tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68602583326620448522024-02-18T20:46:23.217-08:00Making Things Stretch...I am a stay at home mom and have stayed at home FT or PT for the past 10 years. It was an adjustment, but I'm glad we did it before we had kids and now I enjoy making things stretch.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger506125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860258332662044852.post-60072007736925464302023-04-09T19:27:00.003-07:002023-04-09T19:27:53.461-07:00What to do with leftover ham... I realize that many families ate ham today for Easter. We did! But, what my family doesn't know is that we had some of our frozen leftover Christmas ham for dinner this past Friday. It was a super busy week for me and I was exhausted by the time I got to Friday night. And I still needed to take the kids to youth group and get dinner made in 45 minutes so we could eatUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860258332662044852.post-63450415589850755432018-11-13T04:50:00.003-08:002022-12-18T18:14:19.037-08:00Beating Egg WhitesUpdate: 12/18/22I need to change this post a little. Accidentally after I made this post, I only put in half the sugar! I typically double the recipe below, but then forgot and only put in half the sugar. My family loved them so much more!! Now, I double all ingredients of the cookies, but only put in 2/3 cup of sugar. They are not so super sweet and everyone enjoys Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860258332662044852.post-80872367985582697722018-10-24T06:30:00.001-07:002018-10-24T06:30:15.057-07:00That time of year... the great clothing swap!Yesterday was the day. It was time to pull out the buckets of clothes in the attic and find out if I had any jeans to fit my girls.
Thankfully, I did!
Over the years, I've tried to make the swap less stressful, but I've found that with three kids I need to let go of my plans for a day and just plug away at it. When I've tried to homeschool the same day as the great swap,Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860258332662044852.post-1024258109833816082018-10-14T09:33:00.001-07:002018-10-14T09:33:11.559-07:00Advice I remembered about kitchens...Years ago, I was in a friend's house talking with her about her kitchen. She mentioned something to me that she had read on an organizer's website. I never went to the website and found the advice she mentioned, but I have tucked away the advice and pulled it out every single day since.
The advice was about where to start when organizing your kitchen. The friend said the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860258332662044852.post-48797566903157740232018-07-20T06:44:00.000-07:002018-07-20T06:45:28.041-07:00Quitting PrimeFor several years, we've had Amazon Prime. But this year when they said they were going raise the annual fee by 20%, we found ourselves questioning the decision. Did the fee justify how much use we were getting out of it?
Music... we prefer Apple Music and don't use Prime Music.
Movies/TV... we have cable that we can watch on the internet as easily as Prime.
Shipping... Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860258332662044852.post-27181188997368080432018-07-08T19:23:00.002-07:002018-07-08T19:23:38.002-07:00Shrimp 'n Grits My anniversary was this weekend and so I made a special brunch dish for my husband. I decided on Shrimp and Grits. I looked for a recipe and then used it as a base and in the end what I made didn't look much like what the original recipe prescribed, but we loved it! So, here goes...
Shrimp 'n Grits
1 pound of raw frozen shrimp, medium size works well
Defrost shrimp in a Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860258332662044852.post-5307692598559910142018-07-08T18:52:00.000-07:002018-07-08T18:57:59.527-07:00Making Chips StretchWe had some friends over for lunch today after church and as I was getting the food ready to accompany the bratwurst we had on the menu, I realized I had only one bag of chips and it wasn't a big bag. But, I also had some pretzels, so I thought I would spruce them up to make them a bit more appealing and they were a hit!
Here's the recipe I made...
Sweet + Salty Pretzels
5 cups pretzels Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860258332662044852.post-48046798295106037022018-06-30T11:27:00.000-07:002018-06-30T11:27:56.874-07:00Inexpensive and fun craft for all agesIt's Saturday afternoon and my kids found themselves with nothing to do. My middle daughter found this fun craft on Crayola: Dazzling Dot Painting
I went upstairs grabbed some watercolors, q-tips, and white paper and we set to town! My kids all had fun with it. And I loved seeing the results!
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860258332662044852.post-8437315997978283592018-06-17T12:53:00.002-07:002018-06-17T12:53:56.369-07:00A Father's Day Treat: Shrimp CocktailToday we tried something that we haven't done in years. I don't think I've ever actually fixed it for my kids before even though it's so simple.
Shrimp Cocktail
I usually buy raw shrimp for cooking at home. But, today I decided to buy some cooked shrimp for Shrimp Cocktail. I bought 16-20/lb size cooked shrimp.
Instead of buying cocktail sauce, I quickly looked up a recipe onUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860258332662044852.post-90456825273788065712018-05-20T18:54:00.001-07:002018-05-20T18:54:11.927-07:00Looking niceWhen I was growing up, I had one pair of pants in sixth grade. I lived in an area that didn't get very cold, so I didn't need more than one pair. But, the reason I only had one pair that year was equal parts that I didn't need more than one pair and that my mom couldn't afford to buy me more than one pair. When some kids in my art class made fun of me one week for wearing that Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860258332662044852.post-80847482837218707242018-04-15T13:36:00.000-07:002018-04-15T13:54:46.235-07:00On the Hunt in Nature with Kids!
I just want to include a quick post about a new book on my desk...
Do you have a child between the ages 4 and 8 years old who loves nature and hunting for insects, plants, and birds?
If you do, the book in front of me would be your child's alley! On the Nature Trail is a new book published by Storey books. It's like a Cub Scout or Brownie (Girls Scouts) badge in a book! Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860258332662044852.post-30670394135734537332018-01-22T18:09:00.000-08:002018-01-22T18:09:00.413-08:00House RepairsWe moved into a new home in a new state about a month ago. I have been consumed with unpacking, settling, and getting what we need for our new home.
Yesterday, I finally began to work on what needs to be done to the house. We tried to buy a house that didn't need anything besides new paint, but that wasn't to be...
When we first moved in, my husband fixed the water tubing on Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860258332662044852.post-59666889718526649142017-11-23T07:39:00.000-08:002017-11-23T07:56:15.475-08:00Letting GoWow. It's been one of the hardest weeks of my life. Although I think there are some other weeks that are right up there when I think about it. But, I read a quote on another gal's post Here from Leonard Cohen
"Everything is broken. That's how the light gets in." &Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860258332662044852.post-72521383355288484632017-11-10T05:04:00.002-08:002017-11-10T05:04:59.477-08:00Another Plant Killer...Actually, that's not the best title for this post, but it's what many people think when they ponder house plants. I've heard so many people over the years tell me that they can't grow green things.
My philosophy when it comes to outdoor plants is to put things in the ground and see if they grow! I suppose it's a little more complicated than that, but not much. If the dirtUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860258332662044852.post-20785940354707063632017-11-09T05:45:00.000-08:002017-11-09T05:45:11.671-08:00New Horse Book for Girls who love Horses!A few years ago, I was in the bedroom of a friend's daughter to see how they were decorating her new room. I noticed the stack of horse pictures on the wall. Over the next few years, as my middle daughter's love of horses grew, I saw her begin to collect pictures of horses from magazines and tape them up on her bookcase and walls. But, like most moms, I wanted her to have some Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860258332662044852.post-41551271939613064722017-11-08T05:36:00.002-08:002017-11-08T05:36:53.848-08:00Baking for Kids!When my girls were younger, I started looking for a good kids' cookbook. I love to cook and I wanted my kids to have a cookbook that they could learn to cook from with simple recipes. I started comparing the books at the library and the bookstores. I was shocked by how much I disliked most of them! Several of them had tiny print. Some of them didn't have any basic Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860258332662044852.post-76601096015951288122017-11-06T05:51:00.001-08:002017-11-06T05:51:21.442-08:00Christmas is coming...November has arrived. I'm not ready to play Christmas music in November or even really think about it much, but there is one part of Christmas that I start early--making a list of the gifts I plan on giving my family and friends.
I have found over the years that the best Lego sales are during November, not December, and my kids all love Legos. So, I plan on being on the lookoutUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860258332662044852.post-28855401265986524072017-10-31T05:21:00.000-07:002017-10-31T05:21:28.971-07:00Awesome Needle Craft Book for KidsI have a collection of craft books in our home because my middle daughter loves to make a wide assortment of crafts. But, I have never seen her as excited about any book in this collection as she is about the newest addition to that collection...
Stitch Camp: 18 Crafty Projects for Kids & Tweens by Nicole Blum and Catherine Newman
This book tackles the most popular fiber arts:&Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860258332662044852.post-14439007551660161312017-10-31T04:54:00.003-07:002017-10-31T04:54:54.688-07:00Taking care of ourselves and the ones we loveWe moved a little over a month ago and it feels like my children have had one injury after another! First it was my son's broken toe the week before we moved. That was followed by a jammed finger for my oldest daughter and then another jammed finger for my son. Then, yesterday my oldest daughter and I lost control of Molly and she went after two dogs (who thankfully were behind Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860258332662044852.post-25723754159644872122017-10-17T07:14:00.002-07:002017-10-17T07:14:42.597-07:00Moving and AdjustingThis past summer has been a crazy one for our family. We put our house on the market and planned on moving when it sold. In the midst of that, my husband got a new job. Then, we got a contract. But, just as we were moving things into storage... it fell through. Then, we went on vacation and as we were coming back the contract went active and we had 2 1/2 weeks to Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860258332662044852.post-60026362475029540262017-08-18T10:10:00.002-07:002017-08-18T10:10:53.053-07:00In debt... because of salesI have had a lot of very interesting conversations this summer. One conversation that was interesting to me was with a young mom of multiple children. We talked about providing for our kids and taking care of what they need.
She shared with me that one of her weaknesses is the clearance section at the stores she likes to shop at. Because of that weakness, she accumulated some Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860258332662044852.post-86169512187372085882017-05-26T09:41:00.000-07:002017-05-26T09:41:19.255-07:00Two Kinds of PeopleYesterday, I sat across from my mother in law and next two my oldest daughter. We had a discussion about coloring and drawing. My daughter loves to draw, but not color. She loses interest halfway through, she explained. My younger daughter chimed in that she loves to color, but not draw and my mother in law felt the same way. I listened and smiled, realizing that we Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860258332662044852.post-70614893163832843152017-04-20T04:27:00.001-07:002017-04-20T04:30:14.120-07:00Saving Money on FoodYesterday, I was at the grocery store buying food when I came upon a sign in front of the chicken. It said that all packages were $3 off.
I love to talk to people, so first I explained to a woman who approached that they were $3 off--in spanish. She didn't understand the sign in English.
Then, I mentioned it to the next man who came up. I asked him if the small package or Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860258332662044852.post-37352047490799332912017-03-07T06:11:00.000-08:002017-03-07T07:01:31.680-08:00Buying a suitMy husband has needed a new suit. We've tried to figure out where to go. He looked online. I went to Marshalls, Macy's, and JCPenney's. But, in the end we went to Jos. A. Bank. We'd gone to Men's Wearhouse before (which now owns Jos A. Bank). I was so pleased by our visit to Jos. A. Bank!
When I went into Macy's last week, not a single salesperson spoke to me.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6860258332662044852.post-70073786189315931062017-02-12T17:33:00.001-08:002017-02-12T17:33:28.936-08:00Salt Potatoes... from a non-New YorkerOne of my husband's favorite side dishes is New York (specifically upstate NY) style Salt Potatoes. The first time I attempted to make them was a disaster. A complete disaster! I couldn't fathom not pricking or cutting the potatoes. It went against my nature. If you have made salt potatoes before, I'm sure you know exactly how they turned out! The salt soaked Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0