I wanted to take a quick post and list my March goals. I've lost my focus on my goals a lot earlier then I usually do (I just lose it in June and pick it back up in about October!) and I'm not sure why. I think the biggest thing is just taking time to set weekly and daily goals to accomplish the tasks and I did not do that in February. I mentioned in a post recently that I didn't even look at my February goals and that kinda makes it hard to accomplish them if you don't even look at them! My goal is to look at my March goals :-)
Our Mantel: I'm still working on this - I have made some decor for the table but still have a few other things to make and put up. I can't find my wreath ring that I've had for like 2 years and have always known where it was until like a last week. So my window wreath is not made yet - no local stores carry the rings so I have to wait until I can get to a craft store.
Holiday Celebrations: We have an annual trip we take to a place called Metrobeach so that is our family activity for this month; I have a couple of birthday cards to mail plus one "make up" card I want to get done this month. Finally, I really want to do the first step on my birthday board which will be get the board and paint it!
Date Night: We have a few things going on this month. We are going out to dinner with some friends on Friday; then at the end of the month we have a wedding to attend. The kids are going to the grandparents for a very long weekend so we'll get to go out to dinner a few times too :-)
Daily Something Special: Put together my March Binder and print the activity ideas I have to use now and in the future. I'm struggling with coming up with a special activity to do each day - it takes so much time to plan and I'm just not getting that done. I have a new schedule I'm trying to follow for myself but it is slow going - if i can get it to work for me, then I will have specific time to plan those activities as well as do them!!
Pinterest Goals: I've gotten failed the last few weeks at getting anything done from Pinterest. So this time, I have 4 recipes I want to make, 3 crafty ideas, and then 3 ideas to research. I want to make one recipe each week this month, complete 1 crafty project and 1 research project each week - giving me a week to wrap things up.
Too Cute Ideas: I have 4 ideas I want to complete - one of the ideas is specifically for an Easter gift for the boys so that will be the first one I tackle.
Quiet Book: I still have a goal to get these made. We are planning a small vacation in May to coincide with a wedding we are attending - I would like to have these along with a quiet bag put together to use on the car ride. We'll see!
Celebrate me: I'm still stuck on discipline - getting things done I want to get done and practicing the piano more!
Misc Items: I have to get my nephew's books sold or he is going to shoot me!
House Projects: I'm still finishing up the kitchen. We have one wall that is half done - it is our stairwell wall so my husband has to become a monkey to paint it :-) I have some touch up painting to do with white as well as some trim painting to get done. Then I want to decorate it and get curtains up. Finally, I plan on getting my steps painted when the kids are gone at the end of the month!
Scrapbooking: I have another crop coming up so I'm going to list the items in order I want to get them done. 1) Complete February 2012 2) Put Jan and Feb in an album 3) Complete 2011 Digitally - this is all that is left of 2011!! 4) Finish up my "old "photos 5) Put printed pages into albums and add all the fun stuff 6) Make Nate's baby book current 7) Complete our pet album. I will NOT get this all done - if I can get items 1-3 done, I'll be happy at this point. Anything else will be bonus items.
So that's it for this month. I have lots of other little things to do too. As a matter of fact, I now have a list called "My Brain". I keep this list on my desk top and am always emptying my brain on to it by jotting down all of those little things I need to do that I forget. Sometimes it is just ideas that I need to remember and sometimes it is things I need to do. I then look through it each day and try to accomplish 2-3 things from that list.
As always, I'm constantly trying to find creative ways to clean, organize, declutter and keep our small house from being over run. :-)
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Weekly Menu - March 3
Can you believe that it is already March?? I can't - I'm not sure where the first two months of the year went but they are so far gone!
We did end up eating leftovers on Tuesday this past week - I had made that huge pot of Chili for when my Father-in-law came over on Monday and can you believe that they had already eaten? So we still had a huge pot of chili left on Tuesday; that become dinner again. I try a recipe last week for Swedish Meatballs. I really love them, when they are made well (not just with a can of cream of mushroom soup dumped over them!) and this recipe was good but, for whatever reason my "gravy" did not thicken so I'm going to make them again soon and hopefully figure that problem out so I can share the recipe!
On Friday night, my husband and I got to have a date night thanks to my parents coming over for the day (they also gave me the day "off" so I got to go shopping!!) We ate at a favorite restaurant that is a little nicer (i.e. we wouldn't take the kids there right now!) so that was a nice treat!
Here I just said that January and February flew by - then I looked at March and realized that we are a little busy so it will fly by too!!! Yikes!
Saturday: We have a friend who will have (hopefully!) had her baby by Saturday morning so we plan on visiting them Saturday late afternoon; then we are going to eat at our favorite Taco Place :-)
Sunday: Skinny Salisbury Steak with gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans and rolls
Monday: I am actually trying out for a music group tonight - it's a community choir so I think "try out" is a lose term for "make sure you aren't tone deaf" but, this means Darryl will be on his own with the boys. I'm going to have a pan of Tatar Tot Casserole and Corn made for the boys to eat.
Tuesday: If I don't make this recipe this week it is going back in the book. Ironically, we really love these little Quiches so I have no idea why I haven't felt like making them. So, it is Mini-Sausage Quiches and Lemon/Blueberry Bread and fruit.
Wednesday: Darryl will have practice tonight so it is just the boys and I . . . Pancakes and sausage for the boys and I will probably have a BLT and fruit.
Thursday: Ranch House Crock Pot Pork Chops with Parmesan mashed potatoes and corn. I'm scheduled for a hair cut tonight so I needed something that I could have ready earlier in the day and just put on the table. Hopefully this works!
Friday: We are going out to dinner with some friends - we try to go out with them 2-3 times a year and it's time ! The best part? They supply my babysitter - they have two girls who are old enough and, since they have grown up in a huge family, they are very good with the boys.
My plan for some sweet treats this week are: Cracked Sugar Cookies (these are manly for Darryl's lunch), Marshmallow Brownies - a new recipes, Dump Cake - this is to die for!, and I have stuff for the Lemon Cake, Chocolate Cupcakes, and Apple crumble that I did not make this past week. I go with the flow on this stuff. The cookies will get made but after that I like to pick one treat and make it. Once we have eaten it up (or are sick of it), I make something else.
Finally, for lunch this week I planned some new things that (hopefully) the kids and I will enjoy including Skinny Macaroni and Cheese Soup with Broccoli and Crunchy French Toast Sticks. I am also going to jump on the band wagon and try out a "Green Monster Smoothie" for breakfast. I don't usually eat my breakfast until after the boys are up so using the blender will be ok - I'll let you know how that goes!
Thanks for reading :-)
We did end up eating leftovers on Tuesday this past week - I had made that huge pot of Chili for when my Father-in-law came over on Monday and can you believe that they had already eaten? So we still had a huge pot of chili left on Tuesday; that become dinner again. I try a recipe last week for Swedish Meatballs. I really love them, when they are made well (not just with a can of cream of mushroom soup dumped over them!) and this recipe was good but, for whatever reason my "gravy" did not thicken so I'm going to make them again soon and hopefully figure that problem out so I can share the recipe!
On Friday night, my husband and I got to have a date night thanks to my parents coming over for the day (they also gave me the day "off" so I got to go shopping!!) We ate at a favorite restaurant that is a little nicer (i.e. we wouldn't take the kids there right now!) so that was a nice treat!
Here I just said that January and February flew by - then I looked at March and realized that we are a little busy so it will fly by too!!! Yikes!
Saturday: We have a friend who will have (hopefully!) had her baby by Saturday morning so we plan on visiting them Saturday late afternoon; then we are going to eat at our favorite Taco Place :-)
Sunday: Skinny Salisbury Steak with gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans and rolls
Monday: I am actually trying out for a music group tonight - it's a community choir so I think "try out" is a lose term for "make sure you aren't tone deaf" but, this means Darryl will be on his own with the boys. I'm going to have a pan of Tatar Tot Casserole and Corn made for the boys to eat.
Tuesday: If I don't make this recipe this week it is going back in the book. Ironically, we really love these little Quiches so I have no idea why I haven't felt like making them. So, it is Mini-Sausage Quiches and Lemon/Blueberry Bread and fruit.
Wednesday: Darryl will have practice tonight so it is just the boys and I . . . Pancakes and sausage for the boys and I will probably have a BLT and fruit.
Thursday: Ranch House Crock Pot Pork Chops with Parmesan mashed potatoes and corn. I'm scheduled for a hair cut tonight so I needed something that I could have ready earlier in the day and just put on the table. Hopefully this works!
Friday: We are going out to dinner with some friends - we try to go out with them 2-3 times a year and it's time ! The best part? They supply my babysitter - they have two girls who are old enough and, since they have grown up in a huge family, they are very good with the boys.
My plan for some sweet treats this week are: Cracked Sugar Cookies (these are manly for Darryl's lunch), Marshmallow Brownies - a new recipes, Dump Cake - this is to die for!, and I have stuff for the Lemon Cake, Chocolate Cupcakes, and Apple crumble that I did not make this past week. I go with the flow on this stuff. The cookies will get made but after that I like to pick one treat and make it. Once we have eaten it up (or are sick of it), I make something else.
Finally, for lunch this week I planned some new things that (hopefully) the kids and I will enjoy including Skinny Macaroni and Cheese Soup with Broccoli and Crunchy French Toast Sticks. I am also going to jump on the band wagon and try out a "Green Monster Smoothie" for breakfast. I don't usually eat my breakfast until after the boys are up so using the blender will be ok - I'll let you know how that goes!
Thanks for reading :-)
Friday, March 2, 2012
Food Friday - Easy Peasant Bread
Our family loves bread. As a matter of fact, we have some type of bread or roll at almost every dinner meal. It is the one thing I know my kids will eat and my husband loves to have a roll or biscuit to eat along side his meal. Sure, we love store bought crescents and biscuits but there is just something about homemade bread that just tastes so good! I have a bread machine that I love and use it often but I also like good "oven" breads too. When I ran across this recipe I knew I had to try it - it looked easy and the list of ingredients is short which is always nice too :-)
Easy Peasant Bread
adapted from Real Mom Kitchen
This is such an easy recipe!! This is not a good recipe to try in the bread maker though . .. I tried it and it did not mix well at all. The second time I made it, I did it "by hand" as the recipe shows and it turned out perfectly. This not only is good with dinner but, if you like sandwiches (I personally am not a huge fan!) then I think it would make great sandwich bread too.
1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
2 cups warm water
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
4 cups flour
Cornmeal
Melted Butter
Place yeast, water, sugar and salt in bowl and stir until dissolved. Add flour and stir until well blended. Do not knead. Cover and let rise until dough doubles in size (about 1 hour). Remove dough from bowl and place in 2 rounds on a greased cookie sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Let rise an additional hour. Brush top of dough with melted butter and bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 and cook for an additional 15 minutes. Serve Warm.
Just one tip - when putting the two rounds (blobs HA) on the cookie sheet, place them far enough apart that as they raise, they don't become one large round/blob :-) I had to separate mine - they got too friendly!!
Easy Peasant Bread
adapted from Real Mom Kitchen
This is such an easy recipe!! This is not a good recipe to try in the bread maker though . .. I tried it and it did not mix well at all. The second time I made it, I did it "by hand" as the recipe shows and it turned out perfectly. This not only is good with dinner but, if you like sandwiches (I personally am not a huge fan!) then I think it would make great sandwich bread too.
1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
2 cups warm water
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
4 cups flour
Cornmeal
Melted Butter
Place yeast, water, sugar and salt in bowl and stir until dissolved. Add flour and stir until well blended. Do not knead. Cover and let rise until dough doubles in size (about 1 hour). Remove dough from bowl and place in 2 rounds on a greased cookie sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Let rise an additional hour. Brush top of dough with melted butter and bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 and cook for an additional 15 minutes. Serve Warm.
Just one tip - when putting the two rounds (blobs HA) on the cookie sheet, place them far enough apart that as they raise, they don't become one large round/blob :-) I had to separate mine - they got too friendly!!
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Cookbook - check it out!
There is a blog that I've followed for well over a year called Calling All Angels. Back in August of 2011 Kendra and her husband started on a journey and in doing so, they started a cookbook. She received over 600 recipes - some are even from me - and then had the cookbooks printed.
I was going to write a whole post on this but Kendra did it for me and posted it on Wednesday. So, click on the link above and it will take you right to her post. She really explained everything so well - I did not want to repeat it. If you have a few extra minutes, take time to explore and read about there beloved Angel, Makenzie, and you'll understand her story even more.
I just got my cookbook last week and was very impressed with the quality. I look forward to testing some of the recipes in the near future!
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Too Cute Not To Toot!
As you well may know, we are slowing making changes to our kitchen. I'm in the midst of finally painting the kitchen. Once that is done, I'll be saving up to get the counter top paint so when I saw this post from Dukes and Duchesses I wanted to post it here for my benefit. She did a great job painting a bathroom counter top - it looks fantastic!
I already have my St Patrick's decor picked out and am working on it this week but when I saw this idea from Sweet Rose Studio I had to share it. I might have to add this if I can find the coins . . . it is just shiny.
Pink Polka Dot Creations shares a great little St Patrick's Game. I love it and plan on printing it to use this year and in the future!
This next idea is from The Diary of Dave's Wife and is a great printable for birthdays. My husband just celebrated his and I realized that it will be fun to have certain things like printables, a wreath and a centerpiece to use for all birthdays.
Yes, my kitchen is actually painted so now I get to decorate. I've been finding ideas on Pinterest but when I saw this idea from Today's Fabulous Finds I wanted to save it. I'd love something "alive" in my kitchen and I bet I could make this idea into a herb garden . . .maybe :-)
I've seen all kinds of printable's for Subway Art geared towards St Patrick's Day and I'm not sure why I haven't shared more but I really liked this one from Maiden D'shade and wanted to save it for future reference.
Craftionary offers up links to all kinds of free printables for St Patrick's Day from signs to cupcake toppers.
Craftionary also shares some very creative Magnetic Boards. There are all kinds of ideas and ways to use this concept.
Continuing on with the them of posts full of links to all kinds of ideas, Sassy Sites has provided lots of links of Rainbow Ideas - many of them food related which makes them even more fun!!
Well, I already have my St. Patrick's Day wreath planned but when I saw this one from A Night Owl I had to share it because I love it!
One of the projects I've wanted to do is make a "House Rules" poster so when I saw this printable from Get outta my head please, well I had to share. Maybe I won't have to create this from scratch after all :-)
That's it this week!
Monday, February 27, 2012
February Goal Recap
At the beginning of February, I posted my Goals and now, I want to recap what I did and did not accomplish. Right up front, I totally lost focus this month - I did not even remember to look at my goal list after the first week of the month. So, many of these will carry over into March - I'll post that list later this week.
1. The mantel: Here's a photo of the top of the fridge - part of what I consider my "mantel"
I also had decor on my dining room table - the rest of my "mantel".
2. Holiday Celebrations: We did not make it to Playworld but we did go to a roller derby instead. I did get birthday cards mailed on time but did not complete anything on the birthday board.
3. Date Night: Check :-) We went out for Darryl's birthday :-)
4. Daily Something Special: Fail :-( LOL Where did February go? That is all I have to say.
5. Pinterest goals: Ummm . . I have no idea what I even posted but considering the fact that I haven't done a Pinterest Challenge post in two weeks I don't think I accomplished much :-)
6. Too Cute Ideas: Blah. :-) Same as above!!
7. Quiet Book: Nothing, Nada, Not a thing happening.
8. Celebrate Me: I did practice piano once this month, does that count?
9. Misc Items: I have the stuff to make my March Mantel items - they will get done this week
10. House Items: The Kitchen is painted WHOO WHOO!!
11. Scrapbooking: The boys books are updated, the family album is updated and January 2012 is completed as well!!! So happy to be working on current stuff!
That's it :-) I plan to do better in March!!!
Sunday, February 26, 2012
I love this song - I've sung it many times and it is still one of my all time favorites. I have to say that this isn't the best version but it is the only one I could find.
Why do I love it so much? Because the song is based on my all time favorite verses:
Romans 8:35-39
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written:
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
What are your favorite verses?
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