Noodle Dogs

My little girl is such a breeze to cook for. She will eat anything! She loves stinky cheese like feta and don't try to eat black olives around her without sharing. My son on the other hand is difficult at mealtime. But like most kids, if you make dinner fun, he'll typically eat it. And this was certainly a fun twist on hot dogs!

It's super easy. Cut a hot dog into five pieces and poke dry spaghetti through the hot dog pieces. Then boil them up according to the directions for your pasta.

Look at that sweet little girl!

** Use thin spaghetti, I didn't the first time and the pasta in the hot dog meat was a bit too al dente. **

We tossed ours in butter and Parmesan cheese. Next time, I'll add peas or broccoli for nutrition.

The "Before"

Check out this before picture of the area in our master bedroom that's getting all fancy with faux built in bookcases and a window seat. The picture is deceiving because of the huge white window treatment.

Don't judge on the bedroom clutter folks.

Here's another pic I found without the window treatments and clutter. We had our home built. This is a picture of the model.

What I didn't know prior to taking on this project was that the window is NOT centered on the wall. The wall on the left side of the window is 5 inches wider than the left. This little "unknown" made the wood work around the bookcases way more difficult.

Next up, I'll be showing you how I had to modify the baseboards and chair rail to allow for the faux built in look.

Great Minds Think Alike

If you haven't come across the blog Censational Girl, you're really missing out. It's one of my favorite blogs filled with great topics like affordable home decor tips, crafts, recipes, home improvement and more.

Back to the "great minds think alike" part... Censational Girl just posted her newest project - a windowseat. Check it out. She used items from Ikea as well.

Built Ins Update: After many trips to Home Depot, lots of cursing, many backaches from cutting trim with a miter box, and gobs of caulk - I am almost done! What left to do? Some light sanding, priming, and painting.

Lumber Lies - Tips for measuring lumber and boards

Today I realized it had been well over a month since I've been out of the house by myself without one or both of my kids in tow. That's probably not too healthy. As much as I love those little boogers, everyone needs a little alone time. So when my husband got home from work, I took off.

What did I do with my few hours of free time? Get a pedicure? No way, I'm too ticklish. Chow down on some pregnancy food cravings? Nope. I went to my favorite store - Home Depot. I needed some lumber for the "built-in" part of my built-ins. The exact dimensions were very important and could make or break my project.

Tonight during my lumber shopping, I learned lumber and board label dimensions are a lie. Okay "lie", might be a little harsh, but lumber sizing is in fact misleading. A 2x4 is not 2 inches x 4 inches. The actual dimension is 1 1/2 x 3 1/2. Here's a chart with actual lumber/board dimensions. If your project demands exact dimensions, pay close attention to the actual dimensions, not the size on the sticker. I always like to bring a tape measure with me when I'm shopping for lumber just to be sure I'm getting the exact size needed.

Master Bedroom Built-in Bookcases w/ Window Seat - My First Project Series

I've decided to take on a pretty big project - faux built-in bookcases and window seat in my master bedroom. When I was conceptualizing, I didn't think it would be that time consuming. But now that we've started the project, I realize there will be several steps involved to create the "built-in" look. 

This is my first ever blog project series. This post will go over the initial project components/supplies.

Project details continue after the jump:

Almond Joy Pie

My husband lost his parents a few years back. We think about them and lovingly speak of them daily. One way we continue to celebrate them is by making meals and desserts that remind us of them. I make a chocolate cake every year on my mother-in-laws birthday. It's a cake that I used to make for her for Valentine's Day and she always loved it. You can find that recipe for Mimi's Chocolate Cake here.

For my father-in-law, the most laid back and sweetest man I've ever met, coconut desserts always come to mind. I'd make him dark chocolate brownies with a coconut, pecan and chocolate chip topping or at holiday's I'd make him a coconut custard pie with a chocolate crust.

Recipe after the jump:

I'm Baking up a BABY!

I've been absent, I know... I haven't stopped making and creating things, that's for sure. In fact, I'm making and baking a baby! Baby #3 for us! I'm already 26 weeks along. The first 18 weeks are still a blur thanks to the glamorous morning sickness. Then it took quite a while for me to play catch up with all the things I had to put off during the morning sickness phase. But here I am chugging along, running full speed to get things ready to add another little blessing to our home. This time, we decided not to find out the gender of the baby. I have to admit it's really super duper exciting not to know!!

Here's a picture of our baby Nibbles:

My hubby couldn't attend the big 20 week ultrasound appointment, so I took our 5 year old son. He is a riot. Here are some of his quotes from the appointment. "Oh my gosh, Mom, I see Skittles in there!" "Look, the baby has a chicken leg tail." "Hey lady (to the Sonographer) how did that baby get into my Mommy's belly?" 

Besides the baby, here are a few projects I'm working on:

• Creating faux built-in bookcases complete with a window seat in our Master Bedroom.
• Setting up the baby nook in our Master Bedroom.
• Sewing a simple gender neutral quilt for our newest addition.
• Turning our laundry room into a walk-in pantry.
• Remodeling our second bathroom - installing bead board, framing the mirror, changing out the light fixture.
• Turning a boring little end table into a fun statement piece for our bedroom.
• And creating some really fun and unique Father's Day Gifts. Seriously, fun items so check back!!