Lately...

So things here have been crazy and I didn't realize until a few days ago how long it had  been since I posted anything. (with the exception of this post that I finished today) So I wanted to share some of what has kept us so busy lately, since I know you're all dying to know...

Bean:

I could simply leave that as the entirety of this post and that would be enough said.  But let's look at why she's keeping us so busy.

• First and most importantly Bean will be 2 in about 2 weeks. Gasp! How did this happen???? I'm not sure but she has gotten a very early start on terrible twos.  Anything at any moment could be "wrong" and deserves a screaming temper tantrum- even things that were previously ok and will be acceptable in the future.  Water instead of milk, milk instead of water, Ellie licked her, even though Ellie does that most of the time. She wants dinner, she wants to go "side", she wants up, no down , no up. And on and on we go. Its exhausting and honestly the whining makes me want to wear ear plugs most days.  Plus she can be kind of naughty sometimes- refusing to do things she is told even when she knows how to do what she is asked.
• Second is the mess.  These are a few pics of the messes made almost everyday (or the messes that are just ignored because we don't have any energy left to clean them after a day full of tantrums)

 One of our favorite toys: Pom Poms

And Legos and Beans

 

 And what our living room looks like today despite being cleaned and vacuumed last night.

• Lately we've also been with out pacifiers and a few weeks ago we took the railing off her crib after she climbed out one night.  So that means we've been getting up as soon as she wakes up because she won't stay in her bed and she won't leave us alone. Or she falls out of bed, despite our best attempts to prevent it, and that's always fun. 
• And then there's the potty.  We bought it in January and have had it around and slowly introducing Lizzie to the concept.  First we sat on in with clothes on, then just a diaper and then no diaper.  Then in the last week we've really been trying to work on the potty training by taking her potty a lot, sitting there FOREVER with her and even trying a few days with undies and a few days without anything on.  The only thing we've gotten from it is lots of puddles, wet underwear and being really sick of the bathroom.  I know she's not even 2 so I'm not worried that she's not even close but it is kind of frustrating when she sits on the potty for almost 20 minutes and then runs to her room and pees on the floor.  This will be a work in progress for sometime I feel but who knows maybe tomorrow she'll wake up and it will click- haha.

Besides Bean I've been gardening, I've got pumpkins, tomatoes, corn and cucumbers growing and even had a watermelon started before a stupid animal took a bite out of it :-(.  Its lots of work but its fun and relaxing and I'm learning a lot, like you really only need to plant 1 or 2 pumpkin seeds :-0

 

 

 I'm also running a playgroup at the church.  So far its only our friend Sara, her kids, her daycare kids and us.  I'm hoping that more people come eventually too but for now its good to get out of the house and the kids enjoy it.  

I've also been working on Bean's second birthday party.  Its gonna be awesome! Hubby thinks I'm funny because I'm doing a lot to make it "really cool" even though he thinks all we need is Bean and some cake and the people who love Bean.  I agree but I still want to throw her an awesome party! So I'm working on a Dog-bone pinata, a bean bag toss, cool decorations and an awesome cake, plus all the food etc.

And... the condo got rented out!! We found a really awesome tenant and he moved in mid-June.  We've had to take care of a few things since (the bedroom air conditioner stopped working sometime this winter and we had no clue!) but I think we're finally through with most of the major repairs and can now just enjoy that the place is rented for the rest of the year.

With the condo getting rented we've had some extra income to start paying off debts and save for a house.  So to help out with that cause I've been working on ways to earn cash at home- surveys etc but have come to the conclusion that if I get a real job (at nights) we'll be able to pay stuff off faster and get our own place sooner.  So after Bean's party (while she's at Grandma camp for a week!!) I'm going to start applying anywhere and everywhere to find a job to bring in some extra monies.  I'm not really excited about it because I really don't want to work retail again but I am excited to pay some stuff off faster.

Last but really most important is the soft launch of the new church.  Its coming up in September so things are starting to gear up for the launch.  Our first deputation service is this weekend and we've found a meeting place.  We're so excited to see what God will bring our church!

And that my friends is why we so busy... this and so many other reasons.  If I wrote about them all this post would be even longer so I just gave you the highlights :-) What have you all been up to?

 

 Yes, we're awesome parents- we video and photograph our baby asleep at the table before putting her to bed!

Goodbye binkies!! 

Pepper Steak and Beach Themed Cupcakes

Recently I made some beach themed cupcakes that I found on Pinterest for playgroup.  There were decently easy but not quite as cute as on Pinterest.  I also made crockpot pepper steak for a second time and it was delicious!!! Here are my thoughts on these 2 pins:

  And  

Beach themed cupcakes

The cupcakes I made with another simple vanilla cupcake recipe.  It really wasn't anything spectacular, not worth the effort to make from scratch instead of a mix... After they cooled I crushed a few graham crackers ( I used my slap chop- LOVE this thing :-) and then poured them into a bowl and then poured blue decorating sugar into a bowl.  You need to crush the graham crackers into really fine crumbs so they look most like sand.  Then I frosted each cupcake and dipped half of it in the graham crackers and then the other half in the blue sugar.  The picture on Pinterest only has sand but I like the idea of water so I added the blue sugar.  Then I cut a piece of gum in half and put a little frosting on the back and stuck it on the "sand" and then did the same with the bears and put them on the "towels".  I also just put some bears standing in the "sand" or "ocean" by frosting their feet and sticking them to the cupcake.  I didn't put umbrellas on because I couldn't find them ANYWHERE (anyone know where to get these??) and I didn't put lifesavers on because I couldn't find a single roll of them and I didn't want a huge package.  I also used sour gummy bears that I found at Walgreens instead of teddy grahams.  I think these 3 things would make these even cuter but as they are, they are decently cute :-) 

Crockpot Pepper Steak

This recipe is relatively easy and for us, cheap.  Now it is made with strips of steak so it can get pricey but we buy beef once a year from family who own a farm (who sadly might not be any more due to high prices of feed :-( ) and while we do pay for it once a year it doesn't get included into our weekly grocery budget because its already there.  So it seems cheaper.  Plus the rest of the ingredients are things we usually have on hand for other things so we pretty much only have to buy the green pepper and occasionally a refill for the other ingredients.  All 3 of us can eat this for dinner with leftovers for hubby to take for lunch so I think its still pretty reasonable, even with the price of streak.  Just think of getting pepper steak at a Chinese resturant for 3 people and it seems more reasonable.  Unlike other crock pot recipes you have to cut the steak into strips, season the strips and brown them before putting them in the crock pot with everything else and cooking them.  So its not a dump and cook crock pot recipe which are my favorites, because I'm lazy sometimes :-) Its still pretty reasonable though and sooo good that its worth the extra work.  The only real tip I have to make this easier is cut the steak when its still partially frozen because it makes it easier to cut.  
We leave out the tomoatoes and onions because I don't like them but I'm sure it would still be good with them ;-)
Here's the recipe:

Ingredients Serves 6

Choose your zip, pick favorite stores

2 lb beef sirloin steak, cut into 2 inch strips

1 garlic powder, to taste

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 cube beef bouillon

1⁄4 cup hot water

1 tbsp corn starch

1⁄2 cup onion, chopped

2 large green bell pepper, roughly chopped

1 can (14.5 ounce) stewed tomatoes, with liquid

3 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp white sugar

1 tsp salt

Directions

1. Sprinkle strips of sirloin with garlic powder to taste. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the vegetable oil and brown the seasoned beef strips. Transfer to a slow cooker.
2. Mix bouillon cube with hot water until dissolved, then mix in cornstarch until dissolved. Pour into the slow cooker with meat. Stir in onion, green peppers, stewed tomatoes, soy sauce, sugar, and salt.
3. Cover and cook on High for 3 to 4 hours or on Low for 6 to 8 hours.

Enjoy!