Guest Posting at Crystal's Craft Spot!

Hey! I'm over at Crystal's Craft Spot today! I posted a tutorial on how to make washer necklaces! So much fun!!! Come on over to say hi!!!

A Maternity Shirt into a Scarf!

My daughter has been BEGGING me to buy her a scarf but I decided to make her one! And while cleaning out my closet, I found this old maternity shirt that I didn't even wear my last pregnancy... So why not turn it into her scarf?



The first thing I did was cut off the sleeves and then a piece from the front and cut them all equal width...



And then just sewed them end-to-end with right sides together. Because I used the shirt, one end of each piece was hemmed... so I made I had a hem on each end...



Next I just sewed it inside out (right sides together into a tube)...



Turn inside out and you have a scarf that your 6-year-old is THRILLED with!!!



And I still have a bunch of shirt left! Wonder what I will do with it!?! lol

Wordless Wednesday: A Face Only A Mother Could Love

Linking up to 5 Minutes 4 Mom

Banana Bread - SO good!!!

My mom's recipe for banana bread is SO good! I LOVE this banana bread! So good and SO easy!

Because my kiddos aren't big fans of the nuts (I use walnuts), I leave them out for the first 1 - 2 loaves. But I think the nuts are a definite must for my loaf!

Table Talk

I feel that dinner time is SUCH an important time for the family to gather and talk about the days events. Sometimes it can be stressful though (especially for me, the mom) or I feel that not much "family bonding" is going on...

So when I read about Alison's Family Dinner Questions at "How Does She?" I knew I had to try it... And it was a HIT! I was surprised how much the kids enjoyed it and ask to do it at every meal! So much fun!

Here's what I did:

1. I found an old peanut butter jar, washed it out and took off the label.

2. I then measured it and designed some labels with my digital scrapbooking software. You could do it with scrapbook paper if you don't digital scrapbook... I picked a blue color scheme because I knew that the lid to my jar was blue... Then you cut them out!



3. I went to How Does She? and printed all three sets of the family dinner questions out, cut them apart, folded them and put them in the jar.



4. I just took some two-sided scrapbook tape and attached my labels to the jar... Beautiful!



What we do:
At dinner (we usually do it 3 - 4 times a week), each person take a turn picking a question. We then go around that table and everyone answers the question... Then the next person picks a question... and we continue until everyone has picked a question.

The kids have loved it and we have learned some great facts from the "How Does She?" questions... such as how to keep from crying while chopping onions and how far a kangeroo can jump! Or what neighbors the kids think are "scary"... And the questions have sometimes evolve to something else... like everyone showing us the dance they do when no one else is looking! lol

SO much fun!!!

St. Patrick's Day

I LOVE celebrating holidays with the kids and decided last year that it was important to make the holidays and birthdays special because it gives the kids good memories... and maybe when they are older they won't just remember me yelling and screaming all the time... lol

Last night I decided to kick St. Patrick's Day off with a St. Patrick's Day family night (we couldn't do it Monday night). We talked about St. Patrick's Day and how it came to be and about clovers and how they can represent the Godhead with their 3 leaves. For treats, Andre and I made a fruit rainbow - we used strawberries, mandarin oranges, pineapple, kiwi, blueberries, and grapes - and some fruit dip.

I got the idea from Michelle at Someday Crafts and it was definitely a hit with the whole family! I can't wait to do a family night on Noah's Ark and do this as the treat again!

Last night, we had a naughty little leprechaun sneak in (as he does every year) and dye our milk green. And then this morning, I made green eggs (a tradition) and also green shamrock pancakes (something new this year). I also dyed the orange juice green.

And a trick I learned, although it's probably obvious for most people (I'm a little slow)... for the eggs and the o.j, I added blue food coloring instead of green because yellow and blue makes green! It worked much better! lol

Book Review: The Goose Girl

Can I just say that I LOVED the book The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale?

I borrowed this book from a friend almost two years ago and JUST got around to FINALLY reading it! I wish I would of done it years ago!

I liked it so much that I had to tell my kids the story line as I read it because I knew they would LOVE it too since it was about princesses and bad guys! And they even had me read it to them towards the end!

I can't wait to read the next one in the series!!!




Books on My List: (BOLD - Currently Reading; Purple - I finished it!)

Books on my bookcase I REALLY want to read:

• The Goose Girl - Shannon Hale


• Fishers of Men - Gerald N. Lund


• 101 Powerful Promises from Latter-day Prophets - Wayne Brickey


• God Wants a Powerful People - Sheri Dew


• Daughters of God - S. Michael Wilcox


• If Life Were Easy, It Wouldn't Be Hard - Sheri Dew


• Total Money Makeover - Dave Ramsey


• How to Win Friends and Influence People - Dale Carnegie


• Saving Kristen - Jack Weyland


• Please Pass the Scriptures - John Hilton III


• 10 Secrets Wise Parents Know - Brent L. Top & Bruce A. Chadwick


• The Christmas Sweater - Glenn Beck


• Life of Joseph Smith - George Q. Cannon


• The Five Thousand Year Leap - W. Cleon Skousen


• The Peacegiver - James L. Ferrell

Book Club Books:

• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society - Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows


• Gracie: A Love Story - George Burns


• The Wednesday Wars - Gary Schmidt


• A Train to Potevka - Mike Ramsdell


• Book of a Thousand Days - Shannon Hale


• Fine Old High Priests - Donald S. Smurthwaite


• Three Cups of Tea - Gary Mortenson


• Warriors Don't Cry - Melba Pattillo Beals


• Mayflower - Nathaniel Philbrick


• The Host - Stephanie Meyers I've read this one before and LOVED it but will do a quick review before book club

Other Books I'd Like To Read:

• Overcoming Under Earning - Barbara Stanny


• The Undaunted - Gerald N. Lund


• The Great and The Terrible Series (vol. 1-6) - Chris Stewart


• My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult


• Sarah's Quilt - Nancy E. Turner


• Forest Born - Shannon Hale


• The Best of Times: A Dickens Inn Novel - Anita Stansfield


• The Silence of Snow - Anita Stansfield


• The Last Song - Nicholas Sparks


• Dear John - Nicholas Sparks (NEW on list: 3/7/10)


• Open: An Autobiography - Andre Agassi (NEW on list: 3/710)

Honey Mustard Chicken

I got this recipe from church because they served it at a dinner activity just over a year ago and everyone raved about it (I wasn't at the activity). I picked up the recipe and finally gave it a try a few months ago and the family LOVED it! It's definitely a favorite in my house!

Book Review: The Wednesday Wars

I finished reading The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it, although it wasn't until the last couple chapters that it really grabbed me.

The chapters were long - which for me is hard because I always look ahead to see how long the chapter is and if it's too long to read in the amount of time I have, I will wait to start it - and this makes me take longer to read it... I know, kind of ridiculous, but I do like shorter chapters in my books! lol

I have never been one to understand Shakespeare and enjoyed reading of a boy who learns to read and enjoy and UNDERSTAND it!

As I said, it didn't really grab me until the last couple chapters (meaning I had a hard time putting it down) but the last chapters were awesome and I LOVED the ending!

And although we haven't met for book club yet, I've heard others LOVED the book and it definitely sounds like a favorite for many of them!

Books on My List: (BOLD - Currently Reading; Purple - I finished it!)

Books on my bookcase I REALLY want to read:

• The Goose Girl - Shannon Hale
• Fishers of Men - Gerald N. Lund
• 101 Powerful Promises from Latter-day Prophets - Wayne Brickey
• God Wants a Powerful People - Sheri Dew
• Daughters of God - S. Michael Wilcox
• If Life Were Easy, It Wouldn't Be Hard - Sheri Dew
• Total Money Makeover - Dave Ramsey
• How to Win Friends and Influence People - Dale Carnegie
• Saving Kristen - Jack Weyland
• Please Pass the Scriptures - John Hilton III
• 10 Secrets Wise Parents Know - Brent L. Top & Bruce A. Chadwick
• The Christmas Sweater - Glenn Beck
• Life of Joseph Smith - George Q. Cannon
• The Five Thousand Year Leap - W. Cleon Skousen
• The Peacegiver - James L. Ferrell

Book Club Books:

• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society - Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
• Gracie: A Love Story - George Burns
• The Wednesday Wars - Gary Schmidt
• A Train to Potevka - Mike Ramsdell
• Book of a Thousand Days - Shannon Hale
• Fine Old High Priests - Donald S. Smurthwaite
• Three Cups of Tea - Gary Mortenson
• Warriors Don't Cry - Melba Pattillo Beals
• Mayflower - Nathaniel Philbrick
• The Host - Stephanie Meyers I've read this one before and LOVED it but will do a quick review before book club

Other Books I'd Like To Read:

• Overcoming Under Earning - Barbara Stanny
• The Undaunted - Gerald N. Lund
• The Great and The Terrible Series (vol. 1-6) - Chris Stewart
• My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult
• Sarah's Quilt - Nancy E. Turner
• Forest Born - Shannon Hale
• The Best of Times: A Dickens Inn Novel - Anita Stansfield
• The Silence of Snow - Anita Stansfield
• The Last Song - Nicholas Sparks
• Dear John - Nicholas Sparks (NEW on list: 3/7/10)
• Open: An Autobiography - Andre Agassi (NEW on list: 3/710)

Works For Me Wednesday: Fast-n-Easy Shoe Polish

I am the WORST at taking care of my shoes! I must drag my feet or something when I walk because my boots and dress shoes are ALWAYS needing to be polished! The toes are always worn out and scuffed...

I remember watching my dad polish his shoes all the time growing up and there has been MANY times that I have thought to myself that I need to have him show me what to do, but to be honest... I have NO idea how to polish shoes and don't have any shoe polish - even if I did know how!

Well, I have some black boots that I LOVE but haven't worn for awhile because the toes are SO bad it's embarassing! So this week I decided I'd try to take a black sharpie marker to them...

I LOVED the results! Why didn't I do this MONTHS ago?!?

Yeah, if you look real, REAL close you can tell that it isn't the same color - but who's going to be getting down on the ground looking at my boots?

Now to find a brown marker that will work on my brown boots...

Menu Monday: 3/8/10

This past week I tried the Parmesan Asparagus (it was delicious) and the Orange Chicken & Ham Fried Rice - which will be added into the menu rotation!

Monday: Alfredo Mac-n-cheese/Breadsticks/Veggies

Tuesday: Sloppy Joes/Homemade Fries/Veggies

Wednesday: Cafe Rio Salad/Key Lime Bars

Thursday: Lasagna Rolls/Salad/Garlic Bread

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: Shrimp/Grits/Salad

Sunday: Tif's Chicken on Egg Noodles/Veggies/Fruit Salad

Treats: Banana Bread / Key Lime Bars / Fruit Pizza

Inspirational Sunday: Tender Mercies

I am SO thankful for the Tender Mercies in my life and when I saw this video, it encouraged me to be more aware of those little blessings in my life.