'bye, nabisco. it's been fun.

This morning I really should have been mopping my floor,
but I cooked up a batch of playdoh instead.
I made it partially because she wanted playdoh,
but also because I didn't want her to play with the moon sand we had.
{moon sand is the devil.}



Why don't I make playdoh more often?
It's so easy.



{we're dogsitting for my parents right now.  he's never far from avery's side.}

During every free moment I have,
I've been reading this book.
And I've also been pouring over this site.
And they've kind of been blowing my mind a little.
Actually a lot.

They are turning everything I thought I knew about food and nutrition upside down.
I'm inspired to change the way we eat.
I'm looking more at the snacks I buy my kids,
and what I fix for dinner.
The goal?
More plants.
Less animal products.
All real food: nothing processed.

Yikes.

I'm not going to lie: I'm afraid.
Are we going to be able to do this?
My guys are at the age where they come home from school
and are s.t.a.r.v.i.n.g.
They can eat and eat for an hour straight.
Their favorite after school snacks?
Crackers.
They usually grab either Ritz (if we have them) or Goldfish.

But...in my effort to ditch the processed food,
today I made my own Ritz.

I used this recipe,
and changed it just a bit.
It called for 2 cups of white flour:
I used 1 cup white flour and 1 cup whole wheat.
And I didn't brush them with butter when they came out of the oven.



They were easy to make.
I didn't have a Ritz-shaped cookie cutter,
so ours are shaped like flowers.
{with a few bears thrown in for good measure.}



Next time I'll roll the dough thinner so they don't puff up quite so much.

I have to say,
they definitely tasted "Ritz-ey".
They're good.
Even the boys liked them.



I know that they're technically probably still considered "junk food":
they do have some white flour and a little bit of sugar,
but, hey.
Baby steps, right??

Next up?
I'm making Goldfish.

I'll let you know how that goes.

awesome stuff.

First, thanks for all of your comments the other day
on this post.
It's nice to know you can relate.
And that you have dog hair and paperwork issues, too.
I love you for that.

Maybe I'm the only one who thinks this is awesome,
but I got tired of searching through my old posts for recipes,
so they're up on the side bar now.  ------>
Need something for Sunday dinner tomorrow night?
Might I suggest the creamy tomato bisque
or enchiladas and mexican rice?
You can't go wrong with either of those.  Trust me.

Riley and Colin participated in the school's talent show last night.
I was SO NERVOUS for them.
I think the elderly gentleman sitting next to me thought I was insane.
I may have {gently?} grabbed his arm and told him that my kids were next
and that I was so nervous that I couldn't stand it.
{and then about an hour into the show he told me that the seats were too hard and his rear hurt.}
{we had clearly bonded.}



The boys were awesome.
And, after all the practicing of this song they've done
over the last several months
they've informed us that they never want to hear the theme from Charlie Brown again.
:)


talent show 2012 from kerib on Vimeo.

So proud of those two.

And speaking of awesome...
Riley did his first load of laundry today.
From start to finish.


{yeah...that's laundry in the reflection.  there's a little 'behind the scenes' for you!}

Last year I met a woman who has ten kids
(I KNOW)
and she told me she had all of her kids start doing their own laundry at age ten.
I'm not deluding myself into thinking that Riley will do all of his laundry now,
but it's a start.
A happy, happy start.

Hope you're having a weekend full of awesome stuff, too.

the behind the scenes vs. the highlight reel

I saw this quote on instagram earlier this week:

{from pastor steven furtick}

Wow.

True, right?

It's easy for me to look at all of the gorgeous kitchens on other blogs,

or on Pinterest, and we wish our cabinets were a different color
or that we had those gorgeous wood floors.

In those photos we don't ever see the dirty dishes in the sink

or the homework strewn all over the counter.
An do they have a huge pile of paperwork on the table that they can never seem to get to?
Or is that just me.

I don't know about you,

but sometimes it's easy for me to forget
that the perfectly decorated living rooms get dirty just like mine.

Surely at least one of them has a yellow lab 

that sheds pounds of hair like ours does?

No one's home is perfect all the time.

No one's kids are always well-behaved,

everyone gets annoyed with their spouse

{at least that's my guess}

and we all have those blah days.

My behind the scenes is often not pretty:
...my house is usually pretty messy.
{my bedroom is a disaster right now.  and i won't even mention my craft room.}
...my kids run out of socks because I haven't washed whites
and plenty of times have to wear a mismatched pair.
...I'm not patient enough.  I have to apologize to my kids for being short with them.
Sometimes I want a break and for no one to talk to me or ask me to make them a snack.
...I don't exercise enough and, at my last physical, my cholesterol was too high.  Crap.

What's my point?
I'm not sure.
Maybe just that it's good to remember that no one has it all together.
Life isn't perfect, no matter what we hope to portray in our "highlight reel".

The "behind the scenes" stuff is real life.
And there's nothing wrong with dog hair
and crabby days
and dirty dishes in the sink.
We've all got our "behind the scenes".

xo.

it's monday: let's talk football food.

Yesterday we had friends over to watch
the 49ers game.
Being Northern California natives,
we've always rooted for the niners.
Even when they've been horrible.
In NorCal your other option is to be a Raiders fan.
And that's not an option.
{just kidding.}
{not really.}

The game was a heartbreaker.  So sad.
BUT, on the bright side, the food was good.

One of our friends brought sliders
{which the kids devoured}
and the other chili
{which we all devoured}.
Really, there's nothing like burgers & chili on a rainy, football-watching day.

I made salad with balsamic vinaigrette,
and a bunch of appetizers.
But before we talk food,
let's take a look at my kitchen, mid-food prep.



I spy: salsa ingredients in the food processor,
two different types of hot sauce, mustard, refried beans, and diced green chilies,
Clorox wipes,
the immersion blender I got for Christmas (LOVE IT),
butter snap pretzels,
Avery's container of applesauce that she just left on the counter after eating,
some of the contents of my purse (yes, I still carry baby wipes - they're a necessity),
and other random detritus.
I'm a messy cook.

So is my helper.
We're not a good pair.



As bad as that mess is, it just got worse.
I won't even show you the amount of dishes in my sink.
It was scary,
and I'm glad we had this talk.

Ok, on to the food.
No get-together is complete without chips and salsa.
Make this salsa - it's the best ever.
Recipe here.



Avery and I ate it with our lunches today, too.

And you've had pretzel hugs, right?
One of our friends brings these to every get together.
I'm not sure whether to love her or hate her for it.



She uses Hershey Hugs, but I could only find regular kisses.
You won't hate them.  Promise.
Here's the recipe I used.

Another one of my go-to faves: Texas sheetcake brownies.
Recipe posted here.



The name is misleading.  They're nothing like a brownie.
More like cake.
Really, really good cake that makes you want to eat three pieces for breakfast.
Don't ask how I know that.

Next I made Buffalo Chicken Dip.
Here's something you may not know about me:
chicken on the bone gives me the heebie jeebies.
So I really can't hang with chicken wings.
But this buffalo chicken dip?
That's another story.



I know, it looks a little gross, but trust me on this one.
I got the recipe here.
And, here's a tip:
use this hot sauce.



I don't know who Frank is,
but he does know his wing sauce.

I didn't get a picture of the last appetizer I made...
probably because everyone devoured them so quickly.
Gary estimated that he ate ten.
Yeah.
Homemade.  Jalepeno.  Poppers.
Think crescent dough, cream cheese, bacon, and jalepenos.
Deeee-lish.
Recipe here.

Oh, and we also had salad and fruit to add a little bit of healthy.
I figured I should have at least one food that didn't contain
cream cheese or sour cream. :)

And, I can't be sure,
but if I had to guess I'd say that pretty much every 49er fan looked like this
after the game:



Wah.
No niners in the Superbowl.
So we'll probably just be watching it for the commercials this year.

But it might be a good excuse to make those jalepeno poppers again.

insta friday - the 'photo overload' edition.

I've slacked on my insta fridays so far this January.

Here's a bit of a catch up.

If you're on instagram at all you've probably seen people
playing along with fatmumslim's
January Photo a Day challenge.

I'm playing along, too.

Here are my daily January photos:
{so far}

day 1: you.

day 2: breakfast.

day 3: something you adore.
{an open window, sunshine, a clean kitchen and coldplay on pandora}

day 4: letterbox.

{spring catalogs in the mail}

day 5: something you wore.

day 6: makes you smile.

{these three happy faces in my rear view mirror always make me smile}
{65 degrees in january doesn't hurt either}

day 7: favorite. 

{a mid-morning run, alone, by the water, on a sunny day}

day 8: sky.

{the sun setting over st. vincent's church in petaluma}

day 9: daily routine.

{in the car: again, and again, and again}

day 10: childhood.

{when i was little, the red suitcase held all of my treasures.
then, when i was in college, it held all of gary's letters.
it's still filled with those letters.}

day 11: where you sleep.

{on the right hand side, always}

day 12: close up.

day 13: in your bag.

{my "going out" bag: only money, license, compact, burt's bees, and altoids}

day 14: something you're reading.

{it's awesome}

day 15: happiness.
{chippy aqua paint = happiness}

day 16: morning.

{two whites, one whole, spinach, avocado, & cholula}

day 17: water.

day 18: something you bought.

{still searching for that perfect color}

day 19: sweet.

{sweet is an unplanned pottery painting date}

day 20: someone you love.

{i've loved him for over half my life: it will be 20 years in june.  crazy.}

And...that's my photo overload.

Fatmumslim will be doing another photo challenge in February...

you should join.

Are you on instagram?
You can find me there @foreverfoldinglaundry.
And if you're not an instagrammer, you should try it.
It's fun...and kind of addicting.
{as if we need another time suck, right?  isn't pinterest ENOUGH!?!}

Happy weekend, all!

thoughts on furniture and paint.

Have you taken a peek at Target's furniture lately?
I'm on the hunt for two chairs,
and Target really has some cute things!




I'm having a hard time figuring out why I shouldn't buy two of these.

Or how about this one?
Only $159.99!




So cute.

And my never-ending search for that perfect paint color continues.



Why is picking out paint so hard?
And why does it always look differently on your wall than on the paint chip?

Do you watch Modern Family?
I lovelovelove the Dunphy house.



The blue is Labrador Blue by Benjamin Moore.
{i googled it}
I wish I knew that lighter color, too.  It's perfect.
And the striped pillows.  I need to make some pillows.

Also on my house wish list - this rug:



Urban Outfitters always has something I love.
{like pretty much the entire "vases + planters" page.}

So today I bought a few little paint samples from the hardware store
and I think I might have found a winner for the dining room
and my craft room.

I'll keep you posted.

a little sunday evening catch-up.

Hi there.  Long time no see.
Don't you hate it when lives and schedules get in the way
of blogging?
Me too.
I feel like we've had a lot going on this week,
and yet nothing at all.
Hmmm...not sure how that works.

I made Pioneer Woman's lasagna one night last week.



It really is as good as it looks.
I can't wait for her second cookbook!

I got these violets at a baby shower yesterday.
I love violets.



The weather here has been amazing.
It's been in the upper 60's pretty much the entire January and has made me
so ready for winter to be over.
But...it's not over.
It's 49 and freezing today and I'm not happy about it.
{and, to my midwest friends, i know you guys have it much worse.  i don't know how you do it!}

I told you that we did a little antique store shopping on my birthday.
We picked up my present on Friday:
a new-to-us {but definitely not new} kitchen table.



Hello, chippy aqua paint.
Let's be friends.

Before church today I folded, I think, eight loads of laundry.
And I still have more to do.
I also need to mop and vacuum and clean bathrooms
reply to numerous emails
and plan an art lesson for Colin's class.
Life is really glamorous sometimes, isn't it?

And finally...
I don't make a habit of taking covert pictures of people,
but I really couldn't resist this time.
{and i apologize in advance if you're not in the mood for dinner after you see this}
In line in front of me at Costco:



And...they were real.
How do you zip your pants?
Put on your make-up?
Get your debit card out of your wallet?
Wipe?
{gross, i know.  sorry.  but, really...how do you??}

And now I'm off to go paint my very, very short nails.
Maybe aqua.

ten on {january} ten.

09:00 -

coffee in my favorite mug.

10:00 -

helping out in Colin's class.

12:00 -

back home.

unload the dishwasher.

1:00 -

after lunch, somebody wanted to paint.

3:00 -

the other two are home from school.

and they're HUNGRY.

4:00 -

homework.

5:00 -

soccer clinic.

it's cold outside.

7:00 -

somebody is learning to read.

8:00 -

ready for bed.

more books.

{and i forgot #10!  thanks for pointing that out heather!}

9:00 -

tea time.

and that's ten.