Homemade Maple Syrup

Maple Syrup

(Now you can switch the 2 cups of white sugar with 1 cup white sugar and 1 cup of brown sugar)

2 C. White Sugar

1 C. Water

Combine, stir, and let boil in a thick pot for a little over 5 min. Watch the mixture, when the bubbles and liquid turn to a clear color, remove from heat.

Add 1 TBS Maple Extract.

Let cool and enjoy.

Double if needed.

Spray Paint- for good & for bad!

 I have been working on quite a few projects with spray paint recently.  I LOVE spray paint.  It is cheap, easy and makes a huge difference!  I always put the spray way up on a shelf where my children can't get to (or so I thought)...  Then the incident happened- My son (2 years old) pushed a chair to that shelf, got the paint down and proceeded to spraying his little sister black.  Poor little thing!  She of course didn't mind at all at become one of his brothers projects.  They see mom spray paint stuff...  

Moral of the Story- Make sure your kids can't get into that paint because it is REALLY hard to remove!

 Now I better show you some stuff I have painted recently...

I got this little sign at a garage sale.  I thought it was pretty cool, but I hated the frame.  So... I painted it a maroon color.

The darker red sure brings out the red in the sign.  I like it a whole lot better now...

Next...

I got these iron candle stick things at Goodwill.  But I wanted them black...

Now, they match my house a whole lot better!

Treasure Chest?

I really need some ideas! And I know there are so many of you out there that are awesome at decorating and have incredible ideas!

So yesterday, my friend showed me an awesome store here in El Paso called Moses' Store.  He has all sorts of antiques and collectibles at amazing prices.  So I scored this chest!  I was so excited when I saw it: it had leather handles, all the latches were there and work and the textures are amazing!  My boys think that pirates used it to hid their treasure in it!

Now what to do with it...

That's when you all come in.

What would you do with this chest?

Any decorating ideas?

I'm anxious to hear any and all ideas!

Zucchini Enchiladas

Zucchini Enchiladas

3/4 c. onion
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 c. grated zucchini
2 TBS. water

Cook until tender. Drain.
Add 1 can of green chilis.

Meanwhile, make a Spicy Sauce.

2 Tbs. butter
2 Tbs. flour
1-2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. salt
Pinch of pepper
1 C. milk
Cook, then stir in 1 cup of cheese.

Stir 1/3 of the sauce into the zucchini mixture.
Fill flour tortillas and roll. Put in a 9x13 pan. Once the pan is filled, pour the rest of the spicy sauce on top of the tortilla rolls. Top with more cheese.
Bake at 400 degrees for 30 min.

*Opt. You can add some cooked shredded chicken with the cooked zucchini for a more hardy dish.

Chore Chart

Here is our latest and greatest Chore Chart that we are using in our family.  Having seven kids requires a lot of organization and planning.  Every once in a while, I switch things up to make doing chores more exciting.    

So I used my Silhouette SD and cut out this shape.  It is the chore_chart_grid_C00569_19210.  I increased the size and printed it out on about 4 sheets of vinyl that were paper size.  And I stuck it right on my refrigerator.

Then I used my Silhouette to print and cut out the coordinating icons that you can find in their online store.  It is great that the Silhouette has the option to print from your computer and then cut on the machine.  (Just make sure to print the registration marks on your paper.)  Before I printed, I sized down the circles to fit the size of my magnets (3/4 inch).  I added color and made sure to "tell" the machine not to cut out the shapes, but only the circles.

Here are the magnets that I bought.  I picked them up at Wal-Mart. And I used all fifty of them!

I used a cookie sheet with a paper on it to hold the magnets in place while I glued.

I used Tacky Glue to glue the papers down.

And then I used a Clear Gel Tacky Glue to glue the glass marble shapes (that are flat on one side) that I picked up in the floral department section.  (One tip that I learned is to put the glue on the marble and then attach it to the magnet.  It helps prevent the ink from smearing.)

I continued gluing the rest of the papers onto the magnets.  As you can see, I color coded the chores into groups.

Purple - put folded clothes away

Black - Practice piano

Green - Brush teeth

Orange - Homework

Pink - Practice stringed instruments (violin, cello, etc.)

Red - Clean room

Yellow - Make Bed

Blue - Other chores around the house

Next, I finished gluing the glass marbles onto the rest of the magnets.  I had so many marbles, that I was able to be picky with which ones I used.  Some of them had blemishes or weren't as large as I wanted.

Here's what the finished magnets look like.  I really liked the music ones!

Now onto the chore chart...

So here is the finished product:

I'm trying a new system, which has seemed to work great so far.  By this time in my children's lives, they know what they have to do and what needs to be cleaned.  So after they do their "jobs" they move the magnet next to their name and that shows me what they have done.

Everyone pretty much has the same jobs, except for the "blue magnets", or the household chores.  

So here's the catcher, whoever gets up first picks what house job they want to do, they finish it and then move the magnet for that job to their name.  This means that the person who waits to do their chores usually ends up with the job that no one wants.  These kids are running to get their jobs done, so they don't end up with the bathroom!  Haha!  I'm loving it!