Day 66

I got way more apples then we could ever eat before they went bad so I had to find something to do with them. I looked at a ton of pins but one stuck out, applesauce. We have 2 kids under 2 so applesauce is something that is good to have on hand. I spent about 20 minutes cutting up apples then poured in the sugar, water, lemon juice and cinnamon. It is a very simple recipe which made this an easy pick.  The other plus to this is the house smelled like apple pie for about 6 hours. http://pinterest.com/pin/141722719494969389/

Day 65

Still me, Christina has not been online a whole a lot and she just has not had time to blog. This pin was done because we ran out of cream of chicken soup. It looked like it was an easy enough recipe. That being said I some how messed it up, it did not turn out the way it was supposed to. It tasted like a bag of flour, I used as an ingredient in another recipe and hoped for the best. It killed diner, Olive took a small taste, made a face and pushed her plate away. I will just buy more cream of chicken soup.

Day 64

I was feeling especially lazy today, my knee is still hurting and I just was not feeling all that great. Christina gets to come home for lunch which we love, it just means I either have to make something and hope she can get out on time or we eat sandwiches. These two things drove me to do something that is easy and can be ready whenever she gets off for lunch. I love chicken and BBQ chicken so this was all around a good recipe. It made the house smell great, and was a big hit. http://pinterest.com/pin/141722719494964189/

Day 63

Well the blog is still a little behind so that means you are stuck with me still. After getting back from a long weekend and having a really busy week our yard needs a little maintenance. We have an area in the back yard that has pebbles as ground cover. I spent several hours and 30 dollars putting down landscape paper just to have the weeds come back and grow into the paper making the weeds harder to pull. I put down the paper because I did not want to spray weed killer all over the rocks just in case one of the kids puts the rock in there mouth. I saw the weed killer on here a while ago but just never got around to doing it, well the weeds are bad and I am giving this one a chance. I mixed it and put it in my pump sprayer. I was a little foamy but as long as it kills the weeds I do not care what it sprays like. I will put an update later to let you know how it worked. http://pinterest.com/pin/141722719494548730/

Day 62

It has been a a while since we have done a pin for the kids so I looked for something fun for them. Part of every Saturday night is bath time, that way they are squeaky clean for church in the morning and we have a better chance of getting out of the house in the morning. I thought it would be nice to do something fun for bath time. I saw the pin for the bath paint and thought that it was a cool idea. We had everything at the house so this pin was a must do. I read in the pin that you can use baby shampoo instead of dish soap, I figured that the 1 yo would probably be happier if we used baby shampoo. I only made 2 colors just in case it did not go over well.  It was a big hit, Olive got to write all over the walls in the tub and a little on her brother. We will be doing this again. http://pinterest.com/pin/141722719494948332/

Day 61

I like making the homemade versions of things, mainly because I am cheap. I saw this pin while looking for a home made carpet stain remover.  It looked easy and would allow me to freshen up the house a little. I got out the backing soda and the essential oils and found that I liked the Lavender smell the best. I sprinkled it on the carpet and let it sit for about 20 minutes and then vacuumed it up. It smelled good and I thought we had found a nice way to freshen up our one room of carpet every once and a while. I did not tell Christina about it and waited to see if she noticed. I vacuumed about 15 minutes before she came home and she did not smell anything at all. I figured I did not smell it anymore because I had just gotten used to it. I guess the scent just does not lats all that long.  http://pinterest.com/pin/141722719494948033/

Day 59

Christina has a great job that allows her to come home for lunch and see the kids. That also gives the kids a great chance to steal pens from Christina's pocket. That is what I assume happened today. After she went back to work I found pen marks on our microfiber sofa. I remember a pin to clean microfiber but it was just to get dirt off, so I went on to Pinterest to see if there was one that would take care of pen. I found that it is the same process for pen as for the dirt, rubbing alcohol.  I got out a Q-tip and dipped it in rubbing alcohol and rubbed it on the pen mark. It seemed to be getting it out but I was not sure because it was just a dark spot. After it dried I was amazed to see that the pen was completely gone. This was a great pin.  http://pinterest.com/pin/141722719494930975/

Day 58

First full day back in Knoxville means no excuse for not making something good to eat. I was in the mood for BBQ chicken. I went out to fire up the grill and my ignition button was not working on the grill. I did not have a lighter that did not force me to put mu had all the way in the grill so I had a dilema. Christina was going to be home in 30 minutes and I had to find another chicken recipe. I have not had much luck cooking chicken in a skillet in the past but when I saw the skillet chicken pin I saw what I was doing wrong before, too much oil. We had everything needed already in the house so that was a plus. With a new found confidence and pin I finally got skillet chicken done the right way. I was not burned by splashing oil and everyone liked it. I think this one made it in the regular rotation. http://pinterest.com/pin/141722719494923256/

Day 57

This amazing weekend came to a close with 7 hour drive back to Knoxville. After unpacking the car I went out to get the mail and was excited to see that the Bumbo recall kit had come while we were gone. We have not used the Bumbo in a little bit because Thomas does not sit still enough to keep him in it. It was a very fast install, they did a great job with making it a very simple process. It is nice to know that Thomas can't squirm out of it anymore.  http://pinterest.com/pin/141722719494917136/

Day 56

 We have a 2003 Suv and the headlights yellow on a regular basis. I have tried everything out there and after about 3-4 weeks they are yellow again. I did not realize how bad they had gotten until I was walking out to the car and it was not parked in a carport as it usually is. It was really bad, I cant believe that light was actually getting through.  I remembered there being a pin for cleaning headlights so I went back inside and looked it up. It was really simple, rub toothpaste on the headlights and rise off. It took all of 15 minutes and it was done and looked just as good as some of the kits I have bought. Only time will tell how long this will hold up. http://pinterest.com/pin/141722719494904242/

Day 55

Due to all that we have had going on in the last week we have fallen behind on doing the blog. We have still kept up with doing the Pinterest even thought we have not done the blog. My wife has been really busy at work, we have had a Dr appointment, and Olive turned 2, and I have been dealing with a knee issue, so we have had a very full week. Most nights when Christina has gotten out of work we play with the kids for an hour or so and then it is off to bed for the WHOLE Ryskamp family. As most of you can figure out by now Christina has been writing the blog, and she does a great job. I am sad to say that you are stuck reading my blogs for a little while, at least until we get caught up.

Saturday was a busy day, we had wedding 2 ceremonies to go to that day, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. When we got back to Christina's parent's house I started to look through the stuff we had already pinned, and looking for something that we could share with the family. I ran across the pin for the Texas Roadhouse butter and thought that would be a great thing we could all enjoy on some toast in the morning. I headed to the kitchen and found everything I needed. It took about 5 minutes start to finish. I could not wait until morning to try it and so I gave it a taste and it was not exactly like the butter at Texas Roadhouse but it still tasted great. It was a big hit the next morning, Christina liked it a lot and that is what mattered http://pinterest.com/pin/141722719494787756/

Day 54

One of my best friends growing up finally married her prince this weekend. I was privileged enough to be able to celebrate this joyous time with her, and the first day of celebrations was a Mendhi ceremony. There was music, dancing, food, and great company. There was also an opportunity to receive Mendhi. I was honored to have some of this amazing artwork applied to my hands. It's just beautiful! It will last about 2 weeks if you care for it nicely....(limit all water contact), and about a week or so if you're not so careful. What an experience!

Day 53

Traveling plus an AMAZING three day wedding ceremony can make for a tired family. Please forgive the lack of noise on the blog, but we have been very, very busy traveling to Memphis and spending time with family and friends.
That being said, Thursday's pin was another "help" for traveling. For this pin, a straw and a lighter make for travel tubes of whatever you need. For us, toothpaste. Scott took about 20 minutes to make one-time use toothpaste holders for himself, me and Olive. While the idea seemed great, the practicality fell a bit short.
After just a couple of days, they began to dry out after some of the seals started to come apart. Overall, save your time, and money, and just buy a travel tube of toothpaste. Problem solved.