A Little Reminder

I know that I already posted about Sister Savings, but I couldn't resist doing it again. Take a look at my amazing savings today...

What I got:

• 7 boxes of Raisin Bran Crunch (18.2 ounces each)
• 2 Gallons of Milk
• 1 Dozen Eggs
• 1 pkg. Chocolate Chips
• 3 Pkg. Cheese (8 oz each)

What I paid:

$16.71

Total Saved:

$38.25

YEAH!!! I LOVE sistersavings.net

Fun with Mommy's Glasses

This is How I Found Tate This Morning in Front of the Mirror Displaying...

MOMMY

GRANDPA
GRANDMA

It's Garden Time Again!

The last 2 days have been completely devoted to working in the garden. The first day was solid fun-just harvesting and removing my winter garden. Yesterday was a little harder but necessary-preparing the soil. I carried from the truck-5 HUGE bags of mulch, 2 bags of gypsum, and 1 bag of fertilizer, and worked it into the soil.

Today is going to be-back to the store for more mulch, and finish my 2nd garden day. I'm so excited to plant! Hopefully I'll be ready by Monday!!!

Click HERE for AZ garden instructions.

Swimming in March

Today was really hot, so Tate & I were crazy and we went swimming! (This is right after we jumped off the waterfall-together)
Tate also tried sliding into the pool from our new make-shift pool slide.

My favorite part was us trying to get a tan.

Sweetness De-Craver

Here is a recipe that I got from a friend on how to get you UN-ADDICTED to sugar. I hope she doesn't mind me sharing. I have to admit that I haven't tried it yet, but she swears it works. So, I'm going to the store ASAP to buy the ingredients. Let me know if you try it and if it works for you.

Mix in blender:

1/4 C. Sesame Seeds

1 C. Water

2-3 Dates

Sprinkle of Sea Salt

It sounds completely nasty tasting, but if it works then I just might be able to fulfill my goal of losing 10 pounds. Yeah!

Easter was Fun!

Here's a few pics to prove it...This is my Mom with the 4 oldest Grandkids
The most adorable Easter Bunny EVER! Good Job Michelle!!! None of the kids even recognized you.

How was your Easter?

Happy Friday!

From Rascal

Bryan is Awesome!

I briefly mentioned to Bryan when we were talking on the phone yesterday that ENCHANTED was officially out on DVD. Knowing that I'd already blown the budget for this month, I didn't tell him how much I really wanted it, and I tried to not make a big deal about it. But when he came home from work I totally lost my self control and expressed my desire to watch ENCHANTED tonight. As I was saying it, I glanced on the counter and there it was... my very own ENCHANTED DVD, it was as if Bryan had read my mind. Yeah!!!! Seriously, Bryan rarely splurges on anything. So, this was totally awesome.

So we watched it last night. Apparently Bryan didn't know what he was in for (I had seen it in the theatre with some friends, and he hadn't watched it yet). Afterwards all he had to say was that it wasn't his type of movie. And then he had to listen to me go on & on about how much I liked it.

What WE Do...

Someone asked me the other day what I've been up to... I totally spaced it and couldn't think of anything besides the things on this list. Ha, Ha.

I LOVE being a Mom!

Office-Before and After

We are so blessed to be able to have this spare bedroom which has turned into our craft/office/storage room. Up until recently this has been the dirtiest room in the house where we've thrown everything that didn't have a place, or even just somewhere to throw things if company was coming, etc. This is how it commonly looked-papers everywhere, no room to even walk in there... I hated this room more than anything!!!

It's taken quite a while, but I've finally found a place for everything. Even though I've got A LONG WAY TO GO till it is all pretty, I'm starting to really like this room now because it's clean and most everything has a place...
Remember this cute little table that I decorated a while back? I finally found a good place for it. It now fills two purposes. It is a lovely craft table, and it provides a perfect place to store my bulky water and oil jugs.

It has been really hard trying to find a place to store food storage boxes. We have our master bed already stacked on boxes and so I needed somewhere else. I thought about a closet, but I'm ALWAYS getting into these boxes and opening a new can, and it's pretty annoying to have to lift up a million boxes just to find the one that I need. Even though this isn't pretty, in fact it's pretty ugly, I figured that it will do just fine for now. If anyone has any other suggestions in regards to storing food, please let me know.

Here's a close up of the table.
Here is our massive bookcase of which I love so much.
I went out and bought these handy dandy containers and labeled them all for my crafts and such.
I decorated our filing cabinet with all of our scrapbook magnets and magnetic puzzles for Tate to play with. They seem to entertain him quite well when I'm working on a craft.
And last but not least, I copied Design Mom and Liz B., and pinned up all of my lovely ribbons that prior to this were all squashed in a ziploc baggie and stuffed in a drawer. Now I can actually see what I have easily when I need a ribbon, and plus I think they make a beautiful wall decoration.

"My Lil Rock-Star"

Tate learned how to use "Windows Media Player" today. He figured out how to change the songs on his own. Of course he can't read, so he didn't know which song was coming on until it played.
When "Hey Hey We're the Monkeys" came on, he started jumping up and down and dancing all over the kitchen.

What fun!!!

Tate Asks the TRICKIEST Questions

Here are some of the things he has asked recently...

1. We were having a discussion about Jesus and how he died for us, Tate turned to me and asked, "Did Heavenly Father die too?"
2. I can always tell when Tate is in deep thought. He has this distinct look on his face. Yesterday Tate had been thinking for a while and then he finally said, "I don't like SATAN, is that nice?"
3. Bryan's Great Aunt Mae was in town a few weeks ago. She is 92 years old. We were sitting around visiting, when Tate turned to Bryan's Mom and asked really loudly, "But why is she SO WRINKLY?" Thankfully it wasn't me who had to answer this question. Bryan's Mom said, "Because she forgot to iron herself today". Everyone was roaring including Aunt Mae.
4. Just today (after publishing this post), Tate asked me another tricky question. He was eating his ice cream treat (from being reverant in church), and he asked me, "Muder (translation: Mother), Is ice cream a liquid or a solid?"

Seriously, this kid is just too bright! I always tell him to ask his Daddy, who tends to know the answer to all of his questions. I think that Bryan must have been a "question asker" too!!!

Tate has my SMILE !

I was looking through some old pics the other day, and I realized immediately that Tate has MY SAME SMILE. Funny it's taken me 3 1/2 years to figure that one out...

Quick and Easy Homemade Gifts

I have 3 baby showers coming up for 3 different baby boys, and here are some quick gifts that I made for them...

I’ve seen TAG BLANKETS everywhere lately, selling for quite a significant amount of money, and I thought that I would like to try making my them myself. It was very quick and easy! This one measures about 28 x 28 inches, has super soft fluffy brown fabric on one side and soft and comfy baby blue on the other. I used a variety of ribbons to give some different texture.

Here's how I made it:

Cut out two 28x28 inch squares on different fabrics, pin the folded ribbons (mine are 4 inches unfolded) on the right side of one piece of fabric with the cut edges of the ribbon on the edge of the fabric, then place the other piece of fabric on top, right sides together, sandwiching the ribbon in between, and sew around the outside. Make sure that you leave a big enough opening to turn it! Once turned, sew up the opening, and sew around the entire outside of the blanket to keep the blanket and ribbon flat, and you’re done!
These blankets can be made in whatever size that you like. I made mine just the perfect size to lay the baby down on for tummy time. They can cuddle on the blanket and play with the tags (because we’ve all seen how babies tend to play with the tags on toys more than the toy itself).

I also made 3 cute burpies with ribbon on them made from cloth diapers. I used some like these all the time with Tate, especially with his acid reflux. I figure that if a baby is going to spit up, then at least it will be on something pretty!

So, there you go. My newest little project-Sweet & Simple!

Blog Privacy & How to Make Your Blog More Safe

I googled my name the other day, and was surprised to find that I came up in a ton of blogs. So, I've been thinking once again about blog privacy. I had tried going private for a while, and that just wasn't fun because I love to meet good people on line. Plus, I had a lot of problems with people saying they couldn't log in for some reason. So, I've been thinking about all of this, and then I read this post on my friend Melanie's Blog (she got it from Darby's Blog) on how to make your blog more safe:

• Go into "my settings" and then go to "Settings", select "Basic" and it will say: "Add your blog to our listings?" SELECT NO (this means that when you update your blog it does not show up on the blogger homepage or any other page as being updated - very important)
• Also on that same page it will say: Let search engines find your blog? SELECT NO (this means that search engines can not bookmark your site at all -important if you are a family)(Scroll down and click Save Changes)
• Next go to "Comments" (still in settings) it will say: Who Can Comment? SELECT REGISTERED USERS - includes OpenID (this means that only people who can comment are those with gmail accounts - or who have active blogs open - this helps eliminate computers from spamming)
• On the same page it will say: Enable comment moderation? SELECT YES (this means that no comments will post to our blog with out you approving them first - this way you can axe anything before it shows up)
• Same Page- It will say: Show word verification for comments? SELECT YES (this is super annoying, but important to stop spam and deter unwanted comments because it's an extra step) Scroll down and click Save Changes
• LAST THING- Never mention last names, show your address or town and try to not tell the full names of anyone else on your blog either. Also don't post birthday specifics or when you'll be out of town. All of that will just lead to a home alone movie where the burglers find out when you are leaving. leave that kind of stuff to personal emails to family or blog about it when you get home. Also try to respect friends privacy by not posting photos that could embarrass. The internet is really quite insane. Once it's on the web it's ALWAYS on the web so post with courtesy and care. All in all these are safe blogging tips. the first few are really important as they block the search engines from seeing your blog!

So, I made the changes to my blog last night, and I also changed my links so that they only say the first name and last initial. I've found it to be pretty annoying already (the name thing that is), but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Please feel free to share these tips with your friends & family so that we can all be safe online.

2 New Pages

When it comes to SCRAPBOOKING I go in spurts. I guess that is really no different from anything else I ever do (ie. laundry, dishes, etc).

Maybe someday I'll get it in gear and catch up with Tate's scrapbook. Then I'll be able to start doing Bryan & My wedding scrapbook, family trip scrapbook, and I would LOVE to do a 52 BLESSINGS scrapbook like onehm.

I decided that maybe I can do a digital scrapbook class or something. I would like to think of it as more of a party, since I am so not a teacher type of person. I seriously get scared talking in front of people, but if it's just friends hanging out-then that's different!
So, when is good for you all?

Personalized Candles

Tate has been BEGGING me to make candles with him! Ever since he was just little, he's been obsessed with them. He doesn't even care if they are lit, it's mainly just the scent he LOVES.

So, here's what we did to make them...

Cut up wax

Place wax in Double Boiler and let melt. (We just put the double boiler inside of a pan with water)

Place wick inside of candle mold. (We used a pencil and string to hold up the wick so that it wouldn't fall. Add some scents to the melted wax.

Pour wax inside of candle mold, and allow to sit.

Continue to fill up well (top part of candle) with melted wax, as the wax hardens and settles. When dry slide out of mold.

Print Picture (that you want to place on candle) on tissue paper. I just taped the tissue paper to the regular paper and sent it through the printer.

Place picture where you want it on the candle, and cover the candle with saran wrap. Use a blow dryer to adhere the image onto the candle. Remove saran wrap (the tissue paper becomes part of the candle and seems to have disappeared), and your done!

We had so much fun making this, and it turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself!

Doing What we LIKE to do...

Is there ANYTHING BETTER than Homemade Bread with Homemade Grape Jelly on Top? I don't think so, and apparently Bryan and Tate agree with me.

We go through BREAD so fast at out house it's incredible. Between the three of us... We eat approximately 3-4 loafs a week. So that means that Tate & I get to bake bread just about every week and a half. WE LOVE IT THOUGH!

Tate's getting really good at kneading and forming the loafs. I usually give him his own "little dough" so that he can make it with me. He seriously has the technique down!

Here is my recipe:

Delicious Whole Wheat Bread

(Adapted by me/From SHAR'S Kitchen & Bosch)

Ingredients:

6 C. Warm Water, Approx. 115 Degrees
2 Tbsp. Salt
1/3 C. Vital Wheat Gluten

2/3 C. Canola Oil

2/3 C. Honey

3 Tbsp. Dough Enhancer

3 Tbsp. SAF Instant Yeast

11 C. Hard White Wheat Kernels

Preparation:
Grind hard white wheat kernels in mill.

Directions:
Place water, salt, oil, honey, dough enhancer, vital wheat gluten, yeast, and 8 cups of freshly ground flour in bosch mixer. Use the momentary switch (m) to mix well. Turn the machine to speed 1 and continue to add wheat flour only until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. When you can see the sides pull clean as well as the dough coming clean from the bottom of the bowl you know you have enough flour.
*I almost always use ALL of the whole wheat that I ground
Knead on speed 1 for 10 minutes. If you feel your dough is too dry, simply add a few tablespoons of water to moisten. (always pulling the sides clean) if dough starts sticking simply add a little white flour to take up the moisture.
Oil your hands, remove dough from mixer onto a slightly oiled counter, divide your dough into 4-5 large loaves depending on your pan size. Shape loaves, and place in a well greased or sprayed (pam) pan, never use oil. Cover with a dry paper towel and let rise until dough has risen double or approx. 2 inches above the rim of the pan. This will take from 30 to 60 minutes depending on the room temperature.Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Cool on cooking racks before putting into bread bags. The bread can be frozen up to 30 days without freezer burn.

Shar's Kitchen & Bosch in Mesa, offers FREE bread making classes.
Click HERE for a schedule.

My Story

So, I've never really blogged about this-probably just in case it would come across "negative" or sounding like "poor me". But lately, I've had this impression that I should write about it. Maybe there's someone out there that could benefit from reading this, but I'm sure that it is probably just for myself. So here goes...

As most of you already know, I've been having "baby problems" for several years now. By "baby problems" I mean infertility+miscarriages+a still born baby (she had anencephaly which is a severe neural tube defect, and she didn't survive). In the past seven years, I've been diagnosed with endometriosis, ovarian cysts, low progesterone, breast fibro adenomas, irregular ovulation, thrombophilia (genetic blood clotting disorder that makes me miscarry) as well as a few other minor things.

I consider it a MIRACLE that Bryan still loves me after all of these crazy health problems. Also, I feel SO BLESSED to have been able to bear Tate. He has definitely been our little miracle! According to my doctor, with everything going on with me that month, it was nearly impossible for me to conceive when I did!

Knowing that it would probably take a little while to get pregnant again, we began ttc when Tate was just tiny still. We've been trying now for about 3 1/2 years, and obviously still no baby. But, I'm fine in fact I'm great about it, and here's why:

About a year ago now, I was pretty discouraged with "baby issues". I remember sitting in church one Sunday and thinking about all of my trials and feeling sorry for myself. I began to say a silent prayer asking for strength, when all of a sudden the most beautiful feeling I've ever experienced came upon me. I felt as if H.F. was hugging me and telling me that all was well. I knew at the very moment that he was aware of everything that I was experiencing.

Even though it's been a whole year since this experience, and I'm still not pregnant. I can still remember vividly that feeling of love that I felt. I know that Heavenly Father loves me individually. I can honestly say that I'm grateful for the challenges that I have, because without them I wouldn't be the person I am today!

My cousin Rachael, is compiling short stories of women all over the world who have had experiences such as this where they have felt "God's love for them". Check out her blog HERE, or to email her your story click HERE.