Whats for Dinner?'

"Mooooommmmm, what's for Diiii-Neeerrr?"

As a mom I get SO tired of hearing this asked multiple times a day, EVERY day.  So I came up with a solution for my family.  First I have something to ask you...Did you know that your refrigerator is a GIANT dry erase board?!?!?!  Isn't that the coolest thing since sliced bread???? Well after pondering on this little gem of knowledge I came up with this wonderful solution for my family's daily inquiry.

First, using transfer tape, I applied the vinyl I cut with my Cricut to my refrigerator

Next, I added the dates for the week (next week pictured). 

I also decided to put the date beside each day so that this can serve as a calendar at a glance. 

Finally, I filled in what we are having for dinner for each night next week.  You will notice that Saturday and Sunday are missing.  That's because Saturday we are usually all going different directions, eating out, or eating leftovers if we are staying in and Sunday we always eat out or at someone else's home 

(to say its a busy day is an understatement!!).

How awesome is that?!?!?!?  I hope it works as well for us as I think it will, but only time will tell!

Oh, and not only is it a menu, but I made it large enough to put in daily activities as well as what I am serving for dinner. Such as practices, special projects that are due, and other weekly activities that may arise.

Personally I think it turned out fan-tabulous! How about you?  What do you do for your families weekly dinner plans / announcement?  I use to do it daily: sometimes announced and sometimes just a sit down surprise (you sit, and I surprise you with what I put in front of you...Now EAT! Ha ha).  

I would love to hear about your meal planning solutions, and if you post them for all to see or just keep track of it in your head.  Please let me know!

Have a great day & God Bless!!!Publish Post

Inspiration Wednesday

I have been counting my blessing this week and giving thanks for all that God has blessed my family with.  We have our good health, a roof over our head, and food in our bellies.  God has been better to my family than what we could possibly deserve.

One of my absolute favorite scriptures is about giving thanks to God for our many blessings.
1Chronicles 16:34
O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good; for His mercy endureth forever.

So this weeks Inspiration Wednesday is about Thankfulness.  Its amazing how much more you appreciate life when you take time to be thankful for both the small and the large things of life.

So I searched out some quotes on my Pinterest board "Who said that? Well its worth repeating".  If you would like the source to these pins you are welcome to check it out by clicking here.

Thank You LORD for your many Blessings!!!

Have a great day and God Bless!!!

The Hubby got creative!!!

So my Hubby went and took a page out of my book, and that's basically what he said.  Well he actually said "Your craftiness is rubbing off on me", but he meant that in a good way.  He sure looked pleased with himself too.  He should be pleased with himself.  I'm completely impressed with what he came up with!  He made his very own firewood hauler by repurposing something (of mine) that wasn't getting used very often into something he will use pretty much every day until warm weather finally arrives.  Hows that for impressive?!?!?  I know, right?!?!? Anyway to get to the basics of it Here's what he did.

He took this tote

And cut down the top inch or so of each side seam

Then we ripped both seams all the way out on both sides

Now I can hear you thinking " Annnd what is the point of this???"

Well feast your eyes on this practical tool that my ingenious hubby turned my old sack into (and he looks pretty awesome using it too if I do say so myself hubba hubba).

So that is what my Hubby created tonight and completely impressed me with.  He was able to bring in two LARGE loads of firewood in his suit (sans jacket) that normally would have taken SEVERAL trips of carrying a few pieces at a time in his arms and stayed spotless at the same time!  Go baby GO!!!  So the next time you have to haul firewood or anything similar remember my hubby's repurposing and make your job a little bit easier!

If you have any comments, ideas, or stories about your firewood battles I would love to hear them!!

Have a great day and God Bless!

All about our health

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Cafe Well for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I admit that the first time I heard about this online community was when I was given this lead on Social Spark, but after going to it and researching it I think its a great place for staying motivated to reach your fitness and health goals.  Basically its an online social community for and about health.  Not just weight loss, although there is a focus on a healthy weight being a priority, but about pregnancy health, cardiovascular health, blood sugar health, all those as well as other illnesses that plague us as we age.  There are blogs written by other members that are informative on a multiple health issues, challenges to participate in, and you can set up your own group of personal family, friends, or coworkers. 

The challenges I mentioned above are an interesting aspect of this community that really keeps the motivation level up.  These aren't hard or unreachable challenges that serve to make you feel like you couldn't possibly be a healthier you.  Rather they are simple and easily done by most.  Such as the current challenge which is to drink 8 8oz glasses of water a day.  Simple right?!?!  

An exciting promotion going on for select Health America members is their "Race to the Moon".  Where members are given free wireless pedometers and their every step is counted. They are "racing" together to the moon.  Also there are smaller goals set for them and rewards for when they achieve them. 

Anyway, I have signed up to be a member of Cafewell.com so I can stay motivated in my own healthier me journey. My user name is Skinny2B, and if you decide to join, look me up and we will become healthier together!!   

If you want to check it out and see if its something you would enjoy heres a link for you: Cafe Well

have a great day and God Bless

Inspiration Wednesday: Front Door Help

Well, if you are a regular reader you know that I was having a dilemma with holiday decorations.  I am now pleased to announce that I am having that dilemma no more. The Christmas decorations are out the door, and I am ready to start working on new and improved door decorations.

My problem is plain and drab looking doors.  One day, when my yard is actually toy, kid, animal, and weed free, I will take a picture of the entire front of my house so that you can understand the enormity of the importance of decorating my front door.  But for now I will break it down for you without said picture.  Basically, it looks like no one lives in my house if I don't have the door decorated.  Yes, that's right, Like.No.One.Lives.Here!  I can see some of you are thinking "well, that could be a good thing: No solicitors!", but trust me it just looks weird and maybe a little creepy.  See, the previous owners had dark screens installed over every window (THANK YOU for the nice summer electric bills!!) that make it seem like a dark house from the street.  Yes, at night there is a slight glow from the windows as light glimmers through the blinds, but during the day they just look dark, empty, and sad.  So, it is my goal right now to decorate my front stoop and door with as much life as I can.  I really should find a way to decorate the windows on each side of the door going the length of the house as well...hmmm, but there is too much shrubbery and foliage I think.  Oh well, at least for now I am concentrating on my front door.  With that in mind, here are some pins from my "Wreath Love" Pinterest board that I am taking inspiration from.  I will soon have a post for you debuting my newest door decoration.  Until then I hope these inspire you as they have me.

To see the sources for these pins please go to my Pinterest board by clicking 

HERE

really really REALLY like this frame wreath!!! Looks easy to make too!! I have a MAJOR great idea for something similar, and I cant wait to make that idea a reality!

Isn't this book page wreath just adorable?!?!?

No words are even necessary!  I think this one ranks pretty high on my "must make" list.  Well you know me so you know it wont be EXACTLY like this, but inspired by (wink wink)

Ca-ute felt petal wreath!!

Lima Beans... SERIOUSLY!!  Bet you wouldn't have figured it out if I hadn't spilled the beans!!! har har

Love me some black and white, and that splash of color is delish!

Classic Valentines heart is a MUST!!!

I hope inspiration has struck you as it did me.  If you have any decoration ideas for my small square front stoop/porch feel free to share them.  I can use all the help I can get!!!  I would love to hear how you decorate your front door and porch as well.  You inspire me with your ideas!!!

Have a great day and God Bless!

Burp it and Spank it!! (the secret Keurig fix)

WARNING***  there is a lot of back story before the actual solution.  So feel free to skip all my rambling and go right to the meat of the issue.  You will know it when you see it...Promise.


THE BACK STORY:
Okay, for those of you wonderful people who read this blog who don't know me personally I need to let you in on a little secret: I am a Cragslist-a-holic. Yes its true I am.  I love finding great deals on items that others are tired of but are new to me, or I can completely overhaul them to make the new again. My husband thinks this is a problem, but I consider it a blessing and great fun.  Its kind of like the ultimate scavenger or treasure hunt!  You wouldn't believe some of the gems I have found.  I purchased a weeks old Leather couch from a nice couple who when they got it home realized that the reclining ends didn't work with their room size and coffee tables.  Bless them for being able to go out to purchase another couch and put this one right up on Craigslist for a fraction of their cost.  I'm talking this baby was NEVER used!!! I have been lovingly sitting on it for two years, my kids not as lovingly, but it has held up like a champ keeping that sweet leather smell and buttery soft feel.  Next I purchased my Buick Rendezvous for a STEAL.  It was just what I wanted.  A small-ish SUV, fully loaded, and with BONUS a third row (she had it customized when she purchased it brand new).  It was driven by a sweet older lady who put a grand total of 35k miles on it in 4 years.  A STEAL I tell ya!! Next was a couch and love seat for my den from a young couple moving. I could go on and on and on and on (yes I really do buy that much stuff off of there), but I think you get the picture.  So I told you all that so that you could understand why I made my next purchase the way I did.  I have wanted a Keurig ever since my sweet friend Kristi told me about them before Christmas.  Her zeal for "the perfect cup of coffee" Keurig style was infectious.  So I started doing my daily Craigslist scan (I happen to live fairly close to two large cities so there are usually a good variety of items to choose from).  A few days ago I came across THE PERFECT MACHINE a Cuisinart Keurig.  This machine retails for $199 at most stores, and I am not going to make all you keurig owners who paid full price for your machines mad by telling you what I gave.  I will tell you that I paid about $20 less that what the cheapest Keurig mini costs brand new he he he.  Now you are asking "what is the point to all this if its not to just make me mad about paying more?".  Its this... the Keurig had an issue I learned about upon pickup: it wasn't dispensing the correct sized cups of coffee.  Now I had done extensive research on these machines, and I had a intuition that there might be a problem with it or one would be arising soon.  (If you are a Keurig owner and don't know, they don't have the best track record.  There have been recalls, faulty pieces used on the insides, and other issues with them.)  The seller told me that she had only used the machine for two weeks before her children (not knowing she had just purchased one) bought her a Keurig for Christmas.  Since theirs was a gift, she said she felt she needed to keep theirs, but didn't need two so she was selling the one she purchased. Anyway I was fairly certain that I could fix the problem. Oh, I forgot to mention the machine is still under warranty so if I couldn't fix it I could always return it for a new one she just didnt want to bother with it since she had another now.  So, SCORE!

NOW TO THE POINT OF THIS WHOLE POST 

(whew that was a lot of back story)

The Keurig did have an issue with dispensing short cups...like REAALLYYY short, and I tried several tricks to fix it that I found online.  Still didn't work.  Until I stumbled across this article on a website called Coffee Detective.  It was an interesting little write up that didn't help at all.  Yes I said it didn't help, until the very last line where it said to read the comments for others suggestion and solutions that they have found.  there I hit the GOLD MINE of keurig pointers from others who have triumphed over Keurig related issues, #1 of which seemed to be brewing a short cup.  That was what my machine was doing so I started devouring comments.  What I read cracked me up...some of them were downright hilarious, but they all had a main theme Spank that machine baby!!

Now I was skeptical,but before I went to the trouble to pack up the machine and return it to get a new one I wanted to exhaust every solution, especially since after all this I figured I would probably just face the same problem in a new machine.  So I tried exactly what they said.

Step 1:
Flush your system with water only

Step two:
Take out the piece that your purchased K-cup sits in and take it fully apart and flush with warm soapy water.

Step three: (not really necessary, but a great idea) take some compressed air and blow into the two needles. Then flush with warm soapy water.

Step four: (Here it is folks the one you were waiting for)
a)unplug your machine
b)Take your reservoir off (if there is a removable one)
c)Take your machine to a large sink (or bath tub if your sink isn't big enough)
d)Turn it upside down
e)bang on the bottom (i used an open hand, but whatever works for you).  I mean really go to town    smacking the mess out of the bottom of that machine.  Because mine was new nothing came out but some gurgling water and air, but several who had older machines noted that grounds came out with their water and air.
f)Turn machine right side up
g)replace water reservoir
h)plug in

Step five:
pop in a new K-cup and choose the size you prefer

Step six:
watch as your cup is filled with the CORRECT amount of coffee

Step seven:
Celebrate with a little shimmy dance at having fixed your awesome machine all by yourself

Step eight:
Enjoy your coffee/tea/cocoa

Step nine:
LEAVE ME A COMMENT telling me how awesome you are feeling right now!!!


So I hope this worked out for you as well as it did for me, and as always please let me know what you think.  If you did read the long back story and are a fellow Craigslist-a-holic I would LOVE to hear about your finds!  Its so exciting to get a great deal isn't it!!!

As always have a great day and God Bless.

Corporate Craziness is making me even more Insane!!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walgreens for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Some of you know that my extra spending (read: finance all my craft and remodel projects money) comes from my lovely part time job doing medical billing.  So I know firsthand as a mommy of three and a billing professional how important good insurance is.  Even prescription plans are very important.  So when I hear about something like this happening I want to help out my friends who might find themselves in a rough spot due to corporate insanity.

Basically it comes down to this: Walgreens and Express Scripts (a middle man company) are parting ways.  This is not good news for anyone (hence the Insanity), but mostly, its bad news for the consumer.  Yes that's us!  Walgreens did everything they could to renew their contract short of letting Express Scripts write whatever they wanted then signing on the dotted line, but it just didn't work out. To read about the Insanity for yourself check this out, but I warn you there are several palm to forehead moments.

Walgreens and Express Script 

To help out us the consumer Walgreens is making their Prescription Savings Club available for a discounted rate of $10 a year for families including children under $22 and even your pets are included!! Or if you are single and carefree you can join for $5.  "Why would I do that?" you might ask.  Well if you have been using Walgreens for a while, and now you find out because Express Scripts handles your prescription benefits for your Insurance carrier, you might not want to switch to a new and unfamiliar pharmacy or pharmacist.  So this would be the ideal solution for you.  You will save on brand name and generic prescriptions, flue shots, nebulizers, diabetic supplies, and even your pet prescriptions. To learn more about this and how it can help you check this out:

Walgreens Prescription Savings Club

If you want to keep up with the latest on all this hubbub you can:

follow Walgreens on Twitter

or

like Walgreens on Facebook

 

Can't wait, but can't get started either!

I have SO many great ideas and Pinterest projects too that I cannot wait to get started on for Valentines day.  "Whats stopping ya?" you may ask.  Well its the 4 Christmas tree, numerous garlands, and Christmas tablescapes that have GOT to come down before I can start putting up all the cute Day of Love items that I am itching to make.  Yes that's right I admitting that I still have my Christmas decorations up.  No not all of them as I started taking them down today.  In fact most of the small decorations are gone.  Now its the trees and the Garlands that have to come down.  You all know how much I adore wreaths so it shouldn't surprise you to know that I have a great Idea for a winter themed one as well as a Valentines one.  Here's the question "Would it be completely tacky to make these two wreaths that I am itching to make, take down my green pine wreaths, and hang those on my doors to welcome the world all while I still have lingering Christmas decorations inside my home?"  Yes they are coming down slowly, but it almost seems hypocritical to not have them all down and boxed/binned away before moving on to my next holiday decor.

Yes, I know I'm a tad crazy (HEEE-LLLO look at the name of the blog!!) but is this just too crazy?

Anyway since I have V-Day on the brain here are a couple of cool ideas from Pinterest to help you get there too (see what I'm doing?  I'm drawing you into the insanity to he he he)

 If you are curious use about the origin of these pictures feel free to follow my "Day of Love" Pinterest board or just check it out.  They are all on there, and you can easily re-pin or just click on through to the blog where they originated from.  These are not my projects (yet), but are just lovely ideas that I am finding inspiration in.

So let me know if you have everything down and put away from Christmas, and have started on your V-Day decorations yet, or if you still are flying the flag of Christmas proudly, or have everything down but are taking a break from holiday decor.  I love to have you weigh in!!

I hope you have a great day and God Bless!

Inspiration Wednesday

Today I am inspired by my friends.  Friends are a gift from God that I fully believe help us keep our sanity. Today a friend and I went to lunch together and she proved that a true friend wants to spend time with you even if your 2 year old and 5 year old are along for the ride.  Ummmm if you don't know what its like to go out to eat with a 2 year old and 5 year old then you might not appreciate just what a good friend she is, trust me she rocks!!!! Especially since i got to go to the salad bar without a child in tow, yep she ROCKS!   We had a great time laughing, talking, and just enjoying being out of the house while trying to keep a close eye and firm parental hand on my progeny.

So in keeping with that I went and found a few, okay several lovely thoughts on just what friendship can mean.  Through ups and downs, bad and good, sick and well times friends are the balm that helps soothe our hurting hearts.  So in honor of all my lovely friends in all the different aspects and areas of my life I dedicate this post to you.


A friend is someone who brings you joy.  Who you can laugh with and at and still be close, if not closer than ever.  Laughter is the best medicine and great friends are the best doctors!

A true friend will accept you just as you are faults and all. 

Some friends know you as well as you know yourself, maybe better, they can even read your mind!

There are those friends that no matter how much time you have together or how much you talk and share it is never enough.

In order to have great friends though, you must be a friend yourself.

Unfortunately not all friendships are meant to be lifelong.  Cherish them while they last, and learn something about yourself as well as from the fleeting friend.

 I have to say, I believe that to me, this would be one of the greatest compliments I would ever be privileged enough to receive.

I hope your life is filled with friendships of all varieties, and if you are a friend of mine "I love you!" (especially if you don't mind when my kids tag along once in a while...ha ha)

Have a great day and God Bless!