See that new Facebook button up in the top right corner?  The Picky Apple now has a Facebook Fan page!  I hope you’ll join!  I’ve got some upcoming discussions planned for my Fan page, and I’ll certainly share any exciting news there first!  Hope to see you there soon!

I’m working on a Kitchen Command center to help keep me organized.  I’ve got a few more details to add, but I wanted to share this sneak peek.

Over the weekend, I created a Chalkboard Calendar and a Chalkboard Menu board using chalkboard spray paint.  As usual, I’m late jumping on the chalkboard bandwagon, and this is only my 3rd spray paint project.  (Remember when I tackled the bathroom cabinets with spray paint?)  I’ve been wanting to try some chalkboard paint for a few years now, and finally I have!  I purchased 2 picture frames from Michael’s (both 40% off!) and sprayed the glass with 2 coats of chalkboard spray paint.  You let it dry, then “cure” it by rubbing chalk all over, then erasing.  That’s it!

(Looking forward to changing the yellow paint, too!)

I’m going to order some Chalk Ink to use with my chalkboards (it was sold out everywhere I looked), and I may outline the calendar squares in paint pen for a more permanent look.  I’m super happy with how they turned out, and I can’t wait to finish the entire Kitchen Command Center!  I’m also itchin’ to spray paint something else with chalkboard paint…maybe something for The Littlest Apple’s room?

Have you ever tried Chalkboard Spray Paint?

I’m sharing this post with:

I realized the other day that I had never taken any pictures of The Littlest Apple’s nursery, and I wanted to document it since we’re about to make some big changes!  I actually added some items back in for these photos (the crib bumper, the changing pad) to show it originally looked.  Like most first time mommies, I agonized over every little thing for months and months before The Littlest Apple’s arrival, so I might as well share it with the world!

These next two photos obviously show some things we’ve added more recently, The Littlest Apple’s art wall (planning a more permanent solution for his big boy room):

and the train table which is gigantic and not getting played with very often…

DETAILS:

Wall Colors: Main wall color is Benjamin Moore Faded Denim.  Stripes are Benjamin Moore Mystical Blue (the light color) and Blue Suede Shoes (the dark color).  Since the bedding was striped, we just used a few stripes in each corner (all different!) to prevent stripe overload.  My favorite stripes are the ones behind the chair.

Crib: Target.  Don’t be afraid to use white for boys!

Crib bedding: sheet and crib bumper, Pottery Barn Kids; navy crib skirt, BabiesRUs (would have liked a longer crib skirt!)

Rug: Pottery Barn Kids Ethan Rug

Chair: Pottery Barn Kids Dream Rocker with White Twill Slipcover.  I explored many cheaper options, but kept coming back to this one.  I got it for my birthday the summer The Littlest Apple was born, and I still absolutely LOVE it.  This chair has been used and abused for 3 years now, and still looks great.  So many memories!  I sat in this chair and pumped while The Littlest Apple was still in the NICU.  I nursed in this chair every 2 hours for months and months and MONTHS when the pediatrician was telling us that The Littlest Apple needed to gain weight.  We sat and rocked The Littlest Apple in this chair (and bounced around the room) for hours on end when he had colic.  And we sit in this chair before every nap and every bedtime to read stories.  I LOVE this chair, but unfortunately there won’t be room for it when The Littlest Apple gets his new bed.  BUT, it will have a new home in our master bedroom, and I can’t wait to use it there, too!

Blackout Roman Shade: Pottery Barn Kids (no longer available).  Keeps the room REALLY dark…but The Littlest Apple still gets up before 6.  sigh.

Wall Letters: Pottery Barn Kids Lowercase Letters

Bookshelf: actually an old bathroom shelf from Target, with feet broken off.  Time for a bigger and sturdier shelf!

Lamp: Target

Changing Table: Target

Changing Pad Cover: BabiesRUs

Diaper Caddy: Pottery Barn Kids Sabrina Diaper Caddy

Dinosaur Wall Art: Target

Train Table: Imaginarium from ToysRUs, a birthday gift from us for his 2nd birthday last year.

I’m sharing this post with The Lettered Cottage Nursery Linky Party.

I still haven’t finished sharing all of the recipes from our Minute To Win It Party waaaaaaaaaay back in June.  For dessert, I served these Sugar Cookie Bars from Annie’s Eats.  Cookie Bars are a great dessert for a crowd, and they are so much easier to throw together than cookies you have to measure or roll out!  These are thick and cake-like, instead of crunchy like some sugar cookies.  The lemon zest makes them extra-special.  Sugar Cookie Bars freeze well too!

Sugar Cookie Bars

recipe from Annie’s Eats
For the cookie bars:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• Zest from 1 lemon
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. baking soda

For the frosting:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt
• 4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 5 tbsp. milk
• Food coloring, sprinkles (optional)

To make the cookies, preheat the oven to 350˚ F.   Grease a 13 x 18″ rimmed baking sheet (mine was 12 x 17″).  Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer.  Beat on medium-high speed until light and smooth, about 2 minutes.  Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.  Blend in the vanilla, seeds from the vanilla bean, and lemon zest.  In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking soda.  Stir together with a fork to blend.  Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl and beat on low speed just until incorporated.

Transfer the cookie dough to the prepared baking sheet and press into an even layer.  Bake 10-15 minutes, until light golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting, place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer.  Beat on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute.  Blend in the vanilla, salt, and confectioners’ sugar until smooth, 1-2 minutes.  Mix in the milk.  Tint as desired with food coloring.  Spread over the cookie in the pan, add sprinkles (if using), cut into bars and serve.

Here are some posts from other blogs that caught my eye this week…

Back to School Wreath @ Yesterday on Tuesday

Big Boy’s Room @ Our Humble Abode

Cheesecake Bars @ Bakerella

Wipe Off Weekly Menu Board @ Makes and Takes

How to Organize Your Christmas Holidays @ Executive Homemaker and Celebrating a Homemade Christmas @ Tip Junkie

Korean Beef Rice Bowl @ Steamy Kitchen

20 Headboard Ideas @ Tatertots and Jello

Small Steps, Big Changes: Developing a New Routine 15 Minutes at a Time @ Simple Kids

What are your favorite posts from this week?  (A post from your own blog that you’re particularly proud of or other favorite reads)  Include a link in your comment below so we can all check it out!

This salad is PERFECTION.

I love everything about it.

It’s beautiful to look at.  A rainbow of colors!  The picture below doesn’t do it justice.

It’s got loads of veggies.  We always need more of those at our house.

The dressing is awesome.  I want to drink it straight from the measuring cup.  (Not really, but I couldn’t stop “tasting” it).

It serves a crowd.  Or makes lots of yummy leftovers.  I halved the recipe and still have a ton leftover.

It can be dinner (especially with grilled chicken added, as I did), lunch, or a side dish.

My old favorite Poppy Seed Chicken Salad has been replaced!

Asian Noodle Salad

from The Pioneer Woman at Tasty Kitchen

Salad Ingredients:

• 1 package Linguine Noodles, Cooked, Rinsed, And Cooled
• ½ heads Sliced Napa Cabbage, Or More To Taste
• ½ heads Sliced Purple Cabbage, Or More To Taste
• ½ bags Baby Spinach, Or More To Taste
• 1 whole Red Bell Pepper, Sliced Thin
• 1 whole Yellow Bell Pepper, Sliced Thin
• 1 whole Orange Bell Pepper, Thinly Sliced
• 1 bag Bean Sprouts (also Called Mung Bean Sprouts)
• Chopped Cilantro, Up To 1 Bunch, To Taste
• 3 whole Scallions, Sliced
• 3 whole Cucumbers Peeled And Sliced
• 1 can (about 10 Oz.) Whole Cashews, Lightly Toasted In Skillet

Dressing Ingredients:

• 1 whole Lime, Juiced
• 8 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 8 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
• 2 Tablespoons (up To 3 Tablespoons) Sesame Oil
• ⅓ cups Brown Sugar
• 3 Tablespoons Fresh Ginger Chopped
• 2 cloves Garlic Chopped
• 2 whole Jalapenos, Chopped
• Chopped Cilantro (a large handful)

Mix salad ingredients together.  Blend dressing ingredients together and pour over salad. Mix with tongs or hands and serve on a platter.

Housecleaning.

My nemesis.

Let me let you in on a little secret about me: I’m messy.  Maybe even a slob.  I like to organize and make lists, but I do NOT like to clean.  Some people enjoy cleaning.  Me?  Not so much.  This is my domestic downfall.

image from Isgcp via Flickr Creative Commons

As we work on various projects around the house (the master bedroom makeover, The Littlest Apple’s big boy room, making our home office a functional workspace and not a dumping grounds for extra stuff), it’s becoming more and more apparent how much I’ve been slacking off in the cleaning department since we moved here 4 years ago.

So in addition to decluttering and organizing, I’m making a renewed effort to be a better housekeeper.  I’ve used FLYLady’s system before, and I’m re-reading her book now.  I’ve also read and used the Sidetracked Home Executive System (SHE)…..and got, well, sidetracked.  So I’m creating my own system, a mish-mash of FLYLady, SHE, and several other things I’ve seen around.  In true list-lover fashion, I’m compiling lists of my Daily, Weekly, Monthly and Seasonal housekeeping chores which I plan to share here, in a few separate posts.  Then I plan to post these lists as part of my upcoming Kitchen Command Center project (The Picky Apple thinks that’s a goofy name), which will include chores, weekly menus, a calendar, and other important action items.

Writing lists is the easy part.

It’s the actual cleaning that often eludes me, and that’s why my current focus is on just getting the Dailies done.  (Okay, and a little decluttering, too since you can’t clean clutter).  As I write this blog post, the dishwasher needs to be unloaded and loaded, there is laundry sitting in the dryer, junk dumped on the counters that needs to be moved, and toys that need to be picked up from the living room, playroom, my bedroom, and the extra-bedroom (The Littlest Apple isn’t even here, but he was a little tornado this morning!!).  I’m really struggling with the Dailies….let’s not even think about the Weeklies and Monthlies just yet.

I’d like to blame it on The Littlest Apple, Mr. I-Wake-Up-At-5:30am-And-Can’t-Be Trusted-To-Play-By-Myself-For-Three-Minutes-And-I-Must-Have-An-Audience-At-All-Times, but I’m pretty sure I was like this before he was born.    (Sidenote: this morning while getting ready The Littlest Apple climbed on top of the dresser in his room.  He was SO proud of himself!)  How do you get it all done?  That’s the million dollar question, right?  How do you take your high-energy kid outside for an hour everyday, do neat art activities, read together, cook meals, run errands, write a blog, AND do all this cleaning?  I’m certainly not as efficient with my time as it could be, but it still baffles me.  So right now, I’m focusing on the basics, the things that need to get done every day….

DAILIES:

• Make bed
• Laundry (wash, dry, fold and put away)
• Swish and swipe toilets
• Clean kitchen (put away food, unload/load dishwasher, handwash pots and pans)
• Wipe down counters and shine sink
• Pick up toys
• Water garden and yard
• Sweep around table
• Clean hot spots

Is there anything else you would add to this list?  What kinds of things are part of your daily cleaning routine?  How do you make sure it all gets done?

A few weeks ago, The Littlest Apple and I made these Firecracker Ice Pops.  The Littlest Apple LOVES popsicles (and really, who doesn’t?!), so I thought we could try making our own.  I think I may have enjoyed these more than The Littlest Apple…I liked that these aren’t overly sweet and that they include a yogurt layer.  He probably would have preferred an all strawberry popsicle that was a little sweeter.

Firecracker Ice Pops

recipe from Everyday Food

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound strawberries, hulled and quartered (1 1/2 cups)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 pound blueberries (1 1/2 cups)
• 1 1/4 cups low-fat plain yogurt

In a food processor, puree strawberries with 1 tablespoon sugar.  Transfer to a small bowl.  In processor, puree blueberries with 1 tablespoon sugar.  In another small bowl, whisk together yogurt and 2 tablespoons sugar.  Pour the 3 mixtures, alternating, into ten 3-ounce ice-pop molds, making 3 to 5 layers each.  Swirl mixtures if desired.  Insert ice-pop sticks and freeze until solid, 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

The Littlest Apple (pre haircut) enjoy his popsicle….

It’s been a while since my last book review, hasn’t it?  I’ve got at least 5 books queued up for review, but as much as I love to read, I find writing book reviews to be the hardest posts of all to write.  Fiction is a little easier for me to write about than non-fiction, so let’s start with a book I just finished last night: Handle With Care, by Jodi Picoult.  I’ve seen Jodi Picoult’s books mentioned everywhere for a couple of years now, but this is the first I’ve read.

Handle With Care is about one family’s life with a special needs child.  Charlotte and her husband Sean have an extremely intelligent,  5 year old daughter named Willow who was born with OI-osteogenesis imperfecta, meaning that her bones break very easily.  She can break ribs by coughing, she broke her leg after slipping on a napkin.  By the time she is 6 she has had close to 60 breaks, 7 of which happened in-utero.  Willow experiences a particularly bad break while on vacation at Disney.

In the fallout from that incident, including a child abuse investigation, issues surrounding Willow’s birth and when she was diagnosed with OI arise.  Charlotte had several ultrasounds during her pregnancy, including one at 18 weeks.  Why wasn’t Willow’s OI noticed until 27 weeks?  The attorney they meet with suggests that perhaps a case could be made for a wrongful birth lawsuit.  To succeed, Charlotte and Sean would have to claim that Charlotte’s ob-gyn–who is also Charlotte’s best friend–was negligent in not noticing the OI abnormalities sooner, and that if they been aware of Willow’s condition earlier, they would have terminated the pregnancy.

What if Willow had been diagnosed earlier?  What if Willow had never been born?  What constitutes a valuable life?  The answers to these questions fracture Charlotte and Sean’s marriage, destroy Charlotte’s friendship with Piper, and cause strained relationships not only with Willow, but with their older daughter Amelia.

I found this story completely fascinating.  The amount of care and the emotional energy needed to care for Willow were eye opening.  This book raises some polarizing topics (abortion, issues surrounding disabilities), but no matter what side you fall on, I guarantee you won’t be able to put this compelling book down.  Without spoiling the plot, I will say that I didn’t like the ending, but this is still a fantastic book, and I certainly plan to check out more books by this author.

Have you read any Jodi Picoult novels?  Which one is your favorite?

This morning’s outing to the park was one of those perfect mornings when everything just seemed to go right.  The Littlest Apple and I got out of the house early while The Picky Apple slept in.  We had the park to ourselves.  We saw mommy turtles and baby turtles poking their heads up out of the water, a big white bird gliding low over the water, scanning for fish.  The thirty adolescent ducklings now old enough to fend for themselves.  Big fish and little fish swimming close to the edge of the lake.  A beautiful rainbow created by the sun bouncing off the water fountain when you stood at just the right angle.  Caterpillars and even a caterpillar egg on a leaf (just like in The Very Hungry Caterpillar).  We sat at the top of a small waterfall and watched the water rush and bubble down into the lake.  There were no tantrums, no need for “No”s and “Stop that!”s.

It was wonderful.

We collected sticks, twigs, leaves, pine needles and pinecones to build a nest.

And when we got home, we glued it all (along with some twine) to a piece of cardboard to make our very own nest.  I did most of the construction, but The Littlest Apple enjoyed examining all of our leaves and is so excited about “our” nest (or is it a wreath?).  This is definitely a project we’ll be doing again!

Glue happy…..