Jewelry giveaway

Head over here and check out her December giveaway. She makes gorgeous jewelry...then gives it away!

I am hoping that maybe by continuing to enter giveaways I can maybe change my luck and actually win something one day!

$100 Wal Mart gift card giveaway

Go check out The Centsible Sawyer's blog giveaway. She is giving away a $100 Wal Mart gift card. Who couldn't use one of those right now?

Easy Potato Soup

Cold? Hungry? Want something quick and easy for dinner? Then I have the recipe for you!

Put some water in a big pot. (How much depends on the size of your family and how much they eat)

Heat water to boiling.

Add instant mashed potato flakes. The amount will depend on how much water you used. You want the mixture to be soupy. The way I do it is add a little at a time because it will thicken. You want it to be a little thicker than you really want it to be. Then add some milk to the desired consistency.

Now comes the fun part:

Take whatever leftover veggies you have and add them to the soup. Whatever sounds good. If you do not have any leftovers just throw in a couple of cans of stuff. I used leftovers and a few cans of veggies.

Here is what I used in mine tonight: leftover mashed potatos (there were not very many), leftover lima beans, leftover green peas. Then I added a can of mushroom slices, a can of mixed veggies, a can of corn, and a handfull of shredded cheddar cheese. I also chopped some onions and added them. Then I added a generous amount of smoked garlic from these guys, some dried basil, and salt. You will want to add at least some salt as the soup will be souper bland without it (sorry could not resist the bad pun). I threw in some butter and let it simmer until the biscuits were done.

This recipe is really open for whatever you want to add. There are no set guidelines. It is an easy meal, that can be used to clean out the fridge, and is ready in a matter of minutes.

Here is the recipe for the biscuits I made. This was my first time making these and they turned out pretty tasty, and were pretty easy to make

Homemade Laundry Detergent

I mixed up a batch of homemade laundry detergent yesterday, after discovering that Meijer's carries all the ingredients needed. I tried it out today on the items that I hand wash, like underwear, socks, hand towels, etc.

One of the first things I liked about it was how easy it was to make. Took maybe 10 minutes and that included grating the soap.

It smells wonderful. Kind of lemony, and I do not normally like citrusy smells, but this smells fresh and clean.

I was kind of skeptical about not needing to use fabric softener with it, but I tried it. The clothes did feel a lot softer than they normally do. I will let you know how they feel after they air dry. I hate how hard clothes are when you air dry them!

I have not tried it in the washing machine yet, as we still have some Tide left. Once that is gone I will be using the homemade detergent.

So far, I like it.


Homemade Laundry Detergent (Powdered)

1 cup washing soda
1 cup Borax
2 cups finely grated soap (I used Fels Naphtha, but you can use any spare bits you have around the house.)

Grate 2 cups of chosen soap. Combine all ingredients. It is recommended that you give it a whir in the blender to chop all the pieces of soap up really fine, so they will dissolve better, but you do not have to if you do not want too.

Amount needed per load of laundry varies on where you live, and the water quality. Generally 2 Tbsp will work for a normal load. If the clothes are really dirty you can add a bit more. Some people say that the 2 Tbsp does not get their clothes clean enough, and other people say they do not have to use that much. It will require some experimentation to discover what you prefer. I used 2 Tbsp on the hand washables and they seemed to be just as clean as with store bought detergent.

I highly recommend checking out Little House in the Suburbs for more great home made ideas. They also have a recipe for liquid laundry detergent if you prefer that over powder. Go here for that.

Hell has frozen over

I called my mom this morning and shared that with her, as my son has slept until 8:30 for the past 2 mornings! Maybe he knew I needed that extra sleep? Whatever the reason I am definitely not complaining.

After picking up a repo for work and eating lunch with Jeff and Daniel at Cici's Pizza, I headed to Meijer's to do the weekly shopping. I got Daniel a Cars bathrobe for Christmas and used the $4 Santa bucks for today, for a total price of $15. Now for the great deal I got.....I have been planning on getting Jeff a deep fryer of some sort for Christmas. I made him get rid of his Fry Daddy when we moved, as it was NASTY. I promised I would get him another, but have failed to do so as of yet. I saw one on sale a few weeks ago, and that was when the idea of getting him one for Christmas was born. I have been pricing them, and the one I wanted to get him was between $40 and $50 depending on where I got it from. I found one on sale at Meijer's today for $29.99. $20 cheaper than normal price, plus I could use the $6 Santa bucks, so I paid $23.99!!!!!!! YES!!!!!

I also discovered that Meijer's carries all the supplies needed to make your own laundry detergent. So I made up a batch today. I will let you know how I like it after I do laundry tomorrow.

While I was making the detergent, I was half way listening to the Auburn vs Alabama game. Jeff is happy AL won. I am not happy. Auburn looked horrible, and we lost for the first time in 6 years.

We trekked downtown to the Christmas parade and spent 2 hours freezing our buns off. Well I was some what warm, Jeff was the one who was cold. No baby a long sleeve T shirt in 40 degree weather won't keep you warm for long. Daniel loved it. He got to give Spiderman a high five!

Now we are all back home relaxing. Daniel is content to watch a movie in his room, Jeff is watching football, and I am catching up on all my blog reading I have missed in the past few days. (I might not have commented but I have read them.)

I am Alive

Sorry for the absence of posts/comments. All hell has broken loose at work, and I have to fix it. I will be back soon I promise!

Weekend Projects

My weekend feels like it flew by. Maybe because I stayed so busy? We took Daniel to see Madagascar 2 with our freinds on Saturday. After we got back I spent the rest of the day cooking up a storm. My pecan pie looks burnt, but tastes ok. One of the pumpkin pies the crust looks burnt (hate my oven). The pumpkin pie with the homemade crust actually turned out really nice! And the pumpkin muffins are WONDERFUL!

Yes I use my Halloween plates all year long!

I sent Sunday cleaning up around the house (not that you can tell it now) and then made 2 potholders from quilt blocks that a friend gave me. I had planned on giving them as gifts for Christmas, but I might find it hard to part with them.

This is the first one I made.

This is the second one I made, and it is my favorite.

Now if I could just catch up on the rest of the stuff I need to do I would be doing good.

Christmas of Dreams Day 9

What is the most unusual gift you have received? Best gift? Do you re-gift?

When I was in college I dated a guy that was from Memphis. I had signed up to be a counselor at the church retreat he usually worked at after Christmas every year. We had plans for me to drive up the day after Christmas. The weekend I was supposed to go home, I got food posioning. I was miserable, and ended up not making it home until Christmas Eve. I frantically rushed around getting everyone's presents, and made sure that I had all his stuff ready to leave the next day. I got to Memphis, and he had not even gotten me anything! He said he had not had time, even though he had been home for a week and had gotten the presents for the people he was not going to even see until after New Years! I was PISSED. When he finally did get my present he got me an autographed Isaac Hayes cookbook. Needless to say, we did not date much longer. That would have to be my most unusual gift I suppose.

Best gift? That would have to be the camera my husband got me last year. I have bad luck with cameras. I had left my old camera on top of my car, and watched it explode in my rearview mirror as it hit the highway. Jeff got me a new digital camera for Christmas last year, and made me open it the night before, so that I would have it to use Christmas morning. (Yeah I lost that camera at a NASCAR race this summer. BAD CAMERA LUCK)

I do not remember ever re gifting something. If I get something I do not particularly like, I usually keep it for a while and then on my next cleaning binge I will donate it to Salvation Army. I do not have a lot of storage room, so it is hard for me to let things sit around that I do not use.

For more interesting blogs head over to Momdot.

Todays question was brought to you by: JaC Jewelry, Cutie Covers, and by Sassy Baby.

Easy Pumpkin Muffins

I was on a baking frenzy today (2 pumpkin pies 1 with homemade crust, 1 pecan pie, the muffins, a french toast casserole for breakfast tomorrow and dinner), and I found this recipe. They are YUMMY and very easy to make.

INGREDIENTS
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 12 cup muffin pan or line with paper liners.
In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix, pumpkin puree, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves until smooth. Spoon equal amounts of batter into the prepared muffin cups.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean.

The 12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 7

I am thankful that we are able to spend the weekends together as a family. We might not do anything other than watch football games together, but it is nice to be able to spend that time with each other.

I am so proud! I have to brag!

Over the past few weeks we have been talking to Daniel about how we were going to have him pick out a toy to donate so that another little boy could have something for Christmas. We explained to him that while we may not have a lot to spend, we have a lot more than some people do, especially this year. There have been several conversations about how if something happened and we couldn't provide a Christmas how he would feel. We have also tried to explain to him how it is important to share what you have with others, no matter how insignificant you think it is. I know he is only 3 and does not understand exactly what we are talking about, but I hope that by beginning early, he will grow up to be a compassionate and caring adult.

I took him this afternoon to get his first dose of the flu vaccine. (He was strangely excited and just KNEW that he was going to get his shot in his belly like Grampie does his insulin) His new pediatrician is near the K Mart on Nicholasville Rd, where Z Rock 103.3 has been doing Homeless for the Holidays all week. For the past 3 years the morning show has camped out in the K Mart parking lot for a week and raised food and clothing/toy donations for the holidays. This was their 4th year there and they were worried that with the economy donations would be down. The last I heard today this year was actually a record year!

As we were leaving the doctors I told Daniel we were going to go get a toy and donate it to Homeless for the Holiday. He proudly walked into K Mart and into the toy section chattering the whole way there about what he might pick out. He went up and down the ailes and finally decided on a big truck that had a lot of cars inside it. I picked up a couple of kids books and let him pick out a small toy since he had been so good all day. (It was only $1 but he is thrilled with it)

When we pulled up at the donation site he insisted on giving the men the toy himself. He told them this is for someone else's Christmas. Then climbed back in his car seat to go home.

I sat in the parking lot with tears streaming down my face because I was so proud of him. This from the boy who when told no is known for pitching a fit, and when in a store wants everything he sees. "Maybe Christmas will bring me that," has been heard many times over the past few weeks. When he was picking out the toy he never once asked for anything for himself, it was only when I asked him if he would like a small toy that he even thought about getting something. The fact that he is three years old and was able to give so selflessly makes me proud.

12 Days of Thanksgiving Day 6

I am thankful that my husband found a job with a company that offers decent health insurance.

We just became eligible for health insurance, and I was surprised with how reasonable the plan was. Floored is more like it!

My company offers health insurance, but for a family, the cost is something like $200 every 2 weeks. Plus they have a high deductible and copay. We can't afford that. So for the past 3 months Daniel has had no insurance at all, and we have been hoping and praying that he does not get sick.

Jeff's company pays $115 a month. For all three of us, our cost is only $45 a week!!!!!! The deductible is reasonable, and so are the copays and RX costs!!!! HALLELEUGHIA!!!!!

We are off to get him a flu shot this afternoon and get the new patient package, and he will be getting a checkup in the next week hopefully!!!

Christmas of Dreams Day 8: The shopping day of DOOM

The lovely ladies at Momdot want to know:

Do you shop on Black Friday? What time do you start? Do you finish all your shopping on that day? What’s the best deal you have found? What’s your shopping strategy?

HELL NO!!!!!! I have never spent that day anywhere near a mall and I don't plan on it. Ok well I might venture out this year since I am taking that day off work, but there is only so much shopping I can do with my child in tow.

If I do head out, it will be at a reasonable hour, not 4am. I like sleep thank you very much! I might use that day to grab some things for DH, if I can somehow keep my child from spilling his guts to DH once he gets home.

But most likely I will be curled up at home snuggled into the couch with my son, enjoying my time off.

Todays sponsors are: Koshas, Leapfrog, and Soda Club

12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 5

What are you thankful for? Blog it and then head over here to spread the word.

Today I am thankful for the fact that in this cruddy economy, I still have a job. That job allows me to provide for my family the warmth and comfort of a home, food on the table, and clothes on our backs, with a few extras thrown in there every once in a while.

I do not know many people who at some point in their career, don't have complaints about their job. Don't get me wrong, I have several, but I am thankful that I have a job. There are so many people who are losing jobs, and sometimes it makes me sad to know that with my line of work, the bad economy is actually good for my job. Less jobs=more repos for my company. I know most people think I am a "bad guy" but I do know that times are hard for everyone. Even our family.

Win a homemade detergent kit

I have been reading about making your own detergent for a while now, and I plan on trying it as soon as I use up my stockpile of Tide.

Sisterly Savings is offering a blogger a chance to win a laundry detergent kit from Soaps Gone Buy. Head over to her site and check it out.

Book Giveaway

Do you like to read? Do your children like to read? Do you like getting free books?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions go visit Owlhaven and enter for your chance to win.

Winner will be chosen on Monday

Christmas of Dreams Day 7: Naughty or Nice

Brought to you by: SillyMonkeez

Also brought to you by: My Baby Bump

(Sorry my links are doing weird things on Blogger this morning)



Tell us who is on your naughty list? Who is on your nice list? Why?

That is a tough one! I have to say all my friends and family are on the nice list. They have supported me this year in my decision to move far away from them, for my promotion with my company. There are moments when I think my son should be on the naughty list, but then he turns around and looks at me with those big blue eyes, and says something that totally cracks me up! Then there are the times when I have watched more NASCAR coverage than I care too that I think my husband should be on the naughty list, but he will turn around and bring me roses for no reason what so ever.

I do know one thing that should be on the naughty list: THE ECONOMY. Get your act together man!! You are putting a strain on all us normal people.

Letter to my uterus

Dear Uterus,

Will you please make up your mind what you are going to do. I know you are going through Depo withdrawls, and I am trying to be understanding. The past few months have been rough for you, and me as well. But could you please decide if you are going to start your monthly thing once and for all. This constant naggy pain, and wildly unstable hormone changes are starting to get to me. If you won't decide for me, please take into consideration my DH, who is bewildered by my mood changes and random crying jags. So if you will not take pity on me, please have pity on him.

Respectfully yours

Your host body, Natalie

12 Days of Thanksgiving Day 4

On this cold wintery day, I am thankful that I do not have to spend all my time working outside. I have a warm office that I can hole up in every day from 8:30-5. And on the rare occasions when I have to venture out into the arctic like termperatures, I am thankful for the many layers of clothes I am wearing.

Christmas Of Dreams Day 6: A Trip Down Memory Lane

Brought to you by: Flying Colors Baby, Uncommonly Cute, and Lollipop Books.

And don't forget to head over to Momdot and check out all the wonderful blogs!

Day 6 Question: We would like to know what is your favorite holiday memory from your childhood?

Growing up I knew that my father did not really like Christmas. He would go through the motions and put up lights, help with the tree, and all the other Christmassy sstuff, but you could tell there was something missing. He was not in the Christmas spirit I guess you could say.

When I got older I understood why.

My father was a Marine during Vietnam. He was Echo Company 2nd Battalion First Marines, and was a mortar platoon sergeant. One Christmas Eve, they had just come off patrol and were holding a bridge against the enemies. My father was supposed to go on guard duty, when his best friend offered to instead. He knew my Dad was exhausted and needed the rest. Dad agreed, and watched him walk off into the jungle. Then he watched the explosion that lit the night sky, and knew it was his buddy. He had stepped on a landmine on the way to the bridge. My dad still does not talk much about that night, but I am sure he felt like it was his fault.

When I got older, Dad began to go to PTSD classes, and began to deal with the emotions he had locked away for so long. And I suppose as they say, time heals all wounds. Seeing my Dad go to the mall with my Mom, and actively helping pick out our Christmas presents, instead of staying home and sending everyone else to do his shopping, was one of the happiest memories I have. He got some of his Christmas spirit back!