Tuesday~~Flylady

Good Morning, or afternoon or evening....

I really like Flylady and her concept. I take her ideas and incorporate them into my own. I pick and choose which emails I want to read.

So today, I am going to do some things from Flylday.
I have had the A/C on, but today, I am going to open all the windows to air the house out.

I am going to do her 27 fling.....I am really going to focus this project in my kitchen. I have collected quite a few things and it really needs some TLC. Just yesterday I threw out about ten grocery store receipts from 2009. Why was I saving them...LOL. It was fun to look at the date and see what I bought at the time. I tossed them. I also had a string of Christmas lights with a little note with them saying they were broken. What was I saving them for? Was I going to attempt to go through each and every light to see if I could fix them? I don't know.


What is a 27 Fling Boogie?
This is a tool to help you declutter your home. Do this assignment as fast as you can. Take a garbage bag and walk through your home and throw away 27 items. Do not stop until you have collected all 27 items. Then close the garbage bag and pitch it. DO NOT LOOK IN IT!!! Just do it. Next, take an empty box and go through your home collecting 27 items to give away. As soon as you finish filling the box, take it to the car. You are less tempted to rescue the items. If you have two of any item and you only need one, get rid of the least desirable.


After I throw out 27 things, I am going to do her weekly blessing hour. I have to be honest here, it is going to take me a lot longer then an hour. That is okay, I am devoting this day to really cleaning my home.



What is the Weekly Home Blessing Hour?
The Weekly Home Blessing hour is the time FlyLady spends slipshod cleaning her home. No detailed cleaning required; vacuum the middle of the floors only!

FlyLady sets her timer for 10 minutes to work on each of 7 tasks:
Vacuum
Dust
Mop
Polish Mirrors and Doors
Purge magazines
Change Sheets
Empty all trash

This takes approximately one hour; some tasks take less than 10 minutes. <~~~~Unless you are me, with total OCD...LOL.

Remember I told you I roasted a chicken the other night. Well, I ended up making something else last night for dinner, so today I took off the rest of the meat and I am making chicken stock with the carcass. Alexis mentioned she wanted chicken soup. So That is what I am making today. I have to say the house is already starting to smell wonderful.

Yesterday, Alexis went to a tumbling class, I really wanted her to like it. She didn't. She really has her mind set on Ballet again. So Ballet it will be. That doesn't start until September. I really thought she would enjoy tumbling, oh well, whatcha going to do:)


Thank you all for the votes on Circle of Mom's. I was so excited to see some votes.
You can vote every day:)



Have a wonderful Tuesday!!!

Monday~~Welcome August!

Good Morning!
Happy August 1st.
I can not believe it is August already, YaY!
I am so excited, I love the upcoming months.
September, October and November...there is just a nice feel when those months are here.
I love looking through my cookbooks and Taste of Home magazines for all the wonderful Fall recipes...and making my menus.

School does not start until September 7th, so we have a little over a month to enjoy these carefree summer days and pretty soon, Fred will be put out and We will start preparing for Jesus's Birthday too:)

Last night I roasted a chicken, so for tonight's dinner I will do something with all the leftover chicken I have:)


It rained yesterday, I couldn't believe it. It wasn't cool though. It was still hot, but looking out my windows it looked like it was winter.

Do you ever have a day and you wake up with so many things you want to do and then by the end of the day you realize that you got nothing done??? LOL...I had one of those days, it seemed that everytime, I tried to do something, I had an obstacle...I laugh about it now, but it was frustrating at the time.

(Click to Vote)

I was looking through the Circle of Moms Blog lists and they are doing 25 Southern California blogs. I added my name becuase I thought it would be fun. I looked through some of the blogs, and there doesn't seem to be really blogs like mine on the list, so I thought I would join giving my point of view of as a wife and mother in Southern California. If you like my blog would you give me a vote:) I would love to see if my little blog could make the list. If you go to the circle of moms site, my blog is all the way at the bottom..LOL.

Have a wonderful Monday and a first day of August!!
XO

Sunday!

~~~~A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken. ~~~

I saw this quote for summer and thought it was cute!
Have a great Sunday:)

Pizza!

Here is a pizza I made for lunch.
I bought the crust already made, put sauce, cheese and pepperoni on it that I got at the deli of my grocery store. I found you get a better deal at the deli and the pepperoni is so much better too:)

Before:

After:

Friday:)

These past two days just zoomed by...LOL.
I thought I had made a post yesterday, but it was Wednesday. Where did Thursday go??
We had a nice day today.
For dinner I made Hamburgers with mushrooms, steamed rice, peas and carrots and a salad.
My dishwasher is running and my coffee pot is all set for the morning.
I have my Dr. Quinn DVD all ready to go. I pop it in my TV when everyone is asleep, and watch it. I just started the 3rd season:) I was up pretty early this morning, so sleep will be very welcomed tonight.
I will be back tomorrow with another post about my daily life as a wife and mother:)
Have a blessed evening!!!

Chicken Artichoke Pasta!

Good Morning!
When we were in Georgia, my MIL made this pasta dish. It was really good. She gave me the recipe.
With the leftover Chicken I had, I used it to make this dish:)

You can click on the recipe to enlarge it.

Here are some of the ingredients I used.




I used the red and green pepper instead of the yellow and orange. They were much cheaper at the grocery store.





This is the finished product.

Everyone LOVES it.
I think it is perfect for summer:)...or really anytime!

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Today is Thursday and my husband has been in San Francisco since Monday, he will be home this afternoon~~YaY!!!

Tonight I am making pork. I have these pork strips that I cut up into bite size cubes, and fry them with onions and mushrooms. I usually serve it with rice or mashed potatoes. I will steam some broccoli and make a nice green salad. I also made some dinner rolls, so I will warm those up for dinner too.

Not sure if we are going to do anything away from the house today.
I may take the kids to the park.
Tomorrow I am going to take them to the big pool:)

Alexis has been going to the beach a lot with my sister and her cousin. It is great because her cousin is the same age and they get along like best friends.
Alexis is becoming quite the expert on boogie boarding...LOL.

School does not start here until September 7th, so we have a little over a month of summer left.

Fall, I think is my absolute favorite season:)
Everytime I go into the garage, I see Fred, and I tell him, it is almost time to come out...LOL.
For those of you that don't know, Fred is my scarecrow, and he comes out September 1st and stays by my front door until December:)

Happy Thursday!
Off to clean the toilets!

Wednesday!

Good Morning!
Today is my shopping day.
On my list of things to buy, are cleaning supplies:)
I am running low on a few things, like comet and window cleaner.
I have been using vinegar, but I really like this certain window cleaner. I have posted about it before. It comes in a an aerosol can....I can't think of the name...LOL. Maybe I need another cup of coffee.

Last night I made crockpot chicken, and I still have a bunch leftover, so I am going to make something with it for dinner.

The weather has been really nice. I feel bad for the other parts of the country that are having such terrible heat. I remember those days in Georgia, when you open the door and the heat just hits you in the face and you can't breath.
I also remember sitting on the porch at night and listening to all the sounds all around, like the tree frogs. We don't have lightening bugs here in California, so it was really neat for the kids to see them when we were in Georgia in April.

Also, in Georgia, Sweet Tea is a really big thing and my husband grew up drinking it. Here in California if you want sweet tea, you make it yourself. So I will make sweet tea for my husband. He showed me how to make it and how much sugar to add. Also, you heat the sugar you just don't pour it in the tea.

After, I am done here, I am going to sit down and write down my list for the store:)
I need things like foil, more fresh fruits and veggies. We go through a lot of fruits and veggies since I have gotten my juicer. If you have not gotten a juicer yet, you must. WE LOVE OURS! It is so healthy for you. Mine came with a recipe book, so there are just so many different drinks you can make. There are even recipes in the book in how to use the pulp:) I have not tried those recipes yet.

I will be back, lots to do today!!!

Little Blue Plastic Pool!

This is our little Blue Plastic Pool:)
How many of you have ever had one of these pools...LOL.

Thursday!

Just made lunch:

Crispy Fries
Hot Dogs filled with Cheese
Raspberries
...and Root Beer Floats:)

After grocery shopping we stopped in the Office Depot, and I found Alexis, her new desk for her room. It is the perfect size for her room, and it has peace signs on it. She is into peace signs at the moment. I have been picking up school supplies here and there. I love school supplies, I just can't pass them up...LOL.

Dinner Tonight:
HOT WINGS~~~> Yummy:)

Tiki, Staying Cool:)

I was misting her with water, and she was loving it:)

Housework!

I love these old ads:)

Today I have been doing some housework!
Toilets, cleaned them all!

I really need to get in my bathroom and clean my shower.
That one always seems to take a back seat to everything else.
I have no idea why...LOL.

It is a warm day here. Not as warm as other parts of the country, but it is warm.
A/C is on.

Dinner tonight:

Steak
Steamed Rice
Veggies
Salad

I am going to bake some brownies today too:)
Happy Tuesday,

Holly Hobbie!

I just loved Holly Hobbie, when I was a little girl.

I remember when I was a little girl, my mother had bought me a Holly Hobbie lunch box. I loved that lunch box. I was so excited to take it to school and use it. I grew up in Oak Park, Illinois until I was about ten years old. It was such a cold and snowy day. I was walking home from school and slipped on the ice, and my lunch box hit the hard ice, flew down the sidewalk. It was a plastic Holly Hobbie lunchbox and it cracked and I was never able to use it again. I was so heart broken. I would love to find that lunchbox. I don't know why that memory popped into my head, but I thought I would write it down:) That was kind of sad, huh?

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For dinner:
NACHOS!!

It is a warm day today.
I filled up the blue plastic pool and filled up about 30 water balloons. I bought some normal party balloons, so the kids had some tiny water balloons and some really BIG water balloons...LOL.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
On another note, I am turning 41 on Sunday!
41, I can not believe it...LOL.

Do you think 41 is too old to have another baby?

Monday:)

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Happy Monday:)

Friday..Fun Day!

Hello!

I took the kids to Chuck E Cheese today:)
We had the whole place to our selves for almost an hour...Fun, Fun, Fun!

They had so much fun playing all the games.
I myself like Skee ball....LOL....oh, and the air hockey.

After Chuck E Cheese, we went to the Farmer's Market, I got lot's of fresh veggies.

I made homemade juice with some of the veggies and fruit. Alexis says when I add lemon to it, it just makes the juice that much better!

Happy Friday Everyone!

Mushrooms

Button Mushrooms!

Snap off the stem of the mushroom. Put the stems in the food processor with about two green onions and chop them up together until they look like bread crumbs.

In a saute pan, put butter/margarine..and saute the mushroom stems and onions. Add a few drops or worshtershire sauce.

Break up a piece of bread into the mixture, and mix it up while it is still cooking. If it starts looking a bit dry add more butter.

Then add lots of cheese. I like to use cheddar. Mix it all up. The cheese should melt.

Put the button mushroom in a cooking dish. I butter the bottom of the dish.

Then fill all the little mushroom with the filling.

Put in a 375 degree oven for about 20 to 25 minutes, until cooked through.
Golden brown, so to speak:)


Ta-Da!!!
Stuffed Mushrooms!

A family favorite here. They are the first thing to go at parties!

Wednesday!

Good Morning!

Today, I am going to do my grocery shopping!
We are good on meat, I just need a bunch of other things.
Milk, coffee...Yeast!...and some other things.

It is going to be about 68 degrees all week, so that means it is too cold to go swimming or to the beach.
So on Friday I will take the kids to Chuck E Cheese for lunch:) That should be fun.

After I go shopping, I am not sure what we will do, maybe the park?

Last night's dinner, I made hamburger's, potato salad, and peas:)

Coffee is calling me, be back later!!

Happy Wednesday!

Tuesday!

Good Morning!!!

I just had my first cup of coffee this morning.
Don't you just love the smell of fresh brewed coffee in the morning?
I am not sure what our plans are for today.
It is supposed to be 68 degrees today.
Too cold for the pool or beach........

Maybe we will just stick around the house, I can always find things to do here.

When I was at Walmart the other day, they were putting out all there school supplies.

I Love, Love, Love school supplies.
Not so much school starting, but I love school/office supplies.

I cleaned up my bookshelf, so it is already for new things:)

I am going to start breakfast.
I will be back later
Have a wonderful morning:)

Monday!

Hello!

I thought this picture was pretty!


Today was a good day:)
I made pancakes for breakfast, mini pizzas for lunch and Macaroni and cheese with Bacon for dinner:)
Kevin is missing Dinner tonight, so it was a kid friendly kind of dinner.

I had to drive to Laguna Beach today, it brought back a lot of memories of when I learned to drive. My driving instructor told me if I can drive in Laguna Beach, I can drive anywhere...LOL.

It was a cooler day today then it has been in a few weeks.
We have had to turn the air on this past week, because the upstairs got really warm and uncomfortable. I am very thankful for that little luxury.

We have done quite a bit since school has gotten out, so it is always nice to stay around the house, and just enjoy everything around us.

Alexis just took a shower and is asking me to braid her hair. She likes the wavy look the braid makes her hair when she takes it out.
So I am going to go braid her hair.

Have a great Monday evening:)

Sunday:)

Good Morning!
On the menu for our Sunday breakfast:
Homemade Waffles
Over easy Eggs
Bacon

Enjoying a nice hot cup of coffee too.

Stay cool today, I know it is going to be a really HOT day today!!

Tiki!

This is our beautiful Tiki Bird.

She is such a delight to have around:)

Artichokes!

I know I have posted about artichokes a lot on my blog....I am going to post about them again:)

We love artichokes.
I grew up in an Italian family and my grandmother would stuff the artichokes, I mean stuff..she would make a mix of bread crumbs, cheese, parsley, and garlic, and put lots of butter on them.
I make artichokes a lot. I steam them upside down in my steamer. I have read that they steam better upside down.

I like mine plain. My kids like to dip them in the butter. They all love the heart. I scrape the choke out and they eat the heart.
I don't stuff my artichokes. We just enjoy the artichoke plain.
Little Kevin gets such a kick out of how to eat them...LOL.
It is a fun food to eat , and I think that is what first attracts the kids, and then they realize, hey, this is really good:)

I have a simple food rule in my home. You don't have to eat anything you don't like, but you first have to try it. If then, you decide you don't like it, then you don't have to eat it.
There really is a very small list of what they don't like:)

Tonight's dinner:
Baked Chicken
Baked Potatoes
Roasted asparagus
Salad:)

Swimming!

Oh, it was wonderful!!!
We went swimming today at the public pool..it was so much fun!!!

Little Kevin had a blast:)

The girls get to swim a lot at my sister's.
I don't get to go in the big pool that often..it was fun.

I am going to make sure we go a lot this summer.

I can't remember the last time, I actually swam in a pool without a little one holding on to me:)

Time to get little Kevin into swimming lessons!

Happy Thursday.

Dinner is Spaghetti bake.

4th Of July!

God bless America,
Land that I love,
Stand beside her and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above;

From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans white with foam,
God bless America,
My home, sweet home.
God bless America,
My home, sweet home.

Friday!

Happy Friday!

We had some fun outside:)
I did a little housework, and then we played outside. I filled the pool up, made water balloons, and we had these water shooter thingys.

My husband is home for the 3 day weekend, YaY!!!

We are going to make a Costco trip and then that is it.
We will be BBQing also.

This summer has been so nice lately, not too hot, just right:)
Perfect sundress weather, I love, love, love my sundresses!

The other day, I brought the pool out to the front yard, and while the kids were playing in the kiddie pool, I washed my car. I like my car clean. It had gotten a bit dirty. There just is not enough time in the day to do everything all the time, so I sometimes have to multi task.
I also have to learn to relax more and enjoy this beautiful summer. Sometimes though, I think of all the things that need to get done, but then I think how fast my children grow. It seems like yesterday Tony was just a little boy, I held on my hip. Now he is bigger then me...LOL. Time flies. I remember once when he was little, I had taken him to karate class, and he wasn't feeling well, so I picked him up and carried him to the car. I said, "Tony, you are getting so big, I won't be able to carry you for much longer", he then said to me, "That is okay Mom, when I get big enough, I will carry you." That memory always brings a little tear to my eye.

Tonight for dinner, I made breaded pork chops, steamed rice, corn, a fresh green salad and homemade dinner rolls:)

Happy Friday!

XO

Hello:)

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Summer. Ours is starting off wonderful. Alexis's birthday party was a lot of fun, and a lot of work too. We had it here and it was a 70's theme. We all had fun dressing up and playing old late 60's early 70's music. I decorated the dining room like a disco, we even had a disco ball...LOL. We played twister and had a pinata. My father came down which was really nice, it isn't always easy for him to come down this way. So it is always nice when he visits. I haven't talked too much about my Grandmother, she is not doing too well. She no longer lives in the house we all lived in when I was a child, she now lives with my Dad. So I don't see her like I used too. Right now, she is spending the summer with her daughter, in Illinois. She is happy there and that is all that matters!

I bought one of those kiddie pools at Walmart, I love those pools...LOL. My sister has an inground pool where she lives, so Alexis loves going over there to swim. Little Kevin and I are happy in the little pool:) I got a bit too much sun today though, I am a bit pink...well, red.....

I decorated the home for the 4th of July, I LOVE IT!! I love our American flag, it is so beautiful waiving in the breeze. It gives me the chills sometimes, when I think about all it stands for:)

I have been doing what I normally do, cooking, cleaning, laundry, baking. All that fun stuff that goes along with being a wife and mother.

We did go to the Mall over the weekend, and Alexis got to use her gift cards. We went to Justice, Claire's, Payless, Michael's, and Walmart...I am having a little girl stay with me for the summer. She is such a sweet little girl. I love her as if she was my own. Her 10th birthday was in June also, so we combined the birthdays and had one giant party for both girls. Let me tell you, when I took the girls to the mall, they CAN SHOP...LOL. They had fun, and so did I!

We also have a new pet, a Parrot! She is beautiful. I will share some pictures of her, as soon as I can get them off my camera and on the computer. Her name is Tiki.

I think I may have shown pictures of the parrot before, I can't remember. She belonged to a friend who sold her to us.

Tonight we had Tacos...A big family favorite.

Last night we went to the Outback for dinner, love that Bloomin' Onion, YummY!!

Also, we are getting close to Fall, So you all know what that means...LOL..Fred is anxiously waiting to come out:))) I know, I know, summer just got here...but I so love Fall...:)

Have a great evening!!!
XO

Happy Wednesday!

If you plant honesty, you will reap trust
If you plant goodness, you will reap friends
If you plant humility, you will reap greatness
If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment
If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective
If you plant hard work, you will reap success
If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation
If you plant faith in Christ, you will reap a harvest

Pepper Sauce!

I posted this on facebook, but thought I would share it here too:)

I had to go to the grocery store today for a few things. I am making Turnip greens for dinner tonight, and guess what I found at Albertson's ???? PEPPER SAUCE...I couldn't believe it. When we would go to Georgia we would sometimes bring that back with us, because I never could find it anywhere here. They have it in the Southern section of the grocery store, who knew..???...LOL. Happy, Happy!!!

...and the Southern section is very small, it is in between the Mexican and Italian section. It has canned okra, beans, all sorts of corn bread mixes and fish fries:) It is a fun little section!

Happy Tuesday!

Birthday Party:)

My Brother in Law snapped these pictures while I was lighting the candles:)

I have more on my camera that I need to download, but I thought I would share these first:)

Thursday!

Last day Of School!!!

YaY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday!

Tomorrow is the last day of school!
YaY!
I am having Alexis's birthday party on Saturday, so there is lot's to do.
Kevin will be home today too, he was up North.
Happy Wednesday!!

Happy Monday!

We go through a lot of cheese. So I always buy a few blocks of it.

I grate half of it in my Cuisinart.
One of my favorite Kitchen appliances.

This is one of the blocks of cheese we bought.

After I grate the cheese I put it in tupperware for easy access.

We use the grated cheese for salads, tacos, all sorts of recipes:)

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On another note,
School is out in four more days~~~YaY!!

I am also, getting ready for Alexis's 10th Birthday.
Lot's to do for that.



I am getting Dr. Quinn on Netflix. I have to get the disc, because they don't have it on demand. I kind of like getting the disc better.
I am on the second season, second disc. So when everyone is asleep, I watch an episode:)

We are having artichokes tonight.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Father's day.