Menu Plan Monday

Since it is nearing the end of the month, we will eat several meals from the freezer, this week and next.  Here are our meals for the week:

Sunday: Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings, Sweet Peas
Monday: Grilled Fish Fillets, Sweet Potato Fries, Broccoli Rice Casserole (leftover from Saturday)
Tuesday: Chicken Pot Pie, Peach Slices (making this for a friend who just had a baby)
Wednesday: Freezer Meal: Hamburger Helper Salisbury Steak, Green Beans
Thursday: Freezer Meal: Parma Rosa Chicken Penne, Garlic Toast, Stewed Zucchini
Friday: Leftover Buffet!
Saturday: Grilled Cheese, Tomato Soup

Farm Heritage Day

I would love to go back to a simpler way of life. (As long as I could take my Tivo, flat iron, and coffee maker with me.) Think it would fit on my wagon????

Each September we travel about 45 miles to Zebulon. Their county's horse club hosts "Farm Heritage Day". We love it for its non-commercialization, and tomato sandwiches.

Where else can a boy.....

ride a tractor


milk a goat (not my boy this year!...we are still randomly asking for the mi-mi's, and I didn't care for the breast pump memories this brought back) But check out the random victims/children.


and eat a most delicious ear of corn...that you chewed very little of, as evidenced the next day.


and meet some new baby animal friends


and pose for the most heart warming picture your Mommy could ask for...



ALL IN ONE AFTERNOON????

It was fun-tastic. Except for the grouchy lady who scared my boy half to death griping and complaining about how my hubby was holding him on the itsy bitsy pony. Can you hold him wrong on an itsy bitsy pony, and if so is it necessary to give gruf instructions while the pony is still moving? We did realize that we will not be using Pegasus Riding School in the future.

But other than that we had a blast! Yee-Haw!

Falcons Season Opener...My Lucky Hubby

So my hubby won his THIRD set of sports tickets THIS MONTH. The guy is lucky.

When we dated in college, I can't tell you the number of times he ended up on the radio winning tickets. I will never forget the time my shy hubby did his "Chunk loves chocolate" (Goonies impression) without even being prodded. He's a keeper.

Well its been Braves tickets, Falcons with the guys, and now Falcons with the Fam.

These were 9 rows behind the bench and very close to the 50 yard line. It was the season opener and we really enjoyed watching Wook, watch the ball.


There was little flailing and just brief moments of stiffening and accidentally kicking nearby spectators. No one gave us ugly looks, at least.

We even made it half way through the third quarter...and as Kristin at We are THAT Family always says "Leave when everyone is still happy". We did just that.

Here are some of our self family portraits. Wook would smile until just before we took the pictures, and then he would lean over in my lap or make an "I am not having fun" face. He was totally doing it on purpose.







Until we snapped this last one...I will take this grin any day!

Works for Me Wednesday...REAL SIMPLE

Its that time again, thanks Kristen, at We Are THAT Family, for always inspiring me to find something that Works for Me!!!

I love love love me some Real Simple.
I just received my latest Real Simple Email Newsletter. Check out their website above to start getting yours, too!

Their latest fabulous ideas were new uses for old things!

Several of the ideas are goodies that I have already tried out like...


Using my flat iron to iron Wookies small shirts and between buttons and collars.


This worked really well in my first grade classroom to keep cords safe and out of reach. It allowed me to pull out just the length that was needed!


A toothbrush works great to silk a few ears of corn. When we put up large quantities, I like to use a bigger brush.


I used to use The Wook's baby socks as a cell phone case when I had that horrid "Chocolate" phone.

Here are a few that I can't wait to try!!!!!


I am definitely going to have to try this with my boy. I think The Wookster will love it, and small eggs would fit very well in his cute little hands. I am thinking Baby Goldfish.


So, I love the idea of using shower curtain hooks...but not for purses. I am seeing these hanging on a towel bar in the bathroom when we have a house full of kids who can't keep their towels off the floor. Ya with me???


Can you say Mint Juleps?


These would be fun at a child's birthday party or baby shower!



This is just too creative. The newsletter said that the Lifesavers that come in the rolls work best. The bagged version have larger holes. Good to know.


This would be perfect to keep in our van. Dirty diapers, old juice boxes, just general trashiness that the hubby always ends up cleaning up.


How fun would these be next year for the 4th of July???


Very creative use for paint chip samples! We don't host that many parties where place settings are needed but creative!


What a cool idea for a cookout...and easy cleanup. This would also be great for the lake or beach!!!


And my all time favorite new use for something old......
I love to paint anything if it says still long enough, but I HATE the cleanup, especially when I am in the middle of a project. I can't wait to try putting an old grocery sack on my brush when I am in the middle of a project. According to Real Simple this can save your brush for a day or two. This will come in handy when we get around to finishing our laundry room.

Do you have a creative new use for something old? Please share it in the comments!!!!

Twice Baked Potatoes

On Friday night, we had some friends over for dinner and I tried a new recipe. I don't make a habit of trying new dishes, that I have never made, and serving them to my friends...but I figured they would still love us, even if these tanked! It turned out that they were really yummy. They reminded me A LOT of potato skins, but with a little more meat on their bones! So here is the recipe for Twice Baked Potatoes:



You will need:
6 large baking potatoes
8 slices of fried, crumbled bacon (I cheated and bought the real bacon bits)
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup of milk or half and half
2-3 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
8 green onions sliced

-Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
-Bake the potatoes for 1 hour. I placed mine in a baking dish and covered tightly with foil.
-Cool potatoes 10 minutes.
-Slice potatoes in half lengthwise, and scoop out flesh. This was the tricky part. I used a melon baller to begin with, but left some potato flesh around the edges when they started tearing.
-Place skins back in a greased baking dish.

-To scooped potatoes...add sour cream, milk, butter, salt, pepper, 1/2 cup cheese, and 1/2 of the onions. Mix well with a hand mixer.
-Spoon mixture into skins. You will have some left over and these make great loaded mashed potatoes.
-Top with remaining cheese and bacon.
-Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
-Top with remaining onions.

Frugal Friday Finds...well Saturday actually!

I have been unable to go hunting lately. I don't mean the kind of huntin' where you tote a gun, wear your boots, and shoot at poor lil animals (not that I am against any of that..I am a member of the NRA!) I mean the kind where you get to dig through other people's stuff!!! The best kind of huntin'...YARD SALES.

You may call them Yard Sales, or for the fancy folks "Garage Sales", or my Mississippi friend calls them "Rummage Sales". (That one sounds more like a racoon in the hurby curby to me!)

Whatever you call them....there is nothing like them. And on Saturday we hit the jackpot, and only hunted at a few sales! I wish I had taken more pics!!!!

1. My hubby found a Scott's seed spreader in great shape for 2 bucks! While at Lowe's, we had to compare our price to theirs, and we saved at least $18.

2. A Little Tykes kitchen in great condition...needed a few wayward crayon marks removed (a steel wool pad and vinegar/water mix worked great for this) for 15 bucks! This one is going to G-Mommy and Pop's house, and they graciously paid for it.

Then we went to one of the best yard sales I have ever seen! I wanted to hug the lady hosting it. It was laid out strategically where you didn't have to dig much, and she didn't mind my child touching EVERYTHING (toys that is). She probably knew I would buy more if he could play with things!!!! Her prices were very fair. One of those where I couldn't ask her to come down. Her toys were CLEANED UP, and they WORKED! Can you imagine? Lets take a moment of silence for her Yard Sale Skills!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's what we purchased from the Queen of Yard Sales:

Wook's Halloween Costume (see pic ....can't post one of him in it because it would be so cute you couldn't stand it!!)



Her son wore it once...looked brand new from Babies R Us...$5.
You may not remember his $5 Scarecrow costume from last year that landed him on the CBS evening news! We still have it saved on Tivo of course.



Both have been bought on consignment, and in great shape. I hope I never have to pay full price for these! If I try to...you have permission to slap me!

Fisher Price Dino/Ball Toy. This looked out of the box! It lights up when he puts the ball in different holes. They come out of the dino's mouth, down his tail etc. He loves it. $5

Fisher Price Little People Airplane (with all the passengers and luggage). $2

Fisher Price Little People Dinosaur Family Set (with all the pieces) $2

That makes the total for the day $16. My hubby doesn't really like spending money...but even he was impressed. Have you hit a good sale lately? Tell me what you saw when you went huntin'...or diggin' through other people's stuff?