Introducing Recipe Swappin' Saturdays!

I love finding new recipes and trying them out, so I decided to host a Recipe Swappin' Party on Saturdays. Each Saturday, I'll host a link party for a themed recipe swap. I'll start next week on October 10, 2009. I will post the theme at the end of the recipe that I post the week before, so you will have plenty of time to make your recipe and take pictures for your post.



Here are the rules to join the Recipe Swappin' Saturdays Club:
1. Link to a post that has a recipe with pictures that relates to a theme. List the recipe name as the title.
2. Link back to me so everyone can join in on the fun.
3. Grab my Recipe Swappin' Saturday button and add it to your site (optional).


So put on your apron, and pull out your recipe cards, and get ready for Recipe Swappin' Saturday!

The theme for next week is CHICKEN!

Great Offer: OshKosh Coupon for October 1 to 7

OshKosh has a 20% off coupon out right now. It's good through October 7

Chit Chat: Taking Care of Business

I'm covering several topics today, so hang in there. In this post, I'll be covering:

• Blog Awards
• Inexpensive, Homemade Costumes
• I'm cooking something up

Blog Awards

I recently got a few more Blog awards. It's time for me to officially accept them and bestow them on other deserving bloggers!


I received this award from a wonderful fellow mommy-blogger, Rocky Mountain Memoirs. She is fairly new to blogging, and I love how she is so transparent in her writing. I feel so special to receive this award from her.

Now to the rules for this Award:

• This award is bestowed on to blogs that are exceedingly charming.
• These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends.
• They are not interested in self-aggrandizement.
• Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers.
• Deliver this award to other bloggers who must choose others to pass it on to and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

And the Award goes to...


The Suburban Jungle
i am Mommy
If Momma ain't...
Raising My Four Sons
The imPerfect Housewife
Love Lives in the Kitchen


I also got the One Lovely Blog award from If Momma ain't... This is such a privilege, a I really admire If Momma ain't... She is a wonderful writer, and I am encouraged every time I visit her blog.


So, here are the rules of the "One Lovely Blog" award:

1. Accept the award
2. Post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.
3. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

And the winners are...

It's Shanna...like banana
My Fabulous Life With the Crazies
My Front Porch Looking In
Raising Normal Kids
The Attic Girl
The Baby Factory
Confessions of a First Time Mom
Warm Chocolate Milk


Inexpensive, Homemade Costumes

Based on all the encouraging comments I got on my post yesterday, I decided that I would do a series on inexpensive, homemade costumes. I will be posting ideas every 3-4 days. If you have an idea for me to attack, leave me a comment!


I'm Cooking Something Up
I'm cooking something up...I'm not going to go into a lot of details today. I'm going to keep you guessing, but you won't be guessing for long. I will be unveiling it on Saturday, so make sure to stop by and check in over the weekend!

How To...Make a Turtle Costume

It's that time of year where everyone starts thinking Fall Festivals and Halloween. I see very pricey Halloween costumes at every store I walk into lately. I personally prefer to make my own costumes for Baby Boy, since with a little creativity, I can usually make super-cute and way-less- expensive costumes. Please note that this costume works best with infants that are are at least sitting through toddler age.

To make a Turtle costume, you will need:

• 1 pair of green sweats
• an old bicycle helmet

• 2 shades of green paint (I used acrylic paint)
  

• a couple of sponge paint brushes

To start, make what will be the turtle shell by painting the entire old helmet the lighter shade of green paint. Once the paint has dried, go back and paint "spots" all over the helmet with the darker shade. Start by painting the air vents, and then fill in excess space strategically. Your painted helmet should look similar this.


Finally, dress the child in the green sweats. Put the turtle shell (or helmet) on the child's back, and then admire the end result.

Chit Chat: Getting Ready for the Season Change

In case you didn't know, summer is officially over and it's now Fall. We spend Saturday up in Rocky Mountain National Park watching the elk bugle. This is an annual tradition for us (check out last years pictures here). This year we took a couple of Baby Boy's friends, so their parent could have a date night before their 3rd baby arrived in a few weeks. I didn't get too many good pictures because I was too busy entertaining 3 little boys.

Anyway, we had a great time. While the boys were climbing rocks, a bull elk walked by in the field below and bugled. Baby Boy decided to bugle back, which in some ways was quite humorous, but I also held my breath since depending on how the elk responded it could have been an accident waiting to happen! When we saw the second, bigger, bull elk, Baby Boy didn't just want to bugle back to it, he wanted to pet it or ride it...who knows what was going through his mind. Every time he thought we weren't watching, he'd try to make a break for it (Note to self...Don't let your baby ride pony's at the county fair until they are old enough to understand not all animals are tame). It truly is a good thing that Baby Boy's friends were well behaved and listened to our directions.




As we were driving down the mountain, I was thinking it won't be long before we start getting snow. We had the threat of snow last week one day, but the weather man was wrong. So now, I am scurrying around gathering supplies and building up my arsenal to entertain Baby Boy on days we are stuck inside.

So far we have crayons, finger paint, construction paper, glue. I'm not sure what else I'll get. I'm looking for suggestions. Baby Boy is almost 18 months old. What would you stock in your rainy day supply cabinet for an 18 month old? Leave a comment and let me know.