Recipe for a Fun Night

Tonight my family and I ate leftovers, watched the Alvin and the Chipmunks Movie and ate scrumptious peanut butter honey popcorn.

I got the recipe for the popcorn from my mother-in-law. They have been making it for years and I always ate this at their house when I was dating my husband. Must be nostalgic feelings I have for the popcorn. My son and I both have a special love for peanut butter. Unfortunately, he will probably die from heart disease with all of the butter popcorn he had last year during home schooling. Every day at 10:30 he would make a bag. Now his sister is so excited about home schooling next year because she will have popcorn at 10:30. Hey, whatever motivates them!! :)

I wanted to share the popcorn recipe with you because it is easy, yummy and fun for family nights like ours.

1/2 cup of popcorn kernels - air popped (maybe two bags of microwave popcorn)

Melt 1/2 cup honey and 1/2 cup of sugar in a pot until it comes to a rolling boil. Add 1/2 cup of peanut butter and 1 tsp. vanilla to the pot. Pour over popped popcorn and toss it until it is coated all over. It's that simple. It is really, really good.

Let me know if you try and love it like we do!!

As for the movie, it was pretty good. It was not a deep movie like The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe or anything, but it had a fun, sweet feel. I think the worst word was sucks and it was only once. There were some crudish humor, but nothing my kids have not seen or heard or said for that matter. It was fun for my kids to get excited about the funny parts because they had already seen it. They kept saying, "you are going to crack up at this part."

Hope you have a great weekend!

Favorite Product These Days

My family is not much on ironing. They do not mind leaving the house with a plethora of wrinkles. I like to iron my clothes, but I am not one to sit and iron all of our clothes on a Sunday afternoon. I was talking with a friend and she mentioned Downy Wrinkle Reducer. Sounds like an infomercial, huh? Well, I ran to Wally World the first chance I had and picked some up. My family is hooked. My friend who told me about it . . . I bow down to her when I see her. It has changed our little wrinkled lives!!

Funny story: On Monday, my Prince Charming was frantically looking for the Downy because he had a ball game and he wanted his shirt to look pristine. The wrinkle releaser definitely helps when you have lettering that you cannot iron over. Anyway, I let him know it was on the table.

He was kind of in a silly mood and he started telling the kids to look at his wrinkles disappear magically. He would squirt then say voila. . .no more wrinkles. He was squirting up a storm and the kids were laughing along with him. I was kind of ignoring his silliness until I looked up and squealed, "You are using 409 on your shirt!!" He picked up the wrong bottle and his shirt was drenched with 409. We laughed and laughed until we could not laugh anymore. So the moral of the story is pick up the right bottle!!! :)

Many thanks to Prince Charming for letting me share your funny story. I love you.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday - Guys Ballgame, duty calls. . .gotta wear my cheer leading outfit; Creamy Tacos (recipe below) and home made garden salsa

Creamy Tacos
1 lb hamburger meat
1 can chili w/o beans
2 cans hot chili beans
1/2 can rotel
1 lb velveeta
1/2 pt. whipping cream
Doritoes
salad and Italian dressing

Brown hamburger meat in large pot. Drain. Add chili, beans and rotel. in a separate pan or microwave melt velveeta, mix in whipping cream until smooth and creamy. Add to meat mixture. Put doritoes on each plate. Pour some cheesy meat mixture over it and top with salad that is already mixed with dressing.

This makes a lot, but you can freeze it in smaller sections if you need to.

Tuesday - Crash, hot potatoes, teriyaki chicken legs;
Wednesday - Garden Veggie Night; fried green tomatoes, salad, squash (from a friend's garden), tomatoes with basil and olive oil. . .perhaps a little feta on top = yum :)
Thursday - Sloppy Joes, french fries
Friday - Chicken Quesadillas, rice and Mexican Layer Dip
Saturday - Marinated Grilled Chicken Breasts, Ranch Potato Salad,
Sunday - Homemade Pizza - we buy Sam's Club crusts and top with veggies and cheese = yum!

Last week, I was running low on ingredients and I made Zucchini Alfredo from and it was pretty good. My kids do not like zucchini but they ate about half of it. My husband and I enjoyed it though.

Also, for our Church Ladies Night I made "Bowl of Yum" again (recipe below) and I cannot tell you how good it is. I need to take a picture next time for you.

In a trifle,
1st layer - crumble up brownie with walnuts (the walnuts really make it good) (see note on Sam’s Club brownies, but add walnuts)
2nd layer – prepared chocolate pudding (large box of instant)
3rd layer – Cool Whip (1 8 oz. carton)
4th layer – Heath bar (1/2 to 3/4 bag)
5th layer – Cool Whip (another ¼ to ½ the container)
6th and final top layer – Heath bar (1/4 bag)

Have a great week! Remember, always cook with love (recipe for Chicken Parmesan and explanation!

Hired Out Spirituality

This post should be called The Lord, the Weed eater and the Milk to follow this post because I really heard the Lord speaking to me this morning while I was weed eating the yard. As I was doing my usual delightful yard work I was thinking of the things that I would hire out for if I could. I really do enjoy mowing the front lawn and weed eating feels like a fresh haircut or when I get my eyebrows waxed by my stylist. You just get this renewed feeling where everything feels as it should be.

I wish that I got that same sense when I swept the floor or dusted the furniture. Yes, I do like it clean I just don't want to be the one who has to do it. I like it when the closets are organized I just don't want to make the effort to do it.

I know this is a stretch for the imagination, but we cannot hire out for our spirituality either. Yes, there are lots of things you could pay someone to do, but we cannot hire out going to church to fellowship with our Christian brothers and sisters. We cannot hire someone to read our Bible to find out what pleases the Lord. Yes, sometimes when I am in a slump I would like to hire someone to go to church in my body to take notes for me, but this is not what the Lord wants from me. We each are responsible for our walk with the Lord and we each will be called to account for our life, whether close to Jesus or not. So we may can hire out for those dishes or that yard work, but we cannot hire out for our relationship with Jesus.

So what is the point of this post: to challenge myself to look at my walk with the Lord and to ask where I need that eyebrow waxing, weed eaten refreshment. . . that renewed feeling of everything is as it should be. Where are the areas that I would rather hire out with my Lord? Those are the areas that the Lord wants us to grow in. The result is not a read Bible or to be able to complete Bible drill. . .the result is a peace that surpasses all understanding. It is a knowledge of the Lord and His will for our life. The result is a love relationship with the Lord because you know that He loves you and is in control of your life.

Ok, I am finished preaching. I hope that this word encouraged you as it did me. Ok, now back to dusting, sweeping and doing the laundry. :)

I have so much to tell you!

It has been difficult for me to write lately because so much is going on. I have sat down at my computer I don't know how many times, to post and cannot express my thoughts. It is not so much that my thoughts are so incredible but I just think I don't have a lot of extra words. I know that seems odd, doesn't it. . . especially to those who know me personally.

Ok for starters, if you follow this blog at all we are adding on to our house. I cannot tell you how many blog posts that I have come up with when I am on the roof shingling. Including the title, "Look, I have shingles." I know, ridiculous. Another thing that I have pondered up there is what to do with my poor kids who are below biding their time on the computer. I felt so guilty last night when my kids came out at 9:00 pm and said that they were so hungry and I discovered when I came in they had gotten into the French bread and were eating off the ends like cats. My only thought is that I am literally "putting a roof over their heads" and until the house is "in the dry" I have to work.

The other great thing that is going on is I am doing a great Bible Study called Vertically Inclined by Mary Kassian as well as reading a book called The Shack. The Shack is a very controversial book and one that I have agreed with so far until the end where he talks about the church. If you could just pull out the last pages it is a good fiction, thinker! My Bible Study is just great. The gals are great who I am completing it with and the daily work is very enlightening.

On another and final note, I am having major Naughty Lobby withdrawal as my sweet Prince Charming lovingly calls it. I am into jewelry making and I need beads in a bad way. I have tried several websites and maybe I just have some kind of tactile deficiency, but I really need to feel as well as see the beads that I am buying. Maybe it's just the smell of Hobby Lobby that I need. I don't know, but I may have to head that whopping 75 mile direction soon.

Well, there I got the post out of my system. Maybe, just maybe there will be some fun little pics with me soon "with shingles." :)

Fruit Salsa

Today's Work for Me Wednesday post was very easy for me to come up with because I heart cooking simple, easy dips!!!

Fruit Salsa
1 tub frozen strawberries
2 kiwi - peeled
1 can crushed pineapple

Throw it in the blender until it is salsaish consistency and voila you have fruit salsa.

What do you eat with this, you ask? That is the really yummy part. Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Strips. You have to make them though, but I promise it is worth it.

Cut a package of flour tortillas in triangles using your pizza cutter. Put them on a baking sheet with some canola oil sprayed on your pan as well as the tops of your tortilla strips. Sprinkle the tops with cinnamon sugar and place them into the oven at 350 degrees and wait until their crispy. . .not burnt (speaking from experience here). They are easy to burn. Let them cool a tad bit and eat them all up!! I have served this for my friends as well as my kids and we all love it equally!

Check out my Menu Plan Monday Links on the side for more tasty recipes. Also, don't forget to get back to Rocks in My Dryer for more great, easy recipes in 5 ingredients or less. Have a great day!

It Really Does Work. . .the Good Job Jar

A few months ago we were struggling with how to keep our kids motivated and to get tasks done around the house without having to nag them. Well, we have been trying out the Good Job Jar since February and it really, really works. The kids have had a regular "income" streaming in and it has incredibly motivated them to do all sorts of things, including having a good attitude. On Monday, I gave Hansel a list and he got three pennies (which equates to .30 cents) for each thing that he did.

• Read a book (don't normally pay them for reading. . .it just happened this once . . .I promise!)
• empty dishwasher
• 5 minute clean up on room
• empty all the trash in the house and take it out

There is a note at the bottom of the list that says whining = losing a penny

It works, seriously. . . I don't like to nag and this really helps with nagging. I give my six year old equivalent chores as well and it works for her too. I hope this works for you. My kids have decorated their jars different ways at different points and this is a great way for them to take ownership and control over their jar.

Let me know if you try it and if it works for you. Make sure to check out Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer for more amazing tips and tricks for your family. Have a great day.

Menu Plan Monday

I am so thankful for the post that lures me in each week and forces me to concentrate on planning. What would I do without a post on what we are going to have for dinner each week? I would starve or wander around aimlessly asking "what's for dinner?"!!! We would starve!

Monday - chicken legs that are calling me from the fridge; they are not pretty legs, but they are defrosted and have to be cooked

Tuesday - Sorry, mi familia. . .more bratwurst. I got a great deal at Kroger the other day so we are going to have it till the cows come home. Add some French Fries and voila. . . a meal and a deal.

Wednesday - Crunchy Baked Chicken, (the only difference in the chicken I cook and this is that I use Good Seasons Italian Dressing Mix instead of Ranch), the only thing I know is I am going to try these crash, hot potatoes because she did such a fabulous job describing them. . .oh my word, crescent rolls, green beans or salad

Thursday - spaghetti = boring but my hubs does not care and my Hansel LOVES spaghetti so there you go . . .now it = winner!

Friday - Tuesday - in Branson family reunioning!!

This week I made blackberry cobbler with fresh blackberries from the Farmer's Market. This recipe closely resembled mine except I patted out little cobbles on the top instead of fancy lattice.

As always, you can click on my link on the sidebar for weeks and weeks worth of menus. I love simple, fast and semi-healthy cooking. :)

The Lord and the Mower and the Milk

Most college students keep themselves pretty busy and I was no exception. Momhood redefines busy, but nevertheless I was busy in a college student sort of way. Most of the quiet time I had was in the shower. For most of my college journey I had a roommate and then I got married and the quietness was different, but mainly my alone time was in the shower. I heard the Lord speak to me many times while I was in the shower. One time I was told to break up with my boyfriend and other times He just led me to pray more or to get rid of other things He saw in my life.

Well, now my life is different. . .busy as most everyones and now the Lord has to pretty much shout to talk with me over the lawn mower. Yes, the showers are shorter and not much time to socialize there with the Lord. Now He speaks to me while I mow my 3/4 of an acre. Almost every time I go out to mow I hear the Lord tell me something pretty significant (for me).

Now I am about to tell you something that I do not like to admit. . .actually several things. One is that my kids do not drink milk, we have not taken supplements and we do not drink soy milk. I have tried many different things and for one reason or another we have not stuck to any one solution to not drinking milk. Obviously, my kids do eat cheese, yogurt as well as ice cream. . .anything but just a glass of white milk.

I started trying to get to the bottom of this while mowing the lawn tonight. I believe the main reason my kids do not drink milk is because I do not drink milk. I just simply do not like it. My son had a lactose intolerance of some sort when he was little and has pretty much outgrown it, but he still does not like milk. My daughter just does not like the taste. I really think a lot of it has to do with me and how I have perceived it and presented or have not presented it to my family.

Then I began thinking about how many other things besides milk I have done this with. What other things have I not given to my kids because I don't like it. . .other than food. Have I memorized Scripture with my kids. . .no because I don't do that. No, this is not a guilt ridden message. . .it is a wake up call to think of things that I have a bad attitude or a funky taste in my mouth about so that I can be proactive to teach my kids differently. I want to find the things like milk that I do not like or things that I do not regularly offer to my kids and teach them that those things are ok and actually good for you.

So what things do I need to teach my kids that I do not do? First of all, I cannot expect them to do things that I do not do. . .so modeling should be my goal.

• to drink milk. . .I think I might buy us some chocolate milk this week at the grocery store. . .that's better than nothing, right? I might even have a glass or two with them. I am going to make milk my reminder that I am exposing my kids to more things that are good for you and that they need to learn to like
  
• to stop complaining about things and be more positive. . .I want Gretel to especially learn this
• I posted about this last week, but to take time to relax and have fun. They are not going to have fun with their kids if I do not take the time to have fun with them now.

This is all I have in me right now. So tell me, what are the things that you need to teach your kids? What do you need to model to get them to be excited? What do you struggle with making yourself do as a mom that you need to teach your kids?

Work, Work, Work and Yes More Work!

This is what I came home to after my trip to Florida. This is where the carport once stood and no, the cinder blocks did not clean themselves up.
One of the next steps after cutting down the trees and cleaning up the mess from the not-so- happy carport area was to dig out the area where the footings (concrete slab that supports the foundation) were going to be.
These are my two tools that I used to tie the rebar in the below picture down so that our house would not crack. The gatorade was just a perk.Below is my friend, "Rebar. Say hi, Rebar." Each corner where the two pieces of rebar meet had to be tied with a wire "bread tie." The tool above made it go quicker.
This is the crew that helped us. The one in her gymnastics outfit is really helpful. This is one of the two concrete trucks that have been hanging out at my house. The first one poured the concrete for the footings. The other poured the concrete for the garage floor.This is a picture of the supervisor overseeing the laborer. "I think he is a little off. I am not happy with his performance."This is most everything framed in. Since this picture, I have a garage door frame and a closet for the garage which is the wall farthest away in this pic .
Earlier in the year my husband and I took some time to rejuvenate ourselves and our marriage. Now the thing is, I imagine that when most couples get together they start reflecting on how busy their lives are and how they can take it easier. . .how to make their lives less chaotic. My Prince Charming and I are a little different . . .when we get together we start making plans to stir up things. . . to shake things up a little!!

I really don't know how we started talking about it other than our carport needed to be torn down because it was rotting. Most of you know my sob story. We apparently bought it when it was rotten. . . smart move, huh? :) Anyway, it needed a little TLC. We had to do something so we decided to do a big something!! We decided to add on to our home. We love our home but we wanted to get a little more space.

Even as I type, I wrestle with the want/need side of things. I think of our church going to make "sheds/houses" for the people in Guatemala in which they were sooo thankful. Anyway, that will have to be another blog post. Obviously by our American standards we needed more space.

My closet is really squishy and I don't like my clothes squished. Also, I have posted before how I do not like my washed and dryer in our main bathroom. It bothered me. Every time I tried to relax in the tub I was haunted by the washer and dryer. They were crying out "feed me, feed me." So I am getting a master bathroom that just cries out, "clean me, clean me." :)

We are creating 600 square feet of living space and a two car garage. Most of the framing is finished now and we are waiting on trusses. Yes, we are doing most of the work ourselves. . .ie Prince Charming is sweating through about 2 loads of laundry a day!!! YUK! But it is cheaper than hiring out. We do have some incredible friends to pay tribute to though.

Rusty - special thanks for cutting down the trees and not letting the three trees fall on my house
Stan - part of the Arkansas Chainsaw Massacre
Ken- part of the Arkansas Chainsaw Massacre
Brent- part of the Arkansas Chainsaw Massacre
Caleb P.- helped with laying electrical line and covering up the hole, poured concrete and helped smooth it for the footings
Roy - FRAMING EXTRAORDINAIRE - he helped Prince Charming finish the footings, floor the house and frame the first two major walls. They began work as soon as they got up and worked until it was so dark they couldn't work anymore
Mikki aka GB - helped raise the walls and move about 500 cinder blocks to the correct area!! and did countless hours of jaw aerobics with me while they were visiting; it was awesome!
Marvin - our neighbor; helped lay the foundation with cinder blocks and concrete; gave Prince a good start to understand how to do it
Glenna - our neighbor; she saw us in a bind when we were raising one of the garage walls and came to help hold it up while we got ourselves together. . .not a fun experience
Tim - lots of phone consultation for Prince Charming and some very nifty tools

Prince Charming, you are amazing. Can we have a talk about this time next year on how to make our lives less chaotic?!! :) I have loved all of this experience and it is a really neat family project. Who needs Home Depot's once a month family building projects. You can get a family building project every day of the week here!! More updates to come soon. Gotta work!!

I Have a Condition

Do you struggle with loss of concentration at work, shaky hands, watery eyes and irritable chore syndrome? If so, then you may have a serious condition called jewelrymakingcrazynessitis. I am going to have to go to Jewelry Making AA.!!! It is so addictive.

Last weekend we had a ladies' night at church where we all went to dinner and followed it up with some jewelry making. A friend showed me how to make earrings and lets just say that I will not be needing any new ones anytime soon. Since Friday . . . today being Monday I have six new pairs of earrings and five new bracelets. My birthday is in September and I already bought my birthday present at what Prince Charming now calls "Naughty Lobby" aka Hobby Lobby.

It is so fun and I cannot wait to wear all of my new accessories. . .not at the same time of course . . .but it is tempting.

Menu Plan Monday

Wow. . .here we go, Monday again!!! I had a great weekend and I have a recipe to show you that I made for my sweet hubby. He has been asking for one of his favorite soups and Father's Day was the perfect time because of all of the fresh produce available.

Sunday - Father's Day Gazpacho! He had three bowls of this before I went to bed so I know he liked it. I used a combination of real and canned diced tomatoes. I did not have beef broth so I substituted chicken bullion. We had fresh basil as well as some green bell peppers from the garden which makes cooking exciting!! Also, I added spicy V-8 instead of tomato juice. My kids even ate this with tortilla chips like it was salsa. It is really good for you too. . .please don't tell them! :)

Monday - Gretel's last t-ball game; frozen bag ravioli (don't worry. . .I am going to cook it! :)), green beans and texas toast

Tuesday - running clinic; preparing for the Four Mile Classic-note to self: do not eat salsa before you run at night; Cabbage (slice it. . butter and salt and pepper it, wrap it in aluminum foil and put it on the grill) and Bratwurst on the grill. . .I may eat when I come back! :)

Wednesday - We have been invited t o a Family Birthday Party so I am off the hook for cooking. . .Hip Hip Hooray for Birthdays

Thursday - BBQ chicken drumsticks and thighs, fried okra, fried green tomatoes and biscuits. . .did I tell you that I was born in Georgia. . . bless your little pea pickin' heart! :)

Friday - chicken caesar salad; We had this salad last week too and it is really really good; I cannot wait to have it again!

Saturday - breakfast for dinner; french toast and bacon = yum

Sunday - taco salad

I have tons of things to share with you this week on our construction progress, my new hobby and what my kids have been up to so make sure to check back. Also, remember for more yummy recipes to check into Laura's fabulous I'm an Organizing Junkie Blog. If you post your menu this week, she make pick you for her give-away!!! Yeah!! Have a great Menu Plan Monday!

Shot to the Heart and I'm to Blame

I love watching things grow. Flowers are up there on my favorites list. . they changes from tiny seedlings and grow up into big beautiful flowers. From my own back porch I see the construction growing. I now have walls on our addition and it is so fantabulous you can't believe it. I love watching all things grow, except my children.

I have been thinking about how I have really missed the mark with my kids. I have more excuses than shoes (and girl that's a lot) to not be the mom that I should be. I have excuses to not tuck my kids in, to not help them with building a lego fort, with not being patient with them when they are saying my name over and over again.

The other day, Hansel and I were talking and I told him I would do something in his bedroom for him and he said, "No you won't." I said, "of course I will, why wouldn't I?" He said, "you never come in my bedroom other than to check to see if it's clean." Shot to the heart!!!!! and you're to blame. . .darling you give love a bad name. . . in the famous lyrics of Bon Jovi. Shot to the heart by my own son. I tell you, I am having some wake-up calls around here and they are not pretty.

My kids are growing faster than those flowers out there as well as that construction work and I need to get myself together because I am missing out. Do you ever feel that way? I know that the little old gray haired ladies at the store tell me this all of the time. . ."be thankful while you got em cuz they grow up fast young whipper-snapper." I am heeding your words little ol gray haired ladies.

My goal is to:

1) stop making excuses to not tuck those darlins into bed at night
2) to do what I can to go in their rooms and PLAY. . .I am promising myself to not look under their beds and secretly put things away
3) to cuddle up with my kids on the couch and watch cartoons with them

Shoot, today Hansel wanted me to just fix him a "donkey tail" (more details to come on that one) and to watch Home Improvement with him. How hard is that? I would love to hear your thoughts on how you make your kids a priority and cut the excuses on spending time with them.

Summer and Kid Friendly Recipes

Summertime Fruit Salsa

1 container of frozen strawberries
3 kiwis
1 can crushed pineapple, drained
package of tortillas, cut with a pizza cutter into triangles

Spray cookie sheet with oil and tops of triangle tortillas as well, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar

Use a blender, food processor or food chopper to make this salsa.

Bake at 350 for about 8 minutes; check them often!!! :) Burnt ones do not taste good.


My awesome kids made these awesome:

Banana Chocolate Shakes

1 banana (we freeze ours when they start going "bad")
1 cup milk
3 T cocoa
2 T chocolate syrup
1-2 cups ice (if the bananas were not frozen)

I just noticed the recipe called for cocoa OR syrup but my kids added both and they were pretty amazing. Also, my kids made the first batch and realized they were going to need lots more to fill their bellies and so they doubled the next batch so you might want to triple yours. They made this all by themselves. All I did was put the blender together for them and they did everything else.

Pour milk into blender. Then add banana and chocolate. Blend for one minute. Add ice if you needed. Pour milk shakes into individual cups. Talk about freezing and melting if you have a teachable moment there.

Hope you enjoyed these recipes!!! More to come.

Rabies

I was lying out by the pool today when my daughter and son saw our neighbor's dog run by. I have not seen the dog out much until lately, but it is really friendly. Gretel, the six year old, came back to inform me that the dogs name was "Rabies." It took me a minute to catch on to what was going on. They read the dogs tag and it said, "Rabies" as in it had received its rabies shot. My son did not hear my response and he was in my neighbor's yard trying to get the dog to come to him by yelling, "Come here, Rabies. Over here."

hehe. :)

Menu Plan Monday

Oh my, I cannot believe how long it has been since I blogged last. Forgive me, my loyal readers! We have had so much going on I have not had a chance to blog, but I assure you I have lots of new material now. I should start out with my menu though so that I can get this week started off on the right foot.

Monday - Thanks to From Mommy's Kitchen we have Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad on the menu for tonight. Honestly gals, the only meat I even have in the freezer is a bag of chicken so anything chicken and easy sounds great!

bake cookies for neighbors. . .especially ones who have helped with all of the crazy construction work around here

Tuesday - Seasoned Hamburgers, roasted potatoes and strawberry/kiwi salsa and cinnamon sugar tortilla strips

Wednesday - dinner with my mom and dad; it's his birthday . . .kids going to my their home; what a great exchange his birthday and my kids!! :)

Thursday - dinner with my hubby. . .should throw some steaks and cabbage on the grill!!!

Friday - dinner with the gals from my church

Saturday - spaghetti and salad

Sunday - taco salad and salsa with fresh cilantro and jalapenos from the garden. . .hurry up tomatoes!!!

The Foundations of the Earth

I am so glad that God laid the foundations of the Earth instead of me because let me tell you it is hard work!!! Did I tell you that we are adding on to our house? Our carport was rotten (I know my friends are tired of hearing about my carport woes) so we finally decided to have a do over. We are adding a master bath, extra bedroom, extra living space and two car garage.

I am very excited about the end product that may just be a year from now being finished. We are in the very early stages and it is wild around here. My kids are in awe over the heavy machinery that we have had to bring out to be our little helpers in the process. We are mostly doing everything ourselves to save money. We do not own a backhoe so we had to bring those in for a couple of hours. Tomorrow the concrete truck is coming and we plan to have some fun getting all of the air bubbles out.

Two days ago I spent about three or four hours lifting concrete cinder blocks onto a trailer and then placing them in the back of our yard. Two days a week, I do a think called boot camp and it costs me $5 per one hour session. Prince Charming told me I owed him money for the cinder block workout. Yeah, I may not need boot camp anymore since we have our own now.

Tonight I spent about three hours tying wire around rebar rods to establish a firm foundation when we pour the concrete tomorrow. It will help the concrete foundation keep from buckling. Hope I did it right!! :) I asked Prince Charming if I could use construction worker language a couple of times. Hopefully, I will not have a "potty mouth" by the end of the year!

The cool part of the construction project is the family time. The kids helped us out a lot tonight and they even mentioned that we were having a fun family time together. I think we are not only laying the foundation of our house, but the foundation our home as well. Pretty neat stuff going on over here. What is going on in your neck of the woods?

The bad part about construction is that you only have so many hours of light in a day so dinner gets put on the "back burner" literally and figuratively. It is 8:45 pm and we are just about to pull the pizzas out of the oven (which were not scheduled until later in the week) but they were fast. Oh well, at least we did not eat out. :) Better pull the pizzas out and feed the babies before we do not have dinner at all. More construction talk to come.

For the Love of Photo Books

I have posted before on photo books. I was in the middle of the hair-brained scheme last time I posted on them and I was a little frustrated. I want to tell you I have had a ton of compliments on how cool it looks. It is compact and has a whole year's worth of photos. This is coming from a girl who took 6,000 pictures last year. I really did not skimp because my thought was this is my family and what I would carry away in a fire. I do not want to skimp on memories. I have made two books for the last two years worth of pictures.

My first book I made was on Snapfish. It was very easy. My only complaint was that I had to upload a gazillion pictures before I actually got to drop the pics into a template. The uploads took FOREVER. . .probably like 10 hours. The cool thing about that is that now they have an automatic picture mover that you can download onto your computer. Anytime you plug in your camera to get the pics off it automatically moves them to Snapfish. This helps tremendously with the photo book process. The Snapfish book costs me about $60-$75 if I am remembering correctly.

I have also made a couple of smaller books on Snapfish. I made one for a friend when they were building their house. I just highlighted the beginnings and put pictures of its completion and their sweet family along the way. It was fun to give that to them as a gift. Also, I have made a small one for my family of our annual Florida trip. I am generally the "family photographer" and they need something to vouch for their time on the trip other than just our wild stories (more pics and stories to come on that).

The second book I made was really big, over 100 pages and I can't imagine how many pictures were included. . . .probably over 300-400. It costs me about $100, but like I said I did not skimp. The main problem I had with Blurb.com is that it was not intuitive. I could not make each page a different font and I am a font-fanatic! It was very basic, but what I liked about Blurb is that you do not have to upload your pics before you start working you just have to choose from the pics that are stored on your computer and it uploads the book at the end. That takes awhile, but when I am ready to work on my book . . .I am ready to work. I do not like to do all of the "pre-book stuff. " I did receive an email a month or so that they have upgraded their system to make it relatively glitch-free (although I have not tried it again yet). The other cool thing about blurb is that you can basically publish anything. . .cookbooks, your own book, anything and you can make a profit off of whatever you make. You can set your price to be whatever you feel it should be to include your time in making it, etc.

Well, that just about wraps up my photo book experience. Another one that I am interested in trying because it gives a more scrapbooky feel is picaboo. If you have any other ideas I would love to hear about them.

Don't forget to get back to Rocks in My Dryer to get some other great ideas and tips!!!

Menu Plan Monday - I'm back!!!!

You didn't miss me did you? Did you know I was gone? I was eating out ALL WEEK in Florida. Eating out should be against my religion, not just from the money that I spent and the pounds that I gained, but the sheer fact that I just felt lazy.

Oh well, so much for a week of slovenliness (yes, I looked that up and it is a word). We need this week to be light and simple. Light as in not only easy to make but light in calories.

Monday - whole wheat spaghetti, salad and breadsticks. My incredible husband tried whole wheat spaghetti the other day while I was gone and says it tastes fine - almost normal. I wish I had a penny for every moment that I think about how awesome he is.
Tuesday - ball games at 5:30 and 6:00; BLT sandwiches on whole wheat toast
Wednesday - roast/carrots and potatoes in crockpot, greek salad, dessert: blueberries with lemon yogurt
Thursday - ball games at 6:00 and 7:30; pancakes and bacon (not so light, but easy!)
Friday - crunchy baked chicken and Zucchini with Corn and Cilantro (from Cooking Light Super Fast Suppers cookbook by Southern Living)
1 tsp olice oil
3 1/2 cups cubed zucchini
1 cup frozen whole kernel corn
1 T fresh cilantro
1 tsp fresh lime juice
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp fresh ground black pepper

Heat oil in nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add zucchini and corn; cook, stirring occasionally 7-8 minutes until zucchini is crisp and tender. Remove from heat and add rest of ingredients. You can use this as a substitute for salsa or guac or as a side for tex-mex plate.
Saturday - dear, sweet friends coming from Texas! may not be here for dinner

Black Bean and Poblano Tortilla Wraps
(from Cooking Light Super Fast Suppers cookbook by Southern Living)

1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream
1/2 tsp cumin
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup diced ripe avocado
1/2 poblano chile, finely chopped 1/3 cup
1/4 cup finedly chopped red onion
1/4 cup cilantro leaves (we have these growing out of our sidewalk!)
3 T fresh lime juice
1/4 tsp salt
4 8 inch flour tortillas
Combine sour cream and cumin in a small bowl; stir with a whisk. Combine beans and next 6 ingredients in a bowl. Spoon equal amounts of black bean mixture down center of tortilla. Roll up, cut in half and secure with wooden picks if necessary. Serve with sour cream mixture.
Sunday - Tacos, black bean salsa and
Black bean/Cream cheese dip
1 package of cream cheese spread out on the bottom of 8 X 8 baking pan
drain black beans and spread on for next layer
drain can of rotel (tomatoes and green chilis) and spread on for the 3rd layer
sprinkle with cheddar cheese
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until heated through and bubbly. Great with tortilla chips or cucumbers if you are low-carbin it!!
Monday - homemade pizza and breadsticks, salad, cookie salad
Tuesday - grill out hotdogs and hamburgers, s'mores by the firepit (boy do we have lots of wood!!. . .more details to come on this)

Want to try in upcoming weeks list:
Chicken n Spinach Pasta Bake
Chicken and Mushrooms with Lemon White Wine Sauce

Happy frugal cooking and planning!

Celebrating My 200th Post

Little did I know that when I started Clappy Shoes I would love it so much. I have enjoyed getting to know other bloggers, thinking about subject matter and recording famous moments in our home. I have been blogging for about a year and I have had over 10,000 visits from people from all over the world. It is such a fabulous world that we live in.

To celebrate my 200th post I am giving away a $10 gift card to one of my favorite drink spots (especially during the 2-4 pm half price drinks time). Please leave a comment with your favorite Sonic snack! I will choose a winner (randomly) on Sunday, May 25th and will contact you to get your address to send your card to you. Thank you for making Clappy Shoes your cyber friend! Have a great day!

Lucky Comment Number 6 is the winner of the $10 gift card to Sonic! Sara at Momma Findings and My Sippy Cup Runneth Over is the lucky gal. She has a great blog and you should check it out! I found myself having a hard time staying focused on emailing her to let her know she won because I got into reading her blog.

All seven of you, thanks for playing and being faithful readers :) I'm serious, I do appreciate you! Thanks for helping me to celebrate my 200th post. Cheers to 200 more posts!

Great Paint Palette for Kids

I discovered this handy dish a few years ago at my all time favorite store, The Dollar Tree. Since then, I have seen them at different dollar stores. We use this when we dye eggs at Easter, as well as, daily when we are painting our various masterpieces. I think it's "meant to be use" is for boiled eggs, which it works fine for that too.

Simple, easy and cheap!!!

Check out some other great posts about Container Planting, getting rid of magazine clutter ( I do this too.), and don't forget to go back to the ever-coolest blog, Rocks in my Dryer.

Because this is my 199th post, please come back tomorrow and leave a comment with your favorite Sonic food because I am giving away a $10.00 gift card to celebrate my 200th post.

Observations from the Beach

I have been sitting on the beach in Destin (woah is me) so lots of time and emotional energy to have deep thoughts. These are a few things that I observed about my time just sitting there. Note the odd phrase from a mom "just sitting there."

Observation #1 from the beach: While my kids were out in the water, I kept having to get my kids to refocus their attention to where I was on the beach. As you probably know, the ocean has its way of re-orienting you when you are not careful. The waves move you side-ways, backwards and forward all the while being un-noticed by the participant. I kept saying, "Hey, look at where I am at (in my chair, reading my book) and make sure you stay lined up with me." They would veer off and then they would suddenly look up and scramble back to the place where they need to be.

Ok, here is where it ties in. . .I think this happens a lot in life. The world has a way of dragging us this way and that. Sometimes we look up and realize we are off course. It takes us looking up or someone to say, "Hey! You need to look at me and re-align yourself. " Guess who moved? It was not the gal in the chair with the book or the God who created us. . .it was the one in the middle of the waves. We need to be realigned with God's truth and Word.

Did you like that one? Ok, Observation #2 from the beach: My gal was out in the waves and she kept getting knocked over. Do you know where this is going? Yes, maybe so. The thing was she would have to get up pretty quickly or she would get knocked over by another wave. I would find myself pleading with her (from my chair with my book :)) to hurry and get up because I saw the next wave coming towards her. Yes, life is that wave and those troubles that come. The "waves" are inevitable. They are going to come, but if you keep getting up between them they will not carry you to the bottom of the ocean.

I was surfing around on one of my favorite blogs the other day and I ran across an article about WWII. It was during WWII that Britain offered reassurance to its citizens by posting signs everywhere, "Keep Calm and Carry On." It is a reminder that during the dark days, when the waves are crashing around us and keep knocking us down that we need to get up, keep calm and keep moving. There is no other way around it in this world.

Last observation, I promise. . . is that beach friends are awesome. Beach friends are these friends that come along for a short time and by the time you leave the sands you are so sad to see them go. Like yesterday, Molly left and we were sad. We had shared so much. We had a plethora of things in common and it is so fun to share that time together. Beach friends are seasonal friends. You know, I heard this phrase once, "friends come for a reason, a season or a lifetime." I love all of the various friends that the Lord brings us. . especially the seasonal ones! By the time that you get to know them, it is time for them or us to leave, but they were there to meet a need in your life for a season.

It is a fascinating world, this beach. Worries, chores and burdens are on the shores of home. Thank you, Lord for the break from the waves.

Fun Florida Times

I am only four posts away from my 200th post!! Do you think we should celebrate? Leave a comment if you would like to celebrate with some Sonic goodness again! :)

Anyway, I am wasting away in Florida this week. Life is treating me bad on the sands of Destin. My kids and I took in some serious rays today. We are having lots of fun playing in the sand and swimming our little tails off! :)

I have some great ponderings to post on later this week. I am too excited about watching some HGTV to take the time to post my thoughts right now. Will catch you up on my great brain waves soon.

How to Make your own Laundry Detergent

A few weeks back my husband asked me to pick up the products to make our own laundry detergent. I, in my normal element, was opposed to the idea. Why would I want to create more work to do work? He was so on board that he said that he would make it himself if I would just pick up the ingredients. Credit to where credit is due. . . .his sister started making her own laundry detergent and wrote about it on her awesome and creative blog. I picked up a fels-naptha bar, washing soda and borax to make the powder. He used a cheese grater (one from Pampered Chef) to grate the fels-naptha bar and it took about 10 minutes. The reason to make your own laundry detergent:

1) it is way cheaper than normal laundry detergent (about 5.7 cents/load) compared to I think around 10 - 30 cents
2) takes up less space than the regular
3) better for the environment
4) is a creative outlet for those looking for something odd to do in their spare time!

My issues that have been resolved about making my own laundry detergent.

1) it might break out our skin
2) it would be too harsh on our clothes or would not clean them at all
3) it would be a pain in the behind to make
4) it would smell bad

None of these things have happened. We have been using this for about three weeks which equates to about 3 jillion loads of clothes around here. It really works for us! Check out more grand ideas on the following subjects and sites

1) Easy Dishwashing
2) Movies Galore
3) Kid's Visual Schedule

and then go back to visit rocksinmydryer for more good, fun blogging business! By the way, if you look closely at the pic of my hubs. He is grating the ingredients into a "Bisquick" labeled jar. It now says "NOT Bisquick" so the kids will not decide to have a bite. Just remember, safety first! :)

Three Things I Learned from Direct Sales

For about three years I sold jewelry for a direct sales company. I absolutely loved it and the product. I have been out of it for about two years and yesterday I was in a reflective mode and realized that I learned a plethora of lessons from my experience with direct sales.

The first thing that was on my mind is the saying that was repeated every month at our training. "Those who train, remain and those who don't, wont!" That is a nugget of truth that you can find in all aspects of your life. Obviously, in training for a race you will not do well if you just get out there and run without having trained. Spiritually, if you do not discipline yourself each day to read the Word, pray and spend time with other positive believers you will not remain grounded in the Truth. So, say to yourself "Those who train, remain and those who don't, won't" and believe it is because it is so true.

Secondly, I was reminiscing about what ticked me off the most about direct sales. You relied on other people's word that they were going to have a show. I would plan and schedule the time out of my own life when I would get a call the day before the show that no one was coming and they did not want to go to the trouble of having a show if there was only one or two people coming. Obviously, I understood the fact that sometimes people would get sick and they would need to reschedule. . .just the excuses would make me crazy. So, my motto is. . . (came from a trustworthy source :)) "Let your yes be yes and your no be no." Can I get an amen!!!

Finally, and really I could go on and on from the lessons I learned from being in the business, was that women need each other. We need each other to say "you look great!" I had a mirror with me at my shows that on the back said "Tell me how great I look in this jewelry." When one of the girls were modeling a piece of jewelry the girls on the couch would ooh and aah over the gal with the new jewels. It was always funny to have them ooh and aah over the jewelry, but it was fun to see how sincerely encouraging they were to each other. They did not ooh and aah just to get their friends to buy a trendy new accessory (well sometimes they did if they were hosting the show and getting some perks), but to really move them outside of their comfort zone in something bigger and flashier and see how great they felt about themself.

It was truly a fun and rewarding experience.