Too Cute Not To Toot

So, this first idea is really a Valentine's Wreath but the concept is something you could use for various holidays - wouldn't a July 4th Wreath be awesome?? Check it out at Tales of the Scotts.

Club Chica Circle shares a great to follow tutorial for making Borax Crystals.  Again, this one is specific for Valentines but you could easily make Clovers for St Patrick's Day.

More than once I've talked about making quiet books for the boys.  I'd still like to . . .so when I saw this page from Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows, well I got inspired again especially since I think she has given similar posts for all of the pages in her book.

This idea for a big beach blanket is awesome and the idea comes from My Material Life and she gives a very easy tutorial.

Along the same lines as the above idea, is this idea for a sunbathing buddy from Moda Bakeshop.  It really is a super cute idea especially if you head to the beach a lot in the summer and don't want to haul a chair :-)

This next idea I want to try for sure - it comes from The Frugal Girls.Com and is for making your own foaming soap.  The reason I love it is that it uses Baby Soap.  Now, my boys love soap but I hate it that it is harsh and will burn their eyes so this solution is perfect.  :-)   Can't wait to try it!

That's all for this week!

February Preschool

Well, there isn't much to share about this past week!  On Monday, the boys and I went to the grocery store so that was our "school".  Trust me, by the time we finish at the store, eat lunch, and unload everything I am d.o.n.e. WHEW!

On Tuesday, the boys headed to Papa and Nana's for almost a week (wow) as I actually have some things going on this week (Like a weekend scrapbooking crop !!)

The boys are actually returning today so we will (hopefully) get back into lessons on Tuesday.

Enjoy the week!

Snow Cream

When I was a little girl, I read (and re-read) the Little House Books.  One of the things the girls did was make Sugar Snow.  I always said I wanted to do that but, of course,never have. Then, recently I started hearing about Snow Cream.  I decided that in the first BIG snow of the year, I would make some . . .and we finally had that storm at the beginning of February.  I used this Paula Dean recipe that calls for Evaporated Milk and it was to die for - seriously.  A friend of mine shared this recipe from Childbearing has Stolen Their Brains which just uses milk and sugar.

This is what inspired me to make Snow Cream! Look at all of that snow!!! 

Josh liked it and ate about . . .3 spoonfuls.  Nate tasted it and did not want anymore.  I ate my whole bowl ;-) HA!  It was very yummy but extremely sweet.  One little bowl was more than enough for me! I think, for now this is just a "once a winter treat". Maybe when the boys are older they will like it more and ask for it more . . we'll see!!

Weekly Menu - the one with Darryl's birthday!

I'm enjoying February so far :-)  Hardly cooking last week and, this week?  Hardly cooking again HA!

Check it out!

Tuesday - Turkey!!!  Stuffing, Potatoes, Corn and Biscuits. I have a Turkey in my freezer I would like to use so this seems like a good time.

Wednesday - Turkey Soup with stuffing meatballs.  I made this a few years ago and we really liked it . .. at least I seem to remember that we liked it :-)  and Homemade Bread

Thursday - Lemon Chicken,Savory Rice, Broccoli, and rolls

Friday - Now this is where the fun begins!!!  Today is my husband's birthday so we are heading to my parents house for the weekend.  Tonight we are going to have Jet's Pizza with the family including my parents and my brother's family.  It should be fun!

Saturday - This is "Darryl's Day".  We are starting with breakfast at a local Coney place that he has never been and then heading out of the day.  I have a cool resturant picked out for dinner - can't wait for that!!

Sunday - We are going to church with my parents and then will have dinner before heading for home.

Monday  - Chicken Fried Steak, Gravy, Mashed Potatoes and Fried Corn - I'm ready for a great "comfort food" meal :-)

Food Friday - Superbowl Style

Sunday, February 3rd, was Superbowl Sunday.  As you know, if you follow this blog, we love Football in this house so not only is Superbowl Sunday a day of excitement, we are also sad because, well, Football is done until August :-(  Instead of sharing just a recipe today, I'm going to share are day and give some links for a couple of new recipes I tried out.

We actually got snow!  The first week in February brought quite a bit of snow - especially Thursday - Saturday.  So, on Sunday, when Darryl got home from work, the boys got dressed for the snow and they played outside for well over an hour.  Sledding, shoveling, and then, sliding.  Darryl would fill the slide with snow and the boys would "plow" down it.  HA!  When Darryl finally came in, Josh laid down on the deck, face down, and cried ;-)  He loves his daddy!  No, I didn't play in the snow . . .I haven't bought boots yet and plan to buy them this week which means we'll have no more snow until next year :-/

Once we convinced the Snow Angels to come inside, I had fresh, hot donuts waiting for them thanks to my Mini-Donut Maker.  They are awesome and the perfect size for little hands (and for popping the whole thing in your mouth if you want to!!)  It was a great afternoon treat.  I then snuggled in on the couch to watch all of the pregame stuff, as did Darryl.  Josh set up the Game Cube and he played Pac-man for most of the afternoon (Don't judge - he is only allowed to play when Darryl is home - most specifically on Sunday afternoons so we can relax and watch TV too!) Nate wondered from toy to toy and snuggled with me for awhile too.

Before Kick-Off, I set up all of our snacks.

For this party, I made some old favorites like the Fruit Dip, Meatballs, and Shrimp Cocktail.  I will admit two things: 1) The meatballs overcooked.  My crock pots seems to cook really hot so I should have waited to put the meatballs in plus I tried a variation on my normal recipe and it wasn't as good.  2)The Shrimp Cocktail was lacking. . .the sauce was old (I should have checked it!) and the Shrimp, which was bought frozen was a little on the tasteless, mushy side.  I think I need to find somewhere to buy good, fresh shrimp for Shrimp Cocktail.   Then we tried two new recipes.  First up is something called "Texas Trash" or "Warm Bean Dip."

This recipe comes from Life as a Lofthouse and was probably the favorite of the night.  I have a cold bean dip/layered dip that we love but I wanted something different and this fit the bill.  It had great flavor and, would be even better if you threw some chopped lettuce, onions and black olives on your plate to make it more of a "nacho" style dip.Note: I did cut this recipe in half and made it in an 8 x 8 pan.

The second dip was Feta Dip.

This recipe comes from Clover Lane and is super easy . It reminds me of a Bruschetta but with a greek flair thanks to the Feta Cheese.  I didn't really measure - instead I just took out a dinner plate since ours have the "sunken" center and just layered the ingredients inside that area based totally on my eye :-)  This ended up being the perfect amount for my husband and I - there was just a little left so it didn't get wasted.  This was also really good but you have to like Feta Cheese to like this :-)

The game was fantastic - it was the best kind of Superbowl because it went right down to the last few minutes of the game and there were some "desperate" plays at the end to make it even more fun to watch.  Plus the team I was cheering for actually won this year!

If those appetizers look appealing to you - just click on the links and you should find them!  (If not, let me know and I'll get them to you.)

Happy Valentines Day!

I hope you get to enjoy a wonderful day!  My husband and I are enjoying a date day since the boys are with Papa and Nana and he has the day off.  I don't think we've done anything on Valentine's Day in . . .years! 

The "To Do" Index File System

Throughout the past year, I've tried out a few different types of organizers in order to find one that works for me.  Lets back track just a little.  Since college, I was a "Franklin-Covey" girl. My dad got me started with that system and I loved it.  I would get giddy walking into the store each November to buy my new filler for my binder and loved filling it all out.  It fit my lifestyle all the way through my last year of teaching.  I continued to use it when I worked at the bank but over that 7 years I found I really didn't "use" it,yet I just couldn't let it go.  I was paying a lot of money for blank pages.  Things really changed when I made the switch to staying home.  My planner sat on my desk and got dusty.  I found I needed a small pocket calender in my purse so I didn't need to carry a planner around in my hands.  It was at that point I started experimenting.  First, I jumped onto the Erin Condren bandwagon and purchased one of her great Life Planners.  The planner is awesome!  I love it and want one but . . I don't need one.  :-(  Again, lots of blank pages and, honestly, it was a pain to carry.  It didn't fit into my purse and I don't have enough hands to carry a purse, planner, diaper bag, and hold onto two boys hands.  So, in June I created a Planner System that I found over at The Oxford Place Diaries.  Again, I really loved the File Folder system.  My problem was the lack of space on my desk.  It was so crowded, I never could really use the system well. With that in mind, I realized I need to go smaller . . .

So, last October, I created my own system which I know has been  used by others but it came to my brain on its own so . .. I created it for me HA!

I picked up a 3x5 index card file, some index cards and some post-it label tabs.  (Do you have any idea how hard it is to find these little 3x5 index card files nowadays??)

Each tab represents a month.  Behind each tab, I label an index card for each day of the month (Friday, February 1st, Saturday February 2nd . .ect)

Each day, I write out my to do list on the card.  I also list any appointments at the top of the card so I remember what needs to be done. I can then easily leave this on my desk and mark things off as I complete the task.  This system has worked perfectly for me for over 3 months.

I'm also using this as a future tickler file.  I will save the previous years cards to review each month to see what I need to remember for the current year.  Everything from when the kids went to the doctor to when we went away for a special treat.  I also love that it only takes up a square on my desk and helps keep all of those big papers off of my desk (no more desk clutter!)  I carry a small pocket calender in my purse for my "planner" and that is more than enough.

My boys also love this little file so I bought them each one for their stocking so they have their own little papers to use instead of pulling out mine :-)