Jekyll Island, it is!

We decided to stay close to home for our vacation, so we are heading to historic Jekyll Island, off the coast of Georgia, for camping and beachy fun. 

Oregon trip is off….

….sigh….

I was really looking forward to a cross-country road trip with my family.  (We were going to stop at Mt Rushmore!!)  Unfortunately, this trip grew out of a business trip my husband has to take, and the bank he’s visiting pushed the date bake to sometime in August.  The kids will be in school then, so we can’t go.

The silver lining:  we are still taking a vacation.  A smaller one.  Less miles!  We haven’t decided where we are going to go.  We’ll still be camping.  Maybe we’ll go to the Georgia coast?  Maybe the Smokey Mountains?  This is going to need some thought.

And, we are still going to Smith Mountain Lake for the 4th.  I’m super excited about that! 

Our sleeping bags came in the mail.  Guess who loves hers?

As cozy as a bug in a rug!

Tea Party!

Vanessa Valencia, from A Fanciful Twist, is throwing a tea party today!  I participated on my other blog. Check it out!  Lots of fun!

You're invited!

Free Cheap Paper Flower Tutorial!

If you are like me, and you occasionally frequently buy bottled wine, you end up with quite a few brown paper bags lying around the kitchen.  Oh, you throw them out?  Don’t!  They can be made in to so many things!  One idea?  Paper flowers!

What you’ll need:  six paper bags from the grocery store, a role of florist tape, six plastic beads with holes large enough to string on wire, wire for stringing, scissors, wire cutter, and paint (optional–if you want to paint your flowers.)

Gather your supplies

Using something round (the florist tape roll works!) or free hand, draw circles on the bag.

Stagger your circles as pictured, drawing three on each bag.

Cut threw all layers of the paper bag, and make a pile of circles. (1 bag = 1 flower) By cutting close to the edge, you should get three circles from each cut. (The third comes from the fold)

Set aside circle piles, keeping each of the six separated.  Move on to making the stems.

Cut wire twice the length of the desired stem length. (This should be done by an adult!)

String a bead onto the wire and center it.

Fold both sides of wire down, and twist wire. (Easiest if you hold wire while twisting the bead!)

Repeat this step to make remaining stems.

Pick up a stack of circles.

Take each stack of circles, fold, and, using scissors, cut a small slit in the cent of the fold, making sure to cut threw all layers.

Poke stem into slit

Wrap florist tape around the stem, giving extra attention to the base of the flower.

Take "flower" into your and and scrunch

A bouquet of paper flowers!

Healthy, Pretty Snack!

(And it’s pretty healthy, too.)

If you are about “clean eating,” this snack is for you!  (And kids love it, too!)

Fresh Fruit and Yogurt Parfait

Very simple, very good!

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 Large Strawberries

1 Ripe Peach, diced

4 raspberries

4 heaping tbsp lowfat plain yogurt

agave nectar (for drizzling)

Instructions:

Very simple!

1.) Slice each strawberries and dice peaches, and divide between four dessert cups.

2.) Spoon a dollup of yogurt into each cup, on top of the fruit.

3.) Drizzle agave nectar over each dollop, and garnish with a raspberry!

Enjoy!

(Note:  Agave nectar can be found in health food stores, as well as some supermarkets, near the organic sweeteners.)

Bread baking, take…five

This has to be the fifth time I’ve attempted to bake my own bread.  I want to do it, really I do!  I want to be a bread baking artisan.  Unfortunately, not mainy of my attempts have come out at all like I wanted them to.

So, I’m trying again.

In the interest of saving money (because, good bread is EXPENSIVE), I am trying again using this recipe.  It is different than the previous breads I have baked, in which the yeast is added to the warm water first.  This one, the dry ingredients are mixed first.

We’ll see how it turns out.  I’m a little worried.  I hope I didn’t kill off all my little yeasties.  Bread is no good without yeast.

I really wish I were able to save money like some people I see on the net.  (The Hillbilly Housewife, for one.)  I’m just no good at saving!  I have no idea where it all goes?  (Perhaps in my craft room with the hodge podge of supplies I’ll never use?)

I need to get this under control, or my dreams of homesteading in the wild mountians of Montana will never come to fruition.

Frugal Chrissy.  That’s my new name.  Do not refer to me by any other.

Cue the scary music…

It’s hot.  Okay, not as hot as this mom is dealing with, but hot enough that I don’t want to go out and do the walking I should be doing.  Where does that leave me?  With three kids, indoors. Do you know what it is like to be trapped inside with three out of control kids, who despite your efforts to keep them from doing thing like jumping on the bed and hitting each other, they do it the second you leave the room?  It’s something like this:

I’m not complaining…okay, I’m complaining.  It’s just, I pictured summer a little differently…with less crying and screaming…from me.

If only I had a fenced in yard.  If only I had a nanny.  If only I had three well-behaved kids…

Well, they’re not that bad.  They’re just kids!  They get into stuff, break stuff, hide stuff, and covet stuff.

I just have to keep reminding myself…

“They’re only kids, they’re only kids, they’re only kids…”

Cheap Summer Fun!

Tags

birdhouse, cheap, cheap craft, kid's craft, summer fun

Looking for something to occupy the kids for about a half hour?  Don’t have a lot of cash to spend?  Paint a birdhouse!

We found a small wooden birdhouse at Joanne Fabric for $1.00.  I let my son pick out two colors from Joanne’s “Essentials” acrylic paint, each at .50 cents!  The paint brushes were about a buck.  The newspaper was free, as was the small jar I fished out of my garage (I NEVER throw away a good glass jar) and the top to a coffee can (I NEVER throw away a good coffee can!).

Gather your supplies

Paint!

Brag...

Voila

Aaron and his father did this one a few weeks back

Franken-cake

It was a dark and stormy afternoon...

Having promised a German Chocolate Cake to her husband...

...the Good Wife began to bake.

Nobody's perfect, and neither is the good wife, who foolishly seperated her eggs several feet from the bowl.

All was fine, though, as her assistant ran to get a towel.

"Let's be smart," she said, "and crack the eggs over the measuring cup."

Back on track, the good wife combined the flour with the chocolatey batter. Into the oven it went.

An hour or so later….

Mmmmm....

"What have I done?" She cried. "I've created a MONSTER!"

THE END.

Still no Cakey Post

Today was spent running around town, doing a little bit o’this, a little bit o’that.

The highlight of today was when, distracted by a crying boy who “bumped heads” with another crying boy, I spilled a whole bucket of bleachy water all over the kitchen floor, creating a large, clorinated pool under my kitchen table.  Hmmm…the bright side?  It cut my mopping time in half.

By the way, why do boys have to be so physical?  What’s with all the hitting and wrestling?

I watched my best friend’s little girl this morning.  Her girl is just a year younger than my six year old.  Her little girl has recently begun to become boy crazy.  My little boy is the target.  The horror!

Why do kids try to grow up so fast?

I started having my first crushes at the same age.  Why is it that little girls start oh, so very young?

Please, oh please, give me at least another six years before Aaron starts becoming interested in girls.  I can’t bare the thought of closed bedroom doors (not in my house!)

Aaron and my BFF's daughter Ani--almost three years ago!