Russ' 7 Day Challenge: Day 2

I went ahead ahead and back dated this to yesterday because I didn't get it up. We had a big day and when we finally got home very late, we all fell into bed. I think he did pretty good with this outfit, too! He even picked out accessories (the necklace)!

Polka Dots

A while back, my sister gave me a piece of fabric that she had used for her daughter, Brianna's, first birthday party. She wanted me to make a pillowcase dress out of it for Chloe Jo and then pass it down to Brianna when she outgrew it. The fabric is adorable and there was a good sized piece of it so I decided to make a pillowcase shirt and a pair of matching capri's. Friday evening, after we put Chloe Jo to bed, I got started on her outfit. I realized I made a huge mistake when I turned the pants rightside out and they looked absolutely ridiculous! Um, yeah. I had already ripped out the crotch/inseam seam at this point.

It ended up that the elastic was where the hem of the pants were supposed to be! I completely screwed that up! I went ahead and made another pair after sitting there for several minutes to figure out what exactly was supposed to be done to make these pants correctly. I finally finished the second pair at 3:00 a.m. Saturday I realized that I am way too old to be staying up that late! HA! I'm really happy with the finished outfit!
It seems like Chloe Jo likes it, too!

Russ' 7 Day Challenge: Day 1

Last week I read an article on Yahoo about couple who did a 7 day challenge. The man picked out his girlfriend's clothes and accessories for 7 days. While reading this, I thought to myself, "Self, that would be tons of fun!" So I presented it to Russ who promptly said, "I was hoping you wouldn't see that article." But he agreed so today was Day 1. He didn't actually pick out my accessories today because I didn't realize that was part of the challenge until I reread the article, but he did pick out my clothes and shoes. I think he did pretty good today. We'll see how tomorrow goes with the accessories included!

Chloe Jo thought she needed to be in the picture with me. And, um, sorry about the quality. I don't really know what happened there. Russ?

Miscellaneous

I have a lot of little things to say that don't warrant their own post so I'm going to do a miscellaneous post.

*Chloe Jo looked so sweet for Bible class Wednesday evening. She knew she looked sweet so she posed pretty for me to take a picture.

*It has been chilly or rainy for about a week here so we haven't been able to play in the pool. Yesterday was gorgeous so we cleaned the pool out, added some air and refilled it for Chloe Jo to play. We bought her a new swimsuit for the summer on Monday and she's been wanting to wear it every day! She put it on and it is way big on her! I'm going to take the bottoms up so she can wear it now and I'll just take them out if she gets any bigger around (that is doubtful). She played for about 10 minutes and then was done. Silly thing.
*I made a batch of Slurp yesterday. I love this jam and we have been out for several weeks! Chloe Jo loves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with this slurp so I know she'll be happy when we get into it tomorrow (it has to sit for 24 hours to set). For some reason the fruit all drifted to the top. I don't know what is up with that. I hope it sets right.
*Lucky Charms were Buy 1 Get 1 free this week at our grocery store so I picked up 2 boxes. I don't buy them very often because they are my favorite and I eat them way too much when they are in the house. I've been doing really good with controlling myself this time, though. I made Chloe Jo a bowl one morning and she wouldn't touch it! She opted for plain cheerios. HA!
*I finished reading The Great Gatsby yesterday. I read it in two days and only during nap time and after Chloe Jo went to bed. It's a very short, easy read. I had read it in high school, but had completely forgotten the story and was surprised in the end! Russ found the movie with Robert Redford and Mia Farrow online and we are going to watch it tonight.

*It is rainy today so it is going to be an inside day. I have read a ton of books to Chloe Jo already and my voice is getting scratchy.

*I hope you all have a great weekend!

My Recipe Box: Hawaiian Chicken

Russ and I were wanting some Hawaiian Chicken this week so I put it on the menu for Tuesday. Usually we just marinate the chicken in pineapple juice and teryaki sauce, but I was wanting something that Russ wouldn't have to grill. I found a recipe that you bake online and decided to try it. It was delicious and is now in the recipe book for later use. I did make way too much sauce, but I cut the recipe down a little and added another piece of chicken so it won't be swimming in it! Also, I used fresh pineapple and since I don't have a pineapple corer, I didn't have the nice rings to put directly on the chicken. I may have to go get a corer. We love fresh pineapple!

Pineapple Chicken

Ingredients:

4 boneless chicken breasts

Flour to coat chicken

Oil

1 20 oz. can sliced pineapple, reserving juice

Sauce Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

3/4 cup vinegar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 chicken bouillon cubes

Orange juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Coat chicken with flour. Pour oil into a skillet and brown chicken. Place chicken in a shallow, oven-safe dish.

Drain pineapple, pouring syrup into a 2 cup measuring cup. Add orange juice to make 1 1/2 cups liquid. Reserve juice for sauce.

In a medium saucepan, combine the 1 1/2 cups juice, sugar, cornstarch, vinegar, lemon juice, soy sauce and bouillon cubes. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until thickened and clear. Pour over chicken. Bake, covered, for 40 minutes.

Uncover and place pineapple slices over chicken and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

I served mine with a fruit salad. I kept adding more fruits to it so it got to be enormous! I had to share with our neighbors so it wouldn't go bad! If you make fruit salad, one trick I've learned is to put lemon juice in it so your apples and bananas don't brown. In this picture, the salad had been made for about an hour and the apples and bananas still look great!

I admit that this is a very sweet recipe. I couldn't eat it every day or I'd go into sugar shock. I don't know what cutting the sugar down would do to it so I probably won't be trying that.

If you try this, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

Link up here!

I'm loving that Chloe Jo is starting to be interested in playing catch with her Daddy. She especially loves this velcro set because she can catch the ball!

I'm also loving that Russ thinks it's the greatest thing ever! He has always wanted a little boy to play sports with and since that might not happen, he is excited that Chloe Jo is starting to be interested in sports!

I'm loving this Life game we played the other night. I got so excited because my little car was full of children!

I'm loving baseball season. We have been going to watch a boy who goes to church services with us play. He plays catcher and is really good!

I'm loving that Chloe Jo loves to watch the game, too! Of course, she also loves playing with her friends at the game.

I'm loving these beautiful flowers Russ brought home for me last night!

I'm loving this Hawaiian Chicken and fruit salad I made for dinner last night. This was a new recipe and we loved it! Recipe to come soon!

I'm loving these outfits I made yesterday! I love craft day!

I'm loving that I bought strawberries to make slurp this week. We have been out of slurp (strawberry jam) for a few months and I am excited that it is strawberry season so I can make some more!

I'm loving Gold Bond lotions. I know that makes me look waaaaaay old, but it is the best stuff!

I'm loving that I am going to be starting this book soon.

I finished up one last night and am excited to start another. I definitely need help in this area! I also am starting The Great Gatsby and am hoping to have it read by the end of the month.

I'm loving that Chloe Jo and I went to a store grand opening here in town this morning and found this gorgeous dress! She loves it and I know she is going to feel beautiful in it come Sunday morning!

I'm loving this sweet girl! She has started talking so much lately that we are actually having little conversations. Plus, she is hilarious! Oh, and cute!

Go link up and tell us what you're loving on this beautiful Wednesday!

It was like that scene in the movie Signs

Chloe Jo has been a stinker tonight. We put her to bed around 8:45 and she was awake until past 10:30. She usually will stay in bed, but tonight she was in trouble several times for getting up out of bed. Once I thought she was in bed for good, I decided to go take a shower. Our bathroom is a Jack-and-Jill bath between our two bedrooms so I can hear Chloe Jo breathing if I am in the bathroom. She was breathing heavy like she was asleep so I proceeded to prepare for my shower. I was getting a towel out when something moved out of the corner of my eye.

So I did what any normal person would do.

I screamed.

Loud.

My heart about jumped out of my chest! What was it that caught my eye? Chloe Jo's little hand poking out underneath the door. Just like that scene in Signs.

It makes me shudder just thinking about it. My heart is still pounding!

And here is the clip for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about. Beware. It's a scary scene (at least to me)!

Craft day!

Chloe Jo and I had ourselves a craft day today! Crafting is my favorite thing to do and Chloe Jo is starting to be interested in doing her own crafts, too. Today's project started out small and grew as do most of my projects. I ended up making two full outfits complete with matching hairbows!

Originally I was just going to make the shirts. The one with the B is for my little niece who is also CJ's BFF. I think the outfit turned out adorable. I sent a picture of it to my sister and she loved it!

I also had to make an outfit for Chloe Jo! I wanted to do a giraffe at first, but then went with the elephant because it was easier to outline. I don't have an actual embroidery machine so I do all my outlining with my regular sewing machine. It can be a little difficult if there are lots of turns and corners. I made this to fit CJ in the fall, but I'm not sure it's going to make it. She may outgrow it before she can wear it! In that case, this one will go to Brianna, too!

When Chloe Jo saw the outfit, she wanted to immediately put it on! She thought she was cute stuff! Of course, she was right!

And here is Chloe Jo's project. She made an adorable wreath!

Big shoes to fill

Royal Wedding Spoof

I saw this on another blog and just had to share. Too funny!

Especially the ugly step sisters!