Help Us Hit 1,000 Views!!

My husband, Vince, does video work and occasionally enters video contests sponsored on YouTube.

He is currently in a video contest to raise the awareness of AMD, Age-Related Macular Degeneration.

You can help us get his video to 1,000 views by Sunday. No voting, just viewing!!

Go HERE to view.

Thanks so much!!

*Labels & Tags*

Do you love to label things? I DO!! It must be the organizer in me, but I think a cute (and functional) label just dresses something up nicely.

Sometimes I make a cute handmade tag. Other times I grab my....er, my hubby's... label maker. Here are a few of the things I've labeled around my house.

The laundry basket in the kiddos' bathroom:


The *outgoing* mail basket by the garage door:


A jar of sand and shells:


A jar of beach rocks:



Homemade spice mix:



Cute jars in the pantry:


My new bucket for my homemade laundry soap:


I'm already thinking of more things around my house that need some *label love*!

This post is linked to My Romantic Home and The Inspired Room.

Just Popping In

Hey, Y'all!

How's your week been? It's been a pretty good one here.

Monday night I hosted our homeschool group monthly Moms Nite Out. It was a lot of fun! There were about a dozen of us sharing frugal ideas, household tips and menu planning ideas. I even got to show off my homemade laundry soap {insert: ooo's and ahh's}. I was inspired by another mom to take my menu planning up a notch and start looking at a month at a time. I'm working on a series of seasonal menus to rotate. I've just begun, but whenever I get them finished I'll share them with you.

We've started a little science experiment this week, too: growing our own crystals. I have to admit that we actually started this experiment last week, but I completely goofed on the measurements and container. So in order to redeem myself, I picked up a new kit at Hobby Lobby. Don't worry, I'm documenting it with the camera (there might even be some video involved).

Right now I'm just relaxing at the kitchen table while our salmon fillets marinate for dinner. And I'm getting ready to try a new stir fry recipe to go with the salmon, so wish me well!!

Have a great evening!

One Thousand Gifts

0071. feeling the creativity flowing

0072. enjoying time with friends

0073. stolen moments, reading a good book

0074. a dinner that everyone likes

0075. friendships, old and new

0076. Skyping with my hubby {when he's on trips}

0077. my hidden stash of chocolate

0078. occasionally getting to sleep past 8 am

0079. having a great day of homeschooling

0080. the hope of Spring

Menu Plan Monday: February 22nd

I'm back in the saddle again this week with the menu planning. Last week was a rough week in many respects and my plans were not always on target. But this week should be better. There's much less on the calendar for this week (yea!).

However, I am hosting our homeschool group February's Moms Nite Out at my house tonight. I'm looking forward to that! I really do enjoy having people over. Of course that means getting the house cleaned up, right? But I've found that having company is one of the best ways to get your housecleaning done~at least it's great motivation for me:) Yesterday the weather was so nice that I was able to have the windows open, airing out the house, and cleaning up a storm. It felt great! What's your best motivation to clean?

Here's what's cooking this week:

Monday: 15 Bean Soup* with cornbread
Tuesday: Steak & Potato Scallop with a veggie
Wednesday: Potato Soup with Fresh Bread
Thursday: Baked Salmon and Fresh Stir Fry*
Friday: {date night}
Saturday: Slow Cooked Sloppy Joes* with Baked Potatoes

*These are new ones for me that I plan to blog about this week. I'm curious about the 15 Bean Soup~have you ever made that before and how did you make it? There seems to be about 15oo ways to make it!

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Ahh....the Weekend

I'm so glad it's here! It's felt like a week and a half, for some reason. So I'm enjoying this Saturday morning with my coffee and Girl Scout cookies (the breakfast of champions, ya know), while my hubby catches up on his sleep (he just got home from his trip yesterday~yea!) and the kiddos chill out with some classic Disney.

Thank you so much to those of you who have been praying this week for my sister-in-law. I'd like to give you a good report: She spent a couple of days in ICU as they monitored her and managed the post-op pain, and then one more day in the neuro unit, but she was able to go home yesterday. We are so glad! By all indications and the doctor's report, her surgery was very successful. However the doctor did discover that her c-1 was not fully formed (from birth), so that has answered a lot of questions for her. She has about 4 more weeks of recovery time at home where she will need to really take it easy, but we are believing that will go smoothly and she will feel like a new person by the end of that time.

This week at my house has not been uneventful either. I had all these things that I had planned to do while Vince was out of town, but I don't think I even got one completed.

The week began with Mr. B getting some kind of a 24-hr stomach bug: fever and nausea. That went away, but by Wednesday it was obvious that he had picked up pinkeye somewhere~ugh. Thankfully, I already had a prescription for just that thing, so just a phone call to our doctor's nurse to confirm that was all we needed. (I'm doing my best to avoid the doctor's office during the *sick season*, those waiting rooms can be lethal). But, bless his little heart, yesterday he woke up with hives. At first I didn't realize what was happening, because he has super sensitive skin and I thought it might be dryness causing him to scratch. But by noon the hydro-cortisone cream had worn off and he was covered from head to toe in hives. We just happened to be out having lunch with my mom and sister when that happened. My sweet sis ran across the street to buy him some Benadryl cream so that we could all finish our lunch. Because there was going to be no lunch with his crazy scratching! :) That has seemed to do the trick and he is much better this morning, but I've determined it had to be the bar of Dial that I washed him with the night before. Normally I use Cetephil on him, but I was out and used the other in a pinch. Never again!

Hopefully that third thing was the last *medical* event for him for the week~they say things come in 3's, right? Because I am looking forward to a quiet day at home with my family (although I think that's probably an oxymoron~ha!).

What have you got planned for the weekend?

For the Love of Blue & White

Blue and white has been a pair of *friends* to me for a long, long time. I fell in love with the combination way before I was married and began to pick up a piece or two here and there. When we were first married, I began collecting blue and white plates in earnest to hang in our kitchen (I love hanging plates!). I also kept an eye out for cobalt blue glassware, it's just so beautiful. Then as friends and family members found out how much I liked blue and white, I began to receive pieces as gifts~lovely!! Thus a *collection* was formed. In the past I know I have shared my plates in the dining room/kitchen and also my blue and white souvenir plates, but today I'm sharing blue and white things around my kitchen and house that make me smile.
I hope they make you smile, too!

This post is linked to Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home.

Please Tell Me My Kids' Over-Active Imagination Is Completely Normal

OK, just for the record, I LOVE that my kids have great imaginations! I always have had a great one, especially as a child. I was an only child for 9 years and never had any problems keeping myself entertained. But my kids have me shaking my head some days.

They are only 2 years apart and they play very well together. They fight very well together, too. I guess that comes with the territory though. Plus we homeschool, so they are together a lot.

They have this tendency~and have had for a long time now~to completely immerse themselves into acting out whatever favorite movie they're into at the time. Currently it's *Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs*. They are going to be inventors! In case you haven't seen this movie, it's nothing like the book, but it is cute. And it celebrates the *nerdy inventor type*.

The movie came out last September and we all saw it together at the theater. And that was fine, no repercussions. But when Vince bought the dvd in December, life as we knew it ceased to exist.

Nearly every day since they discuss all the things they are going to invent (mostly all the things from the movie + a few more~my daughter has a massive list). My son draws all of his favorite "invention things" from the movie and likes to wear a lab coat when he can find something that will work as one. He carries his *kill code* (for the out-of-control food-making machine, of course) everywhere. They tell me all the time how they are going to make my life so easy with all of their inventions, I'll never have to do housework again. LOL I'm all for that, of course!

At the dinner table they hold their plates up and pretend that their food fell from the sky. And this is the end of February, people! They've been doing this for almost 3 months now! I tell my husband it's all his fault, since he bought the movie when I wasn't there. heehee

And they've only watched it a few times since we bought the dvd. We can't handle it any more.

I'd love to hear if your kiddos are as imaginative (obsessive) about certain things. I hope this is normal~I've been told that an active imagination is a sign of high intelligence. :)

Just today I found a unit study for our homeschool that is *all about inventors*. They are going to LOVE it! It's pretty cool, too, I'm looking forward to it.

One Thousand Gifts

0061. safe travels for my husband

0062. a teachable spirit

0063. Valentine chocolate

0064. being a blessing to others

0065. which brings even more blessings to you

0066. the incredible imaginations of my children

0067. sleeping late

0068. taking naps

0069. the personal, intimate way that God, our Savior, loves us

0070. the amazing gift of prayer: personal communion with the God of the universe

A Valentine Marathon

I'm not sure how it happened, but Valentine's day seemed to last forever at our house this year:) So I'm just re-capping all of the fun here.

First, check out this heart-shaped potato, folks. Yes, a potato! I guess I was in the spirit of the holiday because I spotted this heart as soon as I picked it up. And, yes, I peeled it and we ate it. No *Shrine-of-the-Heart-Potato* here. I promise.

Next up was the crafting of the Valentine boxes for our homeschool group's Valentine Skating Party. The kiddos were SO excited! The Princess went for a classic Valentine look, but Mr. B decided on a cowboy theme. Yes, he's into Toy Story right now:) And all of their hard work really paid off~their boxes were adorable.



Vince and I exchanged Valentines with each other and the kiddos early since he would be out-of-town on Valentine's day. There was lots of chocolate involved.


But Vince also got the kids the coolest gift...here they are checking it out.

It's this: a cd collection of G.T. and the Halo Express. Basically it's Scripture put to music, so that it's easy to learn Bible verses. Apparently he had a set as a child and it made quite the impact since he can still remember a lot of the songs/verses to this day. After searching the internet, he finally found a set for them. They've really been enjoying them, especially at bedtime as they go to sleep. It's a great way to hide God's Word in your children's hearts.

And look what Vince surprised me with: a beautiful turquoise necklace. I love it!

Did I mention that chocolate was involved? I received an INSANE amount of chocolate. But that's okay. I plan to stash it and savor it for months to come:) And in case you're wondering, all of the chocolate in the pic below is ALL MINE! heehee

Next came the celebration with Papi, Nana and Aunt Kari. We baked them a cookie cake, complete with eyelashes courtesy of The Princess. ALL eyes must have gorgeous, long lashes according to her.

I'm pretty sure the cookie cake didn't last long. At least that's what I heard. I've not seen a crumb since:)


Then there were more goodies for the kiddos: balloons, toys, colored pencils, coloring books, $$... I think my kids are spoiled. How did this happen?!


Finally, the festivities wrapped up today (Monday) at our homeschool group's party. I baked my favorite chocolate cupcakes and gussied them up with some cute heart picks that I had stashed away. (Where do all these stashes come from?!?!).

The Princess thoroughly enjoyed the Valentine exchange. She has looked at them about 100x now and they are displayed prominently all over her dresser:) So cute!

And....drum roll please....Mr. B won the *Best in Show* in the preschool category for his box! I was so proud of him and you can tell his busting his buttons. The sad part was he has had some sort of virus for the past 24 hrs or so causing fever and nausea so he wasn't able to go to the party. But I took his box and his Valentines for him and winning the prize was a great consolation since he missed the rest of the fun.

Oh~I know I said that wrapped things up. But Vince and I do have a hot date planned for when he gets back from his trip...and I'm very much looking forward to that! :)