My Mix of 6

Hello everyone!  Did you have a fabulous Easter?  We did.  The bunny was good to us this year.  The kids all got new flip flops and bathing suits in their baskets.   I guess the bunny was getting us ready for the boat and summer.   I have to say, The Mister did a pretty darn good job with keeping the family on track and fed last week.   I could get use to coming home to dinner on the table.  I just have to do the toughest part...think of the meals and prep the foods.  Actually, we had enough leftovers for two of the nights, that there are two meals on repeat here this week, because we didn't get to make them last week.     So with that said; here is this week's meal plan. Monday: Oven Baked Pork Chops  (previously made freezer meal) Tuesday:   Slow Cooker:    Pesto Ranch Chicken Thighs Wednesday: Taco Braid Thursday: Slow Cooker:   Amazing Chicken (previously made freezer meal) Friday:  Le...

Yesterday , I shared with you the before and after of our work area in our family room.  Today, I'm going to show you the super easy, way I built a new shelf for our desk area.  I went to the Home Depot and bought an oak stair tread and two wood corbels. I had a coupon for a free samples of paint from Lowe's.  I have been collecting these coupons and getting different color samples each time I go in.  It's great for the little projects that I've been working on. I painted everything with the satin, Du Jour, color.  I was able to get about 2 coats out of one of those small samples. Measured it out on the wall, and made sure that it was level.  I also anchored it down with 4 screws on the to of the shelf into the corbel.  (Sorry, I missed getting a photo of that)  I basically anchored each corner down. I then, sat back and admired my handy work.   This was once again, a project that was done while The Mister was at work....

Happy Tuesday!  Don't forget today is  tax day, and if you haven't already done so, don't forget to get your taxes filed and/or mailed in! While I was home last week, one of my main goals was to get through the organizing of our desk area in the family room.   This is the #1 drop all zone for EVERYTHING under the sun, when it enters our house.   It is aggravating and embarrassing all at the same time.  All the bills, the kids school work, forms to sign, magazines, it all seems to land on my desk. When I showed it to you last week, it looked like this:  (remember, no judging here) After working on this area for the last few days, and adding a new shelf and gathering some storage essentials, this is what it looks like now: I am LOVING this new arrangement and seriously, how about that shelf?!  I am so excited about that shelf!  It has opened up so much storage for us...much needed, I might add.  I love the new layout as well. ...

Today's the day!   Today I start my new job!     Today is also where all my meal plans and freezer meals will be put to the ultimate test.    The Mister is officially on dinner making duty.     I have enjoyed this last week off from work.   I'm rested.   I got projects taken care of.   I've had closure from a job of 10 years.  I'm ready to move onward and upward.   To kick of the first week of work, here is the Monday Meal Plan. Monday:   Crescent French Dips Sandwiches with side of fries and cantaloupe Tuesday: Slow Cooker -- Freezer Meal : Exuberant Chicken with a spinach salad and baked potatoes Wednesday:  Chicken Taco Salad Thursday:   Slow Cooker -- Freezer Meal : Pork and Veggies Friday: Taco Braid Saturday:  Steaks (BBQ) w/ Cheesy Pesto Bread, side salad and green beans Sunday: Ribs (BBQ) with baked beans, macaroni and potato salad. I hope you all have a great w...

**Sorry,this is up a day  late.  I spent the day with some important women in my life and was away from the computer yesterday. WOW!   Friends, thank you so much for sharing my freezer meals post all over Facebook!    What a hit!  Obviously I'm not the only one who needs a little easy dinner prep in my life.   Today I am going to share with you a HUGE hit with my family from this last week, and one of our freezer meals.  I'm not usually a big meatball fan, but let me tell you, this was hit with the kids and hubby...and I have to admit, I even liked it....a lot. Slow Cooker: Sweet & Sour Meatballs  Ingredients: 2 lbs ground beef or ground turkey  (Or,  like I did, 1 lb of each, your preference) 1 egg 1 Tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce 1 (10 oz) jar sweet and sour sauce (I used La Choy brand) 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup soy sauce 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1 medium red bell pepper, cubed 1 medium ...

I have always dreamed of having a beautiful organized home office that would double as my craft room.  Something that I could be creative in.   Something organized.  Pretty boxes.  Place for everything and everything in its place.  Something like this... (two twenty one) However, my craft room is not big enough to double as a home office, which happens to be downstairs and we like to be able to monitor the kids' computer time as well as the websites that the kids get on.  For our family, it works best to have the computer in the family room.  Where everyone is at and there is nothing to hide. I was looking for a command center work area.  Like this.... (source unknown) However, we need more storage.  The desk we have is this from IKEA.   (Galant - Right corner) See, no storage. To top it off, this desk is a magnet for clutter.   A magnet for paper. This is what I had started with.  No judging, peopl...

Happy Tuesday!   Check it out TWO posts, back to back!   Yea me!   I have one full week off in-between jobs, which I mentioned about here , so I am going to use it my full advantage.  My Honey-To-Do list is a mile long...or more and I have only a short amount of time to complete the "chores" while The Mister is at work and the kids are in school.   Yesterday the first task I wanted to complete was getting some freezer meals in our freezer.  I had started making these on Sunday night, but quickly ran out of steam; so this was one of the first things I finished yesterday.  With the new hours that I am going to have at work, which is later than I am currently working, I wanted to make sure that we were completely prepared in the meal time department since The Mister is now officially in charge with getting dinner on the table prior to our evening activities and at a decent time. I went shopping on Sunday for our normal sh...

I know that Monday is nearly over, but I thought I'd share with you our meal plan for this week.  I've been working on getting some freezer meals stocked up in our freezer.  So this weeks meals have a little more variety then the past. Have you seen the Marcella Valladolid meats at Safeway?  These are great on the BBQ.   We have found that we were love cooking them on the grill and then making them into fajitas.  Slice up a few peppers and onions, sauté them and add them to the tortillas. Sunday: Salmon w/ Asparagus and steamed baby red potatoes Monday:  Tilapia w/roasted veggies mixture in an Italian dressing marinade (mushrooms, sliced red onions, sliced yellow & green zucchini, grape tomatoes) Tuesday:  Slow Cooker: Sweet & Sour Meatballs, served over brown rice Wednesday:  Chicken Fajitas (using the ready made meats I mentioned above) Thursday: Slow Cooker: Lemon Garlic Chicken Friday:  Honey Lime Chi...

We wrapped up our Spring Break two weeks ago.  We don't normally take the week off from work, but decided to this year.  It was fantastic.  We actually had two mini vacations wrapped into one week.   The first part of the week we took off and went camping in China Hat which is in Eastern Oregon and we got in some dirt bike riding. This is what relaxing looks like while camping Our view for 4 days.   So incredibly peaceful.  One of our favorite spots to go. Had to get all the kids in one picture We then headed south to visit family in California.  We were able to bring the trailer and then stay at my cousins place and meet their new baby girl.  She is absolutely precious.  Such a good baby.  So relaxed and easy spirits.   Isn't she just perfect?! While we spent time with them, we also were coming down to see my sister and brother-in-law for their baby shower.  I can't wait to meet that baby girl!  Aunt...