Crazy Life

I've had so much fun in the past getting the kids ready for special events in their lives. I love to sew their outfits, and even make up their kids party invitations. But I just can't seem to figure out where the time has gone lately! We have a huge event coming up this weekend--and I have had no time to prepare for it. I'm sure it will all come together and be totally awesome, but right now--I'm feeling a bit behind the 8 ball! I certainly hope life slows down a bit in the new year!

Plus Size Lingerie

There is one thing I've never understood! That would be plus size lingerie. Not that there is anything wrong with it, and I'm thrilled that heavier women get to have the fun that comes with lingerie. Honestly, when you are just a little bigger than you should be, nobody wants to show it off in lingerie! I think I would be far to self conscious to actually be able to pull it off. But I'm a little bit more shy in that respect than most, so maybe I'm just being weird!

Sweet Caroline

Did you hear that Neil Diamond recently told the story of his inspiration for his hit song, Sweet Caroline? I have always loved Neil Diamond--this is one of my favorites, but not my very favorite. That is saved for America--I still get goose bumps and tear up when I hear it! But I digress!!

It turns out that the inspiration for this song was a picture he had seen of President Kennedy's daughter Caroline decked out in her horse riding apparel standing next to her pony. He was captured by the exquisite innocence of the moment, and a while later put the words and music together in this song. It took him less than an hour to write it. It's still one of the songs he's best known for.

Free Fire Safety Dinner

Now most people I know would love to have a Free dinner at an upscale restaurant such as Ruby River or Red Lobster. I know I can't pass it up!

Now here is the catch, you have to sit through a very informative and very worthy Fire Safety Seminar.

Really! That's all! It is a great seminar, and yes, their ultimate goal is to sell you some very expensive, albeit good, fire safety equipment. However, they will not attempt to sell you anything that night! I mean that in all seriousness. They give an amazing and eye-opening presentation on Fire Safety while you are eating your dinner and then they send around a small card. You write yes you would like them to come to your home at a later date, write the date and your name and address on the card and they show up to give you information on their Smoke Detectors and Fire Safety Equipment. Or, you write No on the card and hand it back. It's that simple. They really are the first no pressure sales company I have ever seen do this. I was totally impressed.

Now, if you are interested in attending their dinner and seminar, please e-mail me at tyclayhope@yahoo.com with your name and e-mail address and I will e-mail you back with your choice of dates.

I would highly suggest this seminar for anyone with children at home. It truly is an eye-opener!

Make Gift Card Giving More Personal

I have never been a huge fan of giving gift cards. It just seems so impersonal. "Here, I didn't know you well enough to know what to get you so I got you a gift card". The funny thing is I absolutely LOVE getting gift cards and I have never thought it was impersonal at all when I got them. I can't explain that.



But now there is an even better way to give a gift card. It is a Visa gift card with your personal picture on it. It could be your families holiday picture, a picture of something they really like or anything at all. The possibilities are endless and it takes all of the impersonality out of giving gift cards!

At The Drop Of A Hat

Have you ever used Provo Crafts Knifty Knitter. I swear it is the greatest invention ever. Of course it comes from old wooden Amish Knitting Looms, so they are not necessarily new, but they are amazing. They are so easy, my kids love to use them and I can whip out a knitted hat in under an hour. It is relaxing and so quick.

They make great gifts for friends but the best part is you can pick one up for yourself and have Christmas gift made for everyone in your family by the end of the week.

Knifty Knitter Hats top my list as The Quickest and Easiest Thrifty Christmas Gifts.

Christmas For The House

I love the holiday season! I mostly love looking around the house and finding those items that each individual room could really use. You know, a dresser in the boys room, a couch table for the living room, tv stands in the family room. These items, though not too expensive on their own--can really add up when you are looking to purchase them all at the same time. So for Christmas, we get to splurge a little and get everything the house needs in order to keep it up and running throughout the coming year!

The Field Museum in Chicago

We just returned from a wonderful trip to Chicago with my 6 year old son. It was his birthday trip. We took him to see Sue, the world's largest and most complete T Rex ever discovered. She is proudly displayed at The Field Museum in Downtown Chicago. Along with a myriad of different exhibits, the kids loved it almost as much as the adults did. It was a great learning experience for us and my little guy. He can name all sorts of interesting facts about Sue and other Dinosaurs we saw there as well as some of the animals. Before we went there he had not idea that a Woodchuck actually existed.

It was a great family adventure and for the three of us cost only, $31. However, the gift shop took another $36 for the book and the pencils and dino egg and who knows what else we had to have. It was just chock full of crap. But it was crap I had to have!

Holiday Dinners

The other thing the holiday season brings out in this house, dinners! Parties, work get togethers, family dinners--you name it, we'll eat it! Yesterday we had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at my mom's house, and this week alone will bring 2 or three more! After that, the Christmas parties begin! That means it's time to bring out the elliptical and shed some of these unnecessary calories before they find permanent residence somewhere they shouldn't!

Flipping

With the rush of the holidays upon us, the budget is generally pushed to it's breaking point. This year, with a new job we should be doing really well--but I can't stop thinking about possible ways to make more money here and there. My sisters aunt used to be a Realtor and is working in Arizona at buying and selling foreclosures. Since she isn't working through a real estate franchise, all of the profits will be her own! How amazing is that? I think I will hit her up for some pointers and see if this is something we can start doing next year!

Creamy Country Veggie Chowder

I had this for Dinner tonight and wanted to make sure everyone got a chance to see it and try it! It is so incredibly good. I even added mushrooms with the onions and celery tonight. It was great!

This is a delicious, hearty and healthy soup. It contains six different veggies and bacon.

Creamy Country Veggie Chowder

6 slices Bacon
1 medium onion chopped
3 celery stalks chopped
1/4 cup flour
1 quart half and half
5 medium potatoes diced
2 Cans Cream of Celery Soup
2 Tablespoons Parsley
1 teaspoon Seasoned Salt
1/2 teaspoon Pepper
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
1 cup Carrots sliced
1 cup Green Beans
1 can Cream Style Corn

In a large soup pot, cook bacon until crispy. Remove bacon to a paper towel but leave the drippings. Add the Onion and Celery and saute until tender. Mix in the Flour. Immediately add the Half and Half, mixing as you do. Add the Potatoes, Cream of Celery Soup, Parsley, Seasoned Salt, Pepper and Worcestershire Sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes stirring often. Add carrots and Green Beans, return to a simmer and simmer another 10 to 15 minutes until all the veggies are tender. Break the bacon into small pieces. Add the bacon and Creamed Corn and simmer another 5 minutes or until warmed through. Serve with warm, dense rolls for dipping.

Christmas Letter From Santa

This is always a fun little thing for children to get. It's a personalized letter from Santa. Imagine the excitement in your child's eyes when hey send a letter to Santa and he replies! All you have to do to get your child's You FREE Letter from Santa is click on the link, add in as much detail as you can and your letter will be e-mailed back to you. Then you print it off, stick it in an envelope and put it in your mailbox for your child to find. It is a great way to kick of the Christmas season with a child's anticipation and excitement.

Door Stop Buddies

I love this quick and inexpensive craft. It is easy enough to do with your children and makes a great gift for adults and children alike.

Finding inexpensive stuffed animals at this time of year is usually pretty easy. Dollar stores or discount outlets or discount stores like Big Lots and Wal-Mart are great places to look.

What you will need for one Door Stop Buddy:
Stuffed Animal
Rice, Sand, polyurethane pellets. (Some kind of material to create weight. A large rock works, but not as well. Also, if you choose to use sand, make sure you have a container to keep it contained. I will usually use rice or pellets.)
Needle and Thread
Seam Ripper will really help

What you are going to do:

Turn your stuffed animal upside down and find the seam in his little bottom. Using the seam ripper or any other method you would like, open the seam in his posterior. Fill a strong plastic bag with rice, sand or other weighting material. Take out just enough stuffing to make a hole that you can fill with your bag of weight. Stuff your weighting material into your buddy's behind and use some of the removed stuffing to pad around it. Stitch his little derriere back up and he is now weighted at his bottom which will cause him to sit upright. When you want your door to stay open just prop up your little Door Stop Buddy against the door and he will make a cute little addition to your room, watching over your door and holding it open for you.

Homemade Dinner? What's That???

I have been working so hard lately that my family and their dinners are suffering! But after all, taking 6 hours out of a mother's day is determental to the survival of the domestic home front! I mean really! How can you expect a woman to continue to get everything done that she normally gets done in an average day when you have just cut the day by 9 hours? A six hour a day job, in my case, can take up to 9 hours out of my day! I have to drive the hour to and from work, there's an extra two hours, plus getting ready, getting the kids ready to survive without me, with only their father for support and survival, a minimal help at that. There is another hour gone. Plus the six hours I spend away from the house, sitting behind a computer, earning just enough to pay for Christmas and my van, thinking about all the things that need to be done at home that are now being neglected in favor of the football game and Barbie dolls.

The bad thing is I love to cook! I love making fancy meals that require shredding, chopping and mixing. Unfortunatly, the mixing thing has come to a screeching halt as I broke my mixer trying to make Royal icing. I have always liked Hamilton Beach Mixers and now I am looking at an Eclectrics® Mixer by Hamilton Beach. Hoping that if I get it it will handle the abuse I put my kitchen gadgets through.



Growing up my Grandmother always had a Hamilton Beach Standing Mixer and so now, as an adult I can not handle having anything less! I have tried hand mixers and while they are much less expensive they are just too much work for me! I must have a stand mixer! No question about that!

Hopefully within the next couple of days I will have a new mixer and cooking dinner will become easier and get back into a normal routine. Then maybe my husband will become inspired by the wonderful food and decide that it would not kill him to clean the bathroom or do the laundry? Okay, so I am dreaming, but at least he is not cheering for my teams, so long as they are not playing against his. I guess that is the best I can hope for.

Re-Upholster Furniture/Save Money

Save money!

Rubber Ducky Candle Holder

I wanted to share this adorable baby shower decoration I saw recently. I've copied it and put it in the kids bathroom with the whole rubber ducky theme. But this is so cute. You can buy the candle and hurricane at Michaels for under $7.00. Then you add a little later of the blue decorative glass stones. Miniature rubber ducky is next, and the candle flavor of your choice sits on top.

It was so simple to make, and you could switch out the white candle for a pink one for a baby girl--and it's just darling!

Postal Rant!

Have you noticed how quickly postal rates are rising--and yet the mail man has less and less actual mail to deliver? Why is it that we are paying higher prices for stamps when 90% of the mail I get are from the area grocery stores, or credit card deals. I'm sorry--all of this 'junk mail' got a discounted rate at the post office because they mail in bulk, but because I need to send one birthday card to my nephew across the country--I have to pay full price? It just doesn't make any sense. Plus now, so many subdivisions are turning to the cbu mailboxes, which cuts the entire subdivisions mail into one communal set of boxes--so they work less, give discounts for bulk mailings--but our postage stamp rates rise month after month after month!

My New Bathroom

I wrote, not that long ago, about my little bathroom project I had going on. I wanted new lights for the room as well as a darker blue paint on the walls. I got it all finished and it looks wonderful. I never realized just how much bathroom vanities really make the room. If you have a really nice vanity--it can hide a lot of flaws in the room just because it draws your eye to it. I just love how the entire project came together--and I will put the finished pictures up SOON! ahem!!!

New Puppy!

We are getting a puppy! I know, it's the last thing we need in our lives at this moment--but honestly, who can resist the sweetness! And this will be a little dog--not like the big dogs we have had in the past and currently have. Plus, the dog supplies are so much less expensive for the little dogs. Well, except for all of the bling and costumes you can put on them these days! I don't know, I'm not one for foofing out a puppy dog--but hey, some people love it--and if it makes you happy--I say go for it!

Vegas Baby!

We are heading out of town this weekend. I can't wait! On Friday night my husband and I will be heading to Las Vegas for a huge blogging convention. Who said I don't take my blogging seriously!! I'm really excited--more for the time away with my husband--and secondly for the weather. It's been getting chillier and chillier here--so a weekend in Sin City sounds just perfect to me!! It's just a short trip, a weekend away-but with so many kids at home, I can't wait to just sleep in!

Addiction

I was talking to my sister today and was saddened to find out that her youngest nephew has been put back in jail. He had been in jail twice, through two drug rehabs--and back in a halfway house for second time. He had a day pass on Halloween afternoon, and had borrowed his grandmother's car to go pick up some milk for her. There is a grocery store on the corner and she expected him back within just a few minutes. However, his trip took him 60 miles out of his way, and he came home stoned. His dad had to turn him back into the police, and he is back in jail. It's now up to the drug rehab services to see if they want him to remain in the program or to finish the rest of his three year sentence. Very scary times for this young man!