My Mix of 6

Happy Tuesday everyone!  Hope you had a fabulous weekend!  Our's was fantastic!   It started with Thursday when I was able to stay home from work and go work in two of my kiddo's classroom's.  One of my benefits at work is that they grant us 40 hours a year of paid volunteer work.  They encourage all employees to get out into our communities and volunteer.  I love it.  So, I choose to use my volunteer hours by working at some of my kid's schools, since I have four kids in 3 different school in the district.  It works out nicely, that I can be involved in their classrooms. Friday, the hubs and I took off for a great weekend at the coast.  Our lovely cousins volunteered to not only take care of our four kids but also to puppy-sit our two dogs, for the whole weekend.  Bless them!   They took they kids up to Mt. Hood and did a little night sledding.  The kids jabbered our ears off about the sledding from the minute we picked them, to even last night at dinner.  We are

Another Meal Plan Monday is in full force!!!  I'm a little behind schedule this week.  Hope everyone had as great a weekend as The Mister and I did.  I will follow up with that in another post. Last week was the first week that we didn't eat all 7 meals at home.  In fact, the kids were at our cousins house for the weekend while The Mister and I were out of town.  This weekend we have a birthday girl in the house!!!  Little Miss Firecracker is climbing the ladder all the way to 12!!!  Hard to believe she's 12 already. Here's what we are eating this week.  Hopefully, it helps make your dinner plans a little easier for the week.  Monday:  Rotisserie Chicken w/ garlic mashed potatoes, green beans, and green salad Tuesday:  Crockpot:  Pot Roast w/ leftover garlic mashed potatoes, and green salad Wednesday:  Crockpot:   Honey Garlic Chicken Thursday:  Taco's Friday:  Chicken Florentine Pasta Saturday:  Spaghetti w/ Chicken Caesar salad and garlic bread Sunday: 

A while ago, I was scoping out this website where you can get all these woodworking plans for free.  There are plans to build things like furniture for your home, toys for your kids, and even patio sets, along with so much more.  This amazing site is one of the ones that got me hooked into the world of blogs.  It started when I saw these floating shelves used in a home on this blog and I just KNEW I had to make some of them. So, I went out and bought the lumber, as per the directions and cut list.  This was my very first wood working project and The Mister was so good with teaching me how to pick out the right lumber and what to look for with bad lumber.  He taught me to measure, over and over, before you cut... How to use his tools... It was a mixture of hard work, fun, and learning.  Before long, we were tripping over each other in the garage and waiting for one another to finish up with a tool, so I moved to the driveway and turned the tailgate of his truck into

I have had this vision in my head for a   r e a l l y  long time.  The problem was finding the right spot in my house to put this vision.  We needed it to be a place where everyone could see it.   I thought about doing it in our hallway.  But the hallway is narrow.  And dark.  And currently getting ready to redo it, to make it brighter, and this would have gotten in the way of everything.  Then I thought about this open spot by our front door.  Nope.   I am going to redo the entry way as well and I have that whole wall planned out.  So, there it sat.  My idea.  In my head.  With no place to put it. And then it happened...this weekend.  When The Mister was leaving to go out of town with a couple of the kids and go dirt bike riding.  The light bulb went off.   I honestly, don't think he made it to the freeway before I was calling him and rambling my idea off in hyper speed a mile a minute.  I have to say, I'm a lucky girl.  When I get something in my head and I get a moment

As you know, I worked in Bubba's room this past weekend.   I was able to tackle his bulletin board and frame it out, which I talked about here, and something that has been on my To-Do List for quite a while now. Mitered corners can appear to be easy and yet seem self explanatory, but they can also be very tricky.  Especially when the piece of wood you are working with has some detail or design to it.  You really need to pay attention and remember what you are doing.  The Mister, thankfully, taught me how to miter corners a while ago for another project.   We happen to have a miter saw, but you can also use a miter box with a hand saw to do these cuts as well. I had cut and placed a piece of wood up on the wall.   Lined it up the way I wanted it along the bulletin board.  I cut both of my corners at a 45 degree angle. I measured from the inside, of the piece of wood. Here is the tricky part.  As you can see in the picture below I was laying it out, trying to make s

Slow Cooker:  Pepper Steak       Ingredients: 2 lbs of stew meat 1 can/jar of spaghetti sauce (I used some homemade canned marina that I made last summer) 1 onion sliced 1 green pepper sliced  salt and pepper to taste 1 tsp of Italian seasoning   Instructions:   Put everything into the slow cooker and cook for 7-8 hours on low or 5-6 hours on high. Feel free to add any other seasonings you think would be good.   Serve with pasta and a veggie such as cauliflower.  We like to mash our cauliflower.  It looks like mashed potatoes, but tastes better. *I was going to add a picture for you, but unfortunately my camera just isn't working right.  So I will add next time I make this meal.

Hey guys!  Hope you are enjoying the start to your week.   This weeks menu is a little different just because we have two night this week that we are not cooking dinner. We've been doing really good with keeping eating at home and eliminating all the processed foods from our diet.  I have to say, it really is amazing what that does for one's body.  The Mister was on business all last week, and in result of that, ate all his meals out.  Well, he came home feeling like total crud; his stomach was upset the first few days home, and felt better the minute he started eating whole foods again. Here is out menu for the week: Monday: Crockpot :  Pepper Steak w/ mashed cauliflower Tuesday: Steak with Ratatouille (can't wait to see the kids face!) Wednesday: Crockpot:   Chicken & Dumplings Thursday:  Chicken Florentine Pasta w/ Green Salad Friday:  Dinner with Friends Saturday: Dinner at our Cousins home Sunday:  Salmon w/ corn, green salad, and garlic bread

Goood Morning everyone!!!!   Happy Monday!   Today is wonderful because I HAVE TODAY OFF!  How was your weekend?  Hope you had a great one!  We had lots of stuff going on.  Our youngest son, Bubba, moved ranks in Cub Scouts at his Blue & Gold Banquet.   He has gone from a Wolf to a Bear!  Yay, Bubba!   After the banquet, The Mister, Hotrod, and Firecracker went out to Central Oregon and did some dirt bike riding.  Bubba, Baby Girl and I stayed home because Bubba had a follow up doctor's appt for his broken finger.  Which I talked about here .  So while they were gone I worked on some projects.  Did you guess that?  I bet you did...  There were a few things that I have had on my To-Do list for Bubba's room for a while now. Hang his bulletin board Frame the bulletin board Hang the star and moon lights Hang the truck - car holder Hang the USA map Find a new light Curtains??? Bamboo Blinds Few more 'camping' themed decorations S

Did you all read my post the other day?  About becoming unplugged ?  I've had a lot of feedback from people in my inner circle.  Some who loved it.  Some who thought I hit the nail on the head.  Some who were sheepishly shy about it because it hit home for them. Well, this week of being unplugged has been fantastic with the kids.  We've had a ton of play time together.  Everyone is helping out around the house more and the kids are TALKING TO EACH OTHER , like SHARING THEIR LIVES , talking to each other.  Do you know what this means?!?!?!?  This means MAMA is thrilled!  Like-squealing-inside-but-can't-let-the-kids-see-me, thrilled! I did fall upon this article today; Dear Mom on the iPhone .  It actually brought tears to my eyes, because it's happened.  It's so true.  I see it.  I've been guilty of it.  I know you have too.  I think we all need a little reminder of this. Please take the time to read it.  Maybe some of us need to change our perspecti

Good Afternoon Lovelies!!!   I hope you all had a great weekend.   We kept busy around the house.  Going through stuff.  Getting rid of stuff.  Organizing a craft room (hope to have that post up later in the week) and a few little crafty projects.  :) The Mister is out of town on business, so I'm running the show by myself this week, which also means, I am running all the after school activities by myself; so simplicity is what I'm striving for along with quickness.  Here is what we are eating for dinners this week: Monday: Taco's Tuesday:   Spaghetti w/ Chicken Caesar Salad and Garlic Bread Wednesday : Crock Pot: Chicken & Dumplings Thursday:   Breakfast for Dinner - Heart shaped pink pancakes, eggs and bacon, fruit w/ Fruit Punch with Heart Shaped Pineapple Juice ice cubes.  :) Friday:   Salisbury Steak w/ Mashed Cauliflower and spinach salad Saturday:    Steak W/ Chick Pea & Tomato Basil Salad Sunday:   Salmon, garden salad and corn

Slow Cooker: Chicken Fajitas These were so delicious and E-A-S-Y.   I have never had such an easy meal before.  Hands down I will be making all of our fajitas this way.  The kids gobbled them up and didn't realize they were eating peppers or onions. Ingredients: 3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts 2 bell peppers, sliced (I did a green and a yellow one) 1 onion, sliced 1 packet of taco seasoning I even used frozen chicken breasts and did not thaw them out before hand, just popped them in frozen. Slice peppers and onions then place them on the bottom of the crock pot. Put Chicken on top of peppers and onions Sprinkle taco seasoning on the top Cook on low for 6-8 hrs (or high for 3-4) Shred the chicken with 2 forks.  Mix and serve We had guacamole and Greek yogurt, in place of sour cream.  The Mister, taste-tester-of-all, couldn't even tell the difference between the yogurt and sour cream.  Score!!  One point for me!!!   You could

We've all seen the Ryan Gosling "Hey Girl" memes that are all over Pinterest.  Well, these Five Fabulous bloggers are hosting a "Hey Girl" link party;  View Along The Way , Decor and the Dog , Bliss Ranch , Two Twenty One and Domesic Imperfection .  This is a fun way to show some Valentine's Love for my main man.  Anyone, who knows The Mister and I, knows that we are in such love that we are inseparable.  I thought this would be easy, you know, since I've been with The Mister, for-ever.   But it was a little harder than I thought.  Trying to find the perfect picture to go with the perfect "Hey Girl" was a little tricky, too.  However, once I got into my groove, I could have done a gazillion more of these. How do you not fall in love, even more, with a man that falls asleep with their babies? Cheers baby!  You love me and you know it!   Happens every. Single. Time. I rent a movie Working on it, baby, working on it.