Explanation, please?

How do you explain a "baby shower" to a 3 year old? We had this task last night as I was trying to explain to my oldest where I was about to go. Here's a quick recap....

Me: Momma is going to go to a baby shower for a little bit then I will be right back

C: You are going to take a shower?

Me: No, we are just going to give baby gifts to one of momma's friends.

C: (Still stuck on the shower idea) You are going to take a shower with your friends? (Getting kinda bad)

Me: No, no, no. We are not taking a shower.

C: (Typical male still stuck on one idea) You are going to get naked and take a shower?

Me. Wow, no, no, no....You know what? I'm not going to a shower, I'm just going to a party for a friend who is having a sweet baby girl.

C: You are going to give the baby a shower and get it all clean?

Me: Allllright, I love you. I will see you in a little bit!


Love that kid and can totally understand why he is so confused.

Here is a short article about this very question: http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Baby-Shower---Why-Its-Called-That,-and-How-to-Have-a-Great-One&id=3108737

Waste Not, Want Not....

The past month or so I have been on a mission to save our family money! We love to travel and are trying to save money so we can buy a bigger car(we are quickly outgrowing ours!). That means I need to get creative with our already slim budget in order to be able to save money like we would like!

One of the things I hate spending a lot of money on is food. But the problem? I love food. One of my solutions to "saving" is by not wasting what we have already spent our money on.

Here are some examples of ways I have been able to "waste not, want not" :)

1. Leftover veggies from a meal? Keep a container in your fridge specifically for veggies and add to it after each meal. When you have a full container make a soup or stew!

2. Who loves cake?! I do! But who loves cake after 3 days? Yeah it's safe to say it loses it's *spark* at that point. What should you do with the leftovers?? Make cake balls! All you need to do is take the cake (with icing on top) and crumble it/mush it all together. If it is still a little dry, add a small amount of milk (or I used half and half yesterday) to moisten it and roll the "dough" into balls. I refrigerate them until firm then stick them in the freezer until I am ready to dip them in chocolate. The next time you have company you have a dessert that is almost ready to serve them!

3. Leftover cornbread? I got this tip from a lady I sparked up a conversation with in line at the fabric store (random!). Stick it in a freezer bag and put it in the freezer. Add to it each time you have leftover cornbread. When you get a significant amount stashed away make cornbread dressing/stuffing!

4. Leftover hamburger buns/hot dog buns? Our small family never uses all of them that come in a package at one meal. So, again, freeze!

5. Leftover rice from stir fry night? Add it to some black bean, chicken, sour cream burritos (YUM) in the next few days and toast it. We always have leftover burrito filling from this meal so we fill more tortillas and wrap them in wax paper and foil and stick those in the freezer too! Can you tell I love our freezer? Use this recipe and tweak it as needed: http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2009/09/crispy-southwest-chicken-wraps.html 

6. Leftover pasta, but don't have any more sauce? Again, Freeze :) Pop it out later, thaw, add it to a sauce, and bake. You have a pasta bake that took hardly any time at all to make!

7. Buy a bunch of grapes but don't think you will eat them all before they go bad? Freeze them. They freeze great (some people like to eat grapes frozen) and I can put frozen grapes in my son's lunch in the morning and by the time lunch rolls around they have thawed but are still cold.

8. In my house I am the only one who loves onions and bells peppers. My hubbs will stand them, but usually picks half of them off. This means that I typically only use half an onion or half a bell pepper for a recipe. With the halves that remain I slice them thinly, put them in a freezer bag and label it "Fajita Veggies." Now most of your prep is taken care of for the next time you want to make fajitas!

9. Buy a big bag of potatoes, onions, or apples? I do this all the time because you can save about half the money you would typically spend by buying them loose.

• Potatoes: Make soups and freeze, put them in breakfast burritos, make twice baked potatoes (bake) and freeze them....the list could go on...(Fav potato soup: http://www.food.com/recipe/crock-pot-style-loaded-baked-potato-soup-301754)
• Onions: Did you know fresh onions freeze well? Chop them up and put them in pre-measured bags for the freezer.
• Apples: Have the apples been in the fridge a little too long? Make apple pie filling and freeze it. You can also chop them up and make an apple cake. OR make two and either freeze one or give to a neighbor.

Okay I've rambled enough. There are SO MANY ways to save money by not wasting the food you have. What are some ways you "Waste not, want not?"

Queen of the Castle...

I've heard this many times over once people found out that we were having another boy, "You'll be the Queen of the castle!" It's rare that at the age of my boys currently that I feel like the "Queen," but today was one of those rare days. My oldest was in an unusually good mood for a Monday. I heard "pleases, may I's, thank you's" so much you would have thought I was slipping him bribe candy all day or something. But, in fact, he was just being his sweet self.

Tonight I taught him how to play "London Bridge is Falling Down."  He loved it and caught on really quick. He especially caught on to the "Fair Lady" part. And me being the "lady" he sees more than anyone else I became his "Fair Lady." My husband then told him that the Fair Lady needs to be protected by her knights, thus naming him my knight and shining armor. I'm not going to lie, my heart did do a little flutter to hear that I was someones Fair Lady and that I had more "protectors" out there.

Amidst all the craziness that entails having a house full of boys, there are many upsides that accompany them! This M.O.B.(mother of boys) has felt very loved and respected today....now here's to hoping that this trend will continue tomorrow....

Fab Food Friday: From the Hubbs!

This entry is a la Hubbs. For my birthday he planned a couple meals and spoofed me by taking pictures of one of the things he made...he thinks he's so cute...and he is.

Whenever I get my new Southern Living in the mail, glee, giggles and ignorance of all things "chores" take place...I love my SL's for many reason's, one being the recipes. I earmark the one's I want to try and write them on my "To make" list that I keep on the side of the fridge. This is one of the recipes that I wrote down from the June 2011 mag....

Grilled Tomato Bruschetta

Ingredients

• 16 (1/2-inch-thick) French bread baguette slices 
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 
• 4 ripe tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 small sweet onion, thinly sliced 
• 1/2 cup torn fresh basil (he used dried)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper 

Preparation

• 1. Preheat grill to 350° to 400° (medium-high) heat. (My hubbs opted to use the oven instead) Brush both sides of bread with oil. Grill 1 to 1 1/2 minutes per side or until toasted.

• 2. Toss together tomatoes and next 5 ingredients; serve over bread slices. The hubbs chose to top each with a slice of Mozza then toast them longer in the oven until the cheese is melted.

These, were AMAZING....I was quite surprised by my wonderful husband and VERY pleased with this bruschetta. The onions made the dish and I probably could have eaten these for my whole meal, but we decided (for protein's sake) to throw in some chicken that had been marinated in Balsamic vinegar with garlic and herbs = great combination!

Gah, reading over this is making me want to make these tonight with dinner instead of what I had already planned, hum....

October Overload

So......it's been a while. Yeah. Blame it on the month we call October. In our house that means two birthday's, visits from family, pumpkin patches, Fall Festivals, Football, etc, etc....which left me tired and not wanting to spend time typing. So I guess I took an unexpected break from blogging. Quick recap of our month....

A little boy's 3rd Birthday! Planes, Trains, and Automobiles...

Fishing with Dad



Some girl's birthday :) Can you say CHOCOLATE?! YUM



First Football game!

Mummy Dogs and "Web dip" an October specialty

Sunflower field at the Pumpkin Patch

Cutest little pumpkins ever



My kind of carving...with power tools!





Little man with his pumpkins





The Hubbs and I dressed as Texas and OK for a Halloween Party
I was so proud of my hubbs creative take on it :)

Angry bird(his choice) and a baby lion...So precious

Busy month, but a fun month. Some of my other pursuits this month...Saving money on groceries (post later), getting back into shape (yikes), and now attempting to simplify :)

In the next couple days will be a post a la Hubbs. He is excited about this one...for my birthday he planned some meals to cook for me and spoofed me by taking pictures of the process for a "post" :) He thought he was real cute...and he kinda was.