Food Storage Friday: Pasta & Squash Frittata

How's your garden coming? Mine is small but good- we've been harvesting little cherry tomatoes almost daily, and the basil is growing with no problems too. (so go plant some if you haven't yet, it grows fast!) You can check with your county extension website to see what will still grow where you live. Yesterday I suddenly noticed we have 2 big zucchini and a couple good sized summer squashes already! So tonight's dinner is coming from our garden, I love it but I wonder if the kids will eat it...

Pasta & Squash Frittata

1 TB oil

2 zucchini, sliced 1/4" thick

2 yellow squash, sliced 1/4" thick

1/2 onion chopped

10oz pkg rainbow rotini pasta

6 eggs

1 cup mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

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Cook pasta according to package directions.

In a large, oven safe skillet, (dutch oven style) saute zucchini, squash and onion in oil till softened, cool.

In large mixing bowl combine eggs and cheeses, then stir in cooked pasta.

Pour pasta mixture over veggies in pan and mix well. Cook on stove top until bottom is cooked, then place in oven and broil at 350 for an additional 10 minutes.

Serve with warmed spaghetti sauce on top or the side.

Reality Check

When I first started blogging I wanted to make sure that I didn't make myself and my life look picture perfect- because it's not. I did some "reality check" posts to try and keep it real. I kind of got over it and decided everyone knows I'm pretty flawed so I stopped doing them but I was really surprised the other day to hear from a good friend, someone I thought knew me better, ask "how I do it all without going crazy?" And the answer is of course I don't do "it all" and I do go a little crazy sometimes anyways! A little evidence of what goes undone- my office space- which resides in my bedroom!Shameful, I know. That's my goal this week, get it in order, and we'll see how long it takes to get back to this state. Maybe sometime I'll give you a peak at my kitchen- Sam was marvelling yesterday at how it is a completely different mess every time he sees it, which in my defense, is breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But I promise, in-between those meals it does get clean, at least once or twice a day!

Yep.

Since I can't decide if it's more embarrassing to deliberately get pregnant when you have a baby already, or to "accidentally" get pregnant, I'm going to leave that to your imagination.

PS- The Dr. seems confident he saw boy parts, we'll see next month!

Did your mother's day rock too?

I got a haul of the usual cute, Mother's Day cards and crafts,

And one that was not quite the usual...

It sings something about how I'm not like those other moms, with a needle and thread, cause I'm a rock star, I don't scrapbook like those other moms, cause I'm in a rock band... and something about how I like to raise H-E double hockey sticks. "Because you rock, mom" Sam took them to Target and let them each choose a gift- Miss B got me some earrings, Miss G chose a cute snow globe with a mother and daughter inside "It's me and you mom." and Miss E chose some Wet and Wild lip balm- that she has already ruined. It was a good day though, I hope yours was too!

I did it

I won't tell you all my issues with it, but it is much cuter than my current key rack and fits in the same tiny spot next to the garage where I need it. I love projects like this that can be done in no time, very gratifying! I used a cupboard door because that's what I had.

Devastated

I'm a little slow, (or just busy with life) but I have been thinking lately that I haven't gotten a Home Companion magazine in the mail for a while, and it is my very favorite magazine, the only one I read cover to cover, the only magazine I save because I can't bear to get rid of it, so I'm surprised it took me so long to wander over to their website to see what's going on, and to my dismay, it is no longer being published! It is another in a string of awesome magazines gone now, but I am really sad! I did start recieving (very battered) issues of Martha Stewart magazine a few months ago, which I have enjoyed somewhat, but I didn't realize they were sending them in place of my beloved Home Companion. I am in mourning. Besides being a wonderful magazine with gorgeous pictures, great articles and fun DIY ideas, I am really going to miss adding to my ME paper doll collection- I have a really strange attachment to them, my kids are not allowed to touch them. I carefully cut them out, scan them so I have a digital copy, and file them away in a safe place! Aren't they cute?

Recipe Swap

Nannygoat is doing a recipe swap to help fill out those 30 dinner recipe cards! Here are a couple of our favorites right now that will be on my ring when I finally do it! Join the swap HERE.

Rachel Ray's Chicken Burgers with Slaw

Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter, cut into pieces
1 small red onion, 1/2 finely chopped, 1/2 thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, eyeball it
1 tablespoon hot sauce, eyeball it
1 1/4 pounds ground chicken
1 tablespoons grill seasoning (recommended: McCormick brand) a palm full
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons honey, eyeball it
1 lemon, juiced
3 rounded tablespoons sweet pickle relish
2 cups shredded cabbage mix
Salt and pepper
4 cornmeal Keiser rolls, split
Directions
In a small skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Add chopped onions, garlic and tomato paste and sweat them for 5 minutes to soften and sweeten. Sprinkle in sugar and remove from heat. Cool in a bowl, 5 minutes. Add tomato paste mixture, Worcestershire, hot sauce to bowl and combine. Add chicken to the bowl then grill seasoning and combine the burgers well to evenly distribute the flavors and form 4 patties. Wash up.
Heat 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, a turn of the pan, in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook patties 6 minutes on each side.
Combine the honey, lemon juice, and remaining extra-virgin olive oil in a bowl. Add relish, cabbage mix and sliced onions and season with salt and pepper. Toss the slaw to coat and reserve.
Serve burgers on bun bottoms topped with slaw and bun tops.

Italian Roast Pork Loin

1 tablespoon no-salt lemon pepper
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 garlic cloves, mashed or put through a garlic press
1 (2 1/2-pound) pork loin, trimmed of all exterior fat

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Combine the lemon pepper, fennel
seeds, oregano, rosemary, and salt in a small bowl; set aside.
Combine the olive oil and mashed garlic in a second small bowl.
Rub the olive oil mixture evenly over the pork loin, coating it
thoroughly. Sprinkle the herb mixture over the entire pork loin.
Place in a shallow roasting pan, broiler pan, or shallow baking
dish.
2. Roast until golden brown. An instant-read meat thermometer
inserted into the thickest part of the loin should register
160°F for medium, about 65 minutes, or 170° for well done,
about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Creamy Chicken and Rice

5 cups cooked rice
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 can chicken (or about 1 ½ cups diced cooked chicken)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup mayo
1 TB lemon juice
½ cup or so of French Fried Onions

Mix together cheese, chicken soup, mayo, lemon juice and cooked chicken.
Spread half of the rice in the bottom of baking dish and layer half of the creamy
Chicken mixture, then the rest of the rice, and the rest of the chicken, and top with onions. Bake at 350 for 25 mins or so

Also, if you want to see a great blog with tons of recipes already typed onto cute recipe cards, check out the Lickable Spoon HERE.

PS- Thanks for all the kind comments about the hand sanitzers! To answer a couple questions, you can get rub ons from the Scrapbook store, and I don't know where to find a clear bottle with a black pump, but I really liked that idea of putting a transparency in a soap bottle! I want to try it too!

My Teacher Appreciation gifts: hand sanitizer

Today is National Scrapbooking Day and I thought I would actually do some but then I remembered that Monday begins Teacher Appreciation Week (I think?) so I decided to decorate some hand sanitzer for the girls teachers and it was so fun! I used Glitz rub-ons, except for the Orange "C is for Curious" one, which is Cosmo Cricket "Jack's World." I am really excited about how they turned out and can't wait for the girls to give them to their teachers. I bet they are using a little more of the stuff than usual! Target was completely out, and the Walgreens I went to only had these 2 colors of the store brand- crazy.

Food Storage Friday- Pandemic! (of course)

If you've spent any time watching or listening to the news you are either:
a. totally freaked out, locked in your home, wearing a mask, with a bottle of hand sanitizer in your pocket, or
b. totally tired of hearing about it and completely immune to any concern of swine, avian or any other flu with pandemic propensity.
The facts are, there is a flu, originating from pigs, (which happens to make great news stories because they can talk about it with giant, hideous pig heads next to their own) At this point, it does not seem to behave differently than any other flu, (which kills thousands of people around the globe every year) The ways to keep from getting it are the same as any other bug going around, and the way to recover is the same as any other illness. Ok, now that that is out of the way, I think it is important to see things like this (and SARS, and Bird Flu etc) as warnings- don't freak out and go to extremes, but don't ignore warnings just because so many "scares" have turned out to be nothing. It is still possible, and many people who study these things say it is in fact PROBABLE that that at some point, a serious, highly contagious, illness could quickly spread around the world- in the same way the swine flu has- or worse. And if you are prepared for such an occasion, you will not be panicked when it happens. FEMA’s plan for a confirmed case of the Avian Flu is to quarantine the entire neighborhood around where the outbreak occurs. No one would be allowed in or out of the area at all. No ill person would be evacuated; those in the area would just have to “hunker” down in their homes and wait out the quarantine, which could last for weeks, until the last case has run its course. Those in the quarantine zone would not be able to go to the store for anything. So, to be prepared, make sure you have a few weeks of food and supplies, (you know you should have 3-12 months) some gatorade or pedialite (to help with sickies getting dehydrated) and basic pain and fever relievers. For worst case scenarios, you may want to invest in some gloves, plastic sheeting, masks etc... but I think those things are probably not necessary. Here are some links with more information than you ever wanted to know:
www.iwillprepare.com/
www.survivetheflu.com/
www.pandemicflu.gov/
www.cdc.gov/other.htm#states
www.meridianmagazine.com/emergency
www.cdc.gov/swineflu

Today he found a new way to get around...

When I was notified during my shower that Miss E. tied a belt on Mr. C and was pulling him around I nearly had a heart attack, so when I arrived dripping wet and a little soapy I was quite happy to find them doing this. (I often catch her trying to put "collars" around his neck...)

Fantastic Blog with wonderful free downloads!

Don't let the "Weddings" in the name keep you away, this blog is full of eye candy, great ideas and links to free downloads for all occasions, not just weddings. Go to the right column and click on "Free Downloads" to get gift labels, wrap around address labels, printable cards, and my favorite, vintage poison labels! (so fun for Halloween!) If you do happen to be planning a wedding though, there are tons of great ideas for that as well. Click HERE.

We have a walker!

It's best enjoyed with your speaker volume turned DOWN!

Key Racks

These key racks caught my eye- pretty, simple, and a great DIY project! If you're not confident in your painting abilities, I bet there are good stencils for something like this, or you could ModPodge some pretty scrapbook paper or something. Then just screw in your little hooks and it's good to go. Or you could just go buy one from CUT+PASTE. I saw them on Creature Comforts.

Have I mentioned puppies?

We got 8 of these little suckers last Sunday- isn't he a cutie?

Why do I feel like I need these?

What do you people eat?

I'm in a food funk- what are you having for dinner? What do you eat for lunch? That one is really hard for me. I'm getting sick of everything and need some new ideas! I saw this great idea from NannyGoat to collect your family's top 30 recipes and put them on laminated recipe cards on a ring, then you pull out the ones you want each week and put them on your fridge- really cute idea. For better instructions and even a recipe card you can download, click HERE.

Seriously Smart

What a great idea- a little tripod that goes on your water bottle! I immediatly had to check if my little camera had a "tripod socket" and it does. I can't think of a better $10 gift. Go get yours from Photojojo HERE.

Also, check out this great idea for recycling cardboard rolls into little circle frames. You could wrap some scrapbook paper around them to make them pretty- I can see a cool collage for Miss B's room...

I love a good list of ideas

I can't wait to go through the 101 DIY Project ideas from the Stylish Events blog! Check it out HERE. They are all wedding related, but a lot can be used for other things and they'll certainly inspire you. And Creature Comforts made some cute labels you can use as treat bag toppers or stick on labels- get those HERE. And finally, Little Birdie Secrets has a list of great Teacher Appreciation gift ideas HERE. I really like the idea of decorating up a bottle of hand sanitzer! The one below is from Poppy Paperie.

Char-Char Birthday Dude

Charlie has picked up a couple of unfortunate nick-names from his sisters, including "Char-Char" and "The Boy." It's never a good day when your baby turns one! And my camera batteries were dying so I only have a few grainy pictures. We went really simple for his first birthday, I guess that's what happens when you're the fourth baby to turn one in your family. And your mom is suffering from allergies. (he is too, poor thing!) Luckily some cousins showed up just in time for cake so when he grows up and sees pictures he will assume he actually had a party!I made the puppy cake from Family Fun in about 5 minutes but the kids seemed pretty happy with it. We were limited to the decorating supplies that our Walmart Market had, since I ran to the store while the cake was in the oven. Miss E didn't think the cake was big enough.


I can't believe I'm showing the picture of it! I tried desperately to crop out my messy kitchen.

Easter- Lacking pictures

We've probably gone 2 months without a drop of rain here but on our Saturday Easter picnic/parade/egg hunt day it decides to pour! Luckily Mimi and Papa offered their house and there was a great brunch and indoor egg hunt. Miss B found the silver egg with $10 and everyone ate candy all day. (and went through sugar withdrawls all day Sunday.) I made my traditional bunny cake and it was the cutest one yet- did I get any pictures? No. I finished Miss B's skirt, no pictures yet. We were rushing out the door late to church Sunday and I had left my camera at Sam's parents house so no pictures again.

I love this!

A group of 200 dancers put this stunt together at Central Station Antwerp, Belgium.

Food Storage Friday- Grains

I confess- I have loads of wheat in my long term storage, but I never use it. I ground it up once and tried to bake bread, but it didn't turn out very good, and I tried to sprout some wheat grass for my Easter centerpiece but the birds ate it all- every last piece! But storing wheat and other grains makes sense because it is so cheap, nutritious and stores well for a long time. I was pointed to a great blog that helps de-mystify different grains and cooking with them. Check out the Good Lookin' Cook HERE and get excited about working grains into your family's diet! My brain is on overload right now from trying "new-ish" things like sewing and gardening, that cooking with grains seems a little overwhelming, but I was thrilled to see her instructions for canning butter! Yes you can have real BUTTER to put on that homemade bread you'll make with your year supply! Who knew? For easy to follow instructions click HERE. Thanks Kara for sharing your knowledge!

It's a little big but we like it!

Finished Miss E's dress and it was more gratifying than the first one because it was a lot easier! She is thrilled with it. And notice her new hair cut- she chopped off a chunk last week so we got it fixed. (though she kept telling Beth her aunt/stylist that she wanted it how SHE cut it) Now onto the skirt for Miss B- hopefully the fastest and easiest yet!

I should be sewing...

...but I found the best sewing blog- Sew Mama Sew and I can't stop looking! I was just trying to find a simple tutorial for sewing a girls skirt so I didn't have to go buy a pattern for Miss B and stumbled onto hundreds of great ideas involving sewing or crafting with fabric- many you don't even need a sewing machine for! Check out the list of Easter ideas HERE.

Food Storage Friday- a recipe

I totally forgot about food storage Friday until I saw this recipe- a yummy chocolate cake that you can make all from stored ingredients- no eggs! You can go read all the good reviews on All Recipes HERE. I want to try it this week with some chocolate chips mixed in- yum!

Crazy Cake
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups cold water

Sift flour, sugar, salt, soda, and cocoa together into a 9 x 13 inch ungreased cake pan. Make three wells. Pour oil into one well, vinegar into second, and vanilla into third well. Pour cold water over all, and stir well with fork.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 to 40 minutes, or until tooth pick inserted comes out clean. Frost with your favorite icing.

Dress #1 Complete! Simplicity 2677

I'm not sure that I can say it was worth all the time and work, but I finally finished Miss G's dress and besides the off center back zipper, I am quite happy with it! I really like the colors on her, and am anxious to get going on Miss E's dress tonight. It looks easier, we'll see if I can do it in less than 15 hours this time...

Easter Ties

So I saw that the lovely (and hilarious) Sarah made her little boys cute little neckties and that got me thinking, Charlie needs a tie! I wonder if I could make one, if I ever finish the girls dresses I think I will give it a try. I found this cute etsy shop with some nice ones though: And though I don't need them, I had to share her super cute little booties!

Easter Candy Doesn't Last

You've got about a week left to stock up on favorites! To see more creme eggs meet their end, click HERE.

Recycled Crafts

Family Fun is having a "Recycled Crafts" contest on their website- go vote for my sister's baby food jar snowmen HERE! They are so cute, I've wanted to copy them for a while and I'm so excited she entered them in the contest! Do you have a cute recycled craft idea- it's not too late to enter, and you can vote every day. If I can think of something good (and actually do it) I may enter too!

All week long

All week long this beautiful stack of fabric has been staring at me. We came home from the ranch last Saturday and I saw the package on my doorstep and couldn't wait to get into it, but unfortunately we arrived late for a party, with filthy dirty kids, to a house that smelled like puke, with a clogged kitchen sink, and piles and piles (and piles) of laundry. I finally opened the box and took this picture, but didn't get to do anything with it until yesterday. Lindsey introduced me to J. Caroline Creative and I got a little carried away and spent all my Easter dress budget, so now I really have to get sewing! I literally worked all day yesterday on Miss G's dress- it's almost done. I think it's really cute, and although I was extremely careful with all my measuring and cutting, following every step with exactness, including marking, notching, basting, pressing etc, I still managed to end up with side seams that don't quite match up, and a slightly off center zipper, but I'm going with it anyways. Pictures hopefully tomorrow!

Food Storage Friday #7

I think I'm just up still because I'm waiting for the new Peachy Cheap deal to show up! (or because Sam is watching a movie in here) But since it's Friday, and since Shauna requested a gardening FSF, here you go. Recently I heard someone say that if you are not producing your own food, then you are not truly living providently. Since most of us can't create a self sustaining farm, I don't think that's necessarily the goal, but I think with a little effort, anyone can start to grow some of their own food. A simple first step would be to plant a fruit tree, or 2, or 3. They are relatively affordable when they are small and within a couple years you'll have some real live food growing in your yard. If you want to get a little more involved, get a pot and plant some tomatoes, or herbs. One step further, start your own little raised bed garden. We used the method from the book Square Foot Gardening for the little gardens in my yard, but Better Homes & Gardens had an article for building and planting raised bed gardens you can read HERE. I like this method because it doesn't involve re-routing my sprinkler system, or worrying about "bad" soil. The soil recipe from the book, called Mel's Mix, is just equal parts compost, peat moss and vermiculite, all things you can get from Home Depot.So far mine is doing well- even some of the seeds have sprouted, I think I watered them too hard and made them sink down in the soil so they took a little longer to make it to the top. I'll have to take some pictures later and post them- the one above was taken before we planted anything. The mesh wall going up the side is for vine plants to climb up. It's taken me a long time to stop being afraid to plant a garden but I'm really excited to see the results- so go plant something, isn't Arbor Day or Earth Day coming up?

What we've been up to

The kids went back to school today and it was nice to get my house (mostly) back into shape but I have seen some benefits to having them home and thinking summer might not be something to dread afterall...We had our St Patricks day cupcake and lemonade stand and it was quite a success- somehow they ended up making $25 to share between the 5 kids who worked it. (thanks Papa) We got a bit of a garden started too, thanks to my wonderful mom for getting my 2 grow boxes ready. I was so intimidated to get started but now I wonder why, it's not hard. The plants we put in are growing great but only a couple of the seeds sprouted, I am going to blame it on my kids somehow... I can't wait to start getting some tomatoes and peppers!My [big huge] little baby just keeps growing up and it's not fair! He gets bigger every day and it's so fun to see him doing new things but I wish we could just slow things down and keep him a baby a little longer. My favorite is his "uh-ooooooohhhhh." He says it slow and low every time he drops something, or thinks about dropping something, it cracks me up.

Winner!

Sorry for the late post- we went out of town for a few days and I had internet but no e-mail and I wanted to contact the winner before I posted it. Once home we've had one adventure after another and now I am just going to have to go to bed without doing all the things I needed to do! But just in case you've been waiting to find out, Random Number Generator chose #2 out of 20 so the winner is blueviolet who said... "What a wonderful giveaway; the perfect date night. I did see the movie and like you, it certainly didn't offer any award winning acting but the underlying message was real and honest and worthwhile." Thanks so much for entering all of you- I was afraid I would only get my usual 3-4 comments so this was great! I will have to find something to giveaway again sometime.

Food Storage Friday #6

Hello and welcome to Food Storage Friday! Just a quick reminder that you still have a few hours left to enter the Guilt Free Date Night Giveaway if you scroll down. Today I want to talk about alternative fuel- If you are like me and don't have the means or space to buy a generator and store up gallons of gasoline, you need to think of other ways you will be able to have light, heat and cook in case of emergency. Candles, flashlights or camping lanterns are easy for light. (remember the matches) A simple and affordable option for cooking is to make (or buy) a solar oven. They really work- my mom has prepared several of her regular recipes this way with no problems. A great place to go if you want to make one is SolarCooking.org They have pictures and step by step instructions for many different types. Easier than cooking with a solar oven is cooking with charcoal on a grill, box oven or with a dutch oven. Get a large Rubbermaid style trash can with a tight fitting lid and fill it up with charcoal briquettes- they will stay safe and usable there for a long time. You can make your own box oven easily too- for instructions, see HERE. The only thing I would do differently is use small pop cans in the bottom of the box and then put a wire rack, (like you use to cool cookies) on top of them over the charcoal, and put the lid on top. I also found a simple chart that details some of the advantages and disadvantages of other types of fuel HERE. Ok! Hopefully that gives you something to think about and a place to start. I think making a box or solar oven would be a fun family activity, then you could try baking some brownies or something in there. Let me know if you make one- take a picture and send me the link!

Spring Break Crafts for Kids

It's spring break here and I'm doing my best to be fun and excited about it! Here are some great kid-craft websites that can help you and your kids have fun if you're doing spring break "staycation" style too:

Family Fun Magazine -tons and tons of simple cute crafts kids would love

Kids Crafts Weekly -this one comes as a weekly newsletter filled with lots of simple ideas, perfect for kids

DLTK Kids Crafts- my sister introduced me to this one and it has lots of easy crafts for kids using supplies you probably already have. It has an option to search by supplies- handy!

Free Kids Crafts- this site has a new craft featured every day- perfect!

One Hour Craft- if you can just keep scrolling down past the "comfy thong" and if you can ignore the way they spell "organizing" you will be happy! Maybe click right on the "Kids Craft" category on the right hand side to narrow it down. I am especially excited about the tutorial for kids sewing lessons! Miss B has been dying to learn to sew and I think these lesson instructions will work well for us. See it HERE.

Today is easy, we're going to do our cupcake and lemonade stand again- green lemonade this time, so we can spend some time making signs, banners, and cupcake flags to get ready, as well as baking, frosting, and juicing!

Don't forget to scroll down and enter the Guilt Free Date Night Giveaway below- you have until Friday if you haven't entered yet. I am really excited for whoever wins!

Guilt-Free Date Night Giveaway!

Today I'm excited to do (my first) blog giveaway! We tried Chili's Guiltless Grill this weekend and it was good. I thought I would miss my usual Boneless Buffalo Wings or Big Mouth Burger but I was pleasantly surprised at how good our food tasted. All of the Guiltless Grill items are under 750 calories and 25 grams of fat and come with a good sized side of steamed vegetables. I tried the Chicken Platter and Sam had the Carne Asada Steak. I expected his steak to be miniature but it was actually a good size.I got 4 certificates from BzzAgent and it was tempting to keep the other 2 for ourselves but ultimately decided it would be better to have a a giveaway to spread the word about the Guiltless Grill menu. Besides the grilled chicken and steak, they have a chicken sandwich, grilled salmon, black bean burger, grilled tilapia or honey glazed salmon available too. Leave a comment on this post and you'll be entered to win 2 certificates for a free Guiltless Grill entree from Chili's, and I'm going to throw in my copy of the movie Fireproof. Enjoy a delicious, light dinner with your sweetheart, then go home and watch Fireproof together. If you are married and haven't seen Fireproof, I recommend it. It's not going to win any awards for sure, and I admit biting my tongue so I wouldn't laugh at some of the cliches but it really is a feel-good movie with an important message. If you don't win, consider buying a copy for yourself to show support. After you watch it pass it on to a friend. My mom bought copies of the movie for all of her married kids for Valentines and I confess my first thought was I wasn't particularly interested in watching a Christian movie about marriage, then I remembered I am a Christian! And I'm married. And Kirk Cameron is still kind of cute. If you seek after things "virtuous, lovely, of good report or praiseworthy," this movie is for you! So leave a comment on this post by midnight Friday 3/20 and I will announce the winner (chosen by random number generator) Saturday. Good luck!

Food Storage Friday #5

Today we're talking 72 hour kits! If you live somewhere disaster prone you better have these already, and even if you don't they are a good idea. If something should happen and you had to load up and leave, it would be nice to have all the basics together and ready to throw in the car. The Red Cross and FEMA recommend gathering 3 days (72 hours) of supplies. You can buy them basically ready made (take some of your tax refund money!) or put together your own. We have a backpack for each member of our family, packed and ready near the garage. (ok so we're one short since our family has grown this last year but I'll make that a priority!) There are tons of lists online, this website has a lot of good ideas to get you going: http://www.theblufish.com/checklists/72hour/print.html Remember that it's an ongoing process- gather what you have, and make a list of what you need and add to it as you can. Plan a time once or twice a year to go through and check what you have, replace expired food and outgrown clothes etc. I try to remember to do this the first weekend in April and October. (General Conference weekends) Free samples are all over the internet and are perfect to throw in your kits rather than buying travel sizes of everything. Walmart's website always has a few samples you can get HERE and the Dove website also usually has something, HERE. You can get the kids involved in this stuff too- Homeland Security has a website for kids with activities and games and ideas for them to help out too, click HERE.
I've been in a blogging funk- don't give up on me! I have big plans- my first giveaway coming up next week and it's a good one!

Art Wall Project

This etsy shop has some really unique vinyl wall art- I think these are so cool! Check out Art Wall Project HERE.

and I'm sorry for my lack of blogging lately- my brain is all over the place and nothing seems to be getting done! I will have a Food Storage Friday post for you tomorrow- I know you can't wait. I also took the plunge and ordered some fabric and sewing patterns, I'm really excited to try sewing again.

Create

If you have a minute and a half, this is well worth your time.

Easter Eggs

Ok aren't those the cutest little egg holders ever? Williams Sonoma is full of adorable Easter things right now. If those wired egg holders aren't in your budget, (like me) Creating Keepsakes Blog has some cute paper ones you can download and print instead of those ones you punch out of the egg dying kit! Find those HERE. I also thought these tissue wrapped eggs were really pretty, I want to wrap some chocolate eggs up for my kids Easter baskets to look like these.