Tea Time With LB

I've revamped our family chores and given out different jurisdictions. I think the best idea has been to give LB our tea time. By 4:00pm (tea) I'm starting to fade and was getting pretty lazy with our tea snacks. So I've given her the responsibility to plan, prepare, and serve tea with full liberties...fancy dishes, candles, table cloth, whatever.

I think everyone is happy with this arrangement as LB seems to be very good at it. She loves everything beautiful so our tea time is much fancier than it has been for awhile.

Here's something she put together from our freezer. We had these little cakes that I bought on the day-old rack for $.75, frozen strawberries, and whipped cream. Pretty!

Thank you LB, you're doing a great job!

A Good Morning With My Bird

Mally and I went out this morning. Just the two of us. Yes, I had to take the van b/c of her car seat but it was worth it.

~We hit a garage sale and I bought an almost new (maybe been used 2ice) bread machine for $10. I let her give the guy the money and she was very friendly.

~We went to a friend's house where she got to play with a puppy. My friend's 12 yo daughter played with her and gave her a sparkly pink purse with jewelry and pretty hair thingys in it.

~She hit 2 grocery stores with me and found a dime and 2 pennies! Something for her purse.

~She did not ride in the cart but walked the whole time holding my hand and helping to carry the few things we bought. She said, "Holding hands is fun." I think so too.

~And last but not least...she wore PANTIES the whole time!!!!!

Becky's Carmel Corn

This is definitely a Christmas only type of treat because it is *dangerous*!!

2 C brown sugar
2 sticks butter
1/2 C. white karo syrup
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 bags of popcorn (popped)

Bring sugar, butter, syrup, and salt to a boil 5 minutes. Add soda and vanilla. Pour over popcorn and bake @ 250 for 1 hr stirring every 15 minutes. Once cooled, break apart.

Reason No.501 To Live In The South

We've have a bountiful harvest of cucumbers
I need to get them from here....



To Here!

Problem is I only have 2 empty jars. Now in the south you have jars busting out of the cupboards and taking up most of the free space in the garage. They hold everything from bulk spices and beautiful tomatoes to screws and loose change.

Honey says, "Do we have to move these to CO?" Absolutely not! We can easily replace them at .10 a piece at any thrift store or garage sale.

So off to the thrift store I go ready to load up on canning jars. Guess what? They're not .10 they are .69! Each! Sixty-nine cents for a used mason jar without a lid? No thanks.

I go to Goodwill next. Not quite as upscale as Savers they're sure to be cheaper. Can you believe there is not a single jar in the whole store? Not one! I am not believing I'm actually going to have to buy these new. As in retail for canning jars!?

Sigh....... So I go to Walmart. I walk all over the store looking in every place they ought to be. Finally I ask a lady and do you know what she says? "We don't carry canning supplies." WHAT?! Unbelievable.

What do I do now? I could pay .69 but it's not going to do me any good if I can't find a place that sells rings and flats. Maybe Big Lots? Seems like they should have things like that.

Back across town for more disappointment. No canning supplies! No jars, no lids, nothin'.
So tell me, are canning supplies exclusive to stores in the south?? Where in the world do you find them in CO?

A Show Of Love

Isn't it beautiful? I came home from running errands to see this sidewalk chalk masterpiece by Jess. I know it's him b/c he just learned how to make stars and draws stars on everything.

Do you see "mom" under the rainbow? There's other MOMs on different parts of it that didn't show up in the picture.

It blessed me so much to think that my little boy thinks of me even when I'm not around. And he wrote MY name on his picture! Thank you Jess. I love you!!

Whole Wheat Bread by Becky

Becky is the one who taught me how to make bread many years ago. I was hooked and have made loaf after loaf ever since. I use several different recipes for different types of bread but this one is my 'go to' recipe. This is best to do in a Bosch type mixer. I use an Electrolux with a Whisper Mill grinder. If you don't have a grinder, you can buy wheat flour at the health food store or even Walmart.

100 % WW Bread

In the mixer bowl add....

2/3 C oil
2/3 honey
6 eggs
5 cups of hot water
1/4 C. yeast

Mix slightly and let sit until frothy looking. This is called the sponge.

Turn on mixer and add flour by the cup fulls. It turns out to be around 19 cups I think. I don't measure anymore. Add 2 T salt as the flour is mixing and keep adding flour until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl and you can see part of the bottom. Kneed for 10 minutes.

Let rise in bowl until doubled and it's about to fall over the edge. Punch down and kneed 4 minutes.

Oil your hands and shape into loaves. I can usually get 5 loaves, sometimes 6. Let rise in pans and bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

Turn out onto cooling rack or an extra oven rack. Mist slightly with cold water.
Mmmmm.......

Laundry Soap!

Grab this free sample of Gain at Walmart.com Click here.

Spaghetti Sauce

This week I'm going to share recipes from the kitchens of AR. The first few are from my friend Becky. Becky and I have been friends since we first moved to AR. As a matter of fact she and Jodie were among my first friends there. Later we moved next door to Becky and Charlie and were blessed to have the best neighbors ever. She has always been so generous with me to share from her life experience (and her kitchen) and I consider her one of the most important mentors in my life. Her wise words and friendship have contributed so much to the woman I am today. So the first few recipes will come from her yummy smelling, sparkling clean all the time kitchen.

As with all these recipes it has been tweaked a bit to fit our taste so it may not be exactly like the original but pretty close!

Becky's Spaghetti Sauce

1 1/2 lbs hamburger
1 chopped onion
5 cloves garlic

Brown it all together and add...

1 can tomato paste
28 oz can of diced tomatoes
60 oz tomato puree
1 T oregano
1 T basil
1/8 C sugar of honey
1 can of mushrooms (drained)
2 tsp each salt/pepper
1 C. red cooking wine
1 green pepper chopped
1 T. Worcestershire sauce

Stir all together and cook on low for 5-6 hours. If you cook it on the stove tilt the lid a little. If you cook it in the crock pot switch it to HIGH. Freezes wonderfully.

Free Samples

Here's some fun samples for you thanks to Budget Helps.....







Click here to get a sample of Always Infinity.



And here to get a sample of Cascade AND a Magic Eraser! 2 samples in one!





Here's a local deal that expires today. Sorry to be so late with it.

Rite Aid has St. Ives Essentials B1G1. Use the B1G1 MQ from Sunday's paper to get them both FREE. And don't forget the free Crest after rebate for this week while you're there.

Happenings Of The Week

What's been going on at our house?

~We're all glad it's Friday! No school for 2 days.

~The physical aspects of miscarriage have been difficult this week and has thrown off our usual groove in the house. It's better now though I think. A HUGE thanks to my friends in AR for talking me through this, to my big kids for holding down the fort, and to my Honey just for being sweet.

~Sticks got braces! I gotta post a picture of his new smile. I love it...especially since he seems to like to show it off.

~Honey makes omelets every Saturday. I just looked in the fridge to see that we are almost out of eggs. That won't do. I won't go to the store just for that so we'll have to come up with something else.

~Pizza tonight with Lana's sauce recipe. This week I'm gonna post my favorite recipes from my friends in AR. A few days ago I posted Kim's ziti recipe and 2 other friends are making it now. I love new recipes. If you have one for me to try send it to me and I'll blog about it.

~Meg and I saw the movie Fireproof. Great great movie. Spend the money and see it opening weekend at the theaters. We're hoping it gets a good crowd. Read Meg's review here.

~Meg and Lane are practicing the keyboard to play at church. Hmmm, we've just been there a short time but sometimes I feel like we're taking over the place!

~I'm gearing up for my first book day here in CO. I'm reading a marriage book called When Sinners Say I Do. Not a super fantastic read but it's still good and I think it will discuss well.

~I also got a new book in the mail from my friend Kim. Daughters Of Sarah it's called. Good read so far and I'm on Chapter 4.

~1 soccer game tomorrow at a park right up the road. Little boys start practice on Monday. Let the fun begin.....

~The Olympics are a fun change of pace. Did you see the USA women's soccer team win the gold in the 95th minute?

~Anybody thinking about Christmas yet? As I look at the way too much stuff we have I'm contemplating different sorts of gift ideas.

~It's 9pm and only 2 kids in bed. I have 5 kids camping out in the living room watching Andy Griffith and 2 in the music room playing with Honey. I love the happy noise....

There are so many things to pray for in a given day. I wish I could be in a frame of mind and spirit to be in constant communion with God all day and bring them before Him at any moment. Sometimes He will bring something or someone new for me to pray for like He did yesterday....

I was doing the grocery shopping and picked the line with only one guy ahead of me. He was in the process of paying and I unloaded all my stuff onto the belt. He was a very old Asian man and was obviously having a hard time. He could not understand how to use the credit card or to pay cash or even why he had to pay more than he thought it should be. He wanted Walmart to pay HIM! He was so confused and angry. He was shouting at the cashiers and causing quite a scene. No matter how they tried to explain things, he just could not understand it. I was so sad for him and stood there and prayed. I wished I had some different words to help him understand. I prayed that there was someone in his life to take care of him.

Skip ahead to unloading the cart. My son is buckled and I pick up the last thing...dog food. Underneath the dog food I find 2 small items that I didn't see and didn't pay for. I look up to see a cart guy. I flagged him down, briefly explained what happened and asked him if he could please take them back into the store for me.

He stood there wide eyed staring at me. Finally he says, "DUDE! That is the nicest thing I've ever heard! I never met anyone as nice as YOU!"

What? Now it was my turn to stare wide eyed.

Please Pray

Please pray for our friend Toria and her family. Their baby has gone to heaven in the safe arms of Jesus.

Toria, we love you and are praying for you. We will rejoice together at the reunion of our little ones.

Cereal Deal At Walgreens

Cheerios are on sale for $1.99 (the big boxes!) Use these coupons here, here, and here, to get them for .99 a box. You can print each of these twice!

Skippy peanut butter is on sale 3/$5 with a $1.50 RR but the Skippy Natural pb is NOT included...just a heads up. If you don't care about that though you can use the $1/2 MQ from Sunday's paper to get a good deal.

Lipton tea is $1.99. Use the $1/2 MQ to get them for 2/$2.98

And here's another Just Bunches coupon. These are $2.50 at my Walmart making it .50 a box. This is a pretty sweet cereal in a small box. It's good to mix into your granola!

This Weekend

I do not remember a weekend like this one..at least since we've had kids. We didn't do anything!!

~A rainy day with a high of 59! So cool and nice. Windows open. The nice trickly rain sound....awwww

~We slept in. Even Babyest.

~Hot chocolate. In August!

~Olympics and Jon and Kate + 8. Have you ever seen that show? It's kinda cute. And it's interesting to me since they have multiples and I've always dreamed of multiples. Also they have more little kids than I do. However, I've decided it's not appropriate for our family. Jon and Kate are always grouchy. The kids are hateful to each other and I don't want to bring that into our house. "A companion of fools suffers harm." Goodbye Jon and Kate.

~Long naps with blankets on the couch.

~Scalloped potatoes in the crockpot with salad and bread.

~I stayed home from church and watched Pastor Dale. I took notes b/c I only had one little one with me.

~Left overs and the Sunday paper.

~Meg cut coupons for me and I got them all separated. That was the most work of the whole weekend.

~It's over now. The sun is shining and it's a school day. Nice to get back to work. I LOVED this weekend and hope there's more of them

Cutsies

2 New Product Reviews

These are 2 new products that I got free last month. I've never used any type of disposable toilet cleaners before so this was very new to me. I used them this weekend and thought I'd share my opinions of each...





This first one is the Scrubbing Bubbles Max toilet scrubber. It comes in a box with a handle and 2 disposable scrubbers that fit onto the handle. The handle has a release button to release the scrubber into the trash when you're done. You can't flush it. I was impressed with the design. At first glance it looked too small to do a good job, but once I started using it I liked the whole shape of it and how easily it fits under the rim. The scrubber has a blue cleaner on it that immediately turns the water blue. Unfortunately as soon as I started the scrubber came loose and went to the bottom of the potty! I had to maneuver the handle to get it re-attached without having to fish it out by hand. Yuck. This happened 3 more times before I finally gave up. The scrubber is not actually a scrubber at all but just a sponge. And once the sponge is wet it's a limp useless sponge. I have never liked Scrubbing Bubbles products and this one certainly didn't change my mind. This is something I will never use again no matter how free it is!

I move on to bathroom #2 with the Scotch Brite toilet cleaner. Same nifty design with the handle and all except this starter kit comes with 4 disposable scrubbers instead of 2. I notice a difference right away in that the scrubber is more of a stiff kitchen like scrubber instead of just a sponge. It also has the blue cleaner and can not be flushed. The scrubber stayed attached the whole time and did a great job. My potty sparkled! I still would not spend money on refills since the can of Comet is cheaper but if I were ever to get it free again I would definitely enjoy it!

Today

~I've known about our homeschool potluck for awhile now. Potluck meaning I gotta take something. I could not think of a thing. So now it's the morning of the potluck, still no ideas, and it starts at 11am! My daughter had made a suggestion and I ran with it. I pulled some refried beans out of freezer, added salsa and cheese. ta da! bean dip! I also cut up some garden cukes (cause they're running out my ears) and made some dip. I picked up a couple of bags of chips on the way and we were set.

~Lotsa fun at the potluck. Visiting with friends and eating way too much food. Babyest doesn't like potlucks I guess.

~I spent most of the morning on the phone with my dr. office asking lots of questions. Good info. I guess talking about it so much has brought back some sadness. Someday *someday* I will make it though the day without crying.

~My son had a friend over for awhile. I like this kid cause he's always smiling.

~I did the weekly grocery shopping and had NO coupons. Again the cashier asked me about it. I guess I'm making a name for myself.

~Church music practice at our house tonight and that gives me a little more free time in the evening. Tonight I got to chat with a long time friend on the phone. I enjoyed every minute of it!

~Tomorrow no outside plans and no company. I want to bake a cake with Mally Bird and get back to my morning walks.

A Present!

Presents are such fun and can really lift your spirits. It doesn't matter if they're little or big. I think of things as presents that weren't really meant to be presents at all. A favorite catalog in the mail, a letter of any kind, freebies, whatever. Mail is a biggie. And if I get something during the day I put it on my bed to save it for just the right time.

The "right time" is at night when the kids are in bed. Honey's usually busy and I'm showering, taking my contacts out, and cleaning up the room getting ready for bed. The perfect time! I'm alone and if I have a present I look forward to it all day!

My g'mothers love getting presents too. I just sent them cards and pix recently and yesterday I got a note from one of them telling me how much she loved it and how proud of me G'daddy was. A present!

I was telling my kids today that while e-mail is handy it can never take the place of a hand written note. It takes time to write it(or type and print out), it takes money to send it, but it's oh so worth it!

A friend came by tonight with a present for me. This one is a present that is actually in a bag AND has a note! And...the kids are in bed!

From The Pen (red crayon) Of Jes

My 5 year old son gave me this note on my bed. He told me it was for my blog. I must agree that it's quite blog worthy!

FOR THE GOD HE IS HULY (holy)

THE GOD HE IS GOOD

Just Wondering...

I'm feeling a little better both physically and emotionally. I don't know how in the world my friends have done this more than once.

And so I wonder and ask you to help me think this out. It has been suggested that we told everyone too early. I'm scared to death that this will happen again, yet I so desperately want another baby. So if the Lord blesses us again (oh PLEASE) then do we wait until the danger zone has passed before we spread the word? Or do you just tell some but hold off on the general public? What do you do?

I'm especially eager to hear from my friends that have walked this road ahead of us. Or anyone else who has an opinion. If you'd prefer, e-mail me privately.