This Little Light Of Mine

From November through January we lived in a very dark house!  My kitchen lights went bad and then, the dining room light went bad!  We even ate by candlelight some nights because it was too dark in the dining room HA!  Well, my favorite electriction (i.e. my dad) was able to come over in January and replace all of those lights! 

We had a fan in our dining room before and, as much as I would LOVE a beautiful chandeliar, we HAVE to have a fan since we don't have central air.  The fan is what makes it possible to eat in the summer.  We went to Menards to pick out our fan and I found this one.  I loved the light fixture because it actually looks like a chandelier and is just so cool looking!

Then, my new kitchen lights!  Again, I love seeing beautiful lights in a kitchen but with our set up - I needed these bubble lights.  You should see it - the kitchen is SOOOOO bright; It is nice to finally be able to see to cook :-)

My new lights reminded me of a great song so I want to share that too!

Flowers

Today and tomorrow I'm going to share two very small decorating updates and, by small, I mean small. But it is still fun to share updates!

This flower arrangement is something I've had for years.  The story behind this is the vase.  When Darryl and I first got married we used to walk through a really cool furniture store and I saw this vase.  He remembered how much I loved it and, at Christmas time, bought it for me.  When I first got it, I used to buy fresh flowers every week to put in it but, eventually, that fell out of the budget so I picked up this natural arrangement and put it together.  For the last year or so I've thought about changing it out but just never remember to buy new flowers.  Well, a few weeks ago, I went to Hobby Lobby and picked out $15.00 worth of flowers (thankfully they were 1/2 off . .so it was really $30.00 worth of flowers!) and put together my new arrangement.

Isn't that pretty?  I actually added back in some of the elements from the original arrangement because, well, it needed more.  I will pick up more flowers at Hobby Lobby each time I go just to add more color to it but really, I actually love it just as it is!

This now sits as the centerpiece on my dining room table :-)

Too Cute Not To Toot

Ok!  We are back on the wagon again with ideas!

First up is an idea to use with my Birthday Board/Week ideas that I'm putting together.  Check out the tutorial from ameroonie designs for a great birthday banner.

Ok, I feel like I've shared this idea before but it hasn't been in the last few months.  Now that I"m actually trying to share ideas I will make the following month (or within the next few months) I wanted to share this idea again from Oh Frannson! with a tutorial to create an ironing board to use for crafting. 

Wouldn't these cute tents be great in a playroom? Check out the tutorial from Lindsey and Drew.  (I think this might be a "Papa" project! hehehe)

Ok, last month I had a beach them going so I'm going to add this to it - a beach bag made out of a towel. I need a way to carry beach toys and this would be perfect except I would make the handle long enough that I could carry it over the shoulder. Check it out at BuzzFeed. (on a side note - this site is not my "normal" site that I would post . .just saying)

One last idea for this week from Craft-o-Maniac and it is a link with some great ideas to do with kids.  She lists them as spring break activities but they would be great summer ideas too!

Happy Crafting!

March Preschool - Back on Track

March has brought us back on track for our fun preschool activities.  My husband and I were talking yesterday about how much the school system is pushing for kids to be in preschool as early as 3 years old.  Yet, we both recall basically being put on the bus for kindergarten with our only "learning" coming from Romper Room or Sesame Street.  I'm not sure where the push has come from for kids to have to have formal learning as early as 3 but, I think it can be overkill.  (sorry, not starting a battle, just sharing an opinion).  Many homeschool families choose not to start K-5 with their kids until they are 6 or 7 because, really, the learning happens so much more quickly in the small in-home environment and it keeps homeschooled kids from graduating at 15 or younger.  So, if you have wondered why I haven't pushed through "preschool", there ya go :-)  Sure I have goals I set in January that I would like to accomplish by the end of May and, honestly, we are on schedule with those, but we also get to just play, take days off, and, well, color :-)

Wow, don't know where that came from but this is what we did this week

Monday was grocery shopping day - that pretty much is our lesson for the day. The boys do help and we look at the fish and even count them some days.  Oh and they like the bugs. Bugs? Yes, you know, the bugs with claws . .. aka Lobsters HA! 

Tuesday - we did two projects.  One, we colored get-well cards for Nana who has been very sick for the last week.  Secondly, we worked on a paint project.  Here is a sneak peak - I'll share the whole project in a post later this month.

On Wednesday, we did something we seldom do - the boys picked out a DVD and we watched those.  One was a "Chuck" Video and the other was "The Meaningful Life" (Veggie Tales).  My boys are not really movie watchers - actually, they say they don't like them - so for them to each pick one out and watch them was a big deal.  I'd liked to find a set of really good Kid Bible Videos (that don't have Vegetables in them - don't get me wrong, those are fun but I'd like them not to think that Jesus looks like a cucumber HA!) for them to start watching to help with Bible. 

Here are a few pictures from the rest of the week.

 If you look really closely at this photo, you will see that Josh wrote his name all by himself.  The "J o" is at the bottom and the "s h " is at the top of the page. 

 Nana sent the boys a box full of fun things including puzzles and these coloring books. The boys loved them and got right to work!

We played lots of games this week including a fish games where they worked on putting the fish in the game board in a pattern and a color/shape game (see it in the box with Josh).  The box?  That was what Nana sent - the boys played with it all week!

We didn't do as much "book" work but we did more practical work.  Even as I write this on Saturday morning, Darryl is in the kitchen teaching the boys about coffee and asking them to name all of the mug colors in the cupboard.  :-)

An Early Spring Wreath

One of the Too Cute ideas that I wanted to accomplish in February was a wreath idea from Paper Wings.  This is what the inspiration looked like:

This is how mine turned out:

Isn't that cool?  I had a round wreath form "laying" around so I decided to not buy a frame and just use what I had on hand.  I did pick up the green/brown yarn and I love it.  Because it was a thicker. fluffier yarn,I only had to wrap the wreath once. The letter was purchased at Hobby Lobby too and was about $1.00.  The brown toule I had from a wreath I made last year and the jewels on the monogram are from my "kid crafty" stuff.

The hardest part to making this wreath was just taking the time to wrap the wreath form.  Once wrapped, I hot glued the end of the yarn to the wreath and then hot glued the monogram right on that spot as well to cover the end.  Then I glued the gems on and tied on the toule.

I really love this wreath and plan to leave it up for a couple of months :-)

Weekly Menu

We actually had a normal week last week - no surprises. I did not make the Apple Stuffed Pork Chops, I just was not feeling it at all, so instead I just marinaded them in Heinz 57 and baked them.  They were kind of bland - I think they really needed to be grilled! It might be time to break out our small gas grill and start doing some grilling on that until we can use the charcoal grill (it needs to be warmer to use it or the kettle stays cold and the food doesn't cook well).  I also did not make the Korean Taco's, I was already over budget so the roast did make it into the grocery cart!

I mentioned last week that I would share my updated Recipe Binders so here are the photos I know you were ALL waiting to see :-)

 What a mess right? This binder was so huge it was hard to use.

 The final product :-)


About three years ago I saw the brilliant idea to use a three ring binder as a recipe binder.  That way, when you print recipes, you don't have to re-size them to file them.  Talk about a time saver!!  Well, my binder was about 4 inches thick, and honestly, it was terrible to use.  I decided to divide it into two binders and I love the new red color!  One holds my "meal planning" recipes such as main dishes, salads, side dishes and breads.  Basically anything I would use to plan meals. The other holds "Treats and Drinks" so cookies, cakes, appetizers, and more. I already love this "break" because it makes it easier to manage the binders. The small white binder will be the holiday binder - I'm going to put our special holiday tradition reminders/recipes/plans in that binder.

I'm going to try and get back into the habit of linking back to recipes I've already posted so they are easy to find.  Also, I'm going to be cleaning out my recipe tab on the blog and getting rid of bad links and, well, bad recipes. When I first started posting recipes I linked everything but, really, there are quite a few I've never made again and, honestly,won't.  So, there will be some minor changes happening over the next week or so as I clean it all up!

Now, on to this weeks Menu which includes St Patrick's Day!  I love St. Patrick's Day - I just think it is fun to wear green (or orange) and do fun things with Fruit Loops :-)

Monday - Man- pleasing chicken, carrots, and creamy 5-cup fruit salad. 

Tuesday - Simple Perfect Enchiladas and Chips w/cheese

Wednesday - Stuffed Shells, Garlic Bread, and Roasted Green Beans

Thursday - Roasted Pork, Twice Baked Potatoes and Broccoli

Friday - Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos, Chips and Salsa and Savory Rice

Saturday - A Family Birthday Party - I think the plan is just cake and ice cream so I think we will just grab something on our way home.

Sunday - (St. Patrick's day) Cabbage Rolls, Crash Potatoes, Layered Jell-O, and biscuits


Snacks and Treats:
Snickerdoodle Muffins
Puffy Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chips

And - for Ladies Meeting on Tuesday Night:
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars
Snickers Caramel Apple Salad

Food Friday - Fried Rice

Fried Rice
adapted from Life as a Lofthouse

  You may recall that last week I shared a great recipe for Sweet and Sour Chicken.  Well, what do you need with good Chinese food?? Fried rice of course!!  I have (or should say had) another recipe that I usually used but this one was much more simple so I thought I would try it out.  Guess what?  It is great! I will say that I used "fresh" rice so it didn't have quite the "bite" that fried rice normally does but the flavor was really good and the left overs were wonderful.  You could turn this into a great lunch by adding a package of chopped ham or salad shrimp to it as well. 

 

Fried Rice                                                                                             

3 cups cooked white rice (day old or leftover rice works best!)

3 tbs sesame oil

1 cup frozen peas and carrots (thawed)

1 small onion, chopped

2 tsp minced garlic

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1/4 cup soy sauce

      On medium high heat, heat the oil in a large skillet or wok.  Add the peas/carrots mix, onion and garlic. Stir fry until tender. Lower the heat to medium low and push the mixture off to one side, then pour your eggs on the other side of skillet and stir fry until scrambled. Now add the rice and soy sauce and blend all together well. Stir fry until thoroughly heated!   **You could really play around with this rice too! Try adding some diced ham, or green onion :) Yum!