Celebrating Dad!
Yes, I know I am a little late in posting about Father’s Day, but I promise we did celebrate it! In fact we are packing in so much fun this summer it is going by too quickly. For Father’s Day the girls made Jake breakfast in bed! They were so sweet!
The girls put together a scrumptious Father’s Day breakfast! Complete with cashews, homemade Egg McMuffin, blueberry yogurt, granny smith apples, cottage cheese, and a twizzler heart with Jelly Beans inside. I don’t know if the lighting was off or what but none of my breakfast in bed pictures turned out! 🙁 So moving on to the main meal of the day….another special treat for Dad!
Daddy and his girls after church!
Special Strawberry Fruit Punch for our drinks!
Happy Father’s Day Jake! Wishing you an amazing, relaxing, and super fun day! Thank you for being such an awesome Dad to our girls! You’re the BEST!!! We decided to enjoy our meal on the deck under the canopy. We’ve been loving our meal times outside lately!
Dinner – cube steak covered in cheese, sauteed onions and mushrooms in a hoagie roll, green beans, and salad!
Daddy opening his cards and gifts!
Watching MiP run around, fascinating!
A robot on the counter.
MiP carrying some legos!
Skipper even joined us up on the deck for the Father’s Day festivities. She is not allowed to beg and has to sit or lay quietly during meal time. She did well. At some point during the dinner Brina went searching for her napkin…..this is where it was found (under Skipper’s head)! Guess she needed a pillow / drool napkin during dinner!
Extra “SnowCATION” with the Kids!
Really concentrating on her throw!
In South Carolina we really don’t get a lot of snow. If we get a sprinkle here or there everyone gets excited and we might have a day or two off from school. Also, it is likely that many people will lose power. Somehow the last few years we have been lucky and haven’t lost our power! We haven’t have a big snow storm in South Carolina for several years. The girls have been waiting, hoping, and wishing for snow all winter. Their wishes came true this week.
We have several inches of snow and they have been out of school since Tuesday. They think its AWESOME they got an unexpected 6 day weekend or Snowcation (snow-vacation) in the middle of the school year. They have been having a BLAST playing outside several hours every day. It has been a lot of fun having them home and spending extra time with them this week too. Jake was home for most of those days too, but he still had to work. One of the “benefits” of having a job that he can work from home at times, but he got to join in on the fun here and there (we didn’t leave him out)!
One of the snowy morning the girls and Jake were up at the break of dawn to work and play. Their three smiling faces were first thing I saw this morning as they were bringing me breakfast in bed! Snow days are rated pretty high in my book already, but this makes them even better!!! I had a great breakfast of fresh strawberries, yogurt, cashews, homemade Egg McMuffin, and a huge glass of ice water. Feeling very blessed! Love my family!
Karlie all smiles! She got her wish of a big winter snow storm so she could play for several days in the snow!
Brina very excited to have a snow day. Snow is always fun and it gives them a little break from school. She loves playing outside with her animals (as you can see Skipper is loving the attention too)!
Karlie was definitely more into snowball fights this year. You had to watch out because every time you turned around another snowball would be zooming right at you followed by lots of giggles!
Here it comes! DUCK!
Here she comes again! LOOK OUT!
Skipper was excited to be out and playing in the snow with the kids all week too!
There’s just something about time spent playing in the snow followed by a good hot cup of hot chocolate or apple cider. Of course, the marshmallow and candy cane stir stick was an added bonus!
Gingerbread men and sugar cookies hit the spot too!
Snack time!Chef Brina
Brina loves helping in the kitchen. The other day she wanted to make blueberry pancakes for breakfast. She did Christmas shapes and the letters for each family member which was a lot of fun. The pancakes turned out amazing. She did an awesome job making breakfast. Love seeing my girls get excited about helping in the kitchen. They are growing up fast and learning so much. I have really been enjoying having my girls home for the Christmas Holiday.
My snowman pancake made by Brina
Jake got a candy cane – the red is blended strawberries (love using strawberries on our pancakes!)
Thankful for My Family and so Much More!
Thankful for sweet girls who made me a “special” breakfast.
There is magic at our house! Every night I lay out all the non-perishable items (cups, plates, bread, english muffins, or bagels, etc…) that I need to make breakfast the next morning, however, this week by the time I get to the kitchen breakfast has been made for the whole family and the kids are already eating! It’s like breakfast has magically appeared every morning (and there’s no mess either)! This morning I must have been extra good because I got more than the normal Tuesday Toast! Thankful for my sweet girls! I saved the sweets that they gave me for breakfast for later so I could share them!
Thankful for kids who love making crafts and expressing their appreciation
Karlie’s turkey from school. She had the most turkey feathers out of all the students in her class, her reason “I have so much to be THANKFUL for in my life!” Not sure if you can read the feathers they say – friends, social studies, love, food, life to live, teacher, pets & animals, family
Thankful for hot chocolate
Made hot chocolate and apple cider for my two chickies since it was a cold and rainy afternoon. They enjoyed their hot treat after school.
Thankful for a husband who plays games with the family
We figured out that Jake has the steadiest hand in our family. Karlie is watching him carefully so she’ll be ready for her next turn.
Thankful for kids who enjoy playing games
We played Kerplunk and Jenga tonight. After a few close calls we did manage to get quite a tall Jenga tower before it came crashing down. Here’s a picture of Brina focusing on her turn. Thankful for some fun with the family tonight!
There is so much to be thankful for today and really every day of my life!
CONGRATULATIONS to Our Panera Bread Gift Card Winner!
The name has been drawn for the giveaway!
CONGRATULATIONS to
Elena
for winning a
Panera Bread Gift Card!
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Enjoy your next trip to Panera Bread!
Don’t forget to enter our next Giveaway (the next giveaway will be announced later this morning)!
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Love It – Cuisinart CPB-300 Compact Portable Blender & Chopper
My husband bought me a Cuisinart Blender a little over a year ago and I LOVE it! He got me a Cuisinart CPB-300 SmartPower 15-Piece Compact Portable Blending/Chopping System and it has been a huge hit with the whole family. The best part is it is compact and comes with four 16 ounce single smoothie cups as well as a bigger blender. I will often whip up a quick smoothie for myself for breakfast or a snack as I am walking out the door.
I have used this blender A LOT and it has held up very well (its still in great condition). Before this one I went through 2 KitchenAid Blenders which were much bigger and I didn’t use them nearly as often because it was harder to clean. I cannot say enough good things about this blender.
I have made a lot of different recipes with this Cuisinart. The fruit smoothies are my favorite! I have enjoyed experimenting with smoothies and have discovered how easy it is to make smoothies at home.
The girls will often request a smoothie for a special treat or snack too (so I am not the only one who loves the Cuisinart Blender). I have included some of our favorites smoothie recipes.
Smoothie Recipes
- Green Spinach Smoothie
- Hot Pink Smoothie
- Special Strawberry Smoothie
- Quick Orange Julius Smoothie
- Mixed Fruit Smoothie
- Sweetheart Strawberry Smoothie
- Quick Breakfast Smoothie
Product Specifics
• Sleek electronic touchpad with LED indicator lights
• Powerful 350-watt motor
• High, Low and Pulse controls
• Standby mode; safety interlock and auto stop features
• BS housing with stainless steel front pane
• BPA-free Tritan 32-oz. blender jar, 8-oz. chopping cup, and set of four 16-oz. travel cups
• Patented ultra-sharp stainless steel blades
• Two interchangeable blade assemblies: blending blade and chopping blade
• Recipe Book
• Dishwasher safe
• Limited 3-year warranty
Are you ready for a smoothie?
“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!
Ham & Potato Casserole (Regular or Dairy & Egg Free Recipes)
Our family had ham over the Thanksgiving Holiday so we had a little bit leftover to make some more delicious meals. I decided to make a ham casserole recipe and it was a hit with my family. Since I had some ham I was using up I made one casserole to eat right away and put together another one to freeze for a later meal. It was a big hit with the whole family (two thumbs up) from everyone. I made the dairy and egg free recipe, but I included both so you can choose what you want to do for your family. The directions for both are the same only the ingredients between the two recipes vary slightly.
Ham & Potato Casserole (Regular Ingredients Recipe)
- 4 cups frozen shredded Hashbrown Potatoes
- 1/4 cup finely chopped Onion (or 1/8 cup Dry Minced Onions)
- 8 ounces Ham, cubed
- 2 cups shredded Cheddar Cheese (or a cheddar blend)
- 1 can (12 fl. oz.) Evaporated Milk
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon Seasoned Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground Pepper
Ham & Potato Casserole (Dairy & Egg Free Ingredients Recipe)
- 4 cups frozen shredded Hashbrown Potatoes
- 1/4 cup finely chopped Onion (or 1/8 cup Dry Minced Onions)
- 8 ounces Ham, cubed
- 2 cups shredded Soy Cheddar Cheese
- 16 ounces Soy Milk (boiled down to 12 ounces)
- 1 Egg substitute
- 1 teaspoon Seasoned Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground Pepper
Grease 8-inch-square baking dish. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
LAYER 1/2 potatoes, 1/2 onion, 1/2 ham and 1/2 cheese (or cheddar or soy cheese) in prepared baking dish and repeat layers. Combine evaporated milk, egg (or egg substitute), pepper, and seasoned salt in small bowl. Pour liquid mixture evenly over the casserole.
Cover and bake for 55 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Layered Ham & Potato Casserole ready to be put in the oven
Although, we ate this casserole for lunch it would be a great breakfast or brunch recipe to use for your family or when you have house guests. Since we have a little one that is not eating dairy or eggs I made the egg and dairy free version for our family, but I also included what you would use for a regular recipe
No Eating Turtles…..Well Most of the Time!
Mint Chocolate Chip Turtle
Occasionally the girls have fun making little “creatures” with their food. Recently, they decided to make turtles out of their mint chocolate chip pancakes. They used peanut butter for the eyes and cheese sticks for the legs. It is always neat seeing them get creative with their food especially when they eat all their breakfast! Do your kids get creative with their food?
Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4
It was my fifth full week of doing my new cash budget system – Groceries $40 for 4. This week I was super busy so for the most part we ate from what we had in the fridge, freezer and the pantry. I think it is important to have these weeks where we utilize our food stockpile. Although, it is nice to stock up during the weeks it is equally rewarding having the opportunity to be more creative with the food we have on hand. I even made and delivered a meal for someone in our church this week with the food on hand without making a run to the grocery store for extra ingredients. It felt great saving some of the grocery shopping cash this week too especially since I had a couple higher weeks in the past. Below are my grocery shopping adventures for the week!
Bi-Lo Groceries Grcoeries from Bi-Lo:
- $7.02 at Bi-Lo for 1 gallon of Skim Milk, 1 gallon of 2% Milk, and 1 loaf of bread.
In our fifth week of the challenge – Groceries $40 for 4 we spent $7.02 so it was a pretty good week regarding saving extra grocery cash. We did better this week because I didn’t have the extra time to go grocery shopping and we ate from our pantry. Although I wasn’t able to stock up on a few extra items this week it was wonderful being able to eat some of the items we already had in our fridge and pantry! Last week we stocked up on milk and I froze it, however, I didn’t pull it out in time for it to thaw enough to drink otherwise we wouldn’t have even purchased the milk this week. Oh well….you win some and lose some! I was thrilled to see Bi-Lo still had their milk under $3 so everything went well. I am still trying to work out all the details of how to make the budget most effective for our family and I think we need some weeks have been easier than others. We’ll see how I do next week and yes it’s another busy week!
It is my goal to give you regular updates on this budget section so you can celebrate the good weeks with me and thump me on the bad weeks! As always you are welcomed to join the journey with me. I would love to hear your story and how you are doing too. The purpose of our family doing this it to watch our grocery spending while allowing us to feed our family, enjoy life, share with others, and yet stay on track with our budget.
Living on a Budget is a series of ways our family uses a budget to help keep us accountable with our finances. Life doesn’t always go as planned. We have used some of the ideas I will be sharing for years while others are ones we are just starting to implement as we continue finding ways to be creative and have fun with what we have been given. Having a plan in place allows us the freedom to be smart with what we have been given, get more creative when it is a tight (week, month, year or a season) and when necessary live a much more simplified life. A budget helps us stay on track so we have more opportunities to enjoy the many blessings we have been given as well as share what we have with others. There is so much more to life than having all the stuff. We may not have the newest or greatest items in our house, we drive used cars, and wear hand-me-down clothing…..however, if our family is taken care of and have love for each other and others we have more than all the riches in the world.
Life Simplified: Set the Timer!
It has been a really busy few weeks and I don’t anticipate that it will slow down any time soon (maybe in May). The girls and I will be traveling over their Spring Break so I have a lot to get done before our fun time begins. If you are like me I want everything to be caught up before I leave on a trip – bills paid, house cleaned, emails returned, inbox empty, garden planted and weeded, etc…. however, the “to do” list is generally much longer than the hours available in the day. When I am working on a project I want to stick to it until it is completely finished. There are major benefits having this personality, however, the downside is that I may get that one project completed but there are 27 other projects that haven’t even been started.One of the ways that has helped me stay on task and be more productive (I have been using this a lot lately) is to set the timer. I have a small timer that I can take with me from room to room. My timer has been well used the past few weeks, I even lost it for a couple days while getting ready for the yard sale! I anticipate it will continue to be used in the upcoming weeks as well as I prepare to travel with the kids. I set the timer for an increment of time to help motivate me and keep me focused on getting the task done. When the timer goes off that means I am done with that project for the moment and need to move onto the next task (which can be very hard for me at times especially if I am really close to finishing the task I am currently working on). Here is an example of some of the activities I do during a day with my timer (every day is different so this just an example of activities I set the timer for throughout the day):
- 30 minutes – Exercise
- 45 minutes – Quiet Time
- 10 minutes – Prep for Dinner
- 10 minutes – Eat Breakfast
- 30 minutes – Check & Respond to Emails (sometimes I do this 2 to 3 times a day)
- 60 minutes – Blog Posts
- 60 minutes – Work Projects
- 30 minutes – Pick Up the House
- 60 minutes – Fold & Put Away All Laundry for the week on Laundry Day
- 30 minutes – Lunch
- 45 minutes – Homework with the Girls
- 45 minutes – Make Dinner
- 30 minutes – Dinner Clean Up and Wash Dishes
- 15 minutes – Packs Lunches for the Next Day
- 30 minutes – Clipping Coupons
- 30 minutes – Matching Coupons with Weekly Ads
- 30 minutes – Pay Bills & Balance Accounts
- 10 minutes – Power Clean My Desk (or on some days find my desk)
If I get to all the tasks that had on my list that day I will reward myself with 30 minutes of “free” time which usually means spending extra time with the family, reading, writing, or something else rewarding yet beneficial. A lot of times during breakfast or lunch I will spend time reading or answering emails as well. I have found that days when I work on the computer I don’t get anything done in the house and days that I spend concentrating on home projects I don’t get any work done so as in my attempt to try and balance life a little bit more the timer has become a fun trick that works well for me. Although the computer work is important I do have some moments when I get sidetracked by a great article or Facebook or something else and before I know it the time has flown by and an hour has passed (same things happens on home projects). The timer helps me track the time better and alerts me especially when I have gotten distracted from the task at hand. I do not set the timer for family time or family oriented meals and tasks because those are important for the entire family.
Now if I could only find a way to set a timer for travel time, shopping and waiting to check out, ha! Although I must say I am becoming a little more efficient in shopping too by only going directly to the items I need and not “browsing” through the entire store. Not everything works well with setting a timer but there are some tasks I noticed will consume larger amounts of time if I don’t put a time limit on them.
How do you balance it all as a Wife, Mom, Business Person, etc…? Do you have other ways that help you stay on task?
Photo by ellie
