Month: February 2012

What I’m Reading Right Now

Or, rather, what I just finished reading.

‘cause it was so good I couldn’t stop.

Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen

by Susan Gregg Gilmore

Such a cute, cute book. And a quick, light read. Which is what I needed right now.

The story reminded me of growing up in the South and of living in a small town (which isn’t so small anymore) like we have for the last 20+ years. Living in communities where everyone knows everyone, everyone has an opinion about what you do and what you don’t do – and they usually share whether you ask or not.

It’s the story of a young girl, the daughter of a Southern Baptist preacher who was the son of a preacher and the grandson of a preacher… all having tended to the same flock in the same small town of Ringgold, Georgia. Catherine Grace Cliine’s mother drowned when she was just a little girl.  She and her sister grew up in the shadow of her daddy’s preaching and constantly missing their momma and wishing things were different than they were.

The girls are loved and cared for, both by their daddy (who is doing the best he can) and by their neighbor, Gloria Jean Graves, a divorcee whom her father doesn’t exactly approve of, but he allows her to fill the gap left by their mama’s death.

Catherine Grace decides that she is leaving Ringgold as soon as she is 18 – the story follows her as she grows up, anticipating and planning for that great Exodus.  The storytelling is poignant and beautiful, the language true to a Southern girl – especially one from this neck of the woods. It felt genuine and real. I could imagine this was Catherine Grace telling me the story in real life, not a fictional story.

She finally makes her escape and heads to the big city of Atlanta only to be forced to return home because of a tragedy which changes her life forever.

It’s the story of finding happiness where you are, of how everything we do affects others (whether we intend for it to or not) and of the power of community.

I would highly recommend it – I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Project Life Tuesday ~ 2.28.12

Hello and welcome to Project Life Tuesday! The Mom Creative

If you are stopping by from The Mom Creative, welcome & thanks for clicking over! If you are not, you might want to click over there when you’re done here for some more great Project Life inspiration!

I have pages today for the week before last – Valentine’s week – and I’ll catch up later this week and share the pages from last week as well.img_1350

Here’s the two page spread with an insert that shows the girls’ well-check up information. I thought it would be fun to record/save their weight/height info for posterity. (you can click on the image to see it bigger)

And close ups of the two pocket pages:

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I’m using Cathy Z’s journalers. LOVE them. I think this will become a staple because I can do most of the journaling on one card and save the pockets for memorabilia and more pictures. Loving doing my iPhone pictures on the 3×4 slots. Tiny pictures to mask the lower quality photos.

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I have to say, I’m still loving the process. Loving how I’m capturing little nuances about our days and the fact that I’m CAUGHT UP on my scrapbooking. NO MORE GUILT about being behind!

The kids are cute – they can’t wait to see the finished pages on Saturday afternoon and they always start at the beginning and look at every single page every single time. I think they love it as much as I do.

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Menu Plan Monday ~ 27 February

Wow. What a couple of weeks I’ve had!

To say it has been hectic seems a bit like an understatement.

I finally got everyone healthy in my house (thank goodness) and just in time, it seems… because my work project (the giganotosaurus that it is) has pretty much taken over every single waking (and dreaming) hour of my life.

It’s all OK, though. It is an incredible project and while it is stressing me out to no end, it is also incredibly challenging, stimulating and exciting. I wouldn’t have it any other way, actually.

I just have to survive it. Smile

The menu plans have sort of gone out the window the past two weeks. I’ve kind of had a plan, sort of, but not really.  When Mom was here we ate out (a lot) as we usually do. It was a nice treat to get a break from cooking and that steak I had at Outback the other night was SO good.

Other than that, I have been scouting the freezer and cooking based on what I had available that could either be cooked quickly or cooked in the crock pot.

I’ve also been trying to only purchase meats that are on sale at the store – and then cook either with those sale meats or what is in the freezer. If I don’t use the sale meats they go in the freezer for another week. No more buying meats if they are not on sale, not unless it is a special occasion.

I can’t believe how much money this is saving me. Amazing. I wish I’d done this a long time ago. So obvious and yet I never thought to do it until my friend Beth mentioned it.

This week, I’m trying to get back in the routine. I really need the menu plan for my own sanity.  I need to know what I’m going to cook so that it is one less thing I have to figure out at the end of a busy day. know what I mean?

So, here is what I have planned this week (I think)

  • Monday: Spaghetti & garlic bread. (I made the sauce on Saturday. Easy.)
  • Tuesday: Crock pot rotisserie chicken, saffron rice & veggies (the whole chicken roasters were on sale last week)
  • Wednesday: Shepherd’s pie (the girls have been asking for this for two weeks)
  • Thursday: Grilled chicken & roasted veggies (It’s supposed to be close to 70 here Thursday. I’m ready to get back to grilling some food!)
  • Friday: Salmon Croquettes & Grits
  • Saturday: Mexican or Pizza
  • Sunday: mom’s day off (eat out for lunch)

I’m also considering making either a Sunshine Cake or Apple Cake this week – haven’t decided which one yet.  And (if I have time) maybe some homemade bread – I want to make some homemade Cinnamon Raisin Bread.

The girls would rather have homemade goodies in their lunchboxes (instead of Little Debbie – who is going to argue with that?!?) so I try to make something every week. I just haven’t had time the past few weeks. They deserve some Momma-lovin-goodies, I think.

Need More Ideas?

You can find more yummy recipes on  orgjunkie.com where you can find some great recipes and menu plans.

Hope you have a good week!

I’ll be back tomorrow with some updates to my Project Life pages and then later this week I’ll be sharing an update on what I’ve been reading lately.

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I’m back! (and a project update)

Back from never-never land – where girls sew and do crafty things, stay up all night chatting and rise with the sun to sip tea and plan more crafty adventures…

The girls and I had a great visit with Mom – she went home yesterday and we’re all missing her already.

Big Girl got to do a lot of sewing with Mom this trip.  img_1328She made several things, including a tote bag that I had planned to make for her, but she took the project on herself. I’m so proud of her!IMG_1046[1]

And you may recall this little scrap (or two) of fabric from a tease last week…img_1324

I ended up making this:

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Which was supposed to be a tote for my Bible and books for my Bible Study class. It’s called Cup of Joy and I thought the little coffee/tea cups were appropriate.

It’s got all sorts of pockets inside. (I love pockets!)

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But, it is HUGE. The pattern I used didn’t have any finished dimensions on it and when I was done, I thought it was a bit too big for carrying back and forth each week.

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So, I think I will save it for trips and such – and maybe use the scraps to make a smaller bag for my Bible tote.  (maybe this weekend!)

But, for now, I’m up to my eyeballs in spreadsheets and data management.  Going a little crazy but thankful I have a job and looking forward to more craft time this weekend.

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I’m up to something

I’m up to something…

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I got inspired the other day…

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And now I can’t get the project out of my head…

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So, I had to make a little pit-stop on the way to pick up the kids…

Yeah, I’m up to something (or a few somethings, I think)

I’ll have to let you know when they’re done…

Just a little muffin, man

I have a new favorite muffin recipe. One that my friend Cindy shared with me.

If you know Cindy, you know that there isn’t anything that she makes that isn’t yummy-yummy-good. I love going over to her house for get-togethers. I know the food is going to be good and, most likely, there’s going to be something I’ve never tried before.  Cindy is not afraid to experiment and to share the benefits of her experiments with her friends.  And I am lucky to be one of those friends who gets to eat her goodies.

Like these muffins.

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She said they are called something like “six week muffins” which sounds like they are pregnant, so I don’t think I’ll call them that.

I think I’ll call them yummy muffins.

To disguise a few of the ingredients from my children and emphasize the fact that they are so, so good.

(I won’t tell you how many I have eaten today… but it is >1 and <10 Smile – not really… well, yes, really, but no where close to 10.  that would just be crazy…and I’m not crazy… well, not much, anyway)

I made some in a monster muffin tin – one that makes those jumbo sized muffins. (another reason why eating 10 would just be nuts – and unhealthy)

Those big mamas are going to the kids’ teachers at school tomorrow.  It’s teacher appreciation week so I’m sharin’ the love with some breakfast muffins.

The regular sized ones I’m keeping around here for us to have for snacks, and breakfast, and snacks…and whenever-we-feel-like-we-need-a-muffin-treats.

They’re so good.  And Cindy says they are good for you, too.

I can’t wait to play around with the recipe a little. I was thinking I might substitute applesauce for the oil and maybe add some diced apples next time.  And some apple pie spice.  Or pumpkin pie spice. Or chocolate chips. 

Who knows.

What I do know, though, is that I will be making them again. 

You need to try them. 

Seriously.

Oh, and I guess I should warn you, this makes A LOT of muffins.  I made 12 “regular” muffins and 12 “jumbo” muffins and I still have about enough batter left to make at least another 12-24 muffins.

But, Cindy says that she keeps the leftover mix in the fridge in a sealed container and keeps it to bake with all week.  I guess that is why it is called “six week muffins” but we will never know because the mix has never made it that long at her house and I know that it won’t at mine, either.

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Okay, enough chatter.  Here is the recipe:

Six Week (Yummy) Muffins

1 15 oz box Raisin Bran cereal (I used the store brand)
5 cups self-rising flour
2-1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 quart (4 cups) buttermilk
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup raisins or cranberries (or both)!!
1 large can of pumpkin
2 Tbsp cinnamon (I used 2 1/2 Tbsp)
1 – 2 tsp vanilla

Bake at 400 degrees for about 12 to 15 minutes.

note:

With the jumbo muffins I made, I dropped the oven temp to 350 and baked them for 30 minutes, just to make sure they cooked inside without burning on the outside.

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Project Life Tuesday 2.14.12

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Valentines Day Wallpapers23 35+ Lovable High Quality Free Valentines Day Wallpapers

Hello and welcome to Project Life Tuesday!

If you are stopping by from The Mom Creative, welcome & thanks for clicking over! If you are not, you might want to click over there when you’re done here for some more great Project Life inspiration!

Here are my pages for the week of 6 February.

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I used a lot of snaps from my phone – Facebook posts, text messages, etc. 

Once again, I did a 10×12 page with some inserts. Putting the pages together was a little like putting a puzzle together this week. I had so many pictures (over 20!) from the week and I ended up journaling right on the pictures in PSE so that I could use more of the slots for pictures instead of using them for journaling cards.

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The back of the 10×12 page and the facing 12×12 page focused on Big Girl’s birthday celebrations. Even though her birthday wasn’t until Sunday, we celebrated on Friday and Saturday.

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The “Happy Birthday” is from one of those Simple Stories pages I love so.

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I also created a lot of my own cards again. I’m liking the clean look of the typed journaling, although I want to be sure there is some handwritten journaling in there because I want it to be captured for posterity (– mine, the kids, even SuperMan’s!)

I’ve already started on this week’s pages – more birthday girl pictures and some adorable Valentine’s cards.

You can see my other Project Life posts here.

The PBA will have to wait a while

Big Girl’s birthday is this weekend. So, last night we celebrated with dinner out at her favorite restaurant, some fun bowling and capped the evening off with dessert at the local yogurt shop.img_1294

The bowling alley was crazy busy – which, I guess, is to be expected on a Friday night – but we had a great time regardless of the crowds.img_1296

The girls decided they want to go bowling every Friday night (uh, no, I don’t think so – too expensive these days!!!) and they actually bowled pretty respectable scores.img_1297

Big Girl, who is not competitive (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) at all, was obsessed with beating her DADDY’s score.  And she almost did!

me?

Well, I was just hoping that I’d break 100.

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(I did, but just barely.)

SuperMan says bowling is like riding a bike – something you never forget. Well, that may be partly true – I did remember how to hurl the ball down the lane, but the knocking down the pins trick will take a little more practice.img_1308

The most important thing, though, is that this girlie had a good time. It was all about her last night – and I think we successfully celebrated her birthday – or at least started  to celebrate it.  I am sure there will be more to come, especially since her actual birthday isn’t for a few more days.

Happy Birthday, sweet girl. I love you so.

Remembering to be thankful

I was going to write a post today about the book I am reading – I was going to write a post yesterday with a new recipe I’ve tried. But, as you can see, neither of those things happened. I just didn’t have it in me.

It’s been a heck of a couple of weeks. Both girls sick – one almost constantly and the other one piping in with a couple things just to keep life interesting.  It’s been insane.  My body is tired and my brain is fried.  I’ve been in survival mode. Dug in and hunkered down.

But you know, it’s in the middle of the most challenging times that, I think, God reaches down and reminds us of the many things we have to be thankful for –

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Things that we take for granted –

like waking up

and being able to get out of bed

and having a warm house and running water

and food to eat

clothes to wear

and beautiful children to love

And then, today, as I was backing out of the driveway to pick up the kids from school, I noticed something – something I’ve been driving by for at least a week and hadn’t even noticed.

Another one of those moments where He was reminding me to get outside of myself and embrace life –

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Springtime, peeking out amongst the brown.

Life regenerating amid the wasteland of winter.

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A good reminder for me today to take a minute and be thankful for the many blessings we have.