The Cootie Queen
Henry’s Dinosaur Room
Jun 4th
Hi Blog! It’s nice to see you again! I think I should change my blog name from The Cootie Queen to The Sporadic Posting Queen! Ha!
Anyway! I *just* finished decorating Henry’s new big boy dinosaur room, so I wanted to get a post with pics and links and what not up to share (and, yes, show off). I’m pretty proud of his new room – it came together very nicely, I think.
I was very wishy washy about what I wanted to do for him bed wise. Toddler bed? Convert his crib to a full-size bed, sell his crib/dresser and get a twin bed… I think I had myself convinced of each of those options at some point.
In the end I decided to sell his crib/dresser and buy a twin size captains bed and a nightstand. I also snagged a really cool train table on Craigslist that I wanted to put in his room, so I had the bright idea to give him a new train themed big boy room. That was all great and good until I opened my big mouth and asked Henry what HE wanted. And of course, he wanted a Dinosaur room. So I switched gears and we got to decorating dinosaur style (but still with a train table… Dinosaur Train, anyone?)
This is the view when you walk into his room. I’ll put links to the furniture and decor that I bought at the bottom of this post if you’re interested.
This is the nightstand, the door to the closet, and a hint of a bookshelf…
Here’s the bookshelf (Pops built this when Henry was a wee little guy), and Aaron hung up our small TV that used to be in our office when this room was an office along with a DVD player. He can watch Blue’s Clues and play with his train table when he wants to get away from Gus for a few minutes. 
I found a cute dinosaur LED night light at Target to keep Frank N. Alien company.
Going back the other direction – this is the view straight ahead when you walk in the door…
Standing in front of the closet door…
Here’s a close up of the 3 dinosaur paintings I painted. You read that right… I painted them! I totally copied the idea from some art prints I was going to buy but decided they looked like I could paint them easy enough and instead of paying for the 3 tiny prints and then paying to get them framed and matted, I’d buy 3 $7 canvases and see what I could do. I am rather pleased with myself, I’ll admit it. When I showed the first one to Henry he said, “Oh Mommy I am sooo proud of you!” …It was like hearing myself talk through a 2 year old. LOL! I guess I say that to him quite a bit. Plus it was probably the cutest and sweetest thing he’s ever said, so I’ll take the compliment!
Here’s the closeup of the picture I made that’s hanging over his nightstand…
This was a combination of ideas I saw on Pinterest. I printed out my favorite picture of Henry and me and the lyrics to the song I’ve sang to him almost every night since he was born on white tissue paper and used modge podge (I looove me some modge podge) to glue the tissue paper to the canvas. Of course after I made this, I inspiration struck and I realized how I could have laid it out so the words would have been bigger, but oh well. This works. It’s sentimental and cute and cost me about $10 for the big canvas. Brilliant!
Here’s a closer look at his dinosaur bedding…
Here’s a close up of the H E N R Y that I made to hang above the head of his bed. I think this is Henry’s favorite part of the room.
Sorry – Instagram photo there. But you get the gist. I bought the plain MDF letters from Hobby Lobby and modge podged decorative paper on them. The paper came out of a back of themed paper for Boys & Toys. Easy peasy! Each letter was $1.59 at Hobby Lobby.
And just for funsies – here’s a Henry-point-of-view shot of the train table and the wall decals. I realize in the pics the decals look pretty low on the wall, but to Henry they should look just about right!
Here’s the info on where I bought stuff and links to everything I can find links for:
Carter’s Kids Collection Lost Creek Gray 4 Pc Twin Captain’s Pedestal Bed
Carter’s Kids Collection Lost Creek Gray Nightstand
Bookshelf – Handmade by Pops
Train Table – Craig’s list
Red Chair – Purchase from Unclaimed Freight
Circo Roar n Stomp LED Nightlight
And the Winner is…
Apr 2nd
Adrian!
Congratulations, Adrian, you are now the proud owner of some new lip gloss! Woot! I shall give it to whence I next see you again!
Henry + Bubbles & Meal Plan Monday: Week 3/26
Mar 26th
Hello all! First things first… I’ve got a guest post happening over at Neathering our Fest. It’s a delicious cookie recipe. Go forth and explore Neathering our Fest and Skey’s rockin’ awesome Etsy store, Thumbprint Designs. Skye just made me a little (well actually it’s kind of big) lovely for my kitchen that I will show off in it’s very own post very soon. 
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We have had some FANTASTIC weather the last few days, so we have been trying to get outside as much as possible and enjoy it. Since it gets darker later now, we can get outside after dinner and spend some quality time playing with Henry after Gus has gone to bed. Henry has always loved him some bubbles, so we do a lot of bubble blowing outside in the backyard.
Henry loves to try to blow his own bubbles… So far he just ends up with a lot of bubble juice all over his face, but hey… He’s trying! It’s hilarious to watch someone try to explain how to blow bubbles. I need to get pictures of THAT. LOL!
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Now that the photo bomb is over, here’s my Meal Plan for this week!
Sunday: grilled chicken, grilled squash and zucchini, roasted red potatoes, strawberry shortcake (yummmm)
Monday: turkey burgers & oven fries… and probably more strawberry shortcake!
Tuesday: crunchy tacos
Wednesday: panko breaded chicken breasts, mashed potatoes, broccoli
Thursday: spaghetti, spinach salad, garlic bread
What’s on your meal plan for this week?
P.S. I have a giveaway going on right now! Go there and leave a comment to be entered in a chance to win my favorite lip gloss. You can comment on this post as well to get extra entries!
Meal Plan Monday – Week 3/19
Mar 19th
This one is going to be a quickie post since I literally just got home from the grocery store and it’s 8:40pm on Monday. Nothing like last minute planning, huh? We worked in the yard (more on that coming soon) all weekend, so I didn’t get a chance to hit the grocery store until tonight in the middle of the pouring rain. The bright side is that I was almost the only person in the store.
Sunday: My parents were here helping with the boys while Aaron and I hauled dirt and worked our tushies off in the yard. I made us all Rachael Ray’s Grandpa’s Braised Beef. You should totally try this recipe. I know it sounds a bit weird (or at least I thought it sounded kind of strange), but it is seriously delicious. It’s a one pot meal that really sticks to your ribs.
Monday: Take-out. It happens.
Tuesday: Ravioli, spinach salad, garlic bread
Wednesday: Veggie Pizza
Thursday: Lentil soup, grilled cheese paninis
Also, go check out the giveaway for this month! You can comment here for an extra chance to win!
Feeling Lucky? Here’s a Lip Gloss Giveaway!
Mar 17th
Happy St. Patty’s Day! I’m going to celebrate by hauling dirt and working in the yard. Fun, eh?
You know what sounds like more fun than that? How about my next giveaway?
In my humble opinion, there are few things better than finding the perfect lip gloss. Sure, sure, smelling babies heads and ice cream and sleeping in all rank up there pretty high, but still… there’s something about the perfect lip gloss.
This is my personal favorite…
I love this stuff. This is the 3rd little tin of it I’ve purchased over the last few years, and I use it almost every day (well every day that I put on make up anyway…) I don’t do that as often as I used to before I started staying home with my babies, which is probably why I’ve just had to buy 3 little tins of it. But really it does last a nice long time, which is part of why I love it.
I just ventured out to buy some more and discovered they no longer make it. Booo! I looked all over at Ulta and checked out the Too Faced website and it’s nowhere to be found. They also make my favorite eye liner that is also now unavailable. What gives!?!?! I clearly need to update my make-up preferences, I guess.
So I combed the Internets and found an online retailer that had 2 left in stock. Two!
And since I’m nice and not a hoarder or a stingy person, I would love to give one of them to you!
I’ll send you the one on the left that is still sealed… I opened mine up and stuck my finger in it. I’ll go ahead and keep that one.
It’s a really subtle shiny pink color. The one downside to this lip gloss is that you do have to stick your finger in it. Or a Qtip. Or a lip brush that you provide yourself. But this stuff is totally worth it. It supposedly tastes like grapefruit, but it doesn’t taste like anything to me. It does have a nice slightly citrus smell and it is seductively conditioning. Just like the lid promises.
So here’s the scoop… Just like last time – all you need to do is leave me a comment on this post and any future posts between today and the end of the month. You can comment on each post for separate entries. Just any ole comment will do! Tell me your favorite lip gloss since I’ll clearly need to find a new favorite soon. Or tell me your middle name! Or tell me what you had for breakfast last week. Whatever floats your boat.
I’ll announce the winner on April 1st. Good luck!
P.S. some fine print… this giveaway is sponsored by The Cootie Queen. I’m not affiliated with Too Faced. I just like their lip gloss that they once made but no longer carry. Boo.
What’s cookin’? Kind of Sort of Taco Wraps
Mar 15th
This is one of Aaron’s all-time favorite meals, and I don’t even know what to call it. We refer to these just as “wraps” but they’re not what you’d normally think of as wraps. They’re more like tacos, perhaps? But not really tacos… They’re good. A great way to use up leftovers, and quick and easy to throw together. And you get to eat it all inside a tortilla which makes me happy.
Cook yourself up some diced up potatoes. When I have time, I just dice up red potatoes, toss them in EVOO, season them up and roast them at 425 until they’re done. When I’m not on top of things and haven’t planned ahead, this happens. They get fried up in canola oil. This way also makes it a one skillet meal… but you can save yourself a few calories and guilt and roast them and the wraps turn out just as tasty.
Set the cooked potatoes aside (or while they’re roasting in the oven) brown up 1/2 lb of ground beef and then season it with taco seasoning. Pardon my nail polish testing…
Toss in a can of black beans. Drained.
Right here I’d normally toss in some frozen corn. But I had a little leftover creamed corn from our chicken fried steak dinner the other night… so I used that instead. And it was good.
Mix it all together. Let each new addition incorporate and cook off it’s liquids before you add in the potatoes to avoid potato mush.
…Meanwhile make your picky 2 year old a delicious grilled cheese because he’s not gonna touch any of this.
I had half of an avocado leftover, so I mashed it up with a little seasoning salt and lime juice.
Here’s how we like to dress ‘em up… Some avocado or guac, sour cream, shredded cheese, I like the Chipotle Tobasco (Aaron refers to it as “ass sauce”. He’s not a fan.) All of that on some nice fresh tortillas. And don’t forget the grilled cheese sandwich. You’ll need that.
There ya have it! Deliciousness all wrapped up in a tortilla. Easy peasy and very tasty! You can also use leftover steak, grilled chicken, really any kind of leftover meat will work! Enjoy!
Meal Plan Monday – Week 3/11
Mar 12th
My lovely parents came over on Saturday and stayed with both boys for a couple of hours while Aaron and I ran errands together. We were planning on going to get dirt and compost for my garden, but it was pouring down rain. Nobody want’s to load wet dirt into the back of their brand new mini-van, so instead Aaron went grocery shopping with me! How cool is that? …it’s the small things, I tell ya! I cooked both days this weekend, too, so the meal plan for this week actually started waayyy back on Saturday. Saturday seems like a long way away… it’s been a long afternoon around here.
Saturday: Crockpot Tortilla Soup
Sunday: …beware… this isn’t going to be pretty. Actually it was quite lovely, but it’s not for the feint of heart. Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, and Adam’s Mama’s Creamed Corn. OMG. It was so good. Certainly not health-food, but comfort food to the max. I ended up making the meal to go around Adam’s Mama’s Creamed Corn. Adam is Marni’s husband. His Mama made some damn fine creamed corn. I’ve never had better. It made my corn loving heart sing. If you’ve only had the crummy canned creamed corn before (hey-ooo that was some unintentional alliteration right there!) you must go forth and make some real creamed corn from scratch. So delicious.
Monday: Wraps that aren’t really wraps but more like tacos, but aren’t really like tacos. I’ve got a recipe coming for them later this week, so I’ll link this up to the recipe when I post it.
Tuesday: White pasta w/ broccoli
Wednesday: Turkey Burgers, tater-tots
Thursday: Grilled chicken, roasted red potatoes, and a veggie yet to be decided.
Tag! I’m it! (…and so are you!)
Mar 7th
My lovely and talented friend, Skye, has an adorable blog over at www.neatheringourfest.com. Skye happens to be one of the few bloggers I actually know in real life. She’s got a fantastic handmade shop on Etsy called Thumbprint Designs where she makes adorable upcycled craftiness and some wayyyy cute college themed notecards. Makes me wish I went to a fancy school people have actually heard of!
Anyway! Skye tagged me in a fun little tag-you-friends type bloggy post doodad, and I thought it would be fun. I don’t think I have 11 people who have blogs to tag back, but I’ll answer the questions and tag 11 people I think might come here and at least answer my questions in the comments if they don’t have a blog.
Here are the rules:
- You must post the rules.
- Answer the 11 questions that the tagger posted for you
- Then create 11 questions to ask the people you’ve tagged.
- Tag 11 people and link them in your post.
- Let them know you have tagged them.
1. have you ever gone back and read your very first blog post? what is one thing that makes you cringe and one thing that makes you smile?
Sure! I just read it while I was doing some updates to my sneeze page and what not after my almost year long blogging hiatus. Nothing about that particular post makes me really cringe… perhaps my use of the word “whore”? But I stand by it. LOL! The pics of my sweet then 6 month old Henry Boy make me smile from ear to ear!
2. tell us all about your favorite pair of shoes. where did you get them? what did you buy them for? what is your favorite memory while wearing them?
I always have a pair of Rainbow flip flops… either with the rainbow or just plain black soles. I bought them online b/c I couldn’t find anywhere locally that sold the ones I wanted. I bought them to make my flip flop wearing feet happy. I wear them fairly non-stop during the flip-flop wearing months, so in Texas that’s about April-October… I don’t know if I can pinpoint one memory. I know I was wearing a pair with my horribly swole up feet squeezed into them the day we brought Henry home from the hospital, and that’s a nice memory.
3. if you could go back and do one thing you didn’t do, what would it be?
Nothing! I’m a freak about these questions and the whole, “what’s one thing you regret” type of questions or “what’s something you would do over again”… I think I’ve watched and read too many sci-fi/fantasy genre movies and books in my day, but I say nothing b/c what if that one little thing would change the course of events in my life and I end up homeless living in a van down by the river instead of perfectly happy and content with my sweet little family living in a brick home down by the railroad tracks… So I go with nothing. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
4. what is your go-to beverage first thing in the morning?
Coffee. Must have coffee.
5. do you sleep with the fan on or off?
On. Definitely on. It gives me a claustrophobic feeling to think of sleeping with the fan off. I wish fans were required in all hotel rooms. We stayed in a hotel in CA once with a fan in the room and I was happy as a clam.
6. what is your favorite thing about the home you currently reside in?
It’s the first home Aaron and I lived in together. It’s where we brought both of our babies home to. It’s the first home both of my boys are going to remember. It has an amazing closet that I designed myself and Aaron painstakingly installed for me.
7. money aside, you get to plan the absolutely perfect date. spill the details.
I’m not terribly romantic or into fancy stuff, so I’m totally drawing a blank here. The first thing that comes to mind is that I’d like to go ride rollercoasters and not have to wait in line. So perhaps that would have to be it… a private day at Six Flags for roller coaster riding with my main squeeze. Hey even the kids could come, but someone else would have to take care of them. Ha!
8. do you get nervous pulling your car into the bay when you get your oil changed? or is that just me?
I haven’t had to take my vehicle for an oil change since I met Aaron! Well maybe once before we had kids, but not since. But before when I had to do those sorts of things for myself, no… it doesn’t bother me. I bet it totally bothers Aaron though… he’s not so good with spacial awareness while driving a vehicle… especially if it’s a large one. But I love him despite all that.
9. the eternal debate: mac or pc?
Definitely Mac. My name is Sarah, and I’m a Mac. And an iPhone and an iPad. If Apple started selling shoes, I’d probably buy them, too.
10. what habit do you have that you would pay someone to help you get rid of?
I can’t think of any habits. I bet if you as my Mom or Aaron or my close friends, they’d rattle off a list… Perhaps over shopping at the grocery store, or maybe just overspending while shopping anywhere would be a good one. I don’t know that that’s really a habit per se, but it’s definitely something I do that I’d love to stop doing permanently.
11. what is one habit you wish you could naturally pick up and have for the rest of your life?
Exercise. I wish I exercised enough that it felt like a habit and that I missed it if I couldn’t squeeze it in one day instead of dreading making time for it b/c I know I need to do it.
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Here’s my questions:
1. What is your middle name? Any significance to it?
2. What is your favorite dessert?
3. Name your top 3 pet peeves.
4. What is the last item you bought that was over $50?
5. What were the colors in your wedding? (if you’ve been married… if not… If you had to plan a wedding today, what would your colors be?)
6. What was your favorite year of school? (why…?)
7. Who is your favorite character? (from a book, movie, tv show… you pick)
8. What is the last movie you saw at a theater?
9. Do you paint your toenails?
10. What did you eat for lunch yesterday?
11. If I gave you $1000 right now what would you do with it?
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OK… Now your turn!
5. Skye (I want you to come back and answer my questions! … is that cheating?)
6. Sassy
7. Jen
8. Adrian
9. Seeeester
10. Jess P.
11. YOU! (if you’re not listed but are here, join in the fun and answer the questions in the comments! do it!)
Meal Plan Monday: Week 3/5
Mar 5th
Is it March 5th already? Sheesh!
I’ve only got 2 seconds so here’s a quick look at this week’s meal plan…
Sunday: The Pioneer Woman’s Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork. I made up some guacamole, shredded some monterrey jack cheese and we ate it on fresh tortillas. Tasty. I was, however, a little unimpressed with the pork recipe. I prefer her Spicy Shredded Pork recipe over this one… You can really taste the ingredients in this one, and not so much with the Dr. Pepper one.
Monday: BBQ Pulled Pork Pizza. Say that 5 times fast. I’m using some leftover pork from last night and making a delicious pizza with it. I’m also making The Neely’s BBQ sauce for this… I really like this recipe. Two thumbs up.
Tuesday: I’m either going to make lentil soup and grilled cheese panini’s or we’re going to have grilled chicken sandwiches with a cesar salad. Can’t decide. I’ve got the fixin’s for both. I think it may depend on the weather and my mood.
Wednesday: Rachael Ray’s Grandpa’s Braised Beef. Marni told me about this one and I gotta have it. I’m getting drooly over here. I’m normally a big skeptical of Rachael Ray’s recipes b/c I’ve had some bad luck, but Marni swears by this one and if Marni swears by something I’m gonna like it.
Thursday: Planning leftover braised beef… it’s a whopper of a recipe.
Friday Fun Day
Mar 2nd
We had big plans today. Our plans fell through though… it happens. So I packed some lunches and we set off for some fun at the park and a picnic. And I actually remembered to take my camera. My actual camera – not just my phone. Double Woot!
Turns out it was a little chilly outside. The temp was in the 60′s but it was windy and the wind was cold. So we stayed at the park as long as Gus’s ears would stay warm… which was good enough.
…well don’t ask Gus. He might have a different opinion on the whole park trip today.
…we’re doin’ whaaa????
Next time we hit the park, we’ll have to 1) go when it’s a bit warmer outside. (In my defense it was 85 freakin’ degrees yesterday. Go Texas! 2) Go to the park with the swings. I see some swinging in Gus’s future.
….she says we’ll go swinging soon, but now all I’ve got is this stupid stroller and my chewy. And a blanket. Pfft. Sometimes it’s tough being the little brother, huh?
Check this out… When I was uploading these pictures, I remembered that in the early days of this blog I wrote a similar post with pictures of Henry’s first trip to the park. That post was on March 29, 2010… Almost 2 years ago!
My how my boy has grown! March 29th, 2010:
March 2, 2012:
Aaaahhhhh!!! Stop! I can’t take it!
Moving on… Henry’s a big fan of the slide. He’s got his own slide-on-the-belly-technique perfected. Here… I’ll let him demonstrate. Enjoy!
And he sticks the landing!
Don’t worry Gus… We’re leaving now.
It was too chilly to sit outside and have a picnic, but since I’d packed everything up already, Henry and I decided we’d picnic anyway. Thank goodness for our minivan, or the Sarahvan as we like to call it. I laid the back seats down, spread out our blanket and we had a nice climate controlled picnic in the back of the van. Gus was warm, and Henry said we had a “fun picnic.” I’ll take it!
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