A cold hotdog....slap in the face:)

So I was searching through foodgawker and found a recipe for beef and broccoli from http://www.myculinaryescapades.com/

It looked easy, delicious, and easy. (did I say that already?). I have been craving Chinese but hate to spend 20$ on food that is full of calories and leftovers sit in the fridge for way too long after dinner.
Well, what else could I do but make my own....I semi follow directions when it comes to cooking. Here's what I did... Cut and marinate beef stew meat in some heavy shakes of soy sauce and ground ginger (refrigerate 1 hour or more), cut and sauté onion in a spray of evoo and a splash of soy sauce...after onions are sautéed, add meat and frozen bag of broccoli. Once heated through, add water and corn starch. (mixed together) I also added mushrooms to mine. Serve with a side of brown rice and some homemade crab rangoon (which I'm still trying to master) and viola! your homemade take-out is done!
Enjoy!

Let me know what you think, questions, ..or if you have a great baked crab rangoon recipe I would love to hear about that too!

Beef and broccoli

1 lb. Beef stew meat
1medium onion
1 pkg. Mushrooms
Bag of frozen broccoli
1 tsp Ground ginger
4ish tbsp of soy sauce
1 tbsp corn starch
1cup Water
Evoo

P.s. My daughter refused to eat this and wanted a cold hotdog, what a culinary slap in the face!!! She has never even eaten a "cold" hotdog. Wtf!!! But I liked it and my hubby enjoyed it too:)

Care bears

Care bears, care bears, care bears!!! Our daughter loves the care bears. My parents brought my Care bear that is almost 30 years old and it has been inseparable from our three year old. She named it Teddy... And she loves watching the shows on tv. The Hub has new episodes every Saturday at 9:00 am.

So with all of the love for care bears, we decided to make care bear t shirts! I googled the different tunny symbols, found some t shirts at walgreens for $1, and started painting! I couldn't find all of the colors that i wanted but we made sunshine bear, good night bear, friendship bear, and cheer bear. I think I got carried away:) She likes to wear the bedtime bear shirt to bed. Here are the shirts. I still need to get pics of her in them, but I think they are cute and she likes wearing them and talking about the care bears.

What was your favorite care bear?

Dead squirrel, cute cat, and poppers

I thought I would catch your attention with that title....but I will explain it all. Starting off with the crafty stuff... Before vacation I bought 3 cheap Cooke sheets at Walmart. I think they were $3.98 for three of them. They made the perfect trays for our 9+ hour car trip to Kansas and Missouri over Memorial weekend. On top of being the great catch all for snacks, crayons, and the Olivia car, they are also magnetic! We have these super cute magnetic dolls that you can dress in different clothes, and the cookie sheets were the perfect fit for these dolls. Well, I decided to paint a little outdoor playground for the dolls and for Olivia too:) Not my best work but I may or may not have had a couple of glasses of wine while painting:) (don't judge me, it's summer break:). I painted it with acrylic paint and learned that I will need to seal it to keep it from chipping under little piggy feet.
On to the title explanation.... We were outside playing with firework poppers, throwing them, stepping on them, and hearing them pop just means its summer! Our little one loves them, she was throwing them and jumping on them, all while my husband was trying to pop them on my feet;). While we were outside we met some neighbors who had just dumped a squirrel that had fallen into their pool and drowned. Poor squirrel... Let's have a moment of silence.………
After the excitement of squirrels and poppers we were about to head inside when a cute little kitty cat came into our yard and wanted to be pet. Well, of course we had to get him some food and water and of course a good petting. Our little one was so exited!!!! "titty tat" "titty tat" "titty tat"!!!! Well his name is of course "titty tat." he will stay outside but we will feed him, he's just too cute and Lyla loves him already!!!
There you have it, a crazy, ordinary, fun evening in the Shue household.

What's happening with your family this summer?

Letters to Lyla

I've been writing things down here and there to document things that our daughter does, but I thought I would just start blogging the little things she does. So here are just a few recent things that she will inevitably hate me for in about 11 years.
One: you started saying "shhhhh" at the funniest moments, like when daddy and I are talking at dinner and not including you. It's even funnier when you do it in the car while mommy sings.
Two: you finally started pooping on the potty everyday, too bad it also includes watching MickeyMouse clubhouse, Olivia, and care bears to finish. (like father like daughter;).
Three: you count everything, a little rainman-ish but none the less awesome; you are currently counting to twenty with little to no help from mommy and daddy.
Four: you started writing your name...semi legible!!!!
Five: You love "Teddy" which is a homemade Care Bear from when mommy was little. ( it's about 30 years old!)
Six: you love playing "earthquake" with daddy before bed every night.
Seven: you are talking up a storm
and very inquisitive to sounds, and your great at "charades" as we try to decipher your speech:)
Eight: you love mustard....
Nine: instead of saying pig ( for Olivia for instance), you snort like a pig and breath deep through your nose. So cute and it reminds me of my aunt Louise who had a pig decorated kitchen. She would have loved you!
Ten: you say "I love you too mama" when I tell you I love you. Which may or may not be 50+ times a day!
Eleven: you started pushing your stroller with your belly. ( picture below)
Twelve: you were a daredevil at the park and played on the swing with 'no hands!'
Thirteen: your fear of dogs has gotten SO much better! ( spike and lyla below)
Fourteen: you wear the stuff mommy makes you because I think you know how happy it makes me. (you are so beautiful) (see below)

More to come and to add. What are your little ones doing these days that will embarrass them later in life??? I would love to hear your comments or questions.

Summer dress

So I found this fabric at Walmart for 1$ a yard, yep you read correctly $1!!! I love good deals. I only bought two yards because I wasn't even sure what I was going to do with it, but it's pretty and it was $1 a yard! It's been sitting on my ironing board (with a million other things) and it keeps calling out to me "make me into something beautiful."

Today, I made something beautiful! I love making clothes for my little girl, it just makes me smile when she wants to wear the things I made. I also like making her dresses because she is so tall and all of the store bought clothes are WAY too short! I can't wait for her to see the finished product. I of course added pockets because you have to have a place to put rings, coins, snacks;)
Here it is, please leave a comment or question, I'd love to hear them!

Summer vacation

One week into summer vacation and time is going by quickly. Although 10 hours in the car on Monday didn't seem so quick. We had a great Memorial weekend with my in-laws in Kansas City. I even got to meet some family members that I hadn't seen yet! We had a great time and our little one got to play with her cousins, aunts, and uncle! Swimming, playing, eating, and being with amazing people was a fantastic way to kick off the summer.
I'm trying to plan different activities for my little one and our family...and still get laundry, dishes, cleaning, and cooking done. I need professor Von Drakes multiplicity potion! (Mickey mouse clubhouse...anyone?!?)
Today little one and I visited the library and picked out lots of books...the scaredy squirrel,a Sandra Boyton book, and a few other ones. As I was juggling my wallet, the books, and making sure the little one was going safely up the stairs.... I had a thought.....we have to make a special library book bag to make sure that we dont mix up any of the library books and I don't fumble and fall down a flight of stairs:).
I let my daughter pick out her own fabric (bonus it was only $2.00 a yard:) and we got a few groceries and headed home. I worked on it while she took a much needed nap and she tested it out when she woke up. I got her approval:)
This bag was very quick and very simple to put together, I just cut two rectangles, one for the inside and one for the outside, sewed up the sides and added some gross-grain ribbon. I think I will add some fabric paint and let my kiddo do some painting on it so she can make it "hers."
What summer time projects do you have planned for your family?