Happy Homemaker Monday

( My 2nd to the youngest on his first day of pre-k)

Oh, oh, oh! Like my header says, when life gets busy, the first things to go are my house and home cooked meals. I was doing so well. My house was pretty clean, I was having fun baking and getting things in the freezer and then...I hit a wall. It started around labor day weekend. Since then I have just kind of...well...lost my mojo. The house is a WRECK. I am not lying. From where I am sitting I can see a stack of (clean!!) diapers waiting to get tossed in the basket, bottles needing to go to the sink, candy wrappers, shoes, blankets... I won't even mention the kitchen. It will not be easy to make a homemade dinner in there...considering there are no clean counters. Ugh. I am wondering...what do you do when it gets like this? Or do you never lose your home making mojo? I just can't seem to get with it!

Anyway...

The weather in my neck of the woods: windy and rainy. We are feeling the effects of a tropical storm. The winds were so strong last night, that our neighbors trampoline is in a tree!

One of my Simple Pleasures: going to bed early, and getting a good nights sleep

On my bedside table: My husband and I actually just switched sides of the bed. I know, sounds wierd right? Anyway, on his side of the bed are alarm clock, remote and *boring to ME magazines*

On my tv: my boys are playing Lego Indiana Jones

On the menu for tonight: mini meatloaves, applesauce, carrot sticks w/ dip and...I am not sure if anything else will be added!

On my to do list: write a check for Girl Scouts and turn in enrollment papers
write a check for book orders
clean my house

New recipe I tried last week: I actually tried this last night and we all loved it!

In the craft basket: nothing

Looking forward too: no school on Friday. It will be nice to have a break from the commute.

Homemaking tip of the week: Don't let your house get as bad as mine!!

Favorite blog post of the week: Hmmm I haven't read too much lately. Although two friends recently had babies and so it was fun seeing all the new baby pictures!

Favorite picture of the week: at the top!

Lesson learned from this week: I have to set priorities. I can't let other things get in the way of what is important to ME.

On my prayer list: same as always, friends & family

Scriptures & devotionals: Honestly, I have hardly read anything uplifting. Maybe that is why I have been struggling?

Happy Homemaker Monday

Long weekends are...just that, LONG! With having all the kids and my hubs home, the house looks like a tornado went through it, followed by a hurricane! It is a complete wreck. To top it off, our water is almost completely shut off!! We thought our whole housing was having problems but nope, just us. I am waiting for someone to come out and fix it. Right now the water is so bad, you can't have more than one water source running at a time. So dishes are waiting while laundry runs and vice versa. Oh I hope they come soon!

Weater in my neck of the woods: hot and humid

One of my Simple Pleasures: When I can sneak a nap in during the day

On my bedside table: word search book, hair ties, a couple of legos (courtesy of Ivan)ipod, lamp and clock

On my tv: Diego saves Christmas (Ivan's pick obviously!)

On my Menu for tonight:teriyaki chicken, rice, steamed brocoli, breadsticks

On my to do list: Since we don't have any water, I am working on putting laundry piles away. I am also changing our front entrance so the kids have a "dumping ground" for backpacks, lunch bags etc.

New Recipe I tried last week:I must be getting old because I can't even remember what I made last week! Let's just pretend I made a new recipe and it turned out fabulously! (:

In the Craft basket:So sad, once again nothing. Ever since Mason was born, I just don't really have the time!

Looking forward to: Ivan starting pre-k tomorrow! He will be in a regular ed class and we are so excited!

Homemaking Tip of the Week: Check your child's work. Do not let them have their free time until you have. My daughter got away with playing video games because I didn't check. When I went in later I was so upset. Had I just taken a few seconds to check, we would have both been happy with what happened.

Favorite Blog Post of the week: She is going to laugh, but it was my sisters! I don't remember if this was on her book blog or her personal blog. But she shared a story about her son, who prayed "Heavenly Fadder, please bless it to be Christmas tomorrow." Just about the cutest thing I have heard all week!

Favorite photo of the week: at the top. All my kiddos in their church clothes. Precious.

Favorite quote,scripture or devotional for the week:My husband and I watched a movie about one of the presidents of our church. While he was younger, his mother didn't scold him very often. Instead when he misbehaved she would simply say, "Remember who you are trying to be like." I loved it and wrote it on our chalk board as a reminder to our family.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Whew!

Labor Day was just that...full of labor. With Ben being home, we tried to get tons of projects done. Unfortunatley, we tried to do more than we had time to do!!

One of the big projects though was Harmony's room. Her room is always a nightmare for me. She likes to stash things wherever. She is a pack rat. She hates to throw things away. She is...dare I say it? Lazy. I love her but...whew.

We had been working in her room literally for hours, when Mason woke up from his nap. I gave her a couple of projects and went on to feed Mason. Not 5 minutes later, she is sitting on the couch. I asked her why she wasn't working in her room. Her reply, "well I am waiting for you to tell me what to do." Hmmm..

I told her that I was feeding Mason but to go and get everything off the floor. Finish her room, right? So maybe another 5 minutes later, here she is insisting that she is done and can she play video games. I let her because I knew there wasn't that much work to do, and surely she was done right?

I put Mason down for his nap and go check her room. Stuff is everywhere...except the floor. She had literally "cleaned off the floor" by putting things on tables, shelves and shoving them into assorted bins. Ugh.

At first I was just going to do it myself. But I changed my mind. Do I really want to be cleaning her room for the rest of the time she lives here? I don't think so. We went through everything. Do you want it? Do you still play with it? Etc.

She did great. Her room is spotless. She gave a couple of bags of things away.

I learned today how important it is too...

1) check your child's work. It is important. Otherwise they will try to get away with stuffing things places. I am bad about checking. I get caught up in what I am doing. But I know if I want my children to be productive and helpful, they need to know that there work will be checked.

2)Children need to be taught HOW. Harmony takes everything literally. So by telling her to "clear off the floor", that is what she did. How can I tell her she didn't do what I asked? Show them how. Polly pockets go with polly pockets. If it's trash, toss it. Don't set it on a desk for later...etc

3)Don't let their rooms get so overwhelming that they don't know where to begin. Harmony used to have a loft bed, but we took it down. So her room was in complete upheavel as we moved things around. She honestly didn't know where to start. I gave her a bin and had her fill it. Then all I had her do was empty that bin, putting things where they go. And she did it over and over, until it was done.

Lots of lessons learned but I am going to continue this post later. I have a long way to go to teaching my kids to clean! However, Mason is calling! :)

Slow cooking Thursday

This blog is supposed to be for all things homemaking...however so far it is mostly recipes!! But it's just so fun! Anyway, I made this a little while ago. I loved it and so did the kids. Ben was out of town so...those of us who ate it, liked it.

I found the recipe in the Fix It and Forget it Cookbook.

Cheese Souffle Casserole
8 slices of bread with crusts removed ( I used white hoagie rolls that were getting old)
2 cups grated cheese( I used cheddar)
1 cup cooked, chopped ham
4 eggs
1 cup light cream or milk
1 cup evaporated milk
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp parsley
paprika

Lightly grease your crockpot. Alternate layers of bread, cheese and ham. Beat together eggs, milk, salt and parsley. Pour over bread mixture. Sprinkle with paprika. Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours.

Once when my little guy woke up at 3:30, I hurried and put this in and went back to bed. It was so nice to have a nice warm breakfast when we woke up...again! I hope you like it.

For more slow cooking thursday go to Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

A sad day...

***If you are looking for the link to the Homemade Oreos, it is in the next post down!

I have 2 magazine holders in my kitchen that are dedicated to cooking magazines. But I have promised myself that I won't get anymore. 2 is my limit. But I love cooking magazines. The other day I found a Semi Homemade with Sandra Lee cooking magazine. I love her show.

But bringing it home I knew I would have to say goodbye to a few of my other ones.

While I lived in the states, I loved getting the Kraft Food & Family magazine. Unfortunatley, they do not send it to Guam. It used to be free but I don't think it is anymore. Sigh. But I knew this was one I needed to toss when I saw that it had favorite new products of 2007!

So here are my two favorite "semi homemade" recipes from the magazine.

First off...mini meatloaves. My nephew Vale used to call it meatlove. (: Anyway these are a HUGE hit around here. Ben just picks them up right out of the pan and eats them. But they also freeze well. I am actually going to be making some today to put in the freezer.

Recipe:
1 lb. ground beef
1 box Stove top Stuffing mix
1 cup of water
bbq sauce ( I totally eyeball this, I just put enough in to make everything moist)

Preheat oven to 375. Mix meat, stuffing,water and bbq sauce.
Spoon into muffin tin.
I like to drizzle a little bbq on top also.
Bake for 30 minutes.
You're done. Seriously,that is it.

The stuffing has all the seasoning you need.
To save your muffin tin, feel free to put them into a liner.
You might be wondering why bbq and not ketchup? Well I don't know, but it gives it a little sweetness and a little tang at the same time. Yum!

Taco Bake
(recipe is straight from the magazine)
1 pkg. macaroni & cheese
1 lb. ground beef
1 pkg taco seasoning
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar, divided
1 cup salsa

Preheat oven to 400.
Prepare mac & cheese according to pkg. directions.
Brown meat and drain.
Add taco seasoning and water, let simmer for 5 minutes.
Stir sour cream in to mac & cheese.
Spoon half of that mixture into an 8 in. square or 9 in. round baking pan
top with meat mixture, 1 cup of cheese and than rest of mac & cheese
Cover
Bake for 15 min.
Top with salsa and remaining cheese.
Bake for 5 more minutes.
I like to crunch up tortilla chips for the top.
I also like to make two at a time. One for now...one for the freezer for later!

Enjoy!