New Camera- Day One

December 15th, 2007

Love, Love, Love the new camera! Obviously, these are our first pictures from it, but I am having a blast pretending to be a photographer with it. My kids enjoy being my little models too so it makes it even more fun.

In this picture, you can see that our tree is up, but still not decorated. Emily is really into destroying things right now and waiting until the last minute to hang the ornaments just makes my day a little easier. I did wrap and put the tree up, but am daily handed shredded gifts that she has lovingly tore apart for me. Maybe practicing opening gifts with our Christmas countdown wasn’t such a good idea? I will get the ornaments up, but our tree might look a little strange with none on the bottom this year. All in good holiday fun though, right?

The second picture is of Emily in her super cute sock monkey pajamas that she got for her birthday. I am sure these will be making an appearance on Christmas day since it has been rumored that Santa will be bringing her a sock monkey this year.

This was the night we gathered the kids up to take them on a tour of the Christmas lights in a nearby neighborhood. Ethan thought it was funny to go in his pajamas…Emily was less impressed since she takes Ethan to school sometimes in these.

This was a fun year to see the lights since Emily really got it this year. She kept saying, “Oh, WOW!” while Ethan was far less enthusiastic (“Are we done yet? Is it almost over?”) I can see how this age gap might bring on some new challenges as they get older.

Oh, and have I introduced you to my third child yet? She is a new addition the family and I love her so! My best girlfriend presented me with a brand-new purse (and matching shoes, no less!) for our gift exchange. Only a girlfriend who knows me so well would present it with the price tag still ON so she could show me what a most excellent deal she scored on this purse. And it was a most excellent deal, even better than any deal I had run across this year.

I just love the festive pom-poms and the knitted look on this bag. The brown boots that match are equally rockin’ and make me feel like a superstar momma!

Don’t we all deserve a little of that once in awhile?

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Posted in Uncategorized | 14 Comments »

Operation: Sterilization

December 15th, 2007

Today was spent sterilizing everything in our house, thanks to a bad case of the stomach flu. It used to be that I would get sick and my mom would change my sheets, hold my hair back when I got sick, and get all of that sick food out (Jello, Sprite, hot soup, etc…) Boy, do I miss those days! Nothing makes you miss your mommy more than when you get sick as an adult. Can I get an, “Amen”?

I stripped the beds and washed them in hot water, ran the sterilization program on our dishwasher for all of our dishes, killed the carpet germs with my super UV powers, steam cleaned the hardwood and bathroom floors, and sterilized the bathrooms with some of those homemade cleaners in my closet. If a winter storm wasn’t brewing outside, I would be whipping all of these windows open to do a little airing out of the house.

Would one call this obsessive compulsive or just high-maintenance? I am not sure, but I hope that we can prevent another family member from suffering from this plague. Each meal, my husband thinks it is going to be his last. Isn’t it amazing how differently you look at food when you think you might get sick from it?

On another note, I completed all of my holiday baking on the day I got sick. I am thinking I am going to be pitching my six 9×13 pans of goodies that I made. This almost makes me sick all over again, but I don’t want my gift to be the gift that keeps on giving (If you know what I mean?) I don’t think I have the energy or the funds to make a second batch of stuff so I might have to skip the goodies this year…which makes me really sad.

Side Note: I get tons and tons of emails about what I use to clean our hardwood floors. I bought a Bissell Steam Mop and it was BY FAR one of the best investments I have ever made for caring for our house. They had discontinued selling these, but they recently came out with another model of them and it looks to be the same, just a different color. It has replaceable terry mop heads that you can just throw in your washer. I bought extra of them because I use them so often. If you have difficulties carrying for your floors, this makes the job a lot easier. Amazon doesn’t have them in stock right now, but a quick Google search should come up with some other stores that sell them.

If anyone else has hardwood floor advice, please share! Who can’t use a little help when it comes to this household chore?

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Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

Freebie Friday (on Saturday): December 15, 2007

December 15th, 2007

Thank you all for your sweet messages. We are on the mend, but that flu really takes it out of a girl! We hope to be back in the swing of things soon and are hoping no one else comes down with this stuff.

Much thanks again to Heather, from Freebies4Mom, for her invaluable contributions towards our weekly Freebie Friday.

Enjoy all of those freebies and thanks for your sweet words and patience!

Health & Beauty

Slim-Fast Style Your Slim Challenge Starter Kit (pedometer, coupons, etc.)

Entertainment

Christmas Compilation free album download at Magnatunes
Bach Classical Music free downloads from James Kibbie Bach Organ Works

Seriously Westcoast Album Download (I am SO excited about this one- hurry because these end in forty-eight hours!)

Ski Magazine (need to be a Start Sampling member)

Skiing Magazine

Blender Magazine

5 day trial to Jump Start World (no credit card required)

Redbox Free Rental Code: NEWBIE– expires 12/17

Creativity Magazine


Home & Garden
Spice Art Calendar (register one Spice Islands spice)

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Posted in Freebies | 3 Comments »

Too Sick

December 14th, 2007

I am so sorry that there was no Freebie Friday this week. Emily & I have the worst case of stomach flu ever and I don’t have the energy to post. I will try and put some freebies up next week when we are feeling better.

Have a wonderful weekend!

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Posted in Announcements | 14 Comments »

Amy’s Notebook 12.13.07

December 13th, 2007


I love these cute ideas for holiday ornaments, and I just so happen to have the supplies!

These Christmas DIY projects look simple enough that even I could do them!

I really enjoyed this post on Wii buying tips for the frugal shoppers.

I have been working on an article for homemade stocking stuffers, but it looks like Wise Bread had the same idea…Hmm..back to the drawing board!

This Advent calendar is a true thing of beauty. I am tempted to make her bread recipe too!

I have a new use for recycling those wine bottles!

These chocolate drizzled peanut butter cookies look delicious. I might have to add these to my holiday trays one year!

I wish I had a mantle so I could decorate it like this. It is just so festive and clever!

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Posted in Amy's Notebook | 2 Comments »

New Year’s Resolution: Better Pictures

December 12th, 2007

Along with my New Year’s Resolution to take a sewing class, I resolve to take better pictures. Confessions of a Pioneer Woman brings some inspiration on acquainting myself with my copy of Photoshop.

Oh, and more photography inspiration…my camera arrived! Thank you all for your most excellent recommendations because this camera ROCKS! I am having a blast with it and can’t wait to share some photos taken with it. We are just getting acquainted, so please bear with me!

Anybody have some hints for a beginner in Photoshop? I gave up on it the last time I tried the program and have been using Picasa since then.

Note to Self: Do not measure flour and talk to husband and make lunches at the same time. We have to call out for pizza because I don’t believe dough is supposed to be a liquid consistency. Perhaps a cooking class might be a good investment?

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Posted in Photography | 6 Comments »

Booster Seat Cleaning Solution

December 12th, 2007

I hate cleaning underneath my daughter’s booster seat, but the things that can get stuck under there can be quite unappetizing a few days after sitting there.

The other day I decided to tuck Emily’s plastic placemat under her seat instead of on the table and can’t believe I had not thought to do that sooner. Now after we enjoy our meal, I just pick the seat up and slide out the mat for a quick rinse instead of trying to clean under the seat, creating a sea of crumbs under our table.

It doesn’t help the nasty on the top of the seat, but sure makes the nasty underneath a little bit easier.

For more fun solutions for your family, be sure to visit Works-For-Me Wednesday over at Rocks in My Dryer.

Sound Off: Do you have any clever solutions for dinner clean-up?

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Posted in Cleaning | 8 Comments »

Frugal Hacks: Themed Gift Baskets

December 11th, 2007

Head on over to Frugal Hacks and you can read my ideas for themed gift baskets to give for the holidays. These are one of my favorite things to give (AND to receive!) so I hope it will help spark some ideas for the gift-giving season.

Sound Off: If you could pick a gift basket to receive, what would it be filled with? Remember, Santa just might be reading!

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Posted in Saving | 5 Comments »

WSBT-TV: Holiday Gift Baskets on a Budget

December 11th, 2007

This morning’s segment is on how to create holiday gift baskets on a budget. I just love putting these together and over the years have tried to put together gift baskets with great themes in them. I am hoping to talk more about themed baskets in our Frugal Hacks segment that I am putting together for today. I will post more on this topic later!

I hope this will give you some more ideas for putting together some fun baskets for the holiday season.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

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Organize in 15 Minutes: Plastic Food Containers

December 11th, 2007

I am far from organized and am really needing a gentle nudge (or maybe a huge shove) to get me back on track. One of the things people seemed like they would really like to see more of on here were ideas for organizing and caring for their home.


It is hard to guide when I feel so disorganized myself, but maybe sharing my problem spots and solutions will help someone else? That is what I am hoping for!

This project that I did took all of fifteen minutes, but has definitely saved me fifteen minutes of hunting each evening for storage containers for our leftover food.

The first picture was of my avalanche of containers that I had in my pantry. Since space is limited in my kitchen, I keep my storage containers in two cardboard boxes in the bottom of my pantry. I am hoping to one day expand the pantry and buy beautiful wicker baskets, but this solution works well for now. They are just old Avon boxes that I had and the size fits perfectly for the narrow closet that we are using for a pantry.

I went through all of the containers and matched them to their lids. No surprise that I had five hundred lids and four actual containers so I kept the lids that had matching containers and pitched the rest.

We do save food containers and repurpose these for a couple of things in our house. The kids love to use these to pretend to help mommy cook so I am able to sacrifice some of these butter tubs for them to play with while I cook.

The main reason I keep these though is for our company. When my family comes to dinner, I love to send them home with a container of the leftovers. These are great to give to them and not to have to give away valuable containers that I might need during my week.

I also have a separate area where I keep the sectioned plastic containers that I use for my husband’s lunch. I found that the best place to keep these was right under the kitchen counter since that is where I prepare all of the food. Those containers are right at my fingertips so that I can make lunches quickly and save us valuable money throughout our week.

Sound Off: How do you organize your plastic food containers?

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Posted in Organizing | 10 Comments »

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