Fresh & Easy deal for a Labor Day Cookout

If you live near a Fresh & Easy Market I have a deal for you! I bought 4 fresh Grill Packs which EACH consist of 4 Italian sausage, 4 burger patties and Chili Citrus Cilantro Seasoned Chicken thighs and drumsticks a total of 4 lbs. 11 oz each pack and 1 chocolate almond bar for my honey for $15.34 tax included. They have coupons where you can spend $20 and get $5 off, thus the reason I had to buy the candy bar. The Grill Packs are on special I believe through Labor Day for $4.99 each. In this picture I am showing 1 complete pack and the other is taken apart so you can see what is included. So for what I spent I actually get a total of 16 burgers, 16 Italian sausage and LOTS of chicken. What a great Labor Day cookout. Another way to use it could be by each meat only. That's enough burgers or enough sausage for 16 people. Depending on the size of the gathering you have, you could have 3 get togethers, 1 with chicken, 1 with burgers..... Cool hugh? :) The burgers are just unseasoned patties but we put McCormick Grill Mates Montreal Steak seasoning on them, yummy! We love to cookout and since we have a family of 4 we could even have 12 meals out of all this if we wanted to do it that way. Granted we may get pretty sick and tired of it unless we do it over a long period of time. We will freeze some of it, they'll freeze fine.
Had to share the deal :D HAPPY LABOR DAY!

My Yard is for the Birds Ü

This afternoon I saw the Love Birds next door in some pine trees. They flew towards our backyard so I went to see if I could find them. I wasn't able to find them but found this sweetie. From what I've heard a few years back nearby some Lovebrids escaped from a nursery and they have just multiplied and continue to live in the area or so the story is told.

My Yard the Bird Sanctuary

When we came home from school this morning we saw a wood pecker on the porch. I told my son to come over quietly and take a look, it soon flew away. Then we took a look at all the birds in the grass and we saw the Love Birds came back! A short time ago there was about 6 Love Birds hanging out sometime over the summer, but they seemed to have moved on, we hadn't seen them in awhile. I did the best I could to get a shot of them. It was cloudy out today and they were in the shade, I could only get so close so the pic is a little dark and not very clear. I wish I'd been able to get a better shot no telling when they may come back again.

Not to early to start planning for Christmas

A friend of mine e-mailed me the link to this great site that can help you get organized for Christmas. I love it, a plan to make it go more smoothly, couldn't we all use that, or at least most of us? Christmas is my favorite Holiday and if I start planning now, I'll have more time to enjoy it. You can click on my post title to be connected to the "Organized Christmas" website.

This was taken from the "Organized Christmas" website:

Welcome to the Holiday Grand Plan!
By Cynthia Townley Ewer

You've decided: this is the year you'll celebrate the holiday season from a home that is clean, organized and ready for Christmas. You dream of holiday parties, overnight house guests, Christmas cookies, a decorated home and a calm and stress-free holiday season.

There's only one problem: right now, you're living in domestic chaos. Looking around your home, you don't know where to begin.

Cluttered counters, crammed closets and out-of-place possessions pile up everywhere. Dust bunnies and ceiling cobwebs announce that deep-cleaning is long over-due, and the guest room? Forget about it! It's home to moving boxes, unfinished crafts and last winter's stained jackets and unmatched mittens.

To have the holiday of your dreams, you need more than just a gift list and good intentions: you need the Holiday Grand Plan, a tried and tested roadmap to Christmas in a clean and organized home.

Written by Katie Leckey with contributions from the Prodigy Homelife Get O group in 1992-1993, the Holiday Grand Plan is the Web's oldest Christmas organizing plan.

By breaking down all the tasks needed to clean and organize the house and prepare for the holidays, and dividing them into weekly assignments, the Holiday Grand Plan will help you reach the season calm, centered and ready to celebrate from a clean and organized home.

Holiday Grand Plan 2008 begins on Sunday, August 31, and continues throughout the holiday season. Based on Katie's companion Spring Cleaning Grand Plan, the Holiday Grand Plan combines holiday prep, home organizing and cleaning components.

Browse each week's assignment for cleaning and holiday prep using the links below. Free printable checklists and calendars make it easy to plan your progress and organize each week's goals.

To read more go to the site by clicking on my post title above.

Thanks for the rain God!

Thanks God! Even though I have complained so much about the heat He brought rain. It cooled things down so much. It's 75 degrees outside this morning!!! The temp. will go up but the rain brought a cool down.

Oh wow was I convicted about my complaining this morning. Sometimes I need little wake up calls. I LOVE Joyce Meyer and have been trying to watch her on a daily basis when I am able. She talked about grumbling and complaining this morning. No matter how long I've been a Christian, I could always use these little snaps back to reality, I like to think I'm always learning. Think about the Isrealites and all their grumbling and complaining and God's provision but yet they contiued to complain and for 40 years they complained. They could have gotten out of their curcumstances so much sooner if they just quit all their complaining. If I believe God is in control, maybe my circumstance for that moment are good for me that I'm going through (that was somewhat quoted from Joyce Meyer). For those of us that have children, how annoying is it when we are trying to do good for our children and they are complaining the whole way. As I'm sure God feels when I complain, nobody really wants to hear it. Really, we tell ourselves it's good to get it off our chests, I don't think so, maybe just a change of my attitude, I think I just need to be thankful for whatever the curcumstances and remember God's in control and he knows what's best for me. I must need to learn something, if He's taking me down that road. The less I complain about it the quicker I'll get through it.

Philippians 2:12-18:

12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed–not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence–continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

14 Do everything without complaining or arguing,

15 so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe
16 as you hold out[1] the word of life–in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.17 But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.18 So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.
New International Version (NIV)

I'm gonna go enjoy the cooler temps ;)

Where Did August Go?

My little guy in the air :D








Happy Hamsters :D
My son likes to dance :D





I can't believe two weeks have gone by since my last post! I have been working as a playground aide at my son's school. I only work a whole 1 1/2 hours a day, but in 100+ degree weather, with added humidity lately that we've been having, I am really drippy when I get home just before Lunch. It really zaps a lot out of you, especially when we are so spoiled with A/C everywhere you go around here. My heart goes out to the people around here that work outside 40 hours a week! I'm sure you get used to it, I've only been doing this for 2 weeks, I don't want to get to used to it. I'm counting on the weather cooling down a bit. Or at least the humidity going away!

The kids LOVE school and I am happy with their teachers, all 7 of them. Since my daughter is in Jr. High she has obviously lots of teachers. My husband and I went to her school's open house last week and walked in her footsteps to each class. We were late to two classes :( I told my husband to stay out of the halls and walk outside! :)

My son's teacher is wonderful, she is great with the children and really loves her job. She only works half days because she to has young ones at home, a teacher after my own heart. My son has made some new friends as has my daughter. One of my son's homework projects was to make something showing his favorite things. I took pictures of him with his favorite things. One thing he said he liked was to dance so here's that pic of him.

My son is involved in Basketball for the first time, it's through one of the local Churches. We like the way they promote good sportsmanship. They work on developing the kids skills and character rather than it being all about the win. He's enjoying that, especially since he gets to see two of his best buds twice a week!

Right now I am hearing thunder as I post. Could I get some sweet relief from this humidity? It's pretty sunny out, kinda weird, we'll see what happens. When I was a little girl I'd call them sun showers, anyone remember saying that?

My husband and the kids bought the hamsters (Dexter & Maford) a new wheel that attaches to the outside of their cage. We have removable holes in the cage, so once they are removed you can attach the wheel. They love their new wheel, since we had to take their other one out. It caused a big racket, especially when the kids had gone to bed and the house was quiet. So I bought a ball, but they had to be put into it and taken out. We found them behind the couch one day, not good. Plus I think the ball is kinda gross, they do their business in there! It can come out of the little holes, it doesn't smell to good. This new wheel actually has a catch tray below it! What a great idea! This wheel still makes some noise but it just sounds like coffee brewing in a coffee maker. I can handle that, except It makes me think about coffee late at night. Well as long as I don't act on that thought everybody gets a good nights sleep.

I am on a Walton's kick all of a sudden. I watched it for the first time in awhile the other day on the Hallmark channel. The theme song gives me warm fuzzies :) It made me think that my kids don't have any shows like this these days. I think I'll look into getting them on DVD or VHS. For some reason I'd rather they start from season one. The shows currently on the Hallmark channel are 4 or 5 years into the show. Unless maybe if I wait long enough, they may start to air them from the beginning again. At 2 a day for 5 days that may be sooner than I think.

Back to School Today

My babies started school today. I call them babies because they are still my babies. One just beginning and the other off to a new adventure "Jr. High". They were both very excited to go back to school today. We were ALL awake at 6:00 it was weird. There we all were ready to face our day. It is tradition at our house to have that "first day of school" pic with the new backpack, or in my daughter's case the "tote". She also has a "messenger" bag but has chosen to use the tote today. My son loves Star Wars and Indiana Jones so he chose an Indiana Jones backpack.
I took both to school today, both their separate ways (sniff, sniff) My son spotted one of his best buddies at school and ran to embrace him like they hadn't seen each other in months, truth be told it was only a couple of weeks, so cute! He was happy to see him, even though they are no longer in the same class. My daughter wanted me to walk her to class, no problem with me if that's what she wanted. When we arrived she saw there were no parents walking their children in and asked if she could go it alone. I understood and let her go. My first baby is growing up into a young woman. My son is already home and had a great morning. My daughter is still in school. I look forward to hearing about her day. I interviewed my son on video about his first day today, it was sweet, and he said the Pledge of Allegiance for me. I will do the same with my daughter if she is willing.

As a side note, my son and husband went to a baseball game yesterday. My son had gotten a mask at the game. They played a little joke on me, my husband told him "stop monkeying around" and their he was in this mask. I actually screamed when I saw it, I was totally not expecting it. Now I'm LOL at the site of it and how weird it looks.

Back to School Time

It's that time again, time to go back to school, tomorrow! Backpacks, messenger bags, lunchbox, clothes, sneakers check, check. School supplies are purchased, a few more are needed. Jr. High, more teachers, more supplies, didn't find out about those items until Fri.... My children are so excited they have been counting down the days. They look forward to seeing the kids they know and like on a daily basis. This year will be an adventure with one just starting Kindergarten and the other starting Junior High, WOW! New Beginnings for all of us, for me schedule changes. Both have been to either the "Meet the teacher" or "Orientation" at school so they are all set to go. My son's teacher seems very nice and well organized. I remember seeing her often around school last year and she is wonderful with the kids. My daughter has 7 classes and will be getting quite the workout walking from class to class. I am happy with the teachers she has also. She has Art first period, I can't wait to see what she creates this year! As for the "workout" I know this because I went to the orientation and walked the classes with her! There's 2 classes she'll be hard pressed to make it to on time. She'll have to get a route worked out. I mapped it all out for her ahead of time so she'd visually know where to go first, second.... she should be fine. She is asking if I can walk her to class on the first day though (sniff, sniff, how sweet!)

For my son I am a playground aide at his school, on his playground so I'll be right there to watch him go to class. We'll be getting to school pretty early every day so he'll have 20 min. on the playground before school with his friends. They also get a morning recess, but that is only with their individual class rather than with all the Kindergartners. He's only going to school half days so he'll come home late morning. This is so important at this age, as much as he's interested in learning, he still loves to play and build with Lego building blocks and just chill out. He'll be ready for a full day next year, with plenty of years ahead, one last year to enjoy a lot of playing and being a kid.

Kids Crafts

We bought these tote bags at the Dollar store, for of course $1 each. I usually have fabric paints around the house. I thought I'd buy some new ones, so I bought 5 colors at 99 cents each. I let the kids decorate their own totes on Friday. My son wasn't sure what he wanted to do, then he showed me his Indiana Jones wallet and said that's what he wanted his tote to look like. He's a big fan so I traced the letters in black permanent marker on his tote for him to color in. I helped him out a little because he wanted me to. It was important that it had the two colors in each letter. I think his tote turned out awesome. My daughter also came up with her idea on her own. At camp they used duct tape to show what color team they were by spelling it out with duct tape, that's where she got the duct tape idea, and it stuck with her :D another awesome tote. I LOVE crafting with my kids and watching their creativity. This coming week we have a couple more projects we'll probably do before school starts in a week. Gone soon will be the lazy days of summer.....