{this moment}-a Birthday post

Inspired by Soule Mama:

"A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see."

 I find I need words for this moment after all because today's moment is inspired by my darling husband....Happy Birthday, sweetheart.  I love you with all of my heart and soul and would be lost without you.  You are the best husband and father there has ever been and you are my best friend.

The world of WIPs and a Giveaway!

Since we were on the subject of battle with organization let's talk about WIPs.  Works In Progress.   Yet another organizational problem (at least if you are me).  We all have them, there's no denying that...even if they aren't crafty WIPs, you still have them around the house.  That closet you got the extra hangers for but never organized.  The gallon of paint and fun wallpaper you got to redo the extra bathroom.  Personally I think if you don't have at least one WIP hanging out in your house that you must be too organized and efficient.  I tell myself this so I won't feel like a total project failure. 

You see...I've had this pile of fabric on my craft/sewing table since last October...

 ....no joke.  I wanted to take part in a craft fair at the beginning of December but one thing after another got scooted to the "must do NOW" list in front of the "WANT to do now" list and as a result  I have this pile of fabric STILL sitting on my table...looking forlorn and unloved...yearning to be made into something fashionable or fun or functional.  Okay that may be exaggerating, but you know what I mean...right?  So instead of doing all of that organizing that I want need to do this weekend I plan on doing something I actually enjoy doing instead.  Sewing!

And yes, I know that I have other stuff I really should be doing, but occasionally you have to do what you want to do instead for sanity's sake...I mean, the fact that my kids get caught in an avalanche of Legos and Nerf weapons when they put their jammies on at night is just part of growing up if you ask me, and who cares if we only have 4 clean towels left, that's one each!  I still feed everyone on a regular basis...mostly.

So since I'm feeling a little bit guilty about playing with my "toys" instead of working I'm going to give myself a really good, legitimate excuse for crafting instead of doing housework:  My readers need a giveaway!  I mean, we had Disney Live! tickets, then we had Nuclear Cowboyz tickets and soon we'll have even more fun tickets!  But what about NOW?  We need something to tide us over...yes?

I made this little Kindle Fire cover for my hubby for Christmas to help him transport his new Kindle from here to there without being damaged.

He wasn't a big fan of the mushroom motif...can't really say I blame him.  Hard to look manly in the office with this cover (even though I love love love the fabric), but it was the manliest fabric I had at the time so I whipped it together just to tide him over.  He did eventually get his manly cover and he's much happier with it.  However now my sad little mushroom Kindle cover is lonely and in need of a good home.

Don't have a Kindle?  I might be talked into whipping up another of these Smart phone cases I made for myself when my new phone came. (By the way, please forgive the awful photos...I don't remember the last time I was able to take a picture when the sun was actually present...this is the rainiest January on record!)

Have no use for a case for your technology of choice?  How about some cute handmade napkins!  We have a set we use every day (I LOVE them! No more paper napkins to toss into the landfill...we just keep them in a container on the table, use them until they are dirty then toss them into whatever load of laundry is going in at the moment.  Love it!) but I can make the extra fancy kind below if you'd like something special.

I'm just in the mood to sew up something cute and you are going to reap the benefits! 

So for this giveaway you'll get to choose one of the sewn projects above, fabric choice will be my own but if you have an electronic device that requires a specific fit I'll get specifications from you on that when the time comes.  (I will take gender into account when choosing fabric..don't worry guys, you won't get a pretty floral ipod case...unless that's your thing).

To enter you just need to do one (or both) of these two easy things:

1. Please 'like' In a Galaxy blogspot on Facebook.  I try to post my fellow bloggers giveaways on my page plus you'll keep up to date on my next big giveaway there as well!  Don't do Facebook?  Please subscribe to my email updates over in the right side bar .
2. Tell me what WIPs you have of your own that you just never find the time to get working on.  Just looking for some reassurance that I'm not the only person out there with a ton of projects that I need to make more time for.

And that's it!  Two ways to enter mean two chances to win!  Winner will be chosen on Wednesday, February 1 at 2 p.m. and notified by email and Facebook.  Please make sure that either your email is attached in Blogger or you leave me your email with your comment so that I can notify you.  Winner will have 24 hours to respond or another entry will be chosen.  I will ship this item to anywhere in the world!  Good luck!

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Wednesday...

Once more into the fray...

In the past few weeks I've started to feel guilted inspired by my friends and fellow bloggers.  And you know who you are....ahem, Katie and Michelle,  It's hard to admit this, especially in such a public forum so I'm just going to go for it.

HI. My name is Amy and I have an organizational problem.

Specifically, I ignore my children's room in favor of my sanity.  Seriously...it's like descending into one of the Seven Rings of Hell in there.

Case in point:

Their room is what Cher from Clueless would call a 'Full on Monet'-From far away it's okay...

But close up it's just a big ol' mess...

This set of drawers was supposed to be helpful....yeah, not so much.

Wow, this one doesn't look too bad...unless you pick up that backpack and inspect the actual toy box.  What is that smell anyway??

 If you look closely at the photos you'll notice that my kids have too much junk I've tried many organizational techniques already, and they have failed miserably.  I organized their books into separate boxes based on AR levels, and I labeled them.  They were a jumbled mess within a week.  I purchased that lovely Rubbermaid drawer set to keep their little action figure guys, cars, Bionicles, etc.separated and easy to locate...they shove every little thing they  bring home into it, and unless I want to spend hours picking through it to keep them separated they stay a jumbled mess.   I purchased the large blue tub in the photo above to use as their "Arsenal"-the huge stash of Nerf weapons they've accumlated.  Last time I checked there was a family of dust bunnies living in the bottom and they had made a little fortress out of stray Lego pieces...pretty sure they are holding a few superheroes hostage at his point.

So what I need from you, dear readers, is some suggestions for taming this wicked beast of a room.  Best way of storing Legos?  How do you keep all of those little action figure dudes from roaming the house?  How do you determine when a toy needs to move on to a new home?  How in tarnation do they end up with SO. MUCH. STUFF?

Besides my friends over at the little things blog and I'm Living the Good Life there is also a ton of inspiration over at I'm an Organizing Junkie.  I know help is out there somewhere...someone take pity on this poor mama and give me some good (and CHEAP!) ideas for easy organization!!  And please tell me how you magically make your slobbish kiddos keep it organized once you've made sense of the lot!

Menu Plan Monday

 Another Monday, another menu plan.  I've been participating in Orgjunkie.com's Menu Plan Monday and what a difference it makes in the way our week goes!  Not only do we eat better because we are eating home cooked meals but it saves us so much money.  Looking for inspiration?  Check out her Menu Plan Monday post and find tons of menus and new recipes to try out.

Without further ado, here is our plan for the week:

• Monday-Asian Chicken, rice, veggies (this is being carried over from last week, things got switched and changed due to a busy week.)

• Tuesday-Buffalo chicken sandwiches, baked potatoes, salad

• Wednesday-Ravioli with marinara sauce, whole wheat baguette bread, salad

• Thursday-Granny's Chili Soup, salad, grilled cheese (for the boys)

• Friday-Happy Birthday to my hubby!  He gets to choose his birthday dinner, and he hasn't made his mind up yet....so who knows what will happen!

 Same goals as last week: drink more water, track all food,  exercise 10 minutes a day.

The chili I'm making on Thursday is the best recipe I've found so far for a simple, easy chili.  It goes together quick and you can switch it up in so many different ways...it makes for a great versatile chili base.  My Granny used to make this soup but since then my Mom has made quite a few of her own adjustments...super delicious!

Granny's Chili Soup

3 pounds ground chuck (I always buy Laura's Lean ground beef in the 92/8 variety)

1 onion (chopped)

1 stalk celery (chopped) -this is the entire head of celery or at least 4 individual stalks

1 can diced tomatoes-I get the chili ready tomatoes

2 cans chili beans

½ package Brooks Chili Seasoning-I honestly don't know if this is a nationwide brand, I imagine any other chili spice pack would work as well

1 large can Tomato Juice

Chili powder (about 1-2 Tbsp. depending on your tastes), salt (I omit this entirely, but it's in the original recipe so I left it in) and pepper to taste.

Put tomato juice in large pot and warm on low.  Brown the ground chuck and add to juice.  Sautée celery and onions and add to juice.  Add tomatoes, chili beans and seasonings and let simmer 1 hour.  This can also be prepared and put into a crock pot to simmer all day on low.  I've made this with and without the beef (just add extra beans of your choice...pinto, red beans, etc.) and I've made it with turkey in place of the beef.  It has a great flavor that Littlest says tastes like the chili they have at Frisch's Big Boy.  Delicious! 

If you try it out let me know what you think...we love it.  I'm in the market for a black bean soup recipe, but not one that is loaded with a ton of cumin and little else.  If you have one you've tried and love please share it!

Feels a bit like living in an ice machine

The thing about living in Kentucky is that as a rule you get the best of all of the seasons.  Spring is rainy and unpredictable, flowers blooming everywhere, trees and grass returning to life.  Summer is hot and clear  and perfect for swimming and other outdoor activities.  Autumn is chilly and crisp, the trees are gorgeous as their leaves change...perfect backdrop for apple cider and pumpkin farms and trick or treating.  And Winter is...well, winter is supposed to be cold and snowy and icy.  You are supposed to be able to sled and ski and make snowballs and snowmen and...well, and do wintery type stuff.  So far this winter we've had a few flurries and a lot of ice.  Lots and lots of ice.

That's at least a 1/4 inch of ice.

Walking on the grass feels a bit like walking through an Icee swamp.

It's a Winter Wonderland! (except with super green grass...because it was 60 degrees last week!)

Hard to make a snowball or decent snowman outta that lot, lemme tell ya.  All of those snow days the school system banks at the beginning of the year?  Going to waste.  Normally by this time of year we've had at least a good week or so off for snow days.  I treasure those days.  It isn't like a planned break from school always ends up being.  Those are holidays so they end up with all of the attending stress and running about.  No...snow days are unexpected days of sweet down time where we get to snuggle on the couch and watch movies in our jammies all day, do only the things we want to do instead of the things we have to do.  Nowhere to go.  No running to be done.  Snow days are bliss.

Too bad someone pissed off Mother Nature and she revoked our snow day privileges.  To be fair the school board should give us back those banked snow days if they don't get used and let us out of school early.  I mean, if we have too many snow days they make us stay in school later, all the way into June....so turn about is fair play, right??!  Riiiiiight.

I guess I should just be thankful that the ice storm pictured above happened on a night/day when we didn't have anywhere to go and could just stay in and ride it out in warmth and safety.  Still...hoping someone kisses up to Mother Nature and she gives us some actual snow at some point this winter.

Hear that Mother dear?  Just enough to get out the snow gear...pretty please?

{this moment}

Inspired by Soule Mama:

"A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see."

We are having an icestorm around these parts tonight...I'm very thankful to be home with my babies and my man and out of the cold, and I hope that all of you are safe and warm at home as well.  Happy weekend....