Girls' Day Out!!

Recently I was able to take my girls out and spend a whole day with them!  And, believe it or not, we were able to do it on a very minimal budget.   {Actually, we planned and saved for weeks leading up to it.  I think that was half the fun!}

I was given a gift card from the school I work at as a "Thank You" and it was the exact amount needed to take the girls and get them new dresses to wear on our Girl's day!!  I love to watch God provide things the way He does!

 Before pedis....

We also bought new flip-flops with that gift card!  Had to have flip-flops so we wouldn't mess up our pedis!!  {This was the girls' first pedis!!}

Flip-Flops are life savers for me!!  

When the kids wear flip-flops, I don't have to wash, search for, and fold socks!!

After pedis....

 

 Just a few crazy pictures of my crazy girls....

We were able to go to Logan's Steak House!!  We stratiegiclay planned our fun day on a Tuesday because all Kid's Meals are only $3.00 each and that includes their drinks!!  I always drink lemon water and we didn't get any dessert {because the school gave me a gift card to Steak and Shake too!!} so we at at a really nice restaurant for only $20.00 including the tip!! 

Like Mother; like daughter ~  reading ingredients!

Later we got milk shakes at at Steak & Shake using the other gift card given me by the school I work at.  Once again God provided a little "extra" for us on our special day!

The girls were all needing new shoes, so we worked together to earn some extra money.  Each girl earned $15.00 plus whatever money they already had.  I bought them each a pair of shoes for church and they bought themselves a pair for play.  Then, we went 'shopping' with the leftover money!  

It was a really great day!

When I think that I only ever wanted sons and not daughters...!!!  God knew what I needed.  I'm so glad He has blessed me these beautiful girls!

UPDATE!

Wow!! 

Its been a SUPER CRAZY summer so far! 

I started cleaning the church.

My husband had his second surgery on his shoulder, followed by an episode of low blood pressure.  {His blood pressure was like 85/65 one day!!  I'm no doctor, but I didn't even know it was possible to have blood pressure this low and still be living!}   

Oh, and did I mention he was diagnosed with vertigo to boot??  

I was diagnosed with blood poisoning due to some blisters I got mowing the lawn.  You see, I lived in AZ at the age most kids learn to mow...and then I went to Bible College....and then I got married.  I'd never mowed the yard a day in my life!!  While it's really not that hard, it's simply a lot of work and I got my hands blistered up pretty good.  Funny thing about grass - it tends to continue growing!  Which means I had to continue mowing.  So, my blisters got infected and I ended up in the ER with a red line going up my arm and bunch of ant-biotics. 

We had an AWESOME week of Kid's Krusdae at church!  Our theme was Army Vs Navy.  I was Army!!  Army Won!!  We had 21 children and 1 adult saved.  We registered over 290 children which is awesome for our little church and single bus route!  It was a fun week and very busy, but we survived and it was worth every ounce of energy!  

We've entered a 9 month season of physical therapy.   And yes, I mean WE have entered this season.  My husband goes three times a week for an hour.   He has to take meds before he goes which means he's considered legally intoxicated.  Which means I am his "designated driver".  Which means I do TONS of driving him around on "therapy days".  It's been "normal" for me to spend up to 6 hours a day in the car on these day, picking him up and dropping him off at work, or therapy, or taking him to do his running.  It's definitely been a struggle, but not impossible. 

God has promised not to give us more than we can handle and while there have been days when I wondered how much more I could take, I know that God is there all the time. 

Here are some wonderful things God has done for us this summer:

• My husband's surgery was a success and all is healing well so far
• My husband has improved to the point where he can now bathe and dress himself again!!  This is a HUGE time saver! 
• My husband took me on a one night get away for our anniversary.  We had a sauna and a hot tub in our room!  It was fantastic!  We even got massages!!  The down side is that Jeremy was medicated the entire time.  He said about 3 sentences that actually made since the entire time! =D   At first I was upset by this, but a couple of hours into it I realized that it was God's plan for my weekend.  I was able to relax and enjoy some "alone time" that I think I really needed! 
• A neighbor surprised me and mowed our yard during the week of our Kid's Krusade!  HUGE BLESSING!
• A pastor friend across town bought my husband a new recliner when his broke.  {He's been sleeping in his recliner since he can't lay flat with is shoulder yet, so it was defiantly a necessity!}
• Our oldest has started guitar lessons
• Someone found a dehumidifier at a FANTASTIC price, knew we needed one and bought it for us!  
• A man in our church has been mowing the grass for me since Kid's Krusade just to help lessen the load since so many things have been added to my already busy schedule. 
• I'm going to start watching some children so that I can be a blessing to some friends.  I'm very excited to help them out! 
• I've been able to spend quality time with my children doing what we call "Summer School".  

There are so many more blessings that God has given.  These are just the "BIG" ones!!  God is so good and so faithful!  This would be the world's longest post if I continued to list every little thing that God has done to show me He's here and He cares!  So many prayers answered.  So many necessities provided!! 

I share all of this, not because I want you to feel sorry for me, but because I want you to know why I've been so quite lately.  My husband told me I need to get back into blogging.  And he did so just  a day after I felt the Lord saying the same thing. 

Pray for me as I do my best to juggle all these responsibilities and get back into blogging!!  I would feel so successful if I could, by blogging, encourage at least one person a day! 

our new home...I love to decorate!!

Well, we've been working on moving into a "new" house all summer!  {Did I mention it's the hottest summer on record?}  We've done a lot of updating and remodeling.  It's finally coming together and many of you have asked to see some pictures of the finished product, so here ya go....

The living room...or part of it.

A bit more of the living room.... I didn't take a pic of the wall to my left for some reason but there's a few more pictures and a piano...not too exciting...

A shot of the dinning room from the kitchen.

Part of my kitchen...with stuff on the counter.  

I supposed I could have cleaned it up BEFORE I took the pictures!  :) 

The other end of the kitchen...

Antiques and old things above my fridge...I love anything vintage!!

Here's the hall way...in case you were wondering.  The mirror at the end has "snow" on it and a cute little snowman barn star!  I love winter too!  Our children's rooms and bathroom are down this hall...

My favorite pictures of my children!!  I just love them!  

Are they not the cutest things you've ever seen?  And "vintage" to boot!!

Ya just can't beat it!

:)

Well, there ya have it!  That's the majority of the upstairs of our home.  The basement contains a laundry room, our room, a storage area and some shelving for my canning jars and things...it's really not much to look at yet.  Maybe someday I'll get it decorated too!? 

Updates: 

Well, apparently this was supposed to be posted back in October?  Really not sure what happened at this point.  I guess I forgot to post it.   Our house pretty much looks like this still except for a few newly decorated spots...because I LOVE to decorate and continue to decorate and re-decorate spots here and there.  We have "new" furniture in our living room because our youngest got the flu last winter and ruined our couch - that's all I'm going to say about that.  :)  

This post is mostly for those of my family and friends that live so many miles away and don't get a chance to come over.  Any and all are welcome at any time - just don't blame me if you come unannounced and it's messy!  We do love company though.  Any one, any time! 

 

Homemade Amish Caramel

Homemade caramel!

Too bad the term "homemade" doesn't always mean "healthy" because I'd love to tell myself that these little goodies are healthy, but alas, they are not.   Not is any way, shape, or form.  <pout>

They are, however, very yummy and super easy to make.  They also make a fabulous gifts and/or fund raisers!  We're preparing for a yard sale and we're planning to sell a bunch of this as well as all the junk {valuable goodies} that are being stored in our basement at this present moment. 

Amish Caramel

2 c. white sugar - yeah....
2 c. heavy cream - hey, I used the organic stuff...that makes it a little bit better right?
1 3/4 c. corn syrup -  .....O.K.!!  Never mind....
1 c. butter
1 tsp. vanilla


 

Boil sugar, syrup, butter, and a little of the cream.

 

Add the rest of your cream slowly as the mixture boils. Continue stirring.  Don't allow to stop boiling.

   Boil until it forms a soft ball (236-240 degrees). Then add vanilla.

Pour into a buttered pan. Cool. Cut into squares and wrap in wax paper...this is when you're really glad you have children!!  This is an easy job, but it sure does seem to take forever!! :) 

 There you have it!!  Throw a few of these in a cute little bag with some shred and a raffia ribbon and you're set! 

Now, we pray for a good turn out on yard sale day....!!  

Pizza Fries! Yum!!

Here's a healthy twist to an old favorite!!

One of my favorite restaurants when I lived in Tucson, AZ was called Eegees!  LOVED that place!  They had all kinds of really fun, really unhealthy food!  I must confess, Eegees and Whataburger get a visit every time I go "back home".

One day I decided to make my own Pizza Fries and they turned out fanTAStic!!  My husband, who grew up eating Southern fried, big people food, wasn't too fond of it, so he gets spaghetti on Pizza Fries night.

Ingredients:

Homemade potato wedges {or frozen french fries}
Spaghetti or pizza sauce {garlic & oregano}
Mozzarella cheese
Mushrooms
Green onions
Peperoni or sausage {if you would normally eat these things on your pizza}
Olives
Peppers
Tomatoes
Pretty much anything you would normally put on your homemade pizzas

Directions:

Bake potato wedges until golden brown and crispy.
Heat spaghetti/pizza sauce till hot and add spices if necessary.
Prepare veggies and pizza toppings.
Put a few potato wedges on each plate; cover with sauce; add desired ingredients and then top with tons of mozzarella! 

Enjoy!!!

Yummy Cheesy Bread

Ever have last minute company?  If you're like me, you send each kid to get something done before the guests arrive.  Dust the piano, pick up the shoes in the entry way, throw all the clutter in the bedroom, clean the bathroom, and take out the trash.  You might even light a candle to give the house that special welcoming effect.

But what about food?  What can you whip up in a few moments that would be "company approved"?

Try Cheesy Bread!  It's fast easy and fabulous!  Your company can snack on these delicious biscuits until the cows come home...or dinner is ready.  Whichever comes first. 

I've made these simple biscuits for company several times and they've always been loved.  I even made them for this past year's Christmas dinner at church.  My husband says they taste just like the rolls at the Dixie Stampede.  I've never been there before, but I'm sure that's a compliment!  And THESE are healthy!  {Although, I must warn you: you may want to double or even triple this recipe!}

Ingredients:

• 2 cups fresh ground soft white wheat {or whole wheat flour}  
• 1 tablespoon baking powder or arrowroot powder
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 cup milk, buttermilk, plain yogurt or sour cream
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons oregano
• 1 cup cheddar cheese or half cup mozzarella/1/2 cup cheddar

Directions:

Mix ingredients together with fork and then drop onto your pan.

Bake in 350* oven for around 15 minutes or until the tip-tops are a nice golden brown.  Yields about 10 regular size biscuits or 6 large ones.

There really are so many different options for these biscuits!   You could add some bits of bacon, or sun-dried tomatoes, or maybe you'd be more interested in chives or jalapenos?  

Leave a message below to let me know what you'd add or like best!!  I can't wait to hear your ideas...and try a few!  ;) 

Whole Wheat Bread

After 3 years of praying for a wheat grinder, I finally got one last year for my birthday!!  I was so excited I ordered wheat berries right away - TONS of them!  Actually, it was more like 100 pounds, but who's counting, right?

I got busy baking bread.  But it didn't work.  Something was really wrong!  I couldn't figure it out! 

My chocolate chip cookies, banana bread, pumpkin breads, and plenty of other such recipes worked just fine, but the regular, old sandwich bread that I kept trying to make was a flop!  As in F-L-O-P!! 

After much confusion, research, and way too many wasted wheat berries, I finally begged a friend of mine, who was in town visiting her parents, to come rescue me.  {More like rescue my husband and children from many frustrating rants of self pity due to the fact that I was by no means the natural born bread maker that I had imagined myself to be.}

Kami came and with her the knowledge that all wheat berries are NOT created equal.  In my attempts to make a healthy, yet soft wheat bread that my husband and children would adore, I bought soft white wheat berries.  Did I mention I bought  ONE HUNDRED POUNDS of them??  In my little brain it made complete since.  They were completely natural, organic, and fresh ground.  What could be wrong with them?  Not a whole lot if all you plan to make is cakes and cookies, but for sandwich bread it was all wrong. 

Long story short - I had to buy another big bag of hard white wheat and another of hard red wheat beside the 100 pounds of soft white berries I already had!  <sigh>  The good news is that my Kami's bread turned out just as soft and yummy as I had originally hoped! 

Here's Kami's recipe: 

1 1/2 cup warm water
1/3 cup of oil - I suggest cold pressed coconut oil or olive oil.  I use olive oil.

1/3 cup of raw honey

2 teaspoons of sea salt

4 1/2 cups of flour - which being interpreted is 1 1/2 cups of hard white wheat berries and 1 1/2 cups of hard red wheat berries.  Throw it all in the ole grinder and there you have it - 4 1/2 cups of fresh ground, whole wheat flour!! 

1 Tablespoon of yeast

1 Tablespoon of lecithin

1 Tablespoon of gluten 

Slight variation: * I don't use lecithin or gluten.  I simply throw in an egg and it works just as well.

Directions:

Dissolve yeast in warm water.  Add oil, honey, salt, *egg and flour.  Mix together.  I don't have a mixer - YET - so I kneed by hand.  It really isn't that hard and makes me feel quite domesticated! 

Put dough in warm place to rise until doubled.  This takes about an hour.  After dough has doubled, punch it down.  Separate your dough into 2 equal parts and form your loaves.  Let your loaves rise in greased bread pans.  Bake at 350* for only around 20 minutes!  Very easy and delicious!! 

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