The Rock Star

We clebrated our last family holiday get together the other night and Ms Sarah got a microphone as a gift from Uncle Bob and Aunt Janet.

My little "i" personality LOVES things that result in laughs or applause for her - so this was a PERFECT gift. The floor pedals are for different rim shots and applause...the mic can be hooked up to record or run thru her electric keyboard. (yes, it pays to be the only grandaughter on both sides of the family!)

We have had a hard time prying her away from this -- just enjoy the little concert clip.

The song is from Hannah Montana, called The Best Of Both Worlds. This totally cracks me up as we don't have cable and I am not sure where she watched this show or how she memorized the words, LOL!

Mardi Gras!

I have talked before about checking with your church for fun family activities.

We are lucky to be a part of an AWESOME church - Bethel Lutheran in Madison and it has a GREAT family ministry program!

Our Mardi Gras celebration started with beads and masks as you enter, great food, crafts for the kiddos and music!

Starting with a few fun decorations...Add Children's Face Painting by our own and very talented Miss Emma...and a few tables of craft projects for the kiddosThen, you have the kids taken care of.

Add some great music and a buffet - full of cajun goodies like red beans & rice, gumbo, etouffee and pancakes with praline sauce!Top it off with warm beneights and you have a meal for a king!!This was how we kicked off lent this year - and will have bible study dinners on Wednesday's for the adults, with carfts/movies for the kids.

What did you do?

My Michael's Score!

We went to Michael's Craft Store to get that fairy photo of Sarah matted and framed (the one I gave dear hubby for Christmas).

While I was waiting, I walked around a bit and saw this 15 inch by 15 inch ready made framed scrapbook page, marked from $19.99 to $3.99!! I couldn't buy just the BLING for that price! I got a few - I have a specific project in mind and need them all to be the same. Seriously, Recollections Boutique Fleur! They had five other designs but only this one was clearanced out.

Here is the best part: they rang up at $1.99 each!!!! 90% off -- and I now know that I just took care of Mother's Day for $6.

=)

I will share my finished project with you later, but wanted to tell you that they still had some of these frame there!

Have you found a cool deal lately?

Banking On Disney

The Tupperware National Convention (Jubilee) is in Orlando this year and at a Disney Hotel. We are going and taking Ms Sarah for her first ever, Disney experience!
=)

We are doing a lot of it on the cheap:
**Driving down instead of the three of us flying and renting a car for a week.
**Taking the Tupperware room block at 75% off retail!
**Buying food at a local store and using our room fridge and microwave
**Getting park passes through Tupperware and more!

I want her involved in this - from the planning on up so we are starting at the beginning. Saving money! We turned an empty milk jug into a bank! First we washed it and then she decorated it with dinosaur stickers and sharpie markers.
Isn't it beautiful?

Spare change will go in here, until it hopefully fills and we have to create a second bank. We started feeding it with all the change we found in the house. I hope this helps teach her the importance of setting a goal and breaking it down into bite sized pieces to make it happen. Saving for something and planning vs just expecting it to be given to her...know what I mean?

Remember the Hope House banks from our church? We did the same thing for one month and had over $30 in it, so we are hoping to tuck over $300 into the new bank before we leave. This should cover park passes and a character breakfast!

My favorite part of this trip will be a few days with my big sissy - she lives in Florida too and it's another great reason to go!
=)
Do you have a fun family event that you are looking forward to?

12/23 - school pagent

Today was the school pagent for Ms Sarah. 4 kids were already out sick, another poor kiddo tossed her cookies just minutes after the performance. The kids were so cute and really got into their songs...just watch!
After the songs there were light refreshments and a quick gift for the parents. Then, we zipped over to the Cookies For Santa class at the west side community building where Ms Sarah got to create some masterpieces for Mr Claus

What a fun and festive day!

Cheddar Beer Soup

This is one of my favorite "go to" soups on cold winter days -- it is easy to make and warms the spirit. I hope your family likes it as much as ours does!

Cheddar Beer Soup
Saute the following in 1 stick of butter:
1 cup diced carrots
1 cups diced celery
1 cup chopped onion.

Make a roux out of 1 cup of butter and 1 cup of flour. (combine the two and boil)

In your soup pot, combine:
1 gallon chicken stock
1.5 cans of beer
1 tsp garlic powder
Boil the mix and then stir in the boiling roux to thicken it. Then, add sauteed veggies.

Reduce heat to a simmer and slowly add in 1 1/2 pounds of shredded sharp cheddar cheese, some parsley flakes for color and a little salt and white pepper to taste.
This is where I add diced kielbasa or smoked beef sausage -- it makes it a little more interesting and rounds out the protein.

There is nothing like sitting with a warm bowl of this on a snowy evening...

12/19 - Cookie Party!

Today was supposed to be a busy day - it was supposed to be:
-Church
-Cookie Party
-Church Concert
-Birthday Dinner for Pop...

That isn't exactly what happened...

Sarah wasn't feeling well so we skipped church (didn't want to infect the other kidlets), the cookie party went off without a hitch and we ended up with a fantastic variety of cookies.
=)

We skipped church again (she couldn't sing) and snuggled until it was time to go out to dinner. Spaghetti at the Rosarios is always yummy! Back to their house for cake and presents...then home to bed.

A busy, but fun day!