Do the Math.

We are having a new addition & will be out numbered!

Pioneer Woman Food from my Frontier Cookbook Giveaway!

Last year I met The Pioneer Woman at her book signing in San Francisco.
It was for sure a highlight of my year. I love her!
I have read her blog for years & now love her show on Food Network.
Her first cookbook is one of my go-to's when planning meals.
So, when she announced she was coming out with a new cookbook last year, I was so excited & pre-ordered a few copies.
One for me & one for me to giveaway to one of YOU!
The cookbook arrived this week & it is just as beautiful as her first one, filled with awesome step by step photos of her delicious reicpes. This cookbook has some fun new recipes, I can't wait to try these Brie Stuffed Mushrooms or her Corn Chowder!
How yummy do these desserts look? Bananas Foster? Yes please. And, "Knock you Naked Brownies" look to die for (she made them on her show and I almost fainted with the yumminess that they include.)

If didn't buy her cookbook yet, here is your chance to win it!

To enter, all you need to do is leave a comment on this post letting me know your favorite Pioneer Woman recipe.

(My favorites are the Chicken Spaghetti, her Mashed Potatoes, Jalepeno Poppers and of course, her Cinnamon Rolls. I couldn't just pick one!)
If you haven't made one of her recipes, then you really, really, really need to & you can just let me know what you *want* to make!
Followers of my blog get an additional entry, so follow along if you aren't already!

Giveaway ends at midnight next Friday, March 23rd.
{Winners will be picked via random.org}

I've got Answers, Part 3

I am a slacker & finally have answers to Part 3. The final set of answers!
Thank you for your patience, I have a lot going on (busy, busy, busy!)

But, I finally have time to answer another round of questions from my Got Questions? post.

Here are the answers to Part 1 & Part 2

Question #1:
I would love to know how you make all your paper designs/invites?
I love the numbers picture you did. Would you mind sharing how it was created?

I make all my invites, cupcake toppers & the important dates print in Photoshop. I use Photoshop CS3. For invites, I just use scrapbooking backgrounds (or make my own) and add clip art & play around with fonts until I like what I make.
For the important dates print, I just have a solid background color & add the numbers/dates and make sure they are all lined up!

Question #2:
What position did you play in soccer?

I played forward the majority of the time. But, I also played outside midfield from time to time if my coach needed me there. I never played defense, I was all about scoring goals!

Question #3
We are going to paint the trim around our slider white like yours(it is currently just oak).Do you have any type of window covering on your French Doors... curtains or shades of some type? Thanks for taking the time to answer all of these questions!! if you don't have any window coverings on your sliding door - doesn't that bug you? I am way too freakish to sit in my family room/kitchen at night without having my shutters closed, etc.

We don't have any curtains or window coverings on our French Doors. I love being able to see out the doors and have it light & bright in our Family Room/Kitchen. It doesn't bug me having no window coverings on it, I think it would bug me if we did! And, we back up to open space & there isn't a home behind ours, so I am not worried about any neighbors being able to see into the back of our house. We have plantation shutters on all our windows, which I love!


Question #4
I think you’ve said that you use Photoshop-my question is how did you learn to edit and would you be able to do a post on some of the basics in editing-Mel style? I know you have your plate full, but I thought I’d ask anyway. If not, could you provide some helpful tips for those of us who are intimidated by Photoshop?

Yes, I use photoshop to edit my pics. Although, I don't edit all my photos that I post here on my blog, most of them are SOOC (straight off the camera) I shoot in manual so I try and get my photos to look good on the camera, not in photoshop. Occasionally, some of the photos I post on here, I do slight color corrections or brighten them. When I shoot photos for other people, I do edit each and every single one of them, evening out skin tones, sharpening the photos, color balance, etc. I do have some actions that I use to edit, but I don't use those much anymore.
This gives me an idea to post a photoshop tutorial one of these days & the exact steps I use to edit photos! Stay tuned.
I am self taught on Photoshop, I just played around with it & read about stuff online. So, my advice would be to open it up, and practice!!!! Play around with different functions. Or, take a class on Photoshop. It really is fun to use!

Question #5
How do you create the designs for your invitations? I have zero creativity and can’t imagine how you do that? How do you fit pictures into the designs and print all that? Do you have a special printing program or printer? Just curious because I have no idea how people do that!!!

This answer is similar to answer #1. I just come up with ideas in my head for invites, etc and play around in photoshop until it looks the way I envisioned. When I first start thinking of an invite, it goes through several drafts/changes/fixes before I decide I like it. I mostly agonize and fixate on the fonts. I am a font snob..I can literally spend HOURS choosing a font. I print my invites/cards/etc through WHCC, Overnight prints or Costco.

Question #6
OK, so my 12 year old just asked for help with his homework:
2(3x)=2x+16
x=?
Yeah! A math problem! Fun! Although, you asked this in November, so I am a little late on homework help. Ha! This is solving equations, which is what I teach my 7th grade Pre Algebra students.
First step is on the left side, you multiply 2 and 3x which equals 6x.
So, your equation is now:
6x=2x+16
Our goal is to solve for x. In order to do that, we need to have all the numbers with x on one side, so we are going to subtract 2x from each side of the equation.
(The golden rule of math is what you do to one side, you must do to the other side)
So, once you subtract 2x from both sides, your equation will now be:
4x = 16
Now, we need to get x by itself, so we are going to divide each side by 4.
x =4
And, don't forget to check your work using the original equation.
You want the left side of the equation to equal the right side of the equation.
Wherever you see the x, substitute it with the 4.
2(3x)=2x+16
2(3*4) = 2(4) +16
2(12) = 8 + 16
24 = 24
Yeah! We got it right, x = 4.

Question #7
1. Would you say going on the Disney cruise with two kids or going to Disney world with two kids was more relaxing? My husband and I are debating on which would be better. (Our girls are 7 and 3)
&
2. What camera would you recommend for beginners. I Just want a good camera to take pictures of my girls...not too expensive but not too cheap either?

I would say hands down, the Disney Cruise is more relaxing!!!!!!! Oh my goodness, it was so fun.
And, your kids will love it also. They do have kids clubs you can check your kids into, but we didn't use them during the day, we wanted to hang out with our girls at the pool, beach, etc. We had them go to the kids club at dinner time (dinner takes a long time on the cruise & our dinner time was 8 pm, so we fed our girls room service at 6 and them put them in Kids Club while the adults had dinner. We did this 2 out of 4 nights.)
Disney World was also fun, but not relaxing....especially in June with heat & crowds. If you are looking for relaxing, the cruise is the way to go. We went for 4 days, I could have stayed longer. *Sigh* I want to go back.
You can read more about our Disney Cruise & Disney World Trip here, here and here.

The 2nd part of the question was about cameras.
If you are interested in getting a DSLR, I would get an Entry level DSLR either a Canon Rebel or Nikon D5100 ( I think that is what the Nikon one is called)
My first DSLR was a Canon Rebel. It is a great camera. As I got more familar with the camera & not shooting in auto, I upgraded lenses. Once I was shooting in all manual (about 2 years after I got it) I upgraded the camera to the Canon 50D.
I am a Canon girl, but Nikon is great also.
I would go to a camera shop (or Best Buy or Costco) and actually hold the Canon and Nikon in your hands. Whichever one is more comfortable in your hands & feels better is what I would go with. Be prepared to spend over $500 for an entry level DSLR with a kit lens.

Question #8
You've shared that your girls don't sleep well at night. My first 2 kids have always slept super well, my 3rd baby...not so much. Any tips on how you function with a wacky sleep schedule? Thanks!

How do I function with wacky sleepers? 2 words:
Coffee (in the morning) and
(at night)
(For me, not them!)
Honestly, having kids who don't sleep very well is hard. They have gotten better, but at least one of them wakes up in the middle of the night....still. Luckily for me, I am a very, very heavy sleeper & don't hear them at night. Unluckily for Kevin, he is a light sleeper, so he is the one who gets up with them in the middle night & deals with them. (Thanks, Kevin!)

Question #9
Do you work out and if so, when do you find the time and what are your favorite workouts? I'm a teacher too, and I've been struggling this school year to find the time and motivation to workout.

Yeah....I haven't worked out in over 6 years (beforeI was pregnant with Kate)
So, to answer your question, I haven't found the time to do it (especially teaching & being a mom) So, I don't have the time or motivation either. (And, so far, I have been lucky with good metabolism) I guess that doesn't really help you with your question, but maybe one of my readers has some advice for you (and me!) One of these years, I would like to get back on a workout routine. If I did, it would be running. I USED to run all the time. I love (loved?) running. So, if I were to workout it, it would be by running. I am not a gym person. Kevin & I belonged to a gym our first few years of marriage & I think I went a total of 10 times in 3 years. Gym membership FAIL. Ha!

Question #10
How did Kevin propose???
Kevin proposed 10 years ago(!!!) on February 15, 2002.
You can read all about it HERE.

Phew. It only took me a few months to answer the questions!
But, I had fun answering them!
Hope you are having a great Wednesday & Happy Pi Day!

10 on 10 :: March 2012

10 pictures on the 10th day of the month!
{Document a snapshot of your life & find beauty among the ordinary things in your day!}

Happy Saturday!
We had a great Saturday, it started off with Kevin letting me sleep in (like he normally lets me do on Saturdays!) What I love about the weekends is fun things for breakfast, like donuts!
Claire was in a great mood this morning & we were singing and she did a little dance number for us.
We normally have really lazy Saturday mornings, but we felt like being productive & take advantage of the beautiful weather and get things done around the house and yard.
Kevin mowed the lawn, I pulled out dead plants & planted a few new ones. And, I admired our tree that is in full blossom. Spring is here!
Lemons from our neighbors tree. I will be making lemon bars in the next few days. Yum.

The girls went to my older sister's house for a bit to make St. Patty's Day cookies, so Kevin and I were able to enjoy lunch poolside in our backyard. I Love paninni's!

My St. Patty's Day Banner:

Love daffodils. My mother in law gave these to me!
While the girls were at Auntie El's I decided it was time to tackle the beast that is the laundry.
This is ALL the clean laundry in our house. 5 loads of it.

After the girls got back, the game was still going on & I still had laundry to fold, so the girls played outside in the court with the neighbors.
On the left, Kevin fixing Kate'a flat tire. On the right, the girls taking a bike break to play Uno with some neighbors. Kate is now obsessed with Uno.

And, the Colorado BUFFS won the Pac 12 Basketball Championship!!!!!!!
It was SUCH an exciting game!!! The Buffs are going to the NCAA tourney!!!! YEAH!!!
As I watched the Colorado Basketball game (for 2 hours) I sat and folded ALL my laundry.
And, it is put away! It's a miracle!

Hope you had a great Saturday. Ours was productive & fun. It was a good day.
Next up on our Saturday night agenda is to watch MoneyBall that we rented & play Draw Something....downloaded the app last night & I am totally hooked!
And, I am going to go set our clocks forward...I didn't know it was Daylight Savings until a few days ago...that snuck up on me this year!

Wine Bottling Weekend

On Saturday, we headed out to Lodi to help with the bottling for my brother in law's wine, McCay Cellars.

This is his third year bottling, but the first year that we have been there for it.
It was totally fascinating.
The bottling process moves quickly. Luckily, my job was to take pictures & keep the girls out of the way.

I should have taken a video of how fast all these conveyor belts were moving.
About 9,000 bottles of wine were bottled, labeled & packed into cases in less than 4 hours.

All of this takes place in the back of a Big Rig. Mobile Wine Bottlers are the easiest way to bottle wine.

Every thing happens in the truck & then the cases go down the conveyor belt, ready to be shipped.

My brother in law's friend, Kevin, helping "catch" the wine cases.

This is a true family winery!

I had fun taking pictures inside the warehouse where they store all the wine before it is pumped into the bottling truck.

The girls had fun checking out the stainless steel wine barrels, where Kate exclaimed, "Yum! Smells like grape juice!"

The last bit of the Zinfandel had to be drained out by hand because the pump couldn't get it.

It went straight into wine glasses of the people helping bottle.

Good old fashion Family fun at the Winery.

After we bottled, we headed back to the McCay house for a celebratory dinner.
My brother in law invited some fun people to the dinner, including a wine blogger and the chef from Wine & Roses.

It was a fun day & I am so glad we got to be watch the bottling process, it was really neat.
If you are a wine lover like us, it was fun to see how it all works, from vineyard to your wine glass. Cheers!

40 Bags in 40 Days: Day 10 Update

Today is Day 10 of Lent, so I thought I would do an update on my 40 Bags in 40 Days Challenge.

The first area I decided to tackle was my closet.
My closet is scary. Too many clothes & not organized.
So many clothes, I can't even hang them all on the rack.
Here is a BEFORE of the right side:
AFTER:
Clothes now in Rainbow order:
Shoes BEFORE:
AFTER:
Here is the left side of the closet BEFORE:
AFTER:

After my closet, I moved onto our Armorie/TV hutch where I keep sweaters & t-shirts.
It was such a mess & full that I couldn't shut the doors.
BEFORE:

AFTER:

Then, it was time to clean out my dresser drawers.
Drawer #1 BEFORE:
AFTER:

Drawer #2 BEFORE:

AFTER:

Drawer #3 BEFORE:

AFTER:

Here are all the clothes that I got rid of:

Including this shirt, which I haven't worn in over 5 years, but I have held onto it because it was the shirt I was wearing the day I found out I was pregnant with Kate. But, I realized it was time to give it away, no reason to hold onto clothes that I don't wear anymore.

My clothes/shoes filled up 3 large bags that were given to Goodwill earlier this week.
I can't tell you how good it felt to GIVE IT AWAY!!!!

The next area I cleaned out was my car. Even though Kevin detailed my car for Christmas, I slowly let it get dirty again. I cleaned out 2 bags of stuff in my car. The bag on the left was clothes that the girls have left in my car. The right bag was trash/school papers/Sunday School papers, etc. that have been left in my car. Gross.

Next up is our downstairs hall closet. Other wise known as my dumping ground.
This closet has never been organized & I seriously just stuff things in there. Ugh.

The top shelf of that closet:

And, AFTER:

So.Much.Better! I got the plastic drawers & I am storing the girls Arts & Craft Supplies in there.
This closet didn't have any stuff to give away, but check out my trash pile....just from this closet! The black bag is full of trash & the piles in front of it are recycling. All that from 1 closet. Embarrassing.

I also cleaned out under our bed. Besides a lot of dust bunnies, I was able to fill 2 bags of things to giveaway (A down comforter, and tons of pillows/throw pillows that we haven't used in years)

So, after 10 days, here is my list as of 3.2.12

I have cleaned out 8 areas on my list (and, I added 4 more areas #'s 31-34)
I have filled up 9 bags, plus a huge recycling pile.

Next up, I am planing on working on the girls rooms & closets!

I am 1/4 of the way there.

I have tried to do 1 area each day, but to be honest, I haven't gotten much done during the week. I am just so tired after a full day of teaching 140 middle schoolers & I would rather hang out with my girls than clean. Some days, they have helped me clean out areas, but mostly they get in the way. ha! The weekends are when I get the majority of this done.
I have no problem getting rid of stuff, it is just finding the time & energy to do it!
But, I like having it broken up into different areas....it feels so good to highlight the areas I have finished. And, the Before & After pictures remind me to keep going!

I will say, once I get started on 1 section, I just want to keep going!
It has been so therapeutic & freeing to throw stuff away and/or bag stuff up to give away.
Cleaning & organizing my "stuff" has made me realize how much I have & how much excess I have. It is honestly gross how much "stuff" we have that we don't need.
Even though I gave away 3 bags of clothes, I still have drawers & a closet full of clothes and shoes.
Yuck.
Makes me sick to my stomach.

If you are doing this also, how are you doing so far?
Has it been easy? What have been your biggest challenges?

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And, If you haven't had a chance to check out the Soup recipes that were linked up to my Soup's On Linky Party, go check them out HERE. I have looked at all of them & they all look SO good. If you haven't linked up, you still have time. The linky will be open until Wednesday!