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Tidbits Of A December Saturday at Home

Countdown to Christmas, another day to cross off.
Little one begging me to work on this with her.  
I tell her yes, after some laundry loads.
Another little one, found creating antlers…
…for her TV.
Said laundry, I have 2 more piles this size elsewhere in the house. 
 Keeping it real, people.
Simple gifts ready to go.  Can you tell I am not planning on doing my usual Christmas Cookie baking?  
An unexpected drop in by Grandma bearing Christmas treats!
My oldest, measuring the melting. 
I looked everywhere for that glass measure this morning! 
The only Christmas decor my pre-teen would allow in her room.  Makes me smile.
Thank you notes and festive art left by my youngest.
Sounds of Christmas as they practice before Saturday morning piano lessons.
Headboard wrapped in Christmas lights.  Fa-la-la-la-laa, la, oh-la-la!!
Touches of silver sparkle next to a honeymoon picture.  
Do you see me in the reflection?
__________________________
I walk around finding myself wanting to grasp on to the moments.  I am so thankful for each one.  I love our family life and our home.  Life is precious, and good.
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HOME/ Homemaking/ Kids/Family

Portable Puzzles & Lazy Winter Game Playing Days

I’ve written a post about portable puzzles before, but as the weather turns cold and we spend more time indoors as a family, I thought I’d share what we have been doing.  Today we are starting our tradition of puzzle- making.  Every year during Thanksgiving break, we get a new puzzle and try to finish it by the New Year. We are able to keep it portable and move it to whatever room we want to by keeping it on a bulletin board.  The cork on the board makes it harder for pieces to slip onto the floor. It usually stays in the dining room, house central, where we can sit for a few and leisurely work on it.  I find it is a great time to chill and chat with one of my girls.  It never fails, if I sit and start working on it, one of them will join me.  I love the memories we have made and conversations we have had while making puzzles, with candles lit and Christmas music playing!

Another way I encourage busy minds and hands is with a basket of card games sitting on a shelf.  My girls are getting old enough to play each other.  It is a great thing to encourage when I hear “Mom, I’m bored!”

I brought another shelf into the Living Room to put some board games on and also house some good family reading material.  We have a ton of great games, but I find if I don’t have them upstairs on display, they just won’t get played very often, unless it is a holiday.  I will switch the games out periodically as they play them so they don’t get bored with the choices.  Boggle, anyone?

Back to the puzzles, we always take a picture of the finished product, which makes the tearing down process much easier on little ones.

This puzzle is from last year.  I have vivid, precious memories of sitting there with my family and close friends, after surgery, working on that puzzle.  It was nice to have something to do while healing that was interactive and in a central location so I could be with my family.

~Does your family do puzzles?

~What games are your favorites?

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Holidays/Parties/ HOME/ Homemaking

Getting Ready For Thanksgiving

The house is clean and smelling like Cranberry Pumpkin Bread! A mix from Trader Joes, I added the cranberries.
 I am ready for my 14 guests to arrive, and feeling very, very thankful. 
{Thanksgiving Day 2010}
Last year at this time, it was chemo week, the last of my 4 month cycle. I felt sick, weak, in a fog, my taste was off, my hair was gone, and I felt my body breaking down. I slept through most of Thanksgiving Day. I remember feeling so thankful that I didn’t have to have another cycle of chemo.  I knew my body would not have done well.
{I felt weird when photos were taken, like, are they taking my picture just in case?  I really didn’t know if there would be more Thanksgivings.  I was so fearful, despite the brave smile.}
 I have had no trouble giving thanks this year.  I do not take life for granted, and feel extreme gratitude for each and every day!  I especially feel thankful that the feeling of fear is gone.  I hated that.  
I am so excited to be hosting Thanksgiving again this year. I decided to keep things casual and simple, so I could really focus on the meaning of the day.  Paper plates pretty much rock…
…and so does Pumpkin Butter from Trader Joes!
My sisters laugh at my organization. I like to know what dish is going where, what order I will be cooking/baking it all in, and if I have enough pots.  I do the same with my serving dishes.
My two youngest are home from school today, and have been great helpers.

My youngest sat in the kitchen with me, in her fuzzy froggy jammies, and asked if she could “help.”  She loves writing lists, so I put her to work.  It helped to get the thoughts out of my head and on to paper!  Don’t you love the spelling of a nine year old?  So precious.
Happy Thanksgiving To You All,
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Healthy Eating/ HOME/ Homemaking/ How-Tos/ RECIPES

My New Favorite Kitchen Toy

Guess how much time it took me to cut all those veggies?  Looks time consuming, huh?  Well, it wasn’t. It literally took me 3 minutes with my new, handy dandy mandolin!

I have been wanting one of these forever, and found this one for a buck at a garage sale.  It is not fancy, but it is sharp and gets the job done!  It makes eating raw fruits and vegetables fast and fun.  I find that we have greatly increased our veggie and fruit consumption in this house due to this handy gadget.
My girls beg me for apples now that we can slice them so thin.  They liked apples before, but now they eat them like they are candy!  

I like this model for basic slicing, but one of these days I am going to get a mandolin that allows you to adjust the thickness of your slices, like the fancy one below.  That would be great!

{I’m asking for these for Christmas!:)}

**Caution..do not let children use these.  It is very sharp and way too easy to slice a finger.  I’m currently growing back half my fingernail–yea, ick.
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HOME/ Homemaking

A Super Productive Day

I’m having a super productive day!  I woke up to a day that had nothing on the calender, which was a relief as I feel like this house has been falling apart.  I have been gone a lot lately during the day with appointments.  I have also been getting acquainted with a new gym membership.  I am still pretty pooped in the evenings, especially if I workout, so I have been leaving things undone around here.  Today is a catch up day!

So far, I have: 

made toddy for The Perfect Iced Coffee

made Iced Tea Concentrate.  I’m trying to drink lots of iced green tea throughout the day

sometimes I add Tangerine and Mint, but not today.  Today is a “just get it done” kind of day!

ate a bowl of 2 Minute Steel Cut Oats for breakfast

I’ve got asparagus roasting in the oven using this simple method.  I can’t stand it when veggies just sit in the refrigerator, neglected and getting soft.  My way of dealing with this is: I throw them on a pan, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with s & p and maybe some garlic powder, then roast at 350 degrees until tender.

I watered my very neglected square foot garden, and gathered some tomatoes and an eggplant. I am amazed at how it keep producing for me despite my neglect.  The soil mixture for Square Foot Gardening is amazing for holding moisture, which gets me by.  I will post some pics of my neglected garden soon.

I had to drop off a prescription to be refilled, and decided to take a morning walk to the store and get my exercise in for the day.  The weather was amazing, I had a familiar bounce in my step, like I did when writing this post.

I’ve been setting my timer for 15 minutes, so  I don’t get distracted for too long doing one thing.  I am typing super fast right now, trying to beat that clock.  Remember, you can do anything in 15 minutes!

I picked up the house in one of those 15 minute increments.  Here is a post with lots of tips for keeping your house picked up.

I wrote out the chores. I find if I write the girls chores on the chore board at the beginning of the day, they actually get done.  If they are not on the board when they get home from school, forget-a-bout-it.  They take that as a free day and it is hard to get them motivated after they have seen a blank board!

There is still much to do today.  I need to make French Lentil Soup for my hubby’s lunches, keep switching out the laundry, make some chewy no bake bars for a healthy after school snack, return some phone calls, organize my calendar, dig myself out of a pile of emails, and continue to organize and purge this house for a garage sale that I will be having in the near future.  

 I have some great music playing, music always makes everything more fun.  Here is a song that I just heard, I had to crank it.  That got me movin’.

It is fun sharing with you what I am up to.  It helps me stay focused and motivated!

I hope you are all having a great day!

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HOME/ Homemaking/ Organizing/ Simplifying

How To Have Guests When You Don’t Have A Guest Room

I decided to re- post this “How To Have Guests When You Don’t Have A Guest Room” because our guests are coming again!  I referred back to this post as I prepared for them, and found it quite helpful if I do say so myself. 😉
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Tomorrow is a day our family has been looking forward to.  We have friends coming to visit for a week, from the Philippines!

A.C. has been a great friend to my husband and I since before we were married.  In fact, he gave my husband a nudge toward me and said “What’s wrong with you, dude?  Go get that girl!!” or something along those lines:)  He stood in our wedding 13 years ago, and just last year, my husband had the privilege of flying to the Philippines -where A.C. and his family are missionaries- and standing in his. He found an amazing woman who loves God, loves him, and has a beautiful little girl who is my girls age.  He has been a priceless friend to us, and what makes this visit even more exciting is we get to meet his new wife and daughter.  Yay!

I want them to be as comfortable as possible in our home, and I have takes some steps to help make that happen before they get here.  I personally believe that it is possible to make guests feel comfortable, loved and welcome even if we do not have an extra guest room/ bathroom.  I know this because we have stayed with friends and enjoyed every minute despite having to share the space we are in.

We do not have a fancy guest room, so we are having them stay in our basement.  Our basement is carpeted and furnished, it is a large family room area where we watch movies and exercise. It will provide them with plenty of space, and with a few little touches, I think it will feel welcoming. I thought about all the different things a hotel room offers to make ones stay more comfortable, and tried to provide the same for them, as best as I could.

We have a queen size, elevated air mattress for A.C. and his wife.  I have an area in the basement that they can store it during the day to get it out of the way.  For their little girl, I have a foam mattress that is comfortable but portable, just in case she would want to move it to my girls rooms for a “sleepover” as they get comfortable around each other.

photos from martha stewart

Here are some things I am hoping will make their stay comfortable:
~A basket of individual snacks, just in case they get the midnight munchies
~Magazines for reading and relaxing
~A basket of travel size toiletries-toothpaste, lotion, mouthwash, band aids, Tylenol, etc.
~A rolling, portable rack for them to hang clothes on.
~A Big screen TV for A.C.’s sports viewing pleasure
~Video games
~Iron & Ironing board handy, in the laundry room right off the basement
~A fan, it is pretty cool down there, but it might help block the noise of us walking around up here!
~A basket of rolled up towels & wash clothes
~A full length mirror
~A clock
~A basket full of toys and things to do for their daughter
~Extra blankets
~A pen & notepad
~A table and chairs for their laptop

I have my favorite coffee on hand, and all kinds of meals and snacks planned.
I really can’t wait to see them, and since we will be busy having fun with our friends this week, I may not be able to post as often.  So if you wonder where I am…I’m with my guests!

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HOME/ Homemaking/ Organizing/ Simplifying

10 Minute Freezer Organization

My freezer has been a mess and driving me crazy for a few weeks now.  I finally took some time to organize it.  I decided to time how long it would take me to organize it, and I could not believe it only took a ten minutes!
Why or why do I procrastinate?
The mess.  
Yes, my freezer is so very small.  
I would LOVE, love a large chest freezer.  Maybe someday.

The door was a mess, too.  Lots of wasted space!

Below is how it looked 10 minutes later.
I removed everything, and sorted through to decide what to keep and what to get rid of, then I sprayed and wiped the inside of the freezer.  We now have organization and I can get to my ice!  I am going to get another bin to match the 2, to hold my ice–wouldn’t that be nice?:)
Mason jars fit perfectly in the door.
I now have frozen veggie and frozen fruit bins in there.  My girls eat a ton of frozen fruit, so now it is super easy for them to just pull out the fruit bin and grab a healthful snack!

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