Just Checking In

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My plate is feeling super full right now. But I wanted to check in and let you know we are okay. Everyone is fighting colds and I’ve spent the last two days in bed. I was too miserable to blog yesterday, but it sure felt good to rest.

My friend and I traded pianos last week, so now I have an apartment baby grand in my living room. The new living room furniture will arrive this Tuesday, and the area rug will come the first week in October. I bought paint for the room too, but haven’t gotten past filling the holes in the walls. It will all come together in time. I took advantage of some fantastic Labor Day sales to get everything at the lowest price possible. It was less than buying everything used on Craigslist and I got just what I wanted. Here’s a reminder picture of what I’m hoping for:

It will be awhile before we replace the green carpet with hardwood floors. The area rug will help me wait

I’ve been working on a new ebook for single serving mug recipes that will be released next Saturday. I have a handful of recipes to test this week to finish up.

I’m still trying to get into a comfortable place with teaching High School Choir. I’ve devoured several books on the subject and poured my heart out to God on many occasions. If When we succeed, there is no doubt in my mind that it will be because of Him.

My 5K is in 3 more weeks and I don’t feel ready.  I first attempted to jog the whole distance 3 weeks ago and injured my right hip.  I haven’t been able to run since and am hoping it will heal up soon so I can train.   Even if I have to walk it, I will be there.

Not long after the race I will head to a retreat for 4-days of defensive hand-gun training. After which I’ll be a pistol packing mama.  It’s not my first choice of hobbies, but my husband and Dad insist.  I’ve been to the shooting range a couple of times in preparation and was surprised how much fun target practice can be.  This is one skill I hope to never need.

Musical practice has started for the kids at school.  I have 4 kids in the play and 5 costumes to sew.  Ballet, Soccer, Handmaidens and Scouts start this week too.  There’s not a night of the week that we are not booked.  That’s not a good feeling, but I’m not sure which child to say no to.  I feel like all these experiences are valuable, so we are just pushing through the busyness right now.

So that’s what’s going on around here.  Never a loss of things to do, lol.  What’s new with you?

Hey Butterfly, are you ready to come out and play?

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Fit Yummy Mummy’s Fall Transformation Challenge starts Tuesday, September 4th  And registration doors opened today.  If you are new to FYM, you’re going to love it.  It’s a sensible eating and exercise program that will get you the results you are looking for in just 15-20 minutes a day.  I’ve been a member at FYM for just over a year now and can’t tell you how amazing it is to be part of a community of women all encouraging one another.

To join the fall challenge, you must be a member at ClubFYM.  But it’s most effective to first purchase the FYM ebook and video set.  It lines everything out for you and with the purchase, your first month of club membership is free.  You can read more about it here. Or at the FYM button on the right.

As cheap as I am, this is one purchase I’ve never regretted.

The last challenge was only 6 weeks.  This one is 12.  If you have had trouble sticking to a fitness program before, we would be great friends :).  Having a community of ladies to keep me accountable, plus the competition of the challenge, plus all the challenge extra training from Holly, is what I need to stay motivated.

Here is a before and after shot from a 12 day tighter tummy mini-challenge that was inside this Summer’s 6 week challenge.

All I did was what Holly told me to do and stayed within healthy eating guidelines for a nursing mom.  If a 35 year old mom of 6 can do this in just 12 days.  What can you do?  Are you ready to come out of your cocoon?

Ideas for the Living Room

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Here’s a rough illustration of my idea for my living room. Below is a reminder picture of what the room looks like now:

I’ve been watching the individual pieces of furniture for their prices to drop within range.  And snagged the printed chair from Target this week when it went on sale.  It’s not very comfy…but sure is cute, lol.  My friend and I are talking about trading pianos.  Her baby grand won’t fit in her new house and my Betsy Ross Spinet would be perfect. I’m hoping the holiday weekend will bring the lower prices I’ve been waiting for so I can snag some more pieces.  I’ve been donating plasma twice a week for several months saving up the money for when the prices drop.

I’ve picked out a paint color called Silver Drop from Behr and will use Ultra pure white on the moldings.  I’d love to add extra wall moldings and crown molding too.  But with my new teaching job I’m not sure how to fit it all in.   It will happen one day….just a little project at a time.

Restaurant Style Spinach Queso Dip Recipe

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Heidi and Caleb are home after spending a week on the farm. It took about 2 days for me to get over how easy it was to set the table and put children to bed with 2 less and then really start to miss them. I’d think of questions to ask them, things I wanted to show them…and then realize they weren’t there. Sniff. When they showed up yesterday, Grant took turns grabbing their necks and just leaning in. It really made their day…and mine too.

School starts on Thursday for us. Wednesday is Heather’s birthday and we have shopping plans :). And I just signed on as our school’s High School music teacher. I’m super excited and nervous all at the same time. I have to leave in 5 minutes for my first staff meeting in 11 years. But first, I want to give you this fantastic recipe that I developed last night in honor of my children’s return.

Everyone in the family loved it. Even the picky non-spinach eaters. We used mild chilies and it was decidedly not spicy. You could use spicier chilies or add more cayenne if you like. But taste it first and adjust as you go.

2 cups milk

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp cayenne

1 tsp cumin

1 can, 4 oz, green chilies

2 cups finely chopped spinach (I used fresh, but frozen would work too.)

Whisk flour into milk and add remaining ingredients.  Cook and stir over medium high heat until thickened.  Stir in 2 cups of cheddar jack cheese (Costco has this in 5 lb bags for a bargain.)  Cook a little longer just until cheese is melted.  Serve with tortilla chips.

Getting Ready for the First Day of School

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I know some of you have already started school.  But for the rest of you, here’s a fun idea via pinterest. I’m gearing up for packing lunches and hope to add a few more fun items once in awhile.  I’ve put my brainstorm of ideas into my latest eBook, Homemade and Healthy to Go. It will be available for sale on August 15th, After I give all current Grocery Shrink Plus subscribers their free copy.  Membership has its perks and if it’s not the 13th of August yet, you can still subscribe to the menus and get your free copy too.

This next idea isn’t mine, so isn’t in the book. Isn’t it adorable?  And Smarties are at Dollar Tree :).

 

Here’s the original pin:

Click the photo to find the original post and instructions

 

Here’s my version.  Definitely not as cute without the red and white polka dots!  I loved her scallops so splurged on the 3.5 inch cutter below since Joann had them 40% off.  It was still $15 on sale so I will be using these circles everywhere.  On place labels; birthday gifts; Christmas Gifts; baby gifts; cupcake picks…my family is going to get sick of paper scallops.

My color printer is on the fritz, so I opted to cut the scallops out of scrap cardstock, and print just the circles.  Glue dots stuck everything together quickly.

Driving through Needle Pass

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We were watching our home videos after getting home from the trip and had to laugh at ourselves. It doesn’t take much to send me off in a Bible or Science lesson, lol.  Even though I’m sending my older children to Christian school this year and am only homeschooling Preschool, I will always be a home school teacher at heart.

 

Homemade and Healthy to Go

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I’ve written a new eBook!  And now you know why my blog has been a little quiet this summer.  It’s finished, but not quite available yet.  My Grocery Shrink Plus subscribers get the first peek, and they get it for FREE.  The book will sell for $10 to all non-subscribers and at 100 pages of ideas and recipes for packing frugal lunches, it’s well worth the cost.  But there’s no reason not to get it free.

I have more resources in the works and with school starting soon, will have more time to work than ever.  Grocery Shrink Plus subscribers can expect to get a free resource similar to this every month they stay members in good standing.  Now I call that an upgrade!  Not only do you get more recipes, more instructions, more value in your meal plans than any other service….you get free bonus’s too.

There’s still time to subscribe to the menu’s before the bonus goes out, but you need to subscribe before Monday August 13th.  I won’t be emailing out separate bonus’s to all late subscribers like I do the menu plans.  It’s a one time mail out to current subscribers at the moment I hit send.  No exceptions, no apologies.  Make sure you’re on that list :).

Warren Learns to Fight Forest Fires

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Part of our vacation was spent at Crystal Cave, the second largest cave in the United States.  There we took part in a Junior Ranger program which included a lesson on fire safety.  Warren was chosen as the volunteer to demo the fire fighting gear and had me in giggles.

Vlog–Hiking in the Badlands

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Is posting a 4 part video of your family hiking in the badlands as bad as making family members sit through 300 slides of the vacation they did not go on?  I decided it’s not, since you can stop watching at any time and I’ll never know, lol.  So you are spared the “I’d better look interested or look rude” awkwardness.

Anyway, the Badlands were a completely amazing part of South Dakota.  Sections of it had Prairie Dogs which I’ll show you later.  They are cute little things!  It was extremely hot and dry.  The eroded landscape reminded me of what I imagined parts of the moon are like.  Some areas had beautiful colors–which I’ll show you later in the week too.

We stopped and hiked at one point on a medium difficulty trail.  It got super steep and the sandstone crumbled underfoot making it slippery too.  At one point we missed the trail markings and got into an area that was really tough.  You’ll hear Darren ask me something and you can’t quite make out that I said, “I think I’m having a panic attack.”  To which my Dear Son said, “It’s okay Mom, you can do it.”  And Darren said, “Can you breath through it or do we need to stop?”  Which I thought was a very sweet way to respond.  Right at that moment I felt there was no safe place to step that wouldn’t slip out from under me and send me rolling down the mountain to my death.  But then I did take a deep breath and I did take another step and I was okay again.

If you haven’t fallen asleep by video 4, you’ll see we did make it to the top :). At least the videos are short :).