As Summer Approaches.

Summer weather has finally arrived and we have our vegetables planted in our garden, now we wait for the veggies to sprout! We will be building a deck for the backyard this June (pictures of the event are a given lol) and everyone is excited to spend our time outdoors.

 In the meantime we are in crunch time and busy getting the apartment in the basement finished. It has been quite a long and tedious process. We had walls and ceilings to rip out, foundation cracks to fix, walls to re-build, drywall to install, a shower to convert into a tub+shower, colors to pick, floors to install, and so much more. We are finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, and it has come a long way. The only room that remains to be finished is our master bedroom. The project has taken us well over 6 months, and it has been an entire family ordeal. Mauro and my dad have been coming home after working a full day and heading down into the basement to continue the renos until late into the night, only to get up early for work the next morning. They are both awesome. We have managed to save a HUGE amount of money on certain things by scouting out sales and taking the time to compare prices with different retailers.  There are pictures of before and after, but won't be posting any of them until it's all finished! Unfortunately we won't be able to get everything done that we had hoped to with the time that we have left before our baby is due, but we will continue working on smaller projects here and there once fall/winter comes as we are going to have quite a busy summer ahead of us.

 We've had to keep a lot of things in storage, and the house has been a bit upside down while renovations are happening, but we've worked together while having to compromise space and time. Mauro and I have been sharing our room with Adalyn, my mom and dad have had all of Adalyn's belongings and her dresser in their room, and 4 of us have been sharing 1 bathroom. Yes it's been stressful at times, but we are learning to communicate with each other and make sure that we're not only thinking about ourselves. You can't just go about your day only thinking about what you have to do and where you have to be. For example, we have 3 vehicles and 5 of the 6 adults all have to leave for work bright and early. This means that we need to plan who uses what vehicle when and who drives who where, ahead of time. There isn't an option for having a vehicle to yourself for an extended period of time without having to pick someone up or drop someone off. We have also been sharing the responsibility of meals. We meal plan as much as possible, but sometimes everyone is just too busy and we all have to take turns figuring out what to get for dinner and who is going to make it. 

We have discovered what community is, and that when everyone pitches in and helps out things go a lot smoother. It has been really great in the sense that no one has decided this isn't for them and just checked out of the family and started doing their own thing. With two little babies due this summer, we are preparing for how all of our lives will be different and how we will all help and lean on each other because we KNOW it is going to be a little chaotic for a bit while babies are adjusting to schedules. It really does take a village to raise a child, and that's exactly how we plan to go about things.



 Until my next post,


 Cheers.

Mai-Tei Carrier!

I found the greatest free pattern to make a Mai-Tei carrier, and I'm going to share it with everyone. Here is the link to the pattern from Grumble & Grunts. http://www.grumblesandgrunts.com/2010/10/how-to-sew-mei-tai-baby-carrier.html Her tutorial and pictures are awesome, and she gives a list of all the supplies you need to complete the project!

 It was pretty time-consuming, but I'm no professional and quadruple check my measurements before heading over to my sewing machine. I would highly recommend NOT skimping out on the batting for the carrier itself, it gives it a way better feel and look with all that extra padding!

PS don't mind the 34 weeks pregnant crazy woman hair! lol

 

Easy (and cheap!) Red Velvet Brownies!

So if you're anything like me, you love anything red velvet. And if you are anything like me, you also love when something is easy to make and it's inexpensive. I have come across so many red velvet brownie recipes, but they all called for a ridiculous amount of time and ingredients, so I pieced together some of the recipes I found and made my own, which I'm now going to share with everyone, I cannot explain how delicious these were!

First of all I'll give you a list of the ingredients:
1 pack of Great Value Red Velvet Cake Mix from Walmart (you can use whatever brand is your favourite)
1 large Egg
3/4 cup of butter (after melted)
1/2 cup of water
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 375.

Combine cake mix, butter, egg, and water in a large bowl. Beat on low speed with electric mixer for approx 2 mins. Add chocolate chips, and mix well. I'm no baking expert, so if there is a certain way you like to mix your ingredients, please do!

Grease a medium-large size baking pan. I use shortening, but again use whatever you like

Pour brownie mix evenly into pan. Lick bowl of brownie batter clean. LOL kidding, except if you're me, you actually did.

Bake at 375, on middle rack for 23-25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for about 15 minutes

ENJOY!!!