Family

  • Book: “The Five Love Languages of Children” by Gary Chapman

    When Jake and I went to marriage counseling over 11 years ago we were encouraged to read “The Five Love Languages” for married couples by Gary Chapman.  Several years ago I read The Five Love Languages of Children and decided to read it again recently.  I tend to read several books at once so I started this one again a couple weeks ago as a refresher.  As the girls get older I want to continue finding ways to both encourage them and show them that I love them.  The Five Love Languages are the same ones that are discussed in Chapman’s other book but he applies it to raising children.   The following are the five languages with examples (some examples are from the book, others are ones I came up with).

    1. Quality Time – Spend one on one time with each child, go on Mother Daughter Date Night, work together on a project
    2. Words of Affirmation – encourage them through words, praise them for a job well done, put a “love you” note in their lunch box
    3. Gifts – give gifts as an act of love, cherish the gifts or pieces of artwork they give you, buy a box of their favorite cereal and give it to them as a “I was thinking of you” gift
    4. Acts of Service – doing something for them, making them lunch, picking up their room
    5. Physical Touch – a hug, pat on the back, walking and holding their hands

    One thing that I like about the book is it encourages parents to not only focus on their child’s primary love language (which can change throughout life) but to make sure to show love through all five love languages so their emotional love tank is full.  After reading through most of the book again I went to a parent event at the girls school and the speaker talked about the principles taught in this book.  I was thrilled to hear such an amazing message was being presented to the parents of students in the public school.  I hope and pray the girls know how much a truly love them.  I am willing to go the extra mile to find ways to be a better Mom to them.  If you are looking for a book to read on raising children this one would be a great one to check out.

  • Recipe: Beef Enchiladas

    It has been a long time since I have made enchiladas, but a few weeks ago I picked up some Corn Tortillas on clearance for $0.50 and as I was looking for a good recipe to use them with when enchiladas came to mind.  In the past I have used regular flour tortillas to make enchiladas so this was a new one for me.  The recipe I am sharing is adapted from Rockin Robin’s Cooking Mexican Recipes.  I didn’t make the sauce from scratch as they suggested (mine came from cans we already had in the pantry).  I added extra hamburger to our recipe and I used a mix of cheeses (mozzarella, cheddar, and swiss) because much to my surprise our shredded cheese was running low.  The recipe turned out delicious!  I made half for us to eat for dinner and froze the other half for a busy day later in the month or to share with someone.   The girls had two helpings and LOVED the enchiladas! Brina was a huge help in putting them together, thankful for my little kitchen helper.

    Beef Enchilada Recipe:

    • 2 pounds Ground Hamburger
    • 1/4 cup chopped Sweet Onion
    • 2 cans Enchilada Sauce
    • 12 Corn Tortillas
    • 12 oz shredded Cheddar, Mozzarella, Swiss Cheese (you can use a combination or just one type)

    1.  Cook your ground hamburger with chopped onions and seasonings of your choice (I cooked our hamburger in the crockpot during the day while we were at work and school. I did add the onions with a touch of taste seasoning and garlic to the ground hamburger.)  Once your hamburger is cooked drain the oil and set aside.

    2.  Put the cans of Enchilada Sauce in a sauce pan and set on simmer so it is warm (make sure the pan you chose is large enough to put a corn tortilla in it with the sauce.)

    3.  Preheat a deep fryer to 350 degrees or put about 1/2 inch of oil in a frying pan and heat.  Once the oil is hot submerge one corn tortilla in the oil for 10 to 30 seconds until it starts to bubble. (Make sure to take it out once it starts bubbling because it could get too hard and you will not be able to roll your enchilada).

    4.  Remove the corn tortilla from the oil let it drip for a few seconds then put it into the enchilada sauce, flip it over to coat both sides.  Add the hamburger in the middle of the corn tortilla and roll.  Put it immediately into the baking dish.  Continue until all enchiladas are done.

    5.  Cover the rolled enchiladas with remaining sauce and cover with shredded cheese.  Bake at 400 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling.

    Enchilada's covered in cheese

    Our family enjoys cheese!  Brina had fun helping “spread” the cheese over the enchilada’s!

    One batch of enchiladas for dinner the other went into the freezer for a busy day later this month or to share with someone else.

    I enjoy being able to stock the deep freezer with some good meals whenever possible.  If I have the items necessary I will often make a double batch or split the recipe for dinner by making half for dinner and freezing the other half for a busy day in the future.  Our church makes meals for families with newborns or when family members are in the hospital or have surgery.  It helps having a few extra homemade meals in the freezer available to share with those around us.

  • Amazon.com: 4-for-3 Book Promotion includes Adventures in Odyssey Imagination Station Books

    Amazon is running a 4-for-3 Promotion!  This is a great sale to stock up on some items for your family or purchase a few gifts for the Holidays!   Buy Three Books, Get the Fourth Free on any four eligible books under $10 in our 4-for-3 Books Store and we’ll give you the lowest-price book free at checkout. Stock up and save on the titles you love.

    Amazon has the Adventures in Odyssey Imagination Station Books are included in their 4-for-3 Promotion!  When you buy four different books, you only pay for the price of three.  They have a lot of books included in this deal so not all of them need to be the Imagination Station books.  If you do buy 4 Imagination Station books the total will be $14.97 (or $3.74 each).  Shipping is free with an Amazon Mom account or when you spend $25 on qualified items.   To bring your total down even more use your Swagbucks Amazon Gift Cards to get gifts for the kids on your list for the upcoming Holidays!

    Our family loves reading.  Anyone that has been to our house knows we enjoy books from the kids on up.  One of the girls favorite activities is to have Dad or Mom read them a story.  A lot of times during the day we will read picture or smaller books and at night we read from a chapter book.  These books are great and it gives us an opportunity to get a couple for Christmas at a great price especially once you apply those Swagbuck Amazon Gift Cards if you haven’t already done so you can sign up today and start earning, for more information on how to get started go to Swagbucks: Earning a Little Extra!

    Thanks Money Saving Mom!

  • Breakfast for Dinner – Whole Grain Blueberry Pancakes!

    Whole Grain Pancakes with Fresh Blueberries!

    Sometimes we like to mix life up a little bit and do breakfast for dinner.  We received a delicious whole grain pancake mix from a business client and decided it was time to enjoy it.  The mix came from a local mill and it was delicious!  I added some fresh blueberries that were on clearance and in the freezer.    I wish I saved the package this amazing pancake mix came in because the whole family enjoyed the whole grain pancakes just as much or more than the regular pancakes.  Even though the mix came in a small bag it made a TON of pancakes.  I just made up the whole bag thinking it would be enough for the evening meal because our girls have been known to eat 3 to 5 pancake for dinner and we probably had 75 pancakes, I was not expecting that many.  The girls loved it because I froze a bunch of them for breakfasts over the next several weeks.  I am thankful for the thoughtfulness of our clients for sharing these goodies with us.

    My little princess checking on the pancakes!

    Do you ever mix up the meal schedule and have breakfast for dinner?  What is your favorite breakfast food to serve at dinner for your family?  If you are looking for a fun and practical gift for your clients this along with some syrup in a pretty bag or bucket would be a wonderful gift!

     

  • Free ebook: “Money Saving Mom’s Guide to Freezer Cooking” by Crystal Paine

    You can get a FREE ebook of Money Saving Mom’s Guide to Freezer Cooking by Crystal Paine through tomorrow (11/17/11).  If you have been wanting to try your hand at freezer cooking, curious how it works, or you just want to learn more tips from another person who has implanted Freezer Cooking for her family this is a great eBook for you!  The Money Saving Mom’s Guide to Freezer Cooking eBook contains 45 pages of step-by-step freezer cooking information from planning your freezer cooking session, what freezes well, the benefits of freezer cooking, favorite family recipes, and much more!

    There are 2 ways you can get the FREE eBook Money Saving Mom’s Guide to Freezer Cooking:

    1.  Pre-Order Crystal Paine’s new book The Money Saving Mom’s Budget: Slash Your Spending, Pay Down Your Debt, Streamline Your Life, and Save Thousands a Year online.

    OR

    2.  Promote her new book The Money Saving Mom’s Budget: Slash Your Spending, Pay Down Your Debt, Streamline Your Life, and Save Thousands a Year on your Blog, Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest..

    After you have pre-ordered, blogged, tweeted, Facebooked or pinned about The Money Saving Mom®’s Budget  send an email to support@moneysavingmom.com with your pre-order receipt # or a link to where you posted about my book. Within 24 hours, you will receive a free copy of  Money Saving Mom®’s Guide to Freezer Cooking.

    I have started reading a pre-release copy of Crystal’s new book The Money Saving Mom’s Budget and I have to say so far I have been impressed.  It is practical, genuine, and in some ways convicting (in a good way because we all have areas we really could do better in). 🙂  Keep an eye out as I will be sharing more of my thoughts on her new book in a few days!

    You can head on over to Money Saving Mom for more information about this promotion, her blog, or to learn more about her new book.

  • Family Fun with Silly String!

    The girls found some leftover silly string that we had and wanted to “surprise” Daddy when he came home from work. Somehow they managed to get the silly string all over themselves and Skipper, Jake only got a few strings on him. It was something fun to do before heading into dinner and brought a lot of giggles. Of course Jake knew something was up as soon as he arrived home and heard the girls giggling non-stop…..

    Karlie covered in Silly String

     Karlie wearing her library reading metal and a bunch of silly string. It was hilarious watching them try to squirt Daddy, each other and Skipper!

    Brina on the run!! I never did catch a one of her standing still which is why this one is blurry.

    Brina was pretty good at escaping silly string.  If any would get on her she would quickly pick it off and put it on someone else, including Skipper.  Loved hearing them come up with this “plan” to surprise Daddy and hearing their giggles as they ran around the yard.

    Skipper getting gained up on with silly string!

    Skipper really didn’t know what to do with all the silly string.  She was a good sport letting the girls spray her and running around the yard with the rest of the family.  I think Skipper probably got the majority of the silly string because she had the best reaction.  Thankful for a dog that puts up with the goofy kiddos!

    Even though Daddy was the initial target he stayed pretty clean!

    I did warn him to take off his work shirt prior to getting out of the car.  The silly string was fun but I wasn’t sure if it would stain.  It probably would have been fine but no sense making more work for me on laundry day.

  • Kid Crafts: Decorative Gift Bags

    Decorative Gift Bags - "Tilted Heart with Wings", "Flower", and "Happy Star, Butterfly, & Race Car"

    The girls loved this craft because it is fun and easy. The last time they did it they were occupied for hours and they managed to make several really cute decorative gift bags.  The neat part about using wallpaper is the different designs are beautiful themselves you really don’t need to add much to the gift bags (you can see the butterfly got it an antenna and the star got a face but otherwise just plain they look pretty).  This kid craft helps with stimulating creative juices from picking out the color and pattern of wallpaper to cutting, gluing, and putting their pieces on their special bag.  The bags above are a few of the ones the girls did recently.  I am thinking about having them do a few more for the Christmas Season.

    What you Need:

    • Wallpaper Samples or craft paper
    • Cookie Cutters
    • Pencils
    • Scissors
    • Glue
    • Paper Bags
    Wallpaper Samples from a local store

    We got these papers from wallpaper sample books that we’ve had for several years (they have been loved as you can see).  We were able to get them when the store was throwing them out.  You can go to Home Depot, Walmart, Lowe’s, any Fabric Store and ask if you can have their old wallpaper sample books.  Most of them would rather give them to you then throw them away or recycle them.  The wallpaper pages make great craft paper!

    A variety of cookie cutters

    I got out a variety of cookie cutters and put them in a sheet cake pan so they were spread out a little more.  The girls had fun digging through the cookie cutters to find one to use for their gift bags.

    Brina laying out her design

    Brina would trace her cookie cutter, cut out the design, then lay out the items on the table before gluing them to her decorative gift bag.

    Karlie proud of her colorful butterfly

    Karlie is busy watching what Brina was doing while showing me her butterfly.  I let the girls do whatever they wanted to do and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at how well the bags turned out especially for 6 year olds putting them together.  More importantly they had a blast doing the craft together.  They were excited to put goodies in their decorative gift bags and share them with others.