A Cookie Cutter Diva's Life

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!

Well today I spent most of the day playing with my sewing machine! Some fabric came in last night for an order for a friend who wanted matching Pillow Case dresses for her girls to wear with pink skulls on them. They came out super cute and I think I'm going to have to make one for my girls now!





I've been playing around with sewing cloth diapers. I've always wanted to make my kids cloth diapers since they use them but never wound up learning how to do them or having the time to really focus on trying to do them. Peyton is our last child and 6 months old now and I'm determined to make some cloth diapers before she's potty trained for her to wear and for some of my friends who cloth diaper as well!

So that is my next mission is to learn how to make cloth diapers and wipes! I don't know that I'm crazy enough to make an AIO or a Pocket but I think I will start with some cute fitteds which is what I've been playing around with tonight and making them out of Peytons recieving blankets that she doesn't use as much anymore!

So we will see how it goes!

So this morning me and the kids woke up and went to our coffee playdate only to find out that the play area was closed for cleaning and we didn't see anyone there. We were running a little late anyways. The kids were upset that the play area was closed but I promised to make it up to them.

Got some stuff done and made some runs around town that they found oh so boring as usual.. like the post office.

So we planned a day at the local water park that we hadn't yet checked out. How ever, we didn't know this was going to be an eventful day of dissapointment!

We went into the local water park where we paid for our tickets. Both of my two middle children wearing their life jackets as we came in.











As you can see there is a sign with the water park rules, but it does not state anywhere on the signs posted that they are not allowed to enter with a life jacket on. I was also not told by the cashier that they could not wear their life jackets.

I paid and entered into the water park behind the brick wall and passed a table with two teenagers who worked there behind the brick wall where I had paid and could not visably view when paying.

I was stopped by one of the teens after entering into the water park and told that they were not allowed to wear their life jackets.

I brought up the fact that the sign on the table said flotation devices and that I'd like to speak to a manager because what person with any common sense wouldn't allow a life jacket?










I spoke to the water park manager who then informed me the rule was because so many parents bring their children out in life jackets and don't watch them and use the life jacket as a babysitter and that she wasn't saying I would do that but this was the reason why. I said I understand but I still thought it was a completely unreasonable rule when they make life jackets for the safety of young children or people who can not swim and that I felt uncomfortable them not having them on especially with me being on my own with them and my husband not there. She reassured me the park was very shallow and they would have no reason for them anyways.

So I go on and all three of my kids jump in the wading area about 1ft deep with their friends and friends parents and as I'm getting the baby out of the stroller and getting into the pool I see a life gaurd with my daughter not even 5 minutes after entering into the park!

I said I'm right here and thought maybe she thought she was lost and she got an attitude with me about how I should watch my child and how she was drowning and she had to save her. So I then replied with "Well if my child could wear a life jacket she wouldn't have been drowning already"

I could tell this was going to be an awful experience so I decided to load the kids up and go ask for a refund which I figured I would get a hassle from being that the sign said no refunds but thought given the circumstance surely they would be understanding. But oh was I wrong! The manager told me she wouldn't give me a refund as the sign states no refunds. I told her then if she wouldn't give me a refund I was going to put the life jacket on my child and go back and get my moneys worth. She then told me she would have me removed from the park if I used a life jacket!

So I then asked her to get me the number to her supervisor and contacted the Killeen Parks and Recreation manager who I told what I encountered and she then personally came down to the water park and issued me a refund and apologized but went on to tell me it was some insurance policy that they had in Texas. I said if that was the case why do I not see this policy at any of the other pools we have been to and why do most water parks encourage life jackets and either rent them out or give them to you free of use?

I told her I was very upset with my experience and would never return and would never recommend them to anyone military as it wasn't friendly to those who have deployed spouses and children on their own. It wasn't friendly to toddlers and I wouldn't recommend it to the playgroup. And most of all it wasn't handicap friendly as my special needs son could not wear his life jacket and what if a child more severe off then him needed one? For all I know he could need one till he was 10yrs old!

So I contacted the news channel and the local paper and I'm hoping they do a story on it and how they are causing a safety hazard by not allowing life jackets!

I think my husband had a pretty good Father's Day! I wasn't sure what to get him as the few hobbies he has are things like tinkering with his car but he wouldn't want me to get anything for his car because he's very picky about what goes on his car or in it.. or things related to sports or new clothes. I'm tired of getting him the same stuff all of the time so first I agreed to letting him get a new truck and then he mentioned he wanted some Tap Out license plate covers for his truck and I told him no but snuck out to get them while he was sleeping and gave them to him from me and the kids for Father's Day!


Then we decided last minute to go to a baseball game up in Round Rock and scored some tickets off craigslist for a really good price on the front row!

After the game the kids got to go out on the field and run all the bases so they thought that was really super neat! They also gave each kid a free glove but were out of them when we got there so we got a rain check for later.


Bryan tried to catch a ball when it came our way over the rail and almost fell on the field and didn't manage to catch it and is hurting bad for nothing lol Poor guy!

But all in all I think he had a wonderful Father's Day!

The best way to start the day off is with smiley face pancakes from Ihop! I still like to get those smiley face pancakes though I didn't get one today but I should have! They are so yummy! Who says I can't still be a kid?





This morning our playgroup met at Ihop to have breakfast for something different. It was a lot of fun but probably more fun for us parents!
We took the kids over to the pool to play after they were so good at breakfast this morning and it was nice and cool since it was still so early!




I got out my new sewing machine today and put it together and worked on it for the first time. I had a little problems threading the bobbin at first because I had never seen one go there before but I finally got it after a few tries and now I'm good to go! I love my new sewing machine! It's so cute and trendy!
I made a little pillow case dress with bee's on it to practice using it for the first time. I have a few orders to work on this next week when my fabric order comes in for some Independance Day Dresses and one with pink skulls! So I wanted to get some practice in first before doing those on a new machine. Going to be a busy week!

I made Peyton a cute little 4th of July Tutu Set yesterday for fun! She loved that and looked so cute!




I also got my hair cut off yesterday! I decided it was just to hot and I couldn't take it anymore and needed a "pick me up" and some new life to it! So I cut it all off! It's short and stacked in the back and longer in the front! I love it! I've had this hair cut before and loved it so I knew it wouldn't be something I'd regret but I can't believe I did it after growing it out for so long! Just easier to manage with 4 kids right now too!



We had a yummy casserole for dinner tonight that I hadn't made before and was a big hit. I changed a few things to it. I'm going to post it how I did it because it turned out awesome.


Beef and Bean Casserole

1lb ground beef
2 cups crushed tortilla chips
refried beans
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can diced olives
2 cups lettuce
Motzorella cheese

Brown beef in skillet and drain. Add refried beans to beef and heat.

Crush 2 cups of tortilla chips and add to an ungreased casserole pan.

Add beef mixture. Top with diced tomatoes, olives, lettuce and sprinkle with motzerella cheese.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.