We're Going Digital-Honey Do List

Hold on to your hats people we are Going Digital!!!

I thought it would be fun to share one of my digital creations, just because!

If you're anything like me, (crazy) and you run your house anything like I do, (organized chaos) then you have lists and calendars every where and for everyone. My husband sadly is not an exception to my lists. In fact truth be told he gets hit pretty hard.

He's a trooper however and though he rarely hits 100%, he does pretty well. Solid B I'd say!

Weekly I write him up a list... a Honey-Dew List, (nice play on words) and let him know what I errands, chores...I need him to take care of. I have been utilizing one of my many, many notebooks but recently I decided to play in the digital world. I created myself a dry erase, reusable Honey-Dew list in an effort to be more green or just because I have a weird obsession with my lamination machine & dry erase markers (a little from column A, a little from column B...)


The plan? To hang this bad boy right up on the fridge (see it's clever because I know that he'll quite often go to the fridge).

I've linked this so that you can download it for yourself if you want, otherwise you can find it in my "freebies." Just print the size you want, laminate and BAM! you're ready to pull out those dry erase markers and get to listing!

Fair warning though Dry Erase at your own risk-I can not be held responsible for you getting carried away and this list becoming a mile long. Use discretion ladies!


And, because I'm feeling CRAZY today I'm also going to throw in my matching grocery shopping list!
I do the same here, print, laminate, fridge it, and dry erase mark that sucker up!

Hope you guys enjoy!

Happy Dry Erasing!!

Two-fer Tuesday-Two Great Sites

Two-fer Tuesdays is back!!!

Yay!!!

Okay let's jump right in. Today I thought it would be fun to share two great websites with you, these sites are super fun, and they will be a life saver to you this Summer!

The first site is one that I found to be a great tool to keep my kids sharp during the Summer months when they are off of school while also buying me a little time to get some work done.
TLS Books.com
This site is offers free printable worksheets for each subject and grade level from Preschool to Sixth Grade, and best of all they are FREE! (you may cheer now for free, b/c who doesn't cheer for free?)

My second Summer-saving site is perfect for when you want to switch gears and put on your crafting hat. I always like to incorporate a little craft time in with my kids...(I'm hoping to inspire the next generation of craft bloggers)
Education.com
This site offers a wide array of crafting ideas do keep those little hands busy this Summer. You can choose activities by subject, grade level, or theme, and you can stop holding your breath because these are also FREE!!

YAY! Too Much Fun!

If you haven't already (shame on you) you should rush over and find yourself some lovely activities to do with your own little monkey's this Summer!! You know, for when it's just too hot (not possible if you ask me) outside, or it's inside, calm down, mommy needs a minute time (we all have those moments...right?)

ANNOUNCEMENT: Hold on to your hats folks it's a doozy...

I will also be starting a new feature Crafty Kids Corner where once a week I will share activities and ideas for crafty fun with your little ones, so be looking out for that.

New To The Shop!

In case you missed it, here is a snippet of all the wonderful new goodies we have added to the shop since last time!



Check them out, and if you feel so inclined make an order to two!!

Family Home Evening-Reverence is Love

Reverence is Love

(It's True)

With our Summer Bucket List well under way, (no seriously we are knocking things off left and right...update on that coming soon!) this week we turned our F.H.E. attention back to the gospel.

As I have mentioned before, we often try and tailor our F.H.E. lessons toward principles we feel our kids, family or home are in need of, or could benefit from at this moment. It's sometimes apparent to us what that lesson might be and some times we have to ask for a little inspiration to guide us toward the right lesson.

This week was one that let's say manifested itself to me a few times over the last few weeks. It appears that our kids are in desperate need to be reminded of the basic principle of Reverence. They're still pretty young, (6,4,3 and 10 months), so we try to go over basic principles such as this every now and again to refresh their memories.

Of course for this lesson I went straight to my favorite F.H.E. site for a little guidance. Have I mentioned how much I adore A Year of F.H.E.? In case you missed it, I love love love this site! It has everything and anything you are looking for, it's easy to use and follow, and it's FREE! Who doesn't like Free?? If you check it out and love it as much as I do, please consider making a donation. (It not only let's them feel the love, but also helps to keep the site Free).

So I went to my trusty F.H.E. site and back in the lessons for 2010 I found exactly the lesson I was looking for. Check it out here. It came complete as all their lessons do, with the lesson, song choice, activities and printables. It is seriously a one stop shop there, so easy!

I printed up all my goodies, pulled out my laminator and we were set and ready to go for a fantastic F.H.E.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy, and the whole process from start to finish took me probably under half an hour! Can't beat that...I dare you to try!

Oh I almost forgot click here to see our Family Home Evening Treat, Vanilla Mousse Cheesecake
because you can't have F.H.E. without a treat! ( seriously you can't it's in the rules).

Winner Winner What's For Dinner

Here is our Yummy Menu for this Week!

Monday: Baked Ziti, Garlic Bread, Poppy Seed Bacon & Mozzarella Salad



Tuesday: Bacon-Wrapped Teriyaki Chicken Kabobs, Caramelized Green Beans



Wednesday: Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Burritos, Melted Beans, Salad

Thursday: Asian BBQ Chicken, Lime-Cilantro Rice



Friday: Gone for the 4th of July weekend

Saturday Morning Breakfast: German Pancakes

Sunday Dinner: Root Beer Pot Roast, mashed potatoes

This Week's Sweet Treat: Vanilla Mousse Cheesecake

Enjoy!

Happy cooking!

Family Home Evening-Summer Bucket List

Summer Bucket List

(Woot Woot)

Okay so it is officially Summer, (can I get a Woot Woot!?)and even though the boy doesn't get out of school until the 1st of July (that's year round school for ya...L.A.M.E.), we are starting our Summer Celebrations tomorrow!!!

And so the hubs and I decided that for our Family Home Evening this week we would kick off our Summer Fun by making a plan so that we could be the Clan with a Plan, (Dorky I know but admit that it made you chuckle a little...)

I saw this

amaze-balls Summer Fun chart here (F.Y.I. these girls are amazing!!) and long story short I had to have one of my very own...

With slight modifications of course.
(Vintage G... I like to get inspiration and then tweak ideas to make them a littler more my own.)

I HAD to have the journal to go along with it though...

it's just way to cute an idea!

Monday night for F.H.E. the kids, the hubs and I sat down and created our Summer Bucket List of 50 fun activities and adventures to embark on this Summer! The kids had a blast naming off every fun thing they could think of and every yummy treat from here to Texas!

Needless to say that our Summer Bucket List sure got me super excited to start checking off our Summer adventures, and you can only imagine how excited my little tykes are! They're pumped to say the least!!

Our plan is to come as close as we can to checking off each activity as we can...we're shooting for 100% but we'll have to see how things shake out. Our mission is to photo journal each activity we do and add it to our journal.

Every now and then I'll try and share our progress and a few of our pics just for kicks. I'm listing in the freebies our list of 50 Summer Adventures just in case you want some inspiration for your Summer or you want to join in on the fun.

Also if you click here you will actually be able to get the printables and instructions from The Crafting Chicks to make a Summer Fun chart of your very own!
(I'm hoping that that sentence was met with Oprah giveaway type acclaim...)

Here also is a link to our FHE Sweet Treat for the week: Creamy Lemon Squares they are mmm...mmm...good!



Remember: A silly family is a happy family!

Let's Get Homey-Birthday Countdown Blocks

Yay for Birthdays!!!

Birthdays are kind of a big deal around here, at least for me! I love birthdays...even my own (weird thought huh?)

I love making a big deal out of birthdays, especially when it comes to my kids or the hubs. I plan them for months in advance, thoughtfully consider each gift, and I'm pretty sure whether it's my birthday or not I'm the most excited person in the room!

While I love celebrating birthday's and going all out, I am a woman of reason with limits (Did you just hear someone laugh?). As a general rule, like most of you out there I'm sure, we try really hard not to spoil our kids. Don't misunderstand me we still gift, but they're smaller more meaningful gifts, and just 1 or 2. We leave the spoilin' to the grandparents...because who are we kidding really it's their right.

And since our kids are drowning in grandparents, the hubs and I decided last year that we would shift gears when it came to birthdays and focus more on making each birthday a memorable experience.

How you ask?
By jam packing each birthday with FUN of course!

So fast forward to the present...my little man is turning 6, and I'm of course super pumped to stuff this birthday with fun until it pukes (confetti is what I imagine a birthday would puke?) and this is what I created as our helpful family birthday visual aid (because there has to be a visual aid...no doy...yea that just happened)

Our Family Birthday Countdown Blocks!!!
Ta DA!
Are you loving it as much as me?

Here's how these bad boys work:
Okay so to truly make each birthday a CELEBRATION, we've got to really celebrate it. With the countdown blocks we are doing just that...celebrating for an entire week! Yea you read that right...I said a week of birthday...Genius Right?

So what I do is have the birthday boy/girl sit down and think up 8 fun things that they want to do to celebrate (within reason... I'm not flying anyone to Paris here just going mini golfing). This is key to ensuring a memorable birthday celebration! So the 8th event of course is the major event that they actually want to do on their birthday. For us this usually entails an entire day of "whatever you want." Your favorite breakfast, favorite lunch, favorite activity, and favorite dinner and dessert. (Get the drill?)

Each candle holds one event, the biggest candle in the middle holds the Birthday day celebration. A week before the birthday we fill out the candles, and each day the birthday boy/girl picks a candle from the countdown and we do whatever fun activity is listed on the back. Easy Peasy right?

I didn't do it for this birthday, but from now on out I'm thinking we should add a photo journal showcasing photos of each event- you know for memories. Who doesn't love memories?



So, Would you like to make your own Family Birthday Countdown Blocks?

First thing you want to do is to cut, sand, and paint your blocks. My blocks were 3 1/4x3 1/4x10", 3 1/4x3 1/4x7", and 3 1/4x3 1/4x4"
After sanding, paint them up whatever color floats your boat and let dry completely. (I spray painted mine for faster drying and because as we know I am impatient)


Next you'll want to get out your cutsie stock pile of scrapbook paper, find a few sheets you love and that match and cut some pieces to cover the front of your blocks. (I just traced the blocks to find the size and cut a little smaller to show edging)
Mod Podge those suckers on, use a credit card or scrapping tool and start from the middle and go out to the edges to help avoid bubbles. Let dry completely.

Once your blocks are dry, or slightly before if you can't wait like me, you'll want to take the top block and poke 8 holes randomly in the top of the block for the candles (be sure to center 1 hole). I did this with a nail, hammer and my brute strength (seriously do you keep hearing someone laughing?). You'll want to make sure your hole size coincides with the gauge of your wire. Also, poke your holes about 1/4-1/2 of an inch deep.

Take your wire, and wire cutters and cut yourself 7 pieces of about equal length and 1 slightly longer. You'll first have to eyeball how tall you want your candles to stick up, to decide how long to cut your pieces.
For mine, I wanted the candles in total to be about 5-5.5 inches tall. The candles themselves are about 4 inches with the middle candle slightly taller so I cut my wire 2 inches long and 1 about 2.5.
(you have to add a little for the 1/2 inch deepness of the hole and also for the curling of the wire).
Once you have your pieces cut, take your pliers or fingers and curl your wire into a spiral (I just curled twice).
Really just play around with it until you like the look. Keep the spiral fairly tight so that it can hold the candle.

On to the Candles...for this part we need the services of our handy dandy Silhouette Machine. So bust that bad boy out!

I first visited the Silhouette Store and found myself some lovely birthday candles, and for this particular project we used the print and cut feature. I colored in my candles to my liking,

INSERT PIC OF PRINT SCREEN OF CANDLES

printed and then cut out each candle and...
Voila!

At this point I had my little man fill out each candle with his chosen activities...

Here's the activities my little man choose:
1. Photo Shoot for 6 year pics (that one was mine)
2. Bouncy House
3. Day @ the Park
4. X-Box Kinect Day
5. Library
6. Wii Day
7. Bake Cookies
8. The big one: Chocolate Chip Muffins for Breakfast, Grilled Cheese for Lunch, Rumbi for Dinner (Hawaii Noodles as we call them around here), Fun Day @ the Family Fun Center (mini golf, bouncy house, bowling...), and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake for Dessert.

Next, add each candle to the wire spirals and adorned them to the top of the cake.

For a final touch I cut out some vinyl lettering and there you have it.

All ready to make those birthday's something special to remember!

If you're lucky like me, all your hard work will pay off with your little one telling you as you tuck him in that final night "This was the best birthday EVER!"
(You better believe that brought on the waterworks!!)

Happy Crafting!

Two-fer Tuesday-Love & Hate

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walgreens for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

It's that time again...time for another installment of Two-fer Tuesday. A little late I know but hey better late than never right? (That's what I'm hoping anyways)

So today I thought I would share One Love & One Hate. One plus one equals two...Two-fer Tuesday...get it?? I'm a jokester what can I say.

First up, my Hate, but before I get to that let me preface it by saying that I have never in my life had any kind of issues with allergies. They've plagued many that I know, but I have never been on the receiving end, I guess I forgot to do the "knock on wood" part because as you can possibly guess...I HATE allergies!!

Blame it on karma or blame it on the unseasonably wet Spring here in Utah either way I keep hearing that allergies in the state are the worst they've been and man I'm feeling the itch! Itchy, watery, red eyes, itchy runny nose, endless sneezing...I've got it and I've got it BAD! While I know have a newfound understanding and empathy for my fellow allergy sufferers I also landed myself with a new dislike to add to my growing list and I NEED Relief!

RELIEF...ha ha this brings me to my new LOVE! In my desire to alleviate my suffering the hubs escorted me to our neighborhood

Walgreens and straight up to the pharmacist, I wasn't playing around here, I wanted relief , I wanted the good stuff, I wanted a product that came pharmacist recommended! And I wanted it at a price that didn't leave me feeling robbed. Hey we're on a strict budget these days...who isn't right?? Gotta pinch those pennies.

This brings me to my new LOVE...Walgreens Wal-Fex 24 hour Allergy Relief Tablets!!

I wouldn't have thought it, because I'm normally a name brand kinda gal when it comes to meds, but these babies REALLY work and the pharmacist assured me that in addition to being an exceptional value, Walgreens Brand Health & Wellness Products are Walgreens pharmacist recommended! Can't ask for more than that!

On my little educational trip to Walgreens I also picked up this little tidbit of knowledge that I wanted to pass along to all my lovely little thrifty ladies out there. I know financially speaking times are tough and a lot of the burden to stretch that dollar falls squarely on our shoulders so whenever I can pass along a tip to make things easier I will. I hadn't realized that Walgreens actually carries a line of Walgreens brand meds that are amazing and better yet affordable! Walgreens Brand Health & Wellness Products! We all know meds can get pretty pricey, so this news was music to my ears.

The Walgreens Brand Health & Wellness Products are a great value and a great way to allow families and individuals to save money without sacrificing quality or trust. In addition to being an exceptional value, Walgreens Brand Health & Wellness Products are pharmacist recommended, most contain the same active ingredients as other national brands...it's true read the labels! And best of all this great line of products also comes with a 100% guarantee so you know they've gotta be good!

I'll admit being a brand girl I was a little skeptical, but let me just say that with my Wal-Fex I am one happy blogging lady! It relieved all of my icky symptoms, I don't feel drowsy and I'm back to feeling almost 100%.

If you're one of the unlucky allergy stricken out there and you're looking for relief...affordable relief then have I got great news for you, (read that in your best game show host voice as I intened...it's more fun).

You, yes YOU could possibly win yourself a Walgreens Gift Card (and the crowd goes Wild!)

I actually found a list of blogs out there who are at this moment hosting giveaways for Walgreens gift cards and because I love you all so much and because my momma raised me right- I'm going to share!

Click the "Giveaways" link below and be sure to carefully read the entry rules to properly enter to win!

Good luck my lovlies!

giveawaysGiveaways:

There you have it folks...a grand a little lengthy Two-fer Tuesday Love & Hate edition! Hope you enjoyed it, and hope you learned a little something.

Visit Walgreens Brand Health & Wellness Products to learn more about Walgreens Brand Health & Wellness Products or to learn about Walgreens Way to Well Fund™

Winner Winner What's For Dinner

Here is my Menu for the Week...Enjoy!

I swear one day I'll get it together and this post will come out on time, but for now enojy, I hope you find some inspiration for you week, and YAY! I did implement the changes that we talked about! I don't usually like to toot my own horn, but this one time...Go ME!!

Monday: Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos, Melted Beans, Spanish Rice

Tuesday: Creamy Chicken Alfredo w/Broccoli, Cheesy Garlic Herb Bread
Wednesday: Slow Cooker BBQ Babyback Ribs, Mashed Garlic Potatoes

Thursday: Rosemary Ranch Chicken Kabobs, Bacon Ranch Potato Salad

Friday: DATE NIGHT (much needed...it's been a while!)

Saturday Morning Breakfast: Biscuits and Gravy, Country Sausage

Sunday Dinner: Herbed Apricot Pork Loin Roast, Onion Potatoes

This Week's Sweet Treat: Creamy Lemon Squares (mmm mmm...good!)

Happy Cooking & Baking!!

Family Home Evening-Intro

So I've decided to attempt to add sharing our Family Home Evening Lessons for all, to hopefully help inspire ideas for your own F.H.E. nights.

I love having Family Home Evening! In our family it is a nice way to dedicate at least one day a week as "Family Day." We figure while this isn't a big deal now since everyday is practically family day, it's a good habit for our family to have for when the kids get older and they actually want to leave...oh oh wait! Monday is Family Night! (See how that works?)

So this post is our intro post into F.H.E. (family home evening) Burt Family Style!

First, we like to mix things up sometimes we have a lesson, sometimes we just go out and do something together as a family, sometimes we just work on craft projects together. Do what works best for your family as long as you do it TOGETHER. For us this works, our kids are all little (6, 4, 3, and 9 months) and have little attention spans so hammering home a lesson every week gets a little tired for them and for us.

Second, for us it has worked well when we do have a lesson to tailor it to the needs of our family that particular week. For example, if we've had a hard week of naughtiness in our house we might have a lesson on obeying, honoring your mother and father, or maybe on doing your part to make a happy home.

Another example, my brother in law just recently left for his mission, for our kids this is a new concept and something they didn't quite understand. So for F.H.E. we had a lesson on Missionaries, what they are, what they do, and we had the kids write a letter to him at the MTC.

We often will do craft projects that coincide with Holiday's or Birthday's that might be coming up, or we'll take the kids to do something fun that maybe they've been asking to do.

And of course when in doubt pick a gospel lesson! We do throw in a gospel principles lesson I would say 2/4 F.H.E.'s at our house.

Third, the key to lessons is to keep them short and simple, keep them age appropriate, keep your kids involved, throw in an activity and always, ALWAYS end F.H.E. with a TREAT!!

Fourth, get organized and get the whole family involved. The reasoning for this is twofold, one if you get everyone involved not only are they more excited for F.H.E. it also holds more meaning for them because they were involved. Second, it takes all the pressure off of you. Don't let F.H.E. be a one woman show, and don't take on all the burden. For me I've come to learn that when the burden of F.H.E., falls solely on me it becomes more of a chore...and more of a chore that I end up not looking forward to. Having everyone hold a certain responsibility is a game changer. The best way I've found to do this is to get some kind of F.H.E. board. There are printable versions such as the one here, and there are also wooden boards you can find such as the ones here or chalk board ones like this. Or make your own. However you do it, DO IT!

Finally, here are a list of great resources that I frequently quite regularly to help me find inspiration for my lessons:

1. A Year of F.H.E. (they are on my list of favorite blogs, she is awesome, lessons are free, and if you want you can follow her lesson plan for the entire year!)

2. LDS.org

3. Scriptures 4 Kids

Maybe in my next post I'll show you my giant Family Home Evening Binder...it's a whopper!

Good luck with your own F.H.E. adventures and please feel free to share any great resources or tips/tricks that you use to make your Family Home Evenings go off without a hitch!

It's Going Sew-So-Books!!!

Yay I love getting packages!

(oh what oh what could it be???)

So as you all know I'm on a quest to teach myself how to sew for once and for all in an effort to be self sufficient and stop hounding the people around me to sew up my projects. I vowed to teach myself how to sew because I have a hard time learning from others, click here to hear the gory details on that if you dare.

As part of my quest I decided I better get some kind of teaching/learning materials and not go at this blind...that would not turn out well.
(Surprise!)

So I ordered me up some books to help lead my way on this sewing adventure!


Here's what I got:

One Yard Wonders

Sew Serendipity

and

Simply Sublime Gifts

I can't wait to look through them and pick my first projects!

Stay Tuned!