An easy and yummy supper for those busy nights.

Tonight was the first night of Girl Scouts for H. So that means that Thursday nights we will be eating a little later AND Friday nights we have to eat earlier to get out the door for Awana. Needless to say, I felt like I needed to start pulling out the crock pot recipes in order to have things ready and keep things simple.

Luckily, I read this awesome recipe on Shawna's blog the other day for Taco Soup. Being a family that loves Mexican food we just had to try it. Well, it was FABULOUS! Course the girls didn't eat much of it but they aren't really soup eaters anyway. But I loved it! I threw everything in the crock pot mid-afternoon and it was all ready when we got home at 6:15. I served it with multigrain tostitos (they were VERY yummy!) and some shredded mexican cheese. This recipe is also low in fat ...and I substituted ground turkey since that was what I had on hand. Oh, for those that are new to the blogging world ... just click on the words taco soup and it will take you to Shawna's page for the recipe.

Next, I have to tell you about my latest and greatest dessert recipe. This one is healthy but also delicious! There are many combinations you can try with this but I'll tell ya my fave first.

1 (32 oz) container of lowfat PLAIN yogurt (I love Stonyfield Farm)
1 pkg fat free, sugar free instant pudding mix (the box of powder) I choose the Cheesecake flavor most often when making this.
1 can crushed pineapple (or other fruit of choice)

Mix all together, I drained most of the liquid from the pineapple first though. After it's all mixed put into an airtight container and refrigerate for awhile. You can eat it right away but I like to let it get really cold, it kind of "sets" like pudding too. It tastes like eating a yummy slice of cheesecake.

Some other combos are:
yogurt (I always start with the plain yogurt)
choc pudding mix
can of light cherry pie filling (tastes like black forest cake!)

yogurt
banana pudding
fresh strawberries

etc..... The possibilities are endless! Hope you enjoy!

There should be a warning ...

on the cover of certain books! WARNING: Will cause excessive sobbing enough to soak your pillow!

I am currently reading "Ever After" by Karen Kingsbury (I'm a huge fan of hers) and last night I went to bed early thinking I would just read a little and get a good long night of sleep. Unfortunately I got caught up in the book which had me sobbing uncontrollably and ended up staying up WAY too late!

Anyone have a quick cure for swollen eyes ... I need it this morning!! :-D

The Joys of Homeschooling

In the morning while H and I work on school stuff ... J can relax in her PJ's while reading a huge book (with her cool, sparkly shades on her head!). Just for the record, H and I always get dressed before starting school ... J does most days too but I wasn't so worried about her today! :)

The weather has still been so warm ... but we know those days won't last forever, so we took advantage of a really beautiful afternoon to have our "gym" time at the beach! I think H really enjoyed herself!

More pink poodle stuff ....

H's Grandpa drew this cute poodle so we could play "pin the tail on the poodle":



Here's the birthday girl dressed all in pink before the party:


A few silly girls soaking their feet in a fizzy foot bath:


More silly girls who were more timid about putting their feet in the warm water:
(J is the middle one, cousin Becca is the one in front)


The silliest birthday girl who didn't want to put her feet in to soak!!


All 7 silly, smiling, pampered princesses! (The Mom's and Grandma's did their toenails and fingernails for them!)


H with 2 of her friends:


Happy Birthday to you ....


OOH~LA~LA ... look at those shirts!


A happy birthday girl:

Pink Poodle Pampering Party

We celebrated H's 6th birthday this weekend with a "Pink Poodles in Paris" party. She had 4 friends + her sister and her cousin there. I made the invites on the computer:



And I made her cake ... she kept saying she thought it looked like a wedding cake!


This is the basement all decorated in pink and black:


I made pencils with "plumes" for all the girls and used them as centerpieces:


Each place setting:


We did pedicures and manicures and I wrote out "beauty tips" from H's God's Little Princess Bible:


I made each guest a cute "OOH~LA~LA!" shirt:


More pics to come in my next post ...stay tuned!

Attitude

There once was a woman who woke up one morning,
looked in the mirror,
and noticed she had only three hairs on her head.

Well," she said, "I think I'll braid my hair today?"
So she did and she had a wonderful day.


The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror
and saw that she had only two hairs on her head.

"H-M-M," she said,
"I think I'll part my hair down the middle today?"
So she did and she had a grand day.


The next day she woke up,
looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her head.

"Well," she said,
"today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail."
So she did and she had a fun, fun day.


The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that
there wasn't a single hair on her head.

"YEA!" she exclaimed,
"I don't have to fix my hair today!"

Attitude is everything.

Be kinder than necessary,

for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

Live simply,

Love generously,

Care deeply,

Speak kindly.......

Leave the rest to God

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...

It's about learning to dance in the rain.

This song has been a blessing to my heart lately...

I heard Nicole C. Mullen sing it at the Women of Faith conference and nearly cried through the whole beautiful song ... then H had a kids CD that had it on it too ... so I recently downloaded it to a CD of my own so I could listen over and over in my car and my kitchen. And of course it always brings me to tears! The coolest thing is that while it was playing in the car this morning H was singing EVERY word, which only made me tear up even more! :)

Call On Jesus by Nicole C. Mullen

I'm so very ordinary
Nothing special on my own
I have never walked on water
I have never calmed a storm
Sometimes I'm hiding away from the madness around me
Like a child who's afraid of the dark

CHORUS:
But when I call on Jesus
All things are possible
I can mount on wings like eagles and soar
When I call on Jesus Mountains are gonna fall
'Cause He'll move heaven and earth to come rescue me when I call

Lalalala....

Weary brother Broken daughter
Widowed, widowed lover
You're not alone
If you're tired and scared of the madness around you
If you can't find the strength to carry on

CHORUS

Call Him in the mornin'
In the afternoon time
Late in the evenin' He'll be there
When your heart is broken
And you feel discouraged
You can just remember that He said He'll be there

CHORUS(2x)
Lalalala....

MOTTO TO LIVE BY

Life should NOT be a journey to the grave

with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive

and well preserved body, but rather

to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand,

latte in the other, body thoroughly used up,

totally worn out and screaming

"WOO HOO, what a ride!"

~~Read this and thought it was hilarious

and so good I had to pass it on!~~

I think you had more fun than the kids!

Was DH's comment to me last night after one of the most fun days I've ever had in my life! I wholeheartedly agreed, I had such a blast! So here's the story ...

Yesterday I was busy homeschooling with H, when DH suddenly popped in the room and said "how about a spontaneous trip to the indoor water park?" He had taken yesterday off from work with the hopes of fishing or golfing but since it was raining cats and dogs, he figured going to the indoor water park was the next best thing! I agreed!
It was 3.5 hours in the car to get there and 3.5 hours in the car to come home this morning --- but it was worth every minute!!! We had the time of our lives, one of the best trips ever and I can't wait to go back!
One of the best things was that we had the WHOLE place to ourselves! There were only 2 other families in the entire indoor water park. It featured 7 waterslides, a lazy river, a wave machine, and a kiddy pool area. It was also in one of the nicest hotels we have ever been to. They had beautiful rooms, a great game room, restaurants, the water park, coffee shop, gift shops, etc ... and it all had a "lodge" theme that was very homey.

So here are some pictures ... hope you enjoy! Sorry, they are all out of order, I have to figure out how to rearrange them better!

Cool Moose head in the lobby...
The girls with a giant Mama bear and her cub ...
The fun things you can do with a heart shaped slinky!
This is what happens to your children after 4 straight hours at the waterpark!
J sliding!

Me, I'm just a big kid at heart!
J and I getting soaked!
Girls and a surfin' bear...
DH trying out the surf machine...

DH and girls ...

Bubbles, bubbles everywhere ...
H sliding ...
H in the bubbles...
J and I racing down the slides!

The Lodge....

The indoor water park...
White Water Bay
The girls and I...

I will never forget ...

where I was on Tuesday, September 11th, 2001. I was already overdue with my first baby, had been home on maternity leave for about a week already. I was huge, very uncomfortable and just waiting the long days out in the air conditioned house.

I had just woken up when my friend Steph called and told me to turn on the news. Steph knew what was going on because her brother Jason lived right across the street from the World Trade Centers and he worked for the New York Stock Exchange. He was standing on the street corner watching, as the second plane hit the second tower. After many hours, he made it out of NY city that day. He was lucky.

I will never forget that even though both DH and I were home together, we sat in 2 different rooms, watching 2 different TV's, not even speaking, both just consumed by the footage on TV. I sat there watching and sobbing for hours. I hated to watch but couldn't tear myself away from the TV.

I remember thinking "I can't believe we're about to bring a child into this crazy world we live in! How will we ever protect him/her from all this evil??" Now that I've been a Mom for 6 years I know that I can't, we can't, only God can. And there have been many times when I've had to trust that God loves my children even more than I ever could. And know that they are always in His hands and in His care.

September 11th, 2001 was also my parents 30th wedding anniversary. I actually forgot all about it until later that day, because of everything else going on. I remember feeling so sad that my parents now had to share their special day with such a sad day in history.

And now, my Dad is gone. He sits at the foot of Jesus, rejoicing in a body that is now free of all pain and sickness. So you see, September 11th is a day that I will never forget, a day that brings me many feelings of sadness. But also a day that reminds me that I now have 2 "Dads" in heaven (my heavenly Father and my earthy father) who watch over me every day.

I also can't mention this day without saying that I am eternally grateful for my parents and their marriage. (This year would have been 36!) I can't think of a better example of Godly marriage and truly appreciate all the years that I learned and grew by watching their example. So Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad, I love you both so much.

Who's kids are these?????

Crazy H!!!!!!!
Goofy J!!!

That ship looks familiar!

So first let me say - sorry for all the multiple blogs in a row! It's just that we've had a lot going on around here and lots of cool pics to share!

So, last weekend our 'lil 'ol town got a visit from a VERY large cruise ship! It was the largest ship to ever visit this area, in fact, it almost didn't fit in the river! Anyway, my DH and I thought it looked awfully familiar .... here it is, the Explorer of the Seas by Royal Carribean (we saw it up close by riding in my DH's Dad's boat.)

Here are the girls in front of it (on Grandpa's boat)
OH, that's why it's familiar!!! That was the boat DH and I went on last year to Bermuda!! Here is the pic we took in Bermuda last summer ...
And another one from Bermuda!
The girls were just mesmerized by the size of the ship ... now we just have to start planning and talking about when we will take them along with us!

First day of school pictures ...

My oh my, can't believe how much the girls have grown. And where on earth did I get this almost 6 year old??? My firstborn should still be only 3, right?
Well, like it or not, the girls are growing fast ... J started her second year of preschool on Wednesday, and H started First grade (homeschooling) last week. I decided to just take all the pics together on J's first day.





For any Mom's looking for some bargain back to school outfits ... my Mom and I found these great outfits at The Children's Place - skirts were only $7 each! I might go back and buy some more! I love that they are cute, but also modest. :)

How I organize my home school ...

First, I moved the girls into the same bedroom so we'd have the other room to use for school.
Next, I asked my DH to build us this 10 foot shelf, so that we can use it to hold all our pencils, supplies, etc... without having it all cluttered on our workspace. My table is actually one of my scrapbook tables, but since it's lightweight and folds up, I can take it down stairs when my girlfriends come over to scrapbook ... then bring it right back up for school when we need it.

Sorry, these pics are kinda out of order, but anyway, this is one bookshelf that holds all my files.

A closer look at the files ... we use Abeka curriculum, so I use one file box for each subject - that way we can easily reach for whichever subject we need to work on. These filing boxes were just 10 cents for 2 at IKEA!!! I shoulda bought a hundred of 'em!
This is the other end of the 10 ft shelf. Clock was also from IKEA for just $1.99! I love having the recliner in the room for reading together. I made this simple curtain with some leftover fabric I had.
My MIL is a preschool teacher so I browsed her catalogs and decided on a Dr Seuss "theme" for the room. I got these great posters, and large alphabet and numbers for the walls ... all in Dr Seuss!
This book shelf has a small selection of H's books, also some puzzles, games and learning card games (things to keep J busy when we are learning!) Most of the girls books are on a large shelf in their room.
A closer look at the shelf. We got the lamps at IKEA for $3.99 each! They shine a lot more light on the workspace. The black desk chairs in the other pics were also from IKEA for just $17.99 each. Gotta love that store!


My only other "tip" for organization is that I like to label everything. Might seem a bit overboard to label the crayon bin "crayons" when you can tell what's in it - but it also helps the girls learn to read the words.
And finally, I didn't take any pics, but in the closet, I have some small dressers that are filled with all the craft supplies, paints, playdough, extra supplies, etc. And the closet locks so if the kids have friends over I don't have to worry about them all getting into everything! :)