Trying to be June Cleaver

Family Game Night - TV Show

2010-11-20T09:27:00.005-06:00

We have recently gotten a new channel on Direct TV called "The Hub" (channel 294). It plays the most random shows during the day, but at night it runs things like Family Ties, The Wonder Years, Happy Days, Growing pains, etc. We have noticed, that on Friday nights, it runs a new game show hosted by Todd Newton called Family Game Night. It's sponsored by Hasbro and has families of 4 or 5 competing against each other in life-sized games such as Sorry, Boggle, Guesstures, Cranium, Connect 4, Scrabble, Yahtzee, Simon Says, Bop It, etc.

It this generation's Double Dare, but without the slime! We absolutely love it and have started watching it every Friday night while we eat pizza and play board games. The boys really look forward to it and we have the most fun cheering on the families. We always split up into two teams and each root for a team. I'm so glad they still make fun family shows like this.

The boys have already started asking when they will be old enough to compete on this show! :)

Child Craft Books

2010-11-20T09:14:00.003-06:00

Because you know I love all things 1950's, you may not be surprised that I have a love and appreciation for the Child Craft books of that time.

My mother had these when she was a child and she has passed them on to me. I have volumes 1-15 from the early '50s and I read to the boys from them almost every night.

Right now we're reading from Once Upon a Time and Poems and Rhymes. I just love the old fairytales, some of which are almost impossible to find anymore. I adore the old illustrations, the smell of the 60-year-old book, and the simplicity of the poems. The boys are really enjoying it and we've had the most fun reading from them.

We can't wait to dive into some of the other books like: The World of Animals, The World of Planets, and See the World. I highly recommend adding these to your children's libraries. You can find that at garage sales, on Ebay, used book stores, and other online places. I have seen them at used bookstores for only $3 each.

Our Willow Tree

2010-11-20T08:48:00.004-06:00

We have the most beautiful willow tree in our front yard. It has grown so much the past 4 years that you almost can't see our front door anymore when you're coming down the street. We live in an area that gets it's fair share of rain, so the willow tree is great in soaking up all of the excess water.

My favorite thing about the tree is that it never stops moving. Even when the air seems still, the long branches seems to move ever so slightly. When it's very windy or during the storm, the branches flop all over the place whip through the air. The boys love to walk through the branches and pretend they're in the jungle.

I absolutely love our tree in late afternoons. We have 27 windows in this house and I keep the blinds open on every one of them every day to let the natural light in. In the late afternoon, we get the most beautiful shadows from those branches blowing in the wind all over our floors and walls. It's so relaxing and peaceful.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

2010-11-19T17:12:00.003-06:00

I love fall baking, and each year I have a few standards my family can always expect. One of my favorites is Pumpkin Whoopie Pies. They always remind me of fall and I can't wait to bite into them when the weather gets cooler!

The boys got out of school a little early today, so we set off making these as soon as they got home from school. It took us about 2 hours from start to finish, but little Beaver was with me the entire time in his little apron, totally enjoying himself. He even served one warm to Ward, who was patiently waiting in the living room while the sweet pumpkiny smells swirled all around.

We're having family game night tonight with pizza, so this is the perfect dessert to go along with our night of fun!

Holiday Music

2010-11-19T07:25:00.003-06:00

Like most people, this is my absolute FAVORITE time of year. The weather has FINALLY cooled down and the highs are in the upper 50's, where they should be for this time of year. The leaves are still falling (but not for much longer) and the grasses have finally turned almost completely brown. Yea! Fall is finally here in all it's glory.

As a rule for myself, I try not to "rush the seasons". In the fall, I like to bake pies, make "pumpkin-y" things, put orange and yellow and brown decorations out, and watch Thanksgiving movies. But mid-November gets a little overlappy for me. I know Thanksgiving is only a week away, but the day after Thanksgiving is when we typically start decorating for Christmas, so there's virtually no time to downshift between Thanksgiving warm and fuzzies and Christmas Wonderland.

This year, we're going to be out of town for Thanksgiving and won't be home until November 30th, so we'll miss our traditional "decorate on Friday" fanfare. I can't help but get in the Christmas spirit just knowing that we're going to decorate THIS weekend instead of next. I can hardly wait to get everything down from the attic tomorrow! It's like discovering my dishes, blankets, trinkets, and ornaments all over again.

To get myself in the Christmas spirit, I LOVE to turn my TV to the radio station channels. Direct TV has the Holidays and Happenings channel. The TV screen goes blank after a few minutes, so no one would ever know the music was coming from the TV. Most of the songs on this channel are old Christmas standards sung by Johnny Mathis, Nat King Cole, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, etc.

I LOVE to have a perfectly clean house, a fire in the fireplace, all the blinds open, and Ray Charles singing "Winter Wonderland" in the background. When they kids come home from school, they throw their backpacks in the couch and lay on the floor in front of the fire place and play with the cars and trucks and sing along to 50 year-old songs without a care in the world. What could be better than that???

Playing at the local park

2010-11-15T13:01:00.002-06:00

I am sure, all over America, cities small and large have local parks. Kids have been going to parks for many many years and I'm sure this tradition will continue on for the foreseeable future. We have a couple of parks in our city and we've visited them from time to time, but we definitely have a favorite park that we visit 90% of the time.

We found this park about 3 years ago and it's located 7 miles from our home. The park has 4 separate play areas. The main play area is a pirate ship with a set of swings. Not far from that is a jungle gym (with no benches for the parents). This playground doesn't get near the traffic that the pirate area does, but it butts up against a field of goats and horses and the kids love to try to woo them over to the fence. The third area is located about half a mile away (all within the big park) and is on the other side of a pavilion, so it's not noticeable from the road. This one RARELY has any traffic and is a small area with just a slide and some swings. Our favorite area is across the river on the least visited part of the park and it's a playground made of a wooden jungle gym with two slides. There's also two swing sets and two see-saws. Near the play area is a pavilion. In the 3 years we've visited this area, we have never once seen another child playing on this playground.

The area has many pine trees, so there are always a lot of dried pine needles on the ground, which the boys love to use for building forts. It's so wonderful to go there because they always have the entire area to themselves. We see people drive into the park and pass right by it to go to other areas, but no one ever stops to play here.

I took the boys there one day last week after school and we stayed for 2 hours until it got dark and had the most fun.

I hope no one else ever discovers our secret park :).

Church Chili Supper

2010-11-15T12:52:00.003-06:00

We attended our church's annual Chili Supper for the first time last night and had a great time. This is the biggest fund-raiser for our youth each year. Each youth member makes a batch of chili and the church members come to taste test and give donations to eat there. While we're eating, there's also a silent auction bake sale going on. After the meal, there is a live auction for things such as car details, vacations, helicopter rides, romantic dinners, etc.

Beaver and Wally went down to the church playroom and stayed down there for 2.5 hours while Ward and I hung out for the dinner and auction. We had an absolute blast and the auctioneer was a hoot. Overall, the youth raised $3500, which was just wonderful.

I made 4 loaves of my challah bread, and each loaf went for around $16. I just love our church and I hope it continues to grow!

A day of hiking!

2010-11-15T12:21:00.004-06:00

Last weekend, Ward and I took the boys to hike at a nearby State Park. We love going to state parks and decided a couple of years ago to make that our family hobby. We started in the fall of 2008 when the boys were 3 and 5 and have since taken them to 6 state parks in our area. We've been cabin-camping once and tent camping once and we've had so much time.

Since Ward spent the summer recovering from his knee surgery, we haven't done much in the past 7 months, but we finally got to go hiking about 9 days ago. We went to a park we hadn't been to in about a year and a half and had lunch at the lodge there (which we had never done before). Ward's knee wasn't quite up to the hike, so he drove around and visited the look-outs while I took the boys on a short hike to see some caves. The lunch was delicious and we were surprised to find out they were rebuilding the lodge and the restaurant would soon be closed down for a year and a half.

We were lucky to get to eat there when we did. We went to see a waterfall that the park is famous for, but since it's been so dry around here lately, there was no water! We let the boys play on the playground for a bit and then headed home after spending about 4 hours at the park. They were exhausted and slept the whole way home. Great day!

Church Carnival

2010-10-25T08:55:00.003-05:00

The boys had a great time at the church carnival last night. The youth puts it on and that a lot of fun games, plus a "dark room" with glow in the dark bubbles, glow in the dark face painting, black lights, glow in the dark art projects, etc.

The got plenty of candy and Silly Bandz and even participated in a costume contest. Beaver wore his Bumble Bee Transformers costume and Wally warm his Scream Ghost costume. They gave out awards such as Funniest, Most Original, and Best costumes and they divided them up by age. Neither of the boys won anything and Wally was fine with it, but Beaver really got his feelings up. He marched right up to the judges with his mad face afterward and returned the pumpkin book he was given as a consolation prize. It was sad to see him so upset, but I was disappointed in his reaction. After I talked to him, he finally got over it and went and apologized to the judges and got his book back. He was back to running around and playing the games in 2 minutes!

We had a pretty good turn out. All of the youth and children who normally participate in these activities were there (minus one family I'm sure is about to leave the church since they've been going to other churches on Sunday mornings) and I saw several kids that go to church on Sunday mornings, but don't go to Sunday School or Wednesday Fellowship, or any other "extra" activities.

I am hoping these kinds of fun activities will encourage more families to bring their children to the "extra" activities at church.

Ward and I have a meeting with the pastor this morning, as well as another couple (our closest friends in the church and the ones we fear are leaving). I know he wants to talk to us about ways to grow the children's and youth ministries as well as keeping the families we still have on board. I know good things will come out of this meeting and we're really looking forward to it!

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes - Martha Stewart

2010-10-23T21:52:00.002-05:00

While on my cooking spree today, I also made Snickerdoodle cupcakes. These are, without a doubt, the BEST cupcakes I have ever had in my entire life. And I know what the secret is.....CAKE flour. Not regular flour, but CAKE flour. They are SOOOOO soft and moist. I highly recommend.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups cake flour (not self- rising), sifted
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, plus 1/2 teaspoon for dusting
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar, plus 2 tablespoons for dusting
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups milk

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together both flours, baking powder, salt, and 1 tablespoon cinnamon.
• With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of milk, and beating until combined after each.
• Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored up to 2 days at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.
• To finish, combine remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 2 tablespoons sugar. Using a pastry bag fitted with a large plain tip (Ateco No. 809 or Wilton No. 1A), pipe frosting on each cupcake: Hold bag over cupcake with tip just above top, and squeeze to create a dome of frosting, then release pressure and pull up to form a peak. Using a small, fine sieve, dust peaks with cinnamon-sugar. Cupcakes are best eaten the day they are frosted; keep at room temperature until ready to serve.

Seven Minute Frosting
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2/3 cup water
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
6 large egg whites, room temperature

• Combine 1 1/2 cups sugar with the water and corn syrup in a small saucepan; clip a candy thermometer to side of pan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves. Continue boiling, without stirring, until syrup reaches 230 degrees.
• Meanwhile, in the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with whisk attachment, whisk egg whites on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. With mixer running, add remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, beating to combine.
• As soon as sugar syrup reaches 230 degrees, remove from heat. With mixer on medium-low speed, pour syrup down side of bowl in a slow, steady stream. Raise speed to medium-high; whisk until mixture is completely cool (test by touching the bottom of the bowl) and stiff (but not dry) peaks form, about 7 minutes. Use immediately.

Croque Monsieur - Ina Garten

2010-10-23T21:31:00.005-05:00

It's French Saturday here at the Cleaver home and this time I've chosen Hot ham and cheese sandwiches with a Bechamel sauce. I am so proud...this is another GREAT dish! I can't believe I've now made TWO French dishes. Ward and the boys all said it was wonderful and I should definitely make them again. I liked Ina Garten's recipe the best when I was digging for the one I wanted to try.

I will say...the ingredients for these meals are much more than I'm used to paying for our dinners. I try to keep us on a tight grocery budget, so our meals are usually less than $10 to feed all four of us. This one cost about $25...and it was just FOUR sandwiches! We have enough leftover to make 2 more sandwiches tomorrow, but that's still pretty steep for us. That's $4 a sandwich (for 6). On the side, I made "french" fries :) and pickles.

What a great meal! I'm so glad we're trying new things.

I was in the kitchen all day today! I made Mickey Mouse waffles and bacon for breakfast, mini cheeseburgers for lunch, and then the Croque Monsieur for dinner.

I'm exhausted!!!

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups hot milk
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pinch nutmeg
12 ounces Gruyere, grated (5 cups)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
16 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed
Dijon mustard
8 ounces baked Virginia ham, sliced but not paper thin

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Melt the butter over low heat in a small saucepan and add the flour all at once, stirring with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes. Slowly pour the hot milk into the butter–flour mixture and cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce is thickened. Off the heat add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, 1/2 cup grated Gruyere, and the Parmesan and set aside.

To toast the bread, place the slices on 2 baking sheets and bake for 5 minutes. Turn each slice and bake for another 2 minutes, until toasted.

Lightly brush half the toasted breads with mustard, add a slice of ham to each, and sprinkle with half the remaining Gruyere. Top with another piece of toasted bread. Slather the tops with the cheese sauce, sprinkle with the remaining Gruyere, and bake the sandwiches for 5 minutes. Turn on the broiler and broil for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the topping is bubbly and lightly browned. Serve hot.

A Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-23T13:02:00.006-05:00

Nothing says "fall" like a trip to the local pumpkin patch. We've stopped going every year and go every other year, just so it seems new and exciting to the boys. Wally didn't go, because he's going to a corn maze with the Wolf Scouts next week, so I went with Beaver's class on a field trip. I must say, it wasn't as fun as I remember, and I know it has something to do with this lingering hot weather.

When we went 2 years ago, it was 60 degrees and a little cloudy, we all wore sweaters and we could see our breath when we talked. This year, the kids wore shorts and t-shirts, it was 88 degrees, and we were all sweaty and tired by the end of it all.

Note to self: Only go to the pumpkin patch when it's chilly! :)

A Trip to the Zoo

2010-10-23T12:50:00.004-05:00

As a reward for good grades, I took the boys to the big City Zoo and then to a local diner and to a bookstore.

We had the best day! The zoo was relatively dead since it was the middle of a school day, but the boys were out for parent/teacher conferences, so I figured this was the best day to go. We saw almost every single animal they had. It was a beautiful day, so all of the animals were out and active. We even rode the little train! We stayed for about 2.5 hours and then we went to the bookstore where they spent their allowance. Wally bought a new Lego game and Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2 and Beaver bought a remote control car and a Magic Treehouse book about pirates.

After that, we walked over to the diner and had burgers and ice cream. Both boys kept telling me all day how this was "the best day EVER". I really enjoyed spending time with them and making more great memories. Plus, I LOVE going to the bookstore and definitely wrote down a few things I want for Christmas!

Report Card Time!

2010-10-23T10:25:00.004-05:00

Wally and Beaver did very well on their report cards!

I went in for parent/teacher conferences on Wednesday and had great visits with both of their teachers. Beaver doesn't get a report card the first 9 weeks of Kindergarten, but his teacher told me he was tested for special needs (along with every child in his class) and they discovered he was actually very gifted and scored a perfect 10 on the test, which was the highest in all 5 Kindergarten classes! We are so proud of him. It's been tough to tell if Beaver is "smart" because he doesn't take life seriously at all. He's a very happy-go-lucky kid without a care in the world. Reading by himself or taking the extra time to learn something new on his own is not something he's interested in doing. It was comforting to know he's very gifted.

Wally's visit went well and he got 6 A's and a B+...he missed a A in Reading by 1 point! He was frustrated, but his teacher assured me that if averaged an A with all 4 report cards in every class, he could still get the Principal's Achievement Award, which is something he got last year and is determined to get again.

I love our Christian school so much and we feel so fortunate to be able to send our children there.

The Berenstain Bears

2010-10-19T10:36:00.000-05:00

Growing up, I LOVED the Berenstain Bears books. I didn't have a lot of them, but the ones I did have I absolutely cherished. I loved their colorful pages and heart-warming stories and wished I lived in their treehouse with them. When I was a teenager, I began collecting them, but ended up giving away the collection when I got married.

Since my boys were very little, I've begun collecting them again and we have about 20. I know there are many more out there and I plan to continue collecting until we have them all.

I was ecstatic to discover that the Sprout Channel shows reruns of the Berenstain Bears several times a day every day! Wally just loves them and gets so excited when they come on TV. I've even started DVRing them during the day so the boys can watch them when they get home from school. It makes me feel like a little kid again and I am so happy that my boys love them as much as I did.

I've even gotten some of the chapter books for them and Beaver is starting to read them!

The appeal of a small church

2010-10-18T16:49:00.004-05:00

Ward and I have been to MANY churches in the 9 years we've been together. We've attended services at Methodist, Presbyterian, Luthern, Episcopal, and Catholic churches. We've had good experiences and bad ones, but we finally found a church home about 2.5 years ago and we're so happy. Our church isn't that big (we regularly have about 200 in attendance each Sunday), but it's big enough that it has plenty of "extra" activities. We participate in a Wednesday night fellowship, attend Sunday School, and go to "Big Church" each week and we're happy. We have made friends with several other couples who have young children and we enjoy getting our boys involved with the youth. We love this church and feel so warm and welcomed every Sunday and Wednesday.

There aren't many kids in the youth program at our church (I would say there are about 20 active kids between the ages of 4 and 12) but our church is really trying to ramp up these programs and attract younger families, without changing the Sunday service and overall "traditional" theme of our church. And I'll admit, they're struggling. It seems most young families today are choosing their churches based on the "extras" and so many of those "extras" seem to be more and more secular. We have a few Mega Churches in our town that offer literally 50-100 different types of activities or groups for you and your children to be a part of. They range from age-defined, to hobby-defined, to gender-defined. And while these social opportunities are great, it would never make or break our decision to join a church. But I'm finding out we aren't like most people.

We had just started making friends with a group of 30ish parents with kids under the age of 8...there were about 5-6 couples in our group. We'd sit together at Wednesday night fellowship and and our kids played together at other church functions and I was really starting to get to know them. We recently found out that 2 of the couples and their children have left the church for a mega church, and our closest friends at church have been secretly attending services at a Mega Church and will likely leave at the beginning of the year. Another couple in the group that have no children may not stay because they are related to one of the families leaving. It's down to just us and another family (from the original 6 families that hung out together) and they aren't attending church regularly anymore...maybe once every three weeks.

I'm so disappointed. I know there are other families we will get close to and hopefully other families will start joining the church, but I wish they would have stayed to give things a chance. It's so hard for the small church to compete with the Mega Church these days. I worry that small churches will end up folding because they can't stay afloat, and people will end missing the wonderful experience of belonging to a small church. I love that the older people in the church know who my kids are, know what activities they're involved in, and know what's going on in their lives. I feel we wouldn't have as much of that in a Mega Church, and it's very possible we'd only get to know a tiny percentage of the congregation.

Ward and I feel called to be a part of the development team for the Children's Ministries at our church, so it looks like that's another project I'm going to be working on this fall and winter. I hope we can help in some way.

Lord, give me guidance! :)

Gooseberry Patch Cookbooks

2010-10-17T11:52:00.003-05:00

About a year ago, I discovered Gooseberry Patch Cookbooks and I'm in love. These are spiral-bound cookbooks and remind me of church cookbooks, but they have the most adorable farm drawings on every page, as well as cooking and entertaining tips and family stories. I enjoy the "extras" almost as much as the recipes!

For my birthday, my Mother-in-Law got me my first one "Christmas" and I've since gotten the "Slow Cooker" and "Grandma's Table". I can't wait to collect them all!

I went to a new store in my town and found they even make calendars, planners, and "mini-cookbooks" to add to my collection. Yea! :) They are about $15-$18 each, so I'll have to collect them slowly, but they're definitely going on my Christmas list this year!

I love cookbooks!

2010-10-17T07:44:00.005-05:00

I learned to cook when I was a teenager, I think around 16. I developed an interest in looking through my mom's cookbooks, but only the ones with pictures. The other ones just bored me. Over the next 5 years, I didn't cook much, and when I did it was mainly desserts that my boyfriend's mother let me cook in her kitchen. They were nothing difficult (cookies, cakes, pudding, etc.) but I LOVED making them and I pretended I was a little wife in my little kitchen making treats for my family.

When I got my own apartment in college, I had to cook for myself for the first time. I didn't have ANY cookbooks, so I just went and bought a little Better Homes and Gardens cookbook and cooked the easy recipes, but like most college kids, I ate out a lot and fixed sandwiches.

I think I really came into my own as a cook when Ward and I got married. (9 years ago). I started with simple meals of grilled chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, and canned biscuits, but eventually I moved up to more elaborate meals and I even do all of the cooking for Christmas and Thanksgiving now. I am very proud of the cook I've become and I'm excited to be learning new dishes in the near future.

But with this love of learning came a love for cookbooks. I absolutely adore them. I can spend HOURS just sitting on the couch looking at my cookbooks. I have a lot of Paula Deen, Sandra Lee, Southern Living, Taste of Home, church cookbooks, and Pillsbury and Betty Crocker newsstand cooking magazines. I try to cook from my cookbooks at least 2-3 times a week, and when I do I put a small sticker next to the recipe along with the date. This lets' me know how often I'm using a particular recipe and when I made it last. That way I don't make something too much.

I already have a big list ready for Christmas and I can't wait to add another 4-5 books to my growing collection. Today is Sunday, so after church I will make lunch for my family and then sit on the couch and look at my cookbooks for several hours while Ward and I watch NFL football. What a great day!

Rearranging Furniture

2010-10-17T07:31:00.006-05:00

Growing up, we lived in a 1300 sq ft 3-bedroom, 2 bathroom home. It wasn't big, but I found TONS of ways to rearrange the furniture in our living room and my bedroom. I don't know if it's because furniture was smaller back then, or maybe because we didn't have very many windows, but I could make 5 or 6 different arrangements in each of those rooms with no problems.

Now that I'm grown up and have a 3100 sq ft house, it seems I can't find a way to properly rearrange any of the rooms. We've lived here for 4 years and we've never rearranged any room other than the livingroom, and that's been so minor it's barely noticeable. I think it's because we have bulky furniture and our house has 27 windows, which makes it very hard to move things around without blocking one of them.

Well, a few weeks ago, Ward and I decided that our formal livingroom was a complete waste of space, and with me coming back home to work, we thought I needed my own workspace since Ward uses our office as his workspace. We decided to move our formal diningroom into our formal livingroom, get rid of the formal livingroom all together, and make the formal diningroom my new office. Even though our formal diningroom is now a carpeted room, I'm really pleased with how things turned out.

We also made my office a room for the kids to do their homework. We added some school posters, a wall calendar, a floor mat, and two school desks for them. They love having a place of their own and they've been using it almost daily.

Looks great, don't you think?

Gratin de Pomme de Terre et Saucisson

2010-10-16T19:34:00.003-05:00

My first concoction from Julia's book! Luckily I found this on the internet. There are MANY variations on this recipe, but I'm confident I found her original one. The name is fancy, but this is basically polish sausage with potatoes, eggs, onions, and cheese. And let me tell you....it.was.DELISH.

2/3 cup minced onions
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 pound Yukon Gold potatoes
1 package of pre-cooked Kielbasa, Hillshire Farms or similar
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Swiss cheese (I went to the deli and had them slice 1/2 pound - about 8 slices)

Fill a saucepan with 3 quarts of water over high heat and bring to a boil. While waiting for the water to boil, peel and slice the potatoes, and slice and Kielbasa. When the water is boiling drop in the potato slices and cook for 6-8 minutes until barely done. Remove them from the heat, let drain and cool a bit.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. When melted, add the onions and saute until tender but not browned, about 5 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Coat a baking dish with butter, oil, or non-stick spray. Spread half the potatoes in the bottom. Distribute half the onions over the potatoes. Spread half the Kielbasa over that. Then do it again: spread the remaining potatoes over the dish, followed by the onions and Kielbasa.

Put the four eggs into a mixing bowl along with the cream. Add the salt and pepper. Beat until slightly thickened. Pour it over the potatoes and sausage. Lay the cheese over the potatoes and sausage. Cut the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter into 8 portions and distribute them evenly over the top of the cheese.

Bake for 40 minutes in the upper third of the oven until the cheese is nicely browned.

Mastering the Art of French Cooking

2010-10-16T19:28:00.004-05:00

So....I finally watched Julie & Julia this week and I loved it! I'm a total foodie, so I love anything that has to do with cooking, but this really hit home with me. I find myself leaning towards church cookbooks and anything from one of the Food Network stars, but I completely forgot about Julia Child! How is that possible???

I was looking for a new project, so I've decided to learn to cook French foods. I'm not going to cook everything in her famous cookbook, like Julie did in the movie, but I am definitely going to start cooking things a little more difficult than spaghetti or tacos.

I'm thrilled about this new project and I've already started looking up types of French foods online. They all look so wonderful! I don't own Mastering the Art of French Cooking yet, but I'm definitely going to ask for it for Christmas! Until then, I guess I'll just find stuff on the internet. Wish me luck!!!

Fall is here!!!

2010-09-27T08:26:00.003-05:00

This is the start of my favorite time of year. I LOVE fall and winter. I adore pumpkins, apple pie, crisp autumn air, football games, the county fair, the air show, Boo at the Zoo, hayrides, fires in the fireplace, etc. My least favorite time of the year is mid-July to mid-September. This is the hottest time of year for us here, and at times it's so hot that we won't even let the boys go outside to play. Up until this past weekend, our temperatures have still be in the high 90's. But we got a storm Friday night that brought with it some cooler temperatures and a high of 72 yesterday and today!

I can't believe it's finally here. After I get my housework finished this morning, I'm definitely going to crawl up in the attic and pull out my fall decorations. I try to pick up a few things on clearance each year, so my collection does grow a tiny bit every year.

Ward mowed the front and back yard this weekend and we can finally see some dead grass under the green. Yea! I am so excited we've finally gotten to this point of year. The next 7 months are heaven for me because I love to be cold!! I even put the boys in long pants for school this morning.

Welcome autumn!!!

Brotherly Love

2010-09-25T16:05:00.003-05:00

Wally and Beaver are 23 months apart in age, and I remember when Beaver was born I really wanted them to be close...best friends even. I wanted them to love each other as much as my sister and I did when we were little. And I lucked out...it happened. Those two are inseparable. They rarely fight because Wally is a natural leader and Beaver is a natural follower. Beaver lets Wally be the boss, and Wally loves to protect and care for Beaver. They sleep in the same bed every night, cuddle on the couch in the morning while they're watching cartoons, and play for hours together in their rooms or in the yard. They adore each other and I hope it lasts for many more years to come.

My sister and I grew apart in our teen years, and sadly we rarely even speak anymore. I hope Wally and Beaver's relationship turns out differently. I am really enjoying watching them grow up together.

Friday Nights at home

2010-09-24T19:31:00.003-05:00

For most people, going out on Friday and Saturday nights is standard fare. You work and/or go to school all week, so by the time Friday comes around, you're usually ready to hit the town. You might go out to eat, catch a movie, hit the bowling alley, or hang out at the mall.

But we don't do that around here. For us, Friday night is Family Night. We look forward to playing board games and watching a movie on Netflix while we all cuddle up and eat popcorn. I love that we never make plans on Friday nights because that's "our night" to be together. We also let the kids spend the night with us in their sleeping bags on Friday nights. We've done this for about 3 years and I hope the tradition continues for many years to come.

Tonight, we picked up a pizza from Little Cesar's and we're watching "Big" while we play a round-robin chess tournament. Wally and Beaver are only 7 and 5, but both know how to play chess well.

I cherish these memories and I don't ever want them to get big! :)

Wednesday at Church

2010-09-22T08:26:00.003-05:00

Growing up, I didn't go to church very often. In fact, it seemed we only went on special occasions, maybe 2-3 times per year. Sure, I went to my friends' churches several times, but I didn't really start going to church regularly until I got my first serious boyfriend in High School. He was Freewill Baptist, so we went to a church every Wednesday night, Sunday morning, and Sunday night. Although the church was small, every family was very involved so we had a good group of kids that came to all activities "religiously"...if you'll pardon the pun. I enjoyed going to that church and bonding with the other families, but I fell out of habit once my boyfriend and I broke up.

After Ward and I got married, we joined a local church and decided to get as involved as we could. But, as it sometimes happens when you have children, we got really busy and didn't participate as much as we would have liked.

Now that Wally and Beaver are 7 and 5, we're finally at a place to get more involved. We all started Sunday School 2 weeks ago and we've started going to "Way Out Wednesdays". The kids are really enjoying this. We have dinner at church....the kids usually find a "kids table" to join and then they head off to Children's choir, while the adults sit in the fellowship hall and socialize. I'm so glad we've gotten more involved because now I truly look forward to Wednesdays. I want the boys to grow up remembering that we were at church a lot, and always doing something fun. So far...so good!

Donna Reed

2010-09-21T17:25:00.004-05:00

I've said it before....but I just love Donna Reed. Growing up in the late '80's at the dawn of Nick-at-Nite I was subjected to a LOT of old sitcoms. We watched Leave it to Beaver, Father Knows Best, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Andy Griffith, The Anne Southerland Show, Mr. Ed, Patty Duke, Dobie Gillis, and My Three Sons. I love all of those shows, but Donna Reed was BY FAR my favorite.

It used to come on every night at 7:00pm. My mom worked at an accounting firm and got home around 5:30 every night. She used to fix dinner still dressed in her heels and we'd usually eat around 6:30. I always knew it was dinner when Wheel of Fortune was coming on, and dinner was over when it was going off.

I remember, my sister and I would hurry through the dinner clean-up routine so we could get in our pj's and grab our blanket and get on the couch by 7:00pm sharp to watch our favorite show. My mom was thrilled that we enjoyed watching shows from her youth and it was so nice to watch it together.

I loved watching the light and happy episodes about first dances, remodeling the kitchen, a camping trip gone wrong, birthday mishaps, etc. It was all so innocent and comforting and I always dreamed of being Mary Stone. I wanted to look like her, talk like her, act like her...and more importantly, I wanted to be in the 1950's. I wanted to be a teenager during a time when girls didn't call boys, families spent most of their time together, and TV wasn't the most important thing in the world.

Sadly, Nick-at-Nite stopped showing reruns of my favorite shows and I went years without seeing any episodes. Luckily, a couple of years ago, they started releasing seasons of the show and I now have the first three seasons on DVD. It was like discovering the show all over again, I barely remember any of the episodes!

Now that I have them, I watch them daily. After I drop off the boys at school, I come home and turn it one and do my housework. Watching Donna makes me feel very domestic, so I tend to get more done when she's in the background. The boys have even taking a liking to the show and I catch them laying around watching it from time to time. I know I don't have any daughters to pass on my love of homemaking to, but at least my boys have an appreciate for my love of life in the 1950's.

The Hardy Boys

2010-09-20T07:08:00.003-05:00

About 3-4 months ago, my sweet Granny called to tell me that her cousin was having a garage sale, so she went to piddle around in her things. In a box, she found about 50 original Hardy Boys' books in mint condition. This books look identical to my Nancy Drew set, but they have blue binding instead of yellow. I have never read the Hardy Boys, but I was THRILLED when she offered to buy them for Wally because I knew I'd finally have someone to share my Nancy Drew stuff with, given that the Hardy Boys are basically the male equivalent of Nancy, Bess, and George.

When she brought them to the house, I was ecstatic. They are in PERFECT condition. I showed Wally, and he was super excited. He loves to read, and even though these books are a little advanced for a 7 year old, he loves for me to read them to him.

We didn't get much reading done the 7 weeks I was working in the big city, but now that I'm back home, we've picked right back up on our nightly reading. And after finishing a few we had stacked up on his night table, we're finally 5 chapters into the first Hardy Boys book, The Tower Treasure, and Wally is really loving it.

I love reading these old books to him and I love that he loves it. I've always said Wally was an "old soul" since he likes to watch old MGM cartoons, prefers to read and play with his toys instead of watch TV and play video games, likes to dress nice and wear cologne for school, likes to watch The Andy Griffith Show and The Donna Reed Show, and likes to read the classics. Now...if only I could get him to start watching old movies with me.... :)

Nancy Drew

2010-09-18T12:07:00.003-05:00

When I was around 9 or 10, my mother introduced me to Nancy Drew. She had the entire original Nancy Drew series, which totals 56 books. Already an avid reader, I couldn't wait to dig-in to these classics. I didn't know anything about Nancy Drew at the time, but I was intrigued by the beautiful painted covers of the series. Each book's cover depicted some mysterious scene from the book, and boy did I judge the books by their covers back then!

I loved reading about Nancy's adventures with her friends Bess and George, and her dates with Ned Nickerson. I loved reading the descriptions of her wardrobe and the delicious meals that her housekeeper, Hannah Gruen prepared for her. I'm 32 years old now and I STILL read these books on an almost daily basis. I love them because they remind me of my youth, and because they remind me of my mother. I love the smell of old books, and I love that my mother has her name written in cursive in all of the books, with a list of the books she has lent out to her friends. I also love that these books are set in the 40's and 50's. I love references to malt shops, old cars, and the fact that no one has more than one TV, no cell phones, compters, or beepers, and people still talked to each other on the streets.

For about the past 10 years or so, I have started with the first book and read all the way to the 56th book. Once I finish 56, I start all over again at number 1....and I never tire of them.

I'm sad that I don't have a little girl to pass on these wonderful books to, but I imagine I might have a granddaughter that will appreciate them someday.

I know there are plenty of good "serial" books for young girls to read these days, but I can't imagine a better heroine than my Nancy Drew. In my mind, she will always be the girl I'm trying to be....polite, beautiful, smart, witty, perfectly manicured at all times, respectable, charming, friendly, and intuitive.

Apple Crisp

2010-09-18T08:57:00.003-05:00

I try to "cook with the seasons", which means I make lots of lemon and blueberry and 'salady' stuff in the spring and summer, and lots of pumpkin and apple things in the fall. I want the boys to associate certain foods with specific times of the year, so I'm careful not to serve pumpkin pie in July so they have something to look forward to in the fall.

Well, one of our favorite things in this house is apple crisp. Once September comes around, I usually make it 2-3 times a month until about March, and then I don't make it again for 6 months.

I made a batch yesterday (even though it's still 95 degrees here) and just the cinnamony smell wafting through the house was enough to get everyone's fall juices flowing. It smelled absolutely heavenly.

Here is my recipe:

6-8 apples, peeled and diced
2 sticks of butter (softened)
2 cups of flour
2 cups of brown sugar
2 cups of rolled oats
2 TBS cinnamon
1/4 cup of water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour the diced apples into a nice sized casserole dish (not quite as big as 13x9) and pour the water over them. In a large bowl, mix together the rest of the ingredients. I always start mixing with a wooden spoon, but end up just using my hands to make sure it's really mixed well. Spoon the "crisp" portion over the apples and then pack it down tight (especially around the edges) to keep all that moisture under the crispy top. This keeps the apples especially soft. Bake until the top slightly browns....usually about an hour depending on how deep or long your casserole dish is. Delicious!!!

Cub Scouts Popcorn Sales

2010-09-17T06:57:00.005-05:00

Since Wally and Beaver were babies, I knew they were going to be Cub Scouts. I had envisioned being a 50's mom with a clean house for them come home to, a safe neighborhood for them to play in, a great church to be involved in, after school snacks on the counter, home-cooked meals every night, family date nights with movies and popcorn, involvement in local sports organization....and membership of the Cub Scouts Organization. It's always been important to me that the boys be involved in scouting because I love what it represents, and they're so proud of themselves when they earn their achievements.

Ward and I decided to lead Wally's den this year and we had our first meeting last night. Our den has 18 boys this year and we're thrilled with the high turn-out. We took them to a local indoor play facility and let them play in the maze while we had our parents' meeting, and then we brought the boys back together at the end to work on their motto, promise, salute, handshake, and symbols. Some of the boys were knew to scouting and super excited to be doing anything scout-related.

This is my favorite time of the year for scouting because everything is new and exciting and you get to kick off the year with Popcorn Sales! This is a major fundraiser for the boys and last year Wally sold $380 worth just to earn a Lego set. This year he is determined to sell $600 worth so he can win a marshmallow gun. It made my heart sing to sit on my front porch and watch him go door-to-door last night in his uniform. He basically skipped down the sidewalks to each house, with little Beaver hot on his trails. He was so proud to come home with $150 in sales already! This year there is a "buy online and support your favorite scout" option, so this will definitely help him get sales from our friends out of state.

I can't wait to see how well he does with this!

The School Morning Shuffle

2010-09-15T12:32:00.004-05:00

No matter how early we wake up, our mornings always seem so rushed! We have to leave by 7:50am to get the boys to school by 8:05. School doesn't start until 8:20, but they like to get there 15 minutes early to do their "quiet activities" at their desks.

I have been waking them up at 7:00am and making them leave the breakfast table by 7:30am to get dressed and brush their teeth and comb their hair.

They seem to do ok in the mornings as long as I am completely ready and can nudge them along, but on the mornings I'm not ready and I have to be back in my bathroom getting dressed while they're in the living room getting dressed....nothing gets done. They just hang out in the living room and either talk to each or play or lay back down.

Well, since I'm "back home" after a 7 week unsuccessful working-in-the-big-city venture, I decided to get us back on a good schedule.

Last night, I ironed their uniforms (they go to a Christian school), and laid them out with their socks, belts, and shoes. I also completely packed their backpacks, lunchboxes, snack packs, and water bottles.

I got showered and dressed before I even woke them up. And you know what? It all went perfectly smoothly!! They were actually ready to go 10 minutes early!

There is something to be said about serious organization. I'm going to do it this way from now on.

Big Brother

2010-09-14T08:36:00.003-05:00

So....everyone has guilty pleasures, right? Well, one of mine is Big Brother. I watched Season 1 many moons ago and I didn't really like it, so I never watched it again. Well, about 6 years ago, several of my co-workers were really into Season 5 (the season with Jase and Cowboy and Drew and Diane and Nakomis) and I felt so left out when they'd come in three times a week and talk about it, that I vowed to watch the next summer to see what all the fuss was about. So, I started with Season 6 (the season of Janelle and James and Howie and Kaysar)....and I was HOOKED after that. I have since gone back and watched every season in full, except for season 4...I just can't make it through that season for some reason.

I don't know what it is about this show that has me so captivated, but I watch loyally every year and I always get a little sad about this time of year because I know it's coming to an end. :(

I will miss you Britney, Hayden, Enzo, and Lane!

Until next year...

Kids in the bed

2010-09-13T06:45:00.001-05:00

Usually every Friday night, Ward and I let the boys spend the night in sleeping bags at the foot of our bed. I don't know when this started, but it feels like we've been doing it for years. Well, this past Friday night, they got in trouble for rough-housing, so their punishment was no spending the night, but we said we'd give them another shot at it Saturday night. Well...we forgot Saturday night.

This morning, at about 5:00am, Beaver came in our bedroom and got right in my face while was sleeping and started kissing me on the mouth a few times until I woke up, which just seemed so odd in the middle of the night! When I opened my eyes, his arms were crossed and he looked mad and said....We were supposed to spend the night Saturday night! I said, fine....get in bed with us now. And he said...wait! I need to go get Wally. So, a few minutes later, they're both got our bed with their favorite blankets and several stuffed animals and we all went back to sleep.

I never really settled back into a good sleep after that, but it made me feel so good that they wanted to get in bed with us. They almost never crawl in bed with us anymore and I know our years of all being in the bed together are almost over.

I'm trying to savor every minute of this that I can! I want so desperately for them to stay little that I tend to cling to every "babyish" thing they still do.

Can't they stay little forever?

Back Home

2010-09-12T21:10:00.006-05:00

Wow...it's been a while since I've posted, and it's been a VERY long and mostly trying summer.

In late April, we found out that Ward had some floating bone fragments in his knee leftover from a previous sports injury (or so we thought) so we had to schedule an outpatient surgery for late May. The day before his surgery, Ward started working from home full-time. He had one office in the house and I have an office across the hall from him, as we both work for the same company. My work is light and mostly secretarial and I don't work as much as he does. It's a flexible and low-stress job that allows me to be home with the boys and be very involved in their school activities.

Ward's surgery did not go as we had hoped and his doctors found severe arthritis...and Ward is only 32. He said the recovery initially would be around 6-8 weeks on crutches (we thought it would be more like 3-5 days) and 6-12 months for total recovery. We were told he'd most likely need both knees replaced before turning 40. Needless to say, Ward was devastated and his time on crutches was hard for everyone.

During his time at home recovering, we started going over the medical bills and saw that between Ward's MRI, surgery, physical therapy, and Beaver's medical bills from his hemophilia-related medicines...we were sinking fast. We knew we had enough to pay our regular bills with a little for savings, but these bills were just too much. While we were trying to decide what to do, my old boss from my full-time fast-paced job from 2 years called and said they were re-starting the company and getting the old gang back together. I immediately said "thanks, but no thanks" and went about my regular life. But the thought stayed in my head, and every few days, he'd call back and ask if I had given it anymore thought. After going back and forth for a few weeks and really thinking it through, Ward and I decided it would be best for me to go back to work in the big city. We knew this would be a huge change from the life we had been living for the past 2 years. We would go from having me home 24/7 and being majorly involved at the school, to having me home every night at 7:00, working every other Saturday, and working every other holiday. We knew that would be a tough transition for everyone, but we reasoned it would be worth it because I'd have something for me (a great career opportunity) and we'd have money like we'd never had before.

I selfishly started making lists of everything we were going to spend the new money on. We were going to pay off our medical bills in 3 months, I was going to get a year-round tanning package, start getting my hair cut and colored every 6 weeks, get monthly mani/pedi's, go out to eat every Friday night, and set aside $200 a month for me to buy new clothes and accessories.

I have NEVER been a woman that is into any of the above items, but I reasoned that I wasn't into them before because we never had the money for them, but since I was working in the big city again...I DESERVED all these things.

I knew the boys would be upset by not having me around all the time, but I assured Ward and myself that they'd get over it once school started and they'd forget all about me.

Boy....was I ever wrong.

Going back to work on July 26th was the worst decision I've made in years. From the first day I regretted my decision. The boys were devastated not to have me home, and on the third day I drove to work, Beaver chased me down the driveway crying and started waking up at 5:30 in the morning just to spend time with me before I left for work. Ward did a great job cleaning the house and preparing dinner the first few days, but after about a week, the house began to fall into disarray, the laundry got ridiculously backed up, the dishes piled up in the sink, and we started having cereal for dinner almost every night. I was so tired when I got home at 7:00 that I had no time for homework, stories, games, or even giving them their baths. It was awful. I cried to Ward and told him I'd made a terrible mistake, but we both knew it was too late. I had already quit my wonderful but lower-paying work-from-home job and had even provided my boss with a replacement for me. I was stuck and I knew it. I decided we'd just have to get more organized and the kids would just have to learn to depend on Ward for everything.

And then my old boss called. He's still Ward's boss, so he talked to Ward from time to time about my situation and he knew I wasn't happy. He asked me to stop by his office after work one day, and within 3 minutes of being there, he asked me to come back to work for him. I cried with joy on my way home from work. I couldn't believe my luck. I always loved this work-at-home job and never took it for granted, but I thought having tons of money with this new job was more important. And I was dead wrong.

I was finally able to give notice at my new job this past Friday (after only having been there for about 7 weeks) and I am hoping that once the big boss receives my resignation on Monday morning that he will send me straight home (with pay of course) and I can resume my wonderful secretarial job.

I miss being at home.

I miss puttering through the house on rainy days. I miss the sound of the dishwasher while I'm folding clothes in the livingroom and watching the Food Network. I miss making lunch for Ward and I and sitting on my bed watching The Young and the Restless while I cut coupons. I miss making after school snacks, waiting in line to pick the boys up from school, walking into the kitchen at 5:00 sharp to get dinner started, being finished with dinner and ready to play with the kids by 6:30, getting 9 hours of sleep per night, always having a clean house, being able to run up to the school and eat lunch with the boys.....and most of all....I miss having a 10 second commute to my job. :)

I am so glad to FINALLY be back home...where I am loved and needed. And where I belong.

Guest Blog for Coupons Post #2

2010-04-16T07:11:00.001-05:00

Well, I'm back for week 2 of this couponing bonanza series! I hope everyone has had a chance to review the first post and get started. By now you should have made a budget, made a buy-price list, started menu planning, picked up the inserts out of the Sunday paper, checked out a few coupon blogs, and printed a few coupons online. If you have...then you're ready for this week's new stuff. If you haven't, that's ok too! The beauty is, you can pick this up at any time.

Now that you've got a few coupons in your hand, you're probably trying to set-up some sort of organization system. It is very important to ORGANIZE YOUR COUPONS. If you don't, you'll have some in your purse, some in the car, some in your pocket, some still inside the newspaper, and some in a drawer and you'll decide it's just not worth it and throw your hands up and say "fuhgetaboutit".

There are a few different ways to organize your coupons, but I'll just tell you the way I do it. Once you really get into this, you may come up with a way that is much better for you, but this is what works best for me...

When I get the inserts out of my Sunday paper (I buy 4 each week) I date the front page with a black marker and I put it away...I do NOT clip coupons until I need them. I bought 4 plastic paper trays and have them stacked up on my desk in our home office. In one tray, I have my Smart Source inserts (SS is how it's abbreviate online), in another tray I have my Proctor & Gamble inserts (PG), in another tray I have my Red Plum inserts (RP) and in the top one I have my All You Magazines, Weekly Kroger coupon booklets that come in the mail, and monthly Walgreen's store coupon booklet. I highly recommend getting a subscription to All You. They are sold at Wal-Mart exclusively, but you can get a subscription online. They vary in price depending on which deals they have going on, but I got a 2-year subscription for $14 a few months ago. Each magazine has over $80 in coupons and there is an alphabetical index in the front of the magazine telling you were to find all of the coupons. If you are not receiving weekly coupon booklets in the mail from Kroger, you need to go to www.kroger.com and register there. Not only will they send you "themed" coupon booklets (game-day, grilling out, breakfast, cinco de mayo, etc.) but once a month they'll send you personalized coupons based on what you normally buy...and they'll usually include a coupon for something free. These
rock!

I do carry an index box with me to the store, but this only has my most common food purchases and the coupons I have printed off of the internet inside because I make my list before I leave the house, grab the coupons I need, and then head to the store (more on this later)...and this really prevents me from impulse buying because I can't stand to buy something I don't have a coupon for. Because I actively read my blogs, I know exactly what's on sale and even what is on close-out. The only surprises I see at the store each week is what is on clearance over by the U-Scan area. If I find a particularly good deal and it's something I know I want to buy multiples of, I'll just run back home after I check out, grab my coupons and come back. Now, the thought of this might drive you CRAZY. If that is the case, feel free to cut all your coupons and keep them in your box, envelopes, or binder...whatever works best for you. The key here is to ORGANIZE them in some way.
I clean out expired coupons the first of every month since so many coupons expire on the last day of the month. This keeps my box from getting to fat and heavy.

Now that your paper coupons are organized, it's time to LEARN ABOUT ELECTRONIC COUPONS or e-coupons. I only discovered these babies a few months ago and they make me very happy!! These are coupons that are loaded to your Kroger Plus card and come off automatically when you buy the qualifying product...but here's the beauty of this....you can STACK a paper coupon with the e-coupon!!!! This means that if you have an e-coupon for $.40 off of Betty Crocker potatoes, you can stack a paper coupon for $.40 off of Betty Crocker potatoes (which Kroger will DOUBLE to $.80 off) and you will end up saving $1.20 on one box of Betty Crocker potatoes. You will want to go to www.shortcuts.com and www.cellfire.com and www.kroger.com to load these coupons to your card. You will have to set-up accounts for these, but it will take less than a minute to add your Kroger card. Cellfire loads their new coupons on the 9th and 23rd of each month and Shortcuts and Kroger do it whenever they feel like. The good news is...the coupon blogs will tell you when new coupons have been loaded, so if you're reading them regularly, you'll know when to go load new coupons. The coupons will expire (usually 1-2 months out) and sometimes you'll get multiples of a certain item, so it's possible you'll have 2-3 coupons for the same item on the card. This is good. It's important to note: Each e-coupon is good for one item one time. Once you use it on that one item, the coupon will disappear from your card. The good news is, you may have 2 potato coupons on Cellfire, 2 on Shortcuts, and 2 on Kroger.com. That means you can get 6 boxes of potatoes if they're on special and save 6 times! It's also important to note that these e-coupons don't stack on top of each other. For example, if you buy 1 box of potatoes and have 6 e-coupons, all 6 e-coupons will NOT come off...just one coupon per item. This is just another way to enhance your savings. And you will notice a pattern with these coupons...they are almost exclusively General Mills products (Betty Crocker, Yoplait, Pillsbury, Old El Paso, etc.)

UTILIZE THE CATALINA PROMOTIONS that Kroger offers. This is one of Kroger's little secrets, and I don't know many people that use this, let alone even know about it. Did you know that Kroger runs promotions like: If you buy 3 boxes of Kellogg's cereal, we'll give you $2 off your next order? Some of these are marked with a red and white tag next to the item, but most of them they're not. You will want to regularly check http://mommysnacks.net/snack-summary/kroger-catalina-offers/ and http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/kroger-catalina-deals-post-them-here/ to see the current Catalina promotions. This is great because they are actually PAYING you to buy their products...on top of this, you can roll this "coupon" to buy more of their products. For example, on the Betty Crocker Potato deal, they are paying you $3 when you buy 3 pouches of potatoes at $1.15 each. My 3 e-coupons will knock them down to $.75 each and then I will use 3 $.40 off paper coupons (doubled to $.80) and MAKE $.15 for buying these three bags. On top of this, they'll spit out a coupon for save $3 off your next order. I can turn right around and buy 3 more bags of potatoes (using no coupons at all if I don't have any) and spend $.45 on three bags of potatoes and it will spit out ANOTHER $3 coupon. This can go on and on forever. When I find a good deal like this, instead of using the $3 to buy more, I'll use my coupons and pay next to nothing for it and hoard the $3 coupons off my next order. Once I get to about $30 off or so, I'll take them in and buy a bunch of meat for free!

Next up....Change the way you MAKE YOUR GROCERY LIST. In the past, you've probably kept a running list during the week, just adding things as you ran out. Then, once you had thought about your needs for the week, you added those items as well. Then, while at the store, you threw in a few extra items that appealed to you as well. I used to shop that way, but now I shop a little differently. I have an excel spreadsheet for my grocery list and it looks like this:

As items come up that I need (milk, bread, sugar, etc.) I check the ads to see if anyone is running a special on that item. If not, I will usually pick it up at Kroger and I'll find any coupons I can for it, and list it in the proper category. Then, once my blogs come out with the weekly sales, I spend a lot of time looking it over to see which sales appeal to me. The blogs will have coupon match-ups with each item that has an available coupon and they'll tell you where to find it. For example, if Bryan Hot Dogs are on sale for $2, they'll tell you that you can find a coupon for Bryan Hot Dogs in the 3/28 RP for $1 off of 2 items. This keeps me from searching through tons of coupons. I just go straight to it, clip it out, and put it with my pile that will be going to the store with me. While going over the weekly ad, I will also print out my shortcuts, Kroger.com, and Cellfire accounts so that I can see what coupons are being held on my Kroger card. I also go to the Catalina lists to see the "hidden" deals that Kroger doesn't go out of their way to advertise. This way I can see all of my savings and I know what to expect to spend. I usually try to spend no more than $50 on "need items", $20 on "stockpile" items, and $10 on toiletries/household items per week. This keeps my weekly spending around $80. After I see what I will be getting, I review what I have and then I sit down and make my menu plan for the next week. So I'm making my plan based on what I have, not on what I want.

Hopefully, this post will help you get to the second level of couponing...going beyond cutting a few coupons out of the paper. If you plan and get yourself into the habit of committing to saving, you will be able to: Organize your coupons and keep them organized, learn about and utilize e-coupons, learn about and utilize catalina promotions, and change the way you make your grocery list. I know this seems like a lot to do, but I always tell people...there's a lot to do in the beginning of this process, but the maintenance is a piece of cake! You will be so glad you did this once you get started!

I was going to post about keeping track of your savings in this week's post, but I think I'll save that for next week's post. At that time, I'll also be posting about buying coupons on EBAY, free samples, shopping at Walgreen's and shopping at Target.

I love a rainy day!

2010-04-07T15:43:00.005-05:00

I look forward to Springtime every year not for the flowers and warmer weather and signs of new growth...but for the rainstorms!

I love to stay home and putter around the house on a rainy day while Ward is at work and the boys are at school. Our house has 27 windows and I open the blinds on every one of them and I can see the rain coming down in sheets, the willow tree bending over on it's side, and the wind whipping through the trees down our street. I watch the neighborhood animals dashing for cover, and see people sprinting to their mailboxes with newspapers covering their heads. I love to hear the thunder crashing and know that I'm safe and cozy in my house.

I got to experience this for about 3 hours this afternoon and it was heaven.

Now it's gotten dark again and we're expecting a second round. I think I'll go in the kitchen and put on a pot of chili and enjoy our rainy season.

I'm a guest host!!!

2010-04-03T09:37:00.004-05:00

I was asked to guest host over at www.bugsandsunshine.blogspot.com about couponing!

I am so excited to share this information with others! I have been asked to do several posts about it.

Here's the first post...

I am so happy to share my knowledge of couponing with you guys! It has been a long and fun road to get to the "Crazy Coupon Lady" level, and I'm proud to give you tips on how to get there yourselves. When I started couponing, I was saving about 25% each week at the store, now I save between 62%-91% and I feel guilty if it's less than that! It sounds ridiculous, but it's possible for ANYONE to do this...all it takes it a little education, and some planning.

Before we get started, I should warn you...couponing is addictive! Once you really get into this, you will never want to pay retail for anything again! On some days it's difficult for me to accept the fact that I can't get everything for free or less than $1! :) I'm so used to handing over a stack of coupons that it feels odd to buy something without one. But I didn't get here overnight. There is definitely a method to this madness, and if you're patient, and take this one step at a time, I know you'll all be pros in no time! The key is COMMITING TO SAVING MONEY!

You all should know...I do NOT shop at Wal-Mart. I will teach you that you don't need to depend on "Everyday Low Prices" and you don't need to go straight for the "off-brand" to get the best deals. When you learn to combine coupons with in-store specials and in-store coupons, you can buy name-brand on almost everything for much less than the store brand. I shop exclusively at Kroger, Target, and Walgreen's, and except for my son's birthday cake from their bakery, I haven't stepped foot in Wal-Mart in over 2 years. And it feels great!!!

This first post is all about GETTING STARTED. To me, getting started is the hardest part. It's so easy to say..."I'll start couponing once the kids are out of school this summer, once I get settled into my new job, after the holidays, etc." The truth is, there's no better time than right now. Even if your first trip to the store only saves you $4, at least you've started saving money! Now, let's talk about where to begin.

Step One: If you haven't done this already, MAKE A FAMILY BUDGET. Before you start your shopping trips, you need to know how much you're allowed to spend at the store. Once you've made your budget and you know what you can spend, go back through the last 3-6 months in your bank account and figure out exactly what you DID spend. Were you within this budget? I bet most of you probably spent WAY more than you thought when you added up the trips to Wal-Mart, Target, Kroger, Walgreen's, Fred's, Big Lots, etc....not to mention how much you spent going out to eat (which is something my family does MAYBE 6 times a YEAR) When I first started couponing in 2008, I had budgeted $600 per month on groceries and household items. Once I sat down and looked at the actual statements, I realized I was spending $900-$1,000 per month not including the $300 a month we were spending on eating out. What in the world were we buying????. I was astonished! We now spend between $300-$350 for our family of 4, and this includes ALL groceries, toiletries, medicine (non-prescription) and household goods.

Step Two: Once you've decided how much you can spend each week, MAKE A BUY-PRICE LIST. This is a list of common purchases at the store for your family, and the amount you are willing to pay for them AFTER COUPONS. On this list should be items like: Milk, cereal, bread, chicken, potatoes, lunch meat, frozen dinners, etc. It's important that you make this list because this list will change A LOT during your growth as a savvy couponer. When I started this, I put $3 per box on cereal as the price I was willing to pay...now it's $.75. If I can't get the box for $.75 or less, I won't buy it. Carry this with you every time you go to the store for a while and make note of the prices of your favorite items. Are they all over the place? Moving up and down from week to week? This is to be expected. This will help you figure out how little you should be paying for these products. It's important to note: Virtually everything in the grocery store will be priced at its lowest price at some point during a 6-10 week period. If you are carrying your Buy-Price list with you and watching the prices rise and fall on your everyday items, you will learn what the bottom price is for those items. Once you see that price, that's when you want to go in and stockpile - buying enough to get you to the next 6-10 week cycle.

Step Three: LEARN HOW TO MENU-PLAN. Stop making grocery lists based on what you feel like cooking that week and start making grocery lists based on what you already have and what's going to be on sale. In the past, I would sit down and make weekly menus based on what we were in the mood for, then make a list of all of the grocery items I needed for those menus. Then I'd take my list to the store and buy what I needed. When I got to the checkout line, it just cost what it cost. I'd just shrug my shoulders and say..."well, we needed it" and accept the high amount. But no more! Each week, Kroger, Walgreen's, and Target put out their weekly circulars highlighting their best deals. Not every deal is listed, but it's a great place to start. Once you get better at this, you'll be able to pair your stock-piled items with the sale items and make super-cheap meals. For example, I was just able to pick up Uncrustables for $.84 per box (with 4 inside) at Kroger with my coupons. I bought 5 boxes. This makes for a very cheap lunch for my boys at $.21 per sandwich. I make sure he gets 2-3 of these per week. That will last me 6-10 weeks (until the price bottoms out again). These circulars are found in each of the stores, and Walgreen's and Target's are in your Sunday newspaper. You can also view these circulars online at hundreds of different couponing blogs (we'll discuss these a little later) a few days before the sales begin. This gives you more time to collect your coupons and make your grocery list. If you see a good sale on chicken, buy 5 packages of it and stick them in the freezer until you're ready for them.

Step Four: PICK UP THE SUNDAY PAPER. Finally...we're talking about coupons, one of my favorite subjects in the whole wide world!!! I LOVE getting my newspapers every Sunday. Because I look at my coupon blogs daily (we'll talk about those next), I know what coupons are coming, so I know exactly how many papers I want to buy. It's important to note: Coupons usually don't come out on Holiday weekends, so make sure to check this website http://www.southernsavers.com/2009/12/2010-sunday-coupon-insert-schedule/ to see which coupon inserts you should be expecting. Depending on where you live, make sure to pick up the biggest newspaper that your area distributes. Your local newspaper probably won't have as many coupon inserts as your "big city" paper. Also, before you buy your papers, check to make sure every insert you are expecting is in there. There's nothing worse than getting home and finding out they're not in there. Remember, not every newspaper, even the big city ones, carries all the inserts available. For example, our newspaper doesn't have the Red Plum insert. But don't fret...you can always go to EBAY (we'll talk more about EBAY couponing in another post) and BUY 5 inserts for $1.25 plus shipping. I recommend this if you want to make sure you have ALL the coupons at your disposal. It's very frustrating when a great deal comes up and you don't have the coupons to match with it.

Step Five: DISCOVER THE WORLD OF COUPON BLOGS. This is where I totally changed the way I shopped. For my first 2 years of couponing, I just took my circular and matched it with coupons and shopped that way and felt I was doing a great job. But these coupon blogs make it so much easier and really take couponing to the next level. They actually go through the circulars for you and tell you exactly where to find the coupons to match with the sales....LINE BY LINE. My favorites are:

www.southernsavers.com
www.wildforwags.com (Walgreen's stuff)
www.totallytarget.com (Target stuff)
www.asupersavvysaver.blogspot.com
www.frugalfritzie.com
www.savingaddiction.com
www.couponcravings.com
www.mommysnacks.net
www.printablecouponsanddeals.com

I keep all of these tabbed on my toolbar and refresh them about 5-10 times a day, depending on how much I'm on the computer for that day. Each blog will post 5-15 new entries a day and they tell us where we can find the best coupons, unadvertised deals, clearance and close-out items, free samples, rebates, and best coupon match-ups for each store. When you first go to these sites, (and if you spend some time researching you can certainly find some favorites of your own) I suggest reading the last 10-14 days worth of posts. This will help you see all the deals you've been missing (this will HURT at first! :) ) and it will let you see what kinds of posts to be expecting. It's also very educational. Once you're "caught up" on these sites, you'll just be able to refresh to see the latest posts and you can take advantage of the deals that appeal to you.

Step Six: START PRINTING COUPONS ONLINE. I resisted doing this for the longest time because I thought these coupons weren't "as good" as coupons clipped out of the newspaper and I was almost embarrassed to use them because I thought they looked "homemade" or even "fraudulent"...but now I have seen the errors of my ways. I have never had any problems using these coupons and some of them are for ridiculously high amounts. Most of the blogs listed above will tell you exactly where to go to print these coupons, but if you don't want to scroll through the posts to find them, I recommend:

www.coupons.com
www.eatbetteramerica.com
www.pillsbury.com
www.bettycrocker.com
www.smartsource.com

The very first time you print a coupon online, you will have to download a coupon printer. This is totally legitimate and takes less than 1 minute and you'll never have to do it again. This is required because of the barcode that will be on the coupon. It's important to note: Most coupons can be printed twice. Once you print it the first time, click the back button and you will probably get to print it one more time. If it's a particularly good coupon and you want more than two, you'll have to use a different computer because it recognizes your IP address. And remember...it's fraudulent to make copies of coupons, so let's not do that! :)

Well, I'd say that's probably enough information for the first day! Spend the next week doing all 6 of the steps I mentioned above:

Make your budget
Make a buy-price guide
Learn how to menu-plan
Pick up the Sunday paper
Discover the world of coupon blogs
Start printing coupons online

By the end of the first week, you'll have coupons in your hand and you'll have a plan and you'll be ready to start saving money.

On next week's post, we'll talk about Organizing your coupons, Making your grocery lists, The difference between blinkies, peelies, tearpads, and inserts, and Keeping track of your savings! See you guys next week!!!

Ham and Cheese Pockets

2010-04-03T09:20:00.002-05:00

My kids love these and I make them on busy nights at least 1-2 times per month.

I don't even need to list the ingredients, it's too easy!

Make your favorite pizza dough recipe (there are a million online) - mine is:

1 pkg yeast
1.25 cups water
1 tsp salt
2 TBS oil
2.5 cups flour

Mix it all with a fork (don't need to let the dough rise) and then roll it out to the shape you want, constantly dusting with flour.

I can usually make 6 pockets with this recipe. I just make 6 rectangles, fill them with sliced ham and shredded cheddar (I always use the bar, not bagged - tastes MUCH fresher). Pinch the sides closed and lay on cookie sheet seam-side down. Brush beaten egg whites on top, cook at 425 degrees for 15-25 minutes until tops are lightly browned

YUM!!!

I love a clean kitchen!

2010-04-03T09:08:00.005-05:00

In general, I love a clean house. I don't love the work it takes to get there, but I looooove the finished product.

I'll admit though...our house is tough to keep clean. It's 3100 sq. ft and with the boys' rooms right off the kitchen/familyroom area, a lot of their toys end up in there. And when they really want to mess up the house, they make their way back towards our bedroom. I feel on most days, as soon as clean one room, they destroy it while I'm working on the next room. So, I'm constantly cleaning in circles. I can find the time on most days to pick up the day's mess, but I can't seem to find enough time to really get down and CLEAN. Well, yesterday...I made the time. The boys' worked on cleaning their rooms (a process that took 8 hours and basically nothing got done) Ward and I worked on the kitchen and family room. I worked all day on those two rooms, rearranged some decorations, thinned out the junk drawers, and even dejunked the front of the refrigerator. I'm so excited that I'm posting pictures because I'm not sure it will ever be clean again!!!

There are no dishes in the sink, no dishes in the dishwasher, no crumbs on the counter....it's all DONE! We're going out of town this afternoon and I'm so excited to know I'll be coming home to a clean familyroom and kitchen. I am really going to make an effort to keep this straightened up. I love the way our house looks when it's clean and it's so rare I get to see it that way! :)

I've been reading some blogs lately that are reminding me of the importance of making your home a haven. We're all so much happier when the house is clean and there's less temptation to mess it up. When it startes getting dirty, that's when everything seems to fall apart because no one takes pride in keeping it clean anymore since it's already "messy."

My goal this week? Take another picture of the kitchen next Saturday and hope it looks just the same! :)

Spending time up at the school

2010-03-31T21:58:00.005-05:00

Last year, when Wally started Kindergarten, I was very new to staying at home. I had only been home for 2 months and I relished my time at home with the boys. Not only was I new to staying at home, I was new to school as well, since this was his first year. Kindergarteners can be dropped off and picked up at the front of the school before and after school, so I was rarely in the school last year. I saw a few moms at birthday parties and classroom parties, but really didn't get to know anyone very well.

Well...this year is different. Beaver started K4 there this year and he has to be walked in to school in the mornings and picked up inside his classroom in the afternoon. So, now I'm in the school twice a day everyday. I can't tell you how much that has changed our "school experience". I have gotten to know so many moms, teachers, aides, and office staff. I also help out in the classrooms at least once a week, and serve lunch in the cafeteria once a month. I'm having the most fun and I know it's because I'm coming in the school now instead of dropping off and picking up outside. I can't believe how much I missed!

And the great thing is, if I want to walk them in the morning and walk in to pick them up next year...I can! I love that my boys go to a private Christian school. There is not near the red tape of the public schools and we can be much more involved.

Another great week at Walgreen's

2010-03-31T21:52:00.003-05:00

More great things at Walgreen's! I could do several more trips, but I don't know if I'll be able to get to the store any other times this week.

I paid $11 + tax for all that you see. The total value is 106.93 for a savings of 91% :)

Here's the breakdown:

4 Dove Shampoo's = $12
- (2) $2 off Dove coupons
1 Dove Hairspray = $4
8 Easter cups = $1 (filler items)
1 Degree Deodorant = FREE
- $1 off Degree coupon
3 Crest Anticavity = Clearanced for .49 ea = $1.47 (filler items)
2 Cetaphil = $6
- On sale for $7.99 ea, used (2) $5 off Cetaphil coupons
3 Dentek Dental Floss = $6
3 Walgreen's 100 pack vitamins = $9
Post Fruity Pebbles = $1.99
Cap'n Crunch = $1.99
3 Airwick starter kits = FREE
- On sale for $3.99, used (3) $4 off Airwick coupons
4 Halls cough drops = FREE
- On sale for $.99 each, used (4) $1 off Hall's products
Cottonelle
- On sale for $5, used in-store coupon for $1 off Cottonelle and $1 off manufacturer's coupon = $3

Also used $31 in RR from doing this in 9 different transactions and $4 from a previous trip. I got $3RR for each vitamin, $2 for each floss, and $4 for each Dove product. I still have $4RR to use on my next purchase.

Stocking up on games

2010-03-31T21:49:00.003-05:00

Target has an awesome deal this week on Hasbro games. If you want to add to your game closet, stock up on birthday gifts, fill an Easter basket, give away to teachers, put back for Christmas, or donate to the less fortunate....this is the time to do it!!!

I didn't take a picture of all the stuff I bought, though :(.

I bought 13 games for $6.54 plus tax.

Breakdown:
3 Bop-Its, priced $14 each = $1 each after coupons
- 3 Target coupons for $3 off Bop-It
- 3 Hasbro coupons for $5 off Bop-It
- 3 Free Monopoly Deal for buying the 3 Bop-Its
- 3 $5 off Monopoly game (even though they were free, it still lets you use the coupon), it just applied it to the total, which ended up taking another $5 off each Bop-It game

2 Connect 4X4, priced $14 each = $2 each after coupons
- 2 Target coupons for $3 off Connect 4X4
- 2 Hasbro coupons for $4 off Connect 4X4
- 2 Free Scrabble Slam for buying the 2 Connect 4X4's
- 2 $5 off Scrabble game (even though they were free, it still lets you use the coupon), it just applied it to the total, which ended up taking another $5 off each Connect 4X4 game

3 Pictureka Flipper, priced $14.99 regularly - on CLEARANCE for $4.77 = FREE plus $0.46 overage after coupons
- 3 $5 off Pictureka coupons that I took from inside the Monopoly Deal games (it told me on the front that there were coupons in there. Since I was buying them anyway, I opened them up and got the coupons out). The overage was applied to my total.

The cashier was shocked, to say the least! :)

My Baby is 7

2010-03-22T11:34:00.004-05:00

I can't believe Wally is 7 years old. I remember when I first found out I was pregnant with him and that seems like just yesterday. My memories are so vivid of that time...it makes me wonder where the last 7 years have gone. The older he gets, the more I find myself wishing he would stay little forever.

I love that he still wants to be rocked before bed every once in a while.
I love that he still lets me kiss him goodbye when I drop him off at school in the morning.
I love that he wants to spend all his free time with me.
I love that he lets me hold him and love on him in front of his friends.
I love that he thinks I'm the best mom in the whole world.
I love that he still watches Sponge Bob, Little Bear, Wubzy, Olivia, and Max & Ruby.
I love that he still gets in the floor and plays with his cars and trucks and Legos.
I love that he has no idea what sex, drugs, and rap music are.
I love that he still wears Cars and Thomas the Train underwear.

I know he has to grow up at some point, but for right now, I'm going to relish the fact the he's still an innocent little boy, who still loves it when I make a smiley face on his waffles with the syrup.

Here's to little boys!

Waiting for the mailman

2010-03-17T16:13:00.002-05:00

In the days of email, texting, cell phones, and the internet, there's seems to be no real need for the mail anymore. People can see e-cards and e-vites, you can get your newsletters, magazines, and coupons online, and when was the last time someone sent you a letter or a postcard? When I was younger, I loved to check the mail when I got home from school. I had 4 penpals and subscribed to 3 magazines and I was constantly getting goodies in the mail from family members. I no longer get a lot of stuff like that, but I do get a lot of coupons and free samples and I really enjoy that. And even though I know I won't be receiving a long lost check, a new magazine I forgot I subscribed to, a postcard from a friend I haven't seen in years, or a JC Penney's catalog I didn't request, but I still get excited every time I see that white truck turn onto our street.

Roseanne

2010-03-17T16:10:00.003-05:00

It's funny...most of my joys come from old-fashion things like board games, housekeeping, time with my children, and reruns of black and white family sitcoms. But one show I really enjoy that doesn't go with any of this is Roseanne. I get such a kick out these reruns and my husband and I watch them together every night right before we go to sleep. I think I like it so much because it reminds me of my childhood...both because I watched it a lot and because I can relate to the way they grew up.

Who doesn't know a family like this? One that can't quite seem to get ahead, but all still pull together during the rough times. Even though my life couldn't be further from theirs, I still really enjoy this show and it makes me laugh like no other.

Teaching others about coupons

2010-03-17T16:05:00.004-05:00

I have learned so much about couponing the past 2 years and I was happy to finally get to show a few other people how to save money the crazy way I do. I think they were a little overwhelmed at first because I use 5 blogs, Sunday inserts, EBAY, and All You magazine to get these savings...but I really think they're going to give it a whirl. I'm glad I've really spent some time entering all of the savings into a spreadsheet so I can review this at the end of the year and really see my savings.

Who knows, maybe I'll even start doing couponing workshops!

Weekly Walgreen's Trip

2010-03-17T16:02:00.002-05:00

Went to Walgreen's for 3 trips this week and got some great deals. I spent $9.71 on $61.64 worth of goods, for a savings of 84%, and I have $4 RR to spend on my next purchase.

I'm getting so addicted to saving money...however, after several similar trips over the past month, I now have enough toothpaste and tampons to last the rest of the year! :)

Spoiled Dog

2010-03-09T11:31:00.003-06:00

Throughout the 9 years Ward and I have been together, we've had several pets. Abby was the first dog we had as a couple, and he got her the week we started dating. She was 9 months old when we got her and a very skiddish dog. To this day, she is still very skiddish, but she's changed a little through the years. We wanted her to have a playmate when she was younger, so we brought in Marley, a yellow lab. They were buddies for about 2 years, but we had to get rid of Marley because she kept jumping over the fence and digging holes in the yard.

When we got married, I got rid of my ragdoll cat, Beau, but I kept my Maine Coon, Punkin. She stayed in hiding most of the time, so it was like she wasn't there. She stayed with my mom for a while when I was pregnant with Wally, but when we brought her back home, she kept getting in his crib and we were afraid of something happening, so we gave her away.

We moved to the Big City for 2 years and took Abby with us, but when we came back to the town we live in now and got our new house (the one we live in now) we felt (again) that Abby needed a new friend. The previous 5 years we'd had her, she had slept outside alone and never ever came in the house. Well, something changed when we moved into this house. She started scratching at the door to get in the house. So, we started letting her sleep in the house on the couch in the formal living room. We ended up getting a big black lab that was 6 years old, Lexi. She was very overweight and bulldozed her way into the house every time we opened the door. She was so big and heavy that she was constantly knocking over chairs, lamps, and anything left lying around, so after just 5 days, we gave her back to the owner.

Around Christmas of 2009, a cat showed up on our doorstep. She was a long-haired black cat and the sweetest cat I'd ever seen. She just "talked" all the time and purred and loved to lay on your chest. We kept her and named her Dixie, but soon found out that Wally was allergic to her. We had tests run and sure enough...SEVERE allergies to cats. We tried to keep her away from him, keep him out of his room, and made her sleep outside at night, but it wasn't enough. We ended up having to give her away as well.

Last summer, Ward talked me into getting a puppy, a black lab. I did NOT want to try out another pet since they never seemed to work out, but he'd been begging for a puppy for years and thought the boys were old enough to train one. Well, the owners talked us into taking sisters, that we named Daisy and Ruby. After a few days (even though they were only tiny puppies) we realized that we could not handle two, so we gave Ruby away. After a month of Daisy waking up in the middle of the night EVERY night yelping, I didn't think I could take much more, but she finally was able to start sleeping outside and we made Abby sleep out there with her. Abby had been an inside sleeper for a couple of years, so she did NOT like this new arrangement, but they grew to be friends.

Well, sure enough, Daisy did what most labs do, and started chewing up EVERYTHING in site. She chewed our wooden door frames, the grill, lawn chairs, every toy that was left outside, the pipe covers, water hoses, sprinkler system, and even the privacy fence. To make matters worse, she was so "excitable" that when you opened the door to feed her or spend time with her, she mauled you and knocked you down. It got to the point where the boys stopped playing in the backyard all together. So...you guessed it...we gave her away.

Lessons learned.

Here we are, 9 years later, with just Abby and she's sleeping inside again. She's gotten to the point where she only wants to go outside to eat and use the bathroom and wants to be inside the rest of the day. Even though she is still a little standoffish with people and cautious of everyone's motives, we've been spoiled by such a low maintenance dog and I don't know if any other pet will ever measure up.

Girl Scout Cookies

2010-03-09T11:27:00.002-06:00

I love this time of year because I love Girl Scout cookies! I was a girl scout many moons ago and I still remember going door to door selling them. Times were a little safer back then and people actually enjoyed ordering from us because the cookies were so delicious. I remember my last year, I sold 400 boxes and went to Girl Scout Camp for free! My mom was thrilled. Back then they were only $1.25 per box. Unfortunately, now they're $3.50 a box so we can't afford to "stock the freezer" like we used to.

I did order 1 box of each of our favorites: Thin Mints, Tagalongs, Treffoils, Lemon Cremes, and Samoa's. It's only a matter of days before they will be gone!

Change Jar

2010-03-09T11:24:00.004-06:00

We're new to spending only cash (Dave Ramsey Plan) and Ward had a great idea. He said, instead of keeping the change we get back from our trips, we should put it in a jar and when it fills up, use it for something fun. We've only been doing it for 3 weeks and already have over $10, and twice during that time, we had to empty it for fundraisers at school or church.

If we can manage to put $7 a week in there consistently, we'll have over $350 in a year!

We haven't decided what we're going to spend it on yet, but it's fun watching it fill up!

Sick Days

2010-03-09T06:44:00.003-06:00

Wally was home sick was the fever virus last Tuesday and Wednesday, and Beaver woke up with a fever Saturday morning, so we stayed home Saturday and Sunday. The boys seem to be fine, but now I'm sick. :( I started feeling terrible yesterday afternoon when I brought the boys home from school and actually took a nap for 1.5 hours while they watched TV and played Nintendo, which is something I never do. I did manage to get up and fix dinner, but I felt horrible while I was cooking and the smell of the food nauseated me.

I didn't want to crawl into be at 6:00pm because I knew Wally had a lot of make-up homework to do in addition to his regular homework, Beaver needed a bath, and I was several days behind on my Bible Study. So, I laid on the couch and tried to direct the kids in the right direction. Ward was great about trying to get them to be quiet, but he was working on Wally's Pinewood Derby car out in the garage since the race is this Saturday so he wasn't around to be much help with the physical stuff. My plan was to go to bed around 9:00pm, but I didn't end up getting to sleep until about 10:15pm, and now I have a huge headache this morning.

I'm not looking forward to today. As soon as I drop the boys off at school, I have to sit in my car for 20 minutes and try to finish my Bible Study lesson, and then head over to my friend's house for the study. I'm coughing a lot, so I know this won't be very much fun, but I can't miss it because I had to miss last week when I was taking care of Wally.

After the class, I have to drive straight to the Big City (40 minutes from here) for a monthly staff meeting...did I tell you I work from home for my husband's boss? The work is simple and very flexible and I love my job and my boss, but today is the worst day to have to drive all that way for a 1 hour meeting. After the meeting, Ward and I have to go over to another building and load up a bunch of books his boss is giving us for our personal library. We've been putting this off for months, and he was so generous to give us this gift that we really need to take care of that today.

Directly after this, I have to drive back to our town and pick up the boys from school. Wally will have to finish the rest of his make-up work tonight-plus regular homework, and I will have to make dinner and see that Wally gets a bath. Right after dinner, Ward is taking Wally to the batting cages because he has baseball tryouts on Saturday and needs to get back in the groove, so I will have to take care of Beaver. Beaver is one of those children that is such a joy to be around because he has so much life and energy and is almost always in a good mood, but he is also very needy and can't really entertain himself. He hates to be alone and constantly has to be given lists of activities he can do to pass the time.

I couldn't have picked a worse day to be sick. If I make it through the day, I think I am going to crash hard around 8:30pm and not look back.

Lord, give me strength!

French Toast

2010-03-07T18:56:00.002-06:00

I love to make Challah, and I made so much of it around the holidays that I vowed I wouldn't make it again for 6 months. But I caved and made a loaf this weekend. :)

We enjoyed it on Saturday night and then I used the leftovers for homemade french toast for breakfast this morning and it was amazing!

I love having a nice Sunday morning breakfast, when we're all gathered around the table in our pajamas, the TV is off, and all of the blinds in the house are open.

It was a great start to our day. We had wonderful weather here with blue skies and a high of 62 degrees!

Walgreen's trip

2010-03-04T16:02:00.002-06:00

Had a great trip at Walgreen's today!!!

Here is what I got for $13.12

2 12-packs of Cottonelle's
* 2 coupons for $1 off any Cottonelle
Jumbo box of Puffs tissues
* FREE with any two Vick's purchases
Quattro Razor system
* $3 RR back, $4 off coupon, $2 off in-store coupon
2 children's tylenol cold
* $5 RR back, $3/2 coupon
Christmas candle
*Was .17 - must have an equal number of items to coupons...it's a "filler item"
2 Right Guard deodorants
* B1G1 free, $2/2 Right Guard products
3 cans of cream of mushroom soup
* $.79 each with in-store coupon, .40/2 coupon
Revlon eye shadow
* $1.99 on sale, $2 off any Revlon product coupon
Lady Speedstick deodorant
* $1 off Lady Speedstick coupon, so FREE after coupon
2 boxes of Vick's vapo cough drops
* $.90 each, 2 coupons for $1.50 off any Vick's product, so I MADE money on this
Kotex tampons
* 2.99 on sale, $5 RR back when combined with Cottonelle, $1 off coupon

I also had $5 RR from a previous purchase.

17 Items! Average price per item is 77 cents.

Total Value: $74.89
Total Spent: $13.12

TOTAL SAVINGS: $61.77

****Also, after buying all of this, I got a $5 off my next order coupon. If you apply that retroactively, I really got all this stuff for $8.12! :)

Taking Care of sick children

2010-03-03T09:53:00.005-06:00

Wally is home sick with a high fever. He was home yesterday as well. My boys RARELY get sick, so I jump at the chance to take care of them when they do. I have spoiled him the past two days with meals in bed, snuggly blankets, hot chocolate, stuffed animals, and endless attention. I think I'm enjoying it more than he is! I am so thankful for the opportunity to be at home with my boys. When I was little and sick, I'd have to go over to my great grandmother's house and lay on her old smelly couch all day...no TV, no games. And her house smelled like old people. I hated being over there. I'm happy I can light some candles that smell like apple pie, put him on the couch with Looney Toons, and putter around the kitchen making peach turnovers while he sleeps the day away under his favorite blanket.

I love my life!

SouthernSavers.com

2010-03-03T09:47:00.002-06:00

In my efforts to save money, I started researching even more ways to save money at the grocery store. Before starting this intense research a few weeks ago, I thought I knew everything there was to know about couponing. I discovered Shortcuts.com and Cellfire.com, but I recently found out that Kroger also has their own ecoupons on their website, which I didn't know a thing about!

I recently ran across the best website ever! It's called www.southernsavers.com and this woman (Jenny) will research the weekly circulars for a variety of stores, list what's on sale, and underneath that include links to places to print coupons for these items. She does all the work!!!

I'm obsessed now and I'm on this website several times a day checking for new posts.

I went to the store this weekend and got 3 pounds of beef, two boxes of velveeta shells and cheese, 3 pounds of a pork roast, bisquick, and BBQ sauce all for $2.23 with my coupons and savings!!!!

Needless to say, I have gone to the next level of couponing!

A good love story

2010-02-15T10:56:00.002-06:00

2 years ago for Valentine's Day, Ward got me the book I Love You, Ronnie, which is a collection of love letters written to Nancy Reagan, from Ronald Reagan. It was the most romantic present he's even gotten me (besides the engagement ring) and I really loved it. I re-read it again this weekend in celebration of Valentine's Day and highly recommend it. What a thoughtful gift!

Our new "envelope" on system

2010-02-12T16:23:00.003-06:00

On Dave Ramsey's plan, he recommends you move to a "cash only" system of buying. At first I didn't see the point, but now I totally get it. It really "hurts" to spend cash because you can see how quickly it goes away. When you use a debit card, it's much easier to "nickel and dime" yourself straight in the hole.

The envelopes weren't really working out because they were getting torn and dirty, so I found these little containers at Hobby Lobby for $3.98.

Cute, huh?

Snow Ice Cream

2010-02-11T06:42:00.002-06:00

Once the first flake of snow hit the ground this week, the boys started asking for Snow Ice Cream. They had never had it before, but had heard people talking about it and were intrigued. They jumped up and down, and pulled on my robe and BEGGED me to go outside and get some fresh snow and make them their special treat...so I did.

The recipe was simple: A gallon of snow, 1 cup of milk, 1 cup of sugar, and some vanilla. I couldn't get it to become "creamy" just by stirring, so I put it in my stand-up mixer on high for several minutes until it became nice and creamy. It looked great and it tasted great. We needed to sit it in the freezer for a bit to "harden up" and then we promised they could have some.

Well, would you believe once it was ready, they were too afraid to try it???? Ward ate a few bites and so did I, but the boys haven't touched it.

Now we have a HUGE bowl of ice cream in the freezer and no takers. What gives? :)

Trading furniture

2010-02-08T13:15:00.003-06:00

We really need some new diningroom furniture for our every day eating. Our formal diningroom furniture (which hardly ever gets used but is too fancy for our breakfast nook) looks great, but our every day furniture is really on it's last leg. The suite is 30-35 years old and the chairs are very wobbly. We know it's probably time to replace it, but we aren't spending any money since we're on the Dave Ramsey plan and it's not an "emergency".

Well, today, my mom called and asked (for the 10th time) if she could buy the couch that's in our formal livingroom. The reason I have told her "no" repeatedly is because we don't have anything else to put in that room and it would look barren. Well, while talking to her today, I realized I have a big chair and ottoman just taking up space in our master bedroom that could take the place of the couch. I was just going to take the $100 she offered for the couch and put it towards our debt pay-off plan, but I remembered she had an extra dining suite she wasn't using so I offered a trade and she accepted!

We'll be getting our "new" dining suite this weekend!!!

Congratulations New Orleans Saints!

2010-02-08T13:11:00.003-06:00

I became a fan of the Saints 2 years ago when I started playing Fantasy Football with my husband and friends. I drafted Drew Brees as my quarterback and because I watched so many of their games, I naturally became a fan of the team. I was so proud to see them make their way through their season the way they did and I couldn't believe it when they won last night!

My husband is a Colts fan (Peyton is his fantasy quarterback) and he was really upset at the loss. I told him I had a vision of Drew Brees crying after they won the game, so I felt confident that was a prediction of a Saints win. And I was right! Shortly before he took the stage last night he was seen holding his new baby son and crying.

Love those saints!!!!

Introducing...Dave Ramsey!

2010-02-02T09:48:00.007-06:00

So, after we filed our taxes and found out we were getting $2,000 LESS than we had anticipated (and the money had already been spent), we were pretty upset and started really thinking about our finances. Ward went to bed in a bad mood and I wanted to try to fix things.

In our married life, we've had our share of financial ups and downs, like most everyone we know. We started out at age 24 with 2 car payments, a house payment, a student loan payment, and some credit card from me. Over time, we paid off the credit cards and vowed never to use them again. Well, when we wanted to remodel our home, we decided to take out a lien against some land we owned to the tune of $22k, which became another debt. Eventually, we moved to a bigger house, paid off the lien when we sold the land and went into debt AGAIN to remodel the second house. Then, we sold what was left of our land and moved to an even BIGGER house. Things were going great, but the credit card debt started creeping up again slowly. We were buying whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted it. We ended up having to take out an HEL to pay off the second round of credit card debt in 2007. We swore we'd never use the credit card again. Well, then Ward decided it was time to change jobs, and this new job didn't have tuition reimbursement and he was so close to finishing his master's degree. We ended up having to put his last three classes and books on the credit card. Then the pipes busted outside, our computer died, our TV broke, and we had to put up a privacy fence, etc. And here we are again, $$ on the credit cards and now only able to pay off some of it because our tax refund was smaller than we thought.

I prayed and prayed and thought a lot about what to do and was staring at my bookshelf in my office when my eyes were drawn to a book we'd had for months, but never read...Financial Peace by Dave Ramsey. I knew a little bit about Dave, but not much. I knew he was against debt completely and thought it was important to have a $1k emergency fund. So I pulled the book out and read it cover to cover that night and then immediately got on the computer and started working out a plan for us.

On his "debt snowball" plan, we will have our emergency fund in place this week, and will have our credit card paid off in a few months. We'll have both of our cars paid off in 2 years. And when all of that is done, I will be calling his show to scream "Weeeeeeee're Debbbbbbbbbt Freeeeeeeeeeee!"

I encourage you all to read this book and take control of your finances if they have gotten out of control. We're only 4 days into this and I already feel great!

We have filed our taxes!

2010-02-02T09:42:00.006-06:00

I hate tax season. My mother is an accountant and I can remember growing up that right after Christmas we basically didn't see her for 4 months. She would always manage to make it to our basketball games and dance performances, but she would go straight back to work after that, and she worked every Saturday. We couldn't plan anything from Jan to April because it was "tax season". She still has the same schedule now and she's 54.

Each year, Ward and I do our taxes with Taxcut online software. It's very easy, but we're always surprised what we're getting back. Luckily we still get refunds every year! :) This year we thought we were getting back a LOT more than we actually got because we misunderstand the college tax credit. So, we ended up being pretty upset since we had already spent that money in our minds. But, at least they're filed and we don't have to worry about it again for another year.

Next year I am vowing not to spend my refund 6 months before I get it so I can actually go shopping after we get the check instead of using it pay off something I bought so long ago I can't remember what it was!!!

Chicken Wing

2010-02-02T08:34:00.003-06:00

I love that Wally and Beaver are to the age where they understand board games and can play fairly well. Beaver will be 5 in two weeks, so he can play quite a few games, but he gets devastated if he doesn't win and he doesn't mind to win even if he knows he only won because we all "helped" him get there. Wally isn't like this. He's very competitive and wants to win on his on accord, but he definitely wants to win every game. I love see the wheels in his mind turning and he's really started to develop some strategies for our family game nights.

We've recently started playing "Chicken Wing", which is a dominoes game played with the double 15 set. You start with 20 dominoes each, and you draw until someone gets the double 15. That domino is placed in the center of the table (we play on the tile floor) and that person will go first. We spend the next few minutes getting our dominoes in "order" by making a train (starting with the double 15) and then seeing how many dominoes that won't play on our leg of the chicken. This makes the game go much faster because you don't have to spend time digging through you pile looking for the next domino to play. Each person has their own leg of the chicken they play on, but there's also a "chicken wing" leg that comes out diagonally from the center that can be played on by anyone at any time. The key is run out of dominoes first. If you get to the point where you cannot play on your own leg or on the chicken wing, you must draw. If you still can't play after you have drawn, you become "open" and the other players are allowed to play on your leg. They can continue to play on your leg until you play on your own leg and become "closed" again. Once someone goes "out" (when they run out of dominoes) the other players must count the points (dots on the dominoes) they are stuck with. It's like golf, the lowest score wins. But the game doesn't end here! After the double 15 round is over, you play again but this time you start with the double 14, and so on. So, this game is 16 rounds long (counting the double zero). We only play about 3 rounds a night because that's all the kids can handle....so, it usually takes almost a week to finish the game.

We're having so much fun with this! :)

There's a storm a comin'!

2010-01-27T21:48:00.002-06:00

I love where we live, but since we don't see snow and ice very often, people here PANIC when there's a threat of "wintery mix" in the air. Unfortunately, our local weathermen are saying we might get some light snow and sleet tomorrow night, and I made the mistake of going to the grocery store tonight. Needless to stay, the store was practically barren. There was very little bread, milk, lunch meat, etc. I ended up buying brands I don't normally buy and paying higher prices for a few things. Also, the lines were ridiculously long and the store wasn't staffed for it.

People here act like we are going to be shut in for days on end with no way out of our neighborhoods, when usually the snow (if it even accumulates) is melted by the end of the day and the streets are dry as a bone. It puts me in the worst mood!

I'm about to go to bed and settle in with a good book and hope the bad weather doesn't come! :)

Date Night

2010-01-23T20:27:00.003-06:00

Ward and I don't get to go on many "dates" because we don't have any family nearby and we don't want to pay for a babysitter. Ward's mom and grandmother are in town this weekend and they insisted that we go out by ourselves. We had the best time!

We went looking at pop-up campers and I think we're going to buy one! We just have to wait for our tax refund first. :)

After we looked at them in the RAIN for about 2 hours, we went to eat at a locally "famous" hamburger joint we don't get to go to very often (the RV dealership is about 45 minutes from our town and we don't get out that way very much). Afterwards, we spent some time roaming the aisles of Hobby Lobby and Lowe's, and then we headed back home.

Ward's mom (Nana) made sugar cookies with Wally and Beaver and after they went to bed we played two games of Phase 10. We had so much fun. Now it's 1:00am and I'm still awake! Yikes! :) Good day.

Dads and Donuts

2010-01-22T08:49:00.003-06:00

This morning is our annual "Dads and Donuts" at the school. The boys really look forward to this because it's an opportunity to "show-off" Ward to their friends. Since he works in the city, he doesn't get to come to the school very much, so they're always thrilled to see him up there. He went to both of their classes for 15 minutes each and ate breakfast with them and did a craft.

I'm so glad we go to a school that puts emphasis on family bonding and appreciation for parents.

If I haven't said it before, I LOVE their school. I'm so glad we are able to send the boys to a Christian School because they are getting so much out of it. They are learning respect for parents, respect for authority, the importance of obedience, and being a good friend. The boys have really changed for the better since starting there and I'm so proud of them!

I'm also so thankful that Ward enjoys his time with the boys. He's such a fun dad and they adore when he gives them special attention.

I know it's not Father's Day yet, but I'm so grateful for marrying a man that turned into a wonderful father!

Beaver's birthday party

2010-01-21T09:24:00.005-06:00

Beaver and Wally will be 5 and 7 this February and March, respectively. Neither has ever had a big birthday party with friends. We always just have a Sunday lunch and party at our home, and their grandparents and great-grandparents attend. I have a good time with this and I always make a neat "themed" cake from scratch. Recently we've done Transformers, Legos, Ninja Turtles, Buzz Lightyear, Elmo, Cars, etc.

This year, Beaver wants a SpongeBob theme. I have found MANY cakes online for SpongeBob and it looks like I'm going to have to learn to do FONDANT. I'm scared to death to do this because I don't want to mess up his cake, so I've decided to practice next weekend. If it looks good, I'll freeze it and save it for his birthday party. If it looks bad, it was a practice round and I'll know whether or not I can do it! :)

Beaver really wanted a party at Playworld this year, but he also wants a Nintendo DS and when it came down to it, he chose the DS over the party. Truthfully, I'm RELIEVED. I was afraid he might be too young for this type of party and few to none of his friends would come, which would devastate him.

I am, however, excited about having Wally's birthday party at Jumpzone this year. His birthday falls around Spring Break, so we'll have to make sure we accommodate for that. He's really looking forward to it!

Is it time to go RVing?

2010-01-21T06:54:00.005-06:00

Ward and I have been talking about getting a pop-up camper or a travel trailer for some time. We first started looking around February of 2008, when I first learned I was losing my job. It was odd to be looking to spend money when our income was going to decrease, but it's something we researched pretty heavily.

I will say, when you go to see these things in person, it's very tempting to buy. They are nice and cozy and look like big "forts". We ultimately decided to buy a big tent instead and start there. We reasoned that if we used the tent enough and really enjoyed camping, we could always upgrade. Unfortunately, our tent is now almost 2 years old, and except for putting it up in the backyard about 3 times, we've never used it.

We decided that the kids were too young that first summer since Beaver was only three, so we were going to wait until this past summer of 2009 to get started. Well, it rained the ENTIRE month of June, so that was out, and on top of that we had to make up all of our baseball games in July so that month was out, too. Then August came and we had to go back to school. We planned to go camping in the fall, but we got overwhelmed with Cub Scouts, Fall baseball, church activities, carnivals, etc. and didn't make it out there.

We are determined to dive into our family hobby whole-heartedly this spring and summer and discussions of a travel trailer have come up again.

We're going to look this weekend!

Do you have a travel trailer? If so, what has been your experience with it

It's always something...

2010-01-19T08:38:00.004-06:00

Ward and I have been trying for some time to accumulate an emergency fund, a vacation fund, and a good savings account. When I was working, it seemed we always had plenty of money, and since we thought I'd always be working, we shaped our lifestyle around that and didn't put much thought into savings. If we wanted something, we bought it, and if we wanted to take a 3-day trip nearby, we went. We thought we could always start saving "someday".

Even thought we're not broke, it often times feels like we're living paycheck to paycheck and keep telling ourselves we're very close to being able to pay down some debt and start saving. For the past few months, we've been waiting to get to January 15th, because that was when Ward started receiving his quarterly bonuses. We knew we'd be ok if we could just make it to that date. Well, that day came, and the very next day our water pipes busted outside (got way too cold here) and it cost $1200 to have them fixed. Just one week later, our lamp has gone out in our projection TV and it is costing $125 to replace it.

Again, we are back down to square one just like that. It's so frustrating, but we are praying that we can get back on track and eventually start saving more.

What do you do when you get the "no money blues?"

Copeland's Restaurant

2010-01-18T10:29:00.002-06:00

After my friend and I went to the movies last night, we decided to hit a restaurant for dinner since we never get to see each other. We decided that when we go out, we will always try a new restaurant as a part of our "experience", so this time we chose Copeland's New Orleans Restaurant. I must say, it was WONDERFUL!

We started out with a crawfish and corn soup, had a "taster" plate for dinner, which is a small portion of a large meal and we chose the Copeland Burger (very small) and the steak and angel hair pasta. For dessert we split a Neopolitan cheesecake with yellow cake on the outside and new york style cheesecake in the middle with a banana's foster topping.

It was OUTSTANDING and I highly recommend!!!

A trip to the movie theater

2010-01-18T10:16:00.003-06:00

When I was in my teens, going to the movies was "the thing" to do. A group of us went almost every Friday night in junior high, and on Saturdays it was the place to go if you were a "couple". There weren't many movies I didn't catch at the theater from 1990-1995, and if I missed it at the theater, I could rent it for 99 cents at our local movie shop a few months later. Because of this, I developed a deep love for movies. I wanted to see every romantic comedy, everything that was nominated for an Oscar, and every Disney movie. This fact helps me so much when we are playing Scene It Movies or Trivial Pursuit.

However, once I got into college, I stopped going as much, and then when I got married and things were tight, we stopped going all together. Throw kids in the mix, and no one to babysit, and here it is 2010 and I've probably only been to the theater once a year for the past 10 years, and Ward has been less than that because I normally only go with my girlfriends.

Over Christmas, my mom came up with the great idea to go see a movie on Christmas Day, so we all went to go see "It's Complicated" with Meryl Streep and Alex Baldwin. I LOVED it and it made me miss going to the movies to much. It brought back so many memories. Luckily for me, a girlfriend asked me to the movies for this past weekend and were able to go see "Up in the Air" last night with George Clooney. I absolutely LOVED it and I'm so glad I went.

We had such a good time that we vowed to go to the movies together every other month. If we go on Sundays, it's only $7.95 per person. We can afford that! I was shocked to see that movie prices are up to $11.00 per person in my area. when I was a young teenager (just 20 short years ago) it was only $3 per person. My mom always gave me $5, which bought a small popcorn and a coke. My friend and I went to share a popcorn last night and it cost $19 for a large popcorn and two medium cokes. We about died. Why in the world is it SOOOOO expensive to go to the movies now????

We vowed to sneak our own cokes and candies in next time! :)

Trips to Home Depot

2010-01-16T10:48:00.003-06:00

There's something about Home Depot that really gets my home improvement juices flowing. When I walk in there, I immediately want to reorganize the closets, build a shed, add a bonus room, paint the walls, and build some bookshelves.

We had to go in there today for a bucket and some weather-stripping for our back door, but the whole time I was in there, all I could think about was their beautiful gardening section. I really wanted to buy every plant in there and go home and re-landscape our yard. The problem? I have no green thumb and know next to nothing about gardening.

For years I've said I was going to plant a garden and grow some summer vegetables, but I always put it off because I worked and I knew I couldn't tend to it. Now that I can tend to one, we have a 7 month old Lab puppy that chews everything to shreds. So, I know that's not an option.

Do any of you garden? What do you do about pet invasion?

After School Snacks

2010-01-15T08:56:00.002-06:00

I try to have good and healthy snacks waiting for the boys when they get home after school since they're always so hungry, but since we're on a budget, I never really buy anything "prepackaged". Most of their snacks are things like apples, bananas, blueberry muffins, cheese and crackers, string cheese, etc. We were getting PAINFULLY low on groceries this week and they were down to basically nothing to eat. Wednesday afternoon they ended up having dry cereal.

I went to the store on Thursday morning and saw that Kroger was having TONS of sales on 100 calorie things and healthy foods...you know for the resolutioners? So, I got my coupons and really stocked up. I am limiting them to two snacks a day, and one of them has to be either fruit or dairy (I ended up also getting grapes, strawberries, blueberries, string cheese, yogurt, and danimals smoothies.)

They were so excited when they came home yesterday. I told them not to get TOO used to it, though...once these go off sale, we're back to business as usual! :)

Playdates

2010-01-15T06:58:00.003-06:00

Wally loves Legos and he has found a friend that loves them as well. They were in K5 together last year and saw each other at the baseball park this summer, but Wally's never mentioned him much as a friend he plays with at school. Until now. Now that his little friend, we'll call him "Eddie", has admitted to getting a few Lego sets for Christmas as well, Wally is all about having him over.

I wrote his mom a note last week and we have set up a play date for this afternoon. I'm serving lunch at the school today, and then I'll bring Eddie home with us afterschool. Before we go home, since it's going to be 60 degrees here today, I'm taking them to a big park on the lake here. Then we'll come home and have pizza and brownies for dinner, and then Ward is going to take Wally, Beaver, and Eddie to the batting cages.

I think I'll be exhausted by the time the night is over, but it's nice to be in that phase of parenting where you get to watch your children play with their friends one on one. I think Beaver's still a little bit young to set up a playdate, but at least Wally let's him play with his friends. He really is the best big brother ever!

The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies EVER!!

2010-01-13T06:52:00.003-06:00

I got this recipe from the mother of a boy I dated in high school, so I've been making this recipe for about 15 years. When done just right, this cookies are VERY moist and chewy and my family loves them so much that they are gone the day I make them. No leftovers!!! :)

June's FAMOUS chocolate chip cookies

2 sticks butter (softened)
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 12 oz. bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugars, then add eggs. Mix dry ingredients, then add to creamed mixture. Mix until well blended. Add chocolate chips. Refrigerate dough for one hour and only bake on perfectly smooth and clean non-stick light colored pan or with parchment paper on any other pan. If your pan is dark, the bottoms will get too dark and/or the batter will spread out all over the pan. Cook at 350 degrees for 7-9 minutes until light brown.

Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman

2010-01-12T09:13:00.003-06:00

When I was in college and living in the dorms, we had 24 channels to choose from on the television. I wasn't in my room all that much, but I was always in my room from 2:00pm-4:00pm, as that is when I put aside time to rest and "zone out". Unfortunately during this time, there was very little to choose from. I think I could choose from old reruns of People's Court, Let's Make a Deal, or Dr. Quinn. I had never seen the show before, but I hated the other two, so this was my only option.

I remember the day I decided to watch just happened to be the very first episode and the station showed them in order. I watched the first two episodes back-to-back and decided I had found a new show! I only got to watch them for a few weeks before my schedule changed and I was no longer around when the show came on. Since this was before the age of DVR, I ended up having my Grandmother (who lived two hours away) record the show for me every day, and when I came home on the weekends, we'd camp out in front of the TV and watch them all together.

I absolutely fell in love with this show and in my opinion, it's probably one of the greatest love stories every shown on TV. I have never seen a TV show that makes me cry as much as this one has. There are so many touching scenes and great storylines with all of the townspeople. I have been watching this show in reruns and on DVD for 15 years and I still enjoy it as much today as I did when I first started watching.

I also love the medical cases, the food and dress of the period, and the beautiful scenery. I highly recommend this show!!

Reminisce Magazine

2010-01-12T06:45:00.004-06:00

Ward knows I'm fascinated with life in the 1950's, I have been since I little. My grandmother was 16 years old in 1950 and that sounds like such a fun time to be a teenager. I have always told her that I wished I was born in her generation and she tells me she LOVED growing up in the 50's.

Well, about a year ago, Ward came across a magazine I had never heard of called "Reminisce". The ENTIRE magazine is nothing but pictures and stories from the 1910's-1960's. They have things like: Does anyone remember ________?, Old Remedies, How I Met My Spouse, When I Was in the War, School Days, etc. I relish this magazine each month and read every single page from top to bottom. I can't say that about any other magazine. I have saved every single one of them and I love to just sit on the couch and look through them.

What's your favorite magazine?

The Joy of a CLEAN HOUSE!

2010-01-10T16:31:00.003-06:00

My house is VERY RARELY spotless from top to bottom. If I'm being honest, it probably only happens about 3-4 times a year when we have family in to visit, but most of the time it's 85% clean. I usually have a messy closet, and my laundry room is NEVER clean, and the kitchen never seems to be completely clean, but I'm ok with that.

I do LOVE to come home from church on Sundays to find a nice clean house. It makes for such a relaxing day. Yesterday, after Wally's basketball game, we came home and had lunch and then cleaned for a few hours because we were having new friends over that had never seen our house. It was a lot of work, but it was really worth it. I made chili and bread sticks for the adults, with apple crisp for dessert. I also made homemade pizza for the kids and frosted brownies. I had the kids at the small table in the kitchen and the adults in the dining room. It was such a nice night and I loved having a clean house to entertain our friends.

But most of all, I loved that I did all of that work yesterday and get to do NOTHING today. We got home from church and ate some lunch and then cozy-ed up on the couch for some football playoffs! We did take a break during the games to play SpongeBob Memory with the boys, but for the most part I've spent the whole afternoon with a blanket and my favorite cookbooks, planning away! :)

What a great way to spend a Sunday!

Upward Basketball

2010-01-09T13:36:00.003-06:00

Do y'all have Upward Basketball in your area? What a FANTASIC organization!!! Wally is in first grade this year and it's his first opportunity to play with the program. Upward is a Christian-based program that emphasizes character, sportsmanship, positive attitudes, and Christlikeness.

It is unbelievably organized. There are 9 kids on each team, three 6-minute periods in each half, and each kid wears a colored wristband that matches the colored wristband of a kid on the opposing team. The kids are matched up by size/skill level and are only allowed to guard THAT kid. It keeps things very fair. Each child plays 3 of the 6 quarters, and after the game is over they meet in their "team room" for prayer, snacks, and awards. Each child is given an award at the end of each game for things like effort, baskets made, Christlikeness, and sportsmanship.

We really enjoyed watching Wally play and have a good time. He ended up getting the effort award!

I am thankful for team sports and I'm enjoying this phase of parenting! :)

Rushing the Seasons

2010-01-08T07:38:00.005-06:00

I love all of the seasons where we live because we actually get to enjoy each season in it's fullest. We have a cold winter (with a little snow) a BEAUTIFUL Spring, a hot summer, and a crisp fall. I love when the weather changes every 3-4 months and look forward to each new season. I especially love fall and spring.

For us, fall represents the end of a long hot summer, football games, the county fair, the air show, school starting, hayrides, pumpkin patches, corn mazes, trick-or-treating, and apple pie.

But I also have an appreciation for the spring. For us, the spring brings daddy's birthday, Easter, Mother's Day, Memorial Day, hiking in the state parks, flowers and green after a cold and bitter winter, playing outside again, picnics, butterflies, and birds singing.

Even though I do love summer and winter, I have a tendency to "rush" the seasons when I'm tired of the one we're in. Take now, for instance. Winter has JUST begun and I'm already sick of it. I loathe dropping off and picking up at school with 12 degree weather and a windchill of -3 degrees. It's miserable. We're stuck in the house all the time and the wind hurts your face when you go outside. I have no desire to anything but sleep and watch TV. I'm ready for Spring!

What can I do to put these winter blah's behind me and really enjoy this wintery season before it's gone? Help! :)

DVR Guilt

2010-01-07T14:53:00.003-06:00

About 5 years ago, when we first had the capability to record TV, I never gave it a second thought. Why would I need to record it, I can just watch it when it comes on? Then the kids got a little older and I got so busy I started missing my favorite shows. So, I started recording one or two here and there, but only when I knew I couldn't watch.

Then someone at work mentioned they watch all the Food Network shows before the go to bed and I wondered...how can they watch all those shows that came on during the DAY? Then it dawned on me...I can watch shows I've never watched before or haven't watched in years and watch them whenever I feel like it!!! I started out taping The Young and the Restless, Oprah, Paula Deen, Rachel Ray, Dawson's Creek re-runs, etc. Then it got out of control. I added Laguna Beach, Trading Spaces, 7th Heaven, Friends reruns, etc. It got to the point where I'd have 100 hours of shows and I knew I'd never watch any of them. So I quit taping reruns and oldies and just saved my DVR for today's shows that I wanted to watch, but didn't have time for.

Now my DVR only has:
The Young and the Restless
Grey's Anatomy
Private Practice
Brothers and Sisters
Desperate Housewives
Men of a Certain Age
The Office

Here's the problem...I now have 96 hours of those shows recorded and I can't bare to erase anything. I am completely caught up on The Office and Desperate Housewives, but I have 2 episodes of Men of a Certain Age, 11 Brothers and Sisters, 9 Private Practice, 11 Grey's Anatomy, and 63 Young and the Restless.

I feel GUILTY every time I turn it on and see all of those shows stacked up. When am I ever going to have time to watch them? So I end up sacrificing sleep and some housework just to get them watched so I can clear my list a little bit. But then, each day, new shows just keep piling on. I'm secretly hoping some of my shows will end this season, just so I don't have to record them next season!

Do you feel "guilty" when you don't watch all the shows you record? Is this a sickness? :)

Couponing

2010-01-06T09:34:00.005-06:00

I was recently at our local grocery chain (Kroger) and there was a man there with a big binder full of coupons. I had my index card box full of them as well and when we saw each other we laughed but struck up a conversation about the importance of coupon-clipping and how much money it can save.

I started couponing in April of 2008 when I knew I was going to lose my job...I worked as a credit analyst for a sub-prime third-party lender. My job was ending in June and I was going to be a stay-at-home mom for the first time and I knew for us to be able to do that, we would have to cut some corners.

I never bothered with coupons in the past because I always thought the savings were too small to be worth the effort...but I was DEAD WRONG. A coworker asked me if I had ever shopped at Kroger and I told her that I only shopped at Wal-Mart because Kroger was too expensive. She said she thought the same thing until she discovered Kroger's weekly circular and the fact that they DOUBLE coupons everyday up to 60 cents off. She also mentioned that because Wal-mart is a grocery and GOODS store, you end up spending way more than normal because you make non-grocery purchases that you didn't plan to make...impulse buys.

I got to thinking about that and researched my Wal-mart expenditures for the past 12 months. In my pre-planned budget, I ear-marked $500 a month for groceries, but was actually spending $900 a month at Wal-Mart!!!! I was shocked. That was $225 a week instead of $125 a week. Right then and there, I went to Kroger and picked up a circular. I spent about a week going up and down every aisle at Kroger and really looking at prices, and the next week I did the same thing at Wal-Mart. I am ashamed to admit this, but in the past, I never really looked at prices when shopping. I assumed Wal-Mart had the lowest prices and if it went into the cart we really needed it and when we got to the end, it just costs what it costs. HUGE mistake.

After I got to know what a "good price" on stuff was, I started clipping coupons in the Sunday paper, something I had never done before. I got my mom and grandmother and mother-in-law to give me their inserts as well, so I'd end up with 4 of a good coupon if I really liked it.

After a while, I wondered where I could get more, even better coupons. I had heard that people were downloading them and printing them off the internet, so I googled that and ended up finding something that has changed the way I shop. I found coupons on EBAY. I never in a million years would have guessed that you could BUY coupons on EBAY, but you can...and lots of them for very cheap. Did you know that cities with higher costs of living get better coupons? I had no idea. So when I see a coupon in our weekly insert for 25 cents off Pillsbury crescent rolls, I can probably find them online for 50 cents off. That doubles to $1 off at Kroger and you can use as many coupons as you like. Their only stipulation? They will only double up to 8 of an identical coupon. So, when they are having a great sale on something I have 20 coupons for, I just break it up into three separate trips to still get the savings (Kroger is very close to my house, so no added gas expense).

I kept a log in 2009 of how much I saved with my Kroger plus card and with my coupons. Are you ready for this? I saved over $7,000 last year and my monthly grocery bill went down to $300 per month.

Now, every Wednesday when the new Kroger circular comes out, I check what's on sale and compare it to my coupons plus what I already have "in stock" and then I make my weekly menu.

I have just recently discovered that through shortcuts.com (partnered with Kroger) you can download coupons to your Kroger Plus card and the guy in the store with the binder told me you can also pair a PAPER coupon with the product and get double the savings. I am going to try this today with the Pillsbury crescent rolls. I have downloaded the coupon and I'm going to try to use my paper coupon as well and I'll let you know if I was able to save both ways.

Wish me luck!!! What are your couponing secrets????

Chick Lit

2010-01-05T11:25:00.003-06:00

I have always said "I love to read" and considered myself an avid reader. But over the last few years with raising young boys and working, I hadn't really been reading as much as I had wanted, and in fact, last year I only read 4 books for the whole year.

For the past two years, my mother has really gotten into making her own library at home (hardcovers only) and has spent a considerable amount of time collecting all of the works of particular authors. She has an appreciation for biographies, medical mysteries, and a few classics, but for the most part, she really enjoys "ChickLit", and I do, too. We are suckers for things like "The Devil Wears Prada", "The Shopaholic" books, anything by Jennifer Weiner, and Janet Evanivich's "Numbers" series.

While creating her own collection, she decided to start one for me, and I was surprised with over 100 books these last two Christmases. I have all of them neatly lined up by author and I am desperate to dive into them. I made a New Year's resolution to read 2 of these books a week so I can be finished by next Christmas. Next Christmas my mom will buy me all of the books that my favorite authors came out with in 2010, so I'll probably end up with another 20 or so to start 2011, not to mention the books I randomly pick up throughout the year at garage sales that I never seem to get the chance to read.

Right now I'm working on "Deep Dish" by Mary Kay Andrews and "Slummy Mummy" by Fiona Neill. I should finish them both by Thursday night and then I'll start two new ones on Friday..."Bitter is the New Black" by Jen Lancaster and "Blue Christmas" by Mary Kay Andrews. What are your favorite Chick Lit books?

Staying home on a snowy day

2010-01-04T10:13:00.003-06:00

Wally and Beaver are all set to go back to school tomorrow, but it sure has been nice getting to be home with them for 17 days over Christmas vacation.

Today we woke up to the most beautiful snow shower. It doesn't snow here very often and it only accumulates about once a year (usually only 2 inches or so) so we were very happy to see it coming down so hard today. Ward went ahead and went in to work since the roads seem to be ok, but I feel so blessed to spending this very cold January day at home with the boys, enjoying a fire in the fireplace and watching our yard turn white.

Happy 2010!!!

Dressing up for church on Sunday

2010-01-03T12:24:00.004-06:00

I have noticed, in the past 10 years or so, that people have stopped dressing up for church. In an effort to get more people in the door, it seems some churches are becoming very relaxed in their dressing standards. At first, you saw women stop wearing dresses ,then men stopped wearing ties, then they stopped wearing jackets, then everyone started wearing jeans, now this morning we saw some teenagers wearing sweatshirts and pajama bottoms.

I was raised to believe that we should always look our "Sunday Best" at church because we are dressing to show the Lord our respect. Wally and Beaver are 4 and 6 and we make them wear button-downs, sweaters or sweater vests, and slacks with loafers every Sunday. Ward wears a similar outfit and I always dress my very best with fresh hair and makeup and jewelry.

I'm so disappointed to see people coming to the Lord's house dressed for a sleepover or a hayride. I know I should be glad that people are even making an effort to come to church at all, but I just can't get on board with this lazy way of dressing. Our church films every sermon and it appears on a local network on Tuesday evenings, so I guess the next thing we'll see is that people stop going to church all together because they are watching it on tv at home, while eating popcorn and scrolling through their recent text messages.

What ever happened to old-fashioned Sundays at church? In our house, I wake up early and fix a big Sunday breakfast (today was sausage links with biscuits, gravy, and scrambled eggs), we get dressed up for church, we stop by the grocery store to pick up the Sunday paper (coupons) and then we head home. Once we get home, the boys change into their play clothes while I prepare a light lunch (today it was ham biscuits from the leftover ones at breakfast). After lunch, the boys have "quiet time" for 2 hours while Ward watches football and reads the Sunday paper and I clean up the breakfast and lunch dishes and do some light cleaning. We usually spend the afternoon relaxing and catching up on reading and I'll make a dessert for after Sunday dinner. Then the boys will play some board games while I prepare our big Sunday dinner (Tonight it's roast chicken and vegetables with yeast rolls) and then we'll eat our dinner in the formal living room.

Do other people not do this anymore?

Hot Dog Pie recipe

2010-01-02T10:29:00.002-06:00

I found this recipe a few years ago in a Taste of Home cookbook and my family went nuts for it. We probably have it about 6-8 times a year. It's very high in protein, so it's very fulfilling.

Hot Dog Pie

1 refrigerated pie crust
1 16 oz. can Boston baked beans
3/4 pound ground beef
5-6 hot dogs cut-up
mustard
ketchup
brown sugar
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
5-6 slices american cheese

Brown the hamburger meat and drain. While the meat is browning, bake the pie crust (with fork holes in it) for about 10 minutes at 400 degrees.

After the meat has been browned and drained, add the baked beans, hot dogs, and cheese. Add as much mustard, ketchup, and brown sugar as you need to add flavor to the mixture.

Pour the meat mixture into the pie crust and make a lattice top with the american cheese slices. Bake for another 5-10 minutes until the cheese is melted.

Delicious!!!

Resolutions, Resolutions...

2010-01-01T13:39:00.003-06:00

Every year I actually look forward to making my New Year's Resolutions. I think it gives me the opportunity to better myself and it really does give me a sense of accomplishment when I can cross one of those things off my list.

Here are my resolutions for 2010:

Read 2 books per week (I counted recently and have over 100 books in my library that I've never read!!!)
Read to the boys every night (we got them a bunch of adapted classics for Christmas)
Read my devotional daily
Read my Bible daily
Write 5 pages daily in a book I'm working on
Be purposeful in my quest for saving money
Be more organized at the grocery store with shopping and coupons
Keep my house clean!!!
Go on dates with Ward
Be more involved at church
Exercise daily
Organize my photos

I have already created a nice spreadsheet for my daily, weekly, and monthly tasks so I can really hold myself accountable.

What are your resolutions for 2010?

A Family Christmas

2009-12-30T08:39:00.002-06:00

Growing up, the whole Christmas hooplah was usually the same. My sister and I spent the night with our Granny on Christmas Eve and we'd rent Christmas Vacation or Miracle on 34th Street and eat Molasses cookies all pile into her bed. On Christmas morning, we'd get fixed up, load her car, and head to mom's house. When we walked in, our stockings were laying in front of the fireplace all stuffed with goodies, a fire was in the fireplace, and sausage-egg-cheese casserole was piping hot from the oven. My sister and I would take our seats in front of the fireplace, A Christmas Story was playing on the TV, my stepdad was filming, and my mom passed out all the gifts.

I loved that tradition and we did it that way every year until my third year of marriage. Once Wally and Beaver came, we decided that we wanted to start our own family traditions and we preferred to be in our own home on Christmas morning. The problem is, we live 2.5 hours away from both sets of parents, who live on opposite sides of the state. We reasoned that our house was "in the middle" and if everyone came there, we would always be together for Christmas instead of having to switch between parents every other year.

The first year we began this tradition (2004) I was pregnant with Beaver and Ward and I had just moved into our new house (built in 1977, but new to us) and we couldn't wait to have everyone there. It iced up pretty bad that year (our region of the country does NOT handle this kind of weather well) and we almost had no guests at all. My sister and her fiance slept up in the bonus room with Ward and I, my mother and her fiance slept in our room, my grandmother slept in the guestroom, Ward's grandmother slept with Wally in his room, and Ward's mother slept on the couch in the livingroom. There really wasn't much room and the kitchen in that house was so small it was almost impossible to cook in it, but we made it.

I was afraid after the discomfort that year that no one would want to come back to our house again, but this year marks the 5th year we've hosted Christmas and I think it's safe to say that we have created a new family tradition. We're in a newer, much bigger house now so we have plenty of room to stretch out, and my kitchen is big enough for all 4 women to get in there and make some yummy creations. I love having Christmas in my own home and I hope we can continue this for many years to come.

The only downfall? Cleaning up after everyone has left!!!! :)

Inexpensive Decorating Ideas

2009-12-17T06:40:00.004-06:00

A few months ago, I stumbled upon a website I have really grown to love www.sugarpiefarmhouse.com This woman lives in Branson and has the most beautiful "lodge" home and she has decorated it with flannels, old milk jars, wooden signs, and pie plates. It is absolutely adorable and I love the look. She says it has taken her 20 years to accumulate all of her decorations, but I looked at my own kitchen and realized in my 8 married years, I hadn't acquired ANYTHING to decorate my kitchen.

Now, lucky for me, my kitchen and my great room are all one big room...which I LOVE. I can do the dishes and talk to my husband while he watches TV. It's wonderful! The other great thing about this set-up is that my kitchen only has two walls and both are covered in cabinets. I don't have much wall-space to decorate, but I did have plenty of room on my counter tops. We don't have room in the budget to spend much money on things like this, so I just went to Hobby Lobby and found some unpainted wood platforms and and some paint and got busy.

I was very pleased with the way it turned out, and all of it cost me less than $25! What do you think?

Attending the school's Christmas Program

2009-12-15T07:53:00.003-06:00

I look forward to attending events at Wally and Beaver's school because they get so excited to perform for Ward and I.

Tonight is their annual Christmas Musical and they will both be wearing church clothes, sporting new haircuts and singing their hearts out for us. Today is also my birthday and Wally told me this was a special part of my birthday gift.

They have been practicing these songs for weeks and I have really enjoyed listening to them hum Christmas tunes under their breath as they play at night.

It reminded me how thankful I am that they can attend this wonderful Christian School that we send them to. The teachers, staff, and other students are so amazing and the curriculum is fantastic.

I can't wait to see what they have in store for us tonight!

Decorating for Christmas

2009-12-08T08:39:00.004-06:00

Growing up, we always decorated the tree the Monday after Thanksgiving. I often thought it was odd to be doing that on a Monday, but we always went out of town for Thanksgiving so this was the soonest we could get it done. Mom and my sister and I would handle the inside, and my stepdad would put all the lights up outside. I remember we had candle lights in our window and I looked forward to plugging them in every night. I LOVED Christmas and counted the days down to when we'd get to open our presents. I'd watch as the pile under the tree got bigger each day, try to peek under my mom's bedroom door as she wrapped presents, and shake every box to get even a hint of what was inside.

But, as childhood wonder begins to fade as you grow older, my anticipation for the big day diminished over the years and then it began to seem like a chore to drag out all of the decorations, bake until I couldn't stand the smell of food anymore, fight the rude and nasty shoppers at the retail chains, and spend hours and hours cleaning and changing sheets in preparation for all of the relatives to come.

I decided to have a different attitude this year. I can see a little of myself as a child when I watch Wally and Beaver do the same things I did 25 years ago. It makes me happy to see how excited they are getting and how they almost can't stand the wait. They sit in our livingroom and stare longingly at the gifts every day afterschool and I love listening to them tell each other what they think is in each box. It reminded me WHY I break my back to have a traditional Christmas each year, and it made it all worth it. This year, I bought almost everything online, so I don't have to fight the crowds, and I'm baking a little each day so that I don't have to spend 3 days straight getting everything put together. My house is clean now, and I'll just spend the next 2-3 weeks KEEPING it that way. This year when we put the decorations out, I put on some Christmas music and we all sang together as we decorated for about 4 hours and it made all the difference.

Sometimes I forget how influential my own attitude can be on the entire house. If I'm grouchy, everyone is grouchy. If I'm upbeat and light, everyone else gets that way, too. I am going to keep a smile on my face this holiday season and make sure my boys have the best Christmas ever. I have to keep reminding myself that you never know what is going to turn into a lasting memory for them. Every conversation or action could be something they remember vividly 40 years from now, and I don't ever want to be remembered as the momma that yelled and screamed and was too stressed to enjoy Christmas. :)

Baking Bread

2009-12-05T21:11:00.003-06:00

I LOVE to cook and look for the opportunities whenever I can. I'm pretty consistent about getting 5 cooked meals on the table per week, with one night of sandwiches and one night of leftovers. I also love to cook for friends and family and I usually give baked goods as gifts for new neighbors, holidays, etc.

My FAVORITE thing to make is bread. I love homemade fresh bread and the boys really enjoy it. I started baking bread about a year ago and at first it was only every once in a while, but now I'm making it about 3-4 times a week!

My favorite bread recipe is one I found on 50's housewife's blog. See the left side of my blog for a link to her site. She has MANY yummy recipes. It's a challah bread and it's very simple.

3 TBS butter
3 TBS sugar
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 c. water
1 packet active dry yeast
3-4 cups flour
2 eggs

Add butter, sugar, salt and water to sauce pan and cook on medium heat until about 120 degrees. (if it gets too warm, it will kill your yeast)

In a large mixing bowl, combine yeast and about half the flour. Add wet ingredients and begin to mix. Once it gets party incorporated, add the eggs. After they are all combined, start adding more flour until the dough gets soft and is a little sticky. Pour it out on to the counter that is well-floured. Start kneading by hand and working more flour into it until its a nice soft ball. The dough will still be warm and should make a pretty smooth ball. Put olive oil in a large bowl and drop the dough down into it, covering with oil on all sides. Cover and let rise for 1.25 hours.

Seperate into three balls and let rest another 15 minutes. Then roll out into three ropes and braid. After it's braided, move it to a cookie sheet and cover and let rise another 30 minutes. Before baking brush all over with egg whites. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

GORGEOUS bread and so tasty!

Helping a friend in need

2009-12-05T08:38:00.004-06:00

Sometimes when I look at my life, I don't realize how great we have it and how lucky we are to have each other. Ward is a great husband and father, we have a nice home, reliable transportation, clothing, food, and we're all healthy. I am thankful for those things and praise God often for giving us such a wonderful life, but there's one component that I forget about sometimes because it comes so naturally to me... Ward and I have a great marriage and are still very much in love. I guess I just assume all married couples with kids are happy, because on the outside, it usually looks that way. But I found out recently that looks can be very deceiving.

A new friend of mine (a mother at the school) rencently disclosed that her husband moved out and is living in the city 30 miles away. Her children are 5 and 7 and they were very confused and upset when she told them. My friend says that the marriage has had problems since day 1 and she's not "weepy" about the decision, but instead needs to focus on her responsibilities as a mother and just keep busy. I know she is overwhelmed right now with Christmas, church duties, school duties, and taking care of the children, so I offered to help her in any way I can.

Thankfully, she was comfortable enough to pass the torch on a looming church responsibility. She allowed me to help cater a church function for 75 people. I was happy to have the opportunity to expand my little "side business" and also to knock something off of her To-Do list. People are so self-sufficient these days that very often they don't reach out and ask for help. I'm so glad she did and I think our friendship will be strengthened in the process.

Think about your own circle of friends. Is anyone in need of some help, but unwilling to ask? Take the first step and offer to cook a meal for their family, help with laundry, or baby-sit their children. You might never know how much that could help someone.

Thanksgiving "Untraditions"

2009-11-30T15:36:00.004-06:00

Thanksgiving is one of those holidays in my family that is important, but one that never seems to have much "tradition." It seems we do Thanksgiving different almost every year. When I was growing up, we spent Thanksgiving with my grandparents in Louisiana and it was the most anticipated trip of the year for me. My sister and I were the only "kids" in the family, so we usually got a lot of attention, but concurrently we also got lost in the shuffle a lot and were allowed to explore the pond behind their house and raid the pantry undetected. When I got older and married and started my own family, that tradition stopped and we started spending Thanksgiving with Ward's side of the family out-of-town at his mom's home. And when it got to be too much to bring the boys up there for that long period of time, we started having it here. But because Ward's grandmother has been ill and family has come in town to be with her during this rough time, we thought it would be best to go back up there for Thanksgiving, and I'm glad we did.

I guess I just realized that it doesn't matter that it's different every year, the people we share the day with change every few years, and we're not always in our home. I'm just thankful that we all find a way to come together for a great meal and praise the Lord that we made it one more Thanksgiving with everyone still healthy and alive.

I love the Food Network!

2009-11-24T14:14:00.004-06:00

Who doesn't love the Food Network? I discovered it years ago and the first person I saw on there was Paula Deen. I fell in love with her instantly! I must admit that I'm completely addicted to the network and will watch almost anything on it. I try not to spend too much time watching TV because I get easily "sucked in" and before I know it a few hours have passed and I've done nothing around the house and ignored the kids. However, the Food Network is something I found I can keep on in the background without ever really stopping to watch. I love listening to Ina, Paula, Giada, Rachel, Sandra, Guy, Robin, and the Neely's while I cook and clean and play with the boys.

Wally really likes Paula. In fact, when we have our weekly "dates" with each other, he always wants to drink hot chocolate, eat my chocolate chip cookies, and curl up in my bed to watch "2 Paula's". And that's pretty much what we do every time. He especially loves any show that has to do with desserts, and he's recenly discovered Ace of Cakes since it was on one Friday night when he was "spending the night" with us.

I love that my boys show an interest in cooking and I try to get them in the kitchen whenever I can. At this point, it's much easier to get them to help with sweets than anything else, but I'll take what I can get.

What are your favorite shows on the Food Network???

Comfort Food

2009-11-23T21:07:00.003-06:00

There's something about a chill in the air, a fire in the fireplace, and a football game on the television that makes you crave comfort food. I love this time of year because I have an excuse to get in my kitchen and fix my favorite foods like macaroni and cheese, meatloaf, chili, fried chicken, and pot roast.

Wally and Beaver are out of school all week and we had a fun day today at home. They got a new Nintendo game with their allowance this weekend (Indiana Jones Legos II) and played that for a bit while I puttered around the house in my houseshoes and tended to my neglected housework. I'm hoping to have it all caught up by tomorrow, laundry included.

I wanted to make something special since it was such a dark and gloomy day, so I made some pot roast and homemade challah bread. As soon as Ward walked in, he mentioned how great the house smelled and that he was starving. My recipe is VERY simple and I get rave reviews each time.

Simple Pot Roast and vegetables

1 medium beef roast (doesn't matter the cut)
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper
3 cans beef consomme
Canned carrots
Yellow potatoes (sliced)
Yellow onion (long thin strips)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Salt and Pepper the beef very well on all sides.
Heat a large pot on the stove with a 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil.
Once the olive oil is hot, add the roast and sear the meat on all sides.
Keep the meat in the same pot and pour all three cans of consomme over the top. Add a little water to make sure the beef is competely covered in liquid.
Cook 2-3 hours depending on size and then add vegetables.
Cook 1 hour longer, or until potatoes are soft.
Remove roast to cutting board and let rest for 15 minutes while you set the table, get drinks, etc.
Slice the beef, add the vegetables to the serving platter, and pour a little of the juice over it. Reserve the rest of the 'gravy' and put it in a gravy boat.

WONDERFUL! Enjoy! :)

A trip to the In-Laws

2009-11-22T18:23:00.004-06:00

Ward's grandmother has been ill lately, so we made an impromptu visit to his mother's house this weekend, since his grandmother lives around the corner. She didn't look well and had lost a lot of weight and was pretty tired from her recent stint in the hospital, but it was nice to see her just the same. Her oldest son had come in town to visit, so most of the family was together, which rarely happens.

We spent most of the weekend talking, watching football, eating great meals, and playing Phase 10, a game this family introduced me to 8 years ago when Ward and I first started dating. Ward's mother made shrimp creole Friday night and chicken and dumplinds Saturday night...mmmmmm! I got to help out today and made my homemade pizza. We had such a great time and it really helped unload some stress off of Ward's mother and uncle. The boys love visiting up there as well. My mother-in-law doesn't have much of a yard, so normally the boys spend the entire weekend running through her old house, shaking the walls, and doing flips off of the couch. But this time, they discovered some stone steps leading down to the back of the house and spent much of the day today running up and down the steps. Ward and I were rewarded for letting them do this because they slept for most of the 2.5 hour ride home. :)

I enjoyed the weekend away, but about 20 minutes before we arrived back home, I remembered that because we left on such a whim and I was so busy serving the Thanksgiving feast at the kids' school on Friday, I didn't have time to do my normal housekeeping. I walked in to a complete MESS and now I'm tired from traveling and stressed because I have to get a lot of laundry finished and dishes done before I go to bed. The dogs hadn't been fed in two days, so they tore up the backyard and porch searching for food. To add to all of this...we have NOTHING to eat so a trip to the store is definitely in order, and probably late tonight after the boys go to bed.

Note to self: Clean the house BEFORE you go out of town.... :)

When Daddy comes home from work

2009-11-19T16:50:00.003-06:00

My day goes by in a blur sometimes. I wake up very early, eat my breakfast and get myself dressed, wake the boys and feed them and help them get dressed, take them to school, come home and work on the computer, do house work, run errands, exercise, go get the boys from school, play with them and help with homework, fix dinner, set the table, and do last minute straightening up before Daddy comes home from work. Sometimes I get in such a hurry to get everything done that I forget why I'm doing it. I'm not doing it because I HAVE to, I'm doing it because I WANT to. I want my kids to grow up remembering playing in our yard after school while I was inside preparing dinner. I want them to remember that I always had a nice dinner on the table, the house looked nice, they always had clean clothes and bedsheets, and I was always around for school events. I want them to feel cherished.

I know I am old-fashioned, but I like for everything to be done when Daddy gets home from work. I make sure that I look nice, the kids are cleaned up, and dinner is just about ready to eat when he gets here. He loves and appreciates that I do this and he tells me often. I think this is the boys' favorite time of day. Our door has a chime on it from the alarm system, and everytime someone opens it we hear a "beep beep beep." The boys get so excited when they hear that chime and they see Daddy come through the kitchen with his briefcase and jacket. They run to him and he picks them both up and it reminds me that this simple life we are leading is the most perfect life I could have ever imagined. And I'll keep right on doing the same routine tomorrow, but I'll pay a little more attention to those small moments, because they'll be grown and gone in a hurry...and someday, the only one who'll run to the door when Daddy comes home from work is me.

Cub Scouts...what a great organization!

2009-11-18T07:36:00.002-06:00

We signed Wally up for Cub Scouts this year because he is in the 1st grade and this was his first year of elligibility. He is officially called a Tiger Scout after earning his Bobcat Badge last night. We have REALLY enjoyed this commitment and look forward to years of service with the Cub Scouts.

Wally has loved wearing his little uniform to the weekly den meetings, selling popcorn to our friends and neighbors, and learning about camping, fellowship, and community service. We are looking forward to singing Christmas Carols to the disabled Veterans next month and participating in the Holiday Food Drive for the local Food Pantry.

What are you doing to help your children invest their time and energy into community service? If you're looking for a way to do this, I highly recommend the Cub Scouts! It's a great way to be a servant to the community, but also a wonderful bonding experience between a boy and his parents.

Cinnamini's anyone?

2009-11-16T15:38:00.004-06:00

My boys LOVE to have their afterschool snacks and I'm pretty good about having something homemade waiting for them on the counter. Ihave a nice-sized jar that I got for Christmas one year and it has a red top, which I love because my kitchen is red. Everyday, before they come home from school, I'll fill it with pigs-n-blankets, popcorn, grapes, cookies, etc. Today I filled it with homemade cinnamini's and they were ecstatic. Especially on a chilly gloomy day like today. Here is the recipe:

Cinnamini's

1 pkg active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
3 TBS sugar
2 TBS shortening
1 large egg
1/2 tsp salt
3-3 1/2 cups flour
Brown sugar
Cinnamon

Combine yeast and warm water in small cup and let stand 5 minutes

Combine yeast mixture will all other ingredients, except for 1 cup of the flour.

Mix with electric mixer using dough hooks until blended. Slowly add the rest of the flour until the mixture is soft. Roll the dough out onto a flour surface and knead a little big until you have a nice smooth ball. Place ball of dough into large bowl with a little bit of oil and cover and store in a warm place for 1 hour.

After an hour, punch down the dough and roll it out to a big rectangle. You want the short sides to big significantly shorter than the long sides because you want these to be CinnaMINI's. Paint softened butter all over the rectangle with a brush and then sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon all over. Roll up the dough as tight as possible and then cut your cinnamini's in about half inch portions. Place on greased baking sheets and light rise again for 30 minutes. Bake at 350 until light brown. This recipe makes about 40 depending on how thin or thick you roll out your dough.

Drizzle with icing when cooled (I just mix powdered sugar and milk until I get desired consistency).

The wind is whipping through the trees and outside pets are hunkered down in their beds, but we're warm inside our house with a fire going in the fireplace, a cinnamini in one hand, and hot chocolate in the other.

Join us, won't you?