Halloween Treat Bags

Making Halloween Treat Bags every year brings me so much joy. Yes it would be easier to throw candy in a bowl or go out and buy the cheap throw away treat bags but making my own makes me happy and I hope the kids love them too!

Last year I made these:

http://www.marthastewart.com/article/bat-and-moon-paper-treat-bags


And now this year I'm thinking about making the pumpkins. Here is a link and video of Martha Stewart & Faith Hill making a few different treat bags.

http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.3a0656639de62ad593598e10d373a0a0/?vgnextoid=465feb5d00c65110VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&vgnextchannel=4ef2dc5bfca40110VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&rsc=showarchive_tv_show-archive&lnc=4ef2dc5bfca40110VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD


Let me know if you'll be making your own too!

I'm Back

Ok, I admit it. I'm a horrible blogger. It's been ages since I've had an update! But I'm back.. for now. ;)

Let's see what I've missed...

Travis is now a Freshman in High School and has his learner's permit to drive!!

Alan is in 7th grade now and doing great.

Jeff just turned 3 on August 30th

I've been working long hours with my at home job and loving the extra pay but not so much the hours. The babysitter I had to help some with Jeff has now entered the work force. So now I've been trying to work and watch Jeff which has been a bit of a challenge. I'd love to have him to go pre-k a couple of days a week but there really isn't anything around here.

I've started my fly lady cleaning program again and I'm excited that the fall season is upon us. It's my favorite time of year. I can't wait to show you what I'm making for Halloween and the new great recipe I found for cookies!

Prom 2009 - Masquerade Under the Stars

Below are pictures from the Junior/Senior Promenade Friday night -my sister, Jordan, and cousin Paige, are both Juniors. They both looked beautiful and I'm told they had a wonderful evening.

Oh and for nastalgia sake.. Here is my Senior Prom Pic. Good lord how I hated my hair that night, all the curls fell out before I got to Prom. lol

Surgery Update

Jeff made it through like a champ and has a beautiful grill to show for it.

The day started off pretty rough. At the hospital a woman tried to snatch Jeff. It was truly the scariest thing I've ever experienced in my life. He's home safe & sound... and I'm never letting him leave the house until he's 50.

I had reached into my purse to grab my insurance card and in that 30 sec. she had grabbed him. I tear up just thinking about it again.

So after that it was time for Jeff to be taken back to surgery. I was a complete emotional wreck by that time and I have no idea how I held it together. I got to undress Jeff and put his gown & socks on. They even let Mawigi go back with him for the surgery.

His teeth were not as bad as Dr. Jeff (or denta as Jeff calls him) thought they were. Jeff ended up getting 4 root canals and caps on the top front teeth and then some sealants in the back.

When he started to wake up in recovery he was crying when he saw the IV still in his hand and the nurse gave him a shot of morphine. A few minutes later he was still crying so she gave him another shot of morphine. Needless to say he was out of it until we got home.

Today he's back to climbing the walls.. none wiser to the fact some woman tried to take him or that he went through a 2 hour surgery. The only evidence that anything happened is the hospital bracelets that are still on the two of us (something they put on right after the baby snatching incident). Neither of us want to take them off. Jeff because he thinks it's cool and me because it's a bit of a safetly blanket. Not sure if that makes a lot of sense but that's how it's gonna have to be for the next few days.

Surgery Today

I'm taking Jeff to the hospital for surgery on his teeth today.

I'm a little nervous as they have 2 hours blocked for the surgery and he'll be under anethesia. He'll be getting a root canal, some caps, and some sealants.

We have to be there at 10, they'll be taking him back at 11:30, and then 1-2 hours in recovery.

Praying that everything goes well and he'll be showing off his new grill later tonight. :)

April Fools!

Ok it looks like y'all were on to me anyway. I am not pregnant.

I was going to April Fools Rob with that little joke but I figured I would have given him a heart attack. lol

Surprising News!!!

I had to take a pop quiz today.. and it resulted in two lines!

Getting Back to Normal

Wow, it's been a while. I had to take a bit of a hiatus while all of us were sick. Jeff had RSV which was a bit scary and he's finally able to sleep now without coughing all night.

I'm beginning to get back into the swing of things. Spring Fever has set in and I'm anxious to take Jeff to the zoo, go for walks, plant a garden, do landscaping, and deep clean the house. My first task is to get the house in order. I started decluttering some hotspots tonight.

We finally got a check from the insurance company to redo the floors, ect.. but found out last week that they no longer make our flooring. Ya know.. the flooring that we have from one end of the house to the other. I called the insurance guy and he said that if our flooring cannot be found then they will replace all our floors.

Travis had his cast removed last week and he's extremely happy about that.

Alan brought home a wonderful report card, we are so proud of him.

Not much going on other than that. I've read probably 15 books in the last month so I'm anxious to write up some reviews. I'm really anxious to get back into the groove of blogging again.

It's good to be back.

M.I.A

It's never ending!

I've been absent this past week because sickness has hit our house.

My last post I mentioned about everyone's appointments. Well later that night Jeff & Rob woke up with 102 fevers. Rob got better eventually but Jeff never did. I won't go into all the specifics but today we found out he has ear infections and strep throat. We did get some meds so hopefully he'll be feeling better soon. - However, my throat began hurting today so I'm praying that I didn't catch it!

Anyway.... I should be back into posting action tomorrow. I've read a few books that I can't wait to give reviews on.

Have a great night all!

A day of appointments

Travis had a doctor's appointment today with the Orthopedic Surgeon. On the way over he was praying that they would remove his cast. When the doctor asked if Travis had any pain in his thumb Travis quickly replied, "No!" I don't think he would of said yes if his life depended on it. So the cast is off but the high tech splint is on. Travis is on cloud 9 because the doc said playing video games is great therapy for his thumb. Remind me to send a thank you card for the doc for that - Not!

Jeff was up next, he had a dentist appt. this afternoon. It went great - sort of. The great part is that Jeff loves his dentist and did not make a fuss about sitting in the chair and letting the doc look at all of his teeth with the mirror. I think it helped that they have flat screen tvs tilted so you can watch movies while they are looking at your teeth. I wish that was my dentist too!

Anyway, Jeff has to have 5 caps put on his teeth. Sad I know. It's from nursing him to sleep so many nights when he was younger. I had nursed him until right before his 2nd birthday and it damaged his teeth greatly. So next month we are going to take him to the hospital and they are going to put him under while doing all the dental work.

Next on the list was my appointment... with the girls! Paige & Jordan needed help with their Pearl Harbor project. I was exhausted from an entire day out but with a little help from Rob their project was completed.

After everyone left the house and all the boys gone to sleep I collapsed on the couch and watched the AI Wild Card Show. Who the hell let Tatiana back in the building? That girl needs a one way ticket back to crazy town.

Tomorrow is a full day of working and trying to get my house clean. Rob leaves for drill this weekend so just me & the boys again. Think I can send the boys to the Army with Rob and have a weekend to myself?

Few of my favorites

I seriously need to clean out my "favorites". I have at least 100 webpages saved and I probably haven't been to half of them in the past year.

So this is kind of a fluff post, mostly because I feel like I was hit by a mac truck today. But I thought it would be fun and be a way to share a part of my interests with you.

This is a new website I just recently added. I'm not sure if I like it yet or not. www.goop.com

One of my favorite celeb gossip sites. www.dlisted.com

Another celeb gossip site. www.pinkisthenewblog.com

Just a funny website with pretty pictures and good recipes (sometimes she even has great giveaways) http://thepioneerwoman.com/

Great website... if you like romance novels. www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com

You can find some great blogs on this site.. go check them out! http://2009.bloggies.com/

When you are feeling sick and want to find out what crazy third world country disease you have... www.webmd.com Diagnosis yourself and freak out until your doctor tells you it's just the common cold!

One of my all time favorite sites.. www.allrecipes.com

When you are in the mood for drink and need to know how to make it. www.webtender.com

When you are in the mood to find out how to do everything... www.soyouwanna.com

Enjoy web surfing and let me know if you find anything you like! BTW.. how many sites are saved under your favorites?

Antique Mystery Show

Right before we moved into this house I went to an estate tag sale and picked this up for about $200. I thought it was really unique and could make a great conversational piece. Too bad I don't know much about it so there's not much to the conversation!

Everything on it is hand carved and there is a glass overlay on the top. It came with the original lock and seems to be in perfect condition.

Please share with me if you know any information about chests similar to this piece. I know that the previous owners like to travel so I'm assuming this is something they picked up overseas.

Kid in a Candy Store

Today Rob & I went shopping.... alone... kids free....just being a couple. We rarely ever get a free moment where kids aren't screaming at each other or at us. So I jumped at the chance of procuring a babysitter for the day.

For lunch we met my A. Cheri, Mom, and sis Jordan at Olive Garden. It was oh so good! I can't get enough of their salad.

After lunch we did a lot of shopping, mostly buying house stuff. I also bought myself a few items like new shoes, hair stuff, and some new books!!

I am like a kid in a candy store when I'm in a book store. I could spend the entire day there. I get excited just thinking about going. Maybe I should have been a librarian.

Books I purchased today are:

* Dream A Little Dream By: Susan Elizabeth Phillips
* For the Love of Pete By: Julia Harper
* Kiss An Angel By: Susan Elizabeth Phillips
* Ecstasy By: Jacquelyn Frank
* The Warrior Heir By: Cinda Williams Chima
* City of Ashes By: Cassandra Clare

I don't really know much about most of the books listed. Most of them looked like fun and humorous reads. I am very excited to read City of Ashes which is Book 2 in the Mortal Instruments series. I liked the first one, City of Bones, so I have high hopes for this one. I'll be sure to leave a review once I'm finished!

.......So tomorrow is my big cleaning day. I'm wanting to tackle a couple of more hot spots and maybe organize my closet. The boys seem to hord clothes in their room and when they have run out of clean clothes is when they end up in the laundry room. I now have about 100 loads of laundry to do. If you don't hear from me tomorrow I'm probably buried under the mound of jeans!!!

TGIF!!!!

Ok this has been one crazy week and I'm glad it's over! I'm so sorry to my fans that I've been remiss on my daily posts and I will try to correct that asap! ;)

Here is a recap of my week:

Sunday: I had a couple of friends over (Salena & Mary) and their 8 month old babies (Clayton & Jared). They are so cute! - the babies of course. Salena & Mary are cute too I guess but I'm not Katy Perry. Anyway... they went through all of Jeff's baby clothes for their little guys. I was so sad for a few days after that because as a friend pointed out... all of those clothes had memories of when Jeff was a precious tiny baby.

Monday & Tuesday : I worked & kept my house clean. - I'm seriously loving flylady and my clean house!

Wednesday: Mary asked that I watch Jared for her. Jared was a perfect angel and this experience snapped me out of my previous clothes depression. I had a touch of baby fever but after trying to watch Jeff, Jared, and trying to work... baby fever was cured!

Thursday: Alan had a doctor appt. and my mother-in-law was in the hospital so it was a bit of a stressful day. I didn't get a chance to pick up Wednesday night so in a matter of 24 hours my house looks like a cyclone has went through it again.

Friday: Well today hasn't happened but it's gonna be great. Want to know why? Because my tax refund was deposited this morning!!!!

I am going to try working through my writer's block today. I'm wanting to put in some serious time on the book I'm writing. I realized I had made a classic mistake. I have written the first few chapters but I didn't really have an outline set for the book. So I've been working on the outline and plot as well... since ya know books need plots - or so I've heard.

I thought I'd leave you a couple pics of Jeff to brighten your day. Jeff loves to write and draw these days - his favorite thing to draw on is himself. So they other day he walks into the office saying he's a rainbow wearing boots! (He got really upset later during bath time that I was washing off his boots. lol)

Then he put on his favorite costume and watched Blues Clues.

Nightmare Behind My Street

Freddy Krueger lives behind our house in the woods. Don't believe me? Take a look!

Ok.. it really doesn't look like much. lol But seriously the woods catty cornered behind our house was used for the annual haunted trails.

This was the Freddy Krueger bus. You have no idea how many people peed their pants going through it. I know because the bus was one of my group's scenes a few times.

Wouldn't it be scary if one of my kids had friends over for a sleep over and they saw strobe lights on the bus and heard a metal fork scraping a pan as I walked up the stairs in the dark? Muwahahaa!

A Cleaning Fool

As most of you know I've been trying to follow the flylady beginner steps. Today I was about to see what was on the flylady agenda but I remembered that I had two friends coming over this afternoon so I wanted the house clean.

I cleaned Jeff's bedroom, the boy's bathroom (yuck!), picked up the kitchen, cleaned my bathroom, and swept and mopped the entire downstairs. Flylady would have been so proud of me. But better yet I'm proud of myself.

I need to tackle closets next and my office. My desk is becoming a serious hot spot.

I also did some serious decluttering today by giving away Jeff's baby clothes. It felt great that I was freeing up closet space but depressed at the same time. I was so attached to those onesies and sleepers and now I have to begin to accept that my baby isn't such a baby anymore. :(

I was reading on the flylady website about decluttering and I thought I would share with you what it says about how and when to declutter. http://www.flylady.net/pages/FlyingLessons_Declutter.asp

Before bed tonight I will cleaning my sink, laying out a fresh towel, and setting my clothes out for tomorrow. I just might get the hand of this flylady stuff afterall.

Happy Cleaning!

Push!

Last night Jordan (sis), Paige (cousin), and I (me) decided to go see a movie. Paige & I tried talking Jordan into seeing Friday the 13th but Jordan wasn't having any of that. So we ended up deciding to watch Push.

Here is the movie description I found online:
The Division, a shadowy government agency, is genetically transforming citizens into an army of psychic warriors--and brutally disposing of those unwilling to participate. Nick Gant, a second-generation telekinetic or "mover," has been in hiding since the Division murdered his father more than a decade earlier. He has found sanctuary in densely populated Hong Kong--the last safe place on earth for fugitive psychics like him--but only if he can keep his gift a secret. Nick is forced out of hiding when Cassie Holmes, a 13-year-old clairvoyant or "watcher," seeks his help in finding Kira, an escaped "pusher" who may hold the key to ending the Division's program. Pushers possess the most dangerous of all psychic powers: the ability to influence others' actions by implanting thoughts in their minds. But Cassie's presence soon attracts the attention of the Division's human bloodhounds, forcing Nick and Cassie to flee for their lives. With the help of a team of rogue psychics, the unlikely duo traverses the seedy underbelly of the city, trying to stay one step ahead of the authorities as they search for Kira. But they find themselves square in the crosshairs of Division Agent Henry Carver, a pusher who will stop at nothing to keep them from achieving their goal.

When the movie first began I was like, "Oh so this is like Heroes the Movie." The answer is yes and no. Yes in the fact that people have powers and an agency is hunting them down ... very Heroes like. No in the fact that this movie was awesome and Heroes stopped being awesome 2 seasons ago.

Chris Evans plays Nick and Dakota Fanning plays Cassie. They both did a great job. Dakota Fanning is a fantastic actress and I really enjoyed watching her in this movie. (And now I can see her playing Jane in New Moon) One of our favorite scenes is when she gets drunk to try and improve her ability.

The only thing that irked me throughout the film was all the crazy wallpaper. It seems like every new place they went the place had outlandish walls. I was like wth? lol

Anyway, you should definitely go see it.. and a sequel is no doubt in the making.

Luvin' some Shaun!

Shaun the Sheep has swept our household! It's so funny to watch all five of us stop what we are doing to watch the show.

We each have our favorite characters.

Rob's favorite is Shaun.Shaun is the sheep who does not follow the flock. Curious, resourceful and fun-loving, his mix of enthusiasm and inexperience is often a recipe for trouble.

Travis & Alan's favorites are Shaun & Bitzer.

Bitzer, the long-suffering sheepdog, only wants a quiet life - but this is the last thing he is going to get when Shaun is around.

Jeff's favorite is Timmy.

Adorable but not as innocent as he looks, Timmy is a baby lamb who sucks a dummy and has a tendency to get himself into dangerous situations. (I'm assuming a dummy is a paci, I got these descriptions off of the website)

My favorite are the Pigs!

The Naughty Pigs are the bane of Shaun's life - mocking, cantankerous and greedy, they get no greater pleasure than disrupting his schemes.

You really should check out this show, I think it's on Disney. You can also check out the website http://www.shaunthesheep.com/ for some funny clips to watch.

I think if my diet falls through I can always join Shaun's workout regime. lol

Flylady Part II

I really did not feel like cleaning today but I promised and my house needs a good cleaning!

I’ve been looking at the flylady beginner steps and skipped a few since they mainly just talked about getting dressed and such. I get dressed most of the time but when you work at home it’s just too tempting to work in your p.j’s especially when you are sick like I am at the moment! – see just broke a rule and I haven’t even started yet.

Ok so today I’m jumping ahead to clean the Hot Spot. Here is what www.flylady.net says about Hot Spots:

A Hot Spot is an area, when left unattended will gradually take over. My favorite analogy is of a hot spot in a forest fire, if left alone it will eventually get out of hand and burn up the whole forest. This is what happens in our homes. If left unattended, the hot spot will grow and take over the whole room as well as making the house look awful. When you walk into a room, the hot spot is the first thing you see. Your eyes are locked on it. Over the years my hot spot has migrated. As a child it was a chair in my bedroom. I would pile it to the ceiling. Right now I have two hot spots in my home: the dining room table and the bed in the extra bedroom. The dining room table is a staging area. We put the unopened mail there, as well as any thing that needs to go to the basement. Some times you cannot see the top of the table. This is the first thing I see when I walk into the kitchen. Granted, the pile has only been there since last night, but if I don't deal with it first thing in the morning, it will collect many more items by evening. CLUTTER ATTRACTS CLUTTER. The Bed in the extra bed room is just the same. I use it as a place to put things that don't have a home. Do you have areas like this that continue to grow if left alone? Does the rest of the family see this as a place to put things when they do not want to put them where they belong? It is our job to NIP this in the bud. Get rid of that pile, find the surface underneath, and stop the Hot Spot from becoming a raging Clutter inferno! – FlyLady

So the hot spot at our house is called the kitchen counter top. I swear I’ll clean it and within 24 hours it will look cluttered again. But I’ve put off cleaning the counter for over the past week so it’s looking really really really bad and it has to be done!

So here is the before pic - told you it was bad!

And here is the after:

Amazing!!!!!

Look I even cleaned the sink!!!

Look I even cleaned my living room!

Ok, maybe I didn't do that. lol

Actually that pic was from earlier today and I have picked up Jeff’s toys.

Are you doing flylady? What are some of your Hot Spots?

The Indy 2

I know I promised a Flylady post and I swear it's coming but I feel bad that I was unable to post last night so you are getting 2 for 1 today!

I had mentioned last week was my birthday and I had some family over to help celebrate. One of those was my 16 year old cousin Paige (who I think is pretty awesome).

Jeff some how talked Paige into being his chauffeur for the evening.

Jeff was checking the map to make certain they weren't lost.

He decided to check the GPS while Paige started practicing for her debut in the Indy 500!

Then they left me in the dust.... seriously my house is dusty, it needed cleaning.

You Will Be Assimilated!

While putting away clothes yesterday, I was totally unaware there was an Intergalactic battle occurring in my home.

That was until this!

He was trying to assimilate me! (throw back to Star Trek TNG!)

After assessing I was not a threat to his vast supply of gummy bears I was allowed to live.

(psssst… mom, it’s just me)

And my intergalactic hero was off to fight another battle.

This time with the tri stink eye.

The fight was on!

And it was fierce…….

Until they realized Mom was in the kitchen and it was lunch time somewhere in space.

Happy V-Day!

I hope everyone enjoyed their Friday 13th and hope it was lucky for you. I'm one of those that love Friday 13th, probably because I was born on that day.

If you braved the movies and saw Friday the 13th drop me a comment and let me know how it was. I'm excited to see it!

Yesterday, my beautiful mother and lovely sister took me out to lunch and then shopping. Rob had fixed me dinner and had it ready for when I arrived home. My mom, dad, sister, and cousin had came over last night and shared some birthday cake and gifts with me. My mom made a delicious red velvet cake (my favorite!).

As for today...

Nothing romantic is happening on the home front. Rob had to work today and I'm still sick. I wish you could hear me speak or rather not speak. My voice is kind of squeaky and nearly non-existent.

I guess the boys decided to explore the attic and have found an old box of VHS tapes. They are reminiscing about Disney movies they used to watch. Luckily we still have one VHS player so Travis & Alan are currently watching movies of themselves when they were babies. Jeff thinks it's the funniest thing ever.

They also stumbled upon a variety of workout videos. Not surprisingly, they still look new and unused. Ha

I have lots of pictures to share with y'all but it will have to wait until tomorrow. For now, I'm going to pop a cough drop and go retro with the boys.

Soooo Wordy...

You like the title of this post? I'm not sure if I'm sold on it but I was thinking of Chat Stew on The Soup and heard the girl saying Soooo Meaty.. anyway I'm rambling again. lol

So tonight I felt like reading a great book but unfortunately for me I’ve read everything I own.
The last book I read was the 3rd book in the Sookie Stackhouse series. It was so much fun and I can’t wait to sink my teeth into the 4th book.

The 3rd book in the series is called Club Dead (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 3) By: Charlaine Harris

My main issue with any book series is that in the beginning I’m always trying to remember the details from the previous book. I’m not sure how people can read this as a stand alone novel. It’s really difficult when you start watching episodes of True Blood and you start confusing things that happen in the book to things that happen in the show.

I have to say that I wasn’t as happy with this book as I was the first two. This one seemed a little too sci-fi than funny romance. And it’s really starting to irk me that every guy that Sookie meets falls in love with her. That said, it’s still good.

There was some disappointment in this book. Bill (the vamp boyfriend) did things totally out of left field and left Sookie feeling betrayed. - Let's just say I wouldn't have saved his lying cheating ass!

I’m trying not to say too much for those of you who haven’t read the book and want to. Just make sure to read books 1 & 2 before this one.

***/5

Another book I've recently read is: Plum Spooky - A Stephanie Plum Between the Numbers Novel By: Janet EvanovichYou can never go wrong with a Stephanie Plum book. Heck you can never go wrong with reading any book by Janet Evanovich. I love writers that include humor in their books.

I commented above about series books not being stand alone novels. That is not true for this series. I do recommend all of the number series but I don't think you would have any problem picking up this book. It recaps who the characters are so you don't feel lost reading it. It's fast paced and oh so funny!

Again with this series it seems all the guys are in love with the main character. I don't really mind it so much with Stephanie, infact I think in this situation it makes it more entertaining.

I have to say that I like the Stephanie Plum number series much better than I do the in-between ones. I had read a review that said these seem to be more like dream sequences than something that is actually happening. I can kind of get that but it's still a good read!

***/5

I also wanted to share with you a great website. www.likesbooks.com I go there for book reviews and they have a great message board located there as well. There has been more than one time I've visited there when I've forgotten the title of a book and they have helped me out. So go check it out!

Quick Update

I'm exhausted tonight so this is going to be short & sweet.

Travis had the appointment with the Orthopedic Surgeon. All looks great so they slapped a cast on him, took a pic of his shirt, and sent us on our way. We go back in three weeks for a new snapshot of his thumb.

The surgeon loved Trav's shirt thus why the pic was taken. The shirt said, "It's only funny until someone gets hurt and then it's freakin' hilarious." Oddly enough when Travis broke and dislocated his thumb he laughed - Travis not the Doctor. lol

It was late by the time Travis & I made it home so I went to pick up Jeff at Mim & Papa's house. He was swimming in their pool (aka the bath tub). He informed me he was an alligator swimming in the pool.

After wrestling Jeff out of the 'pool' we came home and picked up Rob and rushed to go sign our taxes. We get a refund!! - Not that I get to spend it, it's all going into savings.

Finally after getting home for the evening I watched AI (stupid girl is still on the show!) and Top Chef. Here is my Top Chef mini recap. Hosea & Stefan are getting on my nerves. I think they are in the middle of a pissing contest instead of a cooking contest. Leah has finally gone home! And Carla is beginning to grow on me - that said, how hard is it to cook peas? I cook peas all the time but all I hear is I hate peas, why couldn't we have corn? sheesh.. Oh yeah, I don't have anything to say about Fabio except his chicken looked awesome and he can ship that bottle of wine to my house.

Alrighty then.. I'll catch up with y'all tomorrow. Have a great night!

Oh I forgot the sweet part... I cheated on my diet and had a piece of pecan pullapart, it was oh so good!

Guilty Pleasures

With Valentine's Day around the corner it got me thinking about guilty pleasures.

By definition a guilty pleasure is: something one considers pleasurable despite feeling guilt for enjoying it.

I wouldn't necessarily say I feel guilt for enjoying the following things but they may be considered guilty pleasures.

Guilty Pleasure #1 - Reality TV

The list includes:

American Idol - I can hear you groaning! I hate that show too but I still watch it. Can someone please tell me why the Tatiana person is still on the show? Haven't we suffered enough?

Girls Next Door - Bridget is my favorite. I'm going to miss the girls after this season. I don't plan on tuning in when the twins set up house. ick

Guilty Pleasure #2 - Romance Novels

I love a great trashy romance novel!

Funny story about that... I was checking out at the big W one day and had put my handful of items at the check out. One of those items was a trashy novel, something I'm sure about Devil of Desire.. that wasn't the title but you get the drift. Anyway, a lady behind me complimented my baby who was sleeping in his infant seat at the time. She mentioned that she helps with orphaned children. As I turned to checkout I realized two things. #1) The lovely woman I had been speaking with was a nun. #2) My trashy devil book was facing up and was in clear view for her to see. - I began saying hail marys as I walked to the vehicle and I'm not even Catholic. I'm sorry god but I'm still reading them!

Guilty Pleasure #3 - Celebrity Gossip

I love celeb gossip sites and magazines. It's shameful I know.

So there you go, that's my short list of guilty pleasures. What are some of yours?

A Story told by Jeff

Thinking of a story to tell...

Thinking of something is hard work!

Ok, I think I got it!

See there were these pigs and they ate this porridge and this little red hen asked if they would...

Ugh, that's not how it goes!

Mom, can you read me a story?

The End

Work From Home

Over a year ago Rob & I began building a house and the small rent payments of yesteryear were gone with the wind. We were faced with a real live size house payment. I wasn’t used to living on a budget so things definitely changed around our household. No more last minute trips to the mall, no more getting my hair done every 6 weeks (ok that was actually before Jeff was born), no more eating out 5x a week (j/k).

So I decided that I needed a J.O.B. but I didn’t want to leave Jeff with a sitter, besides the fact if I did get a sitter and driving 30 miles to get to work then I wouldn’t be making much money. So that left me one choice... find a job working from home.

I had absolutely no idea where to start. I didn’t want to be the person licking envelopes from their house or anything else from those newspaper ads. So I did what any person would do and turn to Google. Do you have any idea how many results pop up when you type in work from home?!? Like a million... ok I just googled and now it’s 341,000,000. I was overwhelmed. I was lucky though because one of the very first ones I clicked on is the one that led me to the job I’m at today.

So I’m going to share with you some of my knowledge… although I’m sure there are lots more informative people out there. But maybe what I know can give you a head start.

First, the main thing you need to know is - Any job that asks you to pay money is a SCAM. Legit companies don’t ask you for money.

I’m going to list some work at home websites that have message board forums where you can learn lots of information about a company. Do your research! Don’t just start gathering names of companies and applying to all of them. What if you get hired, spend the time training, and then find out they are a lousy company to work for? Read the message boards and see what people are saying!

Also, you need to realize that a large percentage of work at home people are considered Independent Contractors. What does that mean? It means you are not an actual employee and you have to be responsible for withholding your own taxes. I’m sure there is a more detailed and better explanation on the web.

Here are the list of sites that I visit:
www.wahm.com (the telecommuting moms board is my favorite)
www.workplacelikehome.com
www.ratracerebellion.com

I’m sure there are many more sites than the ones I have listed so I encourage you to google and research.

I often get asked, “Are there really that many jobs you can do at home?” Yes, you would not believe the amount of jobs out there that are legit – and a bunch of them are with well known companies!

Next week I’ll expand on this topic and give you a list of work at home companies that I’ve heard about. Good Luck!!

True Blood Update!

For the last month I’ve been dying.. not literally of course.. but dying to see Season 2 of True Blood. But it’s like the show dropped off the face of the planet. I couldn't even find a decent spoiler site online.

Then finally the tv gods smiled down upon me and dropped this little morsel in my lap. All is good with the world tonight.

Here is a link I found on E about the show: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/b81060_true_blood_will_eric_break_up_sookie.html

No great spoilers were listed but it does say that Season 2 begins this summer. Suddenly summer can’t get here fast enough.

I love the fact that Lafayette may be back. He’s definitely one of my favorites and I would be heart broke to see him go. I’m not sure how they would accomplish keeping him on the show since in the book he dies but I’m all for a little rewrite.

Now that is out of the way I have to ask. Who is your favorite: Bill, Eric, or Sam? I personally like all of them but there is something about Sam that weirds me out. It’s odd because in the book I didn’t get that at all but seeing someone act it out I can see things I didn’t “see” while reading.

For me, True Blood is the adult and better version of Twilight. Wait.. hear that sound? It’s all those tweens typing their hate mail to me. Ha! I swear my sister, Jordan, is probably the first in line. Jordan isn’t a tween but she’s the only person I know who’s read the books 50 trillion times.

Ok I’m going to wrap this up and go dream about the hot undead. – Not the sparkly kind.

Clipping Coupons

About 2 weeks ago I began clipping coupons. I had heard about www.couponmom.com (this is the site I go to the most) … people were clipping coupons and matching it with their weekly grocery flyer and saving a bundle. There seems to be a pretty large selection of coupons. You just check the ones you want and they print out.

A few other great sites are; www.coupons.com , www.couponcabin.com , www.retailmenot.com . Another favorite is http://printable-coupons.blogspot.com/2005/10/grocery-coupons.html

I found a fantastic coupon at www.giveabowl.com for Purina pet food. You get a $4 coupon off any size bag and they donate $1 to the animal shelter of your choice. I went to Dollar General and bought a bag of cat food and with my coupon I only paid 25 cents!

One thing not to forget is to go through the coupons from the Sunday paper. There are tons of great coupons there! I also look in my magazines and find several.

I’m just getting started with the coupon thing but so far I’ve noticed considerable savings. My last big trip to the grocery store I bought enough to make meals for the next 2-3 weeks and I filled up 1 ½ carts. My grocery bill was… $172!

I wish I could say that I only need to go to the grocery store every three weeks but I still find I’m running to buy the staples each week such as bread and milk (not surprising with 3 growing boys) As long as I just buy those needed items I do pretty good.

I’m sure there are tons of great coupon sites out there so if you find any let me know. Good luck shoppers!

Do you know...

DYK... that I'm a Mystery Shopper? (I'll have to share a really funny story with y'all one day)

DYK... I'm missing American Idol as I type this post.. thank goodness it's recording!

DYK... I can't wait until Season 2 of True Blood comes on?

DYK... I'm addicted to celebrity gossip? You've got to check out http://pinkisthenewblog.com/ if you like celeb gossip too.

DYK... that I went to bed without scrubbing my drains with a toothbrush? lol ... come on you saw that coming a mile away!

DYK... that Jeff went potty by himself several times today? (yay for small victories!)

DYK... I'm doing great on my diet this week?

DYK... Rob just got home and it's time to eat dinner?

DYK... this is a really short post and I promise to do better tomorrow?

Flylady or Bust!

When I first heard the term "Flylady" I thought.. who the heck wants to be JLo and I'm so not ever wearing spandex again. I guess I was confusing the term Flylady with Fly Girl. lol

After being informed what Flylady was, I instantly wanted to do it. (my instantly turned into 3 years of wanting to do it). From what I've heard it's wonderful. It helps you get organized and keeps your house clean without stressing yourself out.

For anyone who would like to check this out go to: http://www.flylady.net/

Tonight was my first step into Flyladydom!

The first step is to Shine your Sink, here are the steps to follow: http://flylady.net/pages/FLYingLessons_Shine.asp

I was a bit concerned at first because our kitchen sink is granite so I don't think it is made to really "shine" like stainless steel ones. But I tried it out anyway.. especially since my sink needed a good cleaning.

So here we go..

This is the before picture:

I put in scalding hot water and a cup of bleach like the directions call for. I admit that I cheated and did not leave it in for an hour like it says to.

I rinsed the sink out and the scrubbed it with Lysol kitchen cleaner using a scouring pad.

I rinsed the sink out again and used a window cleaner to "shine" it up. Eh, it looks cleaner for sure but I'm still getting kind of a gray look to it once it drys. I really need to find a solution to that. Is it possible to get granite to shine?

Here is my finished product (if you look real close you can see where I didn't clean with a toothbrush at the bottom of the faucet)

I didn't scrub the drains with a tooth brush either. I might actually go back and do that tonight. I'm certain with all my shortcuts I lose my flylady beginner badge. Oh well, there is always next time!

Nothing says football like Pizza!

Ok, so I really don't know what food exactly says football because I don't watch it. I do however love Rob's homemade pizza.
This recipe was extremely hard to get as Rob insists he doesn’t have a recipe. He was also a pain about giving measurements because he rarely measures anything. Anyway, I hope your pizzas turn out. Ours was delicious!

The Dough:

4 cups of flour

1 tsp salt

1 5/8 cup warm water

1 package of active dry yeast

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Combine the yeast and water in a small bowl. In a larger bowl combine the flour, salt, and olive oil. Combine the yeast/water mixture with the flour mixture.

Once ingredients are combined you may choose to add any of the following to the dough mixture: a small amount of sugar, oregano, some parmesan cheese, garlic, or herbs. None of those listed are measured, Rob measures by taste.

Let the dough rise either over night or at least an hour.

Roll the dough out and put on greased pizza pans.

The Sauce:

Hunt’s Traditional Sauce (1 can per 2 pizzas)

Spread the sauce over the dough. You can top with your favorite toppings as desired. Rob likes to use mozzarella cheese and pepperoni.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and Bake 25-30 minutes.

I have to apologize for not having a picture of the finished product. I hadn't eaten in days (ok make that hours) and any thought of grabbing my camera flew out the window.

What's for Dinner?

Tonight we had Italian Beef for dinner. It seems like I've made this at least once a month in the 9 years we've been married. It's one of Rob's favorites and it's very easy to make.

Italian Beef

4 lbs - Beef Shoulder Roast

2 - Cans of Beer (any kind)

2 - Packets of Italian Dressing or Louie's Seasoning Packets

Hand full of Pepperocini Peppers & some of pepper juice

(you can use banana peppers instead if you prefer)

I put the roast in the slow cooker first thing in the morning and add all of the ingredients listed above. Let it cook all day on high.
Shred the meat and serve on hoagie rolls (or whatever bread you have available!)

Tonight I used banana peppers since I was out of pepperocini peppers and buns instead of hoagie rolls. I decided to make this early this morning so I had to use what was available. - And it was still very good!

I got really ambitious after making dinner. Rob asked that I make a cake tonight so I dusted off my cake bible - The Cake Mix Doctor By: Anne Byrn. I cannot say enough how much I absolutely Love Love Love this book! It's full of great easy recipes and helpful tips.

So tonight's dessert is: Amaretto Cake (This is the one Rob has been asking me to make for about a year now.)

This cake would be much prettier had I made it into a bundt cake but this way was easier - that and I absolutely hate my silicone bundt pan. It's almost impossible to clean and it always takes a lot longer for baking time. Why I still own these I don't know. Maybe I'll give them away one day.

A reminder for this cake. It contains a lot of alcohol (3/4 cup in the batter and 3 1/2 tbsp in the glaze) so it's more of an adult cake. My children didn't get to eat any of it but I bought them popsicles so they forgave me.

Rob & I gave this cake a 7 out of 10. We both really liked it but it was a little heavy on the alcohol for our taste.

If you are wanting to try the Amaretto Cake recipe I found it posted on this site: http://recipeclippings.com/mf/8/7467

It's Broke!

Travis had a snowboarding incident yesterday. He made it down the hill but then fell. He landed on his thumb which dislocated and broke it. We spent several hours in the E.R. getting him fixed up, at least temporarily.

Paige (16 yr. old cousin) was with us. She really wanted to see Travis scream in pain but was disappointed. Travis never made a peep but grit his teeth while they were pulling his thumb back in place.

I don't think Travis will be snowboarding any time soon. Next week we have an appointment with the Orthopedic Surgeon. The emergency room doctor made it sound like he'll have to have surgery and get pins put in.

I'm hoping for a speedy recovery. Travis, I think is silently hoping not to have P.E. for the rest of the school year!

Meet the Family

Meet Punky (his real name is Jeff)

Jeff is 2 years old and the youngest of our brood. He is bossy, temperamental, adorable, and sweet.

He's your typical boy. He loves trains, trucks, toy swords, and Mario (the game of course). Jeff loves mario and luigi so much he has named his stuffed monkey, Mawigi. Cute huh?

Meet Alan

Alan is our middle child. He's 13 years old and is a loving wonderful son.. as long as he's not around his brothers and then it's like watching WWF (is that even around anymore?)

Alan loves to ride his bike and play video games. His passion is the military so I'm guessing he plans to follow in his father's footsteps and enlist once of age.

Meet Travis

Travis is our oldest son. He's 14 years old and thinks he knows it all. (He's a teenager, what did you expect?)

Travis is the video game and computer wizard. It would not surprise me at all if he was designing video games in the near future.

His plans after HS is to move to the UK and join the British Army. I don't think he's thought this out yet. lol

Then there is us (Erin & Rob)

I'm only posting a picture of us together because I don't really have any updated pictures of us. Infact this picture is over 2 years old! I need to work on that I guess.

Rob is 38 years old and is an Electrician and Weekend Warrior (my words, not his). He enjoys computer games and flying model aircrafts.

I am 32 and am an Independent Contractor working from home. Sounds almost exciting huh? It's not. lol

I enjoy baking/cooking (although I'm not good at it), scrapbooking (I haven't actually scrapbooked since before Jeff was born), traveling (I don't actually remember the last time I traveled farther than Walmart), and writing (it will get finished one day!).

So there we all are. Our life is crazy and feel like we are living in fish bowl sometimes.. but I'll blog about that another day.

Why Population 505?

I've been thinking about creating a blog for some time now but seemed to get stumped whenever thinking of a title. I wanted something that was unique and catchy. After making a list and checking it twice and polling my family and friends to see what they thought of the semi-finalists. I finally decided on Population 505.

I grew up in a very small town (more like a village actually). It was a place where everyone knew your name and who you belonged to and what you ate for breakfast that morning. I was related to over half the town so it always felt like home.

After 9 years of marriage, 3 kids, a long process of finding land, and building a house. My husband and I have finally moved back home. We have now officially made the town population 505.