Thursday, May 16, 2013

Photo Walls

So I was all excited that I am going to start blogging again and then my laptop breaks. So I didn't have it for a while and was not motivated to use our desktop since it is a bit of a dinosaur and slow for uploading pictures. Not to mention that the photo drive doesn't work.

 I got this great idea today on hanging photos and making Photo Walls. I got it from this website: http://bakersdozenandapolloxiv.com/2013/05/14/3-photowall-ideas/#comments

I can't wait to start this fun summer project. I am going to start loading photos from my phone and camera and place my Shutterfly order. I will post photos of my Photo Wall as soon as I have one done. It will probably not be until June since we are leaving for NY and PA next week for vacation.

Please share any photo projects you complete on my comments so we can take a look.

On May 25th, Tom's brother is being ordained a Priest in the Catholic Church. We are so excited and my son Luther(20) will be flying in to NY for the Ordination and to visit with us. We haven't seen him since last June so almost a year! He's in the Navy.

Well that's all for now. Will post photos as soon as I get some loaded onto this new laptop.
 
We are looking forward to jumping into our pool very soon!! Have a Happy Summer!!!

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Juliana turned 3

Our little Juliana is three now. She is such a sweetheart. She is a talker, sweet, playful, curious, stubborn, smart, knows what she wants and how to tell you, and most of all adorable. She makes us all smile and like many people like to say, "We can't imagine our lives without her."

Today was cleaning day. So floors and baseboards got swept, mopped, and wiped down. I just love my little floor vacuum. It works so well. Sweeping just doesn't cut it. Dog hair just gets kicked around. But the Bissel feather weight bagless broom sweeper sucks it up and it is so light to use, compared to a regular vacuum. Also, the little kids can push it around and lend a hand.

I did some freezer cooking a few days ago. I made 18 burger patties, 2.5 pounds taco meat, 48 meatballs, and a family pack worth of chicken strips. A couple of weeks ago I made three trays of stuffed shells, and two trays of rigatoni, a family pack of chicken breast into grilled chipotle chicken and lemon pepper chicken, and another family pack of chicken breast I turned into baked chicken nuggets. Of course the nuggets were gone in two weeks!

It is  so handy to have some quick meals in the freezer for crazy days like yesterday. We had our homeschool meeting, then errands, then dogs to let out, and Nic to pick up from school. I put a tray of stuffed shells in the oven at 3:30, then went to the post office and the print store to get my household planner bound up. I am actually using a daily household planner this year and it is great. It spells everything out for you. All I have to do is check mark what I get done and write in what my menu plan is for the week. I got it from a website called theconfidentmom.com . Check it out! It has lots of tips and information to help you do a better job as mom.

I am not going to beat myself up if I can't get everything done on the list in my planner, although the list is not long, but some days get crazy, people get sick, and life happens, so whatever doesn't get done one day can be passed on to the next. The Confident Mom is just making helpful suggestions that you don't have to follow to a T. You may want to do something different that day and there are blank spaces on your planner to add those. I like that. It keeps me thinking and a little more focused on what to do each day. Sometimes I do too much one day and burn myself out, and then don't get to too much done on the next day and feel defeated. This should help me to find a better balance and seeing it on paper makes me feel so accomplished. I am getting to like this more organized me! I have a ways to go, as many of you who know me will know.

Well I plan to add pics very soon. I tend to post from my laptop, but most of my pictures are in my desktop.

Have a happy, healthy, and blessed New Year in 2013!!!!