DIY:Fake water vases

I was at HomeGoods the other day. I picked up one of those fake water plants, thinking this is cute decoration..maybe I will get it....the price SHOCKED me...$180.00 for a vase with fake water!! At HomeGoods which is suppose to be inexpensive. I got to thinking, I could make that and so I have!!

Here is what you need:

Vase--use one on hand, but a craft store, get a the dollar store, check thrift stores--few dollars

Quick Water $7 (12.99 with 40% off coup from Michael's)

Flowers 4 dollars for a bunch (with 25% off coup)

Wire cutters (had a home)

The process: 

Get supplies together

cut flowers to make them the length you would like

Cut leaves to make them as or not as not "leafy" as you would like

Mix quick water according the the directions--the two bottles together in a plastic bowl (please READ directions)- STIR SLOWLY (I used a old yogurt tub to mix in and squeezed in in the middle to keep it from going on the sides like the directions said..just toss the yogurt container afterward)

postion flowers and let set for 8-10 hours

And there you have it for less then 10-20 dollars (depending on your vase).

Enjoy and have some chocolate :)

Putting the Spouse First

Hello all, today is a cool October day here in the Chicagoland area. We even had a few snow flurries this morning. I know may will not like it...but I LOVE this weather. I just love the cozy warmness of my home, warm drinks, good company of family coming to visit. Its my favorite kind of day.

This morning as my husband watched the news and drank a cup of coffee gearing up for the day. We watched a segment about parents who put their Children above their spouses. Of course they had a panel of "experts" that weighed in on the study that showed that it was not healthy for the family and leads to divorce.  Of course no mention of God came in the segment, but here are my thoughts on the matter.

My belief is that I structure my priorities as like this: 1. God 2. Husband 3. Kids then everything else. I truly believe that when you love God more then anything everything else really comes naturally. This being said I still want to be intentional about making my husband a bigger priority then my children. Sigh, I probably lost a lot of you over this last statement, but please here me out.

When we love God with all our heart, soul and do not lean on our own understanding(luke 10:27/Deuteronomy 6:4)....we learn to love something that is bigger then us. We learn to love unconditionally. First we need to make that choice to move on to loving our husbands.  Next when we love our husbands. When we love someone that is not perfect and that is flawed (like we all are).  Putting your husband first sounds like you are saying you love your children less, it is the complete opposite.

I believe that showing that love to our husband teaches our children how to love unconditionally and that they will not get everything they want. Which leads me to my next point..many parents think that love means giving children whatever they want, signing them up for everything, having them in every activity, driving them all over the place, giving them all the time you would have with your husband, having them be the best at everything and striving to make them above average. When we do this what are we teaching our children? We are teaching them that they should have everything they want without waiting/working for it (which is why many young adults are in debt), that they should have something to do constantly, that they are the number one priority and their happiness is above others, that they have to be great at every thing, and  that other things/people are more important then marriage (which leads to divorce). These are just some things that are being taught without anything being said.

This is not what I want my children to think about when they think about my love for them and my love for my husband. I want my kids to see that through loving God and my husband that I am a person that they can talk to, that they can come to in times of need, that they can fail and I will be there, that they can talk to me at about anything with a loving/open heart..these are just some of the attributes I want my kids to learn about love.

Here are some ways I feel like prioritize my husband:
1. I let him lead the family and back him up (with discipline, explanations, rules etc)
2. We have alone time when are kids are home and tell them its our alone time
3. We are affectionate around our kids
4. I honor his wishes
5. I cook his favorite meals even if my kids do not like them
6. I praise him in front of my children and others
7. I make eye contact with him in all situations (eye contact can do wonders :)

I know its the road less traveled, but I really and truly believe that it is best for the family unit as a whole.

Let's get organized

Happy fall!!! This is my favorite season. Warm drinks, cool air, soup, knitting...some of my favorite things. I also seem to get in a organization mood in the beginning of each season. 

I do not know about you but I just hate paper flow of disorganization!  I have tried many different system. Now that my daughter is in school, we get so many paper items. So I decided to try a new system. I love it so far, I have NO loose papers on my counter any longer.  I modeled off of this great post from the nest effect: http://www.thenesteffect.com/2011/10/october-project-conquer-paper-clutter.html

Here is what you need 

File folder box

hanging file folders

Print out of your monthly night time activities/tape

folders

Pouch

Super simple. Just make your tabs...if your interested in my tabs they:

Incoming mail

Outgoing mail

To file

Bills

reciepts

coupons

Grocery ads

recipes

Family members names

School work

Church/faith

After I made my tabs, I printed out a calendar on Word just putting in our monthly night time/weekend plans.  I taped the plans to my box, so it is easily seen by all.

Next for my coupons I used 2 folder. I use to coupon a lot more then I do now. But I still like to keep/use the ones I get. I put both folders inside the hanging coupon folder for easy access.

In one folder it is for retail stores. One side is for FREE items/rewards/vouchers and the other side is for any coupons I get in the mail.

the next folder is for resturants/actitivy coupons

-one on each side.

Lastly I put a pouch in for loose coupons, I use to be way more into couponing....now i just have a few here and there I do not want to loose. 

DIY hand painted sign

I have been wanting to make a DIY painted sign for years! Not sure why it took so long...must be the little ones running around and sheer exhaustion during nap time with lack of sleep. But I finally got the chance. This is a super easy project and may even go on my wish to sell one of these days when I get myself together and get a etsy shop going....Anyway here is the how too...

Need:

Long Board, this one was about eight feet (really whatever size thin board that will fit your space, it was bought at home depot)

White or off white paint

Paint markers, I used black

Print out in the type of font/size you want (I just made in on word)

Scissors

Pen or Pencil

Steady hand

backing (bought at home depot)

The process:

1.Paint board the color you would like.

2. Let dry completely (couple hours..great time to have a warm drink and grab some quiet time)

3. print out your saying mine says "In Christ alone my hope is found"

4. Tape saying to board

5. Trace works hard with pen/pencil to get a indentation

6. in GREAT light (and in my case without my 2 year old around, he would definitely want to grab everything) use your markers to color the words in carefully

7. put a backing on the board

8. hang it up and admire your great work

painting my board

Paper taped to my board

all done on..great to move inside on a table to paint the words..make sure you have AMAZING lighting for this project...good sunny day

Calling All Pickle Lovers: Refrigerator Pickles

A few years back I made some awesome pickles while my daughter was in school. She has been wanting to make pickles with me for quite some time. This past weekend we finally had a mommy/daughter date and made pickles. I made them a bit differently..so we made DELICIOUS refrigerator pickles. I did it this way is because I didn't trust that my 6 year old would not contaminate the jars and I thought 3-6 months might be a long time for her to wait to try them out. Honestly I love these better then the ones I made with the whole canning processes.

Here is the recipe I used... I adapted it from: redefined mom

Ingredients:

pickle cucumbers, the little guys (I had about 4 pounds for 8 jars)

Seasonings: (to put in each jar)

ground pepper- about a teaspoon (eye ball it)
dash of red pepper depending on the heat you want
Fresh dill, big pinch for each jar
fresh minced garlic depending on how many you make about 1/2 clove per jar

Brine: (makes 6-8 jars)

6 tablespoons Kosher Salt
4 Tablespoons  Sugar
2.5 cups distilled white vinegar.
4 cups cold water

The process:

1. cut pickle cucumbers how you like pickles. We did spears.
2. add seasonings above to each jar
3. make brine by first combining all brine ingredients except the water
4. stir the brine until sugar/salt  is dissolved
5. add water, give it a few stirs
6. pour into jars
7. close jars, shake them a bit (after closed of course)
8. put in fridge for about 24 hours
9. keep refrigerated





They stay good up to 1 month. These are so good I doubt they will make 2 weeks in my house.

Enjoy!!!

My September meal plan

Just a few years ago, I was very organized when it came to meals, coupons etc. I want to get back on track with planning. Life just got busy, but now that my husbands schedule it a little more stable then it was before since he is home every night instead of traveling. I am doing a trial run of a monthly meal plan. So here we go...

Here is the plan with a shopping list based off what I already have, it also has some of our schedule to help me know which weeknights to make easier meals:

September

2014

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
	1	2	3	4	5	6
	Grill-Freezer selection	L: Cauliflower soup D; pesto Chicken	Taco (from freezer) Ice cream making GS   645-730	EASY: Quesadillas C. Night-630	EASY: Pizza	Grill-sausage/peppers
7	8	Lunch here       9	10	11	***12	13
Lunch: Chicken Salad sandwiches Awana	Spaghetti/salad (freezer) GSmeet-645	Orange Chicken	Chili	Easy: Macncheese/leftovers Church dinner-side (mushrooms?)	Lemon Chicken Shop Day	APPLE PICKING-pack lunch-sandwiches Grill
14	15	16	17	18	19	20
OPEN CC’spCheslie-130 Awana	Stir fry	Beef: Meatloaf, twiced baked, Green beans	Enchilas/corn/gac	Leftovers HS: EV-630-8	Easy: pizza Hair Salon-645-745	Bday party
21	22	23	24	25	***26	27
Lunch: Burgers Awana	Faijtas (freezer)	Soup-Chicken	Pizza pockets	Chicken/rice salad	Leftovers	MELISSA dinner?
28	29	30
Lunch: Open Awana	Tacos (make more taco meat)	Stir fry
		Lunch box: Sanwiches, PBJ, Bagels, Mac n cheese Popcorn, Fruit,veggies yogurt sticks
Breakfast: Fruit, Yogurt, eggs. Cin. Toast, frozen pancakes, sausage, cereal	Lunch; Wraps, Sandwiches, fruit, veggie tray, soups, salad, leftovers		Fruit: Apples Oranges Grapes Stawberries Blue Berries Black Berries Nectorines	Veggies: Mini Cucumbers Tomatoes Peppers Carrots celery	Snacks: Popcorn Goldfish Veggie Staws String Cheese Bella Cheese Nutrigrain bars	Treats: Mini Drumsticks Smores Mini cheese cake bits Treat Bowl Dark Choc Pretzels Homemade Cookies Homemade Brownie Bits

Shopping:

Meat:

3 Big chicken packs (sams)

1 big G beef (sams)

Burgers

Drinks:

OJ

Milk (3 gallons)

Pop (one 24 case)

Tea/lemonaide

Dairy:

Moza Cheese-check frig

Sliced cheese

Greek Yougurt

Yougurt tubes

Deli:

Fruits:

Grapes (2 bags)

Strawberries

BB/BB

Veg:

Zucchini (4)

Salad (3 pack romanine)

1 bag salad

Spinach

Tomato (if not in garden)

Green pepper (3)

Broc.

Grocery:

Freezer:

Stir fry mix?

Treats (sams)

Bakery:

Bread (4 loaves for month)

Pita Pockets

Buns (3 packs)