Something so basic that makes my kids SO happy.
It continues to amaze me how such little events bring such joy to Cloe & Blake.... I wish Elijah was still this innocent.
A while back we had a movie night where the kids laid on the floor in their sleeping bags, I made everyone popcorn and we watched The Croods. The kids LOVED it - we all did. Ever since then, the little ones ask to have movie night multiple times a week.... As you all know, movie night can't happen every night but we make time for it at least once a night.
I can't wait till next week, Cloe is going to flip out!! I pre-orded Frozen and it has already shipped. It releases on DVD on Tuesday the 18th so will be super suprised. She sings the music from Frozen at night when she goes to bed... it's so sweet.
This simple, easy, inexpensive weekly tradition brings joy to everyone in the family - even us big kids :-)
What weeknight activities does your family enjoy?
Have a fantastic weekend!
Always,
LIVE ~ LAUGH ~ LOVE
Friday, March 14, 2014
Monday, February 24, 2014
Roasted Pork Tenderloin
This recipe was SUPER easy and REALLY good!! Even though it is a weight watchers recipe, Justin said it was the BEST pork tenderloin he has ever had!!
I made red skin smashed potatoes along with it ... it was a perfect fit.
Enjoy!
LIVE ~ LAUGH ~ LOVE
Friday, January 3, 2014
Going LEAN in 2014
I believe I blogged a few months ago about going LEAN ... well I have made a little progress and kicked off 2014 the right way .... yes I know it's only day 3 but I am being optimistic that this is my year to get shit done!! I started this entry two weeks ago, ha! I'm just now finishing it and getting it posted.
I am taking the approach of one room per month .... more than that is unrealistic at this point. If my schedule changes and I am able to do more I will but I am trying to set myself up for success rather than failure .... which is exactly what I did in 2013.
The first project in the kitchen was the closet ... it's not a pantry and has been a place where everything gets thrown. This is what it looked like most of last year ( I did clean it out one other time but it quickly went right back to this...)
Everytime you would open the door, something would fall out. There is more to the closet too ... when you open the door and look to the right there are two more shelves with stuff stacked up on them. I had enough and while I was off work for the holidays I cleaned it out. Now it looks like this:
We had stuff in there that had never been used ... or at least in the time I have lived in the house. I took all that stuff downstairs where it will weither go on the shelf or in the dumpster we will get once the weather breaks and start cleaning out the basement.
I am taking the approach of one room per month .... more than that is unrealistic at this point. If my schedule changes and I am able to do more I will but I am trying to set myself up for success rather than failure .... which is exactly what I did in 2013.
The first project in the kitchen was the closet ... it's not a pantry and has been a place where everything gets thrown. This is what it looked like most of last year ( I did clean it out one other time but it quickly went right back to this...)
Everytime you would open the door, something would fall out. There is more to the closet too ... when you open the door and look to the right there are two more shelves with stuff stacked up on them. I had enough and while I was off work for the holidays I cleaned it out. Now it looks like this:
We had stuff in there that had never been used ... or at least in the time I have lived in the house. I took all that stuff downstairs where it will weither go on the shelf or in the dumpster we will get once the weather breaks and start cleaning out the basement.
I am happy to report that the closet still looks like this and I am on a mission to keep it that way.
I hope everyone is having a great start to 2014!
LIVE ~ LAUGH ~ LOVE
Monday, December 2, 2013
Rationalizing what's worth the $$
Back in November I went to the Food & Wine Show in Cleveland with Heather and Marla. It was SO much fun.... a well spent day off with friends.
While we were there, Marla & Heather planned to purchase a pan from a vendor that they purchased a pan from the previous year. They claim it is "the best pan ever" and they use it EVERYDAY. When we approached the vendor, we got what we expected .... the sales pitch to purchase the entire set. I don't really remember what the original set was but by the time he was finished I think there were 7 pans in total ... plus some plastic utensils. We was pushing all three of us to purchase the set.
Now to the point of this entry - the price for the set of pans was $700.00, which when you break it down by the number of pans isn't bad. I needed new pans and Justin and I had been talking about buying a new set. I had trouble rationalize spending $700.00 on pots & pans....even though it's something I would use everyday. It seemed like a lot of money to spend on pots & pans and before the holidays. I struggled with the decision to purchase them or not.
The funny thing is, I would have no hesitation spending $700.00 in the Coach store or at one of my favorite clothing stores purchasing material items. I also spent close to that on other stuff at the food show that I really didn't need. I find myself coming back to this internal struggle I had with myself thinking - why did I need to talk myself into this purchase??
After calling Justin for his opinion - which was if they would make me happy then buy them :-) I purchased the set of pans ..... and boy am I glad I did!! I have had a few different pan sets over the years and this set is by far the best! I use the pans everyday ... and I don't need to put them in the dishwasher. They wipe clean no matter what I make. I made grits for Justin for breakfast and they wiped right out of the pan. With my old pots and pans I would have had to soak the pan for days to get them off the bottom. Oh and water boils in them in no time - it's amazing!!
I would like to thank Heather and Marla for going to that booth. Not only do the pots and pans make my clean up easier and faster, I enjoy cooking more with them. I had such a great time at the show - we will have to do it again next year!!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Live ~ Laugh ~ Love
j~
While we were there, Marla & Heather planned to purchase a pan from a vendor that they purchased a pan from the previous year. They claim it is "the best pan ever" and they use it EVERYDAY. When we approached the vendor, we got what we expected .... the sales pitch to purchase the entire set. I don't really remember what the original set was but by the time he was finished I think there were 7 pans in total ... plus some plastic utensils. We was pushing all three of us to purchase the set.
Now to the point of this entry - the price for the set of pans was $700.00, which when you break it down by the number of pans isn't bad. I needed new pans and Justin and I had been talking about buying a new set. I had trouble rationalize spending $700.00 on pots & pans....even though it's something I would use everyday. It seemed like a lot of money to spend on pots & pans and before the holidays. I struggled with the decision to purchase them or not.
Now, like I said earlier, Marla & Heather attested that they were great pans and they used the one they purchased last year everyday ... and Marla spends about 4 hours a day in her kitchen cooking (God love ya Marla) ... so if I was going to take a recommendation from anyone is would be them.
The funny thing is, I would have no hesitation spending $700.00 in the Coach store or at one of my favorite clothing stores purchasing material items. I also spent close to that on other stuff at the food show that I really didn't need. I find myself coming back to this internal struggle I had with myself thinking - why did I need to talk myself into this purchase??
After calling Justin for his opinion - which was if they would make me happy then buy them :-) I purchased the set of pans ..... and boy am I glad I did!! I have had a few different pan sets over the years and this set is by far the best! I use the pans everyday ... and I don't need to put them in the dishwasher. They wipe clean no matter what I make. I made grits for Justin for breakfast and they wiped right out of the pan. With my old pots and pans I would have had to soak the pan for days to get them off the bottom. Oh and water boils in them in no time - it's amazing!!
I would like to thank Heather and Marla for going to that booth. Not only do the pots and pans make my clean up easier and faster, I enjoy cooking more with them. I had such a great time at the show - we will have to do it again next year!!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Live ~ Laugh ~ Love
j~
Monday, November 4, 2013
Halloween
When did Halloween go from being 1 day to an entire week? Three class treats (I didn't even think to take one for story-time) and trick-or-treat ..... I was exhausted!!
The little ones do not dress up for school, however they do have a Harvest Party that they can take a treat for. Even though they don't dress up for school, Cloe's dance class had a costume party on Tuesday, Blake dressed up for story-time on Wednesday and Halloween was Thursday. They had their fill of Halloween.
Even though I was exhausted, I had a good time making the treats for the kids. They helped me with some of them, and we had a blast.
Blake was Mario and Cloe was Princess Ariel. I felt so bad, why does it always rain on trick-or-treat? Two years in a row it has been miserable. The kids didn't mind at first, but once we were soaked ... it was time to go inside. They got plenty of candy so I guess it was a good excuse to call it quits.
Tuesday for dance class I made Hello Kitty rice crispy treats. They didn't turn out the way I wanted but everyone like them. I called them Hello Kitty Ghosts!
For Blake's school party on Thursday I made Bat Pops ... this was a bigger project then I thought. After making the cake you had to crumple it up and mix it with icing. Then roll the balls, pinch the ears, and freeze. After 20 minutes, drip them in chocolate (that was TOO thick so I had to spread it out) and put the eyes on with icing and a toothpick. The kids loved them. I wrapped them in individual bags and tied them with orange ribbon.
Finally, Friday I made Hello Kitty cupcakes for Cloe to take as her class treat. Now, I have to confess ... I bought the cupcakes themselves. I ran out of time and didn't get them made. I did take the pumpkin rings off (saved them for next years treats!) and put the Hello Kitty wrapper & toppers on. I also wrapped them in individual bags with orange ribbon.
Last week of very busy .... but we had a lot of fun! I am glad Halloween only comes once a year! Now I have to starting thinking about Christmas!!
Whether you went trick-or-treating, passed out candy, or didn't do anything ... I hope everyone had a great Halloween.
Wishes for a good week this week to come.
Live | Laugh | Love
j~
The little ones do not dress up for school, however they do have a Harvest Party that they can take a treat for. Even though they don't dress up for school, Cloe's dance class had a costume party on Tuesday, Blake dressed up for story-time on Wednesday and Halloween was Thursday. They had their fill of Halloween.
Even though I was exhausted, I had a good time making the treats for the kids. They helped me with some of them, and we had a blast.
Blake was Mario and Cloe was Princess Ariel. I felt so bad, why does it always rain on trick-or-treat? Two years in a row it has been miserable. The kids didn't mind at first, but once we were soaked ... it was time to go inside. They got plenty of candy so I guess it was a good excuse to call it quits.
Tuesday for dance class I made Hello Kitty rice crispy treats. They didn't turn out the way I wanted but everyone like them. I called them Hello Kitty Ghosts!
For Blake's school party on Thursday I made Bat Pops ... this was a bigger project then I thought. After making the cake you had to crumple it up and mix it with icing. Then roll the balls, pinch the ears, and freeze. After 20 minutes, drip them in chocolate (that was TOO thick so I had to spread it out) and put the eyes on with icing and a toothpick. The kids loved them. I wrapped them in individual bags and tied them with orange ribbon.
Finally, Friday I made Hello Kitty cupcakes for Cloe to take as her class treat. Now, I have to confess ... I bought the cupcakes themselves. I ran out of time and didn't get them made. I did take the pumpkin rings off (saved them for next years treats!) and put the Hello Kitty wrapper & toppers on. I also wrapped them in individual bags with orange ribbon.
Last week of very busy .... but we had a lot of fun! I am glad Halloween only comes once a year! Now I have to starting thinking about Christmas!!
Whether you went trick-or-treating, passed out candy, or didn't do anything ... I hope everyone had a great Halloween.
Wishes for a good week this week to come.
Live | Laugh | Love
j~
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
The Library
How long has it been since you have been to the library? Actually gone in, sat down, looked for a book? Before a few weeks ago it had been YEARS since I had been to the library. I think the last time was when Elijah was Cloe's age and I took him to the summer reading program at the East Palestine Library.
Several weeks ago, the fall storytime program started for the 3-4 year olds at the library in town. It's on Wednesday from 10:00 to 10:50, so I thought it would be nice for Blake since he is home with me and Justin on Wednesday and Cloe is in school. I forgot how much I loved the library. It's very inspiring to be surrounded by so much knowledge in one place. This 50 minutes is mine to sit in a QUIET place and do whatever I feel like. I can work if I need to, I can read a magazine or a book, I can blog or surf the web or just sit in a comfy chair with my eyes closed and enjoy the peach and quiet!! Sometimes there are intersting people to talk to (or listen to ... the old men talking about politics each week) like the lady that came in this morning to take a break from her walk. She sat down with a cup of coffee and a couple magizines to rest and will then finish her walk.
I have found Wednesday morning at 10:00 a.m. to be one of my favorite times of the week. It gives that little break and inspiration I need to get over the hump and finish the week.
If you find yourself needing a quiet retreat, visit your local library for an hour! You will be glad you did.
Live, Laugh, Love!
j~
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Great Fall Recipe
Happy Fall Everyone:
Here is a quick, easy and yummy fall recipe that I made a few weeks ago. It was a big hit with the entire family.... the kids even ate it. Elijah doesn't like meatloaf and admitted it was good!!
It took a little longer to cook in my oven, so you may need to adjust the cooking time.
If you make it, let me know how it went. There is also a bonus Apple FYI ... and a recipe for pork chops with apples & onion at the bottom. I haven't made that recipe yet but I am planning too next week. If you make them first, let me know your thoughts.
Hope all is well with everyone - it's almost the weekend!
Enjoy!
j~
Here is a quick, easy and yummy fall recipe that I made a few weeks ago. It was a big hit with the entire family.... the kids even ate it. Elijah doesn't like meatloaf and admitted it was good!!
It took a little longer to cook in my oven, so you may need to adjust the cooking time.
If you make it, let me know how it went. There is also a bonus Apple FYI ... and a recipe for pork chops with apples & onion at the bottom. I haven't made that recipe yet but I am planning too next week. If you make them first, let me know your thoughts.
Hope all is well with everyone - it's almost the weekend!
Enjoy!
j~
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