Playing Catch-Up

{PARENTHOOD} James and I have really gotten in to the Parenthood series. We started watching Season 1 on Netflix a few weeks ago and now we’re starting Season 3. So addicting. We usually sit down and watch 2-3 episodes a night if we can… Meanwhile Knox’s latest Netflix fave is Inspector Gadget. (Or as he says - Mr. Gadget.) Talk about a blast from the past!

{PROJECT: CRAFT ORGANIZATION} I tackled this over the weekend. Wish I’d thought to take a before picture. I’ve never really had a system for organizing my sewing and craft things, so it was pretty chaotic. My goal was to organize it all in a way that would make it easy to move and put in basically any closet…

The first thing I did was sort through everything and made piles - trash, donate, and return. I had so many unopened items, I was able to return them to Michael’s/HobLob/Joann’s for store credit.

Wal-Mart had these Sterelite bins on sale last week. They’re compact and stack really well, so they are perfect for what I need. (In fact, I could use a few more!) I used our label maker to mark them. For the big ones I have Sewing, Embroidery, Crochet, Painting, Cut & Paste, Writing, and Misc. I used the small ones to organize my sewing notions - Sharps (AKA: Pins & Needles. I‘m such a nurse/nerd.), Buttons, Velcro, Elastic, Trim, Hardware.

I picked up a huge Sterelite drawer system for my fabric. (Décor and cuddle fabric on bottom, cotton 1+ yard in the middle, specialty fabric and applique scraps on top.) In the corner - I use the large bin on the bottom for bulky items that aren’t used on a regular basis. (Burlap, batting, poly-fill, etc.) The middle bin contains attachments and manuals for my sewing machines. (I also put my thread, scissors, and pin cushions in there for the move.) And the crate on top has more misc. things I just threw in there for moving purposes.

I already had the smaller drawer system and it worked out perfectly for all of my embroidery “blanks.”

I use 2 snap-ware containers (from Joann’s) to organize my ribbon and bow supplies.

I wish I’d done this forever ago! I don’t function well in chaos, so I probably could have been much more productive if everything had been this organized. It’s just another one of those things - I’m the only one who saw it, so it was way down on the priority list. I need to do the same thing for all of our photos.

{CRAIG’S LIST} We sold a few pieces of furniture on Craig’s List this weekend. Just some things we don’t need use, and it will lighten our load for the move.

{YUMMY} I’ve been craving the Crispy Coconut Chicken I found on Pinterest ever since we made it a few months ago, so we had that for dinner Saturday night…

This time I used Asian Seasoned Panko Breadcrumbs (Private Selection brand at Kroger) - it added just the right kick! Of course we had it with the Sweet Chili Sauce on the side and then I decided to do Asian Slaw with it. This was a last minute dinner decision, so I was scrounging for a recipe on my phone while at Kroger. This Sandra Lee one was the first that popped up - it was easy enough and was the perfect compliment to the chicken.

Tuesday night we had a meal fit for a king. Or should I say… The King.

Sometimes we just need to get back to our Memphis roots :) We don’t come across pulled pork BBQ much here in Texas. Not the way we’re used to it, at least… So when I saw some at Costco the other day I didn’t hesitate picking it up. I heated it according to directions, mixed in the Corky’s BBQ sauce, then topped only James and my sandwiches with the Rendezvous sauce. (It has a little kick so I didn’t want it on the kids’.) I’ve never found these sauces sold here so I always try to stock up when we’re in Memphis. We had it with homemade cole slaw, fresh corn on the cob, and baked beans. Well, James likes the beans, I don’t. And of course…

Blueberry Cobbler.

:)

Hadley may be the only one of us born in Texas, but I think she has a little Memphis in her after all ;)

{POTTY} Hadley is SO interested in the potty these days.

She loves to sit on top of the lid to “go potty” but we also have to watch her like a hawk because she’ll throw any and everything in. I got this video of her the other day…

She can count to 5 and lately she’s been attempting to go to 10. I was trying to get her to point to her nose, mouth, eyes, etc. but she was too excited about the potty :)

The past week she’s really grown to hate her diaper. She tells us when it’s wet and tries to take it off. James sent me this the other day…

She finally succeeded! I swear she’d potty train tomorrow if we let her. And I am tempted…

Alright - I feel sort of caught up now :)

---

**Some of you asked about the cobbler recipe. I’ve posted it before, but I know it by heart so it’s easier for me to just type it out again. This recipe is the one my mom always made, the one her mom always made, and maybe even her mom… Not sure where it came from or how far it goes back, but it is GOOD :)

• 1 stick of butter
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 2/3-3/4 cup milk (2/3 is too little, 3/4 too much. I go right in between.)
• 1 can fruit pie filling (My favorites are blueberry and apple. Strawberry and peach are also good.)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Melt butter and pour it in to the bottom of a loaf pan.
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and spices with a whisk. Stir in milk.
3. Pour batter over butter. Spoon pie filling over the batter. (As it bakes, the batter will rise above the pie filling!)
4. Bake at 350 for 60-75 minutes, or until cobbler is browned and center is not mushy.
5. Serve warm with a dollop of ice cream.

I was so excited a few months ago when I was watching the Pioneer Woman on Food Network. She had a conversation about how “cake crust” cobbler is so much better than “pie crust” cobbler and proceeded to whip up a recipe almost identical to this! I wanted to jump through the TV screen and high-five her! Although - she didn’t include the spices, which I believe are crucial ;)