Please help me Save Langley

Siberia is about 6,000 miles from Pittsburgh (Give or take a bunch)

It takes 28 hours to fly there, I would need to fly there 3 times. Almost 180 hours of travel time.

There is a little boy there that has stolen my heart with eyes like Little Baer's

He looks like he belongs with me and his eyes cry out to me everytime I see his picture

It will take more than $35,000 and months and months of trying to save him and I still may fail

There are a million reasons why I can't or shouldn't

But only 1 reason I should...Him

I can't stop thinking I need to save him

And I can't find a way to do it and it's breaking my heart in pieces

Someone else will save him I've been told.....Really? Cause it's not happened yet. He is in danger of being transferred to an institution. (If he hasn't already) In the adult mental institution he is locked away from the outside world. Tied to a bed or sedated 24/7. No toys, no games. No hugs or love. Many children die there within the first few years. They die from lack of food, lack of care, or just lack of love. They give up.  I can't sleep at night knowing this. I can't allow this little boy to face the fate of a lifetime of an institution. I can't turn my back and pretend it's all ok. I can't.

You don't need another child I've been told....No, I don't, I suppose some would say. I am blessed with 4 amazing children and I am thankful for them. But he needs a mommy. It's not about me. It's about this little boy who needs someone...anyone to care.

You can't do it I've been told....Maybe not. But...Failing is better than not trying. And really, failing isn't an option when saving a life.

There will be other kids, when the time is right I've been told. I don't even have a response to that. There will be other kids that need saved, sure. But what about this little boy? Isn't his life worthy of a fight?

How do I stop thinking about him and let it go? Because I can't figure out how to do it.

How on earth do I save him when I have a million obstacles stacked against me from the start? At this point I can't even begin the process.

No one thinks I should, No one believes I can, and that makes me even more sad.

I may not be the perfect mom, we may not have the perfect family, but....I can provide a loving, safe home. I can fill his world with happiness and joy. I can give him mommy hugs at night and mommy kisses in the morning. I can provide him with doctors and therapists to give him a great life to live to his full potential. I can provide him brothers and sisters and grandmas and grandpas. A mommy and a daddy all of his own. He would be safe here, happy here, loved here. Shouldn't that be enough?

UGH...it should be....But it's not.

And that makes me feel like a not so super supermom.

SO...After all this rambling, here is my plea....

PLEASE go to this page and read about helping to save Langley. While I try to get my crap together here and try to qualify for saving him....PLEASE donate to his cause. If I can't save him someone needs to. Please share his picture and this plea and help me find him a home. If it can't be me, I can accept that. I can not accept him NOT having a mommy.

http://www.jenandjoeygogreen.blogspot.com/2012/03/help-me-save-langley-update-and-norwex.html

They are doing fundraising for him. To help whoever gets to be his mom rescue him. If it can't be me....It needs to be someone NOW

Here is Jen's first post about this sweet little boy Langley

http://www.jenandjoeygogreen.blogspot.com/2012/02/help-me-save-langley-giveaway.html

You CAN help save his life. Please donate $5.00 to his cause. Share this blog on facebook...Help me help him. The fundraiser is over in 6 days....But we can help now!!

25 reasons to have a tantrum....TODAY

I spent most of my day away. But....this is what I came home to. And this is what continued till bedtime. Oh the joys of toddlers. So, I decided to let Little Baer and Baby Baer write this post. here are their top 25 Reasons (as told by them today) to have a tantrum. In no particular order, btw

1. Mommy won't give me the camera/phone/computer

2. Mommy went to the bathroom and CLOSED THE DOOR...omg she's never coming back

3. I need a drink

4. Not in that cup...OMG..I hate that cup.

5. I want that toy my brother has

6. My sister took my toy

7. Can't find my taggie blanket

8. I want on THAT side of the gate

9. I'm hungry

10. OMG.....mommy gave me the wrong plate. That's not mine.

11. I can't eat now, lost my appetite, just take it away

12. Seriously get this food out of here, take the milk cup too.

13. I am hungry

14. I hate that food

15. Mommy wants to change my diaper

16. I don't wanna get undressed

17. I don't wanna get dressed

18. I'm poopy

19. Mommy changed my diaper

20. My brother took my toy

21. My sister stepped on me

22. I WANT THAT PHONE/CAMERA/COMPUTER

23. Mommy is on the phone

24. I am tired

25. I don't wanna go to bed.

Button Letter Wreath

In leui of doing work, homework, or something I should have been today, I decided to finish my wreath I started yesterday. Here's all the details and info on how you can do it too!

First, I bought the wreath at Goodwill for $4.00

Totally ugly...but it was the exact size I was looking for and had so much potential. I ripped off all the flowers and was left with a plain wreath. I also scored these buttons...hundreds of them actually, all in a nice little 9 drawer organizer, for $15.00 of the flea market site on Facebook. I didn't even make a dent in the buttons with this project. So I have tons and tons of buttons still waiting. (Papa Baer says I'm creating more things to get rid of in next years 40 in 40....but what does he know?)

I sorted through and found the colors that I wanted. I am repainting my front door and screen door in the summer chocolate brown. So, i wanted a color scheme to match that color door. (Not the ugly mauve door I have now)

Then I cut apart 3 flower bunches from Joanns I got yesterday (Dafoddil days started!) at 50% off. I spent a total of $7.00 on the flowers. I hot glued a few spots but mostly relied on the floral wire that was left on the wreath (I didn't take it off when ripping apart the wreath)

Then, I hot glued the buttons onto the letter (I love the whimsical look of this letter!) I also got the letter at Joanns. The cost: $3.99 I purchased the white letter so no painting was needed. A hint here: If you place the flat buttons on the letter first. you can fill in with buttons that have the "hook' on the back for attaching. They fill in nicely

Then I cleaned up the random hot glue strands (LOL Apparently I'm very messy) and oce it was dry I attached the letter to the wreath with ribbon. And ta-da....It's done!

Total cost of the project was approximately $20.00. I counted about $5.00 for the buttons since I really didn't use very many of the buttons from the huge lot I got. Of course if you already have a stash of buttons it will be cheaper!!

Sunday Projects

So, I got my rock painted today! I think it turned out pretty cool. I'm totally not an artist and I don't paint well....So this was a huge accomplishment for me.

I had to paint Tulips...for my 'Holland" home.

Total project cost $4.00 (Cost of 3 paints at $1.39 each)

I also added another 6 lbs of pasta to our sensory table. Colored them yellow and red. (since those were the colors missing)

Of course, as the pasta was drying in the sun Trenton dumped the yellow. So, we spent some extra time picking up 3 lbs of yellow pasta from the yard. *giggle*

Then my next project is started....

Check out the buttons....$15 on the Facebook Flea Market

I started my "letter" button for my front door wreath. My front door is being painted (Another project. lol) this summer and will be a chocolate brown. So here is my letter for the center of the wreath...

I still need to glue them on. Basically I just picked out the colors and buttons I wanted. I may need to add a few more. But you get the idea.

And the wreath

LOL...pretty old and outdated. BUT I got it at Goodwill for $4.00!!! Can't beat that. so far I've ripped off all the flowers, pearls (lol), and everything else. Taking it down to just the wreath.

I have the flowers and ribbon. So, everything is ready to put it together.

Check back tomorrow for the finished product!

Reclaiming the Yard

We have a huge yard. But, half of the yard was taken up by a huge pool. 12 x 24ft oval pool to be exact. The pool started coming down last week. We drained the water. Then the dismantling began. Finally today the pool is completely down!!

And check out the yard space!

I'm so excited. Of course there is a ton more work to do. The sand needs moved (Future beach area will be made with some of it! A big sand box for the kids!) The gravel needs moved to the driveway (Killing 2 birds with one stone...or a million stones) And then dirt needs brought in and filled...and then grass planted.

But the pool is all in a little nice pile waiting for someone to come and get it!

There is a whole lot more than that. But...you get the idea.

The fence is being painted this summer too. Along with a ton of other projects. 5 pallets are awaiting my creativity. And this rock...

I found this perfect rock hiding behind the shed. I washed it up and now it's waiting for me to paint it. Hopefully that happens tomorrow. I'm still debating on....Our house numbers, or our last name...then some simple flowers added to it as well. I also got my tomato bed ready and outlined with rock. (No picture yet)

The kids played while we worked...Remember the colored pasta and rice? I found this awesome sand table on the flea market site for $20! So now they can play and mess...outside!!!

Baby Baer decorated the sidewalk as i hauled gravel.

Then the rain came and chased us indoors. I'm looking forward to some nice weather tomorrow to hopefully get out there and get some more work done. I'm getting so excited for the garden.

First things first...tomorrow's projects will be painting my rock and hopefully building the beach area. (Sand box)

Ranch Parmesan Pork Chops with Bacon Cheese Potatoes

Here is an awesome family friendly dinner. Quick and easy and one that was loved by everyone! I tweaked a few recipes from Pinterest and made them my way....They were awesome!

Ranch Parmesan Pork Chops:

4 thin cut boneless pork chops

bottled ranch dressing

1 cup bread crumbs

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray baking dish with non stick spray

Place the pork chops into a ziplock bag and cover with bottled ranch dressing. Leave marinade while preparing everything else.

Mix the bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, and garlic powder.

Take the ranch covered pork chops and coat with bread crumb mixture. Place in baking dish. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. (Or until done) It only took 20 minutes for the thin cut chops.

Serve with the Bacon Cheese Potatoes!

Bacon Cheese Potatoes

4 baking size Idaho poatoes

6 oz of shredded monteray jack cheese

6 strips of bacon

1 stick of butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Slice the potatoes thinly. Precook the bacon and crumble it (I use the microwave! Super fast and easy to do with less mess) Layer in a baking dish the potatoes slices, bacon, cheese and butter. I started the bottom layer with slices of the butter. For non sticking purposes. then just layered till all potatoes were used.

Cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. (I added the pork chops to the oven for the last 20 minutes. so time may vary if they are baking alone)

Even my pickiest child loved both of these recipes!

Counting my Blessings

Counting my blessings and being Thankful for them all!!

All my babies. Leslie (my big baby) and her girlfriend Caitlyn! Brother Baer, Little Baer, and Baby Baer.

Baby Baer...so beautiful

Little Baer and Papa Baer

Brother Baer...growing up too fast!

I love our family. So Thankful that I have been granted the ability to love and nuture them. I can't believe I've been a mom for 21 years now...Over half my life. That's craziness to me. I may be bias, but they are all amazing and beautiful and I sure am blessed to have them.

Just had to take a minute and share them today.

Easter Lemon Cake

Thankfully, after my Pintrest failure I had a back up for Easter Dinner!

This was right up my Alley....An awesome Cake that was super easy to make. It's not perfect, but thankfully it's MUCH better than the previous project.

My first attempt at Fondant. Which I must say wasn't nearly as horrible as I thought it would be. My only "issue" with it was I didn't follow directions. (Again..When will I learn there is ALWAYS a reason for a step) I didn't put a layer of buttercream under the Fondant. I just slapped it on. So....It doesn't have that awesome smooth appearance and it didn't really "stick" to the cake. Haha. Otherwise it was super easy to roll out and put on. I will use Fondant again for sure! (And I'll follow directions too)

The decorating consisted on green icing as the grass and the nest. (Which also helped cover up the bottom and my not so perfect cutting of the Fondant) And Cadburry Malt eggs as the eggs.

BAM! Done. Easy Peasy.

The Cake is a Lemon Cake with a layer of Strawberry Jam in between.

Lemon Cake Recipe:

1 c butter, softened
2 Cups of Sugar
4 eggs
1 Tablespoon lemon zest

1/4 c lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1⁄3 c all-purpose flour
2 ½ t baking powder

¼ t salt
1 cup milk

Set your oven to 350 degrees. Grease and Flour your cake pan. Mix the wet ingredients up and slowly add the flour, baking powderm and salt. Beat till well mixed and then pour into pan to bake.

I baked 2 8 inch round cakes for 30 minutes. the time will change if you are using a 9 x 13 pan. Bake it till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Approx 30 minutes.

The Strawberry Jam is good old Smuckers Strawberry Jam. That's it. ;)

The cake was great, and even Papa Baer who isn't a cake fan liked it!

(Take that you stupid ole' cake pops! LOL)

Pintrest Fail

I love Pintrest! I love creating all kinds of fun stuff from there. Although, I can now say that I also hate Pintrest.....Nothing like giving me a nice kick in the Ego to say....You suck Super mom.

See....I had this brillant idea I wanted to make these awesome Easter Egg Cake pops. I used this idea from www.bakerella.com who has the most adorable cake pops!

First off I must say....I am NOT a baker, nor am I really crafty and awesome. I like to fake it mostly. I like to find all kinds of ways to "pretend" I have super powers. So this was not a great idea from the start.

Second....I never actually followed directions. Nor did I even read the directions. LOL. I apparently am to cool for that. I just kind of followed what I "thought" would be done. I did ask a question or two from a friend who actually made them (And they looked super cute!) But otherwise....I just followed my awesome insticts to make them.

EPIC FAIL!

So...Here is the cake all baked and crumbled. Then I mixes about 3/4 of the icing with it...mixed it well and put it in the fridge. (FYI...do not follow any of my directions except as a list of things not to do)

Then I put it in the fridge and the next morning started my creation.

So far so good...(They "kinda" look like eggs)

Then that's where it went downhill. FAST!

The sticks wouldn't stick in them very well. Then after the melted chocolate (A very cool orange color which would have made adorable eggs) was ready I attempted to dip them.

Then my MIL tried to help and save them. LOL Not a chance. Everytime we dipped the entire cake pop fell apart. In pieces. Fell off the sticks, broke off, a disaster.

Thankfully we only started with a small batch of chocolate. (Thanks to my MIL) So we didn't waste an entire bag.

Here is our "ending" project:

We stopped there. I mean really...we surely weren't getting anywhere. And had I continued I would have needed a Xanax or something. And that's not cool on Easter. I just threw it all in the trash and chalked it up to a Fail!

EPIC FAIL!

Thanks Pintrest for making me feel like a total failure.

Now...If you really want to try them head over the Bakerella and follow their directions. I still think they are super cute. LOL

40 days of Giving up Clutter!!

Well, here we are on the last day of Lent for 2012!

During the past 40 days I've been giving up clutter. And it's been amazing! My friend over at www.whitehouseblackshutters.com Ann Marie heads up the project every year for us and I've been following along and sharing my progress each week.

First, I'm going to recap this last week. I didn't exactly get done what I was going to get done...or what my plan was. BUT....I still managed to rid 9 bags of of here this week!

I put together this toy cubby and went through the toys in the living room (That's it though...blah) I threw out 1 bag of trash. And I have 1 bag of baby toys for a friend.

Of course I had a "problem" on this project. (You would think I could manage to follow simple directions) I put it all together right...then nailed the back boards onto the front. *OIY*

Stupid...Stupid....Stupid

So....I bought some white duct tape (Who knew they sold white duct tape) and taped the edges carefully and Viola!

Looks perfect. LOL

Then I worked on clearing out some more basement items. I rounded up 3 bags to take to Thrift King and sent them on their way with Papa Baer. These bags were mostly Stuffed animals, old Easter baskets, and extra stuff I didn't need.

Thursday I worked outside almsot all day in my flower beds and planting herbs....But I started clearing out the shed....What a disaster that is.

Then Friday morning I decided the garbage had to go. So as the garbage truck was on the street above me I was loading up 4 more bags of trash to get out before they made it to me! Old junk, cardboard, and stuff that I have no idea was even saved.

All together this week I cleared out 9 bags. It wasn't in the areas that I wanted to work on. But, I'm still thrilled to have it gone. I can't believe today is the 40th day and this project is wrapped up for the year.

All together I have cleared out 54 bags (Trash bags people!!!) of Clutter from my home. I have half of a basement that is now functionable space. (The other half will get there) And my house is so much less cluttered. I have space...Space to enjoy. (Not junk back up)

I still have a long way to go, and I'm really hoping that my 40 days has given me a great head start. A few things I learned this year was really honestly evaluating if I needed "something" or not. I got rid of a lot of things I had been hoarding (LOL) for no real reason other than I could. And the clutter and junk was weighing me down. My closets are cleaner and my mind is focused!

So....Here's the final breakdown:

30 bags donated to Thrift King

8 bags given to friends/freecycle

3 bags sold

13 bags of trash

54 Bags! Seriously? How awesome is that?

Linkin it up: