I'm so versatile!

I have received my first blog award!  My good friend Jen awarded this prestigious honor to me, and I would like to thank my husband, my children, and the academy... Oh, wait!  I get carried away so easily.  ;)  But I do want to thank Jen for thinking of me!  You made my day!

And the 10 questions are:

1. Why did you create your blog?

-I started this blog as a family record.  I post mostly family stuff, but also things I just want to remember and not lose track of.  I have a family video blog, a craft blog (that I haven't posted on in forever), and a blog to help me keep track of cute projects I want to make.

2. What kind of blogs do you follow?

-Family and friend blogs, DIY/decorating blogs, and some food blogs.

3. Favorite brand of make-up?

-I like mineral powder foundation cuz I like to look smooth, but not feel any makeup.  Currently I have Xango brand, because my brother in law works there and he gave me a ton of it.  Sweet!  My eye shadows are all Mac, and they last me for-ev-er.  Mascara I have right now is Maybelline Falsies and I really like it.  Lipstick is tricky, but I have a Mac one that is ok.  I still need to find one that I love.  

4. Favorite brand of clothing?

-Well, I don't really have one right now.  Whatever fits me and looks decent.

5. Indispensable make-up product?

-MASCARA.  I need the color on my lashes so I look like I have eyes.

6. Favorite color?

-I love color, so don't think I can choose one.  I love greens and blues, though.

7. Favorite perfume?

-I don't have one.  But I really like Sensual Amber and Twilight Woods from Bath and Body Works.  I also love some essential oil blends.

8. Favorite movie?

-Classics, musicals and clean romantic comedies.  I really love The Importance of Being Earnest.  And Nacho Libre.  And Pride and Prejudice.  I'll stop now.  :)

9. What country would you like to visit and why?

-Another toughie.  I would like to go to lots of places.  Does Hawaii count as a country?  hehehe

10. Would you rather forget to put mascara on one eye or forget blush on one side of your face?

-Blush, as I already explained my NEED for mascara.

Here are the rules:

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award

2. Answer 10 questions

3. Pass it along to 7 blogs you've recently discovered and enjoy

4. Leave your recipients a note, telling them about the award

The 7 blogs I'm passing this on to in no particular order:
*Christine
*Rhonda
*Holly
*Teeny Bopper (private blog)
*C (private blog)
*Stephanie
*Julie

Thanks again, Jen!

Food stuff

I have been taking a lot of great nutrition classes lately.  I feel the need to be more healthy, and especially to lost weight in order to be healthier.  I decided to post random nutrition tips here on my blog, in order to remind myself of what I am learning, and to share info.  You know how you always learn more when you try explaining to others?  It helps cement the info into my own head.  
Becoming educated is one thing, applying what you learn is completely another.  Yah, that is definitely the part I struggle with.  :)  So if I am posting things here, it will give me some accountability.  Hopefully.  :)

So, here is a tip for today:

Kale Chips. A great way to get more dark green veggies and satisfy cravings for salty snacks, like potato chips.  These are so easy, cheap, and kids usually love them!


Ingredients:
1-2 big bunches kale, leaves chopped to chip sized pieces
         **you don't want any of the stem, just the leaves
1 tablespoon oil, preferably olive
salt, to taste, and any other seasoning blend you would like to use (or not)
you can also add 1 T apple cider vinegar if you like, but this is not necessary

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Spread kale onto baking sheet. Pour the apple cider vinegar, oil, salt and seasoning onto kale. Mix to coat all pieces.
         **give the leaves a nice rub with your fingers to get the oil all over them. season lightly with salt (as the leaves dehydrate, they'll shrink, so the chips will taste much saltier than when they go in).


3. Bake for 10 minutes or until crispy.
         ** Lay leaves flat on a baking sheet; don't overlap them, but they can be close to one another. Bake until they're dried, crisp and crackly with no chewiness left.  In any event, be sure not to bake them for too long, lest they brown and get too intense.

Try them!  And let me know what you think.  :)

More days in Mexico - Lots of pics*

I got a bunch of pictures of my boy so here they are!  I CAN"T WAIT until he comes home!!  Only a couple more days!  Woohoo!!!

Riding bareback.  He liked "feeling the horses bones" and hanging on to the mane:

 

Riding with a saddle.  I can't believe how he isn't freaking out!  My boy who is terrified by dogs of all sizes (even the teeny ones!):

Watching the car get fixed from down in the pit.  Boy heaven, I tell ya!:

Driving the tractor.  Grandpa only allowed this for a couple minutes for safety:

Watching the dump truck dump, which apparently he LOVED:

Just being a goof:

Throwing sticks and rocks into the ditch.  Grandpa didn't take his eyes off him around the ditch, I was assured:

With Gramps in their Sunday duds.  Such handsome dudes:

In the bucket of the backhoe:

Going up:

Nite-Nite

How Daddy puts Tailgunner to bed every night.  Filmed by Teeny Bopper.  Gives a new meaning to stop-drop-and roll.  Daddy counts 1-2-3, drops the baby, he rolls right over and sticks his buns in the air and says "nye-nye"...and that's it!  He's out for the count!  Love that kid.

More Mexico Pics

 Sittin' on the porch swing with gramps.

 Playing on the teeter totter with Brigham.

Swinging on the big swing.

Grandpa told us that on the way down they stopped at a place with a big cement statue of a T-Rex.  Dr. D did NOT want to get very close to it.  Grandpa told him that it wasn't real, only a statue because dinosaurs are extinct; they aren't around anymore.
Later on, they were looking at a picture of a dinosaur and talked about that T-Rex.  Grandpa again explained how dinosaurs are extinct; not around on the earth anymore.  Dr. D asked what extinct meant.  Grandpa said it is when something is dead and there aren't any more of them on the earth any more.  Dr. D said, "Is Grandma extinct?"  Grandpa explained that no, she wasn't extinct just back in our home town.  Dr. D said, "What about Grandma D?"  Grandma D passed away before Dr. D was born.  We talk about her frequently though, and Dr. D knows she is gone. 
Pretty good connection for a four-year-old! 
Today Dr. D got to ride on a horse, both on a saddle and bare back.  When we talked on the phone he told all about how he could feel the horse's bones when he was riding without a saddle.  I don't get how this kid can be TERRIFIED of dogs-all sizes, even teeny ones-and have no reservation about horses...
He also rode in the bucket of a back-hoe.  The big front bucket.  Grandpa said they raised it as high as it would go and Dr. D told him it was "so AWESOME Grandpa!!".  I am missing him and hope they aren't gone much longer.  It is SO QUIET!!  I have to admit, I enjoyed sleeping in today.  Dr. D is our alarm clock around here.  6 am every day.  Wonder how long that will last...

Mexico-Day 2

The boy having a ride on the cable swing:

Doing what boys do best:

A push in the giant swing by Grandpa:

Yep, he's having a blast!  Watching movies, sleeping in grandpa's bed, riding tractors, riding in the back of grandpa's truck, driving grandpa's truck through the river...  The list goes on!  I wonder why he's not homesick yet...  :)

Uncle D told us this story:  I was on the phone with them this morning and Grandpa kept telling him to eat his breakfast so they could leave. Then your boy says, "Grandpa, you're giving me a bad time." We were cracking up.

We miss that little turkey!!

Mexico-Day 1

No wonder he was having such a great time last night!  A friend (Brigham) and lots of cool toys!  He would hardly talk to me on the phone, lol.  Grandpa's friend (Brigham's dad) let Gpa use his camera and will email me the pictures every night.  So nice!!!  I can post the highlights here, and it will be easy for Dr. D to browse through later.  (and for me to browse while he's gone!)

Bye Bye, Boy!

I let a little of my heart go to Mexico today.  This little guy, to be exact:

He LOVES his grandpa W, and when grandpa started talking about taking my boy home with him for a little while, we couldn't contain his excitement.  So, after some persuasion, I agreed to let him go have an adventure with gramps.  He could not have been MORE excited!  As soon as grandpa got here this morning, Dr. D grabbed his little bag and RAN out the door.  I had to chase him down for a kiss.  I'm glad he is going, glad he is so happy about it, and I think I am done crying now.  :) 
My good friend said it well this morning as we were talking about kids being away from home.  I am fine with them going to play and having fun other places, but when night comes I want them under my roof.  That is so exactly how I feel.  I like knowing they are safe and snug and close by.  Ah well, they will have a grand time, I'm sure.  (I hope, hehe)  Here's to grandpa's who love their grandkids!
Loading up the car: (obviously we hadn't done our hair yet this morning, lol)

Gramps and Dr. D, so happy together:

 

My baby, all buckled up:

Bye, Boy!!  I love you!!

Honey Brownies

This is the recipe we have used a couple of times for brownies.  They are made with honey instead of sugar, and they are so delicious! 

HONEY CHOCOLATE BROWNIES
(2000 Huron County Fair Blue Ribbon Winner)

1 cup softened butter
½ tsp. Salt
1 ½ cups honey
1 cup flour
3 eggs beaten
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp. Vanilla
1/3 cup Hershey’s cocoa
Beat the butter with mixer until creamy. Slowly add honey, mixing constantly. Add the eggs, vanilla and salt. Add the cocoa. Add the flour. Add the nuts. Make sure it is mixed completely. Pour batter into greased 9x13x2 inch. deep pan and bake at 350* for 30 to 35 minutes.

Our V-Day

We started the day with some heart pancakes and a sweetheart smoothie:

Here's my sweetheart with his smoothie:

I gave my kids a "love-ly" lunch; a ham and cheese melt in tortillas cut into a heart shape:

I didn't get pics of dinner, but we had stuffed pasta shells, salad, garlic bread, and Martinelli's to make it all so fancy.  ;)   For dessert we had honey brownies.  Have I mentioned Teeny Bopper hasn't had ANY sugar all YEAR??  She is a rock.
The great food was my gift to my family but DH did get me a beautiful bouquet of flowers:

Twas a lovely "love" day!

Little Miss' Valentines

We copied this wide spread idea for Little Miss' valentines this year.  I love it!!

I've seen this idea all over the web, in years past as well.  Just take a picture with the arm outstretched like you are holding something, and then cut little slits at the top and bottom of fist.  Insert sucker, tape on the back for extra security, and done.  Sweet!

The perfect combination

These two little ingredients here:

Are magical together.  Really.  I would actually suggest frozen peas over canned for health and flavor, but we were out of money, out of time and this is what I had.  Even with these, the most delicious side dish was born!
I combined 2 cans of heated peas with half of this Boursin cheese.  Just stir and the cheese melts right in.  Boursin is an herbed cream cheese, which is delicious on so many things.  Let me know if you try this!  Yum...

Menu Monday... on Wednesday

Menus this week:
*homemade pizza
*tacos
*peanut butter stir fry (from Becky Higgins)
*pasta
*waffles
*paninis
*roast chicken

I decided that I like getting ideas from other people's menus, so in the spirit of sharing, I will try to remember to post mine each week.  Of course, it is a guideline for me.  Stuff comes up and changes things, so you may see some items carry over to the next week.  It's all good.  :)

Family picture wall

We have a great family picture wall in our house.  It contains a picture from every year that we have been married.  I got the idea from one of DH's aunts, who did this in their house.  It is always where you can find guests standing, because it's so fun to see the family change through the years.  With all those pictures, it can be tricky finding a good arrangement.  I decided years ago to do mostly 5 X 7's, and use all black frames.  I figured out a few years ago that in order to not have to completely re-arrange all the pictures every year, I just hang a few extra frames and then fill them as the yearly pictures come.  Well, I doubt we will be in this house that long, but I added 5 extra frames to my latest arrangement!  DH also reminded me that within this arrangement, we could have a SON-IN-LAW!!!!  What the ?!?!?!?  It's true.  But that doesn't mean I want to think about it.  :)

Here's how I decide on an arrangement:

 I lay all the frames on the floor and arrange them.

Then take a picture, because it helps to look at the arrangement as a picture, for some reason.  Then, tweak away.  Here is my first try: 

Hmmm.  It's ok, but I didn't like the three small frames at the bottom.  Just didn't look right.  Arrangement number 2:

 

 No, this wasn't right either.  I didn't like how it looks like one row of pictures down the middle.  Just not right.  I also realized that I wanted to go wider instead of longer to fill the space I had better, and to keep the pictures up higher away from little hands.  Try again, number 3:

 

So I went wider this time, but this didn't look good at all.    Try again, number 4:

 

I liked this one better, but I had a couple of frames that were bugging me.  I realized it was the actual frames I didn't like.  (the smallest ones)  I wanted to take them out, but also wanted to have several empty frames in there.  There was also the empty space on the bottom left to deal with.  Try number 5:

I like it!  I took some other frames that I had pictures in but weren't using in this house to replace the small ones I didn't like.  I planned to paint them black and they would be perfect!  Here it is on the wall:

There are five empty frames, so to hold the place for future pictures I am going to put a picture of all the girls, a picture of all the boys, a picture of all the kids, a wedding picture, and one more I can't decide.  Any suggestions?

THAT is how I decide on big arrangements.  :)