Project 365- Day 4

So, this picture is super blurry up close since it was nighttime and the shutter speed was so slow on my camera, but this is still my favorite pic for today! Since we are leaving for camping in the morning, Marvin decided to get some mowing done even though it was late. All of the kiddos wanted to ride on the tractor with him, so this is what he ended up with! Those kids just love their daddy!

Project 365- Day 3

This is my favorite picture today because it shows how much you can get at the store with just a little bit of money! For all of these things in these two pictures, I actually made $1!

I had to pay $10.00 out of pocket, but got back a $5 gift card for Target and $6 in Register Rewards for Walgreen's! I think this is my best couponing trip yet!

An update of my progress

So today was my second day of no bread. I must admit that it hasn't been too bad since I have made meals that don't require any! Haha! I am sure that my time is going to come. Most likely this weekend when we are camping, but I am going to try and use my willpower to make it through! I will update again next week sometime and hopefully I still have the same outcome!

Project 365-Day 2

This is a picture of my homemade strawberry-rhubarb pie I made completely from scratch this morning! Yum!

Project 365-Day 1

So, I am stealing this wonderful idea from a friend of mine. You pick a photo everyday and you explain it or whatever you want to do with it. So, I have decided to start with this photo from Saturday evening. We took the girls to the Healing Field that was set up in town and get a few photos. This was a candid shot that I took of Becca. I didn't ask her to pose or anything, she was just loving the flags!

I can't believe I am even going to attempt it!

So, if you ever check out my blog roll, you will see that my friend Bekki is making a major life change. She has decided to quit smoking! I am sooo proud of her! I am sure that she will be thankful one day and her hubby and kids will thank her for it, too!

On the down side.....I have agreed to go through her toughest part with her! I agreed to fast something so that she isn't suffering alone. Of course, it couldn't be something simple and easy to give up because that would defeat the purpose. So, I have agreed to fast bread. Yes....you read it right....bread! I LOVE bread. It is a perfect addition to any meal and I am so sad to have to look at it in my bread drawer and watch my family enjoy its wholesome deliciousness, but it is for the greater good.

All that I have to say is that this had better put me really close to the top of the list for awesome friends! LOL!

Fave Photo of the Day

Homecoming 2010

My dad LOVES to go to the parade every year with us. He comes and helps the kids get all of the candy that is thrown. Actually, he is just like a kid himself! My oldest daughter actually told me the other day that she was going to "get lots of Tootsie Rolls because they are Grampa's favorite"! When there is a lag in the parade he tells all of the kids to run out in the street and get the stray candy that's laying around. Even my friend's kids know that he is gonna help them get candy! LOL! But I thought it was so cute that Becca Boo was sitting with Grampa this year getting help, so I couldn't resist this picture!

Strawberry-Rhubarb Canning

My mom and my sister came over Saturday morning to can our strawberry and rhubarb that we had picked. Between the three of us we had three reusable shopping bags full of rhubarb and 40 quarts of berries! HERE is a great write up in the local paper about their patch!

So anyways, it ended up taking about 8 hours to get all of the canning done. We ended up with strawberry-rhubarb pie filling, strawberry-rhubarb conserve and strawberry-rhubarb jam. Everything is so delicious and we are so excited to get to use it! While we were canning, we decided to take a batch of our pie filling and make two fresh pies and all of the work was totally worth it! The pies were FABULOUS!

I LOVE canning and I am so glad that I have the knowledge and passion for it. It saves us money and my kids get to eat fresh fruits/veggies all year long.

Here are some of the canning recipes we used:

STRAWBERRY-RHUBARB PIE FILLING:
(This will fill two deep dish pies)
4 Cups cut up strawberries
4 Cups diced rhubarb
3 Cups sugar
4 Tbsp Cornstarch
12 Tbsp Flour
Nutmeg as desired

Add strawberries, rhubarb and sugar to large saucepan. Heat until sugar is dissolved. Add cornstarch, flour and nutmeg. Cook over medium heat until thick. Pour filling into hot jars and hot water bath for 15 minutes. Allow jars to cool. Let rest for 24 hours. Store until ready to use.

To make pie: Fill a pie crust with filling and cover filling with crust. Put pads of butter on top of crust and bake at 325 for 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown.


STRAWBERRY-RHUBARB CONSERVE

4 cups diced strawberries
4 cups diced rhubarb
7 cups sugar

Place ingredients in large stockpot and cook on medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Turn up heat and bring to a rapid boil until sauce becomes thick and smooth. Place in hot jars and hot water bath 15 minutes.

This conserve can be used over angel food cake, pound cake, as a syrup over pancakes when warmed or spread on toast.

Swagging 101

Here is a great tutorial on how to swag with SwagBucks! Thank you so much to my friend Amy for doing all of the hard work for me! LOL


Swagging 101 (By Ames)

1. download the toolbar. you'll get 1 buck each day just for doing this.

2. use their search engine like you would any other. don't search extra just trying to get a hit. i usually get bucks about 2-3 x day. mostly 3. you'll know you got bucks because a nice little swagbuck dollar pic will show up on your screen telling you whether you got 10, 20, 30, or 50...or more. mostly you'll get 10s. i've gotten two 20s.

3. become a fan on fb. that's where i learned most of my swagaliciousness from. stalk the wall off and on throughout the day and when you see lots of 'thanks tsg' you'll know that a code is out.

4. the codes are worth swagbucks. i've seen them range anywhere from 3 bucks to 20. when one is out you have to search around to find it. they are hidden in a few different spots that you can access from swagbucks.com ......such as the blog, twitter (i do not have a twitter account but you can see their updates by just clicking the link), comments (from the blog), discussions (on fb) and other places. IF you download the swidget (i just put mine on my blog) though you can just check it and it will tell you where to look. for example, when the code was out on the toolbar, it said 'code in toolbar'. so.....no searching about for it.

5. do not oversearch because it will lock you. been there done that. and i didn't even think i searched that much. apparently they disagreed.

6. supposedly at midnight swagbucks are easier to come by.

7. on the swagbucks search page you can also search under images and videos and the others. be sure also to click on every page at the bottom. i've had a few wins on page 2.

8. check out the special offers. there are task that you can do as well. be wary of the stuff that you have to sign up for though.....because they don't always award the points. i mainly stick to searching and the codes. if i have extra time i'll do a task.
**on the special offers page, click the no obligation offers button. hit skip or no on each offer and get your free bucks. you can do this everyday.

9. get referrals. you make money from searches when they do....well, for the first $1000 that they make.

IdeaPaint!

As a BzzAgent, I get to check out new products all of the time! My favorite review so far is the IdeaPaint! This is dry erase board paint that you can use anywhere in your home! This is perfect for my homeschooling! I can have a HUGE area to work and post homework and all sorts of things! I am going to be getting this ASAP!

Visit IdeaPaint™ HOME

I'm NOT doing it!

So, we were at my mom's house and we were having corn on the cob for dinner. Becca was so darn cute trying to eat it, so I had Marvin grab the camera and try to get a photo of her. Well, as soon as we put the camera up, she quit eating it! We asked her again and again to eat some of her corn and she just kept refusing. Finally, she crossed her arms and looked the other way. She wouldn't even acknowledge us! The following picture is what we got:

My last time to potty train!

And I am so excited! We are so close! Becca is going in the potty regularly now. The only thing left to do is to get her to wake up dry and to go when she is playing outside. I guess I understand.....why quit playing to go to the bathroom? It is so much easier to just go in your pants! LOL! But really, I can see why kids wanna keep playing. Their lives are so innocent and easily entertained!

Hopefully in just a few short days/weeks we will be diaper free for the first time in seven years! Woohoo!