Eclectic fashion in our home of XY's

We used to live in the land of outfits.

Drawers and drawers of matching items.  It was blissful.

Well, as you can imagine with four boys...those kind of luxuries were short lived.

Shirts are stained, ripped, distroyed...eventually earning them a home in the nearest landfill, leaving their matching counterpart sad and alone...but still very functional. 

Pants generally sprout holes rather quickly, within a matter of DAYS sometimes, and are repaired accordingly until there comes a time when they can no longer be recognized as pants.  Hello shorts.  But after time, even the shorts start to sprout holes in the most unusual of places, looking a bit like Swiss cheese (does this happen to you?), and they end up joining their long lost friends in the landfill.

Add to the eclecticism, the boxes and boxes of clothes people give to us (and believe me...we get A LOT!)  You know...The survivors from THEIR children's wardrobes...some most of which have already parted with THEIR matching counterparts as well.

The pile of eclectic fashion grows.

My point...

We have the makings of some VERY exciting outfits under our roof.  VERY exciting!

Here are some of my favorites!

 Our 4 year old

 (he's going to be SO excited when winter finally comes and we actually get snow...if we get snow)

 and

Our 5 year old

 (Sarcasm emphasized in italics)

Between the thumping of the moon boots and the clicking of the cowboy boots, these two turn a lot of heads.  Once the heads are turned the comments fly.  It's AMAZING!

My reply, "Well...at least they get themselves dressed in the morning."

I mean, really....that's what matters to me.

I wonder if I would feel differently if they were girls.  I'd like to think I would....you know, that I would want my girls to be cutesy and pretty and put together all of the time....but in reality, I'm not so sure. 

I guess it really doesn't matter...since I they aren't and I don't.

By the way, a sweet sweet friend of mine recently dropped off another box of clothes.  I'm currently somewhere in the process of sorting and washing.

Just think....A whole new world of interesting. 

Can't wait to see what they will come up with next!


P.S.  I just wanted to emphasize that we are always VERY grateful for the offerings we receive.  We have a hard enough time feeding a house of boys, let alone clothing them. :)  We have truly been blessed by others generosity.

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Adventures in Frugalness Take 2

You didn't think I forgot did you?  I told you I would be making a yummy peach pie with peaches from my  last adventure in frugalness.  And I did.  It's just taken me a long time to post about it.  Mostly because the pictures are now being taken from my phone (still not used to that) and secondly because it has been a rough week and I just didn't feel like it.

But...without further ado...here she is.

 Nope...the pics not great...but then I'm not a photographer...and I have never really been one for presentation (which I did NOT learn from my mother---she makes everything pretty).

But I can assure you, it was to die for.  I even made the crust myself (which almost didn't happen because of my September 11th/coming-off-anti-depressants mood swings on Sunday).  Luckily I pulled myself together because...well...I didn't have a boxed crust in the fridge to supplement with (you know, the whole frugal thing).

I got the pie recipe here
and
the crust recipe here

As much as I'd like to lie...I'm not gonna'.  We ate that sucker in 2 days (as in Sunday and Monday)...and by "we", I mean Rob, G-McBabe and I.  The other boys didn't like it.  Isn't that sickening...in a really yummy way?
 

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Spotted Fox--LOCAL Tri-City/Yakima DEALS

Hey to all my Tri-Cities local friends and buddies. I just found this new and awesome local "deal" site.

The best thing about it (other than it's local for us) is that they let you choose which type of deals you want e-mailed to you. You can even choose how often. That's awesome.

If you sign up right now, you can also get a $5 credit to your account. And let me tell you...the deal today....$10 worth of gourmet cupcakes for only $5. Um....YUM!

Check it out here

They are also looking to expand to YOUR city....if you would like that...go there and check it out too.   

P.S. Leave a comment! I love to hear from you!

long lost treasures

Since I dropped our camera, and no longer have use of it, we have been using our cell phones to take pictures.

I wanted to finally post "first day of school" pictures (which will be coming soon...they need a bit of cropping first) but couldn't remember where the USB cable ended up.  When I inquired of Rob all I got was a,  "I don't know."  It was then we realized that in the two years we have owned these phones, neither of us have ever actually tried to get pictures off the them.  Huh.

Needless to say, that when we finally downloaded the pictures today (all 60-ish or so), we discovered some long lost treasures.

Mini Rob and Little Red at Rob's work party TWO years ago...this month.

Look how little and cute.  Sigh....

 

and here is G-McBabe and the same time.  So so cute.

  

Little Red sometime in the fall of '09 (I'm guessing)

He's just so little...and chubby...I can't get over it.

 

Mini Rob and Little Red---I think at Costo (Dec '09 ?)

coveting those wire framed horses

 

Pictures of the cool "Star Wars" themed room at the pediatricians office

we took Mr. Golden Locks to when he was a newborn.

my boys LOVED this room.

Mr. Golden Locks--I'm guessing this was taken in November of 2010.  

Before his hair turned into a mass of golden curls.

How I love my curly haired little thumb sucker.

 Little Red--the ever photogenic one.

I can't remember when this was taken.  I'm guessing fall of 2010 or spring of 2011...

but I do remember him asking me to take a picture of him in the tree.  

He smile melts my heart every time (except when he's being mischievous and naughty).

These last three we found on Rob's phone.  He's way more into taking picture of "scenery" than people.

Now...I'm not much into the scenery kind of things but these beauties were pretty cool.

 Picture of a sunrise---infused with mist---over the river.

(taken from Rob's office)

Mural on the wall of a Carneceria in a neighboring city.

Too funny!

The fountain in front of Rob's office building.

Apparently someone forgot to shut the water off for the winter.

I wonder if they had any pipe problems after that.  :)

Makes for a pretty cool picture, though.

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Adventures in Frugalness Take 1---Basic Granola Recipe too!

I thought I might as well document my adventures in forced frugality since in all likelyhood it will end up taking all of my time and I will have nothing else to write about.  This is installment #1 and may just be the only installment ever made either because I give up on this whole "saving money" thing and go bankrupt instead, or am so busy cooking, cleaning, and balancing checkbooks that I no longer have time to post.  Huh.....

This morning, I decided to take my mother's advise, after yesterday's disaster (see post here), and broaden my breakfast menu horizons.  I woke (or, more accurately, was awakened) bright and early, no kidding...it was like 6:30AM, and jumped right a double batch of granola. Yum....I love granola.  My mother assured me it is rather inexpensive as long as you forgo any of the tasty goodness.  Just kidding...she didn't add that last bit...and it's not true.  Granola is just as good plain as it is with the additions. (I decided to share my recipe with you, you lucky devil...it's at the bottom  of the post).

After I was done with the granola, I carted 2 kids off to soccer practice...picked up a box of peaches on my way home...made lunch...vacuumed my house (okay...most of it)...put my kids down for naps...and MADE PEACH FREEZER JAM!  I peeled and put away enough peaches for 3 pies, one of which I will make tomorrow...and there are even some FRESH peeled peaches to go on top of...yep, you guessed it....GRANOLA tomorrow morning.  


Yeah...I know....I'm a domestic diva today.

Nope...I'm not trying to brag...just trying to document some accomplishments so I can come back later and prove to myself that I'm not a complete failure in the kitchen/mommy department.

Okay...so here's the recipe.



Basic Granola
(from Mama Cindy's cookbook --aka it's my mom's recipe---and yes, it's from an actual cookbook, of the three ring binder variety that is chalk full of family favorite recipes from our childhood...and beyond.  It's awesome!)  Anyhow....to the recipe.

6 1/4 cups rolled oats
1 cup coconut
1 cup slivered almond
1/4 cup sesame seeds  (optional)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup canola oil (can use half olive oil)
3/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup dried fruit (optional)

Stir dry ingredients together in large bowl.  Mix oil and honey together, heat on low until honey is warm and runny.  Stir in vanilla.  Add to dry ingredients; stir until evenly coated.  Spread on 2 cookie sheets.  Bake at 300 degrees for 20 minutes until lightly browned.  For finer granola stir every 5 minutes--for chunkier granola don't stir at all.  Add dried fruit after granola is cool.  Store in airtight container.  Keeps for 2-3 weeks.

My mom has tried dates (ugh), mango, and craisins for a tropical mix; dried blueberries, cherries, strawberries, and raspberries for a plain fruit mix as well. 

I am cheap, poor,  frugal...so, if my kids want fruit, they can add a few raisins.

Next time I'm going to try cutting down the oil.  Yeah, it makes it yummy...but I don't think ALL of it is necessary.  I'll let you know how it turns out. 


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