Yummy!

About a minute after I set dinner (chicken pot pie) on the table I find this:

A crust thief!

I shouldn't be surprised though, 

when people ask him what his favorite pie is he says, "Chicken Pie!"

What girl doesn't love to lick some cookie dough?

I don't think this will be the last time these two will share some girl time over cookie dough.

My little monsters!

Sorry not monsters, robots.
In the paper bag industry of creating alter-egos these are robots.

So say the little monsters.

 

Olivia The Ballerina

Olivia started a ballet class in February.

She is so excited and I personally think she is the cutest ballerina I've ever seen.

Valentines Day

For breakfast I made these ...

  

Cinnamon Rolls in the shape of a heart!

And for dinner Scott made me this ...

Spaghetti in the shape of a heart and salad with heart shaped tomatoes and carrots!

Top Ten Reasons to Hang a Tire Swing ...

#10

#9

 

#8

#7

 

#6 
 

#5
 

#4

 

#3 
 

#2

  

#1
 

I should post a picture when they all get on together!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is so much fun for me.  I love the cooking and the chaos!  This year we had our "Florida Family", The Bests over.  A couple of years ago we found out that Scott and Michelle Best are the 5th cousins.  Since most of their family is in Utah and our closest family is in Gainsville (4 1/2 hours north) it is nice to have some "family" close!  Now for the pictures of the awesome food!!!!!

 

Homemade rolls, broiled green beans, homemade cranberry sauce, turkey,

sweet potato casserole & deviled eggs

  

I love this cutting board.  My hubby and brother-in-law made this for my birthday one year - beautiful!

(And you thought I was going to say something about that gorgeous bird!)

These are the Best kids - get it!  Seriously we love you guys!

Happy Birthday Hiram!

Hiram is the most helpful 4 year old I know. He is always ready to open a door for his Mama, sweep the floor, water the garden or get Bailey dressed. I'm not sure what I did without him. Hiram has a great work ethic that he gets from his Papa and also enjoys his alone time like his Mama - I couldn't ask for a better guy :)

So this year Hiram had four birthday requests - #1 a balloon, #2 a doughnut, #3 cotton candy and #4 a party blower. So above you can see the balloon and the party blower is in the pocket. The doughnuts came for breakfast on the morning of his birthday and the cotton candy (he had never had any before) came later in the evening when Scott took him to a carnival up the road. He would have been totally happy with just those four. (See why I love this guy!)

However since I am such a nice Mama I also made him browine cupcakes with chocolate frosting and sprinkles - I think he liked them a little :)

The haul:
Balloon - $1
Party blower - 8 for $1, we used two so $0.25 (we will save the rest for other birthdays)
Doughnuts - $2
Cotton candy - $4 (that is what we get for buying it at a carnival)
Denim bean bag - $0.25 (thrift store had the cover, Scott and I shredded styrofoam blocks for the beans)
Denim bed skirt - $1 (thrift store)
Up movie - FREE (coupons + rebates)
Octopus - $0.25 (Walgreens clearance)
Tool box - FREE (Grandma Cindie got it at an auction for free)

Grand total - $8.75
(Next year he can buy his own cotton candy!)

Kids clothes

Alright, so how do you organize the clothes your kids have outgrown - I feel like they are taking over and we only have 4 years worth of clothes!

So this is what I have been doing so far.  Monday is my laundry day so when something comes out of the wash that I know was too small the last time they wore it I put it in boxes to save for the inevitable "next child".  Each of my boxes has about 6 months worth of clothes, labeled accoridng to size.  I keep the boxes on the shelf above the laundry so I can put them away immediately.  Recently some of the boxes were VERY full so I decided to downsize.  I just wish there was an easier way!

I would love to hear you ideas!!!!!

Happy Birthday Olivia!

We are so thankful that our little Olivia is a part of our family! We enjoy learning more about her every day and know that this is only just the beginning.

She was so pleased to learn that these presents were for her -
she thought they were for someone else!

Olivia loves being able to tell (and show) everyone that she is 2!

The haul:
2 Angelina Ballerina movies - $1 (garage sale)
2 books - FREE (mine from when I was little)
8 "princess" rings - $1 (Dollar Tree)

Grand Total: $2

~~She loved the book about letters.
She can already point to and say
"B for Bailey, H for Hiram and O for ME!"~~

Ants on a log!

Thanks to Grandma Cindie Hiram and Olivia now know about ants on a log. It seems as though they like them, what do you think?

Frugal Baby

You know those walker/exersaucer things
that parents buy to put their baby in?
The ones with all the toys around the baby
that cost like $50 to $100.

Those babies were never as happy as this baby :)

Our New House

After about ten years of saving, one year of looking and several offers later we now OWN our first home! We are so excited that all of our work has paid off - literally. Although it has not been easy living the way that we do (http://livingbelowpovertyline.blogspot.com/) we now have something to show for it. Proving that BIG sacrifices really do give BIG rewards.

(Disclaimer: Just because we have reached one of our big goals don't expect that we will become any less frugal, if anything we will just get worse. Sorry kids, this is your birthday and Christmas presents for at least the next decade. You will appreciate this when you are older much more than a pile of junk that you only play with for a few days anyway.)

House Continued

Looking south out the back door.

Looking East out the back door.

Looking West out the back door.

OAMC - Chicken Recipes

Ok so I have had several people ask me about how to cook all of your family's dinners for one month in one day. I AM NOT an expert. I do what works for my family. It will be different for everyone. We love leftovers and don't mind eating the same thing 3 days in a row. You can begin my Googling "OAMC" that stands for Once A Month Cooking. Then just start with one week and work your way up to one month. I will start posting some of my favorite freezer recipes. These are all ones that I have tried out multiple times (freezing and eating). I don't have picky eaters so even my 2 year old eats this stuff. If you do have picky eaters, tell them to get over it and send them to bed hungry - they will eat eventually.

Easy Chicken & Cheese Enchiladas
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup picante sauce or salsa
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 cups chopped cooked chicken (I do 1 cup rice and 1 cup chicken)
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
6 flour tortillas
1 tomato, chopped
1 green onion, sliced

Stir the soup, sour cream, picante sauce and chili powder in bowl. (To freeze - at this point put in a quart bag and freeze. When ready to eat, thaw and continue.) Stir 1 cup picante sauce mixture, chicken and cheese in a large bowl. Divide the chicken mixture among the tortillas. Roll up the tortillas and place them seam side up in a 11x8" shallow baking dish. Pour the remaining picante sauce mixture over the filled tortillas. Cover the baking dish. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until the enchiladas are hot and bubbling. Top with tomato and onion.

Chicken Pot Pie
1/3 cup butter
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/3 flour
1 3/4 cup chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
10 ounces frozen vegetables, thawed and drained
1-2 cups cut cooked chicken
double pie crust

Melt butter in a 2 quart sauce pot. Saute onions. Wisk in flour. Cook until bubbly. Remove from heat. Stir in broth and milk. Return to heat and heat to boiling. Stir in vegetables and chicken. (To freeze - at this point put chicken mixture into a gallon sized bag and freeze. When ready to eat, thaw and continue.) Roll half of the pie crust to fit ungreased 9x9x2 pan. Pour chicken mixture into crust lined pan. Roll other half to fit over the top. Turn crust under and crimp edges. Bake at 425 for 35 minutes or until golden brown.

Tetrazzini
12 oz noodles, cooked and drained
1 1/2 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
3 cups shredded cheese
4 cups diced chicken
2 teaspoons parsley

Saute onion and garlic in butter, Add soup, broth and 1 1/2 cups of cheese. Cook until smooth. Add chicken and noodles. (To freeze - at this point scoop into a gallon sized bag and freeze. When ready to eat thaw and continue.) Turn into baking dish. Cover with foil. Bake 30 minutes at 350. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and parsley. Bake until melted.

Grandma Jamison comes to Florida

Alright, so this is a month late - sorry!

Grandma Jamison (Scott's dad's mom) came to Florida in the middle of June for Emma's (our neice) baptism. We are first so thankful that she was willing to come all the way from Utah to Florida. Second we were thrilled to see where she used to live in Florida.

This was their house - so cute. We all got out and she told us some stories. She said they owned the lot next door and that they had a cow.

This is lake right across the street from her house. Beautiful!

University of Florida

While they lived in Florida, Scott's grandpa worked for the University of Florida. This was the lab he worked in.
This is a picture of Vernon (far right) working in the lab.

He did agriculturial research. No wonder Grandma can grow anything!

Hotel

So when Grandma was in Florida, we went up to James and Tawnya's house in Gainsville and the kids got to stay in a hotel for the first time! I was a little worried about how all five of us sleeping in the same room would go but as it turns out they were great.

Getting ready for bed.

Sweet dreams

Good morning sunshine

Eat Mor Chikin!

Here are our pictures of Olivia and Bailey dressed as cows to get our free lunches at Chick-Fil-A. Unfortunately Hiram was being a little bull and would hide behind me every time someone tried to take a picture!

Checklist For A Rainy Florida Day

Chair and blanket fort for the kiddies ... check.

Good book for me ... check.

Chocolate for me ... triple check!

What a way to spend an hour in the morning :)