Day 20: A favorite photo

I love this photo. It shows that even though they fight, scream and even love one another that they will no matter what be there for one another. Why? Because they are sisters.

Day 19: Family's favorite icecream/ frozen treat

We all have a few different favorite flavors of ice cream.
We like, Mint chocolate chip, vanilla, butter pecan, rocky road and I know there is a few more that I just can't remember right now. But our favorite brand of ice cream is Blue bell. YUM!





Happy Memorial day!

Day 18: What does mommy and/ or daddy wear to work

Michael is in the military so he wears the military issued uniform. I am a stay at home mommy so I mostly wear jeans and a t-shirt.

Day 17: Favorite family game

The girls favorites:

Our favorite:

Anika's new hair cut

I was getting tired of Anika's hair, she had about 3-4 different lengths of hair and it drove me crazy. So I tried to get it even.

Before

After

IT'S FRIDAY!

Games my daughters play on the Ipad

My family LOVES the IPad. One of the big reasons why I love the IPad is all the learning games there are on here for my little girls. Some of their favorite learning games are:

1. Little Reader- four letter words

2. Color ABC deluxe HD

3. Disney's Princess and the Frog digital books

(this has puzzels, songs, games and story book)

4. Toy story 2 digital book  (has the same features as Princess and the frog)

5. Hippoppmath

Some of the fun games (but not that much learning involved.)

1. Pet Hotel

2. Make me a princess

3. Barbie- I can be

4. Candy doodle

5. Tinkerbell- Fairies Fly

What are some of your kids favorite games? 

Day 16: Favorite old movie

Ok I am just going to be honest I really don't watch old movies. The only one that I can think of liking is Shirley Temple.

Day 15: Parent's favorite tv show

My favorite shows:

Michael's favorite show is

anything on

and he loves

`

Have you ever had a day...

When all the kids fight and cry and more often then not they are screaming. Your husband has to work late so your next break is going to be when it's bedtime and it just isn't arriving fast enough for your liking. Than just as you thought there is no hope to even put you in a semi good mood this is what you see when you go get a drink


SURPRISE!!!



It lets you remember they are just little kids and they are having a bad day too. It's the mom's job to try to make them smile and have a fun day instead of sending them to their rooms because you need a 5 minute break from the crying and screaming. Just give a few thousand hugs and a few more thousand kisses and you both will be feeling better.



Downeast Maine Pumpkin bread

I found this recipe a few years back and this wonderful moist bread even made it into our family cookbook.
I found it on Allrecipes, if you go HERE you will be able to see it as well. The only thing I do different is make 2 loafs of bread and not 3. I like my bread to be a little thicker.

Day 14: Picture of your current town or city

We live in the Dallas - Fort Worth area. We have just moved here recently from Virginia.

Peanut butter candy cookies

These cookies are good!

I found this recipe HERE on You Got Served. The only mistake I did and I will have to change the next time I make these is for the chocolate on top it calls for milk chocolate and all I had on hand was semi-sweet chocolate. I know for sure that these cookies would of been amazing if I only had the right chocolate on hand.

Couponing

I have been getting asked a lot lately about organizing couponing, so I thought I would do a post about it and see if I can answer some of the questions about it. This is how I do my coupons and this is what works best for me to get the best deals out there.  Here are some photos of my coupon binder.

The little pocket inside it to hold coupons I am going to use at checkout



One of my dividers. All I did was go on Word doc. created this and put it in a page protector.

Sorry this is blurry.



To show you the size of my binder

I use 3 different sizes for coupon holders. One of them is the most popular, the baseball card holders. another one (the one that holds 4) I found at hallmark on clearance and the 2 slot ones are the newest to the binder. I found them at staples and I love them for the bigger coupons so I don't have to fold a lot of the coupons.

I didn't start off with a big one. I started off with a 1 inch binder then moved up to a 2 inch binder now I  have a 3 inch binder. My suggestion is to start off small. I have been couponing for almost 2 years now.

This is where I got my coupon binder holder.  The binder itself is not included so you will need to buy one as well.  Alot of couponers found that using a zip up binder works for them which can be found at target or walmart for a reasonable price. The reason I am so in love with the way I do it is because more times then not I will have 3 little girls and a husband with me. So the strap is a lifesaver for me.

Inside my binder I have a zippered pencil/pen pouch that you can store items in

Some ideas to store in the zippered binder:

• Small pair of scissors for coupon clipping
• Calculator
• Pad of paper (for grocery list making)
• Coupon sorting mat (you can make your own)
• Pens or pencils

The sections in your binder are up to you....what works best for you. Some people us A-Z (advil goes in A and a coupon for Kelloggs Cereal could go in K). Some others is by the simple catagories (breakfast, drinks, snacks, frozen, etc. etc.) If you go to one of my favorite couponing blogs The Krazy Coupon Lady she has a PDF file that has A TON of catagories that you can choose from.

If you have any questions please just ask I will try my best to answer them. I hope this has helped you.

Day 13: Kid's Favorite t.v. show

My girls have a few different favorite shows. Here are some of them.

Day 12: Nicknames or pet names within the family

There really isn't any nicknames or pet names in the house. The only nicknames I can think of is Michael and I call one another babe and Caeley gets called "Caeley-girl" (I have no idea why).

(I added a photo so this post isn't so plain)

Mommy & Caeley about 2 years ago

I found an AWESOME giveaway! Go check it out!

Go HERE to enter this giveaway!

Thanks to my sister-in-law, Christina for finding this. I thought it was too funny not to share with everyone!

By the way, if yesterday happened to be the last day all I did was clean all my girl's rooms and did laundry. If I believed it was really the last day I don't think I would of been cleaning.

Day 11: Family pets past or present

Our lazy cat, Chester

Alex and Chester

Zeak

Bella

All of these pets are past pets we have no pets right now.

Day 10: Family's favorite dinner recipe

Teriyaki chicken
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons cold water
1-1/2 cups white sugar

1-1/2 cups soy sauce

3/4 cup cider vinegar

3 cloves garlic, minced

1-1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
12 skinless chicken thighs

In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the cornstarch, cold water, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, ginger and ground black pepper. Let simmer, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens and bubbles.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

Place chicken pieces in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Brush chicken with the sauce. Turn pieces over, and brush again.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Turn pieces over, and bake for another 30 minutes, until no longer pink and juices run clear. Brush with sauce every 10 minutes during cooking.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The way I make this  is I mix everything in a bowl and put it in my pressure cooker for about 30-45 minutes and be done with it. I also put how much of the sauce I make so I know that all the chicken is covered in the pressure cooker and there is extra sauce for rice and leftover chicken. This is always a family favorite but I don't make it a whole lot due to me feeling like I am not feeding my family a healthy meal with the sugar in the sauce....but oh man is it soo good!

Cheddar-Chive Gougères

This morning I found this recipe and whipped it up real quick. They were easy to make and so good! I had to make my 3 year old get away from them (she ate 3 of them).

Don't those look YUM???? Trust me they are! I found this recipe HERE. I followed the recipe and got 31 biscuits.

Cheddar-Chive Gougères
by Tori Ritchie
Party Appetizers: Small Bites, Big Flavor

Makes about 15 servings (40 to 50 gougères)

1 cup water
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, or gruyere
2 tablespoons minced fresh chives

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Put the water, butter, and salt in a medium, heavy saucepan and place over medium-high heat. Cook, swirling the pan a few times until the butter melts; once it has melted, increase the heat to high and bring the mixture to a rolling boil. Turn off the heat and dump in the flour. Beat the mixture with a wooden spoon until it starts to pull away from the sides of the pan.

3. Take the pan off the stove, set it on a counter or hot pad, and let it cool, without stirring, for 5 minutes.

4. Now, work in the eggs, 1 at a time, beating the mixture well with the spoon after each addition (you have to put some muscle into it to incorporate the eggs fully). With each addition, the dough should look glossy and slick at first, then stick to the sides of the pan before you add the next egg. After beating in the last egg, beat in the dry mustard and cayenne, then the cheese and chives.

5. Scoop up a heaping teaspoon of dough and with another spoon, push it off onto the paper-lined baking sheet (it should form a mound about 1 inch in diameter). Continue with the remaining dough, leaving an inch of space between the gougères (work in batches as necessary, the dough can stand, covered with buttered waxed paper or parchment, for up to 1/2 hour).

6. Bake until the gougères are puffy and light golden, about 25 minutes, switching pan positions halfway through. Remove from oven and let cool slightly before serving, or turn off oven and let gougères remain in oven, with door ajar, for up to 1 hour.

Recipe © 2004 Tori Ritchie.
© 1999–2007 Leite's Culinaria, Inc.

Day 9: Favorite Holiday photo

Oatmeal cookies

When I was growing up my mom taught me how to bake. One of the many things that she taught me to bake is my dad's favorite oatmeal cookies. Once we moved to Texas I wasn't able to find the recipe and my mom had misplaced it as well. Then I finally found it! I had to make them. So with the help of my youngest daughter, Natily, these cookies were made. 

Oatmeal Cookies

Makes 2 dozen

1 C. All purpose flour

1/2 C. granulated sugar

1/2 C. packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 C. butter flavored shortening

1 egg

1/4 tsp vanilla

3/4 C. quick cooking oats

1/4 C granulated sugar (for rolling the cookies in)

In mixing bowl stir first 6 ingredients together. Add shortening, egg and vanilla; beat well. Stir in oats. Form into balls and roll in a additional granulated sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 F for 10-12 minutes.

Day 8: Old Family Picture

This is when Caeley was 1 and Anika was about 4-5 months old.

Little treats for Caeley's classmates for graduation / end of school year

I wanted to have Caeley give all her classmates a small treat for the end of the school year. Kindergarten was such a wonderful time for Caeley. She loves her teacher and each one of her classmates. It makes it easy for me to give her kisses and hugs every morning knowing that she is going to school and is going to enjoy her day. I am so proud of her for becoming the little girl that she is today just by going to school. I think her friends will enjoy this small treat. Here is where I found the little treat bags http://www.etsy.com/shop/MoreThanaCupcake