My Grandmother finally tired of that before she even started raising her Grandkids.  So for each child in the family, she would buy a separate roll of wrapping paper.  That way, she knew by looking at the package, who it was meant for.  She didn’t even have to bother with labels after that.  Of course, she never told us which type of wrapping paper was for each person until Christmas morn.

I know you are thinking this could be expensive but what she did was go out a day or two after Christmas and buy wrapping paper for the next year.  You can get huge $6 rolls (enough for two years worth of gifts) for only $1.  It usually never takes over one roll of paper per person.  We generally put the left over paper up to wrap our friends’ gifts for the next year. 

Have fun wrapping your gifts and do not forget the tape!!!!

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Came across another great freebie yesterday. I believe this is from Notebookpages.com.  They have some great stuff!  Anyway, these pages can be used for Lapbooking or Notebooking. 

There are 5 themes to use: Jesus is Born, Snowman, Treats, Christmas Tree, and Deck the Halls.  All you have to do is click here and then you can download the pdf file to your computer (I highly recommend this because one never knows how long a link will stay active) or you can just go ahead and print.

I know this is a short post. Sorry, I am in the middle of baking 200 cookies for Awana.  No, that was not a typo, I did mean 200.......or more depending upon how much dough I have. 

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You can also laminate them (my cheapo instructions here) to keep them for years.  The link takes you to the first page that gives you directions &  several decorating ideas. That link is here.  This site has a lot of great stuff so be sure to take some time later on and browse through. 

To go straight to the PDF file, you can click here.

A tip: there are no wise men but that is simple to do.  Reprint page 3 (the one with Joseph) 3 times and you can turn them into Wise Men plus you will get some extra sheep!!!

Enjoy!!!!

P.S. This would make a great gift for a hospital bound child or Grandparent. Add in  a box of crayons or pencils!

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It goes without saying that some really sadistic person is the one who attaches toys to the inside of the packaging.  It takes over 5 min just to free a Barbie doll from it’s prison and at least 20 min to free a Tonka truck. The smartest way to avoid the wait on Christmas morn is to “free” the toys before you wrap them up.  Carefully open the packages and cut the toys out of their wire holders & tape.  Then put them back in the boxes and wrap them up. 

By doing this, the kids can enjoy their presents quicker and the adults might actually get a chance to enjoy 3 sips of coffee in peace. 

Of course, if you are going to a relative’s house, it helps to have the following tools ready. That way the kids can play with the toys immediately and the adults can have a chance to drink a cup of coffee and talk in peace…..for about 10 min anyhow.

These are the tools I carry in my purse for Christmas:

1) Set of wire cutters

2) Needle nose pliers

3) Scissors

4) Set of jeweler's screwdrivers

5) Stock of every kind of battery known to mankind-AA, AAA, C, D, & those little watch batteries.

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This has got to be the funniest, most creative and just best decoration ever! This is soooo great. Wish I had thought of it.  Be sure to read why Greg had to take it down at the end of the post!

Fantastic.  Greg sends along this DIY FYI:

"Good news is that I truly out did myself this year with my Christmas  decorations. The bad news is that I had to take him down after 2 days. I had more people come screaming up to my house than ever.Great stories. But two things made me take it down.

First, the cops advised me that it would cause traffic accidents as they almost wrecked when they drove by.

Second, a 55 year old lady grabbed the 75 pound ladder almost killed herself putting it against my house and didn't realize it was fake until she climbed to the top (she was not happy). By the way, she was one of many people who attempted to do that. My yard couldn't take it either. I have more than a few tire tracks where people literally drove up my yard."

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Hope everyone has most of their Christmas decorations and shopping done!!! We almost have all of our presents made this year.......almost! Anyway, after sharing a great way to hang up ornaments without those horrid metal hooks(click here to read that post) I came across a great site that has some really neat ideas for hanging up stockings in other places besides the fireplace.

The first house the hubby and I had did not have a fireplace so we hung our stockings up on the window.  This site has some great pics of some really brillant ideas. You can go over to Blissfully Domestic and get some really pretty ideas. 

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I have a great tip that will save you all of the hassle.  On top of that, this looks prettier, makes the ornaments easier to hang up and you will not loose them.  Go to the notions section of your favorite store and get some very thin ribbon.  I usually have some on hand for crafts anyway.  But if you get a spool of red and a spool of green & then one of white, you will have more than enough to set up your ornaments.  All you have to do is cut a strip about 4 inches long, thread it through the ornament’s hook and tie the ends together in a knot.  That is it!  Now you have a pretty loop attached to the ornament.  You can make the loops larger or smaller or even match them to the color of your ornament.  You could even add bows or bells.  When you put them away, the ribbons will be tied on the next season.  No more of those hooks!!!!!!!!!! Down with the hooks!!!!

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I actually did a post about this back in 2007.  I am going to copy & paste it at the end of this post.  Why? I saw a very interesting....or rather telling news article this morn that pretty much confirmed what I had been saying. Now this is not the first nor dare I say the last news article I have seen.  But it does indeed give you an insight.  Notice nowhere does this school official say anything about the quality of education. The only concern that is mentioned is money (I have never found any other article about this different. )

UCLUELET — Attracting home-schooled children back into the public system would stop the closure or amalgamation of West Coast schools, says the superintendent.

Cam Pinkerton made the comments Wednesday night while under questioning from local parent Jessie Masso.

Masso urged Pinkerton to go into the community, identify students and bring them back into the public system.

“It is dramatic, and it would be enough, and we are more than willing to have that conversation and open up those doors,” said Pinkerton.

School District 70 currently receives about $9,000 for each student from the provincial government. Pinkerton said he has heard the number of home-schooled children on the West Coast is in the high 80s.

Attracting 80 students back into the system would raise $720,000.

Pinkerton told Tofino and Ucluelet parents and teachers Wednesday the school district could save $300,000 by closing or combining a school on the West Coast.

The school district is facing a $1.8-million funding shortfall.

Pinkerton said he is willing to sit down with home-schooling parents to discuss why they don’t like the public system.

“Maybe there are things that we need to adjust to make it more welcoming to those individuals,” said Pinkerton.

“It is not an insignificant number. I think the last time I heard it was in the high 80s of students who are being home schooled here on the West Coast. That will make a huge difference.”

Now here is my orginal post from Jan. 15, 2007.

...or is there another reason the failures want to regulate the successful? I had a passionate discussion with a relative today.  His arguement was that homeschoolers should be registered with the local school districts because after all they really do care whether or not a child is getting a good education.  "Oh, really," was my question, "Is it that they really care or could it be about money?" 

How could it be about money?  Consider the following that is true for the majority of school districts in this country ( I said the majority, not all) I will use numbers that are easy to multiply in case you are like me and had to take math in public school.

Lets say a school district has 100 students.  The government will give them a $1000 per student.  That would be $100,000.

Now keep in mind, if a homeschooler is registered in that district they are counted along with the public school kids and the district gets money for them even though they never step foot or are allowed to use anything in the public school.

But here is the kicker.  If a school district as 110 students, the district will get $2000 per student.  How much is that? If you said $120,000, WRONG. You mistakenly calcualted only $20,000 extra for the 10 more students.  The district gets $2000 PER student.  So they would get $220,000.  That's right! They would get and extra $120,000 for students that are not even there!  Now think about how many kids are actually in a school district and how they get around $5000 per student.  The numbers really start going up.

So, do the school administrators really, really care about whether or not the homeschool kids are getting a good education (all test scores & research prove they are) or is it about money? If they really care about whether or not kids were getting a good education, why do they not focus their energy on the ones allready in the school system that are failing or barely passing?  Mabey the lure of money for nothing is too great.

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Good morning everyone!  I hope you are enjoying all of the Christmas music on the radio now.  In our household, it is not unusual to hear Christmas music in May on our stereos.  Why only enjoy great music one month out of the year?

Anyway, I was visiting Tina's blog about homeschool and family happenings and found out about a free give away. Amazon.com is giving away a free download of Christmas music everyday to countdown to Christmas.  The first day was a beautiful song by Casting Crowns and Day 5 had a song by Jars of Clay.  All FREE!!!

Warning: to my Christian friends. Be sure to preview the song before downloading it.  For example Day 4 is actually full of cuss words. I will give Amazon credit that it will warn you if a song is explicit.  Also, there is a Christmas song by Lady GaGa. It goes without saying it is about sex.  Sigh, sometimes you have to sift through.  Not sure why they choice some of these songs.  I guess they are trying to appeal to all people.

But do not throw the baby out with the bath water.  There are some still some good songs that are free. Just use your own good judgement.

The link is at http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&ref_=dm_gw_castingcrowns4&docId=1000453281  Check back everyday until Christmas to see the new song offered. Again, this is free and enjoy Christmas music all year long!

Amazon also offers free music all year long! I have downloaded some really great classical music. You can find that link by clicking here.

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Well, the Christmas season is starting to go into full swing.  Now, if you are like our family, we make gifts.  However, we have a lot of family several states away and mailing gifts is expensive.  We use Christmas cards to stay in touch.  I found a great site that has links to make dozens of different Christmas cards from 3-D to handprint, photo to ways to display.  There are just some really great ideas on here. And you have plenty of time to gather up the supplies from around your house to do them.

You can click here to go to the page.  Let me know how your cards turn out!  

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This post was so popular last year (thanks for all of the wonderful emails about it) that I decided to post it again.

I do not know about you, but I will admit I do love the book Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg. While it does not even touch on the true meaning of Christmas, the story is so sweet and the pictures beautiful.  I have a list of resources for you.  I found lesson plans, worksheets, a downloadable activitiy book complete with ornaments, picture frames and all sorts of things, recipes(I kid you not), games, instructions & printables for a Polar Express pajama party,  wallpapers, games, IM buddies, and so much more.   So lets get to it! Now I am not sure if the first link I have was made for book or for the release of the movie.  Either way, this interactive site has incredible pictures and a lot of "hidden" stuff.   Let me give you some cheats.   If you move your curser along the bottom where the ticket is and place it on the snowflakes, you will see different locations that you can go to.  For the most part, each location has two "places" you can place your curser to go to.  There is a build a snowman game at the boys' house.  On the train if you go to the Passenger Car and pick up the conductor's watch, you will find a printable 10 page activity book complete with ornaments, gift cards, Christmas cards, party invitations; it is a really neat art & craft book.  At Flat Top Tunnel you will find another great activity book.  As for the games & downloadables, you can easily explore and find those.  This incredible site can be accessed at http://polarexpressmovie.warnerbros.com/flash/  (in case you are having trouble, I have a direct link to the activity book with the ornaments by clicking here.) By clicking here you will find a 4 page teacher's guide to the book.   Here is an entire Polar Express Party kit; complete with name tags, activities, recipes, games for the party, just so much.  This is a must have if you are having a party!! This would make a neat Christmas theme party.  You can access that by clicking here.   Information about the author, Chris Van Allsburg can be accessed by visiting his site at http://www.chrisvanallsburg.com/flash.html where you will also find info on other books he has written.  As for the movie; I generally am not a fan of movies from books because they usually twist the story so much you do no recognize it.  But they did a superb job.  The movie's animation is just breathtaking.  I had so much fun trying to figure out which characters Tom Hanks was playing.  (PS if you are planning to buy it off of ebay, try to get the two disks set, the bonus features are worth it.)  The official movie site is at http://polarexpressmovie.warnerbros.com/. Whew!!!! I am tired just typing all of this.  But if you can use this, it is worth it!!  As for me, I will be honest and say I would love to have the model of the Polar Express for under my tree.   Also, if you should come across the soundtrack for the movie, it is beautful!!!! It has some old time classics like Bing Crosby doing White Christmas as well as the incredible music from the film. One other thing, I promise this is it! ABC family is planning to broadcast the movie on Thurs, Dec 3 at 8ish Eastern time. Check your local listings to see this!

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I meant to put this up yesterday but I was got too busy canning our leftovers.  Yeah, we had that much.  Anyway, as the Christmas shopping season has begun, I wanted to share with you a way to help Single Homeschooling Mothers that will cost you nothing.  Before you go to a website to shop, first click here and this will take you to the HSLDA Clicks for Homeschooling page.  All you have to do is scroll down and find the merchant you shop at (for example, Amazon, ebay, etc) and click on that merchant. You will be taken to that site and just continue shopping like you normally would.  That is it! You do nothing else.  The merchant will give a percent of your total perchase to the Homeschool Foundation. YOU PAY NOTHING!!! Please take the extra 3 seconds to go to this site first.  It will be a big help to these mothers.

The Homeschool Foundation was started by the HSLDA.  They collect donations for single mothers in desperate situations so that they can continue to homeschool.  Now listen, I know how tight the budget can be.  But try to consider giving to this.  God forbid, you may someday need it.  Even a small gift like $10 can add up over time.  Read their stories on the website and you will understand.

You can read why I care so much about Single Homeschooling Mothers and other ways to help by clicking here.

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Hello, I hope I can be of help and make things a little easier on you as you are cleaning up your house for Thanksgiving.  (I mean, we can not let others know how we really live! He He)  I have some great FREE resourses for you so lets get started.

First, the Mayflower, you can access the directions for this by clicking here or go straight to the webpage here (the best way to print this is to move your curser over the cutout, right click & hit the print picture rather than just print the whole page.)

You can visit The Toy Maker (click here) and find napkin holders, cut out 3-d turkeys & pilgrims, photo frames, place cards, and some other really nice & cute cut outs.   Another cut out turkey can be found here.

Now I have an absolutly incredible site for you.  This is an interactive "thingy" about the pilgrims, their voyage over, how they lived in comparision to the indians, how the children lived, their daily lives;, the first Thanksgiving feast; I can not begin to tell you everything. It is presented in short segments that you can read or hit the speaker icon and hear the story being told to you by various kids.  A word of warning: if you are on dial up, don't bother fustrating yourself with this.  You can access the main home page by clicking here.

And of course, how can you discuss the Mayflower, without the Mayflower Compact. You can read it by clicking here.

If you are into crafty things or need something for the little ones to do, I have a link to a page with a list (and links) to any and every Thanksgiving Day craft I could thing of.  You can access it by clicking here. I also found a really cute Thankful Thanksgiving Day craft for any age; click here.

Now here is a lapbook on Thankfullness. You can get that by clicking here. You can download a free Thanksgiving Day lapbook at CurrClick by clicking here (you have to go through checkout but do not worry, you do not have to put in a credit card number.)

Well, this should keep you busy.  Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving. We are getting ready to smoke a turkey, ham & beef briskett.  Yeah, we have a lot of people coming this year. But I was smart.  I asked everyone to bring one traditional side, one new side of their liking, one bread, and one dessert.  Translation: since the hubby is doing the smoker, all I have to do is clean the house and make coffee.  He he. I am good!

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Ok, many of us have  children of varying ages and maturity levels.  When we are at the museums and see something we really  want our teens to see or we really, really want to see ourselves, we generally have two choices: missing out or praying our younger children do not really get it. I have a solution that might work for you.

Here in SC, the state museum has an exhibit put on by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum called Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race.  In their own words, “the exhibit traces the journey of eugenics from its start as a scientific concept in the late 19th century to its deadly use by Nazi Germany as a justification for the sterilization and murder of millions of people. Viewer discretion is advised. “  As a matter of fact, when I was at the museum picking up the info, the curator looked at my kids and pointed to the younger ones and HIGHLY advised me not to take them in to that exhibit.  I told him I wasn’t I was just getting info. 

Well there are many mothers out there who in the same boat.  Here is the solution we came up with: tag team.  Get a group or just one other mother and go to the museum (ps most museums have free or deeply discounted prices with current homeschool IDs)  While some of the mothers are taking the kids through the other parts, the moms & teens can go in groups of two or more and go through the exhibit.  This way, no one misses out but you do not expose kids to something you do not think they are ready for. 

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This is one of the most favorite recipes I post every year about his time ...judging by the emails I get. 

Well, it is starting to get chilly.  (unless you happen to live in SC where the four seasons are almost summer, summer, still summer and Christmas; none of which are cold)  With all of the left over chocolate bars from Trick or Treating I thought I would share my recipe for homemade Hot Chocolate.  We usually make this on Christmas Eve in my house.  Now I warn you, this is NOT low fat in any way shape or form. So it goes without saying, this is probably the tastiest recipe known to mankind.

Hot Chocolate

1 Chocolate bar per person (Hershey’s is still the best) or a hand full of Hershey's kisses

1 c. Heavy Whipping Cream per person

sprinkle of cinnamon for garish (optional)

Pour the cream into a heavy sauce pan.  Heat slowly over med heat.  If it starts to scorch, remove from heat.

Chop up the candy bars (in a food processor works best).

Add to the cream and use a whisk to stir it in.  It should only take a minute to melt the chocolate.  

Pour in a cup and enjoy.  You can sprinkle on some cinnamon or put in a candy cane. 

Lastly, if you drink more than 1 cup a day for a week, avoid the scale for a week or two.  MMMMMMMMM Oh, Yeah, that is good.

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With Thanksgiving Day coming up, I wanted to share a great resource with you.  I found this a couple of years ago and I can not tell you how great this works!!!    This little book is incredible. But do not let the title Primer fool you. This is for adults as well.

It has a complete history of the American tradition,  a section of the Pilgrims as people, recreating a Separatist Service, the manners of the time and recipes from that time period (ps they probably did not have turkey on the menu), the real way they dressed and charts of all garments worn (if you are good at sewing you can easily make these), Pilgrim games, what the children did and something else I love.  They have a traditional picture of the first Thanksgiving meal with the Pilgrims and Indians. The author then goes through and tells everything that is wrong.  There is also a list of the passengers on the Mayflower.  There are great pictures & drawings. This Primer is a “complete guide to re-creating the first harvest festival for your family, friends or church.”

There is also a package deal here that includes a hardback reprint of William Bradford’s own diary which if very enlightening. If you can swing it, I highly recommend it.  You can see in their own words why the Pilgrims came to the New World.  No, it was not for religious freedom.  But I will be doing a post on that closer to Thanksgiving. I am also going to get some free resources up for Thanksgiving, but I have to be honest, I think this book beats anything out there.   

This book is only $6  but well worth it.  Like I said, I have used it quite a bit in this year and for the years to come. If you order it now, you should get it in time for Thanksgiving.   Now before I give you the web address here is my disclaimer.  I am an affiliate of Vision Forum who sells this book.  If you click on the Vision Forum icon in my side bar they will pay me a percentage of your purchase (no charge to you).  If you click on the link here, I will receive no pay. This is a direct link.   I really think this book would be of great use to so many out there that I do not want anyone to think I am recommending it so I can make money.  I want no one to be able to say Mrs. Dani is dishonest. 

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I have some wonderful FREE resources for you today. But first, I encourage you to attend the Veteran’s Day parade in your nearest city.  I know it will be at 11 am.  How to I know that? Out of tradition for the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, ending WWI was signed at the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Military.com has a wealth of info form the history, to things you can do to links for Veterans.  You can access that info by clicking here. You can go to  this site  and/orthis site to find out the history of Veteran's Day.

This is a 4th of July site but there are some great printable flags & pinwheels.  You can click here for that.

Now here is the free lapbook from CurrClick.  You do have to go through checkout but it does not require any kind of credit card info.  This is an incredible that site that gives away a lot of free stuff (my favorite kind).  You will be signed up for a newletter that lets you know about freebies.  You can access that by clicking here. I have mine printed up and ready for the kids to do tomorrow.  I also have pictures of some of the Veterans in our family printed up to put in it.  (you can meet one of them, a true hero by reading last year's post, here)

Now some extra clipart for the above lapbook or any notebooking .

For the military branch seals, click here. 

Now at this site (click here) scroll down on the page and you will see links to more military clipart than you knew existed.  You will also find some really cool clipart here. 

Well, this should get you started.  I wanted to get this up early in the week so it would give you time to design and print up what you need.  Again, please make plans to attend the parade.

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Anyway, I found a great free toy for her. Our church goes through a lot of soda.  We do not buy carbonated sugar except on rare occasions.  I generally get the bottles for free and use them for gardening purposes.  I will do a post on that another time. Anyway, I was cleaning them when the cap fell to the floor. The kitten went nuts.  She loves chasing the caps across the floor, pawing them and boy is it funny when she skids them under the stove and cant reach them. She sits there meowing as loud as possible until someone gets it or gives her another one.  Imagine, my kids insisted on paying $4 for a stuffed mouse and $2 for a jingling ball and the cat loves the free stuff!   Ok, maybe this kitten may work out well in the family after all.

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Tis the season to save up to 80% off of fans for the summer….and winter energy bills.

Have I got a great tip & deal for you today!  Here in the south fans are a necessity in the summer to help keep homes cool but did you know they help keep your house WARM too. Heat rises so when you are heating your home a lot of the warm air is hanging around the ceiling!  By having the fan on low you can cycle the warm air down helping to save on your energy bill in the winter as well as the summer.   PS  In warm weather the fan should be going counterclockwise and in the winter it should be going clockwise. Took me forever to get that straight. 

Anyway, my nieces wanted some fans for their rooms. As you can see from the pic they are pretty and pink with flowers and butterflies.  These are both Hunter fans; the industry leader and most quiet you can buy-translation: the best but expensive.  Side note: five or more blades are the quietest.

These generally run $90 each.  Not too bad as far as Hunter fans go.  But by waiting until this time of year we were able to pick these up for…..drum roll please………$30 each. That’s right we paid less for both of the fans than for one by waiting until the end of the season!

Now is the time to pick these up for your homes.  If you ever wondered if these make a difference....trust me they do ( we have 6 in our house)!  So check out your local home improvment stores and see what deals they have!  Also, if you are buying more than two, sometimes you can get a manager to make you a deal!

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Ok, back to Wal-mart.  I found a clearance cart in the diary section with all of the McCormick spices on them.  I stocked up on Allspice, Cinnamon sticks, dried Oregano (in case I was not able to dry enough from my garden this year), Garlic Salt, Cayenne Pepper, even Vanilla Extract and so many others.  I generally pay anywhere from $2.34 to $4.20 a bottle.  This time I got bottles for $.85 to $1.25 a bottle!  Yes, you read that right.  Spices kept in dark cool places (think the bottom drawer of the fridge.) will last at least a year or so.   If you do a lot of baking for the holidays, now is a great time to stock up! We use a lot of Oregano in our home so I bought several bottles!!!

 Good spice hunting!

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Last week we went camping with some friends.  We were not at the camp ground for an hour when a kitten decided my wheel well was a great place to hang out.  Yeah, a lot of you see where this is going.  She hung out there the entire time sneaking out to steal our buddies’ dog’s food and run back under the tire and into the motor.  On the last day, we had to get her out of the motor.  With 9 kids (I think. I lost count after 5) and five adults we literally fished her out with a net.  We took her to the grounds keeper who asked us to please take her. The dirty look I gave him was not befitting of a Christian.  It turns out a lot of people think a camp ground is a great place to dump kittens & cats.  How terrible! Fine, I understand you do not want them but do not dump them somewhere. Anyway, the kids begged their father (they knew better than to try to beg me) to keep him.  Well, he relented and boy is he in trouble.

But I digress.  The kitten had fleas of course.  I used my Aunt Janice’s old home remedy.  The vet agreed.  She hates the chemical stuff sold over the counter at Wal-mart or other retailers and advise against using them. Have you even read what is in these things?  This tip I am about to share with you works better and is safe for the kids. Take a bar of pure Ivory soap.  Yes, the bath soap you get 3 bars for a $1.  Also, it has to be Ivory.  Sorry, Irish Spring, love ya but you will not work.  Anyway, soap up your animal and with tweezers, and then pick off any fleas you see crushing them with the tweezers.  The soap will kill or at the very least slow down the fleas.  Concentrate on the areas under their legs (for lack of a better term, armpits) tails, neck under their chin, around the ears and face.  This will take bit of time, but it will be well worth it.

Ok, I have to go clean out the bathroom and remind the kids to clean out the kitty litter box.  Those of you who know me are laughing their rears off about this kitten but I am battling a sick stomach over this.  Sigh.  Well, at least the kids are happy.  

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I held on to mine even though many of my kids are too old to use them.  I use them at night to hold cold water when the kids are sick.  Sometimes, especially around flu & cold season which we are suffering through, a child can use a sip of cold water but of course you would not dare leave a cup in their bed and we know while they are half asleep there is a good chance of knocking a glass off the bed stand and it would be nice to get at least one extra minute of sleep without the usual, “ Mommy! I’m Thirsty!” .  These sippy cups (though the child is too old) are nice because they can have a sip of water, not spill it in bed and if you nestle it in the stuffed animals on the bed, it will stay colder longer.  

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So I was thinking about this the other day when I noticed my crock pot. Ok, so any of you who have been following this blog know I am always on the lookout for great, easy crock-pot meals.  Now, while I know there are a lot of great recipes out there, but so many of them call for special ingredients.  While I know they are great I just do not have the time, energy, or patience to find exotic ingredients nor do I have the money for two pages long of ingredients.

I found a great site with some really (and easy) crock pot meals.  These can be made the night before and ready in the morning.  Also a great plus if you are heading out early in the morning for a day of field trips. These are recipes with eggs, cheese, potatoes, oatmeal and the like.  In other words, normal.

What is also great is all of these are so versatile.  You can easily cut these in half or double or triple the recipe depending upon the size of your family.  Plus you can add or take out ingredients depending upon your family’s taste buds.    

You can find the site at http://www.thatsmyhome.com/slowcooker/breakfast.htm

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Yep, you read that right. The flu has hit our home.  The regular not the piggy kind that everyone is freaking out about. The hubby came home from work with it.  Now I am trying desperately to keep myself and the kids and the grandparents and the great-grandparents from getting it.  Sigh; not holding out much hope.  Well, at least the turtles and dogs cant get it...can they?  Drat, where is the vet's phone number?

So I may be scarce for the next week.  Hope all of you are keeping well! 

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So I googled Popeil recipes and found this great recipe book for pasta.  You can make basic, whole wheat, Basil Garlic, Beet, Spinach, Carrot, Cilantro, Tomato, spiced and even chocolate pasta! These are sooooo easy to make with ingredients available pretty much at any store.   There are 32 pages of recipes.  You can access it by clicking http://jimspages.com/Pasta.pdf.  A word of warning; this is a pdf file (have to have acrobat) You should print this out or save it to your computer if you intend to use this a great deal. I have sent out this warning before. You never know how long something will stay up on the web. 

Ps. If you need the instructions to the Popeil Ronco Pasta maker you can access that by clicking here.  Again, print out or save to your computer.  I have noticed this link being active one day and inactive the next.

So be on the look out at the next garage sale or your buddies house when they are getting rid of stuff. You will love having this around! 

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I have an incredible tip that I learned just last night!  I saved over $30 on my order for checks!!!

Now I do not keep enough in my checking account (dude, I don’t have enough to keep) to qualify for those higher level checking accounts that have discounted or free checks plus I only order checks every 2 years or so (this time it was 2 ½ years this time).  The bank is too expensive for me.  Sorry, I love my bank but can not afford it.  I have to order from Checks Unlimited because they are almost half the price of the bank.  (ps if you know of a cheaper company, please let me know in the comments section)

So I was on the phone last night ordering checks.  Now the problems we have is there is a 4 box minimum per order and because of the amount of people that write checks off of our account we have to have duplicate checks;  Tried before without them with disastrous results (it was only a $14 difference) .  Now with nothing else fancy the bill came to ……..drum roll…..$101!!!  I gasped and said that is insane. I apologized to the lady on the phone but told her I could not possibly afford that and I would have to call my bank and try to work something out. She asked me to wait just a second. 

After reviewing the “extras”  that I was lead to believe were free; check fraud protection (my bank handles that), check shield (not sure what that was) ,  $15 handling fee (again, not sure what that covers), the charge to even process the order (What!? Is it not enough I ordered from them?), and some other stuff (no idea yet what the charges were for)……the final saving was over $30!  I find that ridiculous.  I know it has been over 2 ½ years since I ordered checks but I do not have anything fancy or extra (with the exception of the duplicate that I explained is necessary for this family.) 

So do not be afraid to say something about the price!  Now I was nice but made no bones about it that the price was way too much for me to pay.  You never know if they will make you a deal.

Another way to save money is to try to pay your bills online.  You will save a lot of money by not wasting a check and a stamp to mail it. Like I said I have not had to order checks in over 2 ½ years!  It may take some time to sign up with each company but it is worth it.  I created a folder in my favorites and save the websites I use to pay bills in it; electric, school loan, car insurance, phone, everything but my house mortgage.  It takes me less than 5 min to pay my bills (when I have the money that is).  Hint: just keep a piece of paper next to your computer with a chart of the company, sign on name and password. Also, if your bank has a free Visa check card use it….this is NOT a credit card (do not believe in those nor do I have any) that removes money from your checking account.  Use it when you can for groceries and other purchases.

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Ok, I have a really neat little quick tip for you today.  Have you ever had to use steel wool to clean out a pan or stove pan or whatever, only to find it has already rusted and you only used it the day before.  Not to mention it left a rust stain on your sink?  While this stuff is cheap, it is still annoying none the less.

I picked up this tip from a buddy of mine.  When you are done using the pad, rinse it out well and shake a bit.  Put in a small Ziploc bag and put in your freezer.  This prevents it from rusting.  You don’t even have to thaw it out to use it!  I have been using the same steel wool pad for close to a year now! Once it wears out, throw it away!  You will never have to deal with rust stains on your sink or counter again!

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Good Morning!  I hope everyone is getting ready to have a wonderful Labor Day Weekend.  A lot of you may be getting ready to harvest your gardens.  For a newbie like myself who had to teach herself how to can, I thought I would share an invaluable resourse I found via the web.  This site has step by step instructions, videos, recipes and all kinds of great stuff. 

The site is from the Ball company; leader in canning supplies.   The site is at http://www.freshpreserving.com/ The site is really easy to navigate.

Another great book that was just a great help to me was the Ball Blue Book of Preserving.  Wal-mart carries it for around $7; well worth the money. 

A word of warning to newbies like myself: Be careful using old books about canning (I inheritted many old cookbooks) the procedures have improved a great deal in the last 20 years.  You would be wise to invest the money in a new book.

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Special note: also call around.  The CVS pharmacy near me only has stuff at 50% off. I was near my parents and stopped into theirs.  I told them I wanted some of the fold up chairs but they were marked at $14.99.  I asked if they would give them to me at the price of the other CVS.  The manager said yes, but then she said, no. They were even less because the computer already had the merchandise marked down!  Don’t be afraid to ask for a lower price! If you want to save money, do not be timid!

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I have always loved old photographs.  I was fortunate enough to inherit several tin types from my family including one that has been hand colored.  These are always so very pretty but horribly expensive.  However, these are so easy to do your self. No really! I am serious. I made them of my children and hung them in the hall by my front door.   I can not tell you how people have been at my house commenting on them.  They all are amazed I did them myself.  I have been told they looked like they were professionally and expensively done.  I posted these instructions several years ago but have had so many requests for instructions that I thought I would repost this.

Plus with Christmas coming up, these make an incredibly beautiful, easy, quick & cheap gifts to make. 

 All you need to do is pick a photo to do.  Try to make sure there is not a lot of black in the photo.  Take it and get a photo copy done.  Do NOT scan into your computer and print on an ink jet printer.  The paper will get wet and the photo will run; I know this from personal experience. Wow, talk about a mess!

Take the photo and with a pink color pencil, very lightly color in any skin tone of the person in the photo.  Then take watercolor paints, the kind your kids use, and pick one color.  A bit of a side note: if you try to do more than one color on a person it does not look good.   If you are doing a scenery, try to stick with just 2 or 3 colors depending upon the size of your photo.  If you look at the antique ones, you will see they generally only used one color.  Less is more in this case. Again, I know this from personal experience; I ruined a photo or two. 

Only paint one item.  In the case of the ones for my children, I only painted the main outfit they were wearing.  Leave everything else just as it is. 

I bought several black, scroll work frames from my local Dollar Tree for a buck a piece. Framing them in black frames seem to be the prettiest; to me anyhow.  I would stick with a solid somewhat plain frame so it will not interfere with the beauty of the picture.  As I have said before, let your own tastes or décor be your guide. (our décor tends to be more “lived in” instead of modern or French Provincial)

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