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!

12/18 - This, that and a little more!

Busy day today -
**We started with ballet class for Ms Sarah. I did her "ballet hair" (that daddy's can't seem to figure out) and had everything ready so the hubster could take her.

**I ran to the Mall to work the food drive from 9-5
I organized it and needed to be there whil the weekend only people came to set up.

**We zipped to a holiday party for Tupperware Royalty and enjoyed a spaghetti bake along with assorted appetizers that we all brought.

A whirlwind of a day, but it was a good day. It's a dood thing I rested up on Friday, LOL!

12/17 - rest up.

I have been battling pneumonia for almost two weeks now, while trying to enjoy the season. This is a day to just stay home, relax and enjoy some family time as my hubby is off of work today.

We did decide to take advantage of the fact that he has a Friday night off - and drove up to the Owl's Nest for Fish Fry.


It was a fun family day in the midst of the crazy season. Everyone needs that!

12/16 Cookie Day

The perk of organizing a cookie exchange party is simple. You only have to make ONE kind of cookie and will end up with a nice variety for the season.

Today Ms Sarah and I made our cookies - after she was home from school. We made 14 dozen of the beauties and even made it to karate on time afterwards!

What are you baking for your family this season?

12/15 Office Party!

OK - this is funny as my office staff consists of one person. My assistant Melanie is amazing and makes me look organized!

It's become a tradition to take her out before the holiday - we do lunch, a fun movie and then a mini gift exchange...this year it was Chili's and The Cher movie Burlesque (pretty cool!)

How do you recongize those that support you in your daily life?

12/14 Run Around Day

This was my day to set up the Food drive that I organized at a local mall. We got an empty store, found other home party plan vendors and advertised the heck out of it. I was there from 8 am to 9 pm...but it's for a great cause!

12/13 Cookie Time!

There are so many fun things to do with the kids this time of year!

Even something as simple as letting them be the artist for a batch of cookies. (12 is about enough for the attention span of a four year old...). Today we set up a "decorating station" and she got busy while I did a few other things in the kitchen.

Wilton has nice squeeze bottles of cookie icing,that cost an arm and a leg at the store, so I was delighted to see a few at our local Liquidators for less than $1! Simply zap five seconds in the microwave and they are an easy squeeze for little hands. **Keep in mind that these high sugar items keep VERY well - I didn't have to buy any this year because we had an abundance from last year.

There are a lot of other fun things we have planned to do too - the Madison area is fantastic! Try going to look at holiday lights at Olin Park, putting on holiday music and dancing silly, making a popcorn garland for outdoors to feed the animals, go to Olbrich Botanical Gardens and check out the trains and poinsettia exhibition. Got a little dinosaur lover like me? Go to the UW Geology Museum and see the festive fossils.

As for us, we have come back from Karate and it is time to taste one of her creations. Yum!

12/12 - the magic words

Antipyrine Benzocaine OTIC Sol 15ml

LOL- I know, what a mouthful! That is the stuff I am going to get from the Doctor tomorrow, it is kind of like Ambesol for your ears.

Tomorrow will have been 10 days...that is a lot of head pressure, ear and throat pain, coughing and more. I am SOOOOO ready to be done with this.

So now, you know the magic words for ear pain. They should equal instant relief
=)

12/11 - The Polar Express...

A very cute program put on by the Sun Prairie Parks and Recreation Department...Participants of all ages board The Polar Express at the Municipal building (a bus),
where they will listen to the story from Mrs Claus on the way to the North Pole (The Westside Community Service Building). Kids meet Santa Claus and receive a small gift from under the tree (a jingle bell).

They enjoy the rest of the visit with Christmas music, a cookie and hot chocolate or hot cider.
At the end of the visit, the Polar Express will take you back to City Hall to complete your journey.

Sarah and I did it with Grammie and Grumpie today...and managed to get back home before the blizzard started.

I just LOVE the holiday season this year, she is the PERFECT age for all of the magic that this season holds!

12/10 - Pneumonia

SO, I am sick.

I don't have just a cold, I had a sinus infection that turned into pneumonia...

Yes, I did it right, LOL!

There is one thing to be thankful for: I didn't overbook myself for the holidays!

I am not a snack helper at the school...I had only one holiday type event planned for each week, I have a cookie party instead of making a bajillion different kinds of cookies, and everything is already wrapped and under our tree!

This makes it easier to be home, under a blanket on the recliner and drinking a lot of fluids. This makes it easier to deal with 10+ inches of fresh snow. This makes it easier to not go out in the incredibly chilly weather we will get after that!

It does pay to simplify the holiday and be proactive...it lets you be stress free if something like pneumonia sneaks up on you.

Saturday is the "Polar Express" program -- I will venture out, bundled up with Ms Sarah and hopefully, get some great pictures of her with Santa.
=)
(Then, back to my recliner...)

Today was "pajama day" at school and Ms Sarah had a blast in her purple footie jammies with her friends at school...and got to wear them for the whole day at home. Funny that she is now a nekkid little kid running around the house -- I am cold just looking at her!

12/9 -- Covering an emergency.

My Amish consultant had a family funeral that came up and had to heat out of state. One problem, she had a party scheduled for today and the Amish community isn't easy to rearrange as they have no phones.

Dannelle to the rescue? I was going to Markesan to cover her show after getting Ms Sarah to school...but ended up at the Doc instead and learned that I have pneumonia.......I found another team member to cover it.

Fluids.
Rest.
Period.

That's my orders so I ended up snuggled on the recliner under a lot of blankets.

Andy who had to deal with the Holiday Food Drive live event. If the weather is too bad, he can always stay at his folks, who live less than five minutes from work - honestly!

12/8 - Happy Humpday!

A pretty normal day - Andy had the day off, Sarah went to school and then helped him with running errands, then Karate time! She was the only Karate Kub that came so it ended as a private session!

I felt crummy with my sinus infection but managed to hit the grocery store - $179 for about $14.

Dinner was a cheat: Frozen pepperoni pizza. I just didn't feel like really cooking today.

The big hit of the day was the box of Cuties! Sarah had two of them, one before dinner and one after it.

Bath time, Bed time and the day is over...here is looking forward to a better day tomorrow
:)

12/7 - Terrific Tuesday!

Tuesdays have come to be a family day. Sarah goes to school, we have lunch together, she goes to Karate, We go out for dinner - using one of our many gift cards.

Today was the same...after Karate, for dinner we went to one of the "Food Fight" restaurants - Monty's Blue Plate Diner.

My throat was killing me and I figured a chicken soup kind of thing would be good - but alas, no chicken soup. I ended up with their version of a chicken pot pie, Andy had the meatloaf and Saran had dinosaur bites with fresh fruit.

I couldn't eat my dinner so I got a chocolate shake...which felt great on my sore throat.
=)

We got home about 7PM and they watched a Charlie Brown Christmas while I went right to bed and stayed there for about 12 hours...

12/6 - Monday Monday...

A pretty typical Monday...Sarah went to school and came home. We had a family lunch around the kitchen table. We listened to music and relaxed in the family room. Then I had to get ready to teach my first coupon class...

Two months ago, we put this into the works - a coupon 101 class where the basics would be taught to help other people save moneh. Where to find coupons, how to organize them, how to use them and a few tips & tricks.

Tonight, was my first coupon class at the local library. I've worked with Carol, the head of adult education, and we organized everything from passouts to firguring out how to the their power point projector to like my laptop.

We were pleasantly surprised at over sixty people attending...and the overall response from people.
=)
It was fun to read the survey sheets - they seemed to really get a lot out of the class and even said I was "entertaining", LOL! It was also fun figuring out where people found out about the class - newlsetters, signs, facebook, etc.

More classes are in the future, as well as a stockpile swap...
How fun!