Smart Decisions

In this time of economic crisis and nationwide turmoil, with all of the uncertainty and budget-consciousness and I'm-Making-All-Of-My-Christmas-Presents-From-Scratch-This-Year-Do-You-Have-A-Cow-I-Can-Milk?


Yeah. That was weird.


So. With all of the ever-growing awareness of how much things cost, my husband and I have decided that the best decision for our family is... to get a better cable company. With more channels. HGTV! PBS Sprout! And DVR. So we can watch those programs over. And over. And over again!


Seriously. We're doing it for the good of the economy, people! We'll be spending about $9 more per month, and getting a much faster internet connection, phone service and the best selection of cable channels I have ever had in my life. The excitement! Oh, the pizza-ordering possibilities!!


I am in TV heaven. Well, I will be. After they hook it up on the 29th.


I'm so ready to be done with Com "Do-You-Think-The-Internet-Will-Work-Today?" Cast. But I'm not bitter. Not at all.


Because I have visions of sugarplums, you know, the ones Martha Stewart shows you how to make on HGTV (is she even on HGTV?) dancing in my head.


You thought I was a homebody before? Just wait until I get HGTV and DIY and Lifetime and On Demand. I'll never leave the house again!!

First Time Bowling

Snow Play

Yesterday was a lazy day for us. The boys were SO excited to see about an inch of snow on the ground when they woke up!! They bugged me for an hour until I finally gave in and dug their snowsuits out of the storage room. I just love Children's Orchard! I had gotten them for $15 each when they had all of their coats out, you know, in August. Because what reasonable person isn't thinking about frolicking in the snow in the 95-degree humidity of the summer?

They were soon (soon is a relative word... about 30 minutes later) bundled up and ready to brave the elements. They headed out the door with much gusto... and came back inside less than 20 minutes later.

It was really cold, I had to agree.

But the smiles on their faces...er, whatever face that is that Griffin was making... were worth all of the work it took to get them out there.

Have fun playing in your snow!

A Leafy Story

Sammy was a bit pouty at first. But he's 2. What's new?

He was upset because Griffin got to use the rake first.
But then it was his turn...

and boy, did he have fun!

Then Daddy brought the dump trucks...

and filled them up with leaves!

The leaves were flying everywhere!

Sammy thought they were soft and comfy...

and they made a great hiding place!

Griffin liked to pick them up and throw them...

but Sammy just wanted to jump in and burrow down.

Griffin decided that sounded like fun!

Then, Daddy threw Griffin into the leaf pile!

He landed... thud!

Then it was Sammy's turn!

Plop! He landed on his tummy.

The End

Late Halloween

The house across the street. He loves Halloween! I wish I had a tripod, because without the flash, the picture always came out blurry if my hands shook even the tiniest bit.

Our jack-o-lantern this year. Yes, I traced around the boys' hands...


And then I cut out the hands, and placed those hand cut-outs and placed them on the stairs leading up to the house. I wish I would have had some pumpkin-scented tea lights to put in the jack-o-lantern. I only had lemon. At least it smelled clean!

My tired trick-or-treaters! Sammy (in case you can't tell or just aren't familiar with kid movies)
was Mr. Incredible (from The Incredibles), and Griffin was Buzz Lightyear (from Toy Story)

Do I Really Need to Say Anything?

Fall Porches

http://theinspiredroom.net/2008/10/19/front-porches-a-fall-drive-by/

Check out this link for some great pictures of porches decorated for fall! We haven't gotten our pumpkin yet; we'll pick it up next weekend. We're getting a free one from Hen House for being CSA members! Yippee!! I can't wait. This will be the first year the boys have decorated a pumpkin. We may carve it, or we may paint it, or a little of both... should be fun!

Slowing Down

I don't want to leave any faithful readers hanging, so I'll just say that I am taking a blogging break, and I will continue blogging in November. Life has been quite busy lately, and I need to not have the "Oh, I really should write a blog" feeling hanging over my head! When I do resume blogging, I may decide to only write a few things every month. I need to focus on my family right now!

Homeschooling (and reading about homeschooling, and thinking about homeschooling, and talking to other people about homeschooling) and discipline (mine and my children's) are taking a lot of my time these days, and caring for my house, husband, children, pets -- making sure they are all fed, clothed and getting their needs met -- it takes a lot out of a girl.

I will probably get on and post pictures infrequently, and maybe blurb about something here or there, but for the most part I will not be posting regularly.

Have a great week!

Take A Breather... If You Can

This beauty was my grandma's next door "neeeeeigh"-bor (now that was a bad joke) before she moved closer to us. I thought the picture was dreamy and relaxing, kind of like our weekend would be... if I could only breathe.

I think I may be getting asthma.

Ugh... I sure hope this is just allergies, but I may be going to visit the doctor on Monday. My throat feels like it is "swollen", for lack of a better word. It does not hurt at all, which is weird, it is just hard to swallow food, and I have had a few episodes when it was hard to breathe because it feels like my airway was being constricted. And I have a lot of phlegm.

And of course ALL of our Tylenol Allergy is expired.

You'd better believe that I'll be picking some more up tomorrow when I do my Walgreens shopping.

Oh, and Mike got the closet in the loft done, and I finally got the shelf liners tacked on today, so I have started loading it up with our "overstock" stuff. A whole new closet!! It's like a dream come true. Our bathroom is going to look a lot better, that's for sure.

I don't know what it is about fall, but for me it is even more motivating than spring as far as cleaning and decluttering. I start to feel claustrophobic with all of our "stuff" surrounding me all day long. Maybe it's because in the summer we're outside so much more, and then in the fall we can't go out as much and have to spend more time indoors, so I notice it more? I don't know.

Well, we have church tomorrow, so I'd better go throw in a load of laundry, because I'm out of nice slacks. I got myself a soft, comfy pair of brown sweatpants last week, and I can't wait to wear them! It's still too warm for me. I want to be cold!

Speaking of being cold, I got my holiday mini catalog from Stampin' Up! in the mail a few days ago. Ahhhhh... I love the Christmas stamp sets!! I think I may need a couple of them. Yes, of course, need. Because the six Christmas sets that I have aren't enough.
And all that talk about decluttering and getting rid of stuff? Yeah. That most emphatically does NOT apply to my stamps. I love them all. And I have a whole shelf in my stamp cabinet that is not being used. Yet.

Mowing Train

Last night, Mike mowed the yard. The boys first had to pick up all of the toys that were all over the yard from the day's playtimes, and then when Mike entered the backyard with the mower, the boys ran and grabbed their dump trucks and followed him around the whole yard. So fun!



Don't you just love the trail that runs around the yard? Courtesy of Gordon. Well, Gordon started it, but the boys happily play on it for a large portion of their outdoor playtime each day. They kick a ball up and down the slight incline on the trail, and shovel dirt from one place to another -- which involves filling up their dump trucks and then hauling the dirt to its new destination and then, of course, dumping it.


We walked to DQ after the boys were done mowing, and Mike and I were laughing most of the time we walked, watching Griffin hike up his shorts and hold them up in the back. Note to self: take the Levi's out of Griffin's wardrobe until next year.

Good Food and Good Times

My front door three days ago.

My front door today.

What I did with the "old" wreath. This garage sale cookie jar is coming in handy! There is a candle inside of it, and I'll be filling it with small pinecones and cinnamon sticks. The candle inside is called Cinnamon Bun, and it is YUMMY. I just love fall!



We had a lot of fun last night. We got to spend time with Adrienne and Nicolas at IHOP; Grandma G. and Suzy (Grandpa) stopped by for a while after a birthday dinner they went to with some long-time church friends; and Caleb came by for a few minutes to pick up their dogs, who spent the week with us. It was a fun evening!




We were handing out cherry pie left and right, because I made one yesterday and everyone knows I love to give people food. It's what I do! You can't come over to my house and walk away hungry. I haven't tasted the pie yet, so I hope it was guest-worthy.

I was going to make tuna casserole last night for dinner, but there was no way I was going to turn down IHOP with a good friend. Now I have chicken that needs to be used tonight, so I think I'm going to make shredded chicken, stuffing, roasted potatoes and gravy for dinner.

I stuck a package of frozen chicken thighs in the crock pot on High on Monday morning with some butter, sea salt and pepper, and by Monday night the house smelled SO good. I'll make the gravy with the drippings and "good bits" that I saved from the bottom of the crock pot.

Here is my tuna casserole recipe. It is easy and fairly quick to make. It's the recipe my mom made when we were kids, and I still love it! The boys (all three of them!) love it too. The leftovers are really good. You may want to use an extra can of cream of mushroom soup if you plan to reheat it more than once so that it stays creamy.

Tuna Casserole

1 bag large shell pasta

2 small or 1 large can tuna (or salmon)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cheddar cheese soup

1 can sliced mushrooms

1-2 cups shredded cheese

1. Cook the pasta.

2. Mix the tuna, mushrooms and two soups together in a baking dish.

3. Add the cooked pasta and stir together.

4. Cover with the shredded cheese.

5. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until cheese is all melted.

I see banana bread in my family's near future.