30 November 2012

Elf on the Shelf

Do you have an elf on the shelf?
Or something you use to daily remind the kids that
Santa is watching extra carefully during the month of December?

We never have, until now.
I just finished making some little elves.
One boy and one girl, so we can change it up a little more.
 The best part is, they are small enough to make from fabric scraps.

We'll see how it goes.

20 November 2012

More November Holidays

I'm not sure what the problem is, 
but I've somehow been a little overwhelmed
today.  It could be some bad news I discovered this morning 
(aka a package that was supposedly delivered Friday
has not been seen, so I guess it's been stolen),
or that the kids are extra screamy,
not enough sleep, the moon isn't in my house...whatever that's supposed to mean.

Let's get to the holidays!

Today is
Name your PC Day
Ours has been named for a little over a year, but if
your PC is still nameless, today's the day!

Tomorrow is
World TV Day
So I guess it's not a good time to be screen-free?
If you're traveling for Thanksgiving, maybe you should
take your TV along - you wouldn't want to abandon it
on it's own holiday, would you?
Isn't that a little like leaving a kid behind to fend for themselves
on their birthday?
No?
I guess you're right.

Thursday, the 22nd is
Thanksgiving
of course.

And Friday, the 23rd is
Black Friday
It's also
Fibonacci Day,
for those of you with an interest in math.
Or sequences and patterns.
You know, the fibonacci number....1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 - etc.
With that being said, can you figure out why that's celebrated on Friday?

Saturday the 24th is
Celebrate Your Unique Talent Day
So what will you be celebrating?

Nap Time's Over....

Two days in a row in the past week,
when I've gone to get my youngest daughter up after nap time,
this is what I've found:
Every single piece of clothing from her dresser
on the floor.
And the drawers scattered around.
And she's been on the floor - I'm not sure if she was
sleeping on the floor or not.
You can see her if you look closely on the right side of the bed.
And please understand - we would not paint a room like this.
It was like this when we bought it.

13 November 2012

Chicken Curry ala Anny

The other night I made curry chicken.
It is delicious.
I love it.
And it's so easy!

I have tried a few different recipes, but every time
I do, I always wish that I had tried the first one that I ever attempted.
It's pretty much fool-proof,
so I thought I'd share it with you.

Here's what I do:

Cook up some chicken - my latest method is to just stick a couple of boneless,
skinless breasts in the crockpot in the morning,
cook them a few hours, then transfer them to the fridge

Cut up and boil some potatoes and carrots.
I think I used 6 or 7 potatoes the other day, and 2 carrots.
Boil until soft, then drain out the water.

While the veggies are cooking, I chopped an onion and 
fried it with the chicken in some olive oil.
Then add it to the drained veggies.

Next, I put in half a package of this curry.
It's delicious.  And not very expensive (notice that price is for a 12-pack!).
And I always make sure to buy the mild.
Because that's how I roll.
This mouth can handle a little spice, but I don't want to buy the hot style
and not be able to enjoy it since it's too spicy for me.

But I digress....
put in the curry, then add some water.  I put in a little over 4 cups, and it was a little 
too much, because it ended up watering down the curry flavor.
So probably 3 1/2 cups would suffice.

Stir it occasionally, so the curry paste will melt and disperse.

Serve over rice.
It may not be a great picture, but it's delicious.
Even the kids have enjoyed it.

I learned this method by watching my sister-in-law make curry when I spent a summer
living at their house in Las Vegas.
And when I remembered it a year or two later, I was super excited
that it turned out so nicely.

I think you can find this type of curry in most supermarkets; it tends
to be a little hidden on the Asian food aisle.
I don't think it's too outrageously priced, either - probably $3-4 per box,
which you can use in at least 2 recipes.  When I first started, I would only
use a square or two.  But now that our family's bigger, we make bigger dishes.
I like it a lot more than the powdered curry that has been used
in the other recipes I've tried.

12 November 2012

This Week's Holidays

This week is Young Reader's Week.
Sounds like the perfect opportunity to go to the library,
although today probably isn't a good idea, since
most libraries are closed in order
to observe Veteran's Day.

Speaking of which, did you thank a vet?
I did.  My favorite one, my husband.
Here are a few pictures of him keeping busy in Afghanistan,
back in 2008:




Wednesday is
National American Teddy Bear Day.
So grab a teddy bear and have a picnic!
Wouldn't that be so fun to do for lunch?  I'll have to make sure
and celebrate that with the girls,
which works out pretty well, since Wednesday is also
International Girls Day.

Thursday is the
Great American Smokeout.
It's a great day to stop smoking if it's been on your mind.
It's also a great day to stop smoking if it hasn't been on your mind.

Thursday is also the day that 
my little brother gets home from his mission!
That's right, his two years are over, and he will
be back in the West before the week is up!
He has done a great job serving on the East coast of the USA.
We love you, Elder!  Looking forward to seeing you during Thanksgiving!!

Saturday is
Homemade Bread Day.
mmmmmmm
Need I say more?

 

Laundry Soap Recipe

This is by no means my own recipe,
but I really like it.
I found it on Pinterest, and after a friend
of mine tried it on her blog and loved it, I decided
to try it out

You can find the original post HERE.

When I made my first batch, I also purchased a large container for it.
I was a little nervous about it, since it's large and glass,
and that's not always a good combination,
but it's worked out wonderfully.
So I think for my first batch it was about $30, with
the inclusion of the pretty jar (which I bought for $9.97).

I still keep a spray bottle of Shout handy,
to give the kids' clothes a quick squirt when they've had a messy day,
and a small container of OxyClean for soaking things - 
have you ever tried it on a white baby onesie that's been 
washed and dried (without realizing there were stains from a diaper)?
I soak them overnight in a small amount of cold water, then rinse and wash the next day.
Presto!
Clean white onesie.

I can't remember when I made the first batch of soap, but I know
for sure it was in this house, and I don't think that 
my son was born yet, so I will go with March.
But my current batch was made on November 1, so 
when that runs out I will know for sure how long it has lasted around here.

10 November 2012

Junk Show

I went to a junk show this morning,
and it was AWESOME!

I picked up a couple of things....
 As I'm sure many of the attendees felt,
I wished I could purchase multiple things from each vendor.
But I had to be responsible....

....such is my lot in life.
Most of the time.

I have even utilized them already!!
I bought them both for the laundry room,
and here they are, 
looking and fitting perfectly, I might add.
 Here's a close up of how the tray
is being used.
I put in our homemade laundry soap (love!),
a tide-to-go pen, and the dryer sheets.
Looking forward to the next show!

If they come near you, I sure recommend checking it out.

03 November 2012

November

Trying to get settled in after a month of 
being busy busy busy with Halloween.
Let's just say that I will not
be doing that for Thanksgiving.

At least not this year.

Before I forget, here is a picture of my costume - 
part of it anyway.
My sister complained that there wasn't a picture of me,
but I had already changed and then lost
the motivation to get back into it.
I blame it on the tights.
I was a witch.
I made this tutu with ribbons following the great
tutorial found here.
May I just say that is was SUPER EASY,
and I like it a lot more than the tying kind, although it still has the look of a no-sew tutu.

I wore some cutie pink and black striped tights, a black shirt, some
black knee-length leggings, and a black witch hat.
 
I love Halloween.
I also discovered my husband's requirements for costumes (finally),
so hopefully I will get something figured out for him next year.
 
Without further ado,
let's get on to this month's special things:
 
Banana Pudding Lovers Month...mmmmm!
 
Family Stories Month...good time
to work on your family history - especially to ask older family
members to recall their lives

International Drum Month - get banging!

Military Family Appreciation Month - so grateful
for families who have people who willingly serve in the military!
My husband just finished his Army National Guard career of 7 years.
I have mixed feelings about it, but we are happy he's out.

National Georgia Pecan Month - pecan pie would be delicious at
Thanksgiving!  We always have it at my in-laws,
although it's really Washington Nut Pie, since grandpa uses
walnuts instead of pecans.
It's just as delicious - but half the price to make.

Sweet Potato Awareness Month - are you aware?



And next week, we can enjoy:

Saxophone Day on Tuesday
I LOVE the sax - I played alto sax from
seventh grade through twelfth grade.
It's pretty much awesome.

Tuesday is also Election Day!
Don't forget to vote!!
It was a little strange to do that this weekend
and then drop our ballots in a mailbox.
It's not quite as fun,
but just as important.

Thursday is 
X-Ray Day.
Any suggestions on how to celebrate that?
I don't really want to have a family member need an x-ray.

Friday is
Domino Day
We have two types of domino games at our house.
which the kids love...but shop around because
the price I saw on the link is way too high,
and the other is just a regular set of domino tiles.
But we usually play the Mexican Train way.
 
And Saturday, the 10th,
is the
United States Marine Corps Birthday.
Happy 237th to my brother Jakefoot!

So much to do.
The most important is probably to vote.
Don't forget!!