Silly Emersyn

Emersyn has a little Snap and Style Friends Doll that she loves to play with. One of the outfits is a little winter outfit complete with snowboard. This morning she brought me the doll and her jumprope and asked me to tie the rope to the doll. And then she took her doll "wakeboarding." It was rather amusing and Keith thought it was great!

French Bread Pizza

This dinner took less than 5 minutes to prepare and it was yummy! My kids ate it right up. I used a wheat loaf of store-bought french bread, put on some store-bought pizza sauce, some mozzarella cheese, and some pepperoni. I broiled it in the oven for about ten minutes. Serve with a green salad for a simple and yummy meal!

Homemade Flashcards

I made these flashcards for Emersyn. I just used 4x6 sized index cards and cut the squares on my Cricut. I am planning on doing shapes, numbers, and the alphabet, too. They were so fast and simple and lots cheaper than the ones I could find anywhere else.

Good Thing I Love These Two

Most of you already know how much I love my dumb dogs. And good thing, too. Yesterday I had to take Harley (he is the handsome Boston Terrier) to the vet. Who knew that dogs could get ear infections? Not me. But apparently he had a real bad one and needed medication. So I grumbled and complained about the forty dollars that that little trip cost me. Then today, we come home from boating and Honey can't open her eye. It was swollen and weepy. So we called the vet. And a Saturday night appointment with the on-call doctor is eighty dollars just to be seen! Not to mention the three medications she has to take several times a day for the next week. Two hundred dollars later the dogs are on their way back to good health and happiness. Oh yeah- Keith thought it would have been cheaper to just have them put to sleep!

Frugal Living Challenge

There was some interest in the challenge so here is the first one. Prepare a coupon holder. I liked the binder idea best for me, but there are a lot of other options, too. Check out www.frugalisfab.blogspot.com for more great ideas. Leave a comment on this post when you have accomplished this goal. Have fun!

More Info On Coupon Binder

I have had a few requests for more info on the coupon binder that I put together. I found my binder at Wal-Mart in their seasonal section. They still have all of the back-to-school items there and had a lot of fun binders for cheap. The trading card protectors I got at Target in their trading card section (baseball cards, Pokemon cards) which is up by the registers. You can probably find them just about anywhere, though. Here are the sections that I divided my coupons in to:

(I listed mine alphabetically)

*baby
*beverages
*breakfast
*canned/boxed
*cleaners
*condiments
*dairy
*deodorant
*frozen
*hair care
*make-up
*medications
*misc.
*refrigerated
*snack/candy
*soaps/lotions
*store coupons
*teeth/shaving

I hope this helps!

Butter Syrup

This is a very yummy recipe for homemade syrup. And so easy, too! We love it on pancakes, but it would also be great on waffles. Or just by the spoonful? Enjoy!

1 can evaporated milk
2 cups sugar
1 T butter
1 t vanilla

Mix first three ingredients in medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Add vanilla and stir. Serve warm over pancakes or waffles.

Coupon Clipping

I have to admit that I have always felt slightly irritated when I'm at the grocery store and the person in front of me pulls out a fat wad of coupons. The only coupons I ever use are the 40% off ones at Roberts and Michaels. But hey, tough times call for desperate measures. With the high cost of everything nowadays I have decided to join ranks with the tight wads. I mean frugal. I am going to clip coupons! I put together a nifty coupon binder. I have 16 different divider tabs and trading card protectors to store the coupons in. I also found an awesome blog called Being Frugal Is Fabulous. She tells you how to get started and keeps an up-to-date post of great deals and terrific coupons. Check it out! www.frugalisfab.blogspot.com If you are interested in becoming a coupon clipper, leave me a post or shoot me an email. Maybe we can come up with a fun weekly challenge or some such.

Freezer Meal Friday

Baked Potato Casserole

1 pkg. shredded hash browns
1 cup cooked and crumbled bacon
1 pint sour cream
1/2 cup butter or margarine, divided
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

Mix together hash browns, bacon, sour cream, 1/4 cup melted butter, cheese, and onions. Place in a 13x9 pan. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and top with remaining dabs of butter. Label and freeze.

To Serve: Thaw. Bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour.

Potty Training

I decided it was time to start potty-training Emersyn. I picked up some Dora and Elmo (her favorites) underwear to help with motivation. She wears them all right. Just not in the right place!

The Final Cake

This is the final cake that I made in a four-week cake decorating class I took. So fun! I am starting with Course 2 tomorrow. The only downside is that I have been eating a lot of cake and even more frosting!