Sunday, October 31, 2010

A Christian is like being a Pumpkin

 A Christian is like being a Pumpkin:

God picks you from the patch

brings you in and washes all the dirt off you may have gotten from the other pumpkins.

Then he cuts the top off 

and scoops out all the yucky stuff.

He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc.

Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see.
**Remember, God LOVES You!!**

Carved Pumpkins 2010

 **William's pumpkin, of course!**
 **Corey's Pumpkin**
 **Mariah's Pumpkin**
 **Andrew's Pumpkin**
 **My Pumpkin**

Thrifty Finds Friday a few days late?

Hello Friends! I am embarking on a new column called Thrifty Finds Friday. Yes, I do know that it's not Friday, but I got seriously busy, and if I say that I will try REALLY hard to NOT let that happen again, will you forgive me? :) Anyway, I hope you like what's up for today's deals - which may or may not require you going to a store and/or website, making a purchase, and possibly using a coupon. So, here's two deals:

**With scents like Fresh Pine and Cedar or Pomegranate and Cranberries, either one will be sure to keep you in the holiday festivity spirit! Click here for the coupon offer.
Buy one 10 oz. 3-wick soy based candle or reed diffuser, get one free* from The Fragrance Collection by Glade(R). Up to a $6.99 value. Print coupon.
**I actually checked the price of one of these candles (both sizes were the same price) and that cost was $4. So, BOGO ... spend $4 and get a $4 product for free (prices may vary from store to store). That's a deal to me!**

Up next from my friend, Jen, over at Jen's Craft Corner are these super cute bloomers for your princess!
Little Diva Bloomers- Pumpkin Buns
**What a cute and great way to end the month of October!!**

Next week's edition will include finds to get you ready for Thanksgiving! :)

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Thrifty Thursday: Saving ....

Hello folks! :) Welcome to the first edition of Thrify Thursday!! :) I may not always blog about specific ways to save money -- so today I have decided to post ways to save ....... CALORIES and FAT in CAKES!!

I got an email from Hungry Girl earlier this week. A portion of her email contained alternative, low fat cakes. I don't know about y'all, but I'm on the path to losing weight and am liking the steady decline in my numbers, my clothes are getting not so tight, and I just feel better - I have more energy and everything. Granted, since our vacation back home and the busyness of my life, I've had to lose the vacation pounds ... but now I am at my numbers before vacation, so now I can really say, "I'm losing weight". Over the next couple months, in between all the Thanksgiving fixins and Christmas goodie baking, I'll be checking out the different ways to make a low fat, low calorie cake. Here is the link to that particular Hungry Girl Newsletter. **In all of the below pics, you DO NOT add eggs, oil and/or water! That's where you're saving the calories and fat!**



**Be sure to check out the Hungry Girl Newsletter for other tips to making these cakes; including what cake mixes work best with the alternative addition.** 

Monday, October 25, 2010

Mmm Mmm Monday: Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

I made these muffins for Sunday's breakfast. Two thumbs up and some Mmm Mmm's from the family! The muffins turned out so moist! :) **I used the variation to the original Banana Peanut Butter Chip Muffins. Also, this recipe comes from a cookbook I got for my birthday - 3 Books in 1: Church Potlucks, Sunday Suppers, and Bake Sale. You'll also find my notes in italics.** We ate them when they were still somewhat warm from the oven. THE. BEST.

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt (I usually do 4 turns on the salt grinder)
1 cup mashed ripe bananas - about 2 large (The more ripe they are, the sweeter. The best is either when the rind turns brown completely or when the rind is spotted brown.)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup buttermilk (I didn't have any buttermilk, so I used a substitute. Take 1 tablespoon vinegar and put in a cup {I used the 1 cup measure all cup from Pampered Chef} and then pour milk to just below 1 cup. Leave it for 5 minutes and then use whatever your recipe requires.)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla (I used 2 tsp cause I just love the sweetness of vanilla in recipes.)
1 cup peanut butter chips (variation: chocolate chips)
1/2 cup chopped peanuts (variation)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375* (I accidentally turned the oven on 350*. O.k., so it was 6:15 a.m. and I was or {may not} have been fully awake while baking these). Grease 15 standard (2 1/2 inch) muffin cups or line with paper baking cups.
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Beat bananas, butter, eggs, buttermilk and vanilla in medium bowl until well blended.
3. Add banana mixture to flour mixture; stir just until blended. Gently fold in peanut butter chips. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling three-fourths full. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts.
4. Bake 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean. Cool 2 minutes in pan. Remove from pan; cool completely on wire racks. Serve warm or at room temperature. **Because of my error and setting the oven on 350*, it took the muffins 28 minutes to bake. I'm going to bake them again at the original temp and see if this dries the muffins out. If it does, I'll keep the lower temp and will let you know if it alters the moistness of the muffins.**

Friday, October 22, 2010

Good Morning

I've never seen this one before...I really like it!


When I say good morning I mean to say:

G-od

O-ffers us His

O-utstanding

D-evotion to

M-ake us

O-bedient &

R-eady for a

N-ew day with Him.

I-nspire others please, and

N-ever forget

G-od loves you!

This is cute .... especially for those Starbucks Coffee drinkers ....

I seen this on Facebook, today. Super cute and I couldn't help but share it here because it put a smile on my face. :)
starbucks you're extremely hot

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

DOCTORS!! ahhh!!

Mariah had a doc appt today for some pain she has been having in her lower back. The pain occurs around a dimple that she has in her lower back and goes about an inch to the right. I really think that this problem could be linked to the bladder/bowel issues she's having. Anyway, here is a copy to a comment I replied to on my Facebook:

I was told we were seeing Maj. Petterson-Belletier. She is AWESOME! Mariah and I, both, love this doc! She's the one that got us going to the ureologist down town for Mariah's bowel/urination issues. Well, one time we went in for a follow-up - this was earlier this year, which we were suppose to see Peterson for, but she ended up having to transfer all of her appts to another doc because of a mandatory testing that she HAD to go to ..... Anyway, this doc (Thomason) we seen ... WOW is all I can say. She was rude and mean to Mariah (who is very shy and not trusting of strangers - oh, I think she's a pretty good judge of character or the spirit within someone), didn't listen to the reason as to why we were there. Anyway, she's the one that put us off and she should have been the doc to refer us.

WELL, we were suppose to see Peterson TODAY - that's what was told to me by the guy who scheduled the appt last week. We got there, and low and behold, it wasn't Peterson we were seeing. It was Thomason. I feel like she just blows smoke out of her mouth. Seriously. Like she wants to sound like she knows what she's talking about.

When we were in the room prior to the exam room -- which doesn't make sense as to why they do that. Why don't they just have you in one room to take your vitals and keep you in that room because that's the room the doc will be seeing you in?! That's how they did it in England. Makes sense for germ control, too. But that's just my opinion.

O.k., back on track - I told the nurse that we were seeing Peterson today and she knows Mariah's history, etc. She looked at me and said, "Umm, Mariah's not seeing Peterson today, but she's seeing Thomason." Since I couldn't remember the name of the doc that we had seen earlier in the year (the one described above), I went ahead and stayed for this appt today. NEVER. AGAIN. I can't stand this doc. She did nothing for Mariah's pain in her back. And instead of doing more testing or even getting a second opinion, she said, "I'm not sure why she is having pain along her lower vertabrae. To be honest, it MAY be just inflamed. So for 7 days I want you to give her Tylenol, three times a day, to help with the swelling" (umm, Tylenol, really? because that's always the docs BEST medicine. And seriously - you just said that you didn't know what the reason was, but now you're saying it will help with the swelling? Yeah - whatever.) and so she then continues on and says, "And for 14 days I'd like her to do these sort of stretches (she continues to show me - they're the basic runner stretches. Lie on your back, bring one knee up, hold for 10 sec, let the leg/knee fall to the side and hold for 10 sec) and she continues, "I want you to due these for 14 days, 3 times a day, 10 times each, holding for 10 sec. each time."

Yep - there ya have it. Blowin' smoke!!! I'm a little upset that I have to schedule another appt with a different doc because Thomason is a useless doc in my book. Between me homeschooling the kids, going to be starting work on Monday, still trying to get over this gunk that I have, and then I'm starting my college class on the 26th, rescheduling to see a VALID doctor is ridiculous. BUT, at least I'll get a better prognosis for my baby girl.

I'm done now. ;)

Pumpkins ...

It's October, which means Halloween is the end of this month. We really need to put a little pep in our step and get those pumpkins bought and those stencils made out. I can already tell you right now that William's pumpkin will have a Steelers logo on it. GOOO STEELERS!!

O.k. I'm done with that. Now it's trying to help the kids figure out what they want to put on their pumpkins. And so the search begins .....

Here's what we did last year ....................

WHOA! Where's the time gone?!

WHOA! Where's the time gone, my friends?! It's seriously been too long since I last blogged. I still have not had the time to figure out how to post photos as part of my blog. And now when will I find the time?

I start my temporary job at Kohl's on the 18th. CRAZY! I know. On top of everything I'm already doing, where in the world will I find the time? God only knows. At least this job is - only temporary. Only temporary because I know someday we will leave Las Vegas. Not soon enough, but at least for now I have a job that will help pay off our tiny bit of debt and help get our projects done around the house -- that's the most exciting part. :)

So, onward we go. Somehow I'll manage: homeschooling the three kids, working at Kohl's, and I start my college class on Oct. 26th. Just put me to sleep now so that way I can actually catch some zzz's while I still have some time to myself.

BTW -- I really am looking forward to Kohl's. It's one of my favorite stores, apart from Ross. :) Sooo ... let the craziness begin.