A Break from yard projects!

Our family has been doing yard projects like crazy over the last couple of weeks. We have been unable to do any during the week, so they all fall on Friday afternoon and Saturday. Not much of a problem for most, but when you have the "crazy" bunch we do, "a" project takes twice as long, not to mention just mowing the lawn takes 3 1/2 hours. Remind me in the next life, no corner lot house. Haha! Anywho, I was taking a break between our projects on Saturday and decided we needed to do a "cooking" project. The kids love when we do these. We came up with frozen bananas, YUM-MY! The four older kids did them with me, Logan just didn't want his pic taken. Poor guy, I think he is tired of mommy always snappin his pic!
Cute little-well not so little anymore-girls! They had a blast dippin' and rollin' their banana pops. I use to eat these all the time when I was little. My daddy gave me my very first frozen banana pop at Disneyland, and I've been hooked ever since! Love the good memories from childhood!

FHE two weeks and counting

For the last two weeks we have been working on a project during FHE. About a year after Christian passed away I decided we would make a garden for him in our yard, mainly due to the fact it is extremely hard to see him up at the cemetery. It has taken us a long 4 years to do this, but this year we are putting it together in front of our big window in our front yard. We have ordered plants and I designed the way we want it to look. I thought it would be nice for the kids to add a little decor to it too, so...

We came up with stepping stones for the garden. The first week we went to Hobby Lobby-my all-time new, fav-to get all the supplies to make them each a stone. We would have just got kits, but buying all the supplies for all 5 stones cost the same amount as one kit-CRAZY! They all got to design their own and were hard at work.
Very hard at work designing their stones on paper. We thought this would help them to know exactly where they wanted their pieces to go. Such cute, creative little kiddos.

The second week was time to do the actual stone. We spent the evening mixing, pouring, arranging, and stamping to our delight! It was a blast and the kids had fun too! Haha!

Alexis giving it a turn at mixing it up. She didn't believe Eric when he said it was "tough."

Finished products-at least until we can remove them and place them in the garden next week.

Laney's

Logan's

Alexis's

Kaleigh's

Eric and I did a big one with little Noah and Bella's hands. Isn't is cute. Our family had a blast with this project and will finally finish it up when we can place them in the garden next week. It takes a week until you can "step" on them, so we don't want to place them outside until then. I'll post pics of Christian's garden once the stones are placed. Take a little time to do some crazy, fun family project with your little ones. I promise you'll have a BLAST!

Free Presents!!

Have you heard of Disney Movie Rewards? I love, love, looove it! Every time we get a disney movie, C.D., or even see a Disney movie I get points added to my account. I also get monthly points just for "liking" them on facebook. I have been accruing points for the past 8 months and I cashed them in for these fun little presents.This one is being split between the boys, they just don't know it yet. I love having my shopping done for their b-days and Christmas early.
This one is for Bella's next b-day when she turns 2. I know it's extremely early, but I'm glad I chose this because they don't have it anymore. She'll love it and its one last thing I have to worry about.

This one is for our family/rec room. I'm going to frame it and hang it up on the wall. I'm sloooowly re-doing our basement. We are changing it into a theater/game room and we will be using movie posters and such as the decor. This will fit perfectly and better yet, it was FREE! I love that being thrifty has become cool and there are so many new things I'm learning.

I have a present closet now where I store all my finds and free stuff that I get. I have all my family-including extended-birthday and Christmas presents done and I didn't even spend much at all, but the items are AWESOME and will be liked/loved by all recipients. I even have extras that I pick up in case of those unforseen party present emergencies. I will be making some presents too and storing them as well.

Anywho, if you don't have an account set up with Disney Movie Rewards I suggest you set one up ASAP. You won't be disappointed. They have a lot of fun rewards to choose from and the shipping and handling is free too! Check it out and happy free choosing, http://www.disneymovierewards.com/.

Happy Mother's Day 2010!

I love and hate this holiday. It's bittersweet with the missing one of my children and loving what my other children come up with for their mommy presents. I love getting their cute handmade gifts and love seeing them sing in church, but I always brace myself for tears due to music that always seems to touch me. All in all I only broke down once during church this year and smiled the rest of the day at my lovely little darlings. I am amazed by all my children and am very proud to be their mom.My kiddos handmade gifts for me from school. We as a family decided to give Eric's mom a handmade, heart-felt, gift this year too. We made a love jar for her and filled it with thoughts, thanks, and love for her. We decorated a small mason jar and then I asked all the kids what they liked about grandma. I typed them all up and cut them into strips and filled the "love" jar. Eric and I put a bunch of thanks, thoughts, and things we love about mom in the "love" jar too. I really appreciate my MIL and I'm glad she has stepped into the role of "mom" for me as well. I don't have a relationship with my own mom, but my MIL is the greatest. She makes up for what I lack in my life and I look forward to the month of May to show her my appreciation and love for her.
Our "love" jar

We made a butterfly bookmark for Eric's grandma to go with the butterfly card we made for her for Mother's day. Our card had our family's picture on it as well as Christian's on the back. We love all the mothers in our life and our very glad we have them to lead us, love us and guide us.

My lovely little family also gave me flowers for Mother's Day. They are the best kind, they will last a long time because they are perennials that were planted in our front yard in our new butterfly/hummingbird garden that we just planted this weekend. I love the thought of what the garden is going to look like in a couple of months when the plants grow. I am a loved mommy and wife and love my kids and hubby.

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day and showered the mothers in your life!

Tasty pizza night!

Yummy, pizza night!

This is what I hear from all my kiddos when we decide to do pizza. This time I decided to do a fruit pizza for dessert as well.

Doesn't it just look yummy?

Trust me it is, and it's so easy to make.

It is a sugar cookie base topped with the best fruit dip and then fruit of all kinds. We finished ours off with some chocolate drizzles. Who doesn't like chocolate with their fruit!
Here's how it looks step by step. I made sugar cookie dough(it's the best by far, trust me I've tried at least a dozen recipes and I like this one the best) and flattened it on a pizza pan and baked it at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. Then I spread the fruit dip on top once the cookie was cooled.
Then top with any fruit you like. We had pineapple rings, strawberries, and mandarin oranges. Yummy, I just love the combo of all these.
Isn't she just gorgeous. But, she wasn't quite done yet.

We melted some milk chocolate chips and drizzled it all over. The kids thought this was the best part. Oh man, the best dessert ever!

This is what it looked like sliced. It was enjoyed by everyone.

Sugar Cookie Recipe

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. almond extract

2 3/4 cup flour

2 tsp. baking powder

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and extracts and mix. Add flour and baking powder and mix well. Bake at 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes(if using for cookies)

Fruit Dip

2 6 oz. strawberry yogurt

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 cup of powdered sugar

1/2 tub of cool whip-8 oz tub

Mix cream cheese and powd. sugar. Mix in yogurt and then fold in cool whip. Chill until ready to spread on pizza, or ready to dip fruit in.




BBQ Chicken Pizza

Yummy and easy. I used rhodes bread dough for the crust and spread it on a pizza pan. Then I spread on our favorite BBQ sauce(Joe Morley's)all over. Then shredded baked chicken and mozzerella cheese. You can put red onion on it too, but most my kids don't like it so I left it off. I baked it at 350 degrees for about 17 minutes. D-E-L-I-S-H!!!

Eat and Enjoy!!

Funny little things

Noah says the cutest things and I just want to write them down before I forget.

N: Mommy, look a biggy, bigga truck

M: Oh, do you see a truck?

N: uhn huh, a bigga truck!

N: voom voom voom!

The boy is obsessed with tractors, back-hoes, anything "truck" related. He is such a talker. It's a strange thing for us, because our kids usually don't talk as clear and as much as Noah does quite this early. I know most kids start jabbering a lot when they are 2, but ours have always waited until around 3 and then they talk in complete sentences and don't stop.

So, Noah is a wonder to me and I am in awe around him and his cute jabbering about.

Savings Galore!!!

As most of you know I have been clippin' coupons and trying to save a buck or two these past 8 months. I wish I had started this years ago, but at least I'm doing it now. We have been trying to get our financial life back in order since losing Christian and this past year Eric took a hit with his job which is what led me to start cutting back even more. And oh baby have we ever! Although, you wouldn't know it by the looks of my freezers, pantry, and closets. Our pantry, freezers, and linen closet(where I keep all the hygiene and personal stuff), are packed to the rafters that there is literally no more room for anything. I have kept a record of my spending and savings and to date for this year I have saved a whopping...

$2000.00!!

That's a lot of moola! We have paid off a ton of debt and I can see the end that is a year nearer! Yay!!

The credit goes to my friend Liz-thanks a ton, you were my lifesaver-my MIL-for giving me your coupons- and the wonderful coupon blogs I follow. I have always tried to buy stuff on sale and stock our food storage that way, but now with coupons I get tons of free stuff and my pantry and storage room have never been fuller. I use to think I don't have time to clip coupons, but you know what with a savings like that in only 5 short months, I think I have the time. I even get free samples sent to me. The kids love it. They always wonder what's gonna come in the mail today. This is what came yesterday...

Sample package from the U.S. postal service. Now I won't drink the coffee samples, but the chocolate, now that one for sure is getting eaten.
Here's two pictures of my best savings so far this year. I went to Fresh Market and took my coupons with me for a trip to end all trips. I spent $74, but I saved $135.00. I got a ton of stuff, and it was all under 75 cents or less for each item. My poor camera couldn't get it all in one shot and even in two you still can't see it all. My best find was getting four packages of chicken for only $1 each. They were drumsticks and wings that usually cost $5-$6 each(according to their package). Sweet!!

I got a bunch of extracts and more root beer concentrate too and we all know how much those cost. They are usually anywhere between 4-6 dollars, but not mine. I saved $2 on each and they were on sale making them only $1.50 each. My shopping trips take a little longer to plan now, but I'll spend the extra time for the savings. I take my ads and make my list according to my coupons I have and ones that I can find online. I have discovered that almost every brand out there has a website and have coupons on them that you can print out. This is my new game and I'm loving it! If anyone wants to know the basics to get started, send me an e-mail or leave me a comment. Whether you need to save money or just want to, it's an easy way to do it. I haven't paid for soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, razors, or deodorant in 8 months. These are some big items that you can get for free with sales paired with coupons.
This post is mainly for me to remember and teach my kids that yes, you can buy name brand stuff and still save money. I'm all about teaching them things they can use when they have to run their own houses. I didn't have that growing up and I have had to teach myself along the way. I want them to be prepared, and have a happy non-debt life with their future families. The hubs and I didn't always have the stress of finances, but one BIG unforseen event put us in trouble and it has taken us 5 years to get out from it. I hope that by saving this way if anything else were to happen we would be well off this time.