WFMW: 2 for 1

I had previously posted on winter storage then checked and saw that today was a themed WFMW so I did a fast edit. The result: 2 for 1! Yeah! Here's the recipe we use in my family for the quick- an-easy-any-night dinner: Tuna Casserole

This is super easy:

2 cans of tuna (whatever you have on hand; white, albacore no
matter)
2 cups of rice
1 super-size can of mushroom soup (not sure the oz-it's the
biggy)
1 can of small (10 oz I think) of cream of celery soup
frozen mixed veggies (as much as you'd like)
salt and pepper

After cooking the rice, mix all the ingredients in a pam sprayed Pirex (9x13) and cook for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Its hot, comfort food with usually enough for some left-overs. This is also great as a pot-luck meal for churches and recipe can be adjusted by adding more of each ingredient to serve a crowd.
That's what works for us...check out below for winter storage!!


Winter Storage-
Where can you store all those hats, gloves, mittens, scarves and have easy access and storage at the same time? Hat boxes! Depending on the numbers in your family, you may be able to use one big box or you could use stackable numerous boxes. Each box can be organized by content (mittens in one, scarves in another) or by child. Whatever way you choose, hat boxes not only serve the storage purpose I need, but the kids can also help to put those little things away by themselves and the boxes can be attractive in the corner of your room too. This also helps for ease in accessing the items as needed since they usually sit on the floor.

Well, that what works for me and our family...hope it will work for you too!!

Happy Thanksgiving

It's such a wonderful, memory making day and I am wishing all the bloggers a very Happy and safe Thanksgiving Day!!

I have enjoyed wandering and perusing the various sites seeking out new and familiar recipes to prepare for our family. The very next day begins our house decorating for Christmas. I so love that as well!! We don't have a tree yet, but I love looking over all the hand-made ornaments made by my children throughout the year and remembering Christmas' gone by when they were just little kids. It's all such a magical time of year. This year I started listening to Christmas music right after Halloween. I haven't yet been able to find a radio station for my car, but we are set at home. Michael W. Smith has his new CD out for the season and can be found at:

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Have a wonderful day and don't forget to give thanks for the many blessings we have been given!

Older we get

My mom used to say that as we get older the years pass like months and the months pass like days and time just goes by quicker. I think I must be getting old cause that's exactly what seems to be happening. I just look away and we are not only in a new month, but almost the first week of the new month has passed and I haven't even changed my calendar yet!!

This Saturday is the day. I'll have to change my profile because as of Saturday I will officially be 40. I've been preparing for that number for the past 6 months and truly I can live with it, but it does seem to be a milestone number for me. I see the number on my face, but I definitely don't feel it in my heart. I still feel somewhere aroung 28. I've set up my mammagram for Monday (first one) and now I feel like I belong to some new club. I'm glad to be getting this and know how many women benenfit from these screenings.

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, or in my case, 2 blinks away. Starting to get the menu ready and planning ahead to decrease stress levels later. Working moms always plan ahead (as much as possible). Hope everyone else is planning a wonderful time with family and friends. My kids and I always bake goodies and make up dishes for our neighbors to say we're thankful for them. It's a traditions we've done for the last 5 years and I'm looking forward to doing it again this year. Enjoy the holiday everyone!! It won't be long before we start talking about Christmas!!

Finally Fall!!

After an indian summer with temps in the 90's, it was nice to wake up feeling a bit chilly and realize that fall has finally arrived. Dh and I will celebrate our anniversary tomorrow-14 years and we had a northern wedding and honeymooned in the Pocono Mtn. of PA. The beauty of the leaves is something I will never forget. It seems the foliage was at its peak then and I'm so glad we took so many pictures to remember our time there. This mornngs temperatures just kinda brought all that back for me.

Things haven't turned out as I had planned from that day 14 years ago, but I wouldn't change the life we've been blessed with and the struggles, triumphs, and disappointments have been ours alone to share and have brought us closer together to each other and to our God. So many things good and bad have helped to make us who we are today and I'm so glad to be the person I am now and not the niave girl I was then; but I don't ever want to lose the girl either. I think she'll always be there somewhere and I'll keep a spot for her in my heart.

Enjoy the day and know Jesus has a plan for you today and he loves you no matter what season you're in right now. Be a blessing to someone today and love your family as if it's your last day on earth!!

Something to think about

Have you ever noticed how many things are available to do with the family when you have no extra funds to do them? And if you happen to have the funds, there doesn't seem to be as much to do in the community? Kinda Murphy's law of finances. That's the situation my family and I find ourselves in now. I should be looking on the positive side and recognizing that if we used credit cards then we would probably be tempted to pay dor outings we couldn't truly afford and digging a hole of debt that sinks so many. We don't use credit cards (debit only) and so we pay as we go and if we don't have it, then we don't go. I'm glad that dh and I have made the choices we have because I am a weakling and would probably use the cards and give into temptations. Not having the option removes the choice. Thanks Lord!

So, what a poor family to do for fun? How about some family game time or movie time! Popcorn and snuggling sounds good!! We won't make the fashionable events in town this week but we will make some valuable family time none the less and hopefully some good memories along the way!! Enjoy the family and your weekend!!

So Fast!

Where is the time going? I can't believe we are half-way through September! School is in full bloom and we have stopped using the A/C for about 2 days now. At first it was just at night, but now we have 2 full days without usage. Looking forward to those lower bills in Sept. & Oct. After that, the heat usually is needed.

The kids are now in 3rd & 4th grades and although they should be into their routines by now, we are still struggling with forgetting notebooks at school, forgetting study guides, etc. As a teacher, you'd think I would have been able to instill better organizational skills within them, but somewhere, things haven't worked quite as expected and items are getting lost. My solution, pull out the good old restrictions. Video and TV time will be lost if their memory fails to help them recall which books and assignments need to come home nightly. Hopefully, this will help them to get into the swing of things and decrease the "forgetfuls".

If anyone else has battled this issue, let me know what solutions worked best for you and I'll try to implement those as well. Moms: united we stand, divided we fall. LOL.

Have a blessed day and try to see some of the beauty aroung you that God is sharing for you today!

The Summer's Over

School has begun and things are in full swing. Labor Day weekend has come and gone and now I feel the aching for fall colors, apples, and the sweet scents of cinnamon and spice. The fall is always a magical and welcoming time of year. Although the things in nature seem to come to an end, they share such brillance to observe and to be thankful to the Creator of All!! I love the fall and everything about it! I'm looking forward to crisp, cool morinings and sweaters and cool nights.

Good bye to summer 2007. I've enjoyed you and all you brought. Thanks for the new memories I've had with my children. I feel a new dawn has arrived and I now look forward to our next season.

See ya soon!!

Happy Birthday!

Today is Matthew's birthday and we are all recovering from a party weekend! Sleepovers, friends, and now today our family party. He got to open gifts from his friends, but his family gifts will be opened after dinner tonight.

Yesterday we had a wonderful picnic and day of fellowship with our church. The weather was perfect and all was well.

Today I'm trying to update my weekly menus and if I get the chance, I'll try blogginh on Laura's site of "I'm an Organinzing Junkie" to post. There are always some really great recipes to be found and shared. Have a great day!!

Repeat

I posted this too late last time so I'm gonna use it again for this week. Enjoy!!
Just scroll down to June 14th.

We're Back

Wow. It seems that we look forward to summer break for some R & R but we seem busier than ever!! No rest here. We've been to NJ, PA, & SC all in one week and have seen and done so many things that I hope our kids will remember. We have parties, celebrations, pool time, neighbors and friends coming and going and I love every minute of it!! The book reading is going well and I'm looking forward to our next visit.
We have Matthew's 8th birthday party to shop for so excuse the short note. I'll be writing more later. Have a great day!!

Chicken Caccatorie

Thanks to Annie for the wonderful 40 garlic chicken...so good and BBQ chicken-yum! This recipe is simple and can be adjusted based on taste preferences, amount, etc. If you have extra, it works great on pizza crust or stuffed bread too!

2lbs. chicken breast (or any parts depending on taste)
2 sweet onions sliced in rings and halved
2 red (or green) peppers sliced thinly
5 cloves of chopped garlic
2 large cans of Crushed tomatos (I think the sixe is 28 oz can)
2 large cans of tomato paste (makes the sauce thicker)
oregano, parsley, salt, pepper and basil to taste

Combine all and slow cook low 6-8 hours. When done, use a fork to shred the chicken. We serve this on pasta but you can use the left-overs for pizzas, french bread, etc. Enjoy!!

It's Here!!

It's officially Summer Break for the family-yoo-hoo!!! After getting a pedicure (Mother's Day gift from DH) and doing some shopping, the kids and I visited our County Library. We are living in a rural area that is quickly growing, however, for now, our nearest library is about a 40 minute drive away. After reading some blog-sites I was prepared with authors' names and book titles. Out of my list of 6 I was able to get 2 of the books I wanted. Let me tell you, James Patterson's book "Suzanne's Diary to Nicholas" is a great read!! I haven't been able to put it down and I'm halfway through in only one afternoon of reading. I highly recommend it!

So this is how the first day of break is going and it's a terrific start. Today I have laundry, packing, and getting ready for our 7 hour ride to NJ tomorrow and Philly on Sunday. Have a great day everyone!!

All is Well

The kids are done with school and today should be my last day barring any last minute IEP meetings or unexpected parent calls. We have plans to leave for NJ on Friday to attend a graduation party for my 17 year old cousin who somehow was only 8 yesterday! How does that happen? After a day or two there, we leave for Philadelphia where my son will have follow-up treatment with the Specialists in Wills Eye Hospital. He had his (L) eye removed last Christmas and we need to ensure the health of his socket and also have his prosthetic eye adjusted since he's growing like a weed.

As a therapist, I've always been the one to encourage and work with families dealing with cancer, head-trauma, stroke, spinal cord injuries, etc and it was a real blow when all of sudden I became the Patent's family and was on the other side of the fence. That's the way it was when my son was 2 and we were told he had cancer and tumors of the eye. The docs were wrong. The specialists in PA told us that his tumors were non-malignant but did all the damage of the malignant one and that he was blind in that eye and would probably have to have his eye removed in time. Well, he's about to turn 8 and he's done great with his "new eye" and even uses it for "show and tell" in school! He's a great kid and such a blessing from the Lord!! We know how merciful God has been to us throught all this and we meet the most incredible folks when we go to PA. We try to stay at Ronald McDonald House and the other families there bond with each other in a way that can't be described. Please keep us and these families in pray as we all do our best for our kids and pray for good reports too! Thanks! Love having the company!!

WFMW

Sidewalk Paint! This is the next generation to our beloved sidewalk chaulk. Your kiddos can create their beautiful masterpieces on the driveway, sidewalks, patio, basically any hard outdoor surface just as they can with the chaulk. Unfortunately, as with the chaulk, when the rain comes, so goes the artwork. But that's part of the beauty and wonder. The kids can then go back and have even more fun creating and letting their artistic juices flow over and over again. This is a great help in decreasing the boredrums and it's a no muss/fuss sort of thing. All washes away easily with no staining of clothing, furniture, carpets, etc since it's all done outside. This is what works for me this Wednesday!!

Addendum: The paint can be found in the same places where chaulk is located. I've seen this in our local Target stores. Enjoy!!

Decisions, decisions

My husband and I are in need a new vehicle and finances being what they are, we are in need of divine guidance...a sign would be great and not a subtle one either. I usually need to be hit on the back of the head pretty hard to get the hint so I'm hoping God will bestow his wisdom and in seeking his counsel I'll know what his will for us will be. We are also now looking at higher insurance rates and our whole budget now needs to be revised and revamped. Please keep us in your prayers that God will reveal which direction we should take and that we be open to stay within His plans for us. Thanks!

Countdown!

This is the last week of school for my kids and I have 1 week after that before we all are officially on summer break!! We look so forward to this all year and I always want to make sure we fill in this time wisely. It's the only time I can be the stay-home Mom to my children that I long to be. We will visit family, travel out of state, see more of our local library, read books together and try to be lazy at times. This year we have the addition of an above-ground pool so we won't be going on any official "vacations" but we will make this summer our vacation to home.

I am hoping to get in some Mom/dtr time to help us see more eye-to-eye. Even though my dtr is 9, I feel she will be an early bloomer and I can already see those hormones and mood-swings taking place and I need for us to be on the same playing field and not so much opposed to each other before puberity comes in full swing.

We picked up a cute book from Christianbooks.com called "Understanding Mom" and it's written for the tween population (8-12). I'm hoping we can both get some insight and laughs and lovin' from this. I need to establish a schedule where we can have this reading time together and build upon our relationship as well. I'm looking forward to it!!

Well, each day is it's own countdown and soon I'll be telling of our daily adventures. Love to all!!

Beef in Onion Gravy

This is yummy and great anytime:

1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 pkt of onion soup mix

2 beef boullion cubes

1 Tbsp. cornstarch

1 lb. beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes

Hot cooked noodles, mashed potatoes, or rice

Combine the soup, soup mix, broth, and cornstarch. Let stand for 15 minutes. Stir in the beef. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours or until meat is tender. Serve over noodles, rice or mashed potatoes. Enjoy!

WFMW

This is something that I recently read about and decided to give a try.

One of the many beauty supplies that has recently gotten my attention is Primer. This is suppose to smooth lines and allow your make-up to have a flawless application and make us look great! Well, some of those 'Primers' can have expense tags starting at $ 25 and going to where the sky is the limit. After some research, I found out that most of the same ingredients can be found in Monostat Chafing Relief Powder-Gel. Many beauty chat rooms are filled with happy people who are using this product as their primer and find the results to be the same as the pricier products. This product is less than $7 and can be found in the supermarkets or Walmart. This is what works for me this Wednesday and I hope it will for you too!!

Oh Lordy Be!!

Yes, only 8 1/2 days left till school ends and don't I know it!!! The kids know it too and are just going bananas!! So much to do and so little time but the excitement in the air just can't compare!! Oh how I love the summer breaks and the time it gives me to be the full-time Mom I so long to be!!

It's because of this busy time of year that I haven't had time to post to this blog and I have missed it!! It's also a time of year where the Lord has plans to prepare us for patience, and endurance and faith. You see, in the course of a week, our van has been totalled (no one hurt), the blender died, my carpet cleaner is on it's last leg, and I killed the washer machine yesterday. Sound familiar to anyone? Now I have no less than 2 loads/day and the washer is 12 years old so I'm not sure if I should call a repair man or just try to find a new one. Our issue is that our needs are quickly out numbering our resources. My son also needs to visit specialists in Philadelphia in a couple of weeks and this too adds to the need/resource ratio being out of wack. We will be traveling from our home state of NC. But I know our God is in control and he knows our needs and I will be still and wait upon Him.

I heard a new song on one of our Christian Radio stations and it was called "Before the day Begins". That song spoke directly to my soul and I felt such peace that we are in Christ's hands and there isn't anything that has happened that surprised God...just us. We will need to make some decisions so please keep our family in prayer and thank you in advance for that!!

Side note: Since the above mentioned song is new, I missed who the artist was. If you happen to know it, please send it to me. I'd love to down-load this to my iPod. Thanks all!

Kielbasa and Sauerkraut

This is one of those great crowd pleasers that can be scaled down to accomodate smaller family sizes. Measurements below can be adjusted to reflect your needs. This is good alone or can be eaten on hoagie rolls with honey-mustard and ooh so good!!

2-3 lbs kielbasa (beef or pork)cut into links (for rolls) or slices
2-3 small pkgs. of sauerkraut
2-3 Tbsp. celery seed (can be omitted if not in pantry)
2-3 tsp. dry ground mustard.

Combine all ingredients and if frozen keilbasa is used, cook on low 6-8 hours. If thawed, only 4 hours. My kids think of keilbasa as big hot dogs so they enjoy ketchup on theirs. Add a salad and you've got a complete meal. Enjoy and Happy Cooking!

WFMW

This is a goody for me and my household: Crud-Kutter. You can buy it by the gallon at Lowes or Home Depot and it does it all!! I first found out about this product through our home builders. They were using this product to clean carpets, windows, and anything that needs cleaning. It's usually $11-12 and that's in it's concentrated form. I use it full strength on carpets and have since used it on everything else including our cars. It's really good at getting that black, sticky stuff off the underside of my car (which is white and shows all stains). We also use Crud-Kutter to power-wash our home. It really is a does all product and that's my tip of the day :). Hope you get to try it out...it's usually found in the paint departments.

Getting Ready

Summer is coming sooner than I can get my mind ready for. Maybe it's because the weather here has been so strange...80's one day, 60's the next. This spring doesn't seem to know which way to go just yet.

In keeping with summer rituals, the new list of books to read has begun. Some I've purchased just for summer, others I've had but haven't gotten time to read yet, and others still have been started but not yet completed. I've got about 4 of those. Working full time limits the time I have to read so I really try to make up for it when not working (summer break)! Check out Sandra's site http://familycorner.blogspot.com/ for her current book give-away offer.

A New Day Dawns

I hope all the Moms out there had a wonderful Mother's Day...mine was! Treats, gifts, lounging in jammies, good movies, popcorn, cuddle time, and a meal planned, prepared, cooked and cleaned-up by DH with an awesome dessert to top it all off. Who could ask for more? It's a good thing Mother's Day is only once a year because I could get pretty use to that kind of living!!

I'm in the middle of a Jennifer Rothschild Bible Study on Faith. I wasn't aware until this study that Jennifer was blind. She uses her experience to parallel our faith in things unseen and to blindly lay down our struggles, concerns, and anxieties to our God who sees all and knows all. It's hard to let go of our control and to say "Lord you are my God and I give this thing to you" but without relinquishing our control, we can lose all control in all our circumstances. We can't surprise God, but oh how the daily living stuff can surprise and knock us off our path if we let it. My prayer today is that we "let go and let God". I hope you have a wonderful day and I am gonna try to do the same. Be a blessing to someone today.

Enough Already!

My daughter just turned 9 in April. She is smart, beautiful, strong-willed, independent & overly dramatic. I know that God is going to use her talents & personality to do mighty things but sometimes I just cannot get a handle on how to be the Mom she needs me to be. She is resistant to advise yet very much needs to be loved and held and very defiant all at the same time. Did I mention she's 9? I shutter to think about the teen years.

Given these traits, she is extremely anxious about our upcoming End-Of-Grade (EOG) testing that takes place in 2 weeks at school. I am so fortunate that the Lord has given me my work at my children's school and so I can help know more about the ins & outs of testing and curriculum and really know and be a part of their schooling while fulfilling the calling the Lord has given me. Had the Lord not guided me in my work, then I believe I would be a homeschool Mom. However, that's not where I have been led to this point.

Anyway, my daughter is aware that she is in no way at risk for retention given her hard work and dedication to her school studies and she has done quite well academically this year. She just refuses to accept that these tests are not the end all be all and the closer it gets to test time, the more anxiety she displays and she is now demonstrating classroom behaviors that are distracting to the teacher and students around her. It's not fun having a parent conference with your co-worker especially when it's not the best of news. I don't feel equipped enough to properly guide her to decrease her behaviors especially when it may be outward displays of anxiety. I' m trying to use scripture to help her relieve this level of stress but I would definitey welcome any and all advise/counsel to help me help her relax. I think it's a shame that so many of our kids endure this kind of stress at such a young age and wonder what the effects will be years down the line. Is seems that so much more is now expected of our children than we ever encountered in our schooling.

I am so fortunate and blessed that the teachers I work with are mostly Christian. We as a collective school personnel body say pray before our school lunches and after school meetings. We support other personnel in prayer in school and I thank God for allowing me to be in this place and to do His will among so many believers but sometimes I just don't fell like I can be all I need to be for my children when so much of my time is spent with other children.

Please keep my family in prayer and please send all advise...I welcome the counsel of the godly!!

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's reading this!!

Slow Cooker Thursday

This is dinner my family enjoyed last night and I hope you will too!! (Be patient as these are my first few days blogging and I'm trying to learn all I can about postings)

Chicken and noodles

6 frozen boneless/skinless chicken breasts
1 12 oz pkg of frozen stir-fry veggies
1 pkg of onion soup mix
1 24 oz pkg of frozen chopped spinach
1 32 oz can of cream of mushroom soup
1 8oz can of cream of celery soup
3 Tbsp of dried Rosemary
Salt & Pepper to taste

I placed all ingredient in order and let it go on low for 8-9 hours and served over egg noodles. It was simple and quick to set-up and that's what I love about crock-pots!!

First Day!!

I'm not sure who will see this or what will appear as this is my first blogging experience and who knows what will happen. I'll learn as I go along and hope to soon be among those I have so enjoyed visiting. If anyone see this, let me know what to do next so that I may learn from the those who have gone before me. Thanks!!