Monday, December 9, 2013

Elfie the elf of the shelf that is NOT a spy for Santa

A few days a go, the elf on the shelf appeared in our house just like in thousands of other home.  But unlike in thousands of other homes this elf is not a spy for Santa.

Millions of children get the threat of you better be good or Santa won't come.  I've done it.  But it doesn't do anything to improve behavior.  It is just another empty threat, because let's get real,  I'm not going to give my kids nothing but coal for Christmas.

And if Santa was real, he wouldn't either, because he, like Jesus, has harnessed the power of forgiveness.

Our elf is a bit mischievous but not terribly so. Our elf is here to learn to be good and to teach forgiveness.  The girls have to forgive Elfie for being wild and a bit naughty.

The girls can play with Elfie and enjoy her.  I would be silly to get them a new toy and tell them to never touch it.  I want to set them up for success, not failure. 

There is no naughty and nice list.  We have nice girls in this house and only nice girls. Sometimes they make mistakes but so do I and no one threatens to take my Christmas presents away. Jesus has forgiven me and Jesus has forgiven them.

And so has Santa.

Santa sent a letter carefully explaining that the naughty and nice list is just something people do for fun.  I didn't want to make 98% of the world out to be liars! But that Santa is also friends with Jesus and they know all about grace and forgiveness.

And seriously how can your elf be naughty and then it reports back to Santa about your children's naughtiness? Just doesn't make sense!


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Saturday, December 7, 2013

Santa beard Christmas countdown

The girls are so excited for Christmas.  I had to make a way for them to countdown so they wouldn't have to ask me every 15 minutes how much longer til Christmas.  Best idea ever.  Now they only ask me 5 times a day.  And that's a number I can live with.


Cheyenne's is on the left and Harlee's is on the right.

I wish I could take credit for that awesome Santa but I can't, get yours here.


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Friday, December 6, 2013

My 100th post



I thought this day would come sooner, but life got in the way.  This blog is about my life so without life getting in the way there would be no blog.

Here is 5 Things I have learned from 100 blog posts.

1 Blogging is hard.

It's hard to find time more than anything, it's hard to consistently post, it's hard to social media-ize the posts you do have time to write.

2 I am slowly but surely turning into a computer geek.

I can edit html code and can tell you all about SEO and other weird computer acronyms that I had no idea what where a year ago. 

3 Blogging is fun.

I love it when someone comments on my posts and hopefully it was helpful to them.  Or when someone emails me wanting to know more about a post.  This happens most often over our trip to the National Jewish hospital in Denver for Cheyenne's eczema

4 Sometimes I wonder if this blog will ever get anywhere.

But I mostly don't care, I like doing it so I'm going to keep on keeping on.

5 I have a twitter, facebook and Google+ account for this blog and it isn't enough.

But I don't have time for more. It's terribly overwhelming how important social media is.

I sometimes wonder what the future holds for Redneck Soccer Mom.  Will I ever get sick of it and stop? I'm really thinking not.  Or will I at some point start something bigger and better? Who knows. For now I am here and I'm not quitting.


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Thursday, December 5, 2013

Cheyenne's 3 year old interview

Oh sweet Cheyenners, I can't believe she is three already. She is so smart and so determined and so stubborn and so lovey. She talks so much and so well for her age. She didn't do all the questions again this year.  Despite my best efforts to ask her a few everyday she seemed rather board with it all. Harlee on the other hand helps me think up more questions to ask.

Blast from the past: Cheyenne's two year old interview 



What is your name?  I'm Cheyenne

What is your mom's name?  Doylenn
What is your dad's name?  Daddy
What does your mom do all day?  Kiss Daddy
What does your dad do all day?  He hugs you and kiss you

If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go?  to earth
What is your favorite color? Purple
What is your favorite toy? Pink Bear
What is your favorite fruit? I want a cutie
What is your favorite cartoon? Umizoomi

What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Cuties
What is the grossest thing to eat for lunch? pears are yucky
What is your favorite thing to wear? necklaces
What is your favorite game? Umzoomi
What is your favorite snack? Eyes

What is your favorite animal? pink bear
Which do you like more, hunting or fishing?  Fishing
What is your favorite song? Umzoomi
What is your favorite book? Busy Bugs
Who is your best friend? Jazy

What is your favorite cereal? Purple
What is your favorite thing to do outside? Ride my bike
What is your favorite drink? to drink inside
What is your favorite season? purple is my favorite season

What do you like to take to bed with you at night? I can sleep on a pillow, I want my baby
What do you want to be when you grow up? Just a grown up
Where is your favorite place to go? to the left

What kind of party to do want for your 4th birthday? purple party
What kind of party do you think Harlee should have for her birthday? a purple party, no Harlee like pink parties that's all
What pets do you have? 3 pets
What is your favorite butterfly? really small

Polka dots or stripes? stripes
Do you like showers or baths more? showers
Who is your favorite person in the whole world?  Elfie
What is your favorite thing to do with friends? We just hide Elfie

What is your favorite sport? I wanna play soccer
If you could have one wish what would it be? To be a baby
Who is your biggest hero? Jazy
What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? Purple ice cream
Is there anything else you want to tell me about yourself?  No thank you

Know of any great questions I missed?  Please let me know!  If you want to see my complete list of interview questions please see Harlee's 5 year old interview


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Thursday, November 21, 2013

How a leader is born

I kind of fell into this job by default.  When I signed Harlee up for girl scouts I was told they needed more parent volunteers.  I happily signed up for that job.  I like being involved in her life.  And I couldn't imagine just dropping her off at Girl Scouts and picking her up later without knowing if her leader are legit or not.

Then it turned into Harlee's troop needed a co-leader or there would be no troop.  Her troop is new and just getting started even though it's a tab bit late in the year.

I was the only parent volenteer for her troop.

And that my friends in how a (co)leader is born.

I have a vision of myself being leader next year (also not a position I'm going to fight for).  The leaders daughter will be a brownie next year leaving her with no reason to be a daisy leader.  And that will leave me.

A mom has got to do what a mom has got to do.







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Monday, November 18, 2013

Understanding Effective Basement Flood Cleanup...a guest post by Tiffany Olson

I have lived in not one but TWO houses that have flooded before, sure one of those times was a rental house during a tornado that was the scariest event of my entire life, but that's another story for another day.  Basement flood cleanup isn't a new idea to me but I'm certainly not an expert. Today's post is by guest poster Tiffany Olson.  Enjoy.





Basements are a great place for storage or can provide an extra room in the house when renovated, but they’re also the most susceptible area in a building to flooding. Basement floods can lead to many problems when not handled quickly and with expertise. Learn how to manage water damage and the steps for successful flood cleanup so that you may have a functioning basement once again.

Causes of Basement Flooding

Basement flooding can be caused by a variety of sources. Often, large amounts of rainfall or leaking pipes are the contributing factors of floods, but they can also come as a result of situations such as faulty appliances, poor lot grading, an overloaded drainage system, cracks in the foundation, a blocked or full sewage system and sump pump failure. If you experience flooding in your basement, it’s important to discover the cause during cleanup efforts to determine the contamination level of the water and take appropriate action from there.

Problems Associated With Basement Floods

Even if there’s nothing of value in it, a flooded basement can’t just be dealt with whenever someone gets around to it. Neglecting to implement an effective flood cleanup process as soon as it’s safe to do so can lead to many structural problems and pose a health risk to those living or working in the building. Dry rot, crumbling sheetrock and insulation and a weakening of the walls, beams and other architectural support systems can all be brought about from water damage. It doesn’t take very long for mold and mildew to develop in an environment affected by moisture, which can promote asthma and allergies and have long-lasting effects once indoor air quality has been diminished. There are many other health hazards associated with contaminated flood waters as well, and flooding can also encourage the appearance of pests.

Proper Basement Flood Cleanup

When done correctly, the first few steps in basement flood cleanup should all relate to safety. No one should ever set foot in water without disconnecting the electricity first or without wearing the proper attire. It’s always recommended that you enlist the services of a professional water damage restoration company instead of attempting to make flood cleanup a DIY project because of the dangers of contamination and the special tools it requires to properly and completely dispose of all water. Once a restoration crew is called in, they will be able to begin the process of removing and drying up excess water with powerful water extraction equipment, dehumidifiers and other air movers. They can then thoroughly disinfect and deodorize the basement and all salvageable belongings.

How to Avoid Future Basement Flooding

Avoiding continual basement flooding situations will relieve you of a lot of trouble and expenses. Some preventative actions you can take include making sure downspouts extend far enough away from the structure, installing a sump pump if you don’t already have one, maintaining all appliances and plumbing pipes on a regular basis, patching any cracks found in flooring, walls or the roof and routinely cleaning out your gutters.

Basement flooding is a major headache, but resolving the dilemma with the appropriate flood cleanup practices and implementing solutions to avert future problems is sure to alleviate some of your stress.

About the Author

Tiffany Olson has a passion for writing and loves to share useful information with the public via guest blogging and social media. When she’s not blogging you will usually find her in the kitchen cooking or on a weekend road trip.

Monday, November 4, 2013

Family is adoption

A beautiful story, a beautiful family.




Remember November is national adoption awareness month, pass it on.

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Saturday, November 2, 2013

November is national adoption awareness month

November is national adoption awareness month. And I have a goal.  A lofty one at that. I'm not sure what exactly I need to do to achieve this goal, but I know I need to start on my knees.



My goal is for everyone to make a choice when they decide to have children.  I wish for everyone to stop and think.  Should I have biological children or should I adopt?

I believe there are enough people in the world who would and could adopt, if they just thought about it.

Maybe you would, maybe you can. But please just think about it.  And pass it on.

Maybe you can't.  Maybe it isn't for you.  But please just think about it.  And pass it on.

I believe in a better world for children.  I believe in parents (or parent!) for every child.  I believe in families.  I believe in miracles. 

And here is a fantastic music video to inspire the world. Please enjoy and spread the word!


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Ruffled edge quilt

 Just wanted to share a quilt I made a while back when one of my friends had a sweet little baby.











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Wednesday, October 30, 2013

World's easiest peach butter

I don't know if you have noticed or not, but I like easy.  This isn't one of those blogs where I make something that looks perfect and then create a perfect looking label, with a link for you download your own.  Don't get me wrong I'd love to make perfect stuff with perfect labels.

This blog is about life.  REAL life. My house is a mess and I still don't have time to make a peach butter label.  Pass the sharpie.  Link to sharpie

Wait! I just changed my mind. This is a perfect blog, and I have the link to the best label ever.  This label is completely 100% customizable.  No more printing labels out for all your projects. This is a one size fits all job.  It isn't free though.  Sorry.  It's $1.64.  I know killer price.  BUT I'm not asking you to print stuff out all the time on special sticker paper and use up all your ink.  So actually, you're welcome.

Here it is:  link to most perfect ever label no printing required

Okay, on to the world's easiest peach butter.

1. Pit all your peaches, don't skin them, and no it doesn't` matter how many peaches you have.

2. Put all your peaches in a pot with some water and cook for a few minutes.  I used an immersion blender and chopped it all up.  Now you can't even tell you didn't waste loads of time skinning your peaches. And peach skins are really good for you.  Now the world's easiest peach butter is also a major health food.  Again, you're welcome.

3. Once it's all blended pour it all in a crock pot.

4. Add sugar till it tastes good.

5. Add cinnamon, cloves and/or nutmeg til it tastes good, or none at all. I added a little bit of all of them.

6. Cook in crock pot until you like how thick it is.  If you like how thick it is after you blend it you could just skip the crock pot altogether.

7.  Ladle peach butter into hot jars and top with hot lids.  Screw the lids on tight and set upside down for 5 minutes and then right side up.  The lids will seal.

8.  Use your most awesomest ever label AKA the sharpie to label your jars.

9. Remember we used the skins in this peach butter and therefore is a health food so be healthy and eat some everyday.





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Sunday, October 27, 2013

Pumpkin Smoothie

We have started a new family tradition! Pumpkin smoothie while carving pumpkins.  Greatest idea ever! I didn't have all the ingredients for any of the recipes I looked at, so I winged it.  I'm good at winging it, I have a habit of trying things out without even reading the tutorial.

1 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling, I had canned pumpkin chunks a year ago and used that)
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2  teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup milk
ice
Whipped cream for topping

Blend it all up and drink it down. Delish!


 I would of added vanilla ice cream too if I had some but I didn't, so it's health food instead.



My little ladies, had a ton of fun this afternoon, and now they want pumpkin smoothies everyday, and so do I. I'm going to have to get more pumpkins to can.





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Thursday, October 17, 2013

Roman bread pudding

I'm so proud of Harlee, she is so smart.  I'm also so thankful for her new homeschool curriculum, sonlight, it really caters right to her learning style.  She just soakes up everything that is read to her and it is mostly reading to her, it's perfect for us.

Sometimes when I'm not sure if she paying attention I'll ask her to tell her Dad what she knows about xyz and she will rattle off all kinds of things.

In history, which is me reading her a story type book and not a text book type book, (because text books are boring!)  she is learning about the Romans.  As a project we decided to make roman bread pudding.

As I looked at the recipe I thought it looked pretty good, then I was making it and I thought it was going to be awful. But was not.  It was just good enough to eat an entire piece, once.



Slice the crust off your bread.  Soak it in milk for a second, and I do mean 1 second! Or else you will have a bowl with small chunks of bread floating around.  Fry in olive oil, til it isn't mushy anymore.  Drizzle on some honey and eat.

It mostly tastes like a weird crunchy french toast but it was a great homeschool project. But only once.



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Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Pomegranate-chokecherry jelly

One week ago...

Chokecherry jelly is the best jelly in the world. The perfect peanut butter and jelly sandwich is made with homemade bread, creamy peanut butter, and chokecherry jelly. Any other kind of jelly and it's just not the perfect pb&j.

Present day...

I'm dazed and confused. I feel like someone pulled the rug out from underneath me. And that rug is called life.

My world is spinning and I don't know what to do or think.

There is a large possibility that I have discover a jelly that is even better than chokecherry jelly.

The loyal part of me wants to whisk this thought away and pretend I never thought it and say chokecherry is the best.

But until I make more chokecherry jelly and do the ultimate taste test there is no way to be sure. I'm going to go ahead and tell myself that the only reason this jelly is so good is because of the chokecherry juice.

While we wait on the official results of the taste test, I can say with 100% certainty that pomegranate-chokecherry jelly is defiantly a yummylicious jelly that should be consumed on a regular basis.




We bought a case of pomegranates from bountiful basket. After we got that lovely goodness home, I remembered something. I really do not like taking the seeds out of pomegranates, I'm highly irritated after doing just one. My kids always have to share a pomegranate because I would be impossible to live with if I had to pick all the seeds out of two.

And there I was, starring at a whole case of the things. It was not a lovely sight.  I almost cried just looking at them all.

My husband is fabulous.  Even though he really, really, really wanted to go organize his garage he took the seeds out of most of the pomegranates for me. I'm so blessed to have him.

After I made the juice I didn't really like the color or it, strangely enough it will a milky light pink.  It was still good tasting.  I had some chokecherry juice leftover in the freezer and I put that in with it and it made the color darker and less milky (don't ask me why it made it less milky, it just did).

Then I used the ball recipe for pomegranate jelly since there was a lot more pomegranate juice than chokecherry juice. My juice mixture is probably around 1/8th chokecherry juice.

3.5 cups pomegranate/chokecherry juice
5 cups sugar
1 package pectin

Mix the pectin in with the juice til it's all the way dissolved.  Heat to a boil. Mix in sugar, stir til dissolved and heat to a rolling boil. Boil hard for one minute. Ladle into hot jelly jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space.  Put on a hot lid and screw it on tight, set upside down for 5 minutes and then turn right side up.  The jars will seal and there is no need to process them.

If you prefer you can skip the whole upside down right side up business and process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes.

I have actually started putting my jelly into pint jars instead of jelly jars.  It looks a little silly, but my kids are pb&j monsters! They go through a jelly jar full every week.  So I'm saving money on lids. My kids would love me more if our daily menu was:

Breakfast: pb&j
Morning Snack: pb&j
Lunch: pb&j
1st afternoon snack: pb&j
2nd afternoon snack: pb&j
Dinner: Quesadilla (and by quesadilla, I mean tortilla with melted cheese)
Post dinner snack: pb&j
Once a week I will switch out one meal with either a hot dog or cereal just to spice up life.

Ha! They just can't understand why I bother to cook meals and make them eat something different for breakfast, lunch and dinner.


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Saturday, October 5, 2013

Cleaning products as painting tools part 2 of 2

Cheyenne was promised a purple room in our new house and she got it! Next, it was Harlee's turn to get her pink room. 

She originally wanted a light pink room with one darker pink wall. After seeing Cheyenne's room she wanted a textured wall, only with more texture and a little different.

I found a reusable duster at walmart for only a couple of bucks and thought it was worth a go. The result was ultra fabulous.  Once again, I washed the duster out and I should probably go dust something with it, I should of let the paint dry on it.  I don't like to dust.


It took me about 45 minutes to do this wall, but Harlee LOVES it, she wishes I would do it to all of her walls.  After we put all of her stuff back in her room she said it was good with just one wall like that.



If you haven't already see cleaning products as painting tools part 1.


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Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Cleaning products as painting tools part 1 of 2


I love it when things turn out better than you thought it would. I love it even more when that project that turned out better than you thought it would, also was easier than you thought it would be.

Before we moved to North Dakota, I asked Cheyenne what color she wanted her room to be. "Purple'' and she waves her little finger at me with a stern look, "not yellow." Which is funny because her room in our Colorado rental house was yellow, she didn't show any indications that it bothered her in the slightest.  But I guess it was terrible.

Every time I have painted something in the past I have painted just plain colors and I wanted to spice it up this time, but I was a bit nervous.  Especially since if it turned out horrible, I knew I would be the one painting over it. I. Do. Not. Like. To. Paint.

Somehow I end up doing it a lot though.

We let Cheyenne help pick the paint, and she picked out a very dark purple. Can you imagine a whole room in that dark of a purple? Ugh.  Thankfully, she was agreeable to it being an accent color.

I wanted a nice stiff brush, I'm not sure why, but I did.

Nice stiff brushes are not found in the painting aisle. And hey, wouldn't ya know it, brushes are cheaper in the cleaning aisle anyways.

I got the stiffest brush I could find, again I'm not sure why, but that's what I wanted and I get what I want...at least when it comes to cleaning tools. Oh please, oh please, can I get my way somewhere else sometime...like at Cabela's?

After finally getting her room painted light purple, I nervously dipped my brush in the dark purple and gave it a try.  Not to bad I thought, so I kept going.

10 minutes later I stepped back and decided that adding more would only ruin the effect.

10 minutes!!!

Let me say that one more time. It only took me 10 minutes to texturize that wall.

I asked Cheyenne how she liked it "I LOVE it, it's not yellow." Yup the yellow bedroom was an epic failure.  She still likes showing off her purple room, best 10 minutes ever spent painting!



And if you are smarter than I you won't clean out the brush so well after your done painting.  I'm sure I'll be forced to clean something with it now.



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Saturday, September 21, 2013

A day in the life of an oilfield wife

My husband is up before dawn, and gone within five minutes of waking up.  I'm left alone laying in bed with the familiar pit in my stomach.  I'm alone, again.  It's not long before I'm up to.  I have the normal housewife chores, the mom chores and the household chores.

I also have the honey-do-list.  I would love to make a honey-do-list for my husband.  I would love to have more help with things around the house.  But that's not going to happen anytime soon.

That's not to say he doesn't help; because he does.  Yesterday he worked 18.5 hours.  That doesn't leave much time for a honey-do-list.

Honey will you please mow the lawn?....you're kidding right.
Honey will you please find the smoke alarm that is chirping and fix it?....do it yourself.
Honey will you please carry that really heavy bookshelf downstairs?...find a way to get it down there yourself.
Honey will you please take out the trash?...put on your big girl panties and do it yourself.

I have been known to take apart pieces of furniture (like bookshelves or dressers), carry the pieces downstairs and put it back together. Sure that can take me an hour or more and it would take him five minutes.  But I know that that five minutes is five minutes less that he could see the kids, and they need him even more than I do.

We are wanting to buy a generator for backup heating in the cold North Dakota winters.  So finding an electrician and researching generators...my job.

Figuring out what homeschool curriculum to use...my job.

Finding a place to take the car in to get some work done...my job.

Honey-do-lists are for only the things I absolutely, positively can not do myself.  As time goes on and my power tool skills grow, this is less and less.

You may be thinking right now that this is crazy, and you're right.  You may be thinking right now that he should help me more, but there you're wrong.  When he has days off he is willing to help me with anything I desire help on.  But the thing is, that we need to just hang out with him.  The kids need to play with their dad, they need to catch bugs with their dad, they need to talk to their dad.  And I need to cuddle on the couch and watch TV with him, more than I need him to take out the trash.

The kids and I have long days.  He doesn't have a regular schedule; he isn't home at 5:00 sharp everyday; we don't know what time he will be home til he walks in the door.  Some days it could be 2:00 but that is rare.  Most of the time the girls and I eat dinner without him.  Most of the time he is here to help put them to bed. Sometimes he isn't.

Our lives are unpredictable. We could move somewhere new at anytime.  He could go out of town for work and be gone for a week or two, or even three. Some oilfield men are gone for months at a time.  We could get a call saying there has been an accident on the rig at any moment.

I hear so many people say "oh the money must be great".  Yes, it is a good paying job, so I can go buy a brand new extra large plush couch...and sit on it alone.  That good paying job comes at an even higher price.

My kids are good, loving kids but some days they whine and kick and hit each other like crazy.  Much like any other kids I'm sure.  But when they start acting out of control 99.9% of the time they haven't seen their dad much lately.  And it breaks my heart that they miss him so much.  It breaks my heart that I can't even tell them how much longer it is til he comes home.

By now, you probably think we would be nuts to live this life. You may be onto something there.

The oilfield, like it or not, runs America.  Your car needs gas and you probably use things like shampoo, shaving cream, nail polish, hair dye, lipstick, lotion, and band aids.  In your house you probably have a refrigerator, paint, pillows and trash bags. Your kids probably play with balloons, crayons and footballs.  You probably take aspirin and antihistamines. You probably wear clothes and shoes. And all those things need oil to make them. (see more things made with oil here)

You can not even ride a bike to avoid supporting the oilfield, cause those bike tires are made from oil.

There is a certain sense of pride that comes with knowing you're part of something that runs the greatest country in the world. My husband is supporting his family in the way that he knows best, and he loves the oilfield. We love him.  He is oilfield through and through. We are an oilfield family.

We wouldn't have it any other way. We are oilfield proud.

My husbands rig.



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Wednesday, September 18, 2013

A busy life

I know, I have been MIA...again.  But life is happening here.  We just moved to North Dakota and so far we LOVE it here! We have a nice house, a few acres, we live in a smaller community and best of all daddy gets to come home every night.  Which makes for happier children.

When I go outside in the evenings I can hear the coyotes in the distance, a luxury I haven't had since I left home.

If moving wasn't enough we have changed homeschool curriculums.  The one we had just wasn't working for us.  It was way to easy for Harlee.  She was board and it consisted of nothing but workbooks. Blah.  We got our new materials in the mail today and we are excited! Lots of books to read and science projects!  Only a couple of workbooks, can't quite get away from those.

Harlee is in 1st grade math! She really has a gift for math. Our old curriculum had a worksheet that said 'circle 7 cats' and there was a picture with 9 cats.  Harlee said "If I circle 7 cats then there will be 2 not circled because 9-2=7, so there is a surplus of 2 cats in this picture, and Mom why do I have to circle 7 cats you know I can count to 100."

Needless to say it was hard to get her to concentrate on something she didn't feel the need to do.  And frankly she didn't need to do it. So we changed. And now we are happier.

As if moving, unpacking, a new house with land to take care of, homeschool and my kids didn't keep my busy enough.  We decided to get a pet. Cause ya know, I need something else to do.


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Thursday, August 29, 2013

Teen mom 3 workout

A while back I made a Teen Mom 2 workout, and it was hard!  I made this one easier, after all if we really wanted a workout, we would go to the gym.  This is how we watch TV and not feel guilty about it.  So if your guilty pleasure is crappy TV like teen mom 3 then this is for you!




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Thursday, August 22, 2013

Harlee starts school!

Oh my! My baby is in school! I'm just so thankful we are homeschooling and I don't have to send her away everyday.  Besides that she is so smart that she would be board in school.  Yesterday she did 5 days worth of math in about 20 minutes because she knew everything.  I flipped to the back of the book and she knew everything there too.  Can we skip to algebra please?


I love you Harlee, and I'm so blessed to spend this school year with you.  I'll have the pleasure of continuing to watch you grow and learn, and I couldn't be happier about that.



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Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Clip art quilting

No, no, no, I don't mean clip art pictures of quilts.  I mean I USED clip art to help me make this quilt, because I'm a terrible artist.  Seriously, my two year old is about to pass me up in artistic ability.

I sewed my quilt top together in three sections and used spray adhesive to stick it to the batting.  Which is way awesomer than pinning because it holds better, and when your quilting, you don't have to hug a porcupine.

Then I printed out a clip art star and traced the stars on my quilt with a chalk wheel.  After that I sewed all over my chalk lines.  Hey! Pretty good for a beginner quilter! Now if my mom would just get that quilting machine I could really rock it. Maybe one day I'll have a quilting machine.

Next, I sewed my three sections of quilt together and was quite surprised to find that the extra batting in the seam added very minimal bulk.  You probably wouldn't even notice if I didn't tell you.


Now, remember that I have the quilt top quilted to the batting with on back.  So I cut the back to the exact size and pinned them together right sides together and sewed it, leaving a hole to turn it right side out.

I closed the hole with a precise and neat hand whip stitch.  Just kidding.  I just top stitched all the way around.  I only use needle and thread for emergencies and those pesky buttons.

Easiest binding ever! Maybe that's because it's non-binding binding? Check out my first attempt at non-binding binding.

*I must read the tutorial before diving into projects* 
*I must read the tutorial before diving into projects* 
*I must read the tutorial before diving into projects*

Bah, who am I kidding.  I always look at a picture on pinterest and think I just must know how they did it.  If my husband showed me a couple pictures on plugging wells I would probably think I knew how to do that too.

I digress....

This non-binding binding looks sweet.







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Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Grandpa

Yes I know I have been MIA for a while, unfortunately my Grandpa passed recently.  I was actually named after him! His name is Doyle and how else do you name a girl after Doyle but Doylenn? He was a fabulous man and I will always cherish all the memories I have with him.  He loved to hunt (and was a fantastic shot), he was a rancher, he was a fixer, and he is loved. He always loved watching the girls play.  I'm sure he is watching them now as I right this, and they are getting out of bed for the 6 thousandth time. He is probably laughing at me. I love you Grandpa, and I am honored to be named after you.





Saturday, August 3, 2013

Dave Ramsey money envelopes

Once I saw these Dave Ramsey money envelopes I just knew I had to make a pile for myself.  Before we were just using regular paper envelopes and every other second I was switching one out because they were getting all haggard.  And since your on a budget these can be made entirely from scraps. 



 1. Cut two squares (matching or not!) 7 3/4'' by 7 3/4''

2. Apply medium weight interfacing to one of the squares. I save my scraps just for this.


 3. Sew the squares, right sides together, leaving a hole to turn it right side out.  Clip the corners.


4. Turn and sew along two opposite sides of your square. 

5. Fold the square in half, bringing the seams together. I like the piece with the interfacing on the outside, but I have made them with the interfacing on the inside fabric and it doesn't make much of a difference.

6. Sew the other opposite edges.

7. Stuff with money.  I also put in a index card where I write what the envelope is for and how much goes in each month.

8. Go forth and multiply.


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Friday, July 26, 2013

Trash to fabulous - empty soda bottle to back yard splash park

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Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Grilled peaches

Dessert or side dish, your choice. I like 'em for a side dish and then again for dessert. Grilled peaches are yummy yummy yummy.

You will need:
olive oil
halved peaches
brown sugar

I use an olive oil mister to spray the peach halves with olive oil, you could just pour a little bit on them.

Grill face down for 3-5 minutes.  Flip and sprinkle with about a teaspoon of brown sugar.  Cook til the brown sugar is liquified.




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Thursday, July 18, 2013

Make and freeze breakfast burritos




2 lbs sausage
18 eggs
1 large onion, chopped
1 package hash browns
2 cans diced green chilies
2 cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed
cheese
tortillas
saran wrap or foil

1)  Brown sausage and onion at the same time.
2)  Whisk eggs and add to skillet after sausage is browned.
3)  Once eggs are cooked add hash browns, green chilies, and beans.  Cook 5-10 minutes more til everything is hot.
4)  Put some of the mixture on a tortilla, top with some shredded cheese and roll up.
5)  Wrap in saran wrap or foil.
6)  Freeze.

When your ready to eat unwrap from foil or saran wrap, and heat for about 2 minutes in the microwave.  My husband likes to take them to work and he heats them on a Mr heater stove.  He only takes the ones wrapped in foil.

Other things I have considered adding into the burritos are:
bell peppers
salsa
mushrooms
black beans
jalapenos

I'm sure there are many other variations of burritos you could make and freeze.  If you have a great burrito recipe, please feel free to share!

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