Monday!

Happy Monday! I have been organizing my kitchen. I want it completely organized by the end of the week. I have to do it a little at a time, because I have other things to take care of too, like laundry, cooking, cleaning and taking care of the children and my husband:) I finished my spice cabinet, and my tupperware. I am going to organize underneath my island today, that should be fun. I have a lot of neat things under there:) On the stove I'm making chicken broth for Chicken and Dumplings for tonight's dinner. The house smells really good.

I found this new flavor of tea at the grocery store; Egg Nogg Tea. It tastes pretty good:) Very Festive:)

I made Banana bread over the weekend. My husband took a piece before I could get a picture of it whole...LOL. He wanted a warm piece, can you blame him?? It was really easy to make and tastes very good. The recipe is below the picture.

(Recipe courtesy of Simply Recipes)

Banana Bread Recipe
Ingredients
3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
Method
No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

~~~~~~~

Well, you already know we are having Chicken and Dumplings for dinner, I will also make a salad to go a long with it.

I am all caught up on laundry...and I mean all caught up, bedding and everything. I am going to try and keep on top of it.

After this week, there will be no school all next week, for Thanks Giving break~~~YaY!!!

Have a great Monday!!
XOXO

Happy Sunday!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday!!

I have some ripe bananas, so I am going to be making some banana bread. I also want to make some Pumpkin bread too:)

Question: Who will be cooking ThankGiving Dinner? I will!!!! I just love to cook, especially on the Holidays!

XO

Saturday!

Today we are going to the music store and buying Alexis a Violin. She will be taking lessons at school for two years. She is very excited and so am I:) Do any of your children play the Violin? Hopefully in the future we can get a piano, because I would love for her to learn to play. Learning to play the piano has always been on my list for me too, so I want to learn too:)

Then, after that, we need to get some shopping in. I just Love, Love, Love Costco! If we buy in bulk, it really seems to save money in the long run. The meat section has really great deals. The eggs, 5 dozen, I can do so much with eggs. With the Holidays approaching, stocking up will really help. Do you like Costco? .....Oh, and you can't forget all the samples they give out. My kids just love going too:)

Well, my coffee is waiting for me, and I have to start breakfast!
Happy Saturday:)
XO

Friday~~YaY!

It is Friday and all is well. Kevin made it home safely yesterday from up north. I had a pasta bake all ready for him for when he got home, with homemade rolls and a salad. He likes pasta bake
much better then regular spaghetti.

(Photo courtesy of Taste of Home)

Okay, today, I am going to go through my spice cabinet, and boy does it need it. I bet I find all sorts of things I didn't know I had. I will also make a list of what I need. A lot of cooking will be going on in this home with all the Holidays coming. Cooking and Baking, and decorating. I just love this time of year.

(Not my spice cabinet..LOL)
I wanted to take a picture of mine but my camera was not charged, so I am charging it now.

There is a radio station here in Cali, and starting on Thanksgiving, they play Christmas music 24/7 until Christmas. I can not wait. I have the radio in my kitchen, since that is the room I am in the most. I have season four of Little House on the Prairie on the TV, for background motivation:) It is early here, and my kids just finished breakfast and are now playing games. Little Kevin is old enough now, that he and his sister can actually play games that they both like and understand.

Have a wonderful Friday.

Tonight's menu will consist of split chicken breasts. Does any one have a a recipe for them, I would like to try something new, tried and true:)

Happy November!

Can you believe it is already November? I hope you had a wonderful October, we sure did. Halloween was great! Now, I am getting ready for ThanksGiving, I can not wait! I went grocery shopping yesterday, and guess what I found??? EGG NOG CREAMER, YaY!!! I am enjoying a cup of coffee with it right now:) They only had two holiday flavors, so I am patiently waiting for the rest of them to come out. I am doing Thanksgiving this year, and I love every minute of it. I am planning my menu already. This week I am doing something sort of like a spring cleaning, but more of a fall cleaning. Cleaning out drawers, cleaning things that have been neglected. Soon, we will get our carpet cleaned so it will look nice for Christmas, and I can't wait to put up the tree:)

My children have a four day Holiday this week, so I am so happy they are all home. It has been quite chilly this past week, and since the time change, it gets dark at about 4:30~~~So I start getting sleepy at about 6:30...LOL. I love the Fall and winter days:)

Well, I have a load of laundry in the dryer, and one in the wash. My whites are in the dryer and my linens are in the wash. I hope to get to my bedding today. My husband was also out of town this week, I am so excited he will be home this afternoon, DOUBLE YaY!

I have also noticed a few of my favorite blogs to read have shut down:( Makes me sad, as for why they left:(

Well, I must get off for now, I have hungry kids waiting for breakfast:)

Last but certainly not least; it is Veteran's Day, I am so thankful for all the men and women who have served and are serving our beautiful country under God. Bless everyone!

Happy Sunday!

Have a great day everyone!

It is a cold and wet day here in Cali.

Crockpot is going and I have to do some laundry today:)

Happy Fall!

Happy Tuesday!

It is a cold, wet day~~~I am just loving this weather!

I am making homemade chicken and dumplings for dinner!

My house smells like Fall:)

I slept on my neck wrong the other night, so I was a bit out of commission, it is feeling a bit better, but I didn't get anything done yesterday, so hopefully tomorrow, I can catch up:)

HOT!

Can you believe it was 106 degrees here in Southern California??!!! HOT, HOT, HOT!! Well, all I can say is I am very thankful for the A/C, I would not have been able to get anything done in this sweltering heat! Our summer was very cold, and now it is very hot. Well, it sure isn't stopping me from getting in the Fall spirit:) I have been decorating and today I am doing some baking:)

You would not believe the laundry I have knocked out. I am washing EVERYTHING!!...and it feels so nice to get so much done.

Tonight's dinner is going to be something with Hamburger, either cheeseburger pie, or mushroom burgers, have not decided yet:)

For those of you here in Cali, stay cool, for everyone else, stay warm...LOL

Happy Fall!

Happy Monday!

We had a good weekend, and was it HOT!!!! I can't wait for it to start feeling like fall. I have been decorating the house for Fall, LOVE IT!

Today is picture day for my daughter, she looked so beautiful:)

....and for me today, LAUNDRY!!! Whoe else will be joining me on Laundry duty?

Have a great Monday!

Lunch Time Talk:)

We had an early lunch today. Mainly because, we had an early breakfast too. School days we are up bright and early so sometimes lunch gets served early. I print out the lunch menu off of Alexis's school website and put it on the fridge, then on certain days she will buy her lunch, especially on the days they serve, teryiaki dippers. Also on really cold days she will buy her lunch so she has a nice hot lunch to fill her tummy. No matter if she buys or takes her lunch, I always pack things in her lunch pail. I buy those packs of carrots with ranch for dipping, apples, string cheese, yogurt, a hard boiled egg, crackers, chips, goldfish,all kinds of cut up veggies, cookies, etc..I am sure you get the picture. I can't seem to find a thermos at the store,( I have looked everywhere, you think it would be simple to find, I don't want a huge one, I found those, I want a small one to fit in her lunch pail) I would like to send some hot soup on days too. Today, she took her lunch, I made a turkey and cheese sandwich, an apple, yogurt, string cheese, carrots with ranch, gushers and a juice. Tuesdays are her early day, so she will be home shortly after lunch. Today for Little Kevin I made him little pizzas, cut up apple and tomatoes(He loves those cherry tomatoes) and some cottage cheese. I know it is early, so he will have something a little later. He seems to be a grazer. Dinner is normally at 5:00.

What are some things you pack for your children for lunch. I would love to hear what you all do:)

P.S. It is almost Fall~~~~YaY!!!!!!!!!

Monday!

Hope everyones weekend was wonderful! Mine was very productive. I just got very motivated the last couple days, and I am still going. I worked really hard organizing my daughter's room, it is so nice now. Sometimes, I would get so overwhelmed with things I didn't know where to start. My house is never dirty, but the piles of clutter here and there were really getting out of control. Well, I have put all the clothes away. I have a full bag of things I am throwing away, kind of like the flylady, where she says to throw out 27 things, I think mine was more like 47(there was nothing worth donating, trust me)...LOL. I have started decorating for fall. I have baked bread, made a cheesecake. I even have some cans of pumpkin ready to make a pumpkin pie~~~YaY!! can't wait to do that. I am just waiting with anticipation, for when the stores start stocking there stores with pumpkins. OH, and what about all those holiday coffee creamers, and egg nogg, YUM!!!!!!!!!

For dinner, will be steak and potatoes:) Have a wonderful Monday! I am so excited for Fall:)

Happy Friday!

Busy morning!! School, Dentist, Walmart and then Albertsons. Corn on the Cob was only 10 cents an ear:) I am now home, and I am making bread. I also made a cucumber salad. Tonight's dinner with be boneless pork chops with onions and mushrooms, loaded mashed potatoes (box)..and Corn on the cob of course...LOL.

My husband has been in Northern California all week and should be home anytime now, YaY!!

The weather here is really nice, cool in the mornings and evenings and warmer during the day.

I am so happy the weekend is here, I just love having my whole family home.

OH, I bought the Ped Egg today and I have to say it does a pretty good job. My heels were not looking so great. I wear sandals all the time, so I guess it did a number on my heels, but now they look a lot better:)

Have a great Friday!!!!!!!!!

Friday:)

I have mentioned these videos before and they are just so fun. "Nancy Today" is such a heartwarming lady, and welcomes you in to her home everyday to share her home with all of us. She does cooking, shopping, cleaning and so many other topics on her videos. Her humer and take on life is just precious. I sure wish she was my neighbor:) Here is one of the videos. Check it out! I guarantee you have never seen eggs cooked like this....LOL. I hope you enjoy this video and all you have to do is google her and I think she has something like over 6,000 youtube videos up. LOVE THEM!!




Tonight, I am going to make a Shepard's pie for dinner. I will also have a salad to go along side of that. Last night with the chicken I made, I also made macaroni and cheese, corn and a salad:)

Have a wonderful Friday everyone!

P.S. still working on getting all the laundry put away..LOL

ETA: Scroll down my side bar to turn my music off:) so you can hear the video:)

Thursday!

Pumpkins! I can't wait to buy some.
I want to make pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins, bread, soup, etc...oh what fun the Fall season is!
I put Fred out yesterday, and am contemplating when to start decorating the rest of the house.

Last night for dinner, I made these Italian sausages stuffed with four cheeses, they were really good. Tonight I am going to do something with chicken. We went to the Costco, over the weekend and stocked up on lots of good stuff. I asked about the mini sweet peppers I bought, and I am really not sure what to do with them, so I have been putting them in salad, and Alexis likes to eat them as a snack. I also bought eggs at Costco, they come in a pack of 5 dozen. I love eggs, there are just so many things you can do with them. My kitchen always has to be stocked, with Milk, eggs, butter and bread:)

School starts next Wednesday, I am not thrilled about that. We will be getting Alexis a new back pack and lunch pail this weekend, and some other things for school. I do love school supplies though...LOL.

Happy Thursday!

Welcome Spetember and Fred!

He's Back....LOLPlease, everyone welcome my dear scarecrow Fred back. He is so happy to back. Everytime I go through the front door he makes me smile. I know it isn't officially fall, but Fred really puts me in the mood for all the wonderful days to come:) I love getting the home ready for the holidays.

I did a lot already this morning. I did all my laundry, but now, I have this huge task of putting them away. I need to bring them upstairs off my dining room table. I can't stand the clutter on my table, so I am going to work hard and try and get it all put away. Then on to kitchen work:)
Oh, also, I bought a bag of mini sweet peppers, and now I am at a loss of what to with them. Any ideas or recipes? My daughter just enjoys eating them right out of the bag:)

Happy Wednesday and welcome September!

Hi!

How is everyone doing out there in blog land? Things are doing well here. School starts very soon. I am not a true fan of summer, so I am very excited for fall to start. Fred will be making his appearance very soon. You all know who Fred is, right?...LOL.

Our vacation was awesome, and I am going to tell you, I DO NOT LIKE FLYING!!!!! Oh, how it scares me. Little Kevin did pretty good on his first airplane ride, my other children are pros. Anyway, I feel like I really need to do a lot around here, but to tell you the truth, I have been watching you tube videos of "Nancy Today" Oh, bless her heart I just love her videos, they make me smile!! Have any of you watched her videos? They are just so heart warming. Her food stock is just incredible...WoW!!
Have a great Monday:)

XO

I am Back:)

Happy Thursday everyone! We just got back from vacation. We were in Georgia. I have mounds of unpacking to do, and laundry too. I will be back to posting soon. After the unpacking and putting away, we have a major shopping trip to do. I came home with many mosquito bites. I was also able to meet one of my dear blogging friends, which was awesome. I will talk more about our trip and what not soon. I first have to get my home in order.

xo

Kaboom with Oxyclean

My new favorite product to clean with! I just got it today and it worked beautifully. My shower is just sparkling:) I did my vanity too, plus the guest bathroom~~Everything looks so nice:)

I also had to replace a shower curtain, oh boy that was a job...

Hi :)

Saturday was my birthday, and I awoke to a pink cake made by my kids, with the help of Kevin. Do you see how little Kevin put his finger right across the center...LOL

...and my beautiful pink roses:)

I need to hop in the shower, and then we are off to the market!
Have a wonderful Wednesday!
I am now officially 40 :)

Running Through The Sprinklers!

What do you do on a hot summer day? You run though the sprinklers...LOL

More Party Pictures!

Laundry~~~

I will get back to posting more party pictures, but I wanted to let you all know, when I say I am in mounds of laundry, I am not kidding...LOL:) These are all clean and folded and a bunch need to be hung up. So today I will be working on putting everything away. Oh, and another thing it has gotten extremely hot here. I turned on the A/C for the first time this summer on Tuesday.
Hopefully this weekend we can get a pool. I saw a really nice one at Walmart for 69.00 and it has a filter too.

Last nights dinner was lemon garlic chicken, fresh steamed asparagus, loaded baked potato and a salad:)

Tonight it will be a ground beef dinner~~I am still contemplating on exactly what I am going to make with it:) Have a great Friday and more party pics are coming. I can't wait to show you my sister's face painting on all the kids, BEAUTIFUL!
Blessings!!

Bouncy House!

For my daughter's birthday we got a bouncy house. This house was HUGE! I had no idea how big it would be...LOL. It was funny, I had invited 15 children and as the day went on, there were kids in there I had no clue of who they were...LOL.
The Bouncy house is in my drive way




Little Kevin with my friend:)

Appetizers!

I had my daughters Birthday party on Saturday. This is the appetizer table I had for the party.

Party Pics to come....
Happy Wednesday!

Happy July!

Happy July everyone! This is also the month I will be turning 40:) YaY! Anyway, July has been a very cold and wet month~~~it feels like winter more then summer. My daughters party will be on Saturday and I have to get going on getting the house ready. It will be mainly outside with the bouncy house, but I still want the inside to look neat and tidy too. Kevin has been out of town, but will be back today:) That is all for now...I have got to get to work! Happy Thursday!

Wednesday~~~

Yesterday, my daughter turned nine years old. At first she wanted a Disneyland party, but she ended up going to one with her cousin. So she changed her mind, so now not this weekend, but the next one, we are going to have a bouncy house, cotton candy machine and a snow cone machine, we are going to grill hamburgers and hotdogs. It should be fun. Last night for her birthday we took the whole family out to dinner, then we took her shopping with the money she received. Our present to her was a touch screen computer.

So, now it is a new day and I must get everything back to normal. Laundry, cleaning etc......

The weather here in San Clemente, Ca, has actually been chilly. I love summer rainstorms too.

We brought home so much leftover food from the restaurant last night, Kevin said that is what he wants for dinner when he gets home, so dinner will be VERY easy:)

Happy Wednesday!

Hello!

I have had the flu, so no posting the last couple days! I feel a lot better today, so now I am catching up my mounds of LAUNDRY! Have a great Tuesday! Last day of school is tomorrow~~YaY! Be back tomorrow:)

Friday~Yay!

Well, it is Friday and it is also a teacher furlough day. So no school today, double yay. Last night was open house, so that was nice. I have been in her classroom a hundred times, but it was nice for Kevin to see everything, and Alexis was so proud to show off all her work:)

We had tacos for dinner. Tonight we will have pork chops.

I am now starting on the toy boxes, organizing those, throwing away broken toys, etc. That is a job!

...and yes, toilet paper rolls must be over.....LOL.

The weather today is overcast, but nice. I just got back from a trip to Walmart. Got a few things I needed. I also needed a new lipstick, so I got a pretty light pink. I was so in love with all the sundresses out. I can't wait to get a couple:)

Happy Friday everyone!

P.S. Would you let your 16 year old sail around the world?? My answer would be NO!

Monday!

Ants~~~~ Here they come~~~AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I went to Walmart over the weekend, and I bought some more Tupperware. Everything is going into containers. I forgot the ant spray though, ahh! So I really need to get some asap! Last year my son dropped a cracker in his toy box, and let me tell you the ants went crazy. I am not a fan of ants...LOL.

Tonight's dinner will be chicken tenders~~I may bread a few and cook a few in a marinade.

Okay, I have a question: Toilet paper roll, Over or under? :::Giggles:::

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend. The weather was just perfect here.

Also, the next Food Network Star started last night. I TIVO'd it, I can't wait to see it.

Have a great Monday!

Happy Saturday!

My husband let me sleep in today...I usually wake up when my little alarm wakes me up, A.K.A Little Kevin...LOL. Well, this morning I actually got to sleep in later then usual, it was a nice treat. Then my husband wakes me up and says he wants to take us to breakfast, so we went to IHOP---Alexis got the funny face, Kevin got the Silver dollar pancakes with eggs and bacon, I got the two egg breakfast and Big Kevin got the steak and eggs..as for Tony, he wanted to stay in bed...That's a teenager for you...LOL.

Then we headed to Walmart, and little Kevin got some new clothes, and Alexis got a new outfit for Thursday, she is going to a Symphony, how fun. After that we headed to the market and did some food shopping. Ohhh, I also got some Tupperware, yay!!

Kevin rented some movies, so they are downstairs watching some movies, and I am about to do some things around the house. It has been a nice day, I hope yours is lovely too:)

Tonight's dinner will be pork chops. I made fried okra last night, and they turned out awesome:)

Thanks for all you sweet comments.

Happy Friday!!

I love all days of the week, but I especially love Fridays! Fridays to me means everyone will be together for the next couple of days, and that makes me so happy. Fridays are also days that I try and finish up a lot of the housework, so I don't have to do too much on the weekends, but that doesn't always happen. Especially today, my to-do list is rather long. I have changed my big shopping day to Saturdays, because my husband comes with me. It is also nice, because he gets certain cuts of meat that he really likes, and it helps me plan my menu. I still going during the week, because there are just things you sometimes need and didn't anticipate running out of, kwim? I went to the market yesterday, because my husband was out of Coke, and we needed more milk, I buy two gallons at a time. We do go through a lot of milk, 2 gallons are usually about 5 dollars. The kids also like Kefir, especially the blueberry kind. I will buy that when it is on sale. Last week it was 3.00, yesterday it was over 5 dollars. I also needed yogurt. Little Kevin just Loves, Loves, Loves yogurt...oh and cottage cheese. I have to say my kids like just about everything. The only thing my oldest doesn't like is green beans. My daughter, I can not think of anything at this moment, hmmmm. Little Kevin, he likes and will try everything. I do have to be careful with him though because of his allergies.

I just absolutely love being a wife and mother. Nothing makes me happier then taking care of my family. Planning menus, doing laundry, making good food, loving them, playing with them, laughing and crying with them. They are my everything, and I thank God everyday for what he has given me.

Okay, now, I have lots I want to accomplish in the next couple of days. My car for one thing needs a good cleaning. I can't believe the junk that collects on the floor in the back..LOL. I have got a pretty good handle on my laundry too, YaY!!

The weather has been nice, summer dress time. I love wearing my dresses, I love being a girl...LOL. If you got this far through my ramble, have a wonderful Friday!!! XOXO

Oh, on the menu, something with ground beef, I am going to look around the net for a recipe:)(I just like these old photos, I know sometimes they don't go with a post...LOL)

Happy June/ Happy Thursday!

I am so excited, school is almost over! I can not wait! Yesterday as I was driving home from dropping off my daughter at school, I was coming back in my neighborhood and someone had put a dresser outside with a free sign on it. I grabbed a friend and we got it into my car and I brought it home. It was in perfect condition and looks perfect in my daughter's room. SOOO, I spent yesterday going through all her clothes and reorganizing. I don't know why I didn't get a second dresser sooner. It is so nice to be able know what clothes she has, instead of having to dig through piles.

Today, I am going to make bread, work on laundry (of course..LOL). Then when I go to pick up Alexis, I will stop at the market and do some grocery shopping. I love having my kids with me when I shop.

My baby turned 3 in April, can you believe that? We had his Birthday at Chuck E Cheese, and he was just in love with that big mouse. It was rather cute. I love the games, especially Skeet Ball. My oldest, now 18 is a working man. He got his first job, and he is doing great. My sweet girl will be turning 9 this month and she wants to go to Disneyland for her birthday. That will be fun, it will also be Little Kevin's first time going. My husband got a promotion, the money is good, but I miss him when he has to travel.

I have my Topsy-Turvey going again, and I am very closely watching for those worms that attacked it last year.

That is all for now. Have a glorious Thursday:)

P.S. Are you planning on watching the new season of Kate plus Eight?

Memorial Day!

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Hello. Hope everyone is having a nice day with family and friends. We are going to BBQ today, it really is a nice day here. I need to start shucking the corn:)

More tomorrow!

Hello!

My beloved blog, I will back to blogging:) I miss blogging so much and writing down memories. It was never my intention to be gone so long, WoW! Starting this Monday, I will be back to blogging as I used too:) Hopefully a little blog everyday. Things are just fine here and I have so much to share. I miss sitting here typing on my blog. XO

Don't know if anyone reads here anymore, but I miss all my blogging friends!!!!

XO

Happy Easter!

Hope everyone has a blessed Easter!
After Easter, I hope to be blogging more. My husband got a promotion and has been traveling for quite sometime, so my blogging was kind of on the back burner. I am so happy he will be coming home, and stay home for a long while, before he has to go back up to San Francisco. I hope this Easter is a blessed one for each and everyone of you! XO

Easter menu:
Ham
Potato Salad
Asparagus
Mashed Potatoes
Salad
Deviled eggs
Homemade Rolls
Stuffed Mushrooms
Possible a Roast too

When my husband gets home, we are going to go shopping for Easter Dinner, so I may be adding a few more things to this menu:)