Brain in Overdrive

My head is spinning with the approaching new year.  There are a 1,000 things I want to do different this year or accomplish this year.  Now if only I can organize a plan of attack.  I have some ideas but for today I'm looking at Menu Planning which is always a biggie.  It saves so much money when I prepare the meals at home.  I think one of my goals this year will be to not eat out for an entire month and list all the benefits.

Here's my Meal Plan for the next 10 days:
1.  Steak and vegetables
2.  Husband's work party so... freebie:)
3.  Meatloaf, asparagus, and rolls
4.  Spaghetti, garlic bread, and salad
5.  Southwestern Corn Chowder from Everyday Food
6.  Steak and rice
7.  Pintos and cornbread
8.  Tuna salad and fruit salad
9.  Vegetable Soup (canned by my mother-in-law)
10.  Black Bean Taco Soup (Six Sisters Stuff)

Buckling Down

I ran into a friend of mine this past week and she looked gorgeous as always.  She has red hair, you know the kind that you think "did she get it colored that way?" but no she didn't.  It's just naturally that pretty.  Well her hair is beside the point, I just thought I would share that detail:)  I asked her, "How do you do it?  You always look great and seem to have it together?"  She just laughed and said no one has it together.  She said, "you been reading people's blogs haven't you?"  Yes, yes I have!  She told me not to believe all of it cause people only post the good stuff.  I got so tickled but then got to thinking.  Yes, I do read a lot from these mamas that seem to do it all and I myself tend to only want to post the good stuff.

Well, today, in trying to get my house under control before we have guests over and the major parties start happening, I've been looking at organization pins.  I was encouraged when I read how this one woman gets overwhelmed at chaos and shuts down.  That probably sounds crazy to be "encouraged" but I identified with her - I do that.  Something comes up or even some event I know about and I become frazzled and literally want to shut down. I tend to withdraw from my house tasks, watch TV, and lament the oncoming stress. 

In reading this pin:

I realized I am equipped to handle what is coming at me I just need to break it down into bite size pieces.  For the woman in the post her most chaotic place was her office.  For me?  The kitchen.  So I set about thinking and planning and doing what I know to do. 
Back in 2005 I was introduced to Flylady and have clung to her principles.  I believe Gretchen Rubin from the Happiness Project would call what I have learned the "Secrets of Adulthood".
One of my secrets of adulthood would be, "You can do anything for 15 minutes."  I find this true time and time again from reading Flylady's advice, to blog posts, to trying it out in my home.  15 minutes is not long and surprisingly it can accomplish a lot. 
Today, I spent 15 minutes on our junk drawer in our kitchen.  Kudos to you if you do not have a junk drawer but we do:) 
My baby's calling and I have more work to do.  It's time to buckle down and get to work!

On a Mission

I am not opposed to cooking it's just that usually when I think to cook is when I am absolutely starving.  By that time, I'm ready to eat butter from the tub!  No, I wouldn't do that. I just gagged thinking about eating butter from the tub.  My point is, I'm not patient enough to plan out and make a meal each night.  And Monday and Tuesdays are crazy with kid activities then Wednesday is grocery day.  Fridays and Sundays fly by. So let's see, I will plan and make a meal on Thursdays and Saturdays.  My family is out of luck the rest of the week:)

So, I like so many others, pin as many "crock pot" meals as I can.  Tonight I actually took the time to look through one of my boards and check out these pins.  Honestly, I was disappointed.  I think my disappointment lies in the fact that I interpret the words "crock pot" to mean magic genie that will cook for me.  Most of the recipes are stews and soups.  Do your kids like lots of stews and soups?  Cause mine do not.

Before I had kids of my own, I sold Mary Kay briefly and I kept my contacts in a plastic container with lettered dividers.  Now I use the container to hold recipes that I absolutely love.  I mean ABSOLUTELY LOVE.  I can't stand to hold on to frivolous, only-cooked-once recipes.  I'm slowly making a collection of the tried and trues. 

After my Pinterest searches I have come up with four - count them - four recipes.  Like I said, I was disappointed with my pins.  And one of my recipes is not for the crock pot.  Here's what I've found:
1.  Chicken Fajitas
2.  Creamy Chicken Spaghetti
3.  Creamy Chicken Picatta (The Pioneer Woman)


4.  Chicken Bacon Ranch Wraps

Obviously we like a lot of chicken at my house.  Chicken is a meat I know my kids will eat.  I have even been guilty of telling my kids that they were eating chicken when in fact they were eating pork.
When I was a preteen and my mom worked full time, she did once a month cooking.  I remember how nice it was to just go to the freezer and pull out a meal to pop in the oven.  I am contemplating attempting to cook in one day our meals for two weeks.  Contemplating would be the key word here.  I am now trying to compile a good list of meals I want to cook.  I'll keep you informed on how that goes:)
What are your recipes that you ABSOLUTELY LOVE and use time and again with your family?

Getting Ready

While there is a lot of activity going on in and around my house right now, I'm still looking ahead to the new year.  What goals do I want to accomplish?  What would I like to achieve in my personal life, my family, my home, amongst my friends? 
My mind is full of ideas and desires.  Now I just need to sort through and organize what is most important to me. 
For now, I need to focus on the tasks at hand.  What's on my "to do" list?
1.  Wrap presents.
2.  Finish purchasing gifts for friends and family.
3.  Plan Tres' class Christmas party.
4.  Plan family Tacky Christmas Sweater party.

This Friday is my BFF's annual Gift Wrapping Party.  It is so much fun and I look forward to it every year.  It seems hard to believe that this will be the fifth year we've been doing this.  Since we still believe in Santa at my house, I like using the different wrapping paper each of my friends bring because my kids have not seen it before around my house.  One of my favorite parts of the gift wrapping party?  My friend makes a Christmas CD for us and labels it with the year.  So, I have a Christmas CD from 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011.  What fun to have all the best Christmas music on hand!

The Next Oprah...

I do get slightly tickled at religious people sometimes when they get on a bandwagon of bashing people.  I've heard before, "don't do something just cause Oprah says to do it."  I get their idea that Oprah should not be the be all, end all on advise or wisdom.  But for the most part I think that nugget of wisdom should be a given.  I admittedly think she's an impressive lady.  I'm not a fan of all she does but who cares?  One thing I do like is to watch her "favorite things" shows where she lavishes her audience with her favorite things.  Recently, as I skipped around TV shows, I caught her OWN channel as it was doing her Favorite Things show.  This show was a little different in the fact that Oprah selected military spouses to be the recipient of her gifts. 
Well I've decided to list out my favorite things - what I get the most use out of, what benefits me daily or almost daily.  Now, I did not include really extreme things because I wanted to stick to what I know.  As much as I would like to list a set of Louis Vuitton luggage, I've never even touched a piece of it so how would I know how awesome it is? 

My Favorite Things:

 

1.  Daystar Church.  Okay, so I can't wrap this baby up and give it as a present but I'm here to tell you this place is AWESOME!! Honestly, when I first heard of this church I thought it was too good to be true but three years later, I'm still impressed.  God is using this place to shape my family's future.

2.  Keurig coffee maker.  Numero Uno is a really great gifter and if I wasn't in charge of balancing the checkbook, sometimes I think he would bring home a lot more gifts.  He gave me a Keurig last Christmas and I really enjoy it.  With our old coffeemaker, I would typically pour out coffee everyday.  With the Keurig, I just pop a k-cup in and in a minute my coffee is ready to go.  I love the variety of flavors I can put in it.  And I'm a one-cupper.  I'm not the type to need 3 cups to get going and then sip some more throughout the day.  One will do but now that I'm talking about it, I could really go for a cup of coffee.  Although I am not a fan of the cost of the k-cups, I will look for sales on them.  Plus we purchased the attachment that will let you pour in your own coffee out of a bag. 



 

3.  Zip List.  This is an app - a FREE app and I love it.  It allows you to add in your grocery items as you think of them, wherever you are.  I am so random in my thoughts that I can not live without a list.  As I go around the house or even when I'm out in town and think of what I will need to purchase on my next shopping trip, I can just add them to Zip List.  It has a little box by each listed item that once I've put it in my grocery cart, I can hit the box and it will send the item to my "shopping cart".  At the end of my trip, I can "empty" my cart.  This app has been a big help for when I use the last of something in the house, I just grab my phone and use Siri to add that item to my Zip List.

 

4.  iPhone 4S.  I mean this should be enough said.  I knew these phones were great, I mean, its Apple but boy, have I loved this phone.  It makes my life as a stay-at-home mom so much easier.  I can only imagine what it does for the business woman. 

5.  Nutella.  My sister-in-law is what I would call "exquisite".  She has fascinated me from the moment I met her.  Wanna know why?  Because she's everything I'm not: delicate, cultured, civilized, proper, fashion-forward.  What did she bring to my world that I did not know?  A lot but her most memorable one - Nutella.  Now today this is no big deal but you must realize this was introduced to me before Wal-Mart carried it.  It was a rare fine.  Like manna from Heaven!  Oh, Nutella.  Now I want some of that as well. 

6.  The Pioneer Woman.  It was probably my BFF that told me about Pioneer Woman.  I honestly can't remember but since most of my great ideas come from her, I'm gonna go ahead and give her credit.  What's not to love about the Pioneer Woman?  

 

7.  Chambray top.  Really I just wanted to use the word chambray.  Say it again, chambray.  Don't you feel that much more sophisticated?  Know what it means?  Denim.  We have come up with a fancy name for DENIM!  Ha!  Well, I love my top.  It is so comfortable and looks instantly cute with leggings and boots.  Gotta love the classics.  I would consider denim a classic.  I mean, it's been around forever. 

 

8.  Pinterest.  Seriously.  You had to of known it was coming.  Pinterest is amazing, addictive, awesome.  Any more "a" words I can add?  I've probably enjoyed the most the fact that it has made ideas attainable to me.  Things I never would have thought I could do, I've done and it's been a rather simple process.

 

9.  Dave Ramsey.  Okay, so Dave is not a "thing".  But he's one of my favorites.  I'm such a groupie.  He is inspirational and I love his plans.  If I make it to be a millionaire in 15 years then he's REALLY gonna be one of my favorites.  Right now I'm just hoping to be one of his $10,000 Merry Different Christmas winners:)

 

10. IWBNIN app.  I Was Broke Now I'm Not app.  Here is another FREE app that I love.  It has a lot of different financial tools that I like to play around with.  It's neat to dream of the financial future:)

 

After only listing 10 favorite things, I can now see why Oprah hires out people to be looking for her new favorite things;) 

What are your favorites?  What can you not live without?  Or what makes your life easier? Fuller? More fun?  Are you giving any of your favorites as gifts this year?

Season of Hope

I was the child that told all the other four year olds, "There is no Santa Claus".  My parents did not believe it was right to take the focus off the real reason for Christmas - the birth of Christ.  I also could not watch He-Man because God was the only "Ruler of the Universe".  Pants were not allowed.  You get the picture.  Thankfully as my parents matured in their Faith some guidelines in our house changed.  Eventually the girls in our house were able to wear pants and by the time me and my siblings were parents, my parents decided to include Santa in the Christmas festivities.  As a child, we read the story of Christ's birth before we opened presents.
Today, Numero Uno and I read the Christmas story the night before we open presents.  This year I stumbled across several pins and references to The Truth in the Tinsel.  Last year was my first year to do an Advent Calendar with the kids(at least I think it was the first year).  I was simply looking for a way to make the season exciting for the kids. There is SO much that goes on in the month of December that having it planned out on an Advent Calendar gave the kids something to look forward to each day.  With finding the ebook The Truth in the Tinsel, I had the idea to incorporate more of the story of Christ's birth throughout the season and not just in one reading.
Now, I did not purchase the ebook.  I read people's reviews on it and got the gist of it from pics.  I believe the main thing is taking a different portion of the Christmas story, reading it, then making an ornament to hang as a reminder.  Great idea but I really do not have time to make 25 different ornaments with the kids.  I loved the fact that more time would be spent reading and explaining the truth of the Christmas season. 

I started our Advent Calendar November 30 and created 24 days of scripture reading and activities.  For example, tonight's card had us read about Joseph and our activity was to view the lights at a local city park.  The kids' calendar hangs in their toy room and they are very diligent to remind me it's time to pull a card:)

 

Besides weaving more background information about the participants in Christ's birth story into our seasonal preparations, I also created an Advent Calendar for my spouse.  Of course I got my idea from Pinterest.

 



This was the pin I originally saw.  And made this....

 

 

 

Numero Uno's calendar hangs in our closet. There's a reason for this, it's private.  I did not want children's eyes to see it.  This doesn't mean that all of it is not G rated.  It just means that some things should stay between me and my man. 

While planning this calendar, I was excited.  I had read to give a compliment or a service or a gift.  Well I ended up thinking of 18 compliments to go along with 18 activities.  (I got started on this project late so that's why we're counting down 18 days til Christmas).  It is true, once you start being thankful for what you have, you become even more thankful for what you have!  And I have an amazing husband.  Here's a sample of one of the days...

 

 

The activities for my man's calendar varied.  Some things were already on our calendar, such as the kids' Christmas parties.  Other activities were private while others were just fun gifts for him or acts of service to show I cared (i.e. vacuum out his car). 

We are only three days in but I can tell my man likes the calendar. He already told me we're doing this next year! 

I read recently from iMom how we as wives are like a mirror to our husband.  What we reflect to him through our actions and words will be what he feels and thinks about himself.  I want to "show" my husband what a wonderful person he is.  Doing this makes ME appreciate him more and respond more lovingly to him.

All in all, I want this season to be warm, inviting, and filled with hope and expectation. God is coming near...

 





Sleep, Sweet Sleep

I'm not sure I can pinpoint the time when I began to feel overwhelmingly tired.  I mean I have an 11 month old at home and three other kids to tend to.  At what point do you feel rested?  However, here lately it has gotten a little off... I mean I would go to bed at night exhausted only to wake up, get the kids off to school and come home to fall back in to bed for just a "little more" sleep. 

I finally went to the doctor to get blood work and see what is up.  The results came in the mail today.  From what I can gather I have a Vitamin D deficiency and possibly insulin resistance.  I have an appointment next week to discuss the results.   Who knows, maybe taking some vitamins will help me "reset" my need for sleep:)

Today is the day I conquer the world!

Not really.  This is just my motivational speech to get off my rear and do housework.  You know?  The usual: make beds, wash clothes, fold clothes, put away clothes, sweep and mop floor, bathe children (bathe myself for that matter), bathe the dog.  Oh how I loathe bathing the dog.  I don't know why.  She's a good dog, a kind dog.  It's just I despise grooming her because when I do it is a long process.  Poor dog.  She doesn't deserve my scorn. 

Let's do something more fun than cleaning.  Posting pictures!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inappropriate Laughter

I have decided that there is a medical condition for my laughing at very inappropriate times.  Have I found or even looked for a name for this condition?  No, but that's beside the point.  I'm sure it's out there. 
I believe it started when I was in the seventh grade.  I was in church (with my father speaking as a guest) when an old man behind me started burping these outrageous burps.  I couldn't take it, I lost it - uncontrollable laughter.  On second thought maybe my condition started as a child when I shared a bedroom with my sister.  She could always contain her laughter but it would be me that would get us into trouble with my big mouth:)  Anyway, back to the church scene....I received my last spanking from my father that night.  I was in seventh grade but couldn't contain my laughter in the church house!
My problem continued into college when I again was in a church service (maybe that's the problem - church services) when I looked across the sanctuary to see one of the lead deacons dressed by his wife in baby blues, pinks, and maroons which by the way, she was also the interior decorator for the church (I would recognize that color palate anywhere).  Again, I lost it.  Why can't I control my laughter like other people?  Why do I find rather normal things hysterically funny?
Well since then I've gone on to laugh at funerals, laugh uncontrollably at the edge of the aisle of my wedding, laughed when a friend shared with me her husband had cheated on her, I laugh when I am extremely mad at my husband and nothing comes out but laughter - I can't make any solid arguing points because I'm too busy laughing.  My list could go on and on.  I believe the stress of these situations send me over the edge.  I don't know.

Well, last night is my latest addition: Dos' violin recital.  Other parents lovingly watch or film as their children try their best to share what they've learned this year. Me?  I get tickled at the mannerisms of my little man and lose it.  I mean, have to walk out the back of the church (Again, with the church.  Maybe I am on to something) can not control myself.  Everyone was following the instructor as they should and he just stayed in his spot concentrating so hard on what he was supposed to do. Oh how I love that boy.
Any pointers on how to keep the laughter in check?

Easy, cute Christmas Trees!

My feelings toward this season are not new to society.  In fact, it's rather cliche' to speak of the excitement of the season but it still holds true for me:)  I'm pumped! There is SO much going on around our house and I rather like the hustle and bustle of the holidays. 
I am working on an Advent Calendar for the kids and will also be adding something new this year - a countdown to Christmas for my man!  Again, these will have to be discussed another day:)
As I was saying yesterday, I tried to put forth an effort to decorate various areas of my house.  This is such a step UP from last year, considering I was 9 months pregnant and could not decorate a thing.  Bless my man's heart.  He put up the trees last year and I loved it.  I can not even recall what they looked like but the decorating was taken care of and my heart was happy.
In addition to adding a centerpiece at my dining table, I also tackled the top of our TV armoire.  We do not have a fireplace nor a mantle so the armoire serves as our spot to hang the stockings.  To make the top more festive in addition to the stockings, I found a "how to" guide for paper trees in Disney's Family Fun December/January 2013 issue.  I will be honest.  I subscribed to Family Fun because I found an amazing deal on it - like $4 for two years or something ridiculous like that.  However, I was not really impressed with it because the "crafts" seemed like interning for Martha Stewart instead of family fun.  So imagine my surprise when I came across this craft idea to make Christmas trees out of magazines.  Now I'm gonna show you how I did mine but I still kept my opinion that the crafts are not really ones I'm gonna do with my kids.  Don't get me wrong, some can be done with kids but for my family if we're gonna do crafts, it's gotta be completed in less than 10 minutes or their interest is GONE.  I would not recommend doing this tree craft with kids as it took me a good 45 minutes to make two trees.  The project itself is easy. The amount of time is due to folding all that paper.

1. Start with any magazine you are finished reading.  I used one Family Fun mag and one Parenting mag, I believe.

2. Take the top right corner and fold it toward the spine of the magazine.  It will form a right triangle and still leave about 2-3 inches of your page left at the bottom.

 

3. Take your newly formed triangle and fold it again towards the spine of your magazine.  It will now leave a point hanging below the edge of your magazine.

4.  Tuck the point of your page under the triangle in order to make the edge flush with the rest of the magazine.  Repeat this process for every page.  When your finished with the pages, fold the front and back cover likewise and tape those two covers together.

5.  This is what your final tree should look like after you glue a ball ornament on the top.

Here my trees make their debut at the top of our armoire.  And for those of you who are counting, yes, there should be six stockings but I got these before Quattro was born.  And I'm too cheap to order his before Christmas.  I'm waiting til they go on sale after Christmas (he's young, he'll never know). 

Merry Christmas, y'all!

 

 

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

I do not particularly remember having a fondness for Christmas decorating as a child.  I mean, I LOVE this time of year but I don't remember participating in helping my mom decorate.  I guess for me, my sense of ownership in having a part in the celebration of Christmas came when I was in college. Having secured a position at Importer's Warehouse, (which was a definite step up from my position at Bruno's - not that Bruno's wasn't good, it paid the bills but I was the ONLY cashier old enough to work past their 10:30 p.m. rule for labor law compliance and the working til midnight every night coupled with 8:00 a.m. classes did not mix) I dealt with Christmas decorations day in, day out.  I always found it funny that Importer's Warehouse's main sales were generated from Christmas trees and Christmas decor yet the owners were Seventh Day Adventist and didn't even celebrate the Christmas holiday.
Anyway, that year, me and my college roommate bought Christmas decorations and we got a tree. I was hooked!  I loved it.  Now I adore seeing the house all festive with Christmas reds here and there.  However, I am still a cheapskate and a tightwad.  So I've tried to get creative and lo and behold, I think I have:)
My sweet mother-in-law has given us three artificial trees over the years.  Whenever she goes to throw one out, we take it in.  Three free trees!  Who can beat that? 
Having headed up the Holiday Auction for three years, I received some of the decorations from one of the auctions.  My man was put on the assignment of cutting 64 "discs" of wood and I kept some of them after the event.  I showed you in a previous post how I used them as a centerpiece.  For Christmas, I wanted to spice them up.  Of course, I found a pin on Pinterest for using epsom salt in the bottom of a Mason jar to look like snow.  Here's what I did. Again, Pinterest was my muse:)

Once I placed my salt and tea lights in the jars, I needed to tie in the Christmas feel.  Here are the materials I used.  My husband had purchased the salt for some project he had going in the garage so I just used a little of what he had already.  So this was free to me:) The cedar that I used, I got from my neighbor who just so happened to be trimming back his trees recently.  I used the cedar for this project and to drape across the top of my armoire in the living room. Again, free! The rest of the materials were purchased at the Dollar Tree.  Here they are:

And for the final product?

Pretty cute (and easy) if I do say so myself.  They look really soft and inviting with the candles lit.

 

Not sure how many years I have been going to my mom's house to decorate her tree but I truly enjoy it. I think what I enjoy is I get to tell her what she needs to buy for her tree and then I decorate without having spent a dime:) She's of the age where she has a little more budget to spend on Christmas decor but has a lot of shoulder problems and can not decorate the tree. It's turned out to be a pretty fun time for her and I. This year I brought little man with me. The tree turned out beautifully but for some reason these are the only pics I caught of the day:

 

I have some more cheap decorations to share but since this has turned into a long post, I will save them for another time:)

Merry Christmas, y'all!