Show and Tell Friday

(Sorry for the sideways picture)



As I was trying to decide what to share today, I started looking around my home. What item to share? With Thanksgiving coming up next month, I decided on this litle bowl.

My husband is in the Navy, and works with the Seabees. I am always looking for bee items to decorate with. You would be surprised at the amount of bee stuff some of the wives have!!

I was given this bowl by the Captains wife as a welcome to Guam gift, where we are currently stationed. Whenever I look at the "Bee thankful" it reminds me of what my husband and the other men in the military do. And I am thankful for my Seabee. It also reminds me to be thankful for the friendships I make a long the way. We are very far from home, but we have made so many wonderful friends in our military career, and we haven't even been in that long!!

Menu Plan Monday

Ahhh, another week of menu planning. Here we go...

Monday:tacos, spanish rice, peaches

Tuesday: pulled pork sandwiches, fruit salad, french fries

Wednesday: Chinese chicken bake, rice,brocoli

Thursday: :pizza

Friday:gone that night

Saturday: leftover sandwiches from day camp, pasta salad

Sunday: leftovers

Boo!

Last night, while I was looking at Kelli' cards, I was inspired to do something for Halloween. I loved the look of the orange and black card. I didn't follow hers exactly but I love the way mine turned out! Although it wasn't intentional, all of the products were from Close to my Heart. Although, very easily done with other manufacturers. I am not sure if I am supposed to give instructions or not? I know Kelli does. But it's very simple.
Cut orange card stock to desired card size.
Adhere black patterned paper to one side.
Using leftovers from the card, stamp your desired image onto the orange cardstock.
Adhere to middle of patterned paper.
Simply tie a knot and adhere with a glue dot,to the upper left hand corner using a black ribbon.
Stamp a saying ( in my case Boo) on to the right hand side of the card.

**I chose to use a diamond glaze to add a little shimmer to my card. Simply apply to whatever area you choose. Enjoy!

Tackle it Tuesday

So I don't have a very exciting tackle today! But something that I really wanted to get done. :) Life is so busy over at my house that I start to feel overwhelmed. When I feel overwhelmed, I don't like to be in my house. So I go and do errands/buy things ( sometimes needed sometimes not)instead of taking care of it. So it gets worse. Until I get so frustrated that I crack and than I spend hours scrubbing everything. I don't like this cycle at all! It is so ineffective and leaves a bad feeling in our home. Today I decided to get a plan. I am a huge fan of Flylady. I have sort of fallen off the wagon. Today I sat down and made up a basic weekly plan, and a daily routine. It feels so good to get some control! If anyone has advice on sticking to a schedule...I would love to hear it!

Tackle it Tuesday

Oh my heart! Life has been insanely busy around my home! I haven't done a challenge for a while. Not that I haven't been doing anything. I just haven't been writing and posting about it! lol So I had a huge list of "little to do's" that have just been hanging over my head. I finally got the majority of them done! I don't know how to cross things out ( feel free to leave instructions if you can help) but I will just put a little "c" for complete! Sorry no pictures, these were just not the kinds of things you take pictures of!

**chicken in marinade for dinner-c
**dinner side dishes planned-c
**dropped off Netflix-c
**dropped off library books-c
**finished book order stuff for pto-c
**sent pkg for my dh-c
**dropped off a ctmh order
**email preschool teacher pictures
**plan precisely what I will be doing for cub scout den meeting
**updated blog-c
**signed and filled out order forms for school fundraiser(s)-c
** ask q's to pto vice pres-c
**mail birthday card to my sister
**cancel maintenance for the day-c
**respond to email about ctmh order-c
**place new order
**unload dishwasher-c
**start laundry
**have a nice ice cold diet cherry coke-C

And it is only 10:08! Go me! Lots of time left to finish that to do list!

Christmas mini album

One of my absolute favorite parts of Christmas, is recieving cards in the mail! I love to get newsletters, photos, and everything else. I always struggle with what to do with all of it though. Make a scrapbook just for those items? **shudder** throw them away? What do you do with it?

So I saw this on the Close to my Heart website, and knew it would be quick and easy to make! I bought a set of their pre-made Christmas cards. This set is called Peaceful Season. I am sorry I didn't take pictures of the individual steps but I will just try to walk you through it. It is very simple! ** I used the Close to my Heart card kits, but any card and envelope would work!

First you want to gather your cards. I chose ones that are the same theme, but not the exact same. You want to place the cards, as if you were opening a book. Adhere the open side and the bottom. I did this with a tape runner. DO NOT ADHERE THE TOP! This is a place to put a tag or something else. Once all the cards are adhered...

You want to line up the envelopes. You want the open side of the envelope to be on the outside so it is easy to fill it with pictures, cards etc.I used as many envelopes as I had cards.

Punch a hole in the top left hand corner in all cards and envelopes. Add ring to keep it together. Tie a ribbon around the ring. Fill and decorate with stickers and other embellishments.

If I didn't explain it very well, please feel free to email me and I would be happy to answer any questions!

Show and Tell Friday

I haven't been on this blog since last Friday! I have been trying to limit my time on the computer, because I feel like it really limits my productivity! Blogs are so addictive! But I knew I wanted to participate in Show and Tell so here goes...


Living on an island, can make it hard to get in the Autumn/Fall spirit. But after visiting lots of show and tells last week, I was truly inspired. I had read in a Country Living magazine that rooster decor was "hot" right now. So I was thrilled when I went to our Navy Exchange store and found this cute little wire rooster! I placed two glass pumpkins that I found at Ross ( $2 each)on either side. They are placed on a cloth napkin, on top of a matching tablecloth. Now that I look at the pictures though, I think it blends in a little too well,and am going to use a solid colored cloth napkin/placemat. I was not born with a decorating gene so you have to bare with me!

This week I have been feeling really under the weather. A nasty cold that has just left me feeling blah. I can't think of a better cure, than laying under a blanket and reading a good book. This quilt is special to me for many reasons. My Grandmother was always working on a quilt. I remember going to her teeny apartment where she would have a quilting frame up that took over the whole living room!Our home was always full of quilts that she lovingly made for each of my siblings and me. When she died, my mom and her sister, went through all her fabric, and quilt remnants. My Mom had decided to finish three (one for my two sisters and I). Being the youngest girl, mine was the last one to be done, and for some reason I can't remember why it didn't get done. My Mom asked if instead I would "mind" having this yellow wedding ring quilt. Did I mind? I have loved that quilt since I was a little girl I had this grand scheme to sneak it off to college with me but I never did. I was so happy to recieve it. It stayed on my bed for a long time, but there were too many accidents. My kids left a marker on it, a sippy cup spilled etc. I didn't want it to get ruined ( I would love to pass it down to my daughter some day.) Now it resides at the end of my bed. Every evening I lay under it and read. Or snuggle with my husband or my children. It comes out for movie nights and many other times.

Thanks for taking a walk down memory lane with me! If you want to participate in Show and Tell you can go to Kelli's

Show and Tell Friday

I can't believe that I have only done one of these! I did one back in April and haven't done one since. I have not been updating this blog as much but am trying to get back. So here is my first show and tell in a loooong time!

Over Labor Day weekend, I turned the big 3-0! And I was spoiled rotten. Besides a much wanted bread maker, my husband built me a new entertainment center! I had been complaining about all of our dvd's, video game systems, cords and etc. So he designed a new one and than spent the last couple of weeks making it for me. I love it! Tons of storage, no cords showing. He also turned the old entertainment center into a scrapbook armoire. I haven't taken pictures yet, maybe next week!

He also bought me a new dining set. Unfortunatley it hasn't come into the store yet. We have had our old table for 5 years and we bought it at a thrift store. It is starting to wobble really badly, and is getting to small for our family. While we were at the furniture store, I also got to get two cute baskets. I love baskets for storage and decorating. The picture is of the bigger one.

Am I spoiled or what? I am so glad I have such a sweet and handy husband!

Tackle it Tuesday

OK I was honestly so happy to finally get this job done! My pantries have been an absolute mess. I know that I am lucky to have 2 nice big areas but they were a mess. I couldn't find anything! We had 2 families move away recently (we are military) and so they brought us all the food that was still in their house. So we have had an insane amount of food. At least it looked like it because everything was such a mess. So I started out by taking everything out. I found things that had gone stale, empty pkgs. etc so I got rid of all first. Then I started putting like items together. We had a ton of drink packets ( like kool-aid singles, crystal light...) so I put all of those in one container, all the packets of oatmeal in a basket etc. These are my before and after pictures. And the last one is of the huge pile of trash that I had after I was done! Thanks for looking at my tackle!

mpm

Ok I haven't updated this since July. Yikes. However, school is back in session, hubs has returned from his deployment, and I am having a fun time in the kitchen. So I begin...again. It's about the journey not the destination right?! Well recently I have found some AWESOME cooking blogs and so I am making a couple of new dishes this week, based on their recipes.If interested in the sites & recipes I would be glad to email you or put it in the comments!

Monday:
crustless quiche
hashbrowns
fruit

Tuesday:
hoagies ( my 7 yr. old has been begging to have these)
chips & dip
cucumbers and carrots

Wednesday:
Honey lime chicken enchiladas
spanish rice
corn on the cob

Thursday:
creamy chicken italiano
rolls
salad

Friday:
nachos ( our family has family movie night on Friday's and so we like to have something fun & something that we can eat in front of the tv)

Saturday:
hamburgers and hot dogs
french fries
mac & cheese
fruit

Sunday:
creamy crockpot chicken & brocoli over rice
rolls
salad

MPM

My goodness, it has been so long!! I have really been slacking off on my homemaking duties. Summer has a way of doing this to me, but when you add in my hubby being deployed, it just makes for a disaster! lol From not keeping the kids on a regular bed time schedule, to sleeping in, to not doing a night time routine and more, the house feels like it is going to fall apart! So the first thing I am going to start with is meals. You know meals have become lax around your home when your daughter asks you to make her a casserole instead of mac & cheese! So here goes my menu:

Monday: spagetti, bread, brocoli, fruit

Tuesday: sloppy joes, baked oven fries, applesauce

Wednesday: pork chops, couscous, cresants

Thursday: scrambled eggs with ham and hash browns

Friday: mom's night out

Saturday: blt's (made with turkey bacon) pretzels, carmel apple salad

Sunday: kids pick

Thanks for stopping by! I am looking to start a gluten free diet, but in need of recipes! So if you know of any sites or have any ideas, please let me know. Thanks!

MPM

My husband only has a week left before he deploys to East Timor. So I am trying to have nice big dinners this week. Who knows what he will be eating when he gets there! So here is my plan for the week...

Monday:
pulled pork sandwiches
tater tots
green beans

Tuesday: ( hubby gone)
Beef macaroni
rolls
applesauce

Wednesday:
chicken & stuffing casserole
cresants

Thursday:
eggs w/ ham
juice
muffins

Friday:
pizza
peaches

Saturday:
grocery

wfmw

I realize that it is kind of late to post this BUT I wanted to do it anyway. Because this tip really does "work for me."

This week we had a few doctor's appointments to go too. So when I was scheduling the appts. instead of writing down the actual time of the appt. I wrote down when we were supposed to be there. At our clinic we are supposed there 10-15 minutes early. So by writing it down as 9:15 instead of 9:30, I am not rushing around.

It worked really well this week and we were on time for each appt!

Tackle it Tuesday

(the before)

(this is the after)

Hmmm...when I first started this blog, I felt that things were just out of control in my home. And months later, I still feel that way. Why? Because I haven't paid attention to it. I absolutely loved doing these challenges, but just haven't been doing them. Well things have been crazy, hectic and life changing around here lately. And so I have decided that it is more important than ever to be organized.

So I am trying to get back on board by...doing a tackle! Although this is not "perfect", I feel so good about getting this done.

My desk is like the death of me. I can not keep it cleared off. It is what Flylady refers to as a hot spot. Well tonight it is cleaned off. I can find everything that I want/need. Can't wait to do something new tomorrow!

MPM

It has been a long time! Here goes...Tuesday:
Chili pie casserole
Cresants
Pears
Salad

Wednesday:
B: muffins, yogurt
D: honey mustard chicken
Carmel apple salad
Rice

Thursday:
B: cereal, juice
D: sloppy joes, tater tots, fruit

Friday:
B: cinnamon rolls, milk
D: pizza, juice boxes, watermelon,
Cake and ice cream

Saturday:
B: pancakes, sausage, juice
L: left over pizza
D: pizza mac & cheese, rolls

Sunday:
B: cereal, muffins
L: kid’s pick
D: Ben cooks for mothers day!

365 day challenge

So I was reading on one of my homemaking blogs about this challenge. You get rid of one item of clutter every day. Whether you toss it, donate it, give it etc. I think that would be so nice in this house. With the kids and I bringing a ton of stuff in, I don't think Ben brings that much in but anyway..it is a nice easy way of getting some clutter out of here. So Day 1: a toy that we bought for Ivan that he is too old for. Giving it away. Go me!

If you want to look at the challenge, you can go here

Show and Tell Friday

Every Friday Harmony is going through her room, looking for things that she wants to bring to Show and Tell. I know she loves it and has fun sharing her favorite things. So when I saw Show and Tell Friday over at I thought it would be fun to participate.

So here goes..With St.Patricks Day and Easter being so close together, I didn't really decorate for either. I have one St. Pattys Day decoration to go on the door and that is all I have! Easter I have a few more but not that many. When I was at the Navy Exchange the other day, all their Easter deco's were 20% off. While I would have preferred a bigger discount, the items were not that expensive to begin with! So here are the ones I bought.

My fav. is the little girl bunny sitting on the chair. The boy is cute but he doesn't stay on his chair very well. I was thinking of hot glueing him on there, but I am just wondering if these chairs could be used for something else also. So I am kind of hesitant about it.

The kids really like the one that has the chalkboard. They love chalkboards. Next week I will have to share the one that Ben made for the kids.

Well that is it for my first Show and Tell. Go over to Kelli's site to see more!

back to life...

I believe that one of the reasons that I am not more organized is because of consistencey. I am so not consistent when it comes to my home. Ben has been gone for almost 2 weeks now. The first week I don't think I cleaned or organized anything. Nothing that really stands out anyway. Then, I got sick of it and got the whole house spotless. Then because I loved having the house cleaned, I kept it picked up every night. I was on a roll. But then I let it go one night. I was tired and went to bed early and so did not pick up those few little toys, or loaded those few dishes into the dishwasher. And once you let go once... it is easier to do again. Something else that helped me was getting up, getting dressed and get going. No laying around in my pj's. Which I did today. That could be why I am feeling in a funk. So I am going to go put shoes on and get my house straightened up while it is still "not that bad." I look forward to Ben being back and being back on a schedule and having someone to cook for again! :)

microwave tip

I am bad when it comes to cleaning out my microwave. Maybe because once the door is closed, it is like the mess magically disappears...hmmm? Well, last Saturday while we were at the ball, the kids and their babysitter made popcorn.I am not sure how long they put it in for, but I CAN tell you, that it was too long. Because our house smells like burnt popcorn. Still. So I read tips on how to get my microwave nice and clean again. The magic solution? Water and a little bit of lemon juice.

Fill a microwave safe bowl with water and a few drops of lemon juice. Put it in the microwave and then heat the water for 5 minutes. When it is done, all the nastiness is literally dripping off. So all I had to do was take paper towels and wipe it down. No more burnt popocorn smell. Wahoo!

Works For Me Wednesday

So many, many times I have been at the store at about 10:30 when I realize that I didn't pack a snack for Ivan. So I end up buying little treats through out the store. It can start to add up over time. However, sometimes I am so on top of things that I have a few extra bags of goldfish or graham crackers, whatever it is. So I put a tupperware container in my pantry that is for all those extra bags of snacks, or the last snack in a package. That way when I leave the house all I have to do is grab a couple out of there and we are good to go!

Tackle it Tuesday

No pictures today but...my tackle for the day is my worse enemy. LAUNDRY. I have been so awful about getting laundry done. Connor's uniform shorts were so dirty but...I didn't have anything to change him into. What a horrible,horrible Mother I am. Ugh. So today all my laundry will be done. No piles anywhere. I have decided that I will start doing at least 2 full loads every single day. So that this is not a problem again!! :)

MPM

With Ben being gone for two weeks, we are eting what I refer to as..." Deployment Cuisine." Although not technically deployed, he is gone. And when he is gone it is hard to get into that mood of making a nice, sit down home cooked meal. Knowing I am going to have to deal with those dinners on my own. So this week we are working with "kid favorites" things that I don't have to force them or fight with them in order to eat it. Having said that...I am really working on eating low fat foods. So I will be testing out some new recipes this week. So this is what I will be eating this week...

Monday:
B:spice muffins ( made with pumpkin instead of oil)
D: ham and potatoes au gratin

Tuesday:
B: fat free pancakes
D:barbaqued chicken, baked potato fries, fruit crisp

Wednesday:
B:muffins/pancakes
D:bbq chicken pita pizza's ( use leftovers from tuesday)

Thursday:
B:banana bread, scrambled eggs
D:taco soup, rolls

Friday:
B:cereal, yogurt
D: eating out

Saturday:
B: 1 pt. cinnamon rolls
D:pasta salad with chicken

Sunday:
B: leftovers
D: ham, deviled eggs, potato salad, rolls, apple carmel cake ( whole cake has only 8 grams of fat if you don'tuse the nuts!!)

Thanks for looking!

I hab a colb

Things were going so well. Cleaning and organizing. House looked great. Tackles accomplished. Menu planned and more. And then...sick. At first it felt like a flu bug. Throwing up and nausea. But in the end it has turned into a nasty cold. It is
amazing to me that something like a cold can completely knock you off your feet!
So now the house is a MESS. Laundry and dishes piling up. Toys out of control. Not to mention that the house could use a really good vacuming! But what is one to do when they can barely breathe?...take it one small, slow step at a time.

The plan for today?! Well Flylady has what she calls a "crisis clean". What it is, is a way to get your house back into control, quickly. You do 15 minutes in a room ( this is not the exact routine she follows) and just go around the house for 15 min. in each room. Every 45 minutes you take a water break. Well for me, I am just going to do 15 min. in each room, and than take a nap while Ivan does. Easy does it.

I am hoping to get a tackle in but we will see!

Works For Me Wednesday

I realize that this might not be the most POPULAR of ideas but...one way that I have found to have less stress in the morning is...too get up before my kids. If I get up earlier, get a shower, get dressed, check email and eat breakfast...all before they get up, I know that I can concentrate on them when they wake up. I am just so much more focused and not worried about how hungry I am or trying to get a shower in while kids are running around everywhere.

The other thing to do is to get as much done as you can the night before.

Thanks for reading!

Tackle it Tuesday

It has been a long time since I did a tackle. I have totally missed it and am glad I got it done. I did start out nice and slow as our power has been iffy all morning! In our laundry room above the washer and dryer are two cupboards. These cupboards have not been used to their maximum potential. Why? Because they are hard for a little shorty like me to reach!! In the before pictures, the blue tupperware container is holding...cords. Random cords, and just a whole bunch of misc. things. The clear one had baseballs. Linens are kind of tossed in. The big turquoise blue container holds a steamer. However the case is too big and so the door doesn't close all the way. So...I cleaned out the containers. One question...how many usb cords does one family need?! I went through everything and there were maybe 10 things worth keeping. All baseballs and swim gear, out to the garage. Steamer out there too. Small linens, tucked into a basket. Tablecloths folded. I think it looks so much better. Happy I got that done. My other tackle is that I have 2 cards that need to be written and sent. Thanks for looking at my tackle!

MPM

I usually try and figure out breakfasts but I am a little lax on ideas for this week. So just dinners this week!

Monday:
Taco bake ( from Kraft Food and Family)
corn
rolls

Tuesday: Ben's gone
pancakes
sausage
hashbrowns

Wednesday:
spaghetti
salad/other green vegi

Thursday:(I'm gone)
cresant dogs
tater tots
fruit

Friday:
teriyaki stir fry
bread of some sort
Toffee Crunch dessert

Saturday:
pizza night

If you are looking for other great ideas, head on over to