoes

What Keeps Me Laughing...

I'm planning onto incorporating some vlogs into my posts time to time, and today I'm kinda-sorta starting by posting some videos I shot at our favorite book store the other week.  I've never posted a video of them online before, so here's your chance to see the cuteness that I am privileged to live with every day.  They are such a joy and a gift!

30 Before 30 Monthly Update

I am two months into my year-long  '30 before 30' and it has been going well.  A lot of my goals have to occur around a certain time of the year, so I'll have to wait until then.

Here's an update on what I've checked off my list so far!

1. Start an Etsy store- I honestly do not know when I'm going to do this.  As school is quickly approaching, I know I am going to have a small amount of free time.  Even if I open my store right before my next brithday, I will do this!

2. Host a theme cocktail party- I've decided to do our annual Cowboy Poker party in October to fulfill this goal.  I'm getting super excited about this.  Everyone comes in full costume (I have played the gruff but lovable male trapper called "The Trapper" for the last two years.

3. Get accepted into and transfer to Chico Sate- I'll do this in the spring.

4. Paint a family portrait- Not yet

5. Lose 20 pounds- Seriously guys, I have lost seven pounds since June 3rd.  If I lose 20 pounds before halfway through my year, I will double this goal to 40.  Even though I have about 80 to lose, I want to set super realistic goals so I can keep momentum.  What have I done? I've eaten less and moved more.  My portions have been smaller and I have eaten less at night. Summer has made it easy for me to get in a quick workout when I go swimming with the kids.  I can't really notice a difference, although I think my jeans fit just a tiny bit more loosely.

6. Get new glasses- School is coming up, so I need to do this soon!  I don't wear my glasses often, but they really help me when I'm staring at a teacher and a board for hours on end. 

7. Visit 5 new places in my hometown/surrounding area- 1 down- We went to the fountain in our downtown plaza for the first time. It's like a tiny splash park and I've never taken the kids there before.

8. Surprise Mark with an incredible, awesome, romantic day- I totally surprised him on our 5 year anniversary.  I asked Mark's mom to tell him she couldn't take the kids for the day as planned.  He was so bummed, but them he was SO excited when she showed up in the morning.  My mom took them that night, so we had a glorious, relaxing 24 hours of free time.  We spent it going on a drive and having lunch and then going to our friend's house to swim all afternoon and evening.  We love being the water, and we had dinner with friends and Mark made his pineapple Markaritas, the official drink of my summer!

9. Go camping- Did you miss my three part series on our camping trip?  It was so much fun!

10. Run/jog a mile without stopping- I'm at the point where I'm still thinking about buying jogging shoes.  I never even wear tennis shoes. at all.  When we were camping, I was wearing some white ked-like shoes, and my brother stopped and said, "Whoa.  You look really...fast with those on."  That is how rarely I wear tennis shoes.


11. Have a homemade Christmas (homemade gifts, food, decorations, etc.) - Talk to me in November.


12. Write and record a song (with my brother's help!)- I've been scribbling down some lyrics time to time, but I'm definitely still working on it.


13. Read 5 "Classics"-  Not yet.  I've been reading loads of super nerdy science-fiction and fantasy, though.


14. Sell a piece of artwork- Hoping that will immediately follow the opening of my Etsy store. Or something.


15. Have a girl's weekend with my sister out of town- No plans yet, although I know she is looking forward to this!  We've talked about going to another winery...we had a geat time in Napa


16. Make a gourmet dinner completely from scratch for my friends- Not yet!


17. Make all the gifts I give to other people-  It's been really hard to keep up with this, but I've done great so far.  See some of my personalized paintings here.


18. Spend a weekend in San Francisco with Mark- We're hoping to do this in the fall.


19. Go to at least 5 art shows/exhibitions- Nada.  I think I am really going to take advantage of the shows at Butte and Chico State during the school year.  I hope to be in at least one!


20. Read the entire Harry Potter series before the last movie comes out.  Except that I didn't and just watched every minute of every movie instead.  I've read them all 5 times and I just couldn't do it right now.


21. Give my bedroom a makeover. It is incredibly blah right now.- Still Blah!  This is so needed!


22. Finally achieve my goal of having a kitchen sink empty of dishes at the end of every night- Getting better and better!

23. Finish the photo collage on our living room wall- Not yet!


24. Have a girl's spa day with Maggie- I'm planning this for after her pre-school graduation in May.  She starts pre-school the week after next and it is getting me so emotional.  It doesn't help that she is turning four at the end of the month.  Sniff....

 25. Blog at least 4 days a week- Yes!  I have been actually doing this, more like 5-6 times a week.

26. Create art with my kids at least once a week- More like once a day! Now that it is a goal, I try to do something creative every day- painting, drawing, cutting and gluing, etc...  All of their art is starting to cover the walls in our kitchen!


27. Spend at least one night away with the kids at a new and exciting place- Not yet!


28. Celebrate our five year anniversary in a fun and creative way- See no. 8!

29. Make Halloween costumes for the entire family- I have to get through making Maggie a fairy birthday party at the end of this month, and then I'll start thinking about Halloween.  We were pretty cute last year, but I can't wait to make all of our costumes this year.

30. Go to a professional sports game (hopefully the Giants!)- I think we'll fit this in when we go to San Francisco!