Friend Makin Mondays

Over at

It is again FRIEND MAKIN MONDAYS!!!

Today is all about Spring Trends

This will be quick today (have to take my mini me to gymnastics)

My fav spring trends are:

1. Having a nice tan
2. Flip Flops and painted toes. (NEVER wear flip flops w/o toes painted...)
3. Flowing dresses
4. or shorts, t, and a baseball hat. (for those relaxing days outside)
5. Reading a book in the hammock with a glass of sweet tea
6. The LONG daylight hours!

Well there is just a quick list. I am sure I will be thinking of others all day now.

Thanks for stopping by! Talk to ya'll soon!

Spring has Sprung!

YAH!!!! Spring is here finally! Well, here in the south it can be 40 degrees one day and then the next be 70. Only in the south... But ya gotta love it. Hopefully it will stay this nice now cause little league baseball has started and I have 2 boys who play on different teams..... UGH.... Glad my daughter only does gymnastics and it is currently only in the morning.
Well, the air is warm and the POLLEN is here. That is the one thing I HATE about spring. Those allergy shots I took for years did not help a wink with the tree pollen.
Well, going outside now to play with the kiddos and then off to baseball practice!

Talk with ya'll later!

Friend Making Monday

I just found this from a blog and thought I would give it a try. Fairly new to blogging and am addicted to seeing everyone elses....
Here is where I found it: {aefilkins} or amberfilkins.blogspot

Here goes nothing!

I AM

I AM... a stay at home mom
I THINK... this has been a long day
I SHOULD... start getting ready for tomorrow
I DREAM... of a good night's sleep
I WANT... my youngest boy to feel better soon (he has strep throat)
I KNOW... That God loves me and is ever forgiving
I DON'T LIKE... when my kids are sick
I SMELL... freshly bathed children
I HEAR... rerun of Real Housewives of New York
I FEAR... thunderstorms
I USUALLY... have tons to do
I SEARCH... for my keys all the time
I MISS... my grandfather who passed away in 2008 (he lived a long fulfilling life)
I ALWAYS... worry to much
I REGRET...
I WONDER... what my kids will grow up to be
I CRAVE... CHOCOLATE!!!
I REMEMBER... I have to go to the bank, post office, and errands tomorrow
I NEED... extra hours in the day
I FORGET... almost everything (thanks adhd and post it notes)
I FEEL... tired
I CAN... do a lot of things
I CAN'T... do a lot of things
I AM HAPPY... with my life
I LOSE... my mind...
I SING... only when by myself in the car. I can't carry a note..
I LISTEN... well lets just say I try to listen more than I talk...
I SHOP... by window
I EAT... on a diet (does that answer that one???)
I LOVE... My GOD, hubby, and children!

HAPPY MONDAY

My Journey

I am going to try my hardest to start blogging again. This time I actually have something that I am passionate about to blog about. As of February 9th, I started my weight lose journey! Started several times before but this time I have taken huge steps to make sure that is stays! I joined Curves on that day and have now been 1 month. I have lost 4 inches in a month!!! YAH!!!! That is huge. I have lost weight before but it never stayed away. I guess I left a return address everytime..... Well this time (because i am paying monthly also) I have not only changed my eatting but am working out at Curves. I have never worked out before so this has all been new to me. I never had a weight issue until after I had been married for about a year.

Well, weight, be afraid be very afraid!!!!!! I am going to be your worst nightmare!!!!

Misc.

Not really understanding how a newly elected president can get the Noble Peace Prize. He had only been elected 11 days before they voted for who would get the award. Just really don't understand......

Oh My!!!! Where Has The Time Gone

On My!! Where has the time gone. This summer has flown by. I started my own business selling Thirty-One gifts and have been so busy with that and keeping the kids entertained this summer. It is all about to wear me out.... Well hopefully this time, I can keep up better with my blogging.
As the old saying goes, If you fall off the horse you have to dust yourself off and get back on!!!

Wednesday Wonder

On our trip home from Florida, dear hubby used his GPS to navigate us to Disney and then back home. I sat there and listen to this lady tell us where to turn. If we got off on the wrong exit she would tell us where to turn around and get back on the right road. As I was listening, I thought God wants to be my GPS. I think of it as God's Positional System. He works the same way. When we get off track, he tries to tell us to get back on track. Instead of yelling at us in that monotone voice like the lady in the GPS, he tells us through his word "the BIBLE".
Just thought I would share what was on my little mind this morning before it got filled with needless things floating through like seperating clothes for laundry and cleaning the bathroom.
Thanks for stopping by.
See ya'll later.
Jenn

Blue Plate Monday

Finally getting back in the swing of things. Here is my recipe for the BLUE PLATE MONDAY (hosted by www.deniablydomestic.blogspot.com). Her blog is my favorite recipe blog stop.
Here is my recipe this week. After the heat got hot in Florida last week on vacation, I thought of this very simple, very quick, very sweet drink.
This is a great drink to have on a hot day outside while watching the kids play carefree, at a bbq or just by yourself on the porch reading a good book (for my-it is always something by James Patterson).

Watermelon Lemonade

All you do is take 1 pound of seedless watermelon and puree it. Then put into 1 quart lemonade. I love to have my lemonade just on the frosty side.

I have had this recipe for a while but this morning, found the same recipe in the Country Living Magazine. They have other great watermelon recipes in this months issue. So, check it out.

We're back!

We just got back this weekend from our week long first trip to DISNEY WORLD!!!! We absolutely loved it. We took our pirates (ages 8 and 5) and our little princess (age 3). To see the look on their faces was our dream come true as parents. It was a week we will never forget. Not only was the trip to Disney World memorable but me and the boys ended up getting sick the first part of the week. We have numerous pictures of the boys and I looking almost dead. We added in "rest"days so I am so glad we did.

I will add pictures up today after I tackle the mountain of laundry that still needs to be done and play catch up on the week of mail and bills.....

Our favorite place for character dining had to be 1900 Park Fare inside the Grand Floridian...... It was unbelievable. The meal was with Cinderella, Prince Charming, the step mother, and the step sisters. They were all just great and each one played the part so well. My favorite was Anastasia (one of the step sisters). She would go around screaming "I want my prince, where is my prince". They were all delightful and the kids (including the boys) just loved it.
Disney is truely the place where "Dreams come true". Scott and I both got a little weepy eyed when we left Magic Kingdom the last day. Just to know that we had taken our kids (especially our little princess) to see the castle was a moment I will never forget.

I recommend anyone with children to save money, do yard sales, whatever you have to do to take your children there at least one time.

We are already planning our next Disney vacation in 4 years. We did not even get to do a lot of the stuff. You really need at least 2 weeks to do all the parks, water parks, and add in rest day (trust me ya'll will need the rest days).

My suggestion for anyone planning a trip to Disney (whether soon or anytime in the next few years), you need to do research, make dinning reservations and plan, plan, and plan.... Luckly someone told me to make reservations for dinning in advance. You can make them 45 days ahead and you better because you would be surprised at how fast the character meals get booked. A trip to Disney takes a lot of preparation and planning but it is all worth it when you get there and all the hard leg work is done. We heard some people talk and they thought they could just come and just walk right in to the dinning places for character meals and you can NOT!!! The character meals are so worth it!!!!!!!! The planning and research made us feel like Disney pros. I have so many suggestions for planning, meals, and websites if anyone needs good preparation material. I will be glad to share all that I know to make it a magical adventure for you and your family.

The characters come to each table and sign books and take pictures with the children. I even had mine made with Prince Charming (my second prince charming if my dear husband is reading this, Scott you will always be my first prince charming). He paid for the vacation so I best be nice.

All I can say is Disney was great and my husband wants to go back right now with the kids. The 10 hour drive back is what killed me.......
See y'all later.
Jenn

Tuesday Tips

My Tuesday tip for today is homemade cleaners. I found a website (www.organizedhome.com) that has great natural homemade cleaners. These are great if you want a nice clean house but want to stay on a budget. I mop my floors with a vineagar and water solution. I have done this for years. It does not smell and does just as good as a nice mopping liquid. It is also better for my kids than any harmful other stuff. I am not a "treehugger", but I do watch out for my childrens health.
This site had a lot of great cleaner recipes. Having 2 or 3 natural products that are in your home beats having to spend a fortune on different products. Natural cleaners are great for budget, take up less space (less other cleaning products), and do not harm the kids or animals.
Leave a comment if you have a natural cleaning recipe and I would love to try it.
Talk at ya later
Jennifer

Blue Plate Monday

FRUIT PIZZA

Hi y'all. Been a while. But I am now back in the swing of things. I was thinking of a recipe to share and I thought of the Fruit Pizza. It is SOOOOOOO easy to make and everyone (kids and all) will love it. It is just a really quick and easy summer recipe that is great to take to summer bbq's or just a family picnic.
Hope y'all enjoy!
All you need is:
sugar cookie dough (I usually do the Pillsbury "already made up")
cream cheese (maybe about 2 cartons)
several diffrent kinds of fruit (I use-grapes,strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, and oranges)

All you need to do is spread the cookie dough on a pizza circle if you want it round (which is the way I do it) or you can use a rectangle cookie sheet. Make sure that you have a little lip of the edges to resemble pizza. Bake as instructed on the cookie carton. Make sure you watch, so that it does not burn. While it bakes I wash the fruit and cut it.
After you let it cool for about 45 minuites, spread the cream cheese all over it. Now all you need to do is place the fruit. Design it however you would like. I always start in the center and work out, but that is just me.

Check out the Original Blue Plate Monday blog (deniablydomestic.blogspot.com). She always has great things to share.

I hope y'all enjoy and as always talk at y'all later.
Jennifer

Sorry

Sorry for the delay in blogging. I have been busy with end of school things, planning for our Disney trip, and getting my Thirty-One business up and running. I am really loving the Thirty-One products and the Thirty-One company. I can't wait to start running with this. I will start my parties after Disney.
But, anyway, sorry for the delay. I hope to start blogging this afternoon or tomorrow. My middle child finished school last week and my oldest ends this school year next week. So hopefully I can play a little catch up this week on things.
Thanks for understanding.
See y'all later
Jennifer

My Thirty One Adventure

I am starting an additional new adventure. I had a Thirty One gift party the other night at my home and loved their stuff. I had heard of Thirty One before but never knew anyone who sold it. I finally found someone. I had known her from my son's old school and never knew she sold it. So, I prayed and talked to hubby and I felt God has given me a great opportunity. I am now a Thirty One consultant. I can't wait to get started.

Great Giveaway

Over at http://http://hersoutherncharm.blogspot.com/2009/05/my-100th-blog-post-and-giveaway.html#comment-form, she has a really cool giveaway for her 100th post. I would sure as the world check it out if I were ya. It is the cutest thing.
See y'all
Jennifer

Yard Sale Find

My mother had a yard sale this weekend and I got 2 of her plates that were for sale (good things is I did not have to pay for them, FREE). I just LOVE my mom.
But anyway, fell in LOVE with them. I did not even know she had these. I am not sure where she had them. I love them b/c they are toile patterned and of course the transfer red or aka pink.
One of the plates is fairly new and I am not sure of the other one. The older one is very fragle and seems very old. It seems to be bone china, with "crack marks" on the clear enamel of it. I am included pictures of both plates and the back of the older plate. If someone know anything about the older plate please leave a comment or email me. I would love to know a little about this plate.
The back of the older plate has the crown, Johnson Bros, England and Old Britain Castles, with a 20 printed off to the side. The front is of Windsor in 1792. PLEASE HELP!
Thanks y'all
Jennifer

Blue Plate Monday

Hey again. Glad the weekend is over. We had a tough weekend here. My oldest soon was hit in the head with a baseball bat at our youngest sons t-ball game. He is ok. No serious injury and he does have a knot on the outside (very good sign, at least the knot did not go in), but it was a scary thing for me, as his mom. I do not think I have gotten any sleep worring about him.
Well anyway, this weeks recipe for the Blue Plate Monday (hosted by deniablydomestic.blogspot.com). I have a CHOCOLATE PIE that can be made "light" or "full sugar". This is so easy to make and is made quickly.
All you need is a large box of Chocolate pudding mix (and the milk according to the box) and a already made graham cookie pie crust. After you make the pudding according to the box, you pour it into the pie shell and chill for a couple of hours and then eat. You can add whip topping to the top but my kids just love it without. If made with the sugar free, you want feel so bad eatting it. Hope you enjoy and have a great week!
See y'all later
Jennifer

Household Notebook

Being a busy mom can sometimes cause me to forget a lot of things. I call it pregnant brain that has never went away.... To help me with things to remember, I have a 3 ring notebookwith everything in it that I could possible need to get in a hurry. It is a very simple thing to do and it could help husbands during those times that mom is sick or away (which hardly has a chance to happen here. I am still waiting on my "sick" days and "vacation" days). But, if something were to happen my husband knows that this notebook has every piece of info that he would need to "carry" the family until I was back to running this well oilled machine.
In the notebook I have divided it up with simple tabbed dividers into these catagories..
Bill- in this section I have a chart of the monthly bills and a section that has the date it is paid.
Budget This is where our household budget table is.
Important Phone Numbers Just the numbers that I would need at moments notice.
Family Medical Info There is a health info form for each person that list meds, doctors numbers, and any allergies or surgeries.
Birthday and Anniversary List
Misc. This tab has any info I need without having to search for it. Mine currently has a page of room paint colors (we are currently trying to paint the rooms in the house and I have a page that list the paint color, room, and where the paint is bought from).
Website info This contains websites that I visit on a regular basis with the password and user ids on it. Like I said my memory is very little....
PaperThis tab has notebook paper for emergency doodling...
I hope that this will help someone. It doesn't have to be nice just a notebook that keeps everything handy and easy for someone else to grab and take over the family if needed. It is a manual for the running of our home. This is my frugal way of doing this instead of having to buy one of those "too nice to write in" fancy books with dividers in it that I do not need.
If you have a family notebook I would love for you to share your ideas.

See ya'll later
Jennifer

Recipe Monday (April 27th)

My recipe today is again a Southern Comfort Food. I give you CROCK POT MAC AND CHEESE. This is so good the day after also. I love it because you can make it and forget about it. This is my variation that I tinkered with to get it to the way my family loves. This is also a great dish to take to pot luck dinners.

Crock Pot Mac and Cheese
1 (8 oz.) box of large macaroni noodles
1 Can of evaporated milk
1/2 stick of butter
4 1/2 cups Freshly shredded charp cheddar cheese
2 cups regular milk
2 eggs
2 tbsp. oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cook macaroni until almost done (do not overcook). Mix all other ingredients together. Take a paper towel and dip into the oil and grease the inside of crock-pot. Mix macaroni and mixture into crock-pot. Cook on low for about 3 hours. Stirring occasionaly during so it doesn't stick to crock-pot. Enjoy!

See y'all later.
Jennifer

Miss California

I just have to give props to Miss California. I did not watch the Miss USA pageant (I am not a fan of the Miss USA organization), but I did catch her on the Today Show. I am glad she stood up for her faith values. I think that took a lot of courage and faith to step on that limb. I am a conservative Christian and believe the same way she said it. I do believe that the sacred commitment of marriage should only be between a man and a woman. So many times people in competitions of that nature are "coached" to say what will get the most votes and she believed her faith was more important than the "earthly" crown she might have own.
She may not have won a crown on this earth but I can tell you she knows her real crown awaits her in Heaven..... That is what it all comes down too. I love to iron and when I do, it reminds me that in this world everybody has their wrinkles and our God is such a loving God that he forgives us of our "wrinkles". One day we will get to Heaven and no one will have the wrinkles of our life. God presses us new and the wrinkles fad away. My only goal on this earth is to be a servant through the Lord and tell about his everlasting love for all of us (our wrinkles and all).
So, with all that venting over, I stand and applaud Miss California for saying it like it is...
See y'all later.
Jennifer

Blue Plate Monday

This is my first "Blue Plate Monday". I found this on the site http://deniablydomestic.blogspot.com/. I thought I would share my, what I call, "Cornbread
Plus" recipe. I took my regular cornbread recipe and added mayonaise.

My husband likes cornbread but a couple of years ago he was getting choked on it because of its texture. After a couple of years of battling what doctors called reflux, he was diagnosed with Achalasia. Achalasia is when a virus attacks the nerves and muscles is the esphogus and kills them. He will never regain the nerves and muscles, so it is very hard for him to eat certain things. So, this is how I came up with the recipe to add mayo to the cornbread.

The mayo keeps it a little more "together" than grainy. Cornbread is such a southern staple. You can cook cornbread and eat it with beans on top or you can have it as muffins with your meal. I usually have black eyed peas or pintos with ours. We crumble up the cornbread and spread the beans with some of the bean juice on top of the crumbled up cornbread.

If you love southern food, this should be a recipe to try. It is extremely easy. As I say, "If I can make it, anyone can".

2 Cups of Self-Rising Yellow Corn Meal Mix
1 ¼ cups of Whole Milk
1 medium Egg
¼ cup All Purpose Shortening
1 Heaping Tablespoon Mayonaise

Preheat oven to 400 degreees. Measure out shortening and put into an iron skillet. Place skillet in hot oven for about 5 minutes or until shortening is completely melted. In a large bowl crack egg and into it add the milk. Mix together. Then, add corn meal mix. Mix until smooth. Lastly, add the mayo just until mixed in with the mixture. Add to hot skillet. Place in oven and bake for about 25 minutes. When done add butter to top for delicious Cornbread.

Hope you enjoy and see y'all later.
Jennifer