MIA...

Life has sure gotten in the way the last couple of weeks...

So I have been missing in action....

I thought I should take a few minutes from my craziness and post an amazing video I saw on Sunday during the General Presidency Christmas Devotional.

I felt the spirit of my Savior while I watched this amazing depiction of His birth.  I am thankful for this time of year and the chance to be able to celebrate our Saviors life.  

Reusable swiffer covers!!

Friday Finds!!

I am so excited about this one!!  So awesome!  Can't wait to make some of these!!

Check out this tutorial for making reusable swiffer covers!!

Happy Halloween 2011!!

Gardner pumpkins this year!  

Boys are so proud of the ones they did! 

 These are of the boys at there school outing to the corn maze.  It was fun to just let them run while Dad and Mom got to hold hands and go with the flow.

 COSTUMES!!!  We went to Grandmas neighborhood and trick or treated with cousins and friends!  It was a blast this year!!

My little artist.  He came up with this one on his own!  He said I want to be an artist and I want the bag attached to the pallette!  He thinks his mom can make anything I suppose....Well I got it done as good as I could... HE LOVED IT!  He got a lot of comments about his creativity.  Which made him grin a lot!

This boy was the hardest to get to decide what to be!!!  At first it was Thor...then it was a spy...then it was Darth Vader....then we finally decided to use his brothers costume from a few years back and be a clone trooper so he could use his Boba Fett gun he got for his birthday this year!  He would have kept going house to house to house if we would have let him...Great kid!!

Hope all of you had a happy and safe HALLOWEEN!!

Where were you?

I was awoken with a call from my mom to turn on my tv.

I had been up that night with my 3 month old baby boy.  

I sleepily got up and turned on the TV...

I was horrified.

I was glued to that TV screen and remember watching the second plane hit...

Then watching the footage over and over again...

I couldn't even believe what I was watching...could this be real life?  

How could someone do this to another human?  

I was saddened that day for not only Americans but for our entire human race.

We had a temple trip planned for that afternoon 

and it would be the first time I had left my first baby with anyone...

I was terrified to leave him and went back and forth on weather to leave him or to just stay home... 

but came to the conclussion that it was important that we go.  

I was in shock until I walked into the temple that day.  

There was such peace as we entered that holy place.  

I was so impressed with the temple workers.  

They were a source of strength that day to the many people who came there.

My testimony was strengthened that day.

I realized then that there was a bigger picture to this life 

and that was the reason I was there on that day.  

My thoughts and prayers are with the survivors of that horrific day.  

I am thankful everyday for those men and women who serve me and my country 

to give us the freedoms that we have.  

I could never thank them enough for the service they provide.  

I am also thankful for their families and the sacrifice they make 

and the struggle it is sending a loved one to war.  

Thank you!  

Let us all take a moment on this Patriots Day 

to pause and be thankful for the life we are lucky to live.

Where were you?

TOMATO GRAVY!!

I know you are all thinking WHAT?!?!  

That is how I responded to this years ago when my mother-in-law made it for dinner one night.

So what is it...

Only the BEST best thing to do with tomatoes out of the garden!!! 

It doesn't LOOK very appetizing but TRUST me it is sooooo good!!!  

My husband says it looks like school lunch slop but when you taste it you will quickly forget how it looks!!

It is kinda like a thick version of tomato soup.

So what do you do with it?

Put it on TOAST or warm sliced bread!!  

The best is french bread but this is what I had here.  

Still VERY yummy!!

So now...how do you make it...

Have you ever skinned a tomato?

If so...skip this part...

(this is also helpful for canning tomatoes)

You bring a pot of water to boiling and put the tomatoes in for about a minute...

until you see the skin cracking like this...

(sometimes they are stubborn...so just poke them with a sharp knife that will help them the skins the crack)

then put them in bowl of cold water to cool a bit so you can handle them.

While they are cooling you can get a pot and add the butter to start melting while you skin the tomatoes.

The skins will just slip right off

Then cut of the tops off of the tomatoes.

slice them up into smaller pieces.

Now add them to the pot where the melted butter is.

ok I know I know this looks GROSS!! 

 But stay with me!

Stir it around and mash up the tomatoes...they need to get a lot more mushy.  

You want it to look like this

now it is time to add the flour to get it to thicken up.

when it starts to pull away from the bottom of the pan you will need to add the milk

let it warm up to a slow simmer and get thick.

then...serve it on toast!  It is excellent with corn on the cob!!  

That is our favorite!!!

Here is the recipe so you can try it!!

TOMATO GRAVY!!

10-15 average size tomatoes (I use a mixture of different kinds)

1/2 a cube of butter

2-3 TB flour

2 cups of milk

bread of your choice (baguette and french bread are our favorites)

ENJOY!!!

Science vs. Religion...hmmmm

I have a special connection to science...

my husband is a teacher of physics and chemistry...my boys also LOVE it!  

So when I saw this I was so impressed by this video and had to share!

CHERRIES!!! How to pit a Cherry without a pitter!

How pretty are these!?!!

 I was lucky enough to get a bunch of cherries from two different people that had to many!  

I of course was super excited!! 

Cherries will forever remind me of my Grandma.

She would have fruit at the lunch table (Cherries being my fav) and she would put it in these little blue bowls!!  

Wish I still had some of these bowls!!

Anyway back from my rambling...I don't have a cherry pitter....so I called my mom (what I always do in this situation...Thanks mom!!)  She told me that her grandma always used a bobby pin to pit hers...So I tried it...after I mangled a few cherries I decided that I should go on an internet search...

I found a you tube video of a lady pitting one with a paper clip...So I tried it...IT WORKED!!!!

Here are a few pictures of the process...hope they help to visualize it a little...

Bend your paper clip so it looks like an S....then...get your cherries...

 Hold them by the bottom of the cherry....

 stick the small end of the paper clip into the cherry...then...feel you way around the pit to loosen it a bit and...

 POP it out!

 So easy right!!

 Look how delicious those look...

 Once I had them all pitted I made the pie filling so I could can it...with a test pie for that night...OF COURSE!!  I found this awesome recipe for filling on the Taste of Home Site!  It turned out soooo yummy!!

 It called for red food coloring...I thought at first I would leave it out...but then I looked in the pan...just not as yummy to my eyes as I wanted...

So...I added it...Happy Eyes!

 Here is the finished pie!  I used my pie crust recipe...go get a printable of that here!

 Here is the finished project in the jars! YUM!!

 So the other kind of cherries we were lucky to get were Bing and Royal Anne's!  

I couldn't stop eating these as I was pitting so I was lucky to get as many jars as I got! :)

 How yummy do these look in the jars!  I can't wait to pull one out this winter and surprise the family!  YUMMY!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Photography Challenge

When it comes to pictures...I am not the camera person...I leave that up to my hubby.

When I saw my bestie doing this challenge over at 

A Step in the Journey 

I thought...hey...that looks like fun...

I know I missed the first week and am coming into it a little late...but hey...

better late than never right.

So here is what makes me happy this week. 

A got GLASSES!  I can't help grin every time he is around!  He is just so darn CUTE!!

Cute Kids Chair!

How adorable did this turn out!  I LOVE IT!

And how cute is my little niece!  

She was so excited to have a chair she could fold up and carry with her!  

Hope it will bring her years of fun!

I got the idea for this at 

Simple Simon & Company!  

I am always getting fun ideas from these two ladies!  

LOVE THEM!  

Go check out their easy easy tutorial for this!

A Got Baptized!!

It's Great to be 8!

I am so proud of your decision to become a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!  I am so proud of the boy you are!  You are such a good example to so many around you!  Always keep that spark!  You will always be my BUBBY (even when your a teenager and don't want to be!)  I love you more than words can express.

Thank you to all the family and friends that were there to support A in his special day!  We love you and couldn't have felt more loved that weekend!

Extraordinary Everyday...Aluminum Foil!

I am so excited to start a weekly blog post!  

I have decided to call it Extraordinary Everyday! 

I will be sharing uses for everyday objects that maybe you have not considered.

I hope this will become useful to many of you!

So my first everyday object is.....drum roll.....Aluminum Foil!!

#1  Soften up your brown sugar...who hasn't had their brown sugar get as hard as a rock?  I know I have!!  All you need to do is break of a chunk and wrap it in aluminum foil and bake it in the oven at 300 for five minutes.

#2  Catch ice-cream cone drips...wrap the bottom of the cone in aluminum foil!

#3  Scrub your pots...Crumple up some aluminum foil and scrub scrub away!

#4  Sharpen your scissors...take a piece of aluminum foil and it is as simple as cutting it up about 8 or 9 times...Super easy!

#5  Clean jewelry...line a small bowl with aluminum foil....fill with hot water and put in about 1 TB of bleach-free powder laundry detergent...Soak you jewlery for one minute...rinse and air-dry (works for silverware too!)

#6  Speed up your Ironing...Who doesn't want THAT to go faster!  All you do is add a piece of aluminum foil in between the board and the cover...The foil reflects the heat back through the clothing, which will help to smooth the wrinkles quicker!

#7  Clean your barbecue grill...after you are done cooking lay a piece of aluminum foil down to burn off any leftover bits of food

#8  Warm your toes when camping...wrap some stones in aluminum foil and heat them by the campfire...when it is time to go to bed...wrap them in a towel and put them at the foot of your sleeping bag...toasty toes!

#9  Attach a patch to your clothes...put a piece of aluminum foil on the back of the hole and then iron on the patch over top...just slip it out when it is good and stuck!

Who knew there was so many different things you could do with ALUMINUM FOIL!!  And to think I have been just using it to wrap up leftovers!!

Mom's Ultimate No-Fail Pie Crust!!

I love cooking and baking....and my favorite thing to bake is PIE!  Thanks to my mom teaching me and for passing down this ultimate pie crust recipe that makes it so dang easy!  


I have heard many people say..."pie...I can't make that...it's too hard!"  

I am gonna show you just how easy it can be!

Here is that ULTIMATE pie crust recipe!

Just click it and save it and print it!

When you are done trimming the edge...don't throw those scraps away...put them on a cookie sheet and butter them then sprinkle with some sugar and cinnamon and bake them in the oven until they are browned (about 15 minutes or so)...Just an extra bit of yumminess!

I will be adding a recipe for the filling to my yum yum apple pie here soon!  Keep watching for it!

Now go make some yummy pie crust!!

Happy Fathers Day...I know I know

It is a little late I know...I have been REALLY busy with family things the last couple weeks.

I am so grateful every day for my dear sweet husband and all he does for me and the boys!

He is the best husband and the best daddy!

I don't know what I would do without him!

So to show him just what a Hero he is to us in our home we gave him his very own Hero Survival Kit that I found on Homemade by Jill.

For Breakfast we had these yummy yummy blueberry muffins...(I will share this recipe on another blog post coming up soon!  So keep watching!)

Check out this dinner!  We can't seem to get enough of this!  This is courtesy to my mothers day present from my boys!  All three of these recipes are out of Our Best Bites new cookbook!  I LOVE THIS COOKBOOK!  Worth taking a look at!

Then for dinner I made one of my husband favorites...Apple Pie!!  (Another recipe coming soon!!)

 I hope that this made my hubby's day as special as we think he is!!

I love you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY 10 YEAR OLD!...and a fun recipe!

It is amazing how knowing that my oldest is 10 and how old that must make me...when did that happen?

 MARIO MUSHROOM CUPCAKES!!  

These turned out so fun and were very easy to decorate!

 I am so proud at the progress he has made in the past few months since we started homeschooling!  He is talking so much better and he is trying so hard to be a good kid!  

We recently talked to him about what Autism is and that he has it.  I was so nervous going into it....He of course being such an amazing kid took it all as positive and was kinda excited about it.  He knows he is smart and I hope I can keep reminding him so he doesn't forget!

 ONE EYED SAILORS...

I know you are probably thinking...What?!

They are a favorite in our house and a favorite of our 10 year old!  This is what he had for his birthday breakfast.

They are simple but yummy. 

 First take a slice of bread (Homemade is always yummier!)

Then take a biscuit cutter (or any fun shape) and cut a hole in the middle of the slice of bread

Butter both sides of the slice and the center you cut out.

Put in a sprayed warmed up pan.

Crack open an egg and drop in the center of the slice.

Wait till you see the the egg turn a little white and start to bubble...

Then flip them all over.

Don't forget the middle part of you bread slice.

That is it!  Enjoy!!

I love you!  Thanks for being a light in my world for 10 years!  I am so thankful for every minute I get to spend with you!