Milk

I don't buy "regular" milk anymore because the kids quit drinking it. A half gallon would sit in the fridge for weeks. I started buying this stuff and the kids drink it like crazy, they go thru a half gallon about every 3 days. The nutition facts:

Tastes rich and creamy like whole milk
Excellent source of heart-healthy EPA/DHA Omega-3s (32 mg per serving, 20% of the 160mg daily value)
30% more calcium than whole milk (380mg per serving versus 285mg per serving in whole milk)
30% more protein than whole milk (11g per serving versus 8g per serving in whole milk)
Vitamins A & D added
Good source of potassium
    We pledge to use milk from cows not treated with the growth hormone rBST1
Yea, this is the same milk I was able to score for free last week at Harris Teeter!! Talk about a happy gal, I did a happy dance in the dairy section.....makes me so happy to score good stuff for free! HA HA Doesn't take much to excite me!!

Don't use coupons?

WHY? Why would you not use coupons? I hear people all the time talk about how expensive everything has gotten, even groceries....here's an idea - clip coupons!! Got this loot for a whole $18.22 yep got ALL this for less than $20. I have to say I'm really lucky cause I have people that save their coupons for me so I don't even have the expense of a Sunday paper.
Joey is especially happy cause I got him 5 containers of coffee creamer and all 5 were FREE!! The kids love Smart Balance 1% milk, I was able to score 3 half gallons for FREE!!! That stuff is usually pretty expensive. I did splurge a little on the natural veggie chips they were still $2 a bag even after using a coupon but the fam loves them so I splurged a little! By the way, this was from Harris Teeter last week when they had double coupons up to $1.98. That's a great time to score some awesome deals.

The kittens

So if you read my post below you know we no longer have these kittens....the kids loved them. They still miss them.

Color Waffles

We made regular waffle mix from a pouch....no sugar added of course!

Then colored it with food coloring....yes, we did match the batter color to the bowl color!
 

Put it in the waffle maker.....

And ta-da colored waffles! Why is it that kids will eat anything that is colored? I mean add a little food coloring to anything and my kids will go crazy for it!

Happy Birthday to me!

Kylin made me this bday cake all by herself!!

Random post

So I'm a little behind on my blogging. The weather is too pretty to sit inside at the computer. Today on the other hand is COLD and dreary. Joey and I usually have the weekends to ourselves, mom and dad keep the kiddos. We made these massive burgers one Saturday night as a reward after a long run! haha

We were pretty proud of ourselves for making something that looked edible! Even though we got the bun upside down!

RIP Limb

Not sure if I've posted about the kittens someone dropped off at moms house about a month ago or not. So here's the story: Someone left 2 kittens at mom and dads house, they found one on the porch and named it porcha, the other they found in a tree so they called it Limb. The kids fell in love with them and loved playing with them so we brought them home.....Kylin has loved having them here, they let her push them around in her baby stroller, and even put baby doll clothes on them!
Limb was Kylins cat and Porcha was Laytons buddy.
Well, last night about 10pm we heard the neighbor's dog attacking one of the cats. I'll spare ya the details but it wasn't pretty. Long story short - Limb didn't make it....both kids were asleep but Ky heard us and woke up. We debated about weather to tell her or not but decided to go ahead and tell her what happened. I couldn't even tell her, Joey had to do the dirty work. She took it much better than we'd expected. She didn't sleep at all last night, she was in bed with us, we all tossed and turned all night.
Joey and I woke up at 4:30 am to bury it (by the way, we never figured out if they were boys or girls!) I'm so mad this happened....I never again want to have to tell my kids someones pet killed theirs! Layton woke up about 6:45 so I went ahead and told him. . Joey and I had already decided we should get rid of Porcha now too,  we can't handle another attack. I had to tell Layton that too - that we would have to get rid of his buddy....surprising he was ok with it, he said he wanted to take it to the shelter where someone rich could get it and make it happy! Precious child! Anyway, I'm running on about 2 hours of sleep, sick on my stomach and just irritated that this happened. I may be more upset than the kids! 

Spring wreath

I started with a fourth a yard of satin fabric. This stuff is cheap I think it was about $1 for both colors.

Cut into 3 different sizes of round shapes.

Use a candle flame to make the edges curl. I didn't take a pic of this part because I didn't want to try to hold fabric above a flame with one hand and take the pic with the other hand!  It's easy though, I promise if you get close to the flame the edges will start to curl up and make fake flower petals!

Use scrapbook brads to hold all 3 pieces togther.

I covered my $1 wreath from Goodwill in some of the pink fabric. I really had to work with it since I only had a fourth a yard to cover the wreath and make the petals.

Yea, a little spring time in my home for $2.

I made a bowl "thing"

Cute little martini glass...it would seriously hold like 1/4 an ounce!

Glass bowl

Turned the martini glass upside down but the bowl on top!

Whole thing cost $1.50

I was going to put spring candy in it but figure that won't last long around here. I think I'm going to have the kids paint eggs and put them in there with a little Easter grass.

Tie dye....the EASY way

Start with a plain white T

Not really sure there is a proper way to "do" this part....we took containers and spread the fabric over them so it would be tight. Like you're making a canvas.

Grab a Sharpie and start drawing....

Add a little rubbing alcohol and that's it! (drop the alcohol on pretty slowly, don't soak it all at once) Pretty cool, huh? Ky and I had a blast doing this last Saturday when Layton was gone.

The front side all finished...I think next time we may try to just color the whole shirt and then add alcohol, making it look more like real tie dye. Maybe we'll skip the containers and just draw all over the whole thing. Once you have the shirt done put it in the dryer for a few mins on low heat....alcohol is flammable so don't set it too high. After that your shirt is ready to wear - it can be washed and dried just like normal clothes now!

The whole family took the day off!

Last Friday Joey and I decided since we were both off work we'd keep the kids outta school so we could spend some time with them. I made them chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast!

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Joe and I had pumpkin & flax seed waffles with coffee...they day was already off to a great start! Oh and did I mention we slept til 9?

Somebody didn't get enough sleep!

Layton was with us he just didn't want any pics! We started off at the Science Center, then had lunch and went to Target where the kids spent some of their own money. Kylin bought Justin B's CD Never Say Never and Layton bought......get this.......a BOOK!!!! So proud of him, we even cruised the toy aisles but he wanted a book! After the day of fun Layton stayed with mom and dad, Kylin decided to go to Hayden's ballgame and small group with us.

Saturday we (Joey, Kylin and myself) headed to Mooresville to pick up Layton a mountain bike he's been wanting. He spent the night at mom and dads again.....Sunday we got to see Layton at church then he went home with the grandparents AGAIN! Joey, Kylin and I went to eat with the Tallants in Gastonia. Layton went with Josh to Charlotte to roller derby and didn't get home til late Sunday night. Good thing we let him stay out of school on Friday or we wouldn't have seen him all weekend!! He didn't even know we had bought him the new bike until Monday!

Since both kids are in school now mom and dad like to keep them on weekends. No complaints here, gives me some down time to chill and get ready for another crazy, fun week!

Gas saving tips from the savingfreak

With gas prices skyrocketing out of control it seemed like a good time to review all the ways we can save on gasoline.

Cheap Price Sites -There are three sites I use to check for gas prices: Gasbuddy.com, GasPriceWatch.com, and MSN Autos.  No one of these gets all the stations but you can be sure to get the best prices by using a combination of them.

Inflate your tires -You hear this all the time but the numbers are staggering.  You can reduce gas mileage by as much as 15% driving on underinflated tires (it also shortens the life of your tires).
Use the right oil -You can increase your fuel economy 1-2% by using the manufacturer's recommended grade.  Also look for oil that says energy conserving on the label.  That means it has extra additives to reduce friction.
Get out of the city -Big cities will many times have their own gas taxes and thus just crossing the city line can drop the price drastically.
Use the cheap stuff - Studies have shown that unless your car is specifically made for the higher octane fuels that they really do not help our hurt your car or gas mileage.
STP Gas Treatment - This stuff is actually proven to work and can help clean out your fuel system in about three treatments (some people see immediate results).  Plus treating your car with Jet Fuel is  just cool.  I saw this on Amazon for $1.79 for 8 oz, but buy it locally because the shipping is off the chart.
Tighten the gas cap - Gasoline will evaporate if given a means of escape so make sure the gas cap is tight and that it is not broken and letting out the gas vapor
Don't top off -If you fill your tank too much the excess gas can seep out when it is sloshing around.  So when you get close to being full just turn of the pump and be sure to jiggle the handle and get the excess out of the hose.
Hit the shade -The hotter your car gets the more chance for evaporation out of the gas tank.  Also running your air conditioning can reduce gas mileage.
Keep it in tune -A car that is out of tune or fails an emissions test can reduce your gas mileage by as much as 4%.  If you have a misfiring spark plug it can take you down as much as 30%
Replace your air filters - If your air filter gets clogged up and won't let the air pass easily it can reduce your fuel economy by as much as 10%.  The recommendation for changing them is every 3,000 miles.

I know this sounds terrible....

But you gotta try it.


Black bean brownies
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a food processor or blender, combine
-1 can black beans, rinsed well
-1 cup sweet potatoes (the recipe called for canned yams but I figure sweet potatoes are much better for ya)
-3 eggs
-1/4 cup light coconut milk  (I didn't have coconut milk so I substituted soy milk)
-4ish tbsp cocoa powder
-4ish tbsp truvia (I didn't add any sugar)-3ish tbsp vanilla
-1 tbsp instant espresso powder (optional)
-1 tbsp cinnamon (optional)

Combine ingredients and blend until batter is a cake-like consistency. Pour into a lightly greased 8x8 pan and bake for approx. 40 mins.

Since I didn't add any kind of sweetener I eat mine with honey on top...and a little smudge of homemade peanut butter! YUMMY!!! And you get your chocolate fix while eating healthy! Can't beat that!