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!