Interactive medal count

This is pretty cool. I like keeping up with the medal count. Call me boring.

Cans everywhere

I have a hard time throwing items away that I can tell would make a great craft project. I stopped nursing Abigail when she turned seven months old and then began giving her formula. Of course, I saved ALL The cans. They are the perfect size for a pencil caddy on a desk, brush holder, toy soldiers container....and the list goes on. I'm teaching preschool and elementary art at our church school this year and found this to be a great opportunity to get them out of my house as well as allow the students to make something with them. While I was rinsing them out, Abigail played music on some of the cans by banging them on the floor. She had fun trying to put the tops on them, too.

What an obituary!

My husband forwarded this obituary notice to me today. Oh my....that's all I have to say.

Cascade & Magic Eraser samples

Click here to get a free sample of Cascade dish detergent and a Magic Eraser. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on "free sample".

Rushing winter?

I think Luke and Abigail are tired of the summer heat. They're ready for autumn to arrive!

Walgreens $5 off $20 coupon

Here's another coupon to Walgreens for $5 off a $20 purchase, good only Friday (8/22) and Saturday (8/23). Again, click here to print the coupon. You can use it as many times as you'd like, once per purchase.

Steven Curtis Chapman interview with FOF

Jim Houser just posted this on his site about the interview between SCC and J. Dobson.

Easy mac-n-cheese

Ok, I don't do a whole lot of cookin' from scratch (Holly, you are encouraging me, though), but I found this super duper easy recipe for some mac-n-cheese that I just had to try. I've always been in love with this noodlely (is that word? Well, it is for my blog) side dish and have always admired anyone who made their own. Actually, I kind of like the Kraft-in-a-box but it doesn't compare to this. I can't take the credit, though. I'm not sure which blog I got this recipe from but I sure am glad "she" posted it. I will definitely make this dish again. It was divine.

Recipes with only 3-4 ingredients are right up my alley, so.....here's the deal-io:

The amount of ingredients depends on the size of your baking dish. These amounts are assuming you use a 2 quart casserole dish.

Ingredients:
2 cups elbow macaroni
1 lb Cheddar cheese grated (using the pre shredded doesn’t taste the same, the melting texture is different)
½ cup milk

Topping:
1/2 c. parmesean cheese
2 tbsp. butter (softened)
1 c. breadcrumbs
Mix these together.

1. Boil the macaroni and drain.
2. Place a small amount of cheese in the bottom of the casserole dish, layer half of the macaroni and then half of the remaining cheese and repeat.
3. Your top layer of cheese should cover all macaroni pieces.
4. Pour the milk around the entire top of the dish.
5. Spread the topping mixture to cover the top of the dish.
6. Place in a preheated 350 degree oven for approximately 30-35 minutes.

You should see no trace of the milk on the bottom and the top should be golden brown and crusty (you will fight to the death over the crusty top layer!).

Egg carton dinner

I thank Tera and Becky for giving me the warning about the egg carton and bacteria it could carry. It never crossed my mind so thank you for letting me (and my readers) know.



Abigail feeds herself well during mealtimes. She can grab anything within reach and put it away in her mouth. I like to try new and fun things so I took an egg carton and decided to use it much like the muffin tin I tried the other day. We had breakfast for dinner this night so I loaded each egg cup/section with scrambled eggs, small pieces of bacon, biscuit bites with jelly, cheerios, and small pieces of cheese. She loved it! The smaller sections allowed her to grab her food easier and there wasn't a bad mess to clean up afterwards.

Who do you love more?

It might sound harsh at first but it's so true. I feel the same toward Mitch and he is forever telling me the exact same thing. Our kids have never asked this question but, if they had, we would respond with the same answer. My heart is full of love for many people but my love is greatest for my husband.

I appreciate Challies for sharing his story.

Just for Melissa M.

This one is for you, Melissa M.. I thought you'd L-O-V-E it.

Nothing like the Breakfast Club re-invented.

Ugh.

Wordless Wednesday

It's H-O-T!

Dear Uncle Stuart,

Dear Uncle Stuart,
Mommy told me you left a voicemail on her phone telling her how boring her blog was yesterday because she didn't post anything new. Well, look at me! Are you happy now?

Oh yeah, you better come through with your promise to drive down to my house and play with me and my brothers. Yes, Mommy said you could bring your girlfriend but you better pay me more attention than her. Pretend I'm the only female in your life when you're here, ok?

I went to the post office today with Mommy and we mailed you a package full of candy, old pictures, and a McDonald's coupon. You owe me, dude.

Don't forget that I love you.

Say "uncle",
Abigail

Crafty blog

I found a new blog and have fallen in love.

Free Crayola Dry Erase markers

Click here to receive a free pack of Crayola Dry Erase markers. I plan on donating these to my son's school.

Troll cracks me up!

Mitch, Luke, and I were sitting on the couch yesterday (Andrew was at his grandparent's house and Abigail was napping) watching Olympic basketball when this commercial came on for the Lenovo Thinkpad computer. I'm sure it was one of those "you had to be there" moments but we giggled like crazy at the little troll man. Luke found our laughter amusing so I immediately went to YouTube to find the commercial so we could replay it anytime. Luke has been randomly shouting out, "Hoo-Ha, Hoo-Ha" all day. Enjoy???

Celebrating a cousin's birthday

Today is our cousin, E's, seventh birthday! We celebrated with all our family last night over at Aunt Val & Uncle Tyler's house. The food was yummy but we enjoyed the conversation a whole lot more. During the last hour together, all five grandchildren jumped in a swing and then moved on to play in the street where they rode bikes and scooters. We old folks sat around and wished we had "that much energy".

Thanks to FB/CIO Leslie

Leslie,

Thanks for commenting and offering these great coupon deals through Facebook. I'm sorry if I took offense to your original comment. I realize that you were only sending it as a caution to myself and others using the CIO offers. I was so excited about my savings that I just had to spread the word, which I hope, in turn, brought many new Facebook customers to the CIO application.

I'm not sure how the application will work in the future or if I'll ever see great savings again like I did before (the coupons are now listed for only $.50 off and seem to come and go). I look foward, however, to using them again if I can! Thanks for reading my blog!

No longer feeling spanked,
Jawan

"BIG BROTHER" is watching

Why do I feel like I'm in trouble?? I followed all the directions and have, in no way, taken advantage of anything. The comment below was left on my recent FB post about my exciting trip to Walmart. I appreciate the coupon agency's high standard but I feel like I'm being spanked. Gosh, nevermind...it's just my "coupon righteousness" I'm venting through.

Thanks for the excitement about the new Check It Out application and all the coupons. Check it Out is dedicated to providing relevant and engaging offers. This is a new application that we launched on Facebook and these coupons are real and were intended to draw attention to the launch of this new application.

All our coupons have quantity limits and are intended to be printed via our Check It Out application on Facebook only, not through copies or .pdf versions. We hope that you will respect this way of using the application and these deals so everyone can continue to benefit from the savings. We are aware that our Facebook link has been posted on many coupon sharing forums and internet sites and hope that you come back and look for more deals in the future. Contact us if you have more questions. Thank you again for your help.

Brothers

Brothers...they fight, scream, kiss, argue, play, help, snatch, hit, hug, share, bite, laugh, and they love.



I love watching my boys play together. I love it when they enjoy one another's company. Tonight, Luke got hit by a swing (yes, he was walking too close to it...imagine that). From a distance, as Luke was crying and holding his chin in pain, I watched Andrew stop what he was doing and gently direct Luke toward me, telling him along that path that "it was gonna be alright". *sniff sniff*

I love these kiddos.