Ao5

Appetizer What are you proud of? I am proud to be called a Child of God Soup What is the best thing you’ve ever won as a prize? My husband *snicker* Salad Name something you do that is a waste of time. Sit at the computer Main Course In what year of your life did you change the most? I can't choose one, with that said, it has changed with each of my kids' births- 96, 2000, 04. 04 also contained a marriage. What a blessed year 04 was!!! Dessert Where is a place you consider to be very tranquil? Having 3 kids, I really enjoy going to the bathroom. I get some alone time, though it may not be quiet (kids banging at the door, calling from the door, cat trying to get in), it is still time alone! Otherwise, I live in the Atl metro area and there are soooo many places in N. & NE GA that are just beautiful and BEG for slow time. They beg for naps in the sun & a digital camera!

I'm loving these "memes" here lately. I'm also loving seeing more and more blogs out there! And of course, I'm LOVIN' the comments! teehee.... I love mingling! Now I'm not sure I'm doing this one right, so TT'ers, some guidance, please? - You may not be able to find their volume switches, but ignoring is a fine art! - You can hold off on illness until all the kids are better - You're the ONLY one that knows where the odd sock mate is, the pencil sharpener and the chia pet, but darned if you can find your own seam ripper or scissors. - You can break up a fight faster than than a referee on speed. - You can make oatmeal stick to more than just ribs - You can bring down a house simply by saying the word booger - Veggie-eating-coersion is another fine art - You can sing word for word, at least 14 kids' show songs, forward, backward & in your sleep (and unfortunately in the last one, you do) - You can remember exactly what each child does an...

ACHOO!!!!!

Wordless Wednesday

That frugal decor I was talking about, I'm finally getting around to posting some. We found in one of the boxes, this BEAUTIFUL candle lantern. It's in awesome condition. We cleaned it up (attic dust- achoo), and decided it would go nicely in our cottage-y bedroom. I decided to nestle it between a couple of wicker baskets (which hold small photo albums) on Hubba's antique dresser.

I have been asked several questions regarding different areas of freebie hunting. Here are a few tips based on those questions. 1- I recommend you sign up with a free email service. Yahoo is a good one. You have the option of a spam folder, and that folder can be auto-deleted or manually. It even gives you the option of holding them for a certain amount of time, for your viewing and then will delete them automatically. Yahoo is also one of the few email services that does not automatically "blacklist" addresses. You will get ALOT of junk mail, as the companies you sign up for will indeed sell or give out your info. Expect a lot of nonsense in your inbox. You wouldn't want this going to your personal email, do you? Yahoo also does not count your spam folder (they call it BULK) towards your storage quota. And it also seems to have one of the largest quotas. 2- I've been asked how to track the freebies you apply for. Me, personally, I don't. I figure, I didn't pa...

I told them that I wasn't going to answer to Mom anymore. Of course they're used to me saying "I've changed my name." SO they were unphased by it (My Mum did it to me, must be a tradition). UNTIL...... I said "If you do not refer to me from now on as Princess Ha Wooka Wokka, I won't answer." And I stuck to it. Sooooo..... Kee has been saying "Moooooommmm...." And when I stare at him lips shut he says "Um prissess wa wooka okka? can I.....(insert his question here)" Do I make a horrible Mum or what? oh, I named them, too Seb is Prince Habba Lakka, Tris is Prince Pooka da Nooba, and Kee is Prince Kenooka Kee. So seb says "What's Dad's name?" I said 'Dad' He says "oh...." and walks away...... Can you imagine explaining to the gas station attendant why your 3 year old is calling you Princess Ha Wooka Wokka? I'm kinda enjoying the royal name. *giggles* Now I need to name my hubby. Boy do I need t...

Wednesday was a BEAUTIFUL day!!! We took a couple hours outside basking in the sun. Actually, we worked up a little bit of a sweat. I was able to pick up weed cover from my wonderful MIL's house a couple weeks ago. I dug through one of our hardware boxes and found some of those u-shaped staples. I couldn't find our staple gun (which probably would have been easier), so I had to improvise. They actually worked wonderfully, and I'm guessing they will prove to work BETTER! Here are a few pictures of the so-far-finished project. There will be more to come on this project! Robo-energy Keenan worked so hard picking sticks up out of the yard and throwing them into the wooded area of the yard. My dearest Sebastion raked the pinecones, leaves, etc. in a defined area (where I had decided to place the boxes). And wonderful Mr. Tristen helped with the weed cover by digging u-shaped staples out of the hardware box and standing on the weed cover so it wouldn't blow away while I cut i...

I didn't blog about the day we put our Square Foot Garden ing boxes together. So here is that long lost post. These were taken February 22 : Having a very serious talk about SAFETY! Tristen helping Mummy! Tristen working very hard: Sebastion working so very hard! Now, the reason I'm posting this is because we worked on the boxes some more today. That is another post for tomorrow, but I had to be sure you were updated before I went confusing you, LOL .....

I finally wrote up the Hamburger Patty Making Pictorial. You can find it here .

Wordless Wednesday & Participants Locks of Love

I have been washing jars since last night........ Here's my story....... A couple months ago I'd emailed a lady about some canning jars on freecycle. Well this 'n that happened and tween her schedule & mine, it wasn't happening. I figured she'd given up on me. I got an email from her a couple days ago asking if we could make arrangements. I emailed her to let her know I couldn't pick them up til after 7 last night. She said she wasn't sure anyone would be at the house they were at at that time, so...... She and her hubby came by tonight and dropped them off...... Well, I'd forgotten to ask her how many there were..... I unboxed them (all 7 boxes)..... and counted them..... there were 86 jars of various sizes....... EIGHTY SIX!!!!! I have dubbed the Mr & Mrs "The mason jar fairies." God bless them! Have a wonderfully blessed day!

I don't usually feel Mondays are typically UGH. Not for me as a SAHM. They, to me are just like any other day of the week. I don't get weekends off so no big deal, ya know? So why am I having an UGH Monday? Cram ps, bloating, yada yada..... You know what I mean ladies ;-).... So I'm in turtle mode today. Our weekend was sooooo busy, so I'm exhausted and achy from that as well. SO, I' m sure that hasn't helped. Hubby went to help his Mom with her attic. They got a TON of stuff done, and in addition, we came home with a cargo van full of SCHTUFF to sell in the yard sale. And I mean SCHTUFF!!! LOL... There are kitchen gadgets & gizmos, electronics, household stuff, books, etc., etc., etc...... I now have TWO bread machines, TWO deep-fryers, 2 computer monitors, etc., to sell. She said from the beginning it was a "donation " to our sale and when we kept telling her we'd keep track of who sold what, she blatantly refused, and asked instead for us to...

Meredith, of Like Merchant Ships is in a frugal foodie duel with Amy over at The Aldi Queen , to see who can plan the best-for- their-buck meals. Meredith will shop solely using the week's sales, while Amy will be doing all of her shopping at Aldi. The games begin on Monday. This is going to be fun! *sits back with a LARGE tub of popcorn!*

What a beautiful day this is already shaping up to be! The hubby woke me with him this morning and we spent a very special morning together. I saw him off to work, and 2 of 3 kids are up and at'em. Hubby has ALL weekend off, a feat that hasn't been performed in a couple months! But what a busy weekend it will be. Tonight is our Film & Finger Food Friday. Every Friday we make a special dinner that we can eat on the living room floor & watch a movie. Rarely do we rent these. They are usually from the library or in our own personal collection (we have a few hundred movies!). Our meals range from chips & cheese, to massive spreads of what we like to call "Superbowl Nosh," to pizza (sometimes delivered, sometimes from frozen, sometimes from scratch), quesadillas, hot dogs, etc. It is such a great time and the boys love it. I pray it is a memory that I have instilled in them as we have been doing this for a couple of years on & off, but it has been EVERY Fr...

Hello my friends! It's a pretty sunny day out today, & it's supposed to be in the 60's. Hopefully I can boot the boys out for some good ol' fashioned vitamin D, LOL. Yesterday was a busy day. I dusted the homeschool room, swept, vacced & mopped it as well. My vac bag popped so I had to clean that all up as well. Decided while I was at, I'd wipe the whole vac down. Th en my swiffer wet pads weren't so wet anymore. I had to mix some cleaning solution and re-soak those (I think my floor cleaning was being sabotaged, LOL). I did a load of laundry, cleaned out a couple more bins & packed up an ebay package. I got the kitty litter box emptied and refilled, & I did all the little things- making the bed, brushing teeth (mine & Keenan's), showered, shaved (I remember why I don't shave in the shower!!!), cleaned out the fridge, found my seeds, homeschooled, exercised & took care of the kiddlins. Dinner was fried chicken chunks, mashed tater...

A MOTHER'S WAGES author unknown If I would charge one cent each time I washed my children's clothes, Or tied a shoe or gave a bath Or wiped a runny nose, Or made a bed or acted as Their judge or referee, It would be possible that I Could live in luxury. If I were paid a nickel for Each diaper that I've pinned, For every Band-Aid I've applied When arms or legs were skinned, For every toy that I've picked up And put back in it's niche, There wouldn't be a single doubt-- Why, I could be quite rich. If just one dime would be my fee For giving them a pill, For making meals and wiping up The milk they always spill, For darning scores of tiny socks, For fixing things that break, It wouldn't be too long before A fortune I would make. Although it's true I don't receive A solitary cent, I'm repaid in many ways For all the time I've spent. Their smiles, their love is my reward For this unending care, And I am richer, yes, by far Than any millionaire...

I've begun posting again on In the Kitchen With Ao5 again. Take a look if you've never seen it before or if it's been awhile since you've gandered! I have a hamburger patty making pictorial that I am working on getting posted there. My blessings today have been many. I will give you 10: 1- God 2- Hubby 3- Kids 4- Friends 5- Hazelnut coffee 6- Sprouting seeds 7- Spring is coming soon! 8- That the tornadoes that rolled through the SE USA avoided us (and at the same rate, those that were hit are in my prayers) 9- My vac sealer 10- Ink refills So I tried that Boost Glucose Control today. It's one of those meal replacement type shakes. They aren't too bad, but the after taste leaves a LOT to be desired. I've spent the morning making marinades & vac sealing chicken in it. I used different marinades for all 3 bags. One is Tequila Lime Grilled chicken (no tequila in it ;-) ). It is a family fave!!! One is called "Lexington grilled chicken," and the la...

THNX to the responses via both comments & email, I will continue posting here. I've prayed about this a lot. I will continue to moderate comments, but there are several touching messages I've rec'd. It would be selfish of me to discontinue blogging here. Thank you to those who sent messages, they are greatly appreciated and very touching. With that, I will move on to my 10 blessings. I really have missed blogging here & have so much to catch up on. 1- God & the power of prayer 2- Long lost friends that come back to you 3- Friends that show they truly care 4- Harry's Farmers Market 5- Banana Flax muffins 6- Sunny days and warmer weather 7- Fun mail 8- Recognition (this is on SOOOO many levels) 9- The kids 10- My Hubby On to other things, Kee is officially using a big boy potty. Sure we have accidents every few days, but he hasn't worn a dipe in over a week. Not.even.to.bed. YIPPEE!!! I am soooo proud of him. Yesterday, during errands, I FINALLY went that...