Events & Holidays
Free Ebooks: Jingle All the Way, Mrs. Claus’ Christmas Cookies, Easy Recipes for Christmas Cooking, Hearty Soups, and more!
The price to download these books is currently $0.00 (although the price may change at any time, please confirm prior to downloading). The ebooks are specifically for Kindles, however, you can click here and download the free application that allows you to read Kindle ebooks on your PC.
Download a free copy of Jingle All the Way by Tom Shay-Zapien
Download a free copy of Mrs. Claus’ Christmas Cookies – Make Impressive Holiday Treats by Dennis Weaver
Download a free copy of Easy Recipes for Christmas Cooking by Rosanne Hewitt-Cromwell, Sheila Kiely, and Paul Callaghan
Download a free copy of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Download a free copy of The 12 Days of Christmas by Xist Publishing
Download a free copy of Hearty Soups – A Collection of Homemade Soups by Dennis Weaver
Download a free copy of Quirk Books D.I.Y. Gift Guide by Homemade Quirk
Download a free copy of How To Memorize the Bible Fast and Easy by Adam Houge
Download a free copy of Making Costume Jewelry – An Easy & Complete Step by Step Guide by Janet Evans
Download a free copy of My Life and Work by Henry Ford
It’s The Most Wonderful Time…
Savoring Mrs. Cavanaugh’s Famous Chocolates
A box of delicious goodness has arrived!
Chocolate is a special treat at our house! I love pretty much anything chocolate so when I was sent a box of Mrs. Cavanaugh’s Famous Chocolates to try I was delighted. All Mrs. Cavanaugh’s chocolates are made with fresh ingredients without preservatives. The chocolates were rich, fresh, and melt-in-your-mouth-delicious!!!
In my package I received a 9 oz. box of the “Most Famous” chocolates as well as 4 chocolate bars:
- Roasted Almond Dark Chocolate Truffle
- Almond Coconut White Chocolate Truffle Bar
- Candy Mint Milk Chocolate Truffle Bar
- Caramel Chocolate Bar
My family has really been enjoying Mrs. Cavanaugh’s Chocolates! All of the ones we have tried have been delicious! The four of us split the Roasted Almond Dark Chocolate Truffle, it was rich and creamy. We have tried several of the “Most Famous” Chocolates from the box as well and all of them have been amazing.
If you are looking for a great Holiday gift to share with family, friends, or co-workers and they love chocolates you can send or share a box of Mrs. Cavanaugh’s Famous Chocolates with them!
The best news is you will receive extra chocolate with the Buy 1 lb Get 1 lb FREE of Mrs. Cavanaugh’s Chocolates when you use the promo code below on your order! Go to Mrs. Cavanaughs to order your chocolates today!
Use Promo Code: usfamily14
What’s your favorite kind of chocolate?
We brought our chocolates to share with family over the Thanksgiving Holiday, however, they got placed in the back of the van and I forgot to take them out with all the wedding activities that weekend (thankfully it was a cold week)! On the long drive home from Indiana the box of chocolates were discovered so we opened up the box to try them out!
Ready to taste something out of our box of chocolate goodness!
More information about Mrs. Cavanaugh’s Chocolates & Gifts:
- Like Mrs. Cavanaugh’s Facebook Page
- Follow Mrs. Cavanaugh’s Twitter Feed
- Pick up your favorite treat or learn more on Mrs. Cavanaugh’s Website
A special thanks to US Family Guide and Mrs. Cavanaugh’s Chocolates for sponsoring this post! Any specific product information was provided by US Family Guide and Mrs. Cavanaugh’s Chocolates, however, the opinions expressed in this post are our own. We received complimentary products for sharing information and our family’s experience.
Love It – Neato XV Signature Pro Vacuum (Robotic Vacuum)
Last year for Christmas my husband got me the most AMAZING gift ever!!! Seriously!!! I LOVE our Neato XV Signature Pro! It has been the best gift that continues to be a blessing in our busy household.
I never thought I would get so excited about a vacuum….until I had this one! The Neato XV Signature Pro is a robot vacuum that has been a huge time saver for our family. I absolutely love coming home to freshly vacuumed floors! It makes me so happy! 🙂
If you are looking for the perfect Holiday, Birthday, Anniversary, Wedding, or another gift for that special someone I cannot recommend this vacuum enough. We have been using it for a year now and it is still going strong as well as a huge help when it comes to cleaning around the house.
I have been asked for more information and some feedback from various family members, friends, and guests who have seen our vacuum! I LOVE the Neato vacuum Jake got me for Christmas! As long as the girls pick up their little items like toy necklaces, bouncy balls, etc…. it works beautifully. Occasionally, it doesn’t make it all the way back to the charger, but that isn’t very often.
Jake did quite a bit of research prior to picking the vacuum he got for me – Neato website. He choose the Neato Signature vacuums because they are more advanced and have a more powerful motor than the other ones. The ‘Signature” line is the one you’ll want to go for if you are looking at getting one. He got the Neato XV Signature Pro for us which has been awesome! The Signature ones only come in black.
The Neato XV Signature Pro has an extra brush and filter (which gives you two types of brushes) – it basically adds the Pet & Allergy Upgrade Kit, but really any the Signature vacuums would work because they have the better motors.
The Roomba’s are really popular too, but after reading a ton of reviews my husband went with the Neato (and I am glad he did). Amazon has a lot of reviews which were really helpful if your trying to decide between different ones.I LOVE our vacuum!!!! 🙂
I am not sure how well it works on the hardwood floors, but it has been AMAZING on our floors (carpet, tile, and linoleum)! It has worked awesome for the carpet. The kitchen floor gets more stuff on it so I still have to spot clean, mop, and do the edges at times, but it gets the majority of items off the floor. It does a great job downstairs on the tile too. I still need to do the edges with a broom or vacuum every couple of weeks, but otherwise it does everything for me. Occasionally, it will miss something, but overall it is pretty thorough. I love having clean floors!
The only real problem we’ve had so far is the first battery wouldn’t hold its charge for more than 30 minutes and it should last an hour or so. We emailed them right away and got a new battery within a couple days. Every once in awhile it will get stuck on an item (usually in the kids rooms) or lost, but that doesn’t happen very often. I seriously have considered running it daily because I love having the clean floors. Right now, we have it scheduled to vacuum 3 times a week, but you can have it vacuum any time in between those scheduled times as well.
It does take it longer to vacuum than if you did it yourself, but it saves you time in the long run because you don’t have to do it yourself. If company is coming soon it would be quicker to do it by hand or better yet plan ahead to have your Neato XV Signature Pro vacuum earlier in the day so it is it clean before company arrives. One positive result so far – the girls have been keeping their rooms cleaner and more picked up because they don’t want “Runner, Runner” (the name given to our Neato vacuum) to eat their toys, ha!
I know you’d love it too! It really is wonderful, now if we can only get a robot to cook meals, clean toilets, etc…! Never thought I would be so excited about a vacuum cleaner, hehehe! If you have any additional questions you can comment, contact me or check out the Neato website.
Honestly, the biggest negative is the initial cost of the vacuum. However, if you are already in the market for a vacuum it really is worth it. Also, I have seen it listed on “deal” sites and Amazon has been known to have it on sale as well. If you have some Swagbucks accumulated you can use them to help purchase your Neato XV Signature Pro from Amazon too!
Hope you enjoy having freshly vacuumed floors as much as I do! Now I am off to clean something else while our robot vacuum takes care of the floors for me! Happy Cleaning!!!
“Love It” is a series of posts on items that I use regularly in my household that I love! There are some items in our daily lives that make life more enjoyable, efficient, or just plain fun. I will be sharing with you some of the products that have been given to us (or to me) that have made it to the top of my list. It’s my way of giving a huge thumbs up!
Recipes: Apple Bacon Bread
One of our family members is a big fan of Breakfast Breads. I tried a new one recently that was a big hit. It contains a couple popular ingredients, apples and bacon. Apples and bacon have been on sale in a couple of the local stores so that’s what was included in the new breakfast bread.
Apple Bacon Breakfast Bread:
- 1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
- 1/2 cup Butter (softened)
- 2/3 cup White Sugar
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla
- 2 Eggs
- 1 1/2 cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/2 cup Milk
- 1/2 cup Bacon, small pieces
- 1 large Apple, peeled and cubed
Grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan or 5 mini loaf pans. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the cinnamon and brown sugar in a bowl and set aside. In mixer blend together butter and white sugar until smooth. Add vanilla and eggs; blend until combined. Add flour and baking powder and mix until blended. Mix in milk.
Pour half the batter in the greased loaf pan. Sprinkle half the apples, bacon pieces, and cinnamon sugar mixture over the batter. Pour remaining batter over the apple and bacon layer. Top with remaining apples, bacon, and cinnamon sugar mixture. Bake for 45 minutes or until cooked through.
First layer with the apples and bacon sprinkled over the top.
Sprinkled with a little cinnamon and sugar on top!
Hot and delicious!
Whose ready for some Apple Bacon Bread!
Birthday Celebration!
The birthday candles kept relighting!
It has been a crazy few months around our house! Recently, I had the privilege of celebrating another birthday. It was a wonderful day! This year my birthday fell on a Saturday so Jake and the girls made me breakfast, we had delicious food, played games, read books, relaxed, opened gifts, ate cake, and ended the day by watching a movie together.
The cards, gifts, texts, phone calls, messages, emails, and all the best wishes made my day super special. Thankful for my family, friends, the opportunity to celebrate another year, and the many amazing blessings in my life. I have so many great memories and praying that this upcoming year is packed full of even more!
Delicious red velvet cake picked up by my sweet Handsome!
It was rich and tasty!
Cards and goodies from my family. They each picked out and wrapped their own gifts! I even got some cute birthday “notes” on a couple packages! 🙂
The perfect appetizer before a yummy birthday dinner!
Recipes: Homemade Chicken Flavored Dog Biscuits
Homemade Dog Biscuits
The dog at our house is super spoiled, even though she doesn’t realize it. And at times she probably doesn’t deserve to be spoiled, like when she shreds our Wall Street Journal. Guess she is no different than humans, we are spoiled and blessed with so much yet we tend to act out. Overall she’s a wonderful dog, well behaved, and is super great with the kids even if she does get herself into trouble at times.
There is a certain child in our family that especially has a soft spot for animals. She has been BEGGING me to make dog biscuit treats with her for our black, furry, four-legged, mischievous family member! Our family had a roasted chicken a few days ago so I decided it was time to experiment with Homemade Dog Biscuits. The biscuits turned out really well and Skipper, our black lab, now has a giant baggie of homemade dog biscuits. She seems to think they are AMAZING, but she is not a picky eater. The girls love giving her the homemade treats too so everyone’s happy (or at least should be).
Homemade Chicken Flavored Dog Biscuits:
- 1 cup Hot Water
- 2 tablespoons Milk
- 2 Chicken Bouillon Cubes
- 3/4 cup Vegetable or Canola Oil
- 2 Eggs
- 1 cup of diced Chicken pieces (we used the heart, liver, gizzard, and pieces of chicken)
- 5 cups Flour
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet and set aside. Stir all ingredients together to make a thick dough. Knead the dough on a floured surface for 3 minutes. Roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut out the shapes (we used a dog bone and bear). Place the cookies on the baking sheet and cook for 35 minutes, turn off oven and leave in the oven for additional 20 minutes. The edges should be slightly brown. Remove from oven and cool. Store in a Ziplock bag or air tight container in the fridge.
Tray full of Homemade Chicken Flavored Dog Biscuits!
The puppy in our family is very happy to get her special homemade treats.
Intentional Living: Weekly Goals
Our family had a great time in the Midwest celebrating my little brother’s wedding. It was wonderful seeing my family over the Thanksgiving Holiday. The wedding was beautiful, successful, and hopefully they are now relaxing on their honeymoon! I was happy to welcome another sister into our family, WOOHOO!!! Happy for my brother and his new wife.
Now I am back home and need to make some progress with upcoming projects. Here’s what happened this past week and what is going on this week.
Last week’s goals
Family Goals
- Read the book Wonder’s First Race by Joanna Campbell to read to the kids – about halfway through the book
Plan one special activity with the familyPrepare for Upcoming Fall EventsSpend time Monday – Tuesday helping the kids with HomeworkAttend After School ActivitiesLunch Boxes & Book Bags packed the night beforePlay a Game with the KidsWatch a movie with the KidsListen to an Audiobook with the KidsThanksgiving Holiday – So Many Reasons to be ThankfulCelebrating Josh & Megan’s Wedding & Activities
Personal Goals
- Drink 8 glasses of water each day – didn’t drink enough when traveling
Continue my YouVersion plan(s)Go to my Doctor Appointments Scheduled this week
Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals
- All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day – took 2 days
Clean House (Basic Speed Clean before the Holiday Activities)
Business Goals
Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
Ministry Goals
Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
Financial Goals
- Payoff the Car – working on it
- Payoff Outstanding Debt – (replacement microwave, refrigerator, hot water heater, and other debt) – working on it
Pay Bills & File Paperwork
My goals for the upcoming week
Family Goals
- Read the book Wonder’s First Race by Joanna Campbell to the kids
- Plan one special activity with the family
- Prepare for Upcoming Winter Events
- Spend time Monday – Friday helping the kids with Homework
- Attend After School Activities
- Lunch Boxes & Book Bags packed the night before
- Play a Game with the Kids
- Start Organizing the Kids Scrapbook Items
- Dr. Appointments for Kids
Personal Goals
- Drink 8 glasses of water each day
- Continue my YouVersion plan(s)
- Go to my Doctor Appointments Scheduled this week
Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals
- All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
- Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week
- Do at least one “Make 1 & Freeze 1″ Meal Prep (make a main dish to eat that day and one to freeze for later)
- Clean House (Focus – Suitcases Unpacked & Put Away from Wedding / Thanksgiving Trip)
- Organize Chaos (Focus – Snack Bins Refilled)
- Yard Cleanup (Focus – Pool and Leaves)
- Pet Care (Focus – Hay Feeder Filled)
Business Goals
- Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
- Respond to Inquiry – Business Relation Emails
- Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention
- Work completed for clients
Ministry Goals
- Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
Financial Goals
- Payoff the Car
- Payoff Outstanding Debt – (replacement microwave, refrigerator, hot water heater, and other debt)
- Pay Bills & File Paperwork
- Earn some Creative Cash
- Go grocery shopping one time to one store this week and stay within budget
I think it is important to share and encourage each other as we seek to improve our lives and the lives of those around us. I want to live intentionally not just hope all my dreams and goals come true. When I focus on small steps of improvement I am able to see results as I get closer to my goals. Some weeks I get closer to the goals I have in my life and other weeks a take a few steps back (life happens, emergencies occur, people get sick). Once the goals are written down and shared it provides a guideline for what I aim to accomplish this week.
Why Share My Goals?
- To keep me accountable
- To share a piece of my life with you as I strive to be a better Child of God, Wife, Mom, Friend, Homemaker, Entrepreneur and the many other roles I have each week
- To have my goals consistently written down so I can gauge progress more accurately
- Create healthy habits in my life
- To encourage you to share your goals with me as you continue to grown and learn
How did you do this week on your goals? Feel free to share or link to your list of weekly goals.
The picture above is one that I created for my own purposes, however, The “SMART” acronym was originally coined 30 years ago by Peter Drucker in his classic work, Management by Results.
- Read the book Wonder’s First Race by Joanna Campbell to read to the kids – about halfway through the book
Sweet Treat from My Husband
There are so many reasons to be thankful for my husband! Not long ago he picked up a box of Dole’s Strawberry Dippers and brought them home for me. Such a sweetheart! The Dole Strawberry Dippers are frozen strawberry halves covered in dark chocolate! Absolutely…..DELICIOUS!!! Thank you baby for the special surprise! He knows me well! YOUR THE BEST!!!
Wishing You a Safe & Happy Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving!
Wishing you a truly amazing and safe Thanksgiving Holiday if you will be traveling to see family and friends! I am thankful for the many wonderful blessings in my life. This year we are thrilled to spend some time with our extended family over the Thanksgiving Holiday! It is not every year we are able to get together for Thanksgiving! We also get to celebrate with my youngest brother as he marries the love of his life this Thanksgiving weekend. So many reasons to be thankful!
I love this quote because even during the difficult times we can “be kind, be thoughtful, be genuine, but most of all be thankful”. What a great reminder not just for Thanksgiving Day, but for everyday of our lives!
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