Lauren's 9th Birthday~

Yesterday was a very special day in our family. My oldest daughter, Lauren turned nine years old. She is such a blessing in all of our lives. She is kind, caring towards others, smart, beautiful, helpful, the list goes on and on. I am very blessed to be her mother. A perfect example of her sweetness, is that just this morning, she went downstairs and cleaned up her big brother's mess and the school/art room all by herself. She said that way, I would not have to do it. :) I can't believe that she is already nine...the years just go by so fast. It seems like just yesterday, I held her for the first time, and now she is so grown up already.

We celebrated her special day by going shopping for some art supplies to go in her art desk, that is on order for her birthday gift. We also went out to her favorite place to eat. Today, we are going skating as a family, and making her favorite smores instead of cake. :) (We celebrate birthday weeks in our home.) We are having a big skating birthday party in a couple of weeks for both Lauren and Megan's birthday celebrations with their friends this year. We tend to do this close to the end of the year, not really sure as to why. :) But it works well for us. Here is a photo of my beautiful little girl, taken yesterday.

What I'm reading right now...

I love to read, what a great way to expand your horizons, and a frugal way, if I may add. :) I actually like to read many books at once, but this is one that I am really loving.




Jonathan Bloom has a way of writing, that is just easy to read. His insights on waste in America cause a person to perhaps look at waste in a different light. I for one try not to waste, but even so, I hate to admit, I still do. At least when we attempt to counteract waste in our own lives, even if we are making baby steps, we are, none the less making progress. One way I try to counteract waste in my own little life, is to have a night where instead of making "new meals" we eat left overs. Also, before going major grocery shopping, I make sure to use up perishable foods before bringing in any thing new. I always feel badly when I have to throw food away, thinking of all the people in this world who don't have enough to eat. If we can embrace a frugal, less wasteful lifestyle, we can have more to help fund programs to help those in the world who truly need it the most. Even if what we can do is little, if everyone did just a little, it could add up to something big.

Christmas is comming!!!

We will be celebrating Christmas early this year, so that we can all celebrate together. This is Tristyn's Christmas with his father, this way we don't miss Christmas together. So if you may think it is a bit early for a tree, for us it really isn't. :) Do you like my TV fireplace??? ;)

My Thankful List 2010 (in random order)

1.) I am thankful for God and Jesus love and forgiveness.

2.) I am thankful for my family, my husband, my children, and all of my extended family that I love with all my heart, even those I do not get to see very often.

3.) I am thankful for all the dear souls that have been in my life both in my past and my present.

4.) I am thankful for getting to live in America, where we have rights and freedom and riches that most of the world does not get to have.

5.) I am thankful for my little home, that provides a safe Harber for my family and I.

6.) I am thankful for books, as I love to read and consider it a blessing to be able to have such options available to me.

7.) I am thankful for the hard times, because even though they may not be pleasant to go through, they help shape the soul and help me to appreciate the good times.

8.) I am thankful for a husband and his patience with me.

9.) I am thankful for my comfy bed and the soft Cotton sheets my parents got us for Christmas last year.

10.) I am thankful for my dishwasher, my washer and dryer and all the items that make life a lot easier.

11.) I am thankful for being able to have such abundance of supplies to make good and healthy meals with.

12.) I am thankful for my husbands job, that allows us to have all that we need and much that we don't.

13.) I am thankful for my comfy Cotton clothing.

14.) I am thankful for our cars, that allow us to travel now and then and get us where we need to go.

15.) I am thankful for my camera.

16.) I am thankful for Paula Deen candles, that I just love.

17.) I am thankful for coffee and half and half.

18.) I am thankful for my church and my church family.

19.) I am thankful for my friend Lisa who watched my children when I gave birth to Justin, so that my husband could be with me, I will never forget her kindness to me and my family.

20.) I am thankful for my contacts and glasses.

21.) I am thankful for my computer.

22.) I am thankful for our family's doctor, who has been taking care of my children for a great many years, and even back before we had health insurance, was willing to see us and always has been caring and just such a blessing.

23.) I am thankful for my sew box.

24.) I am thankful for Netflix

25.) I am thankful for my little house on the prairie books that my Grandpa and Grandma bought for me in 3rd grade.

26.) I am thankful to my late 3rd grade teacher Mrs. Longrin, who took time each day to read us the Little House books.

27.) I am thankful to my parents who have shown me such love.

28.) I am so very thankful that God blessed me with my children, being a mother is my favorite thing in the world to be.

29.) I am thankful that I can type well.

30.) I am thankful to live in a era where we have electricity.

31.) I am thankful for all the special blogs that touch my life, my favorites like the frugal girl's blog and my cousin Teri's blog just to mention a couple.

32.) I am thankful for my husband's skills and how he finished our basement into a beautiful living area.

33.) I am thankful for the wonderful Christian schools my children get to attend.

34.) I am thankful for art.

35.) I am thankful for my cell phone.

36.) I am thankful for my GPS, which allows me more Independence when traveling alone.

37.) I am thankful for good water to drink.

38.) I am thankful for spray and wash. :)

39.) I am thankful for my education.

40.) I am thankful for makeup. :)

41.) I am thankful for a husband that allows my children to be vegetarian, even when he is not.

42.) I am thankful for the unconditional love of my little Mommy.

43.) I am so very thankful for Lori, Tricia and Matt. My sister's and brother. Even though I don't get to see them so often I love them with all of my heart and soul.

44.) I am thankful for a closer relationship with my father, and his love for me.

45.) I am thankful for Pradeep, who is always so kind to me and the children, our family is so blessed to have him.

46.) I am thankful for my dreams and goals.

47.) I am thankful for my Victoria Magazines.

48.) I am thankful for paper, to keep me organized.

49.) I am thankful for date night.

50.) I am thankful for being able to see my blessings, and this special day of Thanksgiving to spend with my family.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Easy Deep Dish Pizza Recipe

If you like deep dish pizza, this recipe is worth a try!


Step 1: peel and boil one potato, let cool and then grate it as you would cheese. If you don't have a grater, then mash with a fork

Step 2: 1 cup warm water
1 1/2 teaspoons of yeast
1 teaspoon of sea salt
2 Tbsp of oil
3 cups of flour (I like unbleached organic)
mix in kitchen aid with the dough hook, and let it kneed for 3 minutes. If you don't have a Kitchen aid, you can do this with a wooden spoon and then kneed by hand.

To bake this deep dish pizza I use one glass casserole dish and one glass pie dish.

Divide the dough, leaving a bit more dough for the casserole dish than the smaller pie dish. Add 1.5 tablespoons canola oil to the casserole dish, and spread evenly with a paper towel, do the same for the pie dish, only use less oil. (about a tablespoon.)

Pat dough into oiled baking dishes, cover and let rise for a half and hour. Prepare your pizza with what ever you like. Tonight, I did one cheese with traditional pizza sauce, and one taco pizza with taco sauce and re fries and lots of yummy toppings. Bake on 400 degrees 10-15 minutes, or until done.

It is a easy dinner and quite yummy! Try dipping it in ranch, for a special treat. :)

Fun playing in the leaves~

Here are the children playing in the leaves this weekend. :)

Wow...it has been a while since I have posted! We have been pretty busy around our little house the past few weeks. Tristyn started basketball, and with the early morning practices six days per week, we have had to wake up at five every morning. That took some time to get used to on my part, but the daylight savings time has been a dream come true for me! I go to sleep much earlier and it is helping so very much! My parents and my little niece,Sarah, came for a visit last weekend, and our family has been enjoying the wonderful fall weather! I have been busy cooking lots of breads and soups. There is just something about a warm bowl of home-made soup and a slice of freshly baked bread with butter that just makes me happy this time of year. Once I have Tristyn off to his basketball practice, I have time to enjoy a cup of coffee a burning candle scented of plum and the quiet that my little home does not have too often. :) Then I head down to our family room and do my tread mill, all before the little ones awake. So this getting up a bit earlier thing does have it's benefits. I am getting excited for the holidays, and am looking forward to some special time with family and friends in the near future. Tristyn has his first basketball game today, so I will post some photos of that later today or tomorrow. :) Happy Thursday!