A Cookie Cutter Diva's Life

Today we spent most of the day at one of our old favorite pools we used to go to a lot on post. The only reason we don't spend more time there is they have a nice baby wading area fenced off but a big pool out of the fence that are so gapped out it's hard to watch all of the kids and the boys like to go in the big pool of course and play on the slide and diving boards.

I haven't been in probably 2yrs and today wasn't a pleasant experience. I was sitting there on the side of the pool with some friends talking and nursing my 6 month old daughter Peyton when I have a life gaurd approach me and ask me if I could cover up while feeding her or leave to feed her and I said no it's way to hot out here! She continues to tell me how guest are complaining about me so why can't I cover up so I continue to inform her of the state laws and how her guest could look somewhere else and that it was ridiculous for her to even approach me.

I later went to the supervisor of the pool who told me when she came back to him and told him I wouldn't do what she asked he called his supervisor to see what to do and was told the same thing I told them. So that was settled but they need to be better educated on breastfeeding for further refrence.





The kids had a lot of fun and were fearless as usual going off the highest diving board!


We had baked spaggetti for dinner tonight! Everyone loved it and a big hit with the kids!

1 package (16 ounces) spaghetti
1-1/2 pounds ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed tomato soup, undiluted
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1 cup water
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
1/8 teaspoon garlic salt
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided


Directions
Break spaghetti in half; cook according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, cook the beef, onion and green pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the soups, tomato sauce, water, brown sugar and seasonings.
Drain spaghetti; stir into meat sauce. Add 1/2 cup cheese. Transfer to a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish.
Cover and bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake 10-15 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Yield: 12 servings

So I got all of my orders for 4th of July wear done! I wish I would've gotten my new sewing machine earlier and gotten to do more but I was limited by the time I got it and since there wasn't any patriotic material local I had to order the fabric and allow time for it to get here.

Not only that but some of it wound up being out of stock and I got notified to late so I had to cancel some orders too! But I had fun with what I did get to do!

I had my first attempt at a fitted cloth diaper today!

The first round totally failed and I didn't do the elastic right so it didn't tighten like it should've around the legs.

The 2nd time came out just perfect except for one thing... it would fit a baby doll and not my child haha

Oh well it turned out really cute and I got the basic concept to it and the good thing about having girls is that it didn't totally go to waiste since there are so many baby dolls in this house!





If at first you don't succeed try try again! So I took a break and worked on one of my orders for a pillow case dress and I will continue to work on the cloth diapering department more later lol

We had a pretty good weekend! We spent Saturday out at Chucky Cheese. We haven't been since they finished the construction and added on to it. They have more games, especially more toddler friendly games and more tables which is super awesome!

The kids (hubby too lol) had a blast as usual! Can't beat a place you can go and play every game for one quarter!


I made some really yummy Oatmeal Teddy Bear cookies that I ate WAY to many of... lol sometimes I think it's bad I bake lol





Teddy Bear Cookies

1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 to 2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups pillsbury best all purpose flour
2 1/2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1tsp baking soda
brown or chocolate decorator icing
red miniature candy coated chocolate pieces


In large bowl, combine brown sugar and butter; beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs; blend well

Lightly spoon flour into meassuring cup; level off. In medium bowl, combine flour, oats and baking soda; mix well. Add to brown sugar mixture; blend well. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate 1 hour for easier handling.

Heat oven to 375. For eat bear, form two 1/2 inch balls and on 1 1/2 inch ball. Place the large ball on ungreased cookie sheet; place smaller pieces on top to form ears. Flatten dough slightly; crimp edges with fork. Repeat with remaining dough, placing large balls of dough 3 inches apart on cookies sheets.

Bake at 375 for 7-10 minutes or until light golden brown.

So today we were going to have a playdate out at the spray park but we found out that it was down for maintence! So we had a change of plans last minute and since I was feeling well we decided to move the playdate to my house.





I hadn't bought the kids a pool this year because my 7yr old is getting way to big for those little pools and we really need to invest in one of the bigger ones that are around $200 or so but didn't get around to it this year and wasn't sure if we wanted to since we have the luxury of going to pools on post for free and one less then a mile away from us in our village. We've been spending a lot of time out at the pools this year and going at least every other day. Sometimes even daily.





My oldest son Aidan has had swimming lessons before and does really well with swimming now so he loves that he can go with out a life jacket and swim in the deep end. My son Keagan is getting a lot better and has been going off the diving board this year and swimming over to the ladder in the deep end which kind of makes me nervous but so far he's doing well and I just keep a close eye on him.




So I rushed out and got a pool for the back yard for our last minute playdate and decided to get two since the kids are getting so big so that they would have plenty of swim room for all of the kids.

The kids had fun playing outside on the slip n slide and between the two pools, played with chalk, bubbles enjoyed some fruit salad, popcorn, popcicles and juice boxes on their hot day!




Then they decided to make it a mud war and turned themselves into little mud camoflauged kids! The boys were playing army and trying to hide in their camoflauge and I guess the girls were having mud facials haha

By the time the afternoon was over the pools were dark brown and I had a yard full of mud and muddy toys! But they had a blast!


Tonight I made this new recipe and it looks super yummy! We will see how it is in a few minutes when it cools off! Rice Crispy Treats tonight for desert! Mmmmmm

Pizza Casserole

Ingredients:
3 cups uncooked spiral pasta
2 pounds ground beef
medium onion, chopped
2 cans 8oz mushrooms, drained
1 can 15oz tomato sauce
1 jar 14oz pizza sauce
1 can 6oz tomato paste
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp dried oregano
4 cups shredded skim mozzarella cheese
1 package sliced pepperoni
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a dutch oven, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. stir in the mushrooms, tomato sauce, pizza sauce, tomato paste, sugar and seasonings. Drain pasta; stir into meat sauce.

Place in greased casserole dish.

Top with pepperoni, mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheeese.

Cover and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake 10-15 minutes longer.

So today I so wonderfully broke the needle on my sewing machine! Wow I didn't think that I was that talented but apparently I have hidden talents I don't know about haha

So I gave up on sewing for the rest of the day and put the water slide out for the kids but they got bored with that pretty fast so we decided to join some friends at the pool today.



Peyton wound up taking a nap shortly after getting there so she napped in the shaded stroller while I got to lay out and get some sun for once! So hopefully I will get a nice tan!

I made this recipe last night and it was super yummy so thought I'd pass it on! I think I will do it with out the celery next time and maybe add some cheese!



Mom's Skilleen Goulash

2 2/3 cups uncooked rotini pasta
1lb lean ground beef
1 1/2 cups chopped celery
1 cup chopped onions
2 cans diced tomatoes undrained
1 can condensed tomato soup
1 tsp dried basil leaves
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper



cook and drain pasta as directed on box.

Meanwhile in 12 inch non stick skillet or dutch oven, cook beef, celery and onions over medium heat, stirring frequently, until beef is thoroughly cooked; drain.

Stir in cooked pasta and remaining ingredients. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low; simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.

Some of my latest projects have been messing around with doing ribbon clothes! Taking an old pair of jeans and making them fancy with a few things sewn on them or a plain tshirt!




I want to do a pair of overalls next but much more done up then what I've been doing so far!

But here are a few projects I've been doing!