Before & After ~ Petting Zoo

This is another one of those cell phone shots that make me feel accomplished when i see the after, really all it needed though was some brightening. I think i could probably make this look a little better if i took a little more time but the kiddos are calling! Hope you enjoy, Here he is my Zeke this summer at the petting zoo....

SOOC

After

Check out some more edits over at Pixel Perfect

The Paper Mama Photo Challenge ~ A hint of color

It has taken me so long to choose a photo for this challenge because i had a specific idea in my head of what i wanted to do so i snapped pictures like crazy trying to get what i wanted but nothing seemed to work out the way i had planned... So i snuck one from the archives that i loved anyways, i love the green of the grass and the blue of his jeans & sweater :)

Wordless(ish) Wednesday

My Guys *love*

I know i shared a couple of the pics from our afternoon at the hockey rink (one of many) but here are some more that i love....

Check out some more awesome Mama's wordless Wednesday's over at The Paper Mama

Manic Monday {on a Tuesday, again}

Someday i will be so organized as to have all the time in the world to do the thing i want to do... But that is someday and this is now and now i am too busy on Mondays to stop and do a post at the end of the day, so we make Tuesday a Monday just for the purpose of Manic Monday :)

Monday was a good if not somewhat hectic day.. We didn't get a chance to get out and do much as our preschool was cancelled this week due to busy schedules.. But we did have baby H for half the day and that always adds a little extra chaos!

Here's a few shots of some the activities we did today ~

Little man did a 24piece puzzle all by himself! He can do a 48 piece with just a little help..

After puzzles we did some "preschool" that's what we call his book, we focused on the alphabet today and he did most of the letters on his own, he just needed some gentle reminding on what he was supposed to be doing..

What is a day without some Lincoln Logs?

Mommy doesn't build nearly as well as daddy but we still have fun!

After Ki got up from his morning nap we had some lunch and played with blocks

Do i not have the most adorable children?

and a little dance party..

After our dance party Nicole and the girls came over for a little play date and for the first time neither of us had a camera in our hands! A fun time was had by all but dinner time snuck up fast and the girls headed out and we cleaned up and got some dinner ready..

The boys had a fun night w/o me as i am starting a Beth Moore bible study on Monday nights, last night was my first and i can already tell the i am going to love it!

There you go there is a recap of our crazy Monday, and now that our chaotic Tuesday is halfway over i suppose it's about time i go vacuum the living room rug......

Have a great day everyone!

Check out some more Manic Modays over at Mommy Elephants Everyday Adventures!

Our Home ~ Before & After

We have lived in this adorable little house for just over a year now and it has taken me some time to get things to how i want them to look, it has been a continuous process and i am sure that it will continue to be so. I just wanted to share with you how far we have come :)

Because i spend so much time in here i decided to start with the office

Before

{that little peanut in the swing is Kiah when he was just a tiny new baby}

After

{I'm noticing now that these are a little crooked but I'm also too lazy to fix them and retake the picture}

I still feel like the room needs alot but it looks alot better in person too... I didn't show you the other side of the room because it is just my computer desk and that's just a little boring, and it looks the same as it did when we moved it, except for a few more books piled up! Hope you like it! I know i do! I love being able to have a guest room in the house finally!! That had been the original plan for the room from the time we moved me, the master bedroom and the boy's room are both upstairs with a family room in between and a shared half bath which was the WORST room in the house when we moved in, it looks SO much better now, that will have to be my next before and after!

Photo Roulette 10(7)

I love photo roulette Friday's! I never know what i am going to pull up so it's always a fun surprise! I would try to explain my folders to you to show where this came from but i am pretty sure you would just sit there scratching your head and thinking, "wow i thought she was organized...." well friends i am.. just not in a conventional way when it comes to photos! I keep thinking i need to go through and fix it all by year and month and maybe one of these days i will but for now they are all over the place with 3 or 4 months in each folder...

Anyways this was taken somewhere between March and June of this year... (see what i mean?) Kiah's Lolo & Lola set him up on the couch with the dogs and he was in heaven! Of course they were pretty happy about it too, you just can't tell from their expressions...

Flashback Friday

I am flashing back 3 1/2 years to when my baby actually was a baby. I can't believe that this little tiny pumpkin is already 3 1/2.... How does that happen so fast?? Everyone tells you that it will go by before you know it but you don't REALLY believe it until you stop and look back and all of sudden you went from being a 19 yr old newlywed to having a three yr old and a one yr old! I wouldn't change a single moment of the crazy ride that has been our lives. I am so amazingly blessed with a wonderful husband and two amazing little boys.

Check out some more flashbacks over at Christopher and Tia

Before & After

SOOC

The Edit

I took a LOT of photos last time we went to the hockey rink, (who am i kidding? I ALWAYS take alot of photos...) Chris was teaching Zeke how to rollerblade this summer and he is becomming a little pro! He made it all the way across the rink all on his own! I am one proud momma :)
However all the good shots i got were mostly of Kiah... But just to even out the playing field here is one of Zeke that i also love..

Check out some more amazing edit's over at Pixel Perfect.

Salsa Recipe

I did a post a couple days ago about the Salsa that my mom and I make every year, the recipe came from my Grandma Sanchez and it is by far the most amazing thing i have ever tasted! I mentioned that if anyone was interested in the recipe that i would be more than happy to share, and since there was feedback (thank you mommy elephant :) Here it is!

Grandma Sanchez's Salsa Recipe ~

• 1 bucket red tomatoes ( this part you can adjust, if you like super tomatoey then by all means go ahead! I do one Medium brown paper bag of red tomatoes (around 15 tomatoes).


• 5-8 orange tomatoes (i think it makes the salsa extra pretty :)


• 2 onions


• 3 green peppers


• 2 red peppers


• 2 yellow peppers


• 2 hot red banana peppers


• 6+ jalapenos ( i used more like 15 for this batch and it was perfect! If you like spicy then add more, if not then i still recommend at least 6 or it will come out with a very tomatoey taste)


• 3 cans black beans (rinsed)


• 1 bag frozen corn


• 1 cup sugar


• 2tbsp salt


• 3 cups vinegar

Start by chopping all the veggies onions - jalapenos. Use your own judgment on this, if you like super chunky or smaller pieces in your salsa. toss everything in a big bowl as its chopped.

once that is done you are going to want to blanche your tomatoes, bring a pot of water to a boil and drop the tomatoes in a few at a time, let them sit for 1 minute then remove to a bowl (sink) of cold water. once they are done you need to peel the skin off.

Chop tomatoes into small chunks and add to your bowl.

transfer everything over to a lg pot and add your sugar, salt & vinegar.

let cook on medium heat for 1 hour stirring occasionally.

add your rinsed black beans and corn and mix well.

It's ready to jar!

Please share with me how this turns out for you!!

Touch Up Tuesday on a Wednesday

Can we tell that i am a day behind on everything this week? I don't mean to be but that doesn't really change anything! I have so much i want to get done but somehow i messed up my back yesterday, it had been bugging me for a couple days but yesterday i did something to REALLY mess it up.. so i spent most of the day laying around as much as i could yesterday and took Motrin then after a good massage from the hubby and sleeping with ALL the pillows {have i mentioned how much i love that man?} I felt so much better this morning! Of course then i pushed myself too hard and now i am back in the chair counting the hours until i can take more Motrin :(

anyways long story {kinda} short i can now catch up on posts that i meant to do! So here it is, a Touch up Tuesday on Wednesday ~

Before

After

I didn't do a whole lot to this picture except brighten it up a little.. But it was just too adorable to pass up!

Check out some more before & after's over at the paper heart...

Wordless Wednesday ~ Another Day at The Park

I haven't gotten my camera out in a couple days so this is all i have for you, a few pictures from our last outing to the park... I suppose i will have to get the camera out today and go a little crazy! I REALLY need to get a new one as mine has started to do this funky line thing in a good half of the pictures that i take... plus a piece from the side of the camera broke off which doesn't help matters much... anyways here it is, wordless Wednesday :)